The Devious First-Daughter

Ning Xueyan had not expected to see Wen Xueran here. What surprised her more was that he was being with Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, Ao Xian! Wen Xueran saw them first. Now Ao Xian was one step away from him, followed by two servants. They happened to appear in a corner behind Ning Xueyan and Xinmei.

“Greetings, Princely Heirs!” Ning Xueyan recovered her composure soon and bowed to them to offer her greetings. She then straightened up and asked with a smile, “Princely Heirs, what are you doing here?”

“We were tired of listening to the monk chanting in the front hall, so we came to the backyard, thinking that we might see some beautiful ladies walking on the snow in the moonlight.” Wen Xueran winked at Ning Xueyan frivolously, his charming and amorous eyes even more attractive and watery. If those bold young girls saw him, they would definitely scream with surprise.

It turned out that the abbot had started to preach in the Buddha hall. Obviously, the two of them were not that kind of people who would sit there and listen to the preaching absorbedly, so it was inevitable for them to sneak out and take a stroll.

Ao Xian nodded to Ning Xueyan from behind. He had been excited when he saw a Young Lady just now. As Wen Xueran said, beautiful ladies did not like to listen to the preaching either and they would slip out as well. However, when he saw it was Ning Xueyan, he stopped fantasizing.

Among all the Young Ladies of the capital city, Ao Xian was most afraid of the ones from the Lord Protector’s Manor now. Ao Xian thought no matter who she was, he should stay away from her, because he and these Young Ladies were meant not to be together. Every time he got close to them, there would be quarreling, fighting and romantic troubles.

It was not a big deal if it was only common romantic troubles. Unfortunately, it was related to Third Prince, so Ao Xian was upset recently and he felt uneasy when he heard about the Lord Protector’s Manor.

When he found it was Ning Xueyan, he was in no mood for romance. He stood in the distance and did not even intend to come over to greet her. Seeing Wen Xueran greeting Ning Xueyan warmly, he remained unmoved. If it were not for the Young Ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor, he would not have had such bad luck recently. He had gotten much humiliated because of them. Besides, he had been severely punished several times by Madam Dowager and even gotten beat up last time!

Since then, Ao Xian had been quiet for a while.

“Princely Heirs, since you are hanging about, I won’t bother you.” Ning Xueyan did not want to get involved in their affairs, so she said goodbye with a gentle smile.

“What? Fifth Young Lady, are you going back to listen to the boring scriptures again?” Wen Xueran opened the valuable folding fan in his hand and waved it. Under the gaze of his amorous and enchanting eyes, any girl would blush and lower her head.

He walked around Ning Xueyan for a while and asked with interest.

“The scripture is dull or not depends on the listener. Princely Heir, you don’t want to listen to it because your mind is restless,” Ning Xueyan said gracefully and calmly with a smile. She looked at Wen Xueran at ease with her jet-black eyes, neither avoiding nor shy, looking extremely natural.

It seemed that she was looking at an ordinary person, instead of an unparalleled beautiful man.

“My mind is restless? No, no, no!” Wen Xueran shook his fan hard, as if to prove Ning Xueyan’s mistake. He blinked at Ning Xueyan with his right eye and curved his lips into a charming smile, like a cunning fox. “I have always been at peace, as I am now, with the intention of…”

The more he said, the more indecent he became.

“Princely Heir, I have to leave. My third sister is waiting for me in front.” Ning Xueyan interrupted Wen Xueran and bowed to him again. She did not see any point in listening to him any longer, so she said goodbye and went straight ahead before Wen Xueran could say anything. Turning the corner, it would be the main road.

“Hey, hey… Fifth Young Lady! Fifth…” Seeing that Ning Xueyan ignored him, Wen Xueran laughed and closed the folding fan in his hand, pointing at Ning Xueyan from behind with it.

“Forget it! She is gone! All the Young Ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor are very strange. You’d better not provoke them in the future.” Seeing that Ning Xueyan had left, but Wen Xueran was still calling her, Ao Xian became impatient. He had hoped that Ning Xueyan would leave soon, because he was sure that anyone who met the Young Ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor would be out of luck for three years!

Unfortunately, he always bumped into them wherever he went.

Wen Xueran turned his head and blinked his enchanting eyes. “Brother Ao Xian, don’t you think she is a great beauty?” he raised his hand casually and asked with a smile. “I remember you love such kind of beautiful woman best.”

“Great beauty? No woman is more beautiful than the one from the previous dynasty. This one? She is too young and I don’t think she is that beautiful!” Ao Xian said disdainfully.

“Although she has not fully developed yet, I’m sure after two years, she will be the First Beauty in our country,” Wen Xueran affirmed with a smile.

“First Beauty? It should be the girl I saw half a year ago. She was about 15 or 16 years old at that time. So gorgeous! It was a pity that she was gone before I could see her face clearly. Alas, I wish I had gone after her.” Ao Xian recalled the beauty he had seen in the night market half a year ago. The moment the wind blew her veil, he had known what great beauty meant. He had been stunned at the first glance.

When he came to himself, the beautiful girl had disappeared. At the thought of her, Ao Xian could not help feeling regret for having been fascinated by her that night and forgetting to chase her.

“A 15 or 16-year-old girl? Brother Ao Xian, are you kidding me? She even more beautiful than Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor?” Hearing that Ao Xian had met such a beautiful girl before, Wen Xueran’s eyes lit up, as if he were very interested.

“Third Young Lady is very beautiful, but not as beautiful as that girl.” At the thought that he was much luckier than Wen Xueran because he had seen that girl’s face at least, Ao Xian felt proud, as if he had taken advantage of something.

“Is she really that beautiful?” Wen Xueran did not believe it.

“Of course! It’s a pity that the beauty disappeared all of a sudden and I have never seen her again since then.” Ao Xian sighed, feeling sad. If such a beauty was willing to marry him, he would like to get rid of his bad habits, be loyal to her and never fool around with any other woman.

“Is there anybody beside that beauty at that moment? Maybe she was hiding in someone’s house, but you didn’t pay attention to it.” “Swoosh!” Wen Xueran opened his fan again and shook his head slightly in an unrestrained manner, as if he was sighing for Ao Xian.

It reminded Ao Xian of something. His eyes lit up and he suddenly laughed out loud. Without saying anything, he turned around and returned by the way they had come. He had been feeling sad that he could not see that beauty. After being reminded by Wen Xueran, he suddenly remembered that he had seen a familiar figure at that time. This person was also in the Cold Mountain Temple today!

“No! I must ask that person where the beauty is!” Ao Xian thought.

Wen Xueran narrowed his eyes behind him, with a charming smile on his face.

Ning Xueyan and her maid did not go back to the Buddha hall immediately. They were still looking for her handkerchief. Although it was just an excuse, she had to pretend to be looking for something to avoid suspicion.

When Ning Xueyan returned to the Buddha hall where the abbot was preaching, she saw a dozen noble Young Ladies and childes sitting in the room. Ning Xueyan quietly found a place in the corner and sat down. All the maids and servants were left outside the hall, so it was quiet inside and only the abbot was preaching.

Ning Xueyan was far from the pulpit, so she could not hear the abbot clearly. She looked up and saw Ning Qingshan sitting not far away from her. Obviously, she had just come as well. Her position was also very far back and unremarkable. To Ning Xueyan’s surprise, Wen Xueran and Ao Xian were also there. Ao Xian’s mind was not on the scripture at all. He looked around, as if he was looking for somebody.

As for Wen Xueran, he was secretly making eyes at those beautiful Young Ladies who were looking at him. Under his flirtatious glances, those Young Ladies were all blushed. It seemed only very few people were absorbed in the abbot’s preaching.

Finally, the abbot finished preaching. He stood up and bowed to everyone in the room. He then walked out with a few eminent monks, looking straight ahead. Some little monks came over and led the Young Ladies and childes to the wing room. It was still too early, so everyone could sit together and drink tea while chatting and go to sleep after burning the first incense.

Ning Xueyan walked behind them. She walked out of the hall until everyone had left. When she arrived at the door, she suddenly heard a woman’s sharp and angry voice. Ning Xueyan frowned and looked at the two in front of her. What a coincidence! She knew both of them.

The one who was shouting was Ling Xue of the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor.

“It’s your own fault. Why are you blaming me? If you didn’t stand in my way, I wouldn’t have bumped against you and it wouldn’t have broken!” Ling Xue said in a sharp voice.

“Miss, what you said doesn’t make sense. My master has given way to you to let you go first when she saw you rushing from behind, but you didn’t slow down and still knocked her against the door! Otherwise, this bracelet wouldn’t have broken. Our master’s grandmother gave her this valuable bracelet. You have to pay for it!”

The maid who followed the delicate Young Lady said angrily, pointing at the broken jade bracelet on the ground.

“How can it be valuable? It’s just an ordinary bracelet. Besides, you failed to avoid me, so you can’t blame me for it. Don’t try to blackmail me. I’m not that easy to be fooled!” Although a trace of panic crossed Ling Xue’s face, Ling Xue immediately said with bravado.

“How shameless you are! My master is a noble Young Lady. How can she blackmail you?” The maid was unconvinced and said angrily, pointing at Ling Xue.

Ning Xueyan had known what kind of person Ling Xue was when she was at the Lord Protector’s Manor. Much like Ning Yuling, Ling Xue was also very bossy. From what was happening, Ning Xueyan could tell that Ling Xue had broken that Young Lady’s bracelet in order to get ahead of the others, but she refused to admit it.

Since the Lord Protector’s Manor had decided to go to the Cold Mountain Temple to burn the first incense, it was no wonder that Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor, which had a marriage relationship with it sent people here.

“What’s going on?” A man showed up at the door with a clear and loud voice. Against the shadow behind him, he looked tall and straight.