The Devious First-Daughter

The carriages from the Vice Minister of Justice Ling’s Manor, loaded with several large pieces of furniture, came in. Although the furniture was not expensive, it looked at least decent. Moreover, it came from the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor, which would make up for any regrets that Madam Ling’s parents’ had not sent any dowry before. Therefore, when the servants reported this, Madam Dowager nodded and said nothing.

The Vice Minister of Justice Ling’s wife, Madam Qian and her son Ling Yi, were in the carriage as well. Since they had a dispute in the Lord Protector’s Manor the last time, this would be their first visit since the incident. As Madam Ling’s family, Madam Dowager could not go too far. She asked someone to prepare fruits and snacks, and sent them to Mingxia Garden.

Ling Yi did not stay in the courtyard after he arrived, but went outside to look for Ning Huaiyuan. The carriage that brought in the furniture stopped outside the second door. They could not enter the courtyard, so someone came to move the furniture. The staff in the Auspicious Clouds Courtyard were few, so two older female servants who were on duty at the door, came to help.

It was Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor’s intention. Although Madam Dowager was dissatisfied with Madam Ling’s behavior, she needed to spare the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor’s feelings. So, she invited Madam Qian to have a chat for a while.

At the second door, there were a lot of people moving around and they seemed to be busy. However, there was no real gatekeeper. Mother Chen came out from the door. Firstly, she shouted for the crowd at the door to clear, and asked the maids and older female servants to be careful when they carried in the things. Then, she came to one carriage, which had been emptied, nodded discreetly to the coachman sitting above, and pointed to the front.

The coachman understood and drove the carriage away from the second door. He drove in the direction she was pointing at, and went to the other yard in front.

No one noticed that at the second door, a little girl, who was keeping an eye on Mother Chen, put down the stool she was carrying, looked around, and followed her carefully.

At another place, an older female servant, who was wiping the corners of a square table, walked around from another direction, while no one was looking. After she went down that way, she would inevitably meet the carriage. She was ahead of the carriage.

Mother Chen never thought that so many people would pay attention to the carriage. She instructed the coachman to turn around two corners and finally stopped at a quiet yard. It was not small, but there were many wing rooms inside. The male guests who visited the Lord Protector’s Manor would usually take their rest here.

Madam Ling managed the inner courtyard. Moreover, she rarely came to the front as a woman, let alone a girl in the Boudoir, such as Ning Xueyan. She could not appear in a courtyard, where strange men walked in and out. Therefore, Ning Xueyan checked around the inner courtyard. Meanwhile, she secretly investigated the Bright Frost Garden and Madam Ling’s private storehouse several times. However, she did not notice anything strange.

Madam Ling had left the account books in the outer court, a place for entertaining strange men.

Madam Ling made a smart tactical move. If Ning Xueyan’s maid had not mentioned it, she could hardly remember it. Moreover, she knew that Ning Xueyan was a tough nut, and she would not let go of her possessions. Now that she remembered, she was determined to claim the property back from Ning Xueyan.

These account books immediately became very important. Meanwhile, she felt that it was not safe to hide them in the mansion, where Ning Xueyan might find them. Thus, she thought the best way was to hide them in her parents’ home. Even if Ning Xueyan was powerful enough, she could not go there to look for them.

Therefore, Madam Ling could not wait to take the account books away, by using the opportunity when the Vice Minister of Justice Ling sent the furniture to her.

When the carriage stopped, Mother Chen brought the coachman to the first wing room on the left side. Soon, two men carried out a large box with a seal on it. It was so heavy that they were out of breath, after taking only a few steps. The two men carried the box onto the carriage with difficulty.

Having seen the carriage turning a corner and leaving, Mother Chen breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her head. She was relieved because she had not made any error in the task assigned by First Madam.

She followed the carriage and walked to the gate of the courtyard. When she was about to leave, she suddenly heard a small voice from the left. Mother Chen could not help but look, and she saw someone’s clothing flashing by, at the corner. When she saw the maid passing by as if nothing happened, she frowned.

“Which courtyard are you from? Why are you here?” As Madam Ling’s trusted subordinate, Mother Chen asked rudely. She came forward two steps and stopped the maid

“I… I’m Third Young Lady’s maid. Just now, I saw someone sneaking past, so I followed the person in front.” The maid looked smart. Although she was terrified at first, she immediately explained shrewdly. To increase the credibility, she pointed to the tree in front of her.

Mother Chen glanced at it and felt quite breathless, because there was a person over there. Mother Chen thought the older female servant looked quite familiar. Seeing that there had been an accident, the older female servant happened to look over her shoulder. She had a furtive look.

“Fortunately, it was not Fifth Young Lady’s servant. Otherwise, First Madam would strip the skin off me.” At the thought of that, Mother Chen trembled and scolded the maid, “Go to work. Why are you hanging around? Do you want First Madam to know what you are doing?”

“No… No, I’m leaving now.” The maid did not dare to say more, and hurried back to the inner courtyard.

Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, she had already gone straight ahead. She had gone too far ahead and Mother Chen could not stop her. Fortunately, Mother Chen recognized the older female servant, who was from Concubine Xu’s house. After the First Madam suffered all kinds of unpleasant things, these people’s attitude had also changed and they even dared to stare at her. She would go back and tell First Madam about this.

Although she was uncertain if they saw her moving the account books, it was good to be careful. Mother Chen was determined to tell First Madam that Third Young Lady’s and Concubine Xu’s servants saw her move the box, lest First Madam blamed her, if something happened, later. When she made up her mind, she went to the Auspicious Clouds Courtyard, without any hesitation.

After she had walked quite a distance, Xinmei came out from another corner. She raised the corner of the mouth and gave a wry smile. She had deliberately made a noise to distract Mother Chen’s attention from the maid. As her lady expected, the maids around Third Young Lady were shrewd. Once they found that something was wrong, they would pass the buck to their companions. Concubine Xu’s older female servant would be found out.

Hearing that Ning Qingshan’s and Concubine Xu’s servants saw her sneakily transferring the account books, Madam Ling almost fainted in anger. She almost called them over to scold them. After Mother Chen’s persuasion, she gnashed her teeth and stopped, because her son repeatedly stopped her from acting recklessly.

For the time being, she really could not act recklessly.

Even if they saw her moving things, they would only think that she was transporting some private property to her parents’ home. They would never guess that those were the account books that Ning Xueyan needed.

Therefore, even if Madam Ling suspected and hated Ning Qingshan and Concubine Xu, she could not relieve her feelings. She had to put the interests of the Lord Protector’s Manor above everything else.

On the night of the Preliminary Eve, Ning Xueyan, Ning Qingshan, and Ning Lingyun left first. After all, they were all young ladies and wanted to see the festive lanterns. Madam Dowager also wanted them to become closer to each other. Ning Qingshan had been living in the Buddhist nunnery, and Ning Xueyan lived alone in the Bright Frost Garden. The three ladies were not intimate before.

Madam Dowager wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make their relationship more harmonious. In this way, she could consolidate the power of her own family. When Ning Qingshan put forward this suggestion, she agreed with pleasure.

The three ladies returned to their courtyards to dress and make up again. Ning Xueyan’s clothing was mainly light-colored. She wore a white coat edged with silver and a light blue Chinese-style jacket with buttons down the front. She wore a peacock blue dress of the same color, with flowers embroidered at the bottom. The flowers were like waves rolling over the sea, resembling the tail feathers of a peacock. They looked lustrous yet simple.

Her paler face was as delicate as a piece of jade against the dress.

Ning Lingyu’s clothing was gorgeous. Her dress was colored bright red and green, which looked very attractive.

Ning Qingshan wore a light yellow dress, which was simple but elegant. She looked beautiful and looked very dignified.

The three ladies got into the same carriage. They would be watching the festive lanterns so that they had to go by foot. It was the day to see both the festival lanterns and the dragon-boat races. If they were late, they could not catch the carriage. The Lord Protector’s Manor had booked a private room at a restaurant by the river, where the dragon boat races would take place. When they were tired of watching the festival lanterns, they could go there.

The dragon-boat races would take place after the festival lanterns. They would be there in good time.

The carriage stopped at the bustling crossing, and it could not go any further. There was a sea of people from all over. Although it was early in the evening, the lights were already lit. Many lanterns of different designs and colors could be found everywhere.

“Fourth Sister, Fifth Sister, can we get off to walk?” Ning Qingshan raised the curtains and looked outside.

The festival lanterns could not be appreciated from the carriage. Although Ning Xueyan enjoyed the festival lanterns in her prelife, it was the first time for her to enjoy the lanterns in this life. Moreover, the display of festival lanterns seemed to be better than ever. So, Ning Xueyan was a little more interested.

“Ok, Third Sister, Fourth Sister, let’s get off and walk together.” Ning Xueyan nodded.

Seeing that both agreed, Ning Lingyun nodded. She got out of the carriage after them. She felt inferior to them, and dared not show her cutting edge. She was careful and kept a low profile for fear that they might notice her, and she would die without warning.

Her aunt repeatedly told her not to confront Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan. Both of them were tough nuts to crack.

Unexpectedly, they caught the attention of a young master, who was upstairs in the opposite building, when they got off. He was leaning against the couch by the window. He wore an extravagant brocaded robe embroidered with black Manjusaka and intertwined with wide brims of gold thread. His slender finger wearing a jade ring was held against his thin red lips.

His deep eyes were filled with dark bloodthirsty Qi. He looked as gorgeous and elegant as the black Manjusaka, blooming in the underworld, which was embroidered on his robe. Even if it had an elegant name, its nature, since it came from the depths of darkness and nourished with blood, could not be changed.

“My dear concubine is coming. When she comes over, I’ll watch the festival lanterns with her.” He said idly and confidently as he twitched his beautiful lips, and reached out the other hand to touch the jade ring.

“Yes!” Although it sounded illogical, his guards behind him, nodded respectfully.

The Prince’s words were not the most reasonable, but more reasonable.