Chapter 219 - A Well Plotted Show
Chapter 219 A Well Plotted Show
Third Prince left and took away Ning Qingshan’s maid. Seeing him off, Ning Huaiyuan walked toward Lucky Garden, ignoring Ning Qingshan, who had collapsed on the ground, and could not get up for the moment. He had to talk to his grandmother about this, and ask her to make a decision.
Now, nobody would care about the little episode about Concubine Ma!
“Fifth Sister…” Seeing that Ning Huaiyuan did not talk to her, Ning Qingshan immediately turned to Ning Xueyan, with a sad look. She realized that the situation was turning out to be disadvantageous to her. Many outsiders had seen what had taken place, from the gate just now. Even though they did not know what was going on, they could tell from her bedraggled look, that something bad had happened to Ning Qingshan.
Both Third Prince and Ning Huaiyuan had given her the cold shoulder. If even Ning Xueyan did not want to talk to her, what would the others think of her? They might think that she must have done something wicked. Otherwise, why was it that nobody wanted to talk to her when she was in trouble?
She had been thinking so highly of herself, but now she had to make Ning Xueyan stay with her.
If Ning Xueyan agreed to stay with her, she would have an excuse to explain this matter.
However, before she could continue, Ning Xueyan took several steps forward, and ignored her. She walked into the manor, following closely behind Ning Huaiyuan. “Brother Huaiyuan, I’ll visit our grandmother with you. By the way, I’ll check if Concubine Ma is still there.”
Ning Qingshan’s face instantly turned ashen. Watching the backs of the two receding, plus the mocking looks from the others, her face flushed. Gritting her teeth, she stood up with the help of Mammy Luo. She glared at Ning Xueyan’s back, with coldness and deep hatred in her eyes.
She could not accept the fact that Ning Xueyan had escaped from her trap again!
Ning Xueyan knew that Ning Qingshan was staring at her from behind, and she must have an impulse to kill her now, but she did not care about this. She caught up with Ning Huaiyuan and asked, “Brother Huaiyuan, is there anything special about the jade pendant? Why was Third Prince so angry?”
She really wanted to know the answer. She had left before Ning Qingshan could say anything to her, because she did not want Ning Qingshan’s scheme to succeed. On the other hand, she wanted to know the origin of the jade pendant. “Could the jade pendant really have come from the previous dynasty as I assumed, and Ning Qingshan did not get it from Ao Mingyu?” she wondered.
She had told Concubine Ma that this jade pendant came from the previous dynasty, because she wanted to scare her. But now, it seemed that what she said was really true.
“I don’t know. Since Third Prince was in a rage, I did not find a chance to ask him,” Ning Huaiyuan answered tactfully, shaking his head. He turned his head, and with a frown, fixed his gaze on Ning Xueyan’s face with a thoughtful look.
“Brother Huaiyuan, do you want to tell our grandmother about this?” Ning Xueyan continued, as if she had not seen the thoughtful look in his eyes.
“Well, at least I should let our grandmother know that Third Prince was annoyed. You can go back to your Bright Frost Garden now,” Ning Huaiyuan said coldly, looking at Ning Xueyan with a piercing light in his eyes. Obviously, Ning Huaiyuan did not want to talk to Ning Xueyan, and he was trying to get rid of her.
“But I should explain to our grandmother about the incident regarding Concubine Ma. I’m afraid that she may believe the rumors, and think that I was such an evil girl that I even wanted to help Concubine Ma leave our manor.” Pausing for a while, Ning Xueyan did not leave as Ning Huaiyan expected, but continued to walk forward with him.
Ning Huaiyuan sped up, but she still followed closely behind him.
Ning Huaiyuan suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked at Ning Xueyan, who was a little breathless from her haste. “Fifth Sister, our grandmother won’t have time to think about Concubine Ma’s matter for the moment. You’d better go back to Bright Frost Garden now. I will explain to her about what happened at the gate,” he said.
He knew that he could not hide what had happened at the gate from the people. He had thought that Ning Qingshan was a smart girl, so when she had dispatched someone to tell him that she had reserved a carriage, he did not pay much attention to it. Moreover, when Ning Qingshan had invited him to watch a show at the gate, he did not refuse. Now he discovered that the smart Ning Qingshan did not seem as smart as before, after staying at the nunnery for three years!
On the contrary, the Fifth Sister in front of him had surprised him the first time he saw her, after returning the manor. She was nothing like what he had remembered her to be.
“Okay. Thank you, Brother Huaiyuan!” Ning Xueyan nodded. Since Ning Huaiyuan had agreed to explain for her, she knew she should not follow him anymore, and it was not the best time to visit Madam Dowager.
It seemed there was a story behind Ning Qingshan, no, behind the jade pendant of Ning Qingshan! Obviously, Ning Huaiyuan had smelled the fragrance of the ambergris and he had also seen the dragon pattern. Ning Xueyan could tell there must be a secret that she was not aware of, and maybe it had something to do with the previous dynasty.
And it was very likely that Ning Huaiyuan had the military medallion that Prince Yi, Ao Chenyi, was looking for.
The jade pendant Ning Qingshan had taken out was very likely a relic from the previous dynasty. It seemed that not only Ao Mingyu had been shocked at the sight of it, even the whole Lord Protector’s Manor would be shocked as well.
It should have nothing to do with Ning Xueyan, but now she had to get herself involved. Since she had promised Ao Chenyi to find the previous dynasty’s military medallion for him, she would not let him down. Besides, in the current situation, the more mysterious Ning Qingshan was, the more difficult she would be to deal with. In any case, Ao Mingyu should have been angry with her. What had happened before and today was enough to make anyone realize how vicious Ning Qingshan was.
However, he had let Ning Qingshan go so easily, and only took the maid away. It was really strange!
It seemed Ao Mingyu had spared Ning Qingshan not because he cared about her. Although he hid it carefully, Ning Xueyan had still seen the disgusted look in his eyes, when he looked at Ning Qingshan. Then why had he not taken Ning Qingshan away with that maid?
“What is he trying to hide?”
“Could that jade pendant be the military medallion from the previous dynasty?”
Sitting in front of the window, Ning Xueyan suddenly came up with a bold assumption. But she immediately shook her head. Since Ao Mingyu had said that Ning Huaiyuan had the military medallion, he must have his reason. Therefore, it was impossible for Ning Qingshan to have it.
Besides, since Prince Yi was looking for the military medallion, Ao Mingyu must have been looking for it as well. If the jade pendant was the military medallion, why had Ao Mingyu not shown any joy on his face? He had held the jade pendant firmly and covered half of the carved dragon with his hand. People who were not familiar with the pattern, could not tell that the jade was carved with a dragon.
Ning Xueyan had seen clearly that there was a mixture of disgust, grimness, surprise, and even a trace of a killing intent on Ao Mingyu’s face, but definitely no expression of joy.
Besides, he had not seemed to be surprised by the sudden appearance of this jade pendant. Maybe Ao Mingyu had known that Ning Qingshan had the jade pendant before. Or maybe, he or Honored Consort Ya had given it to Ning Qingshan. But how to explain the disgust and the killing intent on his face?
“Maybe I should find more information about the previous dynasty,” Ning Xueyan thought. When she was Ning Ziying in her last life, she had known nothing about the outside world. When she was in her hometown, neither her parents nor the servants of their manor had ever mentioned anything to her about the previous dynasty. If she had not come to the capital, she would not have known that the previous dynasty had only ended a dozen of years ago.
After arriving in the capital, she had known something about the previous dynasty from Xia Yuhang, but she had never taken it seriously. The so-called previous dynasty seemed quite far from her!
But now, she found that she seemed to be so close to it that she could almost touch it. However, she could only see it, but not touch it. Everything seemed to be shrouded in a mist.
“Lanning, has Mother Han come back?” Ning Xueyan touched her own forehead, and turned to Lanning, who had been standing behind her quietly. Because she had been so deep in thought for so long, she felt her brain going numb. Ever since she had been lost in thought after returning to Bright Frost Garden, Lanning had told all the others to leave, and then stood behind her quietly, to accompany her.
“Miss, Mother Han came back just now. Seeing you were in a trance, she did not come in. Wait a moment. I’ll ask her to come in right now,” Lanning answered with a nod. She then turned and walked out. After a short while, Mother Han, who had been waiting outside, came in.
“Miss, do you want to ask me about Madam Ming?” Mother Han asked, as soon as she entered the room.
“Ning Lingyun said I was the rebel’s daughter. Was that because of my mother?” Ning Xueyan asked thoughtfully. From the tone Ning Lingyun had used and her look, Ning Xueyan could tell that she was serious at that point. Besides, Ning Zu’an’s attitude had been very suspicious.
“Miss, I would not have brought it up if you had not asked. Madam Ming was the daughter of the Minister of War of the previous dynasty, and she was a well-known noble Young Lady. The Mings had been a noble family for more than a hundred years, so in fact they were far more noble than those who call themselves noble families of the current dynasty.”
Mother Han said resentfully, “The marquis was just a low ranking military official. If he had not married Madam Ming, he would not have become a general, and of course he would not have helped the present emperor to crack down the previous dynasty, and become the new power of the current dynasty. Finally, he even managed to demote Madam Ming from the role of principal wife to a co-wife!”
“You mean he became so powerful because of my mother?” Ning Xueyan knew that Madam Ming’s family was extraordinary, but she was a little surprised that the Mings used to be so powerful. A Young Lady from a noble family with a history of more than a hundred years had married a low ranking official, so from the very beginning, their status were quite different. It was a coincidence that with the regime change, the humble man had become an influential official of the new dynasty, and his wife, the previous noble lady, had become a rebel.
After the new emperor had ascended the throne, all the officials who were loyal to the former emperor were regarded as rebels. This earth-shaking change also brought the status changes of Madam Ming and Ning Zu’an. Therefore, in Ning Zu’an’s eyes, Madam Ming had not been suitable to be his principal wife any more, and the previous well-known noble Young Lady might hinder his promotion and wealth.
That was why things had ended up like this.
“How did Madam Ling marry Ning Zu’an?” Ning Xueyan suddenly thought of something, and she continued to ask after a short pause.
“In order to marry Madam Ming, the marquis repeatedly promised that he would only have one wife, and would not marry any concubine in the future. He seemed very sincere in wanting to marry Madam Ming, and in order to marry her, he even knelt in front of the door of the minister’s study room for two days and nights. Finally, he passed out and Madam Ming felt very sorry for him. She knelt in front of the door as well, saying if she could not marry the marquis, she would keep keeling there until she died.”
Thinking about that, Mother Han’s eyes were filled with tears. How distinguished Madam Ming used to be! As the most famous noble Young Lady and the empress’ best friend, countless talented young men had wanted to marry her. If Ning Zu’an had not moved her by kneeling in front of the minister’s study room, how could the minister have agreed to marry his daughter to him?
But he had been just acting. It turned out to be a well plotted show!