The Devious First-Daughter

“Third Sister, since you are so smart, how can you know only a little? It so happens that there is something I do not understand in the account books, can you give me some advice?” Ning Xueyan asked, with a smile. She spoke naturally, and Ning Qingshan almost forgot to reply. She blinked, and then she was overjoyed.

She was just thinking about how she could make Ning Xueyan bring out the account books here. To her surprise, Ning Xueyan had put her neck into the noose by asking her to check the account books! So it was no wonder she became so excited.

“Fifth sister, if there is anything I can do for you, I will certainly do my best,” she said with a smile, trying to suppress her excitement.

“Lanning, bring the account books here,” Ning Xueyan immediately ordered Lanning, who was standing behind her.

Lanning already had preparations in mind. She nodded to Ning Xueyan, and after a short while, she brought out several account books. Looking from where she stood, Ning Qingshan could tell that there were five account books. But she was not in a hurry to look through them, because she knew that the last page of one account book among the stack, was not in order. Since they were piled up one on top of the other, the account book under this one should also have been stained as well.

She had been racking her brains earlier, wondering how to get Ning Xueyan to bring out the account books. Ning Qingshan thought since Ning Xueyan was courting death, she would not show any mercy.

“Fifth sister, these are the account books you were checking, right? You’re such an organized person! They’re very neat and orderly, so obviously you have put in a lot of effort.” Ning Qingshan smiled, covering her mouth with a handkerchief. Then she reached out and wanted to take the account books from Ning Xueyan’s hands.

“If I pretend to accidentally drop the account books, the page that was stained will be exposed in front of everyone,” she thought.

“Third Sister, are you serious that you’ll help me?” Seeing that Ning Qingshan’s hand was about to touch the account books, Ning Xueyan suddenly pulled them back, with a smile. She looked at Ning Qingshan with a complex look in her jet-black eyes.

Even though Ning Qingshan had been calm and cunning till now, she could not help feeling nervous when such a good opportunity seemed to be slipping away from her. “Fifth Sister, what are you talking about? We are sisters, so of course we should help each other. Since you’ve asked me to help you, I have no reason to refuse you.”

“So Third Sister, you’re serious about helping me?” Ning Xueyan asked again, with a smile. She still held the account books in her hands, and showed no signs of giving them to Ning Qingshan.

“Yes! Yes! I’ll definitely help you,” Ning Qingshan became a little impatient, but she didn’t let it show it on her face, but smiled instead. She then tried to take the account books from Ning Xueyan’s hands again, while joking, “Fifth Sister, it seems that you can’t bear to give them to me. Am I right? You have begged me several times to help you, but you seem a bit reluctant to hand them over.”

She was hinting that Ning Xueyan did not really want her to check the account books, and she took out them just because she wanted to show off in front of others. Ning Qingshan smiled while speaking, and her words were unimpeachable, so it was hard to figure out whether she was joking with Ning Xueyan, or hinting at something.

“Third Sister, do you have time to check the account books now?” Ning Xueyan asked with a faint smile, as if she did not know what Ning Qingshan was hinting at.

Ning Qingshan was a little surprised. Now she was still standing beside Madam Dowager to serve her. Although Madam Dowager had almost already finished her dinner, as her granddaughter who was in charge of serving her during dinner, she could not leave her to check the account books at the moment.

Her intention was to drop the account books onto the floor, and all she needed was a few seconds to do this. But she could not tell this to Madam Dowager.

“Ning Xueyan has asked her maid to bring the account books here, but she is reluctant to give them to me! What is she trying to do?” Ning Qingshan was sharp, and immediately sensed that something was wrong. She frowned.

“Grandmother, Third Sister has agreed to help me. Please be my witness! If she has no time to check the account books, she must take them back to Foggy Courtyard, and find time to check them for me,” Ning Xueyan walked over to Madam Dowager and pleaded with her. She looked like a little girl, who was asking Madam Dowager for support. She had an air of both innocence and intimacy when she spoke.

Ning Xueyan was still young, so such a manner was very natural for her age.

Other old ladies thought that she was joking with her sister, and even Madam Dowager liked her vivacity. Ning Xueyan seldom showed her intimacy with her in public, so she felt very proud when Ning Xueyan showed that she was close to her in front of others.

She reached out, patted Ning Xueyan on her hand and said amiably, “Don’t worry. I’ll support you. Since your Third Sister has promised to help you, she must keep her words. To prevent her from reneging, I’ll ask someone to send the account books to her later.”

Ning Qingshan became very anxious when she heard that the account books were going to be sent to her place. If the stained page was found after the account books had been sent to her, she would not be able to prove her innocence. She was surprised at Ning Xueyan’s deceit. “Ning Xueyan must have already found the stained page, and she is now trying to send them to my place. No way!” she thought.

But she had already promised to help Ning Xueyan just now, she could not refuse her now. Seeing that Ning Xueyan was about to pass the account books to the maid beside Madam Dowager, she said anxiously, “Grandmother, let me have a look first. I must make sure that I understand everything in the account books. Otherwise, I might not be able to help Fifth Sister.”

“Grandmother, see, Third Sister wants to backtrack already, after she has made the promise!” Ning Xueyan said with a smile. She took back the account books and then passed them to Madam Dowager.

The account books were now in front of Madam Dowager. Ning Xueyan meant to let Madam Dowager have a look at them first. Ning Qingshan wasn’t sure whether Madam Dowager would check them carefully. Her brain was spinning fast. She was worried that if Madam Dowager did not check them before asking someone send them to her place, she would not be able to explain the stained page well.

So she would have to do something in order to knock down the account books to the ground, before they were sent to Foggy Courtyard.

But it seemed Ning Xueyan did not want to give the account books directly to her at all. “This bitch is so sly! But I can still find a way to deal with her,” she thought.

She turned her head and looked at Xia’er who was standing beside her. Then she gestured with her eyes to the account books.

Xia’er had served Ning Qingshan for many years. She knew what was going on with one of the account books. So she immediately walked over and tried to take the account books from Ning Xueyan’s hands. She always turned her nose up at others, and in her mind, her master was the noblest person, so she seldom showed respect for anyone else.

Ning Qingshan had reminded her not to speak and to act casually in front of others, and she was usually cautious. However, she was worried that the account books might be sent to Foggy Courtyard before Madam Dowager checked them and found the stained page, so she forgot what her attention should be focused on. She rushed over, and tried to grab the account books from Ning Xueyan, shouting, “Fifth Young Lady, please give the account books to me! I’ll bring them to Foggy Courtyard, and then my master will check them.”

Xia’er rushed over hurriedly, just as Ning Xueyan was putting down the account books in front of Madam Dowager. She inevitably had to reach out her hands in front of Madam Dowager if she wanted to take the account books from Ning Xueyan. To her surprise, Ning Xueyan suddenly pulled back the account books the moment she reached out, so Xia’er could not withdraw her hands, and almost fell on Madam Dowager’s face.

“Ah! Xia’er, be careful!” Ning Qingshan had a feeling that things would go wrong the moment she saw Ning Xueyan withdrawing the account books. Now she saw that Xia’er was going to be in trouble, so she exclaimed in surprise.

Xia’er’s hands did not touch the account books, but seemed to stretch toward Madam Dowager instead. Madam Dowager was afraid, and took a step back subconsciously, and narrowly avoided her hands.

“What are you doing? Get down on your knees!” Mother Qin shouted, pointing at Xia’er. She was startled and her face turned pale.

“I…” Xia’er was stunned as well. Seeing Madam Dowager’s face darkened, she knelt down and explained anxiously, “Madam Dowager, I… I didn’t mean to do that. I just wanted to take the account books from Fifth Young Lady, but she suddenly withdrew them.”

She was afraid that Madam Dowager would punish her, so she immediately stood up for herself. Obviously, she meant that Ning Xueyan had withdrawn the account books deliberately. Although Xia’er was arrogant, she knew that she was in trouble, so she was eager to shift the blame to Ning Xueyan.

When they had been at the nunnery, to make it look as if she treated her maid well, Ning Qingshan deliberately asked Xia’er not to address herself as the maid when she spoke to her in front of others. Moreover, she also told Xia’er that she did not take her as her maid, but as her younger sister. She would share everything she had with Xia’er in the future.

From then on, Xia’er became even more loyal to her!

But after returning to the manor, Ning Qingshan had reminded her not to address herself as ‘I’ when she spoke in front of the masters of the manor. Xia’er was anxious and she had always looked down upon Ning Xueyan, so she blurted out the ‘I’, unintentionally.

Then she found that not only did Madam Dowager’s face darken, the other old ladies were sizing her up in a disdainful manner as well.

“Slap her!” Madam Dowager ordered, her face as cold as ice. How dare a maid address herself as ‘I’ in front of the masters! She did not behave like a maid at all! The outsiders would laugh at Lord Protector’s Manor, for having such an ill mannered maid. Besides, if she had not dodged quickly, her face would have been scratched by the maid!

“Madam Dowager, maid Xia’er …” Looking at two older female servants coming over to her, Xia’er was frightened, and she regretted her slip of tongue.

With a crack, a hand landed on Xia’er’s face heavily, and she was almost knocked backward to the ground before she could continue her explanation. The slap made her brain buzz. She raised her head and could not speak out due to fear and surprise when she saw the person who had slapped her. It was no other than Ning Qingshan, the one she respected the most!

Qing’er covered her face, and looked at Ning Qingshan, tearfully.

“Grandmother, I should be blamed. If I didn’t spoil her too much and was too generous with her, Xia’er would not have been so ill mannered. I never thought she would offend you. Grandmother, please punish me,” Ning Qingshan knelt, and said this, with tears in her eyes. She looked very sad.

Then she turned her head and said to Xia’er angrily, “Xia’er, apologize to Grandmother right now!”

Seeing that Ning Qingshan had knelt down ahead of her, Xia’er’s astonishment turned to appreciation. She thought her master still treated her well, and she slapped her because she had no other choice. So she moved forward and kowtowed to Madam Dowager. “Madam Dowager, it’s all maid Xia’er’s fault. Maid Xia’er didn’t see Fifth Young Lady suddenly withdrawing her hands, so Xia’er almost hurt you by mistake! Please punish me! It has nothing to do with my master.”

Xia’er was quite ruthless. With a bang, her forehead landed on the ground. When she raised her head again, the fair skin on her forehead had spilt and started to bleed. When she saw Xia’er’s forehead bleeding, and especially when she heard Xia’er defending her, Ning Qingshan could not help but look at her anxiously.

The master and the maid seemed to care so much about each other. The scene was so touching!

Noble families valued loyal servants very much. In their eyes, Xia’er was obvious a loyal maid, so everyone changed their minds. The old ladies thought she was a straightforward person when they saw her bleeding forehead, because she had used too much strength in kowtowing. They could tell that she deeply regretted her actions.

When they thought over what she had said, they could not help but look at Ning Xueyan suspiciously.