The Devious First-Daughter

“Miss, you must beware of Third Young Lady. She is the daughter in name of Madam Ming, but she didn’t respect her at all! Look, the brocade she gave Madam Ming is pink. The color is for concubines!” seeing everyone leave, Mother Han said angrily. She was brought to the manor by Madam Ming, so she had always stood on Madam Ming’s side and she couldn’t restrain her anger when she saw the insulting brocade Ning Qingshan sent here before she had returned to the manor.

“Miss, what does she mean?” Lanning was a thoughtful girl, but she couldn’t help asking now.

“She is flattering Madam Ling by suppressing Bright Frost Garden!” Ning Xueyan took the tea cup from Lanning and took a sip of tea. Her feathery eyelashes trembled in the floating mist. Her jet-black jade like eyes were too beautiful to be true, but there was a trace of irony in them.

To flatter Madam Ling and suppress Ning Xueyan!

Although they hadn’t seen Third Young Lady yet, everyone knew that she wouldn’t be friendly to Ning Xueyan.

What was wrong with the Lord Protector’s Manor? How dared an adopted daughter frame a principle wife’s daughter!

“Miss, what shall we do next?” Lanning asked, frowning. Everyone in the room could tell that Third Young Lady was difficult to deal with.

“Let’s wait for some time,” Ning Xueyan answered with a smile. Ning Qingshan wanted to both flatter Madam Ling and suppress her as well, but she wasn’t that easy to mess with. She would return the pink brocade to Ning Qingshan. Although Madam Dowager didn’t like Madam Ming, she wouldn’t be happy when she heard the news!

Ning Qingshan might suffer losses, instead of taking advantage of the others!

Since her gift had arrived, she would arrive soon.

At Lucky Garden…

Looking at the pink brocade, Madam Dowager’s face was as cold as an ice.

“How could Third Lady send this kind of things to Bright Frost Garden! It seems she is not as smart as she used to be!” Madam Dowager banged the floor with her walking stick and shouted angrily.

“Third Young Lady has always been in the nunnery, so she is getting simpler and purer. She might just want to send some bright-colored brocade to Bright Frost Garden and she didn’t know that there was something particular about it,” Mother Qin explained, lowering her head. She could sense Madam Dowager’s displeasure and she couldn’t help sighing inside. Third Young Lady really should be blamed this time.

Although Madam Dowager didn’t like her, Madam Ming is Madam Dowager’s niece and legal wife of marquis. How could Third Young Lady treat her the same way to a common concubine? Since she had put down Madam Ming like that, of course Madam Dowager would be annoyed.

If Fifth Young Lady accepted the brocade, Madam Dowager wouldn’t have known about it. But now Fifth Young Lady forcibly returned the brocade back, Mother Qin had to explain to Madam Dowager about the reason.

“Obviously what she did is inappropriate. Has she ever seen anyone send this kind of brocade to Bright Frost Garden? She is stupid! Who told her that Madam Ming was a concubine? If she were, Third Young Lady would only be a concubine’s daughter!” Madam Dowager said angrily. Although she liked Ning Qingshan, she was angry to see her insult people who was related her by blood.

“You’re right. Third Young Lady must haven’t thought it over before doing so. I’ll beat about the bush to remind her when she returns!” Madam Dowager was really annoyed, so Mother Qin didn’t dare to say more and she immediately answered to comfort her.

Madam Dowager’s gazes suddenly fell cold. She stared at Mother Qin and snorted. “Did you get some benefits from Third Young Lady as well?”

Mother Qin had never thought that she would have asked her about this bluntly. She was shocked and sweat beaded on her forehead.

“Madam Dowager, I…” she stammered and looked at Madam Dowager, didn’t know how to reply.

“Zi’er, I don’t care if you accepted the offer Third Young Lady gave you. I just want you to know who your master is!” Madam Dowager said with a dark face.

Zi’er was Mother Qin’s given name.

Mother Qin was so scared that she almost fell to the ground. She immediately fell to her knees and raised her head. “Madam Dowager, I dare not to cheat on you! I have always stood on your side, and I never dare disobey your orders. Madam Dowager, don’t you believe me?”

She had never thought about betraying Madam Dowager and she just spoke for Third Young Lady in a certain range.

Madam Dowager looked at her with a complex look. After a while, she reached out and held Mother Qin up. “Zi’er, you know me well. If I had any other choice, I wouldn’t have done it. Anyway, I’m sorry for my elder brother. Madam Ming has passed away and Yan’er is my close kin, so I can’t stand to see her bullied,” she said with a sigh.

“Yes! Yes! I understand how you feel. If you could help Madam Ming, you wouldn’t have stood her come to such a miserable end. That’s her fate,” Mother Qin immediately said, wiping sweat off her forehead.

Madam Dowager was satisfied with Mother Qin’s answer. “Both Third Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady are daughters of principles wives, and they will be very useful for our manor in the future. I don’t want any problems between them. Take out some good-quality brocade with plain color from my warehouse and give them to Fifth Young Lady. Tell her that I know she has been working hard recently,” she ordered and closed her eyes.

“Got it. I’ll choose some good brocade right away, and I won’t let Fifth Young Lady feel wronged! After all, Fifth Young Lady is related to you by blood.” Mother Qin instantly understood what Madam Dowager meant, so she promised ingratiatingly.

“You can leave now!” Madam Dowager looked very tired. She waved her hand to signal Mother Qin to leave. There were things she was reluctant to recall. Now she was Madam Dowager of the Lord Protector’s Manor, so what she should think about was the benefits of the manor and family succession. This was more important than paying attention to rumors.

She thought in this way years ago, and now she still insisted on it.

Mother Qin nodded and left.

Ning Xueyan was surprised that she met Ning Huaiyuan again.

After having supper, she went to Cloud Reflection Courtyard alone. Before she could stand still at the gate of Cloud Reflection Courtyard, a joyful voice rang out behind her, “Sister!”

It was getting dark outside. Ning Xueyan turned back and saw Ning Huaiyuan. He looked calm, but there was a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

“Brother!” Ning Xueyan said in a low voice. She looked down and bowed to greet him.

“Thank you for your gift! I thought you must have forgotten me, but you are still as good to me as before!” Ning Huaiyuan was obviously very happy. He looked at her extremely beautiful face gently.

She was so thin that it seemed she would be blown away if there was a wind. Her lips were pale and it made her look even more fragile, but it added a touch of glamour to this delicate and touching girl. “She must have led a hard life in the nunnery. Otherwise, how can she be so thin that she doesn’t look like she is already sixteen?” Ning Huaiyuan thought.

He looked at her and landed his gaze on her right hand wrapped in gauze. He was a little surprised and then went angry. “What happened? Who injured you?” he shouted.

Ning Xueyan looked good when he saw her in the afternoon. Why did she hurt her hand in such a short time?

Ning Xueyan didn’t understand why Ning Huaiyuan said that she had given him a gift. She frowned and tried to recall something which could remind her about it, but before she could find the answer, Ning Huaiyuan had shifted the topic to her hand.

Her hand wasn’t injured. In order to go along with the lie, she asked Lanning to wrap her hand with gauze.

“It’s not that serious. I burned my hand accidentally and it blistered.” She knew she shouldn’t describe her injuries too lightly or too heavily.

If she said her injuries were too serious, Madam Dowager would ask a doctor to come, and then they would find that she was lying.

On the contrary, if she said her injuries were minor, Madam Dowager would ask her to learn flower arrangement again. When she was as ‘outstanding’ as Ning Qingshan, they would marry her to someone who was both rich and powerful to make profits for the manor.

“Really? Do you need a doctor?” Ning Huaiyuan looked at her and asked anxiously. She looked so pale!

“I’m okay. Thank you, brother! When did you come here? What are you doing here?” Ning Xueyan smiled and asked. She didn’t expect Ning Huaiyuan to answer her questions, and she just wanted to shift the topic. She wondered why Ning Huaiyuan cared about her so much. It even made her a little nervous.

“Sister, do you still remember here?” Ning Huaiyuan asked with a smile, raising his head and looking around.

Of course Ning Xueyan remembered here, because ‘she’ died in the courtyard. Her eyelid twitched and there was a cold appeared in her eyes, but it disappeared soon. It was normal that it was a place she would never forget, but why Ning Huaiyuan still remembered here? There was a nostalgic expression on his face when he looked around.

“I thought you must have forgotten this place. I’m so happy to see you here. Just like me, you must haven’t forgotten this place!” Ning Huaiyuan said with a touch of excitement in his eyes. He smiled and continued, “I remember that I stole a book to read here and happened to run into you. You said that you would tell Grandmother. I was scared and I pleaded you not to expose me, and finally, you agreed not to turn me in on the condition that I show you the book. From then on, I would have come here whenever I got a book.”

“Reading book?”

Ning Xueyan frowned. She had never had such experience no matter when she had been Ning Ziying or she was Ning Xueyan!

Now she was sure that Ning Huaiyuan had mistaken her for someone else. Thinking about the gift he had mentioned, she could tell that he must have mistaken her for Ning Qingshan. She was a little surprised that Ning Qingshan and Ning Huaiyuan were so close. “No wonder Ning Huaiyuan affectionately called me sister at the sight of me!” Ning Xueyan thought.

But his attitude seemed to be too warm!

Even if she were his younger sister by blood, it was abnormal to be so warm!

Ning Huaiyuan didn’t find anything wrong with Ning Xueyan. He turned his head and looked at her face. She was so beautiful and grace that she looked like a fairy! Ning Huaiyuan let out a heavy sigh and said, “Sister, it has been three years since we were apart. That’s a long time!”

Although he had kept a good relationship with Ning Qingshan, he vaguely felt that he didn’t like to be close with her, so even though she had been gone for three years, he didn’t think much of it. He had never expected that Ning Qingshan would be any different from she used to be after coming back. But when he saw the charming and weak girl among the red plum blossom, he was so delighted of her coming back!

It was good news for him. He had never expected Ning Qingshan to come back so much!

So after supper, he walked here without knowing it. It was a remote corner of the garden. When he and Ning Qingshan were very young, they liked to come here to read and say something vaguely sensible.

“I’m right! He has mistaken me for Ning Qingshan!”

Ning Xueyan took several steps back, frowning. Then she stopped and raised her head. “Brother, you mistook me for someone else! I’m Ning Xueyan!” she said with a smile.

No matter what kind of relationship was between Ning Huaiyuan and Ning Qingshan, she didn’t want to get involved in. The best way was to tell Ning Huaiyuan the truth, so she put it straightforward.

With that, she bowed to Ning Huaiyuan and turned to leave, left Ning Huaiyuan standing there, slack-jawed.