The Devious First-Daughter

Ning Qingshan used to pick red plums for Madam Dowager. These days Madam Dowager mentioned it from time to time. She talked about the filial Third Young Lady Ning Qingshan, as if she was talking about her biological granddaughter. She spoke highly of her and also asked Ning Xueyan to clean the Foggy Courtyard. All the appliances were replaced with new ones, several of which were given by Madam Dowager.

And that dazzling glaze screen given by Madam Dowager was Madam Ming’s dowry!

It seemed that not only Madam Ling, but also Madam Dowager privately took possession of Madam Ming’s dowry, otherwise, Madam Dowager would not be so generous and send things to Ning Qingshan’s Foggy Courtyard.

Madam Dowager mentioned Ning Qingshan and red plums again and again. How could Ning Xueyan not understand that? So today she specially came out to pick red plums for Madam Dowager.

Qingyu walked away while carrying the vase with the red plum in it. Ning Xueyan stood alone under the plum tree and meditated while looking at the red plums. The red plums made her black hair and beautiful face free from vulgarity. And her pale face even made people feel that she would go with the wind.

“Sister!” A gentle and affectionate cry came behind her. That gentle voice almost made her feel that she was in a dream. Once there was a person who also called her so gently.

“Ying’er, I’ll accompany you all my life!”

“Ying’er, you are the only wife in my life. I will never betray you!”

“Ying’er…”

Ning Xueyan shook her head to get rid of the voice in her mind. Then she blinked her eyes and turned back. When she saw the man coming to her, she was a little surprised!

It was Ning Huaiyuan!

When she was Ning Ziying, she had met Ning Huaiyuan. At that time, Ning Huaiyuan was neither indifferent nor enthusiastic to Ning Ziying. After all, there should be a prudent reserve between the sexes. Although Ning Ziying lived in Lord Protector’s Manor, she had only seen Ning Huaiyuan a few times and said a few words with him. She almost had no impression of him.

In Ning Xueyan’s memory, this brother always ignored her. When he saw that she was bullied by Ning Yuling, he would not say a word for her and passed by with indifference. Instead of seeing her who was bullied, he went to see Ning Yuling who bullied her and asked whether her hand was hurt when she beat her. In his mind, she had never been his sister.

Unexpectedly, he would come forward and call her affectionately when he saw her this time. How could Ning Xueyan not be surprised?

Looking up at him, Ning Xueyan did not speak for a moment.

Ning Huaiyuan thought that Ning Qingshan did not recognize him for a while, and gently said, “We haven’t seen for many years. Didn’t you recognize me?”

“Brother!” Although Ning Xueyan did not know what Ning Huaiyuan meant, she still calmly went forward and slightly bowed to salute him.

“I haven’t seen you for many years. Unexpectedly, you’re more beautiful and more courteous.” Ning Huaiyuan smiled more gently and reached out, as if he was going to help her get up.

Ning Xueyan moved aside and avoided his hand. She blinked her eyes and slight indifference appeared in her eyes. She meditated in her mind. “Ning Huaiyuan’s attitude is really strange. When did I have such a good relationship with him, so that he directly called me sister.”

Ning Huaiyuan asked with a smile on his face, “Sister, are you busy now? Can you stroll with me for a while?” A trace of meaningful look flashed through his eyes.

“Sorry, brother, I can’t accompany you. I have to go to grandma’s place.” Ning Xueyan refused with a gentle smile on her face. She didn’t think she had anything to say with Ning Huaiyuan. Moreover, Ning Huaiyuan’s attitude was very strange and different from his attitudes towards her in the past. He was so gentle that she almost thought that he was facing his biological sister.

Ning Xueyan insisted on leaving, so Ning Huaiyuan did not stop. He smiled and made way for her. “Okay. We can stroll as before when you have time!”

Ning Huaiyuan’s voice was low and gentle, but it happened to be heard by Ning Xueyan who passed by. Ning Xueyan frowned and glanced at him, happening to look into Ning Huaiyuan’s eyes. Ning Xueyan did not know his meaning, but slightly bowed and turned to the road to Lucky Garden.

Qingyu came from a distance and saw Ning Xueyan walking toward Lucky Garden. She asked with doubts, “Young Lady, why did you come?” When Qingyu left just now, Ning Xuyan had no intention of coming.

“What did Madam Dowager say?” Ning Xueyan stopped and stood at the intersection. After Qingyu came, the two turned to another path, which was also a shortcut to Bright Frost Garden.

Seeing Ning Xueyan turning around, Qingyu thought that Ning Xueyan could not wait to go back and did not care about it. She followed Ning Xueyan and said, “Madam Dowager likes that flower very much. She praised you continuously. She said that you are as ingenious as the Third Young Lady. Only then did Madam Dowager let me ask you whether you want to learn flower arrangement.”

Flower arrangement? The Third Young Lady Ning Qingshan? After hearing Qingyu’s words, Ning Xueyan showed a cold smile on her face. She did not understand Madam Dowager’s meaning at first. But now she fully understood. Madam Dowager really had cudgeled her brains.

Thinking that Madam Dowager compared her Young Lady with the Third Young Lady, Qingyu was quite unhappy. “My Young Lady was born of the legal wife while the Third Young Lady is an adopted daughter even though she is quite good. Why does Madam Dowager speak highly her, as if she was her biological granddaughters?”

Qingyu unhappily said, “Young Lady, the Third Young Lady cannot hold a candle to you. She is just an adopted daughter, not the biological daughter of marquis. Don’t they say that she is virtuous and filial? When Second Madam was ill in Bright Frost Garden, she only came to greet the Second Madam on the first day of the New Year, and then left immediately. She is not filial at all.”

Ning Qingshan nominally was Madam Ming’s daughter. She ought to be filial to Madam Ming most!

Ning Qingshan was clever. On the first days of the New Year, she always went to Bright Frost Garden to greet Madam Ming and offer her a cup of tea. But she would not stay in Bright Frost Garden for more than fifteen minutes. In Ning Xueyan’s memory, although her Third Sister smiled at her, her smile was not sincere. Her eyes were full of arrogance which was hidden under her smile.

The reason why she showed this expression in front of Ning Xueyan was that she looked down on Ning Xueyan and never regarded Ning Xueyan as her opponent.

Ning Xueyan reached out her tender white hand, and took a yellow leaf that had fallen from the tree, faintly saying, “Tell Madam Dowager in a moment that I’ve burned my hand with hot water.”

No matter how good Ning Qingshan was, she was unwilling to be the second one! She heard that the Third Young Lady was good at flower arrangement when she was in Lord Protector’s Manor, which also was the reason why Honored Consort Ya appreciated her. Therefore, flower arrangement became popular among the young ladies from respectable or noble families.

Some of the consorts in the imperial palace were also proud of their ability to arrange flowers. Madam Dowager’s ultimate goal was to make her the second Ning Qingshan.

Qingyu nodded and said, “Yes, I’ll report it to Madam Dowager in a minute.” Suddenly, she asked after thinking for a moment, “Young Lady, only then did I heard the maids in Lucky Garden say that the Eldest Young Master is back. What should we do?”

“Take it easy. We’ll take one step and look around before taking another.” Suddenly, Ning Xueyan stopped and looked at the empty courtyard in front of her. This path led to Bright Frost Garden, but they also would pass through the Cloud Reflection Courtyard if they took this path. Seeing the desolate Cloud Reflection Courtyard which used to be busy, Ning Xueyan showed coldness in her dark eyes.

Every time she came here, her mind was filled with hatred, which had gone deep into her bone. When she dreamed at midnight, she would wake up every time she saw the lake covered with blood in her dream…

Qingyu also felt the anomaly of Ning Xueyan and carefully asked, “Young Lady, what’s wrong?”

Ning Xueyan asked while narrowing her eyes, “Look, Qingyu, is there anybody over there?” The leaves rustled because of the wind in winter. It seemed that someone had flashed at a distance, but she did not see it clearly.

Qingyu had a look along the direction of Ning Xueyan’s eyes and saw nothing unusual. “Young Lady, I did not see anything different. It’s branches that are shaking in the strong wind.”

Ning Xueyan looked at there again and found nothing. It seemed that the figure flashed just now really did not exist. Then Ning Xueyan turned and walked to Bright Frost Courtyard.

But she had a feeling that what she just saw was true. It seemed that there were too many secrets buried in the Cloud Reflection Courtyard, and she could not find a clue for a moment. Xia Yuhang, Ning Ziyan, Madam Ling, Ning Zu’an, Madam Dowager, and the brocade mentioned by Mother Wang seemed to be in disorder.

But Ning Xueyan knew that there must be a connection!

“Qingyu, did Mother Wang say anything about Ning Ziying?” Ning Xueyan thought about it all the way while asking Qingyu who was following her. In order to prevent others from discovering that Mother Wang’s legs were all right, the matter that Mother Wang was in the Bright Frost Garden was in charge of Qingyu, Lanning, and Xinmei.

Xinmei was sent to Ning Xueyan by Ao Chenyi and had to deal with many things related to Ning Xueyan, so most of the time there were Qingyu and Lanning.

“Mother Wang didn’t say anything, she just said…” Qingyu hesitated for a moment, but then said with a smile on her face, “Mother Wang said you and her Young Lady look alike, but Lanning and I don’t think so. Lanning also said that you and Young Lady Ziying are sisters and slightly resemblance is normal. Honestly speaking, your eyes and Young Lady Ziying’s eyes look the most alike. I don’t know why Mother Wang said you and her Young Lady look alike.”

Ning Xueyan suddenly stopped and blinked her watery eyes, showing abnormalities in her eyes. Her previous appearance suddenly appeared in her mind. Did Ning Ziying and Ning Xueyan look alike? Why had she never felt it?

Ning Ziying’s face was slightly rounder, ruddy and lustrous, while Ning Xueyan was thin. When she reborn, she, a 14-year-old girl, looked like an 11- or 12-year-old girl. During this period, she had been taking the medicine given by Ao Chenyi and also trying to nurse her health, so that she slightly looked like a 14-year-old normal girl.

But she still was thin. She had a sharp chin and a pale face. She did not resemble Ning Ziying at all. But Mother Wang said they looked alike, which confused Ning Xueyan.

“Qingyu, did Mother Wang really say that Ning Ziying and I look alike?” Ning Xueyan bit her lips and meditated. “Does Mother Wang doubt that I am Ning Ziying, or does she really feel that I look like Ning Ziying?”

Qingyu said with certainty, “Yes, Mother Wang has said that to me and Lanning more than once, so I and Lanning have talked about it in private.”

Ning Xueyan went on walking and asked neither fast nor slowly, “Has Mother Wang ever said that someone else look alike Ning Ziying?”

“No, Mother Wang only said you look alike Young Lady Ziying. She did not say anyone else look alike Young Lady Ziying. Most of the time, Mother Wang doesn’t talk about her Young Lady. Every time she talks about her, she would cry. It’s so pitiful. Why did she take things too hard and throw herself into the lake?” Qingyu sighed. Mother Wang was also pitiful. Ning Ziying who she had taken care of for many years suddenly died. How could she not be sad?

Suddenly, a maid appeared on the path and shouted, “Young Lady…” When they approached her and found that she came from the Bright Frost Courtyard. On seeing Ning Xueyan, the maids hurried to say, “Young Lady, Madam Dowager sent you many gifts.”