The Devious First-Daughter

Moreover, the attitude of Prince Yi was unclear. After the matter of changing the jade Ruyi, Madam Dowager couldn’t dare to say that Prince Yi didn’t care about Ning Xueyan at all.

But if she couldn’t record Ning Huaiyuan as Madam Ming’s son, Ning Huaiyuan wouldn’t be able to become the Princely Heir of Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Dowager had prepared this for Ning Huaiyuan for a long time.

Since Madam Ming had passed away, if Ning Huaiyuan wanted to be recognized as Madam Ming’s son, he had to win Ning Xueyan’s approval. On behalf of her mother, Ning Xueyan could drink the tea offered by Ning Huaiyuan, which meant that they had officially acknowledged Ning Huaiyuan. Then he would become Madam Ming’s son as well as the eldest son of the Lord Protector. It was natural for him to become the Princely Heir of the Lord Protector.

At first, Madam Dowager thought that it was a piece of cake. As long as she revealed some of her intentions, Ning Xueyan dared not disobey. However, the current situation was far from what she had expected. Madam Dowager even thought that Ning Xueyan had known her thoughts because she could always make the key points.

Ning Xueyan didn’t agree nor disagree with her. For a moment, Madam Dowager couldn’t figure out whether Ning Xueyan understood her or not. So she couldn’t make up her mind.

“Madam Dowager, the Ming’s Manor sent an invitation. They invited the Fifth Young Lady to pay homage to Madam Ming in Cold Mountain Temple.” An older female servant suddenly came in from outside and respectfully presented Madam Dowager an invitation card.

“What?” Madam Dowager’s face darkened as she asked in a hurry, and then her face turned gloomy.

The older female servant was so scared that she didn’t dare to hide anything. She replied in a hurry, “Madam Dowager, it’s from the Ming’s Manor. They said that they are holding a memorial ceremony for Madam Ming at Cold Mountain Temple. So they come here to invite Fifth Young Lady to pay homage to Madam Ming.”

Of course, biological children were the best choices for holding a memorial ceremony. Aside from Ning Xueyan, Madam Ming had no other children.

Madam Dowager’s hands went limp, and she almost fell forward because she was unable to hold her walking stick in her hand. Ning Xueyan, who was standing beside her, hurriedly reached out to support her and help her stabilize herself.

“They… are going to hold a memorial ceremony for your mother?” Madam Dowager’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and her eyes looked very vicious. She stared daggers at Ning Xueyan and asked her through gritted teeth. If Ning Xueyan was involved in this matter, she would never forgive her.

At first, Madam Dowager wanted to minimize the impact of Madam Ling’s scandal. Although she had committed a crime and had been demoted to a concubine, as long as Madam Dowager kept it a secret, she could suppress the scandal to the minimum extent. Of course, it was for Ning Huaiyuan because she wanted to record Ning Huaiyuan as Madam Ming’s son in the family tree before everyone knew it.

By that time, Ning Huaiyuan would have become Madam Ming’s son. As for the mistakes that Madam Ling made, since Ning Xueyan could recognize Ning Huaiyuan’s identity on behalf of Madam Ming, it meant that Madam Ling’s matter had nothing to do with Ning Huaiyuan. Ning Huaiyuan had to be a good person. Otherwise, why would Ning Xueyan accept him on behalf of Madam Ming?

Since he was good, and he had been recognized as Madam Ming’s son, he was able to inherit the title of Princely Heir in every way. The emperor couldn’t bring up this matter again because the victim didn’t complain but would have to admit that Ning Huaiyuan was a good person. Moreover, when Madam Ling framed Madam Ming, Ning Huaiyuan was a kid who knew nothing about it. It was impossible for him to get involved.

Therefore, Madam Dowager summoned Ning Xueyan here in a hurry, trying her best to persuade Ning Xueyan to agree. However, no matter what she did, Ning Xueyan refused to accept her proposal. Ning Xueyan also mentioned that Madam Ling was involved in not only framing Madam Ming but also killing her. Moreover, Ning Xueyan was not the only one who knew about this matter.

Madam Dowager came to her wits’ end when she heard that the Ming’s Manor brought it up again. How could she not be angry? Now she naturally blamed it all on Ning Xueyan. As long as Ning Xueyan dared to say “no”, she would make her suffer. If Ning Xueyan really didn’t care about the Lord Protector’s Manor at all, once she married into Prince Yi’s Manor in the future, the Lord Protector’s Manor would get no benefits. She might hurt them.

Madam Dowager would never show mercy to those who harmed the Lord Protector’s Manor.

As if she didn’t see Madam Dowager’s grim eyes, Ning Xueyan turned to the maid aside and asked, “Why does my uncle suddenly want to hold a memorial ceremony for my mother?” It sounded like she didn’t know it at all. People like Madam Dowager couldn’t be pushed too hard, otherwise, they would fight back in desperation.

“I don’t know, either. They seemed to mention that it was the emperor’s order,” the maid answered in a trembling voice. She looked pale because she was frightened by Madam Dowager.

It turned out to be the emperor’s order. Madam Dowager’s body softened, and the anger in her eyes faded away. She only felt that she had no strength, and her head hurt. She waved her hand to Ning Xueyan powerlessly and said, “Go. You should concentrate on your mother’s memorial ceremony.”

How could Madam Dowager dare to disobey this since it was the emperor’s order? Moreover, since the emperor had interfered, she could never record Ning Huaiyuan as Madam Ming’s son. Otherwise, it would be the crime of deceiving the emperor. After thinking about it carefully, the so-called ceremony was really unusual.

“Grandmother, I’ll help you go in to have a rest before I leave. You look pale. Have you been feeling tired recently? Do you need a doctor to have a look at you? Now Lord Protector’s Manor is in such a bad situation, if you fall ill, my father will be so anxious.”

At this time, Ning Xueyan was in no hurry to leave. She held Madam Dowager’s elbow, pretending to send her to the inner room.

“It’s okay. Xueyan, help me burn a stick of incense for your mother. It was my fault that I didn’t discover Madam Ling’s viciousness at that time so your mother was bullied and died of depression,” Madam Dowager said listlessly. Of course, she avoided talking about the fact that Madam Ling had poisoned Madam Ming. Thinking that Ming Feiyong took her into consideration at least and didn’t make it public, Madam Dowager spoke gently.

“Judging by her reaction, she seems to have some affection for Lord Protector’s Manor. However, for Madam Ling, who killed her mother, she will never forgive her. They are absolutely irreconcilable. Madam Ling is so stupid. How could she be discovered to have done such a bad thing and let it develop to such an extent?”

If she knew that Madam Ling would do such a thing, Madam Dowager would never have allowed her to enter the Lord Protector’s Manor. Now the Lord Protector’s Manor was in a terrible situation. Madam Dowager really hated Madam Ling so much that she just wanted to trample her to death right now because she felt that everything was her fault.

“Grandmother, are you really okay?” Ning Xueyan asked anxiously when she saw that Madam Dowager didn’t want her help.

“I’m fine. You can leave now.” Madam Dowager waved her hand and leaned back weakly. She closed her eyes as if she didn’t want to talk. Xiangmiao, who was standing beside her, hurriedly took out a cushion and put it under her body.

Seeing Madam Dowager closing her eyes, Ning Xueyan knew that Madam Dowager really didn’t want to talk anymore. She smiled at Xiangmiao, who was standing aside, and then quietly left. Taking Lanning with her, she admired her uncle very much in her heart. Her uncle’s action was so fast, and he even got the emperor’s decree. Even though she didn’t know if the decree was oral, as long as the emperor talked about it, it was a decree.

Ning Xueyan had already packed up her luggage, and she couldn’t show her anxiety at this time, so she asked a maid to reply to the person from the Ming’s Manor outside while going back to Bright Frost Garden, preparing to go to Cold Mountain Temple. No matter what Madam Dowager wanted to do to her mother, Ning Huaiyuan was unable to be recognized as her mother’s son after this.

Madam Dowager had gone through a lot of things and experienced two emperors’ government. She knew the crime of deceiving the emperor was unforgivable and could bring disaster to the whole family. The struggle between Madam Ming and Madam Ling was no longer the conflict in the Lord Protector’s Manor. After Ning Zu’an’s punishment of dismissal, even though Madam Dowager wanted to take advantage of the situation, she found no chance at all.

“Grandmother, are you all right? You should take care of yourself. As for my business… it’s really not important. As long as you’re well, I wouldn’t care even if I had nothing.” The curtain in the inner room was lifted, and Ning Huaiyuan knelt behind Madam Dowager. He held Madam Dowager’s hand with both hands, wearing a sad smile on his face.

“Yuan’er!” Looking at her beloved grandson who looked so miserable, Madam Dowager’s nose twitched and her eyes turned red. She hugged Ning Huaiyuan and cried. “It’s all your vicious mother’s fault. She’s so stupid. How could she do such a thing? What should your father and I do?” Madam Dowager said.

On one hand, she was worried about the future of Lord Protector’s Manor; on the other hand, it was because of Ning Huaiyuan. Ning Huaiyuan was not a playboy. He was smart and had a good education. He even had no personal maids so far. He was leading a clean life. He was a really promising childe in the capital. Besides, he grew up under Madam Dowager’s care, so he had a special relationship with her.

It could be said that Madam Dowager was very satisfied with Ning Huaiyuan. Although Ning Huaijing was also a child of the Lord Protector’s Manor, in Madam Dowager’s eyes, he was raised by a maid. He could not compare to the elegant childe who was raised by her. So even though Ning Huaijing had lived in the Lord Protector’s Manor, Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an never thought about letting him be the heir of the Lord Protector’s Manor.

But now, the best candidate had lost all the chances. When Madam Dowager saw Ning Huaiyuan, she felt sad and burst into tears.

Although he was a man, Ning Huaiyuan’s eyes couldn’t help becoming red as well.

“Grandmother, you can’t cry like this. It will damage your health. Elder brother doesn’t have a chance now, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t have a chance in the future. Grandmother, you can’t be in a hurry now.” Ning Qingshan lifted the curtain and walked in. She walked to Madam Dowager’s side and tried to persuade her.

Xiangmiao was good at observing people. When she saw them coming in, she left immediately. Although she was Madam Dowager’s henchwoman, she was different from Mother Qin. After all, she had not experienced many things with Madam Dowager. So she carefully retreated outside the room and closed the door for them, waiting outside.

When the Fifth Young Lady came over, Ning Huaiyuan and Ning Qingshan hid in the inner room, eavesdropping on the conversation between Ning Xueyan and Madam Dowager. This kind of thing was so disgraceful for a noble gentleman or lady to do. However, Madam Dowager said nothing, and Ning Huaiyuan and Ning Qingshan also took it for granted.

Xiangmiao felt that she was just a maid, and this kind of thing was really not what she should think about.