The Devious First-Daughter

“Young Lady, how can this, this account book be here?” Mammy Luo said, pointing at the account book with fishy flavor. She was so shocked that she could hardly speak.

Madam Dowager had asked her maid to take the account books to Ning Xueyan. However, she had been knocked by another maid on her way and she twisted her ankle. The maid who had knocked her agreed to help her to take the account books to Ning Xueyan. Thus the account books fell into the hands of Mammy Luo without being noticed. She asked Xia’er to bring the braised fish in brown sauce from the kitchen and then poured the juice onto one of the account books and carefully made the juice permeate the bottom cover little by little.

Then she piled the five account books. Because she did it very carefully, nobody could find anything abnormal from appearance. Unless these account books were taken down one by one, or the others couldn’t find the stained one. Besides, the maid who had sent the account books to Ning Xueyan came from Auspicious Clouds Courtyard, so even if Ning Xueyan had found the maid, no one would think that Foggy Courtyard had something to do with this matter.

But they were sure that the account books had been sent to Bright Frost Garden, and Mammy Luo had been out this morning because she thought everything had been settled.

“Young Lady, what’s wrong? Why was this account sent here again?” Mammy Luo asked anxiously.

Ning Qingshan wasn’t stupid, so she knew she had fallen for Ning Xueyan’s trick. She stared at the account book and looked ferocious. She gritted her teeth and said, “Mammy, I underestimated Ning Xueyan. I didn’t expect that she was so sly!”

She was so careless. She thought even if Ning Xueyan were more capable than before, she wouldn’t be a match for her. But now she had been framed by Ning Xueyan! Ning Qingshan was both regret and angry, her eyes full of hatred.

“Young Lady, what shall we do next?” Mammy Luo took the account books from Ning Qingshan and looked at it carefully. Nobody would find the stained page if she took it out.

“Go and ask the kitchen staff if they still have the braised fish juice,” Ning Qingshan tried to calm herself down and ordered, managing to hold back her anger.

“Miss, there is no braised fish in the kitchen today. I met an older female servant whose surname is Li when I came over here, and she told me that Fifth Young Lady told the kitchen staff not to cook braised fish today.” Mammy Luo suddenly recalled what the old female servant had told her, and her forehead immediately sweated.

She hadn’t paid any attention to those words when they were talking. Since the stained account book had been sent to Bright Frost Garden, the overall situation wouldn’t be changed even without the braised fish. Anyway, the account book was stained after it had been sent to Fifth Young Lady’s place.

Mammy Luo had already gotten yesterday’s dish list from the kitchen staff the night before, so she asked the people from the kitchen to prepare a braised fish. She then poured the juice onto the cover of the account book. She had thought that the braised fish would also be served today, so nobody could tell whether the juice was from today or yesterday.

Fifth Young Lady was in charge of the kitchen this time. Even she hadn’t been there to check the preparation of dishes, her maids would have been there on behalf of her. So it was normal for them to stain the account book. So Fifth Young Lady couldn’t deny it.

But now the account books were already in Foggy Courtyard. How could Ning Qingshan explain the stained page clearly?

Since Ning Qingshan had been busy greeting guests at the flower hall all the time today, if her people had made some mistakes, she would only be accused of inadequate supervision. So it seemed she could shift the responsibility to any of her servants.

However, how to explain the braised fish juice?

Only Xia’er, Mammy Luo and Ning Qingshan knew the details about pouring the braised fish juice onto the account book. Moreover, such kind of things could only be done secretly, so of course the fewer people knew about it, the better. Mammy Luo and Xia’er were the henchmen of Ning Qingshan, and they had been at the nunnery with her for three years. They were obedient, so they were easy to control.

Now Ning Qingshan had to choose a person between the two to take responsibility for her. She didn’t want to lose any of them.

But it was useless to worry. She had to pass the buck to one of them.

“Which one should I choose?” Ning Qingshan looked at Mammy Luo with a dark face, a coldness flashing in her eyes. She made the decision quickly, “Mammy, tell Xia’er to carry the can. She can explain that she saw the braised fish yesterday and she spilled the juice onto the cover of the account book by accident when she tasted the juice. I know I’m sorry for her. After this matter is settled, I’ll find a way to save her younger sister from that kind of place and reunite them.”

After weighing the pros and cons, Ning Qingshan decided to sacrifice Xia’er who was reckless. Besides, Mammy Luo was just back, but Xia’er had already returned for quite a while. Because her forehead was injured, she had been sent back to rest in her room.

Ning Qingshan knew that this kind of thing, the earlier they were found, the less they would implicate her.

After all she had just returned to Foggy Courtyard. Ning Qingshan was now anxious to disassociate herself from the affair, so she asked Mammy Luo to bring Xia’er to Lucky Garden immediately, and she herself took the account book and walked toward Lucky Garden in a hurry.

Lucky Garden was filled with laughter, and many people were there in the room. Junior Concubine Xu was bowing to Madam Dowager and both Ning Zu’an and Ning Xueyan were present. Madam Dowager seemed to be in a good mood. She gave a set of jewelry to Junior Concubine Xu, and Junior Concubine Xu was so happy that she kept on flattering Madam Dowager. Obviously, Madam Dowager enjoyed her flattery very much and she laughed loudly.

When she was told that Ning Qingshan arrived, Madam Dowager looked at Mother Qin and gestured the maid to ask Ning Qingshan in.

Ning Qingshan knew that it was not the right time to talk about the account book when she found there were so many people in the room. But she didn’t dare to delay. Because she was clear that the longer it took, the worse it would be for her. She didn’t worry that much that Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an would fly into a rage because she interrupted Madam Dowager’s enjoyment of family life.

Since Xia’er was the scapegoat, even if Madam Dowager were angry and ordered someone to beat Xia’er to death with sticks, it had nothing to do with her.

“Grandmother, I made a mistake. Please punish me!” Ning Qingshan knelt down in front of Madam Dowager, looked so sad. Junior Concubine Xu was shocked. She moved closer to Ning Zu’an and didn’t dare to say anything more.

Madam Dowager’s face darkened and she asked unhappily, “What’s the matter?”

The laughter disappeared suddenly and the room was eerily quiet. Everyone looked at Ning Qingshan and wanted to know what had happened.

“Grandmother, when I came back to my courtyard just now, I found my maid had spilled the braised fish juice onto the account book and stained it by accident when she was eating the fish. Grandmother, please punish me.” Ning Qingshan’s eyes turned red. She took the account books from the maid behind her and took down the one on the top. Everyone immediately saw the stained cover and a strong fishy flavor could be smelled in the air.

“How could that happen?” Madam Dowager asked, pointing at the account book. Seeing that the account book had been stained like this, she couldn’t hold back her anger anymore.

“Grandmother, I should be blamed. Because I didn’t discipline my maid, she stained the account book. Please punish me.” Tears immediately streamed down Ning Qingshan’s face. She didn’t shift the responsibility to others, and she kept on saying that she should be blamed and asking Madam Dowager to punish her. It made people think that she was sincere in taking responsibility.

Ning Xueyan couldn’t help but praise her inwardly. She was reasonable and seemed to have taken all the responsibility on herself, so it was hard for the others not to be moved.

“Mother, Shan’er has been greeting the guests in the flower hall, so she shouldn’t be blamed for this.” As Ning Xueyan expected, Ning Zu’an stood out to speak for Ning Qingshan.

It sounded reasonable. Ning Qingshan had been busy all the time today. Mother Qin had just been back, so Ning Qingshan should have just returned to Foggy Courtyard as well. Madam Dowager thought Ning Qingshan must have found the account book had been stained by her maid the moment she arrived at Foggy Courtyard, so she rushed here to report to her. Since she didn’t shift all the responsibility to her maid, she could be taken as a nice master.

Madam Dowager’s face softened a little. She couldn’t punish Ning Qingshan for the sake of Ning Zu’an. What was more, Ning Qingshan was very close to Third Prince.

“Fine. Support Third Young Lady up. Tell me who stained the account book.”

After being held up, Ning Qingshan answered hesitatingly, “It’s… a maid of my courtyard. It’s…” Her voice trailed off until she could hardly be heard. She looked at Madam Dowager pitifully and pleaded, “Grandmother, could you please forgive her? She didn’t mean to do this. She just knocked over the bowl by accident.”

“By now, you’re still protecting your maid. I know why the servants of your courtyard are all unruly. Third Young Lady, you’re at the manor, not the nunnery now. It doesn’t matter if you treat them like this at the nunnery, but you can’t do the same way at the manor. And you should know that the rules at the manor of the prince were even stricter!” Madam Dowager knocked the ground hard with her walking stick and said angrily. It seemed she was very disappointed with Ning Qingshan.

If not because Ning Qingshan was extremely intimate with Third Prince before, Madam Dowager would get even angrier with her.

While they were talking, Ning Xueyan saw Mammy Luo accompany Xia’er, who was wrapped in gauge, to kneel down outside the door. Xia’er was moved when she heard that Ning Qingshan was scolded by Madam Dowager inside. Ning Qingshan was really smart. She made Xia’er be her scapegoat, but Xia’er had no complaints and was grateful.

“It’s, it’s Xia’er.” Seeing that Madam Dowager was so angry, Ning Qingshan didn’t dare hide the maid’s name anymore. She then ratted out Xia’er.

“Servants, bring that maid here!” Madam Dowager went into a rage when she heard it was the unruly maid again who had stained the account book. She had been embarrassed in front of those old ladies today because the same maid called herself ‘I’ in front of her masters.

“Madam Dowager, maid Xia’er is here. Please punish me!” Xia’er shouted emotionally outside. When people in the room looked out through the curtain, they found that Xia’er had already knelt down outside.

“Grandmother, please forgive Xia’er. She has led a poor life with me at the nunnery in the three years, so she is greedy about food.” Ning Qingshan pleaded.

“People who cultivate at the nunnery should be ascetic, but why did she even steal the overnight fish juice after staying at the nunnery for several years?” Qingyu whispered to Lanning in confusion behind Ning Xueyan. Although her voice was low, Madam Dowager, who was sitting beside Ning Xueyan heard every word clearly.

She became even angrier.

If the rumors were spread out, what would the others think of the Lord Protector’s Manor? Even a maid couldn’t bear the poor life of the nunnery, how could a pampered Young Lady have endured this life for three years? The outsiders might think that the manor had arranged someone to send food to Ning Qingshan secretly, so she had been to the nunnery to fish for fame and credit, instead of sincerely praying for her elders. Some people might even think that they had been fooled by the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Even the imperial family knew that Ning Qingshan enjoyed a good reputation, so if the censor-in-chief heard about the rumors, he would report it to the emperor. Then the Lord Protector’s Manor would be suspected of deceiving the emperor and the whole family might face a disaster.

“Servants, take the stupid maid outside and hit her hard fifty times with thick sticks!” Madam Dowager knocked on the floor forcefully with her walking stick and ordered viciously.

Madam Dowager was really annoyed. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ordered the servants to beat Xia’er with thick sticks, not thinner ones. Xia’er would be killed!

In the room, Ning Qingshan’s face turned ashen, then pale, but she dared not say anything.

Outside, Xia’er was paralyzed with fear. Although she had been bold, she couldn’t help trembling when she heard the order of Madam Dowager. She looked through the curtain in the direction where Ning Qingshan was with imploring eyes.