The Devious First-Daughter

It only took Mother Han less than two hours to return. As Ning Xueyan had expected, she brought back the gifts Ning Qingshan had given to her. Two maids with the gifts in their hands and several other servants followed Mammy Luo to Bright Frost Garden with Mother Han. Mammy Luo walked to the bed and asked Ning Xueyan about her health.

Ning Xueyan had rested for a while after Mother Han left, so she recovered some of her energy. With the help of her maid, she sat up. She asked about Ning Qingshan and specifically about how she had been injured. Mammy Luo only said that Ning Qingshan had been in panic and got her leg injured after seeing the assassins, but the wound was not that serious, and she would recover after a few days.

Mammy Luo brought greetings from Ning Qingshan and told Ning Xueyan that Ning Qingshan would come to visit her after her injury was healed. She then asked the maids to present the gifts to Ning Xueyan and hinted that these gifts were from Fourth Prince, which were even more valuable than those from Third Prince.

Ning Xueyan smiled and chatted with her for a while before seeing her off.

“Lanning, bring these gifts to Third Prince, telling him that I have nothing to give him in return, so I will give him the gifts that Third Sister gave me to show my thanks. In addition to thank him, you don’t need to say anything else.”

Hearing the footsteps outside receding, Ning Xueyan leaned back and said, raising her eyebrows.

“Miss, you want Third Prince knows that Fourth Prince gave gifts to Third Young Lady? Should I tell Third Prince’s attendants that these gifts were from Fourth Prince?” Lanning had been brought to the imperial palace by Ning Xueyan a few days ago. Although she was not clear about what had happened between Ning Xueyan and Ao Chenyi, she was involved in the incident about the note. Therefore, she soon understood Ning Xueyan’s intention.

But there were some things she still could not figure out.

“Even if we didn’t tell him, Third Prince would know these gifts were from Fourth Prince,” Ning Xueyan said meaningfully. If Ao Mingyu was so ill-informed, he could not even beat Ao Mingwan, let alone Ao Chenyi. Obviously, in any respects, Third Prince was superior to Fourth Prince.

“Got it. Miss, I’m going right now!” Lanning was a smart girl, so after thinking for a short moment, she understood her young master’s plan. She then left with a nod.

It was getting dark outside, and lanterns were lit up everywhere in the Lord Protector’s Manor. Ning Xueyan touched the candle wick and shortened it with a pair of scissors. She had slept for a long time during the day, so she was not sleepy at the moment. She then took out the formula Aunt Xiang had given her and began to read. Aunt Xiang had asked someone to take the formula secretly out of the imperial palace and gave it to Ning Xueyan several days ago.

It was Qingyu’s turn to serve her tonight. Ning Xueyan had asked her to go to sleep in the outside room.

With the stirring of the scissors, the candle wick emanated bright light. Ning Xueyan was watching intently the candle wick while a figure suddenly appeared in front of her. With a cold light flashing, she immediately stabbed the scissors toward that figure.

Her wrist was grabbed forcibly and got a pinch. With a pain in her wrist, she loosed her hand and the scissors dropped. However, before they dropped onto the table, the scissors were caught by that person.

Ning Xueyan raised her head and looked at Ao Chenyi in front of her, gritting her lip. He looked even taller, stronger and more aggressive than usual in the candlelight. He was filled with a ruthless air, and the smile on his lips was extremely cold and sinister.

“Prince Yi, what are you doing here? It’s already late, why don’t you stay at your manor and rest?” Ao Chenyi had appeared in her room so many times, so her fear had already turned to helplessness. Ning Xueyan leaned back and deliberately stretched her injured arm. She really wanted to know what this man came here for so late.

The coldness in Ao Chenyi’s eyes turned to a trace of idle smile. He pulled a chair over and sat on it casually. “I’m here to check if my favorite concubine is okay. Yan’er, it’s how you welcome me?”

He played with the sharp scissors in his hands. His face flickered in the scissors’ cold light and his beautiful eyes looked even more elusive.

He looked at the girl, who was leaning against the bed head. Her jet-black eyes were as cold as her. She had been too calm and self-possessed, but she also made people feel that she was delicate. These contradictory features coexisted in the same person harmoniously, as if she should have been like this.

Now, with her long hair fallen, she looked both cold and charming. Her beautiful hair fell, like a waterfall, making her delicate features extremely beautiful. In the dim light, her eyes seemed to have been covered with fog, and it made her less cold, but more delicate and adorable.

“Prince Yi, now we were alone in the room. You don’t have to act like this!” Ning Xueyan felt uneasy under his gaze. She turned her head to the side, wondering what he wanted to do. She had gotten injured because of him in the imperial place. If he wanted to play the game again, she might lose her life.

“Why didn’t you say that it was improper to enter a girl’s room at night?” Ao Chenyi suddenly laughed heartily with great interest. The previous depression had gone.

“Because I know it doesn’t work for you!” Ning Xueyan sighed helplessly. Ao Chenyi had been arrogant. He had even dared to kill those assassins arranged by the emperor in the imperial palace, so obviously, he was a daredevil. But Ning Xueyan knew that it was the best choice to kill those assassins at that moment.

Ao Chenyi was ruthless, decisive, cold-blooded and noble, so Ning Xueyan had never expected that he could abide by the moral codes, and she estimated that he did not think it a big deal to come to a noble Young Lady’s bedroom at night.

“Ha-ha!” What Ning Xueyan said seemed to be the flattery for Ao Chenyi, and he suddenly burst into laughter. He then lazily put his hand on Ning Xueyan’s injured hand, then moved it up along her wrist and finally stopped on Ning Xueyan’s shoulder. He applied a little more strength on her shoulder and Ning Xueyan’s forehead immediately sweated in pain.

“Don’t try to butter me up!” His beautiful eyes flashed with a fierce look. His hand continued to move up and then rested on her neck for a while. Ning Xueyan had been under the warm quilt, so the moment his cold fingers touched her skin, she could not help shivering. “I’m here to see how you are. After all, you got injured because of me!”

Sensing the coldness on her neck, Ning Xueyan went stiff for a second, but she then grabbed the big hand resting on her neck and pushed it away. She took a deep breath and said with a smile, “Prince Yi, are you here to probe Ning Zu’an’s study? I have checked and found nothing there. He may not have what you are looking for. Even if he had it, he must have hidden it in a secluded place, and it’s impossible to find it in a short time. I have sneaked into my mother’s room and did not find anything either.”

Some people were born to be thoughtful and there was some deeper meaning behind what they were doing. Ao Chenyi was an extremely smart person and when he did one thing, he always had other plans. Therefore, Ning Xueyan did not think that Ao Chenyi came here to make fun of her at such a late hour.

“It has been a few days since you got injured on the shoulder. Why hasn’t the wound healed yet? Is it because I didn’t send gifts to you that it is healing so slowly?”

Ao Chenyi asked with a snort, retracting his hand calmly, and something dangerous flashing in his eyes. He stared at Ning Xueyan, as if he wanted to find something wrong from her eyes.

It was too tired to talk to such a person! His mind was too active and it was hard to follow what he was thinking. Ning Xueyan was silent for a moment and then answered tactfully, “Prince Yi, if there is anything I can do, please let me know. My wound will be healed in a few days.”

When they were talking, she raised her arm slightly. The wound that had been pressed by him hurt badly. She thought that the wound might have reopened.

“Why does it still hurt so much? Are you trying to fool me? You must have heard that I’m tender to girls, so you are pretending that your wound is not healed yet,” Ao Chenyi said with a smile in his eyes, as if he had not seen the painful look on Ning Xueyan’s pale face.

He moved closer to Ning Xueyan while talking, as if he wanted to find some evidence of her lying in her face.

Ning Xueyan’s body went stiff again. She clenched her fists and gritted her lip, but did not say anything.

Seeing that the coldness came back to Ning Xueyan’s charming, delicate face, Ao Chenyi moved a little away from her. He then took out a small bottle from his pocket. “Replace the ointment I gave you last time with this one. I don’t want my favorite concubine has a scar on her shoulder. Otherwise, I will feel humiliated in front of people when I take her with me.”

“Thank you, Prince Li.” Ning Xueyan did not say anything more, but took the ointment from his slender hand. She knew that it was not wise to disobey the will of people like Ao Chenyi. She should follow the trend. If Ao Chenyi did not request her to do something that would cross her red line, she would like to follow his will.

They each took what they wanted. Since Ao Chenyi wanted her to work for him, he had to keep her safe and sound. If anyone dared to threaten her life in the future, she would ask him for help. That was why she had suddenly pushed Ao Chenyi away when she saw the arrow come toward him. Like Ao Chenyi, she did everything with a specific purpose.

Seeing that she was so obedient, Ao Chenyi smiled with satisfaction. His cold eyes became even darker. His long eyelashes cast two rows of shadows over his eyelids against the candlelight. “Take good care of yourself. I don’t want people to suspect that my favorite concubine is too ugly when they come to visit her.”

Ao Chenyi stood up and took several steps forward to the window. He suddenly stopped and looked at Ning Xueyan from the corner of his eyes. “Yan’er, no matter what you are investigating, you should put my business first. Otherwise…” he said, half-smiling.

“I won’t forget that!” Ning Xueyan was shocked, a surprise and fear in her eyes. She had not thought that such a subtle action had aroused Ao Chenyi’s attention. She looked down and answered calmly. She should have thought that nobody else in this country could be better informed than Prince Yi.

Although she was investigating Ning Ziying’s death secretly, if Prince Yi wanted, he would know.

The window opened and then closed in the darkness. After that, everything resumed quiet. After staring at the window for a while, Ning Xueyan managed to strip a sleeve of her underwear and untied the bandage from her shoulder. Her wound did not open, but it hurt to touch. Ao Chenyi had applied much strength when he touched her wound just now. She opened the bottle, picked some milky ointment from it and put the ointment under her nose and sniffed it.

She could tell that the ointment was very good, even better than last one, and it had a stronger fragrance.

She applied some of the ointment to her wound and felt very comfortable.

This ointment seemed to be more effective!

She had just bandaged her wound casually and put her clothes on when she heard someone knocking at the window gently. Ning Xueyan was surprised. She looked at the window in confusion, wondering if Ao Chenyi came back again.