The Devious First-Daughter

“I’m not talking about you. Why are you thanking me?”

Ning Qingshan’s smile froze at the words. Being mercilessly mocked by Fourth Prince, Ao Mingwan, she could not even sit calmly. Her face turned pale and she felt both humiliated and angry. Her eyes immediately turned reddish with tears. She did not know why Fourth Prince, who had been sparing no efforts praising her with a look of adoration on his face had suddenly spoken these.

How could she stand this?

Hearing what Ao Mingwan had said, Ning Qingshan was not the only one to be shocked. Everyone wondered what Fourth Prince meant? Why had he said that he was not talking about Ning Qingshan? Could there be anyone else he was talking about?

Ao Mingyu looked at Ao Mingwan silently. His eyes flickered, but he said nothing.

Ning Xueyan glanced at Ao Mingwan in confusion, then at Ning Qingshan. She lowered her head again and was ready to wait and see. It was really an unexpected episode of the play!

Ning Lingyun widened her eyes in surprise. When she saw Ning Qingshan was about to cry, she followed Ning Xueyan’s suit to lower her head as well. Since everyone’s status in the present was higher than hers, of course she should not speak at will.

Madam Dowager gasped for a while and then turned her head to Ning Huaiyuan beside her, hinting him to say something to ease the embarrassment.

“Fourth Prince, this is my third sister!” Ning Huaiyuan cleared his throat and said with a smile, trying to explain why Ning Qingshan had responded his words. Since everybody had been praising Ning Qingshan, it was normal for her to say something to show her modesty. They wondered why Fourth Prince had been so angry and yelled at her.

“What? She is Third Young Lady!” Ao Mingwan froze for a while and then jumped up. He pointed at Ning Qingshan and shouted angrily, as if he had been cheated, “How can she be Third Young Lady?”

“Fourth Brother, she is Third Young Lady!” Ao Mingyu had to explain to him. He said gently.

“Then who is she?” Ao Mingwan asked loudly in anger, pointing at Ning Xueyan. If that woman was Third Young Lady, who the perfect and most lovely ‘Third Young Lady’ in his heart actually was?

“That’s my fifth sister!” Ning Huaiyuan remembered the moment Ao Mingwan and he had seen Ning Xueyan for the first time after he returned the manor. Ning Huaiyuan had mistaken Ning Xueyan for Ning Qingshan, so he had told Fourth Prince that the Young Lady they saw was Ning Qingshan. He didn’t know he had the wrong person until he met Ning Xueyan again. But he had never thought that Fourth Prince would have made a mistake even worse than he had done.

Ao Mingwan had not only had the wrong person, but had sent the gifts to the wrong person as well.

“You also…” Ao Mingwan widened his eyes and said incoherently after looking at Ning Xueyan and Ning Qingshan for a while. Ning Xueyan was calm, but Ning Qingshan had a mixture of shame and anger on her face.

“I had the wrong person as well on the other day!” Ning Huaiyuan explained helplessly.

Ning Huaiyuan had never expected that a casual remark would have caused such a big trouble! He had been confused recently, wondering from when Fourth Prince began to have a crush on Ning Qingshan, and Fourth Prince had even sent some gifts to comfort Ning Qingshan and express that she was special for him. Ning Huaiyuan had thought that because Ning Qingshan was too charming, Fourth Prince had fallen in love with her.

However, to his surprise, his mistake had caused Fourth Prince’s misunderstanding, and mistaken Ning Xueyan for Ning Qingshan!

Hearing their conversation, everyone knew that the reckless Fourth Prince had mistaken Ning Xueyan for Ning Qingshan. An obvious unpleasant look flashed on Ao Mingyu’s face. He walked over and pulled Ao Mingwan by the hand. “Come on! Apologize to Madam Dowager! You’re an adult now. How could you make such a mistake? People will laugh at you,” he said gently.

As Ao Mingwan’s elder brother, he gave Ao Mingwan an out by saying this.

“Madam Dowager, I’m so sorry that I mistook Fifth Young Lady for Third Young Lady and yelled at Third Young Lady recklessly. I hope you can forgive me!” Ao Mingwan had come back to himself now and he immediately bowed to Madam Dowager and apologized to her with an awkward smile.

Everyone would feel embarrassing on such occasions, let alone Fourth Prince, an imperial member.

“It doesn’t matter. Since Fourth Prince had never seen these two girls, it was normal that you had the wrong person,” Madam Dowager said with a smile, deliberately understating the fact that Ao Mingwan had mistaken Ning Xueyan for Ning Qingshan.

They laughed, as nothing special had happened.

On the other hand, Ning Qingshan was ashen and began to tremble. She felt so cold, and even her heart was trembling. Looking at Ning Xueyan’s delicate face, her jealousy for her grew crazily, like weed. It was Ning Xueyan again to make her look stupid in front of people!

Ning Qingshan had thought that Fourth Prince was fond of her and she had been proud of this. She had even mentioned Third Prince and Fourth Prince at the same time, as if she wanted them to compete for her! Now what would Third Prince and Honored Consort Ya think of her? Even though she was Honored Consort Ya’s niece, Honored Consort Ya would trust her own son more.

It was all because of the b*tch, Ning Xueyan!

She would definitely kill that b*tch!

Ning Qingshan clenched her fists, eyes full of jealousy and coldness. Her sharp nails embedded into her palm. Only with such sharp pain could she stay sober.

She could not let herself fall apart, especially at such a moment! She would not show her weakness in front of Ning Xueyan. What was more, she would not make Third Prince think that she was off-key. It was not a big deal that she could not marry Fourth Prince, because she still had Third Prince. Honored Consort Ya had promised her that Third Prince would definitely marry her.

Ning Qingshan repeatedly reminded herself and finally managed a mild smile on her face.

Ning Xueyan had been observing Ning Qingshan’s expression. At the beginning, Ning Qingshan seemed to feel aggrieved with reddish eyes, and then her look turned to be resentful, and finally a gentle smile appeared on her face, as if nothing big had happened. Seeing the change in her expression, Ning Xueyan could not help but look at her coldly.

“Ning Qingshan is so hypocritical! It was no wonder that she dared to put toxic drug into my mother’s medicine when she was still a kid!” Ning Xueyan thought.

If Madam Ming had not taken the poisoned medicine for such a long time, she would not have been ill for so many years and died oddly in the end. Ning Qingshan should be mainly responsible for this. At the thought that Madam Ming had treated Ning Qingshan so well, but Ning Qingshan had not only put toxic drug into Madam Ming’s medicine bowl, but also framed her up for beating her, Ning Xueyan had an impulse to come over and slap her, and she also wanted to let Ning Qingshan swallow that kind of poisoned medicine that Madam Ming had taken.

Watching Ning Qingshan in agony, Ning Xueyan had no sympathy for her. She just stared at her with a trace of coldness in her eyes. She wanted to know how Ning Qingshan would justify herself.

“I see. Fourth Prince had the wrong person! I thought he was mad at me because I said something wrong!” Ning Qingshan smiled gently, pretending to be generous. Now she had recovered her composure and like the others, and she too, had an expression of sudden realization on her face.

Since Ao Mingwan had been talking about Third Young Lady, it was normal for her to say in response to his words. It was Ao Mingwan, who had said something wrong, not her!

“It’s true that I mistook Fifth Young Lady for Third Young Lady. Fifth Young Lady, please forgive me.” As he just knew that he did not need to fight his Third Brother for a woman, Ao Mingwan was in a good mood, and he became more tactful when he spoke. The first part of the sentence was for Ning Qingshan, but he turned to Ning Xueyan when he spoke the second part.

Hearing that, Ning Xueyan bowed slightly to Ao Mingwan with a smile, but said nothing.

Since her grandmother, Madam Dowager, was here, it was unnecessary for her to make any decision.

“Fourth Prince, the gifts you sent to my courtyard are actually for my fifth sister, aren’t they? I’ll ask someone to bring them to my fifth sister’s Bright Frost Garden soon,” Ning Qingshan continued. After making a fool of herself in front so many people, she tried to make the others feel that she was a gentle and generous person, and forget her previous frivolity and pride. Therefore, she immediately stood up, as if she was going to return the gifts to Ning Xueyan right now.

“Thank you, Third Young Lady!” Of course Ao Mingwan was upset after knowing that he had sent the gifts to the wrong person, but what made him more upset was that he could not find any excuse to give Ning Xueyan a gift. He was surprised that Ning Qingshan was so considerate and offered to send the gifts to Ning Xueyan’s place, so his impression of her began to improve and his face softened gradually, a smile coming over his face.

“Third Sister, since Fourth Prince had sent the gifts to you, why are you trying to give them to me? Besides, I’m a girl, how can I accept the others’ gifts casually? Third Sister, please return the gifts to Fourth Prince.” Ning Xueyan stood up and smiled gently, trying to stop her.

Ao Mingwan was a little surprised that Ning Xueyan refused his gifts to his face. He thought for a while and found what Ning Xueyan said was reasonable. A well-behaved woman should not accept a man’s gift casually. He had been too hasty to give the gifts to his beloved woman, so he had not thought that much.

Thinking about this, he was more satisfied with the Young Lady he loved. She was even better-behaved than Ning Qingshan, who had been well-known for her good manners.

A look of hatred and disgust crossed Ning Qingshan’s face. She really wanted to lose her firmly clenched fists and reach out her fingers to scratch Ning Xueyan’s mild face with her long nails! “A girl should not accept the other’s gifts casually? I have accepted those gifts. Does she mean that I’m not well-behaved?!” she thought angrily.

When she saw Third Prince looking at her thoughtfully, Ning Qingshan’s face immediately turned pale. She suddenly stood up with panic in her eyes and said to Madam Dowager awkwardly with a smile, “Grandmother, I’m bringing Fourth Prince’s gifts here right now.”

“Right now?” Madam Dowager asked with a smile. Her eyes flickered, but she still looked gentle.

“Yes, right now. Otherwise, I’m afraid that Fourth Prince will forget that those gifts are still at my place.” Ning Qingshan’s eyelid twitched and she managed to hide the killing intent in her eyes. She tried not to look at Ning Xueyan, because she worried that she might be out of control and rush toward Ning Xueyan to tear up her face hysterically.

“Okay. Shan’er, go ahead, but don’t delay too long. I’m waiting for you to have supper,” Madam Dowager said. She reached out and patted Ning Qingshan on the hand, trying to comfort her.

“Got it. I’ll come back soon.” Ning Qingshan nodded. She then turned around and was about to leave.

“Third Sister, wait for a moment!” Ning Xueyan suddenly stood up and took several steps forward, as if she had something to tell Ning Qingshan. However, because she stood up in haste, she felt dizzy. She covered her forehead with her hand and swayed for a few seconds before falling onto Ning Qingshan. Lanning was standing behind her. When she saw that her young master almost fell, she screamed in surprise, “Miss!”

She then rushed over to support Ning Xueyan.

Ao Mingwan was trying to find a chance to accost Ning Xueyan, but had not found any yet. When he saw that Ning Xueyan was going to fall, he immediately reached out. However, Ao Mingyu was even fast than him. He was sitting just opposite Ning Xueyan, so it took him less time to get up and help Ning Xueyan than Ao Mingwan did.

The other people failed helping Ning Xueyan, but bumped into each other.

Lanning and Ning Qingshan were knocked to the ground at the same time. Ning Qingshan’s hand was scraped by a chair foot, and she let out a cry of pain before collapsing to the ground.

“Oh! Bleeding! Third Young Lady is bleeding!” Lanning shouted in horror, pointing at Ning Qingshan’s hand.

Everyone turned their head and saw a trace of blood oozing out from Ning Qingshan’s shoulder.