The Devious First-Daughter

Looking at the beautiful lady’s wronged face and tearful eyes, no man could bear to put the blame on her for those matters that had nothing to do with her. Ao Mingyu frowned and walked closer to Ning Xueyan and Ning Qingshan, as if he had something to say. The two guards behind him followed him closely.

“It’s weird that Third Sister’s wet nurse’s misunderstanding has led to a series of coincidences! When I was about go out, she stopped me, and before I could say anything, she began to accuse me, saying that I was going to take Concubine Ma away from the manor secretly. If Concubine Ma had not been found at our grandmother’s Lucky Garden, I would have died because of this ‘wonderful’ misunderstanding! Of course, it had nothing to do with Third Sister, and everything was caused by the bold and arrogant wet nurse.”

Ning Xueyan smiled slightly and raised her childish face, her feather-like eyelashes fluttering, as if she was sighing inwardly about her survival. However, there was a look of sarcasm in her eyes, hidden under her long eyelashes. “Ning Qingshan thinks that everyone is stupid and every man will be fascinated with her beautiful face and lose their heads over her performance!” she thought.

She knew without someone supporting her, a wet nurse would not have dared to get in a master’s way at the gate, and frame her in front of people.

Ning Qingshan was surprised that Ning Xueyan still showed no signs of making any concession. Gritting her teeth, she moved a few steps closer to Ao Mingyu. Now she was only one step from Ao Mingyu. She did not look at Ao Mingyu, but turned to Ning Xueyan and said plaintively, “Fifth Sister, you can say what you want. I’m willing to take all the responsibility as long as you don’t get angry.”

Instead of shirking the responsibility, she was going to take it on herself, as if she wanted to calm things down as soon as possible. She lowered her head and looked at Ning Xueyan’s feet. She knew that after moving closer to Ao Mingyu, she would be a little distance away from Ning Xueyan. Since Ning Xueyan was talking to her, she would definitely move closer to her, and then Ning Xueyan would be nearer to the small hound behind Third Prince.

A trace of a ferocious smile appeared on Ning Qingshan’s lips. If Ning Xueyan walked near them, it would be close enough for the small hound to smell her. At that very moment, Ning Xueyan happened to lift her foot.

However, before Ning Xueyan could move close to them, something unexpected happened. The small hound, which had been led by the guard, suddenly barked at Ning Qingshan and then rushed toward her. Caught off guard, she was knocked over by the hound, and fell to the ground.

With her beautiful, neatly combed hair in disarray, and her fair face smudged with the dust from the ground, she looked a total mess.

Seeing the small hound baring its teeth at her, Ning Qingshan could not help screaming, “Help! Help!”

The small hound had moved so quickly that nobody thought that it would attack Ning Qingshan in the blink of an eye. When everyone realized what was happening, Ning Qingshan had already fallen to the ground. With her messy hair and dirty face, she was screaming in horror, and nobody could tell that such a woman was a noble Young Lady.

Ao Mingyu felt very dissatisfied. If his mother had not said those words, he would have lost his temper.

“What’s this? Why is it holding on to this?” Lanning suddenly shouted in surprise, pointing at something under the small hound’s paw.

A guard managed to pull the small hound away, and the other guard picked up a perfume pouch from under its paw. It was Ning Qingshan’s perfume pouch, and it was still hanging from her waist. The guard applied more strength and ripped off the silk thread that held the perfume pouch. He then stood up and presented it to Ao Mingyu respectfully.

The perfume pouch was smelled a strong fragrance.

Ao Mingyu took it and froze for a few seconds. Suddenly, a trace of coldness appeared in his eyes. He opened the perfume pouch slowly and took out a jade pendant from it, which happened to be the one that Concubine Ma had tried to give Ning Xueyan.

The jade pendant itself emitted a fresh fragrance, which although was faint, could still mask the strong fragrance of the perfume pouch. Besides, this fragrance lasted longer and was more refreshing.

Ning Qingshan was stunned. With her messy hair, she sat up and shouted, “Why is it… here?”

It was impossible! She had asked Concubine Ma to give Ning Xueyan the jade pendant, but how could it appear in her perfume pouch? The fresh fragrance that came from it, was from the ambergris, which was only available in the royal family. It was calming and refreshing. Due to the jade pendant being in the perfume pouch, nobody could smell the fragrance. Now that it had been taken out, and people standing near could smell it distinctly.

Ning Huaiyuan’s face turned pale.

Ao Mingyu’s face darkened.

Ning Xueyan pretended she knew nothing. She looked at Ning Qingshan, but said nothing, as if she had felt something was wrong.

“Third Sister, where did you get this?” Ning Huaiyuan could not stay calm any more, and asked anxiously.

“The perfume pouch was given to me by someone from the Needlework Room, but I have no idea where the jade pendant came from.” Ning Qingshan had calmed down a little. She pointed at Ning Xueyan, because she finally remembered where the jade pendant in the perfume pouch had come from.

Last night, the people from the Needlework Room made the perfume pouch and brought it to her. When she was at the nunnery, she had been dressed simply, and she had no need for such kind of things. After returning to the manor, Madam Dowager not only had her clothes made, but also asked people from the Needlework Room to make some accessories for her. Before she left for the nunnery three years ago, all of Ning Qingshan’s accessories had been made by her maids.

But unlike the other accessories, the perfume pouch she had received last night was specially made per her request, because the fragrance of the perfume pouch could isolate the fragrance of the ambergris. It was said that the fragrance of the ambergris lasted very long, and hounds with keen sense of smell could still smell it several days after the ambergris had been removed.

She had handed the jade pedant to Caifen in person, and asked her to give it to Concubine Ma, so her hands were scented with the ambergris as well. She had asked the people in the Needlework Room to make this perfume pouch, and tried to mask the special fragrance of the ambergris, so after receiving it last night, she deliberately attached it to her waist today. Thus, the hound would not smell the fragrance of the ambergris.

However, she had never thought that the jade pendant was in the perfume pouch, and had such a strong fragrance!

“It seems to be another misunderstanding. Third Prince, maybe some servant of our manor sewed the jade pendant into the perfume pouch for some reason, and sent it to Third Sister by mistake,” Ning Xueyan said slowly, staring at Ao Mingyu’s hand.

Ao Mingyu held the jade pendant firmly. The others could not see what the jade looked like, but Ning Xueyan knew that it was carved with a dragon, and was made of high-quality jade.

“Yes. People from the Needlework Room must have made a mistake. It’s not my jade pendant and I have never seen it before!” Hearing what Ning Xueyan said, Ning Qingshan immediately defended herself loudly. She was thinking about how to shift the blame onto others, but she forgot that no servant of the manor would have dared to leave such a precious jade pendant lying around so casually.

Moreover, almost all the Young Ladies would ask their own maids to make such kinds of perfume pouches for them, and it was impossible for them to casually use the perfume pouches from the Needlework Room.

“Guard, bring Third Young Lady to the imperial palace!” Ao Mingyu’s face was as cold as ice. Under his grim gaze, Ning Qingshan started to shiver.

What frightened her more was that she saw an obvious look of disgust in Third Prince’s eyes. Although it disappeared soon, she still felt as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. Impossible! How could he look at her like that? Since she had saved him three years ago, all she had seen in his eyes was always a gentle smile.

But why was he giving her such a look?

Ning Qingshan was in a panicky state.

When a guard was about to take Ning Qingshan away, a maid suddenly walked out from behind her. “Third Prince, I, I put the jade pendant in Third Young Lady’s perfume pouch.” The maid’s face was pale, and she knelt in front of Ao Mingyu.

She had been standing quietly behind Ning Qingshan, and even when Mammy Luo had been accusing Ning Xueyan, she did not say anything. Her excessive silence had attracted Ning Xueyan’s attention and Ning Xueyan had even given her a few more glances. Ning Xueyan had thought that this maid was from Madam Dowager’s courtyard, but to her surprise, she walked out from the crowd and took all the blame for Ning Qingshan.

Everyone took a deep breath.

“Do you know what it is?” Ao Mingyu asked in a loud voice, looking at the maid coldly.

“I, I don’t know. I picked it up from outside on the other day. It was so beautiful, so I brought it back. I thought that only my master deserved such a beautiful jade pendant, so I sewed it into the perfume pouch and hung it on my master’s waist,” The maid raised her pale face and said firmly.

Mammy Luo came to herself now, and she tried to pull Ning Qingshan up. “Yes, yes! I remember now! She gave the perfume pouch to our master. This morning, my master wanted to pick a perfume pouch. I thought this one was good, so we put it on for our master. We have never thought this would happen!” she defended Ning Qingshan anxiously, putting all the blame on the maid.

“You picked it up from outside? Where?” Ao Mingyu’s lips twitched, a coldness flashing in his eyes.

“I, I found it out when I was out shopping. Third Prince, I did not know this belonged to you. Otherwise, I would not have given it to our master.”

The maid knelt on the ground and did not dare to move, but spoke even more eloquently and without any hesitation, she shifted all the blame on herself.

Ning Xueyan looked at her quietly. She had been in charge of the accounts recently. Besides, before Ning Qingshan returned to the Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Xueyan had helped Madam Dowager manage the manor, and she also recruited some servants, but she had no impression of this maid, so obviously, Ning Qingshan recruited this maid by herself.

Caifen was Xia’er’s younger sister. Then, where did she find this maid?

Ning Xueyan did not believe that Ning Qingshan was so good that a maid who had just worked for her for a few days, would be so loyal to her and would even die for her.

Since the jade pendant was from the previous dynasty, it was really extraordinary. Although the previous emperor had died years ago and the jade pendant might have been taken away from the imperial palace and fallen into an ordinary person’s hand, how could Ning Qingshan have taken it so easily and framed her with it? Ning Xueyan felt confused.

Ao Mingyu suddenly stuffed the perfume pouch and the jade pedant into his sleeve. He looked at Ning Qingshan, who was still sitting on the ground in a mess, and then shifted his eyes to Ning Xueyan with a thoughtful look. He then said coolly, “Guard, take the maid away!”

“Ao Mingyu does not want to look into this matter and is going to put an end to it like this? So he was just bluffing just now?” Ning Xueyan was surprised, a suspicious look crossing her eyes. Ao Mingyu was not that easy to fool. Otherwise, he would not have become the front-runner to the throne!