The Devious First-Daughter

But it was too late when Ning Huaiyuan and Ao Mingyu thought of looking for Ning Lingyun and Ning Xueyan. They rushed to the gate and the doorman reported to them that the two young ladies had left. Ning Lingyun cried a lot while walking out, and she could not stop crying even after getting in the carriage with the help of her maid.

The others by her side persuaded her and the passers-by faintly heard that she was talking about something related to her third sister and Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li. It seemed that the scandal could no longer be hidden.

As expected, Ning Lingyun’s crying on her way aroused many people’s attention. Some snoops even followed behind the carriage to the Lord Protector’s Manor, and they heard the conversation clearly when the maid was persuading Ning Lingyun in the carriage.

Therefore, before Ning Lingyun could step into the Lord Protector’s Manor, the rumors had spread, saying that Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor seemed to have met Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li privately and been caught by Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li’s fiancée on spot. Fourth Young Lady had been so sad and she rushed out and returned to the Lord Protector’s Manor, crying a lot in the carriage on her way back.

Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li had always been notorious. He had almost fought Grand Tutor Ya’s grandson for a prostitute recently, and this time, he even wanted to seduce Ning Qingshan! People were not surprised by this news, because as a playboy, he had done so many such kinds of things!

But he was so shameless to seduce his fiancée’s elder sister to the face of his fiancée! What a scum!

People were a little doubt that Ning Qingshan, the other heroine of the matter, would have willingly to have an affair with that playboy. Ning Qingshan had been enjoying such a good reputation and she had meditated at the nunnery for three years, so it was unlikely that she would have done such a thing. Maybe Fourth Young Lady had misunderstood her, but from Fourth Young Lady’s look, that did not seem to be the case.

What the hell had happened?

Maybe Third Young Lady was not that virtuous and she had been acting in front of people. The most filial and loyal woman in the country? Maybe it was all fake!

On second thought, they thought it might be true.

Ignoring the buzzing of people, Ning Lingyun ran into the manor tearfully. She headed for Madam Dowager’s Lucky Garden directly and rushed into the room. She knelt in front of Madam Dowager, propped her hands against the floor and began to weep aloud. Now she had to act following Ning Xueyan’s words.

Madam Dowager was drinking tea when she saw Ning Lingyun rushing in. She was so surprised that the tea cup almost slipped from her hands. “What’s wrong?” she asked unpleasantly with a darkened face, looking at Ning Lingyun’s tearful eyes.

Ning Xueyan rushed in with Xinmei as well, gasped. Before calming her panting, Ning Lingyun’s maid, Caiyun, had told Madam Dowager all in detail. She also specially mentioned that Third Prince’s face had been ashen when he saw what was happening.

Now everyone knew something big had happened. It was not only a matter of a few Young Ladies mocking each other, but related to Third Prince as well. At the sight of Third Prince’s bearing at that point, Caiyun could tell that things had been going worse. Now she had to stand on Ning Lingyun’s side. Otherwise, she might become a scapegoat. It was not a big deal to have a maid be a master’s scapegoat at wealthy families.

So she was deliberately partial to Ning Lingyun when she explained to Madam Dowager. According to her words, it seemed Ning Lingyun had been betrayed by both Ao Xian and Ning Qingshan. Meanwhile, she also mentioned that Third Prince was in the same boat as Ning Lingyun. If Madam Dowager wanted to blame Ning Lingyun, that meant she was unsatisfied with Third Prince.

Caiyun had never been so smart. She performed so well and made the cause and effect of the whole story very clear on her own.

Madam Dowager’s eyes were as cold as ice. Everyone had been in a good mood when they left the manor, so she had never thought that such a thing would have happened. She was a little dissatisfied with Ning Qingshan. Ao Xian should have been engaged to Ning Yuling in the beginning, but he had insisted on marrying Ning Lingyun. Now, he had even had an affair with Ning Qingshan! Thinking about this, Madam Dowager could not hold back her anger anymore.

After all, Lord Protector’s Manor was influential and powerful. What had Ao Xian thought the Lord Protector’s Manor’s Young Ladies were? How dare he choose them at will?

One of her two granddaughters kept on crying, and the other one froze there in fear and could not even speak a word. It made Madam Dowager even angrier. Unlike Ning Qingshan, these two granddaughters in front of her were related to her by blood, and now, they were the only two Young Ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor that were both pretty and well-behaved.

“Servant, give back the marriage proposal note to the Commandery Prince Li’s Manor. Tell them that the Young Lady of our Lord Protector’s Manor does not match Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li. Ask the Princely Heir to choose a more excellent Young Lady from some other noble family.” The more she thought, the angrier Madam Dowager was. She banged the table with her palm and made the tea cups on the table shake violently.

If such a scandal spread out, who would like to marry the Lord Protector’s Manor’s Young Ladies in the future? Ao Xian had gone too far!

Seeing Madam Dowager in a rage, Mother Qin did not dare to say anything. She asked someone to find the marriage proposal notice from Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li and give it back to his Manor. That meant the engagement was canceled. Besides, it also showed that Lord Protector’s Manor did not think it a pity to call off the marriage.

When Ning Huaiyuan rushed back to the manor, the marriage proposal notice had been given back to the Commandery Prince Li’s Manor, so there was no room for negotiation.

It had been all of sudden when the two manors were engaged, and now the marriage cancellation was also beyond everyone’s expectation. It was said that Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li misbehaved and he had even had an affair with a maid of the Lord Protector’s Manor. Fourth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor had caught them on spot and she had returned to her manor angrily. Then the two manors canceled the engagement.

Of course, this was just a public interpretation. The rumors said that Third Young Lady of the Nings misbehaved, and the person who had had an affair with Commandery Prince Li was not a maid, but Third Young Lady! Some people even said that they had heard Fourth Young Lady mention Third Young Lady on her way back, and she had cried a lot.

So Third Young Lady must have an affair with Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li!

Since they had no evidence, everyone talked about it privately. However, although without evidence, they did not think highly of Third Young Lady anymore. “Maybe Third Young Lady of the Nings is not as virtuous as the rumors said.” Many people thought in the same way.

Ning Qingshan was so angry that she gritted her teeth, but she did not dare to lose temper in front of people. After returning to the manor, although Madam Dowager did not say anything, she did not look happy. Therefore, Ning Qingshan could only vent her anger secretly. She pinched Feilian’s arm forcibly and did not let go of her until Feilian wept with pain.

She lost another maid this time. Feiyue had been left at Third Prince’s suburban courtyard, as her scapegoat. Of course, Ning Qingshan knew what it meant.

Her close maids and servants had been executed or punished one by one. Who would work for her wholeheartedly in the future?

Ning Xueyan did not seem to have gotten involved in this matter, but Ning Qingshan felt that she had something to do with it. “Since Ning Lingyun has been afraid of me, how dare she dispatch a maid to come to my room?” Ning Qingshan had woken up when she found that Ao Xian was on her bed. She had been trying to kick Ao Xian out of bed when they were found out.

If she had driven Ao Xian away secretly, nobody would have found him on her bed, and she would not have fallen into such an awkward situation.

She believed that if Ao Xian had found it was her who was on the bed, he would not dare to touch her. Unfortunately, that stupid maid screamed loudly when she had opened the door and found a man on her bed. The scream would have definitely aroused attention.

At that very moment, Ning Qingshan had known that she had to do something to avoid Third Prince’s suspicion. Otherwise, Third Prince would have thought that she really had an affair with Ao Xian. Therefore, she had kicked Ao Xian away forcibly and screamed a lot to show her innocence.

What had happened next was out of her control. Third Prince had come into her room. Ning Qingshan still remembered his darkened face and icy eyes. The look in his eyes was so grim and cold, and even Ning Qingshan, who had been good at scheming, had not dare to move or made any noise at that moment.

Then she had watched Feiyue being taken away with a piece of cloth in her mouth. Ning Qingshan did not feel sorry about Feiyue, but since Feiyue was her maid, if there was something bad to her, the others would associate it with Ning Qingshan. Even though they were just some groundless rumors, they would ruin her perfect fame that she had built up for years. At the thought of this, she had had an impulse to kill Feiyue on spot.

It would be good if Feiyue had committed suicide on spot. At least, she could keep her innocence.

Obviously, Ao Mingyu had been mad of her this time. He had left her without speaking anything, not even pretending. At the thought of this, Ning Qingshan could not help being resentful.

“Miss, calm down. Third Prince didn’t say anything, did he? Everyone knows that Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li walked into the wrong room and got you in trouble. Third Prince should know it.” Mammy Luo sighed when she saw the ferocious look on Ning Qingshan’s charming face. She pulled Ning Qingshan’s sleeve, beckoning her to let go of Feilian’s hand.

Ning Qingshan was still pinching Feilian’s hand. She pinched so hard that Feilian almost could not stand firmly in pain, but she did not dare to cry out.

“Get out!” Ning Qingshan gave Feilian a hard push angrily and shouted, “You useless b*tch, get out!”

Feilian looked a little like Feiyue, so Ning Qingshan seemed to have taken her as Feiyue. She stared at her fiercely.

“Got it. I’m leaving right now.” Feilian felt pain all over. She moved out cautiously, lowering her head.

She stopped when she arrived at the door and the piteous look in her eyes had turned to hatred. When she saw Caifen coming over from outside, she immediately lowered her head again with a look of fear.

Caifen glanced at her contemptuously and walked into Ning Qingshan’s room, without talking to her.

Everyone of Foggy Courtyard knew that the maid Ning Qingshan trusted most was not the first-class maids, Feiyue and Feilian, but the second-class maid, Caifen. Therefore, Caifen could walk into Ning Qingshan’s room at any time without her permission.

“Miss, you mean this matter also has something to do with Fifth Young Lady?” Mammy Luo asked when she saw Ning Qingshan’s knitted brows.

“Absolutely! I’m quite sure about it.” Ning Qingshan crunched her teeth. She had designed a series of stratagems to deal with Ning Xueyan. However, nothing bad had happened to Ning Xueyan. Ning Qingshan had never thought that she would have become the victim of her own scheme, but unfortunately, that was the case. Later, she had searched Ao Xian in person, and she had also reminded Third Prince to search Ao Xian, but they had found nothing special.

It was impossible! Since Ning Lingyun had prepared to frame Ning Xueyan by bringing Ao Xian to Ning Xueyan and being intimate to her, she should have put something on Ao Xian. Ao Xian had not seemed to be conscious when he was in her room, but Ning Qingshan still failed to find anything valuable on him. She had checked the perfume pouch tied to Ao Xian’s waist, but it looked normal.

It seemed everything abnormal had happened after Ao Xian walked out the room!

How could it be possible?

“Mammy Luo, visit the Xia Manor again and tell Ning Ziying that I want to meet her!” Ning Qingshan said coldly, her eyes full of killing intent and violence. “Ning Xueyan, I’ll fight you to the death!”