The Devious First-Daughter

The tea had been served and all the unrelated people had left. Before leaving, Ning Qingshan clenched her fists in anger, feeling that she had been used. She shot an angry glare at Ning Xueyan, but had to walk out the room under the complicated and angry gaze of Madam Dowager.

Madam Dowager had been irritated by what had happened yesterday. Now Madam Ling’s dirty tricks were exposed. Ning Qingshan knew Madam Dowager must be starting suspecting her, so she reminded herself to be more cautious for the moment to avoid any mistakes.

Madam Dowager sat in the middle chair, with Ming Feiyong on her left and Ning Zu’an on her right. Ning Xueyan stood beside her with a lowered head, seemed to be in a panic. Nobody had noticed the coldness and sarcasm in her jet-black eyes.

She had taken advantage of Ning Qingshan to expose Madam Ling’s plot, so even if Madam Dowager wanted to look into this matter in the future, she could not blame her.

As for those missing account books, Ning Xueyan guessed that Madam Ling must have hidden them in a secret place, where she could not find them for the moment. Therefore, it would be a better choice to look for clues from the new account books. Since she heard that the shops’ profits were much less than before, Ning Xueyan had begun to suspect that there was something wrong with these account books.

All these shops had been very profitable under Madam Ming’s management, but why had the profits decreased so much after Madam Ling took in charge of them? Ning Xueyan felt that it was unusual that the shrewd Madam Ling had never claimed about it. Madam Ling must know the reason, and maybe she was the person who had abetted those shopkeepers to provide a false figure in public, and the rest profits had all been embezzled by Madam Ling.

It was not difficult to check if Madam Ling had embezzled the money.

Since Ning Xueyan began to check account books, she had known better about the Lord Protector’s Manor financial status. The account books showed that the shops were not making much money, and the surplus after expenditure was small. Even if Madam Ling had withheld some money that she should pay, it was not enough. However, in her last life, she had known that Madam Ling was very rich.

Madam Ling had spent a lot of money on buying jewelry and clothes for Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling each year. To please Ning Ziying, Ning Ziyan had generously given her two sets of clothes as a gift without any hesitation. Obviously, she was not short of money.

How had Madam Ling gotten so much money?

Madam Dowager did not get on well with Madam Ling, so it was impossible for her to give money to Madam Ling. Ning Zu’an would not give her that huge amount of money either. Thinking about the profits plunge of these shops, Ning Xueyan figured out that Madam Ling had embezzled a lot of money from these shops.

Madame Ling could only do this secretly without alerting Madam Dowager, so she had been most likely to have those shopkeepers prepare false account books and bring them to the manor to show Madam Dowager.

Since Madam Ling had been in charge of checking the account books alone in the previous years, nothing wrong had ever been found. This time, Ning Xueyan had played a trick to lock Madam Ling up in the Buddha Hall, and taken over the account books before Madam Ling was released. Thus, those shopkeepers had to hand in the account books to her. To prevent them from being absent by any excuse, Ning Xueyan had specially visited their shops to warn the shopkeepers.

Most of the shopkeepers were Madam Ling’s henchmen, so they would hand in the false account books so that they could get rewards from Madam Ling after her release. But those who were still loyal to their former master, like Mr. Yu, would take a wait-and-see attitude. Of course, some of the shopkeepers were timid, and the slightest threat would make them turn in the true account books.

Then Ning Xueyan would be able to reveal the truth that Madam Ling had pocketed the huge difference in profits between the true and false accounts.

And she could make a scene starting from it!

Ning Xueyan had arranged for Ming Feiyong to come to the Lord Protector’s Manor. Without his help, Ning Xueyan could not stir up such big trouble by herself.

Now all the relevant personnel had gathered at Lucky Garden, and Madam Dowager had cleared the place. Obviously, she wanted everyone to negotiate calmly and put the matter to rest.

For a man, it was not only a disgraceful matter to embezzle his wife’s dowry, but also would make the others think that he was an ill-behaved person.

“Madam Dowager, what will you do to redress the justice for my sister?” Ming Feiyong raised his head and stared at Madam Dowager with an icy look. Since his sister died, he had not taken Madam Dowager as his aunt.

“Feiyong, there must be some misunderstanding. These shops…” Madam Dowager let out a sigh and tried to explain it tactfully.

“Madam Dowager, if you still insist on this, we can only meet in court. I have asked my men to take those shopkeepers away.” Ming Feiyong knew that Madam Dowager was trying to shift the responsibility, so he immediately cut her off. He raised his head, with a serious and cold look on his face.

When he walked into the room, he had deliberately asked his two guards to drag the two shopkeepers to the gate and the guards were still at the manor gate now.

It seemed that Ming Feiyong would not make any concession, so Madam Dowager became anxious. “Feiyong, calm down. I’m discussing it with you. If the dowry is really Madam Ming’s, I will definitely give all these shops to Yan’er,” she said, trying to comfort Ming Feiyong. Then she turned to Ning Xueyan and said gently with a smile, “Yan’er, bring the dowry list of your mother here.”

“Okay. I’ll ask someone to fetch it right now.” Ning Xueyan nodded obediently. She then said something to Lanning next to her and told her to ask Mother Han of Bright Frost Garden to find the dowry list and bring it here. Lanning nodded and then left.

Hearing that Ning Xueyan asked Lanning to look for Madam Ming’s dowry list, Madam Dowager took a sigh of relief. Madam Ling had told her that Madam Ming’s dowry list was missing a long time ago. Without the dowry list, Ming Feiyong could not prove that the shops were Madam Ming’s. Even if there was a dowry list at the Ming Manor, they would accuse that the list did not match the real one because it had been doctored by Ming Feiyong.

If Ning Xueyan could not find the dowry list, even if the shopkeepers were proved to have handed in the false account books, it was the family business of the Lord Protector’s Manor and had nothing to do with Ming Feiyong. Therefore, nobody could accuse Ning Zu’an of pocketing his wife’s dowry. Thinking of this, Madam Dowager resumed her composure.

“Feiyong, it was true that your sister brought a few shops to our manor when she married Zu’an, but afterward, you know that everything was in chaos because of the war. Almost all the manors had lost some of their shops and only a few of them were kept. The shops we are running now were bought after the war, so they have nothing to do with Madam Ming,” Madam Dowager said hypocritically, but the smile on her face became even gentler.

Even many families had been ruined and many people had died in the war, let alone shops. Obviously, this excuse seemed to be very convincing.

However, Ning Zu’an’s manor was not impacted by the war. After the previous dynasty was overtaken, Ning Zu’an became the new power of the current dynasty, so it was impossible for him to loss those shops. It was obvious that Madam Dowager had said this on purpose. She was planning to use it as an excuse to take possession of Madam Ming’s dowry if Ning Xueyan could not find the dowry list.

Ming Feiyong was not that easy to be fooled. “Madam Dowager, let’s talk about it after the dowry list is brought here,” he said coolly, resuming his composure.

“What if they can’t find the dowry list?” Madam Dowager thought Ming Feiyong had been tricked, so she immediately asked, her eyes shining.

Ning Xueyan sneered. As she expected, Madam Dowager must have colluded with Madam Ling and embezzled Madam Ming’s dowry, so she knew something about what Madam Ling had done, and she even knew that Madam Ling had stolen Madam Ming’s dowry list! Obviously, she had instigated Madam Ling to do so.

“What if the dowry list is found?” Ming Feiyong did not answer Madam Dowager’s question, but asked back, glancing at Ning Zu’an coldly.

Seeing the sarcasm in Ming Feiyong’s eyes, Ning Zu’an was irritated. He had to work under Ming Feiyong in the previous dynasty. But now they were both the officials of the new dynasty. As the new powerful official who was deeply trusted by the current emperor, how could he bear to be looked down upon by Ming Feiyong, who could not on par with him now? Besides, he was clear that the dowry belonged to Madam Ming.

So he straightened up and promised, “Cousin Feiyong, don’t worry. If the dowry list shows that the shops belong to Madam Ming, I will transfer them to Yan’er without any hesitation. They will be Yan’er’s dowry in the future, and nobody is allowed to take them.”

“What do you think about it, Madam Dowager?” Ming Feiyong turned to Madam Dowager, as if he did not believe what Ning Zu’an said. Ning Zu’an was so angry that the veins on his forehead swelled. He was the powerful Lord Protector, but Ming Feiyong even would rather trust a woman of the backyard than him, so it was no wonder that he frowned in anger.

“What Zu’an said is what I want to say. Madam Ling has been in charge of the backyard for so many years. If Yan’er can show us the dowry list and prove that these shops are Madam Ming’s, of course, we should give them back to her,” Madam Dowager said righteously to support her son.

But she did not forget to shift the blame on Madam Ling.

Ning Xueyan could not hold back her sneer. Even if Madam Dowager was very confident that Ning Xueyan could not find the dowry list, she was still trying to put the blame on Madam Ling. Like two dogs, they would bite each other when they were in trouble!

“Since Madam Dowager has promised me, I will trust you this time. Do you want me to have someone come back to my manor to fetch the dowry list?” Ming Feiyong sneered and asked mockingly.

He was hinting that if Madam Dowager did not believe him, she could have the two lists checked for consistency.

“It’s unnecessary! Feiyong, I’m your aunt. How can I disbelieve you?” Madam Dowager said, waving her hand, as if she was very generous.

Everyone knew that such kind of dowry lists would be carefully kept. Since Ming Feiyong had surrendered to the current dynasty, The Ming Manor didn’t suffer great loss and everything in the manor was still there, so the dowry list should still be in his manor. In order to prevent any unnecessary dispute, Madam Dowager did not ask Ming Feiyong to fetch the list.

In fact, as Ming Feiyong had given the dowry list to Ning Xueyan for unexpected needs, he had no more copy in his hand now. Therefore, if Madam Dowager requested him to provide it, he could not. However, Ning Xueyan had foreseen that Madam Dowager would not dare to do this. Madam Dowager was a thoughtful person, so Ning Xueyan had expected that she would not do such a stupid thing.

“So we will take the dowry list from Yan’er as the final edition?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

While they were talking, Lanning ran into the room, panting. She handed a sheet to Ning Xueyan and said, “Miss, Mother Han found Madam Ming’s dowry list. Here it is!”

Ning Xueyan took the sheet from her hands and looked at it. It was the one that Ming Feiyong had given her before.

“She really has the dowry list?” Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an’s smiles froze. They exchanged glances and could not hold back their anger anymore. “How could Madam Ling be so careless? She failed to steal the dowry list, but she told us that she had gotten it. What shall we do?” they thought.

“Yan’er…” Madam Dowager spoke, trying to stop Ning Xueyan from showing the dowry list to Ming Feiyong. If Ming Feiyong could not see it, Madam Dowager would find a way to prevent him from making trouble. Madam Dowager was confident that Ning Xueyan would follow her words. If Ning Xueyan still wanted to stay at the manor, she would dare not to disobey her order.

Madam Dowager stared at Ning Xueyan with a darkened face, trying to put an invisible pressure on her. However, just at the very moment, something unexpected happened..