The Devious First-Daughter

“Father, nothing. I picked it up in the corner outside the courtyard just now. It was beautiful, so I want to have a look,” Ning Xueyan hesitated for a while and answered. She bit her lip and blinked her jet-like moist eyes, looking a little shy. After all, it was disgraceful for a noble Young Lady to pick up a flower that other people dropped.

It was an exquisitely crafted bead flower, which was made of a real flower. With a blooming flower pinned on a holder made of small pearls, it was no worse than those head-ornaments made of gold or jade. Besides, this elegant and delicate bead flower also made people feel the craftsman’s ingeniousness.

In fact, it was very simple to make such a bead flower. There was a hidden button on the holder which would buckle the flower up when it was inserted in the holder. Thus, a beautiful and fragrant bead flower was produced. Moreover, there were even fresh dew drops on the flower. Ning Zu’an had seen the holder before.

A few days ago, Madam Dowager had praised Ning Qingshan for her ingeniousness in front of Ning Zu’an, saying that the pearl head-ornament she had worn was made of a real flower. Ning Qingshan had paid no attention to it in the beginning, but as it had been so delicate, and the winter jasmine had been plucked from their courtyard, Ning Zu’an took a closer look at it.

It seemed the bead flower in Ning Xueyan’s hand was the one pinned on Ning Qingshan on the other day!

“Did the maid who tricked you out wear this flower?” Ning Zu’an turned to the servant standing aside, a trace of coldness flashing on his face.

Hearing that, the servant immediately widened his eyes and looked at the flower. Actually, he did not remember whether the maid had worn the bead flower or not. He only remembered that she was pretty and he could not help chasing after her. That was why he got into trouble.

He wanted to say that he had not seen it clearly. However, when he looked up at Ning Zu’an and saw the grim look on his face, he swallowed the words.

He then turned to Ning Xueyan blankly and saw her smiling. She looked at him with a gentle smile and there was an earnest look in her eyes. The servant suddenly understood something and nodded hard. “Marquis, I remember that the maid pinned a flower to her head, but I was very far from her, so I didn’t see it clearly. Now I’m sure it was the same as this one.”

The flower had been brought in by Fifth Young Lady. Although he did not know what Fifth Young Lady meant, no matter what the cost, he would prove that he had seen this flower to repay her for saving his life.

Ning Zu’an’s’ face darkened. Managing to calm himself down, he said gently, “You don’t know who dropped these flowers. As a Young Lady of our manor, you shouldn’t pick up such kind of things.”

“Yes, I know I was wrong! I’ll throw the flower away soon,” Ning Xueyan immediately admitted her mistakes and said, ashamed.

“You are going to the imperial palace soon and you may be the hostess of a manor in the future, so you should put our manor’s dignity first and never penny wise and pound foolish,” Ning Zu’an said.

Ning Xueyan sneered inwardly. How hypocritical Ning Zu’an was! He had agreed with Madam Dowager to marry her to be Fourth Prince’s co-consort, but now he was hinting that she might be a wedded wife. However, since she had been pleasantly surprised today, she did not care about Ning Zu’an’s attitude.

Madam Ming had been sad and desperate about Ning Zu’an. She had never expected anything from him, so she had never been disappointed. For scum like Ning Zu’an, showing kinship tenderness was only for power.

Both Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an were like this!

After saying goodbye to Ning Zu’an, Ning Xueyan left with a look of shame on her face before Ning Zu’an could say anything. When she arrived at the door, she dropped the bead flower to the ground and stepped on it without mercy while uttering a low scream.

“Fifth Young Lady, you…” The servant rushed out on Ning Zu’an’s order. When he saw the broken bead flower, he stopped talking.

“What’s wrong? Is there anything my father wants to tell me?” Ning Xueyan asked, as if she had not recovered from the shock yet. Obviously, she had stepped on the bead flower because she slipped.

“Nothing. Fifth Young Lady, mind your step!” Failing to keep the bead flower from being trampled, the servant twitched his lips and said helplessly. The marquis had given the order too late. Now the bead flower had been crushed by Fifth Young Lady’s tread by accident.

Since the servant did not say anything special, Ning Xueyan walked out of the courtyard where the study was under Xinmei’s support. When she looked back, she saw the servant run back in a hurry. He must be eager to report to Ning Zu’an.

“Xinmei, go to Foggy Courtyard later. Tell Third Young Lady that I have just taken a few books from our father’s study and if she wants to read, she can come to my place and pick some. By the way, tell her that you have prepared some ornaments for us on our grandmother’s order. Ask her what kind of ornaments she likes.” Ning Xueyan raised her brows slightly and looked calm, quite different from the panic she had looked like when she stepped on the bead flower.

Of course the bead flower was not Ning Qingshan’s. Ning Xueyan had noticed it a few days ago when Ning Qingshan came out with such a bead flower on her head. Then Ning Xueyan specifically found a jewelry shop and asked people there to make a similar pearl holder and also pinned a winter jasmine to it. Although she had been hiding it on herself, she did not think that it would come in handy one day.

But after all, it was a fake one. Even though Ning Zu’an had been deceived for a while, if he showed the bead flower to Madam Dowager, he would know that Ning Xueyan was lying. Therefore, Ning Xueyan had destroyed it to convince Ning Zu’an that it was Ning Qingshan’s.

If it was Ning Qingshan’s bead flower, both the maid who had tricked the servant out and the one who had sneaked into Ning Zu’an study to look for things must have been sent by Ning Qingshan. Putting these things together, even if Ning Zu’an had never suspected Ning Qingshan before, he would be suspicious about her this time.

If the military medallion of the previous dynasty was really hidden in the study, Ning Zu’an must be very cautious and even the slightest abnormality would arouse his attention. With Ning Zu’an’s character, if it had something to do with Ning Qingshan, he would definitely get to the bottom of it.

Although Ning Qingshan had Third Prince behind her, Ning Zu’an would see into it cautiously.

Ning Qingshan’s origin was a mystery. However, even Ning Xueyan wanted to, she could not find out the truth about her origin and she did not even know where to start with the investigation. Unlike her, Ning Zu’an had brought Ning Qingshan to the manor, so he must know how to investigate. Therefore, what Ning Xueyan needed to do was to wait for the result of his investigation.

There must be a secret about Ning Qingshan’s identity which made even Third Prince, Ao Mingyu dare not to offend her.

“Miss, what if Third Young Lady doesn’t wear the bead flower?” Xinmei was Ning Xueyan’s henchman now. Of course she knew why Ning Xueyan had asked her to say this to Ning Qingshan.

“She will wear it,” Ning Xueyan said affirmatively, with a sneer on her lips.

To keep a good relationship with Ning Xueyan, of course Ning Qingshan would put on the novel bead flower to show that she did not mean to compete with her for the jewelry that Madam Dowager had prepared for them. Or maybe she would do this to make Ning Xueyan think that they were close. Then Ning Xueyan would lose her guard against her and follow everything she said.

Ning Xueyan knew that Ning Zu’an must have blocked the news about what had happened in his study and would certainly observe the reaction of other people in the manor. As the maid she had sent had not come back yet, Ning Qingshan must be extremely anxious now. Therefore, when she knew that Ning Xueyan just returned from Ning Zu’an’s study, she would definitely come to inquire about information. Because of this, she had to get on well with her more.

Sure enough, as soon as Ning Qingshan heard that Ning Xueyan had just come back from Ning Zu’an’s study, she immediately said that she would come to pick a few books. Besides, she repeatedly hinted that she was not interested in the jewelry Madam Dowager offered, and if Ning Xueyan liked, she could have all of them.

However, when she hurried to Bright Frost Garden with the new bead flower on her head, she heard that something bad happened to Ning Xueyan in the garden.

Ning Qingshan met Lanning on the way when she was about to arrive at Bright Frost Garden. Lanning and Xinmei came over in a hurry and told her that Ning Xueyan had an accident in the garden. As they were in a hurry, they only spoke for a short while with Ning Qingshan and did not tell the whole story clearly. When Xinmei passed Ning Qingshan by, she bumped against her and made her almost fall to the ground.

Fortunately, Xinmei and Caifen had quick reflexes and caught her in time. Xinmei apologized repeatedly, saying that she was in a hurry because she worried about her master. Ning Qingshan really wanted to slap her in the face, but since she wanted to ask Ning Xueyan for information, she would not do that. She could only disguise it by pretending to be gentle.

“What happened to your master?” she asked, gesturing for Caifen to stop Lanning who was walking behind Xinmei.

“I have no idea. It was said that my master was startled in the marquis’ study. She tripped over a stone and almost fell into the river on the way back,” Lanning had not gone to Ning Zu’an study with Ning Xueyan and Xinmei, so she spoke in a vague way to express that she was not clear about what had happened.

“Then let’s go and have a look at my fifth sister together,” Ning Qingshan said with concern in her eyes.

“Yes, Third Young Lady. This way, please!” Lanning was anxious to go, but she could not leave Ning Qingshan alone. She felt a little wronged when she found that Xinmei had been out of sight.

Because of Ning Qingshan, Lanning walked much slower. When Ning Qingshan arrived at the garden, she was told that Ning Xueyan had returned to Bright Frost Garden from another path. She had only sprained her ankle, so it was not serious.

This made Ning Qingshan very depressed, but she had no choice but to turn around and head for Bright Frost Garden. She had to know what had happened in the study.

However, to her surprise, before she could reach halfway, a maid ran over from behind, panting. Seeing that Lanning was there, she whispered in Ning Qingshan’s ear, gasping.

Ning Qingshan’s face instantly turned pale like a sheet. She did not look right and almost could not stand firmly, trembling.

“Go! Let’s go back!”. Now she had no time to go to Bright Frost Garden to inquire Ning Xueyan about the information. Biting her teeth, she calmed herself down and managed to turn in the direction of Foggy Courtyard. Neither she nor her maid, Caifen had noticed that the bead flower on her head had gone.