Chapter 345 - The Second Young Master, Ning Huaijing
Chapter 345 The Second Young Master, Ning Huaijing
A lot of people crowded in front of the Lord Protector’s Manor. Some of them shook their heads while watching what was happening. There had been no end to the scandal in the family since the Second Madam of the manor died. The Lord Protector’s Manor was no longer an influential family with a good reputation.
Today, it even reached a small climax.
A woman dressed in plain clothes knelt at the gate of the manor. She did not say a word, but only shed tears silently. She had been kneeling here for two hours, but no one had come out to meet her.
What was going on? More and more people gathered watching and soon, it was too crowded that the whole street was blocked.
“Last time, it was a concubine who knelt here. Who is the woman this time? She seems not young, not younger than that concubine at least. What’s going on? Is it because of the competition between wives and concubines again? It’s said that Lord Protector is a powerful general, but why can’t he even settle his family affairs?”
“If he can’t even manage his manor, how can he help His Majesty to manage our country? I’m afraid that such a marquis may screw things up in the court!”
The side door finally opened in the expectation and discussion of the crowd. However, it was not the master of the Lord Protector’s Manor who came out, but an old woman. Without even looking at the onlookers outside, she said something to the woman who knelt on the ground, as if she was persuading her. However, the woman was very persistent. She shook her head while raising her tearful eyes.
“Please help me to beg Madam Dowager to save Jing’er. He… he is also the descendant of Lord Protector’s Manor,” Madam Yu choked with sobs.
The old woman was Mother Qin, Madam Dowager’s personal servant. “Get up first.” She persuaded after she failed to pull Madam Yu up. Madam Dowager had sent her out to deal with this problem. No matter what the reason was, they should not let the outsiders laugh at the Lord Protector’s Manor. Therefore, Mother Qin had to find a way to get her into the house. Then nobody outside of the manor would know what she had said.
However, Madam Yu was stubborn. She shook her head and said, “I, I hope the marquis can promise me that he will protect Jing’er from those people. After all, Jing’er is his son!”
At the thought that her son might have been framed by Madam Ling and he was still in prison now, Madam Yu knew what she should do. Although Mother Wang did not say that it must be Madam Ling who had set Jing’er up, such a thing did not need evidence. Madam Yu absolutely believed that it was Madam Ling who had done this.
Since Madam Ling had framed Madam Ming years ago, of course, she would not show mercy to her, a maid who had served Ning Zu’an in bed. Therefore, no matter what, she would have people of the Lord Protector’s Manor show their attitude to her and her son.
Although Madam Yu did not speak loudly, people who were near to her had heard their conversation. Then the crowd immediately burst into an uproar. “Are they talking about the Lord Protector’s illegitimate child? Another illegitimate son came?”
Some of them knew that the same scene had been played out more than ten years ago. Some elders had even watched Madam Ling enter the Lord Protector’s Manor. She looked quite similar to the woman kneeling in front of the manor now, and the only difference between the two was Madam Ling had taken an older child by the hand, and a younger one in her arms, but this woman was alone.
From what the woman said, people could tell that her son had been framed!
“Could it have been the woman who brought her illegitimate children into the manor and became Lord Protector’s principal wife did it?”
As it had been a long time since the incident, there were not many people who knew about it. However, since there were still a few people who knew about the scandal of the current Marchioness, a lot of onlookers began to inquire about her. After hearing that this Marchioness used to be Ning Zu’an’s mistress, people sneered at her with harsh words.
“Come on, get up first! Let’s talk inside. Madam Dowager said that she would solve your problem.” Seeing that the tide seemed to be against the Lord Protector’s Manor, Mother Qin hurried to pull Madam Yu.
“Jing’er…” Madam Yu muttered tearfully.
“There will be a solution to the Second Young Master’s problem. You’re only a concubine and there will be no good going against Madam Ling.” Mother Qin warned with a darkened face.
It sounded like that she was blaming Madam Yu, but it was also the first time for Mother Qin to call Ning Huaijing the Second Young Master, which meant she had admitted Ning Huaijing’s identity. Who was Mother Qin? She was Madam Dowager’s favorite servant, so what she said certainly stood for what Madam Dowager meant. Though her voice was not loud, it was enough to be heard by the people around her.
Actually, Madam Dowager had already accepted Ning Huaijing and taken him as her grandson.
That was to say, she would not leave Ning Huaijing alone. After all, he was Lord Protector’s Manor’s childe, so Madam Dowager would not let anything bad happen to him. Even if it was Madam Ling who was behind the case, she would protect him. Therefore, it meant that Madam Dowager had agreed to help Madam Yu.
Madam Yu was frightened all day and night, and till now, she had been kneeling at the door for more than two hours. What was on her mind was getting her son out of the prison, so when she heard that Madam Dowager was willing to accept Ning Huaijing and help him out, she felt relieved at once. Next, she collapsed to the ground and fainted.
At the sight of this, Mother Qin immediately asked someone to carry her into the manor. Whenever talking about Lord Protector’s illegitimate child, people would remember that Ning Huaiyuan, the so-called Lord Protector’s wedded wife’s son had used to be a bastard whose mother used to be Ning Zu’an’s mistress. That was why the Princely Heir of the Lord Protector’s Manor had not been named yet.
Ning Zu’an was willing to pass the title to Ning Huaiyuan. However, as Madam Ling had been used to be his mistress, although he had requested the emperor’s approval, the latter did not approve it due to Ning Huaiyuan’s illegitimate identity and Madam Ling’s disgraceful past.
Not long after Madam Ling became his principal wife, Ning Zu’an had written a letter to the emperor and requested him to designate Ning Huaiyuan as the Princely Heir, but be turned down. Since then, the matter was put aside. As time went by, most people had forgotten it. Recently, Ning Zu’an was planning to report to the emperor about it again.
At this critical moment, Madam Yu came to him for help. It reminded people of what Madam Ling had done in the past. Everyone was talking about the past of the Lord Protector’s Manor and under some people’s deliberate guidance, in these people’s eyes, Madam Ling turned out to be a mistress who stole the principal wife’s title from Madam Ming, which was more difficult to accept than a concubine using evil means to gain power.
Now not to mention the common people outside, even other noble families were discussing the Lord Protector’s Manor. Some officials who were hostile to Ning Zu’an because of political disagreement immediately requested the emperor to impeach Ning Zu’an. Many officials would shift the topic to this issue after talking to Ning Zu’an for a short moment, which annoyed Ning Zu’an so much that he did not even want to get out of the manor.
Ning Huaijing’s problem ended up with that rich family’s dropping the case. They claimed that their son suffered only minor injuries after returning to their manor. Unfortunately, the doctor did not use the proper medicine and cause the injured’s death. Therefore, it had nothing to do with Ning Huaijing. Since they had withdrawn their confession, Ning Huaijing was released soon.
As Ning Huaijing’s identity had been exposed and he was no longer an unknown village boy, Ning Zu’an took him to the Lord Protector’s Manor and Madam Yu officially became Concubine Yu.
“Miss, I heard that First Madam changed another batch of porcelains of her room just now.” Qingyu walked in with a smile, holding a basket of food. Auspicious Clouds Courtyard was quite noisy recently. Even the slightest provocation would arouse a storm there. Madam Ling’s nerves seemed to be tense up, and if she felt a little upset, she would begin smashing things.
Ning Xueyan put down the brush in her hand leisurely and looked at the words she wrote with a faint contempt on her face. It seemed that Madam Ling’s patience was going to wear off. Could that because she had been repressed for too long that she smashed things to vent her anger? But it was not over yet!
“What have Concubine Yu and the Second Young Master been doing these days?” Ning Xueyan asked softly after cleaning her hands with a handkerchief.
“Concubine Yu has been very well-behaved these days. She does nothing except for burning joss sticks and chanting Buddhist scriptures in her room every day. She has never come to the marquis after returning to our manor. The Second Young Master only reads books in the study apart from offering his daily greeting to Madam Dowager.”
Qingyu replied.
Ning Xueyan walked to the window and picked a flower out of it. “He didn’t go to the marquis either?” she asked with a faint smile.
“Yes. I didn’t see him going to the marquis after he greeted him once since he returned the manor.” Qingyu nodded. “He treated the Eldest Young Master the same way. So everyone in our manor said that the Second Young Master was arrogant and it was obvious that he was a tough person.”
“Arrogant and hard to deal with? Is he the same Ning Huaijing she met before?” Ning Xueyan sat by the table with a sneer. Ning Huaijing had just come back and already made that impression. It seemed that he could not compare with the gentle and amiable Ning Huaiyuan at all.
Maybe she could have a good talk with this second brother. Coincidentally, there would be a family banquet tonight!
The family banquet of the Lord Protector’s Manor was also an official party to welcome Ning Huaijing’s returning to the Ning family. Therefore, not only Madam Ling would show up, but also Ning Lingyun, who had been restrained in the Buddha Hall for a long time, would attend it. It could be taken as a dinner party of the whole family.
Madam Dowager sat on the principal chair with Ning Zu’an was on her left side and Madam Ling on her right side. Ning Huaiyuan and Ning Huaijing were next to Ning Zu’an in turn and Ning Yuling, Ning Qingshan, Ning Lingyun as well as Ning Xueyan sat one by one beside Madam Ling in the order of age. As for Concubine Yu and the other concubines, they were waiting aside to serve them during the dinner.
Although she had one more grandson, Madam Dowager did not look happy. She glanced at everyone with a fierce look. Everyone could tell that she was not in a good mood. The Lord Protector’s Manor’s scandals had been revealed one by one, so it was no wonder that she was upset.
Madam Ling did not look well either. Whenever she looked at Ning Huaijing and Madam Yu, she always looked sinister. Although there was a smile on her face, it was not sincere at all. Ning Zu’an looked very serious. Ning Xueyan turned her head and glanced at the others at the table. Ning Huaiyuan was calm and her smile was still elegant.
Ning Qingshan was at ease. After all, it had nothing to do with her. To Ning Xueyan’s surprise, Ning Lingyun seemed to be quite different from she used to be after staying in the Buddha Hall for some time, and she was timidly when she looked at the others. Even when she looked at Ning Huaijing, she showed a timid expression, as if she had been bullied badly.
It made Ning Huaijing look at her for a few more times.
There was not a jovial atmosphere in which the whole family ate together. People would think that it was a malicious banquet if they did not know they were the same family. The servants were even more cautious and dared not to make any sound for they were afraid that they might accidentally offend their masters. Everyone knew that First Madam was not in a good mood recently and was going to vent her anger on someone.