The Devious First-Daughter

Ning Yuling did not go to the great hall in a hurry because she still had a lot of time. Anyway, she had to wait for Ning Ziyan to finish her task. First, Ning Ziyan planned to destroy Ning Xueyan’s chastity reputation and would then work out ways to deal with her. If so, Prince Yi, whose power could overwhelm the whole kingdom, would no longer care about her. Well, who would take a woman who had lost her chastity reputation seriously?

Of course, this was the idea of Ning Ziyan, but Ning Yuling thought that it was completely unnecessary for Ning Ziyan to cause so much trouble. Ning Xueyan had long fallen from grace. Since Prince Yi left with a beautiful woman and paid no mind to Ning Xueyan, who was about to be his co-consort right away, it was fair to say that she did not hold an important position in Prince Yi’s heart.

So, Ning Yuling thought that Ning Ziyan’s current move was completely unnecessary. Since it was still so early now, it was not bad to take a leisurely walk and appreciate the scenery. As for worshiping the dead Madam Ming, she didn’t think it was wise. In her opinion, Madam Ming’s reputation would go bad right now, so she did not need to worship her, and she would only need to pray as a show by then.

“Did we go the wrong way, Concubine Ning?” her maid asked timidly. Ning Yuling was asked to go to the Xia Manor straight. Since Madam Dowager was angry and Madam Ling was in that situation, no one paid attention to her. Therefore, she was only given a young maid, who, however, could not be used in that place. Now, the one who served her was a maid given by the Xia Manor.

The “Concubine Ning” address made her feel more and more annoyed, but this was the rule. After giving an unhappy cold snort, she ignored the maid and went willfully to the courtyard in another direction. Surely, she was unwilling to visit the Buddha Hall at this time.

She turned so fast that she did not see someone coming from the opposite direction. When she saw the person, it was too late to turn, and so she ran straight into the man, who was also walking fast and suddenly turned as Ning Yuling did. Then, the two of them, who had no time to avoid each other, ran heavily into each other.

Seeing that Ning Yuling was about to fall to the side due to the clash, the man from the opposite direction, who found that this was a beautiful girl, immediately held her with his hand. Instantly, the two people fell to one side together.

“What’s the matter with you, Concubine Ning?” The maid following her was shocked and hurriedly went over to help her up. The truth was that Concubine Ning was habitually skilled at acting in the mansion. She usually behaved like a soft, weak woman in front of Eldest Young Master, as if a gust of wind could make her fall, but she was cruel in private. She had only been married into the mansion for a short while, but she had almost beaten the maid who served her previously to death.

“Is this a concubine? She is so beautiful. Although she is not comparable to the woman in the painting I saw in the past, she is a rarely-seen nice woman.” Inexplicably, he did not see the woman, but he was battered unconscious and thrown away. Now, he was very depressed and saw such a pretty woman appear in front of him with rare luck. With an itch in his heart, he extended his hand to Ning Yunling, especially touched her white, tender face, and asked in a seemingly concerned tone, “Are you okay, this concubine? Did you get hurt? Or let me ask a physician to give you an examination. You can’t get hurt.”

As a well-behaved daughter of a prestigious family, Ning Yuling had never experienced such a situation. Instantly, she was stunned and flew into a rage, raising her eyebrows. As she raised her hand, she aimed a slap at the man. “How could you dare to harass me, lecher from nowhere?”

But her hand was caught by the man’s hand, and the man especially gave her hand a squeeze and smiled in an oily and frivolous manner. “So fragrant!”

“Let go of our concubine. If you don’t, I’ll shout and ask others to come.” At this time, the maid saw the man harassing Ning Yuling. Anxiously, she cried out and came over to take the man’s hand.

“Presumptuous! Where do you come from, savage maid? How could you dare to take our Childe’s hand? Step back!” A little page came over, stood in front of the man, and reprimanded her as if the maid had offended his master.

The maid was timid. Immediately, she did not dare to come over, but seeing that Ning Yuling was half-pressed on the ground, she had to come over but only extended her hand to pull Ning Yuling. Although she did not dare to fight directly, she did not submit to him in words.

“Where do you guys come from? Our concubine is from Xia Manor. If you offend our concubine, you will find yourselves in serious trouble.”

“Minister Xia’s concubine?” the man raised his eyebrows and said with some interest.

“No, she is our Eldest Young Master’s concubine. Let go of her, will you?” the maid rebuked.

At this time, the man had put down his hands. Ning Yuling broke free from his grip, took her maid’s hand, and stood up hurriedly. Falling together with a man and having no ability to get up in this place was something that would damage her chastity reputation. Ning Yuling suffered such a loss before. Now, she was exceptionally sensitive about this kind of thing, so she had no mind to argue with this man.

After dusting the dirt off, she was about to turn to one side.

Unfortunately, the man in front of her seemed to have turned into her shadow. When she walked left, he would stop her from the left; when she turned right, he would stop her from the right, as if he was deliberately setting himself against her.

Ning Yuling was never a person who swallowed insult and humiliation silently. Initially, she was thinking about her chastity reputation, not wanting to squabble with the man anymore. Previously, she quarreled with Ao Xian in the Cold Mountain Temple. As a result, she lost the consort’s position of Third Prince, so she planned to grit her teeth to stand it this time.

But she could not stand it anymore. After being provoked a few times by this man, she could no longer restrain herself and went furious completely.

She raised her eyes to look straight at this man and scolded him angrily. “Get out of my way, lecher from nowhere!”

“What’s your surname, this concubine?” Surprisingly, the man bowed very politely to Ning Yuling, but his words gave her anger. Ning Yuling was so angry that her lungs had almost exploded, and her face skin even trembled. Never had a man behaved so rudely before her, and even Ao Xian would not treat her like this.

“Will you get out of my way or not?” she said angrily.

“Concubine, if you tell me your surname, I will get out of your way.” The man did want to match his strength with her. He smiled cheekily and did not give in, as if he would really not let Ning Yuling go if she did not tell him.

The maid rushed over, hoping to help Ning Yuling push the man away, but the little page on the side glared at her. When she studied this Childe’s dressing, she found that he was not like an ordinary person. Then, she really had no guts. Now, seeing that they were in a deadlock, she said weakly, “Our concubine’s surname is Ning. Now, you can let us go, right?!”

“Concubine Ning? Concubine Ning of Eldest Young Master Xia?” The man had a little strange expression and especially looked at Ning Yuling. At this time, he did put down his hands, walked to the side, and made way for Ning Yuling. “It turns out you are Concubine Ning! No wonder! I’ve long heard that Childe Xia has great luck in love affairs. Two sisters serve the same husband. It will be a good story.”

These words made Ning Yuling’s expression turn stiff. The so-called “Two sisters serve the same husband” was not a good story, but completely a scandal. Previously, she did not care about it, but Madam Xia had recently said these words a few times, and she herself felt ashamed. Besides, when she now remembered the scene that happened on the street that day, she still felt ashamed and indignant.

Without looking at this man, she walked ashamedly and indignantly away with her maid. Talking with an unknown man in a quiet place at this time was definitely not good. Xia Yuhang’s mother had warned her that if she got any more trouble, she would not let her off. Ning Yuling had suffered a loss before, so she was surely very careful now.

When they walked through a moon gate, Ning Yuling’s maid scuttled over, looked at her face, and found that they were walking farther and farther, so she could not help asking, “Shall we go to the Buddha Hall, my lady?”

“We shall, we shall, we shall…go there right now, lest that the cunt Ning Xueyan’s mother should not die in peace.” Ning Yuling was ashamed and annoyed at this time. Suddenly, she stopped and wanted to vent all her anger on Madam Ming, and she was very upset now. When she thought about the time, she realized that the thing must have been done, anyway.

She turned around and went to another direction, from which she should also be able to reach the Buddha Hall. Since she was not happy now, the maid did not dare to ask any more questions and went gingerly after her.

As expected, they could turn in that place. After walking through a few great halls, they saw their destination. Before they walked over, they saw a maid coming from the side. “Concubine Ning, young madam says to you that it’s okay.”

These words were unclear, but Ning Yuling knew their meaning and waved her hand impatiently, saying, “I see, I see. Tell my Eldest Sister that don’t think I can’t do anything. Now, the thing has been passed to me, so don’t try to show that it’s all her contribution.”

She was angry now, so anything she saw was not pleasing to her eye. In addition, she had been married into the Xia Manor, and the relationship between her and Ning Ziyan was surely not the previous relationship between sisters, but the one between a wife and a concubine, who all wanted to win the favor of their husband, so how could they get on peacefully with each other. She thought that if this matter was done successfully this time, Ning Ziyan would probably take this as the result of her ability. Therefore, she became even more inexplicably irritable.

“Yes, I’ll go and report to the young madam now.” This maid seemed to be timid. Without the guts to raise her head, she turned around and walked away. The maid behind Ning Yuling did not clearly see who she was. She blinked and followed Ning Yuling. “I think she should be one of the young madam’s two maids. I’ve heard that the young madam is not as kind as she looks, so the maid is as timid as I am!” the maid thought silently.

.

The Buddha Hall was just in front of her. Ning Yuling slowed down her steps and calmed herself down. Anyway, she had a sense of proportion. “If my mother can’t bring about an upswing, I will only be a concubine in my lifetime.” Of course, she was unwilling to remain so, and she always thought that she should be the one whom others respected and loved. As a result, she was now only a concubine, and her position was even inferior to Ning Ziyan’s. Therefore, she resisted this situation very much in her mind.

In whatever sense, she should get the wife’s position, and today’s move was essential.

When she calmed down, her expression regained some kindness, and she even exposed a touch of sadness in her eyes and pulled her plain-colored clothes, which she hated most and were completely different from the splendid ones she liked, but she had to wear them now. She stepped forward, and her eyes fell on a middle-aged woman at the diagonal corner.

This woman seemed in her 30s or 40s. At first glance, she knew that this woman was a laborer because her knuckles were wide and big, and she had a weathered face. She stood there timidly, but her eyes were flexible and turned left and right in an unbridled manner. When she saw Ning Yuling coming over, she was happy at first, but then lowered her head, showing that she didn’t know her.

Ning Yuling pretended that she had not seen the middle-aged woman and went inside without turning her head, but when she walked past the middle-aged woman, she winked at her imperceptibly.

“Do we go in now, girl?” Not far behind her, Ning Xueyan happened to appear with Xinmei. When she saw Ning Yuling, she especially paused and moved to the side to hide.

“No, let’s wait for our grandma first.” Ning Xueyan had a smile that showed that she was thinking about something. She stood outside the door, but her black jade-like watery eyes fell on the middle-aged woman’s face. Since the middle-aged woman’s full attention was on Ning Yuling, she didn’t notice at all that someone was looking at her not far behind.

She had met this woman before, just on the first day of Ning Ziyan’s arrival…