The Devious First-Daughter

Ning Xueyan didn’t expect to see Xia Yuhang, much less here in front of her store. She was speechless when she saw Xia Yuhang turned his head around in astonishment. How could she run into him so coincidentally?

She didn’t think he had a hobby of buying cosmetics.

“Princess Ning.” Xia Yuhang saluted her with a complicated look in his eyes. This woman was no longer the neglected Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor nor the consort with relatively low status in Prince Yi’s Manor. The Emperor’s imperial decree had made her Prince Yi’s princess. Princess Xianyun might still be around, but she had fallen ill and couldn’t handle any of harem’s matters anymore.

It was clear who wielded true power in Prince Yi’s Manor.

Ning Xueyan didn’t think Xia Yuhang had anything to say to her. Ning Ziyan was just a concubine now. As in-laws, they couldn’t be considered proper relatives. It was inappropriate for her to call him brother-in-law either, so she merely smiled and nodded. She said politely and distantly, “Eldest Young Master Xia.”

Without waiting for his reply, she then entered the store with her maids.

Xia Yuhang opened his mouth but couldn’t make any sound. He watched helplessly as Ning Xueyan leave. He lingered outside the door for a while, staring at the storefront with a sullen expression, before turning around and leaving in low spirits.

He walked past several stores before reaching the entrance of a restaurant. He looked at the store sign before entering with his young servant. The servant blocked a waiter from coming over to serve them, allowing Xia Yuhang to walk upstairs by himself. He took a turn and arrived at the door of a private room. A servant who had been waiting there immediately opened the door for him.

With a shrill voice unlike his peers, the servant lowered his voice and said, “Please enter quickly, Eldest Young Master. His Highness has been waiting for you for a while.”

It was still quite early. Those who went to bed last night would only be having their breakfast at this time. The business at this restaurant wasn’t good at this hour. When Xia Yuhang entered earlier, he noticed that there was barely anyone downstairs.

Behind the door, the Third Prince was pacing inside the room, looking obviously agitated. When he saw Xia Yuhang coming in, he immediately said, “Yuhang, you’re finally here. I’m going to die from the stress if you come any later.”

He then settled down on a chair by the table.

Xia Yuhang had regained his usual calm and elegance by now. He sat down on the other end of the table.

There were some pastries on the table, but not any wine or dishes. It was evident that the Third Prince had rushed to their appointment without having breakfast.

Xia Yuhang had come out to meet the Third Prince. He just didn’t expect to run into Ning Xueyan on his way here. He was momentarily mesmerized after seeing her familiar, indifferent eyes, but he was completely calm now.

He poured a cup of tea for himself and took a sip before raising his head. “Your Highness, what’s stressing you out so badly?”

“The concubines at Prince Yi’s Manor got into trouble the other day. Some of them came from my mother. Father was so furious that he punished the Empress and scolded my mother as well. My mother said that Father is very upset with her and refuses to even see her. On the contrary, Honored Consort Shu kept sending things over and those at the imperial study have accepted them as well. Yuhang, what do you think Father has in mind? Does he think that Ao Mingwan is more suitable than I am?”

The Third Prince was terribly frustrated. His mother said that she only sent those concubines over after receiving a hint from his father. But the moment there was trouble, all the blame fell on her. Not only did his father not console his mother, but he even threw a temper at her. This matter could be squashed just as easily as it could be blown up.

The only reason he could be the noblest of princes was Honored Consort Ya, whose authority was only below the Empress in the imperial harem. Her status was also slightly higher than the others because she had given birth to him. But if his mother ended up angering his father, his status would be in peril.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. Thus, he summoned Xia Yuhang over early in the morning.

Xia Yuhang’s heart throbbed but his expression was unchanged. He raised his eyes and asked calmly, “What happened in Prince Yi’s Manor?”

“The concubines there hurt my uncle’s favored concubine and even got Ning Xueyan involved. I heard that the two of them got harmed. I’m sure Commandery Princess Xianyun was involved too. The favored concubine died after the incident, so my uncle took it up to Father. Naturally, the matter was dealt with by beating the concubines to death.”

The Emperor and Empress had handled the matter personally, while Honored Consort Ya was inexplicably punished. She didn’t even know what was really going on, but one thing for sure, the favored concubine was truly dead. That was why Prince Yi exposed the matter and made a huge fuss.

“Why would Honored Consort Ya gift palace maids to Prince Yi?” Prince Yi’s famous favored concubine was dead? Xia Yuhang was stunned but still managed to grasp the key point. It was reasonable for the Emperor and Empress to gift women to Prince Yi, but it was unnatural for other consorts in the palace to do the same.

Quite a few consorts were said to have sent women to Prince Yi’s Manor. Honored Consort Ya was just one of the many.

“My mother was going along with Father’s intention. She wouldn’t have sent women to Prince Yi’s Manor otherwise. You know how my uncle is. He’s not someone that you can easily get along with. If you send him women randomly, you’re deliberately offending him.” Ao Mingyu sighed. He placed his head on his hands, looking vexed.

“If that was the Emperor’s intention, you don’t have to worry, Your Highness. Since something went wrong with the women that Honored Consort Ya sent, it’s only natural for the Emperor to punish her a little and neglect her for a few days. Just wait, Your Highness. Soon, the Emperor will likely bestow a title on you and the Fourth Prince.”

Xia Yuhang thought about it before answering the prince calmly.

The palace had announced its intention to confer the titles of Princes to both the Third and Fourth Princes (T/N: A similar rank of princedom as Prince Yi). The conferment would likely happen in these few days. If the Emperor did not truly blame Honored Consort Ya, the matter would still proceed as planned. If the Emperor followed his plan, then he would be treating the Third Prince the same as Honored Consort Ya.

That meant that the Emperor was merely putting on a show for Prince Yi.

The Third Prince calmed down after hearing Xia Yuhang’s explanation. He thought about it before finally nodding, his expression looking relaxed. “I think you’re right. When I ran into the eunuch serving Father yesterday, he even congratulated me with a big smile. He didn’t look any different than usual.”

“That’s exactly it. It means that the Emperor isn’t going to punish you for this matter at all. You can rest assured, Your Highness.” Xia Yuhang nodded.

“Good to hear, good to hear.” The Third Prince sighed in relief after seeing Xia Yuhang’s calm and relaxed expression. He picked up the cup of tea nearby and took a sip. Suddenly, he raised his head and told Xia Yuhang, “That dead concubine was my uncle’s favorite. I heard he only agreed to marry his princess and consort together because of her. He even visited her courtyard on his wedding night. Now that she’s dead, do you think something big will happen?”

Was she neglected on her wedding night itself? But after thinking about it, it was quite normal. It was said that she only received the consort position with a careless remark from Prince Yi. And Prince Yi must have made her his princess as compensation for getting framed along with his favored concubine.

Following this line of thought, Xia Yuhang immediately felt that she had merely found it inconvenient to speak too much with him. She had brought quite a few maids with her today, after all. Knowing Prince Yi’s horrible temper, another terrible incident might happen if he were to hear anything about it.

In his mind, Ning Xueyan immediately became a weak woman forced to make compromises at every turn.

He couldn’t let Prince Yi bully her…

“Your Highness, since Prince Yi doted on his favored concubine so much, why don’t you send him a similar beauty to comfort his grief?” Since Prince Yi adored his favored concubine so much, sending him a similar woman would likely distract him. Ning Xueyan, even with her status as the princess, would still continue to be neglected in the manor.

That way, when an opportunity presented itself and he was able to take her away, he would be considered as rescuing her and she would have no complaints either.

Ao Mingyu immediately shook his hand after hearing this. “That won’t work. His favored concubine never showed her face to others. No one knows what she looks like. Where would I even find a similar woman?”

“Just find a prettier one?” Xia Yuhang suggested.

“All the women that the palace sent were beautiful in their own ways, but they were all still driven away.” Ao Mingyu sighed and spread his hands helplessly. Suddenly, he looked at Xia Yuhang with a smile. “I heard the princess from the previous dynasty was a great beauty. Why didn’t you watch her properly and allow that wicked pair of mother and daughter to kill her?”

Xia Yuhang had confessed his past with Ning Ziying to the Third Prince a long time ago. Naturally, he didn’t say that he suspected Ning Ziying’s identity. All he said was that his father met an old friend when traveling in Jiangnan and the two families decided to get the two children engaged. He said that he didn’t know that Ning Ziying was a princess from the former dynasty.

It was impossible to hide this from the Third Prince in the first place, so Xia Yuhang confessed his relationship with Ning Ziying before the truth could be revealed in its entirety. This allowed him to earn the Third Prince’s trust.

But he didn’t want to hear such words now. His heart throbbed with agony and the light in his eyes dimmed. He quickly recovered his usual composure and elegance. “Your Highness, have you ever considered using the favored concubine’s incident against Prince Yi?”

Ao Mingyu loved hearing such words. He was all too happy to play along if it meant giving Ao Chenyi some trouble. He immediately leaned in and whispered, “How should we do it?”

“Your Highness, you must…”

Inside the private room, their voices gradually became lower until the servant and eunuch at the door could only gather a few shreds of gossip.

Ning Xueyan walked into the store openly. Han Dazhuang, who had been waiting inside, was overjoyed to see her and hurried over to bow to her.

“Master, you’re finally here!”

“What’s wrong? Am I late?” Ning Xueyan looked around and threw out a rhetorical question.

“Of course not. You’re just on time. I was just worried that something happened to you on the way here, so I was a little nervous,” Han Dazhuang said with great embarrassment as he rubbed his hands.

“Let’s go to your room. If anyone comes, come in and let me know.” Ning Xueyan nodded. It was still quite early now and there weren’t many customers at the store. Leaving Han Dazhuang behind to man the shop, she walked through the passageway to reach the backdoor. There was a small courtyard where Han Dazhuang lived, allowing him to watch the store with ease.

Ning Xueyan left her maids outside so she could enter the courtyard by herself. She pushed the door open and closed it. The moment she turned around, she stopped in astonishment.