The Devious First-Daughter

“Third Prince, look at this ornament…” Ning Zu’an said hesitantly as he saw Third Prince’s face sink. Now when this matter was put before Third Prince, although he knew that Ning Qingshan could not have a relationship with Prince Yi, he was still so angry. If he did not know about this matter, it would cause much trouble.

“This is the ornament I left with my uncle’s care. As for my uncle giving it to Third Young Lady, this is my idea. Just take it, Third Young Lady Ning.” Ao Mingyu took a deep breath, and then his expression gradually calmed down, and a gentle smile even appeared on his face.

No one in this room believed these words, but for the Lord Protector’s Manor, the aim of asking Third Prince to come was to take out the ornament Prince Yi granted to Ning Qingshan in his presence to get rid of his suspicions. Now that Third Prince gave such a reason, everyone just took it as a fact.

This meant that the most critical part of this problem was solved. Since Third Prince had reluctantly admitted that this was his idea, it would have nothing to do with the Lord Protector’s Manor in the future, and Third Prince could not use this as an excuse to make trouble. Then, Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager were relieved.

“This turns out to be your gift. Thank you, Third Prince.” Ning Qingshan stood up with the support of Caifen’s hand, bent with difficulty to bow, and then raised her head, showing her affection.

“It’s still early for supper. Would you like to go to the Foggy Courtyard to stay awhile and take a break, prince?” Madam Dowager proposed with a smile, but she had a wry smile in her mind. She did not want to be so against the rules, but Prince Yi had been to the Foggy Courtyard of Ning Qingshan. Therefore, if Third Prince, the future husband of Ning Qingshan, had not been there, it would be quite reasonable.

Moreover, although Third Prince was smiling, Madam Dowager could still feel that he was unhappy, so she was willing to make him happy. Anyway, Ning Qingshan would be married into Third Prince’s manor in the future. Although this was against the rules, this was better than making Third Prince get angry and hate the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Of course, Madam Dowager had said to Ning Qingshan before that she must please Third Prince in a while.

“Is… is it convenient to go to my courtyard, grandma?” Ning Qingshan said in a dilemma as she heard the proposal of Madam Dowager. She also blinked, a bit at a loss. “A cat has broken the porcelain in my room.”

“Sure enough, she is trying to trap me in this way,” Ning Xueyan sneered inwardly. Ning Qingshan was the adopted daughter of the Marquis’s Manor. Previously, she was put under the name of Madam Ming, and Madam Ming should provide a dowry for her, so when Madam Dowager decorated the Foggy Courtyard previously, she took a few things from Madam Ming’s dowry there, ready to let Ning Qingshan take them away in the future.

The reason was that she was about to be Third Prince’s consort in the beginning, so the good items had all been sent to the Foggy Courtyard. On the contrary, Ning Xueyan, the biological daughter, did not get anything. Although she retrieved dowry items later, she did not touch those items in the Foggy Courtyard. After that, when Ning Qingshan was put under the name of Madam Ling, those items were still not touched.

Initially, Ning Xueyan never thought about taking back these things, but now Ning Qingshan was obviously too greedy. After the porcelain items in her room were broken, she even wanted to get porcelain from her. Why did she mention this in front of so many people? The reason was that she wanted to take Third Prince’s presence as her advantage so that Madam Dowager or Ning Xueyan could not refuse her.

“You want to square accounts in every detail, Ning Qingshan? Okay, let’s square accounts carefully, and let people see how ‘generous’ this gentle and generous Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor is!”

She raised her black jade-like eyes, and her bright watery eyes moved slightly. She looked at Ning Qingshan in surprise and covered her mouth with her handkerchief. “You smashed all the items of my mother, Third Sister?”

“The items of my mother?” Madam Dowager had a shiver in her heart, and her expression became unnatural. The words of Ning Xueyan reminded her that those things in the Foggy Courtyard belonged to Madam Ming. According to the current situation, all the dowry items of Madam Ming were Ning Xueyan’s, and Ning Qingshan should not possess them at all.

Seeing that Ning Xueyan had come out, Ning Qingshan felt that something bad might happen, so she shook her head hurriedly. “Fifth Sister, you heard the wrong thing. It is the items in my room, not the items of mother.”

“Third Sister, most of the items in your room are my mother’s. When did they become Madam Ling’s? Third Sister, when you came back, I remember I told you that. Have you forgotten about it?” Ning Xueyan deliberately tried to misunderstand what Ning Qingshan said. Previously, they all called Madam Ling mother. Of course, Ning Xueyan was now using Madam Ling to make trouble, and she also meant that Ning Qingshan was not the daughter of Madam Ming, the wife of the marquis, so she had no right to take Madam Ming’s things.

Everything in the mansion had a record. Moreover, a dowry incident occurred in the Lord Protector’s Manor previously, and many items in Ning Qingshan’s courtyard were from the dowry list, so there was evidence.

Even if Ning Qingshan wanted to deny it, she could not.

“I… Just a few pieces of porcelain were broken in my room, and I want to get a few new ones. It’s not a big deal… but why did you say that, Fifth Sister?” Hearing these questions, Ning Qingshan blushed because she seemed to be ashamed. Since something like that happened before, she did not expect that Ning Xueyan even had the courage to make trouble in the presence of Third Prince. Instantly, her face turned crimson.

Ao Mingyu raised his eyebrows. Now he seemed to have released so much depression and was drinking tea leisurely on the head seat, as if he had not seen the two young ladies of the Lord Protector’s Manor making a scene.

“Fifth Granddaughter, all right, that’s not a big deal,” Madam Dowager interrupted and said to Ning Xueyan with displeasure. “Being broken is not a big deal. Just ask someone to refill in a while.”

She still wanted Ning Qingshan to make Third Prince happy, so she didn’t want Ning Qingshan to have any trouble at this time. As for the matter of the porcelain, no matter what, it was not very suitable to investigate it at this time.

“Grandma, it’s not that I wanted to mention it, but, but…” Ning Xueyan bit her lips, blinked, and muttered in a dilemma.

But then she looked at Madam Dowager, stood up, bowed gracefully, and said, “Do you still remember the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases, grandma?”

In the past, the owner of the Ming Manor loved his daughter very much, so he put the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases into Madam Ming’s dowry. For others, they were perhaps only a pair of valuable things, but for Madam Dowager, their meaning was somewhat unusual.

It was said that the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases were the dowry items that Madam Dowager’s mother got from her parents’ home in the past. At that time, they were favorites of Madam Dowager’s mother. Later, she did not pass them to her daughter, but to her granddaughter, and then they were brought by Madam Ming to the Lord Protector’s Manor. Then, Madam Ming fell from her wife’s position, and the dowry items were divided and taken by Madam Dowager and Madam Ling.

This pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases fell into the hands of Madam Dowager again, but when she decorated the Foggy Courtyard, she generously let Ning Xueyan pick a few items and put them into the Foggy Courtyard, and Ning Xueyan just put the vases there.

“Are the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases also in the Foggy Courtyard?” Madam Dowager was stunned, suddenly sat straight, banged the table with her hand, and asked hurriedly.

“When I decorated the Foggy Courtyard, grandma, you said that I should pick good ones for Third Sister, and I just specially picked the good ones… At that time, the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases were part of my mother’s dowry, but I thought that Third Sister was also my mother’s daughter, after all. When she got married, my mother would give her a few things, so I put the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases and a few other rarities all into the Foggy Courtyard, but I didn’t expect that Third Sister would smash them.”

Ning Xueyan looked aggrieved.

Remembering that her mother’s most precious Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases were destroyed by Ning Qingshan, Madam Dowager felt quite distressed. When she heard Ning Xueyan’s words now, she couldn’t help but shout at her, “Although these things were given to your third sister, your third sister is now the daughter of Madam Ling. Afterward, why didn’t you send someone to take all of them back and replace them with another batch?”

This time, she only had the mind to care about the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases, so she had no mind to care about Ning Qingshan’s dignity.

They were treasures of their Ming Manor. Back to her youth, she wanted to take the pair of treasures as her dowry, but her mother did not allow it. Due to this reason, she got so angry secretly. Later, when Madam Ming fell into trouble, she simply took away these Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases at once also because of this reason, but now someone told her that the pair of treasures were gone, so how could she not be angry?

Standing on the side, Ning Qingshan blushed, and her face turned pale. “This is clearly the slap in the face. What’s the meaning of the words that these things should have been replaced with another batch after I became the daughter of Madam Ling? Is this a reminder of my identity? Madam Ling is now a famous vicious woman. Now I have become a concubine’s daughter because of her, the daughter of a vicious concubine.”

Third Prince was on still the head seat. Although he kept silent, he had been watching them coldly.

“Yes, grandma, I… I will ask our servants to take down the things of my mother, and such things will never happen in the future,” Ning Xueyan nodded and said gently but worriedly.

“Grandma, I didn’t mean to…” Hiding the hatred in her eyes, Ning Qingshan looked aggrieved, and tears had fallen down the corners of her eyes. She sobbed and said, “Grandma, I… really didn’t know. It was only when a wild cat came… this, this then happened.”

Now she hated Ning Xueyan very much. Of course, she would vent all the humiliation she suffered from Prince Yi on Ning Xueyan, so after smashing the porcelain, she especially sent someone to ask for a few best porcelain items. Surely, she knew that these few good porcelain items had been put into Ning Xueyan’s dowry, but in the presence of Third Prince, she did not believe that Madam Dowager would refuse her, or Ning Xueyan dared to refuse her.

“What’s the big deal of having put them into her dowry? The dowry has not been sent yet!

“As long as they are brought into my courtyard, will Madam Dowager not feel embarrassed to take them away from me at once?”

But she did not expect the pair of ordinary-looking Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases to be the most precious treasures for Madam Dowager. At that time when she began smashing the porcelain, the first ones she picked were the pair of Purple-gold and Sapphire Glazed Vases at her hand. What was even harder for her to imagine was that Madam Dowager even said that she would take away all those high-quality items in her room.

Now Ning Qingshan hated Ning Xueyan so much. When such words had been said, she had to give her reply. The trouble was caused by her, and the topic was brought up by her. It seemed that she just rushed into all these things, but she ended up with a bad result, so it was impossible for her not to grit her teeth with hatred.

“Madam Dowager, Housekeeper Ruan says that she wants to see you and talk about the matter of the porcelain,” Mother Qin suddenly came in and whispered to Madam Dowager.