The Devious First-Daughter

“What? Ning Xueyan is even to hold a flower-admiring banquet! She has officially become the princess of Prince Yi?” In the Foggy Courtyard of Lord Protector’s Manor, the dark-faced Ning Qingshan could not remain seated anymore and turned around a few times on the spot.

“Yes, this is what I heard. Fifth Young Lady is so lucky and has even become the princess of Prince Yi,” Mammy Luo sighed. In her opinion, her miss was the best, but why did the Fifth Young Lady become the princess of Prince Yi before her mistress became a princess?

“No, I never allow Ning Xueyan to be so easily approved by others as the princess of Prince Yi.” Ning Qingshan stopped turning and said hatefully.

“Miss, that is Prince Yi’s Manor. You still want to meddle in!” Mammy Luo was worried. No matter how capable her miss was, she should not meddle in the affairs of Prince Yi’s Manor. If Prince Yi was offended, it might cause other problems. That was not worth it. Now her miss’s situation was no longer that good in the mansion.

“Has anyone recently come from that side, Mammy Luo?” Ning Qingshan asked with a sullen expression.

Mammy Luo knew what she was asking about and said with a wry smile, “Miss, that side is really not reliable. Since they affirmed your identity 3 years ago, they have been good to you. Sometimes they would even deal with a few things for you, but they seem to have become more and more indifferent to you recently. Previously, they came to visit you once half a month, but now they haven’t shown up for a long time.”

The appearance of these people was unexpected. They suddenly appeared, suddenly told her miss her family background, and even fully explained the family background Honored Consort Ya had told her miss earlier. They claimed that the reason why they appeared in Grand Tutor Ya’s mansion and affirmed that she was the granddaughter of Grand Tutor Ya was that they replaced Grand Tutor Ya’s biological granddaughter with someone secretly, in order to provide her miss with a safe and suitable identity.

But things changed later. After Grand Tutor Ya’s son died in the battle, her miss was sent to Lord Protector’s Manor by Grand Tutor Ya with a smart strategy, so her miss became the daughter of Lord Protector’s Manor.

For Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Qingshan was the daughter of Lord Protector’s Manor.

For Grand Tutor Ya’s Manor, she was the biological daughter of Grand Tutor Ya.

In the eyes of those people, she was the noblest Great Elder Princess of the previous dynasty.

But why did these people treat her miss more and more indifferently now? Previously, all parties curried favor with her miss so much, didn’t they? The woman in white who kept coming here even said many times that the identity of her miss was exceptionally noble and she was likely to be the one who was inferior to one but superior to all others.

The great and wonderful country belonged to her miss’s family in the past. Although the new dynasty had now replaced the old one, it was still the property of her miss’s family. When her miss had become the empress and her child had been chosen as the heir, she would have taken the country back, to some extent. But why were things like this now?

“Can we ask her to come here?” Ning Qingshan gritted her teeth and said. Now her situation was really not good. After Ning Yuling’s incident, Madam Dowager locked her up even without asking anything or giving a reason. She prepared lots of explanations, but she didn’t see Madam Dowager, so she had no chance to explain.

Fortunately, she showed her kindness repetitively to Ning Lingyun after that, so Concubine Xu, who helped Madam Dowager manage the family affairs, did not treat her so severely. Except that she could not leave her place, the others in the Foggy Courtyard could go outside.

“Miss, I’m afraid we can’t. When she was invited and came last time, she was very unhappy,” Mammy Luo said with a dilemma. Previously, she always thought that as long as her miss was alive, those people would listen to her miss no matter what they wanted, but now the situation seemed to be far from what her miss thought.

“Don’t worry, Mammy Luo. They won’t give me up. They spent such great mental and physical efforts to find me, never for the sake of helping me deal with a few unimportant people.” Ning Qingshan bit her teeth. No matter what, she didn’t believe that those people were going to discard her. Maybe they did this just for the aim of better achieving their goal.

Since this way didn’t work, she should think of another one. Anyway, there was more than one way. No matter what, she must attend Ning Xueyan’s banquet. She took a deep breath, walked to the window, and took a look. All the people in the mansion now knew that the people in the Foggy Courtyard were forbidden to leave their place by Madam Dowager, so no outsiders visited the courtyard. Then, it had become desolate.

Ning Qingshan’s eyes fell on Feilian under the corridor. Feilian and Feiyue were given to Ning Qingshan by Madam Dowager. Although she had brought them under her control and Feiyue had died for her, Ning Qingshan always didn’t trust Feilian that much and tried not to let her know about many things. Of course, Feilian would be her cannon fodder when necessary.

“Mammy Luo. Ask Feilian to send the pieces of Buddhist sutra I copied during these few days to Madam Dowager, and say that I made these copies to pray for Madam Dowager, but I am afraid my copies are not good, so I want Madam Dowager to take a look. If anywhere is not good, she must ask Madam Dowager to point it out and correct it. If I go to Third Prince’s Manor in the future, I will make a few more copies for her.”

Ning Qingshan’s eyes glistened, having an eerily sharp look.

Mammy Luo was startled and said, “Miss, you, you can’t say that! If you say so, Madam Dowager will think you use Third Prince to threaten her. She will be angrier.”

If these words were spread, not only the maid who sent the message but also her miss would be punished.

“It doesn’t matter even if she is angry. I want to remind her that no matter what, I will marry into Third Prince’s Manor. If she forbids me to go out like this and this news is spread, I will lose face, and so will Third Prince. She still wants to curry favor with Third Prince, doesn’t she? If Third Prince learns this, let me see how she can curry favor.”

Ning Qingshan gritted her teeth and spoke coldly. What a damn old woman! On the one hand, she curried favor with Prince Yi; on the other hand, she went to fawn on Third Prince. She bet on both sides, but she didn’t dare to offend either of them. More importantly, this was the family’s skeleton in the closet, which could not be spread to the outside. This damn old woman should know that clearly.

Therefore, even if she was angry and even beat Feilian up, she was sure to know that if Ning Xueyan’s elder sister didn’t attend Ning Xueyan’s banquet, the elder sister would not be the only one to lose face. Then, it was quite worth it for the elder sister to send a maid to her door to get beaten up in exchange for her freedom.

“But Madam Dowager will treat you…” Mammy Luo was more worried after hearing her words.

“It doesn’t matter. You may go to Aunt Wu in a while and tell her my situation, asking her to tell my cousin, the Third Prince. Give me a sketch map of the inner courtyard of Prince Yi’s Manor, and ask my cousin’s eunuch to wait for me at the Chuihua Gate in Prince Yi’s Manor on the day of admiring the flowers.”

Ning Qingshan spoke insidiously, with a little fierceness in her eyes. She must weed off Xia Yudong. If he was weeded off, no matter how Ning Yuling’s case was investigated, she would not be found having connections with it. If she sent the message to the Third Prince, not only could she ask him to save her, but also borrow guards from him to kill Xia Yudong.

“Okay, I’m going out in a while.” Mammy Luo nodded. She believed that with the help of Concubine Xu, it was not difficult for her to go outside.

Feilian was summoned to come in, but she went out pale-faced because she had to be the messenger. As early as the time Feiyue died, she had learned Ning Qingshan’s viciousness, but she had to send the message. If she didn’t, she would die the way she didn’t know.

Hearing Ning Qingshan’s words brought by her, Madam Dowager did go furious, especially when she found that the messenger was even the maid she gave Ning Qingshan. Instantly, she asked people to punish Feilian with heavy sticks, but as Ning Qingshan had expected, Madam Dowager calmed down after venting her anger.

She asked someone to inform Ning Qingshan, saying that the Buddhist sutra copies were good and she was freed. Besides, she also told her that Ning Xueyan was going to hold a banquet soon, and she should be prudent in words and action.

Of course, Ning Qingshan agreed with great joy. After that, Mammy Luo went outside, but she didn’t notice that an older female servant was after her.

Since Fifth Young Lady was not in Lord Protector’s Manor anymore, there were no other important female mistresses but Madam Dowager in the mansion. Especially this time, Madam Dowager did as her miss had expected. Therefore, Mammy Luo was quite relieved and didn’t go here and there for safety’s concern, but went straight to Grand Tutor Ya’s Manor.

The lady Wu Yao lived next to Grand Tutor Ya’s house…

When receiving the message in Prince Yi’s Manor, Ning Xueyan had just finished lunch. The messenger was sent here by Concubine Xu secretly. Of course, the messenger clearly saw that Mammy Luo didn’t enter Grand Tutor Ya’s house but the little house next to it. It was said that one of Grand Tutor Ya’s Manor’s relatives lived in it, and the relative was a widow.

This was all the information Concubine Xu had collected. Of course, she had betrayed all of it to Ning Xueyan. Indeed, this was a way to win the latter’s favor.

“You tell the older female servant I thank Concubine Xu for the information and hope she can tell me more of the information she gets in the future. I will invite so many people to my banquet this time. Since this is the first time I have held the flower-admiring banquet in Prince Yi’s Manor, a few noble young men and ladies will be here. As for my Fourth Sister, she will have to be more cautious, trying not to go to places where there are few people.”

Ning Xueyan put down the book in her hand and spoke casually. Now she was going to sleep and had taken off her outer garment, so she didn’t go straight to meet Concubine Xu’s messenger.

“Okay, I see.” Surely, Lanning knew what Ning Xueyan meant: She asked Ning Lingyun to be more careful. After all, now she was betrothed to Third Prince. If any rumors flew around, not only she but also Ning Xueyan would lose face.

“But Third Young Lady will be here too. Mistress, do I need to ask someone to keep watching her?” Lanning asked worriedly. Earlier, the older female servant sent by Concubine Xu told her that the Third Young Lady had been freed—Madam Dowager flared up but had to free her, which meant that she allowed her to attend her mistress’s banquet.

Different from the Fourth Young Lady, the Third Young Lady had quite a scheming heart.

“No need. This is Prince Yi’s Manor. Even if Ning Qingshan wants to make waves here, she is not so capable.” Ning Xueyan smiled coldly and had a little ridicule in her eyes. Ning Qingshan was sure to come out. No doubt, she would not lose the chance to disgrace her. If so, it happened that not only she had this idea!

Ning Xueyan was really not afraid of losing face!

Yun Luoluo had apologized to her yesterday! Since Yun Luoluo, who always looked down upon her, could come to apologize to her, this showed that Commandery Princess Xianyun had made enough efforts!