The Devious First-Daughter

Three days later, Madam Ling was released from the Buddha Hall. Since they had not mentioned Madam Ling’s mistakes in public and only said that she had come to the Buddha Hall for meditation, as soon as Madam Dowager approved, Madam Ling was released. Madam Dowager had not meant to get her out before the lunar New Year. However, after returning to the manor, Ning Huaiyuan had mentioned many times in front of her that the outsiders would laugh at the manor if they knew that the hostess was absent during the festival.

Besides, since the Beauty Contest was coming, Madam Dowager had to release Madam Ling early to make her adopt Ning Qingshan as her daughter.

Moreover, Madam Dowager had shifted most blame on Madam Ling and even Auspicious Clouds Courtyard had been turned upside down. After all, it was a disgrace to the hostess of the manor.

Due to the reasons above, Madam Dowager had agreed to release Madam Ling early.

In the early morning, Mother Qin came to the Buddha Hall. She offered her greetings to Madam Ling and said with a smile, “First Madam, Madam Dowager said that you lived an austere life at the Buddha Hall recently. Since the New Year is coming, she said that you could collect your belongings and leave the Buddha Hall,”

Mother Qin said very politely, as if Madam Ling had volunteered to stay here. Madam Ling was so angry, but she did not dare to lose her temper. She lowered her head and managed to hold back her anger. “Mother Qin, It’s very kind of you. Please thank Madam Dowager for me. I have to return to my courtyard and have it cleaned up, so I can’t visit Auspicious Fortune Hall for the moment.”

After her release, she should visit Madam Dowager first. However, she was so angry that she did not want to see her at all, so she found an excuse for herself.

Mother Qin was a smart woman and she immediately figured out what Madam Ling was thinking about. She then said with a smile, “First Madam, it’s up to you to visit Madam Dowager or not.”

Madam Ling and Madam Dowager were hostile to each other, so both of them tried to avoid meeting. After all, neither of the two would be happy when they met.

“Mother Qin, please tell my mother that I thank her for her consideration,” Madam Ling said, half smiling. She then helped Mother Chen up and walked out of the Buddha Hall slowly.

Although it was cold and cheerless outside, the sunshine was shining brightly. After punishing Junior Concubine Xu, it was the first time for Madam Ling to leave the Buddha Hall. She stopped and covered her eyes with her hand to avoid the sunshine.

Ning Huaiyuan was waiting outside with Ning Qingshan, Ning Lingyun and Ning Xueyan. Watching Madam Ling walking out, he immediately stepped forward and bowed to Madam Ling respectfully. “Mother, my sisters and I came to pick you,” he said.

“Mother, greetings!”

“Mother, greetings!”

“Mother, greetings!” The three sisters bowed to Madam Ling one after another.

Since people of the manor had told the outsiders that Madam Ling had come to the Buddha Hall to pray for her family, it was normal that the younger generation waited outside the Buddha Hall to greet her.

Madam Ling glanced at them coldly one by one. She looked at Ning Lingyun for a while and then her eyes fell on Ning Xueyan, a viciously look crossing them. However, she managed to hold back her anger and even squeeze out a fake smile on her face. “You all can go back now. I will go back and clean up my courtyard, so I have no time to stay with you.”

“Mother, let me help you with the courtyard,” Ning Qingshan walked over and said with a smile.

“It’s unnecessary. It’s said that some people turned the yard upside down to find things. The outsiders will think that I’m no longer the Hostess and can’t rule the children of the manor anymore.” Madam Ling refused Ning Qingshan coldly. She glanced at Ning Xueyan and held back the impulse to rush over and slap her in the face.

She was warning Ning Xueyan that as long as she stayed at the manor, she would be the rightful Marchioness and Ning Xueyan’s fate would be in her hands.

“Mother, don’t think in this way. As the Marchioness, you offered to go to the Buddha Hall to pray for the whole family, so everyone of our manor will appreciate you. Nobody will be so stupid to spread the rumors,” Ning Qingshan said gently. Since she needed Madam Ling’s help to improve her status, she had to try to please her.

Unfortunately, Madam Ling had never liked Ning Qingshan because she knew that Ning Qingshan had been vicious since childhood. Now, she heard that it was Ning Qingshan who had stirred up the trouble about Madam Ming’s dowry, she hated her more. With a snort, she gave Ning Qingshan the cold shoulder and walked toward Auspicious Clouds Courtyard.

Looking at Madam Ling and then at his three sisters, Ning Huaiyuan frowned. He then turned and walked toward Auspicious Clouds Courtyard as well, following Madam Ling.

“Fifth Sister, our mother did not seem happy. Could that because what happened a few days ago?” Ning Qingshan lowered her head and asked Ning Xueyan in a soft voice, as if she had not seen how cold Madam Ling had been toward her.

Now, Third Young Lady seemed to be as gentle, calm, and magnanimous as she had been when she first arrived at the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Ning Xueyan knew what Ning Qingshan was thinking about. After all, she was going to attend the Beauty Contest, so any problems on the manor would impact her. Of course, she would not miss any chance to humiliate Ning Xueyan, but in a more subtle way.

Obviously, she was blaming that Ning Xueyan had gone too far to move so many things out of Auspicious Clouds Courtyard. It seemed that she felt sorry for Madam Ling.

Madam Ling had left, but her servants were still there. If they reported it to Madam Ling, Madam Ling would hate Ning Xueyan more.

“What happened a few days ago?” “Third Sister, are you saying that our mother was annoyed because you had found something wrong in the account book three days ago?” Ning Xueyan asked back naturally with a slight smile.

Ning Qingshan’s eyelid twitched at the words and she could not help gritting her teeth. After thinking it over, she became more certain that she had fallen into Ning Xueyan’s trap. But it was true that she had stirred up the trouble, so Madam Ling would definitely resent her for it. She had gotten on well with Madam Ling before, but because of this matter, Madam Ling would no longer regard her as a friend.

After walking out of the Buddha Hall, Madam Ling had been so cold to them, so obviously she was annoyed.

“Fifth Sister, I meant what you and your uncle did to our mother after I had pointed out the problems in the account book. Don’t you think that you have gone too far? Since she is our mother, you should leave those things in her courtyard to show your filial piety.”

She meant that Ning Xueyan should give Madam Ling Madam Ming’s dowry and she was unfilial to have taken away those things from Madam Ling. And this was a breach of ethics as well.

“Ning Qingshan is standing on Madam Ling’s side wholeheartedly and she really wants to cooperate with Madam Ling. She accused me because she was trying to flattering Madam Ling!”

With a slight smile, Ning Xueyan answered, “Third Sister, you are right. If nobody mentioned it, I would have pretended that I knew nothing about it. However, it happened to be overheard by my uncle. Of course he would not have turned a deaf ear to it. Third Sister, I should thank you for it.” She looked gentle when she spoke this, but actually, she was shooting back aggressively.

Ning Qingshan had not thought that Ning Xueyan would have shifted all the blame on her. “She must have set a trap for me in advance!” At the thought of this, Ning Qingshan could not hold back her anger anymore. “Fifth Sister, you are even more eloquent than before! I did that because I fell into someone’s trap!”

She was hinting that she had not deliberately exposed Madam Ling’s dirty tricks. But when she spoke this, all Madam Ling’s people had gone and now only the three sisters and their maids were left in front of the Buddha Hall. Ning Lingyun lowered her head and did not say anything, looking very humble.

“Third Sister, you fell into someone’s trap? You must tell Grandmother about this. Otherwise, they may misunderstand you,” Ning Xueyan did not make any concessions. She looked at Ning Qingshan with a smile, a mocking look flashing in her eyes.

With that, she bowed slightly to Ning Qingshan and left with Lanning before Ning Qingshan could say anything.

Seeing her leaving, Ning Lingyun did not dare to stay there anymore. She took leave of Ning Qingshan in a hurry and walked toward her own courtyard with her maid.

Ning Qingshan gritted her teeth and clenched her fists firmly, almost losing her temper.

Ning Xueyan seemed to have said that for Ning Qingshan’s own good, but in fact, she had been hinting that Ning Qingshan had lost Madam Dowager and Madam Ling’s trust in her, so no matter how she tried to flatter them, they would suspect that she had deliberately exposed the problems in the account books and stirred up the trouble so as to create conflict between Madam Ling and Ning Xueyan.

“Miss!” Seeing her in a rage, Caifen took several steps forward and called her.

“I’m okay. Have you gotten the job done I told you this morning?” Ning Qingshan let out a long sigh and loosened her clenched teeth. Then she recovered her composure.

“I saw Second Childe Xia in the morning and told him about our plan. He agreed with it,” Caifen answered in a low voice. She had slipped out the manor this morning and just returned. Because Ning Qingshan was going to the Buddha Hall to pick Madam Ling, Caifen had not had a chance to report it to her just now.

Ning Qingshan had always contacted Xia Yudong through Ning Ziyan before, but this time, since she had offended Madam Ling, she did not want her and Ning Ziyan to know about their plan, so she had asked her maid to contact Xia Yudong privately. Nobody had known that Xia Yudong was helping her when they were at Third Prince’s suburban courtyard. Besides, it would take some time if Xia Yudong wanted to get Ning Xueyan, so they should be patient.

Ning Qingshan knew that Xia Yudong would definitely agree with her plan. Since Xia Yudong had agreed to go to Third Prince’s suburban courtyard and save Ning Xueyan when she was in trouble last time, Ning Qingshan knew that he was an ambitious person. Xia Yudong was not that talented and capable, so he had planned to take advantage of Lord Protector’s influence to develop himself. Ning Qingshan had tried to deal with Ning Xueyan by taking advantage of Xia Yudong, so it was no wonder that they had reached an agreement so soon.

She knew that she should not make any trouble anymore for the moment, but some things could be done quietly and slowly. When they were exposed in the future, she would have been chosen as Third Prince’s principal wife and those things would not affect her badly.

After making up her mind, she felt much relieved. She thought for a while and then returned to Foggy Courtyard. She knew that after going back to Auspicious Clouds Courtyard and seeing that everything had gone, Madam Ling must fly into a rage. If she visited Madam Ling now, Madam Ling would definitely vent her anger on her.

When Madam Ling returned to Auspicious Clouds Courtyard and saw the empty courtyard, her eyes went reddish because of distress and anger. She almost rushed to Bright Frost Garden, but was stopped by Ning Huaiyuan at the gate. Ning Huaiyuan said something to Madam Ling and calmed her down. Then Madam Ling walked into the room with her servants, while Ning Huaiyuan asked people to move the new furniture into the room.

These were all high-quality furniture, but they could not be compared with the Madam Ming’s dowry. After all, Madam Ming had been the daughter of a century-old aristocratic family. Madam Ling lost her temper again and smashed a few other things. If Ning Huaiyuan were not here, she would ask her servants to go to Bright Frost Garden and rob everything back.

Of course, even if she wanted, it was impossible for her to rob those things back, because Ming Feiyong had prepared another list for Ning Xueyan, and in order to put the matter to rest, Madam Dowager and Ning Huaiyuan, who had been cornered at that point, had signed their names on it.

At Bright Frost Garden… Ning Xueyan was not in a bad mood because of Madam Ling’s release.

She had gotten everything done as her plan and Madam Ling’s release would not impact what would happen next. Tomorrow, Madam Ling would set a banquet and officially adopt Ning Qingshan as her daughter. Ning Xueyan did not want to stir any trouble at the banquet, but she worried that someone might try to give her a hard time to get back at her, so she reminded her servants to be cautious and do their jobs carefully tomorrow.