The Devious First-Daughter

An unfamiliar maid passed the note to Lanning who handed it to Ning Xueyan.

Orchid Garden was the courtyard between Bright Frost Garden and Lucky Garden.

Ning Xueyan believed that Madam Ling had murdered Madam Ming. However, it was Qingrui who had been punished for it. Without any explanation, Madam Ling had asked people to catch Qingrui and beat her to death with sticks. Therefore, there were many doubts in this matter. Madam Ling knew that as Madam Ming’s daughter, Ning Xueyan would definitely want to know the cause of her mother’s death. Obviously, Madam Ling had thought of it carefully when she designed the trap.

However, Ning Xueyan was no longer what she used to be, but Ning Ziying, who had reborn. From the vague words on the note, Ning Xueyan could tell that Madam Ling was going to frame her. Of course she would pretend that she did not find anything wrong.

“I will have Ning Ziyan fall into her mother’s trap step by step!” Ning Xueyan thought with a sneer.

Ning Ziyan walked ahead of Ning Xueyan. When she came to Orchid Garden, only two maids were cleaning the courtyard. She looked at them and found that she had never seen them before. She thought that they must be new comers. Since she had moved to the Xia Manor after getting married, it was normal that she did not know the maids. Therefore, she walked straight to the main room without any suspicion.

A maid was cleaning the handrail with a cloth, with a basin of water beside her. When she finished washing the cloth and walked out in a hurry with a basin of dirty water in her hands, Ning Ziyan happened to walk up the steps and show up in front of her. The maid was taken aback by her sudden appearance.

She was so shocked that the basin slipped from her hands and most of the water in the basin was poured on Ning Ziyan. Being covered with cold water in winter, Ning Ziyan immediately let out a scream. She reached out and slapped the maid heavily. “Bitch! Are you blind?” she cursed angrily.

The maid took several steps back and fell to the ground. She raised her head and looked at Ning Ziyan’s cold face. “I’m… sorry! Fifth Young Lady, I, I did not notice…” she said anxiously, trying to explain.

“Fifth Young Lady? You did not even see my face clearly before calling me!” Ning Ziyan flew into a rage. She had just moved to the Xia Manor not long before, but the maid of the Lord Protector’s manor did not know her. It was no wonder that she was so angry. She had had to swallow the bitterness because of Ning Xueyan, and now even a maid was bullying her!

Lifting her wet skirt hem, Ning Ziyan kicked the maid heavily. The maid rolled down the steps and was speechless with pain and sweat.

Seeing what was happening, the other maid, who had been sweeping the courtyard, immediately ran over and knelt in front of Ning Ziyan, trying to intercede for her companion. “Fifth Young Lady…”

“Why did you call me Fifth Young Lady? If you dare to say it again, I will knock your teeth out!” Ning Ziyan shouted ferociously. She had suffered a lot just now because of Ning Xueyan. Now, she vented all her anger on the maid.

“Got it! I dare not to say it again. Miss, your skirt is wet. There are a few sets of spare clothes in the room. Do you want to change your clothes?” The maid was so scared. She did not know what was wrong with Fifth Young Lady today and why she did not want them to call her ‘Fifth Young Lady’, but as a humble maid, this was not something she should think of.

These two maids were new comers and had never seen the Young Ladies of the manor before. Fearing that they would be recognized by Ning Xueyan, Madam Ling had specially sent two new maids to the courtyard. Madam Ling had never thought that although this could prevent the two maids from being recognized by Ning Xueyan, however, the two maids did not recognize Ning Xueyan either, and they had mistaken Ning Ziyan for Ning Xueyan instead.

“I will teach you a good lesson after a while when I come out!” Ning Ziyan felt very uncomfortable now. Hearing that there were some spare clothes in the room, she did not think too much. She kicked the maid who had spilled water on her clothes again and then walked into the main room in the middle with her maid, Qiushui. Since the room was prepared for female guests, it was normal to have some women’s clothes.

The coldness and moisture had penetrated her skin soon through her clothes and made Ning Ziyan very uncomfortable. As soon as she walked into the room, she could not wait to untie her coat. Qiushui knew Ning Ziyan was in a bad mood, so she walked over to help her. As it was winter now, Ning Ziyan had spent a lot of time putting on her clothes. Now her clothes were wet through, so it was not easy to take them off.

“Where did that bitch come from? How dare she spill water on me? I’m going to break her hand when I get out after a while!” Ning Ziyan shouted angrily, trembling with cold. Finally, she stripped off her coat. However, her underwear was also wet, although it was not that serious, she still felt uncomfortable.

It was impossible for her to change all her clothes here. Unable to find a better solution for the moment, Ning Ziyan could only change her coat first. She planned to go back to her former residence after a while. There must be some of her clothes, so she could change all her clothes there.

Seeing her trembling with cold, Qiushui did not dare to delay. She threw the soaked coat on the floor at the screen and rushed to behind it, trying to find a dry coat and put it on Ning Ziyan.

Xia Yudong was anxious now, very anxious. He was sitting in the room when he heard something smash onto the ground outside. Then he heard someone cursing angrily. In the beginning, he was taken aback. After a while, he heard that a maid mentioned Fifth Young Lady. He thought that Ning Xueyan had been outside, so he wanted to walk out and have a look.

However, at the thought that it seemed that Fifth Young Lady was cursing and beating the maid, he hesitated. He did not feel sorry for the maid, but he knew Fifth Young Lady would not be happy if she knew that somebody saw what she was doing. Nobody would believe that a delicate Young Lady who was so gentle and adorable in front of people, was so aggressive and vicious privately. It sounded like she was beating the maid.

Fortunately, the reason he wanted to marry her was not because of her sweetness and gentleness. Therefore, after hesitating for a while, although he felt some resentment, it was still acceptable for him. Anyway, As long as Fifth Young Lady would marry him, he could have as many beautiful concubines as he wanted. It would be impossible for Fifth Young Lady to disobey his words after marrying him.

Thinking about this, Xia Yudong was clear that he should not go outside at such a moment. Otherwise, he might annoy Fifth Young Lady instead of impressing her. If that was the case, he would have no opportunity to win her heart in the future. Therefore, he moved inward a little in the room and decided to stay here before Ning Xueyan left.

However, he didn’t expect that the maid did not only bumped against Ning Ziyan, but also poured most water in the basin on her and made her go in the room. Xia Yudong had to hide behind the screen. Unfortunately, Ning Ziyan began to take off her clothes, without giving him any time to think.

Everything happened all of a sudden and everybody was caught off guard.

Qiushui let out a scream when she saw Xia Yudong behind the screen. At the very moment, the firmly closed door was kicked open and Xia Yuhang, Third Prince, Fourth Prince and Ning Qingshan appeared at the door. They surprisingly looked at Ning Ziyan, who was standing at the door, speechless with shock.

Seeing Qiushui, who covered her mouth with her hand and was almost faint beside the screen, Third Prince asked a eunuch behind him to check out what was happening. The eunuch walked behind the screen and took a look, but he did not say anything. He walked back to Third Prince and whispered in his ear. Third Prince nodded without speaking.

Looking at Xia Yuhang’s darkened face, Third Prince patted him on the shoulder and then turned to leave without saying anything.

Fourth Prince was shocked as well, but soon he figured out what had happened. He pattered Xia Yuhang on the other shoulder, half-smiling. Like Third Prince, he said nothing and left with Third Prince. Then Ning Qingshan walked outward following the two princes.

They were all smart. Although Fourth Prince and Ning Qingshan did not see clearly who the man was behind the screen, they knew that they should not watch other people dealing with their family affairs. Therefore, they all left.

“Fifth Young Lady’s Bright Frost Garden is in front of us. How about we go there and have a look?” After walking out of the courtyard, Fourth Prince looked at the path in front of them and asked Ning Qingshan, as if he was very familiar with Fifth Young Lady.

“Yes, it is my fifth sister’s courtyard. Fourth Prince, if you want to have a look, let’s go!” Ning Qingshan answered with a smile, as if she did not know how improper it would be when a male guest wanted to visit a Young Lady’s courtyard without her permission. Ning Qingshan took several steps forward and happened to stand in front of Third Prince.

“Third Prince, do you still remember the plum tree of our manor? Although it is not as beautiful as those at the imperial palace, it is the best one of our manor. Third Prince, do you still remember that you praised it before? Are you willing to have a look with me?” she said to Ao Mingyu gently with a smile.

Obviously, she was hinting that she did not care what Fourth Prince would do, and now she only wanted to enjoy the plum blossom with Third Prince.

“Okay! Third Brother, why don’t you enjoy the plum with Third Young Lady? I will visit Fifth Young Lady. It’s said that Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard is very delicate. I will take the opportunity to have a look.” Ao Mingwan was very satisfied with Ning Qingshan’s answer, so he nodded with a smile and found a reasonable excuse to visit Ning Xueyan.

With that, he lifted his foot and was about to leave.

“Fourth Brother, wait for a moment! It is inconvenient for you to go to Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard alone. Since you like the buildings of Bright Frost Garden, I will go with you,” he said calmly, looking both natural and gentle. Besides, he used the same excuse as Fourth Prince’s to visit Ning Xueyan.

Hearing that, Ning Qingshan’s face darkened, a trace of jealousy and bitterness flashing in her eyes. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but since Third Prince was not talking to her, she did not know what to say for the moment. She smiled, pretending that she did not care about it. However, she was so angry that she gritted her teeth secretly and had crumpled her hand handkerchief in her sleeve.

Ao Mingwan looked at Ao Mingyu thoughtfully. Then his eyes fell on Ning Qingshan’s beautiful but a little stiff smiling face. “Then let’s go together!” he suggested with a half-smile.

After reaching an agreement, the three walked to Bright Frost Garden together, with different minds.

Ning Xueyan had sat on the stool at Bright Frost Garden with Xinmei applying ointment to her wound and reporting to her what had happened after they left Lucky Garden. Of course, Third Prince and the others would not have shown up at Orchid Garden for no reason. They had gone there because Madam Ling asked someone to invite them to enjoy the view of the garden.

They had found themselves around Orchid Garden while hanging about the garden. There had been two maids at the gate. When they saw them, the maids had looked around in alarm and one of them rushed in the courtyard in a hurry. Feeling something wrong, they had stridden in the courtyard following the maids. Then they heard a scream coming from the room, so they asked the guard to kick open the door.

“How is everything going at Orchid Garden?” Ning Xueyan asked, spreading out the transparent ointment on her wrist.

“Since Third Prince was there, I did not dare to get too close to them. I heard Eldest Young Lady crying and explaining in the room and it seemed that a man was shouting angrily.” Xinmei had stood behind Orchid Garden just now. As Ao Mingyu and the others had taken guards with them, she did not dare to move closer to the room.