The Devious First-Daughter

In the end, the matter of the County Princess Yuanyun was suppressed. Then, there were rumors in the capital city. Following the example of the Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor, the County Princess Yuanyun would cultivate quietly in the nunnery to pray for her dead father’s soul. The rumors were spread all over the capital city. People said that the County Princess Yuanyun was not only noble, but also filial.

Compared with the Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor, she was a rare and good girl.

However, another rumor gradually spread, saying that the reason why the County Princess Yuanyun went to the nunnery was that she had no choice, but to do so. Initially, she had a fiancé, but she framed another woman before she got married. She was extremely vicious.

At first, only a few people were talking about this rumor. Most of them did not believe it. But somehow, the rumor became more and more rampant and mystifying. Some people even described every detail vividly. For a time, the County Princess Yuanyun became the epitome of a vicious woman.

After an imperial edict was released that her title as County Princess had been stripped, Ming Yuanyun’s bad reputation was almost confirmed.

After the imperial edict was released, the Great Elder Princess, who held power in the Ming Mansion, did not choose any lucky day to send Ming Yuanyun away.

Seeing her cousin boarding an ordinary sedan chair and weeping bitterly as she left, Commandery Princess Mingya gritted her teeth in anger.

“Mother, that woman is a lowly, favored concubine. How could His Majesty treat Yuanyun like this?” She turned around to the Great Elder Princess, who sat high in the hall, and said angrily.

“Shut up!” The Great Elder Princess, who was sitting at the top, seemed to be in her fifties. She looked dignified and graceful. She glared at Commandery Princess Mingya with her sharp eyes and felt helpless for her outspoken daughter.

“Mother, Ya’er did not say whether anything was wrong. It doesn’t matter if a hundred of such lowly women die. How could Yuanyun end up like this? Mother, can you go into the palace and plead with His Majesty. Ask him not to deprive Yuanyun of her title as a County Princess and her marriage with Cousin Yi…”

“How dare you say that?” The Great Elder Princess said angrily. She threw the teacup in her hand on the ground, and the tea splashed everywhere. Several drops of tea splashed onto Princess Mingya’s hands. She was caught unaware and looked at the Great Elder Princess blankly. She did not know what she had done wrong, that made her mother so angry.

“Ya’er, how can you, a young woman, talk about the marriage of the royal family?” Seeing her daughter’s blank eyes, the Great Elder Princess took a deep breath and said, “Prince Yi is not only your cousin, but also the future emperor of Chu Kingdom. You should not always call him cousin.”

“He isn’t… Everyone says that the Third Prince is the future…” Commandery Princess Mingya did not complete her sentence. After being glared at by the Great Elder Princess, she immediately stopped talking, and bit her lips, feeling aggrieved. Looking at the Great Elder Princess, she did not think she was wrong. Everyone said that the Third Prince would be the future emperor. Prince Yi was only the emperor’s younger brother.

But now, the emperor was still in power, and Prince Yi could not make any big trouble. How could her mother be so wary of Prince Yi?

“You’re stupid. Keep your mouth shut. Don’t do things according to what others say. Remember, you’re from the Princess’ Mansion and closely related to all the princes. But you don’t need to seek favor from any side. You don’t need to do that for the glory of the Princess’ Mansion.” The Great Elder Princess told her that.

The princess’s mansion did not interfere with political affairs because the Great Elder Princess’s husband died early. Although she would go to the palace to talk with the Empress, she basically did not care about political affairs. However, she was not ignorant, and she only said that the emperor will determine everything.

Therefore, Prince Yi, the emperor’s younger brother, would definitely be caught. The Third Prince or the Fourth Prince would probably inherit the throne. The Third Prince was more likely to succeed, because of his biological mother and the emperor’s favor.

However, the Great Elder Princess had never thought so. The former emperor, who was also the elder brother of the Great Elder Princess, had thought highly of his younger son. He had cultivated Ao Chenyi wholeheartedly. Others did not know this, but the Great Elder Princess clearly knew that Ao Chenyi was not only part of the Imperial Guard.

If Ao Chenyi was so easy to deal with, how could the emperor tolerate him sitting in the position of the emperor’s younger brother? It was because the emperor could not defeat him. Now, they were either in a stalemate or had struck a balance. So, nobody knew who would be the winner.

Besides, both the emperor and Prince Yi were her brothers. She was a powerless princess, and had contributed to the Chu Kingdom, so both of them would not ill treat her. Therefore, the Great Elder Princess’s Manor needed to keep a balance as before, instead of supporting anyone.

“Mother, the Third Prince will be the future emperor…”

Seeing that her daughter was ignorant and contradicted her, the Great Elder Princess felt utterly discomfited. She pounded the table and shouted angrily, “Come on, bring the princess out to the yard and don’t let her come out.”

When Ao Mingyu gave Mingya the invitation card, she thought it was improper. But she felt it was not a big deal at that time. Now she knew that it was part of Ao Mingyu’s scheme. Thinking of that, the Great Elder Princess was hopping mad. Ao Mingyu wanted to drag her into a dilemma…

A few days later, Ning Xueyan saw Madam Dowager, who had recovered from her illness.

The servant went in and reported to her. After a while, the servant invited her in with a smile. Meanwhile, she told her that Second Young Lady was also there.

As the maid lifted the curtain, Ning Xueyan looked at Madam Dowager, who was sitting in the middle. Ning Xueyan had not seen her for more than half a month. Madam Dowager did not look very good, she was a little pale and thin. It seemed that she was not faking her illness.

“Grandmother.” Ning Xueyan came to the inner room and bowed.

“You’re back.” Madam Dowager glanced at Ning Xueyan. She pursed her lips tightly, without joy in her eyes. She rebuked, “Your second sister is also here. Why don’t you go and greet her? After entering the Beauty Contest in the palace for a few days, you don’t know the basic etiquette now.”

Madam Dowager was putting all the blame on her! Madam Dowager was as snobbish as usual. The selected chess pieces were not of much value, so she fell ill from being angry.

She raised her head to look at Ning Yuling, who was sitting on the right side of Madam Dowager. It was the first time she had seen Ning Yuling since she came back. Ning Yuling’s face was delicate, without any blemishes. She was charming and had a faint smile on her face. When she saw Ning Xueyan, she did not rush over and scold her, unlike before.

Those who did not know her would think that Ning Yuling had changed. Unfortunately, Ning Xueyan’s cold eyes showed her hostility and gloom.

“Second Sister, have you recovered?” Ning Xueyan asked with a faint smile.

“Fifth Sister, thanks to you, my face has healed. I heard that you contracted herpes in the palace. How are you now? I have some medicine. If you need it, you can take it.” Ning Yuling smiled gently.

If she had not confirmed that it was Ning Yuling in front of her, Ning Xueyan would have thought that it was another person.

Ning Yuling never spoke to her in such a gentle tone.

It would be even better if she did not keep giving her creepy looks from the corner of her eyes, from time to time.

“Thank you, Second Sister. I’m fine.” Ning Xueyan said with a casual smile, but her eyes were profound. She felt that Ning Yuling did not come back to talk about their sisterhood.

Based on Ning Yuling’s temperament, she could not believe it.

“Xueyan, did you have an accident in the imperial palace? Otherwise, how could you develop herpes on your face and be eliminated? Our Lord Protector’s Manor was humiliated because of you.” As soon as she mentioned the palace, Madam Dowager was in a towering rage.

She pounded the ground with her walking stick and glared at Ning Xueyan angrily.

The bigger the expectation was, the bigger the disappointment was. Before Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan entered the palace, she felt that they could not fail under any circumstances. Both of them would be chosen. For the Lord Protector’s Manor, this was a good move. But now, both of them met with accidents. How could Madam Dowager not be angry?

She vented her anger on Ning Xueyan. After Ning Qingshan had an accident, the Honored Consort Ya secretly informed Madam Dowager that her son would marry Ning Qingshan. Ning Qingshan could not be a consort, but a co-consort. Madam Dowager was so angry that she broke several vases. But at least, Ning Qingshan could be a co-consort and marry into the royal family.

However, Ning Xueyan achieved nothing. Therefore, Madam Dowager was angry at Ning Xueyan and vented her anger on her.

Moreover, it was not pleasant to hear the words coming from the palace.

“Madam Dowager, it’s hard to say what happened to Fifth Young Lady. I heard that all the people in the imperial palace were all very distinguished. Only those rich and great people could live in the palace. Maybe it’s not suitable for Fifth Young Lady to live there.”

It was an affectedly sweet voice, who said this. Ning Xueyan turned her head and found that Junior Concubine Xu was also there. She was looking at Ning Xueyan with a smile. It seemed that Junior Concubine Xu had been living a contented life recently. Her headwear and clothes were almost as good as Ning Yuling’s.

“Conflict? In conflict with the imperial palace? It means that she’s born without riches and honor. So, she’s good for nothing.” Hearing Junior Concubine Xu’s advice, Madam Dowager did not stop, but looked at Ning Xueyan angrily, and said this in exasperation. The more she looked at Ning Xueyan, the more she hated her. How could she be in conflict with the imperial palace and did not get any benefits from the manor? What else could she do?

She might as well let Madam Ling find a family for her to marry, lest she would hang around her all day long. She would always be reminded that she was Madam Ming’s daughter.

She could not bring herself to like her.

Ning Xueyan did not expect that Junior Concubine Xu would be so perky in front of Madam Dowager and provoke her. She regarded herself as a big shot. She had helped Ning Huaiyuan to suppress her, with her lips lifted casually. This Junior Concubine Xu was ambitious. Unfortunately, she thought that nobody knew about this.

When she was away, Junior Concubine Xu used her right to make trouble for the people of the Bright Frost Garden.