The Devious First-Daughter

That was what Commandery Princess Xianyun thought and firmly believed. So, even if Ao Chenyi had been so cold to her this morning, she felt that she had an absolute chance at victory upon calming down.

She didn’t want to let go of the chance this time. The reason she wanted to get Ning Xueyan involved was so that she would have a scapegoat. If she had gone against Ao Chenyi’s intention, she would pin the blame on Ning Xueyan. Besides, he didn’t like the consort anyway. Compared to the Princess that he had just married, it would be easier for him to punish his unfavored consort.

Of course, if she managed to satisfy Ao Chenyi, she would take all the credit without any guilt. She was the person who proposed the plan, after all, and Ning Xueyan was just an observer.

“Go! Bring the person here so I can hear the story again,” she said, gritting her teeth. Things had gone too far. Even if Ning Xueyan wouldn’t come, she had no choice but to investigate. The incident had just happened before her eyes and she had allowed too much to pass. If she dragged it out any further, it would make her look incapable. If her investigation bore fruit, she would be able to gain a little more of Ao Chenyi’s respect. Simultaneously, she could also make him recognize his consort as an idle person who would only eat and wait to die—not at all someone who could benefit him.

“Your Highness, why don’t we wait a little longer?” Qiuhuan was the more careful person of the two. Although it was normal for the Princess to get involved, everything about the manor was unusual. She thought that the Emperor and Empress would admonish Prince Yi for not visiting the Princess yesterday at the palace, but they didn’t even mention a word about it until the very end. Qiuhuan felt that things were different than she had imagined, so she felt the need to remind the Princess.

“We can’t afford to wait anymore. Bring the person here,” the Princess resolutely said, lowering her gaze.

Seeing her like this, the two maids knew that she had made up her mind and dared not to say anything. Xiangrong stepped aside while Qiuhuan headed to the right wing of the courtyard.

When Qiuhuan opened the door, she saw a woman dressed in servant clothing sitting anxiously inside. The woman looked up after hearing a noise. Upon seeing Qiuhuan, she immediately stood up and said, “Miss Qiuhuan!”

“Come with me. The Princess has questions for you,” Qiuhuan said and led the way. The woman nodded and followed her.

Lanning watched the older female servant leave with her own eyes. The reason why she noticed the woman coming out of the Great Wisdom Garden was that she was far too polite. She kept nodding and bowing to the servants guarding the door as if she didn’t know how to fawn over them.

She saw that the servants guarding the door were also smiling. Taking special notice of this, she decided to follow the woman.

She couldn’t very well navigate Prince Yi’s Manor the way she did Lord Protector’s Manor as she was still unfamiliar with the place. Fortunately, she had always been smart. She pulled aside a maid that was walking past and pointed to the older female servant in front of them. “Who’s that?” she asked, her voice tinted with surprise. “Why is she discussing our master with other people?”

The young maid that she had stopped appeared to be only 12 or 13 years old. She looked at the older female servant in front and then at Lanning. A look of suspicion appeared on her face as she kept quiet.

Seeing this, Lanning immediately explained with a smile, “Our master is the Fifth Young Lady Ning from the Lord Protector’s Manor. She had just married into Prince Yi’s Manor.”

The maid immediately understood that Lanning was referring to the consort who had just entered the manor. She saluted Lanning before saying with a smile, “So, you serve Consort Ning. That lady in front is a servant in the Bright Garden.”

No one knew what the Prince truly felt about his new consort, so the servants dared not to slight her. Who knew if this consort would earn his favor? Working in Prince Yi’s Manor demanded high intelligence. The most undesirable thing for a servant was to take the wrong stance. A clever servant wouldn’t do so.

“Who lives in the Bright Garden?” Lanning asked in confusion. Her confusion wasn’t a pretense; she truly didn’t know about past events in Prince Yi’s Manor. After all, not anyone could inquire about things happening here.

“The Bright Garden, Jade Garden, and Graceful Garden are homes to the Prince’s concubines. Some were sent by the palace, some by other people, and some chosen by the Prince himself. Either way, all the concubines live in that area. Mother Ruan usually takes care of all of them.”

The concubines that were under the charge of Mother Ruan? Lanning’s heart skipped a beat. “Are all the concubines who kicked up a fuss at the Pear Flower Garden yesterday from the Bright Garden?”

This was her own speculation. The incident yesterday wasn’t much trouble as their master had already left with the Prince, leaving only a few of them behind.

Those concubines made up a fuss in tears all while pushing the blame on each other. In the end, it was the Prince who had to settle the matter. Lanning had only received a vague explanation that several concubines were causing trouble but heard nothing more of it. She purposely asked around this morning and heard that the concubines were hit as punishment.

Commandery Princess Xianyun’s meeting with the older female servant must be related to the incident yesterday.

Lanning appeared so certain that the maid thought that she had already known everything. She looked around with a thoughtful expression before pulling Lanning behind a nearby bush and started explaining things to her in a low voice.

Lanning nodded as she listened, her guard slowly rising.

After chatting with the maid for a little longer, she hurried back to the Pear Flower Garden.

She opened the curtain and entered the room to see Ning Xueyan sitting idly inside, knitting pendants with Qingyu with a bored expression.

In her past life as Ning Ziying, Ning Xueyan knew how to make knotted pendants. She spent most of her life locked in the inner courtyard and had nothing to do better than knot pendants with her maids. It was better than embroidering all day, after all. Ning Ziying personally found knotting pendants much more interesting as well. Right now, she was resuming her old hobby because she was bored and had nothing better to do.

As soon as Lanning entered the room, she told Ning Xueyan what she had found out. “Master, the Princess met with an older female servant from the Bright Garden earlier. She serves the women who made a fuss at our courtyard yesterday.”

Ning Xueyan’s long eyelashes drooped as she knotted her pendant as quietly as a fluttering butterfly. She would only stop moving her hands occasionally. When she blinked, her lashes would sweep her cheeks like two small fans.

Qingyu’s hands stopped moving ever since Lanning started speaking, her eyes widened in surprise. She quietly listened to Lanning’s words but her face turned redder the more she listened. She appeared furious. By the time Lanning finally finished her explanation, she said in anger, “Master, they’re indeed targeting the weakest. Why are they so sure that you can’t do anything about them?”

Compared to them, Ning Xueyan’s reaction was much calmer. She continued moving her hands with a smile. She had long known that something was going on with the Princess or she wouldn’t have been summoned there again and again. Sure enough, the Princess had a good reason for the invitation. She had been so busy all morning and none of her maids had the chance to tell her about the incident yesterday.

This was her first time hearing about what had happened last night.

“Are the concubines lying in the Bright Garden right now?” Ning Xueyan asked without even looking up.

“Yes. I heard that they couldn’t get up after being beaten by the Prince. I’ve only heard about it this morning and didn’t think to tell you as the incident had already passed. I didn’t expect there to be follow-up,” Qingyu said angrily. She hadn’t gone to the imperial palace with Ning Xueyan and Lanning, so she and Mother Han did hear about the incident.

Those concubines caused trouble at the consort’s Pear Flower Garden instead of the Princess’ Great Wisdom Garden; they were obviously bullying Ning Xueyan.

“They must have caused trouble at my place, thinking that the Prince would be staying in the Princess’ courtyard. They probably wouldn’t dare to cause such a fuss on most days, but the Prince’s wedding must have given them courage. They must think that coming here to give me trouble wouldn’t affect the Prince.”

The politics in Prince Yi’s Manor were as complex as she had expected. She didn’t think that those concubines would dare to cause such trouble without anyone’s instructions. She had visited the manor once under the guise of Ao Chenyi’s favored concubine. At that time, he had directly beheaded the two beauties that the palace sent.

If that wasn’t enough to scare those concubines, she must admit that they were a courageous bunch. Perhaps, they simply believed that Ao Chenyi wouldn’t ruin his good mood on his wedding day for a mere consort.

Meanwhile, she would become a joke to everyone.

She had made enough of a fool of herself yesterday, having fainted once in the sedan and then again after arriving at the manor. Not only did Ao Chenyi not visit her courtyard at night, but his concubines even gave her trouble. It was indeed a tremendous “humiliation” for a newly-married consort who hadn’t even seen her husband’s face.

It seemed that there was more than one person who tried to attack her yesterday, and the newly-married Commandery Princess Xianyun apparently thought that this was a great opportunity for her.

The Prince’s consort had been humiliated by several concubines shortly after entering the manor. As the Princess, she had every right to handle the matter and avenge the consort. This would not only allow her to demonstrate her power but also show Ao Chenyi how clever and tolerant she was. Naturally, the Princess wouldn’t miss the chance to trample on Ning Xueyan further either.

The incident wasn’t widely known seeing as it had happened in Prince’s Manor, but if the Princess were to investigate it with great fanfare, everyone would know how she was humiliated by a few nameless concubines. And it would become apparent to the world just what kind of status she had as Prince Yi’s consort.

Of course, the Princess would have liked it better if she were to join her. That way, everyone would see how the Princess spared no effort in protecting an unfavored consort. They would marvel that only a virtuous, generous, and courageous wife like her was worthy of being Princess Yi. Of course, this matter would be blown out of proportions and spread far and wide…

Ning Xueyan sneered. What a cowardly and incompetent woman. The Princess had stripped her off any housekeeping duties in one fell swoop. Madam Ling had used this tactic on her before, and the Princess clearly had the same idea.

“Master, what should we do now?” Qingyu asked anxiously. She never thought that her master would cause such a commotion on her first day in the manor and a commotion incited by the Princess at that. The Princess was going to use her master as a stepping stone. She would make everyone think that Ning Xueyan was weak and incompetent while parading herself as the embodiment of magnanimity and elegance, who would help the Prince’s useless consort…