The Devious First-Daughter

A young eunuch stood in an inconspicuous spot by Chuihua Gate, watching young ladies and mistresses walking down the road, sometimes in groups of three or four. It was a lively sight. No one noticed the young eunuch standing in a corner.

A maid walked out of the gate, looking all around. There were many guests at the manor today, and many maids kept coming in and out. Thus, she was equally as inconspicuous.

Suddenly, her eyes brightened when she potted the young eunuch. She immediately walked over to him. This wasn’t their first meeting; both knew each other well.

One was Ning Qingshan’s maid Caifen and the other was Ao Mingyu’s personal eunuch.

The two of them exchanged a few words under the tree before going their separate ways. One entered the backyard while the other entered the outer courtyard.

On the other side, a dainty young lady found her way to the Moon-embracing Tower like she had been there many times. Seeing the imperial guards at the door, she walked up to them with a smile and asked politely, “Excuse me. Is Brother Yi inside?”

The guards noticed that she didn’t come too close and used a rather familiar tone with them. Although they hadn’t seen her before, they didn’t dare to offend her. “His Highness isn’t here!”

“Where did Brother Yi go?” the young lady asked, still smiling.

“Do you have business with him?” The guards began to look stern when they heard her asking about the prince’s whereabouts.

“Housekeeper Ling sent me here to meet Brother Yi. I’ve been to the Moon-embracing Tower before. Can I wait for him inside? Housekeeper Ling said if Brother Yi isn’t here, he’ll send someone to find him. He told me to wait here first,” the young lady explained softly. Her delicate smile was enough to gain the favor of the guards.

The Head Housekeeper sent her here? The two guards exchanged conflicted looks. This had never happened before. Surely, the Head Housekeeper knew that the prince didn’t like having outsiders in the Moon-embracing Tower but this young lady kept referring to the prince as Brother Yi as if she was particularly close to him.

For a moment, they couldn’t decide.

“I’ll just sit in the garden and wait. I won’t go inside. Is that okay?” the woman said softly, pointing to a spot inside the courtyard. There were a stone table and a few chairs under a tree inside; it was indeed a resting spot. It was quite a distance away from the door of the main building and within the supervision of the guards as well.

If the woman tried anything, they would notice it immediately.

Seeing the guards’ hesitation, the woman pointed outside the gate and said rather coquettishly, “There isn’t anywhere to rest here. The nearest pavilion is probably several crossroads away. If Housekeeper Ling sends Brother Yi over, he won’t be able to see me.”

It was true that there weren’t any pavilions near the Moon-embracing Tower where the woman could rest. Ao Chenyi never planned on having anyone over to disturb him in the first place, so the existing pavilions were demolished.

“Okay, you can rest in the courtyard. You must leave if His Highness doesn’t come.” Since the woman had said as much, the guards had no room to refuse her. Even so, they made their stance clear.

They didn’t want her to go in and refuse to leave.

“Okay, I will. If I don’t see Brother Yi later, I’ll go and find him myself.” The woman nodded sweetly, looking agreeable. The guards couldn’t even feel any malice about her.

They exchanged helpless looks before letting her in.

The woman entered the courtyard gracefully and sat on the stone chair as she promised she would. She didn’t approach the building.

Seeing that she was observing proper etiquette, the guards relaxed and turned around to guard the gate. They were stationed at the gate to prevent people from entering the Moon-embracing Tower as they wished.

However, it became evident that the Moon-embracing Tower wouldn’t be peaceful today. It hadn’t been long since the woman entered before another person walked slowly over…

The guards looked at each other. Their initially dull faces turned sharp for a second but quickly looked stiff and stupefied again. They watched the woman who was slowly making her way in confusion, seemingly truly surprised.

“Master, Third Young Lady is bringing Fourth Young Lady over,” Lanning whispered, leaning into Ning Xueyan’s ear. Ning Xueyan nodded with a faint but cold smile.

“Get them ready. Remind Ning Qingshan that she can’t go there, but let her if she insists.”

Ning Xueyan knew Ning Qingshan would definitely go. Since Ning Qingshan had conspired with the Third Prince’s eunuch to say the same thing, it meant that the prince was in on this as well.

Ning Qingshan’s target was her, but Ao Mingyu’s target was Ao Chenyi!

Unfortunately for them, this was Prince Yi’s Manor. Both of them were truly underestimating Prince Yi’s Manor…

Ning Qingshan quietly led Ning Lingyun to the other side, wanting to find a resting place. After walking for a long time, they finally found a secluded courtyard.

“Fourth Sister, why don’t we get some rest inside?” Ning Qingshan asked with a smile.

“Inside? I… I don’t think it’s a good idea!” Ning Lingyun shook her head. “This is Prince Yi’s Manor. It’s not appropriate for us to go in without asking.”

“Of course not. Fifth Sister is the mistress of this place and we’re relatives of Prince Yi. It’s not a big deal for us to find a place to rest,” Ning Qingshan insisted.

“But…” Ning Lingyun continued to hesitate.

“No buts. Let’s go in first. If you’re worried, we can sneak out later. Since this place is secluded, I’m sure they just treat it as a storeroom. We’ll just rest for a while. No one will know. No one will think that we moved anything in the manor,” Ning Qingshan teased, interrupting her.

Ning Lingyun nodded and said cautiously, “All right, we’ll go in and rest for a while. We should keep up with Fifth Sister later. We’re not familiar with this place, after all. It’ll be bad if we enter any forbidden places.”

“Okay, we’ll do as you say. We’ll go in and rest for a while. My foot is really starting to hurt.” Ning Qingshan would say anything right now just to make Ning Lingyun go in.

They took so many twists and turns in the road earlier that they were actually near the outer courtyard at this moment. Few people had ever visited Prince Yi’s Manor but the Third Prince was a frequent visitor. Although he wasn’t very familiar with every part of the place, he could still draw a simple map. Back in the Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Qingshan had pored over the map and repeatedly thought of a way to come here.

The courtyard in front of them was her destination. This place was close to the outer courtyard but was still located in the inner courtyard; it was akin to a dividing line between the inner and outer courtyards. The gate that they passed by earlier was the gate separating both sides. This was, of course, only privy to someone in Prince Yi’s Manor. Sometimes, when Prince Yi was entertaining one too many male guests, this courtyard would be treated as a guestroom as well.

There were quite a lot of guests at the manor today, so this courtyard would also be put to use.

The Third Prince had told her earlier that there were two guests staying at this courtyard, and their reputation was also quite poor. Once Ning Lingyun enters one of the rooms here, she would surely scream and draw other people over. The Third Prince would likely come here to rest, so he would witness everything as well.

If Ning Lingyun was found spending time with another man in a room, she could forget about ever marrying the Third Prince.

And Ning Xueyan would also be thoroughly humiliated to have such a scandal happen at her very first banquet. It would be all the better if news of the scandal spread even further. The palace knew that Ning Lingyun was acknowledged as the Third Prince’s concubine, and the Third Prince was rivals with Prince Yi. This could give the Third Prince a leg up to suppress Prince Yi.

The scandal would be happening in Prince Yi’s Manor, after all, and the Third Prince would be losing a concubine. How would something like this happen out of the blue? Wasn’t this an attempt to disgrace the Third Prince? If one were to think further, one could imagine that it was Prince Yi causing this scandal to attack the Third Prince. This incident didn’t seem significant but when it became connected to the fight over the throne, it could very well trigger a bigger problem.

“Fourth Sister, can you go in and see if there are any chairs inside? If there are, move one out so I can have a seat. I really can’t walk anymore.” Ning Qingshan held onto the gate of the courtyard, holding one foot up to show that she really couldn’t go on anymore.

The two of them brought their personal maids when they came, but sent them off to find a way. The maids hadn’t returned even now. Since Ning Qingshan was in such a condition, Ning Lingyun had no choice but to go in herself.

Ning Qingshan watched Ning Lingyun nod, walk into the courtyard, and open the door that she pointed to earlier. A smug smile appeared on her face. Once Ning Lingyun enters that room, she wouldn’t be able to find a way out so easily. The Third Prince had deliberately led a playboy into that room. Upon seeing an unmarried woman in his room, the playboy would never let Ning Lingyun out.

Once the two of them start getting handsy with each other, all she had to do was walk in and scream. This would surely attract even more people to come.

Suddenly, a mocking voice came from behind her. “Ha, woman! How can you be so desperate for men that you would come here and peep at a man’s courtyard? What’s wrong? Were you hoping to see if there are any men to your liking inside? You’re really shameless!”

Ning Qingshan immediately turned around and saw Ao Xian standing a short distance away. Her pupils shrunk in shock.

“What? I caught you red-handed this time, hadn’t I, Third Young Lady Ning? You’re such a slut! You wouldn’t say I’m being inexplicable and say that you climbed onto someone’s bed because you didn’t know anything, would you?”

Ao Xian had come here bearing anger. He once received Ning Lingyun’s letter expressing her regret at their failed engagement. She even hinted that the failure was because of Ning Qingshan. Ning Qingshan had done so because she didn’t want Ning Lingyun to obtain happiness.

Ao Xian was the one who suggested the engagement with Ning Lingyun. He could still remember that gentle, pitiful woman that he lost because he was found in bed with Ning Qingshan. In the beginning, he believed that it was all an accident but Ning Lingyun’s hint in the letter sent him raging.

After hearing that Ning Qingshan was going to frame Ning Lingyun again, he immediately came over in righteous indignation to teach Ning Qingshan a lesson. In his opinion, a woman as malicious as Ning Qingshan was unworthy of the Third Prince.

Naturally, he wasn’t going to be polite to Ning Qingshan. He had been here for a while, hiding in a corner. He overheard what Ning Qingshan told Ning Lingyun and even saw the door Ning Qingshan pointed at. That immediately sent him into a rage. Sure enough, that slut was a wicked bitch! He swore he would expose her true evil side today.

Ning Qingshan’s face immediately sank when she saw it was Ao Xian. She retorted coldly, “Princely Heir, what nonsense are you saying?!” Her brows were knitted tightly. She couldn’t help but panic. Why was Ao Xian here? What did he see? Did he hear anything?