The Devious First-Daughter

If it had been any normal day, Madam Dowager would never have let Housekeeper Ruan in. But now she had a distressed look on her face because she was very sensitive about the porcelain issue. Without thinking too much about it, she waved her hand and said, “Go and ask her to come in. Why does she want to report about the porcelain? Is there someone else’s porcelain in the manor that has also been smashed by the cat?”

After saying that, she found that Third Prince was also here. However, if she retracted what she said earlier, it might seem obvious and would be somewhat embarrassing.

Ao Mingyu said with an easy-going smile, “Madam Dowager, please go ahead with what you have to do. I am not doing anything anyway.”

Originally, he did not want to visit Ning Qingshan’s courtyard. In the Cold Mountain Temple, at the time when he was slapped by Ao Chenyi, Ning Qingshan was in the room and must have witnessed it. When he thought that he had lost face with Ning Xueyan and this act had been witnessed by Ning Qingshan as well, he decided to distance himself a little from Ning Qingshan.

The moment he saw her, it seemed to remind him of his disgrace. Thinking back to that day, it was also because of Ning Qingshan’s instigation that he made such a decision. She told him to do something that would give him a hold on Ning Xueyan and then Ning Xueyan would be beholden to him after she entered Prince Yi’s Manor.

At that time, he might have some other hidden agenda, but now he thought that it was all Ning Qingshan’s fault. If she had not said that it would benefit him to do so, he would not have been so disgraced. Not only had he been slapped by Ao Chenyi, but he even received a scolding from his father in the imperial palace.

His mother reprimanded him as well. When he came to the Lord Protector’s Manor and heard Ao Chenyi humiliating Ning Qingshan, but he could not do anything. And he still had to help Ao Chenyi cover up the lie and said that he gave those ornaments to Ning Qingshan. Ao Mingyu felt like such a wimp and was very furious inside.

He knew that he could not offend Ao Chenyi openly now. Besides, he was in the wrong. If they really tore apart his image because of this, the reputation that he had taken great pains to build up would be gone. In that case, how could he ascend the throne in the future?

Therefore, he had to endure it. However, it was obvious that he exercised excessive patience with Ao Chenyi. Now when he remembered that Ning Qingshan caused all this, the more he looked at her, the more resentful he felt. On that day, what Ning Qingshan said seemed like she was thinking about him all the time. Now when he recalled what she said, did she really mean that? Was Ning Qingshan really such a selfless person?

Hence, Ao Mingyu sat down at one side and did not say anything at all.

After Housekeeper Ruan came in, she greeted Third Prince first and then the other masters, one by one in order. In the end, she came to Madam Dowager and reported, “Some time ago, the maid from Foggy Courtyard told me that a wildcat broke into Third Young Lady’s room and several maids chased after it. They smashed the porcelain accidentally and asked me to send some fine porcelain over.”

“I did not dare to make a decision about this, so I came here to ask for instructions from Madam Dowager. A large number of porcelain was smashed and they were all of excellent quality. Previously Madam Dowager allowed Fifth Young Lady to select some of the fine porcelain. They are now with Fifth Young Lady, so we will have to change the list for her dowry.”

Housekeeper Ruan did not say much, but it sounded very methodical. She pointedly reminded them that she had no choice but to come to Madam Dowager’s Lucky Garden at this time. Moreover, she also revealed that Ning Qingshan wanted Ning Xueyan to take out some porcelain from her dowry in order to compensate her. The dowry had not been sent out yet, but the dowry list was already drawn up, so how was it possible to change it at will?

Ning Qingshan almost spat out blood in anger. Just now, Madam Dowager wanted to move the things in her courtyard and now Housekeeper Ruan was here now to say that she wanted to take away Ning Xueyan’s dowry. Although it was her original intention, she just wanted to take advantage of Third Prince’s power to suppress Ning Xueyan, so that Ning Xueyan would suffer a loss in silence.

Unexpectedly, it all came out in the open. For the previous matter, it could be said to be an accident, but now! This not only ruined her plan, but also her reputation!

Suddenly an idea flashed into her mind. She curtailed her act of trying to appear pitiful, wiped her tears and then hurriedly raised her head to ask, “Housekeeper Ruan, who said that? Who said I want to change my Fifth Sister’s dowry?”

“It is… it is Maid Caifen who is with Third Young Lady. She told me that there were several other maids and older female servants in the room then. Third Young Lady, if you don’t believe me, you can ask her.” When she heard this, Housekeeper Ruan hastily answered and stretched out her hand to point at Caifen, who was standing beside Ning Qingshan.

Ning Xueyan frowned slightly and looked at Housekeeper Ruan with some uncertainty.

“The maid beside Third Sister is really outstanding!” Ning Lingyun muttered in a low voice, as if she did not intend to let the others hear what she said. However, her murmur was very obvious because the room was so quiet at this time.

“How dare a maid ask for items from her master’s dowry”. And at the thought of Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan’s private conflict, Madam Dowager trembled with anger. At this moment, a mixture of anger, hate and distress rushed into Madam Dowager’s mind. She stared at Ning Qingshan fiercely, but could not say a word.

But even if she was angry now, she had to take into consideration Third Prince, who was present. So she directed her anger at Caifen and said, “Guards, come in. Take this babbling maid out and give her 20 lashes.”

Ning Qingshan’s heart skipped a beat and she hurriedly pleaded with Madam Dowager, “Grandmother, maybe my maid misunderstood what I meant. I just wanted to change some of the porcelain, so I beg Grandmother to forgive this ignorant maid.”

Ning Qingshan sounded kind and generous. Although she said that the maid was ignorant and must have passed on the wrong message, she took it as a minor mistake and forgave her.

There were only a few people available to her now. Mammy Luo was one and so was Caifen. Even Feilian was not her loyal confidant, so she could not afford to lose any more confidants. What’s more, if something bad happened to the people around her one after another, it would not reflect well on her and also make those serving her feel apprehensive.

Therefore, Ning Qingshan had to intercede for Caifen.

With a “flop” sound, Caifen went down on her knees in fear. Hearing Ning Qingshan pleading for her, she felt a little relieved. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and stole a glance at Fifth Young Lady who was frowning slightly and then became more confident. In her opinion, Third Young Lady was capable and smart. Besides, Third Prince was also here, so it was certain that Third Young Lady could protect her.

Moreover, she did not think that there were many people who heard her when she uttered those words. At this time, with Ning Qingshan backing her up, she immediately relaxed, turned to Housekeeper Ruan and said in a clear voice, “Housekeeper Ruan, you cannot say that. The wildcat jumped in and ran around, so we accidentally broke the porcelain. I asked Housekeeper Ruan if there were any fine porcelain that could be exchanged for our Young Lady, but I would not have dared to say anything else!”

The more she said, the more she felt that there was nothing to it. She was giving Housekeeper Ruan a hint, but did not say it outright. Generally speaking, this could not be counted as a wrongdoing because the evidence was clearly inadequate. And Third Prince was still here, so she did not believe that Madam Dowager would not give face to Third Prince and let her Young Lady be embarrassed.

As for Fifth Young Lady, she was nothing but merely a display only. With Third Young Lady and Third Prince here, nothing could happen to her today anyway.

Ning Zu’an stood aside and looked at Caifen in disgust. In the past, he never cared about the maids from Ning Qingshan’s courtyard, so he did not notice that there was such an arrogant and unconstrained maid at Ning Qingshan’s side. Although he did not pay much attention to the purple sapphire glaze, he thought that the room was really full of the fine porcelain from Madam Ming’s dowry.

At the very least, it was worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, but she actually dared to speak so lightly about it, even though she was only a maid. When was a maid able to say such a thing? She still wanted to change it into a roomful of fine porcelain. Did she really think that he was too rich and had nothing else to spend his money on and could easily afford to throw tens of thousands of taels of silver at will?

In fact, Ning Zu’an did not have much affection for his adopted daughter. He only thought that she was smart and obedient. She also had a good reputation outside and usually showed him respect in the manor. In addition, Madam Dowager had repeatedly told him that Ning Qingshan was a promising girl and the Lord Protector’s Manor could rely on her in the future, so he paid a little attention to her.

If there was something good for his own daughters, he did not forget her and also gave her a share.

But now, Ning Zu’an increasingly found something wrong with his adopted daughter. What happened in the study became a needle in Ning Zu’an’s heart. No matter how he saw it, he felt strange and thought there was something fishy about the whole affair. However, he could not find anything wrong for the moment and thought he was being overly suspicious.

Ning Qingshan was still the gentle and charming Third Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor and conducted herself well.

But what was going on now? If he remembered correctly, Ning Qingshan found this cunning maid from outside by herself and even brought her directly into her courtyard without the backyard’s permission.

For a moment, his disgust at this maid blended with the recollection of previous bad memories and made Ning Zu’an look gloomy.

“Is that what you said to Housekeeper Ruan then? Did you say those words after so many of the porcelain were smashed?” Ning Xueyan asked, as if Caifen should have put it more bluntly to Housekeeper Ruan.

Of course, Caifen would not admit to what Ning Xueyan just said. As soon as she thought that she had said too much at that time, she immediately declared righteously, “Yes, this is what I said to Housekeeper Ruan. I said nothing except that the porcelain were broken and needed to be changed for a batch of new ones and also urged Housekeeper Ruan to change it for Third Young Lady. I’m afraid that it will bring shame to the Lord Protector’s Manor if someone comes to Third Young Lady’s courtyard and does not see any decent porcelain ornaments.”

As Caifen spoke, she looked meaningfully at Third Prince and it was easy to see what she was implying.

Thinking that Third Prince was passionate about her Young Lady, he would certainly not let her Young Lady be sad and would take this chance to stand up for her Young Lady.

Seeing Caifen’s look, Ning Qingshan felt uneasy. Before she could ask her to stop, Ning Zu’an could not bear it anymore.

When Ning Zu’an heard the maid talking sheer nonsense so boldly and also saw that she peeked discreetly at Third Prince, he was ready to explode with rage. He pounded the table heavily and said, “As a maid, you dare to bully your master. You really dare to bully your master. You bring shame to your Young Lady. Guards, come and take this bad maid away.”