Hearing Ning Yuling"s questions, Ning Xueyan stopped and faintly said with a slight smile on her face, "Second sister, I"ll show this flower to grandmother. Don"t you want to show it to grandmother?"
"Show it to grandmother? Is this the way to Lucky Garden?" Ning Yuling unconsciously sneered and scolded while making an akimbo gesture, "You little b.i.t.c.h, how dare you lie to me!"
"Some parts of this flower are not good-looking. So I want to trim it in the front garden before sending it to grandmother. Second Sister, what are you suspicious of?" Ning Xueyan slightly raised her chin to point to the right front place. There was a garden house where there was some equipment used to trim the flower.
Ning Yuling found what Ning Xueyan said was reasonable. She still wanted to make unreasonable noises, but she also knew that this time was not appropriate. Besides, Mother Qin also was there. But she was unwilling to give up in front of Ning Xueyan who she despised most, especially when she saw the anxiety in Ning Xueyan"s eyes. She was sure that Ning Xueyan had a plan.
The Third Prince had not left at this time, and Ning Xueyan was in such a hurry. Ning Yuling thought that Ning Xueyan must want to try to seduce the Third Prince with the black chrysanthemum. How could she allow it to happen?
"What"s wrong with my flower? Does it humiliate you? I think it"s beautiful. If you really want to show it to grandmother sincerely, come with me to see her now. Don"t talk so much nonsense!" Ning Yuling glanced at Ning Xueyan with an angry face.
"Little b.i.t.c.h, you want to seduce the Third Prince when I"m absent. There"s no way!"
Ning Xueyan turned to Mother Qin and said with embarra.s.sment on her face. "Mother Qin, is it appropriate for me to go at this time?"
The reason why Madam Dowager called Ning Yuling was that she was going to teach her a lesson. It would be very inappropriate for Ning Xueyan to go at this time. One would not disturb Madam Dowager at this time as long as he or she was foresighted.
"Why would it be inappropriate? Is it appropriate for you to go out and seduce the Third Prince now?" Ning Yuling scolded mercilessly!
Ning Yuling wanted to seduce the Third Prince, so she thought that Ning Xueyan had the same idea. Seeing hesitant Ning Xueyan, Ning Yuling believed that her guess was right. Immediately, she glared at Ning Xueyan and shrieked.
Almost half of the people in the garden could hear the scream. Some maids and older female servants pa.s.sed by looked over and then fled in fear when they saw the Second Young Lady.
Her words were more and more unpleasant to hear. If people heard two Young Ladies of Lord Protector"s Manor had no shame and talked about seducing man, how would they think about Lord Protector"s Manor?
"Fifth Young Lady, come with us!" Mother Qin felt distressed. Now she just wanted to take the Second Young Lady to Madam Dowager"s place without causing any more trouble.
"Well... okay!" Ning Xueyan ignored Ning Yuling. She nodded, turned around, and followed Mother Qin and others to Lucky Garden with the flower in her hands.
n.o.body noticed that Ning Xueyan had sneered when she turned around!
How could Ning Yuling let go of Ning Xueyan when she saw her walking to the second door with black chrysanthemum...
When they arrived at the Lucky Garden gate, Xiangmiao, Madam Dowager"s maid, was standing in the courtyard and waiting for them. Seeing Ning Yuling coming, Xiangmiao loudly said while pointing to the corridor, "Second Young Lady, Madam Dowager asked you to wait here."
It was the severity shown by Madam Dowager to Ning Yuling.
"You also want to stop me? Grandmother asked me to come, why should I wait outside?" Ning Yuling refused to obey. She had been spoiled by Madam Dowager and Madam Ling and always was domineering. She could ask people to wait outside. But she could not be asked to wait outside.
She directly poked Xiangmiao"s head with her one hand on which fingernails were red.
Several red prints appeared Xiangmiao"s head, which made her somewhat angry. She was the First Maid of Madam Dowager. And Madam Ling had to respect her at ordinary times. "Second Young Lady, this is Madam Dowager"s Lucky Garden. Even though First Madam is here, she also has to wait for Madam Dowager"s permission to enter."
But she was slapped by Ning Yuling as soon as she finished that. "Little b.i.t.c.h! You dare to threaten me with my mother and grandmother!"
Ning Yuling usually beat and scolded her maids at will. Even some had been beaten to death or sold to private brothels. Now she was not in a good mood, so she would certainly vent her anger on Xiangmiao.
Xiangmiao was the powerful First Maid serving Madam Dowager, and she had never suffered this kind of humiliation. She covered her face for a while and almost fainted. Her lips were trembling, and she could not say a word.
"Let her in!" Madam Dowager"s cold angry voice came from the room.
Ning Yuling sneered while glancing at the Xiangmiao with pride. Then she pushed the crowd away and went inside.
Ning Xueyan hesitated for a second and followed Mother Qin in.
"Grandma!" Ning Yuling entered first, and saluted Madam Dowager. But she directly straight up before Madam Dowager responded. Seeing that, Madam Dowager darkened her face more.
Ning Yuling asked with unhappiness, "Grandma, why did you call me over at this time?" If it had not been for Madam Dowager, she would have met the Third Prince.
Madam Dowager coldly said while looking at Ning Yuling, "Why didn"t you stay in your own courtyard? What are you going to do? Now you even make noise here. It"s outrageous!" Her face became worse and worse.
Seeing Madam Dowager"s gloomy face and hearing her harsh words, Ning Yuling felt guilty. She looked around and saw Ning Xueyan who was standing respectfully on one side with the flower in her hands. Immediately, she had an idea. She reached out to point to Ning Xueyan and angrily scolded, "Grandmother, it"s her fault. She wants to seduce the Third Prince with the potted flower as soon as she heard that the Third Prince would have lunch in Lord Protector"s Manor today. Look at her, how terrible she is. Does she deserve to have such an idea?"
Ning Yuling slandered Ning Xueyan and dumped the blame on her. The more she said, the more she felt that Ning Xueyan was shameless and low. She was even more furious to see Ning Xueyan standing there indifferently.
"If I knew that you have this in your mind, I should have asked my mother to send you to a brothel to serve men."
Hatred of Ning Xueyan, for old and new wrongs, welled up in Ning Yuling"s heart. For momentary pleasure, she spoke without thinking. She had already forgotten that this is Madam Dowager"s Lucky Garden.
"Pa!"
Ning Yuling"s curse stopped abruptly. She looked at Madam Dowager in disbelief while covering her face with one hand.
"Enough! You"re the Second Young Lady, how could you say those b.e.s.t.i.a.l words? How did your mother teach you? You look like a shrew of ill-breeding. How can you marry into Commandery Prince Li"s Manor if you behave like that?" Madam Dowager slapped Ning Yuling and scolded her fiercely. She was so angry that her face turned livid.
For the first time, she heard her spoiled granddaughter scolding people as a shrew. Although she knew that Ning Yuling was vicious in private, she still spoiled Ning Yuling because she was beautiful and always pleasing. Madam Dowager also thought that a woman would be bullied if she was too weak in womenfolk courtyard.
But she had never thought that Ning Yuling"s behaviors were worse than those of a shrew.
Ning Yuling was beaten by Madam Dowager for the first time so that she was shocked at the moment. She immediately cried in a grievance, "Grandma!"
... Madam Dowager was exasperated at Ning Yuling"s failure to make good. She pointed at Ning Yuling and scolded, "Shut up! If you"re as one-tenth clever as of your Fifth Sister, I won"t slap you today. Look at what you said and did, are you still the Second Young Lady of Lord Protector"s Manor? You not only slapped my maid, but also scolded your sister. You"re sisters, but you call her b.i.t.c.h again and again. Do you still know that I"m here?"
Ning Yuling ruefully said with tears in her eyes, "Grandma..."
"Apologize to your Fifth Sister!" Madam Dowager rebuked coldly.
Ning Xueyan had been standing on one side to look at them. However, she was suddenly mentioned, so she had to say, "Grandmother, it"s my fault. I thought that the black chrysanthemum is beautiful, so I decided to bring it to you. Unexpectedly, I made Second Sister misunderstand."
Madam Dowager said with a gloomy face, "She misunderstood? I think that she wanted to seduce the Third Prince, but now dumps the blame on others. She"d better know who she is. If it weren"t for your father, Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li wouldn"t agree to marry you. How dare you seduce the Third Prince now? If you go on like that, you"ll be hated by Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li after you marry into Commandery Prince Li"s Manor!" Her words were harsh, which made Ning Yuling dare not say a word.
Ning Yuling was scolded by Madam Dowager so much that she could say nothing. And her expression was aggrieved and pitiful. But her look at Ning Xueyan was more and more malicious.
"Grandmother, Second Sister and Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li are in love with each other. I believe that Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li won"t treat Second Sister like that." Ning Xueyan comforted Madam Dowager with a smile on her face, as if she did not see Ning Yuling"s fierce look.
"Only Xueyan is sensible. Inform Concubine Xu of taking some money from my pocket-money to Xueyan every month." Madam Dowager sighed, took Ning Xueyan"s hand, and let her sit down. "The Lord Protector"s Manor looks decent, but it"s actually seeming decent. We can"t ally with the Third Prince by marriage, which makes many people laugh at us. Look at your Second Sister, and she"s not foresighted. I can"t depend on her."
Madam Dowager became sadder as she said, and her eyes turned red. She took the handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes. It seemed that she really was sad, and there were tears in her eyes.
Mother Qin came to comfort Madam Dowager in due course. She stood beside Madam Dowager and said to her in a soft voice, "Don"t be sad, Madam Dowager. Isn"t there the Fifth Young Lady? The Fifth Young Lady is clever. She will certainly understand your meaning and won"t go against your meaning. If our Lord Protector"s Manor becomes better and more powerful, they will receive more support from us and won"t be bullied."
"But Yan"er is still young, and she just lost her mother. I... I love her dearly. The Lord Protector"s Manor is sorry for her!" Madam Dowager sighed and looked at Ning Xueyan with benevolence. It almost made people believe that Madam Dowager really loved Ning Xueyan. Looking at this, Ning Yuling became jealous and angry. She wished she would tear Ning Xueyan.
"Madam Dowager, Fifth Young Lady will understand you. You can rest a.s.sured!" Mother Qin comforted Madam Dowager while winking at Ning Xueyan. She wanted Ning Xueyan to comfort Madam Dowager as well.
Madam Dowager acted in front of Ning Xueyan again. Looking at her performance, Ning Xueyan showed coldness in her black jade-like eyes for a second. Marquis of Ping"an threatened Madam Dowager with a jade pendant and she agreed his request as expected.
Sure enough, Madam Ling knew Madam Dowager well. She knew that Madam Dowager would sacrifice Ning Xueyan without hesitance!
Ning Xueyan sneered in her mind, but she did not show it on her face. She gave a look at Madam Dowager, and then at Mother Qin with a blank expression, as if she did not know what they were talking about. "Grandmother, what happened?"
Of course, she would act with them. Otherwise, good play would not come...