Chapter 372
The Unlucky Ning Yuling
As expected, something terrible had happened to Ning Yuling. When she walked into the crowd with Xinmei, Ning Xueyan heard the unidentified laughter of the onlookers. The expressions of the onlookers were quite different from those on her side. And, the crowd here was huge, much more than those on her side.
Some people jumped on their feet and smirked as they took a look inside.
Inside, Ning Xueyan saw that Ning Yuling had hurriedly pulled on a robe in her panic, and sat in front of the carriage. The carriage was all right and so was the horse. The cart driver was unharmed, and stood at the side. Xia Yuhang’s robe was gone, and he was wearing an undergown. He stood aside and had a depressed look.
“Second Sister, what’s wrong with you?” Ning Xueyan rushed to Ning Yuling and crouched down in front of her. She saw Ning Yuling biting her lips and giving her a gloomy look. Ning Yuling did not say a word, but her eyes were full of hatred.
Seeing that she ignored her, Ning Xueyan turned her head to ask Xia Yuhang, “Brother-in-law, what happened?”
The crowd burst into laughter. “It’s the Eldest Brother-in-law and his wife’s younger sister. This is really…”
“It doesn’t matter. If Ehuang and Nvying can serve the same husband, what is the difference between this Eldest Brother-in-law and his wife’s younger sister?” Someone retorted.
“That’s true. It seems that the Lord Protector’s Manor will be holding another wedding ceremony. They are a perfect match.” Someone in the crowd laughed again.
“She doesn’t look like an unmarried girl.” Some people saw it clearly and said this meaningfully.
“Could it be that there’s something going on between the two of them a long time ago? So, she did this deliberately to steal her sister’s husband? I’ve seen a bi*ch, but I’ve never seen such a bi*ch. Beyond expectation, the Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor is rushing to be a concubine.”
“n.o.body can be certain about this kind of thing. The relationship is consensual. Mind your own business.” As a result, there was another burst of laughter.
Xia Yuhang’s face turned blue, purple, and then black. He looked at Ning Xueyan with a complicated expression. Then, he took the reins from the young male servant, mounted the horse, and said to Ning Xueyan, “Second Sister fell out of the carriage, and I caught her. You tend to her to see if she’s hurt. I’ll go back and inform your Eldest Sister first.”
Without looking at Ning Yuling, he directly turned around and walked through the crowd with the young male servant.
“Are you trying to shirk your responsibility?” Ning Xueyan sneered secretly, covered her mouth with her sleeves, and coughed softly. She turned her head and did not say much to Ning Yuling. She asked Yanyue to hold Ning Yuling up and sit inside the carriage. So many people surrounded them. What’s more, the onlookers’ remarks made their hair curl.
Ning Xueyan’s eyes fell on a red bellyband hanging at the edge of the wheel. It seemed that Ning Yuling was so unlucky that even that last piece of her clothing had been torn off.
Ning Yuling did not struggle this time. She obediently put on Xia Yuhang’s robe and got into the carriage.
The carriage of the Lord Protector’s Manor came quickly, followed by two older female servants from the Lucky Garden. They helped Ning Xueyan and Ning Yuling to the carriage, and they left in a hurry, leaving someone to deal with the two carriages that had met with an accident.
“What? When the Second Young Lady jumped out of the carriage, she didn’t even have a bellyband?” Madam Dowager said this angrily, as she looked at Yanyue, who was kneeling with a gloomy face.
As a Young Lady, even if her clothes were slightly disheveled, it would be a disgrace if it were to be seen by others. What was even worse was that Ning Yuling jumped into the arms of her brother-in-law, without any clothes on. Besides, it happened on a public street. This kind of thing could not be explained clearly.
Madam Dowager had thought that her outstanding appearance would attract the two princes. Although she had lost her reputation before, the Lord Protector’s Manor did not need her to be a legal wife. She could win men’s favor with her beautiful appearance.
But now, Ning Yuling could not even get married, given what had happened.
All of a sudden, her face turned livid with anger.
“Madam Dowager, the Second Young Lady did not know that her clothes would get caught. When she heard Master Xia asking her to jump out, she did so immediately. Unexpectedly, her clothes were hooked onto the carriage. It’s an unexpected disaster.” Yanyue cried.
What a coincidence! The carriage shook twice and stopped. Suddenly, the horse was startled and bolted off in a hurry. Ning Yuling and Yanyue were terrified. When they were at a loss as to what to do, they suddenly heard Xia Yuhang’s voice coming from outside the carriage.
Without thinking, Ning Yuling jumped out of the carriage.
She had been half undressed, and Yanyue had also ripped off a piece of her clothing, so her clothes were flapping and open. The most unfortunate thing was that when she jumped out, the bellyband of her upper body was hooked on the door frame. So, she literally threw herself into Xia Yuhang’s arms. However, Xia Yuhang did not expect such a situation to happen.
He held Ning Yuling and looked at her for a while. Then, he suddenly let go of her, which made Ning Yuling fall to the ground again.
When Xia Yuhang came to his senses, he got off the horse, took off his robe, and threw it on Ning Yuling. The onlookers saw her naked body, and there were many slanderous gossips about her.
No matter how vicious Ning Yuling was, she was only a young girl. She had never encountered such a thing before. Being exposed in front of so many people, she was humiliated and angry. She reached out to hold the robe and felt confused and dull. When she came back, Madam Dowager saw that something was wrong, so she summoned her maid, Yanyue, for questioning.
“What’s that bruise on the Second Young Lady?” Madam Dowager’s lips quivered due to her anger. The older female servant had just come back and had some private words with her.
“Madam Dowager, I… I don’t know.” Yanyue shivered and kowtowed hurriedly.
“Take this bi*ch away and have her beaten to death!” Madam Dowager looked at Yanyue coldly and said this fiercely. Madam Dowager was experienced, so how could she not know the cause of the bruise?
Hearing Madam Dowager’s order, two older female servants came over to take her away.
“Madam Dowager, please forgive me. Madam Dowager, please forgive me. I… I beg you to forgive me.” Yanyue burst into tears, stretched out her hand to grab hold of a pillar on one side, and cried out.
“Say it!” Madam Dowager waved her hand, and the two older female servants left. The other servants also walked out when they got the hint from Mother Qin. For a time, the room was so still that it was scary.
“Madam Dowager… it’s… it’s…” Yanyue trembled with fear and could not say a word.
“Who is it?” Madam Dowager shouted. She pounded the ground with her walking stick.
“It’s Childe Ling Yi. It’s Childe Ling Yi!” Yanyue was so scared that she answered quickly. She straightened her neck and blurted out immediately. Last night, she had stayed outside and heard some noises inside. It seemed that the Second Young Lady was angry, and then her voice became lower.
Later, she even saw two figures overlapping under the light. She dared not eavesdrop, so she deliberately retreated to the corner of the courtyard. After a while, she saw Ling Yi coming out proudly. He walked to the door and pinched her face, before leaving.
Later, when she went in cautiously to help Ning Yuling clean up, she saw red marks on her body. No one knew about it at first. Ling Yi came to the Lord Protector’s Manor and left at night. So, no one cared about it. Even if she was afraid, she felt that she was being overanxious.
Anyway, the Second Young Lady had an affair with the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, before.
However, she did not expect that the Second Young Lady would fall out of the carriage like this. Her bellyband was hooked onto the carriage, which gave people a view of her body and those marks. Even if Yanyue wanted to hide it, she could not hide. Madam Dowager would kill her if she did not say it out.
If she said that, then the Second Young Lady would kill her!
She did not dare to tell the truth because she was in a dilemma. When she heard what Madam Dowager said, she had to tell the truth. After that, she kowtowed time and again. She did not dare to stop, even as her head was completely bruised.
“Ling Yi, it’s Ling Yi. Come on, go to the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor and invite Vice Minister of Justice’s wife and Childe Yi here.” Madam Dowager was so angry that she covered the bulging blue veins on her forehead. She pounded the table heavily, and her eyes were red. “How dare that good-for-nothing libertine destroy my granddaughter, whom I have carefully cultivated for so many years? I even want to kill him.”
“Madam Dowager, don’t worry. I’ll arrange for it right now. Do you want to inform the Marquis?” Mother Qin saw that Madam Dowager was extremely angry. She was afraid that something terrible would happen to Madam Dowager due to this anger, so she comforted her immediately.
Since the incident involving Junior Concubine Xu that day, Ning Zu’an had been indifferent to Madam Ling. Even if Madam Ling fainted after being punished by Madam Dowager, he had not bothered to ask about it the next day. Except for greeting Madam Dowager in the morning, he did not even enter the inner courtyard. It seemed that he did not want to care about anything in the backyard anymore.
“Tell the marquis to come here quickly.” Madam Dowager said with hatred, “Send someone else to call the people of the Vice Minister of Justice’s Manor here.”
“Yes, I’ll go right now. Madam Dowager, please calm down. You can’t get sick. You have to take care of the whole Lord Protector’s Manor.” Mother Qin had been at Madam Dowager’s side for a long time, and had a close bond with Madam Dowager. Seeing that, she knew that Madam Dowager was extremely angry, so she tried to calm her down.
Madam Dowager nodded and waved her hand to ask her to leave. Then, she asked someone to take Yanyue away and lock her in the woodshed.
After a while, Ning Zu’an came in furiously from the outer courtyard. After he arrived at the Lucky Garden, he and his mother closed the door and had a long discussion before making the decision.
Ning Xueyan was informed to go back directly, when she got off the carriage. Madam Dowager would undoubtedly find out about Ning Yuling’s matter. It was indeed inappropriate to go there right now. In Madam Dowager’s mind, Ning Xueyan was fine, and Ning Yuling was the victim. So, she did not care about Ning Xueyan at all, and asked her to go straight to the Bright Frost Garden.
Hearing that something had happened to her, Lanning and Qingyu was already waiting at the door for her. When they saw that she was fine, they heaved a sigh of relief and walked back with her, held in their arms.
After walking for a while, Ning Xueyan met Mother Han, who came in a hurry. Ning Xueyan said something to her, leaving Xinmei and Mother Han behind. She came back with Lanning and Qingyu. Her hands were injured, because she had subconsciously pressed her hands on the ground when she fell down. Her palm and fingers had been scratched from the fall.
The fingertips were linked to the heart. So, she experienced waves of pain.