The Devious First-Daughter

Chapter 398 Spying on Them and Playing a Waiting Game

Concubine Yu did not want to pay, yet she wanted something in return! She was equally as scheming.

“Fifth Young Lady, I have evidence to prove that it was Madam Ling who killed your mother. She deliberately framed your mother.” After crying, Concubine Yu raised her head and wanted to say something more. But when she saw Ning Xueyan’s cold eyes, she smiled bitterly and forced herself to say something else.

It was not easy to fool the Fifth Young Lady. She thought that she could please the Fifth Young Lady by saying telling her this. But at the same time, she was glad that only this young lady would not be at a disadvantage when she was confronted by the First Madam. Otherwise, Jing’er would be…

Thinking of this, Concubine Yu could not help shivering. There was a hint of resolute in her eyes. She made up her mind immediately. Whether it was for Jing’er or herself, she had to say it now.

At first, she just wanted to bury this in her heart forever.

Ning Xueyan looked up, and her jet-black eyes fell on Concubine Yu’s face. She pursed her lips and said with a faint smile, “Aunt Yu, I believe that it will be good for all of us.”

Ning Xueyan did not stay in Concubine Yu’s room for long. After a while, she came out of Concubine Yu’s courtyard. Concubine Yu sent her to the gate of the yard, and thanked her many times to show her grat.i.tude. She repeatedly expressed that things would have been difficult for Ning Huaijing, if not for Ning Xueyan’s generous help.

After Ning Xueyan said goodbye to Concubine Yu, she went back to Bright Frost Garden with Lanning. Along the path, an older female servant sneaked out. She looked at Concubine Yu, who had just entered the door, and then looked at Ning Xueyan, who had by now walked far away. She smiled happily. After waiting for so many days, she finally found something interesting to report back.

The older female servant saw the direction she took, and hurried off to the Foggy Courtyard. When she walked to the gate of the Foggy Courtyard, she saw Mammy Luo coming out of the courtyard. She quickly whispered to Mammy Luo. Hearing this, Mammy Luo nodded and asked a few more questions. Then, she stuffed a small ingot of silver into the older female servant’s sleeve.

The older female servant thanked her and walked out.

Mammy Luo stood at the door for a while. She looked around and saw that no one had noticed her. She turned around and went back to the yard, as if nothing had happened. She even joked with the old maid who guarded the door, and then leisurely entered the room.

“Young Lady, the Fifth Young Lady has indeed gone to Concubine Yu’s place. Concubine Yu even saw the Fifth Young Lady off, and kept thanking her. It seems that the Fifth Young Lady has done the Second Young Master a great favor. That’s why Concubine Yu thanked her so profusely.” As soon as she entered the room, Mammy Luo said.

Ning Qingshan was doing embroidery in the room. Like Ning Xueyan, her status had also been confirmed. Thus, the work of sewing some dowry items were on the agenda. But the difference in her situation from Ning Xueyan was that it would take her at least half a year before she could get married. At least, the first wife had to get married first, and then two or three months later, the co-consort could marry into the family.

Therefore, her embroidery was not hard. Now, she sewed without haste. In the room, there was n.o.body but Caifen. Madam Dowager had sent four second-cla.s.s maids here, and they would go with the bride. All of them were beautiful. Ning Qingshan was not used to these people being around her, so she asked them to do the embroidery in another room.

“Mommy, keep an eye on Concubine Yu,” Ning Qingshan said with a smug look on her face. She had already guessed that Concubine Yu would try to establish a relationship with Ning Xueyan. As expected, they were now in cahoots. She could not deal with Ning Xueyan for the time being, but what about Concubine Yu?

Didn’t a concubine make any mistakes? She could not be anxious now. After thinking it through, she felt that the main reason why Ning Xueyan had been able to frame her was because she had been over hasty. It seemed that she had been too anxious from the start, when she saw Ning Xueyan dissing her.

She did not know if it was due to Ning Xueyan’s delicate features or her elegant and cold temperament. Anyway, she felt that Ning Xueyan was a threat to her, so she could not wait to kill her. However, she had made numerous mistakes, one after another one. She had been deprived of the position of princ.i.p.al wife to that of a co-consort, because of Ning Xueyan, which disrupted her plan.

Therefore, she was not in a hurry now. She hid quietly in the dark to wait for Ning Xueyan to make a mistake. She would not let her off as long Ning Xueyan made a little mistake. If there were nothing wrong with her, she would create some errors for her. Or else, to let whoever was close to Ning Xueyan make some mistakes, she could not blame anyone if she was involved.

“I have already told the older female servant, and I also rewarded her. As long as Concubine Yu makes contact with the Bright Frost Garden, she will report it to you immediately.” Mammy Luo nodded and agreed. She was delighted with her Young Lady’s calmness. From Mammy Luo’s point of view, her Young Lady cared too much about the Fifth Young Lady, so she had had a knot in her heart.

The Third Young Lady in the past was not the same as the Third Young Lady in her memory. She was anxious for quick success and instant benefits. She did not listen to her advice at all. She dealt with the Fifth Young Lady with her mind, but she was in a disadvantageous position. Now, the Third Young Lady was the perfect Third Young Lady in her mind. She was calm, generous, patient, and organized.

“Young Lady, I could not find out if the Fifth Young Lady had something to do with what happened in the Cloud Reflection Courtyard.” Caifen, who was standing by the side, poured a cup of tea for Ning Qingshan. She raised her head as she said this. She had just come in, but before she could reply to Ning Qingshan, Mammy Luo came in.

The matter of the Cloud Reflection Courtyard was now the biggest issue in the manor, which had shocked the whole mansion. After such a big incident had taken place, the person everyone suspected was Madam Ling. However, Ning Qingshan thought that maybe it had something to do with Ning Xueyan, so she deliberately asked Caifen to pay attention to the matter regarding the Cloud Reflection Courtyard.

Caifen’s answer was beyond her expectation. She had an intuition that Ning Xueyan must have something to do with the incident that happened at the Cloud Reflection Courtyard.

“Young Lady, it’s impossible that the Fifth Young Lady has something to do with the Cloud Reflection Courtyard. You must have forgotten that the Fifth Young Lady did not come out of the Bright Frost Garden for many years. When Young Lady Ning Ziying moved in, she would not have met the Fifth Young Lady. Going by the days, the Young Lady died at about the same time as Madam Ming. Then, the Fifth Young Lady appeared in the public eye. Anyway, it’s not related to the Fifth Young Lady.”

Mammy Luo knew about Ning Qingshan’s suspicion, so she inquired about Ning Ziying’s matter. Recently, the servants in the Lord Protector’s Manor often talked about Ning Ziying in private. It was not difficult to find out about these things.

Like Ning Xueyan, Ning Qingshan was not familiar with Ning Ziying. Ning Ziying entered the Lord Protector’s Manor after Ning Qingshan left, so there had been no interaction between them. Ning Qingshan did not have any information about Ning Ziying in her mind. Her confusion was dispelled when she heard Mammy Luo’s words.

Maybe this matter had nothing to do with Ning Xueyan. After all, just like herself, Ning Xueyan did not know Ning Ziying either. At most, what she heard from the servants was that there was once an orphan girl. From this point of view, it was Madam Ling who most likely had framed Ning Ziying.

At that time, it was Madam Ling who was in charge. The two daughters of Madam Ling in the inner courtyard were the daughters of the Lord Protector’s Manor. As long as the orphan daughter of the Ning family lived in the manor, it seemed impossible that she had no contact with them. Moreover, the wall was a suspicious matter—a clumsy denial that resulted in self-exposure.

“If I had left a few days later, I might have known Ning Ziying.” Ning Qingshan said thoughtfully. She did not really want to know Ning Ziying. She just thought that if she knew something, she might be able to seize on an incident to exaggerate on matters. She hoped to get Ning Xueyan involved in this matter so that Ning Xueyan would have an outright fight with Madam Ling.

Then, she would attack Ning Xueyan and ruin her when she was unprepared.

Hearing what she said, Mammy Luo seemed to feel a little regretful. After she thought for a while, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Young Lady, I remember that you have not seen this person before. It seems that I might have seen her before.”

In the Bright Frost Garden, Ning Xueyan sat down, took up the cup of tea made by Qingyu, and took a sip, gracefully. She did not put down the teacup, but hooked her fingers around the handle. As she meditated, there was a trace of sadness and anger in her eyes. She felt sad and angry for Madam Ming.

They had set a well-arranged trap and a scheduled plot to ambush her, so that she had to quit her position as a legal wife. Moreover, she could neither defend herself, nor tell her brother. She had no alternative, but to force her brother to go somewhere far away.

Madam Ling’s method was vicious. She did not kill Madam Ming, but she made Madam Ming keep silent and even feel guilty about Ning Zu’an. There must have been something else, which made her keep her silence. So, Madam Ming had to lower herself to end this matter. It might have something to do about Ning Xueyan.

When she was young, people in the manor often said that she was a b*stard! On the surface, Madam Ling and Ning Zu’an did not pursue this matter, but what was the real situation? Did she promise anything? Otherwise, Ning Xueyan would not have stayed in the Bright Frost Garden for so many years. Everyone in the manor would have treated her as a master and would not have dared to bully her.

There were not only indifference, but also suspicion, that she was not a Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor at all.

They did not make this matter public in the beginning, so even if Madam Ming wanted to protect her, there was no way to explain it. Madam Ling was so vicious. Thinking of this, Ning Xueyan felt depressed. She lowered her head slightly, and her long lashes veiled her eyes. She looked quietly at the teacup in her hand with her beautiful eyes, as a sneer was revealed.

To plot against Madam Ming and find a scapegoat, Madam Ling found Madam Yu’s brother. Unfortunately, although Madam Yu’s brother wanted to avenge his sister, he was not a stupid person. Everyone knew that the person who did such a secret deed was likely to be killed in the end.

With Ning Zu’an’s power and influence, it would be easy for him to kill a servant.

Therefore, this matter was left. Concubine Yu’s brother had been fine all the time. Ning Xueyan had already guessed that there must be some secrets behind the incident, so she deliberately used Ning Huaijing’s incident to warn Concubine Yu. If Madam Ling had the power, she would not tolerate another son in the manor. This was another reason why she had schemed to let Concubine Yu come into the mansion.

If Concubine Yu wanted to satisfy both sides, it would not work with Madam Ling. If Ning Huaijing had been a female, maybe Madam Ling could tolerate her. However, she had given birth to a son, who had the same status as Ning Huaiyuan, a mistress’s son. It was not only about the problem of a male offspring, but also evoked some unbearable memories for Madam Ling.

With this, it was impossible for Concubine Yu to satisfy both sides. Since she entered the manor, Concubine Yu had no choice, but to take this step. Ning Xueyan had merely given her a push…