He was looking forward to her performance more and more...
"Prince Yi, you can rest a.s.sured. I will be "close" with you when I pretend to be your favorite concubine, but not now!" Ning Xueyan faced Ao Chenyi"s gaze and did not conceal the coldness and anger in her eyes. She looked straight into Ao Chenyi"s beautiful but oppressive, tyrannical eyes, and said with courage, "Please behave yourself."
A little girl dared to not only look at him directly, but also disobey him and ignore his fierceness and cold murderous look. None of the officials in the court dared to do so!
Ao Chenyi showed a slight smile on his cold face. Then he jumped up from the bed, stood at the head of the bed, and quietly looked at Ning Xueyan with his back to the moon. An extremely cold smile appeared on his beautiful, evil face. Even the room was also full of gloomy atmosphere.
"Yan"er, you must remember that you"re my favorite concubine. You belong to neither yourself nor anyone else. You only belong to me."
"That"s true only when you need me to pretend to be your concubine. At other times, I am the Fifth Young Lady of Lord Protector"s Manor and have nothing to do with you." Ning Xueyan did not want to bow her head and admit defeat. She had a presentiment that concession at this time would lead to complete annihilation. Ao Chenyi was never a kind-hearted one.
She indeed had a deal with him and was subject to him, but she must have freedom! However, she felt powerless when she struggled now. How could domineering people like Ao Chenyi listen to her suggestions?
"Good, you"re very good!" Ao Chenyi coldly sneered in the dark. Ning Xueyan watched him turn around and saw his slender and indifferent back. Then she watched him take his robe from the screen, slowly put it on, give a cold look at her, walk to the window, and jump out.
Before leaving, he left one last sentence to Ning Xueyan. "Don"t let me find you had something to do with Marquis of Ping"an!"
Ning Xueyan knew that this was Ao Chenyi"s warning to her. She could not get married before she fulfilled her promise to him.
Fortunately, that was also what she thought.
Ning Xueyan got up, walked to the window, and closed it with calmness. Then she went back, lay on the bed, and closed her eyes, looking unperturbed. "Marquis of Ping"an"s Manor? Madam Ling, if you like it, you can keep it by yourself..."
Although Ning Xueyan stayed up late last night, she was called up by Lanning on time the next day.
Nowadays her treatment was different. Ning Xueyan had to greet Madam Dowager every morning, which represented the courtesy of Madam Dowager.
Two maids dressed up Ning Xueyan quickly and skillfully while Qingyu coming with a plain white dress which Ning Xueyan usually wore in daily life. Although this dress was plain, it was embroidered with a circle of light pink flowers on the hem. It was very elegant and would highlight Ning Xueyan"s beauty together with Ning Xueyan"s delicate little face.
Madam Dowager did not like Ning Xueyan to wear plain clothes. So after Ning Xueyan returned to the manor, Madam Ling pretended to be generous and asked people to make these clothes for her.
Because Madam Ling treated Ning Xueyan and Ning Yuling equally when she asked people to make clothes for them, Madam Dowager praised her.
Ning Xueyan stood in front of the makeup mirror, glanced at the clothes, and said, "I don"t want to wear this one. I"ll wear the dark blue one."
Qingyu asked in confusion while widening her eyes, "Why? This dress suits you. You will be very beautiful if you wear it. And its material is better than that of the dark blue one. That dress is too old and its color is not beautiful. You won"t look spirited if you wear it." Then she shook the clothes in her hands and looked at Ning Xueyan.
"Young Lady has always been the most knowledgeable, why did she choose the dark color which is more suitable for older people?" Ning Xueyan"s face was not ruddy. If she wore dresses of dim color, she would be paler and her beauty would not be shown.
Ning Xueyan said with indifference, "I"ll wear that dark blue one. It was made for me in person when my mother was alive. She specially made it bigger at that time. Now it suits me."
"Yes!" Although Qingyu was puzzled, she said nothing since Ning Xueyan insisted on wearing that one. She folded the dress in her hands and found the dark blue dress in the corner of the suitcase.
Madam Ming had chosen good materials specially when she made it. But Bright Frost Garden had been ignored for many years. The best materials they had were also not wanted by others. Ning Xueyan, the Young Lady of Lord Protector"s Manor, looked shabby when she wore this dress.
At that time, it was rare to have extra cloth, so Madam Ming made it bigger specially. Now although the cloth was old and the color was dim when it was taken out, its size was also suitable.
Ning Xueyan specially asked Lanning to do her a hairstyle with heavy bangs which immediately blocked most of her forehead. The hairstyle and old blue dress made the beautiful Fifth Young Lady very normal. She would not attract anyone"s interesting.
Ning Xueyan asked Lanning, "Did Mother Han go out to talk to her old sister?"
Lanning understood Ning Xueyan"s meaning and answered, "Yes, Mother Han went out early in the morning. She chose a good place and also brought some melon seeds with her." Lanning smiled when she remembered what Mother Han brought with her in the morning. "Our Young Lady is prophetic. She accurately predicted those trifles."
Qingyu could not help asking while she dressing Ning Xueyan, "Will Third Prince really come to Lord Protector"s Manor today?"
"Yes, he will come." Ning Xueyan smiled slightly and nodded with certainty. Then she calmly looked at herself in the mirror. The people in the mirror was not outstanding at all and even inferior to some decent maids in the Lord Protector"s Manor where there were many beauties.
Of course the Third Prince would come!
Because today was a special day!
The reason why Ning Xueyan knew was that Xia Yuhang had once said something to her in the last life!
The Third Prince came here on this date every year because of that woman. She was not simple!
After combing Ning Xueyan"s hair, Lanning and Qingyu helped she put on clothes.
Xinmei stayed to guard the courtyard and Ning Xueyan went to Lucky Garden to greet Madam Dowager with Lanning and Qingyu. Sure enough, they encountered Ning Lingyun who dressed well on the way. Ning Lingyun wore a splendid dress and several jewelry hairpins. She looked more outstanding than usual and walked lightly with a shy look.
"Fifth Sister, your dress is really beautiful. Why didn"t you wear it before? Is it because it was made out of good cloth by your mother and you were unwilling to wear?" Ning Lingyun swung her handkerchief and mocked Ning Xueyan while scrutinizing her. And the two maids followed her also laughed at Ning Xueyan.
"Fourth Sister, your dress is so splendid. It makes you beautiful. If people don"t know you, they may regard you as the Second Sister." Ning Xueyan counterattacked with a cold smile on her face.
"You..." Ning Lingyun was contradicted by Ning Xueyan and became anger. She shrieked, "What are you talking about?"
Ning Lingyun always imitated Ning Yuling. But because she was the daughter of a concubine, she was inferior to Ning Yuling all the time. And Ning Yuling also hated Ning Lingyun to imitate her. Every time when she found that Ning Lingyun imitated her, she would scold her and sometimes slap her.
So far, Ning Lingyun was really afraid of the tyrannical Ning Yuling. At this time when she heard that she looked similar to Ning Yuling, she immediately vented her anger on Ning Xueyan. Of course, this was also because Ning Xueyan was vulnerable. If she faced Ning Yuling now, she would only be beaten.
"Fourth Sister, your clothes are so beautiful. I feel like I"ve seen it before somewhere." Ning Xueyan"s gaze fell on Ning Lingyun"s gorgeous clothes. It was unexpected that Concubine Xu was a scheming woman. Ning Yuling had only a little of this kind of cloth, while Ning Lingyun had a piece of clothing made out of this kind of cloth.
Being looked at by Ning Xueyan with a smile on her face, Ning Lingyun felt guilty. It seemed that she had felt the disdain in Ning Xueyan"s words and seen the irony on her face, so Ning Lingyun burst into anger. She came over, stretched out her hands to push Ning Xueyan heavily, and said with hate, "Fifth Sister, hurry up. Grandmother has got up and is waiting for us."
Ning Lingyun wanted to knock down Ning Xueyan so that she would break her arm or leg!
It was clear that Ning Lingyun touched Ning Xueyan, but she felt that she did not touch Ning Xueyan"s back.
No one had expected that Ning Lingyun would suddenly push Ning Xueyan. Although Lanning and Qingyu were standing beside Ning Xueyan, Ning Xueyan was pushed out before they reached out. In front of them was a turning fork. And a rockery happened to be the place where Ning Xueyan rushed to.
If Ning Xueyan b.u.mped into the rockery, she would disfigure even though she survived!
The two maids cried out in a hurry, "Fifth Young Lady..."
All of a sudden, a man rushed out of the corner and grabbed Ning Xueyan. Then he turned around quickly and stopped her from rushing out. After that, he stabilized while holding Ning Xueyan"s sleeve.
"Young Lady, you... are you okay?" Qingyu rushed to Ning Xueyan and almost burst into tears because of worry. She held Ning Xueyan and checked her.
Lanning angrily said while pointing to Ning Lingyun, "Fourth Young Lady, you... how can you push the Fifth Young Lady like that? Fifth Young Lady is in bad health, if she b.u.mps into the rockery, she will die!"
Ning Lingyun sulkily said, "I didn"t mean to. Why did she walk so slowly? I was in a hurry to greet grandmother." She was also shocked just now. Ning Xueyan was certainly not favored, but if she died because of b.u.mping into a rockery, Ning Lingyun would also get into trouble. Concubine Xu had said to her that she was not allowed to make any trouble today.
Ning Lingyun came here today with purpose, so she would not make any trouble. She dressed so beautifully because of one person. If Ning Xueyan had not deliberately provoked her, she would not have been angry and pushed Ning Xueyan.
"Speaking of this, Ning Xueyan is so lucky. She wasn"t hurt at all." Ning Lingyun"s gaze turned from Ning Xueyan to the man who saved Ning Xueyan. She became surprised and happy as soon as she saw the man. The handkerchief in her hands almost was rolled into a ball. And the sarcasm on her face immediately became shyness.
Ning Lingyun immediately became a polite Young Lady from a respectable family who wanted to speak with a man, but was too shy to do that. However, because she could not avoid the man, she had to come over and salute.
Ning Lingyun took two steps forward and crouched down to salute the man, "Your Highness. I don"t know you"re here. Please forgive my impoliteness." Her behavior was elegant and her voice was delicate.
Ning Lingyun changed her att.i.tude so quickly, which made people speechless.
Ning Xueyan, who was leaning on Lanning, could not help but sneer in her mind. The Third Prince was indeed a favorite and both Ning Yuling and Ning Lingyun liked him. Ning Yuling had lost the chance to marry him. Ning Lingyun, who had been eager to try, finally found the chance to know him. How could she not dress up beautifully and show up in front of the Third Prince?
Ning Xueyan had glanced at a light yellow robe which showed at the corner opposite. Not everyone dared to embroider dragons on the robe. So Ning Xueyan thought it must be the Third Prince who came to Lord Protector"s Manor. Therefore, Ning Xueyan intentionally said to Ning Lingyun that she looked like Ning Yuling in order to annoy her just now.
Since Ning Lingyun always thought highly of herself and despised Ning Xueyan, Ning Xueyan would let her lose face at this time.
Hearing Ning Lingyun"s delicate voice, Ning Xueyan showed a malicious smile on her face. "Ning Lingyun, don"t you want to show up in front of the Third Prince? Don"t you want the Third Prince to marvel at your beauty? Now your opportunity comes. I wonder whether your Third Prince will be surprised by your beauty. Or will someone else fall in love with you?"
And more importantly, that man happened to come from another path.
A good show was coming...