Being interrupted by the maid, Ning Yuling turned her face with anger, stared at the maid who was rushing in, and shouted angrily, "What"s the matter?"
"Young... Young Lady," The maid trembled and realized that Ning Yuling would not let go of her if she did not provide some useful information when she was stared at by Ning Yuling. So she immediately said after gasping, "Second Young Lady, the Third Prince is in Lord Protector"s Manor now."
"The Third Prince?" The anger on Ning Yuling"s face disappeared at once. She took the maid"s hands and asked in surprise.
Seeing that something bad was going to happen, Mother Chen immediately stepped forward and stood in front of Ning Yuling to stop her. "Second Young Lady, First Madam said that you have to practise calligraphy in your courtyard. If you make Madam Dowager angry again, she can"t protect you."
"Mother had never protected me. I still have to rely on myself. Mother Chen, don"t worry. I have a sense of propriety." Ning Yuling impatiently pushed aside Mother Chen, who was standing in front of her to stop her.
Because she was pushed by Ning Yuling, Mother Chen stepped backward and almost fell down. After taking several steps backward, Mother Chen stabilized herself by holding a chair and her face had turned pale.
Ning Yuling asked the maid, "Where is the Third Prince now?"
"How dare you! First Madam ordered that no one can talk about the Third Prince in front of the Second Young Lady, otherwise..." Just as the maid was about to speak, Mother Chen"s gloomy voice came from behind. The maid was so frightened that she dared not say again. She shook her head in fear while covering her mouth, afraid to say anything more.
She only remembered that the Second Young Lady had said that they would be rewarded if they report to her immediately when they got the news of the Third Prince. She forgot that the First Madam had said that they would be beaten to death if they talked about the Third Prince in front of the Second Young Lady.
Although the maid wanted a reward very much, she dared not say something about the Third Prince in front of Mother Chen. She would lose her life if First Madam knew this matter!
"Speak now!" Seeing the maid covering her mouth and shaking her head, Ning Yuling got angry and directly slapped her heavily, who then stood unsteadily and fell to the ground.
"Say it! If you don"t tell me, I"ll sell you to the worst brothel." Ning Yuling said that with fierceness.
"Young Lady, I..." The maid was very regretful now. She regretted that she had come back to tell the Second Young Lady as soon as she got the news of the Third Prince in the kitchen in order to get the reward. Unexpectedly, she did not receive the reward, but was punished. On thinking the life in the worst brothel, the maid immediately knelt straight in front of Ning Yuling.
"Young Lady, the Third Prince is in the manor now. Marquis invited him to have lunch. Now people in the kitchen are busy preparing lunch and don"t have enough time to make the pastries you want."
The maid directly said all she knew in a trembling voice, ready to risk everything.
The maids who served Ning Yuling knew that they really would be sold to the worst brothel by Ning Yuling if they did not obey her. The life there was worse than death.
"Did the Third Prince really come to Lord Protector"s Manor? My father also invited him to have lunch here?" Hearing the maid"s words, Ning Yuling was very happy and her eyes brightened. She did not care about the maid anymore and immediately walked inside while asking other maids to choose beautiful clothes and to send to her. "I have to dress up well so that the Third Prince will marvel at my beauty and be unwilling to give up me. Then he will propose marrying me. Will my grandmother oppose at that time?"
At this time, all she was thinking about was the Third Prince. She did not realize that the Third Prince had not fallen in love with her when she was innocent, let alone now.
"Second Young Lady, you can"t go out. You"re grounded now. If you go out now, Madam Dowager will be angry." Mother Chen followed her and urgently advised.
Ning Yuling rolled her eyes and carelessly said, "So what? If I become the Consort of the Third Prince, she will be thrilled. How can she blame me at that time?" She sat in front of the dressing table while the maids were dressing up her.
"Second Young Lady, the First Madam is still in Buddha Hall..." Mother Chen also wanted to persuade her, but Ning Yuling was tired of it. She said to the two maids standing behind the door, "Stop her mouth. If I hear her nonsense again, I"ll beat you together."
The two maids dared not disobey Ning Yuling"s order. One came and pressed Mother Chen"s hands, and the other stuffed a cloth towel into her mouth. Mother Chen was old and could not stop the two maids. She was dragged aside and could only watch Ning Yuling going out after dressing up.
Last time, the Third Prince just stayed for a short time. So this time Ning Zu"an invited the Third Prince to have lunch in Lord Protector"s Manor. Fortunately, the Third Prince agreed to stay for lunch. However, the fly in the ointment was that they could not get rid of Marquis of Ping"an who was as sticky as sticky candy.
Marquis of Ping"an had come to talk about the unity by marriage, but Ning Zu"an ignored him and directly asked him to talk about it with Madam Dowager. Everyone knew that Madam Dowager was powerful and could defeat ten people like Marquis of Ping"an together. Unexpectedly, Madam Dowager asked people to tell Ning Zu"an that Marquis of Ping"an had a jade pendant of Lord Protector"s Manor, which made Ning Zu"an very angry.
"It must be Madam Ling"s work, otherwise it is impossible for Marquis of Ping"an to have this jade pendant!"
The meaning in Marquis of Ping"an"s words made both Madam Dowager and Ning Zu"an nervous. So Ning Zu"an talked to Marquis of Ping"an for a while when he came out of womenfolk courtyard to look for him. But he wished that Marquis of Ping"an could leave as soon as possible. However, Marquis of Ping"an moved ahead with ten-step-forward when Ning Zu"an moved one-step-backward and did not leave.
He also said that he would leave with the Third Prince. The Third Prince stayed for lunch, so did he.
Fortunately, Marquis of Ping"an knew how to behave in a delicate situation. When Ning Zu"an and the Third Prince were talking, he seldom spoke and only smiled. If one did not look at his fat face, he or she would not be very uncomfortable. Ning Zu"an directly ignored him and toasted to the Third Prince.
Marquis of Ping"an was in a good mood today. He not only saw his favorite beauty, but also hit on the way to stay for lunch with the Third Prince. This was a great fortune. The Third Prince was supported by many officials. If he became the emperor in the future, it could be said that Marquis of Ping"an would put himself under the patronage of a higher-up.
When he saw Ning Zu"an toasted the Third Prince, he also came to toast the Third Prince. His daughter was a Beautiful Lady in the imperial palace, so the Third Prince could not refuse him and had to drink, which greatly aroused his enthusiasm. He, together with Ning Zu"an, proposed toasts again and again. In the end, the Third Prince did not get drunk, but himself was drunk.
Ning Zu"an asked servants to take him to the guest room to rest.
The Third Prince was also a little drunken, so he got up and said goodbye.
Ning Zu"an respectfully accompanied the Third Prince to the gate, and then returned to the study. He had drunk a lot before, so he also was somewhat drunk. So he directly lied down in the study to have a rest.
Marquis of Ping"an was sleeping in the guest room that lied near the second door. His young male servant, who had helped his master lie down, was guarding outside the door. He felt bored and was napping. Suddenly, he saw the face of a little maid coming out of the second door, who waved at him and then hid behind the courtyard wall.
The young male servant did not understand for a moment. So he went out and stretched out his head to look. But before he could see it, he was knocked on his head and fell down involuntarily. Xinmei, who was at the corner reached out to hold him and then dragged him to the back of a tree inside the courtyard and let him sit behind the tree.
The tree was thick while the young male servant was only an eleven or twelve years old boy. No one would see him when he sat behind the tree while leaning against it.
After dealing with the young male servant quickly, Xinmei entered the room through the slightly closed door. As soon as she entered, she smelt the strong smell of liquor. She saw a big fat man lying in bed, who was loudly snoring with his mouth open. Seeing that, Xinmei involuntarily wrinkled her nose.
Knowing that the time was limited, Xinmei took out the sobering medicine given by Ning Xueyan from her arms and picked up a cup of cold tea on the table. Then she pinched Marquis of Ping"an"s nose with one hand and made his mouth wider, and threw the medicine into his big mouth and poured cold tea into it with the other hand.
Marquis of Ping"an swallowed it subconsciously, and the medicine went into his throat immediately. Then cool water rushed down. After that, Marquis of Ping"an coughed sharply and loudly.
The drunken Marquis of Ping"an woke up because of choke. He sat up while covering his head, only feeling that everything in front of him was unclear. He heard somebody was saying to him, "Marquis, don"t lie here. This is the womenfolk courtyard. I"ll bring you to the menfolk courtyard and rest there."
"Okay, let"s go." Marquis of Ping"an thought it was his young male servant who was talking to him. So he nodded his head and got up while coughing.
He still remembered that this was the Lord Protector"s Manor. Ning Zu"an was powerful and influential, so he could not make any trouble here. Although he was dizzy, he still had a clear mind. After taking medicine and coughing for a while, he had become somewhat sober and staggered to his feet.
"Go. Let"s... let"s go to menfolk courtyard!"
He staggered all the way, and did not see the road clearly. So he did not know that he was taken to those paths where there were no people. Xinwei would stop and let him rest as soon as she found that there was someone far away. After several times, the medicine worked. Marquis of Ping"an could see more and more clearly, but his brain was still not clear.
Marquis of Ping"an felt that his young male servant was unpleasant. He was staggering, but the servant did not come to support him. At a corner, Marquis of Ping"an could not walk anymore. He stopped, closed his eyes, and scolded, "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, come to help me!"
Xinmei said to Marquis of Ping"an on the outside of the corner in a low voice, "Marquis, walk a little further ahead and you"ll see the house. Then you go straight in. I"ll go somewhere to find hot water for you."
"Go!" Hearing that it was not far away and the young male servant was about to find hot water for him, Marquis of Ping"an forgave him. He narrowed his eyes and saw there really was a house not far away. Then he staggered forward.
Xinmei guarded outside alone and sneered when she saw Marquis of Ping"an staggering into the house. It was exactly what her Young Lady had thought. She was looking forward to her Young Lady"s next step...
Ning Yuling did not expect that she could not come out of the floral-pendant gate. As soon as she left the Qingrong Courtyard, Madam Dowager knew it. Madam Dowager was very angry and asked people to stop her. So before she arrived at the floral-pendant gate, Mother Chen had come with some servants and stopped her directly.
She said to Ning Yuling that Madam Dowager was asking for her!
Although Ning Yuling was not happy, she dared not disobey Madam Dowager"s order. So she had to follow Mother Qin to Madam Dowager"s Lucky Garden with unhappiness. On the way, she suddenly saw Ning Xueyan pa.s.sing by her with a pot of black chrysanthemum in hands. Ning Yuling stopped at once when she saw the pot of black chrysanthemum.
Ning Yuling recognized this potted black chrysanthemum, which was her favorite one. The reason why she liked black chrysanthemum was that the Third Prince liked it.
"Ning Xueyan, do you want to die? How dare you touch my flowers!" After giving a look at the direction Ning Xueyan was going and the black chrysanthemum Ning Xueyan was holding, Ning Yuling was very angry. She could not pa.s.s the second gate. But Ning Xueyan dared to please the Third Prince with her flowers. How could Ning Yuling not be extremely angry?
Ning Yuling got angry at once. She stopped and reproached Ning Xueyan while pointing at her.