“Young Lady, I heard Mother Han stop two novice monks there just now. She said that she wanted to meet the man for whom they delivered the food in an aggressive manner. It was obvious that she was really angry. I didn’t hear their conversation clearly in a distance. The incident seemed to be caused by the fact that the man stared fixedly at the Fifth Young Lady, and the Eldest Young Lady was also there at that time.”
Mammy Luo went straight to the point. Seeing Mother Han stop the two novice monks and talk to them, she hid herself subconsciously. She had forced the Fifth Young Lady into the room before, so she dared not meet anyone in the Fifth Young Lady’s courtyard at this moment. Moreover, Mother Han was extremely protective towards the Fifth Young Lady, so Mother Han would probably beat her up at the sight of her.
After kneeling and being beaten up for punishment, she was definitely weaker than Mother Han. She was reluctant to be beaten up by Mother Han, so she hid herself. She didn’t expect to hear such news. She subconsciously thought that the news might be useful to her master, so she reported it to Ning Qingshan hurriedly.
“Was the Eldest Sister also there?” Ning Qingshan didn’t care about it at first, but upon hearing that Ning Ziyan was also there, she froze for a moment. With the bowl in one hand, she stopped moving the other hand holding the chopsticks. Ning Ziyan went up the mountain purposefully. How could she wander around with Ning Xueyan aimlessly?
“Yes, I heard that the man didn’t say anything to the Fifth Young Lady because the Eldest Young Lady was there. Mother Han came to denounce the man for his staring at the Fifth Young Lady dumbfounded.” Mammy Luo thought for a moment and said.
“Who’s the man?” With an intuition that there was something behind it, Ning Qingshan blinked and asked. Although she knew that Ning Ziyan would deal with Ning Xueyan, she didn’t know what Ning Ziyan would do. Now she had figured out that the man must have something to do with Ning Ziyan, so she thought that Ning Ziyan should act in collusion with this man. She immediately paid attention to it.
“I don’t know either. I heard that this man is of noble status. The abbot of Cold Mountain Temple ordered the monks to serve him well and brooked no mistakes. Stopped by Mother Han, the two novice monks were extremely anxious and begged Mother Han desperately. It seems that the man really has a powerful background.” Mammy Luo thought about what had happened a moment ago and was quite suspicious, so she deliberately lowered her voice and asked, “Does the man the Eldest Young Lady found for the Fifth Young Lady have a decent identity?”
Of course, she thought the same way as Ning Qingshan, so she hurried back to tell Ning Qingshan about it.
“Mother Luo, I’ll trouble you to go and ask who the man is.” Ning Qingshan said decisively. A high-status man with a decent identity? How could she allow Ning Xueyan to have anything to do with such a man? She secretly cursed that Ning Ziyan was so useless. Why didn’t Ning Ziyan just find an ordinary man to ruin Ning Xueyan’s reputation? There were some ruffians around the temple.
They wandered around here on purpose in order to take liberties with those Young Ladies who came here to offer incense. It was so easy to find an ordinary man. Why did Ning Ziyan find a man of extraordinary status?
“Got it. I’ll go right now.” Knowing that it was urgent, Mammy Luo ran out immediately. After a while, she came back with her head covered with sweat. Ning Qingshan had finished her meal and was drinking tea.
“Young Lady, the man does have an extraordinary identity. It is said that he is a noble childe from the capital city. I didn’t see him, but I saw the Eldest Young Lady’s maid sneak in and then come out. It seems that the Eldest Young Lady really has something to do with this man.” Mammy Luo wiped her sweat and said.
Ning Ziyan was such an idiot that she found such a man to destroy Ning Xueyan’s reputation. Ning Ziyan was extremely stupid. If this man was really capable and finally left a way out for Ning Xueyan, she would get into trouble. They should destroy Ning Xueyan at once. Although Ning Xueyan didn’t see her that day, Ning Xueyan must have had grudges against her for what had happened that day.
Now Ning Qingshan got a chance to destroy Ning Xueyan completely, and there was no need to do it herself. How could she let go of this chance? Touching her aching leg and thinking for a while, she whispered in Mammy Luo’s ear. After that, Mammy Luo turned around and went out even before having her meal.
“Young Lady, is there anything serious with your leg?” Caifen put down the dishes that she was cleaning up, came over to massage Ning Qingshan’s leg, and asked. Ning Qingshan’s leg had been aching all night and all day that day. The imperial physician came by the next afternoon to reapply the ointment to her leg. At that time, he shook his head while applying the ointment. He didn’t say anything in front of Ning Qingshan.
Nevertheless, Mammy Luo and she both knew that Ning Qingshan’s leg injury might have worsened because she had knelt and fallen down this time.
Of course, no one dared to say that to Ning Qingshan. The imperial physician only told them to take good care of Ning Qingshan and repeatedly emphasized that she must be more careful of her leg. After that, he left after leaving them some medicine.
Thus, seeing Ning Qingshan rubbing her leg at this moment, Caifen involuntarily put down the dishes and asked with concern.
“Help me massage it.” Ning Qingshan closed her eyes and leaned back, beginning to think over the way of dealing with Ning Xueyan. If her plan worked well, Ning Xueyan would have no way out. Even if Prince Yi could let it go, she would be too ashamed to go on living. Besides, the man, who ruined her reputation, had no power and status so that he wouldn’t be able to save her life. Thinking of this, Ning Qingshan couldn’t help showing a complacent smile with jealousy and hatred.
Moreover, even if someone investigated into it in private, he couldn’t find her out. Everything was done by Ning Ziyan, and she had just incited Ning Ziyan slightly.
She was so complacent and excited that she didn’t notice that her maid looked upset when gently massaging her leg.
When Ning Xueyan went to pay her respects to Madam Dowager the next morning, she not only saw Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling but also saw Ning Qingshan, who was injured. It was rare to see such a lively scene in Madam Dowager’s courtyard. Before entering the courtyard, she heard them talking noisily inside.
Seeing Ning Xueyan come in, Madam Dowager instructed someone to prepare a brocade stool for her, and took her hand and asked with concern, “Should we ask another doctor to make a diagnosis? Anyway, a doctor probably would not be able to make a precise diagnosis all the time. Although the doctor is from the imperial palace, I think you had better see another doctor, in case other injured parts of yours are missed and cause big problems in the future.”
Madam Dowager said in a euphemistic way. Of course, she was most afraid that Ning Xueyan’s reproductive organs were injured, while not caring about other internal injuries. Ning Xueyan’s reproductive capability was related to the future prosperity of Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Dowager could only show concern about it even if she didn’t want to. Thinking of the change of Prince Yi’s attitude, Madam Dowager couldn’t rest assured.
The wealth of Lord Protector’s Manor was always the most important issue for Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an. Of course, Ning Xueyan was nonessential. If she met with misfortune and implicated Lord Protector’s Manor, Lord Protector’s Manor would give up her, who was just a pawn and was much less useful than Ning Huaiyuan and his sister, without hesitation.
In other words, it was not that difficult to make Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an come out and speak for her. As long as she grasped their biggest concern, she could make them say whatever she wanted them to say. Thinking of this, she felt even colder in her heart. Although she had never expected more from them, at the thought that they were so indifferent to kinship, she couldn’t help sneering in her heart.
“Grandma, thank you. I’m fine. The imperial physician has promised me time and again.” Ning Xueyan slightly lowered her head to cover up the coldness in her eyes.
“Grandma, rest assured. God blesses the good. Nothing terrible will happen to Fifth Sister. She’s fine after falling down from such a steep slope. Her good days are coming. Grandma, you could rest assured completely and enjoy the bright future brought by Fifth Sister.”
Ning Qingshan sat aside and teased in an amicable tone. It was hard to tell that she had set up Ning Xueyan before, and today it was the first time for her to show up in front of Ning Xueyan after that. At that time, it was Mammy Luo, her old maid, who forced Ning Xueyan into the room. But now she acted as if nothing had happened before.
She was just extremely shameless. Unfortunately, Ning Xueyan didn’t want to pretend to be her dear sister at this moment. With her face darkening, Ning Xueyan ignored Ning Qingshan and said to Madam Dowager, “Grandma, if you have nothing else to talk to me, I’ll go to attend the memorial ceremony for my mother. Excuse my absence.”
Ning Xueyan’s completely disregardful attitude seemed to be a slap on Ning Qingshan’s face, making her look embarrassed. With a stiff smile, she was too embarrassed to say a word. She didn’t expect that Ning Xueyan would ignore her in this way right before Madam Dowager. She involuntarily showed a trace of viciousness in her eyes.
However, it immediately turned into an awkward smile. She didn’t have to argue with Ning Xueyan now, because it was unnecessary to argue with someone who was going to die. Ning Ziyan and her sister came up the mountain this time with evil intentions. She could just sit aside to watch them fight and see what miserable situation Ning Xueyan would fall into.
She had heard that Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling came to show their deep affection for Ning Xueyan, so she came to join them. In any case, she couldn’t let others suspect that she was the one behind it. In particular, she had just helped the Third Prince trap Ning Xueyan a few days. Thus, she deliberately detached herself from it, in case Madam Dowager thought it was her plot.
Ning Qingshan knew clearly that in Madam Dowager’s mind, she couldn’t compare with Ning Xueyan at all.
“Fifth Sister, are you going there now? Let’s go together. Anyway, I should attend the memorial ceremony for mother as well.” Ning Ziyan said with a smile. She turned her head and said to Ning Yuling, “Second Sister, come with us. You’ve spent some time with grandma yesterday. Now leave this task to Third Sister.”
There was a hint of intimacy in her words as if the sisters present bore no grudges against each other. She seemed to not mind calling Madam Ming “mother” at all and said that naturally. People ignorant of it would think that she had always called Madam Ming mother.
“Go ahead. Accompany your Fifth Sister to see your mother. After all, your mother was unfortunate and bad-tempered so that she ended up with such a tragedy. I’m coming over later.” Madam Dowager said with a sigh. She reached out to pat Ning Xueyan’s hand, looking so sad at the moment.
She thought that what Ning Ziyan said was right and she should go to attend the memorial ceremony for Madam Ming for Ning Xueyan’s sake.
All of them were so good at pretending. Madam Dowager’s words shifted all the blame onto Madam Ming, as if the reason why Madam Ming was deprived of the position of the Legal Wife and finally ended up with such a tragedy was that Madam Ming was so fierce that she didn’t explain it clearly.
With a trace of sharp coldness across her eyes, she showed a faint smile, stood up calmly, and clenched her fists tightly in her sleeves. They came here to feign their affection for her to detach themselves from what happened to her!
