What Caifen said reassured Concubine Ma. She suddenly felt relieved and her face lit up.
If she escaped from the Lord Protector’s Manor, the affair between her and that actor would be nothing. Since the marquis could not find them, even if he knew what they had done before, he could do nothing to her.
No matter how capable the Fifth Young Lady was, she could not do anything outside the manor. However, the Third Young Lady was different from the Fifth Young Lady. She would be the Third Prince’s concubine in the future, so she had to be able to find a way to help Concubine Ma leave. Then Concubine Ma would go everywhere at will, and she would have nothing to do with the Fifth Young Lady in the future.
“The Fifth Young Lady has no advantage against the Third Young Lady, so she will have a problem even protecting herself. Of course, she won’t have the time and energy to deal with me!” Concubine Ma thought.
“Fine! I’ll do as the Third Young Lady tells me!” Concubine Ma said, gritting her teeth. She had made up her mind.
Caifen moved even a little closer to her and whispered in her ear for a few seconds. Concubine Ma nodded hard. After that, they parted, without noticing that someone was behind a tree not far away when they had been talking just now.
When Xinmei came back, Ning Xueyan was reading the account book Madam Dowager had given to her. Lanning stood by her side to serve her the brush pen and grind ink for her.
The room was quiet except for the sound of Ning Xueyan gently turning the pages.
Xinmei lifted the door curtain and was about to speak when she saw Lanning raising her finger to her lips as a signal to be silent. Xinmei nodded and then came up behind Ning Xueyan. Ning Xueyan wrote something on the account book after reading it for a while. Sometimes, she stopped reading and thought for a while with a frown, and sometimes, she marked something in a notebook.
Ning Xueyan had marked in the notebook since she began checking the account books for Madam Dowager. The content of each line was indicated clearly.
After a while, Ning Xueyan put down the notebook and cleaned her hands with the handkerchief Lanning handed her.
She raised her head and asked gently, “Did Concubine Ma meet Ning Qingshan’s attendant?”
“Yes, Miss, you guessed right. As you expected, she met a new maid of the Third Young Lady, named Caifen. It’s said she is Xia’er’s younger sister. I hid myself behind a tree just now and heard that the Third Young Lady was going to help Concubine Ma escape, but only if Concubine Ma frames you.”
Xinmei nodded, admiring Ning Xueyan even more for her wonderful foresight.
“Concubine Ma agreed, didn’t she?” Ning Xueyan said with a smile. Sitting down in front of the table beside the window, she took the tea cup from Lanning. She lifted the cup lid and removed the tea foam inside.
Now Ning Xueyan knew what Ning Qingshan was plotting. “She promised Concubine Ma to help her escape? With Concubine Ma’s current status, it’s really an attractive offer and it’s no wonder that Concubine Ma would like to do anything for her. If they succeed, Concubine Ma won’t need to worry that I will expose her secret. Ning Qingshan is really smart. Although she didn’t know what had happened to Concubine Ma, she could convince Concubine Ma to work for her!”
“Yes. Concubine Ma didn’t agree at first. But after Caifen had relayed the Third Young Lady’s words, she immediately agreed. Then they talked for a short moment. Because they spoke in low voices, I didn’t hear them clearly.” Xinmei was a little awkward when she said the last sentence.
Caifen and Concubine Ma had deliberately lowered their voices. Since there was no place to hide near them, Xinmei had to hide herself a little bit far away from them, and she could not hear all the contents of their conversation.
“It doesn’t matter. Since I have known that Ning Qingshan is the mastermind behind it, it’s much easier for me to decide what to do next,” Ning Xueyan said slowly. She took a sip of tea and then put down the tea cup. “It seems that she has been on a roll recently. I should find something to set her back on her heels.”
Because both the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince had sent gifts to her, everyone in the manor thought highly of Ning Qingshan, even Madam Dowager did not dare to offend her. Madam Dowager asked her attendants to bring some nutritious medicine to Foggy Courtyard. But Ning Qingshan seemed to have forgotten one important thing—she had not become the Third Prince’s concubine yet.
And what the Fourth Prince had done might not be a good thing that would raise her status!
“Lanning, give the account books back to Madam Dowager. Tell her that in addition to the jewelry shop, the other shops’ accounts are normal. It’s said that the shop opposite this jewelry shop is competing with it, so its profit this month is much less than last month. Tell Madam Dowager to inquire about the background of our competitor. I hope the two shops can meet each other halfway. Since we are doing business, vicious competition can only harm the interests of both sides. But that’s only my suggestion. After all, the jewelry shop is very profitable, so Madam Dowager should make the final decision on her own.”
Ning Xueyan spoke gently as she pushed the account books to Lanning.
“Miss, how did you know the details?” Although Lanning had been calm, she was so surprised that she widened her eyes after hearing the detailed analysis from Ning Xueyan.
“It’s easy. I can find everything in the account books. Of course, it’s not the only reason for profit or loss. Since someone is playing a trick, I can make use of it. As for the competition between the two jewelry shops, I heard about that from Mother Han. When you connect all these things together, you will understand.”
A graceful and icy smile appeared on Ning Xueyan’s face. She had checked the account books for a long time, and she had not found anything wrong, as if nothing abnormal had ever happened. However, after examining them carefully, she had found a secret—almost all the shops’ profit was declining this month more or less, although it was not easy to be aware of this in such a short period.
Since Madam Ling had been in charge of the internal accounts for so many years, of course she would not give the power back to Madam Dowager easily!
It might be a good thing for Ning Xueyan, because she could make use of it. Ning Xueyan had gotten the news about the jewelry shop from Mother Han partially, but she already knew about the rest from her last life when she was still Ning Ziying.
Once, Ning Ziyan had been showing off in front of Ning Ziying, saying that the jewelry shop of their family was the most profitable one, even more profitable than the jewelry shop across the street. Ning Ziying had also known that the owner of that jewelry shop was the Third Prince.
Since Madam Ling had fiddled with the account book and made the profit much less, then it could be an excuse for the two shops to compete. Two of the same trade would never agree. Besides, the two shops were on the same street, how could there be no contradiction between them? As an imperial member, the Third Prince would not directly deal with such trifles, but it was enough for the two shops to compete.
How could the Third Prince be untroubled by what had happened at the imperial palace about the note and the Fourth Prince’s gifts for Ning Qingshan?
The Fourth Prince suddenly showed his interest in Ning Qingshan. What was he thinking? Three years ago, there had been nothing going on between him and Ning Qingshan. But now, he suddenly showed his intention and determination to marry Ning Qingshan. Was there any special reason?
Anyway, Ning Xuyeyan would find out about it step by step.
She knew it was a cutthroat world. With the grievance in her last life and the hatred in her current life in her mind, she would never back down!
She sat in front of the table, looking delicate and weak. Her cold, lowered eyes and her graceful, icy smile did not frighten her two maids, but reassured them.
They knew that their young master was not weak and incapable. Now she was able to protect herself well, so she had the ability to protect them as well.
Lanning left with the account books in her arms and soon came back with a message from Madam Dowager. Madam Dowager would invite the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince for dinner this evening, and she had asked Ning Xueyan, Ning Huaiyuan, and Ning Qingshan to attend the dinner. After all, they should thank the two princes for their gifts.
Whether or not Madam Dowager would talk about the jewelry shops to the Third Prince was not on Ning Xueyan’s mind. She had asked Lanning to convey her suggestion. It was not the most important thing whether or not Madam Dowager would say something about it in front of the Prince. But the jewelry shop was actually a good money-maker for the manor.
Madam Ling had never gotten along well with Madam Dowager. The jewelry shop was so profitable when Madam Ling was running it, but now the profit was less after Madam Dowager had taken back the power. So no matter how much less it was, Madam Dowager would feel humiliated.
Ning Xueyan thought that Madam Dowager would definitely talk about it with the Third Prince.
After taking a nap at noon, Ning Xueyan walked out of Bright Frost Garden with Qingyu.
Ning Xueyan walked toward Cloud Reflection Courtyard subconsciously. It was getting cold recently and Mother Han did not want her to go out after supper, so Ning Xueyan would take a walk after napping at noon when she had time. Anyway, Cloud Reflection Courtyard was remote and was near Bright Frost Garden, so nobody would have noticed that she had such a habit.
Standing under the designated plum tree, she glanced at Cloud Reflection Courtyard, frowning.
Cloud Reflection Courtyard was even colder and more cheerless than before. Nobody would like to come here. After Ning Ziying’s death, this land had almost been abandoned by Lord Protector’s Manor. Maybe Madam Ling and Ning Ziyan worried that Ning Ziying would turn into a ghost and come to take revenge on them, so they had asked people to build a wall that was not very big to separate Cloud Reflection Courtyard from Lord Protector’s Manor.
If people came from the direction in front of Ning Xueyan, they could not see Cloud Reflection Courtyard, which was behind the wall.
Unless they were looking from Ning Xueyan’s direction, nobody would know about the existence of Cloud Reflection Courtyard. It had been completely separated by Madam Ling.
Obviously, she was trying to completely erase Ning Ziying from people’s memory!
However, no matter how hard she had tried, she could not erase some things.
“Qingyu, keep watch for me here. I’m going to have a look at Cloud Reflection Courtyard,” Ning Xueyan turned her head and said to Qingyu.
“Miss, you’d better not go there. It’s said that it is not clean there,” Qingyu said nervously. Rumors about Cloud Reflection Courtyard were more and more terrifying. Since nobody lived there, many people said it was haunted. The wall had been built up gradually because of the rumors.
And this project had been completed a few days ago.
“Clean? Is there any clean place in the manor?” Ning Xueyan said indifferently. She looked down and her feather-like eyelashes cast faint shadows on her pale face. “Haunted? Haha! The most horrible thing in the world is not a ghost, but a human being!”
Qingyu was shocked at such laughter, sarcasm, and contempt.
“Fifth Young Lady is right. Is there any ghost in the world? Lanning was almost murdered by the First Madam. Besides, Fifth Young Lady, Lanning and Mother Wang mentioned that Young Lady Ning Ziying, who lived in Cloud Reflection Courtyard before, might also have been murdered by the First Madam and the others. They’re so vicious, they are even more terrible than ghosts!”
Qingyu calmed down for no reason, then nodded and asked, “Miss, do you want me to go there with you?”
Although she had stopped thinking about the ghost, she was still not at ease letting Ning Xueyan go there alone.
“You don’t have to go with me. I’m just having a look and walking around. Just wait for me here. Stop anyone if they come,” Ning Xueyan said with a coldness flashing in her eyes. She then walked forward. Where she was now was close to Cloud Reflection Courtyard’s back door. She had been waiting for such a long time, and it was the right time to take those things out!
