In the Auspicious Clouds Courtyard, most of the people were asleep, but Madam Ling’s room was flooded with flickering lights. It was evident that the people inside were not asleep yet. Madam Ling had been in poor health for a long time. After the incident at the Cloud Reflection Courtyard, she had been screaming in the night, which frightened all the people in the courtyard so much that they could not sleep well.
Later, the Marquis came over and stayed for a night. The First Madam seemed to have made a miraculous recovery. As if she had taken a magic drug, the First Madam stopped taking her medicine. Although she looked weak and could not get up for a while, she obviously felt much better than before.
However, Mother Chen, who had always served the First Madam, sometimes did not show up in the morning. It was said that she had a lot of things to do, and the First Madam allowed her to go out. Rumors among some of the older female servants said that Mother Chen brought back some medicine every time she came back. She even smelt of medicine.
However, the First Madam took it directly without brewing it. They were curious about her medicine, because the First Madam’s mental state was much better than before. When several older female servants asked about it, Mother Chen scolded them. They secretly scoffed at her bullying ways, but they did not dare to ask her face to face.
“First Madam, does this medicine work?” Mother Chen secretly took out a pack of fine powder and carefully handed it to Madam Ling. The powder looked like ordinary powder and was light yellow in color. At a glance, one could tell that it had been mixed with other drugs. It had a strong smell of medicine. After carefully smelling it, one could detect a fishy odor coming from it.
If there were no strong smell of medicine, the fishy smell alone would make people sick.
Madam Ling tried hard to suppress her nausea. She raised her head and poured all the powder from the medicine sachet into her mouth. Then, she hurriedly took the cup of water handed over by Mother Chen and drank it in one gulp. After that, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief, panting for breath and coughing hard. She was afraid that she would cough out the powder, so she closed her mouth tightly. It was more inconvenient for her to cough like this, so her cheeks flushed a bright red.
“First Madam, please slow down. Be careful not to choke.” Seeing Madam Ling’s situation, Mother Chen hurriedly reached out to pat her on the back.
Finally, Madam Ling recovered. After she drank some water, she stopped coughing. Then, she wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief. A trace of hatred flashed through her eyes. After gasping for a while, she said, “I’m all right. I’m all right. I’ve been taking this medicine for a while. It should be effective, right?”
She subconsciously reached out her hand to touch her belly and said this unambiguously.
“It must be effective. First Madam, but… but if something goes wrong, it will hurt your health. You’re doing this…” Mother Chen persuaded. She looked at Madam Ling’s face fearfully. Under the light, Madam Ling’s face looked pale and also a little unhealthy.
Thinking of what the man who gave her the powder said, she did not dare to say anything.
“That’s good. It’s best if I can give birth. If not, I must place the blame on that little bi*ch. How can Madam Dowager protect her if she kills her biological brother?” Madam Ling gritted her teeth and said. The medicine was strong enough, but as long as it worked, she would take it.
If she was pregnant at this time, no matter what happened, Madam Dowager would ask the Marquis to protect her. If she gave birth to a son again, he would be another male offspring of the Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Dowager attached great importance to the inheritance. As for whether she could give birth, Madam Ling did not care much about it.
Anyway, she had Yuan’er. So what if she could not give birth to a baby? If not, she would place the blame on Ning Xueyan. So what if she was about to be Prince Yi’s co-consort? How could the royal family let such a vicious woman become one of their family member?
She had heard that Prince Yi was engaged to a co-consort, but there were no more specifics. The co-consort was cruel and ruthless because she murdered a concubine. Prince Yi broke off their engagement. If Ning Xueyan killed the child in her belly, it would be much worse than killing a concubine.
“The efficacy is really… First Madam, you can’t stand it.” Mother Chen was sweating when she mentioned this. She tried to persuade Madam Ling again in a low voice. She had said these words countless times, but Madam Ling was stubborn. It was difficult for her to get pregnant based on her health condition.
However, it was said that the medicine was effective. One could be pregnant by taking it, but one could not keep the child safe and might even give birth to a monster. Mother Chen dared not to tell Madam Ling about it. She only told Madam Ling that the drug was harmful, and she might lose the child.
But even so, Madam Ling decided to take it. Mother Chen feared that she would shoulder the responsibility. Therefore, she sometimes tried to advise Madam Ling to show that she was sincerely doing this for Madam Ling. If anything happened in the future, it would have nothing to do with her.
“Let’s not talk about this. You should go to the Marquis’s place tomorrow and tell him that I have been feeling better since he came here last time. Invite him to see me again.” Madam Ling said with a gloomy face. She reached out to stop Mother Chen from speaking. As long as she could kill Ning Xueyan, it did not matter if she hurt herself a little bit.
“Yes, I’ll go tomorrow.” Mother Chen nodded and took out a bag of fragrant sandalwood from a hidden corner of the table. Madam Ling suffered patiently and silently. She nodded and beckoned to Mother Chen to put it away.
When Mother Chen put it back in the hidden corner, Madam Ling stopped holding her nose and said, “Put it in the incense as before. Light it as soon as the Marquis comes in.”
“Yes, I understand.” Mother Chen nodded in tacit understanding. Under the dim light, the two heads separated for a while and got together again. Although no sounds filtered out of the window, their behavior was weird. One could tell that they were plotting something.
When the betrothal gifts were sent from Prince Yi’s Manor, Ning Xueyan was doing embroidery in the Bright Frost Garden. Hearing that Madam Dowager had sent someone to invite her, Ning Xueyan tidied up her clothes and went to the Lucky Garden. All the betrothal gifts were in Madam Dowager’s courtyard, among which there were silks, satins, and jewelry. Everything was exquisite.
They were royal treasures. Although they were not big, Madam Dowager could not hide her smile when she saw so many precious things. Today was the day when Prince Yi sent betrothal gifts to Commandery Princess Xianyun of the Lord Peace’s Manor. Since he would marry the consort and the co-consort at the same time, he also sent betrothal gifts to Ning Xueyan.
Although they could not be compared with Princess Xianyun’s, Lord Protector’s Manor was honored because the consort and the co-consort would marry into the Lord Protector’s Manor at the same time. Madam Dowager felt worthwhile to exchange a granddaughter she had never thought highly of, for this glory. Thus, she asked all young ladies of the manor to come over.
Ning Lingyun had been released recently. Madam Dowager thought that both Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan had won honors for the manor. Although Ning Lingyun was a concubine’s daughter, she might also have a good chance. So, Madam Dowager treated her well.
Ning Xueyan, the most good-for-nothing and the one who was the most timid, who was even inferior to a concubine’s daughter, had managed to secure such a good marriage. Perhaps Ning Lingyun could have such a good chance as well. Although she was inferior in status and appearance, Ning Lingyun would rise in status, once both young ladies got married into the royal family.
Many people proposed to Ning Lingyun, whom no one showed any interest in before. The Ministry of Justice could not be sure that the incident at the Cloud Reflection Courtyard was related to the Lord Protector’s Manor. Moreover, the Third Young Lady and the Fifth Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor would be royal members. Because of this, many people wanted to unite with the Lord Protector’s Manor through marriage.
Madam Dowager selectively forgot about Ning Yuling, who was self-abandoned. She thought of her as a cat or a dog raised by the Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Ling was stupid, and all her daughters were stupid. In the past, she thought that the Eldest Young Lady was good, but now she felt that she was also stupid. It was said that the Xia Manor was in a mess, merely after a few days.
It had only been a while since that happened. But now, Ning Yuling and Ning Ziyan fought fiercely. They were a disgrace to the Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Dowager decided to let them go. Even if they fought to the death, it would have nothing to do with her. Anyway, they were both members of the Xia Manor now.
“Xueyan, come here. This is Mother Ruan, the steward of the inner courtyard of Prince Yi’s Manor. Come and meet her.” Seeing Ning Xueyan coming in, Madam Dowager pointed to a middle-aged woman standing in the middle, with a kind face.
Although she was a steward of the inner courtyard, she looked shrewd and competent. She dressed even better than Ning Lingyu, who was standing aside. The glittering dress material had been given as a reward by the imperial palace. One could tell that the steward, Mother Ruan, was definitely not just any ordinary servant in Prince Yi’s Manor.
“Nice to meet you, Mother Ruan.” Ning Xueyan bowed to her respectfully and greeted her gently.
“You are the Fifth Young Lady. You look like a fairy. How can you bow to me? It is not right. I should return your bow.” Seeing Ning Xueyan’s greeting, Mother Ruan immediately returned it with a smile, after looking at Ning Xueyan from head to toe.
No matter how high her status was in Prince Yi’s Manor, she was still a servant. When she married into Prince Yi’s Manor, Ning Xueyan would be the co-consort. She would be issued a certificate by the imperial palace, so she would be the master of Prince Yi’s Manor. Thus, the steward of the inner courtyard should think highly of Ning Xueyan.
“Mother Ruan, you’re too polite. When she enters the manor, you need to take care of her. She is just a child and seldom leaves the manor. If there is anything that she does not understand, please give her some advice.” Seeing that Mother Ruan valued Ning Xueyan so much, Madam Dowager smiled with her eyes crinkling, but she said this politely.
“Madam Dowager, you’re too polite. Fifth Young Lady is so smart. She won’t need my advice. As long as she and Commandery Princess gets along well with our Prince, I’m willing to do anything.” Mother Ruan said politely with a smile. She was quite satisfied with Ning Xueyan.
Mother Ruan looked amiable, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were gentle. Nobody could believe that there was such a kind person in Prince Yi’s Manor.
Everyone’s attention was focused on Mother Ruan. They did not notice that Ning Qingshan, who was sitting next to Madam Dowager, had a flash of intense jealousy in her eyes.
