“Fifth Young Lady, please, His Highness has been waiting for you in the house for a long time. Fifth Young Lady, you are just playing hard to get and it only makes things difficult for the old servant.” Outside the house, Mammy Luo now stopped putting on an act. Her words even skimmed past Ning Qingshan and directly mentioned Ao Mingyu, with added disdain, which tightly pressured her with every word. In her opinion, Ning Xueyan now had no choice but to enter.
Ning Xueyan stood up straight. Behind her was a protruding stone amongst the fake mountains, and she reached out for the stone. Her complexion was calm, and her vision leisurely landed on the stone. “Mammy Luo, if I was forced to hurt myself with the stone in Third Sister’s courtyard, what would happen to her?”
A dainty young lady, with a flowery smile and a gentle voice, disregarded the four unsightly imperial bodyguards and the older female servant who followed her closely, as if she did not realize that she had already sunk into a hopeless situation. She smiled faintly, as a faint ripple of obedience that was hidden in her charm slowly emerged in her eyes.
However, such words were able to send chills down one’s spine. If Ning Xueyan were to die here in this manner, forget about Ning Qingshan, not even the Third Prince would be able to escape unscathed. Although there was no one in this courtyard, Ning Xueyan’s courtyard had two imperial bodyguards from Prince Yi’s Manor, and Prince Yi was never known to be a reasonable person.
Mammy Luo did not expect Ning Xueyan to be so determined, and she looked back immediately after feeling frightened all of a sudden. That direction was where the house was, but there were no signs of activity at all. The fright on her face deepened and her tone involuntarily softened. “Fifth Young Lady, there is no need for this. You and our Young Lady are good sisters. We are just inviting you over for a visit, not to harm you.”
Her eyes glanced sideways as she signaled to the imperial bodyguards. The four imperial bodyguards all surrounded Ning Xueyan, while Xinmei cautiously went forward and stopped in front of Ning Xueyan. Inside her sleeve, her fingers had held on to a dart. No matter what, she was not going to let her Young Lady meet with any mishaps, even if it meant that her identity would be exposed.
She was a secret guard. Since the moment she was offered to Ning Xueyan, she had been prepared to die for Ning Xueyan.
“Mammy Luo, do you think that these imperial bodyguards are faster than me, so I’d be unable to kill myself in time?” Ning Xueyan realized Mammy Luo’s intention and suddenly smiled enchantingly at her. Her slim fingers were quick to pull a hairpin out from her hands, as she pointed it at her throat with a smile. “What if I add this? Who do you think will be faster?”
She skimmed over the faces of the four imperial bodyguards, and eventually stopped on the shocked face of Mammy Luo.
The tapered hairpin was pointed at and was slightly pressed against her jade-like skin. If more force was exerted, the hairpin would definitely slit her throat. From Mammy Luo’s point of view, she could see a faint shade of red slowly, but clearly appearing in front of her eyes. A trace of blood slowly dispersed from the tip of the hairpin.
Such a weak-minded young lady could still remain unexpectedly composed. From Ning Xueyan’s pale and thin face, one could not see her fierce determination. She was still all smiles, as if she was admiring flowers with other young ladies, relaxed and natural, without a trace of fear and reluctance!
However, Mammy Luo shuddered in fear. People being ruthless to others does not mean that they are capable of being ruthless to themselves. However, this delicate and weak Fifth Young Lady could actually do this to herself, so she wondered if Third Young Lady was really her match.
If Fifth Young Lady were to really enter the Third Prince’s Manor, given how much the Third Prince cared about her, in addition to her firm and ruthless decisiveness, could the Third Young Lady still capture the Third Prince’s heart and attain that high position? At this moment, Mammy Luo hesitated. Furthermore, if something were to really happen, the Third Young Lady would also reach a dead end, so she did not dare to force and test it.
Previously, she pushed Ning Xueyan to desperation, but now, it was Ning Xueyan who pushed her to the brink of desperation.
“Fifth… Fifth Young Lady, please release your hand. This… this would hurt you…” Mammy Luo looked at the house in a fluster, her face pale from fear. She did not dare to take on a gamble; no matter how fast the imperial bodyguards were, they would not be as fast as the hairpin that was already pressed against Fifth Young Lady’s throat. It was so tight that a trace of blood had slowly flowed from her delicate, pale neck.
“Your Highness, can I return now?” While looking at the outwardly strong Mammy Luo, who was obviously at a complete loss, Ning Xueyan suddenly smiled sweetly as her gaze glanced past Mammy Luo and landed on the house. Her pitch was slightly elevated, but the gentle smile on her face still remained.
She definitely knew that Mammy Luo was not the person in charge; it was naturally Ao Mingyu, who was still hidden in the house.
After being exposed, Ao Mingyu stopped trying to hide. While laughing, he pushed the door open from the inside, as a refined smile appeared on his handsome face. “You don’t have to do this, Fifth Young Lady. I just have something to ask you, but it seems that I have misled you.”
With a wave of his hand, the four imperial bodyguards retreated without saying a word. Seeing Ao Mingyu come out himself, Mammy Luo heaved a sigh of relief. After greeting him, she took a quick glance at Ning Xueyan and retreated to one of the side rooms. Ning Xueyan had previously noticed that position, and there was someone peering out from the curtains. That should be Ning Qingshan there.
She purposely hid in a corner and waited for Ning Xueyan to enter the house so that she would confirm the “fact” that Ning Xueyan and Ao Mingyu were meeting alone. As she watched her beloved man meeting other girls in private, Ning Qingshan became more gloomy.
Inside the house, Ning Qingshan was sitting on a couch near the window overlooking outside, with Caifen and Feilian by her side. Upon seeing how Ning Xueyan had forced Mammy Luo to retreat and even lured Ao Mingyu out of the house, she begrudgingly rolled the handkerchief in her hand into a ball, as a sinister look appeared on her beautiful face. How could she just let such a slut like Ning Xueyan ruin this situation?
After knowing that Ning Xueyan was all right, Ning Qingshan desperately wanted to strangle her. In the beginning, she had already hated Ning Xueyan in her bones, and this only made her want to disrupt the peaceful look on Ning Xueyan’s face even more. After hearing Mammy Luo entering the room, she did not hesitate to pick up a teacup from the table beside her and throw it in her direction.
Mammy Luo had just entered the room when she saw something flash past her eyes, and she ducked instinctively. The teacup heavily smashed against the wall behind her, followed by the sound of the teacup shattering, with a few drops of tea splattering on and scalding her in the process. She looked up with her pale eyes and was stunned to see the gloomy-looking Ning Qingshan, who was sitting by the window. Her face twitched, and she was momentarily at a loss for words.
This was the Third Young Lady that she had wholeheartedly protected since young. And Mammy Luo would not be as close to anyone, no matter who it was, as she was with Third Young Lady. She watched her grow up from a small, chubby little girl into who she had become now. No matter what the circumstances, she would wholeheartedly stay by her side and do anything, as long as it was beneficial for her.
But what had happened to the Young Lady now? Was she taking her anger out on her? Mammy Luo felt devastated. The young girl whom she wanted to protect wholeheartedly did not want her and disliked her? Tears welled up and involuntarily blurred her vision, and she could not tell if it was malevolence on Ning Qingshan’s face.
“Sorry, Mammy Luo, I did not notice you entering the room just now. Quickly help Mammy Luo to have a seat here, Caifen.” The gloomy look on Ning Qingshan’s face turned into a smile as she warmly gestured for Caifen to go over, as if she really threw the teacup in a fit of anger instead of deliberately aiming it at Mammy Luo.
“Mammy Luo, please have a seat. The Young Lady did not notice you entering just now.” Caifen fearfully looked at Ning Qingshan, as she witnessed how quick her attitude had changed and the uncontrollable look of evilness on her face when Mammy Luo entered. At this moment, she did not dare to look at Ning Qingshan, except to immediately force a smile and comply with her words, as she went to help Mammy Luo.
“Young Lady, I am all right. So, what do we do now?” Mammy Luo wiped her tears with her hands, with slight happiness appearing on her face. She long knew that the Third Young Lady that she had brought up herself would not be so heartless to deliberately throw the teacup at her. It was nothing but a coincidence, and with drastic changes occurring outside, it was no wonder that her Young Lady would get angry.
“What do we do now?” This sentence almost sent Ning Qingshan out of control, as she reached out to touch her injured leg and could only wish that it was Ning Xueyan who had broken her leg instead. How could Ning Xueyan manage to keep unscathed when the force of the carriage plummeting was greater than crashing into a tree? How could her injury be even less serious than hers?
“Isn’t she supposed to be dead? Wasn’t she supposed to die horribly, without a trace of her left? Why was it only me who had met with a mishap?” And upon thinking that she might have some resulting disability in the future, Ning Qingshan desperately wanted to tear Ning Xueyan apart.
As she ignored Mammy Luo’s words, her hateful gaze fell on Ning Xueyan, who was standing outside the window. Her haggard, yet attractive-looking face gave Ning Qingshan an impulse to go outside and scratch her face. Ning Qingshan’s fingers landed on the window, as she fiercely pulled the curtains that were hanging from above.
“Feel free to speak your mind, Your Highness.” Ning Xueyan smiled, as she calmly kept the hairpin that was in her hand. If not for the small red dot and the faint trace of blood on her pale and tender neck, no one would believe that what had happened earlier on was true.
Ao Mingyu smiled as his gaze landed on her, paying extra attention to her neck, saying, “It’s nothing much. I just wanted to ask you about what happened that day. It was said that it was a setup, and if you need my help, feel free to come to me.”
Ning Xueyan bowed slightly and gently said, “Thank you, Your Highness, for your kind intentions. His Highness Prince Yi has already checked and it was really just an accident. Or maybe I was in a hurry and that’s why I met with the accident. Third sister was also met with the same incident, right? Is it possible that she was being set up?”
Inside the house, Ning Qingshan tightly grasped on to the window ledge, as she unknowingly broke a few of her long, well-maintained fingernails.
Such a clear rejection and even mentioning Ning Qingshan only meant that the relationship they had had only improved because Ning Qingshan was set to marry into the Third Prince’s Manor. There was nothing else, and Ao Mingyu’s face slowly turned solemn.
“Mingyu is considerate. It’s just that if anything happened to my side consort, I would take care of it by myself. There is no need for Mingyu to worry about her.”
His cold, yet charming and magnetic voice could be heard. At this moment, Ning Xueyan genuinely began to relax, as she looked toward the handsome man who was currently walking toward them. His face looked cold and scary, yet in her eyes, it was surprisingly warm and peaceful.
