After walking for a while at the back of the mountain, Ning Xueyan returned to her courtyard with the excuse of feeling uncomfortable. When she just sat down and took a few sips of tea, Xinmei came back. She had instructed Xinmei to keep an eye on Ning Ziyan. Now that she had come back, Ning Ziyan must have gone back as well, so it was reasonable for Xinmei to come back at this time.
“Young Lady, I saw that the maid serving the Eldest Young Lady talked to the man for a while and then the man went round to your front. After waiting a while, I heard the man mention a portrait. It seems that a portrait of yours has fallen into the man’s hands.”
Portrait? Ning Xueyan’s face changed slightly. The so-called portrait reminded her of the several portraits with which she was set up in the last life. These portraits, which were similar to the portraits that disgraced Ning Yuling later, were the evidence of her affair. Madam Ling and Ning Ziyan killed her with these portraits.
Now how could she remain calm on hearing someone mention the portrait again?
“Young Lady, what does the Eldest Young Lady intend to do? Does she intend to accuse you of having an affair with this man with this portrait?” Lanning asked, and her face also changed dramatically. It was fatal to any unmarried Young Lady. Moreover, given that Ning Xueyan was going to marry into Prince Yi’s Manor as a co-consort soon, such a scandal could be a catastrophe for her.
What would Prince Yi think of it? What would the royal family think of it?
Ning Xueyan slightly frowned and her watery eyes became cold. It should not be the kind of indecent portrait like those portraits before. If it was, the man would definitely behave frivolously when he saw her. However, when Ning Ziyan came over, the man stepped back a little. He should know that Ning Xueyan was a Young Lady from a decent family, rather than a prostitute who had an indecent portrait.
Reasoning in this way, she thought that it should be an ordinary portrait. But even if it was an ordinary portrait, it was unlikely to be in possession of any other man.
As she expected, Ning Ziyan had set more than a trap for her. If her reputation was damaged, coupled with the fact that Prince Yi had treated her coldly before, no one would care about her life and death. If there came such a scandal at this time, both her reputation and her mother’s would be ruined.
As long as her mother’s reputation was ruined, Madam Ling’s reputation would naturally improve. In addition, if Ning Zu’an or Madam Dowager came out to speak for Madam Ling at this time, Madam Ling would become the Legal Wife of Lord Protector’s Manor again, and Ning Ziyan and her siblings would become the legal wife’s children again.
Considering the reputation of Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager didn’t say anything about what had happened between Madam Ming and Madam Ling. People only knew that Madam Ling set up Madam Ming and managed to take the position of the legal wife from Madam Ming, but didn’t know other details. Meanwhile, the masters of Lord Protector’s Manor didn’t come forward to say anything about it. Except for rectifying Madam Ming’s reputation, everything else was settled in private.
If Ning Zu’an and Madam Dowager spoke for Madam Ling at this time, it would be completely credible.
That was to say, it was inevitable that they would reverse the verdict for Madam Ling.
“Lanning, bring me writing brushes, ink sticks, paper, and inkstones.” Ning Xueyan stood up and ordered.
Lanning answered and left. After a short while, she brought the stuff that Ning Xueyan asked for, and Xinmei spread the paper. Ning Xueyan took up the writing brush, dipped it in the ink that Lanning ground, and started painting after thinking for a while. In the last life, she had dabbled in lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Although she was not excellent in them, she had grasped basic skills.
In particular, she was the best at painting the portraits of ladies. The reason why she was the best at it was that she couldn’t go out usually and had always been kept in the courtyard by her mother. Fortunately, she was a quiet girl, and it was simple to paint portraits, so she was quite interested in it. Therefore, compared with the other three art skills, she could be considered fairly good at this.
Ning Ziyan’s face had always been deeply imprinted in Ning Xueyan’s memory. Dying in Ning Ziyan’s hands in the last life, how could Ning Xueyan forget her enemy’s face? But in this life, Ning Ziyan married Xia Yuhang, which greatly decreased her charm in both her face and her expressions instead of increasing it. Ning Xueyan was just contemptuous of her.
After trying every way to kill Ning Xueyan, Ning Ziyan found that Ning Xueyan was not the only woman that the man loved. The man had a mistress in Cold Mountain Temple. Afterward, Ning Ziyan had a miscarriage because of being trapped by Chen Hexiang. Even if Ning Ziyan married the man she wanted to marry, she was not necessarily happy!
Since Ning Xueyan intended to paint a portrait, she would certainly make it as perfect as possible. After appropriate modifications, a vivid portrait of Ning Ziyan appeared in front of everyone. Ning Ziyan’s image was more charming than herself, completely conforming with the Eldest Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor, who was quiet and generous with a gentle look, in Ning Xueyan’s memory.
Ning Xueyan put down the writing brush and left the portrait for a while to dry. After that, she folded the portrait and handed it to Xinmei, “Change the portrait to this one.”
In any case, she could not leave her portrait to any other man. Since Ning Ziyan had contacted the man, she decided to give Ning Ziyan’s portrait to him.
“By the way, find out who this man is.” Everyone in the capital knew that the Fifth Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor was going to marry into Prince Yi’s Manor as a co-consort, but this man seemed to be ignorant of it. If Ning Xueyan didn’t guess wrong, this man should have just arrived in the capital. From his clothes and the jade pendant hanging around his waist, she could tell that he was from a powerful family.
If Ning Xueyan didn’t guess wrong, this man should come from that direction. Thus, Ning Ziyan shouldn’t be the only one behind this plot. Ning Huaiyuan was definitely also behind it, and perhaps Xia Yuhang also got involved in it. Otherwise, as a lady in the backyard, how could Ning Ziyan find this man and send Ning Xueyan’s portrait to him?
Only a powerful man could make Prince Yi treat the scandal as a taboo after it was spread!
Such a man appeared in the capital city at this time. It was not difficult to figure out who he was. She asked Xinmei to inquire about it so as to confirm it.
Xinmei came back very quickly this time and brought the answer Ning Xueyan expected. Ning Xueyan instructed Lanning to call Mother Han back. They talked for a while in the room, and Mother Han left in a hurry. Now she had chosen a store for Ning Xueyan. Ning Xueyan had asked Ming Yuanhua to have a look, and he said that it was not bad. At this moment, Mother Han was having the store decorated.
Qingyu had been sent back to Lord Protector’s Manor for recuperation. Mother Han spent most of her time in the decorating store. These days, because of Ning Xueyan’s poor health and Madam Ming’s liberation ritual, Mother Han usually assisted Ming Yuanhua in the front and got acquainted with some monks in the temple.
After all, as Madam Ming’s daughter, despite her poor health, Ning Xueyan couldn’t allow others to treat Madam Ming’s liberation ritual lightly.
Mother Han had been in charge of the liberation ritual in the past few days, so she seldom served Ning Xueyan beside her. But at this moment, she angrily stopped a novice monk, who was about to deliver food, on a path not far from the big kitchen. The path led to the place where the pilgrims lived.
There were two novice monks delivering food. The one in front carried a huge food box, and the one behind held a jar of wine which was obvious for male guests.
“Benefactor, that benefactor is of noble status. You can’t just meet him at will. It’s not up to me.” The novice monk in front was a little older. At this moment, he was looking at Mother Han, who was blocking their way, with a reluctant look. He put down the food box in his hand, wiped his sweat, and said with a wry smile.
“What do you mean by saying that he’s of noble status and I can’t just meet him at will? He offended our Young Lady today by staring at her like a lecher. If our Eldest Young Lady hasn’t stopped him in time, he might have said something offensive. Why can’t I meet him? I just want to meet him and ask him whether he knows about the courtesy of a scholar. How could he be so offensive?”
Mother Han said angrily and refused to let them pass with one of her hands on her waist. She seemed to focus on the two novice monks, but no one knew that she saw a familiar hem behind a tree diagonally opposite out of the corner of her eye. The hem was towards the Third Young Lady’s courtyard. Like Ning Xueyan’s courtyard, the courtyard was relatively remote, so most people were unlikely to get there by mistake.
The old maids of Lord Protector’s Manor had their own clothes, and the maids had their own clothes. The same kind of maids usually wore the same clothes. She came here at the right time as Ning Xueyan asked. Now it was time for everyone to have meals. In Cold Mountain Temple, there was only a big kitchen providing food.
The medicine for Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan needed to be boiled here, so they didn’t bother the monks in the temple, but sent their old maids to bring the medicine back.
“Benefactor, it’s really not that we’re unwilling to make it convenient for you. The benefactor is of special status indeed so that you can’t just meet him at will. Please forgive us.” The novice monk said with a hard look. He looked back but didn’t see any monk come out. Seeing that Mother Han was still arguing, he could only point in the other direction and said to Mother Han.
“If you don’t believe it, you can ask our abbot. Our abbot specially met the benefactor in the morning. After that, he specially told us not to disturb the benefactor if unnecessary. Otherwise, we’ll be punished in accordance with the rules of our temple. Please don’t put me in a difficult situation. The meals will get cold if we fail to deliver them in time, and we will be punished by the masters later.”
The novice monks kept making a bow with hands folded in front pitifully. The two children, who were about eight or nine years old, made a proper apology like adults. Mother Han couldn’t lose her temper no matter how furious she was. She could only wave to signal that they could leave. Seeing the two novice monks carry the food with difficulty and walk away, Mother Han sighed helplessly and went to the kitchen to take Ning Xueyan’s food and medicine.
After she walked away, an old maid dressed in similar clothes came out from behind the tree. It was Mammy Luo. Looking at the direction where the two novice monks went and the direction where Mother Han went, she frowned thoughtfully.
After Mammy Luo came back with the food box and medicine, Feilian opened the food box and began to set the table. Mammy Luo didn’t leave as usual, but said to Feilian, “Go out and wait outside. I’ll set the table.”
Mammy Luo was Ning Qingshan’s most trusted henchman. Feilian was sent by Madam Dowager to serve Ning Qingshan. Because of this, although Feilian devoted herself to Ning Qingshan later, she was not as important as Mammy Luo. Hearing Mammy Luo’s words, she immediately put down the lid of the food box and left quietly.
Caifen took over Feilian’s work and started to set the table for Ning Qingshan.
