The Devious First-Daughter

Chapter 83 If She Is Innocent, Who Is Not?
“Show it to me!” Madam Dowager asked the servants to take the envelope to her with an unhappy expression before Ning Yuling could say anything.

Immediately, the note in the envelope was delivered to Madam Dowager which said: “Come! It’s urgent!” The signature on it said “Ling”. People who were familiar with Ning Yuling knew that she normally signed “Ling” to represent herself.

“It was found on Cousin Ling Yi, and the signature is…” Ning Xueyan smiled and said with a look of deep significance.

On hearing that, Madam Dowager’s expression changed greatly and her gaze became gloomy.

“You arrived here first. Maybe you put that note on Yi’er. How can it be evidence?” Madam Ling became flustered, but she still made a good point.

“Mother, everyone saw that the note was taken from Cousin Ling Yi just now. What’s more, Cousin Ling Yi wasn’t dead. Wouldn’t he have stopped someone from putting a note on him?” Ning Xueyan calmly asked, her expression unchanging.

“Enough! Today, Childe Ling Yi was drunk and took a rest here, but was mistaken for a burglar by the servants. That’s what happened. Madam Qian, you can go back and treat your son first. Yuan’er hasn’t been at home recently. Therefore, there’s no male host in Lord Protector’s Manor to entertain our guests.”

Madam Dowager spoke coldly while looking at them with a fierce gaze.

In the end, Ning Yuling was involved again. How could Madam Dowager not get angry by her repeated failure? She even hated Madam Qian and her son after this matter and wanted them to leave. Domestic shame should not be made public. Ning Yuling would marry the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li’s Manor. If this matter was exposed to others, her engagement might be cancelled.

Hearing that Madam Dowager drove her away, Madam Qian was unhappy and disagreed with leaving now. She snorted and wanted to say something, but was stopped by Madam Ling.

Now Madam Qian also realized that this matter had something to do with Madam Ling. Seeing that her son had been beaten half-dead, Madam Qian was also annoyed with Madam Ling. So she directly ignored Madam Ling and left in a rage with her servants.

Behind her came the voice of Ning Yuling anxiously explaining.

“Grandma, I didn’t do that. You must believe me. How could I like Ling Yi? He’s a libertine.”

Hearing what Ning Yuling had said, Madam Qian became so angry that she almost tore up the handkerchief in her hands. Being stared at by Madam Ling with a fierce and gloomy gaze, the maids and older female servants bowed their heads one by one.

“Let’s go!” Now Madam Qian hated Ning Yuling as well.

Ning Yuling did not know that her words were heard by Madam Qian and also provoked her anger. At this time, she arrogantly said while pointing at Ning Xueyan, “Grandmother, it’s clear that she was caught having a private meeting with Cousin Ling Yi. But she shifted the blame onto me.”

Ning Yuling dared to loudly talk about such a big scandal in front of so many people, making Madam Dowager very angry.

“Mother Qin, have them leave!” Madam Dowager coldly said.

“Yes!” Mother Qin nodded her head in understanding. Then she drove out all the servants and closed the door, only leaving several henchmen.

“You… kneel down!” Madam Dowager shouted angrily while pounding the ground with her walking stick.

Ning Yuling had always been spoiled and had never been abused by Madam Dowager in her life. She was stunned on the spot when Madam Dowager scolded her and reacted until Madam Ling pushed her down onto her knees.

“Mother, Ling’er is innocent. She didn’t know about this at all. Someone deliberately framed her. It was chaotic just now and someone put that envelope into Ling Yi’s clothes while we were not paying attention.” Madam Ling stood at one side and pleaded for Ning Yuling while shooting Ning Yuling a warning glance.

“If she is innocent, who is not?” Madam Dowager angrily said, “I remember you said this morning that she was ill. Look at her face, does she look sick? Today I have to teach her a lesson, otherwise others will really think that there are no rules in Lord Protector’s Manor!”

Ning Yuling could not clearly explain the matter of the note. There was no evidence to prove that the note was not written by her. Furthermore, it had her signature on it. Madam Ling also could not explain it for her. What happened yesterday as well as today made Madam Dowager unhappy with Madam Ling. She thought that Madam Ling had not taught Ning Yuling well.

In Madam Dowager’s opinion, how could Madam Ling manage the whole family well if she could not teach her own daughter well?

“Mother, it’s all my fault, please punish me alone. Ling’er will marry the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li. Nothing can happen to her. Xueyan is really not sensible and has caused us so much trouble.”

Realizing that Madam Dowager would punish Ning Yuling, Madam Ling knelt down and pleaded for her daughter, her voice full of grievance.

She reminded Madam Dowager that Ning Yuling was getting married soon.

“Xueyan, persuade your grandmother. Do you really want to see Lord Protector’s Manor lose face because of you?” Madam Ling finished her words and turned to look at Ning Xueyan fiercely.

Suddenly, there was silence in the room.

Madam Dowager, who was sitting on the chair, took a look at them all and finally looked at Ning Xueyan. But Ning Xueyan was looking down with a calm look, which surprised Madam Dowager.

Ning Xueyan was very timid when she was a little girl. Neither Ning Zu’an nor Madam Dowager liked her. Madam Dowager even thought she was inferior to a maid and did not want to see her. So she asked Ning Xueyan not to greet her every morning. In recent years, nobody paid attention to Bright Frost Garden.

A girl who did not dare to leave Bright Frost Garden for several years did not attract anyone’s attention.

Unexpectedly, Madam Dowager found that Ning Xueyan was no longer cowardly when she saw her again. She felt that Ning Xueyan was calm and graceful and was better than Ning Yuling, who had been carefully cultivated by her.

Madam Dowager was not sure whether such a granddaughter was good. At this time, she frowned and waited for Ning Xueyan’s answer.

“Grandmother, please punish me.” Feeling the attention of the public, Ning Xueyan looked up without hurrying.

“What did you do wrong?” The silence of the room was broken. Madam Dowager looked thoughtfully at Ning Xueyan.

“If I hadn’t listened to my Second Sister and come here, this would not have happened, and you would not have gotten angry. It was my fault,” Ning Xueyan said with gentleness on her face.

What did Ning Xueyan do wrong? Her mistake was to listen to Ning Yuling and come here, on which everything that followed was based. It could be said that the cause of this matter was Ning Yuling. In other words, Ning Yuling had framed Ning Xueyan and deliberately asked her to come here.

Maybe that note was the evidence of Ning Yuling’s conspiracy with Ling Yi.

Madam Ling looked terrible and could not say a word!

Ning Yuling was furious. She did not expect Ning Xueyan to have the gift of gab. Ning Yuling had a very bad life these days because everything that had happened recently involved her. But she could not explain it clearly. At this time, she shouted, while staring at Madam Dowager with anger in her eyes, “Grandmother, you are too biased! She framed me. Why don’t you punish her?”

After that, she struggled to try and stand up, but two older female servants immediately came and held her down.

“Take the Second Young Lady to Ancestral Hall. She can’t leave without my permission.” Madam Dowager was extremely furious. At this point, Ning Yuling dared to offend Madam Dowager. She was really spoiled at ordinary times.

“Mother, Commandery Prince Li’s Manor…” Looking at the struggling Ning Yuling, Madam Ling felt distressed and could not help speaking.

“If they knew what has happened today, there would be no future marriage,” Madam Dowager said unhappily. And the more she looked at Madam Ling, the less satisfied she was with her. Ning Yuling was not well educated by Madam Ling. Fortunately, her grandson was not brought up by Madam Ling, and otherwise Lord Protector’s Manor would be screwed up by her.

At Madam Dowager’s command, Mother Qin and several servants took Ning Yuling to Ancestral Hall.

Madam Dowager talked with Ning Xueyan for a while and then left with her, leaving Madam Ling kneeling there. As the hostess of Lord Protector’s Manor, Madam Ling was directly ignored by them and greatly lost face.

Madam Ling held Mother Chen’s hands and stood up while looking at Ning Xueyan with a gloomy and fierce gaze.

“First Madam…” Mother Chen called Madam Ling carefully.

All of sudden, Madam Ling fiercely slapped Mother Chen, who then covered her mouth subconsciously.

“What did you do? I asked you to keep watch here. How did this happen?” Madam Ling gloomily stared at Mother Chen, who could not help lowering her head before explaining cautiously, “I… I didn’t know how this happened either. It was not until Childe Ling Yi told me that everything was okay that I left. I didn’t expect the Fifth Young Lady to be so shrewd.”

“Didn’t you know that she’s shrewd?” Madam Ling viciously cursed.

They had planned to frame Ning Xueyan in Cold Mountain Temple, but in the end, it was Ning Yuling who was involved. Although there was no evidence that Ning Xueyan did it, Madam Ling believed it had to be related to Ning Xueyan. Madam Ling intended to figure the whole matter out, but Mother Chen’s nephew escaped.

“First Madam, it’s… it’s my fault…” Faced with such a gloomy Madam Ling, Mother Chen had to bow her head and take the responsibility. “But, First Madam, what about the Second Young Lady? She has never been punished before. How can she survive? Does Madam Dowager mean that the Second Young Lady should kneel in Ancestral Hall all the time…”

Speaking of Ning Yuling, Madam Ling was sad and worried. She loved her little daughter very much. Ning Yuling was beautiful and distinguished. She was expected to marry into the royal family and be the empress in the future. So everyone in Lord Protector’s Manor spoiled her very much.

But now, she could not marry the Third Prince. Furthermore, she could marry the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li on the condition that Ning Zu’an promised he would help the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li in the future. Even though, the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li was now the only one Ning Yuling could marry. Thinking of this, Madam Ling became extremely furious.

She almost vomited blood because of anger.

Her beautiful girl’s bright future was destroyed. How could she be satisfied?

“How is Concubine Ma?” Madam Ling asked coldly.

“You may rest assured, First Madam. I’ll arrange everything well. Since Concubine Ma admitted to poisoning the Fifth Young Lady, she can not get rid of this matter. Now, she and the Fifth Young Lady have become enemies. What will happen to Concubine Ma next will have nothing to do with us. She poisoned the Fifth Young Lady, so it’s normal that the Fifth Young Lady wants revenge.” Mother Chen curried favor with Madan Ling as she replied.

“Will there be any mistakes this time?” Madam Ling looked at Mother Chen coldly.

“First Madam, I promise that I won’t make any mistakes this time. No matter how shrewd the Fifth Young Lady is, she won’t know about Concubine Ma. You can rest assured,” answered Mother Chen.

“Good. I don’t want things to change again.” After Madam Ling said that, her expression became fierce and bloodthirsty, as if she were going to eat somebody. Seeing Madam Ling’s face, Mother Chen was so frightened that she lowered her head and did not dare look at her again while she nodded.

“Yes, ma’am.”