"Young Lady, she's the Second Young Lady's maid. She said that the Second Young Lady wants you to go and see her immediately." Seeing Ning Xueyan coming out of the inner courtyard, Lanning breathed a sigh of relief and told her what had happened.
Ning Xueyan glanced at the maid and said, "So many things have happened today. What does the Second Sister want to do? I'm going to see Madam Dowager now. If the Second Sister wants to come, she can come along with me."
Then, she went to Auspicious Fortune Hall with Lanning.
The maids and older female servants who were looking on stepped backward and lowered their heads when they saw Ning Xueyan coming out and then dispersed after Ning Xueyan had left. The Fifth Young Lady was obviously not the same Fifth Young Lady from before.
Was Ning Xueyan going to Madam Dowager's place?
Ning Yuling's maid did not dare to follow them. She turned pale and felt bad. So she rushed back
In the study of Xia Manor, Xia Yuhang said while going in circles impatiently with a gloomy face, "Father, what should I do now?" He was not as gentle as usual. Xia Tian, the Minister of Justice, did not expect such a thing to happen. He frowned and asked, "Can her child survive?" "Of course the child won't survive. Father, will my scholarly honour be taken away after such a thing?" Xia Yuhang concerned his scholarly honour most, so that he felt ill at ease. This matter upset all his plans, which made him very angry. After years of effort, he was about to succeed, but failed at the last moment. Xia Yuhang wished he had killed the baby in Ning Ziyan's belly as soon as he thought that the child made him like a drowned mouse. If it hadn't been for this child at that time... After this matter, Xia Yuhang could imagine that there inevitably would be some people attending the court tomorrow impeached him. The Spring Metropolitan Exam
The hall was magnificent and could accommodate hundreds of people. A large red and gold carpet covered the ground and dragons were carved on walls and pillars. The emperor was sitting in the middle of the hall and Ao Chenyi was sitting on another chair near the emperor. He still wore a black robe, on which bloody equinox flowers were embroidered. Ao Chenyi was looking at Xia Tian and Ning Zu'an who were kneeling with a faint smile on his face. He was looking forward to what was about to happen. "Your Majesty, my son and daughter-in-law had already been engaged. And the date of their marriage had been fixed. So they were allowed to meet, so that they made a mistake after drinking. It's my duty. Your Majesty, please punish me!" Xia Tian explained in a natural tone while kneeling there and lowering his head with respect. Xia Tian did not pass the buck, but said that Xia Yuhang and Ning Ziyan made a mistake because they were drunk and it was not
"No trouble at all. Anyway, I have nothing to do recently. Everyone involved in those cases are dead. I'm very bored!" After saying that, Ao Chenyi tried to show a gentle smile. But in Xia Tian's eyes, the smile was treacherous and cold. Almost instantly, Xia Tian made his decision. He said in panic while kowtowing, "Your Majesty, in any case, that woman lost her baby because my son kicked her. So it's normal that she hates my son. He made the mistake on impulse. He will be responsible for that. Your Majesty, please punish him." At this time, Xia Tian did not insist that his son was framed by someone and his attitude also softened. This meant that there was no need to investigate this matter and Xia Manor was willing to take full responsibility. Meanwhile, Xia Tian also flattered the emperor by what he said. In times of danger, Xia Tian remembered what Xia Yuhang said last night. Xia Yuhang had told Xia Tian that
"Concubine Ma, when I came here just now, I heard that the First Madam had asked someone to send you meals even if she's in the Buddha Hall. She's really generous. In my opinion, if something happens to you in the future, it must have nothing to do with the First Madam." Lanning glanced at Concubine Ma and spoke slowly while picking up the hamper. This hamper was prepared by Madam Ling! After knowing that, Concubine Ma became shocked and grabbed the handkerchief in her hands. First Madam always returned evil for good. Concubine Ma had bit her and this matter had come to a deadlock, so the First Madam would not let go of Concubine Ma. This was a threat to Concubine Ma! "Fifth Young Lady, don't go. Please do me a favor!" Concubine Ma could no longer control her fear, and couldn't help asking for help in a tremulous voice. Ning Xueyan stopped, but did not turn around. She directly said, "Concubine Ma, if you need any
"Look, it's Fifth Sister. Why are carrying a hamper at this time? Grandma has already eaten. Don't you think it's too late for you to send her food now?" Ning Xueyan and Lanning encountered Ning Lingyun who was on the way to Lucky Garden. Ning Lingyun saw the hamper in Lanning's hands and could not help but mock Ning Xueyan. Ning Xueyan did not take Ning Lingyun's sarcastic ridicule seriously. Ning Lingyun, the daughter of a concubine, always followed Ning Yuling's lead and curried favor with Madam Ling in order to have a good marriage in the future. But Ning Xueyan knew well that Ning Lingyun would eventually become a stepping stone for Madam Ling's children. Ning Xueyan glanced at Ning Lingyun and asked, "Fourth Sister, who made you so angry?" "Great wits have short memories. Fifth Sister, you made Second Sister angry and didn't dare to see her. So you requested me to see her and face her anger. You're a coward." Remembering what had happe
Ning Xueyan frowned and said in confusion, "Father, does this matter have anything to do with mother? Concubine Ma said that this matter is not what I thought. She also said that she would tell me later when she had the chance." Concubine Ma did not say anything. Knowing that, Madam Dowager and Ning Zu'an looked at each other. They felt shocked, but also relieved. Madam Dowager finally smiled and euphemistically said, "This matter naturally has nothing to do with your mother. The womenfolk's courtyard is under your mother's control. When something like this happened, she is also sad and should take the responsibility. Since Concubine Ma isn't pregnant, I'll let her tell the truth. She dared to lie to me. It's detestable of her!" Madam Dowager dumped the blame on Concubine Ma, even though she knew Madam Ling was behind this evil. In such a big manor, no one really cared about Ning Xueyan. For the people of Lord Protector's Manor
Madam Ling arrived soon after. She looked a little bit old, although pious, in a simple cloth gown without any makeup on her face, instead of wearing her fineries as usual. The bandage wrapped around her ears, in particular, made her appearance inferior to that of the young and charming Concubine Ma. "Madam Ling, yesterday you said that Concubine Ma had an affair with another man, and was seen by a maid, so she caused the blame of the abortion to shift onto you. Is that true?" Madam Dowager asked. "Mother, I heard all this from Biyun. I'm also not sure. I was about to ask more yesterday, but had no time since you told me to go to Buddha Hall. Why don't you ask her yourself now?" On her way here, Madam Ling had learned about Concubine Ma's farce. She was startled at first. Now she was staring at Concubine Ma with cold eyes, leaving the judgment to Madam Dowager and deliberately avoiding the fact that Concubine Ma had once been poisoned. Lucki
"You are so…" Ning Zu'an glared at Madam Ling with the two fire-fork shaped veins on his forehead swelling. Madam Ling had sensed the danger already but was unable to interpose Ning Xueyan's spouting statement or to keep up with her thoughts. When Madam Ling finally took a tumble, it was already too late. Subconsciously, she cried with an affectedly effeminate voice, "Marquis!" Then she went limp and fell onto the ground weakly, her head colliding against a column beside her and blood bleeding profusely. Mother Chen went forward to hold her without delay and shouted to the crowd, "Hurry up! Hold Madam back to the yard right now and call a physician. My goodness, she was so seriously hurt. What shall I do?" Seeing this, Ning Zu'an knitted his brows slightly. He hesitated for a while when hearing the words of "back to the yard". After all, they had been couples for years and he felt a little bit sympathetic for her.