The Devious First Daughter

Chapter 3. The Link between the Past and Present

"What happened?", A frowning Ning Xueyan turned around and looked at Mother Han in confusion. She had never seen Mother Han looking this panicked.

"Young Lady, Qingrui was beaten so badly that she's one breath away from dying. First Madam ordered the servants to drag her to the entrance of the Bright Frost Garden, saying that she has avenged Second Madam. A battered and bloodied Qingrui is now lying at our door." A pale-faced Mother Han was sweating all over. Whoever who saw that badly mutilated body would feel an intense fear.

First Madam had Qingrui thrashed and thrown at the entrance of the Bright Frost Garden before leaving with some ambiguous message about avenging Madam Ming. She was a cruel woman, indeed. She wanted everyone to think of Ning Xueyan as a narrow-minded and vicious girl. She wanted to ruin Ning Xueyan's reputation while simultaneously distracting everyone's attention.

Qingrui was a servant of the Bright Frost Garden who served Ning Xueyan. Coupled with the previous dishes incident, the servants thought it was Ning Xueyan who wouldn't let Qingrui off and used Madam Ming's name to force First Madam to deal with her. They thought Qingrui's death wasn't enough for Ning Xueyan, who placed the former's corpse at the entrance of the Bright Frost Garden as a warning.

This action could only be described as malicious.

Her action was considered even more frighteningly cruel and excessive than Madam Ling concealing Madam Ming's funeral.

"Mother Han, let's take a look," Ning Xueyan said serenely. She nonchalantly grabbed a pair of large white candles from the pile of funeral offerings nearby.

Mother Han inexplicably relaxed after seeing how calm Ning Xueyan was. Her complexion improved as well. She nodded and led Ning Xueyan to the Bright Frost Garden.

The moment they arrived at the Bright Frost Garden, an older female servant hastily walked over to them. When she saw Ning Xueyan, she greeted her with a face full of smiles and said serenely, "Fifth Young Lady, the Marquis said you can just remove this person. He also reminded you to keep the manor's reputation in mind." She looked like she couldn't care less about the matter.

Ning Zu'an telling Ning Xueyan to keep the manor's reputation in mind was equivalent to ordering her not to mention Madam Ming's poisoning. Sure enough, Madam Ling was so sure of Ning Zu'an's character that she knew he would force Ning Xueyan to swallow this grievance.

Still, it didn't matter how good she was at predictions. Some things were beyond her expectation!

"Alright." Ning Xueyan nodded with a faint smile. She said nonchalantly, "Please relay my response to Father. Tell him that the Prince said he'd be sending his men to deliver some offerings. Please ask him to receive them."

One would typically send offerings when paying respects to a deceased person, yet the Prince had come empty-handed. Thus, he must not be here to pay his respects to Madam Ming. Even if he had merely stopped by the mourning hall, he would be expected to make subsequent delivery of offerings.

Earlier, while Ning Zu'an was hastily making his way to the inner courtyard, the Prince was heading toward the outer courtyard. Seeing as they were headed in different directions, it was unlikely for them to meet.

"Yes. I will inform the Marquis immediately." Thinking that she had completed Madam Ling's order, the satisfied-looking older female servant nodded and happily turned around to leave. She walked in the direction of Madam Ling's Bright Clouds Garden.

She belonged to Madam Ling, after all. She was also involved in throwing Qingrui at the entrance of the Bright Frost Garden. After completing her job, she went to Ning Zu'an to report the matter. Of course, she didn't forget to mention Madam Ling's motive of wanting to avenge Fifth Young Lady, repeatedly emphasizing how magnanimous her master was in taking Ning Xueyan's side.