Chapter 576   Concubine Xu’s Implication

Ao Xian.

Ao Xian, the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, was the one who was trapped by Ning Lingyun previously, took fancy to her, and firmly asked to get himself and her betrothed.

When he broke off the engagement later, it all seemed that he treated Ning Lingyun unjustly.

Although he had now broken off the engagement, he still had a good opinion of her because he had been thinking that she was a good young lady, but Ning Qingshan was the one he hated so much...

Ning Lingyun looked at the slip of paper in her hand for a long time and then went to the courtyard of Concubine Xu. The two women closed the door and talked for a while. After that, Ning Lingyun returned to her courtyard, and Concubine Xu went to Ning Zu’an’s study.

Ning Zu’an frowned in his study. Just now, Prince Yi said again and again that he appreciated Ning Huaijing. As for what the prince meant, he was clear: The prince thought that only Ning Huaijing had the qualification to inherit his Lord Protector’s Manor.

He dare not disobey the prince’s idea, but when he remembered his eldest son Ning Huaiyuan, whom he had raised for so many years, how could he not feel sad? Although they had estrangement because of Junior Concubine Xu in the past, he was the son he appreciated most after all and the Princely Heir in his eyes, but now he was missing.

He had put all his hopes on the son since the son’s childhood, but he didn’t grant him the Princely Heir’s title because he wanted to toughen him so much. It was fair to say that the son was absolutely an important reason for him to take Madam Ming down from the official wife’s position at that time. He thought that as long as he turned Madam Ling into his official wife, the son would naturally be the son of an official wife.

Unexpectedly, Madam Ling was the cause of success and failure. In the end, she disgraced and ruined herself. In this period, Ning Zu’an suffered a series of mental attacks and quite felt that he had aged a lot.

“Marquis, I’ve stewed sweet soup and brought it here.” A light knock came from the door. Concubine Xu stood gently and docilely at the door, with a food basket in her hand. Seeing Ning Zu’an nod slightly, she walked in with a smile, put the food basket aside, and took out a small blue and white porcelain lidded Chinese teacup from it.

Ning Zu’an preferred sweet soup. Since Concubine Xu had served him for so many years, she naturally knew this habit of his. Seeing her face, Ning Zu’an heaved a sigh inexplicably and remembered Madam Ming, who also stewed sweet soup so attentively for him when she just married him back then, but later...

“Prince Yi thinks Jing’er is suitable to be the Princely Heir.” Seeing Concubine Xu busying herself serving him, he blurted out these words without knowing why.

Concubine Xu stopped for a moment and then looking up with a smile, said softly, “Marquis, I have no knowledge of political affairs, but the second young master is now the only offspring in the Marquis’s Manor who has been approved, and this was proposed by Prince Yi. If we disagree, I’m afraid Prince Yi will be angry.”

The whole capital knew that Prince Yi was not easy to provoke.

“I know.” Ning Zu’an closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the chair, feeling strengthless from head to toe. For so many years, he seemed to have never been so strengthless. As for some words in his heart, he had to say them. If he didn’t, he would feel uncomfortable, so he said, “Yan’er is now the princess of Prince Yi. That is the honor Prince Yi gave her, but Jing’er is not the Princely Heir I want most after all.”

He dare not too much hope that Ning Xueyan became a princess due to Prince Yi’s favor of her. Although now he was not in charge, he made a few good friends in the past. They said that the inside information claimed that good luck was the reason why Ning Xueyan could be the princess of Prince Yi. It happened that someone had harmed the favored concubine of Prince Yi and also Ning Xueyan at the same time. And this incident had connections with Commandery Princess Xianyun, the princess of Prince Yi.

After that, the favored concubine died. As the one framed together with that favored concubine, Ning Xueyan then got the profit and became a princess of Prince Yi’s Manor.

In a word, Ning Xueyan was quite lucky!

“Marquis, the current situation is the best. We can’t make decisions about some things. Take Third Young Lady for example. Previously, it was said that she would be the princess, but what is the result now? She can just be a consort. Fortunately, Honored Consort Ya is congenial to her. To make her a consort, Honored Consort Ya was even willing to take her niece down from the consort’s position; otherwise, how would she be able to find such a good marriage now?”

Concubine Xu persuaded him softly. Then, she pushed the sweet soup to him and sorted out the messy documents on the table for him.

“Honored Consort Ya refused to help Eldest Young Lady Ya be a consort but recommended Shan’er?” Ning Zu’an was stunned for a moment and asked.

“Right, it is said that Eldest Young Lady Ya and Third Prince have been brought up together. Everyone in the capital knows that she will marry Third Prince. Earlier, it was said that our Third Young Lady would be the princess of Third Prince and Eldest Young Lady Ya the consort, but no one expected that something happened to Third Young Lady during the Beauty Contest. In the end, she had to replace the consort’s position of Eldest Young Lady Ya. Now Eldest Young Lady Ya is the consort of Fourth Prince.”

Concubine Xu pretended that she didn’t see Ning Zu’an’s unusual look while saying these words to him without his notice. At the same time, she said jokingly, “Marquis, our Third Young Lady and Honored Consort Ya do have a predestined relationship. Maybe the biological parents of Third Young Lady and Honored Consort Ya really have some other relationships.”

Ning Zu’an’s expression changed. When he adopted this child at that time, Grand Tutor Ya told him that she was an orphan in war, the daughter of a deceased sergeant under his command. If he adopted her, it was easiest to win people’s hearts, so he adopted Ning Qingshan without saying anything.

When he thought about it now, he felt that something was wrong. Honored Consort Ya cared about Ning Qingshan too much, even asking her niece to step aside. After learning this, he could deduce that the two women had a very close relationship. Since the relationship was so close, why didn’t Grand Tutor Ya take the child himself back then? Instead, he sent the child to him.

Then he remembered the incident that took place in his study last time. It was obvious that the maid was looking for something in his study.

“You may leave now. I will sort them out in a while.” The look in Ning Zu’an’s eyes became indignant and dark, and the hand that held the sweet soup dropped with great force. It seemed that he investigated the case in the wrong way earlier. He didn’t think about Grand Tutor Ya. After all, the latter was now behind the scenes most of the time, showing that he was about to leave the officialdom right away.

Unexpectedly, Grand Tutor Ya set a trap for him as early as 10 years ago. He did underestimate this old fox. What he could now confirm was that Ning Qingshan was sure to have an inevitable connection with Grand Tutor Ya, and the connection was quite deep. But he had been completely used by Grand Tutor Ya.

Seeing that Ning Zu’an’s expression changed from darkness to fury, Concubine Xu dare not say anything anymore. She lowered her head and left cautiously without making any noise. When she reached the door, she closed the door for him and then turned around, looking in the direction where the Foggy Courtyard was located. Her lips, which were meek just now, had a little ridicule now. Then she turned and left.

Now let’s talk about Prince Yi’s Manor. Although Ning Xueyan came back later, she got home earlier. The eunuch brought a message to the Pear Flower Garden, saying that Prince Yi would possibly come back very late because of something, asking Princess Ning not to wait for him.

Ning Xueyan was now an officially approved princess in Prince Yi’s Manor, and everyone more or less knew the case of Commandery Princess Xianyun, so no one went to find fault in her. Besides, large numbers of concubines had been sent away. Only five of those left had been officially promoted to be senior concubines, and they had a little higher status.

But in the eyes of most people, concubines with this identity who could never be recorded in the royal name list were almost the same as those without the title, but they were a little better than those without a title.

The Fragrance Garden, Brightness Garden, Jade Garden, and Garden of Beautiful Scenery, which were once filled with concubines, were all vacant at this time. And those who were left had been asked to stay in one courtyard.

These few senior concubines and the two princesses were now all the women Prince Yi had in the mansion. Commandery Princess Xianyun was locked up and watched, and these few senior concubines were not allowed to come out without permission. Now Prince Yi’s Manor got the peace it had never experienced before. Mother Ruan, who was in charge of the backyard, was the confidant of Ao Chenyi, and Eunuch Ling, the general housekeeper responsible for the affairs of the front of the house, was cooperative, so it was easy for Ning Xueyan to manage the house.

There was basically nothing for her to do. After simply dealing with these few things left over during the day, she asked someone to invite Mother Han to come in.

“Mother Han, I am not the biological daughter of my mother, right?” As soon as Mother Han came in, she signaled to her to close the door and then asked directly.

Mother Han’s feet lost strength and she almost fell as she heard these words, but she kept herself steady by clinging to the table and called out hastily, “Mistress.”

“Someone has told me.” Ning Xueyan stared at Mother Han with her beautiful eyes, but there was heart-chilling air in the cold eyes.

“Mistress, I, your old slave...” Mother Han opened her mouth a few times, but she didn’t know what to say at the moment.

“I am someone else’s daughter, but I was treated as my mother’s daughter, so the marquis always suspected if I am his biological daughter. Due to this reason, he was extremely indifferent and cold-blooded to my mother and me,” Ning Xueyan said calmly. Except for her eyes that were still moving, she looked like someone who was completely indifferent from head to foot, as if she was talking about the affair of someone else. But every one of her words was like something hammering Mother Han’s heart so hard that she could not utter the words on the tip of her tongue at all.

“If you are unwilling to tell the truth, you can leave.” Ning Xueyan’s face was peaceful, and her tone was calm, but her words contained sadness and coldness, which Mother Han could not stand at this moment.

So she suddenly knelt down and held Ning Xueyan’s dress, saying, “Miss, it’s not that I, your old slave, don’t want to tell you, but that the madam told me that I can’t tell you!”

She said these words in a whisper. After finishing speaking, she wept bitterly and choked with sobs. At the moment she was anxious, she simply called her “Miss”, feeling guilty about her. A few times, she wanted to tell her when she saw her knitted brows, but her madam had told her that she should never let her miss know her family background, so she held her tongue every time the words were on the tip of her tongue.

It was not that she didn’t want to tell Ning Xueyan, but that she couldn’t; otherwise, her miss would possibly not be happy in this life.

For the good of her miss, her madam bore disgrace and a heavy burden and didn’t say anything. That year, she gave up the official wife’s position without saying anything for a reason: She was afraid that if their first scheme failed, Madam Ling and Ning Zu’an would work out another one, which would make her daughter fall into fatal danger if it was used on her. Once her madam thought about this, she wanted to avoid this kind of harm at any cost.

“On what conditions can you tell me the truth!” Ning Xueyan lowered her head, hearing that she asked in an extremely indifferent voice. Mother Han was pulling the part of her dress at her feet, but she just felt the dull pain in her heart.