The Devious First-Daughter (Web Novel)

The moment they walked out the gate of the courtyard, Ning Qingshan pulled Ning Xueyan to the side. When they came to a quiet place, she lifted her skirt hem and was going to kneel down.

Ning Xueyan was cautious and she stopped her immediately. “What are you doing, Third Sister?” she asked.

“Fifth Sister, mom treated me like her biological daughter, but I couldn’t serve her when she was alive. What’s more, I didn’t see her one last time after she passed away. I was in the nunnery, so I didn’t know what had happened outside. But I shouldn’t take it as an excuse. Anyway, I should be blamed. I only hope that you won’t be mad of me and our sisterhood won’t be influenced because of this.”

Ning Qingshan said sincerely and her attitude would make everyone think that she was admitting her mistake and asking for forgiveness from the bottom of her heart.

But it reminded Ning Xueyan what happened to her in her last life. “Sister Ziying, we’ll be as close as sisters forever. I have taken you as my own younger sister in my heart!”

“Sister Ziying, we’re so close, so I’ll share everything I have with you in the future! Even Brother Yuhang can’t break our friendship.”

The person who spoke was just like Ning Qingshan, they all looked sincere with a charming smile on their faces when they spoke. However, that person pressed her in the lotus pond without mercy and drowned her…

Ning Xueyan took a deep breath and withdrew the sneer from her lips. She realized that Ning Qingshan was much smarter than Ning Ziyan. Ning Ziying had trusted Ning Ziyan so much, so she didn’t find the hypocrisy in Ning Ziyan’s eyes. But although Ning Xueyan was very cautious, she could only feel the sincerity in Ning Qingshan’s eyes.

What she said was so reasonable that everyone would consider Ning Qingshan a filial, generous, and perfect girl.

It seemed Ning Qingshan didn’t want the others to overhear their conversation, so she pulled Ning Xueyan away from the front gate of Lucky Garden. However, the place where they were was only several steps away from the gate, so two smart older female servants had followed behind them and hid in a corner. Now they had heard every word of their conversation.

Third Young Lady was really no ordinary!

“Third Sister, don’t speak that way. Since you have been at the nunnery in those days, how can I blame you? You didn’t come back because you didn’t know mom had passed away,” Ning Xueyan said with a faint smile.

“Fifth Sister, so you still don’t believe me? I’m not lying. I can do nothing if you’re still mad of me. I will kowtow to you if you would like to forgive me. I can’t go to the mourning room to worship mom until you have forgiven me. Otherwise, mom will blame me in the nether world,” Ning Qingshan said.

Ning Qingshan looked sad and was about to go down on her knees. “Fifth Sister, don’t worry. I won’t tell anybody about this,” she continued.

Ning Xueyan sneered in her heart. It seemed this kind of things didn’t need to be told, because those older female servants were overhearing in the corner.

Ning Qingshan had never been ordinary. She was a talented girl with a reputation of loyalty and filial piety and she was so famous in the capital. Ning Xueyan knew that if she agreed with Ning Qingshan to kowtow to her, everyone would criticize her in the future.

Even if she stretched her hand a little bit late and let Ning Qingshan drop to her knees, other people would think that she was a vitriolic person. That would accentuate Ning Qingshan’s decent, gentle and generous demeanor.

It was the first time they met, Ning Qingshan already played tricks on her! Did she think that Ning Xueyan was easy to bully?

Ning Xueyan pulled Ning Qingshan hard and tried to stop her from kneeling. “Third Sister, both mom and I won’t blame you. Let’s go to worship mom as soon as possible. Don’t keep Grandmother waiting.”

With that, she applied more strength to her arms, as if she really wanted to pull Ning Qingshan up. Suddenly, she let out a cry in a low voice and frowned.

Feeling Ning Xueyan pull on her harder, Ning Qingshan pressed herself down harder as well, trying to show that she was sincere to kneel down to ask for her forgiveness.

“Third Sister, it hurts! Please stand up!” Ning Xueyan raised her head and said painfully. Two older female servants who stood behind the corner which on one side of Ning Xueyan and Ning Qingshan didn’t know what happened and they looked at them curiously. From the angle they looked, Ning Xueyan’s hands were tightly pressed under the elbows of Ning Qingshan.

Ning Qingshan heard what Ning Xueyan said and saw her painful look, but she thought Ning Xueyan was playing tricks in order to pull her up, so she didn’t take it seriously, but still acted as if she wanted to kneel down.

“Fifth Sister, don’t pull me. I must kneel down and beg your pardon, or I won’t feel relieved!”

“Third Young Lady, please let go of our Young Lady! Don’t do that anymore! Our Young Lady got injured!” Lanning exclaimed beside them. Then she came over to pull Ning Qingshan’s hands. Now Ning Xueyan’s hands were still pressed under her elbows.

“I only applied a little more strength, how could she get injured? She is pretending to be delicate!” Ning Qingshan thought. She had noticed that Third Prince looked at Ning Xueyan many times just now, and she was both jealous and furious.

She grabbed Ning Xueyan’s hand forcefully and walked toward Lucky Garden. “Fifth Sister, since your hand got injured, we should move faster, so that the doctor check for you as soon as possible,” she remarked.

She was not made of porcelain. How could she get injured so easily? Ning Qingshan decided to expose Ning Xueyan’s lie to Third Prince’s face so he would know how hypocritical she was at such a young age!

“Third Sister, please let me go! My hand hurts!” Ning Xueyan said weakly with a pale face, while being dragged ahead.

“Third Young Lady, you used too much strength and injured our Young Lady’s hands!” Lanning cried out anxiously, but she didn’t dare to pull Ning Xueyan’s hand.

“Got injured? So I’m taking her to check her injuries. I won’t let anything happen to my sister’s hand because of me.” “They act as it’s real!” Ning Qingshan snorted inside. Although it was her first time to see Ning Xueyan, she couldn’t help being jealous. “After several years, she must be more beautiful. Madam Dowager takes her seriously just because she is beautiful,” Ning Qingshan thought.

Ning Qingshan had thought that without Ning Yuling, she would be the most beautiful Young Lady in the Lord Protector’s Manor. However, to her surprise, Ning Xueyan, who had always been unremarkable, came out so beautiful! Madam Dowager must want to marry her to the imperial family, so she treated her so well!

From the way Third Prince looked at Ning Xueyan, Ning Qingshan could feel that Ning Xueyan was special to him. That made her both jealous and furious. She had been planning to marry herself to Third Prince, how could she watch Ning Xueyan rob him away from her!

The quick-witted older female servants had already reported to Madam Dowager about what happened outside. Madam Dowager also heard the noise outside, and she was wondering what happened to Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan. Hearing the report, she froze for a while and then asked an older female servant to brought them in.

Before older female servant walking out, Ning Qingshan had pulled Ning Xueyan into the room in a hurry. “Grandmother, Fifth Sister said her hands hurt. Can you call a doctor to check for her?” she asked.

Ning Xueyan kept on pushing Ning Qingshan’s hand hard while being dragged in. Her jade-like eyes went moisture because of grievance. “Third Sister, I’m not lying. My hand really aches. Please let go… of it!”

Although they had entered the room, Ning Qingshan didn’t want to let go of Ning Xueyan and still grabbed her hand firmly. She said with a gentle look, “Fifth Sister, I didn’t mean that you were lying. I wanted to make amends to you just now, but you got injured while pulling me, so I should be blamed. I’m asking Grandmother to call the doctor for you.”

“Go on! Show me how you will pretend to be injured when the doctor comes!” Ning Qingshan thought.

As long as there were no obvious injuries, she wouldn’t need to be worried even though Ning Xueyan’s hand was sprained by her. The other people would think that Ning Xueyan pretended to be injured to frame her.

Third Prince frowned and he couldn’t help looking at Ning Xueyan’s aggrieved face. He had never seen such an expression on her face. She had been biting her lip all along and it got paler, so it was obvious that she was enduring much pain. However, Ning Qingshan didn’t seem to have noticed that, and she still grabbed her hand! Third Prince was filled with anger.

“Third Young Lady, please let go of Fifth Young Lady. Don’t you see that she can’t even speak because of pain?” Ao Mingyu said. She wanted to pull them apart, but it was improper for him to do so.

Ning Huaiyuan was sitting beside him. He looked at Ning Xueyan, and then Ning Qingshan, but say nothing, except for frowning.

“Qingshan, move your hand away from her!” Seeing Ning Qingshan still grab Ning Xueyan’s hand tightly, Madam Dowager’s face went dark. Ning Xueyan had asked her maid to tell Madam Dowager that her hand was scalded, so she couldn’t learn flower arranging recently. And Madam Dowager remembered that the maid said it was Ning Xueyan’s right hand which had been scalded.

Along Ning Xueyan’s arm which was grabbed hard by Ning Qingshan, everyone could see white gauze peep out and Ning Qingshan’s hand was pressing against that position.

Mother Qin also remembered that Ning Xueyan’s hand was injured and she was suddenly worried. Regardless of the possibility of offending Ning Qingshan, she grabbed her hand and tried to pull it away from Ning Xueyan’s hand. At the same time, she shouted anxiously, “Third Young Lady, let go of Fifth Young Lady! She got her hand injured last night. If you keep on pulling her like this, her wound will break!”

“Third Sister, it really hurts! I’m not lying!” Ning Xueyan said in a low voice. She took a deep breath and leaned against Lanning.

She was not pretending to be weak now. She was surprised that a delicate Young Lady like Ning Qingshan’s hands were so strong. She had dragged Ning Xueyan into the room, but she showed no sign of letting go of her. Ning Xueyan was weak due to chronic malnutrition. What was more, she was poisoned some time ago. So although she was getting better, she still hadn’t completely recovered yet.

Being pulled along the way by Ning Qingshan, she felt a fluctuation of her blood and energy. Head swimming, her face turned paler and her forehead was sweaty.

In the eyes of others, she was enduring unbearable pain.

Third Prince was obviously annoyed by Ning Qingshan. Apparently Ning Xueyan wasn’t feeling well. Besides, Madam Dowager said that she had got injured. How could Ning Qingshan still think that she was lying? She was still grabbing Ning Xueyan’s hand hard. If she kept on doing this, of course Ning Xueyan’s wound would go worse.

“Third Sister, let go of her. Otherwise, Fifth Sister is going to faint!” Ning Huaiyuan strode forward and pulled Ning Qingshan’s hand away from Ning Qingshan’s.

“Grandmother, I, I didn’t notice my hand was on Fifth Sister’s injuries. Shall we ask the doctor here?” Ning Qingshan asked and looked at Madam Dowager anxiously, as if she were worried about Ning Xueyan so much. From the attitude of everyone, she sensed that things were not going well. She was smart and she immediately let go of Ning Xueyan.

“Third Young Lady, our Young Lady told you to let go of her, but why didn’t you listen to her? Since you pressed on her injuries, of course it hurts!” Lanning exclaimed angrily, holding Ning Xueyan’s arm.

“I’m fine. It’s just a little burn, not a big deal! Third Sister, let’s go to worship mom. That’s the most important thing,” Ning Xueyan said, squeezing out a faint smile.