Chapter 223: The Similar Clothes

“Miss, Fourth Young Lady asked her maid to convey a message to Commandery Prince Li just now,” Caifen walked into the room and reported to Ning Qingshan. After bringing the fruits to Ning Lingyun, she had not left but hidden near Ning Lingyun’s courtyard. Seeing Ning Lingyun’s maid leaving in a hurry, she returned to Foggy Courtyard triumphantly.

Everything was undergoing as her master had expected!

“Ask that man to wait near Third Prince’s suburban courtyard. I wonder what methods he will use to get my fifth sister’s attention.” Ning Qingshan sneered triumphantly. She was patient this time, and she would make Ning Xueyan fall into her trap step by step. Anyway, the idiot, Ning Lingyun, was willing to be taken advantage of by her. Even if it were exposed, nobody would be suspicious about her.

Qingyu ran into Bright Frost Garden in a hurry and whispered in Ning Xueyan’s ear for a moment.

Ning Xueyan nodded and put down the book in her hand calmly. She thought for a while and asked Lanning to come in. Since Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li had been engaged to Ning Lingyun, Ning Xueyan paid close attention to the news about Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li. Mother Han would also bring her such kind of news from time to time.

A playboy like Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li had never known what ‘low-key’ was.

A piece of sensational news spread in the capital recently. Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li and Ya Changqing had been competing for a popular prostitute and they had done all they could to please her.

It was very attracting news that two noble childes had a crush on the same prostitute, so people in the capital buzzed about it. It was said that Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li lost in the competition, so this playboy was probably in a bad mood now.

Mother Han often went out, and she had happened to hear another news about the most popular prostitute.

Lanning was at Mother Wang’s room following Ning Xueyan’s order. When she heard that Ning Xueyan was asking her to come back, she immediately said good-bye to Mother Wang and walked to Ning Xueyan’s room with Qingyu.

“Lanning, was there a rumor in the capital that Ning Qingshan was both beautiful and talented, as well as extremely filial and loyal?” Ning Xueyan asked casually. She stirred some powder with her fingers while glancing at the book page.

She had just concocted the fragrant powder as per the formula, but she was not sure if it was as same as it should be. She wanted Aunt Xiang to have a look, but Aunt Xiang was at the imperial palace, it was not easy to meet her.

“Yes. Such rumors had spread for a long time. But since a chain of events had happened after her return, people’s praise for Third Young Lady dwindled.” Lanning nodded.

“Has Ao Xian ever seen her before?” Ning Xueyan raised her jet-black eyes and asked in a soft voice.

“Never. Third Young Lady is so proud, so it’s impossible for her to offer to meet people like Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li.” Even Lanning could tell that Ning Qingshan was a proud person, so of course, Ning Qingshan would not have any feelings for Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, the playboy!

Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li was also from a noble family, but he had never seen Ning Qingshan. That meant very few people had seen Ning Qingshan.

That meant very few people were familiar with Ning Qingshan!

“Third Young Lady’s clothes should be very plain when she was at the nunnery. Find a dress for me from my former clothes. I’m going to wear it tomorrow,” Ning Xueyan suddenly shifted the topic and said with a smile.

Ning Qingshan was a person for fame. Life of the nunnery should be poor, so it was normal to wear plain clothes there. But after all, Ning Qingshan was a Young Lady of the Lord Protector’s Manor, she would not have worn clothes made of coarse cloth. Therefore, the clothes she had worn at the nunnery were all made of the most ordinary brocade, even though they were not much better than coarse cloth.

Thus, she would not have looked too shabby and people would think that she was sincere to meditate.

It was coincident that Ning Xueyan had had no good-quality brocade either before. Madam Ling had sent some brocade to her, but the brocade was the commonest, no better than coarse cloth. So the quality of the brocade was as same as Ning Qingshan’s.

When Ning Qingshan was at the nunnery, she could not wear bright-colored dresses. Madam Ling had never had people to make any clothes with cheerful color for Ning Xueyan. Therefore, except for the style, the clothes Ning Qingshan had worn was almost as same as those of Ning Xueyan’s. Of course, it was possible that they both had clothes in the same style.

“Got it. I’ll arrange for it right now.” Lanning did not know what Ning Xueyan was going to do, but she still nodded. She trusted Ning Xueyan from the bottom of her heart. Her master must have her reasons for asking her to do it.

After Lanning left, Ning Xueyan asked Xinmei to come in and said something to her. Then Xinmei turned to leave.

Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, Ao Xian, was very upset recently. Why? It was quite simple—the most popular prostitute he liked had been taken away by someone else. And that person was no other than Ya Changqing, Grand Tutor Ya’s grandson!

Ao Xian would not have given in so easily and he would have gotten into a fight if that person was not Grand Tutor Ya’s grandson. Now he could not do this, because he did not dare to offend Ya Changqing.

Commandery Prince Li was only an ordinary imperial family member without so much competence, while Grand Tutor Ya was really powerful. His daughter was an honored consort of the emperor and his grandson was Third Prince, who was thought highly of by the emperor. Ao Xian was a playboy, but he was not stupid. He knew that he would not have any chance to win if there was a battle between Ya Changqing and him.

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But he did not want to give in like this watching such a beautiful woman fall into Ya Changqing’s hand.

After returning to his manor, he began to walk around in his study room without even having lunch, wondering how to rob that beautiful lady back from Ya Changqing’s hand. He suddenly saw his personal servant from the door, who was obvious watching him, when he was distracted.

He flew into a rage and picked up a vase near him before throwing it to the door. “You bastard, what are you doing?” he shouted angrily.

Seeing the vase flying toward him, the young male servant shrank his neck and avoided it. He walked over in a hurry and knelt in front of his master. “Princely Heir, Fourth Young Lady’s maid from the Lord Protector’s Manor is waiting outside. She said she had something to tell you,” the servant said anxiously.

He knew his master was in a bad mood now, so he did not dare to say irrelevant words. He had been reluctant to report to Princely Heir about the maid’s visiting, but since she was the personal maid of Princely Heir’s future wife, he did not dare to offend her, so he had to come over to check if Ao Xian felt better now. However, to his surprise, Ao Xian had lost his temper at the sight of him at the door.

“Ning Lingyun’s maid?”

“Bring her in.” Although Ao Xian was in a bad mood, he took Ning Lingyun’s business seriously. A woman as gentle and generous as Ning Lingyun would be the most suitable to be his principal wife, because such a woman would not ill-treat his concubines in the future. Besides, their families were equal in social status.

If he had followed his grandmother’s words and chosen a shrew to be his wife, those beautiful ladies of his backyard could not survive!

That was one of the important reasons why he had chosen Ning Lingyun, instead of Ning Yuling.

Since Ning Lingyun was only a concubine’s daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor, even Ao Xian messed about with other women, she would not dare to say anything. That would be a great thing for Ao Xian. Besides, Ning Lingyun was delicate and charming, so Ao Xian really liked her from the bottom of his heart.

“Got it. I’m bringing her in right now.” Since Ao Xian did not curse him anymore, the young male servant took a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, stood up, and walked out.

The next day, Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li paid a visit to the Lord Protector’s Manor, and it was a coincidence that Third Prince came as well. After Third Prince had just entered the room, Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li arrived. If Ao Mingyu did not know that he had not made an appointment with Ao Xian, he would have thought that they had agreed to come here together.

Ao Xian knew that he was incapable, but he knew how to curry favor with others. After getting the news from Ning Lingyun’s maid that Ao Mingyu had invited her and her sisters to go to his suburban courtyard, he came to the Lord Protector’s Manor the next day without any hesitation. Third Prince and Fourth Prince had not shown much interest in talking to him when they met before. Although they were polite to him, he knew that these two princes looked down upon him.

Therefore, he was very grateful to Ning Lingyun for informing him about the news and letting him have an opportunity to get close to Third Prince. He was more certain that it was the most correct decision he had made to marry Ning Lingyun.

Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li and Third Prince were very polite to each other.

Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li had been engaged to Fourth Young Lady. Although Third Prince had not been engaged yet, everyone knew that he was very close to Third Young Lady.

Third Prince came to the Lord Protector’s Manor to invite the Young Ladies to visit his suburban courtyard. It was said that he mainly wanted them to have a look at his greenhouse there. The quality of the fruit produced from the greenhouse was high and was well-known in the capital. Besides, the close relationship between Ning Qingshan and him made the invitation reasonable.

Moreover, in addition to Ning Qingshan, he also invited several other Young Ladies, Ning Huaiyuan, and Ao Xian, the one who had happened to come here with him.

As soon as Third Prince put forward the proposal, Madam Dowager immediately agreed. She was eager to have her granddaughters to get in touch with the imperial members. Although Ning Lingyun had already been engaged, it would be good for her to keep a friendly relationship with Third Prince.

After freshening themselves up, Ning Qingshan, Ning Lingyun and Ning Xueyan got in the carriage waiting outside. Third Prince had specially prepared the luxurious carriage for the three girls.

The carriage was very spacious inside. The three Young Ladies each brought a maid with them. After sitting down, it was still not crowded at all.

“Fifth Sister, it was all my fault yesterday. I really thought that the maid was Concubine Ma!” As soon as they sat down, Ning Qingshan apologized to Ning Xueyan sincerely, her delicate face looking sad.

She was in an unremarkable and plain dress and there were no ornaments in her hair, but it made her look more delicate and gentle. Compared to Ning Lingyun, who was in gorgeous clothes, she looked fresher and more elegant. So obviously, she was more charming than Ning Lingyun.

She had chosen such attire on purpose. What had happened yesterday had aroused Ao Mingyu’s suspicion, so she decided to keep a low profile in her dress today to show Ao Mingyu how gentle and low-key she was. Then he might regain his confidence in her and believed that she had just fallen into a trap by accident instead of framing Ning Xueyan on purpose.

But Ning Qingshan had never thought that it was not for this reason that Ao Mingyu had suspected her. In fact, Ao Mingyu suspected that she was Ao Chenyi’s favorite concubine. Plus the jade pendant from the previous dynasty and Ning Xueyan’s deliberate guidance, now Ao Mingyu was full of doubts about Ning Qingshan. He knew that she was unlikely to be that person, but like the poisonous weeds, the suspicion grew in his heart crazily.

He had invited them to his suburban courtyard because he wanted to test Ning Qingshan.

Ning Qingshan was not aware of this at all. She deliberately dressed as she had done at the nunnery. On the one hand, she wanted Third Prince to know that she was a person of few desires, so she would never harm anyone on purpose. On the other hand, she knew that she looked both charming and delicate in such attire, and Third Prince would definitely be fascinated by her again.

But she was surprised that Ning Xueyan’s clothes were so similar to hers that she almost thought that Ning Xueyan was wearing her clothes!