Chapter 293: Sinister, Madam Dowager's intention to kill

Ning Qingshan stood behind Madam Dowager with her head lowered, looking delicate and weak, as if she would readily go with Madam Dowager’s arrangement.

When Mammy Luo came back, she had told her that everything had been settled and Mammy Xing had promised. Mammy Xing would shift the responsibility regarding the matter of the maid onto Ning Xueyan. Even if the maid did something outrageous, it would have nothing to do with her. Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an would only suspect Ning Xueyan.

Mammy Xing knew how to act according to the real situation. Now, she knew that it was almost time, so she pretended to be scared and said, “Yes, Madam Dowager. Someone deliberately asked me to arrange for the maids to be sent to Fifth Young Lady. I thought it was not a big deal. Maybe Fifth Young Lady has seen these maids and wanted all of them, so I did not tell you.”

Hearing what she said, Madam Dowager became angry. She immediately pulled a long face and scolded her, “Madam Ming is a good-for-nothing. Sure enough, her daughter is insidious. She looks good, but she is full of trickery.”

Madam Dowager had thought that Ning Xueyan was kindhearted, during this period. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She gasped as she was scolding Ning Xueyan.

Ning Qingshan patted Madam Dowager’s back to calm her down and said softly, “Grandmother, don’t be angry. Maybe Fifth Sister wants to choose the maids she likes. I am sure it does not mean anything else.”

It seemed as if she was trying to soothe Madam Dowager, but in fact, she was putting the blame on Ning Xueyan for sending someone to Bright Frost Garden.

“She doesn’t mean anything else? She can play tricks at such a young age. It is terrible! Go and ask her to let me know what’s going on, and who she is scheming against.” Madam Dowager finally calmed down. She pounded the ground heavily with her walking stick as she ranted.

Xiangmiao, who was waiting aside, knew that Madam Dowager was furious, so she hurriedly asked Ning Xueyan to come over.

“Grandmother, you picked a few maids for me last time. Is she interested in them? If so, it’s not… good. It seems that I took her maids,” Ning Qingshan said uneasily as if she suddenly thought of something. She put her hand on Madam Dowager’s shoulder and did not move.

“Her maids? They have not entered her courtyard yet. How could they be her maids? What is she trying to do? Where did these people come from? How could she make a deal with them to enter Bright Frost Garden in advance? She thinks too highly of herself!” Madam Dowager was furious when she saw Ning Qingshan’s scared eyes. She pounded the corner of the table and felt that she had been wrong about Ning Xueyan. She did not expect her to be so vicious.

Madam Ming’s matters were too much of an entanglement. Madam Dowager did not say anything on the surface, but she felt guilty in her heart. She had been indifferent to Madam Ming for so many years, partly because of this. Seeing Madam Ming’s face reminded her of some unbearable past.

So in her mind, Madam Dowager never wanted to see Ning Xueyan. After Madam Ming’s death, she was relieved. As for Ning Xueyan, she thought that the sick and weak girl would die sooner or later without Madam Ming’s protection. Unexpectedly, this girl came out of Bright Frost Garden and was publicly noticed by everyone else.

Later, she also found Ning Xueyan to be useful and began to accept her as her granddaughter!

However, no matter how kind she pretended to be, Madam Dowager did not want to see Ning Xueyan at all, as it brought back too many memories of her past. In this past, she played a bad role.

However, Ning Xueyan seemed to become more and more useful, which almost made Madam Dowager think that she had forgotten about the pressure she brought on her. However, it was only what she thought. When the layer of “belief” was lifted slightly, Madam Dowager’s eyes were full of doubts about Ning Xueyan.

She suspected that Ning Xueyan was here to take revenge and avenge Madam Ming.

Therefore, as Mammy Xing and Ning Qingshan stirred up trouble, she could not sit still. She only felt that Ning Xueyan’s motive was execrable. In vain, she wanted to treat her as a real granddaughter. Unexpectedly, Ning Xueyan turned out to be ungrateful and vicious.

“Grandmother, don’t be angry. Fifth Sister did not mean it.” The angrier Madam Dowager was, the happier Ning Qingshan was. At this time, she was trying to comfort Madam Dowager. But her words were like pouring boiling water on oil.

“She did not mean it. If she did not do it on purpose, why did she ask someone to play a trick to send all the people she picked here to Bright Frost Garden?” Madam Dowager growled. Suddenly, she thought of something and turned to Ning Qingshan. “Third Girl, the maids you picked can’t be used anymore. Give them all to her later, so that she won’t be able to plant spies around you. It will be easy for her to frame you in the future.”

At that time, it was Madam Dowager who picked the people first. So, she could not be sure whether those whom Ning Xueyan felt satisfied with had been chosen by her, and sent to Foggy Courtyard. Madam Dowager looked indifferent and felt that Ning Xueyan was hypocritical.

Ning Zu’an sat by the side and did not say anything. He was a man, after all. Compared with Madam Dowager, he was more rational. It was not the time for the whole thing to come to light. So, he sat on the side and waited. How about the maid? The matter regarding the maid happened in the morning, and such a thing happened in the afternoon. What a coincidence!

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“Who is playing tricks here…”

As soon as Ning Xueyan came in, Madam Dowager’s expression became icy. She looked at the older female servant standing aside and Ning Qingshan, who accompanied Madam Dowager, warmly, and Ning Zu’an, who stared at her with a scrutinizing look. With a smile, Ning Xueyan came forward and greeted them gracefully.

Seeing Ning Xueyan coming in, Ning Qingshan walked out from behind Madam Dowager and walked up to her. She deliberately lowered her voice and said with some concern, “Fifth Sister, why did you take your time in coming? Grandmother is angry and has been waiting for a long time.”

It seemed that she was deliberately reminding Ning Xueyan. However, in a quiet room, everyone could hear her.

Madam Dowager snorted on the spot and pounded the ground with her walking stick hard. She also felt that she had been waiting for a long time. Knowing that she was waiting for her here, Ning Xueyan still took her time, and did not take her seriously at all, Madam Dowager was angry.

“Grandmother, I sprained my ankle, so I was late. What happened? Did I offend you?” Ning Xueyan asked with a smile. She was neither humble nor pushy. She pulled her hand out from Ning Qingshan’s and stepped back to keep a distance from Ning Qingshan.

She did not want to appear to be on intimate terms with Ning Qingshan, in front of Madam Dowager.

Madam Dowager glanced at Ning Xueyan and said coldly, “You have a silver tongue. How can you provoke me? If you’re discontented with your lot, and you don’t restrain yourself from evil doings, the Lord Protector’s Manor will not tolerate you.”

“Grandmother, do you think I have done something wrong?” Ning Xueyan’s eyes fell on Ning Qingshan, who felt a little proud.

“Look at who she is!” Madam Dowager pointed at Mammy Xing standing aside, and shouted at Ning Xueyan. She had made up her mind that as long as Ning Xueyan’s face had an abnormal color, she would lock her up and never let her come out again.

If she was accused of being “unfilial,” even Ming Feiyong could not stand up for her. Then, she would be locked away in the back garden of the Lord Protector’s Manor, and her life would depend entirely on her. At most, she would be raised to the same level as Madam Ming, until she would not be able to survive. In that case, as her grandmother, she had done her best.

The position of co-consort was important. However, if she were not uniform and one-hearted with the Lord Protector’s Manor, Ning Xueyan would be a mortal malady. She had to be nipped in the bud. Indecision invariably lead to trouble. It was not unreasonable for Madam Dowager to want to continue enjoying the glory and wealth from the previous court to the present.

At this time, she already wanted to kill Ning Xueyan…

Ning Xueyan calmly looked at the older female servant standing aside, and then at Madam Dowager’s angry face. She blinked and did not say anything for a while. She did not understand the situation. However, Xinmei, who was standing beside her, suddenly pointed at the older female servant and said in a hoarse voice, “Young Lady, this is the person whom the Mammy left for me to see. I thought she had something to do, so I followed her. It was the older female servant who opened the door at that time.”

Did Mammy Luo secretly meet with Mammy Xing just now? Her words made Madam Dowager’s face turn green and pale again. She became gloomier, feeling full of anger.

“I… I didn’t see Mammy Luo. I didn’t see her.” Seeing everyone’s eyes falling on her, Mammy Xing became anxious. She did not expect Mammy Luo to be so careless. She waved her hands to show her innocence.

Ning Qingshan’s smiling face froze. Mammy Luo had come back and said that everything had been done. She thought that she had casually found an older female servant to watch the door. Unexpectedly, she was Ning Xueyan’s personal maid. She had a bad feeling in her heart.

“Just now, Mammy Luo came to our Bright Frost Garden and saw that our young lady’s foot was injured, so she insisted on helping our lady to get the medicine. I followed her out. As soon as we arrived at the store, Mammy Luo ran away.” Xinmei answered.

“Mammy Luo, did she go out? How come I was not aware?” Ning Qingshan pretended to know nothing and turned blankly to Caifen, who was standing behind her.

“I don’t know, either. But when I came here just now, I saw Mammy Luo instructing the older female servants in the courtyard not to be lazy. She must have been here all the time!” Caifen, who was following behind her, immediately spoke up for Mammy Luo.

“Grandmother, whenever I send people out, I will report to you. You should know it, right?” Ning Xueyan turned to Madam Dowager and said softly.

What? Madam Dowager knew that Mammy Luo went out with Xinmei? Ning Qingshan almost spat out a mouthful of blood. She thought Mammy Luo was a prudent person. She could have found someone from Bright Frost Garden and sneaked out from the back door. Why did she have to disturb Madam Dowager?