Chapter 296: Praying at Cold Mountain Temple During the Spring Festival

When Ning Qingshan and Ning Xueyan arrived at the Cold Mountain Temple under Ning Huaiyuan’s escort, a few carriages had already been parked in the parking lot in the courtyard.

Although the Cold Mountain Temple was well-known, it was located in a secluded place. Therefore, not so many noble Young Ladies had chosen to come here during the Spring Festival. As Ning Yuling preferred lively places, Cold Mountain Temple was not her first choice, and people of the Lord Protector’s Manor had never come here to fight for burning the first incense in the previous years.

It was Ning Qingshan who had proposed to come here, and she also specifically asked Ning Xueyan for her opinion. Ning Xueyan also liked this kind of quiet place in her previous life and she felt more relaxed here than those noisy places. That was why she did not refuse when Ning Qingshan had made the proposal.

Seeing the two large carriages coming over, the little monks knew that there were noble guests and immediately came out to greet them. Although they were all kids, these little monks were all very smart. During the Spring Festival, these noble Young Ladies would definitely donate a lot of money, which would be enough for their temple to last for a long time.

The courtyard had been booked for a long time. Ning Xueyan, Ning Qingshan and Ning Huaiyuan’s rooms were close to each other. After tidying up, they would go to the main hall first, where the abbot of the Cold Mountain Temple would give a lecture later. After that, everyone could stay and drink tea in the wing room beside the main hall, and the little monks would add the lamp oil and tea for them.

When it was at 11 o’clock at night, everyone could burn incense in the hall.

After tidying up, Ning Xueyan walked out of her room with Xinmei and Qingyu. As soon as she stepped out, she saw Ning Qingshan coming out from the opposite door with Feilian and Caifen.

“Fifth Sister, would you like to take a walk with me?” Ning Qingshan was no longer pitiful, like she had been in front of Madam Dowager. She covered her mouth with her sleeve when she smiled, looking graceful.

Today was the New Year’s Eve. The monks knew that the noble Young Ladies and childes would stay up tonight, so they kept the road brightly lit from the guest rooms to the main hall, made it quite different from usual.

“Well, Third Sister, since you are willing to get along with me, let’s go together!” Ning Xueyan said calmly with a faint smile.

“Fifth Sister, it’s normal for sisters to have some minor conflicts. Are you really mad of me?” Ning Qingshan smiled gently and walked out.

“Is she hinting that as her younger sister, I shouldn’t be too mean?” Ning Xueyan wondered. She did not know whether she should ridicule Ning Qingshan’s ‘generosity’ or laugh at her about this. “She is so generous to me that she had forgotten that she just framed me recently and promised Madam Dowager in a pitiful manner, like a little white lotus.”

However, this was not what Ning Qingshan used to say. Ning Xueyan could tell from her words that she was not as kind as she appeared. “Does she want to have a falling-up with me? But this is not in keeping with her principle of pretending to be perfect. What’s Ning Qingshan going to do?” Ning Xueyan walked forward while looking up to Ning Qingshan with a trace of cold suspicion in her eyes.

“How can I be mad of you, Third Sister? Our father and grandmother will not blame you either. Third Sister, since you’re not related to our family by blood, it was normal for you to have done such a thing. But if it were me who have done this, our father and grandmother would have definitely taught me a good lesson. I don’t take what happened today seriously, so Third Sister, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Ning Xueyan shot back leisurely. In the candlelight, her thoughtful eyes were as dark as black jade.

She was reminding Ning Qingshan that she was only an adopted daughter. Even if Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an did not favor Ning Xueyan, after all, she was the daughter of the principal wife of Lord Protector, so she was different from Ning Qingshan. She was hinting that even if Ning Qingshan had been adopted by Madam Ling, Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an would not really take her as their family.

Ning Qingshan knew that Ning Xueyan was not easy to deal with, but she had not thought that she was so acrimonious. At the thought that her plan fell flat and she had ended up being suspected by Ning Zu’an because Ning Xueyan had gotten the advantages all the time, the smile on her face disappeared.

“Fifth Sister, you’re so eloquent. Thank you for your magnanimity!”

It was obvious that she was sarcastic! Ning Xueyan was more certain about her judgment now. Ning Qingshan did not seem to be friendly today and she did not even hide her sarcasm when she spoke.

As hypocritical and insidious as Ning Qingshan was, if she had not hated Ning Xueyan to the extreme and could not put up with her anymore, she would not have spoken in this way. Ning Xueyan’s eyelid twitched slightly and she became even more cautious.

Ning Qingshan had never confronted Ning Xueyan like this before. Even if she had wanted to frame her, she would have shifted the blame to others. When Ning Qingshan invited her to take a walk with her just now, Ning Xueyan had thought that she wanted to explain the collusion between Mammy Xing and her. Ning Xueyan believed that she would give her countless hypocritical explanations.

Or maybe she would shift all the blame to Mammy Luo.

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Or perhaps she would tell her that Mammy Luo had misunderstood her and she had nothing to do with this matter.

Normally, whatever way she tried to explain it, she would distance herself from the matter. However, to Ning Xueyan’s surprise, instead of falsely explaining what had happened, Ning Qingshan shot back at her. “Is she fed up with me or is she up to something?”

“Or maybe she doesn’t take me seriously, thinking that I won’t stand in the way of her grand plans and she doesn’t have to carefully maintain her hypocritical and perfect image in front of me.”

There must be a reason for a person’s change, especially for a person like Ning Qingshan who had always pretended to be kind in front of people. It made Ning Xueyan more suspicious about her. Unlike hot-tempered Ning Yuling, Ning Qingshan would not say anything offensive for a moment’s pleasure. But if it were not for this reason, why had Ning Qingshan lost temper in front of her?

“Third Sister, you must be jealous of me because our grandmother favors me more. But what about Second Sister? It’s said she is going to come back soon. It was Second Sister who was engaged to Third Prince. I wonder what will happen when she returns to our manor. Maybe Lord Protector will marry two of his daughters to Third Prince.”

Ning Xueyan pretended that she did not figure out what Ning Qingshan hinted. Covering her lips with a handkerchief, she smiled gracefully and walked forward following Ning Qingshan.

Ning Yuling loved Third Prince and wanted to marry him wholeheartedly. Even Honored Consort Ya had acquiesced to her being her daughter-in-law. If nothing had happened later, Ning Yuling would be Third Prince’s wife. Although Ning Qingshan had not returned to the manor when the accident happened, Ning Xueyan did not believe that Ning Qingshan knew nothing about it.

“What happened to Second Sister is over. Fifth Sister, do you want such a notorious woman to marry Third Prince?” Ning Qingshan glanced at Ning Xueyan from the corner of her eyes and sneered. She had to seriously take the matter, which made her lose her temper. At the thought that her carefully plotted scheme had almost fallen through because of Ning Yuling, she was in a bad mood.

Although Ning Qingshan had followed Ning Huaiyuan and mentioned Ning Yuling in front of people, saying that she also wanted Ning Yuling to go back to the capital city, it did not mean that she liked Ning Yuling, that stupid woman.

Sure enough, Ning Qingshan had kept an eye on the outside world during the three years when she was in the nunnery. It was said that she had been in the nunnery to meditate wholeheartedly and would not greet any visitors, even her family members. However, if she had paid no attention to what had happened outside of the nunnery, how could she know so much about Ning Yuling? Ning Xueyan remembered that it was not in the peaceful and quiet nunnery when she had met Ning Qingshan for the first time.

Since Ning Qingshan had appeared there with her face masked, of course she could appear in other places. Ning Xueyan even had a hunch that Ning Qingshan had gone to the nunnery for her reputation or great benefit. As for whether she had stayed in the nunnery or not, Ning Qingshan was the only one who knew.

“Third Sister, as for the reputation…” Ning Xueyan said with a smiling face as brilliant as a flower, as if she really cared about Ning Qingshan. “It seems that the rumors about you have spread a few days ago. But don’t take it seriously, Third Sister. Anyway, the rumors can’t reach the imperial palace.”

Everyone knew how to pretend to be innocent. Third Prince had set such a trap and Ning Qingshan had already fallen into it. Ning Xueyan was just looking on at her trouble indifferently and adding fuels to the fire occasionally.

At first, Ning Qingshan had kept a gentle smile on her face. However, what Ning Xueyan had mentioned just now had been troubling her for days. Besides, she could not help feeling that Ning Xueyan was sneering at her at the sight of the smile on Ning Xueyan’s face. It reminded her of the rumor spread since that night that she had an affair with Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li and had been caught by Third Prince on spot in his suburban courtyard, and finally, she had made a maid her scapegoat.

What was more, someone said that she had been together with Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li before she was found with her mussed-up clothes that night. It was said that as soon as she had just entered the Linjiang Restaurant, Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li came, so they had arrived at about the same time. Later, Ao Xian had defended Ning Qingshan when she had an argument with Ya Moqin, so everyone was more certain that they really had an affair.

Ning Qingshan thought that it was all nonsense and Third Prince would not believe it. She was sure that after a few days, those people would feel bored and stop spreading rumors. However, to her surprise, after so long time, the rumors did not die down but grew stronger. That was why she had tried to set Ning Xueyan up out of anger today.

She would not allow any rumors about her spreading and she must do everything possible to avoid Ning Zu’an doubting her. Otherwise, her position as Third Prince’s wife would definitely be swayed. However, Ning Xueyan had mentioned this again and again. How could she bear it?

She suddenly turned around and glared at Ning Xueyan coldly. “Fifth Sister, enough!”

It was obvious that she could not bear it anymore. Ning Xueyan smiled slightly and raised her head with a confused look in her eyes. “Enough? Third Sister, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“Fifth Sister, you must be very happy if I can’t marry Third Prince. Am I right?” Ning Qingshan looked at Ning Xueyan fiercely with coldness and hatred in her eyes. She still remembered the special look on Third Prince’s face when he mentioned Ning Xueyan. She had found that Third Prince treated Ning Xueyan differently from others when he saw Ning Xueyan for the first time, so she had been trying to stop his feelings for Ning Xueyan from escalating and she would never let Ning Xueyan marry Third Prince.

“Are you trying to mess up my marriage so that you can marry Third Prince? Who do you think you are? How can a co-wife’s daughter become a prince’s wife? Only in our Chu Kingdom can co-wives be regarded as wives. In other countries, they are no different from concubines. How dare a concubine’s daughter dream of being the distinguished Third Prince’s wife?”

Ning Qingshan said with disdain. She stared at Ning Xueyan gloomily with a ferocious look on her face.