“Yuhang, why don’t I send someone to kill that woman?” Ao Mingyu said coldly.

“Your Highness, the Ministry of Justice is keeping a tight watch on her. It’ll be hard for your men to kill her. Even if they can, we’ll be the immediate suspects. It’s a bad move for us. You’ve only just been promoted; now is the time for you to improve your reputation so we can strategize further.”

Xia Yuhang waved his hand. He still looked gentle and elegant but his brows were tightly knitted.

“What should we do then? That idiotic Ning Qingshan sent my men to kill Xia Yudong. I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but I wasn’t expecting him to have an affair with your concubine or your concubine to expose everything because of him. She even brought up Ning Ziying’s death.”

Ao Mingyu sounded angry. It was all beyond his expectations. He thought it was Ao Chenyi or Ao Mingwan’s doing but upon investigation, everything turned out to be a coincidence, with one matter linking to another. The reason the concubine was forced to leave Xia Manor in the first place was a dispute with a fellow concubine. And now, this was still a matter between two concubines.

In Ao Mingyu’s opinion, these were all trivial matters until that damned woman reported it to the Ministry of Justice. She even aired her grievances right at the door and the officers couldn’t stop her even if they wanted to. Moreover, Ao Chenyi had his men working in the Ministry of Justice so this matter could never be kept under wraps.

“Yuhang, will you get implicated entirely?” Remembering this, Ao Mingyu expressed concern for Xia Yuhang. Xia Yuhang was his main strategist and a loyal subordinate. He didn’t want to lose him over something so trivial.

“Madam Ling is dead and so are most of her attending servants then. I could brush off any responsibility in Ning Ziying’s death in the Lord Protector’s Manor as I was preparing for my marriage at that time. That leaves only Ning Ziyan…”

A flicker of coldness flashed in Xia Yuhang’s eyes. As long as Ning Ziyan said that the matter had nothing to do with him, he could then put all the blame on the Lord Protector’s Manor. They were the ones who spread a rumor about a childhood engagement with Xia Manor. Xia Manor acquiesced because they thought the Lord Protector’s Manor was referring to Ning Ziying.

It was easy to explain the wrong bride on the wedding night, too. He was so drunk that he didn’t realize that his bride had been switched. By the next day, it was too late. He had no choice but to admit his mistake as he couldn’t send Ning Ziyan home. As for Ning Ziying, he could say that he thought that the Lord Protector’s Manor would send her back to their hometown. He didn’t have the time to investigate Ning Ziying’s incident anymore after the reveal of Madam Ming’s incident.

“Are we abandoning Ning Zu’an?” After listening to Xia Yuhang’s explanation, Ao Mingyu picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip with some annoyance. Ning Zu’an had little authority now but his former subordinates were still in the army. Their force was the key to Ao Mingyu’s coup.

“Your Highness, someone has to take the blame for such a huge issue. Madam Ling might be dead but this happened in the Lord Protector’s Manor and they must have something to do with it. Still, Madam Ling was the perpetrator and the Lord Protector’s Manor should plead ignorance as much as possible. Ning Zu’an will lose his position at most, but his household will survive. He’ll still have his former subordinates in the army. You can also marry two wives at the same time, Your Highness. That will give Ning Zu’an some reassurance.”

Xia Yuhang spoke meaningfully as he tapped the table with his fingers. By now, there was a clear answer in his mind.

The biggest problem at the moment was Ning Ziyan, not Chen Hexiang. His engagement with Ning Ziying was real, so it made sense that Chen Hexiang had evidence of it. At that time, Ning Ziying was his legal fiancee. When he took her on an excursion at the Cold Mountain Temple, they had met Chen Hexiang a few times.

Chen Hexiang knew Ning Ziying’s identity then, but the latter didn’t know anything. She had always been an innocent and gentle lady who would never think the worst of people. He felt a stab of pain at the thought of her.

But now wasn’t the time to think about this. No matter what, they must suppress this matter.

“All right, that’s it then.” Ao Mingyu nodded, understanding that this was the best-case scenario for them. Xia Yuhang becoming his subordinate meant that Xia Manor was on his side, and a very useful ally at that. If something were to happen to Xia Manor, he would lose strong support.

In comparison, he could afford to let Ning Zu’an lose power. If he tried his best to please Ning Zu’an in the future, the force in the army could still be his.

Besides, he and Xia Yuhang still had a trick up their sleeve. Ning Qingshan wasn’t completely useless. Using the carrot-and-stick approach on her, she might be able to give them a surprise. That was also why he had to marry her in the first place.

In the prison of the Ministry of Justice, Ning Ziyan sat blankly amid a pile of firewood with her back against the wall. She had been arrested at Xia Manor and imprisoned shortly after Chen Hexiang reported Madam Ling’s crimes. Now that Madam Ling was dead, she was the main defendant, so she had to be locked up.

She had just lost her long-awaited child the day before yesterday, only to be jailed today. She was still groggy over everything.

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She had been doing poorly recently, having been demoted from her position as the official wife overnight. Everyone ridiculed and looked down on her, and it nearly drove her mad. Fortunately, she found out that she was pregnant. She carefully protected the child in her womb in hopes of reclaiming what was hers, to the point that she didn’t even care about the death of Madam Ling and Ning Yuling.

She despised Madam Ling. She hated her for sending Ning Yuling, that bitch, to Xia Manor and giving her trouble. That slut should have been killed for causing such a scene on the street at that time. Why did they send her to Xia Manor? Everything that happened afterward made her resent Madam Ling even more.

Madam Ling should have been more thorough when murdering Madam Ming. How could she let someone find evidence of her wrongdoing? How could she let people bring up something that had happened so long ago? She was a fool.

That was why Ning Ziyan wasn’t at all sad about the passing of Madam Ling and Ning Yuling. They deserved it, she thought. If it weren’t for them, she would still be Xia Yuhang’s wife. She wouldn’t be in this miserable state where she lost her position. She had been biding her time, waiting to give birth and regain her position justifiably.

Xia Yuhang’s mother secretly sent her food after hearing she was pregnant, didn’t she? That meant that there was still hope for her.

But now, her hope had been extinguished. Chen Hexiang, that slut, caused her to miscarry her child. Even with her mind muddled, the thought of Chen Hexiang still made her grit her teeth with hatred. This wasn’t the first time; Chen Hexiang had done the same in the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Had she known earlier, she would have risked everything to kill Chen Hexiang. She had given in when Xia Yuhang said it wasn’t the right time to kill Chen Hexiang, especially with her increasingly poor reputation. She couldn’t let people think that she couldn’t tolerate her husband’s concubine, so she let Chen Hexiang live. But had she known what she knew today, she would have sent someone to kill that slut.

It was too late now. Who would have thought that the first wife’s daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor, one of the most popular aristocratic ladies of yesterday, would end up like this?

Suddenly, she wondered if she would become so miserable if she hadn’t fallen in love with Xia Yuhang at first sight, shared mutual feelings with him, and drowned Ning Ziying in the lotus pond? Would she still be that first wife’s daughter of the Lord Protector’s Manor and that beautiful, glorious Ning Ziyan?

A stern-faced older woman appeared at the door of the prison cell and peered in while shaking the keys in her hand. “Ning Ziyan, come out! Someone’s here to see you!” she yelled fiercely. She opened the door, entered the cell, and dragged a still-confused Ning Ziyan out.

After being dragged for a few steps, Ning Ziyan became excited all of a sudden. “Is, is it Yuhang? Did he come to see me?”

“Yuhang? Who’s that?” the servant said impatiently.

Ning Ziyan’s eyes were filled with excitement and she became much more energetic. Although she couldn’t keep up with the older woman, she quickened her pace and asked expectantly, “My husband! Is it my husband? Did Eldest Young Master Xia come to see me?”

“Eldest or Second Young Master Xia or whatever, I don’t know who you’re talking about. But I heard Eldest Young Master Xia is getting married again very soon. He’s marrying the daughter of Chief Hua of the Imperial Academy. Apparently, they slept together during a palace banquet. You should wake up and stop dreaming.”

The daughter of Chief Hua of the Imperial Academy? Hua Qiuying? Ning Ziyan knew her. Everyone in the capital knew that the Hua ladies were only allowed to marry nobles. Was Xia Yuhang about to marry Hua Qiuying? How… How could he do this? How could he marry another woman while she was still imprisoned? He once told her that she was the one and only person who could be his wife.

Ning Ziyan trembled all over and nearly fell.

“Don’t be too upset. There isn’t anything unusual about a man preferring fresh faces. Look at you right now. What do you have that you think you can compete with that young lady? Besides, I heard that your case has something to do with your husband. It’s murder, you know! It’s not a trivial matter. Your husband is just looking for another backer by abandoning you and marrying another woman.”

The head of the female prison softened her voice, as if she pitied Ning Ziyan, and even slowed down to help her.

“But… what… what should I do?” Ning Ziyan wailed like a ghost.

“What else can you do? Just accept your tragic life! Seeing how your husband is acting, he’s probably going to push all the blame on you and have his backer act. He’ll be free of all blame. I pity you. You’re still so young and pretty. I heard you’re from the Lord Protector’s Manor? You’re going to die in prison. How sad.”

The head of the female prison sighed. She was lamenting over Ning Ziyan’s situation, as well as persuading her to admit her fate.

While she was about to be killed for her crimes, Xia Yuhang was off to marry another woman! This was all Ning Ziyan could think about. Her head was buzzing so loudly that she felt sick. She clenched her fists. No, she didn’t want this outcome. She didn’t want her husband to marry another woman and forget about her. She didn’t want to end up like this, never ever…

Ning Xueyan sat in a cedar chair in the middle of the room, watching a dazed and unkempt Ning Ziyan being dragged in. Her eyes were serene and cold.

In the past, they had beaten her bloody to force her to admit that she was having an affair. They knew that it was fake, that it was all a plot to frame her, and yet they continued with such righteousness as if their framing represented justice…