Chapter 279: By Coincidence, One Misstep
Even though there were no other outsiders here, the guards and the coachmen all saw it. If Ao Mingyu wanted to threaten her, wouldn’t it be easy to catch her?
She had felt it was eerie just now. Ao Mingyu’s guards specifically wanted her to sit in the last carriage. The last carriage was the easiest to fall behind. Ning Xueyan didn’t know what Ao Mingyu meant, but one thing she could be sure of was that at least Ning Qingshan’s carriage would be safe next.
Her reputation had been ruined today because of Ao Xian’s actions, and it was already ambiguous. If something else really happened, she wouldn’t even be able to enter the Imperial Selection. How could Ao Mingyu allow such a thing to happen? So Ning Qingshan’s side was safe. This was also the reason why Ning Xueyan had designed for Ning Qingshan to be on this carriage.
“Who’s there?” Suddenly, a group of people rushed over from a distance. The leader was riding a horse and rushed forward first. Seeing their orderly footsteps behind him, it was clearly a patrol of soldiers.
“Come here quickly, these are the family members of the Duke’s Mansion. Someone is assassinating the family members of the Duke’s Mansion.” The guard shouted when he saw it.
The ones there were the capital city’s security team. Upon hearing that someone was assassinating the family members of the Duke’s Mansion, they immediately rushed over. When those masked men saw the situation was not good, they hurriedly let go of Ning Lingyun and Caifen, and fled in a swarm. When the soldiers rushed over, the masked men had already run away completely.
Only the two women outside the carriage, Ning Lingyun and Caifen, were left. They had disheveled hair, and while crying, they ran towards Ning Qingshan’s carriage, what a miserable scene.
“Where’s Fifth Miss?” The guard’s complexion changed at this moment. Looking at the silent second carriage, he grabbed Caifen who was running over and asked anxiously. The purpose of this trip was for Fifth Miss. How could this Fifth Miss be so calm, with no reaction at all? A bad feeling arose from her heart.
“This Sir, are you looking for me? I’m with Third Sister, and we’re both fine!” The curtain behind her carriage was silently lifted, and Ning Xueyan’s pale complexion slightly appeared under the high-held lantern.
“You…you…how are you in this carriage?” The guard’s face turned pale, and the sword in his hand could barely be held.
“Just now our Young Lady was startled by the horse and was afraid, so she specially came over to squeeze with Third Young Lady.” Qingyu poked her head out of the carriage and looked outside, explaining. She happened to see Ning Lingyun rushing over in a state of disarray, her eyes widened like copper bells: “Fourth Young Lady, you…what happened to you? Are you injured anywhere?”
Ning Lingyun was really embarrassed right now. Just now she was held in the arms of a masked strongman. During the struggle, even the hair ornaments on her head fell off. Now her hair was disheveled, her clothes were messy, and no matter how you looked at it, it looked like she had been violated. Those soldiers who came to help later, saw Ning Lingyun like this, and were guessing who she was.
After Qingyu said this, it was immediately clear that this was the Fourth Young Lady of the Duke’s Mansion, and in the carriage that was intact in front, it seemed there were also two young ladies from the Duke’s Mansion.
And the one running over from behind, anyone could tell it was a maidservant. In other words, this Fourth Young Lady and her maidservant were pulled down from the carriage by the strongman and dragged into this state. Although nothing really happened, it was not much different from what really happened.
The soldier misunderstood it this way. Of course, the maidservant that Ning Lingyun brought with her, because she was timid, was still shivering on the carriage now, unable to move, so she was directly ignored.
Ning Lingyun crawled and scrambled onto Ning Qingshan’s carriage. As soon as she got on the carriage, she tightly grabbed Ning Xueyan’s hand, and a complex jealousy, hatred, disgust, and suspicion flashed in her eyes: “You…do you know…”
“Fourth Sister, the carriage was arranged for us by the Third Prince. Third Sister’s carriage is fine, and both your and my carriages were hijacked.” Ning Xueyan’s eyes were calm, as if she hadn’t noticed the mark Ning Lingyun had fiercely pinched on her arm, and she spoke slowly.
Ning Lingyun was stunned for a while, then slowly turned her eyes to Ning Qingshan, viciously staring at her, and then suddenly let go of Ning Xueyan’s hand, and began to cry loudly.
“What does Fifth Younger Sister mean? Is she saying that I deliberately wanted to harm you?” Ning Qingshan’s face was illuminated by the light, looking ashen. Just now Caifen was pushed down, and she was full of anger. Now hearing Ning Xueyan’s implied meaning, she immediately sneered, “Fifth Younger Sister is treating me like a fool, and treating my sincerity as having ulterior motives.”
“Third Sister, I didn’t say anything, I was just stating a fact, does Third Sister not want to admit this fact?” Ning Xueyan’s voice was somewhat aggrieved, but looking at her expression, it was calm, and she even had a faint smile on her face, and no matter how you looked at it, she didn’t look wronged.
Ning Qingshan was infuriated, and said with a cold face, “Fifth Younger Sister, you can think whatever you want, anyway, my conscience is clear.”
After she finished speaking, she got off the carriage directly and went to the carriage behind, pulled Caifen who was following her, and got into the middle carriage. The two coachmen were only injured and not dead. At this time, they had also bandaged their injuries and sat back in the position of the wheel track.
Because they were afraid that something would happen again, the team of soldiers directly escorted them to the Duke’s Mansion. The rest of the journey was peaceful.
After arriving at the Duke’s Mansion, they returned to their respective rooms. After the guard took the carriage back, he went straight to the Third Prince to report.
“Come in!” Ao Mingyu was still playing chess with Xia Yuhang. Hearing the knocking, he casually said as he placed a piece.
Xia Yuhang smiled slightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, as if his attention was completely on the chessboard, carefully watching the move he had made, without even looking up.
The guard came in, first respectfully saluted, and then reported, “Your Highness, Fifth Miss got on the first carriage and was with Third Young Lady, only the Fourth Young Lady and a maidservant were startled.”
The smile on Ao Mingyu’s face slowly faded, and he asked thoughtfully, “She, why did she go to Ning Qingshan’s side?”
“The carriage was startled before, Fifth Miss was startled, so she shared the carriage with Third Young Lady.” The guard didn’t dare to mention that Ning Xueyan had sent him away, and said ambiguously.
This, it looks like an accident? Ao Mingyu frowned, but immediately relaxed his face. After all, she was just a weak girl in the inner chamber. Fear was also human nature, or it might really be an accident. It was rather lucky that she had escaped this time.
Waving his hand, he didn’t say anything, indicating for the guard to leave.
Seeing that Ao Mingyu was no longer pursuing the matter, the guard breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly and cautiously withdrew, and then closed the door for the Third Prince. He really dared not say the suspicion in his heart. He was sent away, and then he went to the carriage in front, and then there was another maidservant who replaced her in the second carriage, and he would make a mistake.
Was this really just a coincidence?
If it had been discovered at the time that this Fifth Miss had gotten on the Third Young Lady’s carriage, he would have sent a signal, and those people wouldn’t have rushed out, and what happened afterwards wouldn’t have happened. He always felt that this weak, sickly Fifth Miss didn’t seem like someone easy to deal with.
Of course, there was no evidence, and the guard didn’t dare to talk nonsense, and moreover, the master obviously had an interest in this Fifth Miss. It was better for him to get involved less. If this Fifth Miss gained the heart of His Highness in the future, he, this little guard, wouldn’t even know how he died. It was better to say less and make fewer mistakes, not to speak and make no mistakes.
In the room, Xia Yuhang placed the piece again, raised a pair of eyes, and smiled faintly: “Your Highness, you’ve lost.”
Ao Mingyu looked down, and indeed, with this move by Xia Yuhang, his overall situation was completely cut off, and it was already difficult to recover. He couldn’t help but laugh, and put the other chess pieces in the chess basket on the side: “I lost, after all, I played casually and a bit hastily. Next time, next time I’ll find an opportunity to win a game from you.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for Your Highness’s next game.” Xia Yuhang stood up and said farewell. Ao Mingyu saw him to the door before turning around.
Xia Yuhang went downstairs, walked to the turning point, and looked at the private room of the Duke’s Mansion. There were still people in it, indicating that the owner hadn’t left yet. A shadow of coldness appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he turned and went downstairs.
When Ning Zuan and Old Madam came back, they heard that the three sisters had had an incident on the road and were extremely worried. Later, they said that only Ning Lingyun had had the incident, and then the two of them felt relieved.
Early the next morning, Ning Lingyun entered the Buddha Hall under the pretense of praying for blessings for Old Madam. Madam Da Xu knelt in Old Madam’s Xiangfu Garden for a day, but didn’t receive any understanding, and was not even allowed to visit Ning Lingyun. For a moment, a low pressure was pressing down on the Duke’s Mansion. Everyone in the mansion knew that Old Madam was angry.
Madam Ling was in Cloud Mist Courtyard, and her mood was rather good. Now, no matter who had an incident, it was not her daughter, and it had nothing to do with her. However, her son said that in the past few days he was trying to get Ling’er back. He hadn’t given her an answer yet. She was worried, and she got up early in the morning and waited early.
It was always her most beloved daughter who was made to look like that. Moreover, in the end, it was because of her slap that she ruined her lovely appearance. Madam Ling was filled with both guilt and sadness. Now, hearing that her daughter’s complexion had almost recovered, she was, of course, wholeheartedly trying to get her back to the capital.
When Ning Huaiyuan came, before he could say two words, Madam Ling couldn’t help but ask, “Yuan’er, what about your second younger sister’s matter? When can she come back to the capital? It’s always the New Year. She is alone in that small place. Mother feels really sad when she thinks about it.”
Saying this, she picked up her handkerchief and covered her eyes, her heart was aching.
“Mother, don’t worry. Always wait until the two younger sisters enter the palace for the Imperial Selection. If Grandmother has no granddaughters under her knees, we will say a word, and certainly we will let Second Younger Sister come back.” Ning Huaiyuan thought for a moment and said. Yesterday, he had originally wanted to use the pretext to mention Second Younger Sister, but it was ruined by Ning Xueyan.
“So long, then it will be after the New Year. Your Second Younger Sister has always been pampered, how can she get used to the life in that small countryside? Now, I don’t know what she has been tortured into. That dead old woman has many granddaughters anyway, she doesn’t care about Ling’er. Yuan’er, you must remember, Ling’er is your own sister.”
Madam Ling’s eyes turned red, and tears fell, and she sobbed.
“Mother, of course I know that Second Younger Sister is my own sister, but this matter can’t be rushed. Or we can start from Father’s side. Mother, Concubine Xiao Xu has already become Father’s woman. You shouldn’t keep being stubborn, you lack the bearing of a legal wife.” Ning Huaiyuan advised helplessly.
Madam Ling had repeatedly caused trouble these days. Since Madam Ling left the Buddha Hall, he had only come to see her on the first day, and hadn’t been to Cloud Mist Courtyard since. On the contrary, Concubine Xiao Xu, the new favorite, was favored. Besides the study, she lived there. Madam Ling, when she thought that Concubine Xiao Xu had crawled into the bed under her very eyes, she gritted her teeth in hatred. Concubine Xiao Xu, when she came over, had never given her a good face.
