Chapter 157: Who Exactly Is The So-called Younger Sister?

Picking red plum blossoms for Old Madam was originally what Ning Qingshan was doing, and Old Madam had mentioned it from time to time these few days. She talked about the filial and famous Third Young Lady, Ning Qingshan, and was happy as if her own granddaughter had returned, constantly praising her. She also had Ning Xueyan tidy up Luoyan Courtyard again, replacing all the utensils with new ones, with a few even taken out by Old Madam herself.

And that dazzling glass screen, it was actually something from Madam Ming’s dowry list!

It seemed that not only did Madam Ling covet Madam Ming’s dowry, but Old Madam wouldn’t have had little either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so generous as to send things to Ning Qingshan’s Luoyan Courtyard.

Old Madam repeatedly “reminded” about Ning Qingshan and the red plum blossoms. How could Ning Xueyan not understand? Therefore, she came out specially today to pick plums, also to send them to Old Madam.

Qingyu walked away holding a vase with red plum blossoms, and Ning Xueyan stood alone under the plum tree, looking at the plum blossoms on the tree. She began to contemplate. The beautiful red plum blossoms on the tree reflected on the young girl’s jet-black soft hair and elegant and refined face, possessing a kind of ethereal beauty. The faint paleness on her face made people feel as if she was about to leave with the wind.

“Younger Sister!” A gentle and affectionate voice came from behind. That gentle tone almost gave her a feeling as if she was dreaming. Someone had also called her so gently.

“Ying’er, I will be with you for the rest of my life!”

“Ying’er, you are my only wife in this life, and I will never let you down!”

“Ying’er…”

Shook her head, blinked, and turned her head, her crystal-clear and bright dark jade eyes met the man who was walking over, and a hint of surprise flashed in her aloof cold eyes!

It was actually Ning Huaiyuan!

When she was still Ning Ziying, she had met Ning Huaiyuan. At that time, Ning Huaiyuan’s attitude towards Ning Ziying had always been lukewarm. With men and women being separate, although Ning Ziying lived in the Duke’s Mansion, she had only met Ning Huaiyuan a few times, and they had said very few words. She couldn’t say she had any impression.

In Ning Xueyan’s memory, this older brother had always ignored her. Seeing her being bullied by Ning Yuling, he wouldn’t say a word for her, just indifferently walked past, not looking at her being bullied, but instead looking at Ning Yuling, who was bullying her, worrying if her hand was hurt while hitting her. In his heart, he had never regarded her as a younger sister.

Unexpectedly, at this meeting, he would affectionately come forward and call her, how could Ning Xueyan not be surprised.

Raised her beautiful eyes, and looked at him with clear eyes, she did not speak for a moment.

Thinking that Ning Qingshan didn’t recognize him for a moment, Ning Huaiyuan said gently, “We haven’t seen each other for many years, Younger Sister hasn’t recognized Older Brother?”

“Greetings, Older Brother!” Although Ning Xueyan didn’t know what Ning Huaiyuan meant, she still calmly stepped forward, folded her sleeves lightly, and bowed.

“I haven’t seen Younger Sister for many years, Younger Sister is more and more beautiful, and also more and more polite.” Ning Huaiyuan smiled even more gently, and his hand reached out as if to help her up.

Ning Xueyan leaned her body to the side, avoiding his hand, her long eyelashes fluttered, and a faint aloof coldness appeared in her dark jade-like watery eyes. However, she had more contemplation in her heart. Ning Huaiyuan’s attitude was really strange. When did she and Ning Huaiyuan have such a good relationship that he directly called her Younger Sister?

“Does Younger Sister have anything else? Can you walk with me?” Ning Huaiyuan asked with a smile, and a hint of profoundness flashed in his eyes.

“I have something to go to Grandmother’s side, so I won’t accompany Older Brother.” Ning Xueyan declined with a faint smile. She didn’t think she had anything to say to Ning Huaiyuan, and moreover, today’s Ning Huaiyuan’s attitude was very strange, unlike any other time before. He was so gentle that she almost thought he was facing his own younger sister.

Seeing Ning Xueyan’s insistence on leaving, Ning Huaiyuan didn’t say anything, smiled and politely moved aside: “Then next time, there’s time to accompany Older Brother to stroll, like before!”

Ning Huaiyuan didn’t say this very loudly, lightly, just happened to be in the ear of Ning Xueyan, who was passing by him. Ning Xueyan furrowed her brows and looked askance at him, just meeting Ning Huaiyuan’s smiling handsome eyes, with the light in his eyes unclear. She could only slightly bow her head and turned toward the road to Xiangfu Garden.

“Young Lady, why are you here?” Qingyu came over from afar, and saw that Ning Xueyan was walking towards Xiangfu Garden. She asked strangely. Just now when she left, it was clear that Young Lady didn’t intend to come.

“What did Old Madam say?” Ning Xueyan stopped her footsteps, standing at the intersection, and waited for Qingyu to come over. The two then turned to another small path, which was also a shortcut to Mingshuang Courtyard.

Seeing Ning Xueyan turn around, Qingyu thought that it was because Ning Xueyan couldn’t wait, and she didn’t care. She followed behind Ning Xueyan and said: “Old Madam likes that flower very much, and constantly praised Young Lady, saying that Young Lady is as clever as the Third Young Lady. Just now, Old Madam also asked the servant girl to ask Young Lady if she wanted to learn flower arrangement?”

Flower arrangement, the Third Young Lady, Ning Qingshan? A faint, cold smile emerged from the corner of Ning Xueyan’s mouth. Originally, she didn’t understand Old Madam’s meaning, but now she understood everything. Old Madam was indeed using her good intentions!

Thinking of Old Madam again comparing Young Lady with that Third Young Lady, Qingyu was quite indignant. Her own Young Lady was the Direct Daughter of the Duke’s Mansion, while that one was also not bad, but she was after all an Adopted Daughter. Why did Old Madam always hold up that Third Young Lady so high, as if the Third Young Lady was her own granddaughter?

“Young Lady, in what way can that Third Young Lady be compared to you? She is just an Adopted Daughter recognized by the Duke, not real. Isn’t it said that she is both virtuous and filial? Before, when Madam was ill in Mingshuang Courtyard, she came to pay respects to Madam on the first day of the New Year, and then left immediately. There wasn’t even a bit of filial piety.” Qingyu said, unconvinced.

Ning Qingshan was recorded under Madam Ming’s name, shouldn’t she be the one who should be the most filial!

It’s just that this Ning Qingshan was also a wonderful person. On the first day of the New Year, she would always go to Mingshuang Courtyard to pay respects to Madam Ming, offer a cup of tea, and the time she stayed in Mingshuang Courtyard wouldn’t exceed the time it took to drink a cup of tea. In Ning Xueyan’s memory, although this Third Sister showed a smile to her, the smile didn’t reach her eyes, and there was a hint of arrogance and overbearingness, but all these were suppressed behind her smile.

The reason why she revealed this kind of appearance in front of Ning Xueyan was also because she had never looked up to Ning Xueyan, and never regarded Ning Xueyan as an opponent.

She stretched out her fair hand and caught a leaf that had fallen from the tree, and Ning Xueyan said faintly: “In a moment, you go back to Old Madam and say that my hand was burned by water.”

No matter how good Ning Qingshan was, she would not become her second self! Flower arrangement, she heard that the Third Young Lady was most proficient in the art of flower arrangement when the Duke was around. Before, she was appreciated by Noble Consort Ya because of her flower arrangement skills. Because of this, a craze for flower arrangement was set off among the young ladies of the noble families.

Some Noble Persons in the Palace also took pride in being able to do flower arrangement, and Old Madam’s ultimate goal was to make her become the second Ning Qingshan, right!

“Yes, this servant girl will go back to Old Madam in a moment.” Qingyu nodded in agreement, and after thinking for a moment, she suddenly said, “Young Lady, just now the maidservants in Xiangfu Garden were saying that the Eldest Young Master has returned, what should we do?”

“There’s nothing to do, take it one step at a time.” Ning Xueyan stood still, looking at the empty courtyard in front of her. This path led to Mingshuang Courtyard, but it had to pass Cloud Shadow Courtyard. The bustling Cloud Shadow Courtyard in the past was cold and desolate, and her ink color eyes were tinged with an icy cold color.

Every time she walked here, her heart was filled with hatred, that kind of hatred penetrated to the marrow. Every time she woke up from a nightmare at midnight, it was a lake surface filled with blood color…

“Young Lady, what’s wrong?” Qingyu also felt Ning Xueyan’s abnormality, and cautiously asked.

“Qingyu, look, is there someone over there?” Ning Xueyan squinted her eyes. The winter wind blew, and the leaves rustled. From afar, it seemed that someone’s figure flashed, but it wasn’t very clear.

Qingyu looked in the direction of Ning Xueyan’s gaze, and didn’t find anything unusual: “Young Lady, this servant girl didn’t see anything different. It’s the wind that blew the branches.”

Looking again, there was indeed nothing, and the figure just now seemed not to exist. Ning Xueyan turned and walked towards Mingshuang Courtyard.

There was a feeling, the feeling that she had just seen was real, it seemed that Cloud Shadow Courtyard buried too many secrets, and she couldn’t find a clue for a while, Xia Yuhang, Ning Ziyan, Madam Ling, Ning Zuan, Old Madam, and the brocade mentioned by Nurse Wang, these things, seemed to be all in a mess.

But Ning Xueyan knew that there must be a relationship between them!

“Qingyu, did Nurse Wang say anything about Ning Ziying?” She thought along the way, and asked Qingyu, who was following behind her. In order to prevent people from discovering that Nurse Wang’s leg was fine, Nurse Wang’s matters in Mingshuang Courtyard were the responsibility of Qingyu, Lan Ning, and Xinmei.

Xinmei was given to Ning Xueyan by Ao Chenyi, and many of Ning Xueyan’s affairs had to be handled by her, so most of the time it was Qingyu and Lan Ning.

“Nurse Wang didn’t say anything, just said…” Qingyu hesitated for a moment, but then smiled, “Nurse Wang said that Young Lady and their Young Lady looked alike, but this servant girl and Lan Ning didn’t think so. Lan Ning also said that Young Lady and Miss Ning Ziying are, after all, sisters of the same clan. It’s normal for them to look a little alike. When we look carefully, it’s still the eyes that are the most alike, but we don’t know why Nurse Wang would say that Young Lady and their Young Lady look alike.”

Ning Xueyan’s back suddenly paused, and her watery eyes blinked, showing a few traces of abnormality. In her memory, her own appearance suddenly appeared in her mind. Ning Ziying and Ning Xueyan look alike? She had never felt that way.

Ning Ziying’s face was a little rounder, and her complexion was also good, rosy and lustrous. Ning Xueyan was very thin. When she was reborn, the fourteen-year-old girl looked like she was only eleven or twelve years old. She used Ao Chenyi’s medicine during this period of time, and she also worked hard to adjust herself, and she had only slightly restored the image of a normal fourteen-year-old girl.

But she was still thin, with a pointed chin, and a pale face. She seemed to have nothing in common with Ning Ziying, but Nurse Wang said they looked alike, which really made her not understand.

“Qingyu, did Nurse Wang really say that I and Ning Ziying are very alike?” Ning Xueyan bit her lip, and a few points of contemplation appeared in her eyes. Was Nurse Wang doubting that she was Ning Ziying, or did she really think that she and Ning Ziying looked alike?

“Yes, Nurse Wang said it to this servant girl and Lan Ning more than once, so this servant girl and Lan Ning had discussed it privately.” Qingyu affirmed.

“Did Nurse Wang say that others looked alike to Ning Ziying?” Ning Xueyan resumed her steps, and asked slowly.

“No, Nurse Wang only said that you and Miss Ziying looked alike, and didn’t say anything about others. Many times, Nurse Wang didn’t talk about their Young Lady. Every time she mentioned it, she would wipe her tears. It was really pitiful. How could such a good Young Lady be so unwilling to live, and jump into the lake!” Qingyu lamented, thinking that Nurse Wang was really not easy. The Young Lady she wholeheartedly supported was gone like this, how could she not feel heartache.

“Young Lady,…” A maidservant suddenly ran over on the path. Upon closer inspection, it was from Mingshuang Courtyard. Seeing Ning Xueyan, she said anxiously, “Young Lady, Old Madam has sent you many gifts.”