Early in the morning, the doctors rushed into Qingrong Courtyard one after the other.

Although none of the servants in the manor dared to talk more openly, some news was uncontrollable.

Something serious happened. Second Young Lady was disfigured. She was disfigured because First Madam beat her!

The news was spread by the servants secretly. Nobody dared to talk about it loudly, but everyone said in private, "It’s so strange. It’s hard to imagine that First Madam’s slap made Second Young Lady disfigured. It was so terrible..."

Some people even said that Ning Yuling made trouble in Buddha Hall and offended deities so that she got retribution. Otherwise, she would not have been disfigured for no reasons.

In Qingrong Courtyard, Ning Yuling threw away her mirror madly, crying with her broken heart. On the face that should have been extremely beautiful originally, red dense and convex rashes had erupted, forming into a palm-shaped pattern.

When seen carefully, all of them were just in a palm print.

Several doctors were driven to the corner of the courtyard with nothing to do, sighing and shaking their heads.

There was no clue at all about this kind of sudden illness of Second Young Lady in Lord Protector’s Manor. It was weird that the rashes should form into a palm-shaped pattern on the face, which might be explained only by the concept of supernatural beings. What was more, before that, Ning Yuling did break many things in Buddha Hall. After that, people who entered the hall that was fine at first could not even find a place to stand.

The news was spread more quickly this time. Although Ning Zu’an told the doctors not to gossip, the news got out. Everyone knew that Second Young Lady in Lord Protector’s Manor got retribution. Now she had many convex rushes on her faces which grew into a palm print. And it was the palm print resulted from the slap of First Madam in Lord Protector’s Manor.

With the news spreading out, there were all kinds of guesses. At first, others thought that Ning Yuling herself led to this. Later someone said it was because First Madam was vicious. Then others guessed that people in Lord Protector’s Manor had done something terrible so that they offended the deity and got such retribution. It was indeed a strange and evil thing. For a time, there were only three or four kittens in front of the gate of Lord Protector’s Manor. Nobody dared to enter the gate at this time.

They feared that they might get themselves into trouble accidentally.

That night, Ning Yuling, crying and screaming, was forced to put on a small sedan and sent to the old house of the Ning family. They announced that she would live a simple and quiet life there for some time.

All the others, even including the doctors, didn’t know the reason. It was merely because the medicinal powder of the rouge on Ning Yuling’s face and the medicinal powder in Madam Ling’s hand could mutually counteract. A single kind of medicinal powder would not show anything. However, when two types mixed up, they were going to react right away and stimulated the skin of Ning Yuling. That was how those swollen and bulgy rashes formed.

Madam Ling liked Hall Crabapple. She always took care of them in person, and even those in Buddha Hall were no exception. Ning Xueyan had coated each precious flower of the Hall Crabapple with medicinal powder.

The rouge on Ning Yuling’s face came from the boxes of powder which Ning Ziying sent to Ning Xueyan. Then Ning Xueyan added something bad in them. Later on, Ning Lingyun took those several boxes away and sent them to Ning Yuling. At that time, Ning Ziying meant to curry favor with Ning Xueyan, so what the boxes of powder she sent were all the latest good stuff. It was normal that Ning Yuling liked the powder and certainly would apply it to her face.

Madam Ling slapped Ning Yuling in the face and mixed thee two types of powder. Then Ning Yuling would certainly be disfigured!

The face of Ning Yuling was disfigured in such a weird way. So Madam Dowager and Ning Zu’an had to send her to the remote countryside to shut others up.

"Ling’er, my Ling’er." In Buddha Hall, Madam Ling put on a fierce look and was going to rush out. But Mother Chen held her tightly to stop her.

"Madam, Madam, please don’t worry. We may still cure the face of Second Young Lady."

"Cure her face? How can they find famous doctors in that remote place?" Thinking that her most beloved daughter lived a life like a living death, Madam Ling felt her heart was torn apart with grief. She brought up the beloved daughter elaborately and took her as a precious pearl in the palm since she was a baby. Now all her hope was all destroyed. How could she not feel regretful?

In the gloomy Buddha Hall, her beautiful face of Madam Ling looked almost as fierce as a ghost.

"First Madam, it is no use rushing out now. Doing like this, you will instead give Madam Dowager reasons to punish you. Concubine Xu and Fourth Young Lady did all this. They will come to a bad end when Eldest Young Master comes back." Seeing that Madam Ling calmed down, Mother Chen tried best to persuade her.

Everyone in the manor knew that Fourth Young Lady envied Second Young Lady’s marriage and set a trap on purpose. She won the heart of Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li who then was determined to marry her. Meanwhile, she ruined the reputation of Second Young Lady. To everyone’s surprise, Fourth Young Lady who had been following Second Young Lady was also a poisonous snake. She destroyed the marriage of Second Young Lady as soon as she made her move.

"Two d*mned b*tches. However, it was not them!" Madam Ling, with her long hairs down loosely, burst out hateful light from her eyes in the dim light.

Concubine Xu and Ning Lingyun dared not to offend her so much. As long as she and Yuan’er were here, Concubine Xu and Ning Lingyun could not go too far. Lord Protector’s Manor would belong to Yuan’er in the future. Therefore, she could decide their life and death! How could a concubine without a son become powerful and determined?

Madam Ling had an intuition that it must be Ning Xueyuan. Last time in Cold Mountain Temple, Madam Ling intended to plot against her at first. But finally, Ling’er bore the consequence. Who else could it be if it wasn’t that little b*tch?

"Madam, how could it not be them? Fourth Young Lady grabbed the marriage of Second Young Lady. Now, all the good things have become hers." Mother Chen asked confusedly and held Madam Ling to take a seat on the sole cushion in Buddha Hall.

"Go to find out where Yuan’er is now. Send a letter to tell him that something happened in our family and he should come back home quickly," Madam Ling said fiercely.

"Yes, I will do it at once. I have already heard that Eldest Young Master would come back soon."

Madam Ling nodded. "You should also go to see Yan’er. Tell her all the things that happened in the manor. Let her take precautions against that b*tch. On that day of Concubine Ma’s banquet, the b*tch must have played some underhand tricks. Let Yan’er tell Xia Yuhang that the b*tch also knows what had happened in Cloud Reflection Courtyard."

Speaking of Cloud Reflection Courtyard, Mother Chen couldn’t help thinking of the girl covered in blood who had been beaten brutally. In the end, the girl was pushed into the lotus pond alive. She felt a sudden thrill in her heart. She felt that a stream of cold feeling rushed from her heart to her limbs and shivered instantly because of the cold.

She looked up and saw the Buddha above the Buddha’s pedestal, which had a pair of eyes that seemed to have seen through everything, and she shuddered and bowed her head hurriedly. "Yes, yes, I will do it right away."

At the moment she was too scared to ask for the reason. She only felt the Buddha’s eyes above were fixed still at her, making the roots of her hair numb.

Without noticing the unnatural act of Mother Chen, now Madam Ling only wanted to tear Ning Xueyan apart. If she knew the b*tch was so hard to handle, she should have listened to her brother and set a fire in Bright Frost Garden. Whether the young or the old, everyone there would have been burnt to death, leaving no future trouble.

She would never let that b*tch go!

What had happened in Cloud Reflection Courtyard frightened more people except for her and Ning Ziyan...

The snow had been falling for several days. In these days, Lord Protector’s Manor was quiet. Ning Xueyan greeted Madam Dowager regularly every day. After that, she would come back, embroid flowers, and read books. Or, she would enjoy the snow-covered landscape with several maids in the corridor. It was the most beautiful season of the year. A plum flower in the courtyard also blossomed its stamens early.

With the fragrance of plum in the air, the scene of the snow looked distant and beautiful.

The others in the manor were very quiet as well. Concubines remained orderly. They stayed in their courtyards if nothing else happened outside. Concubine Xu, who had run internal affairs only for several days, was relieved of her post. Then, she also stayed in her courtyard and would not come out. Ning Lingyun was even better-behaved. The whole Lord Protector’s Manor seemed to be lifeless, in which only several servants were walking around.

Ning Xueyan had her dinner quite early. The sky outside reflected the color of snow on the ground, and it became quite bright. So it was not dark at all. Ning Xueyan didn’t know when the snow stopped. There was a moon rising in the sky, hanging high in the sky. With the vast land covered in snow, the scene made people feel peaceful and harmony.

Ning Xueyan, wearing a light gray cloak, trampled on the snow alone and walked on the path. She didn’t know when she had formed the habit. Sometimes she alone would walk on the road from Bright Frost Garden to Cloud Reflection Courtyard.

Between these two courtyards, there was a long-unused path. Both courtyards were on the sides. Walking around the wall for a large half of the circle, she could see the back door of Cloud Reflection Courtyard. Ning Xueyan always stopped at the remote place where she could see the back door of Cloud Reflection Courtyard. A plum tree happened to be planted there. Ning Xueyan stayed there and just looked at it for a little before she left.

That was the place she had lived for three years, and the place which she thought was filled with beauty and hope. It was also the place where she lost her life.

Today, she went to the plum tree again. It grew up more when she lived in Cloud Reflection Courtyard. At that time, she had thought about moving the plum tree into Cloud Reflection Courtyard. But she gave up the idea eventually because it was not her home after all. So she didn’t take any reckless action. It was just that she would come here every winter to pick some plum blossoms in person. She would then put them in her vase and appreciate them.

Many times, she also let Xia Yuhang bring the plum blossoms to Xia Manor.

At that time, there were so many people around her. She still had the smart and charming Xiang’er, the calm Lanning, and Mother Wang, who cared about her more than she cared about herself. What was more, she had a fiance, who seemed to give her so much love. And she had Ning Ziyan, who seemed to have a deep feeling of sisterhood toward her...

When she thought of this, a thick bloody smell seemed to ooze from her chest. And she felt as if the feeling of suffocation fell upon her once again, which suppressed her almost breathless.

Subconsciously, she reached out to wipe the bloody smell off her lips. But she couldn’t wipe it away no matter how hard she tried. The smell seemed to be imprinted in the depths of her soul. It made her feel nausea and a great rush of sickness.

Ning Xueyan retched two times subconsciously. Holding the branches of the plum tree with one hand and covering her heart painfully with another, she bent her thin waist. Now her face even looked paler than the snow.

The painful feeling while struggling at the end of her previous life welled up in her heart again.

Suddenly someone picked up her before she saw the face of the person before her. She heard a beautiful but cold voice in the ears. "What happened?"