Chapter 227   The Greenhouse in the Garden...

Ning Lingyun and Ao Xian, the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li, were walking together. But today, Ao Xian was on his best behavior. After exchanging a few words with Ning Lingyun, he left her and followed Ao Mingyu. His goal today was to curry favour with Ao Mingyu. It was rare for him to have such a chance, and there was no one else around. He would certainly seize this opportunity.

But Ao Mingyu was now with the Third Young Lady Ning, so he could not get too close to him, and followed him from a distance.

He did not dare to scrutinize Third Young Lady Ning, whose reputation was very good. He only knew that she seemed to be a very beautiful girl, and was much more beautiful than Ning Lingyun. But he also knew that it was impossible for him to have any other relationship with the Third Young Lady Ning, so he just followed them.

He only dared to covet her in his mind. “If I had known that there was such a beautiful girl in Lord Protector’s Manor, I should have directly proposed a marriage to Ning Zu’an and married her, and this beautiful girl might have been mine now.”

The thought of that almost made his mouth water, and the look in his eyes which was fixed on Ning Qingshan’s back, became a little lecherous!

When Ning Lingyun saw Ao Xian, who was following the Third Prince and Ning Qingshan, turn his eyes from the Third Prince to Ning Qingshan and giving her a lascivious look, she knew that he must be thinking of something evil in his mind, and was very angry. Although she did not like Ao Xian, it did not mean that Ao Xian could show such a lecherous look in front of her.

But after thinking about it, Ning Lingyun took another deep breath and relaxed.

“Ao Xian’s behavior now is only good for me. Anyway, after whatever happens later, I will have nothing to do with him. After the matter has less influence, the Third Prince will come to the Lord Protector’s Manor to propose a marriage. At that time, I’m sure I will become his co-consort. The annulment of an engagement for marriage is not caused by me, and no one will blame me.”

“Fourth Sister.” Ning Xueyan stepped out from behind a cluster of flowers, and called out to Ning Lingyun in a soft and clear voice, with a smile on her face.

“Fifth Sister!” On hearing the voice of Ning Xueyan, Ning Lingyun became alert at once. She immediately averted her eyes from Ao Xian in the distance, and carefully turned around to smile at Ning Xueyan.

“Ning Xueyan is very smart. I can’t let her discover anything.”

“Fourth Sister, do you want to have a rest over there?” Ning Xueyan said, while pointing to a pergola, which was not far away. There were two swings, which were not too high, and could be used for people to rest. The swings were tied to some flower branches, and were not only beautiful, but also enjoyable.

“OK, let’s go together.” Ning Lingyun looked over and nodded.

Ning Lingyun had to do the same with Ning Qingshan. On the surface, she must have a good relationship with Ning Xueyan, so she obeyed Ning Xueyan now. In this way, she could get rid of what would happen later.

Ning Xueyan went first, and Ning Lingyun followed her. Xinmei originally followed Ning Xueyan closely, but although Ning Lingyun was born of a concubine, she was still a master, so Xinmei specifically let Ning Lingyun go first. She and Ning Lingyun’s maid followed them, and the four came to the swings.

Ning Xueyan and Ning Lingyun sat down on a swing separately, and chatted with each other, while enjoying the beauty of the garden. Xia Yudong had been waiting for a while at the corner, and he still did not have a chance to be alone with Ning Xueyan, so he could only leave. Otherwise, it would arouse suspicion if he, a man, waited behind the two Young Ladies.

Originally, he wanted to meet Ning Xueyan once again, and leave a good impression on Ning Xueyan. But now he seemed to have no chance. Fortunately, Xia Yudong believed that the impression he made before, was good. “If I really can’t find another chance, I need not look for another chance. Anyway, the next stage should be enough for a woman who has a good impression of me, to fall in love with me.”

So Xia Yudong did not approach Ning Lingyun and Ning Xueyan. He just passed by and politely saluted them with a gentle smile on his face, like a well-behaved gentleman. Seeing that, Ning Lingyun blushed and smiled.

Ning Xueyan looked at them and showed a cold smile. Because she had been cheated by a man in her last life, she did not trust men anymore. Moreover, Xia Yudong was so similar to Xia Yuhang. Now, even if it was Xia Yuhang who was standing in front of her, she could tell whether he was sincere or not, not to mention Xia Yudong, who was no better than Xia Yuhang.

Ning Xueyan was now basically sure that Ning Qingshan wanted to make use of Xia Yudong and Ao Xian to frame her! “Are you afraid that I won’t die, so you decided to use the two of them to frame me? It seems that one will make me fall into the trap now, and the other will lead me to be involved, in the long run. They complement each other. No matter who will succeed, my fate will be miserable.”

Everyone had spent the longest time in the greenhouse in the garden, and had a good time. On such a day, it was rare to see such beautiful flowers, which those Young Ladies loved very much. Even Ning Qingshan could not resist picking a flower and inserting it into her hair. The bright red flower made her look charming and beautiful.

The Third Prince could not help looking at her several times, which made her blush and feel excited. Then she looked even more charming and beautiful.

The group of people left the greenhouse, and went to the hall to have a meal.

There were not many people, and most of them knew each other, so there was no screen to separate them. Only one table was set up, and they all sat together.

Before the meal, the Third Prince had specially asked for his men to kill a deer. The best part of the deer was selected to be roasted, and the deer blood was served to the male guests. Recently, drinking deer blood became popular in the capital, which was very good for men. It not only made people feel warm, but was also nourishing.

Of course, girls did not drink. They did not dare to even look at the fresh blood!

The Third Prince took the lead in drinking a small cup of deer blood, and several other people also drank up. Such a small cup of deer blood was good enough for a man’s health, and at the same time would not cause other problems. A small cup was enough.

After the deer blood was drunk, and the small cups taken away, they continued to talk and laugh. In the meantime, Ao Xian left to change his clothes. A young male servant took him to the back. After taking him to the place, the young male servant was asked to go back first, by Ao Xian. After changing his clothes, Ao Xian wandered around the garden at will, thinking about the invitation from Ning Lingyun, which made him happy.

Ao Xian was a romantic man and was engaged to Ning Lingyun. However, he was very upset about the fact that even though they were engaged, they could not get close to each other. Unexpectedly, Ning Lingyun invited him today. How could he refuse such an opportunity. So he specially asked the young male servant to leave first, and he himself stayed, to see how to get to the garden.

Yes, he and Ning Lingyun would meet in the garden that they had just gone to. And if there was any change, Ning Lingyun would inform him in advance.

Ning Lingyun was smart this time. She did not decide on the meeting place. Ning Xueyan was so smart. Once she found something wrong, Ning Lingyu would not go to the garden.

“Your Highness.” A maid suddenly appeared from afar. Seeing that no one was around, she walked respectfully to Ao Xian.

This was Ning Lingyun’s maid. Ao Xian had seen her before. Besides, the maid of the Lord Protector’s Manor was different from that of the Third Prince in this courtyard, in the way they dressed. Even though Ao Xian was a little bit drunk, he still knew it clearly.

“Your Young Lady can’t wait to see me and wants me to go now?” Seeing that the maid was quite beautiful, Ao Xian flirtatiously reached out to grip the girl’s chin and said this happily. Just now, he had been thinking that the most beautiful prostitute had been taken by Ya Changqing several days ago. He did not expect that he would be so lucky, not long after that.

He did not regard Ning Lingyun as his fiancee at all, in his mind. Instead, he thought of her as a romantic woman. So, he was willing to flirt with her, if there was a chance. At present, the maid in front of him was also beautiful. When they got married, the maid would also belong to him. On thinking of that, he could not help feeling happy, and leered at the maid.

“Your Highness, our Young Lady is afraid you may not be able to find her later, so she asked me to give this to you.” The maid blushed at his behavior, feeling shy and ashamed. She took out a sachet from her arms and handed it to Ao Xian.

Ao Xian took the sachet and turned it over. A faint fragrance came from it, which made him even more excited. He fondled the maid’s white and tender face and said happily, “Fine, fine, I’ll put it on now. Tell your Young Lady that I’ll look for her later.”

After Ning Lingyun belonged to him, this maid would also belong to him in the future, so he was not in a hurry now.

“I’m leaving.” The maid saluted and hurried to the other side, with a red face.

Ao Xian did not care about the maid’s departure. Originally, this kind of thing should not be known by others. “Unexpectedly, even though Ning Lingyun looks very respectable, she will make a date with a man privately. Anyway, it’s a good thing for me.” Ao Xian hung the sachet on his waist. There was already a sachet, but it did not matter there was one more now.

During normal times when he went to the Red Light District, he would hang several sachets on his waist. When he saw a woman he liked, he would send one out. So he never checked these sachets when he hung them on his waist. Of course, he did not know that at the bottom of the sachet, the word embroidered was not “Lingyun”, but “Xueyan”.

A distinction should be made between males and females, so the lunch time passed soon. The Third Prince had prepared places for men and women to live in, which were separated by a wall, and was not far away. After the meal, they went back to their respective rooms to rest for two hours, before playing again.

There were many rest rooms in the Third Prince’s courtyard, and there were not many people here today, so everyone rested in their room alone, which was convenient and comfortable for them.

Ao Xian lay down in the room for a while, but he could not sleep at all. When he thought that such a beauty would belong to him later, he was so excited that he could not sleep and tossed and turned in bed. He felt hot and his mind was full of the scenes of being with those women, on weekdays.

He was very excited and could hardly rest. He and Ning Lingyun would meet one hour later and it was still early now, but he could not sleep. Finally, he had no choice, but to get up. He felt that as a man, he had to arrive earlier when he made a private date with a woman.

“Anyway, I can’t sleep now. So I’ll go over and wait first. It doesn’t matter if I have to wait for an hour.”

Instantly, he asked his servant to help him get up and get dressed. Then he quietly went out of the courtyard, and went to the greenhouse in the garden. At this time, he was restless and just wanted a woman to comfort him.

Because the host and the guests were resting, the courtyard was very quiet. Ao Xian met nobody along the way and arrived at the door of the greenhouse in the garden. When he was about to enter the greenhouse, he suddenly saw someone who looked very familiar, and could not help, but stop. He was very surprised. How could she be here!

“How could it be possible!”