Chapter 458   The “Deep Affection” Between Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling

Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling went up the mountain together. They arrived at the mountain and paid homage to Madam Ming when they heard that Prince Yi had left with his favorite concubine. As Ning Ziyan stood on the high hall and watched Prince Yi’s magnificent carriage disappear, a trace of coldness flashed through her eyes. She turned to Ning Yuling and said gently, “Yuling, let’s go to see grandmother together now. Then we have to see Third Sister and Fifth Sister later.”

“I’ll listen to you, my eldest sister,” Ning Yuling said quietly. Anyone who knew Ning Yuling would never believe that this obedient person was the Second Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor who used to be arrogant and domineering.

Ming Yuanhua, who was standing on the other side of the hall, quietly glanced at the pair of girls with cold eyes. He didn’t like the people from Lord Protector’s Manor, especially these two well-matched sisters. They were both vicious, but they pretended to be good sisters in front of people.

If he hadn’t held the memorial ceremony in place of Ning Xueyan, he wouldn’t have seen these two sisters acting at this time.

“Childe Ming, how is my Fifth Sister? I heard that she was badly hurt and her organs were injured. Is this true?” However, Ning Ziyan went over to bow to him purposely. Her face was full of worry, looking as if she didn’t know anything.

“Thank you for your concern, Young Madam Xia. If there’s nothing else, I have to leave first,” Ming Yuanhua said in a calm voice.

He sounded so impolite. Ning Ziyan flushed and bit her lips awkwardly. She still wanted to say something, but Ming Yuanhua didn’t want to wait for her any longer. He turned around and walked to the other side of the Buddha Hall to talk about something regarding the ritual with the eminent monks over there. He informed them that Ning Xueyan would come to pay her respects later.

“Eldest Sister, let’s go! We can go to grandmother’s place to ask about it.” Seeing that Ning Ziyan was humiliated, Ning Yuling smiled slightly, but she sounded as though she was standing on Ning Ziyan’s side. She stared daggers at Ming Yuanhua’s back and lowered her voice to defend Ning Ziyan.

But even though she said so, Ning Yuling didn’t have time to hide the smile in her eyes before Ning Ziyan saw it. The corners of Ning Ziyan’s eyes twisted and she gritted her teeth secretly. She still needed Ning Yuling, or she would never have brought this fool here. As long as she thought about the close attitude between Ning Yuling and Xia Yuhang, she couldn’t wait to rush up and slap Ning Yuling.

“Let’s go. We have to see our grandmother and two younger sisters.” Suppressing the jealousy in her heart, Ning Ziyan raised her head and smiled gently. Then she turned around and walked to Madam Dowager’s room. Several maids hurried to follow her, leaving Ning Yuling and her maid behind.

It was obvious who the winner was between the two. Ning Yuling was so angry that she was about to rip up the handkerchief in her hand. “Ning Ziyan, you b*tch, always wanting to be superior to me. Do you think you can be so conceited just because you are a Legal Wife? When I become the Legal Wife in the future, you will suffer.” She looked at Ning Ziyan’s figure angrily and smiled silently.

She was no longer the impetuous Second Young Lady of Lord Protector’s Manor.

They went to Madam Dowager’s courtyard to pay their respects. When she looked at these two granddaughters whom she used to pay the most attention to, her face darkened. If these two granddaughters had performed better, her beloved grandson would have been able to become the Princely Heir of Commandery Prince Li already.

She had been so disappointed in Ning Ziyan. The butterfly pattern had become Madam Dowager’s fear. As long as she thought that Ning Ziying might be the princess of the former dynasty, Madam Dowager would never be at ease. Since Third Prince had shown her the butterfly pattern, she had been in fear about what had happened in Cloud Reflection Courtyard.

This time, when she saw Ning Ziyan, she couldn’t help recalling the past at that time. She was so regretful. It was Madam Ling who had repeatedly said to her that marrying Xia Yuhang was a good thing. She also said that Ning Ziyan and Xia Yuhang fell in love with each other. If it weren’t for Ning Ziying, the two families would have been well-matched, and they would have been relatives by marriage long ago.

Madam Ling’s words were pleasing to her ears, and she also felt regret at that time. Therefore, she didn’t show any mercy to the girl who lived in Lord Protector’s Manor. She turned a blind eye to what happened later for the benefits of Lord Protector’s Manor. Ning Ziyan’s marriage was beneficial to the whole Lord Protector’s Manor.

However, there was an unexpected turn of events. Not only was there a scandal on the first day of their marriage, but what happened next was also getting more and more outrageous.

As for Ning Yuling, when Madam Dowager saw her, she slammed the table and was going to swear. “This b*tch, this was not a marriage, but a shame. She even disgraced the whole Lord Protector’s Manor.”

“Grandmother, don’t blame Yuling. It was really not her fault. She was forced to do this. Grandmother, she was also framed by others. Otherwise, how could she be drugged for no reason? How could she feel itchy and take off her clothes? Fortunately, Grandmother, there is a way to cover up her scandal.”

Ning Ziyan saw Madam Dowager’s expression and knew that she was going to get angry, so she hurriedly came over and explained to Madam Dowager for Ning Yuling’s sake.

“Grandmother, Ling’er was plotted against. Grandmother, no matter how self-abandoning I am, I couldn’t do such a thing. If I was into my husband before, how could Eldest Sister and you be unaware of it?” Ning Yuling had learned how to observe others’ expressions. She knelt down at Madam Dowager’s feet with a loud thud, hugging Madam Dowager’s leg. She cried piteously, looking very distressed.

“How dare you say that! If you didn’t insist on being a concubine, you would have been Ling Yi’s wife now.” Madam Dowager was extremely angry. She lifted her leg and was going to kick Ning Yuling over. However, Ning Yuling was holding on to her leg tightly. And because Madam Dowager was so old, she couldn’t get rid of her.

“Grandmother, Ling Yi is a waste. How could I live a happy life if I married him? Maybe he would become a burden to Lord Protector’s Manor in the future. It’s better for me to live with my sister. At least, we can have a better relationship with the Xia Family. Now, Eldest Sister is having a difficult time in Xia Manor because a few days ago, her mother-in-law said that she wanted her son to divorce my sister and marry another noble Young Lady of a noble family.”

Ning Yuling cried first, and then she changed the subject. She came here today to speak up for Ning Ziyan, so of course, she had to inform Madam Dowager.

“What? How dare they...” Madam Dowager was furious and knocked on the ground with her walking stick. “They were willing to do so at that time. Now they dislike Ziyan. Do they really think that we have no one in Lord Protector’s Manor?”

“Grandmother, Madam Xia said that my sister is just a concubine’s daughter now. How can she be the Legal Wife?” Ning Yuling cried loudly.

“Yuling, please don’t make Grandmother angry. Grandmother, I’m fine,” Ning Ziyan raised her pale face and said with tears in her eyes. She reached out to pull Ning Yuling, as if she really didn’t want to hear Ning Yuling mention this.

“Eldest Sister!” Ning Yuling was pushed away and fell to the ground. Ning Ziyan hurried to help her, but she couldn’t stand still and fell to the ground as well. They burst into tears together.

Seeing this, Madam Dowager was both angry and resentful. She felt sad when looking at them. She wiped her tears away and cursed in rage, “You! Why did such a cursed thing happen to you?”

While they were crying, a sound came from outside. “The Fifth Young Lady is here!”

Madam Dowager wiped her tears away and asked Mother Qin to lead Ning Xueyan in. Ning Ziyan also helped Ning Yuling stand up.

With the help of Xinmei, Ning Xueyan walked in step by step. Obviously, she didn’t look very good. In just a few steps, she barely walked. After she greeted Madam Dowager with difficulties, Madam Dowager urged her to sit down aside.

“Xueyan, what are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to have a good rest?” Madam Dowager reached out her hand to touch Ning Xueyan’s and said intimately.

“Grandmother, it doesn’t matter. I have to pay homage to my mom. As her child, if I can’t do this, I would not be a filial daughter,” Ning Xueyan said in a low voice.

“You’re right, Fifth Sister. Your Second Sister and I apologize to you. It’s all our mother’s fault. She did that all because she loves us. I’m sorry your mother was wronged, and I’m really sorry for you, Fifth Sister.” Ning Ziyan pulled Ning Yuling down as they were going to bow to Ning Xueyan.

Madam Ling had plotted against Madam Ming. But they blurred this and tried to defend her by saying that it was due to her affection for her children. Ning Xueyan sneered in her mind. Ning Ziyan and her sister didn’t come with good intentions.

“Eldest Sister, that’s too much. But my mother is your mother now, and that woman is just a maid whose surname was Ling,” Ning Xueyan said coldly but didn’t ask anyone to help Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling up.

“I...” Ning Ziyan didn’t expect Ning Xueyan to say something like that in front of Madam Dowager, so her face turned pale. She had to concern herself with the whole picture, otherwise, she would have rushed over to slap Ning Xueyan because she almost could not bear it. She gritted her teeth and bowed slightly, regarding this as a salute. She raised her head and said gently, “Fifth Sister, don’t worry. It’s all her fault. You have reasons to hate us. We won’t fight back or answer back.”

“Yes. If you want to vent your anger, I’ll let you. After all, we are all both Young Ladies of Lord Protector’s Manor. After getting married, we are still sisters. How can we be alienated because of Maid Ling?” Ning Yuling also said sincerely, and there were even tears in her eyes. Ning Xueyan even felt that these two people came here to please her deliberately.

Madam Dowager couldn’t help saying, “Well, since they are sisters, no one needs to vent her anger. No matter what, you are siblings. Xueyan, don’t embarrass them. Let them sit down first!”

A flash of coldness crossed Ning Xueyan’s eyes. Madam Dowager did dote on her two granddaughters. They had done so many bad things, but she still wanted to protect them. She said that Ning Xueyan was making them embarrassed, which sounded as if Ning Xueyan didn’t allow them to sit down.

Before Ning Ziyan and Ning Yuling could sit down, Ning Xueyan, holding Xinmei’s hand, stood up and said with a small smile on her face, “Grandmother, I’m going to pay homage to my mother now, so I cannot accompany you here!”

Ning Ziyan hurriedly said, “Fifth Sister, you’re not strong enough. I’ll go with you since you only have one maid to serve you. If something happens, you’ll be in trouble. We can’t let outsiders know that you’re ill! It would be difficult to explain to Prince Yi!”

This reminded Madam Dowager that Ning Xueyan was going to marry into the royal family. It was not a piece of good news that she got injured at the sacrificial ceremony. Prince Yi seemed to treat Fifth Young Lady well before, but after the accident, he became very indifferent. Maybe it was because of this problem.

The so-called internal injury wouldn’t hurt her ability to give birth, would it? Thinking of this, Madam Dowager couldn’t sit still.