Chapter 480   The Whole Household Took a Beating

“Father, my maid is not sensible. Please forgive her for my sake!” Ning Qingshan had to plead for Caifen. Indeed, she had to do it because she was the one who smashed the porcelain and had asked Caifen to pass on a message. If pushed to the extreme, Caifen might start to talk nonsense.

“Third Sister, don’t beg for mercy for them. Look at the people around you, they were just chasing a wildcat and ended up breaking all the fine porcelain in your room. Later, in order to shirk responsibility, they deliberately stirred up trouble. How did Mammy Luo discipline them? If you do not punish such a maid severely and if all the people in the manor were to follow what they do, what will we do then?”

Ning Xueyan showed a bit of anger, as if she was defending Ning Qingshan. Then she continued, “Third Sister, don’t worry. I won’t let anyone bully you. She did not even listen to you, took the opportunity to stir up trouble and her attitude is so impertinent. She even thought that the fine porcelain could simply be replaced by her uttering a single sentence. Even a noble Young Lady from an aristocratic family is not so generous, so such a maid is really detestable. If she is not beaten now, then how can our Grandmother uphold her image to the public in the future?”

Ning Xueyan’s remarks turned over what Ning Qingshan just said. It sounded as if Ning Qingshan did not want Madam Dowager to punish Caifen, yet on the one hand, it came across as if her decision was too weak and it would surely harm Madam Dowager’s prestige. Even if it was only the inner courtyard, one still needed to maintain one’s prestige.

When one gave it deeper thought, it seemed as if Ning Qingshan was purposely going against Madam Dowager!

Hearing these words, Ning Zu’an had a thought that if a maid could talk about tens of thousands of taels of silver so easily, then what did other people think of him? Would they think that there was so much money in the Lord Protector’s Manor because even a maid was so frivolous when it came to money matters. But where did he get the money?

Ning Zu’an thought deeper and felt a shiver in his heart. Then he stared at Caifen and water seemed to be dripping from his cold eyes.

Ning Xueyan was really very sharp-tongued and actually rendered Ning Qingshan speechless with just a few words. There was a hint of hatred flashing in Ning Qingshan’s eyes. Caifen was her trusted confidant, so she had to plead for mercy. However, she would fall into Ning Xueyan’s trap as soon as she did it. “This bitch has gone too far in bullying others!” she thought.

Madam Dowager was already very dissatisfied with her because of the incident regarding the pair of purple sapphire glaze and she would make Madam Dowager angry again because of Caifen. Ning Qingshan knew it was unwise to do so, but she really could not let Madam Dowager punish Caifen by flogging her.

“Grandmother, Caifen made a mistake, this was just her misconception at that moment. Besides, it did not bring about any bad results, I beg Grandmother to forgive her,” Ning Qingshan implored her grandmother again..

“Third Sister, you are still pleading for her. This maid dared to say these words to Housekeeper Ruan. Maybe that wildcat was also a made up story. Alas! It is a pity that Grandmother’s purple sapphire glaze was smashed by several maids, but this maid even dared to stir things up in order to manipulate her master’s affairs.”

Ning Xueyan frowned and said this softly to show that she was always on Madam Dowager’s side.

At this time, Ning Qingshan’s voice was extremely loud because she was anxious. Although she was pleading, it sounded very aggressive. On the contrary, Ning Xueyan spoke in a lower tone and looked at Madam Dowager from time to time, as if she could not make up her mind.

Ning Xueyan brought up the subject of that pair of purple sapphire glazes when Madam Dowager was in this frame of mind. With that, Madam Dowager thought that her beloved purple sapphire glazes might have really been smashed by the maids of Foggy Courtyard. Madam Dowager could not vent her anger, so she did not want to listen any longer and issued a command to Housekeeper Ruan.

“Take this girl down and flog her twenty times with a stick and ten times each for the other servants of Foggy Courtyard. If they can’t even serve a master well, what else can they do? If it happens again, then all the servants of Foggy Courtyard will be sold.”

Madam Dowager did not want to say anything more at this time. No matter what Ning Qingshan had done in private, Third Prince was here after all. She had to give face to Third Prince, so she made a direct decision in a sweeping manner. Originally, she wanted to make Third Prince happy, however, Ning Qingshan was such a disappointment. At this moment, Madam Dowager had a massive headache.

“Am I really going to get a beating?” Caifen thought. With a “hum” sound in her head, she subconsciously held on to Ning Qingshan’s dress. Two older female servants came over and tried to pull Caifen away. Her hands were still resting on Ning Qingshan’s skirt, as Ning Qingshan had difficulty in walking and could only stand with Caifen’s help before. At this time, she was a little unsteady on her feet, but after being pulled by Caifen, she could not keep her balance and fell heavily to the floor.

Because she was so unstable on her feet, she fell to the ground. Besides, the force on Caifen’s side was stronger, so most of her body landed on top of Caifen when she flopped down. However, because of her lack of strength, she fell flat on her back and was in an extremely awkward predicament.

In front of so many people, including Third Prince, Ning Qingshan had a terrible fall. It was so humiliating. The hairpins on her head came off and her bun unraveled. This resulted in messy strands of hair covering her eyes. She looked nothing like a noble Young Lady from an aristocratic family.

Anger spread across Madam Dowager’s face. She knocked on the ground heavily with the crutch in her hand and said, “Quick, pull this bitch off, hurry up and pull her away!”

When Caifen saw Ning Qingshan being pulled down by her, her head began to “buzz”. Then she quickly let go of Ning Qingshan’s skirt horn and wanted to help her up. The two older female servants heard Madam Dowager’s angry tone and did not dare to slight her, so they hurriedly dragged Caifen away. With that, two more maids hurried over to help Ning Qingshan who was lying in an awkward position, up.

After being humiliated in front of so many people, Ning Qingshan blushed with shame and did not dare to look at Third Prince’s face.

At this time, she was naturally in no mood to plead for Caifen and even could not wait to cut Caifen into pieces in her heart. Why did this bitch stretch her hand out? How dare she hold on to her skirt? If she had known earlier, she should have kicked her away so that she would not feel so humiliated in front of Third Prince.”

Ning Qingshan was not the only one who blushed, but Madam Dowager was embarrassed too. She never expected that the most outstanding person in her heart, Ning Qingshan, would make such a mistake. She glanced at Third Prince and found that he was watching the show calmly, but there was a trace of disgust in his eyes and it could not be hidden from such an experienced person as Madam Dowager.

Previously when Ning Qingshan just came back, Madam Dowager remembered clearly that Third Prince looked at Ning Qingshan with adoration in his eyes and his smile was gentle with a trace of joy from his heart. However, after a short time, there was none of the initial joy in Third Prince’s eyes, but instead there was a hint of disgust.

Madam Dowager originally wanted Ning Qingshan to please Third Prince, but after seeing Ning Qingshan’s current situation, she did not think she could find favor with Third Prince. Madam Dowager felt angry and resentful. In the future, they still had to rely on Third Prince to gain wealth and honor. Would Ning Qingshan really be able to help the Lord Protector’s Manor to gain wealth and honor?

“Your Highness, dinner is ready, let me accompany you to have your meal.” Ning Zu’an really deserved his title as a courtier and was the first one to recover his wits in the face of such an awkward situation. He stood up, bowed to Third Prince and Ning Huaiyuan stood up as well.

“Well, let’s go together!” Ao Mingyu said gently. There was no displeasure on his face, as if it was really just a farce of the Lord Protector’s Manor and had nothing to do with him at all. He got up and said goodbye to Madam Dowager. Having done that, he turned his eyes on Ning Xueyan’s face and strode away.

As for Ning Qingshan, he did not even spare a glance at her.

Ning Zu’an and his son followed behind him as they left together and at this moment, there was a strange hush in the room.

Ning Qingshan looked up at Third Prince’s departing back with sadness. Madam Dowager stared at Ning Qingshan coldly while Ning Lingyun hid herself as if she was afraid of being discovered. She looked timidly at Madam Dowager and Ning Qingshan from time to time. Ning Xueyan felt her action was very familiar, as Ning Lingyun’s behavior became more intentional and affected.

Ning Xueyan’s eyes swept across Ning Lingyun and she smiled inwardly. It seemed that Fourth Young Lady had a new plan.

As long as she did not step on her to carry out her plan, she did not care about watching a good show or two.

“Grandmother, I was so careless just now... I...” Ning Qingshan finally overcame her shame and resentment and tried to explain to Madam Dowager, with tears in her eyes.

“Well, you go back first. Third Prince won’t be happy to see you now. Go back and have an early rest.” Madam Dowager coldly interrupted her and abruptly said, “Come and take Third Young Lady back to Foggy Courtyard. And bring two more older female servants to beat all the servants who have no sense of propriety in the courtyard, ten times.”

“Grandmother...” Ning Qingshan turned pale and cried out hurriedly But Madam Dowager had already turned to talk to Mother Qin and ignored her.

The two maids supported Ning Qingshan and helped her out. With that, two older female servants in Lucky Garden took the punishment sticks and followed her to Foggy Courtyard. What Madam Dowager meant was that all the servants in Foggy Courtyard were to be beaten, so they went there to carry out the punishment.

This time, Ning Qingshan went for wool and came back shorn. Not only did she fail to get Third Prince to help her keep up her appearance, but also caused all the servants in the courtyard to be beaten. For a moment, complaints were heard everywhere in the courtyard. They loudly lamented that before it seemed to be better to stay by Third Young Lady’s side, but unexpectedly, Fifth Young Lady would have been the best choice.

That night, wails rang out in Foggy Courtyard. Caifen was the most seriously injured. Although she was still alive, she was unconscious. When she was carried back to Foggy Courtyard, she was covered in blood. Fortunately, the other people in the courtyard were still well and could move, except for Mammy Luo, who was unable to get up due to being beaten at such an old age.

Led by Feilian, people in the courtyard were busy boiling water, cleaning up their wounds and applying ointment on them.

However, Third Prince did not even come to visit her. What made Ning Qingshan angrier was that Housekeeper Ruan sent some fine porcelain over and rearranged it for her. But some treasures like the screens were taken back and exchanged for common ones.

Madam Dowager had said that Madam Ming’s things would be taken back and Third Young Lady was now Madam Ling’s daughter so she could not keep Madam Ming’s things. Ning Qingshan was so angry that she almost fainted when she saw several older female servants moving her things with broad smiles. She had never been humiliated like this before.

The nasty little girl, Ning Xueyan was really so vicious. The bad thing about today was that Ning Xueyan did not directly accuse her of being the mastermind behind it, so she failed to explain it well and even made Madam Dowager suspect her. Then she dealt her a slap in the face when she brought up the situation between Madam Ling and Madam Ming.

This was to let everyone know that she, Ning Qingshan was just a concubine’s daughter now and also registered as the daughter of the vicious woman, Madam Ling.

“Good, Ning Xueyan, you are really good! I will not spare you. Bad little girl, watch out!” Ning Xueyan thought.