Chapter 512   Ning Lingyun’s Fear

“Fifth Sister, save me! You have to save me! I don’t want to go to Prince Yi’s Manor! I want to go to the Third Prince’s Manor! Fifth Sister, please help me!” Ning Lingyun was so horrified that she burst into tears on the floor. She held onto Ning Xueyan’s sleeve and cried so hard that her body was trembling.

She wanted to enter the Third Prince’s Manor, not Prince Yi’s Manor! Even the beauties sent by the palace suffered such horrible deaths! Their fate was even worse than a maid. How would she dare to enter such a place?

The Third Prince’s Manor was heaven compared to Prince Yi’s Manor. Moreover, the Third Prince was gentle and his words were always kind. Whenever he visited the manor recently, he would always look at her with particularly kind eyes.

The Third Prince liked her, and he surely did. She was sure that she would be favored after entering his manor. If she was lucky enough to give birth to a son, she might rise in ranks above Ning Qingshan. This had been on her mind ever since she came out of the Buddha hall.

Because of this, Concubine Xu had repeatedly warned her to know her place and refrain from making the same mistake. Even an official wife’s daughter like Ning Yuling had ended up like that. If she were to make the same mistake, she might die without knowing anything. Madam Dowager had always been a merciless person.

If Ning Lingyun were told such things in the past, she would have ignored them. However, after everything that had happened and after seeing Ning Yuling’s ending, she was especially receptive to Concubine Xu’s warnings and would do everything that Concubine Xu said. She played her role as a concubine’s daughter obediently, and even subconsciously dressed as Ning Xueyan had before.

It was Ning Xueyan that the Third Prince wanted to marry. When Ning Yuling became the Princess, Honored Consort Ya was said to have brought up the matter with Madam Dowager. However, Madam Dowager turned her down and a series of incidents also took place after. Not many knew about this, and Ning Lingyun only heard about it from Concubine Xu.

She didn’t expect that the Third Prince would actually want to marry Ning Xueyan and even promised her the consort’s position. After finding out about this, Ning Lingyun recalled how the Third Prince would look at Ning Xueyan in the past. His gaze was obviously different from how he looked at other people. It seemed that he did like Ning Xueyan, which was why she began mimicking Ning Xueyan’s way of dressing.

Ning Xueyan used to be timid when she was in the Bright Frost Garden. As a concubine’s daughter herself, it was only natural for Ning Lingyun to be timid as well. Her current personality was very close to that of the former Ning Xueyan, all so she could attract the Third Prince’s attention.

Sure enough, the Third Prince started looking at her more often. Sometimes, she would even go so far as to describe his gaze as gentle.

Madam Dowager had given her the good news as well, promising to support her if she could enter the Third Prince’s Manor. Therefore, Ning Lingyun started working harder at imitating Ning Xueyan.

Unexpectedly, at the most crucial point, just as she was about to reveal her feelings, Madam Dowager summoned her and earnestly told her the advantages of entering Prince Yi’s Manor. She said that Ning Xueyan was unlikely to recover from her illness and once she was dead, the Lord Protector’s Manor would do everything in its power to make her Prince Yi’s new consort.

Ning Lingyun had a very little impression of Prince Yi. She had only heard that he was a murderous demon who had killed countless people. Few in the capital would be able to look calm at the mention of his name.

The thought of living with such a murderous demon in the future frightened her so much that she nearly fainted then. However, Madam Dowager kept reassuring her that it was fine, and that no matter how fierce Prince Yi was, he wouldn’t kill the people around him. Madam Dowager also promised to heighten Concubine Xu’s status in the family if she were to enter Prince Yi’s Manor.

Of course, Madam Dowager also made it clear that if Ning Lingyun refused to obey, she would marry her off to just anyone. She would be married off to an ordinary man or even somewhere far away, where her life and death would have nothing to do with the Lord Protector’s Manor. Madam Dowager told her to return and consider her words carefully.

In the past few days, Ning Lingyun hadn’t been able to eat or sleep well. She became worried all day long. She didn’t want to marry into a family outside the capital and leave behind the glory and wealth of the Lord Protector’s Manor.

Thus, she started considering Prince Yi’s Manor seriously. Perhaps, Prince Yi might just gradually fall for her the way the Third Prince did. Once Ning Xueyan died, she would become Prince Yi’s consort. She didn’t think there was any difference from becoming the Third Prince’s consort.

Aside from the frightening Prince Yi, she didn’t think that the glory and wealth that he could give her was any different from what the Third Prince could give her. Slowly, she began to accept the idea of entering Prince Yi’s Manor. More importantly, compared to Ning Qingshan, Ning Xueyan looked more short-lived.

Neither Ning Qingshan nor Ning Xueyan were easy opponents.

However, the sickly Ning Xueyan appeared to be her best choice. Even if Ning Xueyan wouldn’t be dying so soon, she could feed her some medicine and kill her. Considering Ning Xueyan’s health, no one would question her death. No one would even blink an eye at the passing of an ill person. And she would become the new consort with the support of the Lord Protector’s Manor.

If Prince Yi favored her even a little, Commandery Princess Xianyun might not even be able to do anything to her.

These thoughts made her panicked heart calm down, just in time for Ning Xueyan’s return to her family home. Under Madam Dowager’s orders, she had come to the door to personally receive Ning Xueyan in an attempt to please and show weakness, hoping that Ning Xueyan would take her back to Prince Yi’s Manor.

Though afraid, she inexplicably looked forward to it too. She didn’t know what exactly she wanted, which was why she was so worried when she was told to leave with Ning Qingshan. She thought that she would get a clear answer after returning from the kitchen. Whether or not Ning Xueyan agreed, the matter was as good as decided.

With Madam Dowager exerting her pressure, she was sure that Ning Xueyan wouldn’t say anything about it.

However, the outcome was out of her expectations and Madam Dowager didn’t say a word about it during lunch. Ning Xueyan appeared calm and no emotion could be glimpsed from her face. She observed Ning Xueyan’s face for a long time but couldn’t see anything. Madam Dowager said nothing even after the lunch was over and just sent them away.

When Ning Xueyan shot her a fleeting glance when she walked past, Ning Lingyun felt as restless as an ant on a hot surface. She waited for a moment before going to the Bright Frost Garden. After all, when she received Ning Xueyan at the door earlier, Ning Xueyan had told her to collect some medicinal ingredients at her place.

She had just been going along with Ning Xueyan’s words earlier. Only now did she realize how timely her words were. They had given her the perfect excuse to come over.

Hearing Ning Xueyan’s words now made her feel cold all over. She had little chance of survival after entering Prince Yi’s Manor. Never mind glory and wealth, she might even die. Rather than enjoying riches, Ning Lingyun would rather keep her life. That was why Ning Lingyun was holding onto Ning Xueyan’s sleeve in despair. How could Prince Yi’s Manor even compare to the Third Prince’s Manor?

“Where is it that you want to go, Fourth Sister?” Ning Xueyan reached out to pull Ning Lingyun to her feet. With Lanning’s help, she helped Ning Lingyun sit down on a chair nearby.

“The Third Prince’s Manor! I want to marry the Third Prince and enter his manor.” Ning Lingyun appeared to have lost her soul. She looked at Ning Xueyan with tears brimming in her eyes, obediently blurting out the answer to Ning Xueyan’s every question.

“Why aren’t you going there then? Hadn’t Grandmother given her approval?” Ning Xueyan asked, blinking in confusion.

“I don’t know. I have no idea why things turned out this way. Grandmother sent someone to relay her approval. She said that as long as I could enter the Third Prince’s Manor, she would support me,” Ning Lingyun replied, looking like she was close to a mental breakdown. Her hands shook weakly in the air, her eyes looking lifeless.

She had no idea what had happened. Things were still fine before Ning Xueyan got married, so why did Madam Dowager suddenly change her mind? She was so close to succeeding, too. All Madam Dowager had to do was give the Third Prince a hint. If the Prince stayed silent, she would have succeeded. Why did things turn out like this?

“Does Third Sister know that you intend to enter the Third Prince’s Manor?” Ning Xueyan asked, reminding her.

Did Ning Qingshan know? Ning Lingyun stopped crying all of a sudden as realization dawned on her. She covered her mouth with a handkerchief and looked at Ning Xueyan in amazement. “Does Third Sister know? How would she know? I’ve never mentioned it.”

Her voice was flustered and wrought with emotion. Ning Qingshan wasn’t an easy opponent. Concubine Xu had repeatedly warned her to stay away from Ning Qingshan while Ning Qingshan was still in the Lord Protector’s Manor. Thus, while she didn’t like Ning Qingshan, she didn’t dare to provoke her either.

Not even Ning Yuling could do anything about Ning Qingshan! What could a concubine’s daughter like her do?

“Why wouldn’t she know? Did you think she’s stupid or idiotic?” The corner of Ning Xueyan’s mouth curved into a slight smile and her eyes became filled with derision.

Ning Qingshan was surely a restless one. It had just been three days since they met, but Ning Qingshan was already scheming against her and even pushing Ning Lingyun to Prince Yi’s Manor. Ning Qingshan wanted her to lose both her face and husband. This might even draw Prince Yi’s ire, enough to make him kill them both in one fell swoop. It was indeed a smart trick.

As expected of an expert like Ning Qingshan to kill three birds with one stone. Ning Qingshan had also considered Madam Dowager in her plan. Without her, Ning Qingshan would naturally become Madam Dowager’s most favored granddaughter, if only on the surface, and enjoy the so-called happy life that Ning Yuling had once experienced. She would get everything she wanted in the Lord Protector’s Manor.

As always, Ning Qingshan had overestimated herself. She was too conceited and took herself too seriously. It seemed that her identity as the “princess of the previous dynasty” had given her a sense of superiority whether psychologically or behaviorally.

Ning Xueyan’s words weren’t harsh but they were like a bucket of cold water over Ning Lingyun’s head. Ning Lingyun was no fool. Knowing the cause and effect of things, she immediately understood that Ning Qingshan was the mastermind behind everything. When she thought about how she could have entered the Third Prince’s Manor for a life of glory and wealth, only to possibly lose her life in Prince Yi’s Manor, she gritted her teeth.

It was obvious that she would be treated better in the Third Prince’s Manor than in Prince Yi’s Manor. It wasn’t just the difference in their status but their treatment from Madam Dowager as well. Ning Xueyan and Ning Qingshan were both consorts, but Madam Dowager still treated them differently. From this, Ning Lingyun knew that her future with the Third Prince would be brighter while only death awaited her in Prince Yi’s Manor.

She refused to enter Prince Yi’s Manor. She wanted to enter the Third Prince’s Manor. She must...