Chapter 250 Madam Ling Is Triumphant at the News of Ning Xueyan’s Trap (1/2)

Ning Xueyan felt comfortable with the coldness when she spread out the ointment on her wrist.

After the ointment became a little dry, she pulled down her sleeve and stood up with a smile. “Lanning, we should go out to meet people now. If we stay at the backyard on this joyous occasion, the others may think that we did something disgraceful and dare not to show up in public.”

All the maids in the room understood what she was hinting, and they all laughed.

Without any hesitation, they helped Ning Xueyan dress up again. Ning Xueyan asked Xinmei and Qingyu to stay at the courtyard and walked out with Lanning. To her surprise, as soon as she arrived at the courtyard gate, she saw Third Prince and the others coming over. Ning Xueyan could not help frowning. She really did not want to see them.

Therefore, when they told her that they mainly wanted to have a look at the buildings of Bright Frost Garden and by the way ask for a cup of tea here, Ning Xueyan said tactfully that she had to go to the front hall to check if Madam Ling needed help to treat the guests, and she had no time to serve the two princes.

“Then let’s go to the outer courtyard together. Fourth Brother and I were planning to visit the Marquis just now,” Ao Mingyu answered first.

Ao Mingyu said immediately. His smile was still so gentle as usual and what he said sounded reasonable. Since they would pass by the flower hall where the female guests gathered, it was normal that they went the same way as Ning Xueyan.

Fourth Prince and Ning Qingshan immediately agreed with Third Prince. They were all smart and knew that Fourth Prince had said coming to see the building was just an excuse, so nobody mentioned it again.

Third Prince and Fourth Prince were the most distinguished princes among the emperor’s sons, so many people thought that they were very likely to succeed to the throne. Prince Yi, Ao Chenyi, was only the emperor’s younger brother, so the emperor would not willing to have his brother, instead of his son, to be his successor.

Therefore, a few ladies and Young Ladies with sharp eyes were excited at the sight of Third Prince and Fourth Prince coming. They walked out to offer their greetings to the two princes one after another.

The statuses of the ladies and Young Ladies, who sat near the door were not very high, so they would not miss such an opportunity to curry favor with the princes. Besides, if their daughters could show their faces in front of the two princes in advance, they might be pleasantly surprised in the Beauty Contest.

Rather than having their daughters become the concubines of the old emperor, the noble families were more enthusiastic to marry them to the young princes. The young princes represented the future and the opportunity. Therefore, every family wanted to seize this opportunity. Even if their daughters could not be the wedded wives of the princes, it would be okay to become their co-consorts or even concubines. In any case, they could enjoy great honor and wealth in the future.

Seeing the ladies and Young Ladies near the door walking out, the others in the room also followed their suits. Madam Ling and a few distinguished ladies were talking in the innermost part of the room and were surprised when they saw the others going out one by one.

Madam Ling was triumphant because she had just gotten the news that the two princes had been attracted to Orchid Garden and even heard a woman’s scream coming from the room. Madam Ling thought that Ning Xueyan had been caught on spot by the two princes when she was with a man while her clothes were in disarray. Since Ning Xueyan had fallen into her trap, Madam Ling felt utterly relieved.

“Although Ning Xueyan is smart, she is only an inexperienced girl and is no match for me at all!” Thinking about this, she was very proud of herself.

“What? Fifth Young Lady and a man were together in the room with their clothes in disarray? And they were caught by the two princes on spot?” Madam Ling shouted, seemed to be in great shock. She turned around and stared at the maid, who was reporting to her.

The noble ladies around her had been talking excitedly. Now they all turned to her and quieted down at once.

Madam Ling seemed to have realized that she had blurted it out and she shouted at the maid angrily, “Nonsense! How could Fifth Young Lady meet a man privately? There must be some misunderstanding. What the two princes saw… might not be real!”

She spoke this tactfully as if she was defending Ning Xueyan and she deliberately said that Third Prince and Fourth Prince had seen might not be real. If what both the two princes had seen was not real, what could be real? Moreover, she framed Ning Xueyan skillfully by stressing that Ning Xueyan had met that man ‘privately’.

The maid was so scared that she immediately knelt in front of her. “I’m sure it was Fifth Young Lady! I, I dare not lie. Fifth Young Lady is still at Orchid Garden now. Madam, if you don’t trust me, you can have a look in person,” the maid said, panicking.

She trembled, as if she was extremely frightened. Worrying that Madam Ling might misunderstand her, she immediately explained to her in a hurry.

The incident had happened at the inner courtyard and this maid was the one who had swept the ground in the beginning and then led Third Prince and the others to the Orchid Garden. After Third Prince’s guard kicked the door open, she had only glanced into the room and happened to see Ning Ziyan covering the clothes with her hands in panic and from behind her, a terrible scream ringing out.

It was this maid who had led Xia Yudong into the room. Ning Ziyan’s clothes had been in disarray when the others appeared at the door. Therefore, it was impossible for her to prove her innocence.

The maid knew that the outcome was definitely settled, so she did not dare to stay there to see what would happen next and ran out in a hurry to report it to Madam Ling. She did not know that Xia Yuhang stayed at Orchid Garden after the incident.

“Marchioness, you told us that this Fifth Young Lady was even more outstanding than Third Young Lady. I’m surprised that she is so ‘outstanding’!” a noble lady beside her could not help mocking her. She had been a little irritated when Madam Ling was talking about how excellent Third Young Lady and Fifth Young Lady were just now. She did not dare to gossip about Third Young Lady. However, she would not miss the opportunity to gossip about this ‘outstanding’ Fifth Young Lady.