Chapter 608 - Prison, Gradual Descent into Temptation (1/2)

“Yuhang, why don’t I send someone to kill that woman?” Ao Mingyu said coldly.

“Your Highness, the Ministry of Justice is keeping a tight watch on her. It’ll be hard for your men to kill her. Even if they can, we’ll be the immediate suspects. It’s a bad move for us. You’ve only just been promoted; now is the time for you to improve your reputation so we can strategize further.”

Xia Yuhang waved his hand. He still looked gentle and elegant but his brows were tightly knitted.

“What should we do then? That idiotic Ning Qingshan sent my men to kill Xia Yudong. I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but I wasn’t expecting him to have an affair with your concubine or your concubine to expose everything because of him. She even brought up Ning Ziying’s death.”

Ao Mingyu sounded angry. It was all beyond his expectations. He thought it was Ao Chenyi or Ao Mingwan’s doing but upon investigation, everything turned out to be a coincidence, with one matter linking to another. The reason the concubine was forced to leave Xia Manor in the first place was a dispute with a fellow concubine. And now, this was still a matter between two concubines.

In Ao Mingyu’s opinion, these were all trivial matters until that damned woman reported it to the Ministry of Justice. She even aired her grievances right at the door and the officers couldn’t stop her even if they wanted to. Moreover, Ao Chenyi had his men working in the Ministry of Justice so this matter could never be kept under wraps.

“Yuhang, will you get implicated entirely?” Remembering this, Ao Mingyu expressed concern for Xia Yuhang. Xia Yuhang was his main strategist and a loyal subordinate. He didn’t want to lose him over something so trivial.

“Madam Ling is dead and so are most of her attending servants then. I could brush off any responsibility in Ning Ziying’s death in the Lord Protector’s Manor as I was preparing for my marriage at that time. That leaves only Ning Ziyan…”

A flicker of coldness flashed in Xia Yuhang’s eyes. As long as Ning Ziyan said that the matter had nothing to do with him, he could then put all the blame on the Lord Protector’s Manor. They were the ones who spread a rumor about a childhood engagement with Xia Manor. Xia Manor acquiesced because they thought the Lord Protector’s Manor was referring to Ning Ziying.

It was easy to explain the wrong bride on the wedding night, too. He was so drunk that he didn’t realize that his bride had been switched. By the next day, it was too late. He had no choice but to admit his mistake as he couldn’t send Ning Ziyan home. As for Ning Ziying, he could say that he thought that the Lord Protector’s Manor would send her back to their hometown. He didn’t have the time to investigate Ning Ziying’s incident anymore after the reveal of Madam Ming’s incident.

“Are we abandoning Ning Zu’an?” After listening to Xia Yuhang’s explanation, Ao Mingyu picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip with some annoyance. Ning Zu’an had little authority now but his former subordinates were still in the army. Their force was the key to Ao Mingyu’s coup.

“Your Highness, someone has to take the blame for such a huge issue. Madam Ling might be dead but this happened in the Lord Protector’s Manor and they must have something to do with it. Still, Madam Ling was the perpetrator and the Lord Protector’s Manor should plead ignorance as much as possible. Ning Zu’an will lose his position at most, but his household will survive. He’ll still have his former subordinates in the army. You can also marry two wives at the same time, Your Highness. That will give Ning Zu’an some reassurance.”

Xia Yuhang spoke meaningfully as he tapped the table with his fingers. By now, there was a clear answer in his mind.

The biggest problem at the moment was Ning Ziyan, not Chen Hexiang. His engagement with Ning Ziying was real, so it made sense that Chen Hexiang had evidence of it. At that time, Ning Ziying was his legal fiancee. When he took her on an excursion at the Cold Mountain Temple, they had met Chen Hexiang a few times.

Chen Hexiang knew Ning Ziying’s identity then, but the latter didn’t know anything. She had always been an innocent and gentle lady who would never think the worst of people. He felt a stab of pain at the thought of her.

But now wasn’t the time to think about this. No matter what, they must suppress this matter.

“All right, that’s it then.” Ao Mingyu nodded, understanding that this was the best-case scenario for them. Xia Yuhang becoming his subordinate meant that Xia Manor was on his side, and a very useful ally at that. If something were to happen to Xia Manor, he would lose strong support.

In comparison, he could afford to let Ning Zu’an lose power. If he tried his best to please Ning Zu’an in the future, the force in the army could still be his.

Besides, he and Xia Yuhang still had a trick up their sleeve. Ning Qingshan wasn’t completely useless. Using the carrot-and-stick approach on her, she might be able to give them a surprise. That was also why he had to marry her in the first place.

In the prison of the Ministry of Justice, Ning Ziyan sat blankly amid a pile of firewood with her back against the wall. She had been arrested at Xia Manor and imprisoned shortly after Chen Hexiang reported Madam Ling’s crimes. Now that Madam Ling was dead, she was the main defendant, so she had to be locked up.

She had just lost her long-awaited child the day before yesterday, only to be jailed today. She was still groggy over everything.

She had been doing poorly recently, having been demoted from her position as the official wife overnight. Everyone ridiculed and looked down on her, and it nearly drove her mad. Fortunately, she found out that she was pregnant. She carefully protected the child in her womb in hopes of reclaiming what was hers, to the point that she didn’t even care about the death of Madam Ling and Ning Yuling.

She despised Madam Ling. She hated her for sending Ning Yuling, that bitch, to Xia Manor and giving her trouble. That slut should have been killed for causing such a scene on the street at that time. Why did they send her to Xia Manor? Everything that happened afterward made her resent Madam Ling even more.