The Devious First Daughter

271 - 280

Ning Qingshan was unlucky to the extreme!

This time, it was jolly hard luck on her!

After saying goodbye to the Third Prince, she came out in a hurry, for she also knew that she could not stay outside for too long. Or, others would suspect her. But she was knocked to the ground by someone just as she was out of the alley hurriedly. What was worse, she happened to fall into a small puddle. Though the maid quickly went to support her, she still stumbled for a couple of paces and stepped into the puddle when she moved back. Because of this, even the lower hem of her dress got dirty.

But it was too late for her to change the clothes at this time. Thus, she had to wipe the dirty corners of her dress and went straight to Linjiang Restaurant with her maids. But to her great surprise, just when she turned a corner, she saw Ning Zu’an coming with some servants. Ning Zu’an was stunned as he spotted Ning Qingshan before him and then became a little angry. After taking a glance at her, he directly turned around and went back.

Earlier, some servants had come here to report to Ning Zu’an that the other two Young Ladies had returned to Linjiang Restaurant unharmed and were now with Madam Dowager.

“Third Young Lady, what’s going on with you? How did you end up like this?”

Seeing that Ning Qingshan was in such an embarrassing manner, Madam Dowager was first startled and then asked angrily with a sullen face, “Where on earth did you go?”

“Grandmother, someone hit me just now, and there was a puddle behind you. Thus, I accidentally stepped into it and damped my dress.” A little hopelessly, Ning Qingshan replied, feeling aggrieved. She didn’t know why the incident would happen to her when she was going on her perfect plan. Moreover, as she entered Linjiang Restaurant, she felt that others were looking at her with strange looks.

“But why would you get into the alley when nothing bad happened on the street?” In an overbearing manner, Ning Zu’an took the seat. His severe eyes swept across Ning Qingshan’s face, and he asked in a deep voice.

“How did Ning Zu’an know that I crossed the alley to date with the Third Prince secretly?” As Ning Qingshan thought of this, her heart missed a beat. However, she didn’t show her mental activity on her face. Wearing an apologetic smile, she hurriedly said, “Father, I have been staying with my two sisters the whole time. Originally, everything appeared fine. But all of a sudden, my two sisters disappeared. In haste, I had to go to the dark alley to look for them because I was afraid that my sisters might get lost.”

The explanation that Ning Qingshan offered sounded pretty reasonable. However, once people started to suspect someone, it would be very easy for them to doubt about everything that person said. That was how Ning Zu’an felt at this moment. Eyes blazing like torches, he glanced at Ning Qingshan. Then, his eyes slightly wrinkled. Though Ning Zu’an didn’t make detailed inquiries about the facts, there was doubt in his heart.

Just now, when he found Ning Qingshan, he saw a man following behind Ning Qingshan from the distance. However, once the man saw Ning Zu’an rushing to them with some people, he suddenly disappeared into the crowd. At that time, there were many people around, so Ning Zu’an could not keep his eyes on him. Besides, he didn’t see the man’s appearance for that moment, Ning Zu’an only felt that it was a young man.

“Did she really take a fancy to the Minster Xia’s second son, who is merely a concubine’s son? Perhaps, what the housekeeper said is true!”

.....

As Ning Zu’an thought this, he would get a terrible headache. The marriage between Ning Qingshan and the Third Prince was almost a sure thing. At this time, if rumors about Ning Qingshan’s affair with another man came out, the Third Prince would inevitably argue with the Lord Protector’s Manor. Then, his perfect plan, which could benefit his manor both ways, would crash.