Chapter 985 Sisterhood
Ning Caixian and Wang Shengxue hadn’t yet received their prison sentences. They were temporarily detained for further questioning, so they hadn’t been sent to the male and female prisons accordingly.
Coincidentally, Ning Caixian was locked beside Wang Shengxue.
Ning Caixian had put most of the blame on Wang Shengxue, looking innocent as if she didn’t know what had happened. Now that no one was around, she immediately relented, leaning toward Wang Shengxue with tears in her eyes. In silence, she wiped her tears with an extremely aggrieved look. It seemed that she was at a loss what to say.
Wang Shengxue, knitting his brows tightly, looked miserable. He was now too flustered to talk to Ning Caixian.
“How could there be such a big mistake? The maid didn’t die. How could she not die? We ensured the process beforehand that she should repeat these words and jump in a daze. Then what happened next would have nothing to do with me!”
“How did you let people see your face?” The more Wang Shengxue thought about it, the more confused he became. Thus, he couldn’t help but scold.
“I… I don’t know. I was very careful. Who knew that someone would notice me? I…” Hearing his question, Ning Caixian cried out, tears streaming down her face. She looked at Wang Shengxue, her eyes filling with tears. “I should have taken all the responsibility. I didn’t expect to be caught, so I told them the truth in a panic. You… don’t blame me. In the next trial, I will take all the blame on myself!”
“How can you do that?” Wang Shengxue said grumpily.
“I’m going to tell them that I… I had bitter hatred because I loved Childe Yan who didn’t like me but took a fancy to the servant girl! Seeing that they were together, I decided to take my revenge on the servant girl. If I take all the blame… Then you… will be fine!” Ning Caixian cried.
His sincere words were full of affection. Looking at Ning Caixian’s tearful face, Wang Shengxue sighed and relaxed a little. “What’s the use of saying this now? Your confession would be much more useful when said at the beginning!”
“At the beginning? He wants me to take all the blame at the beginning?!” Ning Caixian sneered in her heart, but she still appeared regretful. “I… I was afraid at that time, and I panicked with fear. Whenever they asked anything, I answered honestly without thinking. I’m so sorry, I… Next time, I will insist on saying that everything was done by me and you have no connection with this matter at all!”
Wang Shengxue’s hands reached through the fence between the two temporary cells, and he wiped the tears at the corners of her eyes. “When you’re brought to the trial next time, you can say that. She is merely an insignificant servant girl. With her irrevocable contract of selling herself in your grasp, you can do anything to her. Besides, she is fine in the end. Though you’re not a kind-hearted master, it’s no big deal!”
“Is it really not a big deal?” Ning Caixian was delightedly surprised.
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“Sure, nothing serious. The maid is your property. You have the irrevocable indenture that can prove you have the right to decide her life. More importantly, she’s still alive. But after this, I think you’ll let her go free and compensate her with some money. Oh, don’t be afraid. Money is never a problem because I’ll pay the whole amount for you. After this case ends, I’ll marry you. In the future, we’ll leave the capital and find a beautiful place with green hills and clear waters to live.”
Wang Shengxue coaxed her in a soft voice.
The first time he heard Ning Caixian’s affectionate words, he laughed at her fancy in his heart. However, on second thought, he felt it might be a feasible solution. Once Ning Caixian took all the responsibility, he could soon be set free. What he had said before could be considered invalid. He could tell them that he said all that just to take the blame and to protect Ning Caixian. However, if she took the initiative to confess, he had to admit that he was the innocent one.
“Do you really want to marry me then?” Ning Caixian asked pathetically with tears in her eyes.
“Of course! I want to marry you. I’ve always wanted to marry you!” At this time, Wang Shengxue was certainly willing to make the sweetest promises to her. He even struggled to stretch his hands across the fence and pulled Ning Caixian to him. Tenderly and lovingly, he tucked a loose strand of hair on her forehead behind her ears, his eyes full of affection as if she was his most beloved woman.
“But… but my sister…” Ning Caixian lowered her head to hide the sarcasm and anger in her eyes. “Oh, that’s his perfect plan!”
She made the warmhearted speech with a martyred expression because she wanted Wang Shengxue to take all the responsibilities proactively. Unexpectedly, Wang Shengxue had the same idea as her: he wanted her to hold the sack. But could she do it alone?
Wang Shengxue thought that she didn’t know anything about the case, but it chanced she knew an old maid who met with a similar misfortune to her. When she was in prison back then, the maid was locked next to her cell.
The old maid crippled a servant girl of her. Then when the girl’s family took the old maid to court, she argued in the same way, saying that she held an irrevocable indenture of buying this girl. So, let alone cripple the girl, no one had the right to punish her for her beating the girl to death.
Although the old maid asserted everything eloquently, the irrevocable indenture failed to prove her innocence as evidence. It turned out that after the old maid bought the girl, she would beat and scold her every day. Obviously, she had harbored the evil intention of killing the girl. Otherwise, an ordinary family would not pay several times the money to buy a servant with an irrevocable indenture. She thought she had paid for the girl’s life.
This case had stayed in dispute for a long time. Some said that there was an irrevocable indenture of buying that girl and the girl was still alive. While some others argued that the old maid had plotted against the girl’s life. After a long dispute between the two sides, the old maid was sentenced to exile.
Ning Caixian bought the servant girl about half a year ago. Even though she also had the irrevocable indenture of buying the girl, it hadn’t been long since they signed the indenture. It was true that the girl did not die, but she would get a much heavier punishment than exile. After all, she targeted Childe Yan, who had been a candidate for the Palace Examination in the capital. Once he succeeded, he would be selected as an imperial official.
Ning Caixian didn’t dare to gamble her life on so grave a matter.
Thus, she mustn’t be the one who bore the severe consequence in the end. It had to be Wang Shengxue.
She secretly made the decision but still talked affectionately, “My younger sister is also with you. How… how can I marry you?”
“Don’t worry. In my heart, you’re my wife. From the very beginning till now, you have been the one I care about the most. Xueqing is just my concubine, so she has no say in my decision to get married. When you marry into my family, you can help her to manage the family affairs. It will be excellent when you and your sister marry me together!”
Wang Shengxue comforted Ning Caixian, being more than willing to talk nicely. The affection he showed in his eyes looked much deeper than what Ning Caixian had displayed.
They looked more like a pair of star-crossed lovers who were struggling against an awful fate together. In tears, they gazed into each other’s eyes, hand holding hand, and all their words choked.
Though neither was sincere, the intimate scene and their affectionate words appeared exceedingly poignant and romantic in the bystander’s eyes and ears. Ning Xueqing was so angry that she was trembling all over. She almost lost control when struggling hard to prevent herself from rushing over and beating Ning Caixian up.
“She turns out to be Ning Caixian! I helped this slut and saved her from prison. She promised me she would help me marry Wang Shengxue, but she broke the promise and became his concubine instead.” Thinking of this, Ning Xueqing couldn’t wait to tear Ning Caixian apart. It was Ning Caixian who asked her to help Wang Shengxue.
Ning Caixian said that Wang Shengxue could be grateful for her help. After she did that thing for him, Wang Shengxue would definitely marry her. Unexpectedly, she failed to frame Shao Wanru, Wang Shengxue was rebuked, and Ning Xueqing only became a concubine. Whenever Ning Xueqing thought of all this, she would grit her teeth with hatred. How could she believe Ning Caixian at that time?
If Ning Caixian was capable enough, how could she end up in jail at that time?
After that, Ning Xueqing just ignored Ning Caixian and cut off from her. It had never occurred to her that she would see Ning Caixian here, getting involved with Wang Shengxue! According to their words, Wang Shengxue wanted Ning Caixian to be his wife, but Ning Caixian pretended to care about her feelings. What a shameless couple!
Ning Xueqing twisted the handkerchief in her hand violently and did not move. When her maid saw this, she smartly took another purse and handed it to the jailer who had led the way.
The jailer looked at them and accepted the purse without saying anything, thinking that he might as well watch the fun. The jailer who had just taken over the shift had thought that Ning Caixian and Wang Shengxue were locked up far away. However, it turned out that they were in adjoining cells, which saved him a lot of trouble. It did not matter to him at all whether she saw one woman alone or a couple together. Anyway, he gained some benefits.
Since Ning Xueqing and the others happened to stop at the corner under the dim light, no one in the jail noticed them.
Neither Ning Caixian nor Wang Shengxue noticed them because they were focused on each other. Ning Xueqing, who was standing in the shadow of the corner, was invisible to them.
“You… You have been deeply in love with me… since a long time ago? I… I didn’t know…” Ning Caixian was moved and cried again. She held Wang Shengxue’s hand tightly as if she was grabbing her last chance to survive.
“In fact, I had a crush on you at the start, but at that time, Di Yan was still there, plus Xueqing had been attaching herself to me the whole time. I… It was not that convenient for me to get close to you. Otherwise, Di Yan would never get his chance at that time, and I wouldn’t let you fall into a disgraceful situation at that time. Back then, Xueqing begged me to get you out. When I heard that it was your business, I instantly agreed to offer my help.”
The more Wang Shengxue talked, the better his lie became, and his eyes on Ning Caixian looked more and more affectionate.
“But my sister will be angry!” Ning Caixian said while thinking about strategies.
“Does she have any reason to be angry about you? She’s just a concubine. Does she really think that I will make her my wife? Then what will others think of me? How can I engage in social activities with decent people?” Wang Shengxue said with a straight face.
In the shadow, Ning Xueqing trembled with rage. “They were together long ago! What a couple!”
“I… I will do whatever you tell me to do. I have been with you for a long time. If I don’t marry you, who else can I spend the rest of my life with?” Ning Caixian looked up at Wang Shengxue with deep affection in her beautiful eyes as she cried.
“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I won’t let you down. Xueqing will be happy to be my concubine. You are her elder sister. As a younger sister, she is inferior to you all through her life!” Wang Shengxue nodded carelessly.
However, the last sentence he said became the straw that broke the camel’s back. With a nervous breakdown, Ning Xueqing could no longer bear to overhear and rushed over, barking, “Ning Caixian, shame on you! You hooked up and slept with another man before getting married. How shameless and immoral are you to seduce your brother-in-law!”
While scolding her, Ning Xueqing darted to the cell door and slapped Ning Caixian hard in the face behind the fence…