Sisterly Affection

After washing her face, she sat on a stool in front of the dressing table. Lu Dan took a peach wood comb and styled her hair into twin buns.

Ordinarily, because she was still young, she rarely wore hair ornaments. But today was the Mid-Autumn Festival after all, so she still wore a few pink jasper floral ornaments.

After finishing her dressing, she took a bowl of tremella soup from a young maidservant and drank a few sips, then Xue Qing Ning stood up and walked out.

At this moment, she heard a clear voice outside the door laughing and saying, "Has Fourth Sister not woken up yet? Such a lazybones! I'll go wake her up."

Before Xue Qing Ning could speak, she saw the soft pink silk curtain embroidered with flowers and branches, hanging over the green fabric wardrobe, being lifted. A slightly plump figure rushed into the room aggressively.

Xue Qing Ning saw it clearly and wanted to dodge, but unfortunately, the person's speed was truly too fast. She couldn't dodge in time and was bumped into.

Although Xue Qing Ning had never restricted her diet these past few years, she was still thin; it was just that her face still had a bit of childish plumpness, making her cheeks appear round. At this moment, being bumped by Xue Qing Yun, she couldn't control herself and immediately staggered back several steps.

Fortunately, Lu Dan was not far behind her and quickly ran to support her, allowing Xue Qing Ning to barely regain her footing.

Xue Qing Yun was startled, not expecting to bump into Xue Qing Ning, and quickly ran over to ask, "Fourth Sister, are you alright?"

If Madam Xu found out about this, she would surely blame her, and Xue Qing Yun couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

At this moment, Madam Xu was sitting on a Luohan bed in the main chamber, talking with Concubine Feng. Hearing the commotion in this room, she raised her voice and asked, "What's going on?"

Lu Dan was about to answer, but Xue Qing Ning grabbed her hand, then spoke up herself, "It's nothing, I was walking too fast and almost fell."

She was trying to cover for Xue Qing Yun.

Xue Qing Yun understood, her eyes looking at her gratefully. Xue Qing Ning returned a smile.

Towards this second sister, although she had a fiery temper and often spoke without thinking, Xue Qing Ning still liked her very much. At least she was straightforward and had no malicious intentions, so there were some things she was very willing to cover for her.

Unexpectedly, the scene just now fell into the eyes of another person, none other than Xue Qing Xue.

Xue Qing Xue wore a cherry-red short jacket embroidered with orchids and an ivory-white skirt. Her waist was slender, and her beauty was like a freshly bloomed rose. She was haughty and arrogant, and had always looked down on these two younger sisters. She felt that Xue Qing Yun was fat, dark, and vulgar, while Xue Qing Ning was slow in her actions and only knew how to eat. Ironically, these two were very close and never played with her, their eldest sister.

At this moment, seeing clearly that Xue Qing Yun had bumped into Xue Qing Ning, and when Madam Xu asked, Xue Qing Ning covered for Xue Qing Yun, who then looked grateful, Xue Qing Xue felt uncomfortable. She deliberately wanted to break the appearance of sisterly affection between the two of them.

She withdrew her cold gaze from Xue Qing Ning and Xue Qing Yun, turned her head, and said to Madam Xu, "Mother, Fourth Sister is lying! Just now, Second Sister clearly bumped into Fourth Sister. I even heard Fourth Sister cry out 'ouch' when she was bumped, and I saw Fourth Sister stumble back several steps."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at her, their gazes varied.

Concubine Feng began to feel uneasy and quickly turned to Xue Qing Yun, saying, "How could you bump into Fourth Young Lady? Hurry and apologize to Fourth Young Lady."

She was only worried that Madam Xu would scold Xue Qing Yun, so she wanted Xue Qing Yun to apologize first. Xue Qing Yun let out an "oh" and turned to Xue Qing Ning, intending to apologize.