《The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir》


 Chapter 1

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 001 out of 513 ¨C A Strange Dream (1)


    ¡°I can¡¯t ept this! I can¡¯t! Even as a ghost, I¡¯m going to spend eternity cursing that your rtionship will shatter like ss! Break apart like a pair of mandarin ducks that fly away from each other!¡± The second female lead spat out blood as she faced the sky and shouted.


    ¡°You worthless and malevolent-hearted creature. You conspired to murder my heir and tried to frame Wen Wan. This marquis will bestow three feet of white silk today for you to resolve this issue!¡± The male lead coldly waved his hand.


    ¡°Ah Xuan, don¡¯t do this!¡± The kind-hearted female lead pulled the male lead¡¯s sleeve and piteously entreated, ¡°Don¡¯t kill her!¡±


    ¡°No matter what happens to me, Nie Sangyu, it¡¯s none of your business. I don¡¯t need you to beg for me!¡± The second female raised her face to the sky andughed for a long time while tears streamed down from her face.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t ept this... I can¡¯t...¡±


    This was a ridiculously melodramatic book. If she hadn¡¯t been bored at home during the weekend, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t have browsed through the light novel website on her phone and read this story. But, when she read up to this point, she couldn¡¯t help sighing.


    ording to modern ideas, the second female lead had married the male lead first. The female lead should have been considered the other woman. But, the male lead loved the female lead instead of the second female lead, so the second female lead became the other woman. After many crafty plots by the second female lead, she had been ordered tomit suicide by the male lead.


    Ji Man shook her head and whispered, ¡°This is really destroying the three teachings too much.¡±


    (T/N: The three teachings refer to the philosophies of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.)


    Her eyes felt tired from reading, so she simply turned off her phone¡¯s screen. She didn¡¯t even have to think to know this novel¡¯s ending. After the second female lead was gotten rid of, the male and female lead would have a happily ever after.


    She had found it slightly interesting when the second female lead had been an obstacle in their path. Now that the second female lead was going to die soon, there was nothing left to see.


    Ji Man yawned, turned off the light, pulled up her nket to cover her head, and went to sleep. However, before she fell asleep, she couldn¡¯t help thinking. Wasn¡¯t it also because Nie Sangyu was too stupid?


    ¡°My lord, you¡¯re the only person that I ever loved in this entire lifetime. Whereas you...¡±


    ¡°Her life is a life. Is this consort¡¯s life not a life? Don¡¯t forget. I was once your bride that was carried through the main doors by a pnquin with eight carriers*.¡±


    (T/N: This means that she was married into the household as his legal wife.)


    The character¡¯s lines kept echoing in Jiman¡¯s mind. As Jiman slowly sank into sleep, sheughed at the woman for being so foolish and stupid.


    ¡°I can¡¯t ept this...¡± A voice traveled from the depths of Ji Man¡¯s dream.


    Ji Man slightly furrowed her eyebrows and looked towards the boundless darkness. In a seldom seen calmness, she calmly asked, ¡°So what if you can¡¯t ept this?¡±


    ¡°Help me... help me... I can¡¯t reincarnate with my dream unfulfilled...¡±


    ¡°Why is it any of my business if you can¡¯t reincarnate?¡± Ji Man rolled her eyes.


    The boundless darkness rose up to drown her. Ji Man¡¯s eyes widen. For a moment, it felt as if she had lost her breath. Her head felt like it was spinning. The world changed into a formless mass of chaos. It felt as if she was falling down an unending ck hole.


    Ji Man¡¯sst thought as she lost her consciousness; I¡¯m probably going to have a nightmare.


    <i>¡°At fourteen I became your wife,</i>


    <i>So bashful that I dared not smile,</i>


    <i>But at fifteen I straightened my brows andughed,</i>


    <i>Learning that no dust could ever seal our love,¡±</i>*


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t the poet write what type of feeling I would have at twenty? I see him marrying a new person, but I¡¯m not allowed to cry. Could it be that I must still show a smiling expression?¡±


    The woman¡¯s distressed and bitter cries drifted over from a faraway ce. It drifted to Jiman¡¯s ears as if it had no roots to hold it down.


    ¡°Madam...¡± A timid voice called out. The voice in Jiman¡¯s mind suddenly seemed to return to its original ce. Her vision blurred for a moment, then a bronze mirror appeared in front of her.


    The person in the mirror had a deathly pale face. She was wearing a white robe with wide sleeves and a simple shawl. There were two hairpins that each had pair of small white flowers in her cloud bun hairstyle. The colors were so light that she resembled a fresh corpse.


    Ji Man blinked and the person in the mirror also blinked. The jealously, hatred, and distress that had been on the face was reced with astonishment. When the unpleasant expression was removed, the face became more pleasing.


    ¡°Madam?¡± The nearby servant girl seems to be frightened as she looked at her madam, who had a devil-like expression. She felt as if a cold draft had swept over her back.


    Ji Man nkly turned around. The servant girl that was kneeling on the ground had a <i>luo</i> hairstyle and light green jacket and skirt. Her entire body was trembling.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of a <i>luo</i> hairstyle.)


    ¡°Muxu?¡±


    The young servant girl¡¯s trembling became worse. ¡°This servant is here.¡±


    Ji Man twisted her stiff neck and continued looking at the person in the mirror. She was probably dreaming. The person in the mirror had red lips and white teeth. There was a faint mark between the eyebrows and a pair of long and narrow phoenix eyes that contained malice. This appearance seemed like how the novel had described Nie Sangyu.


    Then, she looked at the servant girl that was kneeling next to her. She remembered that the novel had also said the Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant girl was weak. She was always trembling with fear. Her name was Muxu.


    She could have dreamed about anything. Why did she have to dream that she had be Nie Sangyu?


    Ji Man yawned. She still felt very sleepy. She might as well continue sleeping in this dream. Everything would be fine once she woke up.


    ¡°Madam... Don¡¯t take things too hard. The new madam¡¯s marriage sedan had already arrived at the entrance. You should at least go to the receiving room to see her.¡±


    Just as Ji Man was about to lie down on the bed, Muxu carefully pulled the corner of Nie Sangyu¡¯s robe.


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes nted downwards to look at Muxu. She was only dreaming. Why did she have to be responsible with helping Nie Sangyu deal with the female lead? No way! She still had to go to work tomorrow. She didn¡¯t have that energy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother me. I¡¯m going to sleep.¡±


    *(T/N: These are lines from a poem called <i>A Poem of Changgan</i> by Li Bai, a famous Tang Dynasty poet. If you want to read the rest of the poem, here¡¯s the version that I thought was tranted the best and the one I used for this chapter. https://.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56596/a-poem-of-changgan.


    P.s. This novel has a slow beginning. But, what happens in the beginning chapters will be relevant to the novelter on. It really seems like the author had properly nned out the entire novel and the ending from the very first chapter. You¡¯ll see what I mean when you read the final chapter. Or, even after reading 5-10% of this novel, you¡¯ll start viewing the beginning chapters differently.


    Anyways, hope you will enjoy this novel as much I did.)

 Chapter 2

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 002 out of 513 ¨C A Strange Dream (2)


    Muxu pulled back her hand. Her body trembled for a few moments as she continued kneeling next to the dressing table. She didn¡¯t dare to speak.


    Ji Man happily went to the bed to sleep.


    However, the dream felt too realistic. She even smelled the incense in the room and the soft and warm nket made it easy to fall asleep.


    Just when she was about to dazedly fall asleep, she heard a loud sound. Someone mmed opened the doors and stood at the doorway to shout, ¡°Master Sangyu, the marquis wants you toe to the receiving room. The new madam has already arrived. You can¡¯t avoid this by hiding.¡±


    This voice was really unpleasant to hear. Ji Man forced herself to open her eyes and sat up to see an older servant that was wearing a blue buttoned jacket. She remembered this older servant. She had been sent here the empress to take care of the marquis¡¯s daily life activities. Herst name was Liu.


    Ji Man rubbed her head and in an unhappy tone, she said, ¡°Are there servants like you who shout at their masters?¡±


    Even if she was only dreaming, she wasn¡¯t someone that was easily bullied. Nie Sangyu was a failure as a person. She had just been given white cloth to hang herself* and now someone was treating her badly when she was already in a sorry situation. She could see that Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t enjoy popr support.


    * (T/N: Just in case it¡¯s confusing. The white cloth part is where Ji Man stopped reading the story. She hasn¡¯t realized yet that she¡¯s starting at the beginning of the story.)


    The older female servant froze for a moment in surprise. Then, her furrowed eyebrows showed her disdain as she said, ¡°Master Sangyu, I was only being polite by calling you master and to also show respect that you were once the marquis¡¯s wife. Right now, you¡¯re only a concubine without any status. And you¡¯re still trying to act as if you have your previous status?¡±


    Ji Man narrowed her eyes. She sat on the bed for a while to think things through.


    Nie Sangyu had be a concubine? She vaguely remembered reading this. She had skimmed through half of the book. When the male lead was marrying the female lead, the male lead had demoted her to a concubine because she had been jealous and failed to see therger issue.


    So, why had she woken up as the unlucky second female lead? Ji Man sat there nkly.


    She pinched her thigh. Ouch. Ji Man resolutely became clear-headed. She opened her eyes and looked at the scene in front of her as if she had vaguely figured out some disastrous information.


    She had really transmigrated as Nie Sangyu.


    She stretched her hand out and pped herself to make sure that she really wasn¡¯t dreaming. Ji Man didn¡¯t react for a few minutes, then she closed her eyes and took deep breaths.


    It would have been a better alternative to transmigrate into any other character than this second female lead that was doomed to die. What should she do? Should she kill herself off with a knife so that she could have an earlier ending?


    No, she couldn¡¯t do something so passive and negative. As a modern day career woman, she was willing to tirelessly work like a dog to buy a house, so why couldn¡¯t she do her best to save her life?


    She suddenly heard a voice by her ear say, ¡°Help me... I can¡¯t ept this.¡±


    Ji Man sighed. Nie Sangyu¡¯s deep obsession must have dragged her, the innocent reader, into the story. Heavens, please have pity on me! She had only been read a novel to pass the time!


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t showing any reaction, the older female servant at the doorway couldn¡¯t resist feeling impatient. She called out again, ¡°Master Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°I know. Let my change my clothes. My current clothing isn¡¯t appropriate.¡± Ji Man stood up and did her best to smile at the older female servant. Then, she turned her head and said to young servant girl that was on the floor, ¡°Muxu, stand up and help me change my clothes.¡±


    Did that sound right? Did her words sound like the words that people from ancient times would say? She hadn¡¯t carefully read through that novel. However, it shouldn¡¯t be that hard to mimic the way that people spoke here. Her imitation should be good enough to not expose her secret at least.


    When the young servant girl on the floor heard these words, she raised her head in surprise. But, she didn¡¯t dare to directly look at her. She ran towards a cab to look for clothes right after she stammered out, ¡°Understood.¡±


    Ji Man followed her and swept her gaze across the clothing. House Nie was a wealthy and famous family, so Nie Sangyu was naturally very wealthy. Although her status had been demoted, she still had her extremely gorgeous and fashionable clothing.


    Since the unfathomable thing had already happened, she would act as Nie Sangyu for a while until things went back to normal. Ji Man seriously contemted what she should be doing next to avoid Nie Sangyu¡¯s fate. May the heavens protect her. She was still nning on going back and collecting her year-end bonus!


    T/N: Edited on 6/26/18 to add Cast of Characters. Page has minor spoilers up to most recently tranted chapter. Link for cast of characters can also be found on table of contents page after the summary section.

 Chapter 3

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 003 out of 513 ¨C Since you¡¯re here, you might as well ept it (1)


    ¡°That one is fine.¡± Ji Man pointed at a light green long dress with a yellow bodice that was at the center. It wasbined with a wide white sleeves top.


    Muxu nodded, took out the outfit, and helped her change her clothes. Ji Man looked at the mirror, then she opened Nie Sangyu¡¯s jewelry box and selected two jasper hairpins and a silver flower hairpin. Along with the golden flower mark between her eyebrows, this style of dress and adornment made Nie Sangyu appear more spirited.


    Nie Sangyu was very beautiful. Her lips were crimson even without applying makeup and she looked slightly cute when she was smiling. It was only that her previous attire was truly frightening. If she had gone out meet the new madam while wearing her white clothing, it would seem like she was paying a condolence visit and the male lead would definitely punish her.


    Most of the time, the second female leads¡¯ deaths were a result of their own actions. Ji Man decided that she would be like a tranquil daffodil. She wouldn¡¯t do anything that would provoke a misfortunate death.


    When the doors were open and Liu <i>Mama</i> saw Nie Sangyu, she momentarily lost her senses.


    (T/N: <i>Mama </i>(æÖæÖ) ¨C a form of address for an elderly female servant.)


    Ji Man courteously curtsied at her and said with a smile, ¡°¡°I¡¯ll have to bother <i>mama </i>with leading the way.¡±


    ording to the plot, it was time for the second female lead to appear. The female lead had married into the marquis¡¯s household. As the previous main wife, who had been demoted to a concubine by the marquis, she had to go and respectfully offer tea to the new main wife.


    Liu <i>Mama¡¯</i>s words had been right. The status of a concubine wasn¡¯t high in the marquis¡¯s household. It was only slightly higher than a servant¡¯s status. She should exercise restraint by curbing Nie Sangyu¡¯s previous lofty arrogance.


    ¡°Master Sangyu, please follow me.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> couldn¡¯t resist taking another look at the person in front before turning around and walking towards the front of the residence. Why did Master Sangyu seem as if she had be a different person? She even curtseyed her and properly followed her


    Everyone in marquis¡¯s household knew that Nie Sangyu had an arrogant and willful temperament. She treated the servants like they weren¡¯t people. Relying on her illustrious family background, she treated the honored concubines and ordinary concubines harshly. When she had found out that the marquis was going to marry Miss Wen Wan, she had caused a huge fuss with her crying and threatening tomit suicide. This news almost traveled to the pce. This behavior was absolutely overstepping the bounds of what was proper. As a result, the marquis had demoted her to an ordinary concubine in his anger and locked her up so that she could reflect on her past errors.


    When Liu <i>Mama</i> hade here, she had expected that she wouldn¡¯t be able to bring Nie Sangyu to the main room or that she would have to deal with her crying and causing a huge fuss. Even the marquis had said, ¡°If she really doesn¡¯t want toe her, then keep her locked her up.¡±


    But, the result was that the person behind her couldn¡¯t be more agreeable. She even dressed herself appropriately without any crying or fussing.


    Liu <i>Mama</i> muttered to herself in surprise as she led them directly to the front courtyard.


    The marquis¡¯s residence was very big and had been bestowed by the emperor. The emperor had also conferred a marquis title to Moyu. Moyu¡¯s wedding would naturally be very grand. The court officials and their wives were all standing in the front courtyard. They were smiling and conversing as they waited for the bride.


    ¡°Aiya, did you hear? Nie Sangyu has been locked up.¡± When women were gathered together, there were would always be gossip. A group of madams standing in a corner and looking at the courtyard that was filled with celebratory red started gossiping.


    ¡°I just knew that she wouldn¡¯t have a good ending. She relies on the fact that her paternal aunt is a noble consort. What right does she have for acting so arrogant? Did she really think that Marquis Moyu would tolerate her despotic behavior for the rest of their lives?¡±


    ¡°I heard that Noble Consort Nie has also recently lost favor. Marquis Moyu was probably waiting for this chance to abolish Nie Sangyu¡¯s position as the main wife, so that he could give this highest position to his sweetheart.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that so. Once Miss Wen Wan enters Marquis¡¯s household, let¡¯s see if that woman can still be arrogant. She probably still in her room crying!¡±


    Ji Man repeatedly shook her head as she listened to these words. Nie Sangyu had foolishly antagonized so many people. Even outsiders were hoping that she would have a bad ending. It wasn¡¯t surprising that she had been easily destroyed by the female lead.


    The madams had been chatting andughing, but they let out screams of fright when they inadvertently turned around and saw her.


    Ji Man blinked. She picked up a piece of fried pancake from a table and stuffed it into her mouth. She pretended that she was only passing by and continued walked towards the inner part of the courtyard.


    Liu <i>Mama</i> turned around to look at her again. Seeing that she wasn¡¯t showing any overreaction, Liu <i>Mama</i>¡¯s attitude significantly eased up. ¡°The marquis is at the entrance with the new madam. Master Sangyu, you should go inside to greet the honored concubines.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man nodded. She left Muxu outside of the main room. She picked up her skirt and went inside by herself. She sneakily surveyed the four people inside the main room and saluted the two people who were wearing more dazzling head ornaments. ¡°Greetings to the honored concubines.¡±


    She had read in the book that Marquis Moyu had two honored concubines, two ordinary concubines ¨C oh no, that¡¯s wrong, he had three ordinary concubines including her ¨C and numerous bed servants. This person could truly be considered a Casanova.

 Chapter 4

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 004 out of 513 ¨C Since you¡¯re here, you might as well ept it (2)


    The room was silent for a while. The two honored concubines didn¡¯t speak. Instead, a woman that was wearing a purple and yellow long dress and farthest on the left side spoke first, ¡°Oh, even older sister has a day where she has to salute to us. I wouldn¡¯t have expected this to happen even if I was dreaming.¡±


    Ji Man nced at her. This woman was so conspicuous. She had the same lowly concubine status as her and she was also originally from a brothel, but she dared to speak without waiting for the honored concubines. What was her name? Mu Shuqing?


    Mu Shuqing was given to Marquis Moyu by the crown prince, so she had a strong supporter and her conduct was slightly more brazen. Anyways, the other women couldn¡¯t do anything to her. Ji Man remembered that this woman and Nie Sangyu were as ipatible as fire and water. Whenever one of them saw the other person, they would inevitably snap at each other like dogs.


    With Mu Shuiqing taking the initiative, the rest of the women didn¡¯t say anything. The two honored concubines also didn¡¯t signal for her to rise from her salute. Ji Man could only make the decision to straighten up.


    Then, she nced at Mu Shuqing and said, ¡°Younger sister, those words are faulty. The wheel of fortune is always changing. Who won¡¯t have a day when they need to lower their head? If it¡¯s time to lower your head, then you should do so. Right now, the honored concubines have a higher status than me. It couldn¡¯t be more normal for me to salute them in greeting. There¡¯s no need to be surprised.¡±


    When she heard these words, Honored Concubine Ling was surprised. ¡°You¡¯ve really shown progress. Did you really think things through just because the marquis locked you up for a few days?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She was a person that had already foreseen her ending. How could she not think things through?


    ¡°This is good thing.¡± Honored Concubine Xue lightly coughed. She used a handkerchief to cover her mouth and said, ¡°Today is the marquis¡¯s wedding day and our household will be weing another madam. It¡¯s for the best that you can let go of the past. Come over here and wait with us.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She looked left and right and saw that she could only stand next to Mu Shuiqing.


    If she were the real Nie Sangyu, who had to serve tea to her man¡¯s new lover after being demoted from the main wife to a concubine, it would have been justifiable for her to resort to violence because of emotional distress. Fortunately, she was Ji Man. She didn¡¯t have any feelings toward the current situation. These women were much easier to deal with than clients at work.


    The room was silent again. Ji Man looked around. The main room was empty except for them. Compared to the lively sounds of gongs and drums outside, it was extremely quiet inside. The mood even seemed slightly sad.


    When she thought about it, she could understand. This entire room was filled with Marquis Moyu¡¯s women. How can a woman be happy watching her man getting married?


    They had already been standing here for a long time and Ji Man was ovee with boredom when the lively sounds from outside finally entered the room. Ji Man raised her head and saw a woman that was escorted inside by the crowd. The woman seemed haloed in golden light.


    Of course, this definitely wasn¡¯t the bride. From the nine phoenixes that were embroidered on her dress, she was probably the empress. The old madam wasn¡¯t here and Marquis Moyu¡¯s father had prematurely died on a battlefield. Since there weren¡¯t any elders, the empress hade here to be the guest performer to convey friendly feelings.


    Ji Man¡¯s didn¡¯t like the empress at first sight. This woman seemed lifeless without even a hint of a smile. No wonder the emperor still didn¡¯t favor her even thought she given birth to the crown prince.


    The women kneeled down to pay their respects to the empress, so Ji Man followed them in kneeling. The empress said conventional words to them. The general idea was that they had worked hard in serving the marquis. Now that a new wife hade, they had to get along with her. It would be disadvantageous if they didn¡¯t.


    The group of women said they understood in unison. Ji Man followed the other women with standing up and walking to the side without making the slightest mistake.


    However, when she inadvertently looked up, her eyes met the empress¡¯s slightly cold gaze.


    Ji Man felt a cool breeze sweeping down her back. She hastily lowered her head. Oh my god, had Nie Sangyu even offended the empress? The author had used her pen to mostly write about the male lead and female lead, so Ji Man really didn¡¯t know what Nie Sangyu had done in the past. Now that she had been brought over here a scapegoat, this was really too cruel!


    ¡°The bride is entering, lift the skirt, ssh the good fortune water, pull the knotted red ribbon...¡±


    The empress finally looked away from her and towards the entrance when an older female servant called out from outside.


    Ji Man secretly raised her head to take a look.


    Ning Yuxuan was wearing a crimson robe. He maintained a serious expression as his face was sshed with good fortune water. But, he couldn¡¯t hide the joy in his eyes that stealthily went from the corners of his eyes to the tip of his eyebrows.


    The book had said he was an iparable gentleman with an appearance that resembled a celestial being with the attractiveness of jade. It had sounded too abstract. Ji Man carefully looked him over. Marquis Moyu was worthy of his reputation. He had been born with a good appearance. He had a figure that looked as if it was drawn with a knife and peach blossom eyes. Combined with his habitually solemn expression, he was truly enticing in his asceticism.


    His eyes seemed like clear water that reflected the waves of sunlight. However, when his gaze met hers, the clear water froze into ice. Ji Man raised an eyebrow. She was already conscientiously and obediently waiting here to offer tea. Why did he still look as if he loathed her?

 Chapter 5

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 005 out of 513 ¨C When the bell tolls, you must kneel


    The ceremonial official started the ceremony. Marquis Moyu had only nced at her as he entered the room. In the end, his gaze moved to the bride that had her head covered by a veil and his eyes returned to gentle warmth.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help quietly think that about the disparity in treatment. No wonder Nie Sangyu had been driven to be like a lunatic. Look at the slender and elegant bride that was standing over there. She wore an exceptionally borate crimson wedding dress. Many women must have worked quickly to finish the embroidery on this dress in time for the wedding.


    Sitting on a higher level, the empress looked at this pair of newlyweds. Her face eased significantly. It seemed as if she was very satisfied with this marriage.


    The bride, Wen Wan, was born in a small, ordinary family. Before the second female lead was introduced in the novel, Wen Wan had already experienced a period of joint trial and tribtions with Marquis Mo Yu. Now, they were entering the part of the story where there would be conflict among the women in the rear court. From an objective point of view, she was now the second female lead that would advance the development between the male lead and the female lead. From this point forward, she would y a supporting role in the novel¡¯s ups and downs.


    Having determined the correct position for herself, Ji Man didn¡¯t have anything to worry about. Nie Sangyu had been ordered tomit suicide in the end because she had harmed other people. Since she didn¡¯t have the leisurely mind to scheme any plots, she should be able to keep her life.


    After thest step of the ceremony was over, the empress grandly returned to the pce.


    Marquis Moyu led Wen Wan over to the head seating to sit down and she started to ept the concubines¡¯ ceremonial offerings.


    This dynasty¡¯s hierarchy was very harsh. You weren¡¯t allowed to offend your superiors and you always had to greet them in ordance to ustom. Even the Noble Consort Nie, who had once been very favored in the pce, had to greet the empress in ordance to customs. As the lowest level concubine, Ji Man had already prepared herself for rubbing her knees when she went back to her room.


    As honored concubines, Qi Siling and Qian Lianxue had slightly higher statuses in the marquis¡¯s residence. They were the first ones to kneel down in front of Wen Wan and offer cups of tea. As they lifted the cups of tea above their heads, they respectfully called Wen Wan, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Wen Wan magnanimously epted the cups and drank tea, but she didn¡¯t say a word.


    After that, it was the ordinary concubines turn to perform their part in the ceremony. First, they had to offer tea to the honored concubines. Then, they offered tea to Wen Wan. Ji Man obediently took the teacup a servant girl handed to her and felt a cold gazend on her body.


    ¡°This servant, Shuiqing, offers tea to Master Lianxue and Master Siling.¡±


    ¡°This servant, Hanyu, offers tea to Master Lianxue and Master Siling.¡±


    One after another, the other two concubines kneeled down to respectfully offer tea.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but she felt as if all of the guests and that man¡¯s gaze were all focused on her.


    What was there to see? Wasn¡¯t she just offering tea? Ji Man copied the movements of the previous two concubines and kneeled down in front of the two honored concubines, ¡°This servant, Sangyu, offers tea to Master Lianxue and Master Siling.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows twitched. He hadn¡¯t expected that she would actually be able to calmly kneel. His gaze became slightlyplicated.


    The guests also started whispering. They were shocked that the arrogant Nie Sangyu would actually offer tea to the honored concubines.


    ¡°You may rise.¡± Qi Siling gently smiled and stretched her hand out to help her up.


    Ji Man stood up.


    Mu Shuiqing was also looking at her in surprise. The surprise changed into disdain. Nie Sangyu must have received an expert¡¯s advice in order to be so sensible. However, she wouldn¡¯t allow this vicious woman to climb back over their heads in the future.


    Although the new madam¡¯s humble family background made her unworthy to be a marquis¡¯s wife, this was exactly the reason why the female was able to evoke a different type of feeling from the marquis. If Nie Sangyu wanted to be favored just by relying on Noble Consort Nie¡¯s status, then that was merely wishful thinking!


    After she offered the second cup of tea, Ji Manforted herself with these thoughts. Then, she saluted the new madam that was sitting on the head seating.


    ¡°I hate her... hate her so much...¡±


    Ji Man had originally thought she wouldn¡¯t hear that voice again. She froze for a moment and her gaze fell on Wen Wan¡¯s skirt that was embroidered with a pair of birds flying together. What could she do to make Nie Sangyu let go of her deep hatred? It wasn¡¯t pleasant to hear such a anguished background sound in this joyful bright red room.


    ¡°This servant offers tea to madam.¡± While she had been distracted, the two concubines in front of her had already offered tea. When Ji Man returned to her senses, she also hurriedly went up to offer tea.


    Before Wen Wan reached her hand out to take the cup, she carefully examined her from top to bottom, ¡°Are you Nie Sang Yu?¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment in surprise, then she nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°I heard that you came to this household the earliest. If Wen Wan doesn¡¯t know something in the future, I¡¯ll have to ask you for your guidance.¡±


    The female lead was worthy of being called the female lead. How could a concubine give advice to a marquis¡¯s wife? Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t dare to offer any suggestions. If madam has any orders, this servant will do them.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his eyebrows and couldn¡¯t resist looking at Nie Sangyu again. Less than a month had passed. What exactly had happened to make Nie Sangyu, that shrew-like woman, change into someone that was quiet and obedient?


    Liu <i>Mama</i> had been keeping a close watch over her this entire time and had reported that nothing strange had happened during this time. But now, her behavior was like this. Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t believe his eyes. If it wasn¡¯t because of the current asion, he really wanted to peel off Nie Sangyu¡¯s face to see what demon was lurking underneath it.


    Wen Wan nodded and didn¡¯t say another word. She reached her hand out to ept the cup. Just as Ji Man was going to stand up, her knees suddenly hurt and her body started to fall down towards Wen Wan.

 Chapter 6

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 006 out of 513 ¨C The ending can¡¯t be changed


    Chapter 006 ¨C The ending can¡¯t be changed


    The scalding tea was spilled onto the new madam and the tea also scalded Ji Man¡¯s hand. Someone nearby screamed and the main room suddenly became a chaotic mess.


    Wen Wan was ovee with shock for a moment. When she returned to her senses and saw the chaotic scene, she hurriedly said clever words, ¡°It¡¯s fine. It was only an ident. There¡¯s no need to be this anxious. It¡¯s only a cup of tea. My dress is very thick.¡±


    Ji Man clutched her left hand and stood at the side. She thought, I haven¡¯t done anything to hurt other people, but other people want to hurt me. She hadn¡¯t done anything at all. Why did her knees suddenly feel painful?


    She cast a nce at the women near her. Everyone looked tense and was trying their best to remain calm. She couldn¡¯t tell who done that trick or how she had done it. Ji Man felt that she had really underestimated the intelligence people from ancient times.


    There were nobles amount the guests, so Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t explode in anger. He could only coldly look at Ji Man and have the matron of honor bring the bride to the bridal chamber.


    Ji Man summoned her courage and stood up. She knew that Marquis Moyu would definitely settle scores once there was opportune moment. She had already obediently changed Nie Sangyu¡¯s temperament and the plot had changed, so why was the result still the same? Nie Sangyu would still continue to be confined.


    She sighed. She could only ept her fate. As long as her life wasn¡¯t at risk, she might as well take things less seriously. Besides, her head was still on the chopping block, regardless if she stretched her head out or shrunk it back.


    After the ceremony was over, the concubines were led back by servant girls. Under the eyes of everyone, Ji Man lightly smiled and held Muxu¡¯s arm for support as she walked back the confinement courtyard.


    ¡°Master...¡± Muxu had mostly heard what had happened while she was standing outside, so she called out in worry. But, she didn¡¯t dare to say anything else.


    Ji Man tilted her head and smiled at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Nothing bad will happen. In any case, my family has significant influence. He¡¯s already done the worst thing by demoting me to a concubine. At most, he¡¯ll continue to confine me. He won¡¯t do anything else.¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s family was exceptional. Her father was a third-rank general and her paternal aunt was a noble consort. She also had a cousin that was an imperial physician and an older brother was a medium-rank military officer. It was exactly because of these background supporters that Marquis Moyu had tolerated Nie Sangyu¡¯s actions for so long.


    Because Marquis Moyu had recently wanted to marry Wen Wan, Nie Sangyu had caused her own ruined through her recklessness. She had charged into the pce and caused a huge disturbance. The emperor had angrily rebuked Nie Sangyu. And, her actions had even led Noble Consort Nie to lose favor with the emperor. This was how Marquis Moyu was able to demote her to a concubine status.


    Ji Man felt that Marquis Moyu was the archetype of an ungrateful person that failed to be loyal to his lover. Nie Sangyu had been hiswfully wedded wife. After he had angered her to the point of her losing her sense of propriety, he had casually taken away her position as the main wife. Marquis Moyu was probably secretly overjoyed.


    Even thought Ji Man didn¡¯t know if Nie Sangyu would be able to hear her thoughts, she still chided her. Look at this person that you had fallen in love with. You can¡¯t just fall in love with a man by only looking at his appearance!


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    After staying in the room for a while and seeing that sky had darkened, Ji Man rubbed her stomach and asked, ¡°Muxu, what¡¯s for dinner?¡±


    Muxu had been standing at the doorway. Hearing these words, she half-stumbled and half-ran into the room and whispered, ¡°This servant recently went to the kitchen to ask. The marquis had said... There was a happy asion in the residence today, so there can be dishes added to dinner. But, there won¡¯t be any food sent here tonight... Master, you have to continue staying here for another month... Your future meals.... Your future meals will be the same as this servants.¡± Her voice became quieter and quieter. By the time she reached thest of these words, Muxu was almost crying and her body kept trembling.


    Ji Man looked at her and couldn¡¯t resist wondering how often Nie Sangyu had mistreated this servant girl. Why was Muxu so scared?


    Ji Man quietly said, ¡°He¡¯ll give out sweets during a wedding, but he won¡¯t even give me rice to eat. So stingy.¡± Then, she pinched Muxu¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Stop trembling. I won¡¯t hit you. It¡¯s fine. If there¡¯s no dinner, there¡¯s no dinner. I can ept this, just get my breakfaster earlier tomorrow. I¡¯m not picky.¡±


    rmed, Muxu lifted her head and nced at her. Then, she nodded and ran out of the room at lightning speed.


    Marquis Moyu had continued to confine her without asking a single question. He probably hated Nie Sangyu to the bone. Ji Man wasn¡¯t inclined to bother herself with this issue either. It wasn¡¯t possible for her to change everyone¡¯s opinion of her in a single day. She could only slowly change their perceptions.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    ¡°What did she say?¡± Marquis Moyu was standing outside of the bridal chamber and asking Liu <i>Mama</i>.


    In a mystified voice, Liu <i>Mama</i> said, ¡°Master Sangyu didn¡¯t cry or fuss. She only said that the marquis was stingy for not giving her rice to eat, then she went to sleep.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. After considering for a moment, he shook his head and said, ¡°Continue watching her.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    No matter how strange Nie Sangyu acted, it wouldn¡¯t elicit his interest. Today was his and Wen Wan¡¯s wedding day. In the future, he wouldn¡¯t allow anyone in the residence bully Wen Wan.


    In the dead of the night, Ji Man was so hungry that she woke up. After rolling around the bed for a long time, she finally got up, went the outer room, shook Muxu awake, and quietly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the kitchen?¡±


    Muxu was probably feeling very sleepy. She drowsily pointed out the direction for her before falling back to sleep again.


    Ji Man sneakily opened the doors and looked around. There wasn¡¯t anyone outside. The confinement was entirely self-enforcement. No one should be watching over her... right?


    She quietly walked out of the courtyard and walked in the direction that Muxu had pointed towards. In front of her, there were only buildings and gardens. She couldn¡¯t tell which building was the kitchen. After searching for an hour, she finally saw a wooden sign with the words ¡°gourmet food¡± written on it. Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. Seeing the locked gate, she decisively climbed over the wall.

 Chapter 7

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 007 out of 513 ¨C A chicken-stealing concubine


    Chapter 007 ¨C A chicken-stealing concubine


    After the wedding night event, Ning Yuxuan gently kissed Wen Wan¡¯s lips. He awkwardly and seriously said, ¡°You¡¯re my person.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s cheeks turned red. She red at him for a moment before she said, ¡°Don¡¯t think that I can¡¯t do anything to you just because you¡¯re a marquis. If you fall in love with another person in the future, I¡¯ll leave!¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled. He grabbed her hand and ced it on his chest. ¡°I have you. How could I fall in love with another person? In this entire residence, you¡¯re the only person in my heart. Do you believe me?¡±


    Wen Wan cast an admonishing nce at him. Then, she obediently lied down in his embrace. There were so many women in the marquis¡¯s residence. Starting from tomorrow, she had to be a person that was worth of being the marquis¡¯s wife. Although her family background wasn¡¯t good, she wasn¡¯t afraid. It would be fine as long as Yuxuan¡¯s heart belonged to her.


    ¡°Go to sleep.¡± Ning Yuxuan kissed her forehead.


    Wen Wan nodded. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she suddenly heard a racketing from outside.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Jolted by surprise, Marquis Moyu turned over and sat up. He put on clothes and opened the doors. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Guibai nced in the direction of the kitchen and quietly said, ¡°To respond to the marquis, the kitchen caught on fire. The servants are all working to put out the fire, but the ce is far from Qiang Wei Courtyard. You can continue to sleep peacefully.¡±


    Kitchen? Ning Yuxuan furrowed his eyebrows, ¡°Everything had been fine before. Why did it catch on fire? Send people to investigate. Don¡¯t bother the new madam with this matter. It¡¯s the wedding night.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Guibai sent a servant boy to ask about the situation.


    ¡ª


    Muxu had truly been sleeping very well when Liu <i>Mama</i> woke her up to help with putting out the fire. Liu <i>Mama</i> had originally been deeply asleep and didn¡¯t pay attention to where Ji Man had gone. After she woke up Muxu, they left the confinement courtyard. This courtyard was the closest to the kitchen.


    Somehow the dry kindle in the kitchen had caught on fire and a spark from this fire hadnded on arge, nearby oil container. This situation had almost led to a catastrophe. The servants had used sand to extinguish the fire and examined the kitchen¡¯s every corner. But, the kitchen¡¯s chef, Aunty Li, said that she was missing a plucked chicken and two lotus leaves. The spices had also been moved around and the leftover rice in the wooden bucket was also missing.


    Who had been awake in the middle of the night and had gone to the kitchen to steal food? And had also caused the kitchen to catch on fire? The residence¡¯s steward immediately sent people to investigate. All the servants in the various courtyards were woken up and their sleeping ces were all searched. But, they weren¡¯t able to find the missing chicken.


    After half a night of disturbance, the steward decided to wait until tomorrow morning and leave the matter for the new madam to deal with. For now, he dismissed the servants so they could go back to sleep.


    Exhausted, Muxu returned the confinement courtyard. After she closed the doors, she saw her master sitting on her bed with glittering eyes.


    Startled, she retreated backwards out of habit. ¡°Was master woken up by the noise?¡±


    Ji Man sly shook her head. Seeing that Muxu had closed the doors, she curved her fingers towards her to gesture at her, ¡°Come here.¡±


    Muxu slowly walked over. She carefully looked her over, ¡°Master?¡±


    Ji Man asked, ¡°Are you hungry?¡±


    Muxu looked at her in surprised for moment. She didn¡¯t expect that she would suddenly ask this question. ¡°N-Not hungry.¡±


    Although her mouth said these words, how could she not be hungry? Staying in the confinement courtyard, she didn¡¯t have enough to eat every day. Her stomach growled and revealed her lie.


    Ji Man sighed. This young girl¡¯s life had been rather pitiful as Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant. Right now, she resembled a chicken that had been sshed with water.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and took out the item she had hidden in the bed. She gestured for Muxu to be quiet, then she pulled her towards the wooden table in the center of the room.


    The item was wrapped with tworge lotus leaves. The fragrant scent floated out as soon as the leaves were open.


    Muxu¡¯s eyes were wide open from surprise. ¡°R-Roasted chicken?¡±


    Master had been the one that stole the kitchen¡¯s missing chicken!


    ¡°This isn¡¯t roasted chicken. It¡¯s lotus leaf chicken.¡± In an extremely pleased and triumphant tone, Ji Man said, ¡°First, I cleaned the chicken. Then, I rubbed salt on the chicken, stuffed spices and cooked rice into the chicken¡¯s cavity, wrapped it in lotus leaves, and covered it in mud. It was done after I threw it in a fire for a while!¡±


    (T/N: Below is a picture of Beggar¡¯s chicken.)


    Muxu was speechless. She was Nie Sangyu¡¯s dowry servant girl. Howe she didn¡¯t know that her master had this skill?


    Muxu did her best to swallow her saliva and whispered, ¡°Master, stealing things... There will be a punishment.¡±


    Ji Man took out themonly used eating utensils from a cab and untied the string wrapped around the chicken¡¯s stomach. She rolled her eyes and said, ¡°How will they know that the chicken was stolen by me? Anyways, I¡¯m Marquis Moyu¡¯s concubine. Even if they find out that I stole a chicken to eat, he¡¯s the one who¡¯s reputation will be damaged if other people know about this news. So, even if he knows, he won¡¯t publicly me me.¡±


    The smell of the rice mixed with the spices and the chicken smelled really fragrant. Muxu nced at Ji Man several times. She felt that her master had suddenly be much smarter.


    However, she was also very hungry. After hesitating for a long time, she finally mustered up her courage and opened her mouth to say, ¡°Master, could you... leave behind the bones for this servant. This servant won¡¯t eat the meat. Just the bones would be fine...¡±


    Feeling sad after hearing the girl¡¯s words, Ji Man poured some of the rice into a bowl and split the chicken in half. She pushed the remaining half of the chicken and rice in front of Muxu. ¡°You¡¯re a person, not a dog. Why would you gnaw at bones? I couldn¡¯t possible finish an entire chicken by myself. We can each have half. Eat it quickly so that other people won¡¯t find out.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s eyes widen. Feeling happy, she still carefully looked at her and asked, ¡°I can eat all of it?¡±


    Ji Man showed a serious expression and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to eat it, next time, I¡¯ll only bring half a chicken back and let you stay hungry!¡±

 Chapter 8

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 008 out of 513 ¨C Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish


    Scared, Muxu trembled. She hastily wrapped up the lotus leaf and went to sit in the outer room¡¯s couch. She ate the chicken and rice, tiny bite by tiny bite. As she ate, she turned her head to scrutinize Nie Sangyu.


    Her master voraciously ate her food without the slightest hint of table manners. There was even rice sticking on her face as one hand held a chicken leg. She really resembled a bandit. Noticing Muxu¡¯s gaze, she lifted her head and looked at her like a fiendish spirit, ¡°Eat your food!¡±


    Muxu shuddered. She hastily lowered her head and didn¡¯t dare to continue looking. Perhaps, it was her misperception, but she felt as if her master was gentler than before. But, when she behaved fiercely, her gaze was exactly the same as before.


    After Ji Man finished the chicken and rice, she started feeling more satisfied with her current situation. She left the aftermath of the meal to Muxu to clean and went back to sleeping.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Ji Man unexpectedly dreamed of Nie Sangyu on her first night in this unfamiliar world.


    This pitiful and hateful woman with her deathly pale face floated by in her dream. She quietly said, ¡°You came here to fulfill my wish for me. When you fulfill my wish, I¡¯ll leave to be reincarnated and you can go back.¡±


    Ji Man really wanted to kick her far away. Stupid second female lead. She had caused her own death and now, she wanted her to change the novel¡¯s ending?


    ¡°What benefit do I get if I help you?¡±


    Nie Sangyu nkly looked at her and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t help me, you won¡¯t be able to go back.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    So, the meaning was that she had been snatched here to do free work. If she didn¡¯t aplish her task, she wouldn¡¯t be able to return to her wonderful modern world and would have to continue staying here?


    She took a deep breath, then she took another deep breath. Ji Man decided that a person couldn¡¯t bicker with a ghost. She could only press down her anger and ask her, ¡°What¡¯s your wish?¡±


    Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t say a word. She turned around and her figure gradually faded away.


    She left?


    Ji Man was bbergasted. She shouldn¡¯t be messing around like this, right? If Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t say her wish, how could she fulfill it?


    When Ji Man woke up the next morning, there were two ck circles under her eyes.


    She was sitting at the table when Muxu brought a bowl of porridge and a pickled vegetable dish. Then, she closed the doors, and quietly said, ¡°Master, the marquis has ordered for you to stay in the confinement courtyard for now, so you don¡¯t need to pay respect to the new madam.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. If she didn¡¯t have to pay respects, it would save her trouble. She hadn¡¯t figure out who had harmed her on the wedding day yet. She would definitely be at a disadvantage if she went over there without knowing anything.


    ¡°This is breakfast?¡± She lowered her head to look at the porridge in the bowl. It was such a small bowl. It didn¡¯t even look like there was enough to fill the gap between teeth. Fortunately, she had stolen a chicken yesterday.


    Muxu lowered her head in shame. ¡°They said this servant hade toote. Only this was left... Master, please bear with it and eat it.¡±


    Ji Man actually wasn¡¯t hungry. She waved her hand and said, ¡°You can eat it. I¡¯m too full from yesterday. Since I¡¯ll be staying inside doing nothing, I won¡¯t be hungry for a while.¡±


    Muxu turned her head to look at things piled in a corner and quietly said, ¡°Master, you haven¡¯t finished your embroidery yet. That will take energy. You should at least eat a little bit. This servant will go to the kitchen at noon and wait. I¡¯ll bring more food for lunch.¡±


    Embroidery? Ji Man was at a loss. ¡°What embroidery?¡±


    ¡°The marquis has ordered that while you¡¯re in the confinement courtyard, you need to finish embroidering two hundred handkerchiefs. They¡¯ll be used by the people in the residence.¡±


    Ji Man swatted her head and remembered. This Nie Sangyu only had one skill: unique embroidery. The things she embroidered were vivid and lifelike and she had even received the emperor¡¯s praise once. As it turns out, Marquis Moyu was turning waste into profit. Wouldn¡¯t this count as forcedbor?


    ¡°How many have I embroidered?¡±


    Muxy honestly replied, ¡°To respond to master, you haven¡¯t even embroidered one. Didn¡¯t you say before that no one in the residence to deserve to use a handkerchief embroidered by you? So, they¡¯ve been put to the side...¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched, ¡°What will happen if I don¡¯t embroider?¡±


    Muxu looked at her strangely. ¡°Liu <i>Mama</i> saidst time that if you don¡¯t embroider, then you¡¯re only allowed to eat breakfast and lunch. You won¡¯t be served anything for dinner.¡±


    In the previous month, Nie Sangyu would rather be beaten to death then embroider handkerchiefs. The quality of the food had also been too poor, so she didn¡¯t eat either. She spent every day endlessly wailing and weeping and had starved herself to only skin and bones.


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. If you can earn a meal, why not do it?


    But, there was a problem. She didn¡¯t know how to embroider.


    Muxu saw that she kept staring at the embroidery frame and other tools that were in the corner, so she went over there and brought the items over. There were two hundred white and clean handkerchiefs without any embroidery inside the bup bag. There was also arge pile of different color threads and a pincushion with numerous needles.


    Muxu put a handkerchief into the embroidery frame. Seeing her master experimentally pick up an embroidery needle, she looked at her with slight surprise and asked, ¡°Master, are you going to embroider?¡±


    ¡°Eh...¡± While Ji Man was still pondering on how to embroider, her hand suddenly started to move and skillfullypleted the first stitch. As the excellent stitches continued, the outline of a mandarin duck¡¯s head appeared.


    The hand was still hers and it was her strength that was being used. She could also stop when she wanted to, but Ji Man discovered that this hand had an innate ability embroider.


    Or, she could also exin it as Nie Sangyu still being in this body and this body had an instinctive response to embroidering.


    Nie Sangyu, who was unyielding towards Ning Yuxuan and who would prefer to starve to death than embroider, why was she willing to help her right now? Ji Man found this slightly inconceivable. But, this was great. If she obediently embroidered handkerchiefs, then she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about going hungry!

 Chapter 9

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 009 out of 513 ¨C Living is the top priority


    Ancient embroidery was really a high-level art. A small mandarin duck design required stitching back and forth for fiveyers. Although the skill was Nie Sangyu¡¯s, Ji Man also felt very tired. Her head felt woozy and her eyes felt blurry after only embroidering two handkerchiefs. When she raised her head to look outside, it was almost noon.


    Sure enough, her stomach started growling, but Muxu hadn¡¯te back yet. Ji Man put down the embroidery frame and stood at the doorway for a while. The smell of food from the kitchen had already drifted over here.


    She had given her breakfast to Muxu. Compared to Nie Sangyu¡¯s adolescent chicken-like body, Muxu looked even more pitifully thin. She didn¡¯t seem like a servant girl from a noble family at all. She didn¡¯t know if Muxu had been this thin in the past or if she had be thin from starving during the previous month.


    ¡°Master...¡± Muxu finally came back. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Ji Man standing in the doorway. Compared to the previous days, she wasn¡¯t as afraid of her and properly came over while holding a food box. ¡°This servant has brought back lunch.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and went inside to sit back down at the table.


    As Muxu took out the meal, she said, ¡°This servant seems to have gone toote again. This servant waited at the kitchen¡¯s entrance for a long time, but Aunty Zhao wouldn¡¯t let this servant enter the kitchen. By the time she allowed this servant to enter, only this was left.¡±


    A bowl of rice, a small te of Chinese cabbage, and a small te of green beans. She didn¡¯t even see any shredded meat with the green beans. Ji Man slightly raised her eyebrow, ¡°Is the marquis¡¯s residence this poor?¡±


    However, Muxu didn¡¯t seem disappointed. She turned around, closed the doors, and took something out from the chest underneath the couch.


    ¡°This servant knows that master won¡¯t eat a meal without meat. This servant tore yesterday¡¯s chicken into two portions. This servant hasn¡¯t touched this leftover portion at all. It¡¯s very clean. This servant left this part so that master can eat some meat today.¡±


    The young servant girl¡¯s eyes were bright as she carefully opened the lotus leaf while still crouched down on the floor. But, she discovered huge hole in the lotus leaf.


    A mouse came burrowing out from the lotus leaf. It squeaked twice before climbing down onto Muxu¡¯s arm, then jumping down to the floor and towards the chest underneath the couch.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Muxu screamed. Her small face was deathly pale. She tossed the lotus leaf and chicken and jumped to the other side. Her face was full of dismay and rm. Her body started to tremble without stopping.


    Ji Man looked. There were only bones left from the lotus leaf chicken that had been secretly eaten by the mouse. She sighed. Nie Sangyu¡¯s life was too tragic.


    ¡°Why was there a mouse...¡± Muxu clung to the wall in fear. Seeing the lotus leaf chicken on the ground, she felt so distressed that she wanted to cry.


    Ji Man actually wasn¡¯t scared about the mouse. When she had been a migrant worker living in Beijing, she had lived in basements and had seen plenty of cockroaches and rats.


    She stood up, picked up the lotus leaf chicken, and stuffed it back into the chest to dispose of the stolen goods. Then, sitting in front of the two vegetarian dishes, she helplessly said, ¡°Let¡¯s eat first. It¡¯s still better than nothing. Later, bring the two handkerchiefs I finished embroidering to Liu <i>Mama</i>. Tell her I want to eat dinner.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Muxu closed the chest and slightly rxed her body. Feeling embarrassed, she went to stand at Ji Man¡¯s side.


    Ji Man ate half and left the remaining half to Muxu. Then, she casually asked, ¡°Who manages the residence?¡±


    As Muxu ate, she answered, ¡°Steward Qian has always been managing things.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°No. I meant who manages the concubines¡¯ food, clothes, and expenses?¡±


    Muxu said, ¡°It used to be Master Siling. Now that the new madam is here, it should be the new madam.¡±


    When Nie Sangyu had been the marquis¡¯s main wife, the marquis had criticized her for not beingposed enough. He used this as excuse to give Qi Siling, who had always been virtuous and dignified, the authority over the residence¡¯s domestic affairs. The book hadn¡¯t described in detail the daily lives of the concubines, so she didn¡¯t know where to start. In addition, she couldn¡¯t leave the residence right now.


    After Ji Man¡¯s mind went in a circle, her gaze fell on Nie Sangyu¡¯s clothing and jewelry.


    ¡°Muxu, do you want to eat delicious food?¡± Ji Man asked with a smile.


    Muxu looked at her doubtfully and lightly nodded. ¡°Master, what do you want to do?¡±


    Ji Man gestured at her toe closer. Muxu went over and Ji Man whispered into her ear. Muxu¡¯s face paled. ¡°Master, this... these are your favorites...¡±


    ¡°Meat is your master¡¯s favorite right now.¡± Ji Man patted her shoulder and said, ¡°As long as we¡¯re living, everything is okay. I thought things through. I¡¯m not going topete and fight with them anymore. But, at the very least, we should have enough to fill our stomachs, right?¡±


    Muxu was silently for a long time before she finally nodded.


    The marquis¡¯s residence had its own doctors. Muxu coincidentally knew one of the doctors. He was a young doctor with the surname Li. When Ji Man asked about her rtionship with this doctor, Muxu hurriedly replied that they were innocent. They were only friends.


    Seeing her small, blushing face and hearing her anxious exnation, Ji Man understood and didn¡¯t want to put her in a difficult spot. It was fine as long as there was a method to sell some of Nie Sangyu¡¯s jewelry.


    Thus, Ji Man lied on the bed and pretended to be sick in the afternoon. Muxu went to inform Liu <i>Mama</i> and pleaded with her to call Doctor Li over to examine Nie Sangyu.


    A concubine¡¯s status was low and couldn¡¯t afford a veteran doctor. Liu <i>Mama</i> saw the two handkerchiefs that Mu Xu had brought, so she didn¡¯t make things difficult for her. She went to call the doctor over for them.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to tell this marquis that she¡¯s sick.¡± Marquis Moyu was standing in the doorway. Looking at Liu <i>Mama</i>, he lightly said, ¡°As long as she¡¯s not up to any tricks and isn¡¯t harming anyone, there¡¯s no need toe and inform this marquis about her situation.¡±


    ¡°This servant was impudent.¡± Li <i>Mama</i> saluted and decided to withdraw.


    Ning Yuxuan thought of something else and opened his mouth to stop her, ¡°Wait.¡±


    (T/N: There will be a new chapter each day by 5PM EST for the next two weeks.


    Below in thements, there¡¯s a spoiler/caution if you¡¯re going to MTL the novel.)

 Chapter 10

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 010 out of 513 ¨C The culprit that turned herself in


    ¡°Does the marquis have other orders?¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> turned around.


    Feeling as if he had headache, Marquis Moyu asked, ¡°You living near the kitchen. Do you know anything about the kitchen catching on firest night? Wan-<i>er</i> had just be the person in charge of the household and something like this has happened. And, the culprit still hasn¡¯t been caught yet. Wan-<i>er</i> even seriously said that she wouldn¡¯t eat until the culprit was caught.¡±


    Liu <i>Mama</i> smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that madam is so serious about wanting to manage the household well. This servant only woke up after hearing the other servants shout, ¡°fire¡± and didn¡¯t notice anything strangest night. This servant doesn¡¯t know anything that would help madam.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sighed and nced inside the room before he waved his hand and said, ¡°Leave and ask the other servants if they know anything.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    After Wen Wan changed her clothes, she wanted to go to kitchen. None of the wonderful-smelling delicacies on the table had been eaten. Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and stopped her. He furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Are you really not going to eat?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not eating!¡± Wen Wan pouted. ¡°I have to find out who stole the chicken. Otherwise, I would be making you lose face on my first day as the marquis¡¯s wife.¡±


    Finding the situationughable, Ning Yuxuan wrapped an arm around her waist, scratched her nose, and said, ¡°It¡¯s only a small matter. How could it be serious enough that you can¡¯t eat?¡±


    Wen Wan said, ¡°Humph! It¡¯s very serious. The kitchen is an important ce and a thief was able to enter and start a fire. The confinement courtyard is near the kitchen. If the fire wasn¡¯t notice quickly and spread to that courtyard, what would happen to people inside the courtyard?¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused for a moment, then he pursed his lips and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, Nie Sangyu is the only one that lives in the confinement courtyard. You don¡¯t have to worry if she lives or dies.¡±


    If House Nie didn¡¯t still exist, he would have divorced Nie Sangyu a long time ago.


    ¡°How can I not care?¡± Wen Wan red at him for a moment. ¡°If she dies, would that person in the pce let you off? Would House Nie let you off? No matter what, she was once your main wife.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, ¡°I see someone is really jealous.¡±


    Annoyed, Wen Wan smacked him once before she stepped over the threshold and started walking outside.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Doctor Li had a weakly schrly appearance. He had only recently entered the marquis¡¯s residence. When he saw Ji Man, he didn¡¯t even dare to speak. Ji Man had to say manyforting words and sincerely ask him for help before he would agree to hide some of her jewelry in his medicine box and take it outside to sell them for her.


    These items had originally belonged to Nie Sangyu. Even if she wanted to sell these items, she would want to sell them herself. But, right now, she and Muxu couldn¡¯t leave the residence. She could only ask someone else for help.


    Ji Man calcted. ording to the prices here, those jewelry should be able to be sold for two hundred pieces of silver. She would keep fifty pieces, another fifty pieces would be used to bribe the servants to improve her living conditions, and she had a great n for the remaining hundred pieces.


    Since she had to live in ancient times, it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a waste if she didn¡¯t use her knowledge from modern times. In addition to the guaranteed embroidery work, Ji Man also wanted to do other things.


    After Doctor Li left, Ji Man went back to embroidering and mulled over other thoughts as she waited for him to bring back the silver. This room needed to be fixed up. At the very least, there shouldn¡¯t be mice living in this room.


    Just as she had that thought, Muxu hurriedly came inside and said in panic, ¡°Master. Madam is here.¡±


    Eh? Madam? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. The second female lead shouldn¡¯t be appearing on the stage so soon. Why did the female lead take the initiative to drop by for a visit?


    Ji Man stood up, put the embroidery hoop to the side, and hurriedly went outside to salute, ¡°This servant greets Madam.¡±


    Wen Wan was wearing a light blue <i>liu xian </i>skirt and a pale yellow jacket. There was a suet jade hairpin inserted into her hair. She seemed like a celestial being. Ji Man looked at her, then she lowered her head to look at herself. Oh, she truly looked bleak inparison.


    (T/N: <i>Liu xian</i> is a type of flowing,yered skirt. Below is a picture.)


    ¡°You can rise. I¡¯m just here to ask about the matter of the kitchen catching on fire.¡± Wen Wan helped her up with a smile. ¡°You live closest to the kitchen, so I also wanted to ask if you were okay. Where you frightened?¡±


    If she said she was frightened, would she getpensation? Ji Man pondered for a moment. She raised her eyes to look at the servant girls that were following Wen Wan. She quietly said, ¡°This servant is fine. As for the kitchen catching on fire, I do have something I want to privately say to Madam. Is Madam willing to hear it?¡±


    Wen Wan curiously said, ¡°Oh? You know something?¡±


    ¡°Madam.¡± The servant girl behind Wen Wan, Tan Xiang, pulled Wen Wan¡¯s sleeve and whispered, ¡°The marquis had said that you shouldn¡¯t get too close to her.¡±


    Wen Wan took a step back and nced at her. She shook her head and said, ¡°What are you afraid of? It¡¯s broad daylight. Leave this courtyard and wait for me there. I¡¯lle out right after I ask her a few questions.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Tan Xiang furrowed her brow and looked at Ji Man. Her eyes showed that she was alert and on guard.


    ¡°Go.¡± Wen Wan waved her hand.


    Tan Xiang, two young servant girls, and Muxu all withdrew. Just as Wen Wan turned her head and was about to ask Ji Man what she wanted to say, she saw the person in front of her dropping to the ground to kneel. The sound of Ji Man¡¯s knees hitting the ground was very loud and startled Wen Wan so much that her face paled. She hastily looked towards Ji Man¡¯s knees.


    ¡°Madam...¡± Tears appeared in Ji Man¡¯s eyes from the pain. She raised her head and looked at Wen Wan with a distressed expression. ¡°This servant stole the chicken from the kitchen. This servant wanted to confess, but was afraid of damaging the marquis¡¯s reputation. Therefore, this could only be told to Madam.¡±


    Nie Sangyu stole the chicken? Startled, Wen Wan automatically asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    At the very least, she was the marquis¡¯s concubine. How could she act like a dog and steal a chicken?


    Ji Man wiped her tears and quietly said, ¡°This servant dared to do something like this because I was too hungry. Madam, please forgive me.¡±


    ¡°How could you be hungry?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s eyes widen. ¡°Does the kitchen not deliver food to you?¡±


    Sess! She was just waiting for her to ask this question!

 Chapter 11

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 011 out of 513 ¨C Improving the quality of life


    T/N: Here¡¯s an extra chapter. I had extra free time today. Thank you Mezhanos and Dragon_Reader for writing reviews on Novel Updates!


    Ji Man wiped her tears and said with a bitterugh, ¡°This servant has been locked in the confinement courtyard by the marquis. How could my days be good? The residence¡¯s servants act respectfully in front of their superiors and step on those below them. If there isn¡¯t someone managing them, they don¡¯t follow the rules. Every day, they only give this servant leftover rice and vegetables. This servant only stole a chicken from the kitchen yesterday and identally started a fire that almost became a disaster because this servant was starving.¡±


    Wen Wan furrowed her brow. ¡°No matter what, you¡¯re still the marquis¡¯s concubine. There¡¯s no reason for you to be eating leftover food. If this news spread, people willugh at the marquis for not being able to support a concubine!¡±


    Ji Man lightly nodded and kowtowed to Wen Wan again. ¡°Madam, you have a good temperament. It¡¯s so much better than this servant¡¯s temperament. You¡¯ll probably be with the marquis for a lifetime. But if your temperament is too good, there will inevitably be sly servants that think you¡¯re easy to bully and act without propriety.¡±


    These words were magnanimous and fitting to the asion. Wen Wan repeatedly nodded as she heard these words. In her mind, she thought that Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t as rude and unreasonable as she had heard from rumors. At the very least, her current words were reasonable. Even if Nie Sangyu was a confined concubine, she couldn¡¯t allow the servants to bully her.


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll speak with the people in the kitchenter. You can go back to your room now. I¡¯ll just treat it as if it was an ident that started because the food was too dry.¡± Wen Wan said.


    ¡°Thank you very much, Madam.¡± Ji Man followed traditional etiquette by kowtowing again.


    Wen Wan turned around and left the courtyard. She called Tan Xiang over and went to the kitchen next.


    Muxu slipped back into the courtyard and hurriedly went over to help Nie Sangyu stand up. ¡°Master, what did you say to Madam? Madam looked so angry.¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled. She pulled Muxu inside the room, closed the doors, and finally said, ¡°Do you understand what advancing by retreating means?¡±


    Muxu nkly looked at her.


    Ji Man knocked her forehead and quietly said, ¡°Those servants are clearly bullying you because the marquis is giving me the cold shoulder. They¡¯re intentionally not giving us food. Otherwise, how could there always be so little food when you go there so early each time? They think that I won¡¯t be able toin because I¡¯m being confined, so I told Madam that I was the one that stole the chicken.¡±


    Muxu jumped in fright. ¡°You... It¡¯s a crime to steal. You told Madam.... What if she...¡±


    ¡°She won¡¯t.¡± Ji Man shook her head. ¡°First of all, Madam has a kind nature. And, even if she wants to put me on the spot, she wouldn¡¯t use this issue against me. She would only help me hide this secret. Otherwise, if the news that the marquis¡¯s concubine stole a chicken spreads, it would be humiliating for the marquis¡¯s entire household.¡±


    Muxu thought for a while before she suddenly realized. ¡°So it¡¯s like that. Master, you¡¯re so clever!¡±


    Ji Man stretched her hand out to mimic stroking a nonexistent, long beard. She said with a smile, ¡°Not at all. It was nothing. Let¡¯s wait and see what we¡¯ll eat tonight. After Doctor Li brings back the money, we¡¯ll have other work to do.¡±


    Muxu increasingly felt that her master had changed into apletely different person. But she liked this current master more than her previous one, so she didn¡¯t contemte this change any further. Anyways, there were advantages to following this master.


    Ji Man finished embroidering another two handkerchiefs during the rest of the afternoon. Her speed had be faster and faster.


    The two times that Liu <i>Mama</i> came over. She saw Nie Sang Yu embroidering. When she took the handkerchiefs from her to take a closer look, she saw that the embroidery was exceptionally borate and vivid. Strange. What was wrong with Nie Sangyu? Her recent behavior was so different from her usual behavior. However, she didn¡¯t seem as strident as usual and other people feel morefortable in her presence. It would be good thing if she was to be obedient and didn¡¯t anger the marquis.


    After the marquis¡¯s wife recently took her top position, she tied up the rules by established standards for the other courtyards¡¯ meals. The honored concubines would have two meat dishes, three vegetarian side dishes, and soup for lunch and dinner. The ordinary concubines would have one meat dish, two vegetarian side dishes, and soup for lunch and dinner. If any of the courtyards werecking food, including the confinement courtyard, they were all allowed to go to her for support.


    No one understood why the madam would start making changes with the meals first, but the kitchen had always been a strategic ce for ill-gotten gains. After this rule was set down, it damaged the interests of many people. There were many people in the residence that were dissatisfied with Wen Wan behind her back.


    However, Ji Man was ecstatic. In her mind, she thought that the female lead was the only good person in the world a hundred times. There was a te of shredded pork with green pepper on the table. Although the shredded pork portion wasn¡¯t much, there was still meat to eat! Mu Xu had also daringly asked the kitchen servants for two extra bowls of rice. They ate their dinner with satisfaction with the master sitting down and the servant standing.


    At the very least, they wouldn¡¯t be hungry at night anymore?


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    The next day, Doctor Li brought the silver taels that the jewelry had been sold for. There were a total of two hundred and thirty silver taels. Ji Man smiled as she thanked him and put thirty silver taels into his medicine box. Doctor Li was frightened by her action and repeatedly declined. After Muxu said a few words to help persuade him, he finally profusely expressed his thanks and epted the money.


    Thirty silver taels wasn¡¯t a small amount. Nie Sang Yu¡¯s monthly allowance was only five silver taels and five coins. But what must be given had to be given. In certain areas, you couldn¡¯t be stingy.


    ¡ª¡ª-


    ¡°The person in charge of the kitchen is Aunty Zhao, right?¡± Ji Man asked as she embroidered.


    Muxu nodded. She wrinkled her nose and said, ¡°Aunty Zhao is somewhat fierce and isn¡¯t easy to get along with. I heard that she¡¯s a distant rtive of Steward Qian. The servants all try to tter and ingrate themselves to her.¡±


    Ji Man said, ¡°We¡¯re both in our confinement period, but you can still go to the kitchen. When you go over there today, bring five silver taels and secretly give it to her. Ask her to find a time when there¡¯s no one here ande over.¡±


    Muxu curiously asked, ¡°Master, what are you nning?¡±


    Ji Man smiled, ¡°Secret.¡±

 Chapter 12

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 012 out of 513 ¨C A starved dead camel is still bigger than a living horse


    Since her master had already said it like that, Muxu didn¡¯t continue asking. She took the silver taels, went to the kitchen at lunchtime, and brought back two side dishes and a soup back.


    ¡°What did Aunty Zhao say?¡± Ji Man asked as she ate.


    ¡°She took the silver taels and agreed.¡± Muxu whispered, ¡°From her expression, she¡¯s not an easy person to deal with. Master...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s enough that she agreed.¡± After Ji Man finished lunch, she put down her chopsticks and turned around to look for the most gorgeous clothing she had left in her wardrobe. ¡°Help me change clothes.¡±


    The clothing was made from first-ss material. The long skirt was an earnest deep blue and it was paired with a yellow top. It looked magnanimous and noble. This was probably clothing that Nie Sang Yu had worn when she was the marquis¡¯s wife. Naturally, it wouldn¡¯t be suitable for her to wear this clothing anymore if she went out. But, it would still be okay to use it keep up appearances in front of servants.


    As Muxu helped her style hair and inserted a golden hairpin into her hair, Muxu¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help turning slightly red.


    Ji Man looked at the person behind her in the bronze mirror and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing...¡± Muxu sniffled. ¡°This servant was just thinking about the past. Why is master being punished like this...¡±


    The previous Nie Sangyu had gotten whatever she wanted. She would have never needed to exert this much effort just to get more meat to eat each day.


    Ji Manughed in disagreement. ¡°What¡¯s the use in thinking about the past? We still have to continue living. If we can¡¯t livevishly anymore, then at the very least we need to live without worrying about basic necessities, right?¡±


    Living in the confinement courtyard was pretty good. She didn¡¯t need to go out andpete and scheme for a position. Right now, she only wanted to slightly improve her meals.


    Muxu nodded and applied rouge and other cosmetics to Nie Sangyu. Ji Man felt slightly stunned by the beauty of this face after makeup was suddenly applied. This face hadn¡¯t worn make up for a while.


    Aunty Zhao secretly came to the confinement courtyard right after lunchtime. Because she was Steward Qian¡¯s rtive, she had always been very proud and arrogant. But seeing that the concubine locked in the confinement courtyard had been so generous, she felt that this would be a good opportunity to gain arge sum of money and swiftly came here.


    But as soon as she entered the room and raised her eyes, she saw a woman with a noble appearance, gorgeous clothing, and without the slightest hint of being in dire straits. Aunty Zhao couldn¡¯t help but put away her originally slightly irreverent attitude. She properly stepped forward and performed the proper etiquette before asking, ¡°Master Sangyu, why did you call this servant over? Do you have an order for this servant?¡±


    Ji Man curved the corners of her lips and said, ¡°I felt very happy after eating the delicious food from the kitchen and wanted to thank Aunty Zhao. That¡¯s why I asked you toe here to receive your reward.¡±


    Startled, Aunty Zhao felt slightly difited. Previously, she had always curtailed the food sent to Nie Sangyu¡¯s courtyard. Right now, she had only added more dishes because she was following the madam¡¯s order. This Master Sangyu actually said she was going to reward her...


    ¡°I lost the marquis¡¯s favor and spent the past month broken-hearted. Recently, I finally realized something after prolonged thought.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°It was foolish of me to not want to eat or drink. Although I lost the marquis¡¯s favor, I¡¯m still from a famous, aristocratic family. My paternal aunt¡¯s position as noble consort is dependable. When the old matriarches back from praying to Buddha, I won¡¯t be staying in this cold courtyard for long. Why make life difficult for myself? Aunty, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Stunned by these words, Aunty Zhao quietly said, ¡°This... Master Sangyu¡¯s words are right.¡±


    A starved dead camel was still bigger than a living horse. It wasn¡¯t even necessary to mention that House Nie¡¯s influence was vast enough to cover the sky. The old matriarch, the marquis¡¯s biological mother, was Noble Consort Ning¡¯s best friend. No matter how much the marquis disliked Master Sangyu, after the old matriarch came back from praying to Buddha, she definitely wouldn¡¯t let Master Sangyu suffer too many grievances.


    When she thought of it like that, her back felt chilled. She had also been foolish. She shouldn¡¯t have followed those blind people and taken retribution against Nie Sangyu for her past mistreatment. She had forgotten that the person in front of her would have a change in fortune soon. In the end, a master was a master. If Nie Sangyu held a grudge against her, would there still be a ce for her in the marquis¡¯s residence in the future?


    Ji Man waited until Aunty Zhao thought things through before opening her mouth to say, ¡°The meals made by the kitchen during the past two days were very tasty, but my body is weak right now. Perhaps, I¡¯ll need you to be more thoughtful with my meals. These fifty silver taels are for you Aunty Zhao. Thank you for your trouble.¡±


    Ji Man stretched her hand out to help Aunty Zhao up and personally put the money into her hand. Ji Man gently smiled. ¡°Is Aunty Zhao still thinking about my poor actions from the past? Are you willing to help me?¡±


    Aunty Zhao hurriedly said, ¡°Of course not, Master Sangyu. This servant feels honored that Master Sangyu is asking this servant for help. This servant wouldn¡¯t decline regardless of how difficult the task is.


    Ji Man smiled, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, I need Aunty Zhao to purchase a few things for me. Here are another fifty silver taels. Look at my current circumstances. I can¡¯t even leave the residence. I feel bored, so I want to buy a few things. Aunty Zhao, could you...¡±


    Aunty Zhao grasped the silver taels and said with a smile, ¡°Whatever master wants to buy, this servant will have someone buy them when they¡¯re out buying groceries. I wouldn¡¯t dare to say yes to anything else, but this servant can definitely help with this task.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely remember Aunty Zhao¡¯s kindness.¡± Ji Man took out a list of things she had previously written and ced it in Aunty Zhao¡¯s hand. She said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to bother Aunty Zhao with these little trifles. If there are any remaining silver taels, Aunty Zhao, you don¡¯t need to be polite. Use them to buy clothing for yourself.


    Aunty Zhao smiled so widely that it seemed as if a flower was blooming on her face. She repeatedly said, ¡°Okay.¡± Then, she turned around and left toplete Nie Sangyu¡¯s task.


    ¡°Master, why did you give her so many silver taels?¡± Muxu¡¯s felt slightly distressed. ¡°So many silver taels. It would have been enough to eat delicious food for a year.¡±

 Chapter 13

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 013 out of 513 ¨C The conflict won¡¯t end stop (1)


    (T/N: I had extra time today, so posting an extra chapter, but please only expect one release per day.)


    Ji Man turned around to look at her, ¡°Little girl, sometimes we have to lose something in order to gain something better. To achieve a certain goal, we must pay a corresponding price. Aunty Zhao is a servant with status. If we don¡¯t give her plenty of money, why would she be willing to do work for us? Our request isn¡¯t excessive. We¡¯re only asking for better food. The remaining one hundred silver taels will be enough for us for a period of time. It¡¯s fine as long as our days aren¡¯t cold or exhausting.¡±


    Muxu still felt a sense of injustice. She held the remaining silver taels for a long time before she finally turned around and hid them on the bottom shelf of the cab.


    ¡°What did you ask her to buy?¡±


    Ji Man picked up the embroidery needle and continued embroidering the handkerchief. She unhurriedly said, ¡°They were all very ordinary things. I wrote on the list for her to bring a small quantity of those items to me each month. Once we use those items to make things, we won¡¯t have to worry about not having enough money.¡±


    Muxu didn¡¯t understand her master¡¯s words. But since her master appeared to have nned something out in advance, she didn¡¯t ask any further questions and sat down to help her embroider the handkerchiefs.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    As a result of Nie Sangyu¡¯s diligent work of embroidering two handkerchiefs each day and handing them over to Liu <i>Mama</i>, the entire residence¡¯s madam and concubines were using new handkerchiefs within a few days. She had embroidered the handkerchiefs with patterns that had excellent meanings: a pair of mandarin ducks or twin lotus flowers on one stalk*. In addition, Nie Sangyu was very talented with her embroidery skill. Even Wen Wan loved the handkerchiefs so much that she didn¡¯t want to put them down.


    *(T/N: These patterns symbolized a happy and devoted marriage.)


    When Marquis Moyu was sitting at a table drinking tea, he saw Wen Wan clutching one of these handkerchiefs and carefully stroking the pattern on it. She said, ¡°Even if I practiced for several years, I don¡¯t think I can embroider something of this level.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan followed her gaze and looked at the handkerchief. The light purple lotus flowers were blooming beautifully and it felt as if you could even faintly smell their scent.


    ¡°This is her only talent.¡±


    Wen Wan raised her head and rolled her eyes. ¡°Sangyu¡¯s personality doesn¡¯t seem as bad as you had described. Perhaps, she had done wrong things in the past. But, hasn¡¯t she be docile and obedient now? Why are you so biased against her?¡±


    He was biased against her? Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist sighing. Nie Sangyu had married him when she was only fourteen years old. She has been jealous of his other concubines for the past several years. How many sharp and unkind words have they said to each other? Who knew her personality better than him?


    He had married her when he was fifteen years old. As soon as Nie Sangyu entered the household, she had dismissed all of his bedroom servants. Whenever he became angry with her, she would go to his mother lodge aint against him. Because of her familial rtionship with Noble Consort Ning and the fact that his own mother sided with Nie Sangyu, he couldn¡¯t even show his anger towards her when he was angry.


    When he was sixteen years old, Nie Sangyu still hadn¡¯t given birth to a child. Naturally, this was something he was intentionally responsible for. Later on, when he took Qi Siling as an honored concubine, that poisonous woman had almost destroyed Qi Siling¡¯s face. After he stopped her, she wouldn¡¯t repent and even said that she hadn¡¯t done anything wrong.


    When he was eighteen years old, he had brought in Qing Lian Xue and Liu Han Yun. Nie Sangyu had thrown a tantrum and was sick for a month. Her actions had caused Noble Consort Nie to censure him.


    When he was twenty years old, he had taken Mu Shuqing as a concubine. Nie Sangyu had drunk poison, but was unsessful withmitting suicide. This made the marquis¡¯s household aughingstock for the entire capital.


    Right now, he was twenty-one years old. That woman had finally caused enough trouble to lose her position as the marquis¡¯s wife. Her actions were directly responsible for promoting Wen Wan. Either she had finally be sensible, or perhaps she was secretly scheming something.


    If his mother hadn¡¯t forced him to marry Nie Sangyu, he would have never married this shrew. He had originally been an elegant, unrestrained, and leisurely marquis. Because of this woman, he hadn¡¯t had a single good day in the past several years. Now, he had finally locked her in the confinement courtyard. Even if he were to be beaten to death, he wouldn¡¯t easily let her out of there.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know why. I find her rather pitiful.¡± Wen Wan sighed. She put the handkerchief back into her sleeve and raised her gaze to look at Ning Yuxuan as she said, ¡°I also feel jealous that she¡¯s been with you for so long.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow and looked rather good-looking as he curved his lips into a smile. ¡°Jealous of her? You still have decades left to stay by my side.¡±


    Wen Wan cast a rebuking nce at him as her cheeks turned slightly red. ¡°You two share a mutual past that I wasn¡¯t part of. Of course, I¡¯ll feel jealous. But, it¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll be the only person in your world in the future.¡±


    Marquis Moyu stretched his hand out and brought her into his embrace. With his chin lowered so that it was against her forehead, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve never loved anyone before you. Nie Sangyu doesn¡¯t mean anything to me. You don¡¯t need to be jealous.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Wen Wan smiled and hugged him back. Feeling at ease, she closed her eyes.


    ¡ª¡ª¨C


    Ji Man sneezed several times in a row to the point that tears came out. She sniffled and said, ¡°It couldn¡¯t be that I really got sick, right?¡±


    Her mood suddenly became gloomy. She didn¡¯t know why she was feeling this way. She usually wasn¡¯t a mncholy and sensitive person. Most of these feelings were probably from Nie Sangyu. She felt slightly ufortable when she thought about how there was another person residing in this body. But why did Nie Sangyu suddenly feel sad when everything was perfectly fine right now?


    Ji Man heard the sound of someone knocking on the courtyard¡¯s doors. After Muxu ran over to open the doors, Ji Man heard a servant girl¡¯s crisp voice say, ¡°My family¡¯s Master Shuiqing likes the handkerchiefs embroidered by your master. Send two more handkerchiefs to Feiyu Courtyard tomorrow. My master doesn¡¯t have enough.¡±


    Muxu looked at the handkerchief in Banxia¡¯s hand and her little face became tense. ¡°Master Shuiqing is only one person. How could she not have enough? We¡¯re both servants. How can you use something embroidered by a master?¡±


    Banxia was Mu Shuiqing¡¯s personal servant girl and had the same deplorable behavior as her master. She arrogantly raised her head and said, ¡°Servants are divided into different ranks. There are some masters who aren¡¯t even as good as some servants. Since Master Shuiqing gave me this handkerchief, of course I can use it. If you¡¯re unsatisfied, go and tell the marquis about it.¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Muxu¡¯s mouth wasn¡¯t clever and she could only look at Banxia helplessly.


    They shouldn¡¯t bully people like this. Her master was already exhausted from embroidering two handkerchiefs every day. And now, she had to embroider handkerchiefs for servant girls too? They were treating her master as if she was an embroideress!


    (T/N: I¡¯m not sure if this was clear? Ji Man doesn¡¯t know the six-year history between Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan. She only has a vague knowledge of the other characters. Her knowledge is limited to the stuff that happens in the original novel. She briefly mentions this in chapter 4, ¡°The author had used her pen to mostly write about the male lead and female lead, so Ji Man really didn¡¯t know what Nie Sangyu had done in the past.¡± This is the reason she¡¯s doesn¡¯t understand why he¡¯s still holding a grudge despite the recent change in her behavior.


    Generally, when there¡¯s a different POV, the author is giving us information that Ji Man doesn¡¯t know yet.)


    Also, there are 261 raw chapters, but I¡¯m splitting most of the raw chapters into 2 tranted parts. There are a few shorter chapters that haven¡¯t been split. And, to simplify my excel schedule, I numbered the chapters so that Chapter 1 in raws = Chapter 1 & 2. When the trantion is done, there will be 513 tranted chapters.)

 Chapter 14

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 014 out of 513 ¨C The conflict won¡¯t end stop (2)


    Ji Man heard their discussion from inside. She walked to the doorway, looked towards the courtyard¡¯s entrance, and called out, ¡°Muxu.¡±


    ¡°Master.¡± Muxu ran back to her in a few steps. Her feet were shaking in anger as she stood next her, ¡°They¡¯re bullies!¡±


    Ji Man looked at the servant girl that was standing at the courtyard¡¯s entrance. Her gaze was probably too severe and threatening. Banxia retreated half a step in fear before she remembered her master¡¯s words. The young servant girl mustered up her courage again and said, ¡°Greetings, Master Sangyu. This servant has already brought over Master Shuiqing¡¯s order. The marquis has also said that this household doesn¡¯t support idle people. Since you don¡¯t need to serve the marquis anymore, then you naturally have to do something else.¡±


    Publicly and secretly, she was ridiculed for losing favor and bing useless. This was why a servant would dare to order her around.


    Ji Man snorted andughed. Her hand was still holding a handkerchief that she had recently finished embroidering. She asked Mu Xu, ¡°Muxu, how¡¯s your master¡¯s embroidery skillpared to the capital¡¯s number one embroidery store¡¯s embroideress?¡±


    Muxu amodatingly said, ¡°Perfect down to the finest detail. After master¡¯s handkerchiefs were given to madam, madam doesn¡¯t even use the ones sent over by the embroidery store anymore.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°And how much does a handkerchief embroidered by an embroideress from the capital¡¯s number one embroidery store cost?¡±


    Banxia¡¯s face was slightly green.


    Muxu nced at Ban Xia before replying, ¡°Three silver taels each.¡±


    ¡°Okay, three silver taels it is. The materials to make the handkerchiefs are provided by the estate, so I¡¯ll just count my work as two silver taels.¡± Ji Man smiled as she nodded her head.


    She looked at Banxia and said, ¡°Since Master Shuiqing likes them, I¡¯ll give her a discount. I¡¯ll only charge her one silver tael per handkerchief. Bring the money over and I¡¯ll embroider her as many handkerchiefs as she wants.¡±


    Banxia gaped. She looked at Nie Sangyu for a long time without say a word. She pointed at this pair of master and servant for a moment before turning around and walking away.


    Muxu happily said, ¡°Master, you¡¯re amazing.¡±


    Ji Man waved her hand, ¡°If Mu Shuqing was an honored concubine, I would have embroidered handkerchiefs for her without saying a single word in protest. Mu Shuqing has the same status as me and still wanted to bully me. If sheined to someone higher up, there won¡¯t be a good consequence for her.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s smile froze. She looked left and right before pulling Nie Sangyu inside. She closed the doors and said, ¡°Master, don¡¯t forget. Master Shuiqing was given to the marquis by the crown prince. Although she¡¯s only a concubine, the marquis won¡¯t punish her unless he has a good reason.¡±


    Crown prince?* Such a formidable supporter? Ji Man was speechless with amazement. She had thought only Nie Sangyu had a formidable background. As it turns out, there was another hidden person. No wonder Mu Shuqing behaved so arrogantly. So, this was why no one had scolded her when she had spoken before an honored concubine at the wedding. She had the crown prince as her background supporter.


    * T/N: (There was probably a mistake by the author in chapter 3? Ji Man shouldn¡¯t know that Mu Shuqing was given to the marquis by the crown prince until this chapter.)


    However, what was there for her to be afraid of? A silver tael for a handkerchief, it would be fine even if Mu Shuqing told other people. The marquis¡¯s household didn¡¯t support idlers? Nie Sangyu¡¯s work was worth more than five silver taels and five coins a month. She epted that she had to embroider two hundred handkerchiefs for free, but there was no way she would give any additional handkerchief as a free gift.


    There was no need for Muxu to worry. Right after Ji Man put down the two handkerchiefs she had finished today, she started to prepare. ¡°Go ask Aunty Zhao for a few, clean, never used before pots and a small, portable stove.


    Muxu acknowledged her order, then she turned around and ran out of the courtyard.


    Ji Man had already nned out her next move. ording to the novel¡¯s plot, after the old madam came back, Nie Sangyu would be freed from the confinement courtyard. Then, Nie Sangyu would do one thing after another until she caused her own death sentence. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t want to die. She wanted to continue to happily live. And so, the most important thing was to establish good rtions with other people and settled down to get on with the pursuit of a happy life.


    Nie Sangyu hadmitted many wicked deeds in the past. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have provoked so much annoyance and dislike. Then, how should she try to fix past wrongdoings and win over people so that they would let go of their resentment towards her?


    It was easy enough for the servants. Other than money, it was more money. Give them more benefits and all past hatred would be gone. Aunty Zhao was an example of this sess. However, the honored concubines and ordinary concubines wouldn¡¯t be so easy to deceive. She would have to put forth a lot of effort to win them over.


    Women seem to only care about two things: appearance and men. Although she had only seen Marquis Moyu once, Ji Man didn¡¯t have even the slightest bit of good impression towards him. The female lead definitely thought this man was extremely wonderful. Unfortunately, she was the second female lead. The second female lead had and would continue to suffer terribly because of the male lead.


    Although she didn¡¯t know how to fight for favor, she not only wouldn¡¯t fight for favor, she wanted Marquis Moyu to dislike her, dislike her to death. The more that Marquis Moyu disliked her, the more likely she would be able to survive.


    As for appearance, she wanted to do an experiment. If it seeded, she would at least be able to ensure a minimal survival.


    However, after Muxu left, she didn¡¯te back for two hours. Ji Man sat inside the room and waited for her. She saw that the sky would turn to night soon, but there still wasn¡¯t any movement outside.


    She couldn¡¯t continue to keep sitting. Ji Man opened the doors and walked two steps outside. She thought of the marquis¡¯s household¡¯s rules. The person under confinement wasn¡¯t allowed to go outside; otherwise she would be punished ording to household¡¯sws.


    But, she waspletely alone without support. If something happened to Muxu, she would really be doomed. She couldn¡¯t care about anything else. She had find Muxu first. It would be the best if she didn¡¯t disturb the people above her.


    With these thoughts in her mind, Ji Man kept close to the foot of the walls and slipped out of the confinement courtyard. But, she didn¡¯t recognize any of the paths. She went left, then right. When she saw other people, she didn¡¯t dare to ask them any questions. She sneakily walked for a long time until she got herself lost.


    In front of her, there was a pretty good courtyard. Ji Man stood by the back garden¡¯s woodshed and thought about looking for an excuse to ask a servant for Steward Qian¡¯s location and have him order people to look for Muxu. This would better than if she kept blindly wandering around to search.


    However, just after she had decided to flip over the wall and leave, she suddenly heard the sound of many chaotic footsteps behind her. The sky was dark and torches had been lit.


    A servant at the head of the group saw her in the back garden and yelled out, ¡°She¡¯s over here!¡±


    (T/N: A few people have askedmented on why Ji Man doesn¡¯t get divorce. This will be exinedter in the story. But, if you want to know now, I wrote it in thements below.)

 Chapter 15

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 015 out of 513 ¨C Household punishment of five-rods thick rattan (1)


    Their actions seemed rather like they were catching a thief. When Ji Man was taken to the main room in the courtyard, she was slightly at a loss.


    ¡°Why are you in this courtyard?¡± The man, who was sitting in the center seat, had a very ugly expression. When he heard the servants report the situation, his eyes seemed as if they were trying see through her deception.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t raise her head. She was more curious about another question than exining why she was here. ¡°Why were you looking for me?¡±


    The confinement courtyard was a ce where people rarely went. Logically, no one should notice even if she wasn¡¯t there. No matter, wasn¡¯t it strange that arge group of torch-holding servants would be looking for he?


    In Ning Yuxuan¡¯s ears, these words signaled that she was refusing to repent. His expression immediately sunk and he said, ¡°Nie Sangyu, you¡¯re still under confinement. Not only did you leave the confinement courtyard without approval, you were also sneaking around Qiangwei Courtyard¡¯s back garden¡¯s woodshed. What were you nning on doing?¡±


    Ji Man opened her mouth, but before she had time to speak, someone came into the room.


    ¡°This concubine greets my lord. This concubine heard that the person has been found.¡± It was rare for Mu Shuiqing¡¯s voice to sound so gentle and soft. She kneeled down next to Nie Sang Yu and saluted.


    Ning Yuxuan raised his hand and said, ¡°You can rise.¡±


    ¡°Thank you my lord.¡± Mu Shu Qing slowly stood up. Ji Man¡¯s knees hurt from kneeling, so she stood up along with her and rubbed her knees.


    Marquis Moyu was so angry that his face seemed almost green. ¡°I told her to rise, not you. Continue to kneel!¡±


    Of course, Ji Man knew that he wasn¡¯t saying she could rise too. She was just taking advantage of the situation to rub her knees for a bit. Ji Man didn¡¯t show the slightest resistance. As she kneeled down again, she secretly arranged her clothes to pad her knee area slightly more.


    Wen Wan was sitting next to Ning Yuxuan. After waiting for Marquis Moyu to finish expressing his anger, she finally softly persuaded, ¡°My lord, you should at least let her finish speaking first.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her, ¡°She came here in the middle of the night. What else could she possibly be up to?¡±


    Ji Man wanted to roll her eyes, but she still had to exin in a nice tone of voice, ¡°Muxu hadn¡¯t returned after she went out in the afternoon. This servant saw that the sky was dark and was worried that something might have happened to her. So, this servant came out to look for her, but ended up getting lost.¡±


    Next to her, Mu Shuiqing quietly called out, ¡°Lost?¡± She looked as if she was very surprised. Feeling that this might becking in manners, she immediately looked at Marquis Moyu and said, ¡°This consort was impolite.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression was very ugly, but the corners of his mouth showed a mocking smile. ¡°Have you been confined for too long? You can¡¯t even think of a good excuse? Nie Sangyu, you entered this residence six years ago. Is there even a single brick or tile that hasn¡¯t already been tossed around by you? Now, you¡¯re actually saying that you were lost. Out of all the possible ces, you came to Qiangwei Courtyard¡¯s back garden while being lost?¡±


    Qiangwei Courtyard was the courtyard for the main wife. Nie Sangyu used to like qiangwei, so she had the servants nt them everywhere in this courtyard and named this ce Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan didn¡¯t dislike flowers either, thus the flowers had remained here.


    (T/N: Qiangwei is a flower in the rose family that¡¯s native to China. Below is a picture.)


    Ji Man secretly pinched herself. How could she have forgotten that Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t have gotten lost in Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence? She should have used a different reason. But, if she changed her to answer to say that she had identallye here, even she wouldn¡¯t believe these words. Since she had chosen to climb over the wall and into this courtyard when the servant had passed by, she wouldn¡¯t be able to defend her innocence even if she had a hundred mouths.


    ¡°Regardless if this marquis believes this or not, this servant really came here identally.¡± Ji Man sighed and gave up on resisting.


    Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed. Wen Wan also didn¡¯t say another word. On the side, Mu Shuiqing waved her hand and Banxia led another servant girl into the room.


    ¡°Older sister Sangyu said she was looking for her servant girl. This was true. This servant had borrowed Muxu to help Banxia peel melon seeds. But, it was only for two hours. This servant didn¡¯t except that older sister would get so anxious that she would start looking for her. Didn¡¯t you use to frequently beat Muxu until she was mass of bruises?¡±


    Muxu was pushed to the ground. She hurriedly went behind Nie Sangyu, properly kneeled, and quietly called out, ¡°Master.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to nce at Mu Shuiqing. She lightly said, ¡°This servant is now living in the confinement courtyard. Muxu is my only servant girl. Master Shuiqing, you even had the free time to send Banxia over to tell me to embroidered handkerchiefs for her. Why do you still need to borrow my servant to peel melons seeds for you?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s smile froze. She checked Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression from her peripheral vision. Seeing that he didn¡¯t have the intention to support Nie Sangyu, she freely smiled again. ¡°Borrowing a servant girl is a small matter. Older sister, you should first exin to the marquis why you secretly went to Qiangwei Courtyard¡¯s woodshed.


    At the mention of the woodshed, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow furrowed again. He looked at person kneeling on the ground, ¡°Nie Sangyu, you¡¯re still the same. I thought you had turned over a new leaf during the past few days. But, your malicious heart is still the same. It¡¯s not enough that you tried to harm Ling-<i>er</i>, now you want to harm this marquis¡¯s wife?¡±


    In his eyes, he probably saw Nie Sangyu as a lunatic, the type of person that would start a fire if she saw a heap of firewood. Ji Man didn¡¯t know what had happened in the past for Marquis Moyu to look at Nie Sangyu this way. But, she hadn¡¯t even been holding a torch in her hand. What was the meaning of mentioning the heap of firewood? Was he going to falsely use of her wanting to burn Wen Wan to death?


    ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t done anything. If the marquis wants to convict me of a wrongdoing, you have to provide a reason.¡± Ji Man calmly said, ¡°If there¡¯s a suitable reason, this servant will willing ept the punishment.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly narrowed his eyes. ¡°Are you thinking that since I don¡¯t have evidence, I can¡¯t convict you?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t speak.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Marquis Moyu angrily smiled, ¡°No one saw you doing anything wrong, but you escaped from the confinement courtyard and entered Qiangwei Courtyard without permission. Do you admit to these two things?¡±


    Ji Man nodded, ¡°I admit it.¡±


    Behind her, Muxu trembled. There was a hint of sobbing in her voice as she said, ¡°Master...¡±


    ¡°If you admit to your wrongdoings, then you have to be punished.¡± Ning Yuxuan paused before saying, ¡°Are you willing to be punished?¡±


    (T/N: During the first half of the novel, I would rmend not viewing Ning Yuxuan as the male lead. I included a spoiler in thements below to show why.)

 Chapter 16

    Thank you Dragon_Reader, Ainslee, ensaymadaroll, Tamasaga, Apples and Oranges, and Kurobito so much for writing reviews and providing different views about this novel! I really appreciate it. I was worried that no one would like this novel because it¡¯s too different.


    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 016 out of 513 ¨C Household punishment of five-rods thick rattan (2)


    ¡°Yes.¡± There wouldn¡¯t be a good result even if she continued to argue. This man clearly hated Nie Sangyu and wanted to protect Wen Wan, so what was the use in her struggling? The sooner she was punished, the sooner the matter would be settled.


    Marquis Moyu was silent for a while. He seemed somewhat surprised. But, there were several people here, so he didn¡¯t show much of his thoughts or feelings. He only said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, Steward Qian, take her away and punish her in ordance to the household rules.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Steward Qian nodded. Two rough servants came forward and took her outside.


    Muxu was so frightened that she lost her wits. She was shocked that her master would so calmly ept being punished. If it weren¡¯t because of her, her master wouldn¡¯t have left confinement courtyard!


    When she thought of it that way, tears came rushing out from Muxu¡¯s eyes. With all of her strength, she repeatedly kowtowed to Marquis Moyu. ¡°My lord, my master already has poor health. Let this servant take her ce! Please!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan ignored her. Everyone else in the room, including Wen Wan, didn¡¯t say a single word. Feeling hopeless, Muxu raised her head to nce at them. Then, she turned around and ran outside.


    Ji Man had been very calm, but when she saw Steward Qian bringing the rattan, her heart felt hollow.


    Hey, why was the marquis¡¯s household punishment so harsh? Normally, wouldn¡¯t it only be a one-rod thick rattan? That rotten fellow, the household punishment was actually five-rods thick rattan! If she had known this early, she would have tried struggling more!


    Even though she felt endlessly remorseful about her early choice, Ji Man felt worse when she saw Muxu¡¯s pitifully crying on the side. She could only pretend to be utterly fearless as sheforted her, ¡°Muxu, don¡¯t cry. It won¡¯t hurt that much. I¡¯ll be fine after resting for a few days.¡±


    Muxu shook her head. Tears were still streaming down from her face. Her forehead was red from kowtowing ealier.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t bear to see her like this. She had never been good atforting people, so she simply closed her eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan, Wen Wan, and Mu Shuiqing had alsoe out. The two people in the front hadplicated expressions while the third person came out to watch the excitement. Moreover, she seemed to be rejoicing in Nie Sangyu¡¯s misfortune.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s household punishment was ten strikes of the rattan. Ji Man felt that it shouldn¡¯t be that difficult to endure.


    But, she hadn¡¯t expected that the servant dealing out the punishment would hate her that much. When the servant fiercely struck down, her kneeling position wasn¡¯t stable and she fell forward. Her back felt numb for a moment before it was reced by overwhelming pain.


    As a modern day person, Ji Man had never suffered such a punishment. The tears that Ji Man hadn¡¯t wanted to shed came out. She clenched her jaw and went back to the kneeling position again. She took the rest of the beating.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her with cool eyes of a bystander. He saw her clenching her fists and even saw the cold sweat from her forehead fell down, but she still clenched her jaw and didn¡¯t let out any sound. In the past, she would have never epted this punishment.


    By the seventh strike, Ji Man¡¯s head wasn¡¯t as clear anymore. She unconsciously opened her eyes and nced at Marquis Moyu.


    That man looked at her without any emotion as he stood next to his new wife.


    At the very least, Nie Sangyu had been with him for six years. For him to be this heartless towards her, he truly didn¡¯t have the slightest feeling towards her.


    Ji Man heard a voice in her head say with a heart-wrenching cry, ¡°I hate him.¡±


    ¡°En. I hate him too.¡± Ji Man quietly replied. ¡°I¡¯ll help you get your revenge.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan watched Ji Man until she finished receiving her punishment. He didn¡¯t say anything and only waved his hand to indicate for the servants to bring her back. Her eyes had be cold. They no longer looked at him with their previous warmth.


    Muxu had cried so much that her voice had be hoarse. She rushed to Ji Man¡¯s side, but she couldn¡¯t do anything to help. She could only continue to cry.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Older sister Jiang and little radish had suffered much more than me.¡± Ji Man opened her eyes and smiled at Muxu. ¡°Sacrifices always have to be made for the revolution.¡±


    (T/N: Older sister Jiang and little radish are characters in a novel called, <i>Red Crag</i>. The novel is partially based on historical people from the Chinese Revolutionary War like Jiang Zhuyun. Little radish was a child that was brought to prison when he was one year old with his mom and he died eight yearster.)


    Muxu didn¡¯t understand her words and the sound of her crying got worse.


    When they returned to the confinement courtyard, Wen Wan sent people over with medicine. Muxu carefully undressed Ji Man and applied the medicine. Ji Man was in so much pain that her face was deathly pale. Her back was very swollen.


    ¡°It was this servant¡¯s fault.¡± Muxu couldn¡¯t help crying again. ¡°This servant wanted toe back earlier, but Master Shuiqing wouldn¡¯t let me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s my fault for being too foolish.¡± Ji Man grimaced in pain and said, ¡°If I hadn¡¯t acted so rashly and left the confinement courtyard, nothing would have happened. Or, if I hadn¡¯t gone to Qiangwei Courtyard, I wouldn¡¯t have angered Ning Yuxuan that much. But, I couldn¡¯t control this body and it somehow led me there.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s crying became more terrible. ¡°That¡¯s your courtyard. You lived there for six years.¡±


    Ji Man was silent for a moment. There was mournful feeling that rose in her heart like billowing clouds.


    When Nie Sangyu felt bad, she had to feel bad along with her. When Nie Sangyu felt heartache, she had to feel heartache too. Right now, Nie Sangyu¡¯s body was in so much pain that it felt as if it would split apart. She had to bear this pain along with everything else.


    She had wanted to peacefully live in this world as a bystander, but unexpectedly, this world didn¡¯t want her to have good days.


    Since she was Nie Sangyu, she should properly behave like the real Nie Sangyu. She should listen to what Nie Sangyu had to say and seriously act out her role.


    After she finished drinking a bowl of bitter medicine, she gritted her until the taste of the medicine passed. Ji Man decided. She would listen to Nie Sangyu¡¯s heartfelt wish and ask her what she wanted her to do. They had to have a proper discussion. Otherwise, if Nie Sangyu used this body to choke Wen Wan to death, she would be punished along with Nie Sangyu again.


    T/N: I went back and forth between whether or not I should say this... This will be the first andst time Ji Man is punished by Ning Yuxuan. If he had known in advance that she would ept the punishment, which is really out-of-character for her, maybe, he wouldn¡¯t have said it. The real Nie Sangyu would have threatened him with her maiden family.


    Ning Yuxuan and the other concubines really do have good reasons for why they¡¯re so biased against Nie Sangyu. This is also why Wen Wan, the only person who hasn¡¯t directly experienced interacting with the past Nie Sangyu, genuinely doesn¡¯t think badly of her. You¡¯ll see the reason in the next chapter.


    Unlike other transmigrators, Ji Man doesn¡¯t have the luxury of starting with a clean te. She has to live with the consequences of Nie Sangyu¡¯s past actions when she doesn¡¯t even know everything that Nie Sangyu had done. But don¡¯t worry, Ji Man will very quickly learn how to use Nie Sangyu¡¯s reputation to her advantage.


    ¡°But, I couldn¡¯t control this body and it somehow led me there.¡± Do you remember when Ji Man suddenly felt her knees hurting at the end of chapter 5, so she ended up pouring hot tea over Wen Wan? I¡¯m pretty sure that was Nie Sangyu¡¯s doing.

 Chapter 17

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 017 out of 513 ¨C Nie Sangyu¡¯s past (1)


    There was a superstition that if you ced your hands on your sr plexus when falling asleep, you would be more likely to have a nightmare. Ji Man followed the superstition and as expected, she saw Nie Sangyu in her dream.


    She was actually quite beautiful, but there was too much resentment expressed on her face. It made people feel ufortable to look at her. Inside the dream¡¯s nihility, Nie Sangyu was wearing a long white dress as she endlessly wept. Her drawn-out cries sounded hysterical.


    Ji Man stood at the side and looked at her for a long time before walking forward to hand her a handkerchief. ¡°No one can hear you. It¡¯s useless even if you cry to the point of losing your voice.¡±


    Nie Sangyu ignored her and continued her crying that had a magnitude that could rm the heavens and earth. She pointed her hand in front of her and a screen made of water appeared in the empty space. The water on the screen turned. When Ji Man turned her head to look, she saw the past.


    Nie Sangyu was wearing a red wedding dress as Marquis Moyu weed her into the household as his wife. There was a faint smile on Marquis Moyu¡¯s face as he held her hand and led her to step over the residence¡¯s threshold. Underneath her wedding veil, Nie Sangyu was so happy that tears fell down. On the wedding night, in the bridal room with ornamented candles, the entire night passed joyfully. But, Marquis Moyu left the room at dawn over a bed servant¡¯s matter.


    When Nie Sangyu woke up, she didn¡¯t see her husband. She didn¡¯t know what had happened until she sent Muxu to ask around. One of Marquis Moyu¡¯s ustomed bed servants had fallen into a pond and he had hurriedly gone to see her.


    As the main wife, how could she tolerate something like this? Nie Sangyu had an impulsive personality. Taking advantage of a time when Marquis Moyu was out of the residence, she sent away all of his bed servants, without leaving a single one behind.


    After this, Ning Yuxuan looked at her differently. Every time they shared a bed, he would light incense and put out the lights before sleeping with her.


    The first scene was reced by another scene. Marquis Moyu was weing Qi Siling, a dignified and magnanimous person, into the household. From top to bottom, she was ttering and very likeable. After she entered the household, Marquis Moyu never went to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. Every evening, Nie Sangyu would wait until the oil in themp was used up, but the person she was waiting for never came. Nie Sangyu heard from other people that Honored Concubine Siling had a charmingly beautiful face, so she carelessly went to her room to deface Qi Siling¡¯s face.


    Ji Man face-palmed. Was Nie Sangyu a fool? Why didn¡¯t she think before acting? She had been so easily instigated by other people¡¯s words. She was remarkably like a good knife that could be borrowed to kill other people.


    No wonder Marquis Moyu would suspect that she was going to start a fire just from her standing by a pile of wood. This woman really was capable of doing anything when she was driven crazy.


    Marqus Moyu had hurriedly rushed over and stopped Nie Sangyu. This disgust in his eyes deepened.


    Spring left and autumn arrived. Marquis Moyu still hadn¡¯te to see her. Nie Sangyu lived in the lonely and cheerless Qiangwei Courtyard and cried every night, but she didn¡¯t receive the slightest bit of pity from him.


    Later on, Qian Lianxue and Liu Hanyun also entered the household. His eyes no longer had any space for her. Nie Sangyu learned how be gentle and soft, how to just obediently sit and embroidered robes and handkerchiefs for him, and how to not fuss or cause trouble. But no matter what she did, she couldn¡¯t get him to look at her again. And so, she caused trouble and hated him. She ate poison to try to kill herself, but she was saved.


    She asked Ji Man while crying, ¡°Loving him, hating him, begging him. I can¡¯t do any of these things. Am I not even allowed to die?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart slightly moved. The Nie Sangyu at that time, she was truly desperate and without hope. For a man that didn¡¯t love her, she was going to give up her life.


    The scene changed. Nie Sangyu listened to Noble Consort Ning¡¯s advice and regained hope. It was true that Marquis Moyu was an amorous person, with courtyards full of concubines, but he never truly loved any of them. She felt that she still had a chance.


    Ji Man felt admiration for her. Even if Nie Sangyu died, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t be emotionally moved. And, she actually thought she had a chance to get him to fall in love with her?


    And so, Nie Sangyu recovered. From the bottom of her heart, she joyfully stayed by Marquis Moyu¡¯s side. Then, Wen Wan appeared.


    When you were feeling utterly hopeless, you would say you want to die. Then, what do you say when you didn¡¯t even have the spirit to want to die? When you were hollowed out and had lost all of your feelings?


    In the next scene, Nie Sangyu blocked the doorway. She stubbornly looked at Marquis Moyu. She was determined to death to not allow him to go out and give the betrothal gift.


    Marquis Moyu raised his hand and pushed her to side. He mounted a horse and left. She staggered after him, but she couldn¡¯t stop him. Cutting a sorry figure, she headed to the pce in tears. She hoped that Noble Consort Ning could help her stop him.


    With her hair down and messy, she rushed into the pce and provoked the emperor with her disheveled appearance. Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t even have time to stop Marquis Moyu before she was reprimanded by the emperor and lost her position as the main wife.


    Ji Man sighed as she watched this. Under the cultural rules of ancient times, Nie Sangyu¡¯s actions were truly shrewish andcking the demeanor of a main wife. She hadn¡¯t understood that she had married a marquis, who was destined to have many concubines. She had acted like a young girl, who tried to forcibly hold onto her things without letting go.


    She turned to look at Nie Sangyu, who seemed as if she would never finish crying. Ji Man sighed again. But, it was because she was wretchedly in love with Marquis Moyu, so she acted without regard to the rules. She didn¡¯t seem like the vicious woman that had been written in the novel. She was just easily manipted and incited by other people. When she encountered a matter rted to Marquis Moyu, she would lose all of her calmness and rationality.


    ¡°Why did you show me this? What are you trying to tell me?¡± Ji Man contemted before saying, ¡°You have an unfinished desire. How about telling me what your wish is, so that I can help you fulfill it?¡±


    Nie Sangyu raised her head. Her eyes had turned red from crying. She pointed at the screen made of water again.


    The screen changed. Marquis Moyu was gently sitting in a pavilion. A smiling Nie Sangyu helped him put on a cloak. Marquis Moyu raised his head. His eyes were full of desire to pamper.


    Ji Man sneezed. This picture was definitely imagined by Nie Sangyu!


    ¡°You want him to fall in love with you?¡± The corners of Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched and she firmly shook her head. ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±

 Chapter 18

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 018 out of 513 ¨C Eternally ssical cold cream (1)


    Ji Man had seen Marquis Moyu¡¯s attitude towards Nie Sangyu. It would almost be a fantasy to change his mind and get him to fall in love with Nie Sangyu. Ji Man pulled a long face as she looked at the crying person sitting on the ground. Her voice was low as she asked, ¡°Were you nning on trapping me here forever and that¡¯s why you mentioned a wish like this one?¡±


    Nie Sangyu raised her head and stretched her hands towards Ji Man to show her something. Ji Man didn¡¯t understand her intention, but when she lowered her head to look, she noticed that Nie Sangyu¡¯s hands had already be somewhat transparent.


    Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t exin whether or not Ji Man had guessed her wish correctly. She turned around and slowly disappeared into the smoke without saying another word.


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. She didn¡¯t understand what Nie Sangyu was trying to say. But, Nie Sangyu had already left and there was nothing she could do about it.


    When she woke up, she still felt burning pain on her back and couldn¡¯t move. Ji Man inhaled and exhaled the cold air twice before quietly calling, ¡°Muxu.¡±


    Muxu had already brought water inside the room. Seeing that she had awaken, she hurriedly went to her bedside, ¡°Master, don¡¯t move. Whatever you want, let this servant get it for you.¡±


    Ji Man was lying on her stomach and her chest felt very ufortable by the pressure, but she really couldn¡¯t move her body. She could only painfully ask, ¡°How long until I can move around freely again?¡±


    ¡°The ointment given by Madam has a pretty good effect. I asked Doctor Li. He said that you¡¯ll be bedridden for three days because of these injuries.¡±


    She had to lie on her stomach for three days? Ji Man let out a mouthful of gassy air. She considered for a while before asking, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. How did they know that I left the confinement courtyard yesterday?


    Muxu turned her head to nce outside before saying, ¡°Master, have you forgotten? Liu <i>Mama</i> lives right outside. The marquis sent her here to watch you. If you leave the confinement courtyard, they¡¯ll naturally find out.¡±


    So, there was something like that. Ji Man gritted her teeth. There hadn¡¯t even been a hint of this previously. How could have known that Liu <i>Mama</i> was a spy? If she had known this earlier, she would have climbed over the wall instead of walking out through the front entrance. At any rate, she was getting better at climbing over walls.


    She had already been beaten to this state and didn¡¯t have any other methods. Luckily, that Marquis Moyu still had some degree of humanity. Knowing that she was seriously injured, he said that she didn¡¯t have to embroider handkerchiefs during the next two days.


    Really, she had to thank his whole family.


    Even though she wasn¡¯t embroidering handkerchiefs, there was still dinner. Aunty Zhao had done her work well after epting her money. Muxu didn¡¯t even have to get their meals. Aunty Zhao sent a young servant girl over here with their dinner along with the items that Ji Man had previously requested and the pot that Muxu had been looking for.


    Dinner was two small side dishes and soup. The soup was surprisingly bone broth. Liu <i>Mama</i> furrowed her brow after ncing at the food.


    The young servant girl cleverly said, ¡°Since Master Sangyu¡¯s body is weak and she was also punished ording to the household¡¯sws, Madam ordered us to show more care. The kitchen servants simmered the marrow bones left over from making lunch to make her broth.


    As a result, Liu <i>Mama</i> didn¡¯t have any suspicions.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    After Muxu finished feeding Ji Man dinner, Ji Man impatiently said, ¡°Open that bag.¡±


    The bag was neither big nor small. The young servant girl had been able to bring it into the room by hiding the bag under her skirt. Muxu curiously opened the bag and saw two packages of beeswax, a jar of almond oil, and a few jars and containers.


    ¡°Master, why did you want these things?¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled, ¡°It¡¯s for an experiment. I read about a recipe in a novel before. There shouldn¡¯t be a product like that here. Let¡¯s test it out for the time being and see if we can sessfully make cold cream.


    Master had recently been using words that she didn¡¯t understand, but Muxu understood thest part, ¡°What¡¯s cold cream?¡±


    ¡°You apply it to your face and the cream will make you face whiter and softer.¡± Ji Man slightly moved and cold sweat appeared on her forehead again from the pain. She clenched her teeth and said, ¡°I can only rely on this to change my fortune.¡±


    Muxu still didn¡¯t quite understand, so Ji Man ordered her, ¡°First, go outside, pluck all of the osmanthus flowers in the courtyard, and bring them back inside.


    This cold and cheerless courtyard naturally didn¡¯t have any expensive flowers. Plus, it was autumn. The only flowers that she could use were osmanthus flowers.


    Muxu swiftlypleted her order and brought back a basket of osmanthus flowers.


    Lying on a pillow, Ji Man instructed, ¡°Fill the pot over there with a little bit of water and dump all of the flowers into the pot. Cook the flowers with lid on.¡±


    Muxu did as she said. Once the pot full of osmanthus flowers had been simmered into a liquid, she poured them into the clean jars and sealed them up.


    ¡°Next, warm up the beeswax, but keep it separated from water.¡± Ji Man looked at the sky. Before the sky darkened, they should be able to produce a sample.


    Compared to the dense skincare products made with lead that were avable in ancient times, cold cream was naturally much better. The cost to make it also wasn¡¯t expensive. It was just slightlyplicated to make it and each batch might not be sessful. As a modern day person, she should have a cheat. She had already previously thought about this. Cold cream was her only choice if she wanted to appeal to a woman¡¯s desire to improve her appearance.


    After the beeswax had melted, Ji Man had Muxu pour the almond oil into the melted beeswax. Finally, the osmanthus flower water was poured in. It was only a small pot, but it was very fragrant.


    Muxu¡¯s eyes were glimmering as the pale yellow liquid became denser and creamier. By the time she had finished listening to Ji Man on how much of each ingredient to add and blew out the fire, this item had already finished bing a lovely cream.


    ¡°Remove the cosmetics from the containers on my dressing table, wash those containers, and use them to hold the cold cream.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Muxu quickly carried a pile of the boxes out. Ji Man touched her face and gritted her teeth. She would have to act as a human guinea pig for those women.


    The small pot of cold cream was enough to fill fiverge containers and three small containers. Ji Man sighed. It was only because Nie Sangyu had a lot of cosmetics. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have had enough containers. The cold cream was still slightly hot, so Ji Man had Muxu leave them on the table to cool off. She would check on them tomorrow.


    T/N: Here¡¯s a recipe for homemade cold cream https://.organic-beauty-recipes/galen-cold-cream. This type of cream was very popr in China during 20¡¯s to 40¡¯s. There¡¯s even a much more detailed recipe for cold cream on Baidu (Chinese wiki.)


    Someone in NUF¡¯s spoiler thread mentioned they were confused with what Ji Man is trying to achieve. I interpreted her actions in this chapter and following chapters as procrastinating. Ji Man continues her original goal of improving her living conditions and her rtionships with everyone else except Ning Yuxuan because she doesn¡¯t know how to fulfill Nie Sangyu¡¯s seemingly impossible wish yet. She would rather focus on work because that¡¯s what she¡¯s good at it. What do you guys think? This is just my interpretation.

 Chapter 19

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 019 out of 513 ¨C Eternally ssical cold cream (2)


    ¡°She didn¡¯t secretly send out a letter?¡± Marquis Moyu leaned back against the soft couch as he looked at Liu <i>Mama</i>.


    Liu <i>Mama</i> shook her head and said, ¡°She hasn¡¯t sent out any letter. Master Sang has been in her room during the past two days without doing anything. The only thing that had happen was that all of the osmanthus flowers in the courtyard had been plucked. This servant doesn¡¯t know why she had this done.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan found this baffling. With Nie Sangyu¡¯s temperament, it was strange that she didn¡¯t send a letter to her maiden home or to the pce toin about being punished. And, she was even obediently staying in her courtyard?


    On the side, Wen Wan smiled when she heard Liu <i>Mama</i>¡¯s words and said, ¡°It¡¯s good that she can view things this way. My lord, now you don¡¯t need to worry about being pressured by the Noble Consort Nie.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan followed her words with an, ¡°En.¡± His mother would be returning soon. All in all, his treatment of Nie Sangyu had been somewhat excessive. He still had to find an excuse to let her out of the confinement courtyard and give her some sweetness. Otherwise, she would sob out her grievences in front of his mother. Wen Wan was the main wife. If his mother saw Nie Sangyu in her current state, she would definitely feel that Wen Wan couldn¡¯t tolerate other people.


    However, she had just recently been beaten. He had to find an excuse to get out of this awkward situation.


    Although he was pondering this problem, he didn¡¯t show this on his face. ¡°I¡¯ll have to inconvenience <i>mama</i> to continue to watch her.¡±


    ¡°This servant asks to be excused.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> withdrew from the room after saluting.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man acted as a human guinea pig for two days by using the cold cream. She didn¡¯t find any negative side effects, but herplexion had improved a lot.


    On the side, Muxu looked at her with a very curious expression.


    ¡°Take a container to use for yourself.¡± Ji Man said to her.


    Muxu¡¯s eyes brightened. She pinched her own robe and embarrassedly asked, ¡°Can I really?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded. They had different skin types. Muxu had slightly oily skin while her skin was normal. It would be good to have another guinea pig.


    In high spirits, Muxu took the cold cream and tried it on herself.


    A week quickly passed by, the effect of the cold cream was very good. Ji Man and Muxu¡¯s faces had both be noticeably fairer and softer.


    Ji Man could now also leave the bed and walk around. She just couldn¡¯t bend over without feeling tearing pain. She looked at her face in the mirror, then she looked at Muxu¡¯s face. She felt it was time to take action.


    ¡°Other than Madam, who¡¯s most favored?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Muxu said, ¡°Other than Qiangwei Courtyard, the marquis goes to Xuesong Couryard the most. Honored Concubine Xue¡¯s health isn¡¯t very good, but her older brother is the marquis¡¯s close friend. The marquis has always taken good care of her. When he¡¯s not busy, he always goes to her courtyard to see her.¡±


    Ji Man remembered the coughing honored concubine that she had seen in the central room during the wedding. Honored Concubine Xue hadn¡¯t been wearing makeup.


    ¡°What¡¯s her servant girl¡¯s name?¡±


    Muxu said with a smile, ¡°Honored Concubine Xue¡¯s servant girl is Danzhu. Out of all the servant girls, she has the best temperament. This servant often goes to look for her to talk to with when this servant has free time.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips, picked up a small container of cold cream, and said, ¡°Since you have a good rtionship with her, then we can¡¯t hide good things from her. Give this to her to use, but tell her to not say anything to the other servant girls.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s eyes brightened, ¡°Last time, Danzhu said this servant¡¯s face had be better and better and asked what this servant has been using. This servant thought that since this was something we secretly made, it wouldn¡¯t be okay to tell her. She¡¯ll definitely be very happy to receive this. Thank you master!¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled, ¡°You can go now. You¡¯re probably feeling stuffy and bored after being confined in this room with me for so many days.¡±


    Muxu made a sound of acknowledgement before picking up the container and rushing out of the room.


    Women were happy when their beauty was appreciated. Although they were servant girls, they still wished to appear beautiful.


    When Danzhu held the cold cream, she was overjoyed. After she secretly applied it for two days, she felt the result was truly quite good.


    When she was assisting Honored Concubine Xue with putting on clothes and styling her hair, her master turned her head and asked, ¡°Danzhu, which store¡¯s cosmetics are you using? Yourplexion keeps getting better each day.¡±


    Because Qian Lianxue had poor health, the doctors have told her to use fewer cosmetics, so she never wore makeup. Although she was a beauty, she still looked dullerpared to people who did use makeup.


    Danzhu was a servant girl that cared about her master. She didn¡¯t want to hide good things from her. She hurriedly went to her room and brought the cold cream for Honored Concubine Xue to see.


    ¡°Muxu said that this cold cream was made by her master using osmanthus flowers. It doesn¡¯t have any negative side effects. This servant has used this for two days. It¡¯s much better than those other cosmetics. This servant¡¯s face feels fresh and clear. It doesn¡¯t feel oily at all.¡±


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s eyes brightened a bit, but they quickly dimmed. ¡°I can¡¯t use stuff like this. It doesn¡¯t matter how good it is.¡±


    ¡°This item doesn¡¯t hurt the body like other cosmetics. Master, you can probably use it.¡± Danzhu quickly said, ¡°The doctors said those cosmetics have something harmful for the body, but this is made with osmanthus flowers. Master, it should be okay for you to try.¡±


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s eyes brightened again. She looked at herself in the bronze mirror and said, ¡°Then, let me try a little bit.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Danzhu hurriedly helped her finishing grooming before applying the cold cream.


    Ji Man waited a few days. As expected, Danzhu came to visit her.


    ¡°Master Sang.¡± Danzhu wasn¡¯t as arrogant as Banxia. She properly saluted when she came inside, but her gaze went towards Nie Sangyu¡¯s dressing table. ¡°This servant had boldly given the cold cream made by Master Sang to my master to use.¡±


    T/N: I thought it was interesting that the author selected a cheat that has limited use in the marquis¡¯s household. Yes, Ji Man could use this cold cream to improve her rtionship with the other concubines. But, this is only a temporary favorable impression and its entirely contingent on Ning Yuxuan continuing to dislike her. The second he shows her the slightest favor, the other concubines and Wen Wan won¡¯t care about this skincare product. Plus, if she gives it to all of them, it¡¯s not special anymore. If she only gives it to a few of them, the ones who don¡¯t get it will dislike her more.

 Chapter 20

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 020 out of 513 ¨C This is an amazing business opportunity (1)


    Ji Man naturally knew why she was here, but she still outwardly showed a surprised expression, ¡°You actually had given it to Honored Concubine Xue to use?¡±


    Danzhu nodded. She saw that there were still several containers on the dressing table, so she said, ¡°Master Sang, you also know this. My master can¡¯t use the cosmetics being sold in the stores, so she was naturally very fond of the cream that you made. Master Sang, would you be willing to give up some of your favorite item again?


    Muxu knew that her master had made several containers worth. She had only given Danzhu a small container. There were still five,rge, sealed up containers left.


    Unexpectedly, Ji Man furrowed her brow and seemed as if she was being put into a difficult position. She looked at Danzhu for a long time before she finally said, ¡°This is a very rare item. I don¡¯t have much of it myself. Muxu had secretly given you that cream. The other courtyards weren¡¯t told about this.¡±


    This implication was that there weren¡¯t free lunches in the world.


    Danzhu didn¡¯t know how to respond for a moment. She followed up by saying the words that Honored Concubine Xue had told her on the way out, ¡°My master said, this confinement courtyard is cold and cheerless. Master Sang, you probably don¡¯t want to stay here any longer than you have to. Since the Old Madame will be returning shortly, the marquis probably wants to let you of here. He just doesn¡¯t have an excuse to use. If you¡¯re willing to give her some of your treasured cold cream, my master will give him an excuse and let Master Sang live morefortably.¡±


    Ji Man raised an eyebrow, that sickly beauty was a sensible person. She knew that she had to give her something in exchange. And, what Ji Man wanted was just to leave this confinement courtyard sooner. It didn¡¯t feel good to be constantly spied on every day. Also, they saw rats against night.


    However, she couldn¡¯t be too obvious about her goal. Ji Man hesitated for a long time before finally saying, ¡°I can give you the cream, but I have a request. If you can¡¯t do it, then this will be thest container.¡±


    Danzhu nced at her, ¡°Master Sang, please say it.¡±


    ¡°The two of you know the origin of this cold cream, but in front of outsiders, please tell them that I had asked someone to buy it for me. Can you do this?¡± Ji Man said.


    Muxu didn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind this. Wouldn¡¯t it be good if they let people know that she had made the cold cream? Wouldn¡¯t that make everyonee over here to beg them to make it for them?


    However, Danzhu understood. Nie Sangyu currently had a lowly status and a person with talent would arouse the envy of others. If other people found out that she could make this cream, the other women would fight over it. When that happened, she would offend people if she didn¡¯t give them the cream. If she gave everyone the cream, they would still feel offended. Master Sang was actually quite clever.


    ¡°This servant will do as you bid and pass along your message to my master.¡± Danzhu bobbed a curtsy.


    Ji Man smiled and ced a container into her hand. ¡°Your master can you use this without worries. This cream is a treasure and won¡¯t harm her body.¡±


    Danzhu repeatedly thanked her. After epting the item, she swiftly returned to Xuesong Courtyard.


    Qian Lianxue had experienced a taste of beauty. How could she be willing to easily return to before? Naturally, she would be willing to exchange anything for it. During the past few days, Marquis Moyu would always praise her beautiful face every time he came to her courtyard. It didn¡¯t look as if she was wearing any makeup, but her face looked very good. He even stayed the night in her courtyard today.


    Honored Concubine Xue was ecstatic, but she didn¡¯t forget that all of this was due to Nie Sangyu¡¯s cold cream. Although that woman had treated all of the concubines terribly, there wasn¡¯t any personal, deep enmity between them. And now, she had helped her in such a big way, so she would naturally say a few words to help her.


    ¡°My lord, the weather has be colder and it¡¯s going to be winter soon. The confinement courtyard is simple and crude. It doesn¡¯t offer the slightest protection to the cold. My lord, are you still going to let Sangyu continue to live there?¡± Qian Lianxue gently asked.


    Marquis Moyu was lying next to her. His gaze moved and he said, ¡°It was her own fault forcking in propriety. It¡¯s only appropriate for her to be confined for a while.¡±


    ¡°In this concubine¡¯s opinion, she¡¯s been confined for long enough.¡± Qiang Lianxue sighed and said, ¡°She¡¯s been so obedient. She hasn¡¯t said a single word ofint about being beaten. This concubine heard that as soon as her body recovered, she started to embroider handkerchiefs again. This concubine has even umted a pile of them.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nced at her and said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re as soft-hearted as always. Fine, if she¡¯s as good as you say, then she can be allowed to move to one of the courtyards on the east side.¡±


    Qian Lianxue rxed. She confirmed that she hadn¡¯t guessed wrong based on how easily he had agreed. The marquis had really just been missing an excuse to step down from his earlier decision.


    Anyways, Nie Sangyu was a treasure right now. Helping Nie Sangyu was the same as helping herself. The marquis had already stayed at Qiangwei Courtyard for half a month. But, hadn¡¯t he finally stayed over at her ce today?


    Qian Lianxue reached out and tightly hugged Ning Yuxuan. Ah, he was a fickle man, but he still made people unable to resist falling for him. Who didn¡¯t want him to only belong to herself?


    Ji Man¡¯s wish was fulfilled. She had been pardoned and could move to one of the courtyards on the east side to live. That courtyard didn¡¯t have a sign on its entryway either. And, it was also a quiet ce. However,pared to the crude and simple confinement courtyard that had rats everywhere, this courtyard was at least clean and warm.


    Although Liu <i>Mama</i> also moved here with them, she clearly wasn¡¯t watching over her as closely as before. After all, her confinement period had ended and she was a free person.


    Muxu was so happy that she was crying and smiling. She supported Ji Man over to the cushioned couch to sit down. Then, she cleaned up the inside and outside of the courtyard until it was squeaky clean.


    ¡°Master, we don¡¯t have to be confined anymore. We¡¯re finally free.¡±


    Ji Man stretched her hand out to tap her nose and said with a smile, ¡°Look at how happy you are. Don¡¯t forget. We¡¯ve only escaped from prison, but we still have to strive for a morefortable life.¡±


    Muxu stuck her tongue out. She was clearly much bolder than before. As she attended to getting lunch, there was a bright smile on her face.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s words did have some sway. Her gamble had been correct. Ji Man touched her back. Her injuries weren¡¯t swollen anymore, but they still ached. She would slowly take things step by step. Even if Nie Sangyu wanted Marquis Moyu to fall in love with her, Ji Man still wanted to wreak havoc to his life. She would think about Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish after she was satisfied with inflicting her retribution on him!

 Chapter 21

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 021 out of 513 ¨C This is an amazing business opportunity (2)


    Nie Sangyu was let out of the confinement courtyard. Qian Lianxue received the marquis¡¯s favor. Both of these women very happy, but the women in the other courtyards weren¡¯t pleased.


    Mu Shuiqing had thought that Nie Sangyu finally wouldn¡¯t be able to change her fortune. But as is turned out, she had the ability to get Honored Concubine Xue to say words in her favor and let her be released from the confinement courtyard!


    Mu Shuiqing felt very annoyed. She had thought that after Nie Sangyu was punished by the household¡¯s rules, she would do something even more outrageous in her hysteria. Unexpectedly, with Qian Lianxue¡¯s help, she was able to take advantage of the marquis¡¯spassionate heart to reverse her fortune!


    When the marquis had only been staying over at Qiangwei Courtyard, everyone had felt that the situation was very bnced. So, she was even more annoyed by Honored Concubine Xue suddenly receiving the marquis¡¯s favor for the past few days.


    Who wouldn¡¯t feel jealous that one of them had received this type of favor? Although the madam didn¡¯t fuss about this, she would definitely feel secretly upset about this. They had only been married for half a month before the marquis left her courtyard.


    Mu Shuiqing had visited Qiangwei Courtyard several times to implicitly and explicitly speak badly of Honored Concubine Xue. But, Wen Wan was the slightest bit moved by her words. She only said that it was time for the marquis to spread his seed. It was only right that he favored more than one person.


    With such a magnanimous madam, there was nothing else she could say. Mu Shuiqing could only sulk by herself. Later, she went to see what method Qian Lianxue had used to attract the marquis.


    The other honored concubine, Qi Siling, also couldn¡¯t just sit still and do nothing. After she went to Xuesong Courtyard twice, she discovered Qian Lianxue¡¯s secret.


    ¡°Younger sister, you face has be much more beautiful.¡± Qi Siling sweetly said. ¡°The marquis can¡¯t be med for bing captivated by younger sister.¡±


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s face turned slightly red. She quietlyughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Sangyu. My face only looked this good after using this cold cream that she had brought.¡±


    Surprised, Qi Siling asked, ¡°Cold cream?¡±


    Qian Lianxue reservedly smiled, then she changed the topic, ¡°Older sister, are you prepared for Old Madameing back? She¡¯ll be returning soon. Madam has just entered the household and doesn¡¯t know Old Madame¡¯s temperament. Many things will still need to be arranged by older sister.¡±


    Seeing the she wasn¡¯t willing to continue speaking about the cold cream, Qi Siling didn¡¯t ask any further questions. After they had exchanged a round of small talk, on the way out, Qi Siling ordered her personal servant girl, ¡°Go and ask Nie Sangyu. What¡¯s the cold cream?¡±


    Sonn nodded and quickly ran to the courtyard on the eastern side.


    However, Ji Man had already anticipated that they would go looking for her after finding out about the cold cream. So, she had gone to Qiangwei Courtyard early in the morning with a container of cold cream.


    When giving things away, you couldn¡¯t just give things to everyone that you saw. Cold cream was an item that could captivate women. She wasn¡¯t Shancai Tongzi. If she were going to give the cold cream to other people, it would to useful people. For example, people like Qian Lianxue and Wen Wan.


    (T/N: Shancai Tongzi is a bodhisattva of wealth.)


    As the marquis¡¯s darling, Wen Wan would never fall out of favor. But, her heart would have definitely felt bad during the past few days. While she was paying respect to Wen Wan today, she offered up the cold cream to her.


    Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were full of surprise when heard Ji Man exin the use of the cold cream. Her eyes were sparkling as she said, ¡°Is it really that good?¡±


    ¡°Madam, you only need to look at Honored Concubine Xue to see the proof.¡± Ji Man said with a smile.


    With Qian Lianxue as a living advertisement, Wen Wan easily believed Ji Man¡¯s words. She epted the cold cream and bestowed Ji Man a pile of things. In the passing, she also granted her the freedom of being able to leave the residence to go shopping whenever she had free time and while chaperoned by the servants.


    However, after Ji Man left, Wen Wan still had a doctor check the cold cream. She only used it without worries after the doctor had confirmed that this was truly a harmless good thing.


    Ji Man had Muxu bring back the items that Wen Wan had bestowed her.


    ¡°Master, where do you want to go?¡± Muxu curiously asked. ¡°Do you want to go back to Nie residence?¡±


    Ji Man put a banknote that was worth one hundred silver taels inside her clothes, shook her head, and said, ¡°Why would I go there? I naturally have something I want to do outside. Didn¡¯t you say a few days ago that there was a store with pretty good rouge for sale?¡±


    Muxu nodded. Feeling confused, she asked, ¡°Master, you¡¯re already using cold cream. Why do you still want to buy rouge?¡±


    Ji Man stuck a finger out and waved it back and forth. She brightly smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯ve already told them that the cold cream was purchased, so we naturally have to find a ce to buy it. This is a very big business opportunity. If we seed, we won¡¯t have to worry about eating and drinking well for a lifetime.¡±


    Muxu widened her eyes. Immediately after, she hastily shook her head. ¡°Master, you can¡¯t. It¡¯s not appropriate for women to do business. Moreover, someone with your status...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips, looked at her, and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I would be the one who will be going out to sell the cold cream. We¡¯re only going to be making cold cream. Then, we¡¯ll only have to wait to collect the money. Understand?¡±


    Muxu still shook her head. It would be terrible if someone found out about this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ve seen me do so many things. Haven¡¯t I done all of those things after careful deliberations?¡± Ji Man patted Muxu¡¯s back twice tofort her. Right after doing so, she remembered her beating. Frowning, she supplemented her previous words, ¡°Of course, we can¡¯t count the time I was punished by the household¡¯s rules.¡±


    Muxu hesitated for a long time before sighing and saying, ¡°If master really wants to do this, then you have to go back to Nie residence and look for First Young Master to discuss this matter. This servant feels that he¡¯s more reliable. If something does happen, only your family will help you.¡±


    (T/N: It¡¯s interesting how Mu Shuiqing¡¯s perspective of Ning Yuxuan is so different from Qian Lianxue. One of them thinks Nie Sangyu was let out because he has apassionate heart and the other one guessed correctly that it was because old madame would be returning soon, so he has to treat her better. I wonder how well Wen Wan and the other two concubines understand him.)

 Chapter 22

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 022 out of 513 ¨C Preparing to invest and enter into a partnership (1)


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother, Nie Qingyun, was a young and promising rank 5 military official in the imperial court. The emperor regarded him highly. Compared to Nie Sangyu¡¯s widely spread notorious reputation, the difference between their reputations was as far apart as the heavens and earth.


    Nie Qingyun was Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s son by his second main wife after the death of his original main wife, while Nie Sangyu was Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s original main wife¡¯s daughter. Although their mothers were different, Nie Qingyun treated Sangyu especially well. When they were children, he would always bear the punishment for trouble caused by Nie Sangyu. Thus, Muxu felt that if there was anything they needed help with, they should go look for first young master.


    Ji Man knew about this person. In theter part of the plot, he had helped Nie Sangyu a lot. He was truly sincere towards her. However, she wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu right now. It was one thing for Muxu to not be astute enough to notice. But, if it was a person that had been close to Nie Sangyu, he might notice the difference. What would she do then?


    She wanted to find someone to help her sell the cold cream, but she couldn¡¯t take such a big risk. Money was important, but her life was more important.


    After thinking about it, Ji Man still said, ¡°Older brother is very busy every day. There¡¯s no need to bother him with such a small matter. Let¡¯s just go out first and treat it as an ordinary shopping trip, okay?¡±


    Muxu hesitated for a moment. In the end, she could only nod. Her master had changed too much recently. Although she treated her much better, she still didn¡¯t dare to easily disagree with her.


    With Wen Wan¡¯s permission, Ji Man put on a veiled hat and left the residence while escorted by Liu <i>Mama</i> and two other servants.


    Wen Wan wanted her toe out to buy more cold cream. Liu <i>Mama</i> and the other two servants had clearlye along to spy on her. But, Ji Man wasn¡¯t worried. By her calctions, today was a market day. The lively streets ahead of them were filled with countless people. Why should she be worried about separating herself from three servants?


    ¡°Muxu said that the person, who had purchased the cold cream for her, had purchased it on Luoxia Street.¡± As Ji Man walked, she turned her head and said to Liu <i>Mama</i>. ¡°I haven¡¯t gone out often. <i>Mama</i>, do you know where Luoxia Street is?¡±


    It was gradually bing more crowded in front of them.


    Liu <i>Mama</i> replied, ¡°This servant knows.¡± Then, she had the other two servants go forward to open a path in front of them to keep them from being jostled by the crowd. She also went forward to lead the way.


    Ji Man pulled Muxu¡¯s hand and deliberately slowed their pace. She waited for the right time, a time when it was especially crowded.


    By the time that Liu <i>Mama</i> worriedly looked back, the two people had already disappeared without a trace.¡±


    ¡°Master Sang!¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> was so scared that her face paled. She hurriedly wanted to stop and go back to look for them. However, how could the crowd behind her be willing to give way? She continued to be pushed forward.


    Liu <i>Mama</i> turned back and yelled towards the other two servants, ¡°Master Sang disappeared! Quickly, go look for her!¡± The three of them did their best to walk against the stream of people. When their foreheads had been furrowed to look like fried dough twists, they still weren¡¯t able to take more than a few steps back.


    Ji Man pulled Muxu out of the crowd and stopped by the side. Keeping close to the side of the street, they ran to Zhengde Street like a puff of smoke.


    ¡°Master...¡± Muxu felt panicked and doubtful.


    Ji Man patted her back, then she looked around and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the rouge shop that you mentioned?¡±


    Muxu looked left and right, then she led Ji Man a few steps forward to a storefront that was four doors wide. On the top of the storefront, there was a que with the words, ¡°Shuiji¡¯s Rouge Shop¡±. There weren¡¯t anymps lit inside and the shop was situated in a poor natural light position, so the inside of the store was dark.


    Ji Man followed Muxu inside. It seemed that there weren¡¯t many customers inside today. The shopkeeper was even dispiritedly and listlessly leaning against a disy.


    Seeing peopleing inside, Miss Shui immediately mustered up her spirits and asked with a smile, ¡°Madam, what are you looking for?¡±


    ¡°Just looking at the items here to see how they are.¡± Ji Man casually replied and carefully looked over this woman. She was actually a female shopkeeper. This was quite rare.


    ¡°Shuiji¡¯s rouges have always been top-quality. Madams and misses from rich families all like to use them.¡± Miss Shui said.


    Ji Man looked around the entire store and curiously asked, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that your products are pretty good, but why is the store so empty today?¡±


    Miss Shui froze for a moment. Soon after, she sighed and said, ¡°I won¡¯t hide this from madam. We¡¯re about to sell this store. My father is sick and our business hasn¡¯t been doing well because of the poor location. Look at these rouges. They have such good colors. If they were in a ce with bright lighting, we would be able to sell them for a higher price.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Have you decided to stop selling rouge?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I have to still continue selling rouge.¡± Miss Shui picked up a box of rouge, sighed, and said, ¡°It¡¯s only that my father¡¯s illness needs a lot of money to treat. After we sell the store in a few days for a hundred and eighty silver taels, I¡¯ll continue selling the rouge by setting up a stall.¡±


    Realizing that she had been unknowingly led away from exchanging conventional greeting by the other person and started speaking about her troubles instead, Miss Shui returned to her senses and became somewhat guarded against this customer. She asked, ¡°Madam, did youe here to buy rouge?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and said, ¡°I came here because I wanted to discuss business with you.¡±


    Miss Shui paused before asking, ¡°You want to buy this store?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ji Man shook her head. ¡°I want you to exchange this store for a ce with better lighting and work with you in this rouge business. But, you have to help me sell something. If you can keep this matter confidential, perhaps, I can help with your father¡¯s illness.¡±


    Miss Shui carefully looked at the woman in front of her. Her clothing was made from high-quality material and half of her face was covered. Her exposed phoenix eyes showed a slight proudness and fierceness. She seemed like a concubine from a rich family.


    In this dynasty, there were very few women who were willing to show their face in public and do business. She was only working because she had to. This madam looked as if she didn¡¯t have worry about being provided with basic necessities. Why would she think about doing business?


    However, she seemed like someone that would be able to help her. Right now, she was alone and helpless. Her rtives were all coveting this store. She really didn¡¯t have any other choice.


    ¡°Madam, what do you want to sell?¡± She asked.


    Ji Man slightly smiled. She wasn¡¯t in a hurry to take out the cold cream. Instead, she took out the banknote that was worth one hundred silver taels and ced it in her hand.


    ¡°This is a deposit. You can use this money to rent the most prosperous store on Yongning Street. In a few days, I¡¯ll help you buy that store. Later on, when you¡¯re selling your rouge, sell my item for me. The item that you¡¯re selling for me, you can keep 30% of the profit. How about it?¡±


    (T/N: Just to rify, it¡¯s mentionedter in the story that Qingyun¡¯s mother was promoted to the position of main wife after the death of Sangyu¡¯s mother. That¡¯s why it¡¯s possible for Qingyun to be older than Sangyu.


    What do you guys think of Ji Man¡¯s business proposition? If Ipare it to other transmigration books, where everyone else is just a servant or employee, this seems too generous. But, if you think of her using Miss Shui as an intermediate consignment shop, her terms are pretty fair.)

 Chapter 23

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 023 out of 513 ¨C Preparing to invest and enter into a partnership (2)


    This was like treasure falling from the sky! Miss Shui was so surprised that she was left dumbstruck. Her mouth was gaping open, but she didn¡¯t close it. She could only think about how her hand was holding a banknote worth a hundred silver taels.


    But, she quickly recovered her senses. She furrowed her brow and said, ¡°Then, aren¡¯t I taking advantage of Madam?¡±


    This madam was willing to purchase the store and let her keep 30% of the profit from her item. How could there be such a good thing?¡±


    Ji Man calmly said, ¡°You also know that it wouldn¡¯t be suitable for me to do business with my status. If anyone finds out, there would be no way for me to turn things around. So, it¡¯s not a loss to me at all to give you this consideration. In the future, I¡¯ll also need your assistance in acquiring raw materials. Understand?¡±


    Miss Shui was silent. There was hesitation in her eyes.


    It was naturally impossible for her to instantly decide on such an important matter. Ji Man didn¡¯t try to hurry her either and only said, ¡°I¡¯ll leave the money here. I¡¯lle back to look for you in a few days. If you agree, then rent the store. If you don¡¯t agree, then I¡¯ll just take back my deposit.¡±


    ¡°Madam, let me think about it.¡± Miss Shui saluted.


    Ji Man nodded. She looked around the shop one more time, then she left the shop with Muxu.


    ¡°Master, how could you so easily give all of your money to her?!¡± Muxu furrowed her brow and asked, ¡°What if she runs away with the money?¡±


    A hundred silver taels wasn¡¯t a small sum. The average person would definitely feel tempted.


    ¡°Good faith is the most important when doing business.¡± Ji Man said in a neutral tone, ¡°The one hundred silver taels is a test. If she passes, then it¡¯ll save me future trouble. It¡¯s fine if she doesn¡¯t pass. It¡¯s still better than being betrayedter on. After all, safety is the most important thing.¡±


    She had to find a trustworthy person. Otherwise, she would be in trouble if people found out that she was the one selling cold cream.


    Muxu still felt heartache. One hundred silver taels was almost half of what master had received from selling off her jewelry.


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t cared much about selling her jewelry. It would have been tiring to wear so much jewelry every day. It would be nice to only have two silver hairpins left.


    She had secretly taken out the rest of her jewelry with her this time. If she wanted to buy a store, she would need at least three hundred silver taels. She calcted the items she had brought with her. She probably would have enough money after selling these items.


    After sessfully achieving her goal by bargaining with the pawnshop¡¯s storekeeper for a long time, Ji Man walked out of the store with two hundred and eighty silver taels. She put the banknote into her clothes and pulled Muxu along with her to go back to the residence.


    ¡°Master, you¡¯re not going to shop around the market?¡± Muxu asked.


    ¡°Shopping?¡± Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°We deliberately lost those servants. It¡¯ll be the best if we return before them. Otherwise, Madam will definitely me us for causing trouble. If we return to the residence first, Madam will me them for not being conscientious and failing their responsibility.¡±


    Muxu was speechless. Master was actually quite clever. Why did she use to lose her ability to thinking rationally because of her feelings for Marquis Moyu? She used to be wholeheartedly focused on him to the point of being hopelessly stupid.


    Ji Man used a carriage to bring her and Muxu back to the Marquis¡¯s residence. As expected, Liu <i>Mama</i> and the other two servants hadn¡¯te back yet. While rejoicing in other people¡¯s misfortune, Ji Man hurriedly went to Qiangwei Courtyard to report to Wen Wan.


    ¡°It seems like the stall that sold cold cream wasn¡¯t open today. It was also very crowded in the streets and this servant was worried about getting lost, so this servant came back early.¡± Ji Man was kneeling in front of Wen Wan and she said these words in a regretful tone.


    Wen Wan raised her hand to allow her to stand up. She furrowed her brow and said, ¡°You¡¯re very sensible ining back first. After all, you¡¯re part of the Marquis¡¯s household. You can¡¯t just walk around by yourself. When Liu <i>Mama</i> and the otherse back, I¡¯ll discipline them. You can go back and rest.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, Madam.¡±


    After Ji Man returned to her courtyard, she calcted the resale value of the items that Wen Wan had recently bestowed her. Then, she had Doctor Li take the items away to sell for her. Combined with the money from selling the rest of her jewelry, she would have at least three hundred silver taels in total after these items were sold. Taking advantage of this time when she had nothing to do, she urged Muxu to go the marquis¡¯s residence¡¯s back gardens to steal various types of flowers for them to make into flower water. Then, they made several more boxes of cold cream.


    A few dayster, Ji Man received permission to leave the residence again. She guessed that the cold cream had been very effective for Wen Wan. Even her unfavorable situation had been improved. When she left the residence, there was only Liu <i>Mama</i> and one other servant escorting her.


    ¡°Master Sang, please don¡¯t get lost. Keep close to this servant.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> was still worried about what happenedst time. She kept a close watch over this pair of master and servant. She was afraid they would disappear again.


    Ji Man nodded with an agreeable expression. However, as soon as they entered the market, she did the same thing as before and trickily took advantage of when there were many people to run away with Muxu.


    They first went to the Shuiji store on Zhengde Street, but the store was already closed and there was sign on it offering it for sale. So, Ji Man and Muxu turned around to go to Yongning Street.


    Yongning Street was much more lively than Zhengde Street. After they had almost walked the entire street, they saw a store that was facing the sun and was currently being put in order. There was a woman standing at the entrance. Other than Miss Shui, who else could it be?


    ¡°Madam.¡± Miss Shui turned around and saw her. She said with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡±


    Ji Man let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, this woman had been a steadfast person.


    ¡°Have you rented the store?¡± She asked.


    Miss Shui looked left and right before leading her inside. ¡°Madam, you have good luck. I discussed with this store¡¯s shopkeeper. He said he was in a hurry to return to his hometown and will sell this store for two hundred sixty silver taels.¡±


    T/N: Added a page for Cast of Characters. Page has minor spoilers up to most recently tranted chapter. Link for cast of characters can also be found on table of contents page after the summary section.

 Chapter 24

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 024 out of 513 ¨C Delivering herself (1)


    Ji Man happily agreed that she was quite lucky. Now, she would be able to save part of her money.


    ¡°I thought about Madam¡¯s proposal. Since you¡¯re willing to work together with me, let¡¯s draw up a contract.¡± Miss Shui looked at her and said in a deadly earnest voice, ¡°Since Madam wants to be a behind-the-scenes boss, I¡¯ll help you sell your item for a monthly sry. It really doesn¡¯t seem fair to use your store for free and also get a share of the profit.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to find a trustworthy person. It¡¯s fine if you want to be my shopkeeper. Then, we can straightforwardly split the profits. Forty and sixty percent of the profit will go to you and me, respectively, from selling the cosmetics, including the sale of my item. The monthly sry won¡¯t be needed. What do you think?¡±


    Would anyone put as much effort and thought into managing another person¡¯s shop as she did for her own shop? Ji Man would rather earn less money and secure this shopkeeper, who looked verypetent.


    Miss Shui hesitated for a long time before she sighed and said, ¡°Madam, you¡¯re very frank and amodating. You¡¯re also my benefactor that saved me from a bad situation. Since you¡¯ve already spoken to this point, then I won¡¯t keep refusing. After the store is finished being sorted out and opens for business, I¡¯ll definitely do my best to manage the business.¡±


    Ji Man smiled as she nodded.


    They went the store¡¯s second floor and she gave her the banknotes that were worth three hundred silver taels to her and arge box of cold cream.


    ¡°This is the item that I want to sell. It¡¯s called cold cream. Once the store is ready, leave this container in the most conspicuous and best spot in the store. But, don¡¯t sell it. Only allow the customers to sample it.¡±


    Miss Shui looked at the box in puzzlement. When she opened the box, the faint fragrance of osmanthus flowers lingered at the tip of her nose. It was a lovely light yellow cream.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Rouge?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°No. This is a skincare product. It can make your skin fair and smooth. When women use rouge too much, it¡¯ll make their skin worse. Using this skincare product, their skin will be better.¡±


    Miss Shui¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen this type of item being sold before.¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled. Then, she handed over a small box. ¡°This box is for you to use. If people see its positive effect on you, it¡¯ll be easier to convince them to buy it when you sell itter.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Madam.¡± Miss Shui epted the cold cream. She was still slightly puzzled, ¡°Is it really that magical?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see it for yourself after trying it.¡± Ji Man said, ¡°No matter who tries to buy the cold cream, don¡¯t sell it to anyone. Only allow them to sample it. Just tell them that the supply is limited and they need to pre-order if they want to buy it. Therge box is ten silver taels. The small box is five silver taels. There will only be a total of one hundred boxes for sale every month. Once the supply runs out, there won¡¯t be anymore until the next month.¡±


    Miss Shui gaped. ¡°Why is it so expensive?¡±


    It was already considered expensive to sell normal rogue for one silver tael. She actually wanted to sell this item for ten silver taels? Would they really be able to sell it for that price?


    ¡°Believe me, they¡¯ll think it¡¯s worth every tael once they try it. If you have any familiar customers from rich families, you can scoop some up with a seashell so they can take it home to use.¡± Ji Man looked like a business shark as she said, ¡°Once they see how good the cold cream is, they¡¯ll naturallye back to buy it.¡±


    Miss Shui murmured assent. Although she still felt that these prices were unreasonable, she could onlyply with her boss¡¯s order.


    The two of them wrote out their agreement. Miss Shui was a straightforward person. The contract clearly said that if she ever exposed Ji Man as the storeowner, she would have topensate her with five hundred silver taels. Moreover, she would also have to immediately return the store to her.¡±


    Ji Man naturally didn¡¯t treat her unfairly either. Forty percent of the profits would be more than enough for her have a rich life.


    On the way out, Ji Man asked Miss Shui¡¯s address in the passing. She said that she would introduce her to a doctor that woulde over to check her father¡¯s illness.


    After this pleasantly cooperative meeting, Ji Man held the remaining tworge boxes of cold cream as she swiftly called for a carriage to return home.


    This time, Ji Man was waiting outside the residence¡¯s entrance to return with Liu <i>Mama</i> after ditching her again. This way, she wouldn¡¯t be scolded for returning without Ji Man. Although Liu <i>Mama</i> found the situation strange, she didn¡¯t say anything. It was fine as long as she wasn¡¯t punished.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu had been busy with going back and forth to the pce during the past two days for an unknown reason. But, since he wasn¡¯t home much, the residence was a lot less tense during this period. None of other women left their courtyards to aimlessly walk around. They were all staying in their rooms to figure out ways to make themselves appear more attractive.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan increasingly felt that Nie Sangyu had reformed. She now appeared more or less as a gentle and warm-hearted person. The struggles that she had anticipated that she would have to face aftering here never happened. In addition, Nie Sangyu had also given her the super effective treasure item, cold cream. Wen Wan no longer used any other cosmetic. Therefore, the favorable impression she had towards Nie Sangyu was creeping upwards towards the sky.


    Ji Man also knew that Wen Wan had rxed her vignce. But, when Wen Wan told her that she had arranged for her to serve Marquis Moyu tonight, Ji Man was still very shocked.


    To be willing to push her own man towards another woman, this woman was truly generous. The female lead was truly a self-inflicting Holy Mother that was asking to be killed.*


    ¡ª


    After hearing this news, Mu Shuiqing was furious. She had been frequently visiting Wen Wan¡¯s courtyard. She couldn¡¯t believe that Wen Wan would give the chance of sleeping with the marquis to Nie Sangyu. It was so rare for the marquis to let madam arrange for him to sleep with someone else.


    First, Honored Concubine Xue had received his favor. Then, he had repeatedly favored Wen Wan. Now, she wanted the marquis to favor that vicious woman, who had only recently left the confinement courtyard. Then, when would it finally be her turn?


    After she had torn her handkerchief into pieces, Mu Shuiqing angrily went to Qi Siling¡¯s courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu was sitting at the table and his expression looked somewhat ugly. ¡°You want me to go to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room?¡±


    Wen Wan lowered her eyes. She was sitting in front of her dressing table. She quietly said, ¡°Old Madame will being back in two days. You¡¯ll have to go to her room sooner orter, so you might as well let me act as a sensible, worthy wife.¡±


    * T/N: I tried to keep phrasing as close to the original Chinese sentence as possible and still be grammatically correct. But, I¡¯m not sure if that made the meaning less clear. In that line, Ji Man is thinking that she really wants to kill Wen Wan for her ¡°generosity.¡±

 Chapter 25

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 025 out of 513 ¨C Delivering herself (2)


    Marquis Moyu furrowed his brow. He stood up, walked to Wen Wan¡¯s front, lifted her chin with his hand, and said, ¡°You really don¡¯t mind?¡±


    Wen Wan mockingly curved her lips, ¡°Has my lord ever stopped himself from going to another courtyard in consideration for my feelings?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow rxed. There was actually a trace of childish glee in his eyes. ¡°Are you jealous?¡±


    Wen Wan turned her head away. ¡°Before I married you and became your wife, I already mentally prepared myself with having to share you with other women. It¡¯s only that I can¡¯tpletely ept this reality right now, so I still feel bad. But, it¡¯ll be fine once I get over these feelings on my own.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan picked her up with one arm and sat himself down on the stool. He profoundly looked at the person in his arms and said, ¡°What there¡¯s for you to get over? No matter how many women I have, aren¡¯t you still the one that I love the most? As soon as you¡¯re unhappy, don¡¯t I obedientlye back to you? En?¡±


    Wen Wan blushed from his teasing words. Although she made an angry sound, she still obediently leaned her head against his chest. ¡°Yuxuan, I¡¯m really afraid that you won¡¯t treat me this well anymore after you¡¯ll fall in love with someone else one day.¡±


    Marquis Moyu slighty raised an eyebrow before lowered his head and kissing her forehead. ¡°I already have you. Who else could I possibly fall in love with?


    Wen Wan closed her eyes and stayed silent, but her fingers tightly grasped thepel of his robe.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡ª


    Although Nie Sangyu definitely wouldn¡¯t mind serving Marquis Moyu in bed, and would even be mad with joy, Ji Man would very much mind doing so. In modern times, she hadn¡¯t married yet. She had gone through many boyfriends, but none of them were good. As a result, she was a rare person that was still a virgin. Wanting her sleep with a scummy man in this rotten world? Dream on!


    However, she definitely couldn¡¯t directly refuse. Needless to say, she couldn¡¯t do something that was the opposite of fawning over him. More importantly, other people would use her of posturing. After all, Nie Sangyu was someone that would rush to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side as soon as she saw him. No one would believe that she wasn¡¯t willing to serve him in bed.


    And so, Ji Man told Muxu to dress her up prettily and properly this afternoon. Then, she flung the handkerchief in her left hand and went over to Feiyu Courtyard.


    If she had to describe the the women in the residence, Qi Siling seemed dignified and magnanimous with unfathomable depths, Qian Lianxue was a lovely and pitiful person that was fair and considerate, and Liu Hanyun seemed to have a straightforward personality, but she also didn¡¯t like to cause trouble. There was only one person that caused trouble, Mu Shuiqing.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know if Nie Sangyu had ipatible <i>bazi</i> with this woman. Mu Shuiqing had fully disyed the deviousness that a woman from a brothel would have towards her. She had sessfully worsened Nie Sangyu¡¯s reputation behind her back countless times. Moreover, she never had a good expression as soon as she saw Nie Sangyu.


    (T/N: <i>Bazi </i>consists of the hour, day, month and year you were born. It¡¯s used in fortune telling to tell your future andpatibility with other people.)


    And so, right now, she was delivering herself to Mu Shuiqing to do her work for her.


    ¡ª


    When Mu Shuiqing returned from Qi Siling¡¯s courtyard, she still looked extremely angry. As soon as she saw Nie Sangyu standing at the entrance, her expression became worse. In a peculiar tone, she started saying, ¡°Yo, isn¡¯t this Master Sang, who¡¯s about to serve the marquis? Why are you here in my cold and cheerless courtyard?¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled, ¡°I¡¯ve walked the entire path and felt hot. This is the only ce that feels pleasantly cool.¡±


    It was currently clear and refreshing autumn weather. How could she feel hot? She was clearlying here to show off that she was going to be favored. Looking at her, Mu Shuiqing¡¯s teeth felt itchy.


    ¡°I heard that you haven¡¯t seen the marquis in a long time.¡± Ji Man copied her expression. Then, she took out a handkerchief to almost hide her mouth as she smiled. ¡°Do you want toe visit me tonight to see him? It¡¯ll break up the bitter yearning that you¡¯re feeling.¡±


    ¡°No need to trouble yourself.¡± Mu Shuiqing sneered. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re going to be favored for a long time. There¡¯s no reason for me to feel jealous.¡±


    Everyone in the residence knew how much the marquis hated this woman. He was only doing this because of old madame. This woman wouldn¡¯t be feeling proud of herself for long.


    Although she knew this truth, Mu Shuiqing still felt bad when she saw how pleased Nie Sangyu was.


    ¡°Younger sister, if you¡¯re not jealous, then don¡¯t look at me as if you have a great hatred towards me.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°I heard that several new fishes had been added to the pond in the garden. Do you want go there with me to look?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing opened her mouth to immediately refuse, but when her words reached the side of her mouth, they slipped away. Her eyes turned and she stuffily said, ¡°Fine, let¡¯s go. I was feeling bored anyways.¡±


    Ji Man held Muxu¡¯s arm for support as they walked toward the garden. Muxu was slightly nervous. Every time she wanted to open her mouth to say something, Ji Man gestured for her to be quiet.


    ¡°Ah, these fishes. They can only live happily when they have water.¡± Ji Man stood at the side of the pond to look. In a proud tone, she said, ¡°They¡¯re like us. We can¡¯t live without the marquis.


    Mu Shuiqing coldlyughed repeatedly, ¡°The marquis has never loved you. Aren¡¯t you still living well regardless?¡±


    Ji Man kneeled down and fiddled with the water with her hand. She sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s true. He doesn¡¯t love any of us. But, it¡¯s okay. It¡¯s still better to receive his favor. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing narrowed her eyes and had the impulsive to push her into the water. With today¡¯s weather and the cold water in the pond, she would definitely get sick if she fell into the pond. If she was sick, then she wouldn¡¯t be able to serve the marquis.


    But, when she looked at the servant girl near Nie Sangyu, she didn¡¯t dare to do so. They were in broad daylight; everyone would be able to clearly everything.


    ¡°Muxu, it¡¯s windy out. Go get my cloak.¡± Ji Man turned her head and ordered.


    Muxu didn¡¯t move from where she was standing until Ji Man lightly pinched her. She reluctantly acknowledged Nie Sangyu¡¯s order and looked at Mu Shuiqing several times before turning around and walking back to courtyard.


    Mu Shuiqing, her servant, and Ji Man were the only three people left in this ce. Mu Shuiqing was currently hesitating over what excuse to use when she heard the crouched down person in front of her ask, ¡°Do you want to push me into the water?¡±


    T/N: Oh Ji Man, you¡¯re working so hard to aplish two goals at the same time: creating an excuse to not sleep with Ning Yuxuan and getting Mu Shuiqing in trouble as payback forst time.


    Today is thest day for the two weeks of daily updates. I¡¯m going to be taking a mini break. Next update will be on<strong> Tuesday, July 3rd</strong>. There will be 2 releases per week (Tuesday and Friday) until <i>ChongFei Manual</i> ispleted on July 21st or earlier, then <i>the Dreamer in Spring Boudoir</i> will have same schedule as <i>ChongFei Manual</i>.


    Added a preview for the next chapter so that there won¡¯t be a cliffhanger for a week.

 Chapter 26 - Not too late for Sangyu (1)

    Chapter: 026 out of 513 ¨C Not toote for Sangyu (1)


    At first, Mu Shuqing was startled by her question. Then, her expression turned ugly. ¡°Don¡¯t say nonsense. Who wants to push you?!¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled. She stretched her hand out and touched the cool water that would soon seep into her bones. She braced herself and said, ¡°If you¡¯re afraid of doing it, then let me do it.¡±


    After she finished her words, her crouched body fell forward, followed the cobblestones that lined the side of the pond, and rolled into Feiyu Courtyard¡¯s cold autumn pond.


    Mu Shuiqing was dumbstruck. Although there had been a momentary impulse of wanting to push Nie Sangyu into the pond and she had been standing behind her, she wouldn¡¯t have actually dared to do so. Even if the marquis disliked Nie Sangyu, the marquis would definitely get mad if she pushed her into the pond at this juncture in time. As soon as she had slightly calmed down, she knew that she couldn¡¯t go through with this.


    But, Nie Sangyu had actually fallen into the water herself? Didn¡¯t she know that if she got sick, she wouldn¡¯t be able to serve the marquis? Or, did she hate her to the point that she would give up the opportunity to serve the marquis in order to harm her? Mu Shuiqing gritted her teeth and looked at the Nie Sangyu struggling in the pond. She didn¡¯t think about calling for help. Since she was already being framed, then she would let that woman stay in the cold water!


    The water level in the pond didn¡¯t go past a person¡¯s waist. Normally, Ji Man could just stand up, but her leg had be cramped. In addition, the bottom of the pond was full of silt. She could only struggle to sit with a painful expression.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu, do you think that the marquis will me me if you y this type of trick?¡± Mu Shuiqing said with false confidence. ¡°I¡¯ll tell him that you fell into the water on purpose.¡±


    Ji Man choked on her saliva. A moment of instability and she had to struggle to sit back up again. Her entire body was soaked wet. She was so cold that her face became pallid. ¡°Have someone save me first.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m going to save a malevolent woman like you?¡± Flustered and exasperated, Mu Shuiqing said, ¡°If you drown, everyone in the residence will be happier!¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s teeth began to chatter from the cold. She could only tenaciously cling to the side of the pond. ¡°H-hurry save me!¡±


    ¡°In your dreams!¡± Mu Shuiqing turned around and was about to leave. This had nothing to do with her. She wouldn¡¯t let herself be framed for this!


    But as soon as she turned around, Mu Shuiqing was dumbstruck. Marquis Moyu had happened to pass by here through an opening in the garden. From far away, he had seen her and was walking towards here.


    What should she do? The marquis had already seen them about to leave. If the marquis saw the person in the pond, then she wouldn¡¯t be able to wash clean her reputation even if she jumped into the Yellow River.


    Mu Shuiqing felt panicked and anxious as she clutched her handkerchief.


    Ning Yuxuan thought her behavior was strange. Why was she just standing there with such a panic-stricken expression?


    When he walked closer, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s body had started to tremble. With great difficulty, she forced herself to smile, said there was nothing wrong, and started to lead the marquis away from here. But, there was the suddenly the unexpected sound of falling watering from the pond behind them.


    Ning Yuxuan curiously raised his eyebrows and looked past Mu Shuiqing and toward the pond.


    ¡°My lord...¡± Ji Man weakly waved her hand at him.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face sunk. He strode over and personally pulled Nie Sangyu out from the pond.


    The water sshed all over his body. Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyebrows were deeply furrowed. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s hair was disheveled and her entire body was soaked. Her lips had even turned almost white. She actually looked somewhat pitiful.


    ¡°This has nothing to do with this servant!¡± Mu Shuiqing hurriedly shouted. ¡°She jumped into the pond herself!¡±


    For a moment, Marquis Moyu¡¯s body stiffened. But in the end, he still hugged Nie Sangyu. The weather was chilly. She would definitely get seriously sick if she continued to stand her.


    Ji Man widened her eyes. She hadn¡¯t expected that this person would be willing to hug her. Her body suddenly felt warm and for an inexplicable reason, tears started falling from her eyes. But, it was mixed with pond water, so no one else notice. Ah, these were Nie Sangyu¡¯s tears. When she saw Ning Yuxuan, her tears would be especially numerous.


    ¡°It¡¯s probably because I was feeling too depressed, so I jumped into the pond.¡± Ji Man¡¯s teeth were still chattering. After she grabbed Marquis Moyu¡¯s clothes as she said these words, the chilly wind blew by and her mind started to be muddled.


    ¡°You!¡± Mu Shuiqing fiercely looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Behind Mu Shuiqing, Banxia also wasn¡¯t willing to let things stand as they were. She said, ¡°Clearly, Master Sang jumped into the water to frame my master. My lord, please investigate this matter.¡±


    Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t say anything. He sharply looked at Mu Shuiqing for a long time, until she felt unbearably wronged.


    ¡°Summon a doctor to the courtyard on the east side.¡± After flinging down these words, Ning Yuxuan picked Nie Sangyu up in a bridal carry, turned around, and left.


    Mu Shuiqing clutched her handkerchief and stood in ce for a long time. She almost cried, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and stopped herself. She sent Banxia to get a doctor and followed after Marquis Moyu towards the small courtyard by herself.


    Ji Man leaned against the man¡¯s chest with her eyes closed. Not mentioning anything else, his embrace felt very stable. Although he was walking very quickly, it didn¡¯t feel too bumpy. His stable hold made her feel very at ease.


    She hadn¡¯t expected that Ning Yuxuan would suddenly appear. This man usually avoided Nie Sangyu like she was a poisonous serpent or scorpion. There was something off about this.


    At some pointter, her body was ced down on a cushioned couch and she heard Muxu crying out in rm. It seemed as if Marquis Moyu had told Muxu to change her clothes, then he carried her over to her bed. The doctor had also arrived.


    ¡°Master Sang is in shock from falling into water. In addition, her health is poor. I¡¯m afraid that she¡¯ll get sick from this.¡± As the doctor wrote out a prescription, he said, ¡°In the short-term, she won¡¯t be able to attend to bed duties.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s brow rxed before tensing again. He looked at the nearby Mu Shuiqing, ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>, I thought you were a sensible person.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing immediately kneeled on the ground. She clenched her teeth and said, ¡°This servant really didn¡¯t do anything. This servant swears on my life!¡±

 Chapter 27 - Not too late for Sangyu (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 027 out of 513 ¨C Not toote for Sangyu (2)


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a moment, then he look at the person on the bed that had her eyes closed. ¡°Never mind, go back to your courtyard. Finish embroidering the handkerchiefs that she hasn¡¯t finished embroidering and this matter will be considered settled.¡±


    ¡°My lord!¡± Mu Shuiqing refused to ept this as final.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anymore.¡± Marquis Moyu lightly waved his hand.


    He was clearly showing bias in favor of Nie Sangyu. He didn¡¯t even question them before directly punishing her. Mu Shuiqing wanted to cry from anger, but she didn¡¯t dare to fuss. She could only swallow her anger and withdraw from the room. She would have a sobbing fest once she returned to Feiyu Courtyard. In her heart, she hated Nie Sangyu even more.


    Ji Man rxed once she heard the doctor¡¯s words. It was good as long as she didn¡¯t have to serve him in bed. Plus, there would be someone to finish embroidering those handkerchiefs for her. It had been worth it to jump into the pond.


    Muxu went to prepare the medicine and Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t seem as if he wanted to sit down. His silently looked at Ji Man. Her moving eyes and twitching eyshes showed that she wasn¡¯t resting peacefully.


    Realizing that she was wake, Ning Yuxuan quietly said, ¡°Qing-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t sensible. There¡¯s no need for you to bicker with her. I know that you suffered a lot of grievancestely. But, you should understand. It¡¯s only natural that you¡¯re punished when you do things that are unsuitable for your status.¡±


    After such a long time had passed, did hee here to exin why he had demoted Nie Sangyu from main wife to concubine? You¡¯re supposed to give a sweet date after pping someone, but wasn¡¯t he giving this sweet date far toote?


    Ji Man internally rolled her eyes, but she still slightly opened her eyes and looked at the man by the bed.


    It was easy for a woman to fall under Marquis Moyu¡¯s spell when he was treating her gently and warmly. Just like right now, he was looking at her with his eyes full of tender feelings. His slender hand with distinct joints reached out and brushed her still wet hair to the side.


    He was an iparable gentleman that possessed the elegance of white jade.


    If it were Nie Sangyu in this body, she would instantly sumb to his seduction and forget the various wrong things that Marquis Moyu had done. She would even speak up in his favor when old madame returned.


    But, Ji Man¡¯s zodiac sign was the Scorpio and she was especially good at holding grudges. Even though the person in front of her was unreasonably attractive and gentle, she still wouldn¡¯t forget who had been responsible for punishing her.


    ¡°Sangyu understands what the marquis is saying.¡± Although her heart bore grudges, she still had to outwardly pretend that she was touched by his words and actions. ¡°Sangyu doesn¡¯t me the marquis. Sangyu¡¯s current state is just the result of reaping the consequences of my actions.¡± Choosing to marry a man like this, it truly was Nie Sangyu suffering the consequences of her actions!


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes showed a slight puzzlement. ¡°You seemed to have changed a lot since Wan-<i>er</i> married into this household.¡± She had changed so much that she didn¡¯t resemble the previous Nie Sangyu at all.


    Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s because Sangyu understands now. Sangyu won¡¯t be able to snatch anything back through hysterical actions and doesn¡¯t want to try anymore. Sangyu only hopes to live a peaceful life and won¡¯t chase after something that can¡¯t be obtained.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise. A piece of his heart felt as if it was being lightly twisted.


    Everyone in the capital knew about Nie Sangyu¡¯s crazily foolish love towards him. This woman always looked at him with a fervent and longing gaze. She was always waiting for him. She had tried countlessughable tricks in order to gain his favor.


    But now, she has said that she wouldn¡¯t chase after something that couldn¡¯t be obtain.


    He couldn¡¯t describe the emotions that were being crammed into him. Ning Yuxuan somewhat ashamedly turned his head. Then, he thought of why he hade here and his expression returned to normal. ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand. I¡¯ll keep youpany during the next two days. This courtyard doesn¡¯t have a name yet. What do you want to name it?¡±


    Keeping herpany for two days? Ji Man¡¯s eyes turned. She had guessed correctly. He was only giving her sweet dates because old madame wasing back.


    ¡°This courtyard is quiet and peaceful. Let¡¯s call it Feiwan* Courtyard.¡±


    * T/N: <i>Feiwan</i> literally means notte. It¡¯s part of this idiom, ¡°<i>Shi zhi dongyu, shou zi sangyu, wei shi feiwan¡±. </i>It¡¯s a Chinese idiom that means, the earlier years have already passed, but if you learn from those experiences and make a determined effort, it¡¯s not toote for the second half of your life. Also the <i>sangyu</i> in that idiom is the same Chinese characters as Nie Sangyu¡¯s first name.


    Ning Yuxuan was surprised again. <i>Shi zhi dongyu, shou zi sangyu, wei shi fei wan.</i>When did Nie Sangyu have feelings like these?


    The more time passed, the more he didn¡¯t understand this woman. He used to think she was hopelessly foolish, but now he felt that she was very intelligent.


    Seeing his expression, Ji Man smiled, ¡°My lord, are you thinking about why this servant has suddenly be so clever?¡±


    Marquis Moyu took a deep breath and against her expectations, heughed. ¡°Can you read my mind?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°Your expression was too obvious. My lord, have you heard of a certain phrase before?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°A woman behaves the most foolishly when she¡¯s in love.¡±


    It took a while before Ning Yuxuan understood the meaning of her words. His expression immediately sunk. ¡°Nie Sangyu, do you know that your words are viting the sevenws?¡±


    T/N: The seven ancientws and excuses a man can use to divorce his wife are: not obedient to the inws, childless, adultery, jealousy, disease, excessive gossiping, and theft.


    Was she telling him that she had be clever because she no longer loved him?


    Ji Man lightlyughed, ¡°My lord, you¡¯re the only person that Sangyu has ever loved in this lifetime. Whereas you...¡±


    These were lines that Nie Sangyu would sayter in the novel. It should be okay if she said these words a little bit earlier, right?


    Marquis Moyu froze in surprise and stayed silent. The room immediately became quiet and Ji Man closed her eyes.


    Muxu brought the medicine into the room and quietly said, ¡°My lord, the medicine has been prepared.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan returned to his senses and reached out to take the bowl of medicine. He scooped up a spoonful and blew on it to cool down. ¡°You should drink this medicine before doing anything else.¡±


    Ji Man nodded, but when she saw that spoonful of ck-looking medicine approaching her mouth, she wasn¡¯t as calm anymore. ¡°My lord, this servant can drink this medicine myself. You don¡¯t need be so courteous. Sangyu won¡¯t me you for anything.¡±

 Chapter 28 - The honorable pestilence god is here (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 028 out of 513 ¨C The honorable pestilence god is here (1)


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand paused and the corners of his eyes slightly went up before he looked at her and said with a smile, ¡°At the very least, you¡¯ve been with me for six years. It¡¯s only natural that I¡¯ll feed you medicine, right?


    Ji Man lightly nodded while thinking, en, so you do know that Nie Sangyu has been with you for the past six years. Why didn¡¯t you remember those six years when you were punishing her? If she didn¡¯t have strong willpower, she might not have been able to endure it and would have taken herst breath during that beating.


    But, right now, those six years had nothing to do with the current issue. The problem was that she hated the taste of herbal medicine. Capsule pills were much easier to swallow down. Drinking this bitter concoction was simply asking for her life!


    After Marquis Moyu had brought that spoonful of medicine to her lips, Ji Man hesitated for a long time before she finally took a deep breath and swallowed it down in one gulp.


    Ning Yuxuan wanted tough when he saw her scrunched up face. While he stirred the medicine, he asked, ¡°Why are you so afraid of bitterness?¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop herself from rolling her eyes. Who wasn¡¯t afraid of bitterness? Anyone that could calmly drink herbal medicine like it was chicken soup wasn¡¯t human, okay?


    After Ji Man finally finished the bowl of medicine with great difficulty, she had Muxu bring over a piece of candy. She sucked on the candy for a long time before the bitter taste of the medicine faded from her mouth.


    ¡°The doctor said you can¡¯t apany me in sleeping.¡± Marquis Moyu put down the bowl and spoke as if he was bestowing her a gift, ¡°So, I¡¯ll go over to Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s room to sleep, okay?¡±


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°This servant truly can¡¯t serve you in my current condition. My lord, you should go over to Madam¡¯s ce.¡±


    Although she was smiling, she still had to show a suitable expression with her eyes. She deeply looked at the man with an unwilling expression that was full of grievances.


    Marquis Moyu hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°You like wild roses, right? How about I have the servants nt some of wild roses in this courtyard tomorrow?¡±


    Ji Man lightly nodded, ¡°Many thanks, my lord.¡±


    She looked down. Her eyes still showed grievances.


    He wanted to go to the female lead¡¯s ce to sleep without worries? Sure, you can leave once your groveling satisfies me! While Ji Man silently criticized him, her outward expression became increasingly deste.


    Ning Yuxuan thought things over. He hade here to coax Nie Sangyu. He couldn¡¯t just give up halfway. He gnashed his teeth and said, ¡°After you recover from your illness, I¡¯lle to your room. Okay?¡±


    Ji Man almost chocked on her saliva. She secretly pinched her thigh underneath the quilt. With her lips slightly twitching, she said, ¡°Thank you, my lord...¡±


    Why didn¡¯t she quit when she was ahead? She might as well have picked up a stone to drop on her feet. If he came back here, she would have to make herself sick again!


    Marquis Moyu felt that Nie Sangyu was probably satisfied. If she still wasn¡¯t satisfied, then she was being insatiably greedy. Seeing that she looked very tired, he didn¡¯t want to continue staying here. He left Feiwan Courtyard in a pretty decent mood and he headed towards Qiangwei Courtyard.


    The madams in other families did absolutely everything that they could in order to obtain their husbands¡¯ doting, but his wife was doing everything possible to make him bestow favor on other women. What exactly was going on in her head? As Ning Yuxuan entered Qiangwei Courtyard with a sigh, it happened to be evening. He could have good night¡¯s sleep here before having to deal with Nie Sangyu tomorrow.


    But, as soon as he entered the room, Wen Wan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good anymore. ¡°My lord, why did you return?¡±


    ¡°Sangyu fell into the water and couldn¡¯t serve me. She agreed for me toe back.¡± Ning Yuxuan said with a slight smile.


    Wen Wan¡¯s forehead furrowed even more, ¡°How did she fall into water?¡±


    ¡°She and Qing-<i>er</i> were at the pond in the garden this afternoon. I¡¯m not sure what happened either.¡± Marquis Moyu said, ¡°Perhaps, it was because Qing-<i>er</i> had an impulsive moment.¡±


    Wen Wan pushed away his hand and said in a quiet voice, ¡°My lord, Old Madame will being back the day after tomorrow. It won¡¯t be good if you keep staying over here with me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile dimmed. ¡°You¡¯re still going to drive me away?¡±


    Wen Wan bit her lip. ¡°My lord, you wouldn¡¯t want Old Madame to dislike me, right? We already agreed that during the next two days...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smilepletely disappeared and he took his hand back. He stared at Wen Wan for a long time before finally saying, ¡°I understand.¡±


    After saying those two words, he turned around and left Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan nkly looked at his departing back figure. She bit her lip as her eyes started to redden. ¡°Tanxiang, am I acting insensibly? He loves me so much...¡±


    Tanxiang stood by her side and said with a sigh, ¡°Master¡¯s demeanor is how a main wife should act. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with what you did. Once the marquis understands this, he¡¯ll only like you more.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a woman that could truly be willing to give her man to another woman. Wen Wan¡¯s heart felt bad. She sat by her dressing table and couldn¡¯t choke back her sobs.


    ¡ª


    Just as Ji Man decided to have a good night¡¯s sleep, she saw Ning Yuxuaning back with an unhappy and gloomy expression on his face. He was radiating an aura of ¡°don¡¯t you dare provoke me¡±. Aftering inside, he went straight to her bed and sat down.


    Ji Man swallowed her saliva and decided to not ask any questions. She didn¡¯t have any strange fondness of rushing forward to be someone¡¯s punching bag. Even without asking, she knew that the Holy Mother, Wen Wan, must have spurned him.


    ¡°Muxu, go ask Steward Qian for a quilt and pillow and prepare the cushioned couch for the marquis to use.¡±


    Muxu nodded. She lifted her skirt and withdrew from the room.


    Marquis Moyu slightly raised his eyebrows. ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m going to sleep here?¡±


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know anything.¡± Ji Man hurriedly shook her head. ¡°But, it¡¯ste. It¡¯ll be tiring for the marquis to take another walk. Just put up with sleeping here for a night.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re being surprisingly considerate.¡± Ning Yuxuan suddenly smiled and looked at her with a curious gaze.


    Ji Man closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.


    T/N: Lol, Ji Man, you shouldn¡¯t y a game of chicken with Ning Yuxuan when he thinks the thing you want the most is him. Now, you¡¯re stuck with him for the next two days.

 Chapter 29 - The honorable pestilence god is here (2)

    Chapter: 029 out of 513 ¨C The honorable pestilence god is here (2)


    Marquis Moyu had the day off on the next day. Instead of leaving to go somewhere else, he stayed in Feiwan Courtyard to read books. Ji Man had originally nned to invite Miss Shui over to discuss the store¡¯s pertinent matters. However, she didn¡¯t dare to do anything with this great Buddha sitting here.


    Various varieties of wild roses were quickly brought over and nted in her courtyard until the ce was full of these pink and white flowers.


    Ji Man was recovering from her cold and couldn¡¯t go outside. As she looked at those flowers through the window, she felt a burst of joy. Next time, she would be able to make wild rose cold cream. These raw materials were entirely free. Other than these free flowers, the other ingredients cost five silver coins perrge box. Eachrge box sold for ten silver taels. She would be able to earn a crazy amount of money.


    When Marquis Moyu looked up, he saw a side view of Nie Sangyu slightly smiling and somewhat lost in thought. When this girl was quiet and not causing trouble or clinging to him, she was actually quite beautiful.


    Noticing his gaze, Ji Man turned her head and their eyes met. The eyes across from her suddenly showed a slight amount of interest.


    Ji Man twitched her lips. This promiscuous and fickle man was like a stud horse. Only foolish women from ancient times would be able to tolerate him.


    ¡°I heard that your older brother recently received the emperor¡¯s appreciation and received three days of vacation. Do you want me to invite him over to see you?¡± Ning Yuxuan suddenly said.


    Startled, she instinctively said, ¡°No need.¡±


    The interest in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes deepened. ¡°En? Why not? Whenever you suffered grievances in the past, your favorite thing to do was to invite Sir Nie over to visit you.¡±


    Was he suspicious about something? Goosebumps rose on Ji Man¡¯s back. She felt that his smile looked far too sinister.


    ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t suffered any grievance.¡± Ji Man quickly thought of an excuse, ¡°This servant just doesn¡¯t want my older brother to worry by seeing my current unfavorable situation.¡±


    ¡°Sir Nie should already know about your current situation. There¡¯s nothing for you to worry about.¡± Ning Yuxuan closed his book and said with a light smile, ¡°I happen to be free this afternoon. I¡¯ll send a messenger to invite him here now. He can also drink wine with me while he¡¯s here.¡±


    Oh no.


    Ji Man¡¯s face stiffened. She turned around to continue looking at the outside scenery. She had no idea how Nie Sangyu used to interact with Nie Qingyun. Ning Yuxuan was already suspecting her. If Nie Qingyun also felt that there was something wrong with her, would they think she was a demon? Were they going to tie her up and burn her to death?


    While Ji Man thought of a way to respond to this problem, she turned her head to look at Muxu through the window. That girl had been standing outside the door this entire time in order to give them privacy.


    She shouted, ¡°Muxu,e inside and help me outside to look at the wild roses.¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re not allowed to go outside.¡± Marquis Moyu opened his mouth to stop her, ¡°You¡¯re still sick. You can¡¯t be exposed to the wind. If you want to look at the flowers, you can see them from here.¡±


    The corner of Ji Man¡¯s mouth slightly twitched. She couldn¡¯t even go outside to speak with Muxu. Was this pestilence god nning on staying by her side to constantly watch her? Then, what should she do?


    When she had originally read this light novel, she had skimmed through the book and only read motional scenes. Everything else was apletely mystery to her. She knew nothing about Nie Qingyun¡¯s personality.


    Her eyes turned a full circle. She couldn¡¯t think of a good solution. Anyways, she was sick. She would go straight to acting weak and start crying as soon as she saw Nie Qingyun.


    Having settled on this idea, Ji Man held her forehead and lied down on her bed. ¡°My lord, now that you mentioned it, this servant is feeling woozy. This servant will rest for a bit first.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan curved his lips and nodded, ¡°En.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the first time he felt suspicious. He didn¡¯t believe that a person¡¯s innate temperament could change this much in a short period of time. Although Liu <i>Mama</i>had been spying on her this entire time, what if someone had figured out a way to switch Nie Sangyu with someone else? Not only was Nie n¡¯s status high, Nie Sangyu was also an important chess piece to maintaining the bnce in the imperial household. If someone had kidnapped her, it would be problematic.


    The only method that would put him at ease was to let Nie Qingyune and see her.


    ¡ª


    Ning Qingyun had always spoiled his younger sister. When he heard about her news, he quickly came over. He even rode a horse here. As soon as he arrived at Feiwan Courtyard, he furrowed his brow. ¡°Sangyu is sick?¡±


    The smell of medicine hadn¡¯t faded from the room. Of course, this was because Ji Man had deliberately spilled some of the medicine when she was drinking it recently.


    ¡°En, it was because of the cold weather.¡± Marquis Moyu was sitting by the bedside. With a gentle expression, he said, ¡°I told her to properly drink medicine, but she wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t dare to open her eyes and continued to pretend to be sleeping. But, someone suddenly pinched her waist. Caught off guard, she couldn¡¯t help screaming, ¡°Ahh!¡±


    Nie Qingyun hurriedly walked forward. With his brow furrowed, he said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    With a perfectly calm face, Ning Yuxuanforted her, ¡°Did you have a nightmare?¡±


    Ji Man clenched her teeth and opened her eyes. First, she silently cursed at Ning Yuxuan. Then, she looked at the older brother that had been continuously looked at her with concern.


    Ning Yuxuan was born with a healthy body, a straight nose, and clear and open facial features. One nce would show that he was a good person. While Ji Man looked at him, she pinched herself in the same spot that Ning Yuxuan had recently pinched her. She tearfully looked at him, ¡°Older brother...¡±


    Nie Qingyun sighed. ¡°Everything had been perfectly fine. Why did you do this to yourself?¡±


    Ji Man only sobbed, clutched the hem of Nie Qingyun¡¯s clothes, and didn¡¯t let go. ¡°I dreamed about mother.¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s mother had died very early. This was why Nie Qingyun¡¯s mother had been promoted to position of main wife. Nie Qingyun felt that Sangyu was very pitiful, so he always protected her. He had fully taken on a parent¡¯s responsibility towards her.


    Hearing these words, Nie Qingyun nced at Marquis Moyu. There was a question and also a slight amount of dissatisfaction in his eyes when he looked at him. ¡°The marquis is here. And you still dreamed about your mother?¡±

 Chapter 30 - The malicious mother-in-law has returned (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 030 out of 513 ¨C The malicious mother-inw has returned (1)


    The implication of these words was that Marquis Moyu had been mistreating Nie Sangyu.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows, chuckled, and said, ¡°That¡¯s understandable. People always think about their mothers when they¡¯re sick. You two siblings haven¡¯t seen each other in a long time. How about you sit down and have a good talk with your younger sister? I¡¯ll go outside and take a stroll around the garden.¡±


    Nie Qingyun nced at Nie Sangyu and nodded.


    Ji Man clenched her fist. She had to be alone with this person? She really wanted to stop Ning Yuxuan from leaving, but seeing that he didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of staying, she knew that he was doing this deliberately. He definitely wouldn¡¯t be willing to help her conceal the truth.


    Nie Qingyun waited until Marquis Moyu had left the room before he sat down by the bedside. His brow was slightly furrowed as he looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Sangyu, you acted too outrageously this time. Even father flew into a terrible rage at home when he found out. I wanted to protect you, but I can¡¯t this time. You¡¯ll have to suffer through the grievance of being a concubine.¡±


    Ji Man bit her lip and thought about Nie Sangyu¡¯s temperament. Speaking as if she had been wronged, she said, ¡°I just love him too much...¡±


    Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t suspect her. Looking at his younger sister, who had be significantly haggard, he couldn¡¯t help feeling distressed. ¡°If you¡¯re not happy living here, how about I talk to Marquis Moyu to let you go home for a few days? This way, I¡¯ll be able to take care of you.¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly shook her head. ¡°No, I want to stay by Yuxuan¡¯s side. I¡¯m happy even if I can only look at him.¡±


    Nie residence wasn¡¯t a good ce. It was a n that had vast influence and great power. There was no way that thepetition in that household would be any less than the marquis¡¯s household. She didn¡¯t want to go back.


    Nie Qingyun sighed. He reached out and stroked her hair. He dearly loved his younger sister. It wasn¡¯t only just because their mothers had been sisters. It was because Sangyu had often protected him when they were children. Everyone else said she was arrogant and rude. He was the only one that knew she was actually quite kind-hearted.


    Ji Man pretended that she had a headache and closed her eyes. In a slightly painful voice, she said, ¡°Older brother, I want to go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°En, go to sleep. I¡¯ll leave and speak with Marquis Moyu for a bit.¡± Nie Qingyun stood up and gently tucked the quilt around her.


    Ji Man inwardly sighed in relief. She kept her eyes closed and didn¡¯t move until she heard the sound of the doors closing. Then, she secretly opened her eyes.


    ¡ª


    After Nie Qingyun left the room, his expression didn¡¯t look that bad as he looked around the narrow courtyard that was full of blooming wild roses.


    Ning Yuxuan was currently siting at the stone table in the courtyard. He had brewed two cups of tea while waiting for him. Ning Yuxuan looked at the person, who had just sat down, and asked, ¡°Sir Nie, is there something that you want to say?¡±


    Nie Qingyun swept his gaze at the tea cup and indifferently said, ¡°Marquis, you probably also have something that you want to say.¡±


    Marquis Moyu slightly smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll speak frankly. Does Sir Nie feel that there¡¯s something strange with Sangyu?¡±


    Nie Qingyun raised his eyebrows, ¡°What is the marquis trying to say? What¡¯s strange about her?¡±


    Marquis Moyu turned his head to nce at the room and said in quiet voice, ¡°Sir Nie, don¡¯t you feel that Sangyu¡¯s temperament has be much more docile? I could even say that she seems like apletely different person.¡±


    Nie Qingyun paused for a moment to carefully think over the words that Sangyu had recently said to him. It wasn¡¯t any different from the words that she had said in the past. They had only talked for a little bit before Sangyu went back to sleep. Even if he had wanted to check that there was something off about her, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell.


    ¡°Although she had acted insensibly in the past, a time had toe when she grew up.¡± Nie Qingyun said, ¡°What is the marquis feeling suspicious about?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a moment. He didn¡¯t speak until he drank half the tea in the cup. ¡°May this one be so bold as to ask if Sir Nie remembers if Sangyu has any birthmarks?¡±


    Nie Qingyun froze for a moment and then his expression became slightly ugly. ¡°Marquis, you¡¯ve been with Sangyu for six years, and you need to ask me this type of question?¡±


    This was truly quite a shameful matter. Every time that Ning Yuxuan had bestowed favor on Nie Sangyu, he had routinely blown out the candles first. He really hadn¡¯t paid enough attention to notice if she had any birthmarks on her body. But, as the older brother that had grown up with Nie Sangyu, Nie Qingyun should know this information.


    ¡°There¡¯s a small birthmark on the back of her neck.¡± Nie Qingyun looked at Marquis Moyu and his voice was heavy as he said, ¡°Marquis, if there¡¯s something that you¡¯re confused about, you can go look for yourself.¡±


    Behind her neck? Ning Yuxuanmitted this to memory, but he outwardly pretended that this wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°Sir Nie, you¡¯re overthinking things. I was just asking out of curiosity. I heard that the emperor has recently given Hebei¡¯s entire salt transportation to you to manage....¡±


    Moving from family matters to the affairs of the nation, these two people still hadmon topics to talk about. Although Ning Yuxuan was a leisurely marquis, hiswork of rtionships wasplicated and he definitely had a certain amount of influence. In addition, the emperor favored him; so even Nie Xiangyun didn¡¯t dare to look down on him.


    The two of them talked in the courtyard until sunset. Before leaving, Nie Qingyun went back into the room to look at the still ¡°deeply asleep¡± Nie Sangyu. He sighed and said, ¡°It would be so wonderful if you could be the person that he loves.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t understand why this would be good. But, she still rxed after hearing that person leaving.


    ¡ª


    During the night, Ning Yuxuan suddenly came into her bed.


    Shocked, Ji Man said, ¡°My lord, this servant is still sick.¡±


    ¡°En, I won¡¯t touch you. I¡¯m just here to share the bed with you.¡± Marquis Moyu said with a smile and hugged her from the back.


    Ji Man had never been this intimate with another person before and this tips of her ears turned red. She didn¡¯t dare to make a sound, so she gritted her teeth. She had to pretend that she was feeling happy over this.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at the small birthmark on the back of her neck and the peculiar look in his eyes increased.


    T/N: Wish we could have seen Nie Qingyun¡¯s expression when Ning Yuxuan asked if Nie Sangyu had any birthmarks. Tiny spoiler. We¡¯ll see a lot more of himter in the novel and there will be a good exnation for why he¡¯s such a doting older brother to Nie Sangyu even though they have different mothers.

 Chapter 31 - The malicious mother-in-law has returned (2)

    Chapter: 031 out of 513 ¨C The malicious mother-inw has returned (2)


    The secondary female characters in novels were always talented individuals, with powerful backgrounds and that was why they were able to frame the female leads. Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t an exception. Ji Man remembered that the reason Nie Sangyu was able to execute all of her schemes was because Marquis Moyu¡¯s mother was supporting her. As a malicious mother-inw, Marquis Moyu¡¯s mother, Old Madame Ning, was Nie Sangyu¡¯s perfect partner. One would frame the female lead and the other would punish her. They had horribly tormented the female lead.


    And now, Ji Man¡¯s long awaited savior, Old Madame Ning, was finally returning home after staying at Foshan for two months!


    Marquis Moyu had woken Ji Man early this morning and ordered Muxu to change her into her best set of clothing. Look at herplexion. It had improved a lot. At least, she didn¡¯t look too ill and could leave her room to meet people.


    Muxu was put into a difficult position and she looked through Nie Sangyu¡¯s wardrobe for a long time. She only found one slightly expensive-looking long blue dress. What else was there left? The other expensive clothing and jewelry had all been sold. There were only a few silver hairpins in Nie Sangyu¡¯s jewelry box.


    However, Ji Man generously said words to help her, ¡°This servant is only a concubine. It wouldn¡¯t be proper for me to wear morous clothing. Simple clothing would be more suitable.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Marquis Moyu nced at her jewelry box. He didn¡¯t say a word and seemed to be tacitly agreeing. Ji Man changed into a white sleeves top and wore the long dress over it. After Muxu brushed her hair into a simple <i>duoma </i>hairstyle, Ji Man went with Ning Yuxuan to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    (T/N: Below are picture of <i>duoma</i> hairstyle.)


    Several eyes had turned red from worry over the marquis staying at Feiwan Courtyard for two days. He hadn¡¯t taken a single step out of the courtyard during those two days. Countless eyes had looked over the walls of Feiwan Courtyard. They saw the courtyard being nted full of wild roses, and they also saw the marquis inviting Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother over to see her. Even Wen Wan¡¯s heart felt slightly ufortable after knowing about this.


    Furthermore, Mu Shuiqing had strangely spent thest two days telling Wen Wan that Nie Sangyu was only pretending to be a good person and how she had framed herself. Even if Wen Wan didn¡¯t believe Mu Shuiqing¡¯s words, these ideas still lingered in her mind. When she looked at Nie Sangyu today, her gaze was more reserved than before.


    As a result, when Ji Man stood behind Honored Concubine Xue, several eyes fell on her.


    ¡°Sangyu, have you recovered from your cold?¡± Wen Wan asked.


    ¡°Thank you Madam for your concern. It¡¯s not a hindrance anymore.¡± Ji Man slightly saluted. ¡°It was all thanks to the marquis¡¯s care. Sangyu will fondly remember this.¡±


    Qi Siling lightly smiled and said, ¡°This can be considered as something gooding from a disaster. I presume that the marquis won¡¯t be focusing on younger sister¡¯s previous actions. In the future, we should all get along as a family.¡±


    Qing Lianxue smiled and echoed Siling¡¯s sentiment, ¡°Yes, the family that lives in harmony will be prosperous together.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing also smiled. Next to her, Liu Hanyun had her head lowered and didn¡¯t show any response.


    Ji Man thought, were they saying that once they finished off Nie Sangyu, this family would be harmonious and prosperous?


    Truly a wonderful group act in sarcasm and derision.


    Wen Wan looked a bit nervous, but Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t seem to be in a good mood. He was sitting on the side and hadn¡¯t said a single word to her. He even didn¡¯t turn his head to nce at her.


    Ji Man watched Wen Wan as she bit her lip and looked toward Marquis Moyu. He was probably having a fit of pique. Although Ning Yuxuan was usually quite astute, he still acted very childish sometimes. If he felt that you went against him, he would have a sullen expression and give you the cold shoulder for a long time. Besides, Wen Wan had pushed him out of her room. And, now she wanted him to greet her with a smiling face?


    Compared to the women in ancient times, Ji Man was better at understanding the inner thoughts of men. Although she never had a serious rtionship, she already had abundant theoretical knowledge from interacting with people on Tianya.


    T/N: Tianya used to be a very popr Inte forum in China.


    And so,pared to Wen Wan, who didn¡¯t know what to do, Ji Man knew what the crucial thing to do at this moment was. She should be providing the man a way out of this awkward situation. She should be ttering and coaxing him instead of acting proud and reserved.


    But, she was the secondary female character. Her role was to destroy the rtionship between the male lead and female at all costs. So, how could she be willing to give Wen Wan this opportunity? On the contrary, she had to break them apart so that she could fulfill Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish.


    Kindness? That was something that the female lead should have. It had nothing to do with the secondary female character.


    And so, she said, ¡°When the marquis was with this servant, he spent the entire time missing Madam and worrying if you were eating and sleeping well. Old Madame hasn¡¯te back yet. Madam, you and the marquis can speak to each other. We¡¯ll all just pretend to not hear.¡±


    These clever words made it seem as if she was trying to help them. Even Ning Yuxuan raised his head to look at her when he heard these words.


    After Wen Wan heard that the marquis had been worried about her, her anxieties lessened. But, when she turned to look at him, she saw that he was looking somewhere else. Slightly angry, she said, ¡°How is the marquis worried about me? Look at him right now. He¡¯s not even willing to look at me. What¡¯s there for us to say to each other?¡±


    Marquis Moyu coldly harrumphed.


    In front of so many people, Wen Wan couldn¡¯t act unsuitable for her status by acting cutely spoiled. She could only look at the side of his face and be more worried. Even Nie Sangyu had tried to help him by saying those words. Why couldn¡¯t he soften his stance? She hadn¡¯t done anything wrong!


    Since Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t speaking, the atmosphere in the room was slightly awkward. Wen Wan couldn¡¯t step down from her position and her face looked very tense.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything else and just quietly waited. Eventually, a servant came inside and reported that old madame¡¯s carriage had already entered the city.


    By chance, a person from the pce hade at the same time and said that the emperor wanted to see Marquis Moyu to discuss something. Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t been able to wait until Old Madame Ning had arrived at residence¡¯s entrance before he hastily mounted a horse and left for the pce.


    As a result, Wen Wan waspletely panicking.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wonder if Noble Consort Nie was behind the emperor suddenly summoning Ning Yuxuan right before old madame returned. Also,pared to the other women, including Ji Man, Wen Wan feels like a baby white lotus.

 Chapter 32 - A marquis that had become foolish because of love (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 032 out of 513 ¨C A marquis that had be foolish because of love (1)


    Wen Wan hadn¡¯t known Ning Yuxuan for a long time. They had only met six months ago. But, these short six months had entirely canceled out Nie Sangyu¡¯s six years. Wen Wan had snatched her position as the main wife, her Qiangwei Courtyard, and the tiny, remaining space she had in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart.


    Although it had been the emperor¡¯s intention to abolish Nie Sangyu¡¯s status, it had been Marquis Moyu, who had taken the initiative of promoting Wen Wan to main wife. From the beginning until now, old madame hadn¡¯t known about this matter. Wen Wan had originally thought that the two of them would exin this matter to old madame together. For the sake of her biological son, old madame probably wouldn¡¯t do anything to her.


    But now, a matter had popped up in the pce and she was left here with no one to rely on. Sitting here in the red dress that only the main wife could wear, what should she say to old madame when she came?


    With her thoughts thrown into disorder, Wen Wan swept her gaze around the room. All of these women knew about her current unfavorable situation, but no one would help her because she had the marquis¡¯s heart. They were probably wishing that they could hit her while she was down.


    Just as she was feeling helpless, Steward Qian came inside to report, ¡°Madam, Old Madame will be arriving soon.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Let¡¯s all go out to wee her.¡± She forced herself to smile, stood up, and held Tanxiang¡¯s arm for support, but her palms were sweaty.


    She was the marquis¡¯s wife and should naturally be walking in the front. Right now, she couldn¡¯t retreat. As long as Yuxuan supported her, she would fine.


    She straightened her shoulders before walking out. The two honored concubines were walking behind her. Liu Hanyun, Mu Shuiqing, and Ji Man followed after them.


    Ji Man¡¯s expression was calm. She hadn¡¯t walked two steps before Mu Shuiqing whispered, ¡°You must be feeling proud, right?¡± Her voice was sharp and her tone wasn¡¯t pleasing to hear. Ji Man slightly furrowed her brow and nced at her sideways.


    ¡°Do you think that once Old Madame has returned, you¡¯ll be able to get rid of Madam with her support?¡± Mu Shuiqing¡¯s eyes were full of provocation. ¡°Give up! Madam has the marquis¡¯s heart. No matter what you do, you won¡¯t be able to seize it back.¡±


    Ji Man looked at her twisted face. Perhaps, she had lost her senses from being too angry during the past two days? And, that was why she was able to say these types of words out loud.


    ¡°As long as you have the diligent intention of doing something, there¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t be done.¡± Ji Man said, ¡°If it makes you happier to hate me, that¡¯s fine. Feel free to hate me. Do your best!¡± She made a gesture of encouragement before returning her hands to their original position in front of her abdomen.


    ¡°You!¡± Mu Shuiqing was so angry that she wanted to have stomping fit. Her voice had be slightly louder at the end and Qi Siling turned around to look at her.


    Mu Shuiqing immediately became well behaved. She coldly harrumphed once and stopped talking. In contrast, Liu Hanyun, who had originally been looking at Ji Man indifferently, unexpectedly had a trace of a smile in her eyes after hearing her words.


    The marquis¡¯s residence¡¯s entrance was very magnificent. It had a que that had been bestowed by the emperor and a pair of formidable stone lions. With everyone standing at the entrance in a line, it was truly a great scene.


    Ji Man was at the very end of the line. From far away, she saw a spacious carriage slowlying here. There were four guards on horses before the carriage and two servant girls sitting on the shaft of the carriage. Behind the carriage, there were numerous servants. This grandiose procession showed the considerable status of old madame.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s mother was the imperial court¡¯s only first rankdy. She had married Marquis Pingnan in her youth, but he had sacrificed his life for the country. The emperor had felt very grateful, so he bestowed her the title of first rankdy and allowed her to enter the pce whenever she wanted.


    She should have been addressed as Marchioness Pingnan, but old madame had felt heartbroken about her husband¡¯s death, so she had people address her as Old Madame. She didn¡¯t want to be reminded of Marquis Pingnan by hearing that title. After the death of her husband, she stayed at Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence and would asionally have interaction with the pce, but she never asked about governmental affairs again.


    Ji Man remembered that old madame was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s best friend. The two of them had grown up together and had an extremely good rtionship. This was why old madame had always shielded her while she lived in Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence. It was only when old madame was away that these people had an opportunity to bully her.


    The carriage stopped in front of the entrance. The guards at the front went to the sides and the two servant girls jumped down from the carriage to bring over a stool and carefully supported old madame as she came out of the carriage.


    Seeing this, Wen Wan hurriedly went forward to lend an arm to support her. However, old madame, who had passed her fortieth birthday at the beginning of this year, had a truly terrifying imposingness. When Wen Wan slightly raised her eyes, her hand ended up freezing in midair.


    ¡°This daughter-inw greets Old Madame.¡± Wen Wan straightforwardly kneeled down. The concubines behind her could only follow her action and kneel down too.


    Old madame¡¯s clothes were simple and unadorned, but she was wearing a stately, golden hairpin. She cast a sidelong nce at the person in front of her, then she indifferently said, ¡°You may rise, Sangyu.¡±


    Just as Wen Wan was about to let out a sigh of relief after hearing the first three words, her heart plummeted after hearing thest word. She didn¡¯t even dare to raise her head.


    Gritting her teeth, Wen Wan didn¡¯t stand. She saluted old madame again, ¡°This daughter-inw, Wen Wan, greets Old Madame.¡±


    Old madame was silent for a long time. She looked at person kneeling on the ground and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s Wen Wan?¡±


    As Ji Man silently kneeled in the back, she thought that this old madame was really good at pretending. They were all kneeling so close to her. How could she possibly not be able to tell who was who? She was deliberately asking this question to embarrass Wen Wan.


    Trantor Ramblings: Ji Man will be meeting the supporting male character in 2 weeks and 2 days. I included a spoiler below for their first meeting.


    Also, I like the interaction between Ji Man and Mu Shuiqing. I interpreted Ji Man¡¯s words to Mu Shuiqing as sincere encouragement instead of mocking. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 33 - A marquis that had become foolish because of love (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 033 out of 513 ¨C A marquis that had be foolish because of love (2)


    Wen Wan¡¯s face turned red from humiliation. Her fingernails were rigidly digging into her palms. She felt so wronged that she wanted to cry. How was she supposed to handle this type of situation? Yuxuan clearly knew that his mother was very difficult to deal with. How could he have left her alone like this?


    When she thought of it that way, her heart actually felt somewhat resentful.


    In the midst of this silence, Ji Man raised her head and said, ¡°Old Madame, Sangyu is no longer this household¡¯s main wife. The madam in front of you is the main wife. It¡¯s rather cold outside. How about we go inside to talk?¡±


    Old madame turned her head to look at Nie Sangyu. Her eyes held a bit of doting, but she didn¡¯t say anything. It became silent again for a while. When everyone¡¯s knees ached from kneeling, old madame finally said, ¡°All of you,e inside with me.¡±


    Tanxiang helped Wen Wan stand up, and the other concubines also stood up. No one dared to breath too heavily as they followed behind old madame.


    When she reached the main courtyard¡¯s entrance, old madame turned her head and said, ¡°Sangyu, I¡¯m slightly tired today. They can forgo with paying respect to me one by one. You and that Wen Wan,e into my room to speak.


    ¡°This servant will obey.¡± Nie Sangyu acknowledged the order and the other women dispersed. Wen Wan was left to stand by herself in front of Nie Sangyu. The furrowed space between her eyebrows showed that she was worried.


    While old madame was changing her clothes, Ji Man whispered to Wen Wan, ¡°Madam, don¡¯t be afraid. Old Madame is just unhappy that the marquis hid this from her. It¡¯s not that she doesn¡¯t like you. You¡¯re already the marquis¡¯s wife. There¡¯s nothing for you to be afraid of.¡±


    Wen Wan hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Sangyu would beforting her at this time. But, she couldn¡¯t distinguish if she was being sincere or not. She could only nod and silently clutch her handkerchief.


    After old madame changed into morefortable clothing and reclined on a wooden chaise lounge, her personal servant girl, Shouwu, finally went out and told them toe into the room.


    ¡°I already heard about this on the way here. Xuan-<i>er</i> took away Sangyu¡¯s position as the main wife.¡± Old madame¡¯s eyes sharply swept over the two people in front of her. ¡°But, I didn¡¯t know that he had put someone else into her position. Miss Wei, where do youe from?¡±


    Wen Wan had already been married to Ning Yuxuan for a month, but she was still calling her Miss. Old madame was clearly unwilling to acknowledge her status. Wen Wan¡¯s face turned slightly white. She kneeled down and reported, ¡°My father¡¯s name is Wen Yi. He works as a jailer on the northern side of the capital¡¯s imperial prison. My father¡¯s younger brother is a seventh rank judicial officer.


    Even Ji Man felt that Wen Wan¡¯s family background was shabby. Normally, this would only be enough for her to be a concubine in a non-aristocrat family. No one would have expected that the dignified Marquis Moyu would have made her his main wife.


    Old madame¡¯s face changed colors. In the end, she heavily harrumphed and said, ¡°Did you instigate Xuan-<i>er</i> into making you his main wife?¡±


    Wen Wan bit her lip, ¡°This daughter-inw didn¡¯t do this. The marquis had done this voluntarily...¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that my son is blind?¡± Old madame¡¯s gaze became abruptly sharp. ¡°For the noble families, marriages are only between families that are well-matched in terms of social status. Xuen-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t stupid. If you hadn¡¯t bewitched him, how could he possibly do something so asinine?¡±


    Wen Wan felt extremely wronged. Kneeling on the ground, her body even started to slightly tremble.


    Seeing old madame¡¯s attitude, Ji Man also felt slightly terrified, so she also kneeled down on the ground. How could she dare to speak while standing in the face of that aura and gaze?


    Ji Man took a deep breath and said, ¡°Old Madame, this matter happened because Sangyu hadmitted a sin. Sangyu¡¯s previous willful actions had provoked the emperor and caused me to lose my position. Since the position was empty, the marquis has the authority to wee a new main wife.¡±


    Old madame berated, ¡°Nonsense!¡±


    Ji Man was so scared by this one word that her legs felt weak and she almost fell over.


    ¡°You married Xuan-<i>er</i> as his first wife when you fourteen years old. You were living perfectly fine and now you¡¯re actually tolerating a wild girl with a questionable background to climb over your head? You¡¯re utterly tarnishing Nie n¡¯s reputation!¡±


    Ji Man decided that she wouldn¡¯t act like a good person again. It would be safer for her act obedient and avoid being scolded. She had thought that old madame was the type of mother-inw, who would act sweetly towards Nie Sangyu and sternly towards Wen Wan. Unexpectedly, her expression was the same towards everyone. Although she favored Nie Sangyu, she wouldn¡¯t hold back while lecturing at her.


    ¡°Noble Consort Nie had personally handed you over into my hands and I had promised her that I would take good care of you. Although you were young and didn¡¯t know how to act sensibly or how to manage the household, I was willing to slowly teach you. But, what are you doing right now? What is her status? What is yours? How can you so easily ept this as your fate?¡±


    Although she was scolding Ji Man, her words had directly caused Wen Wan to start crying. She had really wanted to receive old madame¡¯s approval, but instead she had been called a wild girl without any status. These words had stifled her ability to speak.


    After old madame had finished admonishing Nie Sangyu, they heard a servant announcing that the marquis had returned to the residence. Ji Man stayed kneeling in ce without moving and old madame rested her voice for a moment. Still feeling residual anger, she said to Danggui, ¡°Bring the marquis here.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The young servant girl, Danggui, acknowledged the order. She could see that old madame was in a bad mood and hurriedly went out to inform Marquis Moyu.


    When Ning Yuxuan came into the room, he immediately saw Wen Wan kneeling on the ground and heard the sound of her falling tears. While feeling distressed, he even forgot to greet old madame first. Instead, he directly walked over to Wen Wan and asked, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, what happened?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was her biological son and she hadn¡¯t seen him in two months, so old madame had originally missed Ning Yuxuan a lot. But, instead of greeting her and asking her if she had been well, her son went to that wild woman¡¯s side and asked her what happened.


    Old madame was so angry that she almost couldn¡¯t breath. She ordered, ¡°Kneel!¡±


    Crouched down on the floor, Ji Man rejoiced in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s misfortune. What a fool. In this type of situation, he still dared to look after his woman first. Ning Yuxuan was also a person that had be foolish because of love.


    Trantor Ramblings: Although it¡¯s super enjoyable to watch old madame reprimand Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man was probably better off at ruining the rtionship between the Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan without old madame. She knows that a white lotus¡¯s best skill is crying and won¡¯t do anything to trigger it.

 Chapter 34 - He loves her (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 034 out of 513 ¨C He loves her (1)


    Marquis Moyu returned to his senses after hearing old madame¡¯s angry voice. He pursed his lips, kneeled, and said, ¡°This son greets mother.¡±


    ¡°Do you still remember that you have a mother?¡± Old madame¡¯s anger wasn¡¯t light. She pointed at Wen Wan and asked, ¡°Did you even ask me once before marrying her?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lowly said, ¡°Mother, please calm down. This son had nned to report our marriage to you after you returned.¡±


    After saying this, he actually nced at Ji Man.


    Ji Man hurriedly hid away her glee and innocently looked at the decorative pattern on the carpet.


    Marquis Moyu had been naturally talented and clever since childhood. Other than this marriage, he had never given his mother any reason to worry. Right now, there were rapid changes in the imperial household and the emperor deliberately wanted to oppress Nie n. Thus, she could understand why he had acted against Sangyu. But, even if she had calcted a thousand times, she would have never expected that he would wee a woman without status into this household.


    ¡°You knew that I wouldn¡¯t agree, so you acted first and reportedter.¡± Old madame heavily harrumphed.


    Ning Yuxuan raised his head. His eyes were full of sincerity. ¡°This son truly loves Wen Wan. This is why I want to give her the best position.¡±


    Love.


    Old madame stared nkly at him for a long time. Wen Wan, who was still kneeling, started to cry again.


    Ji Man found his wordsughable, but Nie Sangyu felt as if her heart was being ripped out. Ji Man couldn¡¯t help furrowing her brow.


    Among the nobles, generals, and officials¡¯ families, the most unspeakable word was love and the most difficult thing to obtain was sincere love. Old madame had loved Marquis Pingnan for over half of her life, but she had never said this word. And now, she was hearing the word ¡°love¡± from her son¡¯s mouth.


    After she returned to her senses, old madame actuallyughed. Sheughed until her shoulders shook. ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i>, do you know what love is?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan kneeled with his back perfectly straight and didn¡¯t cower the slightest bit, ¡°This son wants to grow old with her.¡±


    Wen Wan was extremely moved by his words. Underneath their sleeves, Marquis Moyu was gently holding her hand. She suddenly felt confident and kowtowed to old madame, ¡°All of this me is entirely Wen Wan¡¯s. As long as Wen Wan can stay by the marquis¡¯s side, whether it¡¯s being the main wife or concubine, Wen Wan doesn¡¯t mind either way.¡±


    Ah, such a profoundly loving, harmonious, and affection couple. Ji Man looked at them with the cool eyes of a bystander. She felt that the male lead and female lead¡¯s minds werepletely different from everyone else¡¯s. For them, emotions could prevail over everything. The male lead¡¯s one word, ¡°love¡±, was supposed to make everything else inconsequential.


    But, it couldn¡¯t work out like that. This was a light novel about harem struggles, not a Grimm¡¯s fairytale.


    Old madame was silent for a long time. She finally said with a smile, ¡°Look at the two of you. One is crying like a rained upon pear blossom. The other has a solemn expression and a stretched taut figure. If someone didn¡¯t know any better, they would think of me as a malicious old woman that was tearing up a happily married couple that truly loved each other.¡±


    Her tone had changed too quickly. Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan both froze in surprise and looked up.


    ¡°I was just testing you. Wan-<i>er</i>, you also seem to truly love Xuan-<i>er</i>.¡± Old madame¡¯s entire face softened and she indicated for Danggui and Shouwu to help the two of them to stand. In the passing, she also let Ji Man stand up as well.


    ¡°Actually, as long as you can undertake the role of marquis¡¯s wife well, your family background isn¡¯t especially important. I¡¯m feeling tired. You can all leave.¡±


    Wen Wan was overjoyed at the unexpected good news. She whole-heartedly thought that old madame had epted her. She repeatedly kowtowed to express her thanks and pulled Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand to kowtow with her.


    However, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow didn¡¯t rx. He only saluted old madame before taking Wen Wan with him as he left.


    He naturally had a clear understanding of his mother¡¯s character. But, seeing how happy Wen Wan was, he couldn¡¯t tell her the truth and make her worry more.


    Ji Man shrugged her shoulders. She saluted old madame and was nning on leaving the room too. However, the servant girl next to her, Shouwu, stopped her and lightly shook her head to single for her to stay.


    After the doors were closed, Ji Man gritted her teeth and kneeled down again in front of old madame. She still needed to kneel in order to have the courage to speak to her.


    ¡°Steward Qian said you changed a lot, but I hadn¡¯t believe him.¡± The smile on old madame¡¯s face faded. It was reced by a deep sigh. ¡°It must have been difficult for you. You use to have such a lively and straightforward personality, but it¡¯s been grounded to dust by Xuan-<i>er</i>. You didn¡¯t even cry or fuss when you heard him say that he loves someone else.¡±


    At the mention of this, her reaction was prompt. As Ji Man bit her lip, she started to cry and sobbed out, ¡°Old madame, I don¡¯t want to ept this. I really don¡¯t want to...¡±


    That had definitely been Nie Sangyuing out for a guest appearance. It was only for a brief moment, but Ji Man noticed her frailty.


    It seemed that old madame truly cared about Nie Sangyu. Otherwise, Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t have risked her life and wasted her spiritual energy to say so many words.


    Her tears wouldn¡¯t stop falling down. Ji Man also started to truly feel badly along with Nie Sangyu.


    Old madame felt distressed for her. She hurriedly stood up and personally led her to sit down on the cushioned chaise lounge with her. ¡°Silly girl, of course I know that you¡¯re not willing. This old woman has seen how you treated Xuan-<i>er</i> during the past several years. You love him too much. Doing too much is just as bad as doing too little. Perhaps, he¡¯ll understand your feelings one day.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. Wait until he understood? He would have already killed the secondary female character if she only waited.


    ¡°From what I saw of that Wen Wan, she¡¯s not someone that has the ability to appear in public. In the short term, Xuan-<i>er</i> can repeatedly tell me that he truly loves her. But, in the long term, she won¡¯t be able to withstand the pressure of being the marquis¡¯s wife. In the end, that position will be returned to you.¡±


    Old madam¡¯s ck eyes slightly sunk, ¡°As for you, don¡¯t act so impulsively and stir up trouble again. I heard the you barged into the pce with loose hair and that was why you were rebuked by the emperor.¡±


    Ji Man nodded her head in shame.


    T/N: I love how the author writes old madame not just as disapproving mother-inw to Wen Wan and a tough love one to Nie Sangyu, but also as a woman that was deeply in love with a man in a polygamous society. We know that old madame loved Ning Yuxuan¡¯s father, but I wonder if he loved her back. Does she see herself in Nie Sangyu? Right now, she¡¯s this imposing 40 years old woman, but she was once Nie Sangyu¡¯s age.


    Also, old madame¡¯s POV is one of the earlier hints to show the readers that Ji Man¡¯s perspective isn¡¯tpletely right. Up to this point, we assumed that her demotion to concubine was strictly because Ning Yuxuan doesn¡¯t like her. Now, we also know there was a political reason behind it. As the story continues, we¡¯ll see more hints. Her perspective is very much limited to the marquis¡¯s inner court.

 Chapter 35 - He loves her (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 035 out of 513 ¨C He loves her (2)


    ¡°Did you know that the emperor had previously left Nie n alone because of his rtionship with Noble Consort Nie? Nie n has be a mature and powerful n that has many dishonest members. The empress¡¯s side had been unhappy with this for a long time. Why did you still act rashly and give the emperor an opportunity to penalize the noble consort?¡± Old madam was slightly angry. ¡°Sometimes, you really act too outrageously and without regard for protocol. No wonder Xuan-<i>er</i> held grudges against you for your actions during the past several years.¡±


    Ji Man could only obediently listen to her lecture while thinking that she wasn¡¯t responsible for any of those actions. But, she could see that old madame and Noble Consort Nie were truly good friends. Old madame was thinking about Nie n in all respects.


    ¡°Now that I returned, no one in this household will be able to harm you.¡± Old madame returned her expression to normal and said, ¡°But there are a lot of things that you have to learn for yourself. Don¡¯t me me when I don¡¯t help you every time.¡±


    The atmosphere was excessively serious. Ji Man solemnly nodded. Soon after, she checked old madame¡¯s face and offered her treasure, ¡°Old madame, you¡¯re probably feeling tired from the carriage ride. How about letting Sangyu give you a facial while you rest?¡±


    Old madame nced at her, ¡°You¡¯re pretending to be obedient again. Fine, this face is showing the hardship of travel. Shouwu, go outside and fetch water. Danggui, bring pearl powder over. Let Sangyu attend to me while I nap.¡±


    The two servant girls acknowledged her order. Just as they were about to leave, Ji Man hurriedly said, ¡°Dangui, I¡¯ll have to inconvenience you with a request to bring back boiled eggs.¡±


    Old madame thought Nie Sangyu was just feeling hungry and wanted to eat something, so she didn¡¯t ask any questions. A nearby older servant stepped forward and unwounded her hair bun so that old madame couldfortably lie down on the wooden chaise lounge.


    Ji Man first used the water to clean old madame¡¯s face, then she peeled the eggs that Dangui had brought back and set them aside to cool down a bit. Then, she took out the cold cream and slowly rubbed the lotion onto old madame¡¯s face.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Shouwu curiously looked at the box in Ji Man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°This is cold cream.¡± Ji Man scooped out a lump of cold cream, then she hand the rest of the cold cream to Danggui. ¡°The two of you can try it.¡±


    ¡°Was this purchased from Yongning Street?¡± Shouwu whispered, ¡°When the carriage passed by Yongning Street, I heard many people talk about something called cold cream and saw a rouge shop¡¯s entrance almost being broken by so many people crowding around it.¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled and nodded. She had told Miss Shui that on the first day she released the cold cream for sale, she had to hire a group of people to stand outside in a line and fall over each other in their eagerness to discuss about cold cream in order to achieve excellent publicity. It seemed that she had done her job well.


    Shouwu and Danggui watched as Ji Man rubbed cold cream onto old madame¡¯s face. Old madame seemed exhausted and was deeply asleep. When the light pink cream was applied to her face, it quickly disappeared and old madame¡¯s face became beautifully dewy.


    Shouwu was very surprised. She hurriedly pulled Dangui out of the room with her to try the cold cream in private. Although the two servant girls were old madame¡¯s personal servants, they were still seventeen and eighteen year old young women that loved to be beautiful.


    After Ji Man patiently finished applying the cold cream, she washed her hands and gently rolled the boiled eggs over old madame¡¯s face. People that experienced this before would know that this felt veryfortable and also had a moistening effect.


    When lunchtime came, old madame finally woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Danggui and Shouwu¡¯s surprised and happy expressions.


    Old madame looked serious as she asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Ji Man was smiling as she stood nearby. She brought a bronze mirror in front of old madame, ¡°You had a really wonderful nap.¡±


    The face in the mirror had significantly be fairer and smoother. Although there were still branching wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and a slight puffiness under her eyes, her skin looked at least five years younger.


    ¡°This...¡± Old madame was shocked. She hurriedly reached out and touched her face. It was smooth without being oily. It felt clean and fresh.


    ¡°Master Sang applied cold cream and also rolled boiled eggs over your face for an hour.¡± Shouwu smiled and said, ¡°Old madame is so fortunate. Master Sang is a person that knows filial piety.¡±


    Old madame looked at Ji Man in astonishment.


    Ji Man gently smiled, ¡°I bought this cream a few days ago. The shopkeeper said it was a rare item, so I saved a box for Old Madame.¡±


    Although she was already widowed, all women loved to beautiful. Even though old madame¡¯s mouth said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for me to appear good-looking,¡± the joyful expression in her eyes showed her true feelings.


    Ji Man knew that she had made the right decision in giving this bribe. Even if old madame had been secretly unhappy with Nie Sangyu before, she was definitelypletely happy with her right now.


    After looking at herself in the mirror for a long time, she finally said, ¡°You were very thoughtful.¡±


    During lunchtime, Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan came to the main courtyard. Old madame made an exception for Ji Man. She allowed her sit down at the table instead of standing at the side to add food to her personal te.


    ¡°Mother, why are you in such a good mood?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows and looked at her. With some surprised, he said, ¡°Yourplexion also looks much better.¡±


    Receiving her son¡¯s praise, old madame became even happier. ¡°Sangyu showed filial peity. She rubbed cold cream and boiled eggs on my face. My old face feels new from her efforts.¡±


    Wen Wan froze for a moment, then she followed Ning Yuxuan with ttering old madame, ¡°Old madame isn¡¯t old. You¡¯re only called old to show the importance of your status. You¡¯re still young.¡±


    Last time, Nie Sangyu had told her that she had given her all of the cold cream that she bought. Unexpectedly, she had kept a box for herself. Wen Wan carefully looked at the person quietly sitting next to her. She finally started to have a sense of vignce towards Nie Sangyu.

 Chapter 38 - It’s time to have a son (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 038 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s time to have a son (1)


    Although Wen Wan had tried her best by personally cooking all of old madame¡¯s favorite dishes, because of this unpleasant episode, old madame didn¡¯t smile even once during this meal.


    Wen Wan felt bad. On the way back to Qiangwei Courtyard, she turned around and cried into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest. ¡°Yuxuan...¡±


    Feeling distressed for her, Marquis Moyu hugged her andforted her by saying, ¡°En. It¡¯s okay. You have me. That¡¯s just mother¡¯s temperament. If you can¡¯t please her, then just go to the main courtyard less.¡±


    Wen Wan pouted and said with a grievance voice, ¡°But she¡¯s your mother. I want her to like me.¡±


    ¡°Go slowly with this.¡± Marquis Moyu patted her back. ¡°As time passes, old madame will naturally see your good points.¡±


    Wen Wan nodded. She leaned against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest with her eyes slightly downcast.


    ¡ª


    After old madame came back, the treatment towards Nie Sangyu clearly improved in all aspects. Not only did she move to arger courtyard, the kitchen servants also delivered better quality food.


    Aunty Zhao also personally cooked pigeon soup and brought the soup along with the remaining thirty silver teals to Feiwan Courtyard today.


    ¡°This servant is here to return the leftover money. This is amount remaining after this servant had purchased the items that Master Sang had wanted.¡± Her tone was ttering and without any of her original audacity of a servant bullying her master.


    Ji Man pursed her lips into a smile, ¡°Aunty Zhao, does this mean you¡¯re not willing to work for Sangyu anymore?¡±


    Aunty Zhao hurriedly shook her head. ¡°How could that be? Master Sang, if there¡¯s anything that you want, you only need to give yourmand.¡± She had seen that Master Sang could now freely leave the residence and she also had old madame¡¯s protection. Thus, she naturally wouldn¡¯t need her to buy things on her behalf. She hade here to curry favor with her by returning the money.


    Ji Man stood up, personally helped her stand up, and said with a smile, ¡°Since you¡¯re still willing to work for me, then why are you returning the money to me? Even if you no longer need to use the money on my behalf, you can keep it and use it to send your son for private schooling.¡±


    Aunty Zhao hadn¡¯t expected that after Master Sang would still be so gentle after she had regained power. Her heart was slightly moved and she wrapped up the silver taels, ¡°Master Sang, thank you for this reward.¡±


    Ji Man continued to smile. After she said a few sentences of praise, she changed the topic and said, ¡°I heard that recently a rouge shop in the capital has been doing good business by selling cold cream. Old Madame also likes to use this item. Aunty Zhao, if you really want to help me, invite the shopkeeper to the residence for me, so that I easily order more cold cream from her.¡±


    Either Steward Qian would be in charge of this type of purchase or the marquis¡¯s wife would be the one making this decision. Either way, it would never be Nie Sangyu¡¯s turn to make the order. However, cold cream was a special item that could obtain the favor of masters and servants. Beside, the other masters in the household didn¡¯t seem particrly aware of this yet. As soon as Aunty Zhao thought of this, she understood. Master Sang probably wanted to use this item topete for favor.


    She would definitely help with this task. For an inexplicable reason, she suddenly thought that if she followed Master Sang, it might be possible for her to have boundless future prospects.


    ¡°This servant will secretly bring that shopkeeper into the residence.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man cheerfully waited. After Ji Man attended to old madame during lunchtime, Shouwu would apply a facial for old madame during the break after lunch. Since she had free time, she should ask about the rouge store¡¯s current situation.


    Aunt Zhao was still quite reliable with handling work. Halfway through the afternoon, Ji Man saw a very surprise-looking Miss Shui entering Feiwan Couryard. She was dressed up from top to bottom.


    ¡°Madam, this...¡± Miss Shui hadn¡¯t known about her identity. Seeing that she was someone from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, her face immediately paled. Then, she looked at the courtyard Nie Sangyu was living in and her lips started to slightly tremble.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°The better my position is, the better position our rouge store will be in. Why are you scared instead of being happy?¡±


    Miss Shui hadn¡¯t expected that Ji Man would have such a noble identity. After a while, she finally recovered from her shock and started to feel happy. This madam was the rouge store¡¯s behind-the-scenes shopkeeper. In other words, she was the store¡¯s supporter. The more stable the supporter was, the better off the rouge store would be.


    She had brought the ount book and also the list of orders. Her smile was so big that her eyes were closed. ¡°Madam, look at this first. Our store has only been open for three days, but our business is absolutely flourishing. My previous customers had alle to the new store. Yongning Street is a bustling street, so there were also numerous new customers. I met many madams from noble families during the past two days.¡±


    Ji Man pretended to look through the ount book. She didn¡¯t want to bother with looking through these financial records. After flipping through the pages, she turned her attention to the list of orders and brought it closer to look.


    She had stipted that there would be a limited supply of cold cream. One after another, many madams and misses had wanted to ce an order after trying the cold cream. Miss Shui was a person that knew how to do business well. Seeing that there was only a limited supply, she only epted two orders per day and kept the remaining order in reserve. If she met a woman from an ordinary family, she would say it was sold out. When she met a customer from a rich family, she would take out the order form.


    The store¡¯s publicity was also doing well in the capital. Although they weren¡¯t able to buy the cold cream yet, they were able to sample it. Praise for the cold cream spread further and further. She believed that it would take less than a month for cold cream to be a huge sess.


    Ji Man was very satisfied. First, she had Muxu give the big and small boxes of cold cream they had previously made to Miss Shui. Miss Shui had brought arge bag with her that was filled with the raw material that Ji Man had requested in order to continue the production. And so, when she left with the samerge bag, no one said anything.


    ¡ª


    The women in the marquis¡¯s residence either spent their days embroidering orpeting for his favor. It was mind-numbingly boring. And so, Ji Man used her free time to make cold cream to earn money and didn¡¯t think about assigning this work to other people. Muxu worked with her as they experimented with new flowers to make different types of cold cream. Whenever there was a failed product, they would secretly bury it in the garden. Anyways, this courtyard was big enough.


    Thinking about the bank notes that would soon arrive, Ji Man smiled even when she was dreaming. When she went to old madame¡¯s side to serve her each day, she was always brightly smiling, so her skin appeared even better.

 Chapter 39 - It’s time to have a son (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 039 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s time to have a son (2)


    Nie Sangyu had the old madame to support her, but the other concubines, who didn¡¯t have the marquis¡¯s love or old madame¡¯s support, found it difficult to even have the opportunity to see him and their hearts inevitably felt a sense of disequilibrium.


    And so, when Ji Man came out from old madame¡¯s courtyard today, she saw Mu Shuiqing standing outside.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu from far away, Mu Shuiqing derisively shook her handkerchief. ¡°Yo, isn¡¯t this Master Sang? I need to stand farther away. Otherwise, you¡¯ll me me for pushing you again when you were the one that fell into the water yourself.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t take this level of provocation seriously at all. ¡°Master Qing, have you finished embroidering those handkerchiefs?¡±


    At the mention of this, Mu Shuiqing became so mad that her face changed colors. This had originally been Nie Sangyu¡¯s job, but all of it had been given to her to do. If she hadn¡¯t convinced Madam to say a few good words for her, the marquis would have decided that she had to continue to shut herself up and ponder over her mistakes. Wouldn¡¯t this mean that she was being treated the same way as this poisonous woman?


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking of giving my personal servant girl, Muxu, a new handkerchief. Her current one is getting ratty. Master Qing, I¡¯ll have to ask you to embroider faster.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled and very gracefully saluted Mu Shuiqing. Then, she continued walking forward with Muxu following behind her.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s expression was very ugly. She turned her head to look at Nie Sangyu¡¯s departing figure and angrily shouted, ¡°You won¡¯t be feeling for proud for long!¡±


    At the very least, she was the crown prince¡¯s person. The crown prince and empress¡¯s side and Noble Consort Nie¡¯s side were as ipatible as water and fire. Once this woman made a mistake, she would seize that opportunity and make sure that Nie Sangyu would never be able to reverse her fortunes again!


    After seething with anger for a long time by herself, Mu Shuiqing finally turned around and continued walking to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Later that day, Ji Man heard the news that the marquis had sent a message for Mu Shuiqing to serve him in the western courtyard. Ji Man shrugged her shoulders. She wasn¡¯t the slightest bit curious on why Mu Shuiqing was suddenly receiving his favor. Based on the frequency of her visits to Qiangwei Courtyard, as well as the female lead¡¯s low IQ, the female lead would have delivered Mu Shuiqing to Marquis Moyu¡¯s bed sooner orter.


    ¡ª


    However, old madame wasn¡¯t happy. Since she hade back, her son hadn¡¯t sent for Sangyu even once. Other than tonight, he had been staying at Qiangwei Courtyard every night.


    And so, on the next day, Marquis Moyu was summoned by old madame.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to consider heirs.¡± Old madame said, ¡°The sons in other families have already given their mothers grandchildren. Why is it only you that¡¯s not wiling to spare your mother from worrying?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly smiled, ¡°Mother, don¡¯t be anxious. This son is just hoping to give you a grandchild that¡¯s born from the wife. This son will do his best.¡±


    A child born from the wife naturally meant that the child had to be given birth to by Wen Wan. But, the two of them had been married for a while and she had received the favor of Marquis Moyu¡¯s rain and dew a significant number of times without any changes in her menstrual cycle. The doctors had examined her and said there weren¡¯t any problems with her body. The baby woulde when it was the right time.


    Old madame really wanted to make trouble for Wen Wan, but Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t produced a child after six years and Wen Wan had only been married to her son for two months. So, she simply didn¡¯t have any basis for voicing anyints.


    ¡ª


    Qi Siling warmly went to visit Wen Wan and said, ¡°I heard that after one of Nie n¡¯s honored concubines obtained a very effective fertility charm, she became pregnant within a month. Madam, how about asking Master Sang to borrow that fertility charm for you to try?¡±


    Wen Wan was very anxious. Although Yuxuan said there was no rush, she still wanted to be pregnant sooner so that old madame would be happier with her and her position would be more stable. And so, after she heard these words from Qi Siling, Wen Wan only hesitated for a little bit before she went to visit Nie Sangyu.


    When Ji Man heard her request, she didn¡¯t know whether she shouldugh or cry. She wanted her to take someone else¡¯s fertility charm and give it to her? What kind of nonsense was this? What if Wen Wan gave birth to a girl, wouldn¡¯t she hate her to death?


    But, Ji Man didn¡¯t refuse her. She only smiled and asked, ¡°Madam, how did you find out that Nie n¡¯s honored concubine had a fertility charm? The fertility charm was from Yongling Mountain¡¯s temple. No one outside of our family knows this.¡±


    Wen Wan was slightly surprised, so she said, ¡°Siling had inadvertently mentioned this to me when we were talking today. If this would inconvenience you, then I¡¯ll think of another method.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that it¡¯ll trouble me.¡± Ji Man shook her head and said, ¡°That type of thing is only effective if you go up the mountain yourself and ask the temple for it. Naturally, it wouldn¡¯t be proper to use someone else¡¯s charm.¡±


    Qi Siling hadid out a trap. If it was Nie Sangyu being asked this question, regardless if she agree or disagreed, there wouldn¡¯t be a good result. Although she didn¡¯t know where Nie n¡¯s honored concubine had gotten the fertility charm, it was easy enough to make up an excuse to resolve this problem.


    Yongling Mountain was right outside of the capital. It would only take a day to go there and back by carriage. Right now, Wen Wan was willing to turn to anyone during her crisis, so she immediately had the servants prepare a carriage. She would go to Yongling Mountain tomorrow.


    ¡°Why are you so anxious?¡± Marquis Moyu sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m forcing you.¡±


    Wen Wan red at him, ¡°You¡¯re not a woman, so you naturally don¡¯t understand the plight of women. I¡¯m worried to death, but you can¡¯t understand how I¡¯m feeling at all.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was slightly unhappy. He had indulged her too much. She was bing increasinglycking in following the established rules. When she hadn¡¯t followed etiquette once or twice, he had regarded it as her being young and cutely spoiled. But when this repeatedly happened, he inevitably felt that she didn¡¯t understand the established rules.


    But, he didn¡¯t say these thoughts out loud. Instead, he went back to the western courtyard that night and sent for Mu Shuiqing.


    Mu Shuiqing was also a person that Wen Wan had stuffed at him. He didn¡¯t like Mu Shuiqing¡¯s personality, but it wasn¡¯t worth the fuss to change her for someone else. If he sent for Mu Shuiqing, Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡ª


    However, the course of life was frequently melodramatic and full of nonsense. One monthter, the fertility charm that Wen Wan had obtained with great difficulty gave Mu Shuiqing a pregnancy.

 Chapter 38 - It’s time to have a son (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 038 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s time to have a son (1)


    Although Wen Wan had tried her best by personally cooking all of old madame¡¯s favorite dishes, because of this unpleasant episode, old madame didn¡¯t smile even once during this meal.


    Wen Wan felt bad. On the way back to Qiangwei Courtyard, she turned around and cried into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest. ¡°Yuxuan...¡±


    Feeling distressed for her, Marquis Moyu hugged her andforted her by saying, ¡°En. It¡¯s okay. You have me. That¡¯s just mother¡¯s temperament. If you can¡¯t please her, then just go to the main courtyard less.¡±


    Wen Wan pouted and said with a grievance voice, ¡°But she¡¯s your mother. I want her to like me.¡±


    ¡°Go slowly with this.¡± Marquis Moyu patted her back. ¡°As time passes, old madame will naturally see your good points.¡±


    Wen Wan nodded. She leaned against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest with her eyes slightly downcast.


    ¡ª


    After old madame came back, the treatment towards Nie Sangyu clearly improved in all aspects. Not only did she move to arger courtyard, the kitchen servants also delivered better quality food.


    Aunty Zhao also personally cooked pigeon soup and brought the soup along with the remaining thirty silver teals to Feiwan Courtyard today.


    ¡°This servant is here to return the leftover money. This is amount remaining after this servant had purchased the items that Master Sang had wanted.¡± Her tone was ttering and without any of her original audacity of a servant bullying her master.


    Ji Man pursed her lips into a smile, ¡°Aunty Zhao, does this mean you¡¯re not willing to work for Sangyu anymore?¡±


    Aunty Zhao hurriedly shook her head. ¡°How could that be? Master Sang, if there¡¯s anything that you want, you only need to give yourmand.¡± She had seen that Master Sang could now freely leave the residence and she also had old madame¡¯s protection. Thus, she naturally wouldn¡¯t need her to buy things on her behalf. She hade here to curry favor with her by returning the money.


    Ji Man stood up, personally helped her stand up, and said with a smile, ¡°Since you¡¯re still willing to work for me, then why are you returning the money to me? Even if you no longer need to use the money on my behalf, you can keep it and use it to send your son for private schooling.¡±


    Aunty Zhao hadn¡¯t expected that after Master Sang would still be so gentle after she had regained power. Her heart was slightly moved and she wrapped up the silver taels, ¡°Master Sang, thank you for this reward.¡±


    Ji Man continued to smile. After she said a few sentences of praise, she changed the topic and said, ¡°I heard that recently a rouge shop in the capital has been doing good business by selling cold cream. Old Madame also likes to use this item. Aunty Zhao, if you really want to help me, invite the shopkeeper to the residence for me, so that I easily order more cold cream from her.¡±


    Either Steward Qian would be in charge of this type of purchase or the marquis¡¯s wife would be the one making this decision. Either way, it would never be Nie Sangyu¡¯s turn to make the order. However, cold cream was a special item that could obtain the favor of masters and servants. Beside, the other masters in the household didn¡¯t seem particrly aware of this yet. As soon as Aunty Zhao thought of this, she understood. Master Sang probably wanted to use this item topete for favor.


    She would definitely help with this task. For an inexplicable reason, she suddenly thought that if she followed Master Sang, it might be possible for her to have boundless future prospects.


    ¡°This servant will secretly bring that shopkeeper into the residence.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man cheerfully waited. After Ji Man attended to old madame during lunchtime, Shouwu would apply a facial for old madame during the break after lunch. Since she had free time, she should ask about the rouge store¡¯s current situation.


    Aunt Zhao was still quite reliable with handling work. Halfway through the afternoon, Ji Man saw a very surprise-looking Miss Shui entering Feiwan Couryard. She was dressed up from top to bottom.


    ¡°Madam, this...¡± Miss Shui hadn¡¯t known about her identity. Seeing that she was someone from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, her face immediately paled. Then, she looked at the courtyard Nie Sangyu was living in and her lips started to slightly tremble.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°The better my position is, the better position our rouge store will be in. Why are you scared instead of being happy?¡±


    Miss Shui hadn¡¯t expected that Ji Man would have such a noble identity. After a while, she finally recovered from her shock and started to feel happy. This madam was the rouge store¡¯s behind-the-scenes shopkeeper. In other words, she was the store¡¯s supporter. The more stable the supporter was, the better off the rouge store would be.


    She had brought the ount book and also the list of orders. Her smile was so big that her eyes were closed. ¡°Madam, look at this first. Our store has only been open for three days, but our business is absolutely flourishing. My previous customers had alle to the new store. Yongning Street is a bustling street, so there were also numerous new customers. I met many madams from noble families during the past two days.¡±


    Ji Man pretended to look through the ount book. She didn¡¯t want to bother with looking through these financial records. After flipping through the pages, she turned her attention to the list of orders and brought it closer to look.


    She had stipted that there would be a limited supply of cold cream. One after another, many madams and misses had wanted to ce an order after trying the cold cream. Miss Shui was a person that knew how to do business well. Seeing that there was only a limited supply, she only epted two orders per day and kept the remaining order in reserve. If she met a woman from an ordinary family, she would say it was sold out. When she met a customer from a rich family, she would take out the order form.


    The store¡¯s publicity was also doing well in the capital. Although they weren¡¯t able to buy the cold cream yet, they were able to sample it. Praise for the cold cream spread further and further. She believed that it would take less than a month for cold cream to be a huge sess.


    Ji Man was very satisfied. First, she had Muxu give the big and small boxes of cold cream they had previously made to Miss Shui. Miss Shui had brought arge bag with her that was filled with the raw material that Ji Man had requested in order to continue the production. And so, when she left with the samerge bag, no one said anything.


    ¡ª


    The women in the marquis¡¯s residence either spent their days embroidering orpeting for his favor. It was mind-numbingly boring. And so, Ji Man used her free time to make cold cream to earn money and didn¡¯t think about assigning this work to other people. Muxu worked with her as they experimented with new flowers to make different types of cold cream. Whenever there was a failed product, they would secretly bury it in the garden. Anyways, this courtyard was big enough.


    Thinking about the bank notes that would soon arrive, Ji Man smiled even when she was dreaming. When she went to old madame¡¯s side to serve her each day, she was always brightly smiling, so her skin appeared even better.

 Chapter 39 - It’s time to have a son (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 039 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s time to have a son (2)


    Nie Sangyu had the old madame to support her, but the other concubines, who didn¡¯t have the marquis¡¯s love or old madame¡¯s support, found it difficult to even have the opportunity to see him and their hearts inevitably felt a sense of disequilibrium.


    And so, when Ji Man came out from old madame¡¯s courtyard today, she saw Mu Shuiqing standing outside.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu from far away, Mu Shuiqing derisively shook her handkerchief. ¡°Yo, isn¡¯t this Master Sang? I need to stand farther away. Otherwise, you¡¯ll me me for pushing you again when you were the one that fell into the water yourself.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t take this level of provocation seriously at all. ¡°Master Qing, have you finished embroidering those handkerchiefs?¡±


    At the mention of this, Mu Shuiqing became so mad that her face changed colors. This had originally been Nie Sangyu¡¯s job, but all of it had been given to her to do. If she hadn¡¯t convinced Madam to say a few good words for her, the marquis would have decided that she had to continue to shut herself up and ponder over her mistakes. Wouldn¡¯t this mean that she was being treated the same way as this poisonous woman?


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking of giving my personal servant girl, Muxu, a new handkerchief. Her current one is getting ratty. Master Qing, I¡¯ll have to ask you to embroider faster.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled and very gracefully saluted Mu Shuiqing. Then, she continued walking forward with Muxu following behind her.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s expression was very ugly. She turned her head to look at Nie Sangyu¡¯s departing figure and angrily shouted, ¡°You won¡¯t be feeling for proud for long!¡±


    At the very least, she was the crown prince¡¯s person. The crown prince and empress¡¯s side and Noble Consort Nie¡¯s side were as ipatible as water and fire. Once this woman made a mistake, she would seize that opportunity and make sure that Nie Sangyu would never be able to reverse her fortunes again!


    After seething with anger for a long time by herself, Mu Shuiqing finally turned around and continued walking to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Later that day, Ji Man heard the news that the marquis had sent a message for Mu Shuiqing to serve him in the western courtyard. Ji Man shrugged her shoulders. She wasn¡¯t the slightest bit curious on why Mu Shuiqing was suddenly receiving his favor. Based on the frequency of her visits to Qiangwei Courtyard, as well as the female lead¡¯s low IQ, the female lead would have delivered Mu Shuiqing to Marquis Moyu¡¯s bed sooner orter.


    ¡ª


    However, old madame wasn¡¯t happy. Since she hade back, her son hadn¡¯t sent for Sangyu even once. Other than tonight, he had been staying at Qiangwei Courtyard every night.


    And so, on the next day, Marquis Moyu was summoned by old madame.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to consider heirs.¡± Old madame said, ¡°The sons in other families have already given their mothers grandchildren. Why is it only you that¡¯s not wiling to spare your mother from worrying?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly smiled, ¡°Mother, don¡¯t be anxious. This son is just hoping to give you a grandchild that¡¯s born from the wife. This son will do his best.¡±


    A child born from the wife naturally meant that the child had to be given birth to by Wen Wan. But, the two of them had been married for a while and she had received the favor of Marquis Moyu¡¯s rain and dew a significant number of times without any changes in her menstrual cycle. The doctors had examined her and said there weren¡¯t any problems with her body. The baby woulde when it was the right time.


    Old madame really wanted to make trouble for Wen Wan, but Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t produced a child after six years and Wen Wan had only been married to her son for two months. So, she simply didn¡¯t have any basis for voicing anyints.


    ¡ª


    Qi Siling warmly went to visit Wen Wan and said, ¡°I heard that after one of Nie n¡¯s honored concubines obtained a very effective fertility charm, she became pregnant within a month. Madam, how about asking Master Sang to borrow that fertility charm for you to try?¡±


    Wen Wan was very anxious. Although Yuxuan said there was no rush, she still wanted to be pregnant sooner so that old madame would be happier with her and her position would be more stable. And so, after she heard these words from Qi Siling, Wen Wan only hesitated for a little bit before she went to visit Nie Sangyu.


    When Ji Man heard her request, she didn¡¯t know whether she shouldugh or cry. She wanted her to take someone else¡¯s fertility charm and give it to her? What kind of nonsense was this? What if Wen Wan gave birth to a girl, wouldn¡¯t she hate her to death?


    But, Ji Man didn¡¯t refuse her. She only smiled and asked, ¡°Madam, how did you find out that Nie n¡¯s honored concubine had a fertility charm? The fertility charm was from Yongling Mountain¡¯s temple. No one outside of our family knows this.¡±


    Wen Wan was slightly surprised, so she said, ¡°Siling had inadvertently mentioned this to me when we were talking today. If this would inconvenience you, then I¡¯ll think of another method.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that it¡¯ll trouble me.¡± Ji Man shook her head and said, ¡°That type of thing is only effective if you go up the mountain yourself and ask the temple for it. Naturally, it wouldn¡¯t be proper to use someone else¡¯s charm.¡±


    Qi Siling hadid out a trap. If it was Nie Sangyu being asked this question, regardless if she agree or disagreed, there wouldn¡¯t be a good result. Although she didn¡¯t know where Nie n¡¯s honored concubine had gotten the fertility charm, it was easy enough to make up an excuse to resolve this problem.


    Yongling Mountain was right outside of the capital. It would only take a day to go there and back by carriage. Right now, Wen Wan was willing to turn to anyone during her crisis, so she immediately had the servants prepare a carriage. She would go to Yongling Mountain tomorrow.


    ¡°Why are you so anxious?¡± Marquis Moyu sighed, ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m forcing you.¡±


    Wen Wan red at him, ¡°You¡¯re not a woman, so you naturally don¡¯t understand the plight of women. I¡¯m worried to death, but you can¡¯t understand how I¡¯m feeling at all.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was slightly unhappy. He had indulged her too much. She was bing increasinglycking in following the established rules. When she hadn¡¯t followed etiquette once or twice, he had regarded it as her being young and cutely spoiled. But when this repeatedly happened, he inevitably felt that she didn¡¯t understand the established rules.


    But, he didn¡¯t say these thoughts out loud. Instead, he went back to the western courtyard that night and sent for Mu Shuiqing.


    Mu Shuiqing was also a person that Wen Wan had stuffed at him. He didn¡¯t like Mu Shuiqing¡¯s personality, but it wasn¡¯t worth the fuss to change her for someone else. If he sent for Mu Shuiqing, Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡ª


    However, the course of life was frequently melodramatic and full of nonsense. One monthter, the fertility charm that Wen Wan had obtained with great difficulty gave Mu Shuiqing a pregnancy.

 Chapter 40 - A small-minded and shortsighted female lead (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 040 out of 513 ¨C A small-minded and shortsighted female lead (1)


    While Ji Man was counting the banknotes that Miss Shui had recently delivered, she had Muxu give Miss Shui the newly finished inventory while she was here. During the past month, cold cream had be extremely popr throughout the capital. The demand had already exceeded the supply. There was a limit to Ji Man and Muxu¡¯s production speed. Therefore, the price of the cold cream was constantly increasing. The price of a small box of cold cream had increased to twenty silver taels. This was an amount that an ordinary family would spend in half a year.


    Miss Shui was a skillful businessperson. Once she received the inventory, she first delivered the cold cream to the families that they couldn¡¯t afford to offend. Then, she sold the cold cream in ordance to list of orders. She had heard that there was a ck market for cold cream. Spection had caused a big box of cold cream to be sold at a price of one or two gold taels.


    Since cold cream was a best seller, Miss Shui wanted Ji Man to increase the avable inventory. However, Ji Man continued to only give her a hundred boxes per month under the logic that rarity would keep the price high.


    After Miss Shui left, Muxu couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Master, this is such a profitable item. How about we hire some people to make it?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°Increasing it will cause misfortune. Don¡¯t be greedy.¡±


    But, looking at the pile of money, Ji Man was very happy. When she was walking, her head was held high and her back was straight. A woman that was financial independent had true independence and ample self-confidence.


    And so, when old madame¡¯s face was stretched taut and Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were red, Ji Man was the only person in the main courtyard, who indifferently looked at the bashfully sitting down Mu Shuiqing.


    Today, when Mu Shuiqing was serving old madame by adding food to her bowl, she inexplicably vomited because of the smell of fish. Old madame¡¯s first reaction was anger, but she suddenly thought of something and hurriedly ordered the servants to summon the doctors.


    A few senior doctors examined her pulse for a long time before they finally determined that Mu Shuiqing was one month pregnant. Counting the days, the conception must have urred during the time that Wen Wan had gone to the temple for a fertility charm.


    This was tantamount to pping Wen Wan¡¯s face. She couldn¡¯t cry and she wasn¡¯t able to smile. She locked herself in her room for a long time before she finally came out of her room with red eyes and returned to the main courtyard.


    Marquis Moyu had originally gone to the pce for the day. When he heard the news, he hurriedly returned. From his expression, it wasn¡¯t clear if he was happy or not about the news. When he came into the room, he immediately walked to Wen Wan¡¯s side and turned to salute old madame.


    It took a long time before old madame finally apathetically said, ¡°It could be considered good news that our family will have a future descendant now.¡± It was very clear that even though she wanted a grandson, the person giving birth to the grandson was more important.


    All in all, it was still Marquis Moyu¡¯s child. It was one thing for his first child¡¯s mother to be a concubine, but this concubine had a rather unclean background.


    It would have been socially uneptable to bring a hostess from a brothel home as a concubine, but the crown prince had taken in Mu Shuiqing first and had her trained for two years. She happened to be neen year old when she was sent into the marquis¡¯s household.


    Although she was only a hostess, she was a hostess that the crown prince had intentionally added to the marquis¡¯s household. She was left here as the crown prince¡¯s representative, so Marquis Moyu naturally had to acknowledge that her status was higher than the other concubines¡¯.


    But, acknowledging was one thing. He had nned on letting her stay as a concubine forever. Who would have expected that she would be the first woman to be pregnant in the marquis¡¯s household?¡±


    It would have been strange for old madame to be happy. She was longing for Mu Shuiqing to give birth to a daughter that could be sent far away.


    Ji Man stood by the side as a bystander. She carefully looked at the expressions on everyone¡¯s faces. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze never moved away from Wen Wan¡¯s body. He hadn¡¯t even nced on Mu Shuiqing when he came in. It seemed that he didn¡¯t care that much about her pregnancy either.


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, make arrangements. Once a woman is pregnant, she can¡¯t be so casual with her health. Arrange for two more female servants to serve at her side. She also needs to be more careful with the food that she eats.¡± Old Madam ordered.


    Wen Wan hurriedly stood up. With her head lowered, she said, ¡°Understood.¡±


    Looking at Wen Wan¡¯s expression that showed a slight amount of resentfulness and grievance, Ning Yuxuan inwardly sighed. After Wen Wan finished making arrangements, he led Wen Wan back to Qiangwei Courtyard as everyone started to leave the room.


    Ji Man looked at Mu Shuiqing¡¯s slightly pale face and couldn¡¯t help rejoicing in this disaster. Mu Shuiqing would have definitely thought that her life would change after she became pregnant, but she didn¡¯t understand that Ning Yuxuan had stopped caring about her a long time ago. From the time he entered and left the room, he had only looked at Wen Wan.


    ¡°Be careful when you¡¯re walking.¡± Ji Man looked at Mu Shuiqing, who was exaggeratedly being supported by two servant girls while walking. She said with a smile, ¡°It seems that no one cherishes this baby, but you should still be more protective of it.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Mu Shuiqing gritted her teeth. She was so angry that her hands were shaking. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t cherish my baby?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged. She didn¡¯t believe that Mu Shuiqing couldn¡¯t see the truth. But, it was immoral to provoke pregnant women, so she wouldn¡¯t say anymore. She turned around and walked her own path.


    Mu Shuiqing stood in ce for a long time. No one looked at her as they passed by. Liu Hanyun walked past her without looking sideways. Qian Lianxue also indifferently walked past her.


    However, thest person that came out, Qi Siling, stopped in front of her and said, ¡°It was a really bad move for you to offend Madam at this juncture.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing expression was very ugly as she slowly returned to her own courtyard. She was so angry that she didn¡¯t even have the appetite to eat dinner.


    ¡ª


    In Qiangwei Courtyard, Wen Wan had already silently cried for an hour and Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t have any ideas left. He had tried every method to coax her, but Wen Wan continued to cry.


    He asked, ¡°Do you hate me? You were the one wanted me to favor Qing-<i>er</i>.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re actually turning around and ming me?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s childish temper started and she sobbed, ¡°Another woman is pregnant with your child before me, and you won¡¯t allow me to cry?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was speechless, but he couldn¡¯t help feeling bad when he heard her crying. Feeling restless, he stood up and walked outside.

 Chapter 41 - A small-minded and shortsighted female lead (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 041 out of 513 ¨C A small-minded and shortsighted female lead (2)


    Wen Wan was a small-minded and shortsighted female lead. In the original novel, after she had vented her feelings like this a few times, the marquis had dismissed all of the concubines in the household and they reached their perfect ending. They were like an inseparable pair of birds that flew together and stayed together.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help thinking that the original novel was written by a brain-dead person. True love was one thing. Living one¡¯s life was another matter. How deep would a love have to be tost for an entire lifetime? At the most, the sweetness of love wouldst for a few years. The remaining years would depend on the couple¡¯s ability to get along with each other. Wen Wan was the type of a woman that could onlyst during the honeymoon period. She absolutely wasn¡¯t someone that you could spend the rest of your life with.


    Marquis Moyu decided to take a walk around the residence. As he walked, he tried to think of ways that would make Wen Wan¡¯s life better. Just after he left Qiangwei Courtyard and passed through a shady spot under the trees, he saw Nie Sangyu sitting in a pavilion. There were two cups of tea on the pavilion¡¯s table.


    ¡°My lord.¡± Ji Man looked at him with a smile. ¡°If there¡¯s something that¡¯s troubling you, how about saying it out loud? Perhaps, this servant will have a way to help you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly raised an eyebrow and aimlessly walked over. ¡°How did you know that I was going to leave Qiangwei Courtyard?¡±


    Ji Man lowered her eyes. ¡°This servant just came here to drink tea.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re using two cups to drink tea by yourself?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Ji Man cleared her throat. ¡°My lord, you¡¯re a clever person and this servant isn¡¯t too stupid. Madam found out that Master Qing is pregnant today, so it¡¯s only inevitable that she would be feeling ufortable and the marquis wouldn¡¯t linger in Qiangwei Courtyard. And so, this servant came here to try my luck.¡±


    Marquis Moyu profoundly looked at her for a moment, then he sat down to left of her. ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡±


    Wen Wan was angry with him. But as the main wife, she should be happy for him when she found out that he would have soon have a descendent. And so, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know how to persuade her. But at the same time, he truly loved her, so he wasn¡¯t willing to me her.


    Ji Man lightly smiled, ¡°Madam has always been wanting to have a baby. But in the end, someone else had a child before her. No matter what, it was only expected that she would be angry. My lord, why don¡¯t you clear things up by directly saying that after Master Qing gives birth, the child will be given to Madam to raise, regardless if it¡¯s a boy or girl. This way Madam will feel better.¡±


    It was amon urrence for the main wife to raise the oldest child, even if the child wasn¡¯t her own. Marquis Moyu sighed and said, ¡°I had also thought about this method. But, with Wen Wan¡¯s temperament, I can¡¯t say for sure that she¡¯ll feel happier if I tell her this.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a woman. As long you spend more time coaxing her, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Madam is definitely afraid that if someone else bes pregnant, the other woman will steal away your heart. My lord, if you spend time with her every day and don¡¯t look at Master Qing, Madam will naturally understand your feelings.¡±


    Marquis Moyu raised his head and chuckled, ¡°Are you still bearing a grudge against Qing-<i>er</i> for pushing you into the pond?¡±


    She obviously wanted him to give Mu Shuiqing the cold shoulder. Mu Shuiqing was also a person that he had to worry about. If she were given the cold shoulder after bing pregnant, she would definitely cause trouble.


    Ji Man looked at Marquis Moyu with a slightly mncholy expression and said, ¡°My lord, why do you always think Sangyu is so petty? Master Qing had already been punished forst time. Why would Sangyu still want to harm her? But, my lord, you know Master Qing¡¯s temperament. If you allow her to do as she pleased, Madam will definitely end up unhappy. With Master Qing¡¯s personality, it¡¯s easy for her to offend people. It¡¯ll be difficult for her to keep this baby.¡±


    Ning Yuxaun raised his eyebrows, ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re doing this for her own good?¡±


    Even if you beat him to death, he wouldn¡¯t believe that Nie Sangyu would have this type of inclination.


    Ji Man shook her head and very seriously said, ¡°This servant is only telling the marquis something that might make Madam feel happier in order to curry favor by being well-behaved in front of the marquis. As for whether the marquis will listen or not, the power is in your hands.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan quietly harrumphed. He looked at the person in front of him. Her eyes were as bright as the red glow of sunrise. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°If you just honestly don¡¯t do anything, that would be the most obedient.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her head tough and said, ¡°My lord, don¡¯t worry. This servant won¡¯tpete or desire anything.¡±


    Only a fool would actually believe a woman¡¯s words, including hers. How could she possible not want anything? There were many things that she wanted. But, these things couldn¡¯t be rushed. She had to take these things step by step.


    Ning Yuxuan picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip. It tasted fresh and sweet with a fragrant scent. It was actually osmanthus tea.


    He furrowed his eyebrows. He put down the tea and said, ¡°I don¡¯t like to drink sweet teas like this one.¡±


    Ji Man raised an eyebrow, casually took the cup he had drunk tea from, took a sip, and licked her lips. ¡°You don¡¯t even like to drink tea that¡¯s made from dew. Then, next time, if there¡¯s anything sweet, this servant will help you eat it and drink it.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly widened his eyes. He hadn¡¯t expected that she would do something like this. After being stunned for a while, he finally slightly pursed his lips and said, ¡°Pay attention to decorum.¡±


    Ji Man realized what she had done and somewhat awkwardly put down the cup. ¡°This servant has overstepped. This servant will be leaving to go to the pce with Old Madamter and won¡¯t bother the marquis any further.¡±


    Going to the pce? Ning Yuxuan knew that Noble Consort Nie¡¯s confinement period had ended and his mother was going to the pce to visit her. But, hadn¡¯t they already spoken about this before? Only the main wife and secondary wife had the status to enter the pce. As a concubine, how could she enter the pce?


    ¡°My lord, you don¡¯t have to worry.¡± Ji Man saw the confusion in his eyes and lowered her gaze as she ridiculed herself, ¡°Other than the concubine status you gave me, I still have my identity as Noble Consort Nie¡¯s niece. As long as I keep a low-profile, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for me to enter the pce with Old Madame.¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused, raised his eyes to look at the well-behaved person in front of him, and surprisingly felt somewhat guilty.

 Chapter 42 - The devastatingly beautiful Noble Consort Nie (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 042 out of 513 ¨C The devastatingly beautiful Noble Consort Nie (1)


    In the past, he had maltreated Nie Sangyu because she failed to see therger issues and provoked his annoyance and disgust. But, the person in front of him right now had already changed from a shrew to proper, magnanimous, and unselfish woman. Thinking of their marriage that had urred before their adulthood ceremonies, Ning Yuxuan felt a slight sense of humanness and ended up not willing to make her suffer.


    Besides, if Nie Sangyu entered the pce using her identify as a member of Noble Consort Nie¡¯s maiden family, what would happen to reputation of his marquis¡¯s household?


    After being silent for a while, Ning Yuxuan stood up and said, ¡°Come with me first.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to look at him in confusion. The carriage would be leaving soon. Why would she go somewhere with him?


    Ning Yuxuan lifted his feet and started walking forward. Ji Man could only follow after him. As they were walking, Ji Man carefully scrutinized the side of his face. Although his face was mostly expressionless, he didn¡¯t seem angry, so she put down her worries.


    Marquis Moyu led her to western courtyard, told her to wait outside, and entered his room. A short whileter, he came out with a circr jade essory.


    The jade essory was truly circr and felt very nice to touch. There wasn¡¯t a decorative pattern on the jade, but it had a neatly carved character, ¡°Ning¡±.


    To be honest, this jade essory looked really ugly. It was a wasted use of a valuable piece of white jade. However, when Ning Yuxuan put the jade into her hand, he still hesitated slightly.


    ¡°In the end, you¡¯re still a person from my household.¡± Marquis Moyu finally loosened his grip and the piece of jade fell into the hollow of Nie Sangyu¡¯s palm.


    Ji Man was at a loss. She naturally didn¡¯t understand the significance of this item. Just as she was about to ask him, Ning Yuxuan extremely impatiently said, ¡°If you¡¯re going to the pce, you should hurry up and go. Why are you dilly-dallying? Mother might already be waiting for you at the entrance.¡±


    One moment he was cold, the next moment he was warm. It really was difficult to understand this person¡¯s thoughts. Ji Man decided that since he was giving this item away for free, she would just ept it. After she hanged the jade essory on her waist, she ran back to Feiwan Courtyard in small steps. She had Muxu straightened her up before they would walk to the main entrance.


    ¡°Master,¡± Muxu saw the jade essory that was hanging on Nie Sangyu¡¯s waist and was very surprised. ¡°This... Did the marquis give you this?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. The surface of the jade essory was carved with hisst name.


    Muxu brightened with joy. She stretched her hand out and reced the silver hairpin in Nie Sangyu¡¯s hair with the jewelry they had redeemed back from the pawnshop, until her hair was covered in gold. She also changed Nie Sangyu¡¯s clothing to a long pink dress over white sleeves.


    ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± Ji Man was confused.


    ¡°Although the marquis gave you this jade essory without announcing it to the household, it¡¯s still worth of a celebration.¡± Muxu happily said, ¡°This is the jade essory with the marquis¡¯sst name that can only be worn by the secondary wife. The marquis must have definitely felt that he couldn¡¯t bear to let you lose face when entering the pce. This servant naturally can¡¯t let you look unpresentable either.¡±


    Secondary wife? Ji Man was speechless from amazement. She had only said a few words and Marquis Moyu had actually been this generous? Hadn¡¯t he originally done everything possible to block old madame from promoting her to secondary wife? Why did he end up giving her this jade essory himself?


    ¡°This servant had just been thinking. What will you do if you meet Madam Nie and Old Master in the pce? But, now it¡¯s fine. Although you hadmitted a huge mistake, you¡¯re still the marquis¡¯s secondary wife and other people won¡¯t dare to be derisive towards you.¡± As Muxu said this, she helped her stand up with a smiling face.


    Ji Man leaned her head to side and thought for a long time. Even as they were walking, she still continued to think. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t seem like the type of person that would be willing to forgive Nie Sangyu after a short period of time. He had suddenly given her such a great favor. What was his purpose?


    As she was getting into the carriage with old madame, old madame saw the jade essory. Her eyes brightened, but she wasn¡¯t too surprised. ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i> was finally willing to give this to you.¡±


    Ji Man smiled in a well-behaved manner and said, ¡°Sangyu will have thank the marquis for his favor again when we return.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine for you to thank him, but he¡¯s currently having a disagreement with that person in Qiangwei Courtyard. Don¡¯t directly go there and add to the trouble.¡± Old madame advised.


    Ji Man naturally understood the logic behind her words. Since Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t announced to the household about giving her this jade essory, she would just treat it as him lending her this item temporarily. When they came back from the pce, she would still have to return this jade essory to him.


    After old madame has sat down in the carriage, she quietly discussed, ¡°Right now, your older brother¡¯s political career is going smoothly and your father continues to be highly regarded by the emperor. But, Nie n¡¯s branches had recently been significantly cut down and those people are more aware of their ce and won¡¯t go beyond their bounds. Thus, the emperor is willing to favor Noble Consort Nie again. As for you, be better behaved. Don¡¯t always rush forward andnd yourself on the chopping block.¡±


    ¡°Sangyu understands.¡± Ji Man nodded. Her mind faintly became aware of what had happened. Marquis Moyu had only been willing to treat Nie Sangyu better because of Nie n. In addition, so that he wouldn¡¯t be putting old madame into a difficult position, he had given her a reasonable status to meet Noble Consort Nie.


    And so, this meant that his change didn¡¯t have much to do with her personal performance. She had thought that if this man saw Nie Sangyu acting well-behaved for the past few months, he would be able to see her good points.


    However, Ji Man was still feeling happy that she would be able to see this dynasty¡¯s pce. She would treat this experience as a free vacation.


    Before they entered the pce, they had to go through three inspections. After the formalities werepleted, old madame came down from the carriage and brought Nie Sangyu with her as they followed the pce servants deeper into the pce. This dynasty was called Song Dynasty and its economic environment wasparable to the historical Song Dynasty.


    The current pce wasn¡¯t asvish as the pce in the Qing Dynasty. The red walls and yellow tiles weren¡¯t too excessively majestic to the point of feeling oppressive. It was only that the covered corridors meandered like ribbons with twists and turns. The eaves of the roofs were curved upwards like a beast¡¯s fangs and there was a building or pavilion every five or ten steps. All in all, it was different from amoner¡¯s ce.


    Noble Consort Nie had always been very favored by the emperor and the ce she lived in was more morous than the other halls. Ji Man kept her head lowered while she followed old madame inside. When they entered the hall, she sawyers of gauzy curtains with a vague figure behind them and smelled the strong scent of incense.

 Chapter 43 - The devastatingly beautiful Noble Consort Nie (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 043 out of 513 ¨C The devastatingly beautiful Noble Consort Nie (2)


    ¡°Your servant greets the noble consort.¡± Old madame neatly kneeled before the gauzy curtains.


    Ji Man hurriedly kneeled too, but she didn¡¯t know how to address herself, so she simply didn¡¯t say anything.


    Laughter came from behind the curtains. ¡°I had been hoping you would visit soon. It¡¯s lonely in the pce. There isn¡¯t anyone I can talk to here.¡±


    Then, Noble Consort Nie ordered, ¡°Pengshu and the others, withdraw and close the front doors for this consort. Other than the emperor, don¡¯t let anyone else enter. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The female pce servant acknowledged hermand, hurriedly led the group of pce servants out of the hall, and a deep, groaning sound was heard from the front doors as they were closed.


    ¡°Quickly, rise.¡± The person behind the gauzy curtains got up from her cushioned couch, separated theyer uponyer of curtains, and personally helped old madame stand up.


    ¡°Xiu-<i>er</i>, if you didn¡¯te here to talk with me soon, I would have almost died from being shut up in here.¡± Noble Consort Nie¡¯s voice was choked up with emotion. It didn¡¯t sound anything like her earlier cheerfulughter.


    Standing by the side, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist secretly ncing at Noble Consort Nie.


    One look was enough to shock her. Logically, Noble Consort Nie was the around the same age as old madame. Although she possessed elegant bearing and charm, she was still a middle age woman.


    However, Noble Consort Nie had a small face with shining, tenderhearted, almond-shaped eyes and seductive figure. She didn¡¯t look like a woman in her thirties or forties.


    People couldn¡¯t be med for saying that the Song Emperor was bewitched by Noble Consort Nie¡¯s beauty. There were very few people that wouldn¡¯t be bewitched by her devastating beauty. However, her skin didn¡¯t look as youthful anymore. There were a few fine lines and it looked slightly dull.


    ¡°I know you suffered grievances.¡± Old madame sighed. She held Noble Consort Nie¡¯s hand and sat down at the table with her. ¡°Sangyu wasn¡¯t sensible and gave the emperor a reason. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to bear with punishing you.¡±


    Following old madame¡¯s words, Ji Man kneeled down again. ¡°Aunt, Sangyu caused trouble for you and came here to humbly apologize.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie turned around to look at her. She shook her head and stretched a hand out to help her stand up. ¡°It can¡¯t bepletely med on you. He wanted to prune Nie n¡¯s leaves. Even if you didn¡¯t barge into the pce, he would have found another reason. It¡¯s only that you really need to change your temperament. You must have also suffered a lot during this period of time, right?¡±


    Ji Man did her best to grin. She looked at her beautiful aunt, shook her head, and said, ¡°Sangyu hasn¡¯t suffered. I¡¯ve lived in the marquis¡¯s household for several years and finally figured things out. I won¡¯t act as impulsive and unruly as before. I¡¯ll consider myself fortunate if I can properly serve Old Madame and aunt for the rest of my life.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie was slightly shocked. She stretched her hand to stroke Nie Sangyu¡¯s hair. ¡°You seem to have be much more sensible. When I heard that Yuxuan had demoted you to a concubine, I was worried that you would take things too hard.¡±


    Nie Sangyu had truly taken things too hard, but she, Ji Man, wouldn¡¯t take these things to heart. If it weren¡¯t for Nie n, Ning Yuxuan would have definitely directly divorced Nie Sangyu. For her to continue to stay at the marquis¡¯s residence and make aeback, this opportunity was already hard toe by.


    ¡°No matter how depressed I was, I became less depressed when I thought about my family,¡± Ji Man said with a smile. ¡°Compared to the amount of doting that the marquis had given me, Old Madame and aunt had given me much more. So, why should Sangyu waste time obsessing over this matter?¡±


    Noble Consort Nie froze from shock and contemted these words for a long time. Her eyes redden again, ¡°Even a young girl is able to take a lighter view than me. Xiu-<i>er</i>, I had prepared a stomachful of grievances to tell you, but this girl has decreased half of it just by saying a few words.¡±


    Old madame¡¯s eyes held praise as she nced at Nie Sangyu. Then, holding Noble Consort Nie¡¯s hand, she quietly said, ¡°The two of you, aunt and niece, are the same. You¡¯re both the type that falls head over heels. But, Your Highness, your servant had already said a long time ago, there¡¯s no such thing as real feelings in the imperial family. When the emperor is willing to favor you, you should treasure it. Don¡¯t act immaturely by causing trouble for him. On the other side, the empress is ring at you like a tiger watching her prey. The crown prince has also recently been working industriously. If you don¡¯t start to fight for the third prince and help him now, it¡¯ll be toote if you want to speakter.¡±


    On the surface, Noble Consort Nie and the empress had a peaceful rtionship. But, in private, they fierclypeted with each other. The crown prince was not only oldest son, but also the son of the legal wife. The emperor rather liked his intelligence and elegant demeanor. The third prince was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s son, but he liked the mountains and rivers and preferred to stand aloof from worldly affairs. Even though Noble Consort Nie was anxious to death, she didn¡¯t have a way to change him.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t want it. What¡¯s the use in mepeting for him?¡± Noble Consort Nie sighed. ¡°There will be new people in the pce next year. When I look at myself in the mirror and see myself growing older each day, I feel despair from the bottom of my heart.¡±


    Old madame shook her head, ¡°Countless women have been added to the harem during the past years, but doesn¡¯t he still stay at your ce for a few days every month. What¡¯s there for you to worry about?¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Noble Consort Nie touched her face. ¡°Women age faster in the pce. When the timees and I¡¯m physically and mentally exhausted, perhaps my hair will turn white overnight.¡±


    Old madame thought about the gift that Sangyu had brought with her when they left the pce, hurriedly turned her head, and said, ¡°Sangyu has something good she wants to give to Your Highness. Your Highness, how about looking at it?


    Ji Man nodded, went outside, and took back the bundle wrapped in cloth that she had recently handed over to a ce servant.


    ¡°Sangyu had gathered these items from outside the pce. These are all beautifying items to nourish the skin to maintain a youthful appearance. Your Highness, if you find these itemsfortable to use, Sangyu will bring more of these items next time.¡±


    Hearing the words, ¡°beautifying items, youthful appearance¡±, Noble Consort Nie¡¯s eyes brightened. Seeing Sangyu taking out various containers, she couldn¡¯t resist curiously asking, ¡°What are their effects?¡±


    Old madame slightly smiled and said, ¡°Just look at my face. You were so preupied with being broken-hearted that you didn¡¯t notice I¡¯m only wearing light makeup today. Do you see that the spots on my face have diminished a lot?¡±

 Chapter 44 - Putting up advertisement. Settling the household (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 044 out of 513 ¨C Putting up advertisement. Settling the household (1)


    It was only now that Noble Consort Nie had the inclination to carefully look at old madame¡¯s face. At first nce, there didn¡¯t seem to be any difference from before. It was only that her skin looked a bit smoother than usual. But, when she looked closer, she saw that the wrinkles around the corners of eyes had diminished significantly and her face looked rosier.


    ¡°This...¡± Noble Consort Nie was slightly excitedly. She turned her head to look at Nie Sangyu, ¡°Is this change due to Sangyu¡¯s efforts?¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled.


    Old madame nodded and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it so. She¡¯s such a young girl, but instead of dressing herself up, shees to y my ce every day to take care of my face by applying creams. She¡¯s more serious about it than Shouwu and Danggui. There¡¯s truly a noticeable effect.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie became interested. She slightly propped herself up and picked up one of the gold boxes that Nie Sangyu had taken out of her bundle.


    ¡°This is a popr item called cold cream. Sangyu had previously given a box of this cold cream to old madame and also brought a box of it for you today. It¡¯s more effective than any other expensive powder and it won¡¯t harm your face.¡± Ji Man acted like a salesperson.


    After she finished introducing cold cream, she held up something woven from silkworm fibers. ¡°This is called a facemask. I made a moisturizing type and a whitening and wrinkle removing type. There¡¯s ten of each type. I¡¯ve already tested them on a servant girl¡¯s face. The results were pretty good. Old Madame had also used this before. Next to them, the other containers are filled with herbal gel with natural fragrance.¡±


    ¡°Moisturizing... wrinkle removing?¡± Noble Consort Nie was slightly at a loss.


    Ji Man lightly smiled, looked at her face that was considerably covered by powder that was made by using grounded lead, and said, ¡°Aunt, if you believe in Sangyu, how about trying these products right now? Have people bring in water to wash your face. Sangyu will apply a wrinkle removing face mask and you can see the result for yourself.¡±


    There was naturally a reason why Ji Man had brought so many products with her today. The rouge store had started to introduce facemasks as a set package. But, the cost to make it was significant and it¡¯s price was considerably high. The average person wouldn¡¯t be able to afford buying them and Ji Man needed to promote this product in order to sell it.


    If they could say that these facemasks were being used by a consort in the pce, it would be the best type of publicity.


    Once Noble Consort Nie¡¯s face was cleaned of makeup, the wrinkles on her face became more apparent.


    Ji Man said, ¡°Excuse me,¡± before she stepped closer to carefully look. Then, she took out and unfolded the facemask and carefully put it on to Noble Consort Nie¡¯s face.


    Noble Cosort Nie only felt a sense of coldness as something covered her face. Although she was slightly unused to it at first, a little whileter, it actually felt quitefortable.


    ¡°It needs to be left on for fifteen minutes. You can rest for a bit.¡± Ji Man quietly said.


    Noble Consort Nie slightly nodded and closed her eyes to take a nap. She had been very tired during the past period.


    Old madame sat on the side and watched as Nie Sangyu smoothed out the facemask on Noble Consort Nie¡¯s face before sitting down on the cushioned couch and quietly watching her.


    This child had truly changed significantly. Even from the viewpoint of an old woman, she felt that the side view of Nie Sangyu had be more captivating. But, Xuan-<i>er</i>¡¯s heart had already been firmly locked by that Wen Wan girl. For Sangyu to take back her position as the main wife, it would be extremely difficult.


    After the facemask, Ji Man also applied cold cream onto Noble Consort Nie¡¯s face and used her ability to re-draw Noble Consort¡¯s eyebrow makeup.


    Her face looked even better than before and this way her pores wouldn¡¯t be poisoned by crude, ancient cosmetics, which in turn would also greatly improve her skin. Ji Man smiled as she looked at Noble Consort Nie¡¯s surprised face. She gave her the bag with the remaining facemasks. The bag was marked with a Shuiji rouge store¡¯s seal.


    ¡°Pengshu.¡± Noble Consort Nie couldn¡¯t stop touching her face. After the facemask treatment, her skin had noticeably be whiter. Her skin looked even more like white jade after cold cream had been used. She was overjoyed. The effects were very obvious.


    She directly said, ¡°Bestow Sangyu the pair of golden bracelets that had twining flowers that the emperor had bestowed to this consort and also the ruby hairpin!¡±


    Pengshu acknowledged her order. Seeing her rarely happy master being so happy today, she also felt happy. She brought the items over and handed them to Sangyu.


    Ji Man kneeled down to express her thanks. This transaction had been worth it. She had received such an expensive pair of bracelets and hairpin in exchange for the twenty facemasks, one box of cold cream, and a few bottles of herbal gel. She was so happy that her eyes were closed as the abacus in her heart calcted her profit.


    Seeing how pleased Noble Consort Nie was, old madame returned to saying more mollifying words for a while.


    When they were leaving, Noble Consort Nie profoundly looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°I feel like this child has grown up.¡±


    Ji Man was smiling as shepleted the thanks and good-byes required by etiquette. Afterwards, she followed old madame into the carriage and returned home with her.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wonder if Ji Man worked in the marketing department at a cosmeticpany, or had a simr job as Go Ha-jin from <i>Moon Lover: Scarlet Heart Ryeo</i>.


    Also, one more week until we meet the supporting male character and his sister, Nie Sangyu¡¯s best friend.

 Chapter 45 - Putting up advertisement. Settling the household (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 045 out of 513 ¨C Putting up advertisement. Settling the household (2)


    Everyone in the Marquis¡¯s residence knew that Nie Sangyu had caused Noble Consort Nie to lose favor. And so, when she came back from the pce with the items bestowed to her, everyone was surprised.


    Even if Nie Sangyu was her niece, Noble Consort Nie couldn¡¯t possibly be that generous and forgiving, right?


    But, the servant that had apanied them to the pce said that the noble consort had been moved by Master Sang¡¯s presents.


    Qi Siling thought for a while before she said to the servant girl next to her, ¡°Go and investigate. What did she give the noble consort?¡±


    The women in the other courtyards gave their servant girls approximately the same order as Qi Siling. And so, these servant girls went to chat with Muxu.


    Muxu pretended that she didn¡¯t know their intentions and didn¡¯t hide anything from them. She just told them that Master Sang had given skincare products purchased from Yongning Street¡¯s Shuiji Rouge Store.


    All of these servant girls immediately rushed to that rouge store. Ji Man had created these facemasks a month ago when she was bored. This world had a material woven from silkworm fibers. It was very simr to the material used in modern facemasks. Since they had the capital, this product could be mass-produced even though the woven material was expensive. And so, these facemasks were currently in stock in Shuiji Rouge Store.


    ¡ª


    Gossip traveled as fast as an infectious disease. Noble Consort Nie had regained the emperor¡¯s favor. He had slept in her pce for five days in a row. When people asked what the secret to her sess was, everyone replied, Shuiji Rouge Store.


    As a result, Miss Shui became extremely busy. For an inexplicable reason, people from the pce suddenly came to buy the store¡¯s skincare products. It wouldn¡¯t be good if she couldn¡¯t sell them anything. But, she had run out of cold cream for the month and wouldn¡¯t have anymore for another seven days. She could only offer facemasks for sale.


    Fortunately, she had enough of the facemasks and the people from the pce didn¡¯t find the price too expensive. Thus, arge sum of money came into Shuiji Rouge Store.


    Seeing that her business was proceeding smoothly, Ji Man stopped worried and turned her attention to the marquis¡¯s residence.


    ¡ª


    On the same day that Ji Man retuned from the pce, she went to look for Ning Yuxuan to return the jade essory and said, ¡°My lord, thank you for lending this jade. Sangyu is here to report back afterpleting my task. Noble Consort Nie was very satisfied with Sangyu.¡±


    At that moment, Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze was very harsh and stern as if he was going to see through her. But, it onlysted for a moment before Ning Yuxuan returned to his normal, cold expression. He deeply looked at her as he said, ¡°I¡¯m surprise that you¡¯re willing to return this to me.¡±


    ¡°The marquis didn¡¯t really want to give this item, so it¡¯s pointless for this servant to hold on to it.¡± Ji Man slightly saluted, then she turned around and left.


    Ji Man felt his gaze watching her for a long time as she walked away. She knew the marquis was thinking that she must have lost her mind to prefer being a concubine instead of a secondary wife.


    However, Ji Man knew that the faster you climbed up, the more it would hurt when you fell. Right now, there was Mu Shuiqing to be the target and she had no intention of joining in that mess.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan had a cold war with the marquis for two days before he gave in and said that Mu Shuiqing¡¯s child would be given to her to raise. Moreover, he showed no intention of promoting Mu Shuiqing¡¯s status.


    Mu Shuiqing felt wronged and ran to old madame¡¯s side to cry. Old madame didn¡¯t show much reaction to her tears. Instead, she lectured her by saying that the child hadn¡¯t been born yet. She shouldn¡¯t be causing so much trouble.


    Mu Shuiqing couldn¡¯t endure this cold reception. Her current treatment was worse than before she had be pregnant. She immediately returned to her room, locked herself up, and went on a hunger strike.


    ¡°Take everything away!¡± With a wave of her sleeves, the tea went sshing in all directions. With red-rimmed eyes, Mu Shuiqing sat in her room and waved her hand in loathing towards the table full of food.


    Banxia didn¡¯t dare to try to persuade her. She could only wipe her tears and tidy up the mess. After she finished, she saw a person at the doorway.


    Ji Man unselfconsciously walked into the room, sat down at the table, and started eating Mu Shuiqing¡¯s food.


    In order to nurture her pregnant body, the kitchen servants had prepared pretty good food for her. There were meat dishes, vegetable dishes, and also chicken soup.


    ¡°Why did youe here?!¡± Mu Shuiqing sharply shouted.


    Ji Man turned her head to nce at her and quietly said, ¡°The food was going to be wasted since Master Qing wasn¡¯t eating it.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing was so angry that she almost couldn¡¯t breath. ¡°Even if I¡¯m not eating it, you still can¡¯t eat it either. Why did youe to my courtyard?!¡±


    Ji Man picked up a chicken leg and turned around to nce at Muxu. Muxu understood and pulled Banxia out of the room with her and closed the doors.


    ¡°Do you no longer want your baby?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Mu Shuiqing furrowed her brow. At the mention of this topic, her anger leaked out and she said dejectedly, ¡°You¡¯re right. No one cares about my unborn baby. Everyone wants me to die. Even if I want this baby, what¡¯s the use?¡±


    Ji Man harrumphed, ¡°Who told you to be born as a hostess?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± She never liked to hear people mention this and immediately picked up a pillow and threw it at Nie Sangyu.


    Song Dynasty¡¯s pillows were all very sturdy and Ji Man didn¡¯t have eyes behind her back. She ended up getting arge bump because she wasn¡¯t paying attention.


    Mu Shuiqing was startled. She hadn¡¯t expected that she would lose control. Her arrogance immediately dissipated and she somewhat nkly looked at Nie Sangyu.


    ¡°Do you feel better now?¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t get annoyed. She only rubbed the bump on the back of her head. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she checked the bump. ¡°If you act like this, how can you hope that the marquis will defend you? If you act as fierce as a tigress like me, he¡¯s going to hide as soon as he sees you.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing didn¡¯t say anything. She was probably afraid that Nie Sangyu would go and file aint against her, so she became well behaved.


    ¡°If you¡¯re calmed down, then listen to me for a bit.¡± Ji Man cast a sidelong nce at her and said, ¡°Your entire lifetime¡¯s worth of hope lies in your unborn baby. If you act rashly because you¡¯re feeling injustice, the only person that will suffer a loss is you. So what if Madam raises the child, it¡¯ll still be your blood and flesh and will show filial piety towards you in the future. If you have a child, it¡¯ll be better than if you have no one to rely on for the rest of your life, right?¡±


    Why did these words sound as if she was saying them for her benefit? Mu Shuiqing outwardly froze from surprise, but her heart had calmed down. Even thought no one cared about her future child, losing her child would only benefit her enemies. Why had she been so foolish?


    ¡°But, I¡¯m scared that I won¡¯t be able to keep it.¡± Mu Shuiqing lowered her head and ced her hands on her abdomen. ¡°I don¡¯t have anyone to rely on. It¡¯s only Honored Concubine Ling that will asionally help me. But, right now Madam hates me to death, so she definitely won¡¯t help me again.¡±


    At a time when Wen Wan was desperately hoping to be pregnant, she had gotten pregnant first. If Wen Wan didn¡¯t dislike her, who else would she dislike? Ji Man sighed and said, ¡° You don¡¯t know. The female lead... Madam is a tolerant and kind-hearted person. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to be the marquis¡¯s wife. Although she¡¯s angry, she won¡¯t harm you. You only need to guard against other people.


    Mu Shuiqing looked at her nkly for a while as she thought Nie Sangyu¡¯s words over. Nie Sangyu¡¯s words were right. Madam had a soft temperament. How could she harm someone? She might as well be worrying about Honored Concubine Xue.


    But... She guardedly raised her eyes to look at the person in front of her. Mu Shuiqing asked, ¡°What¡¯s your motive in telling me this?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I have no idea if Ji Man is plotting. Does it benefit her in any way to say these words to Mu Shuiqing? Whether or not the child is born, it wouldn¡¯t change the marquis¡¯s household. Or, is she simply saying these words out of the kindness of her heart without any hidden motive? But, anyways, I really like that they can have this conversation and Mu Shuiqing doesn¡¯t stay as a character that only exists to hate Nie Sangyu.

 Chapter 46 - Just treat him as if he was her son (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 046 out of 513 ¨C Just treat him as if he was her son (1)


    Actually, wasn¡¯t the person in front of her, the most person that she should be most guarded against? Who did she have the worst rtionship with in this household? Nie Sangyu. She would have never expected that Nie Sangyu would also be the person that woulde here to persuade her.


    Mu Shuiqing thought over Nie Sangyu¡¯s words three times over and couldn¡¯t see if she was hiding anything. Nie Sangyu¡¯s words had been analyzing the situation from Mu Shuiqing¡¯s point of view and had all been for her benefit.


    It couldn¡¯t be that Nie Sangyu had really turned over a new leaf and was giving consideration to other people¡¯s needs in all respects, right? No, this couldn¡¯t be true. But, she didn¡¯t have a choice right now. She had to believe this was the truth.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s face became considerably less tense as she gloomily sat at the edge of her bed. She agreed with Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, but she felt awkward and didn¡¯t want to leave her bed to eat.


    Ji Man paid attention to the changes in her expression. In the modern world, she worked as a salesperson. Her ability to guess what people were feeling had already reached perfection. And so, she immediately added a little bit of each dish into a bowl, brought the bowl over to Mu Shuiqing, and stiffened her face as she said, ¡°Here. If you don¡¯t start eating, I¡¯m going to eat it all.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Mu Shuiqing raised her head and saw Nie Sangyu pretending to look severe, but there was concern in her eyes. Her heart inexplicably felt warm and she reached out to take the bowl without thinking. When she returned to her senses, Mu Shuiqing somewhat angrily looked at her own hand.


    ¡°Eat. Once you¡¯re finished eating, tidy up and go to Old Madame and attend to her.¡± Ji Man said.


    Mu Shuiqing raised her eyes. Not understanding why Nie Sangyu had said those words, she said, ¡°Why should I go serve Old Madame? I¡¯m pregnant!¡±


    She had only been pregnant for a month or two. There wasn¡¯t even a noticeable bump and she was calling herself pregnant? Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist rolling her eyes. If women couldn¡¯t work anymore in their first trimester, then how did pregnant modern women go to work with their big bellies when they were seven to eight months pregnant?


    ¡°Old Madame is the one that has the ultimately say in this household. If you want to live well and avoid being stabbed in the back by a hidden enemy, then Old Madame¡¯s ce is the best harbor. Do you understand?¡± Ji Man patiently exined her reasoning. If Mu Shuiqing¡¯s intelligence was too low toprehend reality, then she didn¡¯t have any other methods. She left after saying thesest words.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s eyes turned. She lowered her head and picked up her chopsticks to quietly eat. She understood the meaning of Nie Sangyu¡¯s words. But, she still felt that this situation was strange. Why Nie Sangyu being nice to her? She was the crown prince¡¯s person and Nie Sangyu was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s niece. No matter how she looked at it, neither of them could draw the other person to her respective side, right?


    Even though she felt that Nie Sangyu¡¯s behavior was strange, Mu Shuiqing still went to serve old madame during the break after lunchtime after she finished eating.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you causing trouble by going on a hunger strike?¡± Old Madame coldly looked at Mu Shuiqing. ¡°You still have energy toe here to serve me?¡±


    Standing on the side, Ji Man secretly made a gesture to kneel with her index finger.


    Mu Shuiqing paused for a moment, then she kneeled and quietly said, ¡°Old Madame, please don¡¯t be angry. This servant didn¡¯t try to cause trouble by going on a hunger strike. This servant had eaten arge bowl of food during lunch and is feeling fine.¡±


    Old madame carefully looked her over before rxing her expression. ¡°It¡¯s naturally good that you¡¯re willing to be more well-behaved.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Mu Shuiqing agreed. She stood up and took over Nie Sangyu¡¯s previous position to massage old madame¡¯s back by lightly pounding on it with her fists.


    Standing nearby, Ji Man was smiling as she brought over the items that she would be applying to old madame¡¯s face today.


    Old madame felt that it was extremely strange that these two people, who usually argued the most with each other, were now on good terms with one another in front of her. But, she didn¡¯t ask any questions and only quietly observed these two people.


    ¡ª


    As they were leaving the main courtyard, Mu Shuiqing harrumphed, ¡°Don¡¯t expect me to be grateful towards you.¡±


    Ji Man indifferently smiled, ¡°If you¡¯re too grateful towards me, my life will definitely be shortened*. You should go back and focus on taking care of your health and unborn baby.¡±


    * T/N: Ji Man uses the word <i>zheshou</i>, which is a superstitious idea that being too favored will lead to a shorter life.


    Mu Shuiqing flung her handkerchief as she left. Even though she remembered Nie Sangyu¡¯s previous unpleasantness, she still put those thoughts down anyways. Moreover, even though she knew that Nie Sangyu probably wasn¡¯t actually this kind-hearted, she still felt grateful towards her.


    When everyone else in this household didn¡¯t care about her unborn baby, Nie Sangyu was the only person that pointed out a clear path for her and didn¡¯t try to harm her.


    She slightly looked down. For a moment, Mu Shuiqing even felt that the current Nie Sangyu was quite likable.


    ¡ª


    Mu Shuiqing stopped causing trouble and peacefully focused on the health of her unborn child. She even regrly went to serve old madame. Mu Shuiqing was very good at speaking. It only took her a few days to coax old madame into a happy mood. As a result, the marquis finally came to her courtyard to see her.


    ¡°Just focus on taking care of your health and the unborn baby.¡± Although Marquis Moyu only said this one sentence, Mu Shuiqing was already very happy. This was better than when he didn¡¯t say or ask anything.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was the only person that continued to be unhappy. Mu Shuiqing¡¯s pregnancy was like a thorn in her heart. Every time she thought about it, there was a difficult to endure pain in her heart. And so, she usually avoided any ce where Mu Shuiqing would be and her mood continued to be bad. There hadn¡¯t been any smiles on her face in a while.


    At first, the marquis stayed in Qiangwei Courtyard every day to keep herpany. However, it seemed that he had be busier with his work in the pce and he would return home veryte. asionally, he would sleep in Qi Siling or Qian Lianxue¡¯s ce instead.


    When Ji Man heard of this information, she thought that this man truly didn¡¯t take her words seriously. At this juncture, when madam was still feeling upset, he was going over and sleeping at another woman¡¯s ce. It would be strange if Wen Wan didn¡¯t be angrier.

 Chapter 47 - Just treat him as if he was her son (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 047 out of 513 ¨C Just treat him as if he was her son (2)


    Today, everyone had sat down to chat after the women had finished paying respects to old madame. Ning Yuxuan had also happened toe by at this time, but he seemed tired. He also brought a message that Wen Wan wasn¡¯t feeling well and wouldn¡¯t being.


    Sitting at the highest position, old madame coldly harrumphed, ¡°It seems like it¡¯s really easy for her to get sick in this weather. You¡¯ll have to order the servants to properly take care of her.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything that Marquis Moyu could say to refute. He could only agree.


    Nearby, Qi Siling, who had been recently been favored, said with a smile, ¡°Younger sister Qing-<i>er</i>¡¯s belly looks really big. It doesn¡¯t seem like it¡¯s only one month old.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing had received special permission to sit at a chair below Qi Siling¡¯s instead of standing as usual. She hadn¡¯t expected that a person that she usually got along well with would open fire on her. Mu Shuiqing slightly froze from shock, then she pulled back her belly that been positioned somewhat exaggeratedly. ¡°Older sister, you must be joking.¡±


    Marquis Moyu looked at Mu Shuiqing in the passing and asked, ¡°Have you been eating well?¡±


    Joy appeared in Mu Shuiqing¡¯s eyes. She lowered her head and said, ¡°My lord, thank you for your concern. Banxia has been serving me well and the doctor has beening to see me every few days. Everything is fine.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. His feelings towards Mu Shuiqing¡¯s baby were moreplicated than anyone else¡¯s. In this end, this baby was his flesh and blood, but it wasn¡¯t Wen Wan¡¯s, so he couldn¡¯t look forward to its birth. He could only ovee this difficult situation by taking things step by step.


    ¡°My lord, it seems as if you haven¡¯t visited younger sister Sangyu in a while.¡± Qi Siling turned her head and warmly said, ¡°It¡¯ll be winter soon. If you don¡¯t visit her soon, younger sister Sangyu might get cold.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Why was it possible to drag her into every issue? Marquis Moyu was probably annoyed at Wen Wan for being narrow-minded, so he had slept in the other courtyards as a warning to her. It was one thing to involve the two honored concubines. Why did Qi Siling have to involve her in this mess too? Although she was the secondary female lead, she had no desire to be the typical cannon fodder.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Nie Sangyu, who was standing by old madame¡¯s side. Something moved in his eyes. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°Ling-<i>er</i> is right. How about I go to Feiwan Courtyard tonight?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s heart became slightly ufortable. The marquis had only gone to her courtyard once during the past half month. Why was Qi Siling willing to help Nie Sangyu rather than her?


    Previously, when she had a good rtionship with Qi Siling, she would tell Qi Siling all of her problems and Qi Siling would asionally help her. But after she became pregnant, Qi Siling decided to no longer be friends with her. Even when she went to Jiyue Courtyard to visit her, a servant would tell her that Qi Siling was resting and wasn¡¯t avable to see anyone.


    Qi Siling was clearly avoiding her.


    Mu Shuiqing secretly grinded her teeth and looked at Qi Siling for a moment before turning her head away.


    Ji Man took a deep breath and bowed to express thanks. ¡°My lord, thank you.¡±


    Even if she had sessfully avoided the problem at first, she still couldn¡¯t escape in the end. She was this man¡¯s concubine. No matter what, she still had to fulfill the duties of a concubine. However, Ji Man found it very difficult to ept this reality. She absent-mindedly returned to Feiwan Courtyard and looked at the person in the mirror for a long time before she turned her head and asked Muxu, ¡°When I served the marquis before, did that... take a long time?¡±


    A normal woman wouldn¡¯t be able to ask this question and Muxu wasn¡¯t married yet, so her face naturally turned red from embarrassment. She stammered out, ¡°Master, you rarely served the marquis. This servant doesn¡¯t remember well. It seemed that during those few times, you would ended up with bruises each time.¡±


    Ji Man widened her eyes. Ning Yuxuan liked to y roughly? No, not okay. She should go back to thinking of a way to avoid this. Even though this wasn¡¯t her body, she wouldn¡¯t be able to endure that.


    She had originally gone over there to see how they would cause trouble for Mu Shuiqing. The result was that Qi Siling had said those words and Honored Concubine Xue had actedpletely weak and didn¡¯t say anything. Not only had she not seen a good show, she had also ended up involving herself into this messy situation.


    When she thought of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s meaningful nce when they were leaving the main courtyard, the corners of Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched again. It couldn¡¯t be that he thought she had asked Qi Siling for help? That woman clearly didn¡¯t have good intentions. Qi Siling had recently been frequently visiting Qiangwei Courtyard. Most likely, she had lured in the female lead to her side.


    Because of tonight¡¯s matter, Ji Man¡¯s mood hadn¡¯t been good the rest of the day.


    And so, when Marquis Moyu pushed opened Nie Sangyu¡¯s doors that evening, a woman with a deathly pale face and loose hair was looking nkly at him. She called out, ¡°My lord...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan instinctively took a step back before he realized that this woman was Nie Sangyu. He couldn¡¯t help slightly frowning, ¡°Are you pretending to be a ghost to try scare me?¡±


    ¡°This servant wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Ji Man hurriedly straightened her white sleeping clothes and went forward to politely attend to Marquis Moyu. ¡°Please follow me.¡±


    Marquis nced at her before lightly smiling and said, ¡°Ling-<i>er</i> can¡¯t be med for saying that I¡¯ve been giving you the cold shoulder. Thest time that I favored you was a year ago.¡±


    Ji Man inwardly cursed. If he only had intimate rtions with Nie Sangyu once a year, what person wouldn¡¯t go insane? He was a man that drove his own woman towards insanity. What right did this man have to call Nie Sangyu a vicious woman when he was doing something like this?


    Last time, she pretended to be sick to avoid being favored. Obviously, she couldn¡¯t repeat herself. As a clever person, she knew that she had to do something differently this time.


    Once the doors were closed, the only lighting in the room came from a silently burning red candle. Marquis Moyu looked at the woman next to him and his eyes darkened, but he sat down like a great lord and expected her to make the first move.


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°This servant heard a story today and wants to share it with the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows, straightforwardly lied down on the bed, and not understanding why she would mentioning this, he asked, ¡°What story?¡±


    Ji Man also lied down on the bed and warmly covered him with the quilt. ¡°It¡¯s a story about a person named Ali Baba from another world. Do you want to hear about it?¡±


    Ali Baba? This name was so strange. Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t help being curious. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    ted, Ji Man gentled her voice into one that would promote sleep, ¡°A long time ago, there was an impoverished youngster. His name was Ali Baba. His older brother had married the daughter of a wealthy merchant, but he had married a woman from a poor family...¡±


    Ji Man thought; Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves was an excellent bedtime story. She would just treat him as if he were her son and coax him to sleep!

 Chapter 48 - One thousand and one nights (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 048 out of 513 ¨C One thousand and one nights (1)


    ¡°Ali Baba hurriedly followed the path to the mountain, but when he got there, he saw forty, very strong bandits. They were all carrying heavy bup sacks on their shoulders. The person at the head of the group walked to a gigantic boulder and yelled, ¡°Open sesame.¡± And, an entrance was revealed. After the group of bandits hid their treasure inside the mountain, the person yelled out, ¡°Close sesame.¡± And, the treasure was locked up inside the mountain.¡±


    As Ji Man unhurriedly told the story, she secretly checked on Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression. Even though she had talked for such a long time, he actually didn¡¯t have even a hint of sleepiness.


    With his eyes full of curiosity, he asked, ¡°And then?¡±


    ¡°And then, after Ali Baba had waited for the bandits to leave, he ran to that entrance, copied the bandit¡¯s action by shouting, ¡°Open sesame,¡± and returned home with some of the money and valuables.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help rolling her eyes. This person was actually this interested towards a children¡¯s fairy tale. Moreover, he totally didn¡¯t look as if he going to fall asleep anytime soon.


    Helpless, she could only brace herself and tell the story as slowly as possible to Ning Yuxuan.


    After he finished listening to the story, Marquis Moyu rhetorically asked with a smile, ¡°So, the meaning is that good people will had good endings and bad people will have bad endings? It¡¯s a rather interesting story.¡±


    Whether or not it was an interesting story was only of minor importance. The crucial point was, why aren¡¯t you asleep yet, great lord? Feeling annoyed, Ji Man inwardly scolded him. But, her outward expression still showed a light smile as she stretched her hand out to cover her mouth and yawned, ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. My lord, you must be busy tomorrow. Let¡¯s go to sleep early.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows. ¡°Sleep?¡±


    Ji Man seriously nodded. Moreover, her entire face showed her exhaustion. What else could they do other than sleep? Although it was true that Nie Sangyu really wanted to pounce on him, this matter couldn¡¯t be rushed and she wasn¡¯t prepared to dedicate herself to ancient person.


    After the candle was extinguished, she could see that the sky outside of the window was starting to slightly brighten. Ji Man turned her back toward Marquis Moyu and fell asleep very quickly.


    The man next to her was silent for a long time before he slightly sat up and looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s sleeping face. He couldn¡¯t resist looking at the mark at the back of her neck again.


    Why had she be such an interesting person? Not only had she not been anxious to be favored by him, she had used a story as a way to dy the matter. This was also the second time. Did Nie Sangyu not understand the meaning of quitting while one was ahead?


    After he had stretched his hand out to touch the back of her neck, she turned around and wrapped an arm around his waist while she was still deeply asleep.


    Ning Yuxuan froze for a moment. He actually smelled a faint scent. He couldn¡¯t identify what the dense and soft fragrance was, but it feltfortable to smell. After the warm body had turned around to cling to his body, his body actually reacted even though she didn¡¯t make any additional movements.


    Marquis Moyu somewhat awkwardly separated their bodies slightly. With his eyebrows furrowed, he looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s face with disdain. Then, he lied down even further away from her.


    The next morning, Ji Man went to pay respects and attend to old madame during breakfast as usual. However, she saw that old madame was full of joy and in high spirits.


    Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°Did something good happen?¡±


    Old madame said with a smile, ¡°Marquis Jinwen and Errong will bing to the capital. I haven¡¯t seen them in a while. Theye to capital once a year, and this year, they also brought Mingjie.¡±


    Marquis Jingwen, Ning Huaiwen, was old madame¡¯s husband¡¯s younger brother. Ji Man remembered as soon as she lightly knocked her head. This was about the time that the supporting male lead should be appearing. The male lead was currently giving the female lead the cold shoulder. And so, it was naturally time for the gentle, warm, and very wealthy supporting male lead toe here and whole-heartedly keep herpany.


    Ning Mingjie, Marquis Moyu¡¯s older cousin, was naturally the man that would be the supporting male lead. Although he was only a sixth rank official, he had supervisory power over the manufacturing of weapons. He was a promising youth with an elegant and graceful bearing. The novel had described him as beautiful as cultivated white jade. He was born with an enchanting and feminine face, but he absolutely hated when peoplemented on his face. And so, he had been wearing a silver mask for many years. He only took off his mask when he went into the pce and was meeting the emperor.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t want to evaluate this contrived and melodramatic setup. But, as a person that had skimmed through half of the book, she knew that Ning Mingjie would be Wen Wan¡¯s greatest supporter. He would shelter her from rain and wind and protect her as if she was the emperor. He was the perfect example of a spare tire and the essence of a supporting male lead.


    Ji Man felt that in order for her to fulfill Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish, it would be necessary for her to develop a n to help the supporting male lead. If the female lead ran away with the supporting male lead, it would be much easier to deal with the male lead.


    ¡°When will Marquis Jingwen and the others arrive?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Old madame said, ¡°They¡¯ll get here in three to five days. After you leave here, tell Wen Wan to have the southern courtyard tidied up. There can¡¯t be the slightest neglect during their stay.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man acknowledged the order. On the way back to Feiwan Courtyard, she went to Qiangwei Courtyard to pass on this message.


    It was reported that Marquis Moyu would be returning home early today. And so, Ji Man had prepared herself to see him when she went to Qiangwei Courtyard. However, when she went inside, she only saw Wen Wan. Her face looked haggard even with cold cream applied to it.


    After hearing Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, she only nodded and said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    Ji Man really wanted to tell her that there was no reason for her to be this sad. The supporting male lead ising!


    But, to avoid being seen as a lunatic, she saluted and obediently returned to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡°Why are so many of your flowers gone?¡± Standing in her small garden, Marquis Moyu looked around and saw that the flowers had all been cut off and only the stems remained. He curiously raised his eyebrows and asked, ¡°What did you do with them?¡±


    Ji Man slowly closed her mouth that had gaped open from surprise. She stepped through the courtyard¡¯s entranceway and said, ¡°They were used to soak in my baths... My lord, why are you here?¡±


    Why was he here for no good reason instead of with the female lead? If she got stolen from him, he wouldn¡¯t even know why!

 Chapter 49 - One thousand and one nights (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 049 out of 513 ¨C One thousand and one nights (2)


    ¡°I came here to see you after I came back from the Ministry of Revenue,¡± Ning Yuxuan said these words very naturally, walked two steps closer to her, lowered his head to simply sniff the edge of her temple. ¡°Is this fragrance from flowers then? It smells pretty good.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s ears turned red. She hurriedly jumped away and bashfully said, ¡°My lord, this servant hasn¡¯t bathed yet and is covered in sweat.¡±


    After these killjoy words were said, the smile on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face dimmed. ¡°You¡¯re sweating even in this type of weather?¡±


    ¡°This servant ran back here.¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Old Madame said that Marquis Jingwen will be visiting soon and wants each of the courtyards to be tidied up.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused before he said, ¡°It¡¯s about that time. When theye here, the residence will be livelier. Don¡¯t you have a good rtionship with Errong? You should be feeling happy.¡±


    Errong was Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter. Like Nie Sangyu, she had been spoiled to the point of bing arrogant. And so, it wasn¡¯t strange that the two of them would best friends. However, after Marquis Jingwen moved his residence to outside of the capital, it was rare for Ning Sangyu to hear news about Ning Errong.


    Not much had been written about Ning Errong in the original novel. After all, she was only one of the minor characters. From what she remembered, Ning Errong had been married off after she helped Nie Sangyu harm the female lead one time. Anyways, her ending wasn¡¯t good. But, as someone that was willing to help Nie Sangyu with this, she must have truly been her good friend.


    Ji Man put a smiling expression on her face and said, ¡°This servant is looking forward to seeing her and hoping that she¡¯ll get here sooner.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a few moments, then his lips curved up into a rare smile, ¡°I¡¯ll be sleeping here tonight too.¡±


    What?!


    Ji Man¡¯s smile froze for a moment, then the corners of her lips twitched. ¡°My lord, don¡¯t you need to spend time with Madam? When this servant went to Qiangwei Courtyard on the way back to here, Madam¡¯splexion didn¡¯t look that good.¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly shook his head. ¡°Your story was too interesting. I don¡¯t want to leave.¡±


    After saying this, he turned around, left the courtyard, and headed towards the study in the western side of the residence.


    You should never believe in a man¡¯s words. Marquis Moyu was an experienced person when it came to the affairs of the heart and he frequently bewitched a person¡¯s heart. Even Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t realize that this man had never loved her until the moment before her death.


    Ji Man inwardly reminded herself that he was a terrifying person that had no regard for the feelings of others. Then, she returned to organizing the words that she would say and considered if she should tell the story of <i>The Fisherman, the Jinni, and the Four Fishes</i>*.


    * (T/N: This is one of the stories in <i>One Thousand and One Nights</i>.)


    ¡ª


    ¡°Madam, have you seen the tricks being used by Nie Sangyu?¡± Seated near Wen Wan, Qi Siling looked at her and said, ¡°Originally, everyone thought that she wouldn¡¯t be able to reverse her fortunes. But in the end, she still moved into Feiwan Courtyard by relying on Old Madame¡¯s support. She also had the marquis go to her own courtyard of his own initiative. Madam, it¡¯s not that Siling wants to gossip and meddle. Since you don¡¯t have the temperament topete and vie for the marquis¡¯s favor, the marquis will be stolen by someone sooner orter.¡±


    Wen Wan was barely able to force herself to smile. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you. I know that the person he loves the most is me.¡±


    Qi Siling sighed. She couldn¡¯t refute those words. However, Nie Sangyu was truly powerful. If the marquis¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t with Wen Wan, Nie Sangyu would have definitely already taken back her position as the main wife. Wen Wan could sleep without worries right now, but the rest of them couldn¡¯t be sure that Nie Sangyu would be able to tolerate them and leave them alone. And so, she had to n ahead.


    ¡ª


    After washing up and changing into in sleeping clothes, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hair was still slightly wet as he leaned against the side of the bed and waited for her.


    As Ji Man slowly finished getting ready for bed, she silently thought, was this a beauty trap? Ning Yuxuan must have lost his mind if he came here to try to seduce Nie Sangyu. But seriously, what was he thinking? He hated Nie Sangyu so much. Why was he still repeatedlying here to sleep with her?


    ¡°My lord.¡± After Ji Man finished puttering around, she stood by the bed.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a moment, then he shifted towards the inside of the bed to signal for her toe onto the bed.


    Right after Ji Man got onto the bed, he hugged her. Her heart jumped from shock and she reached her hand out to press against his chest in resistance. She wasn¡¯t able to hide her feelings either and there was undisguised refusal on her face.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes became more intense. He raised his eyebrows and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want to serve me in bed?¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly smile and said, ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Then, why did I just see resistance in your eyes?¡± Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled.


    ¡°You must have saw wrong. I¡¯m too busy feeling happy.¡± Ji Man straightforwardly smiled and directly lied down on the bed, ¡°Come on!¡±


    Looking at her valiant expression as if she was letting herself die as a martyr, Ning Yuxuan silentlyughed in his heart. He didn¡¯t hesitant and immediately went forward.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Ji Man called out.


    ¡°What? Ning Yuxuan lightly raised the string on her <i>dudou</i>. His eyes were full of teasing intent.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of a <i>dudou</i>.)


    Ji Man swallowed her saliva, resisted the urge to kick him off of her, and gently said, ¡°My lord, this servant has another story. Do you want to hear it?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan fake smiled and turned over to lie down by her side. With one hand supporting his head, he looked at her with bright eyes and said, ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    ¡°This time, I¡¯m telling a story about a fisherman.¡± Ji Man swallowed her saliva and seriously said, ¡°A long time ago...¡±


    By the time the candlelight had burned out, Ji Man had finished telling two stories. She was so tired that she was about to fall asleep. But, Marquis Moyu continued to look at her in high spirits. ¡°Are you finished?¡±


    Seeing the me in his eyes, Ji Man hurriedly shook her head, ¡°I haven¡¯t! Keep listening to me!¡±


    Marquis Moyu gently stroked her hair. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can slowly talk. I¡¯m very curious, exactly how many stories do you know.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I¡¯ve been thinking that Qi Siling is just an evil maniptor that wants to harm Wen Wan and Nie Sangyu. But after reading her thoughts in this chapter, I wonder how much of her actions are just much motivated by her fear of Nie Sangyu.


    Part of me feels bad for Ji Man for not being able to sleep and the other part wants tough. She¡¯s probably imaging and plotting creative ways to kill him for not letting her sleep for two nights in a row.

 Chapter 50 - Can the world have two people that look exactly the same? (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 050 out of 513 ¨C Can the world have two people that look exactly the same? (1)


    Ji Man wanted to cry, but she didn¡¯t have tears. Being watched over by Ning Yuxuan, she didn¡¯t dare to go to sleep. She could only drink tea and long-windedly tell stories. By the time it was dawn, her voice had already be hoarse.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t sleep the entire night. He watched this woman the entire night to see how long she could talk. But, she actually didn¡¯t stop until dawn arrived. His face continued to show a slight smile, but he had almost fallen asleep several times.


    ¡°My lord, did you enjoy listening?¡± Ji Man hoarsely asked.


    Marquis Moyu curved his lips. ¡°It was good. Good to the point that I don¡¯t even want to sleep. But, there are still things I have to do at the Ministry of Justice today. When Ie back tonight, you can continue telling me these stories.¡±


    Continue telling? Ji Man tried her best to smile, but her face had turned a different color. Damn, did he think she was an audio book for <i>One thousand one nights</i>?


    With her face as stiff as a corpse, she helped him change his clothes and walked him to the entrance. But, Ji Man still properly saluted at the entrance, ¡°My lord, take care.¡±


    The person in front of her turned around after only walking a few steps. In the red glow of sunrise, his face was as gentle and warm as jade, ¡°You didn¡¯t use to dislike me like this. It seems like I did something wrong somewhere. I¡¯ll treat you well in the future, Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to look at him and froze in surprise. His outline was still illuminated by the rising sun. She didn¡¯t know why, perhaps it was radiant sunshine, or perhaps it was some other reason. This person looked like a solemn and serious Buddha that was finally showing a smile of pity.


    After a long time pause, Ji Man lowered her head again and Ning Yuxuan resumed walking away.


    He had actually noticed her dislike. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t gotten mad and had actually said he would treat her well. Was this a naturally deep-rooted problem in men ¨C despicably cheap?


    When Nie Sangyu had liked him that much, she didn¡¯t move him and he even gave her the cold shoulder for six years. Now that she, an innocent person, had reced Nie Sangyu, was he feeling a sense of novelty?


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was sitting in the Ministry of Department¡¯s office. His head was supporting his chin as he quietly fell asleep.


    The crown prince had been discussing with the crowd of advisors and important ministers for a long time. When he turned his head, he saw Marquis Moyu peacefully sleeping. His long eyshes were quietly lowered and his thin lips were lightly pressed together. Compared to when he was awake, he looked a few degrees gentler.


    Ning Yuxuan rarely fell asleep when he was outside. Finding the sightughable, the crown prince, Zhao Zhe waved his hand to dismiss everyone. He sat down next to Ning Yuxuan and called out, ¡°Yuxuan?¡±


    Marquis Moyu woke up. His eyes showed that he was utterly exhausted, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Did you not sleep wellst night?¡± Zhao Zhe said with a smile, ¡°I heard that there¡¯s been hostility between you and your wife. The princess consort has a slight friendship with Wen-<i>shi</i>. Do you want her to go over and help you?¡±


    To say that they were friends wasn¡¯t very urate. The princess consort had only helped Wen Wan with arranging her dowry because of the crown prince. To say that the two of them were close, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t dare to have suchplimentary thoughts. However, for the crown prince to even know that he and Wen Wan were having a disagreementtely... Ning Yuxuan nted his head and said to the crown prince, ¡°No need to bother the princess consort. I stayed at another ce and listened to stories the entire night yesterday, so I wasn¡¯t able to sleep well.¡±


    ¡°Listening to stories?¡± The crown prince was baffled. ¡°How could you listen to stories to the point that you didn¡¯t sleep? Look at your bloodshot eyes. What stories could be that interesting?¡±


    Thinking of Nie Sangyu, who had kept her eyes opened with all of her energy and pretended that she wasn¡¯t sleepy as she told him stories, Ning Yuxuan curved his lips into a smile. ¡°The stories were interesting. The person telling the stories was also very interesting. Your Highness, do you believe that there could be two people that look exactly the same in this world, but havepletely different personalities?¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s face showed that he was aplete loss. ¡°How could there be such a thing? No matter how simr they are, there must be a difference between them.


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a while, then heughed. ¡°Yes, no matter what, there should be a difference.¡±


    Zhao Zhepletely didn¡¯t understand his words and his mind felt somewhat uncertain. Although Marquis Moyu was a leisurely marquis that had been personally bestowed his title by the emperor, he didn¡¯t have Marquis Pingnan¡¯s* military power. The emperor had feared the consequence of allowing Ning n to be unrestrained. However, the officials in the six ministries still consisted of either members of Ning n or people that had rtionships with the Ning n.


    * T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Marquis Pingnan was Marquis Moyu¡¯s father¡¯s title.


    When Ning Yuxuan was eighteen years old, he started to gain control of the six ministries and had ess to the information above his rank. Surprisingly, the emperor had actually allowed Marquis Moyu to have this power. Fortunately, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t a person with wild ambitions. As long as he properly enticed him over to his side, he would be free of worries. However, the person that he was most afraid of was Marquis Moyu¡¯s household¡¯s Nie Sangyu.


    More than anyone else, he didn¡¯t want Nie Sangyu to be favored.


    ¡°The matter with the Ministry of Justice isplete. How about we go walk around in your residence?¡± Zhao Zhe said, ¡°I haven¡¯t gone there in a long time. I don¡¯t even know if the plum blossoms in your home have bloomed yet.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan rubbed his eyes, stood up, yawned, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. But winter just started, so the plum blossoms naturally haven¡¯t blossomed yet. It¡¯ll still be good to walk around. Chu Feng was truly bing too boring.¡±


    The crown princeughed loudly. ¡°Of course, you would feel bored. If you were to randomly take out one of the beauties in your residence, she would be more beautiful than any of the women in Chu Feng. Let¡¯s go. The emperor won¡¯t be asking me about my assignments today, so I¡¯ll take a break.¡±


    At the mention of beauties, Nie Sangyu¡¯s face emerged in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mind for an inexplicable reason. She clearly hadn¡¯t been wearing any rouge and looked very nd, but after looking at her the entire night, he actually felt she looked somewhat beautiful.


    He must have be muddle-headed from being too sleepy.


    Trantor Ramblings: Just wanted to point out that dialogue between the crown prince and Ning Yuxuan is very informal. Compare it to when Ning Yuxuan was talking with Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother in chapter 30, they were always addressing each other by their title.


    Also, I wonder how urate the crown prince¡¯s assessment of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s power is. No one in this story is 100% right about the other characters.

 Chapter 51 - Can the world have two people that look exactly the same? (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 051 out of 513 ¨C Can the world have two people that look exactly the same? (2)


    After Ji Man took a bath, she went to sleep. However, she hadn¡¯t been sleeping for long before Wen Wan¡¯s personal servant girl, Tanxiang, actually came here to pass on a message, ¡°Mistress Sang, Madam said that you¡¯re the most familiar with Miss Errong¡¯s likes and dislikes. Pleasee with me to the southern courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan was currently expending a great deal of effort and trouble toplete the task that old madam had given her. Ji Man agitatedly rolled over in bed. People that didn¡¯t get enough sleep were very irritable. She really didn¡¯t want to go!


    But, she didn¡¯t have a choice. The other person was the main wife. As a concubine, she could only ept Wen Wan¡¯s order with a happy face. After changing her clothes, she headed towards the southern courtyard.


    Ning Errong¡¯s likes and dislikes? Ji Man didn¡¯t even have to think about it. Standing in the southern courtyard, she said, ¡°Change it to <i>Louhan</i> silk, spread out a Persian carpet, and just decorate this ce with luxurious items.¡±


    (T/N: Louhan is ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city along the Silk Road.)


    Put into a difficult position by Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, Sterward Qian looked at the budget and hesitated again and again before he finally said, ¡°I¡¯ll go look for Madam and report this to her first.¡±


    Ji Man originally stood at the side of the southern courtyard to wait, but she really couldn¡¯t keep her eyelids open. So, she called out to Muxu, ¡°Let¡¯s go sit at the swing below that grape trellis over there.¡±


    Looking that the dark circles under her master¡¯s eyes, Muxu knew that her master hadn¡¯t slept wellst night. But, she kept quiet and only ambiguously smiled her as she helped walk over there.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let the swing move. Just let me sit here and take a nap. If there¡¯s nothing important, don¡¯t wake me up. Try to deal with the problem by yourself first.¡± After Ji Man said this, she sat down on the swing, held onto the swing¡¯s ropes, closed her eyes, and leaned against one side as she fell asleep.


    Muxu sighed. Her master¡¯s life wasn¡¯t easy either, so she tried to allow her to sleep some more. When Aunty Zhao came by with some snacks and yelled out, ¡°Master Sang¡±, while she was still far away, Muxu hurriedly ran over to her in small steps and pulled her farther away to speak.


    Aunty Zhao saw that the other servants had been busy inside and outside of the residence and smiled as she asked, ¡°Is Marquis Jingwening?¡±


    ¡ª


    ¡°He¡¯sing here in two days.¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Mingjie has been doing his work well. The emperor probably has the intention of returning him to the capital and promoting him to an official¡¯s position. Mingjie unfortunately isn¡¯t interested in officialdom. Otherwise, he would be a very good chess piece.¡±


    The crown prince looked around before nodding and saying, ¡°If he has the desire, I can help him. After all, he¡¯s your cousin.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. Ning Mingjie would have a bright future even without his help. However, his other cousin, Ning Errong, had the sameck of moral integrity as Nie Sangyu and was very difficult to deal with. He still had to give his attention to figuring out her future. Just thinking about it made him feel tired.


    Nearby him, the crown prince suddenly stopped walking.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ning Yuxuan turned around to look at him. Seeing the surprise and strange glimmer in the crown prince¡¯s eyes, he curiously followed the direction of his gaze.


    There was a beauty sleeping in the swing underneath the grape trellis. The bottom of her light purple dress was slightly swaying along with the swing. She wasn¡¯t wearing any makeup, but her lips were so beautiful that it made a person want to impulsively go over there to kiss her. Her hands were loosely wrapped around the ropes as she innocently slept.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk. Was Nie Sangyu an idiot? Why was she sleeping outside?


    The crown prince had already started walking over as he asked, ¡°Who is she?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow, walked a few steps forward, and pretended that he was only identally blocking the crown¡¯s prince¡¯s view, ¡°She¡¯s Nie Sangyu.¡±


    Surprised, the mistiness in the crown prince¡¯s eyes scattered. He looked at the person on the swing, then he looked at Ning Yuxuan, ¡°Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Marquis Moyu seriously nodded.


    To avoid arousing any suspicion, Zhao Zhe had only met Nie Sangyu a few times during pce banquets. But, during those times, she had been dressed to the nines and wearing heavy makeup. No matter how beautiful her face was, it would have been tarnished by the conspicuous makeup. And so, he hadn¡¯t paid any attention to her.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that when she wasn¡¯t wearing makeup, she would look even better. She resembled an attractive piece of white jade that enticed people toe closer and y with her.


    The crown prince lightly coughed. The expression on his face returned to normal and he said, ¡°If her personality wasn¡¯t unbearable, she¡¯s also a beauty.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was slightly displeased, but he didn¡¯t mention it. He only said, ¡°She hadn¡¯t slept wellst night, let¡¯s not wake her up. Let¡¯s go the garden.¡±


    The crown prince nodded and subconsciously looked back at Nie Sangyu one more time before he followed Ning Yuxuan.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t open her eyes until the sound of their footsteps had disappeared. Her hands were sweaty. She hadn¡¯t read the ending in the original novel, but she knew that the crown prince was a fickle and ruthless person. It wasn¡¯t a good thing to attract his attention. She hadn¡¯t looked at the <i>huangli</i> before leaving her room today and hadn¡¯t expected the misfortunate of encountering them.


    (T/N: <i>Huangli</i> is simr to horoscopes. In ancient china, there were certain government officials that were in charge of writing this calendar and it was originally used for recording the movements of the sun and the moon, major issues of the nation and government, and the emperors¡¯ words and deeds. The divination part was addedter on. In modern times, it¡¯s a calendar that mostly used for telling people which days are lucky and unlucky based on their Zodiac sign. There are various people creating these calendars, so it¡¯s not as authoritative and centralized as it was during ancient China.)


    When Muxu came back with the snacks, she saw her that her master¡¯s face was ashen white.


    ¡°Master?¡± Muxu looked at her in confusion.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Ji Man shook her head and decided that she had been mistaken about the crown prince¡¯s burning gaze. Since the crown prince knew that she was Nie Sangyu, he should also know what she represented. He wouldn¡¯t do anything to her. She was just overthinking things.


    ¡ª


    In the evening, Ning Yuxuan came to Feiwan Courtyard after he finished dinner. His expression wasn¡¯t rxed. As soon as he came inside, he stared at her for a long time.


    ¡°Is there something on this servant¡¯s face?¡± Ji Man quietly asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his head away. His mood didn¡¯t look good. Right after he lied down on the bed, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to listen to stories tonight.¡±


    Ji Man was startled. If he didn¡¯t want to listen to stories, what did he want to do?


    ¡°How about telling me interesting stories from your childhood?¡± Ning Yuxuan suddenly said.


    Ji Man let out a sigh in relief. As long as he just wanted her to talk, everything was fine. She didn¡¯t believe that Marquis Moyu could continue to favor her again tomorrow night. If he favored her for that many days in a row, Wen Wan definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to sit still and do nothing.


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t really have any interesting stories from childhood, other than dressing as a boy to go outside and visiting the bustling streets with my older brother or climbing Marquis Pingnan¡¯s residence¡¯s walls to see my crush.¡±


    She had slowly seen these memories in her dream. That young girl had really put forth all of her energy to climb over another household¡¯s walls.


    Ning Yuxuan naturally still had an impression of Nie Sangyu climbing over walls. It was at that point in time when he started to dislike her. As he carefully looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s face, his heart was filled with a sense of uncertainty.


    Trantor Ramblings: I¡¯ve been wondering why Ji Man she doesn¡¯t give enough consideration to Nie Sangyu¡¯s maltreatment of the other concubines during past years. No matter how good she¡¯s been during the past three months, it doesn¡¯t erase Nie Sangyu¡¯s past actions. But, if Nie Sangyu is only sharing her memories involving Ning Yuxuan, then it make sense that she still doesn¡¯t know what Nie Sangyu had done in the past.


    Also, I think it¡¯s reasonable that he¡¯s surprised about Nie Sangyu¡¯s sudden change. Yes, he¡¯s treated her very indifferently and sometimes overly harsh. Any other person would have given up on him a long time ago. But, he¡¯s been consistently treating her this way since he and Nie Sangyu were children and this has never stopped Nie Sangyu from continuing to obsess over him. I included a tiny spoiler in thements below rted to this.

 Chapter 52 - The world changes whether you want it to or not (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 052 out of 513 ¨C The world changes whether you want it to or not (1)


    For her to remember even childhood memories this well, there naturally wouldn¡¯t be any noticeable physical difference. Ning Yuxuan had observed Nie Sangyu for many days and had examined her face when she was sleeping. And now, he finally had to admit that this person was Nie Sangyu herself. This person couldn¡¯t be an impersonator.


    Then, what could have made this woman change so drastically?


    ¡°During childhood, other thaning out to look at the marquis, this servant was at home embroidering the rest of the time. Unfortunately, even though the marquis epted my embroidered items, you never used any of those items even once.¡± There was a mocking smile on Ji Man¡¯s lips. ¡°How fortunate that Sangyu used to feel very happy over this. In hopes that the marquis would enjoy using those items, Sangyu had kept practicing in order to be more skillful at embroidery.


    Once these words were said, Ning Yuxuan became somewhat embarrassed. He lightly coughed and turned his gaze away. ¡°The things that I use are managed by the servants. I wasn¡¯t paying special attention to it.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t care about Sangyu, so you naturally don¡¯t pay attention to the items made by Sangyu.¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°Sangyu had once spent an entire month embroidering a cloak with a cedar tree pattern, but unfortunately, Sangyu hasn¡¯t seen you wearing it even once.¡±


    Nie Sangyu had spent several days embroidered that cloak without stopping to rest. After falling sick, she resumed embroidering again for a month before she has even recovered from her illness. However, Marquis Moyu had only indifferently epted the item, put it away in his wardrobe, and never took it out again.


    ¡°It¡¯s all in the past. If you hadn¡¯t been so devoid of sense, I wouldn¡¯t have treated you coldly for that long.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°The way you¡¯re behaving right now is pretty good. It saves me from being troubled.¡±


    Ah yes, her behavior was saving him from being troubled. She was already at the point where she didn¡¯t want anything. Of course, she was saving him from feeling troubled. Men always wanted women to be magnanimous, not argue or worry about things that men felt were minor, and to not be willful. Actually, it would be easy for a woman to do this. Just, don¡¯t be in love with than man and she would be able to satisfy all of his requirements without any difficulties. Her current interactions with Marquis Moyu were an example of this.


    ¡°My lord, your eyes look bloodshot. Let¡¯s go to sleep early.¡± Ji Man expressionlessly turned her back to him in clear show of rejection.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t insist on continuing this conversation. Lying next to her, he straightforwardly fell asleep without the slighted additional movement.


    She had been right. He wasn¡¯t thrilled with the idea of bestowing favor on her either. Ji Man let out a slight sigh in relief. Tomorrow, she would still go to old madame¡¯s ce to hide and avoid other people feeling jealous that she had been favored for two nights in a row.


    But, there was a saying. The trees longed for peace, but the wind will never cease*. When Marquis Jingwen¡¯s family finally arrived, something still went wrong.


    * (T/N: This idiom means that the world changes whether you want it to or not.)


    Because it was close family members that were visiting, old madame naturally warmly weed Marquis Jingwen and his son and daughter with a festive meal at the main courtyard. All of honored and ordinary concubines also attended. However, they were separated by status. The honored concubines and the main wife were sitting. The ordinary concubines could only stand in ce.


    Although Mu Shuiqing was pregnant, she wasn¡¯t an exception to this rule and still had to stand near old madame to add food to her bowl.


    Ji Man stood behind Wen Wan and looked the table full of fish and meat and silently swallowed her saliva.


    This was called poor people can only smell the rich scent of meat and wine as they freeze to death in winter. She hadn¡¯t even eaten dinner yet! These people were actually just sitting and talking nonsense while leaving these delicious delicacies untouched.


    ¡°The new cousin-inw is truly beautiful. She¡¯s much prettier than our old cousin-inw.¡± Ning Errrong was a wearing a cute outfit that consisted of a vest-style garment lined with white fox fur and a sky blue, pleated skirt. She looked rather lively. Her eyes had looked at Sangyu for a long time before falling on Wen Wan¡¯s body.


    This devilish little ancestor had be friends with Sangyu several years ago after a period of discord. She never gave anyone any face. Although Wen Wan had a beautiful face, it had be significantly haggard during the past several days. She hadn¡¯t been able to smile since the beginning of this dinner and resembled a squashed flower. Compared to Nie Sangyu, who had been using skincare products made of natural ingredients, her face looked quite inferior. And yet, Errong still said those words.


    Hearing the words, ¡°new¡± and ¡°old¡±, made Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression turn ugly.


    Sitting next to Errong, there was a man wearing a silver mask. He quietly said, ¡°Errong, properly eat dinner and speak less,¡± and added more food to her bowl.


    Ning Errong quietly harrumphed, lowered her head to eat, and firmly kicked Ning Mingjie¡¯s leg underneath the table.


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t show any reaction to being kicked and only quietly ate dinner. When he inadvertently raised his head and saw a nce of Wen Wan, he felt that this woman was quite pretty.


    Ji Man remembered that the female lead and the supporting male character had met during this banquet. But since she had entered this book, a lot of the details had already changed. Wen Wan also hadn¡¯t caused as much trouble as written in the original novel. She couldn¡¯t say whether or not the direction of the original plot was changing. However, whether or not the supporting male lead stayed was a serious matter that was rted to preserving her life.


    The reason than Nie Sangyu had been ordered tomit suicide was because this supporting male character had obtained the evidence of Nie Sangyu harming the female lead. As a result, the marquis had ended the supporting female character¡¯s life in a fit of anger.


    They were both supporting characters. Why did the supporting male character have to make life difficult for the supporting female character?


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist looking at Ning Mingjie a few more times. When that person paused while holding chopsticks, he inexplicably looked up and looked in her direction.


    When his bright and beautiful eyes looked at her, Ji Man slightly froze for a moment before she hurriedly lowered her head and obediently went back to adding food to Wen Wan¡¯s bowl.


    Hey! This man¡¯s eyes were too good-looking. No wonder people said that the male lead was for the female lead and the supporting male character was for the readers. A reader like her loved supporting male characters like him! Ah, he was such a beautiful man and his temperament also seemed better than Marquis Moyu. Perhaps, she should try her best to change the plot and let the male lead and female lead have their grand finale while she returned to her world with the supporting male character?


    As she thought about this, Ji Man nced at Ning Mingjie again and felt that it would be worth it try out this idea.

 Chapter 53 - The world changes whether you want it to or not (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 053 out of 513 ¨C The world changes whether you want it to or not (2)


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t like to look around the table while he was eating, but during this meal, he raised his head twice.


    By coincidence, he saw Nie Sangyu staring at Ning Mingjie like a love-struck idiot both times.


    He slightly raised his eyebrows. Finding the situation somewhatughable, he kicked Ning Mingjie¡¯s leg.


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Mingjie looked at him in confusion.


    ¡°Be careful that you don¡¯t get stung by a fly,¡± Marquis Moyu whispered.


    It was the middle of winter. How could there be a fly? Ning Mingjie felt that his words were very odd. In the passing, he raised his head and looked around. He saw Nie Sangyu with her head slightly lowered as she conscientiously added food to Wen Wan¡¯s bowl. Part of her neck was exposed and when the wind blew by, it shrunk inward like a turtle.


    She had be significantly quieter since thest time he saw her. Ning Mingjie had previouslye to the capital for Marquis Moyu¡¯s grand wedding and had seen Nie Sangyu causing a disturbance. She and Errong had almost started a fight with each other during that time. But, for some unknown reason, they had be good friends afterwards.


    He didn¡¯t have much of an impression of her. He only remembered hearing her shouting to the concubines and bed servants that attended the wedding, ¡°No one likes Yuxuan as much as me!¡±, while she was standing in the main hall during the wedding with her head covered by her wedding veil. She had been carefree and not afraid of idle gossip.


    These wordster became a source ofughter for the people in the capital during their leisure time. They said that this Nie n¡¯s daughter truly wasn¡¯t bashful. This was also a reason why Ning Yuxuan rarely went to her courtyard after the wedding night.


    She had been a girl that had been so ardent with her love. But now, she was able to quietly stand by the woman that Ning Yuxuan liked the most and add food to her bowl after she had be a concubine. Nie Sangyu¡¯s face was as calm as ake without ripples as if she had severed off all thoughts.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ning Mingjie lowered his head and continued to eat.


    By the time the meal was over, the sky had be dark. After old madame talked with Marquis Jingwen for a while, she had Wen Wan guide this uncle and these cousins to their rooms.


    Ji Man followed after Honored Concubine Xue. Qi Siling and Mu Shuiqing were also walking with them. Just as they passed by the southern courtyard¡¯s grape trellis and were walking on a small stone bridge, someone suddenly pushed Ji Man¡¯s back very hard and she couldn¡¯t help falling towards Honored Concubine Xue.


    ¡°Ah!¡± A cry in surprise and the surrounding people became a disorderly mess. The servants, who had been carrying thenterns, turned around to look and saw that Mu Shuiqing had already fallen over the bridge and into the clear stream.


    ¡°Master Qing!¡± Banxia had been walking at the very back and didn¡¯t make it in time to save her from falling into the water. She could only yell out, ¡°Hurry and save Master Qing! Her pregnant body can¡¯t suffer shock!¡±


    Ji Man had fallen down with Qian Lianxue pressed underneath her and had caused the delicate beauty to suffer a terrible fall. At the front, Wen Wan had also stumbled. Originally, Ning Mingjie was going to step forward to help her, but Ning Errong had stepped forward one moment earlier and was already supporting her.


    In the dark night with onlynterns for illumination, the servants hurriedly went to save Mu Shuiqing and fetch a doctor.


    As the main wife, Wen Wan was worried about dying the guests as she saw this mess unfolding. She hurriedly said, ¡°Siling, bring Marquis Jingwen and his children to the southern courtyard first. I¡¯ll sort things out here.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Qi Siling acknowledged her order and continued walking forward to led Marquis Jingwen.


    By the time Ji Man got up from the ground, she saw that Mu Shuiqing was alreadypletely drenched and had been taken out of the water. It was the middle of the winter and her face had changed colors from the cold. Ji Man hurriedly took off her small sleeveless jacket that was lined with rabbit fur to give to Mu Shuiqing, so that she could at least be bundled up.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s lips kept trembling and she wasn¡¯t able to speak. Before she had time to say anything, Banxia had already started helping her return to Feiyu Couryard.


    Although Mu Shuqing¡¯s baby wasn¡¯t favored, no one would be able to peacefully sleep tonight after something like this happened.


    Ji Man rubbed her forehead. What was meant to happen would still inevitably happen. She just knew that Mu Shuiqing wouldn¡¯t be able to keep her baby. The male lead still had to spend an entire lifetime with the female lead as a couple. How could a child from another woman be allowed to exist?


    The important point was, who would be charged with the crime of killing the marquis¡¯s eldest child?


    ¡ª


    Just as Ning Yuxuan was about to go Qiangwei Courtyard, he was called to Feiyu Courtyard.


    Mu Shuiqing had already taken a warm bath and drank ginger tea, but she still caught a cold. Her face was deathly pale.


    Doctor Li hade to check her pulse and seriously said, ¡°You¡¯re pregnant, so you can¡¯t take medicine. Master Qing, you¡¯ll have to recover from this cold by yourself.¡±


    Catching a cold in ancient times wasn¡¯t a minor thing the way it was in modern times. If she didn¡¯t drink medicine, the cold could be serious enough to take her life.


    As soon as Mu Shuiqing heard these words, she felt slightly hopeless. If she really couldn¡¯t ovee this cold on her own, not only would she not be able to keep her baby, she would also be throwing away her own life.


    Ning Yuxuan stood far way from the bed as if he was afraid of catching her cold and only said, ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± before he started to leave with Wen Wan.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s eyes turned red and she gritted her teeth as she said, ¡°My lord, aren¡¯t you going to investigate who tried to harm this servant?¡±


    Why had someone suddenly pushed her without rhyme or reason as she was walking? She would obviously get sick if she was pushed into cold water during the middle of winter, so why had someone deliberately push her into the water?


    Ning Yuxuan stopped walking. His instinctive response was to look at Nie Sangyu.


    Seeing his gaze, Ji Man¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°Although it was dark out, people would have still seen things. My lord, you have plenty of time to investigate. There¡¯s no need for you to make a final decision in your heart beforehand.¡±


    Someone had also pushed her. Why was she the first person that he suspected? Ji Man felt extremely angry. The thing that she hated the most in her life was being falsely used. Whoever tried to ce this me on her, she wouldn¡¯t let that person have a good ending!


    Trantor Ramblings: It¡¯s ironic that it was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s kick and words that caused Ning Mingjie to notice Nie Sangyu. Unlike Ning Yuxuan and old madame, who likes the new Nie Sangyu, the way Ning Mingjie described Nie Sangyu¡¯s change seemed sad to me. It felt like he was noting that Nie Sangyu had changed from a passionate and lively girl to someone who¡¯s dead inside. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 54

    Chapter: 054 out of 513 ¨C The mountains haven¡¯t ttened. The heavens and earth haven¡¯t joined. I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband (1)


    Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Sangyu would have such a big reaction. He slightly furrowed his brow, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I suspected you. Why are you so agitated?¡±


    With a calm face, Ji Man coldly harrumphed. If she couldn¡¯t understand what his earlier gaze had meant, then she would write her name backwards!


    Wen Wan looked at Marquis Moyu¡¯s somewhat aggravated expression with a small amount of surprise. She pursed her lips and didn¡¯t say anything.


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a long time before he finally said, ¡°It¡¯s alreadyte. I¡¯ll investigate the matter tomorrow. For now, let¡¯s all leave to rest.¡±


    Everyone lowered their heads and acknowledged his order.


    Ji Man picked up the sleeveless jacket that was lined with rabbit fur. It had been left in a corner of the room and was soaked to the point that it couldn¡¯t be worn right now. But, it was one of the more expensive clothes in her wardrobe, so she still had to pick it up to bring back.


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯splexion had slightly improved and she said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Thank you very much.¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled, ¡°I was just doing what anyone should have done.¡±


    At that time, Nie Sangyu was the only one that had given her a sleeveless jacket. Everyone else had just been standing far away. Although Mu Shuiqing could be petty and unreasonable, she remembered Nie Sangyu¡¯s friendly treatment towards her during the past several days.


    Qi Siling waited until everyone had left Feiyu Courtyard, then she had Banxia close the doors before she sat down on the bed and looked at Mu Shuiqing as she said, ¡°You actually thanked Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing looked at her for a moment before she said, ¡°From the time that I became pregnant, she treated me pretty well. Today, she even lent me her sleeveless jacket and wasn¡¯t coldly indifferent like everyone else. It¡¯s only right that I should thank her.¡±


    The space between Qi Siling¡¯s eyebrows became slightly creased. ¡°You¡¯re being muddle-headed. Why do you believe that she¡¯s a good person just because she¡¯s acting like one? Have you forgotten how she used to treat us?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing was silent.


    After a pause, Qi Siling added, ¡°Did you see who pushed you into the water?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing shook her head. ¡°I was lost in thought when someone suddenly pushed me from the side. I didn¡¯t see who that person was.¡±


    Although she had been walking on Nie Sangyu¡¯s left side and it definitely felt like someone had pushed from the right side, it didn¡¯t feel like Nie Sangyu had suddenly pushed her. It felt more like someone had rushed up from behind, went between the two of them, and knocked against her to make her fall into the clear stream.


    Nie Sangyu definitely hadn¡¯t pushed her, but someone was trying to make her look guilty. In the past, Mu Shuiqing might have falsely used her anyways. But now, she believed that Nie Sangyu was innocent. Someone was trying to use her to harm Nie Sangyu.


    Qi Siling clutched her handkerchief and thought for a long time before she finally said, ¡°During the past two days, the marquis had been staying at Feiwan Courtyard. Although Madam hadn¡¯t said anything, she¡¯s upset over this. Plus, you¡¯re also pregnant, so her mood has been very badtely. And, you have to know that Madam is the only person that the marquis truly likes. If you set yourself against Madam, you won¡¯t have a good ending.¡±


    This was also the reason why Qi Siling had decided to rely on Wen Wan. She was a clever person and understood Marquis Moyu¡¯s mind. She knew that once he met someone that he truly loved; the other concubines would only be decorations. And so, she absolutely couldn¡¯t be Wen Wan¡¯s enemy. On the contrary, the better her rtionship with Wen Wan was, the better off she would be.


    Mu Shuiqing raised her eyes to look at her and said, ¡°Master Ling, you want me to push the crime onto Nie Sangyu in order to receive Madam¡¯s forgiveness, so that my future days will be better?¡±


    Qi Siling nodded. Then, she nced at Mu Shuiqing¡¯s belly in the passing and said, ¡°I think there¡¯s nothing more important than continuing to live. What do you think?¡±


    If she willing abandoned Nie Sangyu and her own unborn baby, then she could peacefully live under Madam¡¯s protection and help.


    Mu Shuiqing was silent for a long time, before she smiled and said. ¡°Master Ling, you can go back first. It¡¯s not early anymore. Let me think about this matter more. After all, it¡¯s rted to a life, I can¡¯t flippantly decide.¡±


    Qi Siling intensely looked at her before nodding and saying, ¡°Alright, think about this carefully. I¡¯m going back first.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing nodded.


    The doors opened and closed, and silence was left behind.


    ¡ª


    Right after Ji Man returned to her room, she saw Ning Errong.


    It was the middle of the night. Ji Man didn¡¯t know how this little ancestor hade inside.


    Ning Errong was sitting on the cushioned couch with one leg over another. She watched as Nie Sangyu came inside and said, ¡°Yo, you came back?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but she felt likeughing. With a rxed posture, she walked over to the couch and asked, ¡°How did youe inside? Did youe in here through the window?¡±


    The window next to Ning Errong was still open and letting the cold wind inside.


    Muxu hurriedly went over, closed the window, and poured two cups of tea.


    ¡°I heard about the suffering you went through here, at my cousin¡¯s ce. And, I couldn¡¯t resisting here to see you, just in case you suddenly took things too hard. What would I do if I didn¡¯t have anyone to bicker with?¡± Ning Errong looked at Nie Sangyu from top to bottom. ¡°But, you seem to be in much better spirits than I thought you would be.¡±


    When Ning Errong found out that Nie Sangyu had lost her position as the main wife, she really wanted toe to the capital. Unfortunately, Marquis Jingwen wouldn¡¯t allow her. Although she and Nie Sangyu would start quarreling as soon as they saw each other, the two of them were very good friends. She had been worried about her.


    But, seeing the person in front of her, she let out a sigh in relief. At the same time, this person felt somewhat unfamiliar. The previous Nie Sangyu had to pretend to be gentle in front of other people because her cousin didn¡¯t like women that acted shrewish. It was only in front of her, that Nie Sangyu would roll up her sleeves without hesitation and hurl insults and exchange curses without regard to propriety.


    But, right now, Nie Sangyu was silently standing in front of her like a deep pool of stagnant water*. She was worried that Nie Sangyu had be so upset that she had mentally broken down.


    Ji Man sat down and said, ¡°People have to keep living and not obsess over something that can¡¯t be changed, right? Your cousin doesn¡¯t like me from the bottom of his heart. Fortunately, I don¡¯t like him anymore, so I¡¯m not suffering any losses. It¡¯s just that this household is full of women fighting and scheming against each other. I¡¯m feeling a bit tired from taking precautions and guarding against them.¡±


    Ning Errong raised her eyebrows and said, ¡°Speaking of this, did you push that pregnant concubine into the water because of a momentary impulse?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s face ckened, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: What do you guys think of Qi Siling? Unlike old madame and Ji Man, she believes that Marquis Moyu will stay in love with Wen Wan. And so, for her, the only right choice to make is to stay on Wen Wan¡¯s good side. I think she¡¯s genuinely giving Mu Shuiqing the advice that she would follow herself if she were in the same situation.


    And, I think it¡¯s really nice that there were people that liked the original Nie Sangyu, just the way she was. I love the friendship between Nie Sangyu and Ning Errong, and the other friendly rtionship and/or alliances between the women in this novel.


    * The literal trantion of <i>si shui</i> (stagnant water) is dead water. I just thought it was interesting that Errong uses these words to describe Sangyu.

 Chapter 55

    Chapter: 055 out of 513 ¨C The mountains haven¡¯t ttened. The heavens and earth haven¡¯t joined. I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband (2)


    Ah, but that¡¯s really your style.¡± Ning Errong narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you use to say that you would torment to death people that you dislike? You seem to have never gotten along with that Mu Shuiqing.¡±


    ¡°Even if I dislike her, I wasn¡¯t the one the pushed her. I wouldn¡¯t choose a method that¡¯s so foolishly seeking death.¡± Ji Man harrumphed and said, ¡°Tonight¡¯s event only happened because your cousin stayed at my courtyard for two nights in a row, which made someone unable to hold herself back and directed this trouble towards me.¡±


    Ning Errong was slightly surprised. ¡°My cousin actually favored you that much? It couldn¡¯t be that being a concubine is better than being a wife?¡±


    Ji Man thought, no wonder Nie Sangyu could roll up her sleeves and exchange insults with this cousin-inw. Her words were truly the type where you wanted to curse her back.


    ¡°Your cousin loves his wife the most right now. The concubines are only used as a way to provoke her.¡± Ji Man quietly said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any other thoughts. I just want to live my life peacefully.¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t love my cousin anymore?¡± Ning Errong asked, ¡°Who was the one that once said, ¡°When the mountains have ttened and the heavens and earth have joined, then I¡¯ll be willing to separate from you, my lord and husband¡±?¡±


    (T/N: These are lines from a famous love poem (<i>Shangxie</i>) from the Han Dynasty. The poet lists out bizarre and impossible natural phenomena to express that her love is absolute and will never change. The full poem is tranted at the end of the chapter)


    Ji Man lightly smiled and said, ¡°Right now, it¡¯s the mountains haven¡¯t ttened. The heavens and earth haven¡¯t joined. I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.¡±


    I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.


    Ning Errong froze. Her joking expression from before was totally put away. She had never thought there would be a day when Sangyu would no longer love Yuxuan. She had thought that her earlier words were just a joke. But now, she had actually said such heartless words.


    The room was quiet for a long time before Ning Errong sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to my room. Come to the southern courtyard tomorrow and I¡¯ll treat you to snacks.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ji Man agreed.


    Ning Errong left the same way she came. She jumped out through the window and disappeared into the night.


    Ji Man actually wanted to remind her that she could leave thought the front doors, but Errong had moved too quickly and she didn¡¯t have time to say anything.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t gone to bed yet. Other people might not have clearly seen through the show on the bridge tonight, but he had. A servant girl had rushed up from behind and pushed that pregnant concubine into the water. It had been the perfect position to give people the false impression that Nie Sangyu had been the culprit.


    But, he wouldn¡¯t tell anyone this. This had nothing to do with him. Even if Errong was friends with that Nie Sangyu, there was no need for him to meddle with the affairs of someone¡¯s inner court.


    ¡°Older brother.¡± Ning Errong came back from outside and directly barged into his room.


    Ning Mingjie turned his head and helplessly looked at her, ¡°I told you so many times already. Don¡¯t directly enter someone¡¯s room. You have to remember to knock on the door first.¡±


    Ning Errong¡¯s entire face looked depressed. After sitting down, she said gloomily, ¡°We¡¯re siblings, there¡¯s no need to keep a distinct separation. I feel upset after speaking with Sangyu, so I came here to have a heart-to-heart talk with you.¡±


    ¡°What did she say?¡± Ning Mingjie curiously looked at her. ¡°What words could make a little devil like you feel sad?¡±


    Ning Errong rested part of her body on the table, sighed, and said, ¡°Sangyu used to really love our cousin and was willing to do anything for him. When we used to be as ipatible as fire and water, she softened her attitude and humbly pleaded with me for advice, just because I casually said I knew something that our cousin liked. She was such an idiot. Even if I wanted to be angry with her, I couldn¡¯t.¡±


    Women had been emotional since ancient times. Nie Sangyu¡¯s behavior wasn¡¯t anything strange. Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t agree with her words.


    ¡°But, when I went to Feiwan Courtyard tonight, she actually said that she no longer liked our cousin. She even said, ¡°The mountains haven¡¯t ttened. The heavens and earth haven¡¯t joined. I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.¡±


    Ning Errong sighed again. ¡°She¡¯s probably given up on our cousin. I don¡¯t know why, but I felt kind of sad seeing her like this. As it turns out, no matter how intense a love is, it can still be grinded down to nothing, ah.¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly froze from surprise. He thought of that woman, who had quietly added food to Wen Wan¡¯s bowl during dinner. He silently sighed. So what if she wasn¡¯t in love anymore? Once a woman married, she could only spend the rest of her life in that one courtyard.


    After Ning Errong garrulously talked about Nie Sangyu, she felt better and went back to her room to sleep.


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. She had simply left after her words had taken away his sleepiness.


    Nie Sangyu. He had listened to Errorng talk about her so many times, but tonight was the first time where he felt that this woman was somewhat interesting.


    ¡ª


    Very early next morning, Ji Man woke up. Last night, she had Muxu decoct medicinal herbs to make pills. She had used a prescription for alleviating the symptoms of themon cold, but all of the herbs that would be harmful towards the fetus were taken out. Doctor Li had given them the modified prescription. He said that Mu Shuiqing couldn¡¯t use more concentrated medicine, but it would still be good to eat a less concentrated version of the medicine to help with her cold.


    Before the sun hade up, Ji Man went to Feiyu Courtyard and gave Mu Shuiqing the pills and prescription.


    ¡°Your health is important, but keeping your baby is also important.¡± Ji Man looked at Mu Shuiqing¡¯splicated expression and seriously tried to persuade her, ¡°It¡¯s still a life. If there¡¯s a possibility in keeping it, you shouldn¡¯t give up on it.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing was currently wavering because of Qi Siling¡¯s words. Looking at the pills on the table and listening to Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, the scale in her heart tilted towards the other side again. Without saying a word, she ate the medicine.


    If anything went wrong and she lost her baby, this would make it easier for her to push the crime onto Nie Sangyu and surrender and pay allegiance to madam. If nothing went wrong, it would also be good if she could keep her baby. This was the most optimal path that she could take. She hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Sangyu woulde here and personally pave this path for her.


    (T/N: Below is a trantion of the poem mentioned above.


    <i>Oh heavens!</i>


    <i>I want to be your love,</i>


    <i>A long life without illness and death,</i>


    <i>When the mountains have ttened,</i>


    <i>When the rivers have dried up,</i>


    <i>When it thunders in winter,</i>


    <i>When it snows in summer,</i>


    <i>When the heavens and earth have joined,*</i>


    <i>Then, I¡¯ll be willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.</i>


    <i>*</i> In Chinese mythology, the world was creating by the creator god separating the heavens and earth.)


    Trantor Ramblings: Such a gloomy chapter. Tiny spoiler. One more chapter until one of my favorite chapters (ch 57) and one of the main reasons why I like this story so much.


    What do you guys think of Ning Mingjie? He seems sort of misogynistic in this chapter, in the sense that he¡¯s views all women as very emotional creatures, but he doesn¡¯t hate them. He¡¯s equally uncaring towards men and women. In his defense, I think that his current view is mostly based on the woman that he spends the most time with, his younger sister, who he always has to keep out of trouble. Maybe, I¡¯m giving him too much credit for being Errong¡¯s long-suffering older brother. Tiny spoiler. His perspective on women will change after he spends time with Ji Man.


    For those of you who are disappointed that Ji Man didn¡¯t say the words in the title to Ning Yuxuan, I included a tiny spoiler in thement below.

 Chapter 56 - The savior arrives in time (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 056 out of 513 ¨C The savior arrives in time (1)


    Ning Yuxuan had said that he would investigate yesterday¡¯s matter, so everyone that had been on the stone bridgest night came to Feiyu Courtyard this morning.


    Wen Wan¡¯splexion had greatly improved. Marquis Moyu had probably sessively coaxed herst night. However, when her gaze turned to Nie Sangyu, Ji Man felt that the female lead had changed. Wen Wen had originally been the fortunate female lead that had received everything without even having to ask for it, but she had interfered and taken away part of the female lead¡¯s halo. Wen Wan¡¯s heart was most likely feeling a sense of unfairness and staring to hate her.


    Even if a woman was a Holy Mother, she would be angry when her fundamental interests were disturbed. Moreover, Wen Wan could be considered a somewhat careful person. Ji Man almost suspected that Ning Yuxuan was deliberately using her as a way to provoke Wen Wan, so that Wen Wan would learn to keep herself away from the other women and not be bullied by them.


    Wen Wan started by saying, ¡°I was walking in the front with the two honored concubines yesterday, so we naturally couldn¡¯t have turned around and pushed Qing-<i>er</i>. The people that were following behind the two honored concubines, go and stand in the same position you were in.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and was the first person to walk to the center of the courtyard. At that time, Liu Hanyun was standing to her right and Mu Shuiqing was standing to her left. They were followed by Wen Wan¡¯s servant girl, Tanxiang, Qi Siling¡¯s servant girl, Sonn, and Qian Lianxue¡¯s servant girl, Dangzhu. Further behind them, it was Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant girl, Muxu, Mu Shuiqing¡¯s servant girl, Banxia, as well as Liu Hanyun¡¯s servant girl, Chunpi.


    No matter how anyone looked at it, Nie Sangyu had been in the most suspicious position. She had been in the best position to push Mu Shuiqing into the water.


    Wen Wan determinedly looked at them for a long time before she turned her head to look at Marquis Moyu and said, ¡°We¡¯re all sisters. It wouldn¡¯t be good for your servant to make any guesses. My lord, please make the decision instead.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at Nie Sangyu before he pursed his lips and asked the servants in the back, ¡°At that time, who moved? Or, did anyone feel someone next to herself move? All of you, close your eyes and point. No one is allowed to open her eyes. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be driven out of this household.¡±


    This was actually a pretty good method. It allowed the people that were afraid to speak to also act as witnesses. Ji Man silently praised him and also closed her eyes.


    Ji Man heard the faint sound of sleeves being raised behind her. While she waited for Ning Yuxuan to order everyone to open their eyes, she whole-heartedly believed that she wouldn¡¯t be wrongly used. However, when she finally opened her eyes, she saw that Ning Yuxuan was looking at her with an extremely harsh gaze.


    ¡°What?¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t understand. When she turned around to look, all of the servant girls were standing in ce with their heads lowered.


    ¡°I can listen to your exnation.¡± Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and said, ¡°Why did you push Qing-<i>er</i> into the water?¡±


    She pushed Mu Shuiqing into the water? Ji Man widened her eyes. She incredulously turned her head and nced at the servant girls behind her. It was such arge group of people. It couldn¡¯t be that they had all pointed at her, right?


    After being surprised for a short period of time, she calmed down again. There were five servant girls behind her. At least three of them had past enmity with her. Why had she thought that they would say the truth instead of harming her?


    Ji Man smiled, turned around to look at Marquis Moyu, and said, ¡°My lord, if you were this servant and stood in such a conspicuous spot, would you push Master Qing into the water? What¡¯s the benefit to me if she loses her child? First, I¡¯m not the main wife. Second, I¡¯ve never received any genuine feelings from you. Other than harming myself, what will I get by doing this?¡±


    These words had the slight meaning of implicating Wen Wan. Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression immediately sunk and his peach blossom eyes were filled with fury. He coldly harrumphed, ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that you have a poisonous heart? Not only did you plot to murder my heir, now you¡¯re also trying to harm Wen Wan by cing the me on her?¡±


    Ji Man also sneered. ¡°My lord, you¡¯re heart is already nted to one side and you won¡¯t listen to anyone¡¯s exnation. Why are you bothering with asking Sangyu this question? Just directly lock me in the confinement courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Audacious!¡± Ning Yuxuan was truly angered. His eyes were sharp enough to be swords that wanted to stab through her while she was still alive. ¡°Nie Sangyu, are you relying on your identity as a member of Nie n to increasingly disregard other people? Right now, you¡¯re a concubine. And you dare to talk back to me like this?¡±


    Ji Man was also ovee with anger. She was innocent and had been wrongly used. Who wouldn¡¯t be angry? And yet, this scumbag had the insistent attitude of protecting the female lead and disregarding everyone else¡¯s opinion. It made her fume with rage.


    The female lead¡¯s life was important. It couldn¡¯t be that the supporting female character¡¯s life was worth nothing!


    Wen Wan hurriedly came forward to act as the mediator. ¡°My lord, please calm down. Sangyu, be mindful and pay attention to propriety when you¡¯re speaking. Don¡¯t anger the marquis. If you¡¯re really confined again, your days won¡¯t be good.¡±


    Ji Man inwardly sneered, but she returned to showing an obedient expression on her face. There wouldn¡¯t be any good result to directly facing off with Marquis Moyu. The female lead had given her a way out. It would be a waste to not use it.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know why he was behaving this way. When Nie Sangyu had acted improperly and angered him in the past, he would never outwardly express his anger in this manner. At the most, he would show her a cold face and ignore her. But Nie Sangyu¡¯s current indifferent attitude of having nothing to lose always provoked his anger and made him want to choke her to death.


    After he calmed himself down, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve always been narrow-minded and unable to tolerate other people. Right now, there are so many witnesses. Even if you want to argue, it¡¯ll be difficult for you to avoid being punished. You had the sinister intention of trying to murder my heir. In consideration for the fact that you¡¯ve been part of this household for several years...¡±


    ¡°You also know that Sangyu has been in this household for several years?¡± A furious voice came from the courtyard¡¯s entrance. Everyone in the courtyard was startled. Wen Wan hurriedly turned her head and saw Ning Errong supporting old madame as they entered Feiyu Courtyard.


    Everyone was shocked. They looked at the Marquis Moyu¡¯s cousin, who was beaming. In their minds, they hatefully thought, why did she have to bring old madame here at this point in time?


    Trantor Ramblings: I didn¡¯t me Ning Yuxuan for suspecting that Nie Sangyu was the one that pushed Mu Shuiqing into the water, especially since she has pretended to be good in the past. Even Errong, who is 100% on Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, believes that this is totally something she would do. He at least made an attempt by asking the other servants instead of directly asking Mu Shuiqing, given her well-known hostile rtionship with Nie Sangyu.


    But then, Ji Man touched his bottom line, Wen Wan.


    Storywise, I really like that the author shows us a different perspective of how terribly unreasonable a typical male lead is when it¡¯s something rted to the female lead. Logic will be thrown straight out the window. For example, in ChongFei Manual, the male lead orders his bodyguard to cut off the tongue of a singer just because she saw something that she shouldn¡¯t have about the female lead. I don¡¯t remember anyonementing that the male lead¡¯s order was unnecessarily harsh or being upset at him. He was partially doing it to ensure that the female lead¡¯s reputation will be left pristine. Ning Yuxuan is doing the same thing here. He shows an extreme reaction whenever anyone intentionally or unintentionally tries to smear Wen Wan¡¯s reputation.


    That being said, I love old madame¡¯s words and how she defends Sangyu in the next chapter.


    Also, I included a spoiler in thements below rted to this.

 Chapter 57 - The savior arrives in time (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 057 out of 513 ¨C The savior arrives in time (2)


    ¡°Mother.¡± Ning Yuxuan retracted part of his anger, saluted, and said, ¡°Your son is currently questioning about the matter of Qing-<i>er</i> falling into the water yesterday.¡±


    ¡°This is what you call questioning?¡± Old madame looked at him sternly and said, ¡°I clearly only heard you convicting Sangyu. Sangyu, do you ept this?¡±


    Ji Man felt that the original novel¡¯s vicious mother-inw was truly too lovely. She almost wanted to cry in gratitude. She hurriedly responded to old madame¡¯s words by yelling out, ¡°I don¡¯t!¡±


    Her life had finally improved and they wanted to drive her back to her original state? No way!


    Old madame nced at Sangyu to indicate for her to keep calm and to not get excited. Then, she immediately asked, ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i>, how were you questioning earlier? Show me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan knew that his mother would protect Nie Sangyu no matter what. But, the facts couldn¡¯t be changed. Nie Sangyu hadmitted a crime. He didn¡¯t believe that anyone could invert right and wrong.


    And so, he had the servant girls repeat their earlier actions and had everyone close their eyes.


    Old madame didn¡¯t close her eyes and watched the five servant girls in the back with Marquis Moyu. However, this time, none of the five servant girls dared to point.


    ¡°So this is the method that Xuan-<i>er</i> used to question?¡± Old madame smiled, but her eyes severely looked at Ning Yuxuan.


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and said, ¡°It¡¯s probably because mother is too biased in favor of Sangyu, so they didn¡¯t dare to point.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Old madame chuckled. ¡°Then Xuan-<i>er</i>, have you been biased enough in favor of Wen Wan?¡±


    Stunned, Marquis Moyu lowered his eyes and stayed silent.


    ¡°My household¡¯s rules are strict and won¡¯t allow for the preposterous idea of having the servants decide their master¡¯s crime.¡± Old madame¡¯s expression was upright as she said, ¡°Can you ensure that these servant girls don¡¯t have selfish motives? Sangyu has been married to you for six years, before you even had your adulthood ceremony. It¡¯s one thing for you to be indifferent towards her. But now, you¡¯re going to convict her because of other people¡¯s nderous words?¡±


    By the side, Wen Wan¡¯s face turned red, then white as she listened to these words. Old madame¡¯s words made it sound like Sangyu was her daughter-inw, while she continued to be an unacknowledged, wild woman. From the time that old madame entered this courtyard, she hadn¡¯t even nced at her.


    This wasn¡¯t afortable feeling to experience. She truly liked Ning Yuxuan, so she also wanted his mother to like her. But, why was it so difficult?


    Marquis Moyu was silent for a long time before he finally said, ¡°Mother, you¡¯re right to reprimand. But, Qing-<i>er</i> is pregnant with your grandchild. This matter can¡¯t be left unsettled.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to investigate, then do it properly. This house is full of deceitful women. Who¡¯s words can you believe? How about asking Shuiqing, who she thought pushed her and what she wants done for this matter to be settled?¡±


    Mu Shuqing was the person that had been the most harmed by this incident. Right now, it wasn¡¯t even known if she would be able ovee her cold. Ning Yuxuan felt that these words were reasonable. He straightforwardly entered Mu Shuiqing¡¯s room to ask for her opinion. In the passing, he could also say a few words tofort her.


    ¡°At the time, Tanxiang was standing behind this servant.¡± With reddened eyes, Mu Shuiqing said these words. Seeing Marquis Moyu¡¯s sunken expression, she hurriedly said, ¡°However, this servant doesn¡¯t know who had pushed her. The only thing that this servant knows for sure, is that it wasn¡¯t older sister Sangyu.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu? Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows. He had expected that Mu Shuiqing would allege that it was definitely Nie Sangyu. Instead, she had said words to exonerate her.


    Why?


    Hadn¡¯t Mu Shuiqing and Nie Sangyu¡¯s rtionship always been bad? This was such a good opportunity. Why wasn¡¯t she taking the opportunity to bite her?


    Although he was curious, he couldn¡¯t actually ask her this question. And since Mu Shuiqing had said these words, he could no longer me Nie Sangyu even the slightest bit. As for her saying that the person behind her had been Tanxiang, he naturally didn¡¯t believe her. Tanxiang was Wen Wan¡¯s servant girl and had entered this household with her. She was as gentle as Wen Wan. How could it be possible that she would push Mu Shuiqing?


    And so, this matter was resolved by leaving it unsettled. Marquis Moyu and old madame sent over many gifts to Feiyue Courtyard and even their treatment of Mu Shuiqing improved significantly. And so, Mu Shuiqing didn¡¯t ask for an in-depth investigation to be performed.


    ¡ª


    ¡°How are you going to thank me?¡± Ning Errong mischievously smiled. She pulled Nie Sangyu as they walked on the path. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t because I knew you were in trouble and went over to invite Old Madame, you would have definitely been punished today.¡±


    Errong looked really cute and Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist poking her forehead. She asked, ¡°What do you want? How about I give you a box of cold cream?¡±


    ¡°You have that item?¡± Ning Errong gaped. ¡°I heard about it as soon as I arrived in the capital. I had Baizhi wait in line for a long time, but I still wasn¡¯t able to buy a box.¡±


    Ji Man rubbed her nose. She really wanted to tell her that the person in front of her was a cold cream factory. Anyways, seeing that she also liked this type of item, Ji Man brought her to her room and generously gave her a box.


    ¡°I heard that a box this size cost fifty silver taels.¡± Ning Errong was beaming as she held the box. Then, she lightly coughed twice and clearly started to kiss up to Nie Sangyu, ¡°What do you want to eat tonight? I¡¯ll bring you over to my ce to eat. It¡¯ll definitely be better than the food you¡¯re eating as a concubine.¡±


    Ji Man was amused intoughing by her behavior. She thought for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve been here for so long. The food that I miss the most is barbecue. If your ce has the tools for it, how about having a barbecue tonight?¡±


    Her most beautiful memories of modern times were barbecues and beers during hot summers.


    Trantor Ramblings: Was this chapter¡¯s resolution satisfying?


    I love that it¡¯s Mu Shuiqing, the person that originally had the most antagonistic rtionship with Nie Sangyu, who saves her and not Ning Mingjie.


    P.s. Ning Mingjie will have his moments to be heroicter in the story. And, I want to point out that Mu Shuqing doesn¡¯t know for sure who pushed her, only Ning Mingjie saw the culprit.

 Chapter 58 - Barbecue, wine, and winter (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 058 out of 513 ¨C Barbecue, wine, and winter (1)


    Ning Errong¡¯s idea of barbecue was just directly roasting chicken, duck, or fish near a fire. But, Sangyu had said they needed fine wire mesh and also high quality charcoal.


    Anyways, her entire family hade here as guests, so Steward Qian would provide anything she requested. Ning Errong didn¡¯t find this bothersome either and ordered the servants to bring the items that Nie Sangyu wanted.


    Winter¡¯s atmosphere had be more intense. At night, the sound of the chilly wind passing by could be heard from inside. It was so cold that it made people unwilling to go outside. But, Ji Man still said, ¡°Let¡¯s go grilling in the courtyard¡¯s pavilion.¡±


    ¡°Why, ah? Wouldn¡¯t it be good to stay inside and be warm?¡± Ning Errong knitted her brow as she look at the outside weather condition. She wasn¡¯t very willing.


    ¡°When we¡¯re grilling, there¡¯ll be a charcoal fire. There¡¯s no reason to fear being cold.¡± Ji Man rolled her eyes and said, ¡°When you¡¯re grilling food, it¡¯ll taste better the colder the temperature is. Once you sprinkle spicy powder over the food brushed with oil, it won¡¯t be necessary to say how delicious the food will be.¡±


    Ning Errong swallowed her saliva. There was a slight amount of struggle in her eyes. ¡°Won¡¯t it be the same thing to have it grilled outside and eat it inside...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that difficult toe by things are more precious?¡± Ji Man seriously said. ¡°If you have someone else prepare it and bring it to you, it won¡¯t taste as good.¡±


    The pampered and spoiled since childhood little princess was silent for a long time before she finally reluctantly said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Baizhi had servants ce the items needed for grilling in the pavilion and also added two more braziers in the passing. It was better than not having any other heat sources.


    Ji Man looked around. Since it was currently dinnertime, there was naturally no one elseing to the southern courtyard. She had also obtained old madame¡¯s approval toe here and wasn¡¯t worried about causing any disaster. And so, she tied up her sleeves and ordered Muxu to cut up the meat and vegetables and skewer them while she organized the various bottles of condiments.


    Not long after the charcoal fire was ignited, Ji Man ced the meat skewers on top of the wire mesh first, then she brushed the meat with oil and cumin and sprinkled salt and spices on top. It didn¡¯t take long before there was a delicious smell.


    Sitting on the side, Ning Errong watched Nie Sangyu with her hands unwilling to leave her sleeves that were lined with rabbit fur. But, this fragrance was truly tempting. Hearing the sizzling sound of the skewered meat, she couldn¡¯t resist deeply inhaling.


    As Ji Man grilled the food, she reminisced and identally blurted out, ¡°Doesn¡¯t it smell tasty? In the ce that I¡¯m from, there¡¯s nothing better than drinking beer and hanging out with friends while wandering from street stall to street stall eating this type of food, whether it¡¯s winter or summer. ¡±


    ¡°The ce that you¡¯re from?¡± Ning Errong curiously looked at her, ¡°Isn¡¯t your home in the capital?¡±


    The capital didn¡¯t have this type of food, ah. And, what was beer?


    Ji Man realized that she had blurted out a secret and hurriedly handed over a recently finished cooking meat skewer to distract her. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that for now. How about trying this first?¡±


    The kitchen servants had brought overrge pieces ofmb, beef, and pork. The quality of the meat was very good. It was fatty without being greasy. The taste and smell was worth of poetry.


    It only took a short period of time for Ning Errong to finish eating the other cooked skewers of mouthwatering meat. She eagerly looked at Nie Sangyu once she was done.


    ¡°Come over here and help me grill. You can¡¯t just sit there and do nothing.¡± Ji Man called out and handed her a cotton cloth. ¡°If you¡¯re worried about your hands, use this to cover your hands while you¡¯re grilling. Grill some vegetables to eat next so that you won¡¯t get sick of just eating meat.¡±


    Ning Errong really wanted to say, how could she be sick of it. She wanted to eat more meat... But Nie Sangyu had already ced leeks into her hands, so she could only helplessly mimic Nie Sangyu¡¯s earlier action by cing the vegetables on top of the wire mesh and brushing them with oil and spices.


    The fragrant smell drifted far away. Ning Mingjie had just finished eating dinner and had been nning on taking a stroll in the garden. But, after getting a sniff of this smell, he followed it all the way to the pavilion.


    ¡°What are you two doing?¡±


    He saw two girls that were bustling with activity in the pavilion. The servants near them were each holding a food skewer. The stronger smell in the pavilion made it even more tempting toe closer.


    ¡°Older brother,¡± Ning Errong turned her head and saw him. She showed off by saying, ¡°You¡¯re always saying that I can¡¯t cook. Come here and try the food that I grilled.¡± She handed him amb skewer.


    Ning Mingjie stared at the fragrant, ck thing in front of him and was very hesitant.


    Ji Man hurriedly took another skewer to give to him and said, ¡°Eat this one first. The skewer that Errong gave you was a failed one.¡±


    ¡°How is it a failure? It¡¯s just slightly ck!¡± Ning Errong wasn¡¯t reconciled to defeat. She ate a bite of the meat and licked her lips. Looking rather unpresentable, she said, ¡°It¡¯s much tastier than the food cooked in the kitchen.¡±


    Ning Mingjie had frozen when that clean hand brought a meat skewer to him. He finally looked up and saw the person in front of him. She had red lips and a mark between her eyebrows. Who else could this person be other than Nie Sangyu?


    Why was she here? And, why was she grilling meat?


    Seeing that he had epted the grilled meat, Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything else. She went back with her head lowered and continued grilling. As she was grilling the meat, she finally consciously responded to Ning Mingjie¡¯s presence. Eh? Why was he here?


    She raised her head and saw that he was quietly eating themb skewer. She couldn¡¯t see the expression on the part of his face that was hidden by the silver mask, but his eyes seemed bright. He seemed as if he was really enjoying this food¡¯s vor.


    ording to the original novel, shouldn¡¯t this person have gone to the garden at this time? Then, he would happen to meet female lead in the garden and secretly fall in love with her after discovering that she was a wonderful and beautiful person. Why had hee here to eatmb skewers?


    Noticing Nie Sangyu¡¯s gaze, Ning Mingjie tilted his head and lightly smiled at her, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would have this skill.¡±


    His smile was very beautiful. It looked much better than Ning Yuxuan¡¯s alwaysplicated and secretive smile. Ji Man slightly lost her senses from seeing this sight. And then, she finally realized what was wrong.

 Chapter 59 - Barbecue, wine, and winter (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 059 out of 513 ¨C Barbecue, wine, and winter (2)


    Right now, she wasn¡¯t an unmarried girl. She was already married to Marquis Moyu. Although she was only a concubine, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for her to interact with a strange man, right?


    Although she didn¡¯t have a clear understanding of this era¡¯s rules, her intuition told her that the sooner she left, the better.


    ¡°Sangyu, do you remember my older brother?¡± While biting on a meat skewer, Errong said, ¡°You even met him once when you were both very young at a pce banquet. Afterwards, you even said that my older brother¡¯s face resembled a piece of white jade more than Marquis Moyu¡¯s.¡±


    That pce banquet had urred ten years ago, but Nie Sangyu had still remembered it and mentioned it to Ning Errongter on when they became friends. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t have the slightly impression of this meeting. Looking at Ning Mingjie¡¯s nk expression, he probably didn¡¯t remember that meeting either.


    ¡°We could be considered rtives. Let¡¯s all eat meat skewers together.¡± Ning Errong magnanimously patted a stool next to herself and Ning Mingjie naturally sat down. It would have been unnecessarily tiring to keep standing.


    Ji Man looked at her hands and said with a smile, ¡°How about letting the servants grill the food for you? My hands are too dirty and I should go back to wash them.¡±


    Ning Mingjie understood that she was doing this to avoid arousing suspicion. Just as he was about to nod his head in agreement, Ning Errong casually said, ¡°It¡¯s such a long walk back. I¡¯ll have Baizhi bring over water for you! Dearest older sister, grill two more skewers for me. The ones grilled by you are the tastiest.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This girl simply didn¡¯t have any understanding about avoiding actions that might arouse suspicion. She was treating them as a group of carefree people that hadn¡¯t reached adulthood yet.


    But seeing Errong acting cutely spoiled like this, she really couldn¡¯t continue to insist on leaving. She could only have Muxu stand near them, so that they could be considered under the public¡¯s eyes. Then, she continued grilling meat for this little ancestor.


    ¡°They¡¯ve all been saying that you had changed a lot. It¡¯s true.¡± While Ning Errong ate, her little mouth didn¡¯t stop talking, ¡°In the past, you only cared about my cousin and wouldn¡¯t have had the leisurely mood to make something like this.¡±


    Ji Man silently smiled. As she finished grilling each batch of meat and vegetables, she would ce them onto small tes and hand them over to the two siblings.


    Ning Mingjie had already eaten dinner and wasn¡¯t too hungry, but the gluttonous bug in his stomach had been lured out. He took the small tes and wasn¡¯t polite. He even sent the servants to bring over fine wine.


    The cold wind whistled by and the courtyard naturally wasn¡¯t as warm as inside. But, Ning Errong was sticking her tongue out to cool down from eating the spicy food and wasn¡¯t hiding her hands inside her sleeves anymore. Ning Mingjie actually felt very satisfied to feel the cold wind while he was drink wine and eating grilled meat. Nie Sangyu¡¯s idea of cutting the meat into small pieces actually made the meat much tastier than when the entire b of meat was grilled.


    And so, after Ning Mingjie had eaten and drank enough to be satisfied, he felt that Nie Sangyu was actually a very good woman. At the very least, the meat that she had grilled was very tasty.


    With this one incident, the plot quietly changed. Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t go to the garden and coincidentally meet the female lead. Instead, the first thing that crashed into his eyes was a pair of slender white hands that efficiently turned over grilled meat.


    ¡ª


    While Ji Man peacefully stayed in her courtyard during the next two days, Mu Shuiqing got over the worse of her cold and was no longer feverish. Today, she was able to get out of her bed and could be considered to have gotten past the most difficult point in her recovery.


    ¡ª


    No one in the household mentioned the matter of Nie Sangyu grilling meat with Marquis Jingwen¡¯s two children. So much so that when Ning Errong mentioned this matter to old madame, old madame had been tempted and wanted her to cook this food for her to try.


    But, Ji Man didn¡¯t rmend for old madame to eat this type of food. After all, it wasn¡¯t good for older people to eat oily foods.


    After eating this type of food only one time, old madame would asionally continue thinking about eating grilled meat, until she gave in and had the kitchen servants grill some meat for her.


    ¡ª


    Originally, Ji Man hadn¡¯t been close to Ning Mingjie. But now, whenever he saw her, he would always faintly smile at her. Ji Man felt that this man was too easily won over. It had only taken one meal of grilled meat for him to treat her familiarly.


    Miss Shui had alsoe to the residence to report this month¡¯s revenue and expenses. She had also brought good news. Pce servants hade to the store and said they wanted a supply for the pce. This was monumentally good news.


    Ji Man made a resolute decision. She wrote down the method to make cold cream and taught it to Miss Shui. She wanted her to secretly teach the pce servants how to manufacture cold cream and handed Miss Shui the entire responsibility. With this change, the production volume would increase and it would also make it easier for cold cream to be exported out of the capital and be sold throughout the country.


    Muxu saw therge pile of banknotes that Miss Shui had brought and deeply inhaled, ¡°Master!¡±


    The profits from one month of business would be enough for them to not have to worry about food and clothes for several years.


    ¡°The financial prospects of following me, it¡¯s pretty good isn¡¯t it?¡± Ji Man brightly smiled. She was extremely satisfied. She stretched her hand out, took a banknote worth fifty silver teals from the pile, and generously gave it to Muxu. ¡°Go and buy yourself two good outfits. Your master will set aside money for your dowry. I guarantee that you¡¯ll have a good life by following me.¡±


    Holding the banknote, Muxu didn¡¯t know how to respond for a long time until her eyes suddenly turned red.


    ¡°Hey! Everything is fine. Don¡¯t cry. Otherwise, I¡¯ll take back the banknote.¡± Ji Man showed a fierce expression to scare her. But, Muxu unexpectedly kneeled down to kowtow her. ¡°This servant will definitely remember Master¡¯s benevolence. And won¡¯t... betray you again.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t carefully think over Muxu¡¯s words as she expressed her loyalty. While smiling, she helped Muxu stand up and said, ¡°Look at you. It¡¯s just fifty silver taels. There¡¯s no need for you to be so touched. I heard that Doctor Li¡¯s mother is very sick. If you want to visit her, how about I give you the day off so you can go see her?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s.... his mother. Why does this have anything to do with this servant? Why would this servant visit her?!¡± Muxu was so anxious that she stamped her feet. Her face turned red and she ran out of the courtyard.


    Ji Man found her response amusing. How could she not know about the young girl¡¯s feelings?


    After Ji Man stored away the rest of the banknotes into her wardrobe, she took a deep breath. She felt that her good days weren¡¯t far away!


    Trantor Ramblings: What do you think Muxu meant by, ¡°betray you again¡±? Ji Man is one of my favorite characters, but I think she suffers from overconfidence when ites to the characters that were originally mentioned in the novel.

 Chapter 60 - The role of the supporting male and female characters (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 060 out of 513 ¨C The role of the supporting male and female characters (1)


    After Muxu left, she was gone for a while. By the time she returned, she brought lunch with her on the way back. Ji Man was busy looking over the ounts, so she didn¡¯t ask Muxu where she went. However, her mood was pretty good when she saw that there was roasted chicken for lunch.


    ¡°When this servant went to get lunch, this servant overheard some gossip.¡± With a gossipy face, Muxu said, ¡°Master, guess what happened.¡±


    Ji Man went along with her request and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Early this morning, Madam said she wanted to brew tea by using the dew collected from a tree and climbed up a plum tree in the garden.¡± Muxu ambiguously smiled. ¡°She ended up falling from the tree. Instead of being helped up by one of the female servants, it was the marquis¡¯s male cousin that helped her up.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise. Wasn¡¯t that Ning Mingjie? Those two still ended up meeting, ah. Could it be that regardless of what happened in the middle, the major plot points couldn¡¯t be changed?


    ¡°The servant girls that were passing by and saw the scene said that Madam¡¯s expression was very bashful.¡± Muxu¡¯s mouth twitched as she said, ¡°She didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of avoiding something that might arouse suspicion. And, she even invited the marquis¡¯s cousin to drink tea with her in the pavilion.¡±


    The expected event in the plot had urred, but it seemed as if something had changed. From Muxu¡¯s words, it seemed as if Wen Wan was the one that had a favorable impression of Ning Mingjie instead of the other way around.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man propped up her chin in one hand as she contemted this change for a while. Then, she shook her head and said, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this messy urrence.¡±


    ¡°No one has the power to control Madam¡¯s actions. They were just watching them because it was interesting.¡± Muxu smiled as she added food to Ji Man¡¯s bowl. Ji Man didn¡¯t think further about this urrence and peacefully ate her lunch.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have a wealthy person¡¯s habit of taking a nap after lunch. In the past, she had been busy with work. Where would she have the time to take a nap after lunch? It was the same right now. There was still some natural light after lunchtime in winter, so Ji Man brought a basket with her as she went to garden. She selected other flowers that she could use to experiment as alternative ingredients in cold cream.


    Right after she walked behind arge border of Nippon lilies with sphere-like fruit, she heard someone saying, ¡°Sangyu?¡± Ji Man¡¯s hand paused and she looked around to see who was calling her.


    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with her, but I heard from Yuxuan that her temperament isn¡¯t good. That¡¯s why she went from being a main wife to a concubine.¡±


    This was Wen Wan¡¯s voice. Moreover, she clearly hadn¡¯t been calling her name to get her attention. Instead, she had only mentioned her name as she was talking to someone. Her voice hade from the other side of the Nippon lilies.


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and sneakily stretched her head to see.


    A Chinese chessboard had been ced in the pavilion. Wen Wan was actually ying a game of Chinese chess with Ning Mingjie and deliberately looking for words to talk about. After eating lunch, she was very lively and her manner was unrestrained.


    This... There was only one servant girl, Tanxiang, next to them. What was Wen Wan thinking?


    Ji Man retracted her head and crouched down to look at the potted poinsettia in front of her. She silently contemted that she had onlye here to pick flowers and hadn¡¯t meant to eavesdrop. They were the ones that were behaving too brazenly. She couldn¡¯t be med.


    As far as she knew, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t a generous and tolerant man. He especially didn¡¯t like other people touching his stuff. Moreover, Wen Wan was his darling. If the female lead was thinking of using a man to provoke Ning Yuxuan, it probably wouldn¡¯t be effective and was more likely to be counterproductive.


    After listening to them for two hours as they yed Chinese chess without mentioned anything rted to her again, Ji Man rubbed her sore legs and sneakily returned to her room.


    ¡ª


    Later that day, she was at old madame¡¯s ce for dinner. Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan were also there. Wen Wan was still showing a pure and harmless smile, but Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression had ckened. He was probably in a bad mood because he knew what Wen Wan had done.


    Ji Man happily watched the show. While she picked out all of the shredded meat in the dish in front of her, she secretly watched the interactions between them.


    The female lead absolutely had no intention of paying attention to the male lead, but she said a few sentences to Ning Mingjie. Old madame was still at the table. Wasn¡¯t this behavior simply seeking death?


    Old madame didn¡¯t like Wen Wan to begin with. Seeing her son grimace with displeasure, her attitude towards Wen Wan only worsened.


    Old madame put down her chopsticks and looked at Marquis Moyu as she said, ¡°Shuiqing is almost three months pregnant. Since the main wife hasn¡¯t give birth to a child, it would still be good if the concubines gave birth to children. This way, I can have grandchildren to hug. If Shuiqing gives birth to a boy this time, I think you should promote her to an honored concubine. After all, the most unfilial act is being unable to produce offspring.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face paled. Her recent smilepletely disappeared without leaving a trace. She turned her head to look at old madame and initially wanted to say something, but she swallowed her words and lowered her head to continue eating.


    Instead of disagreeing, Marquis Moyu indifferently responded, ¡°En.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression became worse.


    After dinner, old madame pulled Sangyu to her side. She wanted to speak with her.


    But, Marquis Moyu surprisingly said, ¡°I haven¡¯t finished listening to Sangyu¡¯s stories. Mother, give in to your son this time and let your son have her.¡±


    This was the first time that Ning Yuxuan acted close to Nie Sangyu in front of other people. Even Ji Man froze in surprise. But, when she turned her eyes and saw Wen Wan¡¯s expression, she understood. This scumbag was just using her as cannon fodder. The role of the supporting male and female characters were the same. They were both used to provoke the male lead and female lead.


    She was somewhat unhappy being used like this. And, her mood worsened when she thought about having to tell him stories again. Ji Man was smiling as she made a sound of agreement in front of Marquis Moyu, but her brows pinched together after she turned her head.


    Wen Wan was seeking death by acting reckless, but there was no need to drag her into this mess. She was innocent.

 Chapter 61 - The role of the supporting male and female characters (2)

    Chapter: 061 out of 513 ¨C The role of the supporting male and female characters (2)


    Feiwan Courtyard.


    Marquis Moyu was leaning against the side of the bed and his long eyshes were lowered. His expression actually looked somewhat lonely.


    After Ji Man untied her hair and freshened up, she sat down on the bed and asked, ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan opened his eyes. He actually looked somewhat childish as he asked, ¡°Sangyu, tell me. Who¡¯s better looking, me or Ning Mingjie?¡±


    This... Ji Man secretly rolled her eyes, then she said, ¡°The marquis¡¯s cousin has always hidden his face behind a mask, so naturally it¡¯s my lord that¡¯s better looking.¡±


    Hadn¡¯t Nie Sangyu previously said several years ago that in terms of appearances, Ning Mingjie resembled a piece of white jade more? But, she couldn¡¯t say these words. She was afraid that Ning Yuxuan would choke her to death in a fit of anger.


    ¡°If he took off his mask, then I won¡¯t be as good looking as him?¡±


    She didn¡¯t know what was wrong with Ning Yuxuan. Why was he quibbling over a minor detail?


    Ji Man lightly smiled and said, ¡°The marquis is the best looking person in this servant¡¯s eyes. Isn¡¯t there such a saying? ¡°My wife said that I was more handsome because she was partial towards me. My concubine said I was more handsome because she felt reverence and fear towards me.¡±*


    * (T/N: These lines are from an ancient Chinese text, <i>Strategies of the Warring States</i>, that contains anecdotes of political maniption and warfare. For a little extra background, Zhou Ji, the person who originally asked this question, knew that he wasn¡¯t more handsome than the person he wasparing himself to. He was using this question as an example to show the emperor that these types of people wouldn¡¯t necessarily give him a truthful answer.)


    After Marquis Moyu fully contemted these words, his face sunk and he said, ¡°Are you saying that you¡¯re ttering me because you¡¯re scared of me?¡±


    Ji Man innocently blinked her eyes. Her eyes were thoroughly bright as if they were filled with sparking, translucent snowkes.


    Seeing this sight, Ning Yuxuan slightly lost control of his senses and couldn¡¯t resist pulling her arm to draw her closer to him. He carefully looked at her eyes.


    The eyes were the windows to a person¡¯s soul. Ji Man knew that she should be disying intense feelings in her eyes, and then she should pretend to suppress those fake feelings. When this man saw those feelings, he would know that he was in her heart and would be more softhearted towards her in the future.


    But, this was something only a leading actress could pull off. Ji Man could only try her best. She didn¡¯t know what Marquis Moyu saw in her eyes, but his expression became much better. He gently pushed her away and said, ¡°Did you change the incense that you were using in your room?¡±


    Changing the topic? Ji Man raised her eyebrows, then she climbed onto the bed and obediently lied down next to him. She yawned and said, ¡°The previous type of incense always smelled stale, so I had Muxu rece it with an incense that has a fresh and clean smell.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was silent for a while, then he said, ¡°I like the previous type of incense better.¡±


    A marquis was a marquis. He was so unreasonably overbearing. He was even insisting that she uses incense that he likes. Ji Man secretly rolled her eyes and brightly smiled as she said, ¡°This servant will have it changed back tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    After Marquis Moyu had been silent for a while, Ji Man closed her eyes. This person hadn¡¯t done anything all along, so she could peacefully go to sleep.


    Just as Ji Man was about to fall asleep, she heard these words by her ear, ¡°Today, Wen Wan was praising Mingjie. She said he had exquisite Chinese chess skills and was cultured and refined.¡±


    Ji Man opened her eyes and helplessly listened.


    Marquis Moyu had been feeling ufortable because he was suppressing words that he wanted to say, and so he found a person to say these words to.


    ¡°She¡¯s not from an aristocratic family, so she¡¯s used to behaving casually in front of me and doesn¡¯t know the rules. The women in the inner court aren¡¯t allowed to be too close with other men... Even though they weren¡¯t that close...¡±


    The normally solemn Marquis Moyu was currently the embodiment of a chatterbug. He longwindedly talked without stopping.


    ¡°My lord, are you feeling jealous?¡± Ji Man straightforwardly interrupted him.


    Marquis Moyu paused before lightly snorting once. It could be counted as tacitly agreeing.


    ¡°Madam is definitely feeling jealous and that¡¯s why she deliberately got close with another person,¡± Ji Man said. ¡°Although this method cause her to slightly break the rules, it¡¯s only because Madam really cares about you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression significantly improved. He nced at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°You really know how to speak.¡±


    Ji Man shrugged and said, ¡°The marquis¡¯s cousin is truly as cultured as jade and as fragrant and beautiful as orchids. He¡¯s very good-looking, has a good personality, and doesn¡¯t have a temper. As a gentle person without a wife or any concubines, he¡¯s a highly eligible bachelor. It¡¯s very normal for the marquis to feel pressured.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s recently improved expression ckened again. He tilted his head as he looked her and said, ¡°Does Ning Mingjie have this many good qualities in your eyes?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t these just publicly recognized facts?¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Madam can¡¯t be med for wanting to be closer to him. He¡¯s a pretty good man. My lord, if you don¡¯t keep a closer watch on Madam, it¡¯s possible that Madam¡¯s heart will change.¡±


    The original novel¡¯s female lead had also really liked the supporting male character. She was just reminding him in advance.


    However, the murderous sentiment in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes thickened. One hand wrapped around Nie Sangyu¡¯s neck as he lightly said, ¡°Nie Sangyu, I¡¯ll say it one more time. I don¡¯t want to hear you speak badly of Wen Wan again.¡±


    The pressure around her neck was somewhat scary. Ji Man¡¯s face had also frozen. She nervouslyughed and said, ¡°This servant misspoke. My lord, pretend that you didn¡¯t hear anything. Please let go of this servant.¡±


    His hand let go of her neck, but Marquis Moyu¡¯s anger didn¡¯t disappear. Why had he thought that Nie Sangyu had recently be better? Wasn¡¯t she still ndering Wen Wan behind her back? Wen Wan had such deep feelings towards him. It wasn¡¯t possible for her heart to change!


    However, he wasn¡¯t home during the day. If Wen Wan wanted to spend time with Ning Mingjie, she would have plenty of time. As the time increased... inevitably...


    After Ning Yuxuan thought things over, he softened his tone as she said, ¡°Sangyu, starting from tomorrow, go to the southern courtyard more often. If Madam wants to spend time with Ning Mingjie, there¡¯s no reason why you can¡¯t follow them. If she asks, you can tell her that I ordered you.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t enough that he was using her as cannon fodder. He also wanted her to y the role of surveince camera. Ji Man was so angry that she almost couldn¡¯t breath, but outwardly, she could only brightly smile and say, ¡°Sure.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Even though Ning Yuxuan¡¯s behavior isn¡¯t good, I feel it¡¯s overshadowed by how awesome Ji Man is. I love the way she answer his question of who¡¯s more attractive. She changes his question from asking about an opinion to answering it as if there¡¯s only one unchangeable truth; Ning Mingjie is more attractive and clearly the most eligible bachelor.

 Chapter 62 - The matchmaker’s task (1)

    Chapter: 062 out of 513 ¨C The matchmaker¡¯s task (1)


    Sure, my ass! This was clearly something that a servant girl could do. And yet, he had easily told her to do this. It was clear that in Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart, Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t any different from a servant girl!


    Although she already knew this truth, Ji Man was still very upset about this and immediately silently cursed him a hundred times to wear a green hat (i.e. be cheated on).


    ¡ª


    The next day, when Ji Man went to old madame¡¯s courtyard to pay her respects, Ning Mingjie was also there. He hade here earlier than her and was currently sitting on the small couch that was near the window and quietly drinking tea.


    ¡°Sangyu, you came here at just the right time,¡± Old madame said with a smile. ¡°Mingjie said he wanted to go out with Errong, but they¡¯re not too familiar with this area. How about you bring Errong out and have Qingyune over to drink wine with Mingjie?¡±


    Tell Qingyun toe here? Ji Man raised her eyebrows and looked at old madame doubtfully. But, she saw old madame giving her a meaningful look.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t understand what she was trying to hint at, but she still agreed. On the side, Ning Mingjie turned his head and his silver mask slightly glimmered. His eyes held a gentle, smiling intent as he said, ¡°Old Madame, thank you for taking the trouble.¡±


    Ji Man still didn¡¯t understand. She was only a concubine, ah. How could she apany the guests outside to stroll around? Although she had a good rtionship with Errong, it was strange that old madame would so easily agree to this.


    ¡°Young people like to y together. I¡¯m old, so I won¡¯t bother the four of you bying along,¡± Old madame was smiling as she looked at Nie Sangyu. ¡°While you¡¯re out, check if that store is selling cold cream and buy two boxes for me.¡±


    Old madame had really liked the cold cream and hadn¡¯t used any of her other skincare and makeup products since she started using it. She had used up the box of cold cream from before. Shouwu and Danggui had also been using the small box of cold cream and seemed to have outstanding status in the household. Recently, the price of cold cream had decreased and the supply had increased. It was much easier to buy cold cream. This was why old madame asked her to bring back two boxes.


    Ji Man agreed with a smile. Right now, she didn¡¯t have to worry about Miss Shui¡¯s business. She had already made Shuiji¡¯s cold cream into a brand. Everyone was using Shuiji¡¯s cold cream as a status symbol.


    Although she was feeling happy, Ji Man was still thinking about old madame¡¯s strange behavior while she went to the southern courtyard with Ning Mingjie. They were going there to look for Ning Errong. Why had old madame wanted here along? It couldn¡¯t be that she was also unhappy about seeing Wen and Ning Mingjie together?


    Hearing that Ning Errong was still dressing up inside, Ji Man led Muxu and Ning Mingjie to stand outside to wait. Ning Mingjie seemed to be in a very good mood. The corners of his mouth had a tendency of curving upwards today. His ck hair was tied up by a jade crown hat. Even though he was wearing a mask, he still gave off a handsome impression.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of a jade crown hat.)


    When Ji Man was reading the light novel, she had kept thinking. The supporting male character was generally a gentle and soft person and was also devastatingly beautiful. He also whole-heartedly only loved the female lead. Why was the female lead so stupid? Why had she stubbornly stayed obsessed with that one person?


    Now that Ji Man was looking at the supporting male character from a close distance, even her heart was skipping. The supporting male character was written for the audience. She was the audience, ah. Thus, he was written for her! Please allow her some time to look at him with starry-eyed infatuation.


    Ning Mingjie was standing five steps away from Nie Sangyu. He had originally been continuously looking at the building in front of them, but the gaze from the side was too ardent. He couldn¡¯t resist tilting his head to nce at her.


    That single nce showed Nie Sangyu looking at him as if she had lost her bearings. Ning Mingjie slightly raised his eyebrows. Find her gaze slightly amusing, he asked, ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    ¡°Sangyu, older brother.¡± Ning Errong¡¯s voice came from the front and Ji Man hurriedly returned to her senses. With a proper expression, Ji Man said, ¡°I was looking to see if your mask was 999 silver or not. I observed for too long. I hope that you can overlook my discourteous behavior.¡±


    Right after saying this, she went to greet Ning Errong.


    What did 999 silver mean? Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t understand her words, but seeing that Ning Errong had alreadye outside, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    (T/N: A piece of silver that¡¯s marked with 999 means that it¡¯s almost pure silver, 99.9% silver.)


    Ning Errong had been especially attentive with her manner of dress today. She was wearing a light pink sleeveless fur jacket and a white dress embroidered with silver thread. She had also put on a thinyer of makeup and there were dangling ornaments in her hair. She truly looked like a <i>junzhu</i>.


    (T/N: <i>Junzhu</i> is one rank lower than princess. The title of <i>junzhu</i> is usually given to a daughter of a first-rank prince. The title can also be bestowed by the emperor¡¯s decree.)


    Ji Man had originally been wondering what old madame had been up to, but she finally understood after seeing Ning Errong.


    Ning Errorng had already reached a marriageable age. No matter how reluctant Marquis Jingwen was, it was still time for her to marry. After going back and forth with looking, Maquis Jingwen still hadn¡¯t found a son-inw that he would be satisfied with. Instead, Ning Errong had said that Nie n¡¯s Qingyun was pretty good.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know when those two had meet for the first time. It hadn¡¯t been written in the book. While Ning Errong had married Nie Qingyunter on, they also ended up divorcing. As for what happened after that, Ji Man didn¡¯t know.


    In this dynasty, divorce was very rare. What had happened for Errong and Nie Qingyun to marry? And, what happened to cause them to divorce, ah? Ji Man¡¯s mind was full of question marks. But, thinking about how she would soon be a spectator with a front row seat, she temporarily restrained her curiosity. She praised Errong¡¯s style of dress as they headed out.


    Old madame had a very good rtionship with Nie n. A singlemand from her had been enough to have Nie Qingyun driving a carriage to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence and waiting outside.


    Seeing theme outside, Nie Qingyun called out, ¡°Sangyu,¡± without greeting anyone else first.


    Ji Man cleverly and cutely pulled Errong along with her as she walked over and sweetly shouted out, ¡°Older brother.¡±

 Chapter 63 - The matchmaker’s task (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 063 out of 513 ¨C The matchmaker¡¯s task (2)


    When he saw herst time, she had been sick. This time, herplexion had improved significantly and she was also very spirited. She was wearing a light yellow dress, a rabbit fur sleeveless jacket embroidered with silver thread at the edges, and dangling golden kingfisher hair ornaments. A single nce told him that she had been living well.


    Nie Qingyun inwardly sighed in relief. He only dotingly stroked Nie Sangyu¡¯s hair for a moment before taking his hand away. Seeing Errong with her head lowered and standing behind Sangyu, he said, ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, you¡¯ve be increasingly fresh and lively sincest year.¡±


    Errong looked at him with a blushing face and quietly said, ¡°Fresh and lively are words used to praise children. You should praise me by saying I¡¯m beautiful.¡±


    Nie Qingyun froze for a moment beforeughing loudly. Then, he looked at Ning Mingjie and said, ¡°Mingjie, your younger sister is much cuter than mine.¡±


    As Ning Mingjie helped Ning Errong onto the carriage, he said, ¡°Qingyun, you¡¯re overpraising her. She only acts obedient when she¡¯s in front of you. When you¡¯re not around, she¡¯s a fiend in human form.¡±


    ¡°Older brother!¡± Ning Errong called out in discontentment from inside the carriage.


    ¡°See, she¡¯s already feeling outraged.¡± Ning Mingjie chuckled before he entered the carriage too.


    Ji Man recalled old madame¡¯s meaningful look and finally understood her tasks for today ¨C go out to buy cold cream and conveniently act as a matchmaker. With her here, old madame had an excuse to have her older brothere along to apany them.


    The carriage was very big, but the exterior appearance was very low-key. The inside of the carriage was very spacious. Ning Errong and Ji Man sat on one side while Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun sat on the other side.


    Right after they had all sat down, it was somewhat quiet and the mood was slightly tense. Ji Man looked at the carriage¡¯s window, rolled up the curtain, and the racket from outside came inside and dissipated the awkward atmosphere.


    ¡°It¡¯s so rare toe out like this.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Older brother, where are you taking us? Errong wanted to see the scenery in the capital.¡±


    Nie Qingyun returned her smile and said, ¡°Old Madame sent a letter to Nie n¡¯s residence early this morning, so I took today off to specially bring the three of you to Luoyan Pagoda*. You¡¯ll have a good view of the capital from there.¡±


    *(T/N: I think the author based it on a historical Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi¡¯an that¡¯s called Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. Below are two pictures.)


    Luoyan Pagoda was the capital¡¯s tallest tower and was built in the center of the capital. It was rumored that when it had been recently built, a giant wild goose had hit the top of the pagoda as it was flying and fell down. And thus, it was named Luoyan (Falling Wild Goose). Wine and tea could be purchased at the highest level, and it was a ce where the literati and elegant schrs spent a lot of money.


    Ning Errong¡¯s little face had been blushing this entire time. She was happy when she heard these words. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to see how tall that pagoda is. Every time I asked my older brother to stroll around the capital with me, he wouldn¡¯t agree. He would rather stay in and drink tea.¡±


    Nie Qingyun was smiling as he nced at Ning Mingjie, ¡°Brother Mingjie has a quiet temperament. Anyways, he has such a good appearance. I¡¯m afraid that he¡¯ll be crushed to death from girls trying to give him sachets and handkerchiefs if he strolls around outside with you. If you want to walk around outside or go shopping, you cane look for me.¡±


    Ning Errong was ted after receiving these words. She seemed as if she was going to jump for joy. Ji Man smiled and also squeezed Errong¡¯s hand in encouragement. But... She looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother¡¯s expression. Although his words were warm and polite, his eyes only showed courteousness without much affection. Errong still had a long way to go.


    ¡ª


    ¡°This is too tall. Do we really have to climb up those stairs by ourselves?¡± Standing in front of Luoyan Pagoda, Ning Errong tilted her head back to look at the top of the pagoda. Her little mouth was gaping.


    Ning Mingjie gently patted her to signal for her to pay attention to her image, then he said, ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a tearoom on every floor. Whenever you¡¯re feeling tired, we¡¯ll stop there, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Ning Errong smiled and eximed, ¡°I¡¯m not good at other things, but I still have strength!¡±


    Ji Man shook he head. This little liar definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to climb to the seventh level.


    Taking a matchmaker¡¯s principle as her own, Ji Man whispered to Nie Qinguin, ¡°When the <i>junzhu</i> gets tiredter, bring her to a tearoom to rest. Don¡¯t insistent for her to keep walking.¡±


    Nie Qingyun tilted his head to look her. With a puzzled expression, he asked, ¡°Why is it me? Isn¡¯t her older brother here?¡±


    He really was a blockhead. Without his attractive appearance, he would definitely be single for the rest of his life if he lived in modern times!


    Ji Man calmly and without stress said, ¡°Her older brother has recently been discussing the philosophy of life with me, so if you don¡¯t see uster, you have to make sure to take care of the <i>junzhu</i>.¡±


    Ning Mingjie had very good hearing. Hearing Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t resist turning his head in curiosity. What did philosophy of life mean? When had he discussed this with her?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with this. Come on.¡± Seeing Ning Mingjie looking at them, Ji Man gave him a meaningful look in the passing.


    Ning Errong didn¡¯t know what was going on, but Nie Qingyun was contemting. The four of them had only brought along two servants. One was Muxu and the other was Baizhi. The rest of the servants were waiting at the Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s first floor.


    The staircase in this pagoda was made of wood and looked very sturdy. Level by level, the stairs stretched upwards. Ji Man admired the paintings and calligraphy scrolls that were hung everywhere in the pagoda as she followed the group in climbing up the levels. She would treat this experience as if she was climbing Qingcheng Mountain again.


    (T/N: Qingcheng Mountain is one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China. Below are an aerial view picture and a picture of the back mountain.)


    Ning Errong had been very happy to climb up the stairs at first. But, by the time they reached the fourth floor, it became somewhat difficult for her to continue. Rubbing her legs, she pitifully looked at Nie Sangyu. She was worried that Nie Qingyun would feel that she was too delicate, so she didn¡¯t say that she wanted to rest.


    ¡°Young Master, I heard there¡¯s an art exhibition on the floor above this one. Let¡¯s go there to look. Errong, you seem kind of tired. How about you rest here for a bit?¡± Ji Man suggested.


    In rare show of being on the right track, Nie Qingyun nodded and said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here with the <i>junzhu</i> to sit for a bit. The two of you can go up first.¡±


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t refuse. He followed behind Nie Sangyu as they went up.


    Ning Mingjie was calm andposed as he walked near her and quietly said, ¡°Your older brother doesn¡¯t seem very interested in Errong.¡±


    Ji Manughed. ¡°Feelings can be nurtured. My older brother is somewhat slow-witted, but Errong is a really good person. She would be a good candidate for a wife.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Just because Ji Man thinks Nie Qingyun is dense, it doesn¡¯t mean this is true. She¡¯s not always the most reliable narrator and she¡¯s only met him twice.

 Chapter 64 - Half of five gold taels (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 064 out of 513 ¨C Half of five gold taels (1)


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t express an opinion to her words. When they reached the fifth floor, he found seats in the tearoom and sat down with Nie Sangyu. Muxu stood at their side.


    On the fifth floor, there was an impressive painting and calligraphy exhibition and many schrs. There were people writing poems and bursts of cheers came from other people from time to time. There were also several clusters of two or three schrs that were discussing the paintings and calligraphy that were hanging on the walls.


    A person that looked like a ceremonial official was standing in the center of the fifth floor. He announced to surrounding people, ¡°The fifth floor is still missing one more poem for today. Is there any young master ordy that¡¯s willing to contribute a poem?¡±


    Ning Mingjie turned his head to briefly look and seemed quite interested. But, the woman sitting across from him was only quietly eating snacks. Her eyes hadn¡¯t even flickered in that direction.


    Ning Mingjie asked, ¡°I heard that you¡¯re pretty good at all four arts of the schr.* Are you not interested in going up to try?¡±


    *(T/N: The Four Arts are <i>guqin</i> (ancient musical instrument), Go, calligraphy, and painting.)


    Nie Sangyu was from an aristocratic family. She would¡¯ve had lessons in these areas since she was a child and should be pretty good in these arts.


    Ji Man had been focused on eating the snacks. Hearing his words, she very indifferently and simply replied, ¡°Poetryes from the heart. Wouldn¡¯t it be going against the core foundation of poetry to apose a poem in order to seek fame?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was stunned. He hadn¡¯t expected that she would be able to say words like these. He immediately didn¡¯t want to try anymore either.


    In the center of the room, there were already a few schrs that had gone up to try writing poems. Ji Man didn¡¯t even look at them. She was only thinking about how to continue promoting the rtionship between her older brother and Errongter on.


    Ning Mingjie was watching the schrs and couldn¡¯t resist saying, ¡°The person on the left wrote a pretty good poem.¡±


    Ji Man finally turned around to look. A schr had written a poem about how wonderful the country was. She twitched her mouth and objected, ¡°I¡¯ve read so many books and my favorite poems are Li Bai*¡¯s unrestrained ones and Li Qingzhao*¡¯s euphemistically ones. The poems up there aren¡¯t up to par.¡±


    * (T/N: Names of two very famous Chinese poets.)


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ning Mingjie was slightly interested. ¡°Who are Li Bai and Li Qingzhao?¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    How could she have forgotten? This was a made-up era. There were many areas where this world was different from history. Naturally, Li Bai, Du Fu, and Li Qingzhao didn¡¯t exist in this world.


    ¡°The two of them are poets that live in the countryside. I was fortunate in being able to read a few of their poems and I thought they were pretty good.¡± Ji Man loudlyughed and skirted around his question.


    Ning Mingjie slightly nodded. Looking at the crumb on the corner of her mouth, there was finally a hint of a smile in his eyes. But, he didn¡¯t point this out to her.


    ¡°Are there any other young master ordy that¡¯s willing to write a poem?¡± The ceremonial official called out. ¡°If there¡¯s no one else, we¡¯ll start judging these poems. The winner will be awarded five gold taels by Louyan Pagoda and his or her poem will be hanged on the wall for others to admire.¡±


    This was the oft referred to literarypetition. Because of this tradition, Luoyan Pagoda attracted countless literati. For people with real talent, but had repeatedly failed their exams, they were able toe here and earn enough for food.


    However, Ning Mingjie shook his head. For people like them, who were from aristocratic families, Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s direct reward of gold taels was considered tacky. He had originally still wanted to try, but now hepletely dismissed this idea.


    Just as he turned his head back to ask Nie Sangyu when she wanted to continue going up the pagoda, he saw that the person sitting across from him had already disappeared.


    Startled, Ning Mingjie looked at the nearby servant girl.


    Muxu noticed his gaze, covered her face, and pointed at the tform in the middle of the room.


    Ji Man had simply moved too quickly. As soon as she heard there was a mary reward, she moved so quickly that it seemed as if she had flew onto the stage. She picked up a brush and seriously said, ¡°It would be too unreasonable to not disy talent if you have it. Since this is a good opportunity tomunicate with others, I¡¯ll alsoe and write a poem?¡±


    Ning Mingjie, ¡°...¡±


    What happened to the core foundation of poetry?


    Since the people here didn¡¯t know Li Bai, winning thispetition would be easy. Ji Man easily picked up the brush and wrote out the title to her favorite poem, ¡°Inviting you to drink wine¡±.


    But, right as she was about to write, ¡°Don¡¯t¡±, she saw the crooked words that she had written with the brush and immediately scrunched up the paper she had written on as fast as lightning. Then, she turned her head and looked at Ning Mingjie with a burning gaze.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ning Mingjie had already stood up and walked to the tform without going up. Looking at the words on the crumpled paper on the ground, he couldn¡¯t resistughing.


    ¡°Young Master, can you write out the words that I say?¡± Ji Man crouched down and whispered guiltily, ¡°My hand hurts...¡±


    Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows. Seeing her pitiful face, he decided to not ask any further questions. He flipped himself onto the tform and took the brush from her hand, ¡°Tell me.¡±


    <i>¡°Don¡¯t you see?</i>


    <i>The water as it pours down from the Heavens and into the Yellow River,</i>


    <i>It surges towards the sea and will never return again.</i>


    <i>Don¡¯t you see?</i>


    <i>Your elderly parents¡¯ sorrow as they look into the mirror and see white hair,</i>


    <i>Their formerly fine ck hair had turned as white as snow in their twilight years.</i>


    <i>Humans should enjoy themselves fully when they have the opportunity,</i>


    <i>Don¡¯t show an empty golden goblet to the moon.</i>


    <i>The heavens created me ¨C I must naturally have a use,</i>


    <i>A thousands coins have been spent, but they will return.</i>


    <i>ughter and cook the sheep and cow for a happy feast,</i>


    <i>We must drink at least three hundred cups of wine tonight.¡±</i>

 Chapter 65 - Half of five gold taels (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 065 out of 513 ¨C Half of five gold taels (2)


    Ji Man¡¯s recitation of the poem had been majestic and Ning Mingjie¡¯s calligraphy was even better. His brush strokes were vigorous and prated the paperpletely. It resembled Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan¡¯s style of writing, but it also contained a degree of unrestrained elegance. It could be assumed that Ning Mingjie¡¯s calligraphy skills weren¡¯t poor.


    (T/N: Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan were the two great masters ofte Tang calligraphy. Below are pictures of their calligraphy.)


    The onlookers were dumbstruck by what they had witnessed. First, they were astonished to see a married woman walk up the tform to write a poem. Then, they were further shocked to see a peerlessly talented man go to the tform to write out the poem for her. And, what left them dumbstruck was, was that really a poem?


    No matter how they looked at it, it didn¡¯t seem like a poem. Moreover, it didn¡¯t seemplete. However, the magnificence of those words was iparable. When they listened to that madam say that poem, it made the audience feel as if they were being guided to the verge of a breakthrough that would free them from the restraints in their hearts.


    Ning Mingjie was also somewhat stunned. Was this a poem that a woman couldpose?


    ¡°And then?¡± He asked.


    Ji Man curved her eyes and smiled, ¡°The official shouted to write one stanza. The section that I¡¯ve already said is enough. Leave it here. If a person of outstanding abilityes, he or she might be able to write out the rest of the poem for me.¡±


    One after another the audience started discussing amongst themselves. Fortunately, Ji Man was wearing a veil and the average person wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize her. It was fine for her to be in the spotlight. It¡¯s not like anything serious would happen because of this.


    The official stroke his beard and looked at the writing for a long time before he finally sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m embarrassed that we, the schrs, aren¡¯t as talented as a lowly woman. Madam, your poem is much more remarkable than the other poems. Unfortunately, there¡¯s only half.¡±


    Ji Man said with a smiling expression, ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just take half of the five gold taels. When someone else can write out the second half of the poem, give the remaining gold taels to that person.¡±


    Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows. He seemed to have suddenly understood something. Nie Sangyu had suddenly rushed up the tform after she heard about the five gold taels.


    She was truly a greedy woman. With her family status, she already had plenty of money, but she actually cared about this pittance of gold. If she were willing topose more poems like this one, he wouldn¡¯t mind giving her gold taels too.


    As he thought of this, he actually found it very interesting. Ning Mingjie saw Nie Sangyu receiving her prize and scampering back to her seat like a rabbit. After the official discussed with Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s servants for a bit, they earnestly hung up that half finished poem on the most eye-catching position on the fifth floor.


    ¡°Starting from today, except for the madam over there, Luoyan Pagoda will pay fifty gold taels to the person that canplete the second half of that poem.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s chin fell the ground. Fifty gold taels? Such spendthrifts! Since they had this money, why wouldn¡¯t they pay it to her?! She had only received two and half gold taels for her writing!


    Feeling indignant, she wanted to go up there and argue, but Ning Mingjie stretched his hand out and stopped her.


    ¡°You gave Luoyan Pagoda a new gimmick.¡± Ning Mingjie curved his lips into a smile and said, ¡°After today, Luoyan Pagoda will definitely be crowded with people for a long time.¡±


    Ji Man quieted down. She understood their reasoning after Ning Mingjie¡¯s exnation. All businesses paid attention to gimmicks. Luoyan Pagoda seemed like it was a high-end teahouse. They were offering fifty gold taels as a tactic to attract more guests toe here and spend money. If she easily wrote out the second half of the poem, it would make the poem worthless.


    While the people around them were eager to try writing out the second half of the poem, the official came over to them and gave Nie Sangyu a cedar token.


    ¡°Madam, when youe to Luoyan Pagoda in the future, as long as that poem is still here, then you and your friends won¡¯t have to pay when youe here.¡± The official shrewdly smiled and said.


    Ji Man behaved judiciously. It would be a waste to not ept this benefit, so she straightforwardly epted the token.


    Ning Mingjie exined, ¡°It¡¯s a great honor for you to receive Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s token.¡±


    It was just a token. Wasn¡¯t it the same as a membership card? What was there to feel honored about? Ji Man snorted twice, then she had the waiter bring some more snacks in the passing. Since this wouldn¡¯t cost her any money, could she get those snacks wrapped up to go?


    Sitting near her, Ning Mingjie carefully looked over Nie Sangyu for a long time.


    Ji Man outwardly pretended that she didn¡¯t notice, but she inwardly scolded him. No matter how much you look at me, I still can¡¯t make flowers blossom out of nowhere. You¡¯ll have a better chance if you go back and look at your female lead.


    (T/N: Just in case that sounds too nonsensical, Ji Man is probably saying this because it¡¯s verymon for artists to draw blooming flowers around the female lead in manga/manhua.)


    A whileter, Errong and Nie Qingyun also came up to the fifth floor. The two of them seemed to be getting along well. Errong¡¯s eyes were full of stars. She approached them, tugged Nie Sangyu¡¯s sleeve, and whispered, ¡°Will you find it awkward to call me older sister-inw in the future?¡±


    Their birthdays hadn¡¯t even been looked at* and she was already thinking about this. Ji Man stroked Errong¡¯s head. This little girl was three years younger than Nie Sangyu and she would actually have to call her older sister-inw. But, this would be pretty good. When Errong and Nie Qingyun stood next to each other, they looked very well matched. Nie Qingyun also wasn¡¯t half-hearted person. The other women at home were all easy to get along with. Errong wouldn¡¯t suffer any grievances.


    * (T/N: In historical times, before a couple could be married, a matchmaker would have to check if two people werepatible by looking at their birthdays and birth hours.)


    ¡°When you get engaged to my older brother, I¡¯ll embroider your wedding dress for you.¡± Ji Man said.


    Ning Errong felt even happier. She skipped over to Ning Mingjie¡¯s side and circled around him once before she suddenly stopped, ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ning Mingjie lowered his head to look at her.


    ¡°Older brother, you seem to be in a very good mood. What happened recently?¡± Ning Errong asked in surprise. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen you with that expression in a long time.¡±


    Ji Man thought, the mask hid half of Ning Mingjie¡¯s face. How could Errong see his expression?


    ¡°I was thinking that scenery here is pretty good. Let¡¯s continue going up.¡± Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t mention what had recently happened or even look at Nie Sangyu again before he went towards the stairs.


    Ning Errong thoughtfully looked at Nie Sangyu. Her sensitive teenage heart felt there was something wrong.


    Her older brother acted courteous towards everyone, but she could tell that he distanced himself from everyone. He originally didn¡¯t have any good impression towards Sangyu, ah. Why did it seem like they had be good friends during today?


    Anyways, her older brother was always sensible. She didn¡¯t have to worry about him. Instead, she should be focusing on figuring out how to get Nie Qingyun to think highly of her.


    ¡ª


    During the rest of the day, Ji Man created countless opportunities for Nie Qingyun and Errong. The two of them seem liked they were getting along well. But, when Nie Qingyun was bringing them back home, the courteous words that he said made people feel alienated, ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, you should go to rest early. Sangyu, behave in the marquis¡¯s residence and don¡¯t cause trouble.¡±


    Ji Man looked at the disappointment in Errong¡¯s eyes and followed his words with a sigh.


    ¡ª


    Reading the half written poem that was hanging on Louyan Pagoda¡¯s fifth floor, the onlookers clicked their tongues in admiration and spread the news. Ji Man wouldn¡¯t have anticipated that this simple poem wouldter end up attracting a hugemotion.


    Trantor Ramblings: I really like the little snippet from Errong¡¯s POV where she¡¯s the only one that notices something different about her older brother and how close these siblings are. I almost wish the rest of the story is just Errong, Ji Man, Mingjie, and Qingyun going out on double dates.

 Chapter 66 - This brainless woman (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 066 out of 513 ¨C This brainless woman (1)


    During dinnertime, Ji Man went over to old madame¡¯s courtyard to report today¡¯s outing. She picked a few good moments to talk about. Knowing that old madame also had the intention of ying matchmaker, she said, ¡°When my older brother has free time, Sangyu will invite him over here to walk around the residence.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a sensible one.¡± Old madame patted her hand and smiled very happily. ¡°Noble Consort Nie has always been worried that you wouldn¡¯t be able to figure things out and would stay depress. Right now, you¡¯re well behaved and I don¡¯t have to worry about you. Xuan-<i>er</i> must be blind to like that narrow-minded ything.¡±


    These words carried quite a bit of anger. Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    What had happened in the residence while they were out today?


    Old madame¡¯s face sunk. She lightly snorted and said, ¡°She came to my courtyard in the afternoon to serve tea and I didn¡¯t drink her tea. I don¡¯t like scented teas* to begin with and she had brought osmnathus flower tea, the one that I dislike the most. It was only a small matter, but she ran to Xuan-<i>er</i> and cried out her grievances. She thought that Xuan-<i>er</i> would side with her. She¡¯s reallycking in the ability to make discerning judgments. I raised Xuan-<i>er</i> for so many years. Did she think that he would value a wild woman over me?¡±


    * (T/N: Scented teas are made using a base of ck, green, white, or oolong teas and blended with flower petals.)


    Ji Man could guess what had really happened. Old madame had definitely given Wen Wan a hard time again and the female lead had a heart that was made of ss. Her heart must have broken, so she went to the male lead to tearfullyin. The male lead must have been in a dilemma. In the end, the matter was resolved by leaving it unsettled.


    On one side, it was his wife. On the other side, it was his mother. Ji Man insincerely thought; Marquis Moyu was so pitiful. After gloating over his misfortune for a while, she said with a serious expression, ¡°Madam has only recently enter this household and doesn¡¯t know your likes and dislikes. Old Madame, why be with angry with her?¡±


    ¡°I just dislike her vixen-like appearance,¡± Old madame said with a calm expression. ¡°Ning n has been a noble family for generations and has received the emperor¡¯s favor. Every main wife has been carefully selected, and yet that person...¡±


    Old madame didn¡¯t say the rest of these words, but Ji Man could guess. Because Wen Wan wasn¡¯t the person that old madame had chosen, old madame would never find her pleasing to look at. In this aspect, the female lead was meless. But, this female lead was clearly not clever enough. If she couldn¡¯t even endure the slight grievance, how would she be able to sort out such arge household?


    ¡°A few days ago, she brought me this month¡¯s ount book to look over. It was a total mess. It would have better to have a concubine managed it.¡± The more that old madame spoke, the more incensed she became. ¡°Why did Xuan-<i>er</i> marry her? She doesn¡¯t know how to manage a household or how to respect to her mother-inw. She only knows how to beguile people.¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t be good for Ji Man to interrupt, so she just listened to old madame¡¯sints.


    However, after old madame finished her tirade, she looked at Nie Sangyu and considered for a while. She said, ¡°How about I speak with Xuan-<i>er</i> and have you manage the household ounts?¡±


    Startled, Ji Man said, ¡°Ah? Why not give it to Mistress Ling?¡±


    Qi Siling had previously been the one managing the ounts, and she had been doing a pretty good job too.


    ¡°In the end, she¡¯s still an outsider.¡± Old madame meaningfully looked at her.


    After Ji Man thought it over, she understood old madame¡¯s meaning. The marquis¡¯s residence¡¯s ounts were veryrge and it was possible for the person managing the ounts to extract ill-gotten gains. Even if it was only the ounts for the marquis¡¯s inner court, there were still many tricks that could be done in between. So, the control of these ounts naturally had to be held by someone that old madame trusted.


    ¡°But, will the marquis agree?¡± Ji Man worriedly asked. If Wen Wan lost the power over managing the ounts, then she wouldn¡¯t have any prestige left as the main wife.


    ¡°Even if he doesn¡¯t want to agree, he¡¯ll still have to.¡± Old madame¡¯s face was serious as she said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you return the jade waist essory that signifies the secondary wife positionst time? It¡¯s enough to show that you¡¯re a sensible person. I¡¯ll have him see the errors that Wen Wan made this time and hand the ount book over to me. You can help me manage the ount book in the background and he naturally won¡¯t be able to say anything.¡±


    Words have already been said to this point. Ji Man had to agree. Although this would be very tiring, once she managed the inner court¡¯s ounts, her existence would be more popr than the main wife¡¯s despite her status as a concubine. When Steward Qian sent charcoal to her the next time, he would definitely send tworge baskets of first-ss charcoal.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was sitting in her room and silently crying. Marquis Moyu was standing by her side. He sighed and said, ¡°Mother¡¯s temperament has always been like that. You¡¯ll just have to ept the unfair treatment for now.¡±


    ¡°How long will I have to endure this unfair treatment?¡± Wen Wan raised her eyes to look at him. ¡°You¡¯re always siding with your mother. Even if she¡¯s the one that¡¯s wrong, you¡¯ll only tell me to endure. You used to treat me so well before I married you. But now, you¡¯re always telling me to suffer grievance after grievance.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had a slight headache, but he couldn¡¯t bear to show anger towards Wen Wan. He could only tenderly persuade her, ¡°Household matters aren¡¯t just about you and me. Why are you putting me in this difficult position?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that I¡¯m putting you in a difficult position?¡± Wen Wan angrily stood up. With red eyes, she ran to the bed and rolled herself into the quilt as she cried and said, ¡°Then I won¡¯t make you suffer. Just divorce me!¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°Wen Wan, think before you speak.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only saying the truth. She¡¯s always giving me a hard time when I go to the main courtyard. Nothing I do is right. It¡¯ll be better if I don¡¯t stay here!¡± Wen Wan¡¯s crying sounded awful.


    Ning Yuxuan took a step forward. He wanted tofort her, but then he thought, the reason her temper had developed into this state was because he had spoiled her. He immediately took a step back and coldly said, ¡°Since you like to vent your feelings and cause a fuss, then just continue by yourself.¡±


    After saying this, he turned around and walked out of Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan cried even louder, but this didn¡¯t stop Ning Yuxuan from leaving.


    At first, he felt that she was very pitiful when she was crying. It made him feel sympathetic towards her and want to pamper her. But now, when she hysterically cried, it just made him feel ufortable and want to leave.

 Chapter 67 - This brainless woman (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 067 out of 513 ¨C This brainless woman (2)


    Without noticing, his feet had led him to Feiwan Courtyard. Nie Sangyu was currently pruning the plum tree in her courtyard. Her sleeves were tied up and her hair was loosely tied behind her back instead of being arranged into an borate hairstyle. She looked gentle and soft.


    In the past, Nie Sangyu was the person that he disliked to see the most. But now, the more he looked at her, the more he found her pleasing to look at. Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t help silently cursing himself. How could he think of Feiwan Courtyard as a ce that would put his mind at ease?


    Ji Man¡¯s back was facing the entrance, so she didn¡¯t see Marquis Moyu. But, Muxu, who was standing nearby, saw him. However, this young girl had spent a lot of time with Ji Man and had be much smarter. She immediately left without making a sound.


    ¡°Muxu, where¡¯s my handkerchief?¡± Ji Man¡¯s hands had been stained by dirt. She was in a very good mood as she looked at the plum tree she had just finished pruning.


    There was someone standing near her. The person wordlessly took out a handkerchief, grabbed her hand, and wiped her hand clean bit by bit.


    Finding something off about the situation, Ji Man turned her head and saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gentle eyes.


    Her hand instinctively pulled away from his.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t get angry. He only looked at her as he asked, ¡°Why are you in such a leisurely mood today?¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed and said, ¡°Winter has arrived and the courtyard is feeling bleak, so this servant has been trimming this plum tree. This way, this servant will feel happier seeing this tree from inside my room.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at the plum tree in front of them and his eyes were rather disdainful as he said, ¡°You¡¯ll feel happy looking at this mess of a tree?¡±


    The way she had trimmed it look way too ugly.


    Ji Man was grinding her teeth as she forced herself to smile. Then, how else should she prune it? Was he expecting her to prune it into the shape of Hello Kitty? She had already cut down all of the branches that looked ugly!


    ¡°Hand that over to me.¡± He stretched his hand out. His slender fingers were simply perfection.


    Ji Man gulped and handed over the slightly dirty shears.


    Ning Yuxuan took the shears and looked at the plum tree for a few moments, then he stretched his hands out and swiftly started to cut away the superfluous branches and twigs. He left behind the trunk and small, nicely shaped branches. Compared to the lush growth from before, the plum tree finally had the feeling of winter¡¯s bleakness.


    Ji Man felt that Marquis Moyu¡¯s standard of beauty was slightly strange, but she didn¡¯t have courage to say this thought out loud. She could only agreeably say, ¡°Ah, it looks much better.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan dropped the shears to the side, took the handkerchief from her hand, and wiped his hands. Then, he was silent for a moment before he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be sleeping here tonight.¡±


    A nce was enough to tell that Ji Man that he was feeling troubled again. Ji Man was already used to this. Every time this person was feeling troubled or had an argument with Wen Wan, he would alwayse to her ce.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan stayed in her room and cried for an entire afternoon. Her eyes were swollen when Qi Siling came by.


    ¡°Why are you doing this to yourself?¡± Qi Siling sighed and said, ¡°You have a ce in the marquis¡¯s heart. Why are you in a rush to force him?¡±


    ¡°Siling, what should I do?¡± Wen Wen said in an aggrieved tone, ¡°I feel that he doesn¡¯t love me as much as before.¡±


    Qi Siling paused, then she said, ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things. You know how much the marquis protects you. It¡¯s only that Old Madame has always been thinking about returning Nie Sangyu to the position of main wife. No matter what you do, she won¡¯t care.¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips, ¡°Then, at worse, I¡¯ll just give her the position of main wife. I just want Yuxuan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying nonsense.¡± Qi Siling shook her head and said, ¡°On the day that you give the position of main wife to Nie Sangyu, no one in this household will be able to live peacefully.¡±


    Wen Wan look like she was about to cry again. ¡°Then, what do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°This matter is actually very easy to deal with,¡± Qi Siling said. ¡°Old Madame is only causing trouble for you because of Nie Sangyu, so think of a way to get rid of her. Once Old Madame is no longer thinking about her, she naturally won¡¯t make life difficult for you anymore.¡±


    Wen Wan widened her eyes. After thinking over these words for a while, she actually thought that Qi Siling¡¯s words were reasonable.


    But, how could she get rid of Nie Sangyu? She had old madame¡¯s protection.


    ¡°If Madam believes in me, just follow my instructions. Nie Sangyu already has a corrupt reputation. Catch her with any crime and you can make her die without a burial site.¡± As Qi Siling said these words, she was slightly agitated and made Wen Wan look at her doubtfully.


    ¡°Why do you have such a bias against her?¡±


    Qi Siling pursed her lips and lightly smiled, ¡°If someone wanted to carve your face, you¡¯ll naturally be very biased against her.¡±


    Wen Wan thought about things that Marquis Moyu had told her about Nie Sangyu and nodded. She decided to believe Qi Siling.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Today, I¡¯ll tell you one of Hans Christian Andersen¡¯s children fairy tales.¡± Ji Man was lying in bed. She couldn¡¯t resist patting Ning Yuxuan¡¯s back like she was coaxing a child as she said, ¡°In the depths of the sea, there lived a young mermaid...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan quietly listened. His peach blossom eyes weren¡¯tpletely closed as he looked at her delicate, rosy neck. He actually felt an impulse in his mind.


    ¡°The mermaid fell in love with the prince and decided to exchange her voice for a pair of legs with the witch...¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t notice anything. Anyways, Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t been interested in her during the past several times, so she had considerably let down her guard.


    ¡°Later on, the prince fell in love with the princess and was going to marry her. The young mermaid couldn¡¯t speak. She could only secretly cry...¡±


    ¡°... In the end, the young mermaid turned into bubbles and disappeared into the sea.¡± Ji Man sighed as she said thest word. Just as she was about to ask if he had any thoughts about this story, she suddenly felt warmth on her neck.


    Trantor Ramblings: Poor plum tree. You were the unfortunate innocent victim of marital dispute.

 Chapter 68 - Confusing amorous desires in the snowy night (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 068 out of 513 ¨C Confusing amorous desires in the snowy night (1)


    Ning Yuxuan had lightly kissed her neck. His warm lips made her shudder. While Ji Man was still feeling dazed, she felt something wet gently licking her.


    No matter how much willpower she had, she couldn¡¯t force herself to tolerate this! After taking several deep breaths, she still couldn¡¯t restrain her impulse. With one shove, she pushed Ning Yuxuan away.


    His gaze seemed somewhat confused and wasn¡¯t the same as normal. Ji Man strangely felt somewhat afraid. After she calmed herself down, she asked, ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong? This servant hasn¡¯t taken a bath. This servant didn¡¯t think that you would...¡±


    She had even said she hadn¡¯t taken a bath! But, Ning Yuxuan seemed as if he hadn¡¯t heard her words. With one hand, he pulled her body close to his and seemed as if he wanted to kiss her lips. But, he paused and there seemed to be a struggle in his eyes and his breath was heated.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ji Man felt that there was off about him. But, a momentter, she felt there was something wrong with her body too. Her entire body felt as if it was burning. She wanted to embrace the person in front of her. Her body felt empty.


    When amorous feelings were surging upwards, a person¡¯s mind would be muddle-headed. Ji Man felt very hot, and the person hugging her felt even hotter. Perhaps, the charcoal fire in her room was too exuberant. She should go extinguish it.


    Right after she left the bed, the person behind her overbearingly carried her back to the bed, and pressed so closely down on her that their breath intermingled.


    Their sleeping clothes were tossed from the bed and the person on top of her was unstable and edgy. Ji Man¡¯s mind was a muddled mess. Unexpectedly, she subconsciously wanted tofort him. She stretched her hand out and patted his back.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were red and he bit down on her vicle. Ji Man let out a yelp of pain. Then, he suddenly became gentle again and gently licked the bite mark.


    In the midst of this dibobting period, Ji Man seemed to hear the sound of Nie Sangyu crying, but she was alsoughing as she cried. It sounded miserable and intive. Ji Man really wanted to open her mouth and ask her what was wrong, but Ning Yuxuan had drawn her into a whirlpool and she couldn¡¯t escape.


    Ji Man muddle-headedly thought; he was really proving himself to be a man with many women. He probably wouldn¡¯t make her feel too much pain. Although she had never been with someone before, she wasn¡¯t a conservative person. She didn¡¯t really care that much if she lost her first time. If she wasn¡¯t doing this with someone that she truly liked, then it didn¡¯t have any special meaning. She would just treat this experience as if she had gone out and found a prostitute.


    But, just as she was about to lose herself into these sensations, the person above her carefully kissed her face and quietly called out, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>...¡±


    Her eyes, ears, and nose seemed to suddenly return to her control. Ji Man became clear-headed. The pain of a heart curling up into a ball abruptly returned her to her senses.


    This was Nie Sangyu¡¯s heart, but she was the one that felt the pain. Ji Man took a deep breath and looked at the man in front of her. Right now, he was gentler and more captivating than any other previous moment. She grimlyughed once before pushing him off the bed.


    Feeling ufortably hot, Ji Man gritted her teeth and put on her sleeping clothes. Looking at the displeased Marquis Moyu, she helped him up and put his clothes on for him.


    Ning Yuxuan just felt that he really wanted the person in front of him. There had never been a time when he failed to obtain the things that he wanted. Just as Ji Man was about to put on his belt, he pushed her hand away. With his eyebrow furrowed, he tightly embraced her again.


    Ji Man knew that the two of them had fallen into someone¡¯s scheme. There was definitely something wrong with their bodies. Looking at his somewhat impatient expression, she hurriedly jabbed his chest with her finger as she said, ¡°Ning Yuxuan, you¡¯re the male...lead! You have to remember. It¡¯s immoral for you to sleep with other women behind Madam¡¯s back. Hurry and sober up! I¡¯ll bring you back to Qiangwei Courtyard!¡±


    ¡°When is your mouth going to say something that I want to hear?¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his head and angrily bit down on Ji Man¡¯s lips. ¡°You¡¯re also my woman. Why are you making me leave?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Being tightly hugged by him, her body was also reacting. But, even though this was Nie Sangyu¡¯s body, she still didn¡¯t want to do it with a man that was thinking about another woman. It would be such a loss. Perhaps, when he returned to his senses, he might even me her and say she had seduced him. Why bother?


    ¡°My lord, please let go of this servant first.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± Ning Yuxuan angrily said, ¡°Why are you always running away from me?¡±


    Ji Man gritted her teeth. She really couldn¡¯t put up with this anymore. She straightforwardly picked a nearby vase. She would smash this against the back of his head and knock him out.


    When her hand had reached halfway, his hand grabbed her hand. Ning Yuxuan narrowed his eyes, ¡°nning on murdering your husband? Nie Sangyu, who gave you this courage to attack me?¡±


    If you weren¡¯t such a beast, no one would hit you! Flustered and exasperated, she used a lot of force to bite down on his wrist. It was so painful that it immediately made Ning Yuxaun clear-headed. He reflexively flung his hand and threw Ji Man off the bed. Ji Man wasn¡¯t able to steady herself in time. She ended up hitting the wall behind her and groaning.


    There were teeth marks on his wrist and he could already see blood. This woman had actually been wiling to bite him. Just as Ning Yuxuan was about to explode in anger, Nie Sangyu had already opened the doors.


    It had already started snowing at an unknown time. The snowy windy blew away the heat inside the room. Both of them shivered from the st of cold.


    Ji Man endured the difort of her body as she turned around and put on her outer clothing and cloak after taking them down from the divider. She saluted Marquis Moyu and said, ¡°When the marquis has finished resting, please carefully examine my courtyard tomorrow and see who was behind tonight¡¯s event. That person even used such a despicable drug.¡±


    ¡°This servant will go your Errong¡¯s room to sleep for a night and order someone to bring water for youter. You should take a bath and go to sleep early.¡± After saying this, she ran toward the heavy snowfall as if she was fleeing from death.


    Trantor Ramblings: Yay, finally a novel where people don¡¯t sumb to aphrodisiac.

 Chapter 69 - Confusing amorous desires in the snowy night (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 069 out of 513 ¨C Confusing amorous desires in the snowy night (2)


    Marquis Moyu had been silently standing in the room until Muxu stopped at the doorway and cautiously announced that she had brought hot water. He turned around and hoarsely said, ¡°Come in.¡±


    His self-control had always been very good. Why had he lost control today? It definitely wasn¡¯t because of Nie Sangyu. He wasn¡¯t so desperate that he couldn¡¯t choose another alternative. But when he had realized that he had been drugged, he didn¡¯t resist. Instead, he had been willing to go along.


    He didn¡¯t know when his feelings had changed. He already no longer loathed Nie Sangyu as much as before. He would even asionally feel that she was pretty good and that he was the one that had wronged her.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man wildly rushed to the southern courtyard to look for Ning Errong. It wasn¡¯t toote and Errong might not even be asleep yet. She couldn¡¯t drive Ning Yuxuan away and she absolutely couldn¡¯t go to old madame¡¯s ce. After quickly thinking things over, her only option was to go look for Ning Errong.


    As she stood outside in the courtyard as the snow fell, the heat in her body slow dissipated. Ji Man silently repeated, <i>form is emptiness and emptiness is form</i>* for a long time before she finally calmed down.


    * (T/N: Part of a popr Buddhist sutra.)


    Fortunately, it hadn¡¯t been the legendary medicine where you would die if you didn¡¯t copte. It had only stirred up their hormones and caused them to be horny. After the period passed, the symptoms naturally went away by themselves.


    ¡ª


    When Ning Errong heard Baizhi announce someone¡¯s arrival, she was discussing her marriage with Marquis Jingwen and Ning Mingjie. She liked Nie Qingyun, but Marquis Jingwen still had some apprehensions. The three of them hadn¡¯t finished discussing this matter when Baizhi came into the room to say that Sangyu hade over.


    It waste evening and she had heard that her cousin was staying at Sangyu¡¯s ce tonight. Why had shee over? Ning Errong was very scared and worried. She hurriedly told her father and older brother that it was gettingte and sent them away. Then, she quickly went outside.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Seeing Nie Sangyu standing alone in the snow, Ning Errong worriedly went over to her and helped her walk inside. ¡°Did you make my cousin angry?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s response was dyed. Her face had already turned thoroughly red from cold. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just need you to let me sleep over for a night.¡±


    Ning Errong supported her as they walked into her inner room. She signaled for Baizhi to leave, then she asked, ¡°Everything had been going fine. How can you not have a ce to sleep?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that so.¡± Ji Man bitterly smiled and said, ¡°I just want to peacefully live my life. I don¡¯t know who put something unclean in my room. Just now, with your cousin, we almost...¡±


    She didn¡¯t finish her sentence, but Errong understood her meaning. Errong patted her chest and sighed in relief, ¡°Thank goodness, nothing bad happened.¡±


    The room was silent for a while. Ning Errong suddenly gasped, jumped up, and looked at Nie Sangyu as she said, ¡°What almost happened? You¡¯ve already married my cousin a long time ago. Someone tried to help the two of you improve your rtionship. Why would you run away?¡±


    Ji Man was almost scared to death by her. She hurriedly pulled her down to sit and said, ¡°Speak quieter!¡±


    Ning Errong looked at her in absolute confusion. ¡°You seem like you¡¯re enduring to the point of pain. Do you really need to y hard to get to this level?


    You¡¯re the one that¡¯s ying hard to get! Your whole family is ying hard to get!


    Ji Man did her best to calm down, then she exined, ¡°He despises me and doesn¡¯t want to bestow favor on me. He onlyes to my ce to hear stories. Since Madam has entered this household, he rarely bestows favor on anyone else. He¡¯s probably determined to be a good male lead and love Madam whole-heartedly. If I let him have a good time with me while he¡¯s drugged at this point in time, nothing good will happen. He would probably think I was behind it and despise me even more.¡±


    Ning Errong turned these words over in her head. They seemed reasonable. It was surprising that Sangyu was able to resist herself and also consider things so thoroughly. After the night of love passed, her cousin might even order her to move to the confinement courtyard on the next day.


    ¡°Besides, he called out Wen Wan¡¯s name at the most critical point.¡± Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°If I were willing to sleep with that type of man, then I must be blind.¡±


    Startled, Ning Errong looked at the sorry looking person in front of her and her nose felt slightly sour. She lightly squeezed Sangyu¡¯s hand and didn¡¯t say a word.


    Why did Errong look like she was trying tofort her? Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. She said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to feel bad for me. This was only to be expected. He likes Wen Wan. This is something that everyone in this household knows. What¡¯s the point in me trying to struggle or fight for his affections? It¡¯ll be okay. I¡¯ll just do my best to live a good life.¡±


    ¡°En, then I¡¯ll have someone bring a pillow and quilt for you. You can sleep in my bed.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man was truly feeling tired. Seeing Ning Errong opening the doors and leaving, she let out a yawn and leaned against the cushioned couch to rest for a bit. Her body still felt achy, especially her back. She had really collided hard against the wall. If they were in modern times, she would definitely sue him for domestic violence!


    While thinking of these thoughts, Ji Man drift off into sleep. She had used up too much energy and was exhausted.


    Right after Ning Errong stepped outside, she saw someone standing by the doorway. Just as she was about to let out a startled yelp, Ning Mingjie covered her mouth with his hand.


    ¡°Older brother, why haven¡¯t you returned to your room?¡± Ning Errong swallowed down her instinctive response and curiously asked.


    ¡°I came back to get an umbre. It¡¯s snowing very heavily.¡± After Ning Mingjie said this, he looked towards the inside of her room. ¡°It¡¯s surprising that she ran over to your ce. She¡¯s quite strange.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I didn¡¯t notice this the first time I read the story. But, at this point in the story, isn¡¯t Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun¡¯s rtionship repeating Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s? One side knows the other one person isn¡¯t interested and yet, she¡¯s still pushing forward with the marriage. Yes, Nie Qingyun is a very different type of person from Ning Yuxuan, so we can expect their marital life to be different. But isn¡¯t there something fundamentally wrong with forcing someone, who¡¯s not interest in you, into marriage and epting your one-sided feelings? From what we¡¯ve been shown so far, Ning Qingyun is an astute person. He¡¯s not the emotionally dense person that Ji Man thinks he is. He¡¯s aware of Ning Errong¡¯s very obvious feelings and he deliberately keeps distance between them to avoid giving her false hope.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 70 - Occasionally gentle (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 070 out of 513 ¨C asionally gentle (1)


    Ning Errong sighed and said, ¡°Other than my room, where else would she be able to peacefully sleep in this residence? I feel bad for her. I¡¯ll have Baizhi bring her back to her room early tomorrow morning. Older brother, don¡¯t tell anyone about this.¡±


    ¡°Do I seem like a person that gossips?¡± Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows.


    Ning Errong swung his hand back and forth as she fawningly said, ¡°Of course not. Older brother is iparably handsome, talented, and elegant.¡±


    Ning Mingjie harrumphed. Standing at the doorway, he looked at the person lying on the cushioned couch. He had naturally heard all of the words that she had recently said. This woman¡¯s mind was unexpectedly quite profound. If he put it nicely, she was clever. If he didn¡¯t put it nicely, he would describe her as deeply scheming woman. But, as long as she wasn¡¯t harming anyone, he wouldn¡¯t be considered her a sinister person.


    Ning Mingjie thought of the poem that she hadposed at Luoyan Pagoda and connected it with the words that he had heard her say today. He felt that if this woman was truly Nie Sangyu, then there was no way that she would have lost her position as the main wife.


    Baizhi came back with a pillow and quilt and sent the other servants farther away to avoid anyone spreading gossip. But, Ji Man was already asleep on the cushioned couch, and her face was even slightly flushed and her lips were faintly white.


    Baizhi¡¯s face was crumpled as she awkwardly said, ¡°Miss, this servant isn¡¯t strong enough to carry her.¡±


    Baizhi¡¯s face was crumpled as she awkwardly said, ¡°Miss, this servant isn¡¯t strong enough to carry her.¡±


    Ning Errong waved her hand, ¡°It¡¯s fine. She can just sleep on the cushioned couch.¡±


    Ning Mingjie found the situation funny and said, ¡°The cushioned couch is by the window. The paper windows can¡¯t block the cold. If you let her sleep here, she¡¯ll definitely be sick by tomorrow.¡±


    After saying this, seeing as there weren¡¯t any outsiders in the room, he didn¡¯t have to adhere to the rules as strictly as normal. He effortlessly picked Nie Sangyu up and gently ced her down on Ning Errong¡¯s bed.


    Errong gaped, then she turned her head and stared at Baizhi as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t gossip about this.¡±


    Baizhi lowered her head and said, ¡°Miss, you don¡¯t have to worry. This servant understands.¡±


    Her older brother seemed to have be more interested in peopletely. The previous him wouldn¡¯t have even flickered his eyes if he saw an unrted person sleeping on a cushioned couch near the window. But today, he had actually carried a person to her bed of his own initiative.


    Ning Errong couldn¡¯t resist taking two steps forward. She wanted to get a closer look of Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression.


    However, after Ning Mingjie ced Sangyu down on her bed, he took several steps back. There wasn¡¯t any emotion on his face and he only said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to my room.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ning Errong walked him to the entrance and watched as he opened the umbre and slowly disappeared into the snowy night. Then, she turned around to take care of Sangyu.


    ¡ª


    When the sky wasn¡¯t bright yet, Errong woke Sangyu up. She wanted to send her back to Feiwan Courtyard. It wouldn¡¯t be good to wait until the sky was bright to leave. There would be too many people walking around then.


    And so, Ji Man got up. Even though her entire body ached, she still gritted her teeth and followed Baizhi.


    Ning Yuxuan had probably already left Feiwan Courtyard. The snow had also stopped, but her shoes were thin and her feet felt numbed as she stepped into the snow. Right now, Ji Man just wanted to go back to her room and continue sleeping. She needed to sleep at least two days to recover her energy and spirit.


    ¡°This servant will stop here,¡± At the southern courtyard¡¯s entrance, Baizhi saluted. ¡°If people see this servant with you, it won¡¯t be good. Just act as if you hade outside for a stroll.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man nodded, wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, and continued walking.


    There were very few servant girls that like to wake up early, especially on a bitterly cold day like today. But, coincidentally, Sonn had an errand outside of the residence today. Just as she passed by the southern courtyard, she saw Nie Sangyu wrapped up in a cloak and walking out of the southern courtyard.


    This was very bad news. The marquis had stayed at Feiwan Courtyardst night. Why was Nie Sangyu at the southern courtyard? She hurriedly turned around and walked away to avoid being seen. She ran back all the way to Jiyue Courtyard to report this information to Qi Siling.


    ¡ª


    Just as Ji Man entered Feiwan Courtyard, she saw Ning Yuxuan quietly drinking tea inside her room.


    Her head immediately felt heavy. Ji Man was so tired that she didn¡¯t even want to raise her hand. She didn¡¯t feel like voicing any usations or asking him why he was here either. She directly went inside, passed by him, dropped herself on the bed, and buried herself into her quilt.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly narrowed his eyes. He thought she would at least acknowledge her wrongdoings when she came back. Instead, she had actually ignored him? He had woken up early this morning to wait for her and this was her response? He hadn¡¯t even settled yesterday¡¯s ount with her.


    With a ckened expression, he walked to the bed. Just as he was about erupt in anger, he saw her red cheeks. Marquis Moyu froze for a moment. He stretched his hand out to check her temperature. She seemed slightly feverish.


    Everything had be hazy as soon as Ji Man dropped herself into bed. She didn¡¯t know what was happening around her. In the midst of white mist, she seemed to see Nie Sangyu.


    Nie Sangyu had finally stopped crying. Instead, she was nkly looking at her. Compared tost time, her body looked even more transparent.


    ¡°I want to go home.¡± Ji Man seriously said.


    Nie Sangyu fled in panic. Ji Man gritted her teeth and chased after her. But after a long time passed, she finally couldn¡¯t keep up with her speed and lost her.


    This woman, what exactly did she want, ah? Ji Man squatted down in ce and silently hugged herself. It was truly exhausting to live in this world.


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu had fallen ill after one night of serving Marquis Moyu. Her high temperature was somewhat difficult to deal with. He had seen that her shoes were soaked from melted snow in the early morning and had ordered Muxu to bring hot water. But the hot bath and change of clothes hadn¡¯t worked. She was still feverish.


    Old madame alternated between ming Marquis Moyu for not having tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex and telling him to spend more time with Sangyu when he had free time.


    Ning Yuxuanplied and didn¡¯t leave the residence today. He directly returned to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Wen Wan nkly stood in ce. She had originally wanted to say a few gentle words to Ning Yuxuan, but his eyes never looked at her on his way to Feiwan Courtyard.


    In a split second, she felt as if she was going to copse. Was she no longer in Yuxuan¡¯s eyes? How could he not see her?! Wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu the person that he despised the most? How could he have passed by her instead of stopping just because of Nie Sangyu?


    ¡°Madam, keep calm.¡± Qi Siling stood next to Wen Wan and supported her. Looking at the direction that the marquis had departed in, she said, ¡°This concubine has seen Nie Sangyu reveal her evil nature. As long as we find the right opportunity, the marquis will definitely send her back into confinement.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s small face was deathly pale. She forced herself to say, ¡°Really...¡±


    ¡°Madam, you have to believe in this concubine,¡± Qi Siling said.

 Chapter 71 - Occasionally gentle (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 071 out of 513 ¨C asionally gentle (2)


    Ji Man woke up in the afternoon, but her head felt woozy after sitting up, so she lied back down again.


    Ning Yuxuan transferred the bowl of thin congee to the other hand and used his other hand to help her sit up and lean against his shoulder. He expressionlessly asked, ¡°Why are you so delicate?¡±


    Ji Man was too tired to talk to him. Her mouth was dry. She didn¡¯t feel hungry even when she saw the congee.


    But, Ning Yuxuan scooped up a spoonful of congee and overbearingly forced it past her lips and into her mouth.


    ¡°This servant can¡¯t bear the honor of being fed congee by the marquis.¡± Ji Man was so angry by his action that a vein on her temple was throbbing. Who would act so crudely towards a sick person? Did she owe him something in a previous life?


    ¡°Then, you should feel deeply grateful,¡± Ning Yuxing lightly snorted. After stuffing her with a bowl of congee while she was dazed, he also fed her two pieces of spicy dried radish to improve the taste in her mouth.


    Ji Man was peeved, but she didn¡¯t have the strength to respond. She could only let him do as he pleased. Her eyes were feeling so tired that she didn¡¯t even want to keep them open. She only said, ¡°It¡¯s easy to catch a cold. My lord, you should leave.¡±


    For an inexplicable reason, Marquis Moyu seemed to be in a good mood. After tucking her in, he said, ¡°I¡¯m not a person that easily gets sick. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    Ji Man clenched her teeth. Who was worried about him getting sick? She was merely finding his presence annoying!


    Muxu hurriedly came into the room to wipe Nie Sangyu¡¯s body with medicinal liquid and also feed her medicine.


    Looking at Muxu, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°It¡¯s really tiring to be your servant girl. Muxu, I¡¯m giving you two days off. You can leave the residence and visit your family.¡±


    ¡°This...¡± Although Muxu really wanted to take a vacation... ¡°My master is sick. What will she do if there¡¯s no one to take care of her?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be here. You can leave.¡± Marquis Moyu waved his hand.


    And so, Muxu quickly left the room.


    Ji Man¡¯s head felt muzzy from her fever. Although she heard their conversation, she couldn¡¯tprehend the meaning of their words. In this midst of her confusion, someone took off her clothes and wiped her entire body down with a handkerchief that was dampened with medicinal liquid. The person followed up by pouring a very bitter medicine down her throat.


    Whoever was taken care of by Ning Yuxuan would feel as if she had lost half of her life. This was a person thatpletely didn¡¯t know how to gently take care of another person. And yet, he still showed an expression of concern the entire time.


    However, Ji Man¡¯s fever started to go away by the next day. With her body wrapped up in a thick quilt, she resembled a newborn chick as she sat by a brazier. From time to time, she would sniffle and blow her nose.


    Marquis Moyu had really continued to stay here to take care of her. Even when a servant from Qiangwei Courtyard came over to say that Wen Wan wasn¡¯t feeling well, he only sent a doctor to go check on her.


    Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand to look at his attractive face from the side. She couldn¡¯t help thinking; what part of the y was he performing now?


    Theings and goings in the residence decreased in winter. Ji Man heard that Mu Shuqing was feeling at ease with taking care of her pregnancy. Liu Hanyun usually didn¡¯t leave her courtyard. Qian Lianxue had a weak body, so she wasn¡¯t willing to go outside once winter arrived either. Qi Siling was the only person that frequently left her courtyard.


    Ning Yuxuan was finally called away by someone. After spending the past few days inside a stuffy room, Ji Man hurriedly bundled herself to the point that she resembled a ck bear and went outside for fresh air.


    She felt as if she had almost been smothered to death by the smell of medicine and burning charcoal in her room. The snow hadn¡¯t melted outside, but it wasn¡¯t too cold outside. She stepped out into the snowy courtyard and made impressions in the snow with her feet.


    Ji Man continued treading in snow until she finally wrote out a word in English to express her feelings about the past two days. Fuck!


    From a distance, Ning Mingjie and Ning Errong saw a ck bear skipping in the snow as they walked over here.


    ¡°Look at her. She doesn¡¯t look like a person you have to worry about at all.¡± Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t helpughing.


    Ning Errong walked closer and hurriedly stopped Nie Sangyu. ¡°You just recovered from your cold. Why did youe out? Let¡¯s go back to your room.¡±


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s too stuffy inside. Why did the two of youe here?¡±


    ¡°I was worried that you were bored, so I came here to keep youpany and relieve you of your boredom.¡± After Ning Errong said this, she pointed at the person behind her, ¡°Older brother wanted the snow on the plum tree, so he also came.¡±


    Snow on the plum tree? Ji Man nced at Ning Mingjie, nodded, and said, ¡°Young Master, feel free to take it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ning Mingjie nodded. Holding a porcin bottle, he headed towards the plum tree.


    ¡°I heard the half poem in Luoyan Pagoda is extremely popr recently.¡± Ning Errong pulled her to stand underneath the covered walkway and sent Baizi to bring out chairs. ¡°A lot of people have been going there to try to write out the second half of the poem, but none of their attempts have been as imposing and majestic as the first half. I heard that even the crown prince has gone there and spent a long time trying, but failed. He¡¯s offering a hundred gold taels as a reward to the person that canplete the poem.¡±


    After a pause, Ning Errong added, ¡°Fortunately, other than Old Madame, no one knows that you and my older brother wrote that poem. My cousin seems to have been invited by the crown prince to Luoyan Pagoda today for this very reason.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned. She hadn¡¯t expected that poem would attract the crown prince¡¯s attention. This was actually a bit troublesome. If someone recognized Ning Mingjie¡¯s handwriting, would he also confess that she was the writer of the poem in the passing?


    She couldn¡¯t resist turning to look at Ning Mingjie. His slender body was currently quietly using a hairpin to sweep the snow on the plum flowers into a bottle.


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°She couldn¡¯t help thinking; what part of the y was he performing now?¡±Why do you think Ning Yuxuan is suddenly acting attentive towards Nie Sangyu?


    P.s. Just in case it was too long ago, it was mentioned in an earlier chapter that it would be a bad thing for Ji Man if the crown prince notices her. She wants to be as unobtrusive as possible for safety reasons.

 Chapter 72 - A hidden disaster (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 072 out of 513 ¨C A hidden disaster (1)


    He was as picturesque as a painting. Ji Man¡¯s eyes became zed as she looked at him. Noble men from ancient times truly had majestic appearances. His attractive, slender fingers looked as if he had never done manualbor.


    Ning Mingjie was a clever person. He probably wouldn¡¯t do something that would harm others if there was no benefit to him. It wouldn¡¯t sound good if other people found out that he had written a poem with the marquis¡¯s concubine even though Ning Yuxuan probably wouldn¡¯t care. Perhaps, he might even thank her for securing his romantic rival.


    Ji Man looked away from him and went back to listening to Errong gossiping to cast off her boredom.


    ¡ª


    Recently, Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s fifth floor¡¯s business had already exceeded the volume of business in the top floor. Moreover, the crown prince had even personallye here and written a poem. This was giving an enormous amount of face to Luoyan Pagoda. But, seeing that the crown prince wasn¡¯t able to write out the second half of the poem and no one else could write out satisfactory verses either, the shopkeeper didn¡¯t know what to do. He was so anxious that he wanted to look for the person that originally wrote the poem. This wasn¡¯t a joking matter. What if the crown prince got angry and tore down Luoyan Pagoda!


    But, they were doomed to never find Ji Man.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at the poem that was hanging in the center of the fifth floor. His eyebrows hadn¡¯t rxed the entire time. The poem had been written very well and there weren¡¯t many people that knew this style of calligraphy. Ning Mingjie was one of those people. However, he had seen very little of Ning Mingjie¡¯s writing. Even though he knew that Nie Sangyu had left the residence with his cousins a few days ago and hade to Luoyan Pagoda, he still wasn¡¯t absolutely sure that this was his writing,


    Perhaps, he was overthinking. It was unlikely that Mingjie would write this type of poem.


    It wasn¡¯t early anymore. No one had been able topose a satisfactorily second half for the poem, so the crown prince decided to go home. Ning Yuxuan also returned home and decided he would check up on Nie Sangyu.


    When he was halfway to Feiwan Courtyard, Sonn blocked his path and said, ¡°Marquis, Mistress Ling has made your favorite snacks.¡± She seemed as if she wouldn¡¯t get up from her kneeling position if he didn¡¯t agree to go with her.


    Ning Yuxuan just realized that he seemed to have been staying in Feiwan Courtyard for too long. He hadn¡¯t visited the other women in a while. Nie Sangyu might not necessarily be able to afford this level of favoritism.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± He said.


    Sonn happily led him to Jiyue Couryard. Qi Siling had already been waiting at the entrance. Her face had turned slightly red from the cold, but her eyes brightened when she saw him.


    ¡°My lord.¡± The beauty had a supple waist and her salute was full of reverence. Her eyes were as bright and lustrous as gems and filled with grievances.


    Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled, ¡°Why are you waiting out here? It¡¯s such a cold day. Let¡¯s go inside.¡±


    Qi Siling clutched her handkerchief and quietly said, ¡°It¡¯s worth it to be able to see the marquis for an extra moment. This concubines doesn¡¯t feel cold.¡±


    Qi Siling was a magnanimous and sensible person that never asked him to bestow favor on her. She also handled her duties in a fair and appropriate matter. This was the reason why he had previously given her the power to manage the household affairs.


    ¡°I¡¯ll feel bad if you get sick.¡± Ning Yuxuan held her hand as they walked inside.


    Qi Siling gently smiled, ced the snacks that she had recently made by his hand, and sat down to his left. ¡°My lord, please try some.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan felt that she had something she wanted to say, but he didn¡¯t hurry her. He just quietly ate the five-kernels pastries.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of this type of pastry.)


    When he was eating the third piece, Qi Siling finally spoke, ¡°This concubine has always thought that Old Madam¡¯s bedroom walls have been missing something. Perhaps, the marquis¡¯s cousin could write something. This concubine heard that he has very good calligraphy skills. A present from him would also make Old Madame very happy.¡±


    ¡°When did you start concerning yourself with matters like this?¡± Marquis Moyu put down the pastry. He was slightly annoyed. ¡°My cousin came here as a guest. How could I ask a guest to do something like this?¡±


    Qi Siling bit her lip and deliberated over the words that she would say next. ¡°This concubine repeatedly heard from Old Madame¡¯s servants that the marquis¡¯s cousin has very good calligraphy skills. One of his writings is even on disy in Luoyan Pagoda and has received a lot of attention. In the end, he¡¯s a member of Ning n. Old Madame was very happy when heard about that news. This concubine made that suggestion in hopes of pleasing Old Madame.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was slightly stunned. So, Ning Mingjie had really been the one that had written Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s poem? Why hadn¡¯t he heard him mention it?


    Anyways, the crown prince had fixated over that poem. If Mingjie had really written the poem, he would ask him for the second half of the poem and deliver it to the crown prince. It could be counted as doing the crown prince a favor.


    After thinking of this, Ning Yuxuan stayed in Jiyue Courtyard for a little bit longer before he left and went to the southern courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Ning Minjie had finished collecting the snow on the plum tree. He was now carefully sealing up the bottle, so that he could use it forter.


    As Ning Errong hovered around him, she kept talking about the same topic. ¡°Older brother, you¡¯ve reached a marriageable age. Stop trying to look for a perfect wife, ah. Miss Li seems pretty good. She¡¯s at least brave enough to send letters to you during thest two days.¡±


    ¡°Also, hasn¡¯t father mentioned that one of his good friends has a unmarried daughter? I heard that¡¯s she¡¯s a first-ss beauty. Why won¡¯t you at least look at her? What if father bes anxious and has you directly marrying her? Then, you won¡¯t see your wife until the bridal room.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so bothersome,¡± Ning Mingjie turned his head and lightly poked Errong¡¯s forehead. ¡°Worry about your own marriage instead of mine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already found someone, but you don¡¯t even have a potential fianc¨¦e!¡± Ning Errong pouted and said, ¡°Seniority has to be followed. If you don¡¯t marry first, how can I marry someone?¡±


    Ning Mingjie lightly shook his head. ¡°Even father isn¡¯t concerning himself over this issue. You can stop worrying about this.¡±


    Ning Errong still had more words that she wanted to say, but she heard Baizhi call out from outside, ¡°Master, Marquis Moyu is here.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Aww, I love the cute sibling interactions between Mingjie and Errong.

 Chapter 73 - A hidden disaster (2)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 073 out of 513 ¨C A hidden disaster (2)


    ¡°Cousin?¡± Ning Errong curiously turned around to look at him. ¡°Why did youe here?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled. He didn¡¯t waste words and straightforwardly said, ¡°I just returned from Luoyan Pagoda. I saw Mingjie¡¯s wonderful calligraphy there, so I came over here.¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s heart slightly jumped. Although he hadn¡¯t done anything to wrong Marquis Moyu, he was worried that Ning Yuxuan would dislike Nie Sangyu even more after he found out. For a man and a woman to write a poem together, it gave off a sense of picturesque charm.


    Thinking of Nie Sangyu¡¯s deathly pale face, Ning Mingjie found himself in a difficult position. Should he pretend that he wrote the poem? But, he wouldn¡¯t be able to write out the second half.


    As he was thinking about what to do, he forgot that he had a carefree younger sister standing next to him.


    Hearing Marquis Moyu mentioned this topic, she hurriedly said with the intention of helping Sangyu. ¡°My older brother isn¡¯t that broad-minded. He only wrote it out on Sangyu¡¯s behalf. She¡¯s the one thatpose the poem, cousin.¡±


    After these words were said, the room became silent for a long time.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile didn¡¯t change, but his gaze gradually became cold. ¡°Sangyu was the one thatpose the poem?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it happened on the day that Old Madame allowed us to leave the residence. Sangyu and my older brother went to the fifth floor and there was a poetrypetition. So, Sangyu went up and disyed her skills!¡± Ning Errong didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong at all with what happened. ¡°Sangyu showed that she was truly from a family with a famous literary reputation. Cousin, Sangyu is a very talented and cultured person. Why do you always possess prejudice towards her?¡±


    Above the poem that had people clicking their tongues in admiration, there was a conspicuous ink blob*. As he listened to people discussing the origins of the ink blob, he heard a nearby schr joke, ¡°That was from a woman¡¯s heart and her rosy and soft hands. How can you possibly know what a beauty is feeling?¡±


    * (T/N: After Ji Man¡¯s failed attempt at writing the title of the poem in chapter 64, she immediately crumpled up the paper, so the ink didn¡¯t have time to dry and probably smeared together to make an ink blob.)


    At the time, he was pondering over the second half of the poem with the crown prince in a private room and didn¡¯t pay special attention to these words. But now, he realized that Sangyu had probably drawn that ink blob. Why did she insist on having Ning Mingjie write the poem on her behalf instead of writing the poem herself? Was she afraid that he would recognize her handwriting? There was no need for her to do something so superfluous. He didn¡¯t care if showed her face in the public. Anyways, Nie Sangyu had done plenty of embarrassing things in the past and there were many people in the capital that recognized her.


    Although his mind thought logically, his heart still inevitably felt ufortable.


    ¡ª


    By the time Ning Yuxuan went to Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man was already inside and drinking thin congee. Seeing hime into the room, she almost chocked.


    ¡°Why are you here again?¡±


    Listen to these words. Had his two days of care been a waste of effort? And to think, he had been feeling guilty and had decided that he would treat her better from now on. But, here she was, hoping that he wouldn¡¯te visit her.


    There was fire in his heart, but there was also a faint amount of concern. Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good. He left after standing at the doorway for a short period of time.


    He came and he went. It seemed like she had angered him. Ji Man stuck out her tongue. She really couldn¡¯t be med. Only a moment of not controlling herself and she had said inappropriate words.


    It was true that Ning Yuxuan had truly treated her very well during the past two days. She had let go of most of the grievances in her heart. As long as he wasn¡¯t so bias against her in the future, there was still a chance that they could get along well.


    Shortly after Marquis Moyu left, his personal servant, Guibai, came back and said, ¡°The marquis requests that Mistress Sang write out the second half of the poem.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart jumped. How did he find out? But, she immediately patted her chest. He hadn¡¯t shown any extreme reaction towards her or asked her any difficult questions. This meant that he wasn¡¯t particrly offended and this wasn¡¯t a big deal. She didn¡¯t have a ce in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart, so that matter probably wouldn¡¯t make him feel displeased.


    At the very least, she was increasing his reputation.


    Ji Man had Muxu bring over a brush and ink, but her handwriting was still a problem. She didn¡¯t know if anyone had seen Nie Sangyu¡¯s writing before. Anyways, her handwriting was crooked and sloppy. It didn¡¯t look like a nobledy¡¯s writing from any angle.


    ¡°Sir Guibai, do you know how to write?¡± Ji Man brightly smiled at the expressionless servant.


    Guibai paused before saying, ¡°Mistress Sang, you don¡¯t know how to write?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I can. It¡¯s just that I haven¡¯t recovered from my cold yet and my hand feels weak.¡± Ji Man held her forehead and pretended to be frail, ¡°Come on, you can write it out while I speak.¡±


    Guibai saw that she truly looked weak, so he kindly took the brush from her.


    ¡°<i>Master Mingjie, Schr Qingyun,</i>


    <i>Drink up. Don¡¯t neglect your wine cup.</i>


    <i>Let me sing you a song,</i>


    <i>Lend me your ears as I sing.</i>


    <i>Bells, drums, delicacies, and jade aren¡¯t precious enough,</i>


    <i>I rather fall into intoxication and never awake.</i>


    <i>Since ancient times, wise and holy men have always been alone,</i>


    <i>Only drinkers leave behind a reputation.</i>


    <i>In the past, Cao Zhi had held a banquet at the Pingle,</i>


    <i>And provided ten thousand cups of wine for his guests to indulge and enjoy.</i>


    <i>As the host, I won¡¯t excuse myself from drinking by imingck of money,</i>


    <i>I¡¯ll straightforwardly buy as much wine as we want to drink.</i>


    <i>A fine steed with a five-color pattern like a five-petal flower.</i>


    <i>Its skin is worth a thousand gold.</i>


    <i>Call my boy over and have him exchange this horse for more wine,</i>


    <i>I¡¯ll share this wine with you as we drink away worries that have existed since ancient times.</i>¡±


    As Ji Man guilty recited the poem, she changed the two names of Li Bai¡¯s friends that were mentioned in the original poem to Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun. This way, it would make it seem more like she hadposed this poem. Otherwise, how would she be able to answer Marquis Moyu if he asked her who was Master Cen and Schr Danqiu?


    After Guibai finished writing, the look in his eyes was veryplicated. He stared at Nie Sangyu for a long time. He seemed as if he couldn¡¯t believe that she would able topose verses like these.


    Ji Man held her forehead as she returned to her bed to rest. Naturally, Nie Sangyu shouldn¡¯t be this broad-minded. But, in this world, she was the only one that knew Li Bai¡¯s poems. There was no one that would be able to take out evidence to show that she had giarized.


    However, she hadn¡¯t figured out yet what method the novel¡¯s formerly kind-hearted and lovely female lead would use to recover the Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Marquis, Madam went to the garden to walk around after eating.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i>continued to act as a spy, but this time, Wen Wan was her target that she kept a close watch over.


    Marquis Moyu was sitting in Mu Shuqing¡¯s courtyard. Hearing these words, he pursed his lips and asked, ¡°She didn¡¯t ask you to pass on any messages?¡±


    ¡°To respond to the marquis, she didn¡¯t.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> honestly said.


    Trantor Ramblings: Even though Ji Man believes that she¡¯s let go of most of the grievances in her heart, her instinctive response toward Ning Yuxuan is still ¡°go away¡± and ¡°leave me alone¡±.

 Chapter 74

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 074 out of 513 ¨C An intense war between a mother-inw and daughter-inw (1)


    There was a slight sulkiness in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart, but he couldn¡¯t show this feeling.


    Hearing these words, Mu Shuiqing quietlyughed and said, ¡°My lord, if you¡¯re missing Madam this much, why did you stille to Qing-<i>er</i>¡¯s ce?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly smiled, ¡°Is Qing-<i>er</i> jealous?¡±


    ¡°Qing-<i>er</i> wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Mu Shuiqing¡¯s face had a warm, motherly radiance. With her hands covering a belly that hadn¡¯t protruded out yet, she said, ¡°Qing-<i>er</i> has epted the unpleasant truth. The marquis¡¯s heart only has Madam. As long as my lord is willing to asionallye see Qing-<i>er</i>, Qing-<i>er</i> will be very happy.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile slightly dimmed. He lowered his eyes and started to reflect upon his past actions. Had he been spoiling Wen Wan too much? The entire household knew his heart was with her. This must be why she was increasingly behaving without the slightest scruple.


    To be honest, Wen Wan wasn¡¯t a woman that could peacefully stay at home. But, he had fallen in love with her. No matter how badly she acted, he was still willing to show tolerance and forgive her.


    ¡ª


    Two dayster, Ji Man finallypletely recovered from her cold. Qian Lianxue and Qi Siling had sent over mushrooms and ocean delicacies as a token effort, along with a message that she should properly take care of her health.


    Old madame also summoned her to her ce and asked with a beaming smile, ¡°Have you been enjoying the past two days of living with Xuan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°This servant fondly remembers in her heart the care that the marquis had shown towards this servant.¡±


    Old madame repeatedly nodded. ¡°Your current humble and patient temperament is very good. As time goes on, Xuan-<i>er</i> will naturally understand who¡¯s the best.¡±


    Ji Man nodded in agreement. She kept old madamepany as they ate quite a bit of pastries. Worried that old madame would feel indigestion from overeating, she suggested that they go to the garden to stroll around. She supported her as they walked there.


    In the original novel, the garden was worthy of being called the ce where most incidents happened. Ji Man and old madame hadn¡¯t even taken two steps into the garden when they met Ning Yuxuan. After Ning Yuxuan paid his respects to old madame, he apanied them around the garden with a heavy load on his mind.


    Old madame asked him questions rted to the Six Ministries and he answered each question one by one, but his eyes continued to nkly stare at the ground.


    Ji Man¡¯s intuition told her that he was preupied with his feelings. Recently, he and Wen Wan were in a cold war. He was definitely at the tipping point where he couldn¡¯t bear it anymore and was about to surrender.


    After they passed through a covered corridor, the pavilion was straight ahead. There were two people siting in the pavilion with two servants standing nearby.


    ¡°Who are those two people? What are they doing?¡± Old madame asked after seeing those people from a distance.


    Shouwu briskly walked forward to see, then she came back and said, ¡°The marquis¡¯s cousin is ying Chinese chess with Madam.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression sunk. Old Madame¡¯s frown was even more severe than his. She angrily shouted, ¡°Preposterous! Is there no sense of propriety?!¡±


    Ji Man was startled by old madame¡¯s sudden anger. The two people in the pavilion had also clearly heard her voice and hurriedly came over here to greet her.


    ¡°Old Madame.¡± Wen Wan saluted with an innocent face, but old madame only coldly harrumphed and didn¡¯t look at her.


    Instead, old madame looked at Ning Mingjie and asked, ¡°Mingjie, why do you have the free time to y Chinese chess here?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t early anymore. It would soon be time to go inside and sleep. At the very least, Wen Wan was the main wife. Not only was she outside ying Chinese chess, she had been ying with her cousin-inw. No matter how anyone looked at it, it wasn¡¯t appropriate. She wasn¡¯t from a noble family, so she didn¡¯t know these rules. It couldn¡¯t be that Ning Mingjie also wasn¡¯t aware?


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s face was actually calm and confident as he honestly said, ¡°I happened to pass by and saw that Madam was troubled over a hopelessly bad move in her game. I couldn¡¯t help myself and went over to see.¡±


    Wen Wan guiltily looked at Marquis Moyu. Thetter calmed his expression and sneered.


    The aggrieved look on Wen Wan¡¯s face increased. She bit her lip and said, ¡°Upright people aren¡¯t afraid of being in situations that look bad. Cousin-inw truly just passed by here. If Old Madame insists on ming Wen Wan, there¡¯s nothing else for Wen Wan to say.¡±


    ¡°Look at you. You actually have the nerve to show your temper?¡± Old madame was so furious that sheughed. ¡°Well, it¡¯s also my son¡¯s fault for not being promising. He fell for a temptress like you. If I were toy down the rules, you would have been driven out of this residence a long time ago.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s eyebrows pinched together. She was extremely unwilling to ept old madame¡¯s words. Although Qi Siling had already repeatedly told her to not adopt a confrontational posture towards old madame, she still felt mistreated and couldn¡¯t help saying, ¡°No matter what Wen Wan does, Old Madame will still dislike Wen Wan. Wen Wan will daringly ask Old Madame one question. Since Old Madame hase back, has Wen Wan done a single wrong thing towards Old Madame for Old Madame to have treated me like this?¡±


    Ji Man was standing by the side and had her head lowered to admire the ground. The female lead was really seeking death. Ning Yuxuan was a filial son. He definitely wouldn¡¯t make his mother suffer in order to protect Wen Wan¡¯s feelings. And yet, instead of calming herself down, her every word had been challenging her elder and putting Ning Yuxuan in a difficult position.


    There were countless examples of conflicts between a daughter-inw and her mother-inw in modern times. Ji Man felt that before marrying someone, you should first see if you could get along with your future mother-inw. This was more important than checking the other party¡¯s family¡¯s financial situation. If you couldn¡¯t get along with your future mother-inw, then you should reconsider getting married. Otherwise, you might end up wasting your youth.


    In the conflict between a mother-inw and her daughter-inw, you really couldn¡¯t say who was right and who was wrong. Ji Man felt that it was better for her to just stand by the side and quietly watch.


    ¡°How I treated you?¡± Old madame was flourishing with anger. She glowered at Wen Wan and said, ¡°This household feeds you and clothes you. Do you think I owe you something? You¡¯re the one that improperly handle matters in a dislikable way, and now you¡¯re going to use me of treating you harshly in front of Xuan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Wen Wan still wanted to say more, but Ning Yuxuan stepped forward and stopped her.


    ¡°Mother, please calm down. It¡¯s this son¡¯s fault for spoiling Wen Wan,¡± Ning Yuxuan said. ¡°Direct your anger towards this son.¡±


    ¡°How nice. A couple with mutually deep feelings.¡± Old madame took a deep breath and Ji Man hurriedly supported her body that seemed as if it would fall over.


    ¡°Fine, this residence is for the two of you. How about I just leave?¡± After flinging down these words, old madame turned around and immediately started walking away. She was so angry that tears fell down as she walked.


    She disliked Wen Wan and didn¡¯t want Xuan-<i>er </i>to lose his head over her, but Xuan-<i>er</i>chose to side with her. How could she not be angry?


    Ji Man hurriedly tried tofort her, ¡°Old Madame, don¡¯t stay angry. It¡¯s bad for your health.¡±


    ¡°Come, we¡¯re going to the pce and staying there!¡± Old madame angrily said. ¡°I¡¯ll give Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence to her. We¡¯ll see how long she can stay here!¡±

 Chapter 75

    Chapter: 075 out of 513 ¨C An intense war between a mother-inw and daughter-inw (2)


    Behind them, Ning Yuxan wanted to chase after old madame, but Wen Wan grabbed his sleeve.


    Wen Wan looked at him with red eyes as she asked, ¡°Are you always going to choose your mother over me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows were tightly creased. He angrily said, ¡°Why are you deliberately stirring up trouble? I¡¯m already taking your side. And yet, you¡¯re still saying words like these.¡±


    Wen Wan wanted to continue to fuss, but she remembered Qi Siling¡¯s words. She should quit while she was ahead. She hurriedly controlled her anger, tugged at Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve, and quietly said, ¡°I know you¡¯re doing this for my benefit and I also know that you love me. I was just temporarily feeling too agitated and couldn¡¯t help blurting out my grievances. She¡¯s already said those type of words about me...¡±


    ¡°Wen Wan.¡± Ning Yuxuan removed her hand from his sleeve and said, ¡°You need to be more sensible.¡±


    Stunned by these words, Wen Wan nkly moved her hand back to her side. She watched as Ning Yuxuan ran after old madame. She bit her bottom lip. Her eyes were full of unwillingness.


    Actually, if that old woman went away, her life would be much better.


    At some point, Ning Mingjie had also left without notice. Wen Wan stood in ce for a while before turning around and going to Qiangwei Courtyard. She ordered Tanxiang to bring Qi Siling over here.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was kneeling outside in the main courtyard, but old madame was calmlymanding Shouqu, Danggui, and Nie Sangyu to pack up their luggage.


    Ji Man was slightly worried, so she asked, ¡°Old Madame, are we really going to the pce? Wouldn¡¯t that be a bit inappropriate?¡±


    Old madame was very calm as she sat in her chair. She lightly smiled and said, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m doing this out of impulse?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t she? She was a stately, first-rankdy. If the news that she had been forced to move into the pce was spread, it would sound really bad, ah. Although this is what Ji Man thought, she didn¡¯t voice her thoughts.


    Old madame sent the servant girls outside and whispered into Ji Man¡¯s ear, ¡°Yesterday, Noble Consort Nie sent me a secret letter. She said she¡¯s pregnant, but she doesn¡¯t dare to make this information public. She wants me to go to the pce and keep herpany. The empress doesn¡¯t want her to have another child, so her baby definitely has to remain a secret until her pregnancy has reached three months and it¡¯s condition bes stabilized. She doesn¡¯t have any person that she trusts in the pce, so she asked me to keep herpany.¡±


    Ji Man was shocked. Noble Consort Nie was pregnant? She was almost forty years old. Even though the third prince had no interest towards politics, the emperor was still very fond of him. If Noble Consort Nie gave birth to another prince, wouldn¡¯t the empress¡¯s feeling of impending crisis be more serious?


    ¡°Originally, I was only nning on keeping herpany for two days and leave Shouwu and Dangui there to serve her, so that she¡¯ll feel more at ease.¡± Old Madame¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°But Wen Wan has acted too outrageously. She even dares to try to bully me. We¡¯ll stay in the pce for a few extra days, so that she¡¯ll knows my power.¡±


    If old madame used this opportunity to stay in the pce longer, it would be the equivalent of giving Wen Wan the reputation of an unfilial person. In the end, she would have to humbly request for old madame to return. As for whether or not old madame would be willing to easilye back, that was another matter.


    Ji Man thought; as expected, old ginger was spicier.


    ¡°Old Madame, it¡¯s snowing again. The marquis is still kneeling here.¡± Shouwu couldn¡¯t resist shouting from outside.


    Old madame felt distraught about her son, but she couldn¡¯t take a step forward. If she forgave him, wouldn¡¯t that be the same thing as forgiving Wen Wan? There was no way she would do that.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have another option. She had to serve as a way out of this ufortable situation for old madame. She went out to try to help Marquis Moyu stand up.


    ¡°My lord, you know why Old Madame is angry. Why are you gambling with your own health?¡± She said.


    Ning Yuxuan was kneeling with a perfectly straight back. He pursed his lip and stayed silent.


    Ji Man brushed away all of the snow near his body and brought an umbre and fox fur cloak to support him.


    When the lights in old madame¡¯s room were extinguished, Ning Yuxuan finally let out a tiny sigh. He slowly stood up and asked, ¡°Sangyu, if you were in my position and was faced with this dilemma, what would you do?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to handle this dilemma either. My lord, you might as well allow things to happen naturally.¡±


    Marquis Moyu left and went to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    She could already foresee what would happen next. There would definitely be a serious problem between Wen Wan and Marquis Moyu.


    Nie Sangyu had been so foolish, ah. She had directly rushed out to deal with Wen Wan. But, the environment of the marquis¡¯s household was already sufficient to make Wen Wan¡¯s life miserable. Why ruin its effect by adding something superfluous?


    ¡ª


    Early next morning, old madame had the servants prepare a carriage. She was going to bring Sangyu, Shouwu, and Danggui with her to the pce.


    ¡°Old Madame, please calm down. Don¡¯t leave.¡± Qi Siling had led the female servants to kneel in the middle of the road and had attracted the attention of many pedestrians.


    Old madame sneered, opened the curtains, nced outside, and said, ¡°She¡¯s a main wife, and yet she has you, an honored concubine,ing here in her ce. Don¡¯t block my way. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have the carriage run you over.¡±


    Qi Siling gritted her teeth. She had already told Wen Wan that she couldn¡¯t show her temper, but Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t listen. She had actually thought that her life would befortable after old madame left.


    What a hopelessly inept person!


    Trantor Ramblings: I think Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man¡¯s rtionship is really interesting and unique. He¡¯s only recently crossed over the boundary line of not despising her and he only shows care towards her out of guilt, his mother, and Nie n. But, at the same time, he actually asks her for advice and values her opinion. There¡¯s such a huge contrast between this rtionship and his true love rtionship with Wen Wan.


    Ning Yuxuan think that Wen Wan is being immature and unreasonable, but he¡¯s also aware that she doesn¡¯t understand the stricter rules of a noble family. Even though Wen Wan is stupid for not following Qi Siling¡¯s advice, I think it¡¯s understandable. Experience has taught Wen Wan that she only needs to cry and Ning Yuxuan will resolve everything. Until there¡¯s asting consequence to Wen Wan¡¯s behavior, there¡¯s no reason for her to change or think she¡¯s wrong.

 Chapter 76 - The crown prince’s playboy nature (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 076 out of 513 ¨C The crown prince¡¯s yboy nature (1)


    If old madame really went to the pce to live, could Wen Wan¡¯s life in the marquis¡¯s residence be good?


    The answer was no.


    The carriage directly went past the crowd and headed towards the pce, and yet Wen Wan was angrily sitting at her dressing table. Marquis Moyu was standing nearby. His expression was very ugly, but Wen Wan pretended that she didn¡¯t see it and sobbed in aggrieved tone, ¡°You said you would treat me well and wouldn¡¯t let me suffer any grievances, so why do I have to be the one that apologizes to her every time?¡±


    This was the first time that Ning Yuxuan felt that Wen Wan was immature and unreasonable. She refused to admit her mistake. It didn¡¯t even ur to her that causing this type of trouble wouldn¡¯t benefit her at all.


    ¡°Besides, what¡¯s wrong with the pce? There¡¯s delicious food and drink in the pce. She¡¯ll be treated very well in there. What exactly are you worried about?¡± Wen Wan red at Ning Yuxuan through the mirror.


    Marquis Moyu rubbed the spot between his eyebrows and said in a low voice, ¡°You were the one that was wrong to begin with. It was already sote in the day, but you still did something that would arouse suspicion by being so intimate with Mingjie. How could mother not be angry?¡±


    ¡°He was the one that came over of his own initiative. I didn¡¯t invite him. Why are you ming me?¡± Wen Wan became even angrier. ¡°Tanxiang and Changshan were also there. Why are you treating me as if I was fickle woman?¡±


    It was impossible to talk sense with her. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face finally sunk. He coldly harrumphed, then turned around and stepped past the doorway. It was still snowing outside, but he didn¡¯t go back inside to take an umbre with him. Instead, he directly returned to the western courtyard.


    Wen Wan was shocked. She stood up and took two steps outside to chase after him, but seeing that Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t even look back, her eyes became red again.


    She had just wanted to make him angry. She knew that he would be in the garden at that time, so she had Tanxiang lead Ning Mingjie over. How could she have known that old madame would be in the garden and be so furious? Wen Wan felt that she was totally an innocent victim. She turned around and went to her bed to cry.


    Anyhow, Yuxuan loved her dearly. In a few days, after his mother wasfortably settled in the pce, he would probably forgive her, right?


    ¡ª


    Noble Consort Nie had regained the emperor¡¯s favor. The emperor looked after her in every possible way, which made many people¡¯s eyes turn red with jealousy in the harem. She had simply said she wanted old madame toe to the pce and keep herpany, and the emperor had marked off a <i>ting yu xuan</i> that was near Ninglu Pce for old madame and Sangyu to stay.


    (T/N: <i>Ting yu xuan</i> literally means a listening and viewing rain building. It¡¯s building that has windows and a balcony view over ake or pond. Below is a picture of a simple one.)


    The gossip traveled quickly in the pce; Marquis Moyu had married a shrew that forced his mother out of the marquis¡¯s residence and into the pce. Old madame wasn¡¯t an ordinary mother. She was a first-rankdy. While clutching her handkerchief, she cried in front of the emperor. And so, the emperor summoned Marquis Moyu to admonish him.


    ¡°You previously had me promote Wen Yi¡¯s rank on the basis that he had taught his daughter well and he has a good moral character,¡± The emperor said as he looked at Ning Yuxuan with shining eyes. ¡°As it turns out, the good daughter that he taught was a woman like this.¡±


    Marquis Moyu realized that his mother had lodged aint with the emperor in a fit of pique. His father had die in a battle and the emperor had always felt that he owed something to the Ning n because of this. Thus, the emperor was naturally often willing to take his side. However, if there was an argument between him and his mother, as an elder, the emperor had to side with his mother and protect her.


    ¡°This subject has failed in seeing the truth,¡± He slowly kneeled down and said.


    Wen Wan¡¯s father, Wen Yi, was just a jailer that worked in the capital¡¯s prison. After Wen Wan married into his family, he had used his connections to promote his father-inw all the way up to a sixth-rank official. Wen Wan had already been satisfied with this, but because old madame had used Wen Wan¡¯s background to criticize her, he didn¡¯t have any other options. He had to think about promoting Wen Yi further up.


    But after this incident, there was no chance the emperor would ever agree. He valued a woman¡¯s morality and conduct the most. Last time, part of the reason that he had angrily rebuked Sangyu was truly because she had acted too outrageously. And clearly, Wen Wan had acted even worse than Sangyu this time.


    Ning Yuxuan felt that the emperor could see that he truly loved Wen Wan. And thus, unlike with Sangyu, he wasn¡¯t instructing him to abolish Wen Wan¡¯s position.


    After suffering through a long lecture, Ning Yuxuan went to the <i>ting yu xuan</i> to look for someone.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man followed old madame to the <i>ting yu xuan</i>, they started unpacking. Old madame would be staying in the main hall and she would be staying in the side hall. The group of servant girls would be staying in a small side room. Right after they had finished settling in and old madame was speaking with Noble Consort Nie in the main hall, someone came over.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t react properly by kneeling down to salute until Muxu tugged her sleeve. Because she didn¡¯t clearly see if the dragons on the robe had four-ws or five-ws, she didn¡¯t know if it was the crown prince or the emperor that hade. She didn¡¯t dare to call out the wrong greeting, so she only quietly kneeled.


    ¡°Is Noble Consort Nie and Old Madame Ning inside?¡± The crown prince looked at the person kneeling on the ground and asked with quite a bit of interest.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ji Man said with her head lowered.


    The snow had just stopped. The crown prince stood in ce and didn¡¯t seem as if he wanted to go inside. Instead, he stretched a hand out and helped Nie Sangyu stand up.


    Shocked, Ji Man¡¯s gaze swiftly nced at the dragons on his robe. Thank god, it was four-ws. This person was the crown prince.


    She wasn¡¯t overthinking. There were too many examples of an emperor forcibly seizing married women in history. With no one to manage the emperor from above, past emperors were allwless and out-of-control. But, the crown prince was different. The emperor controlled him. No matter what, he wouldn¡¯t dare to act recklessly.


    Last time, she had felt uneasy just hearing his movements when he had visited the marquis¡¯s residence¡¯s southern courtyard. And now, this grand crown prince was actually helping her stand up. Ji Man felt chills going up her back.


    ¡°I heard from Yuxuan that you wrote the poem in Luoyan Pagoda,¡± The crown prince moved closer to her and quietly said. ¡°This has greatly helped this prince. What should I reward you with?¡±


    Ji Man took a step back and respectfully said, ¡°It¡¯s because the marquis has instructed me well. Your Highness, please just reward him.¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows, looked at this well-behaved woman, chuckled, and said, ¡°How could I have the opportunity to reward Marquis Moyu? He¡¯s only below one person and above a thousand others. He has countless beauties. His life is morefortable and unrestrained than mine.¡±


    Ji Man felt that this crown prince was somewhat dislikable. Why was he standing so close to her while he was talking? He waspletelycking in manners.

 Chapter 77 - The crown prince’s playboy nature (2)

    Chapter: 077 out of 513 ¨C The crown prince¡¯s yboy nature (2)


    However, she couldn¡¯t have a dispute with the person under the covered corridor. He was the future emperor. She could only agreeably say, ¡°The marquis is merely helping his master with worries and difficulties. He doesn¡¯t count as someone below one person and above a thousand others. When Your Highness bes master of the world, the marquis will also do a good job assisting you.¡±


    The crown prince was stunned for a moment. He carefully pondered these words, then he suddenlyughed loudly. ¡°I see that the rumors are true. Nie Sangyu is wretchedly in love with Marquis Moyu. Your every word was said for your marquis¡¯s benefit. It really makes a person feel jealous.¡±


    Ji Man continued to keep her head lowered and didn¡¯t respond, but she couldn¡¯t stop her expression from bing slightly colder.


    Zhao Zhe took another step closer to her. His lips were lightly curved. He said with a hint of improperness, ¡°If there¡¯s a time when you can show me the same type of concern and care, that would be wonderful.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, please conduct yourself with dignity.¡± Ji Man¡¯s brows were creased. She wasn¡¯t able to retreat any further. She decided that she would simply push open the doors to the main hall and tell old madame and her aunt that the crown prince hade.


    But, Zhao Zhe smiled and took a step back. He ced the hand warmer with a golden dragon pattern that he had been holding into Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°You¡¯ve been standing outside for so long. Don¡¯t let yourself freeze.¡±


    (T/N: Below is a picture of a hand warmer.)


    This was the scene that Ning Yuxuan saw when he arrived at the <i>ting yu xuan</i>. Nie Sangyu was leaning against the wall. The crown prince was standing very close to her. All of the servants were standing far away from them with their heads lowered and pretending they couldn¡¯t see or hear anything. They didn¡¯t dare to make a sound.


    For an inexplicable reason, he felt slightly angry. Ning Yuxuan strode over to them and pulled Nie Sangyu behind him. With an expressionless face, he said to the crown prince, ¡°Why do you have the free time toe here? The emperor had even recently asked about the crown prince¡¯s assignments.¡±


    Zhao Zhe hadn¡¯t expected that his imperial father would let out Ning Yuxuan so quickly. This scene was also slightly awkward. And so, he quietly coughed and said, ¡°I came here to pay respects to the noble consort. I heard that she hasn¡¯t been feeling welltely. I happened to see Sangyu and we ended up talking.¡±


    He even called her Sangyu? Ji Man¡¯s expression was very ugly. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t any better. He squeezed her hand tighter and said, ¡°Then, crown prince, you should go inside. I have words that I want to say with Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± The crown prince lightly smiled and returned to his elegant and graceful bearing. After having a servant announce his arrival, he walked into the main hall.


    Ning Yuxuan pulled Nie Sangyu along as he walked further outside.


    Ji Man staggered as she followed him. If her stride was too big, she might identally step on this lord¡¯s heel. She could only stumble along and almost fell. Although Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression wasposed, he was walking very quickly. He seemed slightly angry.


    On a secluded pce path, he finally let go of her. He calmly said, ¡°Don¡¯t get too close to the crown prince. He has a fondness for beautiful women. When he has the urge, no one can stop him.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and threw the hand warmer she had been holding onto a patch of grass in the passing. From today¡¯s interaction, she could see that the crown prince had a yboy nature. He would want to fool around with any woman that he saw. He was very dangerous to be around.


    ¡°This servant will do her best to avoid him,¡± she said.


    It was difficult to for Ning Yuxuan¡¯s anger to disperse. Seeing that she had thrown away the hand warmer, his expression became slightly better. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°It¡¯s one thing for my mother to stay at the pce. You¡¯re a married woman. It¡¯s not a good idea for you to also stay here.¡±


    There was a mess of people in the pce. If Noble Consort Nie spent all of her time with old madame every day, would she have to meet every single prince in the pce?


    Ji Man frowned. ¡°This isn¡¯t something that this servant can decide. It¡¯s Old Madame that wanted this servant toe along. It¡¯s probably because she doesn¡¯t want to bepletely alone in the pce so she brought this servant along.¡±


    Anyways, if she stayed in the marquis¡¯s residence, she would only be provoking his anger. Did it really matter where she was staying?


    Ning Yuxuan paused for a while, then he said, ¡°I¡¯ll go and admit that I was wrong. Help me persuade her to return home.¡±


    ¡°This servant thinks that the marquis should wait and apologize in a few days. Wait until Old Madame is less angry,¡± Ji Man seriously said. ¡°Right now, she¡¯s very angry. If you apologize without sincerity and whole-heartedly side with Madam, Old Madame won¡¯t forgive you.¡±


    Although he understood her reasoning... Ning Yuxuan clenched his fists. He finally helplessly sighed and said, ¡°Then, help me persuade her during this time.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡±Ji Man agreed without worrying.


    They were finished talking and it was time for them to leave. But, Marquis Moyu continued to quietly stand there, so she didn¡¯t dare to leave first. She looked at him to see if he had any other orders.


    ¡°The crown prince...¡± He thought for a while, and he still couldn¡¯t help feeling worried. ¡°The crown prince has seduced many people. Because of his status, it¡¯s difficult for people to refuse. You...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and suddenlyughed. ¡°My lord, don¡¯t worry. Sangyu won¡¯t cheat on you. If Sangyu is put into a difficult position and loses her clean reputation, you can dismiss Sangyu as your concubine to protect the marquis¡¯s household reputation.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was shocked for a moment, then his expression turned ugly. ¡°Nie Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°This servant is here.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to dismiss you?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged. ¡°If you weren¡¯t trying to maintain the bnce between the empress¡¯s side and Nie n¡¯s side, you should have dismissed Sangyu a long time ago.¡±


    This was the truth. Marquis Moyu was a very clever person. Although it seemed as if he was disagreeing with old madame because she favored Nie n and he had a good rtionship with the crown prince, the actual truth was that Marquis Moyu¡¯s household was maintaining a knife-edge bnce.


    This was something that Ji Man had thought about for a long time before she understood. She couldn¡¯t help internally sighing. Marquis Moyu¡¯s shrewdness was much deeper than it seemed on the surface. There was a reason behind his every action.

 Chapter 78 - Hidden danger is lurking everywhere (1)

    Chapter: 078 out of 513 ¨C Hidden danger is lurking everywhere (1)


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a long time before he suddenly smiled. ¡°If you say you¡¯re Nie Sangyu, then I really can¡¯t believe you. But, regardless of who you are, you really can only be her.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart jumped and she secretly scolded herself. Her careless words had attracted Marquis Moyu¡¯s suspicion. But after Ning Yuxuan said those words, she felt uncertain.


    Had he always been suspicious about her?


    After the person in front of her turned around and left, Ji Man nkly stood there for a while before she returned to the <i>ting yu xuan</i>.


    The crown prince had already left. She reckoned that he had juste here to take a look. Old madame and Noble Consort Nie were still inside talking. In a well-behaved manner, Ji Man poured tea for them after entering the room.


    ¡°Do you think I would make life difficult for that woman if she was as well-behaved as Sangyu?¡± Old madame took the cup of tea and sighed.


    Noble Consort Nie smiled and said, ¡°If you¡¯re not satisfied with your daughter-inw, then just have Yuxuan divorce her and have him remarry. Look at you. Right now, you should be living infort in your old age, but you¡¯re letting yourself be angered to this state by a junior.¡±


    ¡°I do want Xuan-<i>er</i> to divorce her.¡± Old madame looked serious for a moment, but her shoulders slumped down in defeat as she said, ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m worried that they¡¯ll act out the tragedy of <i>A Peacock Flying to the Southeast</i>. Xuan-<i>er</i> is deeply in love with her. I can¡¯t forcibly break up their marriage. I can only hope that Xuan-<i>er</i> will wake up one day and see that woman¡¯s true colors.¡±


    (T/N: <i>A Peacock Flying to the Southeast</i> is a poem about a tragic love story of newly weds that were forced apart by the husband¡¯s mother. As a result, theymitted suicide in hopes that they could be together in the next life.)


    Ji Man thought; it was an impossible for Ning Yuxuan to wake up on his own. Right now, the story had already changed a lot from the original novel and it continued to deviate even further. Even she didn¡¯t know what would happen in the future.


    But, the feelings between the male lead and female lead were the central theme. If one day, Marquis Moyu suddenly stopped loving Wen Wan, what would the novel change into?


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was very happy that old madame was no longer in the residence, but she felt a bit depressed that Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯te to see her in the past few days. Instead, he visited Qian Lianxue and Mu Shuiqing.


    Qian Lianxue was sickly and Mu Shuqing was pregnant. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with him visiting them more often. But counting the days, he hadn¡¯t slept with her for several days already. If this continued, how could she get pregnant?


    Wen Wan was very worried. Feeling worried, she went to the garden to walk around. Once she went to the garden, she met Ning Mingjie again. He was feeling bored from being idle, so he was in the garden collecting snow that had fallen on the flowers.


    Because of what had happenedst time, Wen Wan felt slightly embarrassed when she saw Ning Mingjie. She didn¡¯t know if she should approach him to greet him or turn around and leave. Fortunately, she saw Qi Silinging over in the other direction, which solved her problem.


    ¡°Madam, this concubine has something to say.¡± Qi Siliang pulled her to the side and they avoided Ning Mingjie.


    ¡°What?¡± Wen Wan looked at her and asked.


    Qi Siling had their servant girls stand farther away before she said heartfelt and sincere words, ¡°Madam, the marquis¡¯s household has strict rules. You should avoid the marquis¡¯s cousin as much as possible. Even if you weren¡¯t the woman in the marquis¡¯ heart and you were only an ordinary concubine, he¡¯ll still feel unhappy if his woman gets too close to another man. Don¡¯t try using those cheap tricks on the marquis.¡±


    Her words made Wen Wan feel unbearably embarrassed. She put on a serious expression and said, ¡°I¡¯ve always followed the rules. Who¡¯s ying cheap tricks?¡±


    Qi Siling paused. She didn¡¯ty bare the truth and only said, ¡°Although the marquis¡¯s cousin looks like a celestial immortal, he¡¯s still a mortal nheless. This concubine has already secretly observed him for a while and discovered that he¡¯s very interested in Nie Sangyu. It¡¯s one thing for him to write a poem together with her at Luoyan Pagoda, but Sonn had seen Nie Sangyuing out of the southern courtyard in the early morning. She probably spent the night in the southern courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan frowned slightly. For an inexplicable reason, her heart felt ufortable. ¡°How could he be interested in Nie Sangyu? They probably only have contact with each other because of his younger sister.¡±


    ¡°Even if he¡¯s not interested, her oue could still be overturned if she¡¯s not careful about her actions.¡± Qi Siling faintly smiled. ¡°The marquis has recently been treating that woman, who lives in Feiwan Courtyard, better and better. I heard that when he went into the pce two days ago, he didn¡¯t go see Old Madame. He only visited Nie Sangyu.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s heart clenched. She hurriedly asked, ¡°What did they talk about?¡±


    ¡°This concubine doesn¡¯t know. Regardless, the current Nie Sangyu has a sense of propriety and knows when to advance or retreat. She¡¯s knows how to skillfully deal with problems. She¡¯spletely changed from her previous self. Madam, this concubine thinks that if you don¡¯t be guarded against her, the marquis will return to her side sooner orter. This concubine will say the unpleasant truth. Madam, you¡¯ve been with the marquis for less than a year. Nie Sangyu has been with him for over six years.¡±


    Wen Wan was silent. The thing that she was most afraid of, was that Nie Sangyu and the marquis had too much past history. It wasn¡¯t possible for her to insert herself into their past.


    Qi Siling has a glib tongue. Her words made Wen Wan¡¯s heart struggle and waver. After she left Wen Wan in the garden, she went to instigate Qian Lianxue. She wanted Qian Lianxue to get angry with Wen Wan and do something against her.


    Unfortunately, Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t fall for her trick. She only lightly smiled as she listened to her talk for a while, then she said, ¡°Madam is still Madam after all. I¡¯m already satisfied with being able to eat my fill and wear clothes that keep me warm. Older sister, you don¡¯t need to say anymore.¡±


    Faced with a tactful rejection, the smile on Qi Siling¡¯s face disappeared and she withdrew from Xuesong Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    The crown prince¡¯s servant, Taxue, saluted Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Marquis, the crown prince said he¡¯s not done with his assignments yet and won¡¯t be going to Luoyan Pagoda.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that the crown prince is willing to be studious. I won¡¯t bother him.¡± Marquis Moyu lightly nodded, turned around, and left the crown prince¡¯s residence.


    Zhao Zhe had always loved to y and rarely did his assignments. But, he had been surprisingly goodtely. Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t even seen his shadow during the past two days. Was he really doing his assignments? Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. Right after he went onto his sedan chair, he ordered the porters for the sedan chair, ¡°Bring me to the pce.¡±


    Two days had passed. He had listened to Nie Sangyu¡¯s words and waited for his mother¡¯s anger to subside before visiting her. If this didn¡¯t work out, he would just me her.


    Trantor Ramblings: Tiny, vague spoiler. Things will improve for Ji Man this week. Also, Ji Man is slowly bing more ustomed to this world and is getting better at figuring out how far she can push things. For example, when she recently called out Marquis Moyu¡¯s bluff of dismissing her.

 Chapter 79 - Hidden danger is lurking everywhere (2)

    Chapter: 079 out of 513 ¨C Hidden danger is lurking everywhere (2)


    Ji Man was currently in the kitchen watching over old madame¡¯s bird¡¯s nest soup as it cooked. Her back was rigid because there was a man standing somewhat close behind her.


    Zhao Zhe was leaning against the doorway and he curiously asked, ¡°Why did you personallye here to perform this manualbor?¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. She felt that the politer she was towards this type of man, the more he would take advantage of this. And so, her tone wasn¡¯t very pleasant when she said, ¡°To respond to Your Highness, Sangyu is just a servant. It¡¯s only right that Sangyu does this type of work. But Your Highness, you¡¯re a crown prince. This type of ce is rather mismatched with your status.¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows and said with a smile, ¡°I only came here to see you.¡±


    His tone was ambiguous. He was a person experienced with the affairs of the heart.


    Ji Man curved her lips, turned around, and said, ¡°This servant didn¡¯t know that the crown prince was interested in fallen women like myself.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was choked off by her words. He rubbed his nose and said, ¡°This is the first time a woman has scolded me like this.¡±


    ¡°This is the truth. Sangyu is the Marquis Moyu¡¯s person. My body, heart, and even my eyes all belong to him. Towards other people, Sangyu is just an abandoned, withered woman. It¡¯s only for the marquis that Sangyu is aplete woman.¡± Ji Man raised her head and used a firm tone in an attempt to tell him that she was absolutely serious.


    The person at the doorway was silent for a long time. He put away a good portion of his joking and halfhearted attitude. His eyes were deep as he looked at her and said, ¡°I¡¯m close friends with Yuxuan. In all our years of friendship, I¡¯ve only heard bad things about you from him. He said you were unruly, overbearing, and didn¡¯t understand the established rules. Originally, I just wanted to tease you for a little bit. But now, I kind of want to be serious.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched. Did he think she would believe that this overbearing prince had fallen in love with her? Would he be interested in her just because she showed a little bit moral integrity? Were his next words going to be, ¡°You seeded in attracting my attention, little demoness.¡±


    He might as well have spared himself this effort.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a woman that was so deeply in love. I¡¯m more powerful than Marquis Moyu. If you follow me, you might be a woman in the imperial harem in the future. I didn¡¯t expect you would say words like that.¡± The crown prince crossed his arms and smiled. ¡°It seems that Yuxuan doesn¡¯t know how to cherish you.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re such a jokester.¡± Ji Man saw that bird¡¯s nest soup in the pot was almost done and went to extinguish the fire in the stove. ¡°Don¡¯t forget. Although Sangyu is only the marquis¡¯s concubine, Sangyu is also Nie n¡¯s daughter from a main wife and Noble Consort Nie¡¯s niece.¡±


    The crown prince wanted her? What a joke. Did he think that if he teased her like this, her heart would start beating quickly, her face would turn red, and she would be unable to control her emotions? It didn¡¯t even need to be said that the empress and Noble Consort Nie¡¯s rtionship was like fire and water. Just on the mere basis of Marquis Moyu and the crown prince¡¯s rtionship, the crown prince wouldn¡¯t touch her unless he wanted to sever ties with his indispensable assistant.


    Zhao Zhe loudlyughed. As he looked at Nie Sangyu, his eyes showed appreciation. ¡°Ning Yuxuan has really overlooked a pearl.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your praise, Your Highness. Sangyu is only a slightly better looking fish eye that¡¯s being passed off as a pearl.¡± Ji Manughed. She wrapped a handkerchief around her hand before taking the bird¡¯s nest soup out.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Looking at her hand, Zhao Zhe strode over, took the bird¡¯s nest soup from her and ced it on a te.


    It had still felt very hot even with the barrier of the handkerchief. Ji Man pursed her lips, discarded the handkerchief, and took back the bird¡¯s nest soup. She selected a redcquered tray and ced the te on the tray. She nced at the crown prince and said, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Then, she turned around and left to bring the bird¡¯s nest soup to old madame while it was still hot.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxan had been in the <i>ting yu xuan</i> for a while, but he hadn¡¯t seen Nie Sangyu. He had already said a round of good words to old madame, and old madame¡¯s heart had also slightly softened. She said she would return in two days. She wouldn¡¯t let Wen Wan have too manyfortable days.


    Ning Yuxuan rxed. Regardless of anything else, his mother was willing to return. After drinking a pot of tea with her, he pretended to casually ask, ¡°Where¡¯s Sangyu?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s cooking bird¡¯s nest soup for me,¡± Old madame said. ¡°That child knows how to be filial. Since the matter fromst time, I also feel that she¡¯s changed a lot. But, I like the changed her more. Where can you find another woman that¡¯s as good as her?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan declined toment. After sitting there for a little while longer, he saw Nie Sangyuing into the room with bird¡¯s nest soup.


    ¡°My lord.¡± Seeing that Ning Yuxuan was also here, Ji Man greeted him before cing the bird¡¯s nest soup in front of old madame.


    He hadn¡¯t seen her in two days. Nie Sangyu had be increasingly full of life. She wasn¡¯t wearing any makeup; only natural beauty could be seen on her face. Her plump, beautiful lips looked very kissable.


    Marquis Moyu lowered his head and reflected. Was he attracted to Nie Sangyu because it had been too long since he was intimate with a woman?


    Old madame¡¯s eyes turned and she said with a smile, ¡°The two of you also haven¡¯t seen each other for two days. You should go to the side hall to talk. I want to quietly eat my bird¡¯s nest soup and take my afternoon nap afterwards.


    Ning Yuxuan nodded, stood up, and walked outside. Ji Man followed after him even though she felt that there wasn¡¯t anything they had to say to each other.


    Marquis Moyu walked into her side hall, looked around, and asked, ¡°Have you gotten used to living in the pce?¡±


    Ji Man lowered her eyes and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to get used to. Every ce is the same.¡±


    Originally, he had just been casually looking around. But, he suddenly stopped by the divider screen, ¡°Every ce is the same?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: It¡¯s nice to see Sangyu¡¯s infamous reputation of being a woman crazily in love with Ning Yuxuan helping Ji Man for once.

 Chapter 80 - The position of the secondary wife (1)

    Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir


    Chapter: 080 out of 513 ¨C The position of the secondary wife (1)


    Hearing something off in his voice, she looked in his direction and saw a silver fox fur cloak hanging on the divider screen. It was a valuable cloak embroidered with a golden dragon with four-ws.


    She sighed. This cloak had nothing to do with her. Early this morning, when the crown prince hade to pay respect to Noble Consort Nie, a part of the cloak had been damaged when it was being hanged. Noble Consort Nie knew that she was very skillful with needlework, so she had handed the cloak to her to mend.


    But, Ning Yuxuan thought about this matter differently. He knew Zhao Zhe better than anyone else and had negative mental associations when he saw the cloak here.


    ¡°Are you very close with the crown prince?¡±


    Ji Man seriously said, ¡°This matter has to be clearly exined. I¡¯m not familiar with the crown prince and I¡¯m not mending this cloak because of him. Noble Consort Nie was the one that handed me this cloak to mend.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan made a sound of acknowledgement. The corners of his lips faintly curved. ¡°It¡¯s true that your embroidery skills are very good, but there are plenty of people in the pce. The noble consort doesn¡¯t need to order you around like a servant girl.¡±


    His words made it seem like she was deliberately trying to show off. Ji Man decided not to argue with this person. Otherwise, she would be the one that was angered to death.


    ¡°My lord, you¡¯ve been here long enough. You should go back to keep Madampany,¡± Ji Man considerately said with a smile. ¡°You only need to go through the motions here. This servant won¡¯t say any unnecessary words in front of Old Madame and the noble consort. You don¡¯t have worry. This servant will only say good things about you in front of them.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk. His peach blossom eyes seemed like they were full of needles. ¡°You¡¯ve be very mature. You used to eagerly hope that I would stay longer. Now, you eagerly hope that I¡¯ll leave sooner.¡±


    ¡°People will always change.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be so stupid to spend an entire lifetime loving a person that didn¡¯t love you back? My lord, walk slowly. It¡¯s slippery outside. Have the servants support you more while you¡¯re walking.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know what to say. He sullenly flung his sleeve and started to leave the <i>ting yu xuan</i>. However, he saw the crown prince after only walking a few steps.


    Zhao Zhe had a Casanova-like smile. ¡°Marquis, did you just go to pay your respect to Old Madame?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stopped walking. ¡°Your Highness, weren¡¯t you staying home to work on your assignments? Why are you here?¡±


    Zhao Zhe rubbed his nose and said with a smile, ¡°I came to the pce early this morning and ordered the servants to say I was working on assignments. You understand why I have to use those cheap tricks. Otherwise, other people will think I¡¯m a hedonistic crown prince that doesn¡¯t know how to diligent.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows, but stayed silent.


    But, the crown prince was in a very good mood and he said, ¡°It¡¯s good that I met you here. Bring out my silver fox cloak for me. Let¡¯s go to Chun Feng.¡±


    (T/N: Literal trantion of Chun Feng is spring breeze.)


    <i>She¡¯s like a spring breeze in the three-mile long Yangzhou Street. There are many rolled up beaded screens, yet there is no one equal to her.*</i>


    * (T/N: These are lines from a Tang poem that¡¯s about a beautiful songstress.)


    As the capital¡¯s most popr money squandering establishment, Chun Feng had captivating women that were very understanding of their customers¡¯ needs. Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t an ascetic person and he frequently went there at the request of others. He wasn¡¯t in a very good mood today. Thinking that it would be good ce to get over his unhappiness, he agreed.


    He turned around and personally went inside to bring out the crown prince¡¯s silver fox fur cloak.


    Zhao Zhe put on the cloak. His phoenix eyes curved into crescent moons as he smiled. ¡°Her skill is truly better than the capital¡¯s best embroideress¡¯s.¡±


    His smile was dazzling as he caressed the embroidered blooming lotus flower that was at the cloak¡¯s corner. ¡°Sangyu is so skillful with her hands. There was such a big rip in the cloak that I thought I would have to discard it, but she embroidered a lotus flower to hide the mended tear.¡±


    The contrast between the golden dragon that was baring its fangs and brandishing its ws and the elegant lotus flower blooming in the corner of the silver cloak gave off a different kind of feeling from the original design.


    There was a saying; I¡¯m willing to rebuke the entire world for you and protectively hold you in my grasp as if you were a flower.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression sunk and turned ugly. He coldly harrumphed, ¡°It had been a perfectly good golden dragon cloak. Adding a nondescript lotus flower is the same as ruining it. It¡¯s surprising that Your Highness think she¡¯s skillful.¡±


    The crown prince loudlyughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you despise Nie Sangyu the most? Why does your voice sound like you¡¯re feeling jealous?¡±


    ¡°If you want to go, let¡¯s leave quickly.¡± Ning Yuxuan flung his sleeve, raised his foot, and sat down on the sedan chair.


    Seeing that he was annoyed, the crown prince snickered before following him by going into his own imperial sedan chair and leaving the pce together.


    ¡ª


    At Chun Feng, beautiful women danced and sung in soft voices that resembled moving water, ¡°There are trees in the mountains and there are branches on the trees. I adore you, but you do not know me.¡±


    The crown prince and Marquis Moyu were sitting in the best private room. Hearing the news of their arrival, the officials came by affably to propose toasts. They didn¡¯t expose these two people¡¯s status. They addressed the crown prince as ¡°Second Master¡± and Marquis Moyu as ¡°Sir Ning¡±.


    Sir Xu, a Ministry of Rites¡¯s official, looked at the crown prince and said, ¡°Second Master, why did youe out while wearing this cloak? It¡¯s not peaceful and safe outside and your status is very noble. You should be more careful.¡±


    Zhao Zhe had already drunk two cups of wine, but he was still holding the lotus flower in his other hand. He said, ¡°This master likes this cloak and doesn¡¯t want to take it off.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at him.


    The crown prince¡¯s gaze happened to meet his. He couldn¡¯t help breaking intoughter. ¡°Look at Sir Ning. Doesn¡¯t it look like Sir Ning¡¯s eyes are shooting fire after this master said I like this cloak? He¡¯s exactly like a jealous wife.¡±


    The officials from the Ministry of Rites all awkwardlyughed. They didn¡¯t dare to honestly answer even though Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression truly looked very ugly.


    ¡°Second Master, you should pay attention to propriety.¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t drink wine. He calmly said, ¡°Everyone has a bottom line. You shouldn¡¯t provoke her.¡±


    The crown prince paused. Holding a wine cup, he approached Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Tell me the truth. Do you also like her now? You go on and on about her bad points, but aren¡¯t you still feeling angry right now?¡±

 Chapter 81 - The position of the secondary wife (2)

    Chapter: 081 out of 513 ¨C The position of the secondary wife (2)


    Ning Yuxuan was truly feeling very angry, but he didn¡¯t know why he was feeling this way. He knew that it was impossible for anything to happen between Nie Sangyu and the crown prince, but he was still in a bad mood when he saw the crown prince continuing to hold the lotus flower.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like her. I didn¡¯t like her before, and I don¡¯t like her now either.¡± After saying these words, Marquis Moyu raised his wine cup and said, ¡°There are countless beauties in the world that you can only look at. You can¡¯t just base your decisions on whether you like them or not based on their looks.¡±


    ¡°Even thought you say this, didn¡¯t you still marry Wen Wan anyways?¡± Zhao Zhe was slightly drunk and there was even a somewhat confused look in his eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan lightlyughed. ¡°Wen Wan was only able to enter my household because of the princess consort¡¯s care and help. When Wen Wan bes pregnant in the future, I¡¯ll have to ask the princess consort toe and give the baby a name.¡±


    The crown prince finally smiled in satisfaction and let him off.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly sighed. It was really tiring to have a conversation full of hidden meanings. He suddenly reminisced about the stories that Sangyu had told him. In those stories, there was a clear and simple distinction between good people and bad people.


    ¡ª


    After another two days passed, Ning Yuxuan arranged for a proper honor guard and personally led them to the pce to wee old madame home.


    This farce had finally ended. Before leaving, Ji Man truly felt a bit reluctant about leaving the pce. In the pce, she was under Noble Consort Nie¡¯s protection and had extremely good food to eat. She didn¡¯t have to fight and scheme against other women and only had to attend to old madame for a little bit each day.


    But, she didn¡¯t have an option. Old madame wanted to go back to make life difficult for Wen Wan again, and she couldn¡¯t stay in the pce by herself.


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good as she kneeled at the entrance to wee old madame. Qian Lianxue and Qi Siling were also here. Ji Man supported old madame as she got off from the carriage. She saw old madame briefly inquire Qian Lianxue about her health, then she directly went inside.


    Wen Wan was still kneeling and her face changed colors. Ning Yuxuan got off from his horse and personally helped her up and led her inside.


    Old madame¡¯s action was really humiliating Wen Wan. She was clearly showing that she wanted to make life ufortable for Wen Wan. She had originally wanted to secretly hand over the management of the inner court¡¯s ounts to Sangyu, but now she didn¡¯t put up any pretense. In front of everyone, she told Wen Wan to hand over the ount book to Sangyu.


    Qi Siling came forward and said, ¡°Old Madame, this wouldn¡¯t proper. No matter what, Madam is the main wife and there¡¯s nothing wrong with her health. How could a concubine be allowed to manage the ount book?¡±


    With a stern expression, old madame said, ¡°The ounts for the inner court have to be clearly recorded and managed. There were many unclear transactions in the ount bookst month when Wen Wan was managing it. When I asked her where two hundred silver taels went, she couldn¡¯t answer me. Can a main wife like her be allowed to manage the ounts? Sangyu is knowledgeable and attentive. All of you have witnessed her behavior during the past few months. I feel that she¡¯s the most suitable person to manage the ounts.¡±


    Wen Wan was standing at the side. She bit her lip and didn¡¯t speak. Her father was a gambling addict. During the past period, in order to pay back all of his debts in order to give her a clean family background, he had already sold their home and was now living at an inn. As a daughter, how could she just do nothing when her father was in dire straits? She naturally had to take assistive measures.


    The marquis¡¯s family was a wealthy one. She had originally thought she could conceal the missing two hundred silver teals, but old madame had found out.


    She was in the wrong about this matter, so she kept her head lowered and didn¡¯t say anything. She only hoped that Yuxuan would side with her. At the very least, don¡¯t let Nie Sangyu be given greater power than her.


    However, after Marquis Moyu considered for a while, he actually nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Wen Wan was shocked. She incredulously looked at him, but he only held her hand.


    He looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°When I went to the pcest time, the emperor had praised Sangyu. He said she¡¯s be much more sensible and that I should give face to the noble consort by returning the position of the main wife to Sangyu.¡±


    Old madame¡¯s eyes brightened, but Wen Wan¡¯s face turned deathly pale. Her nails even pierced Ning Yuxuan¡¯s palm.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t even raise her head. If Marquis Moyu were willing to take position of the main wife from Wen Wan so easily, then Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t be called the female lead.


    ¡°But since Wen Wan¡¯s mistake wasn¡¯t colossal and Sangyu hadn¡¯t done any great service, I choose apromise. Sangyu will be promoted to the position of secondary wife and manage the inner court¡¯s ount book. This can also be counted as giving Noble Consort Nie a justification.¡±


    The position of the secondary wife in this period was different from other dynasties. It was one rank below the main wife. The secondary wife didn¡¯t have to be the main wife¡¯s biological sister that was married into the household at the same and could have a status that was as noble as the main wife¡¯s. Giving the position of the secondary wife was a serious matter. If the main wife died, the secondary wife would automatically be promoted to the position of main wife.


    Ji Man felt that the emperor must truly love the noble consort to pressure Ning Yuxuan like this. Ning Yuxuan could also be considered as not treating Wen Wan unfairly by thinking of this method. After all, not only did Wen Wan¡¯s family background not help him at all, it was probably a burden on Marquis Moyu¡¯s position.


    But, Wen Wan didn¡¯t think about the social-political aspect. His words made her think of what Qi Siling had told her. Wen Wan felt that Marquis Moyu was rekindling his old feelings towards Nie Sangyu. She immediately clenched her teeth and almost cried.


    ¡°Then, the matter is settled.¡± Old madame was in a pretty good mood. Seeing Wen Wan¡¯s expression, she only felt joy. Now that Sangyu had been promoted to position of the secondary wife, she could give Noble Consort Nie a satisfactory ount. Plus, with Sangyu managing the ounts, the power in the marquis¡¯s household would be in her hands again.

 Chapter 82 - Vigilance must be maintained to avoid being harmed (1)

    Chapter: 082 out of 513 ¨C Vignce must be maintained to avoid being harmed (1)


    Although her recent days had been going well, Ji Man still felt a faint uneasiness. She didn¡¯t know what would happenter on, but there was always a sense of danger coiling around her.


    When Ji Man returned to her senses and looked up after dazedly staying in her room for a while, she noticed that Muxu was gone. She stretched her waist and walked outside to look for her.


    There wasn¡¯t anyone in the courtyard either. She had sent the other servant girls to Shuiji store to see if its business was good and to also buy five boxes of cold cream. Muxu normally stood outside of Nie Sangyu¡¯s room, but for an inexplicable reason, Ji Man didn¡¯t see her today.


    Ji Man walked to the side room and notice that Muxu¡¯s door wasn¡¯t closed. She suddenly had a yful impulse and wanted to startle her. And so, she quietly tiptoed into her room.


    Muxu¡¯s back was facing the door, and she was stuffing something inside her wardrobe.


    Ji Man suddenly jumped over to her and patted her shoulder, ¡°Muxu.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Muxu¡¯s entire body sprung up as if she had suffered a great fright. Her eyes were extremely wide. She stopped breathing and fainted straight away.


    Ji Man was also startled. She inwardly scolded herself; she shouldn¡¯t y around like this. There really were incidents when people died from fright. She hurriedly carried Muxu to the bed, went outside, found a servant that was passing by, and told him to send Doctor Li over.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    After Ji Man returned to the room, she saw that the wardrobe¡¯s door was still open, so she went over there to close it. But, when she went over, she saw a cloth bag that was bulging with small objects. It seemed as if it was stuffed full of silver ingots.


    Where did Muxu get a bagful of money? Last time, she had given her a banknote worth fifty silver taels. Even if it was changed into silver ingots, there shouldn¡¯t be this many, ah.


    Ji Man furrowed her brows. She cast a nce at unconscious person on the bed and opened the bag.


    There were twenty silver ingots that were worth two hundred silver taels in total. There was also a banknote underneath them. Ji Man looked at it. It had arge value of one hundred sixty silver taels. On the top, it was marked with Feng Hui Union¡¯s stamp. It was exactly the same mark as the ones on the banknotes that Miss Shui brought over every month.


    Ji Man looked at it for a while, then she carefully wrapped up the money, put the bag back in its original position, and closed the wardrobe.


    Doctor Li arrived quickly. His face looked very thin, but there wasn¡¯t much worry showing. It was only when he saw that Muxu had fainted that he became somewhat anxious.


    ¡°She was perfectly fine before. Why did she faint?¡± Doctor Li sat down and checked her pulse.


    Ji Man quietly said, ¡°I called her name and unexpectedly frightened her into fainting.¡±


    Doctor Li froze for a moment in surprise, then he helplessly said, ¡°She is a bit toocking in courage. I don¡¯t know why, but she¡¯s always so jittery.¡±


    It was true that Muxu didn¡¯t have much courage. Based on what Mu Shuiqing had saidst time, she had previously been abused by Nie Sangyu. Ji Man felt that Nie Sangyu had wronged Muxu, so she did her best to make up for it.


    But, how could she have forgotten? Vignce must be maintained to avoid being harmed. This servant girl was her closest confidant and knew more of her secrets than anyone else. She was her Achilles¡¯ heel. If someone could grasp her loyalty, then everything would be all over for her.


    Ji Man lowered her eyes for a moment and said, ¡°Doctor Li, how¡¯s your mother¡¯s health?¡±


    Doctor Li was in the middle of writing a prescription. Hearing her words, he paused and said, ¡°Mistress Sang, thank you for your concern. My mother¡¯s health has finally improved recently after a long time of care.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She had heard that Doctor Li¡¯s mother was bedridden and also had asthma. She had been regrly eating ginseng as medicine. Doctor Li¡¯s ie was meager, so it was definitely difficult for him to support his mother.


    ¡°Doctor Li, I¡¯ll have to bother you with watching over Muxu for me. I have a slight headache. I¡¯m going back to my room to rest for a bit.¡± Ji Man stood up.


    ¡°This...¡± Doctor Li hesitantly stood up and secretly checked Nie Sangyus expression. It wouldn¡¯t be good for a man to be alone with a servant girl inside her room. However, Nie Sangyu was a master and he couldn¡¯t insist that she stay here.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to treat Muxu as an outsider. If you¡¯re concerned that you¡¯re damaging Muxu¡¯s reputation, then marry her in a grand ceremony. I can release her from her servitude,¡± Ji Man teased. Then, she left without waiting for a reply.


    Doctor Li blushed. Seeing that he couldn¡¯t stop her from leaving, he obediently sat back down on the bed.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man returned to her room and opened her wardrobe. She had ced her banknotes in the bottommost drawer. Since the cold cream and facemasks were both selling well, Miss Shui had sent over eight hundred silver taels worth of banknotes. She had Muxu keep ounts and hadn¡¯t counted them herself.


    Ji Man added up the pile of banknotes. There were still five hundred silver taels worth of banknotes left.


    Did Muxu think she didn¡¯t know how much she had earned, or did she think she was very stupid? Ji Man grasped the banknotes and couldn¡¯t figure it out. If she wanted the money to treat Doctor Li¡¯s mother, she could have asked her. It wasn¡¯t like she would say no. Why would she take such a big risk by stealing from her?


    Moreover, Muxu probably wouldn¡¯t be the only one in trouble if someone found out there were three hundred sixty silver taels in a servant girl¡¯s room. Would she also be implicated? Other people wouldn¡¯t be happy if they found out that a woman had a business of her own. If she were exposed, even old madame wouldn¡¯t be able to protect her.


    Ji Man suddenly felt chills down her spine. She hurriedly packed all of the banknotes in her hand into a cloth bag and quietly walked to the backyard. Seeing that there was no one around, she dug a hole and buried the bag. In order to prevent other people from seeing that the dirt had been shifted, she moved a nearby flowerpot to cover it.


    Then, she pretended that nothing had happened and returned to her room to sleep.

 Chapter 83 - Vigilance must be maintained to avoid being harmed (2)

    Chapter: 083 out of 513 ¨C Vignce must be maintained to avoid being harmed (2)


    ¡°Master, we purchased the cold cream.¡± The two young servant girls had returned. These two fresh fourteen to fifteen-year-olds were the lowest-ranking servants girls. One was called Dengxin and the other was called Gancao.


    Muxu was normally the only one that entered her room, so Ji Man hadn¡¯t paid special attention to these young servant girls. Now, she carefully looked at them. Dengxin had clear eyes and seemed energetic. Gancao was quiet, sensible, and knowledgeable about etiquette. They would be good, young sessors to Muxu.


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°Go see if your Aunt* Muxu has woken up yet. She suffered from a fright because of me.¡±


    * (T/N: Just to be clear, these two girls aren¡¯t rted to Muxu. Calling Muxu their Aunt is just showing that she¡¯s higher than them in hierarchy. Just like how Wen Wan calls Nie Sangyu her younger sister.)


    There were five boxes of cold cream in total. Ji Man sent over arge box and two small boxes of cold cream to old madame¡¯s courtyard. As for the remaining two boxes, she sent one box each to Wen Wan and Qian Lianxue.


    Originally, since there was cold cream that could be purchased by anyone now, it wouldn¡¯t be necessary for her to do this good act. However, she had ordered Miss Shui to not sell any cold cream to the marquis¡¯s household unless it was her servant girls that were asking.


    She had initially nned on always doing this as a way to curry favor. However, she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be possible to continue. She had to end this before the bomb exploded.


    ¡ª


    When Muxu woke up, she leaned against her bed and gasped for a while. She saw that there were two lowest-ranking servant girls and Doctor Li in the room. Her master was the only one missing. Her heart clenched. She staggered out of bed and opened her wardrobe to look.


    The bag was in its original position and there weren¡¯t any traces of it being rummaged through.


    ¡°Did master give any orders?¡± Muxu turned her head to ask the people in the room.


    The two young servants girls and Doctor Li shook their heads.


    ¡°Mistress Sang said she frightened you. She was worried, so she had me stay here.¡± Doctor Li picked up his medicine box and said, ¡°You fainted because you were too scared. There¡¯s nothing else that¡¯s wrong. You¡¯re fine after taking that short nap.¡±


    Muxu rxed. She straightened her clothes for a moment, then she sent Doctor Li away and went to look for Nie Sangyu.


    Seeing Muxue inside, Ji Man only asked, ¡°You woke up?¡± There was a slight amount of distress in her expression.


    Muxu¡¯s heart rose up in fear again. She walked to her side and asked, ¡°Master, why are you so dispirited?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s head was resting on the table and her tone was extremely dejected as she said, ¡°Ai, I believed in the wrong person.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s knees felt weak. She was almost about to kneel down. Her face was also bing increasingly pale.


    ¡°I treated Miss Shui so well. Why did she see profit and forget her morality? She abandoned me in spite of my care.¡± Ji Man quietly said.


    Miss Shui? Muxu paused. She stammered out a few words, ¡°Why is it her?¡±


    ¡°Other than her, who else could it be?¡± Ji Man angrily said. ¡°We had agreed upon a sixty and forty percent split. But now that she has money, she won¡¯t acknowledge our agreement. She gave me five hundred silver taels and said she had purchased the copyright for the cold cream. She taking my ideas and going to do business for herself.¡±


    ¡°How could she do something like that?¡± Muxu widened her eyes. ¡°Miss Shui seems like a decent person.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and sighed. ¡°You can known a person for a long time without understanding her true nature, ah. I put the banknotes in bottommost drawer in the wardrobe. I¡¯ll leave it alone and use it to support myself in old age.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Muxu lowered her eyes. There was a struggle in her eyes.


    The pair of master and servant stayed silent for a long time. Muxu couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Master, aren¡¯t you going to sue her? Wasn¡¯t there a contract?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and said, ¡°It won¡¯t be good for me to make this matter public. If the marquis and Old Madame found out that I was the one behind the cold cream, there¡¯ll definitely be unpleasant consequences.¡±


    Muxu nodded and dazedly stood at the side in silence.


    Ji Man lowered her head and drank tea with saying another word.


    ¡ª


    On the very same night, Qi Siling said a thief had entered her courtyard. She was fine, but she had lost a hundred silver taels of personal money.


    Noise mored throughout the marquis residence immediately, even the guests in the southern courtyard were affected. Full of curiosity, Ning Errong ran over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room to join in the fuss. ¡°The honored concubines in your family are really rich. She¡¯s actually saved a hundred silver taels.¡±


    Ji Man was currently facing her mirror and grooming herself. When she heard these words, she chuckled and said, ¡°She¡¯s a person that once managed the inner courts. It would be strange if she didn¡¯t have any foundation. There¡¯ll probably be peopleing over here to search my roomter. You don¡¯t have to go anywhere else to watch drama. My ce will be the most exciting.¡±


    Ning Errong didn¡¯t understand the meaning of her words. But, a short whileter, she saw Qi Siling and Marquis Moyue to Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s entrance, along with a group of servants.


    ¡°Check this ce too.¡± Ning Yuxuan saw Nie Sangyu as soon as he entered the room. She even turned her head to look at him. Her face seemed even more beautiful nowpared to when he saw her a few days ago. His heart would start to beat faster if he looked at her for a little bit longer.


    Marquis Moyu faintly looked away and gestured at the servants.


    Qi Siling entered the room and warmly held Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°Older sister, we¡¯ll have to bother you. The marquis and I even searched Qiangwei Courtyard recently. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem here, right?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s smile was proper and rxed. ¡°Younger sister, feel free to search anywhere.¡±


    Qi Siling nodded. She turned around and saw a few servant girlsing inside. They opened Nie Sangyu¡¯s wardrobe. A few of the servants also barged into Muxu¡¯s room. After rummaging through, one of them yelled out, ¡°Found it.¡±


    A lot of Nie Sangyu¡¯s clothes had been thrown out of the wardrobe in their search, but the servant girls came up empty-handed. With red faces, they stood up and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡±


    Qi Siling looked at Marquis Moyu. A few of the servants had seized Muxu and brought her into Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. Just as they ced the bag down and was about to open it, they heard Nie Sangyu call out, ¡°Wait.¡±

 Chapter 84 - You still owe me a dare (1)

    Chapter: 084 out of 513 ¨C You still owe me a dare (1)


    Everyone paused in his or her movements and uniformly looked at Nie Sangyu. There wasn¡¯t panic on her face. Instead, she friendly held Qi Siling¡¯s hand and asked, ¡°Younger sister, is your lost money in the form of silver ingots or is it banknotes?¡±


    Qi Siling paused, cast a nce at the shape of the bag, and said, ¡°Fifty in silver ingots and fifty in banknotes.¡±


    ¡°What union was the banknotes from?¡± Ji Man asked another question.


    If this was a few days ago and she was still a concubine, Qi Siling would definitely ignore her question and say that she was just quibbling. But, her status had changed after all. She was now a secondary wife and was half a step above her. Nie Sangyu¡¯s questions were asked in such a friendly tone; Qi Siling couldn¡¯t refuse to answer.


    And so, Qi Siling could only put on a bold face and said, ¡°It¡¯s probably Feng Hui Union. Sonn was the one that exchanged the silver taels for the banknote, so this concubine doesn¡¯t clearly remember.¡±


    Thergest two unions in the capital were Feng Hui Union and Hui Tong Union. And so, it was only a coincidence that Qi Siling had guessed correctly.


    Ji Man waved her hand to indicate for the servants to open the bag. The silver ingots spilled out and the banknote on the bottom was revealed.


    ¡°Why is there so much?¡± Surprised, Qi Siling covered her mouth after seeing the money.


    It seemed that Qi Siling hadn¡¯t been the one that was trying to frame her. She was just taking advantage of the situation for her own benefit. Why? If she were the one that had Muxu nt the evidence, then she definitely wouldn¡¯t have spoken the wrong amount.


    Three hundred sixty silver taels was arge sum of money. Right now, Ji Man¡¯s monthly allowance was ten silver taels. This amount would be enough tost her for three years.


    Muxu kneeled down and exined, ¡°This servant didn¡¯t steal Mistress Ling¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°Of course you couldn¡¯t have been the one that stole the money.¡± Seeing that Marquis Moyu was about to speak from her peripheral vision, Ji Man spoke before he could. Having nned in advance, she looked at Qi Siling and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t younger sister Ling say that there was a thief in the middle of the night? The thief must have stuffed all of his stolen money into Muxu¡¯s room. But... this amount doesn¡¯t match younger sister Ling¡¯s amount of a hundred silver taels.¡±


    Qi Siling froze in surprise for a moment, then she pursed her lips and said, ¡°Perhaps, this money isn¡¯t the concubine¡¯s. This concubine¡¯s monthly allowance is seven and a half silver taels. It took this concubine a long time to save up a hundred silver taels. It absolutely couldn¡¯t be this much.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. She picked up the banknote and handed it to Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Yuxuan took the banknote and looked at it. Feng Hui Union¡¯s mark was clearly at the top.


    When Qi Siling had been managing the inner court¡¯s ounts, Ning Yuxuan knew that it wasn¡¯t possible for Qi Siling topletely keep her hands clean. But, he hadn¡¯t expected that she would have this much money after only managing for four years.


    There wasn¡¯t much anger on Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. Instead, he asked with a great deal of interest, ¡°It¡¯s strange. The thief had stolen money. Why did he stuff the money into Muxu¡¯s room instead of running away or putting the money into Sangyu¡¯s room?¡±


    Qi Siling¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good, but she still spoke, ¡°My lord, this isn¡¯t this concubine¡¯s money.¡±


    ¡°Then, tell me. Where did the money found in Muxu¡¯s roome from?¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at her as he asked. ¡°A servant girl¡¯s monthly allowance is only one silver tael. Muxu has only been in my residence for six years. When all is said and done, she could have only saved seventy-two silver taels at the most.¡±


    Qi Siling nced at Nie Sangyu and quietly said, ¡°Perhaps, older sister Sangyu had bestowed her this money.¡±


    With a face full of innocence, Ji Man pointed at her wardrobe and jewelry box. ¡°Younger sister, take a clear look. My monthly allowance just increased. My jewelry and clothes are all very in and simple. I only have ten silver taels saved up in my jewelry box, without any other exceptions. Where would I have the money to reward a servant?¡±


    Qi Siling felt as if she had fallen into a trap. She was truly experiencing suffering that she couldn¡¯t defend herself against. Why were they saying that this found bag of money was hers? There truly had been a thief in her courtyard tonight. Marquis Moyu has also been there. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t have been a great number of servants carrying out this search everywhere. She had just wanted to take advantage of this situation for her own benefit. It would have been good to ce the crime on Nie Sangyu. But, for an inexplicable reason, she wasn¡¯t about to outtalk Nie Sangyu.


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s mouth was bing increasingly clever.


    Muxu was kneeling by their side and repeatedly kowtowed. ¡°These silver taels have nothing to do with this servant. Marquis, please investigate!¡±


    Seeing her panic-strickened expression, the corner of Ji Man¡¯s mouth faintly curved up.


    She didn¡¯t know who was trying to harm her. Fortunately for her, she had identally seen part of their n before it was executed and avoided it. Otherwise, if they had also found banknotes in her room, the matter of the thief in the residence would be a small matter. The other people would most likely stand around in a circle as they watched Marquis Moyu punish her.


    She had been very lucky.


    ¡°As for this money, how about a hundred silver taels will be given to Ling-<i>er</i>, the rest will be confiscated by Steward Qian?¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said.


    Qi Siling was very unsatisfied, ¡°My lord...¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to say anymore. This trouble hassted for such a long time. You should go back to rest.¡± Marquis Moyu sat down and said, ¡°Ling-<i>er</i> take the money and go back to your room.¡±


    She was going back by herself? Qi Siling¡¯s heart turned cold. She had finally received the chance to be favored. The marquis had said he would be resting at her ce tonight. After a thief had broken into her courtyard and they hade to Feiwan Courtyard, the result was that he ended up staying here instead.


    Inwardly, Qi Siling was vexed. She had suffered a double loss after trying to harm her enemy. But, she still put on a proper smile. ¡°Then, this concubine won¡¯t bother the marquis with his rest. This concubine will send the marquis a tasty, light breakfast in the morning.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan nodded. He waved his hand and all of the servants they had brought also withdrew from the room.


    Seeing that this matter had been so simply settled, Muxu was somewhat stunned and amazed. But, she still packed up the rest of the money and followed Marquis Moyu¡¯s order by leaving to go and deliver the money to Steward Qian.


    Ji Man was slightly distressed about losing her money. She had lost three hundred sixty silver taels just like that. How many cold creams would have to be sold for her to earn back that money, ah? However, after thinking about, she decided that she could ept using money to avoid misfortune.


    Trantion Ramblings: Wait, what happened to Errong? The author seemed to have forgotten about her. I find it hard to believe that she would have been able to stay silent in this recent conversation.

 Chapter 85 - You still owe me a dare (2)

    Chapter: 085 out of 513 ¨C You still owe me a dare (2)


    ¡°I was wondering how much trouble they could stir up. I truly overestimated them, or perhaps I should say that I underestimated you.¡± Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze swept over. There was a hint of a warm smile on his normally expressionless face. ¡°You¡¯re very clever.¡±


    Ji Man looked at this great Buddha, sighed, and asked, ¡°My lord, will you be sleeping here tonight?¡±


    ¡°Are you still not willing?¡± Ning Yuxuan stood up and gently wrapped his arm around her waist. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you¡¯re not willing. I won¡¯t touch you. But, how about we talk about our feelings tonight?¡±


    Why did he want to talk about feelings out of the blue? Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched. Her eyes suddenly brightened and she said, ¡°Then, let¡¯s y truth or dare with rock-paper-scissors.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Marquis Moyu was slightly at a loss.


    Ji Man exined the rules to him. Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows, ¡°This seems interesting. Let¡¯s try it.¡±


    Don¡¯t joke with her. Ji Man had plenty of experience with this game from college. She was always slightly slower than the other person when showing rock, paper, or scissors, but no one had seen through her tactic and suspected her. Thus, her chance of victory was significantly increased. How could she possibly loss against a person from ancient times?


    In the first round, she won as expected. She happily looked at Marquis Moyu and asked, ¡°My lord, do you want to pick truth or dare?¡±


    ¡°Truth.¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t show the slightest hesitation. Leaning against the bed, he was faintly smiling.


    ¡°This servant daringly asks, what type of woman do you like the best?¡± Ji Man narrowed her eyes as she asked.


    This question waspletely within expectations, but Marquis Moyu¡¯s mind still wandered. He lowered his eyes and said, ¡°I like quiet, gentle, and kind-hearted women that know how to dance and paint.¡±


    Fine, none of these qualities matched Nie Sangyu. Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. But, when she carefully thought about it, these qualities didn¡¯t match Wen Wan either, ah. Wen Wan, the female lead, had already turned from a white lotus into a ck one. She wasn¡¯t quiet or gentle anymore.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Marquis Moyu opened his eyes.


    Ji Man nodded. But starting from the second round, something unexpected happened. She repeatedly lost.


    ¡°True or dare?¡± Ning Yuxuan asked.


    ¡°Dare.¡± She replied.


    ¡°Kiss me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Ji Man incredulously looked at him. Ning Yuxuan somewhat devilishly smiled. His peach blossom eyes reflected the image of the person in front of him. It was enough to make a person¡¯s heart thump.


    He had never shown her an expression like this before. Normally, he would only fake smile at her or not show any expression. What was wrong with him today? Why was he trying to seduce her?


    Ji Man took a deep breath. Hadn¡¯t they said that they would agree to anything before they started? Otherwise, there was no point in ying this game. It was just touching her lips to his. With a smacking sound, she kissed his lips.


    The marquis didn¡¯t seem particr satisfied. And so, their following dialogue continued to be:


    ¡°Truth or dare?¡±


    ¡°Dare!¡±


    ¡°Kiss me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    After Ji Man had kissed him several times, she finally felt there was something wrong. ¡°Why are you always winning, ah?¡±


    Marquis Moyu innocently spread his hand out. ¡°You¡¯re just having bad luck. There¡¯s nothing that can be done about that. Let¡¯s continue.¡±


    After silently cursing in her mind, Ji Man kissed him again. But this time, Marquis Moyu held the back of her head with his hand and flipped them over so that he was pressing her body underneath his. His tongue slipped past her lips and teeth and gently besieged her mouth.


    What was he trying to do? Ji Man instinctively tried pushing him away, but she felt Ning Yuxuan sping their hands together.


    ¡°I kept trying to figure out who you were and sent people looking for Nie Sangyu.¡± Very careful and intimate kissesnded on her neck after he said this.


    Hearing these words, Ji Man felt as if her body had been struck by lightening.


    What did he know?


    ¡°But, recently, I had to acknowledge the truth. There aren¡¯t two people that are exactly the same. You¡¯re Nie Sangyu, but you¡¯re also not her.¡± Ning Yuxan¡¯s eyes were as deep as the sea. ¡°Sangyu, you¡¯vepletely changed as if you¡¯ve been reborn. I really like you now.¡±


    Goosebumps rose up on Ji Man¡¯s entire body, but her mind rxed. The corners of her mouth twitched and she said, ¡°My lord, are you trying to seduce this servant?¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Marquis Moyu lightly smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t overthink things. I¡¯m serious. I want to treat you well. The emperor said that the Great Canal would be open in half a month. He wants to take a pleasure boat to Jiangnan to go sightseeing for a month and also observe the circumstances and feelings of the people. I have to go on the boat trip and I want to bring you along too.¡±


    Ji Man asked in shock, ¡°My lord, why are you bringing me?¡±


    One month, ah. Didn¡¯t he like Wen Wan the most? Why was he bringing her instead of Wen Wan?


    ¡°This is what Noble Consort Nie wanted. I also think that it¡¯ll be more interesting to bring you along.¡± Marquis Moyu smiled and nibbled at the string for her <i>dudou</i>. ¡°If I can¡¯t fall asleep on the boat, I can at least listen to your stories.¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly tried to stop him from doing anything else. Her mind was having a hard time figuring out his actions. They had only not seen each other for a few days. There was no reason for Ning Yuxuan to suddenly treat Nie Sangyu so well. Although he suspected that she was a different person, he had also said he would take her traveling on the emperor¡¯s tour. What on earth was he thinking?


    Feeling that his movements were bing more and more outrageous, Ji Man couldn¡¯t help shouting out, ¡°My lord, you said you wouldn¡¯t force this servant! This servant wants to peacefully sleep.¡±


    Marquis Moyu stopped. He gently closed the front of her robes for her, then he obediently lied down next to her and said, ¡°Don¡¯t forget, you still owe me a dare.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I like how the author reverses the trope of transmigrated people being so terribly cleverpared to people from ancient times.

 Chapter 86 - The ending can be changed (1)

    Chapter: 086 out of 513 ¨C The ending can be changed (1)


    Ji Man felt chills on the back of her neck. Although the person next to her had a very attractive smile, she felt as if a snake was wrapping itself around her neck.


    She turned herself over to sleep. For now, she couldn¡¯t guess what he was thinking. But, that was okay. His viinous intentions would be revealed sooner orter.


    ¡ª


    A few dayster, the news that the emperor wanted to go to the south had spread. The list of attendants and guests that would being along had alsoe out. The empress had to stay behind to oversee the imperial harem. Noble Consort Nie would be apanying the emperor on his trip to the south. The crown prince, third prince, and Marquis Moyu would be escorting him. These people were all popr with the emperor, so it wasn¡¯t strange for them toe along. However, there was another name on the escorting list. It was actually Ning Mingjie¡¯s name.


    ¡°Does your cousin know martial arts?¡± Ji Man curiously asked Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled, ¡°There¡¯s no difference between Mingjie¡¯s martial arts skill and mine. What do you think?¡±


    Ji Man was surprised. She wasn¡¯t surprised that Ning Mingjie was really amazing. But, how could this soft and weak person in front of her know martial arts?


    Most of the aristocratic men in the Great Song Dynasty were delicate. She looked at Ning Yuxuan. He always wore brocade robes that were as pristine as snow and seemed to float around. Ji Man thought he was raised like a prince and was the delicate type.


    ¡°This servant remembers that your cousin is a sixth-rank supervisor for military weapons. He doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the imperial family, ah,¡± Ji Man quietly said.


    Ning Yuxuan was lying on a cushioned couch underneath the eaves. He pulled his fur clothing up a little bit and narrowed his eyes at the snowyndscape. ¡°Mingjie is a talented person. The emperor already had the intention of promoting himst year, but he wasn¡¯t willing to leave his sick mother¡¯s side. His mother died at the beginning of this year. They¡¯ve been mourning for a long period of time and only recently stopped observing the rituals. Marquis Jingwen has the intention of letting hime to the capital to be an official in the imperial court. The emperor is very happy about this and wants him toe on the trip to the south. He wants to give Mingjie an opportunity to do a meritorious deed so that he can be promoted.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. Ning Minjie was a person that stood aloof from worldly affairs. In the original novel, he didn¡¯t even need to do anything for the emperor to rush forward to promote him. This dynasty was probably following the old customs from Wei and Jin Dynasty where officials were promoted based on physiognomy. Otherwise, the princes and subjects that were favored by the emperor wouldn¡¯t all have appearances like celestial immortals.


    Just as Ji Man was sighing over this, she saw Liu <i>Mama</i>ing through this courtyard¡¯s entrance and hesitating for a moment when she saw that Nie Sangyu was also here.


    ¡°Go the kitchen and bring back some snacks for me.¡± Marquis Moyu turned his head and said to Nie Sangyu.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man nodded and left right away. Marquis Moyu had found an excuse to send her away. There was probably something that he didn¡¯t want her to hear.


    After she had stepped past the courtyard¡¯s entrance, she stuck to the wall next to the entrance to listen.


    ¡°Marquis, Madam wrote a letter to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh? I¡¯m right here in the residence. Why did she write a letter?¡± Marquis Moyu chuckled. His brows smoothed out and his eyes contained a child-like happiness from winning their spat.


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know. Marquis, please read this.¡± Liu <i>Mama</i> handed him the letter.


    <i>Newly cut white silk from Qi, clear and pure as frost and snow.</i>


    <i>Made into a fan for joyous trysts, round as the bright moon.</i>


    <i>In and out of my lord¡¯s cherished sleeve, waved back and forth to make a light breeze.</i>


    <i>Often I fear the arrival of the autumn season, cool winds oveing the summer heat.</i>


    <i>Discarded into a box, affection cut off before fulfillment.*</i>


    * (T/N: Trantion was taken from here. http://.silkqin/02qnpu/16xltq/xl121hgq.htm. There¡¯s also a lengthy exnation and history of this poem on that website. Basically, this was written by an imperial concubine, who was feeling depressed because she had lost the emperor¡¯s favor.)


    This was a poem about a woman¡¯s grievance. Each word and phrase showed sorrow and fear over losing favor. She wanted to angrily rebuke her lover for failing to be loyal, but she could only aggrievedlypare herself to a fan and try to win back her husband and lord¡¯s love.


    The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips soared upwards. He stood up and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go. The weather is cold and there¡¯s no use for a fan, but I¡¯ll still go the box and look at her.¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly turned around and ran towards the path. If Marquis Moyu came out and saw her, she would be finished.


    This man¡¯s true heart seemed as if it was wrapped inyer uponyer of gauze. She couldn¡¯t clearly see it or understand it. There was only one thought in her mind. Don¡¯t give her heart to this person. Otherwise, there might not even be any remnants left at the end.


    When Ji Man arrived at the intersection in the front, she decisively turned right and headed towards the southern courtyard. It was in the opposite direction of Qiangwei Courtyard. Since Marquis Moyu had gone over there, it meant that she wouldn¡¯t need to serve the marquis tonight. She just needed to temporarily avoid him.


    After Ji Man had stopped at the side of a flowerbed for a while and saw Marquis Moyu¡¯s distant figure walking farther away, she let out a sigh of relief. But, when she turned around, she almost bumped into someone.


    Ning Mingjie wearing a white robe embroidered with silver pythons and holding a porcin bottle. His eyebrows were raised as he looking at her with surprise, but he didn¡¯t ask her anything.


    Ji Man looked around. There wasn¡¯t anyone else. This Sir Ning, who was highly valued by the emperor, looked rtively undignified at the moment. He was crouched down by the flowerbed and seemed like he was collecting snow that was on top of the flowers again.


    Ji Man politely took a step back and quietly asked, ¡°Young Master, you¡¯ve collected so much snow. What exactly are you going to use it for?¡±


    Ning Mingjie finished filling the bottle in his hand and chuckled, ¡°Cold Fragrance Pills. The doctor said he needed autumn dew and winter snow. The snow on the flowers is the best. After this winter is over, I¡¯ll have the ingredients to make Cold Fragrance Pills.¡±


    Ji Man had only heard of Cold Fragrance Pills mentioned in <i>Dream of the Red Chamber</i>*. She hadn¡¯t expected that it would exist in this world too. It was made with twelve ounces of winter snow, twelve ounces of autumn dew, etc. It was truly troublesome.


    * (T/N: Cold Fragrance Pills is a made-up panacea. <i>Dream of the Red Chamber</i> is one of China¡¯s Four Great ssical Novels.)


    ¡°Who¡¯s sick?¡± Ji Man asked another question.


    Ning Mingjie stood up and lightly patted his robe. ¡°My mother used to be sick. A traveling monk said that this medicine could cure her. I received the prescription this year, but my mother had already departed at the beginning of the year.¡±


    In other words, he was gathering these items for his deceased mother?


    This supporting male character was truly worthy of being called the supporting male character. Compared to Ning Yuxuan, who was shrewd, treacherous, and as unpredictable as the weather, the man in front of her was practically a snow lotus from Mount Tian. He was so filial! Although he wore a mask, he was still so attractive that people couldn¡¯t bear to look at him directly!!!

 Chapter 87 - The ending can be changed (2)

    Chapter: 087 out of 513 ¨C The ending can be changed (2)


    Her hot blood was slightly boiling from these thoughts, but then a plop of snow fell down on her from the eaves and cooled her down.


    She hade here to fulfill Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish. She couldn¡¯t stay in this ancient world for a lifetime. Other than getting Ning Yuxuan to fall in love with her, there wasn¡¯t another way for her to return to modern times. There was no reason for her to get so excited, ah.


    She sighed and reluctantly looked away from Ning Mingjie. She calmly brushed off the snow on her head. ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. I¡¯ll be leaving first.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Mingjie casually broke off a branch with plum blossoms and brought it to her. ¡°The way the plum tree in your courtyard was trimmed is slightly ugly. Take this with you and put it into a vase.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    The plum tree in her courtyard, Marquis Moyu had trimmed it....


    She resisted the urge tough. Ji Man epted the plum blossoms and expressed her thanks. Then, she turned around and started walking to Feiwan Courtyard. As she walked, she started to feel that something was off.


    Eh? Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t seem to dislike to her? Ji Man stopped her steps and couldn¡¯t resist turning around to look. He was still standing in the same ce. Seeing that she was looking over here, he was somewhat surprised for a moment, then he slightly turned his head away.


    In the original novel, the supporting male character had sided with the female lead and deeply hated the supporting female character because of this, ah. Of course, it was also because Nie Sangyu had done truly outrageous things. But now, she was very well behaved and hadn¡¯t done anything wrong since she came here. Was this enough for the supporting male character to not despise her?


    The person who had given evidence against the supporting female character had been Ning Mingjie! Did this mean that part of the ending had already changed? At the very least, she wouldn¡¯t die. There was a burst of excitement in her heart.


    She had originally thought that no matter what she did, the general plot wouldn¡¯t change. Unexpectedly, it was possible to change fate.


    ¡ª


    Under the warmth of a hibiscus canopy* in Qiangwei Coutryard, it was obvious that Wen Wen had recently cried. Her eyes were red-rimmed. However, her face showed a bashful joy.


    * (T/N: Under the warmth of a hibiscus canopy is a line from <i>the Song of Evesting Regret</i> by Bai Juyi. It¡¯s expressing the emperor¡¯s disregard of politics and caring only about the beauty of his consort. He neglected his duties and promoted members of her family into important positions (basically what Ning Yuxuan seems to be doing right now).


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chin was resting on Wen Wan¡¯s head. He sighed and said, ¡°Why can¡¯t you be more obedient? You¡¯re always making me feel worried.¡±


    ¡°How am I not obedient?¡± Wen Wan snorted. ¡°You¡¯ve been treating Nie Sangyu so well recently. You were clearly trying to make me feel jealous. But when I feel jealous, you say that I¡¯m making you feel worried. You¡¯ve already done your best to make me feel good and bad, what do you want me to do?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. He lowered his head to look at Wen Wan¡¯s face and couldn¡¯t resist kissing her eyes. ¡°Okay, okay. Don¡¯t be angry with me. It was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s idea to bring Nie Sangyu with me on this trip. Right now, the noble consort has regained the emperor¡¯s favor. The emperor has broken off most of Nie n¡¯s power and connections, but he has started to fear the influence of empress¡¯s faction. If I didn¡¯t insist on saving your position as the main wife, it would have definitely gone to Nie Sangyu.¡±


    Wen Wan furrowed her brows, but then she quickly smoothed out her expression. ¡°It¡¯s not important if I¡¯m the main wife or not. As long as I can be by your side forever, I¡¯ll be satisfied.¡±


    Marquis Moyu kissed her forehead and stroked her face for a long time before he finally said, ¡°Go to sleep. Have sweet dreams.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Wen Wan hugged his waist and closed her eyes.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had been nning for her trip that would take ce in half a month when a servant had suddenly brought the message that old madame wanted to see her.


    With a serious expression, old madame said, ¡°Sangyu, I need your help with something.¡±


    ¡°Old Madame, please give your order.¡± Ji Man hadn¡¯t seen this old one look so serious in a long time. She was somewhat curious.


    ¡°Take a trip to Nie residence to persuade your older brother,¡± old madame said. ¡°Our two families should have already settled on a wedding date between your older brother and Errong, but he suddenly told Errong that he doesn¡¯t want to get married so early. Isn¡¯t that just nonsense? The crown prince¡¯s side has always been covetously eyeing Errong. If the crown prince pleads with the emperor for an imperial edict, the second half of Errong¡¯s life will be ruined.¡±


    Ji Man was shocked by old madame¡¯s words. During the past period, she had been busy dealing with Marquis Moyu. When she carefully thought about it, she realized that she hadn¡¯t talked to Errong in a while. During the past few days, she had heard that Errong had been leaving the residence to go on scenic tours with Nie Qingyun to cultivate their rtionship. Why did a probleme up with their engagement at this juncture?


    ¡°Sangyu understands.¡±


    After taking the token that would allow her to leave the residence, Ji Man went to the southern courtyard first. Ning Mingjie was helplessly leaning against a wall on the first floor. Seeing hering inside, he indicated for her to go upstairs.


    Ning Errong had locked herself inside her room. Baizhi was standing outside.


    Baizhi was both worried and angry as she said, ¡°Mistress Sang, please persuade the <i>junzhu</i>. She¡¯s such a good woman. She can easily find someone else to marry her. Why does insist on obsessing over Sir Nie and torturing herself like this?¡±


    (T/N: This was first mentioned in chapter 63, but since this word doesn¡¯te up often, I¡¯m repeating the exnation again. <i>Junzhu</i> is one rank lower than princess. The title of <i>junzhu</i> is usually given to a daughter of a first-rank prince. The title can also be bestowed by the emperor¡¯s decree.)


    Baizhi had been so focused on protecting her master that she temporarily forgot that Nie Qingyun was Sangyu¡¯s older brother. When she returned to her senses, she stopped speaking, lowered her head, and stepped to the side.


    ¡°Go and bring something sweet to eat. I¡¯ll go inside to persuade her.¡± Ji Man pushed the doors and faintly smiled at Baizhi.


    Baizhi made a sound of agreement and lifted her skirt as she went down the stairs.


    Ji Man looked around. There wasn¡¯t anyone else upstairs. She lifted up her heavy skirt, so she could kick the tightly sealed doors.


    Nie Sangyu was too weak and the first kick didn¡¯t budge the doors at all. Ji Man took a deep breath and gathered the strength that a baby would use to drink milk. Her second attempt kicked the doors wide open.


    Ning Errong forgot to cry. With leftover tears on her face, she nkly looked at Nie Sangyu at the doorway.


    Ji Man lightly smiled. She put down her skirt, tidied her hair, entered the room, and warmly said, ¡°I heard that you were in a bad mood.¡±


    Errong bit her lip and hoarsely said, ¡°Your older brother doesn¡¯t want me.¡±

 Chapter 88 - Matchmaking isn’t easy (1)

    Chapter: 088 out of 513 ¨C Matchmaking isn¡¯t easy (1)


    Ji Man sat down by the window, looked at Errong¡¯s beautifully tearful face, sighed, and took out a handkerchief to help her wipe her runny nose. ¡°Why do you think he doesn¡¯t want you?¡±


    Ning Errong used Nie Sangyu¡¯s handkerchief to wipe her face clean of snot and tears before saying, ¡°During the past few days, he always apanied me to go out and sightsee. He treated me so well. I thought he epted the marriage between our two families. But now, he actually said he doesn¡¯t want to marry yet... How does he regard me?¡±As Ning Errong said these words, she couldn¡¯t help crying again.


    Ji Man hurriedly patted her back and said, ¡°Of course, you¡¯re just misunderstanding my older brother¡¯s meaning. My older brother is a blockhead. He¡¯s very obtuse when ites to romance. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t only have two ordinary concubines and not a single honored concubine by now, right? He¡¯s sincerely looking for a person to spend his life with, so he doesn¡¯t want to rush things. He just wants to spend more time with you. It¡¯s not that he doesn¡¯t want you.¡±


    Errong froze in surprise. She pitifully raised her head and looked at Nie Sangyu, ¡°Really?¡±


    Jim Man felt diffident inside, but her expression was very assured as she said, ¡°I¡¯m his younger sister.¡±


    Ning Errong¡¯s eyes brightened again and resembled ck pearls glimmering underneath the sunlight. Actually, this girl¡¯s inherent personality wasn¡¯t bad. She was just slightly unruly and arrogant. However, she was deeply in love with Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother and was a good choice for her future sister-inw.


    After seeing all sorts of women in the marquis¡¯s household, Ji Man felt that it would be the best to find a woman that whole-heartedly loved Nie Qingyun.


    Ning Errong calmed down, tied up her hairstyle, and coughed twice to clear her throat before saying, ¡°If this is just a misunderstanding, then it would be a waste to continue crying... You¡¯re all dressed up. Are you going out?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She was returning to Nie Residence today under old madame¡¯s order, so she had changed into a morous dress and was wearing the jade waist essory that was carved with ¡°Ning¡±. A golden kingfisher hairpin that old madame had given her was inserted into her hair and she was also wearing a bracelet made of the highest quality jade that Marquis Moyu had bestowed her when he had been in a good mood.


    ¡°I¡¯m going back to Nie Residence to see my older brother. While I¡¯m there, I¡¯ll talk reason into him. Nie n and Ning n are already rtives by marriage. It¡¯ll be good for the two families to be even closer. It¡¯s time for that blockhead to be enlightened.¡±


    Errong¡¯s eyes turned and she whispered, ¡°Then... since you¡¯re going to see Qingyun, can you apologize on my behalf while you¡¯re there?


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°Why would you be the one apologizing?¡±


    With a guilty conscience, Ning Errong nced at Nie Sangyu and quietly said, ¡°When he said that he didn¡¯t want to marry me, I was too upset... I pped him¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    Ji Man had originally thought it would be easy to y matchmaker, but now she discovered it would be a slightly difficult, ah. No matter how good Nie Qingyun¡¯s temperament was, wasn¡¯t it asking a lot for him to turn the other cheek and marry her?


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll talk it out with my older brother.¡± Ji Man patted her shoulder. This young girl¡¯s face would be swollen soon if she continued to cry. For now, she should say words tofort her and put her at ease.


    ¡ª


    The carriage that Marquis Moyu had arranged for her to use was the one that he frequently used himself to travel. Ji Man listened to Muxu happily talking about the gift they were presenting to Nie n for this visit and only lightly smiled in response. Her mind was still filled with apprehension.


    Although everyone knew that Nie Sangyu¡¯s temperament had greatly changed to a gentle and virtuous one and she had even received Marquis Moyu¡¯s fondness, Ji Man was still afraid. What if there was a cunning, old fox in Nie Residence that noticed there was something off about her? She would be doomed if someone asked her a question that she couldn¡¯t answer.


    And so, she hadn¡¯t asked Muxu too many questions during this past period or exposed the truth that the stolen silver taels originally belonged to her. Muxu had once nervously asked her where the money in her wardrobe had gone and she had only simply said she had taken it out to do other things. She had decided that she wouldn¡¯t punish Muxu. Even if she had a traitorous heart, she was the person that had the most contact with the real Nie Sangyu.


    Moreover, she wanted to beat the other person at his or her own game and drag out the person that Muxu was secretly working for.


    Ji Man went into the carriage and looked at Muxu, who was following her by walking outside the carriage. With so many hidden threats around her, Nie Sangyu had perhaps been unjustly used of crimes before dying.


    Nie n was a famous noble family. Right now, the patriarch of the family was Nie Xiangyun. He was a third-rank general. The emperor had bestowed Nie n¡¯s mansion to them and it was divided into two parts: a north courtyard and a south courtyard. Nie Xiangyun lived in the southern courtyard with his wife, concubines, and children. His younger brother, Nie Xiangtian, was an imperial censor as well as a physician. He lived in the northern courtyard.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Nie Xiangyun is Nie Sangyu and Nie Qingyun¡¯s father. Also, <strong>here¡¯s a link</strong> for the cast of characters. You can find this link on the table of contents page, between the summary and chapter links.)


    Because Nie n had abundant male members in high positions, Nie n had always been a tumor in the emperor¡¯s heart. Previously, the emperor had used the excuse of Noble Consort Nie losing favor and significantly cut off a lot of Nie n¡¯s branches. And so, the entire n was behaving very properly right now. They didn¡¯t dare to do anything that was even slightly against the rules and regtions.


    Old madame had a sent a letter to Nie n in advance, so Nie n¡¯s current matriarch, Chen Suqin, had ordered the servants to tidy up Nie Sangyu¡¯s original courtyard. However, other than doing this, there wasn¡¯t any show of weing Nie Sangyu.


    The carriage arrived at Nie Residence. When Ji Man opened the carriage¡¯s curtain, she saw Nie Qingyun standing at the residence¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°Older brother!¡± Ji Man happily shouted. This man had always been the one that treated her the best. In the modern world, she didn¡¯t have an older brother. Having him as an older brother here, she felt satisfied.


    Nie Qingyun lightly smiled. Seeing that herplexion was better than thest time he saw her, he couldn¡¯t help stepping forward and wanting to stroke her hair. However, he saw her morous hairstyle and his hand paused. He slowly put his hand back in its original position. ¡°The servants said you wouldn¡¯t be here until noon. I didn¡¯t expect that you woulde here half an hour early.¡±


    ¡°Older brother, have you been waiting here for me this entire time?¡± Ji Man smiled and her eyes curved into crescent moons.


    Nie Qingyun nced at her and led her inside the residence. ¡°I just happen to be returning home at the same time.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Since Ji Man has already seen that nothing good came from Nie Sangyu marrying someone that didn¡¯t like her, she¡¯s a modern person that has dated different people, and thinks that infatuation/puppy love can¡¯tst forever, I think it¡¯s strange that Ji Man doesn¡¯t even try to change Errong¡¯s mind. Errong¡¯s choices aren¡¯t limited to just marrying Nie Qingyun or someone from the crown prince¡¯s side. She can just marry anyone else.


    On the other hand, Ji Man does seem to make snap judgments and she truly thinks that Nie Qingyun needs her help or he¡¯ll stay a bachelor forever, so maybe, it¡¯s not that strange. She has good intentions. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 89 - Matchmaking isn’t easy (2)

    Chapter: 089 out of 513 ¨C Matchmaking isn¡¯t easy (2)


    Nie Residence was veryrge and magnificent, but it was slightly off from the established customs of how the buildings should be arranged. However, the emperor had bestowed this residence, so no one could say anything. Ji Man looked around and discovered that the pavilions and other buildings were built irregrly. Underneath the covered corridors, there was a green pool. After they passed through pool area, they arrived at the southern courtyard. When servant girls passed by them, they would curtsey at them before walking forward.


    Nie n¡¯s level of prosperousness inexplicably made Ji Man think of the residence in <i>Dream of the Red Chamber</i> and she was absent-minded for a brief period.


    Seeing that she wasn¡¯t speaking, Nie Qingyun thought she was feeling unhappy. And so, he exined, ¡°Chenyu and Youran are both attending embroidery ss right now, that¡¯s why they¡¯re not here to wee you. The honored concubines are waiting for you in the main courtyard with mother.¡±


    Ji Man returned to her senses and somewhat nervously said, ¡°Sangyu is a junior. There¡¯s no need for them to wait for me, right?¡±


    Why did she keep feeling that the people in this household didn¡¯t have friendly feelings towards her? Hearing that a group of women were waiting for her up ahead, Ji Man felt even more nervous.


    ¡°You¡¯re Marquis Moyu¡¯s secondary wife. It¡¯s only right that they¡¯re waiting for you.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was a first-rank official and managed the six ministries. Even Nie Xiangyuan had to salute him when he saw him. When Ji Man had originally read the light novel, she thought he was a leisurely marquis. Unexpectedly, his position was this powerful.


    Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s current main wife was Chen Suqing. Technically, she was also Nie Sangyu¡¯s maternal aunt. However, she had never liked Nie Sangyu. The strange thing was that Nie Qingyun was especially fond and caring of his half-sister.


    And so, Ji Man wasn¡¯t sure. Exactly, what was Nie Sangyu¡¯s position in Nie n?


    After entering the main room, there was a row of honored concubines sitting in the top seats. In the center of the row, there was a graceful and luxuriously dressed woman. She smiled and said, ¡°So, you¡¯vee back.¡±


    Ji Man stood still. She didn¡¯t know if she should salute them or do something else. She was only sure that the woman in the center was Chen Suqing, but she had no idea about the names of the other women.


    There was a trace of annoyance in Chen Suqing¡¯s eyes. She clutched her handkerchief and looked at Nie Sangyu for a while before finally saying, ¡°As expected, people change when they marry well. Are you not even going to salute your mother aftering back?¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment, then she kneeled down in front of her. ¡°Daughter Sangyu respectfully greets mother.¡±


    Chen Suqing coldly harrumphed and didn¡¯t signal for her to stand. Sitting in her chair, she coldly said, ¡°What kind of status does Nie n have? You relied on your maiden family¡¯s fame and left your family to marry into that household as the main wife. But, you didn¡¯t follow the rules and came back here with the position of a secondary wife. Other people will criticize me for not teaching you well.¡±


    Ji Man felt slightly annoyed. Chen Suqing had been a secondary wife herself. If Nie Sangyu¡¯s mother hadn¡¯t died well, the position of the main wife would have never gone to this woman.


    Thinking of the recent words that Nie Qingyun had said, Ji Man felt that there was no need for her to speak in a soft voice here. In the marquis¡¯s household, she needed to survive. Why should she let herself suffer from pent-up frustrations and petty annoyances here?


    And so, she didn¡¯t care about getting Chen Suqing¡¯s permission before standing up. She patted her skirt, raised her eyes to look at Chen-<i>shi</i>, and said, ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t need to worry. Sangyu was entirely taught and raised by my biological mother. This has nothing to do with you. Other people will only remember that Sangyu was born from father and his original main wife. They won¡¯t me you. At the time, you were only a secondary wife.¡±


    There were so many honored concubines and ordinary concubines in the room. Ji Man¡¯s words directly choked Chen Suqin to the point that she couldn¡¯t properly speak. Chen Suqin¡¯s finger shook as she pointed at her and kept saying, ¡°You.¡± She was so angry that her face turned white.


    Standing by the side, Nie Qingyin gently tugged Nie Sangyu¡¯s sleeve.


    Ji Man eased her expression into a smile and said, ¡°This daughter only came back this time under Old Madame Ning¡¯s order to talk about Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter¡¯s marriage with older brother. I won¡¯t stay long and offend mother¡¯s eyes.¡±


    ¡°Utter nonsense!¡± Chen-<i>shi</i> was so angry that she didn¡¯t even care about maintaining herposure anymore. She stood up and said, ¡°When did it be any of your business to interfere with Qingyun¡¯s marriage? You¡¯re outrageously disrespectful to your elders. You just came back and you¡¯re not showing me the proper respect. You think you can act as Qingyun¡¯s matchmaker? Dream on!¡±


    ¡°Mother, calm down.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled and curtsied. ¡°A main wife must have an elegant demeanor and presence. You shouldn¡¯t need Sangyu to teach you this, right?¡±


    ¡°You!¡± Chen-<i>shi</i> was so furious that sheughed. ¡°Good, very good. I can¡¯t outtalk you. But, I¡¯ll leave you with these words. If you want Qingyun to marry that <i>junzhu</i>, you need to obtain my approval. I¡¯m his mother!¡±


    Ji Man slowly walked over. She picked up a nearby teapot and poured Chen-<i>shi</i> a cup of tea. She presented the cup with both of her hands and said, ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t need to listen to truth said by Sangyu or quibble with me. This matter is rted to older brother¡¯s major life event. Mother, shouldn¡¯t you carefully think this over?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> wasn¡¯t against Nie Qingyun marrying that <i>junzhu</i>. After all, her status was very good. There would only be benefits and no detriments for him to marry Ning Errong. However, she couldn¡¯t stand Nie Sangyu¡¯s current attitude. In the past, she could at least punish her in ordance to the householdws for acting rude and unreasonable. But now, she was the one that was angry enough to stomp her feet. She couldn¡¯t even find and grasp a minor wrongdoing by Nie Sangyu!


    The tea was brought to her, but Chen-<i>shi</i> didn¡¯t want to ept it. She couldn¡¯t swallow the anger in her heart, so she pushed the cup away. ¡°I¡¯ll be the one making a decision on this matter. It¡¯s not your ce to say anything.¡±


    The strength she used to push the cup away probably wasn¡¯t great, but the cup of tea was actually pushed out Nie Sangyu¡¯s hands, fell to the ground, and sshed in all directions.

 Chapter 90 - A hardworking matchmaker (1)

    Chapter: 090 out of 513 ¨C A hardworking matchmaker (1)


    Everyone in the room was startled. They had all seen what had just happened. Although some of Nie Sangyu¡¯s words had been a bit too sharp, she had been lightly smiling the entire time. At the end, she had presented Chen-<i>shi</i> with tea. Unexpectedly, Chen-<i>shi</i> had been the one that was utterly flustered and exasperated and pushed away Nie Sangyu¡¯s tea.


    A person had just entered through the doorway at this time and the fragments of the cup lightlynded on the corner of his azure robe.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> raised her eyes to look at the person in the doorway. Shocked by what she saw, she hurriedly stood up and saluted, ¡°Old Master.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan had even previously said that he would being by soon. How could she have forgotten and lost her self-control? Chen Suqin somewhat nervously looked at Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s expression. He always sided and protected Nie Sangyu. She was afraid that the image of a warm, caring mother that she had worked so hard to establish waspletely destroyed.Nie Sangyu¡¯s biological mother, Chen Suxin, was Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s original wife. She and Chen Suqing had married into Nie n together, but she hadn¡¯t been able to be pregnant. After Chen Suqin gave birth to Nie Qingyun, Chen Suxin had only given birth to one child, Nie Sangyu. However, Chen Suxin had lost too much blood while giving birth and died just like that. Despite this, Chen Suqing knew that Nie Xiangyun loved her older sister the most even after all these years.


    Thinking of these memories, she despised Nie Sangyu even more.


    ¡°Why was there such a loud disturbance without rhyme or reason?¡± Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s face was very gentle. Although he was a general, he had a schr¡¯s refinement. However, when he was angry, his eyes were terrifying and no one dared to directly look at him, just like right now.


    Ji Man obediently kneeled down to salute, ¡°Daughter respectfully greets father.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s so rare for you toe back.¡± Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s expression was gentle as he patted Nie Sangyu¡¯s shoulder. Seeing that her fingers were slightly red from being scalded, his brow furrowed and he looked at Chen-<i>shi</i> as he said, ¡°Are you really this petty and intolerant?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi </i>was so scared that her face turned deathly pale. Standing at the side, she quietly said, ¡°Old Master, this servant didn¡¯t do that intentionally...¡±


    ¡°Father, you don¡¯t need to me mother.¡± Ji Man took over the conversation and obediently said, ¡°Mother probably loves father too much and that¡¯s why she can¡¯t tolerate Sangyu. It¡¯s fine. Sangyu onlyes back once or twice a year and can tolerate the asionally grievance.¡±


    Although these words sounded magnanimous, Ji Man had deliberately said these words to file aint. From the memories she had gotten from Nie Sangyu, Chen-<i>shi</i> hadn¡¯t just slightly mistreated her. Behind Nie Qingyun¡¯s back, she had been treated the same way as a concubine¡¯s daughter. In addition, every time Sangyu went out with Qingyun, Chen-<i>shi</i> would tell the honored concubines that she had no sense of shame and was out seducing men at such a young age.


    Anyways, Ji Man absolutely disliked Chen-<i>shi</i>. She was narrow-minded and often said sharp and unkind words. Fortunately, Nie Qingyun wasn¡¯t close to his mother and hadn¡¯t been influenced by her.


    ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve grown up and be much more sensible.¡± Nie Xiangyuan sat down at the head seat and smiled at Nie Sangyu as he said, ¡°Unfortunately, certain people have be morecking in sense as they grow older. Already at middle age, but deficient in etiquette.¡±


    Chen Suqin¡¯s face changed colors. He was implicitly scolding her in front of all these honored concubines and ordinary concubines. She was so angry that her body trembled. Old master only cared about protecting that hussy. How would she be able to keep her head up in front of these concubines in the future?


    ¡°Daughter hopes that her visit home can be happy. Father, please stop showing such a stormy expression,¡± Ji Man said with a bright smile. ¡°There will be a wedding soon in this household. Father, you should be happier.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan nced at Nie Qingyun. ¡°Are you talking about Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter?¡±


    Ji Man nodded, ¡°Errong has a pure heart, and she¡¯s also from an established noble family. Older brother has the reached the age when he should be getting married. Unfortunately, he keeps dying it. At this rate, you might never have grandchildren.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan lightly smiled. ¡°I already mentioned this to Qingyun. He¡¯s the one that¡¯s unwilling. Logically, he would be marrying up if he married Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter. But, he¡¯s not appreciating his good fortune.¡±


    Hearing these words, Chen-<i>shi</i> wasn¡¯t happy. ¡°Why are you saying Qingyun is social climbing? He¡¯s your oldest son and also the son of a main wife. How is he unworthy of a <i>junzhu</i>?¡±


    Ji Man thought; no wonder Nie Xiangyuan hadn¡¯t been able to forget Chen Suxin even after all these years. Chen Suqin was really too stupid. Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s words had clearly been said out of politeness for Qingyun to hear. And yet, she insisted on interrupting.


    Nie Xiangyuan pretended that he didn¡¯t hear her. He looked at Nie Qingyun and said, ¡°Your younger sister has personallye here to act as a matchmaker. What are your views on this marriage? Sangyu has always treated you well since the both of you were children. She wouldn¡¯t do anything to harm you, right?¡±


    Nie Qingyun kept his head down and didn¡¯t speak. The room was silent for a while.


    Ji Man looked at the expressions on this father and son pair and said, ¡°Since there¡¯s something on older brother¡¯s mind, then as his younger sister, it¡¯s only natural for me to clearly understand what he¡¯s thinking before asking him to marry. I haven¡¯t seen the climbing roses in my courtyard in a long time. How about we eat lunch first? Then, older brother can take a stroll with me in that courtyard after lunch?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Nie Qingyun finally spoke.

 Chapter 91 - A hardworking matchmaker (2)

    Chapter: 091 out of 513 ¨C A hardworking matchmaker (2)


    It was time for lunch. A group of servant girls came into the room and brought in wonderful-smelling delicacies. Ji Man almost drooled, but there was also a sullen Chen-<i>shi</i> at the same table. She couldn¡¯t forget her manners and had to eat the meal with dignity and elegance.


    When half of the meal was over, Chen-<i>shi</i> suddenly said, ¡°I heard that Marquis Moyu greatly favors his new wife, ah. I also heard that a concubine in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household has be pregnant. Sangyu, you¡¯re faced with pressure from top and bottom. Are your days going well?¡±


    Nie Qingyun slightly frowned and nced at his mother. Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s didn¡¯t notice at all and only stared at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°People only know the reality and truth of their own lives by experiencing it. Even if someone¡¯s life looks magnificent and bright on the surface, we don¡¯t actually know how much suffering that person is hiding. Some things might seem bitter on the outside, but that person might actually be living freely and leisurely. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> coldly sneered, ¡°Are you saying that a main wife¡¯s life might not necessarily be as good as yours? Isn¡¯t that just sour grapes?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°Grapes are sweet. Whether or not I eat them, their taste won¡¯t change.¡± Ji Man put down her chopsticks and ced her hands on her knees. She looked at Chen-<i>shi</i> and said, ¡°Sangyu wasn¡¯t sensible before and provoked the marquis¡¯s ire and lose the position of the main wife. But now, Sangyu understands. I just want to live the rest of my life peacefully. I don¡¯t want to struggle orpete for his favor. As long as I have a clear conscience, that¡¯s better than anything else. There are certain people that exhaust themselves with crafty plots and tricks. In the end, nightmares will wake them up in the middle of the night. That¡¯s what I would call a truly wretched existence.¡±


    Ji Man had just casually said these words. Chen-<i>shi</i> had probably used plenty of underhanded tricks in order to climb up to the position of the main wife. And so, Ji Man hadn¡¯t expected that Chen-<i>shi</i> would have such an extreme reaction to her words.


    Chen Suqing¡¯s face immediately paled. She looked at Nie Sangyu as if she was seeing a ghost; even her hands that were holding the chopsticks trembled.


    Nie Xiangyuan quietly said, ¡°If you can¡¯t even peacefully eat a meal together, then go back to your room.¡± These words were clearly directed towards Chen-<i>shi</i>.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> stood up and surprisingly didn¡¯t even say another word. After she saluted, she staggered back to her room.


    Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s behavior made Ji Man think there was definitely something she was feeling guilty about.


    After Chen-<i>shi</i> left, the atmosphere around the table became friendlier.


    Nie Xiangyuan lightly smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re a lot more clever than before. You know what words to say now. Before, you would have been the one that left the table first.¡±


    Ji Man smiled in embarrassment. ¡°If I don¡¯t grow up now, then I won¡¯t even know when someone tries to harm me.¡±


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s eyes showed a slight amount of distress. ¡°Did something happen in the marquis¡¯s residence? Is this why you¡¯ve changed so dramatically?¡±


    ¡°Not really. Every day, I spend my time gardening, eating, and napping. When everything else is done, I just need to go to old madame¡¯s courtyard to pay her respect,¡± Ji Man breezily said.


    This pair of father and son knew that she was just saying these words tofort them, but they couldn¡¯t say anything to expose her lies. They could only inwardly sigh.


    After they finished the meal, Nie Xiangyuan said, ¡°If you¡¯re suffering any grievances, you can directlye back. My Nie n can afford to support and raise another daughter.¡±


    Ji Man was touched. She vehemently nodded.


    After the meal was over, Ji Man and Nie Qingyun went to stroll around in her old courtyard. It was time for Ji Man to figure out his thoughts. She tilted her head and asked, ¡°Older brother, why don¡¯t you like Errong? She¡¯s so lively and cute. Isn¡¯t she a perfect match for your introverted personality?¡±


    Nie Qingyun pursed his lips and didn¡¯t say anything


    ¡°Look, Ning Mingjie is going to stay in the capital and develop his career. If Errong marries you, won¡¯t you have another connection through marriage? Older brother, you¡¯re still young. There¡¯s a long path for you to walk...¡±


    ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man followed Nie Qingyun¡¯s action and also stopped walking.


    Nie Qingyun took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and said, ¡°I¡¯m worried about disappointing her and failing to live up to her expectations. I don¡¯t care that much about... the feelings between a man and a woman. On the contrary, I feel that I¡¯ll be content if I can just take care of you for the rest of my life. As for marriage, I don¡¯t want to marry a woman that has feelings towards me. A casual marriage for the sake of an alliance would be fine.¡±


    Ji Man widened her eyes and gaped for a long time.


    Nie Qingyun has a serious sisterplex, ah. He actually wanted to take care of Nie Sangyu for the rest of his life?


    ¡°Older brother, listen to me.¡± Ji Man returned to her senses and said with serious expression, ¡°Right now, I¡¯m person that¡¯s capable of defending herself. Unlike before, I¡¯m not prone to causing trouble and I don¡¯t need you toe and clean up my messes. You¡¯re just too used to protecting me. Actually, even if you protect another woman instead of me, you¡¯ll feel the same way.¡±


    Ji Man thought; some older brothers suffer from heroplexes ording to psychology. They get into the habit of protecting their younger sisters and because they¡¯re foolish when ites to love, they mistake their feelings as romantic affection.


    Nie Qingyun declined toment. He only looked the climbing roses in the courtyard and seemed lost in his thoughts.


    Ji Man continued to chatter on, ¡°Isn¡¯t Errong very simr to me in many aspects? She also likes to cause trouble. She¡¯s also very energetic. Older brother, you probably like this type of woman.¡±


    After a long period of silence, Nie Qingyun looked at her and asked, ¡°Do you want me to marry her?¡±


    Ji Man nodded, but then she felt there was something wrong with this situation. She hurriedly said with a serious expression. ¡°Older brother, you have to be sure about your decision. If you marry a woman, then you have to be responsible for her for a lifetime. You can¡¯t make your decision because of someone else¡¯s opinion. If you marry Errong, then you have to wholeheartedly treat her well. Otherwise, I won¡¯t give you such a cute, young girl to marry.¡±


    Nie Qingyun sighed. ¡°Then, let me think about this some more.¡± There was already a hint of softening in his voice.


    Ji Man¡¯s smile was so big that her eyes curved. ¡°This is your major life event, of course you have to carefully think it over. I won¡¯t rush you. It¡¯s afternoon. I should be going back to the marquis¡¯s residence. You have to properly take care of yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send you back,¡± Nie Qingyun said.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    During this visit, Ji Man had hurriedlye and hurriedly left. She didn¡¯t get a chance to see Nie Sangyu¡¯s two younger half-sisters. However, she had aplished her objective. Three dayster, Nie Xiangyuan personally brought Nie Qingyun to the marquis¡¯s household for him to propose marriage to Ning Errong.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Sangyu, what should I do? I¡¯m so nervous.¡± Ning Errong held Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand in a death grip. ¡°What do I need to do to prepare for my wedding?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I¡¯m d that Ji Man says at the end that Nie Qingyun should make the decision for himself and not be swayed by what she wants.

 Chapter 92 - Setting out on a journey (1)

    Chapter: 092 out of 513 ¨C Setting out on a journey (1)


    Ji Manforted her, ¡°I already said I would embroider your wedding dress. You don¡¯t have to prepare anything. You just need to obediently wait until two months have passed and it¡¯s your wedding day.¡±


    The wedding between their two ns had been set for two monthster. The emperor felt very favorable towards this marriage and added Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun¡¯s names to the list of people that would be going on the trip. When he visited Noble Consort Nie, he even said that he was doing this to foster the feelings of these two people before their wedding.


    While Ning Errong¡¯s heart was full of joy, Ji Man silently listed out all of the good and bad things to herself in advance so that she could take preventive measures. Ji Man didn¡¯t know for sure if there would be any changes in the plot. Would Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun still divorceter in the story? If the story¡¯s ending could be changed, then why couldn¡¯t she try to change Errong and Qingyun¡¯s fate?


    ¡ª


    In the evening, after Ji Man returned to Feiwan Courtyard, she started on the task of preparing Ning Errong¡¯s wedding dress. Since Ning Errong had decidophobia, old madame had given Nie Sangyu ten dress designs and told her to just pick one from these ten.


    After lighting amp, Ji Man started to look through the designs. Marquis Moyu hade to her ce tonight and was currentlynguidly lying on the cushioned couch. He looked at her serious appearance.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you use to be very clingy towards your older brother? Why are you so happy that he¡¯s marrying another woman?¡± Marquis Moyu asked.


    In ancient times, the rules against marrying close rtives were very murky. The more noble and powerful a family was, the more important bloodlines were to them. There were many brothers and sisters that married each other in the imperial family. This was why Ning Yuxuan would ask such a question.


    In a bad mood from his question, Ji Man said, ¡°It¡¯s one thing for my older brother to show concern and care towards me, marriage is an entirely different matter. Why should this servant feel unhappy? This servant is happy about every aspect of his marriage with Errong.¡±


    After saying this and thinking things over, she selected two designs and picked up a brush. She wanted to make a few alterations. However, no matter how she grasped the brush, she felt like she didn¡¯t have a good grip. She couldn¡¯t figure out how to use the brush. And so, she turned her head to look at Ning Yuxuan and in a fawning voice, she asked, ¡°My lord, are you busy?¡±


    He was idly lying on the couch. Of course, he wasn¡¯t busy. Ning Yuxuan looked at her ingratiating smile, snorted, and asked, ¡°What do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, how abouting here and modifying this design for this servant?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan turned himself over and got up. With his outer robe draped over his shoulders, he walked to the table and looked at the two designs. ¡°How do you want me to change it?¡±


    ¡°Change the skirt and upper outer garment like this.¡± Ji Man gestured.


    Ning Yuxuan took the brush and contemted for a moment. His hand rose and the brushnded on the paper. The sight of his slender fingers holding onto the brush was exceptionally good-looking.


    Ji Man looked and couldn¡¯t help learning a little bit. So, that¡¯s how you hold a brush...


    After redrawing the design, Marquis Moyu handed it to her, then hezily lied back down and said, ¡°You should go to sleep early.¡±


    Ji Man responded, ¡°En.¡± Then, she looked at the design he handed to her. Needless to say, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s drawing skills were pretty good. The design he had drawn was even better than what she had imagined. It seemed that he had also made a few minor changes that wasn¡¯t out of sorts with the wedding dress¡¯s overall design.


    ¡°Okay, then I¡¯ll go with this one.¡± Ji Man pped her hands, then moved over the bright red silk so that she could start cutting it.


    Seeing that she was going to continue working, the person behind her finally couldn¡¯t resist stuffily harrumphing, ¡°Did you not hear what I just said?¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly turned her head, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan felt like strangling her. This was already the third time that he had urged her to rest early. Was she really pretending that she hadn¡¯t heard?


    However, he wasn¡¯t thick-faced enough to repeat himself for the fourth time. He could only purse his lips and say, ¡°I¡¯m sleepy.¡±


    Ji Man waspletely focused on making the wedding dress. Hearing his words, she casually replied, ¡°Then you should go to sleep early.¡±


    Marquis Moyu, ¡°...¡±


    Enough is enough! It was already a rare opportunity for her that he was here. He had onlye here because he felt that the quality of sleep he got here was pretty good. But, what was the end result? Nie Sangyupletely didn¡¯t have the intention of doing a woman¡¯s basic duty.


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath, then he stood up with an unhappy expression, walked to Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, swiped her scissors from her hand, picked her up, and threw her onto the bed.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist quietly yelping. This wasn¡¯t a modern day mattress. Although there were twoyers of cotton padding, it would still hurt a lot to be thrown onto this bed! What a rotten man!


    Sensing Nie Sangyu¡¯s unfriendly gaze, Ning Yuxuan wanted to apologize, but his pride stopped him. He could only harden his voice and say, ¡°It¡¯s your fault for taking so long toe to bed. If you don¡¯t sleep, how can I sleep?¡±


    Why? Was he afraid that she would sneak attack him in the middle of the night? In a bad mood, Ji Man rolled her eyes. It was really hard to serve someone with a prince syndrome.


    (T/N: Prince/princess syndrome is an east Asian term used to describe someone who acts really spoiled like a prince or princess. Jay Chou has a silly song about this topic. Here¡¯s a link for the official MV without trantions and a link that has the English trantions.)


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her expression. After being somewhat astonished and shocked, he moved closer. ¡°Did you just roll your eyes at me?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Ji Man immediately put on a smiling expression. ¡°My lord, you must have saw wrong.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Ning Yuxuan lied down on the bed. After pulling up the quilt, he carefully examined her face.


    Ji Man dryly coughed twice. She hurriedly removed her outer clothing and lied down next to him. ¡°In two days, we¡¯ll be leaving for the trip to the south. This servant has already made arrangement for everything. While this servant is out with the marquis, Siling will be the one managing everything in the household.¡±


    Marquis Moyu looked at her, ¡°You¡¯re quite clever.¡±


    She knew that he wouldn¡¯t have a reason to refuse if her responsibilities were given to Qi Siling. If she handed her responsibilities to Wen Wan, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for her to ask the main wife for the inner court¡¯s ount book back after the trip. Qi Siling was only an honored concubine. It would be much easier to get the ount book back from her.


    ¡°My lord, your words are too ttering. Madam¡¯s mood has been very goodtely. This servant will be able to go on the trip with the marquis without any worries.¡± As Ji Man said these words, she yawned. She seemed very sleepy. ¡°Tomorrow, this servant will arrange for people to attend to old madame while this servant is gone.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at her closed eyes for a while before closing his eyes too. Why was he feeling that Nie Sangyu was rather suitable at managing a household? Was it just a misconception?

 Chapter 93 - Setting out on a journey (2)

    Chapter: 093 out of 513 ¨C Setting out on a journey (2)


    After being busy for two days in Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence, Ji Man finally finished sorting everything out. Ji Man was taking Gancao and Dengxin along with her on the trip. She said to Muxu, ¡°You have a more important task. I wouldn¡¯t feel at ease if I assign it to someone else.¡±


    Muxu has originally been feeling somewhat dissatisfied, but those feelings were dispelled after hearing these words. Nie Sangyu told her to monitor everything that was happening in the residence and write a letter to her every so often. Muxu also felt that this was a very important task. And so, she agreed with a solemn expression.


    ¡ª


    At the pier, everyone had arrived one by one. The crown prince had brought along the crown princess. Third prince was supporting Noble Consort Nie. There was also Nie Qingyun, Ning Mingjie, and Ning Errong. Everyone was standing to the side and waiting for the emperor to arrive, then the boats would depart.


    Seeing the two boats parked at the canal¡¯s riverbank, Ji Man finally realized that the luxuriousness of people in ancient times was sometimes unbelievable.


    Those two ships were each three levels high with galvanized iron sheeting for the deck and had fierce dragon gs. The courtdies and eunuchs were respectfully standing on the decks in two rows. Various treasures had been carried onto the boats for the emperor to bestow on the people during the trip.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help worrying about this group¡¯s safety during the journey. They had said they would be wearing simple clothing in order to go about incognito, but those dragon gs were madly unfurled and fluttering. What happened to keeping a low profile? Moreover, could there possibly be a third boat that was as extravagant as these two boats in the world? Really, these two boats couldn¡¯t even be described as ¡°a simple boat¡±, she could only describe it as ¡°a mountain-like object shaped like a boat¡±.


    When the emperor slowly arrived, everyone kneeled to salute. The emperor said a long string of useless words about not needing to pay attention to etiquette during this trip. Ji Man silently ridiculed him; ¡°Take off your imperial dragon robes first if you actually mean those words!¡±


    Following the established standards, the emperor, Noble Consort Nie, third prince, crown prince and his wife would all be in the first boat together since they were directly part of the imperial family. Marquis Moyu managed the second boat. He led Ning Mingjie, Nie Qingyun, Ning Errong, and the other members of the imperial family onto the boat and into their respective rooms.


    Ning Yuxuan allowed Ji Man to choose her own room, so she selected a room on the second level. It was high enough that she could have a good view of the scenery.


    Ning Qingyun and Ning Mingjie were staying at the back of the ship together. Ning Errong was staying at the head of the ship. Her room wasn¡¯t far from Ji Man. As for the rest of the imperial family, there was no need to mention them.


    As the boats left the harbor, the people on both shores shouted if their emperor was leaving to conquer the world instead of taking a leisurely vacation.


    Ji Man leaned against the railing on the second level to look at themon people on both sides of the shore. She couldn¡¯t resist thinking; fortunately, there wouldn¡¯t be ciers in the canal. Otherwise with these boats¡¯ level of luxuriousness, it might have the same ending as the Titanic. At that time, on a piece of the deck, Ning Yuxuan would push her and shout, ¡°Rose¡± and she would turn around with a feeling of deep love and call out, ¡°Jack!¡±


    Enough is enough. If the boat really sank, she would definably shove Ning Yuxuan off the boat first.


    She shook her head and stopped indulging in flights of fancy. Ji Man decided that she would go back to her room and continue to work on the wedding dress. She had even brought the embroidery frame with her, just in case she was bored on this trip.


    ¡ª


    Ning Errong was very excited as soon as she boarded the boat. Once the boat had started to move, she cheerfully went to Nie Qingyun¡¯s room to look for him.


    Nie Qingyun and Ning Mingjie were currently talking about governmental affairs and seemed as if they had regret not meeting each other earlier. Seeing Ning Erronging here, Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t know what expression he should use to greet her. And so, he stiffly called out, ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>.¡±


    Ning Errong¡¯s smiling face crumpled. Unhappy, she said, ¡°We¡¯re going to be married soon, why aren¡¯t you calling me Errong?¡±


    Nie Qingyun awkwardly nced at Ning Mingjie. Unexpectedly, thetter person smiled as lightly as drifting clouds. ¡°Brother Nie, you don¡¯t have to avoid calling her Errong just because I¡¯m here.¡±


    His words made it sound as if he wasn¡¯t calling her name because Ning Mingjie was here. Nie Qingyun sighed and asked, ¡°Errong, why did youe here?¡±


    ¡°I just came here to see the two of you.¡± Ning Errong¡¯s unhappy expression swiftly cleared up. She sat down near them and said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t have tea here. How about I go and bring a pot of tea?


    ¡°This is quite rare.¡± Ning Mingjieughed and said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to thank Brother Nie for this good fortune.¡±


    Nie Qingyun awkwardlyughed. Looking at Ning Errong¡¯s jubnt appearance, he inwardly sighed. In the end, he followed along and curved the corners of his lips.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man got tired of embroidering, she went out and rest against the railing for a bit. Ning Errong hadn¡¯te to look for her, and she didn¡¯t know where Errong had run off. Ning Yuxuan had boarded the other boat when the boats had set off. He said he had something he wanted to discuss with the emperor, so she hadn¡¯t asked any further questions. Now, she was just hanging out by herself like fish that had just been scooped up from the canal.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fall over,¡± a voice said behind her.


    Startled, Ji Man turned around and saw that it was Ning Mingjie. She hurriedly patted her chest. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to make any sounds when you¡¯re walking.¡±


    Ning Mingjie leaned against the railing. There was a distance of three steps between them. ¡°You were the one that didn¡¯t hear me, ah. No matter how quiet my footsteps are, there¡¯s still sound.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Ji Man looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s everyone else?¡±


    Ning Mingjie smiled and said, ¡°Your older brother and my younger sister are on the other side, so I said I was going to go out and look at scenery to give them time alone.¡±

 Chapter 94 - Ji Man’s previous romance (1)

    Chapter: 094 out of 513 ¨C Ji Man¡¯s previous romance (1)


    However, he hadn¡¯t known there would be such strange scenery here. With no one else around but them, Nie Sangyu, who had already changed into a dignified and virtuous woman, was just hanging over the railing without regard for appearances.


    Ning Mingjie felt the situation was slightly humorous. Under normal circumstances, he would follow etiquette and directly walk away. But, for some reason, perhaps because the weather was exceptionally good, or maybe because he was in a very good mood, he felt very close to the person next to him. She looked very cute and lovable right now.


    ¡°Errong is with my older brother?¡± The corners of Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched. Why had she forgotten to tell Errong that she needed to y hard to get? If she always longingly ran to his side, he wouldn¡¯t cherish her.


    Nie Qingyun wasn¡¯t fickle like Ning Yuxuan and treated people courteously. When he married Errong in the future, he would definitely treat her well. But, even though Nie Qingyun had a pretty good character, romance was a thing that required skill. Otherwise, as time went on, no one could guarantee that feelings wouldn¡¯t fade.


    ¡°She really likes Qingyun.¡± Ning Mingjie looked at the sky¡¯s somewhat pale clouds. The winter sun had alreadye out and its rays made people feelfortably warm. He raised his hands and almost couldn¡¯t resist taking off his mask.


    But, thinking of how there was still a person next to him, he lightly sighed and put his hands down to grip the railing. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the sunlight¡¯s warmth.


    After Ji Man thought for a while about the things she had to discuss with Errong tonight, she turned her head and saw Ning Mingjie¡¯s shining silver mask. She couldn¡¯t resist her curiosity and asked, ¡°Do you bask in the sun during the summer?¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Mingjie tilted his head. After a pause, he finally said, ¡°I rarely go outside in Jingzhou.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good,¡± Ji Man said as she looked at his mask. ¡°If you go out and bask in the sun during summer, won¡¯t the area around your eyes and chin turn ck while the rest of your skin stays white when you take off your mask at home?¡±


    Ning Mingjie froze in surprise. His mind pictured the image that Nie Sangyu had described and he suddenly felt the urge tough. He turned his back to her while his shoulders shook from trying to hold back hisughter.


    Ji Man worriedly asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    It had been okay when she hadn¡¯t said anything. But once she asked, Ning Mingjie directly burst out inugher and couldn¡¯t stop himself. He held onto the railing for support and almost fell into the canal.


    Ji Man looked at him in confusion. The sound of hisughter was too excessive. Although the sound of hisughter sounded nice, she had never seen people from this worldugh like this. After he hadugh for a while, even she startedughing along with him.


    Ning Mingjie wiped away the tears that hade out while he wasughing. He looked around and saw that there was no one else around except them. He reached his hand behind his head and untied the strings for his mask. There was a trace ofughter in his voice as he said, ¡°Look, is one part of my face ck from being tanned and the other part white?¡±


    Hearing his words, Ji Man turned to look. In that moment, her heart jumped.


    The face in front of her was exquisite with facial features that were just perfect. It was indescribably beautiful. His eyes and brows were deep and his nose was straight. He had all of the features that a beautiful person would have.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time that Ji Man saw this face. Her first love, a high school ssmate, had the same face. They ended up breaking up shortly after he started Beijing Academy of Film. This face was devastatingly beautiful, but it wasn¡¯t too feminine. A single nce was enough to make a person feel attracted to him and unable to feel the slightest sense of loathing.


    Attractive people could be divided into two types: ostentatious people and restrained and gentle people. There were people that like the former type and also people that dislike the former type. While there was less of thetter type, there was no one that would dislike them.


    Ning Yuxuan was also attractive, but he clearly belonged in the first group of people. At the very least, she instinctively had a negative feeling towards him. As for Ning Mingjie... he looked almost exactly the same as her first love and his personality traits were superior. While feeling dazed, she felt as if that person, who had cheated on her, was right in front of her. She had caught him after he had rolled around in bed with another woman after she had taken the train for two days to see him.


    Ning Mingjie had only wanted to tease her. He hadn¡¯t expected that such aplicated expression would appear on her face. It seemed as if she was reminiscing, but there was also disgust and surprise. It almost seemed as if the person she was looking at wasn¡¯t him.


    His good mood immediately sunk. Ning Mingjie put his mask back on, straightened his body, and said, ¡°I was presumptuous. Today¡¯s sunlight was too nice and I temporarily forgot my manners. Madam Ning, please don¡¯t be offended by my action.¡±


    When Ji Man returned to her senses, she opened and closed her mouth as she tried to think of words to exin herself. It had also been very rude of her to stare at him for so long.


    But, Ning Mingjie had already turned around and left. His back figure looked a bit gloomy and waspletely different from his earlier happy and unrestraint appearance.


    Seeing his face today, many unpleasant feelings had surged upwards. Ji Man felt as if her entire body had lost all of its energy. She went back to her room and lied down to sleep.


    Around noon, they had travel a hundred miles away from the capital to Rongcheng district. Both of the boats stopped for a rest. The regional officials had prepared for this visit in advance. Their mouths said, ¡°Wee Old Master¡±, but they had prepared an extravagant wee that was worthy of an emperor¡¯s visit and invited the group of people to dine at a temporary imperial residence.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help sighing. Every resting spot had most likely arranged for a temporary imperial residence. What a waste of manpower and resources. This trip was truly a catastrophe for themon people.


    But, she had no ns on doing the arduous and unrewarding task of going up to the emperor and saying this truth. Her days were going well, and she was only a woman. Weren¡¯t there court officials present?


    Trantor Ramblings: I added a tiny spoiler about Ning Mingjie and Ji Man in thements below rted to this chapter.

 Chapter 95 - Ji Man’s previous romance (2)

    Chapter: 095 out of 513 ¨C Ji Man¡¯s previous romance (2)


    Ji Man¡¯s mood wasn¡¯t very good during lunchtime. Marquis Moyu nced at her and quietly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Ji Man ate two bites of food before putting down her chopsticks. ¡°Perhaps, I¡¯m seasick. I¡¯ll go take a nap in the afternoon.¡±


    Nie Qingyun, Ning Mingjie, and Ning Errong were also at the table. Ning Errong looked at her older brother¡¯s calm face, raised her eyebrows, and asked, ¡°Older brother, are you feeling seasick too? Yourplexion doesn¡¯t look good either.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Ning Mingjie¡¯s voice was muffled. He didn¡¯t even slightly raise his head and continued to silently eat.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist raising her head to look at him. Bro, you can¡¯t be that stingy, right? She had only looked at him for a little bit longer than she should have. Why was he angered to the point of ckening his face?


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head slightly and saw Nie Sangyu looking somewhere else. He followed her gaze and saw Ning Mingjie. His thoughts slightly turned and he put down his chopsticks to ask, ¡°Has Sangyu offended Mingjie somehow?¡±


    This atmosphere, no matter how you looked at, felt wrong.


    Ning Errong looked at her older brother, then Nie Sangyu in utter confusion. ¡°That can¡¯t be, ah. Older brother was praising older sister Sangyu just a few days ago. How could that be possible...¡±


    Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t have time to care about being polite. He kicked Ning Errong¡¯s leg underneath the table.


    Ning Errong looked at him in bewilderment, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Nie Qingyun added a piece of meat to her bowl. ¡°Eat more, you¡¯re eating too little.¡±


    Ning Errong blushed. She bashfully held her chopsticks and went back to eating. From time to time, she would nce at Nie Qingyun. She didn¡¯t have the free time to say anymore unnecessary words.


    Although Errong had casually said these words without any hidden meaning, Ning Yuxuan took these words very seriously. He raised his eyebrows and nced at Nie Sangyu, but he didn¡¯t actually ask any questions. It was only that his expression wasn¡¯t good either after this. The rest of the meal was eaten in stifling silence.


    Ji Man knew that this was an undisguised misunderstanding. Nie Mingjie didn¡¯t like other people having opinions about his appearances and she truly didn¡¯t have any ideas about him. She was just remembering that scumbag from her past. She hadn¡¯t expected that a temporary breach of etiquette would not only make Ning Mingjie ufortable, but also make Marquis Moyu feel that he had to be guarded against being cheated on.


    She sighed. Ji Man felt that this matter wasn¡¯t worth all this fuss. It was only that the psychological scar the scumbag had left behind was a bit deep and she would forget her manners when she thought about him.


    It had been mentioned before that she had previously been in a rtionship, but it had been as pure as fresh water. She was still a virgin. It wasn¡¯t that she was conservative. She just felt that their rtionship hadn¡¯t reached that point yet.


    Who would bother deliberately fleeing from this issue? They were both 21st century people. Ji Man had exined her viewpoint to him and the scumbag had outwardly believed her. He had even lovingly said that he didn¡¯t mind waiting until they were married and appeared as if he had really cared about her.


    However, when they went to college, Ji Man was in the south and the scumbag had gone to the north. When the semester had only started two months ago, Ji Man had taken a two-day train ride to Beijing to see him. She wanted to give him a surprise, so she went to the apartment he was renting. But, the end result was that he opened his door in disheveled clothing. She rushed inside and saw a sweetly sleeping woman on his bed.


    Regarding this matter, Ji Man didn¡¯t fuss or cause amotion. When she went out, she even walked quieter because that woman was truly sleeping too sweetly.


    It was only when she went out that she realized the north was truly colder than the south. It was so cold that her bones ached.


    The scumbag had left a hole in her heart. Even if she met all sorts of peopleter on, the wound would only be buried deeper and deeper. It wouldn¡¯t slowly heal. Now that it was dug out, it was still dripping with fresh blood.


    No matter how carefree people were, they would still have a thing they couldn¡¯t let go, that was the quality of a real, living person.


    After lunchtime was over, Ji Man followed the others back onto the boat and fell asleep after going to her room. Ning Yuxuan was also in the room. He was sitting down and writing something. He would asionally raise his head and feel peaceful as he nced at the sleeping person on the bed.


    However, Ji Man had slept for less than an hour before she had a nightmare. In the midst of her nightmare, she vividly remembered a name that she hadn¡¯t said for several years. ¡°Xu Xi!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand paused. He nced at Nie Sangyu, put down the brush in hand, and walked to the bed.


    It was the middle of winter, but this person¡¯s body was piping hot in her sleep. It seemed as if she would start sweating soon. She furrowed her brow and her mouth mumbled out that name again.


    Who was Xu Xi? Ning Yuxuan recalled the names of Nie¡¯s n¡¯s members. There didn¡¯t seem to be such a person in Nie n. Then, was it a friend?


    A stream of something translucent slipped down from the corners of Nie Sangyu¡¯s eyes. Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He couldn¡¯t resist stretching his hand out to catch it. It was icy cold tears. How long had it been since he saw Nie Sangyu cry?


    Nie Sangyu used to frequently cry because of him. However, since he had married Wen Wan, she hadn¡¯t cried over him even once. And now, she was saying another man¡¯s name and crying.


    Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed. This was the first time he felt angry because of this woman. Nie Sangyu truly acted as if she was free to do whatever she wanted. Did she not take the seven reasons for divorce seriously? She had been married to him for six years, but she was actually longing for another man?


    Ji Man was sleeping, but she suddenly felt pain in her hand. As she abruptly gained consciousness, she saw Marquis Moyu¡¯s dark expression in front of her.


    He asked, ¡°Who¡¯s Xu Xi?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes were teary. She looked at him in confusion for a long time before her eyes finally focused.


    Had she identally called out that name? Ji Man wiped her face and did her best to regain her calmness. ¡°To respond to the marquis, that was a dog this servant used to raise. It wasn¡¯t very loyal.¡±

 Chapter 96 - A source of catastrophe (1)

    Chapter: 096 out of 513 ¨C A source of catastrophe (1)


    Marquis Moyu was stunned. He hadn¡¯t expected this answer. ¡°A dog?¡±


    ¡°Yup, it was a dog this servant had during childhood. This servant raised it for four years.¡± Ji Man straightened her clothes and sat up. Her eyes were already sober and clear. ¡°This servant really liked that dog. Unfortunately, he ended up running away with a female dog.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. ¡°Is it worth crying over a dog? And, you also kept calling his name while dreaming.¡±


    Moreover, this name sounded too much like a person¡¯s name*.


    * (T/N: Xu Xi means dignified/calm hope.)


    With a serious expression, Ji Man nodded. ¡°This servant raised it for four years. Even if this servant found out that it wasn¡¯t worth those years of care, it¡¯s still worth it to cry over those past years of stupidity and foolishness. After crying, this servant won¡¯t keep longing for him toe back.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan leaned to one side and deeply looked at her face. ¡°Nie Sangyu, do you think I¡¯m an idiot?¡±


    Ji Man raised her head and smiled. ¡°My lord, if you have the ability, go and find a person named Xu Xi. See if he has any connections with Sangyu. You can¡¯t possibly judge Sangyu guilty of infidelity just because this servant called out a name twice and cried while dreaming, right?¡±


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and coldly harrumphed. This woman was certainly bold. Did she think he couldn¡¯t do anything against her just because he didn¡¯t have evidence?


    Although... there truly wasn¡¯t anything he could do to her with the current information.


    Taking a deep breath, Ning Yuxuan decided that it would be the best if he kept farther away from her. Otherwise, he would just end up feeling angry.


    ¡ª


    Because of what happened in the afternoon, he went to sleep in the room next Nie Sangyu¡¯s room in the evening.


    As for Ji Man, she led Ning Errong to her room and prepared to teach a theory ss.


    ¡°Errong...¡± Ji Man began her heartfelt and sincere speech.


    Ning Errong yawned. She pulled her hand out of Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°Whatever you want to say, just say it.¡±


    Ji Man looked at her with hidden bitterness. ¡°Do you think I¡¯m going to eat you or something? I want to tell you how to conduct yourself as a wife, how to deal with your husband and mother-inw, as well as other things you should pay attention to.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Errong became interested. She hurriedly poured a cup of tea and pushed into Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°Tell me, tell me.¡±


    Ji Man spread out a fine writing paper and drew three circles on it. In a serious tone, she said, ¡°From the time you marry, your family will be like a tripod. One leg is you, another leg is your mother-inw, and thest leg is your husband.¡±


    Errong nodded. Her face showed a little bit of a young woman¡¯s bashfulness.


    ¡°First of all, you can¡¯t always go along with what your husband wants. Although the rules say obedience to your husband after marriage and you should listen to him about the important matters, you should still have your own viewpoint about the minor things. You should handle matters properly and skillfully. Moreover, sometimes you should refuse his sexual advances. No matter how good a piece of meat is, if you just put it into his mouth of your own initiative, he won¡¯t cherish it. Do you understand? This is what¡¯s meant by the saying, you need loosen the reins in order to grasp them better.¡±


    Ji Man drew a squiggly line between two circles to indicate the rtionship between a wife and a husband.


    Errong¡¯s face was thoroughly red from embarrassment. She tried stammering something twice, but wasn¡¯t able to say anything. In the end, she hesitantly nodded.


    Ji Man exined with a smile, ¡°As long as a family has a mother-inw, you¡¯ll have to work hard to get good results. Do you know why Old Madame doesn¡¯t like Wen Wan?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not the person that Old Madame selected to be her daughter-inw,¡± Errong said.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons. The other reason is that she hadmitted too many taboos.¡±


    Ji Man pushed up her nonexistent sses on her nose. With her back straight, she said, ¡°Old Madame had suffered bitter hardships in order to raise the marquis into adulthood. If Wen Wan wants to be a good daughter-inw, then she can¡¯t let Old Madame feel as if she¡¯s stealing her son from her. The way she treats Old Madame has to be better than the way she treats the marquis. Moreover, she absolutely can¡¯t act intimate in front of Old Madame. A woman¡¯s jealous heart doesn¡¯t distinguish between age, especially the feelings a mother feels towards a son that she had raised from childhood. The moment that Old Madame feels abandoned because the the love between them is strong, Wen Wan, as her daughter-inw, can¡¯t expect to have any good days.¡±


    Errong suddenly understood. ¡°So, it was like that. But, there are aspects where Wen Wan is doing a good job. Isn¡¯t Old Madame still deliberately making life difficult for her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s making life difficult for her because she¡¯smitted taboos at the beginning. Since Wen Wan already had to swallow down her anger, she should just tolerate it and stay silent for a while longer. You can¡¯t argue right or wrong with someone that¡¯s in older generation than you. Even if you win the argument, nothing good wille of it.¡± Ji Man continued, ¡°If Wen Wan truly loves the marquis, she should treat Old Madame as if she¡¯s her own biological mother. She should treat it as if she¡¯s paying off a debt of gratitude. How difficult could it be to just endure it for a while?¡±


    Errong tilted her chin as she looked up and thought of Nie n¡¯s matriarch. She had heard that she also wasn¡¯t an easy woman to get along with. She should spend more time learning how to deal with her future mother-inw.


    ¡°There¡¯s also another very important point that¡¯s the essence of getting along well with your mother-inw. You have to let her feel that you¡¯re treating her son very well,¡± Ji Man said. ¡°Sang... I used to do a very good job in this aspect. Other than causing a disturbance over significant issues, I would send the marquis soups and other drinks every day and personally embroidered all of his clothes. But, the marquis never appreciated my efforts. Old Madame was especially fond of me because I wasso caring towards the marquis, but he never acknowledged my efforts. Do you understand?¡±


    Errong¡¯s eyes brightened and she forcefully nodded, ¡°I understand!¡±


    After a pause, she added, ¡°Can you write this out for me?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°You have to understand this type of thing thoroughly and intuitively. If I write this down and someone else sees it, it¡¯ll only be a source of catastrophe.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Errong reached her hand out and took the rice paper that was on the table. Her mouth began to mumble the words that Nie Sangyu had recently said.


    Trantor Ramblings: What do you guys think of Ji Man¡¯s advice? If you want to read a spoiler of whether or not her advice will be helpful for Errong, I put one in thements below.

 Chapter 97 - A source of catastrophe (2)

    Chapter: 097 out of 513 ¨C A source of catastrophe (2)


    Ji Man was lost in her thoughts for a while before she finally said, ¡°Errong, help me apologize to your older brother on your way back.¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡± Ning Errong widened her eyes. ¡°No way! Did you p my older brother?¡±


    Ji Man dryly coughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t. He took off his mask today and I looked at him for a little bit longer than I should have. He seemed really angry because of this.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Ning Errong gaped and her entire body froze.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and poked her. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so rmed. It¡¯s not like your older brother is a virginal maiden that can¡¯t be seen by other people.¡±


    ¡°No...¡± Ning Errong slowly closed her mouth and her expression returned to normal. ¡°My older brother didn¡¯t wear a mask when he was a child. Butter on, other people always stared him at, whether he was attending a banquet or walking outside on the streets. He felt bothered by this, so he had a mask made. He hadn¡¯t taken off his mask in a long time.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. If a man was too beautiful, it truly wasn¡¯t a good thing. Fortunately, he was born with a high social status. Otherwise, who knows what kind of ce he would have been sold to?


    ¡°Still, it doesn¡¯t make sense that he would angry just be you looked at him for a bit too long,¡± Ning Errong said in a curious voice. ¡°Do you want me to ask him what happened?¡±


    Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°That sounds good. All in all, we¡¯re rtives by marriage, it would the best if there aren¡¯t any misunderstandings between us.¡±


    And so, the little <i>junzhu</i>, who was filled to the capacity with knowledge about how a married woman should conduct herself, pushed open Ning Mingjie¡¯s door on her way back to her room.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression still wasn¡¯t very good, even his mask couldn¡¯t conceal this fact.


    Ning Errong said with a bright smile, ¡°Older brother, Sangyu asked me toe here to apologize on her behalf. You¡¯re too good-looking, so her gaze lingered for a bit. It wasn¡¯t deliberate.¡±


    He looked at his younger sister for a long time before finally lifting the corners of his mouth and saying, ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be going back to my room.¡± Holding the rice paper, Ning Errong happily returned to her room.


    ¡ª


    There were twists and turns in the river and also a gentle wind in the evening. It had been decided that the two boats wouldn¡¯t dock for the night. Instead, they would follow the steady river channel down south.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie nkly stood in the doorway for a long time. He felt a slightly headache.


    For an inexplicable reason, he kept dreaming about Wen Wan during the past two days. He didn¡¯t know why. He didn¡¯t have any improper feelings towards her. Instead, it was Nie Sangyu that he thought about when he opened his eyes every day...


    There was a voice that kept reminded him; this is wrong, the person is wrong. It made his entire self feel somewhat irritable.


    What was right? What was wrong? He had always followed his conscience when doing things. Who had the right to say he was doing something right or wrong?


    He coldly harrumphed, brushed away the voice in his head, closed the doors, and went to sleep.


    ¡ª


    The next day, the boats arrived at a simple, destitute-looking city. The city walls were only made of packed loess. When the boats were docked, a courtdy came to inform everyone to change into their inest clothing and address the emperor as ¡°Old Master¡± and the noble consort as ¡°Madam¡±. They were going to stay in this simple city for a few days.


    Ji Man felt that this emperor¡¯s interests were quite extensive. He had eaten enough of the expensive meat and fish during the journey and knew to try different vors and types of food.


    ¡°Master, how about this outfit?¡± Gancao held up a white dress with a simple design. It was probably the type of clothing that would be worn by themon people, but the material was slightly better than sackcloth.


    ¡°En.¡±


    After Ji Man nodded, Gancao and Dengxin helped her change into the new outfit andbed her hair into an ordinary married woman¡¯s hairstyle with only one wooden hairpin.


    After she was finished dressing up, Gancao and Dengxin didn¡¯t speak for a long time.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ji Man looked at them. The expressions in their eyes seemed strange. ¡°Does this look weird?¡±


    Dengxin spoke, ¡°Master, do you want to wear a veil?¡±


    They were told to dress ordinarily. Wouldn¡¯t it seem out of ce to wear a veil? Ji Man turned around to look at herself in the mirror.


    The young woman in the mirror looked very lovely. Although she was dressed inly and she wasn¡¯t wearing makeup, her lips were brilliantly red and her eyes were beautiful. It made Ji Man think of Pan Jinlian.


    (T/N: Pan Jinlian was a beautiful heroine in the novel <i>The Plum in the Golden Vase</i>. While she¡¯s considered one of the most infamous viinesses in ssical Chinese books because she cheated on her husband, she¡¯s seen as a controversial literary figure in modern times. There were mitigating reasons for her affair.)


    She wasn¡¯t referring to Pan Jinlian¡¯sck of moral integrity. She meant it reminded her of beauty hidden under simplicity. It would increase a person¡¯s desire to peel away heryer of simplicity to carefully love her dearly. To put it in more academic terms, it was the beauty that came from suppressing desire.


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Nie Sangyu¡¯s face truly had a touch of inviting disaster. Howe she hadn¡¯t noticed this before? It seemed as if Nie Sangyu was bing more and more beautiful.


    Ji Man took the veil andpared the difference between wearing it and not wearing it. ¡°It¡¯ll be better if I walk with my head lowered. Wearing a veil would be more noticeable.¡±


    The two servant girls felt apprehensive. When their master was wearing morous clothing along with everyone else, their master¡¯s beauty wasn¡¯t conspicuous. However, after she changed into simple clothing and wasn¡¯t wearing any makeup, she was probably going to attract unwanted attention and criticism when she joined the group of people that included the emperor¡¯s rtives.


    They heard Marquis Moyu¡¯s impatient voice from outside, ¡°Are you ready yet?¡±


    ¡°Ready.¡± Ji Man sighed, lifted up her skirt, and opened the doors.


    The person in the doorway raised his eyes to look at her.


    Ji Man lightly smiled and winked at him. ¡°My lord, does this servant look pretty?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was slightly dazed. Feeling as if he had been put into a difficult position, he turned his gaze away and said, ¡°Too conspicuous.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Ji Man lowered her head and looked at her dress. There wasn¡¯t any decorative embroidery on it. Then, she felt her hair and only touched the wooden hairpin. ¡°What part is conspicuous?¡±


    ¡°Face.¡± Ning Yuxuan passed by her and entered the room. He found her veiled hat and ced it on her.


    Ji Man innocently blinked. Her phoenix eyes sparkled like water in the sunlight. Covering the lower half of her face was the same as not covering her fact at all. In fact, it only made her face more conspicuous.


    Marquis Moyu stared at her for a long time. Seeing that this wasn¡¯t a better option, he took off the veiled hat. ¡°Let¡¯s go, just follow behind me.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man obediently agreed, lowered her head, and followed him off the boat.

 Chapter 98 - Experiencing a different type of life (1)

    Chapter: 098 out of 513 ¨C Experiencing a different type of life (1)


    Ji Man had originally been worried over this question; what kind of method did she need to use to get Marquis Moyu to gradually have a favorable impression towards Nie Sangyu? In the end, she realized that she was overthinking things. Men were visual animals while women were auditory animals. Why had she thought she needed to use the thirty-six stratagems?* A simple beauty trap would be enough to conquer half of the world.


    * (T/N: T<i>he Thirty-Six Stratagems</i> is a famous Chinese essay that consists of 36 proverbs that are rted to 36 battle scenarios in Chinese history and folklore.)


    Although there was a saying that if you win people over using your beauty, then your good days will be short-lived because your beauty will inevitably fade away with time, beauty was still necessary to attract a man¡¯s interest. Once you gained his interest, then your beautiful mind will have the opportunity to reveal itself. When he has truly fallen in love with you, then your appearance will no longer be that important.


    There were very few men that would a favorable impression towards Fengjie and dislike Fan Bingbing if they saw Fengjie and Fan Bingbing at the same time.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of Luo Yufeng (Fenjie is her nickname) and Fan Bingbing. Luo Yufeng is famous on the Inte for her outrageousments. Fan Bingbing is a very famous actress.)


    As Ji Man followed behind Ning Yuxuan, she nned on what she would do next.


    The group of the emperor¡¯s rtives was all dressed as simple as fresh water cabbage, and they looked considerably nderpared to before. However, their attitudes remained and there was still a significant difference between them and themon people.


    Noble Consort Nie was wearing a pale yellow dress, and she looked as vibrantly gorgeous as always. The emperor couldn¡¯t be med for never moving his hand away from her waist. In the battlefield of the harem, beauty was still an outstandingly effective weapon. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t know if Noble Consort Nie had told the emperor she was pregnant. Although they were traveling by waterway, there would still be bumpy parts during their journey. She was worried that Noble Consort Nie wouldn¡¯t be able endure the fatigue.


    While Ji Man was standing next to Ning Yuxuan and lost in her thoughts as she looked at Noble Consort Nie from a distance, she suddenly felt something wrapping around her waist. She tilted her head and saw Marquis Moyu¡¯s serious and unhappy face.


    She quietly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan retracted his gaze from the other direction. He lowered his head and said into her ear with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t raise your head.¡±


    What? Ji Man instinctively looked in the direction he had just been looking at and saw that the crown prince was currently examining her from top to bottom with overflowing interest in his eyes.


    It was the crown prince again. Ji Man sighed. If this yboy crown prince became emperor, she guessed that the entire pce wouldn¡¯t have enough space to fit his harem. The princess consort was standing right next to him too and he dared to look at her in such a grant way.


    The princess consort¡¯s expression was already very ugly. She hadn¡¯t exploded into anger yet out of consideration for loss of face.


    The third prince, Zhao Jue, unexpectedly called out, ¡°Imperial brother.¡±


    While his voice was gentle and pleasant to hear, Ji Man didn¡¯t dare to continue to look. The grip Ning Yuxuan had on her waist felt as if it was tight enough to stop her blood from flowing.


    ¡°My lord, please be gentler.¡± Ji Man slightly frowned and said, ¡°This is a waist not a tree trunk. It hurts when you hold so tightly.¡±


    ¡°Do you really know what pain is?¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°If you provoke the crown prince, it won¡¯t be the simple pain of me holding your waist. Nie Sangyu, I thought you¡¯re clever.¡±


    Ji Man smiled as she clenched her teeth. ¡°The crown prince is also very clever. He won¡¯t do anything untoward to this servant. My lord, you don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed. His heart still felt bursts of irritability. If he had known this would happen, he would have gone against the emperor¡¯s order and brought Wen Wan instead. At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t be feeling so troubled right now.


    ¡ª


    This ce was the boundary line for Li Province. Trembling with fear, Li Province¡¯s provincial governor exined about the ce he had prepared for thisrge group of people to stay. In front of the emperor, he kowtowed for a long time and said that Li Province hadn¡¯t been able to collect taxes for several years in a row because the farnd had been poor. Thus, they weren¡¯t able to construct a temporary imperial residence.


    Unexpectedly, the emperor was in a very good mood and didn¡¯t me him. Instead, he sent the group of eunuchs and courtdies to farming families to do manualbor such as working the farnd and cleaning gravestones. Then, he led his family to arge residence that been offered up as tribute by a wealthy merchant.


    The emperor gathered the group of people to the main courtyard and said, ¡°We¡¯ve lived in the pce for so long. It¡¯s rare for us toe out and have a chance to experience something like this. Starting from today, no one is separated by ranks. Everyone has the same rank. While we¡¯re staying here during the next few days, we won¡¯t observe any ceremonial rules. We¡¯ll simply be headed by an old master and madam and live like themon people. What do you all think about this idea?¡±


    The emperor had said these words. Would anyone dare to have a dissenting opinion?


    With a smile on his face, the crown prince said, ¡°Father, your idea is very good. This son will be the first to follow.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie nced at the third prince, and thetter sighed before stepping forward and saying, ¡°It¡¯s worth it to try out living unrestrained while we¡¯re at this ce of natural beauty. Father¡¯s idea is feasible.¡±


    The emperor was smiling as he looked at the third prince and said, ¡°You should probably like this type of unfettered lifestyle the most.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie hurriedly said, ¡°Jue-<i>er</i> has a natural and unconstrained temperament, but he knows how to follow etiquette.¡±


    Zhao Jue stayed silent.


    Standing by the side, Ji Man secretly looked at him. There was a jade flute tucked in his belt at his back and he was wearing the long robes of a schr. He appeared especially refined. This type of person wasn¡¯t suitable to be part of the imperial family. He should live freely like Li Bai* by drinking lots of wine andposing numerous poems while away from worldly affairs,


    * (T/N: Li Bai is the famous poet that Ji Man giarized from at the end of <strong>chapter 64</strong>.)


    Unfortunately, he was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s only son and she wouldn¡¯t let him off to live the carefree life that he wanted. She guessed that his future path would bepeting with the crown prince to see who would win the title of emperor.


    After the courtyards were assigned, Marquis Moyu was summoned by the emperor to discuss something. Gancao and Dengxin had been sent away with the courtdies. Ji Man could only roll up her sleeves and clean up the courtyard by herself.


    Li Province didn¡¯t have snow in the winter. Although it was very cold, it only took a little bit of moving around for her body to warm up. With no else around, Ji Man didn¡¯t need to wear a properly long skirt. She tied the bottom of her skirt to her waist for ease of movement before she started to boil water and clean the rooms.


    Trantor Ramblings: It feels like there¡¯s a missing scene that should have happened before this chapter. Until the beginning of this chapter, Ji Man has only been grudgingly tolerating Ning Yuxuan¡¯s presence and telling him to go away in varying degrees of politeness, so it seems out-of-ce that she¡¯s suddenly trying to get him to like her. What do you guys think?


    If you want read a tiny spoiler about ater scene that I think should have been in this chapter, look in thements below.

 Chapter 99 - Experiencing a different type of life (2)

    Chapter: 099 out of 513 ¨C Experiencing a different type of life (2)


    Fortunately, the emperor favored Marquis Moyu and had allocated a pretty good courtyard to him. Everything was new here and there wasn¡¯t much dust. By the time a bucket of hot water had cooled down, Ji Man had finished cleaning the rooms. The floor tiles that were made of precious stones were very smooth, so Ji Man straightforwardly ripped off strips of cloth, made them into a mop, and cleaned the floors until they were as clean as the surface of a mirror.


    The crown prince had stopped at the doorway with one foot slightly raised up. Looking at this floor, he almost didn¡¯t dare toe inside.


    When Ji Man turned around and saw him, she hurriedly put her skirt down and said with a calm expression, ¡°Eldest Young Master, is there a reason why you¡¯re here?¡±


    Hearing her address, the crown prince chuckled for a bit, ¡°You¡¯ve changed modes quickly. You¡¯re certainly an exquisitely clever person.¡±


    Holding the mop, Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°Eldest Young Master, you¡¯re giving me too much credit.¡±


    Looking at the person in front of him, Zhao Zhe really wanted to step forward and stroke her face. However, the words, ¡°If there¡¯s anything you want to say, quickly say it. Otherwise, hurry up and leave,¡± were clearly written on her face. He was normally a fearless crown prince, but in front of her, he was at aplete loss.


    He lightly coughed and said, ¡°You¡¯ve made it so clean. I¡¯m reluctant to step on this floor.¡±


    Ji Man considerately brought a stool over to the doorway, bent her waist to salute, and said, ¡°Then, Eldest Young Master, you should just sit outside. I haven¡¯t finished cleaning yet.¡±


    Zhao Zhe looked at the stool she was holding in the doorway and didn¡¯t know if he shouldugh or cry. He had never met a woman that failed to appreciate the favor of his interest in this way. And yet, he wasn¡¯t angry at all.


    Right after the beauty put down the stool, she was about to go back. Zhao Zhe grabbed her white wrist and asked, ¡°Why do you shun me so much?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s expression sunk. She made one attempt to yank her hand away before she calmly looked at him and said, ¡°Oldest Young Master, although Sangyu doesn¡¯t know any grand principles, I know the virtues a married woman should have. Other than Yuxuan, Sangyu shuns all men.¡±


    Zhao Zhe boisterouslyughed. ¡°You¡¯ve really be an upright woman. Yuxuan has been called away by my imperial father to discuss official business and there isn¡¯t anyone else around here except us. If I insist on forcing you, what can you do?¡±


    Ji Man felt that this person was slightly crazy. Out of the various groups of people, crazy people were the worst group to offend. Even when they killed someone, it wouldn¡¯t be counted asmitting a crime. They were truly terrifying. However, she couldn¡¯t act cowardly. For a person like him, if you showed him even the slightest trace of fear, he would want a mile if you give him an inch.


    ¡°Sangyu is only a mere woman. Of course, there¡¯s nothing I can do,¡± Ji Man said. ¡°But, Sangyu isn¡¯t a person that willmit suicide while having feelings of deep resentment. Before I die, I¡¯ll definitely tell Yuxuan and my aunt why I¡¯m going to kill myself.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows.


    Ji Man sweetly smiled and her eyes were very gentle, but the word that her mouth spat out was powerful and resonating, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhao Zhe quietly looked at her for a brief period before he suddenly smiled, ¡°Nie Sangyu, you¡¯re truly a woman that¡¯s suitable to be the empress.¡±


    After saying this, he nced at the stool before turning around and leaving.


    Ji Man was scared out of her wits by these words. Gripping the mop, she was at aplete loss for a long time. She didn¡¯t know what kind of reaction she should have.


    A whileter, she heard Ning Mingjie¡¯s voice from the courtyard¡¯s entrance, ¡°Everyone knows that the crown prince¡¯s words are the most untrustworthy. You can just act as if you didn¡¯t hear anything.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head and looked at the courtyard¡¯s entrance, but she didn¡¯t see Ning Mingjie. Why was he outside the courtyard? Did he hear all of the crown prince¡¯s words?


    After running out to look for him, she saw that Ning Mingjie had already walked far away. She didn¡¯t know when he hade by. Perhaps, he was just passing by and happened to overhear?


    Ji Man¡¯s apprehensive heart calmed down after these words. Although the crown prince¡¯s words were rming, when she thought about it carefully, Ning Mingjie¡¯s words were logical. Knowing what type of man the crown prince was, why should she take his words seriously?


    ¡ª


    At noon, Ji Man decided that she would personally cook. It wasn¡¯t because she wanted to show off. It was because the courtdies and eunuchs had all been sent away. The only people left were the emperor¡¯s rtives. Not a single one of them knew how to cook.


    With a blushing face, Ning Errong followed her into the kitchen and said, ¡°I¡¯ll act as your assistant.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll teach you how to cook a few dishes for my older brother,¡± Ji Man said as she washed the potatoes.


    The princess consort and Noble Consort Nie were in the main courtyard talking with the emperor. The remaining women either said they were afraid of the cold or didn¡¯t want to do any work. Ji Man and Errong were the only two people in the kitchen. Fortunately, there were sufficient ingredients. Ji Man counted; there was enough to make twenty dishes.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was with the third prince. They were studying calligraphy together. They weren¡¯t far away from the kitchen and would frequently smell the tasty aromas that drifted over from the kitchen.


    ¡°I frequently hear that you¡¯re unsatisfied with Sangyu.¡± The third prince lightly smiled as he nced at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°From what I see now, my cousin doesn¡¯t seemcking whenpared to anyone else, ah.¡±


    In terms of familial rtionship, third prince was Nie Sangyu¡¯s older cousin. However, they weren¡¯t close. The third prince usually spent his time outside of the capital. Once he reached adulthood, it was even rarer for him to see Sangyu. He had only asionally heard news about her from Noble Consort Nie. The young girl that used to not be sensible had grown up now, ah.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly frowned and said, ¡°Third Young Master, you only have partial information. When she¡¯s good, she¡¯s truly very good. But when she does something upsetting, it¡¯s enough to make a person be angered to death.¡±


    The third prince raised his eyes and looked at him for a long time, ¡°Yuxuan, haven¡¯t you noticed this? There are very few people that can make your emotions swing back and forth so dramatically. When I came backst year and saw you, there was always a smile on your face. But now, you show anger and annoyance. You seem more like a person now.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned. His expression was slightly ugly. ¡°It¡¯s not like that...¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to say anything else.¡± Third prince raised his hand to stop him from speaking. ¡°I¡¯ll just remind you of one thing. If you heart likes someone, don¡¯t let your mouth be stubborn. There are some things where if you don¡¯t tightly hold onto them, they might slip away from you. Do you understand?¡±

 Chapter 100

    Chapter: 100 out of 513 ¨C Treat this experience as doing it with a prostitute (1)


    Marquis Moyu made a sound of acknowledgment, but he inwardly found the third prince¡¯s wordsughable. The third prince hadn¡¯t married yet. Why was he turning around to lecture him on matters of love?


    ¡°Third Young Master, it¡¯s about time that you consider your own marriage,¡± Ning Yuxuan casually suggested. ¡°Eldest Young Master has already married a virtuous woman and established his own stable household. For you to continue to not show care towards anything, it¡¯s really failing to live up to Noble Consort Nie¡¯s heartfelt intentions.¡±


    The third prince looked up and raised his eyebrows, ¡°Yuxuan, do you want to lend me a helping hand?¡±


    On the surface, Marquis Moyu was helping the crown prince. However, the rtionship between Nie n and Ning n wasn¡¯t shallow. No one knew whose side this great tree would fall towards in the end.


    ¡°Yuxuan just wants to peacefully receive his sry every year. As for other matters, I¡¯m not interested in thinking about them,¡± Marquis Moyu said with a slight smile. ¡°With Third Young Master¡¯s intelligence and talent, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for you to be aplished.¡±


    The third prince quietly chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re such a cunning fox...¡±


    ¡°Sir Ning, Third Young Master, its time to eat.¡± Errong held a dish as she came out of the kitchen and called out to the people in the pavilion as she passed by.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling hungry since I smelled that aroma.¡± The third prince put down his brush and said, ¡°In the past, I¡¯ve always had people around to serve me whether I was in the pce or outside. I only needed to stretch my hands out when the servants put on my clothes for me and just open my mouth when food was brought over. I never knew what the feeling of hunger felt like. Father¡¯s arrangement can be considered a rather useful experience.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded and followed the third prince towards the dining room.


    ¡ª


    It was problematic to figure out a good way to serve thisrge family of over a dozen people. There were a total of twenty different dishes and there weren¡¯t too many duplicate dishes. However, it wouldn¡¯t be possible for the other people to share a table with the emperor and Noble Consort Nie. If she separated the dishes to different tables, the other people would inevitably think she was biased one way or the other towards the emperor¡¯s rtives based on the dishes she put at their tables.


    And so, Ji Man ced seven dishes and one soup at the emperor, Noble Consort Nie, and the two prince¡¯s table. For the other people, she separated the rest of the food onto small tes and put eight smaller tes and one soup at each of the remaining tables. Although it looked very abundant, it was only because the tes themselves were beautiful. The actual quantity of each dish wasn¡¯t much. She ced the dishes onto trays and carried them over to the main courtyard¡¯s short tables one by one. She lit a bonfire in the center of the courtyard, decorated the area around the tables with fur cushions, hanged fabric to block the winds, as well as embroidered screens.


    In order to avoid showing differential treatment, Ji Man went to each courtyard and room herself to inform people that it was time to eat. She didn¡¯t require anyone to sit at a specific spot. There were slight difference between the dishes on each of the tables, and she let them choose for themselves where they would sit down based on their preferences for the food.


    Amongst the emperor¡¯s rtives, there were a couple of madams and youngdies that were picky eaters. However, Ji Man had a very good attitude and she even delivered winter fruit to them after the meal was over. She said these fruit were good for nourishing their skin. In any case, she was Marquis Moyu¡¯s secondary wife. She wasn¡¯t some servant girl and she had already worked to this level and done everything for them. No one could say anything bad about her. After all, if they were really told to do this type of work themselves, they wouldn¡¯t.


    Ji Man had lived on her own in the modern world, so of course she knew how to cook. The people from the pce were ustomed to eating greasy and opulent dishes. After eating Ji Man¡¯s fresh and tasty home cooking, many of the womenfolk came to ask Ji Man about the menu after the meal. Ji Man wasn¡¯t stingy and gave away detailed recipes to these women. Of course, she had Ning Errong write out the recipes for her.


    ¡ª


    After the meal was over, Noble Consort Nie called her over. Holding Sangyu¡¯s hand, she joyfully said, ¡°Even Seventh Master was saying your praises.¡±


    The current emperor had been the seventh prince in his generation.


    Ji Man looked at the joy in Noble Consort Nie¡¯s eyes and couldn¡¯t resist curving her eyes too. ¡°Sangyu is honored by this privilege.¡±


    ¡°The current you really makes me adore you from the bottom of my heart.¡± Noble Consort Nie looked at her happily and took off the jasper bracelet she was wearing to give to her. Feeling that this wasn¡¯t enough, she turned around, brought back an exquisite earring box, and stuffed it into Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°If you had been like this to begin with, I wouldn¡¯t have needed to worry about you so much.¡±


    Ji Man felt a bit embarrassed to be given these items. However, since the noble consort bestowed her these items, her only choice was to ept these items and thank her.


    ¡°Ah! Jue-<i>er</i> is the only person I have left to worry over now.¡± Noble Consort Nie¡¯s expression suddenly turned sad. Her eyes held mncholy as she looked at her. ¡°Sangyu, you haven¡¯t forgotten the promise that you made to aunty, right?¡±


    Ji Man was slightly at a loss. She did her best to think and finally remembered a fragmented memory.


    In the memory, Nie Sangyu had pleaded with Noble Consort Nie to ask the emperor bestow a marriage. At the time, Noble Consort Nie had said, ¡°Sangyu, aunty can help you. But, you have to remember that Marquis Moyu isn¡¯t an easy person to deal with. Although his heart won¡¯t only have love, he¡¯ll still have weak spots. After you marry him, you have to do your best to help your older cousin... Do you understand this consort¡¯s words?¡±


    At the time, Nie Sangyu was only thinking about her overwhelming desire to marry Marquis Moyu. And so, regardless of whether or not she actually understood, she said she understood.


    However, Ji Man understood the meaning of those words very well. Noble Consort Nie had been hoping that Nie Sangyu would be able to capture Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart. Afterwards, in consideration towards the friendly feelings between their two families, he would help the third prince in obtaining the throne.


    Although the emperor was very healthy right now, there would inevitably be a day when he passed away. The crown prince had no self-control. Moreover, he was narrow-minded and definitely wouldn¡¯t tolerate Noble Consort Nie and the third prince¡¯s continued existence if he became the emperor. Noble Consort Nie was worried about the third prince¡¯s future, so she was hoping that Marquis Moyu would give him a helping hand.


    However, Ji Man thought that Noble Consort Nie was too na?ve. Although Marquis Moyu had a great deal of power under his control, he wasn¡¯t a man that could be influenced by women. Look at his rtionship with Wen Wan. Although he loved her a lot, he still used little tricks to manipte her. One moment he was warm towards, the next moment he would act cold towards her until she became as docile as a baby. Moreover, he had always despised Nie Sangyu, so it was even less likely that she would be able influence his actions.


    Trantor Ramblings: So, we finally found out that Ning Yuxuan was forced into marrying Nie Sangyu. I still think it was wrong of him to treat her so badly, but Nie Sangyu isn¡¯t an innocent victim either. Can you really expect someone to treat you well if you force him into marrying you when you knew he didn¡¯t like you?

 Chapter 101

    Chapter: 101 out of 513 ¨C Treat this experience as doing it with a prostitute (2)


    However, it wasn¡¯t good for women to be too clever, so Ji Man left this criticism unspoken. There would be no benefit to saying these words to Noble Consort Nie. It would only make the noble consort feel that she was helping outsiders instead of her own family.


    And so, she obediently agreed, ¡°Sangyu will do my best.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie nodded in satisfaction. She looked at her up and down, pulled her closer, and secretly said, ¡°A while ago, I received a fertility prescription from an imperial physican, that¡¯s how I was able to be pregnant so quickly. You haven¡¯t given birth to a child after so long and it¡¯s hard for you to receive Marquis Moyu¡¯s favor. Later, I¡¯ll have someone make the medicine in ordance to that prescription and send a bowl of medicine over to you tonight.¡±


    Ji Man was stumped for words. She raised her head, looked at Noble Consort Nie, and said, ¡°Aunty... this matter...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be shy,¡± Noble Consort Nie said, ¡°You¡¯re the secondary wife now, and a concubine already has a child before you. I heard that woman from Wen family is very anxious over this matter, why aren¡¯t you showing the slightest sign of worry over this?


    Ji Man pursed her lips and stayed silent.


    Did she have to give this scumbag a child in this ancient world? Six years had already passed without a child. If people wanted to criticize her behind her back, they would have already thoroughly done so. Ji Man didn¡¯t think this was an advisable course of action, so she didn¡¯t take this matter seriously. Why should she care?


    However, Noble Consort Nie had Pengshu bring over a bowl of medicine that night. Moreover, she didn¡¯t leave after delivering the medicine and stood by her with a smile to watch her drink it down.


    Ji Man¡¯s expression fell and she tried to think of an excuse, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. There was a long period of silence. Ning Yuxuan would be returning soon.


    She needed to care less. This was only a y. Why should she care so much? Ji Man took a deep breath, silently chanted a hundred times that this was Nie Sangyu¡¯s body, and drank the bowl of medicine until she could turn the bowl over.


    Taking back the bowl, Pengshu left in satisfaction.


    ¡ª


    When Marquis Moyu came into a room, he saw the sour expression on Nie Sangyu¡¯s face and couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. This servant was just thinking of an unfortunate encounter during childhood when this servant got bit by a dog and my egg* felt slightly pained from recalling that memory,¡± Ji Man said.


    ¡°... Where does it hurt?¡± Ning Yuxuan thought he misheard her.


    ¡°Hehe, this servant said, my cheeks hurt.¡± Then, Ji Man stood up and said, ¡°My lord, you must be tired. Let this servant help you change into your sleeping clothes.¡±


    * (T/N: The first time Ji Man answers, she says, µ°ÌÛ, which literally means ¡°egg hurt¡±, but also has the ng meaning of pain in the balls. When she answers the second time, she adds, Á³before µ°ÌÛ, which changes the meaning to checks hurt. In Chinese, the word cheeks are made bybing face (Á³) and egg (µ°).)


    In the past, she had always dilly-dallied for a long time before going to bed. Surprisingly, she took the initiative today. It wasn¡¯t as if Ning Yuxuan liked woman that practices abstinence. If Nie Sangyu were willing to take the initiative, he naturally wouldn¡¯t find anything bad about this.


    Naturally, this ce wouldn¡¯t have the highest quality of charcoal. Before going to bed, Ji Man opened the windows slightly in order to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. However, the temperature significantly decreased as a result.


    Ning Yuxuan shot her a nce and tugged her closer to him, ¡°Your previous temperament showed that you¡¯ve been pampered and spoiled since childhood. I didn¡¯t expect that you would be able to adapt to amoner¡¯s life so well.¡±


    With a gentle and beautiful smile, Ji Man put her icy hand into his clothes. It was so cold that Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows twitched.


    ¡°My lord, do you feel that this servant has be gentle and virtuous? Excelling in housework and social life?¡±


    Marquis Moyu really didn¡¯t want to praise her, but he had to admit that her words were true.


    He hummed, that counted as a response of sorts. Ning Yuxuan buried his head in her warm, sweet-smelling, and soft neck and couldn¡¯t help feeling a sudden urge.


    Ning Yuxuan thought; Nie Sangyu had yed hard to get for long enough. Tonight was about time. After all, she was his woman. She couldn¡¯t refuse him forever, right?


    His hand entered from the bottom of her clothing to probe her reaction. Nie Sangyu¡¯s skin was very good. It was as smooth as jade. What was even more unusual was that she wasn¡¯t wearing a <i>dudou </i>tonight.


    Ji Man closed her eyes and silently chanted Nie Sangyu. This man was the person that Nie Sangyu liked. She didn¡¯t like him. But, thinking of how she should respect the original owner of this body¡¯s wishes, Ji Man decided to sacrifice herself in the end.


    As a modern person, she wouldn¡¯t let this affect her.


    Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t respond to her call, but the person over her body was breathing faster and faster. His burning body felt like a hand warmer that slowly melted away her reservations.


    She had to admit that Ning Yuxuan deserved to be called a man that had experienced many women. He didn¡¯t let her feel the slightest difort. Other than a small amount of pain initially, she could positively rate him with five out five stars.


    Overwhelmed by the sensations, Ji Man bit her lips and quietly moaned. The man on top of her seemed to be showing a rarely seen lost-of-control. He kissed her eyebrows, nose, and lips. Like a lion, he bit her throat, but he didn¡¯t use too much force.


    Honestly, Ji Man felt that doing this with Ning Yuxuan felt pretty good. If she treated this experience as doing it with a prostitute, then she wouldn¡¯t feel the slightest bit of emotional burden from this experience.


    ¡ª


    The next morning, Ji Man couldn¡¯t get up to cook breakfast for the emperor¡¯s family. Fortunately, Li Province¡¯s governor had delivered steam buns made with roughage unique to this region along with meat congee. When the emperor inquired after Sangyu, Noble Consort Nie¡¯s smile widened as she had made up an excuse for her.


    ¡ª


    By the time that Ji Man got out of bed, Marquis Moyu had already disappeared. Her body felt slightly sticky, but it would be rather bothersome to take a bath here in the middle of the winter. With a furrowed brow, Ji Man went to the kitchen, brought hot water back to her room, wiped her body, and changed into a set of cotton-padded clothes. Then, she leaned against the window while lost in thought.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Yuxuan, you seem to be in a very good mood?¡± The third prince had turned his head slightly to look at Ning Yuxuan several times. They had followed the emperor out of the residence to look at Li Province¡¯s water project.


    Marquis Moyu curved his lips. His face had softened considerably. ¡°The weather is pretty good today.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was by their sides. When he heard these words, he raised his head and looked sky that was densely covered by ck clouds. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to rainter.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly coughed before looking at Ning Mingjie and saying, ¡°I heard that Li Province¡¯s governer¡¯s daughter went to your courtyardst night.¡±


    Ning Ming¡¯s eyebrows didn¡¯t even twitch. ¡°Sir Ning, don¡¯t repeat false rumors. You¡¯ll end up tarnishing someone¡¯s reputation.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I cracked up when I got to the part where Ji Man is rating his skill. I have this image of Ji Man taking out her phone to fill out a survey and clicking 5 stars. Hmm, would she pick yes or no to the question, ¡°would you rmend to a friend?¡±

 Chapter 102 - Who does your heart desire? (1)

    Chapter: 102 out of 513 ¨C Who does your heart desire? (1)


    Ning Yuxuanughed boisterously, ¡°When did you start caring about other people¡¯s reputations?¡±


    Ning Mingjie pursed his lips. His expression seemed somewhat sullen underneath his silver mask.


    Marquis Moyu also knew that there were certain jokes that shouldn¡¯t be overdone, so he put away hisughter. However, his mind would asionally think about what happenst night and a smile would sneak out at the corners of his eyes and brow.


    Li Province¡¯s water project was just a river that went around the city walls. Due to repeated droughts in the past several years, this river had already been on the verge of running dry in past years. Right now, there were very few sources of water for themon people. Their only two choices were to dig deep wells or to bring water back from several miles away.


    When the emperor brought along the princes and his inner circle of ministers to go look, there were countless citizens kneeling by the river. They were all kowtowing and weeping. The emperor slightly furrowed his brow and nced at Li Province¡¯s governor.


    Thetter immediately kneeled down and said in a trembling voice, ¡°This subject has been unable fulfill my duty.¡±


    If rainfall didn¡¯te from the Heavens, then there was only one option. The imperial court had to allocate funds for disaster relief. And yet, only a small portion of the disaster relief money came into his hands, much less themon people. Zhang Jin was as absolutely helpless as the ordinary people. He didn¡¯t want to wrong them, so he hadn¡¯t followed the orders from above and gathered everyone to lock them up during the emperor¡¯s visit.


    Zhang Jin was already doing everything that he could.


    The emperor looked at that scene for a long time before he turned his head and asked the crown prince, ¡°Zhe-<i>er</i>, how do you think this matter should be handled?¡±


    The crown prince put away his half-hearted and unconcerned expression. He stepped forward and bowed. ¡°Father, this son thinks that since Li Province has only turned into a disaster area this year, the imperial court should continue to support them so that they can ovee this crisis. They should be encouraged to sow seeds in this drynd in order to preserve their livelihood.¡±


    The emperor nodded and also asked the third prince, ¡°Jue-<i>er</i>, what do you think?¡±


    Zhao Jue swept his gaze across the dried out river. ¡°This river is a distributary channel that originates from arge river in the east. Half a year ago, the debris from a great mountain that suffered an earthquake cut off this distributary channel from the main river. This son thinks that imperial father only needs to expend manpower to dig out a channel in the blockage. Once the water is able to flow to this distributary channel, this problem will be solved.


    The surrounding people made noises to expression their admiration, even Marquis Moyu slightly nodded.


    Surprised, the emperor asked, ¡°Jue-<i>er</i>, how did you know about this blockage?¡±


    The third prince lightly smiled. ¡°This son happened to pass through thatrge river half a year ago while traveling and heard the elderly folk mention that matter about the mountain. I wrote and sent a letter to imperial father that Li Province might be suffering from a dried up river. Imperial father, did you not see my letter?¡±


    Zhao Jue spent his time traveling and Noble Consort Nie though he was uninterested in the imperial court¡¯s matters because he never asked any questions. She didn¡¯t know that Zhao Jue had traveled the entire country in the past years and remembered the circumstances of the people, along with each region¡¯s natural conditions and social customs. He had even sent a booklet with all of his travel notes to the emperor. Although the emperor was very fond of the third prince, he though he was too leisurely and showed no interest about the imperial court matters. And so, the emperor had only looked at a few pages of the booklet before forgetting about it.


    Now that the third prince mentioned that booklet, the emperor finally remembered. His eyes showed that he was extremely pleasantly surprised. After repeatedly nodding his head several times, he summoned the local officials and important ministers, as well as Li Province¡¯s governor, to apany him to discuss this matter.


    The crown prince¡¯splexion slightly changed, but he was smiling as he patted third prince¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Third younger brother, you have extensive knowledge and experience.¡±


    ¡°Oldest brother, you¡¯re too kind with your praise.¡± Zhao Jue cupped his hands and lowered his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve just traveled a lot.¡±


    ¡°What a good job you¡¯ve done with traveling a lot.¡± Zhao Zhe narrowed his eyes. ¡°Your older brother has stayed in the pce for too long and can¡¯t bepared with you, third younger brother.¡±


    Zhao Jue seemed somewhat lost in his own thoughts and didn¡¯t respond.


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t very friendly, but he only turned around and led the other people to continue to look around this area.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie felt slightly sleepy. For an inexplicable reason, he kept having a nightmare every time he went to sleep recently. In his dreams, there would be a thick nket of white fog. It was followed by a voice that continuously shouted, ¡°You¡¯re wrong, you¡¯re wrong, you¡¯re wrong.¡±


    What had he done wrong? Ning Mingjie yawned, got onto a prepared horse, and went with the two princes and Marquis Moyu as they moved along the riverside.


    Even if he had made a horrible mistake, at least tell him what he had done wrong. He wouldn¡¯t look back if that voice only continued to shout that he was wrong.


    He recalled yesterday¡¯s memory. Nie Sangyu had personally prepared the meal. He had simply chosen a table that had three meat dishes and four vegetarian dishes because there was also a jar of Li Province¡¯s local rice wine on that table¡¯s tray.


    He liked to drink wine. While he had been living in Marquis Jingwen¡¯s fiefdom, he would frequently be drunk for several days and nights in a row. As a result, his father had said he wascking in propriety. However, life onlysted for so long. If you always upheld propriety and never rxed, wouldn¡¯t life be meaningless?


    He was still reminiscing over yesterday¡¯s food. It was so much better than the food cooked by the servants. It tasted sort of like food from themon people¡¯s restaurants, but it was made with much more care and thought. If one day, he could freely roam the mountains and rivers in a small boat with a jar of wine while the water reflected the bright moon, and have a person like her cooking for him, wouldn¡¯t this life be wonderfully unrestrained?


    After thinking about these thoughts, Ning Mingjie started to feel sleepier. He lightly leaned against the horse¡¯s neck, but it felt too ufortable because of the horse¡¯s jolting steps. Just as he wanted to change his position, he heard a distant guard shouting, ¡°Watch out, assassins!¡±


    Mixed in with the crying crowd, there were suddenly several sword-wielding people violently jumping out and rushing forward towards the crown prince and third prince.


    Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯te out with them today because he had a stomachache from eating snacks that Errong made yesterday. Other than the guards, he and Marquis Moyu were the only ones that knew martial arts.


    Ning Mingjie furrowed his brow before vaulting over, pulling the third prince from his horse, and protectively cing the third prince behind himself. Nearby, Marquis Moyu had done the same thing with the crown prince.


    The group ofmon people started to scatter in a flurry of screeching, shoving, and kicking. Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan were both in an extremely difficult position. The guards had seemed to be in control of the situation, but then a sound seemed to be rushing over here from a distance. Ning Mingjie wanted to dodge, but if he did, it would expose the third prince, who was behind him.

 Chapter 103 - Who does your heart desire? (2)

    Chapter: 103 out of 513 ¨C Who does your heart desire? (2)


    Ji Man leaned against the window frame and suddenly yawned. Looking at the absolutely empty room, she finally remembered that Ning Yuxuan had gone out today. This was good too. It would save her from feeling annoyed when she saw him.


    As forst night¡¯s matter, she didn¡¯t take it too seriously. There were numerous couples that shared a bed with different agendas. Plus, this wasn¡¯t her body either, so there was no reason for her to be overly concerned. If she became pregnant, it would be the best oue. Nie Sangyu would probably like this child. If she didn¡¯t... then, she¡¯ll treat this experience as being bitten by a dog.


    Estimating the time by looking at the sky, Ji Man dragged her body towards the kitchen to prepare lunch. It was about time for them to return. Right after she finished cooking, she heard a servant rushing over here in panic.


    After not being able to find anyone in themon areas of the residence, the servant ran to the kitchen and shouted, ¡°Madam Ning, Madam Ning, Young Master Ning has been injured. Hurry ande with me to look, ah!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was injured? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Didn¡¯t he say that he knew martial arts? Why did he still get injured? Ji Man wiped her hands, walked out of the kitchen, and asked, ¡°Is his injury from spraining his ankle or waist?¡±


    This person was the original household¡¯s servant. The servant nkly looked at Nie Sangyu for a while before finally saying, ¡°They encountered assassins outside. Sir Ning was injured because he was protecting the third prince. He¡¯s currently getting his injury bandaged in Li Province¡¯s Wanjing Hall.¡±


    This servant had juste here to bring this message. Although this servant was saying that Sir Ning had been injured, he didn¡¯t actually know who ¡°Sir Ning¡± was.


    Assassins? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. This was truly worth a visit to see for herself.


    After changing her clothes, Ji Man hastily went to Wanjing Hall in a pnquin.


    ¡ª-


    Ning Yuxuan and the two princes were all sitting by a pile of herbs. When they looked outside, they happened to see Nie Sangyu getting off a pnquin and unhurriedly walking over here.


    ¡°My lord?¡± Seeing Marquis Moyu, who was sitting near the doorway, lookingpletely unharmed, Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you have an encounter with assassins, and was seriously injured?¡±


    The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mouth twitched. He pointed at the nearby Ning Mingjie. ¡°Mingjie was the one that was injured. Why do you look like you were hoping that I was the one injured?¡±


    Eh? Ning Mingjie was injured? Ji Man hurriedly lifted her skirt and went inside to look. Ning Mingjie was still wearing his mask while half of his clothes had been taken off in order to treat the wound on shoulder de.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu hade, he coolly turned his head away.


    He couldn¡¯t possibly still be mad over what happenedst time, right? Ji Man thought that he probably wasn¡¯t such a petty person. She nced at the wound. It looked rather serious. It was bleeding through severalyers of bandages.


    However, in the end, he wasn¡¯t properly dressed, so she retreated to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side after one nce and said, ¡°A servant came by and said Sir Ning was attacked by assassins. He probably mixed up who was injured.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was feeling very aggravated. ¡°Did you walk so slowly because you thought I was the one who was injured?¡±


    As soon as she heard it was Ning Mingjie, she had hastily lifted up her skirt and came into the room.


    Ji Man lightly smiled, ¡°My lord, please show some understanding and forgive me. This servant hasn¡¯t eaten lunch yet.¡±


    By the side, the crown prince said with a smile, ¡°I had forgotten this until Sangyu mentioned it. Once Mingjie¡¯s wound is wrapped up, let¡¯s go back to eat lunch.¡±


    Ji Man nced at the silent Ning Mingjie and asked, ¡°Young Master, is your injury serious?¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s back slightly tensed.


    Marquis Moyu fake smiled and said, ¡°Mingjie¡¯s protection of the third prince is praiseworthy, but his wound isn¡¯t serious.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man nodded. Seeing that everyone had stood up and was about to leave, she wanted to head back to the pnquin she had recently gotten off of.


    Unexpectedly, Marquis Moyu grabbed her hand. ¡°You can¡¯t see anything inside a pnquin. Isn¡¯t that really boring? Come and ride the horse with me.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s face turned green. Ride a horse? Although she had already mostly recovered and wasn¡¯t that sore, wouldn¡¯t sitting in a pnquin be much morefortable than riding a horse?¡±


    ¡°My lord...¡±


    ¡°Come, I¡¯ll help you up.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile was gentle and he stretched out his hand towards her.


    Ji Man took a deep breath and pped her hand onto his palm. This sound made the crown prince and the third prince turn back to look.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows didn¡¯t even twitch. He held her hand and helped her up onto the horse, then he sat down behind her and picked up the reins.


    ¡°There might be more assassins left. I¡¯ll go upfront to open the path,¡± Marquis Moyu very considerately said to the two princes.


    The crown prince raised his eyebrows. Just as the third prince was about to speak, Ning Yuxuan had already raised the reins. ¡°Jia!¡±


    This horse seemed as if it had eaten stimnts. It was happy to gallop forward more than anyone else. It¡¯s jolting sprint almost caused Ji Man to fall off. Her face was ashen as she hugged the horse¡¯s neck in a death grip.


    Over the sound of the wind, the person behind her asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you think hugging my waist will be more stable than hugging the horse¡¯s neck?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s hairstyle was falling into disarray from being blown by the wind. Hugging the horse¡¯s neck and gritting her teeth, she said, ¡°This servant feels that the horse¡¯s neck is morefortable.¡±


    Marquis Moyu coldly harrumphed. When he whipped the horse, Ji Man almost screamed.


    Riding on this horse waspletely different from the horse rides in the park that cost a few dors. In the park, someone else would be walking alongside the horse and guiding the horse by its reins. If she had to describe this experience, she would say it felt like an airne meeting turbulence and about to violently crash.


    Ji Man¡¯s face had turnedpletely white. Moreover, she deeply felt that Marquis Moyu was doing this deliberately.

 Chapter 104 - The throne’s turbulent future (1)

    Chapter: 104 out of 513 ¨C The throne¡¯s turbulent future (1)


    By the time they arrived at therge residence¡¯s entrance, Ji Man already felt as if she was going to copse. The inner part of her thighs felt a burning pain from being rubbed against the saddle. Her hairstyle hade undone and her fine ck hair was hanging loosely behind her back. Fortunately, she had caught her wooden hairpin before it dropped.


    Ning Yuxuan seemed to be in a much better mood. He gently helped her down from the horse. Seeing that she wasn¡¯t able to stably stand by herself, he half-supported and half-carried her. In a pleased tone, he said, ¡°You look really pitiful right now.¡±


    Ji Man took a deep breath, then she pushed his hand away and leaned against the doorway to stand by herself. After putting her hair up into a bun at the back of her head, she coolly said, ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for this servant to appear in front of the others in this disorderly state, so this servant will return to her room first.¡±


    After saying this, she gritted her teeth and started walking away. Although her legs still felt weak, she didn¡¯t want to stay here and make a spectacle of herself.


    This rotten guy simply didn¡¯t understand how to caringly treat other people. Or perhaps, he just didn¡¯t pay attention to someone¡¯s well being if she wasn¡¯t in his heart. Ji Man sighed. The road to aplishing Noble Consort Nie¡¯s expectations and Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish was a long one.


    The person behind her didn¡¯t chase after her. After Ji Man passed through a small garden, she turned around to look. Seeing that there was no one behind her, she grimaced in pain as she sat down by a rock garden to rest for a while.


    ¡°Is Jue-<i>er</i> okay?¡±


    ¡°Ning Mingjie protected him. The third prince is fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s inevitable that Zhe-<i>er</i> would feel unhappy over what happened today. With each passing day, the empress¡¯s faction bes increasingly powerful. In contrast, Nie n¡¯s influence has significantly dropped since thatst incident. This emperor sometimes worries about the future. If Zhe-<i>er</i> bes the emperor, will he allow for Jue-<i>er</i>¡¯s continued existence? After all, he should feel a sense of brotherhood.¡± A voice that was neither loud nor soft traveled over here from the other side of the rock garden.


    Hearing this conversation, Ji Man¡¯s entire body stiffened.


    Although she wasn¡¯t familiar enough with the emperor¡¯s voice to recognize it, once she heard that person address himself as ¡°this emperor¡±, her neck felt chilled. She had just wanted to stop here to rest her feet. Why did she end up overhearing the emperor¡¯s conversation with a member of his inner circle?!


    Regardless of whether or not this discussion was important, she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep her head if someone found out that she had overheard this conversation. Ji Man tried to breath quieter. She looked around to check what objects might make a sound if it was disturbed and carefully avoided them as she crouched down behind arge rock.


    The emperor continued to speak with the minister. It seemed as if they nned to spend the afternoon here. Ji Man felt extremely annoyed at them. Why weren¡¯t they more careful? They should have posted guards around the perimeter to stop people froming over here and overhearing the emperor¡¯s conversation!


    But, as she turned this thought over in her head, she remembered that other than Pengshu, all of the other courtdies and eunuchs had been sent away to experience farm life. And, the guards were standing outside of the main courtyard. There really shouldn¡¯t be anyone else in this inner area. Ji Man sighed. She could only me her bad luck.


    The two people on the other side of the rock garden went from talking about governmental affairs to family matters. The emperor rather ruefully sighed. ¡°If this emperor could live another ten years, I would definitely make Ninglu empress.¡±


    Ninglu was Noble Consort Nie¡¯s childhood nickname. Hearing these words, Ji Man was stunned. Did this emperor actually sincerely love Noble Consort Nie?


    ¡°Unfortunately, Marquis Moyu is too shrewd and his position isn¡¯t clear. This emperor can¡¯t tell how he really feels about Nie Sangyu either. Is he wholeheartedly supporting the crown prince, or will he change sides to help the third prince because of Nie n and Ning n¡¯s rtionship?¡± The emperor sighed. ¡°This emperor is afraid that that the previous generation¡¯s tragedy will be repeated.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t quite understand the rationale behind these words. Whether or not he promoted Noble Consort Nie to the position of empress, what did this have to do with Marquis Moyu? Still, Ning Yuxuan was truly shrewd. He was close friend with the crown prince and a rtive by marriage to the third prince. No one could say for sure whose side he would choose. He would only make his decision at thest minute. The possibility of him participating in the princes¡¯ battle for the throne was very low.


    It was exactly because of this reason that Noble Consort Nie wanted to use a child to pull Marquis Moyu over to her side.


    ¡°Old Master, it¡¯s time for lunch.¡± Noble Consort Nie¡¯s voice came from far away.


    Ji Man¡¯s legs had already turned numb from crouching down, so this voice sounded like a heavenly savior to her. The two people outside of the rock garden changed the topic of their conversation and continued chatting as they walked away. When their voices were far away, Ji Man slowly pushed herself into a standing position using therge rock.


    Her legs felt wobbly and she almost fell down. Ji Man grabbed the boulder for support. She felt as if moving was impossible. Her body had felt sore to begin with. It was worse now that she had crouched down for a long time. But, she had to leave this area quickly before someone discovered her here. It would be bad if she attracted the emperor¡¯s suspicion.


    ¡°Can you still walk?¡± Zhao Jue asked.


    Frightened, Ji Man turned her head and saw the third prince walking over here from the garden¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°Third Young Master...¡± The corners of Ji Man¡¯s mouth twitched. She really wanted to ask why he was here, but then she had second thoughts. This garden wasn¡¯t big. Had he also been eavesdropping?


    ¡°It¡¯s time to eat. Yuxuan was looking for you.¡± The third prince slowly walked over here and put his arm out. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the dinning room.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± Seeing that he had avoided mentioning the emperor¡¯s recent presence, she guessed that he had also heard part of the conversation. He probably wouldn¡¯t tell anyone else about this and get her in trouble for no reason. After all, they were cousins.


    She went to the dining room without worries and sat down by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side. She thought about the emperor¡¯s recent words. She had originally though that the crown prince would definitely be the emperor, but now she thought there might be a bloodbath in the future during the fight for the throne.

 Chapter 105 - The throne’s turbulent future (2)

    Chapter: 105 out of 513 ¨C The throne¡¯s turbulent future (2)


    Troubled by the conversation she had recently heard, Ji Man didn¡¯t notice the person sitting next to her.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu had been silent this entire time, Ning Yuxuan thought she was angry. And so, he pursed his lips and added lot of food to her bowl.


    But, the result was that Ji Man didn¡¯t notice his attempt at all. She absent-mindedly ate whatever he added to her bowl without looking at him.


    Ning Yuxuan felt disgruntled. It didn¡¯t feel good to be ignored by someone else. However, he couldn¡¯t say anything. Everyone else was in the dining hall, and they were also sitting at the same table as the two princes. He had to be especially careful with maintaining his image.


    The crown prince had looked over here several times with a considering expression. After the meal was over, he invited Ning Yuxuan and Ning Mingjie to enjoy painting and calligraphy.


    ¡°I heard that Mingjie is very talented in calligraphy,¡± The crown prince said with a smile. ¡°Now that I think about it, that ink blob is the most marvelous part of the poem hanging in Luoyan Pagoda. Mingjie, what were you thinking when you drew that ink blob at the top of the poem?¡± Even though he knew that Nie Sangyu was the one thatposed the poem, he still phrased his question this way.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s mask hid his expression and he only said, ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re overpraising me. Madam Ning is the one with exceptional talent. I merely wrote out her words for her.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced as the crown prince. In a neutral tone, he said, ¡°Nie Sangyu has never shown such talent with words. For her topose a poem like that one, I also feel very surprised.¡±


    ¡°Madam Ning is very talented. Yuxuan, there¡¯s no need for you to make modest remarks about her. Since Mingjie happens to be here, why don¡¯t we call Madam Ning over here to recite that poem out aloud and have him write out the first half and second half of the poem on one scroll, so I can take it back home as a memento?¡±


    This request was a bit improper, but Ning Yuxuan actually agreed after looking at the crown prince for a brief moment.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was woken up from her post-lunch nap and called over to the garden.


    When she reached the garden, she saw Ning Mingjie holding a brush and was distracted for a moment. Then, she turned to Ning Yuxuan and asked, ¡°My lord, what do you want this servant to do?¡±


    ¡°Recite your poem, <i>Inviting you to drink wine</i>,¡± Marqyis Moyu said.


    Recite a poem? Ji Man rolled her eyes. She walked to Ning Mingjie¡¯s side and obediently recited the poem.


    Ning Mingjie truly looked very attractive when he was writing out these words. Xu Xi also knew calligraphy. Was the cycle of reincarnation unceasing? Would a person be reincarnated with the same appearance a hundred yearster? A thousand yearster?


    Somewhat preupied by these thoughts, Ji Man watched as he finished writing thest word.


    ¡°Yuxuan, what do you think of this poem?¡± The crown prince asked with a smile.


    There wasn¡¯t much of a smile on Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. He only unenthusiastically nodded his head and said, ¡°Mingjie¡¯s magnificent and grand writing style is a worthyplement to this poem.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man felt there was something strange going on. She had been summoned to the garden to recite to the poem and had been sent away right afterwards. That night, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t return to her room to sleep. She didn¡¯t know where he had gone. However, instead of wondering about his whereabouts, she slept even more peacefully.


    ¡ª


    As their visit to Li Province concluded and the courtdies and eunuchs returned, they were much better behaved and conscientious. Even Gancao and Dengxin became especially hardworking and busy, as if they were afraid their master would send them back to Li Province.


    Looking at them, Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether she shouldugh or cry. She suddenly thought of that time when she had shared a roasted chicken with Muxu and her heart felt slightly mncholy. Before they boarded the boat, she made Beggar¡¯s chicken and ate it together with the two young servant girls.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one that will stay loyal for a lifetime.¡± As Ji Man gnawed on the chicken¡¯s neck, she said, ¡°But I¡¯m willing to treat you well until you betray me.¡±


    Hearing her words, the two young servant girl¡¯s eyes were brimming with tears. They ate the chicken and firmly nodded.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan seemed to be increasingly busy and frequently didn¡¯t share a bed with her. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t care. You couldn¡¯t expect a man to always be thinking about you, much less a man, whose attentions werergely upied by the world.


    In contrast, when Ji Man was by the railing to look at the river water during the daytime, she would frequently meet Ning Mingjie. He wasn¡¯t a talkative person and he stood a distance away from her. When she asionally said a few words, he would only utter a short reply. But, it was the silence of mutual understanding as if they were connected at a deep level.


    ¡ª


    There was a heaven and earth difference between the next province and Li Province. It was the rich and populous Xiang Province that was famous for having fertilend. The lean and hungry expressions on the gloomy group finally faded away and were reced with smiles of jubtion.


    Right after they disembarked, the crown prince suggested that they go to Tian Xiang and even suggested for Noble Consort Nie toe along.


    (T/N: Tian Xiang means divine fragrance.)


    Just hearing the name would be enough for people to know that it was a low-grade brothel. The emperor was going to visit prostitutes and bring along Noble Consort Nie. Ji Man thought; there really wasn¡¯t anything that could be more preposterous than this! Fine, they would just be preposterous. Since the emperor had already agreed, no one else would say anything in disagreement. However, why was Noble Consort Nie the only female that was going? Even Ning Yuxuan and Nie Qingyun, who were men that already had someone, were also going. Why was she and Ning Errong being left behind?


    Ning Errong was pouting as she sat in Nie Sangyu¡¯s room and unhappily said, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of people going to brothels during the southern visits!¡±


    Ji Man sighed andforted her, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, my older brother has always disliked going to see prostitutes.¡±


    Ning Errong was still worried as she asked, ¡°Really? What if there¡¯s a vixen that¡¯s especially good at seducing people?¡±


    ¡°There won¡¯t be. You have to believe in my older brother. He has very high standards,¡± As Ji Man said this, she though that she couldn¡¯t say the same for Ning Yuxuan.


    During the past several days, she figured out that Ning Yuxuan was deliberately giving her the cold shoulder. As for the reason behind this, Ji Man was toozy to think about it. If he wanted to give her the cold shoulder, she didn¡¯t care. She wasn¡¯t Wen Wan, who couldn¡¯t bear to suffer a few days of being snubbed. If he didn¡¯t pay attention to her, it would actually let her feel more rxed.

 Chapter 106 - Yet another prostitute (1)

    Chapter: 106 out of 513 ¨C Yet another prostitute (1)


    However, she hadn¡¯t expected that Ning Yuxuan would actually bring back a woman after returning from the trip to the brothel. Ji Man was standing by the doorway. She looked at the iparably beautiful woman standing by Ning Yuxuan and her mouth couldn¡¯t help twitching.


    Nearby, the other women had rxed their expressions. Other Ning Yuxuan, no one else had brought back something unclean.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to look so worried,¡± Marquis Moyu lightly said. ¡°Jinse will only be apanying me during this journey. On the way back to the capital, she¡¯ll naturally leave.¡±


    Ji Man understood. This great lord felt that she wasn¡¯t attentive enough towards him, so he had brought back a more thoughtfully intimate person to serve him in bed.


    She shrugged her shoulders. She didn¡¯t really care, but she felt slightly awkward because everyone was looking at her with sympathetic expressions.


    ¡°He could have brought back anyone else. Why did he bring back a prostitute?¡± Ning Errong got angry on Nie Sangyu¡¯s behalf. She grabbed her hand, started walking, and heatedly continued saying, ¡°Is there something wrong with my cousin¡¯s head? Why didn¡¯t the emperor stop him? This is too preposterous!¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°Can you tell what the emperor is thinking?¡±


    Ning Errong turned her head and her pace slowed down. ¡°Can you tell?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, ah,¡± Ji Man quietly said, ¡°But none of those men are easy to deal with. Since they all think this is okay, I¡¯ll just assume they have their reasons.¡±


    Errong frowned. ¡°Can you tolerate sharing your husband with a prostitute?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, there¡¯s already a precedent in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household. Anyways, I¡¯m only a secondary wife, not the main wife. Why should I concern myself with this matter? As long as he doesn¡¯t make life difficult for me, I¡¯ll happily enjoy having more free time.¡±


    ¡°Is this how you truly feel?¡± Ning Errong incredulously said, ¡°Do you really not feel bad about this? You don¡¯t have to be concerned about etiquette in front of me. If you¡¯re feeling bad, then you can swear at him. I¡¯ll help you swear at him too.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and patted her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m okay. How about we go the city¡¯s most famous snack shop this afternoon when the emperor is off visiting the local governmental office?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Seeing that Nie Sangyu¡¯s clear and calm eyes truly didn¡¯t have any hint of sadness, her heart inexplicably felt a burst of mncholy. However, since Sangyu didn¡¯t care, there was no reason for her to keeping thinking about this matter. As long as Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t bring back a woman, she should feel okay.


    ¡ª


    Jinse was a very quiet woman. She had a naturally somewhat voluptuous face, but she changed into the most in and simple attire after following Ning Yuxuan. From far away, she resembled a servant girl.


    Ning Yuxuan seemed to like her a lot. He brought her along when he went with the crown prince to observe the circumstances of themon people in the afternoon. The crown prince had loudlyughed and rather meaningfully looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t understand the meaning in his eyes. After she slightly smiled in response, she immediately looked away and discussed with Xiang Province¡¯s governor¡¯s wife to arrange the womenfolk¡¯s afternoon outing.


    ¡ª


    Because this trip hadn¡¯t been low-key and there had even been an encounter with assassins, protective measures had to be taken. Ji Man and Errong just wanted to go out to eat some snacks, but several people, along with their servants, followed them. Although they had dressed like themon people, Ji Man still felt she was wearing a sign that said, ¡°A noble status,e and kill me.¡±


    Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯t gone out with the princes this afternoon, so Ning Errong had dragged Nie Qingyun intoing along. Then, feeling somewhat embarrassed, she also brought along Ning Mingjie. Although the number of people had increased, Ji Man suddenly felt much safer.


    Nie Qingyun and Ning Errong¡¯s rtionship had developed quite nicely during this journey. From Ji Man¡¯s perspective, Nie Qingyun was finally not treating Errong like an outsider. When Errong asionally forgot her manners, he would even look serious and say a few scolding words.


    If things continued to develop like this, they would probably be even happier after they got married. Ji Man¡¯s eyes slightly closed as she smiled.


    Nie Qingyun looked a the wooden sign hanging on the wall of the snack shop and asked, ¡°What do you want to eat?¡±


    Errong said, ¡°I want lotus seed buns and golden rolls.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was very easygoing and let Ji Man choose for him.


    Ji Man looked over the menu on the wall for a while before she said, ¡°Older brother likes to spring rolls, pair that with a te of peanuts. Young Master doesn¡¯t seem to like overly vorful food. He can just have two steamed roughage buns. I want scallion pancakes and water chestnut cake. As for those gluttonous servant girls behind us, they¡¯re definitely interested in trying snacks they haven¡¯t eaten before. Waiter, you can pick whatever you think they¡¯ll like.¡±


    (T/N: Below are pictures of two types of golden rolls, lotus seed buns, and water chestnut cake.)


    Ji Man was always very thorough and thoughtful. It was just how people should act, but Errong was surprised and looked at her with tiny stars in her eyes. ¡°Sangyu, you¡¯re so thoughtful. Unfortunately, our cousin doesn¡¯t know how to appreciate his good fortune.¡±


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t care that much about what he ate, but steamed roughage buns... He turned his head slightly to look at this woman, ¡°Has this one done something to displease Madam Ning?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You haven¡¯t.¡± With a sincere expression, Ji Ma said, ¡°I know that you look down on steamed roughage buns because of your noble status, but steamed roughage buns are pretty good. They help with digestion. Besides, you¡¯ve been wearing a mask for a long time, so you¡¯ll be prone to getting e. It¡¯s better if you avoid eating overly greasy food.¡±


    The corners of Ning Mingjie¡¯s lips twitched.


    Ji Man looked at him with a serious expression and added, ¡°Young Master, Sangyu doesn¡¯t want to meddle, but as a man, you shouldn¡¯t be afraid of other people looking at you. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a young, virginal maiden. You¡¯re too concerned about your appearance, so naturally you don¡¯t like people looking at you. But in reality, there¡¯s nothing wrong with being attractive, ah. There are many people that want to be beautiful, but the Heavens haven¡¯t given them the opportunity.¡±


    Ning Errongughed. ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to try to persuade my older brother. Our father and his honored concubines have already tried persuading him several times. My older brother always stays silent.¡±


    Ji Man sighed. ¡°What a pity. This is a face that could cause the downfall of a country, but it¡¯s blocked by a mask.¡±

 Chapter 107 - Yet another prostitute (2)

    Chapter: 107 out of 513 ¨C Yet another prostitute (2)


    Ning Mingjie continued to stay silent. Ji Man decided that she wouldn¡¯t keep trying to persuade him. After all, everyone had his or her own thoughts. She couldn¡¯t force other people to ept her viewpoint, right?


    After the snacks came out, Ning Mingjie looked at the te of steamed milky yellow roughage buns, took a deep breath, and slowly took off his mask.


    Everyone paused in eating and the golden roll in Ning Errong¡¯s mouth fell out.


    ¡°Older brother...?¡±


    Ning Mingjie rubbed his face, turned his head, and said to the nearby waiter that was nkly staring at him, ¡°I want to eat melon cookies and the greasiest foods you have.¡±


    Once again, Ji Man saw this face. It held a hint of a child¡¯s unwillingness to ept that he was wrong. His facial features no longer looked blurry, like something from a dream. He looked a real person.


    Because she had been staring at Ning Mingjie for too long, Nie Qingyun called out, ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    After returning to her senses, Ji Man seriously exined, ¡°It¡¯s not that I have a voracious desire to look at beauty. It¡¯s just that Young Master resembles someone I saw in a painting a while ago, so I looked at him for a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°Eh? What painting?¡± Ning Errong curiously asked. ¡°My older brother has never let anyone paint his portrait.¡±


    If you told one lie, then you naturally ended up having to tell more lies. Ji Man could only put on a bold face and say, ¡°I just happen to see it in one of the capital¡¯s stores. The owner of that store said that man had failed to be loyal to his lover. He abandoned his fianc¨¦e of four years and slept with another woman.¡±


    The corners of Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes twitched. ¡°Madam Ning, you clearly know that this one doesn¡¯t have a fianc¨¦e.¡±


    ¡°Hehe. Sangyu knows, that why I didn¡¯t say it was Young Master. It¡¯s so rare for you to be willing to reveal your face. Sangyu will treat you to melon cookies. No need to thank me.¡±


    Actually, Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t that obsessed with his mask or unwilling to let other people see his face. It was like Ji Man said, he had covered his face because he was too self-conscious of other people¡¯s gazes. But now, he had taken off his mask just to eat snacks. He was truly an unaffected person.


    The group of people ate and drank quite happily.


    After Ning Mingjie took of his mask, the expressions on his face wereid bare. He wasn¡¯t used to hiding his emotions and inevitably felt somewhat embarrassed. Ning Errong was giggling during the entire outing. On the way back, she pulled Sangyu along in high spirits and said she was going to bury his mask.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man returned to her room, she saw Ning Yuxuan sitting in her room. Jinse was standing by his side.


    ¡°My lord.¡± Ji Man obediently saluted.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at the smile on her face that hadn¡¯t disappeared yet and quietly snorted once before saying, ¡°Starting from tonight, Jinse will be serving me. You can go sleep in the neighboring room.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Jinse had been secretly checking out this woman that wore a jade essory with the surname ¡°Ning¡±. The servant girls outside had said Nie Sangyu was very magnanimous and virtuous. Her future days probably wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    ¡°Jinse isn¡¯t familiar with this ce. Take her out and show her around this residence,¡± Ning Yuxuan said.


    Ji Man still nodded in response. ¡°Okay.¡±


    As Jinse followed Nie Sangyu, she turned her head to nce at Marquis Moyu. For an unknown reason, hisplexion didn¡¯t look good.


    How strange, other men were happy when their wives were willing to be magnanimous of other women. Why did Marquis Moyu look angry? Jinse couldn¡¯t figure out the answer to this question.


    As Ji Man walked on the path, she recited this verse, ¡°<i>This brightly and beautifully decorated zither has fifty strings for no reason at all, and each string and each bridge is for recollecting a splendid year. </i>Your name sounds quite nice.¡±


    (T/N: Jinse¡¯s namees from the poem mentioned above. Her name literally trantes into brightly and beautifully decorated zither.)


    Jinse quietly thanked her. Ji Man acted exactly like a tour guide as she led her around thisrge courtyard. At the end, seeing that it wasn¡¯t early anymore by the color of the sky, she sympathetically patted her shoulder and said, ¡°Thank you in advance for your hard work tonight. The marquis is slightly difficult to serve, just follow along with his wishes.¡±


    Where would you find such a gentle, virtuous, and charitable woman? Although Jinse still had a calm expression on her face, her heart was touched by Nie Sangyu¡¯s words and behavior.


    ¡ª


    That night, while lying in Marquis Moyu¡¯s arms after serving him in bed, she even reminiscently said, ¡°Madam is truly a good person.¡±


    ¡°You think she¡¯s a good person?¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen the previous her.¡±


    These words sounded rather loathing. Jinse raised her head and asked, ¡°My lord, do you not like Madam?¡±


    ¡°En,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°I¡¯ve never liked her.¡±


    Jinse lowered her head back onto his chest and remained silent.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had a good night¡¯s sleep. When they boarded the boat the next day, she saw Marquis Moyu personally carrying Jinse onto the other boat. It was an extremely gentle and sweet scene.


    Ji Man shrugged and followed behind them to board the boat.


    For an unknown reason, the crown prince followed her onto the same boat. Perhaps, he had too much free time and was bored.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel bad seeing them like this?¡± The crown prince asked her with a beaming smile.


    ¡°Why should I feel bad?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°It¡¯s easy for thendscape to change, but it¡¯s difficult for a person¡¯s inherent nature to change. With the marquis¡¯s status, it¡¯s only to be expected for him to be surrounded by countless women. If I were to feel bad over something like this, wouldn¡¯t I be intentionally seeking misery for myself?¡±


    ¡°You certainly thought this through.¡± The crown prince narrowed his eyes. ¡°Nie Sangyu, if you¡¯re willing to be my woman, perhaps, I would be willing to dismiss my harem for you.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Just to rify, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s primary reason for bringing back Jinse isn¡¯t to embarrass Nie Sangyu. It¡¯s to make the crown prince think he¡¯s not interested in Nie Sangyu, and Nie n by extension.

 Chapter 108 - On the precipice between life and death (1)

    Chapter 108 out of 513 ¨C On the precipice between life and death (1)


    If men were reliable, then pigs could climb to the top of trees. A man would say all types of flowery, but insincere words in order to obtain a woman. Ji Man¡¯s smile bared her teeth as she said, ¡°Sangyu iscking in virtues and talent. It¡¯s enough for me to just apany the marquis. It¡¯s not worth it for the crown prince to go through such trouble for a fallen woman like Sangyu.¡±


    The smile on Zhao Zhe¡¯s face froze. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°Do you ever say anything sweet with your mouth?¡±


    Ji Man saluted, ¡°Sure. May the crown prince and princess consort live a long and happy life together.¡±


    The crown prince was momentarily stifled by her words. His gaze sunk and he said, ¡°Nie Sangyu, you really don¡¯t know how to appreciate a good thing. You don¡¯t even have a tiny spot in Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart. Why do you cling to him so tightly? Don¡¯t you think this prince is offering the better way out of your difficult situation?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. This person must think she was stupid. What kind of rtionship did they have? How could Nie Sangyu be with the crown prince? As soon as Nie Sangyu showed feelings towards the crown prince, someone would deliver this information to Marquis Moyu and the rtionship between Nie n and Ning n would be over. Did Zhao Zhe assume she was easy to bully based on her appearance and think her head was filled with tofu?


    ¡°Your Highness, have you heard of this saying? There are some people, who you can¡¯t clearly say what¡¯s good about them, but nheless, they¡¯re irreceable to you.¡± Ji Man was still showing a beaming smile to the person standing in front of her, but inwardly she cursed him from top to bottom. ¡°To say it in a slightly more artistic way, ¡°Compared with the clouds on Wu Mountain, the clouds elsewhere are beneath my notice.¡±* Your Highness, you¡¯re also very good. Perhaps, if Sangyu hadn¡¯t married the marquis six years ago, Sangyu might be willing to be with the crown prince for a lifetime.¡±


    * (T/N: This is a line from a poem, <i>Thoughts of Departure.</i> The writer of this poem was mourning the death of his wife and saying that no one could bepared to her, like the way a river can¡¯t bepared to the sea. Below is a picture of Wu Mountain.)


    But, perhaps, things could change.


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows and chuckled. ¡°I really can¡¯t get angry with you after hearing these words.¡±


    ¡°Sangyu still has something that needs to be embroidered. Sangyu will leave first.¡± Ji Man saluted, then she meekly retreated to her room.


    Gancao and Dengxin were currently tidying the room.


    Seeing Nie Sangyuing inside, Dengxin hurriedly went over and closed the doors. Looking at her with worry, she said, ¡°Master...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. There¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± Ji Man waved her hands. She saw through the crown prince¡¯s plot and absolutely wouldn¡¯t fall into his trap.


    ¡ª


    Lost in his thoughts, Zhao Zhe stood at the deck of the boat for a while. His trusted aide, Taxue, whispered, ¡°My prince, shouldn¡¯t you be returning to the other boat? If the emperor ends up looking for youter on ...¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± He stood at the prow of the boat for a long time and looked at the river. When he finally closed his eyes and reopened them, he had on a gentle smiling expression again. ¡°Since I boarded this boat, I¡¯ll just stay here without worrying. Third imperial brother rarely has a chance to talk with imperial father. I¡¯ll be generous and give him this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Taxue retreated to the side.


    During this journey, he had experienced the various popr customs and much of the public opinions in the regions they had visited. He was the throne¡¯s sessor and naturally had his own ns for the future. A prince needed to project an aura that could calm the imperial court as well as the entire country.


    After he gained the loyalty of Ning n and removed Nie n, his position in the imperial court would naturally be secured. This had been Zhao Zhe¡¯s n all along. He would do his upmost to find Nie Sangyu¡¯s mistakes and use them to destroy the rtionship between Ning n and Nie n. He had originally thought it would be easy to seduce her. He had money and other valuables, as well as the promise of the future empress¡¯s position. Either of those things should have been enough to lure her in.


    He would have never expected that Nie Sangyu would obstinately refuse to be swayed by him.


    A strategic advisor had once told him to look for an opportunity to get rid of Nie Sangyu as a way to break the link between Ning n and Nie n. This was a good idea and he had originally nned on doing so during this trip. But, for an inexplicable reason, when he thought of that woman¡¯spletely guarded gaze while still adhering to etiquette, he was suddenly somewhat reluctant.


    Nie Sangyu was so interesting, ah. Would this world feel lonelier if she disappeared?


    ¡ª


    The boats would continue to travel during the night, so everyone had to stay on the boats. When they stopped at a dock at a midpoint, Ning Yuxuan returned to the second boat and the crown prince returned to the first boat.


    ¡ª


    That night, Jinse served Marquis Moyu in bed again.


    ¡ª


    Feeling bored, Ji Man visited Errong to talk.


    ¡°The crown prince was the one that gave my cousin Jinse.¡± Errong had heard about this gossip from someone. In an irritated tone, she said, ¡°Is this the crown prince¡¯s hobby? Giving men women from brothels? Was Mu Shuiqing not enough? Now, there¡¯s Jinse.¡±


    Ji Man considered before saying, ¡°Isn¡¯t this just a way from him to win people over? Isn¡¯t money, power, and women what all men want? It wouldn¡¯t look good for him to give money and power, but he can easily send a woman over.¡±


    Ning Errong stewed in anger for a while before she suddenly said something in a slightly gloating tone, ¡°Look at how my cousin is treating this woman. He hasn¡¯t let her leave his side for a few days, right? If Wen Wan knew, she definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to be as calm as you.¡±


    That was certainly true. With Wen Wan¡¯s small-mindedness, could she tolerate Marquis Moyu bringing back a prostitute six months after she had married into this household? She couldn¡¯t. However, Ning Yuxuan had probably considered this point too. He had said he wouldn¡¯t be bringing Jinse back to the capital with them. He was only using Jinse as a way to make her feel ufortable during this journey.


    Unfortunately for him, she didn¡¯t care. Unless he was starving her or locking her up, then there was nothing else that Marquis Moyu could do to make her feel angry.


    ¡ª


    The river wasn¡¯t peaceful tonight, and Ji Man wasn¡¯t able to peacefully sleep. Getting a headache from the swaying boat, she put on her clothes and went up to the deck for fresh air. She was starting to get seasick.


    In the dead of night, without a moon in the sky, Ji Man looked at the other boat¡¯s fluttering dragon gs. The other boat wasn¡¯t far. She could even faintly see a person standing on the other deck.

 Chapter 109 - On the precipice between life and death (2)

    Chapter: 109 out of 513 ¨C On the precipice between life and death (2)


    Eh? There really was a person standing there. Ji Man quickly walked to the prow of the boat to get a closer look. It was the middle of the night, who else was feeling insomniac like her?


    Zhao Zhe was sitting cross-legged at the back end of the other boat. He was facing Nie Sangyu and there was a six-string lute on hisp.


    At this distance, Ji Man couldn¡¯t clearly see his expression, but he didn¡¯t seem as if he was sleeping walking. What was he doing?


    When Zhao Zhe had seen hering up onto the deck, he had been slightly surprised, but his expression quickly smoothed out. His fingers plucked the strings on the lute to y the famous song, <i>The Faraway Cowherd</i>.


    <i>¡°The Cowherd is far away, the Weaver Girl shines brightly in the Milky Way.</i>


    <i>She raises her slender, pale hand£¬and the shuttle of her loom goes ¡°ck ck¡±,</i>


    <i>All day long without ever stopping, tears fall from her face like the rain.</i>


    <i>The Milky Way is a clear, moving stream, and a small distance separates them.</i>


    <i>Only the width of a stream, but they cannot speak words of love.¡±</i>


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Was he ying this song because he was feeling horny in the middle of the night? She wasn¡¯t interested in ying along.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    There were stillnterns lit on the other boat, but no one hade outside to hear this song. Ji Man turned her head back to look. All of thenterns on this boat had been extinguished. It was totally silent without the traces of any other people.


    She had originally just subconsciously turned around to look, but now Ji Man¡¯s heart palpitated in fear.


    Something was wrong. It was one thing for everyone else to extinguish his or hermps, but Ning Errong had always been scared of the dark. She always had a litmp near her until the sun came up. Why was her room also dark?


    A feeling of fear rose up behind her. She didn¡¯t know if she was just overthinking things, but she felt a sense of danger being directed towards her from the surrounding space.


    The sound of the lute continued and allowed Ji Man to feel that not everyone had suddenly disappeared from this world. Otherwise, she would have felt that she was the only person left.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± She tried yelling to catch his attention, but the loud sounds from thepping water against the boats easily buried her scream.


    When she turned around, she saw two ck figures approaching her. Ji Man was finally ovee with fear.


    Assassins? Ji Man frowned. That can¡¯t be. Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t offended anyone to the point that someone would pay arge sum of money to assassins to get rid of her, right? Who hated her so much, to the point of wanting to kill her?


    ¡°Friends, let¡¯s have a calm discussion.¡± Ji Man retreated step by step towards the prow of the boat. ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night. It wouldn¡¯t be good for the two of you to act against a weak woman, right?¡±


    The two shadowy figurespletely ignored her and only continued walking closer to her, step by step. Ji Man felt frantic. She didn¡¯t know martial arts and couldn¡¯t defeat these two people. If she jumped into the water, everything pointed to disaster. What should she do?¡±


    Turning her head and looking at the boat across from her, Ji Man shouted with herst bit of hope, ¡°Help!¡±


    The sound drifted across the surface of the river. Zhao Zhe lowered his eyes and quietly asked the person behind him, ¡°Why did you let her run outside?¡±


    Taxue half kneeled down and said with a lowered head, ¡°This subordinate was ipetent. Sleeping incense had been lit in Madam Ning¡¯s room, but for some reason...¡±


    ¡°Never mind, just take action now,¡± the crown prince dimly said.


    Taxue slightly paused. During the past two days of following the crown prince, he thought that the crown prince had a rather favorable impression towards Madam Ning. Was he really going to have her killed?


    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± Seeing that there was no movement behind him, Zhao Zhe sneered, turned around, took out a small smoke bomb from a brocade bag at his waist, lit it, and threw it into the sky.


    It was only a small smoke bomb, but it was the signal to take someone¡¯s life. When the two people in front of Nie Sangyu saw this signal, they had already stretched their hands out towards her.


    There was no way for her to escape. She had screamed so loudly, but the crown prince hadn¡¯t heard her and no one on the boat had awakened. Ji Man gritted her teeth, pushed their hands away, and jumped into the river.


    If she jumped into the river, there was a possibility of surviving. If she fell into their hands, then she would definitely die.


    Ji Man felt the icy cold river submerging the top of her head. Even though she knew how to swim, her limbs were bing numb from the cold. It was the middle of winter right now and she had jumped into the river without preparation.


    ¡°Help...¡± Ji Man desperately grabbed onto the rope hanging off the side of the boat and did her best to keep her head above the water.


    The waves of icy cold water were like a sword that stabbed her body from top to bottom. There were times when she felt as if she was going die at any moment. But, her mind stubbornly had ast moment of rity.


    The two people on the boat didn¡¯t follow her into the water. After all, not everyone had the courage to jump down into the water in this type of weather, even if their master was watching them from the other boat.


    Zhao Zhe looked at the thing that was hanging onto the side of the boat. It was Nie Sangyu. In another hour, even if he didn¡¯t do anything, she would either die from hypothermia or drown in the bottomless river if she lost her grip on the rope.


    He knew that she had to die today. After all, this is what he had nned. Since Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t willing to work with him, then he had to sever this connection. Tomorrow, there would only be a case of a missing person. Nie n naturally wouldn¡¯t let off Ning n easily. When those two ns were opposing each other, it would be the best time for him to fish for profits.


    Taxue saw that the crown prince had stopped ying the lute and somewhat worriedly called out, ¡°Master.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was silent for a while, then he asked, ¡°Is she still clutching that rope?¡±


    Taxue nced in that direction and nodded.

 Chapter 110 - Who saved her? (1)

    Chapter: 110 out of 513 ¨C Who saved her? (1)


    The crown prince paused. Holding the lute, he let out augh. ¡°She¡¯s clearly a woman. Who raised her to have such a stubborn personality? If a man had jumped into the river, would he have her strength to keep holding on in such a cold river?¡±


    Taxue turned his head away. He didn¡¯t want to keep looking at the person in the river. Although the sess of a general required the death of thousands and he had long be ustomed to seeing people dying while following the crown prince, his heart still felt slightly reluctant when he saw this innocent woman struggling to live.


    Taxue said, ¡°Your Highness, the wind here is cold. How about you go back to your room?¡±


    The crown prince nodded. His hand pressed down on the lute¡¯s strings and the sound of the lute abruptly cut off. Holding the lute, he stood up and walked two steps towards his room. But, in the end, he stopped.


    ¡°Taxue, imperial father frequently says in order to aplish major things, you can¡¯t let trifles bother you. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± His voice was very low, and even sounded somewhat distracted.


    Taxue silently stood in ce.


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be soft-hearted.¡± The corners of Zhao Zhe¡¯s lips rose slightly, but his fingers tightened around the lute. ¡°But... Take her out of the water anyways. If she already stopped breathing, then I tried my best...¡±


    The waves from the river had crashed over her so many times and it was such a cold night too. She should have definitely taken herst breath already...


    The crown prince silentlyforted himself with these thoughts. Nie Sangyu was probably already dead. If he had her taken out of the water, it shouldn¡¯t ruin things for him.


    Hearing his master¡¯s order, there was a slight hesitation in Taxue¡¯s eyes. But, he still tied a rope to the mast and threw the other end of the rope overboard. He slid down the rope and slowly lengthened the rope until he reached the other boat.


    However, in the silent dark night, in the gap of time when Zhao Zhe was hesitating, someone had quietly woken up, dropped a rope down on the side of the boat, and silently carried Nie Sangyu back onto the boat.


    And so, after Taxue had swum over here, he saw another rope hanging from the boat. There was no one there.


    Was there someone else that was also awake? Taxue shivered and disbelievingly raised his head to look.


    The deck of the boat was a nket of ckness. Under the crown prince¡¯s orders, sleeping drugs had been added to the food during dinnertime. Just in case, sleeping incense had also been lit in each of the rooms. No one should be awake right now.


    Then, who hade down into the water and taken Nie Sangyu away?


    While thinking about this, Taxue loosely hanged up the rope on a hook, then he climbed up the boat using the other rope.


    There were watery footprints along the entire path, so it was very easy to follow. Taxue followed the path, but he suddenly saw a person standing outside a room on the second floor.


    Ning Yuxuan seemed to have been admiring the view of the river. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head slightly and said, ¡°Sir Taxue, your martial arts skills are pretty good. It¡¯s sote at night. Why aren¡¯t you sleeping? Are you here to pass along an order from the crown prince?¡±


    Had the sleeping drugs not affected Marquis Moyu? Taxue¡¯s face paled. A chill went up his spine. He was a tall and strong man that rarely felt such fear.


    Was he the one that saved Nie Sangyu? Then, did he also know that the crown prince was the one that tried to kill Nie Sangyu?


    No, he was only following the crown prince¡¯s order to save her. Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t have any evidence. He didn¡¯t know that the crown prince had arranged for people to sneak onto the boat. Why would he suspect the crown prince? He was just losing his head from feeling too panicked, and had almost revealed his mission under Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes.


    After calming himself, Taxue said, ¡°The crown prince hadn¡¯t fallen asleep yet and saw evildoers trying to murder Madam Ning on the deck, so he had this subordinatee over here to save her. We didn¡¯t know that you had already saved her.¡±


    ¡°Someone wanted to murder Nie Sangyu?¡± Marquis Moyu nkly looked at him for a moment, then he turned around and kicked opened the door to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room.


    There was a person lying on the bed and peacefully sleeping. Ning Yuxuan turned around and said to Taxue, ¡°Sir Taxue, you must have been mistaken. Sangyu is peacefully sleeping in her room. Who wants to murder her? I only recently woke up because Mingjie was walking around too loudly. He was having trouble falling asleep. How could I have saved her?¡±


    Taxue was stunned. He raised his head and looked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s tidy robes and cloak lined with fox fur. There wasn¡¯t the slightest trace of water on him. If he had recently gone into the river to save Nie Sangyu, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have had time to change clothes before meeting him.


    Then, this meant that he didn¡¯t know something had happened to Nie Sangyu?


    Taxue felt baffled. In front of him, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s innocent expression was even more bewildered than his. He naturally couldn¡¯t continue to stay here, so he could only say, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, perhaps, someone had hanged clothes there and the crown prince was mistaken.¡±


    ¡°En, then Sir Taxue, you should go back to rest.¡± Ning Yuxuan yawned and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what Mingjie was up to in the middle of the night. He was very noisy before, but he¡¯s quieted down now. I¡¯m going back to my room to sleep.¡±


    ¡°Excuse this humble one,¡± Taxue said.


    ¡ª


    Taxue returned to the other boat in the same manner he hade and repeated the conversation he had with Ning Yuxuan to the crown prince without missing a word.


    After hearing the news that Nie Sangyu had been rescued, instead of asking if she was still alive, he first asked, ¡°He doesn¡¯t know that someone had harmed Nie Sangyu? And, his clothes were dry?¡±


    Taxue honestly said, ¡°This subordinate thinks it¡¯s unlikely that the marquis was the one that saved her. He said he had woken up because Sir Ning was too noisy. Also, when her room was opened, there was a person lying in her bed.¡±


    ¡°How do you know for sure that person was Nie Sangyu?¡± Zhao Zhe pursed his lips. ¡°Did you see her face?¡±


    Taxue lowered his head. He was only the crown prince¡¯s herald. How could he barge into a married woman¡¯s bedroom to look at her sleeping face? The marquis had been right next to him and naturally wouldn¡¯t allow him inside to look.

 Chapter 111 - Who saved her? (2)

    Chapter: 111 out of 513 ¨C Who saved her? (2)


    The crown prince sighed. ¡°This is certainly strange. Who saved Nie Sangyu? I feel that Ning Yuxuan is the most likely person, but you think it¡¯s someone else?¡±


    ¡°This subordinate thinks it might be Sir Ning.¡± Taxue thought of a detail and said, ¡°This subordinate followed the trail of water. When I stopped in front of Nie Sangyu¡¯s room, the trail of water was continuing forward.¡±


    Ning Mingjie? The crown prince paused. He really wanted to gain this person¡¯s loyalty. Imperial father had also said Ning Mingjie was a talented individual that would be helpful in governing a country. But, how did he end up getting involved in this matter?


    ¡°This prince doesn¡¯t want to investigate the matter of why those two people weren¡¯t sleeping.¡± The crown prince rubbed his forehead. ¡°If Nie Sangyu is perfectly fine tomorrow, then you and those two people can go soak in the river for two hours.¡±


    Taxue pursed his lips and half kneeled down. ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s weak breathing seemed as if it would stop at any moment. With a deathly pale face, Ning Errong had changed her clothing and covered her in a thick quilt, but Nie Sangyu¡¯s condition hadn¡¯t improved at all.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Errong was about to cry from feeling too anxious. ¡°I only slept for a little bit. Why did this happen to Sangyu?¡±


    Ning Mingjie slowly shook his head. He had suddenly woken up in the middle of the night, was lured to the side of the boat by a shadowy figure, and saw Sangyu in the river. From a distance, he saw one of the crown prince¡¯s people approaching her. He didn¡¯t have time to carefully think things though. He took her out of the water and brought her to Errong¡¯s room.


    But, when he came to Errong¡¯s room, Errong wouldn¡¯t wake up. He had shouted for a long time, and even had to use a silver needle before Errong gain consciousness.


    The smell of sleeping incense was still lingering in her room. It seemed as if someone had nned in advance to murder Nie Sangyu.


    Ning Errong rubbed her hands together to warm them up, then she ced them on Sangyu¡¯s face. Sangyu¡¯s face was icy cold and wasn¡¯t much different from a dead person¡¯s face. But, when she checked her pulse, she knew that she was still alive.


    ¡°Take off your clothes and hug her to warm her up.¡± Ning Mingjie was slightly panicky. After giving Ning Errong this order, he returned to his room to bring medicine.


    That crazy monk had once given him a pill in return for a piece of jade that was his family heirloom. The monk had said this pill had a warming effect and could bring someone back from death¡¯s door. At the time, no one in the household had believed in the monk¡¯s words, even his father had said he had been tricked. Nevertheless, he thought he might have a use for this medicine one day and always brought it along.


    (T/N: The crazy traveling monk was first mentioned in <strong>chapter 86</strong><strong>.</strong> He was the one that told Ning Mingjie about Cold Fragrance Pills. Tiny spoiler. We¡¯ll be meeting himter in this story.)


    Right now, his only choice was to use this pill. If that had monk had really lied to him, he would notify all the temples in the world and give the order for his arrest, so that he wouldn¡¯t be safe anywhere!


    After bringing back the medicine, ignoring the rules of propriety, Ning Mingjie walked to the bed with his eyes closed and stretched his hand out to feel around until he found Nie Sangyu¡¯s mouth, then he stuffed the pill into her mouth.


    Ning Errong¡¯s entire body was shivering because of Nie Sangyu¡¯s frigid body temperature, but she still tightly hugged her. The hand warmers inside the quilt had been changed several times before Nie Sangyu¡¯s body gradually warmed up.


    ¡°I think she¡¯s starting to recover,¡± Errong joyfully said.


    Ning Minjie was sitting nearby with his back facing them. When he heard these words, it felt as if a stone had fallen down in his heart. ¡°She¡¯s definitely going to get sick from this. Her health might even be worse than before. Take good care of her tonight. Once it¡¯s dawn, don¡¯t tell anyone about the danger she was in. Just say she came over to sleep and ended up getting sick. Have a doctore over to look at her.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Although Ning Errong didn¡¯t understand why he was saying this, she would never go wrong by believing in her older brother.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Have you ever loved someone?¡± A quiet voice asked her this question in the midst of this empty space.


    Ji Man was very familiar with this voice. It was the voice that came out of Nie Sangyu¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve loved someone.¡± Ji Man looked around at the surrounding white mist and simply sat down. Sheughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s because I had experienced love that I can understand this so well. No one is born with this knowledge.¡±


    ¡°Can you let go of the person that you once loved?¡± Nie Sangyu quietly asked her.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I let him go?¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°A human¡¯s love can¡¯tst for a lifetime. After the passionate period has passed, love will start to wither. When I fell in love, I already had the awareness that I would put it down one day.¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s body slowly appeared in the white mist. But this time, Nie Sangyu¡¯s hands were so transparent that Ji Man almost couldn¡¯t see them. ¡°Since you let him go, why were you so flustered when you saw Young Master¡¯s face?¡±


    Feeling embarrassed, Ji Man awkwardly smiled. ¡°Sometimes your memories will surge up like a period that leaks through. You can¡¯t help feeling startled. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t let him go, I was just remembering him. If I had to get back together with that scumbag, I would rather try online dating instead.


    After a long time of silence, Nie Sangyu turned around.


    ¡°Hey! When are you going to let me go back?¡± Ji Man called out to her.


    ¡°Are you still willing to leave Yuxuan?¡± Nie Sangyu slowly turned around. There was a hint of surprise on her apathetic face.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be willing?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°He¡¯s your treasure, not mine. This type of man totally isn¡¯t my type. If it wasn¡¯t because I want to go home, there¡¯s no way I would be willing to pay any attention to him.¡±


    Nie Sangyu frowned. Her gaze clearly showed her dissatisfaction.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This woman, she was truly foolish to the point of being cute. Could it be that Nie Sangyu thought that all of the women in the world should be in love with him just because she thought he was good?

 Chapter 112 - The culprit cant be found (1)

    Chapter: 112 out of 513 ¨C The culprit can¡¯t be found (1)


    Refusing to stop loving a person that didn¡¯t love you back was like a moth that was flying into fire. Even as it its wings were crumbling, it still struggled to fly closer to the center of the fire. How regretful and pitiful.


    When Ji Man regained her consciences, she felt as if Nie Sangyu¡¯s body had recently been burned by fire. Not only did she feel ufortable, it felt as if her body was burning up.


    After a struggle to open her eyes, she saw Ning Errong¡¯s happy face looking at her.


    ¡°Sangyu, are you awake?¡±


    The room seemed very dim. Errong was the only other person in the room.


    Seeing Nie Sangyu opening and closing her mouth, Errong hurriedly brought over a cup of water and poured it down her throat without any gentleness.


    Errong was also a person that had never taken care of someone else before. And so, she wasn¡¯t aware that she had moderate her strength. Ji Man ended up coughing for a long time to clear her throat. With her eyes half-opened and her head somewhat foggy, she asked, ¡°Who saved me?¡±


    Ning Errong looked at her with a solemn expression. ¡°My older brother saved you. Sangyu, what happenedst night? Why did you fall into the river? If it wasn¡¯t for my older brother, you would have definitely lost your life!¡±


    Ji Man did her best to recollectst night¡¯s memories. She had gone outside for fresh air because she was having trouble falling asleep. Then, she had seen the crown prince on the other side. After that, she had been forced to jump into the river by those two shadowy figures.


    The crown prince? Her body tensed. Ji Man suddenly remembered the lingering peaceful lute music yed by the crown prince. Even though she had shouted, no one had woken up on either of the two boats. Last night had felt like a nightmare. Fortunately, she woke up and was still alive.


    Who wanted to harm her? Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure it out. If it was the crown prince, wasn¡¯t he afraid that by allowing her to live, she would tell Marquis Moyu what he had done and cause hostility between them?


    Someone lightly knocked on the door and she heard Jinse¡¯s voice from outside, ¡°Madam, you weren¡¯t in your room. The marquis is looking for you.¡±


    Ji Man returned to her senses. Her entire body still felt weak and her forehead was slightly feverish. Herplexion probably looked deathly pale. She looked at Ning Errong. Ning Errong gave her a reassuring look, then she turned around and opened the door.


    ¡°Sangyu got sick. She came over here to sleepst night and ended up catching a cold.¡± Ning Errong expressionlessly looked at Jinse, who was still standing outside. ¡°Why is my cousin looking for her so early in the morning? Isn¡¯t it enough that you¡¯re serving him?¡±


    Jinse felt somewhat embarrassed. She nced inside the room, then left after bowing.


    In a bad mood, Errong rolled her eyes, closed the doors, and returned to the bedside. As she stretched her hand out to pick up the bowl of medicine, she said, ¡°It¡¯s strange. Everyone was deeply asleepst night. I called Baizi several times, but I couldn¡¯t wake her up, so my older brother personally prepared this medicine. Here, you should drink this. It¡¯ll help with your cold.¡±


    ¡ª


    There were no traces left in the rooms. Everyone didn¡¯t wake up until noon, but no one felt there was anything strange aboutst night.


    ¡ª


    Shortly after, Marqus Moyu came to Ning Errong¡¯s room. Seeing Nie Sangyu¡¯s sickly face, he lightly said, ¡°You should properly rest.¡±


    Ji Man looked at his eyes and asked, ¡°My lord, did you hear anything strangest night?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan quietly looked at her. His eyes were as deep as the river. ¡°I didn¡¯t. I slept very well.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. Seeing Marquis Moyu turning around and leaving, she finally figured things out.


    The most likely probability was that the crown prince had wanted to silently get rid of her and hadn¡¯t thought of the possibility that he might fail. However, even if she guessed that the crown prince was behind this, she didn¡¯t have any evidence that would prove he was guilty. She was a member of Nie n and Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t wholeheartedly believe her. And so, there was no use in telling Ning Yuxan what happenedst night.


    It seemed that it would be quite difficult if she wanted to continue living. Ji Man let out a wryugh. After drinking the bowl of medicine, she peacefully lied down and went to sleep


    ¡ª


    Other than Nie Qingyun, Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t tell anyone else about the matter of Nie Sangyu falling into the water.


    There was no one on this boat that would have a reason to dislike Nie Sangyu. Her magnanimous and proper conduct during this entire journey hadpletely shattered people¡¯s previous impression of her. In addition, she hadn¡¯tined about anything. When there was hard work to do, she was willing to do it. And so, everyone¡¯s impression of her had significantly improved.


    However, Ning Mingjie felt there was only two people that truly wished her well: Errong and Nie Qingyun.


    As for Ning Yuxuan, he felt it was already surprising that his cousin hadn¡¯t gotten rid of her.


    When Nie Qingyun found out about this matter, he was silent for a while. His following action was to go look for Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Mingjie hastily stopped by saying, ¡°Talking to him won¡¯t be helpful.¡±


    With a faint smile as he held up a broken piece of jade, he said, ¡°Someone had secretly burned sleeping incense in everyone¡¯s roomst night. But, someone had also ced the antidote in my room and Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. I truly admire that person¡¯s careful efforts, but I don¡¯t know who that person was. Although that person had casually used jade to strike my door, this one had only found this one piece.¡±


    For a person to throw jade at a door, the person was probably in a rush and also wasn¡¯t concerned about money. Nie Qingyun took the jade from Ning Mingjie¡¯s hand. It was an ordinary piece of jade. And, since it was shattered, he couldn¡¯t tell the original decorative design. Everyone on this boat was from rich families and would be able to afford breaking a piece of jade.


    Nie Qingyun frowned while thinking. ¡°Could it have been Yuxuan?¡±


    Ning Mingjie paused. As he stroked the jade, he said, ¡°It probably wasn¡¯t him. If it was him, why would he act so superfluously?¡±


    That was true. If Ning Yuxuan knew that someone wanted to harm Sangyu, he could just directly save her. Why would he leave it someone else? Nie Qingyun shook his head and sighed. Sangyu had suffered so badly and couldn¡¯t let the marquis settle this injustice for her. She must be feeling so badly right now. He should hurry and go see her.

 Chapter 113 - The culprit cant be found (2)

    Chapter: 113 out of 513 ¨C The culprit can¡¯t be found (2)


    Errong watched over Sangyu while she slept. Today, they would disembark in Qin Province during lunchtime. Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t sent anyone to call Sangyu over and had only ordered Gancao and Dengxin to deliver food.


    Gancao rubbed her head as she ced the dishes down on the table. She quietly mumbled, ¡°Did I have a nightmarest night? I had a huge bump on my head when I woke up.¡±


    Because Nie Sangyu was sick, Dengxin originally had an anxious expression. But, hearing these words, she couldn¡¯t resist turning around andughing. ¡°You were definitely sleepwalking. Otherwise, how could you have ended up in our master¡¯s bed?¡±


    Gancao hurriedly waved her hands. Looking at the nearby Ning Errong, she whispered, ¡°Young Miss, please don¡¯t tell my master about this. This servant was deeply asleepst night and shouldn¡¯t have sleepwalked, ah. But, when this servant woke up today, this servant was in my master¡¯s bed and my master had gone to your room.¡±


    Ning Errong tilted her head and doubtfully looked at Gancao. However, since Sangyu trusted these two people, she only said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Perhaps, it really was just sleepwalking.


    Gancao rxed. Although her master was generous and probably wouldn¡¯t get mad at her, it would be bad if someone else found out. After all, it was very improper for a servant girl to sleep in her master¡¯s bed.


    ¡ª


    The emperor had lunch with his rtives and important officials at a building that was facing the water.


    The crown prince was sitting at the same table as Marquis Moyu. Seeing that the spot next to Ning Yuxuan was empty, he asked with a smile, ¡°Is Sangyu busy with something?¡±


    ¡°En. She went to Errong¡¯s roomst night because she couldn¡¯t fall asleep and ended up catching a cold,¡± Ning Yuxuan said with a serious expression. ¡°Since she can¡¯t leave the boat to eat lunch, I already sent servant girls to bring her food.¡±


    ¡°Catch a cold?¡± The crown prince slightly raised his eyebrow. ¡°Is it serious?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Herplexion didn¡¯t look good when I check on her this morning, but she still seems spirited.¡± Marquis Moyu turned his head to look at Ning Mingjie. ¡°Mingjie, your face doesn¡¯t look too good either. What were you doingst night? You were so noisy that I ended up waking up.¡±


    Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun¡¯s were inwardly startled. Marquis Moyu had also been awakest night? With him asking this question, what should Ning Mingjie say? That he got a slight cold because he had jumped into the river to save someone?


    After a pause, before Ning Mingjie could speak, the crown prince also turned to look at Ning Mingjie and said, ¡°Sir Ning, were you doing somethingst night?¡±


    ¡°It was nothing.¡± Ning Mingjie lowered his eyes. Without his mask, his face looked utterly innocent. ¡°I was just walking around because I couldn¡¯t fall asleep. Yuxuan, was I too loud?¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad.¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled.


    The table was suddenly silent. These men were all upied by different thoughts and intentions.


    Zhao Zhe was surprised to realize that he wasn¡¯t that angry. Instead, he felt conflicted. Since Nie Sangyu was still alive, he would have to attack her again.


    Based on this recent conversation, Ning Mingjie was definitely the person that saved Nie Sangyu. The crown prince observed him again. Without his mask, Ning Mingjie looked valiant and handsome. He waspletely suitable to the elegant magnificence that schrs were seeking to emte. In addition, he was very talented and his conduct was within the eptable bounds of etiquette. He had also done meritorious service by protecting the third prince. Zhao Zhe reckoned that he would be able to rise up in ranking after they returned to the capital.


    Unfortunately, Ning Mingjie had found that he wanted to harm Nie Sangyu. And so, he had lost his chance to pull Ning Mingjie to his side. His only option now was to cup his hands and give him to the third prince.


    The crown prince sighed, then he cast a nce at Marquis Moyu. This person didn¡¯t seem the slightest bit concerned about Nie Sangyu. He didn¡¯t even ask her if she had fallen into water or just happened to have caught a cold. He was truly heartless.


    And yet, he liked that Ning Yuxuan was heartless towards Nie Sangyu.


    After quietly smiling, Zhao Zhe lowered his head and went back to eating.


    ¡ª


    After lunch, the third prince and Noble Consort Nie wanted to go visit Sangyu. Nie Qingyun would naturally go with them.


    However, seeing that several other people were also going there, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°That room isn¡¯t big. Since all of you are going, then I won¡¯t being along to join in the fuss. There are a few fun spots in Qin Province. I¡¯ll take Jinse with me to walk around for sightseeing.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie¡¯s gaze was filled with sorrow and grievance, but Marquis Moyu pretended to not see. He pulled Jinse along with him as he walked away.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had been serenely sleeping when someone shook her awake.


    Ning Errong hurriedly said, ¡°Several people havee here to see you. Sangyu, wake up.¡±


    A patient needed to rest. This group of visitors was only disturbing her peaceful rest. Ji Man painfully sat up, ced a soft pillow behind her her back, and had Errong bring some congee to warm up her throat. At the very least, she didn¡¯t want to sound like a person that was about to die when she spoke.


    Because a cold was a contagious sickness, Noble Consort Nie was sitting far away even though she hade here to see Nie Sangyu. With a bed curtain separating then, she asked, ¡°You were perfectly fine yesterday. How did you get sick?¡±


    Ji Man dryly smiled. ¡°Aunty, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s just a slight cold. I¡¯ll be fine after resting.¡±


    The third prince sighed. ¡°Older brother is truly unreasonable to give Yuxuan a woman at this time. Men are all greedy for new things. Right now, Yuxuan took that person with him as he went out. He¡¯s not showing any concern towards you.¡±

 Chapter 114 - These pesky feelings (1)

    Chapter: 114 out of 513 ¨C These pesky feelings (1)


    Hearing these words, Ji Man raised her head in surprise. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that the bed curtains had been put down. No matter how hard she tried to look, she wouldn¡¯t be able to see the third prince¡¯s expression.


    Although his voice sounded as if he was truly outraged on her behalf, Ji Man felt suspicious about his choice in words. If she were actually upset, these words would be enough to make her resent the crown prince. But, she wasn¡¯t upset. She felt as if the third prince wanted her to me the crown prince for Ning Yuxuan¡¯s actions.


    She remembered that Nie Qingyun and Ning Yuxuan had both said that the third prince was a carefree person that was interested in traveling the world instead of politics. Thus, Noble Conosort Nie was very worried about him.


    Based on the third prince¡¯s actions in sending his travel notes to the emperor, solving the problem of the drought in Li Province, and these words that he had just said, Ji Man felt that this person wasn¡¯t as withdrawn from worldly affairs as he pretended to be. At least half of his mind was interested in the mortal world¡¯s struggles.


    But, perhaps, she was overthinking things. Everyone in this room was her rtive. The third prince was probably just casually saying these words without any hidden motives.


    ¡°If the marquis bes interested in Miss Jinse, then Sangyu naturally has nothing to say.¡± She thought of a softer way to express her thoughts. ¡°But, the marquis had said he wouldn¡¯t bring Miss Jinse back to the capital.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so naive. Do you really believe his words?¡± Noble Consort Nie repeatedly shook her head. ¡°If that woman became pregnant, would Marquis Moyu be willing to allow her to wander outside in poverty?¡±


    At the mention of pregnancy, Ji Man finally thought about something that hadn¡¯t urred to her previously. Wasn¡¯t it a little too difficult to be pregnant with Ning Yuxuan¡¯s child? In the past six years, she wasn¡¯t the only unable to be pregnant. The other concubines had the same problem too. Mu Shuiqing was the only that had gotten pregnant, and there had been no news of pregnancy after her.


    Since it wasn¡¯t easy to be pregnant with Ning Yuxuan¡¯s child, Man felt that Noble Consort Nie¡¯s worries were unnecessary. But, in order to assure her, she could only gently say, ¡°Sangyu will be more watchful.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a clever child now. Aunty doesn¡¯t need to say anymore. Just remember to take care of your health. This consort will have Pengshu deliver more medicine to you tonight.¡±


    ¡°Thank you aunty.¡±


    During this conversation, Nie Qingyun had stood silently by the side. After Noble Consort Nie and the third prince had finished speaking and left the room, he closed the door. He asked with a serious expression, ¡°Sangyu, who do you think tried to harm you?¡±


    Still separated from the rest of the room by the bed curtains, Ji Man said, ¡°Older brother, you don¡¯t need to ask this question. I¡¯ll be more careful in the future. I won¡¯t give other people another opportunity to harm me again.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know even know who tried to harm you. How will you know who to be guarded against?¡± Ning Qingyun frowned. ¡°Your hands don¡¯t even have the strength to truss up a chicken. If something like this happens again and a person like Mingjie isn¡¯t around to save you, what will you do?¡±


    His every word showed sincere concern. Ji Man¡¯s heart softened. Nie Qingyun did his duty as an older brother too conscientiously. It made her feel somewhat bad about hiding so many things from him.


    Nheless, she had to hide this from him. It would only be detrimental if she told him the crown prince was behind this.


    Ji Man clutched her head. In a rare show of cutely spoiled behavior, she said, ¡°My head hurts. Older brother, how about you go with Errong to make me chicken soup? I remember that there¡¯s a kitchen on this boat.¡±


    A sick person¡¯s requests had the highest priority, and Sangyu was a woman after all. He couldn¡¯t depend on her to know useful information. Nie Qingyun sighed, stood up, and said, ¡°If you want to drink chicken soup, I¡¯ll go prepare it. Errong can stay here to watch over you.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Ji Man hurriedly said, ¡°I like the mushrooms that Errong makes. I want to have that with the chicken soup made by older brother. You have to go there together to cook for me! I don¡¯t care about anything else! I¡¯m sick!¡±


    She was clearly trying to create another opportunity to push the two of them togther. Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He could only turn his head and say to Ning Errong, ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, my younger sister is being silly. Would you be willing to go with this one to the kitchen?¡±


    Naturally, Nie Qingyun couldn¡¯t let her personally cook. He had nned on just letting her stand to the side and watch.


    However, Errong felt slightly panicky. Cook mushrooms? Cook what mushrooms? She had only learned how to cook soup from Sangyust time. She didn¡¯t know how to cook mushrooms, ah.


    But, her beloved person was standing right in front of her and quietly asking her to go with him. She couldn¡¯t refuse. With a blushing face, Ning Errong nodded. She cast Sangyu a troubled nce before ordering Baizhi to stay here to care for her, then she followed Nie Qingyun out of the room.


    Since ancient times, the noblemen had stayed away from the kitchen. Thus, Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t actually know how to cook either. He just told the cook how Nie Sangyu liked her food, then he stood by the side to watch.


    Seeing that they were only going to do this, Ning Errong stopped worring. She obediently stood by Nie Qingyun¡¯s side. She looked like a shy maiden as she snuck a nce at him from time to time.


    ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, thank you for taking care of Sangyu.¡± Nie Qingyun felt that the continued silent was slightly awkward, so he found a topic to talk about.


    However, he was a person that was slow-witted when it came to romance, and the girl next to became unhappy when she heard these words.


    Feeling wronged, Errong ttened her lips. ¡°Sangyu is my best friend. It¡¯s only right that I would take care of her. Sir Ning, thanking me makes it seem like I¡¯m an outsider.¡±


    Nie Qingyun was too doting towards Sangyu, even she would asionally feel jealousy. However, thinking about the fact that they were siblings, Errong rxed her heart. When she married him in the future, he would probably cherish her just as much.

 Chapter 115 - These pesky feelings (2)

    Chapter: 115 out of 513 ¨C These pesky feelings (2)


    ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, you¡¯re not an outsider.¡± Nie Qingyun pursed his lips and seriously said, ¡°When we return to the capital, it¡¯ll be about the time for us to marry.¡±


    Their wedding had been scheduled for the beginning of next year. Errong felt happy just thinking about this. ¡°Right, well, when that timees, you can¡¯t dislike me because I don¡¯t know housekeeping.¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Nie Qingyun¡¯s gaze drifted for a moment before bing resolute. ¡°But, Sangyu and Marquis Moyu¡¯s matter... If Sangyu isn¡¯t happy living in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, then they should just divorce. Nie n can afford to support their daughter.¡±


    Ning Errong was stunned.


    Divorce wasn¡¯t a simple matter, much less a divorce between these two great ns. How could he say this?


    ¡°Noble Consort Nie probably wouldn¡¯t agree. Neither would Old Madame,¡± she said to the person next to her. ¡°Nie n and Ning n¡¯s friendly rtionship is based on several generations. We can¡¯t have a falling out just because of those two.¡±


    Nie Qingyun lightly furrowed his brow. He very honestly said, ¡°I thought that if we got married, then the connection between our two families would be maintained. This way, Sangyu¡¯s life will be a little bit better at least.¡±


    As Sangyu¡¯s older brother, he was always giving consideration to her needs. He and his mother owed Sangyu too much. They had topensate her.


    However, once these words were said, Ning Errong¡¯s face paled. She slowly lowered her head and tightly clutched the handkerchief in her hands.


    A woman¡¯s heart was delicate and sensitive. Nie Qingyun had already said words like these, so it was inevitable for Ning Errong¡¯s thoughts to go in a bad direction.


    Had he only agreed to marry her so that Sangyu would be able to live more freely? It seemed that this was the case. At the beginning, Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t want to marry her. Later on, he had only agreed because Sangyu had persuaded him. But in the end, did he still not like her? Had he only agreed to marry her because of Sangyu?


    If it were before, she would definitely make a huge fuss. She would rather not marry than let herself be wronged.


    But now... Ning Errong looked at his bluish green robe. This was the first time they spent so much time together. She hadn¡¯t seen him in over a year and she liked Nie Qingyun even more than before. When he was angry, his lips would be tightly pursed. When he was embarrassed, his face would be expressionless, but his ears would turn red. He liked the grandeur ofndscape poetry and the tactile sensation of gentle jade essories. His eyebrows were as gentle as the clear jade essory hanging from his waist. He wasn¡¯t greasily faltering and fawning like other people. He was unpretentious without seeming servile.


    She liked him so much, so she hadn¡¯t care about maintaining a maiden¡¯s proud aloofness and had old madame propose a marriage between their two families. She didn¡¯t care what other people said behind her back as long as she could be with him.


    She hadn¡¯t realized that if he didn¡¯t like her, then it didn¡¯t matter how much she liked him.


    ¡°The soup will be done soon. Sir Nie, you can watch over it by yourself. Errong is going to check on Sangyu.¡± After hastily flinging these words down, Ning Errong fled in defeat.


    Nie Qingyun had been lost in thought while starting at the simmering, lightly yellow soup when the person next to him had already ran away. He opened his mouth wanting to say something, but it was toote to stop her.


    Why did she leave? Nie Qingyun lowered his head as he reflected upon himself. Was it because he wasn¡¯t good at talking and she had felt bored?¡±


    ¡ª


    Ning Errong had walked very quickly. When she reached the doorway to her room, she did her best to slow down her breathing before walking to the bed.


    ¡°Why did youe back by yourself?¡± With great difficulty, Ji Man raised her eyes to look at her. ¡°Didn¡¯t I send you off with my older brother?¡±


    Errong was silent for a moment, then she did her best to raise the corners of her mouth into a smile. ¡°It¡¯s enough with just him there. I came back to keep youpany.¡±


    Ji Man could tell that something unpleasant had happened just by looking at Errong¡¯s expression. Ning Errong¡¯s face couldn¡¯t hide anything, Right now, herrge, limpid eyes looked as if they were going to cry at any moment.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ji Man inwardly sighed and sat up to y the role of the woman¡¯s association¡¯s director.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just feeling a little bit too happy. I¡¯m going to marry your older brother soon.¡± Errong¡¯s smile became more natural.


    Was she feeling pre-marital fear? Ji Man looked at her for moment before saying, ¡°If you¡¯re worried about something, tell me. I¡¯ll help you figure out a solution.¡±


    Sangyu was truly sincerely good to her, ah. Ning Errong swallowed down her grievances and smiled. ¡°Okay.¡±


    As long as she could marry him, she could let go about caring anything else. Regardless of why Nie Qingyun was marrying her, she could still do her best so that he would fall in love with her after they got married.


    A whileter, Ning Errong seriously asked, ¡°Sangyu, have you thought about leaving the marquis?¡±


    Leave Ning Yuxuan? Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°I think about this question every day, but it¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± Ning Errong whispered.


    ¡°What?¡± Ji Man raised her brows. Errong¡¯s voice had been so quiet that she couldn¡¯t hear her clearly.


    ¡°it¡¯s nothing. You should go back to resting.¡± While smiling, Ning Errong helped her lie back down and covered her with a quilt. ¡°If you don¡¯t get better soon, you¡¯ll fall out of favor again.¡±


    Ji Man felt as if Ning Errong was hiding something from her, but seeing that this young girl was doing her best to hide the grievance in her eyes, she would feel bad if she tried to expose her secret.


    As for falling out of favor, why would she care about this? She had already traveled back from the gates of hell. Why should she care if Marquis Moyu was by her bedside or doing as he pleased by going out with another woman?


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯te to pick up Nie Sangyu from Ning Errong¡¯s room until evening.

 Chapter 116

    Chapter: 116 out of 513 ¨C Sicknesses like andslide, but goes slowly like spinning silk (1)


    It wasn¡¯tfortable sleeping on a boat, so the emperor ordered everyone to settled down at Qin Province¡¯s governor¡¯s residence.


    Standing by the side of the bed, Ning Yuxuan looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s deathly pale face. With a slightly disdainful expression, he stretched his hand out. ¡°It¡¯s time to get up.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have the strength to move. Although her fever had faded, her entire body felt weak.


    Standing by the side, Nie Qingyun couldn¡¯t continue to watch this sight. With a calm and collected face, he said, ¡°Let me carry Sangyu off the boat instead.¡±


    ¡°Are you really that delicate that you can¡¯t walk by yourself, just because you¡¯re wearing a slightly heavier cloak?¡± Ning Yuxuan took down the nearby cotton-padded cloak, turned his head, and said to Nie Qingyun and Errong, ¡°You two can leave first. I¡¯ll bring Sangyu off the boat.¡±


    No one would feel at ease if you were the one carrying her, okay? Errong frowned and looked at him for a while before saying, ¡°Cousin, Sangyu hasn¡¯t recovered from her cold yet and she¡¯ll be exposed to the wind when we go outside. Don¡¯t treat her too roughly, okay?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled, ¡°I know how to act within the bounds of proper behavior.¡±


    Yeah right! Ji Man silently cursed at him. As soon as she raised her head, she felt woozy. She would much rather be carried out by Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother than by him! She couldn¡¯t help think that he was going to drag off her of the boat by her legs.


    When all was said and done, these two were a married couple. It wouldn¡¯t be proper for Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun to interfere. And so, they led the servants away and closed the door on their way out.


    Ning Yuxuan leisurely picked up one of her cotton-padded dresses and her hair essories, helped her up, and slowly helped her change her clothes. Then, he simply tied her hair behind her and wrapped the cotton-padded cloak around her.


    Ji Man really wanted to say that the sh between the red cloak and green dress looked really ugly, but Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t look interested in speaking with her. After helping her dress, he turned around and had Gancao and Dengxin bring Jinse into the room.


    ¡°Help Madam off the boat.¡±


    Jinse quietly nodded. She didn¡¯t show the slightest opinion and directly stretched her hand out to support Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t refuse either. Her body didn¡¯t have any strength, so she could only drape herself on Jinse¡¯s shoulder like a sea sponge as they started walking outside.


    The river was very windy. Ji Man was wrapped up in the cloak with only her eyes left uncovered. However, when her peripheral vision saw the river, she remembered the bone-chilling coldness of the water and felt as if she was going to faint.


    ¡ª


    In the evening, Noble Consort Nie came over with medicinal soup. Moreover, she had pulled Marquis Moyu to the side and said that Sangyu had been very attentive throughout this journey. He couldn¡¯t ignore her just because she was sick. She even mentioned old madame¡¯s hopes, as well as the rtionships between their two ns.


    Ji Man felt a headache just hearing these words. Sometimes, Noble Consort was way too long-winded and troublesome. Moreover, her intention was so tant. She just wanted Marquis Moyu to bestow his favor on her niece. And yet, she went around this huge circle instead. It was really tiring to listen to her.


    However, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t show the slightest sign of impatience as he listened to her. When she finished speaking, there was actually a hint of shame on his face. ¡°Yuxuan understands. Many thanks to the noble consort for your edification.¡±


    Seeing that he had epted her words, she happily praised him for a long time before lifting her skirt and leaving.


    And so, Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man slept in the same room that night. Ji Man¡¯s rest that night was wasn¡¯t peaceful. Her body started to heat up again. It was already a miracle that she was still alive right now. Thus, she treasured her little life very much. Feeling a sense of wrongness, she hurriedly turned over and shouted, ¡°Yuxuan!¡±


    Because she hadn¡¯t fully recovered from her cold yet, NIng Yuxuan was sleeping on the cushioned couch in the outer room. Her yell didn¡¯t wake him. He was probably deeply asleep.


    Ji Man struggled to push the quilt off and got up to pour herself a cup of water. She felt that her bed was slightly too hot. And the more she slept, the hotter it became. Her body felt as if it was burning up and there wasn¡¯t even a cold object she could use to cool herself down. She felt very tormented.


    And so, after standing in her room for a few moments and noticing that charcoal fire was burning too much, she went to open a window.


    The cool breeze brought her a moment offort before her head felt woozy again. The window was above the cushioned couch. Ji Man didn¡¯t take another second to think before choosing to lie down on the cushioned couch because of proximity.


    The cushioned couch wasn¡¯t as hot as the bed. The temperature was just right. Marquis Moyu¡¯s body even felt slightly cold.


    Since the couch was so big and she couldn¡¯t wake him, Ji Man decided it would fine if she also slept here. If Ning Yuxuan ended up getting sick tomorrow, then he could only me his immune system for not being good enough.


    Just like that, Ji Man muddle-headedly fell asleep. One moment, Nie Sangyu¡¯s body would feel hot, and she would roll over to a cooler part. The next moment, her body would feel cold, and she would snatch the quilt away and tightly roll up in it.


    When Ning Yuxuan opened his eyes, he saw her rolling away one moment and rolling back the next moment. One moment, she would befortably hugging him. The next moment, she would disdainfully push him away.


    Really, she was as difficult to serve in her sleep as when she was awake. Ning Yuxuan snorted and touched Nie Sangyu¡¯s forehead to check her temperature. Then, he sat up and took out a small box that had been tucked into the sleeve of his clothing that had been hanging on a divider screen. There was a pill-sized medicine in the box. After dissolving it into water, he started pouring it down Nie Sangyu¡¯s throat.


    Ji Man struggled even in her sleep.


    With a stiff expression, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°This isn¡¯t poison. This is to prevent your mind from burning up and bing a fool. There¡¯s not much good about you to begin with. If you¡¯re brain stops working, then don¡¯t me me for not wanting you.¡±


    Strangely, Nie Sangyu stopped struggling. Ning Yuxuan poured the rest of the liquid down her throat, then he quietly lied down and went back to sleep.


    (T/N: My friend, <strong>Fringe Octopus</strong>, has recently picked up <strong>ck Belly Wife</strong> to trante. It was one of the novels that Girly Novels selected as a teaser trantion, so if you like ChongFei Manual, I think you might like this novel as well.)

 Chapter 117

    Chapter: 117 out of 513 ¨C Sicknesses like andslide, but goes slowly like spinning silk (2)


    When Ji Man woke up the next day, she felt much better. Although she still felt slightly light-headed and stuffy, she felt much more energetic.


    Ning Yuxuan had disappeared early in the morning and Ji Man didn¡¯t care enough to ask the servants where he had gone. Instead, she had a little bit of millet congee with Errong.


    ¡°I heard that the emperor is handling Qin Province¡¯s legal cases rted to unjust and false charges.¡± Full of excitement, Errong said, ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting. Qin Province has always been known for having the most cases with unjust and false charges. The emperor had originally nned on only staying here for a day and a night, but a pile of cases attracted his interest. He told the first prince and third prince to go with him to solve these cases.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. This wasn¡¯t difficult to understand. During this entire journey, the emperor had been publicly and secretly testing these two princes and the third prince had been doing a cut better than the crown prince each time. Hearing that the crown prince would also be responsible for solving cases, Ji Man thought that it was about time for the crown prince to show his ability.


    ¡°The crown prince will be going to investigate a case of a headless murder victim this afternoon. The third prince¡¯s case is about a missing young woman. Everyone is going to leave the residence today. It¡¯s going to be so boring.¡± Errong sighed.


    Nie Qingyun would also be leaving with the third prince. Originally, Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t been interested in participating. But for an unknown reason, he ended up perfectly willing to follow along with the third prince¡¯s group today. As for the crown prince, he would only have Marquis Moyu helping him.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t interested in these cases. It had taken her a huge amount of effort to improve Nie Sangyu¡¯s sickly health, but this serious illness had ruined her efforts. Once she was feeling better, she had to figure out a way to recover her health again.


    ¡ª


    That afternoon, Ji Man took a nap after lunch with only Gancao and Dengxin keeping herpany. Errong had left with Ning Mingjie to participate in the excitement. Ji Man¡¯s health hadn¡¯t recovered, so she naturally couldn¡¯t go with them.


    But, when she woke up, the room was quiet and peaceful. Gancao and Dengxin weren¡¯t in the room, but Ji Man saw the crown prince as soon as she raised her eyes.


    The psychological shadow was still in her heart, so Ji Man couldn¡¯t present a pleasant expression. She could only calmly look at him. ¡°Your Highness, do you still want Sangyu¡¯s life?¡±


    Zhao Zhe faintly smiled. ¡°What are you thinking? Why would this prince want your life?¡±


    There was no else in the room, so Ji Man felt slightly nervous. But, when she raised her eyes, she saw that the door hadn¡¯t been closed. Gancao and Dengxin were probably standing right outside.


    Her heart slightly rxed and Ji Man was able to smile as she looked at Zhao Zhe.


    ¡°If you miss the first time, it¡¯s going to be difficult to strike again. Although Sangyu hadn¡¯t done anything to wrong the crown prince, if the crown prince really wants Sangyu¡¯s life, it would be very easy for Your Highness to aplish this. Sangyu still wants to live. If you¡¯re going to kill Sangyu, don¡¯t give Sangyu any chances to live. Otherwise, Sangyu will bite you.¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows and couldn¡¯t resistughing. ¡°Your words... Sangyu, you¡¯re overthinking things. It¡¯s said that people that are sick have heavy thoughts. You should properly rest. This prince¡¯s investigation happened to lead me here, so I came by to see you in the passing.¡±


    His expression looked so innocent as if he had nothing to do with the almost sessful murder attempt. Even his words were watertight. Ji Man could only sigh with admiration. The crown prince was truly worthy of being the crown prince.


    Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t try to stay any longer. He stood up and left the room.


    With lingering fear, Gancao and Dengxin entered the room. Both of them had their heads silently lowered.


    ¡°How long was he here?¡± Ji Man asked.


    ¡°To respond to master, an hour,¡± Gancao whispered, ¡°As soon as the crown prince entered the room, he had us go outside and stand by the door. Then, he brought a stool over here and sat down. We didn¡¯t dare to say anything...¡±


    The two servant girls weren¡¯t brave. Moreover, the other person was the crown prince. Ji Man understood their dilemma. But, what was wrong with Zhao Zhe? Did he have too much free time? Why did he sit here for an hour? Was he trying to kill her by staring at her? Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop worrying. She didn¡¯t peacefully lie back down until she had Gancao bring a doctor over here to examine her and confirm that she hadn¡¯t been poisoned.


    ¡ª


    They had stayed in Qin Province for the past three days. Marquis Moyu left early and came backte each day. Ji Man was focused on recuperating during this period, so she slept early. And so, although the two of them were sharing a room, they didn¡¯t see each other during this time.


    Today, Ji Man had finally made a full recovery from her illness and Jinse came over to pay her respects.


    While obediently massaging Nie Sangyu¡¯s leg, Jinse said, ¡°The marquis said that in half a month, the boats would be returning to the north by way of another river.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man wasn¡¯t concerned about the route they were traveling. Still, her life had been sofortable during this trip. She didn¡¯t have to pay respects to Wen Wan or have to attend to old madame every day. If someone hadn¡¯t tried to harm her, this trip would have been a total rxation for her body and mind.


    Actually, she didn¡¯t want to go back so soon.


    Jinse gritted her teeth. It seemed as if there was something she wanted to say, but Ji Man pretended to not see. If Jinse was going to speak and stop, then start again, she wasn¡¯t interested in listening.


    ¡°Madam... Do you think Jinse has been attentive enough?¡± Jinse finally asked.


    Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°Whether or not you¡¯ve been attentive enough, this is a question for the marquis. I can¡¯t make that decision. While we¡¯re outside, I can be called ¡°Madam¡±. When we return to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence, I¡¯ll only be person that can silently stand by the main wife¡¯s side.¡±


    Jinse knew that Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t the main wife. However, based on what she had observed during this journey, she thought that this woman¡¯s words probably had some weight. Although Marquis Moyu had treated her well for a couple of days, he had already clearly told her that he wouldn¡¯t be bringing her home.


    She was somewhat unwilling. She had finally left that filthy and lowly ce. It couldn¡¯t be that she had to return, right?


    She clenched her jaw and kneeled down in front of Nie Sangyu. She kowtowed and said, ¡°Madam, please help me. If you plead with the marquis, he¡¯ll definitely agree!¡±

 Chapter 118

    Chapter 118 out of 513 ¨C Treating the male lead and the supporting male character differently (1)


    Ji Man found her requestughable. Why did she think that Ning Yuxuan would agree if she was the one that was asking him? Moreover, why would she do something that didn¡¯t have the slightest benefit to herself?


    ¡°No one has ever been able to influence the marquis¡¯s decisions.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled and said, ¡°Miss Jinse, if you really want to stay with the marquis, you should be pleading with the marquis instead of me.¡±


    Jinse pinched her hands and somewhat miserably looked at Nie Sangyu, ¡°The marquis won¡¯t listen...¡±


    She had originally though Marquis Moyu must have some degree of favorable impression towards her since he had tantly disregarded etiquette by taking her out of Tian Xiang. But, when she had said she wanted to go home with him at their most tender moment, Yuxuan¡¯s expression had sunk. In anguid manner, he had said, ¡°I don¡¯t like greedy women.¡±


    There had been countless men that had fallen under her pomegranate skirt, but Jinse felt that there was no way for her to influence Ning Yuxuan. He wasn¡¯t an obstinate person, but he diligently guarded his boundaries and wouldn¡¯t allow her to take even half a step over them. She had been ordered to do her best in serving Marquis Moyu well and driving a wedge between his rtionship with Nie Sangyu. But, since the first time she met Nie Sangyu, she had felt at a loss.


    For her to put a wedge between their feelings, there had to feelings to begin with, ah. The marquis had always kept herpany. He hadn¡¯t even gone to visit Nie Sangyu when she had fallen sick, but this madam hadn¡¯t seem angry at all. Nie Sangyu was even able to look at her with a bright smile. Jinse didn¡¯t understand. What exactly did she need to do in order to anger Nie Sangyu?


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Right now, she was pleading with her to allow the marquis to bring her back home with them. She didn¡¯t hold any hopes that Nie Sangyu would agree, but she thought that her attitude would be more severe at least. This would allow her to go back to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side and cry out grievances.


    Unexpectedly, Nie Sangyu had been smiling at her since she entered the room and hadn¡¯t done anything to make her feel troubled. She had even refused her with a gentle voice.


    What should she do?


    ¡ª


    After returning to the marquis¡¯s room in low spirits following her failure to achieve her goal, Jinse reflected upon herself.


    The door behind her opened. Feeling somewhat tired, Marquis Moyu rubbed his forehead and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you light themps?¡±


    The marquis had returned. Jinse¡¯s eyes brightened. She hurriedly approached him, took off his cloak, poured a cup of warm tea for him, and waited until he sat down on the cushioned couch before saying, ¡°The servant was lost in thought and forgot to light themps. My lord, did your work go smoothly today?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say much. After a short ¡°en¡±, he wearily leaned back against the couch.


    Jinse didn¡¯t ask any other questions. She gently massaged his shoulders.


    ¡°You visited Sangyu?¡± With his eyes closed, he lightly rubbed the spot between his eyebrows.


    Jinse paused. She was inwardly surprised, but her face only showed a smile as she said, ¡°Madam just recovered from her cold, so this servant went over to attend to her for a bit.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s thoughtful.¡± Ning Yuxuan slightly curved his lips. ¡°I¡¯m tired. I don¡¯t want to move. Go and tell her that I¡¯ll be staying here tonight with you.¡±


    Jinse happily nodded and left the room.


    No matter what, Nie Sangyu was a woman. The marquis hadn¡¯t stayed in her room for several days in a row before her cold and was now leaving right after she had recovered. Nie Sangyu should definitely feel at least a little bit angry, right?


    Full of hope, Jinse went to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room and told her this news with her chin untingly raised.


    Ji Man was currently eating raisins. Hearing these words, she nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good. If you want to stay with the marquis, then take this opportunity to speak with him.¡±


    Jinse froze in surprise for a moment. She incredulously scrutinized Nie Sangyu from top to bottom. Seeing that she was still chewing raisins with a rxed expression and her eyes were clear, without the slightest trace of jealousy, Jinse put away her slightly arrogant attitude. She bid her farewell and dejectedly left the room.


    ¡°Master, this woman is really strange,¡± Gancao said as she massaged Nie Sangyu¡¯s legs. ¡°When she came here this afternoon, she had on a pitiful appearance. When she came here tonight, she looked like a viin that had aplished her ambition. She¡¯s really showing that she¡¯s a lowly thing that came from a brothel.¡±


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and fed her some raisins. She smiled and said, ¡°Since she¡¯s that unsuitable to this environment, is there any need for you to bother with her? She¡¯s not a threat to me. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Gancao slightly frowned. ¡°Master, you finally have an opportunity to serve the marquis for a long period of time and she¡¯s taken your share.¡±


    In regards to this issue, Ji Man was actually quite thankful towards the crown prince. It wasn¡¯t advisable to frequently have purely bodily exchanges without feelings. She didn¡¯t want to treat sleeping with someone as if it was a job. Jinse had truly lessened her work duties.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± After Ji Man had finished eating an entire te of raisins, she licked her lips and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to sleep.¡±


    Gancao and Dengxin stood up, bowed to Nie Sangyu, blew out the wicks, put down the canopy curtains, and returned to their room.


    ¡ª


    In the dead of the night, Ji Man woke up and couldn¡¯t fall back to sleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, she felt as if she was suffocating. After tossing and turning for a long time, she decided to open the window for fresh air.


    Her original room had been given to Jinse and Marquis Moyu, so Ji Man was now staying in a side room that was near Errong¡¯s room. When she opened the window, there was a view of the garden. There was a pavilion with a stone table and stools at the center of the garden.


    Right now, there was a person sitting at that table. Ji Man was so scared that she almost screamed.


    There was a moon in the sky. Using the light of the moon, Ji Man saw that person¡¯s face and swallowed her scream with a gulp.

 Chapter 119

    Chapter: 119 out of 513 ¨C Treating the male lead and the supporting male character differently (2)


    Ning Mingjie heard the sound of a window opening and raised his head to look at her. He was only ten paces way from her. If anything happened in her room, he would be able to clearly hear it.


    ¡°Can¡¯t sleep?¡± He quietly asked


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Answering wasn¡¯t good, not answering also wasn¡¯t good. They weren¡¯t in the unconstrained modern times. She couldn¡¯t say, ¡°Yeah. Come inside and drink a cup of coffee with me.¡± If she privately talked with Ning Mingjie in the middle of the night in this ancient world, she would end up imprisoned in a cage-like basket and drowned.*


    * (T/N: Amon punishment for adultery in ancient times.)


    And so, Ji Man hesitated for a long time before lightly tapping the window frame as a way to respond yes.


    Ning Mingjie faintly smiled. But since the sky was dark and a distance separated them, JI Man didn¡¯t see.


    He turned slightly away and simply said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You can peacefully sleep. I couldn¡¯t fall asleep, so I¡¯ll be here looking at the moon.¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment. His voice floated over again, ¡°No one will be able toe near your room.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was chosen by the emperor for his ability to protect him during this journey. Even though his intention was only staying here to protect her, Ji Man¡¯s heart still skipped a beat. She couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Aren¡¯t you tired?


    ¡°I slept too much during the day,¡± Ning Mingjie honestly answered.


    Ji Man went through her memories. She hadn¡¯t seen Ning Mingjie¡¯s shadow all day. She had thought he went out with the third prince today. As it turns out, he was napping.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything else. She slowly closed the window, lied back down on the bed, and covered herself with the quilt. With someone outside guarding her, she felt a lot less worried and quickly fell asleep.


    ¡ª


    The night passed without any dreams. Ji Man woke up the next morning full of energy and wanted to go look for Ning Mingjie to thank him, but Errong said, ¡°I think my older brother went to sleep.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. After considering, she turned around and went to the kitchen to order the servants to bring the ingredients that she wanted. Ning Mingjie had worked hard all night, so she was going to make a few small dishes for him. Besides, it would be really boring just sitting around all day.


    Since she had slept wellst night, Ji Man was in a good mood today. She rolled up her sleeves and starting preparing two small dishes. Not afraid of the cold, she also made deep-fried snacks, as well as a entire Beggar¡¯s chicken.


    Ji Man busily cooked for four hours. She sliced and cooked vegetables, steamed cakes, and transferred the food onto tes.


    On the side, the head cook was dumbstruck as she watched Nie Sangyu¡¯s adept movements. She didn¡¯t resemble a spoiled, delicate youngdy from an aristocratic family at all.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu had asked Gancao where Sangyu had went, so she led to him to the courtyard outside of the kitchen and quietly said, ¡°Madam is cooking.¡±


    Even from far away, they could smell the delicious fragrance. Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. Could this woman have changed her personality and finally decided to fight for favor? Hadn¡¯t she appeared nonchnt no matter how much he favored Jinse?


    He lightly snorted before turning around and leaving. But after taking two steps, he stopped and said to Gancao, ¡°Once she¡¯s done, tell her that I¡¯m looking for her.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Gancao saluted. Seeing that the marquis seemed to be in a pretty good mood today, he probably wasn¡¯t looking for her master because of something bad, right?


    After Ji Man finished cooking, she stored the food in a bright red sandalwood box to preserve the heat and ordered the head chef to warm the food up in the evening.


    Right after she had stepped out of the kitchen, Gancao said the marquis was looking for her.


    Why was he looking for her? When Ji Man curiously went to Marquis Moyu¡¯s room, she saw a flirtatious scene of Jinse sitting on hisp, while he was leaning against the cushioned couch with a smile at the corners of his lips.


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched, but she still maintained an excellent show of etiquette by approaching them and saluting. ¡°My lord, why were you looking for this servant?¡±


    Marquis Moyu looked at her, raised his chin, and rather haughtily said, ¡°I¡¯ll be eating dinner with Jinse.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Ji Man felt confused. Why was he telling her this?


    Ning Yuxuan wrapped an arm around Jinse¡¯s waist and said, ¡°If you have free time, you can bring over the dishes to here.¡±


    The group had be ustomed to usually eating together after their stay at Li Province. The more people there were, the livelier it would be. Ji Man swept a questioning gaze at Ning Yuxuan. Was this an outbreak of prince syndrome again? If he didn¡¯t want to leave the room to eat, then just have the servant girls bring over the food. Why was he asking her to deliver food?


    But, since she was under his roof, she had to lower her head. Ji Man saluted and agreed.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s face that didn¡¯t show the slightest sign of disconcert or unhappiness, Marquis Moyu¡¯s originally good mood suddenly dropped a little bit.


    When would he see a normal woman¡¯s emotions on Nie Sangyu¡¯s face? She didn¡¯t get jealous or resentful. She used to be so bold and shrewish, but now she was a like a pool of stagnant water.


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly missed the previous Nie Sangyu. At the very least, she would cry andugh. Although she was really bothersome sometimes, he could feel her care towards him.


    But now, no matter whom he favored or what he did, she didn¡¯t show any reaction. This used to be what he wanted more than anything else, but now herck of emotion only annoyed him.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t notice Ning Yuxuan¡¯s feelings at all.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man happily finished eating dinner, she had Gancao deliver food to Marquis Moyu¡¯s room.


    Jinse felt somewhat fearful as she stood by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side. He didn¡¯t seem very happy when he saw the dishes of food.


    ¡°Why does this look the same as the food that¡¯s normally prepared by the servants?¡±


    Ji Man innocently blinked. ¡°Because this food was prepared by the servants, ah.¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused. He raised his eyes to look at her. ¡°You...¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Never mind.¡± Marquis Moyu lowered his eyes. ¡°Take it away. I¡¯m not hungry.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man actually went through with having Gancao take the food away. Anyways, she wouldn¡¯t be the one feeling hungryter.

 Chapter 120 - Returning to the capital (1)

    Chapter: 120 out of 513 ¨C Returning to the capital (1)


    Ning Yuxuan really didn¡¯t eat dinner. With a gloomy expression, he stayed in his room and started painting a picture of a beautiful woman.


    Jinse stood by his side and watched him paint the outline of a woman¡¯s beautiful, thick hair and eyshes. She bashfully asked, ¡°My lord, are you painting this servant?¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s brush paused. He carefully looked at the silhouette on the paper and pursed his lips.


    The outline did sort of resemble Jinse, and also Mu Shuiqing. It looked even closer to Wen Wan. He ced the brush down and chuckled. ¡°The beauty in a painting truly can¡¯t bepared to the beauty in real life. Don¡¯t go to sleep toote.¡±


    After saying this, he turned around and started heading towards the door.


    Startled, Jinse asked, ¡°My lord? Where are you going?¡±


    After these words came out, she realized that this wasn¡¯t a question she could ask. Jinse hurriedly lowered her head and retreated to the side.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s steps hadn¡¯t halted. He directly headed over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room.


    ¡ª


    The sky had gradually darkened, but the food box delivered by the kitchen servants was still warm. Ji Man was sitting at a table. She took out a small te and sampled the food. The vor was pretty good.


    By her side, Gancao quietly asked, ¡°Master, why didn¡¯t you give the food you prepared to the marquis?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°Who created a rule that I have to give the marquis food that I made? Why can¡¯t I eat it myself?¡±


    Dengxin nodded in agreement. ¡°Yeah, the marquis is with that vixen. He¡¯s not showing any care towards our master. Why should our master send him food personally made by her?¡±


    The person that was pushing the door from the outside paused.


    Although Dengxin¡¯s words weren¡¯t what she had meant, Ji Man didn¡¯t feel like correcting her. Although these two servant girls were very lively and cute, she didn¡¯t know how loyal they were. She couldn¡¯t tell them that she had cooked this food for Ning Mingjie.


    ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. You two should go back and rest,¡± Ji Man said.


    The two servant girls tidied the room, supported Nie Sangyu to her bed, and put down the bed curtains before saluting and withdrawing from the room.


    Right after they stepped out of the room, they saw Marquis Moyu standing outside. Gancao and Dengxin were both very shocked. They wanted to call out to announce his presence, but Ning Yuxuan stopped them, ¡°I¡¯ll go inside by myself.¡±


    Dengxin thought of her recent words. Not knowing how much he had heard and scared that he would punish her, she hastily pulled Gancao with her as she left.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly entered the room, closed the door, and cast a nce at the bed with the lowered curtains. Then, he sat down at the table and tried one of small dishes. His gloomy expression drifted away like feathers.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man lied in bed for a while. Guessing that it was about time, she turned over and got up to open the windows to see if Ning Mingjie hade.


    However, as soon as she opened the bed curtains, she saw a person sitting in the outer room. He was currently quietly putting down the chopsticks.


    ¡°You ¨C ¡±Ji Man was frightened to the point that her face turned white. Her entire body stretched taut. She was afraid that a thief hade into her room. Anyone would feel scared seeing such a scene in the middle of the night after waking up.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head, saw her scared expression, and lightly said, ¡°It¡¯s me.¡±


    Ji Man rxed and almost starting cursing at him. My god, even a mouse would make a sound when it was stealing food. Who knows how long he had been silently sitting here eating? He must have intentionally done this to scare her. She should have pretended that she didn¡¯t recognize him and taken this opportunity to throw a vase at him!


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mood seemed to have improved. His lips were curved and he looked at her in disapproval. ¡°Isn¡¯t it a waste to leave food here and not eat it?¡±


    Ji Man paused. Then, she hurriedly draped a robe over herself and left the bed to go look. He really ate an entire food box¡¯s worth of food? There were only a couple of empty tes and leftovers from the two vegetarian dishes. There wasn¡¯t even a shred of meat left.


    Ji Man gritted her teeth and took a deep breath before asking with a slight smile, ¡°My lord, are you full now?¡±


    Sneakily eating someone else¡¯s food wasn¡¯t exactly an honorable thing. Marquis Moyu dryly coughed twice, then he turned his head away before saying, ¡°I was a bit hungry, so it tasted pretty good.¡±


    Was he actually implying that her cooking wasn¡¯t tasty? Ji Man thought; she really had to set up anti-theft measures next time. She couldn¡¯t believe that the food she had prepared for Ning Mingjie to thank him had been stolen by this person!


    She angrily returned to her bed and forced her voice to be calm as she said, ¡°This servant is tired and will be sleeping first. My lord, feel free to leave.¡±


    It was so rare for him to see her looking so obviously unhappy. Ning Yuxuan stood up and walked to the bed. After considering for a moment, he took off his outer clothing, lied down on the bed, and wrapped his arm around her waist.


    Ji Man rolled away from him and faced the wall as she curled up into a ball like she was a hedgehog that was showing her spikes.


    Was she angry? Marquis Moyu raised his eyebrows and found her behavior somewhat amusing. Just as he was about to say a few words to tease her, he heard her quietly saying, ¡°We¡¯ll be returning to the capital soon. My lord, what are you nning to do with Miss Jinse?¡±


    He had thought that she wouldn¡¯t bring up this topic. ¡°Do you want me to bring Jinse back home?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head, ¡°Miss Jinse¡¯s status isn¡¯t appropriate. Besides, if you take her back, Madam will definitely be unhappy.¡±


    A light shed through Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes as he thought of Wen Wan. He had left her for such a long period of time. Had she be slightly more sensible in this time? Sangyu¡¯s words were correct. If he brought Jinse back, Wen Wan definitely wouldn¡¯t be happy.


    Wen Wan couldn¡¯t be the only woman in his life. And yet, she stubbornly insisted on wanting his entire heart. This was really troublesome for him. He hoped that she could slowly ept reality and not make his life difficult.

 Chapter 121 - Returning to the capital (2)

    Chapter 121 out of 513 ¨C Returning to the capital (2)


    ¡°Jinse is just temporary. I hadn¡¯t nned on bringing her back from the very beginning,¡± Ning Yuxuan slowly said. ¡°But, since she has been serving me well, I feel slightly reluctant to part with her.¡±


    Polygamy was the root of evil, ah. Ji Man silently cursed him for being a stud horse, but she showed an earnest expression as she said, ¡°My lord, you should be take into ount Madam¡¯s feeling more. It won¡¯t be good if the household isn¡¯t peaceful.¡±


    ¡°Why are you saying that Wen Wan is the type to deliberately cause trouble?¡± Ning Yuxuan was displeased. ¡°Why do you always think so badly of her?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look at him. Her gaze was somewhat helpless. ¡°Then, just treat it as if this servant has a malevolent mind that thinks badly of other people.¡±


    Her eyes made Marquis Moyu feel rather ufortable. He frowned, but he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    The rest of the night passed in silence. With someone sleeping by her side, Ji Man quickly fell asleep.


    ¡ª


    During the following days, Marquis Moyu stayed with Jinse every day and night. Seeing how good their rtionship was going, Noble Consort Nie worriedly pulled Nie Sangyu over to talk.


    ¡°Aunty, you don¡¯t need to worry. Just think about my older brother¡¯s wedding and feel happy.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°As for Sangyu¡¯s matter, Aunty, you don¡¯t need to think about it. It¡¯ll be fine once we return to the capital.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie felt even more worried. ¡°I¡¯ve been hoping that you would receive his favor during this trip and get pregnant. Why have you stepped aside and allowed another woman to receive his favor without any good reason?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t gain something without giving something up first,¡± Ji Manforted her. ¡°Aunty, worry less and spend more time resting. Sangyu won¡¯t let Aunty down.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie was skeptical. The boat had passed the ninth province and they would be returning to the capital soon. Noble Consort Nie had received the news that Marquis Moyu had only bestowed his favor on Sangyu five times.


    Noble Consort Nie thought; with Sangyu only receiving favor five times in two months, there was no hope for a pregnancy. Now, she could only hope that Sangyu¡¯s positive performance during this trip could wash away her previous ckened reputation and for Marquis Moyu to look slightly more favorably upon her.


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s behavior had truly been very good during this trip. Not only did the various madams stop gossiping behind her back, the emperor also praised Sangyu while he was bestowing rewards to Marquis Moyu as they returned to the capital.


    ¡ª


    All was peaceful on their way back from the Southern Trip. Whenever Ji Man opened a window, whether she was on the boat or in a courtyard, she could see Ning Mingjie¡¯s shadow. Errong had told her that Ning Mingjie had gotten into the habit of keeping a nightly vigil since they had stayed in that governor¡¯s residence. Because of this, he had even captured two assassins and would receive merit for his aplishments. With him guarding her, Ji Man didn¡¯t have another nightmare or encounter any dangers.


    ¡ª


    On the way back to the capital, Marquis Moyu decided to bring Jinse with them.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t surprised. It had been confirmed that Jinse was pregnant three days ago. Although Jinse had been pregnant for less than a month, a sage monk had said she was pregnant with a boy.


    Out of respect for the emperor, who had been there at the time, Marquis Moyu acknowledged this child. Moreover, he had agreed to bring Jinse back with them.


    Noble Consort Nie had been furious. He might as well have given Jinse a wedding dress. Even worse, Sangyu hadn¡¯t gotten pregnant.


    For an unfathomable reason to others, Ji Man was in a very good mood tonight. She even happily did yoga in her room after dinner.


    What was there for her to feel upset about? If she had been the one that was diagnosed with pregnancy on the way home, everyone in the household would treat her life a thorn in their eyes and flesh. Who knows how manyplications would be thrown her way. With Jinse drawing away everyone¡¯s ire, she had nothing to worry about. Not only was Jinse someone Marquis Moyu had picked up on his trip, she was also pregnant. The other women would definitely be more offended at the sight of Jinse than herself. She would be able to peacefully stand at the side and watch the uing show. How wonderful.


    When Dengxin opened the door, she saw her master¡¯s entire body twisted; her insteps were over her shoulders.


    She rushed over and shouted, ¡°Master! Don¡¯t take things too hard!¡±


    Her sudden actions startled Ji Man and she almost sprained her waist.


    ¡ª


    Dengxin¡¯s scream seemed to have resonated throughout the area outside of the capital. And so, by the time they returned to the capital, a new rumor that had spread. Because the marquis had spent all of his time with another beautiful woman during the Southern Trip had spread, Nie Sangyu tried tomit suicide...


    When this news reached marquis¡¯s residence, at the same time Qi Siling let out a sigh in relief over one issue, she started worrying about the new problem.


    It seemed that Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t gain any advantage during the past two months. Qi Siling felt quite happy over this news. However, why was the marquis bringing back another woman?


    Moreover, while this woman had an origin that was simr to Mu Shuiqing¡¯s, this new woman was an actual prostitute and her education wasn¡¯t even as good as Mu Shuiqing¡¯s. From the gossip she had heard, this woman was also given to Marquis Moyu by the crown prince.


    ¡ª


    When Mu Shuiqing heard this news, her face changed colors. She had finally been able to care for her unborn baby¡¯s health without worries and her stomach was now showing a slight bump. But now, a woman that would be a threat to her position had appeared.


    ¡ª


    All of the women in the household were unsettled by the rumors they had heard. On the day that Marquis Moyu was scheduled to return, the other concubines didn¡¯t need Wen Wan¡¯s reminder to dress their best and wait for his return.


    ¡ª


    Since the day that the senior monk had diagnosed Jinse with pregnancy, Jinse hadn¡¯t stop smiling and nestling against Marquis Moyu. Ji Man had originally thought Jinse was rather quiet. But after she had gained an advantage, her true personality had been revealed. It wouldn¡¯t be good if she was favored too much.


    When they were getting into the carriages to return to the residence, ording to status, Nie Sangyu should have been the one sitting in the first carriage with Marquis Moyu and Jinse should be sitting with servant girls in another carriage. However, Jinse held Marquis Moyu¡¯s hand and wouldn¡¯t let go. Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything and just went to sit with Gancao and Dengxin.


    And so, when the carriages arrived at the marquis¡¯s residence and Wen Wen approached the first carriage, she saw Marquis Moyu and an unfamiliar, delicately pretty woman stepping down from the carriage.


    Originally, after two months of not seeing Yuxuan, Wen Wan had missed him dearly and wanted to express her feelings in words. However, after looking at the scene in front of her, Wen Wan¡¯s expression sunk.


    Trantor Ramblings: Lol, Ji Man, you¡¯re so terribly misunderstood. Personally, I feel that since Ji Man doesn¡¯t care about Ning Yuxuan¡¯s actions and is even looking forward to watching the drama between the other women, Ji Man¡¯s story doesn¡¯t seem sad to me. It feels like she¡¯s one step away from munching on popcorn and tossing outmentary like a peanut galley. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 122

    Chapter 122 out of 513 ¨C Bringing a new person home and seeing old people (1)


    Apparently, Marquis Moyu had never told Jinse about his household situation. And so, Jinse felt somewhat lied to when she saw the group of women aftering out of the carriage. Stunned by the sight in front of her, she forgot to salute.


    ¡°My lord, you worked hard on this trip.¡± The smile had been wiped off of Wen Wan¡¯s face. After casting a nce at the other woman, she asked, ¡°Who is she?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°She¡¯s a concubine that I epted during this trip. Arrange a ce for her to stay.¡±


    Once these words were said, no one had a good expression. Jinse probably had many sweet dreams and imagined that she would reach instant sess because of her pregnancy. She hadn¡¯t expected that Marquis Moyu would only give her the status of an ordinary concubine and her smile also disappeared. As for the other women, they looked at her with ill intentions.


    ¡°Where¡¯s older sister Sangyu? She had also gone on the trip to look at the scenery. Why don¡¯t we see her?¡± Qi Siling quietly asked.


    Ji Man had worn simple clothing today and had mixed in with the group of servant girls. She looked rather pitiful as she tidied her hairstyle and came over to greet Wen Wan. ¡°Madam, you seem well.¡±


    As soon as Wen Wan saw Nie Sangyu¡¯s sorry looking figure, her previous resentment towards her scattered. Instead, she felt somewhat sympathetic. So what if Nie Sangyu had gone with the marquis on this trip? She ended up getting bullied by a mere prostitute. If it had been her, she would have been angered to death.


    Wen Wan stared at Jinse and said in an unpleasant tone, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a secondary wife being pushed out of the carriage by a concubine until now! Well, you¡¯re a woman from the outside after all. It can¡¯t be helped that you¡¯recking in etiquette. Just learn by example from now on.¡±


    The group was tired from the carriage ride, but they were blocked at the entrance and couldn¡¯t enter. Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look very good. Jinse had been embarrassed by Wen Wan¡¯s words, so she silently lowered her head. This situation felt somewhat awkward.


    Ji Man lightly smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. How about we go inside now? Madam, even though you miss the marquis, we should go inside to talk.¡±


    With Nie Sangyu taking the first stab at smoothing things over, Qi Siling also remembered to react. She walked forward to Wen Wan¡¯s side and said to the marquis, ¡°Madam has prepared a feast to wee everyone back from their long journey. Let¡¯s go inside.¡±


    One by one, the servant girls stood to the side to open a path. Behind them, Ning Mingjie and Ning Errong had also gotten off their carriage. Marquis Moyu lowered his eyes and didn¡¯t approach Wen Wan to walk inside together. Instead, he entered the residence by himself.


    Feeling quite wronged, Wen Wan clutched her handkerchief. Could other people have been right? Were all men enamored with the new and bored with the old? Now that there was a new woman, was she going to be ignored like the other women?


    While her heart was feeling bad, a nearby person suddenly supported her by the arm.


    Ji Man faintly smiled and said, ¡°Madam, let¡¯s go inside.¡±


    Qi Siling had originally wanted to support Wen Wan, but Nie Sangyu had stolen her position. But, she didn¡¯t care. The new woman was following etiquette and walking behind them. Qi Siling deliberately slowed her pace, so she could have the first opportunity to speak with Jinse.


    ¡°Madam, is there any need for you to feel so sad?¡± Ji Man saw that Wen Wan had only silently twitched her lips in response and was allowing her support her, so she quietly said, ¡°The marquis missed you this entire trip. He¡¯s only acting this way because he wants you to be more obedient.¡±


    Wen Wan slightly frowned. She nced at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°How am I not obedient? If he wants me too meekly submit myself to being mistreated like you, I can¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°Acting obedient isn¡¯t the same as epting mistreatment.¡± Ji Man looked at Marquis Moyu, who was still walking ahead of them by himself, and smiled. ¡°The marquis is using different methods to get the result that he wants. He switches between acting hot and cold in order to forge Madam into what he wants. If you don¡¯t believe this servant, then wait two days. If you don¡¯t lower your head by then, he won¡¯t be able to resisting to you.¡±


    This was truth. This truly was what Ning Yuxuan was thinking. He was using the same method as one would use to refine a sword; alternate between hot and cold and repeatedly grind until you obtained the form that you wanted.


    This technique had been well-tested on Wen Wan. Every time she threw a tantrum, he would give her the cold shoulder for a few days. In the end, Wen Wan would take the initiative toe to him and her attitude would lessen.


    If Wen Wan didn¡¯t know Marquis Moyu¡¯s intentions, then the direction of their rtionship would definitely follow Ning Yuxuan¡¯s desired course. Wen Wan would gradually be gentle and magnanimous. She would learn to tolerate and ept the other women. This could be considered Marquis Moyu¡¯s method in training his wife.


    However, even if he had thought of a thousand possibilities, he wouldn¡¯t have expected that Ji Man would see through his n. It was one thing for her to figure out his n, but she had actually taken the step of telling Wen Wan the truth.


    Wen Wan understood now. There was no point in her feeling sad and upset. Marquis Moyu had done this intentionally. Knowing his scheme and also knowing that he wouldn¡¯t abandon her because she had a ce in his heart, Wen Wan felt much more confident.


    ¡°Thank you for pointing this out to me.¡± Wen Wan curved her lips. ¡°If he wants me to tolerate and ept this woman, I won¡¯t make it easy for him!¡±


    Ji Man lowered her head. As expected, Wen Wan had been favored to the point that she was fearless. She had already given Wen Wan the information that she needed. If Wen Wan was clever, she would grasp Marquis Moyu¡¯s weak point and sessfully reverse the situation. If she was stupid... then her future outlook was bleak.


    She wasn¡¯t nning on harming Wen Wan. After all, Wen Wan was Marquis Moyu¡¯s beloved and also the great female lead. As for how the story would go, that would depend on Wen Wan¡¯s luck.

 Chapter 123

    Chapter: 123 out of 513 ¨C Bringing a new person home and seeing old people (2)


    Inside the dining room, Mu Shuiqing and Liu Hanyun were both standing. Jinse was a neer, so she didn¡¯t know where to go. Seeing that a few of the women had sat down, she thought that she shouldn¡¯t need to stand too since she was pregnant. And so, she approached the seat that was next to Marquis Moyu.


    Standing next to Jinse, Wen Wan quietly asked, ¡°What? Are you thinking of sitting in my seat?¡±


    Jinse quickly moved away. Wen Wan was the main wife. She couldn¡¯t anger her. But... there weren¡¯t any other empty seats. Did she have to stand?


    Her teary eyes looked at Marquis Moyu, but Ning Yuxuan was focused on eating with his lowered head, so he didn¡¯t see her. Ji Man and the two honored concubines were also silent, but Wen Wan raised her head, nced at her, and said to Mu Shuiqing, ¡°You¡¯re heavier than before. You can go back to your room first and eat your dinner. You don¡¯t need to stay here to serve.¡±


    It was only now that Jinse noticed that there was a standing woman dressed as vibrantly as her. Mu Shuiqing was wearing a cotton-padded dress and a sleeveless blue vest. Her face looked somewhat pale and she was carefully protecting the slight curve to her belly. Even a blind person could tell what her posture meant.


    Having received permission, Mu Shuiqing was supported out of the room.


    Jinse gritted her teeth. This madam was being too obvious with her dislike. She was also pregnant, ah. Although her pregnancy wasn¡¯t noticeable... she was still being treated too differently.


    However, she didn¡¯t dare to say anything. The marquis¡¯s household looked like it was very strict with hierarchy. If she took a wrong step, it would be difficult for her to recover. It had already taken her a great deal of effort to enter this household.


    And so, she swallowed down her grievances and mimicked Liu Hanyun by standing by the table and adding food to the marquis and his wife¡¯s bowls.


    ¡ª


    After the meal, Ning Yuxuan went to the study and Jinse was led to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯re not even one month pregnant?¡± Wen Wan slightly frowned. ¡°This is certainly strange. Normally, you would need to be pregnant for at least two months before a doctor would be able to tell. When Shuiqing was over one month pregnant, several old doctors had to examine her pulse before jointly determining that she was pregnant. How can you be sure that you¡¯re pregnant?¡±


    Standing at the center of the pavilion, Jinse was at aplete loss. ¡°A sage monk said this. Even an emperor has to believe the words of a sage monk. Madam, do you think there¡¯s anything wrong with this?¡±


    Wen Wan really wanted to say, what sage monk? Can an old monk really tell if someone was pregnant? But, when the words reached her lips, she realized that she couldn¡¯t say these words. Even the emperor had believed the sage monk. If she didn¡¯t believe the sage monk, wouldn¡¯t this be the same as pping the emperor¡¯s face?


    Even though she was displeased, Wen Wan suppressed her emotion and calmly said, ¡°It¡¯s good that there wasn¡¯t anything strange going on. I already had the servants tidy up Zhiqiu Courtyard. You don¡¯t have a personal servant girl, so I¡¯ll assign Dingxiang to you. Old Madame isn¡¯t here today because she went to the pce today to see Noble Consort Nie. When shees back, go to the main hall to pay your respects.¡±


    Jinse agreed and followed the servant girl that Wen Wan had given her to Zhiqiu Courtyard.


    However, when she arrived at the entrance, Jinse¡¯s expression sunk. This courtyard had a nice sounding name, but it was just a loft. It didn¡¯t even have outdoor space. The fallen leaves at the entrance gave off a bleak feeling.


    (T/N: Zhiqiu means awareness of autumn.)


    Was this a habitable ce? Outraged, she turned around and went to the study to look for Marquis Moyu. This madam was too harsh and kept targeting her. How could she live her life like this?


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was currently organizing official correspondences and suddenly heard someone angrily mming the doors open. With a persecuted expression, Jinse came over and started crying after falling into his arms.


    Without making a sound, he moved the documents to the side and lightly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you feeling homesick?¡±


    ¡°My lord, Madam¡¯s bullying is too much.¡± With a runny nose and teary eyes, Jinse started to speak of Wen Wan¡¯s wrongdoings.


    Hearing these words, Ning Yuxuan slightly frowned. He moved her off of hisp, stood up, and said, ¡°I spoiled her too much. It¡¯s inevitable that she acts improperly sometimes. Go to Sangyu and have her arrange a ce for you. I¡¯ll go talk to Madam.¡±


    Seeing that he was obviously favoring Wen Wan, Jinse dimmed the sound of her crying. She was used to persuading and fawning over other people, so she wouldn¡¯t behave unyieldingly when face with a difficult person. Moreover, she could see that Madam had a hefty ce in the marquis¡¯s heart.


    Since she couldn¡¯t afford to anger Madam, then her only choice was to avoid her. Jinse went to look for Nie Sangyu.


    ¡ª


    At Qiangwei Courtyard, Wen Wan had smashed a whole pile of things. Her anger hadn¡¯t dissipated yet. Tanxiang hurriedly came into the room to announce that the marquis wasing and had the other servants clean up the mess on the floor to avoid displeasing the marquis.


    Seeing the personing into the room, Wen Wan harrumped and turned her head to look out the window. She didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of talking to him.


    With a soft tone, Marquis Moyu asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you not happy that I came back? Your expression hasn¡¯t look good since I returned home.¡±


    Wen Wan thought; Sangyu¡¯s words had been correct. When she showed a cold face, he woulde and coax her.


    And so, she said, ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for so long, but you haven¡¯t thought about me. And, you even brought back a woman to upset me. How can I be happy?¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled and hugged her. ¡°Is this another outbreak of pettiness?¡±


    Wen Wan angrly said, ¡°Who¡¯s being petty? You used to say that you would only like me. But now, you made other women pregnant, one after another. Yuxuan, you¡¯ve let met down too much. If I had known that it would turn out like this, I would have married the man that my father had chosen!¡±


    Before Wen Wan had married Marquis Moyu, she had been engaged to someone else. Marquis Moyu had always brooded over this matter. When women were arguing and feeling angry, they would always say whatever men didn¡¯t want to hear the most.


    But, Ning Yuxuan treated these words seriously and felt offended. His expression turned icy. He looked at her and asked, ¡°Are you saying that you regret marrying me?¡±

 Chapter 124 - Unable to peacefully sleep (1)

    Chapter: 124 out of 513 ¨C Unable to peacefully sleep (1)


    Wen Wan bit her lip and quietly harrumphed. She knew that she shouldn¡¯t have said those words, so she softened her voice as she said, ¡°I¡¯m just asking you to not let me down...¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression was very calm. He stood up and said, ¡°If you ever feel that I¡¯m treating you unfairly, then just ask me for a divorce letter. You can remarry whoever you want and I¡¯ll fully support your decision.¡±


    After these words were said, he immediately left the room


    Wen Wan was shocked by these words. She couldn¡¯t suppress the feeling of being wronged and her eyes became teary.


    She opened and closed mouth as she tried to think of a way to keep him from leaving without backing down from her position. He was the one that was wrong to begin with. Why was he flipping it around and ming her? Wen Wan was extremely hurt and upset. And, when she thought of Nie Sangyu¡¯s earlier words, she swallowed down the words asking him to stay.


    Men were always greedy and not satisfied with what they had. She wasn¡¯t wrong, and she wouldn¡¯t lower her head in apology. If his heart truly had her, he definitely wouldn¡¯t make her suffer this monumental grievance and continue to give her a cold shoulder.


    She turned around and went to her bed to have a crying fit. Wen Wan hated to death the other women in the residence. If they didn¡¯t exist, her life with Yuxuan would be perfect. They were such a well-matched pair. Was a perfect couple¡¯s happy life a dream? Why were there so many bothersome women?


    ¡ª


    That evening, old madame returned home and Jinse went to pay her a visit. Jinse had originally thought that elderly people would feel happy at the news of descendants. And so, she had dressed up nicely to pay respects. How could she have known that old madame would be so harsh? Instead of acknowledging her and letting her stand up from her kneeling position, old madame just elegantly drank her tea.


    Ji Man had alsoe to pay respects. Seeing old madame¡¯s attitude, she knew that old madame wasn¡¯t happy seeing a second Mu Shuiqing. However, she didn¡¯t have the right to interfere, so she just obediently poured tea for old madame.


    After Jinse had been kneeling for a long time, she finally couldn¡¯t suppress her temper. She raised her head and said again, ¡°This servant, Jinse, is here to pay respects to Old Madame.¡±


    Old madame coldly harrumphed. ¡°When did this household start the practice of having new servant girlsing to pay me respects? Then, will this old bag of bones have to stand at the entrance and suffer though all of you paying me respects instead of resting?¡±


    Jinse¡¯s face turned red, then white. She gritted her and said, ¡°This servant isn¡¯t a servant girl. This servant is a pregnant concubine brought back by the marquis.¡±


    Her tone was rather belligerent. She wasn¡¯t the same as Mu Shuiqing. At the very least, Mu Shuiqing was a woman that had been trained in the crown prince¡¯s household for two years and knew proper etiquette. In contrast, Jinse¡¯s tone strongly showed that she was a person that had lived in a rougher environment and didn¡¯t know how to restrain herself when feeling wronged. She immediately showed her dissatisfaction when old madame embarrassed her.


    ¡°Oh? I heard that you¡¯re a woman from a brothel.¡± Old madame¡¯s eyelids didn¡¯t even twitch. ¡°Who¡¯s the father of your child?¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether she shouldugh or cry. It seemed that old madame didn¡¯t want to acknowledge this child, ah. In this dynasty, it was extremely rare for prostitutes to be brought back home, and yet Marquis Moyu had two of them. It was only to be expected that old madame would be angry.


    Jinse felt so wronged that her voice was choked with emotion as she said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s the marquis¡¯s child. Otherwise, the marquis wouldn¡¯t have brought back this servant.¡±


    Old madame was silent again for a long time. She also turned her head to sharply look at Nie Sangyu with a rather reproachful gaze.


    Ji Man lowered her head. It couldn¡¯t be helped. Nie Sangyu¡¯s body had failed to live up to the expectations of her two elders by not getting pregnant.


    ¡°A pregnancy isn¡¯t a big deal. You just need to have two more servants watching over you.¡± Old madame put down her cup and expressionlessly said, ¡°You¡¯ll only be considered to have ability if you can give sessfully give birth to a son. Since you¡¯re a woman from the outside, then know your ce and stay in your courtyard. On a normal day, you don¡¯t need toe here. I prefer peace and quiet.¡±


    Jinse lowered her head and uttered a sound of eptance. She knew that this old madame was disdainful of her background, so she didn¡¯t try to do anything else. Dingxiang helped her up and they withdrew from the room.


    It was true that getting pregnant wasn¡¯t difficult. Look at herself as an example. Hadn¡¯t she easily gotten pregnant? But, Jinse knew that it would be impossible for her to sessfully give birth.


    ¡ª


    The marquis and Wen Wan started another cold war. And so, Ji Man wasn¡¯t surprised to see Ning Yuxuan and his gloomy face that night.


    While his mood was never good when he argued with Wen Wan, it seemed especially bad this time. As Ji Man was wondering what Wen Wan had said to anger this person that seem to suffer from facial nerve paralysis, she heard Ning Yuxuan say, ¡°Don¡¯t say a single word tonight. I don¡¯t want to hear a woman¡¯s voice.¡±


    Great, it would be saving her effort if she wasn¡¯t allowed to talk. Ji Man nodded her head to indicate agreement. She ordered Muxu to bring back warm water, then she washed her face and rinsed her mouth. Once she was done, she went to bed and closed her eyes to sleep.


    Ning Yuxuan was very irritable tonight. His inability to sleep and his constant tossing and turning bothered Ji Man enough that she opened her eyes and usatorially looked at him.


    ¡°The bed is too hard!¡± Marquis Moyu said with a gloomy face.


    Ji Man silently criticized; are you the Pea Princess? He normally slept perfectly okay here. And now, he suddenly thought the bed was too hard?


    (T/N: Just in case this fairytale isn¡¯t famous enough, the Pea Princess was a woman whose royal identity was proven by her sensitivity to feel a pea even under many mattresses.)


    But, she didn¡¯t have a choice. Whatever he said was right. Ji Man left the bed and had Gancao bring over twoforters.


    ¡°Too soft.¡± This great lord still wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    Ji Man nodded and kept her light smile. She had Gancao take away aforter. This time, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t say anything. He just lied down with an ugly expression.


    ¡°Why are you so far from me?¡± He asked in an annoyed tone.


    Ji Man scooted over a bit.


    ¡°Don¡¯te too close!¡± He disdainfully pushed her away.


    Ji Man took a deep breath, then she took another deep breath. He was already keeping her from sleeping. Why was this great lord still finding so many faults?


    She got out of bed, put on her shoes and cloak, and started walking the doors.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°Going off to die,¡± Ji Man finally spoke to him, then she opened the doors and left.


    This great lord was unbearable. Whoever wanted to serve him was wee toe here. This unstable person was truly breaking the boundaries of eptable human behavior. Ji Man kicked the cobblestone path a few times, then she decisively went to the southern courtyard to look for Errong and rely on her for help.


    Trantor Ramblings: Oh, Ning Yuxuan when will you learn that Ji Man doesn¡¯t care about your problems and she really will ignore you if she has the option? It was nice to see Ji Man finally having enough of his childish antics and leaving.

 Chapter 125 - Unable to peacefully sleep (2)

    Chapter 125 out of 513 ¨C Unable to peacefully sleep (2)


    Ning Yuxuan was still in a bad mood. Seeing her leave, he thought that she would probably stille back. And so, he didn¡¯t chase after her.


    However, after he lied on the bed for a while and his anger had disappeared, the doors were still open. The cold wind blew inside and Nie Sangyu still hadn¡¯t return.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Feeling slightly unsettled because of herst words, Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t lie in bed any longer. He put on his outer clothing and headed outside.


    Spring had started and the snow was melting, but it was still chilly outside. He had only walked a few steps before his shoes had gotten soaked. Ning Yuxuan walked around the entire Feiwan Courtyard, but he couldn¡¯t find Nie Sangyu and had also unintentionally awoken Muxu.


    Muxu was scared to death from seeing Marquis Moyu opening her doors in the middle of the night. She grabbed her quilt and nkly looked at him. ¡°Marquis?¡±


    What was he going to do to her? Didn¡¯t he have her master to serve him? Why had hee to her room? During this period of shock, Muxu¡¯s heart was palpating very quickly. However, before she had time to say another word, Marquis Moyu had already left after scanning the room.


    Originally, he had wanted to order a few servant girls to look for Nie Sangyu. However, he couldn¡¯t bear the loss in face if other people found out. Since he had driven her away, why was he looking for her now? Moreover, the object of his search was a woman that he had disliked for a long time.


    Feeling bothered and gloomy, he left Feiwan Courtyard and went to the garden to look for Nie Sangyu.


    Passing through the garden, he saw a person in the pavilion. Marquis Moyu called out, ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    Ning Mingjie turned his head slightly and chuckled. ¡°Yuxuan, why are you awake sote at night too?¡±


    So, it was him. Ning Yuxuan rxed, coughed once, and said, ¡°The moon looks nice tonight. I was just strolling around.¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly froze in surprise for a moment. He raised his head and looked at the dark sky.


    ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. I should go back to rest. Cousin, you should go to sleep too.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his head away and looked rather pitiful as he walked away.


    ¡°En, you can go. I¡¯ve gotten used to sleeping during the day. I really can¡¯t fall asleep at night anymore.¡±


    Marqyus Moyu didn¡¯t understand the meaning of his words and merely thought that Ning Mingjie had messed up his sense of day and night during their trip. Thus, he didn¡¯t ask any others questions and hurriedly went elsewhere to look.


    After walking around the entire residence and waking up a lot of people, Ning Yuxuan still hadn¡¯t found Nie Sangyu. Feeling anxious, he returned to the garden and asked Ning Mingjie, ¡°Have you see Sangyu passing by here?¡±


    Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows, ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night. Why would she be going outside?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan opened and closed his mouth. He didn¡¯t know how to exin. He could only put on a coldly indifferent expression and say, ¡°She did go outside. I¡¯m just casually walking around. If I can find her, I¡¯ll bring her back. If I can¡¯t, then let nature take its course.¡±


    A light shed through Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes and a hint of smile appeared. He pointed in the direction of the southern courtyard and said, ¡°Have you gone to Errong¡¯s room to look? They¡¯ve always gotten along well.¡±


    Marquis Moyu suddenly realized, and he hurriedly headed to the southern courtyard. Noticing that his walking speed had increased, he lightly coughed twice and slowed down his pace to a leisurely stroll. But, after he left the garden, he used his martial arts ability to quickly reach the southern courtyard.


    He told himself that he wasn¡¯t worried about Nie Sangyu. She wasn¡¯t that important. It just wouldn¡¯t be worth if something bad happened to her.


    The light in Ning Errong¡¯s room had been extinguished. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t let out a sigh in relief until he received confirmation that Nie Sangyu was upstairs by asking the servant girl on the first floor. Then, with a dark expression, he ordered Baizhi to drag her downstairs.


    Woken from her sleep, Ji Man¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good and her tone didn¡¯t sound pleasant either as she asked, ¡°What?¡±


    Marquis Moyu coldly said, ¡°Your temper is quite big. I had toe out and look for you.¡±


    Ji Man was so sleepily that she could barely keep her eyes open, even her standing position was as totteringly unstable as a newborn chick¡¯s. Hearing his words, she drowsily said, ¡°En.¡± Then, she leaned against the wall and started to fall asleep again.


    A belly full of fury had been growing like a smoldering fire while he was searching for her, but this feeling was washed away by her sleepy appearance. Marquis Moyu put on a serious expression and carried her back to Feiwan Courtyard on his shoulder without any gentleness.


    With her eyes closed, Ji Man said, ¡°I want to sleep.¡±


    ¡°You can sleep. I won¡¯t bother you.¡± Ning Yuxuan covered her with a quilt. ¡°In the future, don¡¯t always run off to Errong¡¯s room. You¡¯re already a married woman. Other people willugh at you.¡±


    Ji Man had already fallen asleep.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a while, then he lied down on the outside part of the bed. This time, he was well behaved. He didn¡¯t toss and turn.


    ¡ª


    Spring had arrived. It was time for new clothes to be made and many bolts of silk fabric had been brought to the residence. ording to the rules, the best two bolts of fabric were given to old madame, Wen Wan received snowy, light silk fabric, Nie Sangyu received brocade fabric from Sichuan, and the rest of the women were given ordinary silk fabric.


    The tailors came to each of the courtyards to take their measurements. An ident happened to ur in Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan¡¯s hand had identally been injured by a scissor.


    In the past, Ning Yuxuan would have rushed over there without taking the time to say a single word. He might have even punished the tailors.


    But as Ji Man was getting her measurements taken, she looked at the nearby Ning Yuxuan, who was leisurely reading a book. Had the sun risen from the west today?


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°En, you can go. I¡¯ve gotten used to sleeping during the day. I really can¡¯t fall asleep at night anymore.¡±


    Marqyus Moyu didn¡¯t understand the meaning of his words and merely thought that Ning Mingjie had messed up his sense of day and night during their trip.¡±


    What do you guys think Ning Mingjie really meant?

 Chapter 126

    Chapter 126 out of 513 ¨C The ssical scene of a supporting female character framing the female lead (1)


    Tanxiang thought that the marquis just hadn¡¯t heard her clearly. And so, looking endearingly pitiful, she repeated, ¡°The back of Madam¡¯s hand was cut very badly. The wound won¡¯t stop bleeding. Madam is afraid that it¡¯ll scar and has already cried for a long time.¡±


    Marquis Moyu flipped a page and indifferently said, ¡°Then, go look for a doctor. What¡¯s the use in telling me this? I don¡¯t know how to bind up a wound.¡±


    As Ji Man raised her arms to allow the tailor to take her chest measurement, she curled her lips and thought; Wen Wan was trying to give Marquis Moyu a way out of this awkward situation. Unfortunately, Ning Yuxuan was deliberately being obtuse and unwilling to take this way out.


    Her intuition told her that there would be a good show to watch soon.


    Tanxiang stood there for a while before helplessly leaving. By now, everyone in the residence knew that the marquis and his wife were in the midst of anther cold war.


    This cold warsted a lot longer than previous ones because Wen Wan didn¡¯t take the initiative to lower her head in apology. Instead, she ate and drank whatever she liked. In the passing, she would asionally leave the residence and was always in high spirits when she came back.


    ¡ª


    Watching this from the sidelines, Jinse felt that the current situation was a good opportunity for herself and started seeking Marquis Moyu for favor.


    And so, Ji Man¡¯s life became more rxed. Holding a bag of melon seeds to snack on, she watched this entertaining show.


    ¡ª


    With a face full of indignation, Gancao entered the room and called out, ¡°Master.¡± Seeing Muxu by Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, she paused and gave a small salute, ¡°Older sister Muxu.¡±


    Muxu slightly nodded. She was feeling rather unsatisfied. Although Nie Sangyu had rewarded her for sending news of the household to her while she was away, these two young servant girls had served her master for the past two months and she felt that she was no longer as close to her master as before.


    Once this type of feeling came up, Muxu became very worried. She wanted to spend more time and talk more with her master, but unfortunately, there were some topics that her master would rather tell these two young servant girls instead of herself.


    ¡°Muxu, bring over this design to the embroidery building. Tell them I want clothing with this type of design. If it¡¯s even slightly wrong, then there won¡¯t be any bonus.¡± Ji Man casually put a clothing design into Muxu¡¯s hand and indicated for her to leave.


    Muxu gritted her teeth, cast a nce at Gancao, grudgingly epted the design, made a sound of agreement, and left the room.


    It was only now that Gancao started talking again. ¡°Master, this servant and Dengxin saw an unspeakable sight when we went outside to buy snacks.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ji Man curiously asked.


    ¡°Have Dengxine over to tell you. This servant isn¡¯t able to say it.¡± With her forehead tightly furrowed, Gancao pulled Dengxin into the room


    Ji Man looked at Dengxin. Thetter was also showing an indignant expression. ¡°Master, do you know that the capital has a poetry association? A high official¡¯s children founded this association several years ago. Its members consisted of young masters and youngdies, as well as old masters and old madames. Anyone that loves poetry and can pass the test for Tonghao Poetry Association can join. It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re a noble or amoner, or if you¡¯re married or single. The members only care about poetry.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. It was surprising that this type of organization would exist in this dynasty. ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°When we were outside today, we saw a group of young masters anddies from Tonghao Poetry Association heading towards Luoyan Pagoda. We don¡¯t know when Madam was epted into that association, but we saw Madam and a couple of young masters teasing each other while they were walking. She didn¡¯t have the slight intention of avoiding suspicion.¡±


    ¡°Teasing?¡± Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°They were probably just discussing poetry.¡±


    ¡°Not true. This servant was so close to them and Madam didn¡¯t notice this servant at all because she was too focused on talking with those men,¡± Gancao exined, ¡°The passerbys were even praising her. They said that another talented woman has joined Tonghao Poetry Association, that her poems are exceptional, and that many young masters are pursing her. She¡¯s even taken the title of the capital¡¯s most talented woman from Luo Qianqian.¡±


    Only a few days had passed. Wen Wan was doing a pretty good, ah. Feeling impressed, Ji Man said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this good? The people in the capital all think highly of Tonghao Poetry Association. There are many talented people in this organization. The two of you shouldn¡¯t discriminate against married women.¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Dengxin clenched her teeth and said, ¡°Her behavior is too shameless. She¡¯s not showing any care towards the marquis¡¯s household¡¯s reputation.¡±


    ¡°Why are you worried when the marquis isn¡¯t concerned?¡± Ji Man waved her hands. ¡°Go and take some of snacks with you to eat on your way out. I¡¯m going to the southern courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the two servant girls.


    ¡ª


    Tonghua Poetry Association was the equivalent of high society in modern day. You gained prestige just by being epted into the association. Even if Marquis Moyu found out, he wouldn¡¯t me Wen Wan. Perhaps, he might even think more highly of her. Even if someone said that Wen Wan was flirting with other men, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t believe this gossip because of Wen Wan¡¯s normal persona.


    Ji Man was just going over there to share gossip with Errong.


    ¡ª


    After listening to Nie Sangyu¡¯s gossip, Errong raised her eyebrows in response. ¡°Tonghua Poetry Association? I¡¯m also a member. I just haven¡¯t gone there to debate poetry with them in a while. The members have high standards. How could they have epted Wen Wan as a member?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. How would she know?


    After considering for a bit, Errong said, ¡°I¡¯ll go there tomorrow to join in the fun too. The spring flowers had recently blossomed and it¡¯s time for Tonghua Poetry Association to have more frequent gatherings. I¡¯ll bring back definite details about this situation back for you tomorrow.¡±


    The past period had been boring, so hearing some gossip would be weed. Ji Man patiently waited.


    But, the end result was Ning Errong indignantlying to see her before the afternoon had even arrived. She sat down in front of her, angrily pped the able, and said, ¡°My cousin must be a blind idiot!¡±


    Ji Man choked on her tea and coughed a few times to clear her throat before asking, ¡°What happened?¡±

 Chapter 127

    Chapter 127 out of 513 ¨C The ssical scene of a supporting female character framing the female lead (2)


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t gone, I wouldn¡¯t have known that Wen Wan had been able to enter Tonghua Poetry Association because of my older brother. My older brother said that Wen Wan had pleaded with him to go out with her because she was feeling bored and wanted to go out. And, he actually agreed! When they got there, a group of people became utterly attracted to her mediocre beauty and continuously ttered her. They even gave her Qianqian¡¯s title of most talented woman. Bah! Even a three year old child can write better poems than her!¡±


    Ji Man was slightly surprised. ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad. If Madam wants to obtain the marquis¡¯s affection, she shouldn¡¯t be acting too outrageously.¡±


    ¡°She probably knows that Tonghao Poetry Association is ce that doesn¡¯t care about etiquette and people can¡¯tin about her behavior,¡± Errong gloomy said, ¡°Two years ago, a foreigner came to the imperial court and used poetry to back people into difficult positions. A talented individual from Tonghao Poetry Association came and suppressed the other person to the point that he was speechless. While feeling very happy, the emperor bestowed a que to Tonghao Poetry Association that said, ¡°Only discussion of poetry is allowed, do not judge people by status.¡± As long as the people in the group are gathered for a meeting, even married women can attend and talk about poetry with men.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. This allowed this ce to be a good breeding ground for schrs.


    There were plenty of talented individuals that came from boudoirs, ah. For example, there were poetesses like Li Qingzhao. With a ce like Tonghao Poetry Association, there naturally would be a ce for them to disy their talent.


    (T/N: Li Qingzhao was a famous Song Dynasty poetess.)


    But, why did Wen Wan go there?


    ¡ª


    When Marquis Moyu was informed of this new, his expression was calm. Without even raising his head, he went to Jinse¡¯s courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Two dayster, Wen Wan was the one that caved in first. However, she didn¡¯t look for the marquis, instead she ordered Jinse to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Jinse was supposedly over a month pregnant, but none of the doctors could confirm her pregnancy yet. Still, backed by the words of a sage monk, she had already been considered pregnant over a month ago even if no one else could tell then either.


    Jin Man didn¡¯t know what had happened between Wen Wan and Jinse. However, during dinnertime, old madame¡¯s personal servant girl, Showu, came to get her. Showu¡¯s expression was grave as she said, ¡°Mistress Sang, something bad happened. Old madame wants everyone toe to the main courtyard.¡±


    Without changing her clothes, Ji Man went to the main courtyard in casual robes. Everyone else had already arrived before her.


    With an unyielding expression, Wen Wan was kneeling at old madame¡¯s feet.


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and turned around to look, but she didn¡¯t see Jinse.


    Marquis Moyu was standing by the side. His brow was slightly furrowed, but his expression didn¡¯t look too bad. He quietly looked at Wen Wen before asking, ¡°What happened today? Did you deliberately push Jinse into a wardrobe?¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Man immediately understood what was happening. In novels, there was always a scene where the supporting female character would suffer miscarriage and frame the female lead. This scene would usually end up with someone being tortured. The oue was dependent on the male lead and female lead¡¯s attitudes!


    Ji Man secretly felt a bit excited and she lowered her head to watch Wen Wan¡¯s reaction.


    Wen Wan raised her head and calmly looked at the marquis. ¡°Is a Wen Wan a malicious woman in the marquis¡¯s mind? We¡¯ve been married for so long. My lord, how can you not trust me?¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist rolling her eyes and silently gagging. Whenever a female lead was misunderstood, she would always have an attitude of ¡°I don¡¯t want to exin, but you have to believe me¡±. She always felt annoyed when she read this type of novel. Where did they get the confidence that people would automatically believe in them when they hadn¡¯t exined what had happened? Besides, even if the marquis believed her, he couldn¡¯t just say in front of this entire group of people, ¡°En, I believe you,¡± and then say that female lead was innocent, right?


    This was just pure stupidity.


    Old madame¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. She coldly harrumphed and said, ¡°There¡¯s a servant girl willing to act as a witness that you pushed Jinse. What do you have to say for yourself?¡±


    Wen Wan angrily said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me. She ran into the wardrobe herself!¡±


    Dingxiang kneeled down and said in a trembling voice, ¡°This servant came from Qiangwei Courtyard and wouldn¡¯t falsely use Madam. Madam truly pushed Mistress Jinse. This servant saw this from the outside.¡±


    Wen Wan was furious. With tears falling from her face, she said, ¡°If I can tolerate Mu Shuiqing, then why can¡¯t I tolerate Jinse? I merely called her over to have a heart-to-heart talk. How could I have known that her attitude would be so horrible? As soon as we had a disagreement, she ran into the wardrobe herself. I can¡¯t be med if she ends up miscarrying.¡±


    Ji Man also felt that this wasn¡¯t something that Wen Wan would do. But, why would Jinse deliberately do this? Wasn¡¯t it good that she was pregnant? Why would she deliberately cause herself to miscarry in order to frame Wen Wan? At the very least, the crown princess consort had a hand in arranging Wen Wan¡¯s wedding. Wasn¡¯t Jinse given to Marquis Moyu by the crown prince?


    Unable to figure out the logic behind this, Ji Man knocked her hand against her head to think.


    ¡°Do you have evidence that this matter is unrted to you? There¡¯s a witness right here,¡± Old madame said.


    Wen Wan bit her lip. At the time, she had sent Tanxiang out to bring a pot of tea. Where would she find the evidence to prove that this liar had deliberately hurt herself? Old madame¡¯s heart was also biased against her. She definitely wouldn¡¯t believe her. But the marquis...


    Wen Wan raised her head to look at Marquis Moyu. She looked quite pitiful, but stubborn as well.


    Her beauty came from looking weak and delicate, and asionally being a bit strong. It made people want to protect her. All men had saviorplexes. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t an exception to this rule.


    And so, he sighed and said, ¡°Let Wan-<i>er</i> go back to Qiangwei Courtyard to ponder over her mistake. We can make a final decision after we find out about Jinse¡¯s condition.¡±


    Old madame coldly harrumphed. ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i>, if she really ends up miscarrying, how will you deal with the offender?


    Ning Yuxuan paused. ¡°What is mother¡¯s thought?¡±


    ¡°How can a woman that can¡¯t tolerate your heirs be the future matriarch of this family?¡± Old madame severely looked at Wen Wan and said, ¡°If this child is gone, you have to return the position of the main wife to Sangyu.¡±

 Chapter 128 - Rumors are fiercer than tigers (1)

    Chapter 128 out of 513 ¨C Rumors are fiercer than tigers (1)


    Ji Man had originally been just watching this entertaining show. Hearing old madame¡¯s words, she was shocked and could only look at old madame with utter helplessness.


    She knew that old madame meant well and was doing her absolute best to give her the position of the main wife. But, wasn¡¯t it a bit too inappropriate to say these words during this heated argument?


    Marquis Moyu looked at her with unfathomable eyes, then he looked at Wen Wan. Wen Wan¡¯s face had already turned white and her lips were trembling. She seemed as if she wanted to refute, but she didn¡¯t know what to say.


    A long time passed before Marquis Moyu finally spat one word, ¡°Fine.¡±


    Old madame smiled in satisfaction while Wen Wan incredulously stared at Ning Yuxuan. How could he do this? She had already tolerated so many women. And now, he was going to take away her position as the main wife? Although she was from amoner¡¯s family, everyone had expressed their good wishes and care for her on the way here. Men had always treated her wholeheartedly. Why was Ning Yuxuan treating her like this?


    Ji Man also had a hard time smiling and only quietly stood nearby.


    ¡ª


    Jinse wasn¡¯t an especially important person, but there was a hugemotion over this incident. Of course, it was true that old madame was using this incident as a pretext to make a fuss. However, no one would have expected for Ning Yuxuan to agree to old madame¡¯s suggestion.


    Ji Man curiously nced at him, but she was never able to tell much from looking at Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. She put away her interest and decided to take things step by step.


    Ji Man had arranged for Jinse to stay at Qiushui Courtyard. It was slightly better than Zhiqiu Courtyard, but not that much better. Right now, the small courtyard was filled with a flurry of doctors. Old madame even personally went there herself. Supporting herself with Nie Sangyu¡¯s arm, old madame stood outside waiting.


    It didn¡¯t take long before a servant girl came outside with a basin filled with bloody water.


    Old madame disdainfully nced at it, then she whispered to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Your position is stable.¡±


    From the look of the water, it seemed that Jinse had miscarried. Old madame wasn¡¯t willing to stay here for long and she pulled Nie Sangyu with her as she left.


    Ji Man still hadn¡¯t figure out Jinse¡¯s motive.


    ¡ª


    Inside her room, Wen Wan cried for a long time.


    Tanxiang quietlyforted her, ¡°Master, don¡¯t be so upset. As long as you¡¯re by the marquis¡¯s side, it¡¯s fine. Once you¡¯ve given birth to a child, you¡¯ll definitely regain the position of the main wife.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t like me anymore.¡± Wen Wan sobbed. ¡°Am I that type of person? Would I push Jinse into a wardrobe? That liar is clearly framing me.¡±


    ¡°But... No one would think it¡¯s worth it for Jinse to exchange her child¡¯s life to frame you. That¡¯s why no one believes you.¡±


    Wen Wan paused in her crying. She raised her head and said, ¡°I thought it was really strange too. Why was she willing to go as far as losing her child in order to frame me? How would this benefit her?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t benefit her, but it greatly benefits the person in Feiwan Courtyard.¡± Tanxiang coldly harrumphed and said, ¡°Look, she and Old Madame are eagerly hoping and waiting for Jinse to miscarry. Once Jinse miscarries, then she can snatch back the position of the main wife.¡±


    Wen Wan frowned. How could she have forgotten? Nie Sangyu was the shrewdest person in this household. At the beginning, Qi Siling had reminded her several times, but she hadn¡¯t listened to her. Now that she had calmed down and was analyzing the situation, she realized that Nie Sangyu was the one that was benefiting the most.


    Qi Siling entered the room and sat down in front of Wen Wan while clutching her handkerchief, ¡°Madam, this servant doesn¡¯t want to speak badly of you. But, you¡¯re too candid and too trusting about the affection that the marquis feels for you.¡±


    This time, Wen Wan respectfully listened to Qi Siling¡¯s words.


    ¡°Look at how skillfully Nie Sangyu behaves. Although everyone knows about her previous wrongdoings and the marquis might not like her, her current conduct is above reproach. She also knows how to win over people¡¯s hearts. When you¡¯repared to her, it would be strange if you didn¡¯t lose!¡±


    Wen Wan thought over Qi Siling¡¯s words. They seemed like an urate depiction. She was too straightforward. She thought that since Marquis Moyu loves her, she doesn¡¯t need to worry about anything else. But now, she knew that she had been too na?ve.


    These people wanted to harm and torment her. Why shouldn¡¯t she rebel? So what if Nie Sangyu knew how to win over people and act like a good person, she would do even better than her.


    Looking at Wen Wan¡¯s determined eyes, Qi Siling smiled. If you¡¯re going to use a knife, it was better to sharpen it first. A smart person was more useful.


    ¡ª


    Jinse had miscarried, so Marquis Moyu nned on doing what he had previously agreed to by returning the position of the main wife to Sangyu. However, this change had to be documented in the imperial records and several other procedures also had to be done. Thus, this matter had to be dyed for a few days before it became official.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Anyways, she was used to living in Feiwan Courtyard and was toozy to move. But, the attitudes of the servants had changed.


    When Muxu returned from getting her new clothes, her expression was jubnt as she said, ¡°Master, the embroideress had embroidered two extra shawls for you. And, when I went out today, the servants at the entrance were very polite. Aunty Zhao from the kitchen also wants toe over when you have time to pay respect to you.¡±


    ¡°Their attitudes have changed, but it¡¯s fine as long as your attitude doesn¡¯t change.¡± Ji Man propped her chin in her hand and said, ¡°I still feel like there¡¯s more change toe. I don¡¯t care that much if I¡¯m the main wife or not.¡±


    Muxu was still overjoyed. ¡°This servant is really happy to see you regaining your position as the main wife after this long journey that started from leaving the confinement courtyard.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you too.¡±


    Muxu wiped away her tears and said with a smile, ¡°It hasn¡¯t been hard on this servant. It¡¯s this servant¡¯s good fortune to always follow you.¡±


    Ji Man squeezed her hand and thought; if you don¡¯t betray me again, that will be my good fortune.

 Chapter 129 - Rumors are fiercer than tigers (2)

    Chapter: 129 out of 513 ¨C Rumors are fiercer than tigers (2)


    After paying respects to old madame, Ji Man met Mu Shuiqing on her way out.


    Mu Shuiqing walked to her side and profoundly looked at her as she said, ¡°This servant never thought you would have a day like this.¡±


    No one had thought that Nie Sangyu would regain her original position. It was only to be expected that Mu Shuqing would be surprised.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°The days are long. Who can predict the future?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing chuckled. The space between her eyebrows had softened considerably. With her hand held protectively over her slightly protruding belly, she said, ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t want anything else. I just want to peacefully give birth to my child.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°You¡¯ve be much better with behaving yourself. You won¡¯t have the same oue as Jinse. Don¡¯t worry, just focus on taking care of your health and baby.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Mu Shuqing whispered unfathomable words next, ¡°This servant isn¡¯t walking on the same path as her, so naturally this servant won¡¯t have the same ending as her. Madam, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    Ji Man was bewildered. Why would Mu Shuqing and Jinse be walking on the different paths? Weren¡¯t they both loyal to the crown prince?


    ¡ª


    Errong had prepared a table full of tasty food and invited Nie Qingyun over. She also dragged Ning Mingjie and Nie Sangyu over to apany them.


    She happily said, ¡°Let¡¯s celebrate Sangyu¡¯s change in fortune. This is the food I personally prepared. Don¡¯t look down on my cooking.¡±


    There were several dishes on the table. They all looked pretty good. Ji Man was slightly surprised. They had onlye back a couple of days. When had Errong learned how to cook a full meal?


    After tasting a bite of food, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist nodding her head. The young girl had a bright future. She had learned quickly and the food tasted pretty good.


    Ning Mingjie chuckled and said, ¡°It seems like you prepared this meal for your uing marriage. You¡¯ll be getting married to Qingyun in only four days. ording to the rules, shouldn¡¯t you be waiting until then to see him?¡±


    Ning Errong blushed. She nced at Nie Qingyun before smiling and saying, ¡°I¡¯m already familiar with him. It¡¯s not like this is an arranged marriage. It fine if we wait until tomorrow to stop seeing each other. Let¡¯s not focus on the minor details. Just treat today as a celebration for Sangyu.¡±


    Ning Qingyun nodded. ¡°If Sangyu is happy, then I can marry without worries. Brother Mingjie, you¡¯ll be the only one left here after Errong marries into Nie n. Please help me take care of Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Older brother, I can take care of myself.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was also at a marriageable age. In a few months, he should be discussing his marriage prospects too. Although he was a pretty good person, Ji Man still had to consider the issue of avoiding suspicion.


    Ning Qingun chuckled. ¡°If you can take care of yourself, then I wouldn¡¯t have to worry.¡±


    Feeling discontent, Errong interrupted him. ¡°Spend more time eating and less time talking, ah. I spend such a long time cooking. This food isn¡¯t just for you to look at.¡±


    After the four people had eaten most of the food on the table, Errong finally revealed a happy smile and pulled Nie Sangyu away to talk.


    She whispered, ¡°After I¡¯m married, what will you do with no one by your side to help you?¡±


    Ji Man patted her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I can handle it.¡±


    ¡ª


    After Wen Wan was demoted to the position of the secondary wife, she became less unruly, but she still frequently went out to see friends to discuss poems and voice herints.


    Ji Man felt that Wen Wan¡¯s behavior was only to be expected. Wen Wan¡¯s method of venting was already done in a very harmless way.


    However, when she met Ning Mingjie in the garden one day, he suddenly solemnly asked, ¡°Forgive this one for asking this question. Madam, are the rumors true? Are you really guilty of being unjust?¡±


    Ji Man was utterly baffled by these words. Confused, she asked, ¡°What made you ask this question?¡±


    Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t a gossipy person. However, he had frequently heard the same rumors being repeated in Tonghao Poetry Association. Moreover, it was sounding worse and worse as time went, to the point that he was almost about to believe in those rumors. Thus, he came here to ask Nie Sangyu.


    There was a rumor circting that Nie Sangyu had caused the death of a concubine¡¯s unborn child and framed Wen Wan for it, in order to snatch away Wen Wan¡¯s status as the main wife. Although Wen Wan was the victim, she didn¡¯t me Nie Sangyu much. She just wrote many poems about how she felt wronged, pained, and helpless. On top of this, thoughtful people had inquired about what had happened. The end result was gossip being spread about Nie Sangyu.


    Even if she buried herself in dirt, she still couldn¡¯t avoid being shot at. This matter had absolutely nothing to do with her, but the rumors had altered the truth into this form. Ji Man could only admire these people for their rich imaginations.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never harmed anyone.¡± Ji Man wrylyughed and said to Ning Mingjie, ¡°I¡¯ve always believe that the sins youmit in this lifetime will be paid back to you in the next lifetime. So, I won¡¯t hurt anyone, but other people better not try to hurt me either.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded and didn¡¯t say anything else.


    ¡ª


    Although Ji Man had already finished embroidering Errong¡¯s wedding dress during the trip, she was still busy with other matters rted to Errong¡¯s wedding. Thus, she didn¡¯t pay attention to these rumors. Butter on, she finally understood what was meant by the saying, ¡°rumors are fiercer than tigers¡±. Originally, it had been something false. But after it had been repeated numerous times, everyone actually looked at Wen Wan with sympathetic gazes and said Nie Sangyu was a poisonous woman behind her back.


    Even if Ji Man had a hundred mouths, she couldn¡¯t clear her name. Even if she exined the truth, people wouldn¡¯t believe her. Besides, it would too much of a wasted effort to exin the truth every time you met a new person. But, if you didn¡¯t exin, people would think you have a guilty conscience and the rumors would continue to be more exaggerated.


    Wen Wan¡¯s move of crying her grievances had truly been very effective. And yet, not one would believe that Wen Wan was doing this intentionally. Instead, they would all say that Wen Wan hadn¡¯t said a single bad word about Nie Sangyu, and that other people had figured out the truth through guessing.


    Ji Man was furious over this white lotus Holy Mother¡¯s act. When it was time to serve Marquis Moyu in bed that night, her expression was still very gloomy.


    Marquis Moyu looked at her for a while. Instead of asking her what was wrong, he asked, ¡°Do you want to go to Tonghua Poetry Association?¡±

 Chapter 130 - The germination of a white lotus (1)

    Chapter 130 out of 513 ¨C The germination of a white lotus (1)


    Ji Man felt slightly hesitant about this suggestion. She looked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression. It was as calm as ake without ripples as if he was just casually asking her if she had eaten lunch.


    Although a person¡¯s social status would improve just by entering Tonghua Poetry Association and you could also gain a reputation as a talented woman if you wrote a few poems, there was no need for a married woman to go there unless she was especially interested in poems. Why did Marquis Moyu suddenly want her her to go there? Moreover, was this a ce that she could enter just because he said so?


    Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Marquis lightly said, ¡°I¡¯m familiar with the people in that association. I know that Wen Wan has been receiving attention when she goes there. Do you know why I¡¯m okay with letting her go there to y?¡±


    Ji Man thought; you want to be cheated on?


    However, she couldn¡¯t say these words out loud. She brightly smiled and said, ¡°Is it because you¡¯re a very magnanimous person, so you¡¯re allowing her to do what she wants?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. He lifted her chin up and said, ¡°That¡¯s one of the reasons. There¡¯s another reason. Tonghao Poetry Association picks a head for the association every ten years through a poetrypetition. The head of the association can restrain the behavior of the members and will also rmend talented people to the emperor for official positions.


    After saying all that, as it turned out, the government was behind this organization. Ji Man nodded. ¡°So? My lord, it can¡¯t be that you¡¯re the head of the poetry association, right?¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. ¡°Three years ago, I won the minor poetrypetition and obtained this title. Originally, I had gotten it as a way to show off with the crown prince. I didn¡¯t expect that it would be useful now.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s chin fell to the ground. This person was so abnormal, and he also knew how to write poems? Wait, he was the head of the poetry association. Did Wen Wan know?


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I paid attention to Tonghua Poetry Association¡¯s matters. Qian Yingchen has been managing the association for me. During the past few years, many members had left and new ones had joined. Most of new members probably don¡¯t know this information.¡± Ning Yuxuan yawned. ¡°Still, it won¡¯t be a problem for me to rmend you.¡±


    Ji Man suddenly felt that the person in front of her was truly a mystery. The original novel hadn¡¯t mentioned anything about him having several identities, ah. One moment he was someone that managed the Six Ministries. The next moment he was the head of Tonghua Poetry Association. Would she one day see him as a street food market¡¯s tyrant when she walked down Yongning Street?


    He definitely wasn¡¯t offering to let her enter Tonghua Poetry Association because he wanted to help her. It was because he wanted to Wen Wan to act with a little bit more decorum. She had heard that many sons of nobility had be rather interested in Wen Wan and was frequently very friendly with her. Marquis Moyu was probably starting to feel a sense of danger.


    Under the light of a female lead¡¯s halo, Wen Wan had exceptional predestined affinity with the opposite gender. She didn¡¯t reject the friendly advances of other men either and would teasingly let them circle around her. They couldn¡¯t let her go, but they would also never obtain her. There were too many envoys that liked to protect delicate flowers like Wen Wan. In order to make her happy, they had redoubled their efforts to nder Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man nodded her head to agree to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s suggestion. She might as well do something to alleviate her boredom from being too idle once Errong¡¯s wedding preparations werepleted. She could probably bluff her way through it by giarizing famous poets. Moreover, while she had been fine with leaving Wen Wan alone, this white lotus character was now vilifying her. Don¡¯t me her for giving Wen Wan a taste of her own medicine.


    And so, just like that, this matter was easily decided. It was just a brief interlude.


    ¡ª


    Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun¡¯s wedding day quickly arrived and Ning residence suddenly became very lively from top to bottom.


    Many people in the imperial court expressed their congrattions over the marriage between General Xiangyuan and Marquis Jing Wen¡¯s families. On Noble Consort Nie¡¯s side, there were gifts bestowed. Although Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t been officially promoted to the position of the main wife yet, old madame still allowed her to wear a red dress on this festive day to send Errong off. The dress was paired with a sleeveless white jacket with a blue undertone.


    Even though marrying Nie Qingyun would be fulfilling Ning Errong¡¯s long-time wish, she still felt sad about leaving her father and older brother. The young girl cried the entire journey to Nie residence after entering the sedan to depart. While Ning Mingjie escorted her to Nie residence¡¯s entrance, Marquis Jingwen was in the main hall.


    He emotionally sighed and said, ¡±Marrying off a daughter is like missing a piece of flesh, ah.¡±


    Old madame said with a smile, ¡°Younger brother-inw, you shouldn¡¯t be thinking this way. Qingyun is a good child. Errong will have a good home for thetter half of her life.¡±


    ¡ª


    There was a celebratory banquet at Nie residence. Many people from Ning n had gone there by following the bride¡¯s sedan. Other people had chosen to stay at Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence and would need to be entertained.


    Wen Wan was in a very good mood today. She had worn a pink embroidered top and a circr skirt. Standing in the crowd, she looked slender and elegant. Many people hade from Tonghao Poetry Association and they were standing next to her.


    Standing by Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, Muxu pointed out each of these people to her. ¡°The person in the blue robe is the Imperial Tutor Sun¡¯s eldest son. He¡¯s quite talented. The one in that beautiful white robe is Prince Huainan¡¯s heir. He lives a rtively leisurely lifestyle. The one in the azure robe is a deputy imperial censor, Sir Xiao...¡±


    All in all, there were several people by Wen Wan¡¯s side and they all had high status. Ji Man was speechless. She couldn¡¯t afford to offend any of these people.


    The people surrounding Wen Wan were all joyfully talking to each other. Wen Wan wasughing happily. It felt as if these people were stars that were revolving around a moon.


    There were also women standing by the side. They had probably also walked here. However, they were all standing far away from Wen Wan and seemed disdainful of her.


    Someone suddenly wrapped an arm around Ji Man¡¯s waist and she turned her head in surprise to see Marquis Moyu¡¯s smiling face.


    He said, ¡°Yingchen will being overter to introduce you.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was said to be the person with the highest influence in Tonghua Poetry Association right now. Ji Man nodded. Ning Yuxuan could be considered to havepleted his part.


    Completely disregarding the crowd¡¯s gaze, he lightly kissed her forehead and chuckled into her ear, ¡°Have fun.¡±


    After that, he simply turned around and left.

 Chapter 131 - The germination of a white lotus (2)

    Chapter 131 out of 513 ¨C The germination of a white lotus (2)


    Wen Wan¡¯s smile vanished. Her eyes held resentment and tears as she directly looked over here.


    Everyone followed her gaze and looked at this spot too. As soon as they saw Nie Sangyu, their faces show dissatisfaction and anger.


    Young Master Sun, the one wearing a blue robe, was the first person to ridicule her. ¡°Showing suchck of restraint in broad daylight. No wonder Wan-<i>er</i> can¡¯t win over her.¡±


    Ji Man found his wordsughable. Was he really saying that she had seduced the marquis with vixen-like charm? Ning Yuxuan had been the one kissing her. She hadn¡¯t kissed him. Why was he ming her?


    ¡°When Sangyu showed restraint in the past, your Wen Wan stole away my husband.¡± Ji Man superficially smiled. ¡°Now, everything has gone back to their original points. Sangyu has thought about this for a long time and still feels that it¡¯s better to not show restraint.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Wen Wan bit her lip. Her face was glistening with tears. The nearby testosterone-fueled men moved forward one by one and glowered at Nie Sangyu.


    Young Master Sun said, ¡°Why is your mouth so unclean? Marquis Moyu must be blind to have abandonded a pearl for a fish eye.¡±


    Who was the one that spoke unclean words first? And now, he was ming her? Ji Man wanted tough. Looking at Wen Wan, who was hiding behind the crowd and looked iparably wronged, Ji Man also felt her blood boiling in anger.


    So, she was a Holy Mother was she? She had seen plenty of women like Wen Wan in the modern world pretending to be a white lotus. They would pretend to be weak and men would look at them, think they were being wronged, and step forward to protect them.


    Towards this type of women, you definitely couldn¡¯t act fierce. Instead, you had to do a better job acting like a white lotus than her. Even if you couldn¡¯t directly torment her, you could at least anger her to death.


    And so, Ji Man let out a long sigh, lowered her eyes, and said, ¡°People who have different opinions can¡¯t work together. Sangyu hasn¡¯t done anything to wrong you. And yet, Sangyu has to be criticized like this for no reason. Since Sangyu has beencking in some aspect in your eyes, then Sangyu won¡¯t bother you with my presence. Sangyu will leave first.¡±


    After saying this, she gently curtsied and turned around to leave.


    ¡°Wait Madam Ning.¡± A person came out from behind the crowd and blocked her path.


    Ji Man raised her head to look. This person was smiling and he also saluted her. He was wearing a jade waist essory with yellow strings at the bottom.


    Only fifth-rank and higher officials were allowed to wear this type of waist essory. Why had a fifth-rank official saluted her? She curtsied in return and looked at him in puzzlement.


    The person that had approached her quietly said, ¡°This one is Qian Yingchen.¡± Then, he took a step away from her and said, ¡°I¡¯m here under the order of the marquis.¡±


    Ji Man understood. This was the person that would bring her inside Tonghao Poetry Association? But, she hadn¡¯t even entered yet, and this group of people was already dissatisfied with her. If she went over now and said she wanted to enter their association, would they put her in a difficult spot?


    Actually, there was no reason for her to worry about this question. Why? Because the answer to this question was a definite yes. When Qian Yingchen led her over to the group of people for introductions, other than the womenfolk, whom were showing some degree of curiosity, the men standing by Wen Wan¡¯s side looked at her with scorn.


    The empress¡¯s younger brother, Xiao Tianyi, said, ¡°Yingchen, do you think Tonghao Poetry Association will ept everyone? She¡¯s without talent or knowledge. It can¡¯t be that she¡¯s being allowed to join based on her face, right?¡± These words were said rather frivolously.


    Wen Wan also derisivelyughed. Right now, Nie Sangyu¡¯s face was very attractive and was even better looking than her own. But, so what if this was true? Everyone knew that Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t capable of writing poetry. She definitely wouldn¡¯t be allowed to enter Tonghao Poetry Association.


    Neither servile nor overbearing, Qian Yingchen said, ¡°Last time, the group of you allowed this lesser Madam Ning to enter the association without a formal test. Let¡¯s take today as an opportunity to test the both of them. If they pass, then no one should have any objections.¡±


    Ji Man though that Qian Yingchen¡¯s words were also erring on the side of poisonous. He could have just called Wen Wan, ¡°Madam Ning¡±. Instead, he had added ¡°lesser¡± to her address and also brought up that Wen Wan hadn¡¯t gone through testing. He was clearly pping her in the face, ah.


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t very good.


    One of the womenfolk covered her mouth to hide her smile and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you all say that this lesser Madam Ning is the capital¡¯s most talented woman? Then, she naturally shouldn¡¯t be afraid of taking the test.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°Since we¡¯re going to take a test and the spring flowers in this courtyard look pretty good, let¡¯s have the servants bring over the essentials tools for writing and take the test here.¡±


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> willply too.¡± Wen Wan lightly smiled and looked as if she had a card up her sleeve.


    Hearing the news of thispetition, the concubines in Ning n all came over to watch the excitement. It only took a short amount of time before the garden became crowded with people.


    Wen Wan and Ji Man were standing at the center of the courtyard. In front of each of them, there were a square table that had the necessary writing tools ced on it and a nearby servant girl grinding the ink.


    Standing at the side, Qian Yingchen said, ¡°Let¡¯s just use flowers as the theme. The two madams will each write a poem and the crowd will judge.¡±


    Wen Wan raised a brush, nimbly wrote out a poem, and handed it over.


    Ji Man looked at the brush and inwardly sighed. Nie Sangyu probably didn¡¯t know how to write to begin with. Otherwise, why was she willing to help her embroider flowers, but not with writing? Could it be that she would have to write using shorthand and hand that in?


    Prince Huainan¡¯s heir came over to bully her and mockingly asked, ¡°Madam Ning, do you not know how to write? Do you want me to help you?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°Sangyu¡¯s hand happens to feel a bit sore and can¡¯t write. Sangyu will say my poem aloud and you can write out the poem for me. Sangyu is sure that the words you write will look very good since you¡¯re so aplished.¡±


    He had originallye over with the intention of embarrassing her. Instead, she had seized him by his male pride. On the side, someone also started praising his calligraphy skills, so Prince Huainan¡¯s heir couldn¡¯t step down. With an unhappy expression, he walked over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s table and stood next to her.

 Chapter 132

    Chapter 132 out of 513 ¨C Even if you give a jade crown hat to a pig, the pig will still be a pig (1)


    With someone to help her write, the pressure that Ji Man felt decreased considerably. All girls liked poetry about flowers since they were young. The poem that she had the deepest impression about was a poem that her teacher had requested they recite many times. It was called <i>Ode to the Plum Blossom.</i>


    Now that she was thinking about it, it would be quite appropriate for today. Ji Man lightly smiled, nced at Wen Wan, and said, ¡°Sangyu will give this poem to Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Wen Wan had been confidently looked at Nie Sangyu. Surprised by these words, she slightly frowned. Giving her a poem?


    <i>¡°Wind and rain escorted Spring¡¯s departure, flying snow wees Spring¡¯s return,</i>


    <i>On the ice-d rock rising high and sheer, a flower blooms sweet and fair,</i>


    <i>Sweet and fair, she craves Spring not just for herself,</i>


    <i>To be the harbinger of Spring, she is content,</i>


    <i>When the mountain flowers are in full bloom, she will smile mingling in their midst.¡±</i>


    (T/N: The full trantion of <i>Ode to the Plum Blossom </i>can be found here<strong>.)</strong>


    After Ji Man finished reciting the poem, the heir had also finished writing the poem. Hearing that this poem would be given to Wen Wan, he had done a very good job writing it.


    ¡°This is called <i>Ode to the Plum Blossom</i>. Sangyuposed it to praised Wan-<i>er</i>, who doesn¡¯t try to vie for anything. Her devotion to selflessly contribute is impable.¡± Ji Man followed these words with a cutting remark, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> has always been as lofty and unsullied as a plum blossom. An ordinary person doesn¡¯t have any hope of catching up to her level.¡±


    Wen Wan felt endlessly aggravated by her words. What did she mean by ¡°doesn¡¯t try to vie for anything?¡± Wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu just saying these words sarcastically? The most hateful part was that, other than the several women that had never liked her in the poetry association, no one could tell that Nie Sangyu was mocking her. Instead, they all thought that this poem was very wellposed. Even Qiang Yingchen was smiling and nodding.


    Originally, the various sons of nobility had nned on saying something to make life difficult for Nie Sangyu. But, hearing that this poem was meant to praise Wen Wan and it was also truly well-written, they dryly coughed and wanted to change the discussion.


    One of the said, ¡°Let¡¯s look at the poem that Wan-<i>er</i> had written.¡±


    Wen Wan blushed. She had already handed her poem to Qian Yingchen and it was already toote for her to take the poem back.


    Qian Yingchen swept his gaze across the paper and read it aloud. ¡°A bluish green pond outside of the city, it has an overlooked snow-like thing. The white lotus is thoughtful, it¡¯s not the same as other muddy things.¡±


    The tonal cadence was awkward and the poem didn¡¯t rhyme either.


    Hearing that Wen Wan had written about a white lotus, Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop herself from turning around and holding onto Muxu for support as she guffawed.


    Really, Wen Wan was too cute. She had actually written a poem praising the white lotus to indicate that she was different from them, the muddy things.


    Several of the men were racking their brains trying to think of a way to help Wen Wan. Unfortunately, Ji Man had already disregarded appearance and let out herughter. If they still wanted to pretend that the poem was good by saying a few words of praise, they couldn¡¯t do so.


    With Wen Wan¡¯s poor disy of skill, she naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to enter Tonghao Poetry Association. Ji Man also now understood what Ning Errong had meant by ¡°poems that even a three-year-old could write¡±.


    For a period of time, there was only the sound of Nie Sangyu¡¯sughter.


    Tears appeared in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. Her pitiful appearance as she bit her lip made it seem as if she had been monumentally wronged. Her eyes were filled with hate and resentment as she looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Xiao Tiangyi stepped forward and said, ¡°Madam Ning, you¡¯re being rather rude. Even if Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s poem wasn¡¯t as good as yours, you shouldn¡¯tugh so loudly. You¡¯re not showing any respect.¡±


    Ji Man hadughed enough. She dried her eyes, turned around, and said, ¡°Sangyu has truly acted rudely. Sangyu didn¡¯tugh because Wan-<i>er</i> didn¡¯t write a good poem. It¡¯s because Sangyu feels that the imagery that Wan-<i>er</i> had written was truly too suitable for her.¡±


    Wen Wan felt confused. Didn¡¯t Nie Sangyu dislike her a lot? Then, why did she give her a poem and also praise her for being like a white lotus?


    Nie Sangyu must be plotting by pretending to be magnanimous and treating her nicely. Wen Wan settled her mind and quietly said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is willing to admit defeat for today¡¯spetition. Madam, please let Wan-<i>er</i> off and stop embarrassing Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    There was an art to speaking. Even though Ji Man hadn¡¯t done anything, Wen Wan¡¯s words had made her look guilty. Because Wen Wan¡¯s first response was to plead with her to let her off, it gave off the impression that she had be ustomed to frequently bullying Wen Wan in the ears of outsiders.


    It was pointless to waste her saliva arguing with Wen Wan. Ji Man said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop this game here. Sangyu still has to go back to attend to Old Madame. Since everyone hase to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence, Sangyu has to do a proper job with entertaining. After lunch, everyone can go to Luoyan Pagoda to continue appreciating poetry. All expenses will be paid by Marquis Moyu.¡±


    Wen Wan looked at Nie Sangyu and tried to persuade her, ¡°Madam, it might be a bit inappropriate for you to be so generous.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Yuxuan said I could make the decisions.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°The result of today¡¯spetition isn¡¯t important either. Sir Qian can handle everything. Sangyu has to leave first.¡±


    Just one sentence, ¡°Yuxuan said I could make the decisions¡± was enough to turn Wen Wan¡¯s eyes red. Nie Sangyu¡¯s following words aboutpetition¡¯s results made Wen Wan¡¯s heart feel as if it was being hanged up to be drawn and quartered. Today had been extremely humiliating for her. Without any good reason, Luo Qianqian had been given the opportunity tough at her. She would definitely remember this enmity.


    Holding the two poems, Qian Yingchen lightly smiled asked, ¡°Everyone, judge for yourself. Nothing needs to be said about Madam Ning¡¯s poem. But, what about the lesser Madam Ning¡¯s poem? Can she be admitted into Tonghao Poetry Association?¡±


    Luo Qianqian, who had been watching from the side for a long time, snickered and said, ¡°The woman chosen as the capital¡¯s most talented woman by Tonghao Poetry Association lost to a married woman. You guys can afford to lose this face, but I can¡¯t. If people find out that Wen Wan¡¯s poem meets the threshold for entering Tonghao Poetry Association, then we¡¯ll definitely have enough members to cover the world soon.¡±


    Wen Wan bit her lip and quietly said, ¡°Today¡¯s poem is indeed a bitcking... Wan-<i>er</i> was just feeling too lonely, so Wan-<i>er</i> came to Tonghao Poetry Association to talk about poems with everyone. But after the fuss of today, Wan-<i>er</i> is afraid that I¡¯ll have to bid everyone farewell...¡±


    Before these words were finished, her voice became choked with emotion. Several men came forward to yell at Luo Qianqian.


    One of them said, ¡°Miss Luo, your words are too harsh. Aren¡¯t you just being hostile because Wan-<i>er</i> took your title as the most talented woman?¡±

 Chapter 133

    Chapter 133 out of 513 ¨C Even if you give a jade crown hat to a pig, the pig will still be a pig (2)


    A couple of women by Luo Qianqian¡¯s side harrumphed.


    One of them said, ¡°That title isn¡¯t important. Everyone still knows that Qianqian is the most talented poetess. For example, even if a nobleman doesn¡¯t wear a jade crown hat, he¡¯s still a nobleman. And, even if you give a jade crown hat to a pig, the pig will still be a pig.¡±


    Qian Yingchen couldn¡¯t resist quietlyughing. But, it was only for a brief moment. He quickly returned to normal and solemnly said, ¡°Anyone that wants to vote for the lesser Madam Ning to stay in Tonghua Poetry Association, write down your name. We have fifteen members here today. If more than eight people vote her, then she can stay.¡±


    Of the fifteen people here, more than half of them were by Wen Wan¡¯s side. The results of this vote didn¡¯t even need to be looked at.


    Luo Qianqian coldly harrumphed, flung her sleeves, and walked away.


    The other people also felt that it was pointless to continue staying here and the crowd dispersed.


    Wen Wan¡¯s mood couldn¡¯t be any worse.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man hummed a little ditty the entire walk to old madame¡¯s ce.


    ¡ª


    Old madame had already heard about herpetition with Wen Wan. She happily pulled her over and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to seeing you win over that vixen in every aspect. This way, Xuan-<i>er</i> will be able who¡¯s truly the best.¡±


    ¡°Old Madame, you don¡¯t need to worry. Other than not being as delicate as her, Sangyu won¡¯t lose to her in any other area. If she really wants topete with Sangyu, then Sangyu will outperform her for Old Madame¡¯s amusement.¡± Her words directly led to old madameughing.


    Old madame¡¯s tapped Nie Sangyu¡¯s nose and said, ¡°You clever little imp. All of the care I¡¯ve shown you in the past several years have been worth it.¡±


    Ji Man chatted with old madame for a while. After eating lunch with her, she headed out to make arrangements with Luoyan Pagoda.


    The current Luoyan Pagaoda had be even more luxurious than before. On the fifth floor, there was the second half of ¡°Inviting you to drink wine¡± had been personally written by the crown prince, as well as the legendary first half of the poem. It had be a must-see tourist attraction. As a result, the shopkeeper had earned quite a bit of money.


    Carrying the wooden token that Luoyan Pagoda had originally given her, Ji Man also brought Dengxin along with her. Right after Ji Man got into the sedan chair, she heard a voice shouting from the outside, ¡°Madam Ning.¡±


    Opening the curtain, she saw Luo Qianqian. This young woman wasn¡¯t outstandingly pretty. Although her looks were average, her personality and manners were exceptionally good and people feltfortable when looking at her.


    Ji Man came out of the sedan chair and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Luo Qianqian curtsied and said, ¡°Qianqian admires Madam for being so talented in poetry, but that group of people are nning on going to Luoyan Pagoda and spending extravagantly to give Madam a hard time. Qianqian happens to have a friendly rtionship with Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s shopkeeper. How about I go there with Madam? This way you¡¯ll be more prepared.¡±


    This young woman had a kind heart. Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Sure, that sounds good. Thank you Miss Luo.¡±


    At the time, the shopkeeper had said that until someone else wrote out the second half of the poem, she would be able to go there with friends for free by using this wooden token. Although the second half of the poem had been written out now, the financial benefits from her poem hadn¡¯t decreased at all, ah. Ji Man thought it would be possible to sessfully discuss this matter with the shopkeeper. This was why she had the confidence to let that group of people go to Luoyan Pagoda.


    She shared the sedan chair with Luo Qianqing. Fortunately, both of them were thin and it wasn¡¯t strenuous for the servants carrying the sedan chair.


    Luo Qianqian felt that Nie Sangyu¡¯s face looked familiar, so she started chatting with her.


    Ji Man casually asked a few questions rted to Wen Wan and Luo Qianqian¡¯s extensive reply was like a cascade of spilling beans.


    For example, when Wen Wan was making friends, her behavior was always slightly ambiguous and she neverid bare the actual facts. As a result, a group of men that were fond of lovely and charming women all circled around her. It didn¡¯t even need to be said that Wen Wan was a married woman. Even if she was still unmarried, fooling around like this was enough to reveal her intentions. And yet, those men were very protective of her. They all insisted that they were only friends talking about poems.


    Another example was Luo Qianqian had once pointed out to Wen Wan¡¯s face that her behavior was inappropriate for a married woman. As a result, Wen Wan left Tonghua Poetry Association in tears, which led to a group of men saying that Luo Qianqian had a poisonous heart. Then, the group of men left together to request for Wen Wan toe back.


    Wen Wan was truly treated like a goddess in Tonghua Poetry Assocation.


    Luo Qianqian somewhat resentfully said, ¡°I can¡¯t stand seeing her vixen-like appearance.¡±


    Ji Man quietlyforted her, ¡°It¡¯s okay. A fox will always end up revealing her tail. If Wen Wan still wants Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart, she won¡¯t dare to act more impudently.¡±


    Luo Qianqian looked at her for a few moments before saying, ¡°You¡¯re not as narrow-minded as rumors say you are.¡±


    Ji Man was already tried of hearing the rumors about Nie Sangyu. She rather despondently waved her hand and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already learned to let things go...¡±


    ¡ª


    The crown prince and Ning Yuxuan were both sitting in a side room on Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s fifth floor.


    Hearing about Nie Sangyu¡¯s recent impressive feat, the crown prince boisterouslyughed. He looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Don¡¯t let your family¡¯s wealth be bankrupted by her!¡±


    Marquis Moyu helplessly rubbed his nose. ¡°Sangyu wouldn¡¯t do something so impulsively. If she really ends up bankrupting me, then this one will move to the crown prince¡¯s residence.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t ask for anything better than that.¡± The crown prince said with a smile, ¡°But your Wen Wan has been bullied. Why aren¡¯t you as distressed as before?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused before saying, ¡°I do care about her. But, I¡¯ll still feel angry when she¡¯s acting inappropriately. It¡¯s because I¡¯m concerned about her that I sent Sangyu. If you¡¯re not busy, how about staying here to watch the good show with me this afternoon?¡±


    The crown prince looked at him with a prating gaze. He tapped his fingers on the table and smiled. ¡°Yuxuan, do you really still not like Nie Sangyu?¡±

 Chapter 134

    Chapter: 134 out of 513 ¨C A supporting female character that knows the plot (1)


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes and chuckled. ¡°Your Highness, is there any need for you to be so concerned about this? With Nie Sangyu¡¯s ability and morality, do you think she can attract my interest? It¡¯s only that Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s recent behavior has been quite unseemly and she¡¯s also caused Jinse to miscarry. That¡¯s why I¡¯m treating her a bit coldly.¡±


    At the mention of Jinse, the crown prince¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t very concerned. He casually said, ¡°She¡¯s only a prostitute that I gave you during the trip. It¡¯s not a big deal that she lost her baby. There¡¯s no need for you to give Wen Wan the cold shoulder.¡±


    Marquis Moyu faintly smiled and changed the topic.


    It was true that Jinse was just a random woman that had stirred the crown prince¡¯s casual interest when they visited Tian Xiang. At the time, he had been thinking he needed a person to distract Marquis Moyu so that he could find an opportunity to kill Nie Sangyu. Jinse had a rather attractive face and her body was also very captivating. And so, the crown prince had chosen her. But, during the rest of the Southern Trip, Ning Mingjie never slept at night and guarded Nie Sangyu, so he didn¡¯t have a second chance to strike.


    After they returned to the capital, Ning Mingjie had been promoted to a fourth-rank deputy minister of trade. Although this wasn¡¯t as powerful as possessing control over a military unit, being promoted from sixth-rank to fourth-rank was enough to show the emperor¡¯s regard from him. As soon as there was an opportunity for battle, it would be time for Ning Mingjie to aplish further meritorious service.


    Unfortunately for him, Ning Mingjie had joined the third prince¡¯s side. Zhao Zhe wasn¡¯t surprised. It was his actions in Qin Province that pushed Ning Mingjie over there. There was nothing to say. He just felt annoyed that the third prince had gained a useful supporter without having done anything.


    Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t died, Ning Mingjie had aplished meritorious service, and the third prince had gained the emperor¡¯s attention. Although the crown prince hadn¡¯t gained any benefit during the entire Southern Trip, he wasn¡¯t anxious. A game of chess had to be slowly yed. Until thest moment, was there anyone that could determine who would win?


    ¡ª


    With the help of Luo Qianqian, Ji Man was able to very quickly persuade the shopkeeper that her wooden token should continue to be valid.


    The shopkeeper¡¯s eyes were lit with dor signs as he said with a smile, ¡°But, this will only count towards your friends from Tonghao Poetry Association.¡±


    Ji Man understood. It was the benefit of them being celebrities, right? Wherever the members of Tonghao Poetry Association went, there would always be people following after them. If they frequently came here to y, Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s reputation would be even better.


    So, the cost of their food and drinks would be the equivalent of paying advertising costs.


    As a result, Luoyan Pagoda even specially sent people to stand at the entrance to wait for Tonghao Poetry Association¡¯s members and very pleasantly wee them upstairs.


    ¡°Marquis Moyu¡¯s wife has already reserved Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s fifth floor.¡± The shopkeeper stepped forward to wee Qian Yingchen and said with a smile, ¡°Sir and Ladies, if you don¡¯t mind, would you allow a few schrs to stay and observe your elegant manners?¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s silently worried. Would Marquis Moyu really not mind that Nie Sangyu was spending so much money?


    However, the people behind him were already eager to take advantage of Nie Sangyu¡¯s generous offer and went right up to the fifth floor. They ordered all of the costly teas and snacks, requested ink and paper, and started their merrymaking.


    Of course, Wen Wan had alsoe with this group. Calcting the costs, she silently coldly harrumphed. If this visit costed over a few hundred silver taels, she didn¡¯t believe that Yuxuan would actually be happy with Nie Sangyu¡¯s offer. She would definitely report Nie Sangyu¡¯s wrongdoing to old madame. It would be great if Nie Sangyu ended up having to pay these costs herself. Let¡¯s see how she would cry when that happened.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t interested in this type of pastime. She had entered the poetry association and she wasn¡¯t in a hurry to tear apart Wen Wan¡¯s beautiful fa?ade. Since she had free time today, she should go over to Shui Rogue Store and look around.


    She had previously lied to Muxu by saying Miss Shui had stolen her cold cream form and went off to do her own business. The truth was that Miss Shui had always been very reliable and honest. She followed her orders by securely holding onto the banknotes for her instead of delivering them to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence.


    As for the banknotes she had previously buried, she already found an opportunity to bring them back to Miss Shui. Today, she wasing here to see how business had been doing during the past few months.


    Yongning Street continued to be the most bustling street. Ji Man brought Dengxin with her to Shui Rogue Store and discovered that that store had expanded to several storefronts. The third floor of the original building has also been acquired and converted into a floor for VIPs.


    Seeing Nie Sangyu from far away, Miss Shui hurriedly had a shop assistant take over with attending a customer, came out of the store herself to greet Nie Sangyu, and curtsied. ¡°Madam Ning. You finally came.¡±


    Dengxin didn¡¯t know about the cold cream matter. Ji Man said she wanted to go upstairs to look at cosmetics and told her to stay downstairs.


    ¡ª


    Miss Shui brought over the ount books and a mahogany box that was decoratively carved. With a bright smile, she said, ¡°Our products have been doing better and better. I¡¯ve been thinking about selling these products outside of the capital and I sent people to scout out possible locations. Many of our customers havee from far away to buy our products to bring back with them. Our business in the capital is booming. We should be able to do well in other ces as well.¡±


    Ji Man took the ount books and looked them over. She almost fell out of the chair in shock while looking at the ount books. She hadn¡¯t been aware of how profitable the store was.


    ¡°There must be something wrong with my eyes. Help me read this amount.¡± Ji Man¡¯s finger trembled as she pointed at the heap of numbers.


    Miss Shui covered her smiling mouth. ¡°Thirty-eight thousand seven hundred eighty silver taels. This the profit for the past three months. This servant has already taken my portion of the profit. This amount belongs to your entirely. I deposited all of it at Huifeng Bank.¡±


    As expected, selling feminine skincare products was the most profitable business. OMG, it had only taken three months to earn this much money. In a few years, would she be the richest person in this dynasty?


    Ji Man¡¯s legs felt weak. Why was she stillpeting with those women? She should just take this money and escape to a faraway ce. She had enough to peacefully live out the rest of her life.

 Chapter 135

    Chapter 135 out of 513 ¨C A supporting female character that knows the plot (2)


    However, once her mind cleared up from the euphoria, Ji Man still greatly missed her modern life. Having a lot of money was great, but she couldn¡¯t take this with her, so there was no need to take it so seriously.


    Miss Shui wanted to give her the box that contained the banknotes to her, but Ji Man hastily said, ¡°Safeguard this money for me. I¡¯ll just take three hundred silver taels with me as pocket money. If I need more, I¡¯ll send someone to get it. You have to remember, if someonees to you and ask who¡¯s the behind-the-scenes owner, you have to pretend to not recognize me. Just say that you created everything yourself.¡±


    ¡°This servant understands.¡±


    Miss Shui was a clever person, so Ji Man¡¯s worries lessened considerably.


    Knowing that she had her own money, Ji Man felt ample confidence. When she returned to the residence to check the ount book, she was still in a very good mood.


    When Qi Siling had returned the inner courts¡¯ ount book, she had look through it. Although she didn¡¯t notice any clerical error for the transactions, the remaining money left for this residence was very little.


    Marquis Moyu had his own enfeoffment and gifts from various people, as well asrge rewards from the emperor. His sry was considerably abundant, so there shouldn¡¯t be the slight problem with him supporting arge family. However, the money left for this quarter was only twenty-something silver taels. At the beginning of spring, items still needed to be purchased for every courtyard. The remaining money definitely wasn¡¯t enough.


    But, the position of the main wife had only recently returned to her. It wouldn¡¯t reflect well on her if she were seen as being stingy with each of the courtyards¡¯ essential necessities. Misunderstandings caused by gossip would ur.


    Ji Man considered for a while, then she gestured for Gancao toe over, gave her the banknotes, and sent her off to buy the items. At minimum, the items for old madame¡¯s courtyard needed to be purchased.


    ¡ª


    After Jinse had miscarried, she had been resting this entire time. It seemed that Marquis Moyu had the attitude of not wanting to pay attention to her.


    Thinking that it wasn¡¯t easy for a woman to recover from miscarriage, Ji Man prepared and sent over the items that Jinse would need.


    In the end, the only courtyard that she didn¡¯t send over enough stuff was Jiyue Courtyard.


    Ji Man could see that Qi Siling had always been targeting her. But since Nie Sangyu had been the one that treated Qi Siling poorly to begin with, Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything and just pretended that she didn¡¯t notice Qi Siling¡¯s previous attempts. But now that Qi Siling had messed with the ount book, she could only counter her tricks. Didn¡¯t leave her enough money for the quarter? That¡¯s fine, ah. But, Qi Siling wouldn¡¯t be receiving much for her courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Tonghao Poetry Association¡¯s members had the equivalent of avish party at Luoyan Pagoda for one afternoon and had attracted the attention of many people. Wen Wan also stepped into the limelight again. She was proimed Tonghao Poetry Associations¡¯ most beautiful woman.


    Luo Qianqian could only silently stew in resentment. Why had Nie Sangyu left so early? If she hadn¡¯t left, there would be no way that the words ¡°most beautiful woman¡± would be used to describe Wen Wan.


    ¡ª


    However, Wen Wan was in trouble once she returned that evening. Marquis Moyu went to the crown prince¡¯s residence to have a long talk and wouldn¡¯t be returning tonight. Thus, old madame was able to punish Wen Wan with kneeling in the ancestral hall for a night because Wen Wan had been loose with her morals.


    This episode had also happened in the original novel. Ji Man remembered that Wen Wan would faint during the night. Because she had fainted, a doctor had checked on her and she had been revealed to be pregnant. After the marquis came back, he had a huge fight with old madame. The male lead lovingly protected the female and their cold war ended.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t just the supporting female character. She was a supporting female character that knew the plot. So, how could she let them reconcile? Haha, dream on.


    Didn¡¯t Wen Wan like to be surrounded by men? Then, let her get her fill.


    Ji Man sent out the news that Wen Wan had been punished with kneeling in the ancestral hall and requested the presences of emissaries to protect this fragile flower. The ancestral hall was located a short distance outside of Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence¡¯s back entrance and it was easy enough to climb over the wall that surrounded the ancestral hall.


    Hearing the news that a delicate beauty had been wronged and was pitifully kneeling in an ancestral hall, the group of romantic young men couldn¡¯t stop themselves. One by one, they came over like thieves to protect this frail flower.


    They still had some sense of propriety. Thus, instead of entering the ancestral hall, they only stood outside and sighed and moaned to the moon that Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t appreciate beauties and old madame had a poisonous heart.


    Wen Wan had originally been kneeling, but there wasn¡¯t anyone else in the ancestral hall except for Tanxiang. She had been bored to begin with. Now that a crowd of people hade over to keep herpany, why would she care about staying inside to kneel? She went outside to cry out her grievances.


    With such arge group of people keeping herpany, would Wen Wan still faint? Of course not. Wen Wan passed the night very happily with her admirers doing their best to make herugh and smile.


    When she returned to the residence the next day, she thought; why did she insist on staying with Marquis Moyu when there were so many other people treating her well?


    ¡ª


    The fainting episode had been skipped, so Wen Wan¡¯s pregnancy hadn¡¯t been detected. Ji Man calcted the days. Wen Wan should be about two months pregnant. There just hadn¡¯t been any pregnancy signs, that was why she hadn¡¯t noticed.


    Right now, the question was, how should she deal with this baby that hadn¡¯t been discovered yet.


    No matter what, a child was innocent. Back when she used to watch pce dramas, she always despised the women that would harm children the most. She wasn¡¯t nning on poisoning Wen Wan like Nie Sangyu had done in the original novel. But, under what circumstances would Wen Wan¡¯s pregnancy be less important?


    If she was pregnant as well.


    Ji Man counted the days on her fingers. From the time they returned from the Southern Trip until now, two months had passed. Was it possible for her to have be pregnant too?


    If she wasn¡¯t pregnant, then she could only wait to see Wen Wan¡¯s reversal in fortunes. If she was pregnant, although Marquis Moyu might not necessarily be as happy about it as Wen Wan¡¯s pregnancy, the other women would still be expected to stand to the side if the main wife was pregnant.


    In a gambling mood, Ji Man summoned a doctor to check her pulse.


    Doctor Li came over with his medicine box. After checking her pulse, his following words left her very disappointed. ¡°Madam, you¡¯re not pregnant.¡±

 Chapter 136

    Chapter 136 out of 513 ¨C Nie Sangyu¡¯s original time of death (1)


    ording to the original novel, Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t been pregnant at this time. Ji Man had thought that since the Southern Trip had changed, then this might have also changed. Ji Man sighed, didn¡¯t think any further about this, and had Muxu send the doctor out.


    Since she wasn¡¯t pregnant, then she could only watch as Wen Wan¡¯s fortune reversed. She couldn¡¯t kill her. In the original novel, Nie Sangyu had died around this time. Since she had only read up to Nie Sangyu¡¯s death, she had no idea what happened after that.


    In addition, something would be happening in the pce as well. Noble Consort Nie had already been three months pregnant. Once the emperor had been informed, the empress also naturally found out too. While feeling overjoyed, the emperor said as long as Noble Consort Nie gave birth to another son, he would promote her to the position of imperial noble consort.


    (T/N: Imperial noble consort is one step above noble consort. She would be the second most powerful woman in the imperial harem.)


    However, Ji Man knew that Noble Consort Nie would be framed as faking a pregnancy. Later on, while feeling furious, the emperor sent Noble Consort Nie to the cold pce. Once that happened, Marquis Moyu ordered Nie Sangyu¡¯s death without having to worry about any consequences.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    As long as Noble Consort Nie didn¡¯t enter the cold pce, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t heartlessly sentence Nie Sangyu to death and n on marrying another one of Nie n¡¯s daughters in order to maintain the rtionship between the two ns.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t want to die at all.


    So for now, she would disregard everything else and convince old madame to go to the pce immediately.


    ¡°Why do you want to go to the pce? Right now, there are a lot of people over at the noble consort¡¯s ce congratting her.¡± Old madame was quite confused.


    With a solemn expression, Ji Man said, ¡°Sangyu had a nightmarest night. In the dream, someone had used the noble consort of faking her pregnancy and said her stomach was just bloated. That person even found a wicked imperial physician to nder the noble consort with her. They caused the noble consort to be condemned and sent to the cold pce. Even more hateful, the noble consort ended up suffering miscarriage. The dream felt too real. Sangyu is scared and wants to go to the pce to check up on the noble consort.¡±


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu was scared enough that she was perspiring despite the cold, old madame thought that the dream truly did have enough foundation in reality to be frightful. Although the emperor hadn¡¯t favored the empress in a long time, Xiao n had considerable control over the imperial court. The empress had a wicked heart. She might not be willing to ept the noble consort¡¯s second child. The emperor was also exceptionally happy because it was rare for him to have another child due to his advance age. The greater his hope was right now, the greater his disappointment would be. Thus, the punishment would also be much harsher.


    (T/N: Since it¡¯s only been mentioned one time before, including a reminder that the empresses from Xiao n here.)


    Thinking of these thoughts, old madame agreed to bring Nie Sangyu into the pce. Anyways, it would be good to take a visit there and see Noble Consort Nie.


    ¡ª


    Once they arrived at Ninglu Pce, before Noble Consort Nie had time to say anything, Nie Sangyu said with a serious expression, ¡°Aunty, vignce must be maintained to avoid being harmed. Although an old imperial physician has already confirmed that you¡¯re pregnant, Sangyu feels that it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. When the emperores byter, just pretend that you¡¯re not feeling well and have all of the imperial physicianse over here to check on you.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie looked at her in confusion. ¡°Why do you want to involve so many people?¡±


    ¡°Sangyu wouldn¡¯t harm aunty,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°If you have all of the imperial physicianse by to check your condition with the emperor acting as a witness, then no one will dare to use aunty of faking a pregnancyter on.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie had battled in the imperial harem for many years and had used methods like this one before. But, maybe it was because her life had been toofortablytely. Or perhaps, it was because she was too old and didn¡¯t want topete anymore. She had forgotten that even if she didn¡¯t want to harm someone, other people would still want to harm her. With Sangyu¡¯s reminder, she became alert again.


    And so, when the emperor came by Ninglu Pce and Nie Sangyu and old madame kneeled down to greet the emperor, they heard Noble Consort Nie painful scream. She was clutching her stomach and her expression looked painful.


    ¡°Beloved consort, what¡¯s wrong?¡± The emperor was shocked. He hurriedly went forward to support the noble consort. As Noble Consort Nie voiced her pain, she ordered her personal pce servant girl to bring over all of the imperial physicians.


    Several imperial physicians came over and they all said that the noble consort¡¯s fetus was very stable. Noble Consort Nie apologized to the emperor for making a fuss about nothing. She had just been too worried at the time.


    The emperor was currently in a very good mood. How could he possibly me her? He even decided to stay over in Ninglu Pce that night.


    Everything had gone ording to the n. Ji Man let out arge sigh of relief.


    ¡ª


    On their way back, old madame somewhat reproachfully said, ¡°You must have been overthinking things. Look at how much the emperor favored the noble consort. How could he possibly sentence her to the cold pce just because someone nders her?¡±


    Ji Man sighed. Women could never sessfully guess what men would do next. Anyways, it was fine. This trial had passed. Nothing else was important.


    ¡ª


    When they returned to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence, a group of people wereing and going. They looked very frantic. Once nce was enough for Ji Man to figure out what had happened. What was meant to happen would always happen.


    Tanxiang was blocking the entrance. Seeing that old madame and Nie Sangyu had returned, she excitedly reported, ¡°Mistress Wan is pregnant.¡±


    Old madame was stunned. Holding Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand for support, she asked, ¡°How could she be pregnant? Xuan-<i>er</i> had only recently returned. Whose child is this?¡±


    Tanxiang¡¯s smile froze and disappeared. She said, ¡°My master has been pregnant for two months. The baby was conceived before the marquis left for the Southern Trip. Old Madame, if you don¡¯t believe this servant, you can go inside to ask the doctor.¡±


    After a light snort, old madame brought Nie Sangyu along with her as she walked to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Ning Yuxuan had returned and was currently sitting at Wen Wan¡¯s bedside. With a gentle expression, he held Wan Wan¡¯s hand. Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were red. She had probably recently cried, but her entire body seemed filled with vitality.


    When Ji Man entered the room, Marquis Moyu turned around to briefly look at her. His gaze was a little bit strange. Ji Man didn¡¯t understand what it meant.

 Chapter 137

    Chapter: 137 out of 513 ¨C Nie Sangyu¡¯s original time of death (2)


    As soon as Wen Wan saw that old madame hade inside, she put on a show of struggling to get up. She thought that Yuxuan would stop her, but he didn¡¯t. So, she could only brace herself as she got off the bed and saluted old madame.


    Since Wen Wan was pregnant and also the secondary wife, there was no reasonable excuse old madame could use to give Wen Wan a hard time. She let Wen Wan lie back down on the bed and started asking the doctor about Wen Wan¡¯s situation.


    The doctor confirmed that the baby had been conceived before the Southern Trip, so it was almost certainly Ning Yuxuan¡¯s baby.


    Old madame sighed, ordered the servant to take good care of Wen Wan, and cast a meaningful nce at Nie Sangyu to indicate for her toe along. She would admonish her in private.


    Officially, Wen Wan still had the position of the main wife. If Wen Wan reversed her fortune now, it would be difficult to find another opportunity for Nie Sangyu to take back the position of the main wifeter on.


    Ji Man felt that as long as she still had her life, everything was still okay. This incident had been Nie Sangyu¡¯s fated cmity in the original novel. As long as she safely passed this period, it could still be considered a good thing.


    And so, she raised her foot and prepared to follow after old madame.


    ¡°Sangyu,¡± Ning Yuxuan quietly spoke. His voice sounded very gentle.


    Ji Man curiously turned her head around to look at him.


    Marquis Moyu faintly smiled and said, ¡°I spentst night talking with the crown prince, but I¡¯m having a hard time falling asleep. You¡¯re pretty good at massaging. Would you be willing to attend to me so I can sleep for a bit?¡±


    Old madame paused. Her son actually wanted his wife. This olddy naturally couldn¡¯t steal his wife from him, so she simply waved Nie Sangyu to let her go.


    Ji Man thought something was off. Right now was Wen Wan¡¯s most needy time. Why would Marquis Moyu be going over to her ce instead of staying here with Wen Wan?


    Ji Man nced at Wen Wan. As expected, her expression was ugly.


    After Ji Man nodded her head in agreement, Ning Yuxuan said a fewforting sentences to Wen Wan, then he left the room with her.


    After sending away the servants, the two of them walk on a path with bordering blooming spring flowers, with one person following after the other.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure what Ning Yuxuan was nning, so she silently followed after him like a small tail.


    After they had walked for a while, he suddenly said, ¡°You can¡¯t do anything to Wen Wan¡¯s baby.¡±


    He turned his head and somewhat gently looked at her as he asked, ¡°Can you promise me this?¡±


    Beauty trap? The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Was there any point in him asking this question? Of course, she would say yes. Otherwise, she would be giving him an excuse to drag her out to be beaten for no good reason at all.


    ¡°My lord, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. He stretched his hand out and pulled her closer to walk by his side.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s voice was exceptionally light as he said into her ear, ¡°Last night, I drank a lot with the crown prince. He waspletely drunk, but I was still sober. At the end of the night, he said something about you.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man raised her head to look at him.


    ¡°The crown prince said that if he became the emperor, he would find a woman as clever as you to be his empress.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice was very light as his slender fingers caressed her face. ¡°You¡¯re certainly very skillful.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and exined, ¡°If this servant said that the crown prince is deliberately sowing dissension, would you believe me? There¡¯s nothing between him and me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°En. You don¡¯t need to exin. I understand the crown prince¡¯s thoughts very well and won¡¯t fall for his trap. Today, I want to discuss something with you. I¡¯m going to have to let you unjustly suffer for a period of time. How do you feel?¡±


    Ji Man looked at the person in front of her and felt as if she was seeing nine foxtails fluttering in the wind behind him.


    ¡°My lord, what do you mean by this?¡±


    ¡°Since the crown prince have already said those type of words, I have to show some type of attitude, ah.¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°Go and stay in the confinement courtyard for ten days, just ten days. Okay?¡±


    Because she was clever, Marquis Moyu straightforwardly told her his n. A clever person saved time when he or she was talking with another intelligent person. Ji Man could tell that Ning Yuxuan was guarded against the crown prince. He was doing this to show the crown prince that he didn¡¯t like Nie n and cared more about Wen Wan.


    She sighed. She had avoided Nie Sangyu¡¯s original time of death, but she still hadn¡¯t been able to avoid other unpleasantness.


    To make it even worse, Ning Yuxuan, this fox, directly asked about the trap, ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this. Will you jump?¡±


    She didn¡¯t even have the leeway to refuse. At the very least, if she took the initiative to help him, she could at least bargain for something in return.


    How could she refuse?


    Ji Man helplessly nodded, then she looked at Ning Yuxuan and asked, ¡°What benefit will this servant get for doing this?¡±


    ¡°En, I¡¯ll tell the Ministry of Revenue to hurry up with processing your official promotion to main wife.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    Indeed, she should have guessed it earlier. It had all been a lie when he said it would take a long time to process the paperwork. This person had been scheming against her the entire time.


    Ji Man sighed. She was underneath his roof, so her only choice was to lower her head.


    She followed Marquis Moyu back to Feiwan Courtyard. They put on a show of her acting discourteously and him getting angry. It ended with her being punished with a stay in the confinement courtyard.


    When old madame asked him for the reason, Ning Yuxuan repeated the crown prince¡¯s words again. There was nothing that old madame could say to this. Sangyu would only be confined for ten days, and this was also a good way for Sangyu to lie low until the fuss over Wen Wan¡¯s pregnancy died down.


    And so, from this point on, Wan Wan had a ¡°reverse in fortune¡±. Once again, she became favored due to her pregnancy. As for Nie Sangyu, she moved back to the confinement courtyard with Muxu.


    Muxu had already cried for a long time. With red eyes, she looked around the courtyard and said, ¡°Master, I can¡¯t believe we¡¯re back here again.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°En. If we¡¯re hungry, I¡¯ll go to the kitchen and steal another chicken.¡±


    Her words cheered Muxu into momentarilyughing. But, Muxu quickly ended up feeling bitter again. It had been such a difficult journey before life had finally improved. Why did this happen?


    That night, Ji Man was lying on the bed and silentlymenting the miseries of being a supporting female character. When she turned around, she saw someone jumping over the window and covering Muxu¡¯s mouth and nose with something that rendered her unconscious.

 Chapter 138 - A rapist in the middle of the night? (1)

    Chapter: 138 out of 513 ¨C A rapist in the middle of the night? (1)


    Noticing the movement in the outer room, Ji Man sat up with her back against the wall and quietly stared at the shadowy figure.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡±


    The person checked Muxu¡¯s pulse. After determining that her pulse was stable and she wouldn¡¯t be waking up again, he finally turned around and leisurely said, ¡°You¡¯re certainly a light sleeper.¡±


    The voice was very familiar. Ji Man rolled her eyes. He was a dignified marquis. How could he do something like sneaking into someone¡¯s room in the middle of the night?


    ¡°My lord, why are you here?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nonchntly took off his outer robe, yawned, and said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t find a peaceful ce to sleep, so I decided toe here. I¡¯ll leave early tomorrow morning.¡±


    Did he really think that he could fool her? Ji Man knew there was definitely something he wanted to say to her. She rxed and lied back down.


    Right now, Marquis Moyu was the least likely person to kill her. With him by her side, she could actually let down her guard.


    After lying in bed for a while, Marquis Moyu let out a long sigh and said, ¡°There¡¯s a problem that¡¯s worrying me. Sangyu, tell me. Wen Wan is pregnant. Do I still want Mu Shuqing¡¯s baby?¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man eyes widened slightly. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you want it?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan unenthusiastically said, ¡°I don¡¯t need that many descendants. One is enough.¡±


    Was he afraid that there would be a conflict between his offspring for session? Ji Man didn¡¯t understand. What if Wen Wan gave birth to a daughter?


    This man¡¯s mind was too treacherously deep. She couldn¡¯t figure out his intentions, so she decided to stay silent in the end to avoid falling into any potential traps.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend to sleep.¡± Ning Yuxuan poked Nie Sangyu¡¯s peacefully sleeping face and chuckled. ¡°You can¡¯t escape.¡±


    Ji Man turned around and buried her head inside the quilt. Her intuition told her that Marquis Moyu didn¡¯te here with good intentions. He was definitely going to try to use her to benefit himself in some way. She wouldn¡¯t fall for his trap this time.


    A warm breath came from behind her. Ning Yuxuan hugged her and tucked his chin between her neck and shoulder. He gently asked,¡±Sangyu, do you want to leave the confinement courtyard?¡±


    Bastard! He was the one that sent her here, and now he was using this as condition? How shameless could he be?!


    Ji Man took a deep breath and continued to pretend sleeping.


    ¡°You seem to still owe me a dare,¡± the person behind her quietly said, ¡°How about fulfilling it now?¡±


    Ji Man opened her eyes, turned around, and severely looked at him. ¡°My lord, Sangyu thinks that hurting any child would bepletely crazy and cruel. If you harm your own child, then you would be worse than a beast. If you didn¡¯t want a child, why did you impregnate her? Mu Shuqing is almost four months pregnant. Don¡¯t you understand that it would be very dangerous for her to suffer a miscarriage?¡±


    The smile on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face froze. Looking into the eyes of the person in his arms, he saw a trace of genuine disgust.


    He stretched his hand out and started to reflect on his behavior. Was he really a cruel lunatic that was worse than a beast? But, if he didn¡¯t do this, he would be stepping further and further into the crown prince¡¯s faction. What should he do? If the crown prince led him by his nose, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to guarantee the safety of his entire household.


    He couldn¡¯t allow Mu Shuqing¡¯s baby to be born. If this happened, then the problem of the crown prince¡¯s spy would be a deep-rooted problem. If the baby was a son, he would definitely be a bargaining chip. From the beginning, he hadn¡¯t nned on letting Mu Shuqing peacefully give birth. He had just been waiting for an opportunity to borrow someone as his knife.


    Originally, it would have been easy for him to remove the child by using Nie Sangyu¡¯s position as the main wife and her jealous mentality. However, the woman in front of him was unexpectedly difficult to manipte. She wouldn¡¯t step into his trap. He felt a slight headache.


    ¡°My lord, if you don¡¯t want a child, that¡¯s your issue. There¡¯s no need to drag Sangyu into this,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°Although this servant also understands that I¡¯m the best candidate to harm the baby and I¡¯ll also have Old Madame to protect me, I don¡¯t want to be involved.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan touched her eyes, sighed, and said, ¡°Why have you be so clever?¡±


    Ji Man lowered her gaze and stayed silent.


    ¡°I won¡¯t like you if you¡¯re too clever.¡± He stretched his arm out to pull her over, closed his eyes, and said, ¡°Pretend that I didn¡¯t say anything and just came here to get a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Ji Man quietly agreed and went to sleep with her back facing him.


    The night passed without dreams. When she woke up the next day, Marquis Moyu had already left.


    Muxu looked at her with a confused expression. ¡°Master, this servant seemed to have slept especially deepst night.¡±


    ¡°En, it means that you slept well.¡± Ji Man took out a copybook, put down her brush and ink, and started to studiously practice writing.


    She couldn¡¯t just idle away her time in the confinement courtyard, so she asked Aunty Zhao to buy her a copybook. No matter what type of carnage happened outside, she should do her best to increase her survival rate.


    ¡ª


    After two days of peace, something happened in the residence.


    Muxu loudly rejoiced that they were fortunately inside the confinement courtyard as she patted her chest in relief.


    When Ning Errong had returned to her maiden home, everyone had been gathered together for a family meal. Somehow, as Wen Wan was standing up, she ended up bumping into Mu Shuiqing. Wen Wan¡¯s personal servant girl was too focused on protecting Wen Wan and immediately pushed Mu Shuiqing away. Mu Shuiqing ended up falling backwards and knocking over a vase as she fell down.


    Originally, it was just a slight disturbance to the fetus. But, the attending doctor had somehow ended up prescribing the wrong medicine. And just like that, an almost four months long pregnancy ended.


    It was rumored that Mu Shuqing had gone crazy. She wailed out that Wen Wan¡¯s unborn baby had to pay with its life. Wen Wan also felt iparably wronged. She said that this matter had nothing to do with her. Afterwards, the people in the household felt jittery. Even in the middle of the night, they could hear Mu Shuiqing¡¯s mournful crying. Feeling rather helpless, Marquis Moyu moved Mu Shuiqing to a separate residence to recuperate.


    Ji Man sneered as she listened to what had happened. He had smoothly used someone to act as his knife. Isn¡¯t that nice? In the eyes of others, it seemed as if he had been forced to do this. Wasn¡¯t he supposed to be genuinely in love with Wen Wan? Why had been willing to use her too?

 Chapter 139 - A rapist in the middle of the night? (2)

    Chapter 139 out of 513 ¨C A rapist in the middle of the night? (2)


    Ning Yuxuan came to the confinement courtyard again that night. Just likest time, he smoothly climbed over the wall and made Muxu unconscious. Then, he came over to the bed, hugged her, and sighed.


    ¡°My lord, are youfortable?¡± Ji Man mockingly asked.


    Marquis Moyu curved his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t think of me as an inhuman person. I¡¯ll still feel bad because my child is gone.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t tell if he was genuinely feeling bad at all. Her heart felt slightly chilled. This man was too terrifying.


    Ning Yuxuan changed the topic. ¡°Errong didn¡¯t seem too happy today when she came back. I¡¯ll let her see you tomorrow.¡±


    Ji Man paused. Errong wasn¡¯t happy? Shouldn¡¯t things be different this time? In the original novel, Errong and Nie Qingyun had been forced into marriage before the Southern Trip and divorced around the time that Nie Sangyu had died. But this time, they both had favorable impressions of each other before marrying, right?


    She had already changed the plot for the two of them by dying their marriage until after the Southern Trip where they had time to get to know each other. She thought that by doing this, they wouldn¡¯t divorce.


    Were the shackles of the original novel inescapable? Were they still going to divorce?


    If their oue was staying the same and had only been dyed, then was Nie Sangyu doomed to die? Had her death only been postponed?


    Ji Man¡¯s entire body felt chilled and she tightly hugged Marquis Moyu.


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Yuxuan was slightly surprised. Why was she taking the initiative today?


    ¡°My lord, will there be a day when you¡¯ll fall in love with Sangyu?¡± Ji Man softly and quietly asked.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body stiffened, then it slowly rxed. He faintly curved his lips and said, ¡°Who can say for sure?¡±


    Ji Man secretly sighed. No, she couldn¡¯t let down her guard. She had to fight for his favor. Her life would only be secure if she obtained Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart. The only person in this household that wouldn¡¯t be sacrificed for his plots was the person in his heart.


    ¡ª


    After clearly understanding what she had to do, Ji Man started to seriously practice writing during the day and took the initiative to be slightly more attentive towards Marquis Moyu if he came to visit her in the night. When she was bored during the day, she would embroider or draw. The level of difficulty in learning how to y a musical stringed instrument was too high, so she didn¡¯t try.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man¡¯s ten-day stay in the confinement courtyard ended, the residence had alreadypletely changed. With Mu Shuiqing gone, Jinse was even more active in front of the household. Qi Siling held onto the inner court¡¯s ount book and wouldn¡¯t hand it over to her. Wen Wan spent her time wholeheartedly taking care of her health and fetus. From time to time, she would act deliberately unreasonable and cause some drama. The only two people that didn¡¯t change were Qian Lianxue and Liu Hanyun. Both of them continued to quietly stay in their respective courtyards. It almost felt as if they didn¡¯t exist. Still, the marquis would always visit them once a month.


    Ji Man was wearing a sky blue dress today. She took a deep breath of the outside air and made an encouraging ¡°do your best¡± gesture at the sun.


    It was easy to fight with other women, but sessfully gaining the affection of a man would be more difficult.


    Ji Man went to pay respects to old madame, as well as acknowledging her wrongdoing. Old madame merely said a few sentences of rebuke and told her to behave better in the future. Staying in the confinement courtyard for ten days had actually helped her avoid trouble and wasn¡¯t a bad tradeoff.


    ¡ª


    Holding a bowl of soup with both hands, Ji Man very thoughtfully went to visit the hardworking Marquis Moyu after dinner. Muxu was walking behind her


    The sky had darkened very early today. When the two of them hade out of the kitchen, they could feel the night¡¯s chilliness.


    As they were passing by the pond, Ji Man felt goosebumps on her neck. She stopped walking and looked around.


    ¡°Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Muxu shrunk her neck and suddenly felt somewhat scared.


    Ji Man forced herself to smile. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m probably just being too sensitive.¡±


    Ji Man continued walking forward with the bowl of soup. When they passed by Feiyue Courtyard, they suddenly heard a baby crying. Ji Man was so startled that she dropped the bowl and the hot soup sshed onto her body.


    Ji Man¡¯s face paled and she turned her head to ask Muxu, ¡°Where did that babye from?¡±


    Muxu was so terrified that her legs felt wobbly. She clung to Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°M-master, we¡¯re at Feiyu Courtard.¡±


    After Mu Shuiqing had been sent away, there was no one living in Feiyue Courtyard. How could they be hearing a baby crying? Ji Man was someone that had seen Nie Sangyu¡¯s ghostly apparition with her own eyes. She immediately had a negative association, took a deep breath, and ran towards the study as if the dogs of hell were chasing after her.


    Muxu couldn¡¯t remain calm anymore. She chased after Nie Sangyu and shouted, ¡°There¡¯s a ghost!¡±


    Jiyue Courtyard was next to Feiyu Courtyard. Many people were startled awake by Muxu¡¯s scream.


    Ji Man continued to flee towards the study. When she arrived, she barged through the doors, rushed over to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side, grabbed his clothing, and said in a trembling voice, ¡°Your retribution hase.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrow. It was rare to see her looking so scared. He hugged her and asked, ¡°What retribution?¡±


    ¡°Listen...¡± Ji Man pointed outside.


    The sound of the baby¡¯s cries became louder and louder. It resonated throughout the residence. Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression had also sunk.

 Chapter 140 - Who weaved this large trap? (1)

    Chapter 140 out of 513 ¨C Who weaved thisrge trap? (1)


    Since ancient times, was there any residence that didn¡¯t have departing spirits that demanded vengeance for dying unjustly? Although there were plenty of hauntings that turned out fake, people always felt uneasy afterwards.


    Mu Shuiqing had recently suffered a miscarriage, and now there was the sound of a baby crying in the middle of the night. Marquis Moyu brought Nie Sangyu to Feiyu Courtyard to look. But, when he pushed open the doors, the crying abruptly stopped.


    The people in Jiyue Courtyard had been startled awake. In Qiangwei Courtyard, Wen Wan had just been about fall asleep, but the noise had frightened her into alertness. She was currently crying out of fear.


    Other than Qian Lianxue, who wasn¡¯t feeling well, the women in the various courtyards hurriedly put on their outer robes and came to Marquis Moyu¡¯s study.


    Standing at the very front of the group, Jinse asked in an exaggerated tone, ¡°Did you hear the recent crying? Aiya, it was the sound of a baby crying. And, it was so wretched and mournful. It had to be cry of an innocent baby that died...¡±


    With a stern face, Qi Siling berated, ¡°Nonsense! What kind of ce do you think this is? How dare you speak rubbish!¡±


    Jinse cynically covered her stomach and said, ¡°Older sister, you haven¡¯t been pregnant before, so you naturally can¡¯t hear the grievances in that baby¡¯s cries. Jinse¡¯s pitiful baby had died the same way as Mu Shuiqing¡¯s, that¡¯s how Jinse can tell that the baby is crying because it had died unjustly.¡±


    Wen Wan seemed as if she was about to topple over. She desperately grabbed Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve.


    Ning Yuxuan quietlyforted her, then he looked at the group of people and said, ¡°Ghosts are something that can only be created by people to torment others. If any of you still feel uneasy, I¡¯ll request for the sage monk toe over and do a purification ritual tomorrow. I¡¯ll also have judicial officerse by to investigate who¡¯s behind this fake ghost.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other and didn¡¯t say another word.


    Marquis Moyu waved his hand and said, ¡°All of you, go back to your courtyards and rest.¡±


    The group of women slowly dispersed, but Wen Wan still clutched Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going toe with me? I¡¯m scared.¡±


    Marquis Moyu gently kissed her forehead. ¡°I¡¯ll send people to guard your courtyard. I have too many official documents to go through and won¡¯t be able to sleep tonight. Wan-<i>er</i>, be good.¡±


    Wen Wan aggrievedly nced at him, then she looked at Nie Sangyu, who had her head silently lowered. She helplessly took a step outside and said, ¡°Then, you have toe see me once you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Marquis Moyu nodded.


    ¡ª


    Jinse didn¡¯t look very scared as she walked at front of the group with Dingxiang following after her. She turned her head and saw that Wen Wan had alsoe outside. She pulled her head back slightly and said, ¡°Mistress Wan, is the marquis noting with you? That grievance is so heavy and it¡¯s definitely directed towards you, ah.¡±


    Wen Wan stopped walking, raised her chin, and said, ¡°There¡¯s no use in trying to scare me. I had nothing to do with your baby or Mu Shuiqing¡¯s baby. No matter what, it¡¯s not my fault.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing had been stably standing before colliding into her as she got up to go to the bathroom. Someone must have pushed Mu Shuiqing. She hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. Tanxiang was the one that pushed Mu Shuiqing away. No matter what, she couldn¡¯t be med, right? After Wen Wan silently encouraged herself, she raised her foot and resumed walking.


    Jinse responded with a strange littleugh, then she turned around and continued walking forward. When the group of people passed by Feiyu Courtyard, they all slightly speed up. Wen Wan was walking at the back of the group and couldn¡¯t resist taking a few scurrying steps to decrease the distance between herself and the group.


    ¡°Wahh,¡± the sound of a baby crying started again. Wen Wan¡¯s legs felt weak and she fell down. The people in front of her all ran away as fast as lightning, even Tanxiang almost abandoned her to run away too. Tanxiang hesitated for a few moments beforeing back, helping her up, and supporting her as they resumed walking.


    The mysterious prolonged crying in the empty courtyard caused Wen Wan to be feverish that very night after returning to her courtyard. Tanxiang had be temporarily muddled-headed from fear and hadn¡¯t done a good job watching over Wen Wan.


    By the next day, Wen Wan had already fallen seriously ill.


    Marquis Moyu requested an imperial physician toe by to treat Wen Wan. Moreover, he warned the entire household to not spread the news of the haunting outside and only requested the sage monk that the emperor trusted the most toe over and perform a purification ritual.


    ¡ª


    Somehow, the third prince was alerted of this haunting. Feeling bored, he came over to watch the excitement.


    Standing in the courtyard, the third prince watched the sage monk perform the ritual and asked Nie Sangyu, ¡°Younger cousin, are you not afraid of this type of thing?¡±


    Ji Man forced herself to smile. ¡°Sangyu does find this type of thing scary. But for every grievance, there is someone responsible. This misfortune and responsibility definitely won¡¯t fall on Sangyu¡¯s head. When Sangyu think of it that way, Sangyu isn¡¯t worried anymore.¡±


    The third prince deeply looked at her before smiling and saying, ¡°You¡¯ve certainly adopted a lighthearted perspective.¡±


    Ji Man waspletely focused on watching the expert sage monk in the courtyard, so she didn¡¯t notice the third prince¡¯s expression as he watched her.


    After the ritual was over, Marquis Moyu presented offerings to the Buddha statue for Feiyu Courtyard. The sage monk and the third prince stayed in the courtyard, exchanged greetings, and talked for a bit.


    Ji Man inadvertently swept her gaze over and felt that these two people looked very familiar.


    ¡ª


    In the evening, Marquis Moyu sent over ten servants to watch Feiyu Courtyard. As expected, the sound of a baby crying didn¡¯t appear that night. It wasn¡¯t clear whether it was because the sage monk¡¯s purification ritual had been effective, or because of the servants guarding Feiyu Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan kept having nightmares. Whenever she woke up, she would be muddle-headed and wouldn¡¯t let Tanxiang attend to her. The people in the residence all felt that she was under some type of evil influence.


    Marquis Moyu had a headache from trying to figure out who could attend to Wen Wan. Since she wouldn¡¯t even allow Tanxiang near her, who else would be able to approach her?

 Chapter 141 - Who weaved this large trap? (2)

    Chapter 141 out of 513 ¨C Who weaved thisrge trap? (2)


    The imperial physician said the fetus had already been disturbed. If Wen Wan didn¡¯t calm down soon, it would be very likely for her to suffer a miscarriage.


    After hearing these words, Marquis Moyu looked at Nie Sangyu.


    ¡°Don¡¯t consider this servant as an option.¡± Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°She definitely wouldn¡¯t allow me near her.¡±


    Her words were true. The person that Wen Wan disliked the most right now was Nie Sangyu. How could WenWan be willing to have Nie Sangyu keep herpany? After Marquis Moyu had a headache for several hours, Qian Lianxue came over.


    Qian Lianxue covered her mouth and coughed a few times before saying, ¡°Let this servant try caring for Mistress Wan. She coulde to Xuesong Courtyard and stay for a few days. This servant has always been very sickly, so my personal servants have experience with attending to people that are ill.¡±


    Qian Lianxiue had always been a gentle person without any signs of hostility towards the other women, so Marquis Moyu nodded his head in agreement.


    Surprisingly, Wen Wan didn¡¯t show much resistance. While holding Qian Lianxue¡¯s hand, she was able to peacefully sleep and didn¡¯t have any more nightmares.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man thought that Honored Concubine Xue was a mysterious person. She normally didn¡¯t participate with inner court matters, but when the situation was at it¡¯s worse, she had appeared and solved the problem by taking Wen Wan to her courtyard.


    Perhaps, she was truly a kind-hearted person. Ji Man shook her head and didn¡¯t think anymore about this matter.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man¡¯s practice writing had reached a hundred pages. Although her writing didn¡¯t look very good, she could finally write using a brush. The residence hadn¡¯t been peacefultely, but Ji Man still went over to old madame¡¯s ce to talk with her and improve her mood every day.


    ¡ª


    Old madame was a person that practiced Buddhism. Hearing about the rumors, she only smiled and said, ¡°If you¡¯re innocent, then you wouldn¡¯t feel scared about ghosts chasing after you. Those other women are so restless. You¡¯re the only that lets me feel most at ease.¡±


    After Ji Man obediently attended to old madame during breakfast, she very thoughtfully brought over refreshing herbal tea to Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Yuxuan had been so stressed and tired by the long hours of work that he would soon be suffering yin deficiency. Refreshing herbal tea was naturally the best item for detoxifying from stress and overwork. In order to obtain a man¡¯s heart, you naturally had to be more attentive and caring. As Ji Man watched Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow smoothing out, she silently gave herself a ¡°like¡±.


    ¡°Sangyu, it¡¯ll be the third prince¡¯s birthday soon.¡± Supporting his forehead with his hand, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°This household has been so chaotictely, so I haven¡¯t had time to prepare his present. Help me out with this matter.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. One of the rules of being a good woman was helping her man with his worries and difficulties. Don¡¯t make things worse for him in a bad situation.


    Preparing a present was only a trifling matter. First, she had to find out what the third prince likes. Ji Man chose to go and ask old madame.


    Old madame said the third prince had a fondness forndscape paintings, so Ji Man ordered Miss Shui to buy andscape painting that cost around five hundred silver taels for her.


    Miss Shui always handled her work very efficiently. She sent people over with that painting that very afternoon. On the way to bringing the painting to Marquis Moyu, she met Jinse.


    Jinse curiously looked at the painted screen and blurted out a question, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Towards Jinse¡¯sck of etiquette, Ji Man had already be ustomed it. She straightforwardly said, ¡°This is a present for the third prince. The marquis ordered me to buy it.¡±


    ¡°Is this really something that the third prince would like?¡± Jinse scoffed. ¡°You would be better off buying a painting of a beautiful woman for him.¡±


    Ji Man thought; this woman was probably just a self-styled genius. Wasn¡¯t the third prince above such earthly matters? How could he possibly like paintings of beautiful women? Besides, Jinse didn¡¯t know the third prince. She was speaking without thinking. How could her words be believed?


    And so, Ji Man lightly smiled, went around Jinse, and delivered the item to Marquis Moyu toplete her assignment.


    However, after Ning Yuxuan looked at the painted screen for a long time, he said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. His house is missing this type of item. But, why did you choose andscape painting?¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment. ¡°Doesn¡¯t the third prince likendscape paintings?¡±


    Ning Yuxuanughed and said, ¡°Your cousin is just pretending to be proper. He¡¯s always liked to collect paintings of beautiful women.¡±


    Ji Man felt a light shing through her mind, but it was too quick for her to catch. It felt as if she had momentarily understood something, but when she raised her head, the epiphany had already vanished.


    ¡ª


    After three days of nothing happening in the maruqis¡¯s residence, it was time for the sage monk to return to his mountain. A group of people hade to the entrance to send him off, but he pressed his hands together and said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Donor, please walk with me. There¡¯s something this old one wants to say.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why this person was called a sage monk. Although he had the aura of a transcendent immortal, his gaze wasn¡¯t clear. He clearly hadn¡¯t left behind the secr world yet. Why was he calling her over?


    The sage monk looked at her with a solemn expression and quietly said, ¡°Trouble wille to you tomorrow. If you leave the marquis¡¯s residence, you¡¯ll be able to escape danger. You should visit your maiden family. That would be a reasonable excuse to leave. This old one can only help you up to this point.¡±


    The sage monk bowed and left.


    Escape danger? Although Ji Man thought that this old monk wasn¡¯t as magical as he seemed, his words held a warning to her.


    What danger would she be escaping? Why was he helping her? Had she fallen into arge trap without noticing?


    It was better to believe him just in case. Ji Man decided to follow the order that Marquis Moyu had given her a couple days ago by returning to Nie Residence to see Ning Errong tomorrow.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man went to Nie Residence, the atmosphere felt somewhat oppressive. Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun were a newly wedded couple, but they weren¡¯t sleeping in the same courtyard.


    Seeing Sangyu, Ning Errong rushed over in tears. Her crying expression looked wretched. She sobbed, ¡°Sangyu, I want to go home...¡±


    Ji Man thought; your home is much more chaotic than here. It would be better to stay here.


    However, seeing Errong miserably crying, Ji Man asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    After the servant girls were told to withdraw, Errong clung to her and said, ¡°Your older brother hasn¡¯t touched me since he married me.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I like how the author gives us little hints that the third prince isn¡¯t who he seems.


    What do you guys think of the sage monk? He¡¯ll be making more guest appearancester in the novel.

 Chapter 142 - Mission accomplished with aphrodisiac (1)

    Chapter: 142 out of 513 ¨C Mission aplished with aphrodisiac (1)


    Ji Man was shocked. She instinctively looked around. The room was totally silently and she didn¡¯t hear the sound of anyone from outside.


    ¡°How could this be possible?¡±


    Ning Errong briefly pulled the corners of her lips up into a bitter smile. ¡°It¡¯s probably my fault. He doesn¡¯t like me, but I stubbornly insisted on marrying him. It¡¯s only natural that he doesn¡¯t want to share a bed with me. But... Madam has been forcefully asking me for a proof of our wedding night... In the end, she checked my body to determine if I¡¯m still a virgin... I...¡±


    Before Errong had finished saying everything, she started sobbing again.


    Ji Man was furious. Nie Qingyun was bullying Errong too much. A grand <i>junzhu</i> had married him and yet she had suffered through an examination like that. How lucky for him that Ning Errong loved him so much that she didn¡¯t say a single word of this during her visit home. Otherwise, based on how much Marquis Jingwen loved his daughter, he wouldn¡¯t be willing to let things go with Nie n.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to look for my older brother!¡± Ji Man stood up and wanted to go outside.


    ¡°Sangyu.¡± Ning Errong clutched her sleeve. With reddened eyes, she said, ¡°You¡¯ve already helped me a lot. There¡¯s no reason for you to talk about this matter with him to help me. I can¡¯t afford to lose him either.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do then?¡± Ji Man was truly very angry. ¡°Since he agreed to marry you, he should love and cherish you. How could he let you be wronged like this? If a man can¡¯t even protect his own woman, then what¡¯s the use of being a man? He might as well have his woman protect him.¡±


    In her life, she hated men that didn¡¯t have a sense of responsibility the most. She hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Qingyun, who she had always thought was a pretty good person, would disappoint her like this.


    Errong was momentarily stunned by her words. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Qingyun is pretty good to me. I just don¡¯t have his heart. He hasn¡¯t treated me unfairly. Other than not sharing a bed with me, he¡¯ll do various martial arts tricks to amuse me and buy little trinkets that are popr with themonfolk. When he¡¯s being sweet... it¡¯s really good too.¡±


    Ji Man rubbed the temples on the sides of her head. Women would always be creatures that forgot the pain of past injuries. After they were finished feeling sad, they would only think about that person¡¯s good points. Ji Man forgot where she read this idea. It said that men were a pile of dog shit. When women noticed the smell, they would stay away from them. But, as soon as the dog shit cooled down and the smell faded, these women thatcked long-term memory would think the dog shit was chocte. They had to taste it again to realize that it was still dog shit.


    Although using these words to describe Nie Qingyun was a bit harsh since he wasn¡¯t actually this terrible, this idea was still totally valid for the women in the world that had married bad husbands!


    After calming herself down with deep breaths, Ji Man sat down again by Ning Errong¡¯s side and asked, ¡°Do you remember the advice that I gave you on capturing a man¡¯s heart before your wedding?¡±


    Ning Errong paused for a moment before nodding. ¡°I remember. You said that I had to y hard to get to keep him interested and to not always treat him so well...¡±


    ¡°But Sangyu, when I¡¯m in front of him, I can¡¯t remember any of those methods. I just want him to think about me and to truly fall in love with me. Do you understand that feeling?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart ached. She didn¡¯t say a word.


    Of course she understood Errong¡¯s feelings. Everyone had fallen in love with a few bastards when they were young. But, she didn¡¯t understand. There wasn¡¯t anything bad about Ning Errong. Whether it was family background or appearances, she was a perfect partner for Nie Qingyun. Why would Nie Qingyun treat her like this?


    After spending a long timeforting Ning Errong and even saying that she would sleepover tonight, Ji Man left the room to pay Chen-<i>shi</i> a visit.


    As Ning Errong¡¯s mother-inw, Chen-shi wasn¡¯t a good person to deal with. Since she had already gone so far as to examine Errong¡¯s body, it was unlikely that she was treat Errong well normally.


    When Ji Man entered Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s courtyard, Chen-<i>shi</i> was currently picking pearls out of a small basket.


    This basket of pearls had been part of Ning Errong¡¯s dowry. In order to curry favor with Chen-<i>shi</i>, Ning Errong had given this to her.


    Chen Suqing picked up pearl after pearl with her long nails. She looked at them disdainfully, but she wasn¡¯t wiling to return any of them.


    ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t this Marquis Moyu¡¯s wife?¡± Seeing Nie Sangyu at the entrance, Chen-<i>shi</i> continued to sit and smiled as she said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you here to see Errong? Why did youe to my courtyard?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t smile. Step by step, she walked over. She sat down at the table and watched Chen Suqing as she said, ¡°Sangyu hasn¡¯t see mother in a while. Mother¡¯s vision is the same as before.¡±


    Superficial and pitiful.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my vision?¡± Chen Suqing harrumphed and picked up a pearl that was as wide as a finger. ¡°It¡¯s about time for me to enjoy living a prosperous life. There¡¯s no need for you to interfere with matters that don¡¯t concern you.¡±


    ¡°How could Nie n¡¯s matters not concern Sangyu?¡± Ji Man chuckled. ¡°Sangyu has a debt of gratitude towards father for raising me and older brother for caring for me. Although the other people in Nie n have nothing to do with Sangyu, Sangyu can¡¯t let the actions of stupid people cause father and older brother¡¯s deaths.¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> scornfully nced at her. ¡°Alright, tell me. Who¡¯s harming them?¡±


    Ji Man ced both of her hands on her knees and said with a stern expression, ¡°Marquis Jingwen has always been an elder that the emperor respects. His fiefdom, Jing Province, is also located at a very important strategic position. He¡¯s even allowed to sit down during the imperial court sessions. Mother, do you think Marquis Jingwen¡¯s status is low?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> put down the pearl and moved her hands closer to herself. She somewhat uneasily said, ¡°No one had said that Marquis Jingwen¡¯s status is low. Qingyun was the one that benefitted from this marriage.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Do you guys remember Ji Man¡¯s advice to Ning Errong in chapter 96 about silently enduring when your mother-inw bullies you? I think if Ji Man hadn¡¯t given Ning Errong well-meaning, but spectacrly bad advice, things wouldn¡¯t have deteriorated to this point. If Ji Man had taken the time to consider that old madame and Chen-<i>shi</i> are very different types of people before giving Errong advice, she wouldn¡¯t have needed toe to Nie Residence to fix the problem that she created.


    And, I really disagree with Ji Man¡¯s thoughts on why Nie Qingyun should love Ning Errong. Even if someone is the most amazing person in the world, it doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯ll instantly fall in love with him or her.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 143

    Chapter 143 out of 513 ¨C Mission aplished with aphrodisiac (2)


    Good, the matter could be simply settled. Ji Man looked at Chen-<i>shi </i>and said, ¡°Although Qingyun has married above his social status, mother, you haven¡¯t had to lower your head in front of Errong. On the contrary, Errong has acted very filial towards you in every aspect, so why are you making life difficult of her?¡±


    ¡°How have I made life difficult for her?¡± Chen-<i>shi</i> frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t spread venomous nder.¡±


    ¡°Checking her body.¡± Ji Man¡¯s gaze became slightly sharper and Chen-<i>shi</i> turned her face away. ¡°Mother, you must be thinking that because Errong deeply loves older brother, she won¡¯t tell her father about this. Nie n is the one that¡¯s in the wrong about this matter to begin with, and yet you made this matter even worse. Mother, aren¡¯t you afraid that one day Errong won¡¯t be able to tolerate your abuse and will report everything to the imperial courts? The emperor had even issued a celebratory decree for this marriage. Mother, don¡¯t you have any sense of what¡¯s considered appropriate behavior?¡±


    These words left Chen-<i>shi</i> speechless. Nie Sangyu had guessed correctly. She had thought there was no reason to fear the consequences because this <i>junzhu</i> was deeply in love with Qingyun. It was Ning Errong¡¯s fault for being the person that Nie Sangyu had pushed Qingyun to marry. Although that girl wasn¡¯t bad, she was still unhappy with their marriage.


    Chen Suqin pretended to be fierce while inwardly feeling cowardly. She scolded, ¡°When did it be the younger generation¡¯s turn to lecture someone older than them? Who cares if she¡¯s a <i>junzhu</i>? She married into Nie n, so it¡¯s only right for her to obey me. If she feels she¡¯s being treated unjustly, then I¡¯ll have Qingyun give her a divorce letter!¡±


    Ji Man was feeling angered to death by this woman¡¯s stupidity. She wasn¡¯t showing the slightest consideration for her son and was letting her own feelings decide everything.


    ¡°Sangyu has tried her best to persuade mother. It¡¯s rare for a daughter-inw to be good as Errong. If mother fails to appreciate her and loses her, it¡¯ll be toote to feel regretfulter.¡± Ji Man stood up, saluted, and said, ¡°Mother, you should carefully reconsider.¡±


    Ji Man saw resentment and fear shing through Chen Suqin¡¯s eyes and decided to stop looking. She turned her head away and left the courtyard.


    ¡ª


    She ordered Dengxin to buy something for her. Two hourster, she went to the courtyard that Nie Qingyun usually stayed in.


    Don¡¯t misunderstand. She wasn¡¯t going there to talk with him. Those two were a married couple. As his younger sister, she didn¡¯t have any basis to discuss this type of thing with him. She was just going to his room to ce the drugs she had asked Dengxin to purchase.


    Yes, it was aphrodisiacs. What was there left to say? If he wasn¡¯t willing to sleep with Errong, then she would simply force him to sleep with Errong, even if she had to drug him. These two were already married. There was no need to feel any apprehension about right or wrong. The sooner she drugged him, the sooner the matter would bepleted.


    ¡ª


    Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯t returned home yet. He was actually quite busy in the imperial court too and usually didn¡¯t return home until the evening.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had sent Dengxin to buy this drug at a high-ss brothel. Dengxin had been quite lucky. She had met a female brothel owner at the back entrance and was able to aplish her task with just one silver ingot. There were two parts to the aphrodisiac. One part was for internal use and the other part was for external use.


    After she personally poisoned, no, personally cooked a meal for Nie Qingyun, she called Errong over to take a bath. Dengxin personally attended to Ning Errong and rubbed the external use drug everywhere. She also rubbed a little bit of the remaining internal use drug onto Ning Errong¡¯s neck as well. The rest of the internal use drug had been already been added to the food. Ji Man had also added some of the external use drug into Nie Qingyun¡¯s courtyard¡¯smps.


    Don¡¯t say she was treacherous. Sometimes, you had to act slyly in order to aplish your objective. She was only taking an indirect method because the direct method wouldn¡¯t work.


    And so, after Nie Qingyun came home that evening and he had finished asking Nie Sangyu a couple of questions out of concern for why she was here, they all went to his courtyard to have dinner.


    Of course, Ji Man had only eaten a few bites of food before saying she had to go to the bathroom. In the passing, she brought all of the servants with her as she left to create a favorable environment.


    Good deeds should be done with intention, not for attention.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had a peaceful night¡¯s sleep at Ning Errong¡¯s Huarong Courtyard. When she woke up the next morning, she sent Dengxin to check up on the situation in Nie Qingyun¡¯s courtyard.


    However, before Ji Man heard any news about Nie Qingyun, Dengxin had hurriedly rushed back to report, ¡°Master, something bad happened in the marquis¡¯s residence. You should hurry and go back!¡±


    Something bad happened? Ji Man¡¯s heart jumped. It felt as if a stone was being suspended high above her.


    Was there some degree of truth to that sage monk¡¯s words? Had she avoided misfortune?


    After Ji Man put on her clothes, she asked while entering the carriage, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Dengxin furrowed her brow and said, ¡°Early this morning, a servant from the marquis¡¯s residence came over with a message. He said something disastrous had happenedst night. He didn¡¯t provide details, but based on how anxious he looked, it¡¯s probably not a trivial matter.¡±


    Ji Man frowned. She supported her chin in her hand and thought for a while.


    What could have possibly happened? The images of the sage monk, the third prince, and the eye-catching Jinse appeared in her mind. Ji Man felt as if she was on the edge of an epiphany, but there was still a missing piece that she needed before her confusion cleared up.


    ¡ª


    Gancao was waiting at the marquis¡¯s residence¡¯s entrance for them. Seeing theme out of the carriage, she hurriedly rushed forward and concisely reported, ¡°Madam, Mistress Wan suffered a miscarriagest night. This servant heard that she was being gued by a ghost baby and ended up losing her baby because she was too frightened. Honored Concubine Xue has also fallen sick from fright. A monk will being over soon. The marquis was furious all night. Right now, everyone is with Old Madame in the main courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan had lost her baby? Although Ji Man really wanted to ask, was everyone gathered together today because of this reason? She was more curious about the ghost baby. Hadn¡¯t the sage monk already performed a purification ritual? Shouldn¡¯t any spirt have been vanquished? Why had the ghost appeared again and caused Wen Wan to suffer a miscarriage?


    Looking at Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence¡¯s wooden que, Ji Man also shivered. She pursed her lips and followed Gancao to the main courtyard.


    She had the constant ominous feeling that a plot was gradually rising from a watery surface.


    Trantor Ramblings: Oh, Ji Man. How could you drug Nie Qingyun and think it¡¯s okay to do something like that? The first time I read the novel, I thought it wasn¡¯t that bad of Ji Man to use aphrodisiacs because in this novel, people are capable of fighting off the effects if they¡¯re truly not interested. But, now that I¡¯m reading it for the second time, Ji Manes off as smugly righteously about ying god. If Nie Qingyun truly isn¡¯t in love with Ning Errong, how does she think he¡¯ll react the next morning?


    Tiny spoiler. Ji Man won¡¯t do anything as horrible as this again.


    If you want to know why Nie Qingyun hasn¡¯t had sex with Ning Errong yet, I included the spoiler in thements below.

 Chapter 144

    Chapter 144 out of 513 ¨C The female lead and the supporting female character share a bed for a night (1)


    Old madame had put up a jade Guanyin statue in the main courtyard. The statuepassionately looked down at the kneeling group.


    (T/N: Guanyin is the Bodhisattva ofpassion and mercy.)


    As soon as Ji Man entered the room, she saw a deathly pale person on the side that was wrapped up like a <i>zongzi</i>. Ji Man was surprised that Wen Wan had been carried over here. After all, Wen Wan had recently suffered a miscarriage.


    (T/N: Below are pictures of <i>zongzi</i>. <i>Zongzi</i> is a rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped inyers of bamboo leaves.)


    The smell of incense was very strong in the room. Old madame was at the head of the kneeling group and reciting scriptures. The sound of the repetitive mumbling inexplicably created a heightened sense of tension in the room.


    Qian Lianxue was also part of the kneeling group. She looked so weak that she seemed as if she would fall over at any moment. She would end up gasping for breath and leaning against a servant girl for support after only kneeling for a short period of time, but she would resume kneeling again after a brief break.


    Jinse had her head lowered. Right now, she looked very well-behaved. Qi Siling¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good and she was frequently helping Wen Wan with her breathing. Out of all the women, the only person that looked utterly fearless was Liu Hanyun. She was the person that usually had the least amount of presence.


    Was this an example of innocent people not fearing that ghosts would knock on their door? Ji Man didn¡¯t have a deep impression of Liu Hanyun, but this girl seemed very straightforward. Her background was a bit low, but she always behaved decently.Ji Man turned her head to look at Wen Wan. Her gaze was nk and her entire body was trembling. She was so haggard that all traces of her beauty had already withered away. Wen Wan seemed to be muttering something to herself, but they were too far apart and she couldn¡¯t hear her words clearly.


    Ji Man followed the other women by kneeling down. It seemed that old madame had decided to continue reciting scriptures until Marquis Moyu returned.


    Marquis Moyu had already gone out to personally invite monks over. Since the sage monk¡¯s previous ritual hadn¡¯t worked, he was also going to bring back holy women. This time, cleansing rituals would be done for the entire marquis¡¯s residence.


    Ji Man thought that most of these people were just chatans. Why? Because there was a ghost living in her body that hadn¡¯t been the slightest bit affected by the chanting or the holy statue. But, for some unknown reason, she hadn¡¯t heard Nie Sangyu speak in a long time.


    After kneeling for a while, Qian Lianxue seemed unable to continue kneeling. She quietly apologized to old madame. Old madame had always thought that Qian Lianxue was a person that didn¡¯t cause trouble, so she didn¡¯t make things difficult for her and allowed her to leave first and rest.


    Ji Man was truly curious about what happenedst night. Wen Wan had clearly been staying at Xuesong Courtyard. It couldn¡¯t be that the ghost baby had migrated from Feiyue Courtyard to Xuesong Courtyard, right?


    Motivated by curiosity, Ji Man quietly followed Qian Lianxue out of the room.


    Danzhu was supporting Qian Lianxue by the arm as they walked out.


    Ji Man¡¯s steps weren¡¯t too hurried. She just slowly followed them. Looking at Qian Lianxue¡¯s soft back figure that looked almost boneless, Ji Man sighed. Since ancient times, beautiful women had bitter lives. Qian Lianxue had a pretty good temperament and she gave off afortable, downy feeling. It was probably because of this reason that Ning Yuxuan always showed some degree of care towards her.


    Ji Man had been in this ancient world for a long time. It was only Qian Lianxue and Liu Hanyun that never changed in how they treated her. They didn¡¯t try to make life difficult for her or excessively fawn over her either.


    While Ji Man was mulling over these thoughts, they had almost arrived at Xuesong Courytard. There were even yellow paper talismans pasted at its entrance. They looked like the ones left behind in Feiyue Courtyard by the sage monk during his previous visit. Seeing how they were haphazardly stuck on the entrance, she guessed that they had been been temporarily borrowedst night. However, seeing that some of the paper talismans had fallen to the ground, Ji Man couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit scared.


    Ji Man stopped walking. Just as she was about to call out to get Qian Lianxue¡¯s attention, she saw Danzhu pushing open Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s doors without even pausing at the sight of the fallen paper talismans. They stepped on the paper talismans as they passed through the doorway.


    Ji Man was slightly surprised. Could it be that Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t believe in evil spirits? But, hadn¡¯t she gotten sick out of fright? Why didn¡¯t she show any reaction to the fallen paper talismans?


    Ji Man decided to not go to Xuesong Courtyard. She turned around and asked, ¡°Gancao, what exactly happenedst night?¡±


    Gancao¡¯splexion was slightly pale as she said, ¡°When this servant was startled awakest night, this servant heard that a ghost had appeared in Xuesong Couryard. No one knows why, but Mistress Wan kept shouted that there was a ghost, then she fell out of the bed and ran outside. She fell down several times. In the end, it was Honored Concubine Xue that came out to stop her. After that, Mistress Wen miscarried and Honored Concubine Xue fell sick. The two of them seemed to have both heard the sound of a baby crying.¡±


    So, Qian Lianxue and Wen Wan were the only two people that heard the ghost?


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows, then she looked at Xuesong Courtyard again. In the end, she still obediently returned to the main courtyard to continue kneeling.


    There was no reason for her to join in that fuss. Anyways, it was fine as long as she didn¡¯t see a ghost too.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu returned around noontime with monks and holy women that surrounded the residence in a short period of time.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t even want to take a single step out of Feiwan Courtyard. As soon as she went out, she would see shabbily dressed holy women jumping around while holding up sticks. She wouldn¡¯t be able to stop herself fromughing at such a ridiculous sight, butughing under this solemn situation would be very improper.


    After the ritual hadsted four hours, a monk that surely had be missing some marbles said to Marquis Moyu, ¡°Feiwan Courtyard is the purest ce in the entire residence. It doesn¡¯t have the slightest trace of evil spirits. Marquis, if you want that person to feel at ease, how about sending her to rest there?¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Seeing Ning Yuxuan looking over here, she spread her hands out and epted her fate. ¡°This servant understands.¡±


    Who thought of the idea of saying Feiwan Courtyard was the purest ce? If they wanted to drag her into this mess, why couldn¡¯t they just straightforwardly say it instead of borrowing a monk¡¯s mouth?


    Ji Man resignedly sighed and had Gancao and Dengxin prepare her room. She would be sharing a bed with Wen Wan tonight. What kind of evil spirit would be popping up?


    Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out to stop her. With a very gentle expression, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to bother you with taking care of Wan-<i>er</i>. I¡¯ll be busy with official government work tonight.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head and gave him a very fake looking smile. Who was he trying to fool? He wasn¡¯t the extremely diligent Zhou Ei. How could there possibly be endless documents for him to look at? His woman had already been terrified into miscarriage. And yet, he was still looking at governmental documents. If he wasn¡¯t plotting something, then she would write her name backwards!


    (T/N: Zhou Ei was the first Prime Minister of Republic of China.)

 Chapter 145

    Chapter: 145 out of 513 ¨C The female lead and the supporting female character share a bed for a night (2)


    Wen Wan had spent the entire morning chanting scriptures, then she had watched the monks and holy women dancing in the afternoon while she was wrapped up in a quilt. She had finally calmed down and became clear-headed enough to talk coherently.


    However, when she heard Marquis Moyu¡¯s decision to send her to Feiwan Courtyard, her first words were, ¡°Yuxuan, she¡¯s scarier than ghosts! You have to save me!¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyelids twitched. She hadn¡¯t done anything bad to Wen Wan. How could she be scarier than a ghost? She was kind-heartedly helping Wen Wan out. It was one thing for Wen Wan to not say thank you, but she dared to say these words about her?


    Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled. He quietlyforted Wen Wan, ¡°Since Sangyu is scarier than ghosts, then they won¡¯t dare to look for you if you¡¯re by her side. Be good. Go and rest. Prioritize taking care of your health, otherwise I¡¯ll feel distress.¡±


    Surprisingly, Wen Wan thought his words were logical. After looking at Nie Sangyu for a few moments, she had the servants carry her into Feiwan Courtyard.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan and suddenly asked, ¡°My lord, do you believe in ghosts?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile was gentle and refined as he responded, ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Then, why do you insist on her staying in Feiwan Courtyard?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re very clever.¡± He walked closer to her and whispered into her ear, ¡°This strange ghost that has thrown everyone into disorder is fake, but a person¡¯s sinister heart is real. Sangyu, I want to see if you can find out who¡¯s behind these suspicious spectacles.¡±


    Do this yourself! She was already willing to overlook being treated as a nanny. But now, he wanted her to investigate the baby ghost? She was only the administrative manager of the inner courts, ah. He was telling her to do extra work, but he wasn¡¯t even increasing her sry. Did he think she was a fool? Whoever wanted to mess around, they were free to do so, as long as they didn¡¯t involve her.


    Ji Man expressionless pushed Marquis Moyu away and left to arrange Feiwan Courtyard for tonight.


    The main building in Feiwan Courtyard was spacious enough. Ji Man had the servants take out all of the furniture except the bed, so that she could see easily see every corner of the rooms in a single nce. Then, she had the bed curtains removed and ordered themps to be lit for the night. She would sleep in the same bed as Wen Wan. Whatever Wen Wan saw, she would also be able to see.


    Dengxin, Gancao, and Muxu volunteered to keep herpany and Ji Man agreed. With five people in one room, Ji Man didn¡¯t believe that anything bad could happen.


    It was only that the atmosphere felt a bit depressive and stifling. The three servant girls wereying on the bedding they had set up on the floor and Ji Man and Wen Wan were staring at each other on the bed. It was hard to fall asleep like this.


    One was a female lead and the other was the female supporting character. For this ipatible pair to peacefully sleep in one bed, it was naturally impossible. Ji Man propped her chin in her hand and leaned back on the left side of the bed.


    After Wen Wan had looked at Nie Sangyu for a long time, she suddenly asked, ¡°Do you dislike me?¡±


    No kidding! Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°If someone stole your husband that you had been married to for six years, would you like that person?¡±


    Wen Wan slightly furrowed her brow. ¡°I¡¯m the person that Yuxuan genuinely likes. You¡¯ve never truly received his love. How can you say that I stole him from you? Yuxuan and I are truly in love with each other. Right now, I feel that you and the other women are the ones standing between us and hindering our happiness.¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. ¡°When Ning Yuxuan met you, did he say that he hadn¡¯t been happy in a long time until he met you? Did he say that he disliked his wife and had just been enduring his unhappy marriage? Did he say that after meeting you, he didn¡¯t want to endure this anymore? Did he also say that very soon, he would only have you as the person he would be with forever? And that he wouldn¡¯t have any other women?¡±


    Wen Wan gaped. ¡°Yuxuan actually told you all of this?!¡±


    Although these weren¡¯t his exact words, the general meanings were the same. Wen Wan couldn¡¯t help feeling panicky.


    Annoyed, Ji Man said, ¡°I was just guessing. When scumbags are chasing after women and looking to have affairs, they usually say those types of opening statements.¡±


    Ji Man had read the beginning of the original novel, so she knew that Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan¡¯s first meeting had been very romantic. Wen Wan had almost been run over by a carriage because she was trying to save a child that was in the middle of the road. Ning Yuxuan had rushed over and acted out a scene of a hero saving a beauty. While they slowly spun a full three hundred and sixty degrees, their eyes met and they fell in love with a backdrop of falling flower petals.


    In ancient times, men could have more than one wife and several concubines, so Ji Man couldn¡¯t point at Ning Yuxuan and curse him for being a shameless two-timing person that cheated on his wife. However, she really couldn¡¯t tolerate his decision to abandon his wife of six years for a woman that he had only known for a few months and for them to repeatedly say that this was true love.


    Ji Man started to exin to Wen Wan, ¡°Everything is decided in the order of arrival. Regardless of whether his heart has someone or not, he married me first, so he should treat me well. Instead of divorcing me, he took away my status as his main wife for you. Isn¡¯t this behavior of an heartless and ungrateful person? You clearly knew that he already had a wife, and yet you still insist on being with him. That makes you the other woman.¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips and stubbornly shook her head. ¡°You¡¯re saying nonsense. Yuxuan doesn¡¯t love you. No matter how you quibble, he still won¡¯t belong to you!¡±


    Wen Wan was going to start talking about the other woman¡¯s theory of true love, so Ji Man hurriedly stopped her by covering her with a quilt and saying, ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking and go to sleep.¡±


    Wen Wan was rather unwilling to stop here. Just as she was about to speak, they suddenly heard the sound of a baby crying on the roof.

 Chapter 146 - The truth behind the haunting (1)

    Chapter 146 out of 513 ¨C The truth behind the haunting (1)


    Wen Wan¡¯s face immediately paled. Her body was trembling and she looked like she was about to start crying.


    Ji Man looked up at the ceiling. The sound wasing right on the roof tiles and was exceptionally clear.


    ¡°Gancao and Dengxin, take amp ande outside with me.¡±


    The two servant girls had been startled awake and were currently trembling on the ground. Hearing their master¡¯s words, they almost fell over. ¡°Master, you want to go outside? But that thing is on the top of the roof.¡±


    ¡°Since we know it¡¯s on the top of the roof, I want to go outside so we can see who¡¯s behind these tricks.¡±


    Ji Man jumped down from the bed and looked at Muxu as she said, ¡°Stay here and keep Mistress Wanpany.¡±


    After Ji Man put on her outer robe, she thought; if there really was a ghost, who would be more powerful? Nie Sangyu or the baby ghost?


    As they stepped outside and looked towards the roof, the sound retreated.


    Gancao and Dengxin were both trembling and were staying as close to Nie Sangyu as possible.


    The sound of the baby crying paused, then it started again.


    Ji Man listened for a while, then she said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound as frightfully eerie as rumored, ah. It sounds like an ordinary baby crying. Did someone just put a baby on the top of my roof?¡±


    Gancao tugged on Nie Sangyu¡¯s sleeve and said, ¡°Master... Let¡¯s go inside first and talk.¡±


    That stinky monk had even said Feiwan Courtyard was the purest ce in the marquis¡¯s residence and evil sprits wouldn¡¯t appear here. Either the monk was lying or someone had deliberatelye here to scare Wen Wan.


    Really, Wen Wan¡¯s baby was already gone. Was there any need in continuing to scare her? Ji Man curled her lips and let herself be pushed back into the room by the two servant girls.


    For an unknown reason, Wen Wan was sleeping in the bed when they came inside.


    Ji Man thought this was strange. She nced at the nearby Muxu asked, ¡°Did she faint because she was too scared?¡±


    Muxu was curled up on the ground in her quilt. She nodded. ¡°Seems likes it.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s courage was really too small. If she kept get frightened like this, she might even develop schizophrenia. Since the haunting was fake, then who had such bitter animosity towards Wen Wan? The only person that should feel this level of resentment towards her was Mu Shuiqing, but Mu Shuiqing didn¡¯t seem like a person that would be capable of this.


    The sound of the baby crying abruptly ended. Ji Man yawned. She increasingly felt that this was just a malicious practical joke. She was sure that assigning servants to guard the roof tomorrow night would be enough to put an end to the mysterious crying.


    It was time to sleep. Ji Man lied back down on the bed. Looking at Wen Wan¡¯s deathly pale face, she thought; as expected, female leads would always be tormented.


    ¡ª


    Early next morning, before Wen Wan had woken up, Ji Man had already finished making herself presentable. She went to go look for Marquis Moyu.


    ¡ª


    ¡°You think someone is deliberately trying to scare Wan-<i>er</i>?¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at her and raised an eyebrow. ¡°Who do you think it is?¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°My lord, if you ask this servant this question, who will this servant ask? Anyways, Wan-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t courageous to begin with. If my lord is by her side, then at least she won¡¯t continue to be so scared. Last night, she even fainted out of fear. My lord, if you truly care about her, shouldn¡¯t you keep Wan-<i>er</i> by your side?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan deeply looked at her before gesturing with his finger for her toe closer.


    Ji Man walked to his side.


    He picked up a piece of sliced apple from the table and stuffed it into her mouth. He smiled and said, ¡°If you¡¯re thirsty, eat some fruit. Don¡¯t say anything unnecessary.¡±


    Ji Man really wanted to say, I¡¯m not thirsty. But looking at this great lord¡¯s expression of, ¡°I have my own ns, just obediently do my bidding¡±, she knew that it wouldn¡¯t be good idea for her to ask any more questions. Anyways, why should she worry so much about Wen Wan? Wen Wan was his female lead, not hers.


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for people to stand guard on the roof tonight,¡± Ning Yuxuan quietly said, ¡°You just need tofort Wen Wan.¡±


    He really was treating her like a wet nurse! The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She turned around and left.


    She suddenly started to wonder; did Ning Yuxuan start to be abusive in the second half of the original novel? He was such a terrifying male lead. The female lead must have physically and emotionally suffered because of him. She never liked to read novels that had oppressed female leads. It had been a wise decision to stop reading the original novel.


    ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man had only take a few steps outside before encountering Qian Lianxue. Her spirit seemed to have improved slightly, but she continued to look as fragile as a swaying willow tree and her pale face resembled white jade.


    Ji Man smiled at her and asked, ¡°Did youe out to take a stroll?¡±


    ¡°This servant has been feeling too stuffy, so this servant came out to walk around for a bit.¡± Qian Lianxue slightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s surprising that Madam has also woken up so early. How is Mistress Wan?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s probably still sleeping. She ended up fainting against night out of fright.¡± Ji Man sighed.


    It wasn¡¯t strange for Wen Wan to faint out of fright and Qian Lianxue¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change very much. She only said, ¡°This servant happens to have free time right now. How about this servant goes with Madam to see Mistress Wan?¡±


    Ji Man agreed, and the two of them walked side by side to Feiwan Courtyard.


    When they arrived at Feiwan Courtyard, Wen Wan was still sleeping. Her small face was slightly flushed. A little whileter, her face turned pale.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and touched Wen Wan¡¯s forehead to check her temperature. She wasn¡¯t feverish, but Wen Wan had still been sleeping for too long.


    Ji Man murmured to herself, ¡°Should I get a doctor toe over and check on her?¡±


    Qian Lianxue lightly said, ¡°A doctor has been watching over her for the past few days. Mistress Wan is probably okay and just feeling tired. Madam, how about telling this servant what happenedst night?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look at Qian Lianxue and told her about the sound on the roofst night in full detail. At the end, she paused for a moment before somewhat angrily saying, ¡°I went to report this matter to the marquis today and asked him to arrange for some servants toe get Wan-<i>er</i> and bring her to him. But, he actually said he was too busy and didn¡¯t hear anythingst night even though he was awake. He insisted that we must have misheard and won¡¯t send anyone over here to ensure our safety. He¡¯s not being very sensible about this.¡±


    Qian Lianxue was slightly surprised. ¡°How could this be? Doesn¡¯t the marquis always cherish Mistress Wan?¡±


    ¡°Who knows what¡¯s going on in his mind?¡± Ji Man waved her hand and said, ¡°Even though I feel thatst night¡¯s crying sound didn¡¯t sound that terrifying, Wan-<i>er</i> is verycking in courage. If she keeps getting scared like this, she¡¯s going to go mad.¡±


    Qian Lianxue turned her head to sympathetically look at the sleeping person on the bed. ¡°This much be hard on her.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her eyes and didn¡¯t say a word.

 Chapter 147

    Chapter 147 out of 513 ¨C The truth behind the haunting (2)


    Wen Wan woke up during lunchtime. Ji Man personally cooked lunch for her. It wasn¡¯t because she wanted to treat her well. She just wanted to avoid Wen Wan getting food poisoning during her stay here.


    ¡ª


    Later in the afternoon, Ji Man went over to old madame¡¯s courtyard.


    After Ji Man had been chatting with old madame for a while, Ji Man mentioned Qian Lianxue and old madame responded, ¡°Lianxue is quite pitiful. She¡¯s Qian Yingchen¡¯s older sister. She¡¯s had to constantly drink herbal medicine since she was born. Xuan-<i>er</i> felt pity for her, and since she also likes Xuan-<i>er</i>, she entered this household as an honored concubine.¡±


    Based on Ji Man¡¯s impression of Marquis Moyu, he definitely wasn¡¯t the type of person that would feel unchecked sympathy. Instead of saying he felt pity for Qian Lianxue, it would be better to say Qian Yingchen was very valuable to Marquis Moyu.


    In order for Marquis Moyu to continue showing care and concern towards Honored Concubine Xue, Qian Yingchen had to continue being important to Marquis Moyu.


    Fine, she would admit that she was already biased against Marquis Moyu. Anyways, this person always gave her the impression that he did everything with purpose.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s background could be considered simple and clean. She also had a good-natured personalty. She probably wouldn¡¯t do anything outrageously evil. Ji Man thought that perhaps, she was being too suspicious of everyone and overthinking things.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan had already said that he would send over people, but Ji Man didn¡¯t see a single shadow that evening. Holding onto the belief that the male lead was all-powerful, Ji Man still persuaded Wen Wan into sleeping early.


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant girls slept on the floor of her room again and themps were also left lit.


    When midnight arrived, Ji Man even silently counted out, ¡°three, two, one¡±. As expected, the sound of a baby crying started on the roof.


    However, this time, the sound of crying was apanied with the sound of fighting. Many roof tiles were broken from the fighting before the sound of the crying fell from the roof and into the courtyard.


    The courtyard was suddenly brightly illuminated. Ji Man hurriedly put on an outer robe and went outside to look.


    A group of servants were holding upnterns. At the center of the group, there was man holding a baby. Because the living baby was feeling unwell, it let out a intive cry.


    As expected, the baby ghost hadn¡¯t been real.


    Ning Yuxuan was standing by the side.¡°Mingjie take off that person¡¯s mask.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was currently restraining the ck-robed figure by his hands. Hearing these words, he took off the mask ¨C


    Alright, even after the mask was taken off and an honest-looking face was revealed, Ji Man still didn¡¯t recognize the person.


    The ck-robed figure pursed his lips and nced at Marquis Moyu, then his head tilted to the side and ck blood dripped out of his lips. He was dead.


    Ji Man retreated two steps and frowned. She had never seen someone actuallymit suicide in real life.


    Ning Mingjie handed the baby over a servant, as well as the corpse for the servants to deal with. Then, he briefly looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Madam, there¡¯s no reason for you toe out. You might have nightmares.¡±


    Ji Man thought; I didn¡¯t want toe out, ah. But, it was so noisy outside. Everyone had a curious heart. How could she possibly note out to see?


    ¡°So, the baby ghost turned out to be fake.¡±


    Marquis Moyu curved his lips and said, ¡°It¡¯s strange. We missed catching this person several times before. Usually, he never appears if he sees other people nearby. He¡¯s certainly brave today. I had arranged for people toe here early in the day, but he still came.¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment.


    ¡°Even though that ck-robed figuremitted suicide, it¡¯s still possible to find some traces of clues,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°I want to see, who tried to stretch their hand into my residence.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded, ¡°It¡¯s rather contemptible to use this type of a trick on women.¡± Ning Mingjie believed that if you didn¡¯t like someone, you should just directly assassinate him or her. Why act out a fake haunting?


    Ji Man yawned. Now that they knew a living person had been behind everything, the household should be able to stop worrying. It wasn¡¯t early anymore. The rest of this matter could be given to the men to handle. It was time for her to sleep.


    After Ji Man returned to her room, she started to tell Wen Wan what had happened.


    With her eyes half-opened and leaning back on a pillow, Wen Wan listened. After Nie Sangyu was done talking, tears suddenly started to fall out of Wen Wan¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Exactly who hates me this much?¡± Her beautiful, delicate tears resembled fallen raindrops on pear blossoms. ¡°My baby, I lose it just like that. I have nightmares every night, and I haven¡¯t been able to peacefully sleep. If I find out who¡¯s behind this, I¡¯ll definitely pay them back a hundred, no, a thousand times!¡± As Wen Wan said this, her face suddenly looked ferocious and sinister. Her voice had also be malevolent.


    Ji Man was shocked by this change. Feeling there was something off about this, she asked, ¡°It¡¯s not like you actually harmed someone¡¯s baby. Why did you get so afraid when you heard that baby crying?¡±


    Wen Wan paused. She lowered her eyes and stop speaking.


    Ji Man shrugged and just assumed that Wen Wan wasn¡¯t very brave.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Marquis Moyu showed the baby to the rest of the household. The innocent baby with unknown origins was starting to look slightly purple. Its eyes were shut and it kept wailing.


    Wen Wan kindly said, ¡°Send the baby to a temple to be raised. After all, it¡¯s still a life.¡±


    Marquis Moyu went with her rmendation and ordered the servants to send the baby away. Then, he ordered for all of the paper talismans and other like-items to be removed from the residence.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at everyone as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t mention this matter again in the future. I¡¯ll definitely find out who the hidden criminal is and severely punish him or her.¡±

 Chapter 148

    Chapter 148 out of 513 ¨C You¡¯re a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world (1)


    Although he said the matter would be investigated, the hidden culprit wasn¡¯t found. However, as more time passed, everyone gradually forgot this matter. The only thing that changed was that Wen Wan would kneel in front of a Buddha statue every day and chant scriptures for her lost baby.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had also sent Muxu to Nie Residence to find out how Errong and Nie Qingyun were doing. She didn¡¯t know if she had shot herself in the foot by using aphrodisiac drugsst time.


    Fortunately, Muxu brought back good news along with a gift from Errong. Errong had sent over a handkerchief to express her gratitude. Since it was gratitude, it meant that nothing bad had happened. Since Errong and Nie Qingyun had slept together, they naturally had to be feeling closer to one another.


    ¡ª


    The signs of spring became more evident.


    Ji Man yawned. She felt somewhat sleepy, but unfortunately for her, Marquis Moyu enjoyed tormenting her. He had invited a group of friends over to admire the flowers and paint them. As his main wife, she naturally had toe here to wee his guests.


    Right now, she was doing her best to keep her eyes open. Looking young and beautiful, she stood by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side as she gracefully grinded ink for him.


    There were several easels set up in the courtyard. Ning Mingjie, Nie Qingyun, the third prince, as well as Qian Yingchen were all here.


    Ji Man felt something strange was going on. Didn¡¯t Marquis Moyu always im that he was on the crown prince¡¯s side? Wouldn¡¯t the crown prince be angry when he found out that Ning Yuxuan had invited the third prince?


    Ning Yuxuan was currently quietly painting a peony.


    Ji Man found the time to sneak a nce at him. The peony he was painting looked gorgeous and rich. It was truly an earthly flower that showed extravagance and wealth. Then, she looked at the daffodil that Ning Mingjie was painting. It was simple, elegant, and pure. It was truly a flower that could exist in the lofty realm of celestial immortals.


    Sure enough, people¡¯s hearts were reflected in their art. Ji Man disdainfully nced at Marquis Moyu¡¯s painting.


    ¡°Are you unsatisfied with something?¡± Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows and looked at her.


    Startled, Ji Man hastily responded with a smile. ¡°Of course not, my lord¡¯s painting is the best.¡±


    It had taken so much effort to create the persona of a good woman. She couldn¡¯t let it be ruined like this. Ji Man gently brought a cup of tea to him and said, ¡°My lord, please have some tea.¡±


    Looking at the woman that had recently be considerably obedient, Ning Yuxuan had a smile in his eyes. He took the cup and had a sip. ¡°Today¡¯s tea is pretty good.¡±


    Ji Man was almost moved to tears, ah. She didn¡¯t know how brew tea very well. Every time she had made tea in the past, this great lord would say something disdainful. Now that she had finally received apliment, it was worth her past attempts that sometimes ended with her dropping expensive high-grade teapots.


    ¡°But, there¡¯s a little too much water and not enough tea leaves. The water you used for the tea also tastes a bit strange. It¡¯s probably well water, right? Also, aren¡¯t these tealeaves fromst year? Are you hiding the recently purchased tea leaves to be used for next year?¡± Marquis Moyu nced at Nie Sangyu¡¯s gradually stiffening smile and finallyfortingly said, ¡°Still, you must have worked hard on this.¡±


    Last year yourself, you insufferable lord! In her mind, Ji Man pointed her middle finger at him. Was he a delicate maiden or something? Why was he so picky and fussy? Really, he was unbearable!


    After she had a good time silently cursing him out, the smile on her face smoothed out. ¡°This servant will be more careful next time and brew a better pot of tea.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Once Ning Yuxuan dotted the center part of the flower, the painting was pretty much finished. The nearby dish of cinnabar paint was almost gone. Pointing at the rich peony, he asked, ¡°Sangyu, do you think my drawing shows a resemnce?¡±


    Ji Man nced at the flower and nodded, ¡°It has a strong resemnce.¡±


    How could the vivid peony he had painted not resemble the real thing?


    Ning Yuxuan looked at the flower, then he looked at her. He chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m asking, does the peony look like you?¡±


    Ji Man paused. She felt somewhat lost. Was he praising her by saying she resembled a flower? Should she be thanking him? But, looking at this delicate and beautiful flower, she really couldn¡¯t force the words, ¡°thank you¡±, past her lips.


    Hearing their conversation, the nearby people put down their brushes and came over.


    Nie Qingyun seemed to be in a pretty good mood. He cast a nce at the painting, then he looked at Nie Sangyu. He smiled and said, ¡°It does look a lot like you.¡±


    Her eyebrows resembled a sweeping willow, her lips had a tinge of red, and there was a natural birthmark between her eyebrows. When Nie Sangyu acted gentler, she still looked delicately beautiful even when she wasn¡¯t wearing makeup. If people were to describe her as a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal word, they wouldn¡¯t be wrong.


    The third prince also smiled and nodded. ¡°Even though Yuxuan had painted a flower, it has younger cousin¡¯s essence. It seems that the rtionship between the two of you has been very goodtely.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. His voice was especially pampering as he lightly tapped Nie Sangyu¡¯s nose and said, ¡°Now that she¡¯s be so well-behaved, she¡¯s be very lovable. It would have been so nice if she was like this from the beginning. I wouldn¡¯t have had to worry so much.¡±


    His tone rmed Ji Man to the point that goosebumps rose up on her entire body and her eyes widened.


    Even if he was going to put on a y in front of these guests, he should have at least given her an advance warning so she could mentally prepare herself. For him to suddenly act like this, it was really terrifying!


    The third prince, as well as everyone else, started tough. Recently, everyone had heard about the rumors that Marquis Moyu had been favoring Nie Sangyu a lot. Seeing that this rumor wasn¡¯t false with their own eyes today, these people also put down their worries.


    There was arge grassy section in the middle of the garden. Dancers used this area during banquets. Ji Man had been nkly looked in this direction when she saw something drifting over and skipping onto this grassy stage.


    Trantor Ramblings: You can probably already guess who was responsible for the fake haunting, based on the clues that the author has given us so far. Tiny spoiler. Just in case you wanted a definite confirmation, I¡¯ll tell you now that the identity of this person be revealedter in the story.

 Chapter 149

    Chapter 149 out of 513 ¨C You¡¯re a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world (2)


    The long, white dancing sleeves fluttered in the air. The simple sash entuated Wen Wan¡¯s supple waist that resembled a willow tree. She was only wearing one white jade hairpin. With her white clothes, she resembled a celestial immortal that had descended from the Nine Heavens. She stood on her tiptoes and started dancing in the grassy area.


    Ji Man thought Wen Wan¡¯s method in regaining Ning Yuxuan¡¯s interest was quite clever. Wen Wan had been sick for a long time, but Marquis Moyu had only visited her a few times without staying overnight. But today was a good opportunity. The weather was nice and everyone was in a good mood. Bying here to dance, she swept away his impression of her past period of depression and made Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes brighten in interest again.


    Men were visual animals to begin with. Everyone in the courtyard stopped talking to silently watch Wen Wan¡¯s dance.


    From far away, the sound of traditional Chinese musical instruments floated over to apany Wen Wan. Dancing to the tune of the music, Wen Wan softly sang,


    <i>¡°In the celestial immortal gardens, we listen to the heavenly music of the emperor.</i>


    <i>Who knows how many times we have listen to these songs?</i>


    <i>How can it bepared to the human world, one song of ¡°Plucking Lotus¡± newly passed down?</i>


    <i>Willow waist is lithe; oriole tongue warbles.</i>


    <i>Being carefree in the misty wave, who would restrain me? </i>


    <i>However, the celestial steps have already urged the departure and return. </i>


    <i>Ride on the colorful simurgh, with lotus nting and looking. </i>


    <i>We wish year after year that we could apany this banquet.¡±</i>


    (T/N: Trantion of the song was taken from here with a few minor modifications. They¡¯re thest lines in <i>Lotus Plucking Dance</i>. Here¡¯s a video of the dance that Wen Wan performed https://.youtube/watch?v=luFQ76uNJvo.)


    Hearing this wonderful singing voice, as well as the feeling of looking at a distant, untouchable celestial immortal, it reminded Ning Yuxuan of the moment when he had first felt tempted by Wen Wan. At the time, he had gone along with her willful behavior of wanting to go to a brothel with him and he had seen her perform this same dance on the stage. Although her behavior was very improper, her dance could conquer a man¡¯s heart.


    Watching this dance brought the memories that had almost been forgotten.


    Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan. Just by looking at his eyes, she could tell that the female lead had seeded.


    She hadn¡¯t expected that Wen Wan would be able to think of this tactic. Originally, she had thought Wen Wan would only gradually use up Ning Yuxuan¡¯s love for her. Surprisingly, Wen Wan had be smart and used a wonderful memory to arouse a man¡¯s heart.


    After the dance, Wen Wan didn¡¯t say a single word. She saluted Ning Yuxuan and left. She seemed as if she had onlye here for him. She didn¡¯t even look at the third prince.


    After Marquis Moyu returned to his senses, he saluted third prince and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> was rude. Yuxuan apologizes on her behalf.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± The third prince¡¯s smile had dimmed. ¡°This woman can be considered rare. She actually knows how to sing an entertainer¡¯s song.¡± These words held the intention of belittling Wen Wan.


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and didn¡¯t respond.


    (T/N: Just in case it doesn¡¯t make sense, the third prince isn¡¯tplimenting Wen Wan. He¡¯s putting her on the same level as Mu Shuiqing, who was an entertainer at a brothel before she was given to Marquis Moyu.)


    The previouslyfortable atmosphere suddenly stiffened.


    Nie Qingyun sneered for moment, then he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go drinking next. We¡¯re pretty much finished with painting.¡±


    ¡°That sounds good.¡± Marquis Moyu asked, ¡°Your Highness, what do you think?¡±


    After the third prince nodded, Ning Yuxuan had them stay here to wait for a bit while he left to pay a visit to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t need to guess to know why he was going to Qiangwei Courtyard. Since the male lead and female lead¡¯s rtionship had been fixed, her work as the supporting female character increased.


    Ning Mingjie was still standing at the front of the easel and painting.


    Ji Man quietly asked, ¡°Young Master, are you still painting?¡±


    Ning Mingjie finished his careful painting of the daffodil. He took a nce at the third prince and Nie Qingyun and saw that they had walked a little farther away to talk. He turned his head and lightly smiled at her. ¡°Come here and look.¡±


    Ji Man walked over. The daffodil on the paper looked very realistic and elegant.


    ¡°Instead of saying you¡¯re a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world, it would better to say you¡¯re as elegant as a daffodil.¡± Ning Mingjie removed the excess ink off the painting paper. His mood seemed to very good as he said, ¡°You can keep this painting. I probably won¡¯t have time to send it out to be framed.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man very solemnly epted the painting. She thought for a moment, then she picked up a brush and wrote something. She still wasn¡¯t very skillful with using a brush yet.


    ¡°The quiet and calm ce is preferable, an elegant heart, not a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world.¡± Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes brightened. It onlysted for a brief moment before he politely took a step back. ¡°We¡¯ll leave first and wait for Yuxuan at the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man smiled as she sent them off to the entrance, then she handed the painting over to Muxu to have it framed.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan stayed over at Wen Wan¡¯s ce that night. Ji Man wasn¡¯t surprised. Instead, she was lying on her bed and looking at that painting. The corners of her lips were curved up into a smile; she was in a very good mood.


    On the next day, when she went to pay respects to old madame, she met Ning Mingjie again. Ji Man snuck several nces at him. Even though he had the same face as that scumbag, he was immeasurably better than Xu Xi. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t hers. The supporting male character also belonged to the female lead.


    ¡ª


    Once again, Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan stuck together like honey. However, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t treat Nie Sangyu coldly. He sent over many items to her courtyard.


    Qi Siling was very happy. As long as Wen Wan was willing to follow her instructions, Wen Wan would definitely be able to receive favor. She hadn¡¯t chosen the wrong side.


    Although the marquis wasn¡¯t favoring her, Qi Siling still felt that her fortune had turned for the better. And so, when she met Nie Sangyu on a path, her voice was confident as she asked, ¡°Madam, this servant has been looking at the ount book. There were several areas in the ount book that looked strange. When you were managing the ount book, why did it seem as if more money had appeared?¡±


    Ji Man looked at her and smiled. ¡°Isn¡¯t having more money better? On the contrary, I want to ask you a question. Siling, when you were managing the inner court¡¯s ount, where did all of the money go?¡±


    Qi Siling pursed her lips. Sounding as if she was being rather wronged, she said, ¡°Madam, are you reprimanding this servant? All of the expenditures are recorded in the ount book. This servant hasn¡¯t taken even half a silver tael.


    Ji Man nodded.¡°Then, return the ount book to me. It¡¯s better to have extra money.¡±


    Qi Siling had only wanted to say a few sentences to speak out against Nie Sangyu. She hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Sangyu would ask for the ount book back. She naturally wasn¡¯t willing to hand it over. And so, she loudlyughed and said, ¡°Madam, managing the ount book is tiring. You should just have this servant handle it.¡±


    A long time had already passed since she handed over the ount book to Qi Siling when she had been punished with a ten-day stay in the confinement courtyard. Ji Man looked at Qi Sling in askance for a moment, then she turned around to return to the main courtyard. ¡°Since younger sister isn¡¯t willing to give me the ount book when I ask, then I¡¯ll have to go ask Old Madame for it.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: For a moment, I though Wen Wan was bing smarter. Too bad it turned out to be Qi Siling¡¯s idea.

 Chapter 150

    Chapter 150 out of 513 ¨C You certainly were born with a beautiful face (1)


    Qi Siling felt so regretful. Why did shee over and said those words to Nie Sangyu? She had been entrusted with temporary management of the ount book on the premise that Nie Sangyu had been in the confinement courtyard. After Nie Sangyu hade out, she should have returned the ount book to her. However, Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t asked her for it and she hadn¡¯t mentioned it. Now, her words had provoked Nie Sangyu into demanding the ount book back. She had tried to gain an advantage, but had only ended up worse off.


    If old madame asked her for the ount book, she naturally couldn¡¯t avoid doing so. The duck that hade to her mouth had flown away just like that.


    Qi Siling decided that she would take a detour when she saw Nie Sangyu in the future.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man got the ount book from old madame, she flipped it open and started to look at it. As she looked it over, she noticed that there was something off. ¡°Aren¡¯t these expenses a little too high?¡±


    Old madame didn¡¯t care that much. ¡°The marquis has always been generous with the spending over food and clothing. It¡¯s only normal that the expenses are little higher than average.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. She brought over the ount book for old madame to see. ¡°Three hundred silver taels were used just for half a month of food. Old Madame, do you think that¡¯s possible? The food for your courtyard is the very best and it only costs twenty silver taels per month. Where did the rest of the money go?¡±


    Old Madame wasn¡¯t a person that knew about the costs of daily necessities. Hearing these words from Nie Sangyu, she furrowed her brows. ¡°How could so much be used?¡±


    If the food for her courtyard cost twenty silver taels per month, the other courtyards naturally wouldn¡¯t spend more than ten silver taels. Even if they added the cost of the servants, it shouldn¡¯t exceed a hundred silver taels for half a month. If she calcted it like that, there were over two hundred silver taels missing.


    ¡°When I first took over the ount book, it was the same situation. I didn¡¯t feelfortable bring it up at the time, so I used my own money to cover the costs.¡± Ji Man looked at Qi Siling and lightly smiled. ¡°Strange. When the ount book returned to Siling¡¯s management, this happened again.¡±


    Old madame¡¯s gaze abruptly sharpened. She looked at Qi Siling and asked, ¡°Do you have anything to say for yourself?¡±


    Qi Siling kneeled down and very innocently said, ¡°The groceries have always been purchased by the kitchen servants. This servant only records the expenses and wouldn¡¯t dare to embezzle money.¡±


    ¡°Then, where did all of the money go?¡± Old madame scoffed. ¡°Did you think you were this family¡¯s matriarch just because I allowed you to manage the ount book? Do you think you can use the money without permission?¡±


    Qi Siling hurriedly kowtowed and said, ¡°Old Madame, this servant is wrongly used, ah. This servant swears on her life, this servant definitely didn¡¯t embezzle any money. Old Madame, if you don¡¯t believe this servant, you can send servants to Siling¡¯s courtyard to search.¡±


    Qi Siling¡¯s maiden family wasn¡¯t poor. There was no reason for her to be thiscking in money. No, Wen Wan was the person that would need money. She had a gambling father that had always been like a bottomless pit for money. More likely than not, Qi Sling had taken this money to give to Wen Wan. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have such a good rtionship with Wen Wan.


    Although she had these thoughts, she couldn¡¯t say them aloud. Ji Man closed the ount book and seriously said to old madame. ¡°It¡¯ll be hard to manage the household if there isn¡¯t a system of checks in ce. In the future, how about have different people buy the groceries each time? As for the missing two hundred silver taels when Siling was managing the ount, if Siling can prove to Steward Qian that three hundred silver taels worth of items had entered the warehouse in the past half month, then everything is fine. If she can¡¯t prove it, then she can just pay back the money. What do you think?¡±


    Qi Siling¡¯s face looked extremely bad. She kept her head lowered and stayed silent.


    ¡°What? Are you not willing to agree to this method?¡± Old madame angrily said, ¡°If you want me to decide, then I¡¯ll have Xuan-<i>er</i> give you a separation letter for daring to manage the ount book like this. Once you¡¯re driven out of this residence, the matter will be done with.¡±


    ¡°Old Madame, please calm down,¡± Qi Siling hurriedly said, ¡°This servant will go to Steward Qian and properly check this matter.¡±


    Old madame harrumphed and waved her hand to indicate for Qi Siling to leave the room. She turned her head to look at Nie Mingjie, who had been watching the show, and said, ¡°Mingjie, look at these women. In the end, it¡¯s only people from our own family that set my mind at rest.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was sitting next to old madame and filially peeling lychee for her. The sight of clear lychee juice dripping down his slender, long fingers made Ji Man stare nkly for a while.


    ¡°Old Madame is right.¡± He stretched his hand out and fed a lychee to old madame.


    Old Madame¡¯s expression immediately improved. Sheughed and said, ¡°At least you¡¯re obedient. Looking at how Xuan-<i>er</i> has been behaving, I¡¯m almost angered to death.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nced at Nie Sangyu, then he quietly said, ¡°Mingjie actually feels that the marquis is a person that does major things. One can¡¯t bother with trifles when he¡¯s out to aplish important matters. Old Madame, there¡¯s no need for you to feel fretful.¡±


    Hearing someone praise her son, old madame would definitely feel happy. She still harrumphed a few times before talking about daily household matters with Nie Sangyu and Ning Mingjie.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu and Wen Wan were both in Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan was standing in a cluster of flowers. She pouted and acted cutely spoiled, ¡°Paint a painting for me too.¡±


    She was probably still thinking about the peony that he had painted in the garden a few days ago. The third prince had even said that he had captured Nie Sangyu¡¯s essence. Wen Wan was very unhappy over this and insisted that he paint a painting for her too.


    Standing in front of the numerous blooming flowers, Wen Wan resembled a snow lotus flower. She didn¡¯t have a peony¡¯s morous beauty, but she looked pleasantly fresh and pure.


    Ning Yuxuan picked up a brush. From her beautiful, thick hair to the bottom of her skirt, he painted very carefully. But, he hesitated when he started to paint her face.


    The smiling woman in front of him looked very beautiful, but his thoughts wandered to someone else. When he had returned to his senses, the woman in the painting didn¡¯t resemble Wen Wan at all.


    Shocked, he hurriedly crumpled the paper.


    Wen Wan looked very confused.


    He smiled at her and said, ¡°It didn¡¯t look good. I want to start over.¡±


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t suspicious of him.


    The crumpled paper ended up quietly lying in Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve. He repainted the smiling beauty in front of him.


    Wen Wan was satisfied when she saw thepleted painting. She thought that the issue over the painting had ended.

 Chapter 151

    Chapter 151 out of 513 ¨C You certainly were born with a beautiful face (2)


    That night, when it was time to sleep, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°There¡¯s something I have to do in my study. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± He had to throw away that item in his sleeve, right?


    ¡°My lord, this servant will wait for your return,¡± Wen Wan gently said.


    Ning Yuxuan left Qiangwei Courtyard, entered the study, and ignited the brazier. Right after he threw the painting into the fire, he changed his mind and hurriedly took it out.


    ¡ª


    Lately, Ji Man had a habit. Before she went to bed, she would always look at the daffodil painting that was hanging on the wall for a while. The words she had written didn¡¯t look very good, but it suited the painting. It was the beauty of pairing perfection with imperfection.


    Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard noiseing from the outside.


    Muxu entered the room and quietly reported, ¡°The marquis hase. This servant is going to go and fetch a first aid kit.¡±


    Why did he need a first aid kit? Confused, Ji Man looked at him through the gap in the partition as he walked into the room with pursed lips. His hand was quite red. It seemed liked he been burned by something, but it wasn¡¯t serous.


    Looking at his hand, she asked, ¡°My lord, why did youe here? Didn¡¯t you go Qiangwei Courtyard?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look very good. Who was he angry with? He sat down on her bed as if he was a great lord and held his hand up. ¡°I came out to deal with something and identally burned myself. Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯t know how to take care of injuries, so I came here to get my wound treated before going back.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man took the ointment that Muxu handed her and rubbed it onto his hand.


    Ning Yuxuan stared at Nie Sangyu for a long time before finally turning his head away. He let out a long sigh. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the painting hanging on the wall.


    Ji Man inexplicably felt a chill running down her back. When she raised her head, she followed the direction of his gaze and saw what he was looking at.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Marquis Moyu neutrally asked, ¡°Did Mingjie paint that?


    ¡°Yeah, Young Master gave it to me. He said I¡¯m not extravagant at all.¡± Ji Man shrugged, lowered her head, and continued applying the ointment.


    Ning Yuxuan was stuffily quiet for a long time before he said, ¡°He gave this to you and you hanged in your bedroom. Is this so that you can see it as soon as you wake up?¡±


    ¡°That wall was just missing a painting. This servant can hang up whatever someone gives me, ah. My lord, you didn¡¯t give me the peony painting, right?¡±


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t happy about the peony painting and asked him for it. She either burned it or ripped into pieces. Her little bad temper...


    But, this painting was too offensively conspicuous. Did it even look as good as the one he had painted? Ning Yuxuan lightly harrumphed, took back his hand, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a painting tomorrow. Take this one down.¡±


    ¡°... Understood.¡± Ji man nced at him. A man¡¯s possessiveness was truly scary. He would even feel offended over a painting.


    What a pity. This was a really good painting.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Marquis Moyu really did send over a peony painting. From the looks of it, it was painting he had purchased. It had someone else¡¯s seal and was painted on thick, textured paper.


    Ji Man was toozy to argue about this with him. She blocked the view of the daffodil painting by hanging the new painting over it.


    ¡ª


    Qi Siling had probably sold off a lot of her jewelry in order to gather enough money. The deficit supplies in the storehouse were also replenished. After this was done, Ji Man wasn¡¯t nning on pursing the matter any further.


    However, Luo Qianqian suddenly paid a visit to the marquis¡¯s residence.


    Or perhaps, she should be calling her the heir¡¯s wife.


    Not long ago, Luo Qianqian married Prince Huainan¡¯s heir. The emperor had bestowed this marriage. It was during the ten-day period when Ji Man had been confined, so she hadn¡¯t gone out to attend the wedding banquet. However, she had heard gossip that Luo Qianqian and the heir didn¡¯t get along well. They both had stubborn personalities. Moreover, Qianqian had firm control over their household, and the heir was powerless. He had no way to rebel against her.


    This heir was talented. He had always loved Wen Wan, but had been forced to marry Luo Qianqian. Because of this, he had never shown a happy face to Luo Qianqian since their wedding day.


    Today, Luo Qianqian had barged into the residence and flung down a receipt for a pawned item in front of Marquis Moyu and old madame. Her eyes were red as she hoarsely said, ¡°Qianqian isn¡¯t afraid of making a scene. I just want to ask the marquis and Old Madame one question. Are you still able to control the women in your household?¡±


    Marquis Moyu and Old Madame¡¯s expressions looked very ugly. Ji Man stepped forward to act a mediator. She picked up the receipt and looked at it.


    The item that had been pawned was a first-ss jade essory. It was a very valuable item, but it had only been exchanged for a hundred silver taels. Feeling confused, Ji Man asked, ¡°What does this receipt for a pawned item have anything to do with the women in this household?


    Luo Qianqian nced at her for a moment, then shook her head. ¡°Madam, you don¡¯t know the truth. This jade essory was a status symbol that Prince Huainan gave to the heir. The heir acted beyond outrageously by pawning it off. He gave the money he got from pawning to Wen Wan.¡±


    Once these words were said, the entire room was quiet.


    Standing by the side, Wen Wan¡¯s face was so red that it looked as if blood would start dripping out soon. ¡°Y-you¡¯re saying nonsense!¡±


    ¡°How am I saying nonsense?¡± Luo Qianqian looked at her and coldly harrumphed. ¡°Aren¡¯t you always saying that your father is a gambling addict? That he lost the family fortune, so he¡¯s alwayscking in money? The heir has asked me for money several times. I didn¡¯t expect that he would even pawn off that jade essory in order to make you happy.¡±


    She added, ¡°Wen Wan, lesser Madam Ning, you certainly were born with a beautiful face.¡±

 Chapter 152

    Chapter 152 out of 513 ¨C Of course I¡¯m not doing this for the female lead¡¯s benefit (1)


    Everyone¡¯s gaze was directed at Wen Wan. This was also the first time that Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan with such an unpleasant expression. Old madame directly threw her teacup at Wen Wan¡¯s feet. ¡°Ill-bred creature!¡±


    The hot tea sshed onto Wen Wan¡¯s clothes. Wen Wan trembled in fear before gritting her teeth and kneeling down without caring about the spilled tea and shattered porcin on the floor. She cried out, ¡°This servant never epted money from the heir. Old Madame, please investigate.¡±


    ¡°His wife has alreadye to our doors and you dare to say that you¡¯re not responsible?¡± Old madame was so angry that her body was slightly shaking. ¡°For the marquis¡¯s residence to have someone like you, we might as well throw away our reputation. If other people hear about this, how do you want Xuan-<i>er</i> to show his face in front of other people? Do you want other people to think that he can¡¯t even support a woman?¡±


    Wen Wan repeatedly shook her head. ¡°I really haven¡¯t... Yuxuan, you have to believe me. I¡¯m not that type of woman.¡±


    In a moment of desperation, she didn¡¯t even refer to herself as this servant. She directly skipped to saying she was being wrongfully used.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her. His hand was slightly clenched. ¡°Then, what kind of woman are you?¡±


    Wen Wan momentarily froze in shock. Feeling extremely upset, she said, ¡°You didn¡¯t believe mest time. Are you going to not believe me this time again? It¡¯s their choice to give my father money. Why does this have anything to do with me? First of all, I didn¡¯t ask them for the money. Second, I told my father to not ept their money. How can this be my fault?¡±


    These words were indirectly admitting that the heir had pawned off the jade essory for her. Ji Man wanted to facepalm. Wen Wan was too stupid.


    Hearing these words, how could Luo Qianqian be willing to take things lying down? She immediately sneered and said, ¡°Are you saying that the heir was showering affection on an uninterested party by giving your father money? Lesser Madam Ning, your skill are truly marvelous. If you didn¡¯t cry that you were poor in front of those men, would they all rush to provide financial assistance to your father? Marquis Moyu and Old Madame, please forgive me for saying the following disrespectful words in front of you. Lesser Madam Ning, please don¡¯t act like a whore, then turn around and pretend to be saintly woman. The next time you need money, you can directly ask me, Luo Qianqian, for it. I¡¯m not happy when the heir gives your father money. But, if you tell me that you¡¯re having serious financial problems, then on behalf of Tonghao Poetry Association¡¯s reputation, I won¡¯t be stingy!¡±


    These words were very vicious. Wen Wan felt utterly humiliated and burst into tears.


    Old madame disdainfully looked at her, covered part of her face, and said, ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i>, look at her. This is the woman that you whole-heartedly love. I said a long time ago that her family background isn¡¯t suitable for you. She won¡¯t be able to apany you for a lifetime. But, you wouldn¡¯t listen to my advice. Now that this mess has happened, how will Prince Huainan¡¯s household and this household be able to get along in the future?¡±


    Prince Huainan rarely came to the capital. This time, he only came to the capital for his heir¡¯s wedding. Originally, he was going to leave after this month, but now this matter hade up.


    Wen Wan cried as if her heart was breaking. She shook her head and said, ¡°Why are you all sshing this dirty water on me? What kind of evil intentions are you harboring? I finally had two peaceful days with Yuxuan. Why did youe here to harm me?¡±


    Her crying sounded so pitiful, even Ji Man was starting to feel bad for her. Still, Wen Wan was being a bit too delusion. If she didn¡¯t do something wrong to begin with, how would people find her faults?


    ¡°Who dares to harm you?¡± Luo Qianqian cynicallyughed. ¡°The heir has told me that if I dare to do anything to you, he¡¯ll write me a divorce letter. Right now, I even have to beg you. Lesser Madam Ning, please spare Qianqian.¡±


    Old Madame angrily shouted, ¡°Preposterous!¡±


    Wen Wan didn¡¯t dare to continue crying.


    Divorce was significantly more serious than mere money. Wen Wan was already a married woman and yet, she was causing the heir to threaten to divorce his wife. Regardless of the truth, this matter would always cken Wen Wan¡¯s reputation.


    Ning Yuxuan also stopped speaking. He knew that Wen Wan hadn¡¯t actually cheated on him. It was only that Wen Wan would frequently cry out her grievances in Tonghua Poetry Association gatherings. Hearing herints, the men would naturally have ideas and want to help her of their own initiative. Some of these men would start to have inclinations that they shouldn¡¯t have and say words that might end with Wen Wan being put to death.


    Actually, it was his fault too. Why did he let Wen Wan go to Tonghua Poetry Association to y?


    Now that this situation had urred, how should he clean up this mess?


    During this time, old madame continued to angrily yell at Wen Wan and Wen Wan could only say she was being wrongly used.


    Luo Qianqian stood by the side and coldly smiled. She wanted to see how this seductress would be punished.


    ¡°Luo Qianqian!¡±


    Just as old madame was about to force Ning Yuxuan to write a divorce letter, an important character, Prince Huainan¡¯s heir, finally appeared. He strode into the main room, grabbed Luo Qianqian¡¯s wrist, saw Wen Wan kneeling on the ground, and couldn¡¯t resist pping his wife.


    The p caused Luo Qianqian¡¯s face to slightly turn the side. She seemed too shocked to react.


    The heir also paused before slowly putting down the hand that had pped her and saying, ¡°I already said you¡¯re not allowed toe here.


    Ji Man frowned. He was really being too outrageous by pping Luo Qianqian in front of so many people.


    Old madame and the rest of the womenfolk also frowned.


    Luo Qianqian slowly turned her head back. She very calmly looked at the heir, loosened his grip around her wrist, and faintly smiled. ¡°As expected, it can only end like this.¡±


    The heir¡¯s expression was somewhat panicky, but then he looked at Wen Wan. She was kneeling on the ground in a pile of shattered porcin and her eyes had swollen from crying. He decided that everything had to be Luo Qianqian¡¯s fault and his heart hardened. With a stern expression, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve always been jealous of Wen Wan, and now you even came to her home to cause trouble. Your behavior is outrageous. Come home with me right now!¡±


    Luo Qianqian lowered her eyes. Part of her face was starting to turn red, but she used a very light voice to say, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist sneering. ¡°This is the first time I saw a husband pping his own wife for another married woman. Qianqian, you married the wrong person.¡±

 Chapter 153

    Chapter 153 out of 513 ¨C Of course I¡¯m not doing this for the female lead¡¯s benefit (2)


    The heir stopped walking, turned his head, and somewhat hatefully looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man met his gaze, slowly raised her left hand towards him, and pointed her middle finger.


    Naturally, people in ancient times didn¡¯t understand the meaning of this gesture. However, the contempt in Ji Man¡¯s eyes was too strong.


    The heir couldn¡¯t resist angrily saying, ¡°Our family matters have nothing to do with Madam Ning.¡±


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s your business. It doesn¡¯t really have anything to do with me,¡± Luo Qianqian calmly said, ¡°Zhao Kaifeng, from now on, your matters have nothing to do with me. If you want to pawn off ten jade essories, feel free to do so.¡±


    After saying these words, she started walking away and left the discarded husband far behind her.


    Zhao Kaifeng was both anxious and angry. He furiously red at Nie Sangyu, then he ran after Luo Qianqian.


    After the person that had started the fuss left, only people in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household remained. He looked at Wen Wan and didn¡¯t say a word. She was still kneeling on the ground and her hands and knees had started to bleed from the porcin shards.


    After old madame was silent for a while, she asked Marquis Moyu, ¡°Are you going to write a divorce letter or not?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lowered his eyes and stayed silent.


    ¡°Then, she¡¯ll be demoted to a servant girl. Lock her up the woodshed!¡± Old madame sarcastically said, ¡°Well, the son I gave birth to, you¡¯ve certainly matured!¡±


    Wen Wan widened her eyes in horror and looked at Ning Yuxuan, but he continued to look at the ground and didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of speaking.


    A few servants came forward, took her out of the room, removed her jewelry and beautiful embroidered clothes. They even took away Tanxiang. She was just locked up in the woodshed by herself. Blood was still dripping from her injured palms and knees.


    Wen Wan cried. She had already be ustomed to afortable lifestyle. How could she be willing to be a servant?


    After Wen Wan was taken out of the room, the atmosphere in the room still felt somewhat oppressed.


    The concubines returned to their respective courtyards without saying another word. Marquis Moyu went to his study and hadn¡¯te out.


    ¡ª


    After everyone left, Ji Man applied a newly developed facial mask to old madame¡¯s face. However, this failed at cheering old madame up.


    After the facial treatment was over, old madame dismissed the servant girls. Then, she looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Sangyu, you should just get rid of her. She¡¯s already caused trouble to this level and Xuan-<i>er</i> still won¡¯t divorce her. Her existence will only bring you greater misfortune in the future.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man instinctively shook her head. What if Wen Wan had a female lead¡¯s halo that made it impossible for her to die? Wouldn¡¯t she just end up paying with her own life by attempting to harm Wen Wan?


    Seeing her shake her head, old madame frowned and said, ¡°As the main wife, you can¡¯t be soft-hearted and reluctant to make difficult decisions. Right now, Wen Wan is at rock bottom. You just need to have someone a bowl of medicinal soup to her, then send that person away afterwards. No one will know that you were the one behind it.¡±


    Countless supporting female characters had been finished off by female leads because of this suggested move by the mother-inws. No way, she wouldn¡¯t do it!


    However, looking at old madame¡¯s attitude, she knew that old madame wouldn¡¯t give up on this idea. Ji Man could only brace herself and nod her head.


    Old madame¡¯s frown smoothed out. She stood up, walked to the cushioned couch, took out a small bottle, and handed it Nie Sangyu. ¡°This is a slow-acting poison. She won¡¯t die until half a month to a few monthster. This way, it¡¯s even less likely that you¡¯ll be found out.¡±


    Ji Man took the bottle, nodded her head, and thanked old madame. She held the bottle in her hand as she left the main courtyard, then she walked to the garden and casually threw the bottle into the pond.


    She wanted to live. Harming the female lead would only lead to the path to her own death. For now, she would outwardly agree and secretly oppose old madame¡¯s n.


    ¡ª


    That night, Ji Man visited Wen Wan and brought over medicinal soup.


    Part of the reason that Wen Wan would be locked in the woodshed for a month was to grind away her current temperament. After the month was over, she would be assigned to someone as a servant girl.


    This female lead had just been knocked off the clouds, so her mood naturally wouldn¡¯t be very stable.


    When Ji Man opened the doors, she saw Wen Wan¡¯s eyes brightening.


    But after seeing it was Nie Sangyu that hade here, the light in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were extinguished and was reced with loathing. ¡°Why did youe here?¡±


    At the very least, she had helped Wen Wan several times. Why was her attitude still so nasty? Ji Man sighed, put down the medicinal soup, and took out ointment to treat Wen Wan¡¯s wounds.


    Don¡¯t misunderstand. Ji Man didn¡¯t want to act like a good person at all. She was only doing this because she knew that Marquis Moyu would being here soon. Rather than letting Ning Yuxuan seeing Wen Wan looking so pitiful and feeling upset over her, she might as welle here and deal with Wen Wan herself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your fake kindness. Let me guess. You¡¯re all feeling very happy right now, right?¡± Wen Wan took a step back and sneered at Nie Sangyu. ¡°I won¡¯t be locked in here forever. All of the things that you¡¯ve snatched from me, I¡¯ll snatch them back!¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll only be confined in here for a month. Once you¡¯re let out, you can snatch whatever you want. But, if you don¡¯t treat your injuries right now, they¡¯ll leave behind scars. The marquis will feel disdainful of you if he feels your scars pressing ufortably into his hands. How will you be able to snatch him back then?¡±


    At the mention of scars, Wen Wan looked at her bloody palms and hesitantly looked at Nie Sangyu.


    ¡°Come over here.¡± Holding the ointment, Ji Man grabbed Wen Wan¡¯s hand and started to apply the ointment. Then, she helped Wen Wan tidy up her hair and clothes. At the end, she gave Wen Wan the quilt she had brought over so that Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t feel cold at night and get sick.


    Wen Wan looked at her with redden eyes. Her lips twitched, and she said, ¡°You...¡±


    ¡°No need to thank me. You¡¯ll go back to hating me soon enough.¡± Ji Man shrugged. After finished her task, she turned around and left.

 Chapter 154

    Chapter 154 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s better to destroy ten temples than ruin a marriage (1)


    For a few moments, Wen Wan felt confused by Nie Sangyu¡¯s words. She had clearlye here to help her. Why would she hate her?


    On the side, there was a bowl of murky ck medicinal soup. She wasn¡¯t stupid. She wouldn¡¯t drink that medicine. Feeling tired, she wrapped the quilt that Nie Sangyu had brought her around herself and leaned against the nearby woodpile to sleep.


    Shortly after Ji Man left the woodshed, Ning Yuxuan came over from the other side.


    In the end, Wen Wan still had a ce in his heart and he couldn¡¯t bear to just leave her alone. After all, they had gotten together despite difficulties, and they also had so many beautiful memories. How could he be willing to abandon her just like that?


    As soon as he thought about all of the injuries she had suffered today, Ning Yuxuan still came over with ointment so that he could apply it to her wounds.


    However, when he opened the doors, he immediately saw that Wen Wan¡¯s injuries had already been bandaged. She was also peacefully sleeping while wrapped up in a thick quilt.


    Ning Yuxuan stood at the doorway and looked at her for a while before tucking the jar of ointment into his sleeve. Thinking about how Wen Wan had truly done something wrong, he decided that he shouldn¡¯t be softhearted. Otherwise, her behavior would be even worse.


    After closing the doors, Ning Yuxuan turned around and decided to go to Xuesong Courtyard to visit Qian Lianxue.


    ¡ª


    Prince Huainan¡¯s heir¡¯s wife had requested for a divorce.


    This news spread throughout the capital and even entered the pce. After the emperor heard the reason for this request, he was furious. He summoned Marquis Moyu into the pce and told him to give Wen Wan white cloth for her failure to behave as a moral married woman.


    (T/N: Giving white cloth means he wants her tomit suicide by hanging herself.)


    In actually, the emperor had only summoned Marquis Moyu into the pce as a show for the benefit of Luo n and Prince Huainan¡¯s household. The emperor had bestowed the marriage between these two families, so Luo Qianqian and Prince Huainan¡¯s heir naturally couldn¡¯t get a divorce after recently getting married. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t even the heir that wanted to get a divorce. It was his wife.


    Since someone from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household was involved with this incident, it wasn¡¯t good for Ning Yuxuan¡¯s reputation. And so, the emperor thought it would be worth it to sacrifice Wen Wan.


    Frustratingly, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t agree.


    Luo Qianqian also knew that Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t give up Wen Wan. Her only intention in calmly kneeling in front of the emperor was to request for a divorce.


    Kneeling next to her, the heir snuck several nces at her. Luo Qianqian didn¡¯t look like she had the intention of changing her mind.


    Zhao Kaifeng didn¡¯t actually want a divorce. Although his wife was very fierce, had quite a temper, and wasn¡¯t pretty, she was very good at managing the household. Sometimes, she would be too controlling and he would get angry. But, if she wasn¡¯t there controlling him, he would feel... as if something was empty.


    He adored Wen Wan because she gave off an aura that made people want to protect her. Her attractive face was also very likable. He had just wanted to make Wen Wan happy, so he had given Wen Wan¡¯s father a hundred silver taels. How could he have known that the matter would explode into something like this?


    He was also too used to acting like a great lord. He could admit to himself that he had acted outrageously be pping his wife, but he wasn¡¯t willing to lower himself by apologizing to her.


    And so, when the emperor, who was feeling quite the headache over this matter, asked him if he was willing to divorce, the heir could only stiffen his neck and reply, ¡°Yes.¡±


    He knew that even if he agreed, his father definitely wouldn¡¯t agree!


    Prince Huainan had already spent a long time apologizing to Sir Luo. Hearing his son¡¯s response, he immediately smacked the back of Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s head. ¡°Bastard! You¡¯ve only been married to Qianqian for such a short period of time. How dare you not take any responsibility?¡±


    Luo Qianqian calmly smiled and said, ¡°Your Highness, there¡¯s no reason for you to be angry. Qianqian just isn¡¯t fated to be with him. There¡¯s nothing more that needs to be said. At worst, we¡¯ll just be consideredughingstocks by everyone else.¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng looked at his father in disbelief. Why had his father stopped talking? Was he really going to stop persuading her on his behalf?


    Prince Huainan kicked his son¡¯s back and angrily rebuke, ¡°You lost yourself a wonderful wife. Let¡¯s see how you¡¯ll cry about this in the future!¡±


    The emperor¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good either. He kept staring at Marquis Moyu. A woman had ruined a marriage that he, the emperor, had bestowed, and Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t even willing to deal with her. How could the emperor not be angry?


    However, the emperor still felt slightly fearful of the consequences of pushing Marquis Moyu too far, so he didn¡¯t immediately have a falling out with him. He only said, ¡°This marriage holds a great importance. The two of you should go home first and cool down for a few days before asking this emperor for a decision. However, a justification for how the culprit will be punished needs to be handled today.¡±


    Luo Qianqian wanted to say something, but her father pressed down on her shoulder to stop her.


    ¡ª


    A rumor was springing up everywhere in the capital that there was a seductress in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household. She failed to act like a proper married woman, seduced other men, and was causing the heir and his wife to get a divorce. This rumor caused quite amotion.


    It was actually good for Wen Wan that she was confined in the woodshed and didn¡¯t leave the residence. Otherwise, if she heard people cursing her name everywhere, she might want to die.


    Marquis Moyu had humbly apologized to the emperor. He punished himself with a loss of one year¡¯s sry, as well as promising that Wen Wan would remain a servant for the rest of her life and never be allowed to marry.


    This promise waspletely blocking Wen Wan¡¯s future. She would never be more than a servant for the rest of her life.


    Hearing this news, Ji Man felt secretly happy. It had taken so long, but she had finally gotten revenge for Nie Sangyu. The woman that had stolen away her husband had finally received retribution.


    Although her intuition told her that Wen Wan¡¯s ending wouldn¡¯t remain like this, Ji Man still felt satisfied when she thought about what Wen Wan¡¯s expression would look like when she found out about her punishment.


    However, the rtionship between Marquis Moyu and Luo n had be rocky. Luo Qianqian¡¯s father was the Chancellor of Exchequer in the Three Departments. As the person in charge of the country¡¯s treasury, his status was very illustrious. Due to his falling out with Marquis Moyu, the Six Ministries were in a very awkward position.

 Chapter 155

    Chapter 155 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s better to destroy ten temples than ruin a marriage (2)


    Old madame thought this issue was an unexpected cmity. Even after chanting Buddhist sutras for a day, her heart still felt uneasy.


    She summoned Nie Sangyu and said to her, ¡°Are you friends with that Luo Qianqian? It¡¯s not good for our two families to have a falling out like this.¡±


    ¡°Sangyu understands.¡± Ji Man nodded. She found Qianqian¡¯s attitude of willing to be forthright about her likes and dislikes rather likable. She had wanted to talk to her anyways; this would be a good excuse for her to visit Luo Residence.


    After eating lunch, she brought Dengxin with her to Luo Residence. Right after she arrived near Luo Residence, she saw many ordinary people standing in the streets and gesticting in Luo Residence¡¯s direction.


    Ji Man raised the sedan chair¡¯s curtain to get a better look.


    As they passed by someone, she heard him say, ¡°This is certainly a strange sight. Miss Luo is always so reasonable and virtuous. It¡¯s surprising to see that hedonistic heiring to her maiden home to apologize to her.


    ¡°Hah! Are you stupid? Look at how unwilling the heir looks. He was definitely forced toe here by Prince Huainan. He was in a rush to return to his own fiefdom, but as it turned out, his daughter-inw had run away. Really, could that vixen from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household be any more harmful?¡±


    ¡°If I give birth to a daughter like Wen Wan, I would strangle her at birth to keep her from bring shame to our family.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that Wen Wan definitely has some type of talent and good looks in order to lead astray man after man.¡±


    The surrounding men chuckled. Ji Man raised her eyebrows, put down her curtain, and told Dengxin that they would be entering Luo Residence through a side entrance.


    She had sent a letter early this morning saying that she would be visiting. But after seeing she was someone from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, the doorman didn¡¯t announce her arrival. In the end, the doorman didn¡¯t leave to bring news of her visit for a long time until she offered him a bribe.


    After they had waited at the side entrance for an hour, someone finally came out. The person¡¯s attitude could be considered pretty good. ¡°Madan Ning, please follow me.¡±


    Luo Residence was very luxurious, but it was within the epted norms. Luo Qianqian¡¯s room was located right after a rock garden.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t let Dengxin follow her inside. Instead, she followed the Luo Qianqian¡¯s servant girl upstairs.


    ¡°Madam Ning.¡± Luo Qianqian had already changed back to an unmarried girl¡¯s hairstyle. Seeing Nie Sangyu, she was slightly surprised. After thinking it over, she understood. ¡°Did youe here to persuade Qianqian?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. Seeing that the servant girl had left the room to fetch tea, she said her true thoughts, ¡°I came here to say that I¡¯m feeling very happy and satisfied. You were able to aplish something that I wasn¡¯t able to do myself.¡±


    Luo Qingqian chuckled. ¡°When Qianqian went to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residencest time, Qianqian already said that Madam Ning has a very good temper. Qianqian wouldn¡¯t be able to tolerate that woman.¡±


    ¡°But, divorcing the heir because of her isn¡¯t worth it,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°It¡¯s a little too impulsive.¡±


    Qianqian paused and touched her own face. ¡°Before I got married, I always told myself that I wanted to get married to a man that loves and cherishes me. It would be okay if he has several concubines as long as his heart has me. I would support him by managing the household and take care of everything at home for him.¡±


    ¡°But, the person I married was Zhao Kaifeng. He doesn¡¯t love me or cherish me. Still, for Luo n, I was willing to stay married to him and be a good wife. But, I never thought that he would actually p me because of another woman.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help sighing. That¡¯s true. The heir¡¯s behavior had been uneptable and shouldn¡¯t be tolerated.


    ¡°I figured things out. Rather than tolerating him for a lifetime, I would rather find someone that loved me, even if I had to be that person¡¯s concubine.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t agree with this.¡±Ji Man shook her head. ¡°With your temperament, you would only be suitable as a main wife.¡±


    Luo Qianqian had the skills to manage a household and her father was the Chancellor of Exchequer. She would never be someone¡¯s concubine.


    ¡°But, this would be my second marriage.¡± Luo Qianqian forced herself to smile. ¡°I would already be relying on my father¡¯s prestige in order to remarry. How could I dare to demand to be the main wife?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, so you shouldn¡¯t give in to any impulses. Carefully think things over,¡± Ji Man hastily persuaded her, ¡°The heir has alreadye over to apologize. Moreover, based on his expression that day, he seemed to have regret his action. How about giving him a second chance so that your two families can step down from this awkward situation? If he owes you, then you¡¯ll have even more right to speak your mind in your marriage. Prince Huainan will also be more likely to side with you as well. You¡¯re his main wife. In the future, after you give birth to a son, he¡¯ll be the one inheriting the family property. You¡¯ll be able to live the rest of your life peacefully. Wouldn¡¯t that make everything worth it?¡±


    Luo Qianqian froze in surprise for a moment. She frowned. ¡°But, he¡¯s already behaving like that...¡±


    ¡°Is there any man that doesn¡¯t act like a jerk when he¡¯s young?¡± Ji Man held Luo Qianqian¡¯s hand and sincerely said, ¡°Look at Marquis Moyu. He¡¯s such a scumbag. He abandoned his real wife to pamper a wild woman. Have I said anything to him? I haven¡¯t divorced him either. Why? Because if I easily give up, then that vixen will have won. Why should I use my sadness to help them aplish their happiness?¡±


    Luo Qianqian tilted her head and considered. ¡°That does sound reasonable.¡±


    ¡°I think the wisest thing for you to do, is to obediently go back to being his wife after you tormented him enough.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°After all, the emperor bestowed this marriage. You shouldn¡¯t make things ufortable for him, right?¡±


    Luo Qianqian carefully thought things over for a long time, then she sighed and said, ¡°He¡¯s in the reception pavilion. Father asked me to go over there, but I wouldn¡¯t go. But after hearing your words... do you want to go there with Qianqian?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ji Man eagerly stood up. She loved watching shows where scumbags were abused. In addition, if these two ended up not getting a divorce, it would be considered a great aplishment on her part and she would definitely get rewarded.

 Chapter 156 - Madam Ning the Mediator Envoy (1)

    Chapter 156 out of 513 ¨C Madam Ning the Mediator Envoy (1)


    Sir Luo was currently sighing in the reception pavilion. Zhao Kaifeng was standing nearby. His attitude had already improved and he said a lot of nice things.


    Although Sir Luo didn¡¯t like his son-inw very much, Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s father was Prince Huainan, so Qianqian¡¯s decision was putting him in a difficult position.


    In his opinion, it was normal for husbands and wives to quarrel. Although his son-inw had truly acted too outrageously, Qianqian was making a mountain out of a molehill and had caused the entire capital to discuss their family affairs. The emperor naturally didn¡¯t want this marriage to end in divorce. Right now, he could only hope that Qianqian would be able to think things through.


    ¡°Father.¡±


    Luo Qianqian and Nie Sangyu entered the reception pavilion together.


    Sir Luo turned his head to look and hurriedly smiled. ¡°Qianqian, you¡¯re finally wiling toe here. Aiya,e here and listen to what the heir has to say.¡±


    As soon as Zhao Kaifeng saw Luo Qianqian, his face stiffened and he stopped talking. Before, he had been freely talking.


    Luo Qianqian nced at him, coldly harrumphed, and said, ¡°Qianqian remembers every word that the heir has said. In the heir¡¯s eyes, Qianqian is a shrewish person that causes trouble without reason and fails to see therger issues. Qianqian has also reflected upon myself after returning home. Since the heir thinks Qianqian has this type of temperament, then Qianqian truly isn¡¯t suitable to be his wife.¡±


    ¡°Qianqian...¡± Zhao Kaifeng somewhat embarrassedly said, ¡°I only said those nonsensical words because I was feeling exasperated. Don¡¯t take them seriously...¡±


    Luo Qianqian nodded and faintly smiled. ¡°Then, if Qianqian is angry and says words like, you¡¯re a deplorable hedonistic wastrel, a superficial, lecherous person with low standards, can you not take them seriously?¡±


    Sir Luo coughed, ¡°Qianqian.¡± It wasn¡¯t appropriate to swear at the heir like this, right?


    Zhao Kaifeng considered for a moment before nodding and saying, ¡°I won¡¯t take them to heart. If it¡¯ll make you feel better, you can curse at me however you like.¡±


    When a man wanted to redeem himself, his attitude would always be exceptionally good. He would be capable of saying anything and doing anything. Even if he kneeled down and apologized right now, if the matter wasn¡¯t resolved, the same thing would happen again in the future.


    Luo Qianqian¡¯s heart softened. Just as she was about to say something, Nie Sangyu gently tugged on her hand and stopped her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t forgive him unless he¡¯s willing to express a proper amount of contrition over Wen Wan¡¯s matter and promises that he¡¯ll never interact with her in the future,¡± Ji Man quietly rmended.


    Luo Qianqian paused, then she nodded and said to Zhao Kaifeng, ¡°The heir wants Qianqian to return, but Qianqian can¡¯t stand that Wen Wan. What should we do?¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng furrowed his brow, ¡°Wen Wan, she¡¯s not as bad as you think she is...¡±


    Ji Man covered her face. This person was totally hopeless. How could he say something like that right now?


    Luo Qianqian¡¯s expression became chilly once again. She scoffed andughed. ¡°Right, she¡¯s not bad. It¡¯s Qianqian¡¯s fault for thinking badly of her. She¡¯s an outstandingly beautiful lotus flower that only exists in paintings. No matter what she does, people will think she can do no wrong. Even though she¡¯s a married woman that flirts with other men, you all still think her natural disposition isn¡¯t bad. Qianqian feels that prostitutes aren¡¯t bad either. At the very least, they don¡¯t pretend to be something they¡¯re not.¡±


    Her words were vicious. Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s expression turned ugly again.


    Luo Qianqian looked at him disappointment, took a step back, and said, ¡°Originally, I didn¡¯t want toe here. I just wanted everything to be over between us. But, Madam Ning persuaded me toe here. She said I shouldn¡¯t be too impulsive, so I came here to listen to what you have to say. The result was that the heir continues to be blind and isn¡¯t a suitable partner for Qianqian. Let¡¯s continued to stay separated.¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng originally wanted to explode in anger, but her words made him lose track. Why were women so difficult to please? He had alreadye here to apologize. Why wasn¡¯t she willing to go back with him?


    ¡°If you separate from me, who else can you marry?¡± Zhao Kaifeng pursed his lips and said, ¡°Are you willing to remarry and have to lower your head and bow to another woman?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for the heir to be concerned about this matter.¡± Qianqian lightly smiled. ¡°A farmer can¡¯t tell if the deep water is fragrant, it can only be found by an elegant schr.¡±


    To put it in simpler terms, you have eyes, but you can¡¯t see. There would naturally be a person that would be smart enough to appreciate her.


    Zhao Kaifeng snorted. ¡°You¡¯re my person. If I don¡¯t agree to divorce, who will dare to marry you?¡±


    Great, they were at a deadlock again. On the side, Sir Luo rubbed his temples and nced at Nie Sangyu, who had a simr expression as himself. He hurriedly asked her to leave the reception pavilion with him.


    After moving to a nearby courtyard, he quietly asked, ¡°Madam Ning, could you say a few word to persuade my daughter?¡±


    Ji Man wryly smiled. ¡°Sangyu has already tried persuading her and Qianqian had almost agreed. But the words that the heir said, it¡¯s truly too angering.¡±


    Sir Luo sighed. ¡°The two of them are too young... Since madam¡¯s words were somewhat effective, please try persuading her more. This old one doesn¡¯t know what to say to Qianqian either. Her mother also died when she was young...¡±


    ¡°Alright, Sangyu will do my best.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    Sir Luo expressed his thanks. He turned his head and saw that those two people had started to argue again. One angry retort led to another. Neither of them was willing to back down.


    ¡°This...¡± Sir Luo rubbed his temples again.


    ¡°Sir Luo, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°If they still care enough to bicker, then there¡¯s still hope for them to reconcile. If a dayes when they both have no words to say to one another, then it would be time for their rtionship to end.¡±


    Sir Luo considered her words and agreed. He looked at Nie Sangyu a few more times. This Madam Ning was certainly sensible. Marquis Moyu¡¯s household probably only had that one rotten apple. The other members were probably decent people.

 Chapter 157 - Madam Ning the Mediator Envoy (2)

    Chapter 157 out of 513 ¨C Madam Ning the Mediator Envoy (2)


    Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s poor poetry skills weren¡¯t Luo Qianqian¡¯s match. She soundly criticized him from top to bottom using famous poems and songs.


    Listening to them from the side, Ji Man couldn¡¯t stopughing.


    An hourter, Zhao Kaifeng smiled. Listening to her well-spoken words, he thought that she looked as beautiful as a lotus. He shook his head, ¡°You definitely deserve the title of the capital¡¯s most talented woman. I can¡¯t outargue you.¡±


    Luo Qianqian sneered. ¡°You¡¯re ttering me. Didn¡¯t you all give the title of most talented woman to Wen Wan, on the basis of her ¡°In praise of the lotus¡± poem?¡±


    Zhao Kaigeng coughed. ¡°She¡¯s not as literary talented as you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for finally opening your eyes and saying the truth.¡± Finished with cursing at him, Luo Qianqian¡¯s heart also felt considerably better. Still, when she remembered that he still thought Wen Wan was a good woman, she felt as if a fishbone was painfully stuck in her throat.


    Ji Man walked into the pavilion. ¡°The heir has already stood there and let you curse at him for such a long time. How about putting the issue of divorce to the side for now?¡±


    Reaching Luo Qianqian¡¯s side, she quietly said, ¡°I¡¯ll invite the two of you as guests to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence tomorrow. Let¡¯s see if this sore point can be resolved.¡±


    Luo Qianqian lowered her head and thought for a long time.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu was whispering something to Qianqian, Zhao Kaifeng fretfully looked at her and said, ¡°Madam Ning, this is Prince Huainan¡¯s private household matter. Isn¡¯t it inappropriate for you to interfere?¡±


    Last time, this madam had said Qianqian had married the wrong person, and Qianqian had ended up saying she wanted a divorce. What was this madam telling her now?


    Ji Man rolled her eyes.


    Luo Qianqian also red at him. ¡°You don¡¯t want Madam Ning to interfere? Then, let¡¯s go to the pce together right now and ask the emperor to allow us to divorce. Is this what you want? Madam Ning has been trying to persuade me to change my mind. And yet, here you are, ming her for interfering in family matters.¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng didn¡¯t say another word. He turns his head away and looked at the vase on the side. He felt annoyed with himself. Why had he be so pathetic? At this point, Qianqian might as well eat him alive.


    Ji Man acted as a mediator. ¡°The flowers will be blooming very beautifully tomorrow in the marquis¡¯s residence. Please give Sangyu some face ande over.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Qianqian agreed.


    The situation had turned around and there was potential for reconciliation. The people in Luo Residence and Prince Huainan¡¯s residence let out a sigh in relief.


    As Ji Man was leaving, Sir Luo sent servants to go back with her to deliver presents. Ji Man gave all of the gifts to old madame.


    Looking at the southern sea pearls that Sir Luo had given to Nie Sangyu, she happily said, ¡°Isn¡¯t there only a Wen Wan between the heir and his wife? You¡¯re such a clever child. You must have a way to fix this problem, right?¡±


    ¡°Old Madame, you can be reassured.¡± Ji Man gave a small smile.


    Wen Wan was the type of woman that said different types of words to different men. She had the ability to look absolutely pitiful and her persuasive words were perfect. The heir was just missing a chance to see the real Wen Wan.


    Right now, Wen Wan was locked in the woodshed and Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t visited her. Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult to resolve this problem.


    That night, Marquis Moyu wanted to go to Qi Siling¡¯s Jiyue Courtyard.


    But, when he was halfway there, Ji Man had blocked his path with a bowl of chicken soup.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. Looking at the sweetly smiling woman in front of him, he asked, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°This servant has something to discuss with you.¡± Ji Man fawningly held out the bowl of chicken soup. ¡°How about going to Feiwan Courtyard with me to talk?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her, then he looked at Jiyue Courtyard that was down the path. He nodded.


    ¡ª


    He finished drinking the chicken soup. Based on the vor, he could tell that she must have simmered it for over two hours. Ning Yuxuan elegantly wiped his mouth and asked Nie Sangyu, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Sitting upright and still, Ji Man seriously said, ¡°My lord, I think you should visit Wan-<i>er</i> tomorrow.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was slightly surprised. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°ording to a person¡¯s mental progression, Wan-<i>er</i> will have understood why she was wrong by tomorrow afternoon and will want to see the marquis.¡± Ji Man blurted, ¡°This servant is worried that she might get too depressed since she¡¯s been locked up for so long. It¡¯ll be good for the marquis to pay her a visit.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a long time with his arms crossed before chuckling. ¡°What are you plotting?¡±


    Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t the type of kind-hearted person that would ask him to see Wen Wan for no good reason.


    ¡°Sangyu is doing this for the marquis, the marquis¡¯s household, as well as Prince Huainan¡¯s heir and daughter-inw,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°You just need to go over there and listen to Wen Wan speak her side of the story. You don¡¯t have to do anything else.¡±


    ¡°Is this chicken soup supposed to be my remuneration?¡± Feeling rather unsatisfied, Ning Yuxuan tapped the spoon against the bowl.


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°My lord, what else do you want then?¡±


    ¡°I want two more bowls. One for tomorrow and one for the day after that,¡± he said.


    ¡°Sure.¡± It wasn¡¯t difficult to cook chicken soup. The more chicken soup she prepared for his health, the more it would prove that she was a virtuous wife.


    ¡ª


    And so, the marquis that had been bribed with three bowl of chicken soup really did go to see Wen Wan the next afternoon.


    Earlier in the afternoon, Ji Man had led Qianqian and Zhao Kaifeng to the other side of the wall that bordered the woodshed. There were three chairs and a te of snacks for them while they waited to hear the conversation on the other side.


    As soon as the woodshed was open, Wen Wan¡¯s tearful voice came out, ¡°My lord ¨C ¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng instinctively turned around to look. Unfortunately, the window¡¯s paper was too thick and he couldn¡¯t see anything.


    Looking at how haggard Wen Wan had be, Ning Yuxuan sighed. ¡°This time, I really couldn¡¯t protect you. The emperor wanted me to order you tomit suicide. I could only protect you by saying you¡¯ll never advance to being a concubine or a wife for the rest of your life. Do you ept this?¡±


    The sound of Wen Wan¡¯s cries abruptly cut off. She incredulously asked, ¡°How could this be? This matter has nothing to do with Wan-<i>er</i>!¡±

 Chapter 158 - News that arrived without warning (1)

    Chapter 158 out of 513 ¨C News that arrived without warning (1)


    It was simply an unexpected disaster. How could Wen Wan not feel wronged? Originally, she and Yuxuan were on the path to happily ever after. But, she ended up suffering a miscarriage due to the fake haunting, then that woman from Prince Huainan¡¯s household had stirred up trouble and she had been demoted to a servant girl. It was one thing to be a servant girl. But, the emperor wanted to kill her. The man she was deeply in love with said he protected her. But, she would have to stay a servant girl forever?


    Wen Wan shook her head, then she shook her head again. She tugged on Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve and beautifully cried like falling rain on pear blossoms. ¡°I never said anything that I shouldn¡¯t have to Prince Huainan¡¯s heir. I didn¡¯t know that he had given my father money. How can it be my fault that the heir¡¯s wife is small-minded and wants a divorce? Yuxuan, you know what kind of person I am. I wouldn¡¯t be greedy for the heir¡¯s money!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan gently crouched down and Wen Wan leaned on his knees. Her cries sounded so wretched, so he gently stroked her hair tofort her.


    ¡°They¡¯re the one that wanted to give your father money. I know it¡¯s not your fault,¡± Marquis Moyu lightly said, ¡°But, how did they know your father needed money?¡±


    Wen Wan froze in surprise for a moment. Her gaze shifted to a different spot. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how they found out. Yuxuan, you know what my father is like. He¡¯s caused me so much suffering because of his gambling addiction.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes. ¡°You never told anyone about your father¡¯s gambling, right?¡±


    Wen Wan closed her eyes and responded, ¡°... Right.¡±


    On the other side of the wall, Ji Man looked at Zhao Kaifeng. The other person had his lips slightly pursed.


    Ji Man had recently asked him; what did Wen Wan say to him and the other men?


    Zhao Kaifeng had more or less repeated Wen Wan¡¯s words.


    Wen Wan very skillful with the words she said. She had never directly said that Nie Sangyu was a malicious person that made her life difficult, or that her father was a gambling addict that had a lot of gambling debts. She would just weakly and softly say a few sentences about not having a happy life in the marquis¡¯s household and worrying that one day Marquis Moyu would no longer love her. Then, when her crowd of listeners kept asking questions, she would pretend to be magnanimous by saying, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not Sangyu¡¯s fault. She¡¯s the main wife now...¡±


    Another example would be, when her father was mentioned, Wen Wan would start crying and sob out, ¡°I wish that I hadn¡¯t been born his daughter, but he¡¯s my biological father. I was almost sold off because of his gambling debts, and now...¡±


    Then, these men that were ruled by their hormones would take the initiative to nder Nie Sangyu and willingly clean up after her father¡¯s gambling debts. Moreover, they would even think that Wen Wan was quite pitiful.


    This type of method, only another woman would be able too see through it. When men looked at Wen Wan, they would only think she was endearingly pitiful.


    Ning Yuxuan sighed. ¡°Why did you insist on continuing to go to Tonghua Poetry Association? If you didn¡¯t love to y so much, this wouldn¡¯t have happened either.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because you were too close with Nie Sangyu, so I wanted to make you feel jealous.¡± Wen Wan angrily looked at him. ¡°You clearly said you despised her the most, but now you visit her courtyard almost every day and always show her a pleasant countenance. You even give her lots of presents and paint for her. How can I not feel jealous?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan dimly smiled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you use to say, as long as you could be with me, it didn¡¯t matter how many other women I have?¡±


    ¡°I was just saying it.¡± Wen Wan lovably pouted. ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t want her man to wholeheartedly love her? They¡¯re all saying that a fox demoness has possessed Nie Sangyu, that¡¯s why she became so skilled at seducing people. I¡¯m afraid that you¡¯ll fall into her trap one day.¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan helplessly said, ¡°You¡¯re being very petty too.¡±


    Wen Wan smiled with eyes that had recently finished crying. ¡°My heart only has you. I don¡¯t care about any of the people in Tonghua Poetry Association. I know they like me, but I only like you, ah.¡±


    ¡°You know those people have improper feelings about you and you still spent time with them?¡± Ning Yuxuan was slightly displeased.


    Wen Wan hurriedly grabbed his hand. ¡°I just wanted to make you feel a little bit angry. How could I have known that trick wouldn¡¯t work on you? No matter what they say, I promise that I won¡¯t even look at them in the future. Do you believe me?¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng couldn¡¯t resist coldlyughing. Wen Wan really was two-faced. In front of them, Wen Wan would act bashful and shy like an inexperience young maiden. She would nkly look at them as if she didn¡¯t understand the intentions behind their actions, and they had liked how pure and innocent she was.


    But in the end, she had just been using them. She knew they had improper thoughts about her and had used them to demonstrate her beauty and charm without even batting an eyelid as she did so.


    Luo Qianqian looked at Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s expression, nibbled on a pastry, and lightly snorted.


    The people on the other side continued to talk. Ning Yuxuan had onlye here tofort Wen Wan, but Wen Wan had been eager to prove her innocence and wipe herself clean of any involvement. In the end, she made it sound as if the people in Tonghua Poetry Association were the ones that were showering their unwanted affection onto her.


    Tired of hearing this, Zhao Kaifeng stood up and started walking away.


    Luo Qianqian saluted Nie Sangyu and meaningfully looked at her to indicate her gratitude, then she followed after him.


    Ji Man thought that this was pretty good ending. Zhao Kaifeng would gradually put down his feelings for Wen Wan and discover Luo Qianqian¡¯s good points. If these two didn¡¯t divorce, then all was well.

 Chapter 159 - News that arrived without warning (2)

    Chapter 159 out of 513 ¨C News that arrived without warning (2)


    Two dayster, the rumors had subsided. The heir and his wife weren¡¯t getting a divorce. Luo Qianqian had also finished packing up to travel to Prince Huainan¡¯s fiefdom with Zhao Kaifeng.


    Sir Luo and Prince Huainan had personallye over Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence to bring gifts to express their thanks, and Ji Man had received a small fortune for her work.


    This was a load off old madame¡¯s mind. Right now, she was just thinking about how to deal with Wen Wan. Her son had clearly shown he would keep protecting Wen Wan. If even the emperor hadn¡¯t been able to do anything to her, then other people naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to either. However, as long as old madame was alive, Wen Wan¡¯s life naturally wouldn¡¯t be good either.


    ¡ª


    Lately, Nie Sangyu¡¯s body had felt somewhat ufortable. Ji Man frequently felt sleepy, but when she had Doctor Li examine her, he only said her tiredness was from fatigue.


    Could it be that this body was the rumored type that would feel tired all year round for various reasons? Ji Man yawned, leaned back against the cushioned couch, closed her eyes, and took a short nap.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu had fallen asleep, Muxu quietly closed the doors from the outside. She looked at Gancao and Dengxin and said, ¡°Watch over our master. I¡¯ll go to the kitchen to get afternoon snacks for her.¡±


    After Gancao and Dengxin made sounds of agreement, Muxu lifted her skirt and left Feiwan Courtyard.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu appeared in Ji Man¡¯s dream. She wasn¡¯t crying anymore and her expression looked rather happy. ¡°You¡¯re amazing.¡±


    ¡°Not amazing as you.¡± Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°When are you going to let me go back?¡±


    Nie Sangyu giggled. ¡°Don¡¯t be in such a rush. I came here to tell you to be careful with your stomach.¡±


    Stomach? Ji Man lowered her head to look at it in confusion. ¡°What wrong with my stomach.¡±


    Ji Man felt as if Nie Sangyu had thrown a tremendous bomb when she heard, ¡°You¡¯re almost three months pregnant. Don¡¯t be deceived by other people.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man woke up from her nap and almost fell off the couch.


    ¡°Master?¡± Hearing a sound from inside, Gancao pushed opened the doors, entered the room, and gave her a handkerchief. ¡°Master, did you have a nightmare?¡±


    Ji Man was at a loss for a while. She absent-mindedly took the handkerchief from Gancao, wiped her face, shook her head, and said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Where¡¯s Muxu?¡±


    ¡°Older sister Muxu went to the kitchen to get some snacks for you,¡± Dengxin said.


    Ji Man pursed her lips. Thinking of Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, her sense of vignce went up.


    She was pregnant? If she had been pregnant for almost three months, then the baby must have been conceived during the Southern Trip. But, hadn¡¯t she asked a doctor to check her body several times, and he had said everything was fine?


    But, when she carefully thought about it, she realized that the doctor that had examined her was always Doctor Li. The young doctor that had helped her pawn off her jewelry when she had firste here was now a doctor that had some status in this residence. Since he had a good rtionship with Muxu, she thought there was no reason for her to ask for another doctor. During thest check up, Doctor Li had even said her belly was just bloated.


    It seemed that she encountered something interesting. Without changing her expression, Ji Man lied back down on the cushioned couch. She closed her eyes and sighed. Last time, she had thought that she would be considered lucky if Muxu didn¡¯t betray her again. It seemed that she didn¡¯t have that fortune.


    Three people had already suffered a miscarriage in this residence. Right now, she was the main wife. If she gave birth to a child, then her status as the main wife would be unmovable.


    But, herst name was Nie. Even if she felt that her rtionship with Marquis Moyu was pretty goodtely and he no longer disliked her, Ji Man wasn¡¯t stupid enough to think that he would be happy if he found that she was pregnant.


    If he had wanted Nie Sangyu to give him a child, she didn¡¯t believe that Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t be able to during the past six, long years.


    Old madame was the only person that would be happy if she found out. If she gave birth to a child, even if it was a girl, it would still be the child of the main wife and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s first child. And, on behalf of this blood connection, Marquis Moyu would slowly favor Nie n over the crown prince¡¯s faction. But right now, the situation wasn¡¯t definite. Ning Yuxuan was very clever. He wouldn¡¯t want to make a decision so soon on whose side he would be loyal to.


    If other people found out about her pregnancy, she wouldn¡¯t be able to keep it. She just hadn¡¯t expected that someone really had been watching her.


    ¡ª


    When Muxu came back, she brought melon pastries.


    However, Ji Man said she didn¡¯t have an appetite and wanted to go outside to walk around.


    Muxu said, ¡°It¡¯s been very lively outsidetely. Master, if you want to walk around, this servant will apany you.¡±


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°You should stay home instead. It¡¯s rare for you to have free time. Doctor Li is probably free right now too. How about you go over to his ce and chat with him?¡±


    Muxu blushed. She looked down and fidgeted her feet. ¡°Master, you¡¯re always teasing me.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and waved her hand. ¡°Go on. Otherwise people will say I¡¯m an unreasonable master. It¡¯s fine if I just go out with Gancao and Dengxin.¡±


    She wanted to go outside and look for a doctor, so she naturally couldn¡¯t bring Muxu along. Actually, she didn¡¯t want to tell anything to Gancao and Dengxin either.


    Ji Man still went to Shuiji Rouge Store. She had Gancao and Dengxin stay on the first floor to look around, then she went upstairs and asked Miss Shui for help.


    Miss Shui didn¡¯t ask any question. She called a doctor over to the store.


    Ji Man¡¯s face was hidden by a veil as the doctor checked her pulse.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pregnancy pulse. You¡¯re two to three months pregnant.¡± The old doctor smiled as he said, ¡°Madam, congrattions.¡±


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t feeling too happy about this. This was Nie Sangyu¡¯s child, not hers. She was just temporarily being pregnant in Nie Sangyu¡¯s ce. However, she would be the one that had to face all the future problems that came with this pregnancy.


    ¡°Doctor, can you check this incense for me?¡± Ji Man took out a box from her sleeve. Inside the box, there was the incense that she used to use. When she had transmigrated here, this was the incense that Nie Sangyu liked to use in her room. Later, she had found it too stuffy and stopped using it. Unfortunately, Marquis Moyu insisted that he liked this smell.


    After smelling the incense for a long time, the doctor said, ¡°Madam, it¡¯ll be better if you use this incense less. It¡¯s made with musk and saffron.¡±


    Understanding his meaning, Ji Man wrylyughed. Marquis Moyu had certainly worked hard. Even with the pressure of not having a child after six years, he still wouldn¡¯t allow Nie Sangyu to get pregnant.


    T/N: I wrote a spoiler about why I tagged this novel with romance in thements below.

 Chapter 160 - She continues to harm me (1)

    Chapter 160 out of 513 ¨C She continues to harm me (1)


    If she could confer the title of a god that controlled the birth of heirs, Marquis Moyu would be a very suitable candidate. This person had a full harem, but whether a person got pregnant or not, whether a person would be able to sessfully give birth or not, everything was under his control.


    Although Mu Shuiqing¡¯s and Jinse¡¯s pregnancies had seemed like an ident, as well as Wen Wan¡¯s miscarriage, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t lost anything with theings and going of these pregnancies. When it was time for those pregnancies to ur, they had urred. When it was time for them to go, they had gone. Wen Wan had even changed from someone that would show her petty temper from time to time to someone that would listen to everything he said.


    While Ji Man didn¡¯t believe that Ning Yuxuan was directly responsible for the chain of events that led to all of those miscarriages, she believed that everything had happened under his acquiesce.


    However, Ning Yuxuan had never wanted Nie Sangyu to have a child. She knew this just from what happened with this incense. When she had wanted to stop using it, he had said he liked this smell and told her to continue using it.


    In the end, what was it made of? Musk and saffron. With Nie Sangyu¡¯s previously poor health,bined with the use of the incense, it would have been strange if she had been able to get pregnant.


    However, Ning Yuxuan would have never expected that she would get pregnant. The incense had almost done the permanent damage of making Nie Sangyu infertile. He had tried so hard to not touch her during the Southern Trip. But in the end, he had favored her five times. Despite always personally pouring her a cup of contraceptive tea afterward, she had still gotten pregnant.


    Was this the will of the Gods? Ji Man smiled. If she secretly gave birth to this baby, would Ning Yuxuan get so angry that he would try to strangle her to death?


    However, the other women in the household would probably never think that Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t want his own child. So, who had tried to conceal her pregnancy from her? Fortunately, she had Nie Sangyu, this high-level teammate. Otherwise, someone would have harmed her without even knowing it.


    After taking some pocket money while she was here, Ji Man left Shuiji Rogue Shop, strolled around the streets, and bought a few trinkets. Although this child¡¯s future was uncertain, since she had a hand in its conception, she naturally had to do her best in keeping it safe.


    She didn¡¯t know who else in the household knew this information, or how Muxu and Doctor Li were nning on harming her. After walking around to drive away her worries temporarily, she had to go back to deal with these despicable people.


    However, if she was too soft-hearted this time, then she would be wronging Nie Sangyu¡¯s title of the most vicious viiness.


    After returning to Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man saw Ning Yuxuan sitting at the table in her room. Muxu¡¯s face was slightly red.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu had returned, Muxu¡¯s expression changed slightly, and she instinctively took a step back.


    Ji Man pretended that she didn¡¯t see anything. She smiled and said, ¡°My lord, why did youe here?¡±


    ¡°I came here to see you for a bit. I didn¡¯t expect that you wouldn¡¯t here.¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his head and looked her. While smiling, he pulled her over to sit down next to him. ¡°The incense in this room is smelling better and better.¡±


    Ji Man felt a thud of fear in her heart. She pursed her lips, ¡°The previous scent felt too oppressive, so I had the servants change it to a flowery scented incense. It¡¯s made with musk and vani. Does it smell better?¡±


    Unlike modern people, who had seem many dramas, the average woman in ancient times didn¡¯t know about any side effects from flowers and herbs. They didn¡¯t know what musk was used for. Most women thought it was just an ingredient for perfume and incense.


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not bad to change to a different smell.¡±


    Muxu had already poured a cup of tea and ced it by Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand.


    Ji Man raised her eyes and nced at her. Then, she turned her head and smiled at Marquis Moyu. ¡°My lord, Muxu is at the age when she should be getting married. As her master, I shouldn¡¯t be keeping her for too long, right?¡±


    ¡°En? Who do you want to pair Muxu with?¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at her.


    Muxu¡¯splexion paled. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Master, this servant still wants to stay with you for a couple more years.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re already seventeen years old. If I dy it any longer, you might not be able to get married.¡± Ji Man covered her mouth andughed. ¡°Don¡¯t you really like Doctor Li? Since the marquis is here right now, how about we ask him to make the decision and set down a wedding date?¡±


    Muxu tried to force herself to smile, but she wasn¡¯t to smile. A pair of teary eyes looked at Marquis Moyu as she responded, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t want to marry yet...¡±


    If Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure out what her affection-filled gaze meant, then she was a fool. The trope of a servant girl falling in love with her master was too trite. But, if Muxu wanted to act out this y, then she wouldn¡¯t mind helping her.


    And so, Ji Man pretended to not see anything. After she said a couple of sentences to tease Muxu, she let her off and turned to look at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°My lord, will you be staying here tonight?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Hmm? Have you be interested inpeting for favor? Ling-<i>er</i> is still upset that you intercepted me when I was halfway to her courtyardst time.¡±


    Ji Man giggled. ¡°That¡¯s okay. If she gets angry a couple of time, her tolerance will increase. My lord, this servant will prepare a bowl of chicken soup for you tonight.¡±


    Marquis Moyu looked at her for a few seconds. He felt that her mischievous appearance and foxlikeughter looked rather cute.


    And so, even thought he knew that she was plotting something, he still decided that he woulde back to Feiwan Courtyard tonight.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had Muxu bring Doctor Li over, then she found an excuse to send Muxu out of the room.


    Doctor Li awkwardly remained standing.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t ask him to sit down and check her pulse. Instead, she kept observing him.


    Doctor Li wasn¡¯t a thick-faced person. After being watched like this for only a short period of time, he felt too ufortable and asked, ¡°Madam, why did you call me over here?¡±

 Chapter 161 - She continues to harm me (2)

    Chapter 161 out of 513 ¨C She continues to harm me (2)


    Ji Man slightly smiled and amicably said, ¡°Muxu isn¡¯t young anymore. I brought up the topic of Muxu¡¯s marriage to the marquis today.¡±


    Li Zixiu let out a small sigh in relief and respectfully cupped his hands. ¡°This one has already told Miss Muxu that this one would marry her.¡±


    ¡°Did Muxu agree?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Li Zixiu smiled and nodded. ¡°Muxu said she would marry me once you¡¯re willing to release her from her duties as your servant girl.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. This fool was really stupid. Muxu was dreaming about flying up in social status. Did he really think she would marry him?


    ¡°When I brought up pairing Muxu to you in marriage, the marquis didn¡¯t object.¡± Ji Man unhurriedly said, ¡°But, Muxu said she didn¡¯t want to marry yet.¡±


    Doctor Li¡¯s face stiffened. He slightly frowned. ¡°How could this be? Maybe, she¡¯s just too shy?¡±


    Ji Man deeply looked at him, sighed, and said, ¡°Women are very dangerous animals. Sometimes, they only treat you well because they have a hidden scheme. Without even realizing it, men will be used by them to do wicked things.¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be.¡± Li Zixiu shook his head. ¡°Muxu isn¡¯t that type of person. She said she¡¯ll marry me. And... And, she hasn¡¯t asked me to do anything bad.¡±


    This man had clean eyes. He wasn¡¯t a treacherous person. It was only that his emotional intelligence wasn¡¯t high enough, and he couldn¡¯t see through other people¡¯s maniptions, ah. Ji Man shook her head. ¡°I heard that there¡¯s going to be a meteor shower tonight. How about you invite Muxu to watch it with you? Anyways, I¡¯ve already agreed to the two of you marrying, you don¡¯t need to be too scrupulous.¡±


    Doctor Li¡¯s eyes showed his bewilderment as he tried to process her earlier words. Hearing her following words, he thought she was just being kind. He nodded and said, ¡°Thank you, Madam.¡±


    ¡ª


    Marquis had a little bit more work to do today, so Ji Man went to the study to look for him. She brought chicken soup with her.


    ¡°Hmm, were you afraid that I wouldn¡¯te over?¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled when he saw her. ¡°You even brought over soup.¡±


    ¡°This servant is just worried that the soup won¡¯t taste as good when it cools down.¡± Ji Man looked rather wronged as shedled out the soup into a bowl.


    Ning Yuxuan epted the bowl of soup and slowly drank it. He said with a light smile, ¡°You¡¯ve really taken a lot of extra trouble. You can go back. I¡¯lle overter.¡±


    Ji Man was smiling as she withdrew from the study. After she came out, she said to Dengxin and Gancao, ¡°When we go back, you two can go to your rooms to sleep. You don¡¯t need to attend to me for the rest of the night. I can handle the rest myself. If you hear anything, don¡¯te out.¡±


    The two young servant girls blushed. They probably thought that their master was nning on seriously working to earn favor. And so, they separately returned to their rooms to sleep.


    Ji Man closed her doors and waited outside at the Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s entrance.


    ¡ª


    The sky quickly darkened, and there was no moonlight tonight. Ning Yuxuan was supported over here by Guibai. His footsteps sounded a bit anxious.


    ¡°My lord?¡± Ji Man stepped forward to keep him from stumbling. Guibai left right after saluting her.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu, what are you nning?¡±


    Ji Man felt his warm breath on her neck. His entire body was was leaning onto her body for support. She could feel the heat of his body being transmitted through his clothing. It was very unusual.


    ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t done anything.¡± Ji Man innocently blinked.


    As she quietly asked, ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong?¡±, she supported Marquis Moyu as she led him to the side room.


    Leaning against the pirs, Ning Yuxuan was already somewhat muddle-headed. He repeatedly bit her neck and left behind several marks. In the end, he had a moment of rity and he told her, ¡°I¡¯m never drinking your chicken soup again,¡± before sumbing to the drug and tightly hugging her.


    Smiling like a fox in a chicken coop, Ji Man pushed open the doors to the side room and led Ning Yuxuan to Muxu¡¯s bedside. Then, she fled from the room at the lightning speed and closed the doors.


    From outside, Ji Man heard Muxu saying in a low voice, ¡°... Marquis?¡± Muxu seemed to have been startled. However, she didn¡¯t hear anything after that.


    Ji Man stood in the courtyard and looked at the night sky for a bit. It looked quite pitiful and lonely. The promised meteor shower hadn¡¯te.


    Ji Man started to hear suppressed soundsing from the side room. She yawned and turned around to go to her own room to sleep.


    ¡ª


    The next morning, Gancao¡¯s rmed shout set off the prologue of an epic catfight.


    ¡°You... Why is the marquis in older sister Muxu¡¯s bedroom?!¡± Gancao had originallye over here because she wanted to wake up Muxu, so they could go and attend their master. But, when she came into the Muxu¡¯s room, the ce was inplete disarray and Muxu and the marquis weren¡¯t properly dressed. It was clear that something that shouldn¡¯t have happened had happenedst night.


    Gancao¡¯s face hadpletely lost color. She loudly scolded, ¡°Shameless!¡±, then she turned around and ran to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man messed up her hair, then she rubbed her face, so that she had a haggard appearance as if she had stayed up all night for a husband that hadn¡¯te.


    When Gancao barged into her room, she asked her what was wrong.


    Gancao was so upset for her that she started to cry as she alternated between telling her what had happened and angrily saying words of rebuke.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t think the matter was worth crying over.


    ¡ª


    And so, the residence became very lively in the early morning. With her clothes still disheveled, Muxu was kneeling in the outside courtyard. Tears dripped down her face as she said, ¡°This servant didn¡¯t do this intentionally. It was the marquis that came to this servant¡¯s room...¡±


    Dengxin asked, ¡°Then, why didn¡¯t you scream? If the marquis entered the wrong room, why didn¡¯t you remind him?¡±


    Muxu didn¡¯t have any words to defend herself. She had always held an infatuation to Marquis Moyu. He had the bearing and appearance of a celestial immortal. She had originally thought he was out of her reach, but he had suddenly kissed her and bit her of his own initiative. How could she bear to refuse him?


    She had her own selfish motives. Thinking that once this was done, it couldn¡¯t be undone, so she had tolerated the pain and stayed silent. Once this happened, her master wouldn¡¯t be able to marry her off to Doctor Li, right?


    Inside, Ning Yuxuan was sitting down and expressionlessly looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man pressed her lips into a t line. ¡°My lord, this servant can¡¯t be med for this matter. This servant had only wanted to gain favor for myself, but you insistently ran out. This servant thought you had gone to an honored concubine¡¯s courtyard. Who could have guessed that you would go to the side room?¡±

 Chapter 162

    Chapter 162 ¨C How about I personally help you up into the position of an honored concubine?


    Half-believing and half-doubting, Ning Yuxuan looked at Nie Sangyu. After all, there wouldn¡¯t be a woman stupid enough to drug her husband, then let her servant girl snatch away her chance at being favored. But, he clearly remembered that he hadn¡¯t let down his guardst night until he saw her. How did he end up on Muxu¡¯s bed? Could her words be true? Had he really been the one that insisted on leaving?


    Ji Man pinched her thigh to force herself to cry and said, ¡°Muxu has served me for several years. Originally, I had wanted to pair her with Doctor Li. My lord, I didn¡¯t expect that you would do such a thing...¡±


    If you¡¯re going to do something bad, make your usation before the other party has time to figure things out.


    Ning Yuxuan doubtfully looked at Nie Sangyu for a few more moments, then he started reflecting on himself. Had he really gone to the wrong room?


    ¡ª


    Muxu gritted her teeth as she continued to kneel in the courtyard. From behind her, she could hear the sound of everyonementing and ming her. A lot of people were gathered outside of Feiwan Courtyard to watch the show.


    Gossip spread quickly like an infectious disease. A short whileter, word came from old madame¡¯s ce. She said that Nie Sangyu could decide on what Muxu¡¯s oue would be.


    A servant girl¡¯s status was lowly to begin with, even bing a concubine was an impossible dream for them. At the most, they could rise to the rank of bed servant. However, if a bed servant wasn¡¯t able to give birth to a child after a few years of serving her lord, then she would still be married off to someone like any other servant girl. Still, after losing her virginity, it wouldn¡¯t be possible for her to be married off to a good partner.


    Muxu felt panic-stricken at first. But, once she remembered that her kind-hearted master usually treated her very well and that they hade out of the confinement courtyard together, she thought that Nie Sangyu probably wouldn¡¯t punish her too harshly.


    And yet, as Marquis Moyu left Feiwan Courtyard to go to the Six Ministries for work, he didn¡¯t even nce at her as he passed by her. Muxu¡¯s heart sank and she nkly looked at the ground.


    A long time passed before Ji Man came out with redden eyes. Looking at the person kneeling at the center of the courtyard, she simply said an actor¡¯s script that a wronged woman would say, ¡°Muxu, I haven¡¯t treated you poorly. Why would you do this to me...¡±


    Muxu¡¯s heart hopefully went up. She hurriedly said, ¡°Master, please calm down. This servant really didn¡¯t try to steal master¡¯s chance at receiving the marquis¡¯s favor. This servant... this servant also truly likes the marquis...¡±


    Li Zixiu was standing at Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s entrance. Although he had originally felt very sleepy, hearing Muxu¡¯s words was like being sshed with icy water.


    She truly liked the marquis? Doctor Li pinched his own face andughed. My goodness, he must be feeling too tired from waiting up for herst night. Surely, this was just a hallucination.


    Muxu¡¯s back was facing the courtyard¡¯s entrance, so she naturally couldn¡¯t see the people that were standing at the entrance. She continued to cry as she said, ¡°This servant is willing to continue to serving Madam and the marquis. This servant won¡¯t ask for even an ounce of doting. Madam, please let this servant stay here. Please don¡¯t kick this servant out...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and asked her, ¡°Doctor Li wholeheartedly cares for you. Do you not care about him at all?¡±


    Muxu froze in surprise. She shook her head and said, ¡°We¡¯re just acquaintances. There aren¡¯t any romantic feelings between us.¡±


    These were the words that Ji Man had been waiting for. She looked at the pitiful man that was standing at the entrance. His expression had abruptly changed. Ji Man curved her lips, sighed, and said, ¡°You¡¯ve served me for so long. I wouldn¡¯t be cold-hearted. Why would I kick you out?¡±


    Muxu let out a sigh in relief.


    Ji Man added, ¡°Go to Steward Qian and tell him that you¡¯ve been reassigned to wash clothes in the back of the residence. You¡¯ll still be in this household. And, if you want to serve me, you can wash only my clothing instead of the rest of the household¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Muxu instinctively refused. Her tone had be slightly anxious.


    Ji Man raised an eyebrow and looked at her.


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t want to leave master¡¯s side.¡± Muxu¡¯s voice softened again. Her tears seemed endless as she looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°This is the first time this servant made a mistake. Master, please forgive me. Please forgive me!¡±


    Ji Man ignored her. She stood there and waited until Muxu¡¯s cries sounded hopeless before waiving her hand and saying, ¡°Gancao, help you older sister Muxu inside. I have something I want to say to her in private.¡±


    Gancao uttered a sound of agreement, pulled Muxu up, and pushed her into the Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. Ji Man also went inside and closed the doors to shut everyone outside.


    Ji Man sat down, looked at Muxu, and said, ¡°Old Madame said I can decide whether you¡¯re staying or leaving this household. That means, if I want you to leave, no one can help you. Do you think I should let you stay or have you leave?¡±


    ¡°Master, please have mercy!¡± Muxu¡¯s voice already sounded slightly hoarse. She knelt down and repeatedly kowtowed. ¡°This servant will wholeheartedly serve master in the future. Even if this servant hadn¡¯t done anything outstanding, this servant has at least worked hard during the past six years. Master, please spare me this one time...¡±


    Ji Man supported her chin with one hand and tapped the table with her fingers on her other hand. ¡°I remember, when I rewarded you with a banknote the first time, you also gratefully said that you won¡¯t betray me again.¡±


    Muxu froze. She lowered her eyes and guilty looked at the floor.


    ¡°That time, I believed you. And then, I found my banknotes in your wardrobe and people came to my room to search for missing money. I almost got into trouble because of that. I haven¡¯t figure out who was behind that yet. Is it Qi Siling? But, that doesn¡¯t seem like her style.¡±


    ¡°Master...¡± Muxu looked at her in dismay. Feeling fearful, Muxu was even slightly trembling. Nie Sangyu actually knew... that those banknotes were stolen from her?


    ¡°Don¡¯t panic. I haven¡¯t finished speaking yet.¡± Ji Man slowly and deliberately said, ¡°You know a lot of my secrets. And as you said, you¡¯ve been with me for six years. As my servant, you¡¯re notcking in money, so money wouldn¡¯t be enough to gain your loyalty. So, Muxu, tell me. What method did that person use in order to have you be willing to risk your life for her? Who is that person? She¡¯s even tried to harm my unborn baby this time.¡±

 Chapter 163

    Chapter 163 ¨C How about I personally help you up into the position of an honored concubine? (2)


    Muxu fell backwards into a kneeling position.


    Why did she know everything? Had she known about all of her betrayals since the beginning? Why did she know that she was going to take action against her unborn baby? If she had felt suspicious about her since the lost money from the cold cream, why didn¡¯t she say anything? Had she been observing her for such a long time?


    Too frightening.


    Muxu looked at Nie Sangyu fearfully. She instinctively wanted to retreat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll always be lenient towards my own people.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid.¡±


    Dazed, Muxu closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. She moved forward to kneel in front of Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°This servant can¡¯t outwit master and is willing to admit defeat.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°I¡¯ve always been wondering; shouldn¡¯t you secretly hate me? I didn¡¯t treat you well for several years and frightened you into this shy and mumbly state. It seems that I wasn¡¯t overthinking. You truly do hate me.¡±


    Nie Sangyu had been extremely cruel to Muxu in the original novel. Ji Man wasn¡¯t surprised about Nie Sangyu¡¯s habit of beating and scolding Muxu at the slightest pretext. It was only to be expected that a woman that didn¡¯t receive love for several years to be slightly disturbed.


    But, since she had transmigrated here, when had she ever treated Muxu even slightly bad? When she had stolen a chicken, she had shared half with Muxu. When she had earned money, she had given her some to spend. Why did she still betray her? Moreover, Muxu¡¯s method had been so ruthless each time, ah. Whether it wasst time or this time with wanting to harm the unborn baby, the consequences would have been very serious for her if she hadn¡¯t been careful and Muxu had seeded.


    Muxu frowned and bitterlyughed. ¡°With master¡¯s memory, is it possible for you to forget how you treated this servant in the past?¡±


    ¡°You really don¡¯t have many options,¡± Ji Man lightly said, ¡°Your future is under my control. If you insist on protecting your hidden master, then I¡¯ll tell Old Madame to drive you out of this household.¡±


    Muxu lowered her eyes and said, ¡°This servant can only ept that oue. It was this servant¡¯s own choices that led to it. If Madam isn¡¯t magnanimous and can¡¯t tolerate this servant, then this servant can only leave.¡±


    Seeing Muxu¡¯s attitude of not caring because she had nothing to lose, Ji Man sneered. ¡°Are you thinking that since Li Zixiu is deeply in love with you and you treated his sickly mother well, he¡¯ll still marry you if you go to him and cry that the marquis forced you?¡±


    Muxu froze in shock.


    ¡°I forgot to tell you.¡± Ji Man took out a scrap of paper. ¡°Doctor Li sent a note to you yesterday to watch the meteor shower with himst night. Unfortunately for you, at that time, you went to the study with me to bring the marquis chicken soup. Dengxin had thought the scrap of paper was trash and threw it away.¡±


    ¡°Also, when you were recently kneeling outside and crying that you sincerely love the marquis, Doctor Li was standing at the courtyard¡¯s entrance and watching the show.¡± Ji Man smiled and continued, ¡°Muxu, I¡¯m guessing that it took a lot of sweet words from you to get him to hide the truth about my pregnancy from me, right?¡±


    This woman had guessed everything correctly. Muxu¡¯s lips trembled. She raised her eyes and looked at the woman in front of her, ¡°You aren¡¯t Nie Sangyu...¡±


    She had served Nie Sangyu for six years. How could not know Nie Sangyu¡¯s intelligence and conduct? But, it was exactly because she had always been following after her and knew that this person had to be Nie Sangyu that she never felt suspicious despite the strange change in her behavior. She had thought her personality had just drastically changed from being confined for too long.


    However, a person¡¯s brain couldn¡¯t be changed. Nie Sangyu had originally been such a foolish woman. It wasn¡¯t possible for her to be clever just because she had suffered shock. This woman wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu!


    Still kneeling, Muxu scooted backwards. Her eyes were full of fear.


    Ji Man stood up, straightened her clothes, and leisurely said, ¡°If you want, you can go out and run around the marquis¡¯s residence three times while shouting that I¡¯m not the real Nie Sangyu. Do you think anyone will believe you?¡±


    Muxu shook her head. Feeling the wall at her back, she stopped retreating. Her face was deathly pale.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so anxious. You know that you can¡¯t outwit me. Why are you still struggling?¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Even if you don¡¯t say anything today and make the huge sacrifice of ruining your own future in order to protect your hidden master, I¡¯ll still find out her identity sooner orter. You couldn¡¯t hide from me and neither can she.¡±


    ¡°However, if you¡¯re willing to tell me who she is, I won¡¯t ask you to be loyal to me in the future or tell anyone that you were the one that told me. On the contrary, I can personally help you up into the position of an honored concubine.¡±


    After showing her enough of the negative consequences, it was time for sweetness. This sweetness was iparable. As a person that was used to being a servant, Muxu didn¡¯t have any defenses against this type of reward.


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re lying to me.¡± Muxu¡¯s eyes showed that her firm resolve had wavered, but she still felt somewhat guarded.


    Ji Man covered her lips and smiled. ¡°Why would I lie to you? Are you doubting my ability? Or, do you think I¡¯ll suffer a loss if you be an honored concubine? Don¡¯t forget, you¡¯ll always be my person in the eyes of others.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s heart moved. Although the woman in front of her was terrifying, she didn¡¯t have any other paths to take. If she followed this type of master, as long as she didn¡¯t act against her, she would be able to live avish life and no longer have to serve anyone.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t rush her. She sat down and leisurely drank her tea as she waited for Muxu to decide.


    After enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn down, Muxu let out a long sigh.


    T/N: To summarize rambling note below, I¡¯m so sorry for thete chapters. I wasn¡¯t feeling wellst week, but I feel much better now. I¡¯ll be posting at least two extra chapter parts each day by 11:55 PM EST until I catch up onte chapters.


    Sorry for disappearing. I¡¯ve been busy with personal stuff (finally done as of Sunday night, yay), and I haven¡¯t been feeling well until yesterday. I always feel disappointed when a trantor or author only post an announcement that they¡¯ve been sick/busy or some other reason and will post sometime in the future, so I didn¡¯t want to post before I had an new tranted chapter.


    Anyways, at minimum, I¡¯ll be posting two extra chapter parts each day by 11:55 PM EST until I catch up onte chapter parts fromst week. Late chapters will be made up by November 30th 11:55 PM EST.

 Chapter 164 - Reversal in fortunes (1)

    Chapter: 164 out of 513 ¨C Reversal in fortunes (1)


    ¡°Madam, do you remember when this servant broke your treasured teacup two years ago and you ordered this servant to kneel outside in the middle of the winter as punishment?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t shared that memory with her. It was probably because she hadn¡¯t found it important.


    ¡°Madam, you definitely have no idea what it¡¯s like to to suffer coldness,¡± Muxu said, ¡°During the past six years, you treated this servant as less than human. On that day, when this servant was kneeling in the snow, Mistress Xue passed by and secretly took this servant back to her courtyard to warm up. Then, she gave this servant warmer clothes, and this servant went back to kneeling.¡±


    Mistress Xue? Qian Lianxue?


    ¡°Later on, Madam scolded Mistress Xue and told her to mind her own business.¡± Muxu destelyughed. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for Mistress Xue, this servant might have frozen to death that day.¡±


    Ji Man was slightly surprised. She hadn¡¯t expected that the person would be Qian Lianxue. She had thought Qi Siling would be a more likely suspect than Qian Lianxue. After all, Qi Siling clearly disliked her. As for Qian Lianxue, hadn¡¯t she treated her differently at the beginning because of the cold cream?


    Thinking of that sickly person that couldn¡¯t even steadily walk by herself, Ji Man¡¯s smile gradually faded. If the culprit had been Qi Siling, she would be much easier to deal with. But, why was it Qian Lianxue?


    ¡°Do you think she¡¯s a good person?¡± Ji Man lightly asked Muxu.


    Muxu nodded. Her eyes showed gratitude as she said, ¡°At the very least, Mistress Xue has always treated this servant well.¡±


    For a sickly honored concubine to treat Nie Sangyu¡¯s personal servant girl well for no reason, how could it be possible for her intentions to be pure? Ji Man shook her head. In this household, Qi Siling was interested in the ount book, Wen Wan was interested in Marquis Moyu, and Jinse was interested in status. She had thought that Qian Lianxue and Liu Hanyun were the only two people in this household that weren¡¯t interested in anything. Hadn¡¯t even Old Madame said that Qian Lianxue was a pitiful woman?


    She was a woman that appeared to ept her lot in life. Why would Qian Lianxue manipte Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant into harming her?


    Qian Lianxue seemed to be the only person that Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t offended before. Why did this behind the scenes BOSS want to harm her? Ji Man pondered these questions for a long time.


    Muxu looked at Nie Sangyu¡¯s expression and carefully asked, ¡°Madam, do your earlier words still count?¡±


    ¡°Of course, it counts. How can it not?¡± Ji Man returned to her senses and lightly smiled at her. ¡°Since I mistreated you for several years, it¡¯s only right that Ipensate you. I¡¯ll go over to Old Madame¡¯s ceter to report to her and have the marquis give you a position.¡±


    ¡°As for my pregnancy...¡± Ji Man asked, ¡°Did you tell Qian Lianxue?¡±


    Muxu lowered her eyes and lightly nodded.


    ¡°Then, does she also know that we made the cold cream instead of buying it?¡±


    Muxu nodded. After a pause, she added, ¡°This servant only told Mistress Xue about this matter after you gave her the cold cream. After you took the cold cream out to sell, this servant didn¡¯t tell her that you had earned a lot of money that was stored in your wardrobe.¡±


    This Qian Lianxue was very talented at scheming and knew how to n long-term for major returns. She hadn¡¯t notice her attempts at harming her until now.


    The enemy was hidden in the shadows and she was exposed in the light. Ji Man sighed. This was truly unfavorable, ah.


    Right now, she wanted to keep her unborn child, but the person that wanted to torment her to death knew of it¡¯s existence. Didn¡¯t this mean that her future path had be more dangerous? Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t seem threatening at all. But, as it turned out, she was like a cactus that had a deep root system that was camouged by ayer of fallen leaves.


    Fortunately, after she had found out that Muxu had betrayed her, she had put on the show of cleanly severing her ties with Shuiji Rouge Store. Qian Lianxue probably didn¡¯t know about her connection with that store. Right now, Shuiji Rouge Store could also be used to harm her.


    Ji Man amicably allowed Muxu to stand up and said a few words to her so that she wouldn¡¯t feel worried anymore.


    ¡ª


    During lunchtime, when she went over to old madame¡¯s courtyard, she simply asked old madame to allow Muxu to be one of Marquis Moyu¡¯s concubines.


    Old Madame nodded and agreed, ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking that it¡¯ll be better for you to have someone that can assist you. Let¡¯s ept Muxu as one of my son¡¯s concubines then.¡±


    Muxu was overjoyed. She immediately knelt down and thanked them. Although Madam had said that she would help her be an honored concubine, she knew that they would have to take things step by step. She had thought she would have to start off as a bed servant. She would have never imagined that she could jump straight to being a concubine.


    Old madame looked at Muxu again. Her tone was slightly severe as she said, ¡°Since you¡¯re Sangyu¡¯s servant, don¡¯t do anything that would wrong your master. It¡¯s good if you can receive the marquis¡¯s favor, but don¡¯t forget that you stepped on your master¡¯s back in order to go up.¡±


    Even though she had be a concubine, everyone would think that Muxu was a despicable servant that had used the marquis¡¯s affection for her master to climb up socially. She understood old madame¡¯s words. Even if she became an honored concubine one day, her life wouldn¡¯t be good if she wasn¡¯t loyal to her master.


    Ji Man arranged for Muxu to move to Wenxiang Courtyard and assigned two lower ranking servant girls to her. Starting from today, Muxu had aplished her original goal and would be counted as a minor master.


    Muxu happily walked around in her new room. She stopped at the mirror and looked at her new hairpin and clothes. She was extremely satisfied.

 Chapter 165 - Reversal in fortunes (2)

    Chapter 165 out of 513 ¨C Reversal in fortunes (2)


    Several people in the household were unhappy when they heard the news that Muxu had received the marquis¡¯s favor and was promoted to the position of a concubine by Nie Sangyu.


    Jinse was especially displeased. She was swinging her handkerchief as she walked over to Wenxiang Courtyard. Her voice was as sharp as needles as she said, ¡°For a lowly servant girl to be promoted to a concubine by her master, you must have cultivated for eight lifetimes in the past to be so lucky.


    Muxu frowned. She looked at Jinse and said, ¡°Although I was only a servant girl, my body was clean. Miss Jin, your slender, pale arms must have been used as a pillow by countless men and your sweet voice must have sang to hundreds of men. For someone like you to enter this household, I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s truly not an auspicious sign.¡±


    Jinse wasn¡¯t angered by her words. She giggled in response. ¡°Isn¡¯t this just the pot calling the kettle ck? Let¡¯s wait and see who¡¯s the one that has a good ending.¡±


    After the dislikable Jinse left, Qi Siling was the next person to drop by under the excuse of instructing Muxu. Muxu could only put on a brave face and obediently listen. By the time that Qian Lianxue came over to visit her, Muxu was pretending that she was feeling a bit unwell and resting in order to avoid visitors. Muxu had originally thought that bing a concubine would be a wonderful thing, but she already felt mentally and physically exhausted, and it was only the first day.


    Of course, the marquis didn¡¯te over to visit her that night. As she stood in the courtyard by herself that night, she suddenly reminisced about Li Zixiu¡¯s kindness.


    However, after she pretended to be sick and requested to see a doctor, Zixiu didn¡¯te over. He probably never wanted to see her again. As Muxu lightlyughed, tears spilled out from her eyes.


    ¡ª


    As Ning Yuxuan sulkily sat inside Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man leisurely peeled a lychee for him. After she finished peeling one, she casually fed it to him. ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Marquis Moyu stayed silent, but he stilled opened his mouth to eat the lychee.


    During the workday, while he was in the Six Ministries, he kept feeling suspicious aboutst night¡¯s matter. He couldn¡¯t get rid of the nagging feeling that Nie Sangyu had sessfully schemed against him. But, what advantage did she gain by promoting Muxu to a concubine? Because he had been unable to figure out why Nie Sangyu had done this, his face had remained gloomy all day.


    He really hated this feeling of something being outside his control.


    After Ji Man had fed him fruit, brewed tea for him, and massaged his shoulders, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression finally improved. He took off his outer clothing and got into bed.


    With the voice of a main wife, Ji Man said, ¡°My lord, if you have free time, you should visit Lianxue. Her health seems to be doing a bit poorly because of the recent change in weather.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her in askance. ¡°Didn¡¯t you used to dislike Xue-<i>er</i> a lot before? Why are you concerned about her now?¡±


    Had Nie Sangyu liked anyone but him in the past, ah? Hadn¡¯t she disliked all of the women in this household? Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that this servant has be sensible? Moreover,pared to everyone else, Qian Lianxue has the most likable temperament.¡±


    ¡°True, her temperament is very good. She doesn¡¯t fight for favor, and she¡¯s not unreasonable like Wan-<i>er</i>.¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly harrumphed and closed his eyes. ¡°You should learn from her. She¡¯s the type of woman that doesn¡¯t make me worry.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Not worrying her ass. He wouldn¡¯t even know if Qi Siling started a raging fire in his harem.


    However, she still showed a curious expression as she asked, ¡°My lord, did you meet Lianxue because of Sir Qian?¡±


    ¡°En,¡± Marquis lightly agreed.


    Qian Lianxue was his older sister, so it was only natural that Qian Yingchen was their matchmaker. However, Ji Man had met Qian Yingchen before. He was an interesting person. She hadn¡¯t sensed any hostility directed towards her during their meeting.


    Ji Man closed her eyes and quietly contemted how she could have possibly offended Qian Lianxue. Ning Yuxuan also didn¡¯t say anything else. They eventually drifted off into slumber together.


    ¡ª


    A monthter, the capital was peaceful, Prince Huainan¡¯s household had returned to his fiedom, and Nie Qingyun and Errong¡¯s rtionship was stable. It seemed as if there was nothing for Ji Man to worry about.


    During the past month, Ning Yuxuan had visited Feiwan Couryard the most with Xuesong Courtyard and Jiyue Courtyard being the second and third ce he visited the most often. It could be considered as him sharing his favor among the women. However, he only visited Jinse and Muxu¡¯s ces without staying the night.


    Since a month had passed, Wen Wan was naturally let out of the woodshed. Marquis Moyu wanted to assign her as his personal servant girl, but Old Madame refused. Instead, she assigned Wen Wan to Nie Sangyu.


    Seeing such arge bomb being thrown her way, Ji Man felt a headache.


    But, when Ji Man saw Wen Wan wearing a servant¡¯s clothing and quietly standing in front of her, she felt somewhat surprised.


    Wen Wan seemed to have changed. Wen Wan used to previously radiate a strong expectant aura of ¡°everyone should pamper me¡±, but that aura had been worn away by her confinement period.


    Wen Wan lifted her skirt and knelt down. ¡°Servant Wan-<i>er</i> greets Madam.¡±


    Ji Man slightly raised her eyebrow when she heard the sound of Wen Wan¡¯s knees meeting the ground.


    Gancao and Dengxin, who were standing by Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, were also surprised by Wen Wan¡¯s action.


    Ji Man had originally thought that Wen Wan was too prideful to be willing to kneel down in front of her. As she pursed her lips and gestured with her hand that Wen Wan could stand up, she suddenly thought of that day in the main hall when Marquis Moyu had married Wen Wan.


    At that time, she had just transmigrated into this world. Ji Man sighed. The female lead¡¯s transformation was starting. The saying that adversity matured a person was truly apt.


    ¡°In the future, you¡¯ll be serving me. Be attentive. I won¡¯t treat you poorly.¡±


    ¡°This servant understands.¡±


    T/N: Thank you for the kind words =)! I¡¯m feeling much better this week.

 Chapter 166 - Its not easy to protect a baby (1)

    Chapter 166 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s not easy to protect a baby (1)


    Ji Man observed Wen Wan for the next couple of days.


    Wen Wan continued her obedient demeanor. Even if someone deliberately did something to antagonize her, such as dropping a cup or sshing water onto her, she responded like a normal servant girl by cleaning up the mess without any sign of anger.


    Whenever Marquis Moyu came to Feiwan Courtyard, Wen Wan didn¡¯t try to speak to him. After tidying up the bed, she would quietly leave to stand outside. As a result, it was Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan that felt slightly awkward around Wen Wan.


    One night, Ning Yuxuan summoned Wen Wan and quietly asked, ¡°Are you getting used to things?¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s voice was calm as she said, ¡°To respond to the marquis, everything is well with this servant.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯recking in anything, you can tell me or Madam about it.¡±


    Wen Wan finally raised her head to nce at him. Her eyes showed a sense of despair, but she still patiently nodded. ¡°Alright.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan probably felt bad for her after seeing the look in her eyes. He sighed and said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Sangyu, isn¡¯t Muxu¡¯s previous room still empty? Let Wan-<i>er</i> live there. Don¡¯t mistreat her by having her sleep in the woodshed.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°I already had Gancao and Dengxin move Wen Wan¡¯s stuff into that room. But, Wan-<i>er</i> seems to not like that room. She prefers to sleep in the woodshed.¡±


    Wen Wan seemed to treat herself masochistically in every aspect. When Ji Man gave her new clothes and essories, she wouldn¡¯t take it. She wouldn¡¯t eat food that was slightly better than what a normal servant would eat either. She insistented on staying in the woodshed and having a servant¡¯s diet.


    It really gave off the impression that she was abusing Wen Wan.


    Marquis Moyu looked at Wen Wan and said, ¡°If you can live a little better, there¡¯s no reason to make life difficult for yourself.¡±


    The corners of of Wen Wan¡¯s lips raised slightly, but she stayed silent.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have the free time to y along with Wen Wan¡¯s mistreatment game. She was finally feeling other symptoms of pregnancy. It was taking all of her self-control to endure the difort and act normal in front of the marquis and old madame, so that they wouldn¡¯t find out.


    Ji Man no longer ate any of the food prepared by the kitchen servants. Instead, she gave her food to Gancao and Dengxin, then she had them sneak out of the residence each day to buy food that was prepared outside. She also had people checking the incense in her room. However, after Muxu had left her side after bing a concubine, her surroundings had been quiet. Qian Liaxnue continued to act the same as before, quietly staying in her courtyard because of her poor health.


    Ji Man felt uneasy. If she continued to hide her pregnancy, sooner orter, it would be found out through an ident. Rather than nothing and responding to someone¡¯s move, it would better for her to figure out a n first.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man was around five months pregnant, old madame decided to visit Noble Consort Nie. Thinking about how her aunt¡¯s pregnancy was only a few months further along than herself, Ji Man felt somewhat awkward. However, right now, Noble Consort Nie and old madame were the only people that had the power to help her.


    And so, Ji Man told Noble Consort Nie about all the miscarriages that had happened in the marquis¡¯s household.


    Hearing these words, Noble Consort Nie frowned and asked, ¡°Why is your household messier than the pce?¡±


    Old madame sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s because I haven¡¯t been watching over and managing these girls. I don¡¯t care about their pregnancies. I only hope that Sangyu can be pregnant.¡±


    Ji Man blinked. She looked at Noble Consort Nie, then she looked at old madame. She asked, ¡°Aunty, Old Madame, do the two of you think that Sangyu will be able to sessfully give birth to a child if Sangyu gets pregnant?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you be able to?¡± With a serious expression on her face, old madame said, ¡°Your baby would be the oldest offspring from the main wife. How could it be lost like the babies from those other women?¡±


    ¡°There will always be people doing bad things in the residence. One day, those people might direct their attentions at me.¡± Ji Man wryly smiled. ¡°I actually think it¡¯ll be better if I don¡¯t get pregnant.¡±


    Noble Consort Nie slightly sat up and held Sangyu¡¯s hand as she said, ¡°Sangyu, you have to believe in your mother-inw. If you really be pregnant, she¡¯ll definitely help you in keeping it.¡±


    Ji Man looked at old madame.


    Old madame¡¯s sitting posture looked very dignified. There was a smile on her face as she said, ¡°I fought with those type of tricky no-good women for several years when I was younger. In the end, they¡¯re all gone and only me and Yuxuan are left. It won¡¯t be difficult at all for me to help you.¡±


    Back then, her husband had several concubines and a residence full of his offspring. However, after he had died in battle, old madame and Ning Yuxuan were the only two people left in his household. At the beginning, Ji Man had found this very strange. It was normal for people to have several siblings in ancient times. Why did Ning Yuxuan only have cousins?


    As it turned out, the reason was this.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist staring at old madame for a bit. She finally understood why old madame liked to chant Buddhist sutras so much.


    She was doing it to make up for her past actions, right?


    After contemting this for a while, Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°Sangyu found out something recently. I don¡¯t know if I should say it. Old Madame, aunty, the two of you will probably feel bad if you hear it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Noble Consort Nie asked, ¡°Speak freely. We¡¯re all one family.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and tried to show the proper mood. She rubbed her eyes with her handkerchief that had traces of hot pepper, so that her eyes finally reddened when she said, ¡°It¡¯s the marquis¡¯s intention, that¡¯s the reason behind why Sangyu hasn¡¯t gotten pregnant after several years of marriage.¡±


    The two elders were shocked by her words. Old madame¡¯s expression was slightly ugly. After all, Ning Yuxuan was her biological son, and she naturally felt biased in favor of him.


    Ji Man took out a box of incense. Her tone wasn¡¯t usatory when she gently said, ¡°The marquis is probably worried that if Sangyu gets pregnant, the crown prince will feel uneasy. Thus, he always had Sangyu use this incense that had musk and saffron.¡±

 Chapter 167 - Its not easy to protect a baby (2)

    Chapter 167 out of 513 ¨C It¡¯s not easy to protect a baby (2)


    As soon as Noble Consort Nie¡¯s personal servant girl heard Nie Sangyu mention those two ingredients, she hurriedly had another servant take the box away to throw out. ¡°Your Highness, those two spices can cause you to miscarry. They can¡¯t be near you.¡±


    Old madame stared at Nie Sangyu for a long time before she finally said, ¡°Did you only find this out?¡±


    Ji Man nodded with tears streaming down her face. ¡°This servant stopped using this incense a while ago. After several years of being unable to get pregnant, Sangyu was very surprised when the doctor told me this news of my pregnancy. It felt strange, so Sangyu had someone check this incense. Sangyu didn¡¯t expect the result would be this.¡±


    Originally, Old Madame had felt somewhat reproachful towards Sangyu for bringing up this subject in front of Noble Consort Nie. However, when she heard the second sentence, her eyes widened. ¡°You¡¯re pregnant?!¡±


    Ji Man ced her hands over her abdomen and said in a pitiful tone, ¡°The doctor said Sangyu had already been pregnant for three months. But, Sangyu doesn¡¯t dare to let the marquis know about this. Sangyu just wants to peacefully give birth to this baby.¡±


    Ovee with joy, Old Madame held Sangyu¡¯s hand and couldn¡¯t find the right words to say for a long time.


    Noble Consort Nie hurriedly had Pengshu send a message to her most trusted imperial physician to tell him toe here.


    After the imperial physician came over and confirmed the pregnancy, Noble Consort Nie was extremely happy. Her efforts in sending Sangyu so much valuable medicine during the Southern Trip hadn¡¯t been wasted.


    While Ji Man repeatedly reminded the imperial physician to not spread the news of her pregnancy, the other two women were so ted that they wanted the rest of the world to know this news too. They had been hoping for this to happen for so long. How could they not be overjoyed?


    After the happiness passed, they remembered the problem that Sangyu had mentioned. Since Sangyu had already said that the marquis didn¡¯t want her to get pregnant, old madame needed to figure out a way to handle this problem.


    If Ji Man had secretly told old madame this news when they were at home, old madame would have definitely said she was overthinking things; how could it be possible for the marquis to not want his own child? Not only that, old madame would be so overjoyed by the news that she would immediately inform the entire household and tell her son to take extra care of Sangyu.


    But, Ji Man had told her about the pregnancy in front of Noble Consort Nie. If something really did happen to this baby, Noble Consort Nie would definitely think that Ning Yuxuan was behind it. In the end this, this baby was rted by blood to Noble Consort Nie. Noble Consort Nie would definitelysh out in anger at Ning Yuxuan if Sangyu suffered a miscarriage.


    As the person stuck in the middle, Old Madame had to seriously think and figure out a solution. How could she protect this baby? She could stop the attempts of all of the women in their household if they tried to do anything, but she couldn¡¯t stop her son.


    Old Madame looked at Sangyu and said, ¡°When we go back home,e to my courtyard and stay with me for a while. I¡¯ll just say you have fate with Buddhism and you¡¯ll be chanting Buddhist scriptures with me. When your pregnancy is more stable, we¡¯ll figure out the next step.¡±


    Ji Man let out a relieved sigh. She had support now and didn¡¯t have to be so worried as long as old madame knew that she had to be guarded against her son.


    Noble Consort Nie bestowed many items to Nie Sangyu before they left.


    Ji Man hade here empty-handed and felt as if she was returning from a rewarding journey on the way back. She wasn¡¯t sure what emotion she should be feeling right now.


    However, old madame spent the entire journey back home seriously nning on what they would do next. As soon as they returned home, she told Sangyu to pack up her stuff and move to her courtyard.


    But, as Ji Man was walking back to Feiwan Courtyard, she encountered Qian Lianxue in the garden. Moreover, the sickly honored concubine that hadn¡¯t left her courtyard in a long time actually looked quite well today. Qian Lianxue was currently chatting away with Marquis Moyu over a te of snacks.


    Ji Man had initially wanted to pretend that she hadn¡¯t seen them. She wanted to go back to her courtyard to pack up instead, but she was stopped by Marquis Moyu shouting, ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man inwardly sighed before she turned around and pasted a bright smile on her face. ¡°My lord?¡±


    ¡°Xue-<i>er</i> is feeling well today and made a te of snacks. Do you want to try some?¡± Ning Yuxuan seemed to be in a pretty good mood too.


    Without hesitation, Ji Man shook her head. ¡°This servant has to go back to pack up. Old Madame wants me to temporarily move to the main courtyard to recite Buddhist scriptures with her.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°You haven¡¯t done anything wrong that would make you feel guilty. Why are you going over there to recite scriptures for no reason?¡±


    Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°Old Madame said this servant has fate with Buddha. This servant also feels that reciting scripture will help clean my mind and conscience.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nomittally raised his eyebrows and asked, ¡°So you aren¡¯t going to be serving me tonight?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t advisable to have intercourse during the early stages of pregnancy. Recently, whenever Marquis Moyu came to her courtyard, they would only peacefully sleep together. And so, it didn¡¯t really make a difference if she was serving him at night or not.


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t this servant already mention thisst night? You should spend more time with Lianxue, especially on a day like today when she¡¯s feeling well.¡±


    Qian Lianxue finally turned her head to look at her. Her smile looked a bit fragile. ¡°Madam, thank you for your concern.¡±


    Ji Man nodded in response.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say anything else. He waved his hand to signal that she could leave.


    Having avoided a long night of sleep that might bring many dreams, Ji Man directly moved into the main courtyard¡¯s side room. She only brought Gancao with her and had Wen Wan and Dengxin remain in Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    That night, old madame wasn¡¯t feeling well and went to sleep early. Ji Man also went straight to bed after washing up. Since Marquis Moyu would be going to Xuesong Courtyard and staying the night, Ji Man wasn¡¯t as vignt as usual.


    However, the doors to the side room were suddenly pushed open in the middle of the night, and someone stumbled inside and fell onto her bed.


    Startled awake by the noise, Ji Man was about to let out a yell when that person covered her mouth.

 Chapter 168 - A disastrous chemical reaction (1)

    Chapter 168 out of 513 ¨C A disastrous chemical reaction (1)


    Gancao, who had been sleepily guarding the doors, had obviously been startled awake too. However, she was too shocked by the sudden appearance of a man barging into her master¡¯s room. She didn¡¯t know if she should shout for people toe or not.


    Smelling a familiar scent, Ji Man calmed down from her initial panicked response to feeling someone breathing on her neck. She stretched her hand out and used all of her strength to pinch a soft spot on the man¡¯s waist.


    Ning Yuxuan let out a muffled yelp. His peach blossom eyes were full of anger. ¡°Why did you pinch me?¡±


    Ji Man was so irritated that she felt as if there were cross-popping veins on her head. She couldn¡¯t resist the urge to re at him. ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night. Why did you run here for no reason instead of sleeping? This is Old Madame¡¯s courtyard. Aren¡¯t you afraid that she¡¯ll break your legs for acting so shady?¡±


    (T/N: Below is a picture of cross-popping veins that¡¯smonly seen in anime.)


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s breath was slightly hot, but he was still clear-headed. Lying next to her, he coldly harrumphed and said, ¡°Mother is always biased in favor of you. Would she really break my legs foring here to favor you?¡±


    Ji Man angrily responded, ¡°You still have to act responsibly in ordance to the situation. This servant came here to pray to Buddha and abstain from eating meat.¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled. His fingers slid back and forth over her belly. It wasn¡¯t clear if there was any hidden meaning behind this action. ¡°You have a belly full of evil tricks. Can you really pass on these thoughts to Buddha in a few days just by eating vegetarian food and praying?¡±


    Feeling his hand on her belly, Ji Man felt a slight chill on her back. She hurriedly used a nket to create a barrier between them. ¡°My lord, if you believe this servant has a stomach full of evil tricks, then this must be true. But, weren¡¯t you suppose to go to Xuesong Courtyard tonight? Why did youe here?¡±


    After Ning Yuxuan spent a few moments steadying his breath, his voice abruptly cooled as he said, ¡°Isn¡¯t this because you¡¯re overestimating your own intelligence and think that I¡¯m easy to fool? You¡¯re willing to use all types of dirty tricks on me. Sangyu, it must be because I¡¯ve been treating you too welltely.¡±


    How was this rted to her? Ji Man was at aplete loss. The only thing she did today was move to Old Madame¡¯s courtyard. She hadn¡¯t done anything else, right?


    ¡°My lord, can this servant ask a question? Are you convicting this servant of a crime right now?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile was a bit cynical. Without saying word, he sat up and said, ¡°I praised you for being clever, but this doesn¡¯t mean you can scheme against me too. Go to sleep. I just came here to tease you, but since I¡¯m not wee here, it¡¯s not very fun.¡±


    After finishing these words, he immediately got up and left.


    Outside the doors, Gancao used the light of thenterns to get a clear look of Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. At the same time she let out a sigh in relief, she also felt there was something strange going on. Why had the marquise here?


    Having been woken up in such a manner, Ji Man naturally couldn¡¯t easily fall back asleep. She propped up her chin and thought for a long time before calling Gancao inside to ask her, ¡°Did the marquis go anywhere after dinner?¡±


    Gancao was a well-informed person, so she was able to immediately report Ning Yuxuan¡¯s whereabouts for the evening. ¡°Master, after the marquis had dinner at Xuesong Courtyard, he went over to Feiwan Courtyard. Seeing that you weren¡¯t there, he went back to Xuesong Courtyard.¡±


    Xuesong Courtyard, Feiwan Courtyard. One ce had Qian Lianxue, the other ce had Wen Wan. Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure it out. Which person and what method had that person used to push Marquis Moyu toe here in the middle of the night to cynically ridicule her? She felt that even when she was trying to stay out of the way, she was still getting into trouble.


    Ji Man lied back down. Her sleep wasn¡¯t very peaceful the rest of the night.


    ¡ª


    The next morning, she went to Old Madame and reportst night¡¯s incident.


    Old Madame¡¯s expression immediately sunk. She summoned Qian Lianxue and Wen Wan to the main courtyard and had them stay kneeling on the ground.


    ¡°Which one of you can tell me what happenedst night?¡± Old Madame¡¯s eyes severely looked at these two women. Although Old Madame was feeling under the weather, her threatening aura wasn¡¯t even slightly reduced.


    Qian Lianxue had a weak body. After kneeling for only a little bit, her body started to falter. She did her best to straighten her body as she said, ¡°To respond to Old Madame, the marquis decided to stay the night in Xuesong Courtyardst night. After dinner, he went out for a walk. After he came back, he didn¡¯t stay for long before leaving again. This servant doesn¡¯t know why the the marquis was upset.¡± Her voice was especially sincere and her appearance was also very good at getting the sympathy of others.


    Old Madame pursed her lips, then she waved her hand to indicated for a servant girl to help Qian Lianxue stand up and sit down on a nearby chair.


    Old Madame started at Wen Wan and asked her, ¡°Why did the marquis go to Feiwan Courtyard?¡±


    Wen Wan was still properly kneeling with her head lowered. She said, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know. When the marquis came to Feiwan Courtyard, this servant didn¡¯t leave my room.¡±


    ¡°Who can act as your witness?¡±


    Wen Wan paused, then she shook her head. ¡°At that time, Dengxin had gone out to get dinner from the kitchen.¡±


    The implication was the she had been the only one in Feiwan Courtyard when the marquis had visited.


    Old Madame coldly harrumphed. It seemed that very few people knew what had happenedst night. It was an unsolved mystery for why Xuan-<i>er</i> had been angry at Sangyust night. She couldn¡¯t just directly ask her son. It had been a private matter between him and Sangyu. As his mother, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for her to interfere.


    This household truly wasn¡¯t peaceful. Old Madame cast a nce at Wen Wan. The change in this girl¡¯s attitude had been quite drastic. It was almost catching up to Sangyu¡¯s drastic change that had happened a couple of months ago. Now that Wen Wan was well-behaved, Old Madame felt she wasn¡¯t as much as an eyesore.


    After contemting for a while, Old Madame waved her hand to signal for them to withdraw. After they left, she held Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to guard against a covert attack. Just stay in my courtyard for now and don¡¯t go outside.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan left the main courtyard with her head lowered. She slowly walked back to Feiwan Courtyard.


    After being locked in the woodshed for a month, she had figured a lot of things out. In addition, a clever person had given her useful pointers. Now, she finally understood how she shouldpete with the other women for the marquis¡¯s favor.


    Trantor Ramblings: I don¡¯t think anyone was behind Ning Yuxuan visiting Ji Man/Nie Sangyu. I think he just missed her and got upset that she wasn¡¯t happy to see him. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 169 - A disastrous chemical reaction (2)

    Chapter 169 out of 513 ¨C A disastrous chemical reaction (2)


    She had been so foolish. She had thought that as long as Ning Yuxuan doted on her, she wouldn¡¯t have to worry about anything. But, the result was that Nie Sangyu had taught her what it meant to use skills and tricks. It wasn¡¯t enough for Ning Yuxuan to treasure her. She needed to use his feelings to achieve things. She had eaten enough of steamed buns that were as hard as rocks, nightmares while sleeping in the woodshed, and cold indifference from the servants. Little by little, she would slowly snatch back all of the things she had lost.


    She wouldn¡¯t let a momentary impulse ruin everything again.


    So what if the emperor ordered for her to be a servant for the rest of her life? She would show these blind people what a servant was capable of.


    When she passed by the garden¡¯s pond, Wen Wan stopped walking to look at it. There used to be many fishes swimming here. But for an unknown reason, there were many dead fishes floating on the surface of the pond today.


    After only briefly looking at the fishes, she felt somewhat difited by this sight. Her throat suddenly felt tight and she spat out a mouthful of ck blood.


    ¡ª


    In the end, the female lead was the female lead. When she was seemingly pushed to a dead end, she would have powerful tools that weren¡¯t avable to anyone else. And so, the likelihood of her reversing her fortune was higher than the average person.


    ¡ª


    The news of what had happened to Wen Wan quickly reached Ning Yuxuan¡¯s ears. He had been discussing matters with people from the Six Ministries, but when he heard this news, he immediately rushed home to see her.


    ¡ª


    After Doctor Li checked Wen Wan¡¯s pulse, he respectfully cupped his hands and said, ¡°She¡¯s been poisoned with a slow-acting poison. The symptoms won¡¯t show up until a month after the poison was administered. If an antidote isn¡¯t found within seven days, it might be difficult for Miss Wan-<i>er</i> to keep her life.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression was very ugly.


    The person that had been responsible for bring food to Wen Wan during her confinement period was called over to Feiwan Courtyard. Trembling with fear, the servant said, ¡°This servant always delivered food that was prepared by the kitchen. No else had a problem after eating this food. The only exception is when Madam brought over a bowl of medicinal soup. This servant didn¡¯t dare to stop her. Counting the days, it was about a month ago.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk.


    ¡ª


    There was no chance of Ji Man being able to peacefully spend her days. Even under Old Madame¡¯s protection, there would still be people that would dig her out and shoot her.


    For example, even now with Old Madame sitting in the head seat, Ning Yuxuan was looking at her with a foreboding expression as he asked, ¡°What did you add in the medicinal soup that you gave Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Although Old Madame had given her a bottle of poison, she had clearly thrown all of it into the pond. Where would she have the poison to pour into Wen Wan¡¯s medicinal soup? Moreover, Wen Wan definitely wouldn¡¯t have drunk that pitch-ck soup. So, why was he ming her?


    Ji Man said, ¡°My lord, please investigate this matter. There were only beneficial herbs in that soup. If you don¡¯t believe this servant, you can check. There¡¯s a record of the herbs used in the soup with Doctor Li. ¡±


    Old Madame pursed her lips. ¡°Wen Wan is only a servant. How can youe here to interrogate your wife just because Wen Wan was poisoned?¡±


    Old Madame believed that Nie Sangyu was the one behind the poisoning because she had ordered her to do this. And so, her words showed an obvious bias in favor of Sangyu.


    Ji Man really wanted to say; she was innocent. Old Madame, you don¡¯t need to show such a guilty expression.


    Marquis Moyu looked at his mother for a long time. His voice was slightly hoarse as he said, ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t like Wan-<i>er,</i> but she¡¯s already suffered so much. Why can¡¯t you let her off?¡±


    Old Madame sneered. ¡°I should be the one asking her to let me off. My perfectly good son had been mesmerized by her to the point that you don¡¯t even know the difference between right and wrong. You¡¯re even questioning your own mother for her.¡±


    Marquis Moyu deeply looked at her, then he stood up, saluted her, and left without saying another word.


    ¡°Absolutely disgraceful!¡± Old Madame was so angry that she pped the table. ¡°How could I have given birth to someone so disappointing?!¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly said a couple of sentences tofort Old Madame. Her brow continued to be furrowed as she wondered who had ¡°kindly helped¡± her.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu stayed in Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s side room for several days without taking a single step to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room.


    Valuable medicine from the pce¡¯s storage had been dug out and brought over. Ning Yuxuan was willing to pay any price in order to cure Wen Wan¡¯s poison.


    With her hair untied, Wen Wan obediently lied in Marquis Moyu¡¯s arms. She quietly said, ¡°It¡¯s worth it if I can die like this.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying nonsense.¡± Ning Yuxuan lowly reprimanded. He gripped her chin and looked at herplexion. He wasn¡¯t able to hide the distress he was feeling. ¡°I¡¯ll cure your poison. You won¡¯t die.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s smile was very joyful. ¡°If I can use thesest seven days to trade for your original deep feelings, Wan-<i>er</i> can die without regrets.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise.


    When had he stopped loving her as deeply as he had in the beginning? He had originally promised her that they would be together until old age and wouldn¡¯t let her suffer any grievances. But now, she had be a servant and was at death¡¯s door.


    No matter how hard a heart was, these words would soften it. Ning Yuxuan held Wen Wan tighter and quietly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Wen Wan smiled, but tears slid down her face. ¡°I¡¯ve always been scared that you would say those words to me. Don¡¯t say them. Even if you fall in love with someone else in the future, don¡¯t tell me. Just let me think that your heart only has me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s breathing deepened. He lowered his head and kiss her lips.


    Wan-<i>er</i> should be the only person in his heart. How could there be someone else?


    A gorgeous peony shed through his mind. Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes, clutched Wen Wan¡¯s shoulder, and deepened the kiss to distract himself.


    ¡ª


    After three days of praying to Buddha at Old Madame¡¯s courtyard, Ji Man finally sighed. ¡°You can only depend on yourself, praying to Buddha to save you won¡¯t help.¡±

 Chapter 170

    Chapter 170 out of 513 ¨C Poison that had been thrown away a month ago (1)


    Seeing that the female lead had alreadypleted her transformation and was about to walk down the path to a happy ending, Ji Man decided that she couldn¡¯t just keep praying in front of a Buddha statue. She went to Old Madame and asked to move back to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡°Why would you want to go back. Your body...¡± Old Madame was very worried. This household hadn¡¯t been peacefultely. What if something bad happened to her future grandchild?


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°If Sangyu doesn¡¯t go back, Wen Wan might usurp my ce like a magpie. Since the marquis has decided to me us for Wen Wan¡¯s poisoning, Sangyu has to go back to atone for this crime.


    Old Madame looked at her for a while before saying, ¡°If you go back topete for favor at this juncture, I don¡¯t think anything good wille of it.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. She wasn¡¯t stupid. She wasn¡¯t going back there to drop herself on someone¡¯s knife.


    ¡°Sangyu will wait for an opportune time. Old Madame, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    How could Old Madame not worry? Old Madame told Danggui and Shouwu to escort Sangyu back to Feiwan Courtyard and almost ordered the other servants to deliver the Buddha statue over there too.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Danggui amd Shouwu are Old Madame¡¯s personal servant girls.)


    Ji Man had to refuse several times before Old Madame gave on these ideas. In the end, Ji Man only brought Gancao with her to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª-


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Seeing that her master hade back, Dengxin was extremely happy. Standing at the entrance, she shouted, ¡°Master!¡±


    Ji Man slightly smiled. Holding Gancao¡¯s arm for support, she slowly walked to the entrance.


    Just as Dengxin was about to run over to greet them, she was stopped by a servant girl that called out behind her, ¡°Older sister Dengxin, the marquis is asking if the medicine has finished cooking yet.¡±


    Dengxin stopped walking. Rather angry, she turned around and said, ¡°The medicine is in the backyard¡¯s stove. Why can¡¯t you get it yourself?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows when she heard Dengxin¡¯s response. Once she entered the courtyard, she saw that the servant that had called out was Tanxiang.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu hade back, Tanxiang froze in surprise. No longer caring about getting Dengxin to bring the medicine over, Tanxiang rushed back to the side room at lightning speed.


    Wen Wan¡¯s life as a servant was prettyfortable. She even had a servant girl following after her to serve her. Wryly smiling, Ji Man pulled a resentful Dengxin over and asked, ¡°Why are you so angry?¡±


    Dengxin indignantly said, ¡°Master, you don¡¯t know this, but that person in the side room is putting on airs as if she¡¯s better than everyone else. She¡¯s been demanding that this servant deliver soups and hot water and also attending to her for washing up. Whenever that woman doesn¡¯t eat, the marquis will me this servant.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ji Man nced at the side room. ¡°Aren¡¯t you my servant girl? When did you change masters?¡±


    Dengxin clenched her jaw and whispered, ¡°She¡¯s just a dog that threatens people by relying on her master¡¯s power.¡±


    The sound of coughing came from inside the side room. It sounded rather posturing.


    Tanxiang came out, saluted Nie Sangyu, and said, ¡°Madam, the marquis wants you toe inside.¡±


    Ji Man nodded, but then she turned around, went into the main room, changed her clothes, unpacked her stuff, and ate some snacks. After doing all of this, she finally heard Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice from the outside.


    ¡°Are you ignoring me when I call you over?¡±


    Ji Man put down the snack she was eating, wiped her mouth, and walked outside with a smile. She saluted Marquis Moyu and asked, ¡°My lord, please calm down. This servant was only thinking that since Wan-<i>er</i> is still sick and this servant is covered in dust, this servant should change my clothes beforeing over.¡±


    Seeing her smiling apologetic manner, Ning Yuxuan stared at her for a while before pursing his lips and saying, ¡°En.¡± Then, he turned around and returned to the side room.


    Ji Man followed after him.


    The smell of medicine was rather strong inside the room, and Wen Wan¡¯splexion was deathly pale. She was currently sitting up by leaning on the bed frame and quietly coughing.


    Seeing her like this, Marquis Moyu walked over and pulled up the quilt for her. He lightly scolded her, ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you to not get up?¡±


    With great effort, Wen Wan mustered up a smile and said, ¡°Madam hase. How can this servant not greet her? But, my body only has a few days left to live. This servant is too weak to get out of bed. Madame, please excuse me.¡±


    She was even showing that she understood propriety. What a well-behaved person, ah. Ji Man looked at with with a pitying expression and said, ¡°You have the marquis looking after your health. You¡¯ll definitely get better. Don¡¯t say such pessimistic words. You¡¯re already in such a pitiful state. Who cares about upholding propriety? You can do whatever you want in my courtyard. You can even treat this ce as if it was your previous Qiangwei Courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan paused, then she smiled and said, ¡°Madam, you truly have a kind heart.


    Ji Man pretended to be serious as she said, ¡°I actually have selfish motives. You have to quickly get better. That¡¯s the only way the marquis will be happy. I¡¯ll only be happy when the marquis is happy.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at her. His gaze wasn¡¯t very amicable and seemed to be asking her, ¡°What¡¯s with these fake words? When have you ever been happy just because I¡¯m happy?¡±


    Ignoring his look, Ji Man continued topassionately smile at Wen Wan.


    ¡ª


    During the next few days, whenever Wen Wan needed to drink medicine, Ji Man would always personally prepare the herbal medicine. Then, she would ask a doctor that Marquis Moyu trusted to inspect it right before Wen Wan started drinking. She delivered bowl after bowl of medicine to the side room.


    Dengxin felt very aggrieved every time another bowl of medicine was sent over. ¡°Master, she¡¯s only a servant! Why should she have the privilege of drinking medicine prepared by you?¡±


    Using a small fan to fan the fire for the pot of medicine, Ji Man only smiled in response. Marquis Moyu still believed that she had poisoned Wen Wan. There were so many misunderstanding between them. If she exined what really happened, he would still think she was guilty, so she couldn¡¯t say anything. She could only demonstrate her innocence through actions.


    Ji Man also generously gave up the bird¡¯s nest soups that Old Madame had sent over for her to eat and sent them to the side room. When Wen Wan woke up in the middle of the night coughing, Ji Man would get up, put on a cloak, and personally fetch a doctor for her instead of sending one of the servants.


    As a result, Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression when he looked at Nie Sangyu had considerably softened. Although he didn¡¯t say anything, Ji Man could feel that the recent discord he felt for her slowly disappearing again.


    Trantor Ramblings: I love it when Ji Manpetently and calmly wins against people plotting against her. She doesn¡¯t take anything personal or bes someone that can¡¯t lower herself to do things that a servant usually does.

 Chapter 171

    Chapter 171 out of 513 ¨C Poison that had been thrown away a month ago (2)


    Four dayster, Wen Wan¡¯s poisoning was finally cured. However, her body was still very weak, and the doctor said that she needed to properly recuperate.


    Sitting on the side of the bed and holding Wen Wan¡¯s hand, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°For the time being, stay here until you get better. Once you¡¯ve recovered, I¡¯ll arrange for you to be my side.¡±


    Joy could be seen in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. She bashfully nodded, then she nced at Nie Sangyu and asked in an apprehensive voice, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be inappropriate?¡±


    Ji Man put down her cup and seriously nodded. ¡°It is somewhat inappropriate. My lord, you should reconsider this decision.¡±


    ¡°How is it inappropriate?¡± Marquis Moyu slightly frowned.


    Ji Man sighed. ¡°My lord, don¡¯t think that this servant is feeling resentful. Over the past few days, you¡¯ve seen that this servant doesn¡¯t have any ill intentions towards younger sister Wan-<i>er</i>. If someone wants to frame this servant, then even if this servant has a hundred mouths, this servant won¡¯t be able to sessfully defend myself. This servant just wants to say a few sincere words to persuade you. Right now, younger sister Wan-<i>er</i> is a servant and also my lord¡¯s favorite. While she¡¯s in this servant¡¯s courtyard, this servant can constantly watch after her and protect her. If she leaves here and goes to my lord¡¯s courtyard, then as soon as my lord goes to the pce or leaves the residence to do something else, won¡¯t younger sister Wan-<i>er</i> be left alone and unprotected?¡±


    A servant girl could be bullied by anyone. Ning Yuxuan frowned. ¡°When did this household be air with fierce wolves?¡±


    ¡°My lord, if you don¡¯t believe this servant and insist on taking younger sister Wan-<i>er</i> away to be your personal servant girl, this servant can¡¯t stop you.¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°We¡¯ll do as you say.¡±


    Wen Wan looked at Marquis Moyu. She wanted to leave with him. That way, the opportunities to be alone with him would increase. Nie Sangyu was only saying these frightening words to scare them because she didn¡¯t want her to be close with the marquis. There were very few people that would dare to brazenly harm her in this household.


    However, after Marquis Moyu considered Nie Sangyu¡¯s words, he actually sighed and said, ¡°Sangyu¡¯s words are reasonable. Wan-<i>er</i> will continue to stay in Feiwan Courtyard. Besides, if I frequentlye here to visit you, mother won¡¯t say anything.¡±


    Wen Wan said, ¡°My lord...¡±


    ¡°Focus on getting better.¡± Ning Yuxuan stroked her beautiful hair. ¡°We can talk about this again after you get better.¡±


    Wen Wan lowered her eyes and her fingers slightly tightened their grip, but she could only respond, ¡°Okay.¡±


    As Ji Man watched this exchange between them from the side, she indifferently resumed drinking her tea.


    ¡ª


    That night, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t sleep in the side room. Instead, he came to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room and looked rather fatigued as he rubbed the spot between his eyebrows.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t say unnecessary words. After assisting him with changing his clothes and washing up, she went onto the bed and massaged his back for a little bit. Then, she turned over to face the inside of the bed and prepared to sleep.


    Ning Yuxuan nced at her. ¡°Why are you being so well-behaved?¡±


    He wasn¡¯t pleased if she stirred up trouble, but he wasn¡¯t happy either when she epted her lot. Ji Man rolled her eyes. This man was so difficult to serve.


    ¡°This servant is just feeling a bit sleepy.¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused, then he said, ¡°Once Wan-<i>er</i> is better, I¡¯ll still carefully investigate the matter of her poisoning.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man yawned. ¡°Do a serious job with investigating. Don¡¯t treat anyone unjustly, but don¡¯t let off the guilty party too lightly either.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan turned over to face her back. ¡°Are you not afraid that if I find out it was you, I¡¯ll take away your position as my wife again?¡±


    Ji Man turned over to face him and looked at him as she said, ¡°This servant has always thought that the marquis isn¡¯t stupid. If you can be fooled by these women into wrongly using an innocent person, then this servant can only ept defeat and acknowledged that this servant has married the wrong person.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan harrumphed. ¡°Do you think that if you say these words, then I won¡¯t suspect you?¡±


    ¡°Even if you suspect this servant, you still have to take out evidence of any wrongdoing,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°That type of slow-acting poison is expensive and rare. My lord, it won¡¯t take you much time to find out who has that type of poison. When that timees, this servant will naturally have a way to prove my innocence.¡±


    There was lit incense in the room, and the bed curtains were lowered. It should have been a scene of conjugal bliss, but the two people on the bed were staring at each other. One pair of eyes showed suspicion and the other showed forthrightness.


    In the end, Ning Yuxuan was the one that gave up, closed his eyes, and said, ¡°Go to sleep.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man turned back to the face the other side again.


    ¡ª


    Pinching her nose, Dengxin walked over to the back garden. Looking at the dead fish in the container, she asked Gancao, ¡°Why does Master want to keep these smelly things here? It¡¯s been several days. They¡¯ve already started rotting.¡±


    Gancao shook her head, ¡°Master said to not throw them out.¡±


    The two of them could only cover up the container and keep their distance from this ce.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had already asked Old Madame about the slow-acting poison she had given her. This type of poison was only avable to noble families. Whenever there was a shameful person that wasn¡¯t fit to be seen in their households, the matriarchs or other women with high positions from those families would use this type of poison to kill that person.


    This poison was created by a highly skilled doctor that specialized in selling his creation to aristocratic families. And so, Marquis Moyu sent over people to ask this doctor. He found out that only one bottle of this poison had been sold to his household and the person that had possession of this bottle of poison was Old Madame.


    When Ning Yuxuan went over to ask Old Madame to show this bottle to him, Old Madame pursed her lips and stayed silent. Old Madame was almost about to erupt into anger from embarrassment.


    Fortunately, Ji Man had rushed over here as soon as she heard this news. It would have been a disaster if she had arrivedter.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°My lord, are you sure that Old Madame only bought this one bottle of poison in the past several years?¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. He was somewhat familiar with that old doctor and believed that he wouldn¡¯t lie to him.


    ¡°Then, this servant will have to ask my lord to scoop around in the pond,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°A month ago, this servant asked for this poison from Old Madame to give to Errong to y around with. But, this servant identally dropped the bottle into the pond. A lot of the fish in the pond had recently died because of that poison. My lord, if you want to examine the fish, this servant can show you them. This servant had left them in the back garden.¡±


    After casually using Errong as an excuse, Ji Man frankly said, ¡°This servant only had ess to one bottle of poison and this servant can exin how it was used. My lord, shouldn¡¯t you be moving the direction of your investigation to elsewhere now?¡±

 Chapter 172 - Reassigning the servants after the Lantern Festival (1)

    Chapter 172 out of 513 ¨C Reassigning the servants after the Lantern Festival (1)


    Old Madame looked at Nie Sangyu in surprise.


    Ji Man straightened her back, but she didn¡¯t dare to meet the olddy¡¯s gaze.


    Marquis Moyu silently looked at Nie Sangyu before turning his head and ordering Guibai to scoop the bottle out of the pond. He also sent other servants to Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s back garden to examine the dead fishes.


    After the bottle that had contained the poison was scooped out of the pond and the fishes were dissected and examined, it was confirmed that the bottle had fallen into the pond. The conclusion was that the fishes had bitten off the cork on the bottle and poison spilled out into the pond. The diluted poison had eventually killed some of the fishes. By the time everything was settled, six to eight hours had already passed.


    Listening to this overly methodical analysis, Ji Man wanted tough. But, since this inspection proved that she was 100% innocent, she still put on a grateful expression as she watched the people perform their procedures.


    Since the poison didn¡¯te from this household, then how did Wen Wan get poisoned? And, who had poisoned her? Marquis Moyu ordered people from the Ministry of Justice to investigate this matter. Although it seemed that he was taking this matter very seriously, he knew that he wouldn¡¯t find the true culprit. He was just putting on a show for Wen Wan¡¯s benefit.


    Surprisingly, it was Wen Wan that suggested, ¡°My lord, since this matter has nothing to do with the people in this household, there¡¯s no need for you to continue pursuing this matter. Wan-<i>er</i> still has her life. Let bygones be bygones. If there are people that really want to harm Wan<i>-er</i>, they¡¯ll eventually make a mistake and reveal themselves.¡±


    The matter had already caused the household to degenerated into aplete mess, but Wen Wan had waited until now to say these words. Ji Man just smiled and refrained frommenting.


    Marquis Moyu told the people from the Ministry of Justice to stop their investigation, but he kept Wen Wanpany for several days in a row.


    Once again, the male lead and female lead had reconciled and their rtionship returned to a harmonious one. Although Wen Wan had be a servant girl, she received the marquis¡¯s favor night after night. The servants had astute eyes and naturally didn¡¯t treat Wen Wan as if she was an ordinary servant. If there was any work to do, it wouldn¡¯t be given to her to do. She even had servants fawning after her.


    From this point of view, her life as a servant girl wasn¡¯t any worse than her life as the main wife.


    ¡ª


    It would soon be this dynasty¡¯s equivalent of the Lantern Festival. It was simr to the Spring Festival in modern times, but it happened about a monthter. Every residence would be decorated withnterns and colorful ribbons and everyone would visit their rtives.


    Since Nie Sangyu was the marquis¡¯s main wife, Ji Man spent arge sum of money to decorate the marquis¡¯s residence. However, only a few of these expenses were recorded in the ount book, which led to Old Madame praising her for being talented at financial management. Old Madame¡¯s vocal praise for Nie Sangyu caused Qi Siling to be ashamed and unable to calmly sit in front of the other women.


    As Ji Man epted the praise, she thought; it was naturally impossible for her to have bought these expensive items for the same amount of money it would have taken to buy cabbages. She had actually paid for most of these items with her own money. However, since she had plenty of money and didn¡¯t have any other use for them, she might as well use this money to make her life morefortable.


    ¡ª


    On the first day of the celebrations, the crown prince and his consort were the first ones to pay a visit to the marquis¡¯s residence. Marquis Jingwen would be returning to his fiefdom after this holiday was over, so the crown prince¡¯s visit could also be considered asing here to see him off.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know when this had happened, but Wen Wan seemed to have be much closer to Ning Mingjie. Ning Mingjie currently had his head lowered to speak with Wen Wan in the outside courtyard and his manner looked quite gentle.


    In the end, he was the deeply affectionate supporting male character. Perhaps, it was inevitable that he couldn¡¯t resist his fate of being attracted to the female lead. And yet, Ji Man couldn¡¯t help feeling a pang of disappointment. She thought about that concealed daffodil painting and let out a small sigh.


    Whatever, it wasn¡¯t worth thinking about. She couldn¡¯t have any lingering feelings for this ce anyways, so she might as well concede that person to Wen Wan.


    As Ji Manforted herself with these thoughts, she walked inside and greeted the crown prince and his consort.


    As always, the mere sight of Zhao Zhe made Ji Man feel annoyed.


    Seeing Nie Sangyu entering the room, Zhao Zhe smiled and said, ¡°Sangyu, I haven¡¯t seen you in a while. You¡¯ve be even more beautiful and captivating.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist silently scolding him. He was addressing her so intimately as if the two of them were close enough to share a leg. How could he think this was a good idea? His wife was sitting right next to him


    The crown prince¡¯s wife, Shen Youqing, was from an aristocratic family, so she was very poised. Instead of showing her true feelings, she smiled at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°It can¡¯t be helped that the crown prince is always praising Madam Ning. Madam Ning, you¡¯re a rare beauty that also has elegant temperament.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re overpraising me. This servant can¡¯t even bepared in the same sentence as the princess consort. It would be likeparing a star to the bright moon.¡±


    Shen Youqing covered her lips and smiled. ¡°Look at you. Your mouth says such sweet words. It¡¯s alright. We only came here to join your family dinner. The propriety customs don¡¯t have to be observed so rigidly. It¡¯s okay to rx a bit.¡±


    Ji Man made a sound of agreement.


    Wen Wan appeared from behind and stepped forward to bring a cup of tea to the crown princess.


    Ji Man wondered where this prop hade from. She hadn¡¯t seen Wen Wan holding a tray with tea before she came inside.


    Looking at the crown princess¡¯s slightly surprised expression, Ji Man waited for her to speak.


    The crown princess had acted as the nominal matchmaker for Wen Wan and Marquis Moyu. Wen Wan¡¯s demotion to the position of a servant girl was unavoidably embarrassing for the crown princess.


    After the crown princess epted the tea from Wen Wan, she looked at her and said, ¡°This consort has already heard about Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s matter. You must be feeling very wronged. Fortunately, it seems that the marquis still favors you greatly.¡±


    Wen Wan furtively wiped away a tear before putting on a smile. ¡°This servant failed to live up to the crown princess¡¯s expectations and kind regard.¡±


    The crown princess shook her head and sighed. It was unclear what she was sighing about.


    The dishes for the family banquet had already been ced on the table. Shortly after, Old Madame came into the dining hall as well.


    Ji Man sat down in her seat. For today¡¯s meal, she was the only women in the marquis¡¯s harem that had the right to sit down. All of his other women had to stay standing and assist in adding food to the bowls.


    Wen Wan stayed standing behind the crown princess. Once the dinner started, she obediently added food to the crown princess¡¯s bowl from the center tes.


    Ji Man chewed with her mouth closed and didn¡¯t say much during this meal.

 Chapter 173 - Reassigning the servants after the Lantern Festival (2)

    Chapter: 173 out of 513 ¨C Reassigning the servants after the Lantern Festival (2)


    After dinner, the crown princess left the room with Wen Wan to have a private conversation with her. The crown prince, Ning Mingjie, and Ning Yuxuan went to take a stroll around the garden.


    ¡ª


    Feeling bored by herself, Ji Man randomly walked around the residence.


    The woodshed, that Wen Wan had previously been confined in, had be a holy site for many of the servant girls. A lot of them woulde here and light incense sticks in hopes that they would be as blessed as Wen Wan in receiving the marquis¡¯s affections.


    When Ji Man passed by the woodshed, she saw a few servant girls kneeling in front of the woodshed¡¯s doorway and muttering prayers.


    Based on her years of experience from reading light novels, Ji Man believed that the servant girls would know more gossip than any other group. Besides, she didn¡¯t have anything better to do. And so, she hid behind the wall to eavesdrop on their conversation.


    ¡°Stupid girl, you were muttering too loudly before. I heard everything that you said.¡± After the servant girls had finished making their wishes, they started mutually teasing each other. Laughing, a slightly older servant lightly pushed the servant girl next to her. ¡°With your looks, how can you have any hopes of attracting Young Master?¡±


    The younger servant girl blushed, but she wasn¡¯t willing to ept defeat. ¡°Look at Wen Wan. Hasn¡¯t she been sentenced to be a servant for the rest of her life? And yet, she was still able to get Young Master toe over here to visit her a few times while she was confined here. Since that¡¯s true, then I should have a chance to be Young Master¡¯s concubine and fly up socially.¡±


    ¡°Dream on.¡± Another servant girlughed. ¡°I just want to be the marquis¡¯s bed servant.¡±


    ¡°Then, you should learn from Muxu. Climb up socially by stepping on your master¡¯s back.¡± The oldest servant girl sniggered. ¡°We¡¯re the lowest ranking servants. It¡¯ll already be wonderful if we can leave this back courtyard and serve the masters directly. It¡¯s pointless to dream about changing from magpies into phoenixes.¡±


    The group of servant girls started jokingly poking each other again.


    Finding this conversation boring, Ji Man decided to leave. But, right before she started walking away, she heard a clear voice ask, ¡°Why is there a lit incense burner here?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look. A servant girl wearing purple robes hade over. She looked like she was a servant from an honored concubine¡¯s courtyard, but Ji Man didn¡¯t know who her master was. Ji Man hadn¡¯t seen her before.


    The three servant girls immediately became well-behaved. They put away the incense burner and sweetly called out, ¡°Older sister Ah Zi.¡±


    It was just a gathering of servants. There wasn¡¯t much to see. Ji Man yawned and resumed walking. However, before her mouth had closed from her yawning, she heard the oldest servant girl solicitously ask, ¡°Didn¡¯t the crown princesse over today? Older sister Ah Zi, why didn¡¯t you go over there to serve her?¡±


    The crown princess? Ji Man stopped yawning and went back to crouching in her original position.


    Ah Zi said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m here because I was thinking about you guys. Here, the crown princess bestowed a box of snacks to me. These snacks were made in the pce kitchens. I especially brought them here to share these snacks with the three of you.¡±


    The three servant girls were extremely happy. As they called out, ¡°thank you older sister¡±, they reached into the box for the snacks.


    Ji Man considered what she had just heard. Wen Wan was from an ordinary family. Her entire dowry had been given to her by the crown princess. The crown princess had even sent over several servant girls as part of Wen Wan¡¯s dowry. However, Wen Wan only used Tanxiang as her personal servant girl. This Ah Zi seemed to be one of the crown princess¡¯s people. She had probably been sent over here as one of the dowry servants.


    After Ji Man quietly left the area and returned to Feiwan Courtyard, Dengxin rushed over to report that Wen Wan and the crown princess were talking inside the side room.


    Ji Man only smiled and ordered Dengxin to bring a te of snacks from the kitchen.


    Then, carrying the te of snacks, Ji Man started walking over to the side room.


    Seeing Nie Sangyuing over, Tanxiang went inside to inform the crown princess.


    By the time Ji Man entered the side room, she was greeted with the warm scene of the crown princess sitting and Wen Wan standing by her side.


    ¡°Wen Wan only recently recovered from her illness. She shouldn¡¯t stand for too long.¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°The crown princess isn¡¯t an outsider. Wan-<i>er</i>, you should sit down to talk.¡±


    Wen Wan nced at her and timidly shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. This servant will continue standing.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s words clearly had another meaning as she said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re always so stubborn like this. It really makes me feel distressed for you. Why are you doing harmful things to yourself? Go on, sit down. It¡¯s not easy to snatch a life back from death.¡±


    The crown princess looked at Nie Sangyu and smiled. ¡°Madam Ning, you¡¯re much more kind-hearted than rumored. This consort had been worried that Wan-<i>er</i> was suffering grievances. But now, this consort can see that Madam Ning is protecting her and this consort was worrying for nothing.¡±


    ¡°How could I dare let Wen Wan suffer any grievances? She¡¯s the marquis¡¯s beloved. If even the tiniest of mishaps were to happen to her, the marquis would be overwhelmed with distress.¡±


    After putting down the te of snacks, Ji Man continued, ¡°It won¡¯t be good for me to intrude on the crown princess¡¯s conversation with Wan-<i>er</i>, Sangyu will leave first.¡±


    Shen Youqing nodded. She watched as Nie Sangyu left the room, then she sighed and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, look at her. She¡¯s several levels above you. How can you think she¡¯s a person that you can easily deal with?¡±


    Wen Wan raised her head. The previously disyed weak and delicate demeanor waspletely gone. She clenched her jaw and said, ¡°Your Highness, you can¡¯t say for sure that I¡¯ll lose to her! I¡¯m still the only person in Yuxuan¡¯s heart!¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t rush things,¡± Shen Youqing said, ¡°Show that you know your ce for a while. Your future path will be considerably easier to walk than hers.¡±


    Wen Wan calmed down, took a deep breath, and solemnly nodded.


    ¡ª


    Holding a brush, Ji Man leisurely asked Steward Qian, ¡°Tell me, what are the names of Wan-<i>er¡¯</i>s dowry servant girls. Wan-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t feeling well right now. It¡¯ll be better if I rece some of the people in my courtyard with her previous servants so that she has them to serve her. This way, the marquis won¡¯t me me for not doing a good job with taking care of Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Steward Qian didn¡¯t find anything suspicious about these words. He handed over the list of Wen Wan¡¯s dowry servant girls to Nie Sangyu.


    That night, Ji Man reced her courtyard¡¯s lowest ranking servant girls with Wen Wan¡¯s dowry servants. She also requested Ah Zi to be transferred to her courtyard from Honored Concubine Xue¡¯s courtyard.


    Trantor Ramblings: What do you guys think Ji Man is nning?

 Chapter 174 - Paying a visit to Errongs maiden home (1)

    Chapter 174 out of 513 ¨C Paying a visit to Errong¡¯s maiden home (1)


    For a period of time, with the exception of Gancao and Dengxin, the other servant girls in Feiwan Courtyard were all Wen Wan¡¯s dowry servants. Ji Man assigned them to serve Wen Wan, as well as doing some unskilledbor.


    Wen Wan couldn¡¯t understand Nie Sangyu¡¯s actions. Why had she done this? But, now that she was surrounded by her own people, it was easier for her to do the things that she wanted. She felt that life had be much morefortable.


    As a result, Marquis Moyu praised Nie Sangyu. Actually, he had looked at her with nted eyes and said, ¡°you¡¯re being surprisingly kind-hearted.¡± But, Ji Man took the initiative of reinterpreting hismentary as praise.


    ¡ª


    When members of Nie n came over for a visit, Ji Man brought Gancao and Wen Wan to the main hall with her. Tanxiang also followed after Wen Wan.


    Nie Xiangyuan looked at Wen Wan and said, ¡°It¡¯s certainly interesting to see a master that¡¯s not a master and a servant that¡¯s not a servant. I¡¯ll have to thank Miss Wen for taking care of Sangyu.¡±


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Nie Xiangyuan is Nie Sangyu¡¯s father.)


    These words were neither criticizing her nor praising her. As a result, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for Wen Wan to agree or disagree with him. She could only pitifully look at Marquis Moyu.


    However, Marquis Moyu was currently speaking with Nie Qingyun, and Ning Errong was deliberately standing in front of Ning Yuxuan to block his view. Errong turned around and tauntingly scrunched up her face into a weird expression that was directed at Wen Wan.


    Wen Wan secretly gritted her teeth.


    After Old Madame exchanged conventional greetings with Nie Xiangyuan, she praised Nie Sangyu for several sentences. Then, she turned her head and reproached Ning Yuxuan for treating Sangyu a bit coldlytely.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t this son been frequently going to Feiwan Courtyard?¡± Ning Yuxuan showed a fake smile.


    Old Madame¡¯s expression was calm as she darkly nced at Wen Wan. Wen Wan hurriedly lowered her head.


    Ning Errong bbed, ¡°Isn¡¯t cousin just taking advantage of Sangyu¡¯s good nature? You go to her courtyard to favor another woman. Isn¡¯t that worse than just giving her the cold shoulder?¡±


    The news of Wen Wan¡¯s matter had already spread to Nie Residence. Errong felt this woman was utterly detestable. Wen Wan always had an delicate appearance, as if she would break with a single touch.


    Wen Wan¡¯s body lightly trembled.


    Ning Yuxuan frowned and looked at Ning Errong. ¡°Errong, you¡¯re already a married woman. Why have you be even more unruly? Has Qingyun been spoiling you too much?¡±


    Nie Qingyun faintly smiled, stretched his arm out, and tugged Errong down onto hisp. ¡°Errong just has a frank personality. As her husband, it¡¯s only natural for me to spoil her. Qingyun is happy to watch over her and take responsibility for her actions. She acted impolitely. Qingyun will apologize on her behalf.¡±


    Ning Errong¡¯s face turned slightly red. She cleared her throat a few times before quietly leaning against Nie Qingyun¡¯s chest.


    Ji Man silently ridiculed them; this was definitely an unnecessary, tant disy of mutual love. Still, she felt quite happy for them. It seemed that their rtionship was progressing well. If they continued like this, they definitely wouldn¡¯t get divorced in the future.


    Old Madame felt very touched by Nie Qingyun¡¯s words. ¡°Aiya, Qingyun is a good child. Errong didn¡¯t marry the wrong person. If a person doesn¡¯t even know that he should cherish his own wife, then how could he possibly have a promising future?¡±


    The unpromising Marquis Moyu indifferently turned his head and looked outside through a window.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯ve already been talking for such a long time. Let¡¯s start eating. Errong, after the meal is over, we can go back to my courtyard to get a couple of embroidered items. It¡¯ll also give us time to talk.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan chuckled. ¡°Have you forgotten your father now that you have a sister-inw? I want to visit your courtyard too.¡±


    ¡°If father wants to see, how can Sangyu say no? After dinner, let¡¯s all go there together. Old Madame, you haven¡¯t been walking around muchtely. How about you walk over there with us too? Errong and Sangyu will support you.¡±


    In a good mood, Old Madameughed and agreed.


    When the group of people sat down at the table to eat, it was naturally time for the concubines toe forward to add food to their bowls.


    Wen Wan stood far away with the other servant girls. In front of this group, she would only be a servant girl and wouldn¡¯t receive any special treatment.


    With her head lowered, Wen Wan showed restraint by silently repressing her feelings of anger.


    When Muxu added food to Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s bowl, she kept her head lowered, but he still looked at her for a long time. His sharp gaze almost caused Muxu to fall over in fright.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and added some food to Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s bowl to help Muxu out by averting his attention. ¡°Father, try some of this. This dish was personally cooked by daughter.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan turned his head back. His gaze showed confusion as he looked at Sangyu.


    Ji Man¡¯s smile was undaunted. She shook her head.


    Regarding the matter of Muxu being promoted to a concubine, Nie Xiangyuan had decided he would demand an exnation on his daughter¡¯s behalf during this visit. However, with his daughter showing this type of response, it became awkward for him to bring up this issue.


    ¡ª


    After dinner, Errong pouted and said to Wen Wan, ¡°I want to eat snacks from Doufu. Go and buy some for me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his head. ¡°You can ask another servant to do that. Why do you have to ask her?¡±


    ¡°Is there any difference between her and another servant girl?¡± Errong innocently batted her eyshes. ¡°Isn¡¯t she a servant girl? I just casually pointed at someone. Cousin, why is your reaction so drastic?¡±


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips. ¡°Have Gancao buy the snacks for you.¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want that,¡± Ning Errong harrumphed, ¡°Cousin, if you didn¡¯t speak out on her behalf, then it would be fine for someone else to buy the snacks. But, you insist on shielding that woman. It¡¯s because of your bias that a servant is being treated like a master. Does this household still respect the difference between masters and servants? She has to be the one that goes out to buy the snacks today!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan frowned, but Old Madame sneered, ¡°Errong is a guest. Xuan-<i>er</i>, are you going to break the established standards for a servant?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t have any other options.

 Chapter 175 - Paying a visit to Errongs maiden home (2)

    Chapter 175 out of 513 ¨C Paying a visit to Errong¡¯s maiden home (2)


    At this time, Wen Wan stepped forward, curtsied, and magnanimously said, ¡°My lord, you don¡¯t need to trouble yourself over this servant. Right now, this lowly one is only a servant. Whatever Young Madam wants this servant to do, this servant should do it. This servant will leave right away to buy the snacks.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her, then he waved his hand.


    Ning Errong mockingly nced at Wen Wan, then she tugged Sangyu¡¯s hand and acted cutely spoiled. ¡°Old Madame, let¡¯s go to Feiwan Courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Old Madame stood up and informed Nie Xiangyuan that they were leaving.


    Nie Xiangyuan politely cupped his hands toward the other men to take his leave, then he got up and apanied them as they walked to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Dengxin was currently angrily standing at Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s entrance. From a distance, she saw that a couple of the masters were walking over here. She hurriedly walked over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s side. Feeling a bit apprehensive because Old Madame was also here, she kept her lips sealed.


    Ji Man whispered, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Dengxin was so angry that she wanted to stamp her feet. She whispered into her master¡¯s ear, ¡°Master, why on earth did you bring those servants to Feiwan Courtyard? Go and look. It¡¯s already bad enough that they¡¯re all sozy, but they act as if Wen Wan is their master. They wouldn¡¯t even heat up some water for tea when this servant ordered them. It¡¯ll look so bad if there¡¯s no tea to offer the guests when they reach Feiwan Courtyard.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. This didn¡¯t surprise her. Wen Wan¡¯s dowry servants were used to doing light work like embroidery. Even after Wen Wan lost her position, these servants were assigned to the two honored concubines¡¯ courtyards and didn¡¯t have to do unskilledbor. For example, Ah Zi was assigned to Honored Concubine Xue as her personal servant girl.


    And so, they naturally wouldn¡¯t be happy doing work like chopping firewood and boiling water. In addition, their real master, the crown princess, had recently visited, so they were thinking quite highly of themselves right now. How could they possibly be willing to listen to Dengxin¡¯s orders?


    ¡°Keep calm. Don¡¯t get impatient.¡± Ji Man squeezed Dengxin¡¯s hand.


    Then, Ji Man walked to Old Madame¡¯s side and said, ¡°An order of spring tea was recently delivered to the residence. There¡¯s a box of it left in Feiwan Courtyard. Since father and Errong havee over, Sangyu will take it out for everyone to drink. But, Sangyu isn¡¯t very good at brewing tea. Danggui or Shouwu, could you help me by brewing the tea instead?¡±


    Danggui and Shouwu were Old Madame¡¯s personal servants. Every time Nie Sangyu sent something to Old Madame, there would always be a portion given to them as well. Thus, they naturally liked her a lot and easily agreed to her request.


    And so, the group of people entered the main room in Feiwan Courtyard to sit down and talk. Ji Man took out a few embroidered items and gave them to Errong. She also gave newly embroidered sachets to Nie Xiangyuan and Old Madame.


    Nie Xiangyuan looked at the sachet and said, ¡°Sangyu, your embroidery skills are getting better and better. You must practice a lot, right?¡±


    ¡°Exactly, Sangyu has been using the marquis¡¯s clothing and other items to practice. The more Sangyu perfects my craft, the better the items Sangyu will be able to embroider for Old Madame and father in the future.¡±


    Hearing these words, Old Madame cackled. ¡°Oh, you lovable girl.¡±


    During this conversation, Danggui had already left the room with the tea leaves to brew the tea. But, even after they had waited for a long time, she still hadn¡¯t returned.


    When Old Madame reflexively stretched her hand out to pick up a cup of tea, she only grasped air. She asked, ¡°Why hasn¡¯t she brought tea back yet?¡±


    Shouwu nced towards the outside and said, ¡°This servant will go over there to check. Perhaps, Danggui is just beingzy.¡±


    A short whileter, Danggui and Shouwu returned. Danggui was still holding the container of tea leaves as she approached Old Madame and said, ¡°The servant girls in this courtyard are outrageous. They were just sitting there, goofing off and joking around with each other instead of boiling water for tea. This servant had to call them several times to get their attention. In the end, they only hurriedly worked on starting a fire when they found that Old Madame hade here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s disgraceful!¡± Old Madame frowned. ¡°When did the servant girls in this household be sozy? If they¡¯re so neglectful when there are guests present, then how are they serving their master normally?¡±


    Dengxin hastily stepped forward and said, ¡°They aren¡¯t even serving Madam at all. It¡¯s Madam that¡¯s serving Miss Wen. When this servant asks them to do something, they only roll their eyes in response. Who knows where they learned such bad behavior?¡±


    Old Madame harrumphed and immediately stood up. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯ll see how pampered these servant girls are!¡±


    Wen Wan had already left the residence to buy snacks, so these dowry servant didn¡¯t have anyone to warn them. As soon as Danggui and Shouwu had left, they had sat back down. As they watched the water being heated up on the stove, they startedining again.


    ¡°What kind of life is this? I thought life would be easier aftering here to work for the marquis¡¯s wife. I didn¡¯t expect that we would still have to do hardbor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk. Who was that fought over the chance to be a dowry servant and even dragged me along into this mess?¡±


    ¡°You wench. You have some nerve saying that. If it wasn¡¯t for me, then you would still be cleaning chamber pots in the crown prince¡¯s residence.¡±


    Ah Zi poked at the firewood under the stove. Feeling discontent, she said, ¡°Just wait and see. I believe in the crown princess¡¯s foresight. Miss Wen will definitely be able to reverse her fortunes. That Nie Sangyu is just shrewish trash. Even after six years, she still hadn¡¯t gotten pregnant even once. Let¡¯s see how long she can hold her head high.¡±


    When Old Madame announced her presence by coldly harrumphing, it felt like lightning was striking the ground.


    Shocked and scared, the servant girls stumbled as they hurriedly got up and saluted, ¡°Old... Old Madame.¡±


    The back courtyard was always a messy ce. Normally, the masters would nevere to this ce. This was why they dared to be so bold in their conversation. They would have never expected that Old Madame woulde here without sending a servant to announce her arrival beforehand.


    ¡°In my twenty years as the matriarch of this household, I¡¯ve never seen such wicked servants.¡± Old Madame swept her gaze across these servants and sneered. ¡°It¡¯s one thing for a servant to bezy, but you actually have the nerve to speak badly about your master behind her back. Danggui, fetch me their servitude contracts. Sell them to farmers in the countryside to be their wives!¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: In defense to Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man¡¯s seemingly obliviousness to the other peoples¡¯ true characters, first impressions have an unfairly, longsting advantage or disadvantage. If your best friend or anyone else that you think is good person does something horrible, are you really going to think, my friend is a bad person, or are you going to make excuses for your friend¡¯s behavior? They were just having a bad day. They didn¡¯t meant to do that. It was the other person¡¯s fault. Even if they mess up multiple times, everyone has a natural tendency to cling to their narrative of the world. And, the inverse is true. If someone makes a bad first impression on you, they have to work so much harder to erase that impression.


    It doesn¡¯t matter how smart Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man are, they¡¯ll fall victims to this trap too.

 Chapter 176 - A womans cheap tricks (1)

    Chapter 176 out of 513 ¨C A woman¡¯s cheap tricks (1)


    Ah Zi as well as the other servant girls were terrified. They hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed, ¡°Old Madame, please calm down. We didn¡¯t say those words with malicious intent...¡±


    Errong harrumphed. ¡°If you can say those type of words when you don¡¯t have any malicious intentions, then what will you be capable of if you have malicious intention? Old Madame, you definitely can¡¯t tolerate the presence of these servants. They¡¯ve already climbed onto top of their master¡¯s head. Are the rules of what¡¯s right and wrong going to bepletely thrown out the window?¡±


    The four kneeling servant girls trembled.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have any intention of helping them. She had gathered them together so she could get rid of them in one swoop like gathering garbage into a bag before throwing it out. Today, they had practically thrown themselves in front of a shooting range. She wouldn¡¯t even have to do anything now.


    ¡°Danggui, fetch their servitude contracts and have take them away.¡± Old Madame¡¯s tone was harsh with no wiggle room.


    Behind them, the other servants heard Old Madame¡¯s orders and started dragging these servant girls away.


    When Ah Zi was being pulled passed Nie Sangyu, she grabbed the edge of her skirt. ¡°Madam, please show mercy! Please spare this servant!¡±


    Ji Man lightly pulled her skirt away and directed a slight smile at her as she said, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m a Scorpio.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t stupid enough to show mercy to someone that was walking on a different path than her.


    Ah Zi clearly didn¡¯t understand what her words meant. After she nkly looked at her for a moment, another servant pulled her away.


    Standing behind Nie Sangyu, Tanxiang slightly trembled. Perhaps, this trembling was because of fright or anger. Regardless, she was definitely d that she had followed Nie Sangyu here. Otherwise, she would have been dealt with in the same way as those servant girls.


    In a somewhat apologetic one, Old Madame said to Nie Xiangyuan, ¡°Sorry for letting you see this embarrassing sight. I¡¯ll assign more sensible servants to Sangyu¡¯s courtyard.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan nodded. ¡°Old Madame, you¡¯ve always favored Sangyu. With you protecting her, this old one doesn¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    Gancao and Dengxin went to fetch the boiling water. Danggui prepared the tea.


    The group of people returned to Sangyu¡¯s outer room to sit down and continue talking. There was easy conversation andughter. The mood was quite good.


    Ji Man thought; as expected, your own maiden family was different. Her problem had easily been resolved by their visit. Now, she just had to wait to see how Wen Wan would react when she came back and saw that almost all of her helpers had been taken away. Would she still be able to maintain her well-behaved, docile act?


    Old Madame had been the one that personally caught these servant girls in the act of speaking badly of their master. The princess consort probably wouldn¡¯t have the face toe here to plead on their behalf. Ji Man had started feeling suspicious since the crown princess¡¯s visit during the Lantern Festival. Did Wen Wan¡¯s sudden change have something to do with the crown princess? However, she didn¡¯t have any evidence. She couldn¡¯t just go up to her and ask, ¡°Where¡¯s your household¡¯s supply of that slow-acting poison? Did you use it up? Had Wen Wan used the trick of injuring herself to gain the marquis¡¯s sympathy?¡±


    Although this likelihood was very high, this guess was useless without evidence. It would be a better use of her time to cut off the connecting lines between Wen Wan and the crown princess. If it really was the crown princess that was secretly giving Wen Wan advice, then let¡¯s see how she would direct Wen Wan¡¯s actions without those servant girls.


    As Ji Man savored the new spring tea, she waited for Wen Wan¡¯s return.


    ¡ª


    However, even after dinnertime hade, Wen Wan still hadn¡¯t returned.


    Feeling worried, Ning Yuxuan sent servants to the guards at the entrance to ask several times. They only said that they had had seen Wen Wan leave the residence at noon and hadn¡¯t seen here back yet.


    Although Doufu wasn¡¯t close to the marquis¡¯s residence, two hours would be more than enough time for a round trip.


    It was rare for Marquis Jingwen and Ning Mingjie toe back here to visit their rtives, so Old Madame had decided that the whole family would eat together for dinner too. However, because of Marquis Moyu¡¯s unpleasant expression, they had only been sitting at the table and hadn¡¯t started eating yet.


    Seeing Nie Xiangyuan slightly furrowing his brow, Old Madame raised her chopsticks and said, ¡°Let¡¯s eat now. Sangyu had cooked all of the dishes tonight. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like it.¡±


    Ning Errong felt somewhat uneasy, but she picked up her chopsticks too. ¡°It looks pretty good.¡±


    Marquis Moyu continued to silently look at the doorway.


    Ji Man picked up her chopsticks and added some food to his bowl. She lightly said, ¡°My lord, you don¡¯t need to worry. You¡¯ve already sent people outside to look for her. You should eat some food first.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face didn¡¯t have even a hint of a smile. He didn¡¯t even nce at Nie Sangyu in response. The food stayed untouched in his bowl.


    Ji Man twitched her lips. Whatever, if he didn¡¯t appreciate her effort, then she wouldn¡¯t bother with him either.


    ¡°Thest time that Sangyu cooked was during the Southern Trip.¡± Ning Mingjie seemed to be in a pretty good mood. He smiled after tasting the food. ¡°The ingredients are better than the previous time, so this food naturally tastes even better thanst time.¡±


    Ji Man nced at him and lightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s good as long as Young Master likes it.¡±


    The female lead seemed like she might be in danger, but the secondary male character was praising the secondary female character¡¯s cooking. Wasn¡¯t this inconsistent with his role as the secondary male character? No matter what, he should have rushed out to look for the female lead in order to disy the contrast between his steadfast feelings and the male lead¡¯s fickle feelings.


    Ji Man quietly let out a deep sigh. Compare to herself, who was doing her best to fulfill her duty as the secondary female character, Ning Mingjie was really being quite irresponsible in his duties as the secondary male character.


    As the group of people half-heartedly ate dinner, Nie Xiangyuan was clearly not happy. Fortunately, Marquis Jingwen was old friends with him and persuaded him to y a game of chess. Thus, a confrontation between Nie Xiangyuan and Ning Yuxuan was avoided.


    With a dark expression, Marquis Moyu continued sitting in the main hall. From time to time, he would nce at Ning Errong.


    Errong was starting to feel ufortable because of his frequent looks in her direction. In addition, she had been the one that ordered Wen Wan to go out to buy her snacks. And so, she hid behind Nie Qingyun and stayed silent.


    Trantor Ramblings: After I read Ji Man¡¯s silent critique of Ning Mingjie¡¯sckluster performance as the secondary male character, I imagined a nonsensical cartoon where chibi-sized Ji Man is an A+ student that¡¯s giving Ning Mingjie remedial lessons in how to be a secondary male character and profusely gesturing at her child-sized chalkboard. While Ning Mingjie is just lured here by the idea of study-date and Ji Man¡¯s promise of snacks personally made by her.

 Chapter 177 - A womans cheap tricks (2)

    Chapter 177 out of 513 ¨C A woman¡¯s cheap tricks (2)


    An hourter, Gui Bai finally rushed into the room and reported, ¡°Marquis, the local authorities sent news over. They said that recently the traffickers had been running rampant in the capital and have already kidnapped many young women and children. We haven¡¯t been able to find Miss Wen, perhaps...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan abruptly stood up and started walking outside. ¡°Prepare a horse!¡±


    Although Ji Man continued to sit in her seat without showing any response, Errong couldn¡¯t resist calling out, ¡°Cousin, aren¡¯t you going to wait here with Sangyu to see the New Year? Why are you rushing outside for a mere servant girl?¡±


    It was a custom to stay up all night to wait for the New Year. If a husband and wife did this together, it meant that they would have a long and happy life together.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head back and icily looked Errong. Errong was so frightened by this nce that her face paled.


    Ji Man frowned, got up, and stood in front of Errong to block his view. She looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°My lord, the sooner you leave, the sooner you¡¯ll be able toe back.¡±


    He strode out of the room without the slightest trace of hesitation.


    Ji Man patted Errong¡¯s shoulder andfortingly said, ¡°Don¡¯t you understand your cousin¡¯s character yet? If anyone actually harms his beloved, he¡¯ll definitely get angry.¡±


    Errong twitched her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel wronged by this? Wen Wan has already be a servant, but my cousin still likes her so much.¡±


    Ji Man smiled, ¡°Liking someone doesn¡¯t have anything to do with the person¡¯s status, ah. Your cousin was destined to like Wen Wan. There¡¯s no reason I should feel bad about this.¡±


    Hearing that her tone was as indifferent as drifting clouds, Nie Qingyun felt slightly distressed for her. ¡°You must have suffered so much in order to be able let things go like this.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed for a moment before pulling them outside towards the garden.


    She didn¡¯t feel wronged at all. After all, she was only a bystander and couldn¡¯t feel bad by anything that Ning Yuxuan did. If she was the real Nie Sangyu, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s actions would probably push her into a crying fit.


    Ning Mingjie also leisurely followed them to the garden.


    ¡ª


    Looking at the beautifulnterns in the garden¡¯s pond, Ji Man felt her mood improving considerably. She casually picked up antern and crookedly wrote out a few verses with her unskilled brush writing. ¡°Tonight¡¯snterns are wondrous. The light of the moon fills the Heaven and Earth.¡±


    Ning Mingjie quietly said, ¡°You finally know how to write now.¡±


    Ji Man paused beforeughing out of embarrassment. ¡°I used to only care about embroidering and didn¡¯t practice writing.¡±


    ¡°Tonghua Poetry Association¡¯s members praise you as a talented woman,¡± Ning Mingjie said, ¡°I¡¯ve been busy with worktely, so I have less opportunities to see you write poems.¡±


    Ji Man thought; isn¡¯t it enough for you to admiringly gaze after the female lead? The female lead is the one that needs to be proficient in the four schrly arts.


    She recollected how gentle Ning Mingjie had looked at Wen Wan this afternoon. But, why hadn¡¯t Ning Mingjie shown any reaction towards Wen Wan¡¯s plight? What exactly was going on in this person¡¯s head?


    After looking at the colorfulnterns for a while, Errong, Nie Qingyun, and Nie Xiangyuan had to leave to return to Nie Residence.


    Ji Man walked with them to the entrance to send them off. She didn¡¯t turn around to go inside until their sedan chairs had gone far away.


    However, from the other end of the street, there was suddenly the sound of a galloping horse. In the midst of the quiet night, this sound felt jolting.


    Ji Man turned her head to look and saw Ning Yuxuan. His sleeves were fluttering in the wind and Wen Wan was in his arms. Ji Man didn¡¯t know if Wen Wan had just fallen asleep or if she had fainted. Ning Yuxuan was only wearing his inner robe. His outer robe was wrapped around Wen Wan.


    Although spring had started, it was still chilly at night. In addition, he was exposed to more of the wind because of the galloping horse. Looking at how little clothing he was wearing, Ji Man only sighed. As expected of the male lead, he would rather look cool than befortably warm.


    Ji Man told Gancao, ¡°Fetch a doctor for him.¡± Then, she yawned and added after looking in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s direction again, ¡°Send the doctor to the western courtyard. It seems that there¡¯s no need for the doctor to go Feiwan Courtyard.¡±


    Feeling unwilling on her master¡¯s behalf, Gancao made a dyed sound of agreement before leaving to find a doctor.


    Ji Man thought; no matter what actually happened to Wen Wan tonight, she couldn¡¯t be med for it. And so, she decided to return to her courtyard to sleep without worries.


    ¡ª


    After Dengxin inquired about the news from the other servants, she returned to Feiwan Courtyard and indignantly said, ¡°This servant had really thought that woman had been kidnapped by ve traders, but she had just gotten herself lost and the marquis had personally gone out to look for her. She really has an outrageous amount of sway over the marquis.¡±


    After Ji Man undid her hairstyle, changed her clothes, and lied down underneath her warm quilt, she finally said, ¡°Of course the two of you don¡¯t understand the interests and hobbies of those two little sweethearts. Go back to your room and sleep. It¡¯s very easy to catch a cold in this weather.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t surprised by Marquis Moyu¡¯s response tonight. As long as his heart had Wen Wan, then Wen Wan only needed to pretend to suffer in some way and he would always fall for her tricks.


    She was just very curious what Wen Wan would do next. Wen Wan no longer had the servants given to her by the crown princess to help her and Tanxiang couldn¡¯t leave the residence.


    ¡ª


    On the next day, Ning Yuxuan really did get sick. He stayed in his own courtyard with Wen Wan to care of him.


    Old Madame had originally wanted to reproach him for not staying up with Sangyu to wait for the New Year together. However, seeing that he looked quite sick, she turned around and only said a few reprimanding word to Wen Wan. She couldn¡¯t bear to scold him while he looked so sick.


    Because of this matter, his harem became very active. A considerable amount of soups and other nutritious foods were sent to the western courtyard.


    Just like that, Wen Wan became a mother hen. She wouldn¡¯t let him eat this soup or touch that food item. When Jinse brought over food, Wen Wan said it was too oily and not suitable for a sickly person.


    ¡ª


    Aftering over to visit Nie Sangyu, Jinse rolled her eyes as she said, ¡°Who does she think she is? She¡¯s only a servant. Madam, you should send over some food to the marquis and see what that little wench dares to say.¡±


    T/N: In this chapter, the original text said Ning Yuxuan lived in the northern courtyard, but in the earliest chapters, it was the western courtyard. I¡¯m going to keep it as western courtyard for consistency.

 Chapter 178

    Chapter 178 out of 513


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°The marquis already has more than enough to food to eat just from what all of you have sent him. Since he caught a cold, you should just make him something that will warm his stomach. Won¡¯t it be fine if you just don¡¯t give her the opportunity to be nitpicky?¡±


    Jinse raised her eyebrows and looked at Nie Sangyu in askance. ¡°All of the other women are showing their affection towards the marquis in his sickness. As the main wife, won¡¯t it look bad if you don¡¯t show any sign of your care for him?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°I can think about this on my own. You can go back.¡±


    Sending over food would be the same as putting on a show. Right now, Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart was full of thoughts of how weak and delicate Wen Wan was. Did they really think that they could move his heart just by sending him delicious food? Anyways, she was still feeling annoyed by him. She had worked hard to make an entire table full of food forst night, but he had barely moved his chopsticks. If someone wanted her to be particrly attentive to him just because he was sick?


    Haha.


    After sending Jinse away, Ji Man raised her legs and leisurely peeled melons seeds to eat. With Marquis Moyu being sick, she actually had a lot more free time. Perhaps, she would go outside in the afternoon and stroll around the market.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was leaning back on the side of the bed.


    Wen Wan was fussily looking at the various types of soups and other foods. ¡°Honored Concubine Xue¡¯s food is too nd. You have a dulled sense of taste right now, so you definitely won¡¯t like her food. You can try drinking some of Mistress Yun¡¯s chicken soupter. You can also drink a little bit of Honored Concubine Ling¡¯s ginseng soup. It¡¯ll be replenishing. The bone broth that Mistress Jin recently brought over is too oily. I had it sent away for you. As for Mistress Muxu¡¯s congee, the kitchen servants can prepare a bowl of it for dinner. There¡¯s no need for hers.¡±


    After listening to Wen Wan list out all of the food items, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t hear her mention Nie Sangyu¡¯s name. He slightly raised his eyebrows and asked, ¡°Was there anything else?¡±


    Wen Wan asked, ¡°Do you not like any of them? How about I go make soup for you then?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his gaze. ¡°I¡¯ll just drink the chicken soup then. You don¡¯t need to work so hard.¡±


    In the end, Wen Wan was a person that had lived a wealthy lifestyle before, so she could be quite picky about things. She left right after saying, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go fetch your bowl. The bowls they brought over are a bit crude.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nced at the table full of nourishing soups and asked Gui Bai, ¡°Where¡¯s Madam?¡±


    Gui Bai bowed and said, ¡°Madam is resting in Feiwan Couryard.¡±


    ¡°Does she not know that I¡¯m sick?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. No, that couldn¡¯t be possible. Even his mother hade over here to check up on him. There was no way that Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t know about this.


    Gui Bai considered his words before he said, ¡°Madam probably knows, but she might have thought it was unnecessary to send over more food since everyone else had already sent over something.¡±


    Unnecessary? Based on what he knew of her personality, she should at leaste over here to see him, right? Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk.


    However, after thinking about it more, he came to the conclusion that he had indeed done something wrongst night. He should have waited for the New Year with her instead of with Wen Wan. Perhaps, she was just acting rashly because she felt wronged.


    No need to worry. Once she stopped feeling angry, she woulde over toplete the rest of the rituals for New Year.


    Ning Yuxuan continued to lie in bed to recuperate.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had decided to go out in the afternoon. By chance, Ning Mingjie and Steward Qian were also going out at the same time and she met them at the residence¡¯s entrance. They decided to leave together as a group. She had Gancao following after her and Ning Mingjie had his personal servant, Changshan, following after him. This could be considered avoiding doing something that would invite gossip.


    After taking a carriage to the main streets, Ji Man chose a less busy street to slowly stroll around with Gancao. It would be good to walk around more for her pregnancy. Ning Mingjie and Steward Qian went to another street to make their purchases. They agreed that they would meet at Yongning Street¡¯s corner in two hours.


    As Ji Man looked at the trinkets being offered for sale as she walked down the street, someone bumped into her when she wasn¡¯t paying attention.


    Gancao hurriedly went forward to protect her and scold that person, ¡°Are you blind? Why didn¡¯t you use your eyes?¡±


    The honest-looking farmer hurriedly bowed and apologized, ¡°Madam, forgive this small one. This small one is lost and didn¡¯t notice you.¡±


    Seeing that his attitude was very good, Gancao¡¯s anger cooled. While supporting Nie Sangyu, she said, ¡°If you¡¯re lost, then go the corner of the street to ask for directions. Don¡¯t randomly bump into people.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes.¡± The man nodded, then he turned around and headed to the street corner.


    Ji Man saw him being shooed out of a fruit shop that was at the street corner and dejectedly walking back to them.


    He asked them, ¡°Would you mind telling this small one how to get to Songling Temple?¡±


    Seeing that he looked quite pitiful, Gancao pursed her lips and said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Madam, go to that nearby tea house. This servant will go to point out directions for him.¡±


    Ji Man frowned. She looked at that man and said, ¡°There¡¯s so many other people on this street. Why did you walk back such a long street just to ask us for directions?


    The man scratched his head. ¡°The two of you looked familiar. When this small one asked other people, they ignored this small one...¡±


    It was true that the people in the capital weren¡¯t very friendly sometimes. Ji Man nced at him again before nodding and saying, ¡°Gancao, go with him to the street corner to point out directions. Come right back afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Gancao nodded, and then she turned around and said to that man, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    The man hurriedly nodded and bowed to them. He gratefully followed after Gancao.


    The end of this street was an intersection. Other than that fruit shop, there weren¡¯t any other stores. And so, there weren¡¯t many people at the end of the street.


    Ji Man went up the teahouse and picked a seat by the window to sit down on the second floor. From here, she watched as Gancao led the man to the corner of the street and pointed in the direction he would have to go as she told him the instructions. The man wrung his hands for a while. It seemed as if he wasn¡¯t sure about where to go yet and wanted Gancao to lead him further.


    No, there was something off about this.


    Ji Man hurriedly descended the stairs and shouted from a distance, ¡°Gancao!¡±


    The streets were full of people and the crowd naturally drowned out her voice. Ji Man sprinted towards the end of the street.


    Gancao stamped her feet. She seemed as if she was considering his request bothersome, but she wasn¡¯t a match for the man¡¯s repeated pleading. And so, she actually continued walking further away to guide him.


    The street after the intersection had even less people! Ji Man clutched her stomach as she rushed after them.

 Chapter 179

    Chapter 179 out of 513 ¨C Helplessly watching as someone is kidnapped (2)


    Right after Gancao and that man went past the intersection and reached a path lined with willow trees, a group of men suddenly appeared from behind the trees. After a linen bag was ced over Gancao¡¯s head and her hands and feet were swiftly tied up, they carried her away.


    Gancao was being kidnapped in broad daylight! Ji Man anxiously shouted, ¡°A woman is being kidnapped! Please save my servant girl!¡±


    Anxiously running forward, Ji Man almost tripped. As she took a moment to stabilize herself, she looked forward at the intersection.


    The kidnappers were very quick. By the time the nearby bystanders had heard her shout and looked in the direction, the kidnappers had already gone over a wall. Who knows where they were taking Gancao?


    A deep feeling of dread rose in her heart. Ji Man felt utterly helpless. She had only watched as Gancao was kidnapped and hadn¡¯t been able to do anything to stop them. Although the ancient world didn¡¯t have anything as terrifying as ck market organ selling, nothing good could happen to a woman after being kidnapped!


    Ji Man hastily went to local authorities office to report Gancao¡¯s kidnapping. Unfortunately, most of the people had already gone home today because it was New Year.


    The head official could only apologize with a smile, ¡°Madam Ning, don¡¯t worry. This official will think of a way to find her.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    By the time these people thought of a method, who knows where Gancao would have been sold off? With a stony expression, Ji Man started walking out of the office. Just as she was about to return to the marquis¡¯s residence to ask him for help, she saw Ning Mingjie at the entrance. He looked a bit breathless as if he had been running around.


    Ning Mingjie looked at her and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t we said that we would meet at Yongning Street¡¯s corner? Why did youe here instead? I¡¯ve been looking for you everywhere.¡±


    At the sight of this person, Ji Man almost couldn¡¯t stop herself from crying. She quietly said, ¡°Gancao was kidnapped by traffickers.¡±


    Ning Mingjie froze in surprise for a moment. ¡°How could that be possible?¡±


    Lately, there had been many kidnapping cases in the capital. As a result, the emperor had specially ordered him to investigate this trafficking group. In the past two days, there had been a few servant girls in the marquis¡¯s household that were almost kidnapped, and he had asked them questions to try to find clues to this case, but they weren¡¯t able to prove any helpful information.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that he would encounter this situation today.


    Ji Man said, ¡°An honest-looking farmer came up to us to ask for directions. The ce he wanted to go to was a bit remote. Gancao went with him to point out the directions, but a group of people covered her head with a linen bag and snatched her away. I only watched as she got kidnapped,¡±


    For a moment, Ning Mingjie was stumped for words. This was the first time someone witnessed the crime as a bystander. ¡°Which direction did they go?¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly led him to the street corner and pointed the direction for him.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°Go back with Steward Qian first. Let me handle Gancao¡¯s matter.¡±


    Ji Man looked at his appearance that seemed as if he had already had a well-thought out n and nodded. There was no point in her staying outside to worry. She could only return home for now.


    ¡ª


    Lying in her bed after returning to her room, Ji Man felt somewhat ufortable. In addition, she had been feeling uneasy and had recently experienced something shocking. She rubbed her stomach and decided that she should call Doctor Li over.


    Recently, Li Zixiu had be considerably haggard looking. He probably hadn¡¯t recovered over what had happened with Muxu. But, he still properly bowed to Nie Sangyu when he entered the room and diligently checked her pulse.


    ¡°The fetus has been slightly disturbed,¡± he said, ¡°You should drink some medicine to stabilize it.¡±


    In order to avoid other people, especially Marquis Moyu, from finding out about her pregnancy, Ji Man hadn¡¯t drank anymon prenatal medicine.


    But today, she didn¡¯t have any other options. She ordered Dengxin to prepare the medicine for her and told her that it was just an ordinary bowl of nourishing soup. Anyways, other people wouldn¡¯t be able to tell that it was pregnancy medicine just by smelling it.


    Doctor Li didn¡¯t leave behind a prescription. Instead, he personally prepared the herbs and brought them over, then he bowed before leaving.


    Ji Man felt that this person was pretty good. Although he had initially helped Muxu by lying to her, he had been willing to turn back once he had found out about the truth. The fact that he didn¡¯t say any useless words like he wouldn¡¯t betray her again made her feel a lot more assured than anything he could have said.


    After the herbal medicine had been cooked, just as Dengxin was about to bring a bowl of it to Nie Sangyu, she saw Wen Wan suddenly returning to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Looking at the bowl of medicine, Wen Wan asked, ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    Dengxin rolled her eyes and didn¡¯t even bother with answering her question. Instead, she continued walking to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room.


    Unexpectedly, Wen Wan followed Dengxin inside. Looking at Nie Sangyu, who was lying on the bed, Wen Wan asked, ¡°Madam, are you sick? The scent of this medicine seems somewhat familiar. What type of medicine is it?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. How could she have forgotten? Wen Wan had once been pregnant and would naturally be familiar with the types of medicines that a pregnant woman would take.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°This medicine isn¡¯t for me. Isn¡¯t the marquis sick? I had Dengxin prepare this medicine for him. It¡¯s a nourishing medicinal soup. It had ginseng and young deer antler.¡±


    Wen Wan also smiled. ¡°This servant was just wondering about this. How could Madam not show a token of her care when the marquis is sick? This servant had juste back to get my things. Since this servant happens to be here, how about this servant brings this over for Madam?¡±


    ¡°No need,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Dengxin can bring it over herself.¡±


    Dengxin was stunned. Wasn¡¯t this medicine for Madam because she wasn¡¯t feeling well? How did it be nourishing medicinal soup for the marquis? Regardless of her confusion, she still had to listen to her master¡¯s order. She immediately put the bowl of soup away and carried it to the western courtyard.


    After cing the medicine on the table, Dengxin said, ¡°Marquis, my master sent over this nourishing soup.¡± Feeling a little worried, she added, ¡°If this medicine tastes too bitter, its okay to not drink it.¡±

 Chapter 180 - A bowl of medicine (1)

    Chapter 180 ¨C A bowl of medicine (1)


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes finally had a trace of a smile. He pursed his lips and looked at the bowl of medicine. ¡°Your master certainly spent a long time preparing this medicine. Bring it over. Let¡¯s see what it tastes likes. How bitter could it possibly be?¡±


    Dengxin put on a bold face and brought the bowl of medicine over to him.


    He picked up the spoon and drank spoonful after spoonful of the medicine until it waspletely gone. In the end, the trace of the smile had disappeared and he asked, ¡°I didn¡¯t taste any ginseng or young antler. What¡¯s this medicine for?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s... for nourishing the body.¡± Dengxin guiltily answered.


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t think any further about this. He put down the bowl and gestured for Dengxin to leave.


    Dengxin ran back to Feiwan Courtyard as if she was fleeing for her life. Once she returned, she quietly asked Nie Sangyu, ¡°Master, nothing bad will happen to the marquis from drinking that medicine, right?¡±


    Ji Man covered her face with her hand and said, ¡°Probably... should be okay. Go and ask Doctor Li for another packet of that medicine, then secretly prepare that medicine for me.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Dengxin walked two steps away, then she turned back and asked out of curiosity, ¡°Where¡¯s Gancao? Master, she left with you. Why didn¡¯t shee back with you?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips, then she retold what had happened to Gancao while they were outside.


    Dengxin was shocked and frightened. Ji Man hurriedlyforted her by saying that Young Master was already looking for Gancao.


    ¡ª


    Dengxin still felt a bit worried, so when she went to Doctor Li¡¯s room to get the medicine, she was absent-minded. On the way back, she almost bumped into Danzhu.


    ¡°Old sister Dangzhu,¡± Dengxin hurriedly stopped while holding the medicine.


    Danzhu had the same gentle and benevolent personality as her master, Honored Concubine Xue. She didn¡¯t rebuke Dengxin and only smiled at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?¡±


    ¡°This servant is fetching medicine for my master... and was distracted because this servant was thinking about something.¡± Dengxin forced herself to return Danzhu¡¯s smile and said, ¡°This servant is going back now.¡±


    ¡°You seemed to be troubled over something, ah.¡± Danzhu held her hand and softly said, ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can help with, feel free to ask.¡±


    These words were enough to warm anyone¡¯s heart, and Dengxin was also a person that wasn¡¯t good at hiding secrets. She immediately thought that Dengxin was a good person and sat down with her on the side of the covered corridor. Then, she told her about the matter of Gancao¡¯s kidnapping.


    Danzhu sighed and said, ¡°This is truly an unexpected and sudden disaster. Poor Gancao. I hope Young Master will be able to find her and bring her back.¡±


    Somehow, the packet of medicine fell out of Dengxin¡¯s hand while they were talking. Danzhu lowered her head, picked up the packet, and put it back in Dengxin¡¯s hand. She said, ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. You should go back to prepare the medicine. Perhaps, Ganxao has already been found.¡±


    Dengxin didn¡¯t feel any suspicion towards her. Feeling a deep sense of gratitude towards Dangzhu¡¯s wiliness to lend a pair of sympathetic ears, she bid her farewell and returned to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan had returned to Marquis Moyu¡¯s room and was currently looking at the bowl Dengxin had brought over. She used a pair of chopsticks to fiddle with the medicinal dregs at the bottom of the bowl. ¡°I keep thinking that this medicine has a familiar smell. It doesn¡¯t look like an ordinary nourishing soup.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly coughed twice before saying, ¡°If it¡¯s not nourishing soup, then what is it? You can¡¯t possibly think that Sangyu would send me poison to drink, right?¡±


    Hearing how warmly he said Sangyu¡¯s name, Wen Wan¡¯s felt a bad taste in her mouth. Back when he despised Nie Sangyu, he would always refer to her by her surname. But now, he addressed her so intimately.


    However, she couldn¡¯t express her true feelings. In the past, her mistake had been showing that she was small-minded. She wouldn¡¯t repeat her previous mistake.


    And so, she smiled and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t I just worry about your health? I just wanted to know what this medicine was. Of course, Madam would never do anything to harm you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan licked his lips. He had also thought that the medicinal soup had tasted a bit weird. However, other than some light coughing, his body was feeling much better. He was already well enough to leave his bed.


    And so, he simply got up, put on anotheryer of clothes, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to Feiwan Courtyard and take a look around then.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s smile slightly stiffened. ¡°You haven¡¯t recovered from your cold yet. What¡¯s worth going over there to see? Won¡¯t it be fine if I just ask Madam for the prescription?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s stuffy in this room. I want to go out to get some fresh air.¡± Ning Yuxuan pulled her hand and started walking out.


    Although she wasn¡¯t happy with this result, she could only follow after him. On the entire way there, Wen Wan kept trying to figure out a way to divert Ning Yuxuan¡¯s attention from Nie Sangyu to herself. Although her pretense of getting lost yesterday had sessfully gained his worried attention, she didn¡¯t have any new follow-up ideas today. It was so annoying that he wanted to go see that vile woman.


    ¡ª


    Just as Dengxin had finished cooking the medicine and was bringing it over for her master to drink, she heard a voiceing from the courtyard¡¯s entrance. It seem that Marquis Moyu hade.


    Startled, Ji Man hurriedly had Dengxin bring the medicine to her. Since she had started this, she had preserve until the end. However, the medicine was too hot, just a sip of it was enough to almost burn her tongue.


    ¡°Master!¡± Dengxin hastily took the medicine away. ¡°You have to wait until the medicine has cooled down a bit before drinking it.¡±


    Ji Man wanted to cry, but she didn¡¯t have tears. This medicine was simply a scourge. If she had known this would happen, she would have decided against drinking this medicine at the beginning. What would she do if someone figured out what this medicine was for?


    While Ji Man was feeling anxious, Wen Wan had already led the marquis into the room.


    It was rare for Marquis Moyu to be in the leisurely mood to visit her, so it wouldn¡¯t be good for Ji Man to show a sullen expression. She could only smile and ask, ¡°My lord, why are you here?¡±


    As soon as Wen Wan entered the room, she saw the bowl of the medicine on the table. ¡°Eh?! Didn¡¯t you say that the previous bowl was for the marquis? Who are you giving this bowl of medicine too?¡±


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°This one is for me. I need to drink something nourishing.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had walked into the room with an indifferent demeanor. He nced at the medicine and said, ¡°Why do you need to drink something nourishing? Are you sick?¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be considered an illness...¡± Ji Man resourcefully figured a way out of her emergency situation and said, ¡°My period hasn¡¯t been regrtely. This medicine is to help make it more regr.¡±


    ¡°Really? Why does this servant feel that Madam is looking very guilty right now?¡± Wen Wan smiled. ¡°It¡¯s bad if you take the wrong medicine. It happens that the residence has a Doctor Liu that has slightly more experience with women¡¯s health problems. This servant will leave right now to fetch him toe here to check on this medicine.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to trouble yourself with this,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°This is my medicine. I wouldn¡¯t drink something that¡¯s bad for me.¡±


    However, Wen Wan had moved swiftly and had already gone out the door.

 Chapter 181 - A bowl of medicine (2)

    Chapter 181 ¨C A bowl of medicine (2)


    Ji Man pursed her lips, rubbed the spot between her eyebrows, and mockingly smiled. ¡°My lord, this servant of yours has an attitude that¡¯s more overbearing than me, your main wife.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan also felt that Wen Wan¡¯s behavior was slightly inappropriate. However, he didn¡¯t remark on it. Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s slightly pale face, ¡°You really do look a bit unwell today. It¡¯s not a big deal if someonees over to check your medicine.¡±


    But, what if the doctor noticed that this medicine was for pregnant women? How could she exin it away then? Say that another doctor had given her the wrong prescription? Ji Man felt extremely panicky. She hadn¡¯t found the opportune time to announce her pregnancy yet. What would happen if Marquis Moyu found out about it now?


    Tightly clutching the bed sheet, Ji Man took a deep breath, did her best to calm herself down, and quickly tried to think of a countermeasure for dealing with this situation.


    Wen Wan¡¯s speed was certainly quick enough. It had only taken her a short period of time to bring back Doctor Liu. She pointed at the bowl of medicine and told him to examine it.


    Ji Man had already prepared herself for admitting that she was pregnant. At worst, she would just have to be more guarded against Marquis Moyu in the future. Anyways, once the truth was revealed, she would still have Old Madame to protect her. There was no reason for her to be so scared.


    However, after Doctor Liu looked at the medicine for a while as well as tasted it, he surprisingly said, ¡°This is indeed the medicine for making menstruation cycles more regr. One of the ingredients in here, saffron, is especially good for treating this type of problem.


    Wen Wan and Ji Man frowned at the same time.


    Wen Wan frowned because she had thought there was something strange about Nie Sangyu¡¯s behavior today, which was why she had rushed to bring a doctor over here to look. Thus, she was very surprised to hear that it really was medicine for menstruation.


    As for Ji Man, she was looking at Dengxin. Dengxin didn¡¯t show any reaction when she heard the doctor¡¯s words. She hadn¡¯t known what this medicine was for to begin with. She even felt somewhat enlightened. So, Madam had asked Doctor Li to give her a prescription for menstruation medicine. No wonder, Madam hadn¡¯t let her stay to listen to their conversation. This really was a private matter.


    While checking Dengxin¡¯s expression, Ji Man felt shocked and scared. She had asked for medicine that would help stabilizing her pregnancy. How could this medicine contain saffron?! Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t drunk the medicine earlier. Otherwise, would the baby in this body still be alive?


    However, Dengxin¡¯s confused expression made Ji Man feel bad about suspecting her. Doctor Li had definitely given the medicine to her. So, did Doctor Li want to harm her, or had the packet of medicine between reced by someone at some point?


    Ji Man¡¯s expression became worse.


    Marquis Moyu actually didn¡¯t think too much about her peculiar behavior. He waved his hand and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re not feeling well, then drink more medicine to nourish your body. I¡¯ll have Steward Qian send over some nourishing herbs to youter. Look at this medicine, it doesn¡¯t even have any remnants of ginseng.¡±


    Ji Man just nkly nodded.


    Marquis Moyu continued to stay in the room for a bit. He cast a nce at the peony painting on the wall, and his mood seemed to have improved slightly. After saying that he needed people to take care of him since he was sick, he took Wen Wan and Tanxiang with him as he left.


    Looking at the new servants in Feiwan Courtyard as she walked out, Wen Wan finally noticed that the servant girls that she was familiar with had all disappeared.


    To her surprise, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t react to this change at all. He only uninterestedly said, ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for new servant girls to attend to you tomorrow. Just like that, he considered the matter ended.


    Wen Wen felt incredulous. It seemed that Ning Yuxuan had also changed quite a bit without her noticing.


    ¡ª


    That night, Ning Mingjie finally brought Gancao back. Ji Man and Denginx were both overjoyed at the unexpected good news. They tugged Gancao this way and that way to check that she was okay.


    Although Gancao had lingering fears after the trauma she experienced, she still very gratefully kowtowed to Ning Mingjie. ¡°Many thanks, Young Master.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist pulling Gancao over to ask, ¡°Where did they bring you after you were kidnapped?¡±


    With reddened eyes, Gancao said, ¡°An underground warehouse. It wasn¡¯t far from that intersection. When this servant was brought there, this servant thought all hope was lost. This servant didn¡¯t expect that Young Master would suddenly appear...¡±


    When she thought of that memory of him as he kicked open the doors like a god descending from the Heavens and rescuing the group of women and children, Gancao couldn¡¯t stop herself from blushing. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Young Master.¡±


    Sitting at the side, Ning Mingjie said, ¡°Madam, I need to express my thanks to you. If you hadn¡¯t remembered the course of events so clearly, Mingjie wouldn¡¯t have had the idea of having someone pretend to be a woman to lure those criminals into a trap.¡±


    Ji Man repeatedly shook her head. ¡°I only provided a few clues. It was Young Master that solved the case. You¡¯re the one that deserves the credit. You saved Gancao and brought her back. Sangyu really doesn¡¯t know how to return this favor...¡± As she said this, she turned around, took out a piece of jade that the emperor had bestowed to her during the Southern Trip, wrapped a handkerchief around it, and gave it to him. ¡°This is merely a token of my gratitude. Young Master, please ept it.¡±


    Ning Mingjie shook his head. ¡°This was just part of my job. You don¡¯t need to give me such a grand gift.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, Gancao is more valuable than a piece of a jade,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Just ept my gift.¡±


    Ning Mingjie looked at the gift, then he stretched his hand out and took the handkerchief she had used to wrap the jade. ¡°This is enough. Madam, keep the jade. It¡¯ll be the same if you give the jade to Miss Gancao in the future as her dowry.¡±

 Chapter 182 - My lord, I’m pregnant with your child (1)

    Chapter 182 ¨C My lord, I¡¯m pregnant with your child (1)


    Gancao¡¯s face became even redder. Ji Man didn¡¯t decline his offer and put back the piece of jade. She had personally embroidered that handkerchief with snow-capped mountains. She normally used this type of handkerchief to wrap various types of gifts. Still, the embroidery on the handkerchief was good enough to be given as a present by itself.


    Since it wasn¡¯t early in the day anymore and Gancao had been found and returned, there was no reason to publicize what had happened. She decided that she would report the other matter to Old Madame tomorrow.


    As themps were extinguished, Ji Man called out to Dengxin, ¡°When you went out to get my medicine today, did anything happen before you came back?¡±


    Dengxin blinked. ¡°Not really, ah.¡±


    After a pause, she pped her thigh and remembered something. ¡°This servant bumped into older sister Dangzhu and spoke with her for a bit. Master, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Dangzhu, Xuesong Courtyard. Ji Man closed her eyes. Other than Muxu, Qian Lianxue was the only other concubine that knew about her pregnancy. No one else could be med.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. The two of you can leave. Go rest.¡±


    ¡°Ai.¡± Dengxin didn¡¯t notice anything strange at all. She happily tugged Gancao along with her as she withdrew from the room to go to sleep.


    Gancao still felt a bit scared. That night, she stayed closed to Dengxin and kept dawdling around instead of going straight to sleep.


    Seeing that Gancao seemed to have a load on her mind, Dengxin asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Gancao lowered her eyes and turned her body to face the other side to hide her thoughts and feelings. She was only a lowly servant girl. How could she dare to have a crush on Young Master? Young Master had only saved her as part of solving a case. He hadn¡¯te there just to save her.


    However, she still couldn¡¯t resist picturing his tall, slender body. Just a side view of his face was enough to leave a person breathless. When she had been at her most despairing point, he had taken her onto his horse and even quietlyforted her by saying, ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡± They were just three words that were as light as feathers, but she actually stopped feeling scared once he said them.


    Perhaps, it really was that simple for a person to enter your heart.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t able to sleep very peacefully that night, and she woke up early next morning to go Old Madame¡¯s courtyard. She secretly told Old Madame about the matter with the saffron.


    ¡°You suspect that it was Lianxue?¡± Old Madame shook her head and said, ¡°It can¡¯t be her. It must be a misunderstand.¡±


    Ji Man was surprised by Old Madame¡¯s response. She tentatively asked, ¡°Why isn¡¯t it possible for Lianxue to want to harm me?¡±


    ¡°Lianxue is the most kind-hearted person in the marquis¡¯s harem. Didn¡¯t you see that she was the only one willing to take Wen Wan in when there was that fake haunting before?¡± Moving the rosary ne in her hand bead by bead, Old Madame said, ¡°She has a merciful heart. Perhaps, the people around her have vicious inclinations, but this matter shouldn¡¯t have anything to do with her.¡±


    Could she be suspecting the wrong person? Old Madame was twenty years older than her, so she should naturally be better at judging other people¡¯s character than her. Or, perhaps, Muxu was lying to her and using Qian Lianxue as her scapegoat?


    It was true that she hadn¡¯t any conflicts with Qian Lianxue up to now. Ji Man felt confused after her conversation with Old Madame.


    Later in the morning, the people that came over to pay respects to Old Madame increased. Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan had bothe. And so, Ji Man brought up the topic of Ning Mingjie saving Gancao yesterday.


    ¡°Mingjie aplished a great meritorious service again.¡± Marquis Moyu smiled. ¡°The emperor had given him the capital¡¯s most troublesome case and he had actually solved it in a couple of days.¡±


    Wen Wan was standing at the side. She looked at Ning Mingjie with a very appreciative gaze, as well as an inexplicable amount of pride. It was if her subconscious mind believed that this person belonged to her.


    Ning Mingjie quietly said, ¡°It was just coincidence that led Mingjie to solving this case. It¡¯s all thanks to Sangyu actually. If she was less courageous and had forgotten the direction that those criminals had run to, then Mingjie definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to solve this case.¡±


    Ji Man looked at him and faintly smiled.


    Ning Mingjie raised his head and returned her smile with his own.


    Looking at these two people that were making sheep eyes at each other, Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°How does this have anything to do with Sangyu? Didn¡¯t you just say that it was a coincidence that Sangyu was outside yesterday? Of course she would see if Gancao was kidnapped right in front of her.¡±


    Old Madame interrupted, ¡°You were being inattentive and didn¡¯t clearly understand the whole story.¡±


    Naturally, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t upset over the case. He pursed his lips and didn¡¯t know what to say. If he wanted to say that she was acting improperly as a married woman, he couldn¡¯t. She hadn¡¯t done anything obviously wrong. From top to bottom, she managed everything perfectly in this residence for him and had even received praise from the emperor. However, she clearly didn¡¯t care about him, her husband. Instead, she showed other men a pleasant countenance and exchanged flirtatious nces with Ning Mingjie.


    ¡ª


    Unable to move past feeling angry, Ning Yuxuan went to Feiwan Courtyard in the afternoon. He didn¡¯t bring Wen Wan with him.


    Ji Man was currently giving herself a manicure. She felt somewhat surprised to see him. ¡°My lord, have you recovered from your cold?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly coughed twice and sat down at the table. ¡°Not yet.¡±


    Then, why had hee here? Putting on a show of being weak? Ji Man wanted to roll her eyes, but she cheerfully smiled and asked, ¡°Do you want this servant to prepare a bowl of medicine that¡¯s the same as yesterday¡¯s?¡±


    This time, she had Doctor Lie over to directly give her two packets of medicine. After confirming that it was safe, she sent Gancao and Dengxin to cook the herbal medicine.


    Thinking of how Marquis Moyu had drunk the pregnancy medicinest time, Ji Man still felt a bit of glee.


    Ning Yuxuan actually didn¡¯t refuse. ¡°If your servant girl is already cooking a bowl for you, then prepare a bowl for me as well.


    Ji Man almost couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing. She tightly pursed her lips to hold in herughter and finally said, ¡°Alright, this servant will go and order Dengxin to make a bowl for you too.¡±

 Chapter 183 - My lord, I’m pregnant with your child (2)

    Chapter 183 ¨C My lord, I¡¯m pregnant with your child (2)


    Looking at her back figure, Marquis Moyu felt somewhat doubtful. After she returned, he said, ¡°You seem to have gain weight recently.¡±


    Ji Man paused, then she said with a smile, ¡°The kitchen servants cook such delicious food. Even if this servant doesn¡¯t want to be fat, it¡¯s difficult, ah.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pretended he was asking without any hidden intentions, ¡°Did you periodest month?¡±


    ¡°It came.¡± Ji Man blinked. ¡°My lord, why are you asking this question?¡±


    Marquis Moyu shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I was just thinking it would be really nice if you could be pregnant.¡±


    Ji Man silently spat out two words, hypocritical liar. But, she outwardly continued to smile. ¡°This servant is looking forward to that too. If this servant ever bes pregnant, this servant will definitely use her life to protect the safety of that child and won¡¯t let anyone touch even a stand of its hair.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. Then, he chuckled and said, ¡°How could my heir¡¯s life be more important than yours? Why would you need to use your life to protect it?¡±


    If these words were said between a normal couple, they would be words of love. Look, isn¡¯t he a wonderful husband? He would pick his wife over his child if he could only save one.


    However, Ji Man knew that Ning Yuxuan wanted more than anything else for Nie Sangyu to never be pregnant while remaining his main wife. This way, he could manipte her as he wished.


    She instinctively rubbed her abdomen. It would be time soon. Once she heard that news from the pce, she would tell Marquis Moyu about her pregnancy.


    By that time, she would have been pregnant for four months. Unless Ning Yuxuan was willing to sacrifice Nie Sangyu¡¯s life, he wouldn¡¯t dare to anything against this fetus.


    ¡°Master, the medicine is ready.¡± Dengxin and Gancao brought inside two bowls of medicine and ced them on the table.


    Ji Man smiled again. She waited until the medicine had cooled down for a bit, then she picked up one bowl and raised it towards Marquis Moyu and said, ¡°My lord, here.¡±


    Cheers, let¡¯s drink this bowl of pregnancy medicine together!


    Marquis Moyu seemed somewhat lost in his thoughts and actually picked up his bowl and clinked it against hers. Then, he slowly drank the bowl of medicine.


    Ji Man was quite gleeful for the rest of the day because of this little trick.


    However, Ning Yuxuan had no idea about the source of her happiness. Seeing that Nie Sangyu was in such a good mood today, his mood actually worsened. He knew that every time that she was happy, it had nothing to do with himself.


    ¡ª


    During thest crucial month before it would be toote for Marquis Moyu to do anything, Ji Man was very careful about what she ate and seemingly asked Doctor Li toe over every day to check up on her.


    The previous attempt with saffron hadn¡¯t been sessful, and she didn¡¯t have any evidence to say that Honored Concubine Xue was behind that attempt. On the surface, the two of them continued to have an amicable rtionship.


    At the end of the month, Ji Man finally received the news that she had been waiting for. Noble Consort Nie was prematurely giving birth.


    Naturally, a premature birth wasn¡¯t a good thing. Someone must have done something bad to cause this. However, Noble Consort Nie was tough. Although the baby shouldn¡¯t have been born for another month, Noble Consort Nie and the baby survived this ordeal.


    The fortunate premature baby was a boy.


    Noble Consort Nie had almost lost her life and had barely been able to keep the life of her second son. While crying and holding the baby, she pleaded with the emperor to right the wrong that had been done to her. Someone had something to her food. Fortunately, it hadn¡¯t been a serious poison, and it only result in a premature birth. All the evidence pointed that the empress had been behind this.


    In this midst of his great joy, the emperor was furious when he heard about this. Although the empress¡¯s position couldn¡¯t be lightly taken away from her, the emperor took away her phoenix seal. Moreover, he promoted Noble Consort Nie to the position of imperial noble consort. The power had shifted from the empress to Imperial Noble Consort Nie. Thus, Nie n became second to no one ording to public opinion. In addition, the third prince had be quite favored by the emperor recently and started participating in politics. This made the crown prince¡¯s faction very worried.


    If this trend continued, it wasn¡¯t impossible the current crown prince would lose his position. However, this wasn¡¯t something for Ji Man to worry about. There were only benefits and no disadvantages to Nie Sangyu¡¯s aunt being promoted to the position of imperial noble consort. She finally had her chance to give Ning Yuxuan a vicious shock.


    Ji Man went to the western courtyard. In front of Wen Wan, she bashfully sat down on Ning Yuxuan¡¯sp and gently called out, ¡°Yuxuan...¡±


    Marquis Moyu thought there had to be something wrong with Nie Sangyu today. However, he didn¡¯t push her away. He only straightened his posture and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I...¡±Ji Man looked at Wen Wan¡¯s twisted expression from her peripheral vision. Then, she copied Wen Wan¡¯s favorite act of looking delicate and weak as she said in an unbearably clingy voice, ¡°This servant had something to say.¡±


    ¡°En, what do you want to say?¡± Ning Yuxuan actually found her behavior somewhat humorous. He supported his chin and looked at her as he waited for her answer.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and ced it on her already slightly protruding belly. There were two spots of red on her face as she said shyly said, ¡°This servant is pregnant with my lord¡¯s child ~¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile stiffened. Standing nearby, Wen Wan looked at Nie Sangyu with utter shock.


    ¡°... How many months is it?¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his head and looked at her belly.


    Ji Man wanted to gloatingly smile, but she covered half of her face and pretended to me herself. ¡°This servant was too careless and didn¡¯t discover this until now. This servant has already been pregnant for four months.¡±


    Marquis Moyu almost couldn¡¯t stop himself from exposing her lie. Who was she trying to fool? How could she have not known until now? Didn¡¯t she say that her period hade when he asked recently?


    Wen Wan¡¯s lips were trembling. She immediately turned around and ran out.


    How could Ning Yuxuan possibly have the energy to care about her little tantrums right now? He only stared at Nie Sangyu.


    Hiding her smile, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression. In a very wronged tone, she asked, ¡°My lord, didn¡¯t you say that you hoped that this servant would be pregnant soon. Why are you showing this type of expression then? Could it be that my lord doesn¡¯t want this child?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Yuxuan stood up. Looking at her with aplicated expression, he said, ¡°Go to Old Madame¡¯s ce for now. I¡¯m going to the pce to bring back an imperial physician to check up on you.¡±

 Chapter 184 - The Peony and the Beautiful Man (1)

    Chapter 184 ¨C The Peony and the Beautiful Man (1)


    Ji Man naturally knew that Marquis Moyu was seeking confirmation on whether or not she was really pregnant. However, her belly was already slightly protruding. What was there for her to worry about? She had finally spat out the secret that she had been hiding for so long and seeded in shocking the female lead into running away. But, she hadn¡¯t had enough fun yet. She wanted to use her status as a delicate pregnant woman to nauseate him a couple times more.


    ¡°My lord, this servant is so happy that you¡¯re cing such a high importance on this child.¡± Ji Man clung to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body like a creature without legs. Her gaze was full of tender sentiments. She grabbed Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand and ced it on her belly. In a cutely spoiled voice, she said, ¡°As this servant was walking over here, this servant wondered what would be a good boy¡¯s name and girl¡¯s name. This servant is truly feeling too happy.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression looked as if a heavy blow had struck him. The hand on Nie Sangyu¡¯s belly was cold and stiff. Hearing these words, he opened and closed his mouth. He didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    ¡°It¡¯s always a difficult matter to pick a name for a child, so this servant thought we should use my lord¡¯s name. Regardless if the child is a boy or girl, let¡¯s give it the same nickname.¡± Ji Man twisted her body even more as she looked at Marquis Moyu with smiling phoenix eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan had a bad feeling. ¡°What do you want to call it?¡±


    Ji Man giggled. She gently stroked his Adam¡¯s apple and said, ¡°Let¡¯s call it Little ~Xuan ~Xuan.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan felt goosebumps and took a deep breath. Then, after taking another deep breath, his lips still twitched as he said, ¡°Let¡¯s discuss thister. Let me get an imperial physician first.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s gaze suddenly became depressed. She ttened her lips and looked at him. ¡°Can¡¯t you send other people to fetch the imperial physician? Why do you have to go there yourself? Right now, this servant doesn¡¯t want to be separate from my lord. This servant just wants to be by your side. Otherwise, this servant will feel uneasy and afraid that this child will share the same oue as the other unborn babies in this household.¡±


    She wouldn¡¯t even give him some space and time to calm himself down? Ning Yuxuan¡¯s temples were throbbing. He really couldn¡¯t ept the change in reality right now.


    Put it in another way, right now, he just wanted to be an unobtrusive, beautiful man. He wanted time to seriously contemte about the future. However, this peony wouldn¡¯t let him off and continued to twist around him like a pretzel.


    A servant came into the room and said, ¡°Madam, marquis, Old Madame wants the two of you to hurry and go over to her ce.¡±


    The news of Nie Sangyu¡¯s pregnancy had already spread throughout the household and Old Madame had naturally been informed as well. Thus, Old Madame wanted them to hurry ande over.


    Looking at Marquis Moyu with a pair of lovely, luminous eyes, Ji Man sweetly asked, ¡°My lord, what...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan decisively said, ¡°Let¡¯s go see mother first.¡±


    And so, a peony continued to cling to a beautiful man that just wanted some time alone as they walked to the main courtyard. As they approached the main courtyard, they heard the nosiest racket. All of the ordinary and honored concubines had arrived the before them.


    Seeing Nie Sangyu and Marquis Moyuing into the room together, Old Madame smiled and her face appeared much softer. ¡°Xuan-<i>er</i>, you already know too, right?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan momentarily closed his eyes and nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. This household hasn¡¯t been peacefultely. Sangyu¡¯s pregnancy will bring some much-needed cheerfulness and excitement,¡± Old Madame happily said, ¡°This will be this household¡¯s first child.¡±


    As soon as these words were said, a thought popped into several people¡¯s minds.


    Originally, everyone had expected that Mu Shuiqing would be giving birth to this household¡¯s first child. But, she had inexplicably suffered a miscarriage and gone insane. Then, Jinse had be pregnant and used her pregnancy to rise up from her status as a prostitute. But, she had lost her baby too. If someone wanted to use the reason that these two women had rtively lowly status and had suffered miscarriages because they hadn¡¯t been given proper care, then what about Wen Wan? At the time of her pregnancy, she had been a secondary wife and the marquis greatly treasured her. But, in the end, she had lost her baby too because of a fake haunting.


    There had been rumors outside of the marquis¡¯s residence that there was a curse in this household. It was if there was an unseen, ghostly hand that was taking away the life of each child before it could be born.


    However, Ji Man wasn¡¯t afraid. If she could face Nie Sangyu¡¯s ghost, why would she be scared of a grieving spirit? Sometimes, humans were much scarier than ghosts. She had to keep her guard up against people, not ghosts.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu sent Guibai to the pce with his personal token to fetch an imperial physician. When Imperial Noble Consort Nie heard this news, she sent her most frequently used imperial physician over to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence.


    The imperial physician confirmed that Nie Sangyu was four months pregnant. Moreover, he said that her pregnancy was very stable and that she would definitely be able to give birth without anyplications.


    During this entire examination, Ji Man was smiling without a care, but Ning Yuxuan had his eyes closed and was deeply contemting.


    The third prince¡¯s side had been acting extremely arrogant, and the crown prince had already decided to keep a low profile for now. However, when the crown prince found out that not only was Nie Sangyu pregnant, but that she was already pregnant for four months, he would definitely think that he was being disloyal and had deliberately hid this information from him.


    With Old Madame and Imperial Noble Consort Nie protecting Nie Sangyu, he couldn¡¯t make any moves against her. On the contrary, he had to show a pleased and happy expression.


    Actually, if he didn¡¯t have to be concerned about alliances, Marquis Moyu would feel very happy about this child. When he was younger, he didn¡¯t want any children. But in a couple of years, his group of friends would be having their grandchildren. It really was quite unreasonable that he still didn¡¯t have even one child.


    The only unfortunate thing was that this child would have a mother with thest name Nie. He really needed to carefully consider this matter and figure out his next steps.

 Chapter 185 - The Peony and the Beautiful Man (2)

    Chapter 185 ¨C The Peony and the Beautiful Man (2)


    Wen Wan had fled to the garden to cry. She had been here for a while, but Ning Yuxuan still hadn¡¯te here to console her. Not only that, she overheard from passing servant girls that everyone had gone to the main courtyard to celebrate Madam¡¯s pregnancy.


    How could she not feel bad about this? The position of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s main wife had originally been hers, and she had been the pregnant one first. But, in the blink of an eye, she had lost everything. Nie Sangyu had left the path that would lead to her demise, and an opportunity had unexpectedly been given to her!


    At the thought of this, Wen Wan cried even more bitterly.


    The sound of her weeping attracted a passerby¡¯s attention.


    Ning Mingjie turned around and saw that it was Wen Wan. He raised his eyebrows and walked over to ask her what was wrong.


    Wen Wan looked up in surprise and saw Ning Mingjie¡¯s breathtaking face. Her heart jumped and her face turned slightly red. ¡°Young Master.¡±


    Ning Mingjie lightly asked, ¡°Howe you¡¯re crying here?¡±


    Previously, when they had been at Tonghua Poetry Association, Wen Wan would ask his help from time to time in shooing off a couple of young nobles that were acting too outrageously. Since she was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s wife, he hadn¡¯t refused her requests. Little by little, the two of them had be more familiar with each other. Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t dislike Wen Wan, but he didn¡¯t like her either. He just regarded her as his cousin¡¯s wife.


    However, his naturally seductive eyes had a negative aspect. No matter who he looked at, his gaze would look unintentionally too gentle and affectionate. As a result, Wen Wan had always thought Ning Mingjie had a small crush on her.


    Since ancient times, how many men didn¡¯t like weak and delicate women?


    And so, when she had been confined in the woodshed, she had used Ah Zi to send many messages to Ning Mingjie. For example, she would say that the other servants were bullying her, or that she had gotten a cold because the weather was too cold.


    Ning Mingjie had visited her a few times when he had been feeling bored. Seeing how pitiful she had looked, he even brought her a quilt. However, his work became busierter, and he no longer had time to pay attention to her various requests.


    During the holidays, when there had been that incident with women and children being kidnapped, he happened to see Wen Wan and asked her if she knew about the situation. However, Wen Wan hadn¡¯t known about anything, so he didn¡¯t ask any further questions. Now that he happened to meet her again, Ning Mingjie blurted out this question. But, as soon as he did, he felt somewhat regretful.


    Why had he asked her this question? It was none of his business.


    ¡°Young Master, have you not heard the news yet? Madam is pregnant. She¡¯s been pregnant for four months.¡± Wen Wan forced herself to smile, but there were still tears in her eyes. It gave off the impression of a delicate person trying her best to appear strong.


    Ning Mingjie nodded. ¡°I was just about to send someone to tell Errong. She¡¯ll probably be the happiest person when she hears this news.¡±


    Wen Wan ced her hands over her stomach, lowered her eyes, and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> should also have her own child. Unfortunately, the gods are cruel...¡±


    ¡°You can just get pregnant again in the future. There¡¯s no need toe here to cry.¡± Ning Mingjie lightly smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving first.¡±


    Wen Wan, ¡°...¡±


    She had thought this person would at least say a couple offorting words. Then, she would have the opportunity to air out her grievances in response. Unexpectedly, Ning Mingjie had left right after saying those words.


    She pursed her lips. He was right. There really was no point in crying. She wiped her tears and went to look for Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan returned to his study. Unfortunately for him, Nie Sangyu hade here with him too.


    Ji Man continued to act super clingy. She insisted on moving her chair next to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s, then she stared at him with loving eyes. Whenever Ning Yuxuan turned his head, she would wink at him. In addition, she would ask in a syrupy voice, ¡°My lord, do you want to drink or eat something?¡±


    In order to avoid hearing that voice that would give him goosebumps, Ning Yuxuan had been staring at the same piece of paper for almost half an hour.


    Wen Wan entered the room with reddened eyes. She had originally thought she coulde here to indulge herself in acting cutely spoiled until she felt better. However, as soon as she walked inside, she saw Nie Sangyu leaning against Marquis Moyu. Wen Wan heard Nie Sangyu say in a coquettish voice, ¡°My lord, if you¡¯re tired of reading, this servant can read it aloud for you.¡±


    This woman was truly being too shameless. She clearly knew that Yuxuan didn¡¯t like her. And yet, she used her pregnancy as an excuse to cling to him! Wen Wan couldn¡¯t contain her anger. She stepped forward and shouted, ¡°Yuxuan!¡±


    Since Marquis Moyu had taken her as his personal servant girlst month, she had already lost the attitude that a servant girl should have. She was even ustomed to addressing him by his name instead of by his title.


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and showed a displeased expression. ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, have you forgotten your status after staying by the marquis¡¯s side for only a short period of time?¡±


    Feeling very disgruntled, Wen Wan said, ¡°How has Wan-<i>er</i> forgotten her status?¡±


    ¡°Can all of the servants in this household address the marquis by his name? If so, I¡¯ll order the rest of the servants to also address him like that in the future.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan frowned and lightly said, ¡°Don¡¯t say such nonsense.¡±


    ¡°How is it nonsense? Isn¡¯t this servant just amodating Miss Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s behavior?¡± Ji Man asked with a smile. Every particle in Ji Man¡¯s body felt invigorated when she imagined a chorus of servant girls greeting Marquis Moyu with syrupy voices, ¡°Yuxuan, we wish you well.¡±


    Wen Wan bit her lips, lowered her head, and said, ¡°This servant is the one that acted improperly. The marquis is the marquis. This servant shouldn¡¯t have addressed him based on my previous status.¡±


    Ji Man felt somewhat disappointed that Wen Wan acknowledged her mistake so quickly. She twitched her lips and said, ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, you¡¯re very forgetful.¡±


    Wen Wan lowered her head more and stayed silent.


    Ji Man continued to smile and do things to nauseate the both of them for a while. Then, seeing that it wasn¡¯t early anymore, she finally mercifully said, ¡°This servant should go back to my courtyard to rest now.¡±


    Nie Sangyu was finally leaving! It was as if there were little firecrackers being set off in Wen Wan¡¯s heart in celebration.


    Marquis Moyu also sighed in relief.


    ¡°But...¡± Ji Man stood up and seriously looked at Wen Wan. ¡°My courtyard iscking servants. Life is definitely bound to be more inconvenient as a pregnant person. Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, return to Feiwan Courtyard with me.¡±

 Chapter 186 - A female lead that’s grievously suffering (1)

    Chapter 186 ¨C A female lead that¡¯s grievously suffering (1)


    Shocked, Wen Wan instinctively shook her head. ¡°No!¡±


    It had been so difficult to be transferred from Feiwan Courtyard to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side. How could she be willing to go back?!


    Ji Man slightly widened her eyes, made a graceful gesture with her hand, and copied Wen Wan¡¯s delicate way of speaking as if she was the wronged party. ¡°Even though I shouldn¡¯t insist this if Miss Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯t want to, I still have to make one more attempt to implore you. I just wouldn¡¯t feel safe if it was someone else serving me. Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, do you dislike me so much that you won¡¯t even help me out when I¡¯m pregnant?¡±


    A muffledughter came over from the side. The two women turned their heads in that direction, but they only saw a book blocking their view of Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. He seemed as if he was seriously reading a book.


    She must have misheard. There was no reason for Marquis Moyu to beughing. Ji Man shook her head, then she took a step forward and sped Wen Wan¡¯s hand in hers. ¡°Come on younger sister, just obedientlye with me. Before I came here, I already asked Old Madame for permission, and she agreed.¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips and said, ¡°This servant is the marquis¡¯s person right now. It doesn¡¯t count even if Old Madame agrees. You have to ask the marquis if he agrees or not!¡±


    Ah, she¡¯s getting smarter. Ji Man put on a show of helplessly letting go of Wen Wan¡¯s hand, then she turned around and walked to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side. ¡°My lord ~¡±


    Ning Yuxuan dryly coughed, put down the book, and solemnly said, ¡°If you take Wan-<i>er</i> away, who will serve me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have Guibai and the other servants?¡± Ji Man clutched his arm and swung it back and forth. ¡°This servant¡¯s days of suffering will be so long in the future. My lord, do you really not care? It¡¯s only one servant. After this servant borrows her for a couple of months, this servant will naturally return her.¡±


    In a couple of months, Yuxuan¡¯s feelings towards her might have already cooled. Wen Wan coldly looked at Nie Sangyu. She absolutely couldn¡¯t stand the gaze that Nie Sangyu was directing at Yuxuan. Nie Sangyu really didn¡¯t have any sense of shame!


    And yet, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say any words of disagreement. He actually nodded.


    He actually gave her away, just like that!


    Unwilling to ept reality, Wen Wan¡¯s lost her self-control and shouted, ¡°My lord!¡±


    Marquis Moyu nced at her. His eyes showed helplessness. ¡°Sangyu is pregnant. I can only be unfair to you for a bit.¡±


    Ji Man was smiling so widely that her eyes had closed. Once again, she affectionately pulled Wen Wan¡¯s hand. ¡°See, even the marquis has agreed. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s gaze was full of disdain, but she lowered her eyes. Her hands were rigid as she said, ¡°... This servant will obey.¡±


    Just like that, Nie Sangyu brought her back to Feiwan Courtyard. She hadn¡¯t even had the chance to say one sentence alone with Marquis Moyu.


    When they arrived at Feiwan Courtyard, Gancao and Dengxin were joyfully organizing Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. Their master was pregnant, so pointy objects and various incense sticks naturally had to be put away. The old rug was also reced with a thick and soft sheep rug.


    When the two servant girls saw their master leading Wen Wan back, their expression immediately stiffened.


    When Gancao went with Wen Wan to the side room to tidy it up, Dengxin was trembling in fury while she stood by her master¡¯s side.


    Dengxin eximed, ¡°Master, how could you bring that scourge back?!¡±


    Ji Man patted her hand and said, ¡°Calm down. I naturally have my own reason for bringing her back. Just don¡¯t let her touch my food or anything else I use. Other than that, act normally. Treat her like she¡¯s any other servant.¡±


    ¡°How could the other servants dare treat her like a servant?¡± Dengxin angrily said, ¡°Everyone in the household knows that the marquis cherishes her. Whenever anyone dares to order her around, she¡¯ll tell the marquis that person bullied her and that person won¡¯t have a good oue.¡±


    Ji Man cheerfully said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the marquis won¡¯t punish you. It¡¯s okay if you order her around. You don¡¯t have to give her any special treatment.¡±


    Although Dengxin didn¡¯t believe her, her master¡¯s expression showed that she had a trick up her sleeve. And so, she felt somewhat curious. After her master had lied down to rest, Dengxin mustered up her courage and knocked on the side room¡¯s doors


    Wen Wan opened the doors and impatiently looked at her. ¡°What?¡±


    Dengxin said with a smile, ¡°Our master is pregnant and frequently wakes up in the middle of the night. Gancao and I have already taken turns for night duty for thest four nights. Tonight is your turn. Don¡¯t sleep too deeply.¡±


    Wen Wan had been angry to begin with. Hearing these words, she got even angrier. ¡°You can¡¯t possibly be asking me to give up on getting a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Dengxin rolled her eyes. ¡°As servants, if our master can¡¯t sleep well, then we can¡¯t sleep well either. Even thought the marquis spoils you, you¡¯re still a servant. Don¡¯t forget your status.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t the first time that Wen Wan heard these words. The first time she heard these words was from a servant girl in Marquis Moyu¡¯s courtyard that was responsible for preparing and serving tea. Wen Wan immediately turned around and cried in front of Ning Yuxuan for a while. As a result, the tea servant was sent out of the residence.


    Wen Wan looked at Dengxin up and down, then she cynically said, ¡°Be careful with your words. Otherwise, when it¡¯s your turn to be sent out of the residence, your pregnant master won¡¯t be able to help you.¡±


    Dengxin red at her. ¡°I¡¯ve already done my duty. If you don¡¯t want to listen to me and something happens to my master, then I can¡¯t help you either when Old Madame punishes you.¡±


    After saying this, Dengxin turned around and went to her shared room with Gancao to sleep.


    Wen Wan stood in the doorway and stewed in silence for a while. What was the big deal about being pregnant?! She had been pregnant too!


    She rubbed her stomach. While she had been at Marquis Moyu¡¯s side recently, she had been favored several times. Perhaps, she would soon be pregnant too. If that happened, she would make Nie Sangyu pay her back for all of the grievances she was suffering now.


    She turned around and went inside to sleep. Wen Wan didn¡¯t take Dengxin¡¯s words seriously.


    ¡ª


    And so, when Ji Man woke up in the middle of the night and called for a servant several times, no one came. She rubbed her chin, then she got out of bed, went outside, and poured herself a cup of warm water. While she was outside, she nced at the side room. Wen Wan clearly hadn¡¯t changed her immature personality at all.


    Trantor Ramblings: My favorite part is when Ning Yuxuan finally realizes that Nie Sangyu is just messing with them and secretly finds it amusing.


    ¡°A muffledughter came over from the side. The two women turned their heads in that direction, but they only saw a book blocking their view of Marquis Moyu¡¯s face. He seemed as if he was seriously reading a book.


    She must have misheard. There was no reason for Marquis Moyu to beughing.¡±

 Chapter 187 - A female lead that’s grievously suffering (2)

    Chapter 187 ¨C A female lead that¡¯s grievously suffering (2)


    The next day, Ji Man gave Gancao and Dengxin time off to visit their families. Wen Wan was left as her remaining personal servant.


    Feeling extremely uneasy, Gancao looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Master, it¡¯s okay if we visit our families at another time. Your body...¡±


    Dengxin nodded and added, ¡°That person in the side room doesn¡¯t know how to serve people at all. What if something were to happen?¡±


    Ji Man looked at the bottom edge of a skirt that was peeking out from the doorway, faintly smiled, and said, ¡°Why would anything happen? Wan-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t stupid. If anything happens when she¡¯s the only one serving me, then she¡¯ll have to pay for the death of my baby with her life. Imperial Noble Consort Nie and the rest of my n would never let her off, even the marquis wouldn¡¯t be able to stop them.¡±


    Gancao and Dengxin still felt worried, but Ji Man pushed some money into their hands and personally escorted them out of the residence.


    After she publicized her pregnancy, the likelihood of her two simple-minded personal servant girls being used by other people was too great. Moreover, she wasn¡¯t sure how much she could trust them. She was scared that she would identally drink another bowl of medicinal soup with saffron. And so, the best solution was to send them away and have Wen Wan serve her for a while.


    On the bright side, if Qian Lianxue wanted to harm her, she would have fewer opportunities to do so. As for Marquis Moyu, he wouldn¡¯t dare to act rashly while she had Wen Wan as a hostage. If he dared to do anything against her, she would drag down the woman he cherished the most with her. She definitely wouldn¡¯t let him have a happy ending.


    Ji Man resolutely covered her stomach. This little treasure, she definitely wouldn¡¯t allow it to be harmed again by anyone.


    ¡ª


    However, as Gancao and Dengxin had predicted, Wen Wan didn¡¯t serve Nie Sangyu in an attentive and thoughtful manner.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s somewhat fatigued face, Old Madame frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just haven¡¯t been sleeping well recently. When I wake up at night, there isn¡¯t a servant to serve me, and I almost fell overst night. It made me feel worried, so I wasn¡¯t able to sleep well.¡±


    ¡°How can this be okay?!¡± Old Madame angrily said, ¡°Have all your personal servant girls died?¡±


    Standing by the side, Wen Wan trembled when she heard Old Madame¡¯s angry voice. She stepped forward and said, ¡°This servant is still serving Madam.¡±


    Old Madame nced at her and sneered. ¡°I was wondering who would dare to be so audacious and not serve her master. So it was you. Then, this matter isn¡¯t strange at all.¡±


    Wen Wan smiled. ¡°This servant has never been good at serving other people. Madam is the one that insisted on keeping this servant by her side. This servant also feels very helpless.¡±


    Look at that. The female lead is grievously suffering.


    Old Madame looked at her in askance and said, ¡°What¡¯s the point in keeping a servant that doesn¡¯t know how to work? I might as well send you away sooner rather thanter. Xuan-<i>er</i> happens to not be at home today, so I¡¯ll decide this matter. How about I bestow you to Butcher Zhang, the one at the nearby street corner?¡±


    Wen Wan straightened her back, ¡°This servant is the marquis¡¯s woman.¡± Old Madame was definitely just trying to scare her. There was no way she would actually go through with this.


    Old Madame scoffed. ¡°All of the women in this household belong to the marquis. It seems that no one has taught you the rules, so you¡¯re acting increasingly without any sense of propriety. Shouwu, call for people to tie her up and deliver her to Butcher Zhang.¡±


    Shouwu made a sound of acknowledgement, and other servants really dide over, tie Wen Wan up, and push her outside.


    Shocked by this treatment, Wen Wan didn¡¯t react until she had already been pushed to the main courtyard¡¯s entrance. Panic-stricken, Wen Wan begged for mercy, ¡°Old Madame, please forgive me! Please!¡±


    Old Madame looked on with a stony expression as Shouwu personally led the other servants in forcefully taking Wen Wan out of the residence.


    They brought Wen Wan to Butcher Zhang, who was standing at the street corner.


    As soon as Wen Wan saw that meaty and greasy-faced butcher, her legs felt like they were going to copse. She hurriedly hugged Shouwu¡¯s leg and said, ¡°Aunty Shouwu, please spare this servant! Please! This servant won¡¯t dare to act badly again! Aunty Shouwu, please allow this servant to go back to the residence!¡±


    Shouwu¡¯s smile was cutting. ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, Old Madame is worried that you¡¯ll keep forgetting that you have to follow the rules. So, she¡¯s decided to let you experience what it¡¯s like to suffer. As a servant myself, I can¡¯t save you.¡±


    After Wen Wan was pushed into Butcher Zhang¡¯s house, Shouwu closed the door and waited outside until she heard Wen Wan¡¯s screech. Then, she had the other servants open the door and drag Wen Wan outside.


    Wen Wan had already been scared out of her wits. Although her clothing looked a bit disorderly, she was still wearing them and none of it was torn. Shouwu snorted, paid Butcher Zhang some money, and led the group of servants back.


    Wen Wan had a stomach full of grievances. She desperately endured them and waited for Marquis Moyu¡¯s return. Once Yuxuan found that she had been humiliated in such a terrible manner, he definitely wouldn¡¯t let them off!


    However, when the marquis came by Feiwan Courtyard, Nie Sangyu sent her off to get medicine. By the time she came back, the marquis had already left.


    Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were red as she held her handkerchief in a death grip. She red at Nie Sangyu, who was serenely sitting in the middle of the room.


    Ji Man was calmly smiling. She was merely acting out the role of a secondary female character. Back when she used to read light novels, she thought the secondary female characters were the most dislikable people. However, now that she was ying out the role of a secondary female character, it felt quite satisfying.


    Wen Wan was so angry that tears kept dripping down her face. Then, she turned around and ran outside. She wanted to chase after Ning Yuxuan.


    However, Shouwu seemingly appeared out of nowhere and asked her with a smile, ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, where are you going?¡±


    Frightened by Shouwu¡¯s sudden appearance, Wan Wan immediately fled back to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    That night, Wen Wan naturally wasn¡¯t able to peacefully fall asleep. After turning and tossing, she draped an outer robe over herself and went outside to sit under the covered corridor toment over her misfortune.


    ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>.¡± A voice came from behind her.


    Wen Wan almost shrieked in fright. When she turned around, she saw that the words hade from a low-ranking servant girl that had recently been assigned to Feiwan Courtyard.

 Chapter 188 - Stricken with smallpox (1)

    Chapter 188 ¨C Stricken with smallpox (1)


    Ji Manzily stretched before getting out of bed. With an unhappy expression, Tanxiang begrudgingly came forward and helped her put on her robes and get ready for the day.


    Recently, Wen Wan and her servant had be considerably more obedient, so Ji Man didn¡¯t need to spend too much energy worrying about these two. The other women in the harem were attentively adhering to the gradation of etiquette in ordance to their social status, so they wouldn¡¯t bother her for petty reasons. In addition, she hadn¡¯t even seen Marquis Moyu¡¯s shadowtely. Thus, her lifestyle was quite rxed for a period for time.


    ¡ª


    Errong was free today, so she came over to visit her. However, Errong¡¯splexion didn¡¯t look too good, and she kept coughing.


    Ji Man held her hand and asked, ¡°Did you catch a cold?¡±


    Errong sniffled and said, ¡°I went to a temple that was outside of the capital to burn incense about half a month ago. I don¡¯t know why, but a few days after I returned home, I started feeling unwell. It¡¯s been a several days, but I still haven¡¯t gotten any better. Even after a doctor checked me, he couldn¡¯t tell me why I was feeling unwell. He told me to just stay at home to recuperate. If I wasn¡¯t feeling so worried about you and your pregnancy, Qingyun wouldn¡¯t have let me leave the residence.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man looked at her face. Herplexion didn¡¯t look healthy and her cheeks were flushed. Ji Man checked Errong¡¯s temperature by touching her forehead. One moment, it felt feverish, but the next second, it felt cold.


    Worried, Ji Man said, ¡°I happen to have an imperial physician staying here. Let¡¯s have him check you too. There have been a lot of servant girls getting sick in the residencetely. They¡¯ve all been sent out of the residence by Old Madame.¡±


    The imperial physician, whom Imperial Noble Consort Nie had previously sent over, had been watching after her daily activities and food. It wouldn¡¯t be inconvenient for him toe over and examine Errong. Errong agreed.


    However, after the imperial physician came over, he used every type of diagnostic to check Errong and took over an hour with his examination. In the end, his expression was solemn as he said, ¡°Madam Ning, please go outside first. Don¡¯t stay so close. Have the servants bring some warm water over and wash your hands.¡±


    Ji Man felt something was wrong. Why did it seem as if Errong had a contagious illness?


    It was better to be careful. After she followed the doctor¡¯s orders and washed her hands, she went back to her room to wait.


    After the imperial physician was done with his examination, he didn¡¯t immediately go to Nie Sangyu¡¯s room to tell her about Errong¡¯s condition. Instead, he ordered the servants to inform Old Madame first. After that, it only took a brief period of time for anxiety to spread throughout the entire household.


    Ning Errong had smallpox.


    Recently, many people had gotten smallpox outside of the capital. At first, no one had noticed. Later, as the number of people dying gradually increased, it finally caught the attention of the local authorities. Imperial Physician Lin had treated smallpox before, so he was able to see that Errong had smallpox even though the average doctors wouldn¡¯t be able to correctly diagnose her illness.


    In this era, smallpox was the equivalent of a chronic disease that eventually killed its host. It left people feeling petrified at the mere mention of it. However, Errong was clearly only at the initial stage of smallpox and didn¡¯t have any obvious symptoms.


    ¡ª


    With a solemn expression, Imperial Physician Lin said, ¡°This illness is contagious. People that have contact with her will be susceptible to getting sick themselves. Recently, there have been servants that have also gotten smallpox. Fortunately, Old Madame, you¡¯re very wise and sent them out of the residence. As for Madame Nie, it¡¯ll be best to have people quickly send her back to Nie Residence. Don¡¯t let her have any contact with other people, just leave two servant girls by her side to serve her. Request for another imperial physician to go to Nie Residence to treat her illness.¡±


    Old Madame was very anxious. She hurriedly asked, ¡°Sangyu had contact with Errong. Will she have caught the smallpox from her?¡±


    Imperial Physician Lin said, ¡°Madam hadn¡¯t been in contact with Madam Nie for long. We¡¯ll have to wait and see. This old one will stay in Feiwan Courtyard and continue to check up on Madam. If she doesn¡¯t show any smallpox symptoms after ten days, then it¡¯ll be considered as having avoided a disaster.¡±


    The room became very silent. Ji Man was sitting at the side. Nearby, Qi Siling and Jinse both instinctively took a few steps away from her.


    Ji Man twitched her lips. This really was an unepted cmity that had dropped from the heavens. Everything had been going perfectly well, but now smallpox had appeared.


    In her previous life, smallpox had already been eradicated. As for whether Nie Sangyu had caught smallpox before and developed immunity, she didn¡¯t know.


    Old Madame sighed and had servants escort Nie Sangyu back to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Imperial Physician Lin prepared disinfectant water and had Wen Wan and Tanxiang clean Feiwan Courtyard with it. After that, they could only wait and see if Nie Sangyu would show any symptoms after ten days.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan lightly smiled and asked, ¡°Imperial Physician, what do people with smallpox look like?¡±


    With a stern expression, Imperial Physician Lin said, ¡°The symptoms are fluctuating temperatures, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, as well as red dots. Madam is pregnant right now, so smallpox is especially dangerous for her. A moment of inattention might lead to her miscarrying. It¡¯s even possible that she might lose her life as well.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s eyes showed her smiling intent.


    Imperial Physician nced at her, and Wen Wan thought that her tone shouldn¡¯t sound too happy. She hurriedly lowered her eyes and said, ¡°This servant will be careful.¡±


    ¡ª


    That night, when Ning Yuxuan returned home and heard about the smallpox matter, he washed himself with disinfectant water, changed his clothes, and went to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Wen Wan walked forward and hurriedly stopped him. ¡°My lord, the imperial physician said that Madam might have smallpox. It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t go inside.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly pursed his lips, leaned against the entrance as he looked at Wen Wan, and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t she still okay right now? It¡¯s not like she¡¯ll definitely catch smallpox.¡±


    ¡°Still, it¡¯s not necessary for my lord to take this risk just to see Madam, right?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°If you have something you want to say to her, can¡¯t I just tell her for you?¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled. ¡°Why are you looking so stern? I just happened to be walking in this direction, so I came by to see her. If I can¡¯t see her, then I¡¯ll just leave.¡±


    Wen Wan hurriedly stopped him again. ¡°My lord, I haven¡¯t seen you in a while. I have so many things that I want to say to you. Why do you keep avoiding me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused his footstep. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things. There¡¯s been an outbreak of smallpox in the pce too, so I¡¯ve been busier. Once it¡¯s less busy, let¡¯s talk then.¡±


    Unsatisfied, Wen Wan bit her lip. But, she could only let go of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arm and watch as he strode away.

 Chapter 189 - Stricken with smallpox (2)

    Chapter 189 ¨C Stricken with smallpox (2)


    Ji Man was currently in her room recollecting what she had learned in her high school biology ss. She remembered that there had also been a question about smallpox in her college entrance exam. The answer had been that smallpox was transmitted through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. When Errong was visiting today, she had covered her mouth every time she coughed. And so, the likelihood of her getting infected during Errong¡¯s visit was miniscule. And, it was impossible for smallpox to be transmitted merely by holding hands.


    And so, no matter how she looked at it, there was no way she had gotten smallpox today.


    However, it was obvious to Ji Man that this incident would be giving other people plenty of opportunities to scheme against her. It was easy for smallpox to kill a pregnant woman as well as her unborn child. If she was the other person, she would use this chance to attack as well.


    Right now, she could only wait and see what other people would do.


    ¡ª


    That night, after Ji Man had lifted her quilts, went underneath them, and drifted off to sleep, she was suddenly awakened. It felt like there was a furry thing moving around on her bed.


    She gasped in rm, but resisted the urge to scream. She tried to keep calm as she got out of her bed, lit amp, and lifted up her quilts.


    A stray cat had curled up beneath her quilts and was looking up at her innocently.


    Ji Man let out a sigh in relief. It hadn¡¯t been anything scary. It was just a cat.


    ¡ª


    However, Nie Sangyu was allergic to furry animals. The next day, her body was covered in red dots.


    Ji Man concealed the rashes and pretended that nothing had happened. Then, she went outside and asked Wen Wan, ¡°Do you know how that cat got into my room?¡±


    Wen Wan looked surprised. ¡°What cat?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°Never mind, it was just a stray cat. It probably got into my room through an open window. I already let it out. Remember, it¡¯s okay if a cat or other small animal identally ends up in my room. I¡¯m not scared of them anyways. But, don¡¯t put any flowers in my room. I¡¯m allergic to them.¡±


    Wen Wan looked at her with a small amount of surprise before nodding.


    Ji Man secretly asked Imperial Physician Lin for medicine to treat her allergic reaction and told him to keep this a secret from Wen Wan. Imperial Physician Lin was Imperial Noble Consort Nie¡¯s trusted confidant and would naturally wholeheartedly help Nie Sangyu.


    ¡ª


    It only took a few days before the red spots faded, but Ji Man soon discovered that her pillow had been stuffed with fresh petals. Their pleasant fragrance helped Ji Man sleep especially well.


    The next day, Ji Man went to the imperial physician and asked for a prescription. She gave the prescribed drug to Wen Wan and Tanxiang and told them that it was preventive medicine against smallpox. They both unsuspectingly drank the medicine.


    ¡ª


    After the tenth day, since Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t exhibited any symptoms, the imperial physician said there was no need to quarantine Feiwan Courtyard from the rest of the estate any longer.


    However, red spots had appeared on Wen Wan and Tanxiang.


    Imperial Physician Lin said, ¡°To avoid the chance of more people getting infected, these two servants should be sent out of the residence. Red spots are a symptom of smallpox.¡±


    Old Madame was quite happy, but Wen Wan and Tanxiang had deathly pale faces. How could it be possible for them to get smallpox? They rarely left the estate.


    Shouwu sweetly smiled at Wen Wan and said, ¡°Butcher Zhang had also been infected with smallpox. Aiya, maybe this is just a coincidence.¡±


    Wen Wan shook her head hard in denial. As the other servants detained her, she instinctively nced at Qian Lianxue.


    It was strange; Qian Lianxue¡¯s usually poor health had surprisingly recovered during this sensitive period. Sitting at the side, she didn¡¯t say a word in Wen Wan¡¯s defense, much less spare an extra second in her direction.


    Wen Wan was rmed. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t home and she could only say, ¡°I don¡¯t have smallpox. This is just an allergic reaction to something. I probably just ate or touched something that I shouldn¡¯t have. I really don¡¯t have smallpox!¡±


    Standing far away from Wen Wan, Ji Man looked at her and disdainfully covered her nose as she said, ¡°Oh, so you do know that an allergic reaction would have the simr symptoms to smallpox. I thought you didn¡¯t know. I even told you that I was allergic to flowers, but you stuffed fresh flower petals inside my pillow. You¡¯ve certainly troubled yourself.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression stiffened. She finally realized that Nie Sangyu had tricked her. She fiercely said, ¡°You vile woman!¡±


    She was calling her vile? Ji Manughed. ¡°What did I do?¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Wen Wan knew that Nie Sangyu was behind the rashes on her body, but she didn¡¯t have any evidence.


    Ji Man turned her head and said to Old Madame, ¡°Old Madame, you should send her to the other estate. Shuiqing is probably feeling very lonely there by herself. Besides, the marquis has always cared about Wan-<i>er</i> a lot. If you really drive her out of this household, it¡¯ll be difficult to exin to the marquis once he returns.¡±


    Wen Wan vaguely heard Nie Sangyu¡¯s words and widened her eyes in fear. ¡°No!¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to go live with that crazy woman. That was worse than being driven out of this household. If she was just kicked out of this household, she would still be able to livefortably.


    Old Madame considered Sangyu¡¯s words and decided that her words made sense. And so, she ordered, ¡°Bring these two servants to the other estate.¡±


    The other servants that caught smallpox had been directly sent to a rural area. Sending these two servants to the other estate would be giving her son enough face.


    Ji Man smiled as she watched a screaming Wen Wan being dragged out of the room, then she turned her head and said to Honored Concubine Xue, ¡°Lianxue, look. Why does Wan-<i>er</i> keep looking at you?¡±


    Qian Lianxue was leaning back in the chair. She lightly smiled and said, ¡°Older sister, you must be mistaken. Lianxue had never been close with Miss Wan-<i>er</i>. She¡¯s probably looking at you.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ji Man nodded. ¡°Lianxue, your health is poor. You should probably stay in your courtyard until the smallpox outbreak has passed.¡±


    ¡°Older sister, thank you for your concern.¡± Qian Lianxue lightly turned her head away. She appeared as if she was person that was detached from the mortal world.


    After Ji Man had looked at Qian Lianxue for a long time, she shook her head. This woman truly didn¡¯t have any weaknesses that could be used against her.

 Chapter 190 - The marquis has become infected (1)

    Chapter 190 ¨C The marquis has be infected (1)


    Wen Wan was sent to Marquis Moyu¡¯s other estate. Although that ce was stately enough for a noble family, with pavilions and other buildings, there were very few people living there. It inevitably gave off a feeling of eeriness. In addition, after Mu Shuiqing was sent here, the servants said they would hear endlessly wailing every night.


    Holding their bags, Tanxiang was pushed into a courtyard with Wen Wan.


    There was a senior servant that was assigned to watch over them. She looked apathetically looked at them, then she looked at the nearby courtyard. ¡°That insane Mistress Qing lives in that courtyard. If you don¡¯t have a good reason, don¡¯te out of this courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan was very scared by her words. No matter how you looked at it, she had a connection with Mu Shuiqing suffering a miscarriage back then. After that, there had been a fake haunting that had caused herself to lose her fetus too. She felt she was destined to not get along with Mu Shuiqing. And now, they would be confined in the same ce together.


    Tanxiang clutched Wen Wan¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Master, don¡¯t be afraid. As soon as the marquis finds out that they locked you here, he¡¯ll definitelye here to save you.¡± Who knows if she was trying tofort Wen Wan, or if she was trying tofort herself?


    Suddenly, they heard a woman loudlyughing from the nearby courtyard.


    Tanxiang screamed in rmed, and Wen Wan felt utterly terrified.


    In the deserted courtyard, they heard Mu Shuiqing¡¯s hystericalughing as she said, ¡°Wen Wan, who could have predicted that this would be your oue? You also have this oue! Aren¡¯t you his beloved? But now you¡¯ve fallen to this state. This is karma! Karma, ah!¡±


    Although Mu Shuqing¡¯sughter sounded crazy, she said her words clearly.


    Wen Wan pursed her lips and pretended to be brave. ¡°Yuxuan wille save me. Nothing bad will happen to me. I wasn¡¯t the one that harmed your child!¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t you?¡± Mu Shuiqing loudlyughed. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one that had your servant girl push me? Weren¡¯t you the one that had the doctor prescribe me the wrong medicine so that I would lose my baby? Wen Wan, how dare you say that it wasn¡¯t you?! Do you dare to swear to the heavens that you¡¯ve never harmed anyone¡¯s baby?¡±


    Wen Wan trembled and a trace of dread shed through her eyes. She mumbled, ¡°She¡¯s crazy. She¡¯s a lunatic.¡±


    ¡°Master...¡±


    Wen Wan desperately grabbed Tanxiang¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Hurry and think of a way to send a message to Yuxuan. I want to get out of here. I don¡¯t want to stay here for even a moment.¡± Wen Wan¡¯s nails dug into Tanxiang¡¯s flesh as she said, ¡°Hurry, think of a way!¡±


    Tanxiang was shocked by Wen Wan¡¯s sudden ferociousness. Her lips trembled, and she ran out of the courtyard to crouch outside at the entrance.


    Wen Wan pulled at her own hair. After shuddering for a bit, she went inside and hid under the nkets. She covered her ears and tried to block out Mu Shuiqing¡¯sugher.


    She wanted to leave here! She wanted to quickly leave this ce!


    ¡ª


    The smallpox was wreaking havoc in the capital. Many people had fallen ill, and the streets had be deserted. The emperor had issue an order that anyone infected with smallpox would be transferred and confined to a ry station outside of the capital. If anyone found out that someone near them had be infected with smallpox, he or she had to notify the authorities promptly.


    There was no way that Nie Qingyun would send Errong to be confined with the other sick people. Instead, he moved with her to a residence that was at the outskirts of the city and near that ry station. Imperial Physician Qian went with them, as well as Baizhi.


    Ji Man had originally been worried about Errong, but when she heard that Qingyun was willing to personally take care of Errong, she started worrying about her older brother.


    In this era, if your body wasn¡¯t strong enough to endure while smallpox ran its course, then it would take your life.


    Unfortunately, she was pregnant right now, and it would be difficult for her to go outside. Moreover, everyone was feeling unsafe in the capital. Even the capital¡¯s gates were only half-open. Even though she wanted to go outside to check on those two, no one would be willing to apany her.


    ¡ª


    When Ning Yuxuan returned from the pce today and came to Feiwan Courtyard, hisplexion didn¡¯t look good. He only briefly looked around before going straight to Nie Sangyu¡¯s bed to sleep.


    Ji Man was at a loss. It was rare to see him looking so exhausted.


    Guibai whispered, ¡°The crown prince is showing minor symptoms of smallpox, so the marquis went to the pce to look for an imperial physician. Then, the empress summoned him because she wanted to talk to him. After all that running around today, it¡¯s only to be expected that he¡¯ll be tired.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She went to her bed and dutifully massaged Ning Yuxuan¡¯s head for a while. Then, she took off his shoes and outer robe from him, so that he would be able to sleep morefortably.


    Ning Yuxuan half-open his eyes to look at her, but he didn¡¯t say anything.


    Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°My lord, go to sleep. This servant will watch over you.¡±


    After making some inaudibly sounds, Ning Yuxuan quickly fell asleep while lying in her arms.


    Ji Man was lost in her thoughts as she looked at the side of his face.


    Wen Wan and Tanxiang didn¡¯t have smallpox. She had just given them a concoction from Imperial Physician Lin that would give them red dots. The dots would fade in a few days, but right now, the capital was in an emergency state. Even if those dots faded, for the safety of this entire household, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t bring them back yet. This little punishment could be considered a lesson to Wen Wan.


    But, she had a strange feeling. Marquis Moyu had been too indulgent towards hertely. Not only had he not tried to harm her fetus, he had allowed her to manipte and order Wen Wan.


    Why was he acting like this? Ji Man supported her chin and thought about this for a while. She remembered Guiabi¡¯s recent words of, ¡°The crown prince is showing minor symptoms of smallpox¡±. Could it be that Ning Yuxuan was nning on jumping ship to the third prince¡¯s faction? No matter how she looked at it, the crown prince¡¯s ship wasn¡¯t very stable.


    However, looking at how hard he was working for the crown prince, this guess didn¡¯t seem right either. What was Ning Yuxuan plotting?

 Chapter 191 - The marquis has become infected (2)

    Chapter 191 ¨C The marquis has be infected (2)


    In the middle of the night, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s restless movements awakened Ji Man. He seemed to be having a nightmare. He kept muttering iprehensible nonsense, as well as Wen Wan and Jinse¡¯s names.


    Ji Man rolled her eyes; even his dreams were filled with women. He really was a stallion.


    However, she felt surprised when she felt wetness around his eyes. Ji Man¡¯s eyes widened. She used amp that hadn¡¯t been extinguished yet to check. There really was liquid on her fingers.


    Was Ning Yuxuan really crying? Ji Man raised her eyebrows and used his clothes to wipe away the liquid on her fingers. Perhaps, he was dreaming that all of his beautiful women had left him, and he was feeling heartbroken.


    Her hand identally touched his face, and she noticed that it felt somewhat hot. Ji Man paused, then she touched his forehead.


    It really did feel a bit hot.


    Getting a fever at this point in time was very rming. Ji Man hurriedly put on her outer robes and went out to call the imperial physician.


    ¡ª


    In the middle of the night, Feiwan Courtyard became brightly lit. Imperial Physician Lin¡¯s expression was very ugly as he checked Marquis Moyu¡¯s pulse. In the end, he could only shake his head. ¡°The marquis has smallpox.¡±


    Everyone else in the room immediately and neatly retreated a step. Ji Man turned her head and looked at these women for a moment before asking the imperial physician, ¡°It¡¯s possible to treat smallpox, right?¡±


    ¡°The emperor has already ordered the imperial physicians to find a solution,¡± Imperial Physician Lin said, ¡°But they haven¡¯t figured out a cure yet. So, it¡¯ll better to iste the people with smallpox from everyone else.¡±


    It definitely wouldn¡¯t be okay to send Marquis Moyu to that ry station. Ji Man gritted her teeth. It wouldn¡¯t be okay to wake Old Madame up in the middle of the night either. She could only look at the group of women behind her and say, ¡°This is an emergency. The marquis will be sent to the other estate. Who¡¯s willing to go there with him and care for him?¡±


    Jinse turned her head away. Muxu lowered her head and stayed silent. Qi Siling and Qian Lianxue yed dead. Surprisingly, it was Liu Hanyun, who rarely spoke, that raised her head and looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man fake smiled. ¡°All of you constantly say that you love the marquis and how you¡¯re always thinking about him. But now that something happened to him, you¡¯ve all be mutes.¡±


    None of these women were brave and willing to risk their own lives. Ji Man also knew that most people in ancient times weren¡¯t knowledgeable about smallpox. They thought that smallpox could be spread by a single touch. And so, most of these women didn¡¯t dared to step forward, much less follow Marquis Moyu to the other estate to care for him.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, then I¡¯ll personally go to the other estate to take care of the marquis,¡± Ji Man lightly said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to bother someone to go out and have the servants prepare a carriage for us.¡±


    Qi Siling was the first one to make a sound of acknowledgement, then she rushed out of the room. The other people stayed silent. Liu Hanyun kept raising and lowering her head.


    At the end, when Guibai was carrying Marquis Moyu onto the carriage, Liu Hanyun finally stepped forward and quietly said, ¡°Hanyun is willing to leave with Madam.¡±


    Ji Man looked at her in surprise. Her eyes showed a true smile as she said, ¡°Alright.¡±


    After Liu Hanyun had packed up her stuff, she went into the carriage behind the main one and followed them to the other estate.


    There definitely wasn¡¯t a chance to receive favor by going to the other estate. Furthermore, a moment of carelessness might lead to her losing her life. So, why was Ji Man willing to take this risk? It wasn¡¯t because Marquis Moyu looked so beautiful that she couldn¡¯t bear to leave him. It was entirely for her benefit.


    Think about it, as long as she took the proper protective measures, there was no way that she would get infected with smallpox. Moreover, Ning Yuxuan was definitely the type of person that would clearly remember past gratitude and grudges. In the future, he might be willing to spare her life at a crucial point because of her current decision.


    Her little abacus was calcting the pros and cons of this decision. Although there was risk, high risk came with the potential for high reward.


    However, Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure out why Liu Hanyun had volunteered toe along. Liu Hanyun was Liu <i>Mama</i>¡¯s adopted daughter. Ji Man had heard that Liu Hanyun had saved the marquis¡¯s life several years ago and was promoted to a concubine. In the past several years, she hadn¡¯t been excessively favored or neglected. Compared to other concubines, she lived her life more like a servant than a concubine.


    Inside the main carriage, Ji Man had put on a veil and Marquis Moyu¡¯s head was resting on herp. She couldn¡¯t resist sighing. ¡°You¡¯re so lucky. You met a person that truly loves you.¡±


    Other than genuine love, she really couldn¡¯t think of another reason why Liu Hanyun would be willing to follow after him.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly opened his eyes, then he slowly closed them again. He seemed bothered by the slightly bumpy ride and leaned closer to Nie Sangyu¡¯s body.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan¡¯s wish had finallye true. Marquis Moyu hade to the other estate. However, after she rushed outside, she hesitated in walking forward when she saw that Guibai was carrying the marquis on his back. Seeing that Nie Sangyu and Liu Hanyun had alsoe, she looked even more confused. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the marquis?¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s already been confirmed that he has smallpox. It¡¯s very serious, so he has to be isted from everyone else. I made the decision toe here with him.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s reaction was simr to the other women. She instinctively retreated a few steps. However, seeing how close Nie Sangyu was standing to Ning Yuxuan, she felt somewhat suspicious. ¡°Since it¡¯s so serous, why is Madam here?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Even if I have to give up my life, I want to be with the marquis. Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, aren¡¯t you also deeply in love with the marquis? Let¡¯s die together with the marquis then.¡±


    There was horror in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes, but she didn¡¯t know what to say. It was true that she loved Ning Yuxuan, but... there were already so many people taking care of him. There was no need for her to help out too, right? What if she got smallpox too? Yuxuan would definitely feel upset if that were to happen.


    With these thoughts in mind, she took a step back.


    (T/N: I posted a spoileryment about Liu Hanyun and Ji Man¡¯s assumption that Liu Hanyun is genuinely in love with Ning Yuxuan below.)

 Chapter 192 - A doll that had been torn apart (1)

    Chapter 192 ¨C A doll that had been torn apart (1)


    Carried on Guibai¡¯s back, Ning Yuxuan half-opened his eyes. There was a hint of a cynical smile in his gaze. However, he closed his eyes a momentter and stayed quiet as he was carried into the main room.


    Ji Man distributed facemasks to the imperial physician, Guibai, and Liu Hanyun. She had prepared these masks when she was feeling bored. They were even various decorative flowers embroidered on them, so they didn¡¯t look ugly at all.


    Imperial Physician Lin smiled and praised her, ¡°Madam, you¡¯re very thoughtful.¡±


    Other than the facemasks, Ji Man had also prepared gloves. As a pregnant woman, her ability to fight off sickness wasn¡¯t very good. After Ji Man seemed as if she was armed to the teeth in protective gear, she helped Marquis Moyu wash up and wiped his body down with rice wine to help him cool down.


    Although she was doing this for ulterior motives, Ji Man was very attentive with her care.


    Marquis Moyu woke up again during the night. He looked at her and said, ¡°This must be hard on you.¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Sangyu isn¡¯t willing to abandon you.¡±


    Marquis Moyu seemed touched by her words. He looked around, coughed a few times, and went back to sleep.


    Ji Man stayed up the rest of the night. She gradually drifted off to sleep on the cushioned couch as dawn arrived. She didn¡¯t even remember to properly cover herself with a nket.


    The person on the bed, who had gotten a good night¡¯s sleep, opened his eyes, yawned, got out of bed, pulled up the nket for her, stretched a bit, and sat down at the desk to write something. Suddenly, he heard a sound from the outside and swiftly returned to his bed.


    ¡ª


    When Mu Shuiqing had heard the news that the marquis had also gotten smallpox, she still felt a bit worried for him. She wasn¡¯t really crazy. She had lost her unborn child and future chances at favor, had been forcefully sent here, and the crown prince had also given up on her and hadn¡¯t made any attempts at rescuing her for this ce. She had just been speaking without regard for anything because she was feeling too hopeless. This created the false impression of insanity.


    Now that Wen Wan, Marquis Moyu, and Nie Sangyu had alle here, this ce no longer felt so eerie. She suddenly felt a bit hopeful.


    After tidying up her appearance, Mu Shuiqing actually took the initiative to go to the main room. She stood in front of the doors for a while before finally stepping forward and knocking.


    Guibai opened the doors and looked at her in surprise. He saw the haggard-looking Mu Shuiqing tugging at her clothes as she mumbled out her question, ¡°Can this servant see the marquis?¡±


    And so, Ji Man, who had only been napping for a little bit, was woken up. Her eyes were bloodshot as she listened to Guibai report Mu Shuiqing¡¯s request. She yawned and said, ¡°I¡¯ll go outside to see her.¡±


    Mu Shuqiqing was dressed as simply as a peasant and didn¡¯t look that good. However, when she saw Nie Sangyuing outside, her eyes showed emotion, ¡°Madam...¡±


    Ji Man smiled at her. ¡°This is perfect. I stayed up all night and need a break to catch up on sleep. I¡¯ll hand over the marquis to you for care. If you need anything, just call for Guibai.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing was shocked. She was allowing her to care for the marquis, just like that? Everyone had been saying she was a lunatic.


    Ji Man seemed as if she hadn¡¯t seen Mu Shuiqing¡¯s stunned look. She went inside, got her pillow, and went to the neighboring courtyard to sleep.


    Mu Shuiqing briefly hesitated before entering the main room.


    Once upon a time, she had loved Marquis Moyu. But, it was too difficult to get his heart; he had always been guarded against her. In order to fulfill the crown prince¡¯s task, she would only gradually get further and further apart from Ning Yuxuan.


    So what if she had a flower-like beauty that was as beautiful as the moon? So what if he had been momentarily mesmerized by her dancing? The moment she lost her value, hadn¡¯t she been reduced to her current ghastly appearance?


    Mu Shuiqing knew that she didn¡¯t have the power to do anything right now. She just wanted to see him. This man, who carried the responsibility of countless lives on his back, was he at death¡¯s door now?


    Right after she stepped into the room, before her feelings had time to disperse, Mu Shuqing saw Marquis Moyu sitting at the desk. He didn¡¯t look like a sick patient infected with smallpox at all. Instead, he seemed perfectly fine.


    He looked at her with a devastatingly beautiful smile. ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing¡¯s pupils contracted. Her feet felt frozen in ce. She could only nkly look at him.


    ¡ª


    By the time Ji Man had woken up from a restorative nap, it was already noon. Liu Hanyun had prepared lunch and was cing the dishes on a small table.


    ¡°Awake?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She did feel somewhat hungry. She nced at Liu Hanyun, who had her usual expressionless look. Ji Man obediently got up, brushed her teeth, and sat down at the table. ¡°Why were you the one cooking?¡±


    ¡°If someone else cooked, would you be willing to eat that food?¡± Liu Hanyun pursed her lips. Her face, which didn¡¯t have any makeup, felt as familiar as an kindly, older sister figure from a neighboring family.


    Her choice of words was pretty interesting. Ji Man picked up a pair of chopsticks and looked at her. ¡°Why should I trust the food that you cooked? It¡¯s not impossible that you would want to harm me too.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t eat it then.¡± Liu Hanyun¡¯s voice didn¡¯t sound angry at all. She calmly said, ¡°Wait and have Guibai cook for you.¡±


    Ji Man hastily stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and swallowed it down with some rice. ¡°Haha, let¡¯s not bother him.¡±


    Liu Hanyun looked at her oddly, then she ced a food box on the side of the table and said, ¡°Madam, when you visit the marquister, you can bring this with you. Although this food isn¡¯t as rich as the food in the marquis¡¯s main estate, it¡¯ll be better for him to eat simpler foods while he¡¯s sick.¡±


    Puzzled, Ji Man asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go there yourself? It¡¯s usually rare for you to have a chance to see him. There aren¡¯t many people here, and no one ispeting for favor right now. Why are you still avoiding the marquis?¡±


    Liu Hanyun paused. She faintly smiled and said, ¡°This servant isn¡¯t avoiding him. It¡¯s just more convenient for Madam to bring the food over. This servant still has work to do.¡±


    This person... Ji Man shook her head. Should she say that Liu Hanyun was just too used to being a servant. Or, was she a person that was able to stay detached from earthly affairs? Liu Hanyun was quite interesting. It was truly rare for a person like her to exist in the marquis¡¯s household.

 Chapter 193 - A doll that had been torn apart (2)

    Chapter 193 ¨C A doll that had been torn apart (2)


    When Ji Man went over to the main room while carrying Liu Hanyun¡¯s food, Marquis Moyu was already awake and leaning back on the side of the bed for support. He looked quite sick.


    As Ji Man fed him, she asked, ¡°Did Shuiqing leave?¡±


    Looking like an innocent child that had just woken up, Ning Yuxuan replied, ¡°En, she seemed to have only stayed for a little bit.¡±


    Ji Man faintly smiled and stayed silent. She waited until Ning Yuxuan was finished eating before saying, ¡°My lord, you look much better today.¡±


    ¡°En, my fever didn¡¯t get worse because you did a really good job taking care of me.¡±


    Ji Man narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°My lord, did you catch the smallpox from the crown prince? This servant heard that crown prince has also fallen sick.¡±


    The crown prince¡¯s estate had beenpletely locked down. The third prince was temporarily handling all of the crown prince¡¯s responsibilities and also assisting the emperor in governmental matters. His circle of influence was very strong right now.


    ¡°Maybe.¡±Ning Yuxuan wasfortably full and leaning back on the bed like azy cat. ¡°Oh well, now that I¡¯m sick, a lot of things will be given to the Six Ministries. It¡¯ll be their turn to feel a headache.¡±


    It sounded as if he was gloating over other people¡¯s misfortunate. For a moment, Ji Man wondered if he was scheming something.


    Ning Yuxuan finally remember something else and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    It was finally time for Ji Man to y her role.


    ¡°After Miss Wan-<i>er</i> heard that the marquis had be infected with smallpox, she hasn¡¯te here.¡± Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°She¡¯s probably scared of getting sick too. It makes sense. She¡¯s at the peak of her life. How could she want to die?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and looked at her in askance. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you afraid of dying?¡±


    ¡°My lord, Sangyu has already said that I¡¯m not willing to abandon you. When the mountains have ttened and the heavens and earth have joined, then I¡¯ll be willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.¡± As Ji Man said this, she felt so nauseated with herself that she wanted to roll her eyes. But, this really was the perfect thing to say right now.


    ¡°Oh, why do I remember someone saying, ¡°The mountains haven¡¯t ttened. The heavens and earth haven¡¯t joined. I¡¯m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.¡± Marquis Moyu stroked his chin. ¡°Did I mishear something?¡±


    (T/N: This was originally a conversation between Ji Man and Ning Errong in chapter 55. Maybe one of the servants told Ning Yuxuan about it, or maybe Errong told him in a misguided effort to get him to treat Nie Sangyu better?)


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed and said, ¡°You¡¯re sick and remembering things wrong.¡± Crouching by the bedside, she looked as if she was one step away from wagging an imaginary tail. ¡°Actions show the real truth. My lord, look. Isn¡¯t my actions proof that I never want to leave with you? That I¡¯ll follow you, even to death? Isn¡¯t that more honest than those people, who say you¡¯re her precious, her sweetheart, but will run away as soon as you fall sick?¡±


    Once these words were said, then Ning Yuxuan, who wanted to change the focus of their conversation, had to face the truth.


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t willing to risk her life to watch over him while he was sick. She hadn¡¯t evene here to see him.


    Ning Yuxuan remembered all of the little details that had happened between himself and Wen Wan. A long time ago, it was her gentleness, kindness, and ability to preserve in the face of adversity that had attracted him. Moreover, it was because of those qualities that he had fallen in love with her. However, after the two of them had be husband and wife, many things had happened. He had seen another side of her.


    Had he had made an error of judgment? Or perhaps, Wen Wan was just too talented at acting, so he never saw the real her until now?


    Marquis Moyu close his eyes and sunk into deep contemtion.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t bother him. If she said too much, it would only make him suspicious. It was better to take care and not overdo it. She left right after packing up the bowls and chopsticks.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man actually had a much better idea of Wen Wan¡¯s character than Ning Yuxuan.


    When Ji Man had read the original novel, the female lead had been like a Holy Mother. She couldn¡¯t even bear to step on ants. However, at that time, the female lead had the male lead¡¯s unwavering love and a female lead¡¯s supreme halo. She wasn¡¯tcking in anything. She only needed to show a sensitive heart, and she would get her happy ending.


    But now, she had stuck her foot into Wen Wan¡¯s fairytale. Because of her, Wen Wan had lost her halo several times, and Ning Yuxuan had gradually be suspicious of Wen Wan. The female lead clearly didn¡¯t have the IQ or EQ topete with her. The more time went on, the more she would be able to expose Wen Wan¡¯s unpleasant shorings.


    Wen Wan was like a doll. When you left it alone, it looked quite pretty. But, Ji Man had dragged her down from her pedestal, slowly ruined her dress, and ripped open her skin until the ugly, shredded stuffing had fallen out.


    Nie Sangyu had lost to Wen Wan because she hadn¡¯t been given the female lead¡¯s wonderful treatment. Marquis Moyu had never loved her. From the very beginning, Nie Sangyu was like a doll that had been ripped open by Marquis Moyu¡¯s heartlessness. It was only natural that no one would like a torn apart doll.


    ¡ª


    That night, Mu Shuiqing came over to help her tidy up the courtyard. However, she seemed somewhat distracted and cut her hands several times on the sharp straw.


    Ji Man nced at her, then took out a jar of ointment from her bag and handed it to Mu Shuiqing.


    Still feeling at apletely loss, Mu Shuiqing took the item and reflexively said, ¡°Thank you Madam.¡± She looked up at Nie Sangyu and suddenly said, ¡°This servant has a question.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°If the marquis doesn¡¯t recover from his illness, what will Madam do?¡±

 Chapter 194 - The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (1)

    Chapter 194 ¨C The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (1)


    When Ji Man heard this question, she really wanted to say that Mu Shuiqing was too foolish and na?ve. Marquis Moyu was the grand male lead. How could he possibly die from something as minor as smallpox? No matter how she looked at it, this would be impossible.


    However, she had to provide a response that would be understandable to the ignorant masses. Moreover, she had to blend in with the people that were feeling nervous about Marquis Moyu¡¯s illness. And so, with tears in her eyes, she unflinchingly said, ¡°If the marquis dies, then I¡¯ll apany him into the eternal rest.¡±


    Stunned, Mu Shuqing could only stare at her.


    Behind them, someone quietly closed the door that had been slightly cracked open.


    Who didn¡¯t know how to say catchy phrases? Hadn¡¯t Wen Wan been the loudest one in proiming her love for Marquis Moyu? Ji Man gently hit her legs that felt somewhat sore. She decided to go back to the neighboring courtyard to rest.


    If Marquis Moyu really kicked the bucket this time, she would go look for Nie Sangyu and ask her if she would let her off and allow her to return to the modern world.


    Her stomach felt somewhat ufortable, so Ji Man went to Imperial Physician Lin to check her over. She was probably just too tiredtely.


    After he prepared a bowl of medicine for her, he implored her once again, ¡°Madam, you can¡¯t overwork yourself. It¡¯s bad for your pregnancy.¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to overwork herself either, ah. However, she didn¡¯t have a god-like male lead to protect her or a god-like secondary male character to help her. In order to deal with that group of women that wanted to bite her, how could she not be overworked?


    Since she had been given the rare opportunity to leave the main estate, Ji Man decided that she would use this time to work on her improving her health. After all, if something happened, she could at least leave behind a baby for Nie Sangyu, right?


    ¡ª


    After Wen Wan calmed herself down over the course of a few days, she decided that her behavior had been inappropriate. And so, she gritted her teeth as she stepped outside into the rain and stood there for a night. By the next morning, when she visited Marquis Moyu, she looked quite sickly.


    Leaning against the bedside, Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan, who was five steps away from him. He weakly smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally willing toe see me.¡±


    Wen Wan replied in an equally weak-sounding voice, ¡°I came herete. Do you me me?¡±


    Ji Man felt that these two people could totally be dropped into a snowy mountain scene. Then, after dabbing some tomato sauce onto them for fake blood and putting them on separate sides, they would both stretch their hands out to each other while clinging onto the mountain.


    A weak voice would call out, ¡°Yuxuan!¡±


    An even weaker voice would say, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>!¡±


    When their hands were only a few inches apart, they would waste time saying some nonsense. There would be another stter of tomato sauce. Then, the only things left behind would be a beautiful, snowy backdrop and poignant music.


    Season finale!


    Standing at the side and hugging her arms, Ji Man was cracking herself up with these thoughts. While she was gleefully imaging this scene, Marquis Moyu interrupted her in a low voice, ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Ji Man returned to her senses and noticed that female lead had already sat down. Wen Wan was coughing and gasping for breath. How very pitiful.


    The male lead only watched the female lead. It was difficult to decipher what he was feeling.


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Bring over the imperial physician for Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Of course, he was treating her as his errand girl. Ji Man twitched her lips and silently left to do his bidding.


    It was easy to guess that Wen Wan hade here to win herself some pity. She would definitely excuse her recent behavior by saying she had been too sicktely, so she hadn¡¯t been able to visit the marquis. Perhaps, Wen Wan would even try to nder her by saying that he shouldn¡¯t believe in other people¡¯s false usations.


    However, there was only one doctor in this estate, Imperial Physician Lin. Who was Imperial Physician Lin? He was the imperial noble consort¡¯s confidant. And, who was the imperial noble consort? She was Nie Sangyu¡¯s aunt. Ji Man merely had to tell Imperial Physician Lin what she wanted him to say.


    He followed her back to the main room. After checking Wen Wan¡¯s pulse, he said, ¡°This miss just has a slight cold. It was rainingst night. She probably forgot to close her windowst night and caught her cold that way. It¡¯s no big deal. She¡¯ll be fine after resting for a bit.¡±


    Marquis Moyu asked, ¡°She doesn¡¯t need to drink any medicine?¡±


    Imperial Physician Lin smiled and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s not that serious, she naturally doesn¡¯t need any medicine. As long as she doesn¡¯t get soaked in the rain again and has a good night¡¯s sleep tonight, she¡¯ll be fully recovered by tomorrow.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face changed colors. She coughed again and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already been sick for a couple of days. How can you say it¡¯s not serious?¡±


    Imperial Physician Lin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. He nced at Marquis Moyu and somewhat hesitantly said, ¡°This old one has been a doctor for many years. The youngdy¡¯s sickness should be at the initial state. It definitely shouldn¡¯t have alreadysted for a couple of days. If you just rx your mind, your illnesses will disappear.¡±


    The implied meaning of his words was that she was pretending to be sick. Wen Wan¡¯s expression stiffened. She hatefully looked at the nearby Nie Sangyu.


    Marquis Moyu seemed a bit tired. Unwilling to pursue this matter further, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, Wan-<i>er</i>, you should leave and go rest.¡±


    Wen Wan stood up. She really wanted to leave, but it seemed that she hadn¡¯t gotten any benefit out of this visit. It felt as if she had only shot herself in the foot by pretending to be sick. She showed a slightly unwilling expression and said to Ning Yuxuan, ¡°My lord, Wan-<i>er</i> still wants to stay here to take care of you.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ji Man firmly nodded. ¡°You can take a turn with taking care of the marquis tonight. The marquis will cough and be feverish at night. There¡¯s a jar of wine by him. Wipe his body down with wine to help him cool down. You just need to be careful. Don¡¯t directly touch the marquis¡¯s body. Wrap a handkerchief around your hand before touching him.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face turned red, then it turned white. She hadn¡¯t expected that Nie Sangyu would really allow her to stay. It would only take a moment of carelessness to identally touch his body while wiping him down. What if she ended up getting infected with smallpox?


    Seeing Wen Wan¡¯s desire to retreat, Ji Man was very happy. She patted Wen Wan¡¯s shoulder as if she was handing over a heavy duty to her. Then, she turned around left the room.


    Wen Wan stood in the room. Behind her, she could feel Ning Yuxuan¡¯s burning gaze. She didn¡¯t have any way of retreating, and she didn¡¯t want to get any closer. She could only tightly clutch her handkerchief.


    T/N: Sorry for thete chapter parts! I¡¯ll make up Sunday and Monday¡¯s part on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

 Chapter 195 - The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (2)

    Chapter 195 ¨C The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (2)


    However, the female lead had another characteristic, a very weak body. It didn¡¯t take much effort for Wen Wan to faint. She took a deep breath, turned around, looked at Marquis Moyu, and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> will properly serve...¡±


    Before her words were finished, she had already fallen onto the ground.


    Hearing the thumping sound from outside, Ji Man thought; Wen Wan really wasn¡¯t scared of falling. She probably had a huge bump on her head right now. It could be counted as Wen Wan not hesitating to pay a price.


    It would have been really interesting to see Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression right now. What was that saying? A married couple could only stay together when everything was going well. They would fly apart like birds in a forest that were startled by a noise when faced with a disaster. Ning Yuxuan would definitely be more guarded against Wen Wan in the future.


    Ning Yuxuan had Guibai carry Wen Wan back to her room.


    In the end, Ji Man wasn¡¯t able to escape her fate of caring for the marquis that night.


    ¡ª


    Compared to the chaos that was running rampant outside, this estate could be considered rtively peaceful. The imperial court was rapidly going through substantial changes. While Marquis Moyu was absent in the Six Ministries, people were causing trouble and secretly defecting to the third prince¡¯s faction.


    In the midst of his illness, the crown prince wrote an anxious letter to Marquis Moyu. Unfortunately for him, Marquis Moyu was also sick and could only express his inability to take any helpful actions.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    The third prince wasn¡¯t inferior to the crown prince in handling political affairs. On the contrary, he handled the crown prince¡¯s responsibilities remarkably well and received the emperor¡¯s praise. In addition, the imperial noble consort¡¯s younger son was turning one month old, so the emperor was feeling quite happytely. Even though the emperor had a capital full of seriously sick people, he didn¡¯t seem that upset.


    And so, in a short period of half a month, many people in the imperial court had changed their allegiance to the third prince¡¯s faction.


    Since the prime minister had reached an elderly age, the third prince formally wrote a report requesting the emperor to allow the prime minister to retire and return to his hometown. The emperor agreed, and the position of the prime minister became vacant. A group of people supported Xiao Tianyi to seed his father¡¯s previous position as the prime minister. Another group of people supported promoting someone else to that position.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Xiao is the name of empress¡¯s maiden n.)


    The two parties shed, and there was chaos in the imperial court. While countless people were dying of smallpox outside of the capital, the people in the imperial court were still in the mood to scheme around for political power.


    ¡ª


    Sitting by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s bedside, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist sighing, ¡°The life of themonfolk is bitter regardless of whether an empire is on the rise or falling.¡±


    The leisurely Marquis Moyu looked at her in askance. ¡°As a woman, you should only focus on being a good wife and mother. Why are you worrying about themonfolk?¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips. This lord certainly had a sturdy body. Even though he was infected with smallpox, his appetite was better than before. He ate food with relish and slept peacefully at night. If red spots hadn¡¯t recently appeared on his face and body, Ji Man would suspect that he was just pretending to be sick.


    ¡°My lord, are you not worried about your current unfortunate situation?¡±


    As the person most sensitive to the shifts in powers, it was impossible for Marquis Moyu to remain neutral in the current power dispute.


    Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled and pointed at one of the rashes on his handsome face. As if he was talking about the vicissitudes of life, he said, ¡°Sangyu, my life is almost gone. Who woulde here and force me to make decisions? The most important thing in life isn¡¯t money and power, it¡¯s living.¡±


    In other words, he was risking his life for stability and peace.


    Ji Man pondered over his words. She somewhat understood the meaning of his words.


    ¡ª


    From time to time, Old Madame would send over tonics and other supplements to the other estate to show her care towards her only son. When Old Madame had initially heard that her son had be infected with smallpox, she almost copsed. She knelt in the prayer hall for several days in hopes that Buddha would protect Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡ª


    The crown prince sent over a letter expressing his condolences as well as asking, ¡°Have you been eating and keeping up your strength?¡±


    Ji Man saw Ning Yuxuan picking up a brush and scribbling out a few words, ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡±


    After the crown prince saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s reply, he didn¡¯t send any more letters.


    On the contrary, the third prince was the one that sent over many tonics and herbal supplements under the excuse that he was Marquis Moyu¡¯s cousin-inw.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man strictly followed the imperial physician¡¯s order of not overworking herself. She didn¡¯t make any attempts at guessing what Ning Yuxuan was up to. After taking care of him every night, she would clean herself with disinfectant and work on maintaining her own health and the unborn baby¡¯s.


    ¡ª


    This outbreak of smallpox had spread far andsted for a long time. However, the crown prince seemed to have inherited the rumored dragon spirit and body. He was the first person to recover from smallpox.


    Or, to put it in another way, the crown prince finally couldn¡¯t keep staying in his estate and doing nothing. Seeing that the third prince¡¯s power was rising each day, the crown prince didn¡¯t have any other options. He went to the ce, kneeled down in front of the emperor in an attempt to win himself some sympathy, and said that he wanted to assist his imperial father with his worries and difficulties.


    In the end, the emperor still cared about his oldest son. The crown prince had been sick for so long. It couldn¡¯t have been easy for him to recover. And so, he allowed the crown prince to work together with the third prince in managing state affairs.


    However, the third prince had an entire group of helpers on his side. Nie Qingyun had also been recently promoted to a higher position in the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, Ning Mingjie was like a jack-of-all-trades that had a hand everywhere. Inparison to the third prince, the crown prince was in a much weaker position.


    And so, even though Marquis Moyu¡¯s other estate was a ce for insane people and sickly people, the crown prince still honored this ce with a visit.


    As Guibai reported the news of the crown prince¡¯s visit, Marquis Moyu was lying in bed and unwilling to get up. Ji Man decided that it would be bad if the crown prince felt slighted, so she called Liu Hanyun over and went to greet the crown prince.


    The crown prince had recently recovered from his illness, and there were still traces of red dots on his face. After looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s pregnant belly for a few moments, he wanted to go inside to see Marquis Moyu.


    ¡°Your Highness, wait. The marquis hasn¡¯t recovered from his illness yet.¡± Ji Man naturally had to try to stop him. The person inside had already been showing an attitude of not wanting to see any guests. As the marquis¡¯s good wife, she had to make a token effort in stopping this tiger from barging into his room.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. The imperial physician said that once a person fully recovers from smallpox, he¡¯ll be immune to it.¡± The crown prince ignored Nie Sangyu¡¯s attempts and continued walking towards the main room. ¡°This prince hasn¡¯t seen Yuxuan in too long. I really miss him.¡±

 Chapter 196 - Don’t you dare hurt my baby! (1)

    Chapter 196 ¨C Don¡¯t you dare hurt my baby! (1)


    Wow, he even said that he really miss him. Ji Man twitched her lips; she really wanted to ask, ¡°Your Highness, are you gay?¡±


    However, the crown prince was no longer showing his usualzy smile, and his joking demeanor had disappeared. His imperial crown was shing with a golden radiance. His sharp eyes seemed to be aggressively saying that the world was within his grasp.


    It appeared that he had be angered by the recent shifts in power. Was the cobra-like crown prince finally about to face his opponent head-on?


    Ji Man straightened her posture, sighed, and said, ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re the heir to the crown. If you end up getting sick because of Yuxuan, then all of lives in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household won¡¯t be enough topensate the nation. Yuxuan was still feverishst night, and he¡¯s not very clear-headed right now. Your Highness, if you insist on seeing him, how stopping at the doorway and talking to him from there? This servant will have Guibai put down the bed curtains.¡±


    Zhao Zhe stared at her, then he suddenly stroked her cheek with the back of his hand and started to move his hand down to touch her belly.


    Guibai and Liu Hanyun were still standing nearby them, but this person dared to overstep propriety in front of witnesses.


    Ji Man¡¯s expression immediately sunk. She took a step back to avoid his touch and coldly said, ¡°Your Highness, please conduct yourself with dignity.¡±


    Zhao Zhe chuckled, but his eyes were icy as he looked at her. He took a step closer, lowered his head, and whispered into her ear, ¡°You¡¯ve be a scourge after all. That time at the river, I shouldn¡¯t have been weak-hearted.¡±


    Remembering the icy river that had chilled her the bones, Ji Man¡¯s face paled. She clenched her fist and met his eyes as she said, ¡°Your Highness, thank you for your benevolence back then. Sangyu remembers that moment from the bottom of my heart. You have Sangyu¡¯s undying gratitude.¡±


    ¡°Haha,¡± The crown prince raised his head and turns his gaze towards Marquis Moyu¡¯s room. ¡°Yuxuan had been able to temporarily hide, but he can¡¯t hide forever. As a woman, you should just stay out of this.¡±


    After saying this, he went around Nie Sangyu and pushed open the doors.


    Ji Man could only follow after him.


    Marquis Moyu was lying in bed. His handsome face was covered in red dots, and his overly flushed cheeks gave off the impression that he really was feverish to the point of being muddle-headed.


    The crown prince nced at him, then he looked at the nearby Imperial Physician Lin and said, ¡°This prince¡¯s imperial physician has recently figured out a treatment method for curing smallpox. He came with this prince, and he¡¯s right outside. Imperial Physician Lin, you can go andpare notes with him.¡±


    As soon as he heard these words, Imperial Physician Lin¡¯s eyes brightened, and he left the room right away. He didn¡¯t notice Nie Sangyu¡¯s meaningful nce at all.


    Looking at the two women, Zhao Zhe said, ¡°Please bring me some tea.¡± He clearly wanted everyone to leave the room.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t leave and sent Liu Hanyun to get the tea by herself.


    Guibai was also standing by the bedside. He wrung a wet handkerchief and ced it on Maquis Moyu¡¯s forehead.


    The crown prince chuckled and said, ¡°Smallpox is something that¡¯s easy to get and goes away just as easily. If someone uses the same trick as me, there¡¯s no one way that person can fool me. Yuxuan, you¡¯re a clever person. I hope to see you recovering from your smallpox in a few days.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan continued to remain unconscious and seemed as if he hadn¡¯t heard the crown prince¡¯s words.


    Zhao Zhao chuckled again, then he turned his head and looked at Nie Sangyu. ¡°Madam, since you¡¯re not willing to leave to fetch tea, thene out with me into the courtyard to talk for a bit.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t want to leave the room with this lunatic. He had almost killed herst time. No matter what, she didn¡¯t want to be alone with him.


    However, Marquis Moyu was currently unconscious, and there was no one else in the room that had the power to refuse the crown prince. Even if the crown prince decided to drag her out of the room by her arm, Guibai wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him.


    The crown prince walked out of the main courtyard and continued walking until they reached Wen Wan¡¯s courtyard. He seemed extremely familiar with Marquis Moyu¡¯s other estate.


    Tanxiang didn¡¯t look surprised to see them. She closed the doors shut and locked them inside.


    Wen Wan, who had recently fainted yesterday, was standing in the courtyard and looking very spirited. She saluted the crown prince and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> greets His Highness.¡±


    Zhao Zhe superficially smiled at Wen Wan and said, ¡°Miss Wen, you used to be the marquis¡¯s main wife, and you were even pregnant with the marquis¡¯s baby. Now, you¡¯ve fallen down to only being a servant. Do you ept this fate?¡±


    Wen Wan smiled as she looked at Nie Sangyu, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> naturally isn¡¯t satisfied with this.¡±


    Ji Man frowned. These two people seemed to be working together. What were they nning? While she knew that Wen Wan had been colluding with the crown princess consort, she was surprised to see that Wen Wan was looking at the crown prince as if she was his loyal servant. She seemed one step away from wagging her tail.


    Ji Man felt somewhat oppressed by the atmosphere. She straightened her shoulders, looked at them both, and said, ¡°Your Highness, if you want to visit Wan-<i>er</i> to reminisce, then Sangyu won¡¯t bother you. Sangyu will leave first.¡±


    When she turned around, the crown prince¡¯s personal servant, Taxue, blocked her way.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart felt as if it was hanging over an abyss, but she continued to smile. ¡°What are you doing? Is Sangyu not allowed to leave?¡±


    Zhao Zhao sat down on one of the stone stools. He lightlyughed and said, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t want to reminisce. I want toin. Madam, are you willing to listen?¡±


    Did it matter if she was willing or not? With Taxue in front of her, there might as well be a mountain blocking her escape route. Right now, Ji Man was regretting that she had given Gancao and Dengxin such a long vacation. She should have told them toe back sooner. If she had done that, she wouldn¡¯t be so isted and without anyone to help her right now.


    She helplessly turned around and faced the crown prince again. Ji Man instinctively ced her hand protectively over her belly. Her eyes were full of vignce.

 Chapter 197 - Don’t you dare hurt my baby! (2)

    Chapter 197 ¨C Don¡¯t you dare hurt my baby! (2)


    ¡°Starting from the day that the imperial noble consort gave birth to a baby prince to now, when I recovered from my serious illness, I¡¯ve certainly lost a lot,¡± the crown prince slowly said, ¡°Madam, do you know why Yuxuan was the first person that I¡¯m visiting after I got better?¡±


    What an unnecessary question. It was because Ning Yuxuan was like a jar of tiger balm, a cure-all for all sorts of problems. Right now, the crown prince was being attacked from all sides. Other than using everything that he had, did the crown prince have any other choice? Ji Man inwardly cursed him, then she pursed her lips and said, ¡°Sangyu is slow-witted and know nothing about political affairs.¡±


    The crown prince chuckled. ¡°If you¡¯re considered slow-witted, then I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anyone that can be considered clever. Yuxuan is my right-handed man. I won¡¯t let off anyone that might cut off my right hand. This includes people that haven¡¯t been born yet. Madam, do you understand my meaning?¡±


    Zhao Zhe thought that Marquis Moyu had been avoiding him because Nie Sangyu was pregnant. In addition, the third prince¡¯s faction was doing very well. He thought that Ning Yuxuan was having rebellious thoughts of changing sides. The first step towards resolving his current predicament was resolving the problem of Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man wryly smiled. She and this baby were absolutely innocent. Ning Yuxuan definitely wouldn¡¯t rashly make a decision just because she was pregnant. The crown prince had worked together with Ning Yuxuan for a long time, but he clearly didn¡¯t understand Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mind at all.


    Ji Man said, ¡°Your Highness, if you harm Sangyu¡¯s baby, you¡¯ll suffer too. Are you willing to pay that price?¡±


    Zhao Zheughed. ¡°Madam, do you think I¡¯ll do a stupid thing like that? Isn¡¯t Miss Wen also here? How could that crime fall onto me?¡±


    Wen Wan paused, but she still obediently lowered her gaze and didn¡¯t refute.


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. The crown prince was nning on killing her baby in broad daylight, then walking out of here as if he waspletely uninvolved by pushing the crime onto Wen Wan? Did he think Ning Yuxuan was an idiot?


    But, as things stand, Nie n was too powerful. It was reasonable that the crown prince was willing to take risks in his current desperate state. Ji Man protectively covered her belly, took a step back, and looked at Zhao Zhe. ¡°Sangyu has already said this before, Sangyu is willing to risk my life in order to keep people from harming my baby.¡±


    ¡°How are you going to risk your life?¡± Zhao Zhe coldly smiled at her. ¡°Are you going tomit suicide? Taxue, give her a knife.¡±


    Taxue actually threw a knife onto the ground.


    Ji Man nced at the knife, pursed her lips, and said, ¡°Sangyu won¡¯t do anything that only harms myself and helps others. If the crown prince wants to kill Sangyu¡¯s baby while keeping your hands clean of this matter, that won¡¯t be possible.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe¡¯s eyes were full of disdain. ¡°What can you possibly do?¡±


    It was true that there was nothing that she could do. However, she was already standing at the line between life and death. She had to try by saying something to scare the other side. Ji Man quickly thought; how can she save this baby?


    The knife was right at her feet. While trying to think of a solution, Ji Man crouched down and picked it up.


    Use the knife to kill the crown prince? That was the same as seeking death. She wouldn¡¯t do something that stupid. Kill Wen Wan? There wasn¡¯t any benefit to that either. She would probably get in trouble for that too. After thinking things through, Ji Man hardened her heart and thought; how about she stab herself, divert their attention, and pretend that she had suffered a miscarriage?


    But, she wasn¡¯t able to go through with it. It had looked so easy for those brave TV characters to stab themselves. Ji Man really didn¡¯t have their determination.


    She had pointed the knife at herself, but she wasn¡¯t able to move it forward.


    The crown prince impatiently looked at her. ¡°Taxue, help her!¡±


    Taxue nodded, stepped forward, grabbed Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand that was holding the knife, and expressionlessly pushed it down, towards her belly.


    Ji Man struggled with all of her strength. In this emergency situation, would anyone be able to hear her scream? There wasn¡¯t any guarantee for sess if she yelled out Ning Yuxuan¡¯s name. What other words could she scream?


    Ji Man screamed at the top of her lungs, ¡°Long live the People¡¯s Republic of China!¡±


    Everyone in the courtyard was dumbfounded. Was the meaning of these words? Even Zhao Zhe couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to mentally repeat the words she had shouted in an attempt to figure out the meaning. Were these words a secret signal?


    Taxue had also paused. The de was already resting on her belly. Ji Man hurriedly used this time to push Taxue half a step back, then she threw that knife over the wall.


    ¡°Madam?¡± Guabai¡¯s voice came from outside the courtyard. He seemed to have seen the knife that had been thrown out. After a pause, he knocked on the courtyard¡¯s doors. ¡°The marquis woke up. Madam, he wants you to go to his room.¡±


    Thinking that Nie Sangyu was quite interesting, Zhao Zhe had originally wanted to draw this out for a little bit longer. However, against his expectations, someone had reallye to rescue her. Why had Ning Yuxuan woken up at this exact time?


    ¡°Madam?¡±


    After Ji Man¡¯s great disaster had been averted, she momentarily forgot to respond. When Guibai called out again, she hastily called out, ¡°Guibai, save me! The crown prince wants to kill my baby!¡±


    Taxue covered her mouth, but Ji Man continued to try to call out. She kicked over a flowerpot and tried to pinch Taxue. Her usual elegant appearance hadpletely disappeared.


    Guibai paused. In an icy voice, he said, ¡°Miss Wen, please open the door. The marquis is looking for Madam. If anything identally happens to Madam, then it¡¯ll be impossible for the marquis to recover from his illness.¡±


    Zhao Zheughed. ¡°He won¡¯t recover from his illness? What a clever Marquis Moyu. He guessed urately. I can¡¯t bear for anything to happen to him. Taxue, bring Nie Sangyu with us. Let¡¯s go see the marquis that finally woke up!¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart was wildly beating. With her hands pressed behind her back, Taxue forced her forward as he went to open the doors. When the doors were opened, she saw Guibai looking at her with a worried expression.


    The crown prince strode forward and waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Guibai nodded and led the way. From time to time, he would turn his head to look at Nie Sangyu. Since Taxue was still restraining her, she was stumbling with every few steps. No matter how he looked at it, this didn¡¯t look safe.


    During the entire walk, the crown prince¡¯s expression was very cold. When they arrived at the main room, he stretched his hand out, took hold of Nie Sangyu from Taxue, and personally brought her into the room with him.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wonder whose view of Ning Yuxuan is the correct one. Is the crown prince right in that Ning Yuxuan is already wavering because of Nie Sangyu¡¯s pregnancy? Or, is Ji Man right that it¡¯s impossible for Ning Yuxuan to change his feeling so quickly, and he¡¯s wavering for a purely political reason?

 Chapter 198 - The rule that the female lead can’t be killed (1)

    Chapter 198 ¨C The rule that the female lead can¡¯t be killed (1)


    Ji Man had originally thought that although the crown prince wouldn¡¯t tolerate her continued existence, he would at least try to get rid of her secretly. However, he had actually brought her along when he was confronting Marquis Moyu.


    Had the situation already deteriorated to this point? Or, did the existence of her baby really have that big of an influence on the situation?


    Ning Yuxuan was leaning back on the bed, and the flushed color on his face hadn¡¯t faded yet. He was clearing his throat as he watched the two people entering the room. With a hoarse voice, he asked, ¡°Your Highness, why are you doing this? Has Sangyu offended you somehow?¡±


    Zhao Zhe chuckled, closed the doors, and ced Nie Sangyu on one of the seats before saying, ¡°Madam hasn¡¯t offended me. I was just teasing her. I didn¡¯t expect that Madam would take it so seriously.¡±


    Ji Man gritted her teeth. The de had already touched her belly! How could that just be teasing? If she turned around and stabbed him with a knife, could she also say that she was just ying around?


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his gaze and coughed a few times before finally saying, ¡°How could it be fun to tease her? She¡¯s like a hedgehog. Your Highness, if you and Sangyu are ying around, please don¡¯t go to Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s courtyard and bother her. She¡¯s still recovering from her cold.¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows and looked at the sickly man. ¡°I was wondering why you had woken up at this time. Were you worried that I would bother your beloved?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan smiled. ¡°Your Highness, if there¡¯s something you want to say, how about talking to Yuxuan in private? She¡¯s only a woman. You might as well let her leave.¡±


    Recently, the crown prince¡¯s spies had been telling him that Marquis Moyu had be increasingly doting towards Nie Sangyu, to the point that he was even giving Wen Wan the cold shoulder. Before he hade here today, he had already made the mental preparation of speaking frankly and putting everything out into the open. Marquis Moyu was his most useful helper, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t allow any type of hostility toe between them and ruin his grand ns, much less an insignificant Nie Sangyu.


    Zhao Zhe had already decided to sacrifice Wen Wan in order to get rid of Nie Sangyu¡¯s baby, and prepared a follow up action to ensure that Ning Yuxuan would return to being loyal to him.


    However, he hadn¡¯t seen a trace of worry in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes when he had forcefully pulled Nie Sangyu into the room. Ning Yuxuan had only nonchntly nced at Nie Sangyu, who clearly appeared as if she had suffered a frightful shock.


    Where was that rumored love? Zhao Zhe pursed his lips, then he looked at Nie Sangyu again. She had already stood up and was slowly walking to the doors with her hand protectively over her belly.


    Marquis Moyu said, ¡°Your Highness, you personally came here to test Yuxuan. Aren¡¯t you being too distrustful of me?


    ¡°How is this testing?¡± Zhao Zhe awkwardlyughed. He peeked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s clear eyes and averted his gaze.


    ¡°Yuxuan¡¯s actions have always been done for the benefit of the crown prince. What happened with the Six Ministries was bound to happen sooner orter. Your Highness, this incident with the smallpox had given you the benefit of seeing everyone¡¯s true loyalties. How else will Yuxuan be able to weed them out? The emperor¡¯s heart has only shown a slight wavering. Your Highness, why are you panicking over something so minor?¡±


    The crown prince paused before saying, ¡°We¡¯ve been on the same boat for a long time. I remember all of the things you¡¯ve done for me. I just didn¡¯t expect that so many people would change their loyalties; even the ones that were normally so loyal to me have taken this opportunity to leave me. I was feeling too upset over this, so I lost my self-control for a bit.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan tolerantly smiled. ¡°Your Highness, you should believe in Yuxuan more.¡±


    Feeling somewhat ashamed, Zhao Zhe nodded.


    Marquis Moyu coughed to clear his throat and quietly said, ¡°Since the third prince has snatched the limelight, then just let him enjoy it for a while. It¡¯s lonely at the top. Restrain your impulses for a while. After this episode of smallpox is over, Yuxuan will have a big present to give to you.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s brow rxed. He looked at him with a deep gaze. ¡°I was right to believe in you.¡±


    He had been right. If he wanted the world, then he needed to get Marquis Moyu first.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man returned to her own room and lied down. Her heart was still beating rapidly. Covering her belly, she gradually calmed herself down, and the cold sweat slowly dripped down.


    Liu Hanyun silently went to boil hot water. After preparing a tub full of warm water, she walked to Nie Sangyu¡¯s bed and said, ¡°Go take a bath and change your clothes. If you stay covered in sweat, you¡¯ll catch a cold.¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment in surprise, then she gratefully looked at her. However, she wouldn¡¯t feel at ease as long as the prince was here, at Marquis Moyu¡¯s other estate.


    ¡°I¡¯ll guard the doors for you.¡± Liu Hanyun expressionlessly left the room and closed the doors from the outside.


    Ji Man thought; this person¡¯s actions were always so thoughtful and kind, but her face continued to be expressionless. Ji Man felt a warm feeling budding in her chest. Once they returned to the main estate, she definitely had to express her thanks and appreciation.


    After taking a bath, Ji Man¡¯s entire body felt much better. She changed her clothes and went outside. To her surprise, Mu Shuiqing was standing in front of her doors.


    Seeing Mu Shuiqing, Ji Man was reminded of the crown prince and her recent frightful experience. After all, the crown prince had given Mu Shuiqing to Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°The crown prince has already left,¡± Mu Shuqing quietly said, ¡°Wen Wan is serving the marquis in the main room.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. The trepidation in her heart started to dissipate. All was well as long as he left.


    However, why did Wen Wan go over to attend to the marquis? Hasn¡¯t she been using the excuse that there was a big bump on her head, so she couldn¡¯t serve him?


    Feeling curious, Ji Man went over to the main room.


    Wen Wan was holding a bowl of medicine and sitting by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s bed. She warmly fed him the soup, spoonful by spoonful. There was a shallow smile on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face, and he was obediently drinking the soup.


    It seemed that the previous bad feelings between the two had disappeared with the crown prince¡¯s visit. Was it impossible to break them apart? Ji Man clicked her tongue in disapproval. Was Zhao Zhe a neighborhoodmittee director with over twenty years of experience? He had been able to instantly fix the rtionship problems between these two.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wonder why Ji Man is so easily fooled by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s act. Is it just because the author shows the readers additional scenes and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s thoughts? Would we be mislead too without these extra scenes?

 Chapter 199 - The rule that the female lead can’t be killed (2)

    Chapter 199 ¨C The rule that the female lead can¡¯t be killed (2)


    Wen Wan saw Nie Sangyu from her peripheral vision and immediately put down the bowl that she had been holding. ¡°Madam is here? Then, Wan-<i>er</i> will leave first. Madam, you can stay here to serve the marquis.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s the best if you can attend to the marquis. This way, I can give myself a vacation and go back to have a good rest.¡±


    Marquis Moyu also gently grabbed Wen Wan¡¯s hand and said, ¡°You¡¯ve only been here for a short period. Why are you leaving so soon?¡±


    Look at them, holding their hands. If Ning Yuxuan had tried to hold Wen Wan¡¯s hand yesterday, she would have definitely flung it away and jumped out of her seat. She cherished her life too much and wanted to keep a distance from someone infected with smallpox.


    But now, Wen Wan only smiled and let him pull her back down to a sitting position. In an utterly gentle voice used to coax children, she said, ¡°Alright, Wan-<i>er</i> won¡¯t leave. My lord, you have to be good and drink the rest of the medicine, okay?¡±


    Ji Man almost wanted to gag at this nauseating scene and decisively left the room.


    Guibai was standing outside by the doorway. Seeing Nie Sangyuing outside, he said, ¡°Imperial Physician Lin has already prepared pregnancy medicine. Madam, when you go back to your room, you should drink it before resting.¡±


    He had seen the struggle that Madam had gone through today. If it was any other women, she would have already suffered a miscarriage from today¡¯s traumatizing experience. It was fortunate that Madam was able to remainposed and shout out something to temporarily distract everyone. Otherwise, even if he had rushed inside, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to save her in time.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man gratefully looked at him, then she followed his suggestion and went back to her room to drink the medicine.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know what Marquis Moyu had said to the crown prince, but the crown prince didn¡¯te back for a second visit. Instead, he sent over a considerable amount of medicinal supplements. As for Marquis Moyu¡¯s ¡°illness¡±, he really did quickly recover. The only major change was that he no longer wanted Nie Sangyu to attend to him. Instead, he kept Wen Wan by his side.


    The change in his feelings was so abrupt that the onlookers felt whished. Even someone like Liu Hanyun, who didn¡¯t pay attention to the affairs of life, noticed that Marquis Moyu was beginning to fake his feelings towards Wen Wan. How could other people not notice too?


    They werecking a reasonable exnation for why Marquis Moyu would fall back in love with Wen Wan. At the very least, there had to be a reason to show to the public.


    Very quickly, an opportunity came. Half a month after the crown prince¡¯s visit, Ning Yuxuan had fully recovered from his serous illness and was finally leaving the other estate. On the way back to his main estate, something went wrong.


    The matter was very simple. When Nie Sangyu, Ning Yuxuan, as well as other people were preparing to get into the carriages, several ck-robed people emerged from behind a corner of the courtyard.


    That¡¯s right, it was a group of men with their faces covered up with masks and dressed in ck like a murder of crows. They had their swords raised up and were rushing forward to greet the male lead.


    Ji Man moved far away to avoid them. When a scene like this happened, it definitely wasn¡¯t time for a secondary character to perform. Only two possible things can happen right now. One, the male lead would protect the female lead and get injured. Second, the female lead would protect the male lead and get injured.


    Under the current circumstances, it would definitely be thetter. Don¡¯t ask her why she would predict this. That¡¯s just how all novels were written.


    Wen Wan intentionally blocked a swipe of the sword for Ning Yuxuan and received an injury on her stomach. As if she was performing a brain-dead script, the deathly pale-faced female lead lied in the male lead¡¯s arms and asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    Rubbish. If there was something wrong with him, would he be able to hug you and look at you with a deeply affectionate gaze? After silently ridiculing Wen Wan, Ji Man was forced by the situation to rush over and look at Wen Wan in concern.


    ¡°How could you be so foolish?¡± Marquis Moyu appeared extremely distressed. He covered her stomach wound with his hand, but the blood continued to seep out.


    In a gossamer-like voice, Wen Wan replied, ¡°For you, any price is worth it. My lord, if Wan-<i>er</i> can¡¯t be with you in the future, then you have to find someone that loves you as much as Wan-<i>er</i>.¡± These words were so touching that even the nearby horses snorted.


    Naturally, Ning Yuxuan was even more iparably sorrowful. Hugging her, he quietly murmured, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    ¡°My lord, Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s wound needs to be bandaged.¡± Ji Man patted Marquis Moyu, who was immersed in his theatrical y. She calmly said, ¡°If you keep nattering on like this, she¡¯s going to die from blood loss.¡±


    Nearby, Imperial Physician Lin had already taken out his medicine box.


    Marquis Moyu hurriedly carried Wen Wan into the carriage.


    Ji Man naturally didn¡¯t want to squeeze herself into the same carriage as them. And so, she sat down in the carriage behind the main one, with Liu Hanyun and Mu Shuiqing.


    Ning Yuxuan had been the one the said Mu Shuiqing could return with them since she was no longer crazy. Ji Man didn¡¯t have any objections. Anyways, Wen Wan was the person that Mu Shuqing hated, not herself.


    It was a very bumpy carriage ride. By the time they reached Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence, Wen Wan had almost stopped breathing. Originally, it hadn¡¯t been a very serious injury. But, the jolting carriage ride had caused Wen Wan to lose practically half her life. Ji Man couldn¡¯t help thinking that a modern car was so much more dependable.


    As a result of Wen Wan¡¯s worsening condition, Ning Yuxuan was so anxious that he didn¡¯t even go to Old Madame¡¯s courtyard first. Instead, he carried Wen Wan back to Qiangwei Courtyard and had the imperial physician continue his treatment.


    The marquis had recovered from smallpox. Although there were still traces of red dots on his face, it didn¡¯t affect the attractiveness of his face at all. When Old Madame heard that Wen Wan had gotten injured in order to protect her son, she immediately rushed to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡°Old Madame.¡± Ji Man stepped forward and lent an arm to support her. It had been a while since she saw Old Madame. She looked quite frailpared to before.


    Old Madame patted Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand. ¡°I was worried about you. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re okay. You worked hard. It must have been tiring for you to take care of Xuan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    ¡°Sangyu only did what I should.¡± Ji Man nodded and supported her into the courtyard.


    There was already a group of people in the outer room. Seeing Old Madameing inside, they all saluted. However, Marquis Moyu was in Wen Wan¡¯s inner room and unwilling to take even one step away from her bed.


    Sitting on the center seat, Old Madame sighed, ¡°Nothing bad happened to Xuan-<i>er</i>. It could be considered as Buddha protecting him.¡±


    Clutching her handkerchief, Qi Siling stepped forward and said, ¡°It¡¯s also thanks to Miss Wen being so courageous. She was willing to sacrifice her own life in order to protect the marquis.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: When I read this story for the first time, I felt so confused about Ning Yuxuan¡¯s feelings in the following chapters because I somehow missed reading this part,


    ¡°The change in his feelings was so abrupt that the onlookers felt whished. Even someone like Liu Hanyun, who didn¡¯t pay attention to the affairs of life, noticed that Marquis Moyu was beginning to fake his feelings towards Wen Wan. How could other people not notice too?


    They werecking a reasonable exnation for why Marquis Moyu would fall back in love with Wen Wan. At the very least, there had to be a reason to show to the public.¡±


    P.S. Sorry, the day got away from me. I¡¯ll be posting Monday¡¯s chapter part on Saturday EST instead.

 Chapter 200 - Isn’t suffering also a type of blessing, Madam? (1)

    Chapter 200 ¨C Isn¡¯t suffering also a type of blessing, Madam? (1)


    Old Madame nced at her and nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t need to bring it up. I know that Wen Wan deserves to be rewarded.¡±


    Qi Siling nodded and sighed. ¡°Miss Wen already had to be a servant for the rest of her life. This servant didn¡¯t expect that she might not even be able to keep her life. She¡¯s really pitiful...¡±


    At this moment, the servants came out of the inner room to dispose of bloodied white bandages and dirty water. In the inner room, Wen Wan was clenching her teeth and letting out pained moans. Hearing these sounds, the people outside also felt bad for her.


    Other than being the skill that was most often used in the Thirty-Six Stratagems, the tactic of injuring yourself in order to gain sympathy was the best choice for a counterattack. Ji Man had to admit that since Wen Wan was willing to pay this price, she deserved to be rewarded. As long as Ning Yuxuan had the slightest bit of feeling left for Wen Wan, this tactic would be able to rekindle his old me for her.


    However, a woman would feel the most annoyed by this type of tactic. They were the same gender. How could Ji Man not guess what Wen Wan was doing? Still, even if she felt annoyed, she couldn¡¯t show her disdain towards Wen Wan at this time, much less directly oppose her. Right now, this white lotus was weak. And, it was always easy to stirrup sympathy in others with this weak act.


    So, what should she be doing right now? Obviously, she had to treat this injured white lotus with gentle, spring-like warmth. She had to be even more attentive to the female lead than the male lead. She would be more diligent in sending meals over to Wen Wan than anyone else. She would treat Wen Wan as if she was her daughter.


    And so, after Wen Wan¡¯s wound was treated and everyone had taken her turn to express her condolence, Ji Man came over with a bowl of chicken soup that she had finished cooking.


    Ning Yuxuan was currently sitting by the bedside, holding Wen Wan¡¯s hand, and lecturing her, ¡°You can¡¯t act so foolish again.¡±


    Ji Man put down the chicken soup, sat down on a stool near the bed, and followed Ning Yuxuan¡¯s words by gently scolding, ¡°Exactly so. Wan-<i>er</i>, you¡¯re a woman. It won¡¯t be good if you end up with a scar.¡±


    Wen Wan turned her head to look at her and pursed her lips. ¡°Madam, thank you for your concern.¡±


    Ji Man said in a fake-sounding angry voice, ¡°You¡¯re so dedicated to the marquis. Is there a need for you to act so polite towards me?¡± Then, she blew on the chicken soup to cool it down and said, ¡°When you rushed over there to block the sword, you almost scared me to death. If something actually happened to you, what will the marquis do? What will I do?¡±


    The corners of Wen Wan¡¯s lips twitched. These words were too nauseating. It would be normal for the marquis to feel upset if something happened to her. But, how did this have anything to do with Nie Sangyu? Shouldn¡¯t she be the first person to p her hands and shout her appreciation? Why had this awful womane over?


    And so, Wen Wan¡¯s expression was a bit stiff.


    But, to no avail, Ji Man was acting simply too enthusiastic and fond. She even bumped Marquis Moyu from his seat and personally fed Wen Wan chicken soup. With a beaming smile, she wiped the corners of Wen Wan¡¯s mouth with her handkerchief. Moreover, Ji Man also ordered the servants to tidy up Qiangwei Courtyard so that Wen Wan could live here again.


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is only a servant. How can Wan-<i>er</i> live in Qiangwei Courtyard?¡± Although Wen Wan said these words, her face didn¡¯t show any sense of being uneasy or embarrassed.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as I say it¡¯s okay,¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ll handle Old Madame. You deserve a reward for saving the marquis. From top to bottom, everyone in the household should feel gratitude towards you. What¡¯s the big deal about letting you stay in an empty courtyard?¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t be good for Wen Wan to continue to refuse. She looked at Marquis Moyu.


    With a gaze full of tenderness, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just stay here to recuperate.¡±


    ¡ª


    For a brief period, Ji Man bustled around to arrange everything in Wen Wan¡¯s living space so that it was perfect.


    Standing by the side, Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist saying, ¡°You¡¯re pregnant. You shouldn¡¯t be working yourself so hard.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Sangyu should move around more.¡± Ji Man waved her hand at him and ordered the kitchen servants to prepare food that would be good for replenishing lost blood for Wen Wan¡¯s dinner.


    Sometimes, the more you dislike someone, the more you have to treat her well. This was a way of conducting yourself to deal with certain people. Or perhaps, to describe her behavior in a slightly more unpleasant way, she was scheming.


    Rather than frankly showing her dislike, a clever person knew that it was better to treat your enemy generously and hide your true feelings. This way, she would be able to find opportunities to rip apart the other person¡¯s fake persona.


    Seeing how sensible Nie Sangyu was acting, Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled, handed over Wen Wan¡¯s care to her without any worries, and went to his study to attend to the mountain-like piles of documents that had umted.


    Ji Man sent servants to bring Gancao and Dengxin back. They could help her take care of Wen Wan, as well as give her the free time to take care of her pregnant body.


    Since she was pregnant, she couldn¡¯t serve the marquis in bed. Wen Wan was also seriously injured and recuperating. Other than alternatively visiting Nie Sangyu and Wen Wan in the daytime, Marquis Moyu was staying over in a variety of ces at nighttime.


    ¡ª


    Recently, Qi Siling had somehow caught Marquis Moyu¡¯s attention for three nights in a row. He even bestowed her a bolt of cherry blossom silk. Qi Siling had the silk made into clothing and frequently wandered throughout the estate to show it off. Her supercilious behavior provoked quite a few scornful looks.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man decided to go to Shanshui Courtyard to visit Liu Hanyun today. However, as she was passing by Jiyue Courtyard, she saw Liu Hanyun¡¯s servant girl, Chunpi, kneeling in a corner. There was a teacup ced on her head, and she was trembling.


    Holding Gancao¡¯s arm for support, Ji Man went over there and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Startled, Chunpi raised her head and the teacup fell down. Her clothing was sshed by tea and the cup had also shattered.


    ¡°Madam...¡±


    Seeing that Chunpi was very flustered, Ji Man gestured for Gancao to help her stand up. Then she asked again, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are you kneeling here? Where¡¯s your mistress?¡±


    Chunpi pursed her lips and hesitated for a while before finally saying, ¡°My mistress is probably at the back of the residence, washing clothes. This servant made a mistake today and got my mistress in trouble.¡±


    Washing clothes? Ji Man felt slightly surprised. Although the position of an ordinary concubine wasn¡¯t high, they were still considered half a master. No matter what, Liu Hanyun shouldn¡¯t need to do rough work likeundry, right?


    Ji Man had Chunpi led them to theundry area. On the way there, bit-by-bit, Chunpi told her what had happened this morning.

 Chapter 201 - Isn’t suffering also a type of blessing, Madam? (2)

    Chapter 201 ¨C Isn¡¯t suffering also a type of blessing, Madam? (2)


    Chunpi had been bringing over Liu Hanyun¡¯s clothing to the back of the residence and was about to hand them over to theundress. But, then Qi Siling¡¯s personal servant, Banxia, came over. Banxia had been holding her mistress¡¯s cherry blossom silk dress and ordering theundress to be wash it first. The edges of the dress had gotten dirty.


    Chunpi had arrived here first, but Banxia had tantly cut in front of her. However, Chunpi¡¯s temperament was simr to her mistress. She didn¡¯t squabble orpete in anything. And yet, Banxia was determined to bully her. A moment of inattentiveness and Liu Hanyun¡¯s clothes ended up falling into theundry pool. Normally, this wouldn¡¯t be a big deal. However, Liu Hanyun¡¯s dress had recently been stained with arge patch of ink. Some of the ink dissolve into the water and stained the cherry blossom dress.


    Everyone knew how much Qi Siling treasured that dress. Banxia immediately left to report this matter to her mistress and me Chunpi. As usual, Liu Hanyun wasn¡¯t a mistress that wouldin about unfair treatment or being bullied. And so, Qi Siling vented her anger on this pushover by having Chunpi kneeling outside her courtyard and Liu Hanyun personally washing her dress.


    After hearing the entire story, Ji Man thought this matter wasn¡¯t a big deal. Wasn¡¯t it just a dress? Qi Siling had a higher status than Liu Hanyun. Although it wasn¡¯t very nice of her to order Liu Hanyun to wash the dress, it wasn¡¯t breaching any etiquette.


    Still, Ji Man hade to like Liu Hanyun a lot during their stay in the other estate. She had also said that she would help her once they returned to the main estate.


    And so, she continued walking to theundry area. When she got there, she saw Liu Hanyun with her sleeves tied up and washing the dress as if she was doing an ustomed chore.


    Ji Man called out, ¡°Hanyun.¡±


    The servants, that had been gathered around to watch Liu Hanyun, suffered a shock when they turned their heads and saw Nie Sangyu.


    One of them hastily took the dress from Liu Hanyun and said, ¡°Mistress Yun, Madam is here. You should go over there to talk to her. This servant can wash the dress.¡±


    Liu Hanyun turned her head, wiped her wet hands, and walked over. She looked at Nie Sangyu in confusion, ¡°Madam, why did youe here?¡±


    Ji Man reached out to hold her hands and noticed that they were icy-cold. She couldn¡¯t resist covering then up in her hands to warm them up. ¡°I just wanted to visit you and talk for a bit. I didn¡¯t expect that I would find you here.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nodded, nced at the dress in washing pool, and said, ¡°Madam, if there¡¯s something you want to say, let¡¯s go back to Shanshui Courtyard first.¡±


    On the way back, Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t say a single word about Qi Siling ordering her to wash her dress. She would only respond with a brief answer for every question that Ji Man asked her. It was like squeezing out toothpaste.


    With a cheerful smile, Ji Man asked, ¡°You¡¯ve also worked hard in the other estate to take care of the marquis. I¡¯m thinking of going over to Old Madame¡¯s courtyard and requesting her to promote you to the position of an honored concubine. What do you think of that idea?¡±


    Liu Hanyun slightly froze. She frowned and said, ¡°Hanyun came from a lowly background. Moreover, Hanyun hasn¡¯t given birth to any children.¡±


    ¡°There are very few people in this household that have a better heart than you,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°The marquis is surrounded by women that have their own agendas. But, I¡¯ve been observing you for a long time. You truly love the marquis. That¡¯s a rare thing to see.¡±


    With her eyebrows slightly raised, Liu Hanyun looked at her with a smile that wasn¡¯t quite a smile. ¡°Madam, don¡¯t you also truly love the marquis?¡±


    Faced with her clear eyes, Ji Man felt slightly awkward, so she lowered her eyes and said, ¡°How can it be enough with just me?¡±


    Liu Hanyun considered her response for a moment, then she replied, ¡°Hanyun isn¡¯t good at scheming or speaking eloquently. The marquis has given Hanyun a small corner. It¡¯s safest here. If Hanyun moves to center, where the heart of the struggle exists, Hanyun¡¯s life might not be asfortable as it is now.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had actually said these words to her? Ji Man felt slightly surprised. The person in front of her wasn¡¯t outstandingly beautiful, but Liu Hanyun reminded her of a poem.


    <i>At the corner of the wall, there are a few branches of plum blossoms,</i>


    <i>Facing the cold, they bloom alone,</i>


    <i>Even from a distance, the white blossoms can¡¯t be mistake for snow.</i>


    <i>Because their delicate fragrance will waft over.</i>


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why she felt like sighing. She held Liu Hanyun¡¯s hand and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want you to have topete with other people either. But, I feel bad. She¡¯s taking advantage of your temperament and bullying you.¡±


    Liu Hanyun pursed her lips and looked down at her hands that were slightly calloused. ¡°Isn¡¯t suffering also a type of blessing, Madam?¡±


    Ji Man was stunned.


    She had originally thought that as a modern person and a reader of the original novel, she was already open-minded enough about her tribtions. However, Liu Hanyun was on a higher level than her.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t a person that was willing to suffer hardships. Every time she suffered, she would remember all of it and pay it back in the same magnitude. But today, Liu Hanyun taught her that suffering was a blessing.


    After Ji Man returned to her courtyard, she contemted these words for a long time. In the end, she still went over to Old Madame¡¯s ce to discuss Liu Hanyun¡¯s position.


    No matter how much suffering was a blessing, Liu Hanyun was already living in the most remote courtyard in the estate and eating the same food as the servants. And now, Qi Siling was bullying her. Ji Man couldn¡¯t stand by and do nothing.


    Old Madame didn¡¯t have much of an impression towards Liu Hanyun. However, Liu Hanyun had been the only other woman that stepped forward to take care of her son when he had been infected with smallpox. And so, she didn¡¯t object to promoting Liu Hanyun to an honored concubine and letting Nie Sangyu make the arrangements.


    Ji Man moved Liu Hanyun to Linghan Courtyard. This courtyard was very close to the marquis¡¯s bedroom in the western courtyard. She also gave her the appropriate amount of new clothes and jewelry, as well as assigning her additional servants.


    Although Liu Hanyun felt somewhat reluctantly helpless about this change, she did feel slightly grateful to Nie Sangyu when she saw how happy Chunpi was. Chunpi¡¯s living standards had also improved along with her own.


    ¡ª


    However, after Marquis Moyu heard about this news, he didn¡¯t seem very happy. When he met Nie Sangyu on a path, he deeply looked at her and asked, ¡°Everything was fine as it was. Why are you dragging Liu Hanyun into this?¡±


    Ji Man slightly shook her head. ¡°This servant isn¡¯t trying to harm her. My lord, there¡¯s no need for you to worry.¡±


    In a harem, it was impossible for a woman to always remain content with her lot. Liu Hanyun would be a very good helper to her. If she didn¡¯t snatch her to her side today, there would definitely be someone that would use her against her in the future. So, why wouldn¡¯t she bring her to her side in advance and keep her forter use?


    Trantor Rambling: I really like Liu Hanyun. It¡¯s so rare to see a supporting female character that¡¯s very self-aware and content with her life. She doesn¡¯t just exist to make Ji Man look better inparison. She feels like a real person that¡¯s living her life and happens to be crossing paths with Ji Man.

 Chapter 202 - Solicitude for the common people (1)

    Chapter 202 ¨C Solicitude for themon people (1)


    Yes, she did have an ulterior motive in involving Liu Hanyun, who Marquis Moyu had secretly been protecting. But, when in Rome, do as the Roman do. She didn¡¯t have any allies in this harem, and it was difficult for her to execute any ns.


    Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t chosen the wrong person. Even after wearing slightly more morous clothing and expensive jewelry, Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes were still clear. She didn¡¯t go around causing trouble. Other than going over to Old Madame¡¯s ce to pay respects each day, she didn¡¯t leave Linghan Courtyard. She even sent over some snacks to Feiwan Courtyard to express her thanks.


    Marquis Moyu also stayed over in Linghan Courtyard for a couple of nights. He always remembered and felt grateful towards Liu Hanyun for saving his life. Therefore, he wanted to help her by ensuring that her new position was stable. She was no longer safely at the edges.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun normally had an unobtrusive presence. Now that she had suddenly been promoted to an honored concubine, Qi Siling was furious. Nie Sangyu had promoted Liu Hanyun right after she punished her with washing her dress. Wasn¡¯t this just a deliberate attempt to be at odds with her?


    Swinging her handkerchief and holding a few gifts, Qi Siling started walking over to Linghan Courtyard to ¡°greet¡± Liu Hanyun. On the way there, she saw Muxu and her servant girl, Luqiao.


    Muxu hadn¡¯t received much favor since being promoted to a concubine and still had the demeanor of someone that came from amoner¡¯s family.


    Luqiao was indignantly saying, ¡°No matter what, you came into this household with Madam. It¡¯s really baffling that Madam would choose to promote Mistress Yun instead of you.¡±


    Hearing these words, Qi Siling¡¯s resentfulness immediately dissipated. Smiling like a Cheshire cat, she walked over to them and said, ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s Muxu. Did youe here to see the new honored concubine?¡±


    Since bing a concubine, Muxu hated when other people addressed her by her first name as if she was still a servant girl. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t afford to offend Qi Siling. She could only salute her and said, ¡°Mistress Ling, this servant hopes you¡¯re doing well.¡±


    Qi Siling helped her up from her saluting position and sighed. ¡°When I heard that Madam was promoting someone to an honored concubine, I thought it would be you. I didn¡¯t expect that it would Mistress Yun. She¡¯s not close to Madam at all.¡±


    Muxu pursed her lips. Her expression didn¡¯t look very good. ¡°It¡¯s up to Madam to decide who she wants to promote. Even if other people are unhappy about her choice, there¡¯s nothing they can do about it.¡±


    Qi Siling shook her head and said, ¡°s, perhaps, Madam still remembers and resents you for stepping on her back in order to climb up. Does it matter that you¡¯re a concubine now? Your status is still low, and you¡¯re not favored at all.¡±


    Muxu stiffly stood in ce.


    Qi Siling looked at her with sympathetic gaze for a while, then swung her handkerchief and resumed walking to Linghan Courtyard first.


    ¡ª


    Two months after the outbreak of smallpox, the epidemic had finally started to slow down. The imperial physicians had figured out a way to treat smallpox and had the various pharmacies provide the medicine to themon people.


    Ji Man sent servants outside to inquire about the situation and found out that many people had died outside of the capital. However, the Heavens had been kind to Ning Errong. She had already recovered from smallpox, and it would only take about a month for her smallpox marks to fade away. Nie Qingyun had already bought her back to Nie Residence. After this episode, the rtionship between these two people should have grown stronger.


    Marquis Moyu had also arranged for medicine to be distributed outside the capital. Using the crown prince¡¯s name, he collected medicine to help themon people. Not only that, he also had a congee stands set up next to the medicine distribution spots and gave extra food to the families that had lost members to smallpox. He also sent medical specialists over there to take care of people that were seriously ill.


    As a result, the poprity of the crown prince suddenly increased among themon people. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s poprity campaign was truly done very well. He didn¡¯t spend too much money, but the crown prince had received a lot of public praise. When the time was right, he used a few schrs to nt a certain idea amongst themon people. Thus, themon people seemingly voluntarily wrote letters to express their gratitude towards the emperor for his vast and powerful benevolence, as well as the crown prince¡¯s solicitude for themon people.


    Therefore, when the third prince was energetically fighting for power, the crown prince¡¯s poprity rose. After the smallpox epidemic ended, there were elderly that needed support, orphans that needed to be raised, and bodies to be burned.


    The emperor left the pce and went out into the capital for an inspection tour. To his surprise, he saw themon people had constructed a shrine for himself and the crown prince. They had gathered here today to kneel and shout, ¡°Long live the imperial family!¡±


    Being worshiped like this by themon people, how could the emperor not feel overjoyed? The emperor had originally been a little biased in the third prince¡¯s favor, but seeing the popr sentiment during this trip, his favoritism was swayed over to the crown prince. After returning to the pce, he heaped piles of praise onto the crown prince in front of the third prince and the rest of the imperial court. He also returned the phoenix seal to the empress and praised her for raising her son well.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist sighing. Marquis Moyu had truly put on a good show. The third prince had won over the hearts of the officials, so Ning Yuxuan had helped the crown prince win over the hearts of themon people. Not only did he do that, he had used them to delight the emperor.


    Even if you beat her to death, she wouldn¡¯t believe it was possible for themon people to take initiative to n out this series of events. Ning Yuxuan had done his good deeds under the crown prince¡¯s name. Why would the average people think they should also express gratitude towards the emperor? They wouldn¡¯t have been clever enough to know that they should make a statue of the emperor to avoid him feeling jealous.


    Moreover, Ji Man felt distressed just looking at the estate¡¯srge amounts of expenditures. Was there any chance that the crown prince would be reimbursing these expenses?


    Since the emperor had praised the crown prince, then the activities for helping themon people naturally had to continue. However, Marquis Moyu had to turn his attention to fighting for power in the imperial court.


    He tossed the ount book to her and gently said, ¡°You¡¯ve done such a good job with managing the household¡¯s ounts, so I¡¯ll handle over the matter of managing the various congee and medicine stands to you. Just take the money you need from the estate¡¯s general funds.¡±


    Ji Man blinked and pointed at her belly. Didn¡¯t pregnant women in ancient times not have to work and only needed to rest at home to make sure the fetus would be okay? Why was he giving her so much work?


    Marquis Moyu smiled, stroked her bulging belly, and said, ¡°Just think of it as umting virtuous merit for our baby.¡±


    Ji Man seriously considered his words. Ning Yuxuan was naturally a very wicked person, and this child had half of his genes. So, it was only natural that this baby needed to do more virtuous things to make up for its father¡¯s misdeeds. Otherwise, the Heavens might punish her baby just because of its connection to Ning Yuxuan. And so, she nodded in agreement.


    Trantor Ramblings: The first time that I read this novel, I thought Ji Man was being really selfish in dragging Liu Hanyun into her mess. Hanyun was already really nice to her without asking for anything in return, and she just wants to be left alone. But, can I me her for being selfish when she¡¯s trying to stabilize her position because she¡¯s worried about protecting her baby?


    Plus, even if Ji Man intellectually acknowledges that Liu Hanyun¡¯s life philosophy is morally superior to hers, on a gut level, Ji Man doesn¡¯t understand Hanyun¡¯s perspective of choosing to not want revenge or even something as basic as yummy food because those are things that Ji Man thinks everyone wants. She does thinks that she¡¯s improving Liu Hanyun¡¯s life for the better.


    That¡¯s just my thoughts. What do you guys thinks?

 Chapter 203 - Solicitude for the common people (2)

    Chapter 203 ¨C Solicitude for themon people (2)


    However, when Ji Man left the estate in a sedan chair to check on the situation the next day, she encountered a mob of people at the congee stand. This was the juncture point where people had originally been praising the crown prince after getting their food. This mob looked very dirty and was one step away from looking like a group of beggars. They were shouting that their family members had died after eating the crown prince¡¯s medicine and wanted the crown prince topensate them.


    Ji Man was very familiar with this type of scene. It was the same as when someone deliberately bumped into you, then fell over and tried to ckmail you for his or her self-inflected injuries.


    There were people guarding the congee stand. They were the guards that had been recently sent over by the crown prince. Looking at these scoundrels in front of them, they were about to step forward to push them to the ground.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Ji Man hurriedly shouted. With a hand protectively covering her stomach, she stepped down from the sedan chair. How could anything goode from shoving these people? It would just give them the perfect opportunity to spread rumors that the crown prince¡¯s guards were rude and unreasonable.


    The guards looked at the sedan chair. Seeing that the sedan chair was decorated with golden flowers at the top, they knew that this graceful woman with luxurious clothing and jewelry had to be from a family that was third-rank or higher.


    A sharp-eyed person called out, ¡°It¡¯s Marchioness Moyu.¡±


    The crowd was silent for a while before resuming their moring for money again.


    Ji Man took a few steps forward. Gancao and Dengxin followed after her and carefully guarded her. They were scared that someone would rush forward and knock over their master.


    ¡°Who are these people that got sick after eating the medicines that were distributed here? Bring their corpses here, and a coroner will examine their bodies. If they had really died from eating the wrong medicine, then the crown prince will naturallypensate their families.¡±


    Back and forth, the group of people looked at each. It was obvious that they had been sent here to temporarily cause trouble. They hadn¡¯t thought about creating props to back up their false usations.


    Ji Man serenely said, ¡°The medicine here is everyone¡¯s life-saving medicine. So many people have already been saved from dying because of the crown prince¡¯s benevolence. Why did you guyse here to deliberately cause trouble?¡±


    This was a group of a people that didn¡¯t even regrly have enough food to eat. Faced with a beautiful married woman that was patiently persuading them, they weren¡¯t sure how to respond. They hade here to knock over the congee and medicine stands, but seeing that this woman was pregnant, they felt hesitant with proceeding forward with their original n.


    Ji Man thought; humans did have an inherent goodness to them. These people had consciences. Even thought they were on opposing sides, everyone had a mother and that gave them a sharedmonality.


    And so, she continued to persuade them, ¡°There¡¯s a congee stand right here. If you¡¯re feeling hungry, you can get a helping of congee. Then, let¡¯s sit down together. We can discuss while you¡¯re eating if you want. If you wait a bit, I¡¯ll have my servant girls go and buy some pickled vegetables. Eating just congee by itself is a bit strange. Also, isn¡¯t it about time for you guys to change out your clothes? The crown prince is also handing out linen clothing for free. Later on, after you returned home and washed your face, how about recing your current clothing with a new set of clothes? Doing this will also help prevent the spread of smallpox.¡±


    The people that were standing in line and waiting for the congee and medicine had all looked over here in Nie Sangyu¡¯s direction. They were all thinking that although this woman was a bit too talkative, she was truly kind-hearted.


    Looking at the troublemakers, whose expressions showed that they were at a loss, Ji Man persisted with her speech. ¡°If you¡¯re truly having a hard time making a living and feel as if you won¡¯t be able to continue living, you can tell me. I happen to have some loose change with me today. Come here, I¡¯ll distribute them to you. In the future, you guys have to strive to be good-hearted people. Don¡¯t do anymore bad things, like trying to ruin your fellow people¡¯s means of subsistence.¡±


    After saying this, she really did hand over a small purse to Gancao, so that she could hand out the silver taels to them.


    Gancao hastily flung the money at them, and someone in the group foolishly caught the purse in reflex.


    After Ji Man returned to her sedan chair, she stretched her head out and said, ¡°Marquis Moyu has received the crown prince¡¯s order to continue providing disaster relief in the form of food and warm clothing for themon people. His Highness hopes that everyone can live afortable life.¡±


    Marquis Moyu had assigned an agent by the stand. The agent immediately used this opportunity to stir up emotions. ¡°His Highness is truly apassionate person that cares about themon people!¡±


    ¡°May the crown prince live for a thousand years!¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Man sat back into the sedan chair. She had the bearers ce the sedan chair down on the side of a nearby street. This way, she could eat her snacks and observe the situation at the congee stand at the same time.


    The group of people that had taken her money left with their tails between their legs. However, it only took a short period before arge group of people came and lined up to ask for medicine and congee.


    At this rate, there wouldn¡¯t be enough congee in the stand to feed everyone. The cost of food had recently be very expensive. Very soon, the congee ran out and the people that had been waiting in the line started toin.


    This was just human nature. Once people were used to getting a handout, they would think that it should continue forever. If the handout ever stopped, they would actually me the kind person that had helped them.


    The person in charge of the congee stand came over and asked with a smile, ¡°Madam Ning, what should we do? There¡¯s not enough congee.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. Go back and calm the crowd down. I¡¯ll bring people to buy food and medicine.¡± Ji Man light-heartedly waved her hand and ordered the bearers to head towards Yongning Street.


    Wasn¡¯t this merely a problem that could be solved with money? Out of everything, money was her leastcking resource. So what if the price for food and medicine had skyrocketed? She still had her private savings stored away in Shuiji Rouge Shop. What was there to worry about?


    And so, even though the prices for food and medicine had increased to a point that people were clicking their tongues in disapproval, Ji Man was still able to take out arge sum of money to buy enough supplies. She ordered people to watch the stand and make sure that everyone got his or her portion, but no one was allowed to take an extra helping.


    ¡ª


    It was very obvious that someone had arranged for the two groups of people toe over and start trouble.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu had defused the conflicts one after another, they reported this matter to one of the third prince¡¯s servant.


    Hearing this news, the servant thought there had to be something wrong. Wasn¡¯t Madam Ning the third prince¡¯s cousin? Why would she do something to help an outsider instead of her rtive? And so, he immediately reported the matter to the third prince.


    ¡ª


    As Ji Man was happily watching the congee being distributed, she saw a servant from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household running over here from a distance.


    In a loud voice, the servant said, ¡°Madam, an important guest hase to Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence. Old Madame wants you to hurry back.¡±

 Chapter 204

    Chapter 204 ¨C Being slick at establishing social connections is a praiseworthy trait (1)


    In ancient times, familial rtionships had always been a very important connection. Otherwise, past emperors wouldn¡¯t have bestowed various titles to their family members, and there wouldn¡¯t be such a huge political importance ced on marriages between two families. Moreover, the crown prince wouldn¡¯t feel so threatened by the idea of a child between Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan.


    And so, the third prince and Old Madame unanimously criticized Nie Sangyu¡¯s obvious behavior in helping the crown prince today.


    The third prince was sitting down and sipping on his tea. With a faint smile, he said, ¡°Younger cousin, perhaps, you don¡¯t have a clear understanding of what¡¯s going on outside this estate. Is that why you don¡¯t realize how it affects Jue-<i>er</i> when you help improve the crown prince¡¯s reputation?¡±


    Old Madame looked at her with a stern expression. ¡°Sangyu, I thought you¡¯ve be a clever and sensible girl. Even thought you have to obey Xuan-<i>er</i>¡¯s orders, it wasn¡¯t necessary for you to go that far.¡±


    With her head lowered, Ji Man waited until they were satisfied with voicing theirints. Then, she raised her head and showed them a teary expression. ¡°Older cousin, Sangyu is wholeheartedly trying to help you. It¡¯s Sangyu¡¯s fault for not clearly exining my actions beforehand and causing you to misunderstand my behavior.¡±


    Zhao Jue raised his eyebrows. How did her helping out the crown prince bing helping him?


    He asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Ji Man clutched her handkerchief. In an aggrieved tone, she said, ¡°Sangyu helped the marquis with buying a lot of food and medicine today. It was very costly. In the eyes of the emperor, all of these disaster relief actions were done by the crown prince.¡±


    The third prince nodded and sneered. ¡°Yes, the emperor has been praising my imperial brother so much that it seems as if he¡¯s walking on clouds.¡±


    Ji Man quietly asked, ¡°But isn¡¯t the crown prince suppose to be an uncorrupted person? Where would have he gotten this money?¡±


    The third prince and Old Madame froze in surprise for a moment.


    Zhao Jue quickly understood the implication of Nie Sangyu¡¯s words. As it turned out, his younger cousin was actually quite the character. She had actually considered this aspect.


    Although the crown prince received a considerable amount of bribes, he put on a good show of not being greedy. He always gave the emperor a bowl of simple congee for his birthday gift and constantly bemoaned about being poor. As a result, the emperor felt bad for him and would never forget to bestow him rewardspared to the other princes.


    However, the empress backed the crown prince. Although the previous prime minister had retired and returned to his hometown, his son had seeded him and would continue to serve as a pir of support to the crown prince.


    The third prince had wanted to lodge an usation about the crown prince¡¯s corruption and embezzlement for a long time. To his surprise, Nie Sangyu had handed over such a great opportunity!


    Old Madame was still feeling a bit confused, but the third prince already couldn¡¯t calmly remain seated. He stood up and said with a smile, ¡°Dear cousin, Jue had wrongfully med you. Just wait, I¡¯ll definitely have your cousin-inw personallye over to deliver presents to you.¡±


    After saying this, he turned around and saluted Old Madame. ¡°Jue is the one that inconvenience you with my visit today. I¡¯ll bid my farewell now.¡±


    Before Old Madame had time to ask what was going on, the third prince had already rushed out. She turned around to look at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man hurriedly whispered into Old Madame¡¯s ear to exin.


    Old Madame patted her hand and happily said, ¡°I knew you were a clever one! You¡¯re truly a virtuous wife! If the imperial noble consort finds out, she¡¯ll definitely reward you too!¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯re all one family. Sangyu naturally won¡¯t help outsiders.¡±


    ¡°But, what if the crown prince mes Xuan-<i>er</i>?¡± Old Madame started to worry again.


    Ji Man massaged Old Madame¡¯s shoulders for her and said in a quiet voice, ¡°He won¡¯t. Even though everyone else knows that the cost of medicine and food has gone up, if the emperor really sent people to ask about the prices, those shopkeepers will only report that they¡¯re using the standard prices. At most, they would only say they¡¯re out of stock. They wouldn¡¯t admit that they¡¯re price gouging. Based on those normal prices, Sangyu¡¯s purchases were within the limit of the marquis¡¯s savings. Besides, the marquis was doing this work for the crown prince, so the crown prince won¡¯t toss the me at the marquis¡¯s feet. He¡¯ll just quietly eat this loss.¡±


    As a result, the crown prince wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain his poor, but upright persona. The emperor would also treat the two princes more equally and not favor one prince over the other when bestowing rewards.


    Old Madame nodded, the she suddenly raised her eyes to look at her. ¡°Where did you get the money?¡±


    Ji Man paused. She inwardly cursed and hurriedly said, ¡°Sangyu knew that the marquis would needed money during this period, so Sangyu sold off my dowry. It¡¯s naturally a good thing to be able to help the marquis.¡±


    As Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s beloved daughter, Nie Sangyu¡¯s original dowry had been a considerable amount. It had been kept in the estate¡¯s storage room, and Ji Man had only regained ess to it after resuming her position as the marquis¡¯s main wife. For now, she would just use this as her answer and secretly sell the items in Nie Sangyu¡¯s dowryter.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ve always kept in mind how much you care about Xuan-<i>er</i>. Since you did this for his benefit, I won¡¯t pursue this matter any further.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardly made a sound of assent. Old Madame wasn¡¯t a fool, but it would be unreasonable of her to continue asking Nie Sangyu for an exnation about this matter since it had been for her son¡¯s benefit after all.


    ¡ª


    When Marquis Moyu returned home that night, he was actually in a pretty good mood. After checking Wen Wan¡¯s wound, he went to Feiwan Courtyard.


    With a beaming smile, Ji Man fawned over him by massaging him. ¡°My lord, did something good happen today?¡±


    With his heart at ease, Ning Yuxuan enjoyed his massage and quietly said, ¡°I heard that you created quite the stir today and helped me out with a messy problem.¡±


    Ji Man said in a super obedient voice, ¡°Sangyu only did what she should. It¡¯s a wife¡¯s duty to help her husband with his worries and difficulties.¡±


    T/N: Thank you Fourthaid for writing a review on NU. I just want to note that thest 7% of the novel is mostly from various character¡¯s POVs, so we¡¯ll get a clear insight into the other characters then. In the author¡¯s note, at the end of the novel, she did write that she purposely left some things ambiguous, so that the readers can interpret it on their own.

 Chapter 205

    Chapter 205 ¨C Being slick at establishing social connections is a praiseworthy trait (2)


    Marquis Moyu raised his eyes and deeply looked at her. He chuckled, then brought her onto hisp. ¡°You¡¯re such a clever person and so slick at establishing social connections. You¡¯ve gotten yourself a favorable impression from everyone.¡±


    Sitting on hisp, Ji Man seriously said, ¡°This servant thinks that being slick at establishing social connections is a praiseworthy trait. It¡¯s really not easy to aplish this.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled again, ¡°Are you actually praising yourself?¡± He rubbed her belly and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be born in another five months, right?¡±


    Ji Man also stretched her hand out to touch her stomach. She nodded and tried to probe out his feelings by asking, ¡°My lord, do you think it¡¯s possible for this baby to be born safely?¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused. The smile in his eyes dimmed. ¡°You¡¯re worrying over nothing. This baby is doing fine. Why wouldn¡¯t it be able to be born safely?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look at him. Her bright gaze was full of tenderness and a mother¡¯s special glow. ¡°This is this servant¡¯s first time being pregnant. No matter what it takes, this servant wants to give birth to this baby. My lord, please help me aplish my goal.¡±


    She had been wearing Nie Sangyu¡¯s body for such a long time and done her best to win over Marquis Moyu. She had changed Nie Sangyu¡¯s reputation from an insensible, vicious viiness to a reasonable woman that did her best to know when to advance and when to retreat. If she still hadn¡¯t made a ripple in Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart, then she really wanted to ask if a stone had reced this person¡¯s heart.


    A light shed through Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes. He hugged for a long time while he contemted his answer. He finally said, ¡°Why would you need my help? Don¡¯t worry, nothing bad will happen. Just be at ease and take of your health.¡±


    Ji Man seriously nodded. In an iparably intimate and emotional voice, she said, ¡°My lord, this servant will believe in you.¡±


    This would be the only time she would believe in him. If something bad still happened, she would wreak havoc on Marquis Moyu¡¯s entire household.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Ji Man took the storeroom key and secretly hired people to take her dowry and sell it off for her. This would put an end to the lie she had told Old Madame by making it into a truth.


    However, there was still an unavoidablemotion as they were carrying her entire dowry out of the estate. Although Ji Man had chosen a time when everyone was resting after lunch, Muxu happened to not be napping today. Moreover, Muxu had decided toe over to talk to her.


    And so, Muxu saw a stream of familiar boxes being carried out of the estate. Although she felt very puzzled, she didn¡¯t anything and continued walking to Feiwan Courtyard to pay respects to Nie Sangyu.


    Looking at Muxu with a smile, Ji Man asked her how she had been doingtely.


    Muxu forced herself to smile and said, ¡°Thanks to Madam¡¯s generosity, this servant no longer has to serve anyone. Still, this servant¡¯s days haven¡¯t been very good.¡±


    Ji Man thought; you had such a good opportunityst time. Whose fault was it that you were scared of dying and didn¡¯t go with us to take care of Marquis Moyu? You repeatedly said you¡¯re in love with Ning Yuxuan, but those feelings are probably just a teenage girl¡¯s infatuation from being mesmerized by his face. Although she had agreed to help Muxu with bing an honored concubine, if Muxu acted too stupidly, then her hands were tied.


    Ji Man softened her voice and said, ¡°I¡¯ll say a few words for you to the marquis to help you out. If you receive more favor and get pregnant, it¡¯ll be easy for you to have good days in the future.¡±


    A light shed through Muxu¡¯s eyes. After she had be a concubine, Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t gone to her courtyard. Many of the servant girls wereughing at her behind her back. If Madam was willing to help her receive favor, then it hadn¡¯t been a waste to betray Mistress Xue.


    After leaving Feiwan Courytard, it was obvious that Muxu¡¯s mood had significantly improved. She was smiling and had practically skipped her way back to Wenxiang Courtyard. However, when she arrived at the entrance to the courtyard, she saw Li Zixiu.


    Muxu¡¯s face immediately paled. She straightened her posture and kept a proper distance from him. Feeling somewhat helpless, she bunched up her handkerchief.


    Holding his medicine box, Li Zixiu asked in unclear tone, ¡°You look so happy. Are you going to be favored?¡±


    Muxu nced behind her to look at Luqiao. Luqiao hurriedly said, ¡°Doctor Li, did youe here to check my master¡¯s pulse? Let¡¯s go inside to talk.¡±


    After Li Zixiu was invited to Wenxiang Courytard, Luqiao checked the outside surroundings before closing the doors.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was in her room reconciling her ounts. Recently, she had been using quite a bit of her money to pay for the household¡¯s expenses. For example, she had only recorded the normal prices for the food and medicine that she had purchasedst time. However, the actual expenditure had been outrageously high. Fortunately, she had her private savings. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been possible for her toplete Marquis Moyu¡¯s task.


    Everyone thought she was very talented at managing money and could use one silver tael to buy ten silver taels worth of stuff. That wasn¡¯t true, she had simply bought the items with ten silver taels! She waspletely relying on her secret stash of money. Ji Man silently cried; it really was very difficult to manage a household.


    However, she had to find an opportunity to stop using her money to supplement the household expenditures. Otherwise, sooner orter, someone would notice that it seemed as if she had an unending supply of money. If she was found out, it could be disastrous.


    Right now, Muxu was the only person in this household that knew about her secret business. Ji Man supported her chin and thought. There was a fifty-fifty chance that Muxu would betray her, so it wasn¡¯t very safe. She had to find a way to make sure this secret would never be told.


    ¡ª


    After two days of Nie Sangyu¡¯s persuasion, or to put it another way, two days of nagging, Marquis Moyu finally couldn¡¯t stand it anymore and went to Muxu¡¯s courtyard. However, it was only one time. For some unknown reason, he was absolutely unwilling to go over there again. Still, Muxu seemed very happy. Even though the marquis never visited her again, Muxu seemed utterly blissful each day and as if her good days would soon arrive.


    Ji Man felt very confused, but two monthster, she knew the reason behind Muxu¡¯s happiness.

 Chapter 206 - A repeated rumor becomes a fact (1)

    Chapter 206 ¨C A repeated rumor bes a fact (1)


    Two months after only being favored once, Muxu was diagnosed with pregnancy.


    Jiman felt very surprised. Back when she used to read light novels where a woman got pregnant after only one night of joy, she thought that although it was possible for that to happen, the chances were minimal. However, this was the second time that this had happened in Marquis Moyu¡¯s household. The first time had been Mu Shuiqing¡¯s pregnancy.


    Sitting by the bedside with an unhappy expression, Doctor Li told them this news. He left right after writing out a pregnancy medicine prescription.


    Looking at his back figure, Ji Man thought; perhaps, Doctor Li hadn¡¯t been able to let go of his feelings for Muxu yet.


    When a man was very gentle and thoughtful towards a woman, it was very easy for a woman to develop feelings. When a woman was very considerate towards a man and even went to take care of his mother, wasn¡¯t it even more likely for the man to feel touched by the woman¡¯s actions? And yet, Muxu had be Marquis Moyu¡¯s concubine and was now pregnant with his baby.


    Ji Man shook her head. It was a pity that their rtionship had been doomed to fall apart.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡ª


    Shortly after Muxu¡¯s pregnancy was announced, there was suddenly a parade of expectant mothers in the estate. Liu Hanyun was diagnosed with pregnancy two days after Muxu. Even Wen Wan, who had been unwilling to leave Qiangwei Courtyard after her wound had healed, had be pregnant once again and practically returned to her previous position and attitude of being a wife. She had servants waiting on her hand and foot.


    ¡ª


    Although Jiman was only seven months pregnant, her belly was big enough to scare people. By now, Gancao and Dengxin would stay stationed on either side of her to support her. If she even moved slightly, the two servants would be ovee with worry.


    ¡°The baby won¡¯t being for a while, there¡¯s no need for the two of you to be so anxious,¡± Ji Man said with a smile.


    Gancao frowned and said, ¡°But Master, your belly really looks too big. It looks more like you¡¯re nine months pregnant. This servant is really scared it¡¯s going to fall.¡±


    Ji Man went straight toughing. Belly-size varied from person to person. Some people would have more amniotic fluid, and their bellies would be bigger. Or perhaps, she was having twins.


    Lately, Marquis Moyu¡¯s mood had been pretty good too. Ji Man faintly thought that he would allow her baby to live. That must be why he was allowing the other women in this household to be pregnant too. By doing this, the importance of her pregnancy was minimized. Thinking of it like that, she felt a lot less worried.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan¡¯s fetus seemed very finicky. It tormented her with nausea and vomiting during the day and insomnia at night. She became quite withered as result.


    Ning Yuxuan squeezed out free time to keep herpany today. Sitting by her bedside, he softly said, ¡°If I known you would have to suffer so much, then I would have let someone else have a baby for you.¡±


    Wen Wen yfully pouted, ¡°What are you saying? Wan-<i>er</i> naturally has to be the one giving birth to her baby.¡±


    Marquis Moyu faintly smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.


    Lying submissively in his embrace, Wen Wen quietly said, ¡°I went to the garden yesterday and saw Madam and Young Master talking together. They really have a good rtionship.¡±


    For a reason unknown to others, Ning Mingjie rarely came over to the marquis¡¯s residence now. Two months ago, Marquis Jingwen had left the capital and returned to his fiefdom. After his father left, Ning Mingjie set up a separate residence for himself and received a que from the emperor that named his new home as Ning Residence. It could be considered a major aplishment. The distance between Ning Residence and Marquis Moyu¡¯s residence wasn¡¯t far. However, Ning Mingjie rarely came over to visit. The two times that he came over, it was always when Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t home. Each time, he only stayed for a short visit. After paying respects to Old Madame and talking with Nie Sangyu for a bit, he would leave.


    However, Wen Wan and Qi Siling had happened to see him talking to Nie Sangyu on both asions. In addition, Nie Sangyu¡¯s belly really looked too big for her to be only seven months pregnancy. And so, an idea popped up in Wen Wan¡¯s mind to spread a rumor about her.


    Rumors had always been the best at damaging other people¡¯s reputations. Wen Wan¡¯s lips curved up. She wasn¡¯t anything bad about Nie Sangyu. After all, she had been behaving magnanimous for so long, and this was an indisputable fact in people¡¯s hearts. She was only saying that Nie Sangyu¡¯s rtionship with Young Master was out of the ordinary.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression sunk. He stared at Wen Wan and said, ¡°You should be focused on caring for your health. Don¡¯t concern with yourself with other people¡¯s business.¡±


    Wen Wan acted cutely spoiled and said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it just because Wan-<i>er</i> was feeling bored, so Wan-<i>er</i> strolled around the residence? How could Wan-<i>er</i> have known that I would see them together both times? Wan-<i>er</i> used to think that Madam was very stern, but she smiles so gently at Young Master. Wan-<i>er </i>even feels kind of jealous. Howe Madam never smiles so gently at Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    These words were a bit facetiously jokey, but Wen Wan knew that Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t hear these words as a joke.


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a while, then he stood up and said, ¡°You should rest early tonight. I¡¯m going to Jiyue Courtyard to visit Ling-<i>er</i>. I heard that she caught a cold.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wen Wan continued to smile and didn¡¯t try to get him to stay. Instead, she generously had Tanxiang escort the marquis out.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face was very gloomy. Nie Sangyu gently smiled at Mingjie? Did that person even know what gentleness meant? When she smiled at him, it was always guarded and devious. How could she know how to smile gently?


    In a bad mood, he went to Jiyue Courtyard. Qi Siling was currently lying in her bed and talking to her servant. Just as Ning Yuxuan walked to the partition between the inner room and outer room, he heard Sonn say, ¡°Master, it¡¯s not that this servant has loose lips. This servant can¡¯t help thinking that Madam¡¯s belly is too big. It looks more like she¡¯s nine month¡¯s pregnant. Master, do you remember that about nine months ago, this servant mentioned to you that I saw Madaming out of the Southern Courtyard early in the morning? She was still a concubine then.¡±


    On the bed, Qi Siling coughed twice and chided her, ¡°What is Madam¡¯s status? Know your ce and don¡¯t gossip about her.¡±


    ¡°This servant already had the other servants go back to their rooms to sleep, that¡¯s why this servant dares to freely say these words,¡± Sonn sighed and said, ¡°In the end, this will be the marquis¡¯s oldest child. What will happen if the bloodlines get mixed up?¡±


    Qi Siling was silent for a while, then she pursed her lips and said, ¡°I happened to recently see Young Master and Madam talking together. But, perhaps they have something they need to discuss in private. Madam is so virtuous and magnanimous. How could she possibly do something to wrong the marquis?¡±


    ¡°The heart is unpredictable. Who knows what¡¯s really going on?¡± Sonn shook her head and quickly nced at the partition. Then she stood up, tucked the quilt around her master, and said, ¡°Master, you¡¯re still sick. You should go to sleep early.¡±


    Marquis Moyu silently left Jiyue courtyard.

 Chapter 207 - A repeated rumor becomes a fact (2)

    Chapter 207 ¨C A repeated rumor bes a fact (2)


    It was true that Nie Sangyu¡¯s belly was very big. He had even poked fun at her by asking her, could it be possible that you¡¯re going to give birth to a litter of piglets? After going to Qiangwei Courtyard and Jiyue Courtyard and hearing the same gossip, Ning Yuxuan thought they were just overthinking things. How could it be possible that Ning Mingjie would dare to do something like that? Besides, Nie Sangyu had always deeply loved him...


    Deeply loved him? Ning Yuxuan stopped walking and looked at the lonely moon.


    He had whittled Nie Sangyu¡¯s feelings for him away into nothing a long time ago. The current Nie Sangyu knew how to fawn over him and how to act cutely spoiled, but she no longer stared at him with a pair of adoring eyes.


    His hand slightly clenched, and Ning Yuxuanughed at himself. When did he start caring about a woman¡¯s feelings?


    He continued walking forward a few steps and met Danzhu on the path.


    Holding antern, she elegantly saluted him. ¡°Greetings, marquis.¡±


    He thought it over and decided that Xuesong Courytard was the only ce that would let him feel more peaceful and calm. Qian Lianxue wasn¡¯t a gossipy person. Ning Yuxuan nodded at Danzhu and signaled for her to lead the way.


    It was true that Qian Lianxue wasn¡¯t a gossipy person. However, she happened to be reading a book about women¡¯s health, and it was opened to an illustration of women in various stages of pregnancy by month. His heart felt more stifled as soon as he walked over and saw the illustration.


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s stomach looked exactly like the drawing of the woman that was nine month pregnant.


    Nine months ago, he hadn¡¯t favored her at all.


    Qian Lianxue quietly coughed, then said in a soft voice, ¡°My lord, don¡¯t take this book too seriously. This servant was just feeling bored and started reading this book. It might not be 100% urate.¡±


    He had already seen that page. How could he not take it seriously? Feeling irritated, Ning Yuxuan plucked the book from her hands and threw it out the window.


    ¡ª


    The next day, when Ji Man brought over tea to the study to express her sympathy for the hardworking marquis, she noticed that he looked at her with a very unfriendly gaze.


    So weird. She hadn¡¯t done anything to offend him. Why was he looking at her like that? Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist her curiosity and asked, ¡°Has this servant done something wrong?¡±


    Marquis Moyu shook his head and turned his eyes towards the book in his hand. He indifferently said, ¡°Just put down the tea. You can leave.¡±


    Since he wasn¡¯t willing to tell her, Ji Man didn¡¯t pursue him for an answer.


    Once she left the study, she asked Gancao, ¡°Where did the marquis go yesterday?¡±


    Gancao honestly said, ¡°He went to Qiangwei Courtyard, Jiyue Courtyard, and Xuesong Courtyard.¡±


    For Ning Yuxuan to have that expression, someone must have said something about her behind her back. It was possible to guard against fire and theft, but it was very difficult to guard against a viin¡¯s mouth. Although Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t a person that easily believed in other people, with three women each saying a few words, it was enough to thoroughly nder her. A repeated rumor bes fact.


    However, Ji Man was curious. What had these three people said to make him silently stew in anger instead of directlyshing out in anger?


    This type of situation was the most vexing. You knew that people were talking behind your back, but you didn¡¯t know what they had said, so you had no way of exining your innocence. If you ignored them and let them talk, other people would think you were silently admitting. If you tried to exin your innocence, then it would only make the matter more conspicuous.


    Language really was the most powerful skill in the world.


    After thinking for a while, Ji Man turned around and went to Linghan Courtyard. In the passing, she ordered Dengxin to call Muxu over there too.


    Since she couldn¡¯t shut their mouths, she would give them a taste of their own medicine. Although Ji Man didn¡¯t know what they had said exactly, there were only two possible options they could have chosen to nder her with. They were either saying that her baby wasn¡¯t Marquis Moyu¡¯s or that she was flirting with another man.


    And so, after Ji Man arrived at Linghan Courtyard, she told Liu Hanyun and Muxu a story. Both of these pregnant women felt very despondent after hearing this story.


    ¡ª


    That night, Marquis Moyu went to Linghan Courtyard and saw Liu Hanyun praying to a strange-shaped Buddha.


    Ning Yuxuan curiously asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Seeing that he hade here, Liu Hanyun hurriedly stood up and quietly said, ¡°This servant is praying to a big mouth Buddha.¡±


    ¡°What kind of Buddha is that?¡±


    Liu Hanyun looked around, then she whispered, ¡°In ces where there are a lot of people, it¡¯s inevitable that there will be people with big mouths that maliciously harm others. Their favorite targets are pregnant women and babies. Since this servant has recently became pregnant, this servant hopes that by praying to this big mouth Buddha, it¡¯ll protect my baby from rumors.¡±


    Marquis Moyu paused, then he led her inside with his arm around her waist. ¡°Where did you here this story?¡±


    Liu Hanyun honestly said, ¡°Madam came over here today and happened to tell us this story. This servant wanted to cry after hearing that story. My lord, do you want to hear it? This servant still remembers most of it.¡±


    There was a smile in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes. He looked at Liu Hanyun for a moment, then he said, ¡°Alright, tell me that story.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°He had whittled Nie Sangyu¡¯s feelings for him away into nothing a long time ago. The current Nie Sangyu knew how to fawn over him and how to act cutely spoiled, but she no longer stared at him with a pair of adoring eyes.¡±


    o.O I thought Ji Man had been doing a good job with her acting. I didn¡¯t realize that Ning Yuxuan knows that she¡¯s faking her feelings until this chapter. That does exin why he doesn¡¯t trust her either. At least he admits it¡¯s his fault that she no longer loves him.

 Chapter 208 - A charmingly picturesque rainy day (1)

    Chapter 208 ¨C A charmingly picturesque rainy day (1)


    Holding Marquis Moyu¡¯s hand, Liu Hanyun led him to the cushioned couch to sit down.


    She quietly said, ¡°Madam said there¡¯s a woman outside the capital named Lady Shi. She endured a lot of suffering in order to carry her baby to the eighth month of pregnancy. But, her husband had several concubines. Day after day, these concubines would nderously say Lady Shi was having illicit rtions with another man and that she was pregnant with someone else¡¯s child. Their testimonies were supposed to be conclusive proof. At first, Lady Shi¡¯s husband believed in her. But after repeatedly listening to these nderous words so many times, he started to doubt her. In the end, he ordered the innocent, pregnant Lady Shi to be locked into a bamboo cage and tossed into the river to be drowned.¡±


    After retelling the gist of the story, Liu Hanyun felt slightly despondent. ¡°Pregnancy is naturally difficult for a woman. This servant can see this just from looking at Madam¡¯s swollen ankles and feet. Working so hard to give birth to the next generation, isn¡¯t it just in hopes of ensuring that one¡¯s family will be prosperous? And yet, there will always be people that love to speak lies behind other people¡¯s backs. That Lady Shi was such a virtuous woman, but she was so easily wrongfully misunderstood by her husband, and her baby lost its life with her too.¡±


    Marquis Moyu slightly froze for a moment. He lowered his eyes. ¡°That really is kind of pitiful.¡±


    ¡°Exactly, this servant felt really sad after hearing that story.¡±


    Feeling somewhat uneasy, Liu Hanyun added, ¡°Now that this servant thinks about it, it would better for me to go back to being an ordinary concubine. It¡¯s dangerous at the top, and this servant doesn¡¯t want the same fate as Lady Shi.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan gently patted her back and quietly said, ¡°You saved my life, that means I owe you for a lifetime. No matter what other people say, I won¡¯t harm you.¡±


    Liu Hanyun wryly smiled, ¡°If you say it like that, then this servant is more fortunate than other people.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to think so much,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°You just need to work on taking care of your health and the baby¡¯s.¡±


    These women, one side was ndering Nie Sangyu and the other side was speaking on her behalf. Did they really think he was an idiot? However, Marquis Moyu had to admit that Nie Sangyu had her tricks. He had almost half-believed Wen Wan¡¯s side. But, Nie Sangyu had known that using Liu Hanyun¡¯s voice to tell him a story would be the most effective method.


    After hearing this story, he clearly understood what was going on. Wasn¡¯t it just a case of a person at the top being pushed down by others? Her baby would be the oldest child in this household, and there were many people fixing their attention on it.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie was currently rxing in Ning Residence. By his side, the old housekeeper, Changshan, was reading aloud a letter from Marquis Jingwen.


    After Marquis Jingwen had gotten news of woman after woman in the marquis¡¯s household getting pregnant, he had started feeling impatient and wanted his son to get married soon. Even if Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t want to marry yet, it would be good if he got a few concubines to start with, right? After all, he was a marquis¡¯s heir and also an important official in the imperial court. And yet, he still didn¡¯t have any concubines. He only had two bedroom servants to serve him. Compared to the sons of other noble families, Marquis Jingwen thought that his son was a little too pure-minded.


    As always, his father¡¯s words went in one ear and went out the other ear. After Ning Mingjie finished writing one set of words, he thought it still didn¡¯t look as elegant and unrestrained as the words he had written for ¡°Inviting you to drink wine¡±.


    Did this issuee from the content of his words? Ning Mingjie pondered this issue and finally decided that he would go pay respects to Old Madame while he had free time today. While he was there, he would ask Sangyu topose two more poems for him.


    As for the matter of marrying a wife, he wasn¡¯t dying matter because he was seeking a true love. He just thought that he should build up his career before starting a family. Isn¡¯t that what his parents had taught him to do? Even though other people thought he had already gained recognition and be aplished in his career, Ning Mingjie felt that he hadn¡¯t reached the point he wanted yet.


    He stood up and changed his clothes for going out of the residence. His servant girl, Luoqi, noticed that a handkerchief had fallen out of his sleeve. That handkerchief was exquisitely embroidered with snow-capped mountains.


    ¡°Young Master, do you want to bring this handkerchief with you?¡± Luoqi carefully asked.


    Ning Mingjie nced at it and nodded. He casually tucked it away into his robe and left the residence.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu had originally been nning to go to the Six Ministries today to instruct the neers on how he wanted certain things to be handled. However, right after he decided to leave, it started to rain. He stood in the doorway and watched the heavy rainfall as it pitter-pattered down. He suddenly had a rare inclination to take the rest of the day off and stay at home to rx.


    Just as he was turning around, he saw a carriage driving quickly over here in the midst of the rain from his peripheral vision. On the way to the entrance, the carriage wheels caused a ssh of water to go up, and the nearby pedestrians quickly skirted away to avoid being drenched.


    Changshan jumped down from the carriage and opened an umbre up before lifting the carriage curtains. ¡°Where did this sudden downpoure from?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was in a pretty good mood. Even though he cut a sorry figure, he was still smiling as he took the umbre from Changshan. He joked, ¡°I really look like a drowned rat.¡±


    Changshan hurriedly ran to stand underneath the eaves. He patted his drenched clothes. As he muttered to himself, he raised his head and saw a fake smiling Marquis Moyu.


    ¡°Marquis.¡± Changshan quickly saluted.


    Ning Mingjie walked to the doorway, closed the umbre, and also lightly smiled. ¡°Yuxuan, you¡¯re not going out today?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°I wanted to take a break from work. Work has been so busytely. It¡¯s quite tiring.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because there are too many things for you to worry about,¡± Ning Mingjie said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s rare for the weather to be so cool and refreshing. Let¡¯s not think about anything and just enjoy the rain.¡±


    Even with using the umbre, he had still gotten very wet. Ning Mingjie casually took out his handkerchief and used it to wipe his face and body.


    It was rare for handkerchiefs to be embroidered with snow-capped mountains. Usually, the average person liked to embroidered handkerchiefs with flowers or birds. Ji Man had gotten tired of those patterns and embroidered something that she had drawn herself. She had given handkerchiefs with this unique design to the servants in Feiwan Courtyard as well as one handkerchief to Marquis Moyu. But, he didn¡¯t like it and ended up not using it.


    However, seeing this handkerchief, Ning Yuxuan recognized Nie Sangyu¡¯s handiwork. His heart slightly moved, and he pursed his lips to say, ¡°I heard that you came over here a few times when I wasn¡¯t here. How about we go pay respects to Old Madame together, then take advantage of this weather to write some poems or paint something afterwards?¡±


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t pay attention to Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze. This suggestion was pretty good, but he still added a modification, ¡°How about we have Sangyupose poems for us instead? I don¡¯t know why, but my calligraphy always looks a little bit better when I¡¯m writing out her poems.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression sunk. He only uttered a sound of assent, then turned around, epted an umbre from a servant, and started walking to the main courtyard.

 Chapter 209 - A charmingly picturesque rainy day (2)

    Chapter 209 ¨C A charmingly picturesque rainy day (2)


    Ji Man was currently chatting with Old Madame.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s plump belly, Old Madame was very happy. She kept going back to the same topic. ¡°If you can give birth to a boy and a girl this time, then it¡¯ll be the best possible good luck you could have.¡±


    ¡°How can it be that easy?¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m slightly taller than the average woman, so it¡¯s only natural for my pregnant belly to bigger than average. Old Madame, don¡¯t set your hopes on this. Otherwise, Sangyu will be on the edge every day and worried that I¡¯ll fail to meet your expectation.¡±


    ¡°Oh, look at you and your clever mouth,¡± Old Madame turned her head and looked at Liu Hanyun as she said, ¡°She says her words so cleverly. I can¡¯t even say any other words to refute them.¡±


    Liu Hanyun was the same as before. Her sitting posture was reserved, with a hand protectively ced over her stomach. She faintly smiled and said, ¡°Madam is the only one capable of managing this household so that¡¯s its peaceful.¡±


    As Old Madame smiled in delight, she raised her head and saw Ning Mingjie and her soning into the room to pay her respect. Her smile widened, and she said, ¡°Oh, is today a special day? Look, Mingjie is here.¡±


    Ji Man followed Old Madame¡¯s line of sight. Both men walked into the room with smiles and took their turns greeting Old Madame and asking after her health. However, for an inexplicable reason, Ji Man felt that Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile seemed a bit fake.


    Old Madame was cheerfully smiling as she said, ¡°It¡¯s so rare to see the two of you together. Let¡¯s all eat together at noon. I¡¯ll have the servants start preparing lunch now.¡±


    Ning Mingjie agreed.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Nie Sangyu as he said, ¡°It¡¯s a charmingly picturesque rainy day. Let¡¯s go write poems and paint paintings with Ning Mingjie.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows, then she nodded. She felt as if Gancao and Dengxin had been keeping her confined indoors almost every day. It would be good for the baby if she went out and got some fresh air.


    ¡ª


    Once again, the pavilion in the garden came in handy. Ji Man was practically carried over there by Gancao and Dengxin. Since it was raining, the paths were slippery, and the two servants were over-the-top careful. When they arrived at the pavilion, they doubled checked everything before she could sit down on a cushioned chair they had brought over for her.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know if she shouldugh or cry. Still, her heart felt warmed by their concern. These two young servant girls didn¡¯t know anything, but they treated her better than anyone else.


    The pavilion wasn¡¯t big, so only Gancao stayed with them to grind ink. The other servants all withdrew to various ces.


    Ji Man watched as the rain fell down on the pavilion¡¯s roof and took a deep breath. She was in a pretty good mood too.


    Marquis Moyu set up his table and started to paint.


    Ning Mingjie had picked up a brush, but instead of writing something, he looked at her. ¡°Madam, please bestow me another poem.¡±


    Ji Man felt somewhat embarrassed. Other people had written those poems. She was tantly giarizing. So immoral, so immoral.


    ¡°I remember a poem that wasposed by someone else. It¡¯s not long, but it¡¯s very creative.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Young Master, I¡¯ll recite it and you can write it out.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ning Mingjie nodded with a smiling face.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s back was a bit stiffed. His lips were tightly pursed, but he stayed silent.


    Ji Man recited the poem in a head-nodding student¡¯s cadence,


    <i>¡°In spring, I sleep, unaware morning is here,</i>


    <i> From near then far, I hear trilling songbirdsm.</i>


    <i> In the night¡¯s pitter-patter of winds and rains though mild,</i>


    <i> Who know how many petals have fallen? Know not, I fear!¡±</i>


    (T/N: Poem¡¯s trantion is taken from here.)


    Ning Mingjie penned down her words. Each word was like a flower, full of elegant springtime feelings. He looked at the flowers that had fallen onto the ground and sighed, ¡°This poem is really suitable. One night of rain and wind, who knows how many petals have fallen?¡±


    Ji Man nced at Ning Yuxuan. Something seemed off. This person had always been very possessive. No matter how you looked at it, it was slightly impertinent for her and Mingjie to share such a charmingly picturesque moment in front of him. However, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t said a single disapproving word. Ning Mingjie, who was pure-minded and low in emotional intelligence, didn¡¯t notice anything.


    Ning Mingjie had finished writing the poem. On Marquis Moyu¡¯s side, he was only half-done with his painting. The rain was already gradually starting to stop.


    Ning Mingjie looked at the sky and smiled. ¡°There¡¯ll definitely be a splendidly sunny day tomorrow. It really makes a person feel delighted to have received such a wonderful poem.¡±


    With a blushing face, Gancao put down the grinding stone and quietly said, ¡°Young Master¡¯s writing is really beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Ning Mingjie lightly smiled. He dried the ink on the paper and handed the poem to Gancao. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll give it you.¡±


    Gancao¡¯s entire face flushed red. Her hand was slightly trembling as she epted the paper from him. She was so excited that her words were slightly unclear as she said, ¡°T-Thank you, Young Master. This servant will definitely have it framed.¡±


    Ning Mingjie burst out intougher.


    Ji Man stood up. She wanted to see what Marquis Moyu had painted. He had been silent this entire time. From time to time, he had been looking over here at them with an expression that proimed, ¡°This great lord is in a very bad mood¡±. Ji Man didn¡¯t know what she had done to anger him, but his expression looked a little better than before, so she wanted to get closer to him to talk about it.


    However, that jerk suddenly crumpled his painting and said in a dissatisfied tone, ¡°It didn¡¯t turn out good. Doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°My lord, what did you paint?¡±


    ¡°A flower.¡± Ning Yuxuan tucked the scrunched up paper into his sleeve, stood up, and indifferently said, ¡°A flower that¡¯s being rained upon looks too ugly. It¡¯s too difficult to paint well.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°Ji Man nced at Ning Yuxuan. Something seemed off. This person had always been very possessive. No matter how you looked at it, it was slightly impertinent for her and Mingjie to share such a charmingly picturesque moment in front of him. However, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t said a single disapproving word.¡±


    When I read this for the first time, I felt quite confused. At the beginning of the story, he choked Nie Sangyu at the mere idea that she liked someone else, so why isn¡¯t he showing any reaction now? It¡¯s onlyter, when a simr scene happens that we can guess what he¡¯s thinking now. Posted the spoiler in thements below.

 Chapter 210 - The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (1)

    Chapter 210 ¨C The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (1)


    Ji Man twitched her lips. If you didn¡¯t paint well, you didn¡¯t paint well. Why crumpled up the painting and not allow anyone else to see? What a waste of ink and paper. Still, seeing how gloomy he looked today as if his period had arrived, she decided that going along with his mood would be the better course of action.


    Ning Yuxuan nced at the infatuated Gancao, who was standing by Mingjie. His lips twitched, but he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    The rain had stopped, so the group of people walked around the residence while they waited until it was time for dinner. Their stroll took them from the garden to the back of the residence.


    Ning Mingjie reached into his robe to take out his handkerchief, but he couldn¡¯t find it. His handkerchief had disappeared. Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows and stopped walking to turn his head back to look.


    Marquis Moyu asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ning Mingjie shook his head. It was only a handkerchief. Besides, even if he went back to look for it now, he didn¡¯t know where he had dropped it.


    He turned his head back and resumed walking. At the front, Sangyu was straightening her back to support her big belly. She turned her head slightly and whispered a few words to Ning Yuxuan. Her eyes were curved into smiling crescents, and her face was lit with the gentle, warm glow of maternal radiance.


    For a brief moment, Ning Mingjie thought that it would wonderful if his future wife could be exactly like Nie Sangyu. Someone that could write poems with him on rainy days, lean over to gently wipe away the raindrops from his forehead for him, and make him feel as if his heartstrings were being tugged when she gently looked at him.


    Unfortunately, the world only had one woman that was like this, and it would be difficult to find another woman that was exactly like her. Ning Mingjie quietly chuckled. An evil, mischievous spirit must be infecting him. Otherwise, why would he desire something that he could never obtain? Back when Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t been favored, he would tell himself that his feelings for her were just sympathy.


    But now, Nie Sangyu was pregnant and receiving his cousin¡¯s affections. So, why couldn¡¯t he stop thinking about her?


    His steps became slower and slower. In the end, he finally stopped walking. Ning Mingjie pursed his lips and said, ¡°I lost something. I need to go back to look for it. You two can continue taking your stroll without me.¡±


    Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan halted their steps too.


    In a quiet voice, Ganao asked, ¡°What was it? This servant can go and search for it for you.¡±


    Ning Mingjie waved his hand to gesture his refusal, then he turned around and started striding back to the garden.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t take Ning Mingjie¡¯s departure to heart. She still had to continue her work of sorting out Marquis Moyu¡¯s misconceptions. ¡°Everyone is saying that this servant is pregnant with twins, but pregnancy conditions differ from woman to woman. I think I¡¯m only pregnant with one baby, and I just have more amniotic fluid than average.¡±


    Marquis Moyu listened in confusion. He naturally had no idea about these womanly matters. But, he understood the key point of her speech. She was saying that the size of a woman¡¯s belly wasn¡¯t entirely dependent on number of months she had been pregnant, right?


    He lightly coughed. His heart no longer felt as tensed as before. Actually, he wasn¡¯t thatcking in self-confidence. If he waspared to Mingjie, there wasn¡¯t any aspect that he would lose to him, right? Nie Sangyu¡¯s life was pretty good. Why would she cheat on him for no reason? It¡¯s not as if she was tired of living.


    So, really, it was a bitughable to suspect her words. Although her pregnancy was unexpected, he had already decided to allow her to give birth to this baby. Everything else was inconsequential.


    Ning Yuxuan smiled and stretched his hand out to support Nie Sangyu. ¡°You should eat more. You look too thin. Giving birth will be a really grueling experience.¡±


    Ji Man nodded.


    After they had finished their stroll around the residence, they headed to the main courtyard for dinner.


    When they entered the room, Ning Mingjie was already sitting at the dining table. He clearly hadn¡¯t found the item he had lost; his expression didn¡¯t look good. The other concubines were also attending the dinner, with the ordinary concubines standing by the side of the table to add food to the individual bowls from the center dishes. Surprisingly, Wen Wan had alsoe and was obediently standing by Marquis Moyu¡¯s seat.


    Old Madame was in excellent spirits when Qian Lianxue suddenly said, ¡°The weather looked good today, so I went outside to walk around and found a handkerchief when I was in the garden. I wonder who it belongs to?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She looked at the item that Qian Lianxue was holding up. It was a handkerchief embroidered with a snow-capped mountain design. It must have belonged to someone in her courtyard.


    Marquis Moyu also nced at the item. Feeling confused, he looked at Mingjie with raised eyebrows.


    Ji Man finally remembered that time when she had tried to give him a piece of jade to thank him for saving Gancao. He had refused the jade and only took the handkerchief she had used to giftwrap the jade in.


    Normally, this wouldn¡¯t be a big deal. It was just a handkerchief used to wrap a present. However, looking at Ning Mingjie¡¯s current expression, it really was a difficult task to not misunderstand that something improper was going on between them.


    He stood up and held his hand out towards Qian Lianxue. ¡°Thank you for your trouble. This one had carelessly lost it.¡±


    Qian Lianxue nodded. Just as Qian Lianxue was about to hand the handkerchief over to him, Qi Siling casually took it from her hand. With a grin, she said, ¡°This handkerchief has such an borate pattern. Young Master, where did you get it? It has such a unique design. Siling liked it at first sight. You wouldn¡¯t mind lending it to Siling, so that Siling can copy the design and embroider a copy of my own, right?¡±


    Ning Mingjie dimly put his hand back down. Looking at Qi Siling, he said, ¡°There are probably many handkerchiefs with this design in Madam¡¯s courtyard. Why do you insist on taking mine?¡±


    Old Madame¡¯s expression slightly changed. She looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°I gave that to Young Master for saving Gancao.¡±


    People normally gave gold and silver or other valuables to express their thanks. It was inevitable that giving a handkerchief as a gift would make people think there was more to the story. Even Ji Man felt it was easy for the average person to misunderstand, much less the people sitting at this table that were used to thinking deeply.

 Chapter 211 - The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (2)

    Chapter 211 ¨C The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (2)


    Qian Lianxue quietly coughed, then she said, ¡°It¡¯s Lianxue that made a mistake. It wasn¡¯t an appropriate time to take it out.¡±


    Wen Wan continued along the same line by saying, ¡°Madam, really, what were you thinking? Why didn¡¯t you give him something else? This servant thinks that handkerchiefs would only be given as a gift between lovers.¡±


    Ji Man was speechless. She could only wrylyugh at herself. She shouldn¡¯t have been so brainless at the time and agreed to Ning Mingjie¡¯s suggestion.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression was very ugly. ¡°This one didn¡¯t expect that a mere handkerchief would cause everyone to feel the need to say so many words. Really, it¡¯s my fault. This one can¡¯t continue eating this dinner. This one needs to think of an apology to Madam that will remove all of the dirty water that¡¯s been sshed onto her.¡±


    He usually wasn¡¯t a verbose speaker and had never said such a cutting remark in front of them.


    After these words were said, even Old Madame slightly pursed her lips and called out in a low voice, ¡°Mingjie.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes so that his gaze was directed at the food. Ji Man looked at him, but she had no idea what he was thinking of.


    Standing behind Nie Sangyu, Gancao hadn¡¯t been able to keep herself still for a while. She gritted her teeth, kneeled down in the middle of the room, and kowtowed three times in front of them. ¡°Masters, if there¡¯s anything that you want to say, then just directly scold this servant. It¡¯s this servant¡¯s fault for having a presumptuous wish. My master hasn¡¯t done anything wrong.¡±


    ¡°Gancao.¡± Ji Man was slightly surprised, but looking at that young girl¡¯s stubborn gaze, she seemed to have understood something. She pursed her lips and didn¡¯t say another word.


    It truly was a teenage girl¡¯s feelings. The hero had saved the beauty, and the beauty had lost her heart to him. Was Gancao nning on taking responsibility for this matter and also confessing her feelings to Ning Mingjie? But, you silly girl. How could the people in this room allow a servant girl to resolve this misunderstanding?


    Old Madame asked, ¡°Gancao, what are you saying? What have you been presumptuously wishing for?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was also looking at Gancao.


    Gancao bit her lips. Keeping her head lowered, she said, ¡°After Young Master saved this servantst time, this servant kept recalling that memory fondly and had thoughts that this servant shouldn¡¯t have. Even though this servant knows it was presumptuous, this servant continued having romantic feelings towards Young Master. And so, when Madame was giving Young Master a thank you gift, this servant pleaded with Madam to also give him that handkerchief that was personally embroidered by this servant. Moreover, Madam has also given him a piece of jade, but Young Master hadn¡¯t epted it.¡±


    ¡°Marquis and Old Madame, please allow this servant to make this clear. If this servant had known that the various masters would make something out of nothing, then servant would have never pleaded with Madam to allow this servant to express her selfish wish.¡±


    After saying this, she kowtowed several times. Her body was slightly trembling as she stayed in the kneeling position.


    She was clearly saying that the people that had used her master of improper behavior were deliberately making stuff up. However, Qian Lianxue stayed silent with her head lowered to show a contemtive demeanor.


    Wen Wan also said in aggrieved tone, ¡°So what you¡¯re saying is that this servant is the evil person. This servant shouldn¡¯t have said those words. This servant deserves to die.¡±


    In contrast, Qi Siling pursed her lips and lightlyughed, ¡°Madam, your servant is truly very loyal to you.¡±


    Marquis Moyu, who had been silently eating during this entire episode, suddenly called out, ¡°Ling-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Qi Siling trembled for a moment, then she lowered her head too and didn¡¯t say another word.


    Ji Man sighed. She looked at Old Madame and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t Sangyu say a few days ago that there will definitely be people that won¡¯t allow Sangyu¡¯s days to be peaceful by using the excuse that Sangyu¡¯s belly isrger than average? Old Madame, at the time, you said that Sangyu didn¡¯t need to worry. See, how can Sangyu not worry over this?¡±


    Hearing these words, Old Madame finally stopped scrutinizing Ning Mingjie. She put down her chopsticks and said, ¡°This dinner has gone very unsatisfactory. As expected, when there¡¯s an excessive amount of women in a harem, there aren¡¯t too many peaceful days to be had.¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a handkerchief? If Gancao enjoys giving Mngjie handkerchiefs, then it¡¯s no big deal even if she embroiders him a hundred handkerchiefs to give to him. Why is there any need to feel upset and stop eating dinner? Mother, Mingjie, the servants had prepared a pretty good meal today. The two of you should eat more.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nced at him, then he looked at Nie Sangyu. He stood up, walked to Gancao¡¯s side, and helped her stand up.


    Gancao felt overwhelmed by his gesture.


    ¡°My father has recently been urging me to get at least get a concubine,¡± Ning Mingjie lightly said, ¡°It¡¯s rare to see a woman like Gancao that¡¯s so wholeheartedly devoted to me. I also like the handkerchief that she embroidered. Old Madame, how about giving Gancao to me?¡±


    Everyone in the room was stunned. Old Madame managed to say, ¡°You want Gancao?¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded. ¡°Is Madam unwilling to give her to me?¡±


    After nkly looking at him for a moment, Ji Man shook her head. ¡°If Young Master likes Gancao, then that¡¯s her good fortune. It¡¯s just that marriage is forever for a woman. We should finish dinner first, then carefully discus this matter.¡±


    The entire table of people sunk into silence.


    In regards to Ning Mingjie¡¯s obviously impulsive decision, there were some people that thought Gancao was very lucky, and there were also others that thought he was only making the matter more conspicuous by trying to cover it up. But everyone agreed that he was obviously doing this to protect Nie Sangyu.


    As for why he was protecting her, it was up to each person to guess the reason.


    No one was able to enjoy eating the rest of the dinner. After the meal was over, Old Madame brought Mingjie and her son, as well as Nie Sangyu and Gancao to her inner room to talk.


    Looking at Ning Mingjie with a wry smile, Old Madame said, ¡°If I let you promote a servant girl into your concubine, your father probably won¡¯t be thanking me. You¡¯ve always been a considerate child. Can you tell me the real reason why you want Gancao?¡±


    Even after all those previous words had been said, Old Madame and Marquis Moyu clearly didn¡¯t believe Gancao¡¯s confession.


    Sitting in a lower chair than Old Madame, Ning Mingjie pursed his lip and said, ¡°Mingjie thinks that Gancao is very good. It won¡¯t be a big deal to wee her into my household as a concubine. Mingjie will naturally exin the matter to my father. As for my real reason, it really is because she looked at me with a pair of deeply adoring eyes.¡±

 Chapter 212 - The last night of summer (1)

    Chapter 212 ¨C Thest night of summer (1)


    A deeply adoring gaze? Ning Yuxuan chuckled and nced at Nie Sangyu.


    He hadn¡¯t seen that look in someone¡¯s eyes in a long time. Once upon a time, he had seen that look. It was from the woman that he used to despise the most. She had looked at him with iparable longing, an almost crazy look. Her eyes only reflected his image.


    At that time, he had despised Nie Sangyu¡¯s rude and unreasonable behavior, her pettiness. He would have liked nothing more than writing a divorce letter and sending her far away. He had thought there was no reason to cherish that look of hers.


    But now, he felt somewhat envious of Mingjie.


    It had been too long since someone had looked at him with that clean and purely adoring gaze that Gancao looked at Mingjie with.


    Ning Yuxuan lifted his hands out to look. He felt as if he had lost something without noticing at the time. He used to think that her love wasn¡¯t valuable, but now he knew that it had been a priceless treasure.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s exnation didn¡¯t win over Old Madame. However, it wouldn¡¯t be reasonable for her to say anything more since he was so insistent on asking for Gancao and Sangyu hadn¡¯t refused. After all, this matter was between the youngsters.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you want Gancao, but Sangyu is in theter stage of her pregnancy and needs personal servants to attend to her. If you really want Gancao, how about waiting until Sangyu gives birth, then I¡¯ll give Gancao to you then?¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded. Holding that handkerchief in his hand, he stood up and said, ¡°Aright, then it¡¯s settled. It¡¯s not early anymore, so Mingjie will leave first. Old Madame, Mingjie wille back on another day to visit.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Old Madame nodded.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man took Gancao with her as she went back to Feiwan Courtyard, but Ning Yuxuan followed after them. And so, she didn¡¯t have the chance to ask Gancao any questions yet.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu,¡± he lightly spoke these words, but he included herst name too.


    Ji Man froze for a moment, then she walked to his side. ¡°My lord, do you have any orders?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his head to look at her. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°Tell me the truth. Did you embroider that handkerchief?¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s embroidery skills were very high-level and that handkerchief had been exquisitely made. It really seemed more like something that would have been made by her hands.


    Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°Does it matter who embroidered that handkerchief? This servant is willing to swear that this servant doesn¡¯t have any extra feelings for Young Master. It¡¯s also true that Gancao is whole-heartedly in love with Young Master. My lord, what are you concerned about?¡±


    Sitting on the bedside, he gently patted the bed sheet.


    Ji Man sat down next to him.


    ¡°The women that have chosen to be with me, no matter which one it is, they¡¯re not allowed to be disloyal.¡± He gently raised his hand and ced it on her belly. ¡°You¡¯ve been with me the longest, so you naturally know this, right?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Didn¡¯t he usually consider himself the most amazing person in this world? Why was he saying such unconfident words? It made her feel as if he was a person that showed a strong front but was fragile inside.


    ¡°This servant understands,¡± she said, ¡°My lord, this servant will never betray you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her eyes and couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to cover them. He quietly said, ¡°When will you return to the previous Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Ji Man was stunned.


    The spirit that had been lying dormant in this body for such a long time was startled awake by these words. Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop the tears from falling out of her eyes.


    ¡°Why are you crying?¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. He started wiping them, but no matter how much he wiped, the tears kept falling. Finally, he tugged part of the quilt to cover her face. ¡°What¡¯s there to cry about?¡±


    Ji Man could feel Nie Sangyu¡¯s grief. It felt as if her heart was being torn into pieces too. It was so painful.


    He had abandoned Nie Sangyu for so long. How could Nie Sangyu not cry when she finally heard him speak to her in such a nostalgic tone?


    However, after the period of crying passed, Ji Man no longer felt Nie Sangyu¡¯s presence. She wiped her tears and uncovered her face. ¡°My lord, it¡¯ste. Let¡¯s go to sleep.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded, but then he stood up. He lightly coughed and said, ¡°I¡¯m going over to Muxu¡¯s ce to sleep.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment. She had thought he would stay over. Why did he suddenly think of Muxu? Still, this was better than him going to Xuesong Courtyard. And so, Ji Man nodded and respectfully sent him out.


    ¡ª


    For a period of time after this, Muxu was very favored. Although Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure out Marquis Moyu¡¯s reasoning, her pregnancy symptoms got worse, so she didn¡¯t have the free time to think or care about this.


    However, for some reason, Muxu seemed to be secretly resenting something. Every time she came over here to visit her, she would quietly stare at her, then let out a long sigh.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t ask her what was wrong. If Muxu wanted to say something, then she could say it whenever she wanted to. She wasn¡¯t in the mood to ask her.


    Her body became heavier and heavier. The imperial noble consort had already sent over the most dependable midwife to stay by her side and wait. The midwife¡¯sst name was Ceng, and she looked very kind.


    As summer approached its end, it was about time for Ji Man to give birth. Old Madame suddenly fell seriously sick and the entire household became very nervous.


    Marquis Moyu invited over several imperial physicians as well as famous doctors over. However, it had already been diagnosed as an old illness that had red up due to Old Madame¡¯s advancing age. No one could do anything. They could only properly attend to her and keep herfortable.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wonder if Ning Yuxuan is making Muxu sleep on the cushioned couch by herself while he hogs her bed. I posted a tiny spoiler rted to this in thements below.

 Chapter 213 - The last night of summer (2)

    Chapter 213 ¨C Thest night of summer (2)


    With her back straightened to support her belly, Ji Man went over to visit Old Madame. It had only been a short period of half a month, but Old Madame looked as if she had considerably aged.


    Leaning back against the pillow, Old Madame held her hand and said, ¡°People will always have to face retribution for what they¡¯ve done. When I was younger, I did plenty of wicked things. Otherwise, Xuan-<i>er</i> wouldn¡¯t have been able to peacefully live up today and start his own family. But, a debt always has to be paid back. They¡¯ve probablye for me to pay back what I owe them.¡±


    Feeling a bit scared by these words, Ji Man hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t scare yourself like this. Sangyu will be giving birth to your grandchild soon. Don¡¯t have these wild thoughts.¡±


    Old Madame looked at her belly, and her eyes curved into smiling crescents. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to this precious grandchild, always hoping for its arrival.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes turned red. She stroked Old Madame¡¯s white hair, then left the room to prepare soup for her.


    ¡ª


    At the sight of Nie Sangyu in the kitchen, Aunty Zhao was almost scared out of her wits. ¡°Madam, you shouldn¡¯te to this ce. Be careful with your health! If you need anything, us servants can do it.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. Old Madame had been the person that treated her the best. No matter what, she should at least do something, right?


    When she had passed by the rooms where the doctors were saying, she heard them quietly discussing that Old Madame probably wouldn¡¯t make it to the end of the year.


    She pretended that she hadn¡¯t heard them and devoted herself to preparing soup for Old Madame.


    Marquis Moyu seemed to be preupied with something troublesometely. His brow never rxed. In the imperial courts, the crown prince and the third prince continued to be mutually opposed. However, the third prince had an outstanding track record of political achievements, and the emperor seemed to be considering giving him the title of crown prince. In addition, the imperial noble consort was also imploring the emperor during their pillow talks, so the crown prince¡¯s position appeared as if it was on the verge of tottering over.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure it out. If she gave birth to Marquis Moyu¡¯s child, it would practically be a deathblow to the crown prince. However, other than frightening her that one time, the crown prince hadn¡¯t done anything. He hadn¡¯t actually harmed her. It couldn¡¯t be that the crown prince was really that magnanimous and willing to let her peacefully give birth to this baby, right?


    Ning Yuxuan was currently sitting in her room and quietly reading a book. Noticing her scrutinizing gaze, he put down his book and impassively asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. Perhaps, she was overthinking things. At the beginning, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t wanted her be pregnant either. How could he possibly be secretly helping her?


    ¡ª


    On thest night of summer, Ji Man suddenly felt a burst of pain. Her scream woke up the entire household.


    The imperial physician and the midwife came over to take their positions. The other women also gushed forth to Feiwan Courtyard to wait. In the midst of her illness, Old Madame still sent Danggui and Shouwu to wait over there too. As soon as there was any news, they were toe back and report to her.


    Wen Wen personally went over to call over Ning Yuxuan. Seeing him sitting in the dimly lit study, she said, ¡°Madam is about to give birth. You shoulde with Wan-<i>er</i> to go over there.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly nodded. ¡°I still have documents that I need to look at. Just send someone overter to tell me if she gave birth to a boy or a girl.¡±


    Wen Wan sweetly smiled. ¡°My lord, how can you be like this? Madam is giving birth to a baby for you. How can you not be willing to go over there to just take a look?¡±


    Right after saying this, as if she was scared he would change his mind, she immediately turned around and said, ¡°Then, this servant will go over there to tell the people on that side for you. As soon as there¡¯s news, this servant wille back to tell you.¡±


    In the midst of the quiet study, Marquis Moyu said one word, ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡ª


    As Ji Man followed the midwife¡¯s instructions to take deep breaths, she silently cursed that person who had predicted that she would be able to easily give birth.


    Hadn¡¯t that person said the fetus had been a very good birthing position? Why was she feeling so much pain right now then?


    The screams that couldn¡¯t be suppressed traveled outside ands scared the waiting pregnant women.


    Holding Liu Hanyun¡¯s hand, Muxu was slightly trembling as she asked, ¡°Could something be wrong with Madam?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be okay,¡± Liu Hanyun resolutely said, ¡°Good things will happen to good people. Madam and her baby will definitely be okay.¡±


    Inside the room, Gancao and Dengxin were so busy that they felt vertigo. A moment of carelessness and one of them knocked over a basin of hot water.


    The midwife angrily shouted, ¡°You inexperienced servants! Don¡¯t cause trouble. Go and boil more hot water!


    Ji Man was already in so much pain that she couldn¡¯t coherently speak anymore.


    After hesitating for a while and looking at the room full of servants that the midwife had brought with her, Gancao and Dengxin still felt worried about leaving their master along. However, the midwife¡¯s words were true. They didn¡¯t have any experience and were only adding to the chaos by being here.


    And so, the two of them withdrew from the room and hurriedly went to boil water.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man blearily opened her eyes, she saw the kind-hearted midwife say, ¡°Madam, you won¡¯t go wrong with listening this servant. Do your best to push hard. This is definitely a fat baby boy!¡±


    No matter how clever a woman was, she would be at her most fragile point when she was giving birth. Ji Man closed her eyes again and followed the midwife¡¯s words by pushing hard again and again.


    ¡ª


    The entire household could hear Nie Sangyu¡¯s screams. Ning Yuxuan chuckled, that woman had quite the loud voice.


    But, hearing her screams, it really did seem that she was in a lot of pain.


    His fingers tightened, and he opened the doors to go outside. He called out for Guibai.


    Guibai asked, ¡°Master? Do you want this servant to go over there and wait for news?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°No need. She¡¯s not that important. Bring a pot of tea for me. My throat feels a bit dry.¡±


    Looking at his master¡¯s somewhat pale face, Guibai didn¡¯t say anything and left to get tea.


    ¡ª


    After Wan Wan entered Feiwan Courtyard, she aggrievedly stood in the outer room and loudly said, ¡°I went to look for the marquis, but the marquis wasn¡¯t willing toe. He said he was busy with work and just wanted someone to report the gender of the baby to him once Madam had given birth.¡±


    Naturally, Ji Man was able to hear Wen Wan¡¯s voice from the inner room. She inwardlyughed. Wen Wan really tried her best to upset her at every opportunity. Unfortunately for Wen Wen, she didn¡¯t care.


    Trantor Ramblings: I like that Old Madame isn¡¯t portrayed as only a kindly, doting mother-inw, or doesn¡¯t suddenly be senile just so that the author has a way to make Ji Man¡¯s life more difficult. And, I wonder how much of Old Madame¡¯s illness is caused by the guilt of what she had done in the past to eliminate her husband¡¯s concubines and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s half siblings. Unlike Ji Man, she doesn¡¯t seem scared of what¡¯sing and is at peace with her perceived punishment.

 Chapter 214

    Chapter 214 - Recing a son with a toddy kitten (1)


    Right now, she only cared about giving birth to this baby. As for everything else, there was no reason for her to care. She wasn''t Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man encouraged herself with those thoughts. And yet, for an inexplicable reason, she still felt slightly angry. People weren''t unfeeling like grass. The two of them had been coexisting for such a long time. Although she didn''t like Ning Yuxuan, they could still be considered close, right? No matter what, Nie Sangyu was his woman and giving birth to his child. Instead ofing here, he was actually looking at some damn work document?


    May he be permanently blessed with crossed eyes!


    Tenaciously clenching her teeth, Ji Man actually felt as if she had gotten more strength. Using the energy that came from feeling angry and resentful, Ji Man followed the midwife''s directions.


    An hourter, the baby still hadn''t been born yet, and a servant ran out of the inner room and said, "Masters, are there any of you that can keep staying here? Madam is definitely going to have a difficult time with giving birth!"


    The servant girl''s hands were covered in blood. The other women couldn''t help feeling nauseous when they saw this.


    With a cold expression, Qi Siling said, "Clean yourself up beforeing out. There are pregnant women here. Don''t scare them. If people need to stay here to keep watch, then let it be the women that aren''t pregnant."


    The three pregnant women were Liu Hanyun, Muxu, and Wen Wan. Looking at the situation in the birthing room, it really wasn''t auspicious. One after another, the three of them left. In the end, only Qian Lianxue, Jinse, and Qi Siling were left.


    Qian Lianxue nced at Jinse and said in a low voice, "Jinse normally doesn''t seem very close to Madam, but her heart is surprisingly good. It''s already sote, but she''s still staying here to watch."


    Jinse hadn''t been saying much this entire time and had been focused on looking in the direction of the birthing room. Out of the three remaining people, she was the most nervous one. "This servant just wants to see if Madam will give birth to a boy or girl.


    Qian Lianxue lightlyughed and continued to wait. Looking a bit tired, she waved her hand to get Danzhu''s attention and said, "Go and light an incense that''ll help us stay awake."


    Danzhu made a sound of assent. It only took a brief moment before she came back with the incense.


    The three concubines, Danggui, Shouwu, and a couple of other female servant continued waiting outside.


    The sound of Nie Sangyu''s screams would pause for a short period before resuming. By the end, everyone had already gotten used to it.


    ---


    Hearing the sound of a baby crying by her ear, Ji Man''s entire body felt lighter and all of her remaining strength left her body. Before she had time to look at the newly born baby, she had already fainted.


    The midwife softly and quietly brought the baby to a basin to clean him up. She covered his mouth to quiet his wailing, then she gave the nearby servant girls a meaningful look.


    The roomful of servant girls acted very orderly. Someone brought a bamboo basket and took the thing that had been in the basket out and ced it on the bed. Another person took the crying baby and gently put him into the bamboo basket.


    The baby was crying so loudly, but no one outside had woken up. When a servant girl opened the doors to look, everyone was slumped over their chairs and deeply asleep.


    The baby had cried enough, and his eyes were now closed. Other than the murmur of summer insects, the entire courtyard had fallen silent.


    ---


    Ji Man was awoken by shrill screams and the sound of frantic movement and something being smashed. She was still very sleepy and wanted to sleep for several days and nights, but someone by her bedside kept screaming, "Impossible! What happened?!"


    It seemed as if there were numerous people making an unnecessary racket in her room. When Ji Man won the struggle of opening her eyes, she saw a toddy kitten by her bed.


    It was a tiny, wet kitten. It opened its eyes and innocently meowed at her.


    Ji Man was tempted tough. Who brought this cute kitten here? What if it had a contagious disease? Pregnant women were more susceptible to getting sick.


    But, then she heard Ning Yuxuan''s slightly hoarse voice saying, "Do all of you think that Nie Sangyu is a demon or that I''m a demon? Isn''t it absurd to believe that a baby born from two humans would be a toddy kitten? There were so many people watching herst night. How could you all have let that group of servant girls disappear without a trace? Wasn''t that midwife sent from the pce? Why did the midwife kill herself?"


    It felt as if an explosion had gone off in her mind. Ji Man widened her eyes. There wasn''t much strength left in her body, but she stubbornly half-propped herself by the headboard. Looking at the people in the room, she asked, "Where''s my baby?"


    All of the concubines, as well as Wen Wan, were here. Liu Hanyun and Muxu''s faces were full of worry, and Wen Wan''s eyes were full of joy over the cmity that had befallen her enemy. As for the other people, Ji Man couldn''t tell for sure what emotion they were feeling.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head. Seeing that she was awake, he pulled back some of his anger. He pursed his lips and asked, "Nie Sangyu, do you I find it preposterous that people would think you had given birth to a toddy kitten?"


    Ji Man froze in surprise beforeughter escaped from her. "Are you an idiot? How could the offspring of two humans be a toddy kitten? Even using something like recessive genes wouldn''t make this possible."


    "Yeah, I find it ridiculous too." Marquis Moyu didn''t understand thetter part of her answer, but he still smiled and nodded. Sitting by her bedside, he looked at her with reddened eyes. "But you really gave birth to a toddy kitten."


    Ji Man''s entire body stiffened.


    By her side, the wet kitten innocently meowed a few times. The rest of the people in the room had fallen silent.


    Her mind was nk for a long time before Ji Man took a deep breath and used thest of her strength to ask, "My lord, can you tell this servant what happened?"


    Ning Yuxuan lightly shook his head. "My mother fainted after she heard the news. I don''t have time to exin. Get some rest first."


    Ji Man was stunned. She looked around the room. Clearly everyone in the room hadn''t slept all night, and it looked as if Marquis Moyu had only recentlye here. How could Old Madame have already found out?


    She had just given birth to a baby. Why did she have to be confronted with something so scary before she had time to fully wake up? Her baby had changed into toddy kitten? Even if you beat her to death, she wouldn''t believe this.


    T/N: It¡¯s mentioned earlier in the story that Nie Sangyu is allergic to cats, but a toddy cat isn¡¯t actually a feline. They just look cat-like, and they¡¯re more closely rted to mongooses than cats.


    Below is a picture of a baby toddy cat.


    P.S. I went back and forth between whether or not I should say this several times. Continue reading if you''re worried about where this story is going. Stop here if you don''t want to read any spoilers. We¡¯re heading into the 5% of the novel, where things will be very tragic for Ji Man, then a life-changing event will ur, and Ji Man''s outlook on life will gradually be happier. Just to be clear, it''s not going to be all doom and gloom for the next 5% of the novel. There will also be sweet moments, funny moments, secrets being revealed that will rify previously confusing behavior by certain characters, etc.


    Some of her uing suffering is because she changed the original novel¡¯s plot points and meddled in things without taking the time to get the full picture. It is more realistic for Ji Man to not be able to magically know everyone''s hidden motives and ns. But, don''t worry. Everything will work out. Even better, the author didn¡¯t write herself into a corner and won¡¯t solve Ji Man¡¯s problems with a deus ex machina.

 Chapter 215

    Chapter 215 - Recing a son with a toddy kitten (2)


    One after another, almost everyone left the room. Shouwu and Danggui had been standing in front of her bed and appeared as if there was something they wanted to say, but after a nce at the toddy kitten, they also hurriedly left the room too.


    There seemed to be officers outside of the room that were examining a corpse. Gancao and Dengxin knelt down by her bed. Crying as they kowtowed and said, "It''s all our fault for not taking good care of master. We failed at watching over you!"


    Ji Man nkly touched the toddy kitten. The little kitten stuck its tongue out and licked her finger.


    "Tell me... what happened?"


    Choked with sobs, Gancao said, "After we were sent to the kitchen to boil water and came back, we didn''t hear any noise from master''s room. When the marquis anxiously rushed over, everyone was still sleeping in the outer room. In the inner room, there was only master and a toddy kitten. The midwife... the midwifemitted suicide by master''s bed."


    Frightened, Ji Man trembled. Turning her head to look, it was only now that she noticed there were traces of blood at the end of her bed.


    After dry retching a few times, Ji Manughed until tears almost came out of her eyes. "I thought I would be lucky enough to give Nie Sangyu a child, but that insidious hand had never stopped, not even for a moment!"


    Gancao and Dengxin were both crying and didn''t notice there was something off about her words. They just continued to me themselves. "We should have stayed outside master''s room and kept watch! We shouldn''t have left!"


    Ji Man felt exhausted. She didn''t have much strength to begin with and had just gone through a horrendous shock. The space in front of her suddenly turned ck.


    ---


    A monster had appeared in Marquis Moyu''s estate. His wife had give birth to toddy kitten in September.


    This news quickly spread. Soon, even the people in the pce heard about this. The imperial noble consort''s face turned deathly pale, and she became sick for several days because of this. The emperor thought this matter was very unlucky and sent many people to the marquis''s estate to do purification rituals.


    Old Madame had been seriously ill to begin with. She had been clinging onto herst breath to wait for Sangyu to give birth. But, the result had beenpletely out of her expectations. Even if Sangyu had given birth to a girl, she would have still felt less worried about Sangyu''s future. How could she ept that Sangyu had given birth to a toddy kitten?


    Before this incident, Old Madame had still been able to eat two bowls of congee every day. Afterwards, she wasn''t even able to eat that. Day and night, she would have nightmare after nightmare, and her health rapidly deteriorated. No matter how many doctors Marquis Moyu called over or how much medicine was used; Old Madame didn''t show any sign of recovery from her illness.


    ---


    People from Nie n finally rushed over to Marquis Moyu''s estate. ording to the customs, as Nie Sangyu''s mother by marriage, Chen-<i>shi</i> should have rushed over here when Nie Sangyu had startedbor and kept herpany the entire time. But, Chen-<i>shi</i> had imed that she was sick and wouldn''t allow Errong toe here either. Errong had already been discontent with Chen-<i>shi</i>. Now that something had happened to Sangyu, she hated Chen-<i>shi</i> to death.


    Unfortunately with Qingyun between them, she couldn''t start a fight with his mother. She could only hurry to Sangyu''s side as fast as possible.


    Ji Man had been unconscious for two days.


    Looking at his younger sister''s deathly pale face, Nie Qingyun clenched his fist and asked Dengxin, "Where''s the marquis?"


    Dengxin rubbed the tears from her eyes and answered, "The marquis is busy dealing with follow-up matters. He hasn''t closed his eyes inst few days too."


    The midwife hadmitted suicide. People from the local authority division hade over to examine her corpse.


    As for the toddy kitten, it had been confined in the backyard. They didn''t dare to kill it or let it go. They were waiting for Marquis Moyu to make a decision.


    The crown prince kept offering to introduce venerated senior monks to Ning Yuxuan, so that they could check if Nie Sangyu was a transformed toddy cat demoness. Ning Yuxuan rejected his offers.


    Outside of the estate, everyone was discussing this incident. If this matter wasn''t properly resolved, it could have an enormous impact.


    But, Ji Man still hadn''t woken up.


    The doctor had said her energy consumption had been too great, and she wouldn''t wake up until her energy had recovered.


    And yet, standing on the side, Chen-<i>shi</i> sneered and said, "She''s even capable of giving birth to a toddy kitten. Who knows if she''s a human or a demoness? Why are you all so worried about her?"


    Nie Qingyun finally showed his anger. "Mother! Sangyu is already like this. Why can''t you say something nice?"


    Errong couldn''t control her fury and angrily said, "Madam, are you hoping that Sangyu will die so that you can send your own daughter into the marquis''s estate?"


    Chen-<i>shi</i> indignantly rebuked Ning Errong, "Impudent! When did it be your turn to talk? Have you forgotten your status?"


    "My status?" It had really been too much of a torment to tolerate this mother-inw. Right now, Sangyu had encountered a great catastrophe, but Chen-<i>shi</i> was still making these cynical remarks. How could she possibly continue to endure this?


    "I''m Marquis Jingwen''s legitimate daughter with a noble title of my own. Madam, tell me, what do you think my status is? If it wasn''t because of Qingyun, I wouldn''t have tolerated you for so long!"


    Clutching one hand to her chest, Chen-<i>shi</i> grabbed Nie Qingyun with her other hand and said, "Look at this good wife that Nie Sangyu had chosen for you. As I had expected, she would rather be loyal to an outsider than her own family. She actually dared to speak to your mother like this. A wife that acts this way, do you still want her?


    Nie Qingyun frowned. "Mother, Sangyu is going through something horrible right now. Can you please stop acting this way for a little bit?"


    "I should stop?" Chen-<i>shi</i> widened her eyes and pointed her finger at Ning Errong and said, "If she hadn''t been so bad-mannered and talked back to me, would I be making a fuss?"


    Ning Errong clutched Ji Man''s hand with a death grip, pressed her lips together, and stayed silent.


    In a low tone, Nie Qingyun said, "Mother, if you didn''t want toe here, feel free to leave. You don''t need to put on this act for father. Sangyu still needs to rest and can''t stand so much noise."


    Chen-<i>shi</i> took a deep breath. "Fine, fine."


    She moved a stool next to Nie Sangyu''s bed and sat down. "I''ll wait for her to wake up. I won''t cause a fuss. I''ll just wait here to see if she''ll wake up as a human or demoness!"

 Chapter 216

    Chapter 216 ¨C If you harm her once, she would pay you back a hundredfold (1)


    Ning Errong really wanted to march up to Chen-<i>shi</i> and ask her what on earth was going on in her mind. Clearly, Sangyu was willing to call Chen-<i>shi</i> mother. Even if Sangyu wasn¡¯t her biological daughter, Sangyu¡¯s mother had been Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s fraternal twin. So, how could Chen-<i>shi</i> be so cold-hearted towards Sangyu?!


    But, other than silently enduring, she didn¡¯t have any other choice. Chen-<i>shi</i> was her mother-inw. However, when she turned her head and looked again at the fragile and pale-faced person lying on the bed, she still couldn¡¯t hold back her anger and left the room to look for Marquis Moyu.


    She had originally thought that her older cousin had too many constraints to act freely and that was why he sometimes behaved coldly. And if he acted somewhat bias against Sangyu, it was only because of Sangyu¡¯s previous actions. But now, Sangyu had tragically given birth to a toddy cat after a full-term pregnancy, and he was nowhere to be found! Was his heart made of stone? Why couldn¡¯t her cousin¡¯s heart be slightly moved by Sangyu?


    She angrily rushed to the study, but when she arrived, a servant told her that Marquis Moyu had gone out.


    Right now, Old Madame was sick, and there were people from the Six Ministries waiting at the door for him. Where did Ning Yuxuan go?


    ¡ª


    In a residence on the east side of the capital, a servant girl that was carrying a bamboo basket came out from the back entrance. After looking left and right several times, she finally stepped into a carriage.


    The atmosphere had been very tense in the capital during the past two days. There were guards patrolling everywhere. They had originally nned on taking this bamboo basket out of the capital, but now they had to change their ns. This basket would be brought over to the prince¡¯s estate instead.


    The servant girl was very cautious. After entering the carriage, she sat near the window and observed the surroundings. When the carriage has passed by several alleys and two streets, its wheels seemed to have gotten stuck on something as it was passing by Xiangguo Temple. With a neighing sound, the horse stopped.


    The carriage driver hurriedly jumped down from the carriage to check the wheels. The baby inside the bamboo basket was also startled awake by the abrupt stop, but it didn¡¯t cry or fuss. Its limpid eyes that had only opened a few days ago innocently looked towards the outside.


    The servant girl rocked the bamboo basket and quietly asked the carriage driver, ¡°Is everything okay?¡±


    The carriage driver shook his head. ¡°Come down, I need your help in pushing it out.¡±


    The servant girl didn¡¯t suspect him. She came out of the carriage and stood at the side. Just as she was about to use a cloth to cover the bamboo basket, arge group of people suddenly rushed out from behind and quickly surrounded them.


    ¡°What are you all doing?¡± Terrified, the servant girl tightly hugged the bamboo basket. She looked for pedestrians on the road. Just as she was about to call out for help, a man walked out from the group.


    Standing firmly in front of the servant girl, Ning Yuxuan lightly stretched his hands out. ¡°Return it to me.¡±


    Impossible! The servant girl¡¯s eyes were widened in shock. How could Marquis Moyu have found her? Her whereabouts had always been very well hidden. Even on the prince¡¯s side, only a few of his trusted aids knew of her existence. How could Marquis Moyu have found her so easily?


    Shaking her head, the servant girl took a step back.


    Ning Yuxuan sneered. With a wave of his hand, the guards went forward, immobilized the servant girl, and securely seized the bamboo basket from her.


    The driver kept his gaze on the wheels as if he wasn¡¯t aware of what was currently happening.


    The servant girl incredulously looked at him, then she looked at Ning Yuxuan. In a trembling voice, she said, ¡°Someone betrayed master...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t raise his head to look at her. A guard gagged her mouth and dragged her back into the carriage. A short whileter, even the sound of her struggles had disappeared.


    The baby in the basket opened its eyes to look at Marquis Moyu. Its mouth briefly trembled before it burst into tears.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips twitched, and his body slightly stiffened. He turned his head and looked at Guibai.


    ¡°Master, this servant doesn¡¯t know how to coax a baby either.¡± Guibai shook his head. ¡°After we go back, the wet nurse will know what to do.¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly shook his head. ¡°How can we go back?¡±


    In his formal robe and carrying a bamboo basket, Marquis Moyu carefully walked into Xiangguo Temple.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man felt as if she had been dreaming for a very long time. When she finally woke up from this dream, there was no pregnancy or childbirth. It was as if she had merely recovered from a long bout of illness; her entire body felt weak.


    Sitting by her friend¡¯s bedside, Errong¡¯s eyes were still swollen.


    ¡°Awake?¡± Errong brought over a cup of tea and supported her friend¡¯s head to help her drink. She forced a smile on her face and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally awake.¡±


    Ji Man blinked. ¡°How long have I been sleeping?¡±


    ¡°You really can sleep. You¡¯ve been asleep for two days, ah. I made chicken soup for you. Just wait, I¡¯ll bring it over right away.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. When she raised her eyes slightly, she saw Nie Qingyun. ¡°Older brother.¡±


    Nie Qingyun pursed his lips. He wanted to soften his expression, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t smile. ¡°Do you want to eat something?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> asked a strange question, ¡°How about fish?¡±


    Ji Man froze for a moment, then she instinctively nced around her bedside. The toddy kitten was already gone. ¡°Where¡¯s the toddy kitten?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> sneered. ¡°Haha, you¡¯re really suitable to be a mother cat. Are you worried about your cat son? It¡¯s in the backyard. Do you want to feed it milk?¡±


    Furious, Nie Qingyun eximed, ¡°Mother! Why did youe here to make Sangyu feel worse?¡±


    Something flickered in Ji Man¡¯s mind and her memories trickled back. She had been pregnant for thest nine months and had given birth to something. It had been a toddy kitten.


    Later on, she would out that the midwife hadmitted suicide. She didn¡¯t know what had happened to the midwife¡¯s servant girls. By this time, Old Madame had already heard the news about the missing baby. Marquis Moyu had onlye to Feiwan Courtyard once to look at her before leaving. The estate was full of sounds of mocking and disdain.

 Chapter 217

    Chapter 217 ¨C If you harm her once, she would pay you back a hundredfold (2)


    Howughably ridiculously. When she had been watching that episode of ¡°Teenager Bao Qingtian¡±, she hadughed at the foolish people in ancient times. How could they believe a human could give birth to a cat? But now, she was experiencing for herself that public opinion could destroy a person and obscure the actual truth. It left her without even the power of refuting these false rumors.


    (T/N: Bao Qingtian is the fictional nickname of Bao Zhen, a Northern Song official that was famous for his honesty.)


    Weren¡¯t secondary female characters supposed to have a smoothly sailing life and always be a little bit higher than the female lead? This way they would be able to easily harm the female lead. Why was her life so miserable? Why had she been harmed more often than the female lead?


    Was it because she was too softhearted? She had always followed the policy that she wouldn¡¯t hurt someone else if they hadn¡¯t hurt her first. But, if she waited until someone harmed her first, then she would have already lost something valuable. Why not be more cold-hearted and protect the stuff she cared about more securely?


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.Chen-<i>shi</i> coldly said, ¡°I¡¯m only sitting here because herst name is Nie. If her mother was still alive, she would feel so humiliated. At the very least, I never gave birth to a toddy kitten. Have you heard what people are saying about her? What¡¯s wrong with me saying a few words too? Wouldn¡¯t she hear the same type of thing if she went outside?¡±


    After sleeping for two days, Ji Man had recovered most of her energy. She ignored Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s words while she waited for Errong to bring the chicken soup. Once Errong came back, Ji Man started drinking the soup without needing anyone to urge her.


    Later, after the imperial physician came by with his instructions for post-pregnancy care, she diligently followed them.


    Gancao and Dengxin had thought their master would be sad for a long time. Perhaps, she might not even be able to recover from this.


    However, Ji Man very amodatingly ate all the food and medicine that she was suppose to. It was only after everything was done that she allowed herself to sit on the bed and nkly stare into space.


    No one needed to worry about her physical health, but as for her mental state... Still, no one dare to say anything. Errong came over to keep herpany every day, and she seemed to be less depressed.


    The month after giving birth was a woman¡¯s most difficult period, much less someone with Ji Man¡¯s situation. Her baby was gone and Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯te to visit her after the first time. Every day, she would hear from the servants that Old Madame was seriously ill, but Ji Man wasn¡¯t strong enough to leave her bed to visit her.


    Half a monthter after the toddy kitten incident, people gradually stopped gossiping about Nie Sangyu. It was because Marquis Moyu had written a letter to the emperor that said a thief harboring evil thoughts had switched out his child with a toddy kitten for malicious reasons. The emperor went along with his exnation and ordered the Ministry of Justice to investigate this matter and find Marquis Moyu¡¯s lost child.


    The spection that Nie Sangyu was a demoness had also been endlessly gossiped about in the marquis¡¯s household, but it gradually stopped after countless monks had confirmed otherwise.


    However, it was inevitable that Nie Sangyu would fall out of favor. Only people from Nie n came over to keep herpany. Even though Nie Sangyu had fallen sick during this period, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t taken a step towards Feiwan Courtyard.


    Wen Wan, who was furthest along in her pregnancy, regained Marquis Moyu¡¯s favor. Even though she remained a servant in name, she was Qiangwei Courtyard¡¯s master. The clothes that she wore and the food that she ate wasn¡¯t any different than what a main wife would have. There were a few people in the household that silently muttered their dissent, but Old Madame was seriously ill and Marquis Moyu was biased in favor of Wen Wan. Thus, no one could say anything, and nothing came from their silent grumbling.


    The crown princess sent Wen Wan many gifts and told her to properly take care of her health. Once again, Steward Qian became very attentive and amodating to Wen Wan and anything that she wanted for Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan regained the female lead halo that she had lost. The prior resentment over the things that she couldn¡¯t have faded away. The female lead¡¯s petty attitude also reverted back to her Holy Mother persona. Everyday, she would walk around with her angel wings fluttering behind her. Today, she would visit Muxu. The next day, she would try to visit Liu Hanyun.


    Liu Hanyun and Muxu¡¯s bellies had also grown quite big. However, after Nie Sangyu¡¯s disaster, she locked herself in her courtyard and wouldn¡¯t see anyone. The marquis had granted her this privilege and also ordered everyone to not bother her. In contrast, Muxu became livelier. From time to time, she would even bring her pregnant body over to Jinse¡¯s courtyard to show off. Her days were prettyfortable.


    ¡ª


    By the time that Ji Man was almost done with her one-month resting period, she had gained quite a bit of weight. Not even a trace of Nie Sangyu¡¯s previous figure that had appeared as if it could be blown away by a gust of wind could be seen. Ji Man could even feel a double chin when she touched her face.


    Gancao and Dengxin had put away all of the mirrors in the courtyard. They were worried that if their master saw her current appear ace, she would feel distressed.


    However, Ji Man had alreadye to terms with things. She had even brought that toddy kitten inside to raise. Looking after it every day, it could be considered a way of raising her spirits.


    ¡ª


    When Wen Wan delicately walked over to Feiwan Courtyard like a lotus fairy immortal, her jaw almost dropped when she saw Nie Sangyu. She covered her mouth with a mirror that she specially brought over and said, ¡°Madam, how did you be like this?¡±


    The happily smiling person in the mirror was white and plump. She looked a bit like Maitreya (the future Buddha).


    Cheerfully smiling, Ji Man said, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to repay everyone for their wonderful kindness and grace if I don¡¯t recuperate my health first. Don¡¯t you agree, Miss Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Wen Wan was scared by the look in her eyes and retreated a step. She pursed her lips and quietly said, ¡°With the way you¡¯re looking now, can you still expect that Yuxuan will want to look at you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± Ji Man shook her head. With her current appearance, no matter who was looking at her, they would only feel that she was no longer a threat.


    Wen Wan sighed a few times. Then, she brought over a bowl of medicinal soup and gently said, ¡°Don¡¯t take things too hard. It¡¯s more important to live your life well.¡±


    Ji Man burst out intoughter. She used a handkerchief to wipe the tears from her eyes. ¡°Thank you for the advice.¡±


    She just wanted to live her life well too. But, who was willing to give her that chance? Since there were people that wanted her to be miserable, no one in this household would be safe from her wrath! Today, she would swear to the heavens; if you harm her once, she would pay you back a hundredfold!


    A debt of blood must be paid in blood!

 Chapter 218 - Don’t look down on a woman for being fat (1)

    Chapter 218 ¨C Don¡¯t look down on a woman for being fat (1)


    After the traditional one-month recovery period following childbirth had ended, there were many things that had to be done. For example, Old Madame had agreed to give Gancao to Ning Mingjie after Nie Sangyu gave birth. But, Old Madame had fallen sick, and many things had also happened in the household since his request. And so, Gancao looked at her master and said that she wanted to serve her for a couple more months. Ji Man agreed.


    ¡ª


    After taking a bath and putting on the clothes that had she worn while pregnant, Ji Man discovered that all of the clothes in her wardrobe felt a bit too tight. She had done her best to improve her health during the past month. It was her most precious asset. That was why, no matter how unhappy she felt, she still worked towards making this body healthy again. However, after this postnatal period of eating and drinking nourishing supplements, this body had be as round as a ball. She squeezed the excessive fat on her belly. In order to slim down, a lot of energy and effort would have to be exerted.


    ¡ª


    After working through the night, the estate¡¯s seamstress servants made a new wardrobe for her.


    Wearing a dress that was clearly three sizesrger than her previous ones, Ji Man drylyughed. Then, she pushed opened the doors and went outside.


    It was already autumn outside. The weather was cool and refreshing. When a gust of wind blew by, her body felt noticeably more at ease.


    A couple of servant girls passed by here and were shocked by what they saw. They hurriedly saluted her, then they left with their heads lowered.


    Ji Man pretended that she didn¡¯t hear their stifledugher and continued walking to Old Madame¡¯s courtyard.


    What¡¯s wrong with being fat? Haven¡¯t they heard of not looking down at a teenager for being poor or a woman for being fat? A teenager¡¯s future and a woman¡¯s figure were the same. No one could sessfully predict how it would change.


    ¡ª


    Qian Lianxue and Qi Siling were in Old Madame¡¯s Courtyard attending to her. They were both surprised when they heard a servant girl announce that Madam had arrived. They hurriedly stood up and looked towards the doorway.


    Ji Man passed through the doorway and smiled at them. ¡°Ah, you¡¯re all here.¡±


    Qian Lianxue briefly froze in surprise.


    Qi Siling was so shocked that her body was trembling. She hastily turned around and covered her mouth. It was if she was looking at twopletely different people. Who could have expected that the previously stunningly beautiful Nie Sangyu would be so ghastly looking?


    Old Madame was leaning against her headboard for support. Seeing Nie Sangyuing inside, she closed her eyes.


    Ji Man very properly kneeled down by the bed. ¡°Old Madame, Sangyu hase here to pay respects.


    Old Madame¡¯s mood wasplicated. She had ced too much of her expectations on Sangyu. Now that all of her hopes had been dashed, it was hard to hide her disappointment. But, it wasn¡¯t Sangyu¡¯s fault that the baby had been lost. It was her sin for not doing a better job protecting her. Now that Sangyu had changed to this form after her one-month recuperating period, she really didn¡¯t know what to say tofort her. ¡°Stand up first.¡±


    Ji Man stood up. Not acting awkward at all, she sat down on Old Madame¡¯s bed and looked at herplexion. As expected, it was slightly worse than before. She couldn¡¯t help feeling worried. ¡°Old Madame, have you been regrly eating your medicine?¡±


    Old Madame nodded. ¡°I did. But, it doesn¡¯t have much effect. It can only dy the inevitable.¡±


    Ji Man sighed. After she massaged Old Madame¡¯s legs, and they had only exchanged a few words, Old Madame felt tired and said, ¡°You can all leave.¡±


    Qian Lianxue and Qi Siling followed after Nie Sangyu as they withdrew from the room and left the main courtyard.


    Ji Man turned her head and said with a smile, ¡°When you have time,e over to Feiwan Courtyard and sit for a awhile. It feels quite lonely there.¡±


    In the past, they couldn¡¯t stand watching Nie Sangyu receive favor. But now, looking at her current state, Qian Lianxue and Qi Siling felt it would be wrong to give her a hard time. After saying a few polite words, they departed to their respective courtyards.


    Right now, there wasn¡¯t much of a difference between Feiwan Courtyard and the confinement courtyard. At most, it had more expensive furnishings. But, it was just ascking in receiving favor.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t even the slightest bit upset by the loss in favor. Supported by Gancao, she would stroll around the entire estate. As a result, everyone thought that Nie Sangyu¡¯s good days hade to end.


    ¡ª


    Taking advantage of this opportunity, Chen-<i>shi</i> brought Nie Chenyu with her to visit Old Madame. Nie Chenyu was sixteen years old, a very suitable age to be married. She hadn¡¯t been engaged yet. She also had a petite and lovely appearance and was talented at sweet-talking.


    Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s intention was very obvious. She didn¡¯t need her daughter to be the main wife right away. Nie Chenyu was Nie Sangyu¡¯s half-sister. If she married into this house as a secondary wife, she wouldn¡¯t suffer. If one day Nie Sangyu couldn¡¯t bear to live anymore, then wouldn¡¯t Marquis Moyu give his favor to Nie Chenyu?


    Chen-shi¡¯s mental abacus was loudly cking away the advantages she would gain, but Old Madame didn¡¯t agree. Sangyu had recently lost her baby as well as Xuan-<i>er</i>¡¯s favor. If she gave Sangyu¡¯s younger sister to Xuan-<i>er</i>, wouldn¡¯t Sangyu feel even worse?


    Seeing that she wouldn¡¯t be able get what she wanted from Old Madame, Chen-<i>shi</i> had Errong bring Chenyu to visit Nie Sangyu by saying that Chenyu wanted to take care of her older sister during this difficult period.


    Ji Man sneered. Why hadn¡¯t Chenyu hurried over here to take care of her during the month when she had been recuperating? Chenyu was probably more concerned that her dear older sister would damage her reputation by association. Now that she had already passed the traditional one-month recuperating period, why would she need more people to take care of her?


    Still, after thinking it over, Ji Man didn¡¯t refuse this offer. She arranged for Chenyu to live in a courtyard that was next to Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Nie Chenyu was a clever girl. As soon as she entered the household, she went over to curry favor with Wen Wan. She would incessantly called Wen Wan ¡°older sister, old sister¡± and ttered her to the point that Wen Wan was bursting with joy. It was as if Chenyu¡¯sst name was Wen instead of Nie.


    Trantor Ramblings: I¡¯m d that Old Madame continues to support Sangyu, and I like the how the author gives us a glimpse from Old Madame¡¯s POV when Ji Man/Nie Sangyu initially visits her. Plus, this is one of the moments where we see definite proof that Old Madame genuinely cares about Nie Sangyu as a person. If she only cares about Nie Sangyu because her rtionship with Imperial Noble Consort Nie, she would have agreed to Chen-<i>shi</i>¡¯s suggestion.

 Chapter 219 - Don’t look down on a woman for being fat (2)

    Chapter 219 ¨C Don¡¯t look down on a woman for being fat (2)


    Gancao angrily said, ¡°What kind of sister is she? She said she came here to take care of you, but she hasn¡¯t taken even half a step into Feiwan Courtyard after moving here. Instead, she frequently goes over to Qiangwei Courtyard. If people didn¡¯t know better, they would think she was a servant bought for Wen Wan instead of your younger sister.¡±


    Ji Man was currently doing gymnastics and wearing a uniform that she had the seamstress specially create. In college, there had been a professor in the Chemistry Department that liked to research about weight loss and had imparted a lot of her knowledge to her students. Ji Man was d that she had a good memory and was able to remember some of the exercises the professor had mentioned back then. She wrote out an exercise routine and followed it every day.


    Originally, Gancao and Dengxin had been so shocked that their jaws had dropped. But by now, they were so ustomed to this sight that they would merely chat and spectate. It was because their master had said this was from a secret martial arts book that would help build up her health through exercise. The two simple servant girls easily trusted her words.


    ¡°Chenyu isn¡¯t like her mother. She has a lot of foresight, and her nning ability is pretty good too,¡± Ji Man responded as she jumped around, ¡°Right now, the marquis goes to Qiangwei Courtyard the most often. Why shouldn¡¯t she rush over there for the chance to profit from the marquis¡¯s favored treatment to his darling? If shees to my lonely Feiwan Courtyard, it¡¯s unlikely that she¡¯ll get any benefits.¡±


    Unconvinced, Dengxin asked, ¡°Who said that Feiwan Courtyard isn¡¯t favored?¡±


    Ji Man nced at her.


    The young servant girl twitched her lips and quietly said, ¡°When I went to the kitchen today, Aunty Zhao was as warmly cordial as before. The amount of food that she gave me wasn¡¯t any less than usual. If anything, she gave more than required. Master, if the marquis doesn¡¯t care about you, would a stingy person like Aunty Zhao be acting so generous?¡±


    Gancao said, ¡°This servant also feels that amount of delicious food and other items hasn¡¯t decreased in this courtyard. Master, although the marquis hasn¡¯te, it doesn¡¯t mean that he doesn¡¯t care about you.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°He¡¯s probably feeling guilty, so he wants topensate me. But if hees here to see me, he¡¯ll probably be rmed and immediately turn around and go.¡±


    ¡°Go where?¡± A chilly voice came from the courtyard¡¯s entrance.


    Ji Man froze in surprised. She hasn¡¯t changed out of her exercise outfit yet. Her neck was stiff, and she didn¡¯t dare to turn around to look at him.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly walked inside. There wasn¡¯t anyone behind him. He was wearing a formal robe and appeared as Cassanova-like as always.


    ¡°Marquis.¡± Gancao and Dengxin stood up and saluted. Aftering up from her curtsy, Dengxin hastily picked up the nearby outer robe and draped it over Nie Sangyu.


    After tidying her hair, Ji Man turned around and also saluted, ¡°My lord.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. He walked to her side and looked at her from top to bottom for a long time. He finally pursed his lips and harshly said, ¡°Too fat.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched, but she docilely replied, ¡°It¡¯s inevitable to gain weight after giving birth.¡±


    On the side of the courtyard, the one-month old toddy kitten was chasing after a small insect and meowed at this time.


    Marquis turned his head and nced at the toddy kitten, then he looked at Nie Sangyu and quietly said, ¡°You¡¯ve suffered a lot.¡±


    For an inexplicable reason, Ji Man¡¯s eyes got a little bit teary. She straightened her back and asked, ¡°My lord, can you ease this servant¡¯s suffering? Can you bring my baby back to me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan opened and closed his mouth. He seemed to want to say something, but he swallowed those words down and shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    Bah, then you might as well have said nothing!


    Ji Man faintly smiled. She drew the outer robe around her and said, ¡°My lord, with my appearance like this, this servant won¡¯t be able to serve you. My mother has already sent my younger sister here. If you¡¯re interested, then feel free to go and see her.¡±


    ¡°Chenyu?¡± Ning Yuxuan casually sat down on a stool and indifferently said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> already bought her to see me yesterday.¡±


    After saying this, he nced at her, ¡°She looks quite simr to your previous appearance, but as for your current one...¡±


    Ji Man automatically ignored his disdainful gaze. She thought; Wen Wan, that servant, was behaving more responsible and diligent than her, the main wife. If the harem¡¯s management was handed over to her, then there was nothing for her to worry about.


    ¡°My lord, what are your ns?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Aren¡¯t you still alive? She can be a concubine.¡± Marquis Moyu unconcernedly turned his head. ¡°All things go into decline, it hasn¡¯t reached the point where you should act outrageously. If you anxiously try to stabilize your position, you¡¯ll be more likely to suffer a setback.¡±


    Ji Man focused on the first part of his reply and didn¡¯t think about the hidden meaning of thetter part.


    He was only giving Nie Chenyu the position of an ordinary concubine? Wouldn¡¯t that put her on the same standing as Muxu and Jinse? Chen-<i>shi</i> would definitely be angered to death. But, it was her choice to send her daughter here. It was toote now. If she wanted to take her daughter away, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to marry her off to someone else.


    Really, Ning Yuxuan was too despicable. He probably didn¡¯t want to inte Nie n¡¯s ego. This was why he wasn¡¯t willing to give Nie Chenyu face, right?


    However, it was only muchter that she understood that Marquis Moyu¡¯s ¡°you¡± wasn¡¯t referring to Nie n. He had meant the third prince and the imperial noble consort.


    After only sitting here for a bit, Marquis Moyu left. It was the same as if he hadn¡¯te. However, she was left feeling surprised that he hadn¡¯t seemed stunned by her current roundly venerable appearance.


    ¡ª


    That night, Nie Chenyu received the marquis¡¯s favor. It was rumored that Wen Wan had acted as the matchmaker.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t pay attention to outside matters and wholeheartedly focused on exercising. She also nned out a diet in the passing. She was determined to lose the excessive weight within two months.


    However, even though she just wanted to lose weight and didn¡¯t want to cause trouble, there were still people that wouldn¡¯t leave her alone.


    After Nie Chenyu had only received the position of a concubine, someone jokingly said to Chen-<i>shi</i> that it must be because Nie Sangyu was suppressing her younger sister and not allowing Marquis Moyu to raise her position. This had to be the reason behind Nie Chenyu¡¯s lowly position.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> was furious when she heard these words. She wasn¡¯t a magnanimous person to being with. She immediately went to the pce to cry out her grievances to Imperial Noble Consort Nie. She told her that Nie Sangyu was already halfway to a handicapped person, but was deliberately blocking her younger sister¡¯s way and not allowing the marquis to favor her.


    Because of the toddy kitten incident, the favor that Imperial Noble Consort Nie got from the emperor had slightly diminished. And so, after this conversation, she summoned Nie Sangyu to the pce.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t even need to guess why Imperial Noble Consort Nie had summoned her. She would definitely order her to help Nie Chenyu raise her status in the marquis¡¯s household in order to strength the rtionship between Nie n and Marquis Moyu¡¯s family. Once she was no longer a useful pawn, the aunt that used to wholeheartedly support her would still choose to abandon on her.


    Trantor Ramblings: While its understandable for Ji Man to think the worst of Ning Yuxuan, I do feel a bit bad for him that she doesn¡¯t see any of his attempts at helping her. Does he think that Nie Sangyu is in cahoots with her aunt and cousin, the third prince? So, he¡¯s sending a message to them through her? He knows that Nie Sangyu is no longer in love with him, and she¡¯s clever enough to continue faking her feelings. He doesn¡¯t know if she¡¯s still loyal to him.

 Chapter 220 - I know what you did (1)

    Chapter 220 ¨C I know what you did (1)


    Ji Man had always felt that the rtionships between people were very simple. They were based on mutual interdependence. As for those frequent songs that extolled the wonderful feelings that existed between people... if everyone had those feelings, why was it worth praising?


    The imperial noble consort was leaning on her cushioned couch and holding her younger son that was now old enough to babble. With a gentle gaze, she said, ¡°Sangyu, this consort has always felt that you¡¯re a sensible child.¡±


    Whenever someone wanted you to do something that you didn¡¯t want to, they would always start the conversation with words of praise. This would make the rest of conversation go more smoothly.


    Sitting neatly by the imperial noble consort, Ji Man obediently answered the question that she knew the consort wanted to ask, ¡°Sangyu knows what aunty wants to talk about. But, Chenyu¡¯s matter isn¡¯t Sangyu¡¯s intention. It was the marquis that made this decision. Aunty, you can see that with Sangyu¡¯s current figure, it¡¯s impossible for Sangyu to be in the marquis¡¯s good graces. So, how could it be possible that Sangyu has anything to do with the marquis giving my younger sister a difficult time?¡±


    The imperial noble consort slightly furrowed her brow. After thinking for a while, she said, ¡°Your words do sound reasonable. Chen-<i>shi</i> came by andined about her grievances for a long time. This consort couldn¡¯t just send her away. After all, she¡¯s been with your father for a long time.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. Nie Sangyu¡¯s mother had died a long time ago too. As for the mystery of why she had a sudden attack of a serious illness that killed her, it remained unsolved even now. As time passed, it naturally faded from most people¡¯s immediate concern.


    She knew that the only thing that gratified Nie Sangyu was that although Chen-<i>shi</i> had been the main wife for many years, her father¡¯s heart still only had her mother. In the main courtyard, the portrait of Nie Sangyu¡¯s mother had never been taken down.


    This was probably a sore point for Chen-<i>shi</i> and why she had never treated Sangyu well.


    ¡°Anyways, Chenyu and me are sisters. If there¡¯s anyway that Sangyu can help her, Sangyu will definitely do my best.¡±


    Seeing how fair and reasonable Nie Sangyu was being, without any hint of resentment or jealousy, the imperial noble consort thought she was truly very reliable. But her body...


    It really was a pity.


    That midwife had been her servant and had caused Sangyu to fall into her current state, but she didn¡¯t know when her allegiance had been switched to someone else. However, her status was too noble, so she naturally couldn¡¯t apologize to Sangyu. Right now, it seemed that Chenyu was more useful than Sangyu. And so, as their aunt, she hoped that they would mutually help each other.


    After exchanging a few more words and bestowing Sangyu a few items, the imperial noble consort allowed her niece to leave.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man returned to the residence and was walking back to Feiwan Courtyard with Gancao, she saw a flurry of servants rushing towards Xuesong Courtyard.


    Gancao went over and stopped a servant to ask, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Mistress Xue ate something that set off an old illness. The marquis is furious. He sent the servants to bring doctors over,¡± The servant hurriedly replied and sprinted away right afterwards.


    Qian Lianxue? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Didn¡¯t she always keep a low profile and stayed out of earthly affairs? How could something have happened to her?


    ¡°Come, Gancao. Let¡¯s go over there and see what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Ji Man still remembered that Old Madame had told her that Qian Lianxue wouldn¡¯t harm her. But, for an inexplicable reason, she felt that there was a connection between this woman and the disappearance of her child.


    Just as they reached Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s entrance, they met Muxu.


    Seeing Nie Sangyu, Muxu hesitated for a moment beforeing over and saluting. ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man asked, ¡°Why did youe here too? Shouldn¡¯t you be staying in your courtyard and resting?¡±


    Muxu¡¯s gaze was shifty as she said, ¡°This servant heard that the marquis would be here, so this servant wanted toe here...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. After Muxu became a concubine, she no longer had frequent interactions with Honored Concubine Xue. On a normal day, she didn¡¯t evene to Feiwan Courtyard either. For Muxu to use Qian Lianxue¡¯s sickness as an excuse to appear in front of the marquis, it wasn¡¯t unreasonable.


    After Ji Man entered the main room in the courtyard with Muxu and Gancao, she saw that Jinse was kneeling in the middle of the room and slightly trembling.


    Wen Wan was seated next to Honored Concubine Xue. She very angrily said, ¡°You clearly know that Mistress Xue can¡¯t eat peanuts and cashews. And yet, you made a snack with them and gave them to her. What were you scheming?¡±


    Marquis Moyu was sitting on the side. He rubbed the spot between his eyebrows and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to send Jinse to the Royal Academy for a while. It looks like now is the right time.¡±


    (T/N: The Royal Academy was technically an academy to produce dancers, singers, entertainers, and artists for the imperial court¡¯s entertainment, but also a ce for the womenfolk of disgraced officials to be sent.)


    Jinse¡¯s eyes widen in horror. She shook her head as if her life depended on it. ¡°My lord, this servant didn¡¯t know that Mistress Xue was allergic to nuts. No one mentioned it to me. This servant even said that there were nuts inside those pastries.¡±


    ¡°When did you say this?¡± Danzhu angrily said, ¡°If you had said this, how could this servant not have reminded my master to not eat it? You did this deliberately!¡±


    Ji Man found a seat by Ning Yuxuan and quietly stayed as a spectator.


    ¡°What benefit would this servant get for hurting Mistress Xue?¡± Jinse bitterly smiled. ¡°This servant has always greatly respected Mistress Xue.¡±


    Ji Man slightly nodded. This was certainly true. Although Jinse frequently gave Muxu and Qi Siling a hard time, she was always treated Qian Lianxue very respectfully. In the past, she had seen Jinse walking together with Qian Lianxue several times. Every time, it was Jinse following after Qian Lianxue with the demeanor of a servant girl.


    Trantor Ramblings: There¡¯s more than one good reason why Ning Yuxuan doesn¡¯t treat Nie Sangyu/Ji Man the same way he treated Wen Wan back when he was in love with her. For one, they have apletely different type of rtionship. It¡¯s easy to forget that Ning Yuxuan knows that Nie Sangyu/Ji Man isn¡¯t in love with him. Not only that, she¡¯s shown that¡¯s she perfectlyfortable literally using his body to achieve her own goals. She treats him like a piece of meat that she uses as reward for the other women. Every time she fawns over him, it¡¯s only because she wants something from him. I¡¯m not saying this because I feel bad for him (he knows when she¡¯s using him and he¡¯s letting her). I just wanted to point out that they don¡¯t have a typical MC and ML rtionship.


    And, even though it hurts Nie Sangyu/Ji Man to not know where her baby is, I think it makes sense why Ning Yuxuan doesn¡¯t tell her. He¡¯s prioritizing the baby¡¯s continued safety over her happiness.


    1) He needs her to be genuinely distraught. She¡¯s not as good as an actress as she thinks she is. If he tell her the truth, it would be impossible for her to be showing such a drastic depression.


    2) If he tells her, the first thing she¡¯s going to want to do is to see her baby, which will only bring unnecessary danger to the baby. If he refuses, she¡¯s going to try to scheme around him and find the baby herself, which could be disastrous. And, maybe she won¡¯t do this, but by telling her, this risk is created.


    3) A secret only remains a secret if one person knows. If he tells her, it would only take one tiny, totally unintentional moment of carelessness from her for it to stop being a secret. He doesn¡¯t have any margin of error. No matter how much he regrets itter, there¡¯s no going back once this secret is exposed.

 Chapter 221 - I know what you did (2)

    Chapter 221 ¨C I know what you did (2)


    ¡°Who know what you were thinking?¡± Qi Siling lightlyughed. ¡°Perhaps, you just couldn¡¯t stand watching how much the marquis favored Mistress Xue. Either way, there¡¯s conclusive proof of your wrongdoing. Do you think the truth will change if you try quibbling?¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± Ning Yuxuan interrupted her and indifferently waved his hand. ¡°Send her away.¡±


    By his side, Guibai made a sound of assent, ordered more servants toe into the room, and they started dragging Jinse outside.


    ¡°Marquis! Mistress Xue! Madam!¡± In the end, Jinse called out to these three people. Her voice wasing from farther and father way. Very quickly, her voice couldn¡¯t be heard anymore.


    When people were in a desperate state, they would usually shout out for people that could save them. Ji Man stroked her chin. It made sense that she would call out for the marquis as well as herself. But, why would she call out for Qian Lianxue too? Qian Lianxue had fallen unconscious because of Jinse¡¯s snacks. Why did Jinse thinking Qian Lianxue would save her?


    Even though Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure that part out. She felt that Marquis Moyu had handled this matter too breezily. No matter what, Jinse had once been pregnant with his child. Now, she was being sent out of the estate without any further consideration.


    There wasn¡¯t any expression on Ning Yuxuan. When Guibai returned to report that there was still something that needed the marquis¡¯s attention in the study, Ning Yuxuan left. As Ning Yuxuan left the room, he nced at Nie Sangyu and quietly said, ¡°Take care of Xue-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. It was only at this moment that everyone else noticed her presence. She didn¡¯t stand up to salute him, just nodded her head to send her regards.


    ¡°Gancao, stay behind to take care of Honored Concubine Xue. Everyone else, it¡¯s about time for dinner. Go back to your respective courtyards,¡± Ji Man said.


    Wen Wan stood up, made a sound of assent, and was the first person to leave. Qi Siling also followed after her in departing. Muxu was the only one that looked at Nie Sangyu and seemed somewhat hesitant in leaving.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Muxu quickly shook her head, came forward to help her stand, and said, ¡°This servant will go back with you, okay?¡±


    Since Gancao was staying behind, Ji Man agreed to Muxu¡¯s request and walked out of the room with Muxu supporting her by the arm.


    As they were walking, Ji Man looked at Muxu¡¯s shifty gaze and suddenly thought of an online game. Feeling interested, Ji Man brightly smiled at her and said, ¡°I know what you did.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s hand stiffened. She nkly raised her head to look at her.


    Ji Man inwardlyughed, but showed an outwardly all-knowing smile. ¡°You know how skillful I am. If you still want to stand on my side, tell me the truth now.¡±


    Muxu couldn¡¯t maintain herposure anymore. Her face was deathly pale, and her lips were trembling. She almost fell down to kneel.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart turned cold, and her smile disappeared. People in ancient times really couldn¡¯t withstand fear tactics. As soon as they were scared, they would spill out all of their secrets. No wonder there were people that like to pretend to be ghosts to scare other people.


    ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t betrayed you!¡± Muxu said, ¡°This servant only went to Xuesong Courtyard in the past two days for master.¡±


    Xuesong Courtyard? Ji Man looked at her. Of course Muxu went running to Xuesong Courtyard as soon as she wasn¡¯t paying attention to her.


    Ji Man took her arm back and looked at her as she asked, ¡°What do you mean it was for me?¡±


    Muxuposed herself, moved a little bit closer, and quietly said, ¡°Master, don¡¯t you find it strange that the people waiting in the outer room while you were giving birth had all fallen asleep?¡±


    What was strange about that? Someone had wanted to steal her child. Of course, they would use drugs to make everyone fall unconscious first. Ji Man slightly clenched her hand. At the mention of this topic, her voice wasn¡¯t as steady anymore. ¡°What do you know?¡±


    Muxu clutched her handkerchief. Her gaze was somewhat shifty as she said, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know anything either. This servant is just guessing after hearing that Mistress Xue had Danzhu lit incense in the back. Later, everyone fell asleep. This servant thinks... there was something wrong with that incense.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s smile was insincere as she contemted these words for a while. Looking at Muxu, she said, ¡°Where did you hear that it was Mistress Xue¡¯s incense? I remembered that when I was giving birth, they said the odor of blood was too strong and told everyone that was pregnant to leave first.¡±


    Muxu paused. ¡°This servant overheard...¡±


    Ji Man sneered. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m a person that¡¯s seen too many ys? Do you think your paltry acting skills is enough? All your thoughts are practically written on your face.¡±


    Shocked, Muxu took a step a back and covered her face. Feeling confused, she looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Right now, Muxu looked like a small white rabbit that had been startled. Unfortunately, her intelligence was too low. She had wanted to benefit from both sides, but Ji Man had easily seen through her scheme.


    ¡°You wanted to tell me that there¡¯s something wrong with Honored Concubine Xue as a way of proving that there¡¯s nothing between you two, in order to obtain my trust, right?¡± Ji Man chuckled. She stretched her foot out and lightly nudged Muxu¡¯s trembling leg. Like a bullying ruffian, she said, ¡°Then, stop shaking. How can you expect me to believe you when you¡¯re looking so guilty?¡±


    Muxu was so frightened that she took several steps back. But, for every step that she retreated, Ji Man would also move one step forward. Her chubby face looked quite cute as she said, ¡°Go on, tell me more. There was something wrong with Honored Concubine Xue¡¯s incense. What happened next? Where did she take my child?¡±


    ¡°That... this servant doesn¡¯t know...¡± Muxu shook her head. ¡°Didn¡¯t Mistress Xue make herself fall unconscious too?¡±


    Her acting had to look realistic if she didn¡¯t want people to suspect her. Ji Man sneered. Her intuition wasn¡¯t wrong. There was something off about Qian Lianxue. But, how could she pursue this matter? Qian Lianxue had always behaved like a good person in this household, and was a hundred times better at being a Holy Mother than Wen Wan. She hadn¡¯t left behind any evidence of wrongdoings either.


    In the eyes of other people, Muxu was loyal to her, so it would be useless to use Muxu¡¯s words as viable proof. Perhaps, other people might even use her of ndering Qian Lianxue.


    Still, if Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t have anything to do with her missing child, then she wouldn¡¯t care about her other schemes. But, if Qian Lianxue really was the one that took her child, then, at the very least, she would tear off ayer of her skin in retaliation.


    Trantor Ramblings: Posted a tiny spoiler rted to Jinse in thements below if anyone is interested.

 Chapter 222 - The mysterious letters (1)

    Chapter 222 ¨C The mysterious letters (1)


    Qian Lianxue had almost always acted very cleverly. Her only foolish decision was using Muxu as her ally.


    Muxu had been with Nie Sangyu for several years, but it only took one moment of kindness from Qian Lianxue for her to betray Nie Sangyu. And so, Ji Man was sure that Muxu would just as easily turn around and betray Qian Lianxue in return for a few benefits. Just like a stalk of grass, Muxu would bend in whichever direction the wind blew.


    After this de of grass had been blown left and right, it had finally sprained its waist and was ushered back to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Ji Man poured Muxu a cup of tea and continued her questioning.


    ¡°At the end of the day, I¡¯m still the Madam of this family.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°If you¡¯re willing to tell me everything that you know, then I promise to immediately raise you into the position of an honored concubine as soon as you give birth to your child. But, if you continue to hide things from me and secretly help Qian Lianxue, then you can stay in her shadow as a concubine for the rest of your life. I¡¯m okay with either choice.¡±


    After a pause, Ji Man added, ¡°You know that I recently lost my child. You¡¯ll be giving birth soon. If I ask Old Madame for it, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be easy enough for her to agree to give me your child to raise.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s pupils contracted. She felt at aplete loss.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t let her off or give her the opportunity to tell more lies. She swiftly asked question after question, ¡°Do you know what Qian Lianxue is scheming? Did you help her harm my child?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Muxu hurriedly shook her head. ¡°What happened when Madam was giving birth, this servant... this servant didn¡¯t help Mistress Xue. It¡¯s just that this servant went to Xuesong Courtyard a few days before that night and saw Danzhu bringing back incense... It seemed a bit off because Mistress Xue doesn¡¯t like incense, but this servant didn¡¯t think any more of it. Later on, when this servant overheard Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s servants discussing that you had given birth to a toddy cat, they also happened to mention that Mistress Xue had lit incense in the outer room.¡±


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t think that Mistress Xue stole your child and was only guessing that maybe the incense knocked everyone out.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°So during the days leading up to when I gave birth, you were frequently going to Xuesong Courtyard.¡±


    Muxu lowered her head and stayed silent. At that time, Qian Lianxue would frequently invite her over to talk. Because of Qian Lianxue¡¯s pastpassion and continued care, Muxu naturally went over to Xuesong Courtyard. Furthermore, during that period, Muxu really wanted to help Qian Lianxue out. She was so much kinder than Nie Sangyu.


    However, she didn¡¯t expect that Nie Sangyu would seize her today. Muxu still couldn¡¯t figure out how Nie Sangyu had found what she had done. It couldn¡¯t be that Nie Sangyu was that powerful and had spies everywhere, right?


    Ji Man looked at Muxu for a moment before she waved her hand and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, you can leave first. As for the other matters, I already know what I want to do.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Muxu withdrew from the room. As she walked back to her courtyard and thought about how Mistress Xue wasn¡¯t easy to deal with either, her brow furrowed.


    Although Mistress Xue was very gentle, she had several spies in the household and would definitely know that Nie Sangyu had brought her back to Feiwan Courtyard. What a predicament, both sides were unhappy with her.


    ¡ª


    Siting in her room, Ji Man thought for a long time, but she couldn¡¯t figure out Qian Lianxue¡¯s motive. She could only leave Gancao in Xuesong Courtyard to build up rtionships with Qian Lianxue¡¯s servants for now and try to get as much information as possible.


    ¡ª


    Unfortunately, the servants in Xuesong Courtyard were especially tight-lipped. Although they were easy to get along with, no matter what Gancao did or said, they wouldn¡¯t leak any of their master¡¯s secrets.


    Dengxin was close to one of Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s low-ranking servant girls, Meng-<i>er</i>. After idly gossiping with Meng-er for a long time, she finally found one piece of news.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s maiden family would frequently send letters to her.


    Ji Man remembered that Marquis Moyu had mentioned before that Qian Lianxue only had one sibling, Qian Yingchen. Then, who could be writing all of those letters to Qian Lianxue? Qian Yingchen? But, the rtionship between these two siblings probably wasn¡¯t very good, right? After all, Qian Lianxue was so sickly, but her brother rarely came over to see her.


    Dengxin also said there was something strange about these letters. When these letters were delivered, it would always be by someone that came through the back gate, and Danzhu would go there herself to collect the letters instead of sending another servant. No one else in the household knew about this. It was only known to the servants in Xuesong Courtyard that found out by identally witnessing these exchanges and gossiping amongst themselves asionally.


    There was someone stationed at the back gate, but it was an older servant that would doze off from time to time. Also, if he saw anyone delivering something, he would pretend not to see the exchange if you bribed him.


    After Dengxin told her everything and Ji Man had calmly finished doing her exercises, she gave Dengxin a bag of silver taels and sent her to the back gate to look for that guard.


    ¡ª


    Qian Lianxue seemed to have asthma and didn¡¯t recover from this bout of illness until Gancao had taken care of her for several days. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t have Gancao return after Qian Lianxue¡¯s health had improved. Instead, she had her continue staying in Xuesong Courtyard to help Qian Lianxue work on recuperating her health. Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t refuse. She even thanked Ji Man for her concern.


    Ji Man sighed. What was that saying? Dogs that bite don¡¯t bark? Wen Wan really should learn from this talented student.


    ¡ª

 Chapter 223 - The mysterious letters (2)

    Chapter 223 ¨C The mysterious letters (2)


    Gancao was working in Qian Lianxue¡¯s personal quarters. On a normal day, Qian Lianxue didn¡¯t avoid her. Instead, she treated Gancao very well and had her feeling that Mistress Xue was a very good person.


    Still, when Dengxin came over and told her to find a chance to look at Mistress Xue¡¯s letters from her family, Gancao was still whole-heartedly loyal to Nie Sangyu and cautiously nodded before returning to the main rooms in the courtyard.


    Soon after that, Danzhu returned to Xuesong Courtyard and was standing by Mistress Xue¡¯s side.


    Qian Lianxue said, ¡°Gancao, you¡¯ve been working hard. You can leave first and go rest.¡±


    Gancao nodded, but after going past the doors, she went to go look for Dengxin. There had to be something strange with that letter. If it was just an ordinarily family letter, Mistress Xue wouldn¡¯t send her away first. If there really was something peculiar about this letter, then this letter would definitely be burned after Mistress Xue read it, and no one else would get the chance to see the contents of that letter. Gancao¡¯s n was to have Dengxin cause amotion so that she would have the chance to sneak into the room and steal the letter.


    Dengxin agreed. After trying and failing to think of a good idea, she gritted her teeth and walked to the back area of Xuesong Courtyard. Taking advantage of no one being around, she took out flint and set the woodpiles in the woodshed on fire. The fire wasn¡¯t big enough, so she took some of the wine that was stored in the back area and poured it onto the fire.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    It wasmon to store random pieces of junk and jars of wine at the back of each courtyard. Once this fire got going, the people at the front of the courtyard would definitely have toe here. Dengxin dusted her hands clean, then she looked around to check if there was anyone nearby. After that, she stepped onto a random piece of junk and jumped over the wall.


    Gancao was worried that Qian Lianxue would read the letter too quickly. And so, right after she spoke to Dengxin, she immediately ran back and knocked on Mistress Xue¡¯s doors.


    Qian Lianxue had only finished reading half of the letter. After a pause, she raised her head and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Gancao shook her head, pushed open the doors, and said with a smile, ¡°This servant forgot to say this before leaving. Mistress Xue, your medicine was cooking on the stove. It¡¯s almost ready to drink. Mistress Xue, when will you be drinking it?¡±


    As soon as the doors were opened, Qian Lianxue hurriedly put the letter away into her sleeve. After a moment, she thought that her action was too conspicuous. And so, she took the letter out, neatly folded it, and ced it on the table. ¡°I¡¯ll drink that medicer. Don¡¯t worry, Danzhu will get it for me. You can go rest.¡±


    As Gancao waited for Dengxin to start amotion, she felt very unsure. But, she was afraid that Qian Lianxue would start suspecting her, so she could only nod and say, ¡°Madam sent this servant over to take care of you, so this servant has to do a proper job. Older sister Danzhu is always so busy. How about this servant brings over the medicine while it¡¯s still hot...¡±


    ¡°Fire!¡± the servants outside suddenly shouted.


    Gancao turned her head and saw thick smoke drifting outside. It wasing from a fire in the woodshed. She could see the glow of the fire through the paper windows.


    ¡°Master! There¡¯s a fire!¡± A couple of servants ran inside and anxiously said, ¡°Hurry and leave. There¡¯s a fire at the back of the courtyard. It won¡¯t take long before it consumes these rooms too!¡±


    Qian Lianxue was startled, but her hand still went towards the table to grab the letter.


    Seeing this, Gancao hurriedly went over, pulled Qian Lianxue away from the table, and pushed Danzhu towards the outside as well. ¡°Don¡¯t just stand there and do nothing. Hurry, help you master leave!¡±


    In ancient times, all buildings were made of wood, and it was especially easy for them to catch on fire.


    With her eyebrows furrowed, Qian Lianxue looked back at Gancao, but her servants were already pushing her out of the room. It was true that main rooms had caught on fire too, but it was just the smoke that was thick. The mes weren¡¯t close to engulfing it yet.


    Qian Lianxue bit her lip and said, ¡°There¡¯s something I forgot in my room! I want to go back...¡± Her following words were cut off by a coughing fit.


    People with asthma couldn¡¯t endure smoke at all. Even with her back facing the main rooms, she was already coughing within an inch of her life. As Danzhu supported her and tried to help her regain her breath, Gancao hurriedly asked, ¡°Master, where¡¯s the item that you want to get. I¡¯ll go get it for you.¡± Gancao didn¡¯t wait for Qian Lianxue to reply before rushing back inside.


    Qian Lianxue was moved far away from burning building. Looking at that building, she frowned and looked at Danzhu.


    Danzhu understood her meaning and also ran back into that room.


    The smoke became increasingly thick inside the room. Gancao immediately started running out of the room once she had snatched the letter on the table. But, she bumped into Danzhu on her way out.


    Startled, Gancao instinctively tucked the letter into her sleeve.


    ¡°Hand it over.¡± Danzhu¡¯s smile was very gentle, but she firmly stood in front of Gancao and wouldn¡¯t let her pass.


    ¡°Hand what over?¡± Gancao averted her face. ¡°Let¡¯s hurry and leave. The fire is really getting worse.¡±


    Danzhu coldly smiled and stretched her hands out to grab Gancao¡¯s hand. She wanted to get the letter inside Gancao¡¯s sleeve.


    Gancao desperately struggled, and they fell onto the ground. Above them, the room was thick with smoke.


    Outside, people were still trying to put out the fire, but the water was being used in the back of the courtyard. There was no elseing into the room.


    Danzhu pressed Gancao against the floor. Danzhu¡¯s hand had already reached inside Gancao¡¯s sleeve, but Gancao headbutted her and kicked her away from herself. Gancao slowly staggered up and wanted to run outside.


    The doors were half-closed, and the sound of people rushing around outside and trying to put out the fire could be heard inside the room. Just as Gancao had stood uppletely, someone grabbed her ankle and she fell down on the doors, causing them to close shut. Her head mmed down on the ground.


    Behind her, Danzhu came forward. Seeing that Gancao had been knocked unconscious and the fire had already spread inside, she hurriedly took the letter from Gancao¡¯s sleeve and pushed her body behind a door. Then, she opened the doors and ran outside while coughing.


    It had been too long since Xuesong Courtyard was built, and there were parts where the wood had worn out. And so, it was especially easy for it to burn.


    Right after Danzhu left the room, she bumped into a servant that was carrying bucket of water and ended up getting sshed by the water. The sudden shock of the water caused her to drop the letter onto the ground. The water had also caused the ink in the letter to smudge.


    ¡°Hurry, make way for the water!¡± More servants came along with buckets of water. Danzhu stretched her hand out to get the letter on the ground, but her hand almost got stepped on several times. After the stampede of feet left, the letter had vanished.


    Shocked, Danzhu hurriedly ran to Qian Lianxue¡¯s side and whispered something into her ear.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s face paled.

 Chapter 224 - Little by little, everything will be dealt with (1)

    Chapter 224 ¨C Little by little, everything will be dealt with (1)


    When Ji Man heard there was a fire in Xuesong Courtyard, her heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly stood up and went outside.


    Dengxin was walking by her master¡¯s side. Feeling somewhat uneasy, she said, ¡°This servant had only want to cause a smallmotion and didn¡¯t expect that the fire would spread so fast, hope Gancao is doing okay.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s always acted smartly. Nothing bad will happen to her.¡± Ji Man quietlyforted her and sped up her own pace.


    Qian Lianxue was standing outside of Xuesong Courtyard and surrounded by a group of servants. Seeing Nie Sangyuing over, she quietly called out, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and looked around, but didn¡¯t see Gancao. She raised her head and saw that the fire had already grown into a raging inferno. In ancient times, the only way they knew how to put out fires was by pouring bucket after bucket of water onto the fire. It wasn¡¯t an effective method. Looking at the situation, Ji Man guessed that the fire wouldn¡¯t be extinguished until the entire courtyard was burnt down.


    ¡°Lianxue, have you seen Gancao?¡± Ji Man asked.


    The tears in Qian Lianxue¡¯s eyes suddenly increased. She coughed twice before sobbing, ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t see Gancao. Right after she said she was going back into my room to get something, she disappeared.¡±


    Disappeared? Ji Man froze in surprise. She took a step towards Xuesong Courtyard and watched the servants that were entering and exiting the courtyard to put out the fire. None of their faces looked familiar too her.


    Gancao wasn¡¯t here.


    Standing behind her master, Dengxin cover her mouth as her body slightly trembled.


    Ji Man lowlyughed and said, ¡°Heaven helps the worthy. Don¡¯t worry, nothing bad will happen to Gancao. Perhaps, she just went to somewhere else. Dengxin, go and look for her.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Dengxin turned around and nkly walked around the perimeter of the courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Therge fire had engulfed the entire main rooms in Xuesong Couryard. The beams had copsed, and it seemed as if everything had turned into ashes. Fortunately, there had been many people working on putting out the fire, so only the main rooms had been burnt down. By the time the fire had beenpletely extinguished, Steward Qian came over with other servants and had them sort out the items that hadn¡¯t been burned. Some of the gold and other precious items might not have been damaged by the fire and could be taken out. As for the other more mmable items, there were probably beyond salvaging.


    When Steward Qian opened the doors to the main rooms, he saw a charred corpse quietly lying on the ground,


    The sky suddenly became overcast. As Dengxin was returning to report that she hadn¡¯t found Gancao, Steward Qian had already ordered the servants to take corpse outside.


    Ji Man took two steps back and asked with a smile. ¡°Steward Qian, why are you showing me something so frightening?¡±


    Steward Qian cupped his hands and said, ¡°Madam, this subordinate has already done a headcount of all the other servants in this courtyard, this... this seems to be Gancao.¡±


    Dengxin wasn¡¯t able to keep standing. Her legs weakened, and she sprawled down onto the ground. Her eyes were wide in horror.


    Ji Man¡¯s hands tightened. She slowly crouched down and quietly said, ¡°How can you say something like that without proof? How do you know it¡¯s her...¡±


    On the charred corpse¡¯s waist, there was something that hadn¡¯t been burnt beyond recognition, a waist essory with red coral beads. Ji Man remembered. This had been Gancao¡¯s most precious treasure. When Ning Mingjie had given her this present, he told her that in two months, he woulde and take her into his household.


    Ji Man fell silent.


    Standing behind her, Qian Lianxue clutched her handkerchief and sobbed with emotion, ¡°It¡¯s Lianxue¡¯s fault. Lianxue didn¡¯t take care of Gancao. There was something in the room that this servant wanted. This servant had originally intended to send Danzhu inside to get it, but Gancao had gone inside first, but then she didn¡¯te out...¡±


    Dengxin didn¡¯t care about gaze of the onlookers. Her tears were heart-wrenching as she forcefully repeatedly kowtowed toward the corpse. Blood had started to seep out of her forehead from the repeated knocks against the ground.


    If she hadn¡¯t thought of such a stupidly rotten idea, Gancao wouldn¡¯t have died! Dengxin¡¯s crying was so intense that she had to gasp for breath as her face was smeared with tears.


    The sound of her crying quickly made the surrounding atmosphere feel heavy and somber.


    Ji Man just nkly looked at the corpse for a long time until she finally slowly got up and said to Steward Qian, ¡°Don¡¯t hesitate with spending money for her burial rites. I¡¯m the one that owes her. Tell me where her family is. I¡¯ll go talk to them.¡±


    Steward Qian made a sound of assent, then he ordered the servants over and had them take the body away.


    There was a sudden p of thunder. It had originally beente afternoon, but at some point, the sky had darken. After the shocking sound of thunder, the downpour started. The surrounding servants hurriedly started ushering Qian Lianxue to the side to avoid the rain. Ji Man and Dengxin stayed in their spots and didn¡¯t move.


    Qian Lianxue stopped walking and called out, ¡°Madam, quicklye over here to avoid the heavy rain. There¡¯s lightning too.¡±


    Ji Man tilted her head and smiled at her. ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything wrong. Why would I be scared of getting struck by lightning?¡±


    Qian Lianxue stiffened. From a distance, she looked at this woman and felt a shiver go up her spine.


    Danzhu tugged on her arm, and she hurriedly turned around and allowed herself to be ushered forward.


    Ji Man¡¯s entire body was soaked, but she continued to stand frozen in the courtyard. From a distance, there were ps of thunder and the shes of lightning. Every round of boom and rumble felt like a piece of iron smashing against her heart.


    She wasn¡¯t able to cry. Her heart felt too pained, but she couldn¡¯t uninhibitedly cry out her sorrow like Dengxin. She just felt a stifled pain in heart. She opened her mouth slightly. She felt as if she almost couldn¡¯t breath anymore.


    This rainstorm hade toote. If it hade a little bit earlier, would Gancao still be alive right now?


    No one could persuade her to move. Ji Man stood in the same spot until the sky had cleared. The glowing sunset after the rain was extremely beautiful, and their faces didn¡¯t look so terribly pale under the reflection of this light.


    Ning Yuxuan slowly walked over, held her hand in his, and started leading her to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t resist. She seemed like a lost, wandering spirit that had no strength.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I¡¯ll find you another servant girl. She¡¯ll be even more attentive.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°You already look ugly enough. Stop making that expression.¡±


    Ji Man stayed silent.


    ¡ª


    After Marquis Moyu brought her back to her room, he ordered the servants to prepare hot water for a bath. Looking at her vacant gaze, he pressed his lips together and stopped the words that he had intended to say. He left without saying another word.

 Chapter 225 - Little by little, everything will be dealt with (2)

    Chapter 225 ¨C Little by little, everything will be dealt with (2)


    Ji Man fell sick. She didn¡¯t have any appetite or much energy. Doctor Li hade over twice to check on her. Each time, he said that it was her heart that was sick. There wasn¡¯t a prescription that could fix this.


    After Dengxin had cried enough, she knelt down in front of her master and tried to persuade her by saying, ¡°Master, don¡¯t feel too bad. If Gancao was still here, she wouldn¡¯t want to see you like this.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and quietly said, ¡°I want to feel better too. I never had the habit of wanting to torment myself. But Dengxin, I really can¡¯t make myself eat.¡±


    Dengxin covered her mouth and let out a sob. She turned around to hide her crying face.


    ¡ª


    Gancao¡¯s family consisted of two younger sisters and her parents. Ji Man gave them plenty of money inpensation for the loss of their daughter, so they would never have to worry about money again for the rest of their lives. But, when Ji Man watched as Gancao¡¯s parents happily knelt down in front of her to thank her benevolence, she felt an indescribable pain in her heart.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie came to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate to take Gancao¡¯s body away to be buried.


    Ji Man tottered after him to watch the burial rites that would be held at the top of a mountain.


    Gancao hadn¡¯t formally entered Ning Residence, or observed any other formalities. But, Ning Mingjie still took on the role of her husband byying her body into the wooden coffin and setting up a gravestone that said, Ning Gancao, maidenst name Liu.


    Standing behind Ning Mingjie, Ji Man quietly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly turned his head to look at her. There was a bit of stubble on his lower face. He dryly smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s probably because I just don¡¯t have that fortune. I finally met a woman that truly loves me, but we¡¯ve already been separated by time.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes redden.


    It was slightly too windy on the top of the mountain, and the edges of Ning Mingjie¡¯s long robe was lifted up by the wind. His back figure looked quite lonely.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was sick for a month. She had probably only survived by drinking medicine. Because she couldn¡¯t keep down any solid food during this month, her body rapidly lost weight. Although she didn¡¯t look as thin as a skeleton like when she had firste here, her body had returned to being slender and well proportioned. Every part was just right. If any part was slightly bigger, it would be too much. If any part was slightly smaller, it would be too little.


    Ji Man bitterly smiled. This was thest present that Gancao would give her. It was better than any weight loss program.


    It was just that her appetite was almostpletely ruined.


    ¡ª


    When Muxu gave birth, it was a bit earlier than expected. However, she was able to smoothly give birth to a baby boy. Perhaps, her smooth delivery was due to Doctor Li taking care of her.


    The estate became a bit more cheerful. After all, this was the Marquis Moyu¡¯s first baby, and it was a boy too. Even though Old Madame wasn¡¯t happy that this baby was from a concubine, she still felt a bit of joy in being able to hold her grandson in the midst of her sickness.


    Ji Man took this opportunity to suggest to Old Madame to raise Muxu up to an honored concubine.


    ¡ª


    It was about time for Liu Hanyun to give birth too. By happy coincidence, there were more doctors checking up on her. When Ji Man went over to visit her, she saw that Liu Hanyun had gained weight and seemed more blessed than before.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s eyes, Liu Hanyun felt somewhat distressed and said, ¡°Madam, you look as if you have suffered a lot of terrible tribtions. Your eyes don¡¯t look the same as before.¡±


    Ji Man smiled at her. ¡°It wasn¡¯t any terrible tribtions. It was just a bunch of little things. Those little things, I can handle them on my own.¡±


    ¡ª


    After the main rooms in Xuesong Courtyard had been damaged by fire, Qian Lianxue had been staying in the side rooms. Marquis Moyu had allocated money to repair Xuesong Courtyard. Qian Lianxue said that she had a rtive that knew how to do repair work, so this job had been given to her rtive to do.


    Ji Man acted very magnanimously. Whatever price that person quoted as the cost of material, she would pay him that amount without asking any questions. This person was a man slightly over thirty, and his monkey-like face was a bit oily. Strictly based on appearances, he didn¡¯t look like an honest person.


    Seeing how agreeable Nie Sangyu was being, he thought that the women in this harem were very ignorant and could be easily tricked. Thus, he fraudulently marked up the cost of the other materials as well.


    By the end of the repair process, it had cost over three thousand silver taels just to fix the main rooms in Xuesong Courtyard.


    Ji Man delivered the ount book to Marquis Moyu and calmly said, ¡°Since he was a person rmended by Lianxue, this servant didn¡¯t say anything. But my lord, you should still look at this ount book yourself.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan supported his chin in his hand and scrutinized the woman standing in front of him for a while before finally flickering his eyes to nce at the ount book. His expression changed, and his hands sped together.


    Ji Man faintly smiled and said, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know why you and Old Madame are so biased in favor of Lianxue, but from my perspective, she¡¯s even slicker at establishing social connections than this servant. Moreover, she doesn¡¯t seem as much of an invalid as she appears.¡±


    After a pause, Ning Yuxuan helplessly said, ¡°Lianxue has always been wholeheartedly loyal to me. Plus, with her health, I don¡¯t want her to be dragged into conflict.¡±


    Dragged? The person that was stirring up the conflict was probably Qian Lianxue. Ji Man sneered. Looking at Marquis Moyu, she said, ¡°My lord, if you¡¯re interested, how about we y an interception game?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s an interception game?¡±


    Ji Man smiled, ¡°My lord, if you aren¡¯t busy sometime during today, how about we go together somewhere and do something wicked like ying out the role of bandits?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s interest was stirred up. ¡°Where do you want to go?¡±


    ¡ª


    After the old guard¡¯s grandson skipped his way to Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man pulled Ning Yuxuan towards the back gate with her. The two of them crouched behind the shrubs that lined the unavoidable path that Danzhu would have to pass to return to Xuesong Courtyard.


    Marquis Moyu heard the the woman next to him seriously say, ¡°My lord, when Danzhues by, please knock her unconscious.¡±

 Chapter 226 - The weak and delicate person thats on our side (1)

    Chapter 226 ¨C The weak and delicate person that¡¯s on our side (1)


    Ning Yuxuan really wanted to ask her, wasn¡¯t it overkill to ask a talented person like himself toe here to act liked a hired thug? Couldn¡¯t she have just asked to borrow Guibai?


    But, he remembered that she hadn¡¯t been able to eat muchtely. Although it was good that her figure had slimmed back down, herplexion looked anemic. It was rare to see her so lively. And so, he decided it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal to go along with her antics.


    Marquis Moyu looked away for her. Even though he was wearing an expensive, extravagant robe, he apanied her in hiding behind a spherical shrub like a street hoodlum.


    Danzhu had already hurriedly gone to the back gate from Xuesong Courtyard. On her way back, just as Danzhu passed by them, Ji Man pinched Marquis Moyu. Thetter took a deep breath, very skillfully moved to stand behind Danzhu, and shed his hand down on the back of Danzhu¡¯s head.


    People that practiced martial arts knew how to swiftly and urately knock people out. And so, with a roll of her eyes, Danzhu fainted straight away.


    Ji Man hurriedly came out and helped Marquis Moyu carried Danzhu behind the shrubs. Then, she started to search her body for the letter.


    Ning Yuxuan watched her with the indulgent gaze of a parent ying hide-and-seek with his child.


    The letter tucked in Danzhu¡¯s sleeve was taken out. Today was the start of the month. It wasn¡¯t the same day as when thest letter had been delivered. Then, could the sender of this letter be a different person fromst time? Ji Man really wanted to open the letter to read, but Ning Yuxuan had taken the sealed letter from her.


    He asked, ¡°Why do you want to look at this letter?¡±


    Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°My lord, if I said that Gancao died because of this letter, would you believe me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan frowned. After a while, he finally said, ¡°Sangyu, you concern yourself with too many things. There are some things where it¡¯s better for you to not know.¡±


    ¡°My lord, you want this servant to stay in Feiwan Courtyard and be a carefree, content Madam?¡± Ji Man giggled. ¡°Then, who will pay for Gancao¡¯s life? Who will pay for my child¡¯s life?¡±


    Marquis Moyu opened and closed his mouth. He really wanted to say something. But, holding the letter in his hand, he couldn¡¯t tell her anything. In the end, he could only say, ¡°Can you believe in me?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t even need to think about her answer. ¡°I can¡¯t.¡± After a pause, she decided that she had been too brusque. So, she smiled and added, ¡°My mother told me, a man¡¯s words are the most untrustworthy.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sighed.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why he sighed. Still, they couldn¡¯t stay here for long. The letter had already been stuffed in Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve. Even thought she wanted to snatch the letter from him, she knew that she wouldn¡¯t be able to.


    After thinking for a moment, she took out her backup handkerchief that was embroidered with snow-capped mountains and dropped it by Danzhu. Then, she pulled Ning Yuxuan onto the path with her towards Xuesong Courtyard and acted as if they had juste here to take a stroll.


    ¡ª


    From the outside, the recently renovated Xuesong Courtyard looked about the same as before, just slightly newer.


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t show any fear as she sat on Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s rooftop with him, Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Exactly how many times have you climbed over the walls before?¡±


    Her recent movements had looked way too practiced.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t in the mood to answer his question. Beneath them, this was the spot that Gancao had lost her life. She couldn¡¯t smile no matter how hard she tried. She could only expressionlessly sit here.


    Marquis Moyu also quieted. The two of them just sat here in silence as they waited and watched as the distant sun slowly descended.


    After Danzhu had finally woken up, she ran back here in a disheveled state. She went into the main rooms and closed the doors, then she said, ¡°Master! This servant was knocked unconscious by someone on the way here! The letter is gone!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Qian Lianxue¡¯s voice sounded much more forceful than usual. Sounding anxious, she asked, ¡°Did you not see who knocked you out?¡±


    Danzhu took out the handkerchief that was embroidered with a snow-capped mountain design and handed it Qian Lianxue.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s face sunk. Stroking the embroidered part of the handkerchief, she was silent for a long time.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see who had taken the previous letter, right?¡±


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know. There were too many people at the time. But, Gancao had definitelye back here to grab that letter. This servant doesn¡¯t know how she found out about these letters either.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s body stiffened.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her. He hesitated for a moment before reaching out and holding her icy-cold hand.


    Ji Man turned to look at him. Several emotions shed through her eyes. In the end, her gaze softened, and she lightly leaned on his shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s for the best that she died,¡± Qian Lianxue said.


    Then she added, ¡°Send a message out, let those two master know to not send any more letters. Nie Sangyu is onto me.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    It¡¯s for the best that she died? Ji Man¡¯s hands clenched, and her nails dug into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s palm. She coldlyughed.


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips, took his hand out from hers, and softly and quietly carried her down from the roof and over the wall.


    Ji Man was very clever. If she hade here by herself and torn holes in Qian Lianxue¡¯s lies, as long as Marquis Moyu believed that Qian Lianxe was innocent, then no matter how much evidence she had, it would still be useless. This was why she had dragged Ning Yuxuan toe here today with her.


    She didn¡¯t know what was written in that letter. But, as clever as Ning Yuxuan was, he had let slip that she shouldn¡¯t concern herself with too much. This meant that he knew there was a secret in this letter, and it wasn¡¯t an unimportant secret either.


    As for the rest of the matter, with his brains, he would definitely investigate the matter. Once he found out the truth, then she would be able use her testimony to its fullest effect.

 Chapter 227 - The weak and delicate person thats on our side (2)

    Chapter 227 ¨C The weak and delicate person that¡¯s on our side (2)


    On the way back to Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man thought about the circumstances around Gancao¡¯s death. Although Gancao had been burned to death, there had been a bump that showed she had suffered a heavy blow to the back of her head. Ji Man didn¡¯t believe the Gancao would have been clumsy enough to knock herself unconscious and stay in the burning building. There definitely had to be a culprit that sent her to the underworld with a shove.


    After Marquis Moyu brought her back to Feiwan Courtyard, he left. Recently, he always secretly came over to see her. Other than the two of them, no one else knew about his visits. Everyone thought that she had lost his favor permanently.


    Ji Man put away her turbulent feelings and went over to Old Madame¡¯s courtyard.


    Muxu hadn¡¯t passed the traditional one-month istion and recuperation period yet, but Nie Chenyu had been bringing over Muxu¡¯s child over to try to improve Old Madame¡¯s mood. Indeed, Old Madame¡¯splexion had be much healthier in the past few days, and she was also smiling more.


    Really, it was the child that was the most important. After ncing at the baby that was wrapped up in swaddling clothes, Ji Man slightly closed her eyes.


    Old Madame happily gestured for her toe over. ¡°Sangyu, look at this child. Do you think he looks simr to Xuan-er?¡±


    Ji Man walked over. It was a wrinkled, little face. His eyes and nose weren¡¯t distinct at all. How could she possible tell if he looked simr to Ning Yuxuan?


    ¡°His mouth does look simr to the marquis¡¯s.¡± Although she thought that this child didn¡¯t look simr, it was still necessary to try to cheer up the elderly.


    Old Madame joyfullyughed and ced the baby down by her bedside to tickle and tease it. As she yed with the child, she said, ¡°Last night, I discussed with Xuan-<i>er</i> about this child¡¯s name. Let¡¯s pick a nickname for him for now. When he¡¯s one month old, we¡¯ll choose his official name. Since his face looks so full of good fortune, let¡¯s call him Fu-<i>er</i>.¡±


    (T/N: Fu means good fortune.)


    ¡°Fu-<i>er</i> sounds good, ah. It¡¯ll guarantee that this little young master will be protected by good fortune in the future.¡± Nie Chenyu was a sweet-talker. She turned her head to look at her sister and cutely said, ¡°Chenyu hasn¡¯t seen older sister in such a long time. Older sister, you look even more beautiful than before.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Haven¡¯t you been spending all of your time at Qiangwei Courtyard and serving Wan-<i>er</i>? Make sure to be extra careful. Wan-<i>er</i> is in thete stages of pregnancy.¡±


    These words made it seem as if she was a real servant girl. Nie Chenyu¡¯s eyes darkened, but she kept the smile on her face. ¡°Older sister Wan-er¡¯s pregnancy is very stable. Older sister, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    Old Madame looked at them both. There was something that she wanted to say, but Qi Siling was also in the room. And so, she could only say, ¡°It¡¯ll be good if your sisterly rtionship can always be this good.¡±


    Ji Man nodded.


    Nie Chenyu also nodded. But, there had been pregnancy after pregnancy announced in this household, and baby after baby would being out soon. Nie Chenyu still wasn¡¯t strongly favored. In thest month, Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t even visited her twice. She couldn¡¯t help feeling anxious.


    After sitting here for a while, Nie Chenyu left. Calcting the time, it was about the hour when the marquis would be visiting Qiangwei Courtyard. Thus, she naturally had to go there too.


    Qi Siling saw that Dengxin, who was standing behind Nie Sangyu, was holding the ount book. She smiled and said, ¡°This servant heard that Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s recent repairs have been very costly. Madam, did youe here to report expenses to Old Madame?¡±


    Ji Man nodded and had Dengxin ce the ount book by Old Madame¡¯s hands. She lightlyughed and said, ¡°Old Madame, although the marquis¡¯s estate is quite wealthy, it still can¡¯t support a rtive like this one. Sangyu has already shown this ount book to the marquis. The marquis said that I should act after I take the entire situation into consideration. So, Sangyu came here to ask Old Madame, what would be the most suitable way to handle this matter?¡±


    At the mention of Xuesong Courtyard, Old Madame pursed her lips, looked at Qi Siling, and said, ¡°Qi Siling, go visit Wen Wan. I have something I want to say in private with Sangyu.¡±


    Clutching her handkerchief, Qi Siling somewhat unwillingly stood up and bid farewell.


    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal about Lianxue¡¯s ce?¡± Old Madme slightly sat up and looked at the ount book. In the end, she frowned and said, ¡°This... Have that person pay back those costs. There¡¯s no need to punish Lianxue too harshly.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Ji Man frankly looked at Old Madame. ¡°You¡¯re usually very fair with your rewards and punishments, but you always shield Lianxue from criticism and punishment. You even said that she wouldn¡¯t harm Sangyu. Old Madame, you also know that Gancao died in her courtyard.¡±


    Old Madame paused, then she quietly said, ¡°Perhaps, it was an ident.¡±


    With a severe expression, Ji Man looked at Old Madame. ¡°It wasn¡¯t an ident. There was an injury on the back of Gancao¡¯s head beneath her burnt marks. It couldn¡¯t have been an ident.¡±


    Old Madame fell silent.


    Seeing the expression on Old Madame¡¯s face, Danggui and Shouwu withdrew from the room, closed the doors on their way out, and waited outside.


    ¡°Sangyu, you have to know, that in noble families, there are always people that you can¡¯t touch.¡± Old Madame sighed and said, ¡°I might as well be frank with you. Lianxue... Lianxue has always done work for us. She¡¯s on our side.¡±


    Ji Man found these wordsughable. Her eyes slightly widened. ¡°On our side?¡±


    Would someone on her side kill her servant? Would someone on her side take part in a scheme that led to the disappearance of her baby?


    ¡°She has always followed the orders of the third prince and the imperial noble consort. The imperial noble consort has stressed the importance of Lianxue to me,¡± Old Madame said, ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ve always said that Lianxue wouldn¡¯t harm you. If anything seems wrong, it has to be a misunderstanding.¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Manughed. Sheughed for a very long time. At the end, she ttened her lips and said, ¡°Old Madame, Sangyu believes in her eyes and ears the most. If she¡¯s really on our side, then Sangyu will remind Old Madame one thing, this person can¡¯t be trusted. Please also convey this message to my aunt and cousin.¡±


    Old Madame was slightly stunned. She had been sick in her room for a long time and naturally didn¡¯t know what was happening outside.


    ¡°Old Madame, if you don¡¯t believe Sangyu, then just wait and see. I took something from her. If she¡¯s really on our side, then there¡¯s no need for her to panic-stricken. She can just directly ask me for that item back. If she¡¯s not on our side, then she¡¯ll definitely harm me.¡±


    Ji Man already had a premonition. If that letter really contained a disastrous secret, then Qian Lianxue would definitely make the decision to harm her.


    Ji Man returned to her expression to normal. ¡°Tomorrow is a market day. Sangyu wants to go out and walk around. Old Madame, is there any trinket that you want Sangyu to bring back for you?¡±

 Chapter 228 - The spider starts to weave (1)

    Chapter 228 ¨C The spider starts to weave (1)


    It happened that Xuesong Courtyard also needed some items to be purchased. After Ji Man left Old Madame¡¯s courtyard, she went over to Qian Lianxue¡¯s ce to ask her what she wanted to buy.


    Qian Lianxue covered her mouth, then she looked at her for a long time while coughing. ¡°Madam, are you going outside yourself to buy these items?¡±


    Ji Man nodded with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s best to do things yourself. After all, even if you send your personal servant girl to do something, there are times when a mishap will still ur. Don¡¯t you think agree?¡±


    Danzhu was standing behind Qian Lianxue. Her eyelids slightly twitched when she heard these words.


    She had just tantly admitted that she had been the one that knocked Danzhu unconscious and taken the letter.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s expression looked a bit unnatural as she handed over the list of items.


    Ji Man was still smiling as she stood up and left the room with Dengxin.


    Right now, it was as if there was a que hanging on her body that had the words, e and kill me if you can¡±.


    After they returned to Feiwan Courtyard, Ji Man spent sometime dressing herself up.


    That night, Ji Man had Dengxin remain in Feiwan Courtyard while she sneaked over to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s study by herself. She wanted him to go with her when she went shopping tomorrow.


    ¡°Do you think I have so much free time right now that you can treat me like an errand boy?¡± Ning Yuxuan was slightly discontent. ¡°Why do you want me to go shopping with you? I¡¯m very busy.¡±


    Ji Man smiled very sweetly. Holding his hand, she swung it left and right. ¡°The streets haven¡¯t been very safetely. If I go out by myself, what will I do if I encounter danger?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°Then, send someone else to go. You don¡¯t need to go yourself.¡±


    Regardless if it was ancient times or modern times, men dislike apanying women in shopping. Ji Man copied Wen Wan¡¯s style and twisted her body around his like it was fried dough. ¡°It¡¯s so rare for me to be in the mood to do anything. Please. Come with me.¡±


    She could feel that Ning Yuxuan had recently be gentler towards her. An ancient woman¡¯s greatest asset was a man¡¯s indulgence and softhearted feelings towards her. Wen Wan used to have this, but she hadn¡¯t used it effectively. Now that she saw the stirrings of those feelings towards herself, she naturally had to use it well.


    Ning Yuxuan felt quite helpless at her hounding. He impatiently waved his hand and said, ¡°Fine. Go back to Feiwan Courtyard for now. I¡¯ll wait for you at the back gate tomorrow.¡±


    As expected, this person was behaving sneakily as usual, that would work perfectly with her n. Feeling quite satisfied, Ji Man obediently returned to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Guibai, who had been standing to the side during their conversation, saw the serious expression that appeared on the marquis¡¯s face after Nie Sangyu left. He couldn¡¯t resist his impulse and asked, ¡°Marquis, do you want to bring more people during tomorrow¡¯s outing?¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Ning Yuxuan shook his head. Feeling a bit vexed, he asked, ¡°But, what should I wear tomorrow when I apany that woman on her shopping trip?¡±


    All of his clothing was iparably luxurious. If he wore his usual clothing, there was no way that he wouldn¡¯t be stared at like a circus attraction by themonfolk.


    Guibai hadn¡¯t expected that his master would worry over something so minor. He let out a shortugh. ¡°My lord, if you don¡¯t mind, this subordinate has a set of clothing that was just made and hasn¡¯t been worn yet. You can borrow it to wear.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows rxed. Looking at the crown prince¡¯s letter, he returned to his work and deftly wrote out a reply.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Ji Man walked to the back gate. She had only brought along two lower-ranking servants with her to carry her purchases. Arriving at the back gate, she saw Guibai¡¯s familiar figure sitting on the carriage¡¯s driver seat and waiting for her. She dismissed the servants she had brought along and happily stepped into the carriage without any worries.


    As soon as she lifted the carriage¡¯s curtain, she saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s impatient face.


    Holding the shopping list she had given him, he looked at her and asked, ¡°Why are there so many items?¡±


    If there were only a few items, what reason would she have for staying out longer? Ji Man slightly smiled. Since she had this bodyguarding with her, she naturally felt very confident. No matter who came to attack her, she wouldn¡¯t feel scared. Even if she died, she would be dying together with Ning Yuxuan. Based on this point alone, Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t count it as her failing the mission.


    She was wearing a soft green dress today, and she looked much livelier. It was just a simple dress, not expensive at all. Actually, it matched Ning Yuxuan¡¯s average-looking clothes quite well.


    Right after Ji Man left the estate, another servant came out of hiding and followed after the carriage.


    ¡ª


    Inside an antique ceramic store, Ji Man was holding a vase and haggling, ¡°No matter how I look at it, this item isn¡¯t worth fifty silver taels. At most, it¡¯s worth ten silver taels.


    There was an assortment of vases and containers on the shelves in front of them. Just by how the vases were thin enough that sunlight could pass through them, customers could easily see that these vases were all top-tier goods.


    Ji Man had seen a fiery red vase that she liked and was currently bargaining.


    However, Ning Yuxuan felt that her bargaining was too extreme.


    It seemed that this store¡¯s business had be better after they came inside. Several people had followed them inside and were looking around the store too.


    Without saying a word or making a sound, Marquis Moyu stepped to stand behind Nie Sangyu.


    This group of people had been following them during the entire shopping trip, from the back gate¡¯s flowerbeds to the streets and now to this ceramic store. He always had a good memory for faces. Even thought these people had taken the special effort of changing their outer garb, he still recognized them.


    Looking at the woman in front of him that hadn¡¯t notice anything was off and was focused on nitpicking the vase that she was holding in her hand, Ning Yuxuan inwardly smiled. She really was very clever. Once again, she had involved him in something bad.


    With a sour expression on his face, the shopkeeper said, ¡°Madam, this vase is an antique. It¡¯s absolutely impossible to buy this vase for ten silver taels.¡±


    Ji Man still wanted to say more, but the shelves in front of her tottered. It seemed as if someone had identally bumped into it. A momentter, the shelves rapidly started to fall down on her.


    Countless vases fell onto the floor and shattered into pieces. Ning Yuxuan gritted his teeth and blocked the falling shelves from hitting her. Protectively nestled in his arms, Ji Man sharply looked at the nearby people.


    As the shopkeeper was screaming, ¡°Watch out!¡±, the people behind them had already taken out their daggers and were aiming them at Ji Man.


    Trantor Ramblings: Ji Man seems so reckless right now. It doesn¡¯t feel like a recklessness thates from thoughtless overconfidence, more like she doesn¡¯t care if she dies or not.

 Chapter 229 - The spider starts to weave (2)

    Chapter 229 ¨C The spider starts to weave (2)


    ¡°Shopkeeper, why are you just standing there? Go to the authorities and get help!¡± Ji Man shouted. She pushed Ning Yuxuan away and left the area underneath the falling shelves. Dust immediately rose in the room as several daggers flew through the air and almost struck her body. Frightened, she immediately went back to hiding in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arms.


    ¡°You¡¯re such a troublemaker,¡± Ning Yuxuan angrily said.


    Ji Man pouted. She was totally innocent.


    He picked up her and jumped towards the antique store¡¯s doors. Theynded outside on the street. There was a considerable amount of people outside. Hearing such argemotion, one after another, they stopped to watch.


    Several of the dagger-wielding men followed them outside and hurled themselves at Ning Yuxuan without regard to their lives.


    While protectively guarding the woman behind him, Ning Yuxuan pulled out a piece of wood from a market stall. As he used the makeshift weapon to block the daggers, he shouted, ¡°Guibai!¡±


    The carriage hadn¡¯t been parked from here. Hearing his name, Guibai swiftly ran over and caught the woman that was flung over. He protectively moved her to the center of the crowd.


    It would be difficult enough for one person to fight three people at once, much less four armed people. These people seemed to not recognize him and only thought of him as a hindrance. Two people stayed behind to deal with him and the other two people tried to move towards the crowd to to grab Nie Sangyu.


    This was critical juncture between life and death, but Ji Man had crouched down at the edge of the crowd to calcte.


    Qian Lianxue had sent people to kill her, but there wasn¡¯t an absolute guarantee that they would be able to seed. And so, she guessed that Feiwan Courtyard would definitely be set on fire in order to destroy the letter. Perhaps, the prepared item she had left behind would be put to good use.


    After today, even if she didn¡¯t have undeniable evidence that Qian Lianxue was guilty, Marquis Moyu and Old Madame¡¯s formerly unshakable belief in Qian Lainxue would waver. At minimum, Qian Lianxue¡¯s position as an honored concubine could be taken away, and the number of spies in the household would be cut in half.


    Calcting it this way, as long as her view of Qian Lianxue as a person with evil ns was urate, then this had been a worthwhile transaction.


    The antique store had other employees. Before the shopkeeper left to get the city¡¯s guards, he ordered them to surround the group of people that had shattered so many antiques and seize them. This helped Ning Yuxuan out a lot. Although the store¡¯s employees weren¡¯t actually able to stop them, they would be able to dy them until the capital¡¯s guards arrived to arrest them.


    The guards that were responsible for this area were quite quick. The shopkeeper hadn¡¯t been gone for long before these guards arrived on the scene and seized the remaining men that were fighting with Ning Yuxuan. Because Ning Yuxuan had also been vigorously fighting and was dressed in amoner¡¯s clothing, he was also taken along to be judged by the local magistrate.


    Looking at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s livid face, Ji Man wasughing so hard that she almost cried. She had Guibai drive the carriage and follow after them so that she could bail Ning Yuxuan out.


    ¡ª


    The arrested assassins had ordinary-looking faces. Although they had been arrested, there weren¡¯t any hints of fear on their faces.


    One of them nonchntly mumbled, ¡°We failed, might get punished.¡±


    The leader of the group red at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°If he hadn¡¯t suddenly interfered, how could we have failed?¡±


    A person behind him murmured, ¡°He¡¯s one of the marquis¡¯s household guards, right? His martial arts is pretty good.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed and sarcastically said, ¡°Thanks for the praise. You¡¯re guilty of attempted murder, and yet you¡¯re in the mood to idly chat. You¡¯ll be facing Magistrate Yin soon. Do you still want to live?¡±


    The group of assassins remained unperturbed. It seemed as if they were unafraid of death, or perhaps, they thought it was impossible for them to be sentenced to death.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mind slightly turned. He lowered his head and didn¡¯t say another word.


    ¡ª


    After they were brought out of the cells to be judged and sentenced by Magistrate Yin, Ning Yuxuan took out his waist essory that proved his identity and told the judge what had happened. He asked Magistrate Yin to take charge of this matter and enforce justice.


    Magistrate Yin had onlye into this position recently and hadn¡¯t seen Marquis Moyu before. His only thought was that this person had an attractive appearance. After taking an extra look of him, he said, ¡°They hadn¡¯t actually harmed anyone, so they naturally can¡¯t be given the death sentence. It¡¯ll be fine just to imprison them for a period of time.


    Under thews of this dynasty, killing someone was a death sentence. Attempted murder was also a death sentence. And yet, this judge had breezily said this matter would be settled with locking them up for a while.


    Ning Yuxuan smiled, ¡°Sir, let¡¯s speak in private.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man waited outside the local magistrate¡¯s office for the announcement of the judge¡¯s decision. She hadn¡¯t been waiting long when she saw Ning Yuxuaning outside by himself. His expression was very ugly.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan waved his hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go back. Have other people buy the rest of the items.¡±


    Ji Man could see that he was in a terrible mood, so she didn¡¯t dare to be troublesome and obediently followed him back.


    However, after they returned, Ji Man didn¡¯t go to Feiwan Courtyard. Instead, she went looking for Nie Chenyu.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man smiled as she asked, ¡°Younger sister, do you want toe over to Feiwan Courtyard for a bit? Since Old Madame wants us to happily get along, we shouldn¡¯t let her down.¡±


    Nie Chenyu looked at her with a guarded expression. ¡°Older sister, you¡¯re suddenly showing such great hospitality. It makes younger sister feel a bit afraid.¡±


    When they were younger, there had been countless times when she and Nie Sangyu would mutually fight each other. But, Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t have a mother and she had one. And so, every single time, no matter who was in the wrong, there could only be one oue. Nie Sangyu getting scolded and punished.


    Ji Man continued to smile. ¡°Nothing bad will happen. The marquis just returned home with me. I¡¯m sure that he¡¯ll being over soon after he finishes up his work in his study.¡±


    Nie Chenyu¡¯s eyes brightened. After tidying up, she followed Nie Sangyu.


    As soon as they entered Feiwan Courtyard, they could see Dengxin standing outside.


    She said with a bright smile, ¡°Mistress Yu, there¡¯s a surprise waiting inside. You should open the doors slowly.¡±


    Nie Chenyu curiously asked, ¡°What surprise?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged and gestured for Nie Chenyu to open the doors.

 Chapter 230 - A surprise (1)

    Chapter 230 ¨C ¡°A surprise¡± (1)


    As a daughter of a noble family, Nie Chenyu had probably never encountered such a scene before.


    As soon as she had pushed open the doors, she saw snakes everywhere in the room: long snakes, short snakes, red ones, blue ones, and green ones. There were ones that were rising up and ones that slithered. There was an overflow of them on the table and a group of them encircling a corpse on the floor and hissing at it. Hearing the sound of the doors opening, a couple of them turned their triangr-shaped heads and focused their gaze on her.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡± Nie Chenyu frantically took several steps back, lost her bnce, and fell down. The snakes that had noticed the doors were open started slithering towards the outside.


    Dengxin hurriedly went over and shut the doors.


    Nie Chenyu had been frightened into tears. She grabbed her sister¡¯s hand and said while crying, ¡°I knew it. You didn¡¯t have good intentions when you asked me toe over. Why are those awful things in your room?!¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man pursed her lips. She had also been a bit scared too. She had thought of a lot of ways that Qian Lianxue could choose to harm her, but a room full of snakes hadn¡¯t been one of them. She had originally nned on having Dengxin wait outside with other servants and ambush whomever Qian Lianxue would send over. Then, she would bring Nie Chenyu over and put on a show of being surprised to see the detained person. This way, Nie Chenyu could act as a witness when she told this to Old Madame.


    After all, they were two members of Nie n. If they both said the same thing, Old Madame should at least believe in them a little bit, right?


    As it turned out, Dengxin didn¡¯t even need to do any acting. Qian Lianxue¡¯s big move had caused Nie Chenyu to be scared witless.


    ¡°You did this deliberately! I¡¯m going to find Old Madame and tell her what you did!¡± Nie Chenyu¡¯s legs still felt weak. Holding her servant girl¡¯s hand for support, she faltering stood up and scurried out of the courtyard.


    There was still a corpse inside her room. Such a serious matter, it wasn¡¯t something that could be decided by her. As Ji Man followed after Nie Chenyu and walked towards the main courtyard, she ordered Dengxin to send someone to inform Marquis Moyu about this matter.


    ¡ª


    When Ning Yuxuan arrived in the main courtyard, Dengxin was kneeling in the middle of the room as she said, ¡°After Madam left the estate, this servant had brought everyone to the kitchen to prepare some snacks, so that Madam would have something delicious to eat after she came back. But, servants from Qiangwei Courtyard were already using the kitchen. This servant could only bring everyone back to Feiwan Courtyard. But, right after we went back, there were noises inside the main rooms. Along with the other servants, this servant went over to look. As soon as the doors were open, we saw that the floor was full of snakes. We immediately closed doors. Later, we heard a scream inside the room. It was only at that point we found out that there was someone inside the room.¡±


    Why would a servant bring a basket full of snakes to Feiwan Courtyard? Those snakes had even been able to bite that person to death. These were clearly poisonous snakes.


    Nie Chenyu was sitting by Old Madame¡¯s side and crying. Her body was still trembling as she said, ¡°That scene was too frightening. Dengxin even lied to Chenyu and said there was a surprise inside. If I didn¡¯t have a habit of checking a room before entering, I would have definitely been bitten by those poisonous snakes too.¡±


    Dengxin gravely said, ¡°This servant didn¡¯t misspeak. There really was ¡°a surprise¡±. Old Madame, please find this kind-hearted person that specially had Little Five deliver so many poisonous snakes to my master.¡±


    Little Five was a servant that worked in the kitchen. He had been an honest, youngd.


    Ning Yuxuan profoundly looked at Nie Sangyu, then he finally spoke, ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll have people from the Ministry of Justice personallye here to investigate this matter. I¡¯ll send people over to remove the snakes in Feiwan Courtyard too.¡±


    Ji Man nced at Qian Lianxue, who had been sitting on the side without showing any reaction, then she took out the ount book as well as a list of prices, ¡°This servant went shopping today. While I was outside, I asked about the prices for some items. Based on the average prices from several ces, it should haven¡¯t cost more than a thousand silver taels for the materials needed to repair Xuesong Courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Furthermore, the rtive that Lianxue had rmended had reported over three thousand silver taels as the cost for those materials. This servant had already reported this matter to the local magistrate.¡±


    Qian Lianxue finally showed a reaction. She raised her head and deeply looked at Nie Sangyu, then she stood up and knelt down in front of Marquis Moyu and Old Madame. While mildly gasping for breath, she said, ¡°Lianxue wasn¡¯t aware of this matter. Old Madame, Marquis, please forgive Lianxue.¡±


    She had ingratiated herself with everyone. Who knows how many masters she was secretly serving? Qian Lianxue thought Nie Sangyu¡¯s understanding was really too low-leveled. So what if she caught her red-handed? Old Madame and the marquis believed in her. No matter what, they wouldn¡¯t me her. As for those two letters, even if they had both fallen into Nie Sangyu¡¯s hands, that was okay too. Those letters only had orders and didn¡¯t mention her by name. There was no way that Nie Sangyu could prove that she was the intended recipient of those letters.


    Qian Lianxue lightly coughed a few times. She raised her face that looked as if it would never hurt another person or animal and pitifully looked up at the two people in the center seats.


    Old Madame was silent for a while, but she surprisingly asked Nie Sangyu, ¡°What do you think is the most appropriate way to handle this matter?¡±


    Ji Man closed the ount book and said, ¡°Even though Lianxue¡¯s intentions weren¡¯t bad, her actions have established a negative precedent. What will we do if more people think they can use their rtionship with the other concubines to defraud the marquis? How can the rules of right and wrong be enforced then? This servant thinks, the punishment doesn¡¯t need to be harsh. Lianxue has always been a person that didn¡¯tpete for favor or status. Rank isn¡¯t that important to her. Let¡¯s just lower her status to an ordinary concubine in order to warn other people from following her bad example. Lianxue, I¡¯m sure you can ept this as the resolution, right?¡±


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s heart tightened in rm. She raised her head and looked at Marquis Moyu. Nie Sangyu¡¯s words left her unable to defend for herself. She naturally couldn¡¯t say that she wasn¡¯t willing to ept this. She could only pleadingly look at Marquis Moyu and wait for him to help her.


    However, this time, Ning Yuxuan only nodded his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

 Chapter 231 - A surprise (2)

    Chapter 231 ¨C ¡°A surprise¡± (2)


    That¡¯s good? How could he say that? Qian Lianxue¡¯s eyes slightly widened, but she was afraid ofmitting a gaffe, so she hurriedly lowered her head and quietly coughed.


    It was impossible for Marquis Moyu to not know that if she was demoted to an ordinary concubine, some of her servants would be reassigned to other work. She would even have to move to another courtyard. How could he allow this?


    She silently reflected on her past actions. Her work had been watertight. She had done so much, but no one could tell for sure that she had been the one responsible. She had done her best for her masters. One by one, she had aplished the tasks they had given her. Although she had encountered Nie Sangyu, this unyielding iron te, she still had ways to deal with her and hadn¡¯t been worried. But, why was she suddenly unable to understand what Marquis Moyu was thinking?


    ¡ª


    After Qian Lianxue was demoted, Ji Man personally selected half of her loyal servants and reassigned them to Feiwan Courtyard and Muxu¡¯s Wenxiang Courtyard. However, Old Madame felt sympathetic about Qian Lianxue¡¯s poor health and said that she didn¡¯t need to move to another courtyard. Although she ended up not having to move, her lifestyle standards were reduced and not as good as before.


    Looking at Qian Lianxue¡¯s slightly stiff face, Ji Man faintly smiled and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Young sister Lianxue, there¡¯s still plenty of time.¡±


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun would soon be giving birth, but such a bloody event had recently urred in the household. This was really unlucky. She left her courtyard and went to Old Madame¡¯s praying hall to ask Buddha to protect her unborn baby. She happened to meet Wen Wan, who had alsoe here to pray to Buddha.


    Wen Wan¡¯s belly was smaller than Liu Hanyun¡¯s, but it wasn¡¯t that much smaller. Although Liu Hanyun was now an honored concubine and Wen Wan was only a servant, Liu Hanyun still saluted Wen Wan out of habit.


    Kneeling on the neighboring praying mat, Wen Wan asked her, ¡°Mistress Yun, you¡¯re going to be giving birth soon, right? Why did youe out?¡±


    Liu Hanyun slightly smiled. ¡°Bad things have happened in the estate. Didn¡¯t youe here to pray to Buddha for protection and safety too?¡±


    Wen Wan curved the corners of her lips into a smile. ¡°Since that woman became Madam, haven¡¯t things been constantly happening in this household without a break? Today, a person burns to death. Tomorrow, a person dies from poisonous snake bites. It really makes my heart feel unsettled.¡±


    Liu Hanyun respectfully bowed towards the Buddha statue, then she said, ¡°If you haven¡¯t done anything wrong, you won¡¯t have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door. If there¡¯s no blood on your hands, nothing wille by sniffing.¡±


    Wen Wan mockinglyughed. ¡°What do I have to feel guilty about? Haven¡¯t I already fallen to such a lowly state? This proves that only ruthless people can survive in this household.¡±


    Looking at Wen Wan¡¯s slightly sinister face from the side, Liu Hanyun opened her mouth, but ended up closing it without saying a word. She felt a sudden wave of pain in her belly. It felt as if she was about to give birth.


    Sweat beaded on her forehead as Liu Hanyun gritted her teeth and called out, ¡°Chunpi.¡± While it was almost about time for her to give birth, it shouldn¡¯t have been today.


    Chunpi had always been carefully watching over her master. Seeing her like this, she hurriedly called out, ¡°Help! Mistress Yun is about to give birth!¡±


    This prayer hall was right next to the main courtyard and wasn¡¯t far from the bedrooms. However, Liu Hanyun was already in so much pain that she had copsed on the praying mat. Seeing her condition, no one dared to move her.


    It was Wen Wan that hurriedly said, ¡°Tear down those curtains and use them to pad the floor for her. She¡¯s going to be giving birth here!¡±


    ¡ª


    Very soon, the news reached Old Madame and Ji Man¡¯s ears. Old Madame wasn¡¯t feeling well enough to leave her room, but Ji Man rushed over. There were two pregnant women in the prayer hall, and one of them was about to give birth. This really couldn¡¯t be anymore chaotic.


    Wen Wan had originally been kneeling by Liu Hanyun¡¯s side. Watching her miserably cry out in pain, her own belly also started feeling somewhat painful.


    Her pregnancy had only just reached nine moons. It shouldn¡¯t be time for her to give birth too, right? She grabbed Tanxiang¡¯s swaying skirt, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t resist crying out in pain too.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had to deal with a difficult situation. Two pregnant women were giving birth in the prayer hall at the same time. She hurriedly ordered one group of servants to find a midwife and ordered the other group to prepare items that would be needed for giving birth. In the passing, she told Dengxin to request for Marquis Moyu toe over.


    The sound of two women painfully screaming at the same time was certainly livelier than when she had been screaming by herself a few months ago. And yet, Ning Yuxuan still had a mostly calm expression as he waited outside with her.


    Someone had brought a screen to divide the prayer hall. All of the windows and doors had been closed, servant girls had brought over quilts, the midwife shouted again and again for Wen Wan and Liu Hanyun to push harder.


    Two hours hadn¡¯t even passed before the sound of a baby crying was heard. A little whileter, a second baby¡¯s cry joined the first one. Ji Man thought; it seemed as if the other women were able to give birth more easily than her.


    Her fingers were slightly clenched as she walked forward and curtsied Ning Yuxuan, ¡°My lord, congrattions.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded.


    The midwife came out of the hall with the two babies. There was one on her left arm and another one on her right arm. She joyfully said, ¡°This is the first time this servant assisted with two women giving birth at the same time. Your lordship, congrattions. Mistress Yun gave birth to a girl. Mistress Wan gave birth to a boy.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused. He looked at the two babies that were wrapped up in swaddling clothes, even their faces were loosely covered. His lips were pursed, and there was joy in his eyes that couldn¡¯t be hidden. ¡°You worked hard. Go get your reward.¡±


    The midwife happily handed the babies over to the wet nurses. One went left, and the other went right. She was very careful in which wet nurse she handed each baby to.


    Ji Man thought; Wen Wan had given birth to a boy. Liu Hanyun had given birth to a girl. What a pity.

 Chapter 232 - The winds of change (1)

    Chapter 232 ¨C The winds of change (1)


    In this era that valued men and treated women as inferior goods, no one would value the priceless emotional consideration and gentle care that a daughter provided to her parents. They would only smile and care about holding their chubby baby boy.


    Ji Man was witnessing a demonstration of this bias right now. Both of the babies had been brought to Old Madame¡¯s ce, but Old Madame only cared about holding Wen Wan¡¯s baby and had been ying with it for a while. She hadn¡¯t even bothered with lifting the cloth covering Liu Hanyun¡¯s daughter¡¯s face.


    Ji Man sighed and went forward to hold the baby girl. Poor Liu Hanyun, she hadn¡¯t been able to give birth to a boy on her first try. Otherwise, she would have someone to rely on in the future.


    Lifting the edge of her skirt as she entered the room, Dengxin whispered into Nie Sangyu¡¯s ear, ¡°Master, Chunpi is waiting outside. She¡¯s requesting an audience with you.¡±


    Old Madame was currently in high spirits as she yed with Wen Wan¡¯s son. Distant rtives had alsoe over to congratte the marquis for having two children born at the same time and also for having another son.


    Ji Man vaguely thought that Chunpi just wanted to talk about a domestic matter. It wouldn¡¯t be suitable to discuss something like that in front of the guests, so she said, ¡°Tell her to wait outside for a bit. After the guests leave, she cane inside to report her news.¡±


    Dengxin made a sound of assent and went outside to pass on the message to Chunpi. Then, she came back inside and stood behind her master.


    Ji Man carefully lifted part of the swaddling cloth and saw a wrinkly little face. Even though Liu Hanyun¡¯s pregnancy hadsted a full term, her daughter didn¡¯t look that much different from Muxu¡¯s son that had been born prematurely. Ji Man had only held the baby for a little bit when she started crying. Ji Man hurriedly handed the baby over to the wet nurse so that she could be fed.


    While still holding the baby boy, Old Madame said to the person next to her, ¡°This baby looks like it developed quite well. It doesn¡¯t have any signs of being a premature baby.¡±


    A thought flickered in Ji Man¡¯s mind. She went forward to look at Wen Wan¡¯s child.


    Wen Wan had given birth prematurely and Liu Hanyun¡¯s pregnancy hadsted the full term. So, why did it seem like that Wen Wan¡¯s baby was bigger than Liu Hanyun¡¯s?


    Remembering Dengxin¡¯s message that there was something Chunpi wanted to tell her, Ji Man hurriedly left the room and saw that Chunpi had already crouched down by the side of the building to cry.


    Ji Man brought her back to Feiwan Courtyard to talk.


    ¡ª


    ¡°This servant thinks that my master has given birth to a son. After cutting the umbilical cords, Midwife Yang took the babies away for a bath. She didn¡¯t even look at them before saying that my master had given birth to a daughter. This servant wasn¡¯t even able to look at my master¡¯s baby before she announced their genders. Wen Wan¡¯s baby hade outter, but Midwife Yang said she gave birth to a boy. The two babies were mixed together. Couldn¡¯t a mistake have happened? This servant isn¡¯t willing to ept this ...¡±


    Chunpi¡¯s cries were very heart-wrenching. She shook her head and continued, ¡°My master¡¯s life shouldn¡¯t be so unlucky. She endured so much. Things were finally looking up for her.¡±


    Ji Man thought about the two babies she had seen today. She also felt there was something off. How could a baby that had been born prematurely be bigger than a baby that had been carried to full term? The only reason that no one brought up this question was because no one else had paid attention to Liu Hanyun¡¯s daughter. No one had carefully looked at both babies.


    Ji Man anxiously ordered, ¡°Dengxin, hurry, go and stop that midwife from leaving!¡± Then, she started to hurriedly go outside too.


    Chunpi wiped her tears and said, ¡°Midwife Yang went to Qiangwei Courtyard to receive her reward. This servant had been keeping an eye on her this entire time. This servant didn¡¯te to look for Madam until Midwife Yang went inside Qiangwei Courtyard.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She had Dengxin go to stop the midwife, while she went to look for Guibai herself.


    Little Five¡¯s body had already been taken to the local magistrate¡¯s office. Right after Guibai had returned from doing this, Ji Man found him and dragged him to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    The midwife was currently receiving her reward with a jubnt expression. The money that she received from Wen Wan wasn¡¯t a small amount.


    After arge bag of silver taels was handed over, Wen Wan said, ¡°This will be enough for you to live well for the rest of your life. You don¡¯t need to stay in the capital or continue working as a midwife.¡±


    Just as the midwife was going to thank Wen Wan for her generosity, Dengxin had entered the room and said with a beaming smile, ¡°Congrattions, Miss Wen Wan. Midwife Yang, Madam is requesting that you go over to Feiwan Courtyard. She wants to give you a reward too.¡±


    Wen Wan was lying against her pillow. Hearing these words, she frowned and meaningfully looked at Tanxiang.


    Tanxiang said, ¡°Nothing good happens to greedy people. My Miss has already given you enough. Midwife Yang, you should know when to quit while you¡¯re ahead. Don¡¯t make Madam spend more money.¡±


    Midwife Yang had assisted with childbirth for many noble families, but this was the first time she encounter a situation like this one. Feeling a bit panicky, she nced at Dengxin and said, ¡°No need, this old one won¡¯t take Madam¡¯s reward..¡±


    At this time, Ji Man and Guibai arrived at the entrance. As soon as Guibai entered the room, he started to forcefully escort Midwife Yang out of the room. ¡°In this household, it¡¯ll be better for you if you obey Madam¡¯s words.¡±


    A jolt of rm ran through Wen Wan. Right now, her entire body was powerless. She didn¡¯t even have the strength to stand up. She could only look at him with widen eyes.


    Tanxiang stamped her feet and angrily said, ¡°Right now, Miss needs to recuperate. Madam, you brought people to cause trouble. Don¡¯t you think you¡¯re behaving too outrageously?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and sweetly smiled as she said, ¡°Be more observant please. I¡¯m inviting the midwife to leave with me. How can that be seen as causing trouble? If the midwife is causing a disturbance, then just have Guibai escort her out quicker. This won¡¯t interfere with your Miss getting her rest.¡±


    As she was saying this, Guibai had already finished forcefully leading Midwife Yang outside.


    Wen Wan pressed her lips tightly together.


    Midwife Yang was a rtively well-known midwife. When Liu Hanyun had been pregnant for nine moons, Marquis Moyu had brought Midwife Yang back and had her stay on the premises to wait for Liu Hanyun to go intobor.


    Ji Man scrutinized her for a long time before finally asking, ¡°Midwife Yang, can you clearly differentiate between a premature baby and a full-term baby?¡±


    Midwife Yang straightened her posture. She was still holding the bag of silver taels and didn¡¯t speak until she had put the money away into her clothes. ¡°It¡¯s naturally possible to differentiate. However, this time, the two women in your household have different body types, so they naturally gave birth to babies that look different. Mistress Yun¡¯s health is poor, so her child was born smaller than usual. Mistress Wan has been taking very good of her health, so she gave birth to a chubby baby boy.¡±


    When it was exined like that, it actually did seem quite reasonable. After all, the midwife was an experienced professional. After she said these words, no one would continue to be suspicious.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure that the midwife had switched the babies. Perhaps, Wen Wan was just born under a lucky star and had given birth to a son. Without evidence, nothing could be done, no matter how discontent Chunpi felt.

 Chapter 233 - The winds of change (2)

    Chapter 233 ¨C The winds of change (2)


    After looking at the midwife in silence for a while, Ji Man suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Midwife Yang, what do you think of my home?¡±


    Midwife Yang looked around, then she nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s naturally a thousand times better than the home of a poor person like me.¡±


    Ji Man continue to smile as she said, ¡°Then, you should peacefully stay here for a while. There are several women in this household, and three babies have been born recently. Two of them were premature births too. A lot of situations mighte up that will require your expertise.¡±


    Midwife Yang shook her head repeatedly. ¡°My two sons and their wives are waiting to take me home so that I canfortably live with them and enjoy my golden years.¡±


    Dengxin came forward and stuffed a gold ingot into her hand.


    Midwife Yang was dumbfounded. She nkly looked at the ingot for a while and felt hesitant. After biting the ingot to confirm that it was real gold, she reluctantly said, ¡°Then, this old one will stay here for a few more days.¡±


    Ji Man nodded.


    ¡ª


    Out of the servants that had been reassigned from Xuesong Courtyard, there was a servant girl named Lianyi. Every time, Dengxin would always assign her the least amount of work. And, after every meal, she would pull her to the side to chat.


    Lianyi was very cautious and wasn¡¯t the talkative type. However, she had been feeling heartbroken for a while. Dengxin had always kept herpany since she had been reassigned here, so she inevitably felt a bit moved.


    That night, when no one else was around, she finally said to Dengxin in a low voice, ¡°I was almost engaged to someone. But unfortunately, the person I was going to be betrothed with died.¡±


    Dengxin nodded and quietly listened.


    ¡°He was a steadyfast man. It was just that his family was poor, and he couldn¡¯t afford a betrothal gift. I told him that it wasn¡¯t important. I would marry him even if he just gave me two sweet potatoes as a gift.¡± Lianyi¡¯s eyes became teary. ¡°But, he said he wasn¡¯t willing to wrong me like that. He insisted on earning enough money first. But, who could have known that he would die...¡±


    Dengxin gently patted Lianyi¡¯s back. She also felt that it was a huge pity. ¡°How did it happen?¡±


    Lianyi froze. She pursed her lips and didn¡¯t say another word. She wiped her tears away and pulled up her quilt to show that she was going sleep.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Ji Man heard this story from Dengxin. She had specially selected Lianyi toe to her courtyard. After Little Five had died and people from the Ministry of Justice hade over to investigate, they had asked if he was close to anyone. Aunty Zhao from the kitchen had privately told her that Little Five and Lianyi were childhood sweethearts. They were going to be married soon.


    Ji Man thought; Lianyi probably knew something. However, Lianyi was a good person, even thought she had been reassigned to Feiwan Courtyard, she didn¡¯t say a single bad word about Qian Lianxue.


    Ji Man would sometimes think that Qian Lianxue was a person that had conducted herself very well in interpersonal rtionships.


    Nheless, she had to figure out a way to get Lianyi to spill her secrets.


    Qian Lianxue¡¯s masters were shrouded in dense fog. Intuition told Ji Man that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to cause her downfall. Although Qian Lianxue was only an ordinary concubine right now and behaving herself, sooner orter, she would be up to something nefarious again. Every day that she remained here was a day that Ji Man couldn¡¯t feel safe.


    ¡ª


    However, a big event happened in the imperial courts. It was something that hadn¡¯t happened since before the founding of this dynasty.


    The crown prince had tried taking liberties with an imperial concubine that recently entered the pce. The emperor had caught him red-handed. Furious, the emperor punished the crown prince with house arrest to reflect on his wrongdoing.


    The crown prince had a sky-high reputation among themonfolk. After the crown prince was sentenced with house arrest, there were manymon people that felt very angry on his behalf. Poets wrote poems criticizing the emperor for believing in nderous rumors. There were even some people that felt so outraged, they destroyed the emperor¡¯s statue in the temple that had originally been built to thank the emperor and crown prince for their benevolence during the smallpox outbreak. The statue of the crown prince was left untouched and signified that only the crown princemanded public respect and popr favor.


    Since ancient times, all emperors had the same serious paranoia.


    The emperor had originally started to soften his stance because of the empress¡¯s pleading. But, after themonfolk had staged such a riotous scene, the emperor stripped away Zhao Zhe¡¯s title as the crown prince.


    As the imperial court was boiling over, themonfolk suddenly stop causing trouble. The entire temple was demolished, the crown prince became merely the oldest prince and was under house arrest for an indefinite period. Outside of the pce, with the exception of a few troublemakers that had been arrested, themonfolk went about their normal business.


    The next step was to see when the emperor would bestow the third prince with the title of crown prince.


    After this great change was over, Marquis Moyu had a lot more free time. Instead of going to the Six Ministries every day, he stayed home and leisurely yed with birds and spent time with his children.


    It was around this time that the third prince paid a visit to Feiwan Courtyard. As usual, he was wearing simple, travel-worn clothing.


    ¡°Younger cousin, you¡¯ve always done a good job. Isn¡¯t now the time for you to help your older cousin in the final step?¡±


    The meaning of final step was having Marquis Moyu publicly show that he had changed his alliance.


    Ji Man looked at Zhao Jie and smiled. ¡°Older cousin, do you still not understand? What kind of person do you think Ning Yuxuan is? He¡¯s the type of person that will always leave himself an escape path. His utter loyalty only goes to the position of the crown prince. Whether the crown prince is the oldest prince or you, he¡¯ll conscientiously do his job.¡±


    Zhao Jue looked at her, then he shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not enough.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to obtain Marquis Moyu¡¯s conscientious work, what he wanted was Ning Yuxuan to do his utmost to assist him. As long as he was helping him, the position of crown prince would fall into his hands sooner.


    The third prince thought it over. It was unlikely that Nie Sangyu would be able to help him out much. After a few rounds of small talk with his cousin, he turned around and headed to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s study.

 Chapter 234 - Teasing Little Minx (1)

    Chapter 234 ¨C Teasing Little Minx (1)


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    After walking halfway to the study, Zhao Jue encountered Qian Lianxue. She was wearing an unobtrusive, white dress today and looked even more delicate than usual. Her waist looked slender enough to be held in only one arm, and there was a sickly blush on her face.


    There was no other passerby on the path. Danzhu saluted, then she stood to the side to keep watch.


    The third prince looked at Qian Lianxue and said, ¡°I heard that you provoked Sangyu.¡±


    Qian Lianxue shook her head, sighed, and quietly said, ¡°Lianxue hasn¡¯t done anything to offend Madam. It¡¯s Madam that¡¯s insisting on making life difficult for Lianxue. She was the one that snatched the previous letter that you sent and knocked my servant unconscious.¡±


    The third prince slightly raised his eyebrow. ¡°How could that be possible?¡±


    ¡°Lianxue wouldn¡¯t lie to you.¡± She coughed a few times, then she said, ¡°Your Highness, Lianxue has always whole-heartedly worked for you. But, Madam used the excuse of Lianxue¡¯s rtive¡¯s wrongdoing to demote Lianxue to an ordinary concubine and snatch away a lot of Lianxue¡¯s key servants.¡±


    What on earth was Sangyu thinking? Zhao Jue felt slightly angry. Could it be that she was the same as before? Was she willing to disregard everything in order topete for the marquis¡¯s favor? She should know that Qian Lianxue¡¯s was his loyal servant.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go talk to herter about this. Just be more careful when carrying out what you should be doing.¡± With a fling of his sleeve, the third prince resumed walking to the study.


    At present, his top priority was to find and talk to Marquis Moyu.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was sitting in his study. On the small table next to him, there was a pot of tea. Seeing that the third prince hade, he invited him to sit down.


    Zhao Jueughed. ¡°Yuxuan, did you predict that I woulde here?¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. ¡°The first prince is most likely waiting to see what your expression looks like when you leave this estate.¡±


    Although Zhao Zhe was under house arrest, Xiao Tianyi and the empress wouldn¡¯t be sitting around doing nothing. Even though the crown prince was in a dire state, the crown prince¡¯s faction hadn¡¯t been defeated yet.


    ¡°Then, I should start practicing on showing an especially displeased and darkened expression. That way my oldest brother will feel at ease.¡± Zhao Jue¡¯s gently smiled. After picking up the tea, his expression had turned downcast.


    Ning Yuxuanughed in spite of himself. But then, thinking of something else, his expression turned serious again. ¡°I have possession of two letters. Your Highness, excuse me for speaking bluntly. You shouldn¡¯t underestimate women.¡±


    ¡°Letters?¡± Zhao Jue thought of his recent conversation with Qian Lianxue and somewhat awkwardly asked, ¡°Where did these two letterse from?¡±


    Marquis Moyu took out the two letters. One letter was smudged, but some of the words could still be clearly read. The other letter was in perfect condition.


    After reading the two letters, the third prince¡¯s expression sunk. He coldly harrumphed and said, ¡°I must have been blind.¡±


    After a pause, he still somewhat incredulously asked, ¡°Did you get both of these letters from her?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Sangyu.¡±


    If Sangyu hadn¡¯t given the back gate¡¯s guard so much money, he wouldn¡¯t have paid attention to Danzhu, much less pursue the matter of Qian Lainxue¡¯s family letters. It was because he had always underestimated women, so he hadn¡¯t notice that there had been such deeply hidden saboteur.


    He had previously disregarded the third prince¡¯s meddling in his harem through Qian Lianxue because he thought the third prince was just doing those things to help his younger cousin. But after Qian Lianxue had been fully exposed, he was deeply shocked.


    The infighting between women in a harem was a lot more ferocious than he had thought.


    The third prince was silent for a long time. He carefully looked over the smudged letter, then he closed his eyes and said, ¡°How do you want to deal with this? Do you want to turn around and use her against that person or just dispose of her?¡±


    Although the sender¡¯s name couldn¡¯t be seen in the smudged letter, he could see that it wasn¡¯t his orders that had been written on the letter. Qian Lianxue had actually been serving another master while following his orders too. The smudged part of the letter made it impossible to tell who her other master was, but it was obvious that Qian Lainxue had yed him, Zhao Jue, like a fool.


    She couldn¡¯t be allowed to live.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to consider trying to use her against that other person,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°It¡¯s unlikely that will work. For her to sessfully hide herself for so long without being caught, that shows her innate skills. As for disposing her... how about handing her to Sangyu?¡±


    With the hatred that Sangyu felt towards Lianxue for snatching away Gancao¡¯s life, he believed that it wasn¡¯t necessary for him to make any moves. Sangyu would neatly deal with Lianxue by herself.


    ¡°What about Yingchen?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused, then he sighed and said, ¡°He¡¯s not close with Lianxue. Otherwise, Lianxue wouldn¡¯t have done those foolish things. If Sangyu wants to punish Lianxue, she¡¯ll definitely find a reason that will leave people sincerely convinced and ready to concede. That way, it¡¯ll naturally be possible to give Yingchen an exnation that he¡¯ll be willing too ept.¡±


    Zhao Jue raised his eyebrows. He carefully looked at the person in front of him and said, ¡°Yuxuan, have you noticed that whenever you mention Sangyu, your gaze has be very gentletely?¡±


    He used to think that it would almost impossible for Ning Yuxuan to fall in love with Sangyu. But looking at him now, he could see there was a hint of...


    Marquis Moyu expressionlessly said, ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re overthinking things. Yuxuan will naturallyplete everything that I¡¯ve promised you. As for the other things, there¡¯s no need for Your Highness to waste time thinking about them.¡±


    The third prince twitched his lips. He stood up, straightened his robe, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t say anything unnecessary. It¡¯s about time for me to return. I won¡¯t interfere in your household affairs anymore.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan bowed. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Zhao Jue turned around and left the study. His face had regained its earlier cold and distressed expression as he walked out of the residence.

 Chapter 235 - Teasing Little Minx (2)

    Chapter 235 ¨C Teasing Little Minx (2)


    Ji Man had invited Midwife Yang to her room to chat.


    As a professional midwife, Midwife Yang naturally knew about the incident where Nie Sangyu had given birth to a toddy cat. She had always kept her guard up when exchanging polite speech with this madam because the people in Qiangwei Courtyard had all said this madam wasn¡¯t a good person and warned her to be careful of her.


    However after talking with her for a while, Midwife Yang thought that chatting with this madam felt veryfortable. She was a good listener that didn¡¯t interrupt the other speaker and diligently listened. When she spoke, her words were witty. She seemedpletely different from her fearsome reputation.


    In addition, Nie Sangyu was a woman that had lost her baby. Of the three children that Midwife Yang had given birth to, one had prematurely died, so she could empathize with Nie Sangyu¡¯s pain and felt very sympathetic toward her. And so, as they continued talking, Midwife Yang gradually became less guarded.


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> gave birth to the marquis¡¯s second son, but she has no status or a strong family background to support her. Most likely, her child will be given to me to raise.¡± Ji Man propped her chin on her hand and sighed. ¡°She¡¯s definitely going to feel angry and upset again.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Midwife Yang pursed her lips, but in the end, she couldn¡¯t resist an old woman¡¯s busybody nature. ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone say that Madam doesn¡¯t like Miss Wan-<i>er</i>? Wouldn¡¯t it be perfect if you get to raise her child?¡±


    Everyone? Ji Man inwardly sneered. Wen Wan really hadn¡¯t been idle. How many nderous words had she said behind her back?


    Ji Man had also met many people in modern times that liked to talk behind other people¡¯s backs. And so, she had already cultivated a unique linguistic technique to deal with this.


    ¡°How can I dislike Wan-<i>er</i>? She¡¯s a kind and gentle person. She never takes the initiative to stir up trouble. She¡¯s considerate to the marquis and abides by the proper etiquette and respect towards me. I¡¯ve like her from the start. Why would people think that I dislike her?¡±


    Midwife Yang was speechless. Qiangwei Courtyard¡¯s servants were always speaking badly about this madam behind her back. And yet, here she was, foolishly thinking that Miss Wan-<i>er</i> was very respectful towards her. Really, she was being way too stupid!


    Unable to suppress her feelings, Midwife Yang said, ¡°Madam, you shouldn¡¯t think that Miss Wan-<i>er</i> is such a good person. Who knows what kind of secret tricks she¡¯s capable of?¡±


    Ji Man put on a slightly stunned expression. ¡°Could you be misunderstanding something? Wan-<i>er</i> is such a simple girl. How could she be up to something bad?¡±


    Midwife Yang coldly harrumphed. Just as she was about to speak, her expression suddenly changed, and she closed her mouth. She lightly hit her own lips and said, ¡°Look at this old woman, I should be watching my tongue.¡±


    Ji Man slightlymented what a pity. She had been so close to getting her to spill out Wen Wan¡¯s secret.


    Midwife Yang definitely knew something.


    ¡ª


    Dengxin came rushing into the room and whispered into Nie Sangyu¡¯s ear, ¡°Master, your order has been carried out.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. Everything else was ready, but the critical person was missing. Recently, Marquis Moyu had liked to spend time with his offspring, and he was always going to Qiangwei Courtyard. What should she do to get him toe over?


    Pretend that was something wrong in Feiwan Courtyard? But, if she couldn¡¯t provide a specific issue, then Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t stay overnight. Bare a thigh to seduce him? He would probably wrap her up and toss her out.


    Ji Man felt a bit discouraged. It was so easy to fight with other women, but it was so difficult to seduce a man. After Nie Sangyu had given birth, if Ning Yuxuan was interested in breasts, she had an ample amount. If he wanted a beautiful face, she still had it. But, getting Ning Yuxuan to stay the night, it was like trying to win the bid for hosting the Olympic Games.


    Still, everything had been prepared. It had taken her a lot of effort to find this breakthrough. Even if she had to tie him up and drag him over, she would get him toe here.


    After Ji Man changed into an eye-catching and morous outfit, she resolutely carried a bowl of tonic and went to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s study with it.


    ¡ª


    The third prince hadn¡¯t been gone for long. On the way to the study, Ji Man overheard gossip that he hadn¡¯t been sessful. Marquis Moyu was still biased in favor of the oldest prince. If the third prince wanted him to change sides, then he needed to destroy the first prince until not even ashes were left. Otherwise, even if there were only ashes left, Ning Yuxuan would persist until the ashes were revived and burned once more.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t help thinking; this person was really being stubborn. Currently, the third prince¡¯s position was very favorable. Compared to the first prince, his odds of sess were so much higher. Why was Marquis Moyu insisting on hanging himself onto something that was doomed to fail?


    ¡ª


    Just as Ning Yuxuan was about to stand up and go over to Feiwan Courtyard, he saw Nie Sangyu pushing open the doors anding inside.


    He hurriedly sat down and held up a book to read.


    Ji Man walked over with a cheshire grin. She put down the tonic and asked, ¡°My lord, are you busy?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t even raise his head. But in his mind, he questioned his reaction. Why had he suddenly sit down?


    Seeing that Ning Yuxuan appeared as if he wasn¡¯t in a good mood, Ji Man obediently stood behind him and massaged his shoulders. She thought of a few ssical lines that had been said by secondary female cannon fodders, gritted her teeth, and said in a syrupy sweet voice, ¡°You haven¡¯t visited this servant in so long.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyebrows slightly moved. He cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Hmm? Did youe here seeking for favor?¡±


    With her eyes on the goal, Ji Man blinked and maneuvered herself into hisp. ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t see the marquis in so long. It¡¯s only natural that this servant misses you. How long has it been since...¡±


    As she said this, she lovingly took his hand and ced it on her chest.


    When the secondary female character was trying to seduce the male lead in the study, the male lead would usually go along with her act because he was in an argument with the female lead. Then, the female lead would always end up identally seeing them in this misleading position. Since ancient times, this was an inescapable plot point in all romance novels.


    Just as Ji Man was daydreaming about Wen Wan pushing open the doors and entering the study, the hand that she had ced on her chest tightened. After that, a pair of warm lips descended down.


    Crap! This male lead was way toocking in self-control!


    Ji Man looked at him with an alluring gaze, then looked down to hide her desire to gnash her teeth in annoyance. Although she had always thought this act was mutually enjoyable and neither side was taking an unreasonable loss, wasn¡¯t this position a little too advance? What if she injured her waist? Right now her waist was painfully pressed against the chair¡¯s arm, but Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand had already slipped into her clothes.


    The mood was heating up, and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were very dark, even his breathing was a bit warm ¡°You...¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Ji Man covered Marquis Moyu¡¯s mouth and very seriously said, ¡°My lord, please don¡¯t say you teasing little minx. Otherwise, this servant willugh to death.¡±

 Chapter 236 - Nie Sangyu, die a wretched death! (1)

    Chapter 236 ¨C Nie Sangyu, die a wretched death! (1)


    Ning Yuxuan paused before kissing her palm. Ji Man hastily took her hand back and heard him gloomy say, ¡°How did you know was what I going to say?¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    She resisted the urge tough. She absolutely couldn¡¯t ruin the mood. Fine, if he wanted to call her teasing little mink, she would let him. Right now, the most important thing was to seduce him into doing what she wanted.


    After her outer garment was tossed to the side, Ji Man was pressed onto the table straight away. There had been too many pregnant women in this courtyard, and the remaining ones he was interested in were too sickly and unwell to be favored. This stallion was probably feeling too repressed.


    Just as the scene was especially moving, the half-closed study doors were open again.


    Forgot to tell you, normally, none of the women would be stopped by the servants stationed outside the study unless the marquis was having a private discussion with guests. The rest of the time, anyone could easily enter his study when he wasn¡¯t busy.


    And so, when Nie Chenyu obediently following the original storyline and pushed opened the doors, she was greeted with a passionate scene of two intertwined people on the study¡¯s desk.


    Ning Yuxuan paused in his movements, wrapped Nie Sangyu up, straightened his clothes, looked at the study¡¯s doorway, and indifferently asked, ¡°Why did youe here?¡±


    Nie Chenyu wasn¡¯t the female lead. She was just another cannon fodder. But, she actually also liked Marquis Moyu a lot. It was one thing for her to not receive favor again, but today, she was witnessing such an amorous scene aftering here with a snack that Wen Wan had told her to bring.


    With tears in her eyes and a slightly red face, Nie Chenyu said in a low voice, ¡°Older sister Wen Wan told this servant to bring the marquis a snack.¡±


    Ji Man also felt somewhat embarrassed. She straightened her dress and sat up.


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Then put it down here.¡±


    Nie Chenyu nodded her head in acknowledgement. As she put down the snack, she nced at Nie Sangyu, then she hastily ran out of the room.


    Even thought this was only a brief interlude, the mood had been pretty much ruined. It was impossible for Ji Man to say to Ning Yuxaun, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s continue.¡± Instead, she simply put on her outer garment and gently said, ¡°My lord, will youe visit this servant tonight?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan coughed to clear his throat, awkwardly turned his head, and said, ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡±


    Her clothes had already been stripped, and now he was saying, he¡¯ll consider it? Ji Man twitched her lips. It wasn¡¯t just women that behaved unreasonable, men were the same too.


    Still, looking at his body, she guessed that he would probably be vising her tonight. And so, she obediently saluted and withdrew from the study.


    ¡ª


    The sky was getting dark. After eating dinner and visiting Liu Hanyun and ying with her daughter, Ji Man returned to her courtyard.


    Lianyi had been having nightmares for thest two nights, so Dengxin had been sleeping over in the side hall with her. It was slightly cold tonight, and a thickyer of clouds covered the moon. Once night fell, the courtyard was pitch-ck.


    Ning Yuxuan still came over. Once the amorous portion of the night was over, Ji Man clung to him like a barnacle and wouldn¡¯t let him sleep. It was like dealing with a pestering cat. From time to time, he would drowsily poke her cheeks, but his eyes were already closed.


    Ji Man bit down on his neck, and the pain finally woke him. Feeling very annoyed, he red at her.


    ¡°Ah!¡± A shout came from outside. It wasn¡¯t loud, but the two people in Nie Sangyu¡¯s room were able to clearly here this sound.


    When Ning Yuxuan looked at her, he saw the excitement in her eyes. He couldn¡¯t help raising his eyebrows. ¡°What are you up to now?¡±


    ¡°Just faking a haunting. My lord, are you interested in going out to look?¡± Ji Man roguishly smiled.


    Marquis Moyu sighed. He knew it. There could only be one reason why this person would act so obediently today; she wanted him to do something for her again.


    Dragged out of the bed by her, he put on a ck cape, and the two of them sneaked out through the window like Batman. Softly and quietly, they arrived at the front part of Feiwan Courtyard.


    The courtyard was pitch-ck. Lianyi was sitting on the side with her hand covering her mouth.


    There was a ghost in the middle of the courtyard with a slithering snake draped over its body. Its face was covered by long hair. His voice sounded unreal as he said, ¡°Lainyi, I¡¯m sorry. I said I would marry you...¡±


    The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips twitched, and he disapprovingly looked at Nie Sangyu. This type of pretense was too disrespectful to the deceased.


    Ji Man shrugged. She didn¡¯t have any other methods. Ancient people were too stubborn, and they also believed in the supernatural. She could only use this unrefined, but effective method.


    Still covering her mouth, Lianyi stood up and approached the shadowy figure to touch him. ¡°Little Five...¡±


    ¡°Little Five¡± hastily took several steps back. He quietly said, ¡°There are too many grievances on my body. You can¡¯t touch me. You need to stay in the world of living.¡±


    Lianyi cried more bitterly, but she quickly stifled her cries and looked around. She was afraid of waking up other people.


    She sobbed, ¡°I¡¯ve been dreaming about you a lot. In my dreams, you said you woulde and marry me... that you would be with me forever... when I woke up and saw you... I didn¡¯t expect that you had reallye.¡±


    ¡°Little Five¡± sighed. ¡°I really regret it. Why did I follow master¡¯s order? Otherwise, you and me, we would still be okay.¡±


    Lianyi shook her head. ¡°You did it for me. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have agreed to help Mistress Xue.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise. Ji Man directed her middle finger towards him. See, the truth has been revealed. She had already told him that Qian Lainxue wasn¡¯t a good person, and he wouldn¡¯t believe her.


    ¡°Mistress Xue told me to bring those snakes to Madam¡¯s room, but I wasn¡¯t careful enough and one came out and bit me.¡± The shadowy figure sighed again. ¡°I died because I was trying to harm someone else, so the King of Hell has sentenced me to having my soul scatter into pieces and unable to enter the reincarnation cycle. I came here to say goodbye to you...¡±

 Chapter 237 - Nie Sangyu, die a wretched death! (2)

    Chapter 237 ¨C Nie Sangyu, die a wretched death! (2)


    Lianyi widened her eyes in horror. She straightened her body and asked, ¡°Why? No one else died. It was only you...¡±


    ¡°Little Five¡± helplessly said, ¡°It¡¯s because I helped someonemit an evil act. It¡¯s the cycle of karma. The King of Hell said that if the truth isn¡¯t revealed, then he has to sentence me with being unable reincarnate. This way, the mortal world will see that there¡¯s a price for doing something nefarious.¡±


    Lianyi could only nkly stare at him as tears kept falling from her eyes.


    Ji Man tugged on Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve, and the two of them quietly went back inside.


    Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°You want Lianyi to act as a witness against Qian Lainxue?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Then, what do you want her punishment to be?¡±


    Ji Man seriously thought over his question before saying, ¡°At minimum, didn¡¯t she try to kill me? ording to thew, isn¡¯t the punishment death?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow.


    Lianxue was someone that had been with him for several years and helped him with many tasks. For her to die like this...


    Clearly understanding his feelings, Ji Man patted his shoulder and said, ¡°This servant knows that the marquis will definitely feel heartache if Lianxue dies. This servant isn¡¯t an unreasonably demanding person either. How about you just write a divorce letter?¡±


    Was she really someone that would kind-heartedly let off Qian Lianxue like this? She just wanted him to divorce her? Marquis Moyu looked at her in disbelief.


    Ji Man seriously said, ¡°This servant won¡¯t go back on my word.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan mulled over her words. For the time being, he would just wait and see. Perhaps, with Qian Lianxue¡¯s skillful rhetoric, Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat her.


    ¡ª


    The next day, as expected, Lianyi followed Nie Sangyu to meet with Old Madame and tell her the truth about the poisonous snakes incident in Feiwan Courtyard. She exposed Qian Lianxue as the hidden mastermind. Little Five had just been following her order.


    Qian Lianxue felt furious as she knelt down in front of Old Madame. In tears, she said, ¡°This servant has always whole-heartedly served the marquis and Old Madame. This servant didn¡¯t expect that even after all these years, Madam still can¡¯t tolerate this servant. This servant hasn¡¯t treated Lianyi unwell either. This servant is shocked that she would turn around and bite me.¡±


    Old Madame was frowning as she looked at Nie Sangyu. She wasn¡¯t quite sure what was going on.


    However, Ji Man said, ¡°This household has always been in disharmony. A lot of servants have said that it¡¯s because Sangyu has been inciting trouble. But, Old Madame, did you know? It¡¯s the meekest person that¡¯s the scariest.¡±


    ¡°Lianyi is Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s loyal servant. If she hadn¡¯t seen Little Five¡¯s ghostst night, she would have never exposed the truth.¡± Ji Man nced at Marquis Moyu, who sitting on the side, and said, ¡°The marquis was also therest night.¡±


    Old Madame froze in surprise, then she looked at her son.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly looked at the kneeling Qian Lianxue. He wasn¡¯t a cold and ruthless person. Even if Lianxue had a lot of hidden secrets, and it would be better to deal with her sooner rather thanter, he couldn¡¯t stay an indifferent bystander. After all, they had been married for so long.


    If he allowed her to stay here, she and Sangyu wouldn¡¯t stop fighting until one of them died. Perhaps, even more secrets would be dragged out into the light. Since it was like that, then he should just release her and give her freedom.


    Ning Yuxuan finally spoke, ¡°I¡¯ll write a divorce letter. Lianxue can return to her maiden home.¡±


    Qian Lianxue incredulously looked at him. She probably didn¡¯t know that she had already lost her usefulness. ¡°My lord, you want to divorce Lianxue?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her and lightly said, ¡°You conspired to murder Madam. Normally, the punishment would be a death sentence. But, because of our past years of mutual affection, I¡¯ll allow you to leave this estate.¡±


    Old Madame looked at her son and didn¡¯t say another word. She didn¡¯t especially like Qian Lianxue. It was just that Qian Lianxue had helped her with so many things. Although she didn¡¯t understand why Qian Lianxue had wanted to drive Jinse out of the estate, Qian Lianxue hadn¡¯t made any other mistakes.


    Ji Man smiled. Looking at the shocked expression on Qian Lianxue¡¯s face, she lightly said, ¡°My lord, thank you for fairly settling this matter for Sangyu.¡±


    Qian Lianxue had already thought that Nie Sangyu had acted outrageously by demoting her from an honored concubine to an ordinary concubine. She couldn¡¯t believe that the marquis was now divorcing her because of this woman.


    What was the result of being divorced? The important thing wasn¡¯t her reputation, it was the fact that she hadpletely lost her usefulness. For now, let¡¯s not even discuss the third prince. That was rted to Nie Sangyu. But, what about her other master? She had always hidden herself well. She absolutely shouldn¡¯t have been exposed at this point!


    No, this was wrong. Old Madame and the marquis shouldn¡¯t have treated her like this just because of Lianyi¡¯s words. Nie Sangyu must have used some underhanded tricks. It was all her fault.


    Qian Lianxue was filled with an endless amount of anger and resentment. After gasping for breath for a few seconds, she fainted.


    Even after she fainted, Qian Lianxue¡¯s teeth were still clenched. She was feeling too resentful. She hadn¡¯t reached her goal yet. She had helped so many people with their tasks. As long as one of them seeded, she would be able to enjoy untold riches and luxuries. She wouldn¡¯t have to continue being a pitiful concubine. Why? Why did Marquis Moyu choose to give up on her at this juncture?


    ¡°Master...¡± Danzhu watched as the other servants carried her master out. She knelt down and kowtowed at the marquis and Old Madame. ¡°Master has always been sickly and now she¡¯s fainted. There aren¡¯t many people left in Qian n. Old Madame, Marquis, please just look the other way and spare my master!¡±


    Ji Man started walking outside and had Dengxin pull Danzhu up. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll personally escort your master back home. Qian n¡¯s estate, I¡¯ll definitely properly sort it out for your master.¡±


    Danzhu wanted to say more, but Dengxin was especially forceful and was already dragging her out of the room.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu, die a wretched death!¡±

 Chapter 238

    Chapter 238 ¨C Leaving behind a when returning the fish to the pond (1)


    Enveloped in pure hatred, Danzhu looked at Nie Sangyu with redden eyes and shouted those words.


    Her master had already been pitiful enough, but this woman had driven her master into bing a divorced woman. Why couldn¡¯t she let her off?


    They were still in the main courtyard, but she had dared to shout out those words. She was probably just overwhelmed by protective feelings towards her master, but Danggui didn¡¯t care how pitifully she was crying. Based on just these words, she could p her silly. Danggui angrily said, ¡°Outrageous! How dare you insult Madam? Do you still want to live?¡±


    She pped Danzhu so hard that her face turned to the side, but Danzhu went right back to hatefully ring at Nie Sangyu.


    Old Madame coughed a few times, then she angrily smashed her teacup onto the floor. ¡°Absolutely shameful! Such a dirty mouth. Go and tear out her tongue!¡±


    Hearing these words, the nearby servants went over and prepared to carry out Old Madame¡¯s order.


    Frightened, Danzhu hurriedly controlled her emotions and kowtowed towards Old Madame. ¡°This servant deserves to die. Old Madame, please forgive this servant. This servant didn¡¯t mean those words. It just came out in a moment of desperation...¡±


    Ji Man stood to the side and didn¡¯t move. The servants had already immobilized Danzhu. Danggui pped both sides of Danzhu¡¯s face and looked as if she really was going to tear out Danzhu¡¯s tongue.


    Ji Man touched her own mouth and shivered. She said, ¡°Danggui, no need for you to do this with your hands. Sangyu will take her away to be disciplined.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t being soft-hearted. If Danzhu lost her tongue, then how would she be able to speak? Even if she was going to die, it had to wait until she was done getting her answers. Gancao¡¯s autopsy report was still quietly lying inside her sleeve.


    Old Madame coughed a few times. She seemed even more tired than before and needed Shouwu¡¯s support as she walked back to her bedroom.


    ¡ª


    Danzhu¡¯s eyes were filled with hate and resentment, but she could only lower her head as she was brought back to Xuesong Courtyard.


    In the end, Ning Yuxuan was a person that cared about old affections. He had sent over a doctor to check on Qian Lianxue¡¯s health.


    Ji Man was sitting by Qian Lianxue¡¯s bedside. She had the servants push Danzhu down into a kneeling position.


    ¡°This world really has ghosts. Do you think people that have gotten use to having a guilty conscience believes in them?¡± Ji Man swept her gaze across the bed to look at Qian Lianxue, who had her eyes tightly closed. Then, she looked at the ground, where Danzhu was kneeling. She chuckled and said, ¡°Sleeping in this room, have you seen Gancao in your dreams?¡±


    Danzhu slightly trembled. The room fell silent.


    On the side, Doctor Li, who was checking Qian Lianxue¡¯s pulse, momentarily paused. The next second, he lowered his head and pretended that he hadn¡¯t heard anything.


    Danzhu moved her lips and resolutely said, ¡°Gancao died from the fire.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Ji Man took out the autopsy report from her sleeve and slowly knelt down in front of Danzhu. ¡°There was an injury on her head. The people from the local judicial office inferred that she was knocked unconscious and that was why she didn¡¯te out of the burning building. Gancao has always been quick-witted. Do you think she knocked herself unconscious for no reason?


    Danzhu¡¯s eyes slightly widened, and she turned her head away.


    ¡°This autopsy report only has the cause of death, but it doesn¡¯t name the assant.¡± Ji Man slightly smiled. She pulled Danzhu¡¯s chin to face her. Looking directly at her, she said, ¡°Gancao had been so close to marrying the person that she loved the most, but someone killed her and caused her body to be burnt beyond recognition. Even if she waited in the underworld for him for a hundred years, he might not be able to recognize her. So, what do you think? Do you think I¡¯ll be willing to let this go?¡±


    Danzhu kept trying to look away from her, but her voice was stubborn as she said, ¡°This has nothing to do with this servant.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Ji Man was smiling as she patted Danzhu¡¯s cheek. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s the end once the marquis writes a divorce letter? It won¡¯t be. Your master had done too many unspeakable things. I¡¯ll drag out each and every one of those things. She won¡¯t be able to escape from thew of thend.¡±


    Danzhu froze in shock, then hatred reappeared in her eyes. ¡°Madam, why do you insist on making life difficult for Mistress Xue?¡±


    Ji Manughed. ¡°Wait until she wakes up, then ask her. Why does she insist on making life difficult for me? The path is so wide. I wouldn¡¯t have minded sharing the path with her. But, she insists on shoving me off the path. I¡¯m not a person with a good temper either.¡±


    After saying this, Ji Man stood up and looked at Qian Lianxue, who still hadn¡¯t awaken, and said, ¡°A carriage has already been prepared and is waiting outside. Doctor Li, if you don¡¯t mind, you cane with me to Qian Residence and continue examining.¡±


    Doctor Li nodded. He stood up and tidied up his things. The stronger servant girls, who had been waiting on the side, stepped forward to carry Qian Lianxue out of the room


    ¡°Stop!¡± Danzhu rushed to the bedside to protect her master. She fiercely red at those servant girls and said, ¡°None of you are allowed to touch my master. Her body is already very weak. Why can¡¯t you just leave her alone and allow her to recuperate?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head back and looked at her as she said, ¡°She¡¯s being carried out, not being thrown out. Is there any point in her lolling around here? I¡¯m already personally sending the two of you back. What more do you want?¡±


    The other servants pulled Danzhu away and carried Qian Lainxue out of the room. Dengxin supported Ji Man, and everyone got onto the carriage.


    A servant girl didn¡¯t have the right to sit in the same carriage as her master, but Danzhu insisted on watching over her master. Ji Man thought; it really was rare to have such a loyal servant.


    And so, she agreed.


    Danzhu continued to be on her guard as she looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have any other words that she wanted to say to her. She and Qian Lianxue were probably enemies that couldn¡¯t live under the same sky. If Qian Lianxue really was the person responsible for kidnapping her child, then the chasm between the two of them was even deeper. No matter how deep the emotions were between this pair of master and servant, she still wanted pay back Qian Lianxue the pain of being separated from one¡¯s flesh and blood.


    As for getting revenge for Gancao¡¯s death, she felt that Ning Mingjie had a higher right than her for demanding repayment.


    The carriage was driven rtively smoothly. Lying in Danzhu¡¯s arms, Qian Lianxue still hadn¡¯t awakened. With her lips pursed, Danzhu looked at the scenery outside of the window and eventually felt there was something off. ¡°This isn¡¯t the way to Qian Residence.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Propping her chin in her palm, Ji Man lightly said, ¡°On the way there, we¡¯re going to take a slight detour and pick someone up.¡±

 Chapter 239

    Chapter 239 ¨C Leaving behind a when returning the fish to the pond (2)


    The carriage was being driven to a more remote area, Changle Street. The sound of music could be heard throughout the street. This was an area where many court-owned entertainers were ced. With her guard up, Danzhu looked at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Who are you picking up? Didn¡¯t you say that you were bringing us back home?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t respond. The carriage had already stopped. The driver lifted the curtains, and a woman with a beautiful posture and a good figure entered the carriage. She was holding a Chinese lute.


    Shocked by the sight of this woman that looked worn-down by life, Danzhu eximed, ¡°Mistress Jinse?!¡±


    Jinse very respectfully saluted Nie Sangyu, then she sat down by her side. She didn¡¯t even bother looking at Danzhu.


    ¡°Because of his rtionship with Sir Qian and also recalling his old affections with Lianxue, the marquis definitely couldn¡¯t treat Lianxue poorly.¡± Ji Man smiled as she said, ¡°I brought Jinse so that she can take care of Lianxue. Jinse will stay in Qian Residence until Lianxue¡¯s health improves.¡±


    Danzhu slightly trembled. In her arms, Qian Lianxue¡¯s brows had also slightly moved.


    She had been the one that framed Jinse and had the marquis kick her out of the household. This was just one of the many orders that she had carried out. After she carefully carried out this order, she told the third prince that this incident had nothing to do with her. Someone else had been responsible and used her as an excuse. At the time, she had been unconscious and hadn¡¯t been able to stop the marquis. The third prince hadn¡¯t cared much that Jinse was gone. After all, the marquis didn¡¯t favor Jinse.


    But, why had Nie Sangyu brought Jinse back now to attend to her?


    Qian Lianxue felt very bewildered, but she didn¡¯t dare to open her eyes.


    Jinse had been born in a brothel and had belonged to it since she was born. When she left, she thought her life was turning around. But, she ended up being Qian Lianxue¡¯s innocent sacrificial victim as part of bncing act. Who wouldn¡¯t feel angered if they were betrayed by their teammate?


    It was exactly this anger that Ji Man liked. And so, she had Dengxin redeem her a few days ago, then Jinse was to wait here until they came to pick her up so that she could serve Qian Lianxue.


    Releasing Qian Lianxue back to Qian Residence was the same as releasing a fish back into a pond. Until her child was found, she had to set a in this pond.


    ¡ª


    Qian Lianxue had already been brought inside. Before stepping through Qian Residence¡¯s entrance, Jinse saluted Nie Sangyu. Her smile was lovely as she said, ¡°Jinse thanks Madam for her great benevolence. Jinse had thought she would be doomed to that life forever.¡±


    Ji Man smiled back. ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯m using you?¡±


    ¡°So what if you are?¡± Holding the Chinese lute, Jinse lightly plucked a string. ¡°This servant is already ustomed to being used. Besides, if this servant was put away and forgotten, that would feel more tragic.¡±


    She had gotten so used to looking at people¡¯s expressions and amodating their moods. Actually, as woman that entertained guests, she had been quite lonely. She had wanted to stop at Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, but she hadn¡¯t known that the water there was too deep. Even after all of her painted rouge had been washed away, it still hadn¡¯t been enough to keep her safe.


    In the future, she would willingly marry a merchant and live a simple life.


    Ji Man only smiled in response and went back into the carriage.


    ¡ª


    Qian Lianxue immediately fell seriously ill after returning to her maiden home. It was rumored that it was an incurable sickness, and she was hanging onto herst breath.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t even the slightest bit worried about her. Qian Lianxue was a clever person that knew when to hide. There were a lot of ways for her to die, but she definitely wouldn¡¯t die from being sick.


    ¡ª


    Other than Danzhu, who had left with Qian Lianxue, the rest of the servants in Xuesong Courtyard had remained. They all felt panic-stricken and uneasy. They were terrified that Nie Sangyu would take her anger out at them and make their lives miserable.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t unfairlysh out at them. She just reassigned them to the back of the residence and had them do rougher work than they were used to. Their days were dull, and their monthly allowance wasn¡¯t high. From time to time, she would call over a few of them to chat.


    The people that were called over to talk all said that Madam had only asked about a few unimportant questions. However, a few of the questioned people were sent to serve other honored concubines aftering back, and the other questioned people remained at the back of the residence to do manualbor.


    As more time passed, some people couldn¡¯t restrain themselves any longer and went to Feiwan Courtyard of their own initiative to tell Nie Sangyu information in exchange for a better future.


    ¡ª


    Cheerfully smilingly, Dengxin said, ¡°Master, you¡¯re so amazing.¡±


    Ji Man meticulously selected a golden longevity charm, ced inside a brocade box, wrapped it up, and said, ¡°This is the effect of praising the hens thatys eggs. Everyone is different. Not everyone will stay loyal to one person. Show a slight amount of benefits, and there will inevitably be someone willing to speak.¡±


    And, there would definitely be something useful in some of their words. At the very least, she knew for sure that Qian Lianxue was involved in kidnapping her child now.


    The two newly born babies would soon be one month old. There would naturally be all sorts of gifts sent over to Wen Wan¡¯s ce, so she didn¡¯t need to concern herself with that birthday. Right now, she was about to head over to Liu Hanyun¡¯s ce to visit her.


    Since Liu Hanyun had given birth to a daughter, Linghan Courtyard had be quite a lonely ce. Other than when Mu Shuiqing would drop by there when she got tired of reciting Buddhist scriptures, Ji Man was the only other guest.


    Marquis Moyu had bestowed Liu Hanyun various expensive items, but he still went to Qiangwei Courtyard the most. Watching this happening, Ji Man felt somewhat annoyed.


    This jerk that¡¯s favoring his son over his daughter, I hope your son bes gay and breaks your heart!


    Personally, she would have wanted a daughter herself. Either way, she didn¡¯t know the gender of the baby that she had given birth to.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan had left the estate early in the morning today. However, he had left through the back gate and had only taken Guibai with him. He had changed his clothing and sneakily gone into a carriage and left.


    The carriage traveled circuitously for several streets before stopping at Xiangguo Temple¡¯s entrance.


    Xiangguo Temple was flourishing; the air was thick with the smell of burning incense. There were many practitioners of Buddhism waiting outside and asking to see the abbot, but a novice monk kept saying, ¡°The abbot is busy.¡±


    Marquis Moyu went around the temple and entered through the back entrance. Abbot Xukong really was busy right now. Holding a baby in his arms and feeding it goat milk, he was smiling so widely that he looked liked the incarnation of the future Buddha.

 Chapter 240 - The legendary illegitimate child (1)

    Chapter 240 ¨C The legendary illegitimate child (1)


    This two-month-old baby looked rosy-cheeked and soft. Ning Yuxuan walked over to get a closer look. This child was especially obedient. It didn¡¯t fuss or cry. It just looked straight at him as it sucked on Monk Xuwu¡¯s finger and smacked its lips.


    Marquis Moyu stretched his hands out to hold the baby, but Xuwu evaded his attempt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch him. Your aura is too foul. You¡¯ll ruin his innate pureness.¡±


    Xuwu was a rather famous sage monk. It was just that his personality and speech were rather bizarre. Therefore, he didn¡¯t have much contact with influential officials. Somehow, he and Ning Yuxuan had felt a sense of camaraderie when they met each other several years ago, and they became close friends.


    Although they were very close, Xuwu still said whatever he was thinking without consideration for his friend¡¯s feelings. Holding the baby, he shifted so that his back was facing Ning Yuxuan. He added more goat milk to his finger and teased the baby with it.


    ¡°Have you washed your hands?¡± The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips twitched, and he worriedly looked at the baby that was energetically holding onto that questionably clean finger.


    Monk Xuwu paused before curling his lip and saying, ¡°The entire world is stained with dirt. When people die, they¡¯ll also be part of dirt. If you give the baby a taste of dirt now, he¡¯ll definitely have a more thorough understanding about the way of life and death in the future.¡±


    To put it simply, he hadn¡¯t washed his hands.


    Ning Yuxuan sighed and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t I ask you to hire a wet nurse? How can you possible be able to do a good job taking care of him?¡±


    Xuwu turned his head to nce at him. ¡°This is Xiangguo Temple. It¡¯s already difficult enough for this poor monk to hide a baby here. You still want this monk to bring a wet nurse here? You might as well just loudly proim to everyone that your son is here instead.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t argue with these words. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°I came here to get him.¡±


    Monk Xuwu became very unhappy. ¡°Bring him back to your blood-soaked estate? That¡¯s the same asmitting an evil act. This child has very good spirituality. This monk has been thinking about raising him to adulthood. He can inherit Xiangguo Temple from this monk in the future.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had originally been wavering between whether or not he should bring his child back home. But, hearing these words, Ning Yuxuan immediately went forward and took the baby away. ¡°Old monk, don¡¯t you dare.¡±


    This monk wanted to train his son to be in the next generation of bald Buddhist monks? In his dreams!


    Monk Xuwu ttened his lips and shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re blessed in worldly affairs, but your heart isn¡¯t pure. It¡¯s because you haven¡¯t reached enlightenment, that¡¯s why you¡¯ll fail a lot of trials. Although your child has innate nobility, he can stay by my side. This will protect him from many unexpected cmities.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep him safe.¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his head and looked at the baby in his arms. The baby¡¯s eyes greatly resembled a certain person¡¯s eyes.


    Monk Xuwu sighed and said, ¡°This monk isn¡¯t worried about your intentions. It¡¯s whether or not you actually have the power to protect him.¡± The monk put his hands together in prayer and bowed. ¡°Still, there¡¯s nothing more painful for a mother than to be separated from her child. You should bring him back to see his mother.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes. ¡°I have my own ns.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was currently chatting with Liu Hanyun. With coal being burned in the brazier, the room was much warmer than outside.


    Liu Hanyun was leaning on the headboard. She had almost finished her recuperation period and had gained a lot of weight. Still, her weight gain wasn¡¯t outrageous like Ji Man¡¯s weight gain a few months ago. Liu Hanyun actually looked much morefortable than before. Still, she was slightly suffering from postpartum depression. It didn¡¯t help that her daughter wasn¡¯t favored like her half-brother. Ji Man had tried all sorts of methods to get her tough and had only seeded a few times.


    ¡°This servant had a dreamst night.¡± Holding her baby and stroking the space between her eyebrows, Liu Hanyun forced herself to smile as she said, ¡°In my dream, when this baby grows up, she¡¯ll look a lot like Miss Wen Wan.¡±


    Ji Man paused, then she lightly said, ¡°Don¡¯t keep having such wild thoughts.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, this servant is just overthinking.¡± Liu Hanyun put the golden longevity charm that Nie Sangyu had given her today inside the swaddling clothes. Holding the baby, she soothingly patted her. ¡°Right now, my days can be considered good. This servant doesn¡¯t want to ask for anymore. Since they don¡¯t want this baby, this servant will love and treasure her in their ce.¡±


    ¡°She has me to treasure her too.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that she¡¯s treated the same as the other children. When she grows up and gets married, I¡¯ll prepare her dowry like she¡¯s my own daughter.¡±


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes were slightly red. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Many thanks, Madam.¡±


    Ji Man inwardly sighed. She had dragged Liu Hanyun into her mess. If she didn¡¯t try topensate her, it would be wronging her own conscience.


    ¡ª


    After Wen Wan finished the traditional recuperation period, she was very lively and made it widely know that she was nning her son¡¯s one-month birthday banquet.


    However, she had forgotten. Right now, she was just a servant girl without any status. She wasn¡¯t even an ordinary concubine. Why would a servant girl¡¯s son get a birthday banquet?


    ¡ª


    Dengxin smiled and said, ¡°She¡¯s probably gotten stupid from staying in Qiangwei Courtyard too long and thinks that she¡¯s a main wife again.¡±


    ¡ª


    Standing in front of Old Madame and taking advantage of the fact that everyone was here today, Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i> gave birth to a son, so she should be promoted ording to tradition. But, this would be against the emperor¡¯s wishes, so I can¡¯t do anything about that. Still, this baby is the marquis¡¯s second son. Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, after his one month old birthday, it¡¯ll be time to hand him over to me, so I can raise him instead.¡±


    Wen Wan had been smiling a second ago. After hearing these words, her expression immediately changed. She grabbed Marquis Moyu¡¯s hand in a death grip.


    Old Madame had two grandsons to hold, but herplexion was worse than the previous month. After coughing for a few seconds, she said, ¡°ording to the rules, it¡¯s only right that this child is given to the main wife to raise. Otherwise, this child will be scorned by other people.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was currently thinking of something. He didn¡¯t return to his senses until Wen Wan pinched him. Looking at the two children that Old Madame was holding, he said, ¡°Mother, it¡¯s fine if everything is decided by you.¡±


    Wen Wan widened her eyes incredulously. She opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but Tanxiang tugged on her sleeve from behind.


    Trantor Ramblings: I feel so sad for Liu Hanyun, but at the same time, I think she¡¯s a very admirable person. She¡¯s like an abused dog that chooses to not bite back. It would be so easy for her to hate Wen Wan and disce that hatred onto Wen Wan¡¯s daughter (or even the world for being so sucky), but she doesn¡¯t and is even feeling sympathetic for the baby and willing to shower her with love and affection.

 Chapter 241 - The legendary illegitimate child (2)

    Chapter 241 ¨C The legendary illegitimate child (2)


    She had once expected that this day woulde, but she hadn¡¯t thought the emperor¡¯s decree would still count after so much time had passed. She had already given birth to a son. Why did she still have to remain servant? He was her son. Why should he be given to Nie Sangyu to raise? Only the gods knew if this viinous woman would mistreat her son or not.


    However, after Tanxiang tugged on her sleeve, Wen Wan returned to her senses.


    She had been demoted and also sent to the other estate once. This was because she had been too impulsive. It was time for her to learn how to moderate her actions based on the situation. She had to endure. In this household, Nie Sangyu was the main wife.


    ¡°This one is just a lowly servant and doesn¡¯t have the right to speak. Everything should be decided by Old Madame.¡± Wen Wan swallowed her anger and furtively cried as she stood by Marquis Moyu¡¯s side.


    Her tearsnded on the back of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand. He turned his head to the side, silently looked at her, and held her hand in his.


    Wen Wen cried harder, but she didn¡¯t make a sound. Her tears were like a strand of cascading pearls where the string had broken.


    It truly was extremely painful to be separated from your child. Ji Man took the baby from Old Madame and inwardlyughed.


    When Wen Wan was being separated from her child, there was someone to hold her hand andfort her. What about herself? She had to struggle by herself for a few months to escape from that shadow. But, when she went to sleep, she still kept dreaming about her lost child.


    However, no one ever mentioned her child. Old Madame had said that she sent people to look for her child. Marquis Moyu had said the same words too. And yet, even though baby after baby had been born in this household, her child still hadn¡¯t been found.


    Muxu¡¯s son¡¯s childhood nickname was Fu-<i>er</i>. Old Madame named Wen Wan¡¯s son Xi-<i>er</i>. As for Liu Hanyun¡¯s daughter, she gave her the nickname Yun-<i>er</i>.


    (T/N: <i>Xi</i> can means sunlight, sunshine, early dawn. This specific <i>yun</i> character is used to describe the smooth, hard skin of bamboo. It¡¯s not the same <i>yun</i> character that¡¯s in Liu Hanyun¡¯s name.)


    ¡ª


    Now that Xi-<i>er</i> had been given her to take care of, Feiwan Courtyard became livelier. Every night, Ji Man would be awakened by his cries. Then, the wet nurse woulde and feed him milk. Ji Man would stand by the wet nurse and sing him lubies with dark circles under her eyes. After Xi-<i>er</i> came, Ji Man felt that her mood had be much better. It was probably because she had lost her own child, but hadn¡¯t been able to grieve.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan could be considered as having regained her freedom. Right now, she was impatiently working on regaining the figure she had before pregnancy, then she would be able to cultivate deep feelings with Marquis Moyu once again.


    Whenever Ji Man asked Dengxin where the marquis was, Dengxin had answered several times in a row that he had taken Wen Wan out of the residence to have fun.


    As these two visited idyllic mountains andkes, Wen Wan and Marquis Moyu¡¯s feelings seem to heat up quite quickly.


    Taking advantage of this time, Ji Man paid a visit to Ning Mingjie¡¯s home.


    After there was news in the imperial court that Ning Mingjie would be going off to battle next year, people had tried to climb up socially by establishing a connection with him. But, Ning Mingjie seemed to be in a bad mood since Gancao¡¯s death. Visitors would be given a polite thank you while being declined entrance into the residence.


    However, when Ji Man went to visit him, he personally came to the entrance and opened the gate to wee her inside.


    Looking at his beautiful face that could topple a country, Ji Man thought it had greatly changed over time. Whenever she saw him, she always felt a pang of sorrow. She couldn¡¯t stop herself from remembering that time when Gancao had shyly stood next to him with a blushing face.


    ¡°There¡¯s something that I want to give Young Master.¡± Ji Man steadied her emotions, took out the autopsy report as well as some of the depositions from Xuesong Courtyard¡¯s previous servants from her sleeve, and handed them to him. ¡°Sangyu also wants to ask Young Master for a favor.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t been able to find conclusive evidence for Gancao¡¯s case. After all, she wasn¡¯t Sherlock Holmes. Although she could be considered an expert at guessing the hidden intentions of women, she still needed to rely on a professional to solve this case.


    Ning Mingjie was the most suitable person.


    After carefully reading over the documents, Ning Mingjie pursed his lips and said, ¡°This one will have to bother you with a visit tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for taking the trouble, Young Master.¡± Ji Man saluted him, then she covered her head back up with the cloak¡¯s hood and left.


    Ning Mingjie continued standing in the opened entrance until her figure had disappeared. The weather had already felt chilly enough today.


    ¡ª


    Everyone in the marquis¡¯s household had thought that Wen Wan had regained the marquis¡¯s favor and were extremely envious of her. However, on the fifth day he took her out, when they returned from their outing, he had also brought back another woman.


    This woman was very ordinary-looking, but she did somewhat resemble Nie Sangyu. She was also holding a baby in her arms.


    Standing next to him, Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were red. Without saying a word, she directly went back to Qiangwei Courtyard by herself.


    Ji Man thought this was the same as pping Wen Wan. Not only had he brought back another woman, this woman had a child.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Nie Sangyu and seriously said, ¡°This is Xia-<i>shi</i>. She¡¯s a woman that I had a fated encounter with during the Southern Trip. She ended up pregnant with my child after we shared a night together. In the end, he¡¯s my son and shouldn¡¯t be left outside. So, I brought him back.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Bringing back an illegitimate child, did this great lord think he was Qianlong Emperor that had visited Jiangnan?


    (T/N: In the famous drama, <i>Return of the Pearl Princess</i>, Qianlong Emperor had an illegitimate child with a woman named Xia Yuhe.)


    Ji Man drylyughed and asked, ¡°Miss Xia, is your first name Yuhe?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> looked at her oddly, then pursed her lips and said, ¡°This servant is called Lianxin. Madam, who is Yuhe?¡±


    Ji Man waved her hand. ¡°Never mind then. That¡¯s not important. Since the marquis brought you back, I¡¯ll bring you to see Old Madameter.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her. ¡°Don¡¯t you want to look at the baby?¡±


    What was the point in looking at a baby? Lately, she was almost getting tired of looking at them. Ji Man twitched her lips, but in the end, she still approached Xia-<i>shi</i> and looked at the baby in her arms.


    This baby was much bigger than Xi-<i>er</i>. He didn¡¯t cry or fuss. He just curiously looked at her with his limpid, ck eyes.


    Somewhere in her heart, a piece suddenly softened.


    Trantor Ramblings: I would feel bad for Wen Wan, but since she was totally okay with switching her real child with Liu Hanyun¡¯s, I really doubt the sincerity of her tears.


    Anyways, Ji Man is finally reunited with her baby! If you want to know when Ji Man will know that this baby is actually her son, I included the spoiler in thements below.


    And, even though Ning Yuxuan seems like he¡¯s falling love with Wen Wan again (at least for part of this chapter), Ji Man/Nie Sangyu has been getting the final say in everything important in the household.


    Also, I wonder if Ning Mingjie is really feeling sad because of Gancao¡¯s death? Or, is that just Ji Man¡¯s false impression because she¡¯s projecting her own feelings? Even though he was willing to take Gancao as his concubine, he barely knew her.


    ¡°Looking at his beautiful face that could topple a country, Ji Man thought it had greatly changed over time.¡± Has his appearance actually changed, or is it just the way that Ji Man looks at him has changed?

 Chapter 242 - I don’t like you (1)

    Chapter 242 ¨C I don¡¯t like you (1)


    Ji Man discovered that she still really liked babies. Otherwise, why would she feel the desire to be close to Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s baby? She stretched her hand out and poke his little cheeks. This baby looked like he was five to six months old. If this marquis was going to acknowledge this baby as his son, then this baby would be the marquis¡¯s eldest child.


    This was slightly bothersome. It was usually the oldest son that would inherit his father¡¯s title. Muxu¡¯s child had originally been considered the oldest son, but now that Ning Yuxuan had suddenly brought back a woman and her baby, Fu-<i>er</i> would be pushed down to being his second son.


    Who would be happy to hear this news? Ji Man could already picture the carnage that would happenter in Old Madame¡¯s Courtyard.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy with something in the imperial court, so I need to leave first.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at her with aplicated expression, then he gentle patted her shoulder. ¡°Take care of Xia-<i>shi</i> and her child. Don¡¯t let them suffer any grievances.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. It seemed that this woman wasn¡¯t simple either. Otherwise, Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t have taken the extra consideration of specially saying these words.


    ¡ª


    Holding the baby, Xia-<i>shi</i> followed her to the main courtyard.


    Right after arriving at the main courtyard¡¯s entrance, they saw that the servants were rushing around. Ji Man stretched her hand out and pulled Danggui over. Seeing that Danggui was so anxious that her head was full of sweat, Ji Man had a bad premonition. ¡°Danggui, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Danggui worriedly said, ¡°Old Madame has fallen sick again. She¡¯s already fallen unconscious. This servant needs to find the marquis and ask him to call over an imperial physician.¡±


    Imperial Physcian Lin had already returned to the pce after she had given birth to a toddy cat. The doctors in the marquis¡¯s estate naturally weren¡¯t as good as the imperial physicians. Ji Man hurriedly moved to the side so that Danggui could go find the marquis.


    Old Madame was unconscious, so she naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to see her new grandson and his mother. Ji Man turned her head and ordered Dengxin, ¡°Go find Steward Qian. Just say that this is my order. Tidy up Cailian Courtyard that¡¯s in the southern part of the estate. For now, Xia-<i>shi</i> will stay there. Also, send over a couple of my servants to that courtyard too.¡±


    Dengxin made a sound of assent and nced at Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    Xia-<i>shi </i>looked a bit hesitantly and quietly asked, ¡°We don¡¯t need to see Old Madame first?¡±


    ¡°Old Madam is unconscious. It won¡¯t be possible for her to see you right now. It¡¯ll be the same if she sees you after she wakes up.¡± Ji Man lifted her skirt and started walking out. ¡°Go and follow Dengxin for now.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> paused for a moment. Dengxin had already moved to the front to lead the way. Xia-<i>shi</i> followed after her.


    The marquis¡¯s estate was a luxurious ce. Xia-<i>shi</i> was only the daughter ofmoners. And so, she naturally curiously looked around as she followed after Dengxin. Right after they passed through the garden, they almost bumped into Muxu, who was holding her son and rushing toward the main courtyard.


    Muxu¡¯s life had considerably improvedtely. Her hair was full of bluish-green gems, and she was wearing beautiful clothing. From faraway, she had seen this country bumpkin, but she hadn¡¯t notice the baby that she was holding.


    Feeling a bit apprehensive, Muxu stopped, looked at Dengxin, and asked, ¡°Which family did this womane from?¡±


    Dengxin curtsied and replied, ¡°She was personally brought back here by the marquis. The baby that she¡¯s holding is the marquis¡¯s son.¡±


    Shocked, Muxu walked a few steps closer to Xia-<i>shi</i>. As she coaxed her own child, she looked at the baby that Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s was holding.


    ¡°How old is he?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> honestly replied. ¡°He¡¯s almost six months old.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s expression slightly changed. Staring at Xia-<i>shi</i> with narrowed eyes, she said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t youe here looking for the marquis when you got pregnant? Why did you wait until your baby was already so big?¡±


    Frightened by Muxu, Xia-<i>shi</i> retreated a step and said, ¡°This servant is from Jiangnan. This servant couldn¡¯t tire myself out when this servant was pregnant. When my baby was too young, it wouldn¡¯t be good if he was jolted and bumped during traveling. This servant had sent a letter to the marquis in advance. The marquis didn¡¯te to pick us up until now.¡±


    Her words were very reasonable, but Muxu wasn¡¯t willing to ept them.


    She didn¡¯t have Marquis Moyu¡¯s favor or affection. Fortunately, Nie Sangyu lost her child, and she had given birth to the oldest son instead. As long as the main wife¡¯s child didn¡¯t reappear one day, then her child would inherit the marquis¡¯s title, and she could hope that her future days would be good.


    However, out of nowhere, a son that was older than Fu-<i>er</i> had appeared.


    Muxu tightened her grip. Fu-<i>er</i> was probably feeling ufortable from the pressure and started crying. Young children tended to be influenced by other children¡¯s reactions. Once Fu-<i>er</i> started crying, the baby in Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s arms started crying too.


    Xia-shi felt slightly panicked. She looked at Muxu with a displeased expression and hurriedly tried to coax the baby in her arms.


    ¡°Madam has also ordered for Xia-<i>shi</i> to stay in Cailian Courtyard for now. Mistress Zheng if you have any problems with this arrangement, you can go to the main courtyard and ask Madam about it,¡± Dengxin defended Xia-<i>shi</i>. Then, she saluted Muxu and led Xia-<i>shi</i> to walk around Muxu and continue walking down the path.


    As Muxu coaxed her son, she watched them heading towards the southern part of the estate.


    ¡ª


    Outside, it was already winter. It just hadn¡¯t snowed yet this year. Old Madame¡¯s illness hade and gone several times this year. She was already at the point where she couldn¡¯t fight it off anymore.


    With reddened eyes, Ji Man was sitting by her bed and holding her hand.


    Old Madame slightly moved. With her eyes half-opened and unfocused, she unconsciously looked at her daughter-inw.


    Ji Man lowered her head and gently said, ¡°Old Madame, Sangyu is here. If you want something or want to do something, just tell Sangyu.¡±


    Old Madame¡¯s eyes turned. She opened and closed her mouth, but wasn¡¯t able to utter a sound. Her face was deathly pale. The next second, she fell unconscious again.


    Ji Man pressed her lips together and gently covered her with quilt.


    On the side, an imperial physician sighed and said, ¡°Medicine can only do so much for Old Madame¡¯s illness. Who knows when she¡¯ll pass? Madam, you should make the preparations.¡±


    Her heart skipped a beat. Ji Man felt rmed. ¡°Old Madame isn¡¯t even fifty years old yet. Why has she aged to the point that she looks like she¡¯s eighty years old?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s physically and mentally exhausted. People that have to much to worry, they all get older faster.¡± The imperial physician wrote out a prescription. All the ingredients were valuable and rare.


    Ji Man pasted on a fake smile. She also worried a lot. Would she also prematurely age like Old Madame in the future?


    Trantor Ramblings: Feynite has recently written an amazing Scum Villian fanfic that¡¯s based on <i>The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir</i>. Click here to read. Even if you haven¡¯t read <i>The Scum Villian¡¯s Self-Saving System</i>, you¡¯ll still be able to enjoy their story.


    My favorite lines from their story are, ¡°I guess it¡¯s more that I wonder why you find that a suitable defense,¡± he countered. ¡°Should faithfulness [to a marriage] really only apply when there¡¯s ack of temptation to stray? Isn¡¯t the point of making amitment like that to say ¡®even if tempted, I won¡¯t betray you¡¯, rather than ¡®I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever be tempted¡¯?¡±

 Chapter 243 - I don’t like you (2)

    Chapter 243 ¨C I don¡¯t like you (2)


    It was only natural for Ning Mingje to pay a visit to the marquis¡¯s estate with Old Madame being so sickly. After helping Old Madame drink her medicine, Ning Mingjie excused himself. He wanted to walk around the estate.


    There were too many women in the estate, so Ji Man went with him to avoid potential idents.


    He had brought along the three case files from the Ministry of Justice. All of these cases had happened in the marquis¡¯s estate. One case involved a ghost baby, another case was a baby being reced with a toddy kitten, and thest one was Gancao¡¯s death.


    They hadn¡¯t been able to find clues for any of these three cases or figure out who was the mastermind behind them. However, for an unknown reason, Ning Mingjie looked as if he was very confident about solving these three cases. With Nie Sangyu apanying him, it seemed as if these two people were just taking a stroll. From time to time, he would look for a few servants and chat with them as they walked around the estate.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t find this bothersome at all. If Ning Mingjie really was able to find the mastermind, then perhaps, her child would also be found too. And so, it didn¡¯t matter to her how long Ning Mingjie wanted to wander around the estate, or what he wanted to do. As long as she had the free time, she would apany him.


    Instead of leaving after their stroll ended, Ning Mingjie moved back into the southern courtyard by using the excuse that he wanted to stay and show filial care towards Old Madame.


    ¡ª


    In the afternoon, Ji Man called over the rest of the harem and introduced them to Xia-<i>shi</i> and her baby. As the person that had be familiar with this situation the earliest, Wen Wan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t show much turmoil. As for the rest of the women, they all had their own different thoughts and feelings as they scrutinized Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    ¡ª


    When Marquis Moyu returned in the evening, he first went to see Old Madame, then he went to Cailian Courtyard to see Xia-<i>shi </i>and her baby. After that, he came to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Lying next to Nie Sangyu, he quietly said, ¡°Give her a rank. It shouldn¡¯t be too low.¡±


    Finding his behavior strange, Ji Man asked, ¡°My lord, don¡¯t you genuinely care for Miss Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan vaguely replied, ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°Then, why aren¡¯t you worried that Wan-<i>er</i> is going to feel upset that you brought back Xia-<i>shi</i>? Xia-<i>shi</i>¡¯s baby is already so big too.¡± Ji Man was almost speechless. ¡°It¡¯s as if you haven¡¯t even considered her feelings at all.¡±


    Marquis Moyu cleared his throat and turned his head away as he said, ¡°He¡¯s my child. It¡¯s only right that I bring him back. Why do I need to consider Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s feelings?¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°My lord, you still haven¡¯t learned to genuinely care for someone.¡±


    Was there anyone that genuinely cared for him? Marquis Moyu sneered. He pulled her over and firmly bit her neck.


    Ji Man yelped out in pain, but his lips pressed down onto hers.


    In the past, when Nie Sangyu served him bed, Ning Yuxuan would absolutely never kiss her on the lips. Ji Man stretched her hands out to embrace his neck. She couldn¡¯t resist her impulse to ask him, ¡°My lord, right now, do you like Sanggyu a little bit?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed. He pinched her waist and asked, ¡°Do you like me?¡±


    Ji Man blinked. ¡°Sangyu has always liked you.¡±


    She had the nerve to say that she liked him? Not even the slightest trace of warmth showed in her phoenix eyes as she said those words. She always looked at him as if she was just watching an actor on a stage.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s mood plummeted. He stripped her out of her dress without any gentleness.


    ¡°Aiya, too cold...¡± It was winter!


    A hot body very quickly covered hers. That person¡¯s lips were pressed in a t line, and he was expressionlessly watched her. But, in the end, he couldn¡¯t resist his desires. He lowered his head and gently kissed her lips.


    Because his lips were usually pressed together, Ji Man had thought they would feel very stiff. But, once they started kissing, his lips felt quite soft. Feeling somewhatfortable, Ji Man closed her eyes.


    Just as this dried grass was about to burst in mes and be a mosaic of a zing inferno, Xi-<i>er</i>, who was sleeping the neighboring room, began his punctual nighttime crying. His cries were very loud and quickly swept away the intimate mood.


    There was a throbbing vein on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s forehead. He gritted his teeth and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the wet nurse?¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly put on her clothes and said, ¡°The wet nurse isn¡¯t good at coaxing him. I always have to sing him a luby before he¡¯ll go back to sleep. I¡¯ll help you put on your clothes, then I¡¯ll tell the wet nurse to bring Xi-er here.¡±


    Rubbing the spot between his eyebrows, for the first time in his life, Ning Yuxuan thought that children were actually rather troublesome.


    Although the baby¡¯s cries sounded quite pitiful, there weren¡¯t actually any tears on his face. After the wet nurse fed the baby, she entered Nie Sangyu¡¯s inner room and handed the baby over to her.


    Ji Man ced the baby down on an improvised cradle. As she rocked the cradle, she sang, ¡°My dearest treasure, here¡¯s a little bit of sweetness so that you can sleep well tonight...¡±


    She had to sing for a while before Xi-<i>er</i> finally fell back to sleep. Ji Man let out a sigh of relief, then she turned her head and saw Ning Yuxuan looking disdainfully at her.


    ¡°What kind of song is that? It doesn¡¯t rhyme or have any sense of rhythm.¡±


    Towards this man from ancient times that didn¡¯t know true art, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t bother arguing with him. ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as it gets Xi-<i>er</i> to fall sleep.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan harrumphed.


    They went back to bed, and he hugged her again.


    ¡°My lord, have you forgotten to answer my question from earlier?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like you,¡± he coldly replied. Then, he shifted her head so that it was resting on his chest and said, ¡°Go to sleep.¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips. This was really worrisome. Was Marquis Moyu just too conceited to say it aloud, or did he really not like her?

 Chapter 244 - Unaware that shes already involved (1)

    Chapter 244 ¨C Unaware that she¡¯s already involved (1)


    This answer to this question was directly rted to whether or not she could return to her time. It was true that she had gotten used to an ancient person¡¯s lifestyle after staying here for so long. Wasn¡¯t it just going to sleep a little bit earlier, not having any nightlife orputers and other electronics, andpeting back and forth with a group of women to pass the time? When she looked up or down, she would see antiques. There were also several servants to attend to her every need. Her life wasn¡¯t too boring here.


    Still, she wanted to go back. There were upleted reports and sales that were waiting for her toplete. There were novels and dramas that were waiting to be enjoyed. There was also a substantial year-end bonus waiting for her. She could use the bonus to buy her parents a few expensive household items to show filial respect. She had been here for so long. How much time had already passed in the modern world?


    Feeling a bit depressed, Ji Man sighed.


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly hugged her tighter. It was only for a moment before he rxed his hold. His steady breathing seemed to indicate that he had already fallen asleep.


    Ji Man raised her head to look at him. This was a man that Nie Sangyu had continued to love despite losing her life. Compared to when he was awake, his sleeping face looked a lot more lovable.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡ª


    The next day, hearing that Old Madame had awakened, Ji Man hurriedly brought Xia-<i>shi</i> to pay respect to her. After holding Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s child and repeatedly saying, ¡°<i>hao</i>¡°, Old Madame fell unconscious again. She had only been awake for several minutes this time.


    And so, with a calm expression, Ji Man announced that Xia<i>-shi</i>¡®s baby¡¯s childhood nickname would be Haohao.


    (T/N: <i>Hao</i> means good, well, etc.)


    <i>Xia-shi</i> was slightly dissatisfied with this odd name. But, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t opposed to this name. He ced his hand on her shoulder andfortingly said, ¡°It¡¯s just a childhood nickname. When he¡¯s one year old, I¡¯ll personally give him a name.¡±


    Wen Wan was standing by the side. Her eyes were slightly red.


    Ji Man thought; if she was reading this in the original novel, then this would be the portion where the female lead is being tormented. The male lead had brought back an illegitimate child and had shifted his feelings to someone else. The author would be able to write several pages about the female lead¡¯s emotional response and masochistically recalling old memories.


    ¡ª


    Once again, Ji Man was faced with the seasonal problem of allocating resources such as charcoal for brazier, clothes, and food to each courtyard. Since several courtyards now had babies, Ji Man had to allocate more to those courtyards. Since Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s baby had been added into Ning n¡¯s genealogy record as Ning Yuxuan¡¯s oldest son, Ji Man naturally had to allocate slightly more items to Cailian Courtyard.


    As for Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s status, there were already too many people in this household that were discontent with Xia-<i>shi</i>, so Ji Man didn¡¯t dare to give her a status that was too high. She reluctantly gave Xia-<i>shi</i> the status of an ordinary concubine, a position that was below Liu Hanyun and Muxu.


    ¡ª


    News arrived from Qian Residence that said Qian Lianxue had gotten so sick that she was on her deathbed. To give Qian Yingchen face, Marquis Moyu decided to go to Qian Residence to visit her.


    Ji Man grabbed Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve and said with a smile, ¡°This servant should go too.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t refuse her, and the two of them went to Qian Residence in the same carriage.


    When they entered Qian Lianxue¡¯s room, they saw that she had lost weight to the point that she was just skin and bones.


    As soon as she saw Marquis Moyu, her tears fell without stopping.


    ¡°It¡¯s really too wonderful that my lord is still willing to see Lianxue.¡± Qian Lianxue stretched out her thin and weak hand. She wanted to pull Marquis Moyu closer to her, but he was standing too far away for her to reach him. He didn¡¯t seem as if he was going to step closer either.


    Ji Man was speechless. She had originally thought that Qian Lianxue was just pretending to be sick. She nced at Jinse, who was standing nearby. Jinse made a gesture of wanting to go outside with her hand, so Ji Man went along with her request and left the room.


    Outside, Ji Man asked, ¡°Is she really sick?¡±


    Jinse led her to a more remote corner and sneered, ¡°She¡¯s so clever. She¡¯s the one that made herself sick like this. My master had originally wanted to silence her permanently, but after hearing that she was sick, he hasn¡¯t sent anyone. Even though everyone is saying that she¡¯s going to die soon, her breath still hasn¡¯t stopped after being sick for so long.¡±


    Ji Man thought; ah, of course. But, what was Qian Lianxue¡¯s goal? She still couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Jinse derisively said, ¡°This servant has been thinking there was something strange going on since that time when that woman ate the wrong pastry in the marquis¡¯s estate. This servant had practically treated her like a master, but she turned around and harmed this servant. This servant had been totally caught unprepared.¡±


    A thought stirred in Ji Man¡¯s mind.


    At the beginning, Jinse had been sent to the marquis by the crown prince. However, other than a few minor attempts at trying to give her a hard time during the Southern Trip, Jinse hadn¡¯t done much to set herself against her once they arrived at the marquis¡¯s estate. On the contrary, Jinse would frequently try to give her helpful advice. The crown prince hated her. If Jinse was really loyal to the crown prince, they naturally wouldn¡¯t have gotten along so easily.


    There had also been a strange urrence that she had overlooked until now. When she had bought the third prince¡¯s birthday gift, Jinse had told her that the third prince like paintings of beautiful women and notndscape paintings.


    This meant that Jinse was probably loyal to the third prince. Since she had practically treated Qian Lainxue as her master, didn¡¯t this mean that Qian Lianxue had been following the third prince¡¯s orders?


    Ji Man felt somewhat confused. Although she wasn¡¯t close to Zhao Jue, based on their familial rtionship, Zhao Jue shouldn¡¯t want to harm her. If Qian Lianxue was absolute loyal to the third prince, why would she harm her or Jinse?


    Unless, Qian Lianxue was acting out the role of an undercover agent in an olden times spy show? While she was following the third prince¡¯s orders, she was also follow someone else¡¯s orders as well. Since Qian Lianxue was carrying out orders from both sides, she hadn¡¯t been able to figure out what Qian Lianxue really wanted.


    Was this hypothesis too ridiculous? Women in ancient times grew up in boudoirs. It should be very rare for a woman in ancient times to be so shrewd and brave, right? After all, Qian Lianxue would have nowhere to go once she was exposed.


    But, if she was guessing right, who was Qian Lianxue¡¯s other master? Could her child have fallen into that person¡¯s hands?


    Trantor Ramblings: I think Ji Man¡¯s reasons for wanting to go back to modern-day are very weak. There are so many better reasons for why she would want to go back: not worrying about being killed by the crown prince or someone else, getting away from this poisonous harem and Ning Yuxuan, not living in a world where she¡¯s a second-ss citizen just because she¡¯s a woman, etc. Is it because deep down, she doesn¡¯t really want to go back anymore?

 Chapter 245 - Unaware that shes already involved (2)

    Chapter 245 ¨C Unaware that she¡¯s already involved (2)


    Inside, Qian Lianxue was crying and smiling. Her gaze was full of affectionate and loving feelings as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°Lianxue has been sickly since childhood, didn¡¯t have a parents¡¯ protection, and still needed to take care of my younger brother. It was my lord that took Lianxue out of that helpless circumstance. My lord, it was at that moment that Lianxue fell in love with you.¡±


    Marquis Moyu silently sat by her bedside.


    Qian Lianxue continued to sob as she said, ¡°When I was a child and saw Yingchen being bullied, as his older sister, I couldn¡¯t help him. Instead, he was the one that protected me. I¡¯m a useless older sister, that¡¯s why I wanted to do my utmost to win over a little bit of something for Yingchen.¡±


    Looking at her, Ning Yuxuan finally said, ¡°I brought you into my home because I thought you were a person that needed care. You say that you want to live a good life where other people don¡¯t bully you. I haven¡¯t treated you unfairly in this aspect. Why did you interfere in so many things and use your utmost effort for someone else? Lianxue, you¡¯re only a woman.¡±


    Qian Lianxue shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m Yingchen¡¯s only sister. When heter couldn¡¯t understand my feelings, I didn¡¯t have anything to say. But, he followed after my lord and did the tasks you gave him. Lianxue couldn¡¯t understand my lord¡¯s strategies. I was afraid that once the imperial court falls into chaos, Yingchen would be involved. So I...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly concluded, ¡°You overestimated your intelligence.¡±


    Qian Lianxue bit her lip and coughed a few times before saying, ¡°Qian Lianxue never thought about harming my lord or your heir. My lord, your harem is too chaotic. Lianxue just wanted it to be more bnced.¡±


    Really, she was concerning herself with things that she shouldn¡¯t.


    Ning Yuxuan knew that Qian Lianxue was just shifting the point from the main issue and trying to gain his sympathy. But, between them, there was Qian Yingchen, so it wouldn¡¯t be good for him to say too much. He could only listen to her speak.


    With tears in her eyes, Qian Lianxue said, ¡°My lord, can you stay the night and keep Lianxuepany? Lianxue has been dreaming about my lord every night.¡±


    Standing outside, by the doorway, Ji Man thought; Qian Lianxue really didn¡¯t know when to stop. She was already this sickly, but she still wanted the marquis to stay overnight. It couldn¡¯t be that she wanted to use this opportunity to fake a pregnancy, so that she could change her fortune and return to the marquis¡¯s estate, right?


    Dream on.


    After pushing the doors open, Ji Man walked to the bedside. Pretending that she hadn¡¯t heard Qian Lianxue¡¯s previous words, she anxiously said, ¡°My lord, someone from the estate just came by and said that Old Madame¡¯s illness is getting worse.¡±


    Marquis Moyu had a good point; no matter what other women did, his mother was still the most important person.


    As a result, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say another word before standing up and pulling her with him as he walked out of the room.


    ¡°My lord...¡± Qian Lianxue weakly called out. But, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t turn back.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t make a false report. Old Madame¡¯s illness was getting more and more serious each day. Today, she hadn¡¯t woken up even once.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie was currently staying by Old Madame¡¯s bedside and watching over her. Hearing the sound of peopleing inside, he turned his head to look.


    The imperial physician was on the side. After checking Old Madame¡¯s pulse, he shook his head. ¡°She won¡¯tst past the next two days.¡± The mood in the room immediately became sorrowful.


    Ji Man was stunned. Looking at Old Madame¡¯s wan and sallow face, she pursed her lips.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good either. He went straight to asking the imperial physician if there were any other methods.


    Danggui and Shouwu were gritting their teeth, as they silently crying while the concubines remained quiet.


    If Old Madame really passed, Ji Man was the only woman in the harem that would genuinely feel upset and pained. After all, the other women hadn¡¯t received Old Madame¡¯s protection and favoritism. Wen Wan would probably feel ted when the time came. The great mountain that loomed over her was finally falling.


    As Wen Wan waited for Old Madame to die, she pondered who she should send over to chat with the empress. She had already given birth to the marquis¡¯s child. At the very least, the emperor should take back his punishment. She also had to take back her child from Nie Sangyu.


    Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t have her own child. Once Old Madame was gone, Nie Sangyu¡¯s position as the main wife wouldn¡¯t be stable for long. Wen Wan still had hope that she would be able to regain everything.


    When Ji Man turned her head, she saw Wen Wan¡¯s curved up lips and felt a burst of loathing. Her eyes were icy cold as she looked at her.


    After being momentarily startled by this cold gaze, Wen Wan asked with a very innocent expression, ¡°Madam?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head away. Wen Wan was such a small-minded woman. It was only with the invincible halo given by the author that she was able to be the female lead. Otherwise, she wasn¡¯t even good enough to y the secondary female character.


    Wen Wan¡¯s only advantage was that the author had decided that Marquis Moyu would fall in love with her.


    Was love enough for her to do nothing while the male lead always saved her? Could she just walk down the path to a happily ever after unimpeded?


    Ji Man refused to acknowledge this system of value that would reward someone for doing nothing.


    ¡ª


    During the next two days, Ji Man stayed in Old Madame¡¯s courtyard to watch after her. Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan also stayed there to watch Old Madame as well, but Ning Yuxuan would asionally have to leave because of work.


    On the second day, in the afternoon, when Ning Yuxuan had left the estate, a death bell rang.


    In the end, Old Madame¡¯s spirit departed.


    Sitting by the bedside and looking at Old Madame¡¯s smile that appeared as if she was freeing herself, Ji Man nkly asked, ¡°Why does dying feel like freedom to you?¡±


    ¡ª


    An imperial decree came from the pce. Old Madame was conferred a posthumous title, Lady Protector of the Nation, and would be buried in a manner befitting a noble consort. Her grave would be next to Marquis Pingnan¡¯s. One grave was old and the other one was new, but they would be right next to each other.


    On the day of the funeral procession, Ji Man didn¡¯t cry. She stayed silent during the entire procession.


    The only person in this dynasty that whole-heartedly protected her was gone. Ji Man suddenly realized; she had thought that she was just a bystander that was indifferently observing everything. But, she was wrong. She had already be involved with these people.

 Chapter 246

    Chapter 246 ¨C If you y around too much, it will end up ruining your rtionship with the person that you love (1)


    Even if this was just a dream, these people had genuinely treated her well. Ji Man realized that she didn¡¯t have the ability to remain aloof.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu would be observing the mourning period for his mother for the next three years. This meant that during the next three years, the marquis would definitely not wee any new concubines into the household. All of the women let out sighs of relief when they found out. Xia-<i>shi</i> was especially fortunate. She had made it just in time for thest bus. Although she had a dubious background, she had Marquis Moyu¡¯s protection and was able to peacefully settle into the household.


    ¡ª


    The mourning period for Old Madame hadn¡¯t passed yet, so the imperial noble consort was nning a simple birthday celebration for her son. She had been best friends with Old Madame since childhood, but she hadn¡¯t been able to get permission to leave the pce in time to see Old Madame onest time before she passed. Because of this, the imperial consort cried for a very long time. This was why the emperor had posthumously bestowed Old Madame the title, Lady Protector of the Nation.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had thought the empress would be too busy working on getting her son out of house arrest. And so, she was somewhat surprised when she heard that the empress had found the free time to say a few words to the emperor to help Wen Wan. Comparing Wen Wan¡¯s baby to the imperial noble consort¡¯s baby, the empress said that Wen Wan had already devoted herself to motherhood and deserved a second chance.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t understand why this dynasty¡¯s emperor liked to meddle in other people¡¯s household affairs so much. It had been a while since the almost divorce between Prince Huainan¡¯s heir and his heir¡¯s wife. It was said that this aging emperor felt softhearted and actually took back his earlier words that Wen Wan had to stay a servant for the rest of her life. He even praised Wen Wan in front of Marquis Moyu by saying that he heard Wen Wan had given birth to a son. This wasn¡¯t an easy aplishment.


    Muxu had also given birth to a son. Old man, why aren¡¯t you also praising Muxu for aplishing this difficult task too?


    As expected, the female lead was the strangest type of creature. If she fell off a cliff, she wouldn¡¯t die and would even have a fortuitous meeting. Any notable man in the novel would fall in love with her at first sight. Even if she didn¡¯t do anything, the male lead would still be head-over-heels in love with her. Even if she was ced on the field of death, she would still inexplicably be reborn.


    Such a strong female lead halo was strong enough to blind Ji Man, but nothing could be done about this. She could only stand to the side and watch Tanxiang walking down the path in high spirits. Tanxiang was carrying a new bolt of silk fabric. As Tanxiang walked, she joyfully said to the other servant girl by her side, ¡°Our master¡¯s fortune is finally turning around for the better.¡±


    Since the emperor had already rxed his position, it was naturally very easy for Marquis Moyu to raise Wen Wan¡¯s position. Even Ji Man felt that this great lord was going to run to her courtyard tonight and tell her to give Wen Wan the position of the secondary wife.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was naturally the happiest. Since early in the morning, she had been trying out different outfits. She had been living in Qiangwei Courtyard without any rank or status. She didn¡¯t even have the right to take care of her own son. But, everything was good now. With the empress supporting her, she would be able to get back her status and her son as well.


    ¡ª


    However, everyone was taken aback when Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say a single word about raising Wen Wan¡¯s status after returning from the pce. He only told Nie Sangyu to prepare for a pce banquet that was celebrating the imperial noble consort¡¯s younger son¡¯s one month birthday.


    The prince¡¯s one-month-old birthday banquet would naturally be an opportunity for unmarried women to disy their talents. After all, it would soon be time for the drafting of new beauties into the pce.


    Ning Yuxuan wanted her to prepare because each noble household would be performing some sort of act during the banquet in attempt to gain the emperor¡¯s favor.


    ¡°This servant understands.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    The prince¡¯s one-month-old birthday banquet would naturally be an opportunity for unmarried women to disy their talents. After all, it would soon be time for the drafting of new beauties into the pce.


    If there was an young, unmarried woman in the household, then this young woman would naturally be brought along to disy her artistic skills. Unfortunately, all of the women in the marquis¡¯s household were married women. There weren¡¯t any young, unmarried women. The only girl in this household was an infant girl that was still being wrapped up in swaddling clothes.


    Ji Man thought about just finding a song and dance troupe among themonfolk, but that wouldn¡¯t be showing enough sincerity. After all, this was her younger cousin¡¯s one month birthday.


    Just as she was worrying about this matter, Wen Wan came over.


    This had to be mentioned. Although Wen Wan wasn¡¯t very clever and didn¡¯t have many skills, she knew how to dance. Back then, it was exactly one dance on a stage that had hooked the marquis¡¯s heart. And now, Wen Wan hade over here while holding a long dress to plead with her.


    ¡°This servant wants to offer up a dance for the little prince¡¯s one month birthday. It can be the marquis¡¯s household gift to the little prince.¡±


    Ji Man looked at Wen Wan¡¯s lowered head. Was Wen Wan scared that she had lost her position in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart? So she had anxiously and hastily thought of way to push herself into the limelight in order to seize a favorable impression?


    However, at the moment, it was true that only Wen Wan¡¯s status was suitable. She was neither a true concubine nor a true servant. Everyone still had to address her as Miss. If Wen Wan wanted to give a performance, then this would be a load off her mind.


    After thinking this over, Ji Man agreed to her request.


    ¡°Madam, please hide this matter from the marquis.¡± Wen Wan shyly smiled. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> wants to surprise him.¡±


    Looking at Wen Wan¡¯s face, Ji Man stiffly nodded.


    Several scenes of a female lead creating a stir at a banquet had already shed through Ji Man¡¯s mind. Wen Wan would either be singing a song, ying a stringed instrument, or performing a <i>feitian</i> dance. There would definitely be one option that was suitable for her. And then, the audience¡¯s reaction would always be the same. There would be absolute silence followed by overwhelming apuse.


    (T/N: Click here for a video of <i>feitian</i> dance.)


    However, she felt that Ning Yuxuan was the type of person that didn¡¯t like his lovers stepping into the limelight. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have asked her to interfere in the matter with Tonghua Poetry Association and ruin Wen Wan¡¯s sweet dreams.


    Wen Wan obviously hadn¡¯t noticed this aspect about Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡ª


    After returning to Qiangwei Courtyard, Wen Wan painstakingly practiced dancing. She would perform this dance for the little prince¡¯s birthday banquet, and Ning Yuxuan would sit up and take notice of her improved performance...

 Chapter 247

    Chapter 247 ¨C If you y around too much, it will end up ruining your rtionship with the person that you love (2)


    Recently, Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s health hadn¡¯t been good. He would frequently be feverish and throw up milk. The wet nurse had said that perhaps it was because he had been prematurely born, so Ji Man had Doctor Lie over from time to time to check up Xi-<i>er</i> diet. After he said there was nothing wrong with it, Ji Man stopped worrying.


    ¡ª


    On the day of the little prince¡¯s one month birthday, Wen Wan truly made a spectacle of herself. Wearing a dancer¡¯s outfit, Wen Wan performed a <i>xianyue</i> dance. It could be considered apletely unprecedented act.


    Among themoners, <i>xianyue</i> was a very famous dance that would attract the eyes of all men. During the performance, the dancer¡¯s elegant movements and postures would be brimming with seduction.


    (T/N: <i>xianyue</i> means celestial/heavenly music)


    However, while Wen Wan was beside herself with joy, she had forgotten that this banquet was for celebrating the little prince¡¯s one month birthday. The person that should be in the limelight wasn¡¯t her. Moreover, although men like to look at alluring and charming women, there was no man that liked to look at his own woman being alluring and charming in front of arge group of men.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression was very ugly. Because the emperor and the imperial noble consort were present, he didn¡¯t erupt in fury. He only lowered his head and drank more wine.


    Holding the little prince, the imperial noble consort sneered, ¡°A few days ago Her Majesty said that Miss Wen Wan had wholeheartedly devoted herself to motherhood. It¡¯s such a surprise to see your performance today. Even this consort¡¯s heart is stirred up by looking at your womanly physique and posture on the stage.¡±


    In contrast, sitting at the table, the emperor was actually faintly smiling. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped that Yuxuan likes her so much. Wen family¡¯s daughter is truly a stunning beauty.¡±


    There were many members of the imperial family attending this banquet. The men were all repeatedly praising Wen Wan, and the women were all wearing mocking expressions.


    After Wen Wan finished her dance, she inwardly encouraged herself with the thoughts that the women disliked her because they were jealous of her. This meant that she had done very well.


    She nced at Ning Yuxuan and saw that he hadn¡¯t raised his head to look at her. Wen Wan felt a bit distressed. However, after thinking it over, she asked herself. Hadn¡¯t Yuxuan¡¯s personality always been like this? The more he liked someone, the more he wouldn¡¯t look at that person. Thus, she treated it as him being very happy with her performance too.


    After the performance section was over, Wen Wan left the hall to change her clothes. However, a lot of the guests didn¡¯t know about the marquis¡¯s household special situation and thought that Wen Wan was just a servant. And so, after she had changed her clothes, several sons of nobility and distant descendants of the imperial family surrounded her.


    ¡°Beautiful Miss, may this one ask for your name?¡±


    Wen Wan bashfully smiled. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said, ¡°Wen-<i>shi</i> is just a lowly one. My name isn¡¯t worth mentioning.¡±


    Her smile gave off the impression of a timid, pretty daughter from a humble family. This very easily stirred up these men¡¯s hormones. And so, the female lead captured the hearts of most of the men today. During the entire way back to the banquet hall, Wen Wan was lightly smiling.


    When Wen Wan returned to stand by Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan, who was seated at the side, and fake smiled as she reminded Wen Wan, ¡°Since you¡¯re already the marquis¡¯s person, it¡¯ll be the best if you clearly refuse those men that are interested in you.¡±


    With an innocent expression, Wen Wan asked, ¡°Madam, what are you saying? Who¡¯s interested in Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any benefit to reminding this person. Besides Wen Wan didn¡¯t even appreciate her advice. Ji Man shook her head. A lot of women liked to y games of ambiguous love. Even if the woman already had a partner, she wouldn¡¯t clearly reject the other person and would just fake obliviousness as an excuse so that she could enjoy the feeling of another person liking her.


    If you y around too much, it will end up ruining your rtionship with the person that you love.


    However, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t share this high-level modern romance theory with Wen Wan. Watching as Wen Wan walk down the path to ruin was pretty fun too.


    The imperial noble consort pulled Nie Sangyu to her side, and they talked for a while. The imperial noble consort also called Nie Chenyu over and bestowed her several items.


    Looking at her older niece, the imperial noble consort gently said, ¡°You¡¯re both daughters from the main wife. Chenyu must be feeling a bit wronged.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. ¡°Sangyu understands.¡±


    Nie Chenyu was the daughter of the main wife, but she had entered the marquis¡¯s household as only a concubine. From Chen-<i>shi</i>¡®s perspective, her daughter was being horribly wronged, so she frequently went to the pce to cry in front of the imperial noble consort. This must be why the imperial noble consort was suggesting this to her. But, Ji Man wasn¡¯t the female lead. She wouldn¡¯t go the male lead and ask him to favor another woman while feeling aggrieved herself. And so, this was just an empty acknowledgement.


    ¡ª


    When they returned to the estate that night, contrary to Wen Wan¡¯s expectations, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯te over to favor her. He didn¡¯t evene to Qiangwei Courtyard. Instead, he went to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Tanxiangforted Wen Wan by saying, ¡°This servant thinks that the only reason the marquis frequently goes to Feiwan Courtyard is because Young Master Xi is there. You still have a ce in the marquis¡¯s heart.¡±


    Wen Wan was sitting at the table with red eyes. ¡°He¡¯s my child. How can I be willing to ept that he was taken from me and being used by that woman to gain favor?¡±


    Tanxiang considered her words before saying, ¡°Master, you can take Young Master Xi back.¡±


    ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t have any status. How can I take him back?¡± At the mention of this, Wen Wan¡¯s eyes turned redder. ¡°The emperor has already rxed his position. Why hasn¡¯t Yuxuan returned me to my original position?¡±


    Tanxiang lowered her head. She really didn¡¯t have any words tofort her master. She could only say, ¡°It¡¯s probably because Madam is pressuring him not to.¡±


    Wen Wan paused. She clenched her fist. Her eyes darkened and brightened. ¡°Where¡¯s the item that Her Majesty gave me?¡±


    ¡ª


    Feiwan Courtyard.


    Seeing that Marquis Moyu was in a bad mood tonight, Ji Man stayed silent. After helping him change his clothes, she obediently lied down to sleep. The wet nurse had already fed Xi-<i>er</i> and taken him out of the room. Surprisingly, he hadn¡¯t fussed or cried tonight.


    After sleeping to the middle of the night, Ji Man kept feeling uneasy. She got up, draped an outer robe over herself, pushed opened the doors, and went to neighboring room to look.


    Xi-<i>er</i> was quietly lying on the bed. His little face was red.


    Had she just gotten used to being woken up by Xi-er¡¯s cries? Now that this baby was quiet, she actually felt a sense of unease.


    From the doorway behind her, she suddenly heard the voice of the wet nurse asking, ¡°Madam?¡±

 Chapter 248 - An upright official that fell from the sky (1)

    Chapter 248 ¨C An upright official that fell from the sky (1)


    Ji Man turned her head and saw the soft-spoken and timid wet nurse fidgeting her hands.


    The wet nurse somewhat helplessly said, ¡°Madam, why did youe over here? Were you worried about Young Master Xi?¡±


    An older servant had rmended this dependable wet nurse. She had recently given birth to a baby and had an ample supple of milk. She always attentively kept close to Xi-<i>er</i>, and Ji Man felt very reassured by her.


    ¡°I was just feeling restless tonight, so I came over to look,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°This child usually always cries in the middle of the night. It¡¯s surprising that he hasn¡¯t fussed at all tonight.¡±


    The wet nurse paused, then she walked over and stroked Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s cheeks. She frowned and said, ¡°Young Master Xi is feeling feverish again. This servant had only briefly gone out to use the bathroom. Howe... Oh, this servant will go fetch a doctor.¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Man felt rmed and checked Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s temperature too. He was only a young child. Why was he being punished like this?


    By the time Doctor Li came over, Marquis Moyu had already been awakened by the noise. The group of people waited by the cradle to hear Doctor Li¡¯s diagnosis.


    Li Zixue frowned and said, ¡°Has Young Master eaten something unclean recently? This warm room is at a good temperature. If he¡¯s being properly taken care of, he shouldn¡¯t be sick.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at Nie Sangyu, and she looked at the wet nurse in turn.


    The wet nurse hurriedly shook her head and said, ¡°This servant only feeds Young Master Xi milk every day. He shouldn¡¯t have eaten anything else.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. Xi-<i>er</i> normally only drinks the wet nurse¡¯s milk. He hasn¡¯t been exposed to other food.¡± Frowning, Ji Man said, ¡°Could it just be a problem from the changing of seasons... I mean did he just catch a cold?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s feverish from catching a cold.¡± Doctor Li shook his head.


    Ning Yuxuan took the child into his arms and touched Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s face that was as red as an apple. He didn¡¯t say a word.


    Dengxin rushed inside and reported, ¡°Master, Miss Wen Wan is outside. She¡¯s requesting to see you.¡±


    Right now, the moon was at the tip of the willow branch. It was veryte at night. Why would Wen Wane over? Ji Man raised her eyebrow, nced at Ning Yuxuan, and said in a low voice, ¡°Let here in.¡±


    With disheveled hair, Wen Wan ran into the room. She only had a cloak over her sleeping garments. It seemed that she wasn¡¯t scared of the cold either. As soon as she entered the room, she took the baby from Marquis Moyu. With tears in her eyes, ¡°I woke up in the middle of the night because I dreamed that Xi-<i>er</i> was crying. What¡¯s wrong with him? Why is his face so hot?¡±


    On the side, Doctor Li said in a neutral tone, ¡°Young Master has a fever. Miss Wan, you should put him back in his cradle. It won¡¯t be good if you hold him so unsteadily.¡±


    The tears immediately fell from Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. She clearly wasn¡¯t listening to Li Zixiu¡¯s words. Holding the baby, she fell to the floor on her knees with a loud sound. ¡°My lord, Xi-<i>er</i> is Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s flesh and blood. How can you be so heartless as to allow Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s flesh and blood to be kept in someone else¡¯s ce and suffer such rough hardship?¡±


    Her cries sounded very miserable. Really, it sounded quite genuine. Looking at this sight, even Ji Man felt slightly moved by her tears. Moreover, Marquis Moyu had always had Wen Wan in his heart.


    ¡°Stand up first. It¡¯s unavoidable for children to get sick. You¡¯re making such a scene by crying and fussing like this.¡±


    Holding back her tears, Wen Wan pitifully said, ¡°Yuxuan, the child is already like this. Don¡¯t you feel bad for him at all? I¡¯m his biological mother. I would never harm him. Why won¡¯t you let me raise him?¡±


    If Ning Yuxuan answered that her status wasn¡¯t high enough, then Wen Wan would definitely respond by asking, why won¡¯t you raise my status? Old Madame was already gone. He was in charge of this household!


    But Marquis Moyu, this skillful fox, wouldn¡¯t answer her question that way. He only gently tried to help Wen Wan stand up, wiped away her tears, and said, ¡°I¡¯m doing this for Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s benefit. He wouldn¡¯t suffer any grievances while he¡¯s with Sangyu.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already sick to this point, and you¡¯re saying that he¡¯s not suffering?¡± With reddened eyes, Wen Wan held the baby tighter. She wouldn¡¯t let him go. Xi-<i>er</i> was probably feeling too ufortable, so he finally started crying even though he was feeling feverish.


    It immediately became a scene of Nie Sangyu and Marquis Moyu trying to separate a mother from her flesh and blood.


    Ji Man stepped forward, sighed, and pulled back Marquis Moyu¡¯s hand that was pulling Wen Wan up. She gently said, ¡°My lord, younger sister Wen Wan¡¯s crying truly looks quite pitiful. How about just giving Xi-<i>er</i> to her? This way, she¡¯ll stop resenting this servant for taking her child.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s gaze was venomous and hateful when she looked at Nie Sangyu.


    Ning Yuxuan paused before shaking his head and saying, ¡°Dengxin, leave first. Go and prepare medicine. Doctor Li, follow her and watch her prepare the medicinal herbs. After Young Master Xi has drunk the medicine, the wet nurse will stay here to take care of him.


    ¡°Yuxuan!¡± Wen Wan widened her eyes to stare at him. ¡°I¡¯ve already knelt down and begged you. You still won¡¯t return my child to me?¡±


    Marquis Moyu had a slight headache. Feeling frustrated, he finally pulled Wen Wan to a standing position and handed the baby over to Nie Sangyu, then he led Wen Wan to the side of the room and whispered, ¡°Why are you so stupid?¡±


    Wen Wan looked at him with reddened eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan deeply looked at her and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you know that your child is this household¡¯s third young master? How can there be any disadvantage to him being raised by the matriarch of the family?¡±


    Wen Wan was stumped for words. Looking at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze, she seemed to have suddenly understood something


    He still loved her, right? He was just nning out Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s future prospects, so he wanted to Xi-<i>er</i> to stay with the main wife, right?


    But, she still felt unwilling to ept this. It hadn¡¯t been easy to get this child, and now she had to submissively hand him over to Nie Sangyu...


    Marquis Moyu patted her shoulder. Wen Wan sighed; she felt that she understood Yuxuan¡¯s good intentions now. She shouldn¡¯t continue to fuss. It wasn¡¯t that Yuxuan didn¡¯t love her. He was just showing his care for her in a different way...


    Trantor Ramblings: Opps, I realized that it¡¯s not explicitly said that Wen Wan is behind Xi-<i>er</i>¡¯s sickness. That was just my assumption because we¡¯re told the empress gave Wen Wan something at the birthday banquet, and then Wen Wan suddenly appears in Feiwan Courtyard in the middle of the night. If she didn¡¯t poison Xi-<i>er</i>, how could she have known he would be sick right now?

 Chapter 249 - An upright official that fell from the sky (2)

    Chapter 249 ¨C An upright official that fell from the sky (2)


    Sometimes, women were like animals that would selffort themselves. Ning Yuxuan had only stated two facts, and Wen Wan had supplemented everything else in her imagination.


    And so, this female lead that whole-heartedly believed the male lead was in love with herself, foolishly allowed herself to be persuaded by these words. She never considered what would happen to her child if Nie Sangyu had a child of her own in the future.


    After making such a big scene, Wen Wan left without obtaining anything and even sent a message to the empress to say good things about Ning Yuxuan.


    Marquis Moyu liked foolishly cute women. In contrast, a woman like Nie Sangyu was too difficult to deal with.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan had stopped making a fuss, but poor Xi-<i>er</i> was very sick for several days. He almost didn¡¯t recover. During this time, Ji Man was very busy with taking care of him.


    When she was finally able to take a rest, Ning Mingjie came to Feiwan Courtyard with Jinse. They also brought the news of someone¡¯s death.


    Qian Lianxue had died.


    Ji Man¡¯s first reaction was that Qian Lianxue had to be pretending. How could this be possible? Qian Lianxue had countless hidden secrets. She had even deliberately made herself sick in order to turn around her fortune. How could she have died so quietly?


    With an indifferent expression, Jinse said, ¡°Shemitted suicide by drinking poison. Just as the cases had been figured out and before she could be confronted, this servant went to her courtyard. She died in her bed with a bottle of poison in her hand. Danzhu had disappeared.¡±


    For a while, Ji Man couldn¡¯t digest this information.


    Ning Mingjie cupped his hands and said, ¡°This one didn¡¯t live up to your expectations, but the cases were solved by another official in the Ministry of Justice. The whole truth has been revealed.¡±


    What was the real truth?


    ¡ª


    Ji Man nkly followed them to Qian Residence. Qian Yingchen was currently kneeling in front of Qian Lianxue¡¯s room. Inside the room, there were people here to prepare Qian Lianxue¡¯s body for the funeral. They were currently at the stage of doing her make up. The burial would happen three dayster.


    The doors were open, but most people wouldn¡¯t have dared to go inside. Ji Man wasn¡¯t even scared of ghosts, and she didn¡¯t care if she saw another corpse. And so, she followed Ning Mingjie inside.


    She asked, ¡°Why did they say shemitted suicide?¡±


    Qian Lianxue was lying on the bed, and her clothes were tidy without any sign of being moved.


    ¡°There weren¡¯t any traces of a struggle. Also, ording to what the servants said, Qian Lianxue hadn¡¯t been wearing an outer garment while she was recuperating from her illness. But, when she died, she was nicely dressed up. The bottle of poison was also found in her hand. So, they determined that she hadmitted suicide.¡±


    Ji Man cast her gaze across Qian Lianxue. When Qian Lianxue had been alive, due to her poor health, she couldn¡¯t use rouge and could only use cold cream on her face. And now that she was no longer alive, the servants were applying a thickyer of makeup for her. Her face looked very morous.


    There were also servants that were slowly sorting out the jewelry that would be buried with her. Ji Man cursorily looked in that direction. She absently noticed that there was a dragon-shaped jade essory among the other items.


    She didn¡¯t pay any extra attention to it. The mood in the room wasn¡¯t good, so Ji Man didn¡¯t dare to linger in this room for too long. She left the room right after saluting Qian Lianxue.


    The dead should be respected.


    After walking to the courtyard, Ji Man saw the official that Ning Mingjie had mentioned earlier. He had written down all of Qiannxue¡¯s crimes and was currently showing the paper to Marquis Moyu so that he could look it over.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression was especially ugly. It was so ugly that Ji Man was extremely curious about what was written on that paper.


    He nced at her, then handed the paper over to her. ¡°Here, you can look.¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly took the paper.


    The words were densely packed together, and there were also several traditional Chinese words that she couldn¡¯t read. However, she was able to read enough of the words to grasp the general meaning. After she finished reading the paper, her mood was also very heavy.


    Should she praise this official for being a teenage Bao Qingtian? He had been able to find all of the evidence for the three cases in such a short time. Not only did he find witnesses and material evidence, he had also found a few of the servant girls that had attended to her when she was giving birth. The witnesses had testified that Qian Lianxue had been the one responsible for everything.


    (T/N: Bao Qingtian is a fictional nickname of Bao Zheng, a Nothern Song official renowned for his honesty. He¡¯s honored as a cultural symbol of justice.)


    ording to this paper, Qian Lianxue had been responsible for the ghost baby and the multiple miscarriages in the marquis¡¯s estate, even the crime of kidnapping her baby was being ced at Qian Lianxue¡¯s feet.


    Other people had thought these three cases were impossible to solve, but he had found overwhelming evidence by sheer coincidence and neatly resolved them.


    This person¡¯sst name was Fan. Henceforth, everyone called him Fan Qingtian.


    (T/N: <i>Fan</i> means pattern, model, rule,w. <i>Qingtian</i> can mean clear sky as well as upright and honorable when used to describe an official.)


    Ji Man thought the whole thing felt kind of fake.


    A person with many secrets had inexplicably died. All of the crimes had fallen onto her head. If she was watching this as TV show in the modern times, she would definitely think Qian Lianxue was a scapegoat.


    Reading this report that very reasonably wrote out all of the evidence and concluded Qian Lianxue as the culprit, Ji Man suddenly really wanted to know; who was Qian Lianxue¡¯s other master? Did she have more than one?


    Although the case had been solved, her child still remained missing. Since Qian Lianxue had died, no one knew where she had sent her child.


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a long time, before he held her hand and led them out of Qian Residence.


    ¡°Is Sir Fan one of your men?¡± Ji Man quietly asked.


    Marquis Moyu lightly said, ¡°What do you mean by one of my men? He¡¯s an official of the court.¡±


    Until now, he hadn¡¯t noticed Fan Tianxiang¡¯s quiet, nobody existence in the Ministry of Justice. But now, he had suddenly appeared like someone that had fallen from the sky and solved a difficult problem.


    ¡ª


    Qian Yingchen was affected by his older sister¡¯s crimes; the emperor demoted his rank and dispatched him to Xu Province.

 Chapter 250 - Why go so far as to harm a baby? (1)

    Chapter 250 ¨C Why go so far as to harm a baby? (1)


    Fan Tianxiang had always worked in the Ministry of Justice, but unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t left a good or bad impression on Ning Yuxuan until now. Now that he had solved this case, Ning Yuxuan presented a written request to the emperor to raise Fan Tianxiang¡¯s rank to Assistant Minister of Justice.


    All of the mysteries in the marquis¡¯s inner court hade to the surface and was exined away by Qian Lianxue¡¯s weak body being unable to get pregnant, so she had repeatedly harmed the pregnant women in the household. She had scared Wen Wan into miscarrying and caused Mu Shuiqing into miscarriage by having her drink the wrong medicine. As for Jinse, she had been behind her own miscarriage. No matter how you viewed the evidence, Qian Lianxue couldn¡¯t have been the culprit for Jinse¡¯s miscarriage.


    Ji Man thought this conclusion was ridiculous. If a woman harmed other women just because she couldn¡¯t have a child of her own, then she had to be mentally unstable. But, Qian Lianxue had clearly been a clever and ambitious woman. She wouldn¡¯t have done something so senseless without a better reason.


    It might be true that Qian Lianxue had done all of these things, but the motive behind her actions couldn¡¯t have been such a simple one. However, Qian Lianxue had already died. Even if she said there was a hidden motive, there was no way to investigate the matter further.


    Ji Man felt depressed. This waspletelycking the thrill of a satisfying revenge for the enmity she felt.


    Her child... There were so many rambunctious babies in this household, but her child had disappeared without a trace. Her baby was like a stone that been thrown into the sea and would never be found again.¡ª


    Ji Man had been in low spirits for several days in a row. When Marquis Moyu came to Feiwan Courtyard to see her, he lightly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Man despondently said, ¡°I¡¯m thinking about my child. I don¡¯t even know if my baby was a boy or girl.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused. He turned his head to the side and said to Dengxin, ¡°Go and bring Xi-<i>er</i> over here for Madam to hold.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This man¡¯s ability atforting someone was really too appalling. Xi-<i>er</i> wasn¡¯t her child. Seeing him would only make her feel worse, okay?


    Still, Xi-<i>er</i> seemed to have gained weight recently. After Xi-<i>er</i> had recovered from his fever, his immunity had be considerably better. He hadn¡¯t gotten feverish again since that time Wen Wen hade over and caused a bigmotion. Out of all the babies in this household, Xi-<i>er</i> was the most robust one. Inparison, Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s Haohao appeared as if he was slightly undernourished.


    ¡°My lord, Xia-<i>shi</i> is requesting to see you.¡±


    Speak of the devil.


    Recently, Xia-<i>shi</i> seemed to be suffering from one trouble or the other. Doctor Li had already gone to Cailian Courtyard several times. If it wasn¡¯t Xia-<i>shi</i> falling sick, it was Haohao getting sick. It was rare for her to have the energy to pay the marquis a visit.


    ¡°Let here in.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> started crying, so Ji Man held him and walked back and forth as she coaxed him. As she was doing this, she saw Xia-<i>shi </i>staggering into the room.


    Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s face was full of tears as she said, ¡°My lord, Haohao has been poisoned!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s immediate fierce movement in standing up shocked Ji Man.


    Staring at Xia-<i>shi</i>, he asked, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Looking slightly wronged, Xia-<i>shi</i> said in a small voice, ¡°Haohao hasn¡¯t been wiling to drink milk all day. This servant had a doctor check on him and discovered that Haohao has been poisoned. My lord, Madam, please go look.¡±


    This was the first time that Ji Man saw such a panic-stricken expression on Marquis Moyu. He walked to her side and in one swift movement, took Xi-<i>er</i> from her and dropped him off with the wet nurse. Then, he pulled her along to Cailian Courtyard.


    As they hastily walked to Cailian Courtyard, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan and asked, ¡°My lord, you really like Xia-<i>shi</i> a lot<i>,</i> huh<i>?¡±</i>


    Marquis Moyu red at her. He stuffily said, ¡°If I didn¡¯t, why would I bring her back?¡±


    Look at this degree of worry he was showing over Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s child. He had even dumped Wen Wan¡¯s child with the wet nurse without a second though. Ji Man stroked her chin. It seemed that the female lead¡¯s greatest rival had appeared?


    ¡ª


    Haohao had truly been poisoned. The estate¡¯s oldest doctor hade over to check on Haohao¡¯s pulse. His beard was shaking as he said, ¡°It¡¯s a slow-acting poison. It won¡¯t take his life immediately. But, as the poison umtes over a long period of time, First Young Master¡¯s body will be consumed by it.¡±


    Standing by the side, Xia-<i>shi</i> was so angry that she was trembling, ¡°Who would do such a evil thing? How could someone stoop so low as to harm a baby? So inhumane! If it wasn¡¯t that Haohao normally doesn¡¯t cry, and he¡¯s been crying so muchtely, I would have never noticed.¡±


    Haohao was already old enough to be weaned off of milk. Although he still usually drank his mother¡¯s milk, he also ate other foods as well. Ji Man ordered the servants to bring over the food that Haohao had been eating as well as the leftovers, but the doctor didn¡¯t find any poison.


    The two lower-ranked servant girls, Chunfeng and Muyu, whom were currently serving in Cailian Courtyard, had been her previous servants. Ji Man called them over and questioned them. They answered that no outsider had sent over any food. Everything had been prepared within the estate and checked over before it was fed to the young master.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Xia-<i>shi</i> and said, ¡°Have you been drinking any medicely?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> froze for a moment. Her face was slightly red as she answered, ¡°This servant had been eating some medicine used to nourish the body.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the pot used for preparing the herbal medicine?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s at the back of the courtyard... My lord, why do you want the pot?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> asked in confusion.


    Ji Man smacked her own head. How could she have been stupid? The food had been checked without a problem, but who think to check Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s milk?


    ¡°Chunfeng, go and bring that pot over here for the doctor to check.¡±


    Chunfeng made a sound of assent, left the room, and brought back the pot.


    After examining the medicinal dregs left in the pot, the old doctor preached, ¡°There is indeed something wrong with this medicine for a nursing mother. When you¡¯re feeding your child your milk, you can¡¯t randomly take medicine or eat certain foods. Did young Li not exin this rationale to you?¡±


    ¡°Doctor Li was the one that gave me this medicine,¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> grumbled, ¡°I need to keep my body health, so I asked him about it. He didn¡¯t say that I couldn¡¯t drink this medicine.¡±


    Stunned, Ji Man looked at Haohao, who was lying on the bed and wailing from time to time. She frowned.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say any extra words. He had the doctor prescribe the antidote. After Haohao had finished drinking the prepared medicine, he turned to Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Go back first. I have something I want to say to Xia-<i>shi</i> in private.¡±

 Chapter 251 - Why go so far as to harm a baby? (2)

    Chapter 251 ¨C Why go so far as to harm a baby? (2)


    As expected, it was better to be concubine than a wife, and it was better to be a mistress than a concubine. Anyways, the newer a woman was, the more men would like them. Ji Man silently clucked her tongue disapproval a few times, then she left right after acknowledging Marquis Moyu¡¯s order.


    It was time for her to step back and be the spectator until these two sides had injured the other party. Hadn¡¯t Wen Wan always been the woman that the marquis¡¯s favored the most? Now, there was a woman that was even more favored than her. Even though Xia-<i>shi</i> wascking in refinement ¨C one nce would be enough to tell that she was the daughter of farmers, didn¡¯t know the Four Schrly Arts, or have double eyelids ¨C it didn¡¯t matter. Even amon performer could be lifted up to female lead status if she gained the male lead¡¯s love.


    ¡ª


    Holding Haohao, Ning Yuxuan looked at Xia-<i>shi</i>. The doctor had left after writing the prescription, and the servants had been sent away.


    He asked, ¡°Lianxin, what did you promise me?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> twisted the edges of her sleeve in her hands. Embarrassed, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve already done my best. How could have I know that they would try to poison Haohao through me? The people in your household are too scheming. Any action that I take, I have to worry that someone is going to use it to harm Haohao somehow.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°In the future, visit Madam frequently with Haohao,¡± Ning Yuxuan helplessly said, ¡°Let Madam protect the two of you.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> nodded. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, ¡°My lord, who is this child¡¯s mother? Why did you give him to this servant to take care of? Is his biological mother no longer alive?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. ¡°Don¡¯t ask the questions that you shouldn¡¯t be asking. If you do a good job taking care of him, then I¡¯ll naturally have your child taken care of as well. When your son is older, I¡¯ll send him to a private school.¡±


    ¡°Thank you my lord for your great benevolence.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> tried to copy other people¡¯s manner and clumsily saluted.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Marquis Moyu, who knows how many people would be yelling and cursing at her for being a widow that gave birth to a child? It would have been impossible for her to make a living. Marquis Moyu was truly a kind person. He let her live in a grand courtyard just for taking care of a baby. She even had her own servants. He just wouldn¡¯t tell her who the baby¡¯s real mother was.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> pursed her lips. All of the servant girls, concubines, and the main wife were such beauties. Would it be possible for her, a widow, to gain his interest?


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was taking a stroll with Dengxin following by her side. When they passed by the back gate, they suddenly saw Muxu. She was holding Fu-<i>er</i> in her arms.


    Muxu was an honored concubine now, and she usually dressedvishly. However, she was dressed surprisingly simple today. She looked quite like her former servant girl self.


    And so, Ji Man called out, ¡°Muxu.¡±


    Startled, Muxu turned her head. Seeing that it was Nie Sangyu, her face paled. She hurriedly came over and saluted. ¡°Madam.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Ji Man curiously looked at the baby in Muxu¡¯s arms. ¡°Why are you taking Fu-<i>er</i> out of the estate?¡±


    Li Zixiu, who had been following Muxu, came through the back gate too. Muxu didn¡¯t even have time to signal for him to hide. As soon as he appeared, he was faced with Madam looking at him with a probing gaze.


    ¡°This... This servant is just going out for a walk. It¡¯s quite stuffy in the estate.¡± Muxu had her head lowered, and her eyes kept moving.


    Ji Man turned her gaze back to Muxu. ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Then, she smiled at Li Zixiu and said, ¡°Something happened at Cailian Courtyard today. It seems like there was a problem with the medicine that Doctor Li had prescribed. The marquis is still at Cailian Courtyard. Doctor Li, you should probably go over there to see him.¡±


    Li Zixiu froze in surprise and instinctively nced at Muxu. Muxu had her head lowered to coax the baby in her arms and pretended that she didn¡¯t see his look.


    ¡°This one will go over there to take a look.¡± Doctor Li left right after saluting Nie Sangyu.


    Looking at Muxu, who was standing in front of her, Ji Man lightly said, ¡°You know, I still fondly remember that person who had saved part of the Beggar¡¯s chicken for me. She had looked so guilty and anguished when she found out the saved chicken had been eaten by a mouse.¡±


    Muxu briefly raised her head in surprise, then lowered her gaze again.


    ¡°Sometimes, if something doesn¡¯t belong to you, you shouldn¡¯t insistently go after it.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°Even if you insist on going after it anyways, you shouldn¡¯t harm a baby.¡±


    Flustered, Muxu retreated a few steps back and said, ¡°Madam, what are you saying? This servant is just leaving the estate to take a stroll outside. Who have I harmed?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°I was just casually saying it. I¡¯m worried that you¡¯re going to walk down the wrong path.¡±


    Muxu pressed her lips together.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu ordered that all of the doctors in the estate had to drop off a copy of their prescriptions to Steward Qian whenever they wrote out a prescription.


    It was such a serious scene that Wen Wan was curious about what had caused it, so she asked Nie Chenyu.


    Nie Chenyu was currently peeling melon seeds. In a peculiar tone, she said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it just that peasant woman causing trouble? The marquis had looked so nervous. He even pulled Madam along to go there with him. It almost got to the point of Doctor Li being kicked out of the estate.¡±


    ¡°That peasant woman? Xia-<i>shi</i>?¡± Wen Wan curled her lip. She had considered that unbearably vulgar woman beneath her notice. How could Yuxuan possible like her? He probably only cared about her because of Haohao.


    ¡°Older sister Wan-er, you don¡¯t need to address her by her name. That peasant woman is truly skillful. Hadn¡¯t the marquis gone to her courtyard several times this month?¡± Nie Chenyun lightly harrumphed and said, ¡°How many times has hee to our ces?¡±


    Wen Wan paused before smiling and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you Madam¡¯s legitimate younger sister? Why don¡¯t you ask your older sister to share some favor with you? That way your courtyard won¡¯t be so lonely.¡±


    At the mention of this, Nie Chenyu became angrier. She had already heard these words several times, but Nie Sangyu still hadn¡¯t sent the marquis to favor her. What a stupid woman that couldn¡¯t tell good from bad.


    Back in the Nie Residence, she had been the true legitimate daughter. Her clothes and food hadn¡¯t been worse than Nie Sangyu¡¯s, but she had still disliked her. Why did her biological older brother treat Nie Sangyu so well, but not her? Why had her father been so pampering towards Nie Sangyu and given her such a good marriage? She was his daughter too, but she had entered this household as only an ordinary concubine.


    In this lifetime, Nie Sangyu was the person that she despised the most.

 Chapter 252 - Competing for my husband and lords heart (1)

    Chapter 252 ¨C Competing for my husband and lord¡¯s heart (1)


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s mother had been a vixen, and she had given birth to another vixen, Nie Sangyu. This is what her own mother had been telling her since she was a child. Even though Nie Sangyu¡¯s biological mother was her mother¡¯s older sister, her mother had always hated her older sister for an unknown reason.


    For now, she wouldn¡¯t concern herself with grudges of the previous generation. Right now, she was in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate and had to figure out a way to change her fortune despite Nie Sangyu oppressing her.


    ¡°Older sister Wan-<i>er</i>, Chenyu has something she needs your help with.¡± Nie Chenyu turn her body to face Wen Wan. Holding Wen Wan¡¯s hand in hers and slowly swing it back and forth, she asked, ¡°Older sister Wan-<i>er</i>, can you give younger sister a chance the next time Marquis Moyues to Qiangwei Courtyard?¡±


    A chance? Wen Wan¡¯s inwardly felt slightly displeased, but Nie Chenyu had always beening over here and cajoling her into improving her mood. Nie Chenyu was a sweet-talker that knew how to pander. Although she was a member of Nie n, her position wasn¡¯t as firm as Nie Sangyu.


    After considering it over, Wen Wan smiled and said, ¡°If you want topete for the marquis¡¯s favor, I can naturally help you. I know best what type of woman the marquis likes. But, how will you repay me?¡±


    Nie Chenyu¡¯s eyes brightened. Overjoyed, she asked, ¡°Older sister, how do you want me to repay you?¡±


    She hadn¡¯t made the wrong decision in following after Wen Wan. If she had followed the imperial noble consort¡¯s instruction of being loyal to Nie Sangyu, she would have no hope of being favored by the marquis. Inwardly feeling very happy, she impatiently waited for Wen Wan to answer.


    Wen Wan pretended to contemte for a while, then she smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m really curious about Madam¡¯s past. Since there¡¯s nothing better to do in the estate, tell me about Madam¡¯s past. If you do, I guarantee that the marquis will favor you more than once.¡±


    This was quite simple, ah. Nie Chenyu giggled and said, ¡°Older sister you truly care about young sister. You won¡¯t put younger sister in a difficult spot. I know information that can be used against Nie Sangyu. Once the marquis favors me, younger sister will tell older sister anything that you want to know.¡±


    A trace of disdain shed through Wen Wan¡¯s eyes, but she was still smiling as she said, ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡ª


    By chance, Marquis Moyu came over to Qiangwei Courtyard that night. He had originally been a bit tired and just wanted to say a few words to Wen Wan before sleeping. But, when he pushed open the doors and entered the room, it was pitch-ck.


    There was the fragrance of burning incense in the room, and the mood was very good. A beam of moonlight came through the window, and he could faintly see a figure flipping her hand on the red silk sheet to expose her beautiful skin that had been hidden.


    A woman¡¯s voice murmured, ¡°My Lord ¡ª ¡±


    Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t a man that practiced asceticism. All of the women in this household belonged to him, so there wasn¡¯t any reason why he couldn¡¯t sleep with a specific one. Still, he felt slightly cranky. He hade here to look for Wen Wan, but she had pushed another women to him.


    Although he knew that the woman on the bed wasn¡¯t Wen Wan, he still favored her. He appreciated clever women, but he had never appreciated a smart aleck. If she wanted to y with him, then there wouldn¡¯t be a way for her fix things once she started regretting her choices.


    ¡ª


    After one night of entanglement, Nie Chenyu felt as if her waist was going to snap apart. The next day, when the sun was already high in the sky, she still hadn¡¯t awakened and was drowsily asleep in Wen Wan¡¯s bed.


    When Wen Wan entered the room, her expression was slightly ugly. she had the servants wake Nie Chenyu up and help her get dressed.


    ¡°Thank you so much, older sister Wan-<i>er</i>.¡± Seeing Nie Chenyu¡¯s satisfied smile and the colorful marks on her body, Wen Wan felt as if a knife had stabbed her heart.


    ¡°No need, go back to your room to rest first. That way, it¡¯ll be more convenient to treat your injuries too.¡±


    Still smiling, Nie Chenyu stood up. But her legs wobbled, and she needed a group of servant girls to support her as they put on her clothes for her and brought her back to her Luoyan Courtyard.


    It could only be said that she didn¡¯t know how to conduct herself. She had borrowed the marquis¡¯s favor for Wen Wan to be favored herself, so she should be behaving more low-key. Wen Wan felt very angered just by looking at Nie Chenyu¡¯s overly conspicuous smile.


    ¡ª


    However, after this one night, it seemed as if Marquis Moyu had changed his taste. He didn¡¯t go Qiangwei Courtyard again. Every time he passed by Qiangwei Courtyard, he would head straight to Luoyan Courtyard.


    It seemed that Nie Chenyu was being quite favored. Although she was still just a concubine, the marquis went over to her ce every day when he had time. Even on nights where he didn¡¯t stay over, he would go there to eat dinner with her.


    As a result, the servants in the marquis¡¯s estate acted pragmatically and their treatment of Nie Chenyu was on par with the treatment of a main wife¡¯s. Nie Chenyu¡¯s spoke with much more confidence.


    When Ji Man brought over this month¡¯s material for fabric for each courtyard, Nie Chenyu said with a disdainful expression, ¡°This material is worse that what the servants wear in Nie Residence. Madam, can¡¯t you do a better job with selecting? Young sister is someone that has to see the marquis every day.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°These are the rules and standards of this estate. It¡¯s a little too excessive to say this is worse than what Nie Residence¡¯s servant girls wear. Most people can¡¯t afford to wear silk fabric.¡±


    Nie Chenyu lightly harrumphed. She looked at her in askance, ¡°Madam, are you feeling jealous of Chenyu?¡±


    Utterly baffled, Ji Man asked, ¡°What¡¯s there to be jealous about?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel resentful that the marquis favors me so much?¡± Nie Chenyu giggled. She picked up the silk fabric on the table and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t resent me, then you wouldn¡¯t send over this type of silk fabric. You¡¯re doing this so that I won¡¯t have beautiful clothing to wear in front of the marquis.¡±


    In a person¡¯s life, you¡¯re bound to meet a couple of idiots. It would be a waste of your saliva to argue with them.


    Ji Man smiled as she shook her head and said, ¡°If you aren¡¯t satisfied with this, then go to the storehouse with money to pick out the fabric that you want. Steward Qian manages the storehouse. You can take whatever you want, but you have to pay the original cost. Otherwise, there would be anarchy if everyoneined and insisted on having the best.¡±


    Nie Chenyu definitely wasn¡¯tcking in money. Not even mentioning the other items, just counting the gold bars, she had a box full of them from the dowry that her mother had secretly prepared. It was just that most people didn¡¯t know about it. Nie Sangyu thought that she didn¡¯t have money? Nie Chenyu sneered.


    That afternoon, she brought money to the storehouse and exchanged it for arge pile of fabric.


    Taking the money, Steward Qian didn¡¯t say any extra words. Although Nie Chenyu had taken the most expensive type of fabrics, she had given enough money for them.


    However, after the fabric was made into clothing and Nie Chenyu ostentatiously paraded herself in them, a problem arrived.


    There should be a difference in treatment between superiors and inferiors. So, wasn¡¯t it a bit improper for an ordinary concubine to dress like a main wife?


    The people that saw Nie Chenyu silently grumbled this, but since she was favored by the marquis and also the main wife¡¯s younger sister, no one dare to say these thoughts aloud.


    Trantor Ramblings: It feels more like they¡¯repeting for his body. Oh Ning Yuxuan, you¡¯re like a piece ofmodity that¡¯s being traded among your harem members. Too bad for Wen Wan that she never learns for long that Ning Yuxuan hates it when she does something like this.

 Chapter 253 - Competing for my husband and lords heart (2)

    Chapter 253 ¨C Competing for my husband and lord¡¯s heart (2)


    ¡°Nie Sangyu has beencking in etiquette since she was young. She¡¯s always liked seducing my older brother too.¡±


    Sitting in Qiangwei Courtyard, Nie Chenyu hade here to follow through with her half of the agreement to tell about Nie Sangyu¡¯s past.


    Wen Wan cast a nce at her clothes and adornment before quietly listening to her.


    Twisting the handkerchief in her hand and with a face full of resentment, Nie Chenyu said, ¡°My older brother always sided with her and protected her, but she was always offending my mother and speaking rudely. Who knows how her mother taught her?¡±


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t interested in this. Waving her hand, she said, ¡°What was the information that could be used against her?¡±


    Nie Chenyu looked left and right before whispering, ¡°Nie Sangyu is a shameless person. Before she got married, she would frequently leave home to go out to y. One time she didn¡¯t return until the next day. I heard that she had gotten separated from my older brother and spent the time alone with a man. No one else knows about this. My older brother had only told me and threatened me with keeping it a secret from our mother.¡±


    Wen Wan raised her eyebrows. This was already something that happened several years ago. Could this really be considered ckmail material? Still, spending a night with a man was something that could ruin a woman¡¯s reputation. So Nie Sangyu had hidden this matter and that was how she was able to marry Marquis Moyuter?


    ¡°Who was that man? Do you know?¡± Wen Wan asked.


    Nie Chenyu shook her head. ¡°How could I know this?¡±


    Wen Wan looked at her in disappointment. She shouldn¡¯t have believed in her. Don¡¯t even mention that she had given away Yuxuan¡¯s favor to her, but she hadn¡¯t even gotten any useful information in return.


    Looking at Nie Chenyu¡¯s prideful expression now that she had gotten power, Wen Wan was in a bad mood. After exchanging a few more words, she let her leave.


    Wen Wan felt fretful. It really wasn¡¯t an easy thing to overturn Nie Sangyu.


    Standing by her side, Tanxiang said, ¡°Master, is there any need in asking about her past? It¡¯s only natural that Nie Sangyu hasn¡¯t messed up too badly before. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t be able to act so arrogantly for so long. If she hasn¡¯t done anything bad, won¡¯t it be fine if you just get her to do something bad now?¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Wen Wan somewhat helplessly rubbed her handkerchief. ¡°If I act so viciously, I¡¯m afraid that Yuxuan will despise me in the same way that he used to despise her.¡±


    ¡°Master, do you still not understand? Kind-hearted people can¡¯t survive in this household. If you want something, then you need topete for it.¡±


    Wen Wan fell silent.


    ¡ª


    Returning from the imperial court, Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t take a carriage back. Instead, he slowly walked. He found out today that his father had selected a main wife for him. She was Prince Gong¡¯s daughter. Although he had never met her, he heard that she didn¡¯t know the Four Schrly Arts, her adherence to etiquette was very poor, and she was very arrogant and rude. He didn¡¯t understand why his father had chosen a woman like this to be his wife.


    Still, he wasn¡¯t young anymore. If he had to marry a woman and settle down, he could... try to amodate it.


    Just as he was absorbed in thinking about this, there was suddenly a figure in front of him that hadn¡¯t notice him and ended up bumping into him.


    Wearing a cloak, Wen Wan hurriedly bowed and said, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows. ¡°Why is it you?¡±


    He had always had a good impression of Wen Wan because he hadn¡¯t seen her shady side. This woman knew how to write, and her fragile appearance made people feel tenderness towards her. If it wasn¡¯t... he might have liked this type of woman.


    Wen Wan seemed to have recognized him. She wryly smiled and said, ¡°So it¡¯s Young Master. Wan-<i>er</i> is sorry for bumping into you.¡±


    ¡°Why did youe out by yourself?¡± Finding the situation strange, Ning Mingjie looked around.


    Wen Wan sadly smiled and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is just a servant. If Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯te out by myself, then should there be someone with me to protect me? Young Master, if you aren¡¯t busy, do you want to go to a nearby teahouse with Wan-er?¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly nodded.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Last time at the pce banquet, a lot of people praised you for your dancing. Why do you still seem unhappy today?¡± Ning Mingjie asked another question.


    Wen Wan lowered her head before finally sighing and saying, ¡°It¡¯s probably because Wan<i>-er</i> shone too brightly that time. After we returned home, Madam wouldn¡¯t let the marquis raise Wan-<i>er</i>¡¯s status. Wan-er is still only a servant.¡±


    Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows. ¡°Didn¡¯t you give birth to a son?¡±


    ¡°So what if I did?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s eyes reddened. ¡°Even my child was taken away by Madam. Even though I gave birth to that child, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±


    Seeing that she seemed to have a lot of grievance that she wanted to spill out, Ning Mingjie looked at the sky, stood up, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk on another day. It¡¯s not early anymore. If we keeping talking, it might be snowing by the time we¡¯re done.¡±


    Wen Wan paused. She nodded and wanted to stand up, but her foot suddenly wobbled and she fell towards Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie stretched his hand out to support her. Slightly frowning, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Wen Wan hurriedly endured her pain and stood up straight, only to end up gasping as she said, ¡°It¡¯s nothing... I just sprained my foot.¡±


    ¡°Can you still go back without seeing a doctor first?¡±


    Wen Wan forced a smile. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    Looking at how her foot was in so much pain that she had to keep it raised, Ning Mingjie hired a carriage to bring her back to the marquis¡¯s estate even though he thought this wasn¡¯t a good idea.


    ¡°You can stop at the back gate,¡± Wen Wan said to the driver.


    When they arrived at the back gate, Wen Wan was in so much pain that she couldn¡¯t get off the carriage. Herrge eyes gleamed with tears as she looked at Ning Mingjie.

 Chapter 254 - It isnt easy being the matriarch of this family (1)

    Chapter 254 ¨C It isn¡¯t easy being the matriarch of this family (1)


    Ning Mingjie silently looked at Wen Wan, but he didn¡¯t make any move towards carrying her. He only asked, ¡°How about I tell the carriage driver to call over your servant girls?¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s eyes dimmed. She said in a low voice, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is just a servant girl herself. How can I be that fragile and pampered? I¡¯ll just walk by myself.¡±


    After saying this, she stood up. As she was passing by Ning Mingjie to get off the carriage, she was in too much pain and fell on top of him. Her pretty face turned red. Biting her lip, she seemed as if she was angry with herself for behaving so stupidly.


    Ning Mingjie stretched his hand out to help her up and out of the carriage, but he did this in a very proper manner; he only lent an arm to support her.


    ¡°Thank you... Wan-<i>er</i> is so useless...¡± There were tears in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes as she quietly said, ¡°No wonder Yuxuan has been giving me the cold shouldertely. If only I could be as clever and witty as Madam...¡±


    Ning Mingjie paused before chuckling. ¡°Everyone is different. Someone like Sangyu, there can only be one.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression became somewhat ugly.


    Noticing that he had been indiscreet, Ning Mingjie added, ¡°Miss Wen, you have your good points too.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, you don¡¯t need to praise Wan-<i>er</i>. Wan-<i>er</i> knows that she¡¯s not praiseworthy.¡± Wen Wan leaned her entire body weight onto Ning Mingjie¡¯s hand and moved one foot forward. In order to keep her from falling, he could only follow her forward.


    Wen Wan entered the estate through the back gate. The sky was gloomy, and a momentter, it started snowing as Ning Mingjie had predicted earlier. By the time the two of them had walked to Qiangwei Courtyard, their shoulders had already be wet from the snow that had melted.


    ¡°Young Master, you should stay over in one of the southern courtyards,¡± Wen Wan quietly said, ¡°The snow is getting heavier, and your home is far from here. Wan-<i>er</i> will have someone tidy up a ce for you to stay.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was used to staying in the marquis¡¯s estate. Looking at the weather, he pursed his lips and nodded.


    Tanxiang went to the southern part of the estate and tidied up a ce for him to stay the night.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had just finished eating dinner and was continuing her embroidery for a picture that depicted Wan Zhaojun¡¯s journey.


    (T/N: Wang Zhaojun is known as one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. She was sent to the northwest by Emperor Yuan to marry the leader of Xiongnu¡¯s ruling n.)


    Dengxin scurried into the room and quietly said, ¡°Master, there a dispute in the kitchen. Chunfeng took Mistress Zheng¡¯s swallow¡¯s nest soup, and a fight broke out between her and Luqiao. This servant passed by and lectured them, but this servant didn¡¯t know that Chunfeng would go back and tell Xia-<i>shi</i> this matter. That Xia-<i>shi</i> is alwayscking in manners. She went to the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and flipped over the simmering swallow¡¯s nest soup.¡±


    Dengxin¡¯s words painted a vivid scene and Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing. Xia-<i>shi</i> was outspoken and had a peasant woman¡¯s shrewish spirit. It was amusing to hear that she would actually knock over the swallow¡¯s nest soup.


    ¡°Master, how can you beughing about this?¡± Dengxin lightly stamped her feet. ¡°They looked like they¡¯re about to start a fight when this servant left.¡±


    Putting down her embroidery, Ji Man stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s cold outside. Bring me a hand warmer before we go out. What¡¯s the big deal? It¡¯s just a bowl of swallow¡¯s nest soup. Let¡¯s walk slowly. There¡¯s no need to feel anxious.¡±


    Dengxin let out a sound of surprise, but she still swiftly brought a fox-lined cloak and hand warmer to her master. When they went outside, she urged her master to walk faster as she held up an umbre.


    This servant girl still had a vivacious personality. Back when Gancao had just passed, Dengxin¡¯s eyes were full of hate. At the time, Ji Man had been worried that these extreme emotions would linger. Seeing that she had returned to her lively self, it alleviated Ji Man¡¯s worries.


    However, when they reached the kitchen, the situation was truly very tense. Muxu had arrived here before them. She and Xia-<i>shi</i> had dragged their fight towards the doorway. Xia-<i>shi</i> was very strong. Pressing Muxu down, she swore, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a heartless person like you before. It¡¯s just a bowl of stuff, and you want me to kneel outside in the middle of winter for it? If someone is going to be kneeling, it¡¯ll be you!¡±


    Muxu was so angry that her face was red. The nearby servants hade over to pull Xia-<i>shi</i> away, but she still sessfully kicked Muxu several times before they could drag her away.


    ¡°You really have no respect for the difference in treatment between superiors and inferiors,¡± Muxu angrily said, ¡°You think you¡¯re a master just because you brought back a bastard? How dare you hit me for telling you to kneel? I¡¯m going to beat you to death today. Who will dare to say that I¡¯m wrong in doing this?!¡±


    Luqiao pulled Xia-<i>shi</i> up and pped her on both cheeks. Seeing this sight, Chunfeng and Muyu were extremely nervous and hurriedly went forward to pull Luqiao away. Pushing and shoving, they ended up bumping into Nie Sangyu on her way inside. She tripped on the doorstep and fell over.


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    As expected, you should always stay far away when women were fighting.


    ¡°Master!¡± Dengxin hurriedly helped her up, then she turned her head and shouted at the morous group, ¡°All of you, stop!¡±


    Muxu and Xia-<i>shi</i> both paused. Looking at the doorway, both of them were startled. Muxu hastily came over to support Nie Sangyu. Xia-<i>shi</i> felt somewhat embarrassed and stood in ce as she fidgeted.


    Her butt really hurt, but Ji Man had to maintain the appearance of a main wife, so she put on a stern expression as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s worth the two of you causing such a fuss and even started fighting? Do you think this is a vegetable market? ¡±


    On the side, the duck that had been hanged upside down innocently quacked a few times.


    Feeling very wronged, Muxu said, ¡°Madam, please give me justice. What right did she have in taking this servant¡¯s swallow¡¯s nest soup? Just because Luqiao scolded her servant girl a little bit, that woman dared to hit me!¡±


    Unwilling to ept Muxu¡¯s words, Xia-<i>shi</i> said, ¡°Didn¡¯t she return that swallow¡¯s nest soup? Why did you servant girl still insist on pping her? Isn¡¯t she still a person too? Why shouldn¡¯t I be able to p someone back for her?¡±


    Outraged, Muxu said, ¡°You undisciplined...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°Both of you take a step back. Causing such a fuss over a bowl of swallow¡¯s nest soup. People might start thinking that the marquis¡¯s estate is poor. Zheng-<i>er</i>, send someone over to Feiwan Courtyard. Dengxin will replenish your supply.¡±


    Unwilling to ept this, Muxu said, ¡°Madam, didn¡¯t you say that the rules for hierarchy have to be upheld in this household? Xia-<i>shi</i> is only an ordinary concubine, and she offended her superior. She hit this servant in front of so many people. Madam, are you really going to settle the matter in this manner?¡±

 Chapter 255 - It isnt easy being the matriarch of this family (2)

    Chapter 255 ¨C It isn¡¯t easy being the matriarch of this family (2)


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but Muxu seemed to be especially dissatisfied with Xia-<i>shi</i>. Ji Man couldn¡¯t just straightforwardly tell Muxu that Xia-<i>shi</i> was someone that the marquis cared about. If it was a person that the marquis cared about, it was a bad idea to provoke that other person, no matter what her status was. Why did Muxu insist on shing with Xia-<i>shi</i>?


    ¡°After I think of a punishment, I¡¯ll let all of you know.¡± Ji Man rubbed her forehead and said, ¡°For now, don¡¯t keep standing here. You should all go back to your ces. It¡¯s not early anymore.¡±


    Even though Muxu was extremely unwilling, she could only salute Madam and leave this ce with Luqiao.


    Ji Man sighed. Pulling Xia-<i>shi</i> along, she asked, ¡°How¡¯s Haohao?¡±


    At the mentioned of Haohao, Xia-<i>shi</i> softened considerably. Her lips twitched as she said, ¡°He was sleeping when I left. He¡¯s not like those delicate young masters that cry all day and night. He¡¯s very well-behaved.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go with you and take a look for myself.¡± Ji Man pressed her hands behind her aching back. It wasn¡¯t easy being the matriarch of this family. She had to be fair and just in her decisions and be close with everyone while not being too close. She had to say kind words in front of everyone while still maintaining the dignity and authority of a matriarch. This job was really too difficult.


    Her recent fall had felt somewhat painful, and she couldn¡¯t tell if the injury had been serious. Right now, that spot didn¡¯t feel too painful as she was walking. When she went back to Feiwan Courtyard, it should be fine after she had Dengxin rub that spot for her.


    After arriving at Cailian Courtyard, she held Haohao, who had already fully recovered from the poisoning. The little fellow nkly looked at her. A bubble of snivel came from his nose as he giggled.


    Ji Man¡¯s mood finally improved a bit. Soon after telling Xia-<i>shi</i> that needed to respect her superiors and couldn¡¯t offend them, she decided to go back to her own courtyard.


    It waste evening, and Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t said where he would be staying tonight. He might being to Feiwan Courtyard, so it would be best if she went back earlier.


    After taking a few steps out of Cain Courtyard, she passed by the guest quarters that were located in the southern part of the estate. After Marquis Jingwen¡¯s family had left, this spaced had been left empty. Ji Man inadvertently cast a nce in that direction and was surprised to see litnterns.


    Ji Man asked Dengxin, ¡°Who came over for a visit?¡±


    Dengxin shook her head. ¡°This servant didn¡¯t hear that there would be a guest today.¡±


    Then, how could there be litnterns? The night was dark, and the only light came from the room that Ning Mingjie had stayed inst time.


    A chill went up Ji Man¡¯s spine. She clutched her cloak closer and started walking away.


    From the side, Tanxiang¡¯s crisp voice called out to stop her, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man paused her step.


    Seeing someoneing over and finding it strange, Dengxin asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Tanxiang came over, saluted, and obediently answered, ¡°The marquis is drunk. After reached the southern part of the estate, he started throwing up and made a huge mess. This servant could only have the marquis stay here for the night. Mistress Wan isn¡¯t feeling well and won¡¯t be able to attend to him tonight. Madam, since you happen to be here, you should help take care of the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was drunk? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. How could such person that was so cool-headed and self-controlled person get drunk?


    Right after taking another step, a sharp jolt of pain came from her lower back. Holding her waist, Ji Man gasped as she broke out in cold sweat from the pain.


    ¡°Madam, did you hurt your waist?¡± Tanxiang hurriedly came over to support her and said to Dengxin, ¡°There¡¯s soup for sobering up in the southern kitchen. Older sister Dengxin, you can go get it. This servant will help Madam inside.¡±


    As she was saying this, she was already leading Nie Sangyu towards the room.


    Dengxin didn¡¯t think anything of it and immediately left to get the soup. Ji Man felt there was something off about the situation, but her waist felt too painful for her to clearly think. And, since Tanxiang was still here, there probably wouldn¡¯t be anything too bad inside. And so, she allowed herself to be led into the room.


    She was also pretty curious what Marquis Moyu looked like when he was drunk.


    Right after Ji Man sat down, Tanxiang left to fetch tea. After Tanxiang closed the doors on her way out, there was a soft thudding sound. Ji Man was rubbing her waist, so she didn¡¯t hear. A whileter, after the pain had lessened, she heard a surprise voice. ¡°Sangyu?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart skipped a beat. When she turned around, she saw Ning Mingjie, who had walked out from behind the divider.


    In an instant, shes of drama fragments shed through her mind. Ji Man¡¯s first reaction was to jump up and pull at the doors. For a moment, she had even forgotten about her waist injury.


    The doors had been locked on the outside with a padlock. Ji Man wryly smiled; what a predicament.


    What a tant way to frame someone. If a woman was charged with infidelity, she would be drowned in a bamboo cage. She almost couldn¡¯t believe that she had fallen into this trap. Tanxiang was certainly very bold. This was clearly letting her know who wanted to harm her. And yet, it didn¡¯t matter. If people found out about her being alone with Ning Mingjie at night, they wouldn¡¯t believe her innocence even if she had a hundred mouths to defend herself with.


    Ji Man turned her head and somewhat despairingly looked at Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t stupid. After seeing her reaction, he brought over a nearby stool and used it to jump onto the upper part of a window ledge, then he jumped again and smoothlynded onto one of the beams of the room. Watching his swift and elegant movements, Ji Man was astonished.


    She quickly helpfully moved the stool far away. Feeling another sh of agony, Ji Man sat back down as she grimaced in pain.


    There was a jingling sound from the lock outside. Ji Man didn¡¯t bother standing up to try to open the doors. Her hand was still clutching her lower back, and her face showed the pain that she was feeling.


    As Marquis Moyu casually followed after Tanxiang, he asked, ¡°Why would she be here?¡±


    Tanxiang said in a worried tone, ¡°This servant saw Madam entering here, but she didn¡¯te out. Perhaps, she was feeling ufortable...¡±


    When Tanxiang raised her head, she was shocked. She looked around in surprise. Where was he?


    After walking a few steps into the room, Ning Yuxuan saw Nie Sangyu¡¯s pained expression. He chuckled and asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°This servant fell down in the kitchen when this servant went over there to resolve something.¡± While Ji Man was saying this, she curiously looked at him, ¡°My lord, aren¡¯t you suppose to be drunk? Tanxiang led this servant into this room by saying that you needed someone to take care of you because you were intoxicated.¡±

 Chapter 256 - Im a natural tsundere (1)

    Chapter 256 ¨C I¡¯m a natural tsundere (1)


    Standing nearby, Tanxiang said with an innocent-looking face, ¡°Madam, are you remembering it wrong? This servant has been in Qiangwei Courtyard this entire time. When this servant recently came out to pick a few branches of plum blossoms for Mistress Wan, this servant met the marquis, who asked where Madam was, so this servant brought him here.¡±


    Ji Man found her wordsughable. ¡°Oh? If you¡¯ve been in Qiangwei Courtyard this entire time, then how did you see me enter this room?¡±


    Tanxiang paused. Her expression was slightly unpleasant.


    Marquis Moyu stretched his foot out and lightly kicked Nie Sangyu¡¯s stool. He chuckled and said, ¡°How can your words be so prickly when you¡¯re already in so much pain? Can you still walk?¡±


    Ji Man straightened her posture. Her lips twitched. Why was Ning Yuxuan in such a good mood today? He was even in the mood to tease her.


    ¡°Even if this servant can¡¯t walk, this servant wouldn¡¯t choose this ce to rest.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan cast a nce at the nearby bed that was neatly made up. He smiled and asked, ¡°Are you nning on sleeping here then?¡±


    Ji Man paused before drylyughing.


    Nearby, Tanxiang had already looked everywhere in the room while standing in the same spot. She mumbled to herself, ¡°Where is he?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head at Ning Yuxuan, who seemed as if he was going to pick her up. ¡°This servant still wants to ask Tanxiang something. Why did you lead me into this room for no reason? You lied to me by saying that the marquis was drunk, sent Dengxin away, and locked the doors. What were you nning?¡±


    Tanxiang froze for a moment. Ning Yuxuan looked at her with a baffled expression.


    Dengxin came into the room. Seeing that Marquis Moyu was perfectly fine, she said in surprise, ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t the marquis supposed to be drunk? Has he already recovered? This servant looked in the southern kitchen for a long time, but couldn¡¯t find the sobering soup. Tanxiang, where do you leave it?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused. He looked around the room, and his gaze was somewhat sharp when it fell on Tanxiang.


    Tanxiang slightly trembled. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°What sobering soup? This servant only led the marquis here to look for Madam and doesn¡¯t know anything else, ah.¡±


    Ji Man pretended to inadvertently look up at the ceiling. The person hidden on the beam was watching this lively show. Such a big person, Marquis Moyu would definitely see him if he looked up.


    ¡°Never mind, there¡¯s no need to pursue this matter. Just treat it as this servant misunderstanding Tanxiang.¡± Ji Man stretched both of her hands out at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°This servant can¡¯t walk by myself. My lord, this servant will have to trouble you for help.¡±


    Marquis Moyu raised his eyebrows. He went over and wanted to carry her in princess carry, but she was injured at her waist. If he carried her that way, it would feel like her waist was being twisted into two pieces. After thinking it over, Ning Yuxuan decided to just carry her as if she was a baby. Face to face, with his hand under her butt instead of her knees, he lifted her up.


    Nie Sangyu was a bit thin-skinned, and her face turned red.


    This position... It was really... too indecent.


    Tanxiang and Dengxin were both stunned, but Ning Yuxuan was very calm.


    Without any expression on his face, he said, ¡°Bring over Madam¡¯s cloak.¡±


    Dengxin hurriedly brought over the cloak and covered up her master so that this indecent position was hidden.


    Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°My lord, you¡¯re really working hard.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned around and started walking out. ¡°You¡¯re quite heavy.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    It was still snowing outside, so she tucked her head against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest. Wrapped up in the warm cloak, she suddenly felt very at ease.


    Dengxin had originally wanted toe closer to shield her master from the snow with an umbre. But, holding the umbre, for an inexplicable reason, she didn¡¯t dare toe closer to them.


    Strangely, Marquis Moyu was walking very slowly. Even though he had said she was heavy, he wasn¡¯t willing to walk faster and return to Feiwan Courtyard sooner.


    Ji Man sighed. With her face against his chest, she asked, ¡°Are you just a tsundere, ah?¡±


    She could feel the sound vibration in his ribcage as he asked, ¡°What does tsundere mean?¡± Her ears felt a bit tingly.


    Not showing the slightest sign of blushing, Ji Man said, ¡°Tsundere means... valiantly handsome and elegantly unrestrained.¡±


    (T/N: Tsundere is a Japanese word used to describe a character that starts off as cold and arrogant, but bes sweet and affectionate when he or she fall in love.)


    Ning Yuxuan seemed as if he was suddenly enlightened. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of this term before. But, it¡¯s interesting word. I¡¯m a natural tsundere.¡±


    The sound of muffledughter came from Ji Man, but it was followed by acute pain that caused her to gasp several times.


    Marquis Moyu felt that this woman was sometimes an odd, unfathomable mystery. And yet, holding her like this, it felt nice and warm. He actually wanted to walk a little bit longer like this.


    Dengxin had look at Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s sign three times already and finally couldn¡¯t resist calling out, ¡°My lord...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan only responded with an ¡°En.¡± It was only when he felt that the person in his arms had fallen asleep and his arms were feeling numb that he finally walked into Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡°Why did she fall today?¡±


    ¡°Xia-<i>shi</i> and Honored Concubine Zheng were fighting in the kitchen. My master ended up being identally pushed by someone when she went over there.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re certainly being troublesome enough. Bring over the liniment.¡±


    ¡°Understood... should this servant apply it?


    ¡°No need.¡±


    While Ji Man was still half-asleep, she felt her clothes being taken off. It felt a bit cold. Then, a nicely scented and warm quilt covered her, and someone was gently rubbing the painful spot between her waist and lower back. Very quickly, she fell into a deep sleep.


    ¡ª


    The next day, when she woke up, the first thing she saw was Marquis Moyu¡¯s expressionless face.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the imperial court.¡±


    ¡°This servant will respectfully send my lord off.¡± With one hand supporting her waist, she helped him change his clothes.


    When she went to rub her waist, she noticed that it felt much better, so her mood became pretty good.


    After sending away this great Buddha, Ji Man went to the neighboring room to visit Xi-er, then she went to y with the toddy cat in the backyard.


    The toddy cat was already pretty big. It had a fur coat that alternated between ck and gray, as well as a pair of beautiful, deep, yellow eyes.


    Dengxin had once asked her master what would be a good name for this toddy cat.


    After thinking it over, Ji Man said, ¡°Let¡¯s call it Big Meow.¡±


    Dengxin had always thought that her master was a very talented and artistically inclined woman. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have named this ce Feiwan Courtyard orpose so many wonderful poems. And so, she thought that her master would give this toddy cat a poetic name too.


    But, with a totally serious expression, she had actually said to call it Big Meow.


    Dengxin sighed. Every day, she collected bones and meat from the kitchen to feed Big Meow.

 Chapter 257 - Im a natural tsundere (2)

    Chapter 257 ¨C I¡¯m a natural tsundere (2)


    Ji Man stroked Big Meow¡¯s fur. Her smile seemed a bit mncholy.


    Big Meow looked at her, sweetly rubbed against her hand, and let out a meow.


    ¡°This cat looks pretty simr to the cats from where Ie from,¡± said the voice behind her. She didn¡¯t have to turn around to know that it was Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    Ji Man turned her head. Xia-<i>shi</i> was currently holding Haohao. With a grin, she said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that Madam would raise such an ordinary cat. Back home, everyone said that the cats raised by rich families had very long fur and eye colors that didn¡¯t match the other one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just raising it because I want to,¡± Ji Man simply responded. She looked behind Xia-<i>shi</i>. It seemed that Dengxin had left to do something, so that was why she hadn¡¯t announced there was someone that wanted to see her. And Xia-<i>shi </i>had just casually entered Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s backyard while holding her baby.


    ¡°It¡¯s cold out. Be careful that Haohao doesn¡¯t get sick. Let¡¯s go inside,¡± Ji Man said.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> uttered a sound of assent and went into the main room. As soon as she sat down, she casually put Haohao down on Nie Sangyu¡¯s bed and stretched her hands towards the brazier to warm herself up.


    ¡°Its so much colder here than where Ie from. The falling snowkes are so big here.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> sniffled and said, ¡°It¡¯s only the rooms that are so warm that it feels like summer.¡±


    Ji Man sat down on the other side. A servant girl brought over hot tea, and they saw Xia-<i>shi</i> treating this ce like an outdoor tea stall. She removed the lid on the teacup and slurped a mouthful from the teacup like she was drinking soup from a bowl. After that, she exhaled a warm breath of air.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing. Right now, Xia-<i>shi¡¯s</i> manner reminded of herself when she had been a dog-tired college student. Every day, after she returned to her dorm, she would curl herself around her parabolic heater and hold a cup of hot tea as she shivered.


    Hearing herughing, Xia-<i>shi</i> felt somewhat embarrassed and said, ¡°Madam, do you think I don¡¯t know any manners either?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ji Man shook her head. ¡°I wasn¡¯tughing at you. I was just remembering something from the past and thought it was funny.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> pursed her lips and said, ¡°It¡¯s no big deal if you¡¯reughing at me. I¡¯ve already gotten used to beingughed at. Back when I was in my vige, everyone would beughing at me to my face. Now that I¡¯m here, there are a lot of peopleughing at me behind my back. If I was bothered by something like this, I would have given up on living a long time ago.¡±


    She was certainly open-minded and magnanimous.


    Ji Man had also originally thought Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s manners were too crude. But after hearing these words, she felt closer to her.


    ¡°How did you meet the marquis?¡±


    Feeling nice and toasty now, Xia-<i>shi</i> brightly smiled as she said, ¡°I¡¯m from a small fishing vige. After my husband died, everyone was always pushing me and ming me. The marquis happened to pass by my small vige and...¡± After saying to this point, realizing that it wasn¡¯t okay to continue, Xia-<i>shi</i> hurriedly said, ¡°Bah. The marquis doesn¡¯t want me to bring up that old story.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned. Xia-<i>shi</i> had been a widow? Ning Yuxuan¡¯s taste was certainly heavy enough, ah. Didn¡¯t all men from ancient times have a virginplex? He was actually able to do that with a widow...


    Oh, she had forgotten. There was also another type of woman that men really liked, a motherly figure.


    Ji Man looked at Xia-<i>shi</i> with aplicated gaze for a long time. Really, her life hadn¡¯t been easy. In ancient times, there was a lot of societal pressure towards a woman that married for the second time. It was rare to see someone like her that could still be smiling so easily in her situation.


    ¡°The marquis told me to frequentlye here with Haohao so that you¡¯ll feel closer to him,¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> mumbled, ¡°But, Madam, don¡¯t you already have a child? How can you still like Haohao too?¡±


    Marquis Moyu had really put a lot of thought into this. This woman was like a simple-minded vige girl. If he didn¡¯t push Xia-<i>shi</i> under her protection, Xia-<i>shi</i> really wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for long in this household.


    ¡°Xi-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t my biological son either. As the matriarch of this family, as long as the child is the marquis¡¯s, I¡¯ll like him or her.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> stared at her for a moment before saying, ¡°I still like my own child the most.¡±


    Is there any mother in the world that didn¡¯t love her own child the most? At the mention of this painful subject, Ji Man lowered her eyes.


    But, Haohao, who had been ced on the bed nearby, suddenly started gurgling happily.


    ¡°Such a good child.¡± Ji Man picked him up from the bed and gentle poked his little face. ¡°Xi-<i>er</i> is always crying so much every day. It¡¯s only Haohao that¡¯s smiling andughing every day.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only natural. Haohao is a little bit older.¡± With her hands tucked into her sleeves and her eyes narrowed, she said, ¡°I heard there¡¯s only one baby girl in this household. Who¡¯s her mother? I haven¡¯t met them yet.¡±


    Ji Man said, ¡°Liu-<i>shi</i> is the one that gave birth to a daughter. They¡¯re in Linghan Courtyard. I¡¯m in a pretty good mood today. Let¡¯s go visit Hanyun.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Warmed up, Xia-<i>shi</i> became livelier. ¡°Is there a brazier in her ce too?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ji Man ordered the wet nurse to carry Xi-<i>er</i> while she continued to hold the happy little fellow in her arms. She didn¡¯t want to put Haohao down, so they departed the room like this.


    When they arrived at Linghan Courtyard, there wasn¡¯t a single person in the courtyard. Thinking of how she hadn¡¯te here in a long time, she felt a bit guilty and hurriedly went towards the courtyard¡¯s main room.


    ¡°Hanyun?¡±


    When she pushed open the doors, the temperature inside the room was actually the same as the outside. Ji Man frowned.


    Deeper into the room, the sound of coughing came from the bed.


    ¡°Madam?¡± Chunpi came running over. Seeing Ji Man, she hurriedly saluted. There was a fidgeting baby in her arms. Its little face didn¡¯t look very healthy.


    ¡°Where are the other servants?¡± Ji Man¡¯s expression sunk.


    Next to her, Xia-<i>shi</i> was trembling from the cold. ¡°Ah, didn¡¯t you say there would be a brazier here?¡±

 Chapter 258 - How long will the road to revolution be? (1)

    Chapter 258 ¨C How long will the road to revolution be? (1)


    Chunpi bit her lips.


    Ji Man passed by her and saw a deathly pale Liu Hanyun on the bed.


    Liu Hanyun coughed a few times before sitting up and leaning against the headboard. ¡°The weather has be colder, and the other servants are afraid of the cold, so they don¡¯t want toe here to serve. Madam, why did youe here?¡±


    Ji Man put Haohao down by her bedside. Behind her, the wet nurse walked forward and ced Xi-<i>er</i> next to Haohao. The two young babies seemed to feeling cold too. Haohao only widened his eyes. Xi-<i>er</i> wobbled his lips for a moment before bursting into tears.


    ¡°I remembered that I haven¡¯t seen you in a while. Xia-<i>shi</i> happened to be visiting, so I brought the two children along too.¡± Ji Man¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good. She turned her head and said to Dengxin, ¡°Go and tell all of Linghan Courtyard¡¯s servants toe and stand in the outside courtyard.¡±


    Dengxin left right after making a sound of assent.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> was left standing in the room and shivering. She clicked her tongue in disapproval and said, ¡°That Honored Concubine Zheng lied to me. She said there was a difference in the treatment between honored concubines and ordinary concubines. Look at this pitiful ce. Even my room has three braziers, but your room doesn¡¯t have a single one. How about I bring you two of mine?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Liu Hanyun picked up the crying Xi-<i>er</i> and gently patted him as she tried coaxing him. Hearing these words, she looked at Xia-<i>shi</i> and wryly smiled. ¡°No need. There are braziers in my courtyard too. They were just taken away.¡±


    ¡°Who took them?¡± Ji Man¡¯s expression sunk again.


    While Liu Hanyun was hesitating, Chunpi straightforwardly said, ¡°It¡¯s those older female servants. Just because they¡¯re Mistress Yu¡¯s servant girl¡¯s rtives, they dared to take away all of my master¡¯s braziers. They said that they need the braziers because they¡¯re older and more sensitive to the cold. And then, there are those other servant girls. They dare to gossip about my master behind her back. They said that my master¡¯s fortune would never be changed because she had been unlucky enough to give birth to a daughter.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. Although it was true that there would be incidents of higher rank people stepping on lower rank people inrge households, Liu Hanyun was someone that the marquis was protective of. How could this entire courtyard of servants dared to act so outrageously just because she and the marquis hadn¡¯t had the free time to visit her recently?


    ¡°Master, they¡¯re gathered outside,¡± Dengxin reported with a solemn expression after entering the room. From herplexion, it seemed that she recently had a shouting match.


    Ji Man nodded, stood up, and walked outside.


    There were four servants scattered in the courtyard: two older female servants and two lower ranking servant girls. They unwillingly stood in the courtyard with their legs shivering from the cold.


    Seeing that it was Nie Sangyu, one of the older servants smiled, approached her, and called out, ¡°Second Miss.¡±


    It really was someone from Nie Residence. When Nie Chenyu entered this household as an ordinary concubine, she had brought over many servants. Unfortunately, her status wasn¡¯t high enough, so several of her servants had been sent to work in different courtyards.


    Although Ji Man couldn¡¯t remember the name of the person standing in front of her, seeing this servant¡¯s fawning smile and the dislike in her eyes, Ji Man knew that this person was walking on a different path than her.


    Ji Man lightly asked, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s appropriate to call a married woman Miss?¡±


    Stiffed by her words, the older servant¡¯s smile disappeared. She took a step back and called out, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Looking at her, Ji Man said, ¡°I had thought it was just the marquis¡¯s household servants behaving insensibly, and the matter would be settled by punishing them. But, the group of you caused the Nie n to lose face in front of the marquis¡¯s household. People that don¡¯t know better would think that Nie n doesn¡¯t know how to manage their own servants. Otherwise, how could there be a servant like you that doesn¡¯t even know how to serve her master?¡±


    The older servant was very unsatisfied and retorted, ¡°This servant came here to serve Third Miss. How could this servant have known that I would be sent to this deste ce? When this servant went to ask for coal in the winter, they weren¡¯t even willing to give me that. The days here are far worse than when this servant was serving Third Miss.¡±


    Dengxin scowled. ¡°It¡¯s only masters that choose their servants. This is the first time this servant heard of a servant feeling disdainful towards her own master. Honored Concubine Yun had such a good temperament. It¡¯s your fortune to be chosen as her servant. How can you have the decency to say such shameful words?¡±


    The older servant weakly harrumphed a few times and mumbled, ¡°Third Miss has gained the marquis¡¯s favor. Madam, why don¡¯t you raise her status and send this servant back to her side?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t want to serve Mistress Yun, right?¡±


    The older servant looked at her and nodded.


    ¡°Alright, go and pack up your belongings.¡± Ji Man waved her hand.


    The older servant was thrilled. She hurriedly bowed and said, ¡°Thank you, Madam!¡±


    Seeing this, the other nearby servants also pleaded, ¡°We don¡¯t want to serve Mistress Yun either.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled. ¡°The rest of you can pack up your stuff too.¡±


    The servants cheered and hurriedly went to their respective rooms to pack up their possessions.


    Looking at her master¡¯s cold smile, Dengxin pursed her lips and said, ¡°This servant will go and arrange for some sensible servants toe to Linghan Courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Go.¡±


    By the time the four servants had finished packing up their stuff, Steward Qian was standing at Linghan Courtyard¡¯s entrance.


    Ji Man smiled at him and said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to bother Steward Qian with a task. Send these four servants to the back of the estate to wash clothes. The weather has gotten cold, and there aren¡¯t many servants that can wash clothes.¡±


    The four servants had originally been in high spirits. As soon as they heard these words, their expressions changed.


    Steward Qian was also stunned. ¡°Madam... This...¡±


    ¡°The marquis told me to take good care of Hanyun. It was my negligence that allowed these people toe here to serve her.¡± Ji Man continued to smile as she said to Steward Qian, ¡°If the marquis get angry and wants to punish someone, I can¡¯t afford his anger. In order to avoid these things from harming Mistress Qiling too, I have to use them as a warning against others from following their bad examples. Steward Qian, don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Steward Qian paused before nodding. He gestured for the other servants to enter the courtyard and bring those four servants away.


    ¡°Madam! Madam! Forgive this servant!¡±


    When the ringleader of the four servants had been dragged out, rm and dismay finally appeared on the other three servants. One after another, they pitifully pleaded.


    Standing by Madam¡¯s side, Chunpi said with an expression that showed she had let off steam, ¡°They¡¯re finally dealt with. Those despicable creatures. They saw that Mistress Yun has a kind temperament and took advantage of it. It would be one thing if they didn¡¯t serve her, but they actually dared to steal their master¡¯s stuff.¡±

 Chapter 259 - How long will the road to revolution be? (2)

    Chapter 259 ¨C How long will the road to revolution be? (2)


    Ji Man went back inside. Looking at Liu Hanyun, she sighed and said, ¡°You were being bullied. Why didn¡¯t you send Chunpi to look for me?¡±


    Liu Hanyun dryly smiled. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad. Back when this concubine was a servant girl myself, my winters were like this too.¡±


    Chunpi pursed her lips and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯s because those servants belonged to your younger sister, so my master was scared of offending her and didn¡¯t even dare to scold them.¡±


    Nie Chenyu was currently making quite the scene; even the servants that she had brought with her were all strutting around too.


    Ji Man lightlyughed, shook her head, and said, ¡°Just because she¡¯s my younger sister, it doesn¡¯t mean that she can ignore the rules. I won¡¯t be unfairly biased. If something like this happens again, juste and tell me. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    Liu Hanyun smiled and nodded. She was still holding Xi-<i>er</i>. Xi-<i>er</i> had already stopped crying and fallen asleep.


    ¡°That¡¯s odd.¡± Ji Man blinked and looked at the little fellow. ¡°I always have to coax him for a long time each day before he¡¯ll fall asleep. It¡¯s surprising that it only took a short amount of coaxing from you to get him to fall asleep.¡±


    Liu Hanyun was still smiling as she said, ¡°Babies respond differently to different people. Look at Yun-<i>er</i>. She likes to cry a lot too usually, but Chunpi always seeds in calming her down.¡±


    Looking at Liu Hanyun¡¯s motherly glow, Ji Man thought; she had been right. A woman that was also a mother was the most mesmerizing type. Had Ning Yuxuan developed astigmatism or nearsightedness? Otherwise, how could he like someone like Nie Chenyu?


    ¡ª


    That night, the snow stopped, but it was still very cold outside. Ji Man was informed that Ning Yuxuan would be going to Luoyuan Courtyardter tonight. And so, wrapped up in a cloak, she brought Yun-<i>er</i> with her, stood at the path that would lead to Nie Chenyu¡¯s courtyard, and waited.


    After walking closer and seeing them, Ning Yuxuan asked in a displeased tone, ¡°What are you doing here? Pretending to be a ghost?¡±


    Holding Yun-<i>er</i>, Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°If this servant had a chance to see the marquis during the day, this servant wouldn¡¯t be standing here in this ce to stop you. How long has it been since you saw Hanyun?¡±


    Marquis Moyu stopped at her side, looked at Yun-<i>er</i>, and took her from Nie Sangyu. ¡°Now that you mention it, it¡¯s about time for me to visit her.¡±


    Ji Man stretched her hand out and stroked Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s face. ¡°When I went to visit her today, there wasn¡¯t a single brazier in her room. Hanyun¡¯s face was also deathly pale. Even if Yun-er is only a daughter, she¡¯s still your flesh and blood. Look at how thin she¡¯s be. She¡¯s not even half of Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s weight. Don¡¯t you feel any pain when you see her like this?¡±


    Perhaps, it was just gics or it could be some other reason, but Yun-<i>er</i> continued to be very small and looked especially pitiful.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze softened. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°You stopped in the middle of this path because you want me to go to Linghan Courtyard, right? Aren¡¯t you worried that your younger sister will be mad at you?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten used to being the viiness. My lord, you need to hurry up and change your path. Otherwise, if other people bully Hanyun to death, you¡¯re going to me me for dragging her into this trouble.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly nodded. He nced at her one more time before turning around and heading towards Linghan Courtyard.


    Ji Man stroked her chin as she contemted. Normally, if the male lead liked someone and that person told him to favor another woman, shouldn¡¯t the male lead be very unhappy and storm off after a throwing a tantrum? As it turned out, Marquis Moyu still didn¡¯t like her then? No, that seemed wrong too. There were definitely times when she thought that he was behaving very affectionate towards her. Those moments had just felt too surreal.


    Lowering her head, she drew circles in the snow with her foot. How long will the road to revolution be?


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie had already left the marquis¡¯s estate without anyone noticing. The next time that Ji Man saw him again, it was at pce banquet that happened two dayster.


    Ning Yuxuan had specially ordered two formal outfits in matching dark purple. They looked like outfits that were meant to be worn together by a couple.


    When Ji Man received the formal dress, it was apanied by a message that told her to dress herself up properly. She would be going to the pce banquet with Ning Yuxuan.


    In ancient times, there was no such thing as couples outfits. It was probably because there would be a lot of people at the pce banquet. In order to avoid your wife identally being led away by someone else, people from the same families would wear the same color.


    Regarding this banquet, only the main wives were allowed to attend with their husbands. And so, the rest of the women in the harem were very unhappy.


    On the day of banquet, right after Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man left the estate, a huge ruckus started. Of course, that part of the story will be toldter.


    ¡ª


    Thebination of Ji Man¡¯s excellent posture and the purple dress with essories that she was wearing made the other guests feel that she had an impable demeanor. No matter who she saw, she would greet them with a faint smile, even if she absolutely had no idea who they were.


    The first prince had already been let out of house arrest. After the confinement period to reflect on his past errors had ended, he no longer had a crown prince¡¯s impressive aura anymore, but there was still a smile on his lips. When he saw Nie Sangyu from far away, he even smiled at her too.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have the slightest good impression towards him. She immediately turned her head away in response and ended up seeing her older cousin.


    Recently, the third prince was riding on the crest of sess. The emperor had bestowed him a princess from a vassal state to be his princess consort, and the imperial noble consort was doing everything she could to help her son. Ji Man estimated that it wouldn¡¯t take long before the third prince easily gained the title of crown prince.


    The third prince smiled and said, ¡°Seeing that younger cousin¡¯s life is going smoothly, I can let go of my worries.¡±


    Ji Man returned his smile. It was the same type of smile that she would show a customer.


    Seeing so many princes and princessesing and going, Ji Man couldn¡¯t distinguish who was who. However, there was one person that was very conspicuous because he was sitting in a wooden wheelchair. A golden hair essory held up his hair, and he was wearing a blue-green robe that was embroidered with serpents that had four ws.


    Following her gaze, Ning Yuxuan lightly said, ¡°That¡¯s the second prince. There¡¯s no need for you to pay extra attention to him.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: In the previous chapter, I was thinking that it¡¯s difficult for Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan to protect Liu Hanyun, because she doesn¡¯t tell them when she¡¯s being bullied. But, maybe the reason that Liu Hanyun doesn¡¯t say anything is because,¡± It wasn¡¯t that bad. Back when this concubine was a servant girl myself, my winters were like this too.¡± She¡¯s been a servant girl much longer than she¡¯s been a concubine. As Ji Man noted earlier, even after Liu Hanyun became a concubine, she still pretty much lived like a servant. Her epted standard of living is much lower than Ji Man¡¯s. Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t find it noteworthy when Qi Siling made her wash her stained dress as punishment.


    Liu Hanyun seems to be a foil to Muxu. They both started off as a servant, but unlike Muxu, who desperately wants to climb up, Liu Hanyun was content with where she was. Muxu remembers every wrong to done to her, but Liu Hanyun views it as, suffering being a type of blessing.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 260 - Im getting married soon (1)

    Chapter 260 ¨C I¡¯m getting married soon (1)


    Ji Man really wanted to ask; why didn¡¯t she need to pay attention to him? However, her unspoken question was quickly answered by a gaggle of gossiping women.


    ¡°Why is the second prince attending this banquet too?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably afraid that if he doesn¡¯t make an appearance soon, the emperor is going to forget that he exists.¡±


    ¡°A cripple is quite pitiful. He doesn¡¯t have any chance of obtaining the throne, and he¡¯s not even a titled prince. Perhaps, he can¡¯t even afford enough food to feed himself, so he came to banquet in order to fill himself up.¡±


    After listening to this conversation for a while, Ji Man summarized the information she had learned. First, this prince was a cripple. Second, he had no chance of bing the next emperor.


    No wonder Ning Yuxuan had said that she didn¡¯t need pay attention to the second prince. It was true that a worthless prince wasn¡¯t within the scope of their consideration.


    Ning Mingjie was wearing an azure robe that was embroidered with silver clouds today. His hair was tied up high by a jade hair essory. As soon as he entered the garden, there were people looking at him from every direction.


    Ji Man¡¯s gaze lingered on him. She sighed with emotion and said, ¡°So, there are men that can keep looking better with each passing year.¡±


    Perhaps, it was because he had experienced more of life. Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t look as cold and aloof as before. His expression was also a lot calmer than when he had first taken off his mask. When his gaze swept over here andnded on her, he lightly nodded as a sign of greeting.


    Ji Man still hadn¡¯t found an opportunity to thank him for jumping onto the room¡¯s wooden beam. She kept looking at him as she thought; she should go over there to thank him once the banquet was at time when the guests could freely mingle.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu.¡± Marquis Moyu¡¯s fingers were gripping the low table in front of them.


    Ji Man returned to her senses. ¡°Huh?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly narrowed his eyes. He raised his hand and pointed at himself.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your face?¡± Ji Man stretched her hand out and felt up his face. There weren¡¯t any holes, ah.


    Ning Yuxuan red at her. Feeling a bit annoyed, he turned his face away.


    Ji Man felt quite confused by his actions. Was he just being moody?


    But, the banquet officially started in the next moment, so Ji Man didn¡¯t have time to think more about this. After the usual sequence of formalities was observed, the important rtives of the imperial family freely dispersed like kites flying in the wind. Ji Man had originally wanted to follow Ning Yuxuan. But when she turned around, he was acting as if he had never seen a woman before. He was approaching every single beautiful married woman at the banquet to talk with.


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched, and she decided to look for Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie was standing by a secluded rock garden. He seemed like he was waiting for someone. Ji Man stopped a short distance away and hesitated for a while. Not seeing anyone approaching him, she eventually walked over and called out, ¡°Young Master.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t sound surprised to hear her voice at all. He turned his head to look at her and said, ¡°It was so rushedst time. We didn¡¯t even have time to properly exchange greetings.¡±


    Thinking of situation fromst time, Ji Man still felt a bit speechless. If Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t been able to jump onto the wooden beam, she would probably be at the bottom of ake right now. She would definitely settle this score with Wen Wanter.


    ¡°It¡¯s Sangyu that hasn¡¯t had the time to thank you yet.¡±


    Smiling, Ning Mingjie looked at her for a while before finally saying, ¡°I¡¯m getting married soon.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment, then she said, ¡°Oh, congrattions.¡±


    This conversation felt a bit strange. She didn¡¯t know why Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t following the original novel¡¯s plot. In the original novel, Ning Mingjie had been whole-heartedly been helping Wen Wan. But, after she hade into the world, Ning Mingjie had changed from being the secondary male character to just one of the extra side characters and didn¡¯t really have any conflicts with the male lead because of the female lead. How can he be getting married when the female lead¡¯s future was still uncertain right now?


    cing her hand over her heart, Ji Man thought it was somewhat of a pity. The secondary male character that had been loved by all of the readers at first sight in the original novel was now heading towards the path of an ordinary life.


    But, right now, she wasn¡¯t a reader. The Ning Mingjie that was standing in front of her was a fully fleshed out person. He didn¡¯t love the female lead to the point of not caring about his own life. He didn¡¯t wear his mask anymore. To her, he was no longer a silent and mncholy young man that was as beautiful as a flower. Instead, the person in front of her was like a close friend that was calmly telling her that he was getting married.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°When that timees, Sangyu will definitelye with the marquis and give you a big present.¡±


    Ning Mingjie calmly nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    On the other side, the assistant minister¡¯s wife looked at Marquis Moyu, who was standing in front of her, and lightly called out, ¡°Marquis?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked away from Ning Mingjie and Nie Sangyu. He lowered his eyes. ¡°This junior is here.¡±


    ¡°Since you want to look at her so much, why didn¡¯t you tie her to your side?¡± The assistant minister¡¯s wife teasingly joked.


    Ning Yuxuan said in a muffled voice, ¡°What¡¯s the use in tying her to my side?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t force her eyes to look at him or her heart to love him.


    The assistant minister¡¯s wife had been good friends with Old Madame, so when she looked at Ning Yuxuan, it was the same as looking at one of her own children. She sighed and said, ¡°You¡¯ve always been a child that overthinks things. If you like her, then just go and keep her in your grasp. Is there anyone that can escape from your control? Even if you had missed the opportunity the first time, as long as you still have one chance at capturing it again, then just firmly seize it and make sure you never loosen your grip.¡±


    Ning Yuxuanughed. He cupped his hand and said, ¡°Thank you madam for your instruction.¡±


    It wouldn¡¯t be good for Ji Man to be having a private conversation with Ning Mingjie for too long. After exchanging a few words, she said her goodbye.


    But, looking at the nobledies that were clustered in groups of three to five, then looking at Ning Yuxuan, who was smiling and conversing with that beautiful married woman, she decided that it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for her to go over there either. So, she simply headed towards the pond to take a stroll around there.


    There weren¡¯t many people by the pond, but there was a wooden wheelchair parked in the distance. Feeling a brief pang in her heart, Ji Ma silently turned around and pretended to not see the second prince. She stopped behind a cluster of trees to hide her retreat.


    There was no point in having a chance encounter with an unfavored prince. She would rather go back to garden, where the banquet was being held, and spend her efforts trying to seduce Ning Yuxuan than getting herself mixed up with the second prince.


    Just as she was about to continue walking, she saw Fan Tianxing, the official that she had met in Qian Residence, walking over here. He stopped by the second prince¡¯s wheelchair and cupped his hands in greeting.


    Unlike the other guests, he didn¡¯t seem to scorn or belittle the second prince. Fan Tianxing was even showing a respectful smile.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t interested in their conversation. Besides, it would still be better if she left this area sooner. Otherwise, if she heard some unspeakable secret, then stepped on a branch and was heard by them, her little life could end here.

 Chapter 261 - Im getting married soon (2)

    Chapter 261 ¨C I¡¯m getting married soon (2)


    After scurrying back to where the banquet was being held, she bumped into Marquis Moyu. This person was still looking at her without much emotion.


    He grabbed her wrist and said, ¡°Don¡¯t wander around.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man obediently stood by his side and started exchanging conventional greetings and other social niceties with the various people that approached them.


    ¡ª


    After returning to the estate, Ji Man ordered Steward Qian to prepare a wedding gift for Ning Mingjie. Even though it was still early, he was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s rtive, so more thought should be put into this present.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan repeated Tanxiang¡¯s words in a questioning tone with her mouth left gaping open in shock, ¡°Young Master is getting married?¡±


    Tanxiang nodded. ¡°Madam is currently ordering Steward Qian to prepare a present.¡±


    Wen Wan was stunned. Her heart felt an inexplicable ache. Ning Mingjie had always treated her courteously and gently, which had made her subconsciously think that this man probably liked her. She genuinely felt a bit depressed at the news of his uing marriage.


    Still, it really was about time for Ning Mingjie to get married. Ning Yuxuan was younger than him and already had four children, but Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t even have a main wife.


    Thinking this over, Wen Wan said, ¡°I do feel a bit guilt for using him like thatst time. We should prepare a gift for him too.¡±


    Tanxiang nodded.


    ¡ª


    Let¡¯s rewind a bit.


    Ji Man had punished four of Nie Chenyu¡¯s servants by sending them to the back of the estate and still hadn¡¯t given a verdict on how Xia-<i>shi</i> would be punished for the fight that she had with Muxu. And so, Nie Chenyu and Muxu were both feeling dissatisfied with her.


    As a result, when Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan went to the pce banquet, it was inevitable that they would make Xia-<i>shi</i> and Hanyun suffer.


    When Xia-<i>shi</i> went to the garden to pick some plum blossoms by herself, she got into an argument with the servant that tended the plum trees. That servant shockingly didn¡¯t show any regard for Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s status and started a fight with her. Xia-<i>shi</i> was a shrewish and bold person herself. Pulling on the other person¡¯s hair and grabbing the other person¡¯s clothes, the two of them were engaged in a heated struggle.


    As for Liu Hanyun, Nie Chenyu¡¯s personal servant girl, Zn, brought out all of the silk fabric and the high quality coal that had been allocated to Linghan Courtyard using gold. Since Nie Sangyu had set a precedent by allowing thisst time, Steward Qian didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s health had been doing poorly, and she kept coughing. Chunpi wanted to ask a doctor toe over, but Nie Chenyu had monopolized both of the doctors in the estate. She said that her stomach area wasn¡¯t feeling well and needed them to check if she was pregnant.


    And so, when Ji Man and Marquis Moyu returned from the pce banquet, they saw the servant that tended to the plum blossoms covered in bruises and kneeling on the ground. Xia-<i>shi</i> was next to her. Xia-<i>shi</i>¡¯s clothes were still disheveled, but she was showing a prideful expression of ¡°I won that fight.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly thought; having so many women, it really was quite stressful.


    In a low voice, Ji Man calmly asked, ¡°How can a mere servant dare to fight with a master?¡±


    Someone had clearly told this servant what to say. She put on a bold face and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it because this servant heard that Mistress Xia was allowed to hit Honored Concubine Zheng? She still hasn¡¯t been punished. Well, this time, Mistress Xia plucked the flowers that servant had worked so hard to grow, so why can¡¯t this servant hit her?¡±


    She said that she had hit Xia-<i>shi</i>, but she was clearly the one that had been beaten by Xia-<i>shi</i>. Xia-<i>shi</i> hadn¡¯t just docilely allowed herself to be hit.


    Hearing these words, Ning Yuxuan felt the start of a migraine. He said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a woman that likes to fight. Sangyu, did you not teach Xia-<i>shi</i> manners?¡±


    She¡¯s your woman. How can you me me? Ji Man rolled her eyes, but she still pleasantly said, ¡°This servant feels that Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s directness is actually quite cute. It¡¯s rare to see this quality in a woman.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°It would be outrageous if propriety wasn¡¯t adhered to in this household. You can make the decision on how to rectify this issue.¡±


    ¡°How could this servant dare to make the decision?¡± Ji Man scoffed. ¡°She¡¯s practically untouchable. She¡¯s your precious person. It wouldn¡¯t be okay to scold her or say anything too harsh.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes slightly brightened. He actually smiled and said, ¡°You can deal with everyone in the estate as you like as long as there¡¯s a reasonable justification behind your actions. I won¡¯t say anything.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. After contemting his words, she seemed to have understood something. Right now the first prince and the third prince were busypeting for power and didn¡¯t have the free time to care about Marquis Moyu¡¯s family affairs. As a result, the value of these women had be limited. Since they stirred up trouble, it would be best to deal with them.


    Then, whom should she start with?


    Nie Chenyu.


    Liu Hanyun was the most good-natured person in this household, but she was also the one that was being tormented the most. As soon as she turned her back, Nie Chenyu would take the opportunity to make Liu Hanyun¡¯s life miserable in some way. Unfortunately, Liu Hanyun continued to be the type of person that didn¡¯tin when she was being treated unfairly.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man brought Dengxin with her to Luoyan Courtyard. The two doctors in the estate had both been detained here. Nie Chenyu was lying in bed, clutching her stomach, shouting that it hurt, and insisting that they keep checking her pulse to see if she was pregnant.


    Forck of a better option, Ji Man said, ¡°You probably just ate too much, so you¡¯re feeling indigestion right now. Your stomach won¡¯t hurt just from being pregnant.¡±


    Nie Chenyu harrumphed. She curled her lip and said, ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s nothing you want more than for me to not be pregnant.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t refute her words. That was true too. If Nie Chenyu became pregnant, who knows how troublesome her life would be.


    ¡°Doctor Li,e to Linghan Courtyard with me.¡±


    Nie Chenyu sat up. Frowning, she asked, ¡°What right do you have to say that? I requested him toe here first.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head and said with a smile, ¡°The marquis is waiting at Linghan Courtyard. Don¡¯t you know that the marquis dislikes malicious women the most?¡±

 Chapter 262 - Is there a bit of green on your head? (1)

    Chapter 262 ¨C Is there a bit of green on your head? (1)


    Nie Chenyu¡¯s face paled. She pressed her lips together and didn¡¯t dare to say another word. Ji Man swept her gaze across the splendorous items in the room. This room looked more like the room of a main wife than the actual main wife¡¯s room. As she had expected, Chen-<i>shi</i> loved her daughter the most and hadn¡¯t been skimpy in using Nie n¡¯s money to stuff Nie Chenyu¡¯s jewelry and makeup boxes with expensive items.


    It was just that Nie Chenyu¡¯s life was toofortable and leisurely. She had never acted within the propriety of her status. No matter how high her status was within Nie n before she married, once she was married, she had to be content with her new station in life. If she kept acting as if was still in her previous position, it would make people feel very annoyed with her.


    ¡ª


    After bringing Doctor Li to Linghan Courtyard, Ji Man saw Marquis Moyu sitting by the bedside and holding Liu Hanyun¡¯s hand as he said, ¡°It¡¯s my fault for being so ipetent and failing to take good care of you.¡±


    Liu Hanyun faintly smiled and said, ¡°Hanyun has already been blessed enough in this lifetime. My lord, you don¡¯t need to me yourself.¡±


    Stopping by the side to watch, Ji Man thought that Ning Yuxuan was truly talented in showing expressions of love. He could look at any women with a deeply affectionate gaze that said he would love you for a thousand years. What was he really feeling? Who was actually in his heart?


    If someone said that his heart still had Wen Wan, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t believe it. Just from Wen Wan¡¯s current status, Ji Man could tell that Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t have his original deep love for Wen Wan. Otherwise, he absolutely wouldn¡¯t be letting her remain a servant girl.


    ¡ª


    A new person reced the servant that had been responsible for tending to the plum trees. Xia-<i>shi</i> continued to not be punished for her actions. Not only was Nie Sangyu protecting Xia-<i>shi</i>, even when the matter had been brought to the marquis¡¯s attention, the marquis had also sided with her.


    Muxu couldn¡¯t figure it out. She wasn¡¯t a lowly servant girl anymore. She was an honored concubine that had a son. People were supposed to look up to her. Why did she still have to suffer being mistreated? Why wasn¡¯t anyone taking charge of the matter for her and punishing Xia-<i>shi</i>?


    When Li Zixiu came to visit Muxu, he saw her sitting in her room with a gloomy expression.


    In a low voice, Doctor Li said, ¡°I have something that I want to say.¡±


    Luqiao tactfully left the room and closed the doors shut on her way out.


    When there were only two people left in the room, Li Zixiu finally said, ¡°My mother is very sick. She wants to see her grandchild. Find a time today and bring our child to see her.¡±


    Muxu wasn¡¯t happy with his request. ¡°What if someone sees? Beside, when I brought Fu-<i>er</i> to visit herst time, your mother almost dropped him when she was holding him. I haven¡¯t even said anything about that to her.¡±


    Li Zixiu helplessly said, ¡°My mother isn¡¯t very strong to begin with. At worst, just don¡¯t let her hold Fu-<i>er</i> this time. She¡¯s very old and only has so much time left to see her grandson. You can¡¯t be so heartless.¡±


    Muxu frowned. It was true that she didn¡¯t like going to that broken-down house. If she took Fu-<i>er</i> there too many times, he might get infected with a disease.


    But, she was afraid of making Li Zixiu angry and could only unwillingly agree. ¡°Alright, wait until after lunch. There will be less people walking around then. Prepare a carriage at the back gate.¡±


    There were only four people that knew who Fu-<i>er</i>¡®s real father was. Other than Muxu and Li Zixiu, only Li Zixiu¡¯s mother and Luqiao knew the truth.


    Marquis Moyu had only favored Muxu twice. She hadn¡¯t been prepared the first time, but she had been fully prepared the second time and had dug a pit for Ning Yuxuan to jump into.


    That¡¯s right, she had given him a very beautiful green hat.


    (T/N: Giving your husband or boyfriend a green hat is a Chinese expression that means you cheated on him.)


    This affair had started during the time when Muxu had be a concubine, but hadn¡¯t been favored. She went crying to Li Zixiu and said that she had been framed and didn¡¯t have any other choice. While it was true that Li Zixiu was feeling sad about this, he didn¡¯t have any reason to refuse Muxu when came onto him.


    Li Zixiu was an honest person and had also studied Buddhist scriptures, but there would always be a time when a man didn¡¯t think with his brain and let himself be tricked by a woman¡¯s dishonest words into willingly bing an adulterer.


    So much so that when Muxu became pregnantter and came to him in panic, Li Zixiu had helped her out by giving her a suggestion, just say that Fu-<i>er</i> had been prematurely born and that the baby was Marquis Moyu¡¯s.


    And now, Muxu¡¯s status had already been raised to an honored concubine because of her son, and Li Zixiu¡¯s mother wanted to see her grandchild because her illness had gotten worse. Muxu wasn¡¯t happy with these visits, but she couldn¡¯t say her true feelings either, so the hostility gradually grew between them.


    As expected, after lunchtime, most people were curled up in their warm quilts and taking a nap. Mu Shuiqing was the only that was walking outside. She wanted to take advantage of this less busy time to go to Feiwan Courtyard and chat with Nie Sangyu.


    Since returning the marquis¡¯s estate, Mu Shuiqing had been so well-behaved that she seemed also nonexistent. Still, she had a good idea of many things that were happening in the various areas of the estate. Why? It was because Marquis Moyu had assigned her a group of servant girls that loved to idly gossip everywhere.


    She had prepared a pile of household matters that Madam might be interested in knowing. Just as she was passing through the corridor by the back gate, she happened to see Li Zixiu with a woman that was wearing arge cloak with the hood up. They were hurriedly walking towards the back gate.


    Who was this woman? Curious, Mu Shuiqing stopped walking away and hid behind a vermilion pir to look.


    The old guard at the back gate greeted Doctor Li. Li Zixiu stuffed something into the old guard¡¯s hand, then he helped the woman in the cloak into the carriage that was waiting outside the gate.


    It was unclear what had exactly happened from the angle that Mu Shuqing was looking from, perhaps the woman in the cloak had just bumped into something, but as the woman got into the carriage, Mu Shuiqing suddenly heard a baby crying.


    Startled, Mu Shuqing wondered; which baby was Doctor Li taking out of the estate?


    After the carriage hurriedly left, Mu Shuiqing lifted her skirt, ran to Feiwan Courtyard, and told Nie Sangyu what she had seen and heard.


    ¡°Kidnapping a baby to sell?¡± Ji Man rubbed her eyes. ¡°Li Zixiu doesn¡¯t have the guts to do something like that.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing pursed her lips and said, ¡°This servant is very curious who that woman and baby were. There¡¯s definitely something suspicious about choosing to leave the estate at a time when no one else would be around except the guard.¡±

 Chapter 263 - Is there a bit of green on your head? (2)

    Chapter 263 ¨C Is there a bit of green on your head? (2)


    Ji Man poured a cup of tea for her, then she contemted for a bit before saying, ¡°Since it¡¯s suspicious, let¡¯s go to the back gateter and wait for them toe back to see what kind of wicked activity is afoot. They probably won¡¯t be in a hurry toe back for another two hours. Everyone would be napping until then. Take your time drinking the tea.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing took the cup and looked around Nie Sangyu¡¯s room. It was nicely scented and warm. There was even a toddy cat gracefully walking around.


    Mu Shuiqing sighed and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that in the end your life would be the best.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and responded, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that in the end, you would be the person that I can calmly drink tea with either. Didn¡¯t you use to hate Sangyu the most and want to fight with me as soon as you saw me?¡±


    Mu Shuqing chuckled. In a low voice, she said, ¡°But I can¡¯t beat you Besides, I think the marquis most likely likes your type. There¡¯s no point in me continuing topete with you. As long as I¡¯m not confined in that deste courtyard in the other estate with other people thinking I¡¯m insane, I¡¯m content.¡±


    During their conversation, Dengxin brought over a small ount book for her master to look. This was Ji Man¡¯s personal ount book. The expenses hadn¡¯t been high this month. Other than amounts for buying some clothes and jewelry, there was only one number that was rtively noticeable. It was a gift for fifty silver taels.


    Mu Shuiqing nced at the ount book. She thought that line item looked a bit strange, but she didn¡¯t ask any questions about it. Madam had money, and it was her private business if she wanted to give money to someone.


    Two hourster, Ji Man and Mu Shuiqing put on their cloaks and went to the back gate.


    The old guard at the back gate was still pretty happy to see Nie Sangyu. He stood up and took tottering steps towards the outside so that he could salute her.


    Ji Man hurriedly stopped him and told him to stay in the warm room by the brazier.


    A short whileter, a carriage really did stop at the back gate. Li Zixiu helped a woman down from the carriage. She seemed to be quite angry. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she pushed him away from her and irritably walked through the back gate.


    Looking at the person¡¯s face under the hood, Ji Man was slightly surprised, and yet she felt it wasn¡¯t too unexpected. ¡°Muxu?¡±


    ¡°... Madam?¡± Shocked, Muxu almost dropped Fu-<i>er</i>.


    Li Zixiu¡¯s face turned white. He came inside the estate and knelt down.


    Ji Man looked back and forth at them for a while as well as the baby in Muxu¡¯s arms. She neutrally smiled and asked, ¡°What did you leave the estate for?¡±


    Muxu looked around the courtyard. Even after thinking for a long time, she couldn¡¯t figure out an excuse, so she simply knelt down and didn¡¯t reply.


    Li Zixiu hesitated for a little bit longer before finally speaking, ¡°Today is a market day, so...¡±


    This was worse than staying silent. So what if it was a market day? Did it make sense for a doctor to apany an honored concubine and her baby out to go shopping just because it was a market day?


    Muxu¡¯s voice was slightly trembling as she called out, ¡°Master.¡±


    Muxu hadn¡¯t called her ¡°Master¡± in a long time. Since Muxu had be one of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s women, she had changed to calling her Madam. Now that she was calling her Master again, Ji Man found itughable.


    It only confirmed that Muxu had been doing something wrong.


    ¡°This servant was just thinking that since Doctor Li¡¯s mother has be so pitifully sick, it would be nice to bring a baby to visit her and cheer her up.¡± Muxu gritted her teeth and straightforwardly said, ¡°Master, you also know that this servant and Doctor Li... Even though this servant hasn¡¯t had any rtionship with Doctor Li after this servant was favored by the marquis, this servant can¡¯t bear to see his elderly mother feeling such regret...¡±


    Li Zixiu turned his head to silently nce at Muxu.


    Ji Man seriously said, ¡°Muxu, raise your head.¡±


    Bewildered, Muxu raised her head to look at her.


    With a splitting smile, Ji Man pointed at herself and said, ¡°Do I look like a fool to you?¡±


    Mu Shuiqing, ¡°...¡±


    Muxu¡¯s lips trembled, but Ji Man just continued smiling as she took Fu-<i>er</i> from her and said, ¡°This matter, let¡¯s just hand over this child to the marquis and let him decide.¡±


    ¡°Master!¡± While kneeling, Muxu crawled over and grabbed her master¡¯s cloak. ¡°Master, in consideration for the several years this servant served you...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. I won¡¯t ept your y of an emotional card.¡± Ji Man shrugged. ¡°This matter doesn¡¯t benefit or harm me. Someone has given my husband a green hat for no reason and even passed off another man¡¯s child as his. I feel that he deserves to know the truth.¡±


    Muxu¡¯s body trembled, but Mu Shuiqing found the situation somewhat humorous. ¡°Madam didn¡¯t even say that she would punish you and you already scared yourself into this shape. Isn¡¯t that the same as confessing without even being pressured?¡±


    Ji Man waved her hand. Holding Fu-<i>er</i>, she started walking back to Feiwan Courtyard. ¡°Shuiqing, go get the marquis. On your way to his study, invite over anyone that¡¯s awake too.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing made a sound of assent. Wrapping the cloak tighter around herself, she left.


    Li Zixiu helped Muxu stand up.


    Looking at Nie Sangyu¡¯s back figure, he whispered, ¡°Muxu, how about we run away?¡±


    Muxu harshly flung his hand away from her, clenched her jaw, and said, ¡°She doesn¡¯t have evidence and can¡¯t prove anything. I finally have a good life. I won¡¯t ept losing like this.¡±


    Li Zixiu¡¯s stopped his hand in mid-air before he slowly put it back down.


    ¡ª


    Sitting in the head seat, Ning Yuxuan listened to Mu Shuiqing¡¯s report of what had happened. His expression was very ugly. It was as if his face had been painted with ayer of back paint, then brushed over with ayer of green paint. The excess green paint was even wiped off his head.


    ¡°What do the two of you have to say for yourselves?¡± He looked at Muxu and Li Zixiu. They were kneeling below him.


    Muxu hurriedly kowtowed and said, ¡°My lord, Fu-er is your son. This servant had only taken him outside for a bit and ended up being ndered by other people. My lord, please investigate this matter. Even a tiger wouldn¡¯t devour his own cub ah!


    People from the various courtyards hade to watch this spectacle. Muxu¡¯s life had declined quite badly. First, her son had gone from being the oldest son to the second oldest. And now, her son wasn¡¯t even the marquis¡¯s child.

 Chapter 264 - Arent you afraid that Ill tell on you? (1)

    Chapter 264 ¨C Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll tell on you? (1)


    Marquis Moyu sneered. Fu-<i>er</i> was probably feeling ufortable being held in his arms and started crying.


    Muxu felt ovee with panic. If Marquis Moyu had asked a question or said something, it would at least give her the chance to respond. But, he hadn¡¯t said anything and only sneered. His gaze seemed to be saying that he hadpletely seen through her lies. It made her feel as if she had nowhere to hide.


    Sitting by Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man quietly drank her tea. She had onlye here as a spectator. She finally understood what kind of person Muxu was. She was a person that was doing her best to climb up, but she was shortsighted and easily tricked.


    Back when she was contending with Qian Lianxue, she had thought that Muxu had some amount of intelligence. At the very least, she had been able to pull off being a double agent, ah. But, after Qian Lianxue¡¯s mysterious death, it was as if Muxu had let out a sigh of relief and started scheming to improve her status in this household.


    Muxu¡¯s mind was a little too simple. She thought that once Qian Lianxue died, the past would be erased and her repeated betrayals would be forgotten.


    Ji Man sighed. Muxu was being too stupid and naive, ah. It was to be expected. A woman from ancient times wasn¡¯t as clever as a woman from modern times.


    From the side, Wen Wan suggested a rotten idea, ¡°My lord, if you¡¯re suspicious about this child¡¯s origin, how about mixing your blood with his to check?¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. Would someone as clever as Ning Yuxuan really ept such a stupid idea?


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Marquis Moyu nodded.


    ¡°...¡±


    Ji Man had forgotten. These people weren¡¯t from modern-day. People in this ancient time period had no idea how DNA identification worked. They thought that if two people could mix their blood together without it clumping, it meant they were rtives.


    Based on this logic, Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan could also be siblings that had been separated for several years.


    Wen Wan asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? From your expression, it seems like you don¡¯t agree with this idea, Madam.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°If you think that mixing blood together can determine if two people are rted or not, let¡¯s try an experiment first.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be able to determine it?¡± Wen Wan frowned. ¡°Madam, haven¡¯t you read books? Since ancient times, people have used this method...¡±


    ¡°Just because I haven¡¯t read many books, there¡¯s no need for you to discriminate against me.¡± Ji Man waved her hand. ¡°We¡¯ll only know for sure if we test it out first.¡±


    Ji Man picked up her tea saucer and had Dengxin bring her a knife, then she grabbed Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand and forcefully shed the de against one of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s finger.


    The cut was slightly bigger than it needed to be, so it was easy for her to squeeze the blood out.


    The corners of Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes twitched. ¡°Ow!¡±


    Ji Man had seen so many TV shows with men being stabbed in the chest without making any sounds of pain. This was a mere cut on his finger, and he was a grown man. Did this really warrant a reaction from him? Ji Man shot a nce at him before taking out her handkerchief and wrapping his finger with it. Then, she walked to Wen Wan¡¯s side with the saucer of blood. Before Wen Wan had time to resist, she had grabbed her hand and made a cut on Wen Wan¡¯s finger too.


    ¡°Ah!!!¡± Wen Wan jumped up in fright. Blood fell from her finger andnded into the saucer. After staring at Nie Sangyu in shock, she flew to Marquis Moyu¡¯s side. ¡°My lord!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan only responded with an ¡°en¡± before looking at the saucer with curiosity.


    Ji Man covered the saucer with the teacup¡¯s lid and swirled it around a few times until their blood had mixed together. She put it down by Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°My lord, congrattion on being reunited with your long-lost younger sister.¡±


    Wen Wan froze in shock, and she cycled through a lot ofplicated emotions. There was absolute silence in the room.


    ¡°My mother only gave birth to me,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said.


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded, then she shed Guibai¡¯s finger too. His blood also didn¡¯t have any problems being mixed in. ¡°This servant just wanted to prove that this type of blood test isn¡¯t reliable. You don¡¯t need to be rtives for your blood to be able to mix together.¡±


    Everyone was enlightened.


    Clutching her injured finger, Wen Wan looked at Ning Yuxuan with tears in her eyes and said, ¡°My lord, Madam did that deliberately. What if it ends up scarring?¡±


    By the side, Nie Chenyu asked, ¡°Older sister, why didn¡¯t you cut yourself?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scared of pain,¡± Ji Man responded with a serious expression.


    Furious, Wen Wan shouted, ¡°Who¡¯s not afraid of pain? I¡¯m scared too!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. Just endure it for a while and the feeling will pass,¡± Ji Manforted.


    Wen Wan, ¡°...¡±


    Qi Siling said, ¡°Let¡¯s get back to the main point. Madam, you said that mixing blood doesn¡¯t work, then what kind of method will work for checking if this child is the marquis¡¯s son or not?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s easy enough, ¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t everyone say that Xiangguo Temple has a an unusually talented monk that¡¯s skilled in medical expertise? There¡¯s definitely a difference between a premature baby and a full-term baby. A normal doctor might not be able to distinguish one from the other, but that monk should be able to, right?¡±


    Doctor Li has said Fu-<i>er</i> was a premature baby. If that was true, then the timing of Fu-<i>er</i>¡®s conception would match the second time that Marquis Moyu had favored Muxu. If it that was false, then Fu-er couldn¡¯t be Marquis Moyu¡¯s son.


    Monk Xuwu was very famous. Even though Ji Man rarely left the estate, she had still heard rumors about him.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow rxed. He turned his head and said to Guibai, ¡°Go and invite Great Master Xuwu.¡±


    Guibai left right after making a sound of assent.


    Muxu had been kneeling with her head lowered this entire time. Her heart was extremely uneasy. Her child was a full-term baby. To conceal the true, Li Zixiu had lied and said he was a premature baby. If this was found out, what kind of excuse could she use to continue hiding the truth?


    As the dread crept through her mind, it was inevitable that hatred would also begin to develop. No matter what, she had once been Nie Sangyu¡¯s servant. Why wasn¡¯t she willing to let her off for this? Was Nie Sangyu scared that Fu-<i>e</i>r would negatively impact her future? She still had a secret of Nie Sangyu¡¯s that she could be used against her. If she really pushed her to a point of no return...


    Kneeling on the ground with Muxu, Li Zixiu¡¯s back was straight. But, feeling guilty from Nie Sangyu¡¯s prolonged scrutinizing stare, he averted his gaze and looked at the ground.


    With his finger wrapped in a handkerchief, Ning Yuxuan quietly looked at the baby in his arms. Fu-<i>er</i> wasn¡¯t making a peep either. And so, the room continued to be utterly silent until Monk Xuwu arrived.

 Chapter 265 - Arent you afraid that Ill tell on you? (2)

    Chapter 265 ¨C Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll tell on you? (2)


    Monk Xuwu entered the room and very politely saluted Ning Yuxuan, then he straightened his body and started to ridicule him, ¡°Other families invite this old one over to perform religious ceremonies or ask for insight on how to meditate and contemte Buddhist truths. Marquis, you¡¯re the only one that would ask this old one toe over to check how old the baby was when his mother gave birth to him.¡±


    Ji Man made a bet with herself. This old monk had definitely rolled his eyes. He just did it so quickly that no one had noticed.


    Without any expression, Marquis Moyu handed the baby over to the monk.


    Holding the baby, the monk lowered his head for a closer look. He twitched his lips and said, ¡°This child had no traces of riches and nobility. He¡¯s destined for a mediocre life of aplishing nothing. He¡¯s not as good as that previous baby...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan coughed to interrupt him. With his brow slightly furrowed, ¡°Just tell me how long his mother had been pregnant when she gave birth to him.¡±


    ¡°A solid body with strong bones. He¡¯s definitely a baby that had been carried to full term, ah.¡± Monk Xuwu had only held Fu-<i>er</i> for a few seconds before he found it boring and stuffed him back into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arms. ¡°You have too many children. Instead of staying an evil creature and involving yourself with worldly affairs, why don¡¯t you learn from this old one¡¯s immacte lifestyle and have a pure and tranquil mind...¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Marquis Moyu was already not in the mood to listen to the rest of Monk Xuwu¡¯s advice. Dengxin had brought over a booklet that recorded which dates each woman had been favored. All noble families had records like these in order to avoid muddling a family¡¯s lineage.


    ¡°From the time that Honored Concubine Xue had been favored to when she gave birth, it had only been nine moon cycles.¡±


    Ji Man sympathetically looked at Ning Yuxuan.


    There wasn¡¯t any man that could tolerate something like this, much less a tyrannical male lead like Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to ask anymore questions.¡± So angry that even yelling wouldn¡¯t be enough to vent his feelings, Ning Yuxuanughed instead. Looking at Nie Sangyu, he said, ¡°Pick two good stones for them, then tie them up and let them sink into theke.¡±


    Ji Man slightly pressed her lips together. She epted the child that Ning Yuxuan pushed into her hands. Kneeling on the ground, Li Zixiu¡¯s face had turned deathly pale. Muxu didn¡¯t dare to raise her head and only cried and shouted, ¡°My lord, please have mercy!¡±


    ¡°Lock them up in the woodshed. Tomorrow, drown that vile spawn with them.¡±


    Guibai made a sound of assent, and the other servants came forward and dragged Li Zixiu and Muxu out of the room.


    Someone came to take the baby from Ji Man. She paused for a moment before handing him over.


    Wen Wan took a step and said, ¡°Madam, how can you be so heartless? The child is innocent. Why won¡¯t you persuade the marquis to change his mind?¡±


    Ji Man nced at her and replied, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go and persuade him yourself?¡±


    Wen Wan looked at that man, who was in the midst of a raging temper, and shrunk her neck back. At this moment, if anyone dared to go forward to plead for the child, then that person would be a true idiot. Even the greatest Holy Mother aura wouldn¡¯t be able to calm down Marquis Moyu¡¯s overwhelming fury.


    Muxu cried until her voice became hoarse as she was dragged to the woodshed. She and Li Zixiu were shut into the woodshed together.


    ¡ª


    Before leaving with Haohao in her arms, Xia-<i>shi</i> sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s a pity. Why couldn¡¯t she figure things out instead of doing something so shameless?¡±


    Ji Man was lost in thought for a while before she decided to return to her room to rest. Standing behind her, Qi Siling lightly said, ¡°Madam, you¡¯re truly a vicious and merciless person. Even though she¡¯s your servant girl, you¡¯ll still get rid of her like this.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Why does Muxu¡¯s punishment have anything to do with me?¡±


    Marquis Moyu and Monk Xuwu had already left the room to supposedly talk about Buddhist principles. Most of the other people had already departed. Ji Man and Qi Siling were the only ones left.


    ¡°Servants are always the ones that know the most about their masters¡¯ secrets. Today¡¯s show of a pleading servant that betrayed her husband, isn¡¯t this Madam¡¯s way of burying a secret?¡± Qi Silingughed as if she knew more than she was saying.


    Ji Man really wanted to say, big sister, you¡¯re overthinking things.


    But, after thinking things over, while it was true that Muxu was the one that choose to walk down the path that would lead to her death, Muxu also knew a lot of her secrets, including how to make cold cream. Muxu¡¯s death would save her a lot of trouble.


    No wonder Qi Siling¡¯s thoughts had turned to that direction. Ji Man sighed. ¡°Everything is determined by an iprehensible fate. Siling, you should start going to sleep earlier. Look at the dark circles under your eyes...¡±


    After saying this, she went inside her room to rest.


    Qi Siling stood in ce for a while before clutching her handkerchief and heading toward the back of the estate.


    Just as Ji Man was about to sleep, Dengxin led Luqiao inside and said that Luqiao had pleaded to see her.


    With a shrewd and hopeful expression, Luqiao said, ¡°This servant know everything that Mistress Xue has done and can bring everything out into the light of day. Madam, can you let this servant have slightly better days in the future?¡±


    Once Luqiao¡¯s master fell, she naturally had to be reassigned.


    Looking at Luqiao, Ji Man asked with interest, ¡°What do you know?¡±


    Luqiao answer, ¡°This servant knows Young Master Fu-<i>er</i>¡®s origin.¡±


    Ji Man really wanted to say, I know too. But, looking at Luqiao¡¯s glimmering eyes, she swallowed those words and nodded.


    ¡ª


    Muxu and Li Zixiu had been locked in the northern courtyard¡¯s woodshed. After she had given up on crying, Muxu started to yell that she wanted to see Madam with all of her strength.


    After dinner, Ji Man went over to the woodshed to see her.


    Muxu looked quite pitiful as she cried out, ¡°Master, save me.¡±


    ¡°The mistake that you made, it¡¯s not something I can save you from.¡± Ji Man shrugged.


    The pitiful tear-stained face suddenly became malevolent. Looking at her, Muxu hatefully said, ¡°Madam, are you not afraid that I¡¯ll tell the marquis about your business dealings?


    Ji Man clicked her tongue and shook her head. ¡°Do you really think that the marquis will still be willing to see you?¡±

 Chapter 266 - Perhaps, there was still something left (1)

    Chapter 266 ¨C Perhaps, there was still something left (1)


    Muxu was stunned into silence before an epiphany urred. ¡°Madam, you¡¯re heartlessly tossing away this servant like this because you think the marquis won¡¯t be willing to see me again?¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°How does this count as me heartlessly tossing you away? One, I didn¡¯t know you had a child behind the marquis¡¯s back with Doctor Li. Two, I didn¡¯t know you would leave the estate with Doctor Li today. If you had told me a secret and I turned around and betrayed you by telling someone else, then that would be considered heartlessly tossing you away. Do you understand?¡±


    Muxu¡¯s eyes were filled with hatred. Fu-<i>er</i>, who was being held by Li Zixiu, started to cry miserably.


    ¡°Madam, if you think that you¡¯ll be able to sleep without worries after I die, then just wait and see. You¡¯ll regret your decision today,¡± she said.


    Ji Man thought; rather thaning here to listen to Muxu¡¯s threats, it would have been better to go and eavesdrop on Marquis Moyu and that interesting old monk¡¯s talk about Buddhist principles.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man waved her hand to indicate for Dengxin, who was holding Xi-<i>er</i>, to follow her to the western courtyard. Marquis Moyu should have probably calmed down by now and would want to beforted by the presence of his real son, so she decided to bring Xi-<i>er</i> to him.


    While she was there, she could get the old monk to look at Xi-<i>er</i> and maybe get an old question resolved.


    Regarding the matter of Liu Hanyun and Wen Wan going intobor at the same time, it had always troubled Ji Man, and she still brooded over this matter even now. She had been financially supporting Midwife Yang in a rural area by giving her fifty silver taels every month. This amount was enough for Midwife Yang¡¯s entire family to live well without having to take a single step out of their home to work. Although Midwife Yang still wasn¡¯t willing to say anything, her heart should have already softened. If a secret existed, when an opportune time came, she would probably be willing to speak.


    Although money was a useful thing that would get people to say the truth, it still depended on how you use the money. For example, if she had given Midwife Yang a lump sum of five hundred silver taels at the beginning, Midwife Yang would probably still be worried about her life and wouldn¡¯t be willing to speak. However, Ji Man had sent her and her family to a safe ce and given her fifty silver taels every month. A person¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t made of stone. It would take less than ten months before there wasn¡¯t anything that Midwife Yang wouldn¡¯t be willing to say.


    When they arrived in the western courtyard, Xuwu and Ning Yuxuan were ying Chinese chess. On the board, the ck pieces were already in a messy situation and forced to a dead end.


    Marquis Moyu somewhat agitatedly flung down a piece.


    ¡°Marquis, you don¡¯t need to feel too troubled. It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s only because an evildoer is causing mischief,¡± Monk Xuwu said.


    Holding Xi-<i>er</i>, Ji Man saluted when she was still a distance from them. ¡°Excuse this servant for bothering Great Master Xuwu and the marquis.¡±


    Marquis swept his gaze across to her and somewhat mockingly said, ¡°What now? Did youe here to tell me that Xi-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t my son either?¡±


    It seemed that his anger hadn¡¯t faded yet. Ji Man childishly stuck her tongue out for a moment before saying, ¡°This servant just wanted Great Master Xuwu to tell Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s fortune based on physiognomy too. Didn¡¯t Great Master Xuwu tell Fu-<i>er</i>¡®s fortune? What will Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s be?¡±


    Xuwu nced at her and suddenly became quite interested. He waved his hand at her and said, ¡°Come here.¡±


    Ji Man approached them with Xi-<i>er</i> and handed Xi-<i>er</i> to Xuwu.


    But, surprisingly, Xuwu surveyed her for a long time before his gaze finally fell on Xi-<i>er</i>. After looking at him for a short moment, he smiled and said, ¡°Actually, this old one was just talking nonsense. How could it be possible to know for sure someone¡¯s fate at such a young age? This child¡¯s face looks very fortunate too. He must have been a full-term baby too.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand paused. There was a trace of red in his eyes as he raised his head and looked at Xuwu. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Xuwu put his palms together and recited a Buddhist prayer before saying, ¡°Marquis, your aura is too violent. This old one merely said that this child would enjoy good fortune.¡±


    ¡°You said... Xi-<i>er</i> was also a full-term baby?¡±


    Ji Man quietly stood in ce and clearly saw the blue veins on Marquis Moyu¡¯s temples bing more prominent. She hurriedly said, ¡°My lord, don¡¯t get too excited yet. Great Master Xuwu, please wait here. There¡¯s also another child...¡±


    ¡°Nie Sangyu!¡± Ning Yuxuan flipped over the game board with his hand and glowered at her. ¡°What are you scheming? Do you want to prove that all of the children in this household aren¡¯t mine?¡±


    Startled by his action, she pressed her lips together and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that Xi-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t your child. There¡¯s just a matter that had been left unresolved until now. Since Great Master Xuwu happens to have this ability, this servant just wants to investigate what happened back then.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to investigate?¡± Ning Yuxuan asked with angry red eyes.


    Ji Man took a step back and said in a low voice, ¡°This servant thinks there might have been a mistake with Xi-<i>er</i> and Yu-<i>er</i>. If it¡¯s confirmed that Xi-er had been full-term baby and Yun-<i>er</i> had been a premature baby, then that would prove this servant¡¯s guess was right.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise. With his brow furrowed, he looked at her.


    ¡°Please wait for a bit.¡± Then, Ji Man turned her head and ordered Dengxin to call over Liu Hanyun and Wen Wan and to bring Yun-<i>er</i> over here as well.


    Having suffered two shocks within the period of one day, Ning Yuxuan rubbed his head and thought that he had never felt such regret before.


    Why couldn¡¯t he have weed fewer women into his harem?


    Once Yun-<i>er</i> was brought over, Monk Xuwu looked at her and said the truth, ¡°This baby girl was a premature baby. Her body is clearly weaker than that boy baby. How could none of you have been unable to tell?¡±


    Wen Wan took a step back and angrily said, ¡°How could a conclusion be made just from this old monk¡¯s words? I clearly gave birth to a son. There were plenty of witnesses.¡±


    Finally given the chance to say these words, Chunpi quickly said, ¡°This servant didn¡¯t see anything. At that time, only the midwife had seen the baby that my master had given birth to. Right afterwards, she took the baby away. This servant wasn¡¯t able to see if my master had given birth to a boy or girl.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face turned red, then white. She turned her head and looked at Ning Yuxuan.


    Marquis Moyu buried his face in his hand and didn¡¯t say anything.

 Chapter 267 - Perhaps, there was still something left (2)

    Chapter 267 ¨C Perhaps, there was still something left (2)


    ¡°My lord, every single time in the past, you didn¡¯t believe Wan-<i>er</i>. Are you going to not believe Wan-<i>er</i> this time either?¡± Tears fell from Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Back then, didn¡¯t you say that it wasn¡¯t important if I gave birth to a son? It only mattered that the child was the one that I had given birth to. Since you had said those words, why would I go through the trouble of switching the two babies?¡±


    ¡°Moreover, after giving birth, I didn¡¯t even have the strength to open my eyes to look. How could I have the strength to change my baby for Liu Hanyun¡¯s? My lord, you were the one that choose Midwife Yang and brought her into the estate...¡±


    Ji Man pped her hands. ¡°Speaking of that midwife, I¡¯ve already sent people to bring her over. But, she probably won¡¯t get here until tomorrow. My lord, if you want to find out the truth, there¡¯s no harm in waiting another day, right?¡±


    Liu Hanyun was still calmly holding Yun-<i>er</i>, but once Wen Wan heard these words, she looked at Nie Sangyu in utter shock.


    Ning Yuxuan finally spoke, but his voice sounded extremely exhausted. ¡°Alright. Since you can find that midwife, then we¡¯ll discuss this matter tomorrow. You can all leave.¡±


    ¡°My lord...¡± Wen Wan tearfully called out.


    ¡°Leave!¡± Marquis Moyu was truly furious. He even flung the small table, which had been used to y the Chinese chess, in their direction. The group of women was so scared that the color faded from their faces.


    Dragging Liu Hanyun along with her, Ji Man ran away the quickest. They went past the doorway and disappeared like fleeing rabbits.


    Xi-<i>er</i> had been left behind with the old monk. Every step that Liu Hanyun took, she would turn her head back to look. In her arms, Yun-<i>er</i> wouldn¡¯t stop crying. It felt as if a dense mass of dark clouds had formed above the estate.


    A few words by an old monk had been enough to dredge up the old water in the estate¡¯s pond.


    After Ji Manforted Liu Hanyun, she went back to her room and had a wonderful night of dreamless sleep.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was so anxious that she couldn¡¯t stay still. Ovee with worry, she kept pacing back and forth, but she didn¡¯t know what to do.


    In the woodshed, Muxu was also unable to sleep the entire night.


    ¡ª


    The next morning, Ji Man went to handle Muxu¡¯s matter first in high spirits.


    If a woman vited one of the seven reasons for divorce, then the matter would normally be settled by her husband divorcing her. But, Muxu had put a green hat on the marquis, and the matter absolutely couldn¡¯t be simply settled with divorce. Ji Man didn¡¯t let past feelings influence her decision. After the servants tied up Li Zixiu and Muxu up, they were brought to ake that was outside of the capital, Tianhu Lake, along with a swaddled bundle, to be drowned.


    ¡°What a heartless person. She¡¯s not even willing to let off a baby.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that baby is so young. What evil could it had possibly done?¡±


    One after another, the nearby people were talking about this, but Ji Man pretended to not hear anything.


    Muxu¡¯s hands were tied to the back of the carriage, and she was being dragged forward by it. Her voice was already hoarse, and she shouted out one word, ¡°Master.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man poked her head out to look at her.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you let off Fu-<i>er</i>?¡± As Muxu staggered forward, she looked at her master with a pleading gaze.


    When a person was about to die and he or she had lost all hope of obtaining anything else, a person¡¯s greed would be pulled back to show his or her kind-hearted side.


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s the marquis¡¯s order. There¡¯s no way to defy it.¡±


    If this matter had been given to Wen Wan to handle, she would definitely cry and implore the marquis to let off these three people and let this family of three changed their names and live on somewhere else.


    However, Ji Man felt that she was a more vicious person inparison. Muxu was a person that would only have a conscience right before she was about to die. If she were to kind-heartedly let her off, Muxu would definitely seek revenge against her in the future.


    After Muxu and Li Zixiu were tied to stones, Ji Man walked over to them and stuffed the swaddled bundle into Li Zixiu¡¯s arms.


    Some of the surrounding people were cursing that the adulterers for being shameless. There were even more people shouting that Nie Sangyu was a malicious woman. It was only Li Zixiu, who looked at Nie Sangyu with an extremely grateful gaze when she had put the swaddled bundle into his arms.


    Ji Man waved her hand. ¡°Drown them.¡±


    The nearby servants pushed the family of three into theke. Muxu let out a mournful cry, but she soon sunk deep into theke with the fifty-kilogram stone that had been tied to her.


    Ji Man knew that the female lead wouldn¡¯t have been so heartless. This was why she herself was fated to be the secondary female character. She was capable of anything. She was the secondary female character that wasn¡¯t beholden to any pressure.


    After Ji Man returned to the estate, there was still Wen Wan and Liu Hanyun¡¯s matter to be resolved. However, Ji Man felt that she didn¡¯t need to do anything herself. She just needed to safely deliver Midwife Yang to Marquis Moyu.


    However, while the person sent to fetch Midwife Yang hade back, Midwife Yang hadn¡¯t been brought back. Instead, the person was currently kneeling for his failure. ¡°This servant followed master¡¯s directions to look for Midwife Yang, but she wasn¡¯t there.¡±


    Ji Man had already done all that she could to protect the sole witness, but in the end she hadn¡¯t been able to sessfully protect her. Ji Man shrugged. It couldn¡¯t be helped. She wasn¡¯t an all-powerful god, only a woman in the inner court.


    Since Midwife Yang had disappeared, Wen Wan felt much more rxed. She insisted that she didn¡¯t know anything while Liu Hanyun looked at Marquis Moyu with an eager gaze.


    Two women. One woman had once been the woman he had loved the most. The other woman had saved his life, and he had said he would always protect her. Ji Man was very happy that she could be here with melon seeds to watch this show.


    However, in the end, there wasn¡¯t any marvelous highlights or a wonderful show to watch. Marquis Moyu directly used the excuse that the midwife had made a mistake to give Xi-<i>er</i> back to Liu Hanyun. Yun-<i>er</i> didn¡¯t need be raised by Nie Sangyu and would be sent to Qiangwei Courtyard for Wen Wan to take care of.


    Holding Yun-<i>er</i>, Wen Wan forced herself to smile as she said, ¡°It¡¯s good that this misunderstand has been resolved. As long as your heart has me, it¡¯s not important if my baby is a boy or girl.


    Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes and faintly said, ¡°En.¡±


    Perhaps, there was still something left.


    Trantor Ramblings: I missed this the first time I read this novel, but I don¡¯t think Fu-<i>er</i> was actually in the swaddled bundle. It¡¯s why Ji Man was the one holding ¡°Fu-<i>er</i>¡± instead of having a servant do it, why she waited to put the bundle into Li Zixiu¡¯s arms, and why he gratefully looked at her in that moment. During this chapter, the author kept using the words ¡°swaddled bundle¡± instead of baby, child, or Fu-<i>er</i> like normally.


    Also, in chapter 135, Ji Man thought, ¡°No matter what, a child was innocent. Back when she used to watch pce dramas, she always despised the women that would harm children the most.¡±


    What do you guys think? I have a hard time believing Ji Man is capable of ordering someone to kill a baby.

 Chapter 268 - What kind of men do you like? (1)

    Chapter 268 ¨C What kind of men do you like? (1)


    The day for Ning Mingjie¡¯s big wedding had arrived.


    Ji Man had been asked by Marquis Moyu to prepare a wedding gift several days ago. She had selected decoratively carved gold and silver bricks, eight treasures made of colored ss, and two treasures that had been bestowed by the emperor.


    Since that incident of finding out that the two babies had been switched, as well as being given a green hat, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t returned home for a long period of time. Ji Man was really worried that Ning Yuxuan would lose faith and confidence in women because of the great shock he had suffered. Thus, she frequently went to some high official or assistant minister¡¯s home to check up on him. While she was there, she would also deliver some snacks to him.


    The high officials in the Six Ministries all thought that Nie Sangyu was a magnanimous woman that suited her role as the matriarch of the family very well. And yet, each time, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t very willing to see her.


    Ji Man really wanted to give him a lecture. It wasn¡¯t right to vent his anger on an innocent party. Although she had been the one that revealed truth, she hadn¡¯t been the guilty party. Why wasn¡¯t he angry with Wen Wan? The person that had done the wrong thing was still living a good life of being able to hold her child.


    Still, Ning Yuxuan probably just wanted some peace and quiet. On the day of Ning Mingjie¡¯s big wedding, Ning Yuxuan still returned to the estate to pick her up.


    Ji Man had specially worn a light blue, stately ceremonial outfit that was embroidered with colorful butterflies and a light green shawl. Her hair was up in a joyful twin loop hairstyle. She was wearing night pearl earrings, and her eyebrows were lightly painted. As she wasing out of estate and getting onto the carriage, as she had expected, Marquis Moyu¡¯s eyes slightly brightened when he saw her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t bete.¡± Ji Man approached him and held his hand to lead him forward.


    Ning Yuxaun made a sound of assent and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear.


    Feeling his warm fingers, Ji Man raised her head to look, but his expression was still icy.


    After they had boarded the carriage, Ning Yuxuan broke the silence by lightly saying, ¡°The third prince will also be at Mingjie¡¯s wedding. Recently, it looks like his opportune time is about to mature, and his wish will soon being true soon. Perhaps, it won¡¯t take long before we go to the third prince¡¯s estate to drink wine at his wedding banquet.¡±


    Zhao Jue didn¡¯t have a princess consort yet. There was only one very favored Consort Han. Consort Han had visited the marquis¡¯s estate before, but Ji Man didn¡¯t have any strong impression of her.


    Hearing that the third prince would be getting married soon, she felt that it was only normal. She was just curious whom the third prince would be marrying for Ning Yuxuan to say that the third prince¡¯s wish would being true soon.


    The third prince¡¯s wish was to be the crown prince.


    The wheels of the carriage turned and turned, but Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t say another word. When Ji Man turned her head to the side to look at him, he didn¡¯t show any reaction either.


    Nie Sangyu wanted this person to fall in love with her, and Ji Man had already done everything that she could. She managed his household and had also helped Nie Sangyu by removing her secret enemy. While Ji Man was capable of logically and clearly discussing theories of love, it would be a bit difficult to apply those theories on Ning Yuxuan and get him to fall in love with her.


    When they arrived at Ning Residence¡¯s entrance, it was dusk. There were peopleing and going at the entrance. It looked as if the bride would soon be here.


    Ji Man followed Ning Yuxuan out of the carriage. After their gifts were handed over to the servants stationed by the entrance, she also stood by the entrance to wait for the bride to appear.


    Naturally, there were many noble guests attending this wedding. After all, Ning Mingjie was marrying Prince Gong¡¯s daughter, so the wedding naturally had be veryvish to be suitable for her. Many yards of red silk had been hung on the walls that lined this street. The surrounding guests that were chatting with each other were all high officials. Ji Man only had to sweep her eyes once across the crowd to find the third prince.


    Zhao Jue was wearing a light golden robe. Ji Man didn¡¯t know when it had happened, but he had already discarded his elegant mask of being unconcerned about worldly matters. Now, his face showed the candid smile of someone that had obtained power. Looking at him now, she was actually reminded of Zhao Zhe¡¯s smile when he had been the crown prince.


    Speaking of Zhao Zhe, when she moved her gaze a little farther down, he was actually here too. He wasn¡¯t wearing the crown that signified the position of the crown prince and was just wearing a normal prince¡¯s robes. And yet, he was smiling very easily. While holding hands with his princess consort, he was surrounded by a group of high officials.


    Although the first prince had lost the crown prince¡¯s halo, he didn¡¯t seem to be dejected or in dire straits. Although the third prince and his faction hade to Ning Mingjie¡¯s wedding, the first prince had still brought along his princess consort and his trusted aids here to celebrate.


    Ji Man thought; while she was capable of ying along with Ning Yuxuan¡¯s harem and their low-level schemes, she would leave this group of people that were capable of rigorous scheming and deep foresight to Ning Yuxuan.


    The group of people that had gone to pick up the bride returned. Ning Mingjie was wearing a groom¡¯s robe and sitting on top ofrge horse. There was a faint smile on his face. Behind him, there was a fiery red marriage sedan. The servants that surrounded the carriage were all wearing crimson clothing. Behind the marriage sedan, the train of servants that were carrying the bride¡¯s dowry seemed almost endlessly long.


    Looking at this scene, Ji Man almost felt overwhelmed.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to nce at her. He chuckled and said, ¡°What are you thinking about?¡±


    ¡°This servant was thinking of this servant¡¯s dowry procession. It had seemed like it was ten miles long too,¡± Ji Man lightly answered, ¡°The bride in the marriage sedan is probably in the same mood as this servant had been on my wedding day.¡±


    Marquis Moyu deeply looked at her. ¡°You still remember the past?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°This servant remembers. In return for this servant¡¯s heart-filled joy, the marquis left this servant alone on our wedding night to go to a servant girl¡¯s room. How could this servant ever forget that feeling? It was like falling off a cloud.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan quietly coughed a few times. Looking slightly awkward, he turned his head away. ¡°I thought you had forgotten everything.¡±


    Looking at him, Ji Man said, ¡°This servant has a very good memory and will pay back kindness ten-fold and enmity a hundred-fold.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re still a small-minded woman.¡±


    ¡°En, that¡¯s my temperament. It can¡¯t be changed.¡±


    While they were having this conversation, Ning Mingjie had already dismounted from the horse, kicked open the door of the marriage sedan, and was carrying the bride. After a series of convoluted and overly borate wedding rituals were performed, everyone could finally enter the estate and sit down.


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°Ji Man really wanted to give him a lecture. It wasn¡¯t right to vent his anger on an innocent party.¡± Ji Man, are you conveniently forgetting that Muxu only became Ning Yuxuan¡¯s concubine because of your scheming?

 Chapter 269 - What kind of men do you like? (2)

    Chapter 269 ¨C What kind of men do you like? (2)


    This reception after the wedding was different from amoner¡¯s reception because the bride¡¯s father was a prince. After the proper ceremonial rites were observed, the bride had to meet with various madams from noble families.


    As one of these women, Ji Man naturally approached her with a cup of wine.


    Because they were now rtives by marriage and Ning Mingjie was older than Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man had to address her as older cousin. When she was toasting her, the bride slightly lifted up her wedding veil and very courteously drank the wine she was offered. Even with most of the bride¡¯s face covered by the veil, Ji Man could see that the bride had a prettyplexion that was easy on the eyes.


    Sitting in a different area, Ning Mingjie was greeting his guests. His marriage to Prince Gong¡¯s daughter was a very favorable decision that didn¡¯t have any detriment to the third prince¡¯s faction. However, he had never met his bride before today and didn¡¯t have any feelings for her.


    Ning Residence was very lively today. Taking advantage of this wedding banquet, a considerable amount of people were going around and trying to climb up socially. Ning Yuxuan had also been pulled away by a group of people to drink, so Ji Man was left sitting by the bride¡¯s side and helpfully adding food to her bowl.


    Holding a cup of wine, the the first princess consort came over, sat down by Nie Sangyu¡¯s side, and said with a smile, ¡°Marchioness Moyu, you¡¯re bing more and more beautiful.¡±


    Ji Man straightened her posture and lightly smiled. ¡°Your Highness, you¡¯re overpraising this servant. This servant is like a willow tree that easily withers away. How could it bepared to Your Highness¡¯s outstanding and heavenly beauty?¡±


    ¡°Such a sweet-talker. No wonder the marquis likes you.¡± The first princess consort pursued her lips andughed. ¡°I heard that a lot of things had happened in your householdtely. You¡¯re quite skillful.¡±


    The first princess consort clearly didn¡¯te here with good intentions. Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t something that Sangyu had wished for. If someone hadn¡¯t secretly used a child for nefarious reasons, Sangyu wouldn¡¯t have needed to do those things.¡±


    ¡°I heard that they already found the culprit who switched out the marquis¡¯s heir,¡± the first princess consort said, ¡°Has your child been found yet?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s gaze sunk. Next to her, the bride interrupted their conversation by saying, ¡°First princess consort, didn¡¯t youe here to drink with Qian-<i>er</i>? Why are you talking with Sangyu?¡±


    ¡°Aiya, look at me.¡± Afterughing for a few seconds, the first princess consort stood up and went over to the bride¡¯s other side. Looking at the bride, she said, ¡°This cup of wine is to toast the bride. You have to properly drink all of it.¡±


    Because her alcohol tolerance wasn¡¯t good, Zhao Qian had been nning on drinking the wine, then spitting it out into her sleeve. But, while other people hadn¡¯t mind and would look away, the first princess stared at her the entire time, and she could only swallow the entire cup of wine down.


    Including the cup of wine that Nie Sangyu had offered her, she had only drunk two cups of wine today, but she suddenly felt very woozy.


    ¡°I want to go back to my room.¡± She didn¡¯t want to lose her self-control on her wedding night. Zhao Qian turned her head and wanted to call over her personal servant girl.


    The first princess consort pressed down on Zhao Qian¡¯s shoulder and asked, ¡°The mood is so good right now. How can you leave?¡±


    Ji Man faintly frowned. She stood up and helped the bride up. ¡°Since older cousin-inw wants to go back, Sangyu will escort older cousin-inw.¡±


    Zhao Qian gratefully raised her eyes to nce at her.


    Breaking the bride away from the first princess consort¡¯s hold, Ji Man supported her out of the room.


    Ning Residence was veryrge. All of the servants had gone to serve at the wedding banquet, and Ji Man wasn¡¯t familiar with Ning Residence¡¯syout. After looking left and right, she finally saw a servant girl that was wearing red clothesing over here.


    ¡°Does the bride want to go to her room to rest?¡± This servant girl stretch her hand out and wanted to take Zhao Qian from Nie Sangyu. ¡°This servant will lead her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I¡¯lle with her.¡± Ji Man felt slightly worried and avoided that servant girl¡¯s hand. ¡°Just lead the way.¡±


    The red-robed servant girl didn¡¯t say anything. After many twists and turns, they finally stopped in front of a courtyard that was full of red ribbons that had been tied into concentric knots.


    ¡°The good luck woman is waiting inside. Madam, you don¡¯t need toe inside.¡± The servant girl took Zhao Qian from Nie Sangyu and said. ¡°Madam, thank you.¡±


    Seeing that they had arrived, Ji Man couldn¡¯t stubbornly insist on following them inside. She could only watch as Zhao Qian was brought into the bridal chamber, then she turned around and went to look for Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan was already drunk from all of the toasting. His usually cold face was flushed. Seeing hering over, he childishly stretched his hand out towards her. ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man felt a bit startled. When she reached his side, he hugged her waist and said, ¡°Older cousin is clearly the groom that should be doing all of the drinking, but he keeps pushing me to drink more. Don¡¯t you think he¡¯s being really mean?¡±


    Ning Mingjie had also drunk too much. His eyes were filled with sparkling things. He loudlyughed and said, ¡°He wouldn¡¯t speak the truth when I asked him, so my only choice was to get him drunk. Once he¡¯s drunk, he¡¯ll naturally say truthful words.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She swept her gaze across this table of young men. Nie Qingyun was also here, but he had drunk too much and lost conscious. When she carefully looked at him, she could see that his brow was still furrowed. Had he been worrying about somethingtely? Other than Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan, none of the other men were still awake and capable of saying anything.


    ¡°Help me drink.¡± A white wine cup was brought to her lips.


    As soon as Ji Man lowered her head, she could smell a very strong alcoholic scent.


    In ancient times, noble families didn¡¯t dilute the wine with water during banquets, so the alcoholic percentage was very high. No wonder Ning Yuxuan had drunk to the point of looking like a fool.


    Ji Man took the cup and looked as if she had cleanly drunk it, then she raised her sleeve and spat it all out. The wine had been potent enough to flush her cheeks. ¡°En, I¡¯ll help you drink.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan actually smiled. Pulling on her waist, he asked, ¡°Sangyu, what kind of men do you like?¡±


    Startled, Ji Man carefully looked at his eyes. He really was wasted.


    ¡°This servant likes a man that whole-heartedly loves one person. His sry isn¡¯t too high or too low. He¡¯s someone that could a buy house together with me, treats me well, and knows how to cook. When I say east, he won¡¯t look west. His wife would be the most important person to him. He won¡¯t be a promiscuous person that cheats on me. He knows how to repair light bulbs and how to fixputers.¡±


    Her expression didn¡¯t change as she finished answering this question. After thinking it over, she added, ¡°That type of men is already on the verge of going extinct. It would be easier to just find a hourly worker.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nkly looked at her. Next to him, Ning Mingjie was also dumbfounded by these words. A momentter, he suddenlyughed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what your other requirements mean, but just from your requirement of wanting a man that whole-heartedly loves you, I know that the type of men that Sangyu likes doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    Ji Man seriously nodded. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. It¡¯s because you were raised in this this world.¡±


    Pursing his lips, Marquis Moyu copsed to the side. Feeling very unhappy, he looked at her and said, ¡°So, you don¡¯t like me.¡±


    Ji Man covered her mouth andughed. ¡°My lord, you¡¯re drunk. This servant is also drunk. Let¡¯s go back home, wash up, and go to sleep.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: OMG, Ji Man, why aren¡¯t you sending Ning Mingjie or someone else to check up on the bride? How did you let yourself get distracted like this?


    This is the first time in this novel, where I was actually worried about what¡¯s going to happen next. For Ji Man, I feel that she can handle anything that¡¯s thrown at her, so I¡¯ve never felt worried. Hope the bride is okay.

 Chapter 270 - Who had flagrantly cut in? (1)

    Chapter 270 ¨C Who had grantly cut in? (1)


    Ning Yuxuan look at her with a very deep gaze, but after ncing at her one more time, he closed his eyes. ¡°En.¡±


    Feeling confused, Ning Mingjie drunkenlyughed. He shakily stood up. ¡°It¡¯s about time for me to go to the bridal chamber. Sangyu, take care of Yuxuan for me.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She helped Ning Yuxuan stand up, then they went outside, and she called for the carriage driver.


    ¡°What¡¯s a light bulb?¡¯


    ¡°...¡± Sitting in the carriage, Ji Man resisted the urge to smack the person in her arms unconscious. Rubbing her temples, she answered, ¡°It¡¯s just a skyntern.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of skynterns.)


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and asked another question, ¡°What¡¯s aputer?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pig¡¯s brain that¡¯s being cushioned by a chopping board.¡± Ji Man lowered her head to look at him. ¡°My lord, you¡¯re drunk. Doesn¡¯t your head feel woozy or ufortable?¡±


    (T/N: In Chinese, the literal trantion forputer is di¨¤nn¨£o electrical brain, and the Chinese words for electrical and cushioned are homophones.)


    Marquis Moyu paused, then he closed his eyes and said, ¡°I feel very ufortable and very woozy.¡±


    ¡°Then, why are you still asking so many questions? This servant thinks you should be peacefully resting.¡± Ji Man switched the hand that was cushioning his head.


    Ning Yuxuan rubbed against her hand a few times, said, ¡°en¡±, and really did go straight to sleep.


    Fortunately, he didn¡¯t vomit or cause a fuss after getting drunk. Ji Man brought him back to Feiwan Courtyard to rest, and their night passed just like that.


    However, something horrible was happening while they were sleeping.


    ¡ª


    The next morning, when Guibai came into the room to report, he pushed open the doors without knocking or asking permission to enter. There was a rarely seen panicked expression on his face. ¡°Master, something bad happened in Ning Residence.¡±


    Ji Man had been about to leave her bed to put on her outer robes when Guibai burst into room. Marquis Moyu pushed her back under the quilt.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°... Last night, the third prince had gotten drunk and stayed over at Ning Residence. For some reason, the bride had gone into the wrong room, and ended up with the third prince. They...¡±


    It was probably because there was a woman in the room, so Guibai didn¡¯tplete his sentence, but Ji Man still ended up identally knocking her head against the bed in shock and getting a big bump.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression was very ugly. He was stunned into silence for a long time before he murmured, ¡°How could that have happened?¡±


    Prince Gong¡¯s daughter was the third prince¡¯s younger cousin. Under a circumstance where he knew her identity, it would be impossible for the third prince to do something like that. He wasn¡¯t an idiot.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t have time to wait for Nie Sangyu and went to Ning Residence by himself.


    After Ji Man had put on the rest of her clothes, tidied up the bed, and waited for a bit, she got into a carriage by herself and chased after him to Ning Residence.


    What had happened was beyond preposterous. This marriage had been a perfectly, happy event, and it could also be counted as Prince Gong extending an olive branch to the third prince, but such a ridiculous mistake had urred and ruined it.


    Now that this had happened, Ning Mingjie definitely wouldn¡¯t want to keep Prince Gong¡¯s daughter as his wife, and the third prince had no way of justifying to Ning Mingjie what he had done. The third prince¡¯s actions had basically broken off his perfectly good rtionship with his right-hand man.


    Ifst night had been the result of someone scheming against the third prince, Ji Man could only say, the culprit was truly skilled.


    She had clearly escorted the bride to the entrancest night. How could the bride have gone into the wrong room?


    ¡ª


    Zhao Qian was currently sitting in the bridal chamber. Her clothes had already been changed. She was clutching the edge of the bed as she silently cried.


    Consort Han was standing by her side. She angrily and anxiously said, ¡°How could you have walked into the wrong room?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was standing outside of the room. The third prince was standing next to him and somewhat helplessly said, ¡°Someone probably deliberately set me up. Last night, I... I though she was you.¡±


    Closing his eyes, Ning Mingjie stayed silent. His expression was slightly pale. He had also drunk too muchst night and didn¡¯t notice there was anything strange about the bridal chamber. His bridal chamber didn¡¯t have a good luck woman or a bride, but he had copsed onto the bed and fallen asleep. When he woke up, it was already dawn.


    He had acted stupidly too.


    But, the matter had already happened. There wasn¡¯t anything that he could say that would be useful. Even though it had clearly been a trapid out by someone, he couldn¡¯t forget this and be relieved. The marriage with Prince Gong¡¯s family naturally had to be ended.


    ¡ª


    By the time that Ning Yuxuan rushed over, Zhao Jue didn¡¯t care that there were other people around. He pulled him over by the hand and said, ¡°Yuxuan, how do you think we should we fix this?¡±


    What was there to be fixed? You slept with someone¡¯s newly wedded wife. What could he possibly do to fix this? Marquis Moyu took two deep breaths and helplessly said, ¡°The bride isn¡¯t someone that can be casually treated. Third prince, if you don¡¯t want to provoke the emperor into bing furious with you, go to the pce immediately and ask to be punished for your mistake. Then, go to Prince Gong and confess what you did.¡±


    The third prince helplessly nced at Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie agreed with his cousin¡¯s idea and nodded.


    Zhao Jue turned around and rushed to the pce.


    ¡ª


    By the time that Ji Man arrived, Ning Yuxuan and Ning Mingjie had already disappeared from the room. When she entered the bridal chamber, she saw Consort Han ordering the servants to pack things up.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?


    Consort Han turned around. Seeing that it was Nie Sangyu, she forced herself to smile and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to bring her back to the estate.¡±


    Zhao Qian bit her lip. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go.¡±


    Ji Man nced at her. Zhao Qian¡¯splexion was deathly pale. In the span of one night, she looked like a flower that had wilted. But, she was still stubbornly clinging to the edge of the bed. Next to her, there were servant girls gently tugging on her hand. But, she refused to move and persistently said, ¡°I want to stay here.¡±


    Consort Han opened her mouth, but ended up swallowing her words back down.


    Ji Man knew that Consort Han wanted to say that Ning Residence was no longer a ce that Zhao Qian could stay at.


    Under the current circumstance, no matter how much Zhao Qian wanted to stay here, she wouldn¡¯t be able to. Looking at this pretty woman, Ji Man thought; what a pity. Ning Mingjie¡¯s quiet personality would have been sopatible with Zhao Qian¡¯s temperament. This missed opportunity for a good marriage was such a pity.


    Ji Man said a few words tofort Zhao Qian, but in heart, she thought that Ning Mingjie was the person that needed someone tofort him the most.


    Trantor Ramblings: I understand why Ji Man would naturally feel more sympathetic towards Ning Mingjie. He¡¯s her friend and Zhao Qian is just a stranger that she¡¯s briefly talked to once. But, we do know that Ning Mingjie is probably not as distraught as Ji Man thinks he is.


    ¡°He found out today that his father had selected a main wife for him. She was Prince Gong¡¯s daughter. Although he had never met her, he heard that she didn¡¯t know the Four Schrly Arts, her adherence to etiquette was very poor, and she was very arrogant and rude. He didn¡¯t understand why his father had chosen a woman like this to be his wife.


    Still, he wasn¡¯t young anymore. If he had to marry a woman and settle down, he could... try to amodate it.¡± ¨C from Chapter 253.


    Or more recently, from the previous chapter, ¡°However, he had never met his bride before today and didn¡¯t have any feelings for her.¡±


    P.S. I don¡¯t remember if any extra information is revealed about who plotted against Zhao Qian and the third princeter in the novel, so no spoilers from me =/.

 Chapter 271 - Who had flagrantly cut in? (2)

    Chapter 271 ¨C Who had grantly cut in? (2)


    Looking at the pond, Ning Mingjie lightly said, ¡°There¡¯s going to be a battle in Jiangdong soon. It¡¯ll be good for me to enter the battlefield unencumbered by worries or responsibilities. Matters rted to marriage, let¡¯s talk about itter.¡±


    Standing by his side, Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and said, ¡°I¡¯ve never done anything that would harm you. This time is the same. How about listening to my advice?¡±


    Ning Mingjie chuckled. He turned his head to the side to look at his cousin and said, ¡°How could I not know that you¡¯ve paved a path for me? The crown prince had expressed his goodwill towards me several times, and I had felt somewhat sway by it. But, on the Southern Trip, you led me to the water to save Sangyu from drowning. After that happened, it was only to be expected that I would kneel under the third prince¡¯s wings. Right now, the third prince is the most likely person to be the next crown prince. You naturally haven¡¯t done anything to harm me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled. ¡°So, you already knew.¡±


    Regarding the matter of Nie Sangyu falling into the water, he had received information in advance that the crown prince would be putting sleeping incense in everyone¡¯s rooms. It was also him that had switched out the sleeping incense in Ning Mingjie and Nie Sangyu¡¯s rooms. After Nie Sangyu fell into the water, it was him that led Ning Mingjie to save her instead of saving her himself. One aspect was that he was scheming towards pushing Ning Mingjie to the third prince¡¯s side. The second aspect was...


    He didn¡¯t know how to swim.


    Of course, there was no reason to bring out these past matters to talk about. Now that Ning Mingjie could no longer whole-heartedly follow the third prince, Ning Yuxuan had to point out another path for him.


    Before Ning Yuxuan could suggest affiliating with the Six Ministries, Ning Mingjie said, ¡°There isn¡¯t much of a point in the disputes between political factions. Since there¡¯s an opportunity to go the battlefield right now, if I write a letter to the emperor to request allowing me to follow the army and go into the battle, the emperor won¡¯t refuse my request.¡±


    It was the emperor¡¯s son that had made a mistake, but as his father, he wouldn¡¯t want to punish his son. Since the emperor didn¡¯t have a good way of setting his official¡¯s heart at ease, he naturally wouldn¡¯t reject his official¡¯s request. Although it was very dangerous to go into battle, Ning Yuxuan thought; with Ning Mingjie¡¯s skills, his cousin would definitely have a better future as a general than staying as a civilian court official.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t tried to persuade Ning Mingjie any further. He sighed and said, ¡°Your romantic life has really been full of trouble and misfortune.¡±


    Ning Mingjie lightly shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s no big deal. As long as there¡¯s people I care about by my side, that¡¯s enough.¡±


    ¡ª


    In the end, Zhao Qian left with Consort Han, but the matter couldn¡¯t be easily swept under the rug. Even if it had been an ident, Prince Gong wouldn¡¯t let his daughter suffer by bing someone¡¯s concubine. He naturally demanded that she would be the third prince¡¯s princess consort.


    The third prince wasn¡¯t happy about this. He was saving the position of his princess consort for someone else. How could he possibly give this position to Zhao Qian just because of one mistaken night?


    As soon as he showed that he was unwilling, Prince Gong became very angry. Prince Gong went to the emperor and talked all the way from the meritorious services that happened during the founding of the nation to the previous emperor. Furthermore, Zhao Qian was his only legitimate daughter. In what way was she not suitable for the third prince?


    The emperor was in a dilemma, but he was angrier with his rotten son that had done such muddled-headed thing.


    The first prince used this opportunity to add fuel to the fire by saying, ¡°Prince Gong¡¯s daughter has a lovely appearance. This mistake can also be considered as fate. Imperial father, why don¡¯t you write an imperial edict to bestow Prince Gong¡¯s daughter to the third imperial brother as his princess consort?¡±


    Standing on the side, the third prince¡¯splexion was ashen, but he didn¡¯t dare to say a word of refusal.


    ¡ª


    The imperial consort invited her niece to Ninglu Pce and angrily vented to her for a while. ¡°This consort just knew that the other side wouldn¡¯t have any good intentions. They directly trapped your older cousin by tying him to Prince Gong¡¯s daughter. Such sinister hearts!¡±


    Ji Man actually didn¡¯t know why she was so angry. At the bare minimum, Prince Gong was a first-rank prince. The third prince wasn¡¯t suffering an injustice by marrying Prince Gong¡¯s daughter!


    However, she understood after hearing the imperial noble consort¡¯s following words.


    ¡°Yuzhen¡¯s princess will being to the capital in half a month to choose her husband. Jue-<i>er</i> had originally been the best candidate. Everything is ruined now. How could a stately princess from another country be willing to be his concubine? Jue-<i>er</i> has practically lost his chance with her.¡±


    Yuzhen was a country that bordered Great Song. The country wasn¡¯t big, but it was very wealthy. The king of Yuzhen was sending his daughter here to choose a husband because he wanted an alliance to Great Song though marriage.


    Ji Man suddenly understood. No wonder Ning Yuxuan had said that the third prince¡¯s wish of bing the crown prince would soon be fulfilled. If the third prince married the Yuzhen princess, he would be gaining the support of an entire country, and there was no way the position of the crown prince would be able to run away from him. But in the end, an unknown person had grantly cut in. Not only did the third prince have to marry Prince Gong¡¯s daughter, his rtionship with Ning Mingjie had also been damaged.


    The imperial noble consort was steaming mad. Pulling on her niece¡¯s hand, she said, ¡°You¡¯ve always been the cleverest one. When that princesses to the capital, this consort will be responsible for arranging the women that will be keeping herpany. Once that timees, think of words to say to her that will help your older cousin. Prince Gong¡¯s daughter might be Jue-<i>er</i>¡®s princess consort right now. But, who knows if something will happen to herter on. Once Jue-<i>er</i> wins power, he definitely wouldn¡¯t wrong the Yuzhen princess.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. It was only natural for the imperial noble consort to worry about her son. As his younger cousin, it was only to be expected that she would help him.


    But, how could a stately princess be easily persuaded into bing someone¡¯s concubine?


    ¡ª


    After returning the estate, Ning Yuxuan was focused on writing.


    When Ji Man came over with tea, he quickly covered up the papers on his desk.


    He said with a calm expression, ¡°I¡¯m probably going to be busy for a while. Take good care of the children in this household for me.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan thought for a moment before saying in a low voice, ¡°Also, Mingjie is leaving with the army to go to Jiangdong in half a month. You can take some time out to help him with sorting out his estate too.¡±


    Did he see her an omnipotent housekeeper? Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°My lord, will this servant¡¯s monthly allowance be increasing?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: When Sangyu¡¯s aunt said, ¡°But, who knows if something will happen to herter on,¡± thates off as ¡°I¡¯m already plotting a way to get rid of her¡± to me. Poor Zhao Qian.

 Chapter 272 - The sky is filled with little stars (1)

    Chapter 272 ¨C The sky is filled with little stars (1)


    Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze over her and treated her utterly serious words as a joke. He turned his head and said, ¡°Mingjie¡¯s mood probably won¡¯t be good for a while. If you have any good friends that aren¡¯t married, you can bring them over to Ning Residence to walk around.¡±


    What a rotten idea. Ning Mingjie had only recently experienced such a disheartening wedding. Why did he want her to rush forward to y matchmaker? Ji Man silently cursed him, but she nodded her head in agreement and turned around to leave.


    Ning Yuxuan called out to stop her, ¡°Wait.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Ji Man curiously turned her head back.


    Marquis Moyu lightly averted his gaze and quietly said, ¡°Come to the western courtyard tonight.¡±


    Come to the western courtyard? Ji Man nodded. Although she didn¡¯t understand what he was nning, when a superior ordered something, a subordinate only needed to execute his order.


    ¡ª


    Hearing Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s cries that filled the room, Wen Wan impatiently shouted, ¡°Where¡¯s the wet nurse?¡±


    The wet nurse hurriedly took Yun-<i>er</i> and said in a low voiced, ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, this child has poor health, so it¡¯s very easy for her to get sick. This servant has already fed her milk, but she¡¯s crying because she¡¯s slightly feverish.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s sick?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s expression slightly changed. She took Yun-<i>er</i> from the wet nurse for a closer look. This was totally Liu Hanyun¡¯s, that wretched and shabby girl, fault for not taking good care of Yun-<i>er</i>. Otherwise, Yun-er wouldn¡¯t be so sickly right now.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°The timing works out well, Yun-<i>er</i> hasn¡¯t seen the marquis in a while. I¡¯ll bring her over to the study to see him.¡± Wen Wan stood up.


    Tanxiang hurriedly came over and draped a cloak over her master. After adjusting the cloak so that it covered Yun-<i>er</i> too, they headed outside.


    After the children had been switched back, Liu Hanyun¡¯s side was finally happy. From top to bottom, she did a good job with taking care of Xi-<i>er</i>. Her spirits had also be much better. But, on Wen Wan¡¯s side, the son had turned into a daughter. No matter how you looked at it, there was a drop in her level of happiness. Right now, Wen Wan¡¯s goal was to be favored more often so that she could get pregnant again.


    Arriving at the study, she saw Marquis Moyu nkly looking at a skyntern. He took out two bamboo sticks from thentern, then put them back and stroked thentern.


    ¡°My lord?¡±


    Before she could announce her arrival, Yun-<i>er</i> had already started crying. Ning Yuxuan raised his head to look at Wen Wan. She was smilingly very warmly and sweetly. Holding Yun-<i>er</i>, she said, ¡°My lord, you haven¡¯te to see Yun-<i>er</i> in a long time. Look, Yun-<i>er</i> is always crying.¡±


    Putting down the skyntern, Ning Yuxuan smiled. He stretched his arms out and took Yun-<i>er</i> from her. ¡°It¡¯s probably because you haven¡¯t been taking good care of her.¡±


    ¡°How could that be?¡± Wen Wan pressed her lips together. Herugher sounded a bit pained. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> just feels that my lord has gradually been distancing himself from Wan-<i>er</i>. Even the snow in my courtyard has gotten higher. Wan-<i>er</i> was just too focused on missing my lord, so Wan-<i>er</i> might have overlooked Yun-<i>er</i> a bit.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips together. He handed Yun-<i>er</i> to the wet nurse and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m not done with household matters or affairs of the nation. You¡¯ll have to wait.¡±


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯t want anything else,¡± Wen Wan quietly said, ¡°It¡¯s just that I have Yun-<i>er</i> now, but everyone still calls me Miss. Isn¡¯t that a bit strange. My lord, are you still unwilling to change Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s status?¡±


    He just knew that when a woman came to his door, there would be something that she wanted. Marquis Moyu sighed. He didn¡¯t want to change Wen Wan¡¯s status. If he changed it, she would be unhappy if her new status was too low, but if her new status was too high, there would be no peace in his household.


    A long time ago, a very long time ago, Ning Yuxuan had thought Wen Wan was someone that had the ability to manage his household. It was onlyter that he found out that merely liking someone wasn¡¯t enough for her to be a suitable person to share his life with. If a person was suitable... then it was possible for him to slowly fall in love with her.


    Looking at the skyntern that he had ced down in the corner, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression softened. He said, ¡°Regarding the matter of your status, go to Madam. She¡¯ll decide.¡±


    An incredulously expression appeared on Wen Wan¡¯s face. ¡°This type of matter... Does it really require her approval?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s the matriarch of this family after all,¡± Marquis Moyu said, ¡°Moreover, no matter what your status is, it¡¯ll be the same to me.¡±


    Wen Wan felt rather wronged. Crying andughing, she looked at him and said, ¡°My lord, do you dare to swear on your heart that Wen Wan is the most important person in your heart?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused.


    ¡°Are you hesitating?¡± Wen Wan widened her eyes andughed. ¡°You once said that you would protect me for a lifetime. Where did the person that said he wouldn¡¯t let me suffer any grievances go?¡±


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>...¡±


    ¡°Other people can¡¯t be med for saying that a man¡¯s words are the most untrustworthy ones.¡± Wen Wan was still smiling as she retreated. Not even caring about Yun-<i>er</i>, she twisted her body and ran out of the room.


    Ning Yuxuan continued to sit in his chair and only let out a long sigh.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Master!¡± Dengxin ran into the room. In high spirits, she said, ¡°Something funny happened today.¡±


    Ji Man was almost done with her embroidery of Wang Zhaojun. She nced at Dengxin and asked, ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±


    (T/N: Wang Zhaojun is one of the four great beauties of ancient China.)


    Covering her smiling mouth, she told her master what had recently happened in the study. She was stillughing as she said, ¡°The servant girl that had been serving tea at the time is stillughing about it. Wen Wan had once been such a favored wife, but now she¡¯s just a servant girl without any status. And now, she even failed when she asked the marquis to change her status.¡±


    Ji Man paused. Her embroidery needle pierced the wrong spot and left behind a small w.


    ¡°Feeling change with circumstances.¡± After sighing, she continued to embroider. ¡°People have to work hard to maintain a loving rtionship. If you don¡¯t work hard, then you can¡¯t turn around and me someone for changing his or her feelings. After all, love is a fleeting emotion. Marriage requires both partners to get along with each other for a long time.¡±


    Not really understanding her master¡¯s words, Dengxin just nodded and smiled again as she said, ¡°Master, it can be counted as you finally getting rid of resentful feelings. Back when Wen Wan had so grandly stolen master¡¯s position as the main wife, she probably never expected that she would fall to her current state.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her eyes andughed. ¡°Yeah, this world can only have main wives that aren¡¯t diligent enough. The other woman can always be defeated if the main wife is careful enough.¡±


    Although Dengxin didn¡¯tpletely understand these words, she still thought that her master looked very impressive as she said these words.

 Chapter 273 - The sky is filled with little stars (2)

    Chapter 273 ¨C The sky is filled with little stars (2)


    Wen Wan naturally didn¡¯t have the face toe over and ask Nie Sangyu to change her status.


    And so, Ji Man pretended that she hadn¡¯t heard anything about this matter. When night arrived, she went to the western courtyard ording to the time that Marquis Moyu had set.


    When she heard this afternoon that Ning Yuxuan had been ordering the servants to move things around, Ji Man didn¡¯t inquire further about it. Shouldn¡¯t men be allowed to have their little secrets?


    But, she did find it strange that when she arrived in the western courtyard, Ning Yuxuan pointed a spot for her to sit down and told her to not move. Then, he crouched down in the outside courtyard, took out various skynterns from a bamboo chest, and started fiddling with them.


    What was he doing?


    Ji Man was stunned. She really wanted to open her mouth and ask questions. But, seeing how serious he looked, it felt awkward for her to speak.


    One by one, Ning Yuxuan fixed all of the broken skynterns that he had taken out from the bamboo chest over the span of two hours. His feet were probably frozen from crouching down in the snow for so long, but he hadn¡¯t said a single word.


    Based on the principle that if the other person wasn¡¯t making a move, then she wouldn¡¯t either, Ji Man hadn¡¯t asked a single question either. She watched him fix all of the skynterns. Then, he ordered Guibai to light up thenterns for him. One by one, thenterns were released in the sky.


    Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand as she watched. The sky was overcast tonight, and the moon¡¯s light couldn¡¯t be seen. Once the skynterns were released, it attracted many people¡¯s attention. Thenterns looked like little stars in the sky. It was quite the spectacr sight.


    Ning Yuxuan walked over and asked, ¡°Does it look pretty?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She could finally ask, ¡°My lord, were you thinking that Sangyu is tired from managing household affairs, so you invited Sangyu here to look at the skynterns.¡±


    The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips twitched. He seemed to be emphasizing a certain point when he said, ¡°I fixed them.¡±


    So? Did he want her to congratte him with arge bouquet of red flower? Ji Man felt somewhat confused. Looking at his slightly sparkling eyes, she went along with it and cheered him by pping her hands. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re so amazing!¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression slightly sunk. His gaze even looked slightly angry as he looked at her.


    Ji Man blinked. Did he not like it when people ttered him? Then, he should have said that earlier, ah. But, did he not having anything better to do? Why had he fixed so many skynterns untilte evening?


    ¡°My lord.¡± Wen Wan¡¯s voice came from the courtyard¡¯s entrance. Ji Man froze for a moment before she subconsciously jumped into the room behind them.


    By the time she was thinking clearly again, she felt there was something strange about her impulse. Why did she need to hide?


    Wen Wan hade over here because she saw the skynterns. With her thin dress and fluttering cloak, she looked like a butterfly when she rushed to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side.


    Because of the darkness of the night, she hadn¡¯t seen that Nie Sangyu was also here.


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> knew it. My lord¡¯s heart still has Wan-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body stiffened. He turned his head and looked at the room behind them.


    Wen Wan raised her head and looked at him as she said, ¡°I was feeling really sad today. I thought you had forgotten all of the beautiful memories that we had shared together. But, you actually remembered it all.¡±


    Marquis Moyu, ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Thesenterns, aren¡¯t they the same ones that were released during a Qixi Festival?¡± Wen Wan looked at thenterns that Guibai was still releasing into the sky. With tears in her eyes, she smiled and said, ¡°Back then, we were just getting to know each other. I called you a lecherous skirt-chaser, but you didn¡¯t get angry. You wrote my name onnterns and released them by my room for me see.¡±


    (T/N: Qixi Festival is a festival celebrating the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in Chinese mythology. It¡¯s also called Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day.)


    Behind them, Ji Man listened to their conversation. She let out a muffledugh. Wen Wan was amazingly delusional. She thought that her love was still reciprocated. Still, this presented her an opportunity to gracefully withdraw from the situation. Ah, what a good night. They could look at the skynterns and also look at the snow. They could talk about life and the past as well.


    Hugging Ning Yuxuan¡¯s waist and with her face pressed against his chest, she mumbled, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is truly feeling very sadlytely. It feels like your eyes and heart only has Nie Sangyu now. Wan-<i>er</i> had said this in the past, if you dare to fall in love with someone else, I¡¯ll also dare to leave you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips twitched. He didn¡¯t raise his arms to hug her back and only nomittally said, ¡°En.¡± In the passing, he kicked the door behind him.


    ¡°En?¡± Wen Wan let go of him and looked at the door. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s tone was light. ¡°I just find this door very unpleasing right now. It¡¯s normally very useful, but at the critical points, it¡¯ll get stuck.¡±


    Ji Man was stumped for words. She pressed her lips together.


    Wen Wan angrily said, ¡°Why are you suddenly talking about a door...¡±


    Looking at thenterns in the sky, she asked, ¡°My lord, how long are you going to make Wan-<i>er</i> wait?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stopped talking again.


    Ji Man silently heckled. Dear sisters, when you reached the point in your rtionship when a man won¡¯t even be willing to make a promise to you, you should hurry and run away. A man that only offered you empty promises was a scum, but if a man wouldn¡¯t even say words ofmitment, then it meant his mind wasn¡¯t nning a future with you.


    Feeling numbness in her feet, Ji Man stood up to rub her legs. She thought for a moment before she pulled open the doors.


    ¡°My lord, as long as you promise that your heart only has Wan-<i>er</i> in the future, then no matter how long it takes, Wan-<i>er</i> will wait...¡±


    Before Wen Wan could find the rest of her sentence, the doors behind them suddenly opened, and a woman came out.


    Frightened, Wen Wan screamed, ¡°¡±Ahhh!¡± She hurriedly hid between Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arms. ¡°What is that creature?!¡±


    Ji Man gave them a very sweet smile, then she looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°My lord, this servant is cheering for you to do your best and will leave here first.¡±

 Chapter 274 - A secret that she hadnt known (1)

    Chapter 274 ¨C A secret that she hadn¡¯t known (1)


    Wen Wan¡¯s expression was quite marvelous to watch after she realized it was Nie Sangyu, who hade out of the room. To describe it in simpler terms, it was as if red, yellow, white, and green had been blown up together to make fireworks that lit up the entire night sky.


    Right after Ji Man said what she wanted to, she turned around and started to scamper away.


    Unexpectedly, she heard Ning Yuxuan shout from behind her, ¡°Nie Sangyu!¡±


    Nothing good could happen when he even included herst name. Ji Man¡¯s steps paused, and she slowly turned around to look at him.


    ¡°Why are you in such a rush to leave?¡± Marquis Moyu took a few breaths to calm down, gently pushed Wen Wan¡¯s hands away from himself, and looked at Nie Sangyu as he said, ¡°Are you not hungry?¡±


    She had eaten dinner beforeing here. Why would she be hungry? Ji Man thought; Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brain must be broken today. Still, she properly answered, ¡°This servant isn¡¯t hungry.¡±


    Wen Wan helplessly stood in ce with her fingers tightly clutched together. She felt wave after wave of pain as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. In the past, no matter where they were, he would always be looking at her. But now, she was standing next to him, and he looked past her as if she didn¡¯t exist.


    She had originally thought he had released the skynterns for her, but why was Nie Sangyu here?


    Having a difficult time calming her heart, Wen Wan was so anxious that she stopped breathing. She wanted to take a step forward, but she ended up fainting.


    Ning Yuxuan reacted quickly. He caught her before she felt onto the ground and noticed that she was slightly feverish when his hand touched her forehead.


    It was a cold winter night, and she had rushed over here without being dressed for the weather. It would be strange if she wasn¡¯t feeling hot. Marquis Moyu frowned. He leaned over, picked her up, pushed open the doors, and carried her inside.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re not hungry, then you can go back first.¡±


    Ji Man shrugged. Looking at the skynterns that were gradually floating too high up to be seen, she turned around and left the western courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan was having a nightmare. In her dream, Marquis Moyu was holding Nie Sangyu¡¯s hand, and they were gradually walking farther and farther away from her. She did her best to chase after them, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t catch up.¡±


    ¡°No... I don¡¯t want this...¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s face turned slightly towards her. Her smiling face was full of contentment and happiness. Seeing this sight, Wen Wan felt as if vines with venomous thorns were wrapping around her heart and making it difficult for her to breath.


    ¡°You wretched woman...¡±


    Inside a room in the western courtyard, the doctor took his hand back, wrote out a prescription, and handed it over to Tanxiang. On his way out, he couldn¡¯t resist looking at a nearby table.


    The table was full of dishes, but there was an especially strange thing at the center of the table, a braised pig head had been ced on top of a cutting board. The doctor had no idea why someone would do such a strange thing.


    It seemed that the marquis¡¯s taste was getting more and more bizarre.


    Ning Yuxuan was quietly sitting nearby. Seeing Wen Wan, who wasn¡¯t at peace even in her sleep, he let out a small sigh.


    ¡ª


    When Wen Wan woke up, the pain in her heart remained. When she raised her eyes and saw Marquis Moyu, she felt a bit better. But, thinking of that scene in her dream, she couldn¡¯t resist crying. She grabbed his sleeve and asked him while weeping, ¡°My lord, why does your heart no longer have Wan-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Marquis Moyu gently patted her beautiful hair and lightly asked, ¡°Do you know when it was that I loved you the most?¡±


    Stunned, Wen Wan froze for a moment before she carefully recollected her memories. From the time they had met to when they had fallen in love, when had Ning Yuxuan loved her the most? Perhaps, it was that time when assassins were chasing him after, and she had hid him in her home without regard for her own safety?


    At that time, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s had looked at her with a gaze that was gently enough to pardon the entire world. Looking at her, he had said, ¡°You¡¯re such an idiot.¡±


    Back then, their love had been so simple. She had just been a girl from amoner¡¯s family, and he was the lofty marquis. She didn¡¯t care about riches and status, and he had wanted to give her everything.


    When had everything started to quietly change?


    Wen Wan pressed her lips together and silently looked at Ning Yuxuan.


    The beautiful man in front of her lowered his head and whispered into her ear, ¡°I loved you the most when there was nothing more important than me in your heart. My feelings started to fade when your affection for me had already vanished.¡±


    ¡°Yuxuan...¡± Wen Wan wanted to argue. She hadn¡¯t. Her feelings for him, it hadn¡¯t...


    She suddenly remembered something. During the incident with the smallpox in the other estate, she... It was true. She no longer loved him to the point that she would endanger her life for him. If this had happened in the past, when she had nothing, she would have been wiling to care for him. But after experiencing a luxurious standard of living and knowing that one¡¯s life on earth was to be treasured, she had actually flinched back.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were very deep. He gently pulled up the quilt for her and said, ¡°Have a good rest.¡±


    The food on the table was already too cold to eat. Looking at the pig head, Ning Yuxuan was silently for a long time.


    Guibai quietly asked, ¡°Master, do you want the food to be sent back to the kitchen and have it warmed up when Madames over tomorrow?¡±


    Marquis Moyu shook his head. His gaze wasplicated as he said, ¡°I still don¡¯t clearly understand what she meant by <i>xiu</i>. Let¡¯s wait a few more days.¡±


    (T/N: The word <i>xiu</i> has more than one meaning in Chinese. I choose the meaning that matches what Ji Man wanted to say (repair) in a previous chapter, but Ning Yuxuan probably wouldn¡¯t be able to correctly guess which meaning she meant.)


    Guibai solemnly nodded and ordered the servants to take away all of the dishes on the table.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wish that Wen Wan could argue back that her feelings for him only changed because he broke his promises to her and yed mind games trying to grind her down into his ideal woman, but that would be the same as admitting she doesn¡¯t love him anymore, so she can¡¯t say those words.


    I think Ning Yuxuan does acknowledge to himself that he¡¯s partially responsible in how Wen Wan has changed since her met her. If Wen Wan hadn¡¯t married him and entered this poisonous household, she might have stayed the same self-sacrificing girl that she was when he first met her. The responsibility and guilt that he feels towards her is what makes him willing to look the other way whenever Wen Wan does something bad. Even though it causes unpleasant consequences, I like that he continues to feel responsible for Wen Wan even though he¡¯s falling in love with Nie Sangyu/Ji Man. I just wish his execution of it was better. At the same time, he¡¯s encumbered by having to put on a show for the first prince and the empress that he¡¯s still in love with Wen Wan.

 Chapter 275 - A secret that she hadnt known (2)

    Chapter 275 ¨C A secret that she hadn¡¯t known (2)


    Because Ji Man had to help Ning Mingjie manage his estate while he was away, she visited to Ning Residence twice.


    Ning Residence didn¡¯t have a steward. Everything was being managed by a servant girl name Luoqi. For some reason, she saw a bit of hostility in Luoqi¡¯s eyes when she handed over the ount book.


    ¡°Young Master ordered this servant to hand over the ount book to Madam, so there isn¡¯t much for this servant to say about this.¡± Luoqi stood up. Her gently and lovely face showed a bit of resentment as she said, ¡°This servant will naturally follow Young Master when he leaves, but there will still be many servants remaining here. No matter how you look at, it¡¯ll be inconvenient for Madam to be in charge of this estate. How about letting Nuanyu assist you? You¡¯ll make the decisions on important matters, but you won¡¯t need to be bothered by having to constantlye here to decide on minor issues.¡±


    Hearing the tone of her voice, Luoqi wasn¡¯t an ordinary servant girl. Ji Man nodded. She seriously took the ount book, then she nced at the nearby Nuanyu.


    Both of the servant girls had charming appearances. Luoqi somewhat resembled Lin Daiyu, and Nuanyu resembled Qin Keqing.


    (T/N: Lin Daiyu and Qin Keqing were both characters in <i>The Dream of Red Chamber</i>. Lin Daiyu was described as having a slender and willowy figure, and Qin Keqing was a beautiful and flirtatious woman.)


    Ji Man said, ¡°Since Young Master has put his trust in me, I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    Some of the red ribbons in the estate still hadn¡¯t been taken down and gave off a deste feeling. Thest time she had been here, the splendid red ribbons had been apanied by a happy crowd. But now, there was only the sparse winter snow. No one would ever mention again the bride that had been happy from the bottom of her heart when she had married into this household.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Young Master¡¯s study?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Ning Mingjie had left for the imperial court and hadn¡¯te back yet, so Ji Man was taking this opportunity to brazenly look around.


    To her surprise, Luoqi showed a slight overreaction. She blocked her path and abruptly said, ¡°You can¡¯t enter Young Master¡¯s study.¡±


    Ji Man slightly froze in surprise.


    It took Nuanyu pulling on Luoqi¡¯s sleeve and shaking her head at her for Luoqi to remember her manners. Luoqi said in a low voice, ¡°Young Master normally doesn¡¯t allow anyone to enter his study. Madam, if there¡¯s something you need from there, tell Luoqi. Luoqi will go get it for you.¡±


    ¡°Never mind then. I was just curious and wanted to take a look.¡± Ji Man smiled and turned around. ¡°I can¡¯t go to the study, but I can visit other ces, right?¡±


    Luoqi nodded. ¡°This servant will give you a tour of the estate.¡±


    What could possibly be in the study to make Luoqi so nervous? Ji Man felt very curious, but Luoqi was in front of her and leading her around. She obviously wouldn¡¯t lead her to study and let her look. After thinking about it for a bit, she decided to drop the subject. Everyone had secrets that they wanted remain private.


    After they had taken a stroll around the entire estate, Luoqi was called away by another servant. Ji Man had only vaguely heard the servant saying someone was drunk before Luoqi lifted her skirt and hurriedly rushed towards the estate¡¯s front entrance. The other servant was left behind to look after her.


    Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    The servant sighed and said, ¡°The emperor had bestowed Prince Gong¡¯s daughter to the third prince. The first prince dragged our Young Master to the third prince¡¯s residence to celebrate the wedding. Young Master seems to have gotten drunk.¡±


    Really, Zhao Zhe¡¯s behavior was too outrageous. Why did he have to poke at Ning Mingjie¡¯s sore point? The amount of wicked thoughts in Zhao Zhe¡¯s mind was enough to fill all of the rivers in northern China. Ning Mingjie was already feeling bad that his bride had been taken from him, but Zhao Zhe insisted on dragging him out and rubbing it in. He might as well have said, ¡°Hey, look, your wound is bleeding.¡±


    He really deserved to be thoroughly beaten.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know when Luoqi would return. After thinking it over, Ji Man probingly asked the servant, ¡°Where¡¯s Young Master¡¯s study?¡±


    This servant normally guarded the doors and didn¡¯t serve in the inner court. Knowing that this madam was his master¡¯s younger cousin¡¯s wife, the servant solicitously showed her the way. ¡°It¡¯s in that direction.¡±


    As it turned out, only Luoqi knew that Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t want other people to enter his study. Ji Man raised her eyebrows and followed the servant.


    As the doors to the study were opened, Dengxin quietly asked, ¡°Master, what do you want to do here?¡±


    Ji Man scratched her head and whispered, ¡°I just want to go inside and look around.¡±


    While it was true that the more you know, the faster you¡¯ll die, Ji Man subconsciously thought; Ning Mingjie wouldn¡¯t harm her. At the very least, this man was the secondary male character. He didn¡¯t have a shadowy background, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t have any terrible secrets.


    The other servant politely stood outside by the doors with Dengxin.


    After taking one step inside, Ji Man saw neatly arranged books and many calligraphy scrolls hanging on the walls.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s calligraphy was very beautiful, and he had also written a lot of poems. With the exception of one calligraphy scroll, they were all simply hung up. That one scroll was hanged on the middle of the opposite wall and very carefully hanged up.


    <i>¡°In spring, I sleep, unaware morning is here,</i>


    <i> From near then far, I hear trilling songbirds,</i>


    <i> In the night¡¯s pitter-patter of winds and rains though mild,</i>


    <i> Who know how many petals have fallen? Know not, I fear!¡±</i>


    Once, there had been a young man that gently smiled as he wrote this poem inside a garden pavilion. By his side, with a blushing face, someone had quietly praised, ¡°Young Master¡¯s writing is really beautiful.¡±


    ¡°Really? Then, I¡¯ll give it you.¡±


    (T/N: Poem¡¯s trantion is taken from here. Ji Man is thinking about what had happened in chapter 209.)


    Ji Man nkly stared at those words. Her heart actually felt a bit pained.


    Next to that scroll, there were paintings of a beautiful woman. Or, to describe them in another way, none of them had faces. But, when Ji Man carefully looked at them, she could tell who it was.


    She had never sat by a river and let Ning Mingjie paint her. Perhaps, she was imaging feelings that didn¡¯t actually exist, but that figure looked too simr to herself, especially because that figure was wearing a plum blossom hairpin. For a period of time, that plum blossom hairpin had been her favorite hairpin. Also, the figure was always painted with a in sash around her waist and a simple d<i>ouma</i> hairstyle. This was obviously what she had been wearing during the Southern Trip.

 Chapter 276 - Was it really that difficult to say, I love you? (1)

    Chapter 276 ¨C Was it really that difficult to say, ¡°I love you¡±? (1)


    When it came to matters of love, a good woman had a bottom line. If you didn¡¯t know for sure and didn¡¯t want to falsely presume that the other person liked you, then you can maintain your distance and treat it as if there was nothing between the two of you. If you already knew that the other person liked you, but you couldn¡¯t give that person the response he wanted, then you should thoroughly break that other person¡¯s hope. Don¡¯t leave any margin for false expectations.


    As a reader of novels, Ji Man had always loved and hated the secondary male characters the most. Were they just idiots? They either risked their life and limb to secretly help the female lead, or served as a foil to the male lead, who had a full harem, by only being interested in the female lead. And yet, every female lead could enjoy the pleasure of being attended to by the super attractive secondary male character without any shame. At worst, the female lead would only have to say a prolonged, ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± to the secondary male character at the end of the story.


    Sorry, my ass! The other person had already wasted the best years of his life on her, would it kill the female lead to cleanly break the supporting male character¡¯s hopes in a timely manner? Why couldn¡¯t the female lead simply tell the secondary male character, ¡°Even if the male lead abuses me a thousand times, I¡¯ll still choose to stay with my first love.¡±


    Ji Man organized the words that she wanted to say and prepared to have a conversation with Ning Mingjie tomorrow to make things clear. She would tell him that his paintings were pretty good and so were his calligraphy scrolls. He should sell all of them to her, and she would dispose of them for him. As a married woman, she couldn¡¯t be the object of someone¡¯s yearning.


    When she and Dengxin returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, there was a low-level servant girl from Feiwan Courtyard waiting at the entrance for them. Seeing that her master had returned, she hurriedly and anxiously reported, ¡°Master! Young Miss Yun is seriously sick. The doctor isn¡¯t here. He¡¯s away on vacation to his hometown. Miss Wan-<i>er</i> has been frantically looking for you.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment. Yun-<i>er</i> had been perfectly fine before. How did she get sick?


    Qiangwei Courtyard was filled with the sound of crying. The sounds of an adult crying and a baby wailing blended together. As soon as Ji Man entered the room, she saw that Wen Wan was holding Yun-<i>er. </i>The wailing Yun-<i>er</i> looked quite pitiful. Wen Wan was muttering, ¡°Why is there no doctor? Is it necessary to be heartless to this degree...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°I already sent a servant to bring an outside doctor here. No one is being heartless. The estate¡¯s old doctor is just away on vacation today.¡±


    Wen Wan looked at her with bloodshot eyes. ¡°Why put on this pretense? Aren¡¯t you really happy that you snatched away Yuxuan¡¯s heart? Is the next step of your n figuring out a way to kill me so that Yuxuan won¡¯t have lingering, nostalgic feelings for me?¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Had Wen Wan been stricken with delusion thoughts? Based on Wen Wan¡¯s connection with first prince as well as the empress, there was no way that she would be able to get rid of Wen Wan. Snatched away Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart? Did that thing even have a heart? Why did women stupidly think that a man¡¯s heart and mind only had love?


    ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s gaze looked a bit violent. The shock that Wen Wan had receivedst time was probably erupting now. ring at her, Wen Wan said, ¡°I won¡¯t let you live happily.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man nodded. She had only been standing here for a bit when the doctor arrived. She moved out of the way so that the doctor could treat Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s illness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare touch my child!¡± Holding the wailing baby, Wen Wan retreated a step. Looking at her with a guarded look, Wen Wan said, ¡°No one is allowed to touch my child!¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    She med her because a doctor hadn¡¯te. Now that a doctor hade, she wouldn¡¯t let the doctor see the baby. What exactly did she want to do?


    Marquis Moyu had headed over here after leaving the imperial court. Tired, he stopped by the doorway and asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Seeing that he was here now, Wen Wan resumed crying. Her tears were like falling shot put balls. One after another, they sttered onto the ground. And yet, there were only tears and no nasally mucus. Her crying face was as beautiful as a scene of raindrops falling onto pear blossoms. Holding Yun-<i>er</i>, she approached him and said, ¡°Yuxuan! Look at Yun-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Apparently, the recently called over doctor was useless. But, one look from the male lead would be enough to cure Yun-<i>er</i>.


    Ning Yuxuan nced at Nie Sangyu, then he stretched his hand out and took Yun-<i>er</i> from Wen Wan. ¡°Why has she gotten thinner again?¡±


    The other two children in the estate were white and plump. It was only Yun-<i>er</i> that got thinner each day. Her little face was almost nothing but skin and bones.


    It was impossible for him to not feel distressed when he saw Yun-<i>er</i> like this. Even though she was a daughter, she was still his child. Marquis Moyu sighed and handed the child over to the doctor.


    Wen Wan immediately hugged his arm and swept her gaze to look at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man had seen plenty of shows where women used their children topete for favor. Should she leave and pretend that she hadn¡¯t seen anything? No, no, no, her days had been getting boringtely. Why bother showing tolerance?


    Ji Man approached them, wrapped her arm around Ning Yuxuan¡¯s other arm and said, ¡°Yuxuan, the imperial noble consort handed over the matter of weing the Yuzhen princess to this servant. This servant isn¡¯t familiar with Yuzhen and wanted to ask you how to handle this matter.¡±


    Marquis Moyu slightly raised his eyebrows and looked at her in askance.


    There were still streaks of tearstains on Wen Wan¡¯s face. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Madam, can¡¯t you talk about thister? Are you unwilling to give Yuxuan to me even just for a little bit?¡±


    Ji Man let go of Ning Yuxuan, lightly sighed, and said, ¡°Never mind then.¡±


    When you¡¯re directlypeting for a man, the man stuck in the middle will always feel as if he¡¯s being put into an awkward situation. If you can¡¯t win against someone that¡¯s shamelessly acting pitiful, that¡¯s okay. Just generously let him go, then mention a proper responsibility that he can¡¯t avoid and wait for him toe to you.


    ¡°My lord, this servant will leave first and wait in your study for you. The imperial noble consort is still waiting for a reply. My lord, pleasee over soon.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly nodded. His tensed brow slightly rxed.


    Wen Wan¡¯s tears hadn¡¯t dried yet, but a smug smile had already appeared on her face. In the end, she was still young, and her mind was simple enough. She thought that since the marquis hadn¡¯t left with Nie Sangyu, it meant that she had won.

 Chapter 277 - Was it really that difficult to say, I love you? (2)

    Chapter 277 ¨C Was it really that difficult to say, ¡°I love you¡±? (2)


    Ji Man was genuinely preparing for the Yuzhen princess¡¯s visit. In ordance to the imperial noble consort¡¯s wishes, she had to do her best to y matchmaker for the third prince. If she couldn¡¯t do that, then it would better to match the princess with Ning Mingjie rather than letting this alliance marriage benefit someone else.


    Right now, there were only three princes that would be suitable marriage candidates. The first prince and third prince already had princess consorts. Between them, there was the second prince, whom hadn¡¯t been engaged yet. But, the second prince¡¯s mother had already passed away, his legs were disabled, and his father didn¡¯t care about him. It was very improbable that the princess would be interested in him. Out of all the young, talented men in the imperial court, Ning Mingjie was clearly the most popr character.


    She knew that Ning Yuxuan had extensive knowledge about the important officials, even minor information like what breed of dog a specific imperial court official had in his household. During his free time, he had even shared gossipy information about some of the officials¡¯ families with her.


    And so, Ji Man thought that he would know something about this Yuzhen princess.


    She had only been waiting in the study for a short period of time when Ning Yuxuan arrived. It seemed that Wen Wan hadn¡¯t been able to keep him.


    Marquis Moyu said, ¡°I heard that the Yuzhen princess likes men that are talented in martial arts. I think that you shouldn¡¯t even make an attempt to pair her with the third prince. That princess is prideful and arrogant. You might end up offending her if you try to convince her to be a side consort. It¡¯ll be better if you go straight to matchmaking her with Mingjie.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She wasn¡¯t a professional matchmaker. As far as Ning Yuxuan knew, her only task was to wee the princess and y tour guide as well. Did everyone think that the princess would just marry whomever she choose?


    ¡°This servant will do my best.¡±


    ¡ª


    Everyone used to say that Ning Yuxuan was Zhao Zhe¡¯s close friend, but during this period of time when Zhao Zhe was spending his days in the rxed role of the first prince, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s path rarely crossed with his. Ji Man vaguely thought; the first prince probably had no hope of getting back the crown prince position. Otherwise, Marquis Moyu, this rudder that agilely followed the winds of poprity, wouldn¡¯t be acting like this.


    If the third prince¡¯s position was stable, then Nie Sangyu¡¯s little life was secured safely in a safe. No one would dare to touch her.


    Ji Man made a resolute decision to y matchmaker. She wrote down all of Ning Mingjie¡¯s good points and nned out a series of methods to fully disy the best of his special qualities.


    However, before she could start executing her n, Ji Man mentally prepared herself and went to Ning Residence again.


    ¡ª


    Sitting outside in a courtyard, Ning Mingjie quietly watched her as he prepared tea for the two of them.


    Ji Man went straight to the point by saying, ¡°I¡¯ve seen the portraits in Young Master¡¯s study.¡± She smiled for a few seconds before adding, ¡°The woman in the portrait looks quite simr to me.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Mingjie slightly lowered his eyes before saying, ¡°When I was looking at the scenery sometimes, I somehow ended up painting you each time.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°The only person in my heart is the marquis.¡±


    Ning Mingjie froze for a moment before ncing at her and saying, ¡°That¡¯s okay. I was just casually painting.¡±


    ¡°Then, sell all of those scrolls to me,¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°I happened to have recently started a hobby of collecting paintings and calligraphy.¡±


    The steam from the tea rose up in spirals. Ning Mingjie silently kept his head lowered. After a long time passed, he finally mumbled, ¡°If I had known this earlier, I wouldn¡¯t have let you go in there...¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows. She hadn¡¯t clearly heard his words.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. If you like them, then I¡¯ll give all of them to you.¡± Ning Mingjie smiled. It looked as if his vitality had been sapped away. ¡°It¡¯s about time for me to change the decorations on the walls anyways.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t feel the slightest trace of embarrassment. She had specially brought two extra servant girls with her today to help her move the items.


    ¡°Sangyu has no good way to repay Young Master¡¯s generous giving of so many presents,¡± she said, ¡°Young Master, how about meeting with Sangyu at Luoyan Pagoda three days before you leave the capital? Sangyu will treat Young Master to drinks, and we can have a discussion about poems one more time.¡±


    Three days before he was leaving to go the battlefield, the Yuzhen princess would be arriving in the capital. Ning Mingjie lowered his eyes again. Pretending not to know her real motive behind asking him, he lightly nodded and said, ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man brought back all of the calligraphy scrolls and paintings to Feiwan Courtyard, dug a big hole in the backyard, and started to bury the box that contained everything.


    She turned around to return to her room. There was a painting in her room. It was a very average-looking peony painting that could be purchased anywhere. Once she took down the peony painting, the hidden daffodil painting was revealed.


    ¡°Master, do you want to bury this painting too?¡± Dengxin asked.


    Ji Man stretched her hand out to take down the painting andughed, ¡°En, bury this too.¡±


    Dengxin took the painting from her and tossed it into the box outside.


    The peony painting that Ji Man had been holding slipped and made a loud sound as it dropped to the ground.


    The edge of the mounted painting slightly curved up and revealed anotheryer.


    Was there something underneath the t-surfaced peony painting? Ji Man slightly raised her eyebrows and ripped off the peony picture.


    There was a wrinkled painting of a beauty underneath. The ink used to paint the woman¡¯s beautiful, thick hair had slightly bled into the paper. There was a light colored mark between her eyebrows, and her lips were vermillion.


    Was this her?


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Paintings in ancient times always looked as if the artist had liberally used Photoshop. When Nie Sangyu¡¯s face was drawn like this, she looked really beautiful.


    But, who had painted this? Ning Yuxuan had been the one that gave her this peony painting. Why had he hidden a crumpled, then smoothed out portrait underneath it?


    Could it be that in ancient times, people always secretly drew pictures of people they were in love with?


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened and she hastily ran to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s study.


    Marquis Moyu was currently in the middle of writing a secret letter when the study¡¯s doors were suddenly pushed open. He impressively maintained his calm and used a book to cover the letter.


    He asked, ¡°What?¡±


    Slightly gasping for breath, Ji Man clutched hispel and said, ¡°My lord, say that you love me.¡±


    Startled by her behavior, Ning Yuxuan nkly looked at her and repeated, ¡°Love me?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t just say, ¡°love me¡±. Say that you love me.¡± Ji Man was very eager. Thinking that she would soon be able to return to modern times, she was so excited that her body was slightly shaking.


    ¡°You love me?¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips.


    Ji Man felt flustered and exasperated. This person more or less had fallen in love with Nie Sangyu. As long as he said that one sentence, she guessed that she would be able to go back!


    ¡°It¡¯s not, you love me, it¡¯s I love you!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s cheeks had turned slightly red. He pursued his lips and turned his head away. ¡°Alright, I know.¡±

 Chapter 278 - Misunderstanding Nie Sangyus wish (1)

    Chapter 278 ¨C Misunderstanding Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish (1)


    Ji Man looked at him with an extremely frustrated gaze for a long time. After she finally calmed down her breathing, she took his brush and wrote out the words, ¡°I love you¡± on the fine writing paper.


    ¡°How do you read this?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. This woman was strangely focused on these words. He pursed his lips and asked, ¡°What are you scheming?¡±


    ¡°This servant just wants to hear my lord say these words to me,¡± Ji Man said.


    Marquis Moyu was silent for a while, then he took the fine writing paper away. Sounding very cool, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this tonight. I¡¯m busy with something right now.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    She had slightly calmed down from her earlier excited state. She turned around and walked out of the study. Looking at the clear, dark blue sky, Ji Man opened her mouth and sighed.


    This dream hadsted too long. Wasn¡¯t it about time for it to end?


    After Ji Man returned to Feiwan Courtyard, Dengxin had many things to report to her, but Ji Man didn¡¯t pay attention to any of it. Anyways, as long as Ning Yuxuan said those three words to her tonight, she would be able to go back. What was the point in continuing to concern herself in these matters?


    Sitting on the bed, she thought about all the things that had happened. She thought of the people that were no longer here, Old Madame, Gancao, and Qian Lianxue... She still had so many connections to this world. Unfortunately, her outlook on life and principles didn¡¯t match this world. It was impossible for her to find a man here and decided to spend the rest of her life with him. Staying here was the same as agreeing topete for favor until the day she died.


    And so, when Ning Yuxuan came over that night, Ji Man was still in high spirits. She pulled him over to sit on the bed and looked at him with a hopeful gaze.


    Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t an idiot. The current Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t a person that enjoyed hearing honeyed words of love. Why would she be so eager about hearing those simple words?


    ¡°The emperor bestowed pear wine to me today.¡± Ning Yuxuan pointed at the container of wine that had been ced on the table. ¡°It was fermented in spring. Today happens to be a good day to drink it. It tastes pretty good.¡±


    What? Did they need to drink wine to liven things up?


    Ji Man doubtfully looked at the wine. ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t have a high tolerance for alcohol...¡±


    Thest time she had to drink wine, she had spat it all out into her sleeve.


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled, went over to the table, and personally poured two cups. ¡°Do you still remember that on our wedding night, we weren¡¯t able to drink our marital wine?¡±


    You don¡¯t say! Of course she remembered. At that time, Nie Sangyu had desperately wanted him to drink that wine, and Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t been able to resist. But, in the end, perhaps because she was too enthusiastic with tilting the cup forward as he drank, he only had a sip before choking and spluttering the wine out. The good luck woman couldn¡¯t stopughing, so Ning Yuxuan dealt with the rest of the wine by pouring into his sleeve.


    Back when Ji Man had been watching that memory, she finally understood why people in ancient times had such sweepingly big sleeves.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°My lord, are you going to make up for that time by drinking wine now?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan brought the wine to her. The strong smell was a bit pungent, but once she got used to the scent, she could smell a light, sweet fragrance too.


    After hesitating for a moment, Ji Man took the cup. This was a regr sized cup. It would be fine if she just drank a little and didn¡¯t finish the entire cup, right?


    (T/N: The cups used to drink wine are usually much smaller than the cups used to drink tea and water.)


    Their arms intertwined. Ning Yuxuan looked at her and said in a low voice, ¡°This time, I won¡¯t spit it out, so you have to drink all of it too.¡±


    The corners of her lips twitched. Ji Man decisively took a sip and let the rest of the wine fall into her sleeve. Only a fool would listen to him and drink all of the wine.


    He grabbed her chin and tilted it up. Marquis Moyu¡¯s lips descended down on hers, and his opened lips were followed by high alcohol content wine. All of it entered her mouth without a single drop being missed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy for the servants to wash clothes. Why do you insist on wasting this pear wine?¡±


    As the strong alcoholic drink went down her throat, Ji Man felt an ufortable burning sensation. And yet, there was a nice fragrant aftertaste. It was actually quite good.


    Someone seductively whispered into her ear, ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to hear me say the words that you wrote down? Let¡¯s talk about it after you finish drinking.¡±


    Raising her eyes to look at Marquis Moyu, Ji Man shook her head. She suddenly thought of the words that Ning Mingjie had once said. If someone wasn¡¯t willing to speak the truth, then just get that person drunk first and that person will finally speak the truth.


    Right now, Ning Yuxuan was implementing that idea.


    But, this wine was truly too strong. Nie Sangyu had probably never drunk wine before. After only one mouthful, her mind already felt somewhat muddled. The chest that she was lying against, the person that was gripping her chin and gently pouring more wine into her mouth, she almost wasn¡¯t aware of who that person was.


    In the midst of her disoriented state, Nie Sangyu seemed to appear before her eyes.


    A secluded, serene voice drifted over, ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡±


    From a distance, the shadowy figure weakly repeated, ¡°You¡¯re wrong.¡±


    What was she wrong about? Feeling as if she was lying down on soft clouds, Ji Man asked the figure in the distance in confusion, ¡°What am I wrong about?¡±


    ¡°My wish hasn¡¯t been fulfilled. This isn¡¯t my wish...¡±


    Silently cursing, Ji Man lifted her skirt and chased after Nie Sangyu. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want him to love you? Are you messing with me? I don¡¯t care! Once he says that he loves you, you have to let me go back!¡±


    ¡°If my wish isn¡¯t fulfilled, it¡¯ll be impossible for me to enter the cycle of reincarnation...¡±


    Reincarnation, her ass! Ji Man felt as if she was being angered to death. Why can¡¯t this stupid girl just clearly say what her wish is? Didn¡¯t she want Marquis Moyu to love her? If that wasn¡¯t her wish, why had she shown her such a romantic scene then?


    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t willing to ept what had happened? Didn¡¯t you want me to help you? He¡¯s going to say that he loves you now. Can you please just listen?¡±


    In the distance, there was only pitch-ck darkness. There was no one there to reply to her words. Ji Man was gasping for breath from running, but she suddenly felt as if someone was choking her to the point that she couldn¡¯t breath.


    An angry voice that prated through theyers of darkness asked her, ¡°Who are you really?¡±


    Who was she? Ji Man absent-mindedly looked at the night sky. ¡°I¡¯m just me. I¡¯m Ji Man. The character Ji is from <i>huaji</i> (flowering season), and the character man is from <i>jiman</i> (graceful, soft and beautiful season). My English name is Ji Man too.¡±


    The night sky fell silent. The pressure around her neck also loosened. Ji Man felt very sleepy, so she lied down. Rolling over, she mumbled to herself, ¡°Just say, ¡°I love you¡±, then let me go back to my year-end bonus. There¡¯s also that handsome guy that¡¯s waiting for me to go on a blind date with him...¡±


    Pear wine... dreaming of pear blossoms.

 Chapter 279 - Misunderstanding Nie Sangyus wish (2)

    Chapter 279 ¨C Misunderstanding Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish (2)


    Ji Man slept quite deeply. When she woke up the next day, it was already noon. Strangely, her head didn¡¯t hurt that much. Dengxin was standing nearby and looking at her with worry.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ji Man was absentminded for a while before she finally returned to her senses. ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s the marquis?¡±


    ¡°The marquis left a long time ago.¡± Dengxin sighed. Speaking like a little olddy, she reproachfully said, ¡°Master, you should try to be more attentive with serving the marquis. When he left yesterday night, his expression look really horrible.¡±


    Yesterday? Ah? She only remembered that she had been talking and talking... then, she ended up falling asleep after getting drunk. What happened after that? She seemed to have dreamed about Nie Sangyu. She hadn¡¯t seen her in a long time. Then, she was briefly choked. And after that, she fell asleep.


    Ning Yuxuan still hadn¡¯t said he loved her! Otherwise, when she woke up, the cozy sight of her small apartment in modern-day should have greeted her!


    Ji Man felt outraged. He had gone back on his word! As she washed up and changed her clothes, she kept grumbling to herself.


    Later, when she went to the study to look for Ning Yuxuan, she didn¡¯t find him there.


    When she tried looking for him again that evening, he was already in Nie Chen¡¯s warm and soft embrace.


    ¡°Older sister, what are you doing here?¡± Half-dressed, Nie Chenyu looked at her with an insincerely sweet gaze. ¡°You¡¯ve already taken the marquis when he was on his way to younger sister¡¯s ce several times before. Right now, the marquis is already in younger sister¡¯s bed. Older sister, are you still going to snatch him away?¡±


    Standing right outside of the room, Ji Man drylyughed and said, ¡°the two of you can continue,¡± before leaving.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t an idiot. She could tell that Marquis Moyu had been deliberately avoiding her. He had been taking turns with resting at the other women¡¯s courtyards, but he continued to not have time to see her even once. When she sent a message that there was something she wanted to discuss with him, he would have Guibai act as his messenger.


    Thinking it over, there could only be one reason for his behavior. He had heard the words she said in her dream. As for how much of it he had heard or what exactly she had said, Ji Man thought it wasn¡¯t that serious. Otherwise, Ning Yuxuan would have tied her up instead of just avoiding her.


    Recently, Yun-<i>er</i> had fallen gravely ill and still hadn¡¯t recovered. Wen Wan took advantage of this opportunity to keep Ning Yuxuan at Qiangwei Courtyard. Xia-<i>shi</i> would asionally bring over Haohao so that he could get some fatherly affection too. Liu Hanyun was wholeheartedly taking care of Xi-<i>er</i>. As long as she didn¡¯t go over there topete for Marquis Moyu¡¯s attention, her life in this household was quite peaceful.


    Ji Man wrylyughed. She didn¡¯t know why, but she felt a bit sad.


    Fortunately, the Yuzhen princess would being soon, so she didn¡¯t have the free time to be feeling mncholy for too long.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man finished dressing up, it was about time for her to go to the pce and participate in the weing ceremony.


    The Yuzhen princess was actually quite the peculiar character. She was wearing a snow-white arctic fox dress, and there was a long, fiery whip at her waist. It actually looked veryplementary with the red and white boots that she was wearing. With her face arrogantly lifted upwards, it was easy to see that she had been pampered to the point of being conceited. Her chin remained slightly lifted up as she swept her gaze across the womenfolk that had gathered here to wee her before she greeted the empress.


    Her name was Pengyue. Herst name was Shangguan. She was Yuzhen queen¡¯s only daughter.


    In order to maintain the amicable and diplomatic rtionship between the two countries as well as working towards an alliance marriage, Princess Pengyue brilliantly smiled at the empress and said, ¡°Pengyu doesn¡¯t want to live in the pce. They said that the pce walls are too high. It¡¯s not a suitable ce for me.¡±


    All of the imperial concubines that were present sighed in relief. Although this princess was only a teenager, all of the women that entered the pce each year were also in their teens. If this princess somehow ended up wanting to marry the emperor, with her background and appearance, she would be a formidable opponent to all of them.


    Hearing these words, the empress understood that this princess didn¡¯t have the intention of marrying the emperor, so she happily said, ¡°The first princess consort has recently been fussing that she¡¯s been boredtely. She doesn¡¯t have a suitablepanion to keep herpany. Your Highness, if you don¡¯t mind, how about going to the first prince¡¯s estate to y?¡±


    The imperial noble consort wasn¡¯t happy to hear these words. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°It was only a short period ago that the emperor had the first prince reflecting on his errors in solitude. If the princess goes there, there probably won¡¯t be anything interesting over there. Princess Pengyue seems to be around the same age as Qian-<i>er.</i> How about going over to third prince¡¯s estate and staying a few days there?¡±


    The empress faintly smiled. ¡°The third prince has only recently gotten married and finally has a princess consort. For the princess to go over there during their honeymoon period, that doesn¡¯t seem very suitable.¡±


    Hearing these two womenpeting back and forth, Pengyue wasn¡¯t very happy. She stopped smiling and said, ¡°Your Majesty and Your Highness, you don¡¯t need to argue anymore. Pengyue will choose a ce to live by myself.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you came to our capital. The emperor has ordered that we can¡¯t be neglectful.¡± Smiling, the imperial noble consort nced at the nearby Nie Sangyu and Ning Errong and said, ¡°Sangyu and Errong happen to be free today. How about they show you around?¡±


    Ning Errong hadn¡¯t left Ning Residence in a long time, not even to visit her best friend.


    When Ji Man saw Errong today, Errong¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. She had wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she hadn¡¯t been able to ask yet because of the current scene.


    Pengyue looked at them for a few seconds, then she nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. I don¡¯t know my way around here.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°Princess, do you want to take a stroll outside of the pce or look around the pce?¡±


    Pengyue raised her eyebrows and said, ¡°Naturally, I want to go outside of the pce. You both look like married women. Is it appropriate for the two of you to apany me out in public?¡±


    She had heard that the married women in Great Song Dynasty didn¡¯t like to show their faces in public.


    Trantor Ramblings: When Ji Man first came here, she was scared that Ning Yuxuan would think she was a demoness/evil spirit that¡¯s possessing Nie Sangyu¡¯s body and try to exorcise her. Her fear has partiallye true ^^;;. He¡¯s avoiding her because he doesn¡¯t want to confirm his suspicions any further. He¡¯s like an ostrich that¡¯s hiding its head in the sand.

 Chapter 280 - Acting as well-qualified tour guide (1)

    Chapter 280 ¨C Acting as well-qualified tour guide (1)


    Ji Man was also considering this problem. When she normally went out to buy something, she was always riding in a carriage or sedan chair. For her to apany this lively, spirited, and active princess wasn¡¯t her status a bit unsuitable?


    Unexpectedly, the imperial noble consort had already nned for this issue. She covered her smiling lips and said, ¡°The princess is a noble guest. Bring along Sir Ning as the two of you take the princess out for sightseeing. This way, you¡¯ll be able to walk around freely without worries. This consort had also already asked Marquis Moyu and Sie Nie to borrow the two of you for a few days. The two of you are about the same age as the princess, so the three of you will be at ease to enjoy yourselves.¡±


    The empress sneered. ¡°Younger sister Ninglu, this empress is worried that this conduct would be somewhat improper.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, you don¡¯t need to worry,¡± the imperial noble consort smiled and said, ¡°The emperor has given this consort authority over handling this matter, so Ninglu will be responsible for arranging everything. If Sangyu and Errong aren¡¯t suitable to apany the princess, isn¡¯t there still Sir Ning?¡±


    It should be said that the focus of all this was Sir Ning.


    In ordance to his agreement with Nie Sangyu, Ning Mingjie had already gone to Luoyan Pagoda. The next step was to figure out how to get Princess Pengyue over there.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    With an unsmiling face, the empress didn¡¯t say another word. In the harem, the status of each woman was based on how much favor they received. The imperial noble consort had been quite favored recently because of the fourth prince. There wasn¡¯t much that she could say after the imperial noble consort brought up the emperor.


    Princess Pengyue slightly frowned. It seemed that her mood was worsening. But, soon after, Nie Sangyu and Errong led her out of the pce, this princess gradually started to smile again.


    ¡ª


    Inside the carriage, Princess Pengyue looked at the women across from her and said, ¡°I came here to marry someone, but I want to choose my husband myself. I don¡¯t want someone to pick for me.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart slightly jumped. Ah, was this a rebellious princess?


    Ji Man asked, ¡°Your Highness, do you already have someone that you like?¡±


    The imperial court had probably previously sent over many portraits.


    ¡°No.¡± Pengyue curled her lip. ¡°I¡¯ve only seen several portraits. A couple of them look very handsome, but I want to see them with my own eyes. Imperial father is insisting that I marry someone from Great Song and I already agreed. As for who I marry, I should be able to choose the person that I want.¡±


    Compared to other girls, her sense of independence was very strong and made her quite unique. But, this type of personality wasn¡¯t suitable to living a happy life in this ancient time period.


    Ji Man smiled. She opened up a map of the capital that she had prepared in advanced, pointed at Luoyan Pagoda, said, ¡°There¡¯s a lot of people here that like poetry. They also have very delicious snacks here. Your Highness, if you don¡¯t mind, let¡¯s go there to y first.¡±


    Pengyue¡¯s eyes brightened. She nodded. But then, lowering her head and looking at her attire, she opened up the curtain and shouted, ¡°Stop!¡±


    The carriage stopped at the side of the street. Ji Man stretched her head out look. They had stopped right outside of a clothing store.


    This made sense. If the three of them were going to y, they really should change their attire first.


    ¡°Come on,e on.¡± Pengyue excited jumped down from the carriage. The attendants assigned to Pengyue were skilled at martial arts and doubled as her bodyguards had been following behind them. Seeing the princess exiting the carriage, they protectively swarmed around her.


    ¡°Errong?¡± It took Ji Man tugging on Errong¡¯s arm a few times before Errong returned to her senses. With her eyes lowered, Errong made a sound of assent.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ji Man curiously looked at her. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be having a good time. I though your personality would verypatible with Princess Pengyue¡¯s, that why I asked the imperial noble consort to have youe with us today. But, you seem troubled today?¡±


    Ning Errong opened and closed her mouth, but in the end, she only sadly smiled and said, ¡°Never mind that. We came out to have fun today. I don¡¯t want to bring up anything depressing. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun had been married for a year and nothing major had happened during this period. When they hade to visit her, they seemed to have still been deeply in love. Feeling somewhat doubtful and unconvinced, Ji Man followed Errong out of the carriage. When they had free timeter, she would definitely ask Errong what was going on and get to the bottom of this matter.


    The store had many beautiful dresses and sleeveless garments and jackets in a variety of styles. They browsed through the clothes for a while before Ji Man pointed out a greenish blue dress for Pengyue, ¡°What about this one?¡±


    Pengyue disdainfully shook her head, turned around, and choose an inconspicuous gray cotton dress. ¡°I¡¯ll wear this one.¡±


    Ji Man paused. Without a better option, she chose two simr types of dresses for herself and Errong. The two of them had also undone their married women hairstyles and reced them with an ordinary maiden¡¯s hairstyle. Three beautiful, nobledies entered the store, and three vige girls left the store.


    Although it was true that their new attire looked ugly, it didn¡¯t have any of the confining feeling that her formal attire had. In the short walk it took to return to the carriage, Ji Man had already noticed that this dress felt extremelyfortable.


    Right after they boarded the carriage, Pengyue stretched her head out and shouted at the bodyguards, ¡°Don¡¯t follow us. With so many people following, aren¡¯t you worried that our status will be too obvious to other people?¡±


    Errong lightly said, ¡°The capital isn¡¯t safe right now. Your Highness, it¡¯ll better to allow some of them to stay for your protection. They can also keep a little farther away from us.¡±


    Pengyue pouted. Gripping her red whip, she said, ¡°Even so, if there are any evil doers, I¡¯ll be able to protect the two of you.¡±


    Ji Man could see it clearly now. From top to bottom, every cell in this girl was full of rebellious intentions. If someone wanted her to do something, she would insist on not doing it for the sake of being contrary.


    Errong shrugged. All of the guards outside of the carriage pretended to leave, then they continued to follow the carriage from a distance.


    ¡ª


    Luoyan Pagoda was as lively as usual. On the fifth floor, the scroll for the first half of ¡°Inviting you to drink wine¡± was no longer in the center of a wall. Without its other half, the second half of the poem, which was still being hanged on the wall as a decoration, looked lonely. By chance, when the group of them came up, Ning Mingjie was in the middle of writing a poem.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s deft and strong strokes of calligraphy made the brush resembled a dancing dragon as he wrote his poem. His silvery sleeves that were embroidered with blue threads were also slightly swaying. Everyone was utterly silent on the fifth floor as they admired the scene before them. If Ji Man was watching this scene on TV in modern-day, there would definitely be special effects such as plum blossom petals drifting into the room through a window and sprinkling down on top of this man or the sound of traditional Chinese music magically starting in the background.


    Unfortunately, this man¡¯s brow wasn¡¯t rxed, and there was a faint mocking smile on his face. He mumbled, ¡±


    <i>Back then, I wasn¡¯t aware,</i>


    <i>Drawing the beauty in the east of the Cinnamon Hall,</i>


    <i>Now that I am aware,</i>


    <i>I am filled with endless vexation.¡±</i>


    (T/N: I think the ¡°east of the Cinnamon Hall¡± might be in reference to one of Li Shangyin¡¯s poems, which was about his longing and ethereal connection he feels towards someone. Two of the lines in that poem are ¡°west of the Painted Chamber and east of Cinnamon Hall¡± and ¡°Yet we had a meeting of minds and a binding of hearts to each other.¡± I think thetter line describes Ning Mingjie¡¯s one-sided feeling about Nie Sangyu/Ji Man pretty well.)

 Chapter 281 - Acting as well-qualified tour guide (2)

    Chapter 281 ¨C Acting as well-qualified tour guide (2)


    Even Errong was stunned to see this beautiful as a flower man being so mncholy. Clutching her friend¡¯s hand, she whispered, ¡°Why is my older brother like this?¡±


    Ji Manfortingly patted her shoulder. ¡°Everyone will meet someone that¡¯s wrong for them at some point in their lives. Time will heal their wounds and make everything okay again. It¡¯s nothing serious. After some time passes, your older brother will recover to his old self.¡±


    Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t stupid. As a person that cared about his family and his country, he wouldn¡¯t lose himself to his emotions.


    Pengyue found a ce for them to sit, then she propped up her chin in her hands as she looked at Ning Mingjie for a while. Finally, she asked, ¡°Which family does that young master belong to?¡±


    Ning Errong was somewhat unhappy with Pengyue¡¯s tone. It sounded as if she was just selecting vegetables at a market. Curling her lip, she said, ¡°He¡¯s my older brother.¡±


    Ji Man supplemented, ¡°He¡¯s Marquis Jingwen¡¯s heir. He¡¯s leaving the capital in three days with the army. He¡¯s a pretty good person.¡±


    Pengyue stared at him without blinking for a moment. She watched as he hanged up his poem and the crowd praised his writing. She lightly harrumphed. ¡°That man already had someone in his heart.¡±


    Pengyue was only a young woman. If they were in modern-day, she would be taking her college entrance exam. How was it possible that she had clearly seen the truth in only nce? Ji Man felt somewhat speechless. It couldn¡¯t be that girls from ancient time were precocious and trained to have discerning eyes, right?


    ¡°My older brother almost married Prince Gong¡¯s daughter recently.¡± As she brought up this topic, Errong felt extremely unhappy. ¡°Unfortunately, his beloved was snatched away, and his bride became a princess consort instead.¡±


    ¡°Errong.¡± Ji Man pressed her hand.


    Ning Errong felt somewhat indignant, but as soon as she remembered that the third prince was Sangyu¡¯s older cousin, she didn¡¯t feel right to continue speaking about the matter and only quietly felt bad for her older brother.


    ¡°Oh? There was such a thing?¡± Princess Pengyue¡¯s interest was stirred up. Tugging on Errong¡¯s hand, she asked, ¡°What exactly happened, ah?¡±


    Ning Mingjie had finished hanging up his poem. He saw that Nie Sangyu had already arrived. He wasn¡¯t surprised that she hadn¡¯te here by herself. Not only did she bring Errong along, there was also an unfamiliar young woman.


    He had received the third prince¡¯s order to act as a bodyguard today, but he had pretended that he hadn¡¯t been home to get his message and hade to Luoyan Pagoda instead. But, in the end, he hadn¡¯t been able to sessfully hide.


    Seeing him covering over, Errong naturally stopped gossiping with Princess Pengyue. She quickly smiled and said to him, ¡°Older brother, I haven¡¯t you seen in a while. You look even more valiantly handsome.¡±


    Ning Mingjie put on a fake smile. He silently saluted Princess Pengyue, then he sat down on the side. Looking at Nie Sangyu, he said, ¡°Madam, as expected, you didn¡¯t miss our appointment.¡±


    Ji Man felt somewhat embarrassed. She awkwardlyughed, then she seriously said, ¡°I think that Young Master should take the time to look at scenery from other ces. Don¡¯t me Sangyu for meddling.¡±


    Ning Mingjieughed, nced at Pengyue, and lightly said, ¡°I found out that Luoqi was pregnant yesterday, so I feel that I won¡¯t be feeling alone for the remainder of my life.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Not caring that there was a princess present, Ning Errong jumped up. ¡°Luoqi is pregnant?¡±


    Smiling, Ning Mingjie nodded.


    Princess Pengyue twitched her lips. ¡°As expected, all good men are already married to their beloveds and have children.¡±


    Ji Man was left feeling a bit helpless after Ning Mingjie had thrown out this bomb. Although Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t have a main wife, by saying that his woman was pregnant in front of the princess, wasn¡¯t he clearly dering that he didn¡¯t want any development between him and the princess?! What was he thinking?!


    This was the same as throwing the imperial noble consort¡¯s n out the window.


    Ning Mingjie actually turned around and started tofort Pengyue. ¡°There are a lot of excellent men in Great Song. Your Highness, take your time with looking. There¡¯s no need to hurry.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Pengyue swept her gaze over to the wall to look at Ning Mingjie¡¯s calligraphy, then she stood up and said, ¡°This ce only has schrs. How about we go somewhere else?¡±


    Ji Man sighed and also got up. She said to Ning Mingjie, ¡°Young Master, since you¡¯re free today, how about apanying us for a while?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t refused and followed them as they headed out of Luoyan Pagoda.


    As Ji Man was walking behind Pengyue, she quietly mumbled, ¡°Such a pity, such a pity...¡±


    Just from his appearance, there were few women that wouldn¡¯t feel interested in Ning Mingjie after seeing him. But, if he wasn¡¯t willing, no one could force him.


    The carriage would inevitably feel a bit crowded with four people, so Pengyue suggested that they walk around the capital instead of taking the carriage.


    Ji Man thought; it was really fortunate that she wasn¡¯t wearing modern-day heels. Otherwise, her feet would be covered in blisters by the time she went home after walking so much.


    After passing Zhangning Street, it was Guyue Street. On both sides of the street, all of the doors were closed on the storefronts. It looked quite deste.


    The princess curiously asked, ¡°Why is so empty?¡±


    Ning Mingjie swept his gaze around the street. He didn¡¯t pretend to be proper and straightforwardly said, ¡°There will be a lot of people here at nighttime. We¡¯re in the red light district.¡±


    Pengyue¡¯s face turned red, but there were obviously little stars of interest in her eyes. Ji Man hurriedly led them to a different area. She didn¡¯t have the audacity to bring a princess to visit a brothel.


    ¡°Sir Nie...¡± Someone¡¯s soft and silky voice drifted down from a nearby upstairs room. The three women didn¡¯t hear this voice, but Ning Mingjie had heard it with his sharp ears. He stopped walking and nced upwards.


    Trantor Ramblings: I love that Ning Mingjie totally ruined Ji Man and the imperial noble consort¡¯s n XD.

 Chapter 282 - Even a marriage predestined by fate cant survive without love (1)

    Chapter 282 ¨C Even a marriage predestined by fate can¡¯t survive without love (1)


    Behind the gauzy red curtains, there were clearly people on the second floor. It was quite the beguiling scene. In broad daylight, there was a shadowy pair that was having a fun romp behind the curtains.


    There were many people with thest name Nie in the imperial court, so Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t think too much it. He resumed walking and followed after the three women.


    After a while, Pengyue got bored of sightseeing and loudly insisted that she wanted to go to a military training ground. A military training ground was a ce where army troops were usually performing drills, and the nearest one was on the outskirts of the capital. Ji Man remembered that Ning Yuxuan had told her that the princess like martial arts. She had silently eximed in admiration at the time. Was Marquis Moyu actually a central intelligence officer? It really seemed like he knew everything.


    With his official position, Ning Mingjie was naturally able to bring them to a military training ground. However, after Ji Man had apanied Pengyue in touring the military training ground for a while, she saw someone that she would never expected to see in this type of ce.


    A group of guards were currently performing a training exercise and loudly shouting. They looked as fierce as tigers as they skillfully disyed their talents with their weapons. The princess watched this training with keen interest.


    Ji Man turned her head to the side and saw someone sitting at the side of the training field.


    Or, to put it in another way, there was a wooden wheelchair parked over there.


    The second prince was quietly watching the training guards. His face was nk and without any hint of emotion, but his entire body seemed to be radiating a strong feeling of admiration and envy. He truly looked very pitiful.


    Pengyue wasn¡¯t blind, so she naturally saw him too. As soon as she noticed that there was a man wearing an official robe only worn by princes, she became curious. Tugging on Nie Sangyu¡¯s sleeve, she asked, ¡°Your country has princes that are cripples?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the second prince. He usually stays in the pce and doesn¡¯te out often. I heard that his legs were like that since he was born.¡±


    Tapping the long whip she was holding, Pengyue inexplicably felt an urge to walk over there and chat with the second prince. But, the second prince actually pretended that he didn¡¯t seem them. He turned his wheelchair in the other direction and started to leave.


    ¡°Why would a grand prince appear at a military training ground? Since he had alreadye, why is he leaving so quickly?¡± Pengyue frowned. Feeling very unsatisfied, she said, ¡°Do the men in Great Song like to y hard to get?¡±


    This princess seemed as if she had a pre-installed software that systematically ridicule people. Once she figured out someone¡¯s intentions, was there any need in publicly stating aloud his intentions so tantly?


    Ning Mingjie came over and reminded them that it was about time for them to leave too. A military training field wasn¡¯t a zoo. After using his connections to briefly tour the ce, they should be leaving.


    Right after Pengyue left the military training field, she grumbled again, ¡°If he wanted to talk to me, he should juste over and talk. What¡¯s the meaning in leaving after only showing his face? Even though I wouldn¡¯t marry a cripple, it would still be nice to make a new friend.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing. ¡°Your Highness, if you want to be friends with the second prince, you can just go to his estate to look for him.¡±


    ¡°Who wants to look for him?¡± Pengyue harrumphed. She turned her head and looked around for a bit before saying, ¡°There¡¯s nowhere else fun to go, and I¡¯m tired from walking too. How about we go rest at one of your homes?¡±


    Errong asked, ¡°Your Highness, aren¡¯t you going to return to the pce?¡±


    ¡°The imperial noble consort said I could stay with the two of you.¡± Looking at Errong, Pengyue asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your home?¡±


    Ning Errong felt a bit annoyed. If you¡¯re going to invite yourself to someone¡¯s home, could you not say it as if you were the one doing her a great favor? Although Princess Pengyue was a decent person, her tone was too arrogant.


    Errong twitched her lips and said, ¡°Sangyu¡¯s husband¡¯s estate is bigger than my home. Your Highness, you should stay over there instead.¡±


    Pengyue pouted. ¡°Am I not wee at your home? We¡¯ve spent so much time walking together today, but you keep looking at me from the corner of your eyes.¡±


    From the tone of Pengyue¡¯s voice as she said thosest two sentences, she seemed to be feeling a bit hurt. Ji Man could tell that this princess honestly said whatever she felt without censoring herself. Although this princess was a bit arrogant, she didn¡¯t have a malicious heart.


    Still, if the princess returned to the pce and repeated these words, Errong would be in trouble. It wasn¡¯t something that could be passed off as a joke if you slighted an important guest.


    ¡°Errong is just feeling down today,¡± Ji Man hurriedly said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to Nie Residence. I¡¯ll stay over too and keep the two of youpany.¡±


    Pengyue asked, ¡°Want to share a bed with me?¡±


    Errong said, ¡°There¡¯s enough rooms. Your Highness, you can have a bedroom to yourself.¡±


    Pengyue lowered her eyes. She mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m so far away from home. I haven¡¯t been sleeping well this entire journey here. If we can all sleep together, I promised that I wouldn¡¯t eavesdrop if the two of you want to have a private conversation.¡±


    Amused by her words, Ji Man nodded.


    Ning Mingjie nced at her and said, ¡°You should send someone to let the marquis know that you¡¯re not going home tonight.¡±


    Errong admiringly looked at her and said, ¡°Exactly. Otherwise, he might get worried. Qingyun and I were relieved to hear that your rtionship with my older cousin has been going very welltely. ¡±


    Ji Man drylyughed. Yeah, their rtionship was really good. It had already been several days since she saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face. She was almost forgetting what he looked like.


    On the way to Nie Residence, Pengyue couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Has second prince always been unfavored?¡±


    Ning Mingjie said, ¡°Pretty much. His consort mother died young, and the emperor doesn¡¯t value him. Your Highness, you shouldn¡¯t choose someone like him as your husband.¡±


    ¡°Ah, why should I not choose him just because you say so?¡± Pengyue lightly snorted. She turned her head away and stroked the whip at her waist with her left hand.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart skipped a beat. She nced at Ning Mingjie.


    There was a hint of a smile on Ning Mingjie¡¯s face. He turned his head and looked elsewhere too.


    T/N: I posted vague spoilers about Errong and Qingyun, but I¡¯m not sure if I should say anything... Am I ruining your enjoyment by providing spoilers? I think the author wants the readers to feel doubtful about Qingyun¡¯s behavior and question if he has changed.

 Chapter 283 - Even a marriage predestined by fate cant survive without love (2)

    Chapter 283 ¨C Even a marriage predestined by fate can¡¯t survive without love (2)


    Knowing that the princess would be staying over as a guest, Nie household had already fully prepared in advance. When Errong led Nie Sangyu and the princess into the estate, Ning Mingjie bid his farewell first.


    As they were passing through the scenic covered corridors, Pengyue looked amazed the entire time. ¡°Isn¡¯t your home too exquisite?¡±


    This estate naturally had a different type of splendor than the pce, but it had a charm that was superior to the pce.


    Smiling, Errong pointed at a pond and said, ¡°In the summer, lotus flowers will bloom here. Qingyun had those flowers nted here for me.¡±


    Pengyue somewhat admiringly asked, ¡°Is Qingyun your husband?¡±


    At the mention of Qingyun, Errong gave a tiny smile. ¡°Yeah. He treats me very well. The flowers in this pond are from him, and embroidery building over there was built for me too.¡±


    ¡°This is how men should behave, ah.¡± Having gotten rid of the group of trailing servants, Pengyue was slightly skipping. Full of energy, she said, ¡°My imperial father has told me a thousand times that I should choose a man that has power and influence, but I don¡¯t want to. I just want to marry a man that will treat me well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good way of thinking.¡± Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°As long as a man isn¡¯t poor to the point of only having fabricated dreams and can¡¯t even financially support himself, it¡¯s not necessary for him to be super rich. As long as he treats you well, it¡¯ll be fine to marry him.¡±


    Looking at her, Pengyue smiled. ¡°It¡¯s rare to see someone that thinks the same way as me. Does your husband treat you really well too?¡±


    Ji Man paused before shaking her head.


    Pengyue showed her a pitying expression before looking at Errong and saying, ¡°It seems that it isn¡¯t easy to find a good husband. You have to treasure yours.¡±


    Errong nodded and slightly lowered her eyes.


    Right after they entered a room, a servant girl came over and saluted.¡± Young Madam.¡±


    Errong nodded and quietly asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Young Master?¡±


    The servant girl nced at Nie Sangyu and Pengyue before saying in a low voice, ¡°He hasn¡¯t returned yet.¡±


    Ji Man looked at the sky outside. Should he have already quickly finished his work ande home to eat dinner? Why was Nie Qingyun not home yet?


    Errong wasn¡¯t showing a surprised expression. She turned around and said with a smile, ¡°That¡¯s good too. All three of us can share a room together then.¡±


    Ji Man slightly frowned. ¡°Is my older brother noting back tonight?¡±


    Without turning her head back, Errong continued walking up the stairs as she answered, ¡°En, he¡¯s been busytely.¡±


    Pengyue looked at Errong, then she looked at Nie Sangyu before following Errong upstairs. She treated this ce as if it were her own home.


    When Chen-<i>shi</i> led a group of concubine-born daughters over here to pay respect to the princess, Pengyue found it bothersome. Right after seeing them, before Chen-<i>shi</i> even had time to speak, Pengyue said she was tired and wanted to go to sleep.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> wasn¡¯t happy as she withdrew from the room. As she was leaving, she cast a nce at Errong.


    Errong lowered her eyes and stayed silent.


    ¡ª


    By the time the evening sky had darkened more, as Errong had said, Nie Qingyun still hadn¡¯te back. Ji Man had the servants add many more braziers to the room, so the three of them didn¡¯t feel that cold even with just their sleeping robes on.


    Ji Man finally had the chance to straightforwardly ask, ¡°What¡¯s going on with you and my older brother?¡±


    On the bed with them, Pengyue pretended to sleep with her small hands covering her eyes. Ji Man really wanted to remind her that it should be her ears that should be covered and not her eyes. But, seeing that Errong looked as if she was about to cry, she didn¡¯t have the mind to care about other things.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s a perfectly normal matter. Your older brother is going to take a concubine soon.¡± Errong was smiling as she said those words, but tears dripped down. She hurriedly wiped her tears and said, ¡°I¡¯m the one that¡¯s being small-minded. I keep hoping that I¡¯ll be the only person that he looks at for a lifetime. But, one year has passed without any pregnancy. My mother-inw insists that he takes a concubine, and he hasn¡¯t... refused.¡±


    With a ¡°Dammit!¡±, Pengyu sat up and stared at her. ¡°Should a husband take a concubine after only one year? My imperial father only has my imperial mother. It¡¯s been so many years, but he hasn¡¯t added any imperial consorts.¡±


    Talking about this topic in front of a princess they had only met for one day, Ji Man had originally been worried that there would be a conflict. But, it seemed that this young girl was quite vehement about her beliefs and gossip. In the end, this was a princess that was being transnted to Great Song. If they could have a closer rtionship, it would naturally be good.


    ¡°Yuzhen has a smaller poption, so the custom is to have one husband and one wife, ¡°Ji Man quietly said, ¡°It can¡¯t bepared to Great Song where it¡¯s normal to have a few wives and several concubines. In a country where there¡¯s a higher poption, after men have obtained power, money, andnd, it¡¯s only to be expected that they¡¯ll pursue a variety of women.¡±


    Unhappy, Pengyue said, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it only today that you said Errong¡¯s husband treated her very well. Why is he taking a concubine then?¡±


    ¡°In a man¡¯s mind, there¡¯s no conflict between treating a women well and having many women at the same time.¡± Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°I used to think that my older brother was the exception to this rule.¡±


    Errong¡¯s eyes were red. After being silent for a while, she smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ve alreadye to terms with it. If he takes a concubine, he takes a concubine. I can¡¯t forcibly keep him for a lifetime. But... when I asked him to not fall in love with someone else, he said I was being unreasonable.¡±


    Ji Man rubbed her temples. Regarding the matter of whether the man or woman was being the more unreasonable one, she really didn¡¯t want to discuss it. But, it seemed that a problem had appeared in Errong and Qingyun¡¯s marriage.


    Only one year had passed since their wedding. Back then, Nie Qingyun had been somewhat unwilling to marry Errong. Was this just an eruption of his earlier discontent or something?


    After Old Madame passed away, the connection between Nie n and Ning n had be much weaker. Right now, it was only herself, Errong, and Qingyun that tenuously connected the two families. If Errong and Qingyun couldn¡¯t get along, what would happen in the future?


    Perhaps, she had made a mistake too. If Nie Qingyun truly didn¡¯t like Errong, she shouldn¡¯t have pushed him to marry her. Even a marriage predestined by fate can¡¯t survive without love. No matter how much effort was put into it, it wouldn¡¯tst for long.


    Ji Man suddenly asked, ¡°Where does my older brother usually go?¡±


    Errong pursed her lips and wryly smiled. ¡°How would I know? I only know that he says he¡¯s busy and hasn¡¯t beening home. I don¡¯t know where he¡¯s been going.¡±


    Pengyue excitedly suggested, ¡°Send people to follow him.¡±

 Chapter 284 - The best matchmaker (1)

    Chapter 284 ¨C The best matchmaker (1)


    Errongughed and said, ¡°Why would I send someone to follow him? He also has his own work to do, just leave him be.


    Pengyue puffed up her cheeks. She wanted to say more, but Nie Sangyu said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. Let¡¯s go to sleep.¡±


    With the three of them sleeping together on therge bed, it was quite warm and cozy. Pengyue felt much closer to these women. It was only that one woman seemed too stupid, and the other one seemed too clever. Still, Nie Sangyu¡¯s heart didn¡¯t seem to be in bad ce.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Nie Qingyun still hadn¡¯t returned home yet, but Ning Mingjie hade over early in the morning to pick them up. In ordance to the imperial noble consort¡¯s order, Ning Mingjie had to act as a bodyguard for the remaining two days. After that, he would be leaving the capital with the army.


    Ning Mingjie suggested, ¡°How about visiting the market today?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Pengyue had slept wellst night, so she had plenty of energy.


    Ji Man was also doing okay. Errong was the only one that seemed listless. Her face was slightly pale as she said, ¡°I¡¯m staying home today. I¡¯m not feeling well.¡±


    Ning Mingjie frowned. He looked at his younger sister and said, ¡°How did you be so haggard?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Errong smiled and waved her hand at them. ¡°Go on without me.¡±


    As Ji Man got into the carriage with the other two, she turned her head back. Supported by Baizhi, Errong had already disappeared behind the cinnabar doors.


    ¡ª


    The market was truly very lively. But, when Ji Man remembered that no one had cared when she didn¡¯t return to the marquis¡¯s estatest night either, she wasn¡¯t in the mood to have fun. What was Ning Yuxuan thinking? When there was an abrupt change in weather, there would a weather announcer to report it. He had changed faces faster than the flipping pages of a book. There should be a reason, right?


    Ning Mingjie had them get off the carriage at an intersection. Pengyue was feeling excited just from seeing the bustling crowd. In her dull grey dress, she turned left, then right to look around.


    ¡ª


    By the time her hands were filled with little trinkets, Pengyue finally couldn¡¯t walk anymore. Ning Mingjie casually pointed at a ce and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to that teahouse and sit for a bit.


    Ji Man looked at that teahouse. It was a famous franchise in the capital. There were probably many high-ranking officials and members of noble families inside.


    Pengyue made a sound of agreement and started heading towards there.


    Last night, Ji Man had sent a letter to the third prince¡¯s side that provided an ounting of the overall situation. Ning Mingjie refused to marry the princess. Although his reason wasn¡¯t clear, they still had find another person to introduce to the princess, right?


    Zhao Jue¡¯s answer was, as long as it wasn¡¯t someone from the first prince¡¯s side, anyone would be okay.


    Then, there were plenty of people to choose from the imperial court. Many promising officials from the imperial court had already been gathered at Luoyan Pagoda. They were just waiting for Nie Sangyu to bring the princess overter and start off an enormous blind date spectacle.


    However, contrary to her expectations, someone would be cutting her off frompleting her n.


    As soon as she entered the teahouse, something felt off. This ce was normally very lively with many guests, but it was very quiet today. There weren¡¯t many people in the main room, and the second floor was totally empty.


    ¡°Guests, please continue going upstairs,¡± the waiter earnestly requested.


    If she was in modern-day Ji Man would think this was a scene where someone was about to propose. But, she was in ancient times, ah. Who would do something like that in ancient times...


    ¡°Princess Pengyue.¡± A voice interrupted Ji Man¡¯s train of thought.


    On the third floor, the second prince was quietly sitting in his wheelchair. There wasn¡¯t much expression on his face, and the dark-colored embroidery on his silvery robe looked a bit old.


    Pengyue¡¯s expression slightly changed as she looked at him with a frowning face. Ning Mingjie directly went in front of her to protectively guard her and asked the second prince, ¡°Your Highness, why are you here?¡±


    The second prince, Zhao Li, pursed his lips and said, ¡°I have something I want to say to the princess.¡±


    ¡°Second prince, this one is afraid that this would be a bit inappropriate.¡± Ning Mingjie turned his head back and said to Pengyue. ¡°Your Highness, we should leave this ce.¡±


    ¡°If he dares to speak, why should I be afraid to listen?¡± Pengyue lightly harrumphed and walked around him. When she reached the second prince¡¯s side, she slightly narrowed her eyes and asked, ¡°What is it that you want to say?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, would you mind going to a private room to talk?¡± Zhao Li slightly raised his eyebrows.


    Pengyue looked at his legs, then she pursed her lips and said, ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. Was Pengyue a young child? The second prince¡¯s motive was so obvious. He was definitely going to talk about marriage. Why did she still want to follow him?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Pengyue raised the whip in her hand and said, ¡°I know martial arts, and he¡¯s a person that doesn¡¯t even had the strength to truss a chicken. What could he possibly do to me?¡±


    Ji Man nced at Ning Mingjie and said, ¡°Then, Sangyu and Sir Ning will wait in the neighboring room. Your Highness, if anythinges up, just yell my name.¡±


    Pengyue nodded. She went around the second prince and helpfully pushed the second prince¡¯s wheelchair into the private room.


    Zhao Li was stunned for a moment.


    Ji Man pushed open the neighboring room¡¯s doors and looked at Ning Mingjie as she said, ¡°Young Master, pleasee.¡±


    Since they had alreadye into this teahouse, there was no way for her to stop anything now. Out of all the possible people, Ning Mingjie had been thest person she would expect to interfere with her n.


    ¡°Young Master, what are your ns?¡±


    After Prince Gong¡¯s daughter had been bestowed onto the third prince, Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t done anything other than nning on going to the battlefield to fight. Ji Man had thought it was because he was a good-natured person.


    But, at some unknown point, he had decided to be the second prince¡¯s matchmaker? Moreover, he had grasped the key point of Pengyue¡¯s personality very well and used reverse psychology to lure her Pengyue¡¯s interest. And, during this entire time, she hadn¡¯t noticed Ning Mingjie¡¯s hidden intention.


    As it turned out, this was the reason why he had used the excuse of Luoqi¡¯s pregnancy to refuse her attempt to be their matchmaker. At the time, she had thought his heart was simply troubled. But, really... it had just been a ssic case of a woman being unable to out-scheme a man.


    Ning Mingjie let out a low sigh and said, ¡°Madam, you should just spend your time taking care of the marquis. You don¡¯t need to concern yourself with so many other things.¡±


    Ji Man tapped the table. Feeling as if she was missing something, she asked, ¡°Sangyu just doesn¡¯t understand. Why is it the second prince?¡±

 Chapter 285 - The best matchmaker (2)

    Chapter 285 ¨C The best matchmaker (2)


    Out of three princes that were of suitable age, the second prince was the least likely to seed. Because he was a cripple, the probability of him winning over the princess was small enough that he hadn¡¯t even been considered a realpetitor. Why would Ning Mingjie abandon the third prince to choose the second prince?


    Alright, perhaps one of the reasons was because the third prince had slept with Ning Mingjie¡¯s newly wedded wife. But, he could have also chosen to help the first prince, ah.


    ¡°The second prince is honest and kind-hearted. And, he¡¯s still a prince.¡± Ning Mingjie smiled. ¡°Besides, I think he¡¯s the princess¡¯s type.¡±


    Yeah right. Didn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan say that the princess likes warriors? Zhao Li wasn¡¯t strong enough to carry anything, much less use a sword. He couldn¡¯t even stand up to walk. Why would Pengyue...


    Ji Man sulkily lowered her head. Unless it was love at first sight, there was no way that Pengyue would choose the second prince after analyzing the advantages and disadvantages.


    ¡ª


    In the neighboring private room.


    Pengyue clicked her tongue and examined the second prince for a long time before shaking her head and asking, ¡°Why do you think I¡¯ll agree to your proposal?¡±


    Zhao Li lightly said, ¡°Because the conditions I can give you are the best.¡±


    He had asked her to marry him and promised to do his best in caring for her for a lifetime, fulfilling her every wish, and giving her the best of everything. If she ever became unhappy with anything, she could divorce him.


    This was truly the most groundbreaking proposal that a man could offer in this time period.


    Feeling quite interested, Pengyue asked, ¡°Do you really need me?¡±


    ¡°En, I really need you.¡± Zhao Li pursed his lips and added, ¡°If you don¡¯t want to agree, then I won¡¯t pursue you any further. After all, no women would want to marry a cripple.¡±


    Pengyue giggled. ¡°Give me time to consider this.¡±


    Zhao Li slightly froze. He raised his head and looked at her. ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s already pretty good that you¡¯re willing to consider me.¡±


    Watching him, Pengyue asked, ¡°When I saw you in the military training field yesterday, why did you turn around and leave?¡±


    She had been brooding over this matter all night. Although it wasn¡¯t a big deal, she kept dreaming about his back figure as he wheeled himself away. It had looked so lonely and helpless.


    ¡°Because, even if I hade closer, I wouldn¡¯t know what to say.¡± Zhao Li turned his face to the side. ¡°The other two princes arepeting for you. It¡¯s a pity that they already have princess consorts.¡±


    ¡°So that makes you¡¯re the most suitable one?¡± In a moment of impatience and interest, Pengyue used her whip to tilt up his chin.


    Zhao Li slightly frowned. There was a hint of scornful anger in his eyes for being inspected like this. ¡°Your Highness, take your time to consider. This one will leave first.¡±


    What a surly personality.


    ¡ª


    Pengyue had her chin propped up in her hands as she contemted for a long time until Nie Sangyu came into the room to get her.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you still want to visit Luoyan Pagoda?¡±


    Returning to her senses, Pengyue pursed her lips and said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t need to go there anymore. Sangyu, let¡¯s go back to the pce.¡±


    Why did she want to go the pce? While Ji Man was feeling baffled, Pengyue energetically tugged her down the stairs with her.


    ¡ª


    After paying the empress and the imperial noble consort respect, Pengyue made a beeline towards Yinxue Pce.


    Yinxue Pce was a ce for concubines and consorts that had lost favor with the emperor. The second prince¡¯s mother had been living here before she died. During their recent conversation, Zhao Li had happened to mention this, and Pengyue couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to pay this ce a visit.


    There usually weren¡¯t many people in this deste pce, but today, there was an older pce servant weeding the area, then kowtowing.


    Without even thinking, Pengyue went over to ask that older pce servant questions. This older pce servant used to be Consort Hui¡¯s personal servant girl. Even though this princess was an unfamiliar young woman, the servant actually told her everything about Consort Hui and the second prince¡¯s past.


    Weeping, the older pce servant said, ¡°Someone had poisoned Her Highness, that¡¯s why the second prince was born a cripple. Since the second prince was born like that, the emperor had never paid any attention to him. Consort Shu had only raised the second prince until he was seven years old before leaving to live her life at a prince¡¯s estate. Who know how much that child had suffered...¡±


    Feeling upset, Pengyue clutched her whip and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ll protect him in the future.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Your Highness, how will you protect the second prince?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just marry him.¡± Pengyue indifferently said, ¡°Anyways, I haven¡¯t met anyone here that caught my interest, and Zhao Li looks pretty good. Since he¡¯s a cripple, he won¡¯t be able to go out and live a life of debauchery. When I¡¯m in a bad mood and unwilling to push his wheelchair, he can only look at me. Isn¡¯t that wonderful?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This type of reasoning was simply too tough.


    If Pengyue decided to marry the second prince, then the first prince and third prince didn¡¯t need topete anymore for this princess. After all, Zhao Li didn¡¯t have much power topete with them. Both sides would feel at ease with this decision.


    And yet, thinking of Ning Mingjie¡¯s behavior today, Ji Man suddenly thought that the second prince wasn¡¯t as simple as he appeared.


    ¡ª


    As she was apanying Pengyue for the remaining two days, they seemed to encounter the other princes frequently. On the third day of Pengyue¡¯s visit, when Ning Mingjie was leaving the capital, Pengyue went to inform the emperor of her decision. There wasn¡¯t anyone else. She only wanted to marry the second prince. The entire imperial court was dumb struck.


    ¡ª


    When the news spread to the harem, even the imperial noble consort was feeling shocked as she tried to persuade her, ¡°Your Highness, don¡¯t make a decision that you¡¯ll regret...¡±


    Standing by Zhao Li¡¯s wheelchair and swinging her whip, Pengyue smiled brilliantly. ¡°He¡¯s the one that I want as my husband. In the future, if anyone dares to bully or insult him, it¡¯ll be the same as bullying or insulting me. Since he can¡¯t walk, I¡¯ll push his wheelchair for him.¡±


    Everyone else was speechless, but Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop herself from pping.


    True love was truly something that was rarely seen in this world.

 Chapter 286 - Sister Complex? (1)

    Chapter 286 ¨C Sister Complex? (1)


    Just like that, Princess Pengyue shocked everyone by choosing the second prince. The empress would do the wedding nning and a good date was selected.


    ¡ª


    Today was the day that Ning Mingjie was leaving the capital with the army. Although he wasn¡¯t themander of the army, as the assisting general, he also needed to make a ceremonial vow before departing.


    On the military training ground, Ning Yuxuan was quietly standing behind the emperor and between the first prince and the third prince. Ning Mingjie was standing in the army procession. Along with a group of soldiers, he raised his sword to the Heavens and vowed, ¡°With the blood flowing in my veins, I will guard my country. I will not return until the enemy has been defeated! Our swords will be stained by the blood of a thousand enemies before we return to the capital!¡±


    With a faint smile, the third prince looked at the men on field. Han De was themander of this army. This was a young general that he had personally promoted, and Consort Han¡¯s older brother. The assistant generals were Ning Mingjie and Chen Bozhong. Surely, the meritorious credit for a victorious battle was already in the bag for him. When the timees, the first prince would no longer be able topete with him.


    Zhao Zhe stayed silent and quietly looked at Chen Bozhong.


    On the surface, the army was leaving the capital to protect the country. But, underneath, it symbolized the struggle between the princes. Right now, Ning Yuxuan should be figuring out a n for the first prince. And yet, he was lost in his thoughts.


    ¡°Who are you really?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just me. I¡¯m Ji Man. The character Ji is from <i>huaji</i> (flowering season), and the character man is from <i>jiman</i> (graceful, soft and beautiful season). My English name is Ji Man too.¡±


    Early on, he had already considered the idea that the current Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t the same as the original one. But, she had been able to clearly and easily say their shared memories. Another person wouldn¡¯t have known about these moments. Besides, Liu-<i>mama</i> had previously been keeping a close watch over her. It had to be impossible for her to have been reced by someone else while she was so closely watched, right?


    And yet, when he had used the pear wine, which had contained a difficult to find hallucinogenic herb, to test her, she had actually said, she was Ji Man.


    Who was Ji Man? Why did she look the same as Nie Sangyu? He had touched her face. It wasn¡¯t fake. She even had the birthmark behind her neck that Nie Qingyun had describe. What was going on?


    Could it be that Nie Sangyu was possessed by a demon?


    He had avoided her for a long time. He had thought about inviting a monk over, but he didn¡¯t have the heart to do so. He didn¡¯t like people that he had no way to control. And, he didn¡¯t know what she was nning on doing or why she hade here. To avoid her gradually adversely influencing him or ruining a major event, he should kill her now.


    His fingers slightly drew together. Marquis Moyu raised his head and met the first prince¡¯s gaze.


    Watching him, Zhao Zhe slightly narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°Yuxuan, are your household matters taking too much of your attention?¡±


    Secretly feeling as if his heart had frozen for a moment, Marquis Moyu lightly smiled and said, ¡°How could that be? There¡¯s not much going on in my home.¡±


    In a low voice, Zhao Zhe said, ¡°I heard that your oldest child is almost one year old, but I don¡¯t even have one child myself.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, if you want a child, you can just let your princess consort give birth to a child.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his face away. ¡°Yuxuan has recently been busy with reassigning people for the Six Ministries and hasn¡¯t had time to care about the children in my household.¡±


    ¡°Really...¡± Zhao Zhe smiled and said, ¡°Once everything is done, you¡¯ll be able enjoy watching your children running around you and living out the rest of your life peacefully.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    A small amount of sweat had gathered in his palms. The vow ceremony had ended, and the soldiers were sorting things out and preparing to leave for the battlefield. Ning Yuxuan pretended to feel unwell, boarded his carriage, and returned to his estate.


    Ji Man had also finally returned from Nie Residence today. She hadn¡¯t seen Nie Qingyun during this visit either and had told a dependable servant girl to follow after him to see what exactly he was up to.


    The two of them met as they wereing down from their respective carriages. Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan and slightly paused before deciding to walk forward and salute him.


    However, the oue was that damn person walked around her and headed towards the estate.


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. He was being too obvious with ignoring her. She had been right in his line of sight, but he had deliberately turned his head away and walked towards the estate.


    This was truly intolerable. Ji Man immediately strode after him and grabbed his sleeve. ¡°My lord.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body stiffened. He stopped walking, but he didn¡¯t turn his head to look at her. ¡°What?¡±


    Feeling angry, but also wanting tough, Ji Man simply used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her eyes. Leaning against him, she said, ¡°When our rtionship was at it¡¯s best, my lord would always warmly ask me what¡¯s wrong. Now that your feelings have dimmed, you¡¯ll only curtly ask me ¡°What?¡± with an unsmiling face. What exactly did this servant do wrong?


    Marquis Moyu was silent for a long time. He finally looked at her and said, ¡°I¡¯m just busy. I didn¡¯t say that you did anything wrong.¡±


    Who was he trying to fool? Ji Man pressed her lips together, straightened her posture, and said, ¡°My lord, regarding the inner court¡¯s ount book, this servant needs to discuss it with you...¡±


    In a low voice, Ning Yuxuan interrupted her, ¡°Just hand that over to Ling-<i>er</i>. You¡¯ve always been so busy, and now you have to help manage Mingjie¡¯s estate too. Just hand over management of the inner court to Ling-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Ji Man froze in shock.


    Looking into the distance, Ning Yuxuan said in a very light voice, ¡°I¡¯m going to bring the children to a temple outside of the capital in a few days. Stay at home and watch over the estate.¡±


    Without any good reason, he was telling her that she had fallen out of his favor. Ji Man was at a loss. What had she done wrong for this man to treat her like this?


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go see Xi-<i>er</i> now.¡± As the beautiful silk robes brushed passed her, it brought a small breeze.


    Standing in ce, Ji Man seriously thought for a while. In the end, she could only conclude that Ning Yuxuan was in a bad mood from the male equivalent of PMSing.

 Chapter 287 - Sister Complex? (2)

    Chapter 287 ¨C Sister Complex? (2)


    The change in the head of this household¡¯s attitude naturally couldn¡¯t be hidden from servants. Before Ji Man had returned to Feiwan Courtyard to carry out Marquis Moyu¡¯s order, Steward Qian had already hand over the ount book to Qian Siling.


    In a harem, managing the ount book was the equivalent to having an empress¡¯s authority and power. If she didn¡¯t manage the ount book, she wouldn¡¯t have much to do as the matriarch.


    Feeling indignant on her master¡¯s behalf, Dengxin said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t the marquis tell you why he¡¯s giving you the cold shoulder? At the very least, he should let you know what you did wrong, ah.¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. No matter how much womenpeted for power and status, in the end, it was men that would decide their fate. This was the root of evil that existed in ancient times.


    She had to think of a way to return to modern-day!


    A servant girl that worked in outer part of Feiwan Courtyard came inside to report, ¡°Master, there¡¯s a person from Nie Residence that requesting to see you.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment. She hadn¡¯t been back for long. Was there was already activity on that side?


    As she hurriedly rushed over there and listened to that dependable servant girl¡¯s ounting of what was going on, Ji Man¡¯s heart felt waves of coldness.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> wanted Qingyun to take one of Yanyun n¡¯s concubine-born daughters as his concubine, but Nie Qingyun had refused. Instead, he went to a brothel and stayed there for three days. At the end of day three, he brought back a courtesan with him. Chen-<i>shi</i> was furious. And yet, Nie Qingyun said that this courtesan was his true love.


    True love, my ass! Ji Man didn¡¯t even have to guess to know that Errong must be wretchedly crying right now. At the beginning, everyone had known that this was an alliance marriage, but Errong had whole-heartedly devoted herself to Nie Qingyun. And yet, the end result was that he brought back a woman and said that this woman was his true love. Ji Man hated that high heels didn¡¯t exist in this world. Otherwise, even if Nie Qingyun was Nie Sangyu¡¯s older brother, she would still stomp down hard on his feet.


    This dynasty clearly didn¡¯t have brain-dead romance novels or TV shows that promoted true love. Why did one fool after another use the excuse of true love to throw away the wife he had at home? Why couldn¡¯t you just keep the identity of your true love hidden in your heart? Saying it aloud was so hurtful.


    When she arrived at Nie Residence in a mad rush, to her surprise, Nie Xiangyuan was also there. The entire family was in the great hall. Nie Qingyun and a woman that was wearing a dancer¡¯s outfit was kneeling on the ground. Ji Man raised her head and looked at Errong first.


    To her surprise, Errong wasn¡¯t crying. She was just quietly standing and looking at those two kneeling people. Her expression was very calm as if she was only watching a servant saluting her.


    Seeing his daughter standing in the doorway, Nie Xiangyuan gestured at her and asked, ¡°Sangyu, why did youe back?¡±


    Although she hadn¡¯t met Nie Sangyu¡¯s father many times, Ji Man had already formed a good impression of him. It was because his eyes were filled with affection when he looked at his children.


    Ji Man politely saluted Nie Xiangyuan and Chen-<i>shi</i>, then she sat down on the side and said, ¡°Sangyu heard that older brother is taking a concubine. At the very least, Sangyu had facilitated the marriage between him and Errong, so Sangyu wanted toe and see what was happening.¡±


    The kneeling woman quietly raised her head to look at the new arrival, and their gazes met.


    This woman had a beautiful appearance and an alluring style. There was a light birthmark between her eyebrows, and her lips were a soft pink. When she saw Nie Sangyu, there was an astonished look in her eyes that was quickly reced with understanding. She lowered her head and wrylyughed.


    Ji Man was struck dumb. She incredulously looked at Nie Qingyun.


    Although this woman¡¯s facial features weren¡¯t simr to Nie Sangyu¡¯s, her overall figure and bearing, as well as her shallow birthmark cement were exactly the same as Nie Sangyu¡¯s. Why?


    She wasn¡¯t the only one with eyes in the hall. Nie Xiangyuan and Chen-<i>shi</i> had already seen the simrity. Ning Errong wasn¡¯t stupid either.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart suddenly felt chilled. She turned her head and looked at Errong.


    No wonder Errong couldn¡¯t even bear to cry. If it was another women, she could at least ask why. But, out of all the possible choices, why had Nie Qingyun brought back a woman that looked so simr to Nie Sangyu?


    The great hall was silent. It was Nie Qingyun that broke the silence by calmly saying, ¡°Mother wanted me to take a concubine, so I brought Geshan home. She¡¯s already pregnant with my child.¡±


    Ning Errong let out a brief, quietugh.


    Chen-<i>shi</i>¡®s expression was extremely ugly. In a low voice, she reprimanded, ¡°I wanted you to take a concubine, not bring home a dirty creature. I selected Miss Meng for you. Why did you refuse my choice?¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan pressed lips together. ¡°Mind your manners when you speak.¡±


    Feeling resentful, Chen-<i>shi</i> turned her head and hatefully red at Nie Sangyu.


    Ji Man thought that it would have been better if she hadn¡¯te here. It was such an awkward situation. She didn¡¯t know how to defuse it.


    Did Nie Qingyun have a sisterplex? Although she had seen that these two had a very good sibling rtionship from Nie Sangyu¡¯s memories, there were no romantic feelings between them. Nie Qingyun had just been protecting Nie Sangyu.


    ¡°Mother, father, if the two of you won¡¯t agree, then Qingyun can have Geshan stay outside in a separate household.¡± Nie Qingyun slightly turned his head to nce at Ning Errong, then he pursed his lips and said, ¡°But didn¡¯t you all insist on wanting a grandchild? My child can¡¯t be left outside to wander about in destitute state, right?¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°It¡¯s okay that you¡¯re considering the need for the family line to continue so that there will be descendants to burn incense for our ancestors. But, Qingyun, why haven¡¯t you considered Errong¡¯s feelings?¡±


    Ning Errong was still smiling. She shook her head and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. I did this to myself. I was the one that said he could take a concubine. He¡¯ll have a descendant now. I should be feeling happy for him.¡±


    Although she said that she should be feeling happy, she couldn¡¯t stop her eyes from reddening.


    Ji Man opened and closed her mouth. But, under the circumstances, she really didn¡¯t have the right to speak. She could only bitterly smile at Nie Qingyun.


    He had already been protecting Nie Sangyu for so long. Why would he do something like this now?


    ¡°Have this girl stay in the other estate for now.¡± Nie Xiangyuan nced at his son, then he stood up and said, ¡°Sangyu, Qingyun,e to the study with me. I have questions for the both of you.¡±


    Nie Qingyun slightly paused before getting up and replying, ¡°Understood.¡±

 Chapter 288 - In the blink of an eye, all the riches and honor had vanished like smoke (1)

    Chapter 288 ¨C In the blink of an eye, all the riches and honor had vanished like smoke (1)


    In Nie Sangyu¡¯s memories, her older brother and father were the two people that treated her the best in Nie Residence. Although there were asional times when her father didn¡¯t have time for her, her older brother was always there to side with her. He even helped her when she had confrontations with Chen-<i>shi</i>. And so, whenever a problem came up in the marquis¡¯s estate before, Nie Qingyun would be the first person that Nie Sangyu would ask for help.


    But, right now, as they were standing in front of Nie Xiangyuan, Nie Qingyun had his eyes lowered as he said, ¡°Qingyun doesn¡¯t think that I did anything wrong. Geshan and Sangyu aren¡¯t the same person.¡±


    Nie Xiangyuan had a headache. ¡°What do you want Errong to think? She¡¯s a grand titleddy that¡¯s only been married to you for a year, and you brought home a courtesan that looks like your younger sister to be your concubine.¡±


    Standing nearby, Ji Man stayed silent.


    Nie Qingyun slightly pursed his lips and said, ¡°Errong is the one that said I could take a concubine. In mother¡¯s eyes, shemitted a sin by not bing pregnant within a year.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve always ignored your mother¡¯s words before. And yet, you seem to have your heart set on this matter,¡± Nie Xiangyuan said with an unsmiling face, ¡°There¡¯s already a lot of matters to deal with in the imperial court right now. Why are you doing this now and throwing this household into disorder? Qingyun, you¡¯ve always been a sensible child.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    The men under Nie Xiangyuan¡¯smand had been making a lot of mistakes recently. In addition, the emperor had told Xiangyuan to handle the logistics of supplying the soldiers that would be going into battle soon. If any trouble came up, the emperor would inevitably med him. Originally, Nie Xiangyuan had been nning on asking help from Jing Province. First, it was because Jing Province was rich in ck iron ore. Second, they were rted to Marquis Jingwen¡¯s family by marriage, and he would feel more at ease with trusting him to handle the matter.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago. Marquis Jingwen is Errong¡¯s father.)


    But, when he hade back home, Nie Qingyun said he wanted to take a concubine, and Chen-<i>shi</i> was the one that thought of this lousy idea.


    The loathing that Nie Xiangyuan felt for Chen-<i>shi</i> had reached its peak. Because she was Suxin¡¯s sister, he had tolerated her all these years. But, she wasn¡¯t satisfied with small gains. He could ept that she didn¡¯t know how to manage a household, but she was narrow-minded and repeatedly make Sangyu¡¯s life difficult. And now, by wanting Qingyun to take a concubine solely for the sake of benefiting herself, she had ruined a crucial part of his n.


    Nie Qingyun said in a low voice, ¡°Father, if you won¡¯t agree to Qingyun taking a concubine, then just let Geshan stay in the other estate until she gives birth to a child.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to the side to look at him. ¡°Older brother, how will you exin this to Errong?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to exin?¡± Nie Qingyun chuckled. ¡°She doesn¡¯t care about this.¡±


    Doesn¡¯t care? Ji Man was stunned.


    Although Errong¡¯s earlier expression had been calm, how could he view it as her not caring? What exactly had been happening between the two of them during the past period? Why did she feel that Nie Qingyun did care about Errong?


    Nie Xiangyuan sighed. ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head back to look at him.


    Nie Xiangyuan stroked her hair and said in a low voice, ¡°It¡¯ll be better if you don¡¯te back to Nie Residence for a while. ¡°Your older brother isn¡¯t being clear-headed. He can¡¯t distinguish the difference between guilt and romantic love. Give him space to calm down.¡±


    Guilt? Ji Man looked at Nie Xiangyuan in confusion. Why did he say guilt?


    Frowning, Nie Qingyun looked at her and said, ¡°Sangyu, you don¡¯t need to worry about this.¡±


    Ji Man nkly nodded. It felt as if there was a gap in her mind. To summarize Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s words, she didn¡¯t need to return to Nie Residence. As for how long Nie Residence would remain a ce where she couldn¡¯t seek shelter, this depended on the situation.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°Before I leave, can I go see Errong for a bit?¡±


    Nie Qingyun lowered his eyes. Nie Xiangyuan sighed and said, ¡°You can go see if she¡¯s willing to see you.¡±


    How could Errong not want to see her? Her rtionship with Errong had always been good. They could tell each other anything.


    ¡ª


    But, when Baizhi stopped her at the doorway, Ji Man patted her own head and finally understood.


    Errong was probably mad at her. After all, no one would be happy to have her husband snatched by her sister-inw. Although she wasn¡¯t the one that had actually snatched Nie Qingyun away, the end result was more or less the same.


    After standing in the doorway for a while, Ji Man returned to the marquis¡¯s estate. As she was getting out of the carriage, she happened to see Nie Chenyu at the entrance. She was gesticting as she ordered the servants to pack.


    Seeing her, Nie Chenyu smiled and said, ¡°Aiya, isn¡¯t this my older sister? This winter is getting colder and colder. I heard from the marquis that there¡¯s hot springs in Foshan. The marquis is going out of his way to take me there. Older sister, thank you for remaining here and working hard to manage the estate while we¡¯re gone.¡±


    Liu Hanyun, Wen Wan, Xia-<i>shi</i> were all going to Foshan in order to pray for blessing for their children. As for why Nie Chenyu was going with them, Ji Man didn¡¯t want to know the reason.


    This winter was truly getting colder and colder.


    ¡ª


    Qi Siling and Mu Shuiqing would be remaining at the estate with her. As for the other women, they would be leaving in two days. Sitting underneath the eaves and looking at the empty courtyard, Ji Man was somewhat lost in her thoughts.


    ¡ª


    The second prince¡¯s marriage was held as schedule. She had heard it had been a lively wedding. But afterwards, there wasn¡¯t much news of Princess Pengyue and the second prince. The entire capital had be extremely quiet.


    In the end, Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t take a concubine, but Ji Man received the news that the two of them no longer slept in the same bed.


    No matter how she struggled, was it inevitable that the rope of fate would strangle her? Ji Man pressed her lips together as she walked around the courtyard and quietly waited.


    ¡ª


    Originally, the victory over the battle of Jiangdong should have been already been within the army¡¯s grasp. However, ording to the rumors, there was an issue with the armory. The shields hadn¡¯t been able to block the enemy¡¯s arrows, and the bows had broken as soon as they were put into use. Not only had the army suffered a crushing defeat, Commander Han De had been shot to death with ten arrows while he was on his horse. Ning Mingjie was temporarily entrusted with management of the army, and the army was forced to retreat for hundreds of kilometers.


    Furious, the emperor directly ordered that the high official that was responsible for overseeing the weapons and armor to be put to death. Even Nie Xiangyuan was thrown into the imperial dungeon.


    Trantor Ramblings: I originally thought Nie Xiangyuan was a kindly father-inw that just wasn¡¯t aware of his wife¡¯s abusive behavior. But, if Errong¡¯s father wasn¡¯t Marquis Jingwen, and Nie Xiangyuan doesn¡¯t needs help from her father, would he care that his wife is bullying Errong as long as its not too obvious? Would he have just kept turning a blind eye to the whole thing? The gap between what he says and what he thinks seem so two-faced.


    He sees himself as a magnanimous person because he¡¯s tolerating Chen-<i>shi</i> bad behavior, but he¡¯s not the one that continues to suffer from her abuse. By doing nothing, it¡¯s the same as condoning her tyrannical behavior. Imagine how hellish Sangyu¡¯s childhood would have been if Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯t been protecting her from Chen-<i>shi</i> when they were children.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 289 - In the blink of an eye, all the riches and honor had vanished like smoke (2)

    Chapter 289 ¨C In the blink of an eye, all the riches and honor had vanished like smoke (2)


    The imperial noble consort suffered a great shock. One after another, the third prince¡¯s faction petitioned the emperor to plead for leniency. Ji Man didn¡¯t know the details about this course of events. When the news reached her, it was just this:


    ¡°Old Master has been removed from his official position and has to return to his hometown. Ning Errong and Young Master are divorced.¡± After the servant from Nie n knelt down in front of her and reported this news, he took her money and returned to Nie Residence to pack up.


    Ji Man nkly stretched her hand out, and a few snowkes felt onto her palm. They slowly melted.


    Nie n once had soaring influence and power. It had the imperial noble consort and the third prince supporting them. There was Nie Xiangyuan as well as all of the other members of Nie n stretching out in all directions. It had been like a great, towering tree. They had just been waiting for the army to triumphantly return. After that, the third prince would have been able to smoothly rise up into the crown prince position.


    But, the end result was that the army had lost the battle, and it had been their n¡¯s fault. Nie Xiangyuan had always been responsible for the armory and weapons. After Nie Xiangyuan had made such a big blunder, the only reason that the emperor hadn¡¯t ordered his execution was because of the imperial noble consort.


    This great, towering tree had been cut down to its roots and was finally slowly withering away.


    After Ji Man packed up a few things, she went to send her father off on his way out of the capital.


    The loss of his job had forcefully aged Nie Xiangyuan. By his side, Chen-<i>shi</i> wouldn¡¯t stop crying. With a couple servants holding her boxes of stuff, she said she wanted Nie Qingyun to support her. She didn¡¯t want to leave the capital with her husband.


    Although Nie Qingyun still had his position as an official, he decided to go with his father to his hometown, buy an estate, and help him settled down. Hearing Chen-<i>shi</i>¡®s words, he only lightly smiled and said, ¡°We can¡¯t go against the emperor¡¯s order.¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> hatefully red at a distant carriage. Baizhi was standing by the side of the carriage.


    ¡°No wonder she wanted to get a divorce. She truly has foresight. Rats always leave a sinking ship. Why put on this pretense ande here to send us off?¡±


    Ji Man followed her gaze over. She was looking at Errong¡¯s carriage.


    In the end, she and Nie Qingyun had still divorced. Her actions had only dyed it by less than a year.


    Then, could it be that Nie Sangyu¡¯s death was also only dyed? Ji Man quietlyughed.


    ¡°This daughter iscking the power to do her filial duty. Once father has settled down, this daughter wille to pay respects,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Although this daughter knows that father isn¡¯tcking in material items, this represents this daughter¡¯s heartfelt intentions.¡± She ced a bundle into Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s hand.


    Nie Xiangyuan looked at her with aplicated expression. In the end, he sighed and said, ¡°Take good care of yourself too.¡±


    An entire estate of concubines and their daughters were all following Nie Xiangyuan out of the capital. Right now, Chen-<i>shi</i>¡®s biggest regret was that she hadn¡¯t married off the rest of the daughters when Nie n was in its heyday.


    Who could have guessed that in an instant the unstable situation would have changed? In the blink of an eye, all the riches and honor had vanished like smoke.


    Of course, a part of the imperial court changed. Originally, the imperial noble consort had already thought of how she would request the position of the crown prince from the emperor, but she quietly put that idea to rest after the results of the battle.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan had chosen a good time to leave the capital to go pray for blessings. He hadpletely avoided this stormy period. By the time he returned, the situation had calmed down.


    ¡°Why do you look so unwell?¡± Standing in the entrance, he looked at Nie Sangyu. He stretched his hand out and gently tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear.


    Ji Man raised her head and looked at him. She gave a weak smile. ¡°As I pondering about my lord and husband, I¡¯ve be old. The slow carriage arriveste.¡±


    (T/N: These are lines are from the poem, <i>the lonely bamboo slowly withers away</i>. The poem is about a newly wedded wife missing her husband. At the end of the poem, she selfforts herself by saying that she believes her husband will return.)


    The hand that lingered by her face paused. There was a hint of mocking in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s smile, but it quickly disappeared.


    ¡°Haohao is almost one year old. Since you don¡¯t have any children of your own, I¡¯m thinking about officially making him my heir.¡±


    Ji Man paused. She nced at Liu Hanyun and Wen Wan, who were behind Ning Yuxuan, then she smiled and said, ¡°My lord, if that¡¯s what you want, this servant doesn¡¯t have any objections either.¡±


    The heir was always the oldest son of the main wife, but since Marquis Moyu had said she didn¡¯t have any children, then she didn¡¯t have any other choices. It meant that she definitely wouldn¡¯t have any children in the future. After all, she couldn¡¯t reproduce by herself.


    Liu Hanyun was just quietly holding Xi-<i>er</i>. Wen Wan was looking at her with a gaze that showed she was gloating over her misfortunate.


    The purpose of the trip had been for praying for blessings for the children, but it had been a failure for Yun-<i>er</i>. After the long journey back to the estate, this pitiful baby seemed to be close to herst breath. From Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s current appearance, Ji Man could see that this baby wouldn¡¯t have much longer to live. She just didn¡¯t know who would be med for Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s inevitable death.


    ¡ª


    The next day, because Ji Man was on her guard over this issue, when she heard that Wen Wan was bringing over Yun-<i>er</i> to Feiwan Courtyard to pay respects to her, Ji Man decisively choose to flee and hide. She brought Dengxin along with her to Liu Hanyun¡¯s courtyard.


    When they arrived, Liu Hanyun was ying with Xi-er. Seeing that Nie Sangyu hade, there was an estranged look in her eyes that hadn¡¯t been seen in a long time. Still, remembering Nie Sangyu¡¯s kindness and favor from long ago, she still brought over Xi-<i>er</i>.


    Looking at her, Liu Hanyun lightly smiled and said, ¡°Madam, although the marquis didn¡¯t bring you on this trip, he was still thinking about you. We only ended up staying there for a few more extra days because Xia-<i>shi</i> wasn¡¯t being sensible. She liked the hot springs there and refused to leave.¡±


    Not caring about this, Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s okay. The estate was quite peaceful when there were fewer people around.¡±


    Liu Hanyun paused. She hesitantly looked at her for a while, then she said, ¡°Madam, do you really not mind that Haohao is going to be the heir? If that happens, then if you have children in the future...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the marquis¡¯s decision, and he has the highest authority in this household. There¡¯s nothing I can do about it.¡± Ji Man lightly smiled and stroked Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s face. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not unreasonable to name the oldest son as the heir either, and Haohao is a well-behaved child.¡±


    Liu Hanyun pursed her lips and said, ¡°Madam, you¡¯re very magnanimous. But, you shouldn¡¯t let yourself suffer too much. After all, men aren¡¯t dependable. It¡¯s your own child that will be the most reliable and trustworthy.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Ji Man sees Nie n as a towering tree, but I think we get a hint that it¡¯s a tree that¡¯s rotting from the inside out. Early on in the novel, the author tells us that there¡¯s been a history of corrupt family members taking for granted that the emperor favors Noble Consort Nie¡¯s and acted badly thinking they wouldn¡¯t be punished. Even thought the emperor had pruned some of these members away, once the Noble Consort Nie regained the emperor¡¯s favor, other family members probably started acting badly again (i.e. maybe taking bribes and epting shoddy armor and weaponry). I think it¡¯s very suspicious that Nie Xiangyuan would rather trust Errong¡¯s father for help in procuring supplies than members of his own n. Anyways, this is just my spection. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 290 - Other than possessing his heart, have you thought about your future? (1)

    Chapter 290 ¨C Other than possessing his heart, have you thought about your future? (1)


    Ji Man felt a bit shocked to hear Liu Hanyun saying these words. Liu Hanyun had always been blessed with Marquis Moyu¡¯s protection. How could she also feel that men weren¡¯t reliable?


    Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t notice that Nie Sangyu had been struck dumb by her words and continued to say, ¡°Besides, Xia-<i>shi</i> isn¡¯t a person that¡¯s suitable to appear in public. If her child bes the heir, she might be too heady from sess.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her head and yed with Xi-<i>er</i> for a few moments before handing him back to Liu Hanyun. ¡°The marquis has always liked Haohao, so there¡¯s really nothing I can do to change his mind about this matter. If Xia-<i>shi</i> acts poorly, I¡¯ll spend more time teaching her etiquette.¡±


    Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t say anymore about this matter. She sighed and changed the topic. ¡°This servant heard that Madam¡¯s family had encountered a cmity.¡±


    ¡°En,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. It¡¯s just that my father is getting old, so he¡¯s going back his hometown to live his golden years infort.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nodded and said a few more reassuring words.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t linger here. After only chatting for a short while, she left Linghan Courtyard.


    Walking by her side, Dengxin quietly said, ¡°Master, a servant from Feiwan Courtyard reported that Miss Wan-<i>er</i> went to the study with Young Miss Yun-<i>er</i>.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded. Wen Wan was basically holding a ticking time bomb. She didn¡¯t care where this bomb would explode as long as it wasn¡¯t directed at herself. Right now, she was more concerned about Nie Qingyun and Errong. Their divorce was already a forgone conclusion, and Errong would be leaving the capital to return to Jing Province soon.


    Right now, Nie n was undergoing a cmity, but Errong wasn¡¯t a person that longed for riches and honor. She had probably just reached a deadlock with Nie Qingyun. Neither of them was willing to clear the air, so the situation had deteriorated to the point of divorce. While it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for her to step forward to say something, there was one person that would be very suitable.


    Marquis Moyu.


    During the recent past period, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t been home, so she couldn¡¯t ask him then. But, Errong was his younger cousin, and Nie Qingyun was his brother-inw. It would bepletely justified for him to act as a mediator between these two.


    After thinking it over, Ji Man went to a room near the study to wait and ordered Dengxin to tell her as soon as Wen Wan left the study.


    Standing by the doorway of the room, Dengxin suddenly said, ¡°Master, something seems to be wrong, ah.¡±


    Ji Man went to the doorway to look.


    Guibai came out of the study in a rarely seen flustered state and returned with a doctor. The study and this room was only separated by several steps, but Ji Man couldn¡¯t hear the sound of a baby crying.


    It seemed that something had happened to Yun-<i>er</i> again. During the past period, Wen Wan had used Yun-<i>er¡¯s</i> poor health to capture Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sympathy, and Ning Yuxuan had seemed very weak against this tactic. Out of the three children, Yun-<i>er</i> received the lion¡¯s share of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s concern and attention.


    Ji Man thought for a moment before wrapping her cloak closer and walking over to see what was going on.


    Not caring that the floor was cold, Wen Wan had copsed onto the ground. Ning Yuxuan was standing by the side with an extremely pained expression. His right hand was slightly trembling.


    The doctor was currently kneeling by the cushioned couch. The swaddled bundle that had been ced on the cushioned couch was totally silent and unmoving.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart jumped, then she heard the doctor say, ¡°Her pulse has already stopped. Marquis, you should restrain your grief and ept fate...¡±


    Struck with the pain over the loss of Yun-<i>er</i>, Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes.


    Wen Wan seemed to have gone a bit mad. She went forward and pulled at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°She¡¯s your daughter. How could you be so heartless? I just wanted you to hold her for a bit. Why did you push me?!¡±


    In a hoarse voice, Marquis Moyu said, ¡°I didn¡¯t do it deliberately. It was an ident. I wasn¡¯t paying attention.¡±


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> has just started recovering from my serious illness. You knew that I wouldn¡¯t be able to securely hold onto Yun-<i>er</i>. I just wanted you to hold her, but what was the result?¡± Wen Wan shouted herself hoarse, ¡°Give me back my child!¡±


    This show wasn¡¯t being performed realistically enough. From these words, Ji Man only understood the general gist of what had happened. Wen Wan wanted Marquis Moyu to hold the child, but for an unknown reason, Marquis Moyu had pushed her. Then, Wen Wan¡¯s grip slipped and the baby fell onto the ground.


    Inside the tiny bundle, Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s little face had already gradually changed colors. Ji Man pressed her lips together and suddenly thought of the legendary Empress Wu Zetian.


    How daring and ruthless did a woman have to be in order to strangle her own daughter?


    (T/N: Wu Zetian was a Tang Dynasty empress. Traditional historians believed that she killed her own daughter in order to frame Empress Wang during a power struggle.)


    No matter what, Ning Yuxuan was a person that knew martial arts. It was impossible that he wouldn¡¯t know how to control his strength. As for what recently happened between Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan, only the two of them knew the real truth.


    After the wet nurse took the baby away, Wen Wan followed after her in tears and shouted for her to hand over her baby.


    Even though she had predicted that Yun-<i>er</i> wouldn¡¯t be able to live for long, looking at the dead baby, who was so small, Ji Man still felt very bad. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze had already swept over to look at her. She didn¡¯t hide her troubled feelings and lightly repeated the traditional words offort that the doctor had said earlier.


    Looking at her eyes, Ning Yuxuan asked her an inexplicable question, ¡°Can you help bring Yun-<i>er</i> back?¡±


    Ji Man was baffled. How could she bring Yun-<i>er</i> back? Where would she suppose to look? The underworld?


    ¡°Never mind.¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes and said, ¡°I¡¯m being muddle-headed.¡±


    ¡°My lord, don¡¯t feel too bad,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Yun-<i>er</i> is gone, but maybe next time, she¡¯ll return to Miss Wan-er¡¯s belly again and have a second chance at being your child.¡±


    Derisively shaking his head, Ning Yuxuan quietly said, ¡°That won¡¯t happen.¡±


    How could he know that it won¡¯t happen? Based on how frequently he was sowing his seeds, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for Wen Wan to get pregnant again, right?

 Chapter 291

    Chapter 291 ¨C Other than possessing his heart, have you thought about your future? (2)


    After silently cursing him for a bit, she suddenly heard him say, ¡°Go make the arrangements to bury Yun-<i>er. </i>I¡±ll have a Buddhist monke over and perform a ceremony to help Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s soul find peace. In the passing, let¡¯s settle Wan-<i>er</i> status too. She can go back to being the secondary wife. I was the one that wronged her, so don¡¯t treat her unfairly when ites to food, clothing, and other material goods.¡±


    Ji Man was somewhat stunned. The result of Wen Wan dropping her child was that the problem of her status, which hadn¡¯t been resolved even with the birth of this baby, was now resolved. Was Wen Wan on the same setting as an unkible cockroach, ah? No matter how many times she beat her down, Wen Wan seemed to have a pre-installed system that would keep bring her back. She was like a tempo that would keep bouncing back up.


    Feeling ufortable in her heart, Ji Man lowered her eyes and said, ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er¡¯s</i> status has already gone up and down several times. If someone¡¯s status is changed too frequently, then outsiders won¡¯t value the seniority and ranking system in the marquis¡¯s household. This servant thinks that it wouldn¡¯t be considered treating Miss Wan-<i>er</i> unfairly if she bes an honored concubine. After all, as an honored concubine, her daily lifestyle wouldn¡¯t be that much different from a secondary wife¡¯s. Siling will also naturally do a thorough job of arranging this.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. He looked at her before saying, ¡°Do you think Wan-<i>er</i> shouldn¡¯t be a secondary wife?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°Xia-<i>shi</i> and Hanyun both had children before her, and they were both sons too. My lord, if you want to raise Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s rank, then how do you n on raising their ranks? It¡¯s already pushing it to promote Wan-<i>er</i> from a servant girl all the way up an honored concubine. If she bes a secondary wife, then what will Xia-<i>shi</i> and Hanyun think?¡±


    Marquis Moyu considered her words and thought her logic was sound.


    ¡°This servant thinks, if you want to raise Wan-<i>er</i> up, you should also let Hanyun be a secondary wife.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Yuxuan slowly sat down. ¡°Why is Hanyun and not Xia-<i>shi</i>? Haohao is the one that will be my heir.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°It¡¯s fine that Haohao will be your heir, but Hanyun has also given birth to a son. In addition, she¡¯s served my lord for several years without everpeting for favor. My lord, could it be that you don¡¯t think she deserves to bestow with any favor? Since you¡¯re going to raise Wen Wan¡¯s status, then you should raise everyone else¡¯s too. This will avoid making the other mothers feeling unhappy. My lord, what do you think?¡±


    After rubbing his temples, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Let¡¯s do what you suggested. I need time alone to calm down about Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s matter. You can leave first.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    The female lead wanted to turn around her fortunes and had certainly paid a heavy cost to aplish her goal. She had sacrificed her daughter in exchange for improving her status. This wasn¡¯t something that Ji Man was capable of. She could only make a sound of admiration.


    Right now, Nie n wasn¡¯t in a good situation, and her position in the marquis¡¯s household was in a delicate, tricky state. She had no other choice. She could only pull Xia-<i>shi</i> and Hanyun to the frontline of the battlefield with her. Otherwise, if she allowed Wen Wan to bounce back up again, it would be very troublesome for her.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man saw Monk Xuwu again when he came over to perform a ceremony to help Yun-<i>er</i>¡¯s departed soul find peace.


    She had heard that this monk had high-level skills through religious cultivation, but he was a bit wild and deranged.


    When he saw her from a distance, he came over and said, ¡°You¡¯re going to encounter something troublesome soon.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was standing by Xuwu¡¯s side. Hearing these words, he frowned and nced at her. Then, he asked Xuwu, ¡°What kind of trouble?¡±


    ¡°Troublees from involving yourself with people that have sinister intentions.¡± Deliberately being mysterious to keep his audience guessing, Xuwu took one step closer to her and said, ¡°This old one keeps having this feeling that there¡¯s something strange about your wife...¡±


    Marquis Moyu froze in shock for a moment, but in the next moment, he instinctively blocked Xuwu from getting closer to Nie Sangyu. ¡°Great Master, you should go perform the ceremony first. Yuxuan was the one that made a mistake andmitted a sin. Great Master, based on our past friendship, please send Yun-<i>er</i> off and help her reincarnate into a good life.¡±


    Xuwu clicked his tongue in disapproval. When he took a step to the left, Ning Yuxuan also took a step to the left to tenaciously block him.


    With an unhappy expression, Xuwu tore at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s position by saying, ¡°I say, what¡¯s wrong with you? You were the one that wanted me to look at her, and now, you¡¯re the one that¡¯s protecting her. Are you really that scared I¡¯m going to take her away?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted you to look... as for what¡¯s strange or not, I don¡¯t need you to concern yourself with it.¡± After saying this, Ning Yuxuan turned around and expressionlessly looked at Nie Sangyu. ¡°Go and see how Wan-<i>er</i> is doing.¡±


    Ji Man felt puzzled by their mysterious conversation. She nodded and went inside Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan was wearing simple, white silk clothing. It looked extremely simr to the clothing that Nie Sangyu had been wearing when Ji Man had firste here.


    Looking at the mirror, Wen Wan saw that Nie Sangyu hade into the room. She giggled and said, ¡°You must be feeling very pleased with yourself and thinking that there¡¯s one less thing separating you from Yuxuan, right? You must be secretly bursting with joy.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. ¡°Did the circuits in your brain be too convoluted?¡±


    After a pause, Wen Wan turned around to directly look at her ¡°... Stop saying words that I don¡¯t understand. I know what you¡¯re secretly thinking. But, Yuxuan is mine. No matter what, he¡¯ll only love me. Do you think that time he released those skynterns was because he likes you?¡±


    Ji Man cleaned her ears.


    ¡°He already told me the truth when we were at Foshan. He said he was using you to make me feel jealous because he was feeling upset with me for a bit.¡± Wen Wan¡¯s little face looked somewhat twisted. ¡°No matter what, he won¡¯t fall in love with you. You should give up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, alright.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    Wen Wan choked and angrily said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you believe me?!¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I believe you?¡± Looking at her, Ji Man said, ¡°The marquis loves you. He loves you so much that he¡¯s willing to suffer horribly for you and turn everything on its head. His love for you willst until the end of time. Even in death, he won¡¯t be willing to part from you.¡±


    Wen Wan nkly looked at her.


    ¡°And yet, he still had children with other women, and he¡¯s going to pass on his marquis title to another woman¡¯s son in the future.¡± Ji Man shrugged. ¡°At the very least, I¡¯m still the main wife. I won¡¯t have to worry about my future when I¡¯ve reached old age. Miss Wen Wan, in the midst of your ted joy over possessing a man¡¯s heart, have you thought about your future?¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips and said, ¡°Say what you want. I won¡¯t feel bad from hearing these words. All of it will be mine in the future.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I feel that Ji Man is being unreasonably selfish here. She knows that Liu Hanyun isn¡¯t capable of protecting herself and that she just wants a peaceful life, but she¡¯s still dragging Liu Hanyun further into her mess just to keep Wen Wan down. If she doesn¡¯t want Wen Wan to be the secondary wife, she should at least suggest Xia-<i>shi</i>, who will fight back if someone is bullying her. If one day Liu Hanyun bes tired of being ¡°promoted¡± into positions that she doesn¡¯t want and bes power hungry, Ji Man can only me herself for unterally pushing Hanyun down that path.


    Also, the first time I was reading this novel, I wondered if Ji Man would ever realize that the only way she won¡¯t lose this game is by choosing to not y anymore. If she¡¯s scared that Nie Sangyu is destined to die because of Wen Wan, she should leave the estate and give up on fulfilling Nie Sangyu¡¯s unknown wish. From her perspective, no matter how hard she struggles to defeat Wen Wan, Ning Yuxuan easily wipes all of her efforts away with just a few words. At the same time, it¡¯s understandable that it¡¯s hard for her let go of her chance of returning to the modern-day.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 292

    Chapter 292 ¨C What? Did you think this was going to be a reenactment of <i>the Legend of the White Snake</i>? (1)


    For a moment, Ji Man thought that if a woman like Wen Wan was ced into modern-day, it would be quite interesting. Wen Wan was an ambitious woman, but she only knew how to use foolish and lowly tactics. In the end, she might even me her boss and say, ¡°Why won¡¯t you promote me?¡±


    She mistakenly thought that her work quality was very good, but the value of medicine was based on its healing efficiency, not on empty boasts. If you want other people recognize your abilities, then you had to actually be capable of executing what you said you would do. There had to be an exchange of equivalent value. If you only looked at the world from your own perspective, then it would always be biased.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t bother with arguing with Wen Wan. She left after telling Wen Wan that she should be going to the mourning hall soon.


    ¡ª


    The mourning hall was small, and the coffin at the center wasn¡¯t big either. When all was said and done, Ning Yuxuan did care about this child. He had personallye to the mourning hall to burn incense and remained crouched down to burn paper offerings.


    When Wen Wan arrived, her eyes were like water pipes that had exploded. Her falling tears were like a torrential storm. As she cried, she shouted, ¡°My child...¡±


    The guilt in Marquis Moyu¡¯s heart increased.


    All of the other women in the harem had alsoe, but Xia-<i>shi</i> and Liu Hanyun had avoided bringing their children.


    After Xia-<i>shi</i> had taken her turn in kneeling and burning incense for Yun-<i>er</i>, she went over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s side and whispered, ¡°She had been a perfectly good baby, but she died just like that. How could a mother be that careless?¡±


    Wen Wan seemed to have heard Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s words. She turned her head and hatefully red at her.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> shrunk back so that she was standing behind Nie Sangyu. Then, stretching her head out partially, she said, ¡°So scary.¡±


    In a low voice, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to say so much. Right now, the marquis is feeling unhappy, Wan-<i>er</i> is also feeling upset over losing her baby. Stop saying stuff that will make the situation worse.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> twitched her lips. Not convinced by these words, she said, ¡°I just feel that if I was the one holding the child, even if a someone was riding a donkey and bumped into me, I still wouldn¡¯t have let go and let the child drop onto the ground.¡±


    With his eyes still closed, Ning Yuxuan quietly reprimanded, ¡°Cailian.¡±


    (T/N: Cailian means gathering lotus flowers. Back in chapter 241, Xia-<i>shi</i> said her first name was Lianxin. I think the author might have forgotten? Xia-<i>shi</i>¡¯s first name is never mentioned again for the rest of the novel.)


    Xia-<i>shi</i> finally stopped talking.


    With redden eyes, Wen Wan said, ¡°The Heavens sees all. If I had been holding Yun-<i>er</i> securely, how could I have possible let her fall down?!¡±


    On the side, Mu Shuiqing, who had been silent until now, quietly said, ¡°Yeah, the grievances that a child feels is the strongest after all. Miss Wan-<i>er</i> wouldn¡¯t want to be haunted by Yun-er¡¯s resentful spirit, so how could she possibly want to harm Yun-<i>er</i>.¡±


    After these words were said, the nearby Monk Xuwu uttered a Buddhist prayer.


    Wen Wan lowered her eyes.


    After saluting, Ji Man followed Ning Yuxuan out of the mourning hall. Wen Wan would have to stay here for a while to keep watch over Yun-<i>er</i>. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ji Man told Ning Yuxuan about Errong and Nie Qingyun¡¯s matter.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this something that you should handle?¡± Ning Yuxuan curved his lips. ¡°Why do you want me to help?¡±


    Ji Man dryly coughed. Seeing that the people behind them weren¡¯t far from them, she lowered her voiced and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit inconvenient for this servant to do something. Errong isn¡¯t willing to see this servant, so this servant can only ask my lord for help.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze across her and lightly said, ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing for them to divorce. Why are you anxious about it?¡±


    They¡¯ve already divorced, and he doesn¡¯t think it¡¯s bad thing? Did they have to nevere into contact with each other again before he would call it a bad thing? Ji Man gritted her teeth and said, ¡°My lord, aren¡¯t you taking this matter too lightly?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you wait until Ning Mingjie hase back from the battlefield triumphantly, then think about the problem between your older brother and Errong?¡± Marquis Moyu chuckled, ¡°Aren¡¯t you very clever? Aren¡¯t you supposed to know everything?¡±


    Ji Man paused.


    Ning Mingjie would return triumphantly? Alright, let¡¯s ignore the fact that Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t even themander of the troops that left the capital. Why was Ning Yuxuan bringing up the topic of Ning Mingjie returning triumphantly? How could Ning Yuxuan know that Ning Mingjie would definitely win? Hadn¡¯t they said that because of the problem with the supplies, the troops had been forced to gradually retreat in defeat?


    Moreover, even if Ning Mingjie will return victoriously, what did this have to do with Errong and Nie Qingyun¡¯s marriage?


    ¡ª


    Nie n had copsed, and the emperor wasn¡¯t favoring the imperial noble consort. The recent additions to the imperial harem were more favored than the older women. Very quickly, there was that new favored consort, and that new favored courtdy, and so on, until the emperor¡¯s favor was gradually divided among them. The situation in the imperial harem was starting to be murky. There was also a vacancy for the position of Zhenyuan General, but the emperor didn¡¯t have the intention of hurriedly filling that position. Instead, he allowed for someone to temporarily function in an acting capacity for that position.


    Based on these facts, Ji Man thought that Ning Yuxuan would definitely give her the cold shoulder for a while.


    However, to her surprise, he didn¡¯t.


    Right after dinner, Ning Yuxuan came to Feiwan Courtyard. After she had helped him washed up and changed his clothes, they lied down on the bed and quietly looked at the top of bed canopy.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°My lord, is there something that you want to say?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head over to look at her and asked, ¡°What about you? We haven¡¯t seen each other for so long. Is there something that you want to say to me?¡±


    Ji Man thought; based on Marquis Moyu¡¯s smoldering temperament, she could only say sweet things.


    Ji Man looked at him with a gaze full of love and said,


    ¡°<i>Since we parted, I¡¯ve thought of seeing you again, </i>


    <i>Oh, how I have dreamed of being reunited with you</i>.¡±


    (T/N: These are lines from a poem called, <i>Melody of a Partridge-filled Sky</i>.)


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. He chuckled and lightly slid his slender fingers across her lips as he said, ¡°It¡¯ll be good when you can finally say the truth.¡±


    The truth? Ji Man silentlyughed. Could she really say the truth? Everyone thought they liked to hear the truth, but no one could bear knowing the truth. For example, if she were to straightforwardly tell Ning Yuxuan, ¡°You dumb f*ck of a stallion. You went on a mountain vacation with women and children and didn¡¯t return for such a long time. You left me here alone while I had to deal with my family undergoing a drastic upheaval. What kind of damn man are you?!¡± What would he do to her?


    The truth? It was so easy and simple for him to say those two words.

 Chapter 293

    Chapter 293 ¨C What? Did you think this was going to be a reenactment of <i>the Legend of the White Snake</i>? (2)


    A momentter, Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°Can you visit a temple?¡±


    Why wouldn¡¯t she be able to? With a questioning expression, Ji Man said, ¡°Although temples are bleak and not very interesting, they¡¯re good ces for setting one¡¯s heart and spirit at ease. Of course this servant can visit a temple. My lord, do you want this servant to go to one? ¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked away and let out a long sigh.


    Ji Man twitched her lips. This person had been behaving very strangetely. She slipped under the quilt too. Leaning against him, she closed her eyes.


    Just as she was about to fall asleep, Ning Yuxuan suddenly said, ¡°I¡¯ll bring you to Xiangguo Temple tomorrow. I heard ... Xuwu, that old monk, said there¡¯s going to be a Buddhist gathering there tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man turned over and continued to keep her eyes closed to sleep.


    Marquis Moyu looked at her back figure for a long time. He stretched his hand out and wanted to ce his hand down on her shoulder, but after pausing for a moment, he took his hand back.


    ¡ª


    The vigil for Yun-<i>er</i> had tost for three days, and was apanied by the sound of Wen Wan crying day and night. It was exactly like a mysterious scene from a TV show, so Ji Man was d to get a break from this. She left the estate with Ning Yuxuan, and they headed to Xiangguo Temple.


    During the entire way there, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. Ji Man nced at his hands. They were tightly clenched together.


    When they had reached halfway, Marquis Moyu shouted, ¡°Guibai, drive the carriage slower.¡±


    Ji Man had already been feeling that this ancient-period carriage was as unbearably slow as a tractor. Hearing him say those words, she wasn¡¯t able to keep her calm. ¡°My lord, if we can get there sooner, why wouldn¡¯t you want the carriage to move faster?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at her said, pursed his lips, and said, ¡°I get motion sickness.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    ¡ª


    By the time they finally arrive at Xiangguo Temple, it looked like a very lively scene with peopleing and going. There was a Buddhist gathering today, so there were Buddhist images hanging by the entrances.


    Just as Ji Man was about to take a step inside, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.


    ¡°Sangyu.¡± His hand was slightly sweaty, and he looked at her with a deep gaze as he asked, ¡°If I wanted to harm, what would you do?¡±


    What?


    Ji Man paused. Looking at his gaze, she could tell that he wasn¡¯t joking. She suddenly wondered if this temple had some sort of booby trap mechanism. It couldn¡¯t be that a thousand arrows would shoot through her heart as soon as she entered the temple, right?


    No, that wasn¡¯t possible. If Ning Yuxuan wanted to kill her, there were countless ways that he could do it without exerting any effort. Right now, her life wasn¡¯t worth much. There was no reason why he would need to harm her in broad daylight.


    ¡°My lord, didn¡¯t you want this servant to enter Xiangguo Temple?¡± Ji Man faintly smiled. ¡°Then, this servant will go inside. If my lord wants to harm me, then this servant can only ept my fate.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan trembled a bit in shock. He slightly tightened his grip on her hand.


    He asked, ¡°Have you ever thought about harming me?¡±


    Ji Man tilted her head to look at him. Had this person bumped his head on the way out of the estate today? Even if she had that evil intention, she wouldn¡¯t have the courage to carry it out, okay?


    ¡°My lord, if this servant wanted to harm you, then this servant would haven¡¯t entrusted my body to you in marriage.¡± She smiled and said, ¡°Harming you would be such a loss for me.¡±


    The winter sun was just right today. Its warm rays illuminated Nie Sangyu¡¯s face, and her face looked especially gentle.


    For a while, Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He finally pursed his lips and said, ¡°Then, let¡¯s go back.¡±


    It had taken such a bumpy ride to get here, and now he wanted to go back before they had even stepped through the entrance? Ji Man unhappily said, ¡°Why aren¡¯t we going inside? There are a lot of people inside. It looks so lively.¡±


    ¡°You want to go inside?¡± Marquis Moyu looked at the fluttering Buddhist scrolls that were everywhere.


    ¡°Is there an entry fee?¡± She forcefully tugged her hand out from his and ran to the entrance to look. There wasn¡¯t an employee stationed here to check if they had tickets. After all, this temple was a public facility in ancient times, so it wasn¡¯t a modern-day tourist attraction where you had to pay money.


    ¡°Sang...¡± Not knowing why, Ning Yuxuan felt somewhat panicked. He stretched his hand out to stop her, but she had already taken a step into Xiangguo Temple.


    Xiangguo Temple¡¯s bells started ringing. It was followed by the long recitation of one of the many names of Buddha. Although there were many people, there weren¡¯t any moring noises. Instead, there was a very solemn and serene atmosphere.


    Ji Man looked around, turned her head back, and gestured for Ning Yuxuan toe inside and stop talking.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s body stiffened. For a moment, he forgot to breath. By the time he recovered his senses, the person in front of him was energetically skipping around and tugging him forward.


    No? Was she not a demon?


    It was as if a heavy stone fell down in his heart. Pressing his lips together, Ning Yuxuan followed her inside. Standing behind her, he saw her bowing to all the Buddha statues that could be seen.


    ¡ª


    Later, during the Buddhist gathering, Great Master Xuwu was sitting in the highest position, and a group of Buddhism practitioners were sitting below and listening to his meditations.


    Sitting next to Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man noticed that he was sneaking nces at her from time to time from the corner of her eye.


    Ji Man turned her head to look at him and said, ¡°My lord, there¡¯s a question that this servant has been wanting to ask you for a long time. A while ago, when you had this servant drink pear wine, what did you hear this servant say that night?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in shock for a moment, then he pursed his lips and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t hear anything.¡±


    If he hadn¡¯t heard anything, why would take her to a temple to act out a scene from <i>the Legend of the White Snake</i>, or ask her if she would ever harm him? Was there a problem with his brain? Ji Man resisted the urge to voice her ridicule and let out a long sigh instead. ¡°This servant often mumbles nonsense during sleep. My lord, please don¡¯t take those words seriously.¡±


    (T/N: <i>The Legend of the White Snake</i> is one of the four Chinese great folktales.)


    ¡°En.¡± Xuwu had only told him that her original fate had changed, but he hadn¡¯t been able to see any other abnormality in her. In addition, she was able to freely walk inside a temple, so he probably didn¡¯t have to worry that she was a danger to his home and household.


    Ji Man thought of an idea and kindly suggested, ¡°My lord, since you suffer from motion sickness, why don¡¯t we walk instead of taking the carriage? The streets here are bustling, so it shouldn¡¯t be boring too walk back.¡±

 Chapter 294 - Let’s keep a memento (1)

    Chapter 294 ¨C Let¡¯s keep a memento (1)


    At the marketce.


    If you want to go Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate from Xiangguo Temple, it would take about a day of walking. Ji Man had calcted this approximate time using a mathematical equation.


    However, Ning Yuxuan was someone that rode in a carriage or a sedan chair whenever he went out. Although he knew the distance between the two ces, it wouldn¡¯t have ur to him that walking such a long distance would be very tiring. And so, to her surprise, he actually agreed.


    The only thing that Ji Man was grateful about was that she was wearing t-bottomed embroidered shoes instead of heels.


    Why did she have to walk this long path with him? Because based on the original novel, Marquis Moyu liked Wen Wan for her sincerity and down-to-earth personality. Nie Sangyu also had these qualities. She just rarely had a chance to disy these traits to him. And, when she was given opportunities, she failed to show them in a positive light. And so, Ning Yuxuan was always biased against Nie Sangyu and thought highly of Wen Wan.


    Actually, just like women, men were superficial creatures too. They like to look at attractive people. It was only when they got to the point of beingfortable with looking at your outer self that they would want understand to your inner self. Anyways, you needed opportunities to spend time with the other person for feelings to develop.


    Frankly speaking, from Wen Wan¡¯s perspective, the secondary female character was truly too evil and malicious. She snatched away her man, forced her to harm her child in order to rise up in status, and used all sorts of methods topete for Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart. Step by step, she had taken away everything that belonged to her.


    If she were in Wen Wan¡¯s ce, she would also curse Nie Sangyu and say she was a rotten, shameless, little b*tch.


    No one was right or wrong. It only depended on which angle you were looking from.


    ¡ª


    Rewind back to the present.


    Coming out of Xiangguo Temple, Ji Man really did drag Ning Yuxuan to slowly walk with her. Guibai was following them while maintaining a small gap. Ji Man naturally wouldn¡¯t idiotically hold a stick of sugar-coated Chinese hawthorns while excitedly run back and forth on the street. She specially chose an area that had a lot of small stalls that were selling concentric knots, red strings, matching waist essories, and what not and led Marquis Moyu there. It was an area that was selling trinkets that they could easily afford with the money they had on them.


    After they had walking through several streets, the jade waist essory and thumb ring that Ning Yuxuan had been wearing were reced with a cheap concentric knots waist essory and a ring made of concentric knots.


    His expression was rather disapproving. ¡°Do you really believe that if I wear these trinkets, we¡¯ll be together for a long time?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°No.¡±


    Even ligation couldn¡¯t change a man¡¯s fickle heart, so how could she believe that wearing a cheap concentric ring would do better?


    ying with the concentric knots waist essory that she was wearing, she quietly said, ¡°They just look interesting, so I brought them for my lord to wear. My lord, if you want to throw them away, that¡¯s okay too.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted and continued slowly walking side-by-side with her.


    The two of them walked very slowly and for a very long time too. The crowds of people gradually dwindled, and the sun slowly descended, but who knew how much further they would have to walk until they reached their destination.


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Let¡¯s just find an inn to stay the night. I didn¡¯t expect it would be so difficult to walk back.¡±


    Ji Man had no intention of mistreating herself either. After she chose an inn that lookedparatively better than the other ones, the three of them went inside and up the stairs.


    Did you think it would be her and Ning Yuxuan sharing a room while Guibai stayed in a room by himself? Ji Man had thought that too, but Ning Yuxuan stopped at the doorway and said, ¡°I¡¯ll share a room with Guibai. You can stay in the neighboring room. If anythinges up, just shout.¡±


    bbergasted, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan for a long time, then she looked at Guibai, who had his eyes lowered with a deferential expression. She finally closed her gaping mouth and obediently went to her room.


    C-Could this be the oft referred to ambiguous bromance? No, that can¡¯t be right. He already had wives and children. Wouldn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan be too much of a beast if he also went after a pure-hearted and honest servant like Guibai?


    Inside her room, after Ji Man recovered her shock, she excitedly jumped up and pressed her ear against the wall to the adjoining room. However, it still wasn¡¯t dark yet. She only faintly heard Ning Yuxuan ordering Guibai to get dinner and didn¡¯t hear anything else.


    Guibai came over and knocked on her door. ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly ran over and pretended that she was sleepy. ¡°Hmm? What?¡±


    Guibai asked, ¡°Madam, are you going to eat dinner in your room tonight?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Sure. After you bring over dinner, you don¡¯t have to trouble yourself over attending me.¡±


    Perhaps, there would be a good show to hear tonight. Was it possible that the dignified Maruis Moyu was bisexual? Otherwise, why would he want to share a room with Guibai instead of embracing a perfectly good beauty?


    All of the gossiping cells in Ji Man¡¯s body were stirred up into frenzy. If this was true, then she had to tell Wen Wan as soon as possible, so she could see what kind of reaction she would have.


    Very quickly, dinner was brought over. It was even personally brought over by Guiabai instead of by one of the inn¡¯s employees. Ji Man felt hungry after seeing the food. She sat down, picked up the chopsticks, and said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. You can go back to serving the marquis. The leftovers and tes can be picked up by someone else tomorrow morning.¡±


    Guibai made a sound of assent and withdrew the room. He nced at her before closing the door.


    There were three dishes on the table. Ji Man tried a mouthful, but the food was actually quite salty. Food in ancient times didn¡¯t taste very good to begin with. Why did they put so much salt? It was salty to the point of being inedible. Fortunately, she had brought many snacks from the stalls today to bring back to the estate. She might as well eat some of the snacks now.


    After eating her fill and washing up in the room, Ji Man lied down on the bed and eagerly waited.


    But, after waiting for a long time, she didn¡¯t hear any activity from the other side. Instead, someone tried to open her door.


    Ji Man was startled. The candlelight had already been extinguished. It was the middle of the night. Was there a rapist lurking outside?


    She pretended that she was coughing in her sleep, and the sounds from the door stopped. Ji Man crept over to the door and looked at the door bolt. Before she had gone to bed, she had specially checked that it was locked. Unless someone mmed himself against the door, no one should be able to open it.


    She went back to her bed and lied down again. She finally heard faint voicesing from the neighboring wall.

 Chapter 295 - Lets keep a memento (2)

    Chapter 295 ¨C Let¡¯s keep a memento (2)


    ¡°Is she asleep?¡±


    ¡°She should be sleeping, but her room is locked.¡±


    ¡°She really has a strong sense vignce.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s nerves stretched taut. She couldn¡¯t resist the urge to sit up. She stuck to the wall like a gecko.


    A slick, unfamiliar voice said, ¡°The reason for Shaoan¡¯s visit this time is to remind the marquis of camaraderie ties. If Sir Ning is willing to take the position of Zhenyuan General, it would naturally be a beneficial decision that wouldn¡¯t harm the marquis. After all, the two of you are rted by blood. Even if the bones are broken, the tendons will still be connected.


    ¡°Sir Qin, you think too highly of Yuxuan. Yuxuan is merely a powerless marquis. Such an important imperial court matter can¡¯t be determined by Yuxuan.¡±


    ¡°Marquis, why act so modest? Who doesn¡¯t know that the emperor is increasingly relying on you? Everyone had originally expected Sir Ning to take that position, but there were people in the imperial court that used hisck of experience and seniority to disagree, so the emperor has remained hesitant. If the marquis would be willing to say a few words...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan interrupted him, ¡°Second Young Master recently got married. Are his days going well?¡±


    Qin Shaoan paused before saying, ¡°Second Young Master married a good woman. She¡¯s very helpful.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Then, send my regards to Second Young Master. It¡¯s not early anymore. Yuxuan understands Sir Qin¡¯s intentions. How about giving Yuxuan time to think things over?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± The unfamiliar voice sounded a bit hesitant as he added, ¡°Shaoan will boldly say a few words to remind the marquis that if your goal is to stay out of the political turmoil, then your honorable wife can¡¯t be allowed to remain.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice was a bit deeper as he said, ¡°Thank you for your concern. The night air is cold. Sir Qin, be careful as you leave.¡±


    Ji Man took a deep breath, slowly fell back down on the bed, and quietly covered herself with the quilt.


    She had truly thought that Ning Yuxuan was stupid enough to apany her in such a long walk, but in actually, it was just an excuse to meet up with someone.


    Their conversation was also a bit funny. An outsider hade to persuade Ning Yuxuan to help Ning Mingjie into the position of Zhenyuan General. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice sound as if he was trying to avoid responsibility, and that person had also tried to convince him to abandon Nie Sangyu.


    What was going on?


    From the other side, Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°The door was locked?¡±


    Guibai¡¯s answer of yes was followed by the sound of a window opening. Her heart tightened. They were on the third floor, so she had forgotten to lock her window!


    It was only to be expected that people with martial art skills could jump over walls and enter rooms through windows by scaling buildings. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s movements were also very efficient as he entered through her window. He groped around until he found the bed, then he very naturally lied down as if she was dead asleep.


    Wrapping his arm around her waist and straddling his leg over hers, Ning Yuxuan hugged her like she was a doll. After letting out a very long sigh, he started to drift off into sleep.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t move and had to keep her body from tensing. She had to keep her breathing smooth and regr while mixing in a little bit of teeth grinding that would normally happen when she was sleeping.


    The person hugging her let out a muffledugh and gently kissed her forehead.


    Goosebumps rose up on her entire body, and Ji Man pretended that she was fidgeting in her sleep. She pushed him away and turned over to face the wall to sleep. Ning Yuxuan lightly clicked his tongue and finally lied down next to her without trying anything again.


    The emperor had removed Nie Sangyu¡¯s old father from his position because the army had lost a battle due to problems with the military equipment. Themander of the troops had died during that battle, and Ning Mingjie was temporarily in charge. And now, someone hade over and said that he wanted Ning Mingjie to take up the position of Zhenyuan General. gued by these thoughts, Ji Man couldn¡¯t sleep.


    Still, she couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on.


    ¡ª


    Early next morning, before the sun was up, Ning Yuxuan sneakily left the bed and returned to his room.


    Ji Man had ck circles under her eyes like a panda. Supporting her chin in her hand, she continued to think.


    ¡ª


    After eating breakfast, Marquis Moyu overtly came over and knocked on her door. ¡°Let¡¯s go back. There¡¯s probably going to be an important guesting to the estate.¡±


    Ji Man instinctively moved her body to block his sight of the untouched food on the table. ¡°What important guest?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly said, ¡°Princess Pengyue heard that something unfortunate happened in our family, so she wants to see for herself. The two of you talked before, so there¡¯s some familiarity between the two of you. Do a good job with entertaining our guest, okay?¡±


    Thinking of that young woman, who had amanding presence as she held her whip up and stood by that wheelchair, Ji Man nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go back by carriage then.¡±


    Before Ning Yuxuan could fully enter the room, she pushed him out and hurriedly pulled him towards the stairs to go down.


    After Guibai paid the inn, they rented a carriage and rushed back the marquis¡¯s estate. Because an important guest wasing over, Ning Yuxuan untied the concentric knots essory from his waist and reced it with his formal jade essory.


    Ji Man took off the concentric knots waist essory that she was wearing too. Pinching the low-quality ring in her fingers, she asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you taking off the ring made of concentric knots too?¡±


    Marquis Moyu straightened his clothes. In a tone that was as light as drifting clouds, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s just treat it as a memento. It¡¯s rare for us to take trips together.¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips and tossed the ring into a small bag. He was acting as if in the next second, he was going to valiantly sacrifice himself for a righteous cause.


    Qi Siling was standing at the entrance of the marquis¡¯s estate. Seeing that they had returned, she came over and very properly greeted them. ¡°My lord, Madam, the visiting card from the second prince¡¯s household has already arrived. The second princess consort is probably on her way here too. This servant has already prepared Princess Pengyue¡¯s favorite snacks and incense.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled and nodded. ¡°You saved me from having to worry about this.¡±


    Qi Siling nced at Nie Sangyu, then she weed them inside while smiling.


    ¡ª


    There was still one more day to the vigil, but Wen Wan had cried herself out and was just kneeling in the mourning hall with reddened eyes.

 Chapter 296 - Buying insurance (1)

    Chapter 296 ¨C Buying insurance (1)


    Ji Man returned to Feiwan Courtyard and changed into a simple robe embroidered with plum flowers and a grayish silver sash. When it was about time for Pengyue to arrive, she went over to the entrance to wait.


    ¡ª


    A carriage stopped at the entrance. Pengyue was wearing a fiery red dress with a red cloak that was embroidered with golden birds today. And so, when she hurriedly disembarked from the carriage, it was like seeing a ball of fireing down. With a bright and cheerful smile, she stopped in front of Nie Sangyu and greeted, ¡°Long time no see, Marchioness Moyu.¡±


    Ji Man slightly smiled in response. She wasn¡¯t especially close with this princess that she happened to have met only a few times before. She saluted her and said, ¡°It¡¯s very thoughtful of you toe here to my humble home to pay respects during the vigil.¡±


    There was a radiant smile on Pengyue¡¯s face. Unlike what others had predicted, this princess hadn¡¯t be broken-hearted and sad after marrying a prince that was crippled since birth. Looking at Pengyu¡¯splexion, Ji Man thought she looked even better now than before she got married.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much to do in the prince¡¯s estate anyways, and you¡¯re the only person I¡¯ve somewhat interacted with in the capital. Hearing that something like that happen in your household, it¡¯s only natural that I would want to pay a visit.¡± Pengyue followed her inside.


    Ji Man briefly turned her head to the side to nce at her. From top to bottom, Pengyue was wearing red clothing. If she wasing here for the express purpose of paying respect to Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s mourning period, why was she dressed so jubntly?


    As expected, when they arrived at the hall, as soon as Wen Wan saw that Princess Pengyue was wearing all red, her face changed colors. Because of Pengyue¡¯s status, Wen Wan couldn¡¯t say any word ofint. Instead, she only stayed kneeling on the ground instead of getting up and saluting.


    Pengyue only perfunctorily added a few sticks of incense to the incense burner, then she pulled Nie Sangyu out of the hall and said, ¡°I haven¡¯te to this estate before. Sangyu, could you show me around?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ji Man guided her towards Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s direction, and they slowly walked.


    Pengyu asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious about how I¡¯m doing after marrying Ah Li?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. It seemed that her master for today had a lot of words that she wanted to say. Still, she didn¡¯t know why Pengyue wanted to talk to her.


    ¡°I can tell that you¡¯re doing well just from looking at your expression.¡±


    Smiling, Pengyue looked at her in askance for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°Ah Li¡¯s life has been full of torment. Even though he¡¯s also a prince, there¡¯s a enormous difference in how he¡¯s treatedpared to the first prince and third prince. It¡¯s only after I married him that he was able to leave the pce and establish his own estate. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything wrong with him, but when his clothes were removed, I saw that his body was full of scars.


    Ji Man paused. She was a bit surprised.


    Pengyue continued to smile as she said, ¡°On my wedding night, I counted all of the scars on his body from knife wounds to burns to bruises. In total, there were over eighty.¡±


    ¡°I would have never thought a prince¡¯s life would be like this. When I asked him who did this, he said the scars were from a long time ago. I thought, it definitely has to be from those wicked servants that attend to him.¡±


    Ji Man patiently listened.


    ¡°He asked me if I felt disdainful of him. I said that I didn¡¯t.¡± Pengyue clenched her fist. ¡°He¡¯s already given me everything that he has. He shapes my eyebrows with makeup and grows flowers for me. Whatever I want, as long as he can do it, he¡¯ll do it. He clearly doesn¡¯t even live the life a human should live himself, but he¡¯s always worried about letting me suffer.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already written a letter to Yuzhen to ask my imperial father to demand a titled prince position for Ah Li.¡±


    (T/N: Even though Zhao Li is a prince, he won¡¯t have any title and associatednd until the emperor bestows it.)


    Slowing her steps, Ji Man turned her head to the side to look at Pengyue. She felt a bit stunned. Everyone knew that the emperor didn¡¯t favor the second prince. The second prince¡¯s mother had died young, so it was inevitable that people would secretly bully him. But, she was surprised that Pengyue wouldn¡¯t feel disdain towards that type of person and wanted to help him fight to significantly improve his situation.


    Wait, why did she feel that this tale was somewhat familiar? After a cripple prince, who hadn¡¯t been able to fight for power for himself, marries a woman that¡¯s as beautiful as a flower, he startspeting to gain the country for his beautiful wife. In the end, he arrogantlyughs at the world that he¡¯s conquered. Wasn¡¯t this the most frequently seen plot in light novels?!


    She didn¡¯t even know which prince had ended up sessfully seized the throne in the original novel. She had originally thought the third prince already had victory within his grasp. But then, someone had suddenly framed him, and Nie Xiangyuan had been sacked for corruption. After these two events, the third prince¡¯s side had be much meeker. Although the first prince had the empress and the prime minister¡¯s supporting him, he hadn¡¯t attempted or aplished anything recently that would allow him to re-seize the position of the crown prince.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, the current prime minister is the first prince¡¯s maternal cousin.)


    Then, what about the second prince that had previously been obscure and silent? Ji Man furrowed her brow.


    ¡°I came over here and told you about all this because I wanted you to help me with something.¡± Pengyue finally got to the important point. ¡°Even if my imperial father says something, it won¡¯t be guaranteed that Ah Li will be given a good fiefdom. If Marquis Moyu can say a few words on his behalf, the likelihood of a good oue would be assured.¡±


    Oh my god, even if Pengyu was a princess, she was still only a teenager. Was it really good that she was this wise in the ways of the world? Ji Man nced at her and asked with a smile, ¡°Why does everyone think that Marquis Moyu omnipotent?¡±


    Pengyu hade here to ask for Marquis Moyu¡¯s assistance regarding the matter of the emperor bestowing a title on the second prince. Someone had also wanted his help in getting Ning Mingjie the position of Zhenyuan General. He was only a leisurely marquis that managed the Six Ministries, so why did everyone think that a few words from him were enough to guarantee a certain oue?


    ¡°No one is saying that the marquis is omnipotent. It¡¯s just that it would be good to get the marquis¡¯s assistance.¡± Smilingly, Pengyu tugged on her hand and said, ¡°Older sister Sangyu, I naturally won¡¯t forget this kindness either.¡±


    Ji Man was silent for a long time as she led her into Feiwan Courtyard.


    Ji Man said, ¡°Dengxin, bring tea for the princess consort.¡± Then, she gestured towards a shelf and signaled with her eyes which of the tea set that she wanted Dengxin to use.


    Dengxin understood her meaning and took the tea set down from the shelf and ced it on the table. She poured the tea into a teacup and presented it Princess Pengyu. ¡°Your Highness, please.¡±


    Pengyue took the cup and was slightly stunned.


    The cup was made with first-ss white jade and decorated with a dancing red-crowned crane design. What made this a rare design was that the red-crowned crane¡¯s head was underneath its wings, and the crane was carved into the cup without breaking. The crane¡¯s habitat of water and grass also had textured gradation. It was a very fine teacup that would be difficult to purchase.

 Chapter 297 - Buying insurance (2)

    Chapter 297 ¨C Buying insurance (2)


    Miss Shui had brought along this tea set when she dropped off the ount booksst month. The rouge store¡¯s business was getting better and better, and the profits were like rolling snowballs that were getting bigger too. As a result, Miss Shui had developed a slight connection with the local authorities. This tea set had passed through many hands before Miss Shui had purchased it off a wife of a government official for a high price. Miss Shui had also given that woman a VIP membership card to express her thanks for parting with the tea set.


    Ji Man had Dengxin bring out this tea set as a way to tell Pengyue that she wasn¡¯tcking in money, so the offered benefit from Pengyue naturally couldn¡¯t be money. Although Ji Man hadn¡¯t decided yet whether or not she would help Pengyue, she still wanted to establish a base for the value of this favor.


    Pengyue pursed her lips and lightly smiled. ¡°This is a really good tea.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you know that Sangyu¡¯s family isn¡¯t in a good situation right now, so my words won¡¯t have much weight with Marquis Moyu.¡± Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°Even if Sangyu wants to help, Sangyu don¡¯t have the power to do so.¡±


    Pengyue blinked and said, ¡°Ah Li said your words will be the most effective.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Didn¡¯t the second prince live a secluded life? Where did he get the information to reach this verdict? If her words had any persuasive ability, she would have already gotten Ning Yuxuan to say, ¡°I love you¡± and made a clean getaway a long time ago.


    Watching her, Pengyue said, ¡°I just want older sister to try. I said that I would protect Ah Li and not let him suffer being bullied and humiliated anymore. Older sister, please help me aplish my goal.¡±


    Alright, she was even calling her older sister. But, had this silly girl not considered the fact that Nie Sangyu¡¯s older cousin was the third prince? If she helped out the second prince by saying good words about him to Ning Yuxuan, wouldn¡¯t there be a missing motive? Could she say that she was sympathetic towards the second prince and liked Pengyue? No, that wouldn¡¯t make sense. She wasn¡¯t the Holy Mother.


    Ji Man lowered her eyes in hesitation.


    Pengyue also silently thought for a long time. Then, she gritted her teeth and unhooked the red whip that was hanging from her waist. ¡°Older sister, if you think that Pengyue can¡¯t give you a worthwhile benefit, then how about this, I¡¯ll leave this whip with you. It¡¯ll count as Pengyue owing older sister an extremely big favor. In the future, if older sister is ever in a difficult situation, then Pengyue will definitely help you without hesitation if it¡¯s within my power.¡±


    This type of promise was what someone like Ji Man, who was scared of death and living in a ce far from home, liked the most. Still, during a negotiation, she couldn¡¯t show how much she wanted this promise. Ji Man pretended to quietly consider this offer for a long time, then she pinched her thigh. In a tone of voice as if she had been put into a difficult position, she finally said, ¡°Your Highness, since you¡¯re already shown such heartfelt sentiment, then Sangyu can only try my best.¡±


    Pengyu let out a sigh of relied. With a heart filled with joy, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for your good news.¡±


    Since she had agreed, then what should she say to Marquis Moyu? At the time that Ji Man agreed, she had already thought of an answer,


    Right now, during the war period, what was the imperial court mostcking? Money.


    What did she have the most of and was just piling up without any use? Money.


    In summary, there was no need for her to say any extra words. She could just literally tell Ning Yuxuan Pengyue¡¯s request, then rece Pengyue¡¯s whip with a huge amount of banknotes as the grand gift.


    This was the equivalent to spending her money to buy insurance, and Marquis Moyu was doing the paid work for her. Thinking about it like this, it was definitely worth it.


    Ning Yuxuan was a wily old fox. He definitely wouldn¡¯t refuse this request that wouldn¡¯t take any effort at all and would also gain him the second prince¡¯s favorable impression. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t like Ning Yuxuan was an honest and upright official that wouldn¡¯t ept bribes. He had such arge family to support. Did you think that his fiefdom and his official¡¯s sry would be enough?


    Still, as the third prince¡¯s younger cousin, she couldn¡¯t tell him this matter with a happy face. She had to look extremely unwilling and helpless as she told him about this request.


    Even though it wouldn¡¯t be a threat to the other princes if the second prince gained a title that would improve his living standards, she still had pay attention to any adverse changes.


    After Pengyue left, Ji Man decided to talk about this matter with Ning Yuxuan and went to his study.


    But, when she pushed open the doors, she saw Nie Chenyu¡¯s snow white shoulders and back.


    Hearing the creaking sound from the doors, Nie Chenyu hurriedly came down from Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body and bashfully put on her clothes. She stamped her feet and said, ¡°Older sister, why didn¡¯t you knock on the door beforeing in?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyes and saw Sangyu. Surprisingly, his clothes weren¡¯t disheveled.


    How was this her fault? Every time there was a passionate scene inside the study, the doors were never locked, and there wasn¡¯t a servant posted outside the doors to warn visitors. Ji Man rolled her eyes. Looking at Nie Chenyu¡¯s pleased expression, she indifferently said, ¡°My lord, I have something to discuss with you.¡±


    Tugging on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve, Nie Chenyu coquettishly protested, ¡°But younger sister¡¯s clothes are already in disarray. It¡¯s so cold outside. What if I get a cold? At the very least, we¡¯re sisters by blood. Is there really something that you can¡¯t say in front of your own sister?¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Man found a nearby seat and sat down, then she nodded her head and said, ¡°Feel free to continue then. After the two of you are done, and you return to your courtyard, I¡¯ll discuss the matter with the marquis. After all, we¡¯re sisters by blood. Is there really something that you can¡¯t do in front of your own sister?¡±


    Nie Chenyu choked on her words. She cautiously looked at the marquis¡¯s expression. There was a smile in his eyes.


    He waved his hand and said, ¡°You should leave first.¡±


    ¡°My lord...¡± Nie Chenyu pouted in discontent.


    Marquis Moyu nced at her and said with a smile, ¡°Go.¡±


    Nie Chenyu felt a shiver up her spine. She wrapped her cloak around herself and hatefully red at her sister before opening the doors and leaving.


    Ning Yuxuan stared at Nie Sangyu¡¯s face, but he was left feeling disappointed once again. There wasn¡¯t the slightest trace of jealousy and vexation that a woman should be feeling. Instead, she was looking at him with a fake smile as she said, ¡°My lord, this servant came here to tell you the reason behind the princess consort¡¯s visit.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Marquis Moyu withdrew his gaze and disinterestedly fiddled with the brush he was holding.

 Chapter 298 - Theres nothing as terrifying as a persons heart (1)

    Chapter 298 ¨C There¡¯s nothing as terrifying as a person¡¯s heart (1)


    Ji Man very responsibly and diligently passed on Pengyue¡¯s words. At the end, she tactfully said, ¡°Pengyue was the one that pleaded for the second prince to be given a title, but the imperial court has probably already spent a long time debating which fiefdom the second prince should be given, right?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly harrumphed and looked at the banknotes that Nie Sangyu had put down on the desk. It really was a staggering amount that would astonish anyone.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough for you to just pass on her message,¡± he said, ¡°I understand what they want, and I¡¯ll naturally weight the advantages and disadvantages.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Brightly smiling, Ji Man nodded. It was naturally the best for her if she couldpletely remove herself from the situation.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her again and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to Luoyan Courtyard tonight. You don¡¯t have to wait for me.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Alright, then this servant will leave first.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan, ¡°...¡±


    Right after she had stepped out of the study, she heard a voice shouting, ¡°Nie Sangyu, do you not have a heart?!¡±


    Ji Man paused. She turned her head back. Seeing a slightly annoyed face, she couldn¡¯t resist smiling. ¡°How can a person not have a heart? Without a heart, a person would just die. But, if your heart has feelings for a person that you shouldn¡¯t have, then that will kill your heart. My lord, weren¡¯t you the one that personally murdered Sangyu¡¯s heart?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have a sincere heart yourself, then don¡¯t demand for someone else¡¯s sincere heart. Right now, Sangyu isn¡¯t asking for the marquis¡¯s faithful heart. Sangyu just wants a peaceful life.¡± Ji Man¡¯s smile dimmed. ¡°My lord, didn¡¯t you always want Sangyu to be gentle and sensible? That¡¯s exactly what Sangyu is doing right now, so why are you feeling annoyed?¡±


    He was the one that had lost his self-control by asking such a stupid and foolish question. Ning Yuxun chuckled, waved his hand, and said, ¡°You can leave.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t until several stepster that Ji Man felt a bit regretful. Why on earth had she told him her true feelings? She should have responded that my lord was her most precious person and made some kissy sounds! She could have tricked him into saying, ¡°I love you.¡± Wouldn¡¯t she have saved herself a lot of trouble?


    But, at the time, she couldn¡¯t resist falling into her pattern of ridiculing him. He hadn¡¯t appreciated Nie Sangyu¡¯s love when he had it and only felt regret after losing her affection. Thinking of how vexed he had looked, she couldn¡¯t resist feeling super happy for Nie Sangyu.


    Since he would be going to Luoyan Courtyard in the evening, then she was free for the rest of the day. After taking a bath, Ji Man decided to go to bed. But, for some reason, it was especially windy tonight. Dengxin had caught a cold, so she withdrew earlier tonight to go rest. There were only two lowest-ranking servant girls standing outside by the doors that decided to remain here for another two hours before going to sleep themselves.


    It seemed as if a shadow had fluttered past her windows. It was apanied by an absolutely horrifying voice that said, ¡°So cold...¡±


    Just as Ji Man was about to close her eyes, she heard that voice and sat up.


    ¡°Theke was so cold. Master, how could you be so heartless?¡± A prolonged voice sounded in the middle of the outside courtyard. It fluttered over from the windows to in front of the doors. The two lowest-rankings servants screamed in fright, and then it was followed by the sound of bodies falling onto the ground.


    Was this supposed to be ate night encounter with a vengeful spirit? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. It had already been so long since Muxu had drowned in theke. For her to think ofing here to demand Nie Sangyu¡¯s life in payment after such a long time had passed, Muxu¡¯s reflection period had certainly taken long enough, ah.


    The doors were blown open by a gust of wind, and the wind had also extinguished the candle on the table. In the midst of the darkened room, Ji Man saw a glimpse of somethinging inside. The creature¡¯s long hair was dripping wet and covering the front of its face. It left behind a trail of water.


    The ck hair was pushed back to reveal a deathly pale face. The creature smiled as it asked her, ¡°Master, do you want to visit the bottom of theke?¡±


    Sitting on the bed, Ji Man smiled as she shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Muxu¡± paused. It seemed as if ¡°Muxu¡± was at a temporary loss for words.


    Ji Man had already groped around and found a wooden hairpin by her pillow.


    This courtyard had everything, but it was rare to see a ghost. Even if a ghost appeared, it was most likely just a fake one. Still, who had she recently offended and wouldn¡¯t let her off?


    ¡°Master, you¡¯re so heartless. You wouldn¡¯t even let off Fu-<i>er</i>...¡± the ghost quietly said, ¡°Repay the death of my baby with your life.¡±


    Listening up to this point, Ji Man kicked her feet out at the ghost¡¯s stomach. As expected, it was a thing that had a material existence. The force from her kick caused the fake ghost¡¯s hair to be flung back as it retreated a few steps.


    Taking advantage of the darkness, Ji Man swiftly stabbed the hairpin into the fake ghost¡¯s shoulder. Hearing a pained scream, she punching the ghost¡¯s jaw. It was a self-defense move that she had seen somewhere. Then, she jumped out of bed and ran outside.


    After running to the doorway, Ji Man shouted as loud as she could, ¡°Dengxin! Hurry, call the police!¡± Realizing that her words wouldn¡¯t make sense to the people here, she quickly shouted again, ¡°Hurry, call for the other servants. There¡¯s a thief!¡±


    The shadowy figure had already caught up to her. The wooden hairpin obviously hadn¡¯t been able to do much damage against it. After all, a person would be wearing thick clothing in winter. This wasn¡¯t a TV show where a hairpin could easily pierce through an assassin¡¯s thick clothing.


    The fake ghost wrapped its hands around Ji Man¡¯s neck to strangle her. Struggling, Ji Man got her hand around the softy, flesh part of the fake ghost¡¯s arm and used all of her strength to twist it.


    ¡°Ah -¡±


    It was clearly a man¡¯s voice, and he had tried to sound like Muxu? Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Taking advantage of the moment when he loosened his grip, she hastily kicked his lower half. Then, half-running and half-stumbling, she ran towards the snow-covered ground and was able to open Feiwan Courtyard¡¯s doors before the fake ghost caught up to her again.


    Because Dengxin was sick, she had been soundly asleep. However, after such a loudmotion, it was impossible for her to not be awakened. After putting on her outer robe anding out of her room, she saw that a creature with untied hair was chasing after her master in the outside courtyard.


    ¡°Guards!¡± Dengxin¡¯s voice was hoarse from her cold, so she wasn¡¯t able to shout very loudly. She hurriedly ran over to help her master. Since the courtyard¡¯s doors were opened, several people outside of Feiwan Courtyard were also startled awake by themotion, and lights were being lit up in the other courtyards.

 Chapter 299 - Theres nothing as terrifying as a persons heart (2)

    Chapter 299 ¨C There¡¯s nothing as terrifying as a person¡¯s heart (2)


    Ji Man was almost strangled to death. There were several times when she felt as if her heart was going to stop beating. But, suddenly, the fake ghost let go of her and surprisingly started running out of Feiwan Courtyard.


    ¡°Master.¡± Dengxin was so flustered that she wasn¡¯t able to say anything else. Her hand hovered over her master¡¯s bruising neck.


    Ji Man hurriedly waved her hand away. She was still alive. She just needed to get her breath back.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± The first person that rushed over here was Liu Hanyun. Seeing that Nie Sangyu was slumped on the ground at the doorway with her clothes disheveled, she hurriedly came forward to help her inside. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? It¡¯s such a cold night. Why are you outside?¡±


    The two lowest-ranking servant girls that had fainted were still by the doorway too. Liu Hanyun nced at them, then she ordered Chunpi to light some candles and inform the marquis.


    After being wrapped up in a quilt, Ji Man didn¡¯t return to her senses for a long time. Finally, she said, ¡°Someone pretending to be Muxu came into my room to scare me.¡±


    Stumped for words, Liu Hanyun looked around before asking. ¡°Muxu?¡±


    ¡°En, it wasn¡¯t real. The person impersonating her was a man.¡± Ji Man touched her sore neck and epted the hot tea that Dengxin brought her. ¡°My throat hurts. Let¡¯s wait until the marquis arrives to talk.¡±


    Liu Hanyun pursed her lips and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t the marquis go to Luoyan Courtyard? Who knows if it¡¯s possible to get him toe tonight?¡±


    While they were talking, Mu Shuiqing had also arrived and was quietly sitting nearby to keep Nie Sangyupany. Hearing that someone had been pretending to be a ghost, she frowned and said, ¡°They really don¡¯t know when to stop.¡±


    Remembering that Xuwu had said that trouble came from involving yourself with people that have sinister intentions, Ji Man inwardly sighed. He really was quite urate with his prediction. Since he was so good at fortune telling, why couldn¡¯t he have helped her avoid this misfortune?


    One after another, the other women in the harem came over. Even Wen Wan scurried over here to watch the amusing show, but Xia-<i>shi</i> still hadn¡¯te.


    With a furrowed brow, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°Someone should call Mistress Xia over. Since there¡¯s someone out there pretending to be a ghost, it¡¯ll be better if we¡¯re all gathered together.¡±


    By this time, Marquis Moyu and Nie Chenyu had alsoe over. After Ji Man had finished recounting tonight¡¯s event, Xia-<i>shi</i> finally came over. She was quitete.


    Feeling very discontent and looking as if she had been disturbed from her sleep, Xia-<i>shi</i> said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°What are you guys doing in the middle of the night? You¡¯re always dealing with unending trouble because the position of the main wife will always attract the jealousy of others.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at Xia-<i>shi</i>, then he pursuing his lips and said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°I¡¯ve already ordered for all of the servants to wait outside in your courtyard.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She went outside with her hands cupped around the teacup. There were a lot of litmps outside. All of the servants standing outside didn¡¯t looked neatly put together, and they seemed half-awake and half-asleep.


    If she wanted to find the culprit, she had to do it quickly. Otherwise, if she waited and the other person had already destroyed the evidence, what was the use in trying to catch the culprit? Ji Man personally walked over to the group of servants and closely examined them. She eliminated the ones that didn¡¯t have the right height or body type. After that, there were eight servants left that looked more or less simr to her assant, but only one of them had slightly wet hair.


    Ji Man stepped forward and asked, ¡°Which courtyard are you from?¡±


    That servant lowered his head and answered, ¡°This servant is from Cailian Courtyard.¡±


    On the side, Xia-<i>shi</i> nodded. ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s from my courtyard. He¡¯s quite hardworking.¡±


    Ji Man paused, then she turned her head and looked at Guibai. ¡°Examine his body for me. See if there¡¯s any bruises on the inner part of his right arm and his left shoulder.¡±


    Guibai made a sound of assent. As the group of the women waited on the side to watch this good show, Xia-<i>shi</i> blustered, ¡°It can¡¯t be him, right? Madam, why would you suspect that he was the one pretending to be a ghost? He already withdrew to rest before I went to sleep.¡±


    Liu Hanyun lowered her eyes and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to say more. Just wait to see the result.¡±


    Nie Chenyu was feeling very discontent that she was bothered tonight and was impatiently standing behind Ning Yuxuan.


    Looking at the bruises on Nie Sangyu¡¯s neck, Ning Yuxuan slightly frowned.


    After Guibai examined that servant, he restrained that servant and said, ¡°My lord, Madam, it¡¯s as Madam said. There¡¯s bruises on the inner part of his right arm and left shoulder.¡±


    Was it really going to be that simple? Ji Man was bbergasted. In the group of servants, that servant had been the only one with damp hair, and she had caught the culprit on the first attempt.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly frowned. He nced at Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> was at a loss. Looking at the servant, she mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s him...¡±


    In a low voice, Marquis Moyu ordered, ¡°Guibai, bring other servants with you and search Cailian Courtyard.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Guibai immediately left after acknowledging the order.


    It was only now that Xia-<i>shi</i> started to feel panicky. ¡°Haohao just fell asleep. Don¡¯t wake up him during your search.¡±


    Guibai didn¡¯t bother listening to her words as he led a group of servants away.


    Tugging on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve, Nie Chenyu said, ¡°This isn¡¯t a big deal. My lord, let¡¯s go back to rest? Your robe is too thin to be standing outside in this weather.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan waved his hand. ¡°You can go back first. I¡¯m going to Cailian Courtyard too.¡±


    Seeing that Nie Chenyu wasn¡¯t happy, Wen Wan, who was standing nearby, smiled and said, ¡°Younger sister Chenyu, you¡¯re being too ignorant. In the marquis¡¯s heart, Madam is naturally the most important one. Something just happened to her. How could he possibly still have time to care about you?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan for a moment before taking Xia-<i>shi</i> with him as he headed towards Cailian Courtyard.


    Ji Man pursed her lips and followed after them with Liu Hanyun supporting her by the arm.


    This night was doomed to not be peaceful. Items used to fake being a ghost were found in Cailian Courtyard. And, what a coincidence, these items were found in Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s bedchamber.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> knelt on the ground with a dazed expression.


    Liu Hanyun softly scoffed, ¡°What good fortune. Madam has been so caring towards you. How could you even think about using a fake ghost to hurt her?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> pursed her lips and raised her head to look at Marquis Moyu. ¡°I didn¡¯t. My lord, believe in me. It¡¯s impossible for me to do something like this. Those items don¡¯t belong to me either.¡±

 Chapter 300 - When falsehood is taken for truth, the truth becomes falsehood (1)

    Chapter 300 ¨C When falsehood is taken for truth, the truth bes falsehood (1)


    Looking at Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s unsophisticated peasant appearance, Ji Man thought that it probably wasn¡¯t her. Besides, it had been too easy to catch her assant. It seemed more like someone was trying to frame Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    In contrast, Liu Hanyun seemed especially active today. She was normally a very quiet person, but today she had followed them here and found fault with Xia-<i>shi</i> several times.


    Thinking of how Liu Hanyun had tried to persuade her to not allow Haohao to be the marquis¡¯s heir and how Liu Hanyun had a son of her own, Ji Man felt suspicion growing in her heart. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°How about we wait until tomorrow and take our time investigating this matter?¡±


    Slightly frowning, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°Madam, it¡¯s already reached this point. Why do you want to wait until tomorrow instead of making a resolute decision now?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> raised her head to look at Liu Hanyun and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything to offend you. Why do insist on ming me? This matter really has nothing to do with me. Madam has even said that she wants to investigate this matter more before deciding. Why are you insisting on pushing this crime onto my head?¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Liu Hanyun pursed her lips and her brow slightly furrowed.


    Marquis Moyu nced at Liu Hanyun and considered for a while before saying, ¡°It really is getting toote, and we¡¯re going to disturb Haohao from his sleep if we keep talking. Let¡¯s just do as Sangyu said. Let¡¯s save this discussion for tomorrow.¡±


    Liu Hanyun lowered her head and said, ¡°Since neither my lord nor Madam are anxious about settling this matter, then Hanyun naturally has nothing to say.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan added, ¡°En. As for the matter of promoting you to the position of secondary wife that I mentioned before, let¡¯s do it at the same time as Haohao¡¯s first birthday.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, my lord.¡± Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t linger here. After saluting, she turned around and left.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> patted her knees as she stood up. Hearing the sound of a baby crying in the next room, she pped her thigh and said, ¡°Aiya, my Haohao!¡±


    Without saying another word, she hastily left too. It seemed that she was very worried about Haohao.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow rxed. Looking at Nie Sangyu, he said, ¡°Xia-<i>shi</i> doesn¡¯t know anything. You have to take extra care of her. Sometimes, you¡¯ll have to protect her more too.


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Clutching her cloak, she coughed a few times before saying, ¡°This servant understands.¡±


    ¡ª


    In the end, the me for the extremely ridiculous incident of someone pretending to be a ghost was ced on Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s head. But, since Xia-<i>shi</i> was needed to take care of Haohao, and the marquis had already signaled that he wanted her punishment to be lighter, Ji Man only punished her with not getting a monthly allowance for the next six months. Still, the food, clothing, and other necessities that she was provided with wouldn¡¯t be any less than before.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun was holding Xi-<i>er</i>, and her expression didn¡¯t look good as she said, ¡°Madam, are you thinking that Hanyun is deliberately not getting along with Xia-<i>shi</i>?¡±


    Ji Man silently thought; wasn¡¯t that just the simple truth? But, she outwardlyforted her by saying, ¡°You don¡¯t have to overthink things. It wasn¡¯t a big deal. It¡¯s not like a ghost would scare me anyways. Since the marquis isn¡¯t willing to perform an in-depth investigation, let¡¯s just put it behind us.¡±


    Liu Hanyun opened and closed her mouth, but in the end, she sullenly swallowed down the words that she wanted to say. Holding Xi-<i>er</i>, she didn¡¯t say another word.


    ¡ª


    When Haohao¡¯s first birthday came, Ji Man was a bit absent-minded. This day wasn¡¯t that far from when she had given birth to her own child. Xia-<i>shi</i> had probably conceived her child around the same time as her during the Southern Trip.


    Although Wen Wan had been enjoying the living standards of an honored concubine since the day that Marquis Moyu had brought up the topic with Ji Man, everyone still had to wear new clothing that was appropriate to the changes in their status on Haohao¡¯s birthday celebration. And so, Liu Hanyun was wearing a light pink dress when she brought Xi-<i>er</i> over in her arms.


    Since they were still in the three-year mourning period for Old Madame, the birthday banquet couldn¡¯t be too big or special. Instead, it was just the entire household sharing a meal together, then there would be a birthday grab and an official recording of Haohao bing the marquis¡¯s heir.


    (T/N: The birthday grab (<i>zhuazhou</i>) is a tradition where parents ce a variety of items in front of their child on his or her first birthday, and the child will grab one of the items. Whatever the child chooses is said to determine his or her future inclination and proficiencies.)


    After Wen Wan was once again called Mistress Wen, she seemed to very quickly walk out from the shadow of Yun-<i>er</i>¡®s death. Her face was like a beautiful blooming peach flower.


    There was also a faint smile on Liu Hanyun¡¯s face from her promotion to a secondary wife. And, once Qi Siling had regained control over the household ounts, she also wore slightly morevish clothing. The only person that was feeling dissatisfied was Nie Chenyu.


    Nie Chenyu, who had been quite favoredtely, was still only a concubine and had to sit next to Mu Shuiqing. Nie Chenyu¡¯s face was livid today, but given Nie n¡¯s current state, she didn¡¯t have the means to demand a promotion in her status. She hadn¡¯t been able to get pregnant either, so she could only sit in a deste corner with Mu Shuiqing and watch.


    For some reason, Xia-<i>shi</i> hade to the birthday celebration wearing a red gown. Holding Haohao, she was smiling quite happily. But, as soon as Xia-<i>shi</i> entered the main hall, Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched.


    During ancient time banquets, only the main wife was allowed to wear red, even a secondary wife or side consort could only wear hues of light pink. But, Xia-<i>shi</i> had casually entered the room wearing bright red.


    The room full of people stopped talking, but Xia-<i>shi</i> didn¡¯t notice. With a bright grin, she brought Haohao over to the marquis and said, ¡°Haohao has been very well-fed today. He¡¯ll definitely grab something goodter!¡±


    Marquis Moyu looked at her from top to bottom. With a fake smile, he asked, ¡°Who gave you the clothes that you¡¯re wearing right now?¡±


    ¡°My clothes?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> lowered her head to look. Smiling, she said, ¡°I made these clothes myself. They said we¡¯re going to celebrate Haohao¡¯s first birthday today, so I should wear slightly more colorful clothing. Out of all the fabrics they sent over, this one looked the best, so I used this one. My lord, what do you think?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled. He stretched his hands out and took Haohao, then he turned his head to the side and said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°Take her to have her clothes changed.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and stood up to lead Xia-<i>shi</i> to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Trantor Ramblings: Isn¡¯t there a possibility that Xia-<i>shi</i> tried to kill or harm Nie Sangyu, and she just wasn¡¯t very good at hiding the evidence? Or, it¡¯s neither of them, and someone else tried to frame Xia-<i>shi</i>? It¡¯s consistent with Ji Man¡¯s character to side with whomever she thinks is the underdog.


    Earlier in the story, there¡¯s no doubt that when Liu Hanyun helps out Nie Sangyu/Ji Man, she doesn¡¯t want anything in return. In contrast, Ji Man has always viewed Liu Hanyun as a tool that could be useful to her, so it¡¯s possible that she¡¯s projecting her motivation onto Liu Hanyun. Or, maybe, Liu Hanyun really has changed.

 Chapter 301 - When falsehood is taken for truth, the truth becomes falsehood (2)

    Chapter 301 ¨C When falsehood is taken for truth, the truth bes falsehood (2)


    Not understanding what was going on, Xia-<i>shi</i> nkly looked at Nie Sangyu as she followed after her. ¡°What? Does this gown not look good? It can¡¯t be, ah. I can see that Madam¡¯s dress looks pretty good.¡±


    Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°It is pretty good, but I¡¯m the only one that can wear this color.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> scratched her head in puzzlement. ¡°Why? Are you worried that someone will look better than you in this color?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. She turned her head to look at Xia-<i>shi</i> and said, ¡°In your vige, did they not have the rule that only the main wife can wear red?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> shook her head at aplete loss. Afterwards, she somewhat panicky said, ¡°Have I done something wrong? Someone sent over this fabric. I didn¡¯t know that I couldn¡¯t wear it, ah.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°I know you¡¯re not clever, so I won¡¯t me you. Juste with me to change into something else.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> finally obediently followed after her. After reaching Feiwan Courtyard and changing into a light purple dress that belonged to Nie Sangyu, she returned to the birthday celebration in high spirits again. Holding Haohao again, she said, ¡°Madam¡¯s clothing feels sofortable.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nced at her. Nearby, Wen Wan sneered and said, ¡°Of course Madam¡¯s clothing isfortable, but you need to have the right qualifications to wear it.¡±


    Not understanding her words, Xia-<i>shi</i> looked at Wen Wan for a moment. Then, she lowered her head and teased Haohao.


    There wasn¡¯t much happiness on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face today. Instead, there was a faint trace of fatigue.


    After the meal, it was time for the birthday grab. Xia-<i>shi</i> ced Haohao on the ground, plopped down nearby herself, and exuberantly shouted, ¡°Grab the dagger in front of you. Grabbing the brush is okay too. Go on, grab it!¡±


    Nie Chenyu was so annoyed by Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s noisiness that she couldn¡¯t resist saying, ¡°Mistress Xia, what a child grabs is up to the child. There¡¯s no use in you shouting.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> twitched her lips and finally sat back down in silence.


    Haohao opened his eyes wide and looked at the pile of things in front of him. He crawled over and surprisingly grabbed a gold ingot.


    Qi Siling smirked. ¡°The heir will definitely enjoy a wealthy future.¡±


    For this family, the gold ingot wasn¡¯t considered a good item to choose. After all, this was an official¡¯s family, so it would naturally be better if the son could be talented in schrly and military affairs.


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and subconsciously nced at Nie Sangyu.


    With her gaze focused on Haohao, Ji Man was lost in her thoughts.


    Holding onto the gold ingot and not paying attention to Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s mumbling, Haohao actually turned around and crawled to Nie Sangyu¡¯s side. He dropped the gold ingot by her feet.


    Everyone was shocked. Ji Man was struck dumb for a bit, then she leaned over and picked up Haohao and the gold ingot. ¡°Haohao, are you nning on earning money and giving it to me to show filial piety?¡±


    Nie Chenyu burst out inughter. ¡°Older sister, be careful with your words. They might make Mistress Xia furious. After all, Haohao is her biological son. Even if he¡¯s going to show filial piety, there¡¯s an order of priority.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a child that knows filial piety.¡± Ning Yuxuan stretched his hands out and took Haohao into his arms, then he took off a fine jade essory from his waist and hanged it on Haohao¡¯s neck.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> widely smiled again. Seeing that Ning Yuxuan was happy, she jubntly said, ¡°It¡¯s naturally the best to have a filial child.¡±


    After the informal ceremony waspleted and everyone dispersed her own courtyards, Liu Hanyun brought Xi-<i>er</i> with her to Feiwan Courtyard.


    She asked, ¡°Madam, do you still think that Xia-<i>shi</i> is someone that can be allowed to stay?¡±


    Ji Man poked at the jade waist essory that was carved with the word ¡°Ning¡± and said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s not an issue of whether or not she can stay. The marquis likes Haohao, and Haohao needs someone to care for him. Xia-<i>shi</i> is Haohao¡¯s biological mother.¡±


    With a serious expression, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°Forgive Hanyun for speaking bluntly, Xia-<i>shi</i> isn¡¯t a simple person. Since Haohao is the heir, then he should be given to you to raise. And yet, the marquis insists on having Xia-<i>shi</i> raise him. What will you do in the future once the marquis passes away and the little heir had grown up without having any affection for you?¡±


    Ji Man thought; by that time, she should have already fulfilled her goal and returned to modern-day to eat watermelon while enjoying air conditioning.


    ¡°Moreover, Xia-<i>shi</i> continues to act inappropriately, but the marquis keeps tolerating her behavior. If one day Xia-<i>shi</i> does something that harms you and the marquis pardons her behavior by using the excuse that Xia-<i>shi</i> doesn¡¯t know the rules, will you really not feel wronged?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyes and interrupted her, ¡°Hanyun, you¡¯ve changed.¡±


    Liu Hanyun was startled.


    ¡°In the past, you wouldn¡¯t have cared about stuff like this.¡± Ji Man looked at Xi-<i>er</i>, who was nestled in Liu Hanyun¡¯s arms. ¡°Is it because you have a child now, so the things you want have increased?¡±


    Lightly biting her lip, Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t deny the usation.


    ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t get forget your original self.¡± Ji Man patted her shoulder. ¡°If you stay the same as before, then the marquis will treat you the same as before. You¡¯ll have Xi-<i>er</i> to take care of you for the rest of your life, so you don¡¯t need worry about the future either.¡±


    The room was silent for a while, then Liu Hanyun stood up and said, ¡°Madam, you were right to lecture this servant. This servant will withdraw first.¡±


    ¡°Be careful with walking. It¡¯s slippery outside because of the snow.¡± Ji Man waved her hand.


    Did she seem like someone that was easily manipted? Xia-<i>shi</i> was someone that the marquis wanted to protect. There was no way that she wouldn¡¯t recklessly try to harm her.


    ¡ª


    Soon, the title and rted fiefdom for the second prince was announced. She didn¡¯t know who had privately talked with the emperor, but the second prince, who was usually ignored by the emperor, was surprisingly given Zhangjun as his fiefdom. Zhangjun was a wealth territory that was very close to the capital. It was a pretty good ce.


    Although the second prince was getting a title before the first prince and third prince, this almost meant that the second prince wasn¡¯t in the running for the position of the crown prince anymore. And so, Zhao Zhe and Zhao Jue didn¡¯t have anything to say. In contrast, Pengyue came over to thank her before leaving for Zhangjun.


    ¡°I won¡¯t forget the promise that I made to you,¡± Pengyue seriously said, ¡°If you ever meet with difficulty, Ah Li and I will definitely do our best to help you.¡±


    Smiling, Ji Man agreed, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Errong had already returned to Jing Province, and one after another, many people in Nie n had been demoted to a lower rank. Although the third prince was still regardless highly by the emperor, Nie n seemed to be on the precipice of a crisis.


    T/N: The title of this chapter (<i>When falsehood is taken for truth, the truth bes falsehood</i>) is a line from <i>Dream of the Red Chamber</i>.


    Trantor Ramblings: Ji Man downys Xia-<i>shi</i>¡¯s threat to her because she believe that Xia-<i>shi</i> isn¡¯t smart and thinks that Liu Hanyun¡¯s warnings are only because she wants to use her to get rid of Xia-<i>shi</i> to help Xi-<i>er</i>¡¯s status. But, if Xia-<i>shi </i>was kicked out of the estate, wouldn¡¯t Haohao automatically be given to the main wife to raise? This would cement Haohao¡¯s position as the heir even more, secure Nie Sangyu/Ji Man¡¯s future, and drastically decrease the likelihood of Xi-<i>er</i> ever bing the marquis¡¯s heir. Am I missing something?


    When I was re-reading the novel, it was more obvious that Xia-<i>shi</i> gets away with a lot of things just by ying the ¡°I¡¯m an ignorant peasant that doesn¡¯t know any better¡± card. It¡¯s also possible that Xia-<i>shi</i> genuinely doesn¡¯t know the rules and other customs because no one tells her anything until after she messes up. See Exhibit A: Wen Wan, who messed up a lot in the beginning because she wasn¡¯t aware of the stricter rules in a noble household since Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t bother hiring a tutor for her.


    Anyways, I¡¯m guessing that based on the title of this chapter that the author¡¯s intention when we read this story arc is to feel doubtful and unsure what the real truth is.


    P.S. It was so cute and sweet when Haohao dropped the gold ingot by Ji Man¡¯s feet.

 Chapter 302 - Dogs that bite dont bark (1)

    Chapter 302 ¨C Dogs that bite don¡¯t bark (1)


    After the Lantern Festival, the empress would bestow various gifts to the imperial consorts as well as nobledies each year. Last year, Ji Man had received several items. But this year, for an unknown reason, she only got two pieces of finely engraved silver bracelets.


    As Dengxin put away the gift, she grumbled, ¡°Has Her Majesty be hard pressed for money? Last year, there were four strings of coral beads, eight Eastern Sea pearls, and two golden bracelets. This year, why was the gift only this?¡±


    With her chin propped up in her hand, Ji Man contemted for a while and finally concluded, ¡°The annual gifts are based on a person¡¯s social status and value.¡±


    If Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t still in his three year mourning period, who knows how many people would be trying to push women into this harem? Right now, Nie n was being entirely supported by Nie Qingyun. One after another, his cousins and other rtives had gotten implicated with the corruption case over the shoddy armors and weapons. As for herself, she was Marquis Moyu¡¯s wife and didn¡¯t have any children yet. Who knows how many saw her as an eyesore?


    Dengxin sighed. ¡°How well a woman¡¯s maiden family is doing determines her current status in her husband¡¯s home, but unlike you, Master, Mistress Yu doesn¡¯t see this. She constantly thinks about trying to climb up in status and has been over-the-top with chasing after the marquis during the recent past period. She even pulled the marquis away when he was at Mistress Yun¡¯s courtyard.¡±


    Nie Chenyu only dared to bully someone like Liu Hanyun, who didn¡¯t have any strong supporter. Ji Man sighed. ¡°I should send her a clear warning to be less restless. Without a strong supporter, she really should know when to stop. The one that stands out the most amongst a group is most likely to get shot.¡±


    Dengxin nodded. Right after she closed the wardrobe, Chunfeng, a servant girl from Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s courtyard ran into the room.


    ¡°Madam! Please hurry over and save Mistress Xia!¡±


    Feeling as if her heart had just thumped loudly, Ji Man stood up and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Chunfeng¡¯s eyes had already reddened. ¡°For no reason at all, Mistress Yun came to Cailian Courtyard and said that my master harmed Young Master Xi. With the Heavens as my witness, my master hasn¡¯t even taken a step past her doors recently.¡±


    As soon as she heard this news, Dengxin knew there would be no peace. She took out Nie Sangyu¡¯s cloak. It was the beginning of spring, and there would still be a chill in the air.


    Ji Man put on the cloak and as she walked, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Xi-<i>er</i>?¡±


    Feeling wronged, Chunfeng said, ¡°Young Master Xi was fed some thick congee by the wet nurse. That food was for my master. My master was nning on starting to wean Young Master Haohao off of milk, but a servant girl from Linghan Courtyard made a mistake and took that congee. She was the one that took the wrong thing. How can they me my master for it? What kind of logic is that?¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and sped up her pace towards Cailian Courtyard.


    When they got there, Xi-<i>er</i> was wailing and being examined by the doctor. Looking somewhat helpless, Xia-<i>shi</i> was standing by the side and holding Haohao. Liu Hanyun was staring at her with an icy gaze.


    ¡°Madam has arrived.¡±


    A servant girl pushed back the curtain, and Ji Man entered the room. As she took off her cloak, she observed the people in the room.


    Liu Hanyun withdrew her gaze and came over to salute. ¡°Madam.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> was still aggrievedly standing in the same ce. Briefly looking over, she said, ¡°Madam, you came.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man walked over to look at Xi-<i>er</i>.


    After the doctor finished examining the nearby bowl, he cupped his hands and said, ¡°Young Master Xi has eczema and can¡¯t eat fish or shellfish. This bowl has remnants of shrimp, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s covered in rashes.


    Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s little face, which was covered in lots of red rashes, looked very pitiful. Ji Man pursed her lips. Looking at Liu Hanyun, she said, ¡°How did that servant girl take the wrong bowl? Xi-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t old enough to be weaned off of milk yet.¡±


    ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know.¡± Liu Hanyun bit her lip and said, ¡°The wet nurse wasn¡¯t watching Xi-<i>er</i> carefully enough and he ate some.¡±


    How could a baby that wasn¡¯t even six months old crawl over and eat the wrong food? Ji Man frowned. ¡°If the wet nurse isn¡¯t doing a good job, then just rece her.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s wet nurse stepped forward. Slightly trembling, she said, ¡°Madam, please forgive me. This servant didn¡¯t do it deliberately and just wanted to eat something from the kitchen. But, then, Young Master Xi-<i>er</i> pointed at it, and this servant thought that perhaps, young master could start eating solid food sooner than normal. This servant didn¡¯t know that young master would be allergic to something in this bowl.¡±


    ¡°So then, why is Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s being med for this?¡± Ji Man nced at Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    ¡°Who knows why, ah?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> pressed her lips together before saying, ¡°She brought her child over here and started ming me. I¡¯m already too busy with taking care of Haohao. Where would I find the time to me her? All children are innocent, ah. I had a servant making that congee because it¡¯s something that Haohao can eat.¡±


    Liu Hanyun unwaveringly red at Xia-<i>shi</i>. ¡°The wet nurse told me that Muyu had given her the bowl. If this food was being made for Haohao, then why would she give it to my wet nurse?¡±


    Muyu paused before kneeling in front of Nie Sangyu and saying, ¡°This servant only had good intentions. This servant saw that Young Master Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s wet nurse hade into the kitchen to get a snack. Thinking that it¡¯s not easy to take care of a baby, and there wasn¡¯t any other food ready to eat in the kitchen at the time, this servant gave her the thick congee and just make another batch.¡±


    Lia Hanyun coldly harrumphed. She stretched her hands out and picked up Xi-<i>er</i>. ¡°The group of you always have an excuse, and it¡¯s always rted to the heir. Since the marquis and Madam will always be biased in favor of you, there¡¯s nothing else for me to say.¡±


    ¡°Hanyun.¡± Ji Man stopped her from leaving. ¡°Don¡¯t get so worked up.¡±


    ¡°Xi-<i>er</i> is already like this. How can I not be upset?¡± Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes were slightly red. She stamped her feet and said, ¡°She¡¯s not an easy person to deal with. Madam, you should be more careful!¡±


    Unwilling to take things lying down, Xia-<i>shi</i> refuted, ¡°You¡¯re acting as if you¡¯re a straightforward person yourself. Is there a single person in this household that¡¯s easy to deal with?¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Liu Hanyun clenched her jaw.


    Marquis Moyu entered the room. Seeing the tense situation in the room, he furrowed his brow and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±

 Chapter 303 - Dogs that bite dont bark (2)

    Chapter 303 ¨C Dogs that bite don¡¯t bark (2)


    Holding Xi-<i>er</i>, Liu Hanyun stayed silent.


    In contrast, Xia-<i>shi</i> walked forward with Haohao and said with an ingratiatingly smile, ¡°Mistress Yun is insisting on not getting along with me. She said that it was my fault that Xi-<i>er</i> ate something that he was allergic to. Marquis, you should be the judge. Haohao is already the heir, why would I want to harm her child?¡±


    After Ning Yuxuan hearing the entire story, he frowned. Looking at Liu Hanyun, he said, ¡°Yun-<i>er</i>, go back to Linghan Courtyard.¡±


    Eyes reddening, Liu Hanyun asked, ¡°My lord, are you really going to be this biased without even clearly investigating the matter?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re one family. What¡¯s there to investigate?¡± Ning Yuxuan walked over and gently gripped Liu Hanyun¡¯s shoulder. In the passing, he nced at Nie Sangyu and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back first and get Xi-<i>er</i> his medicine.¡±


    Ji Man nodded too. ¡°All of the wet nurses need to be more careful in the future. If something like this happens again, you won¡¯t be so easily forgiven like today.¡±


    The two wet nurses nodded.


    Ning Yuxuan herded Liu Hanyun outside, and Ji Man followed after them and left Cailian Courytard too.


    Walking at the front, with an arm around Liu Hanyun¡¯s wait, Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°Why are you making life difficult for Xia-<i>shi</i>? Once Xi-<i>er</i> grows up, I¡¯ll arrange a good future for him too.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Liu Hanyun bitterly smiled and said, ¡°My lord, this servant isn¡¯t try to make her life difficult. If it¡¯s not something that should belong to Xi-<i>er</i>, I won¡¯tpete for it on his behalf. Xia-<i>shi</i> has an unclear background to begin with. Not only is she rude and crude, she¡¯s extremely ambitious. If you always indulge her and never discipline her because of the heir, she¡¯ll continue to be insatiably greedy.¡±


    It was somewhat inevitable that Ji Man would think that Liu Hanyun was like a dog that had bitten someone and wouldn¡¯t let go. Other than being a bit too blunt with her words, Xia-<i>shi</i> hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. Actually, it was very easy for other people to frame her because she wasn¡¯t smart. This was the reason why she and Marquis Moyu were constantly protecting her.


    It was obvious that she and Ning Yuxuan were of the same mind about this matter. And so, extraneous words weren¡¯t needed. After Liu Hanyun was brought back to Linghan Courtyard, a servant girl was sent to make the herbal medicine.


    On the way back to Feiwan Courtyard, Ning Yuxuan turned his head to the side and said to her, ¡°It won¡¯t be long until Mingjie returns.¡±


    It had only been a couple of months since Ning Mingjie had left. This war hadn¡¯tsted long, but who knows how many people had died or been injured. However, based on the war reports, Ning Mingjie had been responsible for many heroic contributions. The veterans in the army had fully epted Ning Mingjie as themander of the army. It was rumored that the troop morale was high, and the soldiers had swore allegiance to him too.


    Shen Bozhong, the assistant general, was Shen Youqing¡¯s, the first princess consort, cousin. During this war, he had also earned credit for his position. As a result, the emperor had even praised the first princess consort and allowed Zhao Zhe to be involved with part of the military affairs.


    In short, after Nie n had paid the consequences of the army having shoddy armory and weaponry, the army suddenly experienced smooth sailing and went on its way to a triumphal song.


    Hearing these words, Ji Man nodded and asked, ¡°My lord, you recently have to protect Nie n too. You must be feeling a lot of pressure, right?¡±


    Nie n continued to meet with problem after problem. As a son-inw of Nie n, he naturally had to help his inws, but there really were too many members in Nie n. He could only protect some of them and not all of them. Because of the Nie n¡¯s ongoing issues, the emperor also felt somewhat displeased with Marquis Moyu. The first prince wanted Marquis Moyu to alienate Nie Sangyu and Nie Chenyu a bit.


    However, while Marquis Moyu had be distant with Nie Sangyu, there were rumors that Nie Chenyu was an exceptional beauty. And so, even at this juncture, Marquis Moyu was still favoring her quite a bit and was even helping ensuring Nie n¡¯s safety for her.


    The imperial noble consort felt quite relieved over this. During the Lantern Festival, she had especially bestowed gifts to Nie Chenyu. And yet, Ji Man faintly thought that Ning Yuxuan was just using Nie Chenyu to be something that would stand out the most and get shot the first.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± He nced at her, then said, ¡°When I was younger, General Nie had helped me too. It was just that I was at Foshan at the time and wasn¡¯t able to plead on his behalf when the emperor made his judgment. Right now, I can only do my best to protect the members of Nie n.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. If Nie Chenyu was the one hearing these words, she would definitely feel extremely overjoyed. She would think that Marquis Moyu loved her so much and was willing to protect Nie n just for her.


    But, with Ning Yuxuan¡¯s remarkable ability in knowing everything that was going on, Ji Man didn¡¯t believe that he had no inkling of what was going to happen before the bubble had burst. He had brought almost his entire household to Foshan and left her behind to deal with matter on her own. And now, he had the nerve to pretend to be innocent?


    Haha.


    ¡°Your older brother seems to be working very hard too.¡± Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and held her hand. ¡°How about inviting him over tomorrow? There are new vacancies in the imperial court. I can help him scheme a n. This will let the other elders in your n feel more at ease too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you my lord.¡± Ji Man nodded and saluted.


    Although this should be a good thing, for an inexplicable reason, her heart kept feeling uneasy. Every day, thepetition between the first prince and third prince was be fiercer and fiercer. If Nie Qingyun was promoted at this time and the third prince failed, would he end up just being a corpse that was put on disy after his execution?


    A gust of wind blew over and she sneezed. Ning Yuxuan gently hugged her and quietly said into her ear, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can¡¯t bear to part with you anymore.¡±


    Thanks. Ji Man secretly rolled her eyes as she epted his hug. ¡°Sangyu believes in my lord.¡±


    After returning to her courtyard and getting a good night¡¯s sleep, Ji Man thought that nothing big would happen until Ning Mingjie returned to the capital. She should take this time to rest up and recharge.


    In the end, she had guessed wrongly. Liu Hanyun and Xia-<i>shi</i> were destined to not get along. Once they were brought together, their fighting would never end.


    ¡°Madam, Mistress Yun fell into water.¡±


    Ji Man felt the beginning of a horrible headache.

 Chapter 304 - Treasure what you have (1)

    Chapter 304 ¨C Treasure what you have (1)


    When she had first supported Liu Hanyun up into the position of honored concubine, she did it in hopes of having a backup. Since the marquis protected Liu Hanyun and Liu Hanyun would feel grateful for her favor, then Liu Hanyun would be inclined to plead on her behalf if she encountered troubleter.


    But, after Liu Hanyun had a child, her previous temperament in notpeting and being content with her lot had changed, and she started to have conflict with Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    Ji Man had a headache just thinking about this, but she still had go over there and resolve this issue.


    Today had been a cold day, and Liu Hanyun had fallen into the garden¡¯s pond. When Ji Man arrived, Liu Hanyun¡¯s face was deathly pale. She was shivering underneath the quilt that was wrapped around her.


    Looking bewildered, Xia-<i>shi</i> was holding Haohao and standing at the side. She kept mumbling, ¡°It wasn¡¯t me.¡±


    The doctor withdrew his hand and said, ¡°Mistress Yun suffered a fright, followed by a chill. Cook ginger soup for her to drink first before preparing her herbal medicine.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head and ordered Dengxin to carry out the doctor¡¯s orders. Then, she somewhat sympathetically looked at Liu Hanyun.


    With chattering teeth, Liu Hanyun red at Xia-<i>shi</i> and said, ¡°Madam, she¡¯s determined to kill me. She deliberately pushed me into the water. Madam, do you believe me or not?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> hastily shook her head. ¡°I was holding Haohao. Why would I go push her? She was the one that insisted on walking forward, squeezing herself onto the bridge, and falling into the water because she wasn¡¯t careful enough.¡±


    Ji Man rubbed her temples. ¡°Could the two of you just stopping bumping into each other?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> innocently said, ¡°I was just taking Haohao out on a stroll.¡±


    Standing at the side, Muyu said with dissatisfaction, ¡°My master didn¡¯t push her. It¡¯s more likely that she wanted to push my master, but wasn¡¯t strong enough and ended up falling down herself.¡±


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s pale face became even paler. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.


    Once again, Haohao was involved. Ji Man didn¡¯t know how handle this matter. She wanted to protect Liu Hanyun, but Liu Hanyun had repeatedly been too tant with her attempts. Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t an idiot. If this matter was to be fairly resolved, there wouldn¡¯t be a good oue for Xia-<i>shi</i> either.


    While she was hesitating on what to do next, Wen Wan had already dragged Ning Yuxuan over.


    Pulling Ning Yuxuan by the hand, Wen Wan clicked her tongue and said, ¡°I heard that something happened to Mistress Yun again. Day after day, there¡¯s no peace.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan walked into the room, sat down by the bed, and looked at Liu Hanyun. Frowning, he said, ¡°Why do you look like this?¡±


    Liu Hanyun opened her eyes. A glimmer of light reappeared in her eyes. ¡°My lord.¡±


    ¡°En, I¡¯m here.¡± Marquis Moyu held her hand, pursed his lips, and said, ¡°You need to be more careful.¡±


    Somewhat stirred up, Liu Hanyun asked with trembling lips, ¡°My lord, do you believe in Hanyun?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused. He nced at the nearby Xia-<i>shi</i>, then said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to think so much. You should focus on getting better first.¡±


    Clenching her jaw and still holding Haohao, Xia-<i>shi</i> knelt down. ¡°Since my lord is here too, I¡¯ll say it as it is. My lord, please have Mistress Yun let me and Haohao off. Haohao is so young, and I don¡¯t know anything, so I can¡¯t protect him well either. If something bad happens, then I¡¯ll have let down my lord.¡±


    Haohao opened his eyes and innocently looked around.


    Ning Yuxuan was silent for a long time before he sighed and turned around to look at Liu Hanyun as he said, ¡°Yun-<i>er</i>, the thing that I promised you won¡¯t change.


    Marquis Moyu gently tucked a wisp of her hair behind her ear and said, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have let you get engulfed into this mess. Let¡¯s go back to before. Staying safely at the edges is the best for you. It¡¯s not easy for you to take care of Xi-<i>er</i>. How about I have the other estate tidied up? And you can go there with Xi-<i>er </i>and live there without worries?¡±


    Liu Hanyun was stunned.


    With her eyes widened in rm, Liu Hanyun was somewhat unwilling to ept this. ¡°My lord... why do you believe in her so much? She¡¯s the one that¡¯s stirring up trouble. Why do I have to be the one that leaves?¡±


    Because Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s child was the heir. It wouldn¡¯t make sense for the heir to go to the other estate and grow up there, right? Ji Man lightly sighed. Liu Hanyun had saved Marquis Moyu¡¯s life once, but saving his life couldn¡¯tpete with the affection that he felt for his child. Ning Yuxuan cared more about keeping and protecting Haohao.


    ¡°Once Xi-<i>er</i> is a bit older, I¡¯ll bring the two of you back.¡± Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze was very gentle he stroked her face and said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯m not doing this to punish you. It¡¯s so that you and Xi-<i>er</i> will be able live without worries.¡±


    Minding only her own business, Xia-<i>shi</i> got up and dusted off her knees with one hand, then she quietly stood to the side while holding Haohao.


    Liu Hanyun nkly looked at Marquis Moyu for a long time, then she suddenlyughed. Everyone else in the room was at loss from her reaction. Clutching the quilt, sheughed so hard that tears came out. ¡°This servant had always thought that the marquis and Madam were clever people that could see through everything and would have never expected that the two of you would be deceived by a peasant. Fine, whatever. Xi-<i>er</i> and I will be able to live morefortably in the other estate anyways.¡±


    After saying this, she pushed away the quilt, stood up, and heavily kowtowed Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan. ¡°My lord, Madam, Hanyun thanks you.¡±


    Ji Man felt her heart slightly dropping. After looking at Hanyun for a while, she still chose to close her eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t like the other estate was in a faraway ce. Hanyun could still be easily brought back to here. And, it was good that she and Xia-<i>shi</i> could be separated.


    Standing by the side, Wen Wan smiled. There was a gloating look in her eyes.


    ¡ª


    As they were leaving Linghan Courtyard, Xia-<i>shi</i> looked around before asking Muyu, ¡°What kind of ce is the other estate?¡±


    Muyu said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s an estate that¡¯s outside the capital. The marquis basically never goes there. It¡¯s worse than being sent to the confinement courtyard. If Young Master Xi-<i>er</i> grows up there, the marquis naturally won¡¯t end up having any affection for him.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> nodded in understanding. As they walked back to Cailian Courtyard, she coaxed Haohao with a gentle voice as she held him in her arms.


    Trantor Ramblings: I wrote a spoiler about Ning Yuxuan¡¯s words and promise to Liu Hanyun in thements below.

 Chapter 305 - Treasure what you have (2)

    Chapter 305 ¨C Treasure what you have (2)


    Liu Hanyun packed up very quickly and was personally sent away by Guibai. Right before her departure, Ji Man went to send her off. Liu Hanyun continued to have a resolute gaze when she looked at her. ¡°Madam, be more guarded against Xia-<i>shi</i>. That peasant woman isn¡¯t a simple character.¡±


    Ji Man started to feel a bit doubtful. Could Xia-<i>shi</i> really be a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing? But, Haohao was already the heir. Even if she wanted topete, what was there for her topete for? It couldn¡¯t be that she wanted her position as the main wife, right?


    For Liu Hanyun to say these words even when she was leaving, Ji Man took her words to heart and observed Xia-<i>shi</i> more.


    ¡ª


    When all was said and done, the struggles in a harem couldn¡¯t bepared to the changes in power in the imperial court. Marquis Moyu really did help Nie Qingyun get a position, as the assistant minister for the Ministry of Rites, and Nie n¡¯s position seemed be more secure. But then, Ning Mingjie returnedter that spring.


    During the war for Jiangdong, Yuzhen had assisted Great Song with fifty thousand soldiers. Under Ning Mingjie¡¯smand, the soldiers had fought beautifully. Compared to the enemy, who had lost forty thousand soldiers, Great Song had done quite well in the number of casualties. There had been a loss of less than twenty thousand soldiers including Han De, who had died in battle. After the enemy troops retreated all the way to Dongshan, they shouldn¡¯t be able to muster up enough forces to attack during the next two years.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Han De is Consort Han¡¯s older brother. Consort Han is the third prince¡¯s favorite consort.)


    Because the emperor was extremely pleased, when he heard the news that Ning Mingjie was returning to the capital, he ordered the empress and the imperial noble consort to work together and have womenfolk, who had family members that were third-rank or higher, to go to the capital¡¯s gate to wee Ning Mingjie.


    On the day when the army returned, numerous civil and military officials were present at the gate, and even the emperor was here as well.


    Since the beginning of this dynasty, there hadn¡¯t been a general that enjoyed such a grand treatment, and Ning Mingjie had only been a temporarymander for the war. Technically, he was only an assistant general. However, after the news of his aplishments during the war had been known, several court officials had presented petitions to the emperor that attributed the victory of the war to Ning Mingjie.


    Standing in the crowd, Ji Man watched as the faraway horses, carrying the dust of travel got closer.


    Ning Mingjie was riding at the forefront. His formerly devastating beauty had long been baptized away by time and had been reced with a robust figure. He urged his horse to the capital¡¯s wall, then he dismounted from his horse and knelt down. ¡°This subject has unfortunately failed in my assigned mission.¡±


    Standing at the top of the capital¡¯s wall, the emperor loudlyughed in response. Eunuchs went down with cups of wine. After Ning Mingjie along with a group of high-ranking military officers all drank the bestowed wine, an imperial edict scroll was unrolled and read aloud by a eunuch.


    ¡°Since this emperor had founded the nation, worthy people have always been rewarded for their meritorious service. As this emperor managed the civil and military officials for this country, this emperor hase to a conclusion. My subjects should strive to be altruistic and loyally toil away for the nation. Not only have you aplished meritorious service, you fulfilled your role as themander very well. Therefore, continue to disy and cultivate your talents. Be a dependable...¡±


    To put the voluminously speech in simpler terms, this was the emperor¡¯s way of saying that Ning Mingjie had done a pretty good job with his group scuffle, his strategizing was good too, and he also had great courage and insight. He had proven himself more than adequate to be the Zhenyuan General. And, the emperor will continue to rely on Ning Mingjie to fight for him, seize more territory, and pacify the world.


    This was how the position of Zhenyuan General fell onto Ning Mingjie¡¯s head.


    Ji Man felt a bit fearful.


    There was no need to go over the rewards that were bestowed to the other military officials afterwards. Since the solders had returned triumphantly, there would naturally be a celebration banquet at the pce.


    Although Marquis Moyu brought her along, once they arrived, he was pulled away by a group of officials to drink wine with them. He only had time to turn his head and briefly look at her before disappearing into the crowd.


    Ji Man was left standing by Nie Qingyun¡¯s side as he slowly drank wine.


    ¡°Older brother, are you tired?¡± Ji Man turned her head and looked at him with concern.


    Nie Qingyun looked quite haggard. She could even see that he had strands of white hair now.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± He lightly smiled and looked at her. ¡°I can still bear it.¡±


    The burden of supporting Nie n wasn¡¯t light. Who knows how much energy and thought went into being the pir of Nie n?


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Older brother, do you know how Errong has been doing?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Ning Qingyun¡¯s eyes slightly dimmed. ¡°She should be living a pretty good life in Jing Province.¡±


    Pretty well? Ji Man pressed her lips together. Compared to a woman getting divorced in modern-day, it was much harder to be a divorced woman in ancient times. Living with the ckened reputation of a woman that had been discarded, how could Errong possibly be living a pretty good life? Even now, she couldn¡¯t understand why these two people had chosen to divorce.


    ¡°Older brother, are you really nning on not getting back together with Errong?¡±


    Nie Qingyun tilted his head and looked at the sky. He lightly curved his lips and said, ¡°The heart yearns, but life frequently doesn¡¯t follow the desires of people. Sangyu, treasure what you have.¡±


    Treasure? What was there for her to treasure? Was she supposed to treasure Marquis Moyu, who had a harem of women, or the never-ending drama caused by the women in his harem?


    Ji Man sighed. Suddenly, she heard a group of people teasing someone. Ji Man turned her head to the side to look and saw that Ning Mingjie was surrounded by a group of officials.


    ¡°I heard a while ago that General Ning has someone in his heart. Who exactly is she? How about sharing her name with us?¡±


    ¡°Ah, how long have you been using this? It looks so old.¡±


    Slightly stunned, Ji Man furrowed her brows and looked at that group. Someone had snatched Ning Mingjie¡¯s handkerchief and was holding it up high for everyone to see. It was a light blue handkerchief that was embroidered with snow-capped mountains.


    Ning Mingjie was slightly annoyed. He grabbed the handkerchief back and tucked it away. ¡°There¡¯s no need for anyone to concern themselves.¡±


    Next to him, the third prince said with a smile, ¡°And here I was, worried that you were mad at me over that matter with Qian-<i>er</i>. As it turns out, I actually did you a big favor. Who gave you this handkerchief? I¡¯m really curious. Which woman is so fortunate?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan also looked over in that direction. When he got a clear look of that handkerchief, he finally put down his wine cup, stood up, and walked over to Nie Sangyu¡¯s side.


    With a serious expression, he asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t it tiring to keep standing here?¡±


    Ji Man withdrew her gaze, shrugged, and said, ¡°I want to talk with my older brother for a bit.¡±


    Nie Qingyun and Ning Yuxuan nodded to each other, as if they were wordlesslymunicating. Pulling on her wrist, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Keep mepany. I feel sort of drunk. Let¡¯s go outside and take a stroll together.¡±

 Chapter 306 - The last chance (1)

    Chapter 306 ¨C Thest chance (1)


    Before she could make head or tail of it, Ji Man was pulled outside.


    Standing in the crowd of people, Ning Mingjie finally let out a sigh of relief. As he saw that person walking farther away from his peripheral vision, his expression became more rxed. ¡°The third prince and his princess consort have an extremely good rtionship. Mingjie will respectfully offer a toast to the third prince and his princess consort. May the two of you live to an old age in marital bliss.¡±


    The third prince loudlyughed. He took a cup of wine and drank it in one gulp. Standing next to him, Zhao Qian wasn¡¯t smiling much. Her eyes were filled with sadness and resentment as she looked at Ning Mingjie.


    ¡ª


    A pce garden was naturally much more beautiful than the ones outside of the pce. Ji Man silently stood with Ning Yuxuan by a pond. It happened to be dusk right now. Although they weren¡¯t talking, it felt pretty nice just standing here.


    Marquis Moyu suddenly broke the silence by saying, ¡°Mingjie has aplished great achievements this time. The emperor will definitely want to bestow a marriage to him.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded, that sounded reasonable.


    Turning his head to the side to nce at the person next to him, Ning Yuxuan slightly pursed his lips. ¡°He wants to promote Luoqi to the position of an honored concubine. I heard that their child is already a few months old.¡±


    ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Ji Man nodded again. She had already heard about this.


    ¡°This means that he¡¯ll also have a harem one day.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t this true for all men in the ancient times? Confused, Ji Man nced at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°So?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan opened and closed his mouth. Looking at this woman¡¯s undisturbed gaze, he felt as if his heart had let out a sigh of relief. He snorted at himself.


    Why had he been so worried? This woman simply didn¡¯t have a heart.


    ¡°My lord, what was it that you want to say?¡± Ji Man blinked as she looked at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing important. I just won¡¯t have time to visit you in the uing days. Stay in Feiwan Courtyard. Don¡¯t get up to anything while I¡¯m not there,¡± Ning Yuxuan friendly suggested.


    If you¡¯re going to share a spoiler, do a more thorough job. Why bother telling it if you¡¯re going to continue concealing part of it? Ji Man felt very dissatisfied, but when she reconsidered it again, she thought it was already pretty good that he was willing to give her advance notice that something was going to happen.


    ¡ª


    Right now, it was a tricky matter to understand Ning Mingjie¡¯s position. On the surface, it seemed that he was still loyal to the third prince. And yet, with Prince Gong¡¯s daughter between them, there was bound to be a slight estrangement. The third prince mistakenly believed that as long as he put forth some effort and time, he would be able to slowly draw Ning Mingjie back to his side again.


    ¡ª


    While Ji Man obediently listened to Marquis Moyu¡¯s words, Nie Chenyu seemed have gotten some hidden information too. Thinking that she could rely on the imperial noble consort to support her, Nie Chenyu thought she had endless opportunities. She tried all sorts of tricks on Ning Yuxuan such as dancing to seduce him and drugging him with aphrodisiac drugs.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t avoid her and epted all of her attempts. He even tantly sought publicity by frequently taking Nie Chenyu outside to look at colorednterns and stroll around the markets at night. It was all very romantic.


    ¡ª


    Sooner orter, this day was bound toe; the emperor fell seriously ill, and a prince had to be named as his heir. Once there was a crown prince again, the situation in the imperial court would be clear. And naturally, arge group of people had to be sacrificed, and a great wave of people would rise up as well. In the middle of all this, the members of each of the prince¡¯s maternal n would be implicated.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t someone that possessed remarkable abilities. She could only sit and wait as the changes unfolded. As Nie Qingyun rushed about and was deeply troubled, Ji Man could only help him by giving him banknotes using Errong¡¯s name.


    While the imperial court was undergoing change, money was naturally a resource that needed to be used for bribes. Ji Man took the savings she had kept with Miss Shui and gave it Nie Qingyun by saying that Errong had given this to her.


    As a result, Nie Qingyun refused to ept the money and even intensely questioned her on why Errong would have so much money. Unable to fabricate a good excuse, Ji Man could only tell Nie Qingyun about her private business.


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s face became deathly pale. Squeezing her shoulder, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the money. You have to quickly sever your rtionship with that shopkeeper. As for everything else that she¡¯s keeping for you, just treat it as giving her a gift. It¡¯s more important to ensure your safety.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and nned on finding a day to visit Miss Shui to discuss this matter.


    However, before she had time, the emperor¡¯s illness rapidly took a turn for the worst. It had only been a few days ago when she heard the news of the emperor¡¯s illness.


    Two days after her conversation with Nie Qingyun, the death bells tolled inside the pce. The court officialsmented to the Heavens and uttered cries of anguish. Why? It was because the emperor hadn¡¯t chosen a crown prince yet!


    The struggle between the empress¡¯s faction and the imperial noble consort¡¯s faction formally started. On one side, there was the empress, who said that the oldest son should be the next emperor. On the other side, there was the imperial noble consort, who had always been favored by the emperor and said that she had a posthumous imperial edict written by thete emperor.


    Since the imperial noble consort had the posthumous imperial edict, it naturally didn¡¯t even need to be said what was written in the edict. The two factions shed, and countless people became embroiled. However, at the end, Ning Mingjie and Marquis Moyu, who led a group of old court officials, escorted the third prince onto the throne.


    The empress and the imperial noble consort were respectfully given the titles Renxiao Dowager Empress and Huizhuan Dowager Empress, respectively. The first prince was conferred a title and would be sent away to his new fiedom, Yidu.


    This was the public news that Ji Man heard, but she didn¡¯t know about the stormy behind the scenes development. She only knew that Zhao Jue¡¯s wish had been fulfilled; he had ascended the throne. He granted a general pardon to the opposing side as well as dering Nie Qingyun, Marquis Moyu, and Ning Mingjie as officials that had performed outstanding services. They were given a lot of deferential treatment and bestowed countless gifts.


    As Zhao Zhe peacefully departed for his fiefdom with his princess consort and the rest of his harem, he looked extremely unfettered.


    It was as if there had been warning rumbles of a thunderstorm and you had already taken your clothes off the drying line and checked that drainpipe was working, but then after only a light drizzle, spring had arrived.


    It was difficult to ept this oue. The emperor had died too simply. What happened to the usual drama of forcing the emperor to abdicate? How could the first prince magnanimously let Zhao Jue be the emperor?


    Still, after the third prince became the emperor, Ji Man received a ton of benefits. As the new emperor¡¯s younger cousin, she was on the same level of titled prince¡¯s daughter.


    Like a withered tree that was experiencing spring, Nie n had gotten a new lease on life. Nie Xiangyuan also received the new emperor¡¯s favor and decided to return to the capital to resume being an official.


    Sighing with emotion, Ji Man thought; fate had been changed.

 Chapter 307 - The last chance (1)

    Chapter 307 ¨C Thest chance (1)


    Suddenly, one night, just when she was about to fall asleep, Ning Yuxuan rushed into her room, scooped her up from her bed, and covered her mouth before she had time to scream. Frantically dashing the entire way, he brought her to a carriage that was waiting outside. She almost ended up puking her guts out from being carried like that. Dengxin and packed bundles were waiting inside the carriage.


    ¡ª


    When the carriage finally stopped, she saw that she had been brought to a small, barren vige.


    ¡°Madam, please stay here for a while.¡± Guibai took the packed bundles down from the carriage and led her and Dengxin to a quiet courtyard in a farmer¡¯s home.


    Ji Man nkly nodded.


    ¡ª


    Two dayster, Dengxin brought news back that the second prince had revolted.


    The second prince, Zhao Li, had been born with crippled legs. The most fortunate event that happened to him was marrying the Yuzhen princess, Pengyue. Not only did Pengyue get him a titled prince position, she helped him by borrowing soldiers from Yuzhen to kill Zhao Jue, the unfilial person that had killed his own father.


    Actually, to describe what had happened frankly, the second prince had kept a low profile for many years. The former third prince had recently prevailed over the first prince, and both sides had suffered losses. While the former third prince had his guard lowered in the midst of his happiness, Zhao Li had brought soldiers to the capital by using the excuse ofing back to congratte the new emperor.


    Slightly furrowing her brow, Ji Man asked, ¡°How¡¯s the marquis doing?¡±


    Dengxin shook her head. ¡°The situation is very chaotic over there. This servant doesn¡¯t know how the marquis is doing either.¡±


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s heart stirred restlessly in worry. Ji Man ced a hand to cover it for her. Frowning, she told her, ¡°Your man is a cunning nine-tail fox. Nothing will happen to him.¡±


    ¡ª


    Half a monthter, people finally came from the capital and brought her back to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate.


    However, the people that came for her weren¡¯t servants from the marquis¡¯s estate. It was officers and soldiers.


    ¡ª


    For some reason, when Ji Man looked at the wheelchair in the middle of the courtyard, and Pengyue, who was standing next to it, she surprisingly felt less unsettled.


    Marquis Moyu, who was sitting in a chair without the slightest injury, looked down at her, who was kneeling on the ground.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu, do you admit to your crime?¡±


    Ji Man asked with a smile, ¡°What is the crime this time?¡±


    Qi Siling was standing to the side and holding a tall stack of ount books. She knelt down next to her, ced the ount books on the ground, and kowtowed. ¡°Your Highness, please examine these records. These ount books show the monthly receipts from her business. This servant felt very fearful when she saw this. Nie Sangyu colluded with merchants and used the huge profits from her collusion to help the third prince bribe the court officials. There¡¯s conclusive proof that thete Emperor¡¯s posthumous edict had been tampered with. ¡±


    Zhao Li faintly smiled and gestured for a servant to bring one of the ount books to him. He gave the book a cursory look, then said, ¡°It¡¯s true that merchants are allowed to earnrge profits, but isn¡¯t there a rule in Great Song that a woman from an official¡¯s family isn¡¯t allowed to engage in business? Moreover, the amount of bribery that you¡¯re suspect of is really too big. Ai, the punishment for this might have to be the nine familial exterminations.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart felt cold. She nced at Qi Siling.


    The corners of Qi Siling¡¯s lips were showing a victor¡¯s smile, but her eyes were looking up at the second prince instead of her.


    In a neutral tone, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Nie Sangyu isn¡¯t that clever. She just gave the money to Nie Qingyun. Nie Qingyun won¡¯t contest to that charge either. Your Highness, if the punishment is going to be nine familial exterminations, then Yuxuan won¡¯t be able to avoid it either.¡±


    Zhao Li said with a smile, ¡°I was just joking with you. Why are you treating my words so seriously, ah? Before we came here, Pengyue already talked with me. She said that no matter what, Nie Sangyu¡¯s life had to be spared. Naturally, I¡¯ll listen to her words.¡±


    Pengyue nodded. She took a few steps forward and helped Nie Sangyu up. ¡°I gave my whip to older sister Sangyu, and I haven¡¯t taken it back.¡±


    Ji Man curved her lips and saluted, ¡°Your Highness, thank you.¡±


    From the beginning, she had been put into a terrible set of circumstances, so she wasn¡¯t surprised to see a spider finallying out and opening its mouth. She was just surprised to see that the spider had turned out be the second prince.


    ¡°Still, she hadmitted such a serious crime. She can¡¯t just be left off without a punishment. Yuxuan, what do you think should be done?¡± The second prince lightly said, ¡°I can¡¯t bear to do anything to you, the wonderful court official that personally opened the capital¡¯s gates for me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes and effortlessly said, ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to divorce Nie Sangyu for a long time. Your Highness, aren¡¯t you handing Yuxuan the perfect opportunity to do so? As for Chenyu, what should I do? I¡¯m a bit unwilling to part with her.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Li stroked the jade ring around his thumb. He lightly smiled and said, ¡°Yuxuan, you should know that I don¡¯t like people that are loyal to my third brother. Since Nie Sangyu is someone that you want to divorce, I can overlook her. After all, she¡¯s your wife. However, Nie Chenyu is only a concubine. Yuxuan, are you going to protect her too?¡±


    Marquis Moyu sighed and said, ¡°Never mind. Your Highness, you can deal with her as you wish.¡±


    Instead of answering him, Zhao Li turned his head and looked at her with a knowing smile, ¡°Oh, right, I almost forgot. My clever third brother along with all the members of Nie n is going to be executed for the crime of treason. You¡¯re going to be the only survivor. Want to go watch that lively show?¡±


    With a sinking heart, Ji Man looked at this smiling person in shock.


    Executed? Who was going to be executed?


    ¡°Yuxuan, since we happened to be going the same way, how about having Pengyue go with the two of you?


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± The smile on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face had disappeared. His lips were pressed together, and his brow was slightly furrowed.


    Zhao Li turned his head to the side to look at him and asked, ¡°Unwilling to part with her?¡±


    Marquis Moyu took a deep breath and shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s just that the carriage will be too cramped.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± Pushing the wheels on his wheelchair, Zhao Li said with a smile, ¡°This will be thest time the two of you will have a chance to share a carriage as husband and wife.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: If Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t ordered the capital¡¯s gates to be opened, someone else could have done it instead. If there wasn¡¯t a peaceful surrender, I wonder how high the casualty count would have been if there had been a drawn out battle? Even if the second prince had lost this battle, what would happen if Yuzhen dered war on Great Song when the country is already weak from their recent war?

 Chapter 308 - From now on, theres nothing between the two of us (1)

    Chapter 308 ¨C From now on, there¡¯s nothing between the two of us (1)


    There was a rumble of thunder from the sky. It was only now that the downpour of rain had truly started.


    Ji Man numbly followed Ning Yuxuan. He didn¡¯t look back as he led her to the carriage that would take them to execution grounds.


    When the carriage¡¯s curtain was put down, they were the only two people inside. With only the sound of the rain falling onto the top of the carriage, the atmosphere felt very stifled.


    After a long time had passed, Ji Man broke the silence to ask, ¡°My lord, have you always been helping the second prince?¡±


    Marquis Moyu slightly turned his head to look at her. He lightly smiled and said, ¡°Where does the issue of helping a certain person or note into y? As a government official, Yuxuan¡¯s duty is to assist the person on the throne.¡±


    When the first prince had been the crown prince, he had done his best to help him. If it turned out that the third prince would be the emperor, then he would help the third prince instead. However, he had taken stock of the matter and felt that Zhao Jie wouldn¡¯t be able securely maintain his position as the emperor, so he had personally opened the capital¡¯s gates for Zhao Li so that he could enter the capital.


    If the deceased Qian Lianxue were to be described as two-faced spy, then Ning Yuxuan would be a salesman that had an unknown number of faces. She had thought that he was trying to remain equilibrium with two sides, but as it turned out, there had been three sides.


    He was a pragmatic person that knew how to steer the rudder perfectly in the face of ever-changing winds. Ji Man thought it was only to be expected that he would be able to save himself as well as everyone else in his household during this turbulent situation.


    With his gaze on the carriage¡¯s curtain, Ning Yuxuan very calmly said, ¡°After we go to the execution grounds, you should leave with Guibai. He¡¯ll arrange a ce for you.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s brain hadn¡¯t recovered yet. She hadn¡¯t given thought to what would be waiting for her in the near future, so she only quietly nodded.


    Ning Yuxuan finally turned his head back to look at her. ¡°Do you still not have anything that you want to say to me?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°My lord, do you have anything that you want to say to Sangyu?¡±


    After a long pause, with the sound of the rain getting heavier and heavier, Ning Yuxuan said in a neutral tone, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Xia-<i>shi</i> and Haohao. Nothing will happen to Hanyun and Xi-<i>er</i> either.¡±


    What the f***? This was already the scene of their parting, and he was listing out his women and children? The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched before she chuckled and said, ¡°May my lord live to a hundred years old and have enough to descendants to fill a hall.¡±


    Marquis Moyu deeply looked at her before pursing his lips and saying, ¡°Big Meow is still in your courtyard. I¡¯ll take good care of it too.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Thanks.¡± Ji Man really would miss that fellow. However, after going to the execution grounds, she had no idea what her future would look like. It was already going to be a problem to support herself, much less a toddy cat too.


    It felt as if this carriage ride had been very long. When they finally arrived, Ning Yuxuan got down from the carriage first, opened an umbre, and helped her down from the carriage.


    Although there was an rmingly heavy rainstorm, this hadn¡¯t diminished the number of people at the execution grounds. They had on woven rush coats or were using umbres. In the nearby audience stands, the seats were filled with court officials and their wives. They were dressed quite magnificently. Sitting in center stand, where the officials would be supervising the execution, there was Ning Mingjie.


    In front of them, the second prince turned around and said with a smile, ¡°Sangyu, how about you go up there and sit at the closest stand to watch the execution? Since you¡¯ll still be living on for Nie n, they¡¯ll feel more at ease.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s steps stiffened. She nodded and left the protective cover of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s umbre and headed towards the curtains of rain.


    ¡°Sangyu...¡±


    There were over a hundred people kneeling on the execution ground. The third prince was at the forefront, and he hadn¡¯t been tied up. The public thought that the second prince felt brotherly affection for his younger brother. And so, he would be allowed death by poisoned wine instead of being beheaded. As for the people behind the third prince, they were either his confidants or members of Nie n.


    As soon as Ji Man turned her head, she saw Nie Xiangyuan and Nie Qingyun. They were right behind the third prince and had raised their heads to look at her.


    Feeling as if her heart was being tightly clenched, Ji Man couldn¡¯t take another step. She numbly stood in the pouring rain and let the rainstorm drench her from head to toe.


    Chen-<i>shi</i> and Nie Chenyu were kneeling in the center of the group. As soon as Nie Chenyu saw Marquis Moyu, she kept crying, ¡°My lord, my lord... why won¡¯t you save Chenyu? Why won¡¯t you save Chenyu?¡±


    Chen-<i>shi</i> cried to the point that her entire body was shaking. Desperately leaning against Nie Xiangyuan, she loudly mumbled, ¡°Old Master, Old Master.¡±


    Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯t said a single word, but when he saw her, there was surprisingly a relieved look in his eyes. He faintly smiled and closed his eyes.


    From a distance, Ning Yuxuan looked at the person standing in the rain. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°Sangyu, go over there. Sit down next to Mingjie.¡±


    Ji Man wanted to reply, ¡°Okay.¡± But, when she opened her mouth, only a sob came out.


    She was just an outsider. She should have already gotten used to seeing people in this novel dying. So why? Why did she feel so pained and wretched right now?


    She absent-mindedly remembered that not long ago, when she had first visited Nie Residence, Nie Xiangyuan had gently stroked her hair as he said that if she was suffering any grievances, she could juste home. She also remembered the first time she met Nie Qingyun. He had been standing by her bed as she pretended to be unconscious. He reproachfully looked at Marquis Moyu as he questioned what had happened to her. They were thest two remaining people that treated Nie Sangyu the best, were they really going to depart from this world too?


    From all sides, a feeling of boundless desteness and loneliness pressed down on her. With a pale face, Ji Man slowly turned around.


    In the midst of the battering sound of the heavy rain as it hit the ground, she heard the sound of crying welling up inside her. That was probably Nie Sangyu, who was crying as if her heart was being torn into pieces. Ji Man wanted to smile. Did her arrival help Nie Sangyu or had it only brought her pain? At the very least, when Nie Sangyu had originally died, her family members had all been alive then.


    As she half-fell and half-crumpled onto a stool, she sensed the person next to her looking at her. Ji Man faintly smiled. Her gaze was unfocused as she said, ¡°I¡¯m so lucky. I get to be the only survivor.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Tiny spoiler for the next chapter part since chapter part 308 and 309 were originally one chapter. Nie Qingyun will be saved from execution.


    When I first read this novel, this scene felt so tragic and devastating. Even now, on my third time reading it, Ji Man¡¯s grief feels so palpably heartbreaking. But other than Nie Xiangyuan (who I argue isn¡¯t a very good person) and Nie Qingyun (who will be saved), Nie Sangyu and Ji Man weren¡¯t close to anyone else in her family. Since the beginning, Ji Man described Nie Residence as a dangerousir of vipers. It says a lot that she would rather put with the craziness of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s harem rather than get a divorce and live with Nie Sangyu¡¯s maiden family.


    Is Ji Man ming herself? If she hadn¡¯t helped Noble Consort Nie with her pregnancy, and the third prince hadn¡¯t be emperor, the rest of Nie n might be safe right now. It might have been the empress¡¯s family on the execution ground instead. But, there were so many other factors and other points that could have diverted Nie n¡¯s extermination. Ji Man is just one person.


    Anyways, if anything, the death of Nie n finally frees Ji Man from the shackles of Nie Sangyu¡¯s family and having to be her. Ji Man spends the entirety of book 1 trying to seed as Nie Sangyu, but it was simply impossible for Sangyu to get what she wanted as the daughter of Nie n.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 309 - From now on, theres nothing between the two of us (2)

    Chapter 309 ¨C From now on, there¡¯s nothing between the two of us (2)


    Ning Mingjie slightly pursed his lips. He gestured with his hand for Changshan to bring his cloak over, then he draped his cloak over her.


    On the third level of the stands, the second prince showed an amused look in his eyes. There was a hint of exhaustion on Pengyue¡¯s face as she pushed his wheelchair forward.


    ¡°Should we really allow her to remain?¡± Zhao Li lightly said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to allow that woman to keep living. She¡¯s too clever.¡±


    It was if Pengyue had been jolted awake by his words. With an unhappy expression, she said, ¡°Back then, we agreed that we would help her one time. A mere woman can¡¯t overturn the heavens. What¡¯s the big deal in letting her live? Ah Li, a good person wouldn¡¯t turn around and return kindness with enmity.¡±


    Zhao Li lightly harrumphed. He looked at her in askance and said, ¡°You¡¯re too soft-hearted.¡±


    Still, in the end, he tightly gripped Pengyue¡¯s hand.


    Marquis Moyu was sitting on the second level of the stands with other people and quietly waiting for 11:00 AM. As soon as that hour arrived, it would be time for the third prince and his supporters topletely disappear.


    Ji Man was also silently waiting. It seemed as if there was someone next to her that was trying to talk with her, but she didn¡¯t hear that person¡¯s words at all.


    From far away, there seemed to be the sound of a carriage rushing over here. It was an unseemly scene as the carriage sshed through all the puddles on the way here.


    As soon as the carriage had stopped, a married woman with a slightly protruding belly hastily came down from the carriage. Holding an item in her hand, she knelt down right in front of the execution ground and shouted, ¡°Ning Errong requests to speak with His Highness, the second prince!¡±


    ¡°Errong!¡± Startled, Ning Mingjie stood up and wanted to go down, but then he nced at the stand behind him.


    With a stubborn expression, Ning Errong stayed kneeling in the puddle. With her head held high, she unrolled the imperial edict that she had been holding in her hand. ¡°Ning n is willing to use the pardon that thete emperor had bestowed onto our n for the life of Errong¡¯s unborn child¡¯s father!¡±


    The viewing stands were in an uproar. Ning Yuxuan had also stood up. Nie Qingyun¡¯s expression also finally changed, and he straightened his kneeling position as he furiously said, ¡°No matter what position I fall to, I don¡¯t need a woman toe here to save me! Moreover, we had already divorced. There¡¯s nothing connecting us...¡±


    ¡°Does the baby in my belly not count as a connection?¡± Ning Errong lightlyughed. The falling rain had drenched her hair and caused some of it to stick to her face. She turned her head to look at him and said, ¡°Do you think I want to save a faithless man like you? It¡¯s only because I don¡¯t want my unborn baby to have difficult days in the future, that¡¯s the only reason why I would want a man like you.¡±


    Ning Mingjie deeply furrowed his brow. Changshan, who had originally been standing by his side, had already gone over and was holding an umbre above her head.


    Looking at Errong¡¯s belly, Nie Qingyun showed an especially vexed expression. ¡°What are you doing...¡±


    ¡°Whatever you do, I¡¯ll do it too.¡± Ning Errong pursed her lips and turned her head to look at the viewing stands. ¡°This subject will audaciously ask the second prince a question. In your eyes, does an imperial edict from thete emperor still count?¡±


    Back when Marquis Jingwen had aplished a great meritorious service, thete emperor had bestowed an imperial edict that could be used at anytime to absolve one person of his or her crime. It was the equivalent to a ¡®get out of jail free¡¯ card. Marquis Jingwen had always treated the scroll that the imperial edict had been written on as a treasure. No one would have expected that Errong would be able to get her hands on it.


    The second prince had been able to pulled Zhao Jue down withoutplications because he had used the excuse that he was getting revenge for thete emperor. He used the third prince of patricide, and he had seed in one fell swoop by using the pressure of public opinion as well as coordinating outside and inside offenses.


    But now, Ning Errong was asking if he would honor thete emperor¡¯s intentions.


    And so, of course, he had to honor thete emperor¡¯s wishes. Zhao Li had Pengyue push his wheelchair down to the ground level, and he personally took the imperial edict from Ning Errong. Smiling, he said, ¡°As a pregnant woman, you need to be careful. Don¡¯t let yourself catch a cold from being exposed to chilly weather. If you want to exchange this imperial edict for Nie Qingyun¡¯s life, you can do so. But, everyone else¡¯s life can¡¯t be saved.¡±


    Ning Errongughed and said, ¡°Errong just want her future child to have a father. Why would Errong care about the other people?¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± The second prince gave the imperial edict to Pengyue for safekeeping and looked at Nie Qingyun as he said, ¡°So, what do you think about me sending him to Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate so that he can be a servant there?¡±


    Nie Qingyun was shocked, and Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s eyes were full of hate as he looked at Zhao Li.


    Errong lowered her eyes and agreed, ¡°Sure. Thank you, Your Highness.¡±


    Ji Man nkly watched this scene. She watched as Nie Qingyun was forcefully led out of the group of people and stayed restrained on the side. Errong wasn¡¯t standing far from him. Neither of them looked at each other.


    Soon after, the drums were struck. 11:00 AM had arrived.


    ¡°No one else ising forward to save anyone else, right?¡± Zhao Li pursed his lips and nced at Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie took a deep breath before throwing a token onto the ground and ordering, ¡°Begin the execution.¡±


    After the poisoned wine was forcefully poured into the third prince¡¯s mouth, the executioner¡¯s de was raised. Nie Xiangyuan closed his eyes.


    The mournful cries seemed to cleave through the horizon, but utter silence returned in the time it would take to burn an incense stick.


    There was only endless red in Ji Man¡¯s eyes. There were heads that rolled in the puddles of rainwater, and she could hear the echoing memory of people yelling their grievances before their deaths.


    ¡°Father -¡± A voice cried out as if her heart was being torn into shreds, but no one could hear her except Ji Man.


    She was the only one that could feel Nie Sangyu¡¯s heart-wrenching pain.


    The second prince smiled as he said, ¡°This is the only possible oue for rebels and traitors. Yuxuan, do you agree?¡±


    From the corner of his eyes, Marquis Moyu looked at the woman, who was sitting nkly. He pursed his lips and nodded. ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°Has the divorce letter been written?¡± Zhao Li looked looked at Ning Yuxuan. Thetter took the divorce letter from his sleeve, walked over, and ced it on herp.


    Ji Man lightly smiled.


    Looking at her with a deep gaze, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°From now on, there¡¯s nothing between the two of us.¡±

 Chapter 310 - Personally handing over the advantageous position (1)

    Chapter 310 ¨C Personally handing over the advantageous position (1)


    Ji Man nodded and picked up the divorce letter. When she raised her head, her eyes were calm as she looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Sangyu thanks my lord.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was slightly startled. He lowered his eyes and clenched his fist. With a lowered voice, he said, ¡°Leave with Guibai.¡±


    Guibai was already standing by a nearby carriage with Dengxin waiting next to him. The rain hadn¡¯t lessened yet, instead it had gotten worse. The rain was heavy enough that the water was overflowing from the execution ground. As Ji Man walked towards the carriage, the stream of bloodied water stained her shoes.


    Ji Man¡¯s mind was somewhat muddled. She really needed to find a ce to have a good rest. A divorced woman, whose family had been destroyed, naturally didn¡¯t have any good options. Nie Sangyu no longer had any value. In a manner of speaking, she was more likely to be considered a harbinger of disaster. So, there was no reason for Ning Yuxuan to want to use her future, that¡¯s why she trusted him and decided to leave the execution ground with Guibai.


    However, at this moment, the crippled and psychopathic second prince looked at the nearby carriage and asked with a smile, ¡°Yuxuan, where are you nning on sending Sangyu?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan returned to his senses. His brow was furrowed as he tried to think of a suitable answer.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    On the side, Ning Mingjie lightly said, ¡°Nie n has perished, and it¡¯s pitiful to see Sangyu orphaned and impoverished. She and Errong are best friends. Could Sangyu be sent to Jing Province as well? This way Errong will have someone to take care of her too.¡±


    Nie Qingyun raised his eyes to look at Ning Errong. Ning Errong protectively clutched her belly, clutched her cloak to herself, and said, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Jing Province is very far from the capital. Your Highness, there¡¯s no reason why you would need to worry about a woman that¡¯s been thrown away by her husband either.¡±


    Holding an umbre over Zhao Li, Pengyue nodded and said, ¡°Errong is such a kind-hearted person. As a pregnant woman, she really does need someone to care for her. Just let Sangyu go with her.¡±


    Zhao Li silently sighed, pursed his lips, and said, ¡°Fine.¡±


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t allow Pengyue¡¯s soft-heartedness, but it was rare for her to request something from him. He couldn¡¯t just flippantly refuse her. Although he verbally agreed, he looked at his nearby bodyguards meaningfully and stroked the dragon-shaped jade essory at his waist.


    Ji Man had inadvertently raised her eyes at this moment and thought that the jade essory looked familiar. Where had she seen it before?


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Ji Man saw a dragon-shaped jade essory in Qian Lianxue¡¯s room in chapter 246.)


    ¡ª


    The corpses of Nie n¡¯s members were dragged away, roughly wrapped with straw mats, taken outside of the capital, and haphazardly tossed into a pile. Because they were judged guilty of the highest official offense, they weren¡¯t even allowed to be buried with their ancestors. Huizhuang Empress Dowager had alreadymitted suicide inside the pce and was given a burial rite in ordance to her status as a member of thete emperor¡¯s harem.


    (T/N: There was a brief mention of Nie Sangyu¡¯s aunt being given the title of Huizhuang Empress Dowager after thete emperor¡¯s death.)


    The third prince was stripped of his imperial status and buried without any rites. His grave marker didn¡¯t even have hisst name carved onto it.


    In the midst of these turbulent changes in the capital, the second prince obtained the emperor¡¯s seal and acted as the temporary ruler. Using thews of the imperial court, he settled past debts. Countless people were imprisoned or exiled. As for certain officials that originally had little status and were ignored, he promoted them into higher ranks.


    Of course, none of these matters had anything to do with Ji Man. In the midst of that heavy rain, Ji Man never looked back as she had got into Errong¡¯s carriage while bring Dengxin along.


    Ning Yuxuan silently watched as the carriage moved farther and farther way.


    Inside the carriage, Errong squeezed her friend¡¯s ice-cold hand and said, ¡°Forget about everything else. You can just live with me in the future.¡±


    Nie Qingyun was still wearing his prison clothing and sitting across from them. His eyes were blood red.


    ¡°How can I forget?¡± Ji Man partially closed her eyes. ¡°Errong, after we find an inn and change out of our wet clothes, I¡¯ll share a carriage with my older brother, and you ride another carriage by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Errong tightened her grip on her hand. ¡°What are you nning?¡±


    Ji Man curved the corners of her lips. ¡°If I was the second prince, I definitely wouldn¡¯t allow any members of Nie n to leave the capital alive.¡±


    Stunned, Errong suddenly became panicky. ¡°He took thete emperor¡¯s imperial edict. He can¡¯t go back on his words, ah.¡±


    ¡°In the face of imperial power, only a muddled-headed idiot would keep his words.¡± Ji Man took a deep breath, then she looked at her and said, ¡°It was outside of my expectations that you woulde here to save my older brother.¡±


    She had originally though that it would be very difficult for Nie Qingyun to escape too.


    Errong nced at Qingyun, then she pursed her lips and said, ¡°He thinks that I¡¯m an idiot. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m someone that doesn¡¯t know anything. At first, I was really sad when I went back to my maiden home, but as soon as my father exined the matter, I understood what Qingyun had been thinking.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°It¡¯s good that the two of you can mutually understand each other. Older brother, you want to keep living too, right?¡±


    Nie Qingyun clenched his fist. ¡°If I don¡¯t keep living, then I wouldn¡¯t be worthy of Erronge from so faraway to save me.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s stop at that inn up front and send the servants to buy clothes for us to change into as well as hiring another carriage.¡± Ji Man squeezed the edge of her thoroughly wet clothes and lightly said, ¡°After that¡¯s done, just follow my n.¡±


    Errong nced at Nie Qingyun in worry. ¡°Nothing bad will happen, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll depend on our luck.¡± Ji Man wryly smiled. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to do something dangerous if we want to escape with our lives. Besides, we don¡¯t have anyone to help us.¡±


    One of the carriage¡¯s wheels suddenly got stuck in a water-filled pothole, and the carriage stopped. While the three people inside this carriage were startled, Dengxin and Baizhi had already gotten off from their carriage and walked to the carriage in the front. Holding up umbres, one of them said, ¡°Masters, please leave the carriage. We have to pull the wheel out of the pothole.¡±


    Ji Man parted the carriage¡¯s curtain to look. There happened to be an unremarkable-looking inn by the carriage. Because of the heavy rain, there weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the streets.


    ¡°Let¡¯s change our clothes here.¡±


    Errong nodded in agreement, and they went inside the inn. They had one of the inn¡¯s staff lead their horses to the stable to get them fed, then they sent him off to purchase another carriage for them.


    Ji Man and Nie Qingyun looked like two bedraggled drowned rats. Fortunately, the innkeeper didn¡¯t ask any curious questions and just led them up the stairs. He even warm-heartedly brought over twomoner outfits for them to change into.

 Chapter 311 - Personally handing over the advantageous position (2)

    Chapter 311 ¨C Personally handing over the advantageous position (2)


    After changing out of her wet clothing, Ji Man sniffled as she nned out their next move. ¡°Once we go downstairs, Errong will board a carriage by herself, and older brother and I will board the carriage at the front. It would be great if there was someone around to help us make the situation more chaotic.¡±


    In their group, only she and Nie Qingyun could be put into one carriage. They were wearing extrayers of clothes and helmets specially fashioned from cotton-padded cloth. At any time, they had to be ready to jump out of the carriage. It would be the best if they could avoid involving Errong any further. When the time came, they could only flee by jumping into a river. She had considered the option of jumping off a cliff, but since they weren¡¯t the female lead, she couldn¡¯t be sure that they would survive.


    Errong still felt that this idea wasn¡¯t very reliable. Just as she was hesitating, they heard their horses making neighing sounds from the inn¡¯s rear courtyard. It seemed as if the horses were being forcefully led somewhere.


    Horse thieves? Shocked, Ji Man hurriedly opened the window to look.


    There were several people standing in the rear courtyard. There were three men dressed as carriage drivers as well as a man wearing coarse clothing. There were also four females. The two women had a married woman¡¯s hairstyle, and the two younger girls were dressed like servants.


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. Why did this configuration look so familiar?


    A stabled had harnessed the horses to the three carriages. A man and a woman boarded the first carriage, the woman with the slightly protruding belly went into the middle carriage, and the two servant girls boarded thest carriage.


    What a coincidence, he had thought of the same n as her. Ji Man drylyughed and pushed open the room¡¯s doors. As expected, Guibai was standing right outside of their room.


    Guibai cupped his hands and said, ¡°Madam, you don¡¯t need to worry. The marquis has already arranged everything. Just wait here until the evening before leaving.¡±


    Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun were both slightly stunned as they looked at Guibai from the doorway. Fortunately, this inn wasn¡¯t busy. The main entryway room was totally empty.


    Ji Man smiled at Guibai and said, ¡°I¡¯m not his wife anymore. Give my thanks to your lord for his great benevolence and mercy.¡±


    Guibai slightly pursed his lips and said, ¡°Actually, the marquis, he...¡±


    ¡°I know. The marquis is still protecting me. Thanks.¡± Even though her face was showing a smile, for some unknown reason, her eyes were still slightly red.


    Protecting Nie Sangyu? Is that why he opened the capital¡¯s gate, ruined all of the third prince¡¯s efforts, and allowed the rest of Nie n to apany the third prince into death? Because he had done such a good job protecting her, if not for Errong, she would have been the only one that didn¡¯t need to kneel in a puddle. She only had sit on the side and watch as her entire family was executed.


    She hated this type of man the most. If he was going to protect her, why couldn¡¯t he have protected everyone else too? If he only protected her and let her entire family die, what kind of lousy method was that?


    It was also because the women in this era were too weak, so the men had the belief that women shouldn¡¯t be involved in anything and should just safely hide behind their backs.


    If this wasn¡¯t their territory, she also wanted to annihte their entire family so that not even a strand of hair was left.


    This entire time, she had been living for the purpose of fulfilling Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish. But now, after witness such a massacre today, Ji Man changed her mind. She wasn¡¯t sure exactly what Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish was anyways, so she might as well fulfill her own wish first.


    Originally, she didn¡¯t have any strong desires of her own. She just wanted to go back to modern-day sooner. But now, there were things that she wanted to do.


    The three carriages left the inn and headed towards outside the capital. Ji Man and the others waited at the inn until the sky had darkened. Then, they followed Guibai down the stairs and exited the inn through a side door. They boarded a veryrge carriage and arrived at a ry station at the outskirts of the capital after the carriage had made many twists and turns.


    Holding Errong¡¯s ice-cold hand to support her, Nie Qingyun slightly pursed his lips and said, ¡°Let¡¯s wait here until tomorrow. We can continue on our way after the rain has stopped.¡±


    Ji Man nodded her head to indicate her agreement. The three people separated into two rooms. They nned on leaving the capital as soon as dawn arrived the next day.


    Inside her room, Ji Man lit amp and waited for someone toe. The rain had already ended, and the window was half-opened.


    When thempwick was half-used up, Ning Yuxuan finally didn¡¯t fail to live up to her expectations. He snuck into her room through the window.


    The man, whose shoulders were slightly wet, walked to her side and softly asked, ¡°Were you waiting for me?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head and looked at him with a beautiful smile. ¡°I knew that my lord woulde.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was slightly stunned. There was surprising twinge of pain in his heart.


    He sat down by her side and poured a cup of warm tea for himself. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel upset?¡±


    A hundred or more members of Nie n had died on the execution ground today. Everyone had been discussing this matter today. He thought that she wouldn¡¯t understand why he would open the capital¡¯s gate for the second prince. He thought that she would hate him right now.


    Looking at Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man stretched her hand out and gently clutched his hand. ¡°Of course, I feel upset. But, it¡¯s only because of the marquis that my life was saved. It¡¯s already very good that I can keep living.¡±


    Nie Sangyu, who had been cool-headed for so long, was now looking at him with reddened eyes and holding his hand. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart slightly moved, and he stretched his other hand out to pull her into his arms.


    ¡°I¡¯ll look for an opportunity to bring you back.¡±


    Ji Man silentlyughed. Her voice was very light as she asked, ¡°My lord, how long do you want Sangyu to wait?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long. Stay with Errong and take care of yourself.¡± Marquis Moyu closed his eyes. ¡°This time, I finally won¡¯t need to let you down.¡±


    All of Nie Sangyu¡¯s supporters¡¯ power had copsed. Right now, Nie Sangyu¡¯s background was even cleaner than what Wen Wan¡¯s had been. Ji Man understood. Previously, because of Nie n, he was very guarded against her and had all sorts of suspicions. He had always been hesitantly apprehensive towards her. But now, all of that was gone. For Ning Yuxuan to be wiling toe here, it clearly meant one thing.


    He had fallen in love with the current Nie Sangyu.


    He had fallen in love with Sangyu, who had been stripped of her family background. In other words, he had personally handed over the advantageous position to her.

 Chapter 312 - Lets start anew (1)

    Chapter 312 ¨C Let¡¯s start anew (1)


    Ji Man lightly leaned against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest. The corners of her lips were curved up.


    Since ancient times, even a hero would be weak against the charms of a beautiful woman. As long as your bedroom skills were good, all men would fall at your feet... Wait, no, that¡¯s wasn¡¯t the right idiom. It should be, as long as you could correctly guess his intentions and thoughts, you could aplish anything.


    Ning Yuxuan was really treating her like an idiot, ah. After Nie n had beenpletely obliterated, did he really believe that she would still want to obediently be part of his harem?


    Her fingers softly slid down and opened his outer robe. Ji Man raised her head and kissed his lips. She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.


    Probably because he wasn¡¯t used to her taking the initiative, Ning Yuxuan was slightly stunned for a moment. Afterwards, he allowed her to push him down onto the bed.


    The rain gradually stopped, and the water falling from the eaves and onto the paved ground slowed to a drip. After a round of love, the feelings between the two people in the room seemed to have grown stronger.


    Draped over Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest, Ji Man twisted a lock of his hair and asked, ¡°My lord, can you say, I love you?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. He closed his eyes and said, ¡°I won¡¯t say those three words.¡±


    Don¡¯t think about leaving.


    Once she recovered from her shock, Ji Man very unhappily pinched his face. ¡°Cheapskate.¡±


    Marquis Moyu let out a small snort ofughter. He gripped her chin towards him and gently kissed her.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man woke up the next morning, she heard Guibai¡¯s voiceing from the hallway. He seemed to be standing by the doors to her room. He reported, ¡°Madam, you can continue your journey without worries now.¡±


    The person by her pillow-side had already left a while ago. After Ji Man finished dressing, she boarded the carriage with everyone else. Before she left her room, she had noticed that someone had put a small bag inside her packed bundle. When she opened the bag, she saw that it contained two worthless trinkets: a concentric knot essory and a ring made of concentric knots. She softly smiled before stuffing the small bag back into the packed bundle.


    Guibai escorted them for a long distance before turning back to return to the capital. Everyone had changed intomoner attire by now. When they stopped at a tea stand on the way to their destination to take a break, they overheard people gossiping.


    ¡°I heard that two carriages with passengers had fallen off a mountain path yesterday.¡±


    ¡°Those carriages were so high up the mountain when they fell. There¡¯s no way they¡¯re still alive now. I heard those three carriages belonged to Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter. How fortunate that only the two of the three carriages fell off the mountain path.¡±


    ¡°Who were the people riding in the fallen carriages?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I heard that the Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter has stopped at a nearby vige. Heh, do you want to go over there and see what she looks like?¡±


    Errong listened with her head lowered. Next to her, Nie Qingyun looked at those people for a few seconds before paying for their tea and leading them back to their carriage to continue on their way.


    As expected, the second prince had no intention of letting them off. Fortunately, Ning Yuxuan had helped them. Otherwise, they would have been the ones that fell off that mountain path.


    Once he heard the news of their deaths, Zhao Li probably wouldn¡¯t concern himself further. After all, he was currently busy with thinking of ways to ascend to the throne and didn¡¯t have the free time to concern himself with other matters.


    Right now, the throne was empty, and the first prince was obediently staying faraway in his fiefdom without making any moves to seize the crown. The fourth prince was still a baby and wouldn¡¯t pose a threat. Zhao Li was just missing an excuse to push him up into the throne. All it took was a few people saying something along the lines of, ¡°Oh no, this country is missing an emperor. The second prince has integrity and talent. Let¡¯s just pick a date and crown him as the emperor.¡±


    However, the second prince still made a few token protests. He said things like, ¡°No, no, no, Li iscking in talent and virtue. I wouldn¡¯t dare ept such a high position.¡±


    After his two attempts at being deliberately contrary, all of the court officials knelt down and pleaded with him to be the emperor. Having his wish fulfilled, Zhao Li pushed himself in his wheelchair to the dragon throne and became the first crippled emperor since the founding of this dynasty.


    Pengyue naturally became the empress, but Zhao Li didn¡¯t take other women as his consorts. It could be counted as Zhao Li not renegading on his earlier promise to her.


    ¡ª


    A monthter, when Ji Man and the others had arrived in Jing Province, the imperial court seemed to have gradually settled down. The remains of the third prince¡¯s faction had been eliminated by now. Originally, they had been worried that Ning Mingjie would be implicated. After all, he used to be clearly on the third prince¡¯s side before. However, for an inexplicable reason, the new emperor was especially trusting towards him. Not only did the new emperor not me him, Zhao Li also bestowed to him, a marriage to a titleddy.


    Marquis Jingwen didn¡¯t need to worry about his son. However, he fretted as he looked at Nie Sangyu and Nie Qingyun. What did they have to do to sessfully keep these two from being discovered? At the very least, Nie Qingyun and Nie Sangyu had to change their names and start their lives anew.


    Actually, the old man was worrying for nothing. Jing Province was very far from the capital. There wouldn¡¯t be anyone here that would recognize them.


    Ji Man simply said, ¡°From today onwards, I¡¯m changing my name to Ji Man. Nie Sangyu had already fallen off a cliff in a carriage.¡±


    Nie Qingyun slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°What about me?¡±


    Ji Man seriously thought before suggesting, ¡°Since we¡¯re siblings, how about Ji Kuai?¡±


    (T/N: <i>Man</i> (Âü) has more than one meaning, and one meaning is long, as in the length of time. <i>Kuai</i> (¿ì) means speedy.)


    The corners of Nie Qingyun¡¯s lips twitched. He seriously shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t like that name.¡±


    ¡°Then, what do you want to be called?¡±


    After seriously pondering it over, he said, ¡°Call me Ji Zhu.¡±


    (T/N: Zhu (Öù) means pir or support.)


    They were all sitting in the hall. Looking at his absolutely sincere expression, they didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. In the past, Qingyun had such an elegant name. But now, were they supposed to call him big pir in the future?


    (T/N: Qingyun can mean clear sky or noble.)


    Ji Man impolitely let a chortle escape. But, as she continued tough, her eyes unexpectedly reddened.


    Ji Zhu (Qingyun¡¯s new name)... <i>jizhu</i> (remember). Of course, she would always remember that scene of overflowing bloody water as well as Nie Xiangyuan¡¯s expression when he died. How could she possibly forget?


    (T/N: Qingyun¡¯s new name (¼¾Öù) is a homophone for remember (¼Çס) in Chinese.)

 Chapter 313 - Lets start anew (2)

    Chapter 313 ¨C Let¡¯s start anew (2)


    Ji Man had already gone out to inquire about the status of Shuji Rouge Store. The formerly, extremely prosperous business that had a store in every province, had closed down. There were rumors that Shuji Rouge Store¡¯s female shopkeeper had been locked away in the imperial prison, and the government had seized all of her property without providing any reason. Regardless, the people here had made their own knockoff versions of cold cream, and there were all sorts of varieties avable.


    After two decades of schooling and hard work, she was bankrupt. She had majored in chemistry in college and knew how to make a couple of chemical products. When she graduated, she could only get a job as a salesperson without any special qualities. Now that she had be unwillingly involved in the struggle for power and didn¡¯t have a source of money, she could only start her struggles for money again.


    Fortunately, her starting point was pretty high. Because everyone else thought she was Marquis Jingwen¡¯s rtive, a lot of things would go smoothly. After thinking over her n over the course of several days, Ji Man clenched her jaw and said to Dengxin, ¡°Bring me a pair of scissors.¡±


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s main estate in the capital.


    After the new emperor ascended to the throne, all sorts of bestowed items were sent to this estate. Many people had tried toe over to ingrate themselves and to try to climb up socially, but Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t want to see them. He had the housekeeper send away all of these visitors for him.


    Liu Hanyun continued to remain in the other estate, so the estate only had Xia-<i>shi</i>, Qi Siling, Mu Shuiqing, and Wen Wan. After he divorced Nie Sangyu, the position of the main wife became empty. Qi Siling and Wen Wan both thought that they should be the one that got promoted to that position. Thus, they were always trying to appear in front of Marquis Moyu.


    Today, Ning Yuxuan was in his study and silently drawing.


    Standing on the side, Mu Shuqing slightly sighed and said, ¡°Who could have imagined this ending? Still, Madam is a sensible person and didn¡¯tsh out at you.¡±


    ¡°Do you really think that she doesn¡¯t resent me at all?¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled and started to paint the facial features for the person in his painting. ¡°Even though she was happily smiling, who knows how upset she was actually feeling? In the past, every time she greeted me with a gentle expression, she was clearly secretly cursing at me.¡±


    Those eyes had always seemed as if they could see through everything. She thought that she had hidden her scorn and disdain very well, but he had clearly seen through her true feelings each time.


    Mu Shuiqing deeply looked at him before pursing her lips and saying, ¡°My lord, there¡¯s still one more year left of your mourning period for Old Madame. Based on the new emperor¡¯s behavior, if you continue to not have a main wife, he¡¯ll definitely bestow a marriage to you as soon as the mourning period ends.¡±


    ¡°En. Who do you think would be a suitable main wife?¡± Marquis Moyu casually asked.


    Mu Shuiqing answered, ¡°Mistress Xia-<i>shi</i> is the heir¡¯s biological mother, but her words and actions are too vulgar. She¡¯s not suitable to be a wife. Mistress Wan has always received my lord¡¯s love, but she¡¯s not asposed as Mistress Ling. It¡¯s only that Mistress Ling...¡±


    Qi Siling had been the one that exposed Nie Sangyu¡¯s business, and the direct cause behind why the marquis had divorced her.


    ¡°She¡¯s not suitable.¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly harrumphed. He embellished the painting with two peonies. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> isn¡¯t suitable either. She can¡¯t manage a household with her easily ruffled emotions.¡±


    ¡°Then, what is my lord¡¯s intention?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan considered before saying, ¡°For now, let¡¯s bring Hanyun back first. I heard that she has a younger cousin in Jing Province that¡¯s an official.¡±


    Mu Shuiqing clearly understood his intention and nodded.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was disguised in a man¡¯s attire and currently sitting on the third floor of the biggest rouge shop in Jing Province. Holding a token that signified she was from Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household, she calmly drunk tea.


    She didn¡¯t have a better option. She needed a way to earn money and selling products for women was the quickest way. This time, she had made eye cream and hand cream. After a lot of trial and error, she had finally produced the cream in these two boxes. At most, these two creams had a minor effect of preserving youthful skin. The crucial point was based on advertisement. Very often, a woman¡¯s skin care products had a subjective effect that was more affected by her expectations than objective reality.


    This time, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t act so foolishly. She was using a male identity to discuss business with Tianxiang¡¯s shopkeeper.


    However, as soon as the shopkeeper saw the token, she said that she had to discuss with her boss first, so Ji Man had been waiting here since then. Perhaps, they were concerned because it was a token from Marquis Jingwen. After all, this was Jing Province.


    After Ji Man had waited for a time long enough to burn an incense stick, the response they gave her wasn¡¯t disappointing. They said that as long as she could supply the goods, they would help her sell the products for a percentage of the profit.


    The owner of the store very amicably said, ¡°It¡¯s only that we have a potential customer. He heard that you¡¯re selling these unusual items and would like to meet with you. He¡¯s called Sir Liu.¡±


    Wearing a professional smile, Ji Man stroked the mustache that she stuck on her face and said, ¡°That¡¯s good too. This one enjoys making new friends.¡±


    The owner of the store nodded, and the shopkeeper went down to call that person upstairs. It didn¡¯t take long for a green-robed man in his twenties to appear. He courteously greeted, ¡°This one is called Liu Rufeng.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She drylyughed and said, ¡°What a good name. This one is Ji Man.¡±


    (T/N: Rufeng means like/as the wind.)


    ¡°Young Lord Ji, you have such a refined appearance. You look like a talented individual. Could we be friends?¡± Liu Rufeng raised his head. His face looked very honest and even had a hint of a schr¡¯s gentleness. ¡°Young Lord, how about we move our conversation to somewhere else? The weather happens to be just right for an outing on theke.¡±


    If a total stranger suddenly ran up to you and said, ¡°Wow, you look really marvelous. Let¡¯s be friends, okay? Want to go on a boat ride with me?¡± Would you go with him?


    Only an idiot would go with him! Ji Man maintained her smile, but she stood up and said, ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to rain soon. How about we take a raincheck on that idea? This one also needs to go back home earlier today.¡±


    Without waiting for Liu Rufeng to reply, Ji Man dashed back to Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate. She didn¡¯t put down her worries until she passed through the front gate. Then, she turned around to look in Tianxiang store¡¯s direction for a while and decided to go ask Errong if she knew Sir Liu.


    However, right after she arrived outside of Errong¡¯s courtyard, she heard two servants gossiping. Their words were especially unpleasant to hear.


    Staying in Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate was basically relying on someone else¡¯s charity. Towards outsiders, Errong said that Ji Man and Ji Zhu were her distant rtives and should be treated respectfully. However, the servants didn¡¯t see these two people as true masters.

 Chapter 314 - It feels so nice to rely on someone’s reputation (1)

    Chapter 314 ¨C It feels so nice to rely on someone¡¯s reputation (1)


    ¡°Why is that Young Lord Ji so close with our <i>junzhu</i>, ah? She¡¯s a pregnant woman.¡±


    (T/N: This was first mentioned in chapter 63, but since this word doesn¡¯te up often, I¡¯m repeating the exnation again. <i>Junzhu</i> is one rank lower than princess. The title of <i>junzhu</i> is usually given to a daughter of a first-rank prince. The title can also be bestowed by the emperor¡¯s decree.)


    ¡°s, Sir Nie has already died. It¡¯s only to be expected that some toad is going to be lusting after our <i>junzhu</i>. He¡¯s just a destitute, insignificant fellow. Of course, he¡¯s going to like our <i>junzhu</i>, who has everything except a husband.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just living off a woman...¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and strode over there. Grinning, she smacked the door that the two servants were leaning against.


    Trembling, the two terrified servants got up. They looked at her getup from top to bottom in bewilderment.


    ¡°Is my older brother inside?¡± Still smiling, Ji Man stuck her lips towards Errong¡¯s room.


    The slightly older servant finally recognized who she was. Cowering, she said, ¡°... Yes.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and raised her foot to continue into the courtyard. Behind her, the two older female servants questionably looked at each other in unison. She didn¡¯t hear their words, right?


    Even half a master still counted as a master. If this Miss Ji held a grudge against them and Young Lord Ji seeded in marrying the j<i>unzhu</i>, wouldn¡¯t they be doomed?


    With an ufortable heart, Ji Man entered Errong¡¯s room and saw that Ji Zhu and Errong were sitting together. The atmosphere seemed a stiff as if they had recently quarreled.


    Errong was pouting. Seeing her friending inside, she gained renewed confidence. Tugging her over, she said, ¡°Sang... Man-<i>er, </i>help me persuade your older brother. He wants to join the army.¡±


    As a fiefdom, Jing Province naturally had its own army. Nie Qingyun had originally been a schrly official, but he had some knowledge of fighting. If he wanted toy down the brush and take up the sword, he possessed the skills to do so. Although it would be arduous, the army was the best ce if you wanted to climb up the ranks.


    Turning her head to look at her older brother, she saw that his expression looked very earnest and without the slightest intention of changing his mind. As soon as he joined the army, he wouldn¡¯t be able to keep Errongpany anymore. Right now, Errong was pregnant, and it was inevitable that she would feel unhappiness towards his decision.


    After hesitating for a while, Ji Man held Errong¡¯s hand as she said, ¡°It¡¯s good that older brother has aspirations of his own.¡±


    Discontent, Errong asked, ¡°Why can¡¯t he just wait for a little bit longer? My pregnancy is already at this point...¡±


    Ji Zhu felt as if he was being put into a difficult position too. He absolutely didn¡¯t want to live by mooching off from a woman. It was exactly because Errong was pregnant that he wanted to quickly establish himself with a career, so that he could marry her again. This way, other people wouldn¡¯t gossip about her behind her back. Moreover, he had a great vengeance to payback.


    Ji Man sighed and said in a neutral tone, ¡°There are times when a woman really needs her man by her side. If those times sh with his aspirations, there¡¯s no point in fighting to the death against something that can¡¯t even be considered a romantic rival. Even if you feel bad, his career rted stuff wouldn¡¯t feel bad. If you want to be a good woman, why don¡¯t you try a different method? Support him more. Know when to advance and retreat with him.¡±


    ¡°How should I support him?¡± Errong frowned. ¡°Once he joins the army, he won¡¯t being back.¡±


    Ji Man poked Errong¡¯s forehead, moved closer, and whispered into her ear, ¡°Even if the army, it¡¯s still Jing Province¡¯s army. Why are you worried that you won¡¯t be able to see my older brother?¡±


    Errong slightly paused as if she had understood something. After doubtfully looking at Ji Man for a while, she finally nodded.


    Ji Zhu let out a sigh of relief, and a small smile finally appeared on his face.


    After Ji Man said a few more reassuring words to Errong, she asked, ¡°Do you know a person called Liu Rufeng?¡±


    ¡°En, I heard my father mention him before,¡± Errong said, ¡°I heard that even though he¡¯s young in age, he¡¯s an expert at dealing with people. He was only twenty or so when he got the position of military supervisor. My father said that he¡¯s a promising youth.¡±


    That type of person was called an expert in deal with people? The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Her eyes turned, and she said, ¡°Does he have a lot of contacts?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Errong nodded. ¡°Why are you asking about him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I met him when I went shopping today.¡± Ji Man stroked her chin as she thought. ¡°I thought he was a lecherous skirt-chaser. It seems that I misunderstood him then.¡±


    When Ji Man had mentioned earlier about the creams that she had made, Errong had been interested. But, since her friend was pregnant, Ji Man didn¡¯t feelfortable with letting her use the products.


    With bright eyes, Ji Man looked at Errong and asked, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, can I invite Sir Liu over here as a guest?¡±


    ¡°Sure, you can invite whoever you want. Besides, not much has been happening in the estate.¡± Errong blinked, then she turned to look at her and said, ¡°Once you¡¯ve made more of these creams, I can invite somedies from noble families over to try them.


    Ji Man agreed. Ah, it was such a nice feeling to have a supporter to rely on. She had originally thought that starting over from scratch would take a lot of effort, but in Jing Province, Marquis Jingwen was the big boss. Relying on this rtionship as well as having Errong rmending her products, her skincare products could directly rise from a grassroots product to a high-end product for the nobility ss.


    As Ji Man calcted how to allocate the rest of her money, she returned to her room to look for Dengxin. Ning Yuxuan had packed banknotes in the bundle he had given her, so she still had plenty of money. After doing a rough mental calction, she set aside part of that money for materials to make the creams and containers to store the finished products as well as another portion that would be used for advertising expenses.


    The next day, Ji Man got up when the sky had just brightened and took Dengxin along with her to the marketce. After three streets, she finally found a female manager for a restaurant. This woman had just gotten up.

 Chapter 315 - It feels so nice to rely on someone’s reputation (2)

    Chapter 315 ¨C It feels so nice to rely on someone¡¯s reputation (2)


    (T/N: The author changed the name of the rouge store from Tianxiang to Mohong.)


    This woman had voluptuously red lips. Just from her stance, Ji Man could see that she was a sharp and bold woman. However, this wasn¡¯t important. The important part was that her skin wasn¡¯t very good. Her dry hands had cracks and calluses. Ji Man gave her a small container of hand cream.


    ¡°What is this?¡± The female restaurateur looked at Ji Man skeptically.


    Smiling, Ji Man brought out Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household token for her. She also took out a flier. ¡°This is a newly released product from Mohong. We¡¯re looking for people to try it. Seeing that you¡¯re such a beautiful woman, it¡¯ll provide us helpful word of mouth advertising if this cream turns out effective for you. That¡¯s why I¡¯m giving you a sample.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t clear if it was because Ji Man was a persuasive speaker or if it was because she was using Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household token, but the female restaurateur happily ept the cream and said that she would definitely use it. After that, Ji Man found a female brother owner, anfemale innkeeper, a female shopkeeper for a fruit store, and other women that would be useful in providing publicity for her products. As soon as each of them saw Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household token, they each happily took the creams and said they would use it.


    Just as she had finished her task and was about to go to Mohong, she bumped into Liu Rufeng again.


    Instead of fleeing in panic like yesterday, she saluted him. ¡°Sir Liu.¡±


    Smiling, Li Rufeng responded in kind. ¡°This one had acted too impudently yesterday.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s this one that failed to recognize your importance,¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°It was only after this one returned home that this one heard from the <i>junzhu</i> that you¡¯re a promising youth and it would be good to make friends with you. This one has only recentlye to Jing Province and though you were...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright.¡± Shaking his fan, Liu Rufeng very gently said, ¡°The weather is good today too. There¡¯s a gathering of schrs at Qianbai today. Brother Ji, would you be interested in going?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. This Liu Rufeng was truly an important person. Could it be that this person wanted to get closer to Marquis Jingwen, so he was being extra helpful to her?


    Ji Man shamelessly said, ¡°It¡¯s so rare to get an invitation from Brother Liu. How could this one refuse? Let¡¯s go then. It¡¯ll be good to widen one¡¯s horizons. It¡¯s okay if my servant girles with us, right?¡±


    Liu Rufeng nced at Dengxin and said with a smile, ¡°Sure. Brother Li, your servant girl is quite pleasing to look at.¡±


    Feeling slightly annoyed, Dengxin kept her head lowered as she followed Ji Man. She didn¡¯t like impetuous people. Unfortunately, it was likely that she would meet plenty of these types of people if she followed her master outside to do business.


    To Dengxin¡¯s surprise, Ji Man pulled her into her arms and grinned. ¡°Isn¡¯t that so? She¡¯s stunningly beautiful, right? Once I¡¯ve saved up enough for bridal gifts, I¡¯m going to marry her.¡±


    With her hair tied up in a jade hair essory and dressed in a masculine ck robe, Ji Man pulled off a convincing image of a Casanova. She was just a bit shorter than the average man. She had painted her eyebrows thicker and pasted on a mustache. Even knowing all this, Dengxin still ended up blushing when her master embraced her.


    Liu Rufeng loudlyughed. He turned his head and said, ¡°Brother Ji, this way please.¡±


    Business had to be done slowly, and people had to be slowly handled too. Ji Man followed Liu Rufeng to Qianbai, and he introduced to her many men that she could coborate with. When they finally left, he even said, ¡°Jing Province isn¡¯t a big ce. Even if you make a fortune here, it won¡¯t be a big fortune. Brother Ji, are you interested in going to the capital?¡±


    Without even considering, Ji Man replied, ¡°Not interested.¡±


    Liu Rufeng was quite surprised. ¡°Why? The capital is the most flourishing ce to be. Brother Ji, if you want to do business, that ce would naturally be the best. Moreover, this one has a couple of friends there too. If you ever need help, feel free to ask me.¡±


    ¡°I want to earn enough tounch a business venture first. Brother Li, thank you for your help today.¡± Ji Man cupped her fist at him. After bidding farewell, she returned to the estate and had Dengxin go buy a work of calligraphy to send to Liu Rufeng¡¯s estate and invite him over to Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate in the passing.


    Having receiving Liu Rufeng¡¯s care, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to repay him with money, so she sent him a gift instead.


    After that, Ji Man hired a group of workers and set up a small workshop outside the city. She started to seriously produce a series of skincare products.


    The capital? She wouldn¡¯t return there unless she absolutely prepared.


    Two monthster, Ji Man finally earned enough money to open a store of her own with its own signboard and no longer needed to sell her products through Mohong.


    Because the creams were new items and only the rich would be able pay well, Ji Man focused on promoting her products to aristocratic families. By borrowing Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household reputation, the sale of the skincare products went increasingly well. Girls from less well-off families would save up their monthly allowance for quite a while just to buy a box of these creams.


    In Jing Province, knockoffs of cold cream had already flooded the marketce and caused the price to drop from several silver taels to only five silver coins. In contrast, these skincare products hadn¡¯t oversaturated the market yet, so these creams could be sold at a price of five to ten silver taels depending on box size. These creams were a revolutionary product for women in ancient times. In addition, an advertising campaign and the refined boxes that these creams came in helped their poprity. For a period of time, all of the older women from aristocratic families in Jing Province used the product.


    Actually, the cost to make one box of cream was only two silver coins.


    (T/N: Ten silver coins is one silver tael.)


    Feminine beauty products were all exorbitantly expensive, but in order to make to make themselves feel better, these women willing allowed themselves to be gouged by these prices.


    After busily working for two months until her business was on track, Ji Man handed over the daily management of her store to Dengxin while she paid visits to various families with Liu Rufeng. During these visits, she presented the hosts with all sorts of novel gifts.


    For a store to do well, there were countless behind-the scenes influences. Originally, Ji Man wasn¡¯t familiar with this type of stuff. Fortunately, Liu Rufeng knew and guided her with one thing after another, so everything went well.


    Very quickly, Ji Man was once again living the life of happily counting her banknotes that came pouring in.


    Errong¡¯s belly was bing bigger and bigger. Ji Zhu had already entered the army. Once Ji Zhu had achieved sess, these two people could be reunited again, right?


    As she was counting her banknotes, Ji Man¡¯s hands paused. She suddenly really wanted to know how Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan were doing right now.


    A servant girl rushed inside. She was so agitated that even her voice had changed as she called out, ¡°Miss Ji.¡±

 Chapter 316

    Chapter 316 ¨C A creature that loves to sprout words about true love, has a lotus heart, and hidden arsenic (1)


    Ji Man calmly and unhurriedly put the money back into a box before raising her head and looking at the servant girl as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The young servant girl was so excited that her cheeks were flushed. Her eyes were glittering as well as showing a teenage girl¡¯s bashfulness. ¡°The heir has returned. The <i>junzhu</i> wants you to go to the receiving room.¡±


    The heir? Surprisingly, Ji Man¡¯s first response was wondering why Haohao was here. A momentter, she realized that the servant girl meant Ning Mingjie had returned.


    She had heard the new emperor had bestowed a marriage to Ning Mingjie. He was now married to Kangyuan <i>Junzhu. </i>For Ning Mingjie to bring his wife to his ancestral home, it meant that the capital had already settled down, and the new emperor didn¡¯t need him remain there to oversee things.


    After thinking it over, Ji Man changed out of her men¡¯s attire before following the servant girl to the receiving room.


    The woman standing next to Ning Mingjie look very much like someone that was above worldly concerns.


    There wasn¡¯t much expression on Ning Mingjie¡¯s face as he listened to his father speak. From time to time, he would nod. Hearing someoneing into the room, he turned his head to look.


    Ji Man had cut her hair a lot shorter than before to make it easier to put her hair into a man¡¯s hairstyle. So now, when she was dressing as a woman, her hair was only long enough for the simplest of hairstyles. She only had one hairpin in her hair, and she had randomly chosen an outfit to change into. She hadn¡¯t applied any makeup either. She could have been mistaken as of the servant girls in the courtyard.


    Ning Mingjie furrowed his brow. Just as he opened his mouth and wanted to say something, Errong tugged Ji Man over and said, ¡°Older brother, do you still remember her? She¡¯s a distant rtive of ours. Her name is Ji Man, and her older brother is Ji Zhu.


    Swallowing down the many words that he wanted to say, Ning Mingjie deeply looked at Ji Man before nodding his head and saying, ¡°En.¡±


    All in all, the point of this visit was Ning Mingjie bringing his wife home to show her to his father. Ji Man had onlye here to take a look. It was enough for her to silently sit by Errong¡¯s side. And yet, seeing Ning Mingjie, she couldn¡¯t help thinking of the token he had tossed onto the ground on that rainy day as well as the dying screams from Nie n¡¯s members.


    There were many things that she hadn¡¯t been able to think through. For example, why had Ning Mingjie been the official that supervised the execution? Out of everyone, why he had been the one that matchmake Pengyue and the second prince together? Why had he been the one that became Zhenyuan General in the end? Furthermore, when the emperor ruthless exterminated Nie n, why hadn¡¯t Ning n been implicated at all? When all was said and done, these two ns had once been rtives by marriage.


    Because these messy thoughts were running amok in her head, Ji Man inevitably showed an unpleasant expression.


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had already respectfully offered Marquis Jingwen tea and finished going through the social courtesies with Marquis Jingwen¡¯s honored concubines. When she turned her head, she saw Ning Mingjie staring at Ji Man in a daze.


    ¡°My lord and husband?¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> quietly called out.


    Ning Mingjie returned to his senses and lightly smiled as he said, ¡°Sit down and stay here for a bit. I have words I want to say to Errong.¡±


    Kanguan<i> Junzhu</i> was a very sensible woman. After nodding, she obediently sat down by the honored concubines.


    Ning Mingjie looked at Errong meaningfully, and Errong brought Ji Man with her as they returned to her courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Inside Errong¡¯s courtyard, Ning Mingjie asked, ¡°Are you doing well?¡±


    Sitting by Errong¡¯s side, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing when she heard this question from him. ¡°I¡¯m still alive. How could I not be doing well?¡±


    There was guilt in Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°I feel very regretful over what happened to Nie n too. Neither Yuxuan nor me expected that your business would be exposed. The new emperor used this excused to wipe out Nie n.¡±


    So, he was saying that she had harmed Nie n and been responsible for it being wiped out? Ji Man looked at him in a daze.


    ¡°During that short period when Yuxuan sent you away, he was doing his best to mediate between the second and third prince,¡± Ning Mingjie said, ¡°But, the second prince¡¯s hidden forces were much bigger than we thought. At the end, no one had the power to stop him from doing anything. We could only follow him.¡±


    ¡°Heir, what is it that you want to say?¡± Ji Man raised her eyes to look at him. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m just an insignificant person. You don¡¯t need to tell me that you¡¯re feeling guilty.¡±


    Ning Mingjie paused. He sighed and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know why. I just want to talk with you. What are you nning on doing for your future? I heard Yuxuan is going to... promote someone to the position of main wife.¡±


    After a pause, Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s good too. If he doesn¡¯t put someone into that position, the new emperor will do it for him. Since it¡¯s like that, he might as well choose someone that¡¯ll be loyal to him.¡±


    ¡°What about you?¡± Ning Mingjie deeply looked at her. ¡°Have you thought about...ing with me?¡±


    Shocked, Errong gasped, ¡°Older brother!¡±


    No matter what, Ji Man had once been Marquis Moyu¡¯s woman. How could...


    Ning Mingjie pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯m asking what she wants.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°Heir, you brought your newly wife back home to mess around with a little three. Does Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> know about this?¡±


    ¡°Little three...¡± Ning Mingjie was a bit confused. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing important. It¡¯s just a creature that loves to sprout words about true love, has a lotus heart, and hidden arsenic.¡± Ji Man continued to smile as she said, ¡°I just want to live the rest of my life peacefully. I don¡¯t want to be involved in another harem¡¯s intrigues and struggles. Heir, thank you for thinking so highly of me.¡±


    She had originally though that Ning Mingjie would bring her good news, but in the end, he just wanted her to follow him and be his concubine. Was she supposed to say thank you for the deep love that you feel towards me? When she was reading the original novel, she had quite like this man. But, when she saw his face that couldn¡¯t possibly be more familiar to her, Ji Man just felt pained.


    It was as if she was experiencing the same pain when she saw evidence of Xu Xi¡¯s two-timing.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Xu Xi is Ji Man¡¯s ex-boyfriend in modern-day, and Ning Mingjie looks exactly like him.)


    There were traces of disappointment in Ning Mingjie¡¯s eyes, but he continued to smile as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be staying in Jing Province for a while. Feel free to tell me if you change your mind.¡±


    Ji Man brieflyughed in response.

 Chapter 317

    Chapter 317 ¨C A creature that loves to sprout words about true love, has a lotus heart, and hidden arsenic (2)


    During the following days, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> and Ning Mingjie stayed at Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate. From time to time, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> woulde by Errong¡¯s courtyard to chat with her. Watching from the side, Ji Man though this <i>junzhu,</i> who was gentle without being too delicate and spoke sensibly, was a pretty good woman too.


    The only problem was that Ji Man would encounter Ning Mingjie from time to time when she was walking in the garden or even when she was in her own courtyard. Whenever this happened, he didn¡¯t say anything and just quietly looked at her. But, there were too many lingering emotions in his gaze. Even thought he didn¡¯t say anything, the servant girls that passed by could see that there was something off.


    Kangyuan Junzhu wasn¡¯t slow-witted either. She could also tell there was something strange between them.


    And so, Ji Man decided to take stock of her assets in advance. Other than the money she had invested into her store, she had over five hundred silver taels saved up and could be considered to be enjoying moderate prosperity.


    Finally, the expected day arrived. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> called her over to talk.


    Looking at her with a mild gaze, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> said, ¡°I¡¯m not willing to tolerate something that¡¯s disagreeable to me, and I don¡¯t want the general to take a concubine so soon either. Miss Ji, you¡¯re a clever person. Do you understand my meaning?


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Understood. Of course, she understood. With a neatly sitting posture, Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°Even without the <i>junzhu</i> saying something, Ji Man already had thoughts of leaving a while ago. I¡¯m just not sure where I should go so that I won¡¯t be found.¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> considered for while before suggesting, ¡°What do you think of Yong¡¯an County?¡±


    Yong¡¯an County could be considered Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s territory. She was Marquis Yong¡¯an¡¯s only daughter, thus he was extremely doting towards her and had even given more than half of his fiefdom to her.


    Sounding as if she was being put into a difficult spot, Ji Man replied, ¡°That¡¯s doable. But, <i>Junzhu</i>, could you help me settle down there? In order to support myself, I¡¯ll still need to continue doing business there.¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> nodded. ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. But... Are you really willing to immediately leave?¡±


    She had heard that it was only recently that this woman¡¯s business in Jing Province had started flourishing. Until now, she had been relying on Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household reputation. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had originally thought it wouldn¡¯t be easy to convince Ji Man to leave and had prepared a speech in advance to try to persuade her.


    Surprisingly, the oue was that she had easily agreed.


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded. She would be able to do her business anywhere. It wouldn¡¯t be a big deal to hand over her business here to Dengxin. It would also be beneficial for Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household if she left here. This way, it would remove the possibility of Ning Mingjie doing something inappropriate in a moment of impulsiveness.


    The more important thing was that she had to continue being able to support herself. She wanted to remove herself from Ning Yuxuan¡¯s purview. In order to gain the advantage, the enemy had to be in the light while she hid herself in the shadows. Liu Rufeng had been too helpful with his assistance, and she couldn¡¯t help feeling doubtful. This person was probably sent over by Marquis Moyu. The feeling of always being kept under a close watch by Ning Yuxuan was really too ufortable.


    Rather than saying it was Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> forcing her leave, it would be more urate to say that she was using Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> so that her whereabouts could bepletely concealed.


    Since Ji Zhu and Dengxin now had their own ways of making a living in Jing Province, she could be at ease and focus on her own goal now.


    ¡ª


    ¡°My lord, you¡¯re the only person that I ever loved in this entire lifetime. Whereas you...¡±


    ¡°Her life is a life. Is my life worth nothing to you?¡±


    (T/N: These are lines that Nie Sangyu says before she dies in the original novel. In this second attempt/cycle, Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t have heard these words before.)


    Ning Yuxuan was startled awake from his dream. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with pitch-ck darkness as he sat up and gasped for breath.


    ¡°Guibai.¡±


    The doors creaked as they were opened. Guibai quietly responded, ¡°My lord?¡±


    After wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and asked, ¡°How are things going in Jing Province?¡±


    ¡°General Ning went back home, and he brought Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> with him,¡± Guibai answered, ¡°Madam¡¯s business is doing well. Sir Liu has been helping her from the beginning, so everything should be going smoothly.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not willing to return to the capital?¡± Marquis Moyu asked.


    Guibai pursed his lips, ¡°Sir Liu says he¡¯s doing his best to persuade her.¡±


    She was still under his purview, and he could know what she was doing. This was good too. Ning Yuxuan let out a long sigh and ced his hand on the empty pillow next to his. ¡°Once I have free time, I want to go over there and see her.¡±


    Guibai slightly furrowed his brow and said, ¡°My lord, you probably won¡¯t be able to leave here anytime soon.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    He draped an outer robe over himself and stood up. Somewhat irritably waving his hand, he said, ¡°You can withdraw.¡±


    Guibai made a sound of assent, and Ning Yuxuan was left standing alone by the window to watch the moon.


    He really missed her a lot. Now that the limelight had slowly stopped shinning on him, he could bring her back, right? It would be fine if she changed her name, and it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal if another person was added to his estate. There probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem as long as he hid her well.


    Nostalgically recollecting theirst night together before they were separated, Ning Yuxuan felt a slight heat in his sr plexus. He hadn¡¯t seen her in so long. He really wished that he could see her right now with his own eyes. He had only been able to hear and read about how she was doing from other people. He couldn¡¯t even send a short message to her. What an awful feeling.


    Ning Mingjie was luckier than him. He had an excuse to go Jing Province. In contrast, he was under Zhao Li¡¯s control right now and couldn¡¯t even take one wrong step.


    He hadn¡¯t been wrong. The second prince really was a more terrifying existence than the third prince. After Zhao Li had ascended the throne, he was tyrannical in the way he handled politics. Perhaps, it was because the second prince had grown up being bullied and humiliated. While working under Zhao Li, he almost didn¡¯t have the energy to think about then messy feelings between a man and woman.


    How long would it be until he could see Sangyu again?


    ¡ª


    Taking advantage of the night, Ji Man packed up her stuff. She tucked the token and travel expenses that Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had given to her into her clothes. After taking onest look at Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate, she boarded the carriage.


    ¡ª


    During a moment when she was alone, she quietly slipped away and disappeared on the way to Yong¡¯an County.


    Trantor Ramblings: I really like that Kangyuan Junzhu doesn¡¯t act like a typical c-novel viiness that me Ji Man for a man¡¯s behavior. It was nice to see that they could have a calm discussion of how to resolve the problem that Ning Mingjie was causing.

 Chapter 318 - Is she gone forever? (1)

    Chapter 318 ¨C Is she gone forever? (1)


    In the first year of the new emperor¡¯s reign, Marquis Moyu continued to hold power over the Six Ministries. Above Ning Yuxuan were Prime Minister Xiao Tianyi and Xiaoren Dowager Empress, and below him were officials from Xiao n. And so, Zhao Li¡¯s daily life wasn¡¯t going that smoothly. Still, the new emperor had a very good rtionship with his empress, which guaranteed his alliance with Yuzhen. Thus, his position as the emperor was still very stable.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Xiaoren Dowager Empress¡¯s maiden n is Xiao, and she¡¯s also the first prince¡¯s mother.)


    Zhao Zhe seemed to have already contently settled down in his fiefdom with his new title, Zhangjun Prince. And, all of Xiao n had publicly expressed their loyalty and devotion to the new emperor. Zhao Li was busy handling political affairs, so he naturally tolerated the continued existence of Zhangjun Prince. It was only that he seemed especially interested in Ning Yuxuan and interfered with his household matters several times. For example, when Ning Yuxuan went to file documentation with the Ministry of Revenue to formally raise Liu Hanyun to the position of main wife, Zhao Li stopped the process.


    Brightly smiling, Zhao Li asked, ¡°No matter what, Liu-<i>shi</i>¡®s family background makes her unsuitable to be a main wife, right?¡±


    Sitting on the side, Ning Yuxuan thought; Zhao Li really deserved to be called his father¡¯s son. He disyed the same irritating behavior as histe imperial father. Just like his father, the scope in which he wanted to exercise his control was vaster than the sky.


    ¡°This subject thinks Liu-<i>shi</i> is very suitable.¡±


    Unhappy with this response, the new emperor said, ¡°Qi Siling is the one that¡¯s served you the longest, and her family background is adequate too. Why is it Liu-<i>shi</i> that¡¯s the most suitable?¡±


    Marquis Moyu slightly smiled. ¡°Qi-<i>shi</i> recentlymitted an offense. This subject is already writing a divorce letter.¡±


    Hearing Qi Siling being called ¡°Qi-<i>shi</i>¡°, Zhao Li slightly raised his eyebrows. He cleared his throat and asked, ¡°What offense has shemitted?


    ¡°She tried to poison my heir. If this subject hadn¡¯t found out in time, my heir would have lost his life,¡± Ning Yuxuan very calmly said, ¡°It¡¯s only because this subject is taking into consideration Qi n that this subject is writing a divorce letter instead of ordering her tomit suicide.¡±


    Zhao Li stayed silent. After all, this was someone else¡¯s private family matter. It was only unfortunate that Qi Siling had been with him so long and was now being discarded.


    The new emperor¡¯s gaze became deeper as he changed the topic. ¡°This emperor heard that you¡¯ve recently been exchanging a lot ofmunication with Jing Province. What does Jing Province have that catches your attention?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly paused before answering, ¡°Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter is Yuxuan¡¯s younger cousin. She¡¯s pregnant, and also... So, it¡¯s only normal for this subject to send more letters inquiring after her health.¡±


    The new emperor smiled. ¡°Now that you mention it, that was quite a pity. This emperor had already let them off, but in the end, they weren¡¯t able to continue living. Yuxuan, do you hold grudges against this emperor?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Marquis Moyu lightly lowered his head. ¡°This subject isn¡¯tcking in women.¡±


    The new emperor loudlyughed. He looked at Ning Yuxuan with admiration. ¡°Yuxuan, you¡¯re certainly a very talented individual that¡¯s worthty of being cultivated.¡±


    Marquis Moyu only chuckled in response.


    As he was leaving the pce, he saw that were already soft green leaves on the willow trees that lined the path. Ning Yuxuan turned around and asked Guibai, ¡°How are things developing in Jing Province? When will she be returning to the capital?¡±


    Guibai lowered his head and stayed silent.


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Did you not hear my question?¡±


    After hesitating for a bit, Guibai said in a low voice, ¡°Master, Madam has disappeared.¡±


    The curved lips slowly went down. Ning Yuxuan nkly looked at him for a long time before asking, ¡°What do you mean by disappeared?¡±


    ¡ª


    Marquis Jingwen¡¯s estate had been thrown in an upheaval. Ji Man had quietly left. Other than leaving behind Ji Store¡¯s title deed to Dengxin, she hadn¡¯t left behind anything else, not even a letter.


    Sitting in the empty room, Errong was at aplete loss. Ji Man¡¯s life had been going so well here. Why did she leave?


    Next to her, Ning Mingjie¡¯s face was somewhat pale. Lowering his eyes, he smiled and asked, ¡°Did she leave of her own initiative?¡±


    With reddened eyes, Dengxin nodded. ¡°If she didn¡¯t willingly leave, then master wouldn¡¯t have had the time to leave her stuff in this servant¡¯s room.¡±


    Standing by Ning Mingjie¡¯s side, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> still had a calm expression. No one would think that Ji Man¡¯s departure had something to do with her.


    She hadn¡¯t known Nie Sangyu from before, but she didn¡¯t like to see other women by Ning Mingjie¡¯s side. Since that woman was suppose to be dead, then she should stay far away. If that woman came back to entangle herself with Ning Mingjie, then she would send her away a second time too.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu suddenly became gravely ill. The new emperor personally came to the marquis¡¯s estate to visit him. Seeing that he looked haggard and was even having trouble breathing, Zhao Li allowed him to take sick leave. He wouldn¡¯t need to attend the imperial court sessions until he had recovered.


    The heavy burden and great responsibility of managing the Six Ministries temporarily fell on Prime Minister Xiao Tianyi¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡ª


    A carriage swiftly sped towards Yong¡¯an County. When they had reached halfway, the passenger said her stomach wasn¡¯t feeling well. While they were temporarily stopped at a ry station, she snuck onto another carriage and continued her journey in a different direction.


    ¡ª


    In the following year, no one was able to find Ji Man. Even though Ning Yuxuan had faked an illness and secretly went to Jing Province, he only found out about Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s connection to Ji Man¡¯s departure. As for what happened after that, he knew nothing.


    ¡ª


    One yearter, the carriages on the roads were all heading in the same direction. The titled princes with fiefdoms at the bordends of the country were on their way to visit the capital.


    Sitting inside a luxurious carriage, Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°Riding a carriage is still such bumpy ride.¡±


    The other person in the carriage lightly harrumphed and said, ¡°You didn¡¯t need toe here this time.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look at Zhao Zhe. She cupped her hands and said, ¡°Your Highness, these words are said in bad taste. Although this one is only an insignificant advisor, it¡¯s still fine if this one shares your carriage toe to the capital to do business, right?¡±


    Zhao Zhe pursed his lips and swept his gaze across her. ¡°Is being able to sell your rice the only reason why you don¡¯t want to be an official?¡±


    No one would have expected that Ji Man would ask for help from Zhangjun Prince after she left Jing Province. Dressed in a man¡¯s attire and carrying the five hundred silver taels she had umted, she started from the entrance of Zhangjun Prince¡¯s estate selling rice. From there, she attracted the attention of the estate¡¯s head steward, and then she got acquainted with the advisors that lived in the prince¡¯s estate. At the end, because of her out of the ordinary style of conversation, she was given a rmendation to be one of Zhangjun Prince¡¯s advisors.

 Chapter 319 - Is she gone forever? (2)

    Chapter 319 ¨C Is she gone forever? (2)


    At that time, Zhao Zhe really had someone hand her a brush and paper so that she could paint. With her lips twitching, it took Ji Man a long time to exin that a blueprint wasn¡¯t a type of painting.


    There was no one with the surname Nie anymore, so she was no longer a threat to Zhao Zhe. On the contrary, Zhao Zhe had repeatedly wanted to kill her because he thought she was too clever. But now, her intelligences could be used for his benefit. Why wouldn¡¯t Zhao Zhe ept her offer to help him?


    Ji Man had been dressing as a man this entire time since it was much easier to do business this way. She had also especially purchased a very expensive face mask that looked just like human skin. The only problem was that it was difficult to put on and take off. Still, it was worth the cost, only Zhao Zhe knew her real identity. Everyone else had been fooled into thinking she was a man.


    Anyhow, Ji Man really had returned to the capital to sell rice.


    Right now, she wasn¡¯t an official, and Zhangjun was also a ce that produced rice in abundance. And so, Ji Man continued doing her business while suggesting little ideas to Zhao Zhe. During this time, when there weren¡¯t turbulent changes, there was no need for her to do anything. She just needed to happily focus on selling rice. Right now, the titled princes wereing to pay respect to the emperor, so it was a good opportunity for her to expand her business to the capital.


    She did have a faint desire to see how Ning Yuxuan had been living during the year she had been gone. If he hadpletely forgotten her, that wouldn¡¯t be good. It meant that she had overyed her cards.


    Smiling, Zhao Zhe asked, ¡°Do you want the carriage to stop at Marquis Moyu¡¯s entrance for a little bit?¡±


    The carriage had already entered the capital. As the carriage passed through the streets, some of the ces still looked very familiar to her. Ji Man sniffled and shook her head. ¡°No need. There will be other chancester.¡±


    There¡¯ll definitely be a more opportune day for them to meet again.


    ¡ª


    The carriage stopped in front of an inn. Right after Ji Man jumped down, she saw that Shen Youqing had arrived a little bit before them.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    Shen Youqing showed a superficial smile as she epted Ji Man¡¯s respectful greeting, then she turned around and entered the inn.


    Ji Man thought that the princess consort was probably felling a bit angry because Zhangjun Prince would rather share a carriage with another man than her.


    Shrugging her shoulders, Ji Man went to look for her own room. After putting away her luggage, she went out to make contact with the capital¡¯s grain retailer association.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was holding Haohao and yfully teasing him. Xia-<i>shi</i> was by his side. She was wearing a soft green gauzy dress with her half of soft bosom exposed. Leaning against him, she said, ¡°My lord, look. Haohao looks so much like you.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> lowered her head. Holding onto his arm, she lightly rubbed against him. ¡°Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t born from the main wife, and now Liu-<i>shi</i> has be Madam. She must be feeling so dissatisfied that her son isn¡¯t the heir.¡±


    Haohao opened his eyes and nkly looked around.


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°Yes, the heir should be raised by the main wife.¡±


    Delighted, Xia-<i>shi </i>grasped his belt as she said, ¡°Then... It¡¯s been so long. My lord, why won¡¯t you look at this servant?¡±


    Holding Haohao, Ning Yuxuan seriously said, ¡°Because you don¡¯t look as good as his biological mother.


    The smile on Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s face stiffened. She paused for a long time before asking, ¡°What did you say?¡±


    ¡°Haohao has reached the age where he should be learning how to talk,¡± Marquis Moyu said as he stood up. ¡°Since he¡¯s already old enough to have been weaned off milk, then he doesn¡¯t need you to care for him. I¡¯ll find a suitable schr toe here to be his live-in tutor.¡±


    ¡°My lord!¡± Panicking, Xia-<i>shi</i> stood up too. Grabbing his sleeve to stop him, she said, ¡°What has this servant done wrong? Last time¡¯s quarrel with Madam was because she started it. She wanted to prick Haohao with a needle. This servant has been doing her best to protect Haohao. Why...¡±


    ¡°Hanyun doesn¡¯t have that type of temperament.¡± Ning Yuxuan nced at her and indifferently said, ¡°I¡¯ll give you enough money to support you for the rest of your life. Haohao will be given to someone else to teach.¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> took a deep breath. ¡°My lord, you can¡¯t turn your back on me after I helped you. I¡¯m Haohao¡¯s...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not his real mother.¡± Ning Yuxuan pushed her hand off his sleeve. ¡°Take the things that you should take and go back to look at your own children. The carriage is already waiting for you outside.¡±


    It felt as if lightning had struck Xia-<i>shi</i>. Left feeling stunned, she continued to stand in the same spot. Marquis Moyu had already past the doorway while carrying Haohao.


    Haohao had be increasingly clingy towards him. It was to the point where Ning Yuxuan would bring him along even when he was going to the Six Ministries to work. The sight of him wearing his dark blue official¡¯s attire while holding a baby attracted a lot ofughter from the other officials.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time for your mom toe home.¡± He asked Haohao, ¡°Do you miss her?¡±


    Haohao just nkly looked at him while blowing little saliva bubbles. He twisted over, and his plump body nestled closer to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest.


    ¡ª


    Bringing along her proof of credentials, Ji Man was nning on going to the grain retailer association. She needed to get a permit before she could sell rice in the capital. However, when she had only reached halfway, a carriage horse actually got startled and was galloping towards her direction.


    There was no scene of a hero saving a beauty this time. Heavily falling onto the ground to avoid being trampled by the horse, Ji Man¡¯s hands and legs were bloody from being rubbed against the ground.


    ¡°Sorry!¡± The wild horse was finally stopped, and the carriage driver jumped down. He walked to Ji Man¡¯s side and said, ¡°Little brother, pardon me. Do you want me to take you to a nearby doctor?¡±


    Hearing this familiar voice, Ji Man paused. When she raised her head, she saw Guibai¡¯s honest-looking face.


    The passenger in the carriage had alsoe down. Clutching the carriage and not having fully recovered from her earlier panicky state, Xia-<i>shi</i> cried, ¡°What have I done to deserve such bad karma?¡±

 Chapter 320 - He had been lying to her this entire time (1)

    Chapter 320 ¨C He had been lying to her this entire time (1)


    Time hadn¡¯t been able to rub away Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s innate rustic demeanor. After taking a few breaths to calm herself, Ji Man looked at Guibai and made her voice lower-pitched as she said, ¡°I¡¯ll have to rely on you to help me to a nearby doctor¡¯s clinic then.¡±


    Guibai nodded and supported Ji Man into the carriage. Then, he went to work on removing the nails from the horse¡¯s horseshoes.


    Carrying her wrapped cloth bundle and weeping endlessly, Xia-<i>shi</i> also boarded the carriage and sat back down. In the passing, she cast a scrutinizing gaze at Ji Man.


    Ji Man reflexively touched her face. The fake skin face mask hadn¡¯te off. She still had the face of a rather attractive man.


    Keeping her voice rough, Ji Man asked, ¡°Madam, why are you crying so wretchedly?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> wiped her nose and said, ¡°I worked so hard to serve someone for almost two years, and now I¡¯ve been abruptly tossed out. Tell me, do you think I should cry or not?¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t figure it out. Wasn¡¯t Xia-<i>shi</i> Haohao¡¯s biological mother? Why would Ning Yuxuan kick her out? What would happen to Haohao?


    ¡°That¡¯s really pitiful.¡± Looking at Xia-<i>shi</i>, Ji Man spoke, ¡°Based on your fancy clothing, you¡¯re probably a madam from a wealthy family. Did you make a mistake?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything wrong!¡± Wringing her hands, Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s gaze looked a bit vicious. However, she quickly remembered that there was an unfamiliar young man sitting in front of her and softened her expression. In a quiet voice, she said, ¡°It¡¯s that man. His heart is too cruel. I thought by caring for his child as he grew up, he would gradually have some sort of affection toward me. How could I have known that he¡¯s been regarding me as only a wet nurse the entire time?¡±


    The carriage had reached a doctor¡¯s clinic. Guibai pulled the reins to stop the horse and pulled the curtain back. ¡°Little brother, you cane down.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t continue to ask questions. Nodding her head, she left the carriage and followed Guibai.


    Surprisingly, Xia-<i>shi</i> also came out of the carriage while holding onto her cloth bundle. ¡°Seeing how serious your injuries look, I¡¯lle too.¡±


    Guibai nced at Xia-<i>shi</i>, but didn¡¯t say anything. After leading Ji Man to get checked over by a doctor and having a shop assistant wrap up the prescribed medicine, he offered her a ride to where she wanted to go next.


    Ji Man gave him the address for the grain retailer association, and he had them board the carriage again. However, when they were getting into the carriage, he warningly looked at Xia-<i>shi</i>.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> was much quieter the rest of the ride and didn¡¯t continue to idly chat with Ji Man. Seeing this change, Ji Man acted very affectionately and asked her where her home was.


    Blushing, Xia-<i>shi</i> answered in quiet voice, ¡°I¡¯m from arge fishing vige that¡¯s far from here.¡±


    Ji Man was a bit stunned by her words. Hadn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan said that he had met Xia-<i>shi</i> during the Southern Journey? No matter what, shouldn¡¯t she havee from somewhere near Jiangnan? Why was it a fishing vige?


    Something shed through her mind. Smiling, Ji Man stretched her hand out and gently held Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s hand. In an equally quiet voice, she said, ¡°I want to visit your home and see what it¡¯s like. I¡¯ve been staying in cities for too long. I¡¯ve never been to a fishing vige before.¡±


    ¡°Young lord, you must be ridiculing me.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> embarrassedly smoothed her hair. ¡°Anyways, my home isn¡¯t that far. Don¡¯t you still have business to attend to? Once you¡¯re done with your work, you cane visit me then. I live at the end of the vige. When I go back this time, I want to builder a bigger house to live in, and I happen to not have anyone to help me with ideas.¡±


    The implied suggestion was certainly clear enough. Seeing Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s glimmering eyes, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist touching her face. It couldn¡¯t be that she was quite suitable with pretending to be a man, right?


    The carriage stopped. Guibai said, ¡°Little brother, I can only take you this far. You only need to walk a little further, and you¡¯ll reach the grain retailer association.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thank you.¡± As Ji Man got up, she tucked the bamboo fan that she had brought along into the crook of Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s arm and winked at her.


    With a blushing face, Xia-<i>shi</i> tightly gripped the fan and waved good-bye.


    After leaving the carriage, Ji Man entered the grain retailer association and attended to her business. Using a letter from Zhangjun Prince, she sessfully gained a business permit. After that, she hurriedly went back to the inn, changed into a nicer set of clothing, checked that fake skin face mask was firmly in ce, and hired a carriage to take her to that fishing vige. By the looks of the sky, it wasn¡¯t early anymore.


    There was only one fishing vige outside the capital. By the time that Ji Man arrived, it was already the middle of the night. At the end of the vige, there was still a home that hadn¡¯t extinguished its candles yet.


    Ji Man went forward and knocked on the door.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> opened the door with a smile. Not showing any sign of avoiding her, she directly weed her guest inside.


    The narrow house had three children inside. The oldest one looked to be around seven or eight years old, and the youngest one appeared to be around two years old. They were all staring at her in a daze.


    ¡°My home isn¡¯t big. I¡¯ll go buy stuff to rebuild my house tomorrow. Fortunately, that person was generous. I won¡¯t have to worry about money for the rest of my life,¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> nattered. Stuffing a bundle into a wardrobe, she turned her head and said to the oldest child. ¡°Take your younger brother and sister away to rest. Have you gotten stupid from your book learning?¡±


    The seven to eight year old child hurriedly picked up his youngest sibling, then held his five-year-old sister¡¯s hand and scurried to the neighboring room.


    ¡°This... did you give birth to all these children?¡± Ji Man was a bit stunned.


    ¡°I¡¯m a widow. It¡¯s not big deal if I have more children.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s eyes reddened. ¡°Anyways, men never treat me sincerely. If I raise more children, some of them might pay me filial respect when they grow up.¡±


    Ji Man coughed to clear her throat. ¡°Do you only have three? Or, do you have other children?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> shot a nce at Ji Man. With a harrumph, she sat down in Ji Man¡¯sp. ¡°You came from so far away toe to my ce. Why put on this pretense of being proper? Why ask about my children? Didn¡¯t youe here because you want to do that with me...¡±


    Feeling that a hand was sliding down on her body, Ji Man jumped up and grabbed Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re misunderstanding. I just wanted to ask for lodging and see how a sunrise looks like from a fishing vige and what not.¡±


    After she said those words, even Ji Man wouldn¡¯t believe herself! Looking at Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s slightly scornful gaze, Ji Man thought; this woman was really too open-minded. Back then, why had Ning Yuxuan been attracted to her?

 Chapter 321 - He had been lying to her this entire time (2)

    Chapter 321 ¨C He had been lying to her this entire time (2)


    ¡°You¡¯ve already followed me here. Why are you saying this now?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> coquettishly pouted. Tugging on thepel of Ji Man¡¯s robe, she said, ¡°I¡¯m a widow, and I don¡¯t care about my reputation. When I was at that rich person¡¯s ce, I didn¡¯t dare to make a wrong move, so it¡¯s been so long since I had a taste of being ravished.¡±


    Ji Man grabbed her hand and nervouslyughed. ¡°Older sister, there¡¯s no need to hurry. I¡¯m kind of curious. What kind of ce did you go to? Since it was a rich household, what caused you to be so upset over it?¡±


    Xia-<i>shi</i> harrumphed. At the mention of this topic, she still felt somewhat indignant. ¡°I had originally thought it was a boon from the Heavens. Someone appeared out of the blue, gave me a child, and wanted me to go to his household to be a mother for his child. But, as it turned out, he just wanted me to be a milk mother. He even said that I didn¡¯t look as good as the child¡¯s biological mother. I felt so mad today.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned. It took a long time before she found her voice again. ¡°Haohao isn¡¯t your son?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> blurted out. A momentter, her entire body stiffened as she looked at Ji Man. ¡°You...¡±


    After Ji Man had taken a deep breath, she suddenly burst out inughter.


    If Haohao wasn¡¯t Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s son, then who were his parents? Since Ning Yuxuan had announced Haohao as his heir, Haohao had to be Ning Yuxuan¡¯s biological son. When would he have gotten a son that appeared out of nowhere and needed a fake mother?


    Thinking it over, it had to be her child that had disappeared back then. Haohao was the child that had been reced with a toddy kitten. Ning Yuxuan had felt it was safe to bring Haohao back into the household by saying he was another woman¡¯s son.


    Ning Yuxuan, ah, Ning Yuxuan, you yed such an underhanded trick. By keeping her in the dark, he had caused her so much pain.


    Slowly standing up and heading towards the door, Ji Man almost couldn¡¯t stop her hystericalughter. Her son had been right in front of her, and she had even seen his birthday grab, but she hadn¡¯t known that he was her child.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> returned to her senses and grabbed Ji Man¡¯s arm. Xia-<i>shi</i>¡®s pull was so forceful that Ji Man almost fell to the ground. But, suddenly, someone had grabbed her other arm and stopped her from falling.


    Xia-<i>shi</i> shrieked. Ji Man didn¡¯t see who was behind her and didn¡¯t know what had happened. Before she coulde to her senses, the other person had already taken her outside and towards a carriage.


    There was the sound of children crying in the fishing vige, as well as a woman swearing. Ji Man nkly raised her head and saw the face that she wanted to smack the most right now.


    Ning Yuxuan was holding Haohao and quietly looking at her.


    Ji Man clenched her hands. She really wanted to hit him, but she didn¡¯t dare to strike down. In this society where men had all the power, if a woman pped a man and offended his sense of dignity, then there was no use in even discussing if there was love between the two of you. Anyways, a woman wouldn¡¯t have a good end.


    ¡°This face looks really ugly,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said.


    With her attention focused on the child that he was holding, she absent-mindedly asked, ¡°How do you know that it¡¯s me?¡±


    ¡°Just trying my luck. They said there was an advisor named Ji Man by Zhangjun Prince¡¯s side.¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his gaze. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯re called Ji Man. Hearing that same name, I tested to see if it was you, and you really dide here.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. It couldn¡¯t be that this person had been testing every single person with the same name as her, right?


    Haohao opened his eyes and sucked on his finger. Marquis Moyu turned him around to face Ji Man. He took Haohao¡¯s little finger out of his mouth and pointed at Ji Man. He said, ¡°Mom.¡±


    Eyes slightly reddening, Ji Man pressed her lips together. Looking at her son, whom she had always thought was someone else¡¯s child, she didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Haohao blew a few saliva bubbles. He looked at Ning Yuxuan with a pitiful gaze and silently pouted.


    Stretching her arms out, she took the young child into her arms. Burying her head in between that little shoulder, she said in a muffled voice, ¡°Marquis, your heart is really too cruel.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°You say that as if your own heart isn¡¯t the same.¡±


    Ji Man stayed silent for a while before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be protected by someone in that way. I want to be able to protect myself instead of staying behind you while living in ignorance and having no idea what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and lowlyughed. ¡°So, it¡¯s better for you to be Zhangjun Prince¡¯s advisor instead? Sangyu, you¡¯re a woman. It¡¯s not your ce to do these things, and you won¡¯t be able to do it sessfully either.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Ji Man, not Sangyu.¡± Ji Man raised her head and continued to hold Haohao as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°You haven¡¯t seen what women are capable of. I¡¯ll show you through my actions.¡±


    ¡°What about Haohao?¡± Marquis Moyu slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°Do you not want Haohao anymore?¡±


    Slightly stunned, Ji Man drew her hands closer to herself. The little fellow in her arms rubbed against her chest.


    She was already working under Zhangjun Prince. She refused to give up on her n halfway. But, what about Haohao? She had already missed so much time with Haohao. And now, she had to leave him again. Was she going to miss the rest of his childhood little by little?


    Although she had repeatedly told herself that this was Nie Sangyu¡¯s child, her heart stilled melted into mush as she held Haohao.


    ¡°Can you give Haohao to me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re holding my heir. Do you think a heir is someone that can be casually given away?¡±


    ¡°Then...¡± Ji Man frowned.


    ¡°Haohao needs a teacher,¡± Marquis Moyu lightly said, ¡°But, based on your status, I¡¯m afraid that you wouldn¡¯t be suitable. You¡¯ll have to figure out a way by yourself.¡±

 Chapter 322 - Your Highness, you misunderstood! (1)

    Chapter 322 ¨C Your Highness, you misunderstood! (1)


    Ji Man spent the rest of the night holding Haohao and ring at Ning Yuxuan in the carriage.


    The next morning, when the sun had barely broken through the horizon, the carriage finally arrived at the capital. She hadn¡¯t been able to close her eyes all night because of thest sentence that Ning Yuxuan had said.


    In contrast, Ning Yuxuan had slept especially wellst night. No matter how much the carriage had jolted over the bumpy parts of the road, he had been able sleep the night away by using herp as a free pillow.


    When it was time for them to disembark from the carriage, Guibai stretched his hand out towards Ji Man.


    Of course, he wasn¡¯t offering his hand to help her down. This gesture was asking her to hand over the child she was holding. Ji Man frowned. Although her hands were already feel numbing from holding Haohao for so long, she still didn¡¯t want to let go!


    Haohao hadn¡¯t said any words to her. She had only heard him calling out, ¡°Dad,¡± a few times at the beginning of the carriage ride. After that, Haohao had been very quiet and looked at her with a rather shy gaze.


    Holding Haohao, Ji Man stopped at the shaft of the carriage. Poking his tender, little face, she said, ¡°I have to leave now. It¡¯s already been so long. You probably don¡¯t even remember me anymore.¡±


    Haohao stretching his little hand out. With his eyes focused on her, he mumbled, ¡°Remember.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. Somewhat surprised by his answer, she asked, ¡°Who am I?¡±


    Haohao blinked his eyes. After thinking for a while, he turned his head and looked at his dad, who was still inside the carriage. ¡°Mom.¡±


    An indescribable happiness welled up in her heart. Holding Haohao, she kissed his face a few times. ¡°My precious baby.¡±


    Guibai stretched his hands out again to take Haohao from her and reminded her, ¡°Madam, be careful. People might being out soon.¡±


    Right now, it was early morning, so there weren¡¯t any people by the inn¡¯s doors yet. However, there would soon be early risersing outside. Ji Man kissed Haohao¡¯s face again, then she jumped down from the carriage and looked at Ning Yuxuan as she said, ¡°I¡¯ll carefully think it over.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Marquis Moyu took Haohao and lightly nodded.


    The carriage quietly left. Ji Man took a deep breath, rubbed her sore arms, and swiftly walked back to her room.


    ¡ª


    Inside the carriage, Ning Yuxuan was holding Haohao. He kissed his son¡¯s face with a loud ¡°muah¡± sound and smiled. ¡°So clever.¡±


    Haohao giggled. Grabbing thepel of his father¡¯s robe, he looked somewhat lost as he asked, ¡°Mom?¡±


    Marquis Moyu froze for a moment in surprise. Pursing his lips, he said, ¡°That was your mom back there.¡±


    Haohao doubtfully looked at him for a while. ¡°My mom doesn¡¯t look like that.¡±


    The first time that he called out the word, ¡°mom¡±, it had been directed at Xia-<i>shi</i>. Even if his mom was going to be reced, it should be with another woman, right? Although that man had a nice-smelling and soft body, he wasn¡¯t his mom, ah...


    Marquis Moyu wanted to smack his own head. Although he personally didn¡¯t care what Ji Man looked like, Haohao was only a young child. Haohao thought that Ji Man was a man, so how could that person be his mom?


    What an unwise move.


    He decisively shifted the child¡¯s attention to something else. ¡°Do you want dad to take you home to y?¡±


    Haohao giggled again. ¡°En~!¡±


    Young children were truly the world¡¯s most easily deceived creatures.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t returned to her room for long when someone came over to inform her that she had to prepare to go to the pce.


    Zhangjun Prince would be going to the pce today to pay respects to the dowager empress, and he would only be bringing along four people: the princess consort, Shen Youqing, a bodyguard, Taxue, and two trusted aides. As one of the two trusted aides that would being along, Ji Man didn¡¯t have a chance to catch up on sleep. After tidying up, she went outside.


    ¡ª


    On the way to the pce, inside the carriage.


    ¡°Your Highness, themonfolk have recently been very vocal about their unhappiness with the new emperor¡¯s tyrannical behavior. There have also been a lot of letters written from officials in the Six Ministries advising the new emperor, but it seems that the new emperor has been ignoring everyone.¡±


    Wu Yong, an imperial strategic adviser, lightly said, ¡°Since ancient times, an emperor that doesn¡¯t listen to advice or have the hearts of themon people won¡¯t be able to maintain his position as the emperor. Your Highness, as the new emperor¡¯s brother, you should naturally try to persuade him too so that the older court officials will feel more at ease.¡±


    Zhao Zhe listened with his eyes half-closed. Shen Youqing was in the carriage behind this one.


    Ji Man neutrally said, ¡°It¡¯s okay to try to persuade him, but the new emperor dislikes hearing those type of words. Your Highness, you can exin that idea through an analogy, so that the new emperor will be more willing to ept it.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Smiling, Zhao Zhe nced at Ji Man. ¡°I heard that Marquis Moyu ising to the pce today too.¡±


    Ji Man thought; there¡¯s no need for you to mention it. I already saw him yesterday.


    Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°Marquis Moyu is an official that has experience during the reigns of two emperors, and he also has control over the Six Ministries. Whether the matter is big or small, it¡¯ll be appropriate if he¡¯s the one that deals with it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always admired Yuxuan¡¯s wisdom and foresight.¡± Zhao Zhe¡¯s gaze glimmered. ¡°But, I don¡¯t like that he¡¯s not restricted bypassion, duty, propriety, and integrity. Although he has the ability to urately predict how a situation will go, he freely changes his masters depending on the situation. That quality of his makes a person unhappy.¡±


    Back when the first prince and the third prince werepeting for the throne, Ning Yuxuan had chosen to help the third prince win the crown. Zhao Zhe had always been brooding over that matter.


    Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°Marquis Moyu is like a sharp knife, but no one can perpetually hold onto him. Whoever has enough power can use him to stabilize the nation.¡±


    ¡°Your assessment is really unpleasant to hear.¡± Zhao Zhe snorted. ¡°If he¡¯s a knife, then he¡¯s a knife that will stab you in the heart if you don¡¯t hold onto him properly. Don¡¯t you see how he¡¯s acting so loyal to the new emperor right now? I¡¯m gleefully looking forward to seeing how deeply Ning Yuxuan will stab him once his new emperor starts to lose power.¡±


    Ji Man and Wu Yong were both startled.


    Zhao Zhe felt as if he had been too indiscreet. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°I was just joking. Remember to bring the gifts that I¡¯m offering the dowager empresster.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    If someone were to say that Zhao Zhe would always be content with being a titled prince, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t believe that person. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have chosen to work for him.


    However, since Ning Yuxuan had already betrayed him once, Zhao Zhe had a very strong sense of bias against him. If she told Zhao Zhe that she wanted to leave and be a teacher for Marquis Moyu¡¯s young heir, she guessed that he would most likely respond with choking her to death.


    She had to figure out a way. If she continued to not be by Haohao¡¯s side for such a long period of time, Haohao wouldpletely lose any sense of lingering affection that he felt towards her.

 Chapter 323 - Your Highness, you misunderstood! (2)

    Chapter 323 ¨C Your Highness, you misunderstood! (2)


    After going through a checkpoint at a pce gate, Ji Man followed Zhao Zhe with her head lowered as he walked through the pce. When they had almost arrived at the empress dowager¡¯s pce, she saw the emperor¡¯s carriage slowlying over from a distance.


    This was the first time that Zhao Zhe had met Zhao Li after he had be the new emperor. In the past, Zhao Li had been a cripple that he could bully and humiliate as he liked. But now, he was an emperor that was high above him.


    ¡°This subject greets His Majesty.¡± Without any hesitation, Zhangjun Prince knelt down. Ji Man and the others also knelt down.


    ¡°It¡¯s been so long since Ist saw you, imperial brother.¡± Zhao Li gestured for the golden, dragon carriage to stop and looked down at the group of people from high above. ¡°Who could have expected that there would be a day when you would have to kneel before me?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, you should be referring yourself as ¡®this emperor¡¯.¡± Amazingly, Zhao Zhe said these words in a very rxed tone. He smiled and added, ¡°Your Majesty, you shouldn¡¯t forget the etiquette rules because of our close brotherly rtionship.¡±


    If these two brothers actually became close, then Ji Man would write her name in reverse. It was fortunate that Zhao Zhe could say words that were shameless enough that the other party couldn¡¯t even refute.


    ¡°It¡¯s this emperor that forgot my manners.¡± Zhao Li smiled. ¡°Imperial brother, your days seem to be going pretty well.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s thanks to the blessings from Your Majesty,¡± Zhao Zhe said, ¡°The empress dowager also lives because of His Majesty¡¯s grace and care. This subject has no way of expressing my thanks, so this subject can only kowtow.¡±


    After saying this, he really did knock his forehead against the ground while continuing to kneel.


    Ji Man¡¯s face and hands were lowered to the ground, so she could only hear that the surroundings had suddenly fallen silent.


    A momentter, Zhao Li fakeughed. ¡°Imperial brother, you¡¯re being too courteous. This emperor has matters to attend to. This emperor will leave first.¡±


    ¡°Respectfully seeing off His Majesty.¡±


    Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t raise his head until the emperor¡¯s carriage had reached the end of the pce road.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but she couldn¡¯t feeling apprehensive and shocked. Zhao Zhe had always been a high-status prince that smiled in a rather improper way, but after seeing him kowtowed, instead of seeing this as subservience, she thought that he actually looked more imposing.


    ¡ª


    After entering the dowager empress¡¯s pce, Zhao Zhe greeted, ¡°This imperial son greets imperial mother.¡±


    Holding the gifts, Ji Man and Wu Yong knelt down behind the prince.


    The dowager empress chuckled and said, ¡°You can all rise. It¡¯s so rare for you toe back, so don¡¯t waste time observing ceremonial etiquette.¡±


    Zhao Zhe expressed his thanks. When he raised his head, he saw Ning Yuxuan to his surprise.


    Marquis Moyu was standing calmly to the side and even saluted him. ¡°Greetings, Zhangjun Prince.¡±


    ¡°I see that you¡¯ve been in good health since west met.¡± Zhao Zhe was still smiling, but his eyes had turned chilly. ¡°Why do you have the free time to visit the dowager empress?¡±


    Before Ning Yuxuan had time to reply, the dowager empress replied for him, ¡°I want to renovate my pce, but unfortunately, the emperor isn¡¯t willing to agree. Marquis Moyu came over here of his own imitative to discuss a budget and see what could be renovated with that amount.


    Hearing these words, Zhao Zhe¡¯s expression became much better. ¡°Oh, I see.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan cupped his hands and said, ¡°This subject won¡¯t stay around to bother Your Majesty and Your Highness¡¯s reunion. This subject will leave first.¡±


    Zhao Zhe nodded, and Marquis Moyu left the hall without ncing sideways to look at Ji Man.


    When all of the pce servants had withdrawn and only the advisors and the princess consort were allowed to stay, the dowager empress held her son¡¯s hand and sincerely said, ¡°Why did you put on that unpleasant expression in front of him? The new emperor isn¡¯t my son, and there isn¡¯t any affection between us. In this pce, I rely on Marquis Moyu to help me from time to time. Otherwise, even something like renovating my pce won¡¯t be possible.¡±


    ¡°Imperial mother, why haven¡¯t you told this to uncle?¡± Zhao Zhe furrowed his brow. ¡°You don¡¯t need to let yourself suffer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy for someone in the imperial court to get involved with matters rted to the harem. Moreover, the national treasury is going through a scarcity period. It really isn¡¯t easy to get money from it,¡± the dowager empress said. ¡°Are you doing well in Zhangjun?¡±


    Shen Youqing took a step forward and helped her husband answer this question. ¡°This servant has always been attending to the prince, and Zhangjun has rich and fertilends. It¡¯s easy to live well there.¡±


    ¡°You were right to retreat a step back then.¡± The dowager empress pursed her lips. ¡°Who could have expected that it would be old two that reversed the situation in the end...¡±


    Zhao Zhe nced at Ji Man. He wanted to change the topic to something else.


    The dowager empress still said many other good words on Marquis Moyu¡¯s behalf. It seemed that he had been quite helpful towards her, but Zhao Zhe couldn¡¯t figure it out. Why was Ning Yuxuan treating the dowager empress so well?


    ¡ª


    On the carriage ride back to the inn, Wu Yong said, ¡°This one thinks that Marquis Moyu is doing this to express goodwill towards you. Xiao n has maintained its power and holds much more power than Ning n. It¡¯s probably because the new emperor¡¯s behavior has caused many people to feel discontent with him, so Marquis Moyu once again wants to side with you.¡±


    ¡°That can¡¯t be it,¡± Ji Man interrupted Wu Yong.


    Zhao Zhe looked at her with an eyebrow raised.


    ¡°Based on this one¡¯s understanding of Marquis Moyu, he¡¯s not the type of person that would make any overt moves when it¡¯s not clear how the situation will develop,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Right now, the imperial court can be considered to be in stable position. There¡¯s no reason why he would risk the danger of offending the new emperor just to showing goodwill to Your Highness. On the contrary, this one thinks that Marquis Moyu is taking care of the dowager empress with sincere intentions.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe lightly harrumphed. ¡°How can you be sure?¡±


    ¡°At the time of the coup, this one wasn¡¯t in the capital and doesn¡¯t know the details of what happened back then, ¡°Ji Man seriously said, ¡°This one will dare to ask Your Highness. During your struggle with the third prince over the throne, were you the one that took the initiative to back down, or did Marquis Moyu help the third prince seize the throne?¡±


    Zhao Zhe paused. With his brow furrowed, he said, ¡°Back then, old three had already gained control of the situation. If I wasn¡¯t willing to retreat, what else could I do? But, if Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t been helping him at the end, old three wouldn¡¯t have ascended the throne so easily.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Ji Man pped her thigh. ¡°Your Highness, this means you misunderstood him!¡±

 Chapter 324 - I just want to be a teacher (1)

    Chapter 324 ¨C I just want to be a teacher (1)


    Zhao Zhe was stunned by her words. ¡°How did I misunderstand?¡±


    Ji Man straightened her sitting posture. With an especially grave expression, she said, ¡°Based on what this one knows, Marquis Moyu has always been on your side. It was only when you decided to give up on the fight for the throne that he chose to help the third prince ascend the throne. Otherwise, how would he be able to save himself? Of course, once that happened, suspicion and hostility sprouted between you and the marquis. The marquis hasn¡¯t been able to say anything to you, so he can only silently care for the dowager empress to show his loyalty.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe sneered. ¡°Is that really it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly it.¡± Although sweat was dripping down Ji Man¡¯s back, her expression was very calm. ¡°This one had the good fortune to have served in the marquis¡¯s household for a while and is aware of certain matters. Marquis Moyu is a person that the Your Highness can draw to your side. Your Highness, if you miss the opportunity to obtain this knife for yourself, it¡¯ll be your loss.¡±


    Zhao Zhe changed his seating posture. He looked at her with smiling eyes. ¡°You want me to draw him to my side even though he indirectly caused your entire family to die?¡±


    By the side, Wu Yong nced at Ji Man.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man clenched her jaw and said, ¡°This one will naturally think of a way to get retribution for my own affairs. Still, before Your Highness aplishes his great mission, how can this one attend to my personal grudges? Naturally, this one has to look at the general state of things. Based on the general situation, there will only be plenty of advantages and no disadvantages if Your Highness can abandon your bygone enmity toward Marquis Moyu.¡±


    The inside of the carriage was silent for a long time. It was impossible to decipher Zhao Zhe¡¯s dark and gloomy expression. Ji Man could only silently pray that his brain wasn¡¯t work so that he would believe the nonsense that she had spouted.


    A long timeter, Zhangjun Prince finally unhurriedly asked, ¡°Why do you think Yuxuan can be swayed to my side? It could even be said that he¡¯s absolutely loyal to the new emperor.¡±


    Ji Man wiped her sweat. Slightly smiling, she spat out two words, ¡°Wen Wan.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s sudden sharp gaze felt as if it could prate her body. Ji Man did her best to maintain her light smile and keep her suddenly wobbly-feeling legs from trembling.


    Wen Wan had always been a very important pawn. Although Ning Yuxuan had divorced Qi Siling, Wen Wan continued to live her life peacefully in the estate. It wasn¡¯t clear if it was because she had hidden supporters, or if it was because Marquis Moyu¡¯s feelings towards her were different. Still, as long as she remained in the estate, the connection between Marquis Moyu and Zhao Zhe couldn¡¯t be broken.


    Zhao Zhe probably thought that no one would find this important, but she had once been part of that household. How could she not understand this?


    ¡°I used to think that when you said that you wanted to be advisor, you were just fooling around to try to make a living,¡± Zhangjun Prince slowly said, ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you actually had a bit of cleverness in you.¡±


    Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°Your Highness, if you think this one is worthy of use, this one can also go to the marquis¡¯s estate to find out news for you.¡±


    ¡°You?¡± Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrow. ¡°How can you go there?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, you forgot. Right now, this one is Ji Man, not someone else.¡± Ji Man stretched her hand up and stroked her little mustache. ¡°This one heard that the marquis is looking for a teacher for his heir. Although this one is untalented, this one can still be considered an eptable candidate.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly well-informed.¡± Zhao Zhe chuckled. ¡°But, if someone finds out the truth, you might lose your life there. You¡¯re not scared?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ji Man resolutely said, ¡°This one has no other ties. The only two words in my heart are getting revenge. As long as Your Majesty will grant me the opportunity to kill my enemy after your goal has been reached, this one is willing to offer my life in sacrifice.¡±


    Her greatest enemy wasn¡¯t Marquis Moyu. It was the new emperor that was so high above everyone. By herself, no matter how hard she tried; she didn¡¯t have the power to kill him.


    Zhangjun Prince couldn¡¯t stop himself. He heartilyughed for a spell, then he stroked Ji Man¡¯s face, and said, ¡°You¡¯re a real treasure.¡±


    On the side, Wu Yong shivered. He lowered his head and stayed silent.


    ¡ª


    After returning to the inn, Ji Man hastily walked to her room. She wanted to change her clothes so that she could go scout out the marquis¡¯s estate.


    Wu Yong had followed her over and was now standing at her doorway. He hesitantly knocked on her doorframe to get her attention. ¡°Brother Ji.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ji Man turned her head. Seeing that it was him, she quickly said, ¡°Brother Wu, you cane inside to talk.¡±


    Out of all Zhangjun Prince¡¯s advisors, Wu Yong had the highest level of schrly learning. He was also the person that had given Ji Man the rmendation that she had need back then, so she was very courteous towards him.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t help feeling worried after listening to that conversation during the carriage ride, so I came here to give you some advice.¡± Wu Yong sat down at the table. Looking at her, he said, ¡°I still don¡¯t understand. Why do you have such a deep enmity against Marquis Moyu? Did you turn to Zhangjun Prince for help for the sake of revenge?¡±


    Ji Man pursued her lips. It was true that she wanted revenge, but it was more urate to say that the new emperor was her first target. However, she couldn¡¯t say those words aloud.


    Seeing that Ji Man was staying silent, Wu Yong thought he had guessed correctly. He sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been at Zhangjun Prince¡¯s side for a long. I more or less know most of his ns. You also said that Marquis Moyu was a good knife. Even if His Highness achieves sess, do you really think that he would be willing to break his knife?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°He won¡¯t.¡±


    Confused, Wu Yong asked, ¡°Then, why are you going to work so hard to try to enter Marquis Moyu¡¯s household? It can¡¯t be that you want to assassinate him, right?¡±


    He was joking, right? Marquis Moyu knew martial arts. Regardless if she tried using physical force or poison, her fighting ability was basically nothing. How could she possibly dare to try to assassinate him?


    ¡°Brother Xiong, don¡¯t worry. I won¡¯t do something that stupid.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know how to exin herself to this kind-hearted uncle. She could only say, ¡°First, the collective interest is more important than an individual¡¯s interest. I naturally won¡¯t do anything that that unfavorable to His Highness. The reason I¡¯m going there is because I want to instruct Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir in order to establish a bridge for the future by working towards a closer rtionship with his son.¡±


    She didn¡¯t know what Wu Yong was thinking, but after little while, it looked as if he had suddenly realized something.


    He patted her shoulder and said, ¡°When the Heavens ce a great responsibility on a great man, you¡¯ll have to endure more suffering than normal. His Highness is a person that remembers kindness and favors. Since you¡¯re willing to help him so much right now, when he seeds in the future, he¡¯ll definitely reward you with many benefits.¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Ji Man had a smile pasted on her face as she sent him off. She didn¡¯t let out a long sigh until after she closed the door and locked it. Then, she continued changing her clothes.


    In contrast, Wu Yong was sighing as he left to go look for Zhao Zhe.

 Chapter 325 - I just want to be a teacher (2)

    Chapter 325 ¨C I just want to be a teacher (2)


    Zhao Zhe was currently fiddling with jade beads as he contemted Ji Man¡¯s behavior today when Wu Yong came up to him and said, ¡°Ji Man is truly a talented and promising individual that is worthy of His Highness¡¯s favor.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was a bit stunned by these words. ¡°How so?¡±


    He had been trying to figure if Ji Man was up to something. Otherwise, why did she want him to dispel his bygone enmity with Marquis Moyu? But now, his most trusted advisor had said those words.


    ¡°This one had recently carefully questioned Ji Man,¡± Wu Yong said with a solemn expression, ¡°Ji Man is truly whole-heartedly working for Your Highness. Regardless of his own personal interests, he is always giving thought on how to help Your Highness and has already even considered the long-term view. He¡¯s willing to enter the marquis¡¯s estate to teach Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir and suffer patiently for several years. By doing this, the heir will naturally grow up trusting him. When that timees, it¡¯ll naturally be much easier for him to help Your Highness.¡±


    Ji Man had only said a few words, but Wu Yong had instinctively expanded those words into an inspiring and tragic story of devotion.


    Hearing these words, Zhao Zhe was ovee by surprise for a long time, and the doubts in his heart actually slowly disappeared.


    After all, even if Ji Man had once been a member of Nie n and married into Ning n, she didn¡¯t have any children. Her only son had disappeared a long time ago. Marquis Moyu had also caused her entire birth n to be wiped out. Based on his understanding of a woman¡¯s tolerance, there was no way that Ji Man would ever forgive Ning Yuxuan, so there was no need for him to worry. Anyways, Ji Man was only a woman. What changes could she possibly be capable of? Besides, wasn¡¯t Wen Wan still in the marquis¡¯s household?


    Moreover, Wu Yong¡¯s words were very reasonable. Ji Man¡¯s actions were truly for his benefit.


    After Zhao Zhe had silentlying to an understanding, the smile on his face became much more natural-looking. ¡°Your keen eye at identifying talent is alsomendable. If Ji Man aplishes something great in the future, you¡¯ll naturally be rewarded too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Wu Yong kowtowed.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate was very lively today. There had been a notice stuck on the entrance saying that the marquis was looking for a teacher. There were many requirements listed on the paper, but the monthly pay was also especially high. Ji Man squeezed herself into the crowd of people. She was wearing schrly attire today, and she didn¡¯t look remarkable at all.


    Steward Qian was standing at the entrance. One by one, he handed out tokens to some of the candidates and waved them inside.


    Nearby, a schrmented, ¡°I heard that this is a position to be the teacher for the marquis¡¯s heir, so the marquis will be present today. The heir is only two years old. If you want to teach him, you¡¯ll have to put forth a lot of effort.


    ¡°Who¡¯s worried about working hard? I heard that the heir¡¯s biological mother died of sickness, but because the marquis loves him dearly, he won¡¯t even allow his main wife to raise him. Think about it, if you can be the heir¡¯s teacher, wouldn¡¯t that be the same as obtaining instant sess?¡±


    ¡°It might even be possible to get an official¡¯s position from this. With Marquis Moyu¡¯s status, all it would take is a simple rmendation from him. It might even be able to get a spot in the Six Ministries.¡±


    Hearing the words, Ji Man repeatedly nodded her head. Ning Yuxuan was truly like a gold mine that could give many benefits, so it wasn¡¯t surprising to see such a long line of schrs waiting to apply for a position as a teacher. But...


    That night in the carriage, he had said that he was looking for a teacher for Haohao. And now, he had even put out a notice. There were so many people here. What if she lost to one of them?


    Ji Man took a deep breath. As soon as she remembered that she would be able to see Haohao today, she felt her spirit rising quite a bit. When all was said, Haohao was Nie Sangyu¡¯s biological child. No matter what, he should feel a sense of closeness to her, so she would naturally be the most suitable teacher!


    ¡°First, let me look at your face. If you look too fierce, there¡¯s no need for you to enter. As Steward Qian said this, he looked at several of the people at the head of the line and didn¡¯t give them tokens.


    Showing a gentle smile, Ji Man walked over and stretched her hand out to him.


    Steward Qian nced at her, nodded, and gave her a token.


    Damn, this process of choosing a teacher was as troublesome as the imperial harem selection!


    ¡ª


    Over ten schrs had passed the preliminary selection, and they were now following Steward Qian through the estate. After passing through a covered corridor, they actually arrived at Marquis Moyu¡¯s western courtyard.


    Haohao was currently standing at the side and tossing around wooden toy. Looking very leisurely, Marquis Moyu was leaning on a cushioned couch and watching Haohao. Steward Qian reported, ¡°Marquis, the candidates have arrived.¡±


    Standing in the crowd of people, Ji Man could feel that the schrs were feeling very nervous.


    Without even looking at them, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°En, they can start with writing a poem.¡±


    Ji Man felt quite happy that he was showing bias in her favor as she had anticipated. Writing a poem was easy enough. She just needed to giarize a poem.


    Writing tools were brought out, and each person used the ground as a surface to write a poem. Having nned ahead, Ji Man wrote out Li Qingzhao¡¯s <i>Like a dream.</i>


    Back then, she had really liked this poem. A deep sleep in the spring boudoir, wouldn¡¯t those days be so leisurely and rxing?


    However, after everyone had gone forward and handed in their poems, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face sunk when he read her poem.


    <i>¡°Don¡¯t you know? Don¡¯t you see? The greens are lush, and the reds had be wasted.¡±</i> He snorted. He finally raised his head and looked over. ¡°Living well, huh?¡±


    (T/N: Ning Yuxuan reads aloud thest line from the poem. The poem is from the point of view of a nobledy. She just woke up after a restful night of sleep. She¡¯s still recovering from over-drinking the night before.)


    Ji Man almost instinctively nodded, but looking at this master¡¯s expression, she could only awkwardugh.


    ¡°In choosing a teacher for my heir, I¡¯m looking for someone that has both integrity and talent. Someone that knows how to care for young children and will be close to my heir.¡± Marquis Moyu swept his gaze across the crowd of people. ¡°Who has experience with caring for children here?¡±


    Ji Man deservingly raised her hand. She had experience with taking care of Xi-<i>er</i>!


    She had originally thought that she would be the only one that raised her hand. After all, she was the only woman here. But, when she turned her head to look, the people around her were all shamelessly raising their hands.

 Chapter 326 - Finding out about many things after becoming the heirs teacher (1)

    Chapter 326 ¨C Finding out about many things after bing the heir¡¯s teacher (1)


    She swept her gaze over the nearby people. They were all real men that had Adam¡¯s apples. In this era, was there any man that took care of children?


    These people were really doing their absolute best during thispetitive job interview.


    Not willing to ept this, Ji Man stood on her tiptoes to raise her hand higher.


    Surprisingly, Ning Yuxuan actually smiled. He got up and brought Haohao over. Pointing at the group of people, he asked, ¡°Which one do you like?¡±


    Holding onto his little wooden figure toy, Haohao nkly looked at the crowd for a while, but as soon as his little feet touched the ground, he headed towards Ji Man.


    Overjoyed, Ji Man crouched down and held her hands out.


    Seeing this sight, the people near her became nervous. One of them hastily said, ¡°This one heard that the marquis has high requirements for his heir¡¯s teacher. This one had previously taught at the Imperial College of Supreme Learning, and some of my students had passed the imperial exam to be officials in the imperial court...¡±


    Another person said, ¡°This one¡¯s paternal grandfather had been thete emperor¡¯s imperial tutor, and this one has inherited all of his teachings. It¡¯s only that this one¡¯s family fell on hard times.¡±


    Since they had lost in affinity, they could onlypete with schrly merits. All of the schrs started to talk about their qualifications and work experience. There was even one person here that hade second in the imperial examination several years ago. Unfortunately, his path as an official hadn¡¯t gone smoothly, and he was still an unimportant minor official. He hade here hoping to rely on Marquis Moyu¡¯s status to rise up in the ranks.


    As soon as Ji Man heard this person¡¯s introduction, she almost blushed in shame. In this era, she didn¡¯t even have a diploma. Everyone else here was more qualified than her.


    Haohao had already walked to her. Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist her impulse to hug him and rub her face against his soft, rosy cheeks and little face.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s gaze fell down on her. Not showing any favoritism, he directly asked, ¡°What about you?¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed. Holding Haohao, she stood up and said, ¡°This one doesn¡¯t have everyone else¡¯s excellent family background and aplishments. However, several years from now, this one can dere a good reputation for myself.¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°What kind of reputation?


    ¡°Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir¡¯s teacher.¡±


    If they werepeting to see who was the most shameless, Ji Man wasn¡¯t scared of losing. Even if she didn¡¯t have a diploma here, she still had her mouth.


    ¡°If the heir follows this one, he¡¯ll read and re-read until he¡¯s familiar with the Four Books and Five ssics andprehend the importance of propriety, justice, integrity, and honor, as well as epting of new ideas and knowing how to do more than just fawn over other people. The heir is still young. He needs to be slowly taught. This one believes that this one is more patient with young children than anyone else here. This one wouldn¡¯t mistreat a child. When the heir grows up, he¡¯ll achieveudable goals. When that timees, this one will naturally gain a famous reputation.¡±


    (T/N: The Four Books and Five ssics are ssical texts that serve as an introduction to Confucianism and further understanding of Confucian ideals.)


    Marquis, the most terrible thing when trying to find a teacher for your young child was unintentionally hiring a pervert!


    Ning Yuxuan contemted for a long time before pursing his lips and saying, ¡°In order to choose a teacher for my heir, I¡¯ve tried my best. I naturally need to choose someone that my heir likes and canmunicate easily with him. I also need that person to share my burden in taking care of my heir. Everyone here is pretty good, so it¡¯s difficult for me to choose. How about just letting the heir choose for himself?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s gaze fell on Ji Man. The heir was already in that person¡¯s arms. Hadn¡¯t he already chosen?


    One of the schrs questioned, ¡°Could it be that he has something on his body that attracts children?¡±


    The chosen person didn¡¯t look like he had any strong background, and Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t shown any favoritism towards this person. The heir had been the one that chose. How could a two to three year old child be allowed to make such an important decision? There was definitely something off about this.


    Clutching thepel of Ji Man¡¯s robe, Haohao giggled.


    It had started off as stringent and rigorous process for selecting a teacher, but it ended with Ji Man officially bing Haohao¡¯s teacher just because Haohao was holding onto Ji Man and refusing to let go.


    ¡ª


    People that entered Marquis Moyu¡¯s household would all have their backgrounds thoroughly investigated. Fortunately, very few people in the capital knew that Ji Man was Zhangjun Prince¡¯s advisor. In addition, Wu Yong had pulled a few tricks, so Ji Man entered the household under the identity of an ¡°erudite and multi-talented grain merchant proprietor¡±.


    There were masters in the pce that had inquired about this matter too, but everyone had said that the selection process for choosing a teacher for the heir had been very strict, and that grain merchant had just gotten lucky. Since he was an unimportant person that didn¡¯t have a strong background, no one cared enough to ask further questions.


    ¡ª


    Once again, Ji Man returned to this familiar estate. Steward Qian, who was as honest as always, led her to a room in the western courtyard. Ji Man carried Haohao the entire way there without letting go. She looked like a weird uncle figure as sheughed and said, ¡°Hehe, we¡¯re going to spend all our time together in the future.¡±


    Haohao blinked, and his long eyshes briefly shook.


    ¡ª


    Right after Ji Man had settled down in her new room, Steward Qian came back to inform Ji Man that everyone would be having dinner in the western courtyard tonight. It could be considered as introducing this new teacher to the rest of the household.


    She nced at herself in the mirror. Seeing that she still had that disguised face and even her own mother wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize her right now, Ji Man waspletely at ease as she headed to the dining room.


    Some things have remained the same, but the people had changed. A year had already passed since thest time she was here, and it seemed that there were less people in the household now. Only three other women came over to eat dinner: Wen Wan, Liu Hanyun, and Mu Shuiqing.


    Remembering the courtyard that had been full of women¡¯sughter when she had firste to this world, Ji Man sighed as she sat down.


    Wen Wan raised her head to look at this new teacher and warmly smiled. Wen Wan¡¯s face was as beautiful and pleasant to see as always.


    Next to her, Liu Hanyun quietly said, ¡°We¡¯ll have to depend on you to teach the heir in the future.¡±


    Ji Man cupped her hands and made her voice rougher as she answered, ¡°This one will do his best.¡±


    Quietly standing behind Marquis Moyu, Mu Shuiqing repeatedly nced at this new teacher.


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head and said to Liu Hanyun, ¡°When Xi-<i>er</i> reaches a suitable age, I¡¯ll find a teacher for him too.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nodded, but she still looked a bit troubled. ¡°Xia-<i>shi</i>... My lord, are you really going to have a teacher take care of the heir? The heir is still young and doesn¡¯t have a mother...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan interrupted her, ¡°Did you forget? Xia-<i>shi</i> had already died from an illness.¡± As he stretching his chopsticks out to start the dinner, he added, ¡°A teacher can do a good job with taking care of Haohao too. You don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    Ji Man thought it was unexpected that Liu Hanyun could be the main wife. She didn¡¯t know what had happen in this household during the days that she had been gone.

 Chapter 327 - Finding out about many things after becoming the heirs teacher (2)

    Chapter 327 ¨C Finding out about many things after bing the heir¡¯s teacher (2)


    After the quiet dinner ended, Ning Yuxuan said that he had matters to attend to and was going to his study, so he left the room first. As Ji Man was leaving to go back to care for Haohao, Tanxiang sneakily pulled her to the side.


    ¡°Mistress Wan is requesting your presence.¡±


    Wen Wan? Ji Man curiously looked at Tanxiang. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for this one to go to Mistress Wan¡¯s courtyard, right?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be appropriate as long as the teacher brings over the heir?¡± Tanxiang rebuked. Lightly sweeping her fragrant handkerchief over Ji Man¡¯s body, she said, ¡°Quickly, go.¡±


    Since Ji Man had started cross-dressing, she had encountered plenty of women acting charming and ttering towards her. Right now, she was Ji Man, which meant that she was also ying the role of Zhangjun Prince¡¯s loyal servant. Could it be that the princess consort had already notified Wen Wan, so Wen Wan was treating her as someone on the same side as her?


    After returning to her room and picking up Haohao, Ji Man really did go to Qiangwei Courtyard. Anyways, other than Ning Yuxuan and Guibai, Zhao Zhe was the only one that knew her real identity. If Zhao Zhe wanted to use her, he wouldn¡¯t tell Wen Wan her real identity. She wanted to go over there to hear what exactly Wen Wan wanted to say to her.


    As she was entering Qiangwei Courtyard, an older female servant came over and wanted to take Haohao. Ji Man furrowed her brow and held her son tighter. ¡°It¡¯s better if I keep watching him.¡±


    The older female servant didn¡¯t have any other choice and could only let Ji Man inside.


    Tanxiang lifted up a curtain and saw that Ji Man had arrived. Smiling, she said, ¡°My master is waiting for the teacher inside.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and directly entered Wen Wan¡¯s bedroom.


    Wen Wan was properly sitting. Seeing Ji Man entering her room, she smiled and said, ¡°Teacher, you¡¯re keeping such a close watch over the heir. You¡¯re truly living up to the marquis¡¯s expectations.¡±


    ¡°Mistress Wan, you¡¯re overpraising this one.¡± Ji Man ced Haohao down on the floor and held his hand instead. ¡°The marquis handed over the responsibility of taking care of the heir to this one. If anything happens to the heir, this one can¡¯t bear that responsibility, so this one naturally has to keep a very close watch over him.¡±


    Tanxiang closed the room¡¯s doors, and Wen Wan stood up and swept her gaze over Haohao. Looking at Ji Man, she said, ¡°A family member shouldn¡¯t say such distant words. Since the teacher has joined the marquis¡¯s household, we should be mutually showing caring towards each other.¡±


    Ji Man chuckled. Shefortably sat down and said, ¡°Of course.¡±


    As she had predicted, someone had already informed Wen Wan.


    ¡°It¡¯s only that this one recently came from Zhangjun, which is far away from here, so this one isn¡¯t aware of the situation in the marquis¡¯s household. This one can only respectfully request Mistress Wan to inform me.¡±


    Wen Wan brightly smiled. ¡°Teacher, as you saw this evening, this household only has Liu-<i>shi</i> as the main wife and Wan-<i>er</i> as an honored concubine. There¡¯s also an ordinary concubine, but she¡¯s not important. The marquis has two children. The child by your side is the heir, and the second child is the madam¡¯s son.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. ¡°Based on this one¡¯s understanding, the heir isn¡¯t Madam¡¯s biological child. Has there been conflict in the household because of this?¡±


    ¡°Of course, how can there not be?¡± Wen Wan snorted. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear that the heir¡¯s mother had died from an illness? That¡¯s because Madam couldn¡¯t tolerate that woman and found an excuse to drive her out of the estate. I¡¯m guessing that it won¡¯t take long before Liu-<i>shi</i> starts taking action against the little heir that¡¯s by your side in order to help her son gain the position of heir.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t believe in Wen Wan¡¯s viewpoint. Wen Wan¡¯s perspective was too narrow-minded. Her view of the situation could be wrong. If Hanyun really had such a vicious heart, Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t have made her his main wife.


    When Ji Man recollected the conflicts that had urred between Hanyun and Xia-<i>shi</i> back then and connected it to Xia-<i>shi</i> recent behavior thest time she had met her, she thought that perhaps Xia-<i>shi</i> had been the one stirring things up topete for favor. Xia-<i>shi</i> had used Haohao as her weapon to suppress Liu Hanyun by creating a false impression that Hanyun was trying to harm her. This way, the marquis would be more likely to feel pity towards her, and she could continue staying in the estate.


    Fortunately, Ning Yuxuan still had some standards and hadn¡¯t touched Xia-<i>shi</i>, who had reeked of mud and earth.


    Hanyun just wanted to live a peaceful life. She probably wouldn¡¯t harm Haohao.


    Looking at Ji Man, Wen Wan said, ¡°Teacher, since you¡¯re going to be close with the heir, you¡¯ll be able to frequently see the marquis. When that happens, please help Wan-<i>er</i> out by telling me what the marquis is interested in these days. Tell me what he wants and where he goes.¡±


    Hearing these words, Ji Man felt somewhat astonished. ¡°Haven¡¯t you always been very favored by Marquis Moyu? Why are you asking about this type of stuff?¡±


    Wen Wan bitterlyughed. She turned her head away as she said, ¡°Teacher, please just help me.¡±


    During this past year, outsiders thought that she was as favored as much as before. But, she had no idea where Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart had gone. Perhaps, during that torrential rainstorm, his heart had fallen off the cliff together with Nie Sangyu¡¯s body.


    It had been so long since she saw Ning Yuxuan smiling at her. He even went so far as to not be willing to kiss her. Whatever she wanted, he was willing to have it sent over, except for himself.


    Wen Wan felt deste and bereft. The heart and feelings that she had once been able to enjoy, all of it had disappeared. That person still refused to tell her why had everything had changed and had fallen to the current state.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man agreed and took the silver that Wen Wan had pushed over. Picking up Haohao, she left the room.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was in especially good mood today. Sitting in the garden and with a brush in his hand, he was ready to paint.


    In the middle of the garden, there was a small desk and a small stool. Ji Man was half-crouched down in front of Haohao and teaching him how to say short phrases.


    ¡°In this world, only mothers are good.¡±


    Tilting his head as he looked at Ji Man, he repeated, ¡°Mothers are good.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brush paused. With a ckened expression, he asked in a raised voice, ¡°What about fathers?


    Haohao turned his head to look. With his little arms behind his back, he solemnly said, ¡°Fathers are good too.¡±

 Chapter 328 - To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first (1)

    Chapter 328 ¨C To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first (1)


    Ning Yuxuan was delighted by Haohao¡¯s answer, and there was a gleam in his eyes. After nodding his head in satisfaction, he lowered his head and continued painting.


    Ji Man felt slightly disoriented by this sight, but she quickly turned her head back and continued teaching Haohao.


    She had already nned out in detail how to teach Haohao. There would be five sses every day. The first ss would be history. This would conveniently give her the chance to move some history books into her room so that she could study this dynasty as well. The second ss would be poetry. At the very least, she was a person that had studied poetry in modern-day. The third ss would be etiquette and how to get along with others. This... Haohao was still young. She could bluff her way through it by just teaching him some nursery rhymes. Thest two sses would be painting and reading the Four Books and Five ssics of Confucianism.


    Learning had to start from a young age, but Ji Man wasn¡¯t nning on forcing him to be a talented person. She just wanted to share and pass down everything that she knew to him. She wasn¡¯t hoping that he would aplish something great when he grew up. She only hoped that he would be capable of saving himself from harm.


    ¡ª


    There wasn¡¯t a teacher in the world that could be more conscientious than a mother teaching her child. After Ji Man had only been teaching Haohao for a couple of days, she had already received Steward Qian¡¯s as well as Madam¡¯s praise. And so, Marquis Moyu had seemingly expended a token effort by rewarding her with an item.


    When Ji Man happily opened the box that contained her reward, she discovered that it was a painting. When she unfurled the scroll, she saw that it was a painting by Ning Yuxuan. The painting was a scene of her teaching Haohao a few days ago in the garden. However, he had removed her disguise as a man and carelessly painted a woman¡¯s appearance instead.


    She had never met someone that gave rewards like this. Hadn¡¯t they be familiar enough by now? Why hadn¡¯t he just given her something useful like gold and silver or other precious stones? Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched for a long time. She put the box away by stuffing into the deepest spot on her bed.


    ¡ª


    As a result of bing Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir¡¯s teacher, Ji Man didn¡¯t have time to attend to her newly opened rice store. She spent some money to hire an astute shopkeeper. His name was Yan Buba, and his personality matched his name. Feeling very assured, Ji Man handed over the management of the store to him.


    (T/N: Yan means strict and stern. Buba is from the idiom <i>yi mao bu ba</i>, which means stingy.)


    However, the purpose of opening a rice store wasn¡¯t to earn pocket money. The rice grown in Zhangjun was very good quality, but because the terrain from Zhangjun to the capital wasn¡¯t suitable for transportation, the rice couldn¡¯t be easily exported to here. Now that she had returned to the capital, she wanted to test the waters by seeing if it would be profitable to sell rice from Zhangjun here. If it turned out well, then she would figure out a pathway to transport rice from Zhangjun. At worst, she would just continue paying a shipping fee each time. Or, perhaps, she would get it done once and for all by building a road.


    After Ji Man organized everything from top to bottom and made connections through bribery, Ji Rice Store smoothly opened for business. Because of the excellent quality of the rice as well as the store¡¯s fair and scrupulous business practice, the store quickly became a best seller of rice in the capital.


    During the day, she would teach Haohao. After sses were over for the day, she would leave the estate to work on her business. Ji Man was so busy that she didn¡¯t even have time to regrly eat. It was the same lifestyle she had in modern-day when she rushing around to make sales. Ji Man thought this was no big deal, but she had be much thinner as a result. Even the fake skin face mask had started to be a bit too loose and big to put on, and she had to modify it before it could be properly worn again.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan finally couldn¡¯t stop himself from waiting at the back gate and stopping Ji Man, who had been about to leave the estate again. ¡°What are you so busy with?¡±


    Seeing that it was him, Ji Man checked the condition of her face mask by touching it, then she very properly said, ¡°Going out to do business.¡±


    ¡°What kind of business?¡± Ning Yuxuan frowned. ¡°It takes you the majority of the day to teach the heir. How can you have the free time to do other stuff?¡±


    Cheerfully smiling, Ji Man said, ¡°My lord, you said that it takes the majority of the day to teach the heir, so that means the remaining part of the day is naturally left for this one¡¯s to do private business. The job of being the heir¡¯s teacher isn¡¯t considered an official governmental position, so this one is allowed to have personal interests of my own, right?¡±


    Marquis Moyu pressed his lips together in discontentment. Just as he was about to ask more questions, Wen Wan¡¯s voice came from behind him. ¡°My lord.¡±


    Turning his body, Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan. He made a light sound of acknowledgement and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Man ced one hand over a fist to greet Wen Wan, then she took advantage of Wen Wan¡¯s appearance to promptly leave the estate.


    Having previously followed Liu Rufeng, she had learned many tricks on how to deal with people from ancient times. Ji Man had invited a director from the Ministry of Revenue for a meal today to develop friendly rtions. Everyone that did business knew that if you wanted your business to be a huge sess, you had to win over everyone. ttering and fawning over various people was simply an absolutely necessary task.


    For example, although a director wasn¡¯t a high position in the Ministry of Revenue, he was quite arrogant. If she wasn¡¯t Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir¡¯s teacher, he wouldn¡¯t have been willing to ept a dinner request from a mere grain merchant.


    As the head of the grain merchant association, Shopkeeper Liu naturally acted as the middleman and helped Ji Man get a meeting with this official. In the passing, he had invited himself to the dinner to gain some benefits by rubbing elbows with this official.


    They were sitting inside a room on Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s eight floor, which had a very schrly atmosphere and looked quite elegant. At the center of the room, there was arge mahogany table. Not only was the table full of exotic delicacies, there were also plenty of ¡°talented women¡± sitting nearby.


    It had already been said before that Luoyan Pagoda was a ce where elegant schrs liked to gather. However, there were some officials that loved to put on a pretense of being refined men too. Even though they obviously enjoyed going to brothels the most, they still contrarily put a solemn expression and said that Luoyan Pagoda was a good meeting ce.


    Of course, the people below them had an implicit understanding. Even if this ce was Luoyan Pagoda, there could still be women in attendance. After all, talented woman were also women.


    Ji Man was sitting in a guest¡¯s seat and sandwiched between two ¡°talented women¡±. The director was sitting in a higher position. Grinning as he looked at Ji Man, he said, ¡°Teacher Ji, you¡¯re a promising youth. Why are you staying a merchant? Now that you¡¯ve entered the marquis¡¯s doors, wouldn¡¯t it be better to relinquish your previous upation and serve as an official instead?


    Ji Man ced one hand over her fist and said, ¡°This one is unambitious and can¡¯t bepared to you, Sir Tang, who¡¯s already a director at such young age. This one recently heard that you might be getting a promotion soon. That¡¯ll be worthy of celebration.¡±


    Director Tangughed and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be a loss for the other officials too.¡±

 Chapter 329 - To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first (2)

    Chapter 329 ¨C To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first (2)


    The talented women offered cup after cup of wine. Ji Man didn¡¯t hesitate with epting the cups of wine. She even took the initiative of helpfully intercepting wine for the director. Of course, she secretly spat out all of the wine into her sleeve.


    Later on, when she was supporting the director as they were walking down the stairs, Ji Man very considerately suggested, ¡°Director, you look a bit tipsy. This one had already book a room for you in the neighboring inn. How about letting these talented women assist you with walking over there?


    Director Tang smiled with unchecked vulgarity. Patting Ji Man¡¯s shoulder, he said, ¡°Teacher Ji, as expected, you have a very good understanding of other people.¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu had given gifts and toasted Director Tang several times during the meal, but he hadn¡¯t obtained any smiling expression from the director. But, in the end, Ji Man had been the one that benefited from the meeting that Shopkeeper Liu had arranged. When they left Luoyan Pagoda, Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look pleasant, but Ji Man didn¡¯t care. They were both rice merchants, so they were naturally going to bepetitors. Hadn¡¯t Shopkeeper Liue here with the intention of trying to profit by using her status as Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir¡¯s teacher?


    ¡ª


    When she returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, the back gate wasn¡¯t closed even though it was gettingte. Ji Man stuck her head out and looked around, then she dashed in the direction of her room.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Haohao was staying in the room next to hers and being watched over by a servant girl. Since her body stunk of alcohol, she naturally couldn¡¯t visit Haohao in her current state. After she entered her room and was about take her clothes off to take a bath, someone suddenly mped his hand over her mouth.


    There was a disadvantage to staying in someone else¡¯s home. At any moment, the owner of the home might pop out and scare you half to death.


    Without a better option, Ji Man could only push Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand away from her and say, ¡°Marquis, this one is a man right now. Isn¡¯t it a little inappropriate for you to be lurking in my bedroom at night?¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. He raised his hand and lit amp. Wrinkling his nose, he asked, ¡°Did you go drinking?¡±


    ¡°It was forworking.¡± After Ji Man took off her outer robe and tossed it to the side, she felt much morefortable.


    Right now, Ning Yuxuan looked like a wife that had caught her husband red-handed withing home after an evening of debauchery drinking. His posture had already shifted into an interrogating one.


    ¡°Did you forget that you¡¯re a woman again?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Marquis, you¡¯ve also forgotten something. Right now, this one is a man.¡±


    With her chin raised high, she looked as if she was one step away from knocking against the tip of his nose. Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips as he looked at her. ¡°What more do you want?¡±


    He had already given Haohao to her. Why wasn¡¯t it enough? Why couldn¡¯t she quietly remain in his inner court and care for their child? Why did she insist on going out and exposing her face in public?


    Ji Man narrowed her eyes and looked at him for a while before saying, ¡°I want to be a tree, not a trumpet vine. Marquis, do you understand?¡±


    Marquis Moyu froze in shock. He didn¡¯t have time to recover and ask her what she meant before she started talking again.


    Half-talking to herself, Ji Man continued, ¡°I must have gotten drunk from the alcohol vapors to ask such a question. A man like you, who¡¯s full of male chauvinism and doesn¡¯t have any romantic feelings, how could you possibly understand me?¡±


    Minding her own business, she washed her face, then she copsed onto her bed. Pointing at the doors, she said, ¡°I still have to give Haohao lessons tomorrow morning. I won¡¯t keep the marquis up any longer. Have a safe walk back.¡±


    Left speechless by her stream of words, Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. Feeling rather angry, he turned around and left.


    ¡ª


    The price of Zhangjun rice was about the same as other rice, but its kernels were especially plump, so they were doing pretty good in sales.


    And so, Ji Man took out her savings and rented out stores in various parts of the capital to expand the scope of her business.


    While rice was still being transported from Zhangjun without interruption, it was about time for her take stock of her inventory and make a decision. Would it better for her to build a road from Zhanghun to the capital or continuing paying a high freight fee while earning small profits each time and having the advantage of quick turnover?


    ¡ª


    This time, after Zhao Zhe had entered the pce and paid respects to the emperor, he paid another visit to the dowager empress¡¯s ce to chat with his mother alone. There were many mountains between Zhangjun and the capital, so once Zhao Zhe left the capital, he probably wouldn¡¯t see his mother for several years.


    ¡ª


    As Wu Yong was trying to think of an excuse to allow Zhangjun Prince to his extend his stay in the capital, Ji Man came by the inn.


    With a serious expression, Ji Man said, ¡°I think it¡¯s necessary to build our own road. Brother Wu, what do you think?¡±


    Wu Yong asked in curiosity, ¡°Why do you want to build a road? Is there a good reason? It would be a veryrge undertaking to do so.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because it¡¯s arge undertaking, so it¡¯ll be reasonable to ask for the funding toe from the imperial treasury. While His Highness is still in the capital, he should rely on the dowager empress to discuss this with the emperor, ¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Once a road is built, it¡¯ll also be very helpful for our future ns. Brother Wu, think about it. If a road could be directly building from Zhangjun to the capital, a lot of time would be saved from dys that happen on mountain paths. In the future, if you want to transport weaponry and such, wouldn¡¯t it also be faster...¡±


    Wu Yong furrowed his brow. ¡°His Highness had written several petitions to request for a road to be built between Zhangjun and the capital, but the new emperor had refused all of his appeals under the reasoning that there¡¯s a national treasury shortage.¡±


    ¡°A national treasury shortage?¡± Ji Manughed. ¡°The dowager empress can¡¯t renovate her pce because there¡¯s a national treasury shortage. A road between Zhangjun and the capital also can¡¯t be built because there¡¯s a national treasury shortage. But, haven¡¯t you heard that the emperor is going to build a pavilion called Wangyue Pavillon for the empress? Why is there suddenly enough money in the national treasury for that expense?¡±


    ¡°That...¡± Wu Yong sighed. ¡°That¡¯s also within reason.¡±


    With an expression as if she was doing all of this solely for the nation, for themon people, and for the prince, she said, ¡°Brother Yu, as an imperial strategic advisor, it¡¯s your duty to think of a solution. You can¡¯t just allow the emperor to continue to mistreat His Highness.¡±


    Wu Yong solemnly nodded.


    ¡ª


    Only a few days had passed before Marquis Moyu received a request for government funding. The messenger said that the letter had been presented directly by Zhangjun Prince to the emperor, so the new emperor couldn¡¯t reject it outright. Zhao Li had it sent over here instead. The implied meaning was that he wanted to use Marquis Moyu as the excuse to reject this request.


    ¡ª


    Standing in front of a small ckboard and shooting a quick nce at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s figure, which wasn¡¯t far away from them, Ji Man solemnly taught Haohao. ¡°Repeat after teacher. To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first.¡±


    Haohao opened his mouth and repeated, ¡°To enjoy fortune, a road must be built first.¡±

 Chapter 330 - Taking her through the back door (1)

    Chapter 330 ¨C Taking her through the back door (1)


    Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°What¡¯s your intention in doing this?¡±


    Feeling someone pulling her to the side, Ji Man raised her eyes and made direct contact with Marquis Moyu¡¯s slightly deep gaze.


    ¡°Why do you also know about the road construction matter?¡±


    ¡°What road construction?¡± Ji Man looked at him nkly as if she had no hidden intentions and shook her head. ¡°This one is just teaching Haohao how to read and happened to see that phase in a book.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed and let her go. ¡°Tell me, what book was that phrase from?¡±


    Ji Man straightened the front of her robe and solemnly answered, ¡°It¡¯s from the <i>Analects of Confucius ¨C Building Roads</i>. It¡¯s a lost Confucian ssic. The main point of the book is inform theter generations that if you want to enjoy fortune, you have to construct roads first. When traveling bes more convenient, time will be saved, which will lead to a reduction in transportation costs. This will result in a reduction in prices for goods and boost consumption.¡±


    Looking at Ning Yuxuan, who was stunned by her words, Ji Man sighed and patted his shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I already knew that even if I told you, you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand.¡±


    Her words were clearly a bunch of nonsense, so why was she acting as if everything was rightfully so? Feeling rather helpless, Marquis Moyu looked at her for a long time before deciding to leave.


    As he was turning around, Ji Man stopped him by grabbing his sleeve. ¡°Marquis, what were you saying about that road construction?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused. He turned his to the side and said, ¡°Do you really not know that Zhangjun Prince petitioned for a road to be built between his fiefdom and the capital?¡±


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Oh, so you were talking about that matter. Isn¡¯t that a very normal matter? The emperor should agree to that request. He hasn¡¯t ascended to the throne for a long period of time and wouldn¡¯t want to gain the reputation amongst themoners as someone that mistreats his brother, right? It¡¯s only a road. It won¡¯t require that much money from the national treasury.¡±


    ¡°A woman¡¯s viewpoint iscking.¡± Marquis Moyu snorted. ¡°This road can¡¯t be built.¡±


    Acting as if she didn¡¯t understand why, Ji Man asked, ¡°Why not?¡±


    It was obvious why the road couldn¡¯t be built. If the national treasury funded the construction of a trade road, once it was easier to transport things between the two ces, many other things would also be more convenient too. The new emperor wasn¡¯t an idiot; he wouldn¡¯t act like someone that had more money than sense.


    However, taking advantage that right now all of the titled princes, who were normally situated far away in their respective fiefdoms, hade to the capital to pay respects to the new emperor, the dowager empress tearfullyined to them about the new emperor. And so, rumors of the new emperor mistreating the dowager empress and his imperial brother were spread.


    After the new emperor had ascended, he had put down harsh rules regarding taxation. It could even be said that the poprity of the new emperor was already at an all-time low. There were even many elegant schrs that wrote poems with metaphors about Zhao Li being a fatuous and incapable ruler and his taxes. Over time, themoners seemed to have developed a tacit understanding of the new emperor.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu rejected Zhangjun Prince¡¯s petition by using the reason that the Ministry of Revenue was reporting a deficit in funding. However, after these words were said, the construction for Wangyue Pavillon should be stopped too. Since he had said there was a shortage in the national treasury, then nothing else should be built or renovated either.


    The new emperor¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good. Ning Yuxuan had originally wanted to persuade him to just silently endure for a while. Once the visiting titled princes returned to their fiefdoms, construction for Wangyue Pavillon could be resumed again. However, Zhao Li was like a brain-dead mouse that was going to dig himself to a dead end. He refused to listen to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s persuasion and insisted on continuing the construction for Wangyue Pavillion.


    Alright, fine. Ning Yuxuan gave up on trying to convince him.


    ¡ª


    It wasn¡¯t clear what benefits Zhangjun Prince or perhaps the dowager empress had offered the titled princes. But, one after another, they actually wrote petitions to the new emperor to help Zhao Zhe. Under the pressure of their unanimous condemnations, Zhao Li surprisingly agreed to build a road to Zhangjun instead of stopping the construction for Wangyue Pavillon.


    When Ji Man heard this news, she really wanted to sigh. As it turned out, even someone like Zhao Li, who had an abnormal psychologicalplex and was vicious and merciless towards everyone else, still had love in is heart?


    Wangyue Pavillion, Wangyue Pavillion. He really wasn¡¯t letting down Pengyue, who had so whole-heartedly helped him back then.


    (T/N: Pengyue¡¯s name can mean a praiseworthy moon. Wangyue just means full moon.)


    Ning Yuxuan had showed disapproval at the new emperor¡¯s decision. It was obvious that this was just a willful child¡¯s impulsive decision. Still, there was nothing that he could about it. The other party was his boss. Once his boss made a decision, as his subordinate, he could only send down his orders to the Ministry of Revenue to allocate the funds for the road construction.


    As if she was mentally calcting with a little abacus, Ji Man thought about her next move. It would probably take at least a year or two toplete the construction of the new road. During this time, she would continue to earn small profits throughrge sales volume because she had pay for freight costs to transport rice from Zhangjun. Fortunately, she had already received permission from Zhao Zhe. Any rice that was exported out of Zhangjun would be under her management. Even after the road was built and there were more profits, all of the profits would go into her pocket.


    ¡ª


    The grain merchant association had an annual election to choose its leader. And so, Ji Man had been especially busytely because the annual election wasing up soon. She wasn¡¯t a person from the capital, so she didn¡¯t have many contacts. She didn¡¯t have substantial assets either. Still, she wanted to get that leader position. Although that position didn¡¯t have any solid authority or power, this position would give her the chance to have the most contact with governmental officials out of all the rice merchants.


    In order to get promoted, in addition to doing an outstanding job, the most important part was conducting yourself well. Ji Man had already slightly increased the price of Zhangjun rice so that there wouldn¡¯t be pressure for the other rice merchants. After that, one by one, she invited shopkeepers from various rice stores out for meals and drinks. In the passing, she would also invite Director Tang fromst time, so everyone was happy to attend her gatherings.


    Because thepetition for bing the next head of the rice merchant association was always very big each year, no one thought that Ji Man was trying to pull people to her side. In their eyes, Ji Man was just an insignificant person. There was no way that this new rice merchant from Zhangjun would be strong contender.


    ¡ª


    After Marquis Moyu heard Guibai¡¯s report of what Ji Man had been up to recently, he mockinglyughed. ¡°Why does this woman like to torment herself so much?¡±


    She was toiling away just from selling some rice. Why bother with inviting some official for a meal? Didn¡¯t she know that the Ministry of Revenue was under his control?


    Why was she being so stupid?

 Chapter 331 - Taking her through the back door (1)

    Chapter 331 ¨C Taking her through the back door (1)


    Once again, Ji Man returned in the dim light of night. Although she was tired, instead of going straight to sleep, she still ordered a servant girl to prepare a hot bath for her. She had already been wearing the fake skin face mask for ten days. If she didn¡¯t take it off and give her skin time to breathe, she would probably end up with a face full of e soon.


    After closing the windows and locking the doors, she took off the mask and her clothes. She submerged her body into the bathwater for a while before sitting back up and letting out a long rxed sigh.


    Sure enough, when the pressure of work became too much,ing back home and taking a hot bath was enough to wash it away.


    She happily scrubbed her face clean. Just as she dried herself off and was about to step out of the bath bucket, she heard a creaking sound as someone opened the doors.


    What the hell? Ji Man hastily hid herself by submerged her body. She had clearly locked the doors. How was someone able to push open the doors?


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly being very leisurely.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice had already arrived by the bath bucket. Seeing the mass of hair that was floating on the top of the water, he helplessly pulled her out. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about identally suffocating yourself by doing something like that?¡±


    With a flushed face, Ji Man looked at him and said, ¡°Marquis, why can¡¯t you uphold the standards of a gentleman¡¯s honor instead of acting with such impropriety?¡±


    Looking at her, Marquis Moyu felt a sh of inexplicable terror. He didn¡¯t hear her words and only nkly stretched his hand out to touch the face that he hadn¡¯t seen in such a long time.


    ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man frowned. ¡°Marquis, this one is Ji Man.¡±


    As if he hadn¡¯t heard her words, Ning Yuxuan leaned over, tilted her chin up, and gently kissed her lips. ¡°It¡¯s really been too long.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything to cover her body, so Ji Man could only clench her jaw. ¡°If people find out that the marquis snuck in his heir¡¯s teacher¡¯s room to do uwful things, what would other people think? Do you not care about your reputation anymore?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a reputation worth?¡± Ning Yuxuan scooped her out of water in one swift motion. He didn¡¯t seem to care that the water was dripping down from her body and falling onto him. ¡°When have I ever cared about something like that?¡±


    As early as when he had opened the capital¡¯s gate to allow Zhao Li inside, the title ¡°Marquis Moyu¡± had already be something that many people secretly cursed about.


    Ji Man was somewhat stunned. As he carried her over to the bed, he dried most of the water from her body. After putting her down on the bed, he even wrapped her up in a quilt.


    ¡°Marquis, did youe here looking for a booty call with this one?¡±


    ¡°Booty... what? ¡± He stood back up. With a slightly displeased tone, he said, ¡°Can you stop saying words that I don¡¯t understand?¡±


    Ji Man pressed herself against his chest and seriously said, ¡°A booty call is when two strangers that have no feelings for each other sleep together. It¡¯s just a way to release the lust in your body.¡±


    He had been about to kiss her forehead, but he froze after hearing these words. Ning Yuxuan lowered his head and silently looked at her. ¡°Do you see us as two strangers that don¡¯t have any mutually shared feelings?¡±


    ¡°At the very least, we don¡¯t have a legitimate rtionship.¡± Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°Marquis, the divorce letter that you gave me, this one has always been keeping it with me.¡±


    His body had stiffened by the bedside. Ning Yuxuan stared at her for a moment before pursing his lips and saying, ¡°I forgot. You¡¯re not my wife anymore.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man casually picked up a robe that was on her bed and put it on. ¡°It¡¯ste. Marquis, it¡¯s best if you go back to your room sooner.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ning Yuxuan got up. As he was about to leave the room, he remembered something and said, ¡°I came over because I wanted to tell you that there¡¯s going be a banquet at the assistant minister of revenue¡¯s house tomorrow. It¡¯s a celebration for his family¡¯s Old Madame¡¯s eighty birthday. Do you want to go with me?¡±


    The assistant minister of revenue? That was a grand fourth rank official. Back when she was the marquis¡¯s wife, she hadn¡¯t thought it was a big deal when someone was a high-ranking official. But now that she was only an ordinary citizen, she realized that those were people that she really needed to curry favor with.


    Ji Man looked like a puppy that was one moment away from wagging its tail. She looked at Ning Yuxuan with glimmering eyes and said, ¡°Marquis, thank you. This one will definitely be waiting tomorrow to go with the marquis to the banquet.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled and left the room.


    He hadn¡¯t learned to be considerate person yet. After opening the doors to leave, he didn¡¯t think to close them shut. As a result, the wind that blew through the doors chilled Ji Man, who was still sitting on the bed.


    ¡ª


    The next evening, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s carriage was waiting at the front gate. After Ji Man had coaxed Haohao into going sleep earlier, she swiftly went to the front gate and followed Ning Yuxuan into the carriage.


    ¡°My lord...¡± Liu Hanyun had just walked to the front gate too. Originally, she was going to ask, since the marquis was attending a banquet today, as his main wife, should she being along with him? As it turned out, Marquis Moyu hadn¡¯t thought about bring her with him at all. Instead, he was taking Haohao¡¯s teacher.


    This new teacher had truly obtained the marquis¡¯s high regard. It was probably due to the marquis¡¯s favoritism towards Haohao. He wanted to give everything that was good to Haohao.


    Liu Hanyun sighed and turned back to return to her courtyard.


    ¡ª


    During the entire trip, Ji Man was silently contemting on what she would do when they arrived. Was there anything that she should avoid doing?


    Leaning against the carriage, Marquis Moyu yawned and nonchntly said, ¡°The assistant minister of revenue has a son that¡¯s the same age as Haohao, but his son¡¯s stubborn and mischievous personality is always giving people headaches. He¡¯ll probably be pretty happy if you spend time with his son.¡±


    Somewhat stunned, Ji Man turned her head to look at him. Was he helping her?


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t like talkative people, so watch how much you¡¯re saying.¡± Ning Yuxuan swept his gave over her, then he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.


    Sometimes, it was useful to have this haughty person in your family. One day in the future, once Ning Yuxuan had figured out what her real intention was, he most likely wouldn¡¯t be willing to continue to help her. But, right now, he was looking out for her and helping her establish a useful rtionship by taking her through the back door. And so, Ji Man did feel somewhat grateful towards him.


    Although she might have an enmity that was absolutely irreconcble with this person, Ji Man wasn¡¯t in a hurry. Revenge could be slowly taken. She had to stabilize her position first.


    ¡ª


    The front entrance to the assistant minister¡¯s estate was bustling with people. At first, Ji Man was even worried that there wouldn¡¯t be space to park their carriage. Unexpectedly to her, the carriage was directly driven to the back entrance.


    When they arrived there, a man in his forties was waiting there. He ced one hand over his fist to salute and greeted, ¡°Shuyou is deeply honored that the marquis has personallye here.¡±

 Chapter 332 - What do you think of my daughter? (1)

    Chapter 332 ¨C What do you think of my daughter? (1)


    Although this person was wearing official attire, he still looked quite chubby. It was a level that most people couldn¡¯t reach. Seeing how respectful he was behaving towards Ning Yuxuan and how he had even deferentially referred to himself in third person, Ji Man guessed that he was probably the assistant minister of revenue.


    Ji Man exited from the carriage before Ning Yuxuan and saluted the assistant minister first, then she pulled back the carriage¡¯s curtain for Ning Yuxuan toe out too.


    Marquis Moyu nced at her. She certainly did a good job with learning how to mimic a servant¡¯s servile demeanor. Standing at the entrance, he nodded at Zhu Shuyou. ¡°Sir Zhu.¡±


    Assistant Minister Zhu smiled and said, ¡°Since there were so many people at the front entrance, Shuyou decided to wait here to wee you. Shuyou hopes that the marquis and this noble sir won¡¯t take offense.¡±


    Ji Man smiled and ced her hand over her fist to salute. ¡°This one is just a teacher in the marquis¡¯s estate. Sir Zhu, you can just call me Ji Man.¡±


    Zhu Shuyou loudlyughed for a bit. After carefully looking over Ji Man, he looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Marquis, please follow me inside.¡±


    Zhu Residence could be considered a dazzling sight. As Ji Man walked through the estate, she sighed. This era really was a rotten society with corrupt officials. The higher ranked the official was, the more corrupt he was. This fourth ranked official¡¯s estate had pavilions and terraces that almost caught up to the marquis¡¯s estate in opulence.


    As they walked, Ning Yuxuan and Assistant Minister Zhu exchanged perfunctory words, so Ji Man just quietly followed them. From time to time, she would hear the words ¡°my daughter¡± and what not. She couldn¡¯t resist silently grumbling. These people must have too much free time to spare. They were always thinking about stuffing another woman into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s harem. Unfortunately for them, Marquis Moyu was still in his three-year mourning period and couldn¡¯t wee any new woman into his household. No matter how much these people wanted to shove another woman at him, their efforts would ultimately be futile.


    When they were passing by a courtyard, a young woman suddenly rushed out. She was charging around and actually crashed into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arms and fell down.


    Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s expression changed. He angrily shouted, ¡°Yu-<i>er</i>!¡±


    Ji Man stayed at the back of the group to watch this entertaining y of idental encounter unfold. Unfortunately, she couldn¡¯t see how this daughter from Zhu family looked from her current spot.


    Ning Yuxuan, this stallion that would never refuse a woman¡¯s charms, stretched his hand out and helped the young woman up. After getting a clear look of the young woman¡¯s face, he smiled and said, ¡°Miss, be more careful next time.¡±


    Ji Man shuffled over. As she soon as poked her head out from behind Ning Yuxuan, she saw the youngdy¡¯s august countenance.


    Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Assistant Minister Zhu said, ¡°This is my daughter, Yurun. Marquis, please excuse her behavior.¡±


    Zhu Yurun also had a name that matched her appearance. Her face was round, and her figure was also somewhat roundish. Although she didn¡¯t have an ugly face, her rather chubby figure obviously didn¡¯t match Ning Yuxuan¡¯s esthetics.


    (T/N: Yurun mean sleek, smooth jade.)


    Seeing the look in her father¡¯s gaze, Zhu Yurun finally returned to her senses. Letting go of her grip on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s clothes, she embarrassedly scurried over to stand behind her father. ¡°Yurun greets the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded and continued his conversation with Assistant Minister Zhu. ¡°About that matter of constructing a road to Zhangjun...¡±


    Miss Zhu, who had previously imagined that there would be romantic scene, ended up beingpletely ignored. She pouted and unhappily followed after them.


    Ji Man looked at her and felt somewhat sympathetic towards her. Whether or not there would be love at first sight really depended on a person¡¯s face. If your face wasn¡¯t good enough, then you needed to have a good figure. Miss Zhu didn¡¯t have either of these things, but there was still one aspect about her that deserved praise. She had a brave heart.


    It was fine that Zhu Yurun was following them to the banquet hall. But, when they were almost there, she suddenly pulled Ji Man to the side.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t mistaken. A young nobledy had really pulled a male stranger to the side.


    Fluttering her eyes, Zhu Yurun asked Ji Man, ¡°Are you the marquis¡¯s rtive?¡±


    Ji Man considered her question. Did she count as a rtive? Her son called Ning Yuxuan dad, so she probably counted as rtive, right? Satisfied with that logic, she nodded.


    Twisting her handkerchief, Zhu Yurun asked, ¡°Then... what kind of woman does the marquis like?¡±


    Ji Man lowered her head to examine this youngdy. She looked as if she was at an age where she should have already gotten married.


    ¡°He likes women that are slender, graceful, and gentle.¡± Ji Man¡¯s answer didn¡¯t give Miss Zhu any space for delusional fantasies. ¡°Moreover, he still has one year left of filial mourning.¡±


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s face crumpled, and even her eyebrows dropped. In a rather dejected tone, she mumbled, ¡°I finally met someone that was more attractive than him...¡±


    After speaking to that point, Miss Zhu paused and raised her head to look at Ji Man. ¡°What do you do?¡±


    Ji Man had turned her head to look at where the banquet was being held. She should be following Ning Yuxuan over there and tried to quickly settle the matter over here. ¡°I teach the marquis¡¯s son.¡±


    ¡°A teacher?¡± Zhu Yurun¡¯s eyes brightened. Grabbing Ji Man¡¯s hand, she asked, ¡°Do you have a wife?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyebrows jumped up in shock. She awkwardlyughed and tried to pushed Zhu Yurun¡¯s hand away. ¡°I don¡¯t, but I¡¯m not nning on getting married anytime soon.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t good to be seen as husband material by a woman. Ji Man didn¡¯t care about the facts of the matter. She hastily struggled free from Zhu Yurun and fled towards Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side. ¡°Excuse my rudeness.¡±


    Zhu Yurun continued to stand in a corner and mumbled to herself. ¡°I have to get married soon. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be toote.¡± Then, she turned around and ran towards the courtyard.


    Ji Man reached Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side in a panicked state. He kind-heartedly handed her a cup of water and said, ¡°Don¡¯t stray too far from me.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man stuck to his side like a surveyor¡¯s trusty pole. As she followed him, she met a lot of high-ranking officials and other important people. They all praised her as an erudite schr. She clearly hadn¡¯t even said a few words. How exactly were they seeing that she possessed profound wisdom?


    Halfway through the birthday banquet, a servant girl ran over to Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s side and whispered something into his ear. His expression immediately changed, and he waved his hand to signal for her to withdraw.

 Chapter 333 - What do you think of my daughter? (2)

    Chapter 333 ¨C What do you think of my daughter? (2)


    Ji Man was eating when she heard Zhu Shuyou say, ¡°Teacher Ji, I heard that you¡¯re not married yet.¡± Ji Man almost spit out the food that she was chewing. She hurriedly stood up and said, ¡°This one isn¡¯t in a hurry to start a family.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was nearby and making small talk with a group of court officials. Zhu Shuyou nced over his way, then he stretched his hand out and pulled Ji Man to the side.


    As it turned out, this tendency of abruptly pulling people to the side was a hereditary habit for the Zhu family.


    Looking at Ji Man with a good-natured expression, Zhu Shuyou said, ¡°Teacher Ji, as someone that¡¯s part of Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, you¡¯ll likely to have bright prospects in your future. I heard that you also have a family business?¡±


    Ji Man cleared her throat. ¡°... This one has a rtive that¡¯s a grain merchant.¡±


    Zhu Shuyou nodded. ¡°It¡¯s about time for the rice that¡¯s being used for the tribute to be changed. We¡¯ve always been using rice from the Li family. But, actually, rice from any merchant family would be okay too. Teacher Ji, would your family be able to do this business?¡±


    Ji Man gasped. This was the rice that would enter the pce! Looking at him with a somewhat guarded gaze, she said, ¡°Sir Zhu, your favor is too high. This one is just from a small merchant family...¡±


    Assistant Minister Zhu chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so self-effacing. Once the rice bes tribute rice, does it matter if it came from a small merchant family or arge one? Won¡¯t its price increase by a hundredfold either way? Actually, speaking of this matter, it¡¯s quite the coincidence. The decision for choosing which merchant to buy the rice from is under my purview. I¡¯m also familiar with the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.¡±


    The discussion had already gotten to this point, so Ji Man frankly asked, ¡°Sir, is there something that you would like this one to do?¡±


    Since he was willing to give out such a fatty piece of meat, then the help that he wanted couldn¡¯t be small. Ji Man didn¡¯t guess wrong. What he wanted really wasn¡¯t something insignificant.


    Zhu Shuyou opened his mouth and straightforwardly asked, ¡°Teacher Ji, since you don¡¯t have a wife, what do you think of my daughter?¡±


    Ji Man had seen parents worried about marrying off their daughters, but she had never seen something like this before. How horrible exactly was Zhu Yurun that her father had to pay such a high price in order to marry her off?


    Ji Man wanted to cry, but she didn¡¯t have tears. She wasn¡¯t a man. Even if you wanted to give her the imperial harem, she still couldn¡¯t marry a woman.


    ¡°I know that this isn¡¯t an issue that can be rushed, so you can take your time to consider this.¡± Zhu Shuyou patted her shoulder and said, ¡°After all, my daughter is really...¡± Zhu Shuyou trailed off with a sigh.


    Honestly, Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t ugly, so Ji Man couldn¡¯t understand. Why would she have such a difficult time getting married?


    ¡ª


    On the way back, Ji Man asked Ning Yuxuan her earlier question.


    Looking as if he had just stepped into dog poop, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°He wants you to marry his daughter?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°It¡¯s probably because I have such a gentlemanly appearance.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t marry her.¡± Ning Yuxuan interrupted her. With a ckened expression, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t even bring up the fact that you¡¯re a woman. Even if you¡¯re a man, Zhu Yurun isn¡¯t someone that you can marry.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Ji Man was somewhat surprised.


    Ning Yuxuan sternly answered, ¡°She¡¯s an unclean and faithless person. She¡¯s not even married yet, and she¡¯s already pregnant. You should keep your distance from her.¡±


    Ji Man slightly furrowed her brow. She recalled Zhu Yurun¡¯s physical state. As it turned out, she wasn¡¯t actually chubby. It was just a sign that her pregnancy was progressing well.


    If a woman got pregnant out of wedlock in ancient times, she would either hang herself out of shame or be cursed at so badly by other people that she would be scared of going outside. Ji Man didn¡¯t think Zhu Yurun was unclean and faithless. There were plenty of single mothers in modern-day. However, that Miss Zhu had seemed very cheerful and easy-going. Herrge eyes had looked quite lively. It was pretty good that Zhu Yurun could maintain such a healthy attitude.


    ¡ª


    After returning to the estate, Ning Yuxuan sat in her room for two hours without speaking. After drinking two pots of tea, he finally left.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have the free time to guess what he was thinking.


    ¡ª


    The next day, after Haohao¡¯s sses were over, she hurriedly went to the rice store to check on the situation.


    Right after Ji Man stepped into the rice store, she heard someone calling out in a syrupy voice, ¡°Teacher Ji.¡±


    She turned her head and wasn¡¯t surprised to see that the voice hade from Miss Zhu.


    The nearby people were all pointing at her, but Zhu Yurun acted as if she didn¡¯t seem them. She walked straight into the rice store. Standing by Ji Man side, she asked, ¡°The weather is pretty nice today. Teacher Ji, would you have the time to apany Yu-er on a boat ride?¡±


    Before Ji Man could answer, an old woman that was passing by the store couldn¡¯t stand the sight in front of her anymore. She flung a rotten egg at Zhu Yurun¡¯s feet and shouted, ¡°Bah! Have you no sense of shame?!¡±


    Seeing a perfectly nice dress bing dirty, Ji Man slightly frowned.


    In contrast, Zhu Yurun pretended to not notice. After shaking her dress a bit, she continued to look at Ji Man.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know if she was just feeling sympathetic towards this young woman, or if she was troubled by a curious mind that wanted to know Zhu Yurun¡¯s backstory. She nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The other employees in the rice store watched them leave with strange looks in their eyes. Yan Buba was that only that remained uninterested towards anything except money. Grabbing hold of the old woman that had thrown the egg and was leaving, he said, ¡°Either sweep the floor or pay two copper coins for the mess that you made.¡±


    ¡ª


    Not trying to avoid suspicion at all, Zhu Yurun pulled Ji Man along. She hadn¡¯t even brought along a servant girl. After they had boarded a decorated leisure boat, she gestures for Ji Man to sit down.


    Ji Man asked a question that she already knew the answer too, ¡°Miss Zhu, is something the matter?¡±


    The young woman across from her looked at her. Putting away her smile, she said, ¡°People say that business people don¡¯t like to lose money. I came here today because I want to discuss a business proposal with Teacher Ji.¡±


    Ji Man wryly smiled. ¡°Miss, if you¡¯re hoping that this one will marry you, then this one is afraid that this business isn¡¯t doable.¡±


    Zhu Yurun frowned. ¡°Why?¡±


    Not even slightly embarrassed, Ji Man said, ¡°I¡¯m impotent.¡±


    Zhu Yurun blushed, but she stillughed and said, ¡°That¡¯s even better. This will be like me giving you a free son then!¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    Was this like being given the chance to marry a goddess, but it was only because she was already pregnant with another man¡¯s child?


    Ji Man coughed to clear her throat and took a sip of tea. ¡°Miss Zhu, if you just want to find a father for your baby, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Zhu Yurun grinned. ¡°But, I want to find a man that¡¯s even better looking than him, that¡¯s the difficult part.¡±


    Him? Ji Man¡¯s gossiping spirit was awakened. With her ears perked up, she asked, ¡°Who is he?¡±

 Chapter 334 - A husband-to-be? (1)

    Chapter 334 ¨C A husband-to-be? (1)


    Zhu Yurun giggled. Her eyes curved into crescents, and she even licked her lips. After swallowing the saliva in her mouth, she said, ¡°He looks really, really attractive. He looks the best when he¡¯s wearing a robe embroidered with green bamboo. When he smiles, even the rain will want to stop. He has beautiful eyes, a beautiful nose, and beautiful lips.¡±


    Ji Man had been preparing to picture this person in her head, but hearing thest part of that description, her lips twitched. ¡°What does beautiful eyes, nose, and lips mean? Beautiful in what way?¡±


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s hands were cupped around her face, and her eyes were glimmering. ¡°Just really good-looking. I can¡¯t describe it well either.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    ¡°But, unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t willing to marry me. If he did, people wouldn¡¯t curse at me every day.¡± Zhu Yurun sighed. She pouted and said, ¡°My belly is getting bigger. I can¡¯t stay unmarried. It¡¯s perfect that you¡¯re impotent. Maybe, he¡¯ll think things through one day and want to marry me. That¡¯s why I want to save my body for him!¡±


    Even if other people thought she was impotent, once this Miss Zhu married her, who would be willing to marry a divorced woman? If the other party wasn¡¯t even willing to marry a woman that he had gotten pregnant, then it was even more impossible that he would be willing to marry divorced woman. What kind of heartless man did Zhu Yurun meet?


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°At the very least, your father is an assistant minister. Why didn¡¯t your father find that man and force him to take responsibility?¡±


    Zhu Yurun smiled. She looked around and said with a blushing face, ¡°I don¡¯t know his name or where he lives.¡±


    Ji Man was struck dumb. She looked at Miss Zhu¡¯s belly. ¡°Then, that?¡±


    ¡°I went traveling with my older brother half a year ago. When we were passing by a small town, a heavy rainstorm started and I got lost from my older brother. I walked to an inn and got a room. When I passed by the doors to another room, I saw an exceptionally handsome man. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from looking for him in the middle of the night.¡±


    In a very calm tone, Zhu Yurun continued, ¡°That person was so fierce too. Even thought I drugged him with aphrodisiacs, he still had the willpower to re at me. He was probably busy the next morning so he left in a hurry and forgot to take me with him.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s chin dropped to the ground.


    So what happened was, this youngdy had passed by someone¡¯s room, saw a handsome man, had a surging of lustful desire for him, decided to drugged him, and forcefully pushed him down onto the bed?


    So unbelievably wild and barbaric. Who would dare take you with him?!


    Ji Man rubbed her face and nervouslyughed. ¡°Since you met him while traveling, then it naturally wouldn¡¯t be easy to find him. But, Miss Zhu, this one is staying at Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate and doesn¡¯t have a home of my own. If you marry this one, it would be wronging yourself. Moreover... It would be really inconvenient for me to take a wife.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine!¡± Zhu Yurun open-mindedly waved her hand. ¡°I won¡¯t look down on you for being impotent. I just want to marry someone so that my baby will have a father. I¡¯m okay with getting cursed at, but it would be so miserable for the baby if it gets cursed at too as soon as its born.¡±


    Ji Man stayed silent. She still felt a bit guilty over the idea of marrying a woman...


    ¡°Oh right, my dad said that your family has a rice store.¡± Zhu Yurun narrowed her eyes as she looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°As long as you¡¯re willing to be my baby¡¯s father, my father will give you many benefits. No matter what path you want to take, my father can you help you. You won¡¯t suffer any losses by marrying me.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened.


    Honestly, while it was true that she felt sympathetic towards Miss Zhu, her status wasn¡¯t really suitable for discussing marriage with someone. Still, if she was given the proper motivation, she was willing to take this risk out of desperation.


    After contemting for a while, Ji Man said, ¡°Then, how about we make a contract? I can marry you, but I can¡¯t be with you forever. If you find your baby¡¯s biological father, we can get divorced at that time. If you never find him, you can keep your status as my wife, but we¡¯ll live separate lives. I can¡¯t promise that I won¡¯t suddenly disappear one day...¡±


    Laughing as she shook her head, Miss Zhu interrupted her, ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things! I¡¯m not nning on trapping you for a lifetime. Once the baby is born and reaches its first birthday, I just want you give it a name. After that, we can get divorced.¡±


    Ji Man suddenly thought; it was so unreasonable that no one wanted such a fair and sensible woman.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re going to married, let me go back and inform the marquis,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Since I have to teach the heir, it won¡¯t be convenient for me to live too far, this one will see if there¡¯s any houses near the marquis¡¯s estate.¡±


    ¡°You agree then?¡± Zhu Yurun¡¯s eyes brightened. She happily pped her hands and said, ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go back and discuss with my dad what my dowry will be. I definitely won¡¯t treat you badly!¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s mood wasplicated. This was her first time being a groom, and she felt somewhat nervous. After nodding her head, she got off the boat to return to the marquis¡¯s estate.


    She had known that if she wanted to get what she wanted, she would to pay some sort of price, but she hadn¡¯t expected that it would be selling herself into a marriage. Ji Man didn¡¯t know what she should be feeling right now. Fortunately, although Miss Zhu seemed a bit weird, she was still a pretty cute person. Ji Man decided that she would just treat this agreement as mutually helping each other out.


    ¡ª


    After returning to the marquis¡¯s estate and ying with Haohao for a while, Ji Man asked a servant girl, ¡°Where¡¯s the marquis?¡±


    ¡°The marquis went to Linghan Courtyard a while ago. This servant isn¡¯t sure if he¡¯s still there now,¡± the servant girl answered.


    Ji Man nodded. Looking back at Haohao, who was watching her with his eyes wide open, she couldn¡¯t bear to put him down. And so, she held him in her arms as she headed over to Linghan Courtyard.

 Chapter 335 - A husband-to-be? (2)

    Chapter 335 ¨C A husband-to-be? (2)


    Liu Hanyun was currently frowning as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. It had already been half a month since he had stayed over in someone else¡¯s courtyard. Today, she had prepared food and invited him over, but he appeared preupied.


    Liu Hanyun quietly asked, ¡°My lord, is something bothering you? This servant hasn¡¯t seen you muchtely.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded and picked up Xi-er. Pursing his lips, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve been busy with work matters rted to the imperial court.¡±


    But, he clearly spent a lot of time at home and was frequently going over to see Haohao, so why didn¡¯t he have time to see Xi-er? Liu Hanyun lowered her eyes and said, ¡°Xi-er is already old enough to read short poems, but my lord neveres over to listen to him.¡±


    Holding the child, he raised his eyebrow and asked, ¡°En? Which poems? Xi-er, read one for me?¡±


    Xi-er shyly snuck a look at him before turning his head away and staying silent.


    Somewhat anxious, Liu Hanyun lightly tugged Xi-er¡¯s little hand and said, ¡°Come on, recite it.¡±


    Pouting, Xi-er continued to keep his mouth closed and even started to squirm. Ning Yuxuan could only put him down. Right after he released him, he saw Ji Maning over with Haohao in her arms.


    Haohao had just learned a new poem this morning. When he saw his father, he wanted to go over there to share it with him and started to wiggle around in Ji Man¡¯s arms. As soon Ji Man put him down, she saw the little marshmallow-like creature jump into Marqus Moyu¡¯s arms. Haohao¡¯s little face was tilted up and adoringly looking at Ning Yuxuan. Ji Man though; if Haohao had a tail, it would probably be whipping back and forth as fast as a windshield wiper.


    Haohao didn¡¯t even say a greeting before reciting the new poem that he had learned,


    ¡°Goose, goose, goose,


    Curving its neck to sing a song.


    It¡¯s white feather floats on the crystal-clear water,


    While its red-webbed feet pushes the clear water and ripples form.¡±


    After reciting the poem, he looked at Ning Yuxuan with an eager expression that seemed to say, ¡°Shower me with praises please.¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled. He picked him and said, ¡°Ah, you learned a new poem again.¡±


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s expression was slightly unpleasant. Xi-er had timidly hugged her leg to help himself stand up.


    Ji Man walked into the room and saluted her first. ¡°Madam.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nodded and looked at her as she asked, ¡°Why do you bring the heir over at this time of the day?¡±


    Ji Man looked at the sky. It was about time to eat dinner. Ji Man awkwardly smiled and said, ¡°This one has matters to discuss with the marquis, therefore this one presumptuously came over.¡±


    ¡°Why do you need to bring the heir over to discuss business?¡± Liu Hanyun¡¯s tone was slightly unpleasant. She pressed her lips together and rubbed her temples before saying, ¡°It¡¯ll be bad if he bumps into something and knocks it over.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to take a look at Liu Hanyun. Right now, Liu Hanyun was the main wife. Although she didn¡¯t have a strong family background, she had sufficient grandeur from attitude and being dressed up in her current attire. Compared to her previously unobtrusive presence, Liu Hanyun had already transformed into someone that wasposed and sensible.


    ¡°This is one is at fault for being careless.¡± Ji Man saluted by cing one hand over her fist.


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyes to look at her. He stood up while holding Haohao and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back to discuss.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s reaction to Haohao was much more extreme that she had imagined. Ji Man had originally thought Liu Hanyun would remain as the gentle and nopetitive person that she used to be close to. But, there were too many things in Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes when she saw the two of them today. She was clearly unhappy. It couldn¡¯t be that all women wouldpletely change after having children, right?


    As Ji Man followed Ning Yuxuan out of the courtyard, she felt as if she was being watched with a piercing gaze from behind.


    Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°What was it that you wanted to say?¡±


    As Ji Man walked, she quietly answered, ¡°I want to get married.¡±


    Marquis Moyu stopped walking. His gaze waspletely bewildered. ¡°What did you just say it? Say it again.¡±


    ¡°I said that I want to get married.¡± Ji Man raised her eyes to look at him as she said, ¡°I already agreed that I¡¯m going to marry Miss Zhu, so I want to discuss where I should move to so that I¡¯ll still be able to easilye over to give Haohao daily lessons.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t recover from his shock for a long time. By the time that he understood what Ji Man had said, his face paled. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a child¡¯s game to get married? Your body... how can you marry someone?¡±


    ¡°We already discussed it. It¡¯s just for the purpose of giving her baby ast name. We¡¯re not actually going to have a real wedding night,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°I¡¯m not telling you this because I want your permission. I¡¯m just letting you know.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes became cold. Pursing his lips, he looked at her in askance and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t care if I agree or not?¡±¡±


    ¡°Why do I need you to agree? It¡¯s not like I sold myself into this household,¡± Ji Man replied.


    With a sneer, Ning Yuxuan took a step closer to her while still holding Haohao. Looking down on her, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve been staying in my estate for a while. Are you unaware of how well I¡¯ve been treating you? Marriage is such a big matter, but you¡¯re actually saying that you don¡¯t care if I agree or not. That you¡¯re just informing me.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. ¡°Marquis, the only connection between the two of us is Haohao. What else is there?¡±


    Haohao blinked his eyes and innocently looked to the left, then to the right.


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath. It was obvious that he was extremely angry as heughed and said, ¡°Okay, okay, you can do whatever you want. Nothing you do is my business.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s whatever?¡± Haohao looked at his dad in confusion. ¡°Haohao doesn¡¯t like whatever.¡±


    Both parents froze in surprise. Ji Man was the first one to react, as she couldn¡¯t stop herself fromughing. However, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change for the better. He turned around and started walking away from Ji Man.


    Ji Man hastily yelled out, ¡°Hey, marquis, we haven¡¯t finished discussing where I¡¯m moving to.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan ignored her and started walking faster.


    A short amount of timeter, he had already walked far enough that his figure had disappeared from her view.


    Ji Man felt worried. Recently, her personal funds were scarce, so buying any home and what not would be a bit problematic. Moreover, the rtive cost of a home in the capital in this era wasn¡¯t that much cheaper than a home in modern-day Beijing.


    It was gettingte and time to return to her room to sleep. From beginning to end, Ji Man firmly believed that she should just cross that bridge when she came to it.


    ¡ª


    When she woke up the next morning, she couldn¡¯t find Haohao.


    It was Steward Qian that came over, politely bowed, and informed her, ¡°Teacher Ji, the marquis said that you won¡¯t need to teach the heir today.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I feel its worse that Ning Yuxuan is telling Liu Hanyun fake excuses about why he doesn¡¯t spend time with Xi-er. And, okay, it would be way worse if he told her truth that he likes Haohao a lot more from the start because he¡¯s Nie Sangyu/Ji Man¡¯s son.


    And then, there¡¯s a horrible feedback loop, where Xi-er rarely sees his father, so he understandably feels shy and nervous around him. Plus, since he doesn¡¯t get to see his father as often as Haohao, his mother will feel more anxious that he has to do his ABSOLUTE best when he gets these rare opportunities to see his father, which he¡¯s really sensitive to and that makes him even shyer and tenser.


    I think the only person that has the power to break the vicious loop is Ning Yuxuan. He can easily do this just by spending more time with his son, so that Xi-er won¡¯t feel that a visit from his father is a big deal.


    On the other hand, it wouldn¡¯t be unusual for parents to make up excuses for why they¡¯re favoring one child over there. From Ning Yuxuan¡¯s perspective, he might not even see his excuses as being untruthful.


    Anyways, I think it¡¯s very understandable that Liu Hanyun would be irritated with Ji Man and Haohao popping up a few minutes after she finally got Ning Yuxuan over to see his son and taking away his attention again. Liu Hanyun is probably thinking, why couldn¡¯t this person have just waited until tomorrow morning or asked during all the other times that he seems him? Why must you interrupt our dinner? It¡¯s one thing to be able to ept being in a loveless marriage, and apletely different thing to see your child always being neglected by his other parent.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 336 - Getting married is only a trifling matter (1)

    Chapter 336 ¨C Getting married is only a trifling matter (1)


    Ji Man felt despondent. What did Ning Yuxuan mean by canceling the sses? She had been nning on teaching Haohao how to sing nursery rhymes today.


    After changing her clothes, she went looking for Ning Yuxuan. However, when she got to his courtyard, Guibai stopped her and said that the marquis was with a guest.


    He was holding Haohao while he was with a guest? Who was he trying to trick?! Ji Man stood at the doorway and looked at Guibai with awkward smile for a long time. She remained here so that she could eavesdrop.


    It seemed that there were people talking inside. She even heard words like, ¡°congrattions, congrattions¡± and ¡°will definitely show up¡±. She was helpless though. Haohao was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heir, so she couldn¡¯t take Haohao away by force. Since he wouldn¡¯t allow her to give Haohao lessons today, then she could only ept it for now.


    Since she had agreed that she would marry Miss Zhu, she had to start preparing for their wedding. Regarding the problem of a betrothal gift, Ji Man had already figured out what she would do. ording to the rules of this era, she would have to spend several hundred silver taels to buy the traditional gifts that would be up to par, then she just needed to hire a matchmaker to go to Miss Zhu¡¯s home on her behalf. Assistant Minister Zhu was in hurry to marry off his daughter, so he wouldn¡¯t be too picky andin.


    As Ji Man walked through the streets and ordered red silk and other wedding decorations from one store and jugs of fine wine from another store, she continued to have conflicting emotions. After she had finished with most of the preparations, she dropped by Zhu Residence to discuss the specific details for the wedding day.


    ¡ª


    Assistant Minister Zhu was broadly smiling. Ji Man had fixed the big problem that had gued him. Although he felt a bit wronged that his daughter¡¯s wedding would be done so casually, it was already a blessing from the Heavens that someone was willing to marry her.


    Teacher Ji seemed like a trustworthy person, and he heard that Teacher Ji was from a well-off family too. If he opened a few paths for Teacher Ji, his future son-inw would definitely have a bright future. His daughter wouldn¡¯t suffer by marrying this man. Thinking of it like this, Zhu Shuyou was full of smiles as he exchanged many words with Ji Man.


    At the end of their discussion, he even offered to visit Ji Man¡¯s rice shops to look around.


    Ji Family¡¯s rice business was going pretty well, but their customers were all normal citizens, and their stores weren¡¯t big. Although there was a store in the north, west, south, and east parts of the capital, each of their stores only took up the space of two standard storefronts.


    Before leaving his estate, the assistant minister of revenue had changed out of his high-ranking official¡¯s attire and into in clothing in order to go about incognito. He had also brought along a few trusted aides during his tour of Ji Family¡¯s business. As they visited each of the four stores, he gave Ji Man some pointers. By his side, there was a person scribbling down his advice. After they had taken a tour of all the stores, Ji Man and the rest of the group bumped into Shopkeeper Liu.


    Since the election for the new head of the grain merchant association was at a critical point, Shopkeeper Liu was putting forth his full effort. He had invited Director Tang out today and spent a lot of money to entertain him. They had juste out of Luoyan Pagoda and ended up bumping into Ji Man.


    Ji Man politely bowed. ¡°Sir Tang.¡±


    Director Tang still had a very good impression of Ji Man, so he nodded his head to acknowledge Ji Man¡¯s greeting. Just as he was going to continue walking forward to go browsing at a jade artifact store with Shopkeeper Liu, he saw that the curtain of the pnquin that was next to Ji Man being slightly parted.


    Director Tang¡¯s expression slightly changed, and he went forward to politely bow at the pnquin. He didn¡¯t call out that person¡¯s title and only bowed deeply.


    Shopkeeper Liu was quite startled by this sight and hurriedly followed with a bow of his own. Why was Teacher Ji with a person that even Director Tang had to greet with a bow?


    Assistant Minister Zhu cast a nce at Director Tang and said, ¡°No need to bow, I just came out to walk around with Teacher Ji. You can withdraw first.¡±


    With a broad smile, Director Tang looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°Teacher Ji, you¡¯re certainly an extraordinary person.¡±


    Smiling, Ji Man responded with a trite formality, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to Sir Tang¡¯s help.¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good. Fortunately, they were in the middle of a busy road, and it wasn¡¯t convenient for them to continue standing here to talk. After Ji Man left with the pnquin, Director Tang resumed walking forward.


    Director Tang changed his stance, which he had recently stated before they had bumped into Ji Man. ¡°There¡¯s no needed to rush with that matter with the rice merchant association that you brought up before. There¡¯s still one more month left. Your qualifications are sufficient. You don¡¯t need to worry too much.¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu was barely able to keep a smile on his face as he made a sound of assent.


    ¡ª


    When they returned to Zhu Residence, Assistant Minister Zhu said that it was more important to focus on the wedding preparations and that Ji Man didn¡¯t need to worry about the rice business. After Ji Man thanked him for his favor, she followed a servant girl to visit Zhu Yurun.


    Servants had already started putting up wedding decorations in Zhu Yurun¡¯s courtyard. Zhu Yurun seemed to have also gained more weight since the first time Ji Man met her. Her plump body was sitting down at the table. Seeing Ji Man, she said, ¡°Older brother Man,e over here and take a look. What do you think of this handkerchief that I embroidered?¡±


    Ji Man chose to automatically ignored Zhu Yurun¡¯s address and walked over to look. There was a strange-looking duck embroidered on the red handkerchief.


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Donald Duck?¡±


    ¡°... What duck?¡± Feeling annoyed, Miss Zhu pouted and said, ¡°This is a mandarin duck!¡±


    (T/N: A pair of mandarin ducks symbolizes a happily married couple.)


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s a mandarin duck.¡± Covering her mouth to hide her expression, Ji Man sat down. Unable to resist her impulse, she took the embroidery hoop from Miss Zhu and said, ¡°But this isn¡¯t the right way to embroider. Don¡¯t most women learn embroidery skills? How can even a simple mandarin duck design turn out to look like this?


    The nearby servant girls tactfully left the room and closed the doors to give these two some privacy.


    ¡°My dad never forced me to learn feminine skills like embroidery, and I found it bothersome, so I haven¡¯t tried embroidering much before.¡±


    Watching as Ji Man fixing her embroidery, Zhu Yurun pouted again and said, ¡°Ah, you actually know how to do this?¡±


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t embroidered in a long time, so Nie Sangyu¡¯s hands had felt itchy with the desire to practice her craft. Without even being consciously aware, she had started trying to rescue the badly embroidered mandarin duck.


    ¡°I picked up the skill during childhood from my mother when I was feeling bored.¡±


    Zhu Yurun looked at Ji Man in admiration. ¡°My mother died young, and I¡¯m the only daughter that my father has, so I¡¯ve been spoiled to the point of not knowing how to do anything.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She had already figured that part out. For a woman to dare to force a man onto a bed, Zhu Yurun must have been spoiled to the point of being out-of-control.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. The servants can do this. I¡¯ve discussed our marriage with Sir Zhu today. I¡¯ll send the betrothal gifts the day after tomorrow, then ask a matchmaker to choose an auspicious day for our wedding. I¡¯ll marry you before this month is over.¡±


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s eyes curved into small crescent moons. ¡°That¡¯s great. I can finally wearing a wedding dress.¡±


    But as she smiled, her eyes started to redden. ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that you¡¯re not him.¡±

 Chapter 337 - Getting married is only a trifling matter (2)

    Chapter 337 ¨C Getting married is only a trifling matter (2)


    Ji Man was really bing more and more curious about this ¡°him¡± that Miss Zhu kept mentioning, but she didn¡¯t feelfortable asking, so she could only suppress her curiosity and continue fixing the mandarin duck.


    Grabbing Ji Man¡¯s hand, Zhu Yurun somewhat proudly said, ¡°Oh, right. I do have a skill. I can paint. It can be considered my one talent. Dad said that if I don¡¯t have even one talent, my future husband would look down on me.¡±


    With her head lowered and her attention focused on embroidering, Ji Man absent-mindedly responded, ¡°En. What can you paint?¡±


    Zhu Yurun happily took out a scroll and opened it. ¡°Look, I know how to paint him!¡±


    Ji Man froze in shock for a moment. The man in the painting was wearing a robe that was embroidered with green bamboo. His somewhat long and narrow eyes, which had been paired with a smiling expression, looked somewhat dissolute.


    He looked pretty ordinary. It seemed like this painting had captured some of the person¡¯s personality. Actually, this person looked somewhat familiar to her.


    ¡°Your painting is pretty good. Who is he?¡±


    With a red face, Miss Zhu stamped her feet and said, ¡°It¡¯s him! The one I told you about. The one that¡¯s really, really good-looking!¡±


    What?


    Ji Man stared at the painting for several seconds. Her eyelids twitched as she asked, ¡°So you¡¯re saying... this is your baby¡¯s father?¡±


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s eyes were glimmering with stars as she nodded. Her fingers carefully stroked the face on her painting, and she quietly said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone that¡¯s better looking than him. Even when he¡¯s furrowing his brow, he still looks mesmerizing.¡±


    Ji Man shivered and almost poked herself with the embroidery needle.


    Sure enough, a woman in love really couldn¡¯t be reasoned with. Although the man in the painting looked decent enough, it really wasn¡¯t to the level of really, really good-looking. That face shouldn¡¯t have been enough to turn someone into a love-struck idiot, right?


    Or, perhaps, Miss Zhu¡¯s painting skills weren¡¯t good enough, so she hadn¡¯t fully captured this man¡¯s magnificent beauty?


    Ji Man narrowed her eyes and moved closer to the painting. Even if she mentally Photoshopped this image into something more attractive, she didn¡¯t have any strong feelings, except one. Familiar.


    Where had she seen this person before?


    ¡ª


    Even after she returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, Ji Man was still contemting this question. However, when she entered the western courtyard, she found out that Marquis Moyu still had a guest over, but they weren¡¯t inside anymore. Instead, they were ying chess under a covered corridor.


    Ning Yuxuan was holding onto Haohao with one hand, and his other hand was holding a white chess piece. He was leaning against the red pir behind himself and smiling as if he had a well-thought out strategy.


    In contrast, the person across from him had a slightly furrowed brow and was silently holding a ck chess piece.


    Hearing the sound of footsteps, Ning Yuxuan turned his head to the side to look. When he saw that it was Ji Man, the smile on his facepletely faded away, and he turned his head back. The person across from him was too focused on ying chess and hadn¡¯t even bothered raising his head to look that way.


    Haohao opened his mouth and sweetly called out, ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Taking advantage of this moment, Ji Man hurriedly came over and stretched her arms out so that she could take Haohao from Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan held onto Haohao, who was slightly squirming. ¡°Teacher Ji, aren¡¯t you busy with getting married? How can you have the free time to teach Haohao?¡±


    Ji Man stopped at the chessboard and properly saluted. ¡°Marquis, this one has time to give Haohao lessons. The betrothal gifts and other items have already been prepared.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sneered. ¡°You¡¯re really going to marry her?!¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°This one has already stated that this one haven¡¯t sold myself into lifetime servitude. This one has the freedom to marry whoever this one wants.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was so angry that heughed. He tossed the white chess piece that he had been holding into a puddle of water. With a stiff expression, he turned his head away.


    Even though Qian Yingchen had been engrossed in the game, he finally raised his head and was astonished by the sight of Marquis Moyu¡¯s drastic mood change. He looked at Ji Man and asked, ¡°Is this the heir¡¯s teacher?¡±


    Ji Man paused before turning her head to look at him. As soon as she saw his face, the answer to the question that had stumped her earlier finally came to her. ¡°Sir Qian!¡±


    Back then, she had happened to meet this person by chance. Qian Yingchen was Qian Lianxue¡¯s younger brother and Marquis Moyu¡¯s friend. Ji Man still remembered that back then, he had been the one who wee her into Tonghua Poetry Association. It was only thatter, because of Qian Lianxue¡¯s actions, he had been demoted to Xu Province. She hadn¡¯t expected to see him again in the capital.


    But, this face... A lot of thoughts went through Ji Man¡¯s mind after she had looked at his face for only a few moments.


    Was the destiny in this world really that rubbish? She had been bothered by why the portrait that Zhu Yurun had drawn had looked so familiar to her. The answer was simply because she had seen this face before. Admittedly, the face in the portrait had been drawn with simpler lines.


    So, the man that Zhu Yurun had forced herself onto was Qian Yingchen? Ji Man looked at him deeply. This was really too...


    Seeing that Ji Man was looking at him with such a strange look, Qian Yingchen couldn¡¯t help touching his own face. ¡°Teacher Ji, you actually recognize this one?¡±


    ¡°This one has been looking forward to meeting a famous person like you, Sir Qian.¡± Ji Man uneasilyughed. Wanting to confirm again, she swept her gaze across his face as she said, ¡°This one heard that Sir Qian was in Xu Province. Why...?¡±


    Qian Yingchen smiled and said, ¡°This one was transferred back to the capital half a year ago. Teacher Ji, where are you from? Why do you have this information about Yingchen?¡±


    Ji Man silently retorted; not only do I know this about you, I¡¯m also going to marry your woman and be a father to your child. Ji Man returned his smile and said, ¡°This one is from Zhangjun. This one has just heard of your famous reputation and happened to hear some news about you. That¡¯s all.¡±


    As someone that had been the manager of Tonghua Poetry Association, it wasn¡¯t surprising that Qian Yingchen would have fans.


    While the two of them were happily chatting away, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t in a good mood. With an unhappy expression, he said, ¡°Yingchen, let¡¯s stop our game here and go inside to drink some tea.¡±

 Chapter 338 - Gay? (1)

    Chapter 338 ¨C Gay? (1)


    Qian Yingchen returned to his senses and nodded. He ced his hand over his fist to salute Ji Man. ¡°This one and Teacher Ji can be considered kindred spirits. It¡¯ll soon be this one¡¯s wedding celebration. If you don¡¯t mind, feel free toe and drink this one¡¯s humble wine.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s gossiping heart felt as if it had been doused with icy water. Her smile disappeared. She nkly looked at Qian Yingchen and asked, ¡°You¡¯re getting married?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Qian Yingchen stood up and dusted off his clothes.


    A nearby servant had alreadye forward to pack away the chess game.


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s smiling face really was very good-looking. ¡°The marquis was the one that introduced us. It¡¯ll probably be a destined marriage that will do well.¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and thought of Zhu Yurun. She found the situation a bit pitiful. While that girl was still obsessing over him and wanting to save her body for him and giving birth to his child, the other party was going to tie the knot with another marriage partner through an opportune connection.


    Still, Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t a woman that just anyone would dare to marry. With his health and body, Qing Yingchen really wouldn¡¯t be able to stand that spoiled miss¡¯s torment. Although the falling flowers are yearning for love, the heartless brook ripples on indifferently.


    She let out a long sigh. Right after she responded to his answer by saying congrattions, Marquis Moyu stood up.


    Haohao was stretching his little hand out. He kept trying to reach Ji Man¡¯s clothes to tug on it. Unfortunately, his arm was too short. With his father holding onto him, there was no way he would be able to reach. Just as Haohao was finally almost able to grab hold of Ji Man¡¯s clothes, Marquis Moyu stood up and headed inside, so Haohao¡¯s soft, white hand only ended up grasping empty air.


    ¡°Teacher,¡± Haohao unhappily called out. He was leaning over Ning Yuxuan¡¯s shoulder and pitifully looking at Ji Man. This person usually always yed with him. Why weren¡¯t they ying today?


    Ji Man¡¯s heart softened from Haohao¡¯s simple word. She clenched her jaw and decided to brazenly follow them inside. Although it was obvious that Ning Yuxuan was changing his location to chat because he wanted to avoid her, she couldn¡¯t bear leaving Haohao, this little cutie, when he was looking at her so pitifully. She was also very curious about what was going on with Qian Ying Chen.


    Following after Marquis Moyu, Ji Man changed her positions several times to try to take Haohao. But, Ning Yuxuan was like someone that had eyes on the back of his head. He kept changing where he was holding Haohao so that Ji Man couldn¡¯t touch him.


    Ji Man felt furious. She really wanted to punch him in the head.


    Ning Yuxuan finally spoke to her in a chilly voice, ¡°Teacher Ji, since you¡¯re going to be busy with getting married, you naturally won¡¯t have time to take care of Haohao. How about I just find someone that¡¯s better qualified to be his teacher?¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡± She hastily tucked her arms behind her back and said with fear and trepidation, ¡°This one¡¯s wedding will only take one day toplete. Anyways, this one doesn¡¯t have any rtives or friends either, so this one won¡¯t need to request a leave of absence to rest. So, this one will of course have time to care of Haohao!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at her. There wasn¡¯t much expression on his face. ¡°Once you¡¯re married, you¡¯ll be living outside of this estate. If something happens to Haohao, will you be able to drop everything and rush back here immediately?¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course!¡± Ji Man quickly and repeatedly nodded her head. ¡°Miss Zhu and I can also continue to live apart after we get married. She can live in the new home by herself, and this one can continue living in your estate.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly harrumphed. ¡°Isn¡¯t that treating Miss Zhu too unfairly?¡±


    Ji Man was focused on looking at Haohao. What if Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t take the lighter view and decided to fire her? How would she be able to see Haohao then?


    ¡°Miss Zhu is a fair and reasonable person. She won¡¯t me this one.¡± As Ji Man said this, she turned her head and nced at Qing Ying Chen. ¡°Besides, there might be a change to this one¡¯s marriage ns.¡±


    Qing Yingchen was still engrossed with thinking about the endgame in the recent chess match and didn¡¯t pay attention to Ji Man¡¯s words at all.


    Maruis Moyu looked at her for a while. After simply saying, ¡°En¡±, he didn¡¯t say further words.


    Ji Man let out a sigh of relief. This lord had Haohao in his possession, so she really couldn¡¯t afford to anger him.


    Anyways, was her top priority right now to go and tell Zhu Yurun that she had found her ¡°very good-looking person¡±? Qian Yingchen had returned to the capital, and he was getting married too. Would it be okay if Zhu Yurun found out about this? With her personality, she might take kitchen knife and try to steal the groom on his wedding day.


    After contemting it for a long time, Ji Man decided that she would still invite Zhu Yurun over to the marquis¡¯s estate. Luckily, Marquis Moyu seemed to have an unending amount of words to discuss with Qing Yingchen. At their current rate, they were most likely going to stay up all night to talk, and Qing Yingchen would probably still be here tomorrow.


    She had originally been nning on telling Miss Zhu this news and having here over the next day. This would be soon enough that she wouldn¡¯t miss seeing Qian Yingchen before he left. But, Ji Man had really underestimated Zhu Yurun¡¯s fighting strength. Once she heard that Ji Man might have seen the man in her painting, Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Instead, in the middle of the night, she climbed over the walls of Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate. Her big pregnancy belly hadn¡¯t deterred her at all.


    While feeling scared witless as she held onto adder to help Miss Zhue down from the top of the wall, Ji Man looked around to check if there were servants patrolling this area.


    Ji Man looked at Miss Zhu¡¯s belly, then she looked at the very high wall. It felt as if her soul had almost been frightened away. ¡°Why are you in such a rush? Why didn¡¯t you just wait until tomorrow morning ande through the front entrance?¡±


    Zhu Yurun wiped the sweat on her forehead. Sheughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s been too long since I saw him. I¡¯m worried that he¡¯ll forget me if Ie anyter. Anyways, I couldn¡¯t sleep. So, I might as welle over here and take a look.¡±


    This type ofing over was really too out of the ordinary! Ji Man didn¡¯t even know where to begin on lecturing her. Miss Zhu was clearly a person born and raised in ancient times, but she acted more audacious than herself. It seemed that no one in Zhu family could control Miss Zhu either!


    As Ji Man was sighing over this, Miss Zhu grabbed her arm and started walking forward.


    ¡°Where is he?¡±


    Ji Man hurriedly pulled Miss Zhu towards her room instead. Before taking Miss Zhu to the western courtyard, Ji Man stole a set of servant girl clothing in thergest size that had been hanging on a clothesline in the back of the residence and had Miss Zhu change into it.


    Trantor Ramblings: I like that there are usually consequences to Ji Man¡¯s poorly thought out ideas (i.e. thinking it¡¯s a great idea to have a child with a person that you don¡¯t want to stay married to, as a way to win over his affections from Wen Wan). I¡¯m not quite sure how I feel about Ning Yuxuan¡¯s actions rted to Haohao yet, but I don¡¯t feel bad for Ji Man because it was her one-sided decision and scheming that led to Haohao¡¯s birth. She thought she could use a child to manipte Ning Yuxuan, and now he¡¯s turned the tables on her and using her maternal feelings for Haohao against her. And even then, she does things all the time without putting Haohao into consideration first. If Haohao was taken as a hostage by a real kidnapper and his survival is contingent on Ji Man¡¯s good behavior, he would have already died.


    Ji Man feels like a modern woman that¡¯s trying to have and aplish everything. She wants to spend time with her son, but only to a point that¡¯s convenient to her, prove to Ning Yuxuan that women are just as good as men/have a career, get revenge, and somehow go back to modern-day. It¡¯s fine that she wants to have everything, and I totally think that women should be able to have a family and a career if that¡¯s what they want, but the price of that is her attention being stretched too thinly between juggling these conflicting goals.


    Anyways, I find Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s rtionship very entertaining because neither of them can im high moral ground. There are plenty of times when Ning Yuxuan has done something that¡¯s unfair to Ji Man, but this time, they¡¯re both at fault.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 339 - Gay? (2)

    Chapter 339 ¨C Gay? (2)


    Fortunately, she was very familiar with theyout of the marquis¡¯s estate. She chose the shortest route, so it didn¡¯t take long before they arrived at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s room. The lights inside the room were clearly still lit, and the doors weren¡¯t even fully shut. They could see from the outside that Ning Yuxuan and Qian Yingchen were ying chess and chatting.


    Tapping a chess piece, Qian Yingchen said, ¡°Once a pathway is opened for Zhangjun, many things will be easier. Originally, this would have been an unmentionable topic. It¡¯s unexpected that new emperor would agree to it.¡±


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and said, ¡°That was also outside of my expectations as well. Someone had already suggested this idea earlier, but I thought it wasn¡¯t doable, so I dismissed it. I didn¡¯t think it thoroughly enough.¡±


    Ji Man was slightly stunned as she listened to their conversation, but Zhu Yurun had already lightly pushed the doorframe to get a better view. Her eager eyes were practically falling out. She let out a sound as if she had suffered a critical hit after squeezing Ji Man to the side to get a better view.


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Before the people inside the room came out to check on the noise, she haplessly scrambled into the room. Half-kneeling, she said, ¡°Marquis, this one has something to report.¡±


    With his eyebrows furrowed, Ning Yuxuan nced at her. ¡°It¡¯s sote. Why did youe here?¡±


    Qian Yingchen also looked over in Ji Man¡¯s direction with a confused expression.


    Ji Man could still hear Miss Zhu¡¯s loud breathing, so she hurriedly said, ¡°Marquis, please follow this one. It¡¯s something urgent. Really urgent!¡±


    Worried by her nervous tone, Marquis Moyu stood up and pulled her up by the arm as he strode out of the room. ¡°Yinghen, wait here for a bit.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was smiling as he assented, ¡°Sure.¡± As he watched Ji Man staggering along from being pulled out of the room by Ning Yuxuan, there was a hint of amusement in his eyes.


    However, soon after, his smile disappeared. Shortly after Marquis Moyu and Ji Man left, a blur rushed into the room and excitedly grabbed onto him by thepels of his robe and shook him. ¡°Sir, I finally found you!¡±


    After getting a clear look of that person¡¯s face, Qian Yingchen¡¯s face turned red, then white before settling on a greenish color. ¡°You...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s me, it¡¯s me, it¡¯s me!¡± Zhu Yurun happily eximed, ¡°I¡¯m the person that you had a physical rtionship with, in that inn in Xu Province. I¡¯m so happy that you still remember me!¡±


    It really would be a difficult task to forget a woman like her. Qian Yingchen was choked off into silence by the shock of her appearance for a long time. Finally, he took in a fresh gulp of air. With an unpleasant expression, he said, ¡°Miss, is there a reason why you came looking for this one?¡±


    ¡ª


    In another area, Ning Yuxuan had brought Ji Man near the garden. With his brows furrowed, he asked, ¡°What exactly is wrong?¡±


    Even after Ji Man had thought for a long time, she still couldn¡¯t figure out a sufficient excuse to say. She could only pull on his hand and somewhat stiffly say, ¡°The moonlight looks very good tonight. I wanted to take a stroll outside with my lord...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was a bit sluggish in responding. Soon after recovering, he snorted.


    ¡°My lord, don¡¯t be angry, ah.¡± Ji Man let go of his hand and sped her hands behind her back. ¡°I wasn¡¯t intentionally trying to pretend there was an emergency. It was because... Because...¡±


    He helped her with finishing up her sentence by saying, ¡°You were scared that I would kick you out of the estate and you wouldn¡¯t be able to see Haohao anymore, right?¡±


    Ji Man repeatedly nodded. Right, this was exactly it.


    The moonlight really did look very good tonight. With the moonlight sprinkled on the ground, the shadows of the two people looked very, very close.


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly sighed. He looked at her and said, ¡°Since you don¡¯t want to leave Haohao, then why are you getting married?¡±


    ¡°I have my own reasons for wanting to get married...¡± Ji Man pouted and said, ¡°Marrying Miss Zhu will be beneficial for her and me. Why wouldn¡¯t I do it?¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re willing to take Haohao into consideration, why won¡¯t you take me into your consideration when you make decisions?¡± Ning Yuxuan sneered. He deeply looked into her eyes as he said, ¡°It¡¯ll be very good for you if you marry Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s daughter, but what about me?¡±


    It felt as if his eyes were bottomless. It made Ji Man feel apprehensive. She instinctively wanted to look away. ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    She was just marrying a woman, not marrying another man. Why was he so out of sorts over it?


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath, then he hugged her and very helplessly sighed, ¡°You¡¯re so terribly selfish.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s body somewhat stiffened. His arm was around her waist, and her entire upper body was touching his. He slightly leaned over, and his hug got even tighter.


    This was the scene that greeted Wen Wan when she walked over here through another small path. She was holding a tray of refreshments. While Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were widening in shock, Tanxiang tugged on her master¡¯s sleeve.


    ¡°What...¡± Just as Wen Wan was about to ask what was going on, Tanxiang gestured for her to remain silent and pointed at the other side.


    The marquis was actually publicly hugging a man while they were standing by the garden¡¯s entrance and illuminated by moonlight.


    Startled by this sight, Wen Wan took a step closed to them.


    Ning Yuxuan loosen his grip on Ji Man, but then he grabbed her chin and kissed her as if he was a thirstynd that had been suffering through a long drought, and now, he finally met a long spell of sweet, copious rain. He almost bent her body too far backwards.


    Wen Wan gasped before she covered her own mouth. She couldn¡¯t believe what she was seeing with her eyes.


    The three servant girls that had been following behind Wen Wan all took a few steps back and pretended that they hadn¡¯t seen anything. They quickly left this ce in order to stay out of trouble. It was only Wen Wan that nkly stood here for a while before staggering back to her courtyard.


    Ning Yuxuan was interested in men? Wen Wan shook her head. No, this had to be wrong. How could he...


    Although it was true that he recently hadn¡¯t been visiting anyone¡¯s bedrooms in a while, he was someone that already had children. How could he be gay? After falling onto the floor in a sitting position, Wen Wan sat there for a long time before she stood back up and headed towards Liu Hanyun¡¯s courtyard. It had been too long since she received favor herself, so she had to ask another women about this matter.

 Chapter 340 - I wont take responsibility for you (1)

    Chapter 340 ¨C I won¡¯t take responsibility for you (1)


    Liu Hanyun was currently teaching Xi-er how to say some pleasant sounding phrases when she heard Chunpi, who was standing outside, announce Wen Wan¡¯s arrival.


    After a moment¡¯s pause, Liu Hanyun waved her hand to dismiss the servant girls in the room. Chunpi also took Xi-er out of the room too. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°This servant came from the western courtyard and saw something that shouldn¡¯t have been seen...¡± Recollecting that scene, Wen Wan felt difort in her heart again. ¡°Madam, do you have a good understanding of Teacher Ji?¡±


    At the mention of Teacher Ji, Liu Hanyun¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t very good either. ¡°How could I possibly have a clear understanding of that person? Since he¡¯s entered this household to teach the heir, the marquis is always spending time with them. He barelyes over here to see Xi-er now, and even then, he doesn¡¯t stay for long.¡±


    Remembering what had happenedst time and not being able to let go of that frustration, Liu Hanyun added, ¡°Last time, I was going to ask the marquis if I would be going with him to attend the celebration for Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s mother¡¯s birthday. But in the end, he took that teacher with him and didn¡¯t even say a single word to me about it.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Listening to these words, Wen Wan¡¯s heart chilled even further. Clutching her handkerchief, she quietly asked, ¡°Madam, how long has it been since the marquis has stayed over your ce?¡±


    Liu Hanyun nced at her. ¡°Do you really not know?¡±


    This woman was always poking around to check where the marquis had been. How could she not know that the marquis hadn¡¯t entered her room for over half a month? Even if he dide over, he would only stay for a meal and leave right afterwards.


    Wen Wan pressed her lips together. Her nose felt a bit sniffly. ¡°Every day, I long for the marquis toe visit me. I keep wondering if I had done something wrong, and I¡¯ve already done my best to change the parts of me that the marquis doesn¡¯t like. Never mind that the marquis isn¡¯t willing toe over to see me. But, tonight, by the garden, he and that teacher...¡±


    ¡°What was they were doing by the garden?¡± Liu Hanyun was somewhat curious as she looked at Wen Wan¡¯s expression.


    Wen Wan walked to her side and whispered into her ear. Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes widen in shock. Shaking her head, she eximed, ¡°Impossible!¡±


    ¡°This servant saw this with my own eyes.¡± With reddening eyes, Wen Wan said, ¡°This servant had though that teacher was just living here to teach the heir, but he¡¯s actually a tempter that¡¯s seducing the marquis!¡±


    Holding onto the table for support, Liu Hanyun took several breaths before finally saying, ¡°I don¡¯t believe that something like this could happen. Go back to your courtyard for now. I¡¯ll go over there and clear the issue up with the marquis tomorrow morning.¡±


    Since Liu Hanyun was willing to put herself forward, Wen Wan was naturally happy. Kneading her handkerchief, Wen Wan withdrew from the room.


    ¡ª


    On the other side of the western courtyard, Qian Yingchen sneered and pushed Zhu Yurun away. Looking at her in askance, he said, ¡°This one has never met such an outrageously offensive woman like you before. Not only did you drug this one in the inn, you then did that sort of thing to this one.¡±


    Half-kneeling on the ground, Zhu Yurun pouted and mumbled, ¡°Cause I like you.¡±


    With an a livid expression, Qian Yingchen said, ¡°I like the flowers in someone else¡¯s home. Does that mean I have the right to climb over their wall and pick those flowers? I also like the daughter of a farming family when I was passing through their vige. Does that mean I can snatch her away from her home and ride away with her on my horse?¡±


    ¡°Taking something without asking is stealing. Stealing is a lowly and vulgar action. I didn¡¯t even demand indemnification for what you did to me. How can you have the audacity toe looking for me? You won¡¯t even treat yourself like a women, so why I should have to take responsibility for you?¡±


    Miss Zhu was left feeling stunned by his words. She tilted her head and looked at him for a quite a while, then opened her mouth and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the name of that farming family¡¯s daughter you like?¡±


    Qian Yingchen was almost angered to death by her. He had no idea where this woman was from. That night in Xu Province had troubled him deeply. He had been filled with resentment over it and had nightmares for several nights in a row. He had originally though he could put the matter behind him once he left Xu Province and came to the capital. However, he ended up meeting this crazy woman half a yearter.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get marred soon, and who I like has nothing to do with you.¡± Qian Yingchen sneered. Sweeping his gaze over her belly, he said, ¡°Are you going to say that you¡¯re pregnant with my child, so I have to marry you? A woman like you should just be tossed into bamboo cage.¡±


    Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t know what to say. Tugging on the edge of his clothing, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so angry. Don¡¯t marry someone else either. I... did that without asking you... that was wrong of me. But, my dad told me that if I like something, then I should fight for it. I didn¡¯t know that doing that thing would get me thrown into a bamboo cage. Besides, I really am pregnant with your child.¡±


    Rubbing his temples, Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t know what he should say. The thing that had happened half a year ago was a disaster. It wasn¡¯t something that he had wanted. He didn¡¯t like the feeling of being forced into something.


    Miss Zhu thought for a while, then she carefully looked at him and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay if you take me as a concubine. You can¡¯t just let your child not have a father, right?¡±


    Qian Yingchen stood up and interrupted her, ¡°Excuse this one for speaking bluntly. I refuse to marry a woman that¡¯scking in manners and had no sense of shame. You were the one that forced yourself onto me. It doesn¡¯t matter who the father of your child is. I have no intentions of marrying you. Don¡¯t even mention taking you as a concubine. Even if you were to enter my household as a servant girl, I wouldn¡¯t dare to ept you.¡±


    After saying this, Qian Yingchen walked to the doorway. ¡°Is there anyone here?¡±


    Guibai happened to being here with a tray of tea. Hearing Qian Yingchen¡¯s voice, he entered the rom and asked, ¡°Sir Qian, what are your orders?¡±


    ¡°Please bring this servant girl away,¡± Qian Yingchen said, ¡°This one doesn¡¯t understand why this household would keep such a person.¡±


    Guibai froze in surprise for a moment. He lowered his head to look at the woman on the floor.


    Zhu Yurun had her head raised and was nkly looking at Qian Yingchen. She wasn¡¯t moving at all.


    ¡°This...¡± Guibai put down the tea and scrutinized the young woman. With pursed lips, he said, ¡°She isn¡¯t a servant girl from the marquis¡¯s household? She looks very unfamiliar to me.¡±

 Chapter 341 - I wont take responsibility for you (2)

    Chapter 341 ¨C I won¡¯t take responsibility for you (2)


    Qian Yingchen was stunned. He turned his head and briefly looked at her with repugnance before saying, ¡°You even dared to pass yourself off as a servant of the marquis¡¯s household? Since she¡¯s not someone from this estate, then take her away for the local magistrate to deal with.¡±


    Zhu Yurun finally returned to her senses. Somewhat panicky, she said, ¡°No, don¡¯t. If you send me to the local magistrate, then I¡¯ll be bringing shame on my dad again.¡±


    ¡°Is he going to be surprised? Haven¡¯t you already done plenty of shameful things?¡± Qian Yingchen snorted.


    Guibai had already pulled her up with her hands pressed behind her back.


    Zhu Yurun struggled for a bit. She looked at Qian Yingchen and said, ¡°I know that you¡¯re just temporarily having a hard time to ept this. I also understand that my actions were a bit outrageous. We just need to spend some time together. You¡¯lle to ept me once we¡¯ve spent some time together.¡±


    Qian Yingchen looked as if he had heard a joke. He regarded her from top to bottom before shaking his head.


    ¡ª


    Taking advantage of the favorable situation from the lovely, romantic mood, Ji Man told Marquis about Zhu Yurun¡¯s matter.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her with a strange gaze. ¡°If you want something, why didn¡¯t you just talk to me about it? Why sacrifice yourself with marrying a wife?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. She looked as if she was one step away from wagging a tail. ¡°If I want something, will my lord be willing to give it to me?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan magnanimously nodded. ¡°As long as you¡¯re willing to pay with something of an equivalent value.¡±


    He might as well not have said anything then. Ji Man twitched her lips. Compared to what Zhu Yurun wanted, Ning Yuxuan would definitely want more. It would be better for her to just take the detour.


    ¡°Oh, right. I wonder how things are going between Yurun and Sir Qian.¡± Ji Man patted her head. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to look.¡±


    In the blink of an eye, Ji Man had already tossed the memory of the recent, soft kiss behind them. Ning Yuxuan felt a bit speechless. There were still so many things that he wanted to say to her, but all of it was clogged up in his throat. In the end, he could only let out a sigh.


    It wasn¡¯t the right time to say those things yet.


    ¡ª


    When they had almost reached his room, Ji Man saw that Guibai was carefully trying to push a woman out of the room. Although the woman¡¯s arms were behind her back, she had a foot hooked on the doorway and was refusing to leaving. Not discouraged at all, she was shouting towards the inside of the room, ¡°I¡¯m serious. I won¡¯t give up!¡±


    Ji Man wiped the sweat from her forehead. Miss Zhu really was acting more like a man than a woman. She wasn¡¯t even willing to stop her antics while being pregnant or worrying that her actions might harm her baby.


    Ji Man hurriedly went over, smiled at Guibai, and said, ¡°She¡¯s this one¡¯s friend. Please let her off.¡±


    Stunned, Guibai let go of his hold on Miss Zhu. As soon as he did so, Zhu Yurun immediately bounced back to Qian Yingchen¡¯s side.


    ¡°I know how to paint. I can quietly apany you every day without fussing. I can also give you a child. Wouldn¡¯t that be so wonderful?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows. When he strode into the room, he saw that Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression was especially bad. Even though he knew the answer, he still asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡±


    Qian Yingchen felt as if he was being annoyed to death. Although a man would normally take responsibility under this type of circumstance, Zhu Yurun was simply the living incarnation of his nightmares. He didn¡¯t even want to see her again. As soon as Guibai had let her go, this woman clung to him like she was an eight-tentacled octopus.


    ¡°Marquis, once an auspicious date is chosen, Yingchen will be sending out his wedding invitations.¡± Qian Yingchen took deep breath before continuing, ¡°As for this woman, marquis, please help me out and have her stay far away from me.¡±


    Zhu Yurun pouted. Grasping his arm, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve already said that you shouldn¡¯t be so hasty with getting married, ah. Give us a chance. You¡¯ll definitely fall in love with me.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at Ji Man, then he chuckled and said, ¡°Miss Zhu, aren¡¯t you getting married to Teacher Ji?¡±


    Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen both froze in surprise. Soon after, Qian Yingchen looked at Ji Man with a very sympathetic gaze as he asked, ¡°You¡¯re going to marry her?¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed while Zhu Yurun immediately shook her head. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve found you, my engagement with Teacher Ji can be considered invalid. I¡¯ll go home with you right now!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t bring you back to my home.¡± Qian Yingchen pushed her away again. ¡°Please trouble yourself by showing a woman¡¯s reserved manner.¡±


    After being pushed away for the third time, Zhu Yurun became a bit more well-behaved. She finally stood in ce and didn¡¯t try to reach for him again. Still, she kept staring at Qian Yingchen without blinking.


    Ning Yuxuan patted Qian Yingchen¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°This is Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s daughter. In a few days, you might have to go to the Ministry of Revenue to discuss some matters with Assistant Minister Zhu.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression sunk. This troublesome woman was Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s daughter? After he had been transferred back from Xu Province, his position was only a lowly director in the Ministry of Revenue that was subordinate to the assistant minister.


    Qian Yingchen had a headache as he saluted Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Yingchen won¡¯t continue to stay over here then. It¡¯ll be better for this one to return home sooner instead.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already sote. Why bother with going home?¡± Zhu Yurun blinked and said, ¡°Won¡¯t it be nicer to just stay over at that marquis¡¯s estate for a night?¡±


    Ji Man stealthily tugged on Miss Zhu¡¯s sleeve. This girl really didn¡¯t treat herself as an outsider. She had clearly snuck into here by climbing over a wall, but now, she dared to invite someone else to stay the night in front of the real owner of this estate. This was simply a guest taking over the owner¡¯s authority.


    Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t look at her. He pretended that he hadn¡¯t heard anything she said.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Zhu Yurun for a few months, then he nodded at Qian Yingchen and said, ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll arrange for a carriage to send you back.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, marquis.¡±


    Seeing that Zhu Yurun was deeply dissatisfied, Ji Man stretched her hand out to grab onto her sleeve to stop her from following him. Ji Man almost didn¡¯t grab onto her in time. This girl only had eyes for Qian Yingchen. Even after a long time had passed, she still hadn¡¯t looked away.


    With a slight smile, Marquis Moyu said, ¡°Miss Zhu.¡±

 Chapter 342 - A special task (1)

    Chapter 342 ¨C A special task (1)


    Zhu Yurun was especially well-behaved as stood in front of Ning Yuxuan. Her hands were sped behind her back, and her feet were close together. She obediently responded, ¡°Your Lordship.¡±


    ¡°Yingchen is engaged to Grand Tutor Peng¡¯s granddaughter,¡± Marquis Moyu said with a slight smile, ¡°Miss Peng is gentle and virtuous. She¡¯s an educated and sensible girl that¡¯s very suitable for Yingchen.¡±


    Zhu Yurun stiffened. She raised her head and looked at Ning Yuxuan with a somewhat nk gaze.


    ¡°But, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to take a concubine. If you cancel your engagement with Teacher Ji, I¡¯ll help you find a way. What do you think?¡± said the cunning wolf with a gentle expression.


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s eyes brightened. She jumped into the trap without any hesitation. ¡°Your Lordship, you¡¯re willing to help Yurun?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°Even though Yingchen dislikes you, you¡¯re pregnant with his child after all. You said the two of you just need time to get to know each other better. I can create some opportunities for you to meet with him.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, Your Lordship.¡± Overjoyed, Miss Zhu knelt down to express her appreciation despite herrge pregnancy belly.


    Ji Man slightly furrowed her brow. Based on Qian Yingchen¡¯s earlier response, he most likely deeply abhorred Zhu Yurun. How could he possibly be willing to take her as a concubine? She kept thinking that a foolish girl like Zhu Yurun wouldn¡¯t have a good oue if she continued to chase after him.


    It was toote at night to send Miss Zhu home, so Ning Yuxuan had Guibai arrange a room for Miss Zhu to stay in. He nned on bringing her over to Qian Residence the next day.


    Ji Man decided to go back to her own room. Before she left, Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and stopped her. Ji Man turned her head and looked at him with a smile that was free of guilt. ¡°Marquis, good night.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan deeply looked into her eyes before nodding. ¡°En.¡±


    If someone had harmed your entire family, was it possible to look at him without any hate?


    A normal person wouldn¡¯t be able to do so. There would inevitably be negative feelings that she couldn¡¯t dispel, and her eyes wouldn¡¯t be clear. This was why most people wouldn¡¯t look into the eyes of someone he or she hated.


    But, Ji Man¡¯s gaze was very clear and calm when she looked at him. It was as if nothing had happened between. She didn¡¯t refuse his hugs and kisses or show the slightest trace of resistance towards his touch. And yet, he could feel that he had nevere close to walking into her heart.


    He suddenly felt a bit irritated.


    He really wanted to exin to her why he had opened the capital¡¯s gate to allow the second prince and his army inside. He really wanted to ask her if she hated him. But, she was only a woman. Even if he told her the circumstances back then, she probably wouldn¡¯t forgiving him. Even if he wanted to plead for her forgiveness, when he was faced with her eyes that showed no emotion at all, he couldn¡¯t even mutter a single, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    He had never met a woman like her before, so he had no idea what he should do. Obviously, there were upleted great undertakings that were more deserving of his attention. And yet, his mind kept going back to thoughts of her. Had he just fallen under her spell?


    He let go of her, and she departed from the room. Ning Yuxuan silently swore to himself that he would go to the pce tomorrow to discuss important matters. He couldn¡¯t keep spending his time worrying about her.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man had escorted Zhu Yurun to a guest room, she returned to her own room to wash up and go to sleep. Perhaps, the moonlight was too beautiful tonight, so she ended up having a nightmare. She dreamed that she and Ning Yuxuan were standing underneath the moonlight. He warmly approached her, then his mouth opened into a bloody maw, and he swallowed her down in one gulp.


    When she woke up, the sky was already bright outside.


    A servant girl was standing in front of her bed and holding Haohao in her arms. The servant girl lightly smiled and said, ¡°Teacher, it¡¯s time for the heir¡¯s lessons.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was willing to let her give lessons to Haohao again. Ji Man was smiling as she rubbed her eyes. She swiftly got up, tidied up, and started walking to the garden with Haohao.


    The servant girl stayed behind and watched them leave. She waited until the two of them had walked far away, then she turned around, entered Ji Man¡¯s room, and close the doors from the inside.


    Ji Man¡¯s room was very clean and tidy. There weren¡¯t many items in the room. The servant girl rummaged through the boxes and didn¡¯t find anything of potential interest until she opened a small bag. The two items in the bag weren¡¯t outstanding. It was just a concentric knot waist essory and a concentric knot ring that could easily be purchased from a street vendor.


    Just as the servant girl was mumbling to herself, Zhu Yurun¡¯s voice came from the outside, ¡°Teacher Ji, are you awake?¡±


    Startled, the servant girl hurriedly picked up the nearby basin and pretended that she was tidying up the room.


    Zhu Yurun pushed open the doors without waiting for a response. Seeing only the servant girl, she asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the teacher?¡±


    ¡°He took the heir to the garden with him.¡± The servant girl smiled and very naturally walked out of the room while carrying the basin. She had already casually tucked the small bag into her sleeve.


    Zhu Yurun thought; the teacher was probably really busy too. She could just go to Qian Residence by herself. She kept worrying that something bad would happen to the person in her painting, so she hadn¡¯t been able to sleep well all night.


    ¡ª


    Two hours of sses had gone by. Actually, it would be more urate to say that she had yed with Haohao for an hour, then she sang nursery rhymes to Haohao for another hour. Ji Man stroked his little face and sighed, ¡°It would be so nice if you only belonged to me.¡±


    Haohao tilted his head. ¡°I belong to dad.¡±


    Ji Man put on extra sad expression as she said, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why teacher is very sad.¡±


    Haohao seriously thought for a while before saying, ¡°Dad will feel sad too if he doesn¡¯t have Haohao. Let¡¯s not make dad feel sad first, then don¡¯t let teacher feel sad.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. Haohao had been with his father for too long, so he always considered his father first. No, this won¡¯t do. She had to tell him more stories about how only mothers were good. Brainwashing had to start at a young age.

 Chapter 343 - A special task (2)

    Chapter 343 ¨C A special task (2)


    Bringing the small bag with her, the servant girl passed through the garden on her way to Liu Hanyun¡¯s courtyard.


    Liu Hanyun looked at the concentric knot waist essory and the concentric knot ring. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°What¡¯s special about this? Isn¡¯t Teacher Ji going to get married soon? Perhaps, these are just love tokens that he¡¯s exchange with his fianc¨¦e.¡±


    Wen Wan was sitting by the side. She frowned and said, ¡°What family would use such cheap items as engagement tokens? They¡¯re totallycking in value. This servant has also investigated. Teacher Ji is marrying Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s daughter. There was even amotion in the western courtyard because of her. It¡¯s exactly because of this that this servant finds him despicable. He¡¯s a man that¡¯s about to get married, but he still go around and seduces our lord.¡±


    Liu Hanyun handed the items back to the servant girl and gestured for her to put those items back. Then, she turned and disdainfully smiled as she said to Wen Wan, ¡°There aren¡¯t many people left in this household. I though the rest of my days could go by peacefully. But now, this man has appeared.¡±


    ¡°He should move out of the estate once he gets married, so there shouldn¡¯t be any danger after that.¡± Wen Wan wrung her handkerchief. ¡°This servant is just unhappy that his wedding day is still fairly far away. What if he steals away the marquis¡¯s soul during this time?¡±


    If the other person was a woman, then at least they could justpete for favor as usual. But, if the other party was a man, how could theypete with him?


    However, Wen Wan was very good atforting herself. Perhaps, the marquis was just feeling impulsivest night and not gay. After all, she had been with him for so long and hadn¡¯t seen any indications of this preference before. Perhaps, the moonlight had just been too beautiful, so he had briefly lost his senses.


    That master already had her here. It couldn¡¯t be that her master had sent someone over here topete with her for the marquis favor as a way to test her ability, right? Perhaps, Teacher Ji was just using a special method in order to aplish something?


    ¡ª


    After finishing Haohao¡¯s lessons for the day, Ji Man left the estate. She decided that it would be best if she finished buying the bridal gifts anyways. Although Ning Yuxuan had said he would help Miss Zhu, she had a premonition that his help wouldn¡¯t be very dependable. It would better if she prepared for the worst. That way, if this marriage didn¡¯t work out, she could just take everything back.


    However, she had only taken a few steps on the street when a carriage stopped by her side. The carriage¡¯s curtain was slightly lifted up, and Wu Yong quietly called out, ¡°Brother Ji.¡±


    After a pause, Ji Man very naturally boarded the carriage.


    Of course, Zhao Zhe was also in the carriage. There wasn¡¯t much affection in his expression as he smiled at her and said, ¡°Teacher Ji, you seem to be living welltely.¡±


    Ji Man very properly saluted him with her hands ced over each other and head bowed low. ¡°This one has tried to not disappoint His Highness¡¯s great expectations.¡±


    Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t say she coulde out of her salute. Instead, he asked her, ¡°I heard that you¡¯re getting married and nning on leaving Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°This one has already thoroughly considered everything. Even if this one gets married, this one will continue to stay in the marquis¡¯s estate.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Zhao Zhe nodded. ¡°You seem to have gotten very close with Marquis Moyu. Rather than handing this task to someone else, it would be better to just assign it you.¡±


    Ji Man knew there had to be something. Why else would he suddenlye looking for her? She lowered her eyes and said, ¡°Your Highness, please issue your order.¡±


    ¡°Once the road to Zhangjun ispleted, a tariff for iron ore will be imposed on Zhangjun for military use. Did you know about this?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. Everything had its advantages and disadvantages. A price naturally had to be paid for Zhangjun gaining a benefit of having a road that went straight to the capital. Other than rice, Zhangjun was also rich in iron ore. Because of this abundance, Zhangjun¡¯s army was equipped with especially good swords and armor.


    ¡°What can this one do?¡±


    Zhao Zhe deeply looked at her as he said, ¡°I need you to seal Marquis Moyu¡¯s signature seal so that I can alter a few details on the official order.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Did this great lord think she was a mystical thief or a secret service agent? Marquis Moyu was a very guarded person. His seal was probably hidden away somewhere. With his current status as a teacher, it wouldn¡¯t even be good for him to stay in the marquis¡¯s room for long. How was she supposed to steal it?


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. When the timees, someone will assist you. It¡¯s okay if you fail at getting the item. It¡¯s more important to keep yourself safe.¡± Zhao Zhe waved his hand. His expression showed that he wasn¡¯t at all optimistic about her chances of sess.


    ¡°This one understands.¡±


    Each advisor had his or her unique value. Her extra values were that she had a murky connection with certain people as well as her ability to urately judge a person¡¯s motive. She knew what Zhao Zhe wanted and what each of his actions meant, so she could help him a bit. This was why Zhao Zhe allowed her to stay.


    Although this task was very difficult, she still had to figure out a way toplete it.


    Ji Man calmly disembarked from the carriage and finished the purchases she had nned, then she returned to the marquis¡¯s estate.


    Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t returned yet. When he wasn¡¯t home, there would be people watching over his study and bedroom, so there was no way for her to get close.


    Just as Ji Man was feeling a bit despondent, the helper that Zhao Zhe had mentioned earlier arrived.


    ¡°Teacher Ji.¡± Wen Wan smiled as she saluted. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> heard that the teacher is getting married and didn¡¯t have time to congratte you until now.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Ji Man saluted with her hands.


    Wen Wan carefully looked at Teacher Ji¡¯s face. His pale face wasn¡¯t even rosy at the cheeks. This somewhat sickly-looking schr, how could his looks possiblepared to her beauty?


    ¡°Teacher Ji, you were probably informed about that task while you were out.¡± Wen Wan insincerely smiled and said, ¡°Once the marquises home, Wan-<i>er</i> will need Teacher Ji to cooperate with me.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your n?¡± Ji Man looked at her. She felt that Wen Wan wouldn¡¯t be very dependable.


    ¡°Once the marquises home, Wan-<i>er</i> will lead him out of the study. Teacher Ji, you can then take the opportunity to go take that item. What do you think?¡± Wen Wan asked.


    Do you think I¡¯m an idiot? Ji Man inwardly sneered. What if Wen Wan didn¡¯t keep the marquis¡¯s attention on herself? Wouldn¡¯t she be the one deemed guilty if Marquis Moyu happened to turn around?


    But, after thinking it over, Ji Man actually said, ¡°Good idea, let¡¯s do that then.¡±

 Chapter 344 - Stealing requires professional skills (1)

    Chapter 344 ¨C Stealing requires professional skills (1)


    Seeing that Ji Man was agreeing, Wen Wan was especially happy. Clutching her handkerchief, she said, ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, Wan-<i>er</i> will leave to prepare. Once the timees, Wan-<i>er</i> will send Tanxiang over to notify Teacher Ji.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ji Man smiled and nodded.


    Ning Yuxuan was an especially troublesome person to deal with. If there wasn¡¯t a good reason, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t try to challenge his bottom line. Even if he had be slightly interested in her, there were limits to what he would overlook. If she dared to mess with his ns by relying on the small amount of interest he felt towards her, she would get chopped up into meatballs.


    Wen Wan¡¯s scheme was simply at the level of children ying house. Would Ning Yuxuan be stupid enough to allow people to steal such an important seal through such a simple method?


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man ate lunch, she left the estate in the afternoon to look for someone. She didn¡¯t know where Zhu Yurun and Marquis Moyu had gone today, but they would probably be gone all day. This would give her chance to go the inn that Zhangjun Prince was staying at and borrow a person from Wu Yong.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t return home until dinnertime. As soon as he came back, he summoned her to his study. He had bad news for her.


    ¡°Yingchen¡¯s carriage flipped over on his way homest night, and he¡¯s suffered some injuries. Miss Zhu has already gone over there to take care of him.¡±


    Ji Man was slightly shocked. ¡°How bad are his injuries?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that serious. Miss Zhu originally shouldn¡¯t have stayed at Qian Residence, but she insisted on staying to care of Yingchen until he fully recovers, so I just went along with her wishes.¡± As Ning Yuxuan said this, he watched her reaction to this news. ¡°What have you been up to today?¡±


    Ji Man blinked. ¡°I gave the heir lessons and talked a bit with Mistress Wan, then I went out to buy some bridal gifts.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s obvious that your wedding isn¡¯t going to work out. Why are you still buying bridal gifts?¡± Ning Yuxuan sneered. ¡°Do you really have your heart set on marrying that woman?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ji Man slightly sighed and said, ¡°I think that it¡¯s unlikely that Sir Qian will be willing to marry Miss Zhu. In order to avoid offending Assistant Minister Zhu, this one can only help the marquis clean up his mess by giving Miss Zhu a graceful way out.¡±


    ¡°How did it be you cleaning up my mess?¡± Marquis Moyu raised an eyebrow.


    Ji Man sighed again. ¡°Sir Qian is the marquis¡¯s close friend, and his official position is lower than Sir Zhu¡¯s. If he really insists on not marrying Miss Zhu, Sir Zhu naturally won¡¯t force him in order to give face to you. But, if that happens, he¡¯ll naturally feel resentful. This one¡¯s action is only to help you dispel away Sir Zhu¡¯s resentment.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned for a moment. He stood up, walked to her side, and lowered his head to look at her. ¡°Your words do have some logic to them.¡±


    Feeling this man¡¯s scent getting too close, Ji Man lowered her head to maintain distance. She sensed Ning Yuxuan raising his hand as if he wanted to touch the fake skin mask on her face.


    Just as his hand was almost touching her face, Wen Wan suddenly appeared by the doorway. Seeing the intimate scene between these two people, the smile on her face stiffened as she called out, ¡°My lord.¡±


    ¡°Why did youe here?¡± Ning Yuxuan put his hand down and sat back down on his chair. He held up a cup of tea to cover up his awkward feeling.


    Wen Wan raised her feet as she stepped past the threshold. She put down a bowl of chicken soup and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> hasn¡¯t seen my lord in so long, so Wan-<i>er</i> wanted to make something and bring it over to my lord.¡±


    ¡°You made this?¡± Ning Yuxuan nced at the bowl of soup.


    Wen Wan shyly nodded. ¡°Didn¡¯t my lord use to say that Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯t know how to cook? Wan-<i>er</i> has learned how to cook now.¡±


    Ji Man stayed by the side as she observed this scene. She thought that Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression appeared uninterested. It waspletelycking the warmth that he used to look at Wen Wan with. At the beginning, his expression would automatically softened into gentleness as soon as he saw Wen Wan.


    It was only Wen Wan that would be so stupid. Once a man lost interest in you, it would be useless even if you obtained high-level cooking skills. When a man liked you, everything you did was perfect. But once he lost interest, everything you did was below his notice. What was the use in blindly changing yourself to try to recover past affections? Wen Wan needed to seriously think about why Ning Yuxuan had stopped liking her.


    ¡°En. Just leave it there. I¡¯ll drink itter,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said.


    Wen Wan nced at Ji Man before wrapping her arm around Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arm. In a cutely spoiled tone, she said, ¡°It¡¯s so rare for me to walk all the way here. My lord, won¡¯t you amodate Wan-<i>er</i> by going outside to see the moonlight with me? Just for a little bit. Wan-<i>er</i> wants to privately talk with you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°I still have matters to discuss with Teacher Ji.¡±


    Discuss what? Wen Wan pursed her lips. She didn¡¯t believe that the two of them had been standing so intimately close together before because they were busy discussing something.


    ¡°My lord...¡± Tears quickly appeared in Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. Pulling on his arm, she quietly said, ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t been fussing or causing trouble recently, or even asking the marquis toe visit me each day. This servant even cooked for the marquis today. Are you really so heartless that you¡¯re going to reject Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s one and only request?¡±


    Ji Man helpfully said on her behalf, ¡°Marquis, why don¡¯t you go with Mistress Wan for now? This one will wait.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s body stiffened. After a period of silence, he finally stood up and headed outside.


    Wen Wan was thrilled. She meaningfully looked at Ji Man before rushing out to follow after Ning Yuxuan. Ji Man didn¡¯t waste a single second after Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan left. She strode out of the study and gestured for the person, who had been hidden outside, to quickly enter the room. After that, she personally went over and brought Guibai over to guard the doors, then she stayed in the outside courtyard and sat down at the stone table.


    Why would she bother with personally trying to steal something?


    Besides, she didn¡¯t know if Ning Yuxuan¡¯s signature seal was currently in his study or his bedroom. The person that she had borrowed from Wu Yong today was also loyal to Zhangjun Prince. This person was a professional thief that would naturally be more nimble than her. There was no reason for her to trypleting this task herself.

 Chapter 345 - Stealing requires professional skills (2)

    Chapter 345 ¨C Stealing requires professional skills (2)


    Before half an hour has passed, Wen Wan was actually pulling Ning Yuxuan back towards the study. Ji Man watched as the two of them entered the courtyard. She had been right to not trust Wen Wan. Wen Wan was quietly bringing Ning Yuxuan back to the study so soon after leaving with them. If she had really been inside and searching for the signature seal, she would have been doomed once Marquis Moyu opened the study¡¯s doors.


    ¡°Marquis.¡± Guibai was standing in front of the study¡¯s doors, and he pushed open the doors for them.


    Wen Wan had Marquis Moyu enter the study first, but there was no sign of activity inside the room at all. It was only when Ning Yuxuan asked where Teacher Ji had gone that Ji Man raise her hand and said, ¡°This one is out here enjoying the moonlight.¡±


    They were partition by a short distance, and the sky was dark, so it wasn¡¯t possible to clearly see the other person¡¯s expression. Although Ji Man couldn¡¯t know for sure what kind of expression Wen Wan was currently showing, she could tell that Wen Wan stood in ce for a long time before following Marquis Moyu outside.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan as he said, ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, you can go back first.¡±


    Wen Wan was somewhat unwilling. She looked at Ji Man several times, but in the end, she could only stamp her feet and leave.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    This was man was too cunning. It seemed that he wouldn¡¯t be easy to deal with. As Wen Wan recollected that intimate scene in the study, she felt as if ants were chewing her heart, liver, lungs, and spleen. Even if she had to ignore the order given by the master, she wouldn¡¯t allow Marquis Moyu be snatched away by a man! His heart only had her. She was forever the only person that could be allowed in heart!


    ¡ª


    Ji Man returned to her room, and the person hidden in the corner reported, ¡°There isn¡¯t any secret space in the study, and the signature seal couldn¡¯t be found either.¡±


    It had taken the professional less than half an hour to thoroughly search the study. Ji Man sighed. If it wasn¡¯t in the study, then it had to be in the bedroom. If it was in the bedroom, then she could only depend on Wen Wan.


    ¡ª


    They met in the garden the next morning. Wen Wan was frowning as she said, ¡°Teacher Ji, why didn¡¯t you follow our n to search for that item?¡±


    Ji Man responded with a smile. ¡°This one already looked for it. It¡¯s not in the study.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Ji, you clearly weren¡¯t inside the study looking for that item yesterday.¡± It was obvious from Wen Wan¡¯s expression that she was very displeased. ¡°You wasted Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s efforts.¡±


    ¡°Someone else looked through the study for me.¡± Ji Man continued to have a warm smile as she said, ¡°Otherwise, since the marquis had returned in under half an hour, there would be no way for this one to safely leave the study.¡±


    Startled, Wen Wan averted her gaze. ¡°What will we do now then?¡±


    ¡°Mistress Wan, there are times when you¡¯re favored, right?¡± Ji Man said in a low voice, ¡°Go to the marquis¡¯s bedroom to look around.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face turned red. ¡°The marquis hasn¡¯t visited anyone in his harem in a long time.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Ji Man nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯ll be fine for Mistress Wan to take the initiative by going to the marquis¡¯s bedroom. Apply a sleeping drug to your lips. Once the marquis falls unconscious, Mistress Wan, you¡¯ll have your chance to render meritorious service.¡±


    Wen Wan felt a bit shy. After all, the person sitting across from her was a man. Wringing her handkerchief, she hesitated for a long time before finally saying, ¡°I can only try my best.¡±


    Applying a sleeping drug to her lips was a good idea. As long as Wen Wan wasn¡¯t stupid enough to ingest the drug herself, the n would be a sess. Ji Man expectantly waited for the good news.


    ¡ª


    However, Wen Wan still ended up failing. Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t fallen unconscious, and Wen Wan didn¡¯t have the chance to search his bedroom. The next time that Wen Wan saw Ji Man, her expression was especially unpleasant. She didn¡¯t even say a single word before turning around to go to Linghan Courtyard.


    Ji Man was at a loss. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t a person that practiced abstinency<i>. </i>He would have definitely favored Wen Wan, so why had Wen Wan failed? Could the sleeping drug have been expired?


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan sat down in front of Liu Hanyun. ¡°Madam, we¡¯re probably going to have fight a man for the marquis¡¯s favor.¡± She already couldn¡¯t stop her tears from falling down.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Liu Hanyun was ying with Xi-<i>er</i> and doubtful nced at her.


    ¡°Do you remember that concentric knot waist essory and ring?¡± Wen Wan wiped her tears and said, ¡°When this servant went to the marquis¡¯s room to serve himst night, this servant saw those same items by his bedside table. He wouldn¡¯t even let this servant touch them.¡±


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s expression changed. ¡°The same items?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Wen Wan gritted her teeth and said, ¡°You said those items could just be love tokens between an engaged couple, but the other party turned out to be our lord. That man, he¡¯s truly has no sense of shame!¡±


    Wen Wan was crying very bitterly, but she didn¡¯t feelfortable telling Liu Hanyun the worst part. Last night¡¯s n had been so meticulous. She had even thought of how she would send the signature seal out once she found it, but Yuxuan had been absolutely unwilling to kiss her lipsst night.


    Wen Wan looked at Liu Hanyun said, ¡°How could this type of person be allowed to teach the heir? He should be driven out of the estate! Madam, if you continue to be soft-hearted, this man will snatch away your spot.¡±


    Liu Hanyun stayed silent. She only believed part of Wen Wan¡¯s words. The most important part was the she knew Ning Yuxuan would never be interested in a man. Perhaps, that teacher had somehow offended Wen Wan, so she was trying to ruin him?


    Contrary to what she was really thinking, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°Go back to your courtyard to rest first. I¡¯ll look into this matter myself and deal with it.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man felt dejected. At the very least, Wen Wan was the female lead. Shouldn¡¯t she have the basic ability to learn from her mistakes? It had already been so long, but she was still so stupid and couldn¡¯t even sessfully seduce someone. Men were visual creatures that were controlled by the lower half of their bodies. All Wen Wan had to do was sneak into his bed in the middle of the night. Then, while wearing skimpy clothing, she would expose a fragrant shoulder and call out, ¡°I¡¯m so cold¡±. How many stallions wouldn¡¯t have fallen for that trap?


    How could Wen Wan have failed?


    Ji Man sighed for a while before making a decision and standing up.

 Chapter 346 - The one that loved more would lose (1)

    Chapter 346 ¨C The one that loved more would lose (1)


    She decided the she would invite over a prostitute for Ning Yuxuan. Opps, she meant a courtesan.


    After all, a professional would be more reliable. And so, after Ji Man tidied up, she left the estate and went straight to a brothel.


    However, right after Ji Man stepped through the gate, a servant immediately followed after her without her noticing. After she had browsed around in the brothel for a long time, she still hadn¡¯t found a suitable person. It would be strange if Ning Yuxuan would be willing to spare these beautiful women more than one look.


    When she returned to the estate that evening, she still hadn¡¯t found a suitable person. She was somewhat discouraged as she walked back to her room. She decided that she would just borrow another person from Wu Yong tomorrow. Anyways, Wu Yong was like a peddler of humans and would be able to find any type of person.


    However, right after she entered her room, she saw Ning Yuxuan drinking tea at her table.


    ¡°Back?¡± He raised his eyes and looked at her.


    Ji Man nodded. She stopped in the doorway and asked. ¡°Marquis, why did youe over?¡±


    ¡°I heard that you were in a very good mood today and went to a brothel, so I came here to see if you would be returning home tonight,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said, ¡°If you didn¡¯te home tonight, then you won¡¯t need to give lessons to Haohao tomorrow morning either.¡±


    Feeling a chill go up her spine, Ji Man hurriedly tried to curry favor with him by going over to pour water and tea. ¡°This one was just curious what women in those ces looked like. That¡¯s all.¡±


    Even if she had other thoughts, it wasn¡¯t like she was physically capable of doing anything.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her for several seconds before saying, ¡°Miss Zhu made a terrible scene in Qian Residence today, and Yingchen locked her in the woodshed.¡±


    At the mention of Miss Zhu¡¯s matter, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist sitting down. ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°She said that Yingchen likes her, and that he was just having trouble admitting it. When Miss Peng came over to visit Yingchen, Miss Zhu blocked her way and wouldn¡¯t let her inside.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°She¡¯s such a troublemaker. Yingchen¡¯s injury hadn¡¯t been serious, but he was so angered by Miss Zhu, he couldn¡¯t breathe and fainted.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing. ¡°Wow, Miss Zhu is really too incredible.¡±


    ¡°I had been nning on persuading Yingchen to take Miss Zhu as a concubine to settled the matter with Assistant Minister Zhu. After that, he could wee Miss Peng into his household,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Miss Peng is the type of person that wasn¡¯t interested in marrying to begin with. It had taken so much persuasion on my part to matchmake these two people, but it¡¯s being ruined at the hands of Zhu Yurun.¡±


    Ji Man felt a bit depressed. If her marriage with Miss Zhu didn¡¯t work out, what would happen to her grain business? Although Assistant Minister Zhu had already said he would use Zhangjun rice as the tribute rice, would he end up going back on his word if she didn¡¯t marry his daughter?


    As they continued conversing, the mood between the two of them became less tense. After Marquis Moyu said a few more things that Zhu Yurun had done, he said, ¡°I just remembered. I brought back some snacks for you. They¡¯re specialty snacks made from Qian Residence¡¯s chef. I left them in my room. Do you want toe over to try some?¡±


    Stunned, Ji Man raised her head to look at him.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression was very calm.


    After hesitating for a bit, Ji Man nodded and said, ¡°Sure. Marquis, you can go ahead without me. This one wants to change into something morefortable.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    After Marquis Moyu left the room, Ji Man closed her doors and nkly looked at the box on her bedside table for a bit. Then, she changed into a white robe, removed her mask, and took out a bottle of sleeping powder from underneath her pillow. She mixed the powder with red lipstick and applied it to her lips. Sheposed herself before putting on a veiled hat and heading towards the western courtyard.


    She didn¡¯t care about her body. Men and women were equal. The physical pleasure between two bodies was also mutual, so there was no need to be emotional about it. If Ning Yuxuan was really interested in her body, that would be perfect. She would personally go into battle andplete the task that Wen Wan had failed.


    This would even save her the cost of hiring someone to do this task for her.


    As sheforted herself with these thought, she stepped into the western courtyard and entered Marquis Moyu¡¯s room.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Seeing her attire, Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows. ¡°Why are you wearing a veiled hat?¡±


    After locking the doors, Ji Man took off her veiled hat. She smiled at him and said, ¡°Because I¡¯ll be done for if I wasn¡¯t wearing it.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in ce as he stared at the face that he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time. He was left feeling utterly speechless.


    This person hadn¡¯t changed at all. There was still that birthmark spot between her eyebrows, and her lips were splendidly red. When that face smiled, it was overflowing with charm. Seeing this sight, it felt as if his throat had slightly closed up. There was burst of pain his heart.


    Ji Man slightly smiled. She went over and sat down. Seeing the slices ofyered cake, she said, ¡°Since my lord has been troubled with thoughts of me, I came here in the night. How about we have another predestined encounter?¡±


    This woman was a demoness. Her smile was very fake without any sincere feelings. She hadn¡¯te here because she missed him. Marquis Moyu clearly knew all of this. However, as he looked at her face, he couldn¡¯t stop himself. He pulled her over and gently kissed her forehead.


    ¡°Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man softlyughed and very obediently leaned against his chest. ¡°My lord.¡±


    After that heavy rainstorm, it felt as if he hadn¡¯t seen her again. Even though he knew that she was living here, it didn¡¯t feel real because he was only looking at that fake face. It was only now that she had changed back to her original self that all of his suppressed feelings spiraled out.


    He had to control her. Otherwise, she would control him. Ning Yuxuan knew this. But, when her lips touched his, he gave up on struggling and closed his eyes. He kissed her lips that were liberally smeared with sleeping powder.

 Chapter 347 - The one that loved more would lose (2)

    Chapter 347 ¨C The one that loved more would lose (2)


    Was this simply evil that he had brought onto himself? He had once taken for granted Nie Sangyu¡¯s love for him. No matter how he treated her, he felt that she would always continue to love him. But now, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from surrendering. He had automatically put down all of his defenses and trustingly put himself up for ughter.


    Was this just karma?


    Sure enough, when it came to love, the one that loved more would lose.


    He resisted for a while, but eventually sumbed to the woozy feeling. Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes as he leaned against Ji Man¡¯s shoulder and fell into a deep slumber.


    Ji Man grabbed his slumping body. It took a bit of effort to carry him to the bed. Then, she sighed in relief and started rummaging around the room for that item.


    It was one thing for the study to not have a secret space, but even after Ji Man searched the entire room, she couldn¡¯t find one in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s bedroom either. Sure enough, she shouldn¡¯t have believed in stuff that was shown on TV shows. She had even wasted time by knocking on every single floor tile. As she was feeling a bit discouraged, she turned her head and saw a redwood nightstand.


    Jade ornaments and other like items had been ced on it. When she opened a brocade box that was on the nightstand, the lustrous sight of several exquisite bluish-green gems and green jade greeted her. Surprisingly, there was also a very ordinary concentric knot waist essory as well as a cheap ring.


    Ji Man quickly averted her gaze and resumed looking around the room. She also patted Ning Yuxaun down in her search and opened the brocaded bag that he had on him. She should have guessed this spot earlier. The signature seal was inside the bag.


    After arranging Ning Yuxuan so that he was lyingfortably on the bed and covering him with a quilt, Ji Man stuffed the signature seal into her sleeve and put the veiled hat back on. When she exited the room, she told Guibao, who had been standing guard outside, ¡°The marquis said to send Mistress Wan over to serve him. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for this one to remain, so this one will be leaving first.¡±


    Guibai nced at her before nodding. ¡°This servant will have to bother Teacher Ji to stay here for a bit longer.¡±


    ¡°En,¡± Ji Man agreed and nkly stood by the doorway for a while. Fortunately, Wen Wan quickly arrived, so she was able to quickly get away herself. That very night, she left the estate and delivered the item to Zhangjun Prince¡¯s dwelling ce. After that, she went back to her room to sleep and pretended that nothing had happened.


    ¡ª


    When Ning Yuxuan woke up the next morning and saw the woman lying next to him, there were dark, billowing clouds in his eyes. Wen Wan was almost scared to death.


    ¡°My lord?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slowly sat up and nkly remained in that position for a while. He suddenly coldlyughed and asked, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, am I really stupid?¡±


    Tugging the quilt to cover her body as she sat up, she somewhat shyly looked at him. ¡°My lord, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his head and saw the pile of discarded clothes. His personal brocade bag had obviously been emptied.


    Who had lied to whom? Who had taken advantage of whom?


    ¡ª


    For the next three days, Ji Man didn¡¯t see Marquis Moyu, but Zhangjun Prince had given her a lot of rewards. Zhao Zhe also looked at her with an obviously much more trusting gaze.


    ¡ª


    Qian Yingchen felt as if Zhu Yurun was driving him insane. She had insistently convinced Miss Peng to go on a spring outing and was now doggedly inviting Ji Man.


    Qian Yingchen still had a good impression of Ji Man. After all, Teacher Ji was a person that Ning Yuxuan thought highly of, so he couldn¡¯t be an ordinary person. And so, Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t reject Ji Man¡¯s presence. On the contrary, he was very weing. Seeing this sight, Zhu Yurun practically draped herself on Ji Man and eximed, ¡°Teacher Ji, the sess of my major life event will be depending on you!¡±


    Ji Man could only agree to her request. Anyways, the rest of her day was free after giving Haohao lessons in the morning.


    ¡ª


    They had discussed where to meet beforehand and settled on meeting up by Tian Lake. Ji Man arrived a bit earlier and saw a carriage slowly driving over here from a distance. A chubby person was following after that carriage and jogging to keep up.


    Ji Man furrowed her brow.


    When the carriage reached theke, Qian Yingchen disembarked from the carriage and smiled at Ji Man. ¡°Teacher Ji.¡±


    Ji Man returned his greeting with a two handed salute. She raised her eyes and saw a dignified youngdying out of the carriage too. This young woman was probably Grand Tutor Peng¡¯s granddaughter. As for Zhu Yurun, she had caught up to them and was getting her breath back.


    ¡°Sir Qian.¡± Looking at Zhu Yurun¡¯s belly, Ji Man frowned again. ¡°No matter what, Miss Zhu is pregnant. Why did you have her follow you by walking?¡±


    Zhu Yurun wiped the sweat from her forehead and waved her hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. My belly is too big, so I couldn¡¯t fit inside the carriage. I¡¯m okay with walking here too. Teacher Ji, you don¡¯t need to worry. I¡¯m very healthy and much more sturdy than other pregnant women. Besides, Qian Residence isn¡¯t far from here.¡±


    Miss Peng looked very ufortable with the situation. Her mood didn¡¯t seem good. She slightly bobbed in greeting to Ji Man, then she boarded a nearby boat by herself.


    Qian Yingchen said with a smile, ¡°Teacher Ji, please.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to look at that chubby girl. Seeing that the other two people werepletely ignoring Miss Zhu, she understood why Miss Zhu had insistently invited her along now.


    ¡°Sir Qian, you can go on ahead first.¡± Ji Man stretched her hand out to support Zhu Yurun. ¡°We¡¯ll catch up to you soon.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s smile dimmed. He nced at Zhu Yurun before turning around and boarding the boat.


    The space in the boat wasn¡¯t big, and the four of them were sitting across from each other. Fortunately, Ji Man was good at livening the atmosphere. She kept up a conversation with Miss Peng and Qian Yingchen that went from chatting about poetry and songs to life philosophy. The mood could be considered harmonious enough.


    But, since they were talking about these types of subjects, Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t able to participate. She could only sit and stare at Qian Yingchen.


    ¡°Since this one has the fortunate of going on this outing with Teacher Ji today, there¡¯s a question that this one has been wanting to ask,¡± Qing Yingchen said. ¡°This one heard that Teacher Ji is nning on marrying Miss Zhu. Is this still valid?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I don¡¯t know what to think of Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen¡¯s rtionship, but wouldn¡¯t it be boring to marry someone that you don¡¯t have anything inmon with? I have a hard time understanding Zhu Yurun¡¯s infatuation with Yingchen, especially when she¡¯s been given the opportunity to spent time with him.

 Chapter 348 - Dont wear rose-colored glasses because of love (1)

    Chapter 348 ¨C Don¡¯t wear rose-colored sses because of love (1)


    Zhu Yurun tensed up. Underneath the table, she yanked Ji Man¡¯s clothes.


    Ji Man looked at Qian Yingchen with apletely calm expression and asked, ¡°Sir Qian, are you still not nning on marrying Miss Zhu?¡±


    Qian Yingchen shook his head. ¡°Yingchen doesn¡¯t like being forced into marrying someone. Besides, Grand Tutor Peng had personally asked this one to care for Miss Peng. It wouldn¡¯t be fair to wrong her like this before she¡¯s even married into my household.¡±


    As the chubby girl next to Ji Man was uneasily fidgeting, the bluish-green gems dangling from her hair swung back and forth. It was obvious that she was very perturbed by these words. Ji Man looked at Miss Peng next. Although the boat was swaying, she was still able to maintain a proper sitting position, and the dangling ornaments in her hair weren¡¯t moving much either.


    Comparing Zhu Yurun to Miss Peng was likeparing an unpresentable duck to a graceful swan. No one would be able to like her.


    ¡°Our wedding date was originally set for ten dayster,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°If Sir Qian hasn¡¯t changed his mind by then, this one is naturally willing to wee Miss Zhu into my family.¡±


    Qian Yingchen looked at Ji Man with a slightly astonished look. ¡°Teacher Ji, you have a upright appearance, so why...¡±


    Why do you have such bad taste?


    Zhu Yurun was a woman that was rarely seen in this world. When he had happened to meet her by chance half a year ago, she was an attractive young woman instead of the plump figure she was now. However, although half a year had passed, her personality hadn¡¯t changed at all. As soon as she saw a man, she would throw herself at him. Qian Yingchen recollected his memories of their first encounter and couldn¡¯t help slightly frowning.


    His first impression of this young woman hadn¡¯t been bad when they had seen each other in the passing in the inn. However, he woke up in her bed the next morning, and this young woman had said with a grin, ¡°You¡¯re mine.¡±


    Any man would feel that this woman had no sense of shame. She had even dared to boldly proim that she had like how he looked, so she had drugged him to be his person.


    At that time, he was returning to the capital after receiving a notice that he had been promoted and couldn¡¯t afford to ruin his reputation. When he saw her looking for him in inn that morning, he didn¡¯t say anything and simply left the inn.


    He had wondered if his encounter with this insane woman had anything to do with the shameless people in Xu Province that would want to deliberately harm him. Fortunately, nothing bad had happened in the end. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have let her off.


    Taking a deep breath, Qian Yingchen swallowed down the rest of the words he had wanted to say. He ced one hand in front of the other to salute Ji Man and said, ¡°This one will offer my congrattions to Teacher Ji then.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. Next to Qian Yingchen, Miss Peng seemed to have not heard anything. She was indifferently looking out at theke.


    After they disembarked from the boat, the four of them strolled around theke. Zhu Yurun seemed to have epted reality. Her head was drooping, and she wasn¡¯t skipping around like her usual self. She just closely walked behind Qian Yingchen and Miss Peng.


    Ji Man was walking by her side, so she didn¡¯t look that obviously pitiful. The two of them seemed to be walking slower and slower, and the distance between them and the two people in the front were increasing.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist quietly asking, ¡°Why won¡¯t you give up on him?¡±


    She had seen too much of cold logic and too little of sincere feelings in this ce. And so, she absolutely couldn¡¯t understand a young woman like Zhu Yurun.


    Zhu Yurun grinned from ear to ear. ¡°From the time I met him, I keep having the same dream.¡±


    ¡°I dream that I¡¯m quietly waiting in a pavilion. There¡¯s no one else around. Rain is pouring from the sky, and I feel as if no one is going toe. But, when I¡¯ve waited until the moment, hees. He¡¯s holding an oilpaper umbre with one hand and urging his horse to go faster with the other hand. He says that he¡¯s going to marry me. And, the rain from the sky suddenly stops. His smile looks so beautiful as he¡¯s standing there.¡± As she says this, her eyes start to brighten with little stars.


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitch, and she interrupted her by saying, ¡°If you try holding onto an oilpaper umbre while riding a horse, the wind will end up tearing the umbre apart. It definitely wouldn¡¯t be as perfect as your imagination.¡±


    Why did foolish girls always have a pre-installed beautification function? Their love would embellish a in rice paddy that was strong with the scent of fertilizer into a fragrantvender field that stretched out as far as the eyes could see. And then, they would do their absolute best to chase after this false dream. If they saw the reality a bit more clearly, wouldn¡¯t that be better?


    Zhu Yurun paused. She lowered her head and looked at her shoes as she said, ¡°I¡¯ve been staying by his side for the past several days, and I tried my best to get him to like me, but the end result was the opposite of what I wanted. Perhaps, what everyone else is saying is right. I¡¯m always making my choices based on the reality I see, and my views are unrealistically optimistic.¡±


    ¡°But, still, I don¡¯t know why. I just really like him.¡± Zhu Yurun shook her head and stopped walking. She smiled at Ji Man and said, ¡°I¡¯m not willing to give up.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned.


    Qian Yingchen and Miss Peng had already walked far enough that their figures weren¡¯t visible anymore. Seeing this, Zhu Yurun stamped her feet and said, ¡°Aiya, look. They forgot about us again. It¡¯s gettingte and about time to end our stroll and go back. Yingchen hasn¡¯t fully healed from his injuries yet either. Teacher Ji, you can leave first. Let¡¯s meet again tomorrow.¡±


    Once again, her smile was as splendidly radiant as spring. She jogged forward like a ball of rolling cotton candy and even turned around to say, ¡°Let me keep trying. If it doesn¡¯t work out, I¡¯ll just marry you. I don¡¯t want to have any regrets.¡±


    Standing in the same spot, Ji Man watched as that little chubby figure ran farther and farther away. She finally let out a long sigh when Zhu Yurun¡¯s figure had disappeared from her sight too.


    Why were there so many fools in the world?


    And yet, if there were only smart, rational people around, the world would be too boring.

 Chapter 349 - Dont wear rose-colored glasses because of love (2)

    Chapter 349 ¨C Don¡¯t wear rose-colored sses because of love (2)


    Zhu Yurun continued to rascally stay in Qian Residence, and Assistant Minister Zhu didn¡¯t say anything about it. It was probably because her reputation was already in tatters, so he wasn¡¯t concern about that aspect. Besides, she might even be able to gain a proper father for her child by doing this.


    But, since Assistant Minister Zhu wasn¡¯t aware of the Ji Man¡¯s secret, he felt extremely guilty towards Ji Man. Not only did he settle the matter of using Ji Man¡¯s rice as the tribute rice for the year, he had alsomanded his subordinates to treat Ji Man well. As a result, Ji Man¡¯s value abruptly bounded up. Ji Man was seen as a shining star in the rice merchant association.


    Regarding the matter of choosing a head for the rice merchant association, thergest rice merchant families had all sufficiently prepared for the asion. From top to bottom, the fiercestpetition was between the Liu family and the Rong family. When the time for the election came, the two sides almost came to blows. In the end, Director Tang was invited over for tea to act as the tiebreaker.


    Shopkeeper Liu had been full of confidence, so he was shocked when he heard Director Tang say, ¡°It¡¯s always been the same people that get elected in the past years. It¡¯s time to give way to the younger generations.¡±


    When these words were said, he was looking at Ji Man. Neither Shopkeeper Liu nor Shopkeeper Rong had pleasant expressions. However, these two families had a long history with each other. It was still an easy matter as long as the other party wasn¡¯t the winner of this election. And so, in order to ingrate themselves with Director Tang, the title of head of the rice merchant associationnded on Ji Man.


    For this reason, Ji Man sent over a considerable amount of gifts to Director Tang and those two rice merchant families. She was very attentive in observing the proper customs. For example, she would always remember to send over some trinkets when it was a rice merchant family¡¯s legitimate son¡¯s birthday. Gradually, no one was dissatisfied that Ji Man had gotten the position.


    Ji Man¡¯s mood was still pretty good after settled that issue. She happily spent her days inside the estate with Haohao and did activities with him like picking flowers.


    As a result, she unexpectedly encountered Ning Yuxuan, who hadn¡¯t appeared in her sight for a while.


    Ji Man felt a bit guilty.


    It was naturally impossible for him to not know that his signature seal had been taken. But, Ning Yuxuan had surprisingly not said anything about that night or the missing signature seal. He had acted as if nothing had happened and didn¡¯t keep her from seeing Haohao either.


    ¡°Marquis.¡± She properly saluted, but Marquis Moyu acted as if he hadn¡¯t seen her. He picked Haohao up and sat down by a nearby stone table. Wiping the mud from Haohao¡¯s hand, he said in an indifferent tone, ¡°I heard that your rice business is done well. Congrattions.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to the marquis¡¯s favor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks your intelligence. It has nothing to do with me,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Zhangjun Prince will be returning to his fiefdom tomorrow. How about going with me to send him off?¡±


    Her body stiffened. She shook her head and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for this one to send him off. This one has resigned from my position as Zhangjun Prince¡¯s subordinate aftering to the marquis¡¯s estate. There¡¯s no connection between the two of us.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Marquis Moyu¡¯s tone showed that he obviously didn¡¯t believe her.


    ¡°Right now, this one only wholeheartedly wants to teach the heir,¡± Ji Man sincerely said, ¡°Marquis, please believe this one.¡±


    ¡°En, I believe you, that¡¯s why you shoulde with me tomorrow,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Guibai wille to remind you when the timees.¡±


    She kept thinking that he hadn¡¯te here with good intentions. Right now, she was just a teacher. Why did she have to apany him in sending off Zhangjun Prince? Ning Yuxuan shouldn¡¯t know that she was still in contact with Zhangjun Prince, right?


    Besides, although she had entered the pce with Zhangjun Prince, and everyone by the dowager empress¡¯s side had seen her, no one else would know that she was one of his advisors. If she went with Ning Yuxuan tomorrow to send Zhangjun Prince off, and there happened to be someone with sharp eyes and a loose tongue that spread this information, how was she suppose to keep her low-key status? If the new emperor saw her, it was more likely than not that he would believe she was acting as a messenger between Marquis Moyu and Zhangjun Prince and simply order her death right away.


    Was Ning Yuxuan unwilling to tolerate the sight of her and that was why he was insisting for her toe along?


    Although Ji Man was feeling upset, she could only acknowledge hismand for now and figure out a way to escape from this obligation.


    ¡ª


    After dinner, Liu Hanyun had taken the initiative ofing over and ended up giving her a way out. Liu Hanyun hade over here like a torrential rush, and her intentions didn¡¯t seem benign either.


    Liu Hanyun went straight to the point and asked, ¡°Teacher Ji, how long do you n on staying in the marquis¡¯s household?¡±


    During the past few days, she had sent servants to follow Ji Man. She knew that Ji Man had visited a brothel, given lessons to Haohao, and nothing exceptional had happened when Ji Man went out of the estate the other times. However, when she had gone over to care for the marquis when he had been sick during the past few days, she had heard Teacher Ji¡¯s name from the marquis¡¯s lips.


    Ji Man, Ji Man. Wen Wan really hadn¡¯t wrongfully used him. He really was a sly tempter that had bewitched the marquis to such a low level.


    As the main wife, Liu Hanyun wouldn¡¯t just do nothing and allow this travesty to go on. Since Teacher Ji was going to get married, it would better if she sent him away sooner.


    Ji Man looked at this woman, who wouldn¡¯t even say extraneous words to soften her message, and sighed. ¡°This one wants to stay in the marquis¡¯s estate for the long-term. It¡¯ll also be more convenient to care for the heir this way.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Ji, aren¡¯t you getting married?¡± Liu Hanyun frowned. ¡°You¡¯re still not going to move out after your wedding?¡±


    ¡°This one isn¡¯t moving.¡± Ji Man shook her head. ¡°This one has already discussed this matter with the marquis, and the marquis has agreed to it.¡±


    Liu Hanyun really wanted to p this person. This person was really too shameless. He took advantage of the marquis¡¯s affections and had decided to permanently stay here!


    She had originally nned on properly sending this person off. After all, she had though he was an honest person without much of a background. But, as it turned out, he was nning on doggedly remaining here. Don¡¯t me her for being harsh.


    ¡°Teacher Ji, could youe with me for a bit?¡± Liu Hanyun stood up. Although she had phrased it as a question, she walked out without looking back.


    Ji Man thought for moment before turning around and taking out a bag from a box. She went outside and said to a servant girl that was by the doors, ¡°Please give this the marquis. I¡¯m going out with Madam.¡±


    The servant girl straightforwardly made a sound of agreement and left. After that, Ji Man followed after Liu Hanyun.


    Right after she had arrived by the back gate, she saw a carriage waiting outside. Just as she was about to ask where they were going, a few servants came out of the carriage, tied her up, and dragged her into the carriage.


    Trantor Ramblings: I noticed that Liu Hanyun¡¯s response to Ji Man is the same as Ning Mingjie¡¯s wife¡¯s. Both of these wives took that extra step of asking Ji Man about her ns to see for herself what her intentions were. They didn¡¯t jump to conclusions and immediately plot to harm Ji Man. They were willing to amicably help Ji Man leave, but they would also take harsher actions if Ji Man wasn¡¯t willing to leave their husbands alone.


    I though the author was so clever in setting up this situation. In order to do this, she had kill off Ji Man¡¯s identity as Nie Sangyu, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s first wife. It was an interesting turn around that Ji Man judged Wen Wan as the other woman, who she sees as inherently wrong for stepping into someone else¡¯s marriage. But now, she¡¯s doing the same thing herself. Of course, from her perspective, she views her actions aspletely justified. (She¡¯s only living in the marquis¡¯s estate and tolerating Ning Yuxuan for Haohao. She¡¯s not fully aware of how much her actions unintentionally harm other people.)


    From Liu Hanyun¡¯s perspective, Ji Man is apletely unrted to her friendly ally, Nie Sangyu, and is a shameless interloper in her marriage while leading on another woman. If she knew that Ji Man and Nie Sangyu were the same person, she wouldn¡¯t harm her like this.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 350 - Mistaken as a pond fairy? (1)

    Chapter 350 ¨C Mistaken as a pond fairy? (1)


    There was a thumping sound as her head knocked against the inside of the carriage. After she was tossed into the carriage, the servants boarded the carriage too and blocked the way out. The carriage flew down the street and away from the marquis¡¯s estate.


    Clutching her head, Ji Man looked at the person in front of her and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so rough. I¡¯ll cooperate.¡±


    Where was Liu Hanyun sending her? She probably wouldn¡¯t dare to kill someone. At worst, the carriage would be driven to a distant ce, and she would be told to not return. Thinking of it like that, she rxed. This worked out perfectly. Liu Hanyun could be considered to have helped her out by giving her an excuse for not being avable to send off Zhangjun Prince when he left the capital.


    During the carriage ride, Ji Man remained very calm as she sneakily transferred the money she had on her into her boots. She was a very well-behaved captive that stayed leaning against a corner of the carriage. Her gaze was nk as she watched the servants.


    ¡ª


    It waste, and Ning Yuxuan was about to go to sleep when a servant girl came over with the bag that Ji Man had given her.


    ¡°Teacher Ji told this servant to bring these items over to Your Lordship,¡± the servant girl said, ¡°and said that he was going out with Madam.¡±


    Going out with Liu Hanyun? Ning Yuxuan paused before taking the bag and opening it. It was the concentric knot items they had bought while walking around the market back then.


    What was she trying to tell him? Ning Yuxuan chuckled. She had actually kept these unremarkable items. He had thought that he was the only one being foolishly sentimental. Why would a woman that would go as far as to steal his signature seal keep these mementos?


    ¡°My lord, do you want to go over there to visit Teacher Ji? ¡°Guibai quietly asked.


    ¡°Why would I go over there?¡± Marquis Moyu lightly tossed the items down by his bedside as he got into bed. ¡°Isn¡¯t he terribly clever and capable of scheming against anyone? He¡¯ll naturally have his own ns.¡±


    Guibai nodded and obediently extinguished themps in the room.


    ¡°Wait,¡± Ning Yuxuan called out in low voice.


    Guibai turned his head and questioningly looked at his master in the dark room. ¡°Yes?¡±


    After a period of silence, Ning Yuxuan threw back his covers. ¡°Let¡¯s pay a visit to Linghan Courtyard. I haven¡¯t seen Xi-<i>er</i> in a while.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Guibai felt as if his master had been very capricioustely. Anyways, he just needed to listen to orders. It was fine if he didn¡¯t understand theseplicated matters.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun hadn¡¯t gone to sleep yet. She was holding and waiting to hear the news. She had originally wanted to finish this matter once and for all, but she wasn¡¯t clear on this teacher¡¯s background, so she couldn¡¯t silence him permanently. She could only send him away as far as possible. If someone med her for this matter, she would just pretend to not be aware. The heir had already monopolized the marquis¡¯ attention. No matter what, she couldn¡¯t allow a man toe here and muddy the situation further.


    Ning Yuxuan entered the room and was slightly surprised to see her. ¡°Yun-<i>er</i>, you already came back?¡±


    Liu Hanyun was initially startled to see him here, but her surprise was quickly reced by joy. Holding Xi-<i>er</i>, she went forward to greet him. ¡°My lord, why are you here? Why are you saying that? This servant has been in the estate all day and hasn¡¯t gone out at all.¡±


    It was rare for Ning Yuxuan to take the initiative toe here, so Liu Hanyun was extremely happy. She put Xi-<i>er</i> down and nudged him towards Marquis Moyu. ¡°Go on, say father.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> looked at Ning Yuxuan nkly. He took a tiny step back before hiding behind his mother. He clutched her skirt and silent.


    Ning Yuxuan half crouched down to ruffle Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s hair. He quietly repeated his question. ¡°You didn¡¯t go out today?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Liu Hanyun shook her head. She had only gone as far as the back gate.


    Ning Yuxuan paused, then he turned to look at the doorway. Guibai had already returned from the back of the residence. He saluted with his hands and reported, ¡°Teacher Ji left the estate and hasn¡¯te back yet.¡±


    Liu Hanyun¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Ning Yuxuan smiled as he asked, ¡°Where did the teacher go? It¡¯s already so dark outside.¡±


    Guibai shook his head and nced at Liu Hanyun.


    Liu Hanyun lowered her eyes and said, ¡°This servant only spoke a few words with him before returning to my courtyard. This servant doesn¡¯t know where Teacher Ji went afterwards.¡±


    The smile on Marquis Moyu¡¯s face dimmed. He stood up and looked at Liu Hanyun as he said, ¡°Yun-<i>er</i>, I don¡¯t like it when people lie to me.¡±


    Liu Hanyun straightened her back, pursed her lips, and said, ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t lied.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan kept his gaze on her as he said, ¡°Teacher Ji is very important to the heir. Just like how your brother is very important to you.¡±


    This was a threat. Liu Hanyun¡¯s heart turned cold. Her older brother, Liu Rufeng, was about to be promoted to be an official that worked in the capital. The Marquis was arranging the matter. Because of his rtionship with her, the paperwork for her older brother¡¯s promotion would soon bepleted. Their foster mother was getting old, and she wouldn¡¯t able to take good care of her, so she could only hope that her older brother could return to the capital sooner.


    (T/N: Ning Yuxuan originally mentioned Liu Rufeng as Liu Hanyun¡¯s younger cousin in chapter 313. Either the author forgot about this, or Ning Yuxuan doesn¡¯t know Liu Hanyun¡¯s family tree very well.)


    Right now, the marquis didn¡¯t have any evidence that she had anything to do with Teacher Ji leaving the estate. Why was he directly jumping to threatening her like this? Liu Hanyun furrowed her brow. She kneaded the handkerchief in her hand. She didn¡¯t know what to do. Behind her, Xi-<i>er</i> felt even uneasier by the mood in the room. He turned around and half-stumbled and half-scurried into the wet nurse¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Since you haven¡¯t lied, then I¡¯ll just go look for myself.¡± Ning Yuxuan was smiling as he tucked a wisp of her hair behind her ear. ¡°Have a good night¡¯s sleep.¡±


    ¡°My lord!¡± Her eyes widened in incredulity. ¡°It¡¯s already sote. Are you really going to personally go out to search for him?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan continued walking without turning backing.


    Liu Hanyun felt panic creeping up. She wasn¡¯t panicking that the marquis would find and bring back Teacher Ji. She was panicking because she realized that Teacher Ji already had such an important spot in the marquis¡¯s heart. Then, what about the women in his harem? What ce did they have in his heart?

 Chapter 351 - Mistaken as a pond fairy? (2)

    Chapter 351 ¨C Mistaken as a pond fairy? (2)


    Liu Hanyun slowly crouched down and whispered to Chunpi, ¡°Go and point out the way for the marquis. It¡¯s towards Jin Province.¡±


    With reddened eyes, Chunpi said, ¡°Master, why do you need to point out the way? If the marquis wants to go look, just let him look on his own. He might not be sessful.¡±


    Liu Hanyun bitterlyughed. She took Xi-<i>er</i> from the wet nurse and quietly said, ¡°There¡¯s no point in having him fruitlessly search for a long time. Sooner orter, Teacher Ji will be found. The marquis probably already knows that Teacher Ji¡¯s disappearance has something to do with me. Let¡¯s just end it here, so that I don¡¯t end up implicating my older brother.¡±


    Chunpi gritted her teeth and stamped her feet. ¡°The marquis really doesn¡¯t have a conscience. Master has saved his life and gave birth to Young Master Xi, but now, he¡¯s treating Master like this over a man.¡±


    Liu Hanyun shook her head and sighed.


    ¡ª


    Once Ning Yuxuan was told which direction to heard towards, he left the estate with Guibai and headed there in haste. Their horses¡¯ hooves raised high as they galloped down the road. There was only one road from the capital to Jin Province, but it might take a lot of time to catch up to that carriage.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Really, she was always making him worry. He didn¡¯t have toe out himself. He could have sent Guibai to search for her. Perhaps, he was just having insomnia, so he decided toe out and get some air?


    Again and again, the whip struck the horse to urge it to go faster. Ning Yuxuan chuckled. Yeah, that had to be the reason.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know how far the carriage had gone, but it was already very dark outside. At some point, she had fallen asleep while she was leaning against the carriage. She didn¡¯t wake up until the carriage had stopped, and the group of servants had pulled her out. It seemed that they were nning on spending the night in this grove. This type of grove was favorable to travelers because there were plentiful hares and pheasants in this area due to not having any natural predators. They could rest easy for the night after setting up shelter.


    Ji Man amodatingly sat on the side and didn¡¯t cause trouble as the servants efficiently went about their work in starting a fire and setting up shelter. They were worthy of being servants from the marquis¡¯s estate.


    Ji Man remembered that the original Nie Sangyu had sent away Marquis Moyu¡¯s bed servants. Perhaps, this was the same group of people that had carried out her orders back then. It was quite amusing when she thought of it that way.


    She looked at the sky. They would probably be able to leave the capital¡¯s surrounding area by tomorrow morning. She pondered for a moment before asking, ¡°There¡¯s probably a river around here, right? Can I go take a bath?¡±


    The servants looked at her. One of them stepped forward to say, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She nodded after thinking it over. She couldn¡¯t leave the capital for real. In order to escape from this group of servants, she naturally had to employ some tricks.


    The sky was ck, and the moonlight was just right when they approached the river. She could faintly see the shimmering ripples in the river, and there seemed to be voices that were drifting over here from a distance.


    It seemed that there were other people staying the night in this forest too. Thus, this river didn¡¯t seem quite so frightful.


    Ji Man took off her outer robe, and entered the robe while still wearing her inner robe and boots.


    By the shore, the servant kept an eye on her while he taking off his own clothes, ¡°Don¡¯t try to y any tricks!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. It¡¯s not like I can run away to somewhere.¡± Ji Manughed and stayed in shallow area of the river. She waited until the moment the servant was distracted with taking off his clothes, then she dived head first into the water.


    The servant¡¯sughter drifted over from the shore. ¡°Don¡¯t think you can escape by using the river. This river ends in a pond when you go further down.¡±


    This was only a stream that had split from a bigger river, and it really did end in a tranquil pond. Even, if she dived into the water and swam over there, the servant could just go to the other side and block off her escape path as soon as he noticed that she was missing.


    However, she had a skill that would save her life.


    Changing her face.


    While underwater, Ji Man removed the fake skin face mask and stuffed into her inner robe. Once she removed the wooden hairpin that kept her hair tied, her freed hair floated in all directions. She took off her inner robe next. With only her boots left, she allowed the river current to bring her toward that pool.


    Seeing the clothes that had floated up, the servant shouted, ¡°I knew you were up to something!¡± He didn¡¯t bother entering the water. Instead, he ran towards the pond.


    Just as that servant was about to reach the pond, he was stopped by a group of armored guards. ¡°Halt! Don¡¯te closer.¡±


    ¡°This...¡± the servant felt a bit foolish. He stopped and exined, ¡°A male servant from my household escaped to here from upstream. I came here to catch him!¡±


    The guards frowned. One person left to report the matter.


    Soon after, a young servant girl shouted towards the pool, ¡°Madam, be careful! They said a male servant fled over her. Don¡¯t let yourself bump into him.¡±


    There was the sound of falling water. The servant from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household was standing far away, and the guards blocked his view, so he only heard a woman saying, ¡°There are only women here. How could there be a male servant amongst us? It must be some lechers trying to sneak a peak. Have the guards send them away.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The male servant was forcefully escorted away from the pond area.


    One after another, the women got out of the water with rather dampened spirits. After the woman in charge put on her clothes, she lightly said, ¡°We¡¯ve almost reached the capital. Once we¡¯ve returned, we¡¯ll definitely have to make up for all the hardships that we¡¯ve suffering on the journey there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, absolutely, ¡± answered a woman with a delicate voice, ¡°Ourdy has never had to sleep outside in wilderness before now.¡±


    When someone happened to nce back at the water, she saw that a woman had remained behind in the pool. Smiling, she asked, ¡°Who is this? Did you forget to bring your clothes? Why haven¡¯t you gotten out of the water yet?¡±

 Chapter 352 - An unwelcome encounter (1)

    Chapter 352 ¨C An unwee encounter (1)


    Ji Man had alreadypletely stiffened. Out of all the ces she could have ended up in, why was it this ce? She was only trying to escape with her life. It wasn¡¯t a big deal that she was surrounded by other women when she surfaced from her dive into the river, but why did she have to see so many familiar faces?


    Who could tell her why Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> was also here and apanied by a group of female servants? Were they out on a social spring excursion? Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> would be able to recognize her and was the one that personally sent her out Jing Province. It would be problematic if they were to meet again.


    A servant girl stayed by the pond and continued to call out, ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you. Why aren¡¯t you responding?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to nce at that servant girl. She forced herself to smile as she answered, ¡°I wasn¡¯t paying attention and got carried down here by the river current.¡±


    Fortunately, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> and her entourage had already walked far away and only the lower-ranked servants were left behind to pack up.


    Ji Man sighed in relief. She turned around with her arms crossed over her chest and said to them, ¡°Miss, would you mind lending me some clothes? I lost my clothes in the water.¡±


    The servant girl, who had her hairbed into two buns, frowned as she looked at her and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any extra clothing. You should hurry up and walk away from here. Zhenyuan General and ourdy are temporarily camping up ahead. You wouldn¡¯t want to offend them.¡±


    Several servant girls curiously looked in this direction. A servant girl in green clothing felt sympathetic for this stranger, so she said, ¡°I have an extra set of clothing. How about I lend it to you for now? How can youe out of the water without anything to wear?¡±


    ¡°Oh, thank you very much.¡± Ji Man repeatedly nodded.


    A nearby servant girl quietly said, ¡°Why are you bothering with her? We need to finish up with here and go attend to our masters over there.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t just let her continue to stay in the water, ah.¡± After saying this, the young servant girl ran off to get clothes. It didn¡¯t take long before the rest of the servants had also left, and the young servant came back with clothes and ced it by the pond. ¡°Here, you can borrow this. You¡¯re lucky that I¡¯m going to be making a new set of clothes for myself soon.¡±


    Ji Man felt extremely grateful. She came out of the water, took off her boots, and put on the inneryer of clothing. She took out some of her money from her boots and tried to give it to the green-robed girl. ¡°Here, this is for you. It¡¯s just a little something to express my thanks.¡±


    The green-robed servant girl was surprised when she saw the stranger¡¯s boots. She rejected the money back and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have extra shoes. Your boots... why were you wearing a man¡¯s boots...?¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Ji Man nked for a moment before she thought of an answer and responded, ¡°I¡¯m ran away from home, and it¡¯s more convenient if I disguise myself as a man. Please ept this money.¡±


    ¡°Since you¡¯re running away from home, then you should keep it for yourself. I don¡¯t need the money.¡± This servant girl was very kind-hearted. After rejecting the money again, she turned around and ran off.


    After putting on the upper outer garment, Ji Man poured out the water in her boots and put them to the side to dry for a bit before putting them back. That servant girl¡¯s robe was long enough to block the sight of her boots. Her next action was to find a carriage to bring her back to the capital. The fake skin face mask had disappeared while she was swimming. Right now, she was in a dangerous position. She was like a chameleon that had lost its ability to camouge itself.


    After tying her hair up in a simple hairstyle and walking out of the grove that was around the pond, she saw a camp in the distance. Ning Mingjie and Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> were certainly interesting people to have decided to camp out here in the wilderness with their five carriages and a group of servant girls.


    However, when she walked to the top of a nearby hill and looked around, she realized they weren¡¯t camping out here for fun. There wasn¡¯t anyone else around other than this party. There wasn¡¯t a vige in sight, let alone an inn.


    How should she go back? Ji Man was at a loss.


    ¡°Hey, you,e over here and help carry stuff.¡± A voice shouted from behind her, but Ji Man was still nking out.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Changshan was holding hares and other wild animals in his hands. When he came over and saw a servant girl that was nkly looking out, he said, ¡°Did you not hear me? Bring this to the cook so she can cook it...¡±


    Ji Man absent-mindedly turned her head, and they were both shocked to see each other.


    ¡°You!¡± Changshan took two steps back, then he instinctively turned around to look at his master, who wasn¡¯t far from here.


    It was Nie Sangyu! Or, as she preferred to be called, Ji Man.


    As soon as Ji Man clearly saw the person in front of her, she wanted to flee. Unfortunately, Changshan¡¯s reaction¡¯s time was too fast. He dropped the stuff that he was holding and grabbed her wrist. He yelled, ¡°Master!¡±


    Although the person in front of him cut a sorry figure, he recognized that face immediately. After she had disappeared in Jing Province, his master had fallen gravely sick. His study was filled with countless painting of a faceless beauty. Still, the graceful womanly physique on those paintings resembled the woman in front of him. He had followed his master for many years, so he understood his master¡¯s thoughts very well.


    Ning Mingjie turned his head in this direction and saw that Changshan had seized a woman. She was desperately struggling to get away from him. This scene looked a bit horrifying underneath the moonlight.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ning Mingjie walked over here while holding a bow in his hand. Once he got a clear look of the woman that Changshan was holding onto, his expression changed.


    ¡°Sangyu...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re mistaken.¡± Ji Man gave up on struggling and weakly said, ¡°I¡¯m just a passerby.¡±


    Changshan¡¯s didn¡¯t rx his grip at all, but Ning Mingjie seemed dazed. He nkly looked at her for a long time before stretching his hand out as if he wanted to touch her face.


    ¡°General, please conduct yourself with dignity.¡± Ji Man furrowed her brow.


    Ning Mingjie suddenly smiled. His fingers stopped in mid-air before he slowly took them back. ¡°It really is you.¡±


    The person in his dreams would always warmly smile at him. It was only the real her that would look at him with such a conflicted gaze.

 Chapter 353 - An unwelcome encounter (2)

    Chapter 353 ¨C An unwee encounter (2)


    ¡°After we were parted in Jing Province, it¡¯s been so long since I saw you... How did you end up here?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips together. ¡°Someone tried to harm me and brought me all the way out here from the capital.¡±


    Feeling as if something was wrong with her words, Ning Mingjie furrowed his brow. ¡°Why did you return to the capital?!¡±


    Once someone saw her face, only death would await her. Back then, when she and Nie Qingyun had supposedly fallen off a cliff, Marquis Moyu had even specially gone to Foshan to put up a spiritual memorial tablet at that temple to signify that he had believed her death was real. This was why the new emperor hadn¡¯t pursed the matter any further. If she went back again, wouldn¡¯t this be an unpardonable crime of lying to the emperor?


    Ji Man gestured for Changshan to let go of her. ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I usually don¡¯t go out with this face. Right now... there was a mishap. General, would you mind helping me return to the capital based on our prior acquaintanceship?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ning Mingjie opened his mouth. There were so many things that he wanted to say, but when he saw the guarded look in her eyes, he swallowed those words back down. Instead, he took out a handkerchief and said, ¡°Use this to hide your face for now. I¡¯ll send you back myself.¡±


    It was a light blue handkerchief, and there were still embroidered snow-capped mountains on it. Ji Man paused, but she didn¡¯t refuse. She took the handkerchief and spread it open, but it wasn¡¯t big enough. She could only press it against her face.


    ¡°Changshan, lead my horse over here.¡±


    Changshan was a bit stunned. ¡°Master, are you going travel through the night to bring her back?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let the <i>junzhu</i> see her,¡± Ning Mingjie quietly said, ¡°Otherwise, her life would be absolutely be at risk.¡±


    Changshan assented and left right away. The remaining two people awkwardly looked at each other.


    Since that time in Jing Province when Ning Mingjie has asked her toe with him, Ji Man felt conflicting feelings towards him. Although she was very supportive that the secondary male character had abandoned the female lead, gotten married, and was run towards a new life for himself, she wasn¡¯t interested in him. Her initial romantic interest in him had dissipated over time. Ning Mingjie was a good person, but he was too sentimental. It would be difficult for him to aplish great things.


    She would just treat this incident as owing him a favor. Once she got back to the capital, she would simply resolve it by sending him a gift.


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had naturally noticed when Changshan came over to take Ning Mingjie¡¯s horse. However, Changshan refused to say anything. He took the horse and left. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> followed after him and only saw Ning Mingjie getting onto a horse with a woman that was dressed like a servant.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s expression sunk.


    The servant girl by her side looked and said, ¡°Aiya, isn¡¯t that the person who recently borrowed clothes from Luqi?¡±


    Ning Mingjie had Ji Man sitting in front of him and waspletely blocking the sight of her so no one could see her face. Without even taking the time to exchange greetings with Kangyuan, he quickly fled away with Ji Man.


    Ji Man shrank her head back and stayed silent as she endured the pain of riding a galloping horse. It felt as if her internal organs were going to be jostled out.


    Ning Mingjie asked, ¡°Did you go to the capital because you were looking for Yuxuaun?¡±


    Ji Man pretended that she hadn¡¯t heard him. The wind was too strong. She really couldn¡¯t hear much.


    Ning Mingjie smiled as he said, ¡°I though you would hate him. After all, he was the one that ordered the capital¡¯s gate to be opened. I guess I was worrying for nothing. At the time, Yuxuan didn¡¯t have any other choices. If he didn¡¯t order it, other people would have done it. If he ordered it, he would at least be able to ensure the safety of Ning n.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have the chance to tell you this before. You were always avoiding me when we were in Jing Province. I couldn¡¯t even say one word before you would disappear.¡± Ning Mingjie wryly smiled as he said, ¡°Do you hate me too for supervising the execution of Nie n?¡±


    ¡°You weren¡¯t in the capital then, so perhaps you don¡¯t know that a lot of things couldn¡¯t be avoided. Yuxuan also did all that he could in order to save you.¡±


    There was the clopping of the horse¡¯s hooves, and the whizzing of the wind. Ji Man sneered. She hadn¡¯t heard anything. She only knew that Nie Xiangyuan had died, that Nie Qingyun had been forced to change his name in order to save his life, and that all of the other members of Nie n were gone. As for them beingpelled by circumstances and difficulties to do those things, she didn¡¯t know and didn¡¯t want to know.


    The sound of the horse¡¯s hooves striking the ground suddenly became messy. It sounded as if someone up ahead was urging a galloping horse to go faster with a whip.


    ¡°Whoa -¡± Both parties stopped on the small road when they saw the other person.


    ¡°Mingjie?¡± Ning Yuxuan was gasping for breath. He furrowed his brow as he looked at his cousin. ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    Hearing Marquis Moyu¡¯s voice, Ji Man let out sigh of relief. She raised her head and waved her hand at him. ¡°It¡¯s me...¡±


    Before she could finish her words, Ning Mingjie pressed her head back down against his chest. He calmly looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°I¡¯m bringing her back to the capital. Did youe out looking for her?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze dropped. He moved his horse closer and grabbed Ji Man over so that she was on his horse. ¡°Something happened in my estate. I dide out here to find her.¡±


    Ji Man was initially startled by being plucked off from one horse and brought onto another as if they were performing a challenging circus act. However, as she leaned against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest, she actually let out a sigh in relief. She nestled herself and decided to not say another word. Since she was able to see Ning Yuxuan, then she would naturally be able to return. It had been quite tiring to rush about all night.


    Marquis Moyu lightly asked, ¡°How did the two of you meet?¡±


    Ning Mingjie shook his head. ¡°I met her when was I wasing back from hunting. Yuxuan, excuse me for overstepping. With her face, it¡¯s not suitable for her to walk around the capital. You...¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to worry.¡± As Ning Yuxuan turned the horse¡¯s head around, he said, ¡°Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> is probably waiting for you. Older cousin, you should concern yourself with tending to your own affairs.¡±


    Behind him, Guibai also turned his horse towards a different direction.


    Ning Mingjie watched as those two horses gradually moved further away. He furrowed his brow, then decided to follow after them anyways.


    There weren¡¯t any signs of human inhibition around here except for a shabby city temple that was over 2.5 kilometers from here. Just as they had arrived and was getting off the horses, Ning Yuxuan saw that his cousin had caught up to them.

 Chapter 354 - Intrepid people will inevitably get hurt (1)

    Chapter 354 ¨C Intrepid people will inevitably get hurt (1)


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Ning Mingjie as he asked, ¡°Older cousin, don¡¯t you have to go back to look after the <i>junzhu</i>?¡±


    Ning Mingjie shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit far. I might as well wait until tomorrow morning and find her then.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t much in the city temple. There was only some straw and dry firewood left behind by other passerby. After Guibai tidied up the area, the group could get by with staying here for one night.


    ¡°What happened to your mask?¡± Ning Yuxuan calmly asked.


    Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°I ripped it off in order to escape from them.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do when you get back then?¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have a better option, so she could only say, ¡°I¡¯ll have to find someone to make me a new one. I luckily still have the design used to make my face mask. As long as there¡¯s a craftsman that specializes in this trade in the capital, he¡¯ll be able to make me a new one using that design.¡±


    Ning Mingjie quietly said, ¡°I know a craftsman that happens to be an expert with this sort of thing. You can find a ce to temporary stay in the capital. Wait until the mask has been made before walking about.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze over him. ¡°Older cousin, you¡¯re returning from Jin Province. You should be meeting with the emperor first, right? There are also some matters that you need to hand over to the Ministry of War once you return to the capital. As for her matters, there¡¯s no need for older cousin to worry about them.¡±


    Ji Man followed along and nodded. ¡°Thank you for offering, General.¡±


    Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s none of my business. Yuxuan, I hope you¡¯re not bothered by my offer.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t bothered. Why would he be bothered? Ning Yuxuan sat down with his back against a pir. He swept his gaze over Ji Man, who hade out unscathed, before lightly turning his head away. He felt exhausted after rushing here from the capital.


    Ji Man¡¯s head was lowered as she nkly looked at the straw on the ground. She was very quiet as she leaned against Ning Yuxuan. When he asked her what had happened today, she remained absent-minded as she answered him.


    Ning Yuxuan sneered. This personpletely didn¡¯t understand how he was feeling. Feeling drowsy, he drifted off to sleep while leaning against the pir. Ning Mingjie and Guibai also respectively found a ce to sleep for the night. It was only Ji Man that stayed awake with her head lowered as she silently thought about something.


    When her surrounding had fallen into silence, Ji Man finally raised her head. She nced at Ning Yuxuan and let out a long sigh.


    ¡± Loving him, hating him, begging him. None of these things are allowed. Am I not even allowed to die...¡± Someone quietly sighed in her mind. ¡°Are you really any better than me?¡±*


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me,¡± Ji Man quietly replied, ¡°I won¡¯t fall to your level.¡±


    I won¡¯t.


    * (T/N: These are the words that Nie Sangyu says to Ji Man in <strong>chapter 17</strong>.)


    ¡ª


    When dawn had just arrived, Ning Yuxuan took Ji Man with him and resumed the journey back. No one had slept wellst night. As for Ning Mingjie, he went back to Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>.


    When they were separating, Ning Mingjie was very worried as he looked at Ji Man for a long time. He couldn¡¯t resist urging Ning Yuxuan, ¡°Make sure to hide her well.¡±


    Because of these words, Ning Yuxuan showed an unpleasant face to Ji Man the entire way back. After tossing her into the other estate, he went back to her room in the main estate to look for that design.


    ¡ª


    It took two full days to make the fake skin face mask. During these two days, Zhangjun Prince had peacefully and calmly returned to his fiefdom. Ji Man heard that the new emperor, who had been having a cold war with the empress, had gone back to the empress¡¯s pce.


    Ning Yuxuan seemed to be very busy and hadn¡¯te over to visit her. Still, he had sent over delicious food for her.


    At the end of the two days, she finally received her protection item. As soon as Ji Man stepped out of the other estate, a crying servant girl grabbed her by the sleeve.


    ¡°Teacher Ji, pleasee over to see Miss. She...¡±


    The young servant girl¡¯s face was crumpled up because of her extremely distressful crying, so Ji Man couldn¡¯t tell who she was. It took a while for Ji Man to figure out that this was Zhu Yurun¡¯s personal servant, Zhuer.


    Something bad had to Zhu Yurun during the past two days. After six months of pregnancy, she had lost her unborn baby and almost died herself too.


    This frightful news caused Ji Man¡¯s face to pale. As she hastily followed Zhuer. she asked, ¡°How could this have happened?¡±


    Zhuer was sobbing as she answered, ¡°It was because of that heartless person! It¡¯s totally his fault. He¡¯s worse than a beast! He clearly knew that Miss was pregnant, but he didn¡¯t take responsibility of her and carelessly pushed her down the stairs of a restaurant.¡±


    Ji Man was bbergasted when she heard these words. Her heart felt heavy, but she kept a stern expression as she said, ¡°I already told her to give up on him. The sooner, the better. A man definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to ept a child that came about through that way.¡±


    ¡°Teacher Ji, you also view Miss like that?¡± Zhuer¡¯s eyes were already red as she cried even harder. ¡°Everyone has misunderstood Miss. She¡¯s carrying the burden of so many things by herself. You don¡¯t know! None of you men know anything!¡±


    Zhuer was too agitated, so Ji Man hurriedly pacified her by saying, ¡°Let¡¯s go see her first.¡±


    What secret burden could Zhu Yurun possibly be carrying? She was a chubby,ughing fool that didn¡¯t have any manners. She didn¡¯t behaved appropriately, and as soon as she saw Qian Yingchen, she didn¡¯t care about anything else...


    But, as she pictured that chubby little face, Ji Man actually felt very miserable.


    Zhu Yurun was merely a doomed minor character in a novel, so why was she feeling bad over this?


    ¡ª


    The stillbirth had already been extracted, but Zhu Yurun looked as if she hadn¡¯t slept at all. She was sitting up and leaning on her bed with her eyes wide open. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes. She looked quite frail and didn¡¯t look like her normal self at all.


    As soon as Zhu Yurun saw Ji Man, she grabbed Ji Man¡¯s hand and started crying. Sheughed as the tears fell. ¡°Teacher Ji, why have youe? You¡¯re free now. My child is gone. You won¡¯t be encumbered by having to be its dad anymore.¡±


    There was still the faint scent of blood inside the room. Ji Man didn¡¯t know why there was no one else around, so she simply sat down by the bed and looked at Zhu Yurun as she asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: Sort of rted to this chapter, Ji Man has mentioned several times in the past that she doesn¡¯t believe romantic love is guaranteed to be evesting. Even though she knows that Ning Yuxuan is in love with her right now, she can¡¯t be sure that he¡¯ll continue to love her in the future.

 Chapter 355 - Intrepid people will inevitably get hurt (2)

    Chapter 355 ¨C Intrepid people will inevitably get hurt (2)


    Zhu Yurun mustered up a weak smile that looked quite ugly. ¡°He was joking around with someone and probably didn¡¯t notice I was there too. He didn¡¯t mean to push me down the stairs. If I wasn¡¯t pregnant, I would have been able to easily roll down without getting injured. Those stairs weren¡¯t that high up. But as I was rolling down, my belly hit the steps...¡±


    Ji Man slightly clenched her fist.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve been so distressedtely. Once I saw him, I didn¡¯t want to marry anyone else, but he¡¯s not willing to marry me. So, what should I do?¡± Zhu Yurun¡¯s voice was somewhat hoarse, and her smile slowly dimmed. ¡°I finally don¡¯t have to feel distress anymore. Isn¡¯t that great?¡±


    Her heart ached a bit. Ji Man lowered her head to look. Nie Sangyu was being really kind-hearted. This matter had nothing to do with her, so why was she feeling such a strong sense of empathetic pain?


    ¡°Take care of yourself,¡± Ji Man quietly said, ¡°Once your health has recovered, who knows, you might meet a better man.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just saying nonsense.¡± Zhu Yurun waved her hand. ¡°There¡¯s no one that would marry a girl like me. I don¡¯t want to get married anymore either.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know what to say. She justfortingly held her hand and silently sighed.


    ¡°Your hand is so smooth.¡± Zhu Yurun smiled as she touched the back of Ji Man¡¯s hand. ¡°I¡¯m tired. I want to sleep. You should go talk to my dad about canceling our wedding before you leave. I don¡¯t want to burden you.¡±


    Ji Man stood up and tucked the quilt around her. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about the weddingter. You should rest first.¡±


    Zhuer, who had been watching by the side, pulled Ji Man out of the room. Once they were out in the covered corridor, Zhuer said, ¡°Teacher Ji, don¡¯t look down on Miss. Miss is a really good woman. When she first met that heartless person, it wasn¡¯t like what she said...¡±


    ¡°Teacher Ji,¡± Assistant Minister Zhu called out from a distance. When Ji Man turned her head, she saw that Zhu Shuyou was standing at a moon gate with a grave expression and gesturing for her toe over.


    Ji Man nced at Zhuer, then she walked over to Assistant Minister Zhu. ¡°Sir Zhu.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was also standing there, behind Assistant Minister. There wasn¡¯t any strong emotion on Qian Yingchen¡¯s face, but Ji Man was surprised to see that he looked a bit haggard.


    Assistant Minister Zhu got right to the point by asking, ¡°Teacher Ji, are you still willing to marry Yurun?¡±


    Ji Man nodded without hesitation. ¡°Yes.¡±


    It was a series of devastating blows for a woman in this era to get pregnant out of wedlock and then suffer a miscarriage. Ji Man thought that Zhu Yurun was a rare treasure. Even if she was a bit too intrepid, it was worth trying to preserve her splendidly bright smile.


    Qian Yingchen was left feeling stunned.


    Assistant Minister Zhu sneered and looked at him as he said, ¡°Sir Qian, did you hear that? My daughter has someone that wants to marry her. Please leave.¡±


    Qian Yingchen looked at Ji Man with a furrowed brow. ¡°It¡¯s obvious that she doesn¡¯t love you. Teacher Ji, it can¡¯t be that you¡¯re the type of person who is willing to do anything for fame and profit, right?¡±


    Ji Man smiled as she looked at him. ¡°Why does it matter if she doesn¡¯t love me? It¡¯s enough that I love her. Yurun has already suffered a lot. This one believes that Sir Qian isn¡¯t a person that¡¯s suitable to help erase the scars in her heart.¡±


    Qian Yingchen pressed his lips together. He still wanted to say more, but Assistant Minister Zhu decided to end the pretense of politeness. ¡°Guards,e here. Escort Sir Qian out. He¡¯s not wee here.¡±


    The guards really did step forward, but Qian Yingchen straightened his back and proceeded to walk out before he was forcefully removed.


    Assistant Minister Zhu was so furious that even his body was slightly shaking.


    Seeing this sight, Ji Man quietly asked, ¡°Sir Zhu, why aren¡¯t you willing to allow Sir Qian to marry Yurun?¡±


    ¡°Allow him to marry her? Zhu Shuyou sneered. ¡°He was forced over here by Marquis Moyu. Didn¡¯t you see that face full of unwillingness? There won¡¯t be a good oue if I give Yurun to him.¡± The tone of his voice showed that he was very angry with Marquis Moyu too.


    Qian Yingchen was Marquis Moyu¡¯s close friend, and the marquis had also settled his engagement. Now that Qian Yingchen had caused Miss Zhu to miscarry, how could Sir Zhu not be furious?


    Ji Man made a token attempt to quell his anger, then she left Zhu Residence and went to find someone to send a letter to Wu Yong.


    Although Zhangjun Prince had left the capital, he had left Wu Yong behind in the Ministry of Rites to make decisions on his behalf. The first prince¡¯s faction still had power in the imperial court. They had just been keeping a low-profile. Since Zhu Shuyou was the Assistant Minister of Revenue, it would naturally be good to gain him as ally.


    The crucial point would depend on if Wu Yong would be able to sessfully draw Zhu Shuyou to Zhao Zhe¡¯s side.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man returned to the estate, Haohao pounced on her. After several days of not seeing him, she felt much better after seeing his bright gaze.


    While hugging her legs and looking like a puppy that was wagging its tail and doing his best to please, Haohao recited a poem,


    ¡°The moonlight falls at the foot of my bed,


    and resembles frost on the ground.


    I look up to see the bright moon,


    and lower my head as I think of my home.¡±


    (T/N: The title of this poem is <i>Thoughts on a Still Night</i> by Li Bai.)


    Ji Man stroked his head before picking him up and hefting him. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten heavier again.¡±


    Haohao giggled. He tugged on her sleeve and pointed at Ning Yuxuan, who was nearby.


    There were many things that troubled Marquis Moyu recently. He swept his gaze over them before returning to gazing at the flowerbeds as he contemted.


    Holding Haohao in her arms, she walked over there and said, ¡°Marquis, Assistant Minister Zhu seems to be very angry.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nced at her. His brow was furrowed as she said, ¡°You paid a visit to Zhu Residence.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man smiled as she said, ¡°I happen to see Assistant Minister Zhu kicking Sir Qian out.¡±


    She had originally thought that Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression would change when he heard these words, but to her surprise, he only let out a relieved sigh and said, ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±

 Chapter 356 - Zhu Yurun (1)

    Chapter 356 ¨C Zhu Yurun (1)


    Her name is Zhu Yurun.


    <i>Zhu yuan yu run</i> was a beautiful idiom*. Zhu Yurun originally hadn¡¯t been as plump and round as her dad had been anticipating. Her little face had barely been able to meet the qualification of being as round as a pearl when she smiled.


    * (T/N: This literal meaning of this idiom is round as pearls and smooth as jade. It¡¯s used to describe beautiful singing and polished writing.)


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s life had been smooth sailing until she met Qian Yingchen. She had a father that doted on her, an older brother that spoiled her, and all of the concubines in the family were protective towards her. Because she had been surrounded by an overabundance of love, Zhu Yurun learned from a young age that she should love and protect someone that she cared about.


    They had met each other in an inn that was in Xu Province. He had been going up the stairs when she was going down. It had only been a glimpse, but it left her with asting impression. She thought that this man was truly very good-looking. She stopped on the second floor and couldn¡¯t force herself to look away from his figure.


    His movements looked effortless and elegant. It seemed that he was feeling very joyful from being promoted for something and was epting congrattion from the innkeeper while he was eating his meal in the dining hall.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    She hadn¡¯t been able to resist the impulse to go downstairs. She hid herself and eavesdropped on his conversation.


    ¡°This one received the emperor¡¯s great favor and will be going to the faraway capital,¡± he mildly said. She thought that his voice was so lovely to hear. She almost couldn¡¯t resist stepping forward and asking him to repeat himself.


    ¡°Congrattions, sir¡¯s efforts in requesting help haven¡¯t been a waste.¡± The innkeeper said with a smile, ¡°Sir, you¡¯re quite lucky. That scoundrel from the senior provincial official¡¯s family also wants to be an official in the capital. It¡¯s fortunate that sir was chosen first.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s eyes curved as he smiled. There was a look of ambition that was freely unfurling in his eyes. When he inadvertently turned his head, he was a bit stunned to see her staring at him, but he still politely put one hand in front of the other to salute.


    Zhu Yurun blushed.


    When she ran back to her room, her wildly beating heart was like a jumping fawn.


    Zhuer, who was by her side, even teasingly said, ¡°Miss, are you feeling the stirring of love?¡±


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s heart was filled with joy. She lightly rebuked, ¡°You¡¯re too chatty.¡±


    That person was going to the capital too, and he was a governmental official. When she went back, could she ask her dad to help her? That person was also staying in the room next to her. It must be fate that was ordained by the Heavens. This would definitely work out.


    ¡ª


    In the middle of the night, she was suddenly woken up by the sounds of a man pushing open the door to her room. Zhu Yurun thought; is this what her father¡¯s concubines had meant by a spring dream? She was surprised that this man would appear in her dream.


    It was only when she heard Zhuer¡¯s shocked scream that she returned to her senses. Her body had already been pushed down on the bed. This wasn¡¯t a dream.


    ¡°Miss!¡± Zhuer was shocked. When she went over to open the door, she discovered that it had been locked from the outside. She could hear someone¡¯s muffledughter from the other side of the door. A momentter, white smoke entered the room through the window, and Zhuer slowly fell down.


    Zhu Yurun felt dizzy too. The man on top of her had a flushed face and seemed as if he wasn¡¯t in his right mind. He was looking at her with a very gently gaze as he softly kissed her lips.


    Back then, she had shamelessly thought; even if this person was a rapist, she could ept him. She had never been so tempted by a man before. Even if she gave him her body and soul, it would be worth this encounter.


    Women really could be this stupid when they were being impulsive.


    She had originally felt lethargic enough to fall unconscious, but his rough actions pained her enough that she stayed away the entire night.


    Early next morning, she heard someone outside the room quietly asking, ¡°Did the n work?¡±


    ¡°Yes, call Sir Zhu over. That arrogant fellow definitely won¡¯t be able to go to the capital after this.¡±


    Zhu Yurun was shocked to hear these words. Enduring the pain, she got out of the bed and woke Zhuer up. She didn¡¯t have time to exin and just told Zhuer to stop her older brother froming over here.


    The man on the bed woke up. He was stunned to see her scantily d body.


    ¡°Sir, you¡¯re already my person.¡± Zhu Yurun looked at his blearily eyes. She almost couldn¡¯t stop herself from kissing him again. ¡°We¡¯ve already be husband and wifest night.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was at aplete loss. He didn¡¯t know how he had lostst night¡¯s memories. Hisst memory was drinking downstairs. Why had he woken up in a woman¡¯s room?


    Wasn¡¯t this the same woman that had been foolishly staring at him yesterday?


    He swept his gaze across the room. There was still some white powder residue in a corner of the room. He put on his clothes and went over to look. It was an aphrodisiac drug.


    ¡°You looked so handsome, so Yurun couldn¡¯t resist...¡± Zhu Yurun sat on the bed. Even she didn¡¯t know what she was babbling. ¡°So... just treatst night as me forcing you.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯splexion changed colors as he looked at her incredulously. He exited the room right after he finished putting on his clothes properly.


    Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t understand why he would have such an extreme reaction. She hastily put on the rest of her clothes and wanted to chase after him, but a group of people had alreadye up the stairs. Panicking, Zhu Yurun could only jump inside the neighboring room.


    After her older brother rushed into her room and didn¡¯t see her, other people led him into this room. Seeing her disheveled appearance, he angrily asked, ¡°Yurun, did you encounter a womanizer?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Yurun sat on the bed and calmly smiled. ¡°I met a handsome man yesterday evening. Affectionate feelings formed, and I couldn¡¯t resisting over to his room in the middle of the night. But, I don¡¯t know why. He left.¡±


    Everyone was dumbstruck by her words, and even Zhuer widened her eyes in incredulity.


    They had never seen such a bold woman before. Not only had she taken the initiative to start a rtionship with a man, she had actually scared that man away.


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s older brother felt too embarrassed. After he dispersed the crowd, he was in a rush to bring her back to the capital. The inn was moring because of this incident, and many people bombarded her with curses.


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s that shameless woman!¡±

 Chapter 357 - Zhu Yurun (2)

    Chapter 357 ¨C Zhu Yurun (2)


    Zhu Yurun felt a bit regretful. Why had she so stupidly decided to help him? He was a womanizer. He was the one that had vited her!


    However, her anger leaked out as soon as she thought of his face.


    She simply couldn¡¯t even start to dislike him, and even felt secretly delighted as she thought about him. He was going to be an official in the capital, right? They would definitely meet again. He might even marry her!


    A woman in love was an idiot that was filled to the brim with unrealistic delusions. As she sat in the moving carriage, she seemed to vaguely see his stunned figure from faraway.


    However, her older brother berated her the entire journey home. He said that no man would be willing to ept a woman that would do that sort of thing.


    Zhu Yurun felt discouraged after the long period of scolding.


    ¡ª


    Later on, she discovered that she was pregnant.


    She could be considered to have single-handedly ruined Zhu family¡¯s reputation. Her father couldn¡¯t raise his head in the imperial court. Zhu Yurun felt very ashamed. But, when her father furiously said that he would find that man, she was actually quite happy.


    Since she was pregnant, it was even more likely that he would marry her, right?


    However, no news came of this search. She waited and waited. The end result was that there were too many officials that came from Xu Province. It wouldn¡¯t be good for them to directly ask one by one. They could only secretly inquire.


    It took several months toplete the inquiries, and her belly gradually got bigger. Zhu Yurun watched as the grass on the walls changed from withered to viridescence. That person still hadn¡¯t been found.


    ¡°Keep your distance from Zhu family¡¯s Miss. Stay away from that shameless creature.¡± An assortment of mothers would warn their daughters.


    When Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s concubines went to look for matchmakers for Zhu Yurun, they would see the reputable matchmakers repeatedly shake their heads and respond with, ¡°Miss Zhu? Aiyo, even if my tongue was made of gold, I wouldn¡¯t be able to matchmake her with someone. Who would dare to marry her?!¡±


    Rumors were dreadful things. It wasn¡¯t clear who had spread the gossip, but it got worse and worse. They said that she had vited a man and that she was pregnant with an illegitimate baby.


    Zhu Yurun really wanted to cry. There was many times when she couldn¡¯t stay silent and retorted that she hadn¡¯t done that, but no one believed her. Instead, her denial only made their mocking even worse.


    However, the concubines at home sided with her and gently said that it wasn¡¯t her fault.


    Zhu Yurun got over it. She would find a man to marry her. It was okay that people cursed at her, but she didn¡¯t want her child to be cursed at with her as soon as it was born.


    However, that person appeared after she had found Teacher Ji.


    Zhu Yurun had been overjoyed. When she rushed towards him in high spirits, she only ended up shocking him.


    His name was Qian Yingchen, and he had recently been promoted to a director in the Ministry of Revenue. He was also Marquis Moyu¡¯s close friend. When he saw her, he pushed her away as if he had seen an extremely terrifying creature.


    No worries. Although there was a misunderstanding between them, everything would be okay once the misunderstanding was resolved.


    He got injured, so she went over to care for him. Even with her big belly, she could still vivaciously bounce around. She could pour tea and water, tidy his room, and tell him some unfunny jokes.


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression continued to be frigid. As soon as she started to talk about that past matter, his expression would get even colder, and he would want to kick her out.


    It didn¡¯t really matter how they met for the first time, right? Once he saw her good points, it wasn¡¯t impossible that he might feel moved. Zhu Yurun¡¯s heart continued to be filled with joy as she bustled around in Qian Residence to thoughtfully take care of him.


    But, why was it that the face that never smiled at her would show such happiness when he heard Miss Peng hade over?


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s heart felt sick and pained, so she willfully stood at the entrance and wouldn¡¯t allow Miss Peng toe inside.


    As a result, he locked her inside the woodshed. He didn¡¯t feel any tenderness towards her or care about her pregnancy.


    Zhu Yurun smiled as she thought; it would better to resolve their misunderstanding.


    She found an opportunity to bring Zhuer along by inviting him to a restaurant. She wanted to seriously exin what had happened back then, so that he could clearly see what a wonderful woman she was. She wasn¡¯t the horrible person that he thought she was.


    But, when the time came, he had brought Miss Peng along. She opened her mouth, but couldn¡¯t utter the words to exin. Seeing how they looked like the perfect couple, she felt even worse. In a pique, she yelled, ¡°As long as I¡¯m here, the two of you won¡¯t be able to get married!¡±


    After she said this, she got up and headed towards the stairs to go down. She was so angry. She wasn¡¯t a cute girl. Jealousy made her eyes turn red.


    Qian Yingchen chased after her and grabbed her wrist, but she forcefully pushed him away.


    The forceful momentum caused her to lose bnce, and she fell down the restaurant¡¯s stairs.


    As she was falling down, she finally saw a panic-stricken expression on his face. This time, it wasn¡¯t because of someone else. It was because of her.


    Zhu Yurun very happily smiled, but the pain from her belly caused tears to fall.


    Teacher Ji had once asked her, ¡°Why can¡¯t you give up on him?¡±


    It was because she was truly unwilling to ept fate. They could have had a more peaceful first meeting. They could have resolved their misunderstanding. They could have been fated to be together.


    However, the gods liked to y around with people¡¯s lives and had made him biased against her.


    Her name is Zhu Yurun. She was a plump girl that wasn¡¯t easy to like. She had a love that she wanted to pursue, and she couldn¡¯t understand why she had been unable to seed in winning over his heart.


    Now that she had miscarried, would she be able to win him over once she lost some more weight? Zhu Yurun smiled. But, she seemed to have lost the strength to chase after him.


    A foolish girl that only knew how expend effort would inevitably get hurt.

 Chapter 358 - Ancestor veneration ceremony (1)

    Chapter 358 ¨C Ancestor veneration ceremony (1)


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t want to Qian Yingchen to marry Zhu Yurun. He had told Qian Yingchen to go to Zhu Residence to make it known what his stance on this position was in order to avoid losing face. But, this new oue of Assistant Minister Zhu rejecting the offer was an even better one.


    The Grand Tutor¡¯s granddaughter was naturally more suitable for Qian Yingchen than Zhu Yurun. Marquis Moyu had considered the matter, and Peng n¡¯s background would be more beneficial for Qian Yingchen to rise up in the ranks.


    They were currently in a good period. The country didn¡¯t have any enemy countries that could rival it or have any powerful wicked court officials. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to bring about a golden age. However, Zhao Li was obviously too inflexible for political affairs. He wasn¡¯t willing topromise and was even worse at winning over the loyalty of the court officials.


    Right now, he and Ning Yuxuan were people on the same boat. One person¡¯s sess or failure meant the same for the other person. And so, Ning Yuxuan would naturally do his best to help maintain the stability of the nation.


    Many people in the imperial court had given their allegiance to Zhao Li when he was only the second prince. Once he ascended the throne, these people felt content to rest on theirurels and spend their time seeking pleasure. As a result, it was difficult to find dependable people to take on important responsibilities. Grand Tutor Peng had been a chief figure through the reign of three emperors. With his help, he would naturally be able to manage the imperial court more securely.


    It would soon be time for ancestor veneration ceremony, and Marquis Moyu was nning on using some heavenly phenomenon to convert the hearts of themon people. He would definitely need some important court officials to assist with this performance, and he had many great uses for Grand Tutor Peng.


    As Ji Man watched his response, she thought about Grand Tutor Peng too. If she were him, she would also think that it was good for Qian Yingchen to not marry Zhu Yurun. However, when she thought of that wretched-looking smile, Ji Man couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit sorrowful.


    What was the point of talking about feelings to a person in a high position? In the end, benefits were the most important thing.


    However, this time Ning Yuxuan had neglected to think about the people below as he focused on the people above. Although Assistant Minister Zhu was only an assistant minister, he was still a fourth-ranked court official in the Ministry of Revenue. If he decided to be a turncoat, it was possible that a moment¡¯s negligence could destroy a dynasty.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t say any additional words. When she turned around to leave while holding Haohao, Ning Yuxuan suddenly stretched his hand out and stopped her.


    Marquis Moyu raised his head and looked at her as he asked, ¡°Have you missed me during the past few days?¡±


    Ji Man insincerely smiled. ¡°I missed you so much.¡±


    There was a trace of disappointment in his eyes. Ning Yuxuan took his hand back, pursed his lips, and said, ¡°Stop interfering in Zhu Yurun¡¯s matter. Just peacefully stay here to teach Haohao.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Although her lips agreed, she didn¡¯t look at him. Ji Man held Haohao as she walked to her room. She kept him amused by asking, ¡°Do you want teacher to teach you to how to paint with sugar? You can even eat your paintings after you¡¯re done.¡±


    (T/N: Sugar painting is done by drizzling hot, liquid sugar onto a t surface to create two-dimensional outlines. Below are three pictures.)


    Screen Shot 2019-05-31 at 9.42.30 PM.png


    Haohao blinked, and the two pigtails behind his head waved back and forth. ¡°I want to paint the sun.¡±


    ¡°Why the sun?¡± Ji Man was smiling so big that her eyes closed.


    ¡°Because the sun covers the world. I¡¯ll be able to eat lots of candy.¡± Haohao stretched out his little hands to gesture a very big circle.


    Ji Man found his words and gesture very amusing. She rubbed her face against his little face. Even separated by ayer of fake skin, she could feel that this little fellow¡¯s skin was as tender as silken tofu.


    Right after Ji Man walked through a covered corridor, they bumped into Liu Hanyun, who was holding Xi-er¡¯s hand as they walked. ¡°Teacher Ji.¡±


    Ji Man put away her smile and stopped walking to call out, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Liu Hanyun wasn¡¯t smiling. She looked at Haohao for a long time before turning her head to look at Ji Man. ¡°Why do you insist oning back?¡±


    Ji Man chuckled. ¡°This one is Haohao¡¯s teacher. It¡¯s only natural that this one wille back. Actually, this one wants to ask Madam, where were you nning on sending this one?¡±


    Liu Hanyun had already heard that Marquis Moyu had kicked out the servants that had taken Ji Man away. Her expression was even more ill-intentioned than before as she looked at Ji Man. ¡°I won¡¯t do anything if you stay within your role as a teacher. If you continue to have devious intentions of seducing the marquis, then don¡¯t me me for being rude.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. Liu Hanyun certainly show sufficient attitude for a main wife. She was no longer someone that was unaware, and her demeanor had changed to one that was fitting a matriarch.


    ¡°This one understands.¡± She really didn¡¯t have any intention of seducing the marquis. She was just a passerby. It wouldn¡¯t be good to leave behind too many feelings here. It was just that she sometimes had to y along in order to meet her goal.


    That¡¯s right, she was just ying along.


    After returning to her courtyard, she handed Haohao over to a servant girl to y with him while she returned to her room to manage her ounts. Her rice business was going very smoothly, and her ie from it was also considerable. After paying the wages of Yan Buba and the shop assistants as well as transportation and store fees, her profit for this month was one thousand three hundred teals. Although it wasn¡¯t as profitable as selling cold cream, there was enough working capital.


    It would soon be the ancestor veneration ceremony, and Wu Yong had sent her message about Zhangjun Prince¡¯s order. On the day of the ceremony, she had to think of a way to lead Marquis Moyu to Quyi Pavilion.


    Quyi Pavilion was a resting spot on the way to the Temple of Heaven, so it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to lead him there. But, what was Zhao Zhe nning on doing there? Zhao Zhe wouldn¡¯t do something that wasn¡¯t useful.


    Ji Man thought that Zhao Zhe was truly talented in using people. Why was he insisting on using her to deal with Ning Yuxuan? She had onlye to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate because she wanted to spend time with Haohao.


    Actually, Zhangjun Prince probably still didn¡¯t trust her. When he had ordered her to steal the signature steal, he was just testing her sincerity. He was like a child ying house. Why would he possibly have such an urgent need to tamper with an official document? However, by the time that she realized this, it was already toote. He was already praising her to the high heavens for being able to handle assignments so well.


    This time he wanted Ning Yuxuan to go to Quyi Pavilion. Could this just be another test? What could possibly happen just from resting at Quyi Pavilion for a bit?

 Chapter 359 - Ancestor veneration ceremony (2)

    Chapter 359 ¨C Ancestor veneration ceremony (2)


    Steward Qian came over with newly made clothes. He was all smiles as he looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°Teacher Ji, this is a gift from the marquis. There were only two bolts of this satin fabric in the estate this year. One bolt was used for the marquis, and other bolt was used for you. Please have a look.¡±


    Stunned, Ji Man turned her head to the side to look at the item in his hands and took it from him. ¡°Thank you for your trouble, Steward Qian.¡±


    This extravagant silvery brocade satin robe was definitely worthy of being worn by a noble. She didn¡¯t know what Ning Yuxuan was thinking to have a mere teacher wear something so expensive.


    After silently ridiculing him, Ji Man still changed into the robe and took a hard look of herself in the blurry mirror.


    It looked pretty good.


    ¡ª


    In this time period, the ancestor veneration ceremony was a superstitious activity to prove that the Heavens had chosen the emperor. The new emperor had only recently ascended the throne, and the people¡¯s hearts were unsteady. It was only natural to depend on using the Heavens to get everyone to surrender and pay allegiance to the new emperor. Ning Yuxuan had already put everything into ce. A mechanism had been installed on the altar so that it would appear as if the new emperor was emitting a golden light on the day of the ceremony. He had also hired craftsmen to build a mysterious giant golden dragon-shaped kite. When the time came, the kite would be released into the sky.


    Everything was in ce. On the day of the ancestor veneration ceremony, after Ning Yuxuan had washed up and put on his clothes, he left to go to the Temple of Heaven. As soon as he walked out of the estate, Ji Man followed right after him.


    They were a bit far from the Temple of Heaven, but in order to show respect for the imperial ancestors, they had to walk there instead of taking a carriage. The streets were crowded with themonfolk that were walking in the same direction. Ji Man looked at that faraway person, who was wearing court attire, and sneakily followed after him.


    She had already thought of a n for the simple task. When they were near Quyi Pavilion, she would just appear in front of him and pull him into the pavilion.


    Wu Yong silently appeared in the crowd and quietly asked her, ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    Ji Man nodded and curiously asked, ¡°I just need to bring him to Quyi Pavilion, right?¡±


    Wu Yong nodded. ¡°His Highness is already there waiting.¡±


    His Highness? Ji Man stumbled and almost fell down.


    Didn¡¯t Zhangjun Prince return to his fiefdom already? Why was he still in the capital? Why was he waiting in Quyi Pavilion?


    Wu Yong supported Ji Man with one hand and patted her shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to this.¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡± Ji Man suddenly had an inkling of what was going on. Zhangjun Prince was in Quyi Pavilion. If Marquis Moyu was brought over there before the ancestor veneration ceremony...


    Could it be that Zhangjun Prince wanted to incite disharmony between Marquis Moyu and the new emperor? If the new emperor found out that Marquis Moyu had secretly met with Zhangjun Prince in Quyi Pavilion, would he still continue to have absolute trust in Ning Yuxuan?


    To gain this trust, Ning Yuxuan had opened the capital¡¯s gate, wiped out Nie n, and divorced her.


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. As she took one step after another, she didn¡¯t notice that the person up ahead had turned around to look at her.


    Ning Yuxuan was walking very slowly. The person following him was toocking in ability and being too conspicuous. She hadn¡¯t even disguised her appearance or tried to avert her gaze as she followed him this entire way. What she was plotting now?


    A person that looked like an ordinary citizen nonchntly brushed past him and said into his ear, ¡°Marquis, there¡¯s been a change in Quyi Pavilion. Everything else has been arranged properly, but there¡¯re someone that can¡¯t be seen in the pavilion.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded and continued walking forward.


    Just as the day broke, the shadow of Quyi Pavilion could be seen. Ji Man felt an indescribable feeling. A moment of inattentionbined with someone pushing her from behind made Ji Man¡¯s legs feel wobbly. She ended up falling to her knees.


    At some unknown point, the person that had been walking in the front hade back and stopped in front of her. He stretched his hand out to pull her up and lightly said, ¡°You should pay attention to the road when you¡¯re walking.


    Ji Man raised her head up in surprise. Ning Yuxuan was slightly smiling. He looked especially handsome underneath the sunlight.


    ¡°Are you hurt?¡±


    She suddenly had the feeling of being yed with. Had he known that she was following him this entire time and was just pretending to not notice? Ji Man remained half-kneeling on the ground. In a somewhat annoyed tone, she retorted, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to help you walk to that nearby Quyi Pavilion so you can sit down?¡± He asked.


    Startled by this question, she looked at his court attire and saw parts of the silvery robe peaking out from beneath. She lowered her head even more and looked at her own attire. She pursed her lips and hesitated for a while before quietly saying, ¡°No need.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hurt. I can continue walking. There¡¯s no need to go there to sit.¡± Ji Man stood up and started walking forward.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to go rest?¡± Marquis Moyu was slightly surprised.


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man lowered her eyes and chuckled. ¡°It¡¯ll be better to go there earlier to watch the ancestor veneration ceremony.¡±


    Something faintly thawed in his eyes. Ning Yuxuan resumed walking. He passed Ji Man and walked over to join the formation of civil and military officials.


    Quyi Pavilion was very quiet. Not many people hade over here to take a break. Wu Yong was standing in front of the pavilion. As he watched Ji Man¡¯s distant figure from the back, he shook his head.


    ¡ª


    The improvised special effects in ancient times weren¡¯t bad. When the empress pushed the new emperor, who was in his wheelchair, up to the altar, a golden light suddenly appeared around them and shocked the audience.


    ¡°Long live the emperor!¡± Grand Tutor Peng took the lead and knelt down. The people behind him also knelt down.


    After the new emperor recited the ceremonial words, a golden dragon suddenly flew over the crowd. Themon people cried out in rm, and someone shouted, ¡°His Majesty is a true descendent of dragons. Therefore, a real dragon hase down from the Heavens.¡±


    Hearing this loud promation, the ignorant masses knelt down. As Ji Man followed the crowd in kneeling down, she thought; these people were so easy to deceive.

 Chapter 360 - In a dilemma (1)

    Chapter 360 ¨C In a dilemma (1)


    It was obvious that the flying dragon in the sky was only a kite, but surprisingly no one else in the crowd dared to raise his or her head up to see. The crowd was trembling with fear as they continued to kneel below. Some people were so scared they ended up peeing in their pants, and there was the stench of urine.


    Ji Man disdainfully moved a few steps away. When she raised her head again, it seemed that the string on the dragon-shaped kite had broken off. The kite was starting to fall down and drifting towards the back road because of the wind direction. If the kite fell to the ground and was seen by themonfolk, everyone would definitely spit and curse on the people that had yed this hoax.


    On the other side, Marquis Moyu had already stood up and was frantically chasing after it. Within the crowd, a few people abruptly jumped up and went after the drifting kite too.


    The person in charge of the ceremonial music hastily ordered the musicians to perform, and oppressive, moring sounds from a gigantic bugle and ancient bells and cymbals began. Themonfolk, who had looked as if they wanted to get up, immediately and obediently stilled.


    While keeping her body lowered, Ji Man quickly followed after those people that had left the crowd.


    Ning Yuxuan had availed himself to a horse to chase after the kite. The people that had jumped out from the crowd had also prepared horses on the side. Naturally, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to them with just her two legs. She looked around and saw that someone had tied a mule to a tree stump. She untied the mule, left some money on that spot, and covered the money with leaves. After that, she rode the mule as fast as possible to chase after them.


    Because there was an important ceremony going on, the rest of the capital was especially quiet. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t dare to urge the horse to go faster by using a whip or spurs. He didn¡¯t even dare to yell and could only press against the horse¡¯s belly to chase after the drifting kite. He could hear the sound of three to four horses gaining on him. The people riding on those horses weren¡¯t his subordinates.


    He didn¡¯t have time to care about anything else except the kite. He finally had a good oue from today¡¯s ancestor veneration ceremony. He couldn¡¯t let a mere kite ruin his sess.


    The kite drifted from the Temple of Heaven to the northern part of the capital. Although there weren¡¯t too many people on the streets, there were still peddlers and peasant womening and going. Ning Yuxuan saw that the kite was about to fall on top of a roof. He immediately reined in the horse to a stop and entered a teahouse by himself.


    Those people who had been in hot pursuit followed him into the teahouse and quickly surrounded Ning Yuxuan and blocked him off.


    There hadn¡¯t been anyone else in the teahouse, and the teahouse¡¯s shopkeeper had just been about to close up so he could attend the grand ancestor veneration ceremony too. He was quite terrified to see several people suddenly rushing into his store. The trembling and cowering shopkeeper bundled up the fragile items and went to hide in the back room.


    The four pursuers didn¡¯t bother with opening remarks beforeunching into battle. Ning Yuxuan had pretty good martial art skills, but it was difficult for two hands to win over eight hands. He could only make use of his surrounding as he headed upstairs. There were balconies on the second floor, and it was possible to jump onto the roof if enough effort was put into it.


    Ji Man was riding a mule, so by the time she had slowly made her way here, she saw Ning Yuxaun very elegantly jumping onto the roof. He was about to get a hold of the kite.


    This person was really putting up quite the fight for the new emperor. Hmm, would the emperor pay him overtime wages?


    Just as Ji Man was musing over these thoughts, someone pulled her off the mule. This ck-robed man, who had his lower face covered, dashed into the teahouse and jumped onto the roof too while bringing her along.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± As Ji Man stepped on the roof tiles, her legs were wobbling. No wonder her mother had always instructed her to not watch lively disputes.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he harm your entire family?¡± the person behind her asked. To her surprise, it was Wu Yong¡¯s voice. ¡°You weren¡¯t able to lead him into Quyi Pavilion, so now you should be trying to snatch the kite from him. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t you be deceiving His Highness with your words of wanting revenge?¡±


    Not have a better option, Ji Man could only say, ¡°He obviously knew I was following him and even took the initiative of asking if I want to go to Qiyu Pavilion. You know what kind of person Marquis Moyu is, how could I still foolish say yes after he asked that question?¡±


    Wu Yong paused. Instead of saying another word, he pushed her forward a few steps. Ji Man stumbled and knocked a loose roof tile down. The roof tile fell onto the road and attracted cries of rm as well as cursing.


    On the other side, there was a confrontation between those four people and Ning Yuxuan. Ning Yuxuan had already started to rip the kite that he was holding. What was the point in trying to keep possession of the kite? Destroying the evidence would be the best method.


    It had to be said that Ning Yuxuan¡¯s decision was the correct one. Once he started to tear the kite, the people that had originally thought they had victory within their grasp started to panic. They hurriedly went forward to snatch the kite from him. Step by step, they forced him towards the edge of the roof. Wu Yong pushed Ji Man over there and called out softly, ¡°Stop or I¡¯ll push him off.¡±


    Ning Yuxaun turned his head to the side and saw Ji Man¡¯s helpless expression. He sneered. ¡°You brought him here to threaten me?¡±


    Wu Yong didn¡¯t understand what Zhangjun Prince was thinking either. Ji Man was only a teacher to Marquis Moyu, but the prince had said he could use Ji Man to threaten the marquis.


    If Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t back down, was he really going to have to push Ji Man off the roof? Wu Yong felt depressed and frustrated.


    Ji Man crouched down on the roof and looked at Ning Yuxuan as she said, ¡°Hurry up and rip it up. Don¡¯t stop to talk.¡±


    Wu Yong kept his gaze on Ning Yuzuan as he raised his foot behind Ji Man. He was clearly showing that if Ning Yuxuan dared to continue ripping the kite, he would dare to push Ji Man off.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s hand paused. He helplessly sighed and took out an item from his clothes.


    Everyone felt a bit nervous. What could he possibly take out that would be useful? A concealed weapon?


    It was an ancient time lighter. As soon as the cap was taken off and air was blown on the inside part, the ember ignited. While everyone was momentarily stunned, Ning Yuxuan crumbled the giant kite into a ball, lit it on fire, and tossed it down.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of an ancient time lighter.)


    Ch 360 ¨C ancient time lighter.png


    ¡°You!¡± Wu Yong was speechless with anger. The nearby people had jumped down to follow the burning ball. They wanted to save part of the kite before it waspletely burnt.


    Ji Man silently gave this person¡¯s quick-witted resourcefulness a mental like. A momentter, Ning Yuxuan was rushing over here.

 Chapter 361 - In a dilemma (2)

    Chapter 361 ¨C In a dilemma (2)


    Wu Yong sneered. He grabbed Ji Man, jumped down to the balcony, and exited the teahouse. He mounted the horse that Ning Yuxuan had recently ridden here and had the horse galloping out of the capital.


    ¡°Brother Ji, you need to exin your actions to His Highness,¡± he said, ¡°You made a solemn vow to do your utmost to help His Highness and convinced him to believe you through your smooth rhetoric. But, from a bystander¡¯s detached perspective, I keep feeling that you didn¡¯t do everything that you should have done today.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed. Had she really? She had simply chosen herself when presented with the dilemma ofpleting a task or keeping her life. If she died, what was the point inpletely that task?


    ¡ª


    Zhangjun Prince really hadn¡¯t gone far from the capital. When they arrived in a pavilion that was five kilometers from the capital, he looked at her with an unfathomable smile.


    Holding a wine cup, Zhao Zhe lightly said, ¡°Perhaps, I hadn¡¯t been clear enough about my objective in the past, so you weren¡¯t sure what you needed to do. I¡¯ve been hiding inside of the capital for the past several days and gained a clear understanding of the situation. Zhao Li isn¡¯t popr among themonfolk, and Marquis Moyu is the one that has the loyalty of the court officials. It would naturally be very good to ruin Ning Yuxuan¡¯s rtionship with Zhao Li and draw him over to my side. But, if that¡¯s not possible, I¡¯m fine with eliminating him too.¡±


    Ji Man kept her eyes lowered and stayed silent.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten who supplied you with the working capital to return here, or who is the only person that can help you against your greatest enemy, right?¡± Zhao Zhe put down the cup and came closer to her. He slightly smiled and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan one of your enemies too?¡±


    But, he didn¡¯t know that Ning Yuxuan was also Haohao¡¯s father. Ji Man felt a bit fidgety. She had originally returned to the capital with a heart full of enmity, but now she was in a dilemma because there was someone between them, Haohao. Back then, she hadn¡¯t know Haohao was Nie Sangyu¡¯s son. But now that she knew, how could she possibly harm his father?


    Ning Yuxuan was using Haohao as his great finishing move to deal with her. When she though of that tender little face and pitiful gaze, it was inevitable that Ji Man¡¯s hardened heart would soften. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°This one will do his best.¡±


    She would try her best, but don¡¯t me her if she failed. She didn¡¯t want to kill Ning Yuxuan. Once she had aplished meritorious deeds, couldn¡¯t she ept him into her household as a stay-at-home dad? Actually, this idea sounded pretty good.


    After thinking things through, Ji Man felt more rxed. Just as she was about to express her loyalty to Zhao Zhe again, the person next to her suddenly forcefully pushed her forward.


    ¡°Marquis Moyu has caught up to us.¡± While feeling somewhat astonished, Wu Yong took Ji Man towards the horse. His Highness hadn¡¯t been wrong that Ning Yuxuan would chase them all the way here because of Teacher Ji.


    The dragon-shaped kite had already beenpletely destroyed before Ning Yuxuan started to chase after them. After chasing them all the way here and seeing that the people that had kidnapped Ji Man had increased in number, he felt a bit regretful about not reporting the matter to the local authorities.


    Zhao Zhe had already vanished. The only people around were the ck-robed men and Ji Man. It was clearly a situation of one side taking advantage of their numbers to overwhelm the other party. Ji Man was tossed to the side, and the group of people went forward to surround Ning Yuxuan.


    Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t a fool. Even an elephant could be bitten to death by enough ants. Faced with so many people, he decisively turned around to flee. This wasn¡¯t a TV show where the hero would imposingly annihte his enemies in order to save the beauty.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist smiling Taking advantage of Wu Yong and the others rushing forward, she cleverly and quick-wittedly pulled back to the side.


    Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t fled far when he saw officers rushing over here. He was astonished and also overjoyed by this unexpected good news. Now that a squad of officers hade here, the group of ck-robed people would naturally disperse.


    When the constable at the front of the group saw Ning Yuxuan, he respectfully saluted, ¡°Marquis.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve arrived just in time,¡± Ning Yuxuan praised them before turning around to look for Ji Man.


    The group of officers looked at each other in dismay. A citizen had report a fight happening on the street, so they had rushed out here to pursue the fugitives that had been flinging roof tiles. They hadn¡¯t expected the culprit to turn out to be Marquis Moyu, much less to be praised by him.


    Everyone decided to swallow the facts, ept the praise, and make a token effort at trying to catch the scattering ck-robed men.


    Ji Man came out from the underbush. She let out a long sigh and said, ¡°For the sake of this one¡¯s safety, this one must keep my distance from the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan shot a nce at her before coldly snorting and pulling her up onto his horse.


    The two of them slowly rode the horse back to the estate. As Ning Yuxuan looked at the back of her head, the corners of his lips slightly curved up.


    ¡ª


    During the grand ancestor veneration ceremony, Tanxiang decided to take advantage of Ji Man¡¯s absence to rummage through his room. She had originally been looking for evidence that Ji Man had been seducing the marquis or clues about this person that could be used to kick him out of the estate. To her surprise, she found a rolled up painting beneath the bed.


    ¡°Master, look at this!¡±


    Wen Wan took the painting. It was a heartwarming scene of domestic bliss between three family members. When she carefully looked at the face of the woman in the painting, Wen Wan stumbled two steps back in shock. She hastily rushed out to look for Liu Hanyun.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Why are you showing me this?¡± Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t pay attention to the woman¡¯s face and only noticed the child that was properly sitting in the painting. ¡°Isn¡¯t this a painting of the heir? That¡¯s the small jacket that he wears the most often too.¡±


    ¡°The marquis painted this.¡± Wen Wan looked at the inscription on the painting. Her face was very pale as she asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t this a scene that the marquis thought of? But, why would this painting be in Teacher Ji¡¯s room?¡±


    ¡ª


    It was reported the ancestor veneration ceremony was a sess. After Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man had left, a rainbow and other astonishing meteorological phenomenon appeared. For a period of time, themon people were full of faith, and the emperor was very pleased.

 Chapter 362 - A foolish woman (1)

    Chapter 362 ¨C A foolish woman (1)


    It would have been fine if it had been an ordinary painting, but the people in the painting had been Nie Sangyu, the heir, and the marquis. Liu Hanyun had already been brooding over the fact that Xia-<i>shi</i> had been abruptly sent away. It was only reasonable to assume that the marquis had chosen Haohao as his heir more or less because of his affection for Haohao¡¯s mother. And so, it didn¡¯t make sense that the heir¡¯s mother would be sent away.


    Liu Hanyun had originally been thinking that it was because Xia-<i>shi</i> was unbearably vulgar, and the marquis was worried that Xia-<i>shi</i> would be a hindrance to the heir in the future. Thus, he had sent her away. However, a terrible conjecture had popped up in her mind after seeing this painting.


    Back then, Nie Sangyu had given birth to a toddy kitten after a full-term pregnancy, and the circumstances around the parentage had been unclear. Later on, the marquis had brought Xia-<i>shi</i> to the estate along with a baby that would have been about the same age as Nie Sangyu¡¯s baby. Could it be that Haohao was actually Nie Sangyu¡¯s son?


    Shocked by this line of thought, Liu Hanyun reflexively nced at Wen Wan. Back then, everyone had said that the marquis deeply loved Wen Wan and not Nie Sangyu. So, he wouldn¡¯t have troubled himself over Nie Sangyu to that point, right?


    But, if Haohao wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu¡¯s child, why would the marquis have chosen a random peasant woman¡¯s child as his heir? Even when she had brought up several times about changing the position of the heir to Xi-<i>er</i> because he was the main wife¡¯s son, the marquis had never been swayed by her words.


    Her heart sank, and she nced at Wen Wan, who was still racking her brain over the painting.


    In a quiet voice, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°Since this painting was in Teacher Ji¡¯s room, it means that he¡¯s very special to the marquis.¡±


    Wen Wan furrowed her brow. The uneasiness in her heart grew even stronger. How much space did she still have in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart? She had endured that the children upied his heart. After all, she would have children of her own in the future. But, Wen Wan really couldn¡¯t ept that she would have to share Ning Yuxuan¡¯s favor with a man.


    ¡ª


    As Wen Wan was walking back from Liu Hanyun¡¯s Courtyard and passing through a covered corridor, she happened to see the marquising back with Teacher Ji.


    ¡°I forgot to give you back the bag fromst time.¡± Ning Yuxuan tossed a small bag to Ji Man. ¡°Keep good care of it. It might even save your life.¡±


    Ji Man epted the bag and felt the bag for the concentric knot items. They were still there. She awkwardlyughed before putting the bag into her sleeve. ¡°Thank you, marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stopped walking and looked at her as he said, ¡°Go back to Haohao. He hasn¡¯t had his lessons today.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and turned around to go to Haohao¡¯s room. Ning Yuxuan stood in ce without moving until her figure had disappeared through the moon gate.


    Wen Wan¡¯s eyes reddened as she watched them.


    A long time ago, before they had gotten married, he would escort her home every day. He would stand at the entrance and watch until she closed her door. When Ning Yuxuan was in love with someone, he really would be very gentle and considerate. Her previous arrogance and willfulness had been the product of him spoiling her too much.


    But now, it had been a long time since she had seen this gentle side of him directed towards herself. Instead, he had turned around and was giving this gentleness to someone else while having her watch by the sidelines. The pain from this type of torture was truly worse than dying.


    Back when the first prince had first approached her to be his pawn, he had said that if she obeyed him, she would be the only person by Yuxuan¡¯s side once everything was aplished. Back then, she would daydream how wonderful it would be to grow old with Yuxuan once the other women were removed.


    Now that she was watching as someone was slowly stealing Yuxuan¡¯s heart from her, Wen Wan felt even more resolute about driving away everyone else that was by Yuxuan¡¯s side. Once she was the only person around, Yuxuan¡¯s heart would definitely return to her.


    She called out, ¡°My lord.¡±


    Marquis Moyu turned his head. Seeing that it was Wen Wan, he nodded and asked, ¡°Are you waiting here for me?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Wen Wan cautiously smiled and asked, ¡°My lord, will youe with me to Qiangwei Courtyard and sit for a bit?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan hesitated for a while before nodding and answering, ¡°Alright.¡±


    Wen Wan was overjoyed. She wrapped her arm around his and just like in the past, she skipped as she walked. ¡°This concubine had the servants go out to buy sugar-coated hawthorns on sticks from West Street today. My lord, do you still remember those?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. He suddenly remembered something. Wen Wan liked to eat the sugar-coated hawthorns on sticks from West Street, and he used to frequently take her there to buy them, but this was something that happened a long time ago.


    When he remembered something like this in the past, he used to feel a faint sense of nostalgia, but now he didn¡¯t feel anything. He felt as if he was only inadvertently remembering a trifle incident.


    He turned his head to the side and seriously looked at Wen Wan. Her simple yet elegant beauty was as moving as before. He had once loved her and wanted to be with her to a ripe old age in conjugal bliss. But, things changed. He finally clearly saw that their past love couldn¡¯tst a lifetime.


    Because of Wen Wan, he had been able topletely disregard Nie Sangyu¡¯s feeling back then. He had given Wen Wan splendidly beautiful clothing and married her as his main wife. But now, his retribution hade. All of the harm and hurtfulness that he had given Nie Sangyu, it was all finally being paid back to him.


    Wen Wan had no idea what Ning Yuxuan was thinking of. She only thought that everything was just like before. She was wearing a gauzy dress and bashfully sitting in hisp. She murmured, ¡°My lord, Wan-<i>er</i> wants a child.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was slightly startled. He instinctively looked at the lit incense on the nearby mahogany counter.


    ¡°En, if you want a child, let¡¯s have another one.¡± He lowered his eyes.


    In an extremely cheerful mood, she tugged him onto the bed. During this romantic moment, she looked at him as she asked, ¡°My lord, is Wan-<i>er</i> important or is Teacher Ji important?¡±


    Startled by her question, Ning Yuxuan knitted his brow and asked, ¡°Why are youparing yourself to him?¡±


    In a cutely spoiled tone, she said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> wants to hear the answer.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted. He closed his eyes and said, ¡°Naturally, you¡¯re more important.¡±


    How could men bepared to women?


    Wen Wan giggled. She was full of joy as she threw herself into his arms.

 Chapter 363 - A foolish woman (2)

    Chapter 363 ¨C A foolish woman (2)


    However, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t stay once the pleasurable act was done. Instead, he left to go see Haohao.


    When Wen Wan woke up in the middle of the night and looked at the moonlight that was spilling into her room through windows, she thought; he really did love children the most.


    She had to figure out a way to get pregnant.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Wen Wan left the estate to look for a doctor. Once the doctor finished examining her, he said there was nothing wrong with her and that it was possible for her to get pregnant. Wen Wan found it odd. It had already been over a year. If there was nothing wrong with her, why hadn¡¯t she gotten pregnant by now?


    ¡°Miss Wen.¡±


    Right after she left the doctor¡¯s office, she met Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>. Wen Wan hurriedly saluted her. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> and Wen Wan had a somewhat close rtionship, so she pulled her to a nearby teahouse to chat.


    ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, now that the general has returned to the capital, we can go out on fun boating trips again.¡± Wen Wan was smiling very happily. This<i> junzhu</i> had a rather high status, and she was also Ning Mingjie¡¯s main wife. Wen Wan had frequently given her advice and shared with her things that she knew about Ning Mingjie. After several of these types of conversations, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> regarded Wen Wan as a close friend.


    ¡°I¡¯m bored of going tokes. How about I pay a visit to your home today?¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> smiled and said, ¡°While I¡¯m there, I can also greet the marquis.¡±


    Wen Wan very happily agreed and led the <i>junzhu</i> to the marquis¡¯s estate.


    When Liu Hanyun saw the <i>junzhu</i>, she would have to salute to her too. Wen Wan felt a joyfulness that came from apanying someone that was high above in status.


    However, Wen Wan could tell that Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> seemed a bit sad from her expression. She couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, is there something that¡¯s troubling you?¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> nodded and bitterly smiled. ¡°Do you know someone named Sangyu?¡±


    Wen Wan was shocked and rattled. ¡°<i>Junzhu</i>, why are you mentioning that name out of the blue?¡±


    Kangyuan wrylyughed. ¡°On our way back from Jin Province, the general met a strange woman on the roadside. After their encounter, his mood hasn¡¯t been good. I frequently hear him mumbling Nie n and someone named Sangyu in his sleep.¡±


    Sangyu sounded like a woman¡¯s name, and Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> found it difficult to dispel her suspicions. She had originally lived far away from here before her wedding and naturally didn¡¯t know what had happened between Ning Mingjie and this woman named Sangyu for him to miss her so much.


    ¡°Sangyu is the name of a dead person.¡± Wen Wan¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t good as she said, ¡°Junzhu, you don¡¯t need to worry about her. The general definitely isn¡¯t mumbling her name in his sleep because he likes her. The marquis had divorced that woman, and she died from falling off a cliff.¡±


    Kangyuan Junzhu was stunned to hear this answer. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°Do you have a painting of her? I want to see what she looked like.¡±


    How could Wen Wan have a painting of Nie Sangyu? Still, if there was a way that she could assist the <i>junzhu,</i> Wen Wan would at least try her best to think of a way. She tapped her forehead and said, ¡°I do have a painting of her. Come with me.¡±


    Wen Wan had left that painting of a family of three in her ce. She hadn¡¯t had time to return it yet. Since Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> wanted to see it, she would show it to her.


    However, when Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> saw that painting, her expression suddenly turned very ugly.


    ¡°This woman is Nie Sangyu?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Wen Wan nodded and said, ¡°I used to hate her so much when she was alive, but she¡¯s already dead and can¡¯tpete with me anymore. So, I¡¯ve let go of those feelings.¡±


    The artist for this painting was very skillful, and three people in this painting looked remarkably true to life with distinct facial features. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> looked at inscription on the painting, and her heart sunk. She rolled up the painting and said, ¡°I really like this painting. Could I have it?¡±


    ¡°This... this isn¡¯t mine.¡± Wen Wan felt that she was put into an awkward position.


    ¡°It¡¯s rare to see such a good painting. I want to have the same domestic happiness with Mingjie as the people in this painting.¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> looked at Wen Wan with very sincere eyes. ¡°Give this to me, okay?¡±


    Wen Wan thought it over. This painting had been stolen from Teacher Ji¡¯s room, and no one would find out who had stolen this painting. She might as well give it to the <i>junzhu</i> to get further in her good graces. Besides, other than making her feel a bit bad when she looked at it, this painting didn¡¯t have any other purpose.


    ¡°Alright then, <i>junzhu,</i> you can take it.¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> was very happy. She slipped off the jade bracelet that she was wearing and put it on Wen Wan¡¯s wrist. ¡°Thank you, you¡¯re a good friend.¡±


    Wen Wan very happily smiled and didn¡¯t seem to realize what she was giving away. She was immeasurably self-satisfied as she held the bracelet that Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had given her.


    After Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> left the marquis¡¯s estate, she went straight to the pce.


    Wearing the bracelet, Wen Wan strolled around the estate in a very good mood. When she encountered Ji Man, she very smugly stroked the bracelet and said, ¡°Teacher Ji, it¡¯s sote in the day. Did you just finish giving the heir his lessons?¡±


    Ji Man nced at her. She didn¡¯t understand why Wen Wan was strutting around like a peacock that was disying its feathers.


    ¡°En, I¡¯m going back to my room to rest.¡±


    Wen Wan smiled and walked a few steps closer to Ji Man before saying, ¡°I acted immaturelyst night and asked the marquis who was more important to him, me or you. Guess what his answer was.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched before she bowed and said, ¡°Of course it¡¯s Mistress Wan that¡¯s more important. This one has to continue giving lessons to heir tomorrow. It¡¯s gettingte, so this one won¡¯t continue to chat with Mistress Wan.¡±


    Seeing how calm Ji Man looked, Wen Wan felt as if she was futilely trying to punch cotton. In a bad mood, Wen Wan angrily stamped her feet. ¡°Hey!¡±


    However, Wen Wan calmed down after she looked at the bracelet on her wrist. Hadn¡¯t the marquis thought Nie Sangyu was very capable because she frequently drew people to her side? She could show the marquis that she was now capable of doing the same.

 Chapter 364 - Dear subject, do you not trust this emperor? (1)

    Chapter 364 ¨C Dear subject, do you not trust this emperor? (1)


    Fan Tianxing was kneeling below and saying, ¡°Your Majesty, this official thinks that Marquis Moyu¡¯s influence has grown to big, and he¡¯s a threat to imperial authority. It would be for the best if his power was reduced. Zhangjun Prince has also shown that he has ambitious desires during his visit. The dowager empress will inevitably be influence by her parent-child rtionship. Your Majesty, you would be put into an extremely disadvantage position if Marquis Moyu had traitorous intentions in the future.¡±


    The new emperor was currently sitting in his wheelchair inside Qinzhen Hall. His expression looked rather impatient as he said, ¡°Marquis Moyu has disyed his absolutely loyalty to this country, and you want this emperor to abandon him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as serious as having to abandon him.¡± Fan Tianxing sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as Your Majesty can have absolute grasp of his loyalty.¡±


    If this wasn¡¯t possible, then that knife could turn around at anytime and be directed at him. That wouldn¡¯t be good.


    Zhao Li made a light sound of agreement. Since Ning Yuxuan had been responsible for the sess of the ancestor veneration ceremony, he had originally been thinking about bestowing a reward. However, Fan Tianxing and the other trusted officials had all put forth the suggestion that he should be more guarded against Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t even shown any signs of being upset when the entire Nie n had been executed in front of him. On the contrary, he had been assisting him with managing the country so that everything was going smoothly. Consequently, Zhao Li had already gradually lowered his vignce towards him. As for his oldest imperial brother, by the time that Zhao Zhe could raise a powerful army, his hold on the throne would already be too strong to break. What was there to worry about?


    These were his initial thoughts, but his personal servant suddenly announced, ¡°Your Majesty, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> is requesting an audience.¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> was his most beloved younger maternal cousin. She was also the person that had always been silently supporting him. This was the reason why he had given her hand in marriage to Ning Mingjie. As the current Zhenyuan General that had control over the military, Ning Mingjie was naturally someone that he needed to win over to his side.


    ¡°Junzhu, pleasee in.¡±


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had brought the painting with her. She didn¡¯t bother saying anything and just handed over the painting to the new emperor.


    It was a painting of familial domestic bliss. Based on how little the ink had faded and the coloring on the paper, this was painted recently.


    ¡°This painting was unexpectedly acquired in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate,¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> said, ¡°Kangyuan met the woman in this painting in Jing Province.¡±


    Zhao Li slightly straightened his posture.


    Since Marquis Moyu had divorced Qi Siling, Zhao Li hadn¡¯t tried interfering in the marquis¡¯s household again, so he was bit absent-minded when he first nced at the people in the painting.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Kangyuan looked at Zhao Li as she said, ¡°Zhenyuan General has been frequently murmuring this name in his sleep recently. This woman had been in Jing Province, and there were many interactions between her and the general. If I hadn¡¯t impeded them back then, he probably would have brought her back to the capital as an honored concubine.¡±


    Zhao Li seriously looked at that painting for a long time. ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯re not mistaking her for someone else?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kangyuan earnestly shook her head.


    Zhao Li touched the child in the painting and lightly said, ¡°Go home first.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± When Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> looked at Zhao Li one more time, there was a hint of unwillingness to part from him in her gaze. But, there was a court official in the hall, so she could only withdraw.


    Zhao Li looked at Fan Tianxing and asked, ¡°What happened to the child that Qian Lianxue took?¡±


    Fan Tianxing respectfully ced one hand in front of the other and said, ¡°It was originally going to be sent to the first prince, but something happened in the middle and the child was lost. The first prince¡¯s side doesn¡¯t have any further news of this matter either.¡±


    Marquis Moyu shouldn¡¯t have had children. People that have children will inevitably be pinned down by their enemy. Zhao Li sighed. It was unfortunate that Qian Lianxue had lost to Nie Sangyu, and he had to give up his most useful chess piece. Otherwise, there would have never been a child in the marquis¡¯s household in the first ce.


    Zhao Li looked at Fan Tianxing and ordered, ¡°Investigate this matter. That child has to be found.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Fan Tianxing assented.


    As Zhao Li looked at that painting again, he slightly pursed his lips. He hoped that he was just overthinking things. Otherwise, Ning Yuxuan was really too horrifying.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man felt a bit ill-at-ease today. She was teaching Haohao idioms today, and Haohao was being very studious, but she had gotten distracted herself.


    Haohao was moving his head back and forth as he recited, ¡°A promise must be kept. A promise is worthy of a thousand gold.¡± He was wearing a hat today that the embroideress had recently finished embroidering with symbols of happiness and longevity. The hat really brought out his liveliness.


    After he finished reciting the idiom, he turned his head to see that his teacher was lost in thought. Unhappy, Haohao stuck his little butt out and started to climb up Ji Man¡¯s leg. ¡°Teacher, teacher!¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± When Ji Man returned to her senses, she saw a small child on herp.


    With a utmost earnest expression, Haohao asked, ¡°Teacher, are you having daytime thoughts?¡±


    Ji Man chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s not how you use that idiom. Teacher was just thinking about how cute you are and what I should reward you withter.¡±


    * (T/N: Haohao only remembered part of the idiom. The full idiom¡¯s figurative meaning is that you dream at night about your daytime thoughts.)


    Haohao happily and excitedly shook her leg and said, ¡°I want to hear a story told by you.¡±


    ¡°Alright, teacher will tell you a story called <i>The Emperor¡¯s New Clothes</i>.¡± Ji Man stroked his head.


    Just as Ji Man was about to pick him up so that she could stand up to get a drink of water, she heard a servant girl call out, ¡°Teacher Ji, Madam has asked for you to go over to her courtyard.¡±


    Liu Hanyun? What did she want now? Ji Man slightly furrowed her brow. She really want to respond with, ¡°I¡¯m busy teaching right now.¡± Still, remembering that Marquis Moyu had been called into the pce today and even the mightiest of dragons couldn¡¯t crush a snake in its own territory, she decided to obediently hand Haohao to a servant girl to watch over and go to Linghan Courtyard by herself.


    ¡ª


    When she got there, Liu Hanyun had put out tea. Without much expression on her face, she asked Ji Man to sit down.


    ¡°Xi-<i>er</i> is about the age when he should start taking sses too,¡± Liu Hanyun said, ¡°The reason that I asked Teacher Ji toe over today was to ask if you could teach Xi-<i>er</i> along with the heir.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> was hiding behind a wall partition and silently looking at the outer part of the room.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°If Young Master Xi is going to attend sses, the matter will have to be discussed with the marquis. This one can¡¯t make that decision.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the marquis absent today? That¡¯s why I want to discuss the matter with you.¡± Liu Hanyun unhurriedly asked, ¡°Teacher Ji, do you not want to teach him?¡±

 Chapter 365 - Dear subject, do you not trust this emperor? (2)

    Chapter 365 ¨C Dear subject, do you not trust this emperor? (2)


    ¡°This one wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Ji Man respectfully saluted even though it was true that she didn¡¯t want to teach another student. Right now, she had free time to go out and do her own stuff because she was only teaching Haohao. It would also be too tiring to teach two students. Besides, the marquis could afford to hire two teachers.


    Who could have thought that Liu Hanyun would want to have a long chat and didn¡¯t have any intentions of letting her leave? Ji Man tried to find excuses to leave several times, but Liu Hanyun stopped her every time.


    Why was she keeping her here? Ji Man gradually couldn¡¯t stand it any longer. Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t have anything to say to her, so why was she refusing to let her leave?


    ¡°I have to go back to look after the heir.¡± Ji Man stood up for the fifth time.


    Liu Hanyun continued to say something to stop her, but Ji Man didn¡¯t bother listening to her and rushed out of the room.


    ¡°Stop him!¡± Liu Hanyun¡¯s expression changed. ¡°How dare you treat me so disrespectfully by leaving before I finish talking?¡±


    It was only now that Ji Man started to panic for real. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t here, and Liu Hanyun had trapped her here. There could only be one reason why she was doing this.


    Haohao.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°Out of my way!¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know where she found the strength, but she actually pushed away the two male servants that were blocking her and recklessly dashed towards the western courtyard.


    The male servants would soon catch up to her. Ji Man continued to blunder forward as fast as possible.


    She hoped that she was just overthinking things. Unless all of these people no longer wanted their lives, how could something bad happen to Haohao? Haohao was Marquis Moyu¡¯s beloved son.


    Ji Man ran all the way back to the garden with her jaw clenched.


    When she reached the garden, Haohao was already gone, and only the servant girl from before was still there and looking rather helpless.


    Seeing himing over, the servant girl said, ¡°Teacher Ji, the heir was taken away by people from the pce.¡±


    People from the pce? Ji Man was dumbfounded. It couldn¡¯t be that Marquis Moyu started to miss Haohao while he was in the pce, so he had him brought to him?


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t think of a better idea. Other than the emperor, no one would have the power to suddenly take the marquis¡¯s heir into the pce.


    The male servants rushed over here. Seeing that the matter had already been resolved, one of them apologetically smiled and said, ¡°Teacher Ji, why did you run so quickly? We just wanted Teacher Ji to stay over a bit longer.¡±


    Ji Man sneered and turned around to go look for Steward Qian to get a horse.


    ¡ª


    The new emperor had summoned Ning Yuxuan here, and they ware leisurely ying chess.


    ¡°This emperor had already discussed with my group of dear officials. Yuxuan, you¡¯ve served this nation well and aplished great meritorious service. Therefore, this emperor will increase your annual sry by one thousand pecks of grain.¡± Zhao Li slightly smiled and said, ¡°Are you satisfied with this?¡±


    (T/N: A feudal governmental official¡¯s sry was measured in grain, but the actual sry was mostly paid out in money.)


    This was within his expectations. If the new emperor had rewarded him with more power, it would have actually put him in a bad position. Ning Yuxuan was smiling as he respectfully saluted. ¡°This subject thanks Your Majesty¡¯s great benevolence.¡±


    Zhao Li waved his hand. ¡°You¡¯re the only person in the imperial court that this emperor can rely on. This emperor can only hope that you won¡¯t fail to live up to my expectations.


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°This subject will continue to serve Your Majesty.¡±


    The imperial garden was very quiet. As Zhao Li looked at the calm man across from him, he suddenly asked, ¡°Dear subject, do you miss your first wife?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was briefly stunned. ¡°Your Majesty, why are you mentioning this?¡±


    Zhao Li smiled and said, ¡°Yuxuan, you never bare your real heart to anyone, so this emperor is guessing that you probably miss your first wife the most.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s brow was furrowed as he cast a nce over the new emperor to check on his expression. Feeling a bit uneasy, he replied, ¡°How could that be? Nie-<i>shi</i> is dead, and this subject has never held much affection for her.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart fearfully skipped a beat when he saw that Zhao Li¡¯s expression had abruptly turned chilly.


    Several women were walking at the other end of the imperial garden. They were probably just pce servant girls. However, there was one that looked very different from the rest of the group. She was ncing around and eximing in astonishment, ¡°Such an enormous garden!¡± The sound of her voice broke the previously silent imperial garden¡¯s tranquility.


    Ning Yuxuan lost his grip on the chess piece, and it ended up falling out of his hand and rolling across the ground.


    ¡°This is such a good ce. Who lives here?¡± Xia-<i>shi</i> made a ruckus as she continued to say, ¡°It¡¯s even better than that marquis¡¯s estate.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯splexion finally paled.


    Zhao Li chuckled. He rapped a ck chess piece against the game board. ¡°Dear subject, you¡¯re so amazing. You actually had everyone fooled.¡±


    Marquis Moyu pursed his lips. His expression was stiff as he said, ¡°Your Majesty, there must be some sort of misunderstand.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. This emperor has the time to listen to his dear subject slowly exin himself.¡± Zhao Li smiled and said, ¡°Oh right, this emperor had your family¡¯s heir brought into the pce too. He¡¯s truly a clever and quick-witted child, and he has a cute appearance too. This emperor has decided to reward him by allowing him to stay in the pce and keeping the empresspany. Dear subject, what do you think of this?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s brow was furrowed.


    Zhao Li turned his wheelchair and looked at the flowering flowers in the garden. ¡°Dear subject is someone that has to aplish great things and naturally can¡¯t have any weak spots. The empress will help dear subject take care of his heir. Dear subject, do you not trust this emperor?¡±


    It took a long time for Ning Yuxuan to suppress his anger. He finally withdrew his hand from the stone table and said, ¡°This subject would prefer to personally care for his own child.¡±


    ¡°That child doesn¡¯t just belong to you. Isn¡¯t his mother still alive?¡± Zhao Li smiled. ¡°Right now is the time to make use of your talent. This emperor doesn¡¯t want anything toe between us, so don¡¯t put this emperor into a difficult spot, dear subject.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath. His fist was clenched very tightly, but he couldn¡¯t find any words to refute Zhao Li.


    The new emperor was expressing concession as well as drawing him one step closer to his side. But, how had the emperor found out about the connection between Haohao and Ji Man?!


    Trantor Ramblings: Wouldn¡¯t it have been worse for Ji Man if she had been around when the pce people came? She couldn¡¯t have done anything to stop them and would have only gotten herself in trouble. By keeping her out of the way, at least Liu Hanyun will only be med for Haohao instead of Haohao and Ji Man.

 Chapter 366 - A boneheaded teammate (1)

    Chapter 366 ¨C A boneheaded teammate (1)


    It felt as if he had been confidently lifting a box, but then, someone had thrown a knife into his back out of nowhere. Ning Yuxuan turned his head in shock. The only thing behind him was his household, which he had always been protecting, so where had the betrayale from?


    The new emperor was smiling unfathomably. He patted Ning Yuxuan¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°This emperor will return your heir to you once my reign ispletely stable.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any difference between what Zhao Li was doing and a normal kidnapping, but he was making it sound so dignified. The emperor personally gave Haohao a new name. He said that Ning Jinyan, the previous name that Ning Yuxuan had given Haohao, was too ordinary, so he was going to change it to Ning Jinchen.


    Chen, the emperor¡¯s imperial ancestral temple.


    (T/N: <i>Jin</i> means brilliant like gems, <i>yan</i> means speech, and <i>chen</i> can have several, different meanings including association with the Year of the Dragon.)


    Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t think of any words to say. Step by step, he walked towards his carriage. His footsteps had never felt so heavy before.


    Ji Man had been pacing back and forth outside the pce walls. As soon as she saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s carriageing out, she hurriedly approached him and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Haohao?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was sitting on the shaft of the carriage. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°His Majesty brought Haohao into the pce and even bestowed him a name. He¡¯ll be fostered by the empress.¡±


    Ji Man widened her eyes. ¡°Why?¡±


    After a bitterugh, Ning Yuxuan got onto her horse from behind. ¡°I don¡¯t know who it is, but someone disclosed the truth about Haohao to the new emperor. He even knows that you¡¯re still alive.¡±


    Ji Man was shocked.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say anything else and only took Haohao into the pce. I was powerless.¡± Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes and rested his head on her shoulder. He whispered, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t stupid. She could figure out the critical points of what had happened. But, they had always done a good job of hiding these secrets, so how were these secrets discovered?


    Thinking of how Liu Hanyun had tried to stop her at all costs when Haohao had been taken away, Ji Man frowned. She sneered as she said, ¡°Marquis, when you go back home, it¡¯s time for you to clean up your inner court.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my inner court?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t answer him. She could only figure out that this was rted to Liu Hanyun somehow, but she didn¡¯t know the exact details. After finding out that Haohao had been taken into the pce, her mind had already feltpletely disheveled.


    Ning Yuxuan thought it over and decided to not question her further as the two of them returned to the marquis¡¯s estate.


    As soon as they passed through the estate¡¯s entrance, Ji Man returned to her room, and Ning Yuxuan went to Linghan Courtyard.


    After sitting in her room for a long time, Ji Man looked around the room before taking out a box from underneath her bed.


    As expected, the painting was gone.


    Ji Man went over to the neighboring room, grabbed hold of the servant girl that unusually watched over Haohao, and asked her, ¡°Who has been in my room?¡±


    The servant girl was slightly at a loss. ¡°Several people havee and went, so I haven¡¯t paid special attention. I do remember seeing Tanxiang, a servant girl from Qiangwei Courtyard,ing here. She said that she came here to help out by tidying your room.


    Tanxiang would have never been assigned to clean her room. Ji Man pursed her lips. She took the empty box with her to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun currently held her head low as she held Xi-<i>er</i>. She was calm as she answered Ning Yuxuan¡¯s question. ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know anything. When the people from the pce came, this servant was discussing with Teacher Ji about giving Xi-<i>er</i> lessons.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan rubbed his forehead. He had always done his best to show tolerance towards Liu Hanyun. It wasn¡¯t just because she had risked her life to save him. It was also because she was Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s mother. There weren¡¯t many people left in his inner court.


    But, she was the matriarch of this household. It was uneptable for her to say that she had no idea what had happened when people from the pce hade here and taken away the heir.


    He had only asked her a few questions when Liu Hanyun crumbled. Holding onto Xi-<i>er</i>, she cast an angry look at him and said, ¡°My lord, you¡¯re so concerned about the heir, but why won¡¯t you look at Xi-<i>er</i>? Xi-<i>er</i> is also your blood and flesh and your legitimate son. What¡¯s wrong with the heir being taken to the pce? He¡¯ll be able to enjoy even more extravagance and splendor there. My lord, don¡¯t you still have Xi-<i>er</i>?!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s forehead was very wrinkled.


    Xi-<i>er</i> was frightened by his mother¡¯s scream. His little face turned red, and he stumbled towards the wet nurse.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t care about Xi-<i>er</i>. It¡¯s only...¡± No matter how angry he was before, the feeling dissipated after he heard Xi-<i>er</i> crying. Ning Yuxuan felt a bit guilty. It was true that he was too biased in favor of Haohao. He spent practically all of his time with Haohao to make up for Haohao not having a mother to keep himpany. It was inevitable that he would end up neglecting Xi-<i>er</i>.


    Liu Hanyun destely sobbed. She looked at him and asked, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t try topete for my lord¡¯s favor. This servant just wants my lord to look at Xi-<i>er</i> more often. Can you do that? This servant doesn¡¯t want anything else.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and let out a long sigh. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡ª


    In a different area of the estate, Ji Man had barged into Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan was currently gleefully looking at the gifts that Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had sent over in her room.


    By her side, Tanxiang said, ¡°That was such a worthy trade. Not only did Master get so many items in return for that one painting, Master and <i>junzhu</i>¡®s rtionship has also be much better.¡±


    Smiling, Wen Wan replied, ¡°Absolutely! Once the marquises back, make soup with this ginseng, and I¡¯ll pay a visit to the western courtyard in the evening.¡±


    Tanxiang was feeling joyful and was about to say a few more fawning words when the doors behind her were suddenly mmed open.


    Ji Man¡¯s expression looked unpleasant. She sneered as she shook the box in her hand. ¡°Mistress Wan, did you give that item to Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>?¡±


    Wen Wan was shocked. She hadn¡¯t expected Ji Man to barge into here at this time.


    ¡°Y-You, you¡¯re acting impudent!¡± She instinctively stood up to block the view of the table. ¡°Is my room a ce that you can casually enter?¡±


    Ji Man sneered. She took a step forward and pressed the box against her neck. ¡°Mistress Wan, are you proud of yourself? Did you know that because you gave her that item, the heir has been taken into the pce by the emperor?¡±

 Chapter 367 - A boneheaded teammate (2)

    Chapter 367 ¨C A boneheaded teammate (2)


    Wen Wan was stunned. The heir had been brought into the pce? He was only a marquis¡¯s heir. Why would he be brought there? Wen Wan¡¯s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out the reason. It couldn¡¯t be that Kangyuan Junzhu had shown the painting to the emperor, and the emperor had the heir brought into the pce because he thought the heir was a cute child, right?


    ¡°Then, the marquis should be thanking me.¡± Pouting, she said, ¡°Since the heir has been brought into his pce, he¡¯ll have unlimited prospects. If he receives the emperor and empress¡¯s favor, they might even bestow a wife on him in the future.¡±


    Ji Manughed out of extreme fury. ¡°You think that the marquis will thank you?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Wen Wan shot a nce at her. ¡°Move your hand away. If you dare to continue acting so discourteously, I¡¯ll tell the marquis that you acted indecently towards me!¡±


    Ji Man looked at Wen Wan as she forced Wen Wan to retreat step by step until her back hit the wall. ¡°At the very least, we¡¯re people on the same boat. Miss Wen, you¡¯re really good at messing with the people on your own side.¡±


    They were both working for Zhangjun Prince. Although Wen Wan wasn¡¯t being used as thoroughly as her, she was still a person that was at the battlefront. In the end, this foolish girl still cared the most aboutpeting for favor and didn¡¯t care about her allies. Allies were simply abandoned when they got in the way of her being favored.


    If this boat sunk, it would be because of her stupidity.


    Ji Man took a deep breath before grabbing hold of this idiot¡¯s neck and pping her face hard.


    ¡°Go tell the marquis that I acted indecently towards you. I¡¯ve been holding in the urge to hit you for way too long!¡±


    ¡°Ahh!¡± On the side, Tanxiang screeched and ran out of the room in panic. ¡°Help! Teacher Ji hit my master!¡±


    Wen Wan nked out after being pped, but Ji Man didn¡¯t stop. How could anything goode from Haohao going to the pce? He was a hostage! As soon as there was a sh in interests or if Marquis Moyu messed up on something, Haohao would definitely be the first one to pay with his life!


    She had finally found her son and entered the marquis¡¯s household as a teacher that could stay by her son¡¯s side. But now, this idiot was saying that she should be thanked for her part in Haohao being taken into the pce.


    Thank you? Yeah, right!


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes were slightly red. Wen Wan continued to be dazed as Ji Man wildly choked her. Ji Man knew that she wouldn¡¯t actually be able to kill this scourge, but she had to at least give her a taste of death!


    Wen Wan returned to her senses and started to desperately struggle. As the two of them scuffled, they ended up tumbling onto the ground. Ji Man kept pping Wen Wan¡¯s face with both of her hands. Wen Wan was a flimsy little miss and could only weakly struggle by kicking Ji Man a few times.


    Ji Man had always been a rational person that firmly believed using force wouldn¡¯t solve any problems and being too straightforward was a bad idea. Before taking action, she would figure out the most useful method...


    But, Haohao had already been taken away. There was no reason for her to stay in the marquis¡¯s estate, so why should she bother with taking so many things into consideration? If she could p Wen Wan twice, she definitely wouldn¡¯t stop after pping her once!


    The servants that had been stationed outside came into the room. When they saw this scene, they were all stunned. None of them dare to step forward to pull Ji Man off of Wen Wan.


    Ji Man started to calm down as she was pping Wen Wan. As she looked at Wen Wan¡¯s red and swollen face, she seemed to faintly hear someone giggling in her mind and urging, ¡°p harder!¡±


    Nie Sangyu, you wanted to hit Wen Wan for a long time too, right?


    ¡°Why are you all just standing there? Go and stop him! Call the marquis over!¡± Tanxiang screamed.


    The surrounding people finally went forward and pulled Ji Man away.


    Wen Wan had already cried to the point of looking ghastly, and both sides of her face were badly swollen. She venomously looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°You¡¯ll have a miserable end! You actually dared to hit me!¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t care; it was fine as long as she felt refreshed. She struggled out of the servants¡¯ hold and straightened her clothes. By this time, Marquis Moyu and Liu Hanyun had alsoe.


    ¡°Oh my...¡± Liu Hanyun was speechless after seeing Wen Wan¡¯s face. She stood in the doorway and didn¡¯t dare to enter the room.


    Ning Yuxuan deeply furrowed his brow. He looked at Ji Man asked, ¡°What did you do?¡±


    ¡°Marquis, did you remember that painting you gave this one?¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t feel like saying any superfluous words. She simply pointed at Wen Wan and said, ¡°She gave that painting to Kangyuan Junzhu and is waiting for you to praise her for being so capable.¡±


    Shocked, Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Wen Wan. Thetter didn¡¯t understand what was happening. She rushed into his arms and buried her face in his chest.


    ¡°My lord, you have to settle this injustice for Wan-er. Teacher Ji broke into my room and started attacking me for no reason. Wan-er has never had to bear such abuse before...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body slightly stiffened. He lowered his head to look at her and only asked, ¡°Did you give that painting to Kangyuan?¡±


    Wen Wan was startled. She raised her head in confusion and saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s somewhat angry gaze. Scared, she straightened her body and said, ¡°That painting... the junzhu insisted on taking that painting. Wan-er couldn¡¯t refuse...¡±


    A boneheaded teammate can do you more harm than the most formidable opponent.


    Standing at the entrance, Liu Hanyun said, ¡°No matter what, how can it be a teacher¡¯s ce to hit an honored concubine? My lord, this servant knows that you¡¯re always biased in favor of Teacher Ji, but you can¡¯t allow Wan-er to be wronged over this matter!¡±


    ¡°She was wronged?¡± Ji Manughed. ¡°If she hadn¡¯t stolen this one¡¯s painting and gave it to Kangyuan Junzhu, nothing would have happened today. This one was also wrong for hitting someone. Madam, you can handle this matter however you like. This one has nothing else to say.¡±


    Anyways, she hit Wen Wan enough times to be satisfied. She didn¡¯t care about anything else.


    Ning Yuxuan tightened his grip on Wen Wan¡¯s arms until the painful pressure caused her to struggle.


    Wen Wan asked, ¡°My lord? Do you still remember the question that Wan-er asked youst time?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: This was actually the best thing that Wen Wan could ever do for Zhao Zhe¡¯s side, even if it was totally unintentional. Before Haohao¡¯s kidnapping, Ning Yuxuan had no reason to plot against Zhao Li.

 Chapter 368 - Haohao is the only reason (1)

    Chapter 368 ¨C Haohao is the only reason (1)


    Ning Yuxuan lowered his gaze and stayed silent.


    Wen Wan was floundering as shemented, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> asked youst time, who was more important, Teacher Ji or Wan-<i>er. </i>My lord, didn¡¯t you answer that Wan-<i>er</i> is more important? Why are you siding with him now?¡±


    It seemed as if the servants had just heard some unspeakable gossip. They were all seriously looking towards the inner part of the room to hear more.


    Liu Hanyun cleared her throat with a cough and gestured at Chunpi to lead everyone else outside, then she closed the doors and locked it.


    Ning Yuxuan let go of Wan Wan¡¯s hand and finally spoke, ¡°This isn¡¯t an issue of taking sides. Why did you steal Teacher Ji¡¯s painting?¡±


    Wen Wan was bbergasted. She looked just like a pig with her swollen face. After trying to stammer out a reply for a while, she regained the courage of her convictions and said, ¡°My lord, you never gave me a painting like that one. Why did you give something like that to Teacher Ji? He¡¯s a man! Is a man better than Wan-<i>er</i>?!¡±


    Ji Man felt as if she was drunk. She had frequently seen men and women arguing. Every time, the woman would eventually find an issue and unreasonably blow it out of proportion. As soon as the woman started to cry, she would almost always win the argument without exception.


    80% of men would be absolutely powerless when this womanly skill of crying was taken out. This skill could be considered a woman¡¯s weapon under ordinary circumstances.


    But, if a woman employed this type of act during a dire situation, it would only be seen as unreasonable, nonsensical, and brain-dead behavior.


    Ji Man almost couldn¡¯t resist going forward and pping Wen Wan again. Now that she had experience it once, she knew that smacking Wen Wan was an excellent way of relieving difort and anger.


    ¡°What was the image on that painting?¡± Ning Yuxuan suddenly asked Wen Wan.


    Wen Wan was stunned. When she thought of that painting, it felt as if her heart was being cut into pieces. ¡°It was a painting of a family between my lord and... Nie Sangyu.¡±


    At the mention of that name, Wen Wan¡¯s tears fell. ¡°It¡¯s already been so long. Didn¡¯t my lord say you would cherish the people in front of you? Why do you still miss her? In what way is she better than me?¡±


    Liu Hanyun had quietly sat down on the side and was watching Wen Wan like she was only watching a y. From time to time, she would nce at Ji Man with her brow furrowed.


    ¡°She¡¯s better than you in every way.¡± Ji Man continued, ¡°If a man from amoner family married you, he would still be able to be happy for a lifetime. But if someone with the marquis¡¯s background marries you, it would truly be a lifetime of extremely bad luck for him.¡±


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying?¡± Wen Wan fiercely red at Ji Man. ¡°How can it be your ce to talk? It can¡¯t be that you think it would better for the marquis to marry a man like you, right? Although Wan-<i>er</i> doesn¡¯t have the ability to aplish great things, Wan-<i>er</i> is still knowledgeable and sensible enough!¡±


    ¡°En, it¡¯s certainly true that you¡¯re not capable of aplishing great things.¡± Ji Man nodded without even looking at her and indifferently said, ¡°Back when you were locked in the woodshed, you poisoned yourself and tried toy the me on me. The crown princess consort only needed to say a few words to pull you over to her side. After that, you were perfect willingly to act as her pawn. You keep saying that you love the marquis, but you ended up betraying him while trying topete for favor. This man used to have so much affection for you, but you slowly grounded those feelings down to nothing. You¡¯re such a failure as a woman. It would have been better if you had married Butcher Zhang back then.¡±


    After saying all that in one breath, Ji Man picked up a nearby cup and took a sip of tea. She let out a long sigh and said, ¡°The marquis might not miss me as much as you think he does, but I was more suitable at managing this aristocratic household than you. Besides, he naturally saw my good points since he had you topare me with.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and slightly narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.


    Ji Man had said those words with Nie Sangyu¡¯s original voice instead of pretending to be someone else. After she finished talking, Wen Wan and Liu Hanyun were both dumbfounded.


    ¡°You...¡± Wen Wan was slightly trembling as she pointed at Ji Man.


    ¡°What about me?¡± Ji Man returned to using Teacher Ji¡¯s voice. Sheughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯te back to seek your life.¡± Otherwise, you would have died a long time ago.


    Wen Wan was so scared she stopped breathing for a moment and copsed onto the ground. Liu Hanyun was also slightly trembling as she looked at Ji Man. She finally called out in low voice, ¡°Madam?¡±


    ¡°Right now, you¡¯re Madam.¡± Ji Man turned her head to the side to look at her and lightly smiled. ¡°You don¡¯t need anyone to protect you anymore or have to settle for only a tiny corner. You¡¯re the madam of this household now and can prop up a stretch of clear sky for yourself.¡±


    Liu Hanyun inexplicably felt an ufortable feeling in her heart. As she looked at the man¡¯s face, her eyes surprisingly gradually reddened.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough.¡± Ning Yuxuan was a bit displeased. He nced at Ji Man and said, ¡°Now that you¡¯ve told them the truth, what if this news spreads to the pceter? Why are you so careless with your life?¡±


    Ji Man was bbergasted. She pointed at Wen Wan and said, ¡°This person stabbed you in the back, but you¡¯re nning on letting her live. Wow, she must really be your true love.¡±


    Wen Wan finally couldn¡¯t stop herself from shouting, ¡°Ah, it¡¯s a ghost!¡±


    The servants that were waiting outside were shocked and wanted to rush inside to see for themselves. Unfortunately for them, the doors had already been locked from the inside.


    While Liu Hanyun had already figured out the truth, Wen Wan was too stupid. She thought that Nie Sangyu¡¯s ghost had possessed Teacher Ji. With a yelp, she retreated a few steps towards the wall.


    Seeing that Wen Wan¡¯s face had turned white in fright, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist darkly smiling. Every time Wen Wan took one step back, Ji Man would step forward to maintain their close distance. In Nie Sangyu¡¯s original voice, she drawled out, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i>, do you still remember me?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know how scared Wen Wan was, but Wen Wan fainted away after screaming one more time.


    Marquis Moyu slightly furrowed his brow. He pulled Ji Man over to the side and carried Wen Wan to her bed.


    Other than continuing to nkly look at Ji Man, Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t show much reaction.

 Chapter 369 - Haohao is the only reason (2)

    Chapter 369 ¨C Haohao is the only reason (2)


    Ning Yuxuan sat down on the side of the bed and lightly said, ¡°Hanyun, arrange for a carriage to bring Wan-<i>er</i> back to Wen Province tomorrow. It wouldn¡¯t be suitable for her to remain here.¡±


    Hearing these words, Liu Hanyun¡¯s heart suddenly jumped. She somewhat incredulously asked, ¡°My lord, you want to send Wan-<i>er</i> to her hometown?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s already caused a catastrophe today. It would be too soft-hearted of me to allow her to remain here,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly answered, ¡°Since we were once husband and wife, help me by arranging more things for her to take back.¡±


    Still feeling stunned, Liu Hanyun nodded. Then, she instinctively nced at Ji Man.


    There was a scornful look in Ji Man¡¯s eyes. She didn¡¯t say another word and simply turned around to leave.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Ning Yuxuan shouted, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t bother turning her head. ¡°Haohao isn¡¯t here anymore. Why would I continue to stay here? Marquis, you don¡¯t need to put on this show of dealing with your beloved for me. I won¡¯t forgive her wrongdoing. You might as well try your best to protect her.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chased after her. His brow was furrowed as he grabbed her hand to stop her. ¡°Ji Man! I¡¯ll figure out a way to bring Haohao back. Don¡¯t be so impulsive. We¡¯re already at this point. Are you really going to leave?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Ji Man turned her head to look at him with her eyebrows dubiously raised. ¡°Marquis, why do you think I want to stay in your estate? What do you think is the reason I was willing to disregard my feelings of enmity?¡±


    Marquis Moyu was a bit stunned. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°Was it entirely because of Haohao? Is there really no other reason?¡±


    ¡°There isn¡¯t.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°It¡¯s time for this one to return to being a rice merchant. Marquis, take care of yourself.¡±


    In the end, there was nothing left to hold in his hand. Ning Yuxuan stood in ce as he watched the silver-robed person open the doors and walk out of the room without any trace of hesitation. It was if he had been utterly delusional in believing that his affection wasn¡¯t one-sided.


    ¡°My lord,¡± Liu Hanyun called out in a quiet voice, ¡°He... Are you not going to chase after him?¡±


    Teacher Ji had turned out to be Madam. The person that she had harmedst time was actually Madam, who had always treated her kindly. Liu Hanyun was at aplete loss. As she clutched her handkerchief, it seemed as if she had changed back to her former self that wasn¡¯t eloquent with her words and was an insignificant concubine that didn¡¯t know how topete for favor. Her eyes were slightly red as she looked at Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°Would hee back if I chase after him?¡± He asked in quiet voice.


    She wasn¡¯t the same as other women. If she said she was going leave, she really did have a ce to go to. He couldn¡¯t stop her or bring her back. For other women, he was their supporter, and someone they depended on. However, she never relied on him. On the contrary, she left him feeling clueless on what action he should take.


    What could he use to keep her here? Haohao? Haohao had already been taken away. No wonder she had walked away without hesitation.


    Ning Yuxuan wrylyughed. He finally understood why people would say that it¡¯s depressingly futile to keep a beautiful woman. It really was a sad feeling.


    ¡ª


    It was simple enough to pack away her things. After stuffing her original clothes into a bag, Ji Man swept her gaze over the room. Her gazended on a small bag that was on the table.


    She froze for a moment before looking away. Putting the bundle over shoulder, she strode out of the room.


    The estate was very quiet. She had only taken a few steps when her pace slowed.


    She went back into the room and stuffed the small bag into her bundle. After that, she walked out of the estate without looking back.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man¡¯s rice business had been going smoothly under Yan Buba¡¯s management. She used the extra money she had to purchase a home near one of her stores. After that, she went over to Zhu Residence to visit Zhu Yurun.


    After learning that Haohao had been taken into the pce, Zhu Yurun, who was currently recovering from her miscarriage, sighed regretfully and said, ¡°Does that mean you won¡¯t be able to see Haohao anymore?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips and nodded. Her eyes were quite red.


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be so upset,¡± Zhu Yurun hurriedly said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell my dad to go check on the marquis¡¯s heir to see if he¡¯s doing well whenever he gets the chance to enter the pce.¡±


    Ji Man wouldn¡¯t cry in front of Ning Yuxuan, much less when she was in the marquis¡¯s estate. But now, seeing Zhu Yurun¡¯s pale face and plump figure, Ji Man couldn¡¯t stop herself from bawling.


    Zhu Yurun frantically waved her hands in panic. She quickly told Zhuer to bring over a handkerchief and even shouted, ¡°Hurry, bring over a basin to hold the tears.¡±


    Shefortingly patted Ji Man¡¯s back and murmured, ¡°You look like a woman when you¡¯re crying like this. You have smooth hands like a woman too...¡±


    Ji Man was grievously crying her heart out, so how could she pay attention to Zhu Yurun¡¯s nattering words? Her days were so difficult. Before, she could continue to bear with everything because she had Haohao. But now, he was gone too. She didn¡¯t even know if Haohao would end up being mistreated inside the pce. Ning Yuxuan could probably frequently enter the pce to see Haohao, but it would be difficult for her to see Haohao again...


    Nie Sangyu,e out. Let¡¯s talk. Could you please let me go back? She had just wanted to read a book. She didn¡¯t want to be dragged into the story and be devastated with these emotions.


    Someone sighed, but the sound was so weak that it couldn¡¯t be heard.


    A man had been walking over here from the entrance of the courtyard. Hearing the sound of weeping, he furrowed his brow and picked up his pace. He walked past the doorway and asked, ¡°Why are you crying?¡±


    Ji Man felt that she had cried enough. She rubbed her eyes and turned her head to look.


    Qian Yingchen was standing by the doorway with a serious expression. When their eyes met, the person on the other side was clearly stunned for a moment. He awkwardly turned his head away and said, ¡°Sorry, this one must have misheard.¡±

 Chapter 370 - How heartless you are once youve fallen out of love (1)

    Chapter 370 ¨C How heartless you are once you¡¯ve fallen out of love (1)


    Ji Man was at a loss. She touched the mask on her face. Fortunately, it hadn¡¯te off when she was crying.


    Why had Qian Yingchene here?


    When Zhu Yurun saw him, she giggled and fussed with her hair. ¡°You¡¯re here!¡±


    He strode into the room and sat down on a stool by Ji Man. He uttered a light, ¡°en,¡± as his reply. His eyes fell on Ji Man, and he scrutinized Ji Man with a sense of uncertainty. ¡°Teacher Ji, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°This one is called Ji Man.¡± Ji Man cleared her throat and respectfully saluted with her hands. ¡°I¡¯ve already resigned from my position as a teacher.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was somewhat surprised. Hadn¡¯t Yuxuan previously praised this teacher? So, then, why would he allow this teacher to resign? Still, this wasn¡¯t the important part. The most important question was why was he crying in Zhu Yurun¡¯s room?


    Zhu Yurun was sitting in the bed and said to him, ¡°Don¡¯t bring up older brother Man¡¯s sorrowful matter.¡±


    Qian Yingchen nced at her, then he coldly harrumphed and stood up. ¡°Your body has probably mostly recovered by now.¡±


    During Zhu Yurun¡¯s recovery period after the miscarriage, Qian Yingchn had been paying her a daily visit. Although Assistant Minister Zhu continued to be angry with him, Zhu Yurun was very happy and eagerly looked forward to his visit every day.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    However, after the ancestor veneration ceremony had concluded, the day of his wedding with Miss Peng was still approaching.


    Hearing these words, Zhu Yurun¡¯s gaze dimmed. Tugging on her quilt, she said, ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve gotten better. I can leave my bed and start walking around tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Then, I don¡¯t need toe tomorrow.¡± Qian Yingchen slightly smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve done all that I could.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Zhu Yurun obediently nodded.


    Hearing these words, Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°Thank you for checking up on Yurun the past several days, Sir Qian. Once she¡¯spletely recovered, it¡¯ll be time for our wedding to take ce... Oh, right, Sir Qian, when will your wedding with Miss Peng be?¡±


    Qian Yingchen nced at Ji Man. ¡°In four days.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Zhu Yurun and my wedding is around that time too, but the preparations were rushed and so many things hade up recently. It might not be possible to make it especially grand.¡±


    Zhu Yurun opened and closed her mouth. She was a bit surprised as she looked at Ji Man. Were they still going to get married even though the baby was gone?


    Ji Man gave her meaningful look to indicate for her to stay silent, but Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t say anything.


    A momentter, he didn¡¯t look at Zhu Yurun and only respectfully saluted Ji Man with his hands. ¡°Congrattions. This one will leave first then.¡±


    Ji Man stood up and smiled as she said, ¡°Sir Qian, are you busy with something afterwards? This one happens to have something to discuss with Sir Qian because of Ji Store¡¯s tribute rice.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was slightly surprised. ¡°This year¡¯s tribute rice will be from Ji Store?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ji Man politely saluted with her hands.


    The tribute rice was an important matter. This was the only rice eaten by the people in the pce. Last year, Liu Store¡¯s reputation had soared because it had been responsible for the tribute rice. It vaulted up to be the capital¡¯srgest rice business, and its rice could be found everywhere. He had originally expected that the honor would fall on Rong Store¡¯s this year. Unexpectedly, it had fallen on Ji Store instead.


    He looked at Zhu Yurun, and a trace of understanding appeared in his eyes. He chuckled and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go over to Luoyan Pagoda to discuss the matter then.¡±


    Ji Man agreed. After saying a few sentences to urge Zhu Yurun to properly recuperate, Ji Man left the estate with Qian Yingchen.


    ¡ª


    Sitting in Luoyan Pagoda, Qian Yingchen said in an unclear tone, ¡°Brother Ji, you¡¯re truly skilled. This one had originally thought you were a straightforward schr. It was surprising to hear that you¡¯re a rice merchant as well, and even more surprising to hear that you would marry a woman from Zhu family that hadpletely ruined her reputation in order to gain the honor of being responsible for the tribute rice.¡±


    Ji Man gave a vulgar and sly smile in response with greed shing through her eyes. Looking like a total viin, she looked at the man across from her and said, ¡°Sir Qian, you think too highly of me. This one is just trying to make a living. Since it¡¯s possible to climb up, why would this one remain at my starting point? It¡¯s fine that Miss Zhu has a ruined reputation. This one just wants to borrow a way up.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s brow was deeply furrowed. As he looked at Ji Man¡¯s face, he silently thought he must have been blind when he saw this teacher at the marquis¡¯s residencest time. Otherwise, why would he think this person was a decent and polite individual that was worth speaking to?


    ¡°As you know, Assistant Minister Zhu likes this one a lot right now,¡± Ji Man said with a smile, ¡°The tribute rice will be handled by the Ministry of Revenue. This one hopes that that Sir Qian will keep an eye on it when the timees. Please be magnanimous during the inspection time.¡±


    Merchants were always unscrupulous, and the tribute rice that was sent into the pce would always be less than the correct amount. Still, Ji Man was the first one to boldly state this matter aloud. Thus, the disdain he felt for Ji Man increased further.


    This man only dared to act so outrageously because he had Zhu n as his supporter. As he looked at this awful merchant, he thought; how could it be possible that this man would treat Zhu Yurun well?


    That girl was stupid. It was okay if she couldn¡¯t see through a person¡¯s real character, but she would probably end up crying when she was wronged in the future. Wasn¡¯t Assistant Minister Zhu supposed to cherish his daughter a lot? How could he have found this type of person for her?


    As Qian Yingchen drank his tea, his expression was unpleasant. He didn¡¯t show any signs of agreeing to Ji Man¡¯s request. Instead, he asked, ¡°Brother Ji, do you not care that people will take behind your back after the wedding?¡±


    ¡°Why should I care about that?¡± Ji Man widened her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just marrying someone and leaving her in my home. Later, we can also live in separate households. Even if there are such people, since I¡¯m a man, they¡¯ll definitely spend more time speaking badly about her and less about me.¡±


    This world really was this unfair to women.


    ¡°Besides, Sir Qian, why are you asking about this?¡± Ji Man chuckled. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one that ruined Miss Zhu¡¯s reputation?¡±

 Chapter 371 - How heartless you are once youve fallen out of love (2)

    Chapter 371 ¨C How heartless you are once you¡¯ve fallen out of love (2)


    ¡°I ruined her?¡± Qian Yingchen appeared as if he had heard a joke. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it be the other way around? Didn¡¯t she tell you what had happened? Back then, in Xu Province...¡±


    Smiling, Ji Man asked, ¡°Sir Qian, back in Xu Province, when you woke up, were you in your room or Miss Zhu¡¯s room?¡±


    Qian Yingchen froze in surprise for a moment. He hadn¡¯t tried to recollect that matter until now. After doing his best to remember, he remembered that back then... he had woken up in her room.


    ¡°Miss Zhu has been telling people that she fell for your looks, so she crept into your room in the middle of the night.¡± Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°If she had really done that, why would you wake up in her room?¡±


    Qian Yingchen hadn¡¯t recovered enough to respond. Ji Man smiled and saluted him with her hands. ¡°Anyways, once the rice from Ji Store has been transported to the warehouse, it¡¯ll be offered as tribute. When the timees, Sir Qian, please don¡¯t refuse to cooperate with me.¡±


    She could only help up to this point. She had said everything that she should. If Qian Yingchen wasn¡¯t an idiot, he would definitely investigate the matter before continuing to me Zhu Yurun.


    She really was a small, plump idiot. The child had already been lost because of him, but she didn¡¯t feel any enmity towards him and even smiled when she saw him. When she had time, she would definitely indoctrinate her that debts had to be paid back.


    ¡ª


    The construction for the road to Zhangjun was actually going much faster than she had anticipated.


    Ji Man went to report that she had left the marquis¡¯s household to Zhangjun Prince without mentioning Haohao¡¯s matter. She only mentioned that because of Wen Wan¡¯s actions, the heir had been sent into the pce, so there was naturally no reason for her to stay in the marquis¡¯s household as a teacher.


    ¡°Wen Wan?¡± Zhangjun Prince was sitting behind a curtain. He slightly sighed and said, ¡°I had originally though she would be my trump card. Not only did she lose her effectiveness halfway through, she also ruined my ns.¡±


    Shen Youqing was sitting next to him. Hearing these words, she slightly pursed her lips and said, ¡°This consort hasn¡¯t been in touch with her for a while and doesn¡¯t know why she would get mixed up with Kangyuan<i> Junzhu</i>.¡±


    ¡°The marquis said he would send her to Wen Province. This one isn¡¯t sure how he¡¯ll deal with her in the end.¡± Ji Man lowered her eyes and said, ¡°Without caring for His Highness¡¯s position, she tried to frame me several times when this one was in the marquis¡¯s estate. This one thinks that it would better to get rid of this type of person sooner rather thanter.¡±


    Shen Youqing slightly furrowed her brow and nced at Zhangjun Prince.


    Zhao Zhe paused for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯m fine with getting rid of her, but Yuxuan is probably still protecting her.¡±


    ¡°If the marquis continues to protect her even after this incident, then this one has nothing to say.¡± Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°This one has already given the marquis a choice. Either she dies or this one will have to choose between perishing or fleeing.¡±


    Shen Youqing didn¡¯t understand the meaning of Ji Man¡¯s words and was slightly puzzled.


    Next to her, Zhao Zhe said, ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>, go out and check if the kitchen servants have finished preparing the food.¡±


    He was actually sending her away? Shen Youqing slightly pursed her lips and nced at Ji Man before standing up and leaving.


    Once the doors were closed, Zhangjun Prince was very interested as he asked Ji Man, ¡°What did you do?¡±


    What could she have done to force such a vicious decision?


    Ji Man raised her head and said, ¡°This one exposed my identity to Wen-<i>shi</i> and Liu-<i>shi</i>.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was slightly shocked. He furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Why did you act so impulsively? If one of those two people leaked out that information, your life will be forfeited.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s exactly because this one is putting my life on the line that this one can force the marquis to make a choice ¡±Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°If he chooses to not care about my life and send Wen Wan back to her hometown, then there¡¯s nothing this one can say. If he has any feelings for me, then Wen Wan won¡¯t have a good oue.¡±


    It felt so awesome to imagine how Wen Wan would be feeling when the man that she was deeply in love with harmed her for another woman.


    ¡°You¡¯re gambling with your life.¡± Zhao Zhe couldn¡¯t quiteprehend her logic.


    ¡°This one won¡¯t lose my life.¡± Ji Man chuckled. ¡°If this one¡¯s identity is ever exposed, Marquis Moyu would also be implicated for the crime of deceiving the emperor. This one is 99% sure that this one¡¯s life will be safe.¡±


    Even if she wasn¡¯t as important as Wen Wan, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s own life and the rest of his household would definitely be more important than a mere Wen Wan. She only dared to reveal herself when she had enough confidence about the oue.


    Zhao Zhe was stunned for a long time before he chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re certainly ruthless enough as a woman.¡±


    Ji Man kowtowed. ¡°If this one isn¡¯t ruthless, then this one won¡¯t be able to help Your Highness aplish great things. Although this one isn¡¯t capable of empowering Your Highness, this one will work within my meager capabilities. Your Highness, if there¡¯s anything you want this one to do, please issue your order.¡±


    These words were said with such loyalty that it wiped away his earlier hesitation about her negligence towards previous tasks. Zhao Zhe was very delighted as he said, ¡°It¡¯s already a big help to this prince that you¡¯ve gained the qualification of being responsible for the tribute rice. When the opportune timees, this prince will issue my order.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man briefly closed her eyes.


    ¡ª


    Wen Wan had been confined in her room.


    Right now, she was impassively gazing at the window. Ning Yuxuan had been sitting in her room in silence for an hour.


    ¡°I¡¯ve epted my fate. I¡¯ll leave if you want me to leave.¡± Wen Wan lightly said, ¡°We were never meant to be together. Our meeting was mistaken fate. I saw what was in your heart a long time ago. I just didn¡¯t want to admit it.¡±


    ¡°So, why won¡¯t you even allow me leave?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s voice was slightly hoarse. When she raised her head, her eyes were red. She looked at him as she said, ¡°I knew what you were like when you¡¯re deeply in love. But, what I didn¡¯t know, was how heartless you are once you¡¯ve fallen out of love!¡±

 Chapter 372 - Knowing everything (1)

    Chapter 372 ¨C Knowing everything (1)


    Ning Yuxuan had been quietly sitting here this entire time. There was a trace of gentleness in his gaze as he listened to Wen Wan¡¯s hysteria.


    ¡°You said that you would protect me for a lifetime and wouldn¡¯t let me suffer any grievances!¡± Tears started to spill out from Wen Wan¡¯s eyes again. ¡°Why are you going back on your word?¡±


    A stupid woman would always point out what a man had once promised her and feel heartbroken over the matter. Silly girl, those promises were given to the person that you were at the time and not the present you. Were you really going to depend on those two promises for a lifetime?


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t n on disputing with her. Instead, he gently tugged her hand over and ced it on his palm.


    In a low voice, he said, ¡°You once said that as long as you could be with me, you wouldn¡¯t care about status or how many other women were by side. My heart once belonged to you, so I didn¡¯t me you when you failed to keep your words.¡±


    Wen Wan widened her eyes. She aggrievedly shook her head and asked, ¡°How have I not kept my words? Who did I try topete with?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze was slightly deep as he looked at her, but his voice continued to be soft as he asked, ¡°Do you really think that I know nothing?¡±


    Wen Wan was stunned. Faced with his direct gaze, she actually felt somewhat guilty.


    ¡°When we wereing back from the other estate and encountered assassins, you blocked a de meant for me.¡± Ning Yuxuan let go of her hand and lightly smiled. ¡°Actually, even if you didn¡¯t block it, I could have evaded that strike. It wouldn¡¯t have been difficult for me to investigate the background of those ck-robed men, but I didn¡¯t.¡±


    Stunned, Wen Wan stopped crying as she looked at him.


    ¡°Sangyu had originally kept the midwife that assisted you and Hanyun during childbirth.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked away and lightly continued, ¡°She had already sent the person back the estate¡¯s entrance, but I stopped her. Do you know why?¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips. ¡°My lord...¡±


    ¡°It was probably because I still loved you then.¡± Marquis Moyu lowered his eyes and scoffed. ¡°But, I wondered, how could a person be so ruthless? After all, if you truly love me, why would you hurt me by helping the first prince?¡±


    ¡°And then, you dropped Yun-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Wen Wan copsed onto the bed and widened her eyes. It was as if she had remembered something terrible. She retreated. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I thought you had just been careless.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his head to the side and nced at her. ¡°There isn¡¯t a mother that would be ruthless enough to kill her child, even if it¡¯s only a daughter.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s entire body was trembling. In the midst of her fright, she grabbed hold of Marquis Moyu¡¯s sleeve. ¡°I didn¡¯t do that. Yun-<i>er</i>... It really was just because I didn¡¯t have a firm hold on her and my lord, you pushed me...¡±


    ¡°A person really can change drastically,¡± Ning Yuxuan interrupted her, but he continued to gently look at her with his head lowered. ¡°If I had known that you would be like this, I wouldn¡¯t have condone you when you harmed Qing-<i>er</i> for the first time.¡±


    It felt as if all the blood in her body had congealed. Wen Wan nkly looked at Ning Yuxuan. She didn¡¯t dare to move.


    Did he really know about everything? Everything that she had done up to this point? How could that be? While it was true that he had gradually be more indifferent towards her after Nie Sangyu had taken the position of the main wife from her, he had clearly still been treating her very well. It was Nie Sangyu that had taken away his heart. So, how could it be her fault?!


    ¡°I know that you can¡¯t tolerate my existence anymore.¡± Wen Wan did her best to find her voice as she said, ¡°You fell in love with Nie Sangyu. You can just frankly admit that you fell in love with someone else. There¡¯s no need for you say that...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in love with her?¡± After a pause Ning Yuxuan chuckled and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er, </i>the rtionship I have with her isn¡¯t like our previous sensational romance. I hadn¡¯t even notice that I feel anything for her.¡±


    ¡°But now that I¡¯ve lost her for real, I feel like all of color has faded from my life.¡± He smiled and asked, ¡°Is that love?¡±


    Wen Wan was out of breath from crying so much. She opened her mouth wide and did her best to breath. ¡°You don¡¯t love... That¡¯s not love...¡±


    ¡°En, that¡¯s not love.¡± Ning Yuxuan slowly stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll continue to protect you for the rest of your life. Live the rest of your life in Qiangwei Courtyard. It can be counted as me not turning my back on the love that we once had for each other.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± Wen Wan was still crying as she toppled from the bed. Pulling on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve, she said, ¡°Yuxuan, I don¡¯t want to be alone for a life time. Why won¡¯t you even let me go?¡±


    ¡°You saw her.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at her. The gentleness in his gaze finally broke apart little by little until there was nothing left. ¡°She has to keep living, so you can¡¯t go out.¡±


    Her?


    Nie Sangyu?


    Wen Wan was bbergasted. A long timeter, she burst out in riotousugher.


    After a lot of hard work, she had finally snatched the man she loved from that group of women. But now, because of another woman, he was never going to let her see the sky again?


    What a wonderfully loving Marquis Moyu! Such a ruthless Ning Yuxuan!


    The sound of Wen Wan¡¯s mournfulughter passed through the walls and resonated through the entire estate. ¡°It was for her. It was actually for her!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan only quietly looked at her before lightly saying, ¡°Behave yourself.¡±


    Guibai had been waiting outside of Qiangwei Courtyard. Seeing his mastering out, he said, ¡°Master, your older cousin is here.¡±


    Right now, he wasn¡¯t in a good mood, but Ning Mingjie was the current Zhenyuan General. Even if they were rtives, it wouldn¡¯t be okay to slight him.

 Chapter 373 - Knowing everything (2)

    Chapter 373 ¨C Knowing everything (2)


    ¡°Go and inquire about Teacher Ji¡¯s situation. Come back and report the matter to meter.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Guibai acknowledged the order and left.


    It was only when Ning Yuxuan was alone that he let out a long sigh and started walking to the main hall.


    He had used tough at Ning Mingjie for being too sentimental and thought that that his cousin wouldn¡¯t be able bear the responsibilities of an important position. But, as is turned out, it was his household that was an embarrassing mess.


    Ning Mingjie had brought Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> along.


    Right after Ning Yuxuan stepped into the main hall and had barely finished exchanged greetings, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> announced that she wanted to go look for Liu-<i>shi</i> and have a chat with her.


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> took a servant girl with her as she went to the inner court. Just as she was going to head over to Linghan Courtyard, she heard the sound of wailing from close by.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that sounding from where Wan-<i>er</i> lives?¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> raised her eyebrows. ¡°What happened?¡±


    The servant girl that was leading the way said in a quiet voice, ¡°The marquis has already ordered that no one can go near Qiangwei Courtyard. It¡¯s only Mistress Wan and Tanxiang inside that courtyard.¡±


    Confinement? Kangyuan was very shocked. Didn¡¯t everyone say that Miss Wan-<i>er</i> was the marquis¡¯s beloved? Why was she being confined?


    The servant girl leading the way had been in the estate for a long time, so she knowingly mumbled, ¡°It¡¯s not like this is the first time. How many times has she been demoted or sent to the other estate? Doesn¡¯t she stille back eventually?¡±


    As Kangyuan <i>Junzhu </i>headed over to Liu Hanyun¡¯s ce, she mused. There weren¡¯t many people left in the marquis¡¯s inner court. No matter how many times Wen Wan rose and fell, in the end, Marquis Moyu still hadn¡¯t abandoned her. This had to be true love.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t mind that Qian Yingchen seemed to find her increasingly dislikable and had been very strict during the weighing of the tribute rice. She hadn¡¯t been serious about cutting corners with the tribute rice. After all, this was the first year, so she wanted the rice to be as good as possible.


    After Ji Man put everything to order, the tribute rice from Ji Store finally entered the pce safely.


    Yan Buba was smiling so big that his eyes almost disappeared. As he held the deed for a newly purchased ce, he said, ¡°Boss, it¡¯ll be easier for us to do business in the future. The tribute rice came from this store, and we¡¯re not selling the rice that much higher than other stores. If you open more stores, the rice shops of other families would probably go out of business.¡±


    She had purchased several granaries, and the road to Zhangjun had been built quickly, so rice was naturally being transported very quickly from Zhangjun to the capital. She was also familiar with the people in the Ministry of Revenue. Ji Man was on the verge of marrying Zhu Yurun. Even if the other rich merchant families wanted to take her down, Ji Man¡¯s position was too steady and stable for them to seed.


    ¡ª


    The day of the two weddings quickly arrived. There were festive decorations hanged up in Qian Residence as well as in Zhu Residence. Ji Man sighed as she looked at the wedding clothes that she was waring. Was there something wrong with Qian Yingchen? It had already been four days. Had he still not figured things out yet?


    Zhu Yurun was wearing a crimson wedding dress. She looked very ufortable as she looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to marry...¡±


    Ji Man smiled as shefortingly said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. There¡¯s still time for things to turn around.¡±


    But, how could things turn around for the better? Qian Yingchen had already mounted a horse and went to Peng Residence to escort his bride home. It was said to be a spectacr sight.


    There hadn¡¯t beenplicated etiquette that had to be observed at Zhu Residence. Since Zhu Yurun¡¯s reputation was in tatters, Assistant Minister Zhu had agreed to Ji Man¡¯s request for a simple wedding.


    No matter how simple the ceremony was, Zhu Yurun still needed to be brought to the sedan chair. Ji Man sighed, carried Zhu Yurun on her back, and ced her down in the sedan chair.


    She almost broke her old back by doing this.


    The processions for the two families happened to pass by each on a road. However, the procession for Qian household was a sea of red. Although Ji Man¡¯s side also had honor guards, it wasn¡¯t nearly as magnificent.


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s servant girl, Zhuer felt furious.


    Zhu Yurun was quietly sitting in the sedan chair. When she heard the ceremonial music that floated inside as the two sides passed each other, she finally gave up.


    In the end, their fated encounter hadn¡¯t worked out. One misstep by her, and there was no way to go back and fix things.


    Outside, a matron of honor shouted, ¡°Hey!¡± The marriage sedan for Qian Yingchen¡¯s side suddenly stopped. From inside the sedan chair, a trembling voice said, ¡°A-Almost.¡±


    Qian Yingchen stopped and turned his head to look. Ji Man also turned her head to look in that direction out of curiosity.


    Both of the wedding processions had halted. A bride came out of the sedan chair and trembled as she took off her wedding veil. ¡°Here should be good enough... Miss has probably already gone far enough. This servant... this servant can¡¯t enter Qian Residence.¡±


    Everyone was stunned. When they carefully looked at that face, they realized that the bride was actually Miss Peng¡¯s personal servant girl!


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression sunk. He got off the horse and walked to that servant girl. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Miss... She doesn¡¯t want to get married.¡± The trembling servant girl had already knelt down. ¡°Sir Qian, please be merciful and spare this servant.¡±


    When Zhu Yurun heard these words while inside the sedan chair, she was overjoyed.


    The youngdy from Peng n had been very unwilling to get married to begin with. Knowing that her family would force her onto a marriage sedan, she had run away! What a huge joke. Ji Man guessed that the youngdy hadn¡¯t thought about the consequences of her actions. Anyways, Marquis Moyu¡¯s scheming could be considered a waste.


    But, there was another person that gave even less consideration to the consequences of her actions. Zhu Yurun happily came down from her sedan chair. With one hand holding onto her veil so that her head stayed covered, she skipped over to the other line, nudged that servant girl aside, and sat down inside the other marriage sedan. ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t have a bride anymore. You might as well marry me so that this wedding won¡¯t be wasted.¡±


    Oh my god, Ji Man facepalmed. That girl was totally not caring about the wedding that was happening over here!

 Chapter 374 - System Notification: Your white lotus has been upgraded (1)

    Chapter 374 ¨C System Notification: Your white lotus has been upgraded (1)


    Ji Man had seen things going wrong during wedding ceremonies, but never like this. Although she was actually delighted to see Zhu Yurun rushing over to Qian Yingchen¡¯s side of the procession, she had to y out the role of someone that was infuriated and horrified that had his bride had been stolen.


    Ji Man dismounted from her horse. Before Qian Yingchen had time to react, she had already walked over and shoved him. ¡°Sir Qian, what do you mean by this?¡±


    Her stance looked as if she was about to fight with a hooligan.


    Qian Yingchen retreated half a step. His brow was furrowed as he looked Ji Man, ¡°Miss Zhu is doing this of her volition. This has nothing to do with this one. Brother Ji, why are you angry with this one?¡±


    ¡°Fine, then I¡¯ll take her away.¡± With her chin raised, Ji Man stretched her hand out and was about to pull Zhu Yurun down.


    Of course, Zhu Yurun stubbornly refused to move. Clinging to the side of the sedan chair, she eximed as if this was a matter of life and death, ¡°I like this sedan!¡±


    A crowd had gathered to watch this spectacle. Qian Yingchen was on the verge of losing hisposure. ¡°Stop messing around!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Zhu Yurun stretched her head out and said, ¡°You owe me a child! No matter what, it won¡¯t end until I getpensation.¡±


    There was uproar in the crowd. Miss Zhu¡¯s words and actions were really too shocking. Qian Yingchen¡¯s face was slightly red, and he somewhat helplessly looked at Ji Man.


    Acting as if she was deeply heartbroken, Ji Man asked, ¡°Miss Zhu, are you not willing to marry this one?¡±


    Zhu Yurun bit her lip. The voice that came out from underneath the veil sounded sulky. ¡°Older Brother Man, you¡¯re a good person, but I still like him and can¡¯t forget about him. I can¡¯t marry someone else.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was stunned.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay that this person doesn¡¯t like you?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°There are lots of arranged marriages. At least I can marry someone that I like. Isn¡¯t that already fortunate enough?¡± Zhu Yurun lightly pushed the sedan chair and said, ¡°Older brother Man, please support us!¡±


    The gathered people sighed. A lot of people looked at Ji Man sympathetically.


    Ji Man let out a long sigh. She looked at Qian Yingchen said, ¡°Today, Sir Qian snatched Miss Zhu from this one¡¯s marriage sedan. If you don¡¯t cherish her in the future, this one won¡¯t let you off even if this one is only a meremoner!¡±


    Qian Yingchen was at aplete loss. How did it be him snatching her?


    ¡°Raise the sedan!¡± Ji Man shouted. Frightened, the nearby porters shakily followed themand. When the matchmaker saw this sight, for the sake of her bonuster, she hastily urged Qian Yingchen back onto his horse.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a lucky day, and it¡¯s about time anyways. Hurry, let¡¯s head over to Qian Residence andplete the wedding ceremony.¡±


    With a moring sound, the grandiose procession for escorting the bride to the groom¡¯s home resumed. They squeezed past the crowd as they headed towards Qian Residence.


    Qian Yingchen was nkly riding his horse for a long time. By the time he returned to his senses, they had already arrived at Qian Residence.


    After Ji Man happily paid the members of the procession, she returned to her newly purchased home. She ordered a servant to take down the festive decorations, then she changed her clothes and went to Qian Residence to attend the wedding reception.


    No one had ever seen a person being so calm after having his bride snatched away on the wedding day.


    Although Ji Man continued to appear very heartbroken, her act didn¡¯t really fool anyone.


    Even when Qian Yingchen looked at Ji Man from a distance, he could tell that this person was actually somewhat rejoicing over Zhu Yurun¡¯s action in jumping to another marriage sedan. He thought that this person had truly only agreed to marry Zhu Yurun for his own selfish benefit.


    ¡ª


    After the bowing part of the ceremony had beenpleted earlier, the bride was sent to the bridal chamber.


    Zhuer was currently standing by her side and protesting, ¡°Miss, why are you being so foolish? Sir Qian doesn¡¯t have you in his heart. Why are you still so happy about marrying him?¡±


    Zhu Yurun was sneakily gnawing an apple underneath her wedding veil, so her words weren¡¯t clear as she answered, ¡°Because I want to life my life with him. It¡¯s painful to live life if there¡¯s something forever stuck in my heart. I did feel resentment towards him, but resenting him won¡¯t get me anything, so I decided to give up on those negative feelings.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t she being too broadminded? Zhuer expressed that she couldn¡¯t understand, ¡°Sir Qian didn¡¯t want to marry you at the start.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Zhu Yurun quietly said, ¡°Still, it¡¯ll be better to marry him than older brother Man. I can¡¯t drag older brother Man down for a lifetime.¡±


    After saying this, she couldn¡¯t resist quietly mumbling, ¡°Should it be older brother Man, or older sister Man?¡±


    Zhuer didn¡¯t clearly hear thest part of her question. She grumbled, ¡± This servant still think that Sir Qian won¡¯t treat Miss well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay.¡± Zhu Yurun tossed the apple core. ¡°No matter how much he dislikes me, he still officially married me. It was because of him that other people cursed at me. Now that I¡¯ve tied the knot with him, other people won¡¯t have standing to continue cursing. They won¡¯t be able to say bad things about my dad and older brother anymore.¡±


    Zhuer was slightly shocked.


    Zhu Yurun also thought that her tone had been a bit too excessive. She went back to smiling and said, ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll have to find the time to thank older brother Manter.¡±


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t need Zhu Yurun¡¯s thanks.


    After finding out that the marriage had fizzled out, Assistant Minister called Ji Man over. Extremely embarrassed, he asked Ji Man, ¡°Do you have any other unfilled aspirations?¡±


    This person had been willing to marry his daughter after everything that she had done. Ji Man had never broken off his promise to marry her. It was his daughter that ended up running off after already sitting down in the marriage sedan. Assistant Minister Zhu felt extremely apologetic towards Ji Man and didn¡¯t know how topensate him.


    ¡°Sir Zhu, don¡¯t worry.¡± Ji Man wryly smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s alright. This one and Miss Zhu simply weren¡¯t fated to be together.¡±


    ¡°Ah...¡± Assistant Minister Zhu patted Ji Man¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°If you ever need help in the future, this old man will definitely help you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Sir.¡± Ji Man deeply bowed.


    Ji Man greatly admired Sir Zhu¡¯s character. He was a good person that had a strong sense of paternal love.


    Trantor Ramblings: Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen are both victims, but I don¡¯t think it would be fair for Qian Yingchen to be bamboozled into marry Zhu Yurun just because she¡¯s in love with him. If Zhu Yurun¡¯s real reason in wanting to marry Qian Yingchen is because she wants to fix the reputations of her family members that had been tarnished by association instead of being crazy in love with him, I like that reason a lot more.

 Chapter 375 - System Notification: Your white lotus has been upgraded (2)

    Chapter 375 ¨C System Notification: Your white lotus has been upgraded (2)


    On Marquis Moyu¡¯s side, there were mixed feelings about the unsessful wedding. Grand Tutor Peng had personally paid a visit to offer his apologies. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t have anything good to say. The rtionship between the two sides would just be a bit awkward. However, Ning Yuxuan had still sighed in relief when he found out that Ji Man hadn¡¯t been able to marry Zhu Yurun,


    For now, he wouldn¡¯t concern himself with what was happening over at Qian Residence. Once he found some free time, he went to look for Ji Man.


    ¡ª


    Ji Store¡¯s rice business was growing rapidly. Ji Man had confidence that after a year, she would be able to gainplete control over the cost of food in the capital. She had a solid rtionship with the Ministry of Revenue as well as a talented store manager like Yan Buba. Ji Man felt that she could sleep without worries for a long period of time.


    As for Ning Yuxuan, once Ji Man found out that he had chosen to confine Wen Wan within his estate, she no longer wanted to see him. And so, no matter where Ning Yuxuan went to stop her for a talk, he was unsessful.


    Thissted until she received the news that the marquis¡¯s honored concubine had hanged herself.


    Ji Man felt a bit frightened. Wen Wanmitted suicide? Although the original story was a stupid romance novel, wasn¡¯t there aw that the female lead couldn¡¯t die? If Wen Wan¡¯s story ended like this, what would happen to her?


    Was it time for a grand finale in this story? What would be of her then?


    Not having the time to worry about anything else, Ji Man rushed to the marquis¡¯s estate. The servants at the entrance were originally going to stop her from her entering, but Liu Hanyun happened to be waiting at the entrance for Marquis Moyu. Seeing that it was Ji Man, she let her in.


    ¡°Madam...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Madam. Sir Ji will suffice. ¡±Ji Man hastily walked. Her mood was veryplicated as she asked, ¡°How¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°She was saved from death, but she remains unconscious.¡± Liu Hanyun furrowed her brow as she said, ¡°She was immediately rescued down when she tried to hang herself, so I don¡¯t know why she¡¯s still unconscious and saying nonsensical words in her sleep. I¡¯ve already sent a servant to inform the marquis.¡±


    Still alive? Ji Man let out a long exhtion of relief and hurriedly continued walking to Wen Wan¡¯s room to check for herself. She had originally wanted this woman to simply die, but if Wen Wan died like this, wouldn¡¯t that be letting her off too easily?


    Wen Wan was d entirely in white as if she was dressed in burial clothes. Her face was also thoroughly white with only her veins showing color. She was mumbling something.


    The doctor was already putting away his tools on the side. Seeing Liu Hanyun, he reported again, ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with Mistress Wan. She¡¯ll be fine after waking up.¡±


    Liu Hanyun nodded. Ji Man sat down by Wen Wan¡¯s bedside.


    ¡°Save me...¡± Wen Wan seemed to be having a nightmare. Ji Man stared at her for a while in puzzlement.


    Why would a person that tried to hang herself be calling out to be rescued? Was this supposed to be a joke?


    ¡°Don¡¯t...¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t clearly hear the rest of Wen Wan¡¯s words. Furrowing her brow, she couldn¡¯t resist the impulse of getting closer. To her surprise, Wen Wan suddenly opened her eyes. Faced with Wen Wan¡¯s empty gaze, Ji Man almost fell over in rm.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± Wen Wan vacantly stared at the canopy of her bed for a long time before turning her head to look at Ji Man and Liu Hanyun.


    While Liu Hanyun was still recovering from her surprise, the nearby crying Tanxiang had already rushed over. ¡°Master, why had you acted so foolishly?¡±


    Wen Wan had a nk expression as she looked at Tanxiang, then she dropped a bombshell question. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Everyone in the room was dumbfounded.


    Liu Hanyun was the first to recover. Frowning as she touched Wen Wan¡¯s forehead, she confirmed that her temperature was normal. ¡°Have you forgotten who we are?¡±


    Wen Wan furrowed her brow and swept her gaze over the room¡¯s upants. ¡°I don¡¯t remember. Where am I? What did I do?¡±


    For a moment, Ji Man felt suspicious that Wen Wan was only pretending to have amnesia. But no, Wen Wan didn¡¯t have the IQ to put on such a good act. When their gazes met, there was only unfamiliarity. It seemed that Wen Wan had really lost her memory.


    Marquis Moyu had also returned. As soon as he stepped into Wen Wan¡¯s room, Wen Wan nkly looked at him without averting her gaze. ¡°Who is he?¡±


    ¡°Master, he¡¯s the marquis!¡± Tanxiang¡¯s eyes were red from crying too much. ¡°Have you really forgotten everything?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan walked over. He looked at Ji Man in surprise before looking at Wen Wan and saying, ¡°Why are you causing trouble?¡±


    ¡°I?¡± Wen Wan had a dimwitted expression. She was still unable to speak properly.*


    * (T/N: She should be referring to herself as Wan-<i>er</i> or this servant when speaking to Ning Yuxuan.)


    The doctor that had been about to leave the estate was brought back. After checking Wen Wan over again, the doctor could only offer a guess. ¡°It¡¯s probably because she suffered too much shock and has temporary amnesia.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned for a long time before he pointed at Ji Man and asked Wen Wan, ¡°Who is he£¿¡±


    Wen Wan continued to show a nk expression.


    No one knew what do. Ji Man seriously scrutinized Wen Wan for a long time before standing up and saying, ¡°It was rude and inappropriate of this one toe here. This one will bid my farewell now.¡±


    ¡°Stop.¡± Marquis Moyu furrowed his brow. ¡°Since you¡¯re here already, why are you in such a rush to leaving?¡±


    She had onlye here to see if the female lead had died or not. Since Wen Wan hadn¡¯t died, it was naturally time for her to leave. Was she supposed to stay and watch the show? Ji Man good-naturedly turned around and answered, ¡°My rice business has been hectictely. This one has to get back to it.¡±


    ¡°I went to the pce and saw Haohao today.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°You don¡¯t want to stay and chat with me for a bit?¡±


    Ji Man had wanted to firmly fling down the words, ¡°don¡¯t want to¡±, then immediately leave.


    However, when she heard him mentioning Haohao, she weakened. She saluted with her hands and obediently said, ¡°This one is willing to listen to whatever the marquis wants to say.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression eased. As he led her out of the room, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the western courtyard. It¡¯s not convenient to talk here.¡±

 Chapter 376 - Always working towards a goal (1)

    Chapter 376 ¨C Always working towards a goal (1)


    Ji Man obediently followed Ning Yuxuan out, and Wen Wan was left for Liu Hanyun to handle.


    ¡°The empress likes Haohao a lot.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about him too much.¡±


    The empress and the new emperor hadn¡¯t had a child yet. Although the fourth prince lived in the pce too, the new emperor didn¡¯t care about him. Therefore, the pce became much more livelier after the addition of a young child. Knowing that Haohao was Nie Sangyu¡¯s biological son, Pengyue felt slightly closer to him. In addition, the new emperor had personally bestowed a new name to Haohao, so Haohao¡¯s life in the pce was pretty good.


    However, as Ji Man listened to Ning Yuxuan talk, her brow never rxed. No matter how nicely it was framed, her son was still a hostage in the pce. She was always worrying that at any moment the emperor could be unhappy with Marquis Moyu or if he wanted to force him do something. When that happened, Haohao would be the first person to suffer. But, right now, she was only a wealthy rice merchant. She didn¡¯t have the power to oppose the emperor.


    Although Marquis Moyu had sufficient power, he was loyal to the emperor. He was the type to obediently surrender without putting up a struggle. He couldn¡¯t even bepared to her. Ji Man sighed. Men weren¡¯t reliable. She had to depend on herself.


    Although she knew the answer would be no, Ji Man still asked, ¡°Can I enter the pce to see him?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan shook his head without even considering. ¡°You should prioritize on hiding yourself well. You shouldn¡¯t even frequentlye here, much less think about entering the pce. If somethinges up, I¡¯ll go look for you.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her gaze and dully agreed. Unless it was something rted to Haohao, she really didn¡¯t want to see Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡ª


    After Wen Wan woke up from the suicide attempt, she passed the next several days quietly without any fuss. It seemed that she had genuinely lost her memory, and even needed Tanxiang to frequently remind her who was who and what to do next. Although she would asionally get headaches, she said that she still didn¡¯t remember any old memories.


    And so, Ji Man didn¡¯t bother continuing paying attention to news about Wen Wan anymore. Regardless of whether or not Wen Wan actually had amnesia, she was still confined. If Marquis Moyu ever let Wen Wan out one day, she would reconsider the matter. However, the likelihood of that happening was extremely small.


    Just as Ji Man was feeling happy that her rice business was expanding its storefronts and bing a well-known brand in the capital, a mishap urred.


    Someone had gotten sick from eating Ji Store¡¯s rice and died. That person¡¯s family members filed awsuit against Ji Store. This was followed by manymoners iming in session that there was a problem with Ji Store¡¯s rice.


    What nonsense. Ji Man was eating the same rice too. How could someone die from eating this rice? It was obvious that someone was jealous about Ji Store¡¯s sess and was trying underhanded tricks.


    After Ji Man had run off thosemoner families and obtained evidence, she secretly invited a local judicial official for a meal. Afterwards, the local judicial official weighed the money tucked away in his sleeve and smiled as he said to leave this matter in his hands.


    However, on the day of the trial, the local judicial official for the case was switched to a different person. The new person ordered people to thoroughly investigate Ji Store¡¯s rice. Because this store had provided the tribute rice, he said this matter had to be reported to the officials in the pce as well.


    If a big deal was made out of this matter, it definitely wouldn¡¯t be good for Ji Store. While Ji Man was gritting her teeth over the change in events, several rice merchants that had stores nearby came over to watch the fuss. They were smiling as they took turns tofortingly say words like, ¡°A person with a clean conscience doesn¡¯t fear false usations. As long as there¡¯s nothing wrong with Ji Store¡¯s rice, there¡¯s no reason for you to worry about being investigated.¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter if there wasn¡¯t anything wrong with rice or not. It would be bad publicity for arge number of officials to go over and investigate her rice stores. Ji Man looked at the judicial official that was presiding over the case and decisively sent someone to notify Assistant Minister Zhu about this matter.


    Since Assistant Minister Zhu had been the one to rmend Ji Store¡¯s rice as the tribute rice, if a problem arose over Ji Store¡¯s rice, Assistant Minister Zhu would naturally be med too. And so, as soon Zhu Shuyou heard this news, he sent Qian Yingchen over to check on the matter.


    As the director responsible for the money and rice given as tribute and tax, Qian Yingchen had a ck expression as he headed over to the local judicial court. He didn¡¯t look at the people that were about to head out to check. Instead, he went straight to the local judicial official and whispered something into his ear.


    Afterwards, the official ordered his subordinates, ¡°Go and bring back two bags of rice and check the rice that way.¡±


    Ji Man slightly rxed.


    When she brought those people to her rice store, Yan Buba calcted something on his abacus and said, ¡°We probably won¡¯t be able to get back the two bags of rice if they¡¯re taken for investigation. That¡¯ll be a loss of one tael and six coins.¡± After saying this, he selected two bags of good rice for them to take back and check.


    It would take a while to investigate the results, so the judicial official said the trial would be continued tomorrow.


    Ji Man waved at the rice merchants that hade over to watch the show and said, ¡°Shopkeeper Liu, Shopkeeper Rong, don¡¯t leave yet.¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu turned around and said with a smile, ¡°Ji Store is facing trouble, but we have no way of helping out. Isn¡¯t it for the best if we leave first?¡±


    Shopkeeper Rong nodded and parroted, ¡°Proprietor Ji, you¡¯ll be busy handling your troubles.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a big deal.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the two of you in a while. Since I have some free time today, how about we go to Luoyan Pagoda together? What do you think?¡±


    Liu Store and Rong Store had originally been the two biggest rice businesses, and they used to get along like fire and water. But then, Ji Store had appeared in between them. It hadn¡¯t been a big deal when they had chosen to support Ji Store in order to hinder each other. It was only after Ji Store had been the one chosen for supplying the tribute rice, and its business continued to flourish that these two sides became displeased, especially because Ji Man was the current head of the rice merchant association.


    When faced with a mutual enemy, the previous enemy became a friend.


    And so, Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong were united in their desire to see Ji Store¡¯s embarrassment. Ji Store¡¯s owner was merely a weak and gentle schr. Although he had a good character, he didn¡¯t have a threatening presence. Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong thought it over. What was the harm in epting the invitation and going over there for a meal?

 Chapter 377 - Always working towards a goal (2)

    Chapter 377 ¨C Always working towards a goal (2)


    Although the case had been pushed to tomorrow, the other shopkeepers were sure that Ji Store would suffer damage. They had already put everything into order so that the local judicial official wouldn¡¯t let Ji Man off easily.


    Ji Man¡¯s attitude was very good as she invited them to Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s top level. It was about time for dinner, and there was no shortage of luxurious dishes on the tables. Seeing this sight, everyone though that Ji Store¡¯s owner was truly very generous.


    ¡°Why is there still an empty seat? Will someone be joining uster?¡± Liu Shopkeeper curiously asked.


    Ji Man smiled and looked towards the staircase.


    Everyone followed Ji Man¡¯s gaze and was stunned by what they saw. Thest guest was actually the Assistant Minister of Revenue, Sir Zhu.


    Wasn¡¯t there gossip that the engagement between Ji Man and Miss Zhu had ended in failure? Why had Assistant Minister Zhu stille here?


    ¡°Sir Zhu.¡± Ji Man was smiling as she approached him. She courteously saluted with her hands and said, ¡°This one is very grateful that Sir Zhu has honored us with your presence.¡±


    Zhu Shuyou amicably smiled. He patted Ji Man shoulder and said, ¡°How could I possibly turn down a dinner invitation from you?¡±


    Everyone felt nervous when they heard these words. They had assumed that since the marriage between the two families wasn¡¯t sessful, there would no longer be any connection between them. So then, why was Sir Zhu still treating Ji Man so cordially?


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    It was because Ji Man knew how to conduct herself well. Although the marriage had fizzled out, Ji Man still went over to Zhu Residence several times because of Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s guilty conscience. If she had a good rtionship with the people at the top, how could the people at the bottom seed in causing trouble for her?


    Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong wanted to seize this opportunity to get closer to Assistant Minister Zhu. They regretted on being too hasty today and not taking out a few pieces of their family heirlooms. They could only cautiously offer toasts from the side.


    To their surprise, Assistant Minister Zhu kept chatting with Ji Man. The two of them were sitting next each other and ignoring the rest of people sitting at the table. They were going back and forth with toasting as if they were close friends despite the difference in age. The nearby shopkeepers could only apany them with forcedughter.


    ¡°Oh, how did we end up forgetting every else?¡± Ji Man smiled as she said, ¡°Come on, let¡¯s all drink together.¡±


    ¡°Ah right, let¡¯s all drink...¡±


    The smiles on other shopkeepers¡¯ faces were stiffening. Watching Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s extremely jovial mannerism that was only directed towards Ji Man, the other shopkeepers felt shock and vexation.


    ¡ª


    Assistant Minister Zhu was pretty efficient at handling problems. The next day, the judicial official in charge of the case was returned to the original one. The original official announced that no issues were found with Ji Store¡¯s rice during the investigation and that those other people had gotten sick from eating other things. There was no connection between their sickness and Ji Store.


    Ji Man let out a long sigh of relief. Not only did she sent over generous gifts to Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s home, she also sent over two beautiful dresses to Zhu Yurun.


    As a result, Zhu Yurun paid her a visit before two days had even passed since the gifts were sent. Wearing her new dress, she bounced over to Ji Man and greeted, ¡°Older brother Man... Ah, no that¡¯s wrong. It should be Mister Ji!¡±


    Seeing her bright, shining eyes, Ji Man though that Zhu Yurun¡¯s life must be going well. Ji Man walked out of the rice shop and brought her to Fuman to eat snacks. ¡°Miss Zhu, why do you have the free time to visit this one?¡±


    ¡°I just paid a visit to my maiden home, so I came over to see to see how you¡¯re doing in the passing.¡± Zhu Yurun blinked. Her gaze inadvertently fell on Ji Man¡¯s earlobe. She was stunned for a brief moment, then she asked with a grin, ¡°Mister Ji, is your life much better now that you don¡¯t have to marry Yurun?¡±


    ¡°Miss Zhu, why would you say such a thing?¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°This one is just a lonely bachelor...¡±


    The two of them were currently in a private room, and Zhuer was waiting outside. Zhu Yurun couldn¡¯t suppress her curiosity, so she directly asked, ¡°Mister Ji, you said you were impotent. But, are you really impotent, or is it because you¡¯re not actually a man?¡±


    Ji Man spluttered and crumbs of osmanthus cake sprayed out of her mouth. She looked at Zhu Yurun in astonishment. ¡°How...¡± did you know?


    Although Zhu Yurun was a bit foolish, she was also an especially meticulous person. Seeing Ji Man¡¯s flustered response, she knew the answer to her question. She hurriedly said in quiet voice, ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone. I was just feeling curious.¡±


    Ji Man cleared her throat and stressed, ¡°I¡¯m a man.¡±


    Zhu Yurun swept her gaze over Ji Man¡¯s neck and nodded. ¡°Sure. So, why are you cross-dressing?¡±


    ¡°... I¡¯ve already said I¡¯m a man. I¡¯m not cross-dressing.¡± Ji Man¡¯s face was slightly red. So many clever people hadn¡¯t been able to tell. Instead, it had been this stupid and foolish chubby girl that saw through her disguise. She felt like a skilled martial artist that was defeated by someone that sold pork. What a crappy feeling!


    ¡°Uh-huh, sure.¡± Zhu Yurun continued to look at her like a curious baby.


    Ji Man gave up. ¡°It¡¯s naturally easier to move around as a man. I have something that I want to do.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like that.¡± Zhu Yurun nodded her head as if she suddenly understood something, but then she showed a very confused expression as she asked, ¡°What big thing can a woman want to do? Since I¡¯ve married into the Qian household, I don¡¯t feel like I have anything that I need to do.¡±


    Speechless for a moment, Ji Man looked at her before asking, ¡°Does Sir Qian treat you very well?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Has his view of you started to change?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Has the servants and minor concubines in his household acknowledged you?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Zhu Yurun heartilyughed. ¡°I didn¡¯t even think about all those things before you asked me. So, there¡¯s still a lot of stuff left for me to do.¡±


    Ji Man could only roll her eyes. ¡°You should find a goal for yourself to work towards, that way you won¡¯t feel so bored.¡±


    Zhu Yurun drylyughed and said, ¡°I already feel lucky that I could marry him. There¡¯s nothing else that I want. What should I do?¡±


    Ji Man was dumbstruck.

 Chapter 378 - Grain War (1)

    Chapter 378 ¨C Grain War (1)


    How could it be possible to not want anything else? If she were to use herself as example, she wanted to get revenge for Nie Sangyu and her father. After that was aplished, she wanted to figure out a way to return to modern-day and find a partner to have a lifelong steadfast rtionship.


    It was obvious to her that Zhu Yurun was in an awful situation. And yet, Zhu Yurun had just said that there was nothing else that she wanted.


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t understand her viewpoint, but as she looked at the happy smile on the chubby girl¡¯s face, she felt somewhat envious of her. Skills and tricks could be learned, but it wasn¡¯t possible to learn how to be broad-minded. Some people were naturally tolerant and generous, that was also a type of blessing too.


    It was a pity that she was the type of petty person who would report the tiniest w and didn¡¯t think it was excessive to hold a grudge for over a decade. Although she couldn¡¯t rte to Zhu Yurun¡¯s type of happiness, she wished her well.


    However, she didn¡¯t believe that it was possible to reap without sowing in this world. It was just like how she didn¡¯t believe in those light novels where arge number of people would like the female lead even though she hadn¡¯t done anything to deserve their affection. Not only that, the setting of the world would always grant the female lead lucky encounters the entire way.


    ¡°I almost forgot. I came over here to tell you something that I heard from eavesdropping outside of my dad¡¯s study,¡± Zhu Yurun said, ¡°I wanted to give you advance notice on what I heard as a way to thank you for the dresses that you gave me.¡±


    Ji Man was slightly curious as she asked, ¡°What were they talking about?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t understand the details, but anyways there¡¯s a drought in Jiangbei Region, so there might be a bad harvest in theing year, and they¡¯re nning on collecting the agricultural tax that¡¯s paid in grains earlier.¡± Zhu Yurun smiled and said, ¡°Anyways, the people selling grains are definitely going to earn a profit from this.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart skipped a beat in rm. This silly girl, how could she eavesdrop on ssified information and thene out and tell her about it?


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you a bit of good news in advance. I was hoping you would be cheered up after you found out.¡± Zhu Yurun continued to smile. ¡°I keep feeling that I owe you something.¡±


    Just as Ji Man was going to say that she didn¡¯t owe her anything, the young woman seemed as if she was in her own world as she continued to say, ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m not worried anymore now that I know for sure you¡¯re a woman.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a man.¡± Ji Man had to emphatically refute again.


    Zhu Yurun giggled. She swept her gaze over the snacks on the table and ate her fill before leaving. As she was leaving, she said, ¡°I won¡¯t tell anyone else.¡±


    If it was anyone else, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t be so easily reassured. However, Ji Man simply shook her head and let this chubby, young woman go. Zhu Yurun was a steadfast, young woman. Once she promised something, she definitely wouldn¡¯t go back on her word.


    After returning to her rice shop, Ji Man called Yan Buba over for a private discussion. ¡°I heard that the imperial court is going to collect the agricultural tax in advance.¡±


    The people in the official court were quite ruthless. By collecting the agricultural tax earlier, it would be themonfolk that would suffer when there was a shortage of grain in theing year. Since ancient times, grain yed an important role. This was the reason why Ji Man had put aside her high profit business and started selling rice.


    ¡°Boss, where did you hear this news?¡± Yan Buba curiously asked¡£


    ¡°Don¡¯t concern yourself with how I got this news. The important thing right now is to figure out a way to deal with this,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°The imperial courts is going to store up on grain by collecting the agricultural tax earlier. What that timeses up, it could cause problems to the major rice merchants. Even if we¡¯re only doing this protect ourselves instead of themonfolk, we need to figure out a n for how to deal with this.¡±


    Yan Buba fiddled with his abacus for a while before looking at Ji Man with shining eyes and saying, ¡°This one has an idea, but it¡¯ll require a significant investment. Boss, would you be interested?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡± Ji Man looked at him in curiosity.


    As Yan Buba quietly said his idea, he saw Ji Man¡¯s startled gaze. He especially brought over a piece of paper and recalcted the cost for Ji Man.


    As a result, Ji Man went to see Zhangjun Prince and knelt down in front of him.


    Zhao Zhe felt very curious as he listened to Ji Man¡¯s request. ¡°Why do you want so much grain? Do you even have a granary big enough to store it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, this one has already brought many granaries throughout the capital. There¡¯ll be plenty of space to store the grains.¡± Ji Man kowtowed and very respectfully said, ¡°With this move, this one isying the foundation for conquering the country for Your Highness.¡±


    Zhao Zhe chuckled. He thought that she was over exaggerating. ¡°I already have a vast territory that has abundant resources, including plentiful food. Even if you gain a monopoly over the capital¡¯s rice business, how could that possibly win over a country for me?¡±


    ¡°People view food as the primary need.¡± Ji Man said, ¡°It¡¯s true that Zhangjun produces the most food. As long as Your Highness believes in this one, this one will definitely open the capital¡¯s gate for Your Highness when the crucial momentes.¡±


    The smile on Zhangjun Prince¡¯s face was slowly put away. He was very serious as he looked at her and said, ¡°Do you not know that such a heavy burden can¡¯t be shouldered by a mere woman?¡±


    ¡°This one understands,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°This one isn¡¯t asking for Your Highness to have such high hopes. This one will purchase the grains with real money and is only asking for part of the grain to be sold on credit. The borrowed amount will be repaid in the following year. If this n fails, this one will take responsibility for the loss.¡±


    Zhao Zhe looked at the woman and only felt somewhat amused. He thought that she might be useful in curbing Marquis Moyu¡¯s movements at the critical moment, but she had actually said that she wanted to help him conquer the country. Zhao Zhe only felt incredulity and that this was beneath his dignity.


    The most ingrained belief of all the men in this era was that women weren¡¯t capable of achieving great things. Other than relying on men, what could a woman possibly do by herself?


    The road between Zhangjun and the capital was currently being built at a speed that was easily seen. He had already stayed here for a while, and it was about time for him to return to his fiefdom. Zhao Zhe was still hesitating over whether or not he should trust her. After all, she was asking for five hundred thousand bushels of grain. This was Zhanjun¡¯s total grain production for one year.


    Zhao Zhe thought for a long time before saying, ¡°Come back here in a few days and bring a reason that can persuade this prince to ept your request.¡±

 Chapter 379 - Grain War (2)

    Chapter 379 ¨C Grain War (2)


    Ji Man kowtowed and withdrew from the room in cold sweat. Yan Buba had already started to collect grain in the capital under the behalf of fictional rice businesses.


    While the imperial court was still in the nning process for collecting the grain, Ji Man¡¯s side had already started to take action. The cost of two and a half bushels of grain was around eight silver coins. Seemingly overnight, the entire supply of grain that was currently avable in the shops in the capital went into Ji Man¡¯s granaries. Calcting the amounts, this was as much grain as she could afford. In total, she had purchased 25,000 bushels of grain.


    However, after this sweeping purchase, the major rice business felt there was something strange going on. They didn¡¯t know why someone would buy such arge quality of rice. However, it was nevertheless good to see their rice being sold so quickly. Thus, they all restocked their stores with rice from their granaries, raised their prices, and continued selling.


    Themoners were unaware of what was going on. They only knew that when they woke up the next day, the cost of two and a half bushel of rice had risen up by a silver coin in all of the rice stores. After voicing theirints, they could only buy the rice at the higher cost to take home to eat.


    The cost of Ji Store¡¯s rice had also correspondingly increased. The proceeds for the sale of the tribute rice had been received. Using this profit along with this month¡¯s revenue, Yan Buba skillfully haggled with two major rice stores and was able to buy several thousand more bushels of rice at a lower cost. Ji Man even went to a bank and used the deeds for the granaries as coteral to borrow money up to the principal amounts. She continued with buying and selling more rice.


    Less than two dayster, the other rice merchants in the capital also started to stock up on their supply of rice. However, Ji Man had already emptied out most of their stock. Since Yan Buba had brought the rice on behalf of several different merchants, no one knew that it was really Ji Store that had collected the rice. They believed that the market price of rice was increasing because people were buying up the capital¡¯s rice to resell it somewhere else.


    As expected, an order soon came from the imperial court. Rice was to be collected from all of the nearby farming viges for a uniformed price of seven silver coins per two and half bushels.


    The farmers were very happy. Normally, they would only be able to sell their rice for five silver coins per two and a half bushels. Since the imperial court was willing to pay seven silver coins instead, why would they sell it to anyone else? And so, one after another, they sold their rice to the higher authorities.


    The merchants in the capital were bbergasted. If there wasn¡¯t any rice for them to buy, then how could they sell anything? Their inventory continued to dwindle as they sold their rice. The rice merchants watched as their estimated annual ie was shifted to an earlier time. They weren¡¯t sure if they should be happy or not.


    However, there was nowhere good to go for themoners. The cost of rice continued to increase in the rice stores. At the end, the price for two and a half bushels of rice actually went up to ten silver coins. Other than those rice shops, there wasn¡¯t anywhere else to buy rice. After adding in the cost of transportation fees, the cost of imported rice wasn¡¯t any cheaper.


    Ji Store didn¡¯t try anything special either. It simply matched the prices of the other rice shops, but since they had plenty in their inventory, there wouldn¡¯t be any shortages. As a result, its business continued to well. At the very end, when the other rice shops had to hang ups boards that said they were sold out, Ji Store still didn¡¯t run out of stock.


    ¡ª


    Let¡¯s rewind to several days after Ji Man¡¯s original meeting with Zhangjun Prince.


    Ji Man brought Yan Buba¡¯s written n with her when she went over and requested to see Zhangjun Prince.


    Seeing the drastic changes in the rice price during the past several days, Zhao Zhe had felt apprehensive. After he read Yan Buba¡¯s n and discussed the matter with Wu Yong for a while, he decided to lend Zhangjun¡¯s rice to Ji Man.


    ¡ª


    Zhangjun was considered a major rice producing territory that was nearest to the capital and had also been monopolized by someone. The rice merchants didn¡¯t have anyone to turn to acquire more rice. In the end, they could only grit their teeth and collectivelye to Ji Store to buy rice.


    Ji Man was holding up a cup of tea and staying silent as she looked at the representatives from five major rice shops s well as some small-time rice merchants.


    ¡°Ji Store has such an extensive ess to a supply of rice, and we¡¯re all members of the Rice Merchant Association. As the head of the association, Owner Ji, you should consider everyone¡¯s needs.¡± Shopkeeper Liu stepped forward and said, ¡°Now that there¡¯s a shortage in rice, and the price of rice continues to increase, we¡¯re just asking for Owner Ji¡¯s help in importing some rice from Zhangjun for us to sell.¡±


    If one person is enjoying a piece of meat by herself, do you think she¡¯s going to let others snatch it away from her?


    Ji Man slightly smiled as she put down her cup. Surprisingly, she very good-naturedly said, ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to supply enough rice for everyone to be able to sell it too. This is something that this one should do.¡±


    Ji Man looked at them as she said, ¡°Ji Store currently has 25,000 bushels of rice and can sell it to everyone at nine silver coins per two and half bushels.¡±


    Everyone looked at each other. Based on the previous price, nine silver coins per two and half bushels wasn¡¯t cheap, but it definitely wasn¡¯t too high either. In the future, the price of rice might go above ten silver coins.


    Ji Man changed her voice and tune as she continued. ¡°However, there¡¯s no such thing as a free lunch. Since this one is willing to hand over this supply and let everyone profit, shouldn¡¯t this one bepensated with something?¡±


    He had known that the matter wouldn¡¯t be so simply resolved. Shopkeeper Rong furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Owner Ji, you¡¯re a straightforward person. How about just telling everyone your conditions?¡±


    Ji Man was smiling as she said, ¡°I¡¯ll speak frankly. Ji Store can supply everyone with rice, however all the rice stores need to hand over their contracts with their tenant farmers. What do you think?¡±


    This was audaciously profiting from other people¡¯s misfortunes! Shopkeeper Liu pped the table and stood up. ¡°You want to monopolize the capital¡¯s entire rice supply. Isn¡¯t your appetite too big?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. She tapped the table with her fingers and calmly and leisurely said, ¡°This one merely wants to try a different way of selling rice. If you¡¯re willing to hand over your contracts with the tenant farmers, this one is willing to supply the rice at unit price of eight silver coins. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to agree. Su Province is rich in rice, you can just import the rice from there by yourselves.¡±

 Chapter 380 - Competing to death (1)

    Chapter 380 ¨C Competing to death (1)


    Importing rice from Su Province? The unit cost of two and a half bushel of imported rice would be over nine silver coins. How could there be any profit left after that? Although the shopkeepers from the major stores fell into silence, the small-time rice merchants didn¡¯t have so many misgivings. For them, they were operating on a shoestring budget. Whether they could earn arger profit or smaller one, it was fine as they long as they could earn money.


    A leader stepped forward for the small-time rice merchants. He looked at Ji Man as he said, ¡°Owner Ji, we collectively have agreements with several tens of farming families, but the terms of these agreements are only six months. Once this year passes, they¡¯ll have to be signed again. What do you think...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± Yan Buba, who had been standing behind Ji Man this entire time with an abacus, said, ¡°For every transfer of the short-term contracts, we¡¯llpensate you with two taels. If the contracts are renewed in the following years, we¡¯ll continue to pay two taels for every year.¡±


    These conditions could be considered very generous. Not only were they beingpensated for the loss of the residual contracts, they were also willing to sell their existing rice supply at a low cost. As the small-time rice merchants happily went over to look at the contracts, the remaining shopkeepers from the major rice stores looked at each other in dismay.


    Their contracts with the tenant farmers were how they got their supply of rice. If they handed their contracts to Ji Store, wouldn¡¯t Ji Store have absolute say over the price of rice in the future?


    How could they possible go along with this?


    But, right now, they had no rice. Their only other option was to close their stores until the imperial court stopped collecting rice. The collection order from the imperial court superseded the enforcement of their contracts. It would be impossible for the rice merchants to try to snatch rice from the imperial court.


    The remaining people were in a dilemma. After considering the options, Shopkeeper Liu saluted with his hands and said, ¡°This is a serious matter. Owner Ji, how about wee back on another day once we¡¯ve discussed the matter amongst ourselves?


    Shopkeeper Rong also saluted with his hands and chimed in, ¡°Yeah, we need to go back and have a thorough discussion.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t try to stop him. Smiling, she nodded. ¡°This one will look forward to everyone¡¯s future visit.¡±


    The shopkeepers from the major rice stores were wiping their sweat and whispering amongst themselves as they departed.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all work together and buy Ji Store¡¯s entire supply of rice?¡± Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s expression was slightly ruthless. ¡°How did we not notice that someone had been already been collecting rice? They probably knew about the imperial court¡¯s order in advance. Since the situation is already like this, we can¡¯t let ourselves be manipted and ordered about by Ji Store.¡±


    ¡°You want to buyout Ji Store¡¯s entire supply?¡± Shopkeeper Rong thought it over. ¡°Can we really afford to buy 25,000 bushels of rice together?¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu sneered. ¡°Shopkeeper Rong, let¡¯s not be so modest. We¡¯re all major rice merchants. We can easily buy more than 25,000 bushels of rice.¡±


    Shopkeeper Rong said with embarrassment, ¡°My spendthrift son went gambling, and I ended up owing a buttload of money. I really can¡¯t afford to take out that much money right now.¡±


    The shopkeeper next to him parroted, ¡°I recently settled my debts, so my money is stuck there. I normally don¡¯t have much liquid assets to begin with. I can¡¯t afford 25,000 bushels for rice.¡±


    A rice merchant usually only had a fraction of this amount in their inventory. If they had too much stock, they would risk the stock bing damaged before they could sell it all. Although Ji Store was able to import rice from Zhangjun, it definitely wouldn¡¯t have that much rice in its inventory. If they were able to buy out its entire stock, they would be the ones to manipte the food price and profit from the increase in price. It was definitely a better option than handing over their contracts.


    Once Ji Store no longer had its rice, how could itpete with them?


    After the shopkeepers discussed the idea amongst themselves, they agreed that it was feasible. To be on the safe side, they sent people to check on Ji Store¡¯s granaries. Outsiders only knew that Ji Store had 25,000 to 50,000 bushels of rice. Even if Ji Store was able to import more rice from Zhangjunter, they could always swallow that amount too.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was smiling as she hanged up the sign for the price of the rice. In only one day, the price of two and half bushels of rice had gone up from ten silver coins to twelve silver coins.


    Seeing the new price, Shopkeeper Rong couldn¡¯t resist angrily shouting, ¡°Why don¡¯t you just go out and rob people? How can you increase the initial price by so much?¡±


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t bothered by his attitude. Smiling, she said, ¡°Ah, shopkeepers, you¡¯re here again. Have you heard of thetest news yet?¡±


    Shopkeeper Liu furrowed his brow as he asked, ¡°What news?¡±


    ¡°A lot of ces suffered from either drought or floods this year. There¡¯s a lot of major production ces that barely have enough spring seedlings left,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°The rice will definitely be more expensive in the uing year. Shouldn¡¯t you all pay special attention to this matter and store up on rice?¡±


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t trying scaremongering. It really was true that there were natural disasters happening throughout the country. When Marquis Moyu hade over to drink tea yesterday, he had told her this. His words were even more reliable than Zhu Yurun¡¯s.


    Shopkeeper Liu felt apprehensive. Howe they hadn¡¯t been able to get any news of this matter? This had to be wrong, right? They had inquired about this matter with various local officials. If there was such news, they would have already been told about it.


    Looking at Ji Man¡¯s who seemed so sure of himself and didn¡¯t seem to be lying, the shopkeepers retreated. They wanted to ask about this news first.


    However, when they headed over to several local officials¡¯ homes, the local officials all said that they hadn¡¯t heard this news. The shopkeepers sneered. Ji Store was probably making up an excuse to raise up their prices. They might as well just contact the rice merchant association in Su Province and buy rice from there!


    With their minds set at ease, they returned home. A letter was written and sent to Su Province. However, when the letter was halfway there, the rice merchants heard news that Su Province as well as other ces like Jiangbei and Jiangnan were suffering from natural disasters that urred every ten years or so. The imperial court had been suppressing this news. It was only when the disced refuges arrived at the capital that the people in the capital found out that many farmers had be destitute and homeless.


    No wonder the imperial court had made such a big move in collecting the grain. Officials had even been sent to Zhangjun to collect rice from there as well. However, when they arrived, Zhangjun¡¯s granaries were empty. There wasn¡¯t anything the officials could do when Zhangjun Prince said his fiefdom didn¡¯t have any grain.


    Trantor Ramblings: I think Ji Man is sharing the news because she¡¯s deliberately trying to make the situation worse so that other people will start panicking sooner. Even though she¡¯s going to profit a bit by selling the rice merchants back their own grain at a marked up price, she¡¯s already said that her primary goal isn¡¯t to earn money.

 Chapter 381 - Competing to death (2)

    Chapter 381 ¨C Competing to death (2)


    Shopkeeper Rong couldn¡¯t continue to sit still. After considering the matter over, he took out banknotes and went to Ji Store.


    Smiling, Shopkeeper Rong asked, ¡°I want to buy 25,000 bushels of rice from you. Are you willing to sell it to me, Owner Ji?¡±


    Ji Man was slowly hanging up a signboard that said the unit price was now fourteen silver coins. Looking at him, she said, ¡°Shopkeeper Rong, are you buying this as a direct customer? The price won¡¯t be cheap then.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s alright!¡± Shopkeeper Rong clenched his jaw. Purchasing this rice would only bring him profit. He had already seen how the price of rice had rapidly increased day after day. Even themoners knew by now that they had to store up on rice. As a merchant, how could he not be aware of this importance?


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man was smiling as she pped her hands. ¡°Shopkeeper Yan, lead the way for Shopkeeper Rong to pick up the goods.¡±


    Yan Buba had been fiddling with his abacus. A hint of a smile finally appeared on his face. ¡°Shopkeeper Rong, please follow me.¡±


    This time, the shopkeepers hade here separately. After Shopkeeper Rong hade over, Shopkeeper Liu was the next one to arrive. One after another, the remaining shopkeepers also came here. It seemed that the alliance between the other shopkeepers was very fragile.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t bother asking them if they would hand over their tenant farmer contracts in order to get the discounted price. Instead, she sold the rice to them at the higher market price.


    She had originally brought this rice from them at unit price of seven silver coins. Now, she was selling off that same rice at a unit price of fourteen silver coins along with the rice she had gotten from Zhangjun Prince


    When Yan Buba looked at the money, he was smiling so widely that his eyes were closed. A sign was finally hung outside Ji Store that they had sold out.


    The various rice stores now had rice of their own. Seeing that Ji Store had no rice of its own, the shopkeepers confidently raised their prices. The unit price of rice jumped straight to sixteen silver coins. Themonersined about their hardships, but they had no way to change the ways of the world. They only had the option of buying this rice.


    After a week of this, the capital was starting to be an abyss of suffering. Looking at the rice prices of the other stores, Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s about time. Let¡¯s reopen the store.¡±


    Ji Store was restocked with rice. On the opening day, a sign was hung up that the rice would be sold at unit price of thirteen silver coins.


    Seeing the cheaper price, the other shopkeepers were dumbfounded. Was Ji Store nning onpeting to death with them?


    Fine, let¡¯spete then. Who¡¯s scared of who? No one believed that Ji Store had enough stock to continuepeting with them.


    However, even when the end of summer had arrived, Ji Store was still selling rice at the lower price. As autumn approached, not only did Ji Store not run of rice, it lowered its unit price to twelve silver coins.


    By now, a few rice shops were on the verge of bankruptcy. They had no other choice, they could only decrease their prices to match Ji Man¡¯s store. At the very least, they would be able to sell their rice again.


    ¡ª


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly doing very well.¡± Ning Yuxuan was sitting in Ji Man¡¯s room and looking at her thick ount book that was on the table. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°But your actions have been too big. A lot of people in the Ministry of Revenue have been questioning and discussing the reasons behind your actions.¡±


    Ji Man was wearing an expensive gold and silver robe that was frequently worn by merchants. She smiled gently and said, ¡°Marquis, aren¡¯t you protecting this one from above? So, why should this one be afraid?¡±


    The imperial court didn¡¯t control the price of rice, so naturally the merchants could sell the rice at any price or volume. If she didn¡¯t act deviously, would Ji Store havested for so long?


    The profits from the past several months had been almost horrifyingly high. Not only had she fully repaid the Zhangjun grain that she had brought on credit, she also had money to signed contracts with numerous tenant farmers. It was only be keeping herself busy that she wouldn¡¯t have the time to miss Haohao.


    She didn¡¯t know if that little fellow was doing well.


    ¡°Food is the foundation of a country. As long as you¡¯re within the emperor¡¯s reach, you should do your best to be less conspicuous.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°If you end up provoking someone, and the matter of Ji Store is brought up to the emperor, I won¡¯t be able to save you.¡±


    This person woulde here twenty times every month. He would just sit there and watch her do bookkeeping. It seemed as if he was onlying here to see her. He usually stayed silent. asionally, he would seemingly carelessly mention a matter that only members of the imperial court should know about. At the beginning, Ji Man had been against his visits. Later on, after many visits and him telling her information that had been very useful to her, she learned to tolerate his presence.


    Right now, the various rice merchants were already at the end of their strength. Tomorrow, she would lower the unit price of rice to ten silver coins. With the other rice merchants being in the deficit, there was no way that they would be able to sign contracts with the tenant farmers next year.


    While Ji Man had a price monopoly here, she had made contact with rice merchants in other regions to ask about their grain prices. She didn¡¯t have much inventory left either. She would have to stock up on rice soon.


    ¡°Prince Huainan¡¯s heir is returning to the capital tomorrow. There¡¯s going to be a lot of people gathered to wee him back.¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly said, ¡°It¡¯ll be a gathering of people that you¡¯re familiar with. Do you want to go?¡±


    (T/N: Prince Huainan¡¯s heir, Zhao Kaifeng, was introduced in chapter 152. Ji Man had helped him and his wife, Luo Qianqian, from getting a divorce.)


    Ji Man was stunned. Prince Huainan¡¯s heir?


    That was someone that she hadn¡¯t seen in a long, long time. She was surprised to hear that he and Luo Qianqian, who dared to loved and hate, were finally returned to the capital.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯ll go.¡± Ji Man looked at the ount books on the table and said, ¡°Marquis, thank you for your invitation. Where is the gathering going to take ce?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯lle over tomorrow and pick you up.¡± Ning Yuxuan stood up and indifferently said, ¡°You just need to prepare yourself.¡±


    Recently, his attitude towards her hadn¡¯t been overly familiar or oppressive. He was neither too cold nor too warm. Ji Man actually liked this feeling, so she didn¡¯t refuse his offer of going to the gathering together.


    ¡ª


    Luo Qianqian and Zhao Kaifeng already had a son, and their rtionship seemed more harmonious than before. The people that hade to the gathering were all couples. Qian Yingchen and Zhu Yurun were also here. And so, when people saw that Ning Yuxuan had brought Ji Man along as his plus-one, the scene of two men together looked very discordant inparison.

 Chapter 382

    Chapter 382 ¨C The fragrance of the flowers has already faded away in the mortal world (1)


    Although Luo Qianqian had an average-looking face, she looked rather ssy in her autumn-colored buttoned jacket and a greenish-blue skirt. Although her face wasn¡¯t as attractive as the people around her, she exuded a feeling that made people feelfortable around her.


    When the crowd saw Ji Man and Marquis Moyuing here together, they were a bit surprised. Since today was a gathering for the members of Tonghua Poetry Association to have fun by going sightseeing, it was one thing for the members of the association to bring along family members. But, why had Marquis Moyu brought along a man that he had no connection with?


    Zhu Yurun was the only happy to see Ji Man. She waved her hands in greeting. ¡°Mister Ji!¡±


    Ji Man smiled at her. When she walked over there, she swept her gaze over the crowd. It was the same group of young masters anddies that she had originally met in Tonghua Poetry Association back then. However, they were now all married. The young men that used revolve around Wen Wan now had wives of their own. This gathering was just like a ssmate reunion in the modern-day. They were even going to tastefully go hiking to ascend to new heights.


    The current prime minister, Xiao Tiangyi, had also arrived. His previous breezy and carefree young master image had beenpletely swept away. He was now a mature andposed official. However, it was inevitable that other people would feel slightly reserved now that he was here.


    ¡°It¡¯s been so long since we all saw each other, and everyone is well.¡± Luo Qianqian was smiling as she said, ¡°Who could have guessed that we would once again be able to go hiking together without anyone missing from our original group?¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng was standing by Luo Qianqian¡¯s side. With his arm around her waist, he chuckled and agreed, ¡°Absolutely!¡±


    Looking at this scene, Ji Man though that Qianqian¡¯s life was probably going well. Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but she actually sighed in relief and slightly smiled.


    The previous Grand Tutor¡¯s eldest son, Sun Zhangyang, who was now an official himself, swept his gaze around. When his gazended on Marquis Moyu, he asked, ¡°Why has the marquise too?¡±


    Qian Yingchen lightly smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s been a long time, and many new people have entered Tonghua Poetry Association since then. So, there¡¯s even less people that know about the marquis¡¯s connection to the association. He¡¯s actually the head of the association, so he¡¯s naturally the person that ought to attend this gathering the most.¡±


    Everyone was surprised. Hearing this news, a lot of the people that had pursued Wen Wan back then felt slightly awkward now.


    ¡°Oh, so it¡¯s like that. It¡¯s only someone like that marquis, who has such great talent, that he¡¯s able to be the head of the association for ten years.¡± After a pause, Sun Zhangyan couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°How¡¯s Lesser Madam Ning doing?¡±


    As soon as he asked this question, a lot of gazes fell on Ning Yuxuan. Ning Yuxuan lightly said, ¡°She¡¯s safe and sound in my estate. There¡¯s no need for anyone to worry about her.¡±


    It was definitely a bit improper to ask about someone¡¯s concubine. After everyone awkwardlyughed, the topic was changed to something else.


    No one was paying attention to Zhu Yurun. Ji Man was also simrly being ignored, so Zhu Yurun simply went over to her side and whispered, ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve gotten rich.¡±


    Ji Man was smiling as she looked at her. ¡°Yeah, I still need to give you a bonus too.¡±


    Zhu Yurun giggled and said, ¡°I¡¯m notcking in money. I just think you¡¯re really awesome. If it was me, I definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to do something like that.¡±


    What other woman would have the courage to deal with a group of merchants?


    Ji Man nced at Qian Yingchen, who was standing at a distance. His lips were pursed as he conversed with Ning Yuxuan. Ji Man caught him red-handed when he turned around and nced at Zhu Yurun.


    Qian Yingchen awkwardly turned his gaze away. His expression didn¡¯t look too good. Seeing this sight, Ji Man actually smiled. A foolish girl had a foolish girl¡¯s good fortune. It seemed that Qian Yingchen wasn¡¯tpletely indifferent to Yurun.


    Xiao Tianyi slowed his steps. His brow was furrowed as he looked at Ji Man and asked, ¡°Are you Ji Rice Store¡¯s owner?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She saluted with her hands and said, ¡°This one is only amoner. It¡¯s this one¡¯s fortunate to be able to go on the same outing as the prime minster today.¡±


    After Xiao Tianyi examined Ji Man from top to bottom, he surprisingly smiled and softly said, ¡°Heroes havee from the young since ancient times.¡±


    After dropping these words, he walked past them and caught up to Sun Zhangyang.


    Ji Man shrugged. Since she had received the prime minister¡¯s praise, it meant that she hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. It would soon be the autumn harvest. Since the Liu family, the Rong family, and the other rice merchant families had suffered major financial losses, they might not be able to afford paying the tenant farmers in ordance to their contracts. This would offer her the opportunity to snatch away their contracts with the tenant farmers.


    By the time that next year came and the road between Zhangjun and the capital waspletely built, she would haveplete control over the rice in the capital. People in ancient times probably hadn¡¯t experienced how horrifying a trade war was, much less how much threat that could be caused once a person grasped the flow of rice by its throat.


    In theory, the government ced the highest importance on food, so they stressed the importance of agricultural and farmers while suppressing the merchants. They never bothered with paying too much attention tomerce.


    In addition, there was a waste ofbor and resources as Zhao Li enjoyed himself by having more buildings constructed in the pce. It really gave off the appearance of an incapable and fatuous ruler. He probably wouldn¡¯t be able to remain sitting on his throne for too long.


    As Ji Man was contemting these thought, she heard someone shouting from the front of the group, ¡°Hey, you, walk faster.¡±


    These young nobles hade here to climb Fu Mountain. They had said that not only would they be able to go hiking, they would be able to reach the temple that was at the top of the mountain and pray for blessings. Although the mountain path here was considered walkable enough, it really was too high. Ji Man eventually ended up gasping for breath and sitting down with some of the women on the side of the road.


    ¡°This one and Tianyu will remained here to watch over thedies. The other men can walk on ahead. If our group arrives at the temple toote, there might not be enough vacant rooms left,¡± Qian Yingchen said, ¡°Since this a poetry gathering, there¡¯s no need to pay attention to rank. Everyone will be treated equally.¡±


    His words loosened the pressure that everyone had been feeling. One after another, everyone agreed. The married women and youngdies gathered in one area to rest while the other men continue to ascend the mountain.


    Unfortunately, Ji Man was a man right now.


    Standing in front of her, Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and said, ¡°Come on, get up. Don¡¯t stay here like a woman.¡±

 Chapter 383 - The fragrance of the flowers has already faded away in the mortal world (2)

    Chapter 383 ¨C The fragrance of the flowers has already faded away in the mortal world (2)


    With a miserable expression, Ji Man forced herself to get up. She had onlye along because she wanted to see how Luo Qianqian was doing. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t havee here and be putting herself through this torment. Hiking boots didn¡¯t exist in ancient time and wearing normal shoes to go hiking felt extremely ufortable.


    Ning Yuxuan shot several fleeting nces at Ji Man and continued walking slowly with her.


    At the front of the group, Sun Zhangyang turned his head to nce at the peoplegging behind. He smiled and said, ¡°Yuxuan, are you too tired to continue going up?¡±


    ¡°En, I¡¯m going to take it easy.¡± Ning Yuxuan waved his hand and said, ¡°You guys can continue walking ahead. I¡¯ll follow behind the group with Mister Ji.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Sun Zhangyang smiled and pulled Zhao Kaifeng along as he continued walking.


    Ji Man cast a nce at Ning Yuxuan and lightly said, ¡°Marquis, there¡¯s no need for you to concern yourself with this one. This one can walk by myself.¡±


    ¡°Yingchen recently said there¡¯s no need to pay attention to status.¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. Not looking at her, he asked, ¡°So shouldn¡¯t you be changing how you address me?¡±


    After a pause, Ji Man curled her lip and said, ¡°Yuxuan.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes slightly brightened. He turned his head away to look at the trees in the distance. ¡°I feel a bit tired too. Let¡¯s just walk slowly.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t look at him either.


    There was arge space between them as they walked side by side. The mountain path was very rugged, and neither of them said anything as they walked.


    When they finally reached the temple at the top of the mountain, Ji Man suddenly felt a sense of happiness that came from heaving a sigh of relief as she looked at the setting sun. She turned her head to nce at the person next to her. Side by side, he was also quietly looking at the sunset.


    ¡°Do you feel a lot better now that you came out and walked around?¡± He asked.


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°I was already in a pretty good mood.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her in askance. It looked as if there was scorn in his eyes. He didn¡¯t bother say anything else and just turned around and led her into the temple.


    Marquis Moyu had once brought his family to this temple to pray for blessings, and it looked as if a lot of money had been donated to this temple. Although this temple was at the top of a mountain, it was still exquisitely decorated. There were a lot of worshippers inside the temple, and it seemed as if the temple was out of guest rooms.


    Ji Man was very worried until Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°I sent someone up here in advance. There¡¯ll be enough rooms for us. Everyone, let¡¯s rest for now. Once the rest of the group arrives, we divided the rooms up after eating.¡±


    A novice Buddhist monk led the group to the back of the temple. After the group had rested in the dining hall for a while, the rest of the group thatprised mostly of women had also arrived. This group of nobles appeared quite happy as they ate a simple meal of tofu and leafy vegetables.


    There were only five rooms left, and there happened to bedding for two people in each room. Ji Man looked at the room in front of her then she looked at Ning Yuxuan, who was next her. She faked smiled and asked, ¡°Yuxuan, didn¡¯t you say there would be enough rooms?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t have the slightest hint of shame on his face. He seriously said, ¡°There¡¯ll naturally be enough rooms if each room is shared by two people. There¡¯s no need for us to treat each other like outsiders.¡±


    On the side, Luo Qianqian cast a strange look at these two. She looked at Ji Man, then she said to Ning Yuxuan in low voice, ¡°Qianqian heard that your household went through a tough period, and that Madam Ning has passed away during that time. Qianqian can empathize with your feelings. After all, Madam Ning was a very good person. But, she¡¯s already gone now. You shouldn¡¯t take her death so hard and act like this...¡±


    There¡¯s no need for you to get mixed up with another man, ah. If Madam Ning could see what was happening from the underworld, who knows how upset she would be feeling?


    With a lowered smile, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Thank you for your concern, Mister Ji is an honest sleeper and wouldn¡¯t press me down. It¡¯ll be fine. As for other issues, there¡¯s no need to worry about them.¡±


    Luo Qianqian gasped. This Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t even making an attempt at concealment. He was obviously nning on favoring a man. No wonder she had heard that the owner of Ji Rice Store was very tricky. As it turned out, he had Marquis Moyu supporting him from behind the scenes.


    Remembering Madam Ning, Luo Qianqian felt a bit dejected. She had really admired that woman¡¯s intelligence and magnanimous personality. If it wasn¡¯t for her, she and Kaifeng¡¯s rtionship wouldn¡¯t have progressed to their current point. This temple had Madam Ning¡¯s memorial table, so she was nning on going over there to pay her respectster.


    After looking at Ji Man with a grieving look, Luo Qianqian turned around and left.


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She followed Ning Yuxuan into the room and saw that there was only one bed. Five women hade along on this trip, but she was the only one that was cross-dressing, so she couldn¡¯t share a room with anyone else. Since this was a very popr temple, there weren¡¯t any extra vacant rooms left.


    If Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t done this deliberately, she would write her name backwards!


    However, when she nced at him to check his expression, he didn¡¯t seem to be paying special attention to anything.


    After changing into a pair of lightweight shoes, he looked at her and asked, ¡°Do you want to go look at your memorial tablet?¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. In order to fool other people, he had put a memorial tablet for Nie Sangyu. But, Nie Sangyu¡¯s spirit was still in her body. If she got too closed to the memorial table, would a mishap ur? It¡¯s not like there was a fraudulent sorcerer around to help her out.


    ¡°No, this one will just take a stroll around the temple.¡± Ji Man felt stifled by being in the same room as him. She turned around and walked out of the room.


    It was bit chilly on the mountain. As the cold night wind blew by, Ji Man actually discovered a grove of flowering peach trees.


    It was already autumn at the bottom of the mountain, so it was surprising to see peach blossoms in the mountain. Just as Ji Man was sighing with emotion over this, she heard a monk¡¯s voice saying, ¡°Madam if you¡¯re seeking a happy marriage, there¡¯s still five unimed trees here. You can carve your beloved¡¯s name onto one of them. If the tree is well, your marriage will naturally be well too.¡±


    (T/N: The title of this chapter is from the first line of Peach Blossoms of Dalin Temple by Bai Juyi. The poet wasmenting that spring is over, but then he sees that spring has merely moved to the temple. )

 Chapter 384 - Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you (1)

    Chapter 384 ¨C Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you (1)


    Feeling a jolt of surprise, Ji Man turned her head and saw that Luo Qianqian was talking to a monk. Those two people weren¡¯t standing far from her. It was only that the peach blossoms were partially obstructing their view.


    Luo Qianqian ced her palms together and asked out of curiosity, ¡°What will happen if that tree dies?¡±


    The monk answered with a smile, ¡°All of the peach trees here are well looked after. Although their flowers blossomter because of the colder weather on the mountain, they¡¯ll still blossom. The peach trees that hold each of the donor¡¯s heartfelt intentions are even less likely to die.¡±


    These trees were the same as those frequently seen altarmps that burned day and night in modern-day temples. They were both used to swindle people out of their money. Once Ji Man heard the monk¡¯s reply to Luo Qianqian¡¯s question of how much each tree cost, she immediately understood why there was still five trees without any carvings.


    Although there were plenty of fools, there were very few fools that had that much money.


    Ji Man lowered her head in the peach tree grove as she shuffled around. Should shee out and greet Luo Qianqian, or should she secretly leave first?


    As she passed by a peach tree, she noticed that there was something carved on the tree trunk. Ji Man swept her gaze over it. Anyways, the carvings on these trees were just other people¡¯s names.


    But, when she looked at it, she saw that it was Nie Sangyu¡¯s.


    Dumbstruck, Ji Man crouched down by the tree for a while before snorting and walking away.


    The carving looked like it had been carved a long time ago. Someone had probably carved that name out of impulsive after climbing up the mountain to pray at the temple for blessings. Perhaps, Wen Wan, Liu Hanyun, and Qi Siling¡¯s names had also been carved on nearby trees.


    After walking a few steps, Ji Man turned around and narrowed her eyes as she checked the trees nearby the one with Nie Sangyu¡¯s name.


    She didn¡¯t see any familiar names.


    Ji Man pursed her lips. Really, it was a bitughable. If Ning Yuxuan had been the one that carved that name, then it must have happened when he had brought the rest of the household here with him to pray for blessings. What was the point that he was trying to make by leaving her behind in the capital to face Nie n¡¯s sudden and unexpected cmity by herself while he came here to lovingly carve a name?


    She really couldn¡¯t understand the feelings of ancient people. If someone told her that Ning Yuxuan sincerely loved her, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t believe that person. While it was possible that Ning Yuxuan might like her, if her importance to him waspared to how much he valued his great endeavors, she would definitely be flung three Pacific Oceans away.


    She didn¡¯t want to have any emotional involvement here, much less have it with Ning Yuxuan. If she fell in love with a man like Marquis Moyu, she would definitely be the one that was hurt.


    Shaking her head, Ji Man left the peach tree grove through another exit. Behind her, Luo Qianqian was earnestly carving Zhao Kaifeng¡¯s name onto a tree.


    ¡ª


    That evening, the group gathered together to sit around the temple¡¯s most respected and virtuous elder monk and wrote poems of meditation. The space was brightly lit with candles. For the members of Tonghua Poetry Association, they excelled at this type of thing. However, Zhu Yurun was obviously very bad at this. She was so nervous that her hands were very mmy, and she kept looking at Qian Yingchen.


    Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t look at her and was focused on writing a poem on a small, thin piece of wood.


    Ji Man was sitting on the other side of Zhu Yurun. After she casually wrote out a poem, she looked at the nk piece of wood that Zhu Yurun was holding. She took the piece of wood from her, wrote out a poem, and calmly stuffed it back into Zhu Yurun¡¯s hand.


    Zhu Yurun gratefully nodded several times.


    Everyone¡¯s poem would be read aloud. Qian Yingchen wasn¡¯t expecting that Zhu Yurun would be able to write a good poem. It would be good enough if she could write a line or two. Recently, right after dinner, Xiao Tianyi hade over and asked him why he would marry Miss Zhu. In the eyes of other people, he had suffered a great loss by marrying Zhu Yurun.


    Luo Qianqian, who wasn¡¯t aware of the rumors around Zhu Yurun, was only the only married woman in the group that was friendly towards her. The other madams all looked at Zhu Yurun in askance. Zhu Yurun had neither talent nor beauty. She really wasn¡¯t suitable toe along on this outing.


    Qian Yingchen had thought about having her stay home, but if he did that, he might end up seeing a pitiful-looking and bullied steamed bun when he returned from this trip. Thinking of it that way, he decided that he might as well bring her with him.


    The great monk opened his eyes and started to take the thin pieces of wood from the guests. He had already looked at several of the poems without saying a word, but his eyes brightened when he saw Zhu Yurun¡¯s poem.


    I¡¯d go out for a walk alone when I so please,


    What a pleasure this brings, only I would know.


    Stroll to the river¡¯s source,


    And watch the clouds rise.


    (T/N: These lines are from My Retreat in the Zhongnan Mountains by Wang Wei. The first two lines are from https://28utscprojects.wordpress/2011/01/07/123. The second part of the poem has be an optimistic idiom that figuratively means even when you¡¯re at a dead end, there¡¯s still hope.)


    ¡°This female donor is very broad-minded and unfetteredly elegant.¡± The great monk handed the poem back to her, pressed both palms together, and said, ¡°What a rare sight.¡±


    Everyone was slightly stunned. Qian Yingchen took the thin piece of wood from Zhu Yurun. After reading it, he raised his head and looked at her with a furrowed brow.


    Zhu Yurun felt somewhat guilty and started to instinctively lean towards Ji Man.


    However, before she had gotten halfway there, Qian Yingchen pulled her back to her original position. ¡°Sit here and don¡¯t move.¡±


    Once that thin piece of wood was passed around the group, the married women looked at Zhu Yurun with slightly warmer gazes. In the end, they were a group of people that had gathered together because of talent. Talent was the most important thing to them.


    Zhu Yurun shrunk her neck and didn¡¯t say a word.


    The great monk took Ji Man¡¯s thin piece of wood next. After the great monk muttered a few words to himself, he actually loudlyughed before reading it aloud,


    ¡°Ashamed that my feelings have dirtied the holy path,


    I remained afraid of the alluring beauty after entering the mountain.


    In this world, who can fulfill both,


    Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you.¡±


    (This poem is by the 6th Di Lama of Tibet, Tsangyang Gyatso. The trantion is from https://snowjadeflowers.wordpress/2015/08/31/faithful-to-buddha-faithful-to-you/ with tiny edits for rity.)


    ¡°Donor, you¡¯re truly a mortal world mediator. Even a monk might have deep feelings of love.¡± The great monkughed for a while. Looking at Ji Man with a bright gaze, ¡°This is truly a good poem. Donor¡¯s beloved must be a breath-taking beauty for the donor topare her to Buddha.¡±


    En, Ji Man also really liked this poem by Tsangyang Gyatso. She ced her palms together and respectfully answered the great monk, ¡°Earthly feelings are pervasive, and this one is unable to part with them. It¡¯s good that the great monk is able to chortle with delight over it.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I think it¡¯s reasonable that the other married women look down Zhu Yurun. She had the same opportunities as the other women in the gathering to learn how to write poetry, but she wasn¡¯t interested in learning that skill and chose to squander her opportunities. It¡¯s perfectly okay that she has different interests from Qian Yingchen, but I think it¡¯s fair that there¡¯s going to be negative consequences when she chooses to not learn useful skills and wants to marry a man based on his looks.


    Just like Zhu Yurun, Luo Qianqian doesn¡¯t have ster looks, but she chose to work hard on learning useful skills, so that she can be judged favorably on her aplishments. It was nice of Ji Man to write a poem for Zhu Yurun, but is continuing to save Zhu Yurun from the consequences of her previous choices and giving a false impression a good idea in the long-term?


    Anyways, I like how the author created a character like Zhu Yurun, and her messy rtionship with Qian Yingchen. Neither of them are bad people. Zhu Yurun is a very sweet girl, who doesn¡¯t have any bad intentions, but they¡¯re fundamentally not suitable for each other. If something doesn¡¯t change between them, Ji Man¡¯s interference can only serve as a temporary fix.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 385 - Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you (2)

    Chapter 385 ¨C Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you (2)


    After Ning Yuxuan looked at that thin piece of wood, he shot her a nce and shed her an insincere smile.


    Ji Man had her gaze fixed on reading other people¡¯s poems.


    ¡ª


    The moonlight was very beautiful tonight. Ning Yuxuan and her were walking through a covered corridor and were passing by several guest rooms on their way back to their room. He had been mumbling to himself this entire way, and he finally couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Faithfulness to Buddha and faithfulness to you. Who exactly is your beloved?¡±


    Ji Man looked at him disdainfully. Curling her lip, she said, ¡°It¡¯s not you, marquis. You don¡¯t need to worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t get angry. He looked at the moonlight as he lightly said, ¡°It¡¯s rumored that people that say one thing, but mean something else will be punished with the pain of five lightning bolts.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have an extra fierce tempeste over here then.¡± Ji Man made a gesture as if she was hugging the sun, then she put her hands back down, yawned, and said, ¡°Marquis, you can sleep on the floor tonight.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°This type of ce, I¡¯ll catch a cold if I sleep on the floor.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll sleep on the floor then. I¡¯m very healthy.¡± Ji Man started making a bed for herself on the ground as soon as she entered the room.


    ¡°Do you dislike me that much?¡± Ning Yuxuan let out an extremely helpless sigh. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do anything to you.¡±


    The three big lies that men tell: I love you. She¡¯s only a friend. I wouldn¡¯t do something like that.


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. With a slight smile, she said, ¡°Marquis, this one is a restless sleeper and is worried about offending you. Please let me off.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled and really did lie down on the bed. He watched as Ji Manid down twoyers of cotton wadding on the floor, then she covered theyers with a thick quilt.


    To be honest, the floor still felt a bit cold. However, since she had encountered an unchivalrous person like Ning Yuxuan, she didn¡¯t hold any hopes that he would be willing to switch with her. Anyways, it was fine as long as they were sleeping in different spots. The other aspects weren¡¯t important.


    The two of them passed the night in silence.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man woke up the next day, she was already in the bed.


    Ning Yuxuan had his arms on top of her waist and shoulders. No wonder she had dreamed of the sky copsingst night. Ji Man coldly looked at Ning Yuxuan, who was still asleep. She sat up and moved over him to get off the bed. After she was dressed in her outer robes, she opened the doors and all of the windows. The early morning wind blew into the room, and the cold air immediately woke up Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°Why did you open everything?¡± He had been deeply asleep, and his eyes were a bit dazed. He actually looked sort of stupidly adorable.


    Ji Man slightly smiled. ¡°Marquis, it¡¯s time for you to wake up. Don¡¯t we still have to go down the mountain today?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan rolled over to face her. He pouted and asked, ¡°Do you not like this ce?¡±


    Why would she like a temple? Ji Man really couldn¡¯t rte. ¡°I like my home more.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t find a focus point for a long time. He dimly said, ¡°I though this ce was pretty good when I came herest time. It¡¯s far from the secr world. Problems can¡¯t find me here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just running away from your problems.¡± Ji Man insincerely smiled. ¡°Someone of your position can¡¯t escape from his responsibilities. Marquis, you should be going back. There¡¯s definitely a lot of work waiting for you.¡±


    If they went back, she would be living far away from him and have to deal with merchants every day. She looked exhausted. The dark circles under her eyes were getting worse.


    Ning Yuxuan lightly harrumphed. ¡°It¡¯s so rare for us toe out. Let¡¯s stay here a little longer. Oh, by the way, I heard that Huainan¡¯s autumn harvest is pretty good this year. Although there were a lot of ces that had a poor harvest this year, there were also a lot ces that had a bumper harvest. The imperial court will also be releasing grain soon, so the price for it will be stabilized. How much grain do you have left?¡±


    He was actually showing concern about her business? Ji Man pursed her lips and honestly answered, ¡°I already rushed to sell off my original stock when the timing was right. The imperial court will be taking part of the autumn harvest, but there will still be enough supply left for me to buy and resell for a several of months without having to worry.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°So, let¡¯s go back tomorrow.¡±


    Tomorrow? Ji Man furrowed her brow. She had thought that this trip would only take a day and a night, so she had already made ns to have a meal with Director Tang. Thepetition in the rice market had been fiercetely, so she naturally had to ensure that her connections with those in higher positions were good by giving them gifts.


    The smile on Marquis Moyu was put away, and he was very serious as he asked her, ¡°Is there a problem?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. If shepared him and Director Tang, it would obviously be worse to offend him.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was happy about getting an extra day off from having to look at ounts. She listened on as the group of men from Tonghua Poetry Association asionally chatted about state affairs.


    At noon, everyone felt that eating a vegetarian meal wouldn¡¯t be vorful enough, so the group decided that they would go out to hunt some wild animals and eat roasted meat outside of the temple. Of course, this work would fall onto the men.


    As a ¡°man¡±, Ji Man obediently carried a bow and arrows as she followed after Marquis Moyu.


    There were wild rabbits on the mountain, and Ning Yuxuan shot an arrow through a rabbit¡¯s head on his first try.


    Seeing this sight, Ji Man was startled. Her brow was deeply furrowed.


    ¡°Why are you making that face?¡± Ning Yuxuan curled his lip and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you feel sympathetic towards your food. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re a woman.¡±


    Ji Man took the rabbit and put into a bag. She murmured, ¡°I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Ning Yuxuan saw another rabbit. As he raised the bow and aimed it, he said to her, ¡°You have to be ruthless towards your opponent. If you show kindness, you¡¯ll be that one that¡¯s hungry.¡±


    Was he giving her a lesson? Ji Man scoffed. Of course, she already knew this.


    ¡ª

 Chapter 386 - Each mountain is higher than the previous one (1)

    Chapter 386 ¨C Each mountain is higher than the previous one (1)


    Everyone was slightly surprised. They could get over Marquis Moyu bringing a rice shop owner to their group outing. After all, that person had received the great monk¡¯s praise, and he wrote pretty good poems too. But, they had already left the mountain. Why would he ask them to go to a rice shop to eat when there were perfectly good restaurants around?


    What was there to eat at a rice shop? Rice?


    Ji Man also found Ning Yuxuan¡¯s suggestion a bit unexpected. These people were either members of the imperial family or important court officials. Why would he suggest taking them to a rice shop to eat?


    In the midst of the following silence, Qian Yingchen was the one that broke it by saying, ¡°That¡¯s a good idea. Ji Store was the one that sold the tribute rice this year. We should go over there to see what that rice tastes like.¡±


    Eh? Many officials¡¯ households purchased Ji Store¡¯s rice. Why wouldn¡¯t they have already had the chance to try the tribute rice? Everyone knew that Qian Yingchen was only saying these words to help. Still, since Marquis Moyu had already spoken, the group didn¡¯t have a reason to refuse.


    And so, the group boarded three carriages and headed over to Ji Store.


    ¡ª


    During the past two days that Ji Man had spent on the mountain, a problem had arisen in the rice store. There would naturally be repercussions to Ji Man gouging out money from the hands of sly old foxes. Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong could be considered to have shed all pretenses of cordiality with Ji Man. When the unit price of rice had fallen to ten silver coins, they had filed a formalint with the government. They said that Ji Store was maliciously lowering the price of rice. By causing the rice price in the capital to be unstable, it had caused a few major rice shops to go bankrupt.


    Normally, this would be beyond the scope of this dynasty¡¯sws. However, this time, Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong had amassed arge sum of money by selling off a few of their family properties to use for bribery. After this money had been passed through many hands, they were able to meet with the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Justice. They did their best to draw them to their side through bribery. Ji Store had to fall to ruin in order for them to make up their losses.


    And so, the government epted this case. During the time that Ji Man wasn¡¯t around, Yan Buba had been taken to a government office and interrogated. A constable had remained in Ji Store to catch Ji Man when he returned.


    Although Shopkeeper Liu felt quite distressed about giving up so much money, sacrifices had to be made in order to obtain his goal. Since Ji Store had Assistant Minister Zhu supporting it, he could only bribe that greedy and insatiable Minister of Revenue. Although the cost he had to pay felt quite painful, everything would be worth it once Ji Store copsed!


    Shopkeeper Liu had already checked. Assistant Minister Zhu was currently busy with other matters. After Zhu Shuyou had receiving his superior¡¯s order, he no longer had the intention of protecting Ji Store. No matter what happened next, Ji Store was doomed.


    ¡ª


    Inside the carriage, Ji Man sneezed and received Ning Yuxuan¡¯s nce. ¡°I already told you to sleep on the bed, but you insisted on being stubborn.¡±


    ¡°How could the humble me have the right to share a bed with the marquis?¡± As she sniffled, Ji Man looked at the other important people in the carriage. She silently grumbled. Where could she get food that would satisfy this group of people?


    After figuring it out, she sent a person to the rice shop ahead of the group to tell Yan Buba to order takeout from Luoyan Pagoda. Ji Man had no hope that this group of nobles would be interested in her simple home cooking after they had eaten vegetarian meals for the past two days. Naturally, the more meat there was, the better.


    Holding his reward money, the passerby ran to the rice shop. But, when he got there, a constable stopped him.


    ¡ª


    When Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong heard that Owner Ji wasing back, they left their dinners behind and hurriedly rushed to Ji Store to watch the good show.


    Thinking of how Ji Man had so easily taken away the money they had earned through blood and sweat and taken many years to save up, both shopkeepers practically had their teeth set on edge. They wanted nothing more than to see Ji Man being dragged away and locked away in the imperial prison.


    The constable that was stationed at the store had also been notified. He would immediately arrest as Ji Man as soon as he caught sight of him.


    ¡ª


    The three carriages slowly reached Ji Rice Store. Right after Ji Man disembarked from the carriage, she was seized and restrained by the constable before she even knew what was going on.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ji Man furrowed her brow.


    The constable asked, ¡°Are you the owner of Ji Rice Store?¡±


    The shopkeepers that hade to watch the show hurriedly cried out, ¡°It¡¯s him! It¡¯s him! He¡¯s Ji Man!¡±


    The constable nodded. Just as he was about to bring the detained person away, people started toe out of the carriage. When the first person that came down from the carriage saw the scene, he didn¡¯t bother saying a single word and went straight to kicking away the constable that had Ji Man restrained.


    The person that hade out of the carriage was wearing a simple robe, but he had a very attractive face. He had such a mild, gentlemanly appearance; no one would have thought that he was the one that had just violently kicked someone.


    Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and pulled Ji Man over. He swept his nce over the constable and asked, ¡°Which government office are you from?¡±


    ¡°This one is following Jing Zhaoyin¡¯s order to arrest Ji Store¡¯s owner, Ji Man.¡± The constable looked at the person in front of him for a few moments. He didn¡¯t recognize this person and only thought that he had an out of ordinary presence. He guessed that this person was probably just the son of an official.


    ¡°Oh? And, why are you arresting him?¡± As Ning Yuxuan asked this question, he had the carriage driver hold up the carriage¡¯s front curtain. One after another, the curious people, who had been behind him, disembarked from the carriage. They hadn¡¯t even eaten yet, and this constable was going to arrest Ji Man?


    Suddenly faced with arge group of men and women that were dressed out of the ordinary, the constable felt slightly panicky. He retreated a step and said, ¡°This is an order from above. This one isn¡¯t sure either.¡±


    ¡°Above?¡± Xiao Tianyi raised his eyebrows. He nced at Ning Yuxuan before asking, ¡°Which official is it?¡±


    On the side, Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong felt there was something off about these people¡¯s attitudes. It couldn¡¯t be that Ji Man had gone off somewhere and met more important officials, right? However, after looking at the group and only recognizing a few of the people, they decided that this group of people couldn¡¯t possibly be that important. After all, they had even met someone as high-ranking as the Minister of Revenue before.

 Chapter 387 - Each mountain is higher than the previous one (2)

    Chapter 387 ¨C Each mountain is higher than the previous one (2)


    After thinking it over, Shopkeeper Rong and the other shopkeepers ran over to the governmental office to seek assistance for that constable.


    Looking at Xiao Tianyi, the constable felt wrong-footed and only answered that it was Jing Zhaoyin.


    ¡°Tell him toe. We¡¯ll be waiting inside,¡± said Xiao Tianyi. As he led the group of people inside, he said to them, ¡°We haven¡¯t had dinner yet. I feel really hungry. Let¡¯s head in first.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow as she looked Shopkeeper Liu, who was in the middle of the departing group. Really, as soon as she saw him, something bad had happened. She had left them a way out by not monopolizing all of the tenant farmers contracts in one swoop, but they had secretly plotted to make life difficult for her.


    Sure enough, she was one of those people that had a tongue like a sharp knife, but a soft tofu heart. Every time that she thought she had been ruthless enough, she still ended up giving people a way out. Giving her enemies a way out was the same as blocking her own path.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s reminder really hadn¡¯t gone to waste.


    After entering the rice store and finding a private room on the second floor for this group, Ji Man ordered a shop assistant to buy snacks and order food.


    The group, which had recently been famished, had their hunger for food reced by curiosity for Ji Store.


    ¡°Owner Ji, are you an unscrupulous merchant?¡± Sun Zhangyang asked.


    With a ckened expression, Ji Man shook her head. ¡°This one conducts my business within the rules.¡± She had just used some tricks and earned more money than others.


    ¡°Why would a constablee to arrest you then?¡± Sun Zhangyang mumbled, ¡°Or, did you kidnap and sell someone¡¯s daughter?¡±


    Did she look like a kidnapper? Ji Man didn¡¯t know where tough or cry.


    On the side, Zhu Yurun quietly said, ¡°Mister Ji is a good person.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t surprising that Qian Yingchen would sneer in response to her defense.


    Zhu Yurun pouted and fell silent.


    ¡ª


    Before the ordered food had even arrived, the group of rice store shopkeepers had returned with Jing Zhaoyin. Jing Zhaoyin was also feeling quite helpless. If the Minister of Revenue hadn¡¯t ordered him in advance, he wouldn¡¯t have left his own dinner toe here to handle this business.


    ¡°Where is that group of people?¡± Jing Zhaoyin grumbled, ¡°Why hasn¡¯t the constable arrested that person yet? A person that hasmitted a crime has to be arrested. It doesn¡¯t matter who is trying protect this criminal!¡±


    The shop assistant was trembling in fear as he led this person upstairs. The shopkeepers stayed downstairs and looked around Ji Store. They evilly smiled as they examined the white rice with their hands.


    However, only a short time had passed when Jing Zhaoyin came downstairs by himself and left the store without saying a word to anyone. He got onto his sedan chair and simply left.


    ¡°Sir?!¡± The shopkeepers were stunned. They couldn¡¯t figure out what had happened, so they hurriedly chased after the sedan chair.


    Unexpectedly, a fat hand came out from the sedan chair and Jing Zhaoyin said, ¡°Go find someone else. This official can¡¯t settle this case. This person isn¡¯t someone that you can sue!¡±


    Can¡¯t sue? Why not? The rice shopkeepers couldn¡¯t figure it out. Still, they couldn¡¯t let that person off so easily. They had paid such an expensive price!


    For someone to have scared off Jing Zhaoyin, could it be that there was a really high ranking official on the second floor? Shopkeeper Liu thought it over. How high of a rank could that official possibly be? It couldn¡¯t be possible for that official to win over the Minister of Revenue, who was second-rank official, right?


    With their heads hanged low in disgrace, the shopkeepers paid another visit to the Minister of Revenue, Li Licheng.


    Since Li Lichen had taken their bribes, he naturally had to help them out. When he heard that Jing Zhaoyin had actually refused to handle this task, he wondered who could possibly be at Ji Store?


    Feeling a bit curious, Li Lichen got onto a sedan chair and went to Ji Rice Store.


    ¡ª


    In the meantime, Ji Man had already treated the group to dishes and snacks from Luoyan Pagoda. Everyone thought that he was very attentive in knowing that their group used to like food from Luoyan Pagoda the most.


    After the dinner, when the group was starting to feeling bored, someone came up to announce that the Minister of Revenue had arrived.


    ¡°For such a small rice store, it certainly has a big reputation.¡± Luo Qianqian covered her slight smile. ¡°There¡¯s so many people here, and we¡¯ve all eaten Mister Ji¡¯s food. We definitely won¡¯t let you suffer any grievance.¡±


    Ji Man saluted with her hands. She felt cold sweat gathering on her back. She really had to thank Ning Yuxuan for being carried away by a whim and saying he wanted to eat dinner at Ji Rice Store. Otherwise, who knows, she might have been delivered to the imperial prison under dubious reasons. If someone came to save herter, at minimum, she would probably already be missing a fewyers of skin.


    When Li Lichen entered the rice store, he felt slightly displeased to see that there weren¡¯t many people here to greet him. He felt even unhappier when he heard that Ji Man and the guests were still upstairs.


    Looking at the Minister of Revenue¡¯s expression, Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong felt overjoyed. They hurriedly led the way upstairs and entered the room after him.


    Fortunately, the room on the second floor was big enough. It was a room that Ji Man normally used to hold meetings with the shop assistants, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to amodated this number of people.


    However, as soon as Li Licheng had entered the room, the mood in the room immediately changed. The group of people that had been telling jokes and chatting immediately stopped and looked at the doorway.


    Li Licheng hadn¡¯t expected to see these people. Hisplexion immediately paled.


    Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong were standing behind him. Seeing that the Minister of Revenue wasn¡¯t saying anything, they thought they were helping him by shouting, ¡°The Minister of Revenue is here. Why aren¡¯t you saluting him?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart jumped. They had brought over the Minister of Revenue? Could it be that Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong were willing to pay any price in order to ruin Ji Store?


    ¡°This one is Ji Man. Greetings, Minister of Revenue.¡± Ji Man saluted first.


    On the side, Sun Zhangyan also saluted and greeted, ¡°Sir Li.¡±


    To the surprise of the shopkeepers, Sir Li didn¡¯t start throwing his weight around. Instead, after a pause, he walked over to Xiao Tianyi and Ning Yuxuan and respectfully cupped one fist in the other hand. ¡°It¡¯s unexpected to be able to meet with the prime minister and the marquis here.¡±

 Chapter 388 - Having supporters (1)

    Chapter 388 ¨C Having supporters (1)


    The shopkeepers were dumbstruck. Ji Man straightened her body and saw that Xiao Tianyi and Ning Yuxuan were smiling amicably.


    Ning Yuxuan warmly asked, ¡°Sir Li, why have you suddenlye here sote in the day?¡±


    He was the one that should be asking why his immediate supervisor, Marquis Moyu, and the prime minster were both at this rice shop. He turned his head to the side to look. The other person that had recently saluted him was someone that he had previously managed. But, then there were the rest of the people, which included Prince Huainan¡¯s heir and the heir¡¯s wife. It was if this room was filled with Buddhas of all sizes that were observing this conversation. Why would all of these peoplee here to protect Ji Man, this poorly dressed person?


    Li Licheng didn¡¯t dare to directly say that he hade here to arrest someone. He saluted with hands and said, ¡°This one was just taking a stroll after finishing dinner. A chance meeting is better than a nned invitation. Sirs and Ladies, how about we go out and have some tea? It¡¯ll be good for digestion.¡±


    Zhao Kaifeng smiled and said, ¡°Sure, Owner Ji just treated us to a dinner, and now Sir Li is treating us to tea. This is certainly saving us money.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Sir Li loudlyughed and politely looked at Ning Yuxuan as he said, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since this one has seen the marquis. This will be a good opportunity to talk about matters rted to the Six Ministries.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded and very casually turned his head to ask Ji Man, ¡°Do you want to go?¡±


    Ji Man considered. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for a meremoner like herself to attend this time, so she shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. Marquis, you and the other nobles can go without me. This one will stay here to watch the rice shop.¡±


    Sir Li nced at Ji Man, then he smiled at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Yes, Owner Ji has probably been very busytely.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled and said, ¡°¡±En, then I¡¯ll just stay here to keep himpany for a while. I¡¯m afraid that if I turn around for a moment, this person might end up being snatched away. Kaifeng, you should go ahead with the group.¡±


    Once these words were said, the mood became a bit awkward. If Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t leaving, then the other people naturally wouldn¡¯t go either, even Xiao Tianyi didn¡¯t seem like he was going to leave.


    Sir Li awkwardlyughed. He didn¡¯t have another choice and could only exin the matter. ¡°People have filed aint that Owner Ji has maliciously lowered the price of rice and made it difficult for the other rice shop owners to run their businesses. This... He¡¯s only going to be taken to the government office for questioning and will be released after that.¡±


    ¡°One has to take on the responsibility of profit and loss when doing business. This one is simply selling rice. Whatw has this one broken?¡± Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°Who filed theint?¡±


    The shopkeepers, who were standing by the doorway with trembling legs, retreated a few steps towards the hallway. Shopkeeper Liu forced himself to smile as he said, ¡°This is a misunderstanding. The rice belongs to Owner Ji, and naturally he can sell it however he wants. There¡¯s noint, noint at all...¡±


    Li Licheng turned his head and harshly red at them. Sure enough, merchants had plenty of money, but they were too inferior to be seen in public with. They hade asking for his help without reaching a clear understanding of this Ji person¡¯s background beforehand. They had said that only Assistant Minister Zhu was supporting this person and caused him to fall into this awkward situation.


    ¡°Oh, so it was only a misunderstanding.¡± Smiling, Ji Man saluted Minister Li with her hands. ¡°Since it¡¯s only a misunderstanding, and it¡¯s been resolved, Minister Li, you won¡¯t need to trouble yourself over this matter anymore. How about this one will act as the host and invite everyone to Luoyan Pagoda? This one heard that from the seventh level of Luoyan Pagoda, one can see a distant river that looks quite interesting during autumn.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had only been looking at Ji Man. As soon as she finished speaking, he voiced his agreement.


    Minister Li understood what was going on now. As it turned out, this rice store¡¯s up-anding youngster was actually the marquis¡¯s person. No wonder this youth¡¯s path had been going so smoothly, and he had been able to destroy the livelihood of those experienced rice merchants too.


    But, he hadn¡¯t heard of Marquis Moyu having a rtive with thest name of Ji.


    While Minister Li was preupied with thinking over those thoughts, the members of Tonghua Poetry Association were thinking that Ji Man¡¯s idea was pretty good. One after another, they got up and started to leave. Li Licheng could only follow after the departing crowd.


    The shopkeepers had already run away. Faced with the oppressive presence of such important people, they naturally couldn¡¯t stand it. They were only little ants inparison, so they could only flee! They also had to hurry with letting Ji Store¡¯s store manager out of prison so he could return here. Ji Store¡¯s owner¡¯s supporters were too strong, even the prime minister and Marquis Moyu was helping him. How could they even try topete with Ji Man? They would thank their lucky stars if they didn¡¯t end up getting locked up themselves.


    ¡ª


    Luo Qianqian slowly walked to Ji Man¡¯s side and looked at him from top to bottom. ¡°Excuse me for my impoliteness, but the insignificant me really wants to know. What exactly is your rtionship with the marquis?¡±


    Marquis Moyu had been so obvious in his favoritism towards this person, and the two of them had been so close during the entire outing. Luo Qianqian probably already had an inkling, but felt too ufortable to say the words aloud herself.


    Surprisingly, Ji Man smiled and was looking at Xiao Tianyi and Ning Yuxuan, who were walking at the front of the group, as she said, ¡°The marquis wouldn¡¯t do something that doesn¡¯t have significance. This one is probably useful to the marquis in some area and that¡¯s why he¡¯s helping this one out at this point in time.¡±


    Luo Qianqian didn¡¯t believe these words. If there was no rtionship between these two people, there was no need for the marquis to help him out so thoroughly.


    Ji Man thought it over before smiling and saying, ¡°If this one has to describe the rtionship between us, then let¡¯s say that the marquis is someone that loves flowers and is reluctant to see a peach tree die early.¡±


    What did this have to do with a peach tree? Luo Qianqian was looking very confused, but Ji Man had already taken a few steps forward to Qian Yingchen¡¯s side to ask him a few questions rted to grain prices.


    In the end, Luo Qianqian couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to pull Zhao Kaifeng to the side and gossip. ¡°Hey, do you think the marquis would like a man?¡±


    Looking at Ji Man, Zhao Kaifeng wrapped his arm around his wife. He chuckled and said, ¡°Liking someone, why does it matter if the other party is a man or woman? Either way, if a person is really able to walk into the marquis¡¯s heart, it would be a rare sight to see.¡±


    Luo Qianqian thought it over and decided that her husband¡¯s words were quite reasonable.

 Chapter 389 - Having supporters (2)

    Chapter 389 ¨C Having supporters (2)


    The group was happily chatting away in Luoyan Pagoda. Sir Li was probably feeling embarrassed over today¡¯s matter, but the awkwardness wouldn¡¯t disappear while the group drank only tea and remained cleared-headed. Thus, as more tea was drunk, it was eventually reced with wine.


    Drunkenness can get rid of all sorts of troubles. The group of people on the seventh floor of Luoyan Pagoda let loose and let poetry skills dictate who was superior. The loser of each round had to drink. Naturally, nothing would happen to Ji Man and Luo Qianqian. Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t lose either. Zhu Yurun that pitiful chubby girl was doomed. Ji Man tried to help her by slipping her notes, but Qian Yingchen confiscated the paper. As soon as he saw what was written on the paper, he ripped the paper up and even harshly red at Ji Man. A human married couple wasn¡¯t like a pair of phoenixes that could fly together with their colorful wings, but shouldn¡¯t husbands and wives have a close, inseparable union anyways?


    The young, chubby woman helplessly wrung her hands, so Qian Yingchen helped her write a few verses. But, in the end, they couldn¡¯t win against Luo Qianqian. After drinking a few cups of wine for losing, Zhu Yurun leaned against Qian Yingchen¡¯s chest and didn¡¯t move.


    By the end of the gathering, no one cared about poems and were simply randomly toasting. Sir Li had drunk too much. Holding up a wine cup, he looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°Work hard. You¡¯ll have a great future!¡±


    ¡°May your good wishese true.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t refuse his toast. She took a few sips. It wasn¡¯t bad. There was a slight burning sensation as the wine went down.


    Xiao Tianyi and Ning Yuxuan were also drinking wine with each other. Xiao Tianyi chuckled and said, ¡°Who could have expected that the marquis would have this type of taste?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted. He clinked his wine cup with Xiao Tianyi¡¯s and drank the contents of his cup in one gulp.


    Seeing that most people had drunk a lot and since she was the host, Ji Man asked Luoyan Pagoda¡¯s shopkeeper to arrange for carriages to bring everyone back to their respective homes. This gathering had cost Ji Man two hundred silver taels, but she wasn¡¯t upset about it. Shopkeeper Liu and Shopkeeper Rong had a dug out a path for her to the minister of revenue, so she would naturally use it. After today, it was very likely that no one else would dare to mess with Ji Store again.


    Although she hadn¡¯t wanted to rely on a man for her livelihood, it seemed that she still hadn¡¯t been able to escape the social system in ancient times. Wasn¡¯t she depending on Ning Yuxuan to protect her?


    After belching once from the wine, Ji Man smiled. There wasn¡¯t anything wrong with that. Another person meant that there was another path avable, and Ning Yuxuan was the most stable and steady path. Walking on this path, she wouldn¡¯t fall...


    Marquis Moyu stretched his hand out and caught hold of this tottering person.


    After they had boarded thest carriage, he lightly ordered the carriage driver, ¡°Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate.¡±


    Although he had drunk a lot too, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t drunk at all. He continued to hold her in his arms and even tolerated her using his clothes to wipe her nose.


    ¡°I miss my mom...¡± Ji Man murmured, ¡°I said I would go back on New Year and buy her a foot warmer. How many New Years have passed...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow and hugged her a bit tighter.


    Ji Man felt ufortable and pushed him away. She opened her eyes halfway and looked at him for a long time before saying, ¡°Strange, why do I feel so uneasy that you¡¯re treating me so well? I keep thinking that you¡¯re using me for something. You¡¯re too clever. It¡¯s hard to believe in smart people.¡±


    Marquis Moyu was stunned for a moment before he chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re really clever too.¡±


    ¡°En, two clever people can¡¯t be happy together.¡± Ji Man leaned against the carriage and tilted her head as she looked at him and said, ¡°Look at Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen¡¯s rtionship. One is clever, and the other one is unbelievably stupid, so they have an easy time together.¡±


    Her voice was fuzzy, but her words were very clear. Ning Yuxuan sighed and brought her over to hold in his arms once again. He couldn¡¯t tell if she was truly drunk or just pretending to be dunk. When the carriage arrived at the destination, he carried her into his estate.


    Ning Yuxuan was carrying Ji Man, who was dressed as a man, to the western courtyard with her face tucked against his chest. On the way there, they passed by servants, who saw the sight of the marquis carrying a man underneath the moonlight and were shocked.


    With his robes lightly fluttering, he strode into his room.


    At this time, Marquis Moyu¡¯s status of a gay man was confirmed. Later on, someone tried to bribe Marquis Moyu by sending him five beautiful men with alluring bodies. Of course, this was something that happened muchter on.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man woke up, she saw that she was in a somewhat familiar room. Ning Yuxuan was already gone, but Guibai was standing outside by the doors. He sent a servant girl into the room to attend to Ji Man when he heard noiseing from the inside.


    ¡°The marquis gave us orders. He said that you were a bit drunk and that you can rest here until you feel better. A carriage will you bring you back to your home when you want to leave,¡± the servant girl obediently said, ¡°The kitchen servants are preparing breakfast. It¡¯ll be ready for you in just a bit.¡±


    Ji Man just nkly nodded.


    However, reality proved that staying in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate for too long was an unwise decision. While she waited for breakfast and did some stretching in the courtyard, Liu Hanyun came over.


    Seeing her face, Liu Hanyun let out a long breath and said, ¡°So it¡¯s you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ji Man stopped stretching and returned to a normal position.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Liu Hanyun wiped her cold sweat. She had though that the marquis had brought back a different man. That would be very difficult to deal with. ¡°Were you drunkst night?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± ¡±Ji Man nodded. Since they happened to meet, they might as well eat breakfast together.


    ¡°I happened to have something that I wanted to discuss with you.¡± Something flickered through Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes. She looked in a different direction as she said, ¡°A long time has passed since that incident, and I had people secretly watch Wen Wan during this time. She really has amnesia and doesn¡¯t remember anything.¡±


    Slightly stunned, Ji Man pursued her lips and asked, ¡°So...?¡±

 Chapter 390 - A pair of purple jade, one thousand five hundred taels (1)

    <h4>Chapter 390 ¨C A pair of purple jade, one thousand five hundred taels (1)</h4>


    Liu Hanyun clutched her handkerchief and seemed to have made a big resolution. ¡°I was thinking. There aren¡¯t many people here to serve the marquis anymore. Originally, Qing-er was avable to help out with serving the marquis, but her health has been poortely. She¡¯s recuperating from her illness, so there¡¯s only this servant left. This servant also has Xi-er to care for, and the marquis doesn¡¯te to Linghan Courtyard often either. Since Wen Wan has lost her memories, how about letting her out to serve the marquis? This way, the marquis won¡¯t stay out so often.¡±


    Ji Man was bewildered after hearing these words. Liu Hanyun was being so magnanimous, ah. It was already pretty good that she wasn¡¯t holding a grudge against Wen Wan for switching her son back then. But now, she was thinking of helping Wen Wan by letting her out and giving her the chance to serve the marquis again?


    ¡°Madam, you¡¯re this family¡¯s matriarch. Why are you asking this one this type of question?¡± Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°However, this one wants to offer Madam some advice. A person¡¯s heart is unpredictable. Even if you treat her well, she might not appreciate your kindness.¡±


    Liu Hanyun looked away. ¡°I¡¯m just worried that the marquis will bring other women home. At the very least, he once liked Wan-er. Now that she lost her memories, she¡¯s like apletely new person. If its possible, this servant wants to try it out.¡±


    What was that saying again? Even a prairie fire can¡¯tpletely destroy the grass. Once the wind blows, the grass will sprout up again. Ji Man thought; Ning Yuxuan had once loved Wen Wan, and the tenderness he felt for her was out of the ordinary.


    ¡°Madam, you can decide this matter yourself. You don¡¯t need to ask this one.¡±


    Breakfast was brought over, and Ji Man picked up a bowl of congee and finished drinking it. Looking at the rays from the morning sun, Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Since this one happens to be here, Madam, can you bring this one to see Mistress Wan? We¡¯ve known each other for so long after all.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Liu Hanyun nodded, stood up, and led Ji Man towards Qiangwei Courtyard.


    ¡ª


    There were still flowers blooming in Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan was sitting at the stone table in the outside courtyard and slightly smiling as she embroidered. When Ji Man stepped into the courtyard, Wen Wan turned her head. There was unfamiliarly in her eyes, but her gaze was very gentle.


    ¡°Madam?¡± Wen Wan put down her needle and thread and walked over to Liu Hanyun. Full of obeisance, she saluted, ¡°This servant greets Madam.¡±


    After Liu Hanyun acknowledged Wen Wan¡¯s greeting and led Ji Man further into the courtyard, Ji Man stopped by the stone table and carefully looked at Wen Wan.


    Wen Wan seemed to have changed into a new person after her failed attempt at hanging herself and losing her memory. Although she still looked weak enough that a gust of wind might blow her away, she was smiling very gently. She was wearing a white dress with a sleeveless yellow vest over it, and a rosy, red cloak was draped over her shoulders. She looked fresh and refined and had the appeal of a girl next door.


    Ji Man had to admit that she was the one that destroyed Miss Wen¡¯s appearance back then. Wen Wan originally had a beautiful face, but it had been filled with resentment day after day, so it naturally got uglier and uglier. Right now, it seemed as if Wen Wan had let go of everything, so she was veryfortable to look at.


    ¡°This young master is?¡± Wen Wan looked at Ji Man with a doubtful gaze.


    Liu Hanyun said, ¡°This is the marquis¡¯s close friend, Mister Ji.¡±


    Wen Wan curtsied. Her eyes sparkled when she looked at Ji Man. ¡°Is there a reason why Mister Ji hase over here?¡±


    Ji Man looked directly into her eyes and slightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. This one just came over to look because it was on the way. This one will be leaving soon.¡±


    Not quite understanding, Wen Wan simply nodded.


    Letting Wen Wan serve Ning Yuxuan again? Ji Man thought that Liu Hanyun¡¯s way of thinking was truly very unique. Wen Wan was the female lead that was still alive after looking death in the eye. What would it take for Wen Wan to die?


    On the way out of the estate, Ji Man quietly said to Liu Hanyun, ¡°Madam, excuse this one for speaking out of turn. Being kind to your rival is the same as being cruel to yourself. If you want to save a snake, be careful that the snake doesn¡¯t bite you. Right now, it seems like she genuinely lost her memories and won¡¯t be a threat to this one¡¯s life, so this one has nothing to say. If this one discovers that she¡¯s pretending, then, in order to preserve this one¡¯s life, this one won¡¯t allow her to stay no matter what.¡±


    Liu Hanyun was slightly stunned. Soon after, she said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man returned to the rice store and sat down, an injured Yan Buba came to see her.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ji Man was at a loss. She hadn¡¯t known that Yan Buba had been arrested.


    ¡°A constable arrested this one yesterday, and this one was punished with threeshes of a whip and five hits by a nk.¡± Yan Buba was calcting something on his abacus as he said, ¡°Later on, they apologized, said it was a misunderstanding, and released this one. This one struck the drum that¡¯s outside the government office andined about the unjust treatment. This one received twenty silver taels aspensation. After deducting medical expenses, there¡¯s a profit of neen silver taels.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. As it turned out, her actions had implicated Yan Buba. He was a rare person that was able to focus on calcting how much money he had earned.


    ¡°In addition, all of Liu Store and Rong Store¡¯s tenant farmer contracts had been sent over here in the early morning.¡± Yan Buba put away his abacus and said, ¡°This one has already asked them. They¡¯re giving you those contracts for free and only ask that they be put under your protection. This one isn¡¯t sure what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Ji Man slowly got up. ¡°Where are the contracts?¡±


    Yan Buba brought over a box. There was a thick stack of contracts inside. Ji Man did a rough count. There were at least 500 agreements.


    Had the rice shopkeepers gone crazy? How could they simply give her all of these contracts? Ji Man was at a loss for moment before she remembered what happened yesterday and smacked her head.


    Those old men had tried to use the minister of revenue to suppress her, but they ended up losing their wits in fright by the group that consisted of members of the imperial family and high-ranking court officials. The rice shopkeepers were probably scared of her seeking revenge by seizing their rice shops in one swoop, so they had directly sent over all of the tenant farmer contracts to appease her anger.


    The rice shopkeepers were overthinking things. Those people had juste over here for a meal and ended up scaring those shopkeepers with their mere presence, but they wouldn¡¯t actually help her with anything.

 Chapter 391 - A pair of purple jade, one thousand five hundred taels (2)

    <h4>Chapter 391 ¨C A pair of purple jade, one thousand five hundred taels (2)</h4>


    Yan Buba was smiling as he fiddled with the abacus. ¡°Boss, you¡¯ve earned several thousand silver taels in one morning because of the actions of the various major rice merchants. We have enough money to fulfill all of these tenant farmer contracts. After the imperial court takes their share of the autumn harvest, the rest of the grains can all enter Ji Store¡¯s granary. In addition, contracts had been signed with other rice merchants, and the rice will be sold wholesale to them at a below market price.


    Ji Man felt very grateful towards Ning Yuxuan for helping her so much. It was about time for her to send a gift his way.


    After thinking it over, Ji Man stood up and said, ¡°I¡¯m going out for a bit. Watch the store for me. Also, invite the other rice shopkeepers to have dinner with me.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Yan Buba nodded.


    The weather was pretty good today, so Ji Man wanted to go out for a stroll and buy Ning Yuxuan a gift in the passing. Participating in gift giving to those above her was simply how the world worked. Marquis Moyu was such a high-ranking official. It was only natural that she should send him a gift.


    However, she didn¡¯t need to put too much thought into this gift. She simply went inside a jade store and decided any expensive item would do. Ji Man lowered her head to carefully look at the top-quality jade pieces. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a pair of purple jade.


    Purple jade was truly rarely seen, and this jade was a half-finished good without any engravings.


    ¡°Young Sir, you have good eyes. Purple jade is a rare item, and this store only has this pair as its treasure.¡± The shopkeeper solicitously came over and said, ¡°You can have whatever you want engraved on the surface.¡±


    ¡°How much is it?¡± Ji Man picked up a piece. It¡¯s smooth surface felt slightly cold.


    The shopkeeper rubbed his fingers together and said, ¡°The piece that you¡¯re holding is a thousand taels. If you buy both, this one will give you a discount and only charge one thousand and five hundred taels.¡±


    Ji Man almost dropped the piece of jade.


    A thousand taels? For a lousy piece of jade? This was highway robbery.


    ¡°Please be careful with it.¡± The shopkeeper hurriedly took the jade from her and murmured, ¡°This is a rare piece of jade. Selling it for this price is already very low.¡±


    Ji Man slowly breathed out and wanted to look at something else. However, after seeing that purple jade, nothing else looked good enough inparison.


    Agonizing, Ji Man asked, ¡°If two pieces are a thousand and five hundred taels, shouldn¡¯t one piece by itself be only seven or eight hundred taels?¡±


    The shopkeeper shook his head and said, ¡°No. The price for one piece is a thousand taels.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like this is matching pair!¡± Ji Man gritted her teeth.


    ¡°It¡¯s store policy,¡± the shopkeeper said, ¡°If you buy more, we¡¯ll be willing to sell the items at a cheaper unit price.¡±


    Ji Man felt very hesitant. The cost for buying one piece was too expensive, but buying two pieces would be even more expensive. Even though he had control over the Six Ministries, she wasn¡¯t willing to give something so expensive to Ning Yuxuan!


    ¡°I¡¯ll buy the other piece,¡± said the person that had been standing in the doorway for a long time.


    Startled to hear this voice, Ji Man turned her head to look. Ning Mingjie was wearing a formal robe and slowly walking into the store with Changshan following after him.


    The shopkeeper smiled when he heard those words. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s okay too. The two of you can make the purchase together and buy the pair for a thousand and five hundred taels.¡±


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t quite recovered from her surprise yet, but Ning Mingjie had already reached her side and was looking at the jade. ¡°Since these are half-finished items, something should be engraved onto them. What do you want it to be?¡±


    ¡°No need for Sir to worry about this.¡± Ji Man took a slight step back. ¡°This is going be a gift for someone, so there¡¯s no need to put too much though into it.¡±


    A gift? Ning Mingjie slightly pursed his lips. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be right to give someone a half-finished piece of jade either.


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded. She looked at the shopkeeper and said, ¡°It¡¯ll be enough to engrave the jade with the word, ¡°Ning.¡±


    After that, she decisively went over to pay her share of the cost.


    While Changshan also went over to pay, Ning Mingjie looked at the shopkeeper and said, ¡°My piece doesn¡¯t need to be engraved.¡±


    As the shopkeeper was epting the banknotes, he was smiling so widely that his eyes seemed to disappear. Naturally, anything a customer said was good. The store had a skillful engraver. Ji Man only had to wait an hour to get the finished engraved item.


    ¡°I heard that you¡¯ve been doing welltely.¡± Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t seem as if he was going to leave after Changshan took the piece of jade for him. Instead, he deeply looked at her. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen each other in a long time sincest time.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s lips were twitching as she smiled and said, ¡°Yeah.¡±


    After that, the two of them didn¡¯t have anything to say.


    Changshan, who was holding the box with the jade and standing behind Ning Mingjie, quietly asked, ¡°Master, do still want to look for something to buy for Madam?¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded. ¡°You can go choose the items for me.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°General, you came here to buy something for your wife?¡±


    ¡°En, it¡¯s going to be for her birthday.¡± Ning Mingjie lightly said, ¡°Even though she wants to spend her birthday in the pce, it works out well. Something hase up in the Ministry of War, so I won¡¯t be able to apany her anyways. That¡¯s why I¡¯m buying her a few presents.¡±


    Why would Kangyuan Junzhu go to the pce for her birthday? Ji Man thought this was a bit strange. But, she had heard that Kangyuan Junzhu had a close, almost sibling-like rtionship, with the emperor. Anyways, it was none of her business.


    Ji Man continued to wait for engraving to be done, and Ning Mingjie continued to silently wait with her while Changshan selected items to be bought as gifts.


    When a carriage was about to pass by the store, it surprisingly stopped. Xiao Tianyi looked through the store¡¯s doorway from the carriage¡¯s window and smiled at the person behind him. ¡°Look, isn¡¯t that your Mister Ji?¡±


    They had just been talking about her, and now they happened to meet. Ning Yuxuan switched spots with Xiao Tianyi in order to look out the window. Sure enough, it was Ji Man inside that store.


    But, why was Ning Mingjie also there?


    ¡°This is certainly interesting.¡± Xiao Tianyi chuckled. ¡°There¡¯s going to be a good show in the pce. How about using your Mister Ji to invite General Ning to the pce to have a look?¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I guess it works out nicely that Ning Mingjie and his wife haven¡¯t been in love with each other from the very beginning.

 Chapter 392 - Going to the palace? (1)

    <h4>Chapter 392 ¨C Going to the pce? (1)</h4>


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. He let go of the curtain and said in sunken voice, ¡°Prime Minister, you think too highly of him. He¡¯s just amoner. If you want General Ning to enter the pce, there¡¯s naturally other ways.¡±


    ¡°Aiya, you¡¯re so overprotective of that person.¡± Xiao Tianyi chuckled. ¡°Even I¡¯m feeling jealous from how protective you¡¯re being. Aren¡¯t I just asking to borrow him to use for a bit? Ning Mingjie isn¡¯t the type of person to easily fall for tricks. I¡¯ve been inquiring for a long time, but I still haven¡¯t found anyone that he¡¯s particrly close with. Now that I happened to see he¡¯s has some affection for your Mister Ji, why are you being so stingy?¡±


    ¡°I have other ways, so why are you being carried away by an impulse to have him do your work?¡± Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes and said, ¡°What kind of affection could he possibly have with Ning Mingjie? They¡¯ve only met once before because of me. Today is probably just a chance encounter while they¡¯re both out shopping. I already have a better person to use than him.¡±


    Xiao Tianyi raised his eyebrows. ¡°Really? I was only joking. You don¡¯t need to take it so seriously. Still, I never expected that the Marquis Moyu, who has the world¡¯s women falling at his feet, would end up falling in love with a man.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan snorted. ¡°It¡¯s just your imagination. He¡¯s only a person that I¡¯m casually favoring.


    Standing inside the store, Ji Man suddenly sneezed.


    Next to her, Ning Mingjie turned to look. He quietly asked, ¡°Did you catch a cold from not sleeping wellst night?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your concern, General.¡± Ji Man sniffled. ¡± It¡¯s probably because someone didn¡¯t properly cover me with a quiltst night. This one stayed the night in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate yesterday.¡±


    Ning Mingjie furrowed his brow. ¡°You still frequently go to the marquis¡¯s estate?¡±


    ¡°No,st night was an exception. This one identally drank too much.¡± Ji Man nced at him and chuckled. ¡°General, could it be that you haven¡¯t visited marquis¡¯s estate in a long time? Mistress Wen had tried to hang herself, but her attempt was unsessful. What an unexpected event. Who knows if she still remembers you, general?¡±


    Stunned, Ning Mingjie shook his head and said, ¡°I haven¡¯t gone over there in the past few months. It¡¯s very possible there might be a war, so I¡¯ve been busy. I haven¡¯t even had time to pay a visit to Yuxuan.


    A war? Ji Man¡¯s ears immediately perked up when she heard these words. ¡°Is there going to be a battle soon?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Mingjie looked away and changed the topic. ¡°I should take the time to pay a visit to my cousin¡¯s estate tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± If he wasn¡¯t willing to say anything, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t continue to ask. After all, it was an important military issue.


    Once the engraving for the jade was done, and it was put into a fine box, Ji Man took her purchase and said, ¡°This one will be leaving first.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded.


    Changshan, who had been browsing for gifts for the past hour on the side, sighed in relief. Finally, that was over.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had originally been thinking of delivering the gift herself, but after thinking it over, she decided that it would better to go back and have Yan Buba find someone to deliver it for her. The gift was only intended as a bribe. There was no reason for her to be so meticulously by delivering it herself.


    ¡ª


    Once Ning Yuxuan and Xiao Tianyi finished discussing their n, Ning Yuxuan returned home.


    Liu Hanyun apprehensively came over to his courtyard and said, ¡°My lord, this servant feels that there aren¡¯t enough people to serve you in the inner court. How about lifting the ban on Qiangwei Courtyard? Mister Ji even went to see Wan-er in Qiangwei Courtyard this morning. Wan-er really doesn¡¯t remember anything. This servant thinks that it would be good if there¡¯s more people to serve the marquis.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t remember anything?¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°How novel.¡±


    After saying this, he stood up and went to Qiangwei Courtyard.


    Wen Wan was currently embroidering a handkerchief. Her embroidery skill wasn¡¯t good, and her stitches were crooked. She was gritting her teeth and bristling with anger as she tried again. She looked like a child that was about throw a tantrum.


    As soon Ning Yuxuan stepped through the entrance, Wen Wan¡¯s eyes brightened. Looking like bashful young girl, she obediently stood up and saluted. ¡°My lord.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re embroidering?¡± Ning Yuxuan walked over and sat down.


    Wen Wan hurriedly hid the handkerchief and replied, ¡°It doesn¡¯t look good. There¡¯s not much I can do here, so I was just ying around.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand and pulled her over.


    After gasping, she obediently leaned on him with a bright red face.


    ¡°You don¡¯t remember anything, but you can embroidered a handkerchief. How interesting.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression was very gentle. He quietly said, ¡°Madam recently said that she wanted you to resume serving me. Are you willing?¡±


    Feeling somewhat happy, Wen Wan shyly asked, ¡°Really...?¡±


    She had lost her memory, but she was still so deeply in love with him. How touching. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were like deep pools that didn¡¯t miss capturing any emotion that flicked over her face. ¡°Really.¡±


    Clutching her handkerchief, Wen Wan said, ¡°This servant fell in love with my lord at first sight. Although this servant can¡¯t remember anything from the past, this servant is a hundred percent willing to serve my lord.¡±


    ¡°En, that¡¯s good then.¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the pce to see my son the day after tomorrow. You used to really like him in the past too. Would you want toe along with me to see him?¡±


    Wen Wan was a bit stunned.


    ¡°Well?¡± Ning Yuxuan continued to smile. ¡°You don¡¯t want to? Is it because you don¡¯t remember him, so you don¡¯t want toe along to see him?¡±


    ¡°No...¡± Wen Wan lowered her eyes and pursed her lips. ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t gone to the pce before. My lord, you¡¯re suddenly mentioning this out of the blue, so this servant feels a bit nervous. It would better if...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Nothing will happen.¡± Ning Yuxuan let her go, stood up, and said, ¡°You¡¯ll have a whole day to prepare yourself. When I go to the pce the day after tomorrow, I¡¯ll send Guibai over toe get you.¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡± Wen Wan lowered her head and saluted.

 Chapter 393 - Going to the palace? (2)

    <h4>Chapter 393 ¨C Going to the pce? (2)</h4>


    Why would he want to bring her to the pce out of the blue? Wen Wan felt a bit panicky. She had already forgotten everything, so why would he bring her there?


    This apprehensive feelingsted for a few days, but her ban had been lifted. She could finally leave Qiangwei Courtyard and see the outside world.


    The female lead and the secondary male character were destined to have idental encounters. Just as Wen Wan walked into the garden, she bumped into Ning Mingjie¡£


    Steward Qian had been leading Ning Mingjie to the receiving room to wait for Marquis Moyu¡¯s return. When they bumped into each other, both sides were a bit surprised.


    Properly standing behind Wen Wan, Tanxiang reminded her master, ¡°This is Young Master. He¡¯s the Zhenyuan General.¡±


    Suddenly enlightened, Wen Wan saluted him. ¡°Greetings, Young Master.¡±


    When Ning Mingjie had heard from Ji Man in the jade store that Wen Wan had lost her memories, he didn¡¯t quite believe her. But, seeing Wen Wan with his own eyes, it did seem that Wen Wan had genuinely lost her memories. She didn¡¯t seem like she recognized him at all when she raised her head to look at him.


    ¡°How unfortunate,¡± Ning Mingjie slightly sighed. Just as he was about to continue walking forward, Wen Wan suddenly said, ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re probably... very close with the marquis, right?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was stunned by these words.


    On the side, Tanxiang exined, ¡°Master, you¡¯re being silly. Young Master and the marquis are practically brothers, and they also work together. How could they not be close?¡±


    Not quite understanding, Wen Wan just nodded. Looking as if she had been put into a difficult position, she look at Steward Qian and said, ¡°I want to ask Young Master for advice. Steward Qian, could you give us some space?¡±


    Steward Qian nced at her, then he bowed and withdrew.


    Ning Mingjie curiously looked at her. Since she had lost her memories, then all of the good and bad things in the past should be written off. What advice could she possibly want from him?


    Tanxiang also withdrew to act as the lookout. Wen Wan squeezed her handkerchief and said in a very aggrieved voice, ¡°Young Master, do you know what¡¯s happening in the pce recently? Wan-er doesn¡¯t remember anything, but the marquis is going to bring Wan-er into the pce tomorrow.¡±


    Bring Wen Wan into the pce? Ning Mingjie slightly furrowed his brow. What was Yuxuan thinking? His cousin had been up to a lot thingstely and even dared to y tricks right underneath the emperor¡¯s eyes. He hade over here today to try to persuade his cousin. Although the current emperor had no great talent for governing, he could still be considered a good emperor. As long as they disyed utter loyalty to the emperor, there was no need for political tricks.


    However, he didn¡¯t know what was going to happen tomorrow. Other than Kangyuan going to the pce to celebrate her birthday with the emperor and empress, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything else nned.


    ¡°Wan-er doesn¡¯t want to go to the pce,¡± Wen Wan said, ¡°Wan-er doesn¡¯t remember the marquis¡¯s heir or want to see him. Young Master, can you help Wan-er? Say to the marquis that there¡¯s no need to bring Wan-er along with him when he enters the pce.¡±


    Wan-er had a pretty good rtionship with Kangyuan in the past. Seeing Wen Wan¡¯s frightened expression, a halo of gentleness glimmered around Ning Mingjie. ¡°Very few people can change Yuxuan¡¯s mind. If you¡¯re scared of making a mistake in the pce, you should go look for Kangyuan Junzhu.¡±


    Stunned, Wen Wan pursed her lips and asked, ¡°Who is Kangyuan Junzhu?¡±


    Oh, right, she lost her memories. Ning Mingjie thought it over before saying, ¡°Have the marquis bring you to see her tomorrow. She¡¯ll be in the pce.¡±


    Wen Wan wanted to say more, but a servant hade over to report that Ning Yuxuan had returned.


    Ning Mingjie bid Wen Wan goodbye and headed to the receiving room.


    Wen Wan remained standing in the same spot and lightly stamped her feet. She kept having a foreboding feeling that something would happen during tomorrow¡¯s trip to the pce.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was holding Ji Man¡¯s gift. There was a smile in his eyes, but his voice was indifferent as he said, ¡°This is a good piece of jade and thoughtful enough.¡±


    Guibai didn¡¯t expose his master¡¯s real feelings. He only nodded and agreeably repeated, ¡°It¡¯s a very good piece of jade.¡±


    Ning Mingjie stepped into the receiving room with a slight smile and called out, ¡°Yuxuan.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan tied the jade to his waist, stood up, and saluted him in greeting. ¡°It¡¯s been so long. Cousin, you still have such a valiant andmanding presence.¡±


    They exchanged a few more pleasantries before sitting down. As Ning Mingjie sat down, his robe slightly moved, and Ning Yuxuan saw the unengraved purple jade that was tied to Ning Mingjie¡¯s waist.


    His smile slowly faded away. Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. He looked away and was silent for a while before he asked, ¡°Cousin, is there an urgent matter? Why did you pay a visit to my estate today?¡±


    Yuxuan¡¯s tone had noticeably chilled. Ning Mingjie was a bit lost. He didn¡¯t know what had caused the sudden change. ¡°I just came here because I haven¡¯t seen you in a while. I heard that you¡¯re going to the pce tomorrow, so I wanted to ask if you could bring along my gift for Kangyuan¡¯s birthday. This would save me a trip. I¡¯m going to be busy at the Ministry of War.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing important going on at the Ministry of War tomorrow,¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly refuted. ¡°Cousin, you¡¯ve been married to the junzhu for a while now, but your rtionship is still lukewarm. Since Kangyuan Junzhu wants to spend her birthday in the pce, why don¡¯t you go and personally give her your present?¡±


    ¡°The road between Zhangjun and the capital is almost halfway done, so there¡¯s naturally work to be done on the Ministry of War¡¯s side,¡± Ning Mingjie seriously said, ¡°Anyways, there¡¯s not much affection between me and Kangyuan. We¡¯re both aware of it and letting sleeping dogs lie.¡±


    A sulky feeling arose in Ning Yuxuan that went unnoticed by the other people. In a low voice, he said, ¡°Cousin, even if there aren¡¯t feelings between the two of you, you can¡¯t be so neglectful about Kangyuan Junzhu¡¯s birthday. I won¡¯t help you out by delivering your gift.¡±

 Chapter 394 - A pleasant surprise (1)

    <h4>Chapter 394 ¨C A pleasant surprise (1)</h4>


    Ning Mingjie had brought up the request without thinking because it wouldn¡¯t be too inconvenient. Since Yuxuan wasn¡¯t willing to deliver the gift, he would just order a servant to do so instead. But, Yuxuan¡¯s mood seemed kind of strange today. One moment he was gloomy, and the next moment he was fine.


    The topic was changed to something else, and Ning Yuxuan invited his cousin to stay for lunch. Ning Mingjie agreed.


    ¡ª


    On the other side, Wen Wan continued to be apprehensive. Coupled with her innocent appearance, she looked very pitiful. Kneading her handkerchief, she quietly asked Tanxiang, ¡°What do you think will happen if I go to the pce?¡±


    Tanxiang closed the doors and thought for a long time before answering, ¡°This servant thinks that perhaps the marquis is suspicious of you and wants to take you to the pce to test you. But, there isn¡¯t any big event happening in the pce tomorrow. There¡¯s only Kangyuan Junzhu¡¯s birthday.¡±


    Kangyuan Junzhu was being mentioned again.


    Wen Wan lowered her gaze. Her eyes were dark and unclear. A whileter, she finally said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡ª


    After lunch was finished, Ning Yuxuan went with Ning Mingjie to the Ministry of War. On the way there, he behaved like a kind-hearted younger brother that was concerned about his older brother¡¯s marital rtionship. ¡°Kangyuan Junzhu is the emperor¡¯s most beloved cousin. Her marriage to you symbolized how much the emperor values you. How could you overlook her birthday because of a trifle work matter? She¡¯s probably only going to the pce on her birthday because she¡¯s angry with you.¡±


    Hearing these words, Ning Mingjie pursed his lips. ¡°You want me to go to the pce to apany her?¡±


    ¡°Not just that, I want you to bring Kangyuan Junzhu back to your estate and for the two of you to work on your rtionship,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°She¡¯s your wife. You should take good care of her. I once had a person like that, but I didn¡¯t treasure her, and now it¡¯s toote for regrets.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nced at him. ¡°You also know?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°That¡¯s the reason why I¡¯m advising you to cherish the person in front of you.¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly furrowed his brow. He had been married to Kangyuan for a while now. They each minded their own businesses. Other than their quarrel when she had sent Ji Man away while they were in Jing Province, the two of them rarely interacted with each other.


    He understood the emperor¡¯s intentions in bestowing this marriage. Zhao Li had wanted help in stabilizing his reign, and he had done so. Now that the country was in a stable state, he didn¡¯t have any other ideas. Zhao Li had given him an opportunity to aplish amendable deed, so he naturally had to repay him by being loyal to him for a lifetime.


    As for Kangyuan, now that he thought about it, it was true that he could have treated her better.


    ¡°Alright, if you can make the arrangements for the Ministry of War, I won¡¯t let Kangyuan enter the pce tomorrow,¡± said Ning Mingjie.


    ¡°The emperor has already prepared a banquet in the pce. How can you tell the junzhu to not go to the pce now?¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at him in askance. Shaking his head, he said, ¡°Have you lost some intelligence from fighting those battles? You shoulde to the pce after the banquet is over and personally escort the junzhu home. Wouldn¡¯t that be a pleasant surprise for her?¡±


    ¡°A pleasant surprise...¡± Ning Mingjie thought it over. He had randomly bought her birthday present and didn¡¯t know if she would like it. He sighed and said, ¡°Fine. Aren¡¯t you going to the pce to see your heir tomorrow? Once the banquet is over, send someone over to the west entrance to tell me.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ning Yuxuan was smiling as he nodded. He swept his gaze over the piece of jade that was dangling from his cousin¡¯s waist before looking away again.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Ning Yuxuan brought Wen Wan along with him to the pce in the afternoon.


    Following his order, Wen Wan had dressed herself up as a page boy. She was leaning close to him as she said, ¡°My lord, this servant is really scared of making a mistake.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t need to do much.¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled and said, ¡°Once we¡¯re done seeing my heir, you just need to go to the west entrance and call Mingjie over.¡±


    Surprised, Wen Wan lowered her head and made a sound of assent.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her in amusement. ¡°You remember Mingjie?¡±


    If someone introduced Ning Mingjie to her, they would only say he was Young Master or an important general. They definitely wouldn¡¯t address Ning Mingjie by his first name.


    Startled, Wen Wan slightly clenched her hand. When she raised her head and looked at him, she looked a bit lost. ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t know.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t scold her. He only gently tucked her hair behind her ear and said, ¡°Mingjie is my cousin. You met him yesterday. I¡¯ll point out where the west entrance ister.¡±


    ¡°.... Okay.¡± Wen Wan lowered her head and leaned against him. Her face was pale, and she didn¡¯t say another word.


    Marquis Moyu was in a pretty good mood today. After entering the pce, they went over to the empress dowager¡¯s pce to pay respects and went over the empress¡¯s pce to do the same thing afterwards.


    Kangyuan Junzhu had said she wasing to the pce to visit the emperor and the empress. However, the empress was ying with Haohao by herself, and the emperor was nowhere to be seen. When Ning Yuxuan sent someone to inquire about the emperor¡¯s whereabouts, he was informed that the emperor was meeting Kangyuan Junzhu in Zichen Hall.


    As they took a stroll around the imperial garden, Wen Wan praised Haohao for being very cute.


    When they were about to leave, Haohao was clinging to Ning Yuxuan and wouldn¡¯t let go. His eyes were red from crying. ¡°Dad, you just came here. When are you going toe again?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan felt like someone was squeezing his heart. He hugged Haohao and sighed. ¡°Dad wille get Haohao very soon.¡±


    ¡°Really? If you lie, then you¡¯re a small dog.¡± Haohao pouted. He looked like he was about to cry again. Although the empress was very nice and kind, he really wanted to go home. He hadn¡¯t seen his teacher in a long time too.


    ¡°En, I wouldn¡¯t lie to you.¡± Ning Yuxuan rubbed his little head.


    ¡°Why did you bring this person here instead of teacher?¡± Haohao nced at Wen Wan before burrowing himself into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arms and said, ¡°I miss teacher.¡±


    Trantor Rambling: I was initially thinking that Ning Yuxuan is trying to get Ning Mingjie to improve his rtionship with his Kangyuan Junzhu out of jealousy. But, we know from a few chapters ago that Ning Yuxuan and Xiao Tianyi had been plotting together to get Ning Mingjie to go to the pce before Ning Yuxuan saw Ji Man and Ning Mingjie in the jade store together.

 Chapter 395 - A pleasant surprise (2)

    Chapter 395 ¨C A pleasant surprise (2)


    Wen Wan¡¯s smile slightly stiffened.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly said, ¡°Dad will bring teacher along the next Ie, okay?¡±


    Haohao obediently nodded. ¡°En.¡± Then, with his little hand around Ning Yuxuan¡¯s neck, he vigorously cuddled him.


    From the position of the sun in the sky, it was about that time. A young eunuch came running over and whispered something into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s ear. Ning Yuxuan nodded and said to Wen Wan, ¡°Go to the western entrance and tell my cousin it¡¯s time for him to go over there and surprise the <i>junzhu</i>.¡±


    Wen Wan nodded and somewhat stiffly headed towards the outer part of the pce. She was someone that had lost her memories, so this was technically her first timeing to the pce. If she happened to get lost, it wouldn¡¯t be her fault, right?


    Smiling, the young eunuch caught up to Wen Wan to lead the way for her, ¡°This way, please.¡±


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t able to smile in response.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie had gone shopping again and picked out a new gift. He was holding the wrapped up gift in his hand. After Yuxuan had said all those words to him to persuade him, he finally came round. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu </i>was a good woman. He had been too distant with her this entire time. It wouldn¡¯t be wrong to treat her a bit better by giving her a nice surprise.


    The eunuch led Wen Wan to a spot near the western entrance. There was no way that Wen Wan could pretend to get lost. She could only go forward and salute Ning Mingjie. ¡°Young Master, my lord said it¡¯s time.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded when he saw that it was her. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. I can bring you with me. I was just saying yesterday that you should meet Kangyuan. You might remember some old memories if you see her.¡±


    Wen Wan shook her head. ¡°No, that¡¯s not a good idea. It would be too much of an imposition...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Ning Mingjie said, ¡°Come with me. We¡¯re not far Zichen Hall.¡±


    Wen Wan could only brace herself and follow him.


    ¡ª


    Inside Zichen Hall,


    It was true that Zhao Li had prepared a banquet for Kangyuan, but Pengyue had said she wasn¡¯t feeling well and didn¡¯t want to attend. Thus, it was only Zhao Li and Kangyuan inside the hall.


    Kangyuan had drunk a lot of wine, and her gaze had be a bit blurry. She looked at him with a besotted gaze and said, ¡°Your Majesty, did you know that I wasn¡¯t happy at all when you bestowed that marriage?¡±


    Zhao Li raised his eyebrows. ¡°Is General Ning not treating you well?¡±


    Kangyuan wryly smiled. ¡°That person, he looks so warm, and he treats people well. But, if his heart isn¡¯t with you, no matter what, it still feels cold. We haven¡¯t shared a bed since our wedding night.¡±


    Zhao Li slightly furrowed his brow in shock.


    Kangyuan was probably drunk. She gestured for the pce servants to withdraw, then she got up, fell into his arms, and wailed. ¡°Why did you marry me off to someone else? Do you like that Yuzhen Princess that much? How is she better than me? Your Majesty, Yu-<i>er</i> has loved you for so long. Why did you give Yu-<i>er</i> such an ending?¡±


    Zhao Li was sitting on a thick cushion, and his legs couldn¡¯t move. He could only let her continue to cry. He sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I wronged you.¡±


    He had promised Pengyue that he wouldn¡¯t have any consorts, so he had to keep his promise. Perhaps, he might break this promise in the future for a political benefit, but he would do his best to keep his promise for as long as possible.


    Kangyuan wretchedly cried. She raised her head and looked at the man in front of her. She had loved him for so long and had even trade away her lifetime happiness by marrying Ning Mingjie to help him. Why wasn¡¯t he moved by her sacrifice?


    Crying, Kangyuan hugged Zhao Li and kissed him.


    Zhao Li frowned and pushed Kangyuan away. Her falling tears were like raindrops on pear blossoms as she asked, ¡°Your Majesty, won¡¯t you allow Yu-<i>er</i> to have a moment of happiness on my birthday? Just... Just treat it as bestowing ast gift to Yu-<i>er</i>.¡±


    The air felt a bit hot and dry. Zhao Li looked at her beautifully tearful face. He sighed and finally didn¡¯t push her away.


    Outside, the head eunuch had gestured for the other pce servants to withdraw with only him left at the doors to keep watch. The surroundings were quiet, and the people inside the hall weren¡¯t keeping their voices low. And so, from the outside, one could clearly hear, ¡°Yu-<i>er</i> loves you. Your Majesty, Yu-<i>er</i> loves you....¡±


    Standing outside of Zichen Hall, Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression gradually turned cold. He was tightly holding the present in his hand, and his body had stiffened.


    The head eunuch saw Ning Mingjie and hurriedly shouted, ¡°Your Majesty, Zhenyuan General is here to see you!¡±


    The sounds inside the hall immediately came to a stop. Zhao Li¡¯s clothes weren¡¯t that disheveled, but Kangyuan¡¯s clothes were inplete disarray. In a flustered state, she tried to straighten out her clothes.


    ¡°No need to announce my presence. I¡¯ll wait here for the <i>junzhu</i> toe out,¡± Ning Mingjie lightly said.


    The eunuch had a somewhat embarrassed expression. Smiling, he said, ¡°General, don¡¯t misunderstand. The <i>junzhu</i> drank too much and was just randomly saying things.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Mingjie lowered his eyes.


    When the doors opened, Kangyuan half-stumbled out. Looking at Ning Mingjie with a very shocked expression, she said, ¡°General, why...¡±


    When she turned her head, she saw that Wen Wan, who was dressed as a pageboy, was standing behind him.


    What was going on? Why was Wen Wan with Ning Mingjie? And, why had theye here together? Kangyuan felt shocked and angry. She didn¡¯t pay attention to her own appearance. Her clothes and hair were disheveled, and there was even a mark on her neck.


    Ning Mingjie sneered. He turned around and left. He threw down the gift that he had been holding, and itnded in a nearby flowerbed.


    Wen Wan docilely followed after him. She didn¡¯t want to get caught in this crossfire. She could only hope that the <i>junzhu</i> wouldn¡¯t think that she had led Ning Mingjie here.


    Panicking, Kangyuan turned her head to look at Zichen Hall before chasing after Ning Mingjie. ¡°General!¡±

 Chapter 396 - Oh so high Wangyue Building (1)

    Chapter 396 ¨C Oh so high Wangyue Building (1)


    Zhao Li had remained sitting in Zichen Hall. He summoned the eunuch inside and asked, ¡°What happened outside?¡±


    Trembling with fear, the eunuch knelt down and said, ¡°The general came here without notice. Kangyuan Junzhu had already left with him.¡±


    Zhao Li swept the wine cup off the table and very angrily asked, ¡°Why did no onee here to report that he had entered the pce?


    ¡°The general seemed to have onlye to the pce to pick up Kangyuan Junzhu and hadn¡¯t requested an audience with Your Majesty.¡± The eunuch¡¯s legs were wobbling in fear.


    Zhao Li felt a headache. Rubbing his temples, he said, ¡°Kangyuan Junzhu drank too much and was just joking around. If anyone dares to tell the empress this matter, they¡¯ll have their heads chopped off!¡±


    The eunuch made a sound of assent and was trembling as he withdrew.


    Kangyuan chased after Ning Mingjie, but men could walk faster than women. It didn¡¯t take long for Wen Wan and Kangyuan to fall behind.


    ¡°Who brought the general over?¡± Kangyuan¡¯s gaze was like an arrow that wanted to pierce through Wen Wan.


    With an innocent expression, Wen Wan lowered her head and quietly said, ¡°Wan-er was only following the marquis¡¯s order...¡±


    ¡°The marquis¡¯s order?¡± Kangyuan Junzhu stopped walking. Her eyebrows were twisted as she pulled Wen Wan to a deserted spot by the pce wall. ¡°What kind of joke is that? He gave you an order, so you brought the general there and put me into that predicament? Wen Wan, don¡¯t forget, that man had locked you up. If it wasn¡¯t for me, you would still be trapped there!¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Wen Wan pursed her lips. With a lowered her head, she said, ¡°Wan-er didn¡¯t do it deliberately. Most likely, the marquis had deliberately nned to expose the junzhu¡¯s...¡±


    Kangyuan Junzhu was her benefactor. Once the first princess consort had found out that she had been put into confinement, there was no more news from her. She had probably given up on her. In contrast, it was Kangyuan Junzhu that gave her the idea of pretending to have amnesia. Marquis Moyu had locked her up because he wanted to cover up Nie Sangyu¡¯s new identity. So, as long as she did a good job with pretending to lose her memories and figuring out a way to get Liu Hanyun to help her, she would be able to turn around her fortune.


    In order to not make a mistake, Wen Wan practiced in front of a mirror for a month. She didn¡¯t want to be alone for a lifetime. Ning Yuxuan had turned his back on her, and Nie Sangyu had cheated her and taken unfair advantage of her. She had to find an opportunity and pay them back for every wrong done to her. No matter how much resentment and pain she felt, she would repress all of it. No one could see any ws in her eyes that would expose her. People really did need to be pushed to a dire state before their strength could burst forth.


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s new identity was herst trump card, so she hadn¡¯t told anyone. She was waiting for a suitable opportunity, so that Nie Sangyu would die a miserable death. Ending her confinement in Qiangwei Courtyard was only her first step.


    However, she hadn¡¯t expected that Ning Yuxuan would take her to the pce right after letting her out and cause Kangyuan Junzhu to misunderstand her like this.


    Wen Wan gritted her teeth and did her best to exin, ¡°Junzhu, Wan-er definitely didn¡¯t have any intention of harming you.¡±


    Kangyuan Junzhu was still in the heat of the moment. While tidying her clothes and hair essories, she said in a weepy tone, ¡°What should I do? The general definitely won¡¯t forgive me.¡±


    Her heart was devoted to Zhao Li, but she was Ning Mingjie¡¯s wife. If General Ning wanted to pursue today¡¯s matter, she wouldn¡¯t be able to turn things around even if she was a junzhu.


    Wen Wan thought it over and said, ¡°Junzhu, why don¡¯t you go plead with His Majesty? Only His Majesty can save you.¡±


    No matter how smart a woman was, she would lose her head when faced with this type of situation. Kangyuan had been helping Zhao Li for a long time and was capable of a few small tricks. But, she didn¡¯t have a clear understanding of the political situation in the imperial court. Thus, she actually thought that Wen Wan¡¯s lousy suggestion was a decent idea.


    And so, Kangyuan Junzhu didn¡¯t leave the pce. Instead, she went back to talk to the emperor and missed the best timing to exin herself to Ning Mingjie.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie left the pce. His eyes were red with anger. He hadn¡¯t thought that the emperor would do such a thing. Back when he had first gone to the second prince¡¯s side, Zhao Li was only an unfavored prince. On the surface, he had used the opportunity that Ning Yuxuan had given him to join the third prince¡¯s faction, but he had always been secretly helping Zhao Li¡£


    One of his several childhood lessons was the importance of loyalty. Once you gave your loyalty to someone, you should never betray that person. He had vowed allegiance to Zhao Li and helped him seize the country. But in the end, he had been betrayed by the person that he had sworn allegiance too.


    Truly, too ridiculous.


    ¡°Mingjie.¡± Ning Yuxuan seemed to pop out of nowhere and was smiling as he looked at him. ¡°Has it ended? Where¡¯s Kangyuan Junzhu?¡±


    Ning Mingjie stopped walking. His voice was slightly hoarse as he said, ¡°Have you finished seeing your heir? How about going drinking with me?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Ning Yuxuan was smiling as he agreed. They boarded the same carriage and went to a bar.


    ¡ª


    When Kangyuan Junzhu returned to Zichen Hall, the empress had arrived some time before her and was sitting across from Zhao Li.


    Pengyue saw her panicking expression but stayed silent.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Kangyuan knew that this empress had a good temperament. The empress seemed to have been sick for a while previously. After the empress¡¯s illness had past, she was no longer as close to the emperor. Kangyuan thought; why not take the opportunity to exin everything to her? Perhaps, the empress would be soft-hearted and help her?


    Pengyue turned her head and lightly nced at her. ¡°Yu-er, you haven¡¯t left the pce, yet?¡±


    ¡°Yu-er has something to report.¡± Kangyuan mustered up her courage and didn¡¯t notice Zhao Li¡¯s expression suddenly changing. Focused on herself, she said, ¡°Your Majesty, please give your blessing for Yu-er and His Majesty to be together. Yu-er truly loves His Majesty, and we already have a physically intimate rtionship.¡±


    Pengyue¡¯s expression was very calm.


    The sky above the pce suddenly drastically darkened. There was a sh of lightning, and an autumn rain started to fall in the capital.

 Chapter 397 - Oh so high Wangyue Building (2)

    Chapter 397 ¨C Oh so high Wangyue Building (2)


    Having no idea about the recent events in the pce, Ji Man peacefully slept the night away and even had a good dream that night. She woke up feeling refreshed.


    ¡ª


    Standing in the rice shop, Yan Buba said in a serious tone, ¡°Boss, the capital might be undergoing a major change soon.¡±


    Scared, Ji Man asked, ¡°How¡¯s it going to change?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to get colder.¡± Yan Buba looked at the outside. ¡°The autumn rain has brought cold weather.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡± Gah, he had almost scared her to death. She had thought he meant a catastrophe was going to happen.


    As she was helping the store assistants bringing in a few bags of rice from outside, she heard a group of meddlesome people causing a ruckus with one of them shouting, ¡°Bad news! Something has happened in the pce!¡±


    ¡°What happened? What happened?¡± The group of middle-aged men, who had ducked underneath the eaves because of the rain, quickly started to gossip.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but the empress is furious. She soundly whipped Kangyuan Junzhu before kicking her out of the pce,¡± someone said in a lowered voice, ¡°My daughter works in the pce. When I was waiting at the side entrance of the pce today to visit her, I overheard the pce maids gossiping about this. Aiya, I¡¯ve always thought that Her Majesty was a dignified and gentle woman. Who could have thought she would whip someone?!¡±


    Ji Man was stunned. Pengyue whipped Kangyuan? She had only taken a break for two days. How could something like this have happened?


    ¡ª


    The rainy weather was very cold, and it took two days before the sky cleared up. Once the weather improved, Zhu Yurun came skipping over here and cleared up Ji Man¡¯s confusion.


    ¡°Kangyuan Junzhu straightforwardly told the empress that she and the emperor had been physically intimate, and she wanted to be his consort.¡± Zhu Yurun munched on snacks as she said, ¡°That Zhenyuan General is a really forgiving person. I heard that he wrote a letter to divorce Kangyuan Junzhu and another letter to clearly state that he would continue to be loyal to the emperor. The emperor was very pleased by this and raised his annual sry. The emperor said the raise was a reward, but it looks more like an appeasement.¡±


    Ji Man fed her more food as she gestured for her to continue speaking.


    Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t have any intention of hiding anything. She shared all of Qian Yingchen¡¯s guesses with Ji Man without missing a single one.


    ¡°The road between the capital and Zhangjun is almostplete. On a whim, the emperor said he wants Ning Mingjie to bring ten thousand soldiers to Zhangjun as military exercise. Zhangjun is ce that¡¯s easy to defend and hard to attack. The people from Zhangjun haven¡¯t replied back yet. They¡¯re probably thinking that the emperor has too much free time and nothing better to do.


    Zhu Yurun spoke without censoring herself. Fortunately, Ji Man was her only audience.


    Military exercise? Who would have nothing better to do than go over to Zhangjun as a type of military exercise? Zhangjun had be a thorn in the emperor¡¯s side, and the time was ripe for the emperor to find an opportunity to remove that thorn.


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. Zhangjun Prince had returned his fiefdom, so it had naturally be difficult to contact him. She didn¡¯t know what he was going to do next.


    ¡°I feel really uneasy. I keep feeling like there¡¯s going to be war soon.¡± Yurun put down the half-eaten snack and said, ¡°Yingchen said the imperial court appears calm right now, and Zhenyuan General¡¯s matter hadn¡¯t stirred up any major waves. But, I still feel worried about Yingchen.¡±


    ¡°Why are you worried about him?¡± Ji Man found the matter a bitughable. ¡°He isn¡¯t a general. He¡¯s a civil court official. He follows Marquis Moyu. Who could harm him?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Zhu Yurun sighed and said, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know what this feeling is like. When you¡¯re in love with someone, you¡¯ll worry about him even if he¡¯s only going out for just a stroll. You¡¯ll worry that he twists his ankle or something. As long as he¡¯s out of your sight, you¡¯ll be worried about suddenly losing him.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment before poking Zhu Yurun¡¯s bright and clean forehead. ¡°You¡¯re overthinking things. Nothing bad will happen.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Yurun lowered her eyes. ¡°It¡¯ll be good if our days can remain peaceful.¡±


    ¡ª


    How could there be peace? Ning Mingjie had divorced Kangyuan Junzhu. Because of Kangyuan Junzhu¡¯s matter, the empress started a cold war with the emperor. Kangyuan Junzhu¡¯s father, Prince Rong, had also written a letter to the emperor to apologize for not raising his daughter well. He also requested the emperor take into consideration that they were one family and make Kangyuan his consort.


    Sitting in his wheelchair, Zhao Li stayed outside of Wangyue Building for a long time, but Pengyue never opened her window. More and more misunderstandings had piled up between him and Pengyue, but he didn¡¯t have the energy to exin all of them. She had once been a smiling woman that publicly dered that she would protect him, but his recent actions had finally broken her heart.


    The eunuch was put into a difficult position as he came over to report, ¡°Your Majesty, Kangyuan Junzhu has been kneeling by the west entrance for a long time.¡±


    Zhao Li slowly closed his eyes. ¡°Bring her to the inner pce.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± The eunuch let out a sigh and left.


    The matter of Kangyuan Junzhu bing the emperor¡¯s consort was only a matter of time. The emperor had to give Prince Rong face.


    Zhao Li looked at the oh so high Wangyue Building and finally turned his wheelchair around and left.


    ¡ª


    The emperor summoned Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan to the Taihe Hall.


    Since Ning Mingjie¡¯s loyalty towards him had been tested again, he felt safe with handing over the military power to him. As for Marquis Moyu... Although he had his heir in his possession, Zhao Li didn¡¯t feel confident about having his loyalty.


    Once Zhangjun¡¯s road wasplete, the army would be sent there. At that time, he couldn¡¯t afford to make a single mistake about the people by his side.

 Chapter 398 - You brought that upon yourself (1)

    Chapter 398 ¨C You brought that upon yourself (1)


    Zhao Li began by saying, ¡°Regarding the matter of leading the troops for the military exercise, this emperor has great expectations for the two of you and hopes that the two of you can be of one heart and one mind as you help this emperor achieve his goals.¡±


    As a ce that was abundant in ore and had high grain production, Zhangjun was truly a lurking danger that was waiting to happen. Right now, there would be a shortage of grain even after the autumn harvest, and Zhangjun¡¯s granaries were empty. He could use the previous excuse of a grain shortage to send ten thousand soldiers over there as a military exercise. If Zhangjun Prince was unyielding, he would find an excuse to attack his fiefdom. If Zhangjun Prince was meek, he would collect all of the ore produced in Zhangjun by imposing a tariff. Either way, he would remove this threat through the use of a strong army.


    He couldn¡¯t just sit and watch as Zhangjun Prince¡¯s territory became increasingly prosperous. If he waited until Zhangjun Prince revolted first, he might not be able to defeat him then.


    Marquis Moyu currently controlled the Six Ministries, so he assigned him as the deputy general for the army that would go Zhangjun to move him out of the imperial court. This would give him the opportunity to tidy up the Six Ministries. During the time that Ning Yuxuan was away, Xiao Tianyu would temporarily be put in charge of the Six Ministries.


    Ning Yuxuan saluted with his hands. ¡°This subject will definitely not disappoint Your Majesty¡¯s high hopes.¡±


    As Zhao Li deeply looked at him, his gaze swept over the matching pair of purple jade that was hanging on Ning Mingjie¡¯s and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s waists.


    His heart slightly rxed. In the end, Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan were from the same n and as close as brothers. He deeply believed in Ning Mingjie, and Ning Yuxuan naturally wouldn¡¯t abandon his older cousin. Moreover, seeing that the two cousins were close enough to wear matching jade waist essories, they obviously must have a good rtionship.


    Still, he should wait until they left the capital before making Kangyuan his consort. He should also give Ning Mingjie something inpensation. Otherwise, even the most loyal of hearts would turn disloyal.


    As Zhao Li contemted this, he let out a long sigh. He didn¡¯t know how long Pengyue¡¯s anger was going tost this time. Anyways, she would always end up forgiving him.


    ¡ª


    While waiting for the road to Zhangjun to bepleted, the emperor had Ning Yuxuan transfer over some of his work. Although the emperor had said it was just transferring some tasks, it was really seizing Marquis Moyu¡¯s power. Surprisingly, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t resist. Other than control of the Ministry of Revenue, he slowly relinquished his control of the other ministries.


    As a result, he gained plenty of free time to go looking for Ji Man every day.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was very busy. Today, she had to personally go the countryside to collect the grain from the autumn harvest from certain tenant farmers. Taking advantage of the timing gap in the imperial court, she wanted to collect more grain. Previously, she had gotten most of her grain from Zhangjun, but she felt nervous because of the current political situation. She didn¡¯t need Zhao Zhe to tell her that it would be difficult to import rice from Zhangjun.


    A trip to the countryside definitely wasn¡¯t romantic. Contrary to her imagination, there wasn¡¯t field after field of beautiful rice paddies. Instead, it was an endlessly long, bumpy, and muddy trip. Ji Man didn¡¯t even dare to wear any nice-looking clothing.


    So, she didn¡¯t know why a lord like Ning Yuxuan would want toe along. Sitting in a carriage that was as bouncy as a trampoline, he was still able to maintain a calm andposed demeanor. ¡°Why are you taking this trip yourself instead of sending your shopkeeper? Isn¡¯t he verypetent?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s face had turned pale from the jolting carriage ride. ¡°It¡¯s exactly because he¡¯spetent that I want him to stay inside the capital to help me with important things. If I send him here to do this type of drudgery, he¡¯ll say I¡¯m abusing the employees.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted and pulled her onto hisp so that she wouldn¡¯t keep bumping around inside the carriage.


    With his arm around her waist, it felt as if she was being constrained by a seat belt. Ji Man turned her head and looked at him with a serious expression as she asked, ¡°Marquis, do you what¡¯s the popr trend in the capital recently?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan murmured, ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°Pretty boy toys.¡± Then, Ji Man pointed at herself. ¡°The streets are full of fresh looking young men that look better than me. It¡¯s almost a waste for me to wear this face mask. There¡¯s also newly opened brothels. I heard their business is doing very well. Marquis, do you know how this trend started?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sneered, ¡°It¡¯s your fault for crossdressing.¡±


    Of course, he was aware of how this trend started. The Minister of Revenue had already stuffed several nubile pageboys into household.


    He was ming her? Ji Man rolled her eyes. She felt ufortable being restrained by him. ¡°This one just wants to say that one should pay attention to one¡¯s actions when he¡¯s in a public ce. Marquis, there¡¯s no need for you to be so close with this one.¡±


    It seemed that Ning Yuxuan thought these words reasonable. He nodded in response and let go of her.


    One of the carriage¡¯s wheels fell into a small pothole, but the wheel was pulled back up as the horse continued forward. When this happened, Ji Man didn¡¯t time to brace herself with anything, and her head hit the wall of the carriage. Ouch, the temple of her head really hurt.


    Ning Yuxuan snickered. ¡°You brought that upon yourself.¡±


    Utterly difited, Ji Man grabbed the edge of the seat. She really didn¡¯t understand why this person hade along and was in the mood to make flippant remarks.


    When they arrived at their destination, Ji Man took her list and went from house to house to collect the grain and pay the cost. There was a group of shop assistants following behind her to carry the purchased grain back onto the carts. Surprisingly, Ning Yuxuan trailed behind her the entire time. He didn¡¯t seem worried at all that his white robe would get dirty.


    There were several peasant women that couldn¡¯t bear to look away from this white-robed man. They were so distracted that they even told Ji Man the wrong prices for the grain. In an unhappy mood, Ji Man stayed silent when the quoted price was lower than the correct amount and reminded them when the price was too high. At the end of this busy afternoon, she almost didn¡¯t have the energy to lift up her feet.


    ¡°Boss, we¡¯re going to bring the grain back to the capital first,¡± called out one of shop assistants that was sitting on an oxcart.


    Exhausted, Ji Man gestured that it was okay for them to leave ahead of her. When she turned around to look at her carriage, her butt felt sore.


    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry to go back?¡± Ning Yuxuan was smiling as he asked her, ¡°Is there something else that you have to do?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Exasperated, Ji Man rolled her eyes. ¡°But if we don¡¯t head back now, are you nning on spending the night in the countryside?¡±

 Chapter 399 - You brought that upon yourself (2)

    Chapter 399 ¨C You brought that upon yourself (2)


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. He pointed at an oxcart that was outside a farmer¡¯s house. ¡°Since you¡¯re not busy, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to slowly go back.¡±


    Go back on an oxcart? Ji Man was dumbfounded. Although it was true that riding an oxcart would be more rxing and less bumpy, wouldn¡¯t it also be too slow? By the time they got back, it would be the middle of the night.


    ¡°Head of the household, would you be willing to exchange your oxcart for my carriage?¡± Ning Yuxuan had gone straight to negotiating with the farmer, without waiting for Ji Man to agree.


    In the end, the carriage was exchanged for an oxcart plus an additional cost of two silver taels. This was donepletely without her, the real owner of the carriage, assent. After that, the farmer led them to a spot to take some loose straw to cushion the oxcart.


    Ji Man felt quite indignant as she carried over the straw. This man¡¯s chauvinism really couldn¡¯t be changed.


    However, after they gotten onto the oxcart, and the original carriage¡¯s driver started the slow drive home on the oxcart, not only was this ride less bumpy, there was also a pretty good view of the autumn sun descending to the horizon.


    Not caring about his image at all, Ning Yuxuan lied down on the oxcart with her in his expensive robes. Looking at the sky too, he asked her, ¡°Doesn¡¯t this feel reallyfortable?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    After the autumn insects had chittered a few times, they fell silent. The sky gradually darkened. Ji Man was almost lulled to sleep by the swaying oxcart when the person next to her quietly asked, ¡°Can you really not find a man that you like in this ce?¡±


    Ji Man opened her eyes and responded with a very puzzled expression at his sudden question.


    ¡°You said that you want a man that knows how to repair skynterns and cushion brains.¡± Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and slightly looked away as he said, ¡°That part is easy enough, but if you want someone that will whole-heartedly love one person, that¡¯s really difficult.¡±


    (T/N: Ji Man originally says someone that can repairputers in chapter 269, but she amends her words so that it¡¯ll make sense in ancient times in chapter 270. In Chinese, the literal trantion forputer (di¨¤nn¨£o) is electrical brain, and the Chinese words for electrical and cushion are homophones.)


    Ji Man felt even more confused. What did he mean by repairing skynterns and cushioning brains?


    But, she understood the intent behind the second half of his words. Ning Yuxuan wanted to confess his feelings for her.


    Turning her head to the side to look at him, Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°That really is very difficult, so I¡¯m not holding onto that hope. If I can¡¯t go back in this lifetime, then after I¡¯ve aplished my goal, I¡¯m going to find a ce to live in seclusion.¡±


    ¡°Where do you want to go to live in seclusion?¡± Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. It had already been so long, but she was still saying that she hadn¡¯t found...


    ¡°I¡¯ll find a ce that has enchanting scenery. A ce where I can see the sunset and sunrise and isn¡¯t suppressed by bureaucracy or divided by social ss,¡± Ji Man casually answered, ¡°Actually, when I was reading light novels, I used to really admire the male lead that would renounce his power for the female lead and go live in seclusion with her. But, now that I¡¯m here, I finally understand that¡¯s impossible.¡±


    ¡°Once a person has risen to a high position, how many people would be willing to go back to being ordinary? Love between ordinary people isn¡¯t explosively spectacr. And, who can guarantee a lifetime love? For example, those people that jumps off buildings. When they¡¯re throwing themselves off the ledge, they probably mustered up their courage and think they never want to go back. But, if the building is a bit higher, and they¡¯re given more time to contemte their decision as they fall, they¡¯ll regret it.¡±


    Love was like that too.


    Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t fully understand her words. He just gently leaned his head against hers and watched as the sunset glow changed into a night sky that was full of glimmering stars. The rest of their surroundings were tranquil too.


    A long timeter, Ning Yuxuan broke the silence by asking, ¡°Do you still hate me?¡±


    Ji Man contemted. At the very beginning, she hated him very much and thought of a hundred ways to get revenge. However, after returning to the capital, finding out that Haohao was her son, and she herself was always in his care, as time went on, the hatred in her heart wasn¡¯t as strong as it had been at the beginning.


    No wonder suffering had to be experienced every day to be remembered. Otherwise, as time psed, it became much easier to forgive a lot of things.


    Although she wouldn¡¯t knock off the price of what was owed to her, he was no longer on her list of people that she wanted to kill.


    ¡°Marquis, you¡¯re overthinking things.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Our rtionship had already concluded a long time ago with that divorce letter. This one doesn¡¯t hate the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly sat up. There was a glimmer of brightness in his eyes.


    ¡°Anyways, that doesn¡¯t matter. The marquis has chosen to be loyal to the emperor, and this one is carrying a blood debt that has to be collected. Our paths and ns are different,¡± Ji Man added before closing her eyes.


    She could forgive him, but she couldn¡¯t forgive Zhao Li for having her watch as Nie n was exterminated.


    His eyes had looked as if they were filled with stars, but after hearing her words, it was as if there had been a sudden downpour, and the stars hadpletely disappeared.


    Marquis Moyu wrylyughed. He twirled a wisp of her loose hair as he said in a slightly hoarse voice, ¡°Why are you so heartless?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I learn this from the marquis?¡± Ji Man turned her head away.


    The oxcart continued to slowly move forward. Ning Yuxuan quietly looked the side of her face without moving.


    He had said that she brought trouble upon herself, but in the end, who was the real culprit?


    ¡ª


    A few dayster, Ji Man received a letter from Zhangjun Prince. As expected, he wanted her to collect grain. Moreover, he wanted her to slowly raise the price of grain in the capital.


    There had already been a shortage of grain to begin with this year, and the imperial court was collecting arge amount of grain to supply the soldiers that were going on the military exercise. Themonfolk had already been grumbling about this. Once Ji Man raised the price for grain, many people were unable to afford food, and cries ofints filled the streets.


    As a result, the imperial court was forced to release some of their stored grain to the general poption, which was thenpletely bought out by Ji Man and shipped to Zhangjun. Thus, the price of grain didn¡¯t improve at all in the capital.


    However, the emperor didn¡¯t care about the plights of themonfolk. He still wanted Ning Mingjie to take the army to Zhangjun at the end of the year.

 Chapter 400 - About to leave and be separated by a long distance (1)

    Chapter 400 ¨C About to leave and be separated by a long distance (1)


    Although Wen Wan was no longer confined inside Qiangwei Courtyard, she still hadn¡¯t been able to serve Marquis Moyu. Not only did he sleep in the western courtyard each night, even if he did visit a woman¡¯s courtyard, it would be Mu Shuiqing¡¯s.


    However, Mu Shuiqing¡¯s health was getting worse by the day. Whenever Wen Wan went over to visit her, she would be told that Mu Shuiqing was bedridden and couldn¡¯t see any guests. The marquis continued to be gone during the daytime, so Wen Wan could only go see Liu Hanyun.


    ¡°I have to figure out a way.¡± With her handkerchief covering her mouth, Wen Wan quietly said, ¡°Madam, you have to help more. The marquis is going to leave the capital soon. If things continue like this, then does it even matter if I was let out of Qiangwei Courtyard or not?


    Liu Hanyun knitted her brows. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°I only promised Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> that I would help free you from your confinement. As for other matters, I won¡¯t be able to help you. After all, the marquis doesn¡¯t visit me either.¡±


    Wen Wan pursed her lips. ¡°Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> has already entered the pce. It¡¯s only a matter of time before the emperor gives her a status as his consort. If you help me, I¡¯ll say a few good words to her. Young Master Xi will definitely benefit from this.¡±


    Liu Hanyun lowered her eyes and stayed silent.


    ¡°Madam, it can¡¯t be that you¡¯re still thinking about her kindness to you back then?¡± Wen Wan¡¯s expression only slightly changed, but her tone became scornful as she said, ¡°Back then, she only promote you to an honored concubine to drag you into the middle of her mess. Madam, why are you being so foolish? Look, neither she nor her child is in the estate, but she hasn¡¯t missed taking the marquis¡¯s heart and the position of the heir for her son. How could a person with that type of skill be a benevolent person?¡±


    Liu Hanyun shook her head. ¡°She¡¯s always protected me. I can¡¯t return her kindness with enmity. I can help you with a few things in return for Xi-<i>er¡¯s</i> good future, but if you want to harm her, I can¡¯t help you. If a person doesn¡¯t appreciate gratitude, then even a beast is better than that person.


    Wen Wan sneered. She picked up the nearby Xi-<i>er</i> and brought him over. ¡°Who¡¯s thinking about harming her? My target is the marquis. Madam, have you heard of hallucinogenic herbs? I happened to have acquired some and want to use it on the marquis. But, he¡¯s not even willing toe to my courtyard, and he might not necessarily drink soup that I send over him. I just don¡¯t want to waste it.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> squirmed in Wen Wan¡¯s arms and ended up kicking her stomach. The sudden pain caused Wen Wan¡¯s expression to change, and she almost tossed him away.


    ¡°Xi-<i>er</i>.¡± Liu Hanyun hurriedly stretched her hands out and took her child. She patted his back tofort him and frowned as she looked at Wen Wan. ¡°How can that type of messy thing be used on the marquis? I won¡¯t help you.¡±


    Wen Wan rubbed her stomach and tightly pursed her lips. ¡°Madam, are you really going to be this stubborn?¡±


    Liu Hanyun headed inside while holding Xi-<i>er. </i>¡°Chunpi, send the guest out.¡±


    Wen Wan was furious, but her smile didn¡¯t waver. She gestured at Tanxiang and departed the courtyard with her. If Liu Hanyun wasn¡¯t willing to help her, then she would have to wait for an opportunity. She didn¡¯t believe that Ning Yuxuan would ignore her forever.


    ¡ª


    The pedestrians on the capital¡¯s streets were somewhat unsure where to go. The prices hanging outside the big and small rice stores were all shockingly high.


    Ning Yuxuan was in Ji Rice Store and drinking tea. He heard the kids outside, who were too young to know any better, singing,


    ¡°No rice to eat, only husks remain,


    The imperial family wages a battle, and themonfolk suffer,


    The cripple don¡¯t know how long the road is, and the poor don¡¯t know the fragrance of rice.¡±


    Turning his head to look at the person next to him Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°Did youpose that?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. With her eyes on the ount book, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know where that song originated. It¡¯s already been sung for the past several days. It won¡¯t be possible to disperse the dark clouds above the capital. A lot of people have already been forced by the high grain prices to leave the capital in order to seek out food.¡±


    Back when Zhao Li had seized the throne, his story had been so sensational. He had been a cripple that survived by living on the edges while the other princespeted with each other. At the end, he hadunched a surprise attack and beaten Zhao Jue, the former third prince, and ascended to the top. Back then, everyone had thought he would usher in a golden age. At the very beginning, there had been many schrs that praised Zhao Li by saying that he would definitely be well-suited as the emperor.


    However, while Zhao Li was able to abruptly rise to the top during troubled times, he had be paranoid and obstinate during this prosperous period. He wouldn¡¯t listen to his officials¡¯ advice and did as he pleased. His arrogant behavior was too outrageous. People couldn¡¯t be med for gradually losing heart.


    Ji Man finished writing in her ount book. She turned her head to look at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Marquis, you¡¯ve always been a clever person. Are you really not going to do anything about this situation?¡±


    ¡°How can I do anything?¡± Marquis Moyu smiled and said, ¡°The emperor was the one that slowly took back the control over the Six Ministries. So, this type of issue, it¡¯s for the emperor to worry about. Even if I wanted to trouble myself over it, there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. She didn¡¯t know if she was just misinterpreting things, but ever since Haohao entered the pce, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s attitude towards the emperor seemed to have subtly changed.


    Ji Man jokingly asked, ¡°Marquis, it can¡¯t be that you¡¯re preparing to be a turncoat, right?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Yuxuan propped his chin in his hand and looked out the window as he said, ¡°As long as he¡¯s sitting on the throne, I¡¯ll remain loyal to him.¡±


    Until he could safely bring Haohao out of the pce.


    Ji Man shrugged. The two of them were certainly strange enough. They understand each other¡¯s position, but they were still able to sit here and chat.


    Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°When are you going to return to Zhangjun?¡±


    Ji Man picked up the thick ount book and brought it over to a cab to put it away. After thinking it over, she said, ¡°I¡¯ll probably be leaving sometime in the next several days after I finish making arrangements for the rice store. Otherwise, once the end of the year arrives, I won¡¯t be able to go back.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. ¡°So soon?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man turned her head and smiled as she looked at him. ¡°Why? Are you going to miss me, Marquis? If you do, how about saying I love you?¡±

 Chapter 401 - About to leave and be separated by a long distance (2)

    Chapter 401 ¨C About to leave and be separated by a long distance (2)


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression slightly sunk, and he silently turned his head away. A whileter, he said, ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay in the capital? It¡¯s not suitable for a woman to go to Zhangjun by herself.¡±


    ¡°Prince Zhangjun told me to go back.¡± Ji Man sighed and said in somewhat pleased with herself tone, ¡°Right now, I have control over the grain price in the capital. As an important person, I naturally have to go to a safer ce. If I stay in the capital and someone recovers her memories and spills the beans, will you protect me when your master seizes me and wants to behead me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was frozen in surprise for a moment. He lowered his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re right. But if you leave so early, I won¡¯t be able to see you for a long time.¡±


    Ji Man paused before chuckling. ¡°That¡¯s okay. Marquis, aren¡¯t there other people by your side? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to look at them than to look at a man¡¯s face every day?¡±


    She turned around and went back to tidying the cab. By the time she finished separating all of the records for the old debts and the new ones, her back ached from tiredness. When she turned her head, there was no one sitting at the table.


    He had silently slipped in here and silently slipped out. People with martial arts were just that good. Ji Man clicked her tongue in admiration, then she left the room to look for Yan Buba to make arrangement for certain things. Once she was done with that, she would go prepare her luggage.


    ¡ª


    During the next several days, Marquis Moyu didn¡¯te over. Ji Man didn¡¯t mind. She thought that he was probably busy with something.


    However, on the morning that she was boarding the carriage to leave the capital and go to Zhangjun, Ning Yuxuan still hadn¡¯t appeared.


    Feeling a bit uneasy, Ji Man looked at Yan Buba and asked, ¡°Has something happened in the imperial court recently? Has an important official been caught and put into the imperial prison or perhaps, put under house arrest? Say, someone like Marquis Moyu?¡±


    Yan Buba was calcting something on his abacus. He looked at her oddly and answered, ¡°Boss, don¡¯t worry. You can leave. Marquis Moyu is fine. He hasn¡¯t been imprisoned or put under house arrest.¡±


    Then, why hadn¡¯t hee over to visit her? Ji Man furrowed her brow. Habit was truly a terrifying thing. Over time, she had gotten used to Ning Yuxuaning over every day. When he had suddenly stoppeding, she felt a visceral uneasiness. She clearly didn¡¯t care about him. It was like when you were sitting in a slow-moving car and didn¡¯t feel as if you were moving, but when the car suddenly braked, your body would involuntarily lean forward.


    Was this how Marquis Moyu seduced women? Ji Man chuckled. She finished packing and set out on her journey with two armed guards.


    Fine, if he wasn¡¯t going toe here to send her off, she didn¡¯t care.


    Was the carriage driver deliberately going the wrong way? Why would they pass by Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate on their way out of the capital? Even if they were going to pass by, why didn¡¯t he find an excuse to stop there? They had already passed the estate¡¯s entrance.


    With an unhappy expression, Ji Man called out, ¡°Stop.¡±


    The carriage driver obediently stopped the carriage and turned his head to look at her with a confusion expression. ¡°Boss?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an old friend inside. I have to go and say goodbye to him.¡± Ji Man coughed twice, put down her wrapped bundle, and jumped down from the carriage. ¡°Wait here.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Ji Man walked to the entrance. When the person at the front entrance saw Ji Man, he didn¡¯t even ask why she was here. Beaming, he bowed and called out, ¡°Mister Ji.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardly nodded. Before she could ask a question, the servant said, ¡°The marquis is home. He¡¯s probably in the western courtyard. Mister Ji, you can go inside.¡±


    So enthusiastic. Ji Man pursed her lips, expressed her thanks, and headed inside.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan had actually woken up very early today. He was frowning as he had a servant girl help him change his clothes. He asked Guibai, ¡°Is she leaving today?¡±


    Guibai nodded. ¡°My lord, didn¡¯t you say that you wouldn¡¯t go to send her off?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan snorted. ¡°I was only asking. I just happened to want take a stroll outside. It¡¯s not because I want to see her off.¡±


    Guibai nodded again. ¡°There¡¯s no need to hurry then. Master, you can go out for your stroll after you had breakfast. The kitchen servants are still preparing it.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression changed. He looked at Guibai and said, ¡°Have I indulged you too muchtely?¡±


    Guibai looked at him nkly. He had no idea what he had done wrong. However, seeing his master¡¯s expression, he knelt down to ask for forgiveness. ¡°Master, don¡¯t be angry. You¡¯ll be hungryter if you skip breakfast.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s voice came from the other side of the doors. ¡°My lord, this servant has a prepared a light breakfast for you and brought it over.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. Guibai had already gotten up to open the doors. Wen Wan came into the room with a slight smile. She brought seven small tes of side dishes and one bowl of congee. The breakfast looked quite appetizing.


    Wen Wan was standing at the side and somewhat bashfully clutching her handkerchief as she said, ¡°My lord, you should eat breakfast before going out. This servant doesn¡¯t know what my lord likes to eat, so this servant freely made a few dishes.¡±


    The seven side dishes on the tter looked very simr to the food that Ji Man had made during the Southern Trip. After Ning Yuxuan briefly looked over them, he sat down and picked up a piece of food to taste.


    En, it wasn¡¯t as tasty as Ji Man¡¯s food. However, Wen Wan hadn¡¯t known how to cook previously. She had finally be sensible enough to learn.


    After eating several bites, Ning Yuxuan got up and wanted to head out. It wasn¡¯t early anymore.


    When Wen Wan came over to clean up the dishes and chopsticks, she stumbled and ended up falling into his arms. Seemingly flustered and embarrassed, she pulled his sleeve and mumbled, ¡°Yuxuan...¡±


    Startled, Ning Yuxuan lowered his head to nkly look at her.


    Estimating what time it was by looking at the sky, Guibai wanted to reminded his master that it was time to leave, but Marquis Moyu said, ¡°Guibai, you can go out first.¡±

 Chapter 402 - Giving him an umbrella (1)

    Chapter 402 ¨C Giving him an umbre (1)


    Guibai nced at his master in a somewhat bbergasted gaze, but he wasn¡¯t a garrulous type of person. Since his master had already told him to leave, he silently left the room and closed the doors on his way out.


    The face in front of him looked very blurry and slowly changed into another person¡¯s face. Feeling a bit vexed, Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and wanted to push Wen Wan away. ¡°What did you do?¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s face looked extremely innocent and slowly changed into Nie Sangyu¡¯s face. In a nervous and helpless tone, she said, ¡°I haven¡¯t done anything.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. His mind felt muddled, and he felt dizzy. He wanted to stand up, but he ended up falling down.


    Wen Wan hurriedly helped him up and towards the bed. Seeing that his gaze wasn¡¯t focused, she looked at him with feeling and somewhat bashfully asked, ¡°My lord, does this servant look beautiful?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out and stroked the spot between her eyebrows that he saw with his eyes. ¡°En, very beautiful.¡±


    Wen Wan smiled. She brought him to the bed and softly said, ¡°My lord, this servant hasn¡¯t done anything. You¡¯re just drunk. Look at you, you can¡¯t even stand up.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was leaning on a pillow and looking at her with half-opened eyes. After a long time, he finally said, ¡°En.¡±


    A glimmer shed through Wen Wan¡¯s eyes. She untied her clothes, pressed closer to him, and softly asked, ¡°My lord, what¡¯s the most important thing to you right now?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan really didn¡¯t want to answer. He didn¡¯t even know the answer to this question himself, but he surprisingly said, ¡°World peace.¡±


    Wen Wan was stunned for a moment, and then sheughed.


    From Ning Yuxuan¡¯s perspective, he was seeing Ji Man¡¯s radiant smile. He hadn¡¯t seen her smile like this in a long time.


    He knew this was a trap, but he couldn¡¯t resist touching her face. It was rare to see Ji Man smiling so happily without restraint.


    ¡°This servant wants to ask my lord for another child. My lord, you¡¯ve been so heartless to me and unwilling to give a child to this servant.¡± Wen Wan untied Ning Yuxuan¡¯s belt. Sounding as if she had been wronged, she continued, ¡°It¡¯s been so long, and this servant has tried all sorts of methods. But, this servant still hasn¡¯t gotten pregnant. Why?¡±


    Feeling somewhat bad for her, Ning Yuxuan pulled her closer and whispered, ¡°All of the incense in this household has been prepared by a specialist. The more incense that¡¯s burned in a courtyard, the more unlikely it is to have a child. Sangyu, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s body trembled. It wasn¡¯t just because of the secret that he had revealed. It was more because of the name he had said.


    It was actually Nie Sangyu¡¯s name? Kangyuan Junzhu had told her that this hallucinogenic drug would make a person delirious and imagine that the person in front of him was his most beloved person.


    She hadn¡¯t been willing to believe that Yuxuan, who had once whole-heartedly loved her, had fallen in love with someone else.


    ¡°Why are you crying?¡± Ning Yuxuan was slightly flustered as he looked at her. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad. We¡¯ll have lots of children in the future. Once I bring Haohao back, we can live happily together.¡±


    Wen Wan wiped away her tears and lowered her eyes as she leaned on his chest. It hadn¡¯t been easy for Kangyuan Junzhu to get this drug, and she had given her this drug in order to ask Marquis Moyu questions for her. She had toplete her task.


    ¡°My lord, aren¡¯t you going to Zhangjun? Do you feel confident about winning the uing battle? This servant can¡¯t help feeling worried that something might happen to you,¡± said Wen Wan in a low voice. She closed her eyes as she leaned against his chest.


    Ning Yuxuan had one hand resting on the side of the pillow and was tenaciously holding onto something, but his voice remained slightly dazed as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already prepared everything. I¡¯llplete the emperor¡¯s task and return at the appropriate time.¡±


    Wen Wan let out a sigh of relief and asked another question. ¡°My lord, do you not resent the emperor for locking Haohao up in the pce?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to feel resentful about? It¡¯s better for Haohao to be in the pce,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°I should be thanking His Majesty. This way I won¡¯t be troubled by family issues.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, what will my lord do if Zhangjun Prince revolts?¡± Wen Wan pressed closer to him as she asked, ¡°My lord, how will you save yourself then?¡±


    Marquis Moyu lightly smiled. ¡°Real men are born to serve the country. There¡¯s no need to fear death. In order to stabilize the emperor¡¯s reign, Mingjie and I are willing to fight Zhangjun Prince to the death.¡±


    The person that had been hiding in the darkness silently left. His martial arts was good enough that not even Ning Yuxuan noticed his presence. Wen Wan heard the secret signal from outside the window and finally rxed. Wrapping her body around Ning Yuxuan, she said, ¡°This servant doesn¡¯t have any regrets in this life after marrying my lord. There¡¯s no incense in this room. My lord, let¡¯s do that....¡±


    In order to remain clear-headed, Ning Yuxuan had been gripping the dagger that was beneath his pillow so tightly that his hand was bleeding. However, the person in front of him still had Nie Sangyu¡¯s face. He could control his words, but he couldn¡¯t force himself to push her away.


    While his gaze was still dazed, her beautiful, red lips had already descended down.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man entered the western courtyard. Seeing the closed doors as well as Guibai, who was standing outside, she curiously asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the marquis?¡±


    Guibai panicked. He hurriedly went over to her. ¡°The marquis isn¡¯t here. Mister Ji, please follow this servant elsewhere...¡±


    ¡°My lord...¡± A charming voice drifted out from the room. Hearing the breathy panting that followed, it was easy to guess the amorous scene that was happening inside the room.


    Guibai¡¯s body stiffened. He hadn¡¯t expected Wen Wan to suddenly make such a loud noise. For a time, he didn¡¯t know how to exin the situation to Ji Man. Say that the marquis¡¯s mind had broken down? That wasn¡¯t possible.


    Trantor Ramblings: It felt like Ning Yuxuan spent the past several chapters crawling out of the hole that he had dug for himself, and now he¡¯s fallen back into it, and the impact of the fall has made the hole even deeper. To his credit, he does need to gain Zhao Li¡¯s trust for Haohao¡¯s sake.

 Chapter 403 - Giving him an umbrella (2)

    Chapter 403 ¨C Giving him an umbre (2)


    Ji Man had also paused. She looked towards the room in surprise. Soon after, she looked at Guibai and said, ¡°How could the marquis not be in the same ce as you? Isn¡¯t he just with a woman? Why are you covering for him?¡±


    Guibai was in a dilemma. He didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Ji Man looked at the closer doors for a moment before sneering and turning around. She was an idiot. How could she have hoped that a stallion would be a pure hearted virgin? He had an estate full of women and the freedom to roll around the sheets with whomever he wanted. She must have been blind toe here.


    Desperate, Guibai shouted, ¡°Mister Ji!¡±


    The sounds in the room stopped. Ji Man had also stopped walking and turned her head back, but her expression didn¡¯t look good.


    Guibai pursed his lips and asked, ¡°Are you really going to leave like this?¡±


    If he couldn¡¯t stop her from leaving, the marquis would tear him into pieces once he came out.


    Ji Man tilted her head and considered. True, it would be such a waste to leave like this. She was the only one feeling angry while the two people inside were on cloud nine.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Ji Man turned around, walked over, and pushed open the closed doors. There was an expected scream followed by Wen Wan rushing to hide herself in the quilt.


    Ning Yuxuan only had on his inner robes. He turned his head to look at the person that had entered the room. It was a man, but that person¡¯s face was changing into Nie Sangyu¡¯s face too.


    ¡°Sangyu...¡±


    Sangyu, my ass! Keeping a slight smile on her face, she stood at the doorway and saluted with her hands. ¡°This one is going away on a long-distance trip. Marquis, please excuse this one¡¯s inattention that led to this disturbance. At the very least, we¡¯re acquaintances. This one hopes that the marquis will be full of vitality even in old age and will have someone send over a parting giftter.¡±


    The wound on his hand was already dripping blood. Ning Yuxuan struggled to get out of bed, but he didn¡¯t have the strength to do so. He could only look at her and call out, ¡°Don¡¯t go.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. She turned around and decisively left.


    She wasn¡¯t angry. What was there to be angry about? In this ce, what man didn¡¯t have multiple wives and concubines? Ning Yuxuan had merely been well-behaved for a period of time. Why should she think his inherent nature could be changed?


    Guibai chased after her, but he didn¡¯t dare to forcefully stop Ji Man. He only followed after her and quietly tried to persuade her. ¡°Mister Ji, since you¡¯re already here, why don¡¯t you stay and wait for the marquis for a bit? The marquis wants to send you off...¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Ji Man walked out of the estate and to the carriage. She took out an oil-papered umbre and stuffed it into Guibai¡¯s hands. ¡°Let¡¯s separate here. Give this present to the marquis. It represents this one¡¯s most sincere wish to him.¡±


    An umbre? While Guibai was still stunned, Ji Man had already boarded the carriage without looking back.


    ¡ª


    By the time that Ning Yuxuan had put on his outer robes and came out to pursue Ji Man, there was only Guibai left. Guibai handed him the oil-papered umbre. It wasn¡¯t a remarkable umbre. Most people wouldn¡¯t even consider it as suitable for a gift.


    ¡°Umbre? Breaking up?¡± Ning Yuxuan felt heartache. The wound on his hand continued to bleed. As he held onto the umbre, the dripping blood looked like fallen plum blossom petals on the white umbre.


    (T/N: In Chinese, the words for umbre and breaking up are homophones.)


    She wanted to break up with him? Why else would she give him an umbre? Was she really going to erase all of his long-term efforts just because of today¡¯s misunderstanding?


    Actually, Marquis Moyu was overthinking things. Her intention behind giving him the umbre was very simple; when you don¡¯t raise it, the sky is clear.


    (T/N: Those words are from an Inte meme. Her original intention in giving him the umbre was just wishing him well.)


    However, as a person from ancient times, Marquis Moyu wouldn¡¯t know this. And yet, he still held onto this umbre as he looked at the empty road. There was no trace of anyone left. It felt as if someone had dug out a piece of a heart, and the sky had be gloomy.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was on the road for half a month. Fortunately, the road between Zhangjun and the capital was almostplete. She wouldn¡¯t need to go up and down mountains to enter Zhangjun.


    By the time she arrived in Zhangjun, she was exhausted. She thought about looking for an inn and resting. She could wait until tomorrow to go to Zhangjun Prince¡¯s estate tomorrow to report in. However, as soon as she passed through the city¡¯s gate, his servants brought her to Zhangjun Prince¡¯s Tianxian Pavilion. When she got there, Zhao Zhe was there to wee her back and with a full table of good food.


    ¡°Mister Ji, you¡¯ve worked hard.¡± Compared to before, Zhao Zhe¡¯s attitude towards her had made a 180-degree turn. Ji Man wasn¡¯t surprised by this change. After all, she had control of the capital¡¯s lifeline right now. In the past, Zhao Zhe hadn¡¯t believed her when she said that she could use food to open the capital¡¯s gates, but he probably understood the power of it now.


    ¡°Your Highness, this one fortunately hasn¡¯t failed my mission.¡± Ji Man saluted him with her hands.


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s smile was very friendly. Looking at her, he said, ¡°You¡¯re probably tired from rushing back. This prince has already ordered the servants to set up a courtyard for you to use in my estate. Once dinner is over, you can head over there to rest.¡±


    Ji Man bowed to thank him. ¡°Your Highness, thank you for your great kindness.¡±


    After going through a round of pleasantries, Zhao Zhe finally asked, ¡°What¡¯s the situation in the capital?¡±


    Ji Man thought it over before saying, ¡°The moringints of themon people fill the capital. Marquis Moyu¡¯s power has been weakened. The situation in the imperial court isn¡¯t clear. Since this one is only an itinerant, this one is unable to clearly understand how matters are unfolding in the imperial court.¡±


    Zhao Zhe smiled again. ¡°That¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve already done a fine job with your task. At the beginning, this prince didn¡¯t think that food could be used that way. You probably already earned a huge profit during those periods when the imperial court was collecting grain, right?¡±


    At the mention of this, Ji Man hastily straightened her sitting posture and said, ¡°This one was able to earn that profit because of Your Highness¡¯s support. Seeing that Zhangjun is on the verge of war, this one is willing to donate all of my earnings during this period of time to pay for the forging of weaponry in order to strengthen your fiefdom.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe¡¯s smile became even more amicable. ¡°Mister Ji, you¡¯re willing to be that generous?¡±

 Chapter 404 - Longing for you makes me old (1)

    Chapter 404 ¨C Longing for you makes me old (1)


    Ji Man obsequiously smiled. What choice did she have? She had to be this generous. Since ancient times, how many wealthy people had met with a bad ending? Merchants had money, but they didn¡¯t have power. If a merchant was too rich, it would attract the attention of someone that held power. Once that happened, the merchant would definitely be killed and his or her wealth would be feasted upon. And so, she might as well donate her money in order to preserve her life.


    By showing loyalty to Zhao Zhe, she would have a way out. Instead of waiting for someone else to find a way out for her and seeing her as a hindrance, it would be better to walk with them and share both the glory and disgrace.


    ¡°This one doesn¡¯t need to guess to know that a family can only survive when the nation survives,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°If Zhangjun doesn¡¯t resist against being oppressed, the days when this one has to flee to escape death won¡¯t be far away. This one will hand over the ount books that show Ji Rice Store¡¯s profits to Sir Wuter. Your Highness, please don¡¯t treat this one as an outsider.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was smiling very happily. He said, ¡°good¡± several times before looking at her and saying, ¡°I didn¡¯t think highly enough of you in the past. I thought... Haha. I didn¡¯t expect that you would be someone that entertained thoughts of possessing the world.¡±


    No matter how brilliant a ruler was, he would still like to hear ttery. Ji Man wasn¡¯t stingy with her words. She raised up the wine cup and said, ¡°Right now, there¡¯s disasters wrecking havoc everywhere. The people have no way to make a living, and the emperor continues to obstinately cling to his own course and make life difficult for Zhangjun. As a person of Zhangjun, it¡¯s only natural for this one to put forth my meager contribution. Moreover, Your Highness ispetent and governs well. With you as Zhangjun¡¯s learned and virtuous leader, Zhangjun has be even more prosperous than the capital. After going to the capital and returning, this one feels even more certain that seeking shelter from Your Highness was the best choice.¡±


    He had used her to threaten Ning Yuxuan and treated her as an insignificant pawn, but she could forget all those past unpleasant things. After all, at that time, she didn¡¯t have the means to do anything herself.


    But now, the situation was different. She had a bargaining chip in her hand, so Zhao Zhe would value her more. She wouldn¡¯t be regarded as unimportant person that could be kept or not kept without much thought. There was value to be had by closely following this master.


    Zhao Zhe was smiling as he epted her toast. After asking her a few more questions about matters in the capital, they quietly finished the meal. Afterwards, they went to the prince¡¯s estate, he arranged a few things for her, then let her withdraw to peacefully rest. Ji Man was finally able to have her first good night¡¯s sleep in the past half month.


    ¡ª


    Half a month ago, in the capital.


    The spy had returned from the marquis¡¯s estate and repeated every single word that Ning Yuxuan had said. Hearing these words, Zhao Li finally felt more at ease.


    Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> was wearing a gauzy, pear-colored pce dress and sweetly snuggled up against the emperor. ¡°Your Majesty, you should feel reassured now, right?¡±


    Zhao Li lightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your idea.¡±


    ¡°That herb was very hard to obtain. Yu-<i>er</i> had to spent a lot of money to get it.¡± Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s good as long as Your Majesty feels better. This way, you¡¯ll stop tossing and turning at night.¡±


    Can¡¯t sleep... Zhao Li chuckled. He stroked his red agate thumb ring. ¡°It was very thoughtful of you.¡±


    It would be great if he could sleep well now that this matter was resolved, but he was worried that he would find out that he was wrong about the importance of this matter. And, there was something more important in the depths of his heart.


    He had obtained all of the most hard toe by things in the world: money, power, and beautiful women. Pengyu didn¡¯t object to him taking Kangyuan as his consort. Instead, she confined herself in Wangyue Building and wouldn¡¯te out. When the officials saw this, one after another, they started stuffing women into his harem.


    Once one consort was epted, there would inevitable by another one. In the end, he failed to uphold his previous promise to Pengyue.


    But, she seemed to not care anymore? Zhao Li chuckled. He turned his wheelchair and headed towards the inner part of the hall. Kangyuan¡¯s eyes brightened, and she followed him after him.


    ¡ª


    Since Ji Man had left, Ning Yuxuan would bring that not very nice looking oil-paper umbre everywhere.


    People from the Six Ministries would tease him by saying, ¡°Marquis, the sky is clear today. It¡¯s not raining.¡±


    He would lightly smile and respond, ¡°Yeah, sunny days are good too.¡±


    He didn¡¯t know far along she was in her journey.


    He didn¡¯t pursue the matter of Wen Wan drugging him. On the contrary, he pretended to not have memories of that incident at all. The wound on his hand had been taken care of and was wrapped up, but he felt as if there was a hole in his heart, and he didn¡¯t know when that wound would recover.


    Every day, he kept hoping that the end of the year would arrive sooner, so that he could go to Zhangjun sooner and see her... It wasn¡¯t because he wanted to exin himself. It was because he wanted to return the umbre to her. An umbre was such a bad gift. Even if Ning Mingjie had a matching purple jade, he still liked the purple jade present more.


    The emperor¡¯s suspicion towards him had gradually decreased, and Zhao Li also went back to giving him important tasks to handle. And so, he would go to Qiangwei Courtyard to express his loyalty at regr intervals. Whether he was talking or writing poems, he would always be expressing his devotion to the emperor. After a few months of this, whenever the emperor summoned Ning Mingjie to discuss important military affairs, he would also be called over.


    ¡°Zhangjun is easy to guard and difficult to attack. Thus, use the excuse that you¡¯re looking for a ce to rest. Wait until you¡¯ve passed Xi River before doing anything else.¡± Zhao Li had his head lowered to look at the map. ¡°Once you passed over Xi River, look for a good ce to build an encampment. After that, go to Zhangjun¡¯s city and convey this emperor¡¯s decree. If Zhangjun Prince epts my decree, bring the heavy infantry to seize his ore mines and military fields in order to take control of Zhangjun. If he doesn¡¯t obey my decree, attack and conquer the city under the reasoning that he¡¯s guilty of disobeying an imperial order.¡±


    Ning Mingjie solemnly assented. Ning Yuxuan also had serious expression.


    ¡°This emperor knows that my imperial brother will make his move sooner orter.¡± Zhao Li smile and said, ¡°If the two of you can help resolve this deep scourge for this emperor, you¡¯ll be heavily rewarded once you return to the capital.¡±


    ¡°This subject will obey Your Majesty¡¯smand.¡±


    The two cousins from Ning n seemed to be of one mind and iparably loyal.


    The emperor was assured as he gestured for them to go back home and rest.

 Chapter 405 - Longing for you makes me old (2)

    Chapter 405 - Longing for you makes me old (2)


    After they had stepped out of Zichen Hall, Ning Mingjie turned his head to look at Marquis Moyu and asked, "When are you setting out for Zhangjun?"


    "Tonight." Ning Yuxuan was swiftly walking away. In the time, it had taken him to say those words; he had already taken ten steps.


    Ning Mingjie was shocked. He hastily caught up to his cousin. "The troops aren''t leaving for another three days. Why are you leaving so early?"


    Ning Yuxuan didn''t respond. He had already waited for such a long time. He had waited for the leaves to change color and wither. The snow had already piled up. Wait another three days? He didn''t want to hear words like, "You''ve already waited for so long, what''s the big deal about waiting another three days?" He couldn''t even bear to wait the time it would take to burn a stick of incense.


    ---


    Since the army was technically being sent out for a military exercise instead of out for battle, the emperor didn''t need to personally see them off, and they could casually set out on their journey during the next three days.


    Holding the title of assistant general, Ning Yuxuan hurriedly rode through the night towards Zhangjun with only Guibai to apany him.


    "My lord, you don''t need to be so anxious." Guibai was riding behind him and almost out breath from chasing after him. "We can''t ride all the way there without stopping to rest."


    "In what way do I look anxious?" Marquis Moyu sneered and whipped the horse again.


    The horses were galloping very quickly, and Guibai stayed silent as he continued to follow his master. Since his lord had said he wasn''t anxious, then he wasn''t anxious. At their current speed, it would take less than half a month before they would see Zhangjun''s shadow.


    ---


    It wouldn''t be long until the army from the capital reached Zhangjun. Zhangjun had already imposed martialw, and there were guards at the city''s gates checking on the people as they entered or left the city. Observing the somewhat nervous atmosphere in the city, Ji Man couldn''t help feeling a bit stirred up too.


    There was going to be a battle soon! And, she would be going into a battlefield. Fortunately, she was in the era of cold steel, and there wouldn''t be guided missiles filling the sky. However, just hearing the sounds from the iron bugle horns was enough to make people feel a bit excited.


    "Ning Mingjie is the one leading the army, and Marquis Moyu will also being." After Zhao Zhe finished reading the confidential letter, he casually burned it. He turned around and looked at his group of advisors. "The emperor is forcing us to revolt. It''s not possible to retreat. Prepare yourselves. It takes a long time to train soldiers, and they are to be used at these crucial moments."


    Wu Yong led the group of advisors in bowing. Zhao Zhe turned his gaze towards Ji Man, who had her head lowered. He chuckled and said, "Mister Ji''s old friend is going to arrive in Zhangjun first. Mister Ji, can you help wee him for this prince?"


    Ji Man was slightly startled. She raised her head and asked, "Old friend?"


    What old friend could she possibly have that woulde here...


    Wait, did he mean Ning Yuxuan? Ji Man furrowed her brow. He should being here with the army. Why would hee to Zhangjun unapanied? Had he lost his mind?


    "This prince has already arranged the meeting ce." Zhao Zhe smiled and said, "He should probably arrive tomorrow. Wait for him outside of the city in Sijun Pavilion."


    Ji Man''splexion slightly changed. "Your Highness, this one is only a merchant. For this one to wee a marquis, it''s..."


    "You''re not willing?" Zhao Zhe continued to smile, but his eyes had be colder. Looking at her with deep thoughts, he said, "This prince has always thought that Mister Ji is whole-heartedly loyal to this prince. Mister Ji, you shouldn''t disappoint this prince."


    Wu Yong was also looking over here. Ji Man felt as if she was doomed no matter what choice she made. Zhao Zhe really knew how to make the full use of her. She had already helped him by earning money. So, why was he still going to use her as bait?


    Ji Man awkwardly smiled and said, "This one will do my best. This one is just afraid that after repeatedly offending the marquis, this one''s little life..."


    "What''s there for you to be afraid of? This prince is here," said Zhao Zhe with a smile. "You should go get ready."


    The group of advisors looked at Ji Man with envious gazes. Although they had lived together in the same courtyard, this person seemed blessed by the Heavens. Ji Man had obtained His Highness''s trust, and now he was being sent out do such an important task. After this task was aplished, his status would definitely be even higher.


    Ji Man kept a smile on her face, and no one could see that her smile was forced.


    Was Zhao Zhe guarding against her colluding with Marquis Moyu? Why was he insisting on having her do this wicked deed?


    ---


    Although Marquis Moyu had arrived early and had wanted to sneak into the city, his whereabouts had been found out. A messenger brought a letter that said Ji Man was waiting for him outside of the city at Sijun Pavilion.


    Sijun Pavilion.


    <i>Longing for you makes me old,</i>


    <i>Your carriagees sote.</i>


    (T/N: Sijun can be tranted as longing for you. These two lines are from the eighth poem, <i>The Lonely Bamboo</i>, in a collection of poems called, <i>Neen Old Poems</i>. <i>The Lonely Bamboo </i>is from the perspective of a wife waiting and missing her husband.)


    Seeing that it was Ji Man''s handwriting on that letter, Ning Yuxuan hesitated for a long time, but he ultimately still decided to go over there.


    It had been too long since he hadst seen her. The first thing he wanted to see was how she was doing. Even though he knew there was a trap, he still told Guibai to go stay at an inn by Xi River and headed over to Sijun Pavilion alone.


    Ji Man was expressionlessly sitting inside the pavilion. She felt chilled by the billowing winds. Looking at the empty surroundings, she thought; Ning Yuxuan was such a clever person. He wouldn''t be so easily tricked intoing here, right?


    Once dusk finally arrived, just as she was about to let out a sigh of relief, she saw a person slowly walking from here from a distance.


    "Has he really lost his mind?" Ji Man swept her gaze over the troops that were hidden behind her. She couldn''t resist standing up. She looked at Ning Yuxuan, who was still far away. Her smile was a bit stiff as she called out, "Marquis."


    Ning Yuxuan''s gaze was deep. Step by step, he walked over here. Seeing that there was no one on this side, he slightly rxed and said, "En, have you waited long?"


    Ji Man slowly shook her head. "No..."


    That idiot. Her expression was obviously telling him something was wrong with the surroundings. Why was he still walking over here?


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her with a faint smile. He stopped ten steps away from the pavilion. He was holding a not very nice looking umbre. "I came here to return your thing."

 Chapter 406 - Rather wait three more years (1)

    Chapter 406 ¨C Rather wait three more years (1)


    Returning an umbre? Ji Man really wanted to roll her eyes. There was clearly pervading peril here. Why had he brought an umbre to act out a lovey-dovey scene?


    ¡°It looks like it¡¯s going to rain tonight. Marquis, you should keep the umbre for yourself.¡± Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist taking two steps forward. ¡°It¡¯s not early anymore. You...¡±


    Could you please turn around and sprint away from here?


    The hidden soldiers obviously wouldn¡¯t give Marquis Moyu this opportunity. Even though Ji Man had already given him a meaningful look, Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t seized the best timing to escape and waspletely surrounded by the soldiers that had suddenly appeared.


    Still holding the white oil-paper umbre that had a pattern of crimson plum flower petals, Ning Yuxuan stood in ce. He swept his gaze over the people around him, but his gaze was focused on the person standing behind him.


    ¡°You won¡¯t worry about me?¡±


    Her note had led him here. Did she not worry at all that something would happen to him?


    Ji Man pursed her lips. She didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. How could she have known that he would be so foolish ande here? He was the one that had acted so stupidly. Why was he ming her? Wasn¡¯t he supposed to always be calm and cool-headed and have a pair of eyes that could see through other people¡¯s deception? Today had obviously been a trap, so why had he knowingly stepped into it anyways?


    If you were to tell her that she could bewitch him to such a level, then the two of them wouldn¡¯t have always needed to walk separate paths.


    The head of the group came forward and restrained Marquis Moyu. There was strength in numbers, and a wise man would submit to circumstances, so Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t struggle. However, he felt a bit upset when he saw the umbre falling to the ground.


    Ji Man could only salute him with her hands and say, ¡°Marquis, take care.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stared at her and lightly said, ¡°I really want to know. What will you do if Zhangjun Prince imprisons me up, and I never see the light of day again?¡±


    Ji Man was slightly stunned. She lowered her head and looked at the umbre on the ground.


    Thoughts of rebellion had already formed in Zhangjun Prince¡¯s mind, and the city was on heightened sense of security. Marquis Moyu had walked right into the trap, and he naturally wouldn¡¯t have a good ending. In a split second, a series of cruel scenes such as flogging, being tied to a torture device, and so on shed through Ji Man¡¯s mind. In the end, she actually felt regretful.


    If she had known this would happen, she would have pretended to be sick and note here. It wasn¡¯t that she was feeling bad for him. It was only... She had been able to harm this person because he had feelings for her. No matter how she thought about it, she felt a bit sinful.


    Ji Man braced herself and said, ¡°I¡¯lle visit the marquis in prison.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression sunk. There had still been a trace of a smile on his face before, but now his expression had be serene. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    The group of people forcefully took Ning Yuxuan away. Ji Man picked up the umbre and followed them from a distance. Looking at this pitiful scene of this restrained person, who usually appeared peerlessly talent, she inexplicably felt unwell.


    When they arrived at Zhangjun¡¯s estate, it was about time to sleep. However, she tossed and turned restlessly after going to bed. So, she got up, put on her outer robes, and went to take a look at the situation.


    She heard that Ning Yuxuan had been taken to the main courtyard in the prince¡¯s estate, and the prince was personally questioning him, but there wasn¡¯t a clear answer about his current state.


    Wu Yong happened toe out from the main courtyard at this time. His furrowed brows showed that he was worried and uneasy.


    Ji Man hurriedly approached him and asked, ¡°Brother Wu, what¡¯s the situation inside?¡±


    ¡°Why are you still awake?¡± Wu Yong raised his eyebrows as he looked Ji Man. Soon after, he answered, ¡°His Highness has already decided to go out all-out in resisting the soldiers sent by the imperial court. In other words, the sky is going to change. Marquis Moyu is a deep schemer, and he holds great power. In my opinion, since we¡¯ve already caught him, we should publicly execute him. This would be a good way to dere Zhangjun¡¯s position. But, His Highness doesn¡¯t agree.¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can¡¯t do that!¡± Ji Man was slightly agitated, and her voice had risen. Wu Yong was startled.


    After calming herself down a bit, Ji Man awkwardly smiled and continued, ¡°If Marquis Moyu is killed, wouldn¡¯t that give the emperor even more of a reason to say he¡¯s righteously sending soldiers to suppress Zhangjun? This would force us into disadvantageous position.¡±


    Wu Yong thought it over and nodded, but he still sounded worried as he said, ¡°If Marquis Moyu is allowed to live, he¡¯ll definitely cause a catastrophe in the future. His Highness has already ordered for him to be sent to the imperial prison. I don¡¯t know how he¡¯ll handle this matter.¡±


    ¡°Sent to the imperial prison?¡± Startled, Ji Man asked, ¡°The one on the Zhangjun¡¯s northside?¡±


    Wu Yong nodded. ¡°It¡¯s probably that one.¡± The prince had only recently issued this order.


    Without saying a word, Ji Man rushed away. She got Zhangjun Prince¡¯s household token and tuck money into her clothes before leaving the estate.


    ¡°Ah, Brother Ji, where are you going?¡± Wu Yong couldn¡¯t resist calling out. However, Ji Man didn¡¯t hear him and had already disappeared like a wisp of smoke.


    ¡ª


    Inside the main courtyard, Marquis Moyu, who was about to be sent to the imperial prison, said something that had Zhangjun Prince ordering his servants to let him go.


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Prime Minister Xiao asked me to deliver a letter to Your Highness.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s expression changed. After he hastily ordered the servant to release Ning Yuxuan, the doors to the room were closed again.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man hastily hired a carriage to take her to the imperial prison. The sky had turned dark a while ago, and there was no one on the streets.


    The carriage driver even enthusiastically said, ¡°It¡¯s a good idea to go to the imperial prison at night. If you bring some warm wine and hot food and bribe the guards with a few silver taels, they¡¯ll let you inside.¡±


    Forcing herself to smile, Ji Man said, ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s pretty convenient.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, you seem very anxious. Which rtive of yours are you going there to see?¡± The carriage driver sighed and said, ¡°With war about to happen, there¡¯s chaos in the streets. People are being arrested without any rhyme or reason.¡±


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat with him. Sitting on the shaft of the carriage, she looked into distance until the shadow of the imperial prison appeared before them.

 Chapter 407 - Rather wait three more years (2)

    Chapter 407 ¨C Rather wait three more years (2)


    After paying the carriage driver, Ji Man hastily got off the carriage. She straightened her clothes, then went to the entrance to look for the jailer. After messing around in Zhangjun for so long, she had established some contacts here. But, it wouldn¡¯t be good to go bother those people in the middle of the night, so she went straight to using money as a temporary expedient.


    After a lot of persuasion, she finally gained ess to the imperial prison. However, when she said that she was looking for Ning Yuxuan, they all said that there wasn¡¯t a prisoner by this name.


    It was probably because his imprisonment was a top secret, so themon jailers wouldn¡¯t know? Ji Man thought it over and bribed them with more money. ¡°Sir, could you help me out and let this one see the people that were arrested today?¡±


    Once enough money was given, the jailer became quite easy-going. He led her into the prison and allowed her to walk around. The imperial prison wasn¡¯t a ce that enforced strict and fair discipline. There were plenty of people that came here to settle personal vendettas. The row after row of torture tools that were hanging on the wall were quite terrifying. Ji Man¡¯s heart felt increasingly heavy as she walked here. However, after searching through the entire ce, she didn¡¯t see Ning Yuxuan.


    Did Wu Yong lie to her? No, that couldn¡¯t be possible. Then, Ning Yuxuan must have been locked up in a secret location, and it wouldn¡¯t be a ce that she could gain ess just by using money.


    Ji Man left the imperial dungeon in dismay. She felt a bit regretful. He was a man that would do important things. As a woman, why had she messed things up for him? If Ning Yuxuan met his end here, it would be such a waste. If one day, someone wrote Marquis Moyu¡¯s bibliography, she would be written as the femme fatale that brought disaster.


    After returning to the prince¡¯s estate, she asked around again, but no one knew where Marquis Moyu had went. Ji Man didn¡¯t sleep well that night and even had a nightmare before waking up. She couldn¡¯t remember what had happened in that nightmare and only felt lingering fear.


    ¡ª


    To her surprise, Guibai came over when she was eating breakfast.


    ¡°The marquis has already left the city.¡± Guibai looked at her with a stern expression as he said, ¡°He wants me to say something to Mister Ji on his behalf.¡±


    Left the city? Stunned, Ji Man felt as if arge stone had fallen down in her heart with a loud thump. Great, she hadn¡¯t actually harmed him.


    Ji Man slightly smiled as she asked, ¡°What¡¯s the message?¡±


    Guibai lowered his head. He was probably mimicking Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression. ¡°My lord said,


    ¡°I came from far away with a heart full of hope,


    but all my expectations and efforts have been dashed to nothing.


    The past three months had felt like three years.


    Once we met, I would rather go back and wait another three years.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s smile slightly stiffened, and the corners of her mouth slowly went down. In the end, her lips twitched, and she chuckled. ¡°The rhyming isn¡¯t very good. It could use some work.¡±


    Guibai deeply bowed at her, then he turned around and left.


    The weather was chilly today, and snowkes were fluttering down. Ji Man stood at the doorway, and white mist came out with each exhale. She looked at the sharp edge of a distant building and couldn¡¯t helpughing lowly.


    It was good to not show forgiveness. She wouldn¡¯t relent to him, and he shouldn¡¯t show her affection. After all, she was only a passerby, and she didn¡¯t want to leave behind any reasons for sorrow.


    ¡ª


    The army sent by the imperial court was already stationed at Xi River when Ning Yuxuan arrived at the army camps.


    Seeing his cousin¡¯s unpleasant expression, Ning Mingjie chucked and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t you rush toe here? Why do you seem unhappy?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan expressionlessly answered, ¡°It¡¯s too cold. I¡¯m frozen stiff. I can¡¯t move my face.¡±


    Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. He gestured for him toe over. ¡°I¡¯ve sent people over to Zhangjun to announce the imperial decree, but looking at their stance, a battle is inevitable. I¡¯ve already written a military report requesting for reinforcements. The report is on its way to the emperor now.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Marquis Moyu went over to the side to look at the pile of correspondence on the desk. He lightly said, ¡°Let¡¯s bide our time and wait until the imperial court has sent reinforcements before attacking Zhangjun.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking too.¡± Ning Mingjie slightly smiled. ¡°This war will probablyst a long time. Who knows how old our children will be by the time we return?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. Thinking of how Haohao was still in the pce, he couldn¡¯t help sighing.


    Zhangjun Prince refused to ept the imperial edict, tightly closed the city¡¯s gates, and gathered the twelve surrounding cities with Xi River as a boundary line. He threatened to purge the emperor¡¯s court of its evil officials as his political slogan for fighting against the current regime.


    This news traveled to the capital, and the emperor was furious. He sent the requested reinforcement to Ning Mingjie and put the dowager empress under house arrest. Zhao Li also wanted to take the opportunity to deal with Xiao n.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, the dowager empress is Zhao Zhe¡¯s mother, and Xiao n is her maiden n.)


    The news quickly spread from the imperial court to themoners like smoke. Xiao n had a centuries-old foundation, so how could it be possible to remove it in a single move? Xiao Tianyi incited themon people, and the civil and military officials also jointly petitioned to protect Xiao n. It was only now that Zhao Li woke up from his dream. When he swept his gaze over the imperial court, he realized that most of the officials that had once been loyal to him had been pulled to Xiao n¡¯s side without him noticing.


    He had previously arranged for his own people to take over duties in the Six Ministries. To his surprise, other than the people in the Ministry of Revenue, most of those people had be traitors. Every one of them was saying that Prime Minister Xiao was a good official that worked for the benefit of themon people and the country and that Xiao n couldn¡¯t be harmed. It was a n that had always taken on the responsibility of supporting the reigning emperor.


    Under this pressure, Zhao Li could only back down and leave Xiao n alone.


    After he gave Kangyuan Junzhu the rank of virtuous consort, her father, Yong¡¯an Prince, took the opportunity to enter the capital and serve the emperor by lending his troops to Ning Mingjie. Surely, this would help Ning Mingjie seize Zhangjun.


    As a result of all this, the situation in the imperial court suddenly became tense. Zhao Li was at a loss. When he turned back to look, it had already been a long time since Pengyue was willing to see him while Kangyuan was whole-heartedly devoted to him. It was only... He didn¡¯t know why. His heart felt empty.


    ¡ª


    An endless stream of reinforcements were sent to Zhangjun, but Ning Mingjie continued to bide his time. By the beginning of spring, there were already fifty thousand soldiers camping outside of Zhangjun¡¯s city. The grain reserve was running low, and the imperial court was struggling, but support continued to be provided. The emperor had sent four imperial edicts to order Ning Mingjie to start attacking as early as possible, but Ning Mingjie ignored them.


    ¡ª


    Spring was already heavy in the air when the war against Zhangjun finally and officially started.

 Chapter 408 - Taking on the role of a femme fatale that brings disaster (1)

    Chapter 408 ¨C Taking on the role of a femme fatale that brings disaster (1)


    The battle took ce on Xi River. In the first battle, Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan split the army into two parts and caught Zhangjun unprepared. The enemy¡¯s side lost five hundred people. It could be considered a minor victory. However, when Ning Mingjie was writing the battle report, he said the enemy had lost five thousand soldiers, and the army had passed through Xi River. Only the general and assistant general knew what was written in this report. The two cousins had a tacit understanding.


    When the emperor received this report, he was very pleased. He had originally been feeling annoyed that Ning Mingjie had ignored his imperial edict four times, but he let bygones be bygones due to this swift and major victory. The emperor even personally prodded the rear end part of the supply chain to transport more grain in order to avoid the soldiers not having enough food.


    However, the cost of grain hadn¡¯t gone down at all during this period. Yan Buba was helping Ji Man by manipting the amount of grain that entered the capital. Any excess of grain would be sent to Zhangjun. Because the remaining supply was less than the demand, the unit price of rice had risen to sixteen silver coins.


    The imperial court had set out an order to purchase two and a half bushel of grain at ten silver coins, so Yan Buba secretly purchased grain at a price of thirteen silver coins per two and a half bushel of rice. Since the tenant farmers no longer had grain to sell, the imperial court could only purchase the grain from the rice merchants. As a result, Yan Buba ended up being imprisoned again in the imperial prison. He wouldn¡¯te to an agreement with imperial court over the price of the grain.


    Once Yan Buba was arrested, Ji Man wrote letters to all of the rice merchants in the capital to instigate them by saying that the imperial court was using Yan Buba as an example to scare them into obedience. If they didn¡¯t respond now as a group, they might not even be able to protect themselves and their families¡¯ lives, much less earn a profit. How can they care about selling grain once that happened?


    As a result, one by one, the rice merchants fled the capital, and there was no one left to sell or buy grain from. Even the families of officials, who had money, weren¡¯t able to eat much good rice. Faced withyer uponyer of pressure, the officials once again released Yan Buba. With a body full of injuries, Yan Buba went straight to calcting how much additional sry he should demand from his boss.


    ¡ª


    Watching the distant battlefield from a bystander¡¯s detached point of view, Ji Man thought this war was going very strangely. Why weren¡¯t they fighting? There wasn¡¯t a trace of tension in Zhangjun. There were even waternterns being released in the Xi River in the evening. How was this the ambience of war? It was clearly more like people ying house.


    However, Zhangjun Prince didn¡¯t show any signs of rxing. He was reaching out to various titled princes and his former subordinates while seriously deploying troops to battle with Ning Mingjie.


    Ji Man had received grand praise from Zhao Zhe for her assistance in causing aplete mess in the capital. Since that time, Zhao Zhe had treated her a trusted confidant. Wherever he went, he would bring her along. He would even asionally jokingly ask her questions like, ¡°Do you remember what this prince had said to you back then?¡±


    What he had said back then? Zhao Zhe has said plenty of things to her. How was she supposed to know what he was referring to? She smiled to indicate for him to finish his thought, but Zhao Zhe meaningfully turned his head away and left her guessing as if this was a joke to him.


    However, since he had left the logistics of supplying food to her, Ji Man could be considered quite busy each day. Once she got busy, it wasn¡¯t easy to think about moreplicated things.


    The past few months of war had gone by in a sh. Neither side had suffered significant casualties. Most of the times, the battles would just cut off, and each side would stay on their side of the river to cook and barbecue. It was just like a camping trip.


    After three months of this, Ji Man finally found out why this war had been going about so calmly.


    Zhao Zhe brought her along to Tianxian Building to see an important guest. When the doors to side room was pushed open, Ji Man saw Marquis Moyu¡£


    He was the same as before, but there wasn¡¯t much of a smile on his face. When he saw her, he slightly froze in surprise, and his eyes brightened a bit. ¡°Mister Ji.¡±


    It really had been three months since theyst saw each other. Ji Man awkwardly smiled and obediently stayed behind Zhao Zhe.


    As soon as Zhao Zhe entered the room, he teased, ¡°Look at you. You didn¡¯t see me but saw Mister Ji first. Marquis, your eyes can see quite far.¡±


    These two people, they had already been colluding?! Ji Man was shocked. When had this happened? Why hadn¡¯t she noticed this at all?


    Slightly annoyed, Marquis Moyu looked away. He was still feeling angry aboutst time. Although he had been the one testing herst time, she truly showed no signs of holding him in her heart. Was his life that worthless to her? If he was a bit more foolish and had genuinely ced his life in her hands, would she have still so easily betrayed him?


    Ning Yuxuan sat down on the side and lightly replied, ¡°Your Highness, please excuse this one. This one just called out in curiosity because it was surprising to see that Mister Ji¡¯s face hasn¡¯t changed at all.¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows. He turned his head back and nced at Ji Man before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s certainly true. It probably feels really ufortable always having to wear that mask, Sangyu?¡±


    It had already been a long time ago since someone hadst called her Sangyu. Ji Man slightly froze in surprise. It took a long time for her to return to her senses. She chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine once this one got used to it. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness.¡±


    Zhao Zhe nced at Ning Yuxuan, then he looked at her again and said, ¡°It won¡¯t be long. The road between Zhangjun and the capital is almost done, and that path to the capital will be unimpeded. The current emperor is fatuous and tyrannical. He had harmed his own henchmen and falsely used his faithful officials. When this prince enters the capital, this prince will return justice to Nie n, and you can return to living with your original identity, Sangyu.¡±


    Ji Man stood up and deeply saluted him. ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡±


    Zhao Zhe looked at Ning Yuxuan again before smiling and saying, ¡°Marquis, you were probably feeling extremely helpless back when you were forced to divorce Sangyu. Once our goal ispleted, this prince will personally return the two of you back to your happy marriage. What do you think?¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise, but Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled and said, ¡°Thank you, this one is deeply honored by your kindness, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Marquis, you¡¯re probably in a dilemma over your heir being in the pce.¡± Zhao Zhe sighed. ¡°In the end, second imperial brother isn¡¯t very sensible. How could he use your son¡¯s life to threaten you?¡±

 Chapter 409 - Taking on the role of a femme fatale that brings disaster (2)

    Chapter 409 ¨C Taking on the role of a femme fatale that brings disaster (2)


    Right, Haohao was still in the pce. What would happen to Haohao if Ning Yuxuan and Zhao Zhe started messing around? Ji Man was somewhat anxious, and she looked at Ning Yuxuan with anger.


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Since Haohao is in the pce, this one will need your Highness to act out a good show with me when you breach the capital.¡±


    In Zhao Li¡¯s eyes, he was someone that had never betrayed him. Ning Mingjie had been the one that continued to hold the army back and wouldn¡¯t send them out, and he was the one that repeatedly urged his older cousin to listen to the imperial edict. However, the army was under Ning Mingjie¡¯s control, and there was seemingly nothing he could do about it. The spies in the army should have already conveyed his attitude to the emperor by now.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhao Zhe said, ¡°This war has alreadysted a while, and it¡¯s time for a victor and a loser. Marquis, what kind of excuse should we use to have Ning Mingjie withdraw the troops?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression slightly sunk. He nced at Ji Man and seemed somewhat unhappy. ¡°Your Highness, since you brought her here today, do you still need to ask this one this question?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it because I was concerned that you would be unhappy about using her as the reason?¡± Zhao Zhe loudlyughed and patted his shoulder. ¡°I know that your heart has Sangyu, and you¡¯re reluctant to push her out. But, you can see that she¡¯s the most suitable person. Didn¡¯t you dig up that box in Feiwan Courtyard a long time ago? It¡¯s time to have someone hand that box over to the emperor to be used as foreshadowing.¡±


    Ji Man was startled. What box?


    It couldn¡¯t be the box that she had buried a long time ago? The one that was filled with portraits of her that had been painted by Ning Mingjie? How did they know about that box?


    She quickly raised her eyes to look at Ning Yuxuan, but thetter was busy contemting. There was coercive pressure in Zhangjun Prince¡¯s gaze. He had obviously already decided there was no other choice that could be made. Nie Sangyu was the only reasonable excuse for why these two cousins would turn against each other.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Qing-er will make the arrangements in the estate, and I¡¯ll have a falling out with Mingjie in the next half month. Mingjie will retreat with the army and go back the capital, and I¡¯ll follow after the army at a dyed pace.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Zhao Zhe agreed with a smile. ¡°The prime minister¡¯s gaze was very urate. Yuxuan, he was sure that you would be willing to help me. As for the things that happened before, let¡¯s let bygones be bygones.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stood up and saluted Zhangjun Prince. His gaze was thick with worry when it drifted over to Ji Man.


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t fully understood thetter part of this conversation. Why had they dragged her into it? Did this count as her being struck by a bullet that she had buried? Why were they using her as an excuse? Just because Ning Mingjie had drawn some portraits of her? And, what was the situation with Mu Shuiqing? Hadn¡¯t she originally been Zhao Zhe¡¯s minion? Why did it seem like she had be loyal to Ning Yuxuan?


    Ji Man was somewhat muddled-headed by the giant pile of questions. When they walked out of Tianxiang Building, she didn¡¯t even notice that the nearby Zhao Zhe had left already, and only Ning Yuxuan was left.


    ¡°Last summer, I decided to nt qiangwei flowers in Feiwan Courtyard and had the servants till the soil. I didn¡¯t expect that they would dig up a box.¡± Ning Yuxuan kept his gaze looking ahead and softly said, ¡°He¡¯s really has feelings for you.¡±


    (T/N: It¡¯s mentioned in chapter 15 that the qiangwei is Nie Sangyu¡¯s favorite flower.)


    Ji Man returned to her senses and looked around. There weren¡¯t other people around by the willow riverside. The surface of the river had almost frozen over.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s side profile was very good-looking, and white puffs of condensation came out as he talked, ¡°Zhangjun Prince¡¯s intention is for me to use someone to inform the emperor that Mingjie had already fallen in love with you a long time ago. And then, it would be expected that Ning Mingjie would withdraw the army because Zhangjun Prince was using you to threaten him. I¡¯ll act as a person that doesn¡¯t care about my rtives and who has pledged my life to helping the emperor stay on the throne. I¡¯ll write a letter to the emperor to clearly state Ning Mingjie¡¯s betrayal, which will force Ning Mingjie to side with Zhangjun Prince. After that, I¡¯ll return to the capital.¡±


    Luckily, Ji Man was able to understand this long list and her position in all this. She nodded her head and said, ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that I can return to my original appearance, and I don¡¯t have to crossdress as a man anymore, right?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s stride suddenly quickened a bit. ¡°Take off your mask once you go back to where you¡¯re staying.¡±


    Ji Man was somewhat at a loss. She had been wearing this mask for too long and almost thought of herself as a man. Finally... Nie Sangyu¡¯s face could be seen in public again?


    So, she no longer had to hide her identity, and this information could no longer be used against her. Even if Liu Hanyun betrayed her, or if Wen Wan regained her memories, no one would be able to threaten her by exposing her identity.


    She let out a big sigh of relief. However, a new problem soon arose. Would she end up with a bad oue if she took on the role of a femme fatale that brought disaster?


    As soon as she thought of the endings of various femme fatales in ancient times, Ji Man couldn¡¯t help shivering.


    Ning Yuxuan nced at her. He reached out and held her hand. When his big, warm hand wrapped around her icy hand, she felt warmth spreading through her body.


    Ji Man slightly paused, but she didn¡¯t pull her hand out. She only lowered her head to seem as if she contemting and didn¡¯t say anything.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s lips curved up into a smile, and he brought her back to Zhangjun Prince¡¯s estate. By the time Ji Man took off her mask, changed into a woman¡¯s clothing, and came out in high spirits, he had already left.


    Instead, it was only Guibai standing there. This time, there was finally a smile on his face. ¡°My lord said that he would be too reluctant to leave after seeing you, so he left first.¡±


    These weren¡¯t the words that his master had told him to pass on, but Guibai felt that these altered words conveyed his master¡¯s thoughts more urately.

 Chapter 410 - The most loyal official (1)

    Chapter 410 ¨C The most loyal official (1)


    Ji Man felt a bit absent-minded, but soon after sheughed. She knew that Ning Yuxuan would have never said something like that. Still, it was pleasant to hear these words.


    She truly felt apologetic towards Nie Sangyu¡¯s face. It had been so long since this face had been exposed to sunlight, and it was pale enough to pass as a ghost¡¯s face. Fortunately, she had been diligent in taking care of her skin, so she didn¡¯t have any e. After changing into a woman¡¯s airy attire, she couldn¡¯t wait to go out and take a frolicking stroll around the block a few times.


    After saying good-bye to Guibai and thinking it over, Ji Man decided to go back instead. It would be safer in the prince¡¯s estate. However, she forgot that most people wouldn¡¯t be able to ept her sudden gender change. And so, on the way back to her room, the other advisors looked at her with surprised expressions. The reason was simple. Almost everyone here was man, except for Shen Youqing, the prince¡¯s wife, and a few servant girls.


    After Zhao Zhe had be a titled prince, Shen Youqing had dismissed the rest of her husband¡¯s harem before they went to Zhangjun. She had said it was because having too many women would be a distraction and hardship to the prince. Since the dowager empress hadn¡¯t voiced any objections, Zhangjun Prince silently epted the disbanding of his harem.


    And now, a woman had suddenly appeared in his estate today.


    Seeing Wu Yong, Ji Man finally stopped walking. She brightly smiled at him and curtsied. ¡°Brother Wu.¡±


    Wu Yong was dumbfounded. Ji Man was the only person in this estate that dared to address him as Brother Wu, so who was this woman in front of him?


    ¡°This one is Ji Man. This one is really sorry for keeping this secret from you for so long,¡± Ji Man said in embarrassment.


    In the end, Wu Yong was a person that had seen many things. Although he was very shocked, he still quickly returned to his senses. ¡°So you¡¯re... Miss Ji. His Highness is looking for you.¡±


    Ji Man followed him to meet with Zhangjun Prince. After looking at her in silence for a period of time, Zhao Zhe told her to go the main military camp on the other side of Xi River. Since she had returned to her original gender, there would naturally be uses.


    In every war, regardless if it would be effective or not, there would be an attempt at negotiating peace. There would be a few visits from one side to the other to express that they didn¡¯t want to continue to fight and were keen for a peaceful resolution.


    Ji Man knew this was her opportunity to make a showy appearance. And so, she spent some effort in dressing herself up. She wore a bright red dress embroidered with peonies and had her hair done up in chaotian hairstyle with a pair of dangling bluish-green hair essories. It wasn¡¯t surprising that she would attract everyone¡¯s gaze when she stepped into the military camp.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of chaotian hairstyle.)


    Ch 410 ¨C chaotian hairstyle.png


    The soldiers unobtrusively murmured amongst themselves. Had Zhangjun Prince sent this woman over to curry favor with their general? However, everyone clearly saw that as soon as Ning Mingjie saw this woman, he identally knocked over the wine and seemed dazed.


    Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t here to see it, but Ning Mingjie¡¯s performance was very sessful. Not only did Ning Mingjie keep looking at Ji Man, he also seemed very reluctant to part from her as he watched her leave.


    Many people in the army began to gossip about the identity of this woman.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s trusted aide said, ¡°That¡¯s Nie Sangyu¡£¡±


    A single sentence raised a thousand ripples. Wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu dead? Wasn¡¯t she Marquis Moyu¡¯s divorced wife? Why did Zhenyuan General looked like he was very fond of her? It couldn¡¯t be that these cousins had really simr tastes, right?


    ¡ª


    At the same time, Mu Shuiqing, who had supposedly been sick for a long time, finally came out of her courtyard and brought people over to Feiwan Courtyard. She acted very mysteriously and deliberately led Wen Wan over before having the servants dig for something in the courtyard.


    Arge box filled with portraits of Nie Sangyu that had Ning Mingjie¡¯s signature was dug out. Although her face wasn¡¯t painted, everyone could guess that it was her by the clothing and the view of her back figure, especially because that box also had the first half of the famous poem that used to hang in Luoyan Pagoda, ¡°Inviting you to drink wine¡±.


    Mu Shuiqing pretended that she had inadvertently discovered this box and had the box buried again in a flurry of panic. After that, she left to take a leisurely stroll around the estate.


    But, Wen Wan was an idiot and didn¡¯t realized that Mu Shuiqing had deliberately lured her over here to show her this act. As soon as Mu Shuiqing left, Wen Wan dug out that box. When she saw the contents of the box, she joyfully thought this was an opportunity to get credit for a meritorious aplishment again. She hurriedly had a servant send a letter to the virtuous consort about the situation and told her toe get the box.


    (T/N: The emperor gave Kangyuan Junzhu the status of virtuous consort a few chapters ago. It¡¯s one rank below noble consort.)


    ¡ª


    Zhao Li was sitting on the throne. He had received a letter from his spies in Zhangjun that Nie Sangyu had appeared. Her appearance hadn¡¯t stirred up the slightest emotion in Ning Yuxuan, but Ning Mingjie had lost his sense of propriety when he saw her.


    What did this mean? Why would Ning Mingjie care about Nie Sangyu?


    Once the virtuous consort sent over that box and exined the matter to him, Zhao Li finally came to a sudden realization. Ning Mingjie had fallen in love with Marquis Moyu¡¯s former wife? Was it really a coincidence that they had met again on the battlefield? And, Nie Sangyu was loyal to Zhao Zhe?


    Zhao Li sneered and sent Ning Mingjie an imperial edict. The imperial edict stated that as long as Ning Mingjie won this war, the emperor would bestow him any unmarried woman that he wanted.


    This imperial edict was very attractive to Ning Mingjie. His cousin had already divorced Nie Sangyu. As long as he achieved victory, he would be able to marry her.


    However, he wasn¡¯t swayed. He epted the imperial edict and agreed, but his next action was ordering the troops to retreat.


    Zhangjun Prince had hanged Ji Man in front of the army and was using her to threaten Ning Mingjie into withdrawing. The rumors that Ning Mingjie was deeply in love with Nie Sangyu had already circted on both sides. There were varied versions of their past withplicated plots. Some old soldiers even became a bit teary when they heard these stories.


    And so, no one found it strange when Ning Mingjie ordered the soldiers to withdraw, but many people weren¡¯t willing to follow the order. They had finally started the war with Zhangjun. How could they just leave?


    Ning Yuxuan was the one that mostly fiercely objected. He spent a long time trying to persuade Ning Mingjie, but his cousin wouldn¡¯t listen. Furious, Ning Yuxuan obstinately took his most trusted aids away to continue to wage war while Ning Mingjie led the majority of the army back to the capital.

 Chapter 411 - The most loyal official (2)

    Chapter 411 ¨C The most loyal official (2)


    The news reached the emperor¡¯s ears. Furious, the emperor reprimanded Ning Mingjie for his foolish behavior and ordered that Ning Mingjie¡¯s troops weren¡¯t allowed to take one step into the capital.


    That Nie Sangyu was truly a femme fatale that brought disaster! Back then, he shouldn¡¯t have let her off because Pengyue¡¯s soft-heartedness!


    Zhao Li felt awfully regretful. While sorting out the military troops and clearing up this mess, he also praised Marquis Moyu. He was truly great! Nie Sangyu had once been his wife, but he cared more about the country¡¯s great cause than her well-being.


    ¡ª


    In Zhangjun, Ning Yuxuan wrote a letter to angrily rebuke Ning Mingjie¡¯s conduct and started to retreat with the soldiers that were under hismand while under the guise of engaging in battle. Zhangjun had sent more troops out, and Ning Yuxuan was eventually forced to retreat a great distance, all the way from Zhangjun to the capital¡¯s outskirts.


    While this was happening, Zhao Li hurriedly sent out letters to order the first-rank titled princes to send out their troops to defend him. Then, he went to Wangyue Building. He wanted Pengyue to help him again.


    However, Pengyue had fallen sick. She was seriously ill and lying in bed. Her eyes were half-opened, and her face was wan. After listening to him speak and waiting for him to finish, she finally murmured, ¡°It¡¯s only at this time that you would remember to think of me.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Yuzhen was a country where monogamy was the norm, so there was naturally much less scheming between women. Thus, Pengyue didn¡¯t know any tricks and couldn¡¯t win over the virtuous consort. During this past period, when he had given her the cold shoulder, Pengyue had already be physically and mentally exhausted. It would be difficult for her to recover from her illness.


    Zhao Li was sitting at her bedside. Although he felt guilty, he was more worried about keeping his throne. He said a few words tofort her, but when he saw that she still wouldn¡¯t agree to borrow soldiers for Yuzhen, he became impatient.


    ¡°It was wrong me to turn my back on you and cause you to suffer, but it¡¯s impossible for the emperor in this country to not have a harem. My heart only has you. Shouldn¡¯t that be enough?¡±


    Pengyue miserably smiled. She looked at him with a sentimental gaze as she said, ¡°Back then, I clearly knew that you were using me, but I was still happy and willing to marry you. I knew that you didn¡¯t love me back then, and you couldn¡¯t have known I had already given you my heart when I saw you for the first time in that military training ground. But now, you¡¯ve worn out my heart, and I no longer have the strength to love you. It¡¯s the throne that you love the most, but my heart only has you. It¡¯s too painful to live like this. I don¡¯t want to suffer anymore...¡±


    Flustered and exasperated, Zhao Li retorted, ¡°If I lose my throne, it wouldn¡¯t benefit you at all.¡±


    Pengyue chuckled. ¡°If you lose your throne, I would be the only one that would be willing to die with you. When that timees, you won¡¯t be able to use the excuse that you need other women by your side.¡±


    Zhao Li shuddered and looked away. ¡°Are you really going to act this way?¡±


    Pengyue closed her eyes and didn¡¯t say another word.


    As he turned the wheels on his wheelchair to leave Wangyue Building, Zhao Li was extremely furious. Women were so narrow-minded. They let themselves be ruled by the emotions and didn¡¯t realize what they would lose from being overly emotional.


    After Zhao Li departed, Pengyue¡¯s personal servant girl was choked with emotion as she asked, ¡°Master, why didn¡¯t you just say that you¡¯re unable to borrow the soldiers? If you tell the emperor the truth, he won¡¯t resent you so much.¡±


    There was civil unrest in Yuzhen because themon people were having a hard time making a living. Yuzhen¡¯s royal family was in an extremely precious position, so there was no way they could afford to lend troops.


    Pengyue smile and said, ¡°If he can¡¯t find someone to resent, then he¡¯ll resent himself. Since it¡¯s like that, he might as well resent me. At the very least, he¡¯ll feel something for me and spend time brooding over me. That would be nice too.¡±


    The oh so high Wangyue Building, it had once been a symbol of the emperor¡¯s supreme favor towards his favorite person, but at the end, it had inexplicably be a ce to imprison her.


    ¡ª


    There were no reinforcements from Yuzhen, and although the various first-rank titled princes responded to the emperor¡¯s order, they weren¡¯t very enthusiastic. While Ning Mingjie had already led the army to the capital and was stationed outside of the capital, the troops from the other princes hadn¡¯t even left their fiefdom yet.


    Zhao Li truly felt a sense of crisis. He ordered Ning Yuxuan to return and defend the capital.


    Zhangjun¡¯s army had finally pressed the retreating army all the way to the capital with Zhao Zhe personally leading the army. He straightforwardly dered that the third prince was innocent and had been wrongfully executed. Zhao Li was the one that had actually killed their father, and then their brother. Nie n had been innocent. What right did Zhao Li have to exterminate that n?


    Ji Man hade with the army and was still wearing a red dress. Sitting inside a carriage, she had followed Zhao Zhe all way to the capital.


    ¡°Your Highness, do you remember what you promised Sangyu?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Zhao Zhe looked at her and openly and heartilyughed. ¡°Of course, this prince remembers. You can pay him back for everything he did to you back then. It¡¯s only that this prince didn¡¯t expect a mere woman would be able to sessfully get revenge for a blood debt.¡±


    ¡ª


    The opposing army had already surrounded the capital. Ning Mingjie had surrendered to Zhangjun Prince and switched allegiances, so it was only to be expected that he would join Zhangjun¡¯s army in besieging the capital.


    Zhao Li only had one useful person, Marquis Moyu. Havoc was already running amuck in the capital. The price for grain was too high, and the imperial court had been suspended due to the dowager empress and the prime minister¡¯s faction. Zhao Li¡¯s hold on his throne was like a flickering me on a windy day.


    However, Marquis Moyu had proven to be a loyal official. He saluted the emperor with his hands and said, ¡°As long as this subject is here, this subject will guard the capital. Even if all the other officials refuse to attend the imperial court, this subject will still be present.¡±


    Zhao Li was so touched by Marquis Moyu¡¯s words that he immediately bestowed him the title of Protector of the Nation. Moreover, he felt that he had been too despairingly cold-hearted in kidnapping the marquis¡¯s heir. Fortunately, Ning Yuxuan had let it slide.


    ¡°If dear subject can sessfully defend the capital, the emperor can grant the beloved subject anything,¡± said Zhao Li.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly knelt. He chuckled and said, ¡°This subject desires nothing. May Your Majesty live and reign for ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years.¡±


    Where could you find such a loyal official?

 Chapter 412 - Besieging the capital (1)

    Chapter 412 ¨C Besieging the capital (1)


    And so, during this tense situation, the pce gates were sealed, and only Marquis Moyu could freelye and go.


    ¡ª


    The virtuous consort was standing inside Wangyue Building and sneering at the person in the bed. ¡°It¡¯s already gotten to this point. Your Majesty, are you still unwilling to help the emperor? Truly, the deep affection that the emperor has shown you was a waste. Are you really going to peacefully rest in Wangyue Building and do nothing while His Majesty¡¯s throne is in danger?¡±


    Pengyue softly coughed. Looking at the virtuous consort, she mustered up the strength to sit up. In Yuzhen, she had been a princess that was used to being doted on. How could an abandoned woman like Kangyuan be allowed to climb over her?


    ¡°What? It can¡¯t be that Your Majesty wants to whip me when you¡¯re already in such a poor condition, right?¡± The virtuous consort disdainfully smiled. ¡°It would already be pretty good if you can stand up. You¡¯ve been poisoned with Bone Erosion Poison. Your bones will slowly erode little by little. Your Majesty, you better be careful. Otherwise, your leg bones will snap in half.¡±


    Leaning against the bed, Pengyue was in so much pain that cold sweat had umted over her entire body. Looking at the virtuous consort, she could only clench her jaw and curse, ¡°You poisonous woman!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m poisonous?¡± The virtuous consortughed so much that tears almost came out of her eyes. ¡°How can Ipare to you? You¡¯re just a princess that inserted yourself halfway into our rtionship. What right do you have to request the emperor to not have any consorts in his harem? Did you know that I could have originally entered the pce and be his Majesty¡¯s closepanion? But, solely because of your words, His Majesty married me to Ning Mingjie. As an abandoned woman, it¡¯ll be so difficult for me to receive His Majesty¡¯s whole-hearted love. Princess Pengyue, Your Majesty, of the two of us, who¡¯s the more poisonous one?¡±


    Pengyue was slightly startled. She lowered her eyes and said, ¡°If you really had a ce in the emperor¡¯s heart, he wouldn¡¯t have married you off to General Ning just because I didn¡¯t want him to have a harem.¡±


    The virtuous consort angrily retorted, ¡°Nonsense. The emperor and me have known each other since childhood. Every year that I came to the pce for the Lantern Festival, we would spend it together. I was with him during his most difficult times. How could I not be in his heart? It¡¯s only because you have Yuzhen. Otherwise, what can you possibly take out topete with me?¡±


    Pengyue had momentarily frozen in surprise. She finally softlyughed. Yeah, if she didn¡¯t have Yuzhen, he wouldn¡¯t have chosen her. Now that Yuzhen could no longer help him, he wouldn¡¯te to see her anymore.


    She remembered that long ago day. She had stood in front of him in a red outfit. While swinging her whip, she had dered to everyone, ¡°He¡¯s the one that I want as my husband. In the future, if anyone dares to bully or insult him, it¡¯ll be the same as bullying or insulting me.


    She had been so stupid, ah.


    As Pengyue continued tough, tears started to fall. She slowly lied back down and said, ¡°I won¡¯tpete with you for anything. You might as well leave. It¡¯ll be the best if you go the emperor¡¯s side and keep himpany. Yuzhen won¡¯t send reinforcements.¡±


    The virtuous consort was extremely infuriated. Flinging her sleeve, she left Wangyue Building.


    ¡ª


    The capital had been besieged for a month. Because Marquis Moyu had pledged his life to stubbornly resisting Zhangjun¡¯s forces and pressured the officials, the capital remained impregnable during this time. However, problems arose when everyone had been trapped in the capital for too long.


    How to solve the problem of food? The rice merchants in the capital had already closed their businesses, and there was nowhere to buy rice. Themoners had already changed to eating other foods, but these remaining foods were dwindling.


    When some of the soldiers sent by the various first-rank princes finally arrived, they passably fought with Zhangjun¡¯s army for two months.


    During these two months of war, Ji Man secretly contacted Yan Buba and had the rice in Ji Store¡¯s warehouses stealthily transported out of the capital. Then, she had people cooking rice right by the capital¡¯s moat and spread the news that she was giving out free rice outside of the capital. That¡¯s right, it was rice, not watery congee.


    There had already been countless people, who had starved to death in the capital. When themoners heard the news of free rice, they crowded at the capital¡¯s gate like people that had lost theirs minds. The emperor ordered for these people to be put down. And so, before a group of soldiers went out to fight the enemy, they ughtered their own people first.


    Fear and anxiety spread throughout the capital. It was enveloped in a haze of gloom.


    When the capital¡¯s forces had exhausted their strength, Marquis Jingwen¡¯s troops arrived at the capital. Unfortunately, this army, which had been flying the g of serving the emperor, directly went to Zhangjun¡¯s army camps.


    Ji Man saw the person that lifted up the curtain and couldn¡¯t resist eximing, ¡°Older brother!¡±


    Nie Qingyun had also regained to his original name. When Jingwen¡¯s army had reached the outskirts of the capital, the g that dered allegiance to the emperor had been switched out, and Nie Qingyun publicly threatened the emperor that a debt of blood must be paid in blood. Two years had passed, and Nie Qingyun had risen to the position of Jing Province¡¯smander-in-chief. While enduring hardships, he had waited until he would have the opportunity for revenge.


    ¡°Sangyu.¡± Nie Qingyun was smiling as he looked at her. His gaze showed that he was excited, but he suppressed this feeling since Zhao Zhe was also present. ¡°Back then, you left without say anything. If Zhangjun Prince hadn¡¯t informed me, I wouldn¡¯t even know where to look for you.¡±


    ¡°Your sister-inw gave birth to a body,¡± said Nie Qingyun while he stretched his hand out to stroke her hair.


    Ji Man felt slightly choked up with emotion. For a moment, she wasn¡¯t able to say a single in response. It was good that Errong had given birth to a son. Their son would definitely have her older brother¡¯s valiant spirit as well as Errong¡¯s genuine temperament.


    ¡°Sir Nie, you came from so far away. It must have been tiring.¡± Zhao Zhe smiled and said, ¡°Right now, it¡¯s only a matter of time before the capital is captured. For you toe here and witness the beginning of a golden age with this prince, that¡¯s also rare. In contrast, that Marquis Yong¡¯an is stubbornly insisting on opposing this prince.¡±


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Marquis Yong¡¯an is Kangyuan¡¯s father.)


    Nie Qingyun understandingly smiled. Having already thought of what he would say, he respectfully cupped one fist in the other hand and said, ¡°All the soldiers that Qingyun brought with me are Jing Province¡¯s elite troops. Yong¡¯an is situated in the hignds, so their troops would naturally be weak at water warfare. Qingyun has already finished discussing a n with the other generals. We¡¯ll lead Yong¡¯an¡¯s soldiers to autumn waters to battle.¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Zhao Zhe pped his hands. ¡°You two siblings have been indispensable to this prince. If we win, the two of you will definitely be rewarded in the future.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness!¡± Ji Man and Nie Qingyun bowed together.

 Chapter 413 - Besieging the capital (2)

    Chapter 413 ¨C Besieging the capital (2)


    ¡°The two of you must have plenty of things to say to each other. Take your time to chat. This prince won¡¯t bother you.¡± Zhao Zhe was smiling as he walked out.


    The two siblings bowed as Zhangjun Prince left. Once they were alone, Nie Qingyun grabbed Ji Man and said with a furrowed brow, ¡°Did you know that after you left, Errong was so worried about you that she couldn¡¯t sleep well for a long time? She almost miscarried!¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man hurriedly asked, ¡°Is she okay?¡±


    ¡°Errong and the child are doing well. She wanted toe here too, but the child couldn¡¯t part with her, so she¡¯s staying in Jing Province to care for him.¡± Nie Qingyun let out a long sigh. Seeing his younger sister¡¯s face, which had be considerably haggard, he said in a hollowed voice, ¡°I should be the one getting revenge for our family. You don¡¯t have to take part in this.¡±


    Ji Man grinned at him. ¡°Older brother and father have treated me so well, I can¡¯t just stand by and do nothing. So what if I¡¯m a woman? A woman is still a person. Why can¡¯t a woman get revenge for her family?¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Nie Qingyun sighed. Furrowing his brow, he asked, ¡°Do you still like Marquis Moyu that much?¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise. She wasn¡¯t sure how to reply.


    From Nie Qingyun¡¯s perspective, Nie Sangyu was madly in love with Ning Yuxuan. Nie Sangyu had shared all sorts of her lush feelings to her older brother, ah. But, right now, Nie Qingyun wasn¡¯t aware of Marquis Moyu¡¯s ns. He thought that Marquis Moyu still wanted to help the emperor maintain his power. Since they were at opposing sides, how could he possibly support their rtionship?


    Ji Man thought it over before answering, ¡°Older brother, you don¡¯t have to worry about me. Let things remained as they are.¡±


    Nie Qingyun thought she was torn by two difficult choices, so he didn¡¯t question her further. Instead, he asked her how she had been doing during that past two years as well as mentioning stuff about Jing Province.


    After that, someone came to report, ¡°Themoners in the capital are rioting. Several thousands ofmonfolk have gathered at the capital¡¯s gate requesting to be let out of the capital.¡± the person¡¯s voice was loud enough that half of the military camp had overheard his words.


    Nie Qingyun froze in surprise for a moment. Parting the tent p, he went outside with Ji Man.


    Zhao Zhe was standing outside. He calmly issued themanded, ¡°Attack the capital!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± roared the soldiers.


    Zhao Zhe would personally lead the army. As he was mounting the horse, he turned back to look at Ji Man and asked, ¡°Want toe along to look?¡±


    Nie Qingyun furrowed his brow. ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s dangerous on the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay, this prince will protect her.¡± Zhao Zhe ordered someone to lead over a horse. He grinned as he looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°Come on, this prince will take you to see the how this country will change hands.¡±


    Ji Man was slightly stunned. From nearby, Shen Youqing¡¯s tent p was slightly opened.


    The soldiers were rowdily heckling, so Ji Man could only put on a brave face and mounted the horse. ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Make sure to follow me closely.¡± Zhao Zhe smiled at her, then raise his sword to the sky and shouted, ¡°Charge!¡±


    Hearing the rising chorus of voices, Ji Man desperately held onto the reins. She was scared that the horse would fling her off. Fortunately, this horse was rtively docile, and Zhao Zhe wasn¡¯t going too fast.


    When the billowing clouds of dusts had settled, she had disappeared from the military camp with the army.


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± a servant girl quietly called out to Shen Youqing, who was standing by the entrance of the tent.


    Shen Youqing turned her head back and said with her eyes lowered. ¡°Never mind, let¡¯s take off my hair essories.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The riotingmon people were a godsend golden opportunity for Zhangjun¡¯s army to break into the capital. Sure enough, having control over the grain supply was the same as having a chokehold on the capital. The families of officials could stave off starvation because they had their own supply of grain, but it was different for themoners. Themon people didn¡¯t care who the emperor was. They only cared about having enough food to eat.


    Zhao Zhe had personally led the army this time because he had determined that his army would break through the capital¡¯s gate today.


    Shen Youqing had been by his side since he had been a crown prince as his princess consort. And so, she thought that they would be able to share this moment of glory together. Her hair had been done up in a style that was befitting an empress, and she had on a golden <i>xiapi</i>.


    (T/N: Below is a picture of a golden <i>xiapi</i>.)


    However, he pulled another woman onto the horse.


    Back then, Shen Youqing hadn¡¯t been able to understand why Zhao Zhe would allow a rice merchant to enter his household and be one of his advisors, or why he had been willing to so simply lend Zhangjun¡¯s grain to that person. She had felt even more confused on why Zhao Zhe had been so happy when he heard that person wasing back to Zhangjun.


    Shen Youqing had felt puzzled right until that moment when that person took off the mask, then she finally understood everything.


    Nie Sangyu.


    Zhao Zhe had once jokingly said to Nie Sangyu, ¡°If I be emperor, I would want a woman like you as my empress.¡±


    Zhao Zhe had said plenty of things in jest before, but this was the only thing that she brooded over. When she had first heard these words from her personal servant, she had stared nkly at her in response.


    (T/N: Zhao Zhe¡¯s original wording was, ¡°Nie Sangyu, you¡¯re truly a woman that¡¯s suitable to be the empress.¡± in chapter 99. It was a conversation between him and Nie Sangyu/Ji Man, which was eavesdropped by Ning Mingjie and Shen Youqing¡¯s servant.)


    So, she had remembered Nie Sangyu¡¯s name.


    Was her worry going to be reality? Her greatest fear was that he would arrogantly smile as he embraced a new woman after taking over the throne. She had already given her best years to him.


    Her fingers slightly tightened up. Shen Youqing tried to calm herself down. She had to remain calm. She was someone that weathered through countless women. How could she possibly lose to a divorced woman that had already been thrown away once?


    ¡ª


    Ji Man repeatedly sneezed while riding the horse. Fortunately, the surrounding sounds of the horses¡¯ hooves were very loud, so no one noticed. This stretch of road to the capital was deste and uninhabited, but when they got near the capital¡¯s gate, they could hear the bellowing voices of the people. It sounded like a cauldron that was boiling over.


    ¡°Let us out!¡± The shouts of thousands of people became increasingly loud. It sounded as if they were going to crash the capital¡¯s gate at any moment.

 Chapter 414 - The capitals gate can be opened with grain (1)

    Chapter 414 ¨C The capital¡¯s gate can be opened with grain (1)


    Zhao Zhe stopped his horse on the other side of the moat. He looked at the capital. He could hear the moring sounds even at this distance.


    Zhao Zhe slightly smiled, turned his head back to look at Ji Man, and said, ¡°You once said that you would open the capital¡¯s gate for this prince. That gate is right in front of us now.¡±


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t refrain fromughing. ¡°Your Highness, you don¡¯t need to feel too anxious. You can¡¯t be asking for Sangyu to push down the gate with my hands, right? Sangyu has already arranged for people to create mayhem inside and spread the news that Ji Store¡¯srgest granary is right outside of the capital. A huge amount of grain is stored in granary, and no one is guarding it. Themon people can go get grain from Ji Store¡¯s granary as soon as they breakthrough the capital¡¯s gate.¡±


    Zhao Zhe pursed his lips. ¡°This prince still wants to go over there and directly attack. It¡¯s unlikely that the gate will be open if we rely on the efforts of thosemon people.


    ¡°Your Highness, you shouldn¡¯t underestimate the power of themon people,¡± Ji Man sternly said, ¡°Water can move a boat as well as capsize it. It¡¯s themoners that are the foundation of a country. The current emperor doesn¡¯t have the hearts of the people because of his tyrannical ways. Once the grievances of the people have umted to a certain level, it¡¯ll naturally be a flood that will drown the capital.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Zhao Zhe¡¯s gaze showed that he didn¡¯t really believe her. ¡°This prince will wait one more hour. If the capital¡¯s gate isn¡¯t open by then, this prince will order for the battering ram to be used.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man nodded.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was standing on the capital¡¯s wall. From far away, he was able to spot Ji Man, who was wearing her red outfit, in the crowd. The sight of her and Zhao Zhe sitting side by side on their horses felt a bit offensive to his eyes.


    ¡°Master, there¡¯s at least three thousandmoners gathered below. The emperor has ordered for these people to be killed without exception. What...¡±


    Turning his gaze to Guibai, Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°If those three thousand people are all killed, it will only cause more people to rise up in rage. Why would the emperor issue such an order?¡±


    Guibai shook his head. ¡°The pce is already a mess, and the emperor has lost his temper.¡±


    Guibai reported that the emperor had even roared out, ¡°Those who submit to me will prosper, those who rebel will be executed.¡±


    In the end, Zhao Li was an emperor that had once been oppressed and bullied for a long time. After he had a change in fortune, it was inevitable that he would be obstinate and do whatever he pleased.


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned for a moment. He nced down at the person below the capital¡¯s gate tower, pursed his lips, and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, follow the emperor¡¯s order. I¡¯m going to take a trip to the pce.¡±


    Even people with discerning eyes could see that he had done his best in guarding this country for Zhao Li. Seeing that the capital¡¯s gate would soon be broken down, it was time for him to pick up Haohao.


    ¡ª


    The virtuous consort was standing in Zichen Hall. In a fluster, she said, ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down. Those people outside are just rebels and traitors. My father has already brought his army over. Don¡¯t let yourself fall into panic.¡±


    Zhao Li¡¯s eyes were thoroughly red. Sitting in his wheelchair, he said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy for me to seize this country. Why should I submissively hand it over to someone else? Oldest imperial brother has always made life difficult for me. Now that I¡¯m sitting on the throne after going through such great difficulties, why is he trying to snatch it away from me?¡±


    These words were a bit too naive. It was because he was so angry that he had gotten muddle-headed and couldn¡¯t think of anything else. He only had Fan Tianxing by his side. This trusted aide had followed him up step-by-step from the bottom.


    ¡°Your Majesty, Marquis Moyu is currently guarding the capital, but how about recing him with a general?¡± Fan Tianxing furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Marquis Moyu had once opened the capital¡¯s gate for you. This subject is worried that he¡¯ll open the capital¡¯s gate for the first prince too.¡±


    Zhao Li turned his head to red at him. ¡°I spent so much effort on Ning Yuxuan. Other people might not know that, but shouldn¡¯t you know better?¡±


    Fan Tianxing froze in surprise for a moment.


    Back when the princes werepeting, the first prince and third prince had both tried to pull Marquis Moyu to their respective faction and even meddled in his harem. At that time, the second prince was powerless, and could only rely on a few loyal officials to do his bidding. However, in the end, Marquis Moyu had chosen Zhao Li instead of the first prince and third prince.


    Zhao Li had been able to seed in the past by keeping a low profile and bidding his time. He secretly umted power until he was able to seize control in one sessful swoop.


    However, Fan Tianxing had to admit to himself that Zhao Li¡¯s temperament had greatly changed once he had sessfully seized the throne. He had once been a reserved and low profile person, but after bing the emperor, he had be egotistical. He wouldn¡¯t listen to other people¡¯s advice or admonishments. Even someone like him, who had wholeheartedly followed Zhao Li, felt bitterly disillusioned.


    Although it was disloyal of the first prince to revolt, it was truly Zhao Li¡¯s actions that paved the way for his army to easilye all the way to capital without difficulties.


    Fan Tianxing sighed and said, ¡°Your Majesty, although it¡¯s true that you spent a lot of effort on Marquis Moyu, and he¡¯s seems very loyal, this subject still feels worried.¡±


    Zhao Li lightly sneered. ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about? The civil and military officials have all fled. It¡¯s only him that persists in defending the capital for this emperor. Can you really not discern his stance?¡±


    Fan Tianxing hesitated. He wanted to say more, but in the end, he just let out a long sigh.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan entered the pce. There was no restriction to where he could go, and he headed straight for the empress¡¯s pce.


    Pengyue had already deteriorated to half consciousness, but Haohao remained under the care of her pce servants. It was just that his little face was crumpled and looked very sad.


    ¡°Dad!¡± Haohao rushed over as soon as he saw him. With tears falling down to the floor, he said, ¡°Dad is a liar. You clearly said that you woulde pick up Haohao up very soon, but Haohao hasn¡¯t seen you in forever.¡±


    His tender little face looked so pitiful with tears. Ning Yuxuan hurriedly picked him up. ¡°Dad said that the next time Ie, I would be picking you up. I wasn¡¯t lying. It¡¯s only that dad has been dyed, so I came here a bitte.¡±

 Chapter 415 - The capital’s gate can be opened with grain (2)

    <h4>Chapter 415 ¨C The capital¡¯s gate can be opened with grain (2)</h4>


    (T/N: Zhao Li changes Haohao¡¯s official name to Ning Jinchen after he was taken into the pce in chapter 366.)


    Pengyue, who was in the inner room, was startled awake by the sound of Haohao¡¯s crying. She anxiously called out, ¡°Chen-er.¡±


    Haohao momentarily froze in surprise, then he quickly wiped away his tears, grabbed his father¡¯s clothing, and pointed towards the inside. ¡°Her Majesty is calling me.¡±


    Haohao, who had been living in the pce for almost a year, always called Pengyue, ¡°Her Majesty¡± in a milky-sweet voice that gave off a pleasant, warm feeling.


    While Ning Yuxuan was briefly startled, the nearby pce servants had already put down the gauzy curtain to block the view.


    Putting down Haohao, Ning Yuxuan went over to salute. ¡°This official, Ning Yuxuan, greets Your Majesty.¡±


    The person on the bed seemed to rx. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you...¡± After thinking it over, she smiled and said, ¡°You still regard me as the empress? Right now, the turmoil and chaos of war is running rampant, and there aren¡¯t even many people left in the pce. It¡¯s alright, you don¡¯t need to keep saluting.¡±


    After these words were said, the sound of gasping for breath was heard from the bed.


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, ¡°Your Majesty, you took such good care of my heir. It¡¯s only right that this official salutes you.¡±


    Pengyue somewhat absent-mindedly asked, ¡°Is the capital going to be taken over soon?¡±


    Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t answer her. Instead, he said, ¡°Your Majesty, you need to take care of your health.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there left of this body to care for?¡± Pengyue softly coughed a few times, then she sighed. ¡°I told him a long time ago to not be so outrageously obstinate. Conquering a country and being able to holding onto it afterwards are two different things. But, he wouldn¡¯t listen to me. He¡¯s such an arrogant person. Once he falls, he won¡¯t have another chance to climb back up again.¡±


    At the end, she actually smiled as she said, ¡°He¡¯s probably throwing a self-righteous tantrum right now. That person...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stayed silent.


    ¡°Marquis, take Chen-er with you.¡± Pengyue said, ¡°Although he was forcibly brought into the pce by the emperor, this empress is grateful for hispany. He helped this empress endure many especially painful days. Having him, it felt as if I had been able to give birth to my own child. Because of him, I wasn¡¯t doomed to a lifetime of being unable to walk out of that dark ce.¡±


    Pengyue had once been pregnant. After the execution of Nie n ended, she had felt unusually tired. It was only after she had returned to the pce, and the imperial physician checked her pulse that she found out that she was pregnant.


    Back then, she had been overjoyed. They were going to have a baby! Zhao Li had also seemed very happy too.


    However, she inexplicably suffered a miscarriage. Every night, she would have a nightmare that her baby hade back to me her for failing to protect him.


    Protect him? She didn¡¯t even know how she had lost her baby. How could she have protected him?


    She med herself for being too stupid and couldn¡¯t forgive herself. Even after Zhao Li had built Wangyue Building for her, she couldn¡¯te out of her depression.


    Later on, she had Chen-er to keep herpany. The child was lively, clever, and exceptionally considerate for someone of his young age. As soon as he saw that she was feeling sad, he would put on a show to cheer her up. As time passed, she slowly walked out from that dark cloud.


    He had originallye here as a little hostage, but she had unwittinglye to deeply care for him.


    Ning Yuxuan deeply bowed at her. ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Hurry, leave.¡± With difficulty, Pengyue turned her body over to face the wall.


    Haohao thought it was only an ordinary parting. He very properly knelt down and kowtowed with his small hands out for support just like how an older pce servant had taught him. ¡°Goodbye, Your Majesty.¡±


    Pengyue bit her lips as her tears flowed down. Hearing the sound of departing footsteps, she finally couldn¡¯t resist parting the privacy curtain to look outside.


    Chen-er¡¯s small figure had already disappeared behind the partition, but she could hear his lively voice asking, ¡°Dad, have you seen teacher? Is he waiting outside for Chen-er?¡±


    ¡°En, you¡¯ll be able to see him in a few days.¡±


    Pengyue slowly closed her eyes.


    After retrieving Haohao, Ning Yuxuan secretly left the pce.


    ¡ª


    By now, the capital¡¯s gate had already been open by themoners. Countless officers, who had wanted to suppress these people, were instead beaten to death by these enragedmoners. Several thousands of people rushed out of the capital¡¯s gate and proceed in force to Ji Store¡¯s granary.


    Ji Man sighed in relief. The deadline of one hour had been enough. She saluted with her hands and said to Zhao Zhe , ¡°Your Highness, Sangyu has fulfilled my promise.¡±


    Zhao Zhe loudlyughed. He triumphantly nced at Ji Man, then he waved his hand and shouted, ¡°Attack!¡±


    The responding rallying cries shook the heavens. With the capital¡¯s gate wide open, Prince Zhangjun¡¯s army poured into the capital and started to battle with the remaining defenders.


    ¡ª


    Although the capital was currently an abyss of suffering, the pce¡¯s gate was left wide open.


    Fan Tianxing was ovee with panic as he reported, ¡°Your Majesty, this official had said a long time ago that Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t be allowed to stay! The army has already broken through the capital¡¯s gate, and Marquis Moyu opened the pce¡¯s gate. He¡¯s clearly weing the first prince into the pce! Your Majesty, we should hurry and leave!¡±


    Zhao Li¡¯s expression showed his utter incredulity. Grabbing Fan Tianxing¡¯s sleeve, he said, ¡°How could that be possible? Impossible! This emperor has his heir. How could he possibly dare?!¡±


    The virtuous consort half-stumbled and half-ran inside. Extremely angry, she said, ¡°Your Majesty, the empress secretly return Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir! By the time this servant received the news and went over there, it was already toote!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Furious, Zhao Li turned his wheelchair and headed towards Wangyu Building.


    ¡°Your Majesty, as long as you live, there will still be hope! The most important thing is for you to quickly leave the pce!¡± Fan Tianxing took a few steps forward to stop Zhao Li. ¡°Don¡¯t mind the empress. You should leave here first!¡±


    The group of imperial guards came forward, and Zhao Li¡¯s wheelchair was pushed towards exiting the pce.


    ¡°Let go of this emperor!¡± Zhao Li angrily shouted, ¡°How dare you be so insolent! Bring this emperor to Wangyue Building! This emperor refuses to go anywhere else!¡±

 Chapter 416 - Didn’t you make a mistake? (1)

    <h4>Chapter 416 ¨C Didn¡¯t you make a mistake? (1)</h4>


    The distant howls of death seem to gradually approach the pce. The imperial guards didn¡¯t have time to care about anything else. They lifted up the wheelchair and headed towards Chenhui gate to leave the pce.


    Zhao Li roared the entire way, but it was useless. His legs were crippled. He had no way to resist.


    ¡ª


    The fighting in the capital¡¯s streets didn¡¯tst for long. It was because Ning Yuxuan led the civil and military officials over to respectfully wee the first prince into the pce, so the efforts at resisting Zhangjun¡¯s army slowly dispersed.


    A messenger that had traveled a distance reported another victory. Nie Qingyun had scored a major victory against Marquis Yong¡¯an outside of autumn waters. The remaining people that were loyal to the emperor fled.


    By the time the sunset clouds were sprinkled over the sky, the capital had slowly calmed down, and Ji Man and Zhao Zhe finally entered the capital. The horses stepped on a ground filled with bloody corpses as they slowly headed towards the pce.


    As soon as they arrived at the pce¡¯s gate, Ning Yuxuan and the group of civil and military officials behind him silently saluted Zhao Zhe, then the officials parted to either side to make way.


    Zhao Zhe immediately smiled and asked Ning Mingjie, ¡°Has that person been caught?¡±


    Ning Mingjie naturally knew that he was asking about Zhao Li. Lowering his head, he said, ¡°This subject had ordered people to guard all of the pce¡¯s gates in advance. The emperor has to be in the pce. There¡¯s no way he could have left.¡±


    ¡°Very good.¡± Zhao Zhe smiled and turned his head to look at Ji Man as he said, ¡°You fulfilled your promise to this prince, so this prince definitely wouldn¡¯t skip out on handing your reward to you. You can go do the thing that you most want to do now.¡±


    Ji Man took a deep breath. Dismounting from the horse, she saluted, ¡°Your Majesty, thank you for your support.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. Seeing Ji Man heading towards the pce, he silently grabbed her arm to stop her.


    Ji Man turned her head. ¡°Marquis, do you have an order for me?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at Zhao Zhe, then faintly smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯lle with you.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was in a hurry to sit on the throne, so he naturally didn¡¯t have the excess energy to care about them. At once, he urged his horse forward and into the pce. He brought along a group of trusted aides as he made a beeline towards Zichen Hall.


    Ji Man¡¯s wrist felt a bit hot with Ning Yuxuan pulling her. ¡°Are you going to take me to where Zhao Li is?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. He pulled her along as they past through the pce¡¯s gate and continued further into the pce. ¡°Sangyu, do you want to kill him?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t that obvious? Ji Man sneered. ¡°I¡¯m not in a hurry. I¡¯ll wait until my older brother arrives to make my move. But, no matter what, I won¡¯t let Zhao Li off. Nie n has so many ghosts that are crying out for their unjust deaths. He has to pay back for everything that he did.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly softly asked her, ¡°Aren¡¯t you Ji Man?¡±


    Ji Man was taken aback. ¡°Why are you asking this?¡±


    ¡°You said that you¡¯re Ji Man, not Nie Sangyu.¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and said, ¡°What business do you have with the deaths of Nie n¡¯s members then?¡±


    It felt as if her heart had stopped, and even her breath slowed down. Ji Man nkly looked at the person walking in front of her.


    It was true that she had always considered herself as only a spectator, She and Nie Sangyu were two different people. She wouldn¡¯t confuse one thing for another. Nie Sangyu¡¯s feelings belonged to Nie Sangyu, and her own feelings belonged to herself.


    But... Why would Nie Sangyu¡¯s feelings affect her then? Nie Sangyu¡¯s family members had treated her well, so she naturally regarded them as her own family members. The people that Nie Sangyu disliked, she had been influenced by Nie Sangyu to slightly dislike them too. The person that Nie Sangyu liked, she had also been influenced to... slightly like him too.


    Wrylyughing, Ji Man closed her eyes and said, ¡°Because we¡¯re the same person.¡±


    Since she had started living in this body, she and Nie Sangyu had be the same person. Nie Sangyu¡¯s heartache was her heartache. Her happiness was her happiness too. It seemed... there was no way to carefully differentiate between them.


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He turned his head to nce at her. ¡°If you¡¯re the same person, then just like her, you...¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ji Man curiously looked at him.


    ¡°Never mind.¡± Marquis Moyu turned his head back. ¡°I want to give you a suggestion. Zhao Li... you shouldn¡¯ty your hands on him.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ji Man sneered. ¡°It can¡¯t be that you want me to kill him by scolding him to death, right? He¡¯s an unscrupulous lunatic. Would he even care if I curse at him? I want him to be hacked into mincemeat!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sighed. ¡°I know that you hate him. After all, he had you witness Nie n¡¯s members being beheaded. But, he¡¯s still Zhangjun Prince¡¯s biological brother.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why I choose to join Zhangjun Prince¡¯s side?¡± Ji Manughed. ¡°It was because he promised me that if Zhao Li is ever taken down, he would give me the chance toy my hands on my mortal enemy.¡±


    She was a woman whose family had been ruined. Other than having a mind that was slightly different from other people, she had nothing else. How could it be easy to kill the emperor? By helping Zhao Zhe, she would be able to achieve her wish. Zhao Zhe had even recently said that she had fulfilled her promise to him, so she could go do what she wanted now.


    The thing that she wanted the most was for Zhao Li to die a wretched death.


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. He wanted to say more, but there was someone in front that wasing over.


    The person stumbling towards them was the woman formerly titled, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>, and the current virtuous consort. Several imperial guards were chasing after her, but she heedlessly ran towards this side. When she saw Marquis Moyu, it was if she had seen her savior, ¡°Marquis, save me!¡±


    Who was she again?


    Ji Man stopped walking. She slightly furrowed her brow as she watched that woman frantically run towards them.

 Chapter 417 - Didnt you make a mistake? (2)

    Chapter 417 ¨C Didn¡¯t you make a mistake? (2)


    ¡°I know where the emperor is! Stop them from catching me! I know where he is!¡± the virtuous consort hoarsely shouted. Her hair was in disarray, and her pce attire was also disheveled.


    Her words caught Ji Man¡¯s interest. Ji Man asked, ¡°Oh? Where¡¯s Zhao Li?¡±


    The pursuing imperial guards saw Marquis Moyu and halted.


    The virtuous consort fell at Ji Man¡¯s feet. Clenching her jaw, she answered, ¡°Take me to emperor. Even if I¡¯m going to die, I want to die together with the emperor!¡±


    Ji Man curiously asked, ¡°Since you know the emperor¡¯s location, why didn¡¯t you go over there by yourself?¡±


    Kangyuan resentfully looked at the imperial guards that were behind her. She pursed her lips, and her eyes turned red. ¡°We were almost out and would have been able to escape the pce before it was surrounded, but then he put a desperate struggle to go back. He chose to throw away his life so that he could see that person in Wangyue Building!¡±


    ¡°I wanted to catch up to him, but there were so many other people pursuing him, so I had to lead some of them away from him, right?¡± Kangyuan indignantly said, ¡°I regret it now. Why did I help him by leading those people away? It would have been better if they had captured both of us, that way he¡¯ll never see that vixen, Pengyue, again!¡±


    It had been so long since she had heard Pengyue¡¯s name. Hearing it now, Ji Man felt somewhat nostalgic, and her expression softened. Back then, her life had been spared because Pengyue had pleaded with Zhao Li. Even if it had started off as trading favors, she still felt grateful towards Pengyue.


    ¡°Zhao Li went to Wangyue Building?¡±


    ¡°Where else could he have gone?¡± Kangyuan managed to stand up and say, ¡°If you¡¯re going over there, take me with you, and I¡¯ll tell you a secret in exchange after we get there.¡±


    It would be trivial to bring Kangyuan along, and she would get a secret out of it, so Ji Man agreed. Marquis Moyu went with them Wangyue Building. On the way there, they didn¡¯t see many people, thenterns were hanging askew, and the flowerpots were toppled over.


    On the outside, Wangyue Building appeared surprisingly peaceful. It was a ce that Zhao Li had put a lot of thought into building. In the midst of the destion, it had a feeling of independent grandeur.


    There wasn¡¯t anyone left at the entrance, and there were no sounds of activity inside. When Ji Man went inside, she saw an empty wheelchair on the first floor.


    Raising her head to look at the tall staircase, Ji Man went up the stairs.


    When she reached the third floor, she heard someone ranting.


    ¡°Why did you release Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir to him? You clearly knew that he was the most important hostage. This emperor trusted you the most in this pce, that why this emperor handed Ning Jinchen to you. Even thought you weren¡¯t willing to borrow soldiers from Yuzhen, I thought that you would never harm me!¡±


    Zhao Li had left his wheelchair behind and crawled up the staircase. His respectable, golden dragon robe was stained with dirt. Although he cut a sorry figure, his imposing manner hadn¡¯t diminished. It was if he was standing up in the Heavens instead of lying on the ground.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that it would be your hands that would cause my downfall in the end. Truly, my sess and failure was due to the same person. Pengyue, don¡¯t you feel bad? You apanied me in seizing this country, but a moment of willfulness on your part has ruined all my future prospects.¡±


    ¡°You clearly knew that even though this emperor took a consort, my heart only has you. Why couldn¡¯t you be satisfied with this? Why did you have to feel so broken-hearted?¡±


    ¡°Even if this emperor didn¡¯te see you, why didn¡¯t you take the initiative toe see this emperor? It¡¯s not like you to be so passive. You even dared to whip Kangyuan. If you were angry with this emperor, why didn¡¯t you tell this emperor? Why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡±


    ¡°Pengyue, say something. This emperor doesn¡¯t have the strength crawl any further.¡±


    In the middle of the room, Zhao Li was finally exhausted. The skin on his hands was torn from crawling here. Copsing on the ground, he didn¡¯t have the strength to get up.


    The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer. Zhao Li furrowed his brow. Mustering up his remaining energy, he continued to crawl forward. ¡°The pce has been taken over. Are you happy? This emperor hase to take you away. Even if you made a lot of mistakes, we can slowly settle those ounts between us in the future. This emperor won¡¯t go easy on you, but you have to leave with this emperor now. They¡¯re waiting for us at Chenhui Gate...¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any sounding from the bed. If it wasn¡¯t for a gentle breeze that allowed him to faintly see a raised quilt on the bed, he would almost think that Pengyue had abandoned him and left first.


    ¡°So, even you would have a day like this one.¡± Ji Man leaned against the doorway as she watched him. She sneered, ¡°Why are you crawling on the ground? Your Majesty, you only need to issue an order, and there will be servants toe carry you.¡±


    Zhao Li paused. He turned his head back to look.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Kangyuan rushed into the room. Angry and anxious, she helped Zhao Li sit up. ¡°Everyone has already said that you need to leave earlier. Why did you have to be so stubborn and not listen? What¡¯s so good about that woman? She¡¯s almost dead from her illness.¡±


    ¡°Get out!¡± Zhao Li pushed her away, and his body fell back to the ground. Looking at Ji Man, he said, ¡°Sure enough, it¡¯s you, Nie Sangyu. Back when Pengyue was pleading to let you off, this emperor knew that you wouldn¡¯t be so easily destroyed. You¡¯re too clever. As long as you¡¯re still alive, this emperor won¡¯t be at peace.¡±


    Ji Man slightly smiled, ¡°Sangyu is honored to hear Your Majesty¡¯spliment. Sangyu feels the same way. If Your Majesty is alive, Sangyu won¡¯t feel at peace either.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and stepped through the doorway.


    Zhao Li continued to crawl towards the bed. Looking at the figure on the bed, he said, ¡°Pengyue, look. You were wrong about this too. Because of your mercy, this person hase here to kill me. Don¡¯t you agree that this emperor is right in ming you? Didn¡¯t you make a mistake?¡±


    ¡°Marrying you was Pengyue¡¯s biggest mistake,¡± Ji Man scoffed.


    Trantor Ramblings: Zhao Li seems like he¡¯s fallen into a pit of self-delusion and insanity and won¡¯t being out. It feels ominous that Pengyue hasn¡¯t said anything during his long, crazy rant.

 Chapter 418 - That rotten Zhangjun Prince (1)

    Chapter 418 ¨C That rotten Zhangjun Prince (1)


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying?!¡± Zhao Li angrily said, ¡°How has this emperor mistreated her? The things that she should have, the things that this emperor has, this emperor has given all of it to her. How could it be a mistake to marry me?¡±


    ¡°If she had chosen my third imperial brother back then, she would have been beheaded with him. If she had chosen my first imperial brother, his princess consort would have definitely made her life miserable. If she hadn¡¯t acted so stupidly, how could this emperor have lost?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and walked past him to the bed. ¡°If marrying you was the right choice, then she wouldn¡¯t be so unhappy.¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Zhao Li angrily shouted, ¡°I still have a score to settle with her. Even if you want your revenge, you have to wait!¡±


    Ji Man paused. She turned her head and disdainfully looked at him, but she did stop walking.


    His unfeeling legs were a heavy burden as Zhao Li desperately crawled a few more feet. He finally reached the bedside before Ji Man. He was gasping for breath as he sat up. When he opened the bed curtains, he saw Pengyue¡¯s peacefully sleeping face.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°You can still peacefully sleep when this emperor has fallen to such a state?!¡± Zhao Li fiercely grabbed her hand. ¡°Is your heart made of stone?¡±!¡±


    When he grabbed that weak hand, something to seemed have snapped. Shocked, Zhao Li hurriedly lessened the force he was using. ¡°Your hand... This emperor didn¡¯t mean to do that... This emperor clearly wasn¡¯t using that much force...¡±


    Even though the bones in her hand had been broken, the person on the bed didn¡¯t react at all. The expression on her face remained exceptionally serene.


    Zhao Li was taken aback.


    An angry, but also panicking expression froze on Zhao Li¡¯s face. He nkly looked at the person lying on the bed for a long time before stretching his hand to her nose to see if she was still breathing.


    As soon as his hand came into contact with her icy-cold face, he knew. Only a dead person would have this temperature.


    Zhao Li quieted. His stomach full of anger had turned into shock. Widening his dulled eyes, he pursed his lips and foolishly asked, ¡°What happened?¡±


    From behind, Kangyuan looked at Pengyue¡¯s appearance and couldn¡¯t resistughing. ¡°She¡¯s dead.¡±


    Kangyuan walked to the bedside, knelt down by the emperor, and happily said, ¡°Your Majesty, look. She¡¯s dead. You don¡¯t have to worry about her any longer because Yuzhen. When all is said and done, you love Yu-<i>er</i> the most, right?¡±


    It had just been a business transaction. From beginning to end, the rtionship between these two was only a mere business transaction. If it wasn¡¯t because the emperor needed Yuzhen¡¯s help, he would have never married this woman.


    Zhao Li slightly turned his head and looked at Kangyuan.


    Tears had apanied Kangyuan¡¯s smile. Wrapping her arm around his, she said, ¡°Your Majesty, let¡¯s go. There¡¯s nothing left to see here. She¡¯s already dead.¡±


    Zhao Li showed Kangyuan away and struggled to pull himself onto the bed by gripping the edge of the bed. But, he didn¡¯t have the strength, and his legs were too heavy. He couldn¡¯t get onto the bed no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°She wouldn¡¯t die. She¡¯s perfectly fine. She¡¯s just pretending to be sick so that this emperor will feel bad for her. This emperor will do that, and she¡¯ll get better.¡± Zhao Li¡¯s eyes were widened. More and more tears gathered in his eyes, but they didn¡¯t fall. He just continued to look at her with ssy eyes. He wanted to go onto the bed.


    Ning Yuxuan sighed and helped him.


    Once Zhao Li was siting on the edge of the bed, he pulled Pengyue into his arms.


    *Snap*


    It wasn¡¯t clear which bones had snapped. Frightened, Zhao Li trembled. He wanted to tightly hug her, but he didn¡¯t dare. At a loss, he said, ¡°How did you be like this... Why do you seem like you¡¯re going to shatter from just a touch? This emperor will have the servants make you bone broth, okay? It must because you were being too picky with your food and that¡¯s why your body has be so weak.¡±


    Kangyuan, who had been fallen to the side, quietlyughed. ¡°Your Majesty, hug her more, hug her tightly. Hearing the sound of her bones breaking, it quenches my hatred.¡±


    Zhao Li turned to look at her with thoroughly reddened eyes.


    Ji Man had initially been too shocked to react after finding out about Pengyue¡¯s death. Hearing Kangyuan¡¯s words, she frowned. ¡°You did this?¡±


    ¡°Haha, yes, it was me! This is the oue that she deserves!¡± Kangyuan¡¯sughter sounded somewhat deranged. ¡°After I married Zhenyuan General, I came to the pce to pay respects to Her Majesty, and I fed her Bone Erosion Poison then. It¡¯s a slowing-acting poison that¡¯s tasteless and colorless. I didn¡¯t expect that she would be ablest for over a year. Her bones are certainly hard enough.¡±


    *Snap*


    As Zhao Li held Pengyue¡¯s upper body, the sound of Pengyue¡¯s bones breaking started and didn¡¯t stop. Zhao Li had originally been ring at Kangyuan, but he turned his head back when he heard these frightful sounds. Still, he was unwilling to put Pengyue down.


    If he didn¡¯t let her go, then he would have to hear the sound of all her bones slowly breaking.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Zhao Li angrily shouted. Tears spilled out from his reddened eyes. He wanted to put her down, but he couldn¡¯t bear to do so. He helplessly watched as her body became distorted in his arms from her disintegrating bones. In the end, he simply hugged her tighter.


    He opened his mouth to suck in air. He couldn¡¯t stop his tears from falling. Men shouldn¡¯t cry. Moreover, he was an emperor. He still had an entire country to consider. How could he stay here hugging her and crying like this?


    By now, most of Pengyue¡¯s bones had broken into pieces. As Zhao Li clutched her soft body, he had to support the back of her head so that her head wouldn¡¯t fall down


    Ji Man couldn¡¯t bear this sight and turned her head. Pengyue, who was so innocent, was gone. Although Ji Man hated Zhao Li, she wanted to cry after seeing this scene.


    Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out to hold her. When she turned her head to the side, she saw his calm expression as he said, ¡°We won¡¯t get to this point.¡±

 Chapter 419 - That rotten Zhangjun Prince (2)

    Chapter 419 ¨C That rotten Zhangjun Prince (2)


    Slightly stunned by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s words, Ji Man lowered her eyes.


    The sound of Zhao Li¡¯s howling could be heard throughout Wangyue Building¡¯s surrounding area. By the time a group of soldiers had rushed over and surrounded the building, Ji Man had already taken out a dagger.


    Nie Qingyun had entered the pce at top speed. His armor was still stained with blood. After reaching the third floor of Wangyue Building and seeing the emperor that was numbly hugging Pengyue on the bed, he slightly paused for a moment before taking out his saber.


    ¡°Qingyun.¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and asked, ¡°Will you and Sangyu listen to my advice?¡±


    Nie Qingyun nced at him in surprise, but he still had a solemn expression as he pursed his lips and answered, ¡°The two of us have been living in degradation for such a long time for the sole purpose of iming this scoundrel¡¯s life. If you want to plead on his behalf, you might as well not say anything.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to show mercy for his benefit. I¡¯m saying this for you and your sister¡¯s benefit. No matter what, Zhao Li is Zhangjun Prince¡¯s biological brother. It shouldn¡¯t be the two of you that kill him.¡±


    The chance to collect their blood debt was right in front of them. Who would be willing to listen to his words at this time?


    Ji Man chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t care about anything else. I want to be the one that kills him.¡±


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression stiffened. In the end, he sighed and moved aside.


    rmed, Kangyuan rushed over to protectively stand before Zhao Li. ¡°What are you going to do? How can you possibly be thinking of killing the emperor?¡±


    ¡°The new emperor has probably already sat down on the throne.¡± Ji Man slightly smiled and said, ¡°The person in front of us is merely our mortal enemy.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Kangyuan shook her head. She pleadingly looked at them as she said, ¡°Don¡¯t hurt the emperor. If... if you want to kill someone, kill me instead.¡±


    ¡°Take her away, far away from Wangyue Building. This emperor¡¯s life, you can take it if you want.¡± Zhao Li slowly put Pengyue down and turned his head. His reddened eyes actually showed relief. ¡°This emperor wants to die here. This ce is better than other ces, but this woman...¡±


    He pointed at Kangyuan and continued, ¡°Take her far away. Even in death, this emperor doesn¡¯t want to see her again.¡±


    Kangyuan was shocked. She nkly turned her head to look at him. ¡°Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man agreed, went outside to issue the order, and someone came back inside with her and started dragging Kangyuan away.


    Kangyuan widened her eyes. In a heart-broken voice, she shouted, ¡°Your Majesty, why are you treating me like this? Why? Yu-<i>er</i> just wants to be with you!¡±


    Although her voice gradually came from further away, it sounded increasingly mournful. The doors to Wangyue Building were closed. Ji Man and Nie Qingyun stood in front of Zhao Li and looked at him while holding sharp des.


    Zhao Li chuckled as he asked, ¡°Are you going to kill this emperor with a thousand slow cuts, or give me a quick death?¡±


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s eyes reddened. His de went towards Zhao Li¡¯s abdomen. He wanted to slice him in half at the waist.


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Zhao Li lowly said, ¡°If I don¡¯t have my legs on the path to underworld, this emperor might not be able to catch up to her.¡±


    Nie Qingyun ignored him. He directly stabbed him in the abdomen, then followed with several additional strikes. He specifically chose spots that wouldn¡¯t be fatal. Slice by slice, he would collect on the debt that was owed to Nie n.


    Ji Man had never killed someone before. Although she had taken out a dagger, she was hesitant about actually stabbing someone. Ah, what a gutless weakling. She said that she hated this person to death, but she still couldn¡¯ty her hands on him.


    Sweat had pooled on Zhao Li¡¯s head from the pain, but he didn¡¯t make a single sound. When his strength was almost gone, he braced himself so that he could fall down at Pengyue¡¯s side.


    Seeing this, Ning Yuxuan lightly called out, ¡°Enough.¡±


    Turning the dagger, Ji Man finally mustered up her courage and sliced his neck.


    Zhao Li¡¯s body stopped twitching. He somewhat gratefully looked at Ji Man. He wanted to turn his head to look at Pengyue, but he didn¡¯t have the strength.


    Blood was pooling onto the floor, and the bed was stained red too. Ji Man nkly looked at this scene before closing her eyes.


    This great vengeance had been satisfied. Did the deceased souls of Nie n¡¯s members feel a slight relief?


    The sound of jumbled footsteps suddenly came from the staircase. It sounded as if many armed people were rushing over here.


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression changed. He grabbed the dagger from Ji Man¡¯s hand and pushed her far away.


    The doors crashed open, and Wu Yong led a group of people inside. As soon as he saw the scene inside the room, he waved his hand and said, ¡°Seize those two people that are holding weapons. They killed the emperor.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise. Leaning against the wall, she watched as the group of soldiers came into the room and seized Nie Qingyun and Ning Yuxuan.


    What... what were they doing?


    ¡°Arrest that other person and bring all of them to the imperial prison. They¡¯ll await their judgment there.¡±


    As she was taken into custody, Ji Man nkly looked at Ning Yuxuan, who was frowning. While Zhangjun Prince was sitting down in Zichen Hall, these three were being sent to the imperial prison.


    The three of them were locked up in separate, neighboring cells. When the jailers had left, Ning Yuxuan wryly smiled, ¡°I knew that Zhao Zhe would have some hidden trick.¡±


    Nie Qingyun had always been a straightforward and honest person. He couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. ¡°Didn¡¯t he agree for us to kill Zhao Li? Why did he have us arrested afterwards?¡±


    Ji Man figured out the key point and bitterlyughed. ¡°Sure enough, no one from the imperial family can be trusted.¡±


    No matter what, Zhao Li had been an emperor that hadn¡¯t abdicated yet. Furthermore, he was Zhao Zhe¡¯s younger brother. Zhao Zhe wanted to kill him, but he was worried that people would curse him if he didn¡¯t show mercy to his brother. So, Zhao Zhe had borrowed their hands to kill Zhao Li. Thus, he could push all the me onto them.


    That rotten Zhangjun Prince.

 Chapter 420 - Treating her as a monk? (1)

    Chapter 420 ¨C Treating her as a monk? (1)


    However, even if she and Nie Qingyun had known in advance that this was a trap, they would have still jumped into it. They had worked so hard for such a long time for the sole purpose of getting revenge.


    But... Ji Man nced at Ning Yuxuan. At the end, he had snatched the dagger from her.


    Was he being stupid? He could have just let Wu Yong seize her and Nie Qingyun. The fatal strike on Zhao Li¡¯s neck was from her, so Nie Qingyun wouldn¡¯t be punished too badly. He also had Marquis Jingwen to protect him. She had been hoping that Ning Yuxuan would be able to lend a helping hand, but in the end, Ning Yuxuan had delivered himself into here along with them.


    What would they do now? Ji Man felt somewhat exhausted. The great revenge had been achieved. It seemed that there was nothing left to concern herself with here. However, after carefully thinking it over, she remembered that there was still Haohao, ah.


    She had to get out of here to take care of Haohao.


    Thinking of this, Ji Man felt somewhat anxious. She stood up and looked at Ning Yuxuan through the bars. She asked, ¡°Where did you take Haohao?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s in my estate.¡± Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. He had forgotten about this until she brought it up. Haohao was in his estate with Guibai looking after him. There probably wouldn¡¯t be any problems.


    Ji Man pursed her lips. ¡°Why did you grab my dagger? If you hadn¡¯t taken it, with your status, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to easily confine you here. You could have remained outside to take care of Haohao.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°If I didn¡¯t grab it, you would have been the perfect choice for a scapegoat. You don¡¯t have a strong background to protect you.¡±


    If the role of the killer was switched to him, Zhao Zhe would need to tread carefully.


    Nie Qingyun furrowed his brow and asked, ¡°What will Zhangjun Prince do to us?¡±


    How would the deeply scheming former crown prince deal with them?


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled and answered, ¡°Neither of us will die. We just need to wait to see what kind of conditions he¡¯ll set for us.¡±


    There was a period of silence. These three knew that Zhao Zhe wasn¡¯t the type of person that would issue an easy condition.


    ¡ª


    At this time, the situation in the pce had calmed down from the earlier chaos. Zhao Zhe was sitting on the throne, and the hall only had officials loyal to him.


    Shen Youqing had arrivedte. When she saw that no one was standing next to throne, she finally sighed in relief.


    ¡°The rewards from today¡¯s aplishment will be shared with everyone.¡± Zhao Zhe was currently giving an inspirational speech. The situation in the capital was already under control. With Shen Youqing standing by his side and the kneeling officials below him, he felt as if he had already ascended the throne and be emperor.


    Wu Yong strode into the hall and saluted with his hands without saying a word. However, from the looks of Wu Yong¡¯s expression, Zhao Zhe guessed that the matter had already beenpleted sessfully. Zhao slightly smiled, turned his head, and said, ¡°Although the current emperor is heartless, unjust, disloyal, and unfilial, he¡¯s still this prince¡¯s younger brother. This prince has decided to spare his life. As long as he abdicates, this prince is willing to return good for evil. He¡¯ll be allowed to peacefully live out the rest of his life in the pce.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness is merciful -¡± the group of people called out in unison.


    Wu Yong stepped forward at this time to report, ¡°Your Highness, the emperor has already been murdered. When this subject recently rushed to Wangyu Building, the emperor was already lying in a pool of blood. Marquis Moyu and General Nie were holding weapons, so this subject arrested them both.¡±


    The officials were shocked, and even Zhao Zhe was caught off guard.


    Marquis Moyu was involved too?


    Zhao Zhe smacked his armrest and stood up. ¡°They have some nerve. The emperor hasn¡¯t abdicated yet. Although the emperor is guilty of serous crimes, it¡¯s not their ce to carry out judgment! Where is Marquis Moyu and General Nie now?¡±


    ¡°To report to Your Highness, they¡¯re both in the imperial prison.¡±


    ¡°The pce matters will be handed over to the princess consort and Sir Wu to deal with. This prince will go to the imperial prison to take a look. Those murderers will certainly be severely punished!¡± Zhao Zhe indignantly departed and left behind a hall full of ministers that looked at each other in dismay.


    It was unlikely for a fallen emperor to keep his life. Although the first prince had said merciful words, Marquis Moyu and General Nie¡¯s actions were within reason.


    Although they could see through this act, out of self-preservation, no one in the hall would speak out to plead for leniency for these two people.


    ¡ª


    Zhao Zhe was extremely happy. He had finally seeded after so many years of scheming. All of his troubles were resolved. Now, he just had to see how he would deal with those three.


    After ordering the jailer to withdraw, Zhao Zhe walked into the depths of the imperial prison with his trusted aides.


    When he passed by a cell, he heard a woman screeching, ¡°Let me out! I want to see the emperor!¡±


    Zhao Zhe flicked his eyes that way and saw a disheveled Kangyuan. He sneered and continued walking forward.


    Arriving at the furthest cell¡¯s door, Zhao Zhe suddenly changed his expression to a sympathetic one as he said, ¡°Yuxuan, Qingyun.¡±


    Then, he looked at the neighboring cell. ¡°Sangyu, how did you... get caught red-handed?¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise. As she looking at this insincere hypocrite, there was a trace of loathing and disgust in her eyes.


    Nie Qingyun stayed silent too.


    It was actually Ning Yuxuan that spoke up. ¡°Your Highness, it really was very unfortunate. Your Highness¡¯s trusted aide must have listen to someone else¡¯s order. He came to Wangyue Building and had us arrested.¡±


    Zhao Zhe furrowed his brow and said, ¡°This prince isn¡¯t fully aware of what happened. This prince had been in the midst of handling other matters in Zichen Hall when someone suddenly came to report that that three of you had been arrested.¡±


    His expression looked so sincere. Ji Man almost thought that he really didn¡¯t know what had happened, but she was someone that had lived in Zhangjun Prince¡¯s household. How could she not know how loyal Wu Yong was? Other than Zhangjun Prince, Wu Yong wouldn¡¯t follow anyone else¡¯smand.


    ¡°The emperor and empress have both died,¡± Marquis Moyu lightly said, ¡°Your Highness, your great ambition has been achieved, so you probably don¡¯t have much use left for the three of us. How about you have us buried with the emperor? This way, Your Highness¡¯s reputation won¡¯t be tarnished.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I thought it was interesting and very unusual that the author portrays Ji Man as someone that values getting revenge more than her own child. Once she finally gained ess to the pce, her first thought wasn¡¯t; let¡¯s find Haohao. It was revenge. Plus, even though she knows Zhao Li has taken Haohao as a hostage, she doesn¡¯t worry at all that her actions will indirectly lead Haohao to getting hurt.


    In this aspect, I think she and Liu Hanyun are foils of each other. Xi-<i>er</i> is Liu Hanyun¡¯s entire world, and she will do anything for him including tossing her morals to the side of the road. For her son, she will do things that she would never do for her on sake. Whereas, Haohao is a small part of Ji Man¡¯s world, and she has other priorities that she values more than her son. Her light-hearted, easygoing rtionship with him is a reflection of that. She seems more like his fun aunt than his mother.


    That¡¯s just my interpretation. What do you guys think?

 Chapter 421 - Treating her as a monk? (2)

    Chapter 421 ¨C Treating her as a monk? (2)


    Displeased, Zhangjun Prince said, ¡°Yuxuan, how can you say that? How could this prince possibly sacrifice your lives in return for this prince¡¯s reputation after you three helped me conquered this country? If other people hear of this, who would still be willing to follow this prince?¡±


    After a pause, he continued speaking as if he was being put into a difficult position. ¡°But, the three of you were caught red-handed. If there isn¡¯t some sort of justification for the emperor¡¯s death, that wouldn¡¯t be eptable either.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrow and asked, ¡°Your Highness, how exactly do you want us to justify ourselves?¡±


    Zhao Zhe looked at her, and his gaze softened considerably. ¡°This prince was thinking, how about this prince announces to the public that the three of you were beheaded, then rece your bodies with condemned convicts? After that, this prince will secretly release all of you.¡±


    Release them? Ning Yuxuan sneered. What a conveniently great idea for Zhao Zhe. This would effectively erase them from the world. They would have to conceal their identities forever and be itinerants. Nie Qingyun would no longer have control of Jing Province¡¯s army. As for himself, he wouldn¡¯t be able to control the six ministries and the imperial court anymore. In one simple move, Zhao Zhe had eliminated two major threats to himself.


    Even more terrifying, with Zhao Zhe¡¯s ruthlessness, how could they possibly safely leave the capital once they lost their status?


    Ji Man slightly smiled and said, ¡°Just as there¡¯s no such thing as an airtight wall, secrets will also always be leaked out. Your Highness, if you want to execute us, you might as well just do it directly. This will give everyone a satisfactory justification. Otherwise, if the secret of us being reced by condemned convicts is exposed, everybody will curse you for trying to deceive them.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s expression slightly changed.


    On the side, Ning Yuxuan also nodded. ¡°Yes, let¡¯s just go straight to the execution. This one isn¡¯t afraid of death.¡±


    Execute them? How could he execute them? How would he be able to justify his actions to Marquis Jingwen? And, what could he possibly say to appease the imperial court¡¯s civil and military officials? Even if he was going to execute them, he had to wait until he had won over the loyalty of all the court officials before he could have a falling out with Marquis Jingwen,


    Moreover... he swept his gaze over Ji Man. How could he possibly be willing to execute such a clever, virtuous woman that would be able to control his harem and free him of worries for the future?


    After hesitating for a long time, Zhao Zhe let out a long sigh and said, ¡°Let¡¯s reconsider this issueter. For now, please put up with this unfair treatment and rest here for a few days. This prince will have the servants deliver clean quilts and food.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± Ning Yuxuan saluted.


    Zhao Zhe truly seemed reluctant. He looked at them for a long time before finally leaving.


    ¡ª


    After three days, several important ministers jointly presented a petition to request for Zhao Zhe to ascend the throne. After putting on an initial show of resistance, Zhao Zhe put on the emperor¡¯s robe and became the new emperor.


    However, there were a lot of confidential governmental documents in Marquis Moyu¡¯s possession. Even more importantly, he had many contacts and connections in every area. With him imprisoned and not avable, it was exceptionally difficult to sort our governmental matters. Many things were indefinitely dyed because they couldn¡¯t be done.


    In the midst of this desperation, someone even submitted a report to plead for Marquis Moyu by saying that perhaps it had been an idental injury, so he shouldn¡¯t be punished with a death sentence.


    After that episode passed, Marquis Jingwen brought his daughter and grandson to the capital. They knelt down outside of Zichen Hall and enumerated all of the Nie Qingyun¡¯s outstanding military service. Errong was even holding her son, who wasn¡¯t even two years old yet, when she came to plead with the emperor to spare her husband.


    Under this heavy pressure, Zhao Zhe unwillingly paid another visit to the imperial prison.


    Looking at Nie Qingyun, Zhao Zhe sighed and said, ¡°Madam Nie has alreadye and brought along her child. General, since you have a wife and son, you should be more considerate of them. How could you just let yourself die here?¡±


    Nie Qingyun was slightly moved by these words. He looked at Ji Man.


    Ji Man looked at Zhao Zhe as she said, ¡°General Nie and the marquis are both people that have aplished meritorious service for this country. They¡¯re indispensable. Sangyu was the one that killed the deposed emperor and is willing to assume all responsibility. Your Majesty, please let off General Nie and the marquis.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. ¡°The deposed emperor was truly killed by this guilty subject. Sangyu is only a weak woman. How could she have been the one that killed him? Your Majesty, please investigate the matter thoroughly.¡±


    Nie Qingyun added, ¡°The deposed emperor died of blood loss, and this one is responsible for those injuries.¡±


    The three of them didn¡¯t know what was happening outside and thought that Zhao Zhe had to make them abide by the consequences. Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t reveal the truth. Instead, he looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°This emperor has an idea that will allow all three of you to keep your lives. Are you willing to listen?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your idea?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. He had a foreboding feeling.


    ¡°Marquis Moyu and General Nie¡¯s offense can be pushed onto you,¡± Zhao Zhe said. He slightly smiled and continued, ¡°As for your offense, this emperor can help you work it off.¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise for a moment. Soon after, she frowned and asked, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, Your Majesty, why have you confined us here for so long?¡±


    ¡°Ai, this emperor just recently thought of this idea. But, if you bear the entire responsibility by yourself, it won¡¯t be easy to save your life.¡± Zhao Zhe chuckled. ¡°This emperor is someone that remembers past kindness. This emperor can say that you saved this emperor¡¯s life in the past. Although you can be spared the death penalty, you have to stay in the pce for a year to perform religious rituals to help the deposed emperor¡¯s soul find peace. This can be considered a way of providing a satisfactory justification to everyone. Are you willing?¡±


    Stay in the pce for a year to perform religious rituals? She wasn¡¯t a monk. Why would she go perform religious rituals? While Ji Man was feeling puzzled, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression had changed.


    He asked, ¡°Your Majesty, you can easily find someone to directly rece Sangyu. Why bother putting on an act?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s already been hiding her identity for such a long time. Can you really bear to see her continue living such an ignoble life instead of an honorable one?¡± Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows as he looked Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan clenched his fist. Zhao Zhe was a person with an evil heart. He should have already guessed his true intentions from the beginning!

 Chapter 422 - Kept under confinement (1)

    <strong>Chapter 422 ¨C Kept under confinement (1)</strong>


    ¡°Sangyu actually doesn¡¯t mind hiding my identity.¡± Ji Man drylyughed. ¡°Anyways, my previous reputation wasn¡¯t very good. It wouldn¡¯t be bad to change my name.¡±


    Zhao Zhe paused. He furrowed his brow as he looked at her and asked, ¡°You don¡¯t mind?¡±


    People in ancient times were very particr about recognizing and keeping their lineage. No one else would be willing to change her name, but she had actually said that she didn¡¯t mind?


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Your Majesty, if you sincerely want to pardon Sangyu, then you can just directly release Sangyu.¡±


    He wanted her to stay in the pce? What a joke. She had to leave the pce so she could take care of Haohao. He couldn¡¯t seriously want to confine her in the pce and recite Buddhist scripture every day, right?


    While Ning Yuxuan slightly rxed, Zhao Zhe¡¯s expression became a bit unpleasant. He looked at with a deep gaze as he asked, ¡°You would rather live amoner¡¯s dull life instead of staying in a flourishing ce like the pce?¡±


    ¡°Sangyu doesn¡¯t have high aspirations.¡± Ji Man saluted. ¡°Excuse my mediocrity, Your Majesty.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s face was livid. He pursed his lips and looked at her for a long time before sneering. ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, this emperor won¡¯t insist. But, if that¡¯s what you want, it won¡¯t be easy to find an excuse to exonerate you.¡±


    The three people briefly froze in surprise.


    Nie Qingyun frowned and said, ¡°Your Majesty, if Sangyu doesn¡¯t mind continuing to conceal her identity, you can find and execute a convict sentenced to death to take Sangyu¡¯s ce and simply release her.¡±


    Zhao Zhe cast him a nce at him before scoffing, ¡°Didn¡¯t you three say that you were willing to be directly executed? If I switch her out and themon people find out, won¡¯t this emperor be reviled by everyone?¡±


    Nie Qingyun was stifled by these words. Zhao Zhe took a few steps back and said, ¡°For now, General Nie can be released first.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± A trusted eunuch stepped forward and unlocked the cell¡¯s door.


    ¡°Marquis Jingwen and his daughter are waiting at Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate. General Nie, you can leave first. As for the marquis and Sangyu, this emperor will have to think more about this.¡±


    This was clearly an excuse to weasel out of letting Ji Man go. Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled and said, ¡°Your Majesty, thank you for troubling yourself.¡±


    Zhao Zhe flung his sleeve and left. As Nie Qingyun was escorted out, he kept turning back to look at the cells. His eyes were full of worry.


    Peace returned to the prison.


    Ning Yuxuanid out his bedding by the railing that separated the two cells, then he sat down on it. Sighing, he asked, ¡°Sangyu, what should we do?¡±


    Ji Man mimicked his actions and brought her quilt over too. Flopping down on the quilt, she leisurely asked, ¡°I caught the emperor¡¯s eye?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan harshly looked at her. ¡°Are you very happy about it?¡±


    ¡°Not happy, and it¡¯s a misfortune not a blessing.¡± Ji Man shrugged. ¡°I heard that the princess consort, Shen Youqing, had previously gotten rid of all the first prince¡¯s concubines and bed servants. That woman must be very skillful. For my own safety, an insignificant person like me should stay far away from her.¡±


    ¡°I want to make a bet with you.¡± Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes and asked, ¡°Do you want take the bet?¡±


    ¡°Bet on what?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows in curiosity.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t agree to stay in the pce, he¡¯ll keep you locked up here until you agree. Perhaps, at the end, he¡¯ll threaten me with your life to force me to agree for you.¡± Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to keep this from happen since that encounter underneath the grape trellis several years ago. Unexpectedly, I wasn¡¯t able to prevent it.¡±


    (T/N: He¡¯s referring to the moment when Zhao Zhe sees Nie Sangyu sleeping in the swing underneath the grape trellis in chapter 51.)


    Ji Man was slightly stunned. Furrowing her brow, she asked, ¡°Would he really do that? It won¡¯t be good for his reputation to steal someone else¡¯s wife.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. He opened his eyes and looked at with a burning gaze. ¡°Whose wife are you?¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. ¡°Aren¡¯t I your...¡±


    Ji Man stopped halfway when she realized that she actually wasn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan¡¯s wife anymore. She had already taken the divorce letter from him.


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. ¡°Why do you think he wants to force you to stay in the pce? It¡¯s because we don¡¯t have a formal rtionship. After a period of time passes, it wouldn¡¯t be wrong of him to take you into his harem.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. Was Zhao Zhe crazy? He had already be the emperor and could have any type of woman that he wanted. Why did he have to make life difficult for her?


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a bet. If you stay in the pce, it means you lose.¡± Ning Yuxuan went on to say, ¡°If you lose, you have to return something that originally belonged to me.¡±


    Curious, Ji Man asked, ¡°What thing? I haven¡¯t taken anything that belongs to you?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan very meaningfully smiled. ¡°Several years ago, someone told me, ¡°When the mountains have ttened and the heavens and earth have joined, then I¡¯ll be willing to separate from you, my beloved.¡± You gave me that promise a long time ago. I just don¡¯t know when you took it back.¡±


    After a pause, he added, ¡°I hope you give it back to me.¡±


    Ji Man was dumbstruck for a long time. She racked her brains trying to remember when she said these words to him.


    Rummaging through Nie Sangyu¡¯s memories, she reyed a scene that happened a long time ago, a very long time ago. A silly girl stayed out in the pouring rain and wouldn¡¯t go home. She followed Marquis Moyu all the way to a city temple. She was a lone maiden, but she didn¡¯t do anything to avoid arousing suspicion. Instead, on that dark, rainy night, she had shouted those words to an indifferent Ning Yuxuan.


    She had started off with, ¡°By the heavens, I want to be your love forever and ever, my feeling will never end or wither.¡±


    Returning to the present, Ji Man chuckled. ¡°I didn¡¯t give you that. It was Nie Sangyu. I guess there is a difference between me and her.¡±


    ¡°Ji Man?¡± Ning Yuxuan murmured. He was lying on his quilt too. The two of them were very close and only separated by the railing. ¡°Once, when you were drunk, you told me that you were called Ji Man and that you had an English name. It was Ji Man too. Don¡¯t these two names sound the same?¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise. Soon after, she burst out inughter. ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re the same. It¡¯s a joke.¡±


    Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t see how this was funny at all. His expression showed that he was at a loss.

 Chapter 423 - Kept under confinement (2)

    Chapter 423 ¨C Kept under confinement (2)


    The imperial prison was almost pitch ck. It was a ghastly ce that wasn¡¯t the slightest bit romantic. Not far away from here, there was the sound of rats scurrying around. In the distance, they could also hear the convicted prisoners groaning.


    But, when the moonlight spilled through the window, the two of them lied down together. It was probably because the moonlight was too beautiful, so Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist asking, ¡°Marquis, you know that I¡¯m not Nie Sangyu, so why have you never questioned my identity. Are you not curious who I really am?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. ¡°I did feel curious, that¡¯s why I brought you to a temple, but when we went there, you weren¡¯t scared of the Buddha statues. You even brought me forward to pay respects to them. So, I knew you weren¡¯t an evil spirit.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She really wanted to tell him; Bro, those Buddha statuses aren¡¯t very discerning. It was true that she and Nie Sangyu weren¡¯t evil spirits though.


    ¡°I originally wanted to thoroughly investigate your identity, but there was no way to begin. You haven¡¯t done anything unfavorable to me either, so over time, I almost forgot about it.¡± Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes.


    How he could forget something like this? He was too broad-minded, ah. Ji Man was left momentarily speechless. ¡°As a person from ancient times, shouldn¡¯t you be scared of supernatural things? Just from all those hauntings that urred in your estate, shouldn¡¯t you be scared of me?¡±


    ¡°Will you harm me?¡± Ning Yuxuan asked.


    Ji Man shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Why should I be scare of you then?¡± He said, ¡°Feelings are the most gentle and warm things in the world. If there are feelings, there won¡¯t be any great evil.¡±


    Haha. Ji Man didn¡¯t agree with this. Everyone had feelings. Weren¡¯t there plenty of people that did wicked things for love?


    ¡°You said... As a person from ancient times?¡± Ning Yuxuan was somewhat confused. ¡°Where are you from then?¡±


    Ji Man thought about how to phrase her next words. Since there was nothing else to do, she might as well boast a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯m from the Heavens,¡± she said, ¡°In order to fulfill the wish of the owner of this body, I intentionally descended to the mortal world. Of course, I don¡¯t have ess to my magic, so I have to do everything myself.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was somewhat taken aback. He opened his eyes and looked at her in shock. ¡°A celestial immortal?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± It was a rare sight to see this normal astute person looking so stupid. Ji Man suppressed herughter and kept her expression looking especially serious. ¡°That why sometimes you can¡¯t understand the words I¡¯m saying. It¡¯s because those are words spoken in Heaven. Heaven¡¯snguage is very different from thenguage spoken here. The writing system is different too. That¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t familiar with the words here.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was skeptical. Furrowing his brow, he propped himself up. ¡°If you¡¯re a celestial immortal, do you have power over your life and death?¡±


    If she did, then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry so much.


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible.¡± Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°If I die here, I don¡¯t know if I can return home. So, you can¡¯t let me die. Of course, I¡¯ll do my best to keep my life too.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze dimmed. He gloomily turned his head away. ¡°What¡¯s Heaven like?¡±


    Ji Man described the modern world to him. At the end, she smiled and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t Heaven really awesome?¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you want to go back so much?¡± Marquis Moyu¡¯s voice had dropped a bit.


    Ji Man paused before smiling as she answered, ¡°I have my own life to live.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡±


    Then, what about me...


    Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes. ¡°Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish is just for me to say, ¡°I love you¡±?¡±


    Ji Man scratched her head and awkwardly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s probably that. Are you willing to give it a try for me?¡±


    ¡°Not willing.¡± Ning Yuxuan turned over. His expression wasn¡¯t very good as he said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. Go to sleep.¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    She didn¡¯t know where it hade from, but there was a small ember of warmth in her heart. Ji Man curled up in her quilt and closed her eyes too.


    ¡ª


    Zhao Zhe kept the two of them locked up for several more days. The court officials presented petitions, but he continued to keep Ning Yuxuan under confinement. It was because as soon as Ning Yuxuan was free, he might not be able to keep him from rescuing Nie Sangyu.


    His trusted followers also tried to persuade him. She was only a mere woman. Why offend Marquis Moyu because of her? Zhao Zhe pursed his lips and stayed silent. It was easy to find other women, but he couldn¡¯t forget the woman that had struggled to live in the river. In his dreams, he frequently saw the shadow of that memory and the image of her calmly saluting him inter encounters while saying a perfunctory greeting.


    Where could he find another woman like her? She was courageous but also capable of scheming. She knew when to advance and when to retreat. He couldn¡¯t let her go. When he was Zhangjun Prince, he had restrained his heart because he needed Shen n¡¯s power. Since he was emperor now, why couldn¡¯t he do what he wanted?


    For every day that she wouldn¡¯t yield, he would keep her under confinement for another day.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie went to the imperial prison to check on Sangyu. He was deeply worried and even wanted to help the emperor persuade Sangyu to enter the inner pce. How could her days in prison be good? She was only a woman.


    But, when he walked to the deeper part of the prison, before he had even arrived at her cell, he heard the faint sounds ofughter.


    ¡°Sangyu¡¯s brazen behavior in the past really could have been a match to Zhu Yurun¡¯s. They even both dared to climb over the walls of your estate.¡± Ji Man was smiling as she said to Ning Yuxuan, ¡°She¡¯s such a wonderful girl that dares to love and hate. If you had properly loved her, I wouldn¡¯t have needed toe here.¡±

 Chapter 424 - I know a secret (1)

    Chapter 424 ¨C I know a secret (1)


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t agree with Ji Man¡¯s words. Recollecting Nie Sangyu¡¯s past conduct and deeds, he still didn¡¯t like her very much. The only thing that he thought was precious about her was her genuine heart.


    Perhaps, that was just the work of fate. He had gotten Ji Man because he had lost Nie Sangyu. Although Ji Man was a celestial immortal, as long as he didn¡¯t allow her to fulfill Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave.


    Since it was like that, he would be able to keep her here for a while.


    ¡°In the beginning, I didn¡¯t especially dislike Sangyu,¡± Ning Yuxuan said in a low voice, ¡°Even though she wascking in manners and a bit unruly, she could still be considered to have a kind heart. But, after she entered my household, she was very jealous. Behind my back, she sent away servants girls that had been serving me for a long time. She bullied the honored concubines that entered the household after her. It¡¯s because of these things that I slowly lost any goodwill towards her.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. She knew the things that Nie Sangyu had done. From the perspective of someone in ancient times, Nie Sangyu had indeed acted immaturely. Moreover, she had been overbearing and too willful. It wasn¡¯t unexpected that her husband wouldn¡¯t be fond of her.


    That foolish girl had used the wrong methods to love someone and gradually wander off from the correct path.


    ¡°So, do you like the current me then?¡± Separated by the railing, Ji Man looked at him and very charmingly fluttered her eyshes. ¡°I don¡¯tpete or feel jealous of other women. You can have as many concubines as you want. As long as those women leave me alone, I won¡¯t bicker with them either. Isn¡¯t this the ideal example of a main wife?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t smile. He expressionlessly nced at her, then shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not good at all.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t sense her feelings at all. Really, this wasn¡¯t good at all.


    Ji Man curled her lip and mumbled, ¡°You¡¯re so hard to please. You don¡¯t like this, and you don¡¯t like that.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted. Looking at her slightly messy hair, he pursed his lips and asked, ¡°Do you want to leave here?¡±


    They had been locked up here for so long. The average woman would have already fallen apart. It was only her that could continue to calmly talk with him every day.


    ¡°I thought about it.¡± Ji Man helplessly said, ¡°But since the emperor won¡¯t let me go, I probably won¡¯t be able to leave here until I can figure out a good n.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not tempted by the emperor¡¯s proposal?¡± It was rare for Marquis Moyu to joke. ¡°The emperor¡¯s court is very wealthy.¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes. ¡°What use do I have for wealth? It¡¯s not something I can take with me. Even if I can take it with me, the inner pce is a nest of rouge-wearing vipers. Besides, the wealth I can acquire as his consort might not even be as much as the profit I earn from selling rice. More importantly, I don¡¯t like...¡±


    She didn¡¯t like Zhao Zhe, who looked at her like she was a valuable machine that could be exploited.


    Ning Yuxuan smiled. He turned his head away to secretly smile with great gratification.


    Ning Mingjie had stopped at a corridor to listen to their conversation. Although he didn¡¯t understand everything, he understood Ji Man¡¯sst words.


    Even if she was locked up here, she would be happier staying here than going to the inner pce.


    Silently sighing, Ning Mingjie turned around and quietly walked out as if he had nevere here. With his cousin here, there was no need for him to worry.


    ¡ª


    In Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, Nie Qingyun was discussing with a group of high-ranking officials how to rescue Marquis Moyu. His expression was very grave.


    On the side, Errong was also feeling very anxious. Sangyu was trapped in there!


    ¡°What this one doesn¡¯t understand is, why is His Majesty holding the marquis in custody?¡± One of the officials asked. ¡°There¡¯s already rumors that Nie Sangyu killed the deposed emperor by herself, so why is the marquis also locked up?¡±


    Next to him, someone quietly said, ¡°The marquis serves the country and its people. Themon people have always thought well of him, so it¡¯s only to be expected that a newly ascended emperor would feel threatened. In this one¡¯s opinion, the court officials can write a joint petition to request the emperor to execute Nie Sangyu. Afterwards, the marquis will definitely be able toe out alive.¡±


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s expression sunk.


    One of the court officials coughed. He respectfully cupped one fist in the other hand as he said to Nie Qingyun, ¡°We¡¯re too worried about the marquis, so someone ended up saying something inappropriate. Jing Province¡¯smander-in-chief, please excuse us.¡±


    Nie Sangyu was Nie Qingyun most beloved sister. How could he possibly agree to sign a petition that requested her death?


    One after another, everyone remembered this important fact and shut their mouths. However, in their eyes, Nie Sangyu was only a woman. Not only that, she was a beautiful woman that brought disaster. It would work out perfectly if she died. They only wanted to save Marquis Moyu.


    Errong looked at Nie Qingyun with reddened eyes. Thetter signaled with his eyes that she should keep her calm. Sangyu wouldn¡¯t die. He had heard the emperor¡¯s words in the prison. He knew that the emperor wouldn¡¯t let Sangyu die for real.


    ¡ª


    Nie Qingyun hadn¡¯t guessed wrong. Zhao Zhe was currently racking his brains in the pce over this matter. The longer the matter dragged out, the more difficult it would be. The high-ranking court officials had repeated warned him that matter of the deposed emperor had to be settled before bestowing rewards formendable deeds, selecting consorts to enter the harem, and other various ceremonies. This was to avoid this matter bing a pretext for gossip.


    He had imprisoned Nie Sangyu for such a long period of time, but she hadn¡¯t relented. What else could he do?


    ¡ª


    When Shen Youqing returned to pce, she brought someone back with her.


    She had intentionally left the pce today to visit her old friends that had stayed in the capital. She wanted to select brainless first-ss beauties from her friends¡¯ families to enter the pce as consorts. As a result, when she was halfway to her destination, Wen Wan stopped her pnquin on the road


    Wen Wan had once been her follower, but she had ended theirmunications once Wen Wan was put into confinement and lost her value. Seeing her today, she still courteously greeted, ¡°Wan-er.¡±


    ¡°I know a secret.¡± Wen Wan smiled very gently. ¡°I originally knew two secrets, but now there¡¯s only one secret that you and His Majesty don¡¯t know. Moreover, it¡¯s a secret that will be helpful to you.¡±

 Chapter 425 - I know a secret (2)

    Chapter 425 ¨C I know a secret (2)


    Zhao Zhe became the emperor, so Shen Youqing would naturally be the empress. It was just that the formal ceremony to confer her the status of empress hadn¡¯t urred yet. Right now, the harem was empty. Seeing the emperor¡¯s growing interest in Nie Sangyu, Shen Youqing had to figure out a way to solve this problem. Wen Wan was someone that had beenpeting with Nie Sangyu since the beginning, so she should be someone that could help her the most.


    After hearing that Wen Wan knew a secret, Shen Youqing brought her into the pce.


    Shen Youqing was in a pretty good mood when she knelt down before the throne. ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    In contrast, Zhao Zhe was feeling very fretful. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°This servant went out today and saw something. This servant wants to hear what Your Majesty thinks of this incident.¡± Shen Youqing slightly smiled as she said, ¡°On East Main Street, there¡¯s a shopkeeper that forcibly married a widow that already had a child. Your Majesty, do you this matter is absurd?¡±


    Zhao Zhe slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°If a widow doesn¡¯t have a child, it¡¯s eptable for her remarry. Since she had a child, how could she marry someone else even if her husband has died?¡±


    ¡°This servant agrees. If a woman has a son, it doesn¡¯t matter if she¡¯s a widow or a divorced woman, she shouldn¡¯t remarry.¡± Shen Youqing was smiling as she gestured for Wen Wan toe forward. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> has something to report. Your Majesty, please listen carefully.¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Wen Wan took one step forward and fell on her knees before the throne. She kowtowed and said, ¡°Your Majesty, this subject has been serving in the marquis¡¯s estate this entire time and knows something. The marquis¡¯s heir¡¯s biological mother isn¡¯t Xia-<i>shi</i>. It¡¯s Nie Sangyu. Nie Sangyu gave birth to the marquis¡¯s heir, Ning Jinchen, when she was his main wife.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was shocked. He pped his throne and stood up. ¡°What did you say?¡±


    Wen Wan trembled in fear. She hurriedly corrected her kneeling posture. ¡°This subject has spoken truthfully. Your Majesty, please investigate this matter.¡±


    There was a ferocious glimmer in Zhao Zhe¡¯s eyes. He was extremely furious as he looked Wen Wan. He looked at Shen Youqing, who was next to her, and said, ¡°Wen-<i>shi</i>, do you know that you¡¯ll be guilty of deceiving the emperor if you¡¯re telling a lie?¡±


    ¡°This subject wouldn¡¯t dare to lie to Your Majesty.¡± Wen Wan clenched her jaw. ¡°Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> also knows about this matter. Your Majesty, if you don¡¯t believe this subject, you can go to the imperial prison and ask her.¡±


    Zhao Zhe took a deep breath. He shook his sleeve and went to the imperial prison.


    He was actually being this impulsive over Nie Sangyu? Shen Youqing almost broke her teeth with how hard she was grinding it. She waved her hand to gesture for Wen Wan to stand up. ¡°Follow this consort!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Wen Wan tried to look as docile as possible when she timidly followed after Shen Youqing.


    ¡ª


    When Zhao Zhe arrived at the imperial prison, the head jailer was already used to handing over the key to the innermost prison cell, but the emperor¡¯s trust follower actually took the key for Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s prison cell.


    Kangyuan hadn¡¯t been found guilty of a crime that deserved the death penalty. At most, she was only guilty of being too loyal to the deposed emperor, which made the current emperor ufortable. If he released her, who knows what she would urge her father, Marquis Yong¡¯an, to do? So, he was keeping her confined for a period of time. He would decide what to do with her once she became obedient.


    When the door to her prison cell was opened, Kangyuan silently looked at the emperor. As soon as she saw the golden robe, her tears fell. ¡°Is it you...?¡±


    She stretched her hand out wanting to touch him, but a nearby person pushed her away.


    Zhao Zhe arrogantly looked at her said, ¡°This emperor has something to ask you.¡±


    Kangyuan was muddled-headed and didn¡¯t immediately return to her senses. It took her a long time to realize that she was looking at Zhao Zhe¡¯s face. When that happened, her eyes were filled with overwhelming disappointment.


    Even as death was imminent, that person wasn¡¯t willing to be with her, so how could he possibly being here to see here? She was so stupid.


    ¡°What question does Your Majesty have for this worthless servant?¡± Kangyuan scoffed.


    Zhao Zhe pursed his lips and said in a low voice, ¡°Someone told this emperor that Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir, Ning Jinchen, is Nie Sangyu¡¯s biological son. Do you know about this matter?¡±


    ¡°Someone?¡± Kangyuan harrumphed. ¡°It¡¯s Wen Wan, right? Of the people that knew about this, we¡¯re the only two people that are still alive.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s body stiffened. The meaning of her words meant that Wen Wan wasn¡¯t lying?


    ¡°Marquis Moyu has done such a good job protecting their child.¡± Kangyuan dreamily said, ¡°If I had been able to be pregnant with older cousin Li¡¯s child, it would have been great if he also protect me like that.¡±


    Zhao Zhe kicked the railing on the side. It was such a loud sound that even Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan, who were further in the prison, could hear this sound. They stopped talking and looked into the ckness of the prison.


    ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down.¡± Wu Yong respectfully cupped his hands and said, ¡°Your Majesty, if you really want that woman, this subject has a way. Please keep calm.¡±


    ¡°What can you do?¡± It was difficult for Zhao Zhe to let go of his residual anger. ¡°Ning Yuxuan had actually dared to lie to this emperor. He clearly hated Sangyu back then, but he stole the child back from this emperor¡¯s hands. If it wasn¡¯t because this emperor had been momentarily negligent because of everything that happened shortly afterwards, how could that vile spawn still be alive?¡±


    Wu Yong said in a low voice, ¡°Your Majesty, this isn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. The better the marquis hid this matter, the more convenient it¡¯ll be for Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhao Li looked back.


    Wu Yong whispered something into the emperor¡¯s ear for a while. Zhao Zhe¡¯s furrowed brow slowly rxed. His eyes even slightly brightened. ¡°That is a good idea.¡±


    Kangyuan couldn¡¯t be bothered to try to eavesdrop on their conversation. After Zhao Li died, her mind had be muddled. Every day, she would see a mirage of Zhao Li¡¯s face, but it wasn¡¯t clear.


    Perhaps, she would be able to see him once she went to the underworld.


    ¡°Oh, right. I still owe Nie Sangyu a secret.¡± Kangyuan giggled. ¡°Just treat this as thanking her for bringing me to see older cousin Li onest time.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows and partially turned his head to look at her.


    ¡°Tell her to be careful.¡± Kangyuan grinned sinisterly. ¡°Wen Wan hasn¡¯t lost her memory. She¡¯ll definitely give Nie Sangyu a hard time.¡±

 Chapter 426 - The wife that was with you during your tribulations (1)

    Chapter 426 ¨C The wife that was with you during your tribtions (1)


    Zhao Zhe looked at Kangyuan like she was crazy. Then, he turned around and left the prison cell.


    He didn¡¯t care if Wen Wan had genuinely lost her memories or not. She was just an abandoned pawn to him.


    Kangyuan was stillughing. The echoes of herughter spread further and further through the prison.


    Taking Wu Yong along with him, Zhao Zhe hurriedly returned to the pce. In addition, he had a personal servant pass on Kangyuan¡¯s message to Ji Man.


    Ji Man was surprised when she heard this message. Wen Wan didn¡¯t have amnesia? But, she had seen Wen Wan. If Wen Wan was only acting, then acting skills was really too high level. Wen Wan was the type of woman that wasn¡¯t very smart. When had she transformed into someone that was this difficult to deal with?


    In contrast, Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t surprised at all. After all, he knew Wen Wan much better than Ji Man did, so of course he knew that Wen Wan was pretending. It was only that he wanted to use Wen Wan to fake his loyalty to the deposed emperor, so that Zhao Li would believe him 100 percent. That was why he had allowed Wen Wan out of Qiangwei Courtyard and stay by his side.


    But now, she was finally useless to him. His rtionship with her had ended a long ago. Once the war with Zhangjun had started, he hadn¡¯t seen her once, not even after he returned to the capital.


    ¡°Hey, if you¡¯re a celestial immortal, can you see past people¡¯s deceptions and to their real heart?¡± Ning Yuxuan suddenly turned his head to the side and asked her.


    Ji Man stroked her chin and pretend to be solemn as she said, ¡°A person¡¯s heart is the mostplicated thing. Even if I had a tool that allowed me to see through her deception, I won¡¯t be able to understand it. It has to be personally experienced. Even if I¡¯m a celestial immortal, I find the human heart unfathomable.¡±


    Marquis Moyu nodded. That¡¯s good.


    It would be the best if she didn¡¯t know about certain thoughts that he once had.


    Inside the prison, there really wasn¡¯t anything they couldn¡¯t discuss. For Ji Man, it was simply because she was bored. But, for Ning Yuxuan, he was digging his heart out to share with her.


    Except for that onest sentence to express his feelings.


    From time to time, Ji Man would ask, ¡°Marquis, do you love me?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t love you. What about you?¡±


    Ji Man let out a long sigh. ¡°Me too.¡±


    After that exchange, the two of them would fall into a long period of silence. Ji Man counted the time that had passed. She was probably going to be able to win the bet. Zhao Zhe wouldn¡¯t keep them locked up for too long. And, she continued to not have any intentions of going to the inner pce.


    This persisted until Wu Yong came to the prison one day and released Ning Yuxuan, then he turned his head and said to Ji Man, ¡°The emperor has pardon Miss Nie¡¯s crime. It turns out that someone else was responsible for the deposed emperor¡¯s death.¡±


    Ji Man was dumbstruck. Zhao Li had died by her hands. Now, they were saying that the murderer was someone else?


    Who?


    As she followed Wu Yong out of the prison, they passed Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s prison cell. Someone was covering Kangyuan¡¯s body with a white cloth.


    Ji Man briefly froze in surprise.


    ¡°Marquis Yong¡¯an¡¯s daughter, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>, killed the emperor¡¯s brother. She deceived the emperor and his officials, turned her back on her country, and was an unfilial daughter. She poisoned the Yuzhen princess and killed the emperor¡¯s younger brother with a de. She is guilty of a most heinous crime, so much so that even her death can¡¯t absolve her of her crime. She won¡¯t be allowed to be buried with her ancestors and will be buried alone instead. Her rtives won¡¯t be allowed to set up a memorial tablet or burn incense for her. May she reflect on her crimes in the afterlife and know filial piety in the next life...¡±


    It was true that Kangyuan had poisoned Pengyue, but to push the crime of killing Zhao Li onto Kangyuan¡¯s head, what a miserable ending. Ji Man gave a sigh of relief.


    In the end, karma did its work. This woman had loved Zhao Li the most, and now they were saying she was the one that killed Zhao Li. Ji Man guessed that even in death, she wouldn¡¯t be able to find peace.


    Ji Man exited the imperial prison with Ning Yuxuan and Wu Yong, but then she was led away from Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°Miss Ji, the emperor wants to see you,¡± Wu Yong said with a smile.


    Ji Man slightly furrowed her brow, but then she knowingly smiled. ¡°Sir Wu, this humble woman hasn¡¯t even change my clothing or bathed...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. You can freshen up in the pce.¡± Wu Yong made a ¡°pleasee with me¡± gesture. The nearby carriages had alreadye to a stop.


    Ji Man instinctively turned her head back to look at Ning Yuxuan. Someone else was leading him into another carriage. He seemed to have sense her gaze. He turned his head to look at her with a light smile and mouthed, ¡°I won.¡±


    Sure enough, the person on the throne had a follow up trick after letting them out of the imperial prison.


    It was only to be expected that Marquis Moyu, who had been following after Zhao Zhe for the longest time, would know him the best. Ji Man finally realized that when they had made the bet, they never discussed what she would get if she won.


    It was because Ning Yuxuan knew that it was futile to against go the emperor. It didn¡¯t matter the exact method that Zhao Zhe would use, he would definitely find a way to get Ji Man to enter the pce.


    He had only kept herpany in prison for so long because he was worried that her days in the prison would be bad if she was left alone.


    Ji Man sighed, turned her head back, and decided to board the carriage.


    But then, she heard the man calling out from behind, ¡°Wait for me.¡±


    Yeah, right. Like she was going to wait for him to save her. She was better off figuring out a way to save herself instead. Going to the pce was the same as stepping into the enemies¡¯ territory. She would be powerless there. If she didn¡¯t have some awareness, who knows how she would die?


    Why excuse would the emperor use to have her stay in the pce? Her crime had already been pushed onto Kangyuan. He wasn¡¯t going to tell her to recite Buddhist scriptures in the pce for a year, right?


    Ji Man considered this problem the entire way to the pce. When she arrived in Yushu Pce, arge group of pce servants came to help her bath and change into a new set of clothing. She had been locked up for over ten days, and her body was unbearably dirty. Ji Man had no qualms about enjoying this bath service. After that, she changed into the clothing they had brought her.


    It was a light pinkishvender pce dress that was paired with a greenish-blue shawl. No matter how she looked at it, it looked like something the emperor¡¯s consort would wear.


    Ji Man facepalmed and asked a nearby pce servant girl, ¡°Where will I be going to see the emperor?¡±

 Chapter 427 - The wife that was with you during your tribulations (2)

    Chapter 427 ¨C The wife that was with you during your tribtions (2)


    The servant girl next to her answered, ¡°Zhenyuan General recently entered the pce without prior notice, so the emperor doesn¡¯t have the free time to see you for now. Once the emperor is free to grant Miss an audience, someone wille to show you the way. Miss, please wait here in Yushu Pce for now.¡±


    Ji Man nodded and asked another question, ¡°Where¡¯s the empress? Can I go pay my respects to Her Majesty?¡±


    The young pce servant girl shook her head. ¡°The princess consort hasn¡¯t been formally been promoted to empress yet. Right now, the emperor¡¯s original princess consort is temporarily managing the harem. She¡¯s to be referred to as Consort Shen.¡±


    Ji Man continued, ¡°Consort Shen and I are old friends. Can I go see her?¡±


    The young pce servant girl shook her head again. ¡°The emperor has ordered that you¡¯re not allowed to see anyone else before he calls you over to see him. No one else can enter Yushu Pce either.¡±


    He really did a good job with the protection measures. Ji Man inwardly sneered. These men were all the same. They forgot about their wives once they had a new love interest. At the very least, Shen Youqing had been with Zhao Zhe during his periods of glory and splendor as well as during his times of tribtions. It was one thing for him to not immediately promote Shen Youqing to empress once he ascended the throne, but he had made it worse by bringing a strange woman into the pce.


    She had onlye here to change Nie Sangyu¡¯s fate to a happy one. She wasn¡¯t interested at all in going frompeting in the marquis¡¯s estate topeting in the pce.


    ¡°Never mind then, I¡¯ll just wait.¡± Ji Man walked to a bronze mirror to look at herself. She took down the dangling hair essories as well as two golden hairpins. Her appearance looked much simpler with only one jade hairpin left in her hair.


    A short whileter, there were sounds from outside. Afterwards, the servant girl led her outside of Yushu Pce and towards Zichen Hall.


    When they had walked halfway, someone shouted from behind them, ¡°Stop!¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s heart slightly rxed. When she turned her head to look, sure enough, Shen Youqing hadn¡¯t failed to live up to her expectations. From a distance, she wasing over here with a group of pce servant girls trailing after her. She looked furious.


    Shen Youqing clearly recognized her, but she still showed a poker face as she asked the servant girl next to Ji Man, ¡°Who is this person? Why are you bringing her to the emperor?¡±


    The pce servant girl was trembling as she knelt down and said, ¡°Your Highness, please forgive me. The emperor ordered for this miss to be brought to him.¡±


    When Shen Youqing¡¯s gaze swept over her face, Ji Man immediately knelt down too. In a choked up voice, she said, ¡°Consort Shen, please save me!¡±


    Shen Youqing was taken aback. She had never seen a woman that was being brought to the emperor wailing like a ghost. She ordered the servants behind her to pull the other servant girl away, then strode forward in her shoes that was embroidered in golden birds. ¡°How do you want this consort to save you?¡±


    Ji Man knocked her head against the aground. Although her crying sounded wretched, there weren¡¯t actually any tears on her face, so she didn¡¯t dare to raise her head. ¡°This humble woman¡¯s heart already has someone. This one wasn¡¯t willing to enter the pce. Who knows what kind of oue awaits me once this one is brought to the emperor. Your Highness, please save me. Please allow this humble woman to leave the pce.¡±


    Right now, Shen Youqing was in the best position to help her. As long as she bumped into her, she would have ayer of protection.


    Sure enough, after hearing Ji Man¡¯s words, Shen Youqing¡¯s expression improved significantly. ¡°Your heart already has someone?¡±


    ¡°Not only that, this humble woman was already married once before. Your Highness, you know this.¡± Ji Man did her best to pinch the tender flesh of her hand until she finally teared up from the pain. Then, looking very intive, she raised her head to look at her. ¡°This humble woman can only hope that the emperor summoned me out a of a whim. This humble woman is hoping to go home afterwards to care for my child. Consort Shen, you have a benevolent heart, and you¡¯re always thinking for the benefit of His Majesty. How abouting along with this humble woman to see His Majesty?¡±


    Shen Youqing pursed her lips and very sympathetically helped Ji Man stand up. ¡°Based on your words, it¡¯s the emperor that¡¯s acting inappropriately. Perhaps, he only summoned you to have a chat, but to have you bath in Yushu Pce first... That¡¯s always been a ce that only an empress can go to. Since you requested for this consort toe with you to see the emperor, this consort wille with you.¡±


    Ji Man quickly thanked her for her kindness. During the rest of the way there, she acted like a timid weakling. Clutching her handkerchief, she quietly murmured, ¡°Although the marquis had divorced this humble woman, after we spent the past several days in prison together, our fate has reconnected. This one wishes to return to the marquis¡¯s estate and continue to serve him. How could a mere woman like me be considered adequate to serve the emperor? It¡¯s only a noble, magnanimous woman like Consort Shen that¡¯s worthy of being by the emperor¡¯s side.¡±


    Shen Youqing slightly smiled. ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly sensible.¡±


    ¡°This humble woman thinks the emperor is just distracted by novelty,¡± Ji Man said, ¡°Your Highness, you should persuade His Majesty to look at the big picture. After all, Shen n should be rewarded for helping the emperor ascend the throne. You¡¯re one of Shen n¡¯s legitimate daughters and also the emperor¡¯s main wife. He should be promoting you to empress.¡±


    Shen Youqing repeatedly nodded. Nie Sangyu truly knew how to speak well. She had said aloud everything that had been in her own heart. If it wasn¡¯t because they were on opposing sides, she really wanted to have a good chat with her.


    When they arrived at Zichen Hall, Zhao Zhe was waiting with a heart filled with joy. But, when the doors were opened, he was shocked to see Shen Youqinging inside with Ji Man.


    ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°You may rise.¡± His expression had sunk considerably. ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>, why are you here?¡±


    ¡°This humble woman met the consort on the way here. It felt like we¡¯ve known each other for a long time. We ended up talking all the way to here.¡± Ji Man¡¯s face already showed no traces of tears. Brightly smiling, she continued, ¡°Her Highness missed the emperor, so she came here with this humble woman.¡±


    Zhao Zhe was unhappy. ¡°This emperor ordered for only you toe here. Do none of the servants understand this emperor¡¯s words?¡±


    The pce servants that were originally responsible for leading the way here had already knelt down as soon as they entered the hall. They were trembling with fear and didn¡¯t dare to say a word.


    Displeased, Shen Youqing retorted, ¡°Your Majesty, are you saying it¡¯s not appropriate for this consort to be here after you summoned Miss Nie to see you?¡±

 Chapter 428 - How can there be a perfect ending if I don’t marry you? (1)

    Chapter 428 ¨C How can there be a perfect ending if I don¡¯t marry you? (1)


    He was a red-blooded emperor that had summoned a beauty to see him. Was there any need for his wife, who was past the prime of her beauty, to ask him this question? Zhao Zhe was feeling very annoyed. Still, Shen Youqing was his main wife, and she hadn¡¯t given Nie Sangyu a hard time. It seemed that the two of them got along pretty well too.


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s thoughts turned to a different direction. If these two got along well, would it be possible that Shen Youqing wouldn¡¯t try to stop him from adding Nie Sangyu into his harem?


    Reality would soon prove that he was being too delusional. Even the most tolerant of wives wouldn¡¯t be happy if their husbands took a concubine. The only big difference would be if they straightforwardly stated aloud their thoughts or not.


    Youqing was clearly the type to voice her thoughts. As soon as she saw Zhao Zhe¡¯s expression, she didn¡¯t wait for his answer. Instead, she knelt down and said, ¡°This consort was wrong. If Your Majesty wants to take Miss Nie as a consort, it¡¯s true that it would be overstepping boundaries for this consort to be present. However, this consort¡¯s father frequently tell this consort that a woman must follow the three obeisances and four virtues, and everyone must follow the three principles and five virtues. Miss Nie¡¯s heart already belongs to someone, and she has a living son too. She truly wouldn¡¯t be a suitable candidate to enter the pce.¡±


    (T/N: The three obeisances are a woman must obey in turn, her father, husband, and son.)


    Zhao Zhe was stifled into silence. His expression sunk. Seeing that he was about angrily rebuke Shen Youqing, Ji Man chuckled and said, ¡°Consort Shen, you¡¯re worrying about nothing. His Majesty is such a wise and valiant ruler. How could he possibly want a divorced woman like myself? Moreover, this humble woman already has an agreement with Marquis Moyu to return to his estate. Marquis Moyu has been so loyal to the emperor. So, why would the emperor put his important court official in a difficult spot?¡±


    After saying this, Ji Man looked at Zhao Zhe as she said, ¡°This humble woman guesses that emperor only summoned me here to reward me for mymendable service in opening the capital¡¯s gate, right?¡±


    After the two women had perfectly followed up each other sentiments, Zhao Zhe was left reprimanded to the point that he couldn¡¯t say a single word. He felt extremely furious, but he could only go along with Ji Man¡¯s words by saying, ¡°Exactly. Qing-<i>er</i>, you¡¯re overthinking things. How could this emperor... have ideas about taking Miss Nie as a consort?¡±


    The two women exhaled in relief. Shen Youqing nced at Ji Man admiringly, then she stood up and said, ¡°Since it¡¯s like that, this consort was wrong. But, Your Majesty, since you weren¡¯t nning on taking Miss Nie as a consort, why did you give her Yushu Pce? It caused this consort to misunderstand Your Majesty¡¯s intention.¡±


    If someone hadn¡¯te to warn her, she wouldn¡¯t have even known that the emperor had taken Nie Sangyu out of the imperial prison.


    Zhao Zhe insincerely smiled. ¡°Sangyu had aplished meritorious service for this country, but she was wrongfully locked up for so long. It¡¯s only right that this emperor reward her with something. Don¡¯t all women like to take baths there? That¡¯s why this emperor rewarded her with Yushu Pce. Qing-<i>er</i>, if you like that Yushu Pce, you can go there too.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡± Shen Youqing smiled without restraint. ¡°Your Majesty, since you want to reward Miss Nie, and Marquis Moyu previously divorced her, this consort thinks that the best reward is to bestow them another chance at marriage. Your Majesty, what do you think of that idea?¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s smile had disappeared. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°The state of affairs in the imperial court hasn¡¯t been settled yet. Yuxuan still has many things to do and doesn¡¯t have time for a wedding. This matter will have to be dyed. Once there¡¯s free time avable, this emperor can bestow another marriage to him then.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. Consort Shen had been too impatient. She was more of a hindrance than help. If she was going to marry Ning Yuxuan again, she could have made that decision for herself. Why did Consort Shen have to ask the emperor to bestow a marriage? Well, this was great. Now, if the emperor never bestowed a marriage to them, they couldn¡¯t get married. If they got married before the emperor gave his approval, it would be showing tant disrespect to the emperor.


    Shen Youqing¡¯s smile froze. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°That¡¯s good too. Your Majesty, do you have any other words you want to say to Miss Nie? Do you need this consort to withdraw first?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary.¡± Zhao Zhe took a deep breath, curved his lips up, and said, ¡°Have Taxue personally send Miss Nie out of the pce. Qing-<i>er</i>, stay here. This emperor hasn¡¯t had a good talk with you in a long time.¡±


    ted, Shen Youqing immediately voiced her assented.


    Ji Man¡¯s heart also rxed. She hurriedly followed after Taxue as if she was fleeing from this ce.


    ¡ª


    As they were walking on a path, Taxue quietly asked her, ¡°Miss, do you not like the pce?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like that pce. It¡¯s just that the person I like isn¡¯t in the pce, so for me, this pce is the same as a prison.¡±


    Stunned, Taxue turned back to look at her. ¡°Miss, you still like Marquis Moyu?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ji Man chuckled. Ning Yuxuan was only a character in a novel. Why would she like him?


    ¡°If you don¡¯t like him, then the outside world is a prison too. Miss, why give up a splendorous cage for a simpler one?¡± After Taxue said this, he turned his head back and led her down a small path.


    Ji Man was stunned by his words. She lowered her eyes and wrylyughed.


    She hadn¡¯t expected Taxue to be a wise person.


    Clearly, it shouldn¡¯t have taken them a long time to exit the pce if they were taking a direct path. However, Taxue took her on meandering route that passed by the inner pce.


    ¡°Aiya, wasn¡¯t that child already sent out of the pce? Why has hee back?¡± Two female pce servants were holding bundles of clothing and quietly discussing as they walked on the same path as them.


    Ji Man raised her head to look. When the two female pce servants saw them, they saluted. Then, they moved aside and stopped by the wall to wait for them to pass. When they continued walking, they continued to discuss.


    ¡°How could I know where that child came from? That child, Haohao, used to stay in Wangyue Building. He disappeared for a while, but he¡¯s back again. Who knows who¡¯s going to end up having to care of him? I only caught a glimpse of him. He¡¯s such a cute child...¡±


    Slightly pausing, Ji Man turned her head to look at those two female pce servants. They had already walked far away and disappeared around a corner of the pce.

 Chapter 429 - How can there be a perfect ending if I dont marry you? (2)

    Chapter 429 ¨C How can there be a perfect ending if I don¡¯t marry you? (2)


    ¡°Sir Taxue,¡± Ji Man nkly called out to stop him, ¡°Are they talking about Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir?¡±


    Taxue stopped walking, nced at her, and said, ¡°Miss, if you¡¯re worried, you can go back and ask His Majesty. But, if you dy your departure, you won¡¯t be able to leave the pce.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. She looked at the sky to check the time. From their current location, they would be able to get to the pce¡¯s gate before it was locked up for the night. But, if she went back... if she went back, she wouldn¡¯t be able to leave here.


    She thought it over. Haohao was Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir. Even if Zhao Zhe had lost his mind, he wouldn¡¯t take Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir unless he wanted to force him to rebel against him.


    Gritting her teeth, Ji Man said, ¡°Sir Taxue, please bring me out of the pce.¡±


    Taxue deeply looked at her, but he didn¡¯t say anything else afterwards. He brought her to the pce¡¯s gate.


    Ning Yuxuan was waiting at the pce¡¯s gate for her. Seeing hering out, he finally rxed. He put the token for entering the pce that he had been tightly gripping into his sleeve.


    ¡°I thought you were going to temporarily be unable to leave the pce.¡± He was smiling as he looked at her. ¡°I told you to wait for me, but it ended up being me waiting for you.¡±


    Ji Man ran to his side. Her face was a bit pale. She didn¡¯t have time to crack a joke. She resolutely asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Haohao?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s probably at home.¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. ¡°When I was recently at home before, Guibai took him out to y. That little brat, he¡¯s been so mischievouslytely. Let¡¯s go, I¡¯ll bring you to see him. You haven¡¯t seen him in your current appearance before.¡±


    Stretching his hand out to pull Ji Man onto the horse, Ning Yuxuan was in a pretty good mood. ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡±


    Ji Man was sitting in his arms and sideways on the horse. There was a double saddle on this horse, so it was much morefortable.


    The horse frantically galloped all the way to the marquis¡¯s estate. From a distance, they could see several people standing outside by the entrance. Ji Man was initially thinking that she was being treated with great respect. Such arge group of people was waiting out here to wee her back.


    However, once they got to entrance, she found out the steward and the group of servants that he was leading had juste back from searching the streets.


    ¡°My lord, Guibai and the young heir haven¡¯t returned yet.¡± Steward Qian was frowning as he said, ¡°It¡¯s already dark outside. Even if the young heir loves to y, Guibai isn¡¯t someone that would act so irresponsibly!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression sunk. Ji Man jumped down from the horse in panic. Looking at them, she asked, ¡°Have you searched the entire capital?¡±


    Riding back on his horse, Nie Qingyun returned from searching and answered her, ¡°We asked everyone in the nearby vicinity. Everyone said that they hadn¡¯t seen them.¡± His head was dripping with sweat.


    Ji Man lowered her eyes.


    Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t understand why his younger sister looked so upset. After all, it was only the marquis¡¯s heir that was missing. It wasn¡¯t as if Haohao was her own child.


    Dismounting from the horse, Nie Qingyun patted her shoulder and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already done as Steward Qian requested by doing my best to search for the heir. There¡¯s nothing else we can do. You don¡¯t need to feel too bad for Yuxuan. You should go and catch up with Errong.¡±


    Ji Man mechanically turned around and headed inside. Why was Nie Sangyu¡¯s life so full of frustrations and dashed hopes? She had just been about to have a blissfully perfect ending, but now something had happened to her son again.


    If she hadn¡¯t misheard those pce servants, then Haohao was probably in the pce.


    ¡ª


    Errong brought her son with her when she came to see her friend. Looking at the child that was wrapped up in swaddling clothes, Ji Man felt even worse. She forced herself to y with Errong¡¯s child for a bit before saying that was feeling unwell and wanted to rest.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan had stayed outside to search for Haohao himself. By the time he returned, it was the middle of the night.


    Ji Man was lying in bed. She was still awake.


    ¡°What should I do if Haohao is in the pce? Ji Man asked him. ¡°Can you search the pce to find Haohao?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze was somewhatplicated. He lightly shook his head. ¡°If there was conclusive evidence, I can ask the emperor for Haohao. If there¡¯s no evidence, doing so would be considered rebelling against the emperor.¡±


    Ji Man closed her eyes. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you sent Haohao away to a safe ce?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan bitterly smiled. Since the day he had brought Haohao out of the pce, he had been too focused on having Haohao meet his mother when she was dressed in a woman¡¯s attire. Otherwise, he might grow up not even knowing his mother¡¯s real appearance. However, right after he had dropped Haohao off at the estate, there had been a session of events that needed his attention, so he was too busy to take care of Haohao.


    The two of them were silent for a long time before Ning Yuxuan suddenly said, ¡°If you think Haohao is in the pce, how about we go to the pce together tomorrow? I¡¯ll request an audience with the emperor, and you can go ask Consort Shen if she can help us.¡±


    In order to keep Nie Sangyu out of the pce, Shen Youqing would be willing to agree to any requests. Ji Man nodded. This was a good idea.


    It was alreadyte at night, and Ning Yuxuan seemed as if he wasn¡¯t nning on leaving her room. He took off his outer robe and lied down next to Ji Man. Ji Man didn¡¯t feel as if she needed to be guarded against him. She shifted a bit. This wasn¡¯t any different from when they were in the imperial prison. There just wasn¡¯t a railing separating them.


    In the darkness, Ning Yuxuan softly asked her, ¡°If I can bring Haohao out of the pce, would you... be willing to marry me again?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°How can there be a perfect ending if I don¡¯t marry you?¡±


    No matter what Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish was, it was definitely rted to Ning Yuxuan loving her and being together with him. Once all the difficulties were resolved, Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish should bepleted, right?


    Then, it would be time for her to go back.

 Chapter 430 - Who did you love the most in your lifetime? (1)

    Chapter 430 ¨C Who did you love the most in your lifetime? (1)


    Ji Man drylyughed. She let out a long sigh.


    Wow, it was time to go back. It had already been such a long time since she hadst heard Nie Sangyu¡¯s voice. It was probably because she was getting closer and closer to fulfilling her wish, right? On the day that she finally fulfilled her wish, would she heard the sound of a system going ¡°ding¡± as a signal? Then, the system would congratte yer Ji Man forpleting the supporting female¡¯s wish. Mission reward: return to modern-day.


    Eventually, she wasn¡¯t able to keep smiling. Turning her head to the side, she looked at the person lying next to her. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were closed.


    His throat slightly moved, and his voice was somewhat hoarse as he asked, ¡°I won the bet we made in the imperial prison. Isn¡¯t it about time for you to return those words to me?¡±


    Ji Man nkly stared at him. ¡°What words?¡±


    He turned over. This was a person that had proven himself to be a yer, a superior stallion. He stretched his hand out and brushed it over her heart. He said each word very seriously, ¡°This. Don¡¯t pretend that you don¡¯t know.¡±


    Feeling her heart warming up, Ji Man evaded his fingers in dismay. Slightly moving back a bit, she said, ¡°If this is something that can be given away or taken back at will, Nie Sangyu wouldn¡¯t have ended up with such a miserable fate.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her and couldn¡¯t resist softlyughing. ¡°You¡¯re usually so clever. It¡¯s cute to asionally see you being confused. It¡¯s been such a long time. Do you really not have any feelings for me?¡±


    Ji Man honestly nodded. ¡°I like gentle men, so there was a few times when I was tempted.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyes brows.


    Ji Man continued ¡°But, as soon as I think about the unknown number of times that your affection has been duplicated and portioned out to others, I immediately feel that your affection isn¡¯t worth my feelings. I won¡¯t do things that aren¡¯t worth my effort. I just did my best to think about your bad points, and I wasn¡¯t feel tempted.¡±


    Was there such a thing? Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°I remember that you said that you like men that will only love one woman. But, how can there be a man in this world that will only have one woman for a lifetime?


    ¡°Exactly, that¡¯s why I want to go back.¡± Ji Man curled her lip. ¡°Although transportation andmunication is very fast in my world, and it¡¯s possible to fall in love with many people, each person is only allowed to marry one other person at a time.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise.


    ¡°If we were in my world, when you wanted to marry Wen Wan back then, you would have to divorce Sangyu first. Not only that, you would have to give Nie Sangyu half of your assets,¡± Ji Man said with a serious expression, ¡°If you didn¡¯t divorce Nie Sangyu before taking Wen Wan as your concubine, then as your legal wife, Sangyu could go to her home and curse her for being shameless. If you punish Sangyu ording to the household rules, it¡¯ll be considered domestic violence, and the courts will sentence you to marilypensating her.¡±


    Feeling somewhat dumbfounded, Marquis Moyu frowned as he asked, ¡°How can there be a world that¡¯s this unreasonable?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a world that has equality for men and women. That¡¯s why, no matter how wonderful the ancient world is, or how much money I have here, I want to go back.¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s go to sleep. I have to go look for Haohao tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± And yet, Ning Yuxuan silently thought about Ji Man¡¯s words for a long time before he finally closed his eyes.


    ¡ª


    The next day, the two of them entered the pce ording to the n.


    Kneeling in front of Shen Youqing, Ji Man said, ¡°Consort Shen, please help this humble woman look for my child. If my child is lost, this humble woman might not be able to enter the marquis¡¯s household.¡±


    Shen Youqing furrowed her brow. She naturally wanted to help Nie Sangyu with this matter. The further away she could send this woman, the better. However, when the emperor has asked her to stay behind to privately talk yesterday, he had already said a whole bunch of words about hoping that she could be tolerant of other women. He had also promised that he would promote her to empress as soon as possible. Zhao Zhe¡¯s words had softened her. She had already promised that she wouldn¡¯t publicly try to stop him again. It would be a bit improper if she were to go back on her words and help Nie Sangyu search for her child.


    Moreover, Wen Wan had offered her words of advice yesterday. Although she could temporarily stop the emperor from doing what he wanted, she wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him forever. Sooner orter, Nie Sangyu would be added to emperor¡¯s harem, so why should she leave a bad impression with the emperor by helping her? It would better to slowly deal with this woman after she entered the harem. In the end, wasn¡¯t it the empress that had the highest authority in the inner ce?


    Shen Youqing hade to terms with things. Since she couldn¡¯t stop the emperor, then she might as well help him. This way, she could at least curry favor with him.


    Thinking of this, Shen Youqing held Ji Man¡¯s hand and said, ¡°How about this? You can take a stroll around the pce with this consort. This way, you can freely look around during the walk.¡±


    Ji Man was eager to find Haohao, so of course she nodded and agreed. Ning Yuxuan was in the pce too. With someone to rely on, she wasn¡¯t scared.


    She followed Shen Youqing from the imperial garden to the ce where she had heard those two female pce servants talking yesterday. She asked the people in that area, but no one mentioned a child. Other than the deposed emperor¡¯s imperial consorts that hadn¡¯t been moved out yet, there currently weren¡¯t any other consorts in the pce. One by one, Ji Man asked them without any sess.


    At the same time, Ning Yuxuan was standing in a great hall. Above him, the emperor was brilliantly smiling. ¡°This emperor hasn¡¯t thought of a suitable reward to bestow you for yourmendable deeds yet. Marquis, how about you think of something yourself? Is there something that you want?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan respectfully saluted with his hand said, ¡°The benevolence of the emperor is as vast as the seas. This subject isn¡¯tcking anything right now. It¡¯s only...¡±


    Beaming, Zhao Zhe interrupted him, ¡°Oh, right. Marquis, there probably aren¡¯t many people left in your harem, right? This emperor remembers that there are only three women left. Isn¡¯t it about time to replenish your harem?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. ¡°Yes, but...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This emperor happens to have several women, whose fathers are officials, in my possession.¡± Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t intend to give him the chance to talk at all. Still smiling, he continued, ¡°Let¡¯s select two of them and send them to your estate. What do you think of this emperor¡¯s idea?¡±

 Chapter 431 - Who did you love the most in your lifetime? (2)

    Chapter 431 ¨C Who did you love the most in your lifetime? (2)


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath. ¡°Your Majesty, this subject only wants Nie Sangyu. As for the other women, Your Majesty, there¡¯s no need to trouble yourself.¡±


    He had to say everything in one breath to avoid being interrupted.


    The great hall was quiet for a while.


    Zhao Zhe chuckled, but his face was expressionless. ¡°You want Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan lifted his robe and knelt down. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhao Zhe sneered and turned his back to him as he said, ¡°This emperor also wants Nie Sangyu. How many Sangyus does Nie n have?¡±


    Marquis Moyu was shocked.


    He had just... straightforwardly said those words?


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t divorced her then, then no matter how much this emperor likes her, this emperor wouldn¡¯t snatch away your wife,¡± Zhao Zhe lowly said, ¡°But, you¡¯ve already divorced her, so she¡¯s marriable. You want her, this emperor also wants her. If this emperor helps you, who will help this emperor?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow as he looked at the emperor¡¯s back figure. Zhao Zhe had only recently ascended the throne, and he was saying these words to an important minister. It couldn¡¯t be that Zhao Zhe was genuinely in love with Nie Sangyu, right?


    What should he do? No matter what, an official couldn¡¯tpete with the emperor. Although he had power, he couldn¡¯t defeat the emperor. If he chose to be unyielding, then he wouldn¡¯t be able maintain his power in this country.


    What should he choose? Did he want her or the high position and wealth that he had spent half of his life to build up?


    Only a teenager, who was full of love, would choose the former option without hesitation and take her away to futilely live out the rest of their lives together as smoothly as possible. But, he was Marquis Moyu. He had spent half of his lifepeting with others. He had gone through so much public and covert disputes and schemes for power. Was he supposed to give that all up?


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze was somewhatplicated. Not knowing what to do next, he stayed kneeling on the ground


    ¡°This emperor remembers that when you married Wen Wan, you said that as long as you have her, you wouldn¡¯t have any regrets.¡± Zhao Zhe turned around to look at him. ¡°Right now, Wen Wan is still by your side, so why can¡¯t you let go of Sangyu?¡±


    This is why people should absolutely never say that their current love would be the one that they¡¯ll love the most for the rest of their life. Life is long. It¡¯s inevitable that you¡¯ll be proven wrong in certain things. And so, you should wait until you¡¯re on your deathbed to recollect your life. It¡¯s only then that you have the qualification to discuss who was is that you loved the most for a lifetime.


    ¡°This subject was ignorant.¡± Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes and said, ¡°Sangyu and this subject already have a child. A child can¡¯t be without its mother. Wen Wan is this subject¡¯s former love. Feelings change with circumstances. Now that this subject has thought it through, it¡¯s time to let Wen Wan go, so that she can be free to live out her life.¡±


    Zhao Zhe snorted. He lightly said, ¡°You have a child with Sangyu? Marquis, you must be remembering wrong. Ning Jinchen¡¯s mother is Xia-<i>shi</i>.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow.


    ¡°This fact ismon knowledge. You shouldn¡¯t try to force your child onto Sangyu.¡± The emperor pursed his lips and continued, ¡°She doesn¡¯t have any children, and you divorced her. This emperor can take her as my consort.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, why do you insist on putting this subject in a difficult position?¡±


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows. ¡°Marquis, you should be more mindful of your words when you¡¯re speaking to the emperor. No matter how you look at it, its you that¡¯s putting this emperor in a difficult position by standing in the way of this emperor adding a beauty to my harem.¡±


    Vexed, Ning Yuxuan wanted to stand up and confront Zhao Zhe. But, he couldn¡¯t openly defy him. Right now, he was able to strategically oppose the emperor due to his control of the Six Ministries. Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun would also be willing to help him out with their military power. But, if he let himself get flustered and gave the emperor an excuse, not only would he die, everyone else would die with him.


    ¡°Oh, by the way, this emperor heard that Sangyu came to the pce today.¡± Zhao Zhe slightly smiled and said, ¡°She seems to get along very well with Qing-<i>er</i>. She can stay in Qing-<i>er</i>¡®s pce tonight.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were slightly red.


    ¡°Marquis, don¡¯t you still have a lot of work to do?¡± Zhao Zhe amicably said, ¡°You can withdraw. If you don¡¯t finish your work, it won¡¯t be easy for you to justify yourself if this emperor asks you about those tasks tomorrow morning in the imperial court.¡±


    Tightly clenching his hand into a fist, Ning Yuxuan slowly kowtowed, then he stood up and followed a eunuch out of Zichen Hall.


    Wu Yong came out from behind a nearby folding screen and looked at Marquis Moyu¡¯s distant back figure. He lightly said, ¡°Your Majesty, that was perfect. You didn¡¯t pressure him too far or give him any breathing space.¡±


    Zhao Zhe chuckled. He stroked a jade seal that was on his desk. He clicked his tongue in admiration. ¡°She¡¯s truly a beauty that brings disaster. Since ancient times, women have able to ruin important things. At first, this emperor didn¡¯t believe in this saying, but now, this emperor has no choice but to believe it.¡±


    Wu Yong was smiling as he respectfully cupped his hands.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man had searched the entire pce, but she hadn¡¯t seen a trace of Haohao. She knew that if the emperor had deliberately hidden Haohao away, then even if she turned over the pce in her search, her efforts would be useless.


    Seeing that it would soon be dark, Shen Youqing said, ¡°How about staying in my pce for the night? You can continue searching in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, thank you for your kind offer. This humble woman still wants to leave the pce.¡± Ji Man pursed her lips and said, ¡°There¡¯s someone waiting for this humble woman outside the pce.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Shen Youqing sounded curious. ¡°Let¡¯s go then to see who¡¯s waiting for you.¡±


    Ji Man followed her to the pce¡¯s gate.


    Who else could it be? She and Ning Yuxuan had agreed that they would leave the pce together.


    But, this time, there was no waiting for her at the pce¡¯s gate.


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no one here?¡± Shen Youqing smiled as she said, ¡°Look, it¡¯ll be to far for you to go back by yourself. You shoulde back with this consort.¡±


    Where did he go? Ji Man furrowed her brow. Had he left her in the pce to stay the night?


    Trantor Ramblings: Wow. And here I was, thinking Zhao Zhe is an idiot that¡¯s driven by his hormones and is making the same mistake as Zhao Li by kidnapping Haohao. I like that his end goal is actually to get rid of Ning Yuxuan. He wants Nie Sangyu, but he¡¯s mostly using her as a way to get Marquis Moyu to act out. If he goads Marquis Moyu and his allies to openly rebel, it would give Zhao Zhe the perfect excuse to clean out the people that are potentially the biggest threat to him.

 Chapter 432 - Finding a good equilibrium (1)

    Chapter 432 ¨C Finding a good equilibrium (1)


    Hopeful people were the ones that were the most easily annoyed. It was just like when you were looking forward to a date, but then you find out that the other party hadpletely forgotten about it after you had already gone through the trouble of washing your hair and heading out. It was as if someone had piercing through your bubble of hope. It was like plummeting down from the sky, and there wasn¡¯t even a parachute to soften yournding.


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t expected that she would feel so angry. She felt like a young schoolgirl that was feeling an indescribable feeling of being horribly wronged.


    Didn¡¯t he say that he cared about her? That he wanted her heart? She had allowed herself to believe that although Prince Charming waste, he was finally here to save the troubled princess. Who could have guessed that those were just empty words? Since he wasn¡¯t waiting here for her, was her only choice to allow herself to be dragged along by Shen Youqing?


    Fortunately, Shen Youqing was petty. She probably wasn¡¯t magnanimous enough to push her onto the emperor¡¯s bed.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°Consort Shen, this humble woman will obediently follow your wish then.¡± Ji Man gritted her teeth. Step by step, she followed Shen Youqing to the inner pce. She silently cursed Ning Yuxuan all the way from this life to his next eighteen incarnations.


    Shen Youqing smiled and said, ¡°The emperor happens to have free time tonight and will being over to eat dinner with this consort. You can join us. After all, Miss Nie isn¡¯t an outsider.¡±


    How was she not an outsider? She was totally an outsider! Ji Man maintained her smile as her heart rose up in rm. Was Consort Shen loopy from taking bad medicine? It was bad enough to keep her overnight in the inner pce. She wanted her to have dinner with Zhao Zhe too?


    It got worse when they arrived in the inner pce. Shen Youqing actually criticized her clothing for being too simple and had a pce dress brought over for her to change into. Ji Man started to panic. Holding the pce dress, she knelt down and kowtowed, ¡°Sangyu is only amoner and doesn¡¯t need to wear such a precious dress. Your Highness, please take back yourmand.¡±


    Shen Youqing finally put away her fake smile. ¡°Do you think this consort wants you to wear this dress? It¡¯s difficult to go against the wishes of the emperor. Miss Nie, do you not understand why this consort is giving you this order?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. She was silent for a long time before she raised her head and said, ¡°This servant only know that even the fate given by the Heavens can be reversed, much less an order by the emperor. Your Highness, if you¡¯re unwilling, you can think of ways to avoid it instead of yielding.¡±


    Shen Youqing sneered. ¡°Avoid it? Alright, teach this consort, how should this consort avoid this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be enough to send this humble woman out of the pce,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°This might upset the emperor, but Your Highness, if you go against your wishes to please the emperor this time, you won¡¯t end up being happy. If there¡¯s a first time, there¡¯ll be a second time. If you do too many unhappy things, your days won¡¯t be good. If doing something against your will won¡¯t lead to a happy ending, why bother doing it?¡±


    Shen Youqing was stunned. Even after a long time passed, she couldn¡¯t circumvent her argument. In fact, she thought Nie Sangyu¡¯s words were very reasonable.


    However, before she could recover from her daze, they heard a eunuch announcing from the outside, ¡°His Majesty is here.¡±


    Everyone else in the great hall froze. Ji Man slightly sighed. The gods were out to get her. She turned to kneel in a different direction.


    Shen Youqing knelt down too. ¡°Greetings, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Zhao Zhe came inside. When his gazended on Ji Man, a smile appeared. ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>, you worked hard. You can all rise.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Majesty.¡±


    Shen Youqing stood up. Zhao Zhe gestured for her to sit down on a nearby stool.


    ¡°Your Majesty, you came at the perfect time. This consort was just discussing with Sangyu what light refreshments Your Majesty would like for the evening.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe happily said, then he turned his head to look at Ji Man and said, ¡°You¡¯re that thoughtful?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°Back in the marquis¡¯s estate, this humble woman frequently thought about what food the marquis would like to eat for dinner. Consort Shen shares the same trait as this humble woman, a deep steadfast love for her husband.


    Zhao Zhe was clearly unhappy to hear these words. He scoffed, ¡°You don¡¯t have a husband anymore.¡±


    ¡°This humble woman won¡¯t marry a second husband,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°If Sangyu can¡¯t care for the marquis in the future, Sangyu is willing to end my miserable life in order to preserve my innocence.¡±


    Her words were very heavy. She had already touched upon life and death. Zhao Zhe stopped smiling. His expression was somewhatplicated.


    There was silence in great hall for a while until Shen Youqing quietly said, ¡°Your Majesty, this ce is too small. This consort will withdraw first.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Zhao Zhe nodded.


    Ji Man stared at her with eyes widened in dismay. Shen Youqing only lowered her head and left the great hall without saying another word. In the passing, she had the doors to the hall closed.


    In the end, this woman had gone against her heart just to gain a favorable impression from Zhao Zhe?


    Ji Man was incapable of understanding Shen Youqing¡¯s viewpoint. Her body stiffened as she looked at the emperor in front of her.


    Contrary to her expectations, Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t rush forward to express his love. Instead, he continued to calmly sit at the table. He rapped his knuckles against the table and went back to smiling. ¡°This emperor gave Yuxuan two choices. Take a guess. Would he choose glory and splendor or you for the rest of his life?¡±


    Ji Man was at a loss. Why did he have to choose?


    ¡°If this emperor wants topete with someone for a woman, there¡¯s no one in the world that can win against this emperor.¡± Zhao Zhe clicked his tongue. ¡°Even if he has power over the imperial court and themon people, the person on the throne will still be this emperor.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. His logic wasn¡¯t wrong. Even if Ning Yuxuan was above ten thousand people, he was still below one person, the emperor. There wasn¡¯t any reason to struggle against this indisputable fact.

 Chapter 433 - Finding a good equilibrium (2)

    Chapter 433 ¨C Finding a good equilibrium (2)


    ¡°You¡¯re a clever woman. If it¡¯s possible, this emperor wants to do as this emperor had said back then, make you empress and dismiss the rest of the imperial harem,¡± Zhao Zhe softly said, ¡°However, it¡¯s only after this emperor had ascended to the throne, that this emperor realized how irresistible this position and wealth is. Even if someone offered this emperor a hundred beauties, this emperor wouldn¡¯t be willing to trade the throne for them. Men have an innate desire for power. There¡¯s no exception to this, even Yuxuan is the same.¡±


    This child¡¯s ability tomunicate his thoughts was defective. Ji Man had to listen to him ramble on for a long time before she understood his meaning.


    So, Zhao Zhe was telling her that he had only snatched her here because he wanted to see Marquis Moyu¡¯s reaction? If Marquis Moyu wanted to be with her and grow old with her, then he would have to leave this country in order to leave Zhao Zhe¡¯s sphere of authority. If he wanted power, he would lose her.


    This selection was too senseless. It would be just as nonsensical as asking someone if they wanted hamburgers or love. What kind of love would there be without hamburgers? If you didn¡¯t have a loved one to share it with, would there be any point in eating a hamburger by yourself?


    Why did Ning Yuxuan have to decide between one or the other? Why couldn¡¯t equilibrium be found? Ning Yuxuan was a yer that had previously maintained bnce between three factions, so why should she worry that he wouldn¡¯t be able to find a way to reach equilibrium now?


    ... Actually, she was quite worried. After all, right now, she was hanging at the end of the bnce beam. If he gave up on her, she would fall to a horrible death.


    Ji Man let out a long sigh. Zhao Zhe was certainly cruel enough. Since that time when his minions had forced her into jumping off the boat, she should known that he was a calcting, traitorous person that wasn¡¯t easy to deal with.


    ¡°Today, he left the pce after this emperor said he wanted you.¡± Zhao Zhe meaningfully smiled. ¡°Were you hoping that he would save you? Instead of immediately choosing you, he left.¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°If someone put my ex-boyfriend and five hundred million dors in front of me and told me to choose, I would hesitate too.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not angry? That¡¯s tantamount to him giving up on you.¡± Zhao Zhe looked at her in surprise. ¡°If a woman is in love with someone, shouldn¡¯t she at least feel upset and angry?¡±


    Ji Man slightly smiled and answered, ¡°Your Majesty, do you know that there¡¯s a type of person that can bury all of their feelings in their heart? No matter what, they can keep their calm. Even if they wakes up in the middle of night and sees that their home is lost, they can calmly get up and go to the police station.¡±


    The corners of Zhao Zhe¡¯s lips twitched. He couldn¡¯t understand what she was saying at all.


    ¡°That type of person isn¡¯t without joy and sorrow. Their reflection time is just very long,¡± said Ji Man expressionlessly, ¡°It¡¯s long enough to circle the Earth and tie a bow around it. However, once this type of person is given the time to respond, the consequence will be extremely terrible.¡±


    ¡°To put it in another way, ¡°For people of noble character, even ten years isn¡¯t too long to wait before seeking revenge.¡±


    If Ning Yuxuan really dared to give up on her, she would dedicate her life to making his life a living hell.


    Zhao Zhe finally understood her meaning. Heughed and said, ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have simply answered that you do care?¡±


    Ji Man sneered and lowly said, ¡°I care a little bit, but there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. Anyways, I believe in him. He¡¯ll definitely find a way to save me.¡±


    ¡°What could he possibly do?¡± Zhao Zhe suddenly stood up and walked to Ji Man¡¯s side. He lifted her chin and said, ¡°If this emperor chooses to favor you right now, what can he do? Invade the pce? This emperor would like nothing more.¡±


    Heughed for a while, then said, ¡°Face reality. You and him are merely chess pieces that belong to this emperor.¡±


    Ji Man turned her head away. She stood up and took two steps back. The mood in the great hall suddenly became tense. She was already thinking that if she kicked Zhao Zhe¡¯s lower half, would it count as trying to murder the emperor?


    However, right after Zhao Zhe took a step forward, they heard Taxue¡¯s voice from outside reporting, ¡°Your Majesty, General Nie and General Ning are seeking an audience with you. Marquis Moyu is already waiting in Zichen Hall. He said an urgent report came from a border station. Your Majesty, pleasee quickly.¡±


    Both people in the hall stiffened. After hearing Taxue¡¯s entire message, Zhao Zhe¡¯s face changed colors, and Ji Man couldn¡¯t resistughing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too pleased.¡± Zhao Zhe was smoldering in anger, but this onlysted a moment. Soon after, he regained his calm. He looked at her and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t your child still missing?¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t feel likeughing anymore.


    Zhao Zhe coldly harrumphed and left the great hall.


    ¡ª


    Along the way here, Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun frowned when they heard that Sangyu was still in the pce. No one could stop the emperor from adding a woman to his harem.


    Still, Ning Mingjie was very curious. He asked, ¡°If the emperor genuinely wants Sangyu, why wouldn¡¯t he just write an imperial edict to make her his consort?¡±


    Nie Qingyun foolishly suggested, ¡°Could it be that the emperor doesn¡¯t want to force Sangyu?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan iprehensibly looked at Nie Qingyun for a while before sighing. His older brother-inw was too simple.


    They waited and waited until Zhao Zhe finally arrived. His clothes were a bit disheveled, and his crown was slightly askew.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body stiffened, and he didn¡¯t even salute the emperor in greeting.


    Zhao Zhe was slightly gasping for breath when he sat down and asked, ¡°What happened at the border?¡±


    The three people stayed silent. A long timeter, Ning Yuxuan finally answered, ¡°Yuzhen has initiated war with Great Song on the grounds that Princess Pengyue had died unjustly. The message just arrived. This subject estimates the war has already been going on for over a month at the borders.¡±


    Zhao Zhe furrowed his brow. He straightened his crown and asked, ¡°How can this have happened? The imperial court should have sent out additional soldiers to defend the borders.¡±

 Chapter 434 - Don’t give away your heart (1)

    <strong>Chapter 434 ¨C Don¡¯t give away your heart (1)</strong>


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t provide a follow-up answer. His mind was already a mess. He didn¡¯t dare to imagine what had happened before Zhao Zhe came here. Clearly, he should have made it in time. Why...


    Next to him, Nie Qingyun saluted with his hand and said, ¡°We were just discussing who should lead the reinforcement troops. Yuzhen¡¯s border is very close to Jing Province. This subject was lucky enough to have met a few generals in Jing Province that would be suitable to take on this heavy responsibility. This subject specially came here to rmend them to Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhao Zhe nced at Ning Yuxuan, then pursed his lips and said, ¡°Although Yuzhen was an ally, they were the ones that broke our alliance first by invading the borders. This emperor thinks that although there aren¡¯t many troops at the border, they should be able to hold off for at least a year. Thus, it¡¯s not necessary to look for reinforcement troops that are near to the border. It¡¯s better to find troops that will be the most useful.¡±


    Ning Mingjie furrowed his brow. ¡°Your Majesty, speed is the most precious thing in war. Why would that proximity not be the most useful aspect?¡±


    ¡°This emperor thinks that although it would be convenient to dispatch troops from Jing Province, it won¡¯t be sufficient in expressing the imperial court¡¯s fury with Yuzhen for tearing up our alliance agreement. Out of all the generals, this emperor trusts the three of you the most. However, General Ning has to stay in the capital to guard it, and General Nie has to return to the Jing Province to guard it as well. How about having the marquis takemand of the army that will retaliate against Yuzhen?¡±


    Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun were both stunned. Ning Yuxuan has always been in charge of the Six Ministries. He should be considered a civil official. When did he be a general? Moreover, if he went on an expedition to Yuzhen right now, what would happen to Sangyu?


    Marquis Moyu lifted his robe and knelt down. ¡°This subject iscking in the ability to assume such a heavy responsibility. Your Majesty, don¡¯t treat the affairs of the state as child¡¯s y. A person with more experience should be chosen to takemand.¡±


    Zhao Zheughed. ¡°Marquis, there¡¯s no reason why you can¡¯t serve as a general. Didn¡¯t you devise a n for how Zhangjun¡¯s army would seize the capital? You¡¯ve already aplished many great achievements. From the perspective of this emperor, the marquis is well-versed in the art of war, as well as having courage and the ability to n well. It¡¯s only providing assistance to a border position. You¡¯re more than qualified for this task.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯splexion was ashen. He almost got up and left in a huff. Ning Mingjie, who was next to him, quickly reached out and stopped him.


    The mood in the great hall was somewhat tense. Zhao Zhe straightened his originally disheveled robes, then insincerely smiled and asked, ¡°Marquis, are you not willing?¡±


    ¡°This subject isn¡¯t...¡±


    Nie Qingyun felt cold sweat gathering on his back and quickly interrupted him, ¡°Yuxuan.¡± Had he lost his mind? If he showed his disobedience right in front of the emperor, he would be convicted of a crime. Yuxuan was someone that knew propriety and was very smooth and evasive in his speech. Why was he so muddled-headed today?


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, ¡°This subject won¡¯t disappoint Your Majesty¡¯s expectations.¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Zhao Zhe loudlyughed. He walked down from the throne, patted Ning Yuxuan¡¯s shoulder, and said, ¡°Beloved subject, you really know how to share and alleviate this emperor¡¯s troubles.¡±


    Marquis Moyu contemptuously smiled. He lowered his head and stayed silent.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man remained in Shen Youqing¡¯s pce in a daze.


    Marquis Moyu was someone that had already experience the changing of several emperors. Each time, he had ensured that he was the key link by proving his value at the criticalst moment. So much so that, it was clear he wielded a great deal of power in the imperial court.


    And, the more power a person had, the more likely they would have a bad oue once they were in a period of prosperity. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t greedy for the throne. On the contrary, he had helped one person after another onto the throne. Ji Man didn¡¯t understand him. If she were to say that his goal was to install a puppet emperor to do his bidding, that wouldn¡¯t be true. If he was trying to be an obedient and honest official that supported the emperor, why had the emperors that hade and gone been so guarded against him?


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t surprising. Marquis Moyu was truly a deeply scheming, treacherous, and cunning person. There was no one that would feel safe if there was a wolf sleeping by his throne.


    There were only two options: get rid of the wolf or defang the wolf.


    Right now, she had unfortunately be a tool to pull out his fangs.


    Just as she was sighing over this in the middle of the night, the door to the hall was pushed open. A young female pce servant poked her head inside. ¡°Miss Nie, please follow this servant.¡±


    This girl was Shen Youqing¡¯s personal servant. Ji Man furrowed her brow and followed her outside.


    At this time of the night, there weren¡¯t many people walking around. The young pce servant actually led her to a small side door, and she saw an exhausted Ning Yuxuan waiting for her. When he saw her, his eyes were slightly red.


    Ji Man¡¯s hanging heart finally fell down. She couldn¡¯t resist quickening her steps and almost tossed her pride away to rush into his arms.


    When she firmly stopped in front of him instead, the young servant, who was behind her, quickly left. Ji Man grinned. ¡°Now you remember toe pick me up?¡±


    Once these words were said, she felt shocked by her behavior. When did she start to act so unreasonably? Normally, shouldn¡¯t she have said something like, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here. Let¡¯s leave then.¡± Instead of saying something straightforwardly simple like that, why had she acted so coquettishly out-of-character?


    Ji Man closed her eyes. That moment must have been a friendly guest appearance by Nie Sangyu.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze was veryplicated. Seeing her clothes had been changed, he stayed silent for a long time before he finally hoarsely said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t serious enough that an apology is needed.¡±


    ¡°En, let¡¯s... go home.¡± When Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand out to hold her hand, his hand was slightly trembling.


    Ji Man noticed his trembling. Not understanding what was causing this, she frowned and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did something happen to Haohao?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ning Yuxuan used so much force in grasping her hand that she furrowed her brow. They hadn¡¯t even taken two steps when he stopped and tightly hugged her to his chest.


    This... Was he ovee by a moment of emotional vulnerability? Ji Man patted his back. ¡°It¡¯s okay, it¡¯s okay. Don¡¯t feel bad.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his head and looked at her with somewhat reddened eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel upset?¡±


    Ji Man thought he was being ridiculous. ¡°Why would I feel upset?¡±


    ¡°...¡± Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, turned his head, and continued walking. ¡°I forgot. You said that the ce you¡¯re from... doesn¡¯t care about this type of thing.¡±

 Chapter 435 - Dont give away your heart (2)

    Chapter 435 ¨C Don¡¯t give away your heart (2)


    Huh? Ji Man had no idea what this person was saying. Just as she was going to ask him to rify, he continued, ¡°The emperor has ordered me to leave the capital within the next ten days to go to the border between Yuzhen and Great Song and provide reinforcements to the border troops.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned. In ten days? They hadn¡¯t even found Haohao yet. What would she do after those ten days passed? If she went with him, she would be giving up Haohao. If she stayed in the capital, she would probably be added to the emperor¡¯s harem and been promoted by the time he returned.


    Ning Yuxuan asked, ¡°You... are you going to stay here ore with me?¡±


    The hand that was holding hers loosened. Ji Man furrowed her brow as she looked at him. ¡°You want me to choose? If I choose to stay then, what will you do?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stopped in a spot that wasn¡¯t far from her. He didn¡¯t turn his head. His empty hand slowly clenched into a fist. ¡°You want to stay?¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I stay? If I leave with you, what will happen to Haohao?¡± Ji Man took a deep breath. ¡°Why can¡¯t you negotiate with the emperor? He¡¯s afraid of the power that you possess, so why can¡¯t you trade that power for Haohao? At worst, the three of us as a family can escape to a faraway ce. Wouldn¡¯t that be good?¡±


    Marquis Moyu turned his head back and seemed to be quietlyughing. ¡°You want me to give up and hand over something that I¡¯ve spent half of my lifetimepeting for? Just like that?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget. There¡¯s an entire household of people. It¡¯s not just the three of us. I¡¯m responsible for a household that has over a hundred people.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man involuntarilyughed.


    She really had gotten stupid recently. She had merely told him everything when they were in prison. Why did she stop seeing him as an outsider? There was nothing wrong with what he had said. How could it be easy to abandon something he had struggled to obtain for most of his life? There were so many people in his household, including his other son. How could he easily give up everything else?


    Idiot. Her mind had repeatedly reminded warned her to not fall in love, to not feel anything for these storybook characters. Logically, she understood, but her heart wouldn¡¯t listen. Well, this was great. It was her heart that would suffer punishment as it was sliced into pieces by logic and being hawked off as each slice was cut.


    Hey, look here, there¡¯s an idiot¡¯s heart that¡¯s avable for sale. Only two dors per 2.5 kilograms. Don¡¯t miss out on this sale when you walk by.


    Ji Man burst out inughter as she pictured that scene. She shook her head and said, ¡°I was the one that forgot. I¡¯ve changed.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. He lowered his eyes and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go back first, then talk.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man caught up to him in two steps. They quietly boarded the carriage, but their hands never touched.


    Words of love were harmful. It turned a clever woman into fool.


    Ji Man finally asked him, ¡°Marquis, do you not care about Haohao anymore?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart was a mess. Hearing her question, he only lightly pursed his lips and answered, ¡°If the emperor has him, he... won¡¯t be harmed.¡±


    Ji Man sneered and turned her head away.


    They passed the rest of the carriage ride in silence. When they returned to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, Ji Man went to Feiwan Courtyard by herself.


    Sangyu¡¯s Feiwan Courtyard. When she opened the door, nothing had changed. It was just that the former upants were no longer than there. There was no Muxu, no Gancao, and no Dengxin. When Ji Man stepped into the courtyard by herself, an unfamiliar servant girl approached her and carefully called out, Miss Nie.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had actually followed after Ji Man. He had originally wanted to stop her and say something, but Wen Wan suddenly appeared from the side. He hadn¡¯t seen her in a year, even after he hade back from Zhangjun


    Wen Wan clutched his hand and cried, ¡°My lord, you¡¯ve finally returned.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan flung her hand away and indifferently said, ¡°En, what?¡±


    Wen Wan wasn¡¯t discouraged at all. She grabbed his hand again and said, ¡°My lord, you¡¯ve been back for so long, but you haven¡¯te to the inner court. Wan-<i>er </i>has been caring for Madam in Linghan Courtyard this entire time. Madam is very ill. All of your attention has been focused on outsiders. Haven¡¯t you noticed that it¡¯s been a long time since Madam hase to pay you respect?¡±


    Liu Hanyun was sick? Ning Yuxuan softly sighed. He had owed her a debt from the beginning. Out of everyone, the debt that he owed Yun-<i>er</i> was the biggest one.


    After thinking it over, he turned around and went to Linghan Courtyard.


    Wen Wan didn¡¯t go with him. Instead, she watched until he had walked far away, then she headed to Feiwan Courtyard.


    Ji Man was currently trying to think of a n. If she could figure out a way to find Haohao within the next ten days, there would still be a way to turn things around, right?


    Just as she was going to the southern courtyard to pay Errong and her older brother a visit to discuss, the door was pushed open from the outside.


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> heard this courtyard has a new person living here, so Wan-<i>er</i> specially came over here to see you,¡± Wen Wan was still maintaining her innocent facade. She didn¡¯t know that Kangyuan had already told the truth about her fake amnesia.


    Ji Man sat back down and looked at Wen Wan with a slight smile. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s Mistress Wan.¡±


    Wen Wan excitedly looked at her as if she was looking at a total stranger. ¡°There¡¯s finally someone living in this courtyard again. Miss, for you to be given this courtyard, the marquis probably likes you a lot.¡±


    Ji Man inwardly sneered. She wanted to see what this little b*tch was going to say. ¡°Oh, no, it was nothing. This ce was randomly chosen.¡±


    ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> heard that the previous upant of Feiwan Courtyard was someone that the marquis likes.¡± Wen Wan bit her lip. ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> is truly very curious. What kind of woman can receive the marquis¡¯s affection? Thest time that Wan-<i>er</i> served the marquis in bed, the marquis called out Madam¡¯s name in the middle of the night. Wan-<i>er</i> truly doesn¡¯t understand my lord¡¯s heart.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I feel conflicted. Since we know that Ji Man is secretly nning to return home and leave Haohao behind, I don¡¯t think she has the right to feel hurt by Ning Yuxuan¡¯s choices. Of the two of them, he¡¯s actually the more responsible one. And, I think logically, she acknowledges that his choice isn¡¯t wrong. But... I don¡¯t know what I want her to do either.


    Also, Ji Man, priorities! No matter how much you dislike Wen Wan, why are you wasting time talking to her when you¡¯re on a short deadline just to satisfy your curiosity?

 Chapter 436 - The actual wish (1)

    Chapter 436 ¨C The actual wish (1)


    Ji Man sneered. It had been over a year since Wen Wan had been favored. Was there a need toe by here to mention it?


    Wen Wan was trying to drive a wedge between their rtionship, but she didn¡¯t have any special skills. With her third-rate skills, she couldn¡¯t even bepared to the mistresses in other s.


    Wen Wan sighed again and said, ¡°Wan-<i>er</i> has no hope of receiving the marquis¡¯s heart in this lifetime. Wan-<i>er</i> had thought that Madam would be able to receive the marquis¡¯s genuine love after giving birth to Young Master Xi. But, who could have expected that another woman woulde to live in Feiwan Courtyard? Miss, you might think you have a special spot in the marquis¡¯s heart, but look, he¡¯s not here right now. The marquis went over to Linghan Courtyard.¡±


    After saying this, Wen Wan stood up and very sympathetically looked at her. ¡°Miss, take care. Don¡¯t fall in love with the marquis.¡±


    Ji Man seriously listened to her words. If she didn¡¯t know that Wen Wan was faking amnesia, she would have been fooled into thinking that Wen Wan was giving her earnest and well-meaning advice.


    ¡°Miss Wan-<i>er</i>, don¡¯t worry. No one would genuinely love the marquis,¡± Ji Man lightly said, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t and neither would I.¡±


    Wen Wan froze in surprise for a moment before looking away and saying, ¡°I once did. Since the first moment I saw the marquis, I...¡±


    ¡°Miss Wen, you¡¯re the only that touched by your feelings. No one else is moved by it,¡± interrupted Ji Man. She chuckled and continued, ¡°You can tearfullyin in front of other people that the marquis abandoned you. You can say that you stay up all night to cry until dawn because of this, how deeply in love the two of you once were, how his favor is gone, and you¡¯re left with a broken heart. You can say all these things so that other people will think he¡¯s a heartless person.¡±


    ¡°But, you haven¡¯t put much effort into maintaining your rtionship with him. You only know how to let the marquis pamper you and love you. You don¡¯t know how to be considerate, how to show understandings for his difficulties, and how to share his burdens. You require that his love towards you remains unchanged, but you¡¯re not as lovable as you were at the beginning. Although you¡¯re the one that¡¯s brokenhearted, the person that¡¯s unworthy of any sympathy is also you.¡±


    Wen Wan was taken aback. Her expression was slightly twisted as she looked as Ji Man. She had already forgotten to keep her amnesia persona. ¡°You¡¯re saying nonsense. It was clearly you that snatched away the marquis!¡±


    ¡°Mistress Wan, you¡¯re misremembering.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°A long time ago, the marquis was Sangyu¡¯s beloved. He married her first, then you stole him away with your simple innocence. How can you forbid her from snatching him back?¡±


    Wen Wan was bbergasted, but she continued to quibble, ¡°I¡¯m his true love. You ruined our true love. You¡¯re the one that robbed me of my true love.¡±


    Ji Man said, ¡°Oh, in my world, there¡¯s a lot of people that like you, who say someone else¡¯s husband is their true love, and it¡¯s okay for them to abandon their wife. I think you¡¯re very suitable to be friends with those women. They have a unified name. It¡¯s called the other woman.¡±


    While Wen Wan was at a loss, Ji Man stood up and brought her to the doorway. ¡°Also, Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i> had already told me that you¡¯re faking amnesia, and yet you still came over to put on a performance. Although your acting skills are very poor, I was still amused by it. Goodnight.¡±


    After pushing her outside and closing the doors, Ji Man leaned against the doors and heard a shriek of madness.


    Having your acting and lies being exposed was one of the most humiliating things possible. Wen Wan probably wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep well tonight.


    ¡°Nie Sangyu, you wretched woman! It serves you right that you can¡¯t find your son!¡± Wen Wan roared, then she turned to run away. Her face was flushed in anger.


    However, Ji Man swiftly opened her doors, caught up to her in a few steps, and stopped her. ¡°You know Haohao¡¯s whereabouts?¡±


    Wen Wan¡¯s entire body was trembling. Standing behind her master, Tanxiang was supporting her and looking at Ji Man with a guarded expression.


    ¡°Haha, you want to know? Wen Wan¡¯s eyes were flushed red. She looked at her and said, ¡°Kneel down and beg me.¡±


    Without even thinking, Ji Man knelt down. She raised her head and said, ¡°I¡¯m begging you. Tell me where Haohao is.¡±


    Seeing that Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t hesitated at all in kneeling, Wen Wan and Tanxiang were both shocked. Wen Wan pursed her lips, harrumphed, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t tell you even if you beg me.¡±


    Ji Man sneered. She abruptly stood up and pushed Wen Wan. As a bonus, since Tanxiang was supporting her from behind, both of these people fell to the ground when Ji Man pushed Wen Wan.


    Ji Man slowly approached them and softly asked, ¡°Have you ever seen a mother wolf that¡¯s protecting her pup?


    Wen Wan ached from her fall. She looked at her with a pale face. ¡°What are you going to do?¡±


    ¡°You can joke about anything, but if you joke about my son, I¡¯ll take your life.¡± Ji Man softlyughed. Her expression was probably very terrifying, even Tanxiang let out a scream of horror.


    Tanxiang supported Wen Wan as they desperately retreated.


    The servants that had passed by here were attracted by the noise. One after another, they gathered here to watch the show. Ji Man¡¯s mind was in turmoil. Seeing that Wen Wan was scared out of her wits, Ji Man coldly harrumphed and headed towards Linghan Courtyard to see Marquis Moyu.


    Even if Wen Wan really knew Haohao¡¯s whereabouts, she wouldn¡¯t be able to get the answer from her. She needed Marquis Moyu.


    At this time, Ning Yuxuan was by Liu Hanyun¡¯s bedside. Seeing how haggard Hanyun had be, he did feel very guilty. How did he be like this? Someone that only cared about Ji Man. Why had he so thoroughly neglected everyone else, to the point that Liu Hanyun was this ill and he hadn¡¯t known?


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t a person from this world. She was a celestial immortal that would sooner orter leave. Why was he being so stupid by allowing his heart and mind to only have her?


    He closed his eyes. Just as he was about to chat with Liu Hanyun for a while, he heard someone making a loud fuss outside.


    ¡°I want to see the marquis.¡±

 Chapter 437 - The actual wish (2)

    Chapter 437 ¨C The actual wish (2)


    Chunpi stood in Ji Man¡¯s way and wouldn¡¯t let her go inside. ¡°Miss Nie, the marquis is with Madam. It seems inappropriate for you to barge in there.¡± It had been so long since the marquis hade over to see Madam, and now this woman wanted to snatch him away.


    ¡°It¡¯s important.¡± Ji Man furrowed her brow.


    Chunpi sneered. ¡°No matter how important it is, is it more important than Madam?¡±


    Ji Man pursed her lips. Her voice had already been loud enough. If Ning Yuxuan heard her voice, he probably woulde out, right?


    However, even after she waited a long time, he didn¡¯te out.


    Chunpi sighed in relief. She lightly harrumphed and said, ¡°Miss, you can go back.¡±


    Ji Man was stunned for a long time. She finally scoffed and didn¡¯t try to shout again.


    He had his wife and concubines to take care of. Right now, she was more like the other woman. Ji Man turned around and left the courtyard. She hated the other woman the most. It really was very difficult toplete Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish.


    She went to the southern courtyard to look for Nie Qingyun and Errong to discuss what to do. They would be leaving the capital soon to return to Jing Province. Before leaving, they would help her search the capital. At the end, Ji Man nodded and decided she would go interrogate Wen Wan on her own.


    However, when she had walked halfway back to Feiwan Courtyard, a group of constables appeared in the marquis¡¯s estate and detained her without saying anything.


    While Ji Man was stunned, Tanxiang appeared at the other end of the path and shouted, ¡°It was her! She harmed my mistress!¡±


    Wen Wan was dead. In the short period of time when she went to Linghan Courtyard and then the southern courtyard, Wen Wan had died from poisoning in her room.


    Ji Man was at aplete loss. Wen Wan was the female lead. Although her IQ wasn¡¯t high enough, she was still an important character. Why had she died so suddenly?


    And so easily too?


    ¡°It was a highly toxic poison. It took less than two hours to take effect. The deceased had onlye in contact with Miss Nie before dying. Moreover, there are witnesses that said Miss Nie had threatened to kill the deceased. Thus, Miss Nie, pleasee with us to the local jail.¡± Jing Zhaoyin had personallye here. It was only when there was sufficient evidence that they would dare toe to the marquis¡¯s estate to arrest someone.


    Ji Man contemptuously smiled. If she actually had a secret dimension ability that allowed her to scatter poison without anyone noticing, Wen Wan would have already died several times in all sorts of ways. Why would she wait until now?


    Hearing someone sighing by her ear, Ji Man closed her eyes. She hadn¡¯t seen Nie Sangyu in a long time. Recently, she had only been able to asionally hear her voice.


    ¡°Oh, she¡¯s dead...¡± Nie Sangyu sounded as if she was both eximing and sighing in relief. ¡°You helped me get revenge for my past life.¡±


    ¡°Is your wish fulfilled then?¡± Ji Man hastily asked her in her mind.


    ¡°My wish is very simple. You were the one that misunderstood.¡± Nie Sangyu sighed as she used thest of her strength to rey the scene she had shown her at the beginning.


    In a quiet room, Nie Sangyu reached out and put a cloak embroidered with cedar trees on Marquis Moyu. Marquis Moyu raised his head. His eyes were full of gentleness.


    She understood the reasoning, but what exactly was her wish? Ji Man felt as if she was going to be driven mad trying to figure this out. She repeatedly asked Nie Sangyu, but there was no response.


    The original scene had disappeared, and it was reced with Nie Sangyu¡¯s voice. She sounded like a bashful and hopeful young girl when she handed over an item.


    ¡°This servant spent a long time embroidering this cloak. Doesn¡¯t these cedar trees look lifelike? If you wear it, it¡¯ll be especially warm. You won¡¯t have to worry even if it¡¯s snowing outside... And, this servant gave offerings to Yuo Temple to bless this cloak. It represents my feelings. The other visiting madams and girls all praised my handiwork.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need it.¡± Someone ruthlessly pushed the cloak away. ¡°Nie Sangyu, exin to me, why did you hit Ling-<i>er</i>¡¯s servant girl?¡±


    ...


    Ji Man came to mental halt. Something seemed to sh through her mind.


    Nie Sangyu said her wish was very simple. Could it be... she only wanted Ning Yuxuan to wear that cloak? The cloak that represented her young heart, the cloak that she had spent a long time embroidering.


    She couldn¡¯t understand the thought process of women from ancient times. What if that really was her wish? When Ji Man returned to her senses, she struggled against the constable and wanted to go to Feiwan Courtyard to find that cloak.


    ¡°Take her away!¡±


    She was securely detained by the constable behind her, and he started pressing her forward and out of the marquis¡¯s estate.


    A homicide case had just urred. Why would they allow her to go back to look for a cloak? Ji Man panicked. She had finally solved the mystery. It couldn¡¯t be that she was going to be taken further way from the way back home, right?


    ¡°Yuxuan! Ning Yuxuan!¡± She couldn¡¯t help shouting. This was the first time that she lost her self-control to this extent.


    However, Marquis Moyu turned a deaf ear to the outside noises. Instead, he continued quietly talking with Liu Hanyun. It was only when Ji Man had been brought to the local jail and was left kneeling in a hall, that Ning Yuxuan pulled up Liu Hanyun¡¯s quilt to tuck her in and went out to ask what had happened.


    Outside, Chunpi, who didn¡¯t know any better, straightforwardly answered, ¡°They said that Miss Nie killed Mistress Wen. Jing Zhaoyin came to the estate and brought Miss Nie to the local jail.


    Wen Wan was dead? After receiving this shock, it took a long time before Ning Yuxuan finally recovered enough to ask, ¡°Where... is she?¡±


    ¡°The local jail.¡± Chunpi thought he was asking about Nie Sangyu.


    Ning Yuxuan took a deep breath and asked again, ¡°I was asking you, where is Wan-<i>er</i>¡®s corpse?¡±


    Chunpi lowered her head and answered, ¡°Qiangwei Courtyard.¡±


    Wen Wan was someone that he had once doted upon in every sort of way and entered his estate in a red wedding dress. But now, in the end, she had tragically died in Qiangwei Courtyard. Her eyes weren¡¯t even closed.


    Trantor Ramblings: I think if Ji Man had maintained her original rtionship with Liu Hanyun, Chunpi wouldn¡¯t have stopped her from going into Liu Hanyun¡¯s room, and she wouldn¡¯t have ended up locked up in jail. I like that Ji Man has the self-awareness to realize that she is the other woman right now and the messiness of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s rtionships that can¡¯t be easily solved by Ning Yuxuan abandoning everything and running off into the sunset with Ji Man and Haohao.


    P.S. DSB¡¯s main story isplete for $80 Patreon tier.


    P.S.S. DSB will be done for the highest tier in early September (and done on the website at end of October), so I¡¯ll be announcing one of the three novels I¡¯m going to trante after DSB is done before end of August and posting a sneak peak for one of those novels =). Second novel will be introduced first week of September. Third novel, sometime in October. They¡¯re pretty different from DSB though.

 Chapter 438 - You can go back (1)

    Chapter 438 ¨C You can go back (1)


    Ning Yuxuan looked for a while before asking the nearby Tanxiang, ¡°She was poisoned?


    Tanxiang had already cried to the point that she looked quite ghastly. Sobbing, she answered, ¡°Master had only went to Feiwan Courtyard to take a look. She probably said something wrong and offended Miss Nie. Miss Nie threatened to take her life. There were several other servants present, and they all heard Miss Nie¡¯s threat. And then, right after we came back, Master died of poisoning.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips. There was a coroner from the localw enforcement office waiting nearby. Ning Yuxuan turned his head to nce at the coroner and said, ¡°Do the autopsy.¡±


    The coroner ufortably looked as Tanxiang, who was doggedly guarding Wen Wan¡¯s corpse.


    ¡°My lord, how can you let other people defile my master¡¯s body by touching her? She¡¯s already dead now.¡±


    ¡°Your master has died like this. An autopsy has to be done to find her murderer,¡± said Ning Yuxuan with a somber expression. ¡°Move aside.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Tanxiang shook her head, ¡°The murderer is Miss Nie. All of the servants that were present can be witnesses. There¡¯s no reason to investigate this case. My lord, why are you being so biased?¡±


    ¡°My master has always done everything for the marquis¡¯s sake. Now that she¡¯s dead, my lord, are you going to prevent her from having a peaceful afterlife?¡± Tanxiang heartrendingly cried, even the nearby coroner was somewhat moved.


    In contrast, Ning Yuxuan was calmly looking at her. He lightly said, ¡°Tanxiang, you¡¯ve been serving Wen Wan for several years. As for whether she died for me or if she died for someone else, would you really not know the truth?¡±


    Shocked, Tanxiang slightly trembled. It wasn¡¯t known if she was trembling from anger or fear. ¡°My lord, how can you say that... My master has only love you. How could you not know...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled and gestured for the servants to pull Tanxiang away. ¡°I¡¯ll naturally know once the autopsy is done.¡±


    Tanxiang¡¯s face turned deathly pale.


    Shouldn¡¯t the marquis¡¯s heart still have a spot for her master? Didn¡¯t that person say if her master died, the marquis would definitely be slightly moved? Was it because her words weren¡¯t effective enough to make the marquis feel moved, or was it something else? Why was the marquis insisting on the autopsy?


    Tanxiang was rattled. Although the servants were pulling her away, she kept struggling and wanted to keep the corpse on the ground in her line of sight.


    Wen Wan¡¯s corpse wasid out on a quilt. Her clothes were neat, but her face was unpleasantly pale. She no longer possessed her previous good looks.


    She was supposed to be the final piece of straw that would cause Marquis Moyu to copse under the weight of everything else. That person in the pce had thought using Wen Wan as a knife to thoroughly separated Ning Yuxuan and Nie Sangyu was a well-calcted move.


    Unfortunately, that person in the pce didn¡¯t know that decisive people wouldn¡¯t let emotions affect their decisions. Moreover, this knife was truly too dull.


    Because Wen Wan was poisoned, the coroner would have to cut open the deceased¡¯s stomach to do the autopsy and take out the remnants left in there to examine. This deceased woman was the marquis¡¯s dependent, so the coroner was in a dilemma. He confirmed, ¡°Are you sure you want an autopsy done?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. ¡°Be sure to get to the bottom of this and find the truth.¡±


    Tanxiang copsed onto the ground.


    Doing the autopsy at the scene of the crime would get the most urate results, so the coroner didn¡¯t dy. Most of the other servants were dismissed. Only Tanxiang, Marquis Moyu, and the servants holding Tanxiang back were left. The coroner removed enough of Wen Wan¡¯s clothes to slice open her abdomen and took out the remnants that were left in her stomach.


    There was a smell in the air that made people feel like vomiting. Tanxiang couldn¡¯t resist covering up her nose and mouth. She wasn¡¯t able to keep crying.


    ¡°Once the examination is done, the poison can be determined,¡± said the coroner.


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. He looked at Wen Wan onest time and covered her up with a nearby in white cloth. ¡°Have her buried.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± said the other servants.


    Seeing that Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression continue to remain unchanged, Tanxiang finally gave up. This man didn¡¯t have a heart. If he could act so heartless towards a woman that he once loved so much, how could you expect him to be willing to do something for love?


    ¡°It¡¯ll take a day to figure out what the poison is and it¡¯s origin. Miss Nie will have stay in jail tonight.¡± The coroner saluted Ning Yuxuan.


    Ning Yuxuan indifferently said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just watch over her.¡±


    The servants stood at the side and watched as Wen Wan¡¯s corpse was carried away and the coroner left with his belongings. When everyone from the localw enforcement was gone, the marquis finally let out a long sigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s best to not fell love,¡± he said, ¡°Love is the most malicious poison. It can burrow its way through anything.¡±


    Not quite understanding, the other servants just nodded. Seeing Ning Yuxuan turned around, one of them asked, ¡°My lord, where are you going?¡±


    ¡°Jail.¡±


    The other servants, ¡°...¡± Didn¡¯t he say that he wouldn¡¯t go see her?


    ¡ª


    Because Ji Man was someone from Marquis Moyu¡¯s household, the constables didn¡¯t use torture to extort a confess from her. After she was asked a few questions, and the servants from Marquis Moyu¡¯s gave their testimonies, she was locked up in a prison cell.


    She must truly have a fated connection with this ce ce. She was back here again shortly after being let out.


    It was only that this time, there was no one in the neighboring cell to keep herpany and chat with her. There was only a dirty prisoner that kept aguishly wailing at the window.


    Ji Man felt less bored once she start reminiscing about everything that had happened when she first came here. However, once she started recollecting old memories, she actually thought about that wedding day in the hall, and Ning Yuxuan looking at her with loathing. And then, it was Qiangwei Courtyard, he had also looked at her disdainfully there too. After that it, it was scene after scene of his very attractive but also very dislikable face.


    Trantor Rambling: Given Wen Wan¡¯sck of intelligence, I think Ning Yuxuan could have saved himself a lot of trouble if he had reced Tanxiang with a servant that was loyal to him at the beginning of the story.

 Chapter 439 - You can go back (2)

    Chapter 439 ¨C You can go back (2)


    They clearly didn¡¯t have that many moments of intersection. Why were all of her memories about him when she was reminiscing?


    Ji Man was a bit frightened by her thoughts.


    The only sounds in the jail were the groaning and wailing of prisoners. There was nothing else. She leaned against the quilt that she had gotten because of connections and gradually fell asleep. Anyways, this wasn¡¯t a Mary Sue romance fiction novel. The male lead wasn¡¯t going to break in here through the window and take her away in the moonlight. She didn¡¯t have any expectations.


    ¡ª


    This jail had winding corridors. A few steps from her prison cell, there was a corner. Ning Yuxuan was standing in that space right now. Through the spaces between the railings, he was able to see her.


    After Qian Yingchen had stood here with Marquis Moyu for a long time, he heavily coughed a few times. Startled by the noise, Ning Yuxuan turned around and harshly red at him. Soon after, he hastily turned back to see if there was any movement in Ji Man¡¯s prison cell.


    Fortunately, Ji Man was already asleep and didn¡¯t hear anything. She only turned over.


    Sighing in relief, but also feel disappointed, Ning Yuxuan waved his hand and lightly said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Not having another choice, Qian Yingchen quirked his mouth and voiced his assented. Was this it? Had he just called him over here to keep himpany and act out the role of a stone for a while?


    The preliminary judgment of the murder case in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate was that Nie Sangyu had a motive for killing Wen Wan. Thus, she was the most likely suspect. However, on the second day, the coroner figured out what Wen Wan was poisoned with. It was a poison that could only be found in the pce called ¡°Beauty Intoxication¡±. It was specifically given to imperial consorts that had been sentenced to death.


    Marquis Moyu carried Wen Wan¡¯s memorial tablet to the front of the pce and knelt down. This caused a group of important officials to gather around him to watch. The emperor could onlye out and personally help him stand up. The emperor said he wasn¡¯t clear about the situation, but the matter would be seriously handled.


    And how would this matter be seriously handled? Every day, Ning Yuxuan went to the pce¡¯s entrance to keep watch. He didn¡¯t go inside. He just stayed outside holding the memorial tablet to pressure the emperor.


    As ast resort, Zhao Zhe dragged out a newly promoted imperial concubine to take the fall for Wen Wan¡¯s death. Moreover, he ordered for that imperial concubine tomit suicide so that one life was repaid with another life. This way, Marquis Moyu could set his mind at rest and leave for the military campaign.


    Of course, a problem arose from Zhao Zhe¡¯s action. That imperial concubine was the first woman that entered Zhao Zhe¡¯s harem after he ascended the throne, so she naturally had a strong background. Her father, Sir Luo, was the Chancellor of Exchequer in the Three Departments. She was also Luo Qianqian¡¯s younger sister.


    Because Zhao Zhe had to deal with the problematic fallout of his actions, he didn¡¯t have the energy to deal with Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan for the time being.


    Ji Man was let out of jail, but she didn¡¯t go looking for Ning Yuxuan. Instead, she continued her efforts in looking for Haohao. The emperor would only be temporarily troubled. Once he was no longer busy, he would naturally go back to making life difficult for Ji Man. But, she wasn¡¯t scared. She had already figured out a n. If she couldn¡¯t find Haohao within the ten-day deadline, then on the day that Ning Yuxuan left for the military campaign, she would go send him off, put that cedar tree cloak on him, and leave this ce.


    She would just leave this terrible mess for these storybook characters to deal with. This olddy no longer wanted to y along!


    After searching the capital for five days, there was still no inkling of Haohao¡¯s whereabouts. Ji Man was almost ready to give up. Haohao was probably in the pce. It was all up to the emperor then.


    Haohao had been taken away at such a young age to be a bargaining chip. In the future, would he even recognize her as his mom? If not, then she would ruin Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face, that way Haohao wouldn¡¯t recognize him either. This way, it would be fair for both sides!


    Ning Yuxuan had been especially honest during the past few days. She hadn¡¯t seen much of him. He seemed to be busy with something. When she bumped into him, he would keep his distance and only nod at her before rushing away.


    He was probably busy with preparations for the military campaign? Ji Man chuckled as she took out a cloak from the wardrobe.


    This was the cedar tree cloak that Nie Sangyu had embroidered. It would probably look good when it was worn with Ning Yuxuan¡¯s white armor.


    Three dayster, it was time for Ning Yuxuan to set off. For some unknown reason, there was something special about this departure. The emperor would be personally sending off the army, and the troops would be taking off on military training ground that was outside the capital. All of the military and civil officials were also in attendance. However, it seemed as if there was something missing.


    Ji Man had pleaded with Ning Yuxuan for a long time until he agreed to let here to send him off. At that time, she would perform a gesture of conjugal love. For example, putting a cloak on him.


    In the end, she had chosen to not leave the capital with him, and he didn¡¯t try to change her mind. Ji Man thought there was a saying that was quite correct. She definitely had to tell Ning Yuxuan about it.


    On the way to military training ground, they shared a carriage. Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°If possible, you should go back to Heaven. Once everything has calmed down,e back to look for me.¡±


    Ji Man chuckled. ¡°Sure.¡±


    Unfortunately for him, once she went back, she wouldn¡¯t being back here again.


    However, Ji Man has thought things through. This wasn¡¯t her world. Marquis Moyu wasn¡¯t her husband. Wanting Ning Yuxuan to only love her was like requiring a horse to stand up on its two hind legs and walk like a human. They were from different worlds. She couldn¡¯t selfishly ask so much from him.


    She would just treat everything that happened her as a dream. She had already changed Nie Sangyu¡¯s fate. Instead of Nie Sangyu dying, it was Wen Wan that died. Since Wen Wan was dead, it was time for this novel to end.


    There wouldn¡¯t be anything here that she was reluctant to part with.


    She tightened her grip on the cloak. Ji Man took a deep breath. The person next to her stayed silent.


    Once they arrived at the military training ground, and after the formalities were concluded, Zhao Zhe ordered for the troops to depart.


    Ji Man grabbed this opportunity to rush forward and shouted, ¡°Yuxuan...¡±


    The man turned his head back. Seeing that his eyes were full of gentleness and warmth, she froze slightly.


    ¡°I... embroidered this cloak for you. Please put it on before leaving.¡±

 Chapter 440 - I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream (1)

    Chapter 440 ¨C I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream (1)


    The cloak was unfolded. The embroidered cedar trees still looked lifelike. This warm cloak contained a woman¡¯s cherished desire.


    Ning Yuxuan softly assented. He let go of the reins and walked to her side.


    The civil and military officials were all here. The emperor was also standing at the top. Ji Man thought that her hands were trembling because there were too many people watching.


    As she draped the cloak over him, Ning Yuxuan whispered into her ear, ¡°You told me that Sangyu¡¯s wish was to hear me say, ¡°I love you. If I say that now, will you be able to leave here?


    ¡°En.¡± Ji Man lowered her eyes. She slowly moved her hands around his neck and pulled the cloak¡¯s strings to the front of hispel.


    ¡°Will Nie Sangyu be an empty corpse?¡±


    ¡°Maybe yes, or perhaps not.¡±Ji Man slowly tied the strings into a bow. ¡°Sangyu¡¯s spirit seems very weak. She might not be able to hold onto this body.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes suddenly sharpened a bit. He reached out and brought her into his arms. His voice sounded somewhat anxious, ¡°That¡¯s not important. You¡¯ll still be able to leave here, right?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know why he was acting this way. He was holding her so tightly by the waist that she felt as if her waist was going to snap. He kept a tight grip on her head, so she wasn¡¯t able to turn around and see his expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s voice sounded as if he was relieved from a heavy burden. ¡°I love you.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in her heart.


    A gust of wind blew by, and the cloak slightly turned over. It looked as if the embroidered trees hade alive. They seem to glow. He doggedly held onto her and wouldn¡¯t let her turn her head, but he continued to softly say, ¡°I love you, Ji Man.¡±


    She could hear the sound of her heart beating. Thump. Thump. Thump. It sounded as if something had broken. It was beating very quickly. The light in front of her seemed to be increasingly bright. Her consciousness became blurry. It felt as if her spirit had floated into the sky, and she suddenly saw the scene behind her body.


    The departing troops had taken out their hooked spears. Step by step, they approached Marquis Moyu, who was still tenaciously hugging Nie Sangyu¡¯s body. He was murmuring something into her ear, but his eyes were looking at the group of soldiers.


    Startled, Ji Man finally realized what was wrong about this scene.


    Ning Mingjie and Nie Qingyun were missing from the crowd of civil and military officials that were assembled today. There were no familiar faces from the Six Ministries. Xiao Tianyi was standing by the emperor¡¯s side, and they were surround by Xiao n¡¯s members.


    It was only Ning Yuxuan that was hemmed in by the numerous soldiers.


    ¡°No...¡± Ji Man really wanted to say something, but no one could hear her voice. The woman in Marquis Moyu¡¯s arms slumped over as if she was dead.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± a tired voice lightly said thesest two words before finally disappearing from her mindpletely.


    Ji Man widened her eyes. She called out in panic, ¡°No!¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to leave. At the very least, she shouldn¡¯t leave at this time. What would happen to Ning Yuxuan? How could he have stepped into such a horrifying trap?!


    There was a p of thunder, but Ji Man seemed to be floating farther and farther away. She tried to grab onto something. She wanted to stay here, but her attempt was futile.


    A sense of weightlessness came over her. Ji Man abruptly opened her eyes. To her surprise, she saw the ceiling of her apartment. Her rm was going off next to her. Next to it, the calendar showed that today was August 27, 2014. There was also arge stack of reports that she had brought home to work on yesterday and was going to bring back to work today.


    Noplicated embroidery patterns, no bloody scenes of mutual attempts at deception, no Errong, no Yurun, no Wen Wan, or Ning Yuxuan.


    At a loss, she stood up and looked around. Several years had passed in that world, but now, it was just one night¡¯s dream?


    She nkly sat there, then pinched her thigh. Ji Man couldn¡¯t helpughing.


    Ah, so it was just a dream. There wasn¡¯t a female lead or a secondary female character. There wasn¡¯t a Marquis Moyu. All those years of struggling and cautiously living, it was all in vain. It had all just been a dream.


    She opened her eyes again. She was still in the peaceful modern era where there was gender equality and monogamy.


    Wasn¡¯t this wonderful? Ji Man wrylyughed. Her face felt a bit itchy. It was only when she touched her face that she realized she had been crying. Not only that, enough time had passed for the tears to dry.


    Why did she cry? She tilted her head but couldn¡¯t figure it out. It was only a dream, and the people in the dream were just imaginary characters. Why would she cry over them?


    She dazedly washed up, picked up the reports, put on her heels, and headed out for work. As always, the air in the city was irritating, and the crowded subway was enough to make a person feel nauseous. The air in the subway was filled with the smell of breakfast steamed buns, but taking the subway was much smoother than riding inside a bumpy carriage. It only took a short time before the subway had traveled halfway through the city.


    When Ji Man left the subway, she was thinking that if Ning Yuxuan was here and took a trip on the subway, his face would end up ghastly pale after being smushed by the crowding people, even if his expression was usually calm.


    ¡°Morning.¡± After greeting her cubicle neighbors, Ji Man sat down as usual and swiftly prepared to start her work. Her nearby coworker was scrolling threw a webpage and suddenly eximed, ¡°What a well-written poem.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t listen to her. She had always cared about efficiency at work. Although she was already holding a report in her hand, she was only nkly looking at it. She needed to quickly adapt to the present.

 Chapter 441 - I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream (2)

    Chapter 441 ¨C I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream (2)


    Engrossed in her reading, the nearby coworker read aloud, ¡°<i>I dare not calcte my fate for I fear the fickleness of heavenlyw. I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream.</i> Hey, Ji Man, don¡¯t you think these words are quite interesting?¡±


    The hand that was going to start theputer paused. Ji Man turned her head and nkly stared at her.


    <i>I dare not calcte my fate for I fear the fickleness of heavenlyw. I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream.</i>


    Hadn¡¯t she just had a long dream? Fortunately, she hadn¡¯t fallen in love.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The coworker was startled by Ji Man¡¯s behavior. She quickly pulled out tissues and offered them to her. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t cry. What¡¯s wrong? You were perfectly fine yesterday. Did you have a bad breakup?¡±


    ¡°How could I have a bad breakup? I¡¯m not even in a rtionship.¡± Ji Man was also stunned by her own behavior. She took the offered tissues and dried her tears. Smiling, she said, ¡°It¡¯s probably because my eyes are feeling too tired since I stayed upte reading a light novel.¡±


    With a face ready for gossip, the coworker looked at her and said, ¡°Stop pretending. I¡¯ve dated a lot. How could I not know what a bad breakup looks like? You¡¯re toopetitive and tough. You have no idea how many people call you Abbess Miejue behind your back. You should asionally be a bit more gentle, dress up, and go out on a date. There are so many good men out there. You shouldn¡¯t care too much about the few that upset you.¡±


    (T/N: Abbess Miejue is a character from the <i>The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber</i> by Jin Yong. She is dogmatic about her views and ruthless when ites to obtaining her goals. She stubbornly chooses to die rather than ept help from her enemy.)


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I don¡¯t care.¡±


    Why should she care about him? He was such a yboy. She reached out to pick up her phone and realized that she had forgotten to bring it. She suddenly remembered that it was opened up to the novel that she was reading. She hadn¡¯t read the ending yet.


    What would the ending look like? When she left, the soldiers had already surrounded Ning Yuxuan.


    After thinking about this for a while, Ji Man opened up a browser, searched for the light novel that she had read, and skipped to thetest chapter.


    ¡°Marquis Moyu was trapped by the army. Zhao Zhe had meticulously designed this trap. He was determined to get rid of Marquis Moyu once and for all. Just as a hooked spear was going to stab through Ning Yuxuan¡¯s chest, a sound came from outside the military training field...


    There was a link for the next chapter after the ellipsis. Ji Man held her breath as she clicked on the link. To her surprise, the page does not exist error was disyed!


    When she clicked to the ¡¯s cover page, she saw that the novel¡¯sst update was half a year ago!


    The author gave up? Ji Man was furious. She looked for the author¡¯s name, but it was anonymous. She opened the website¡¯s customer service page and couldn¡¯t resist letting loose a stream of outraged curses. The customer service very apologetically told her that they had lost contact with the author after that update, so the novel remained unfinished.


    There was no ending? There was actually no ending? Ji Man was so angry that she started tough. She flipped back and looked at the chapters that she hadn¡¯t read yet. As soon as she saw the words, she froze in surprise.


    The novel had changed from thest time she read it. It was revealed that the secondary female character had faked her death. After that, her behavior was exactly the same as hers. Slowly, little by little, she had taken back the male lead¡¯s heart and pushed the female protagonist off her altar.


    The author probably had no idea how to continue this novel. The female protagonist had already been reced, so how could the author continue writing? If the author had switch the male lead, there would still be readers. But, if the female protagonist was reced, why would the readers still read this novel?


    Ji Man had nkly stared at the screen for a while when someone suddenly patted her shoulder from the back. When she turned her head to look, her manager was looking at her screen with an unhappy expression.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Ji Man closed her eyes. Just as she was going to close that page, she heard someone calling her, ¡°Ji Man.¡±


    ¡°When you¡¯re at work, don¡¯t do things that are unrted to work.¡± Her manager was still standing behind her and nagging her. ¡°Thepany is in a slump. At any moment, they¡¯re going toy off employees. If you don¡¯t want to work here, there are plenty of people waiting to take your spot...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not willing to ept this...¡± This time, it wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu¡¯s voice. When she listened to it carefully, she realized it was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you closed that rubbish yet?¡±


    ¡°You do love me. Why do you always lie to yourself and say that you don¡¯t feel anything?¡±


    ¡°Ji Man?¡± The manager was somewhat angry.


    Ji Man was dumbstruck and stared at the webpage. Suddenly remembering something, she got up and rushed out of the office.


    Behind her, the manager angrily shouted, ¡°Ji Man! You¡¯re fired!¡±


    Fine, fire her. It was only after she returned to modern-day that she realized she liked that old feudalistic world more. Although there were many areas where it was inferior to modern-day, and equality between men and women wasn¡¯t as good, she still ended up liking it.


    If it was only a dream, then let her keep dreaming. She wasn¡¯t happy with the ending either. She had worked so hard to change the secondary female character to the female protagonist, but she wasn¡¯t even added to the list of actors and actresses. As Ah Sang once sang, ¡°There¡¯s clearly three people in this movie, and yet my name will never be on the credits.¡±


    (T/N: This song is called Ò»Ö±ºÜ°²¾² (Always in Silence). Here¡¯s a link for the tranted lyrics, and a link if you want to listen to the song. It¡¯s one of my favorite songs ^^.)


    ¡°Ji Man...¡±


    ¡°Stop calling me.¡± Ji Man was running very quickly on her eight-centimeter high heels. ¡°This olddy will definitelye back!¡±


    Suddenly, her heel caught on something, and Ji Man fell over. She fell into boundless darkness and abruptly woke up.


    When she opened her eyes, she was greeted with an appealing antique canopy curtain.


    ¡°Miss, what¡¯s wrong?¡± A servant girl from the marquis¡¯s estate pushed open the door. Looking at her, she said, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to get up. The marquis is almost about ready to leave for the military training field.¡±


    Leaving for the militarily training field? Ji Man was dumbfounded. She stared at the servant girl and asked, ¡°Is the marquis leaving for the military campaign today?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Miss, please get up first.¡± The servant girl looked at her strangely.


    Trantor Ramblings: Even though the word ¡°Dreamer¡± is in the title of the novel, I want to believe that Ji Man¡¯s return to the modern era is just a nightmare. And that, because she dies in her nightmare, she wakes up as Nie Sangyu again.

 Chapter 442 - Challenges (1)

    Chapter 442 ¨C Challenges (1)


    After being stunned for a brief moment, Ji Man jumped up like a spring. She quickly put on her clothes and washed up. Her actions were so swift that it startled the young servant girl.


    Nie Sangyu¡¯s cedar tree cloak was still lying on the side. Ji Man pursed her lips and looked at it for a moment before she solemnly put it back into the wardrobe.


    It didn¡¯t matter if her return to modern-day was only a dream or if it was something else, the first thing that she had to do right now was stop Ning Yuxuan from leaving.


    He couldn¡¯t go to the military training field!


    She had hated him as well as loved him for a long time on Nie Sangyu¡¯s behalf. Nie Sangyu¡¯s had died because of him in her previous life. And yet, her wish wasn¡¯t for him to fall in love with her or for him to do something for her. She merely wanted him to wear the cloak that she had embroidered.


    That foolishly stupid woman had made her take such a long circuitous route for nothing. She had thought that a woman with a one-sided love would be mad with the desire to capture the man¡¯s heart. But, as it turned out, what Nie Sangyu wanted was so little.


    It was so little that she felt bad for her.


    The way she loved him was wrong, and her actions had been wrong too. Even if she had done all of those things out of love, it was still wrong. Ji Man could only wish that in Nie Sangyu¡¯s next life, she would be born to a good family and fall in love with the right person.


    After closing the wardrobe¡¯s doors, Ji Man lifted up her skirt and rushed out of the room.


    ¡ª


    Qian Yingchen was waiting outside. Seeing Ning Yuxuaning out, he quietly said, ¡°Marquis, everything has been arranged on the training grounds. Will you be taking Miss Nie with us?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and walked out the courtyard. ¡°Yes, she¡¯sing. She¡¯s said that she¡¯s going to give me a cloak too.¡±


    Qian Yingchen nodded. When the two of them left the western courtyard, they saw Nie Sangyu sprinting over here and running straight into Marquis Moyu¡¯s chest.


    Gasping for breath, Ji Man raised her head and said, ¡°My lord, don¡¯t go to the training grounds. There¡¯s an ambush there. The emperor wants to kill you!¡±


    Qian Yingchen and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expressions changed.


    Ji Man was surprised that Ning Yuxuan¡¯s first response was to cover her mouth. She anxiously looked him straight in the eyes.


    Ning Yuxuan drew in his breath, looked around, and lowered his voice to ask her, ¡°How... how did you know about this?¡±


    Ji Man pulled his hand away. ¡°I¡¯m a celestial immortal. Did you forget? Anyways, you can¡¯t go!¡±


    Qian Yingchen looked at her as if she was crazy. A celestial immortal? Haha.


    Ning Yuxuan stayed silent for a while, then lightly sighed and asked, ¡°Do you trust me?¡±


    What? Ji Man calmed down too after seeing his unflustered expression. She looked away and said, ¡°I do...¡±


    ¡°If you trust me,e with me.¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled and said, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t harm you.¡±


    Of course, she knew that he wouldn¡¯t harm her. He was someone that had foolishly said he loved her and wanted her to leave at the critical juncture. Ji Man sighed. Since she wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him, she might as well get in touch with her older brother and have him bring soldiers to the training grounds to guard Ning Yuxuan?


    However, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t give her the time to do this. He pulled her to the carriage, and they boarded.


    Inside the carriage, Marquis Moyu looked at her empty hands and somewhat unhappily asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you were going to give me a cloak? Were you lying?¡±


    Ji Man quickly exined, ¡°No. It¡¯s because if I give you that cloak, I might really go back to heaven and disappear from here. That¡¯s why I¡¯m not going to give you that cloak anymore.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head and tugged her hand over. ¡°If you decide to go back one day, tell me first. Don¡¯t suddenly disappear.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man¡¯s heart felt slightly heavy.


    She had already returned to modern-day, the ce that she had been longing for her. But when she went back, she didn¡¯t know why, she ended up sorrowfully crying. It felt as if her world had turned into a cage.


    She had discovered that she had been influenced by Nie Sangyu without being aware of it. She had fallen in love with a person that was full of this evil era¡¯s male chauvinism.


    However, if you wanted wealth, that person had it. If you wanted power, that person had that too. If you want an attractive face, that person had it all. She was the one doing social climbing. Other than having to face some challenges as his woman and undertaking the pressure of living in a polygamous society, everything else was pretty good.


    There was no such thing as a perfect romance. You simply had to figure out how to fix those ws. Since she had decided to stay here and write out their ending together, from now, she wouldn¡¯t allow herself to easily give up.


    Ji Man took a deep breath and tightened her hold on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hand.


    There were still challenges waiting ahead of them.


    When they walked to the training grounds¡¯ entrance, the civil and military officials were already streaming to the stands. It was exactly like the previous scene. Ji Man felt somewhat agitated.


    After the required ceremonial steps were over, the emperor ordered for the troops to depart. Once again, Ji Man grabbed this opportunity to approach Marquis Moyu.


    However, this time, she didn¡¯t have a cloak to give him. She could only awkwardly stand there and look at him.


    ¡°Is there something that you want to say?¡± Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled as he looked at her.


    Ji Man cleared her throat. After thinking it over, she decided to act more brazenly. Half-kneeling down in front Ning Yuxuan, she lifted up his hand and softly kissed the back of his hand.


    ¡°My lord, this servant vows to be you for the rest of my life. Together in life and death and through any adversity.¡± Ji Man raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were bright as she said, ¡°No matter how long my lord is away, this servant will wait in the capital for you until you return home with honor.¡±

 Chapter 443 - Challenges (2)

    Chapter 443 ¨C Challenges (2)


    Ning Yuxuan was confounded. The nearby civil and military officials had also clearly heard Ji Man¡¯s words. Soon, there was a moring uproar. The emperor¡¯s expression looked extremely ugly. He was unwaveringly staring at the two people below.


    A long timeter, Marquis Moyu finally stretched his other hand out and pulled her up. He looked at the emperor and said, ¡°Your Majesty, this subject will have to trouble you to care for my not yet wedded wife.¡±


    Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t smile. He only lightly snorted. The wind that started to blow on the training grounds caused people to feel somewhat cold.


    ¡°The marquis is serving the country, so this emperor really should take good care,¡± Zhao Zhe said, ¡°Unfortunately, someone recently wrote a letter that the marquis has been secretly meeting with important officials to plot a rebellion to seize control of the imperial court, hidden away letters meant for the emperor, stamped reports with the imperial seal, and secretly wore dragon robes.¡±


    Standing by Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man looked at Zhao Zhe with furrowed brows.


    ¡°Although it pains this emperor to do this, this emperor must have the marquis arrested ording tow,¡± Zhao Zhe pped his hands, and the surrounding soldiers gradually approached them.


    Just likest time, the soldiers had their hooked spears raised and pointed at Ning Yuxuan. But, this time, Ji Man was standing side by side with him.


    Ning Yuxuan very leisurely smiled. He turned his head to look at Ji Man and said, ¡°There¡¯s something that I¡¯ve been wanting to say for a long time.¡±


    Ji Man stole his words, saying in an indifferent tone, ¡°En, I love you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan, ¡°...¡±


    The previous romantic atmosphere was thoroughly swept clean by her tone. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Didn¡¯t you always want me to say those words? Why won¡¯t you let me say it now?¡±


    ¡°Your outlook on love is different from mine.¡± Ji Man looked at the soldiers that wereing increasingly closer. ¡°You think that loving someone means you should protect her and have her hide behind you, right?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. Wasn¡¯t that how it was supposed to be?


    ¡°I think loving someone means standing by his side and weather hardships together. Just like I once said to you, I want to be a tree, not a trumpet vine.¡±


    Ji Man seriously said, ¡°In short, either we survive this together or die together today.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned for a moment. The nearby people, who had heard her words too, were also stunned. Ji Man stood by his side and looked at the faraway Zhao Zhe. She took a deep breath, then very quietly asked Ning Yuxuan, ¡°So, are you going to live or die?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had thought she was going to say bold, visionary words. He covered his face and stifled hisughter. ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to keep living.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man straightened her back.


    Just as a soldier¡¯s hooked spear was about stab through him, there was suddenly the sound of an army orderly marching over here. It was like hearing the booming sound of thunder from a slowly approaching storm. Everyone was startled. One by one, they turned to look at where the sound wasing from.


    The approaching armored soldiers formed a dense mass and stretched pass the entrance of the training grounds. Ning Mingjie was riding a horse at the forefront. He slowly entered the training grounds, dismounted from the horse, walked to a spot below the emperor, and said, ¡°The 80,000 soldiers have already been gathered. It¡¯s just missing themander. Your Majesty, please give the army the order to set out.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s face changed colors.


    This army had been waiting in a station outside the capital. Even if they were going to set out, it should be Ning Yuxuan that should go over there to join up, then set out for the borders. Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t have the army seal. How could he bring over these troops?


    Was he trying to scare them to death by bringing over these 80,000 soldiers?


    The faces of the officials had changed colors too. On the other side, some soldiers who couldn¡¯t read the situation had already started attacking Ning Yuxuan in hopes of receiving meritorious credit. Although most of the soldiers had already halted over there, there were still a few soldiers that didn¡¯t fear death.


    Ji Man had said she would advance or retreat together with him, so of course she would do that. When the soldiers had beening over to surround him, she had already jumped out of the fight zone.


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t whether tough or cry. He surprisingly still had the time to leisurely ask, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you want to live and die with me?¡±


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°Sure, but I don¡¯t know martial arts. I would only be causing trouble if I stand by your side. If right now, you yell for me to hurry, run away, I¡¯ll definitely leave without even looking back. It¡¯s so that I can lightened your burden!¡±


    There were so many idiots with obsessivepulsive disorders that would choose to waste time and end up being hacked to death by their enemy. They would go back and forth with saying, ¡°Hurry, run away!¡± and ¡°No! We have to run away together!¡±


    She didn¡¯t know how to fight. When someone gave you the chance to flee for your life, of course you have to run. Otherwise, both of their lives would be forfeit, and they would die with unfinished grievances.


    Ning Yuxuan roared withughter. He took out his sword and quickly shed the iing solider. There were two soldiers lying on the ground, and another two soldiers nearby that were wounded. In actuality, a real life fight didn¡¯t look as good as the choreographed fights on the TV. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body also showed signs of damage. With one against five, this fight didn¡¯t look any different from a street brawl.


    ¡°Seize those soldiers that are rebelling against the emperor.¡±


    Faced with the pressure of the army, Zhao Zhe only had one option. He ordered for the soldiers that had attacked Marquis Moyu to be seized and beheaded. How dare they harm the emperor¡¯s beloved subject?


    Ning Yuxuan sighed in relief. Ji Man did the same too. One after another, the nearby officials started to praised Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°The marquis is so talented. With such a goodmander, what country would dare to invade?¡±


    ¡°Yes, exactly so, that recent martial artspetition was truly brilliant. Anyone with eyes can see the marquis¡¯s strength. No one in the armies would be able to dispute this.¡±


    It had clearly been a scene of premeditated murder, but now they were saying it was a martial artspetition. Ji Man silently cursed them as she went over to help support Ning Yuxuan. His injures weren¡¯t light. She could see the deep wound on his shoulder.


    ¡°Your Majesty, thank you for your great benevolence.¡± Ning Yuxuan saluted Zhao Zhe.


    Zhao Zhe insincerely smiled. ¡°Marquis, you may rise. Get ready to leave for the campaign.¡±

 Chapter 444 - Turn of events (1)

    Chapter 444 ¨C Turn of events (1)


    Marquis Moyu voiced his assent. Ji Man had been helping him stand up when he suddenly fainted without warning.


    Ji Man only had enough time to feel the weight on her hand abruptly increasing. She almost fell to the ground with him. ¡°My lord!¡±


    The surrounding people were startled. From the other side, Ning Mingjie hastily came over to support Ning Yuxuan.


    ¡°There was poison on the weapons?¡± Ji Man angrily raised her head to re at Zhao Zhe.


    The corners of Zhao Zhe¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°How could there be poison? They were usingmon military issued weapons and only made brief contact.¡±


    If it was only brief contact, how could there be a deep wound on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s shoulder? Ji Man supported Ning Yuxuan and somewhat anxiously said, ¡°Go find a doctor first.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, if the marquis doesn¡¯t head out soon, the auspicious time will have passed.¡± Nearby, a ceremonial official furrowed his brow as he reminded, ¡°It would be very unlucky for the army to depart after the auspicious time has passed.¡±


    Ancient times people were very superstitious and thought these superstitious practices were extremely urate. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be so many officials responsible for ceremonies and astrologers observing the sky in the Ministry of Rites. An army of 80,000 soldiers was already waiting outside, but themander had suddenly fainted. If Ning Yuxuan was forcibly brought onto a horse, and the soldiers saw their unconsciousmander, was there still a need to fight a battle? They might as well give up now and directly give their country to the enemy.


    However, if Zhao Zhe had the 80,000 soldiers wait until Ning Yuxuan had recovered to depart, not only would the auspicious time be missed, how would Ning Yuxuan be able to sessfullymand the army?


    The nearby people had tried all sorts of ways ¨C from pinching him to using needles on his acupuncture points to pressing on his pressure points ¨C but Ning Yuxuan remained unconscious, and the wound on his shoulder had gotten worse from their attempts. That injury was starting to look terrible.


    With an ashen face, Zhao Zhe looked at Ning Yuxuan for a long time before he finally clenched his jaw and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s Ning Mingjie?¡±


    ¡°This subject is here.¡± Ning Mingjie knelt down again.


    ¡°This emperor bestows you the title ofmander over these troops that will head out on a punitive expedition to the west. Are you willing to lead these reinforcements to the borders and ensure the security of my country and its citizens?¡±


    Ning Mingjie deeply kowtowed. ¡°Thank you for your great benevolence, Your Majesty¡±


    Ji Man was thrilled. So Ning Yuxuan wouldn¡¯t have to go out on the expedition? Although she was worried why he had suddenly fainted, it meant that he could remain in the capital.


    ¡°Alright, bring the marquis back to his estate for now.¡± Zhao Zhe nced at Ji Man and said, ¡°The position of themander has been temporarily changed due to the desperate circumstances. Yuxuan is a good general. Once he¡¯s recovered, he¡¯ll follow after the troops and go the bordends too.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ji Man agreed on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s behalf.


    Even if he was only pretending to be ill, it seemed that he would have to keep up this pretense for a long time.


    Ji Man brought Ning Yuxuan back onto the carriage, and they headed to his estate. On the way there, he woke up. He opened his eyes and looked at her as she said, ¡°You¡¯re freed from your dilemma.¡±


    Since he didn¡¯t have to go on the expedition, they could work together to figure out how save Haohao. She didn¡¯t have to stay here and face Zhao Zhe by herself.


    Ji Man looked at his bleeding wound. Furrowing her brow, she asked, ¡°Did you do that deliberately?


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan moved his head slightly up so that it was pillowed on her thigh. He closed his eyes after he found afortable position. ¡°Zhao Zhe is determined to get rid of me. It can only end in my death or him perishing.¡±


    Shocked, Ji Man said, ¡°It¡¯s another fight for power? You¡¯ve gone through multiple rounds of this. Why don¡¯t you just try to seize the throne for yourself?¡±


    ¡°I have thought about that.¡± Ning Yuxuan helplesslyughed. ¡°However, it¡¯s an ancestral rule that no one in my n can scheme to sit on the throne. The imperial family¡¯sst name can¡¯t be changed. Even though the person on the throne keeps changing, I can never be allowed to sit on it.¡±


    Otherwise, how could he be willing to stay only a subject despite the numerous opportunities?


    Oh, so it was like that. Ji Man had thought it was because Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t have great ambition and was devoted to the idea of supporting the current ruler.


    ¡°Since the emperor wants me to leave once I¡¯ve recovered, my illness can only get worse.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at Ji Man and earnestly said, ¡°This information is a matter of life and death. You¡¯re the only one I shared it with. Don¡¯t disappoint me and turn your back on me.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man seriously nodded.


    The new emperor had only recently ascended to the throne, so his foundations weren¡¯t stable yet. However, Ji Man thought the Ning Yuxuan¡¯s odds of sess wasn¡¯t as good as the previous time. After all, Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t suffer from psychological issues like Zhao Li. Back when Zhao Zhe was the crown prince, Zhao Jue and Zhao Li hadn¡¯t been a match for his resourcefulness and scheming.


    In addition, Marquis Moyu was handicapped by his wife and children. Although he had control of the officials in the six ministries and was allied with generals, from her perspective, he appeared to be in a weaker position.


    Ji Man felt quite anxious. First, she didn¡¯t know if this was a dream or reality. Second, why had she chosen such a troublesome man? At anytime and at anyce, he might lose his life. She had to worry on his behalf.


    But, as she was running back here in her heels, she had already understood. So, what if she was dreaming? <i>I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream.</i> At the very least, she had properly experienced love. It was better than waking up, nkly looking around, and not even knowing why she was crying.


    If she was too scared of getting hurt, then why bother with trying to have a romantic rtionship? She was already twenty-six years old and past the ideal age for getting married. Wasn¡¯t it because her mechanism to protect herself from getting hurt had been taken too far? She hadn¡¯t been willing to invest her feelings in a rtionship. She had been too scared of getting hurt. In the end, she had be a leftover woman.


    Taking a deep breath, Ji Man stroked Ning Yuxuan¡¯s head and quietly said, ¡°This time, I¡¯ll stand at my lord¡¯s side.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan opened his eyes. They were gleaming as he looked at her for a while, then he slowly closed them. ¡°En.¡±

 Chapter 445 - Turn of events (2)

    Chapter 445 ¨C Turn of events (2)


    He was very happy. Although he knew that a woman probably wouldn¡¯t be useful, he already felt lucky enough that she was finally willing to be with him.


    As for the thing that had happened to her in the past... let bygones be bygones. Ji Man was different from other women; she wouldn¡¯t attempt suicide because of forced intimacy.


    He... could forget that matter too.


    Ji Man had no inkling of Zhao Zhe¡¯s sessful deception.


    When they returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s wound was treated, then a doctor was called over to diagnose the severity of his injury. Under the enticement of gold, the doctor determined that Marquis Moyu had indeed been poisoned, and the detoxification would take half a year.


    When this diagnosis was reported to Zhao Zhe, he scoffed. But, his hands were tied. He could only leave Marquis Moyu alone to recuperate.


    Still, during this period of recovery, couldn¡¯t his authority over certain areas be transferred to other officials? After all, if he had too much work to do, wouldn¡¯t that be detrimental to his recuperation?


    However, Marquis Moyu had moved quicker than Zhao Zhe. The next day, he presented a report to the emperor. It was a written n on how to allocate all of his authority to the key figures in the imperial courts during his recuperation.


    Under this n, the majority of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s authority was given to Qian Yingchen, a smaller portion amongst the heads of each of the six Ministries, and the remaining portion was given to his loyal n members.


    Although his power had been technically dispersed, in actuality, nothing changed.


    Zhao Zhe had originally wanted to disagree, but the report was very well written. The wording had been tactful while still being conspicuously reproachful. Many of the old officials thought this was the best possible n and expressed their agreement.


    And so, Qian Yingchen became the manager of the Six Ministries and on the same level of the prime minister in hierarchy.


    ¡ª


    Ning Yuxuan was quite happy with being idle. Every day, he would go tease the birds and look at the flowers in his estate, then he would go tease Ji Man. His life was pretty good.


    ¡ª


    There were rumors that Shen Youqing had be pregnant. When Ji Man heard this news, she immediately dropped what she was doing and went to pce to see her.


    How could amoner like her freely enter the pce? It was because Zhao Zhe had issued the order that Nie Sangyu could enter the pce without needing a token. Naturally, no one dared to refute the emperor¡¯s words. Under normal circumstances, Ji Man wouldn¡¯t bring trouble onto herself by going to the pce. However, this time was different.


    Pregnancy brain, ah. During pregnancy, a woman would be at her most softhearted point. It should be especially true for someone like Shen Youqing, who had had finally gotten pregnant after several years of marriage.


    As someone that had experienced pregnancy, Ji Man was able to share her considerable experience and have a long chat with Shen Youqing. The ceremony to promote Shen Youqing to empress was expected to happen very soon, and she had be much more prideful. After listening to Ji Man speak for a long time, her expression showed that she was still suspicious of her intentions.


    ¡°Your Highness, you know that the most important thing to do is to umte good karma for your unborn child.¡± Ji Man¡¯s expression was very resolute. ¡°Everything else like getting enough rest and eating healthy is of secondary importance. When you¡¯re pregnant, you can¡¯t harm other people. Otherwise, your unborn child¡¯s predestined lifespan will be harmed. On the other hand, if you help people fulfill their wishes, those people will feel grateful towards Your Highness, and your unborn child¡¯s predestined lifespan will increase ordingly.¡±


    Shen Youqing¡¯s heart slightly tensed. Women in ancient times were ignorant. Rather than believe in scientific knowledge, they preferred to listen to these superstitious beliefs. Seeing Shen Youqing¡¯s frightened expression, Ji Man added, ¡°It¡¯s especially bad to harm young children. Children have spiritual connections that allow them tomunicate with one another. If you hurt someone else¡¯s child, your child will feel uneasy.¡±


    Shen Youqing¡¯s face paled. She stood up and said, ¡°Thank you, Miss Nie. This consort is feeling a bit tired and will leave first to rest. Miss Nie, you¡¯re free to do as you please.


    Ji Man nodded and left. However, in the following days, she kept going to the pce to talk about Buddhism with Shen Youqing. By the fifth day, Shen Youqing firmly believed in the rumors that harming other children would hurt her own unborn child.


    Women were easier to deal with than men. Who knows how many people Shen Youqing had unjustly killed? By now, she was gued with nightmares every day and night. Ji Man resumed her search for Haohao in the pce. From time to time, she would linger around Shen Youqing¡¯s pce¡¯s entrance and ask her servant girls if they had seen her child.


    ¡ª


    Tonight, Shen Youqing had a nightmare that Nie Sangyu had turned into a malicious ghost and came to ask her for her child¡¯s whereabouts. She woke up screaming and saw a shadow of a ghost outside her window.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Consort Shen was too deeply frightened, which lead to the fetus being disturbed. The imperial physicians anxiously rushed over to stabilize her condition.


    ¡ª


    The next day, Ji Man was summoned to the pce.


    Shen Youqing was pursing her lips as she looked at her. ¡°Miss Nie, have you looked in Wangyue Building?


    After the deposed emperor and empress died in Wangyue Building, it had be a forbidden ce. Since people generally weren¡¯t allowed to go inside, Ji Man naturally hadn¡¯t gone there to look.


    Hearing Shen Youqing saying these words, Ji Man rushed over there.


    She pushed opened the locked pce doors, walked into Wangyue Building, and searched multiple floors before seeing a door to an underground level. Ji Man called people over and open the door together.


    ¡°Is someone there?¡± Guibai¡¯s voice came from the other side of the door.


    Hearing only his voice, Ji Man slumped to ground.


    Then, she heard the sound of Haohao crying, ¡°Daddy ¨C ¡°


    Alright, she wouldn¡¯t quibble over whether he was calling for dad or mom. She had found her child!


    Guibai and Haohao had been outside when they were suddenly knocked out with drugs and brought to this basement. Each day, they would get their food and water from a hole. This was a secluded ce without windows, that¡¯s why no matter how hard Ji Man had searched; she wouldn¡¯t have stumbled on this ce.


    Seeing how pale Haohao¡¯s face had be, Ji Man¡¯s heart ached. She gritted her teeth and picked him up.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Haohao doubtfully looked at Ji Man. There were tears on his face, and his mouth puckered as if he was going to cry.


    Trantor Ramblings: It feels ironic that Haohao suffered less when Zhao Li was the emperor, and Ji Man help put Zhao Zhe on the throne. To be fair, I don¡¯t know if this is something that she could have reasonably foreseen.


    A few chapters ago, Ji Man¡¯s coworker mentioned that other people call her Abbess Miejue behind her back. In the story, <i>The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber</i>, there were several times when Abbess Miejue choose to dogmatically value revenge over the well-being of her dependents. Ji Man has lots of good points, and she¡¯s much more merciful than the abbess, but I think the author shows throughout the novel that Ji Man lets revenge blind her too.

 Chapter 446 - Men arent dependable (1)

    Chapter 446 ¨C Men aren¡¯t dependable (1)


    Ji Man opened and closed her mouth. She really wanted to say that she was his mother. However, Ji Man suddenly felt a bit upset that Haohao would look at her as if she was a stranger when he was already this old.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it after we go home.¡±


    Guibai looked Nie Sangyu and nodded. He quickly followed after her to leave the pce. They had to return to the marquis¡¯s estate before Zhao Zhe discovered their disappearance.


    Ji Man wasn¡¯t nning on arguing with Zhao Zhe on why Haohao was in Wangyue Building¡¯s basement. It was fine now that she had found him. In the future, she would keep him well protected. Zhao Zhe would probably have a headache for a period of time now that he had lost his bargaining chip.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Why was he taken away?!¡± Zhao Zhe shouted at Shen Youqing, who was on the bed.


    Shen Youqing¡¯s face was deathly pale. She had recently finished drinking medicine to help with her pregnancy. Her brow was furrowed as she answered, ¡°Hasn¡¯t Nie-<i>shi</i> vowed in front of arge crowd that she would follow Marquis Moyu in life and death? Your Majesty, since it¡¯s no longer possible for you to bring Nie-<i>shi</i> into the pce, what¡¯s wrong with this servant returning Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir to her in order to gain karma points for my unborn child?¡±


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    ¡°Preposterous!¡± Zhao Zhe stepped forward and angrily grabbed her wrist. ¡°Why is your vision so short-sighted and narrow? Why do you only see that Ning Jinchen is Nie Sangyu¡¯s son.? Do you not know that he¡¯s also the marquis¡¯s heir? If he can be used to threaten Nie Sangyu, then he can naturally also be used to threaten Ning Yuxuan. This emperor worked so hard to keep him hidden for such a long time, and you actually turned around and gave him back to Nie Sangyu?¡±


    Shen Youqing knew how topete for favor in a harem, but she didn¡¯t understand the conflicts in the imperial court. She had almost miscarried, but the emperor hade here to criticize her instead of showing concern. It was inevitable that she would feel disillusioned. Shen Youqing lowered her head and stayed silent.


    ¡°This emperor has originally thought we could work together to stabilize my reign. Instead, you do something like this to harm me behind my back!¡± Zhao Zhe flung her wrist away. As he left in huff, he tossed her these departing words, ¡°Stay here and reflect on your actions.¡±


    It had been difficult enough to capture a bargaining chip that could frighten Nie Sangyu and pressure Ning Yuxuan. And now, someone that was supposed to be loyal to him had ruined it. Now that Ning Jinchen had returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, what other possible reservations could Marquis Moyu have?


    Zhao Zhe rubbed his temples.


    The nearby eunuch said, ¡°The Department of Pce Affairs sent over a list of courtdies that recently entered the pce. Your Majesty, do you want to take a look?¡±


    After he had ordered Consort Luo¡¯s death, no one else had been added to his harem. Zhao Zhe thought it over before nodding. ¡°Bring this list over.¡±


    ¡ª


    When Haohao returned to the marquis¡¯s estate, he threw himself into his father¡¯s arms and cried for a long time. Ning Yuxuan promptlyforted his son. In the passing, he sent Guibai to bring a board.


    Not sure what to do, Ji Man stood at the side. This was her first time meeting Haohao with Nie Sangyu¡¯s original appearance. Logically, she should be affectionately hugging her son. Instead, she actually felt nervous.


    Seeing that Haohao had finished crying, Ning Yuxuan turned Haohao around to look at Ji Man. ¡°Haohao, do you recognize her?¡±


    Haohao blinked. He thought for a long time before finding an answer, ¡°She looks very simr to the woman in the painting that¡¯s hanging in dad¡¯s study.¡±


    Painting? Ji Man raised her eyebrow and looked at Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Yuxuan awkwardly coughed and covered his son¡¯s mouth. ¡°That¡¯s not what I want you to talk about. Do you find her familiar?¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s palm felt a bit sweaty. She stiffly smiled at Haohao.


    Haohao¡¯s eyes were full of doubt. He shook his head and mumbled into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s palm, ¡°Not really...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan hastily stopped him from continuing. He smiled as he looked at Ji Man and said, ¡°Our child has never seen you in this appearance, so it¡¯s only to be expected he¡¯ll find you a bit unfamiliar. It¡¯ll fine once you spend more time together.¡±


    Ji Man sighed. She crouched down and used Teacher Ji¡¯s voice to ask, ¡°Heir, have you learned a new poem today?¡±


    Haohao froze in surprise for a moment before instinctively reciting a poem. He swayed his head as he said,


    <i>¡°Purple mists rise from the Incense Burner Peak in the sun;</i>


    <i>The waterfall seems to hang above the stream, seen from far¡¯way.</i>


    <i>Straight down three thousand feet the white spraying torrent does run.</i>


    <i>Descending from Ninth Heaven, could this be the Milky Way?¡±</i>


    (T/N: Trantion is taken from here. It¡¯s another poem by Li Bai.)


    Ji Man stroked a beard that wasn¡¯t there. She nodded and said, ¡°The heir is clever.¡±


    ¡°Teacher?¡± Haohao widened his eyes. He scratched the back of his head and looked at her in surprise. ¡°Teacher doesn¡¯t look like this...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You don¡¯t need to think about that.¡± Ning Yuxuan picked up Haohao and positioned him so that he could still see Ji Man. ¡°You have to call her mom.¡±


    Haohao was dumbstruck. A whileter, he pursed lips and lowered his head.


    Smiling, Ji Man asked, ¡°You don¡¯t want to call me mom?¡±


    Haohao was a smart child. He knew that the person in front of him was a good person. However, the mom in his memories didn¡¯t look like her. Seeing how this older sister¡¯s smile looked sad, Haohao felt conflicted. Should he call her mom or not? If he didn¡¯t, she would be really sad. But, if he did, he would be the one feeling sad.


    He had lost his mother a long time ago.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. You can call me teacher instead of mom.¡± Ji Man continued to smile as she pinched his little face. It wasn¡¯t as silky smooth as before. ¡°The heir needs to properly recuperate too.¡±


    The topic was diverted. Haohao tugged the edge of his sleeve to avoid his father¡¯s gaze. It wasn¡¯t his fault, ah. It was this older sister that said he could call her teacher....


    Ning Yuxuan silently sighted.


    The family of three had finally reunited, but it felt as if there was dark, dismal wind blowing in the marquis¡¯s estate. Liu Hanyun was bed-ridden and didn¡¯t leave her courtyard. After a period of time had passed, Mu Shuiqing would asionallye out to chat with Ji Man.


    ¡ª


    ¡°This servant heard that the emperor is choosing new concubines.¡± Mu Shuiqing had only recently recovered from a serious illness. It was rare for her to be in such good spirits and be in the mood toe over and gossip with her.

 Chapter 447 - Men arent dependable (2)

    Chapter 447 ¨C Men aren¡¯t dependable (2)


    It had been a while since Ji Man had seen Mu Shuiqing. She thought that Mu Shuqing looked better than before. Perhaps, it was because she had untied the knot in her heart and no longer had stress. Although her skin was a bit too pale, it was clear and glowing.


    ¡°What¡¯s the big deal about the emperor choosing concubines?¡± Ji Man handed her a snack.


    ¡°There¡¯ll be a lively drama to watch.¡± Mu Shuiqing chuckled. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that Consort Shen is a jealous woman? Right now, Shen n and Xiao n are inws without any hostility, so the emperor¡¯s position is stable. However, once the number of people increased in the emperor¡¯s harem, there will inevitably be characters that are difficult to deal with. If something bad happens to Consort Shen, will there still be peace? Once a leg is missing on the throne, the emperor won¡¯t be able to securely sit on it.


    Ji Man thought there were times that Mu Shuiqing showed great wisdom. Once Mu Shuqing exined this to her, she came to a sudden realization.


    Zhao Zhe had always been a yboy. Once he ascended the throne, the imperial harem would increase at an rming speed. Picturing Shen Youqing on the verge of facing off with a giant group of courtdies inpeting for favor, Ji Man thought that it was actually better that Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t trying topete for the throne. If he became the emperor and had pces full of consorts, it would be difficult to avoid having the same ending as Zhao Li and Pengyue.


    ¡°I heard a lot of gossip from the servant girls while I was recuperating. Marquis Jingwen¡¯s daughter from a concubine is participating in this selection. She¡¯s Marquis Jingwen¡¯s youngest daughter. She¡¯s turned sixteen this year. I¡¯m not sure what happened after she entered the pce.¡±


    Errong had a younger sister? Ji Man was initially somewhat surprised. However, after thinking it over, it wasn¡¯t surprising that she wouldn¡¯t know this. The statuses of concubine-born children were low, and it was inappropriate for women to leave their homes. Errong, who was a titleddy and the daughter of the deceased main wife, was an exception. It wasn¡¯t unusual that her concubine-born sisters wouldn¡¯t have much of a social presence.


    ¡ª


    After Haohao had been found, Errong didn¡¯t want to immediately return to Jing Province anymore. First, traveling was exhausting for a young child. Second, she was worried that her son, Rui-<i>er</i>, would feel lonely. If they stayed here, he would have Haohao aspany. It was more fun for the older child and younger child to y with someone closer to their own age.


    However, Nie Qingyun and Marquis Jingwen had to return to Jing Province because of work. When Ji Man went over to the southern courtyard, she saw that Errong was mirthfullyughing. Haohao and Rui-<i>er</i> were rolling around on a thick carpet.


    ¡°Careful, don¡¯t hurt yourselves. Errong, as a mother, how can you just sit there andugh so happily?¡± Ji Man lightly scolded. She picked up Rui-<i>er</i> and put him on the bed, then looked at Haohao.


    Haohao was also very happy. His cheeks were rosy. He had eaten lots of good food during the past few days, but his health hadn¡¯t fully recovered yet. He still looked a bit too thin and weak.


    Ji Man stroked his head and softly said, ¡°Heir, it¡¯s time for your nap.¡±


    Haohao obediently nodded. He climbed onto the bed and went to sleep next to Rui-<i>er</i>.


    Ji Man pulled Errong outside to talk. ¡°What¡¯s your younger sister¡¯s name?¡±


    Errong naturally knew that her concubine-born sister had gone to the pce. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°She¡¯s called Erxin. She¡¯s very cunning.¡±


    Cunning? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. What did Errong mean by that?¡±


    ¡°A long time ago, when the emperor was still the crown prince, he and Erxin met in Jing Province. Erxin has had her mind set on him since then. She¡¯s lucky that our older cousin rmended her to enter the pce. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have the opportunity to realize her dream.¡± Errong sighed. ¡°Older cousin is such a good person.¡±


    Ji Man propped her chin as she looked at Errong. So, Erxin was someone that Marquis Moyu had sent to the pce? And she had a favorable impression of the emperor for a long time? And she was very cunning?


    A thought urred to her that Ning Yuxuan was nning on a coup d¡¯etat, but not by using military force this time. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was overthinking things though.


    ¡°Are you nning on staying here without any status or title forever?¡± Errong looked at her and somewhat worriedly asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you go plead with the emperor to bestow the marriage sooner?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no use in pleading,¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°He enjoys leaving us hanging like this. Besides, there¡¯s already a main wife in this household. I can¡¯t ask the emperor to bestow me to Yuxuan as a concubine, right? Yuxuan doesn¡¯t have that big of a face.¡±


    Errong looked depressed. ¡°Why is life so full of trouble and misfortune? With each passing year, we¡¯re getting old. Why won¡¯t the Heavens give you a peaceful life?¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to look at the sky. She sighed again. ¡°When Heavens are about to ce a great responsibility on a great man, it always first frustrates his spirit and will, exhausts his muscles and bones...¡±


    (T/N: Ji Man is reciting the beginning of a very long idiom.)


    ¡°Enough,¡± Errong interrupted her and seriously said, ¡°Right now, there¡¯s only a main wife and one concubine in my cousin¡¯s household. As long as they don¡¯t cause trouble for you, your days will be good. But, you should still keep a tight hold on my cousin. After all, there will be endless amount of new people by his side too.¡±


    In the end, Ning Yuxuan was a man from ancient times and wouldn¡¯t whole-heartedly love one person. Ji Man felt a bit depressed when she thought about this point. She had already given out her heart. If he didn¡¯t treasure it and continued to be a collector of young women¡¯s hearts, what would she do?


    Just as she was contemting this problem, someone came over to tattletale that Sir Qian had delivered beautiful female servants to serve the marquis.


    Qian Yingchen? Ji Man jumped up. She didn¡¯t go over to Marquis Moyu¡¯s courtyard. Instead, she returned to her room, put on a fake skin face mask, changed into Ning Yuxuan¡¯s clothes, tidied up a bit, and went to look for Zhu Yurun.


    Zhu Yurun was bing more and more like her namesake, glossy and plump. She was quite happy to see Ji Man. ¡°Why are you crossdressing again? I though you can go out in your real appearance now?¡±


    Smiling, Ji Man leaned against Zhu Yurun¡¯s side and held her hand in hers as she taught her how to write poetry. ¡°Your man caused me trouble, so I decided that I¡¯ll keep visiting you until he take the initiative to resolve that trouble for me.¡±

 Chapter 448 - A womans principles (1)

    Chapter 448 ¨C A woman¡¯s principles (1)


    Zhu Yurun nkly looked at her. While she was trying to puzzle out Ji Man¡¯s words, an honored concubine had pulled Qian Yingchen over to catch these two in an illicit act.


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s not that this servant wants to give Madam a hard time. It¡¯s bad enough that Madam doesn¡¯t take charge on household matters; she also frequently spends time with other men. She¡¯s truly not suitable to be the matriarch of this family.¡± As the honored concubine said this, she pulled Qian Yingchen into Zhu Yurun¡¯s courtyard.


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s face turned green as soon as he saw Ji Man¡¯s attire. He sent the honored concubine away. He pulled Ji Man to the side and harshly said, ¡°Miss Nie, why have youe here to cause trouble for this one instead of saying in the marquis¡¯s estate to serve him?¡±


    Ji Man responding with beaming smile. Sir Qian, didn¡¯t you send beautiful women to the marquis¡¯s estate? Where would I get the chance to serve him?¡±


    Feeling the beginnings of a headache, Qian Yingchen rubbed his head. ¡°Miss Nie, you¡¯ve misunderstood. Those girls were sent over there to receive lessons. They¡¯ll be sent off to the pceter.¡±


    Ah, so it was like that. Ji Man nodded. This saved her a trip to Ning Yuxuan¡¯s courtyard and giving him the impression that she was petty. Sure enough, if you want to catch a couple in an illicit act, it was better to probe out the situation first by asking another man.


    ¡°However, there are a couple of pretty good women in that group. If the marquis bes interested in one of them and wants to keep her, this one can¡¯t stop him.¡± Qian Yingchen sympathetically looked at her. ¡°Miss, don¡¯t be like before and do something stupid.¡±


    What a joke. She wasn¡¯t Nie Sangyu, so how could she be as stupid as before? Ji Man patted his shoulder and said, ¡°Sir Qian, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to send those courtdies to the other estate if they need to be instructed. Find older female servants that specialize in tutoring to instruct them. Don¡¯t send them to the marquis¡¯s main estate.¡±


    Right now, Qian Yingchen had be a powerful official. Nie Sangyu was only amoner woman without status or rank. Why should he care about what she wanted?


    However, Zhu Yurun came over from behind with a brush and repeatedly nodded. ¡°Yeah, why are you sending women to the marquis¡¯s estate and troubling Miss Nie? Yingchen, why can¡¯t you be more considerate of Miss Nie?¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s temper towards this ancestor had increasingly diminished. He had originally wanted to maintain a man¡¯s dignity. However, as soon as he saw her chubby face looking so serious and sympathetic, he didn¡¯t know how to deal with her. He sighed and said, ¡°Alright, fine.¡±


    Ji Man grinned and immediately saluted. Afterwards, she searched and collected numerous novelty toys and sent all of them to Zhu Yurun¡¯s courtyard. Once Zhu Yurun was happy, Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t continue to make life difficult for her. The previous batch of courtdies-in-training servant girls that were already in the marquis¡¯s main estate was sent off to the other estate.


    However, as Ji Man was leaving Qian Residence after that fruitful conversation, she turned her head to look at Zhu Yurun. There weren¡¯t any impurities in her smile. Ji Man felt somewhat envious of her. She was the luckiest woman in the world. Her love was simple. She didn¡¯t feel the need topete for anything, and her husband was willing to protect her.


    During this episode, Ning Yuxuan wasn¡¯t aware of what had transpired. He only knew that Qian Yingchen was responsible for training up a group of servant girls and had moved them to his other estate. He didn¡¯t think anything of it.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man didn¡¯t have any rank. Nheless, she continued to stay in Feiwan Courtyard. She and Liu Hanyun peacefully coexisted by staying out of each other¡¯s way.


    Ji Store reopened its doors, but it had lost the honor of selling the tribute rice. It no longer sold Zhangjun¡¯s superior rice and was selling ordinary rice grown in the fields near the capital. However, Ji Man wasn¡¯t worried about starving to death. She still had most of the tenant farmer contracts in her possession. With Yan Buba managing her business for her, she remained in the marquis¡¯s estate and took care of Ning Yuxuan without worries.


    ¡ª


    Two days after the second group of women entered to the pce, the results of the selections were announced. Now only was Erxin chosen, she was the first one to be promoted. The emperor praised her for her remarkably beauty and magnanimous conduct. That very night, the emperor favored her.


    Errong felt quite happy. She and Ji Man hosted a celebratory banquet. Many people came over to congratte Errong. After all, she was the only other person from Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household left in the capital.


    However, although Errong was happy, she worried that imperial harem was too sinister of a ce and that Erxin would be mistreated.


    Ji Man spent a few a few days to write a booklet of advice for Erxin. It included information like how to treat other people in order to keep herself safe, how to smoothly praise or criticize other people, as well as short articles that she had read online. She wrote all of it down and asked Errong to pass on her gift. Although it was only theoretical tactics that might be worthless in practice, Erxin might find parts of it useful.


    ¡ª


    Although Marquis Moyu had recovered from his shoulder injury by now, he still frequentlyy in bed and wouldn¡¯t get up. Ji Man would pick Haohao up, put him on the bed, and watch as he smilingly flopped down on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s body until his father got up.


    ¡°Ai, even you two are bullying me.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s hair was tied with brocade ribbons and left hanging behind his back. Dressed in wide white robes, he looked a lot like a cultivating immortal. Combined with his sleepy appearance of half-opened peach blossom eyes, Ji Man was dazzled for quite a while by this sight.


    Haohao was lying on his father¡¯s knees. He giggled and said, ¡°Teacher said that it¡¯s not good for people to lie in bed for too long. Dad, you should get up and take a walk around the garden with Haohao.¡±


    Outside, the sun was shining perfectly today. Ji Man also smiled. ¡°If you can¡¯t walk, I can go find a wheelchair and push you.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan fixed his gaze on Ji Man for a while, then he suddenly reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist, and brought her onto the bed too. He lightly kissed her lips.


    Haohao nkly watched his parents from the side.


    Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. She pushed him away. ¡°Haohao is still here. You¡¯re teaching him bad things.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resistughing. He hugged her and looked at Haohao as he said, ¡°Haohao, when you grow up, you have to find a woman as beautiful as teacher and bring her home to marry.¡±


    Although Haohao wasn¡¯t 100% sure about the meaning of these words, he still nodded before turning his face and scampering outside.

 Chapter 449 - A womans principles (2)

    Chapter 449 ¨C A woman¡¯s principles (2)


    Ji Man pinched Ning Yuxuan¡¯s waist before helping him up and supporting him as they walked outside.


    The temperature wasfortably warm. Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man were sitting on one side of the garden while Haohao was frolicking with a group of young servant girls. They felt quite fortunate as they watched this scene.


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t entered Nie Sangyu¡¯s body, would it be Wen Wan that¡¯s sitting here instead?¡± Ji Man suddenly asked.


    Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°Why mention something that¡¯s already in the past?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Ji Man closed her eyes.


    On the path to here, she hadn¡¯t deliberately harmed anyone. She only used things that she knew about human nature that wasn¡¯t known to people in ancient times to her advantage and improved Nie Sangyu¡¯s overall character. Perhaps, she has used some tricks to get Ning Yuxuan, however, her tricks was simply making Nie Sangyu into a better person.


    It was only by improving herself and bing more suitable to him that she was able to fully steal this man back.


    By lucky coincidence, she was quitepatible with this man.


    Although she hadn¡¯t gone out of her way to get revenge, Qian Lianxue and Wen Wan were both dead. It was probably because her arrival had broken some sort of equilibrium? She felt as if Nie Sangyu was the one that had gotten her great revenge, and she was the one with a clear conscience.


    There couldn¡¯t be a better ending.


    Lightly leaning against Ning Yuxuan¡¯s shoulder, Ji Man watched Haohao from a distance. She would probably spend the rest of her life here.


    On the other side of the garden, Liu Hanyun, who was wearing a cloak, was holding Xi-<i>er</i>¡®s hand and standing at the entrance. Watching that dazzlingly and picture perfect scene from a distance, her eyes reddened.


    Xi-<i>er</i> was nestled by her side. He timidly said, ¡°Mom, Xi-<i>er</i> wants to go back. I don¡¯t likeing out.¡±


    Liu Hanyun closed her eyes and nodded. ¡°Okay, mom will take you back.¡±


    Compared to Haohao, who was extroverted and loved by everyone, Xi-<i>er</i> was timid and scared to speak in front of strangers. Other than his mom, he wouldn¡¯t answer questions when anyone else spoke to him.


    Last time, when Liu Hanyun thought she was going to die from her illness, she thought that this was for the best. This way, she would be able to entrust Xi-<i>er</i> to the marquis, and his father would show him a bit more affection.


    Unfortunately, she hadn¡¯t died, and Haohao was brought back to the estate. Liu Hanyun wryly smiled. This was simply the will of the Heavens.


    ¡ª


    Several dayster, Ning Yuxuan went over to the other estate to check on the courtdies-in-training. Soon, it would be the next round of selection for the imperial harem. Last round, Zhao Zhe hadn¡¯t chosen many women to formally enter his harem, so there naturally had to be another round. Qian Yingchen had personally selected the women that were currently residing in the other estate. These women were slender and elegant with attractive faces and figures. Some were gentle, and some were spirited. They were all well versed in zither, Chinese chess, calligraphy, and painting.


    When these women saw Marquis Moyu, many hearts wavered. They immediately passed on tokens of their love in the form of scented sachets. When Ning Yuxuan returned home, he deliberately went over to see Ji Man while he was coated with a myriad of perfume.


    Ji Man¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change when she ushered him inside and changed the medicine on his injury. It looked as if it was almost fully heated. Afterwards, she attended to him while he had dinner.


    He had originally thought she was going to say a few words of reproach and ask questions, so he was surprised that she hadn¡¯t reacted at all and was behaving so gently too. Ning Yuxuan rxed, but he still thought herck of response was odd. During the dinner, he couldn¡¯t resist asking her, ¡°If I bring home a concubine, what will you do?¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to look at him. ¡°My lord, Sangyu is only amoner without status or rank. Isn¡¯t it weird for you to ask Sangyu this question? It wouldn¡¯t be Sangyu¡¯s ce to worry about this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you like men that whole-heartedly devote themselves to one woman?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows.


    Ji Man nodded. ¡°My lord, aren¡¯t you the one that likes a magnanimous main wife that can tolerate sharing her husband with several other women?¡±


    Marquis Moyu coughed to clear his throat. He looked at her several times before saying, ¡°Are you nning on bing that type of woman?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ji Man slightly smiled. ¡°Sangyu hasn¡¯t married yet and has the power to choose whether to leave or stay. When the dayes that Sangyu has lost all hope in the marquis, Sangyu will leave.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. Soon after, his expression turned ugly. ¡°You¡¯re still thinking of leaving?¡±


    ¡°Of course, Sangyu has already said that Sangyu will only like a man who devote himself to one woman.¡±


    ¡°If I can¡¯t do that, you¡¯re going to leave?¡±


    ¡°What would be the point in staying?¡± Ji Man was smiling as she looked at him. ¡°Life is better in the Heavens. My lord, do you not understand why I chose to stay here? If that reason disappears, why would I remain here? I might as well go back. As for Haohao, I might be able to bring him back with me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Ning Yuxuan angrily shouted.


    Ji Man respectfully stood up and saluted. ¡°My lord, please calm down.¡±


    It felt as if they had gone back to the beginning. He was ready to throw a fit in anger while she remained unperturbed.


    This was a tug-of-war over different ideals. Should they satisfy the other party or themselves?


    Whoever loved more would lose.


    Ning Yuxuan helplessly sighed. He pulled her over to sit down and forced himself to exin, ¡°The courtdies-in-training in the other estate gave these sachets to me. These scents are supposed to be able to soothe people¡¯s spirits. Didn¡¯t you say that you haven¡¯t been able to sleep well recently? I brought these back for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my lord.¡± Ji Man brightly smiled as she took all of the sachets from him.


    A woman needed to have principles. Moreover, she needed to let him know that if these principles were ever broken, then it was bye-bye. She had to mean what she said, so that he wouldn¡¯t dare to repeatedly make mistakes.


    Trantor Ramblings: I like how the author shifts from Ji Man¡¯s narration that she¡¯s arrived at her perfect ending to Liu Hanyun¡¯s very tragic point of view. She literally thinks it¡¯s a worthwhile trade to die in exchange for Xi-<i>er</i> getting some love and affection from his father. It feels like Ji Man, Ning Yuxuan, and Haohao are in a bubble of joy and oblivious to everyone else while Liu Hanyun and Xi-<i>er</i> are left standing at the outskirts. I like the juxtaposition imagery of how their halo happiness is so bright that it makes everything else dark inparison. And, just because Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man have forgotten/would like to forget about Li Hanyun and Xi-er¡¯s existence, the author hasn¡¯t forgotten.


    On a lighter note, I don¡¯t think Ning Yuxuan seriously wants to add anyone to his harem. He¡¯s already experienced firsthand the chaos of having a harem full of woman plotting andpeting for his attention. He starts off just wanting to tease her, and then he couldn¡¯t help himself when he saw her unexpected response. He wants to test what her bottom line is. Then, Ji Man smacks him down XD.

 Chapter 450 - Women that he needed to marry and women that he didnt (1)

    Chapter 450 ¨C Women that he needed to marry and women that he didn¡¯t (1)


    A woman could be weak or tough, but no matter what her attitude was, as long as she did the following three things, her husband wouldn¡¯t bully her.


    First, respect her husband about his choices in his career and his other decisions. Give him sufficient respect. Even if you think he¡¯s wrong, don¡¯t criticize him and boss him around. Instead, in an appropriate tone, carefully give him suggestions.


    Second, don¡¯t rely too much on your husband. She could spend her husband¡¯s money, but she shouldn¡¯tpletely rely on her husband to support her.


    Third, no matter how considerate and gentle a wife was, she had to have a bottom line and have principles. If the bottom line was ever touched, it was necessary for an explosive scene to ur so that he would clearly remember to not do it again.


    Ji Man had forgotten which forum post she had read these words. Anyways, she thought these rules were quite reasonable. If one day, she wasn¡¯t happy living with Ning Yuxuan, she could immediately leave him. She wouldn¡¯t starve to death without him. She had her rice store. If she wasn¡¯t happy, she could go look for Errong and Yurun. He wasn¡¯t the only person in her world.


    If male chauvinism didn¡¯t die, the holy war would simply continue indefinitely!


    However, she couldn¡¯t just think about taking a stand and fighting Ning Yuxuan. The two of them still had to live together. Her advantage was that she was a modern-day person, so she was more knowledgeable and slightly smarter than the average person here.


    Right now, Ning Yuxuan was probably secretly preparing for the major event. As the person standing by his side, she couldn¡¯t cause trouble for him. Instead, she had to do her best to assist him.


    Men had their battlefields, and women had their own as well. After Erxin was promoted, Ji Man went with Errong to visit her in the pce.


    Erxin¡¯s rank wasn¡¯t considered high, however, other than the empress, Erxin was the only one to receive the emperor¡¯s favor in being promoted. Ji Man looked at this young woman¡¯s delicate and pretty face. There was a big difference between her and Errong, who had a carefree personality. Erxin seemed like a sensible youngdy that strictly adhered to etiquette. It wasn¡¯t surprising that she had received the emperor¡¯s favor.


    Errong remained in the hall to chat with Erxin while Ji Man left to go to the empress¡¯s pce.


    The ceremony to promote Shen Youqing to empress had already passed. It hadn¡¯t been as grand as one would have imagined. The emperor had publicly said it was because he didn¡¯t want to tire the empress out now that she was pregnant. However, Shen Youqing knew the truth. Zhao Zhe wouldn¡¯t be that considerate of her.


    Now that she was pregnant, it wasn¡¯t suitable for her to receive favor. With wave after wave of new women entering the pce, Shen Youqing felt awful. And yet, as the empress, she had to be the mother of the nation. She couldn¡¯t show her jealousy or casually punish other people. As the empress, she was worse off than an imperial concubine.


    Since Ji Man had visited Shen Youqing many times before, Shen Youqing¡¯s servants had be familiar with her. She didn¡¯t have to say a word before she was led to Shen Youqing to pay her respects.


    ¡°Why do you have the free time to visit today?¡± Shen Youqing wasn¡¯t happy to see her. During the past round of selection, the emperor had kept several of the courtdies that looked simr to Nie Sangyu. This woman continued to be her greatest threat.


    Ji Man smiled and said, ¡°Sangyu just came here as an ordinary friend to pay respects to Your Majesty. Sangyu heard that Your Majesty has been feeling ill-at-ease, so Sangyu came here to chat with you.¡±


    Right now, Nie Sangyu was a meremoner, but she could freely go anywhere in the pce. If she did anything wrong, the emperor wouldn¡¯t me her. How could it be possible for the women in the pce to not hate her? If Nie Sangyu didn¡¯t have the emperor¡¯s love as her support, what right would she have to call herself the empress¡¯s friend? Or, even be granted an audience?


    While Shen Youqing inwardly sulked, her slight smile didn¡¯t waver. ¡°How thoughtful of you.¡±


    ¡°This humble woman thinks that Your Majesty doesn¡¯t have to worry about losing favor,¡± Ji Man seriously said, ¡°Your Majesty¡¯s n has worked hard to make strong contributions for the emperor¡¯s benefit. No matter what, Your Majesty¡¯s position as the empress can¡¯t be rattled.¡±


    Shen Youqing nodded. She knew this. However, without the emperor¡¯s favor, what would be the point in being the empress?


    ¡°Your Majesty doesn¡¯t need to avoid these new people and should personally train them. This way, you¡¯ll be familiar with them, and everyone will be closer in the future.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°This humble woman has said too much. Your Majesty naturally already knows this.¡±


    Of course, Shen Youqing already knew that it was important to win over the loyalty of the imperial harem¡¯s members. She didn¡¯t need Nie Sangyu to teach her this. It was only that she wasn¡¯t the type of woman that could tolerate her husband¡¯s other women.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t say anything extraneous. She assured Shen Youqing that her position as empress was unmovable while hinting that she had to instruct and be guarded against these new women. Otherwise, what if they became major threats to her one day in the future?


    In fact, not every pce was rife with thepetition, even if there was, it wasn¡¯t as fierce as it was portrayed on TV. However, after Ji Man carefully stirred these thoughts into the muddy waters of Shen Youqing¡¯s mind, other simr thoughts bubbled over. Once Ji Man left, Shen Youqing ordered her servants to bring over the newly arrived courtdies to the eastern pce so they could respectfully listen to her words of edification.


    There were people in the pce that were loyal to Ning Yuxuan. They took advantage of this perfect opportunity by ying a few tricks. During one of the empress¡¯s lectures, Erxin was pushed from behind and sprained her ankle.


    When Zhao Zhe heard that the empress was giving a hard time to someone that he was currently favoring, he was fuming mad as he took Erxin away. Although he didn¡¯t reprimand Shen Youqing, a few people in the eastern pce murmured within Shen Youqing¡¯s hearing range that the emperor must be harboring a grudge against her. Words like once a man achieves great sess, his main wife would be the least favored were also said. Even if the empress was pregnant, she didn¡¯t have a strong position in the emperor¡¯s heart.


    These pce servants were the best at their craft. Instead of saying these kinds of words in front of Shen Youqing, they would sneakily say this on the front staircase leading to the pce¡¯s doorway. Even if Shen Youqing didn¡¯t want to hear these words, it would be difficult for her to avoid hearing it.


    Zhao Zhe no longer cared about her? Shen Youqing covered her lips. Extremely upset, she wanted to directly ask the emperor. She got onto a pnquin and ordered the pnquin bearers to bring her over to the emperor¡¯s hall.


    However, the pnquin bearers ended up taking her on a detour. Because of their dillydallying, her arrival at Zichen Hall interrupted the emperor, who was in the midst of favoring a pce maid.

 Chapter 451 - Women that he needed to marry and women that he didnt (2)

    Chapter 451 ¨C Women that he needed to marry and women that he didn¡¯t (2)


    In the marquis¡¯s estate, Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan were sitting across from each other and drinking tea.


    ¡°I heard the emperor is giving the empress the cold shoulder. The empress is so upset that she almost miscarried.¡± Ji Man put down her cup and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re too ruthless.¡±


    ¡°If Shen n and Xiao n¡¯s alliance isn¡¯t torn apart, we¡¯ll be the ones left feeling uneasy.¡± Ning Yuxuan put down his cup too. He looked at her very admiringly. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that you would know what I was nning on doing and eveny out the foundation for me.¡±


    Ji Man clicked her tongue and shook her head. ¡°It was just a coincidence.¡±


    How could she have known his reach was long enough to enter the inner pce? Wasn¡¯t he a marquis that stayed within the bounds of his role?


    Right now, was this considered a meeting of viins that were colluding together?


    ¡ª


    Erxin was truly a cunning young woman. Step by step, she climbed upwards without meeting any difficulties. In return for her sprained ankle, she was promoted to noble consort. She even went to the empress¡¯s pce to thank her for her favor.


    ¡ª


    Using the excuse that he was sick and the superstitious belief that a marriage would cure his illness, Ning Yuxuan asked the emperor to hurry with bestowing him a marriage. He wanted to get married to Ji Man soon.


    However, Zhao Zhe still didn¡¯t agree.


    Not only did he refuse, he also invited Ji Man to the pce to write poems and discuss them with him since Ning Yuxuan was supposedly sick.


    ¡°This emperor still remembers the poem you wrote in Luoyan Pagoda, <i>Inviting you to drink wine</i>.¡± Zhao Zhe smiled. ¡°Can you write something else?¡±


    Ji Man nodded and easily wrote out the lines from <i>Prelude to the Water Melody</i> by Su Shi.


    <i>How long will the full moon appear?</i>


    <i>Wine cup in hand, I ask the sky.</i>


    <i>I do not know what time of the year</i>


    <i>¡¯Twould be tonight in the pce on high.</i>


    <i>Riding the wind, there I would fly,</i>


    <i>Yet I¡¯m afraid the crystalline pce would be,</i>


    <i>Too high and cold for me.</i>


    <i>I rise and dance, with my shadow I y.</i>


    <i>On high as on earth, would it be as gay?</i>


    (T/N: Excerpt taken from https://jk/literary-trantion-thinking.)


    The emperor¡¯s delightedughter was so loud that even the people passing by Zichen Hall could hear him. And so, the people in the pce thoroughly realized that there was someone in the emperor¡¯s heart. He especially longed for her and doted on her, but he couldn¡¯t have her.


    ¡ª


    After Ji Man had been summoned into the pce by Zhao Zhe for three days in a row to write poems for him, the empress finally couldn¡¯t tolerate this anymore. She tried to persuade Zhao Zhe into bestowing a marriage for Nie-<i>shi</i> and Marquis Moyu.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhao Zhe pursed his lips. ¡°This emperor doesn¡¯t want to bestow that marriage.¡±


    Shen Youqing trembled in anger. ¡°Your Majesty, she¡¯s someone else¡¯s abandoned wife. Why do you insist on coveting her?¡±


    Zhao Zhe angrily reprimanded, ¡°As the empress, how can you be so petty? This emperor is only discussing poetry with Nie-<i>shi</i>. Why would you have a say in this matter?¡±


    Men expected their wives to be magnanimous. When they requested for their wives to not be wrongfully and randomly jealous, they were usually saying this because of a guilty conscience.


    Shen Youqing was driven out of Zichen Hall, and she returned to her pce and cried all night. Afterwards, the fetus wasn¡¯t stable again. Seeing that the empress was constantly stressed from one thing or another, the imperial physicians thought it wasn¡¯t likely that the empress would be able to carry the fetus to full term.


    But then, Erxin came over and delivered a soup beneficial for pregnant mothers. It was made from a secret family recipe. The imperial physicians checked the results; the fetus had settled down and was saved.


    However,ter on, Erxin encouraged the emperor to favor the empress. The empress had been pregnant for three months, and the fetus¡¯s condition was stable, so the empress was also willing to serve the emperor in bed. It was only one night, but the empress ended up miscarrying.


    When Ji Man heard this news, it felt as if she had been sted with the stench of blood. She couldn¡¯t resist dry heaving.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ning Yuxuan put down his book to look at her.


    Ji Man shook her head. It was probably because her imagination was too rich, and she had disgusted herself with the imagery.


    Since the empress had lost her baby because of the emperor, no one else could be med. Shen Youqing felt lost. She closed her doors and wouldn¡¯t see anyone for an entire month.


    In the imperial court, case after case of Shen n¡¯s members embezzling and epting bribes were brought forth. Although Xiao Tianyi did his best to protect them, many people were still implicated.


    Ji Man had a premonition that Shen n would be the second Nie n.


    ¡ª


    More and more people came over to marquis¡¯s estate under the guise of visiting a sickly patient. However, whenever these people came over, they would end up staying sequestered in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s study and discussing something with him for half a day. When they left, their expression would be very solemn.


    Ji Man wouldn¡¯t ask Ning Yuxuan what these discussions were about. She would just helpfully brew tea for him and rub his shoulders. When she was in a good mood, she would hum a little tune.


    Ning Yuxuan had been staying in Feiwan Courtyard for a long time without staying elsewhere. When Ji Man was present, not even a servant girl could be seen by his side. Ji Man had also secretly followed him. She didn¡¯t see him overly intimate with anyone else either.


    If one day a tiger suddenly like to eat carrots, would you believe this is true? Anyways, Ji Man didn¡¯t believe it. However, seeing that he was behaving so well, she was pretty happy. She behaved like a virtuous, little woman. From time to time, she would cook for him.


    One day, when she was going out, she heard the servant girls discussing in the rear courtyard.


    ¡°Why does it seem like the marquis¡¯s estate only needs the western courtyard and Miss Nie? What¡¯s the point in have the other courtyards. They¡¯re not being used anyways.¡±


    The servant girl next to her hurriedly covered her mouth. ¡°Be careful. What if someone hears you and tells on you? This household isn¡¯tcking in servants.¡±


    Ji Man contemted her situation. Did Ning Yuxuan enjoy this modern-day lifestyle or was he faking it?


    That night, when they wereying in bed, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist the urge to ask him this question.


    Ning Yuxuan was a bit lost. ¡°What¡¯s a modern-day lifestyle?¡±


    ¡°The way that we¡¯re living right now, just you, me, and Haohao, and not many servants. I¡¯ll cook for you and do yourundry, then go out to check my rice shop. When youe back from the imperial court, we¡¯ll eat dinner together. I¡¯m the only woman by your side.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her seriously for a long time. He pursed his lips and said, ¡°That¡¯s not impossible. Right now, there isn¡¯t any woman that I have to marry.¡±


    He only had two types of women: women that he needed to marry and women that he didn¡¯t.


    Ji Man felt somewhat discouraged. After such a long time, it wasn¡¯t because he enjoyed being with her more than anything else. Instead, it was because there was no one else that he needed to marry?

 Chapter 452 - I like him (1)

    Chapter 452 ¨C I like him (1)


    Seeing that her gaze had suddenly dimmed, Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist smiling. However, he turned his head away. He couldn¡¯t let her see.


    What benefit would there be in having more women in his harem? Other than the advantage of curbing each faction¡¯s interest, it would be endlesspeting for his attention. This would adversely affect his heir. By its very nature, a harem would endanger Haohao. If it was possible, only having one woman was enough.


    He just didn¡¯t want her to be too proud of herself and be under her control.


    Recently, Ji Man hadn¡¯t been feeling well and would asionally feel nauseous. Thinking that it would be troublesome to find a doctor that she could trust, she decided against it. However, while she was talking with Ning Yuxuan, she suddenly fainted. rmed, he quickly summoned a doctor over to check on her.


    ¡°Congrattions my lord, this youngdy is two months pregnant.¡± The doctor smiled and saluted with his hands.


    Ning Yuxuan was thrilled. Sitting on the bedside, he tightened his hold on Ji Man¡¯s hand. She was pregnant? He would have another child soon?


    When Ji Man woke up, she saw Marquis Moyu smiling like an idiot.


    ¡°Man-<i>er</i>, let¡¯s have a daughter,¡± he said.


    Ji Man was dumbfounded. She didn¡¯t understand what was going on until the nearby doctor repeated his diagnosis. She couldn¡¯t help bing a bit lost in her thoughts. When she was pregnantst time, her thoughts were only about survival. This pregnancy, her heart was brimming full of warmth. Looking at the person sitting next to her, she wanted to grab him and firmly hold onto him.


    She hoped that her next child would be a daughter. She would braid her hair and dress her up like a beautiful princess. Picturing this image, Ji Man smiled too.


    Right now, the inner court was peaceful, so Marquis Moyu didn¡¯t have any apprehensions. This news immediately spread through the estate, and soon after, it reached the pce.


    Ji Man was already pregnant with his child. Zhao Zhe wouldn¡¯t continue to try to snatch her away, right?


    But, the oue was that Zhao Zhe sent people to bring Nie Sangyu into the pce under the excuse of nurturing the baby.


    Everyone in the estate was shocked. Ji Man was pregnant with Marquis Moyu¡¯s child. Why did she have to go the pce to nurture the baby? Sitting on Ji Man¡¯s bedside, Marquis Moyu couldn¡¯t figure out the answer to this question either.


    A rumor spread in the marquis¡¯s estate that the emperor had favored Nie Sangyu when she was in the pce, so the unborn baby¡¯s paternity was unclear. In order to avoid the royal bloodline from leaking out, he naturally had to bring Nie Sangyu into the pce.


    Once the rumors started, it couldn¡¯t be stopped. Even when Ji Man was resting inside, she could hear people gossiping outside her doors.


    ¡°The marquis is so pitiful. The other party is the emperor, so he can¡¯t resist. If it¡¯s really the emperor¡¯s child, how could hepete with the emperor?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been initiate with Zhao Zhe,¡± Ji Man seriously exined.


    Marquis Moyu only responded with an ¡°En.¡±


    But, what woman would admit that she was intimate with another man? Even her face looked a bit pale as she exined. After all, Zhao Zhe had already sent people over to pick her up.


    He felt conflicted. He didn¡¯t know if he should stop the pce servants or not. If he did, the situation would only get worse, and Ji Man¡¯s reputation would suffer a devastating blow. In the future, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to go out in public. But, if he didn¡¯t stop them, she would be taken into the pce. He couldn¡¯t allow that.


    Right now, Ji Man utterly hated Zhao Zhe for pouring this dirty water on her. He ignored his wife and spent so much time scheming on how to snatch someone else¡¯s wife. They had been alone in Shen Youqing¡¯s pce for less than fifteen minutes. Was he so determined to pull her down that he would even humiliate himself?


    Standing at the doorway, Guibai said with a furrowed brow, ¡°My lord, the people from the pce are waiting outside.¡±


    Ji Man raised her head to look at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°Are you going to have me enter the pce?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan had already thought for a long time. He took a deep breath and answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes dimmed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Marquis Moyu stood up and picked her up. ¡°We¡¯ll go thank the emperor for his benevolence, then tell him that the scenery in my estate is very good and suitable for a pregnant woman, so there¡¯s no need for the emperor to trouble himself.¡±


    After being slightly taken aback, Ji Man smiled. She hugged his neck and let him carry her out of the estate. In front of the eyes of the pce servants, they boarded the carriage.


    Being trusted by your lover was a very warm and soft feeling. Ji Man thought; Ning Yuxuan could actually be a good husband.


    Guibai also came along with them. After the three of them departed, there weren¡¯t many people left in the estate. A servant girl that had been hiding in Qiangwei Courtyard, which had been neglected since Wen Wan¡¯s death, popped out and headed to the garden.


    In the garden, Haohao was currently being watched over by a servant girl. He was swaying his head as he read aloud a poem.


    <i>¡°Fair, fair, cry the ospreys, on the ind in the river.</i>


    <i>Lovely is this nobledy, a fit bride for our lord.¡±</i>


    (T/N: Taken from https://web.edu/kwheeler/chinese_poetry_ospreys.html)


    The nearby servant girl blushed as she heard these words. It reminded her of her meeting with Little Three from the kitchen, and she gave into her impulse. She looked around, then lowered her head and asked Haohao, ¡°Heir, can you stay here for fifteen minutes by yourself?¡±


    Haohao turned his head and blinked his eyes. ¡°You can leave if there¡¯s something you need to do. I¡¯ll stay here. I won¡¯t wander off.¡±


    ¡°Heir, you¡¯re the best!¡± The servant girl couldn¡¯t resist patting his cheeks. ¡°If someone asks, can you tell them I went to the toilet?¡±


    ¡°En,¡± Haohao agreed.


    The servant girl happily left, and Haohao resumed memorizing the second half of his poem.

 Chapter 453 - - I like him (2)

    Chapter 453 ¨C I like him (2)


    Tanxiang waited until that servant girl had walked far away. She thought; truly the Heavens are helping me. She went forward and silently approached Haohao from the behind. Seeing that were no one else around, she smiled and said, ¡°Heir, Madam is looking for you.¡±


    Haohao put down the book. He looked at her confusion. ¡°What Madam?¡±


    ¡°The main wife that lives in Linghan Courtyard, ah.¡±


    Haohao was frightened by Tanxiang¡¯s fake-looking smile. He retreated a few steps. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go. I¡¯m waiting here for someone.¡±


    ¡°You have to go even if you don¡¯t want to!¡± Tanxiang¡¯s smile looked somewhat deranged. She went forward, covered Haohao¡¯s mouth, tied him up, and tossed him into a bup bag.


    ¡°Even if I can¡¯t deal with your mother, do you think I can¡¯t deal with a little child like you?¡± Tanxiang sneered. She looked around again, before bringing the bag onto her shoulder and carrying Haohao to Linghan Courtyard.


    After Wen Wan had died, she had been living in Qiangwei Courtyard by herself. Everyone in the estate thought she had gone crazy, so even if someone saw her behaving strangely, no one would dare to approach her and stop her. After all, lunatics would bite people.


    After her master had died, she lived worse than the estate¡¯s dogs. She couldn¡¯t think of a direct way to get revenge for her master, so she could only harm Nie Sangyu behind her back. Right now, she was bringing the heir to the Madam. How would she deal with him?


    In this household, it was Liu Hanyun that was the most woeful woman. Wasn¡¯t she the main wife? Hadn¡¯t she given birth to a son? But, she had a hard time even seeing the marquis¡¯s face. The marquis freely spent every day with Nie Sangyu and the heir, but he never looked at Liu Hanyun¡¯s son, much less look at her. Tanxiang didn¡¯t believe that Liu Hanyun¡¯s heart wouldn¡¯t have any resentment.


    Hadn¡¯t Liu Hanyun fainted when she heard that Nie Sangyu was pregnant again? Even if Liu Hanyun was a person that could tolerate a lot, Tanxiang really wanted to see what the oue would be if she secretly brought the heir to her courtyard.


    If Haohao died, then Young Master Xi-er would be the heir.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun saw Tanxianging over with something, but wasn¡¯t too surprised. She only looked at Tanxiang and asked, ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Tanxiang darkly smiled. ¡°This servant only wants Nie Sangyu to be so stricken with grief that she wants to die.¡±


    ¡°Why did youing looking for me?¡± Liu Hanyun calmly looked at her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just do it yourself?¡±


    Tanxiang was taken aback. She slightly pulled back her emotions, straightened her posture, and said, ¡°This servant wants to leave the marquis¡¯s estate. Madam, please help me. This servant doesn¡¯t have a single coin...¡±


    Hearing this, Liu Hanyun finally lowered her guard. She nodded, took a banknote from her dressing table, and handed it to Tanxiang.


    ¡°Thank you, Madam!¡± Tanxiang repeatedly kowtowed before leaving.


    Haohao quietly looked at Liu Hanyun¡¯s face without making any attempt to get away. Liu Hanyun¡¯s gaze swept over him, and she gently picked him up. ¡°Heir, that must have been a frightful experience.¡±


    Although she said these words, she didn¡¯t untie him or take out the thing muffling his voice.


    ¡°I have some honey here. Heir, do you want to eat it?¡± Liu Hanyun took out a small red bottle. ¡°It¡¯s very yummy.¡±


    Haohao shook his head. His lips were wobbly, and he looked as if he was about to cry.


    However, Liu Hanyun kept a tight grip on him. The smile on her face looked increasingly horrifying.


    The cloth was finally taken out of his mouth, but in the next instance, medicine was poured down his throat. Haohao fruitlessly struggled, but in the end, he could only swallow down the medicine.


    ¡°Sweet child, go to sleep. You¡¯ve already enjoyed such an easy andfortable life for so long. It¡¯s about time you let your younger brother experience it too,¡± said Liu Hanyun softly. She soothingly patted Haohao¡¯s back just like how she would coax Xi-<i>er</i> to sleep.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan entered the pce, Zhao Zhe was smiling more happily than when he found out he was going to be a father.


    Hepletely ignored Ning Yuxuan¡¯s presence and looked at Ji Man as he asked, ¡°Is your condition stable?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, thank you for your concern.¡± Ji Man knelt down and said, ¡°Is Your Majesty still not nning on bestowing the marriage? Sangyu is pregnant with the marquis¡¯s child.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s smile stiffened. He pursed his lips and asked, ¡°How can you know for sure that the marquis is the father of your baby?¡±


    ¡°Because from beginning to end, this servant has only been with the marquis.¡± Ji Man furrowed her brow. She was already confronting him. How could a person act so shamelessly?


    ¡°You¡¯ve only been with one person?¡± Zhao Zhe seemed as if he had heard a joke. He suddenlyughed, and there was even a hint of sadness and pain in his eyes.


    Looking at his eyes, even Ji Man felt an inkling of doubt towards her memory. Had she slept with Zhao Zhe before?


    Marquis Moyu¡¯s expression was very ugly. Standing next to Ji Man, he stretched his hand out and helped her slowly stand up.


    ¡°Your Majesty, what will it take for you to let go of this husband and wife?¡± He asked.


    Zhao Zhe raised his eyebrows. ¡°This emperor hasn¡¯t bestowed the marriage yet. How could the two of you dare to be husband and wife?¡±


    ¡°Although there¡¯s no formal status, the marquis and Sangyu had already be husband and wife a long time ago.¡± Ji Man raised her head to look at him. ¡°Your Majesty, you can block us from getting married and also nder Sangyu¡¯s reputation, but the marquis and Sangyu are already husband and wife.¡±


    ¡°He already has a wife, even if you marry him, you¡¯ll only be a concubine.¡± In a sh, Zhao Zhe pointed at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°This emperor can¡¯t tell. What¡¯s good about this person?¡±


    Ji Man smiled. ¡°He¡¯s not good. He has a harem. He¡¯s merciless and vicious. I can¡¯t guess what he¡¯s thinking. He¡¯s even had children with other women. It¡¯s not even a question of what¡¯s good about him. He¡¯s simply utterly awful.¡±


    The corners of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s mouth twitched. He turned his head to the side to look at her.


    ¡°But, I like him.¡± Ji Man lowered her eyes as she said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing good about him, but I like him. I used to say that I wouldn¡¯t like disloyal men, who had other women. That I wanted someone who could repair light bulbs and knows how to fixputers. But, after meeting him, all of those conditions became obsolete. Your Majesty, do you understand this feeling?¡±

 Chapter 454 - From heaven to hell (1)

    Chapter 454 ¨C From heaven to hell (1)


    Of course, Zhao Zhe couldn¡¯t understand this. He merely wanted to obtain Nie Sangyu, as well as causing discord between them.


    Contrarily, Ning Yuxuan was somewhat stunned to hear these words. He deeply looked at Ji Man. This was the first time he felt moved by her words.


    No feeling could surpass finding out that someone loved you back as much as you loved her.


    In the past, he had liked women like Wen Wan. Women that were cute, gentle, and weak. They relied on men for help and stirred up a protective desire.


    However, after meeting Ji Man, he saw a woman that didn¡¯t need a man¡¯s protection. He saw her stubbornness, her intelligence, and her ability to remain unruffled. It was only then that he realized he could like women like her.


    There wasn¡¯t a cemented in stone collection of traits for liking someone. When you met the right person, that¡¯s when you¡¯ll know what you like.


    ¡°This emperor has already prepared Huafu Palce.¡± Zhao Zhe changed the topic and avoided Ji Man¡¯s gaze. ¡°There¡¯s no use in saying anything else. Go move there for the duration of your pregnancy.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Ning Yuxuan¡¯s gaze sunk.


    Sitting on the throne, Zhao Zhe looked down at them from high above. ¡°Marquis, is there anything left for you to say? Are you going to rebel against your emperor?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan paused before lifting his robe and kneeling down. ¡°This subject was given the position of Marquis Moyu by thete emperor. Although this subject hasn¡¯t aplished any hallowed deeds, this subject has meritorious military aplishments at least. Now that this subject can¡¯t even protect my wife, what¡¯s the use of my position?¡±


    Zhao Zhe was shocked.


    Ji Man was also dumbstruck. She turned her head to look and saw Ning Yuxuan¡¯s bleak expression. He was saluting the person on the throne as he said, ¡°Taking away this subject¡¯s wife is the same as taking my life. Yuxuan can return to the emperor all of the grace this subject has received today, but Your Majesty, please give Sangyu to Yuxuan!¡±


    Ah, why did it sound as if he was goingmit suicide by ramming his head into the wall? Ji Man rubbed her chin. She was curious what kind of trick he was up to. However, in the next moment, this guy actually seriously rushed towards the nearby pir!


    There was a red pir in Zichen Hall referred to as Advising Pir. It was because countless old officials had rammed their head against this pir without hesitation. They had traded away their lives for a chance to emotionally move the emperor and have him reconsider his decisions.


    Right now, Ning Yuxuan was heading towards that very pir.


    Ji Man tried to grab him, but wasn¡¯t able to stop him. He dashed towards the red pir like a Spanish fighting bull.


    Zhao Zhe watched on with great rm, but he didn¡¯t call out to stop him. He was probably thinking that if Ning Yuxuan died, it would be one less problem for himself.


    Was Marquis Moyu really someone that impulsive? Of course not. And so, his head actually rammed into the stomach of a nearby eunuch instead. At this time, the doors to the great hall were opened, and a group of important officials flocked inside.


    ¡°Your Majesty, this subject is here to pay respect.¡± There was a loud mor as the crowd of officials knelt down in unison. Had this moment been rehearsed in advance?


    Startled, Ji Man jumped one step to the side and quickly went over to help Ning Yuxuan stand up.


    Although Ning Yuxuan had hit the eunuch instead of the pir, he had used too much force, and the eunuch fell unconscious from the collision. He wasn¡¯t in a good state himself either.


    ¡°You may all rise.¡± Looking at the group, Zhao Zhe slightly furrowed his brow.


    It was only now that the head eunuch approached with the tokens requesting an audience with the emperor. He trembled as he reported, ¡°Your Majesty, Prime Minister Xiao, Grand Tutor Sun, and the Six Ministries officials are requesting to see you.¡±


    These people had already entered the hall. What was the point ining over to announce this now? Zhao Zhe red at the eunuch before turning his head to looking at the people kneeling below. ¡°Beloved subjects, why have you requested to see this emperor?¡±


    Xiao Tianyi had already seen the nearby Marquis Moyu. He hastily went over to assist Ji Man in helping Ning Yuxuan stand up.


    With the other officials present, Ji Man naturally should withdraw from the hall, so she went over to stand by the other side of the pir. Ning Yuxuan was somewhat faint, so Xiao Tianyi escorted him back to the spot below the throne.


    ¡°This subject heard that Marquis Moyu and his wife has entered the pce. Since there hasn¡¯t been any celebratory asion since Your Majesty ascended the throne, how about bestowing a marriage for Nie-<i>shi</i> and Marquis Moyu? This will add some festivity to the capital.¡±


    What a joke. Bestowing a marriage was a trifling matter. Was there a need for the grand prime minister to bring over a group of old officials to request this in person? And, coincidentally at the same time that Nie Sangyu entered the pce? Zhao Zhe was so angry that heughed. He nced at Marquis Moyu.


    He had to have nned this in advance.


    As for Xiao Tianyi, he had probablye here on the empress¡¯s behalf. Once Nie-<i>shi</i> entered the pce, the empress wouldn¡¯t be safe.


    Marquis Moyu had been keeping such a low profile, but once he rebelled, it was in such an impressive show. Such arge group of important officials hade to request a marriage, how could he refuse?


    While Zhao Zhe was waiting for him to struggle a bit more, Ning Yuxuan had chosen to stay silent.


    Grand Tutor Sun spoke for him, ¡°Although the marquis has a main wife, Nie-<i>shi</i> was his original wife and has a higher im. Your Majesty, if you bestow the marriage, you can directly raise Nie-<i>shi</i> to the position of main wife and lower the other woman¡¯s rank.¡±


    The Minister of Justice also said, ¡°Your Majesty, you already have a descendant in waiting. The newly promoted noble consort is pregnant, and the baby needs to umte good deeds.¡±


    Zhao Zhe chuckled. ¡°My beloved subjects, don¡¯t you think this matter is outside the scope of your concern?¡±


    Seeing that the emperor was looking around for someone else to speak, Xiao Tianyi turned his head and asked Marquis Moyu, ¡°Marquis, why did you run towards the Advising Pir?¡±


    ¡°This matter...¡± Ning Yuxuan nced at Zhao Zhe.


    If he said it was because the emperor was forcing Nie Sangyu to enter the pce in front of such arge group of officials, how would the officials look at him?


    Zhao Zhe closed his eyes. ¡°Never mind, isn¡¯t it only an edict to bestow marriage? This emperor will write the edict.¡±


    After saying this, he casually grabbed a piece of nk paper and started to write.

 Chapter 455 - From heaven to hell (2)

    Chapter 455 ¨C From heaven to hell (2)


    Ji Man let out a long sigh of relief. Ning Yuxuan showed signs of happiness too. They were finally obtaining an imperial edict for marriage.


    However, after Zhao Zhe finished writing, he smiled at Ning Yuxuan and said, ¡°Marquis, take a look. Is this correct?¡±


    Furrowing his brow, Ning Yuxuan stepped forward to take the imperial edict and read it.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression turned ugly. He raised his head and looked Zhao Zhe. ¡°Your Majesty, since you¡¯ve already agreed, why make things difficult for us?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯ll be an auspicious day five years from now.¡± Zhao Zhe lightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯ll be a very suitable day for a wedding. The head of the astrology department specially calcted this date for the emperor. There¡¯ll be a gorgeous spectacle in the sky that day. Be sure to not let down this emperor¡¯s good intentions.¡±


    Although they couldn¡¯tin that he hadn¡¯t bestowed them a marriage, but with the way he did it, he might as well not have bestowed it. The only difference was that he had given Ji Man the title of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s fianc¨¦e.


    Still, this was good too. This way, he couldn¡¯t have Ji Man enter the inner ce anymore.


    When everyone was departing the hall, Zhao Zhe called out to Xiao Tianyi, who was walking at the very end of the group.


    Zhao Zhe simply said, ¡°Cousin, don¡¯t forget which family you belong to.¡±


    Xiao Tianyi nodded and left after saluting.


    ¡ª


    On the carriage ride back to the estate, Ji Man¡¯s heart was full of happiness. Sitting next to Ning Yuxuan, she hummed a tune. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t showing any response, she touched his forehead and asked in concern, ¡°Did you lose your mind from bumping your head?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pulled her hand down and held it in his. He chuckled. ¡°I haven¡¯t. It¡¯s just rare to see you so happy.¡±


    ¡°How can I not be happy?¡± Ji Man thought that if she had a tail, it would be raised up to the sky right now. ¡°I¡¯ve finally gotten rid of that big pervert, and I have my child. Even if someone offered me fifty gold taels right now to cry, I wouldn¡¯t be able to.¡±


    Marquis Moyu chuckled. Her good mood was infectious. He wished they could get home sooner, so he could take her and Haohao out to eat some snacks.


    However, as soon as they arrived, they saw there was something very wrong in the estate. The servant girl that was supposed to watch Haohao was waiting at the entrance. As soon as she saw them, she knelt down and kowtowed until her head was bleeding. ¡°This servant deserves to die!¡±


    Generally, servants wouldn¡¯t be so sincere with kowtowing. Ji Man smiled. When they were supposedly kowtowing, their heads would never actually touch the ground. What could this servant girl have possibly done wrong for her to continue repeatedly knock her forehead against the ground even after it was bleeding?


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression had already changed. He went forward and wrenched the servant girl up. ¡°What happened? Where¡¯s the heir?¡±


    ¡°The heir is in the estate.... he¡¯s in his courtyard.¡± The servant girl was trembling in fear. Looking at Ning Yuxuan, she pleased, ¡°My lord, please spare this servant¡¯s life.¡±


    If Haohao was in the courtyard, why was she begging for her life? Ji Man felt puzzled, but she suppressed her unease. Haohao would be okay. Hadn¡¯t a monk said that Haohao was meant for riches and nobility?


    They turned and sprinted towards Haohao¡¯s courtyard. This was the first time that Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan ran without any regard to keeping an elegant image. They even ran through a flowerbed on their way to the courtyard.


    When they arrived, the room was quiet and didn¡¯t have the usual sound of Haohao reciting from a book orughing. Although a doctor had already arrived before them, he was sitting next to Haohao and at aplete loss. He had opened his medicine box and was holding a needle in his hand.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Ning Yuxuan walked to the bed and looked at Haohao¡¯s little face that was turning blue.


    Haohao was silently lying there without making any sound. He almost seemed if he had stopped breathing.


    The nearby doctor trembled as he said, ¡°My lord, the heir has been poisoned with something strange...¡±


    Ji Manughed when heard these words. A strange poison? It was another strange poison again. Why were there so many sinister poisons in the ancient world? Why were there so many malicious people?!


    Ji Man went forward and stroked Haohao¡¯s face. She looked at the doctor and asked, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you using your needles? You already took them out. Why aren¡¯t you using them?


    Hard-pressed, the doctor replied, ¡°This one has already tried them. They didn¡¯t work. There¡¯s no antidote to the heir¡¯s poison. This one is afraid...¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes widened. Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t ept reality either. He turned his head to look at the servant girl with the bleeding forehead and angrily said, ¡°Who did this?¡±


    The servant girl repeatedly shook her head. ¡°This servant just went to the toilet. When this servant came back to the garden, the heir was already on the ground. Many of the servants went back to visit their families recently, so there was no one around to see whom else entered the garden. This servant... This servant really doesn¡¯t know.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes were red. Ji Man nkly sat down on the bed and didn¡¯t say a word. When the doctor packed up his stuff, Haohao started to painfully whimper, ¡°Dad...¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Ning Yuxuan hastily returned to the bed and picked up Haohao. ¡°Dad is here.¡±


    Haohao¡¯s little face, which had finally regained some weight after his kidnapping, looked deathly pale right now. Ji Man clenched her jaw as tears fell down. She had clearly been in heaven a moment ago, why had she fallen to hell in the next moment?


    Who was so vicious that they could harm a child?


    ¡°Check everyone in the estate,¡± Ning Yuxuan ordered Guibai, ¡°Tell me if anyone has disappeared.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Guibai left right after acknowledging the order.


    It was as if the estate was shrouded in ck fog. Ning Yuxuan invited over many famous doctors, but they all said that Haohao would die in a few days if the antidote wasn¡¯t found.


    During this time, Ji Man tirelessly watched after Haohao. She even knelt down towards the cloak in the wardrobe and pleaded with Nie Sangyu, ¡°He¡¯s your son too. Can you send him to modern-day for medical treatment? The medical treatment in modern-day can save him.¡±


    However, Nie Sangyu hadn¡¯t appeared again after that previous dream.

 Chapter 456 - Mother (1)

    Chapter 456 ¨C Mother (1)


    Each day, Haohao¡¯s condition worsened further. When he woke up, he would be in so much pain that he could only scream and cry. Ji Man felt so upset that she would rather he stay unconscious. At the very least, he would feel less pain in his sleep.


    Guibai very quickly found out that Tanxiang had disappeared.


    Did she do this? Ning Yuxuan sneered. A portrait of Tanxiang was painted and sent to the local governmental office. Notices that dered she was a wanted fugitive were hanged up. These notices stretched all the way from the capital to thousands miles away. There was no ce for Tanxiang to find sanctuary.


    Mu Shuiqing looked at Marquis Moyu, whose brow had remained furrowed this entire time, and sighed. ¡°My lord, in the past, you remembered to never show too much favor on one person. The more you ignored them, the safer they would be. Even if you were going to favor them, you would take measures to protect them thoroughly in advance. Why did you forget this time?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t understand her words. Frowning, he looked at her. ¡°Qing-<i>er</i>, why are you saying this?¡±


    ¡°My lord, you forgot. You have more than one son. But, there¡¯s only one son that enters your eyes.¡± Mu Shuiqing sighed again. ¡°This servant has seen Young Master Xi-<i>er</i> shyly keeping to Madam¡¯s side so many times. Just like Madam, a long time passes before he gets a chance to see my lord. Although his mother is the main wife, he¡¯s treated no differently than a bastard. Compared to the heir, he¡¯s really too pitiful.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. Soon after, he asked, ¡°You think Hanyun is rted to the heir¡¯s poisoning?¡±


    ¡°This servant¡¯s intention wasn¡¯t to nder her.¡± Mu Shuiqing saluted. ¡°This servant has always served as my lord¡¯s ears and eyes and only came here pass on information that my lord doesn¡¯t see. Although this servant doesn¡¯t know who poisoned the heir, this servant is sure that my lord caused the heir¡¯s misfortune.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan fell silent. He finally nodded and said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    That night, he went over to Lingahn Courtyard. Right now, the plum flowers had blossomed in the courtyard. Liu Hanyun was quietly sitting inside her room. Seeing him entering, she coughed a few times before saying, ¡°This servant greets my lord.¡±


    Her body had bing increasingly weak. Perhaps, she might even pass away before Haohao. Ning Yuxuan deeply looked at her before stretching his hand out. ¡°You might as well give me the antidote.¡±


    Liu Hanyun wasn¡¯t surprised by his question. Her next bout of coughing was worse thanst one. ¡°My lord, this servant doesn¡¯t know what antidote you¡¯re referring to. This servant¡¯s entire room is filled with medicine, but none of them can cure poison.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and sat down next to her. ¡°I remember that you¡¯ve always been the one thatpeted the least. The only time you asked me for a favor, it was only to transfer your brother to the capital so he could take care of your foster mother.¡±


    This was also the reason why he had always treated Liu Hanyun well. Even though her foster mother, Liu-<i>mama,</i> was the empress¡¯s loyal servant, Liu Hanyun had never gone against her own morals. She had never tried to get information from him, much less help anyone act against him. She simply wanted to remain by his side.


    Liu Hanyun smiled. ¡°My lord, this servant is also a very greedy woman that wants a lot of things. But, this servant knows that there are things the my lord won¡¯t give, so this servant has merely lost interest in them.¡±


    ¡°But then, this servant had Xi-<i>er. </i>This servant can give up everything. My lord, can you give Xi-<i>er</i> what he deserves?¡± Liu Hanyun¡¯s eyes were teary as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°He¡¯s also your child. It¡¯s only that he¡¯s this servant¡¯s child. This servant was born from a lowly background and doesn¡¯t want other people to look down on my child...¡±


    ¡°No one looks down on Xi-<i>er</i>.¡± Ning Yuxuan interrupted her, ¡°Do you know why I chose you as my main wife? First, it¡¯s because of your magnanimous nature. Second, it¡¯s because I want to give Xi-<i>er</i> a good family background.¡±


    Liu Hanyun was taken aback. Her coughing got worse for a moment. Not understanding, she looked at him and asked, ¡°My lord, if you also love Xi-<i>er</i>, why do you only spend time with the heir? Why can¡¯t you give some of your time to Xi-<i>er</i>?¡±


    ¡°The heir¡¯s mother wasn¡¯t by his side in the past two years. If I wasn¡¯t with him, what would the heir do?¡± Ning Yuxuan bitterly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not that I haven¡¯t spent time with Xi-<i>er.</i> I just spent more time with Haohao because Xi-<i>er</i> has his mother, but Haohao doesn¡¯t.¡±


    Liu Hanyun fell silent, but soon after her eyes reddened. ¡°The heir¡¯s mother has already returned. Why does my lord only spend time with them in the western courtyard still? This servant brought Xi-<i>er</i> over several times, but we could only watch the harmonious picture of you three from a distance. Xi-<i>er</i> almost doesn¡¯t recognize you...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan stayed silent. This was his fault. He had enjoyed spending time with Ji Man and Haohao so much that he had forgotten everyone else.


    He felt slightly regretful. Why had he let so many women get pregnant back then?


    ¡°This servant will die this time. My lord, can you keep your promise fromst time and take good care of Xi-<i>er</i>?¡± There was a sweet, rotting taste in Liu Hanyun¡¯s throat as she coughed. She covered her mouth as blood soaked through the handkerchief.


    Ning Yuxuan frowned. ¡°Give me the antidote for Haohao first.¡±


    ¡°This servant didn¡¯t poison him.¡± Liu Hanyun leaned against the table as she gasped for breath. She stubbornly shook her head. ¡°How could this servant give Xi-<i>er</i> the burden of having a mother a murderer? So, it wasn¡¯t this servant that poisoned the heir.¡±


    This reasoning was very persuasive. Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a while before going out to call a doctor over.


    The doctor came over and said it was an old illness. She only had a few days remaining.


    Ning Yuxuan personally searched her room and didn¡¯t find the antidote, so he left.


    ¡ª


    The heir wouldn¡¯t be able tost a few more days, and Liu Hanyun was in the same state. Ji Man stayed by Haohao¡¯s side. She didn¡¯t eat or drink. She opened and closed her eyes. Could she dream again and bring Haohao along with her in the dream to modern-day?


    T/N: I¡¯m sorry that I¡¯ve gotten so behind. I¡¯ve been busy the past week and probably going to be busy the rest of September, but I¡¯ll do my best to catch up on chapters starting today.

 Chapter 457 - Mother (2)

    Chapter 457 ¨C Mother (2)


    On the veryst day, Monk Xuwu came. Just like before, his face showed a glow of wisdom as well as a hint of cynicism of the mortal world. He walked over to Haohao¡¯s bed. ¡°Amitaba. I warned you a long time ago that this child should be handed over to me to care for. If you had done that, this could have all been prevented. Instead, you insisted on dragging things to this point.¡±


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes brightened. She rushed towards the monk and knelt down in front of him. ¡°Great Master, please save the heir!¡±


    Ning Yuxuan came into the room after the monk. He helped Ji Man stand back up.


    Monk Xuwu stroked his beard and said, ¡°Yes, yes, I¡¯ll save him. The marquis has already entreated this old one countless times on the way here. However, this old one still has to ask the two of you a question, are you willing to make a sacrifice?¡±


    Ji Man looked at him and seriously said, ¡°Great Master, I¡¯ll agree to anything that you want. Whether its gold, silver, and precious gems, my life, or even the marquis¡¯s...¡±


    A piercing gaze from the side was aimed at Ji Man, but it was if she hadn¡¯t noticed. She saluted Xuwu. ¡°Great Master, please save his life.¡±


    Xuwu loudlyughed and went over to check Haohao¡¯s condition, then he picked him and ced him onto his own shoulder. ¡°This old one is a monk and has no use for mortal things like wealth or madam¡¯s life. It¡¯s only that this old one has said a long time ago that this child had a fated connection with Buddhism. It¡¯s the marquis that insisted on dragging him to the mortal world. It¡¯s only to be expected that he would inevitably meet with cmity. If you want this child to live, then you have to let this childe with this old one to Mount Tian and look for a cure there.


    As he said this, he stuffed an unknown pill into Haohao¡¯s mouth.


    The doctor had already said that Haohao wouldn¡¯t be able to live past tonight. Could she believe in Great Master Xuwu¡¯s words? Ji Man looked at Haohao. She was absolutely unwilling to part with him. This child had been separated from her at birth, and now, after they had only been reunited for a short period, she had to send him away.


    ¡°To gain what you want, you have to give up on something.¡± Xuwu could see that Ji Man was unwilling to part with Haohao. He lightly smiled and continued, ¡°If the heir doesn¡¯t leave with this old one today, it might not be possible to save his life. It¡¯s only by leaving with this old one, that there¡¯s a chance that the rest of his life will be safe and happy.¡±


    What other choice could she make? She could only allow him to take Haohao, right? Ji Man selfforted herself. It was good enough that Haohao would be saved. This was a better option than watching him die in front of her and feeling heart-wrenching pain, right?


    Although Ji Man nodded in assent, her heart still felt very reluctant. As she watched as the monk carried Haohao away, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to run after them.


    ¡°Man-<i>er</i>.¡± Ning Yuxuan pulled her back. ¡°Don¡¯t keep chasing after them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just sending them off. Let me follow them a few more steps.¡± Ji Man turned her head to look at him. ¡°I¡¯ll just walk with them to the entrance.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s heart ached too. Looking at her expression, he could only sigh and let go of her. He watched as she lifted up her skirt and ran to catch up.


    Carrying Haohao, Xuwu walked at quick pace as if he was a fleeing thief. For a moment, Ji Man felt as if a kidnapper was taking Haohao away. It was if a motor had been installed in her body, she sprinted towards them and heard the old monk, whose bald head was shining underneath the sunshine, murmuring, ¡°Poor child, you¡¯ve been polluted by the mortal world. Who knows if you¡¯ll face other cmities in the future? Don¡¯t worry, juste with this old one.¡±


    Haohao¡¯s face was still blue and unconscious. However, his breathing wasn¡¯t as weak as before.


    By the time she got to the estate¡¯s entrance, Ji Man was gasping for breath. She could only watch as the bald head disappeared into the distance with her son. She didn¡¯t know how long it would take until Haohao would be returned to her.


    ¡ª


    Liu Hanyun didn¡¯t know how much longer she had left to live. Her old illness couldn¡¯t be cured, but she felt now was the best time to die, before the marquis found out that she was the culprit and while he still felt pity towards her.


    Liu Hanyun called Xi-<i>er</i> over to her bedside and looked at him as she said, ¡°In the future, you¡¯ll be the only child in this estate. You have to talk more with your father and spend more time with him. Don¡¯t resent your father. Do you understand?¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> nkly looked at his deathly pale mother and suddenly burst into wailing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry. Learn from the heir, smile more.¡± Liu Hanyun covered her mouth, as she started coughing and gestured for Chunpi to bring Xi-<i>er</i> farther away from her. She continued to advise him, ¡°If Miss Nie¡¯s next child is a son, even as a ghost, I¡¯ll help you. If it¡¯s a daughter, you¡¯ll be this household¡¯s heir. You can¡¯t keep hiding behind other people.¡±


    ¡°Mom...¡± Xi-<i>er</i> couldn¡¯t stop crying. He wanted to go over to hold his mother¡¯s hand, but Chunpi stopped him. Liu Hanyun smiled and gestured for Chunpi to take him outside. ¡°Go bring him to the marquis.¡±


    She didn¡¯t regret in being ruthless enough to harm a child. She didn¡¯t regret her actions, but her heart felt tormented, and her illness became increasingly worse. Liu Hanyun got out the dagger she had hidden nearby, mustered up her courage, and drove the dagger into her heart.


    This time, she wouldn¡¯t continue to live and be a burden to Xi-<i>er</i>. Once Xi-<i>er</i> lost his mother, the marquis would definitely treat him a little bit better. When he saw that she had ended her life, no matter what, the marquis would definitely feel more pity, right?


    ¡ª


    Chunpi was crying as she brought Xi-<i>er</i> over to the western courtyard. She knelt down in front of the marquis and couldn¡¯t stop crying. Ning Yuxuan asked her twice why she was here, but Chunpi was crying too hard to speak.


    Thus, he more or less guessed what had happened.


    ¡°Have her buried with full honors,¡± Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°She was a foolish person.¡±


    Xi-<i>er</i> was still crying too. He hid behind Chunpi with eyes full of fear.


    Trantor Ramblings: When I was reading this story for the second time, I felt much sadder about Liu Hanyun¡¯s death, especially because she¡¯s clinging onto the hope that Ning Yuxuan will treat Xi-<i>er</i> better if she dies. Based on Ning Yuxuan¡¯s previous actions, we can easily guess that¡¯s not going to happen. Killing herself is ultimately a futile gesture. There¡¯s nothing she could have done to get Ning Yuxuan to care about Xi-<i>er </i>the same way that he cares about Haohao. I wish someone could have told her that Xi-<i>er</i> would rather have his mom alive. It would have been awesome if she could have be friends with Mu Shuiqing, who seems the most sensible woman in the story.


    And, I feel like Haohao is being taken into Child Protective Services because time and time again, his parents have failed to protect him. More importantly, if they actually care about him, why don¡¯t they ask the monk if they cane with Haohao and give up the secr world for a period of time?


    What do you guys think?


    If you want to read a vague spoiler about Haohao¡¯s future, I wrote one in thements below.

 Chapter 458 - - Standing by your side (1)

    Chapter 458 ¨C Standing by your side (1)


    It was clear that Liu Hanyun¡¯s own hands had hastened her death. Although she was gued by an old illness, she shouldn¡¯t have died so early. Ji Man teared up a bit when she found out. However, she had recently lost Haohao, so she wasn¡¯t in the mood to think about anything else. When Ning Yuxuan came over to ask what should be done with Xi-<i>er</i>, Ji Man sighed and said, ¡°He¡¯s my lord¡¯s legitimate son. Your blood and flesh, so he naturally can¡¯t be treated poorly. My lord, what are your ns for him?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Let¡¯s give him to Qing-<i>er</i> to care for then. She¡¯s worked for me for so long, and her courtyard is quite deste.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t have any objections. She quietly stood up and put away Haohao¡¯s things to avoid having these reminders in in sight.


    ¡ª


    After the recent events, Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate became quite cheerless Ji Man hadn¡¯t officially married into the household, but everyone treated her as the matriarch of the family. Seven days after Liu Hanyun¡¯s funeral, all of the servants switched to addressing Ji Man as Madam.


    Mu Shuiqing liked Xi-<i>er</i> a lot. She spent all of her time ying with him and would bring him over at a fixed time each evening to pay respects. If she wasn¡¯t bringing him to the garden to y, then she was taking him outside the estate to stroll around.


    Although the estate had be quite gloomy, Ning Yuxuan thought there was a lot less to worry about. He no longer had to worry that the situation would blow up in his inner court. Thus, he had more free time to deal with matters in the imperial court.


    Many officials wanted to stuff new women into the Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, but he tactfully refused all of them by saying that his health was poor, and he wouldn¡¯t want to waste these women¡¯s lives.


    Ji Man was very touched. Ning Yuxuan had already used such high-level words to nder himself. What more could she say?


    However, since ancient times, marrying and getting inws were an essential way for establish rtionships. Right now, Ning Yuxuan needed to win over the loyalties of the other officials. How could she let herself be a stumbling block?


    Thus, Ji Man created a ¡°Hundred Flowers Association¡±. First, she invited Luo Qianqian, Errong, and Zhu Yurun. Then, one after the other, she invited the madams of other noble families. The standard for membership into a Hundred Flowers Association was lengthy. A woman had to be capable, virtuous, and multitalented in zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting as well as have an attractive appearance.


    Although Ji Man was simply giarizing the idea behind Tonghua Poetry Association, her marketing of this new association was a sess. Not only could the members of a Hundred Flower Association enjoy benefits like mastering the art of skincare, they also had ess to thetest products in skin whitening, makeup, jewelry, and clothing. When unmarried women were admitted to a Hundred Flowers Association, matchmakers would efficiently guarantee in finding them a good marriage.


    As a result, the madams and youngdies in high-ranking officials¡¯ families, who were bored of staying at home every day, all liked to visit Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate. Ji Man made a clear distinction of what type of people could and couldn¡¯t enter a Hundred Flowers Association in coordinating with Marquis Moyu¡¯s ns. If he wanted to draw someone to his side, that person¡¯s wife and daughters would absolutely be on a Hundred Flowers Association¡¯s invitation list. If he was in conflict with that person, Ji Man would personally appear, challenge the other parties to a poetry contest, win by giarizing famous poems, and reject the other parties¡¯ request to enter the association under this excuse.


    It took less than a month for a Hundred Flowers Association¡¯s reputation to skyrocket. It was because Zhu Yurun, who had previously been unskilled in poetry, went to Luoyan Pagoda and wrote <i>Heavenly Pure Sand: Autumn Thoughts.</i>


    <i>An old tree, dried vines entwined, by ev¡¯ning crowse roosting;</i>


    <i>O¡¯er a small bridge, by a running stream, homes of people nestling.</i>


    <i>On an old road, in the autumn wind, a scrawny horse keeps trudging.</i>


    <i>The sun, nting, to the west, setting ¡ª</i>


    <i>Heart-torn, lovelorn, the wanderer, to the verge of the sky a-roaming.</i>


    (T/N: Trantion of the poem was taken from here.<i>)</i>


    This poem had already received the praise of graduated schrs. There were also people that thought a mere woman couldn¡¯t be capable of such broad-minded thoughts that came from bitter life experiences. As a woman that stayed in the confines of a boudoir, how could she have possibly felt heartbroken from traveling to a far-away ce?


    Zhu Yurun covered her face and repeated the words that Ji Man had instructed her to say. ¡°I merely wrote this apanying poem after seeing a painting by a member of a Hundred Flowers Association.¡±


    At this time, Luo Qianqian sent over her painting to Luoyan Pagoda. The scenery on this painting wasn¡¯tcking at all whenpared to the poem. The style of painting was astonishingly deste.


    Luo Qianqian saluted and said, ¡°Sirs, this is Qianqian¡¯s humble painting. Qianqian saw this scene on the southern part of Prince Huainan¡¯s fiefdom.¡±


    After this presentation, other people believed in Zhu Yurun¡¯s words. On the same day, members of a Hundred Flowers Association left behind many works of calligraphy in Luoyan Pagoda for future generations toment and evaluate. Although this move was wildly over-the-top, it left behind a deep impression. A group of schrs flushed and sighed amongst themselves that they weren¡¯t as talented as these women.


    Ji Man was a person that knew how to conduct herself. Once she had gotten to know many of these married women, she established good rtionships with them. For time to time, she would send over new ideas for hairstyles as well as hairpins with gems.


    ¡ª


    When Ning Yuxuan came back from the imperial court today, he was surprised to see her busily writing. When he got a closer look, he saw that she had written the words ¡°Fashion Magazine¡± on the cover of a thick stack of paper.


    ¡°What are you up to now?¡± Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°A lot of people have beening over here recently. What are you messing around with?¡±


    Ji Man nced at him before taking out a list of paper. ¡°The Minister of Revenue, Sir Li¡¯s wife, Zhang-<i>shi</i>, Grand Tutor Sun¡¯s wife, Zhao-<i>shi</i>, the Minister of Justice, Sir Xu¡¯s wife, Qian-<i>shi</i>...¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows and took the list from her to read it. It had only been a month; how had she gathered all this information?


    ¡°All of these madams seem like pretty good people.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°It¡¯s probably because of you, but their attitude towards me is pretty good. We all get along pretty well.¡±


    Marquis Moyu, ¡°...¡± This paper was densely packed with the maiden names of important official¡¯s wives and their preferences and hobbies.


    ¡°I was thinking, since I¡¯m not willing for you to take any concubines, I should figure out a way to help you in some way.¡± Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand and looked at him. ¡°The threshold for Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate is too high, that¡¯s why they all think marriage is necessary if they want to establish a connection with you. In actually, as long as I have a good rtionship with the various madams, that¡¯s also a type of connection. Just like... the previous connection between Noble Consort Nie and Old Madame.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned.


    Trantor Ramblings: At first, I found it strange how quickly Ji Man gets over the lost of Haohao each time, but I guess; she didn¡¯t have enough time to bond with him. She never got the chance to hold him right after she gave birth to him or spend a lot of time with him as he was growing up.

 Chapter 459 - Standing by your side (2)

    <strong>Chapter 459 ¨C Standing by your side (2)</strong>


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about what I¡¯m doing. I wouldn¡¯t do anything that would harm you.¡± Ji Man took the list back from him. ¡°Since you¡¯re doing your best in the front, I naturally have to do my best to support you from behind. It¡¯s only by doing that, that I have the qualifications to stand by your side.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Ji Man for a long time before finally letting out a heavy sigh and hugging her. ¡°I¡¯ve truly picked up an extraordinary treasure.¡±


    Ji Man felt somewhat embarrassed. ¡°Actually, all the women from my world are this clever too. It¡¯s only by chance that I was the one that came here.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled and kissed her forehead ¡°Exactly, it was you.¡±


    Ji Man smiled. She tugged him down to the seat next to hers and started to show him the results of this month.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change much, but his mind had turned into a spectacr mess.


    ¡°How do you know...that Assistant Minister Zhu is loyal to me?¡± Seemingly inadvertently, Ning Yuxuan asked. ¡°Yingchen and Zhu Yurun¡¯s wedding was rocky. Who knows if Assistant Minister Zhu has secret ns of his own?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t.¡± Ji Man pointed her writing brush at Zhu Yurun¡¯s name and said, ¡°Assistant Minister Zhu cherishes Zhu Yurun greatly. Yurun has married Qian Yingchen, and her life is pretty good right now. When she returns to her maiden family, she only reports good things and leaves out anything negative, so her father must be feeling relieved and reassured. Even if Assistant Minister Zhu felt resentful towards you at the beginning, his anger would have dissipated once he saw how happy Zhu Yurun is with Qian Yingchen.¡±


    Zhu Yurun was the simplest girl that she had met in this world, or perhaps, she could say that she was stupid to the point of being cute. Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s parental love for his daughter was the most sincere love she had witnessed aftering to this world. As long as his daughter was happy, he was happy too. Since Zhu Yurun had married Qian Yingchen, there was no way that her father wouldn¡¯t help Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes slightly dimmed. Ji Man was really too different from the women here. She could sway the hearts of people and even analyze political affairs. During the past period, when he had met with difficulties, he would asionally mention those people to her. He hadn¡¯t expected that she would remember all of this,e up with a list of people that had connections with those court officials, and figured out what motivated them.


    Her observations were rtively simple, but she only had ess to limited information. If she could see the full picture, those important officials would be thoroughly analyzed to death by her.


    This type of woman was a bit terrifying and might even be a threat to the imperial power. If she turned out to be as bewitching as Daji, it was possible that she would be a beauty that caused the next downfall of the nation.)


    (T/N: Daji was the favorite consort of King Zhou of Shang Dynasty. She¡¯s portrayed as a beautiful fox spirit that caused the downfall of a dynasty in legends.)


    No, that wouldn¡¯t happen. Ji Man wasn¡¯t that wicked. Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes for a moment, then he stretched his hand out, scooped her onto hisp, and stroked her stomach.


    He knew that she just wanted to work together with him to throw off the restraints that Zhao Zhe had ced on them and lived a better life.


    ¡ª


    However, with her help, he became much closer with the officials in the Six Ministries. For example, when Li Licheng, the Minister of Revenue, came over to exchange greetings with him, he joked, ¡°My wife has repeatedly spoken highly of Miss Nie. She said that Miss Nie is a virtuous and magnanimous woman. Once there¡¯s free time, she wants to prepare a banquet in our humble home and invite Miss Nie over. May she honor us with attending.¡±


    Hearing these words, Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t stop the corners of his lips from curving upwards. He naturally felt happy that other people would praise his woman so highly.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man was used to running around to make sales, so she had her own set of skills to establish connections with other people. She definitely wouldn¡¯t inadvertently offend anyone. Without them noticing, she would draw them into a closer rtionship. Although the marquis¡¯s household didn¡¯t have many people, there would be madams and youngdiesing over here every day to eat melons seeds, embroider, and chat. It was much livelier than before.


    The only unfortunate thing was that Errong and Luo Qianqian had already left to travel back to their respective fiefdoms. It was only Zhu Yurun that woulde over every day to keep herpany while eating snacks.


    Ji Man asked Zhu Yurun, ¡°Why are youing over so frequently? Don¡¯t you need to keep Sir Qianpany?¡±


    Zhu Yurun pouted. ¡°Yingchen recently became interested in a dancing girl and doesn¡¯t need mypany, so I came over here to keep youpany.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. It was only Zhu Yurun that could be so open-minded. When Qian Yingchen asionally gained an interest in amother woman, Zhu Yurun wouldn¡¯t get angry. Instead, she would take the initiative of avoiding him. Once Qian Yingchen got bored of the other woman, she would slip back to his side. The two of them would return to being the model of a loving couple and as if nothing had happened.


    Oh my god!


    Ji Man thought only Zhu Yurun could be capable of living her life so happily and decided not to go over there to bother her. She would peacefully stay at home to care for her pregnancy and gossip with the other visiting madams and youngdies.


    ¡ª


    When spring arrived, news came from the bordends that the army had done poorly in a battle. Ning Mingjie had left with an army of 80,000 soldiers. On the way to the bordends, he had recruited more soldiers from various fiefdoms so the army had increased to 120,000 soldiers by the time they reached their destination. However, once they had arrived at the bordends, after only two months of battle, they suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield one day, and a military report was sent from the bordends. The 120,000 soldiers had been reduced back down to 80,000.


    The imperial court was shocked. Ning Mingjie was leading elite soldiers. How could they have done so badly? The emperor was furious. When his gazended on Marquis Moyu, it clearly showed that he med him for not leading the army as originally nned.


    When the important court officials saw that the emperor was going to name Marquis Moyu as themander again, one after another, they rmended a deputy general from Xiao n to go into battle and aplish meritorious service. The person they rmended was Xiao Sihai. He was the emperor¡¯s distant rtive.


    Zhao Zhe hesitated for a while before agreeing. However, he felt suspicious how unified the imperial court had be. He kept having the nagging feeling that the officials were bing more loyal to Marquis Moyu.

 Chapter 460 - Seizing power (1)

    <strong>Chapter 460 ¨C Seizing power (1)</strong>


    It wasn¡¯t a good thing for the court officials to be too unified. Because of this, Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t sleep well for several nights. He tried to think of ways that would create conflicts between the officials in the Six Ministries and cause them to split into different groups.


    The recent defeat at the bordends was also quite problematic for him. Clearly, it should have been easy for Great Song¡¯s army to defeat Yuzhen. Why had they lost at thest juncture? The military report sent by the border station hadn¡¯t clearly described the situation. The report only listed out the number of soldiers that had died or were injured and requested for additional reinforcement troops and army provisions.


    As for the important subordinates that were loyal to Zhao Zhe and ced in the army, they had all inexplicably died in battle.


    In the following days, the imperial harem was gued by disaster after disaster. There had been several almost sessful attempts on Erxin¡¯s life. Furious, the emperor ordered the death of many people in the pce. While the empress unsessfully tried topete for the emperor¡¯s favor, she somehow identally ate saffron. It wasn¡¯t known how she could have drunk more than half a bowl of saffron soup without noticing. However, once she found out, she went crazy. Not even caring about the pce¡¯s curfew, she returned to her maiden home and broke into hysterical sobbing.


    (T/N: Saffron can stimte uterine contractions if too much is eaten and cause miscarriage.)


    Zhao Zhe was already preupied with a basket of troublesome work issues. And yet, the empress had been unable to see therger issues and dared to return to her maiden home. Was the empress someone that could casually return to her maiden home? Wasn¡¯t this asking the entire world tough at her conduct?


    And so, since Zhao Zhe didn¡¯te to bring Shen Youqing back to the pce, the Shen n was in a very awkward situation.


    Shen Youqing had lost her unborn child, and then, she had identally drunk saffron soup. She felt that the possibility of her giving birth to a heir was absolutely hopeless. How could she not feel horribly wronged? It had always been her bullying other people. She would have never expected that there would be a day when someone would bully her and to such an extent too. And so, how could she take this lying down? However, the emperor favored Erxin over her. Even when she knelt down outside Zichen Hall and tearfullyined, the emperor hadn¡¯t been moved. It was only because she was out of other options that she returned to her maiden home in order to pressure the emperor.


    However, she didn¡¯t know that the emperor was already exhausted by the gue of political matters. A clever woman would avoid doing anything problematic during this time. She didn¡¯t have to silently support him by bringing over tea or sending over other beverages, but she absolutely couldn¡¯t cause trouble at this time. Since Shen Youqing hadn¡¯t paid attention, she ended up jumping into the trap that someone had dug for her.


    If she returned home, what was the value of her status as the empress in the imperial harem?


    During the next court session, Grand Secretary Shen offered words of advice; don¡¯t abandon the wife that had suffered hardship with you for a new woman once you obtain sess. Before Grand Secretary Shen could continue further, next to him, the Minister of Justice presented a petition to emperor. The petition used Grand Secretary Shen of profligacy, loitering in brothels during his work hours, epting bribes, and exchanging numerous secret letters.


    Grand Secretary Shen was the father-inw of the reigning emperor. It was shocking that he would be used of such things. Not only was this humiliating for the members of Shen n, it was humiliating for the emperor too. With a grave expression, the emperor said a few word of rebuke before ordering him to leave the imperial court and go home.


    It was an extremely humiliating thing for a court official to be dismissed early and ordered to return home. Grand Secretary Shen was advanced in age. Although he had be less respectable in his old age, he still remembered the importance of moral integrity, so his breath stopped short once Zhao Zhe issued his order. Just like that, Grand Secretary Shen passed away.


    ¡ª


    Shen n held a funeral. The emperor had originally intended to pursue the matter of Grand Secretary Shen epting bribes. However, the person had already died. What was there for him to pursue? Since this person was his father-inw, the emperor even bestowed him a posthumously title.


    Shen Youqing voluntarily remained in Shen Residence to observe the mourning period for her father. The emperor didn¡¯t ask her to return to the pce either. Once the empress was gone from the pce, the imperial harem became livelier. One after another, beauties emerged. In the past, they had remained low-key to avoid being the target of the empress¡¯s malicious scheming. But now, they came pouring out.


    Zhao Zhe wasn¡¯t a muddleheaded person. He only visited the imperial harem six to seven times each month. However, it was inevitable that part of his attention would be lost to devastatingly beautiful women with thin willow-like waists.


    Taking advantage of Zhao Zhe¡¯s periods of distraction, Marquis Moyu gradually began to handle the petitions sent to the emperor. Whether it was an important matter or a minor one, Ning Yuxuan would approach it in a manner simr to how the emperor would have handled it, even the handwriting he used was simr to Zhao Zhe¡¯s. Ning Yuxuan started off with handling the unimportant petitions, and slowly, the petitions that were sent to emperor decreased.


    At first, Zhao Zhe didn¡¯t notice that there were fewer petitions for him to approve or reject. By the time he noticed, he couldn¡¯t figure out what was happening exactly. When he opened the petitions to check, they were already approved, and it looked like the approvals were written in his handwriting too.


    More beautiful women in the imperial harem approached him and took up more of his attention. In addition to Erxin, there were several women that looked very simr to Nie Sangyu. These new women were clever and knew what he liked. Because their appearances and mannerism were so simr to Nie Sangyu¡¯s, he would zone out and have to be called several times before he returned to his senses.


    Perhaps, he didn¡¯t genuinely like Nie Sangyu. Maybe, he just liked her because he thought she was special and different from other women. As a fickle yboy, it was only normal that he had a strong desire for seeking novelty.


    However, he was surprised and didn¡¯t know why he would also really like these women just because they resembled Nie Sangyu after he had failed to obtain her.


    ¡ª


    This time, Ji Man¡¯s pregnancy symptoms were bit more severe. She didn¡¯t have much appetite, and it didn¡¯t take much to set off her urge to vomit.


    When Ning Yuxuan came back each day, he saw that her face was looking increasing gaunt.


    ¡°How did it get so bad?¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. ¡°What do you want to eat?¡±


    Ji Man shook her head. She pursed her lips and answered, ¡°All women have a hard time with pregnancy. It¡¯s not like you¡¯re witnessing this for the first time. I don¡¯t feel like eating anything.¡±


    It was true that this wasn¡¯t the first time that Ning Yuxuan was seeing the toll that pregnancy took, but this was the first time he felt so distressed for the expecting mother.


    Seeing his upset expression, Ji Man felt better. This was pretty good progress. Now, Marquis Moyu knew that he should feel distressed for his wife¡¯s pain. In the past, he had handled his women like he was slicing cabbage. Now, he finally knew how to be considerate. It wasn¡¯t a waste for her to abandon her modern-day life to remain here with him.


    Ning Yuxuan suddenly asked, ¡°After a period of time has passed, how about we go on a sightseeing trip together?¡±


    Ji Man raised an eyebrow. ¡°Don¡¯t you have a lot of work to do in the imperial court?¡±

 Chapter 461 - Seizing power (2)

    Chapter 461 ¨C Seizing power (2)


    Recently, more and more officials came to the marquis¡¯s estate. They would rather seek Ning Yuxuan¡¯s help to handle matters than enter the pce and request an audience with the emperor. Ji Man didn¡¯t know why this was happening.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, I¡¯ll be busy for a period of time, so you¡¯ll have to wait for me.¡± His smile was full of confidence and certainty. ¡°You won¡¯t have to wait long.¡±


    ¡ª


    Zhao Zhe had been living in Zhangjun for the past several years. Most of the current officials were the original ones that were ustomed to using the old methods. When all was said and done, they were the ones that were most familiar with their work. As long as they weren¡¯t absolutely loyal to the previous emperors, they were allowed to continue serving in their original official positions.


    Naturally, these court officials were closer to Ning Yuxuan than a lofty emperor. From the time that Ning Yuxuan started to secretly approve petitions, he gained a lot of power to deal with things. Without the emperor noticing, these officials had gained the habit of asking Marquis Moyu¡¯s opinion before doing anything.


    By the time Prime Minister Xiao told Zhao Zhe there was something strange going on, Zhao Zhe finally noticed that if he wanted to know something like that status of capital¡¯s wall repairs, he would have to ask Marquis Moyu.


    During court sessions, it was enough if Marquis Moyu attended by himself. It was because he knew everything. However, he wouldn¡¯t report anything unless the emperor asked him for the answers, one by one.


    Zhao Zhe finally realized there was something wrong. Ning Yuxuan had turned him into a mere figurehead.


    However, he had realized this toote. Even if he wanted to remedy the situation, he didn¡¯t have the energy right now. The war between the bordends and Yuzhen was bing increasingly intense. It was rumored that Yuzhen had divine soldiers. Great Song¡¯s army was losing badly. Over time, Great Song¡¯s army had retreated 50 kilometers after sessive losses. Seeing that the bordends would soon be lost, Zhao Zhe could only dispatch a massive military force to the bordends.


    The military problems were unending. How would they continue to supply army provisions? How would the various military expenditures be funded and which ones should be approved? Every day, officials from the Ministry of Revenue came over to bother him with these types of questions. Over time, Zhao Zhe became d that Marquis Moyu was helping him out with a portion of his responsibilities.


    However, Marquis Moyu started to be selective about the issues he would handle. He would only handle major issues. Piles of unimportant petitions ¨C such as issues rted to Jiangxi Province¡¯s canals, the promotions of officials in Jiangnan, etc ¨C were all left to pile up on the emperor¡¯s desk.


    Zhao Zhe asked Xiao Tianyi where these petitions normally went. Were they usually sent to the prime minister¡¯s desk instead? However, Xiao Tianyi had no idea. Lately, he had been rolling in riches, and his days were truly free and unfettered.


    Other than the war at the bordends, the imperial court was the picture of joyous harmony. Other than Zhao Zhe and Ning Yuxuan, no one was experiencing the turbulence below.


    Zhao Zhe summoned his trusted subordinates to discuss. However, the war with Yuzhen was more pressing. Who cared about how to seize power at a time like this? They rmended that the emperor put his mind to settling the bordend war first.


    If Zhao Zhe was a fox, then Ning Yuxuan was nine-tail fox that was a superbpetitor. He knew how to advance by retreating, and how to defeat his enemies with their own tactics.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at Ji Man¡¯s round belly. Concerned, he amended his words, ¡°With your body like this, let¡¯s walk slowly.¡±


    Ji Man was very curious. ¡°Go where?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree on going on a sightseeing tour?¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled. ¡°I happen to be free now. Let¡¯s head towards the east.¡±


    Ning Mingjie had led the army east. If they travelled 1,500 kilometers east, they would reach the boundary between Great Song and Yuzhen.


    ¡°Alright.¡± However, Ji Man was willing to go with him. Even if this was just a business trip, it was remarkable that a man would be willing to bring his wife along.


    ¡°What kind of life do you want to live in the future?¡± Ning Yuxuan asked.


    Ji Man thought it over before answering, ¡°A peaceful one. A life where I can have my own career, not feel ufortable over other women, safely give birth to my baby, and for Haohao, who¡¯s so far away, to be safe and sound. When hees back one day in the future, our family can sit down and eat the meal I cooked.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan tilted his head and very gravely said, ¡°That¡¯s a bit difficult. After all, there are too many women that like me.¡±


    Ji Man rolled her eyes at him. ¡°There are plenty of other men that like me. Haven¡¯t you heard? Those women in the pce that look like me, they¡¯ve already been promoted to imperial consorts. Tsk, tsk. The empress hasn¡¯t even returned to the pce yet either.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression ckened. He took a step forward and grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Do you still think about him?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re allowed to show off, but I¡¯m not allowed to say anything?¡± Ji Man harrumphed. ¡°I only think about how I wish he would die sooner.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s expression slightly improved. He sat down by the bed and fiddled with a not particrly outstanding jade ornament that was hanging from her sash. ¡°I think you wouldn¡¯t be interested in a man whose heart is so divided.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. This dear friend seemed to havepletely forgotten how he used be the same way too. In the past, he had called Wen Wan petty for wanting him to wholeheartedly love her.


    Fortunately, she was the one that was with him at the end.


    ¡ª


    They boarded a boat and set off on their journey to the east. Ji Man was standing at the prow of the boat. She turned her head, stretched her hand out, and said to Ning Yuxuan, ¡°Come here and wrap your arms around my waist.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s face had already turned pale because she was standing so close to the edge. He strode forward and stabilized her body. He quietly rebuked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Ji Man stretched her arms wide open to do the ssic scene in Titanic. She closed her eyes and sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to do this for a long time. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t a man to do this with.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know what was so great about this position. However, seeing how happily she was smiling, he continued to securely hold onto her and protect her from falling into the water.


    Thinking of how he hadn¡¯t figured out what fixingputers meant, Ning Yuxuan decided that he should treat Ji Man better in other areas aspensation.

 Chapter 462 - Pengxin (1)

    Chapter 462 ¨C Pengxin (1)


    Before heading east, Ning Yuxuan had finished making the proper arrangements in the imperial court for when he was gone. This trip wasn¡¯t just for sightseeing. It was because someone had already secretly returned to the capital and brought a message requesting for him to go over there to provide support.


    However, thinking about how Ji Man hadn¡¯t experienced many days of leisurely and rxing days of sightseeing since she hade here excluding the exception of the Southern Trip, Ning Yuxuan decide to bring her along. Besides, he wouldn¡¯t feel at ease leaving her alone in the capital.


    ¡ª


    This was already the fifth month of Ji Man¡¯s pregnancy, so her condition had stabilized. The doctor had told her that the fetus was in good position, and she would definitely have an easy childbirth when the time came. In light of her painful experience in giving birth to Haohao after that same guarantee had been toldst time, Ji Man decided to ignored the doctor¡¯s words and ept whatever would happen during the childbirth. She was in ancient times, where the hygienic standards were low, and there were even cases when mothers lost their lives during childbirth. As long as she could safely give birth, she wouldn¡¯t ask for anything else.


    Some of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s subordinates were also on this boat. In addition to Guibai, the other people were unmarried officials in the Six Ministries. Every day, they would witness the marquis and Ji Man behaving like an old married couple. In the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, they would lie on the deck and watch the stars.


    Today, they were whimsical sitting on the boat and fishing.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I caught any fish?¡± Ning Yuxuan checked the hook on the fishing rod for the nth time and looked at the empty hook. He was puzzled. He hooked another piece of bait.


    Ji Man was sitting next to him. She calmly exined, ¡°Because the boat is moving forward faster than the speed that fishes can swim. It¡¯s only natural that you won¡¯t be able to catch any fish.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why are we trying to catch fish then?¡±


    Ji Man turned her head to the side and smiled at him. ¡°I want to see. Would a boring activity not feel boring if I was doing it with my lord?¡±


    The officials, who were behind them and peeping, thought; this really was very boring.


    To their surprise, Marquis Moyu smiled in response. He tossed the fishing line back into the water and continued to idly sit next to her. He silently watched the sun gradually setting in the distant horizon.


    Ji Man rested her head on his shoulder. She half-closed her eyes as she looked at the multicolor light from the setting sun. As it turned out, you really wouldn¡¯t feel bored with any activity as long as the person you liked was by your side. She used tough at the idiotic behavior of happy couples. But, as it turned out, no one was exempt from bing fools when they were in love.


    ¡ª


    When the boat stopped at a bustling city, Ji Man dragged Ning Yuxuan along to look around the market. There were a lot of people in the marketce, so Ning Yuxuan held her hand. Although their steps were slow and unhurried, the rest of crowd was hurriedly walking past them. It was only the two of them that were leisurely walking like a pair of peopleing out for a stroll after eating a meal. Some people couldn¡¯t resist stopping for a moment to look at them with envy.


    These two attractive people looked liked an ideal couple that were well matched.


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s subordinates were following behind them.


    Guibai felt that he had to remind his lord something this evening. Although it was fine to have such arge group of people following him on a long outing, and it wasn¡¯t unusual to forbid them from bringing along their own family members, it was truly cruelly inappropriate to act so lovey-dovey with his wife in front of single men!


    This was leading him astray with thoughts of marriage. Guibai bleakly picked up a mirror from a nearby stall and looked at himself. He was already twenty-two years old. It really was time for him to get married. His lord already had multiple children, but he was all alone. Sigh.


    Ji Man wanted everything that she saw, but she had self-restraint. She had only brought thirty silver taels, so she would only buy twenty or so silver taels of trinkets to bring back to the boat to slowly y with. Although it was entirely justified for a woman to use her man¡¯s money in ancient times, since she had requested Ning Yuxuan to meet her modern-day standards, it was only right for her to uphold a modern-day woman¡¯s standard of being strong and independent.


    However, Ning Yuxuan was a bit unhappy. His expression was ck during the entire walk. After they boarded the boat, she went to put away her purchases. He sat down in front of her and brought out a bronze peacock hairpin. ¡°Didn¡¯t you really like this when you saw it today? Why wouldn¡¯t you let me buy it for you?¡±


    He had seen that she had only brought thirty silver taels off the boat. This single hairpin cost fifteen silver taels. After touching it a few seconds, she pretended to not like it and put it back on the stand. However, he had been standing right next to her, ah. Why had she treated him like he didn¡¯t exist?


    The feeling of being unneeded felt quite awful.


    Ji Man awkwardlyughed. She took the hairpin from him and inserted it into her hair. ¡°Does it look good?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan snorted and turned his head away. He sulked for a bit before answering, ¡°Looks good.¡±


    She turned his face back to face her and kissed him once. Ji Man smiled. ¡°Great, that¡¯s good enough. I¡¯m really happy that you paid attention and noticed the stuff that I like. Thank you, my lord.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s anger slightly faded. He still harrumphed as he touched the bronze peacock. Pursuing his lips, he said, ¡°I hope to be someone that you can rely on. You don¡¯t have to tire yourself from working so hard.¡±


    Ji Man lowered her head and contemted. There were areas where she wascking. All men had heroplexes. It was easy for a woman that was too independent to lose her man. She had to let this person feel as if she needed him too.


    Well, they would both slowly change for the better together.


    Right after Guibai entered the room to remind the marquis that he should be more considerate of the other officials¡¯ feelings, he saw his master kissing madam¡¯s forehead.


    Startled, he immediately took his foot back. He considered for a moment before taking out the mirror that he had purchased at the market and looking at himself in the mirror. He sighed and left.


    ¡ª


    After the boat had travelled a long distance, it docked at a riverbank. A ck-robed person that was wearing a ck hat boarded the boat and entered the cabin.


    Ning Yuxuan said with a smile, ¡°Mingjie, it¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve seen you.¡±


    Ning Mingjie took off his hat. His face had softened a lot since theirst meeting. ¡°I¡¯m surprised that Zhao Zhe would allow you to leave the capital.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t have a choice.¡± Ning Yuxuan smiled. ¡°He wants me to the leave the capital so that he can take back his power. Unfortunately for him, it¡¯s impossible for him to turn things around now. How¡¯s the situation in Yuzhen?¡±

 Chapter 463 - Pengxin (2)

    Chapter 463 ¨C Pengxin (2)


    ¡°I had youe here because I wouldn¡¯t feelfortable if anyone else was entrusted with this. I need you to bring a person back to the capital. While you¡¯re here, look at this letter from Yuzhen¡¯s king.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was stunned, but his expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°Why would Yuzhen¡¯s king write a letter to you?¡±


    ¡°Probably because I kidnapped a Yuzhen princess during the past half year,¡± Ning Mingjie answered with a serious face, ¡°And, I can¡¯t send her back.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t know what he meant by not being able to send her back. But, at the mention of a Yuzhen princess, he was reminded of Pengyue. Yuzhen probably despised Great Song. Pengyue had been Yuzhen¡¯s precious princess. Yuzhen had even lent her soldiers to help Zhao Li seize the throne.


    It wasn¡¯t possible for Great Song to lose against Yuzhen in battle. After all, they would win just from sheer number of soldiers. The military report from the bordends had been falsified. Ning Mingjie had already umted 180,000 soldiers under hismand during this time.


    This was thest weapon they needed to turn Zhao Zhe into a puppet leader.


    Ning Mingjie had already ced the letter on the table. Ning Yuxuan carefully opened it to read. He didn¡¯t whether tough or cry after reading the contents.


    Was Yuzhen a country that had lost its mind to love? Inws were a more important connection than blood rtives. Yuzhen¡¯s princess, Pengxin, had fallen in love with Ning Mingjie. And, Yuzhen¡¯s king was actually willing to allow Ning Mingjie to set whatever conditions he wanted ¨C such as borrowing soldiers ornd, or even seceding part of the capital to him ¨C as long Ning Mingjie was willing to marry Pengxin.


    Was kind of nonsensical joke was this? If Ning Mingjie married Pengxin at this juncture, what excuse could they use to force the emperor to hand over his remaining military power to Ning Mingjie?


    Ning Mingjie had truly gone to bordend to battle, but he had also used underhanded means to kidnap Yuzhen¡¯s princess to force them to surrender. Yuzhen¡¯s army had retreated a long distance, but he wasn¡¯t able to return their princess back. Killing her would be a disaster, letting her stay... was also a disaster.


    Pengxin was even more impressive than Pengyue. At the time, she had thrown a three-ringrge sword into a table and demanded that Ning Mingjie marry her.


    After having experienced two unhappy weddings, Ning Mingjie already thought poorly of marriage. However, winning the war was a higher priority, and it would be the best possible oue if Yuzhen was willing to cooperate. At worst, he would just send the princess to his estate in the capital first, then he could sit down to have a proper discussion about cooperation with Yuzhen¡¯s king.


    If that was the result that he wanted, then he needed to find a person to bring the princess to the capital first. If something happened to her on the journey there, then Yuzhen would do all it could to settle this new score along with the one for Pengyue¡¯s death. If she could be sent off to the capital sessfully, then it would be easy to reach an agreement for the battlefield situation in the bordends.


    After Ning Yuxuan finished reading the letter, he stroked his chin and looked at Ning Mingjie from top to bottom for a long time before finally saying, ¡°Older cousin, your face is truly very valuable.¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression ckened.


    Ning Yuxuan dryly coughed a few times and continued, ¡°Alright then, give that person to me. Also, this long letter is an imperial edict. Look, it has Yuzhen¡¯s emperor¡¯s seal. You should take care when you put it away.¡±


    The two of them knew what they each had to do afterwards. After they finished quietly discussing top-secret information, Ning Mingjie put on his hat to leave.


    Before Ning Mingjie left, he turned his head and looked at Marquis Moyu as he asked, ¡°Hey, I heard that Sangyu is pregnant again. Congrattions.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan smiled and nodded. ¡°She¡¯s resting in the next room. Do you want to go see her?¡±


    Ning Mingjie consider for a long time before chuckling and turning around. ¡°No, no need.¡±


    It would better to not see her.


    The boat turned around and prepared to leave for the capital. Marquis Moyu had nned the timing of this trip perfectly. During the month he was gone, Zhao Zhe had flipped tablets for the women he would sleep with. Of the women chosen, four of them were women that Ning Yuxuan had sent into the pce.


    When Xuwu had left with Haohao, he had given him four bottles of treasure. It was four types of herbs that when mixed together would be a slow-acting poison. A poison that couldn¡¯t be detected by the imperial physicians was a rare treasure.


    It could be considered not a waste.


    When Ning Yuxuan returned to the capital, he would resume control over the important matters in the imperial court and act as a low-key, helpful official. While he waited for the emperor¡¯s health to gradually deteriorate, he would control the overall situation. By the time the emperor finally died, there wouldn¡¯t be any panic in the country. He would assist the neglected fourth prince in ruling the country while the fourth prince sat on the throne and yed with a slingshot.


    In other words, although he had to follow his n¡¯sw in not taking the throne for himself, he was allowed to take down thest remaining emperor that would have a grudge against him.


    ¡ª


    When Ji Man woke up, she saw a young woman sitting by her bed. She looked huffy, but also very happy.


    When the young woman saw her opening her eyes, she curiously stared at her and asked, ¡°My name is Pengxin. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°My name is... Ji Man.¡± Ji Man was a bit muddled-headed from her sleep. She felt confused when she saw this vaguely familiar-looking person.


    Marquis Moyu came inside with a bowl of soup. He swept his gaze over Pengxin, and she instinctively moved aside. For some unknown reason, she felt a bit fearful of him.


    ¡°The reason behind this trip was toe here to pick her up.¡± Ning Yuxuan gently sat down on the bed and fed the soup to Ji Man, spoonful by spoonful. ¡°She¡¯s Yuzhen¡¯s princess.¡±


    Ji Man choked on a mouthful of soup. She couldn¡¯t resist looking at Pengxin.


    No wonder this young woman had looked familiar. She did look a bit simr to Pengyue, but she seemed bolder than Pengyue.


    Wait, pick up Yuzhen¡¯s princess? Ji Man widened her eyes as she looked at Ning Yuxuan. ¡°Is that battle with Yuzhen over?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s continuing,¡± Ning Yuxuan seriously replied, ¡°The war will continue for one more month before it¡¯s okay for it to end.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: At first I was thinking, isn¡¯t it weird that there are so many undetectable and incurable poisons? But, I think it makes sense that the known poisons outnumber the known antidotes. It¡¯s much easier to figure out that something has a harmful effect, then to find a cure for it or to identify the exact poison, especially since they didn¡¯t have any high-tech medical equipment back then.

 Chapter 464 - The secret finally comes out (1)

    Chapter 464 ¨C The secret finallyes out (1)


    Wow, he even knew how much longer the war had tost. Ji Man almost felt somewhat sympathetic towards Zhao Zhe. He couldn¡¯t possibly have a good oue after going against a thousand-year old fox like Ning Yuxuan.


    But, how could Ning Yuxuan say those words when Yuzhen¡¯s princess was standing right there? Ji Man carefully looked over at Pengxin again.


    She didn¡¯t know that Pengxin wasn¡¯t paying attention to the contents of their conversation at all. Instead, Pengxin¡¯s attention was fixated solely on her. Seeing Ji Man looking at her, she quickly turned away to break eye contact and went to clean therge sword that was ced on the table.


    Oh my god, did all of Yuzhen¡¯s princesses study martial arts?


    Ning Yuxuan turned his head to nce Pengxin. ¡°Princess Pengxin, my wife is pregnant, so it easy for her suffer frights. Your de...¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s pregnant?¡± Pengxin¡¯s eyes brightened, and she immediately broke out into a grin. ¡°I boarded the boat recently and didn¡¯t know that. A pregnant woman needs to rest properly. Pengxin won¡¯t bother her then.¡±


    She had previously heard that the woman Ning Mingjie liked would be on this boat, and the other party was a married woman too. Thus, she wanted toe over to check her out. Seeing that this woman was more attractive than herself, she was internally murmuring this offense. She was quite surprised to hear this woman was pregnant.


    It was already impossible for a married woman to be with Ning Mingjie. A pregnant woman was even less of a threat. Pengxin swallowed down her negative feelings and happily went to the deck of the boat to swing around her awe-inspiringrge sword.


    She had finally found the ideal husband. Thus, she had to train her martial arts to perfection in order to take him down in one move!


    ¡ª


    As the days got colder, Ji Man felt increasingly tired. She would frequently sleep the entire day away. And so, when Pengxin passed by Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man¡¯s room, she would sometimes see the marquis, who was rumored to have power over the imperial court and themon people, carrying a sleepyhead woman, along with her quilt that was wrapped around her, to the table and asking her what she wanted to eat.


    Ji Man was so sleepy that she only opened her mouth. Ning Yuxuan would put the vegetables and rice onto a spoon and fed her bite by bite. He would quietly say, ¡°Be careful. Chew a few more times before swallowing.¡±


    Pengxin¡¯s heart warmed up by this sight. No wonder older sister Pengyue preferred staying and dying in Great Song. As it turned out, Great Song¡¯s men were very gentle.


    ¡ª


    Zhao Zhe started to cough and feel other sickly symptoms, but he didn¡¯t know why. The imperial physicians said it was because he worn out from overworking, so he handed over a portion of his work to the prime minister.


    Qian Yingchen had taken on Marquis Moyu¡¯s heavy responsibilities, and Marquis Moyu had taken Nie-<i>shi</i> out on a journey to seek medicine that would help ensure the well being of their unborn child. Surprisingly, the emperor hadn¡¯t stopped the marquis and even lent him a boat. There were even people that said the emperor had done this for Nie-<i>shi</i>¡®s sake. That, actually, it was the emperor that sent out Marquis Moyu, who was such a busy person, out of the capital.


    However, people with discerning eyes could tell that the emperor wanted to send Ning Yuxuan away in order to seize back his imperial power. Thepetition between Xiao Tianyi and Qian Yingchen had also continued during Ning Yuxuan¡¯s absence.


    ¡ª


    In the end, Ning Yuxuan returned ten days earlier than predicted.


    In his excitement, Qian Yingchen brought a group of important officials dressed in their court clothing to wait outside the marquis¡¯s estate. The state of affairs in the imperial court was clear. As soon as Marquis Moyu returned, the scales tilted in their favor, and their days would naturally be even better.


    But, when the carriage stopped at the entrance, they saw Marquis Moyuing out of the carriage while carrying Nie Sangyu.


    Autumn had just arrived in the capital, so the weather was slightly cold. Ning Yuxuan wrapped a cloak around Ji Man, nodded at the officials, and said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk after we go inside.¡±


    Then, he dashed inside while steadily carrying Ji Man.


    Based on his behavior, everyone assumed that something had befallen Nie-<i>shi,</i> so they hurriedly followed the marquis to the western courtyard. However, after Ning Yuxuan had ced Ji Man down inside and came out, he only took a deep breath and said, ¡°She¡¯s gotten heavier. I almost couldn¡¯t carry her all the way here.¡±


    Everyone, ¡°...¡±


    Marquis, did you have to act so anxious when you were only carrying Nie-s<i>hi</i> inside to rest? You made everyone else worry that Nie-<i>shi</i> was seriously ill and about to suffer miscarriage.


    They went into the study and closed the doors. The discussion inside continued even after the sunset.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin had been settled down in the guest quarter in the southern courtyard.


    ¡ª


    Ji Man felt as if she slept through multiple years. When she drowsily woke up, she saw Ning Yuxuan, who hade here to feed her as usual.


    He said, ¡°Your body is getting swollen from too much sleeping.¡±


    Ji Man turned over and got up to eat some food. Looking at the familiar things in the room, her reaction was a bit sluggish. ¡°We already returned to the capital?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Ning Yuxuan hugged her and said, ¡°Sleep some more. By the time you wake up, it¡¯ll be a peaceful and prosperous time.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. Did Ning Yuxuan have an important thinging up? Shouldn¡¯t she be standing by his side and fighting this battle with him? But, she really felt too sleepy right now.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Just leave it me,¡± a quiet voice said by her ear. It had a soporific effect on her. Ji Man quietly fell back to sleep.


    ¡ª


    The emperor had fallen gravely ill, and Xiao Sihai had supposedly died in a bordend battle. Xiao n finally noticed there was something wrong, and members of the n wanted to enter the pce to see the emperor and assist the emperor with the bordend war.


    Under the reasoning that Xiao n had been secretly mobilized their private armies, Marquis Moyu charged the n with the crime of revolting against the emperor and sent the entire n into the imperial prison.


    The empress dowager shouted that Marquis Moyu had disloyal intentions, but her words didn¡¯t travel beyond her pce. The pce that Marquis Moyu had previously helped her get renovated had be a cage, and it was a soundproof one.


    The empress wasn¡¯t allowed to return to the pce. Erxin had taken charge of the imperial harem. At first, Zhao Zhe was still able to say a few words after falling sick. However, after he had spent a prolonged time with women that looked strikingly simr to Nie Sangyu, he gradually lost his voice.


    Looking at the person in front of him, that looked so simr Nie Sangyu, Zhao Zhe thought it was strange. How could there be people that looked this simr to her? There was even one woman ¨C her name was Zhuer ¨C who looked exactly like Nie Sangyu. It was exactly because of this reason that he favored her especially much.


    (T/N: The ¡°zhu¡± (Öñ) in Zhuer mentioned in thest paragraph is using the character for bamboo. The ¡°zhu¡± (Öé) for Zhu Yurun¡¯s servant girl¡¯s name, Zhuer, is the character for pearl.)

 Chapter 465 - The secret finally comes out (2)

    Chapter 465 ¨C The secret finallyes out (2)


    Zhuer was sitting by his bed. Hearing the raspy sounds from his throat, she chuckled and said, ¡°Who could have expected that my master would have a bad ending even after swearing allegiance to three masters? If she had known this from the beginning, then she would have been better off by giving her wholeheartedly loyalty to the marquis.¡±


    Hearing her words, Zhao Zhe furrowed his brow. Although he could no longer speak or move, he could still clearly understand the words he heard.


    Everyone had withdrawn from the hall. It was only Zhuer that remained behind to keep himpany.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been wearing this mask for too long. Your Majesty probably won¡¯t recognize my original face.¡± Zhuerughed and slowly took off the fake skin face mask.


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s eyes widened in horror. It was if he had seen a ghost.


    The face underneath the mask was very ordinary, and he seen it before.


    It felt as if his throat was tearing apart when he tried to talk, and he was only able to mumble out, ¡°It¡¯s... you...¡±


    ¡°En, it¡¯s this servant.¡± Danzhu looked at Zhao Zhe. Her smile was gentle as she continued to say, ¡°Your Majesty, you must be really surprised, right? Back then, this servant had helped my master, Qian Lianxue, by delivering countless letters. There¡¯s probably nothing left of my master¡¯s body except a full set of white bones. And here this servant is, sitting here and watching you die.¡±


    Danzhu was Qian Lianxue¡¯s personal servant girl. She knew all of her secrets. She was rumored to have gone missing, but in actuality, Ning Yuxuan had secretly captured her. This was how Ning Yuxuan had found out about all of the third prince¡¯s schemes after Qian Lianxue¡¯s death. And, this is why he had chosen the second prince over him.


    Zhao Zhe silentlyughed. He shook his head and opened his mouth, but couldn¡¯t say a word.


    In this game of chess, they had all though they were ying against Marquis Moyu. But, in actuality, Ning Yuxuan had been using them as chess pieces all along.


    At varying points, each of them had wrongfully assumed he had control of the world. But, the truth was that they had always been in the grasp of that person¡¯s palm and had never struggled free of that person¡¯s control.


    What a sorrowful ending.


    Danzhu remained sitting by his bedside as she nattered on, ¡°Mistress Xue was a pitiful person. She only wanted to improve her life a bit. There was no need to use her any further once she had lost her usefulness. Your Majesty, why were you so ruthless back then? You killed my master, then pushed that crime onto the second prince.¡±


    Everyone else had thought the second prince had killed Mistress Xue because he had sent Fan Tianxing to clearly investigate everything. However, that was the wrong assumption to make. She was the only one that knew the truth. It was Zhao Zhe that struck first. Zhao Li merely wanted a way to promote Fan Tianxing, so he had borrowed the cases involving Qian Lianxue.


    Although Danzhu was saying that she had remained behind to get revenge for Mistress Xue¡¯s death, it wasn¡¯t true either. She had originally wanted to flee. She would conceal her identity for the rest of her life. However, Ning Yuxuan had captured her, and there was no way to escape from him.


    The marquis didn¡¯t investigate the crimes that she hadmitted. He just wanted her to clearly exin everything that had happened in the estate. He wanted to know what was done by Mistress Xue and what wasn¡¯t done by her. After that, he asked her if she was willing to swear her loyalty to him.


    She wasn¡¯t willing, but she had no other choice.


    It was only after she became the marquis¡¯s servant that she realized her master had ruined herself by thinking she was so clever. Instead of staying loyal to the marquis, she gave up on him and chased after futile hopes.


    Danzhu sighed and returned to her senses. She used the reflection from the water in a nearby gold bowl to put her mask back on, then she nced at the person on the bed. His breathing was like gossamer. He was hanging onto hisst breath.


    ¡ª


    It was reported that the war hadn¡¯t ended in the bordends. However, since the emperor was terminally ill, Ning Mingjie returned to the capital and brought along 50,000 soldiers. Well, the message said he was returning with 50,000 soldiers.


    If the emperor died, who would be the next emperor? There were many titled princes, but they wouldn¡¯t be a legitimate direct descendent. There was also a fourth prince that was six or seven years old. Would he able to take on this heavy responsibility?


    One after another, the titled princes and other imperial rtives came to the capital, and they brought along their private armies with them. Of course, they woulde in hopes of getting a slice of the pie.


    The old court officials panicked. One after another, they turned to Marquis Moyu for help. The country couldn¡¯t withstand another upheaval. Who should sit on the throne next?


    Ning Yuxuan waved his hand and picked up the fourth prince, who nkly stared at everyone.


    Everyone understood. There wasn¡¯t any other choice.


    ¡ª


    The emperor was about to die, and there was nothing that could stop his deteriorating health. Before Zhao Zhe died, Ning Yuxuan paid him a visit.


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s eyes were full of unwillingness and resentment.


    Ning Yuxuan looked at him and softly said, ¡°Actually, very early on, I had originally nned to assist you in bing emperor. That¡¯s why, even though I knew Wan-<i>er</i> was loyal to you, I still dearly loved her.¡±


    Zhao Zhe slightly froze in shock for a moment.


    ¡°But, the thing that you should have never done, was have Qian Lianxue kidnap my son.¡± Marquis Moyu softly smiled. He sat down by the dragon bed and continued, ¡°Since that first time I rescued Haohao, you and me, we were no longer walking on the same road.¡±


    Zhao Zhe¡¯s eyes were full of incredulity. It was just because of that matter? He had thought there would be a more important reason... At that time, hadn¡¯t Ning Yuxuan said he didn¡¯t like Nie Sangyu?!


    You liar!


    Zhao Zhe felt as if he couldn¡¯t breath. His attempts at breathing sounded very painful. Ning Yuxuan seemingly remembered something else and reminded him, ¡°Right now, with your body¡¯s current condition, if you get too excited, you¡¯ll die sooner.¡±


    ¡°You -¡± Zhao Zhe wasn¡¯t able to catch hisst breath.


    Ning Yuxuan went forward and closed his eyes, then he took two steps back and kowtowed.


    ¡°May our emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years -¡°


    The death knell was rung out, and the pce was filled with anguished wailing.


    Ning Yuxuan quietly passed through the pce¡¯s numerous winding corridors and picked up the fourth prince, Zhao Yu, who was still ying with his slingshot in the garden.


    ¡°Your Highness, it¡¯s time for you to change your clothes and go kneel and cry for a bit.¡±

 Chapter 466 - Reincarnation (1)

    Chapter 466 ¨C Reincarnation (1)


    After Zhao Zhe died, there were only three days of crying in the pce. Using the excuse that the various titled princes wereing to the capital with their armies, Marquis Moyu pushed the idea of promoting the fourth prince, Zhao Yu, to emperor.


    There were people in the imperial court that voiced objections. The fourth prince was too young and naturally wouldn¡¯t be able to rule by himself. Marquis Moyu¡¯s proposal meant that this child emperor would be under his control, and he would have control of Great Song¡¯s vassals through the child emperor.


    This was obvious enough. No one needed to voice these thoughts. Everyone could see the truth for himself.


    However, once Ning Mingjie arrived in the capital, hisrge army felt like a ck cloud of oppressive pressure that surrounded the capital. The majority of officials had also switched allegiance to Marquis Moyu already. Someone even suggested for Marquis Moyu to act as regent.


    Ning Yuxuan opened the capital¡¯s gates and weed the various titled princes that hade to the capital. They were allowed to bring many of their subordinates into the capital with them, but their private armies had to stationed far away from the capital. These princes were all members of the imperial family.


    Once the emperor had died, there was no way to bring him back. Xiao-<i>shi</i>, who had recently been promoted to grand dowager empress, moved passed the pain of losing her child and publicly stated that it was only right for the fourth prince to ascend the throne. She made this statement in exchange for Xiao Tianyi¡¯s life.


    The titled princes hadn¡¯t except that the ascension would be resolved so rapidly. Couldn¡¯t they have been given some time to adjust to these drastic changes?


    Just as abruptly, the bordends war ended without any warning. Yuzhen announced that its army would retreat, and it would also offer tribute aspensation.


    While the fourth prince sat on the throne and yed with toys, Marquis Moyu stood at his side and gave instructions on the country¡¯s matters.


    Ning Mingjie was going to marry Yuzhen¡¯s princess. It could be considered the two countries resuming their alliance. The members of Xiao n were punished for their crimes, and some of them were exiled. Ning Yuxuan spared Xiao Tianyi. He lost his position as the prime minister and became an official that had a position that was neither high nor low.


    All theplicated things in the world seemed to have slowly gotten resolved.


    ¡ª


    Marquis Moyu took a sedan chair back to his estate. When he carelessly lifted the curtain to look outside, many young women called out to him, but they also shyly retreated away from the sedan chair.


    Dengxin had recently been brought back to the capital and was in the crowd of women that were looking at Marquis Moyu. She sighed. During the long period of separation, the marquis¡¯s poprity had risen. No wonder her master had been perfectly willing to remain by his side. He had once just been a beautiful man, but now he had the kingly bearing of someone that had the entire world in his grasp.


    Holding her luggage, Dengxin hurriedly took thest steps to the marquis¡¯s estate. By chance, the marquis was leaving his sedan chair at this time too. Dengxin entered the estate through a side entrance to look for Steward Qian to report that she had returned. Afterwards, she changed her clothes and went to the western courtyard.


    When she entered the western courtyard¡¯s main bedroom, the person on the bed seemed to have just awoken. Ning Yuxuan was sitting on bedside.


    Carrying a bowl of nourishing medicine, Dengxin went forward to pay her respects. ¡°Master.¡±


    ¡°Dengxin!¡± Ji Man was thrilled to see her. But, she had left Dengxin in Jing Province. Why had shee here?


    Dengxin put the bowl down and properly saluted. ¡°Master, you¡¯re pregnant. It¡¯s only right for Dengxin to return here to serve you.¡±


    Because Ji Man had left behind a store for her, she had been living very well in Jing Province. During this time, she had reached a marrying age. Since Liu Rufeng kept bugging her and wouldn¡¯t give up, she decided that she might as well marry him.


    Liu Rufeng had recently been transferred to capital, and she hade along with him. By chance, the marquis found her and told her that her master was pregnant and needed someone to care for her.


    Gancao and Muxu were no longer here. She was the only one left.


    Overjoyed, Ji Man didn¡¯t even feel sleepy anymore. She held Ning Yuxuan¡¯s arm and pinched him with all of her strength.


    Frightened, Dengxin felt cold sweat gathering on her back. She quickly called out, ¡°Master!¡±


    In the past, her master had always been a sensible person. How could she have be so audacious? The marquis¡¯s previous status couldn¡¯t even bepared to his current one. Her master should be more careful...


    To her surprise, the marquis, who had been pinched hard enough for his forehead to scrunch up in pain, only took her master¡¯s hand off his arm. He carefully looked at her master¡¯s nails and said, ¡°Be careful, your nails have gotten very brittletely. If they break off, you¡¯ll be the one crying in painter. Dengxin, bring over a pair of scissors.¡±


    Dengxin was a bit startled out her wits. She hurriedly voiced her assent and brought over the nearby scissors.


    And then, she saw the marquis, who had seemed like a god when she saw him in the streets, quietly sitting on the bed and lowering his head to trim her master¡¯s nails. As he carefully did his task, he muttered, ¡°Why do women like to grow such long nails? Be careful, you might end up scratching yourself. For now, I¡¯ll keep them trimmed for you. We can revisit this topic after you give birth.¡±


    As Ji Man quietly sat there and obediently allowed him to cut her nails, she winked at Dengxin.


    This sight dumbfounded Dengxin.


    Scenes from the past seem to have appeared in front of her. The marquis didn¡¯t like her master and wasn¡¯t close with her master. He would frequently show her master either an unsmiling face, or a face that had be livid in anger.


    She would have never expected there would be a day when the marquis would so gently sit by her master¡¯s side. Although his expression was still a bit hard, she felt...


    So wonderful.


    Dengxin¡¯s eyes slightly reddened. She suddenly thought of Gancao. She really wished that Gancao could be here to see this too. Gancao,e look, we used to have to work so hard to not be harmed by others in order to help our master keep living. Now, the marquis has already learned to cherish our master.


    She wondered; how tall were the grasses on Gancao¡¯s grave?


    After turning around and wiping her tears, Dengxin brought over the bowl of medicine. ¡°My lord, please let my master drink this first.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded. After he finished trimming, he took the bowl. But, he felt a bit embarrassed to spoon-feed Ji Man in front of Dengxin. He pursed his lips and said to Ji Man, ¡°Drink it yourself.¡±


    It was no big deal to drink the soup herself. It wasn¡¯t like she was an invalid. Ji Man twitched her lips. She took the bowl and slowly drank the medicine.


    Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist the impulse to take the bowl from her once she was done. He handed the bowl to Dengxin and dryly coughed once before saying to her, ¡°Dengxin, stay here to keep Madampany. I still have work to do.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Dengxin nodded.

 Chapter 467 - Reincarnation (2)

    Chapter 467 ¨C Reincarnation (2)


    Seeing that Dengxin¡¯s hair wasbed into a married woman¡¯s hairstyle, Ji Man had a lot of questions to ask her too. Once Marquis Moyu left, Dengxin spoke first.


    ¡°Liu Rufeng can be considered a good person, but he didn¡¯t know that Mistress Yun had already passed away.¡± Dengxin rubbed her nose. ¡°He had originally been nning toe here to see her.¡±


    Seeing that Dengxin¡¯s face had remained fair and smooth, Ji Man could tell that she had suffered any grievances. Still, she sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s a satisfactory ending.¡±


    ¡°This servant heard that General Ning is getting married.¡± Dengxin pursed her lips, ¡°Do you think Gancao would be happy or upset if she knew?¡±


    ¡°She would definitely be happy.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°Gancao would only wish Young Master well. She was a kindhearted girl.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Dengxin sniffled. ¡°This servant wants to go see her.¡±


    It seemed that the remaining people had moved on with their lives. It was only Gancao that remained lying in the ground alone. When she thought of it that way, it felt sorrowful.


    As a pregnant woman, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for Ji Man to visit a grave, so Dengxin went there by herself.


    Dengxin brought some fruit and paper money and walked to the ce that Gancao had been buried.


    In two more days, Ning Mingjie would be marrying Pengxin. However, there was someone sitting by Gancao¡¯s grave. The weeds and fallen leaves had already been cleaned up. A man, who was wearing a cloak, drank some wine and poured some onto the ground. He used the wine to write something on the tombstone: <i> Who know how many petals have fallen?</i>


    (T/N: This is a line from a poem mentioned in chapter 209. Ning Mingjie writes this poem and gives it Gancao.)


    Dengxin pursed her lips and suddenly smiled.


    She had thought that other than herself and master, no one else would remember the servant that had died in a fire. As it turned out, Ning Mingjie remembered Gancao too.


    Ning Mingjie probably also remembered that this foolish girl had once bashfully praised his calligraphy. He had given her a coral bracelet and said he was willing to marry her.


    Dengxin thought that Gancao probably felt happy too. At the very least, there would always be a spot in Ning Mingjie¡¯s heart that belonged to her.


    ¡ª-


    With Marquis Moyu¡¯s assistance, the seven-year-old fourth prince was pronounced emperor. Wearing his crown, the new emperor officially attended the imperial court secessions.


    Ning Yuxuan would stand in the lower right corner¡¯s first spot. He would listen to each of the officials speak, then he would tell the emperor how he should handle the matter. Then, borrowing the emperor¡¯s mouth, hismand would be passed.


    Ning Mingjie was bestowed the title of General Protector of the Nation. Under his militarymand and his marriage to Yuzhen¡¯s princess, he had aplished great meritorious service.


    Someone put forth the suggestion to Marquis Moyu that the army under Ning Mingjie¡¯smand shouldn¡¯t remain sorge. Even if they were close rtives, it was unavoidable that they would one day have conflicting views.


    However, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t take any action. He even smiled and said, ¡°If Mingjie wants something, he can directlye and take it. Yuxuan won¡¯t be stingy.¡±


    Hearing these words at the doorway, Ning Mingjie loudlyughed. There were no other words that could have won his loyalty more.


    Later on, it would be recorded in history books that Marquis Moyu was the official that had supported multiple emperors and never shown the slightest hint of rebelling. Ning Mingjie was written down in history as an extremely loyal general. He had the military power to take over the kingdom at anytime, but he remained loyal to the emperor for his entire life and only obeyed the emperor¡¯s orders.


    These two people would be legendary figures in history. Of course, this was something that would happen muchter on.


    ¡ª


    Zhu Yurun woke up in the middle of the night and went running to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate in panic.


    Qian Yingchen was chasing after her. He anxiously shouted, ¡°Slow down!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t go slower! Can¡¯t wait!¡± Zhu Yurun had only remembered to put one shoe. ¡°Mister Ji is about give birth! Hurry up, go faster!¡±


    Qian Yingchen could only run after her.


    ¡ª-


    Ji Man had gone intobor today. Her past months of pregnancy had passed without mishap. When various people heard that she was giving birth, they all rushed to marquis¡¯s estate to offer their congrattions. Even though the child hadn¡¯t been born yet, madams from various families were already waiting at the marquis¡¯s estate¡¯s entrance.


    It was the middle of the night, and the weather was cold, but Ji Man¡¯s room was warm from the burning charcoal in braziers. Zhu Yurun and Dengxin were staring at the midwife so hard that the midwife¡¯s hands trembled.


    Ji Man even had toforting the midwife. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous. First, take a deep breath...¡±


    Everyone was worried that the past would repeat itself, so no one dared to leave. Because of propriety, Ning Yuxuan was standing outside the birthing room and keeping guard. He was so nervous that he couldn¡¯t stop pacing back and forth.


    Mu Shuiqing was already dizzy from watching him turn so many times. She helplessly said, ¡°My lord, please sit down and rest.¡±


    ¡°How can I rest?¡± Ning Yuxuan looked fretful. Where had the calm demeanor that he showed in the imperial court gone? As soon as he heard pained soundsing from Ji Man¡¯s room, his eyes turned red. ¡°I really can¡¯t go inside?¡±


    Guibai and Mu Shuiqing uniformly shook their heads.


    Guibai now understood why his master had locked himself up in the study when Madam had been giving birthst time. His uneasiness was too strong and couldn¡¯t be concealed.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    The situation in the inner room resolved surprisingly quickly. Ji Man hadn¡¯t been screaming in pain for long before they heard the sound of a baby crying.


    The people outside let out sighs of relief. Qian Yingchen swiftly said, ¡°Congrattions, marquis.¡±


    In contrast, Marquis Moyu was stunned stupid. It was if his entire body was suffering from an electrical power failure. A long timeter, he finally asked, ¡°It¡¯s born?¡±


    The midwife brought out the baby. She was somewhat dejected, but she still smiled and said, ¡°To respond to the marquis, Madam gave birth to a daughter.¡±


    Such bad luck! She had been hoping to deliver a son in order to get more reward money!


    ¡°A daughter?¡± Ning Yuxuan stretched his hands out and took the baby from the midwife. He nkly looked down at the baby in his arms. The crying baby hadn¡¯t opened her eyes yet. Unlike her older brother, she wasn¡¯t a quiet baby. But, once he had settled the baby in his arms, the baby suddenly stopped crying. Her eyeballs were turning under her eyelids. It seemed as if she really wanted to open her eyes to look at him.

 Chapter 468 - The finale of the spring boudoir dream (1)

    Chapter 468 ¨C The finale of the spring boudoir dream (1)


    It was a wrinkled face, and he couldn¡¯t see any hint of whom his daughter resembled. Ning Yuxuan nkly looked at her. After using all of her strength, she finally lifted up those thin eyelids. Her ck, limpid eyes seemed to glow when she looked at him.


    His face was reflected in her eyes.


    The surrounding people had thought the marquis¡¯s reaction was because he was unhappy that the baby was a girl.


    When Zhu Yurun came out, she looked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes and asked in surprise, ¡°Marquis, why are you crying?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that bad to have a daughter. It wasn¡¯t worth crying over. Besides, there was already a son in this household.


    Hearing Zhu Yurun¡¯s question, Ning Yuxuan returned to his senses and wiped his face. There really were tears. Why had he cried?


    Holding his daughter, Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t think dwell on those thoughts any further. He wanted to go into the birthing room. ¡°Midwife, you can withdraw to collect your reward. I¡¯m going inside to check on Man-<i>er</i>.¡±


    Dengxin hastily stopped him. ¡°My lord! The room hasn¡¯t been cleaned up yet. It reeks of blood. You can¡¯t go inside.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. ¡°Why did you leave Madam there if the room is reeking of blood? If she¡¯s not afraid of it, then why would I be afraid?¡±


    While everyone was speechless, Ning Yuxuan went around Dengxin and entered the room.


    ¡ª


    The doctor hadn¡¯t lied to her. The birthing process really had gone smoothly this time. And so, Ji Man¡¯s energy level was in an okay state. She was still awake.


    However, as she looked around, she felt a bit dazed. It felt as if she was in a dream. If she struggled a little bit more, she would wake up in modern-day. It felt as if the cracks in her surrounding were continuing to expand.


    As soon as Ji Man thought that everything in front of her was only a blissful dream, her eyes reddened.


    The room was filled with the raw scent of blood. The servant girls were currently busily tidying up the room. Holding the baby, Ning Yuxuan sat down on the bed and reached out to wipe the tears at the corners of her eyes. Somewhat anxious, he asked, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±


    Ji Man returned to her senses and looked at him. She mustered up a smile. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why are you crying then? Look, she¡¯s so cute.¡± cing their daughter down on the side of the pillow, Ning Yuxuan said, ¡°Let¡¯s give her a nickname for now. I¡¯ll give her a formal name when she turns one.¡±


    As soon as the baby girl left her father¡¯s arms, she resumed wailing. Ji Man was a bit taken aback. Hearing the baby¡¯s heartbreaking cries, she couldn¡¯t help thinking of Nie Sangyu.


    In the past, she would hear Nie Sangyu heartbreaking cries. Her crying really didn¡¯t sound any different from a baby¡¯s unbridled crying. Just like a newborn, she was uncaring about anything else except her own unhappiness.


    ¡°Can we call her... Sangyu?¡± Ji Man quietly asked.


    She had once read in an entric book that daughters were their fathers¡¯ lovers from a past life. Ji Man didn¡¯t think there was anything bad if Nie Sangyu had had entered the cycle of reincarnation and was reborn as her daughter. If that silly girl became her daughter, she would teach her from childhood how to properly love someone.


    As for Marquis Moyu, he could finally repaid the feelings that he owed her, even if it wasn¡¯t in the form that she had originally wanted.


    ¡°Our daughter can¡¯t have the same name as you.¡± Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. ¡°That would be going against the rules.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows and asked, ¡°Is Zhao Zhe dead?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan nodded.


    ¡°Can you give me the name ¡®Ji Man¡¯ and give the name ¡®Sangyu¡¯ to our daughter then?¡± Ji Man slightly smiled. ¡°This way, there won¡¯t be any repeated name.¡±


    She didn¡¯t want to be called Nie Sangyu for the rest of her life. Nie Sangyu had her story. As for herself, she was just Ji Man.


    It seemed as if Ning Yuxuan was finally reminded of something. His eyes brightened. He stood up and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Nowadays, he had final say in all the important and unimportant things in the imperial court. It was only a name. How could he not give it to her? Even more importantly, after Ji Man changed her name, the previous emperor¡¯s imperial edict would no longer be valid.


    Which meant that he could give Ji Man a formal status.


    ¡ª


    During her one-month resting period after childbirth, Ji Man yed with little Sangyu every day. Little Sangyu showed signs of being clever like her older brother. When she smiled, she was quite cute too and very well-liked by the people in the estate.


    ¡ª


    After Xi-<i>er</i> had been given to Mu Shuiqing to raise, he gradually became more cheerful and carefree. From time to time, they woulde over to pay respects to Ji Man. Xi-<i>er</i> seemed a lot livelier than before. When all was said and done, he was Ning Yuxuan¡¯s child, and his birth mother had died. Ji Man felt that she could let go of some of her grievances. There was no benefit to herself to focus excessively on the past. And so, she became more caring towards Xi-<i>er</i>.


    ¡ª


    There were countless women that wanted to enter Marquis Moyu¡¯s vast estate.


    Zhu Yurun very curiously asked Ji Man, ¡°Mister Ji, what did you do to get the marquis to agree to not marry another woman? Even if its only for the opportunity to be his bed servant, there would be enough women for a line to stretch all the way from here to capital¡¯s southern gate.¡±


    Ji Man shrugged. She very innocently blinked. ¡°He¡¯s the one that doesn¡¯t want to. Who am I to argue?¡±


    Even during her one-month recovery period, he only spent his nights coaxing their daughter to sleep. They would sleep in the same room together, but in separate beds. Ji Man honestly didn¡¯t know where his motivation hade from for him to achieve such high-level enlightenment and keep to a one-woman diet.


    Ji Man didn¡¯t expect that there would be no other woman in his courtyard. On the contrary, she could be considered to have indirectly promoted Mu Shuiqing. A man that was never tempted to stray simply wasn¡¯t human. She wasn¡¯t going to unyielding insist that Ning Yuxuan could only look at her for the rest of his life.


    However, Ning Yuxuan never entered Mu Shuiqing¡¯s courtyard. Mu Shuiqing didn¡¯tpete for his favor either. Instead, she raised Xi-<i>er</i> and peacefully lived her life.


    Finally, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist asking Ning Yuxuan. ¡°You spent the first half of your life being a Casanova. Why won¡¯t you even nce at another woman now?¡±

 Chapter 469 - The finale of the spring boudoir dream (2)

    Chapter 469 ¨C The finale of the spring boudoir dream (2)


    Ning Yuxuan gave her a disapproving sidelong nce. ¡°Since you know that I spent half of my life being a Casanova, then you should also know that I¡¯ve already gotten bored of looking at beautiful women. I just want to have a peaceful life now. Alright,ugh behind your sleeve. You just happen to be lucky that you met me when I¡¯ve reached the point in my life where I was looking for one person to grow old with, someone to be with for the rest of my life.¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched.


    ¡ª


    After she went out when her one-month recovery period had ended, it seemed unusually lively outside. Dengxin and Zhu Yurun hade over to tidy up her appearance, then they brought her to the Nie n¡¯s former main residence.


    Since the day that Nie n had been exterminated, this residence had been left unused. Ji Man didn¡¯t know why, but there were people entering and exiting the residence. She curiously walked inside and saw that red ribbons were hung up everywhere. Paper cut outs for the words ¡®double happiness¡¯ were also pasted everywhere too.


    Swinging her handkerchief, the good luck matron came over to her. She supported Ji Man by the arm and led her further inside. As they walked, she said, ¡°Aiya, dear bride, we need to hurry up and get your hair and makeup done. The marriage sedan will be here soon -¡°


    Stunned, Ji Man let herself be pulled into the room. They changed her out of her clothes and into a wedding dress and draped the wedding veil over her head. Then, they led her to the main hall for her to say her goodbyes.


    Nie Qingyun was sitting in the top seat that Nie Xiangyuan used to sit in. His eyes were red as he copied the words that his father had once said, ¡°You¡¯re getting married. Once you arrive at Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, behave respectfully and virtuously. Don¡¯t act contrarily to your husband¡¯s wishes.¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips. Truly an example of ridiculous feudal code of ethics, ah.


    Still, she knelt down and bowed forward until her head touched the ground. She softly assented, ¡°Understood.¡±


    Outside of the hall, there was a moring sound from gongs and drums being struck. A long line of women dressed in splendidly beautiful clothing were waiting outside to follow her from Nie Residence to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate.


    Errong stayed by her side to support her. Several unmarried young women, who were serving as the bride¡¯s attendants, were walking in front of them. From the servant girls to the good luck matron, everyone was wearing bright red clothing.


    Underneath the sunlight, her wedding dress glittered. There were mandarin ducks symbolizing a happily married couple as well as mythical birds embroidered on the wedding dress. Compared to the wedding dress that Nie Sangyu had embroidered herself, this one was iparably exquisite. One nce would be enough to tell that this wedding had been nned for a long time.


    As Ji Man walked out Nie Residence and got onto the marriage sedan, she felt a bit absent-minded. During this moment of absent-mindedness, she saw her dreand disintegrating. Everything in front of her disappeared, and she was the only one left.


    ¡°<i>I dare not love for I fear this is only a dream</i>.¡±


    Ji Man felt it was hard to breath. There was tightness in her chest. The marriage sedan continued to move forward, but she felt aimless. What would she do if she woke up from the dream? What should she do?


    The sounds from the percussion instruments and the strings of firecrackers seem to fade away. She felt as if she was being wrapped up in nightmares. When you had something, you would be afraid of losing it. Wouldn¡¯t it have been better to have never had it?


    But, she wasn¡¯t willing to part with it...


    A pair of hands pulled her out of her nightmares. Ji Man opened her eyes. Her wedding veil had already been taken off without her noticing. She was in the bridal room that was lit by ornamental candles.


    Ning Yuxuan curiously looked at her, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Man blinked and looked around.


    ¡°Too stunned?¡± Ning Yuxuan broke out intoughter. He took down her hair ornaments and gently brought her into his arms to hug. ¡°It¡¯s clearly a joyful day. Why does it seem like you¡¯re scared instead?¡±


    ¡°If I pinch you, will it hurt you?¡± Ji Man stupidly asked him.


    Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrow. ¡°Of course. If you want to check if this is a dream, why don¡¯t you just pinch yourself?¡±


    Ji Man lowered her eyes. She followed his suggestion and pinched her thigh. She hissed in pain. ¡°It¡¯s not a dream.¡±


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Ning Yuxuan stretched his hand and took out two ordinary dangling concentric knots. He hanged one on each side of the bed. ¡°Starting from today, we¡¯re husband and wife again.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°<i>Joined in matrimony, our love is without doubts</i>.¡±


    (T/N: The is the first line of a poem from Su Wu, a Chinese diplomat, to his wife.)


    ¡°En.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan shot her a dissatisfied look.¡± Do you know how to say anything else?¡±


    Ji Man caught him off guard when she suddenly pushed him down on the bed. Smiling, she kissed lips. ¡°I love you.¡±


    Marquis Moyu froze in surprise for a moment. He lightly harrumphed and awkwardly hugged her.


    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s something I still haven¡¯t figure out.¡± Ning Yuxuan very seriously asked her, ¡°Can you tell me the answer?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°What does cushioning a brain mean?¡±


    Huh? Ji Man blinked. ¡°Cushioning a brain?¡±


    (T/N: See chapter 270 if you¡¯re confused.)


    Pursuing his lips, Marquis Moyu somewhat embarrassedly continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t you once say that you like men that can repair skynterns and cushion brains? I know how to repair skynterns. Cushioning brains... I still think that it can¡¯t be as something as simple as cushioning a pig brain with a chopping board.¡±


    Ji Man was dumbfounded. She suddenly slid off of him and onto the bed. She hystericallyughed. ¡°Cushioning brains...¡±


    It wasputer, ah, not cushioning brains! This was something that Marquis Moyu would never know about.


    Afterughing hard enough for tears toe out, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan¡¯s vexed expression and suddenly felt relieved. She stopped looking at the cracks in her surroundings that looked like cracks in a dream. She tightly hugged him and said, ¡°En, that¡¯s exactly it. You just cushion a pig¡¯s brain.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan looked at her with a face full of doubt, but Ji Manughed even more happily.


    If she could stay immersed in this dream for a long time, then she was willing to never wake up again for the rest of her life.


    ¡ª


    In the official historical records of Great Song, there was a faithful official named Ning Yuxuan. He had assisted four emperors from the Zhao n. Despite several coups, his loyalty to the throne never wavered. After he assisted the child emperor until the emperor turned twenty-four, he relinquished his power. He was loved by all and had the loyalty of the court officials. The emperor honored him with the title of Father of the Nation. Ning Yuxuan lived a life of glory and splendor until he died at the ripe old age of seventy-eight.


    In Great Song¡¯s anecdotal history, there was a strange woman named Ji-<i>shi</i>. She was Marquis Moyu¡¯s wife and was highly praised by many women. After Marquis Moyu married her, he never took another concubine for the rest of his life. This led many women to seek out Ji-<i>shi</i> to ask her what was the secret to her sess. However, no one was able to get a satisfactory answer. She also died at the age of seventy-eight and was buried together with Marquis Moyu in Fu Mountains¡¯ peach tree grove.


    ¡ª


    Unwilling to wake up from this spring boudoir dream again.


    (The End)


    Trantor Ramblings: I felt puzzled by the ending. It¡¯s easier to believe that this is a transmigration story than a dream story because there was just so much that Ji Man didn¡¯t know about and was wrong about it. And, even if Ji Man isn¡¯t the best mother in the world, how could she dream about her son being poisoned and almost dying? Why do we get to see the points of view of so many characters if this is just her dream? What do you guys think?


    Anyways, next up, Pengxin and Ning Mingjie¡¯s story!

 Chapter 470 - I offer you my heart (1)

    Chapter 470 ¨C I offer you my heart (1)


    Most of Yuzhen¡¯s princesses had weapon training. Pengyue¡¯s weapon of choice was her whip. Pengxin¡¯s preferred weapon was her three-ringrge sword.


    Once, Pengyue had been the most favored princess in Yuzhen. However, after she got married, Yuzhen¡¯s queen passed away. Yuzhen¡¯s king¡¯s secret lover became the new queen, and her daughter, Pengxin, became a legitimate princess. In order to make up for the grievances that Pengxin went through in the past, the king eded to her every request.


    After Yuzhen¡¯s civil strife ended, war was waged at the bordend to get justice for Pengyue¡¯s death. Pengxin didn¡¯t hate Pengyue. Even after Pengxin became a princess, she still revered Pengyue. Pengxin actually felt that she had wronged her half-sister. Although she and her mother had been kept a dirty secret, hadn¡¯t they also been secretly taking away a portion of the king¡¯s favor from Pengyue and her mother?


    And so, out of mischievous impulse, she followed the army to the bordends and participated in the battles. Riding on a horse and using her awe-inspiring sword, she felt refreshed as she sliced down the enemy soldiers like they were only daikon.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Your Highness, themander of the enemy army has been sighted on the battlefield. There¡¯s bound to be a breach in the boundary lines. Please, you should head back to safety.¡± A loyal subordinate anxiously tried to persuade her.


    ¡°You want this princess just to idly watch as the city¡¯s walls are breached?¡± Pengxin glowered at him, then immediately climbed up the stairs to top of the city¡¯s gate tower with herrge sword. Looking into the distance, she saw that Great Song¡¯s g was getting increasingly close. From the horizon, there was an unstoppable wave of rising dust as Great Song¡¯s army marched forward.


    A great battle was on the verge of starting. She went around the loyal subordinates as she went down the city¡¯s gate tower. She grabbed a horse¡¯s reins and mixed into the troops that were in the outer part of the city. Her martial art skills were extraordinary. No matter what, she would be able to kill a few more enemies, right?


    However, to her surprise, therge wave of soldiers hadn¡¯te here to besiege the city. The news of hering to the bordend had been leaked out. For this battle, the enemy¡¯smander was aiming to capture her.


    Dream on! Pengxin swung herrge sword fiercely and powerfully. She wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to get closer to her.


    However, out of nowhere, a man urged his horse forward with his spurs. He grabbed hold of herrge sword. In one forceful pull, he directly pulled her onto his horse.


    Furious, Pengxin wanted to flip the de and give him a hard stab. But, when she looked up, she saw his face.


    Wah, this was a devastatingly beautiful face that could bring a nation down to its knees. Immediately, the surrounding sound of killing became muted. She seemed to smell the scent of peach blossoms and hear the tranquil sound of a flowing stream.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She instinctively asked.


    The man indifferently said, ¡°Great Song¡¯smander, Ning Mingjie.¡±


    Great Song¡¯smander! Pengxin¡¯s eyes brightened. If she killed him, then this war would end, right?


    However, when she lowered her head, she saw that this man had already taken away her sword and tied her up when she was dazed over his beauty!


    How shameless! He had actually used his beauty to trap her!


    Ning Mingjie saw the rich assortment of expressions that was disyed on her face and found it quite funny. Anyways, he had already achieved his objective of capturing her, so he quickly returned to the military camp and ordered the troops to withdraw. The city wasn¡¯t breached, so a report could be written that at thest moment, they had inexplicably suffered defeat.


    Right now, Yuzhen was filled with the fury over Pengyue¡¯s death. He only kidnapped Pengxin so that he could exchange her for an opportunity to have a sessful negotiation.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Why are Great Song¡¯s beds so strange?¡± Once Pengxin entered the tent, she behaved as if she was stepping into her home and without awareness that she was now a captive. She even disdainfully looked at the makeshift wooden bed.


    Ning Mingjie ignored her. He had someone untie her and left her on the side while he went to his desk to write a military report.


    As soon as the ropes were united, Princess Pengxin became even livelier. She immediately tried to dash outside. She was more agile than a rabbit. However, as soon as she got to the entrance, a pair of swords blocked her way. Behind her, the man, who was engrossed in writing a war report, didn¡¯t even raised his head when he said, ¡°Princess, don¡¯t try to run. This tent is surrounded by armed guards.


    Pengxin angrily stamped her feet. She pointed at those two swords and yelled, ¡°What lousy swords! They¡¯re far worse than this princess¡¯s three-ringrge sword! It¡¯s only because this princess doesn¡¯t have my sword. Otherwise, I would hack all of you to death!¡±


    The two guards stationed outside restrained their impulse tough.


    Fuming, Pengxin put down the tent¡¯s curtain and turned to look at Ning Mingjie. ¡°Where¡¯s this princess¡¯s sword?¡±


    ¡°Threw it away,¡± Ning Mingjie calmly answered.


    ¡°You threw it away?!¡± Pengxin¡¯s eyes widened. When she recovered from her shock, she was furious. Like a ferocious tigering down from a mountain, she rushed over to attack him. Ning Mingjie avoided her attempt, but she madly continued her attempts to attack him. ¡°How dare you throw away this princess¡¯s sword?!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t possible for a young woman like her to win against him. Within ten moves, Ning Mingjie had her restrained, but when he lowered his head to say a few mocking words, he saw the young woman¡¯s eyes had turn red.


    ¡°My king father gave me that sword!¡±


    Slightly freezing in shock for a moment, Ning Mingjie pursed his lips. ¡°I didn¡¯t throw it away. I hid it. If I give it back to you, isn¡¯t that the same as letting you free?¡±


    Pengxin felt extremely wronged. After he let her go, not caring about her image at all, she sat down on the ground and bawled. ¡°You¡¯re a bad person! To think, I initially admired your beauty. But, you¡¯re just an awful, very bad person!¡±


    It had been a long time since someone dared to praise him for looking beautiful. Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression ckened. He returned to his desk and resumed writing the war report. Pengxin remained in the center of the tent and continued crying. She cried so much that the guards stationed at the tent¡¯s entrance couldn¡¯t resist lifting the curtain to take a look.


    By the time she had tired herself out with crying, Ning Mingjie finished writing the war report. He offered her a handkerchief, then he went outside to hand the report to a loyal subordinate to deliver it for him.


    Pengxin wiped her face with the handkerchief. When she lowered her head to look, she was puzzled. Why would a man use such a womanly handkerchief?

 Chapter 471 - I offer you my heart (2)

    Chapter 471 ¨C I offer you my heart (2)


    When it was time for dinner, Ning Mingjie led her out of the tent. They were going to eat dinner with a group of military officers that had gathered over a boiling pot/fire


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you themander?¡± Pengxin leaned close to him. She felt a bit afraid because there were so many people nearby. ¡°Why don¡¯t you eat alone?¡±


    ¡°When the army is outside, why would there be special exceptions?¡± Ning Mingjie got her portion of the food. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s more lively when there¡¯s more people.¡±


    Pengxin wanted to say, lively your ass. How can she eat when everyone was looking at her with ill-intentioned gazes?


    However, out of habit, she still thanked Ning Mingjie when he hand her a bowl. She still had a princess¡¯s good manners.


    Ning Mingjie nced at her and slightly raised his eyebrows.


    ¡ª


    What would Yuzhen do after they found out their princess had been kidnapped? Her king father only wished for her to be safe and sound and sent over ambassadors for peace talks. Once the talks began, itsted for several days and there was an armistice.


    Every day, Pengxin closely followed Ning Mingjie. She watched him practice martial arts, read war reports, and write.


    The words that he wrote were especially beautiful. Pengxin only knew how to fight, so she admired his calligraphy skills a lot.


    However, her martial art skills weren¡¯t as good Ning Mingjie¡¯s either. When he was practicing martial arts, she said that she wanted a rematch to get over her previous humiliating defeat, but she ended up losing miserably.


    Ning Mingjie said, ¡°A woman shouldn¡¯t try to fight and kill. It¡¯s better if she¡¯s gentle and educated.¡±


    Pengxin pouted. If she was gentle and educated, what would she do if someone bullied her?


    ¡ª


    Once the peace talks were concluded, an ambassador came to bring her back to Yuzhen. On the way out, Pengxin turned her head back to look several times, but Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t here to send her off. Furious, she rushed back to his tent. He was still looking at his reports.


    ¡°I¡¯m going home,¡± she said.


    ¡°This one respectfully bids Your Highness farewell.¡± Ning Mingjie put down the report and looked at her.


    Pengxin was almost angered to death. ¡°Can¡¯t you make an attempt to keep me here longer?¡±


    ¡°Why would I keep you?¡± Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t understand. ¡°Your Highness, you belong to Yuzhen.¡±


    Pengxin clenched her jaw. She stood in the same spot for a long time thinking before she finally asked, ¡°Where¡¯s my sword?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was frozen in surprise for a moment. He had forgotten to give her back her sword. He took out the sword that he had hidden under his desk. ¡°Your Highness, please excuse my actions. Please don¡¯t take offense.¡±


    Pengyue took the sword from him and immediately swung the sword into his desk. Extremely angry, she asked, ¡°Ning Mingjie, I want to stay here. Can I?¡±


    What?


    Ning Mingjie nkly stared at her. Yuzhen had paid a heavy price to ransom this princess. And now, this foolish girl was saying she wanted to stay here?


    ¡°I want to stay here.¡± Pengxin seemed as if she had made a resolute decision. Her cheeks were a bit flushed. She pulled the sword out of the desk and rested it on her shoulder. ¡°Wait here.¡±


    After going outside and one-sidedly whispering to the ambassador for a period of time, Pengxin waved her hand, and the ambassador boarded the carriage by himself. Shepletely disregarded the ambassador¡¯s shocked gaze and went back into the tent. She excitedly said, ¡°Ning Mingjie, let¡¯s fight again. If I lose, I¡¯ll marry you!¡±


    Shocked, Ning Mingjie dropped the brush he was holding, and itnded on the ground. His brow was furrowed as he looked at her excited appearance. He was considered what effect this would have on his n and country.


    It was rumored that women from Yuzhen were somewhat foolish. As soon as they saw a man that caught their interest, they would relentless pursue their love interests without any second thoughts, that was why Pengyue¡¯s ending had been so miserable. Clearly, Princess Pengxin was also one of those fools. Just because she liked him, she wanted to marry him and didn¡¯t even consider how this would affect Yuzhen.


    Ning Mingjie lowered his eyes. He didn¡¯t throw the match and easily won.


    ¡ª


    Soon after, a letter from Yuzhen¡¯s king arrived. It said that as long as he was willing to marry Pengxin, Yuzhen would be willing to cooperate in all aspects.


    After reading the letter, Ning Mingjie looked at Pengxin as he said, ¡°This one has a concubine as well as a child. Your Highness, if you marry me, it won¡¯t be as wonderful as what you¡¯re imagining.¡±


    Pengxin¡¯s expression stiffened. ¡°You have a concubine and a child?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± The child that he had with Luoqi was already four-year-old.


    Pengxin¡¯s face was deathly pale. She floated out of the tent like a ghost.


    Ning Mingjie thought that she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to ept this. However, an hourter, she floated back in. Pouting and looking very wronged, she said, ¡°What should I do... I still want to marry you...¡±


    Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t refrain fromughing.


    Once Pengxin was secretly brought to the capital, this engagement would be cemented. He was just waiting for the final part of Ning Yuxuan¡¯s n to be concluded. After that, he would return to the capital and get married.


    ¡ª


    Sangyu was pregnant again, and Ning Yuxuan took advantage of this opportunity to meet up with him by saying he was taking her on sightseeing trip. Ning Mingjie also took Pengxin west to meet them partway.


    When he was almost about to meet Sangyu again, Ning Mingjie felt especially nervous, so much so that he couldn¡¯t even sleep. He climbed onto the roof and looked at the moon.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡± Pengxin couldn¡¯t resist asking Ning Mingjie¡¯s personal servant, Changshan.


    Changshan was someone that knew everything. Being forced at sword point by the princess, he told a partial truth, ¡°My master is going to meet someone important tomorrow. It¡¯s not unusual that he can¡¯t sleep well.¡±


    ¡°Why is that person important?¡± Pengxin narrowed her eyes. Intuition told her that the other party was a woman.


    Changshan halting answered, ¡°My master¡¯s study used to be filled with paintings of that woman. Later, they were all taken down. In the end, they were two people that could never be together. Your Highness, you don¡¯t need to brood over this.¡±


    It really was a woman. Pengxin harrumphed. She tossed away her sword and picked up a wine jar, then she climbed onto the roof to keep Ning Mingjiepany.


    ¡°You¡¯re not sleeping?¡± Ning Mingjie turned his head to the side to nce at her.


    ¡°En.¡±Pengxin felt gloomy. Holding the wine jar, she took a sip and lightly said, ¡°I¡¯ll stay here and keep youpany for a bit.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded and sank back into his thoughts. Pengxin looked at him from her peripheral vision. This man truly looked very good. But, the sight of him illuminated by the fallen moonlight looked extremely lonely and deste.


    How hard would she have to work to step into this person¡¯s heart? Pengxin thought; would it work if I raise my martial art skills by one level?


    Trantor Ramblings: I wish Pengxin had given up on Ning Mingjie when he said that he already had a son. What happen to feeling guilty about taking away part of her father¡¯s affection and time from her half-sister? Is there any difference between her and Wen Wan? I think it¡¯s worse because she¡¯s from a country where monogamy is the norm and at least there was no child involved at that time of Wen Wan¡¯s marriage to Ning Yuxuan.


    It¡¯s been over year since I read this story, so I don¡¯t remember the story that well. I¡¯m curious how the author is going to resolve Pengxin and Mingjie¡¯s story. I think Pengxin is delusion in her belief that Mingjie is someone that needs to be saved from his loneliness. We can see that Mingjie is already doing the same thing to Pengxin that Ning Yuxuan did with Wen Wan to ¡°tame¡± her.


    What do you guys think?

 Chapter 472 - I want to drive away your loneliness (1)

    Chapter 472 ¨C I want to drive away your loneliness (1)


    Ning Mingjie brought her onto the boat to hand her over to one of Great Song¡¯s officials. He said that he wanted her to go the Great Song¡¯s capital first. Pengxin nodded. She knew about the agreement between her king father and Ning Mingjie. There wasn¡¯t anything bad about going to Great Song by herself. It would give her the opportunity to limate to the ce sooner and be morefortable when they got married in the future.


    The person that came to pick up her was also very attractive. Unlike Ning Mingjie¡¯s devastating beauty, this person had a kingly aura with a pair of peach blossom eyes. When he smiled, he looked like an old fox.


    ¡°Your Highness, this one is Ning Yuxuan, Great Song¡¯s Marquis Moyu. This one came here to wee and escort you back to the capital.¡±


    Pengxin didn¡¯t know why, but she felt fearful of this person. This person gave off a dangerous feeling as if anyone that got too close to him would be a pawn in his scheming.


    And so, she hid behind Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie turned his head and looked at her in amusement. ¡°Princess Pengxin, you¡¯re usually so fearless. Why are you scared of the marquis?¡±


    ¡°I want to stay with you.¡± Pengxin pouted.


    Ning Mingjie paused, but soon after, he slowly pushed her forward. ¡°Go to the capital first.¡±


    Pengxin, who was carrying herrge sword on her shoulder, didn¡¯t have any of her usual imposing manners as she stood trembling in front of Ning Yuxuan. She heard the man say, ¡°My humble wife is resting on the boat. Princess Pengxin, if you¡¯re bored, you can go visit her.¡±


    Pengxin nodded and broke into a run. Following the directions of the people on the boat, she ran to the room of the famous Nie Sangyu.


    When Pengxin entered the room, Nie Sangyu was still deeply asleep. This woman looked very beautiful in her sleeping state. Pengxin¡¯s lips curled. She picked up a nearby mirror to look at herself, then she looked at the person on the bed... Fine, she couldn¡¯t oupete this woman in beauty.


    However, this woman obviously looked very weak. Her martial arts skills definitely wouldn¡¯t be as good as her own. Ning Mingjie was amander, so only a highly skilled warrior would be a suitable partner for him. With her impressive sword, she would be able to kill his enemies for him and protective him well. What was wrong with that?


    Drylyughing, Pengxin still felt a bit dejected. She went back to staring at the woman on the bed.


    Nie Sangyu had woken up, but she was only nkly looking at her. Pengxin couldn¡¯t resist touching her own face. Could it be that Nie Sangyu thought she looked pretty good too?


    The marquis entered the room. Startled, she immediately moved aside. But, his previous strong aura that warned people of keeping their distance from him was gone. Right now, he seemed as gentle and soft was water. When he was feeding the person on the bed medicine, he couldn¡¯t be any gentler.


    After Pengxin had watched on in amazement for a while, she was even more eager to marry Ning Mingjie. Surely, all people from Great Song were cold to outsiders and warm to their loved ones?


    ¡ª


    ¡°This is the Southern Courtyard. In the past, when General Ning came to the capital, he would stay here.¡±


    Once they arrived in the capital, she was settled down in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate. Looking at the courtyard before her, Pengxin felt there was something strange, so she asked, ¡°Doesn¡¯t Ning Mingjie have a residence of his own in the capital? Why am I staying here?¡±


    Steward Qian answered, ¡°Your Highness, since you¡¯re going to marry into Ning Residence, you naturally can¡¯t live there while unwed. Once the generales back, he¡¯lle here and escort you over to his residence on the wedding day.¡±


    Pengxin didn¡¯t know about this country¡¯s wedding customs. Carrying her three-ring sword on her shoulder, she agreeably settled down in the ce that Ning Mingjie had once stayed in while she waited for his return.


    While she was waiting, she heard many things about his history from the lips of servant girls.


    ¡°A senior monk once said that General Ning is fated to live a life where he can only have concubines. It¡¯s not advisable for him to marry a main wife.¡± Two gossiping servant girls were sitting on a flight of stairs. ¡°The general has already married two titleddies. One of them was snatched away by the previous third prince before the marriage was even consummated. The second marriagested a year, but then his wife was snatched away by the deposed emperor. The general is destined to not have wife, ah.¡±


    Hearing these words, Pengxin sighed. Did the imperial family have a grudge against Ning Mingjie? How could they have stolen his wife twice?


    After having listened to enough gossip, Pengxin walked out and stopped in front of the servant girls. With her sword on her shoulder, she said, ¡°That¡¯s okay. I won¡¯t be snatched away by anyone. I¡¯ll definitely marry him and be a good wife to him.¡±


    The two servant girls were so scared by the sight of the sword that even their faces trembled. They repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy. They promised to never gossip about their superiors again.


    Pengxin didn¡¯t understand why their reaction was so extreme, but their words made her feel sympathetic for Ning Mingjie. She would definitely treat him well.


    ¡ª


    She waited, then waited some more. By the time he finally returned to the capital, Pengxin didn¡¯t care anymore about the wedding custom of not seeing the groom before the wedding day. She flitted over to Ning Residence to look for him.


    However, when she got there, Changshan said his master had gone up a mountain to see someone he had known for a long time.


    Pengxin thought; he had too many people in his past. Curling her lip, she asked for directions and went to look for Ning Mingjie.


    ¡ª


    On the top of this mountain, there wasn¡¯t anything else except numerous graves. Pengxin looked around for a long time before she finally saw Ning Mingjie¡¯s figure. He was too eye-catching. Even if he was in arge crowd of people, she would be able to immediately find him.


    He hade here to pay respects. He had swept the area around a grave and was leaning on the tombstone and drinking wine. There were trees all around them, Pengxin took a few steps forward and secretly watched him.


    The words ¡°Ning Gancao, maidenst name Liu¡± was carved on the gravestone. This was histe wife¡¯s grave? No, that couldn¡¯t be right. His wives had both been snatched away by members of the imperial family. Then, who was this person?


    Ning Mingjie seemed shrouded in loneliness. Pengxin felt distressed by this sight. But, there was so much about his past that she didn¡¯t know. Where would she even start? She felt a bit annoyed. Why couldn¡¯t she have met him sooner?

 Chapter 473 - I want to drive away your loneliness (2)

    Chapter 473 ¨C I want to drive away your loneliness (2)


    Right now, she was an outsider. She could only watch. She couldn¡¯t even take half a step into his heart.


    Although it was a bit too windy on the mountain, Ning Mingjie ended up falling asleep as he leaned against the tombstone and drank wine. Clearly, they were about to get married soon, but he didn¡¯t look happy at all. He probably didn¡¯t even care about the wedding.


    Pengxin stayed silent for a while, then sheughed. Wasn¡¯t this man very lucky? After all, he had met her. She would brighten his bleak life!


    ¡ª


    Bowing to the heavens and earth, the wedding passed in a sh.


    Her body was burning with enthusiasm. She had to save this man that was drowning in loneliness.


    Pengxin was full of fighting spirit. She would definitely be able to surpass him in martial arts one day! A day woulde when she would seed in getting him to fall in love with her!


    ¡ª


    However, it seemed that the people in Ning Residence were scared of her. She didn¡¯t know why. When Honored Concubine Luoqi brought her son over to pay respects, she had looked at her with a fearful gaze as if she was going to eat her and her son.


    Confused, Pengxin smacked her three-ring sword onto the table. ¡°Is something wrong?¡±


    The child was so scared that it burst into tears. Luoqi also retreated several steps. Her face was deathly pale. She shook her head. ¡°Madam, please be merciful.¡±


    Pengxin felt somewhat depressed. She couldn¡¯t make friends here. As soon people caught sight of her, they would avoid her and keep their distance. She had originally wanted to save Ning Mingjie from loneliness, but she was the one that ended up feeling increasingly lonely.


    Taking her sword along with her, she headed over to Ning Mingjie¡¯s study. She pushed opened the doors and requested, ¡°Practice martial arts with me.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nced at her and indifferently picked up his sword. The two of them went to the garden, but their fight onlysted ten moves. In a short time, her sword flew away from her andnded nearby.


    Unwilling to ept the results, Pengxin picked up her sword and shouted as she rushed towards him.


    Ning Mingjie smiled. He leisurely counted her every move until her anger was depleted.


    Pengxin harrumphed. ¡°I can¡¯t win against you yet, but give me two years, and I¡¯ll able to.¡±


    Ning Mingjie sighed and crouched down to look at her. ¡°You¡¯re the matriarch of this family. It¡¯s not suitable for you to be swinging a sword around. How about you give the sword to me?¡±


    Pengxin red at him. ¡°What will I use to protect myself?¡±


    Ning Mingjie slightly smiled. ¡°You have me. You¡¯ve already married me, so of course, I¡¯ll protect you.¡±


    Pengxin was taken aback. Looking at his smile, she fell into a stupor. After thinking it over, she really did hand the sword over to him.


    If she was close friends with Ji Man, she wouldn¡¯t have made such a foolish mistake.


    As Princess Pengxin handed over her sword, she thought about Ning Mingjie¡¯s earlier words, that it was better if a woman was gentle and educated. She was like a porcupine that had pulled off her own quills. She was left as a soft, little ball of meat that allowed herself to pinched and molded by other people.


    ¡ª


    The household had Luoqi and Nuanyu as honored concubines. There weren¡¯t any other women. However, Luoqi had a child, so she wouldn¡¯t want the main wife to get pregnant. No matter how hard Pengxin tried during her nights with Ning Mingjie, she wasn¡¯t able to be pregnant. Not only that, someone in the household told Ning Mingjie that she was bullying Luoqi.


    Ning Mingjie asked Luoqi, ¡°Does Madam treat you badly?¡±


    With tears in her eyes, Luoqi shook her head, ¡°Madam is Yuzhen¡¯s princess. This marriage is extremely favorable for the general. Why would she mistreat this servant? Even if she does treat this servant badly, that¡¯s okay. My lord, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡±


    ¡ª


    Pengxin had no idea what was happening at home while she was outside looking at the embroidery stores¡¯ employees working. She had been extremely curious about embroidery and wanted to learn. But, during her previous attempts, she only ended up stabbing her hand several times. Smiling, she said, ¡°It¡¯s really difficult being a wife in Great Song.¡±


    When she returned home, Ning Mingjie didn¡¯te over to her courtyard. Instead, he went to Luoqi¡¯s courtyard.


    Pengxin thought about this matter. Since Luoqi had a child, and her own body had failed to live up to expectations, there was nothing that could be done. Mingjie would eventuallye to see her.


    However, after waiting half a month, Ning Mingjie still hadn¡¯t visited her courtyard. Pengxin felt a bit panicky. Not understanding why, she asked Luoqi, ¡°Does the general not like me anymore?¡±


    Luoqi bleakly smiled. ¡°When has the general ever thought about the people in his inner court? The person that his heart longs for is the unreachable moon in the sky. We can¡¯tpete with her.¡±


    Pengxin was confused. ¡°Can you speak more inly? Who is she?¡±


    Luoqi looked around and whispered, ¡°Nie Sangyu, ah. Oh, her name has been changed to Ji Man. She¡¯s Marquis Moyu¡¯s wife.¡±


    It was her again.


    Pengxin pouted. She decided to go over to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate. Although it wasn¡¯t early in the day anymore, Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t beening to her courtyard in a while, so it would be fine for her to stay in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate for a night. Anyhow, they were rtives, and she had stayed in the southern courtyard for a few months in the past.


    However, right after she left, Ning Mingjie returned. He hadn¡¯t seen Pengxin in a long time. He thought; would she have be more obedient? And so, he went over to her courtyard.


    Luoqi was waiting in Pengxin¡¯s courtyard. When she saw Ning Mingjie, she anxiously approached him and said, ¡°My lord, Madam went over to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate to look for Ji-shi. I don¡¯t know where she heard those nderous rumors. Aiya, general, hurry, go stop Madam!¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression ckened. He turned and headed out.


    Pengxin was a simple-minded good woman. It was only that she was too impulsive. This type of person easily caused hassles.


    Rubbing his temples, Ning Mingjie could only hope that he would reach his cousin¡¯s estate before her. Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate wasn¡¯t a ce that people could cause trouble without consequences.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Madam, Young Master¡¯s wife is here,¡± Dengxin reported to Ji Man and brought inside a young woman who¡¯s face had turned red from the cold temperature.

 Chapter 474 - Give me back my sword (1)

    Chapter 474 ¨C Give me back my sword (1)


    Pengxin sheepishly raised her hand and greeted, ¡°Madam.¡±


    Ji Man was somewhat surprised. This young woman looked very different from her previous impression of her when they had briefly met on the boat. This young woman was no longer equipped with arge sword. Today, she was dressed in a beautifully colored silk outfit. Pengxin had approached her cautiously and greeted her with a soft voice too.


    ¡°Cousin-inw, let¡¯s go inside to talk.¡± Smiling, Ji Man weed her. As soon as she touched Pengxin¡¯s hand to lead her inside, she noticed that her hand was as cold as ice. ¡°Cousin-inw, did youe here on a sedan?¡±


    ¡°No, I rode here on a horse.¡± Pengxin sat down, took the tea that Ji Man offered her, and wrapped her hands around the cup to warm herself up. Once the chill finally started to dissipate from her hands, she said, ¡°I¡¯ve been married for a few months already. I thought it was about time for me toe back here to pay a visit.¡±


    Ji Man looked at her from top to bottom. She smiled as she said, ¡°Princess, you¡¯ve seem very different from before. You used to be more at ease. But now, it¡¯s as if you¡¯re tied up by something.¡±


    Pengxin was stunned. She lowered her head and looked at herself. There was rm in her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t scare me. What¡¯s tying me up?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean something supernatural.¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Never mind, cousin-inw, why did youe here sote? Did something happen?¡±


    Ji Man thought; this young woman¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t hide anything. All her feelings were inly written on her face. Something must have happened in Ning Mingjie¡¯s household for her toe over here sote.


    Pengxin hesitated for a while. Great Song¡¯s people liked to euphemistically, so she should trying do the same.


    And so, she deliberated her words before finallying up with, ¡°Does the general still like you?¡±


    Ji Man, ¡°...¡±


    Nearby, Dengxin was shocked by this princess¡¯s bold words. She hurriedly went over to the courtyard¡¯s entrance to closed the doors, but she ended up almost screaming when she got to the entrance.


    Marquis Moyu had arrived here without them being aware. Noticing that there was a guest in the courtyard, he hadn¡¯t gone inside and was leaning against the entrance while he waited. He had probably overheard the princess¡¯s recent words. Otherwise, his expression wouldn¡¯t look so ugly.


    Ji Man coughed to clear her throat and sighed. ¡°Princess, you¡¯re probably just misunderstanding. The general has probably never even thought about me that way, so how could there even be a question of him still liking me?¡±


    ¡°But...¡± Pengxin frowned. ¡°That¡¯s what everyone says. They say that you¡¯re the bright moon in his heart...¡±


    ¡°Who are they?¡± Ji Man curiously asked.


    Pengxin curled her lip. ¡°The people in his household.¡±


    His household? She didn¡¯t need to ask anything else. Only Ning Mingjie¡¯s honored concubines would dare to say these words to Princess Pengxin. Ji Man sighed. Looking at this innocent young woman, who clearly wasn¡¯t high-leveled enough, Ji Man taught her the easiest way to judge other people¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Cousin-inw, you have to understand that the people here areplicated. You can¡¯t just listen to anyone¡¯s words. There are people that won¡¯t have any conflicts of interest with you. Those people¡¯s words will help you. But, there are also people, whose interest will be in conflict with yours. You can¡¯t blindly listen to their words.¡±


    ¡°For example, me and you, we don¡¯t have any conflicts of interest. It¡¯s because my heart only has the marquis and cousin-inw¡¯s heart has older cousin. Thus, I wouldn¡¯t want to harm you, and you can believe in my words. As for the women in your household, they share the same man with you. Since they¡¯re in the same position as you, they¡¯llpete with you and won¡¯t wholeheartedly help you. When they tell you something, you should carefully consider whether or not you should believe them.¡±


    Pengxin was left feeling dazed for a long time.


    Helpless, Ji Man added, ¡°Cousin-inw, don¡¯t worry. Older cousin isn¡¯t a muddled-headed person. He should probably know how to cherish his people. It¡¯ll be fine as long as you don¡¯t let yourself be used by other people and do something stupid.


    Nodding her head, Pengxin seemed to have figured things out. Then, she quietly asked, ¡°So, what kind of woman does the general like? I¡¯ve thought about this for a long time, but I still haven¡¯t figured it out. If it¡¯s a woman like you, I don¡¯t think I can ever learn to be like you...¡±


    Ji Manughed. ¡°It would be too boring if everyone was like me. Cousin-inw, just be yourself.¡±


    Be herself? Pengxin was perplexed. Holding the cup of warm tea, she sat there in a daze.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie hastily rushed over here, but he hadn¡¯t caught up to Pengxin before she arrived at the marquis¡¯s estate. After asking the estate¡¯s servants, he headed over to the western courtyard. When he arrived near the vicinity of the western courtyard, he saw that Ning Yuxuan was leaning against the entrance and listening to the conversation inside. His cousin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good.


    He didn¡¯t need to ask. Pengxin was definitely inside and talking.


    Ning Mingjie felt somewhat nervous. With Pengxin¡¯s temperament, it was very likely for her to offend someone. Many people in his household didn¡¯t like her very much. He didn¡¯t have much free time and hadn¡¯t been able to teach her much. If she ended up offending Marquis Moyu, it wouldn¡¯t be good even if they were rtives.


    He anxiously headed towards the courtyard¡¯s entrance to bring Pengxin back home. He ended up hearing Ji Man¡¯s voice.


    ¡°... Because my heart only has the marquis...¡±


    Coming to a stop, Ning Mingjie was a bit taken aback. Soon after, he heard the rest of Pengxin¡¯s question and felt a bit annoyed. Did Pengxin not have a brain? How could shee here and say whatever she wanted? What kind of of woman did he like? And she wanted to learn to be like someone else?


    Fuming with aggravation, Ning Mingjie approached Ning Yuxuan with a livid face and called out, ¡°Yuxuan.¡±


    The conversation inside abruptly came to an end. Ning Yuxuan¡¯s previous ckened expression had been swept away. He turned his head and looked at his older cousin with a smiling face. Howver, he looked as if he was ming Ning Mingjie for interrupting the conversation that was happening inside. ¡°Older cousin, you¡¯re here.¡±


    If Mingjie hadn¡¯t interrupted them, he might have been able to hear Ji Man say more heartfelt words that she normally wouldn¡¯t say.


    Ning Mingjie saluted him with his hands. Soon after, he asked, ¡°Did my wifee here? It¡¯s sote in the night, so I was worried and came here to pick her up.¡±

 Chapter 475 - Give me back my sword (2)

    Chapter 475 ¨C Give me back my sword (2)


    Nearby, Dengxin hastily lifted up the curtain and requested him to enter. ¡°Young Master, pleasee inside. Young Master¡¯s wife is here.¡±


    Hearing that Ning Mingjie was here, Pengxin felt a bit surprised, but a greater part of her felt happy. She stood up and quietly said, ¡°He actually came here to pick me up!¡±


    It had already been half a month since she saw him, but now, he hade here to bring her home.


    Seeing Pengxin¡¯s excited appearance, Ji Man faintly smiled.


    On the other side, Pengxin had already rushed over to meet him in joy. ¡°General!¡±


    In contrast, Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression was chilly. He briefly saluted Ji Man with his hands, then he pulled Pengxin over and said, ¡°Sorry for the trouble. We¡¯ll being leaving first.¡±


    ¡°Ai...¡± Before Pengxin had time to say anything else, he had already pulled her outside with him. With only a slight departing nod at Marquis Moyu, they headed out of the marquis¡¯s estate.


    ¡°It¡¯s already sote. How about we go home tomorrow?¡± As soon as she thought about how he would probably sleep with someone else once they returned home, Pengxin felt upset and struggled a bit.


    Ning Mingjie nced at her with a furrowed brow. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here. Why did youe here to ask her questions instead of asking me directly?¡±


    Pengxin nkly stared at him. She gave up on struggling and let him lead her out of the estate without resisting. Just as she was about to mount the horse, he picked her by her waist and brought her into the carriage. ¡°As a woman, how could you leave home on a horse sote in the night? No other woman would do that. Don¡¯t you know that you should take a carriage?¡±


    After putting the carriage¡¯s curtain down, Ning Mingjie erupted at Pengxin like a fire-breathing dragon, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me beforeing here? You went to someone¡¯s home sote in the night. Didn¡¯t you know that would be bothersome? Fortunately, they¡¯re rtives. Otherwise, you would have ended up offending someone.¡±


    After experiencing the barrage of words, Pengxin ended up trembling as she leaned back against the carriage¡¯s wall while sitting. She was left feeling dazed and couldn¡¯t say a word.


    Why had she previously thought Great Song¡¯s men were very gentle? Clearly, it was only a superficial gentleness. When they were fierce, there was nothing more terrifying than them.


    Seeing that she wasn¡¯t refuting like she had in the past, Ning Mingjie¡¯s anger lessened a bit. He looked sideways at her. When he saw her pitiful appearance, thest of his anger disappeared. He sighed and brought her onto hisp and hugged her.


    Once he hugged her, Pengxin¡¯s tears poured out like a dam that had burst.


    Ning Mingjie was startled. They had been married for so long, and it had been a long time since this girl had cried. Wasn¡¯t she always very wild? He didn¡¯t know how tofort people and even his hand stiffened. ¡°You.... Why are you crying?¡±


    When a woman was crying, don¡¯t ask her what was wrong, why she was crying, who bullied her, and other simr words. It¡¯s guaranteed that the more you ask, the harder she would cry until there was no way to stop it.


    Pengxin immediately became a mess of tears. Rubbing her tears and snot on his clothes, she sobbed out, ¡°I... Give me back my sword.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ning Mingjie frowned.


    Pengxin continued to cry as she said, ¡°I want my sword. Without my sword, I can only be bullied by you and everyone else. Give me back my sword. If you dare to act so horridly towards me again, I¡¯ll hack you into pieces!¡±


    Ning Mingjie was so angry that heughed. ¡°You were the one that made a mistake. And you¡¯re demanding me to not act horridly?¡±


    Pengxin angrily said, ¡°If Luoqi hadn¡¯t said that you still love Ji-<i>shi</i> the most, why would I have gone there to look for her? I didn¡¯t bring my sword with me. I just wanted to see what kind of woman you like so that I can learn from her! You haven¡¯te over to see me in half a month! Why can¡¯t Ipete for favor too?! What have I done wrong?!¡±


    Luoqi said that? Ning Mingjie slightly froze in surprise for a moment. ¡°It was because of her words that you went to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Pengxin wiped her snot on thepel of his robe. ¡°I understand things now. She got me to go there because she knew you would get angry. Ji-<i>shi</i> was right. I can¡¯t trust her words.¡±


    Ning Mingjie was stunned.


    Luoqi was someone that had been by his side since early on. She had always been a kind-hearted and sensible woman. She was considerate and gentle. That¡¯s why, after she gave birth to a child, he had promoted her to an honored concubine.


    The woman in his arms was a carefree and careless person, who wasn¡¯t the type to be suspicious about other people. Could she have really been wrongfully used?


    After a long time passed, Ning Mingjie sighed and said, ¡°In the future, go to the marquis¡¯s estate less often and talk to Luoqi less too.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Pengxin nodded. Her eyes brightened. ¡°Then, I won¡¯t have anyone to talk too. You can¡¯t ignore me again. Otherwise, I¡¯ll die of loneliness.¡±


    Ning Mingjie put her down next to him and said, ¡°En, that won¡¯t happen.¡±


    The foolish girl smiled. She had already forgotten about getting her sword back.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin didn¡¯t have a child, and Luoqi¡¯s child, Ning Jinxing, was already five years old. From the household¡¯s important matters to the trifling ones, Luoqi was still in charge of everything. It was because the Yuzhen Princess was illiterate and didn¡¯t know how to handle these matters.


    Ning Mingjie was very busy. When he was home, he could only keep Pengxinpany once every few days. Since Pengxin was very bored, Ji Man sent over Zhu Yurun to keep herpany.


    Zhu Yurun said, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but Mister Ji said we¡¯re the same type. So, she told me toe over often and chat with you.¡±


    Pengxin looked at the chubby young woman in front of her. Could it be that in Ji-<i>shi</i>¡®s eyes, she was also a chubby person? She felt distressed at this thought.


    Still, with someoneing over to keep herpany, Pengxin felt a lot happier. She would asionally go with Zhu Yurun to a Hundred Flowers Association to y. Her days passed by easily.


    However, one day, Zhu Yurun happened toe over while she was eating, and her entire face scrunched up. ¡°Is the general¡¯s householdcking in money? You¡¯re the main wife. Why are you only eating this?¡±


    Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t sensitive to the clothes and jewelry that Pengxin worse, but she was very sensitive to food. ¡°There¡¯s only a small te of meat and two tes of vegetarian dishes. Isn¡¯t this an ordinary concubine¡¯s meal?¡±

 Chapter 476 - Why did you have to change? (1)

    Chapter 476 ¨C Why did you have to change? (1)


    Pengxin didn¡¯t know the difference between an ordinary concubine¡¯s meals and the main wife¡¯s. She only knew that the meals delivered to her were bing increasingly in. She had asked about this. The head servant in the kitchen had said the harvest from Jiangxi was poor this year, so the avable food had decreased.


    But, when she told the this reason to Zhu Yurun, a person that Ji Man had always considered as adorably stupid, Miss Zhu looked at her as if she was the idiot. ¡°Is there a connection between Jiangxi¡¯s poor harvest and the meals of a general¡¯s wife that lives in the capital?¡±


    Jiangxi was at least 500 kilometers from here.


    Pengxin was at a loss. She didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°You¡¯re being bullied!¡± The chubby young woman felt righteous indignation. ¡°No matter how much the people in my estate bully me, they would never dare to reduce my meals. You¡¯re a dignified princess, how can you let people shortchange you on meals?!¡±


    Being shortchanged on food, there was nothing more serious!


    Pengxin nkly looked at Zhu Yurun. Not fully understanding her point, she just nodded. Zhu Yurun pulled her up and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go find the person in charge. We have a bone to pick with her!¡±


    Naturally, Luoqi was the one in charge. Everything that was used in the general¡¯s inner court was entirely in her control. Pengxin had never got involved.


    However, Luoqi had been managing the inner court for several years. Even with Zhu Yurun¡¯s help Pengxin, it wasn¡¯t enough.


    ¡°The recent harvest in Jiangxi has been poor. For the sake of the general¡¯s reputation, this servant has reduced all of the household¡¯s expenditures. The saved money is being donated towards the disaster relief under the general¡¯s name. It can be considered umting good karma points for the general,¡± Luoqi exined.


    Pengxin thought these words were very reasonable. She repeatedly nodded. ¡°Your actions are right.¡±


    Zhu Yurun thought that vixen in front of her was at a level that she couldn¡¯t handle. She had go seek Mister Ji for assistance.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Disaster relief?¡± Ji Manughed when she heard this excuse. ¡°It¡¯s the imperial court¡¯s responsibility to manage the disaster relief. Why would General Ning¡¯s household have to cut back on expenses? These words could only be used to fool the two of you.¡±


    ¡°What should we do then?¡± Zhu Yurun very anxiously said, ¡°Pengxin is too stupid. She even thinks that Luoqi¡¯s actions are right.¡±


    Ji Man deeply looked at Zhu Yurun and quietly said, ¡°This matter is easy enough to resolve. The next time Pengxin sees General Ning, have her praise Luoqi. Praise her for being so considerate of the general. For knowing to cut back on the inner court¡¯s expenditures to improve the general¡¯s reputation. How do you think General Ning will react after he finds out?¡±


    Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t quite understand Ji Man¡¯s words, but she still went back and told Pengxin to say these words.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin said she would follow Ji Man¡¯s instructions. By chance, Ning Mingjie came to her courtyard when he returned home that evening. Pengxin softly asked him, ¡°Has the situation in Jiangxi been difficulttely?¡±


    ¡°En, there¡¯s been a locust gue.¡± Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows and nced at her. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    Pengxin nodded. ¡°I heard it from Luoqi. She¡¯s truly a wonderfully considerate person. She saved a lot of money by reducing the inner court¡¯s expenditures because of Jiangxi¡¯s disaster. She¡¯s going to send the saved money to Jiangxi for the disaster relief under the general¡¯s name. It¡¯s to help the general gain good karma.¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression changed. ¡°She told you that?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± Pengxin nodded.


    Flinging his sleeve, Ning Mingjie got up and walked out. Pengxin was enlightened. As it turned out, it was only by using this method to tell to truth, that she would get the result that she wanted. If she hadined that Luoqi was curtailing her meals, she might have been the one scolded instead.


    Ji-shi was truly a high-level expert.


    Patting her head, she quickly followed after Ning Mingjie.


    Ning Mingjie pushed opened the doors to Luoqi¡¯s courtyard, and they stepped inside. Luoqi was preparing to go to sleep. Seeing Ning Mingjie, her eyes brightened. ¡°General!¡±


    Soon after, she saw that Pengxin was behind him, and her forehead wrinkled.


    ¡°You cut back on the inner court¡¯s expenses in order to send money to Jiangxi for disaster relief?¡± Ning Mingjie directly asked.


    Luoqi was startled. She hadn¡¯t expected Pengxin to tell on her. Hadn¡¯t she thought that her actions were right? How two-faced.


    However, she thought that she could talk her way out of the trouble. So what if the general knew?


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what this servant was thinking. The inner court¡¯s expenses are too high. Why not save some money...¡±


    ¡°Outrageous!¡± Ning Mingjie¡¯s expression sunk. ¡°The disaster relief is under the imperial court¡¯s jurisdiction. If you donate money under my name, not only would it not help me, it would cause people to misunderstand and gossip. There are only three people in the inner court. The cost for three people couldn¡¯t possibly be that high. Rather than thinking of yourself as clever and doing these pointless things, treat the people in the inner court better.¡±


    Luoqi froze in shock.


    ¡°Not all women are suitable for assisting in the imperial court¡¯s matters. It¡¯ll be enough for you to focus on raising your son and managing the inner court.¡±


    After Ning Mingjie finished speaking, he turned and brought Pengxin with him as he left.


    Pengxin couldn¡¯t resist turning her back to look. Ning Mingjie¡¯sst words sound a bit harsh, and she wasn¡¯t quite sure what he meant. She didn¡¯t know why Luoqi¡¯s face had turned so pale. It was as if someone had heavily struck her. She didn¡¯t seem to be able to stand stably.


    Luoqi really did be more well-behaved for a period of time. However, each day, Ning Jingxin grew older, and he increasingly needed more time with his father. Pengxin waited and waited in her courtyard for Ning Mingjie, but he didn¡¯te to see her.


    ¡°His heart has been divided into so many pieces. There¡¯s a portion that he gives to each of those women, and the portion that he gives to his son. I only get thest piece of his heart.¡± Pengxin gestured at Zhu Yurun. ¡°I wish that he could only belonged to me, but I tell myself that I can¡¯t be that selfish.¡±


    Trantor Ramblings: I have a hard time feeling sympathetic towards Pengxin¡¯s troubles since she insisted on marrying Mingjie after he told her he had a son, especially given her family history and her country¡¯s culture. And, her reason for liking him is so superficial. She¡¯s had a whole country¡¯s worth of men that she could have chosen from and would respect monogamy at least for her, their princess, but she picked Ning Mingjie just because he¡¯s very attractive. Is a handsome guy really worth throwing away your cultural morals? Even though she doesn¡¯t actively scheme against Luoqi and her child, Pengxin¡¯s mere existence is taking Ning Mingje¡¯s attention for his existing rtionships and harming them. I think Luoqi is acting really unwise in how she bullies Pengxin, but I can understand why she would want to bully her. I wish the author had written from Luoqi¡¯s point of view, and how she triumph against Pengxin.


    What do you guys think? How do you feel about Pengxin?

 Chapter 477 - Why did you have to change? (2)

    Chapter 477 ¨C Why did you have to change? (2)


    Zhu Yurun looked at Pengxin and nodded. ¡°There are many times when I have that same thought too, but Mister Ji said that if you want too many things in this world, you¡¯ll only end up making yourself feel worse. It¡¯s normal for men to have a harem. Not everyone will be like the current marquis, who wholeheartedly wants to spend his life with just one person. It¡¯ll be worth it if you¡¯re the most important person in his heart.¡±


    Pengxin considered this advice for a long time before nodding.


    But, she wasn¡¯t even able to grasp that position in his heart. She wasn¡¯t the most important person to him.


    ¡ª


    Normally, a servant girl would bring over tea after the meal was finished. However, after Pengxin took the offered cup of tea, she didn¡¯t drink it today. Her mind was too upied with thoughts of Ning Mingjie. To her surprise, he actually appeared in front of her after she had been thinking about him for a while.


    ¡°What are you thinking about?¡± Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows as he looked at her. He took a seat next to her.


    ¡°You...¡± Pengxin looked at him. Soon after, she realized her answer wasn¡¯t right. She pursed her lips and said, ¡°We¡¯ve been married for so long, so I was wondering why I still haven¡¯t gotten pregnant. When I see Xing-<i>er</i>, I truly feel a bit envious.¡±


    Ning Mingjie chuckled. ¡°You were thinking about that issue for that long of a time?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Pengxin blushed and nodded.


    Ning Mingjieughed in spite of himself. Sometimes, this Yuzhen Princess, who didn¡¯t know propriety, was quite cute.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get a child just by thinking about it,¡± he said.


    When the bed curtain fell down, Pengxin¡¯s eyes widened. As it turned, when a woman asked a man this question, it meant that she was asking for his favor? Did this mean that in the future she didn¡¯t need to act coy to seduce him? She could just directly ask him for a child?


    Princess Pengxin thought that she had discovered a great secret. She felt immeasurably satisfied with herself.


    It seemed that her rtionship with Ning Mingjie was gradually improving. She learned the skills that a woman from Great Song would have: embroidery and cooking. Even the thing that she hated the most before, poetry and songs, she patiently learned them because he liked them.


    The formerly unruly princess that only knew how to y around with weapons now wished to be an able and virtuous wife.


    ¡ª


    Luoqi said, ¡°The general is usually away on military campaigns for years on end. His body has many old injuries. This servant heard that one-hundred-year-old ginseng was recently discovered on Fu Mountain. It¡¯s the type that can move around. Only a person with a sincere heart would be able to find it. It can cure a person¡¯s old injuries and all illnesses. This servant wants to go and find this for the general.¡±


    Pengxin was guarded against her. Ji-<i>shi</i> had said that she couldn¡¯t believe Luoqi¡¯s words, so Pengxin¡¯s only response was nodding and saying, ¡°Alright, you can go.¡±


    Ning Mingjie had once received an injury on his leg. The wound had reached all the way to his bone. On rainy days, this injury would ache. She had heard from a doctor that his leg would hurt more as he aged.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin was slightly tempted and wanted to go to Fu Mountain to dig up that ginseng too. However, after she told Zhu Yurun about this, Zhu Yurun shook her head. ¡°What ginseng? I haven¡¯t heard anything about this. She¡¯s definitely lying to you. Look, she definitely won¡¯t be able to bring anything back. Don¡¯t be fooled by her!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m such a smart person. I won¡¯t be fooled!¡± Pengxin solemnly vowed.


    ¡ª


    Sure enough, Luoqi didn¡¯t bring back any ginseng. She cried and said that she wasn¡¯t able to find it. She also said things like the general must be feeling awful since the weather hadn¡¯t been goodtely.


    Zhu Yurun said, ¡°She looks like she wants to trick you into hunting for that ginseng. At worst, she has a trap set up to harm you.¡±


    Pengxin scoffed, ¡°Only a pig would get duped.¡±


    However, a dayter, a pig-headed person was walking on Fu Mountain¡¯s paths.


    It would soon be Ning Mingjie¡¯s birthday. Although it wasn¡¯t a milestone birthday, so there wouldn¡¯t be a grand feast, she still thought that there was no harm in trying her luck. If she really was able to find it, it could be used as gift.


    She wasn¡¯t stupid, really. She knew that Luoqi didn¡¯t have good intentions, so she told Ning Mingjie that she was going to Fu Mountain to pray for blessings and would return home in a few days. She had even brought along a dagger for self-protection. If someone dared to attack her, she would teach that person why the flowers were so red.


    Because they¡¯re stained by blood!


    (T/N: This phrase/question is the title of a Chinese folk song. The answer is because the flowers are watered by the blood of youths.)


    Baring her teeth to show a ferocious expression, Pengxin was full of confidence as she walked down the path.


    Of course, there wasn¡¯t any one-hundred-year old ginseng, but, she wasn¡¯t willing to easily give up. She practically scoured the entire mountain and ended up wasting a lot of time.


    However, during Pengxin¡¯s three-day absence, Luoqi had acted as matckmaker for Ning Mingjie. Li Xiann, the Minister of Revenue¡¯s concubine-born daughter, had married into the household as a concubine.


    Normally, this was something that required the main wife¡¯s approval, but since the main wife was gone during this time, Luoqi had acted as the person in charge. Since Luoqi and Xiann had a good rtionship, they were naturally very close once Xiann entered the household.


    Moreover, Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t objected. To him, it was only adding another person to his estate. Since his birthday was approaching, he treated this woman as a gift from the Li n.


    When Pengxin returned to the general¡¯s estate in disappointment, she saw Ning Mingjie with a woman that she hadn¡¯t seen before. They were heading towards the main courtyard.


    Seeing Pengxin, Ning Mingjie stopped walking and said, ¡°You¡¯re back? You¡¯ve been praying for blessing for three days. There must be a mountain¡¯s worth of blessings on my body now. This is Xiann. She recently entered the household.¡±


    Seeing the smile on his face, Pengxin suddenly realized something. She realized that she had made things worse for herself after all. She had been telling herself not to want too much, but when she saw the current scene, her eyes still felt as if they were being stabbed.


    ¡°Your new mistress?¡± She asked.


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s smile dimmed. ¡°Pengxin, think before you speak.¡±


    Pengxin smiled. She waved her hand and strode away with a domineering presence.


    What was she doing here? She had turned herself into a different person, but had only received a small portion of his heart in return.


    Pengxin felt a bit tired. Her hands were full of bruises and so was her heart.


    Why did you have to change yourself for the person that you love?

 Chapter 478 - Theres another way to accompany you (1)

    Chapter 478 ¨C There¡¯s another way to apany you (1)


    After getting married, you had to slowly adapt to the other person through many interactions. It was true that you had to correct your ws; otherwise, it would be difficult to live together. However, Pengxin had made a mistake. She had directly changed herself to suit Ning Mingjie¡¯s preferences. She hadn¡¯t considered that Ning Mingjie should change himself too for their rtionship. She had only though she should be the one changing.


    Many women knew how to expend their time and energy in a rtionship. It was because these women had experienced the love their parents had for them since they were children, that¡¯s why they knew how to you should treat the person you love. But, if you only gave without asking for anything in return, only you would be emotionally moved and only you would suffer a lost.


    You could improve yourself for a man, but if he didn¡¯t know how to cherish you, then your sacrifice wasn¡¯t worth it. Don¡¯t ask why you weren¡¯t repaid for your efforts, that would be like asking why a ball didn¡¯t bounce back after you threw it against the wall. The problem wasn¡¯t your strength. It was because the other side might be ck hole instead of a wall.


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t chase after her to ask her what was wrong. Xiann had just entered the household, so tonight would be considered their wedding night.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin was sitting on a roof by herself and holding a jar of wine. She was drowning her troubles in alcohol. After getting drunk, she fell asleep on the roof. Anyways, no one in this ce cared where she went.


    The next day, it was Zhu Yurun, who falteringly used adder to climb onto the roof to look for her. ¡°Aren¡¯t you scared of falling down from here in your sleep?¡±


    Pengxin woke up to the morning sun. She looked at Zhu Yurun and grinned. ¡°I have unrivaled martial arts, so there¡¯s no way I would fall to my death.¡±


    Zhu Yurun harrumphed. As they went down from the roof, she said, ¡°I heard that the general has taken a concubine, so I knew you would be feeling bad and came over here to see you.¡±


    As she said this, she respectably patted her friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°All men like the new and get bored with the old. Whenever Yingchen takes a new concubine, I just stay far away until he remembers me andes looking for me. By that time, I¡¯ll naturally be the one he likes the most again.¡±


    Pengxin was stunned by Zhu Yurun¡¯s open-mindedness. And yet, she felt envious of her. In the past, she had also been able to live a carefree life without worries.


    ¡ª


    Of course, the estate became even less at peace once Xiann entered the household. The time that Ning Mingjie spent with Pengxin was already very little to begin with. Once another new person was added, he visited Pengxin less frequently.


    Xiann was a troublemaker. After she entered the estate, she couldn¡¯t stand Pengxin and didn¡¯t get along with her. There were many times when Pengxin wanted to p her mouth for daring to speak to her in such arrogant tone.


    But, once she thought about Ning Mingjie, she would give up on that notion.


    Xiann rolled her eyes as she said, ¡°Aiyo, Yuzhen¡¯s princess has such extravagant habits. Who else uses silver chopsticks to eat?¡±


    And so, Pengxin changed to using normal chopsticks like everyone else, but she inexplicable got sick for a month afterwards, and couldn¡¯t share a bed with the general during this time.


    ¡ª


    Xiann clutched an orchid-colored cloth and said, ¡°Aiyo, sure enough, this is the main wife¡¯s courtyard. The fabrics here are much better than ours.¡±


    Pengxin didn¡¯t bother arguing with her. Whatever fabric she wanted, she could take it.


    ¡ª


    Xiann and Luoqi were on the same side. Nuanyu would naturally help Luoqi too. With three women working together, they forcibly snatched Ning Mingjie away. They made her feel unpresentable and unable to receive favor.


    However, Pengxin discovered that she was pregnant. She wasn¡¯t sure when it had happened. Counting the days, it had been two months. She didn¡¯t say anything and quietly remained in her courtyard. Even if her food and clothing were at the same level as a concubine¡¯s and Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯te to see her for a long time, she didn¡¯t care about any of that.


    ¡ª


    Zhu Yurun came over and leaked out the news that she wouldn¡¯t have to wait too long for her good days toe.


    The locust gue in Jiangxi had given the rebels an opportunity to revolt. The rebels said they would attack the capital to rescue the young emperor and kill Marquis Moyu.


    Ning Yuxuan had treated this threat as a joke. However, he still sent a massive military force to put down the rebel force. Surprisingly, the power of themonfolk could be terrifying. Jiangxi¡¯s region had many mountain kings, and they gathered up 30,000 soldiers. They were determined to overturn the current regime.


    An order was issued for Ning Mingjie to go to Jiangxi.


    The group of troublemakers in his estate finally settled down. Once the general left, there was nothing for them topete. Once he left for a military campaign, he would be gone for a few years. There was nothing left to hope for until he returned.


    With red eyes, Luoqi held Ning Jinxing¡¯s hand as they went over to send Ning Mingjie off.


    Ning Mingjie wasn¡¯t surprised by this expedition at all. He was still young. It was no burden for him to be given the chance to perform outstanding military service. Yuxuan was just thinking of ways for him to aplish meritorious service, so he had to seize this opportunity.


    But, it seemed that he hadn¡¯t seen Pengxin in a long time? As Ning Mingjie got onto his horse, he couldn¡¯t resist turning his head back to look. Lately, he had frequently been thinking about her. Every time he wanted to go over to see her, he always ended up being dyed by something. This had happened a number of times, and he actually ended up not seeing her for a month.


    Back when he had married her, it was true that the reason was for political benefits. However, now that so much time had passed, it would be a lie to say he didn¡¯t have any feelings for her.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Madam?¡± he asked.


    ¡°This servant hasn¡¯t seen her.¡± Luoqi lowered her eyes and said, ¡°She probably went out to y. Madam really likes the capital. She frequently goes out.¡±


    Ning Mingjie nodded. ¡°Once she returns, tell her that I left.¡±


    ¡°General, take care.¡± Luoqi led the other people to salute him goodbye.


    The armored guards mounted their horses and followed after Ning Mingjie in departing.


    Even after the horses had galloped a distance, Ning Mingjie was still wondering why Pengxin hadn¡¯te to see him off. He suddenly heard someone nearby murmuring, ¡°No wonder you haven¡¯t beening to see me. It¡¯s because someone always intercepts you on the way there.¡±


    That voice... Ning Mingjie abruptly turned his head.

 Chapter 479 - Theres another way to accompany you (2)

    Chapter 479 ¨C There¡¯s another way to apany you (2)


    Pengxin looked up. Her tender little face looked especially small inside the helmet.


    Even the horse was startled and came to a quick halt. Ning Mingjie looked around, coughed to clear his throat, and pulled on her horse¡¯s reins to lead her to the side to talk. ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Pengxin blinked. Swish. She pulled out her three-ring sword from the scabbard that was on her horse¡¯s back. ¡°I¡¯m going with you to fight, ah.¡±


    ¡°Outrageous!¡± Ning Mingjie¡¯s face had changed colors. ¡°Is war a child¡¯s game? You¡¯re a mere woman...¡±


    ¡°We met on the battlefield.¡± Pengxin cleaned her ears and harrumphed. ¡°My sword has killed countless enemies. Even if I spent thest year embroidering for you, I still know how to use my sword!¡±


    Seeing that he was going say more, Pengxin took out a yellow cloth scroll. ¡°Oh yeah, the emperor appointment me toe along. Here¡¯s the imperial edict. Do you want to take a look?¡±


    Ning Mingjie was stunned. He took the imperial edict from her. It really did have the emperor¡¯s seal. The emperor was allowing Yuzhen¡¯s princess, Pengxin, to follow the army.


    ¡°This...¡± After thinking it over, Ning Mingjie understood.


    Who had possession of the emperor¡¯s seal? Ning Yuxuan.


    Who did Ning Yuxuan listen to? Ji-<i>shi</i>.


    These cousin-inws were like actual sisters, ah. She even helped Pengxin to this degree. Ning Mingjie sighed. He let go of her horse¡¯s reins. ¡°Why are youing with me to battle? It¡¯ll be very hard and tiring.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not scared of hard work,¡± Pengxin said, ¡°Someone told me that it¡¯s better for me to be myself. I thought it over. I have to go with you to fight. When you charge ahead, I¡¯ll help you chop down your enemies. When you capture a city, I¡¯ll guard your back. That¡¯s what the real me would do. I¡¯m not suitable for staying at home to embroider and plotting out schemes against them, really.


    Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t help it; his heart felt warm. ¡°Alright, you have to do a good job with protecting me then.¡±


    ¡°En!¡± Pengxin ced her sword onto her shoulder and took a long breath. ¡°It feels much better to speak loudly like this.¡±


    Ning Mingjie¡¯s heart felt a bit distressed. It seemed that this Yuzhen Princess had felt horribly stifled in his inner court.


    ¡ª


    ¡°I still feel really worried about Pengxin following the general to the battlefield.¡± Zhu Yurun said to Ji Man while cracking melon seeds between her teeth. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it unfairly help those wretched women in the general¡¯s household if she dies on the battlefield?¡±


    Ji Man thought that Zhu Yurun must have suffered a shock recently. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have said words like wretched women.


    ¡°That¡¯s alright. Pengxin still has a big move that she hasn¡¯t used yet. Once she uses it, she¡¯ll be arranged inside the camps and won¡¯t even have to lift a finger.¡± Ji Man spat out a melon seed¡¯s shell. She narrowed her eyes as if she was focused on looking at a goal. ¡°Pengxin actually has a very likable personality. It¡¯s only that other people take Ning Mingjie¡¯s attention away, so he can¡¯t properly spend time with her and get to know her. They¡¯ll be staying in Jiangxi for three years. By the time theye back, they¡¯ll have a child together. Their feelings will have had time to grow. While they¡¯re away in the military camps, no one will be scheming or bullying Pengxin. Her life couldn¡¯t be better.¡±


    Zhu Yurun doubtfully looked at her. ¡°How can you know the war willst three years?¡±


    Ji Man coughed. She didn¡¯t feel right pointing out to this fool that she had an inside source for the imperial court matters. She went to sleep hearing all sorts of national secrets, so how could it be possible for her to not know something minor like this?


    She had originally only wanted to help Pengxin a little bit, but once Ning Yuxuan found out that she wanted to develop the rtionship between Ning Mingjie and his wife, he didn¡¯t say another word before getting an imperial edict and sending Pengxin off to join the army.


    That¡¯s why she had felt okay with divulging a spoiler in advance by telling Zhu Yurun that she could tell Pengxin her good days weren¡¯t far.


    It would be so pointless just to change yourself. While you were striving to change yourself, you might as well change him too.


    Ji Man felt that it was easy for people to feel sympathetic for foolish, young women. It was unlikely that she would ever change into a foolish, sweet person herself, so she would dote on these foolish, young women. She would teach them how to live properly and get people to believe that true love was invincible.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin had blocked an attack for Ning Mingjie, and there was a wound on her arm as a result. Furious, Ning Mingjie was about to go after the scattered remains of the enemy army to get revenge for her. Unexpectedly, Pengxin, who should be feeling weak and lying down, acted as if she was perfectly fine. She raised herrge sword and ran quicker than anyone else to cut off the enemy¡¯s hand.


    Ning Mingjie, ¡°...¡±


    His anger was gone, but he felt a bit distressed.


    Pengxin sucked in a breath of cold air, Looking at him, she said, ¡°I¡¯m going to head back to the tent first.¡±


    The enemy soldiers were pretty much wiped out. Seeing that her expression looked pained, Ning Mingjie went back to the camp with her to check on her injury.


    As a result, he heard an army doctor saying she was in her third month of pregnancy!


    Ning Mingjie immediately flipped the table. Three months! This girl hade along with him into the battlefield, protected him, and taken a wound meant for him when she was three months pregnant? Was she Yuzhen¡¯s princess, or the Monkey King? How could she be so lively?


    He was speechless with anger. It was only when he saw that Pengxin¡¯splexion had changed that he anxiously asked the doctor what to do.


    The army doctor hadn¡¯t treated a woman before. He sighed and said, ¡°Prepare medicine to help stabilize her condition.¡±


    And so, the dignified, great general of the nation sat outside the tent and earnestly cooked medicine. His expression was stern, and the soldiers that passed by him saluted and stopped by the side to see what he was out here doing.


    More and more people came to watch this spectacle. When Ning Mingjie returned to his senses, his surrounding was already a solid nket of ck. The pot of medicine was bubbling over.


    Trantor Ramblings: It¡¯s strange that Ji Man can find stupidity cute. Isn¡¯t that Wen Wan¡¯s defining character trait?

 Chapter 480 - Aixin (1)

    Chapter 480 ¨C Aixin (1)


    A nearby person kindly reminded, ¡°General, the medicine is ready.¡±


    Ning Mingjie felt somewhat embarrassed. He put the handkerchief away, hastily took the small pot of medicine off the fire, and poured the herbal medicine concoction into a bowl.


    Difited by everyone¡¯s silent staring, he raised his head and burst out in anger, ¡°Why are you all just standing here? Go train or patrol.¡±


    They had onlye here to salute and nned on leaving right afterwards, but they had been distracted by the suspicious blush on their general¡¯s face.


    A displeased or expressionless Ning Mingjie looked quite terrifying, but when his face flushed red, it looked as if he was going to fly into a rage out of sheer embarrassment.


    And so, the soldiers stifled theirugher and retreated.


    ¡ª


    Ning Mingjie brought the bowl of medicine to Pengxin. Pengxin had originally been feeling unwell and was clutching her stomach. But, as soon as she saw him looking like this, she almost couldn¡¯t muffle herughter.


    ¡°If you keepughing, I¡¯ll have guards send you back to the capital for the rest of your pregnancy,¡± Ning Mingjie threatened her with a red face.


    Pengxin immediately stoppedughing. She covered her lips and shook her head.


    A teasing joke spread in the army camp that the general would go out to fight on the battlefields ande back to dotingly cook for his wife. It made the soldiers around them very envious.


    In order to correct the soldiers¡¯ attitudes, Ning Mingjie gathered them up to admonish them. The general gist of his speech was: Do you guys have too much free time? Are the training drills too short? Is that why you guys have time to concern yourself with my family matters? Which one of your eyes saw me doting on my wife? I¡¯m not doting! I¡¯m totally focused and busy with the ongoing war! If we don¡¯t win this war, you guys can go home to eat chaff!


    After angrily making this deration, General Ning turned around and went to brew medicine for Pengxin. A solider came forward wanting to help him, but General Ning shook his head and refused the offer. Ning Mingjie said, ¡°Men are never careful enough. It¡¯s better for me to do it myself.¡±


    The solider looked at his general in rm. He scrutinized Ning Mingjie for a long time before leaving.


    It didn¡¯t take long before the soldiers started guessing if General Ning was a man or woman.


    ¡ª


    Pengxin wasn¡¯t delicate like other women, and the baby in her stomach was well-behaved and hardy. After that one episode of pain, the baby¡¯s condition remained stable the following times she rode a horse.


    She could apany Ning Mingjie onto the battlefield and beat on a drum to cheer him on. When she beat on the drum, it always made the most resounding and powerful sounds. She could also quietly lean against his chest after the daily battle was over. She could also guess with him if their baby was going to be a boy or girl and what name to call him or her.


    During this time, she had Ning Mingjie all to herself.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a boy, let¡¯s call him Ning Aipeng. If it¡¯s a girl, let¡¯s call her Aixin!¡± Pengxin pped her thigh. She felt that her literary talent was truly improving after spending so much time with Ning Mingjie.


    (T/N: Pengxin means holding up/offering a heart. Aipeng means holding/offering up love. Aixin meaning a loving heart.)


    ¡°A child¡¯s name has to include a generational character with its siblings of the same gender*. More importantly, its name can¡¯t have the same characters as its mother.¡±


    * (T/N: For example, Pengxin and Pengyue have the character Peng in their names.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think those names sounds nice though?¡± Pengxin widened her eyes. She felt very incredulous. ¡°They both mean you love me. Isn¡¯t that meaning wonderful?¡±


    Ning Mingjie nkly stared at her.


    Love?


    In this life, he had achieved rank, fame, and fortune. But, the word love felt like an extravagant luxury to him.


    ¡ª


    The rebel insurgency besieged a city. Ning Mingjie led elite troops to intercept them, but he ended up falling for the rebels¡¯ scheme and got trapped in the middle of the mountain. Cut off from contact from the rest of the army, Ning Mingjie and his troops were pursued by rebels. They found a mountain cave to hide in. But, if the reinforcements didn¡¯t arrive before dawn, their hiding spot would inevitably be found by then. Even if they engaged in a fierce battle, it was unlikely for them to sessfully escape.


    While Ning Mingjie was deeply worried, Pengxin led troops up the mountain. On the way to the mountain cave, there were fierce battles that continued even as the morning sun rose.


    When the sky was light enough, he saw her in the distance with her three-ring sword as he stood on the mountainside. Her eyes were curved into crescents from her big smile.


    ¡°Husband!¡±


    Though she was wearing armor, she looked as beautiful as a woman garbed in a celestial immortal¡¯s rainbow-colored clothing.


    Ning Mingjie slightly froze in surprise. By the time she brought the soldiers over, he finally returned to his senses and asked her, ¡°How did you know I was trapped?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know. I just came out to look for you since you didn¡¯te home after the sun set. They said it wouldn¡¯t be safe for me to go out by myself, so I brought two army units with me in consideration of the baby.¡±


    A husband hadn¡¯te home, so his wife came out looking for him. In the passing, she had taken his ce to fight off the enemy troops and saved him from his predicament? Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t helpughing.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Pengxin curiously looked at him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home.¡± In front of everyone, Ning Mingjie got onto her horse and held her in his arms.


    Pengxin blushed and turned to hug him back. Completely ignoring everyone¡¯s gazes, she snuggly nestled her head against his chest.

 Chapter 481 - Aixin (2)

    Chapter 481 ¨C Aixin (2)


    The two opposing sides came to an armistice. The rebel army retreated back to rural areas.


    ¡ª


    In the spring of the second year, Pengxin gave birth to a cute, baby girl. This was the first time that Ning Mingjie felt such joy. Alcohol was distributed in the army camps, and Ning Mingjie did quite a bit of celebratory drinking with the soldiers. However, when he went back to their tent, he saw Pengxin crying sorrowfully.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Ning Mingjie asked in surprise.


    Feeling very upset, Pengxin said, ¡°Don¡¯t the people in Great Song prefer sons? I wasn¡¯t able to give you a son.¡±


    Ning Mingjie didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He picked up the baby andforted Pengxin, ¡°I like daughters.¡±


    ¡°Liar.¡± Pengxin didn¡¯t believe him.


    ¡°Really.¡± Ning Mingjie resourcefully came up with an answer. ¡°This Ning n¡¯s tradition. We value daughters, not sons. If you don¡¯t believe me, look at Marquis Moyu¡¯s household. Isn¡¯t my cousin¡¯s daughter much more favored than his son?¡±


    Pengxin froze in surprise for a moment. She thought of her past few visit to the marquis¡¯s estate. Ji-<i>shi</i>¡®s daughter had always been carried around and treated like a treasure. Thus, she ended up believing Ning Mingjie¡¯s words that Ning n really had such a tradition.


    Original trantion is from fuyuneko dot org. If you¡¯re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.


    Pengxin stopped crying. Taking the baby from Ning Mingjie, she pouted and said, ¡°Let¡¯s name her Aixin then.¡±


    Wrinkling his face, Ning Mingjie thought; this name was really too...


    Lips pressed together, the baby looked as if it was going to cry. Pengxin looked as if she was going to cry too. Ning Mingjie immediately felt this problem was too difficult to solve. He quickly nodded and agreed, ¡°Okay, okay, we¡¯ll call her Aixin.¡±


    Pengxin was finally satisfied.


    ¡ª


    After Pengxin recuperated for a month, she could apany Ning Mingjie on the battlefield again. It was only with her guarding him in the back that he could focus looking at the front without worries. With her behind him, no one would be able to attack him from behind.


    Pengxin¡¯s martial arts skills were getting better by the day. Her skills had been honed on the battlefield.


    One day, Pengxin finally beat him. She took took advantage of Ning Mingjie being temporarily distracted to beat him in one move.


    ¡°I won!¡± Pengxin¡¯s eyes widened. She cheered, then she tossed her sword to the side to hang off Ning Mingjie¡¯s body.


    Ning Mingjie couldn¡¯t helpughing. He thought that her rxed behavior that was unrestraint by propriety was quite cute.


    On the battlefield, they risked their lives together and rescued each other from death a few times. Their lives had already be linked together.


    ¡ª


    When they returned to the capital, Pengxin was holding Aixin. When she stepped into the estate, she felt much more confidant than her previous self.


    She no longer needed to learn how to embroider or how to cook. Holding her three-ring sword in the other hand, she watched Luoqi and the other women standing before her and trembling in fear.


    ¡°Madam?¡±


    Smiling, Pengyue pointed at her young daughter. ¡°This is my daughter. Her name is Aixin.¡±


    Luoqi furrowed her brow. ¡°How could a name be recklessly chosen? Since she¡¯s the general¡¯s daughter and the daughter of the main wife, her name has to follow the generational naming rule...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s just call her Aixin.¡± Ning Mingjie came in from behind. As soon as Pengxin saw him, she didn¡¯t care about anything else. Putting her sword and daughter down, she went forward and hugged his arm. Little Aixin also stumbled forward to hug Ning Mingjie¡¯s leg.


    Ning Mingjie dryly coughed, and Pengxin let go of him and properly stood by his side. With the elegant demeanor of the main wife, she said, ¡°General, since you¡¯re back, let¡¯s go eat.¡±


    Just as Luoqi was about to speak, Ning Mingjie had already nodded his head. ¡°Let¡¯s eating in the main hall. It¡¯s been a long journey back. After eating, you should go rest.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Smiling, Pengxin nodded.


    Luoqi and Xiann¡¯s expressions didn¡¯t look good. They hadn¡¯t seen the general for three years. During this time, Madam had been alone with the general. How could this be good?


    Gritting her teeth, Xiann said, ¡°Public opinion is powerful enough to obscure right and wrong. Anything can be grounded down to dust. Who cares about what happened during the past three years? The rest of our life is much longer than three years. Why wouldn¡¯t we be able to win against her eventually?¡±


    ¡ª


    Nuanyu quietly observed Ning Mingjie in the garden.


    He looked the same as before. He was just indifferently sitting there. Nearby, Pengxin was looking at the fruits on a tree. It looked as if she wanted to climb up the tree to pick a few fruits. It clearly looked as if Ning Mingjie hadn¡¯t been paying attention to her, but he stood up, walked over there, and quietly exchanged a few words with Pengxin. Then, he jumped up and picked two fruits that weren¡¯t ripe yet.


    Pengxinughed. Ning Mingjie curved his lips upwards, then he sat back down near her.


    ¡°He seems different,¡± Nuanyu quietly said.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Xiann hadn¡¯t been able to clearly hear her.


    Nuanyu pursed her lips, but only silently shook her head.


    Sometimes, a man¡¯s heart could be divided into many pieces. During that time, you could stillpete for his affection. Although you couldn¡¯t dredge up his entire heart, you could still get a few fragments.


    However, once that man wholeheartedly love someone, it wasn¡¯t possible topete anymore. Once that heart was given away to someone else, it wouldn¡¯t be transferred to someone elseter.


    Looking at that woman from afar, who was dressed in riding attire, Nuanyu sighed, turned around, and left.


    Luoqi was still discussing with Xiann on what they should do to counteract the effects of Madam and the general spending three years together.


    ¡ª


    In the depths of the inner court, women would alwayspete for a man¡¯s favor.


    For those women that spent their livespeting and only getting a high status and wealth as a constion prize, but unable to receive a man¡¯s love, their endings were perhaps the most tragic ones.

 Chapter 482 - As round as pearls and smooth as jade (1)

    Chapter 482 ¨C As round as pearls and smooth as jade (1)


    (T/N: Just in case this is confusing, this chapter is taking ce shortly after Zhu Yurun miscarries off-screen in chapter 354. And, based on this chapter, I¡¯m assuming no one told Zhu Yurun about Qing Yingchen¡¯s visit in chapter 355.)


    Zhu Yurun was bashfully standing below a tree. She was wearing a beautiful sky blue dress, and there was a backdrop of pink clouds. In the distance, Qian Yingchen was carrying a big bag of stuff. He approached her with a smile.


    ¡°I bought the braised meat from East Street, snacks from Fuman Restaurant, twisted steamed rolls from a street stall, and your favorite food, candied hawthorn.¡± His voice was very gentle, and his eyes were full of tender sentiments as he looked at her.


    Zhu Yurun felt that she was too blessed. She shyly reached out to ept the food, but Qian Yingchen had already brought a piece of osmanthus cake to her lips. ¡°Here, open your mouth.¡±


    (T/N: Below are pictures of various osmanthus cakes.)


    ¡°You...¡± Zhu Yurun was so touched that her eyes got teary. ¡°Have you stopped hating me?¡±


    She had forced herself on him, and their child was gone. Had he stopped hating her?


    Qian Yingchen lightly shook his head. ¡°Silly girl, how could I hate you?¡±


    This definitely wasn¡¯t a dream. Zhu Yurun tearfully took a bite of the osmanthus cake. She kept thinking; this definitely wasn¡¯t a dream! Yingchen had finally forgiven her. They could happily spend their days together now. This definitely wasn¡¯t a dream!


    ¡°Miss, are you having a nightmare?¡± Standing nearby, Zhuer looked at her in concern.


    Sure enough, it was only a dream. Zhu Yurun looked at the ceiling of her bed for a while before tugging her quilt over her head. She felt so resentful and bitter. Oh, why couldn¡¯t she have stayed in her dream for a bit longer? Just let her see Qian Yingchen being gentle for an extra moment.


    ¡°Your body is still weak from the miscarriage. Old Master has already ordered the kitchen servants to prepare whatever food you want to eat,¡± Zhuer bbed on, ¡°It¡¯s fine if Sir Qian doesn¡¯t want to marry you. Old Master has already discussed the matter with Mister Ji. Once you¡¯re recovered, he¡¯ll still marry you.¡±


    Zhu Yurun groaned and rolled away in her bed to face the wall. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about thister.¡±


    The dream had been beautiful, but in reality, Qian Yingchen still hated her guts. Her child was gone, which meant herst connection with him was gone too.


    What a pity. That little life had been in her body for so long, but now it was gone, just like that.


    ¡°Zhuer, Mister Ji is actually a pretty good person, right?¡± Zhu Yurun decided tofort herself. ¡°His family has a prosperous business, and he has an attractive face. He doesn¡¯t have a wife or concubines, and he¡¯s a good person.¡±


    Zhuer quickly nodded. ¡°Miss, have you finallye around?¡±


    She hadn¡¯te around. She was just epting her fate? Zhu Yurun felt discouraged and deted. Her miscarriage happened several days ago, but Qian Yingchen hadn¡¯te here to see her. What was there left to hope for?


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll follow dad¡¯s arrangements. Yingchen probably feels exhausted from me pestering him day after day. He¡¯s getting married soon,¡± said Zhu Yurun spiritlessly. She felt worse after saying these words aloud.


    Someone had stood in the doorway for a long time. Hearing these words, he couldn¡¯t resist coldly snorting. He slowly entered the room and said, ¡°I suppose I have to thank you for your support.¡±


    Startled, Zhu Yurun quickly rolled back to her original position, straightened her quilt, and looked out.


    Qian Yingchen hade! The little ember in her heart that had almost burnt out seemed as if it was being doused by alcohol. It went back to burning brightly again! Zhu Yurun¡¯s cheeks flushed. Looking at him, she stuttered, ¡°Y-you... Why are you...¡±


    ¡°Why did Ie here?¡± Qian Yingchen sneered. ¡°Miss, don¡¯t worry. This one doesn¡¯t have other intentions. It¡¯s just that it was this one¡¯s fault for causing your miscarriage. This one feels apologetic towards your esteemed father, so the marquis told this one to pay Miss a visit an apology.¡±


    He had heard that she hade around and was going to marry Teacher Ji. So, what was the point in himing here to see her? Wouldn¡¯t it be fine for Teacher Ji toe here in his ce to see her instead?


    However, Zhu Yurun only foolishly giggled. She waved her hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. No big deal. I¡¯ll go tell my dad that it had nothing to do with you. I fell down by myself. Didn¡¯t you reach out to save me? Unfortunately, I was too heavy, so you weren¡¯t able to pull me up.¡±


    Qian Yingchen slightly froze in surprise.


    It was said that a woman would lose her mind after losing her child. She would hate whoever harmed her child. Before he hade here, he had already prepared himself to be yelled at. He didn¡¯t expect that Zhu Yurun would say this matter had nothing to do with him.


    How could this have nothing to do with him? The child was his. It was also his fault for bumping into her and causing her to fall down. Was this person a fool? She could obviously use this matter to threaten him into marrying her. But, she nned on speaking on his behalf instead.


    Yes, that was exactly right. Chubby Miss Zhu was a fool. She had originally decided to give up on Qian Yingchen out of anger, but her dreams were full of him. Seeing him after waking him, her previous annoyance went unimaginably far away. The only thought that remained was: I like him, I like him, I like him.


    ¡°Since Miss doesn¡¯t me me, then this one will leave.¡± Qian Yingchen felt an inexplicable fidgetiness as he got up. He had always treated other people politely and with grace. But, whenever he met Zhu Yurun, his mind would turn into a big mess. He couldn¡¯t resist exposing his rudest and most ferocious self in front of her.


    Ning Yuxuan had said he dared to act so unbridled towards her because he knew how much his young woman liked him. But, who would want to be the recipient of her affections? As the assistant minister¡¯s daughter, she should be a dignified youngdy. Why didn¡¯t she learn good things? Why was she so infatuated towards a man...


    T/N: Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen¡¯s story arc is from chapter 482 to 489.


    Trantor Ramblings: It¡¯s been over a year since I read DSB for the second time, so I forgot until now that I skimmed past Pengxin and Zhu Yurun¡¯s story arc both times ^^;;. I wish the author had spent less time on them, or only wrote about one foolish, infatuated girl and her happy ending instead of having two in a row. I think Pengxin could have been a much more interesting character if the author wrote about her growing up as the daughter of a mistress and how that shaped her character.


    Anyways, until I tranted up to this point, I only remembered that the extras contained Pengyue¡¯s POV as her rtionship with Zhao Li goes downhill, Nie Qingyun¡¯s POV, Haohao¡¯s storyline when hees back at 16 years old, Guibai¡¯s POV for a chapter, epilogue of Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan¡¯s story, and the author¡¯s note.


    How do you guys feel? What do you wish the author had written about in the extras?


    P.S. ¡°Qian Yingchen chased after her and grabbed her wrist, but she forcefully pushed him away. The forceful momentum caused her to lose bnce, and she fell down the restaurant¡¯s stairs.¡± ¨C from chapter 357.


    I wonder if the author meant to rewrite that scene and forgot to do it? In the original scene, Zhu Yurun falls down because of her recklessness and impulsiveness. There¡¯s no mention of bumping.

 Chapter 483 - As round as pearls and smooth as jade (2)

    Chapter 483 ¨C As round as pearls and smooth as jade (2)


    After he indignantly stood up, he heard someone yelping behind him.


    Zhu Yurun clutched her quilt and pitifully sat up. Looking at his back figure, she said, ¡°I... Can I me you a little bit?¡±


    Qian Yingchen froze in surprise for a moment. He turned his head and looked at her in puzzlement. ¡°How much is a little bit?¡±


    ¡°Not too much, not too little, just a small amount that¡¯s enough for you to stay.¡± Zhu Yurun carefully spaced her thumb and pointer finger to make a gesture of ¡°a little bit¡±.


    Qian Yingchen frowned. ¡°You want me to stay here?¡±


    ¡°Yes... Ah, no. You don¡¯t have to stay here for too long. Stay here for an hour... or, twenty minutes would be good too.¡± Zhu Yurun giggled.


    Qian Yingchen was silent for a while, then he swept his gaze over her and said, ¡°Sit here and look at your messy hair and unkempt appearance?¡±


    During the one-month recovery period, a woman wasn¡¯t allowed to wash up. Hearing these words, Zhu Yurun felt very embarrassed. She quickly put down her bed curtains and left a small strip of space. This way, she could sneakily look at him, but he couldn¡¯t see her.


    ¡°Just... like this.¡±


    Qian Yingchen snorted. ¡°What¡¯s the point in me sitting here? Do you have something you want to ask or say to this one?¡±


    Zhu Yurun panicked. What should she say? As soon as she saw Qian Yingchen, she felt tongue-tied, so she naturally had nothing to say. What should she ask? There wasn¡¯t anything to ask...


    In a moment of desperation, Zhu Yurun choose the worst question to ask. ¡°Sir Qian... Are you still going to marry Miss Sun?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Qian Yingchen indifferently nodded.


    bbergasted, Zhu Yurun couldn¡¯t resist the urge to smack her own head. Wasn¡¯t asking this question just pointlessly making herself feel vexed? Wrapping the quilt around her, she rolled around her bed a few times, which caused the bed to fiercely shake. This startled Qian Yingchen.


    ¡°Miss Zhu?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± Zhu Yurun stopped her movement and very calmly said, ¡°I just turned over.¡±


    If turning over could cause the bed to shake like this, she really should cut back on eating.


    Following this exchange, the two people had nothing to say to each other. Qian Yingchen sat there with a solemn expression. Zhu Yurun lied down with a bitter expression.


    However, Qian Yingchen had actually sat there for twenty minutes. Once the time was up, he lightly asked Zhu Yurun, ¡°Is there anything that you especially want to eat?¡±


    Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t know why, but tears almost fell down. She bit her quilt and sobbed before saying in a muffled voice, ¡°I want to eat braised meat from East Street, snacks from Fuman Restaurant, twisted steamed rolls from a street stall, and candied hawthorn.¡±


    She heard a disdainful snort outside of her bed. It was followed by the sound of Qian Yingchen departing.


    She knew that he had onlye here to give her father face, and he was only asking this question out of politeness, so Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t too disappointed. She only lifted up her bed curtain to look and looked out at the room. He was already gone.


    Oh...


    The next day, she didn¡¯t wake up until the sun was high up in the sky. Anyways, she didn¡¯t have to do anything. She only needed to open her mouth and eat each day, that¡¯s why she hadn¡¯t lost any weight.


    Just as she was feeling bored, Qian Yingchen returned.


    Zhu Yurun widened her eyes. She thought that once her one-month recovery period was over, she had to go see Marquis Moyu and express her thanks. It was only because there was a good superior like him that she could have good days!


    ¡°Here are the items you wanted.¡± Qian Yingchen ced a pile of oiled paper packages on the table. He picked out a stick of candied hawthorn and handed it to her. ¡°Here, eat.¡±


    His expression looked rotten. It was obvious that he wasn¡¯t happy doing this. He waspletely different from the gentle person in her dream.


    Still, Zhu Yurun was very happy. She took big bites of the candied hawthorn. Truly, hawthorns had the ability to stimte appetite. She felt as if she could eat an entire cow today!


    After finishing the candied hawthorn and taking a piece of osmanthus cake, Zhu Yurun asked Qian Yingchen with a blushing face, ¡°Why... why are you treating me so nicely today?¡±


    Qian Yingchen said with an unsmiling face, ¡°Miss Zhu, you don¡¯t need to have any unnecessary thoughts. The marquis ordered this one to do this. If you want to thank someone, you can thank the marquis.¡±


    Half of her good mood disappeared. Zhu Yurun pouted. He was too honest. He didn¡¯t know how to coax a girl at all.


    But, as she picked up another piece of osmanthus cake, she thought of that scene in her dreams and ended up shyly saying, ¡°Can... Can you feed me this?¡±


    Since he hade here because he was ordered, she would use the snacks to get him to do stuff.


    However, Qian Yingchen sneered at her and stood up. ¡°This one has a meeting with Miss Sun and won¡¯t stay long. Miss Zhu, you don¡¯t have a broken hand. You can feed yourself.¡±


    He left right after saying this. He didn¡¯t even pause after he finished speaking. Zhu Yurun pouted. Fine, she would feed herself. At least, it was osmanthus cake.


    ¡ª


    It seemed that Marquis Moyu had issued an extreme order, so much so that Qian Yingchen came to see her every day. Sometimes, he would be in a good mood and sit here for an hour. When he was in a bad mood, he would sit here and turn his head away from her. Anyways, she wouldn¡¯tin to anyone.


    ¡ª


    Mister Ji hade today. Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t stupid. Mister Ji had delicate, tender skin. The more she looked, the more it was obvious that Mister Ji wasn¡¯t a man. Sure enough, she seemed to be upset and hade here to cry. When she cried, it was with a woman¡¯s voice.


    Zhu Yurun wanted tofort her, but before she had enough time tofort her, Qian Yingchen hade.


    He seemed more tense than usual. He had actually entered here inrge strides.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He asked.


    Zhu Yurun¡¯s heart which had slowly calmed down bounced back up just from hearing these words.


    Sometimes, you would think about giving up on someone, and it would take a hundred times having this thought before it was effective. But, a few words from that person was enough to blow away all of your previous efforts.

 Chapter 484 - A happy, chubby girl (1)

    Chapter 484 ¨C A happy, chubby girl (1)


    Zhu Yurun felt that Qian Yingchen must like her a little bit. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t continue toe see her after her one-month recovery period was over.


    Although, his face had changed into a displeased one as soon as he walked in here. ¡°This one didn¡¯t know Miss had already recovered.¡±


    It seemed that he had be ustomed toing here. Every day that he came over here, reporting for duty, he would remember to bring her a small trinket. Although he was impatient, he would sit here and say a few words with her.


    ¡°Sir Qian... I can leave the estate today.¡± Zhu Yurun giggled and asked, ¡°I¡¯m going to go out and take a stroll. Sir Qian... do you have free time?¡±


    ¡°No free time.¡± Qian Yingchen swept his gaze over her, turned around, and walked out.


    Zhu Yurun had specially dressed up today. She had ordered the servants to sew a sky blue dress for her. It looked very ethereal. Even if he didn¡¯t have any free time, she still wanted to follow him and take a stroll around the streets! After being confined in this room for so long, she felt so stifled and as if she was going to rot away.


    And so, Zhu Yurun very shamelessly followed after him.


    Qian Yingchen naturally sensed that someone was behind him, but he didn¡¯t say anything as he left Zhu Residence through the back entrance, passed through an alley, and walked down a bustling main street.


    Zhu Yurun skipped along behind him. The distance between them wasn¡¯t far. Seeing the delicious food that was being sold on street stalls, she quickly went over to purchase them. While making her purchases, she kept looking at the person upfront.


    Qian Yingchen seemed as if he was waiting for her. When she didn¡¯t follow after him, he stopped and stood in ce.


    It was truly a beautiful day. Zhu Yurun secretly smiled. After she purchased the food, she caught up to him.


    She couldn¡¯t walk by his side. Even though she really wanted to, she didn¡¯t. He frequently said that a woman should be reserved. A young nobledy wouldn¡¯t casually walk side-by-side with a man in public.


    Alright, she would be reserved. Walking behind him was good too.


    Qian Yingchen turned left and turned right. At the end, he arrived at a teahouse that wasn¡¯t far from Sun Residence. Miss Sun was already standing there. She was wearing a sky blue dress and had two white jade hairpins in her hair. She looked very dignified and elegant.


    Zhu Yurun, who was following from a distance, saw her. The smile on her face stiffened.


    Qian Yingchen must have done this deliberately. He knew that her recovery period had ended today, and she was free to walk about. He knew that she was following him too. He had even waited for her. This was all so that she would follow him and witness this scene, that way she would stop pestering him in the future.


    Miss Sun had a slender figure and a beautiful face. She was wearing a sky blue dress too, and she looked as beautiful as a celestial fairy. In contrast, Zhu Yurun only looked like a blue dumpling in the same style of dress.


    Anyone should be able to understand his intentions, right? Qian Yingchen smiled as he greeted Miss Sun, but he couldn¡¯t resist turning his head to look at her.


    Ten steps away, Zhu Yurun¡¯s figure had already disappeared.


    She was actually very tactful today? Qian Yingchen felt a bit surprised. He couldn¡¯t resisting to a halt and taking another look.


    ¡°Sir Qian?¡± Miss Sun looked at him strangely.


    ¡°Sorry. Miss Sun, please go up first.¡± Qian Yingchen turned his head back. He chuckled and very elegantly led Miss Sun upstairs.


    That chubby girl had already gone back home, right? But, the distance here had been a bit long. What if she got lost, ended up getting kidnapped, and was sold into very? Qian Yingchen lowered his eyes. He thought about it for a while, then shook his head.


    No, that wouldn¡¯t happen. Even if someone was going to kidnap a woman to sell, they would choose a normal woman. If you tried to sell an overweight woman, who would buy her?


    Miss Sun hade out today to discuss something with him. However, even after she had talked for a long time, Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t pay attention and failed to listen to a single word. His tense brow didn¡¯t rx as he gazed out the window to look at the street below and watched the sparse pedestrians.


    Actually, Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t annoy him that much. He just felt ufortable looking at her foolish self. It made him want to be mean to her. But, as soon as he was mean to her, she would tremble, thenugh even more foolishly.


    With that foolish look of hers, if she married Mister Ji, the other party was bound to feel disdainful towards, right? Although those two people seemed to have a good rtionship and Mister Ji had run over to see to Zhu Yurun when he wanted to cry...


    As a man, Mister Ji should be dignified. What was there for him to cry about? And, he had wept like a woman, so freakish. He had a thin and weak body. He would probably be crushed to death after marrying Zhu Yurun.


    As soon as he thought of that chubby girl and the thin Mister Ji having a wedding night, Qian Yingchen narrowed his eyes. He couldn¡¯t resist smacking the table.


    Miss Sun, who had been sitting on the other side of the table and talking, was startled. Pursing her lips, she said, ¡°This humble woman knows that it was presumptuous of me to say those words. If Sir Qian finds my words outrageous, then just treat it as if this humble woman has said nothing.¡±


    What? Qian Yingchen finally returned to his senses, but Miss Sun had already got up to leave.


    What were the outrageous words she said? Qian Yingchen was at a loss. He hadn¡¯t listened to a single word.


    But, it would be a bit inappropriate if he asked her to repeat herself. And so, Qian Yingchen simply headed to Zhu Residence. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to see her, Zhu Residence just happened to be on his way back, so he would go ask if Zhu Yurun had returned home. If something happened to her again, Ning Yuxuan would have him clean up the aftermath again.


    He murmured to himself as he walked to Zhu Residence¡¯s side entrance. When he got there, the door guard already recognized him and saluted him with his hands, ¡°Sir Qian, Miss recently returned home already.¡±


    Had all door guards be this clever? He had just got here, hadn¡¯t even asked a question, and the door guard already told him that she had returned. Couldn¡¯t he have let him go inside to ask?


    ¡°Umm...¡± Seeing that Sir Qian¡¯s expression looked a bit twisted, the door guard awkwardlyughed and asked, ¡°Sir Qian, do you want to go inside to take a look?¡±


    How could he answer yes to this question? Qian Yingchen chuckled and shook his head. He expressed thanks and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be going back.¡±

 Chapter 485 - A happy, chubby girl (2)

    Chapter 485 ¨C A happy, chubby girl (2)


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡± The door guard made a gesture for him to leave. ¡°Walk slowly.¡±


    Qian Yingchen brushed off his sleeve as he left. He thought; such a clever door guard should go over to the main entrance and guard that instead!


    ¡ª


    During the next few days, Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t visit Zhu Yurun. That girl didn¡¯t have self-control. She would definitelye over to look for him.


    Ah no, he didn¡¯t mean that he was looking forward to her visit, it was only... He just found it strange. Why had she left without saying a word that day? He had thought that when he turned around he would see her nkly staring at him and looking stupid, but he had only seen an empty street.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was unwilling. He was just curious what Zhu Yurun was thinking.


    However, she didn¡¯t appear before him. Qian Yingchen felt very disappointed.


    Should he take the initiative by going to Zhu Residence? She was already done with her one-month recovery period, so he was done with his assigned work. For what reason would he be going there for?


    Qian Yingchen coldly harrumphed. Turning his head, he went back to preparing his own wedding. After his marriage to Miss Sun, he probably wouldn¡¯t think about these messy thoughts. A woman like Zhu Yurun, it would be better if she stayed far away from him.


    But then, Ji Man, that wretched person, set his wedding date with Zhu Yurun to match his wedding with Miss Sun.


    ¡ª


    Dressed in wedding clothes and riding a horse, he thought that a handsome and tall person like himself couldn¡¯t possibly be inferior to that Ji Man, who only had a rice store. Behind him, there was a parade of women in splendid red clothing and the sounds of wind instruments. It was very lively.


    He didn¡¯t know why, even though his surroundings were very noisy, there was silence in his mind.


    After the wedding procession had reached halfway, he really did encountered Ji Family¡¯s marriage sedan chair. Ji Man was truly a stingy merchant. At the very least, he was marrying the assistant minister¡¯s daughter, so why was he making such a poor showing? Although Qian Yingchen knew that he had specially ordered his servants early in the morning that his wedding procession couldn¡¯t lose to Ji Man¡¯s, his heart started to feel unhappy when he saw how badly he had beaten Ji Man.


    The red bridal sedan chair contained a chubby girl, so as it was being carried forward, it looked heavier than a usual one. When the two wedding processions met, Qian Yingchen suddenly had an impulse.


    Why not marry that chubby girl? He could support her on his official¡¯s sry.


    He must have gone crazy to have such an idea. Grand Tutor Sun¡¯s side already had an agreement with the marquis, and he was perfectly willing to marry Miss Sun. How could he have such an idea at this juncture?


    Shaking his head, Qian Yingchen closed his eyes. Clutching the reins, he stopped looking at the neighboring wedding procession.


    Wasn¡¯t it a match made in heaven for a chubby girl to marry a rich merchant? Why should he stop them? He didn¡¯t like her.


    Qian Yingchen scoffed. Just as he was going to continue going forward, he heard someone behind him shouting, ¡°Stop the bridal sedan chair!¡±


    Miss Sun had run away from her wedding. At the moment when that sedan chair was passing by Zhu Yurun¡¯s sedan chair, someone had shouted this.


    Qian Yingchen couldn¡¯t quite return to his senses. He slightly furrowed his brow.


    As usual, the chubby girl acted without regard for consequences. Hearing this news, she got out of her sedan chair and sat down in his.


    ¡°Since this happened, Sir Qian, you should marry Yurun.¡± She rascally stayed in the sedan chair and wouldn¡¯te out.


    This was simply a joke. How could the bride be changed? Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression was very ugly. Mister Ji had alreadye over here to snatch the chubby girl back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll marry her.¡± He didn¡¯t know who called out those words. The surrounding people looked as if they had been relieved from a burden. Mister Ji also moved aside. The heavy bridal sedan chair was lifted up and the wedding procession continued down the road.


    Who agreed to marry her? Qian Yingchen pursed his lips. Anyways, it wasn¡¯t him.


    When Ning Yuxuan hatched a plot, the people that he schemed against usually weren¡¯t even aware of his involvement. This time, Qian Yingchen realized that he had been schemed against along with the others. Since it had been Miss Sun that ran away from the marriage, it was her side that was in the wrong. Grand Tutor Sun was sure to feel extremely guilty towards Marquis Moyu and help him out with many things in the future. As for himself, he would actually have to go through with marrying Zhu Yurun.


    Not only that, in the eyes of the public, he was perfectly willing.


    Qian Yingchen couldn¡¯t resist the urge to cover his eyes. In this lifetime, he had truly chosen poorly when making friends.


    He had tried to avoid this, but he still ended up bringing that chubby girl to his estate, past thenterns and red banners and into the bridal room.


    ¡ª


    What was even more horrifying was this chubby girl was now his main wife, and she didn¡¯t know how to control his concubines. They had already bullied her to such an extent, but she only knew how to stupidlyugh.


    ¡°Honored Concubine Feng took all of the new silk that entered the estate and only gave two bolts to you. Why didn¡¯t you tell me this?¡± Qian Yingchen red at the person in front of him.


    Zhu Yurun blinked. ¡°I didn¡¯t know about that. How did you find out?¡±


    She thought that this estate would be like Zhu Residence. The honored concubines would deliver everything to her courtyard, and she didn¡¯t need to manage anything.


    Qian Yingchen was going to be angered to death by her. ¡°Learn how to manage the household!¡±


    ¡ª


    And so, Zhu Yurun tried her best. While holding a meat-filled pastry in her mouth and with lit candles in the room, she would look at the ount books. But, every time she looked at the ount books, she would end up falling asleep at the table.


    When Qian Yingchen came home each evening, he would have to suffer through with carrying her to the bed. And so, after a few days of this, he gave up on having her manage the household. She really was too heavy for him to keep moving.


    ¡ª


    Everyone in the householdughed at Zhu Yurun behind her back about her weight. In this ce, beauty required thinness. And so, Qian Yingchen said to Zhu Yurun, ¡°You should try to think of a way to lose some weight.¡±


    Sure enough, this idiot didn¡¯t eat for the next three days and fainted in her room out of hunger. When he went over and picked her up, she opened her eyes, pressed her lips together, and said, ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    She looked really pitiful. Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He felt a bit bad for her, so he simply gave up on having her lose weight. Anyways, he didn¡¯t like her. It didn¡¯t matter if she was fat or thin. He would just keep raising her.

 Chapter 486 - Too heavy, cant let go after picking up (1)

    Chapter 486 ¨C Too heavy, can¡¯t let go after picking up (1)


    Everyone knew that he had married a foolish wife. Today, he was was sitting with a group of good friends and drinking. Halfway through the gathering, someone stood up and said, ¡°It¡¯s gettingte. My wife is probably going toin when this one gets back. This one will penalize myself with a cup of wine and leave first.¡±


    Another person stood up and said, ¡°My Yn is very petty. If I got back with the scent of rouge on me, she¡¯ll definitely throw a fit for at least half a month. This one will drink a cup of wine as penalty and say my goodbyes too.¡±


    Qian Yingchen sulky drank and thought; these two were really sesses. Their wives controlled them so stringently.


    But then, an obtuse fool, who wanted to curry favor with him, raised a cup to toast him and said, ¡°It¡¯s Sir Qian that¡¯s the best. You¡¯re fine with staying out all night.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was somewhat unhappy, but he raised his chin and thought; that was because he managed his wife in the correct manner. If Zhu Yurun dared to make a fuss, he would go over to one of his concubine¡¯s courtyards and not go over to see her. After two days of this treatment, she would naturallye looking for him while crying and sniffling.


    However, another nearby person said, ¡°Brother Zhang, you don¡¯t know this, but the two people that recently left, their wives have deep affection and love for them. That¡¯s why they¡¯re so controlling toward their husbands. Haha.¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s expression had ckened. Instead of swallowing the wine in his mouth, he spat it out on the ground.


    Their wifes were controlling because of deep love? It had been half a month since he married Zhu Yurun, but she didn¡¯t show any care about his life of debauchery. It couldn¡¯t be that she wasn¡¯t in love with him, right? What a joke. Who was the one that had pestered him day in and day out asking him to marry her and acting as if she would die if he didn¡¯t?


    He sprinkled some of the wine from his cup onto his body, embraced a musician girl, and rubbed her body all over. Then, Qian Yingchen stood up and said, ¡°Yingchen will also take my leave earlier. Everyone, enjoy yourselves to the fullest.¡±


    ¡°Ai, Sir Qian, why are you leaving so early?¡± The person that was rushing to curry favor with him was unhappy. ¡°Your honorable wife isn¡¯t controlling. You can stay here longer.¡±


    ¡°Who said she isn¡¯t controlling?¡± With an unhappy face, Qian Yingchen said, ¡°She¡¯s definitely staying up and waiting for me toe home with lit candles. Goodbye!¡±


    Rather childishly mming the door on his way out, Qian Yingchen boarded his carriage and returned to his estate. He didn¡¯t know what he was feeling unhappy about. When he walked back to Zhu Yurun¡¯s courtyard, it was the same as usual. He hadn¡¯te home on time, so she had extinguished themps and went to sleep by herself. The courtyard was very dark. Don¡¯t even mention a lit candle in the room, there was nothing waiting for him at the door.


    Fuming with anger, Qian Yingchen went forward and kicked the doors to Zhu Yurun¡¯s room, then he turned around and went to Honored Concubine Feng¡¯s courtyard.


    Zhu Yurun was woken up by this noise. When she got up and looked at the doorway, there was no one there. Murmuring to herself that it was probably because the wind was too strong, the chubby girl closed the doors and waddled back to her bed to continue sleeping.


    As Qian Yingchen walked down the path, he kept kicking the ground and grumbling: that fat idiot!


    Although it was true that he had previously said he didn¡¯t want her to concern herself with his life, but wasn¡¯t Zhu Yurun being too free and easy by not showing any concern at all? Why had she wanted to marry him? She didn¡¯t show any concern when he went out indulging in sensual pleasures. When he favored an honored concubine more frequently than he favored her, she didn¡¯t throw a tantrum. She was like a soft persimmon. How could someone not want to pinch her and bully her


    He really wanted to squeeze her until she was a ball of cotton wadding and stuff her into a quilt!


    As Qian Yingchen walked, he kept cursing her. When he reached Honored Concubine Feng¡¯s courtyard, he was still grumbling.


    ¡°Sir Qian, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Honored Concubine Feng gently took off his outeryer of clothing for him. ¡°Has Madam angered you?¡±


    Qian Yingchen sneered. It could be considered tacitly assenting.


    Honored Concubine Feng¡¯s eyes turned. She sweetly smiled and said, ¡°Sir Qian, don¡¯t be angry. Everyone knows that Madam isn¡¯t that bright in the head. She speaks without considering propriety. If she¡¯s done anything wrong, just treat it as if a child has done something wrong and forgive her.¡±


    These words sounded like she was pleading for Zhu Yurun, but when he thought about it again, he realized it was wrong. Qian Yingchen narrowed his eyes. ¡°A child?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the right description for her? Madam is just like a child. She doesn¡¯t know anything. She only knows how to eat.¡± Honored Concubine Feng hanged his outeryer on a room divider, then carelessly said, ¡°Everyone has been saying why is Sir Qian is so unlucky to have married her.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± His hand stretched out and grabbed the outeryer of clothing that she had just hung up. Honored Concubine Feng froze in surprise for a moment. When she turned her head, she saw Qian Yingchen¡¯s expressionless face.


    ¡°Sir Qian? Has this servant said something wrong?¡± Honored Concubine Feng felt somewhat panicky. ¡°You just came here...¡±


    ¡°You can think for yourself what you did wrong. Starting from tomorrow, your monthly allowance will be cut in half.¡± Qian Yingchen finished putting on his clothes and lightly said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to care for that child.¡±


    Honored Concubine Feng was stunned. Qian Yingchen left her courtyard and took the return path.


    Zhu Yurun was very stupid. She didn¡¯t know how to shrewdly scheme orpete for favor. She only knew how to eat. He didn¡¯t like her; he thought she was stupid and fat.


    But, even if he didn¡¯t like her, it was only okay if he was the one feeling this way. If someone said a single bad word about her, then it was the same as hitting his face too.


    Right now, he was Zhu Yurun¡¯s husband.


    After returning to the main courtyard, he took off his outeryer of clothing and lied down on the bed. Zhu Yurun was sleeping very sweetly. Sensing a source of warmth nearby, the chubby girl rolled over to rub against the warmth. However, as soon as she smelled the stench of alcohol on that body, Zhu Yurun rolled back to the inner part of the bed and kept her distance from him. There was the slightest sound of snoringing from her.


    Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. This chubby girl was actually finding him disdainful?


    After changing into sleeping clothes and bringing her over to hug, Qian Yingchen murmured, ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to press me down at night. I¡¯ll have a nightmare.¡±


    Zhu Yurun sleepily assented and really did follow his order in sleeping properly.


    Trantor Ramblings: ¡°You¡¯re not allowed to press me down <strong>at night</strong>.¡± I thought Qian Yingchen¡¯s wording was so weird and funny. Does that mean he doesn¡¯t want to forbid her from pressing him down in the daytime?


    How lucky to be Zhu Yurun. She doesn¡¯t have to do basic work like manage the household¡¯s finances. All she does is eat, but Qian Yingchen will protect her from being bullied without her lifting a finger or using a brain cell. Because he knows she¡¯s stupid, he¡¯ll protect her and automatically judge the other women in his harem as crafty and maniptive (which admittedly they are).

 Chapter 487 - Too heavy, cant let go after picking up (2)

    Chapter 487 ¨C Too heavy, can¡¯t let go after picking up (2)


    When he woke up it was the next day, Qian Yingchen stretched his hand towards her. ¡°Give me a thing.¡±


    ¡°What thing?¡± Zhu Yurun was very lost.


    ¡°A love token.¡± Qian Yingchen pursed his lips and said, ¡°When I went to yesterday¡¯s gathering, everyone else¡¯s wives have given them things like jade waist essory and scented sachets. If that¡¯s not feasible, they were also given handkerchiefs too. What about you?¡±


    Zhu Yurun scratched her head and seriously thought for a while before getting up and picking up an oil paper package. ¡°This is thest ky almond pastry from yesterday. It¡¯s super yummy! I couldn¡¯t even bear to eat it. Is this okay?¡±


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s face changed colors.


    ¡°... Oh, no good?¡± Zhu Yurun awkwardlyughed. Before he started roaring at her, she promptly and swiftly put on her clothes and ran out.


    For matters like embroidering, she should go ask Mister... oh, no that¡¯s wrong. Mister Ji was now called Miss Nie. Mister Ji was the only friend that Zhu Yurun had ever made. Although she had guessed early on that Mister Ji was a woman, she still wasn¡¯t quite use to her transformation into a woman. And, she had changed her name to Nie Sangyu.


    Although this name sounded very nice, Zhu Yurun decided to keep calling her Mister Ji to express her gratitude. Mister Ji had saved her when she was at the most challenging point in her life. She was a person that remembered past kindness. She would remember this forever!


    In the past, Qian Yingchen had been very against her visiting Mister Ji, but after he found out that Mister Ji was Nie Sangyu, for some unknown reason, his mood had greatly improved. Not only did he stop discouraging her from seeing Mister Ji, he was very supportive about her visiting Mister Ji. And so, Zhu Yurun slipped away to visit her friend today.


    ¡°A love token, huh.¡± Ji Man nced at the cheap ring made of concentric knots on her dressing table. Pursuing her lips, she said, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not important what you make. It just needs your heartfelt sentiment.¡±


    Zhu Yurun nodded. In a rare moment of cleverness, she found a jade ring, tied it with a few braided red string, and reported back afterpleting her mission.


    Qian Yingchen¡¯s cloudy expression finally cleared up. He took the jade ring, and during the next several days, when he was meeting with people outside, he would raise his chin and proudly gaze down at the ring.


    As a result, someone tried to curry favor with him by sending his daughter to be his honored concubine. Unfortunately, the other party was an important official that he had a lot of dealings withtely. Although he was only a third-rank official, he had taken over part of Marquis Moyu¡¯s authority, so he had a terrifying amount of power. It was inevitable that someone would want to get close to him.


    The young woman that was sent over had a slender figure and was rather good at speaking. Qian Yingchen was very satisfied with her. But, no matter how satisfied he was, he had no intention of epting her. A single nce was enough for him to see that this young woman was very astute. If he brought her home, what would he do if she bullied that chubby girl?


    However, the person next to him said, ¡°Sir Qian, you can¡¯t spend the rest of your life never taking another concubine. Your household only has one honored concubine. That¡¯s really too little.¡±


    Had he protected that chubby girl too well? Should he bring home a woman to teach her a lesson?


    Thinking of this, Qian Yingchen agreed.


    But, as soon as he brought that young woman home to scare her, the chubby girl disappeared!


    He asked a servant and found out that she had gone over to Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate again. Qian Yingchen sneered. She had actually run away? He was sure that she woulde back on her own. Once she went two days without seeing him, he was sure that she wouldn¡¯t even be able to sleep well!


    However, two dayter, she still hadn¡¯t returned, and Qian Yingchen was the one that couldn¡¯t sleep well.


    ¡ª


    That chubby girl was currently chatting with Mister Ji. While eating melon seeds, she said, ¡°There¡¯s a new honored concubine in the estate.¡±


    Ji Man furrowed her brow. ¡°You ran away just because there¡¯s a new honored concubine?¡±


    ¡°If I stay, I¡¯ll feel really sad.¡± Zhu Yurun pressed her lips together. ¡°It¡¯s better to lie to myself and say I¡¯ming here to have fun with you and Yingchen is waiting for me at home by himself. It¡¯s better to think of this way.¡±


    Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. She knew that this chubby girl hid under quilt and cried at night.


    It really was very difficult to love someone.


    ¡ª


    On the fourth day, Qian Yingchen had dark circles under his eyes and surrendered. He came over to pick Zhu Yurun up.


    ¡°Come back,¡± he fiercely said to her.


    ¡°Did you miss me?¡± She looked at him with a smile.


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Have you fallen in love with me?¡± Zhu Yurun wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°No!¡± Qian Yingchen grabbed her arm. ¡°Come home with me!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to!¡± The chubby girl finally got angry. She grabbed the door frame and grimaced. ¡°If you don¡¯t miss me or love me, then why do you want me to go back? Go back by yourself!¡±


    The door mmed closed.


    Qian Yingchen was dumbstruck.


    Twenty minutester, the chubby girl carefully opened the door a crack to look outside and didn¡¯t see anyone. Just as she was starting to feel dejected, someone said from the bottom, ¡°I admit defeat.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was sitting on the bottom of the stairs that led to her room. He very helplessly clutched his forehead and said, ¡°Great ancestor,e back with me. If you don¡¯te back, I won¡¯t be able to finish eating all the food made by the kitchen servants.¡±


    He had admitted defeat. He had wanted to leave, but he was reluctant to go. He didn¡¯t know when this started, but at some point, he couldn¡¯t put down this chubby girl.


    Perhaps, it was because she was too heavy. Once he picked her up, it wasn¡¯t easy to let go.


    Zhu Yurun grinned. She skipped down the stairs and helped him up. ¡°It¡¯s so rare for you to pick me up.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because this is Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate.¡± Qian Yingchen closed his eyes. He remorsefully said, ¡°If it was anywhere else, I wouldn¡¯t do something so humiliating!¡±


    Thank you, good friend, Marquis Moyu. He had already cleared out any possible onlookers near Zhu Yurun¡¯s room. Otherwise, he really wouldn¡¯t be able to continue showing his face in public!


    ¡°Is it humiliating to pick me up?¡± The chubby girl unhappy pouted. ¡°Then, I¡¯lle pick you up next time!¡±

 Chapter 488 - Having gotten this chubby girl as his wife, what more could he want? (1)

    Chapter 488 ¨C Having gotten this chubby girl as his wife, what more could he want? (1)


    Qian Yingchen had already slowly gotten used to the chubby girl¡¯s easygoing personality. It was pretty good too. She seemed so muddled-headed, but she was actually more sensible than anyone else. When he was favoring a new honored concubine, she would flee far away, thus she avoided doing anything that would annoy him. Compared to Honored Concubine Feng that constantly came over topete for favor, she was much better.


    Men, they were bound to want a harmonious rtionship with their wife at home while being free to go out and sample other women. Over time, Qian Yingchen thought it wasn¡¯t bad to have married this chubby girl. At the very least, his days werefortable.


    The new honored concubine kept himpany for half a month, and Zhu Yurun didn¡¯t show any negative reactions. Qian Yingchen felt very proud of himself. When he was out drinking with his friends, he couldn¡¯t resist showing off by saying words like ¡°A sensible woman saves one from a lot of worry.¡±


    During the dinner, Marquis Moyu drank wine without changing his expression when he heard these words.


    Qian Yingchen had drunk too much. Slightly smiling, he asked Ning Yuxuan, ¡°Your wife hasn¡¯t asked you to have her as your only woman. She¡¯s probably more sensible than Yurun. But, the world has been at peace for a long time. Marquis, why hasn¡¯t the number of women in your home increased at all?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and put down his wine cup. ¡°She loves me with her whole heart. How can I turn my back on her and disappoint her?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Qian Yingchen widened his eyes. ¡°Isn¡¯t it the natural order of things for a woman to be loyal and dutiful to a man?¡±


    ¡°Who told you it¡¯s the natural order of things for a woman to wholeheartedly love you?¡± A nearby ck-robed man sneered. ¡°It¡¯s not like she¡¯s your mom.¡±


    Qian Yingchen froze in surprise. His eyes were a bit blurry from being tipsy. He stared at the figure. After carefully looking, he realized that it was Nie Sangyu. She was cross-dressing!


    This was a gathering of officials from the Six Ministries, ah. Marquis Moyu had actually brought her along? Qian Yingchen¡¯s face changed colors. He nced over at Ning Yuxuan in shock.


    No wonder his friend¡¯s reply had been so full of deep feelings. As it turned out, Nie-<i>shi</i> had been next to him!


    Ning Yuxuan slightly smiled. He calmly picked up his wine cup to hide face. Too young, ah.


    Ji Man hadn¡¯t liked Qian Yingchen for a while. Recently, Zhu Yurun kept running over to her ce. Although Yurun was smiling when she came over, she knew that Yurun only came over to see her because Qian Yingchen had other women and didn¡¯t have time to keep herpany.


    She could overlook this if it had only happened a few times, but recently, it was bing increasingly outrageous. Did people that had been loved for a long time take for granted their good fortune and forget to reciprocate? Even if that chubby girl was a fool, she was still a woman and would want her husband to wholeheartedly love her ande home early each day.


    Qian Yingchen hadn¡¯t noticed this point at all.


    ¡°Sir Qian, a toast to you.¡± Slightly smiling, Ji Man raised a cup of wine.


    ¡°This one doesn¡¯t deserve such an honor.¡± Qian Yingchen awkwardlyughed and raised his own cup. ¡°Let this one be the first to show my respect.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Ji Man smiled. ¡°This one is hoping to get a touch of Sir Qian¡¯s good luck. It¡¯ll be better to clink cups. Perhaps, this one will be as lucky as Sir Qian and marry a good woman like your honorable wife.¡±


    Good luck? Qian Yingchen raised his eyebrows. Was is it good luck to marry a chubby girl?


    Please, back then, he had been the victim. He was forced into a rtionship with Zhu Yurun. No matter what perspective you were looking at, between the two of them, it was Zhu Yurun that had the better luck.


    Seeing his disapproving face, Ji Man snorted. ¡°Sir Qian, you overcame cmity because of your face. It was with the help of your wife that you were able to peacefully be an official in the capital, so it was naturally your good luck to have married her.¡±


    There was a hidden meaning in those words. Qian Yingchen slightly furrowed his brow.


    Ning Yuxuan put down his cup. Looking at Ji Man, he asked, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    The group of people stopped their drinking, and many people perked up their ears. Ji Man stood up and said, ¡°The moonlight looks very good out on the balcony. Sir Qian, care to go over there and take a look with this one?¡±


    Qian Yingchen hesitated for a moment before nodding. Ning Yuxuan naturally stood up and followed after them.


    ¡°Sir Qian, do you still remember Xu Province¡¯s senior official¡¯s son?¡± Ji Man asked.


    Qian Yingchen nodded. He chuckled and said, ¡°Of course this one remembers. He¡¯s just an arrogant second-generation. He even repeatedly tried to stop me from returning to the capital.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only recently that I found out that second-generation has done many misdeeds.¡± Ji Man rapped her knuckles on the railing. ¡°For example, he drugged you. He wanted you to force Assistant Minister Zhu¡¯s daughter to sleep with you, so that you wouldn¡¯t be able toe to the capital.¡±


    The smile on Qian Yingchen¡¯s slowly faded away.


    ¡°Why are you saying this?¡±


    ¡°I found this out from hearing idle gossip.¡± Ji Man shrugged. ¡°Originally, seeing that your rtionship with Yurun is going well, I thought there was no reason for me to say this aloud. Who would have thought you would haven¡¯t the slightest feeling of gratitude? You act as if she owes you something. That¡¯s why I won¡¯t keep my mouth shut this time.¡±


    She had heard these words from Zhuer. Zhu Yurun was too stupid and hadn¡¯t realized the value in exining the truth back then. Later on, there was no longer any reason to exin, so that incident had be a misunderstand that couldn¡¯t be resolved.


    Zhu Yurun had wanted to save him and had stupidly given up her innocent reputation. As a result, she had been misunderstood for a long time. She really was hopelessly stupid.


    Qian Yingchen was silent for a time. He lowered his eyes and said, ¡°Impossible.¡±


    How could this be possible? If that second-generation had harmed him, why had he woken up the next day and found traces of the drug in Zhu Yurun¡¯s room? And, why had Zhu Yurun told a different story?


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible.¡± Ji Man quietly said, ¡°It¡¯s only that Sir Qian truly has very good luck in meeting such a big fool. It was only her first time meeting you, but she believed in love at first sight. For you, she didn¡¯t even care about her reputation. In order to preserve your future prospects, she would rather be misunderstood.¡±


    After saying this, Ji Man couldn¡¯t resist covering her face. ¡°Really, this a whole new level of stupidity. She never considered that the probability of a happy future with you would be unlikely.¡±

 Chapter 489 - Having gotten this chubby girl as his wife, what more could he want? (2)

    Chapter 489 ¨C Having gotten this chubby girl as his wife, what more could he want? (2)


    Ning Yuxuan chuckled. Seeing his good friend¡¯s dazed look and how he was unable to return to his senses, he took delight in his misfortune. Wrapping his arm around Ji Man¡¯s waist, he started walking back inside. ¡°Don¡¯t bother with him. Go back inside with me to eat. You drank so much before and didn¡¯t have time to eat.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ji Man nodded. The two of the mercilessly left Qian Yingchen to stand here by himself.


    As he carefully thought about that incident and the small details, Qian Yingchen clenched his jaw. There were so many suspicious points. He just hadn¡¯t wanted to think about them. When he woke up, he had been in Zhu Yurun¡¯s room. If she hade onto him, then he should have woken up in his own room.


    Also, why use a hallucinogenic drug? That wasn¡¯t a suitable drug if she wanted to copte with him. If she wanted to force him, shouldn¡¯t she have used an aphrodisiac drug?


    Suddenly, his mind was thrown into a state of chaos. Qian Yingchen didn¡¯t even go back for his cloak. He directly left the restaurant, mounted his horse, and rushed back to his estate.


    As usual, Zhu Yurun had gone to sleep early and hadn¡¯t left amp lit for him. Because Qian Yingchen ran all the way from the estate¡¯s entrance to her courtyard, he was panting when he unraveled her from her cocoon quilt. ¡°I have something I want to ask you.¡±


    Blurry from sleep, Zhu Yurun half-opened her eyes to look at him. ¡°Ah?¡±


    ¡°Back in Xu Province¡¯s inn, what happened for real? Did you force me, or was I drugged and forced you?¡± Qian Yingchen felt a bit embarrassed about asking this question, but he still kept his gaze on her, so he wouldn¡¯t miss the slightest change in her expression.


    Zhu Yurun was at a loss for a while before she finally said, ¡°You woke me up in the middle of the night just to ask this question? It¡¯s not important anymore, right? We¡¯re already married.¡±


    After saying this, she fell back onto the bed and continued sleeping.


    This was something that greatly bothered him, but she acted like it was no big deal? Qian Yingchen felt somewhat angry.


    A hesitant voice came from the door. ¡°Sir Qian, this thing you want to know about. This servant knows everything. There¡¯s no need for you to disturb my master¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Startled, Qian Yingchen turned his head and saw that it was Zhuer.


    After he followed her out, Zhuer closed the doors and looked at him with a serious expression. ¡°Sir Qian, why did you suddenly think to ask about what happened back then?¡±


    Qian Yingchen had a simrly solemn expression as her. How could he possibly say that he had suddenly found out about part of the truth, and he felt guilt?


    Zhuer didn¡¯t continue questioning him. She didn¡¯t like her Miss¡¯s husband, but for the sake of her Miss, she still retold the entire story.


    ¡°What left this servant feeling the most bitterly disappointing wasn¡¯t that outsiders misunderstood Miss and would throw eggs at her when she went out and curse at her when they saw her,¡± Zhuer said with reddened eyes, ¡°It was you, Sir Qian. You thought that my Miss was that type of woman and even looked down on her. You made her lose her first child.¡±


    Qian Yingchen was greatly shocked. For a moment, it felt as if he couldn¡¯t breath.


    He used to insult her too. He was the same as themoners outside, who didn¡¯t know anything. He had thought she was unbearably sordid and scandalous. But, as it turned out, everything was his fault.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me earlier?¡± Qian Yingchen heard his voice; it was unexpectedly hoarse.


    Zhuer turned her head away. ¡°In the past, this servant didn¡¯t have an opportunity. Now, it¡¯s because Miss says there¡¯s no need.¡±


    But, seeing his pained expression, Zhuer felt that she hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. She should have stabbed him with the truth earlier. Otherwise, he would never know that he should treasure her master.


    When they had lost their first child, he had actually seen it as liberation, that child was his shame, and it was finally gone.


    Finding out the truth now, Qian Yingchen couldn¡¯t helpughing.


    Zhuer turned her head to look at him. Just as she was going swear at this bastard that had the nerve tough, she saw that tears pooling in his eyes. It looks as if thoserge droplets were going to fall soon.


    The rest of the courtyard was silent. There was only the resounding sound of his hoarseughter.


    ¡ª


    Zhu Yurun slept very well. When she woke up, it seemed as if the estate was especially quiet.


    ¡°Zhuer?¡±


    Her servant girl entered the room and was smiling as she helped her change her clothes and wash her face.


    ¡°Strange. Why does it seem like there¡¯s no one else in the estate today?¡± Zhu Yurun couldn¡¯t resist ncing outside. Normally, at this time of the day, she would hear Honored Concubine Fenging over here to talk.


    Even though Honored Concubine Feng usually didn¡¯t have anything nice to say and would normally take a few items away as a reward for herself, Zhu Yurun had gotten used to her visits and though it was livelier that way.


    But, no one came over today.


    Walking out of her courtyard, she looked around. Not only did she not see Honored Concubine Feng, she didn¡¯t see that new honored concubine either.


    Just as Zhu Yurun was finding theck of people strange, she heard Qian Yingchen¡¯s mean voice. ¡°Why are you walking around instead of eating breakfast?¡±


    Turning her head to look, she saw him waiting in her courtyard and holding her favorite snacks for the very first time. With an unsmiling face, he said, ¡°Come back to eat.¡±


    ¡°You...¡± Zhu Yurun grinned and quickly followed him inside. ¡°Are you keeping mepany today?¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Qian Yingchen sat at the table as if he had nothing better to do.


    Zhu Yurun was very happy. Her eyes were practically sparkling. Sitting down, she ate everything on the table until there wasn¡¯t a crumb left. She didn¡¯t ask him any more questions.


    Qian Yingchen could only start the conversation himself. ¡°I¡¯ll treat you well from now on.¡±


    ¡°En, okay.¡± Smiling, Zhu Yurun rubbed her stomach. ¡°You already treat me pretty well.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll treat you better!¡± Qian Yingchen felt somewhat annoyed. ¡°Really, really well.¡±


    Not understanding what was wrong with him today, Zhu Yurun was nice enough to nod and say, ¡°Okay, you¡¯ll treat me really, really well.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t any trace of happy surprise on her face! Qian Yingchen felt absolutely thwarted. He couldn¡¯t resist rubbing his temples.


    Really, he was going to be angered to death by this chubby girl.

 Chapter 490 - Id pluck the moon from the sky to give to you (2)

    Chapter 490 ¨C I¡¯d pluck the moon from the sky to give to you (2)


    Since Pengyue was a child, she had been like the moon that was surrounded by the stars. Her chin was always raised arrogantly raised up, and she carried her long, red whip everywhere.


    Once, when she was a child, her king father had lifted her onto his knee and asked her, ¡°Yue-<i>er</i>, what kind of husband do you want in the future?¡±


    The little her had held her head high as she said, ¡°My husband has to be someone with an indomitable spirit and be very strong physically. He has to be able to defeat me in armedbat!¡±


    She had always thought that only someone who could defeat her inbat was capable of conquering her and bing her husband.


    Yuzhen was a monogamous country. Life was prosperous and peaceful here. However, their neighboring country, the powerful Great Song, covetously eyed Yuzhen.


    The day finally came when her king father summoned her and very apologetically said, ¡°You might have to marry someone in Great Song.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to!¡± Pengyue pouted. The men in Great Song had multiple wives and concubines. How could they bepared to the men in Yuzhen that wholeheartedly loved their wives? Besides, she didn¡¯t want to go somewhere that was so far from her home.


    However, her king father said, ¡°You¡¯re Yuzhen¡¯s princess. You¡¯re the only option.¡±


    Born to a life of luxury, it was only right that she made a sacrifice for her country. Pengyue cried for a long time before apromise was made. Taking along her long whip, she went away to the distant Great Song¡£


    On the way there, she thought about the types of men that she would meet. She would probably have to marry a reserved prince. He would probably be the graceful, mature, and reserved type? She had heard although there were plenty of men in Great Song that knew martial arts, Great Song¡¯s princes were refined and only knew Chinese boxing. Pengyue felt somewhat unhappy, and she was in low spirits during the entire journey.


    ¡ª


    Great Song¡¯s pce was bustling, and there were many women living there. When these women smiled, it looked very fake. Noble Consort Nie assigned two married women to be herpanions. They would take her out for sightseeing.


    She would probably look like these women in the future? Pengyue stealthily scrutinized them. The woman named Errong was livelier, but for some unknown reason, her face looked a bit sorrowful. She was probably worrying over her husband being snatched away by someone concubine? Next to her, the woman named Sangyu looked stylish and dignified. She secretly tried to mimic her mannerism, but she wasn¡¯t able to sessfully copy it.


    Great Song had three princes she could marry. Two of them already had main wives, so there was no way she would marry either of them and be a little concubine. There was one more prince left that she hadn¡¯t seen, but no one had mentioned him to her.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the second prince?¡± She couldn¡¯t resist asking one of the attendants.


    The attendant shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ve made discreet inquiries about him, but no one knows about the second prince. It seems that he has no ns of meeting with Your Highness.¡±


    He was the rare prince that remained unmarried, and he wasn¡¯t going to see her? Pengyue felt somewhat curious. What kind of person was he?


    Later on, when they went to the military training field in the afternoon, she saw him. They had said he hadn¡¯t wanted to meet her, but he was sitting there in his wheelchair and wearing a beautiful dark-colored robe that marked him as a prince. From a distance, he observed her.


    Pengyue noticed him, and her heart immediately felt a bit strange. That person was actually a cripple, but he had appeared on the military training field. His face looked a bit mncholy. She had only gotten one nce of him before he turned to leave.


    Was he ying hard to get to catch her interest? Pengyue sneered. She wouldn¡¯t fall for that trick. All of these princes wanted to marry her in order to get Yuzhen¡¯s assistance. This person clearly wanted that too, but he hadn¡¯t shown any sincerity. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to approach her to properly exchange greetings with her.


    If he didn¡¯t take the initiative, she wouldn¡¯t either.


    After looking in the direction that he had left several times, Pengyue angrily swung her whip and left.


    Anyways, how could that person be suitable to be her husband? He didn¡¯t even have the strength to truss up a chicken, and there was no possibility that he would ever be able to stand.


    ¡ª


    A servant girl that had found out some information came over to report to her, ¡°The emperor has never attached any importance to the second prince. Even though he¡¯s a prince in name, he can¡¯t even bepared to the averagemoner. Your Highness, you mustn¡¯t choose the second prince. It would be awful luck to marry him. You can choose any random person, and that person would at least have use of his legs.¡±


    Pengyue slightly furrowed her brow. ¡°He¡¯s been ignored just because his legs aren¡¯t good?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± the young servant girl quietly said, ¡°This servant heard that he¡¯s been harmed by others since he was young, but the emperor doesn¡¯t care.¡±


    Pengyue nodded. ¡°Alright then, there¡¯s no need to consider him.¡±


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu continued bringing her out to see other talented youths, but halfway to their destination, someone intercepted them and invited them to an empty tea house.


    ¡°Princess Pengyue.¡± The person sitting in the wheelchair faintly smiled at her. ¡°Excuse this one¡¯s presumptuousness. This one wishes to discuss with Your Highness and make a deal.¡±


    He was a weak-looking schr type. Pengyue furrowed her brow. She should outright refuse. What was there for them to discuss? However, as she looked at his gentle eyes, she couldn¡¯t say words of rejection. After considering for a bit, she still nodded.


    Her entanglement with him started from this deal.


    He promised her that after he became emperor, he would keep his harem empty, facilitate the exchange of goods in the bordends by Yuzhen as well as reducing the associated taxes on those goods. People from Yuzhen would be able to freely cross Great Song¡¯s border.


    Pengyue was somewhat moved, and yet, she found his promises somewhat unbelievable. This man couldn¡¯t even stand up. Could he really ascend the throne?


    Zhao Li looked into her eyes. She didn¡¯t know what kind of witchcraft he used, but she was mesmerized by his gaze. When she returned to her senses, she actually ended up agreeing.


    Perhaps, she had been looking for excuses for herself this entire time. She must have already made her decision the first time she saw him. Otherwise, the things that happenedter wouldn¡¯t have gone so smoothly and easily.


    A single nce, and she went down the wrong path forever.


    ¡ª


    She had specially brought her whip with her to use to select her husband, but now, she was standing next to Zhao Li, who had no possible chance of defeating her. She was perfectly willing to dere, ¡°From now on, he¡¯s my husband! If anyone dares to bully him, it¡¯ll be the same as bullying me!¡±

 Chapter 491 - Id pluck the moon from the sky to give to you (2)

    Chapter 491 ¨C I¡¯d pluck the moon from the sky to give to you (2)


    She hadn¡¯t needed to use her martial arts skills to choose her husband. Now, she could only use it to protect her husband.


    Zhao Li was truly in extremely unfavorable position. It was only by marrying her that he could move out of the pce and establish his own residence. Pengyue didn¡¯t know why, but she was willing to put away her brazen personality for him. In ordance to Great Song¡¯s etiquette rules, she put everything into order for him.


    ¡ª


    ¡°What¡¯s so great about the second prince? Even if he married a princess, he¡¯s still a cripple,¡± a pce servant girl quietly scoffed, but a red whip that came out of nowhere pped her mouth.


    Pengyue quietly drew back her whip and continued pushing Zhao Li to see the empress so they could pay their respects.


    The female pce servant was so scared that she screamed. Covering her lips, with blood dripping into her hands, she ran away.


    Zhao Li chuckled. ¡°Why bother yourself with them?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it when other people bully you.¡± Pengyue furrowed her brow. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who the other party is! I¡¯ll treat them all the same!¡±


    Zhao Li could resist turning his head to nce at her. Heughed in spite of himself.


    ¡ª


    He didn¡¯t know when it happened exactly, but Pengyue had reced his personal attendants with herself. Every day, she would push his wheelchair for him. Whether it was going to the pce or going to the princes quarters to handle work, she had been the one quietly pushing his wheelchair and standing behind him.


    Zhao Li had only wanted to marry her because of Yuzhen. But now, he thought he was lucky in meeting such an outspoken girl that was full of chivalrous spirit. She protected him so well that he never heard any obscenities.


    She had pleaded for him and gotten him a good fiefdom. She had gone with him to that distant fiefdom. She had also helped him by borrowing Yuzhen¡¯s soldiers that would assist him in taking over the capital and the throne.


    When she had initially found out that he wanted to rebel, Pengyue had actually been very shocked. She had probably thought being a titled prince would be enough for him. They could have happily lived out the rest of their lives on that fiefdom, but as it turned out, he wanted more.


    How could he not want more? Noble Consort Nie caused his mother¡¯s death. It was because of her actions that he was born a cripple. His oldest imperial brother and his third imperial brother had humiliated him for many years. How could he easily put down this hatred and desire for revenge?


    On their way back to the capital with the army, he promised to make her empress.


    Pengyue¡¯s brow was furrowed as she asked him, ¡°You once promised me that you wouldn¡¯t have any other women, does this promise still count?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± He gently pulled her hand over. ¡°I won¡¯t forget your great kindness.¡±


    ¡ª


    After he obtained the dragon throne, he personally put the empress¡¯s crown on her head. His great revenge had been aplished, and great power was in his hands. Pengyue was also pregnant. Zhao Li felt that he wasn¡¯t missing anything.


    ¡ª


    Right now, he was surrounded by sweet-talking people. No one would dare to call him a cripple. Instead, theypeted with each other to push his wheelchair and respectfully knelt before him to speak to him. Zhao Li felt exuberant. He enjoyed the feeling of being so high above everyone else and started to get payback for the grievances he had umted over the past years.


    So what if he was tyrannical? This world belonged to him.


    However, Pengyue had changed. She no longer protected him the way she had in the past and frequently looked at him with a furrowed brow and said words like, ¡°Ah Li, you shouldn¡¯t do such a thing.¡±


    ¡°You used to always stand on my side.¡± Zhao Li couldn¡¯t understand. ¡°Why are you helping the group of old officials and going against me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this for your own good.¡± Pengyue frowned.


    Did all pregnant women like to be so troublesome? Zhao Li coldly harrumphed and left. He no longer needed her to push his wheelchair. There was naturally pce servants to carry him around wherever he wanted to go.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Your Majesty, there can¡¯t be a road from the capital to Zhangjun.¡± Fan Tianxing was kneeling before him as he advised, ¡°As soon as there¡¯s a road connecting the two ces, it¡¯ll be too easy for Zhangjun Prince toe to the capital. That won¡¯t be good.¡±


    ¡°If the reason for refusal is because the national treasure is low on funds, then the construction of Wangyue Building should also be stopped. It¡¯s the start of Your Majesty¡¯s reign, it¡¯s inadvisable to carry outrge scale construction,¡± said Marquis Moyu sternly.


    Zhao Li felt troubled. The current Pengyue made him feel as if she no longer wanted to protect him. Instead, it felt as if she was restricting him. He was the emperor now; he didn¡¯t want to be restricted.


    But, Wangyue Building was something she wanted. She had once said, ¡°If there was a very tall building, then I would be able to see Yuzhen from here, that would be wonderful.¡±


    Although that request was a bit nonsensical, he had taken her words seriously and ordered servants to construct a building name Wangyue. Right now, he was the emperor, why couldn¡¯t he have whatever he wanted?


    ¡°The construction for Wangyue Building can¡¯t be stopped,¡± he said, ¡°Just have them build a road to Zhangjun.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡± Fan Tianxing was very upset. ¡°A beautiful woman is the downfall of country, Your Majesty!¡±


    A beautiful woman shouldn¡¯t be so irritating. Other people¡¯s beauties were as gentle as water! Zhao Li left in a huff. Wangyue Building¡¯s construction continued.


    ¡ª


    He was angry at Pengyue. And so, for a very long time, he didn¡¯t go to see her. Kangyuan <i>Junzhu</i>¡®s heart had been set on him for a long time. Even after marrying Ning Mingjie, she still frequently entered the pce to keep himpany.


    ¡ª


    Look, a woman could behave this gently and softly. Why couldn¡¯t she be like Kangyuan, who ttered him and praised? Why did Pengyue insist on opposing him instead? Zhao Li harrumphed. It was the middle of the night. He turned and couldn¡¯t resist reaching out to check. The space next to him was empty.


    He hadn¡¯t gone over to see her, and she hadn¡¯te over topete for favor. Was she thinking that she didn¡¯t need to do anything since the imperial harem only had her?


    Zhao Li felt furious. He shouldn¡¯t have said he would keep the inner pce empty. It was because of this promise that she was fearless!


    ¡ª


    After a long time passed, he finally couldn¡¯t resist the urge to send people over to inquire how how she was doing. What was the empress doing? Zhao Li thought; he wasn¡¯t admitting defeat. He was just asking.


    However, the news that he got was, ¡°Her Majesty has miscarried.¡±


    This was their first child, and it had been inexplicably lost. Zhao Li¡¯s face paled. He rushed over to Pengyue¡¯s pce. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t walk. By the time he was carried over there, it was a little bit toote.

 Chapter 492 - Never meet again (1)

    Chapter 492 ¨C Never meet again (1)


    The miscarriage was something that had happened several days ago. By the time he rushed over, a deathly pale-faced Pengyue was already sitting up in bed and praying for the lost baby by reciting the Heart Sutra.


    Why hadn¡¯t anyone report this matter to him earlier? Zhao Li was very angry. He asked the inner pce attendants and the eunuchs, but they all remained silent.


    Pengyue¡¯s personal servant girl was kneeling on the ground. Crying, she answered, ¡°This servant has beening to Zichen Hall every day for the past half month, but the guards outside stopped this servant from entering each time. They said that the emperor isn¡¯t willing to see anyone from the empress¡¯s pce.¡±


    How could he be unwilling to see anyone from Pengyue¡¯s pce? Hadn¡¯t he been waiting and longing to see her during the past period? But, no one hade. Who exactly was lying?


    ¡°It¡¯s all in the past.¡± Pengyue miserably smiled. ¡°Anyways, no one cares about that child. If its gone, it¡¯s gone.¡±


    Zhao Li angrily said, ¡°No one cares? This emperor cares! Aren¡¯t you very powerful? Don¡¯t you have your long whip? Why weren¡¯t you able to keep your child safe from harm?¡±


    Pengyue raised her head to look at him and scoffed, ¡°Your Majesty, you¡¯re the grand emperor. Didn¡¯t you fail at keeping your child safe too?¡±


    She was the only one in the pce that dared to speak back to him in such a way. In front of so many pce servants, Zhao Li couldn¡¯t lower his pride. Even though he wanted to sayforting words, the words couldn¡¯t escape through his lips. He could only show a cold expression and order the pce servants to take care of her, then he left while preserving an emperor¡¯s dignity.


    ¡ª


    Kangyuan brought over a painting painted by Marquis Moyu. It was a painting of domestic bliss. The woman in the painting was clearly Nie Sangyu. And the child was Marquis Moyu¡¯s heir.


    Ning Yuxuan was living happier than him. Looking at the painting, Zhao Li actually felt slightly envious. However, in order to stabilize Marquis Moyu, this important chess piece, he snatched his heir away and brought him into the pce.


    That child was truly very clever. Seeing him, the child didn¡¯t make a fuss, but his eyes were full of loss.


    ¡°I want to see my dad,¡± said the child.


    Zhao Li looked him for a long time before ordering the servants to bring the child over to Pengyue¡¯s ce.


    ¡°You¡¯ll stay by the empress¡¯s side in the future. Keep herpany.¡±


    The child¡¯s eyes were full of unwillingness. And, when he was taken out of the main hall, he even started to cry. Zhao Li though his heart must be somewhat twisted. He actually enjoyed hearing that child cry.


    ¡ª


    As Zhao Zhe approached the capital and covetously eyed the throne, it was Kangyuan that stayed by his side to keep himpany. And yet, he couldn¡¯t help turning back to look.


    After the construction for Wangyue Building was done, Pengyue never came out. She no longer pushed his wheelchair for him or stood behind him to protect him. He didn¡¯t need anyone to protect him anymore. He was the most powerful emperor, but he felt loneliness approaching him from all sides. He felt lonelier now than when he was a child.


    ¡ª


    There was a heavy rainstorm today. He shouted for the pce servants to withdraw and arduously pushed his wheelchair towards Wangyue Building by himself.


    Kangyuan was following him from a close distance. He expended a great deal of effort to push his wheels on his wheelchair. He didn¡¯t know why, but he really wanted to see Pengyue today. He wanted to leave his arrogance and what not as the emperor to the side. If he was once again isted and with no one to help him, would she hold up her whip and stay by his side to protect him?


    ¡°It¡¯s raining so heavily. Why did youe over here?¡± She came out to get him. Her expression was full of worry. She used her sleeves to block the rain for him. Pushing his wheelchair, she brought him inside of Wangyue Building.


    Zhao Li childishlyughed. He looked at her. She hadn¡¯te to see him, but look, didn¡¯t she still care about him a lot?


    He enjoyed her warm embrace, then sat there as she dried his hair for him and changed his clothes. As he watched her bustling about with a furrowed brow, the emptiness in heart was filled up.


    ¡°Pengyue, do you still me this emperor?¡± He asked.


    She paused. She straightened up and lightly snorted. ¡°What¡¯s there to me you for. It¡¯s my fault for being careless.¡±


    He took the initiative of taking one step towards her, and their bygone enmity was dispelled. Zhao Li thought; sure enough, he liked her gentle side.


    ¡ª


    But then, an ident happened. She found out about what happened between him and Kangyuan in Zichen Hall.


    Pengyue had been with him for so long and had be docile a long time ago. He hadn¡¯t expected that she would use her whip to directly drive Kangyuan out of the pce.


    Zhao Li was very surprised, but he couldn¡¯t help loudlyughing. Seeing Pengyue¡¯s glowering look, heughed so hard that he couldn¡¯t sit up straight.


    ¡°Do you find this funny?¡± She wasn¡¯t smiling. Her body was slightly trembling as she stood in front of him. ¡°Do you find it funny that I look so awful because I¡¯mpeting with her over a man?¡±


    Zhao Li froze in surprise for a moment. Soon after, he furrowed his brow and said, ¡°Pengyue, you¡¯re the empress.¡±


    No one would be able to win over her.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m the empress.¡± Pengyue tossed the whip away and sneered. ¡°But, there¡¯s probably a noble consort below the empress, right?¡±


    He was stunned. He had thought about this idea before, but he didn¡¯t know how she had seen through him.


    Pengyue turned around and left.


    One of his personal attendants said, ¡°Her Majesty is too arrogant and willful. Your Majesty, you shouldn¡¯t indulge her like this.¡±


    Yes, that was right. He really indulged her too much. Zhao Li sighed. The idea that the inner pce could remain empty of consorts was only a myth. How could his harem remain empty? Even if he didn¡¯t do it to bnce his lifestyle, he had to do it to stabilize the imperial court.


    It was only because he was thinking of Pengyue¡¯s great kindness to him in the past, that¡¯s why he frequently went over to see her and keep herpany. But, since Marquis Yong¡¯an wanted Kangyuan to enter the pce, he acquiesced. An empress should be understanding when the emperor took a consort.


    It was onlyter that he realized he was wrong. But, by then, there was no one to forgive him or give him another chance to fix this mistake.

 Chapter 493 - Never meet again (2)

    <strong>Chapter 493 ¨C Never meet again (2)</strong>


    Although Kangyuan helped him and did things for him, Zhao Li still thought about Pengyue¡¯s former self. He remembered how that once showy and unbridled princess would stand in front of him and protect him.


    She had gone through trials and tribtions with him. How could he forget her after obtaining sess?


    However, Zhangjun Prince was rebelling. Why wouldn¡¯t she borrow an army from Yuzhen to help him? He had originallye here because he had heard she was sick, but once this topic was brought up, he got angry with her again.


    ¡°I won¡¯t borrow soldiers from Yuzhen,¡± she said.


    Once upon a time, Pengyue had always protected him. Why wouldn¡¯t she help him now? Why? Just because he took Kangyuan as his consort? She knew the difficulties that he faced, so why couldn¡¯t she see things from his point of view?


    ¡°Actually, the person that Your Majesty loves the most is yourself.¡± Pengyue bleakly smiled. Looking at him, she said, ¡°I used up all my strength to try to obtain love from you. But in the end, I realize I was wrong. You only love yourself.¡±


    Zhao Li felt furious. He does love her! How could she not know? How could she say that he only loves himself? She had been with him for so long. How could she not understand him?


    ¡°Outrageous!¡± This was thest time he left Wangyue Building. At that time, he vowed he would never take the initiative to go see her.


    How could he possibly... not love her?


    ¡ª


    Her words were like a curse that tied him down to one ce and unable to move. The rebels had already broken through the capital¡¯s gates, but he wasn¡¯t willing to leave.


    ¡°This emperor wants to go to Wangyue Building,¡± he said.


    ¡ª


    Pengyue was on herst breath. There was only one servant girl by her bedside. This servant girl had always been by her side. There was turmoil and chaos of war outside, and the pce servants were fleeing. In contrast, Pengyue was very peaceful.


    It was because she knew she was going to die soon.


    ¡°In this lifetime, I made a mistake, and it ruined the rest of my life.¡± Pengyue was looking at the crying servant girl, but it also seemed as if she was looking elsewhere. ¡°I choose the wrong person to love. If I had known this earlier, I would have chosen someone that already had a wife. That would have been fine too. Someone that didn¡¯t need my protection. Instead, he would be the one protecting me. He would have to be someone with immense strength and could defeat me inbat...¡±


    Her red whip was hanged up nearby. It seemed that its color had noticeably faded too.


    ¡°I regret it.¡±


    Pengyue smiled and repeated herself, ¡°I regret it.¡±


    She had wanted him to keep his harem empty of consorts and promised to protect him for a lifetime. She was only a woman that wanted love. An ordinary love would have been enough. It would have been better than wasting her life waiting and this endless loneliness.


    She had been too greedy, that¡¯s why she hadn¡¯t been able to get anything.


    All of her bones ached; the pain was unbearable. Pengyue gritted her teeth and spat out herst words, ¡°In the afterlife, I never want to see him again.¡±


    She hoped that they would never meet again in any incarnation of their lives, so there would be less torment and fewer years wasted.


    In the past, she hadn¡¯t known what love was. It was only when she met him that she had learned what love was. And yet, in the end, he hadn¡¯t been able to hold onto his promise to her.


    The servant girl¡¯s sobs choked her utterance. She could only helplessly watch as Pengyue passed away. Soon after, a voice called out from downstairs.


    ¡°Someone! Come here, help this emperor upstairs.¡±


    The servant girl packed up her bag, saluted towards the bed, and slowly went downstairs.


    The pce servants had scattered, so there was naturally no one here to help him. Zhao Li¡¯s eyes were red. This was the first time he felt such loathing that he was a cripple. He couldn¡¯t even go upstairs to bring Pengyue down.


    A female pce servant came downstairs. His eyes brightened. ¡°Help this emperor upstairs to see the empress!¡±


    The female pce servantpassionately nced at him. ¡°Her Majesty¡¯s dying decree was that she didn¡¯t want to see you. If Your Majesty wants to go up, you¡¯ll have to climb up there yourself.¡±


    Dying decree?


    Zhao Li smiled. This pce servant must be stupid. Pengyue was still alive. How could her words be a dying decree? ¡°Don¡¯t say such nonsense...¡±


    The pce servant had already run away. Zhao Li called out a few times, but she didn¡¯t look back.


    It was quiet upstairs. Zhao Li fumbled his way out of his wheelchair. Dragging his heavy legs, he crawled up the stairs. As he crawled up, he cursed, ¡°The servants in the pce use words they don¡¯t know. What dying decree? It should be called imperial decree. What a hopeless idiot.¡±


    His unfeeling legs were scrapped by the stairs as he dragged himself up. It felt soborious as he pulled himself up the stairs one at a time with his hands.


    ¡°Wangyue Building is truly tall enough. Would it be possibly to see Yuzhen from Wangyue Building¡¯s roof?¡±


    When he couldn¡¯t climb anymore, he took a break and leaned on the railing to rest. Zhao Li looked upwards and dejectedly called out, ¡°Yue-<i>er</i>¡°


    That person could never bear to see him hurt. How could she be willing for him to be so tired?


    Sigh. Keep climbing. She was probably mad at him and wanted to see him climb up to see her. Zhao Li couldn¡¯t help butugh. Really, it felt quite scary to witness a woman getting mad.


    The building was very quiet. When Zhao Li finally climbed up to the doors of Pengyue¡¯s room, he smiled out of happiness. But, he put away his smile and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going toe over and help this emperor up? This emperor¡¯s legs are already broken. This emperor doesn¡¯t want to break his hands too!¡±


    No one answered him. Zhao Li leaned against the side of the door andughed. ¡°Oldest imperial brother¡¯s people are going to enter the pce. If you don¡¯t leave with me now, it¡¯ll be toote.¡±


    However, the person on the bed still didn¡¯t respond to him. Zhao Li sighed. Keeping the smile off his face, he resumed crawling. As he crawled, he angrily rebuked her. Pengyue was short-tempered. Just wait, with him scolding her like this, she was sure to jump out to refute him!


    But, he had already waited so long this time. Why was she refusing to say a single word of retort?


    Zhao Li opened his eyes wide and smiled. ¡°It¡¯s really difficult when a woman is throwing a tantrum, ah.¡±


    This time, he was willing to say sweet words to coax her. Really. Whatever she wanted, he would give it to her. As long as... as long as she woke up and looked at him. As long as she... wiped the blood on his face for him.


    This emperor hadn¡¯te yet. Why did you leave first?


    Trantor Ramblings: Even though its tragic, I really liked Zhao Li and Pengyue¡¯s story.


    And, I like the imagery of a fallen Zhao Li climbing up the stairs and reading his descent into delusion, especially when he smiles in happiness. I think it makes it all the more tragic that Zhao Li already found out that Pengyue was dead before he crawled up all those stairs in chapter 417, but he just didn¡¯t want to admit it. Zhao Li does a lot of bad things, but by the end of this chapter, I got a bit teary.


    What do you guys think of Zhao Li and Pengyue¡¯s story?

 Chapter 494 - Nie Qingyun’s POV (1)

    <strong>Chapter 494 ¨C Nie Qingyun¡¯s POV (1)</strong>


    Men naturally had protective tendencies, and one was duty-bound to protect one¡¯s younger sisters. At first, Nie Qingyun wasn¡¯t very close to Nie Sangyu until he identally overheard a conversation between his mother and a servant girl.


    Chen Suqin was shaking in anger in her room as she said, ¡°That woman is already dead, but Old Master still longs for her. Does he need to go that far? She just had a slightly more seductive appearance.


    The servant girl tried to persuade her, ¡°You¡¯re already the main wife now. It doesn¡¯t matter if the Old Master misses her.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Chen Suqin was somewhat hysterical. ¡°I¡¯ve beenpeting with her for half of my life. I finally killed her off, but she still lives on in Xiangyuan¡¯s heart... This type of feeling... It¡¯s as if I can never win against her.¡±


    ¡°Madam...¡± The servant girl lowered her voice as if to signal her master to keep her voice down.


    Chen Suqin paused before sneering. ¡°So what if I say that aloud? I was the one that killed Chen Suxin with a bottle of poison. My only regret is that I couldn¡¯t grind down her bones and scatter her ashes. And that Xiangyuan still remembers her and thinks of her!¡±


    The servant girl sighed and quietly said, ¡°You and Old Master still have the rest of your lives together while the previous madam can only watch the two of you from the underworld. If you think of it that way, you¡¯ll feel more at ease.¡±


    Nie Qingyun widened his eyes. At that time, he was only a child, but he understood the meaning of these words and ran away.


    His mother was a murderer. She killed his maternal aunt just for his father¡¯s heart?


    A young child wasn¡¯t that good with distinguishing between right and wrong, but his heart was very clean. He knew that killing someone meant you were a bad person. His mother was a bad person.


    After running to the garden, he saw Nie Sangyu crying behind a rock. She had only recently learned how to speak, but because she couldn¡¯t find her mother, she would frequently pitifully cry.


    Nie Qingyun ran over to her and pulled her up.


    ¡°My mother did something unforgivable to your mother, so I¡¯ll do my best to protect you in the future,¡± said the little boy, ¡°I¡¯ll return everything that¡¯s owed to you.¡±


    Since that day, Nie Sangyu gained a small shadow.


    ¡ª


    Nie Qingyun was the only boy in the household, and he was now the son of the main wife. With Chen-shi sheltering him and Old Master Nie could be considered to like him, no one dared to deceive or take unfair advantage of him. Some of his concubine-born sisters tried to bully Nie Sangyu after she lost her mother, but Nie Qingyun always stood behind her and supported her.


    ¡°You can regard me as your mother,¡± said Nie Qingyun with a serious expression, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely be the same as your mother.¡±


    Nie Sangyu grabbed the edge of his clothes and happily pped.


    Nie Sangyu no longer had a mother, but she was safely protected by her older brother. Nie Qingyun really did perform his role as her mother perfectly. He didn¡¯t give anyone even the slightest chance to harm her. If she wanted something, he would ask his father for it. Even if Chen-shi asionally attempted to give Nie Sangyu a hard time, Nie Sangyu still grew up carefree and without worries.


    That¡¯s why she still ended up being spoiled rotten.


    ¡ª


    Nie Sangyu wasn¡¯t favored by the marquis, so Nie Qingyun repeatedly went over there to stick his head out for her. Even if other people said his actions were inappropriate and even though he was only a few years older than her, he felt that Sangyu was still the child that he had raised. He couldn¡¯t bear to see her hurt, thus Nie Qingyun ignored what other people said about him.


    ¡ª


    However,ter on, Nie Sangyu changed in a sensible woman that didn¡¯t need his protection. Nie Qingyun felt somewhat lost, but he was happy. If she could happily live her life, then he could feel a bit more at ease.


    After he had apanied Sangyu in growing up for the past many years, his mother¡¯s sin could be considered paid off. And yet, he had the lingering mindset of a parent, he couldn¡¯t help but continue to worry about Sangyu.


    Anyone would feel uneasy about her entanglement with Marquis Moyu. Ning Yuxuan didn¡¯t like her. It was pointless for her to forcibly keep him in a marriage, but because of the rtionship between their families, their marriage couldn¡¯t be broken off.


    At this time, Sangyu said to him, ¡°Errong is actually a very good girl.¡±


    Ning Errong, he had known about this person before. She was Marquis Jingwen¡¯s junzhu daughter. He could see that Sangyu wanted to matchmake them, but he hadn¡¯t made any significant achievements yet. For him to marry a titleddy, he didn¡¯t have the confidence.


    ¡ª


    ¡°Qingyun wants to establish my career first, then start a family,¡± he answered.


    The faintly blushing young woman¡¯s eyes dimmed. She silently left. Nie Qingyun watched her back figure and had a tiny impulse to ask her to stay. He sighed. After all, he was already at this age.


    However, he felt it wouldn¡¯t be right to call out to stop her. Even though everyone knew there would be many benefits to marry Ning Errong, he didn¡¯t want to rely on a woman.


    ¡ª


    As a result, Sangyu came over to act as the go-between. Nie Qingyun felt he was truly too shameless. Even though he had already assented a hundred times in his mind, he still showed a calm expression and hesitated. Finally, he used the excuse that he was doing this for Sangyu¡¯s well-being and agreed.


    Too shameless.


    ¡ª


    Errong was so happy. Circling around him and smiling happily like a child, she asked him, ¡°You won¡¯t go back on your word, right?¡±


    ¡°This one won¡¯t. This one is willing to marry the junzhu,¡± he answered.


    Errong gigled. She stuffed a handkerchief into his hand and scurried away. He calmly put the handkerchief away. Since that time, he always kept that handkerchief on him.


    If they were together, it could be considered a good match? Nie Qingyun thought; it would be fine. He would work hard and rise to a fourth-rank official this year in order to not be a disappointment to the junzhu and her choice.


    However, it seemed that Errong had misunderstood many things.

 Chapter 495 - Nie Qingyuns POV (2)

    Chapter 495 ¨C Nie Qingyun¡¯s POV (2)


    During the Southern Trip, she frequently came over to his room. Using Mingjie as a pretense, she would prepare tea for him and watch them y chess. When Mingjie left, the two of them didn¡¯t have much to say to each other. Floundering for something to say, he ended up using Sangyu as a topic every time.


    It was because the only thing they had inmon was Sangyu.


    ¡°Is Sangyu living happily in the marquis¡¯s household?¡±


    ¡°Does the marquis bully Sangyu?¡±


    ¡°What do you and Sangyu usually do?¡±


    He really was trying his best to find something to talk about. However, for some unknown reason, Errong¡¯s expression looked increasingly ugly. Eventually, the number of times she came over to his room decreased.


    Looking at the endless river, Nie Qingyun felt very depressed. Had he done something wrong?


    After a few days, Errong returned to her usual self of circling around him. This time, Nie Qingyun controlled his mouth. He wouldn¡¯t say anything! He would just elegantly hold a chess piece and pretend to be cool!


    As a result, Errong looked as if she wanted to cry. She only stayed for a short period before leaving. Once again, she didn¡¯te back for several days.


    When Nie Qingyun was alone in his room, he couldn¡¯t resist smacking his head against a wooden pir. It was so hard to make a woman happy. What should he do?


    Noble Consort Nie had brought them along on the Southern Trip to give them a chance to cultivate feelings, but the oue was that their rtionship was bing increasingly strange.


    Let¡¯s just wait until they got married, once they got married, it would all work out.


    ¡ª


    Errong was a clever young woman. Although it had seemed like she and Chen-<i>shi</i> wouldn¡¯t be able to get along with each other, she kept enduring and letting Chen-<i>shi</i> have her way after the wedding. Errong treated him exceptionally well too. Nie Qingyun¡¯s worried heart was put to rest. He very shamelessly sunk into the newly wedded bliss.


    His little, sweet wife was lovable and sensible. Every day, after leaving the imperial court, his steps would be faster than usual. Onlookers watched him in amazement and one asked, ¡°Sir Nie, why are you in such a rush to go back? Is there a pressing matter?


    Yes, a very pressing matter. He wanted to see her sooner!


    Although his expression didn¡¯t change, he kept up his quick pace as he turned his head and answered, ¡°En, there¡¯s an urgent matter.¡±


    He had once thought he would have to spend the rest of his lifepensating Sangyu for his mother¡¯s crime, and he had been happy taking care of Sangyu too. But, now that he had Errong, Nie Qingyun felt as if he had suddenly found himself.


    However, since he frequently showed an unsmiling face, Errong didn¡¯t know what he was thinking, so she acted slightly cautiously.


    ¡ª


    Although he was very happy with his wife, he couldn¡¯t forget the responsibility that he owed Sangyu. If something happened in Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, he had to be the first one to go over there. If he didn¡¯t have time, he would let Errong go there first as his substitute.


    ¡ª


    Although it wasn¡¯t frequent, Errong asionally seems depressed. He didn¡¯t know why. But, as soon as her eyes met his, she would smile as if there was nothing wrong.


    ¡ª


    Finally, one night, Errong softly asked him, ¡°Do... Do you like Sangyu?¡±


    Nie Qingyun was so startled by this question that he almost fell out of the bed, but he calmly grasped the curtain¡¯s string in time. ¡°Why would you ask this? Sangyu is my sister.¡±


    Errong wryly smiled. ¡°I keep feeling that you treat her better than anyone else. It¡¯s not that I feel resentment. I have felt jealous of Sangyu in the past, but...¡±


    Clenching her jaw, she didn¡¯t continue her words. Instead, she closed her eyes and rested on his chest. ¡°Never mind, let¡¯s sleep.¡±


    Nie Qingyun sighed. Why did other people misjudge his feelings for Sangyu? Even his father would sometimes say that he should clearly differentiate the boundaries of his feelings.


    He wasn¡¯t unclear about his feelings. The sister that he cared about the most was Nie Sangyu, and Ning Errong was the woman he loved the most.


    Did everyone think he was an idiot?


    ¡ª


    Nie Qingyun felt relieved that Yuxuan and Sangyu¡¯s rtionship was progressing in a postive direction. Just as he was going to go home and discuss with Errong about having a child, Ning Yuxuan dragged him to a brothel.


    ¡°Why are we here?¡± Nie Qingyun normally didn¡¯te to ces like this one. Looking at the distant dancers, he slightly furrowed his brow.


    ¡°Something big is going to happen in the capital,¡± Ning Yuxuan indifferently said, ¡°There¡¯s no way to save Nie n, but you can save Errong.¡±


    Nie Qingyun found these words a bitughable. How could something happen to Nie n? The third prince and the imperial noble consort were still around, there was the foundation that had been built over many years, how could...


    But, there wasn¡¯t any traces of humor in Ning Yuxuan¡¯s eyes. ¡°Errong is my younger cousin, that¡¯s why I thought about saving her. If you care about your wife, you should listen to my advice.¡±


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Nie Qingyun¡¯s expression finally sunk.


    ¡°Divorce Errong,¡± said Ning Yuxuan lowly, ¡°Once her rtionship with Nie n is broken, she¡¯ll be under the shelter of Marquis Jingwen¡¯s household.¡±


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s face paled.


    This was ridiculous. He and Errong had been together for so long. How could he divorce her just because of a few words from Ning Yuxuan? What kind of cmity could possibly happen to Nie n that he couldn¡¯t protect Errong himself?


    Nie Qingyun didn¡¯t want to believe this at all, but Ning Yuxuan took out a secret letter.


    ¡°If the third prince ascends the throne, it won¡¯t be good. It¡¯ll be the start of political upheaval in the capital.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked at him and helplessly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s not a problem to tell you about the upheaval because even I can¡¯t stop it from happening. You¡¯ll be even more powerless to salvage this desperate situation.¡±


    The second prince¡¯s forces were already secretly rushing towards the capital. The oldest prince had taken the initiative to give way, so the third prince was set to ascend the throne, but he wasn¡¯t guarded against external threats. As soon as he ascended the throne, he would probably be shot down by the second prince under the excuse that the third prince had killed the emperor to gain the throne.


    Behind the third prince was the Nie n. Nie n¡¯s sole supporters were the third prince and the imperial noble consort.


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s body stiffened. Remaining in that sitting position, he couldn¡¯t move a muscle.


    Trantor Ramblings: LOL, Nie Qingyun is such a dork. Qingyun and Errong are like two clueless puppies being mislead by two sly cats ¨C Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan ¨C that have questionably good intentions. Although... would it also be possible that Qingyun and Errong would have kept misunderstanding each other if there was no outside interference?

 Chapter 496 - The world of feelings inside the metal can (1)

    Chapter 496 ¨C The world of feelings inside the metal can (1)


    There was no one more terrifying than Ning Yuxuan. He clearly only had the title of marquis, but he had control of the Six Ministries. He looked like a weak schr, but his martial art skills were better than the average warrior. If you asked him if there was anything he didn¡¯t know about the imperial court, he could even tell you what day and which estate someone went up.


    Nie Qingyun wished that he could doubt that Ning Yuxuan and think that he was only trying to trick him, but there was no benefit to Ning Yuxuan if he divorced Errong. On the contrary, once Nie n became the dominant power, it would actually be a lossl to Marquis Moyu if the connection between him and Errong was gone.


    He wanted more time to consider. After all, there was peace and prosperity right now without any news of change.


    And so, during the next few days, he didn¡¯t go home. Ning Yuxuan reserved this room for him. In the passing, he pointed out a dancer named Geshan.


    Geshan looked very simr to Sangyu. There was a light mark between her eyebrows, her lips were red, and her waist was soft. However, she didn¡¯t enter Nie Qingyun¡¯s eyes.


    He was worried about Errong. He didn¡¯t know what she was doing while he had been away from home. When he went home three days ago, he left right after getting a change of clothes. He hadn¡¯t been able to resist looking at her from his peripheral vision. Seeing that her face had be wan and sallow, he felt slightly distressed.


    Still, it was better for him to leave. If he did get news of a change, he could use the excuse that his feelings for her had faded to divorce her.


    Faded, his ass! He liked Errong. Every day, he liked her a little bit more. He wanted nothing more than to hug her and not leave her side.


    However, what if Yuxuan had told him the truth?


    ¡ª


    Chen-<i>shi</i> stopped him as he was leaving the estate. With an unsmiling face, she said, ¡°Since Ning Errong is unable to keep you at home, why won¡¯t you hurry up with taking a concubine? She¡¯s been married to you for so long, and she still hasn¡¯t gotten pregnant. You should be making other arrangements.¡±


    Nie Qingyun felt a bit cranky. He nodded and left.


    Take a concubine? This idea had never urred to him. Errong was enough.


    ¡ª


    However, the news that Nie Xiangyuan was going to be removed from his position came out of the imperial court. The army had lost a battle because there was a problem with the weaponry. The emperor was furious, and someone naturally had to bear the brunt of the emperor¡¯s anger.


    Before the news had spread, Ning Yuxuan gave him advance notice. And so, with a pale face, Nie Qingyun brought Geshan home with him.


    He saw the surprised look in everyone¡¯s eyes and even saw an incredulity in his most beloved sister¡¯s eyes.


    In actuality, they were overthinking things. Errong was the only woman he romantically loved. He wasn¡¯t a beast that would have such ideas about his own sister.


    He didn¡¯t know why Ning Yuxuan would find a dancer that looked like his younger sister. What a twisted person.


    ¡ª


    After he took Geshan as his concubine, Errong hid in her room. He stood outside her room scratching at the wall. He wanted to exin himself, but he couldn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t even go inside and offer her a word offort.


    Ning Yuxuan better not have lied to him. Otherwise, it didn¡¯t matter if he was a marquis, he was going to punch him in the face.


    ¡ª


    Nie Xiangyuan was removed from his position. This happened within two days of him bringing Geshan back. Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t lied to him. After the pir of Nie n was lost, it¡¯s formerly stable position slowly crumbled.


    ¡°What will happen next?¡± He asked Marquis Moyu with a pale face.


    ¡°Save yourself. If you can¡¯t abandon your family, then just wait for death with them.¡± It was as if Ning Yuxuan was ying aplicated chess game. There were so many pieces on the board that it was impossible to determine the battlefield situation.


    Nie Qingyun couldn¡¯t figure it out. This person had the talent of predicting the future, and he was straightforwardly telling him without reservation.


    Still, even if Ning Yuxuan told him this, there was no way he could change anything. He couldn¡¯t give up on his family. No matter what, he wanted to hold up his family and keep it from falling.


    ¡ª


    When he divorced Errong, everyone thought he was calm and heartless. Only he knew that he had bitten down on the handkerchief as he cried while writing out the divorce letter.


    That was too embarrassing. He wouldn¡¯t tell anyone about that.


    Nie n¡¯s situation was too unstable. He would rather divorce her now than drag her down with him in the future. Nie Qingyun looked up at the blue sky and though he was truly a good man that had made a sacrifice for love.


    However, when he looked at the empty room at the top of the building, he couldn¡¯t resist turning around to cry and snivel.


    ¡ª


    When he was sending his father off, Errong also came, but she remained sitting inside her carriage. Chen-<i>shi</i> had cursed her by saying Errong was a wife that would only be with him in fortune and wouldn¡¯t stay with him during difficult times.


    Nie Qingyun lowered his eyes. Actually, he was the most selfish one. He hadn¡¯t even given Errong a reason for divorcing her. Who knows how awful Errong must be feeling? Even if she found out the truth, she probably wouldn¡¯t forgive him.


    However, after she left, he didn¡¯t have any lingering apprehensions about his choice. He did his best to save Nie n. Once the emperor died, he naturally had to help the third prince in hispetition with the first prince for the throne.


    Even though Ning Yuxuan had already warned him that the second prince¡¯s hidden power and influence couldn¡¯t be underestimated, it didn¡¯t matter. There was only one path that he could take, helping the third prince.


    ¡ª


    When Zhao Jue ascended the throne, Nie Qingyun exhaled a long sigh of relief. He could probably bring Errong back now?


    But, Ning Yuxuan shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s better if you don¡¯t think about Errong. Nie n¡¯s cmity is approaching.¡±


    If Ning Yuxuan set up a stand as a fortune teller, his business would definitely be very good. Nie Qingyun looked at Marquis Moyu. He wished that he could choke him to death.


    Sure enough, his prediction came true. The second prince¡¯s army surrounded the capital. Since the third prince hadn¡¯t guarded against this enemy at all, it was only a matter of time before he would lose. However, Ning Yuxuan urately appraised the situation and took this opportunity to open the capital¡¯s gate for the second prince.

 Chapter 497 - The world of feelings inside the metal can (2)

    Chapter 497 ¨C The world of feelings inside the metal can (2)


    Nie n was doomed to perish, Ning Yuxuan¡¯s move would only save his own household. Ning Yuxuan hadn¡¯t lied to him; it had been the right choice to divorce to Errong. Otherwise, Errong would be kneeling here with them and executed for being a member of Nie n.


    Kneeling on the execution ground, Nie Qingyun still felt a bit gratified. The two women that he cared about the most wouldn¡¯t be dying even if Sangyu looked miserable and Errong didn¡¯t know that he was going to die soon.


    He had been with her for so long, but he had never properly said one word of love. Whenever she told him an interesting anecdote with a smile on her face, he only knew how to nod. If he opened his mouth, he wouldn¡¯t know what to say.


    His tongue was too stupid. Hopefully, he would get a smarter tongue in the next life.


    But, after he was beheaded, would she be scared if she saw him waiting in the underworld for her with his head in hands? They didn¡¯t have a child yet, and that silly girl probably didn¡¯t know that he liked her so very, very much. He liked her so much that he wanted nothing more than to pick her up and spin her around.


    She probably thought her love was one-sided, but actually, it had turned into mutual love a long time ago.


    ¡°Ning Errong requests to see Your Highness, the second prince!¡± This voice shouted from behind them and seemed to push aside the curtains of rain. It felt as if something important had skipped its way back into his heart.


    When he opened his eyes, he saw Errong with her stomach slightly thrusted out. Her previously mischievous demeanor was gone. It was reced by a solemn expression as she knelt down in the rain. ¡°Ning n is willing to use the pardon that thete emperor had bestowed onto our n for the life of Errong¡¯s unborn child¡¯s father!¡±


    Nie Qingyun was shocked! Errong was pregnant with his child? And she hade here to save him? Was she crazy?! It hadn¡¯t been easy for him to divorce her. How could she get mixed up in this mess again? Since she was pregnant, she should properly keep living, ah. With a child to keep herpany, she wouldn¡¯t feel too bored.


    Why had shee here to kneel? The rain was so cold? What if this adversely affected the baby?


    Seeing the dark look in the second prince¡¯s eyes, he hastily stood up and refuted, ¡°No matter what position I fall to, I don¡¯t need a woman toe here to save me! Moreover, we had already divorced. There¡¯s nothing connecting us...¡±


    ¡°Does the baby in my belly not count as a connection?¡± She turned her head to look at him. There was actually tears in her eyes. ¡°Do you think I want to save a faithless man like you?...¡±


    ¡°Whatever you do, I¡¯ll do it too.¡±


    Nie Qingyun¡¯s heart melted. Even though he was shackled and kneeling in the icy-cold rain, his body feltfortably warm. However, he couldn¡¯t let himself smile. If he smiled, it would be too outrageous and wreck the atmosphere.


    Still, he was truly very happy. Although he was worried about her, he was still happy that even now, he had a ce in Errong¡¯s heart.


    Even though he seemed to have a cold personality and didn¡¯t like to say sweet words, he liked her. It was the type of like where he wanted to be with her for a very, very long time. The type of like where he wanted to protect her.


    ¡ª


    Nie n¡¯s blood debt, and the shame of living without his n name could only be washed away with Zhao Li¡¯s blood. After he followed Errong back to Jing Province, he started off as a small official in the army. Step by step, he reached the position of Jing Province¡¯smander-in-chief. He wasn¡¯t just doing this for Nie n. He was also thinking about how Errong liked the pastries from the Fuman restaurant in the capital. When it was time for the army to attack the capital, he would buy some back for her.


    Their child slowly grew up. Unfortunately, he was a brat. Not only did this sonpete with him for Errong¡¯s attention, he had the same serious personality as him. Unlike the heirs of other families, his son wasn¡¯t cute at all.


    Hugging Errong on the bed, Nie Qingyun¡¯s expression was ck as he looked at the nearby Rui-<i>er</i>. ¡°Why did you bring him over to sleep with us again?¡±


    With a blushing face, Errong said, ¡°Rui-<i>er</i> said he¡¯s scared of the dark.¡±


    ¡°Rui-<i>er</i>,¡± Nie Qingyun called out to him in a deep voice and that brat turn his head to face them. He pointed at his own face. ¡°You¡¯re scared of the dark?¡±


    Rui-er looked at him for a moment, then expressionlessly said, ¡°I¡¯ll go look for the wet nurse to sleep with.¡±


    ¡°Good child~¡± Nie Qingyun slightly smiled. He got up from the bed and dropped him off at the wet nurse¡¯s room. After he came back, he hugged his beauty to have a peaceful night¡¯s sleep.


    Errong lightly scolded him, ¡°Why did you want Rui-<i>er</i> to leave?¡±


    Because it was enough just to have them on the bed. What was the point in having that meatball? Nie Qingyun harrumphed, but he didn¡¯t say aloud his thoughts. His breath blew over Errong¡¯s neck, and he gently bit down.


    Errong let out a stifled yelp. She opened and closed her mouth, but couldn¡¯t find any words to say. Previously, she hadn¡¯t noticed this. But, once they had spent more time together, she noticed that Qingyun was getting clingier and clingier. And, even as he was being super sticky, he would still show a solemn expression.


    But, Sangyu had said they would reach a happy ending as long as she had enough patience. Errong had figured out the meaning of her words through experience. Perhaps, Qingyun had liked someone in the past, but she was willing to patiently wait until the day that he fell in love with her.


    In actuality, this was wrong. Ji Man meant that Errong to had to patiently wait until she discovered that Nie Qingyun¡¯s secret. He was a reticent person who hid his feelings. He was like a tightly sealed metal can. You had to take a hammer and slowly break him open at the seam in order to discover what he was hiding inside.


    His heart was like an onion. As you peeled off eachyer, you would realize eachyer was for you. When you weren¡¯t around, the heart couldn¡¯t be peeled. Although these words were nauseatingly sweet, let¡¯s use these words to describe Nie Qingyun¡¯s true state of mind for now.


    Tightly hugging him back, Errong secretly thought; perhaps, Qingyun would be happier if they had a daughter .


    As for Nie Qingyun, who had his face buried by her ear, he was already smiling in satisfaction.

 Chapter 498 - - Haohaos story (1)

    Chapter 498 ¨C Haohao¡¯s story (1)


    Once upon a time, there was a mountain. On that mountain, there was a temple. The temple had an old monk that was telling a story to a young monk.


    ¡°You have an innate talent for cultivation. If you properly cultivate, you¡¯ll definitely be great,¡± Monk Xuwu sincerely and earnestly said to the teenager.


    ¡°This disciple understands the meaning of <i>Shifu</i>¡®s words, but this disciple wishes to go down the mountain to earn money.¡± The elegant teenager¡¯s inky ck hair was tied up high. When he raised his face, his radiance made everything around him pale inparison. His thin lips were slightly raised as he extremely seriously said, ¡°If this disciple doesn¡¯t leave the mountain to earn money soon, this temple is going to copse.¡±


    A gust of wind blew by, and some of the straw on the temple¡¯s roof was blown away. Monk Xuwu sighed. ¡°This ce is the closest spot to Heavens. It doesn¡¯t matter if its broken down or not. You¡¯ve already been studying Buddhism for eleven years. After a few more years of cultivating, you¡¯ll definitely surpass me.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± The teenager tilted his head. ¡°Does attaining enlightenment bring joy? Why do people feel sorrow? Humans are the mayflies of the world. Buddhism is detaching oneself from the world. To attain enlightenment and leave behind human society, there would be no meaning. Why not stay in this world and live a natural and unconventional life for a while?¡±


    Ning Jinchen had been kidnapped by Monk Xuwu as a child under the excuse of detoxifying. But, after the poison was removed, he didn¡¯t let him go. He said Ning Jinchen had amazing innate talent, and it would be best for him to stay with him to study Buddhism.


    Having left home so young, Ning Jinchen only vaguely remembered that he had a dad. He seemed to have a mom and a teacher too. He had originally been fine with wholeheartedly learning Buddhism from Monk Xuwu, but recently, he kept dreaming about his mother that he had no impression of. He thought it would be immoral to not show any filial piety. How could he ascend to an immortal before repaying his parents?


    Monk Xuwu sighed. He recited a prayer, ¡°Amitabha. This old one knew you have unfinished business in earthly world so you¡¯re reluctant to leave it. That¡¯s why this old one hasn¡¯t shaved your head. That¡¯s alright. Go on then. Once you¡¯ve gained understanding of the earthly world, that will be the best time for you tomit to converting.¡±


    Ning Jinchen nodded. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll be leaving, <i>Shifu</i>.¡±


    ¡°En.¡± Monk Xuwu magnanimously nodded.


    Raising his foot to go down the mountain, Ning Jinchen ended up having to stop his steps. He looked down at the old monk that was hugging his thigh. ¡°<i>Shifu</i>, you¡¯ve already agreed. Shouldn¡¯t you let go of me then?¡±


    Monk Xuwu looked up with a face full of tears. ¡°It was so hard for me to swindle you from Marquis Moyu. I truly feel reluctant to let you go. Just let me hug you a while longer. Wahhh...¡±


    Ning Jinchen: ¡°...¡±


    With pants that were wet with tears and snot, wearing a monk¡¯s attire and a wooden hairpin, Ning Jinchen finally left the mountain at sixteen.


    ¡ª


    He brought along a token that would confirm his identity when he went back to look for his parents, but actually, there was no need to bring that token. As soon as he stepped into Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, he was directly invited to the main hall. Everyone was pointing at his face and stuttering.


    They acted as if they were seeing a ghost. Ning Jinchen hadn¡¯t seen this many people before. His childhood memories had already been blurred by time. He couldn¡¯t recognize anyone.


    Until a woman came inside.


    ¡°Haohao!¡± Ji Man was so excited that she was shaking. As soon as she reached him, she hugged him. Her warm breath blew over him.


    Having lived on the mountain for so long, he naturally hadn¡¯t seen a woman there, much less experienced being hugged by one. Ning Jinchen was in a daze for a long time before seeing this woman raising her head. Her beautiful face looked somewhat familiar.


    It looked somewhat simr to the face he had seen in the pond a few days ago aftering down from the mountain.


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± A man stepped through the doorway. His appearance and aura felt very familiar too. Ning Jinchen tilted his head and carefully looked at him. He finally came to a sudden realization.


    His face looked very simr to these two people, as if he was abination of them.


    Lifting up his robe, he knelt down. Ning Jinchen bowed to them. Naturally, his parents¡¯ kindness was the first thing he should express gratitude towards.


    Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan felt moved.


    ¡ª


    A weing banquet was held for him in the estate. A table of food, none of it look familiar. One by one, Ning Jinchen tasted everything. Although the food was tasty, he didn¡¯t overeat.


    This estate could be considered his home, but his father¡¯s body held a lot of blood debt, and there seemed to be the remnants of spirits tethered to his mother¡¯s body. His younger sister was cute and lively, and his second brother was somewhat taciturn.


    ¡ª


    The earthly world and the world where one sought enlightenment through Buddhism; these were twopletely different worlds. Ning Jinchen set up Buddha statues in his room. He continued seeking enlightenment while interacting with people in the earthly world.


    However, he had grown up only interacting with an old monk that spent most of his time reciting Buddhist prayers, so there were naturally many things he didn¡¯t understand about the earthly world. His mother came over to chat with him for a long time about this.


    Ji Man asked, ¡°What did the old monk teach you?¡±


    He answered, ¡°He taught me how to practice Buddhism, to work towards ascending to the Heavens.¡±


    The woman¡¯s gaze turned extremely strange. After a long period of silence, she said, ¡°Mom will bring you to the rice store tomorrow so you can see the joys of the world.¡±


    ¡ª


    Actually, not only did Ning Jinchen have an affinity for Buddhism, he had a greater affinity with money. After Ji Man tossed him to the rice store for only two days, this mere sixteen-year-old teenager understood basic ounting and how to use an abacus. He even figured out how to y a few clever, but minor tricks in business.


    ¡ª


    Shopkeeper Yan Buba, who managed Ji Man¡¯s rice business, had married a long time ago. His daughter was already ten years old. However, his wife¡¯s favorite activity was to spend money. After so many years of marriage, their pattern of behavior never changed. As they passed through a street, Madam Yan was full of enthusiasm in buying stuff. Yan Buba would follow behind her with an abacus in hand. As he calcted her spending on his abacus, he would murmur, ¡°This trip cost three taels and seven coins. I¡¯ll have to work two more days for the boss...¡±

 Chapter 499 - Haohaos story (2)

    Chapter 499 ¨C Haohao¡¯s story (2)


    Ning Jinchen thought it was very strange. Yan Buba was obviously a very stingy person. Why would he marry a woman that spent money like it was water? From what he had seen so far, Yan Buba¡¯s brow was furrowed every day, and yet, he never considered divorcing his wife.


    These two people weren¡¯tpatible at all. Why were they together?


    As he was reciting a series of Buddhist questions, in a moment of carelessness, he ended up saying aloud his own question.


    ¡°It¡¯s because my dad loves my mom, ah.¡± An exquisite little girl popped out. She was wearing a light yellow dress. Looking at him like she was the adult and he was the child, she said, ¡°Big brother, if you don¡¯t even understand that, then you¡¯re too stupid!¡±


    Love?


    Ning Jinchen raised his eyebrows and looked at the little girl in front of him. He stretched his hand out and picked her up. ¡°What¡¯s love?¡±


    Shocked by his actions, the little girl gaped. After freezing in surprise for a long time, she finally said, ¡°Love means you¡¯ll be with someone for a long time.¡±


    Ning Jinchen furrowed his brow. There was no mention of love in Buddhism, that¡¯s why he didn¡¯t understand. Love meant being together?


    Blushing, the little girl said, ¡°Big brother, if you keep holding me like this, then you¡¯ll have to marry me!¡±


    Marry her? Ning Jinchen immediately let go. A monk naturally couldn¡¯t get married.


    However, as soon as he let go, the little girl rolled off his knees like a ball. Sitting on the ground, she looked at him as if she had been wronged and said, ¡°You¡¯re a bad person!¡±


    Ning Jinchen¡¯s heart slightly softened. He smiled.


    As soon as he smiled, the little girl no longer though he was a bad person. All bad people had ugly appearances. This big brother looked so beautiful. He had to be a good person.


    ¡ª


    Ning Jinchen like doing business, and he even declined the official¡¯s position that Marquis Moyu had personally arranged for him. Instead, he stayed in the rice shop and learned from Yan Buba. Every day, during break time, he would sit on arge stone in the back courtyard and read Buddhist scriptures.


    ¡°What are you reading?¡± The little girl was here again.


    Her name was Yan Shengqian. She was named by Yan Buba, and her nickname was Qian-<i>er</i>. Because of this name, Madam Yan had argued with her husband and returned to her maiden home a few times. Finally, she had given up because ofck of results, and Yan Shengqian¡¯s name was set.


    (T/N: Poor kid, her name literally means saving money.)


    Ning Jinchen stopped reading and answered, ¡°I¡¯m reading <i>Buddha Said.</i> It¡¯s a Buddhist book.¡±


    ¡°What does it say?¡± Qian-<i>er</i> curiously blinked. ¡°Read it aloud for me.¡±


    Ning Jinchen closed his eyes and recited, ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, don¡¯t be stupid, and don¡¯t be greedy. Idealism, fulfill one¡¯s desire, forget yourself...¡±


    These were very senseless scriptures. Only a monk would be able to understand them. The teenager in front of her was dressed in beautiful robes. He was clearly a rich, young master in the mortal world. And yet, he insisted on reciting and reading these dull words.


    What was even more frightening, was that Yan Shengqian, who usually loved to y, actually really enjoyed listening to him.


    ¡ª


    Ning Jinchen was very amazing. While studying about Buddhism and universalpassion, he used what he learned from Yan Buba to gain a monopoly of the grain market. He lowered the price of grain and drove the newly open rice stores out of business. All of the profits from this undertaking entered Ji Man¡¯s pocket.


    Ji Man felt extremely moved. Looking at the son in front of her, she wanted to smack a kiss on his cheek. He was too thoughtful.


    Although her son was perfectly fine and had talented tricks, something felt off. For some unknown reason, it felt as if he existed outside the mortal world. It was as if he had just returned home to save the masses, but would be leaving them eventually.


    Ji Man felt a bit panicky. She couldn¡¯t resist asking him, ¡°Are you going to leave?¡±


    Ning Jinchen smiled. ¡°Mother, you don¡¯t need to worry. It doesn¡¯t matter where this son is. It¡¯s all the same.¡±


    He would go down the same path no matter what, but he wanted to pay back his mortal world debts first.


    Ji Man put down her worries. She went back and considered whether or not she should arrange a marriage for him. This would thoroughly tie him to the mundane world. However, Ning Yuxuan stopped her.


    ¡°Our son has his own ideas of happiness. Why are you meddling so much?¡±


    Ji Man shrugged and gave up on the idea. She hadn¡¯t seen Haohao in so long and was anxiously thinking of ways to make it up to him. But, she was worried that she would do something to shoot herself in the food. She might as well let him do whatever he wanted.


    ¡ª


    As the days passed by, Ning Jinchen continued to read Buddhist scriptures and Yan Shenqian woulde over to listen to him.


    ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Don¡¯t desire, don¡¯t demand, and don¡¯t long for something. Reject the illusions, expose the truth, and gain understanding.¡±


    Yan Shengqian pouted and said, ¡°Buddha seems to be deceiving people.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± He opened his eyes.


    ¡°If you have no desires and demand nothing, will you really gain enlightenment?¡± Yan Shengqian was unconvinced. ¡°Isn¡¯t wanting to gain enlightenment a desire too?¡±


    Ning Jinchen froze in surprise. He patted Yan Shengqian¡¯s head. ¡°Huh, you have intelligence too.¡±


    Yan Shengqian angrily pped his hand away. ¡°Stop reading it. Come climb a tree with me? Dad won¡¯t let me go out by myself. I feel bored to death!¡±


    Ning Jinchen shook his head. ¡°A female shouldn¡¯t climb trees.¡±


    ¡°Does Buddha differentiate between men and women?¡± Yan Shengqian crossed her arms. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say all living life is equal?¡±


    Ning Jinchen was speechless. While he was stunned, the little girl pulled him out of the courtyard.


    There was arge tree on the side of the road. Both of them climbed up. Sitting on a branch and looking down, Yan Shengqian was obviously happy. ¡°What¡¯s the use in reciting Buddhist scriptures all day? You should experience and see things for yourself. That¡¯s better for understanding than just reading.¡±


    Ning Jinchen pursed his lips and didn¡¯t say a word. He slightly sighed.


    A wedding procession to bring home a bride was passing below them. There was the lively sound of instruments being yed. The groom at the head of the procession was dressed in wedding attire. He looked extremely handsome.


    Yan Shengqian nced at the teenager next to her and secretly blushed.

 Chapter 500 - Buddha said (1)

    Chapter 500 ¨C Buddha said (1)


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Ning Jinchen curiously asked.


    ¡°This is a wedding procession.¡± Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s face was getting redder and redder. ¡°The groom is going over and bringing the person he likes to his home on a red bridal sedan to marry.¡±


    Ning Jinchen indifferently nodded. He even murmured a Buddhist prayer, ¡°Amitabha.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s expression immediately copsed. ¡°This is a happy event for them. Why are saying amitabha? Your hair is cker than mine. Why are you acting like a monk?¡±


    Ning Jinchen lightly smiled. ¡°Outer appearances aren¡¯t important as long as you have Buddha in your heart.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> somewhat anxiously said, ¡°Does your heart only have Buddha?¡±


    ¡°Other than Buddha, what else should be there?¡± Ning Jinchen nkly looked at her.


    You should have me in your heart, ah! Qian-<i>er</i> almost said these words aloud. When she realized what she was thinking, she fell down from the tree in shock.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Furrowing his brow, Ning Jinchen grabbed hold of her. Qian-<i>er</i> swayed in the air for a moment before he slowly pulled her back onto the tree.


    ¡°... Thank you.¡± Slightly stunned from the shock, Qian-<i>er</i> sat next to him for a long time before she returned to her senses. When she looked down, she saw that she still had a desperate hold on him.


    She wouldn¡¯t let go! No way! She liked this person¡¯s warm and strong palm. Why would she let go?


    Ning Jinchen didn¡¯t find her behavior strange. Watching until the wedding procession below had moved far away, he brought Qian-<i>er</i> and himself down the tree afterwards.


    ¡ª


    His father had total authority over the imperial court and themon folk, and his mother was exceedingly rich. Theoretically, Ning Jinchen could live the life of a second-generation wastrel. He didn¡¯t have to worry about not having enough money for food or clothing. And yet, he had chosen to treat Ji Store as a ce to pursue religious practice. In this ce, he did business while meditating and recited Buddhist scriptures to gain enlightenment. He also watched the passerby to gainprehension of secr affairs.


    Qian-<i>er</i> kept orbiting around him. The young girl was very clever and would recite with him, ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, don¡¯t be stupid, and don¡¯t be greedy. Idealism, fulfill one¡¯s desire, forget yourself.¡±


    When the flowers bloomed in spring, he sat on the stone and chanted while she smiled as she picked spring flowers and skipped around him.


    During the scorching summer, he sat on the stone and profusely sweat. Stand behind him on her tiptoes, she shaded him with an umbre.


    When the leaves fell in autumn, he sat on the stone and meditated while she picked up the fallen leaves and assembled them together to make a portrait of him.


    During the snowy winter, he sat on the stone and gainedprehension. She made a cloak for him. With a smile, she draped it over him.


    ¡°Are you cold?¡± she asked.


    Ning Jinchen lightly smiled. ¡°It¡¯s difficult for the outside world¡¯s sensations to affect someone that¡¯s reached enlightenment past the five aggregates. I seem to have cultivated to another level.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> froze in surprise. Looking at this person who wasn¡¯t part of the earthly world, she felt dismayed.


    ¡ª


    After a few springs and summers had passed, Marquis Moyu¡¯s second son was named his heir and getting married. Ning Jinchen brought Qian-<i>er</i> along to see the festivities.


    With stars in her eyes, Ji Man looked at her son and asked, ¡°Chen-<i>er</i>, look, Xi-<i>er</i> is already married. What about you?¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s fingers which were clutching Ning Jinchen¡¯s sleeve slightly trembled.


    ¡°This son is unfilial. With second brother helping me relieve this burden, this son feels significantly less guilty.¡± Ning Jinchen slightly smiled. ¡°This son was born into the world of mortals, but my heart is outside of that world. Thus, this son is unable to achieve a marriage with anyone.¡±


    Yan Shengqian raised her head to look at him. Three years had passed since she met him for the first time. He looked even more outstanding and attractive. Although he wore opulent robes, it couldn¡¯t hide his spiritual aura.


    A person like him, how could any woman be his match? Qian-<i>er</i> looked down at herself. There were three more years until her adulthood ceremony. She wasn¡¯t anxious. There was still time for her to slowly grow up.


    ¡ª


    Madam Yan brought back a big pile of stuff to the rice store. Yan Buba was following behind her. He sighed, ¡°Wife, are you in a bad moodtely? When we go out, you normally wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with only spending two silver teals. But today, you only spent only one tael and eight coins.¡±


    ¡°You only know how to count money.¡± Madam Yan pulled him over and pointed at therge stone in the back courtyard. ¡°Can¡¯t you see our daughter¡¯s feelings? That girl has been following First Young Master for so long. Even though her temperament has calmed down because of that, we can¡¯t just let things remain like this forever.¡±


    Yan Buba froze in surprise. Taking out his abacus, he started calcting. ¡°Since First Young Master hase to the rice store, the store¡¯s profits have increased by 70 thousand taels in the past three years. Our sry has also increased by almost 10 thousand taels. If we count that as a betrothal gift and give Qian-<i>er</i> to First Young Master for free, it would still be a loss of money on our side.¡±


    Madam Yan angrily gave a hard pinch to Yan Buba¡¯s waist. ¡°Are you nning on selling your daughter?¡±


    Yan Buba sucked in his breath, jumped to the side, and shook his abacus. After thinking it over, he finally said, ¡°How about I go ask First Young Master about his intentions? If he¡¯s interested in Qian-<i>er</i>, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to to arrange this marriage for her. If he¡¯s not interested, it would better to break Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s hopes sooner rather thanter.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Madam Yan nodded. Actually, she found First Young Master¡¯s personality quite likable. He wasn¡¯t arrogant or hot-tempered. He was calm and also capable. If she gave Qian-<i>er</i> to him, it would put her heart at ease.


    ¡ª


    In the evening, Madam Yan pulled Qian-<i>er</i> upstairs and into a room on the left side while Yan Buba led Ning Jinchen into a room on the right side.


    Smiling, Yan Buba poured a cup of tea for him.¡±First Young Master, please drink some tea. I boldy requested a meeting because I want to talk about my daughter with you.¡±


    Ning Jinchen was very bewildered, but he still nodded. ¡°Shopkeeper Yan, feel free to speak frankly.¡±

 Chapter 501 - Buddha said (2)

    Chapter 501 ¨C Buddha said (2)


    Yan Buba sat down. His expression became slightly more serious. ¡°First Young Master, my daughter has been following you around since you came to the rice shop a few years ago. The two of you are always together, and it¡¯s inevitable that other people will gossip about that. In a few years, my daughter will be of marriageable age. Since this matter is rted to my daughter¡¯s reputation, First Young Master, please explicitly state your intentions.¡±


    Ning Jinchen¡¯s expression slightly change. He raised his clear eyes to look at Yan Buba. ¡°Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s reputation will be affected if she stays too close to me?¡±


    Yan Buba nodded. ¡°Of course. If an unmarried maiden follow after a young man every day, it¡¯s inevitable that people will start gossiping. If you¡¯re willing to take my daughter as your wife, then that would be fine...


    ¡°I won¡¯t marry anyone,¡± Ning Jinchen interrupted him. He pressed his hands together in prayer and recited a Buddhist prayer. ¡°I¡¯ll be leaving the secr world in a few years.¡±


    Yan Buba was shocked. ¡°You¡¯re still nning on bing a monk?¡±


    Ning Jinchen pursed his lips. ¡°I¡¯ve never left that monastic order.¡±


    In the other room, Qian-<i>er</i> looked at her mother with a scarlet face. After hesitating for a long time, she finally nodded. ¡°I... I like him.¡±


    Madam Yan chuckled. ¡°If you like someone, there¡¯s no reason why you can¡¯t say that out loud. There¡¯s nothing shameful about that.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> was delighted for quite a while. Somewhat shyly looking at her mother, she said, ¡°But, I don¡¯t know what Big Brother Chen is thinking... Mom, you can¡¯t go ask him. I can still wait a few more years.¡±


    Madam Yan cover her mouth andughed. ¡°Silly girl. Let¡¯s just wait to hear from your father.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> anxiously stood up. ¡°Dad went to ask him?¡±


    Madam Yan quietlyughed. ¡°You can¡¯t leave this type of matter unasked. We need a clear answer. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be wasting your best years.¡±


    Face paling, Qian-<i>er</i> rushed over to the room on the right side. Ning Jinchen had already left. Yan Buba was still in the room.


    Seeing his daughter, Yan Buba said in sunken voice, ¡°Keep your distance from First Young Master in the future and spend more time learning the schrly arts.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> froze in surprise. Not understanding, she asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    Yan Buba didn¡¯t say anything. He only deeply looked at her, then he let out a long sigh.


    Eyes suddenly bing wet, Qian-<i>er</i> stood in ce for a while before suddenly rushing downstairs and outside to therge stone.


    There was no one on the stone. Ning Jinchen had returned to the marquis¡¯s estate early today.


    Qian-er looked at the stone for a while before sitting down on it. Using her memories of Ning Jinchen as a model, she ced her hands on her knees, closed her eyes, and started to recite, ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Idealism, fulfill your desires, forget yourself...


    If you could gain enlightenment by idealism and fulfilling your desires, why couldn¡¯t she do it? Sure enough, Buddhism was just a lie.


    ¡ª


    Ning Jinchen continued toe to the rice shop every day, but he no longer spoke to her. He wouldn¡¯t even look at her. After sitting on thatrge stone for three years, he no longer went there again. After finishing his work at the rice shop each day, he would head straight home.


    Qian-<i>er</i> couldn¡¯t keep her calm. She didn¡¯t like that as soon as she saw his figure and approached him, he would disappear like the wind without a trace. Hadn¡¯t she been by his side for over the past three years? For her to suddenly not be there, shouldn¡¯t he feel unustomed to her absence?


    ¡°First Young Master is someone who¡¯s going to be a monk,¡± said Yan Buba, ¡°Wait until your adulthood ceremony. Father will choose a good husband for you.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> forcefully shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want that.¡±


    ¡ª


    Crouched down by the doorway, she waited there until he came.


    ¡°Miss Yan, what is it?¡± Ning Jinchen had his hands pressed together in prayer position. He asked her this question without emotion.


    Qian-<i>er</i> looked at him. She had originally nned on erupting in anger, but as soon as she heard him saying the first two words, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from bursting into tears.


    Standing in front of her, he instinctively reached out to ruffle her hair, but when his hand reached halfway, he took it back. ¡°Amitabha.¡±


    ¡°I hate your Buddha,¡± said Qian-<i>er</i> quietly, ¡°It¡¯s clearly a devil. It¡¯s a devil that destroy people¡¯s ability to feel emotions and the warmth they feel towards others.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such nonsense.¡± Ning Jinchen nced at her. He wanted to walk around her and enter the rice store.


    ¡°Why are you avoiding me?¡± Qian-<i>er</i> tenaciously blocked his way by spreading out her hands to each side of the doorway. ¡°You clearly like to spend time with me. When we¡¯re together, you frequently smile. Since you like spending time with me, why are you avoiding me?¡±


    Ning Jinchen froze in surprise. He liked spending time with her?


    There was only nkness in his impressions. He didn¡¯t remember anything. He was pursuing religious practice, so his heart naturally only had Buddhism. There was nothing else. To him, the mortal world symbolized evil. It was a tribtion that he needed to ovee.


    ¡°Miss Yan, you¡¯ve probably misunderstood,¡± said Ning Jinchen, ¡°Even when I¡¯m by myself, I¡¯ll still smile. When I get through a mediation or gain understanding of a Buddhist scripture, I¡¯ll also smile.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not because you, Miss.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> nkly looked at him. Her arms felt as if they had lost strength and drooped down.


    Ning Jinchen slightly bowed at her and went around her to enter the rice shop.


    ¡ª


    In the following month, he didn¡¯t see Qian-<i>er</i>. He no longer heard her chattering voice by his ear. When he opened his eyes, he wouldn¡¯t see that she had plucked a bouquet of flowers and brought it over to him to get acknowledgement. He didn¡¯t see her smiling face.


    Ning Jinchen remembered the old monk¡¯s words. Human emotion was an illusion. He had to see through it and reject the world of mortals.


    However, even though the weather was very cold, he didn¡¯t dare to put on the cloak that she had embroidered for him. It felt as if the demon of temptation was lurking in that cloak. He wanted to stay far away from it.


    ¡°Buddha said...¡± Sitting on therge stone in the rice store¡¯s back courtyard, he started to recite a Buddhist scripture. Seeing a person in the previously empty courtyard, he got slightly distracted.


    ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Don¡¯t desire, don¡¯t demand, and don¡¯t long for something. Reject the illusions, expose the truth, and gain understanding.¡± Smiling, Qian-<i>er</i> made her way to him. Grabbing a handful of snow, she threw it towards him.


    Trantor Ramblings: Just want to say this is one of my favorite story arcs. It¡¯s so easy to like both of these characters and root for them.

 Chapter 502 - Love me (1)

    Chapter 502 ¨C Love me (1)


    Ning Jinchen didn¡¯t move. The snow slid down into his robe from his cor, and he suddenly felt a slight chill. Monk Xuwu had told him that if he was devoted to the task at hand when he recited scriptures, then he wouldn¡¯t notice anything else. It seemed that he wasn¡¯t devoted today.


    Sighing, he raised his head to look at Yan Shengqian and said, ¡°Miss Yen, you¡¯re a person that belongs to the secr world. Please follow your secr world¡¯s etiquette rules and keep your distance from this one.


    Qian-<i>er</i> sneered. ¡°Are you a person from the secr world?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why are you following the secr world¡¯s rules then?¡± Qian-<i>er</i> raised her eyebrows. Standing in the distance, she had her hands on her hips. She found his logic ridiculous. ¡°If you uphold the rules of the secr world, doesn¡¯t that make you a person from the secr world?¡±


    Ning Jinchen froze in surprise. He lowered his head to contemte.


    Qian-<i>er</i>, who was standing more than three steps away from him, smiled and said, ¡°In the secr world, men and women have to keep a distance of three steps from each other. If I take the initiative to keep a three-steps distance from you, could you stop hiding from me?¡±


    Ning Jinchen slightly furrowed his brow. ¡°Miss Yan, why must you be so persistent?¡±


    ¡°Why does that have anything to do with you?¡± Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s eyes slightly reddened. ¡°Go read your Buddhist scriptures!¡±


    ¡ª


    Seeing that she really did adhere to keeping a distance of three steps between them, he didn¡¯t have anything left to say. The two of them went back to their previous routine. While he sat there in meditation, she would stand by his side to keep himpany. It was only that she was standing a little farther away now.


    ¡ª


    During the Chinese Valentine Festival, Qian-<i>er</i> insistently pulled him out to see festivities. The streets were lively, and the stalls lining the streets were doing exceptionally good business in selling jewelry and jade ornaments. Many young men easily brought an item to give to the girl in their heart for a smile.


    When Qian-<i>er</i> and Ning Jinchen passed by, there was only one item left, a wooden hairpin. It was probably because the material was too cheap, so no one was interested in it. However, the carved plum blossom on it looked pretty good and paired well with a certain someone¡¯s facial features.


    After looking at it for a while, Qian-<i>er </i>took out a small bag and brought the hairpin.


    ¡°Oh, Miss is quite special. Are you buying it for that young man?¡± The old grandmother was in an especially good mood as she packed up her stall. ¡°It¡¯s usually young men thate here to buy something to give to a girl. You¡¯re thest one toe here today, and you¡¯re doing things in reverse.¡±


    Qian-<i>er </i>blew out her cheeks. ¡°Why? Am I not allowed?¡±


    ¡°Haha, there¡¯s nothing that¡¯s not allowed. If you like someone, you should go ask him how he feels. This hairpin is simple yet elegant. Men can wear this too. It¡¯s quite suitable for the young man over there. May you achieve your heart¡¯s desire.¡± The old grandmother put her bag over her shoulder and smiled as she left.


    Qian-<i>er</i> blushed. Clutching the hairpin, she stopped three steps away from Ning Jinchen and called out, ¡°Hey!¡±


    Illuminated by the colorednterns on the riverside, Ning Jinchen turned to look at her. There was an endless stream of people walking between them.


    Qian-<i>er</i>, who was three steps away from, held her hand out. ¡°This is for you...¡±


    A passing person bumped into her hand, and the unremarkable wooden plum blossom hairpin fell into the crowd. Greatly rmed, Qian-<i>er</i> lowered her head and was about to crouch down to look for it, but Ning Jinchen frowned.


    ¡°Stand up straight. There¡¯s a lot of people here. You¡¯re going to get stepped on.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> froze in surprise. She regrettably looked at the crowd. She was so unlucky, ah. She liked a person that was devoted to Buddha, and she couldn¡¯t even seed in giving him a hairpin.


    ¡°What was that?¡± asked Ning Jinchen.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a trinket¡± Qian-<i>er</i> waved her hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go somewhere else to look around.¡±


    Ning Jinchen nodded. He quietly walked through the crowd, but after a few steps, he turned to look at the ce they had been standing for a moment.


    As they released colorednterns, guessedntern riddles, and tried their luck in picking fortune sticks at the temple, the three step distance was maintained the entire time. When they were done, Ning Jinchen escorted her back to the rice shop.


    In a calm voice, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t stay up toote.¡±


    When Qian-<i>er </i>had gotten a fortune stick that foretold poor fortune earlier, her face had crumpled, so she had dejectedly agreed to cut their outing short.


    Ning Jinchen watched as she went inside, then he turned around and retraced their path to the spot they had been standing before. He found the wooden hairpin that had already been trodden.


    ¡°Is it this?¡± He picked it up to look, then washed it in the nearby river and looked at it again before tucking it inside his clothes.


    He was still holding the fortune stick he had chosen earlier. Qian-<i>er</i> had really wanted to see it, but he hadn¡¯t let her.


    While her fortune stick had the words, ¡°Unobtainable wishes, ipatibilitepanion¡±, his fortune stick was nk.


    The possibility of a rtionship between them had been hopeless from the start.


    ¡ª


    He knew that there would be one more great cmity in Ji Man¡¯s future. It would happen in three more years. She would fall gravely sick and almost die. Ning Jinchen hading here to wait for that day. After he helped her get through that cmity, it would be time for him to go back to the mountain.


    Would his cultivation really improve to the level that Monk Xuwu had spoken of by staying in the mortal world for six years? Ning Jinchen didn¡¯t believe his <i>shifu</i>, but he continued to stay focused on reciting Buddhist scriptures the rest of his time here.


    Qian-<i>er</i> continued to stay by his side.


    ¡ª


    Arge tree in courtyard went from green to yellow to white. After three cycles of this, three more years had passed. Standing in front of him, the little girl of the past had finally grown up into a lovely young woman. The sorrow between her brow had also increased.


    ¡°Dad has arranged a marriage for me. The other party is the son of an official. I heard that he doesn¡¯t have a main wife yet. I¡¯ll be marrying him as a wife.¡± Qian-<i>er</i> was sitting three steps away from him. She hollowlyughed and said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t that sound pretty good?¡±


    He stopped moving the prayer beads in his hand and opened his eyes to look at her. ¡°That is pretty good.¡±


    Smiling, Qian-<i>er</i> nodded. ¡°Yeah. I heard that young master has a good temperament too. I¡¯ll only need to be a good housewife.¡±


    Ning Jinchen nodded.

 Chapter 503 - Love me (2)

    Chapter 503 ¨C Love me (2)


    Yan Shengqian¡¯s expression slowly dimmed. She turned her head to the side to nkly look at him. ¡°Do you know what marrying someone means?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Ning Jinchen lowered his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s getting onto a bridal sedan and bing someone¡¯s wife.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> smiled, but there were tears in her eyes. ¡°Huh, you really do know what its means. Do you also know that once I marry someone else, I won¡¯t be able to keep youpany anymore?¡±


    Ning Jinchen froze in surprise. His hand stiffened around the rosary ne. A long timeter, he unfroze. ¡°This day would happen sooner orter. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t waste your time.¡±


    The words echoed in Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s mind. Sheughed to the point that she was bent over at the waist. Tears plopped downwards too. ¡°What does Buddha say?¡±


    Ning Jinchen closed his eyes again and quietly said, ¡°Idealism, fulfill one¡¯s desire, forget yourself.¡±


    ¡°Why won¡¯t you listen to Buddha¡¯s words then?¡± Qian-er wiped her tears and looked up at him. ¡°Don¡¯t you like Buddha the most?¡±


    ¡°How am I not listening?¡± Ning Jinchen slightly smiled. ¡°Everything that Buddha has said, I remember it all in my heart and follow them.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> giggled. Her smile looked worse than when she had been crying. ¡°Repeat after me.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Ning Jinchen blinked.


    She took a deep breath and straightened up to look at him. ¡°Buddha said.¡±


    ¡°... Buddha said,¡± he repeated.


    ¡°Idealism.¡± She took a step towards him.


    ¡°... Idealism.¡±


    ¡°Fulfill one¡¯s desires.¡± She took another step.


    ¡°... fulfill one¡¯s desires.¡±


    ¡°Love me.¡± On the third step, she stopped in front of him. Her eyes were directly looking at him.


    ¡°... Love...¡± Ning Jinchen furrowed his brow. ¡°Thest words are forget yourself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care, love me!¡± Yan Shengqian stubbornly stared at him. ¡°I listened to your recite Buddhist scriptures for six years. How could I be wrong?¡±


    Ning Jinchen was shocked. An unclear emotion quivered in his heart, but in the end, he only calmly said, ¡°Amitabha.¡±


    Qian-<i>er</i> wished that she could have been slightly more mature and not cry in front of him so frequently. And yet, she could never resist bing a crying mess in front of him. ¡°You stupid monk. You¡¯ve been reading Buddhist scriptures for so long, but you don¡¯t understand what Buddha is saying. You should follow your heart. Your feelings are the most important thing, but you still value practicing Buddhism as if that¡¯s the most important thing!


    Ning Jinchen pursed his lips. He thought; this was probably his tribtion. It would be fine once it passed.


    ¡°In three days, the bridal sedan wille,¡± Qian-<i>er</i> said with reddened eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get married!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re engaged. How can you not get married?¡± He stood up, brushed off a leaf from his body, and turned to leave.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want this engagement. If you¡¯re willing to take me away, I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Qian-<i>er</i> looked at his back figure with a heated gaze. ¡°Even if you want to recite Buddhist scriptures for the rest of your life, I¡¯ll still follow you. Forever!¡±


    How absurd.


    Did emotions lead everyone in the mortal word to act so absurd? Ning Jinchen smiled. He calcted the time. He should be rushing back to the marquis¡¯s estate now.


    ¡ª


    The marquis¡¯s wife was currently very sick. Ning Yuxuan was sitting on the side of the bed and filled with anxiety. On the bed, Ji Man cracked her eyes open with tears streaming down. ¡°It¡¯s going to shatter...¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going to shatter?¡± Ning Yuxuan held her hand in distress. ¡°No matter what it is, I¡¯ll have someone repair it. There¡¯s nothing that can¡¯t be repaired.¡±


    ¡°The dream...¡± More and more tears fell. Ji Man felt so upset as she cried. ¡°How can you repair a dream?¡±


    While Marquis Moyu was stunned, Ning Jinchen rushed into the room and fed lifesaving medicine to Ji Man.


    Ji Man¡¯s eyes remained open for a moment to look at him, then she closed them again.


    ¡°What did you feed her?¡± Marquis Moyu said with a sunken expression.


    ¡°Mother¡¯s soul is being pulled away by something. Now that she¡¯s eaten that medicine, it¡¯ll be fine,¡± said Ning Jinchen, ¡°I came down from the mountain to repay my parents¡¯ kindness by saving her life.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a long time. Seeing that Ji Man was still breathing and everything looked fine, he put down his worries.


    Ning Jinchen decided to remain in the marquis¡¯s estate for three more days to care for Ji Man. He would use this time to contemte as well. After three days, it would be time for him to return to the mountain.


    Qian-<i>er</i> had already been engaged to a good family. In the end, it wasn¡¯t his ce to meddle with the mortal world¡¯s ordinary affairs.


    ¡ª


    He choose to leave the marquis¡¯s estate in the evening. He didn¡¯t tell anyone that he was leaving and only left a letter for his parents. If he became an immortal, he would continue to protect his family.


    Perhaps, he could protect her too.


    As he was walking on the street, there was a flurry of sounds as a wedding procession passed by him in the opposite direction. Ning Jinchen stopped to watch for a moment. No emotion showed on his face. He turned and left.


    Inside the bridal sedan, Qian-<i>er</i>¡®s head was covered with wedding veil. She thought of that memory from several years ago. They had climbed onto a tree together.


    He had asked her, ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°This is a wedding procession,¡± she answered, ¡°The groom is going over and bringing the person he likes to his home on a red bridal sedan to marry.¡±


    She had waited for six years, and her heart hadn¡¯t died yet. But in the past three days, her heart had turned into ashes. He would nevere for her, just like how he hadn¡¯t been willing to repeat those words and say that he loved her.


    ¡ª


    The teenager, who had a wonderful aptitude for reaching enlightenment, returned to the mountain. His hair was shaved.


    Monk Xuwu happily hugged his disciple¡¯s thigh and cried. ¡°The day that I¡¯ve been waiting for has finally arrived.¡±


    Ning Jinchen was no longer called Ning Jinchen. He used a Buddhist scripture title as his name, Buddha said, as his monk name.


    ¡°Buddha said, ¡°Idealism, fulfill one¡¯s desires...¡±


    Love me.


    Trantor Ramblings: I think Ning Jinchen likes Qian-<i>er</i>, but his like for her is a tonic one. She was his first and only friend. Because he¡¯s never had a friend before and minimal contact with other humans, he doesn¡¯t know how to name his emotions for her. I think he¡¯s someone with really high IQ, but low EQ because of his upbringing.


    What do you guys think of this story arc? I was rooting for Qian-er, but I also like that the author didn¡¯t write a bunch of stories about infatuated girls and their happy endings. It feels sad that Qing-er is heartbroken, but it could be paving the way for her move on with her life and find a new happiness. I wish the author had written a short blurb from Qian-<i>er</i> ¡®s point of view once she¡¯s more mature and how she views her younger self.

 Chapter 504 - Could you understand a single mans suffering? (1)

    Chapter 504 ¨C Could you understand a single man¡¯s suffering? (1)


    Guibai had been feeling sad for a while. Moreover, as the days passed by, his sorrow got worse. He was already in his twenties, and he had been working for the marquis for over a decade. He had been there when the marquis married madam, and eventer, when the marquis¡¯s children had been born. Miss Sangyu was already three years old, but he hadn¡¯t even married yet!


    Looking at his gradually aging face in the mirror, Guibai felt very depressed. He had been wanting to get married for a while now, and the marquis had been helping him look around. However, whenever a good wife candidate was found, the other party would either not be interested because he was too busy with work and wouldn¡¯t have time to look after a family, or the woman would run off with her childhood sweetheart.


    After several failed attempts, he was discouraged and decided to resign himself to his fate. If he ever happened to meet a suitable woman, he would marry her.


    However, he followed after the marquis each day. It wasn¡¯t a big deal that he hadn¡¯t found a woman, really. No, the crucial point was that he had watched the marquis¡¯s fortunate and blissful married life. Whenever the marquis had nothing to do, he would hug his wife or hold his daughter¡¯s hand while they strolled around. So annoying and dislikable!


    Not only that, but Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day hade again. Guibai detested this holiday the most. After peace and prosperity had been reached, there was increasingly no limits to how well the marquis would treat madam. For example, when madam said she wanted to see flowers, the marquis ordered people to bring all sorts of blooming flowers in the capital over to Feiwan Courtyard. There had been over a thousand containers of flowers, ah. Even if his lord had the money, he shouldn¡¯t waste it like this!


    If one day, madam said she wanted to see the sea, would the marquis have the capital flooded so that madam could see it without going anywhere?


    On the first Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day after the fourth prince ascended the throne, the marquis took madam to go stroll around by a river. A river full of waternterns were released for madam to see and enjoy. In order for that to happen, Guibai had led a group of people to ce all of those waternterns by hand into the river.


    On the second year¡¯s Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day, the marquis said he wanted to give madam a surprise, so over five hundred skynterns were released. Once again, it was Guibai that had to lead a group of people to light up all of thosenterns.


    On the third year¡¯s Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day, the marquis brought madam out of the capital to go sightseeing, which led to a group of important officials anxiously rushing over to the estate to look for the marquis. It had been Guibai that remained in the estate and handled those officials.


    Who could understand the heart of a single person that had to attend to a married couple? He could only help his master with the chores rted his master¡¯s romantic gestures while he stayed a lonely man that was almost thirty years old!


    Guibai nced at himself in the mirror again. He didn¡¯t know why, but after buying this mirror, he hadn¡¯t been able to put it down. From time to time, he would feel self-pity.


    Ji Man had just received some news. She rushed out and looked at him as she said, ¡°Guibai, help me pick up someone. She came back from the bordends today. She¡¯s probably at the capital¡¯s ry station. I just need you to bring her over here.¡±


    Came back from the bordends? Guibai could guess who this person was. It was the woman that used to help madam with her work, Miss Shui. This woman was quite clever, knew how to do business, and had once helped madam earn arge sum of money. Later on, Honored Concubine Ling had taken madam¡¯s ount books and lodge an usation against madam and her. Implicated by Nie n¡¯s bribery case, Miss Shui had been imprisoned.


    (T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Honored Concubine Ling is Qi Siling, the one that the marquis divorced.)


    Miss Shui would have been executed, but marquis sent people over to plead leniency on her behalf, and her punishment was changed to exile. Now that the situation in the imperial court was stable, it would be okay to bring her back.


    For a woman to be exiled, how could her fate possibly be good? She had probably experienced all sorts of life¡¯s sufferings during this period of time.


    Guibai was actually quite happy to go and pick her up. It meant that he could escape from the task that the marquis had given him!


    Although, at the current moment, the marquis hadn¡¯t given him a task yet.


    After efficiently harnessing a horse and hitching it to a carriage, Guibai set out the ry station that was outside the capital. On the way over, he had already drawn conclusions. Miss Shui would probablye back to the capital with a nervous or a sensitive mental state. He would do his best to show her humanistic care and not scare her or make her feel discriminated.


    However, she turned out to be a confident and poised woman. She was wearing a purplish pink dress, and her hair was neatlybed. Other than her somewhat dim gaze that kept drifting towards the ground, everything else about her seemed normal.


    Guibai thought; the stronger a woman appeared on the outside, the more vulnerable her heart was. He definitely couldn¡¯t hurt her.


    ¡°Madam sent this one to pick you up. Miss Shui, it must have been a hard journey here,¡± said Guibai respectfully.


    Miss Shui lighty nodded and responded, ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you then.¡±


    After that drastic upheaval back then, she had thought for sure she was going to be beheaded. She had gone from poor to rich because she had met a noble, that was also why her father had been able to peacefully live out hisst days and why she had been able to punish their greedy rtives. If she had to pay for that good fortune with her life, she didn¡¯t mind.


    However, she was surprised that not only was she saved from death, she was also able to return to the capital, which meant she was able to burn incense in front of her father¡¯s grave. All the bitterness she had suffered up to now, it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    After boarding the carriage, Miss Shui¡¯s gaze showed that she was still slightly absent-minded. As soon as she returned to the capital, she couldn¡¯t help thinking about the past. How had the ount books she had given madam ended up in another person¡¯s hands? That was what caused the great disasterter.


    Guibai couldn¡¯t resist taking out the mirror to look at himself. This woman had suffered a lot of torment. And yet, she remained calm and easy-mannered. Shouldn¡¯t he pull himself together and try to find a wife again?


    The carriage entered the capital. Based on the sky, it wasn¡¯t early anymore. There were crowds of people everywhere to look at the colorednterns. Guibai guessed that there wouldn¡¯t be many people left in the estate if he went over there now. He was sure that the marquis and madam had already gone out.

 Chapter 505 - Could you understand a single mans suffering? (2)

    Chapter 505 ¨C Could you understand a single man¡¯s suffering? (2)


    ¡°Miss Shui, you¡¯ve been gone from the capital for a long time. Do you want to take a look around?¡± Guibai kindly suggested. ¡°It¡¯s very lively today.¡±


    Miss Shui looked at him in surprise. ¡°We don¡¯t need to go to the marqui¡¯s estate first?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯ll probably be perfect if you go backter to pay your respects.¡± As Guibai said this, he left the carriage at Ji Rice Store and led Miss Shui out of the carriage. ¡°Today happens to be Chinese Valentine¡¯s. Miss Shui, feel free to look around.¡±


    Miss Shui thought about it and agreed. This person looked upright and didn¡¯t seem like a person that would harm her. When she had gone over to meet madam in the past, she had seen him from afar twice and thought he had out-of-ordinary bearing. Although he was only an attendant, he had the ability to attract people¡¯s attention.


    At that time, she had asked around for his name. It was Guibai. However, after many bumps in the road of life, she had be a middle-aged woman. While she was still attractive, she guessed that he was already married by now.


    Sometimes, if you missed that opportune timing, then it was simply hopeless.


    Starting from the rice shop, they headed towards the capital¡¯s moat. There were many people on the streets as well as small stalls set up there that sold things that women liked.


    As Guibai walked side by side with Miss Shui, his heart kept beating loudly. He sneakily nced at the person next to him several times, and his heartbeat got louder and louder.


    ¡°Sir, how about buying a sachet for your wife? This design matches her very well,¡± an owner of a stall called out to Guibai.


    Guibai froze in surprise for a moment. He nkly took out the money, then turned his head to face Miss Shui and offered the sachet to her. ¡°Wife?¡±


    Miss Shui was startled, but afterwards she couldn¡¯t help breaking intoughter. She nced at the sachet in his hand for a moment, then took it. ¡°Since it¡¯s a holiday, I¡¯ll ept it.¡±


    ¡°Sir, how about buying a hairpin for your wife? This lotus hairpin is very pretty.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Guibai took out money again.


    ¡°Sir, how about buying antern? Today¡¯s Chinese Valentine¡¯s Day. It¡¯s the perfect day to buy one and release it with your wife.¡±


    ¡°...¡± Guibai continued to buy things.


    A short walkter, there was no more money left in his bag. The woman next to him, who was holding a pile of stuff, wasughing so hard that she almost couldn¡¯t breath.


    Guibai nkly looked at her. He was surprised that she couldugh so happily. Spending that money had been worth it. After all, she was madam¡¯s important guest.


    After Miss Shui was doneughing, she lectured him, ¡°How could you just buy anything that other people tell you too? Does your wife not take charge of your spending?¡±


    Guibai couldn¡¯t resist taking out his mirror and looking at himself, then he somewhat anxiously said, ¡°This one hasn¡¯t married yet.¡±


    Smile stiffening, Miss Shui looked at him as she said, ¡°At your age...¡±


    He was old enough to have a few children already. How could he not be married?!


    Guibai was somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately, skynterns were being released one after another at this time. In a short amount of time, the entire sky was lit. He quickly pointed at the sky. ¡°Look!¡±


    Miss Shui tilted her head back to look. The capital was truly very prosperous. If shepared the capital to the bleak bordends, it was like returning to heaven.


    The two of them kept their heads tilted back to look at the sky. A passerby bumped into Miss Shui and she, along with the pile of items, was pushed into Guibai¡¯s arms. When she raised her head in panic, she happened to meet Guibai¡¯s lowering head.


    Because Guibai was too tall, their lips naturally didn¡¯t touch in a kiss. But, they were so close, and the ,ood felt very ambiguous because of the holiday. It felt as pink bubbles were all around them.


    Startled, Guibai took a step back. He looked left and right as he stuttered, ¡°Let¡¯s... go back.¡±


    Miss Shui pushed her hair back and nodded. ¡°Right... yes.¡±


    Awkwardlyughing, the two of them looked away from each other. After going back for the carriage, they headed to the marquis¡¯s estate.


    However, when they arrived, they found out the madam and the marquis had been waiting for them this entire time in the main hall. Ji Man had already dozed off. When Ning Yuxuan saw him entering the hall, he looked at him with great displeasure. ¡°Why did it take you so long to pick someone up from the ry station?¡±


    Ji Man woke up from the noise. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Miss Shu. She quickly stood up and said, ¡°You¡¯re finally back!¡±


    Somewhat embarrassed, Miss Shui put down the items and knelt down to salute, ¡°This humble woman...¡±


    ¡°No need for formalities. You suffered for so long.¡± Ji Man hastily went forward and helped her up. Then, she swept a nce over the items on the floor and looked at Guibai in surprise. ¡°You two...¡±


    Guibai also knelt down and summoned up his courage to say, ¡°This one didn¡¯t know that the marquis and madam were waiting here. This one thought that since today is Chinese Valentine¡¯s day, my lord and madam would have definitely gone out...¡±


    Ning Yuxuan¡¯s ckened expression looked very ugly. It looked as ck as the bottom of a pot. ¡°Madam has been waiting here since you left. She wouldn¡¯t go anywhere. Why didn¡¯t youe back to report first? Where did you bring Miss Shui?¡±


    Ji Man stood up and tugged Ning Yuxuan¡¯s sleeve. In a quiet voice, she said, ¡°You won¡¯t even give your employee the freedom for a romance. I prepared a candlelit dinner for us. How about we go back to our room first?¡±


    ¡°What about them?¡± Marquis Moyu furrowed his brow as he looked at Guibai.


    ¡°Just have Guibai bring Miss Shui to the guest quarters so she can rest.¡± Ji Man hugged his arm as she said, ¡°Only bosses that can show understanding towards their employees are good bosses. You should give Guibai time off for romance. If you don¡¯t, his ancestors from the previous 18 generations won¡¯t let you off. He¡¯s already at this age, and he¡¯s still not married.¡±


    Marquis Moyu twitched his lips. He swept his gaze over the two people kneeling on the floor. ¡°Alright, Guibai, go bring Miss Shui to the quest quarters to rest. We¡¯ll talk tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 506 - A family of three (1)

    Chapter 506 ¨C A family of three (1)


    Miss Shui and Guibai sighed in relief. Caught holding so many items, it felt as if they were thieves with their stolen goods. It was naturally the best if the marquis was willing to let them off.


    But, as she turned to send them off, Miss Shui couldn¡¯t resist taking another look at the marquis and madam.


    A long time ago, when she had first started working for madam to sell snow cream, she asked in curiosity. Since madam lived in the Marquis Moyu¡¯s estate, why did she need to go out to do business?


    At that time, madam had said, ¡°You can¡¯t rely on anyone. You can only rely on yourself. I can¡¯t think I won¡¯t have to fret about basic necessities just because I married a rich man. The money is his, not mine.¡±


    When Miss Shui had heard those words, she had been extremely shocked. At that time, there hadn¡¯t been any emotion in Ji Man¡¯s eyes. Miss Shui felt as if she was looking at Guanyin statue at a temple, possessing great wisdom and knowledge, but it was also aloof and heartless.


    But, as she watched the two people slowly walking out the main hall and towards a covered corridor right now, she saw that they weren¡¯t holding hands or hugging. They were walking side-by-side. When madam turned her head to the side to look at the marquis when they were speaking to each other, the side profile of her face looked as gentle as person in the mortal world.


    She had thought a woman like madam, who was capable of scheming, resolute, and clever, wouldn¡¯t be moved by feelings.


    Guibai coughed to get her attention and said, ¡°Miss Shui, please follow this one. This one will lead to you to a guest room to rest.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Miss Shui returned to her senses. Slightly smiling, she nodded.


    At the doorway, a servant that had been waiting there to lead the guest over, foolishly stood in ce. The servant watched as the marquis¡¯s favorite attendant personally lead the guest towards the back of the estate. Guibai¡¯s hand, which was behind his back, made a gesture at the servant.


    The gesture meant the servant should act tactfully and not bother them.


    The servant¡¯s lips twitched. After standing there for a moment longer, the servant went off to sleep.


    ¡ª


    Miss Shui stayed in the estate for less than half a month. Ji Man opened up another rouge store for her, and made arrangements for Miss Shui¡¯s rtives that still lived in the capital.


    ¡°It was my fault that you got dragged into that mess back then.¡± Ji Man sighed. ¡°Those ount books were in my possession when they were taken. If that hadn¡¯t happened, you wouldn¡¯t have lost the store you¡¯ve been running for such a long time.¡±


    Miss Shui slightly smiled. ¡°Madam, it should be the other way around. Without Madam, I would have never reached great wealth. Isn¡¯t everything fine now? I still have to thank Madam for that.¡±


    Miss Shui was a woman that knew how to be grateful. She wouldn¡¯t think that other people should give her anything in the future, but she always remembered what they had already given her. She was the type to pay back a kindness a hundred fold, like giving a gushing spring back for a trickle of water.


    Ji Man smiled. She hadn¡¯t misjudged Miss Shu.


    She had been here for so long, and Muxu was probably the only one she misjudged. It was because Muxu was the first person she had met here as well as her personal servant girl, that¡¯s why she hadn¡¯t been guarded against her. She hadn¡¯t expected that after being betrayed once by Muxu, she still ended up being thoroughly betrayed in the end.


    After that great cmity passed, she finally had time to think. Before Muxu died, she had threatened that she wouldn¡¯t have a good life either. Muxu had probably been the one that gave Qi Siling those ount books and told Qi Siling about the cold cream. That¡¯s why, at thest juncture, Qi Siling had been able to push Nie n to the guillotine.


    There was no point in focusing excessively on the dead. It was just a pity that her discerning eyes had lost to a servant girl, who was outwardly devoted to her, but inwardly opposed her.


    It wasn¡¯t worth it, ah. This had caused Miss Shui to suffer for so long too.


    Miss Shui suddenly thought of something and asked Ji Man, ¡°There¡¯s something I want to ask Madam. The stuff that you had me bury. Is it still useful?¡±


    Ji Man froze in surprise.


    A long time ago, when she had earned enough money, she asked Miss Shui to bury a box of gold taels. At that time, she had thought if she couldn¡¯t go back, she would figure out a way to slip away from here. With that box of gold taels, it would be enough money tost her for the rest of her life. That money was her insurance, so that she could guarantee herself a path to escape.


    But now...


    ¡°Just leave it there.¡± Ji Man sighed and helplessly said, ¡°I used to think that I could only depend on myself, but now, there¡¯s someone standing next to me, who will retreat and advance with me. So, I¡¯m not worried that I won¡¯t have a way to retreat. The things in the world are truly impermanence. What I used to distrust the most has be the thing that I depend on the most now.¡±


    Distrust the most? Miss Shui froze in surprise. What did madam distrust the most? She remembered madam once saying, ¡°You can never believe in a merchant¡¯s words or a man¡¯s heart. Those two things are the most untrustworthy.¡±


    Then the thing she most relied on... Miss Shui sunk into contemtion.


    ¡°You¡¯re still not done talking?¡± A person walked over to the doorway. He was wearing a silver robe embroidered in blue. He looked peerlessly noble, and yet, he wasn¡¯t putting on any airs. He was holding a child in one arm, and looking somewhat displeased as he looked inside and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted to take Sangyu out for a stroll today?¡±


    Ji Man returned to her senses. She looked at the sky to check the time, then patted her head. ¡°Oh, I lost track of time. Let¡¯s stop our discussion here for now. I¡±m going out for a walk first.¡±


    Miss Shui blinked. There was a little girl hanging off the marquis¡¯s waist and making sounds of excitement. There was a rope ced around Marquis Moyu¡¯s neck, and he was holding the little girl by the waist to keep her from falling as she crawled over his body.


    Ah, they already had a daughter. Miss Shui touched the fine lines at the corners of her eyes. Time truly passed by quickly. She should find someone to spend her life with too.


    Ji Man walked over to them. She picked Sangyu off of Marquis Moyu, and the family of three went out.


    Miss Shui heard Marquis Moyu grumbling, ¡°Does this girl have enmity against me from a past life? She wiped her saliva and snot all over my new robe again, but she never does it towards my old clothing.¡±

 Chapter 507 - A family of three (2)

    Chapter 507 ¨C A family of three (2)


    ¡°It¡¯s only because she likes your new clothes,¡± said Ji Man. ¡°You should be feeling happy, ah. It¡¯s only your clothes this time. She didn¡¯t break any of your valuable vases.¡±


    At the mention of this, Marquis Moyu felt a headacheing on. Little Sangyu was almost four years old and was especially mischievous. She would always target expensive items when it came to destroying things, and she loved to cling to him. The day before yesterday, she had broken an antique vase in his collection. And, he could only re at her. He couldn¡¯t bear to hit her or scold her.


    That wasn¡¯t a big deal. The crucial point was that this girl would cry, ah. While crying horribly, she would run to Ji Man andin about him. With a face that showed she was sympathetic towards their daughter, Ji Man would say, ¡°Is our daughter important, or is a vase important? Why did you act so mean towards her?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan: ¡°...¡± He truly felt very wronged. He hadn¡¯t even said one scolding word towards Sangyu. He couldn¡¯t even disy a slightly mean expression? Outside, he was clearly the awe-inspiring and grand Marquis Moyu. Anyone that saw him would respectfully lower his or her head. So, why did he have no status at all at home? Even a little girl could bully him!


    However, since little Sangyu was like a perfect miniature replica of her mother, he endured it. What else could he do?


    The family of three had a routine of taking an evening stroll. Ji Man was wearing a rouge-colored dress, and Marquis Moyu was wearing a formal robe embroidered with dragons while little Sangyu was dressed more casually. She was wearing something that Ji Man had made her. It was a two piece princess-style outfit with a top and small skirt. She looked very lively and cute in it.


    On the capital¡¯s southern side, by the riverbank of a long river, the family of three could often be seen. Right now, Marquis Moyu was in a high position of power. The only real difference between him and the emperor was just a matter of titles. Ji Man also had a chokehold on the capital because of her rice business. It would be easy for either of them to do something that would affect a myriad of people.


    But, they were just randomly strolling outside. From a distance, the guards followed them and saw Marquis Moyu picking up little Sangyu and putting her on his shoulder. As they walked, he and Ji Man bickered over something.


    ¡°Back then, you behaved so coldly in front of me. How would anyone be able to see that you like me?¡± Ning Yuxuan felt quite troubled.


    ¡°Just because you couldn¡¯t tell, that defaults to me not liking you?¡± Ji Man raised her eyebrows. ¡°Well, you treated me so poorly for such a long time. I still remember that household punishment of five-rods thick rattan!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have a choice...¡± His imposing manner weakened.


    ¡°Oh, so it was because you didn¡¯t have a choice that you decide to treat me unfairly. Was that just ying around for you?¡± Ji Manughed. ¡°How nice of you, thanks.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan was unable to respond. He insufferably huffed and turned his head away from her. He had wronged her several times back then, but all of those times were because of misunderstandings, ah. Hadn¡¯t he already started topensate her for those incidents?


    ¡°When did you start to have feelings for me?¡± Ning Yuxuan couldn¡¯t resist asking when they had reached halfway in their stroll.


    Ji Man lowered her head and seriously thought about it before saying, ¡°Guess?¡±


    Marquis Moyu honestly guessed, ¡°From that time when you wanted me to say, ¡°I love you¡±?¡±


    No, that was wrong. If he said those words, she would return to her world. When she was still thinking about returning, she definitely didn¡¯t have feelings for him. Ning Yuxuan shook his head. ¡°No. Perhaps, it was when you found out that Haohao is your son?¡±


    Ji Man touched her chin and said, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know either.¡±


    Angry, Ning Yuxuan stopped walking and looked at her in dissatisfaction while still carrying their daughter.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point in pursuing this answer?¡± Ji Man yawned. Pulling him by the arm, she continued walking forward. ¡°When we get back, I¡¯ll continue telling you stories from <i>One Thousand and One Nights</i>.¡±


    His face sunk. The normally dignified marquis shook his head like a child. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it!¡±


    It had already been three days, and she still wanted him to listen to that story!


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. My period is really bad this time,¡± Ji Man helplessly grumbled. ¡°How about you go to Qing-<i>er</i>¡®s courtyard then?¡±


    Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. He nced at Ji Man¡¯s face from the side. Sighing, he answered, ¡°I¡¯ll listen to that story then.¡±


    Men liked having avish life of having multiple wives and concubines, but he had already gotten used to their warm and cozy family life of three. Moreover, he didn¡¯t want to ruin it. In the first half of his life, he had already gotten his full of seeing all sorts of women. In the second half, he decided that having one woman that was most suitable to him was enough.


    As for Qing-<i>er</i>, she was willing to stay in her courtyard and watch over Xi-<i>er</i> as he grew up. Ning Yuxuan gave her unconditional freedom and financially supported her. He wouldn¡¯t treat her unfairly.


    After all, in theter stage, she had helped him with many things. But, no else knew about this.


    There was a gentle evening breeze. At first, when other people saw this family leisurely strolling, they would smile at them, then respectfully move to the side. After a long time of these routine walks, when other people on the path had seen them many times, the other pedestrians remained undaunted and continue walking normally as if they hadn¡¯t seen them.


    However, during each of these evening strolls, the passersby couldn¡¯t resist sneaking a few nces at them. The family¡¯s tranquil happiness caused envy in others.


    Of course, when important national figures walked outside, they would meet with danger. Marquis Moyu¡¯s family wasn¡¯t an exception. When three or less assassins came, Ji Man and Sangyu would stand by the side and cheer for Ning Yuxuan. When there was more than three assassins, the family of three would stay on the side and cheer for the bodyguards instead.


    Ji Man really liked these days. It was pleasantlyfortable without being boring.


    As for when she started to like Marquis Moyu, Nie Sangyu was probably the only person that knew. After all, they had shared the same heart at first.

 Chapter 508 - Everyone deserves a sincere love (1)

    Chapter 508 ¨C Everyone deserves a sincere love (1)


    Miss Shui¡¯s rouge store opened, so she naturally moved out of the estate. Recently, Ning Yuxuan would be unable to find Guibai. Guibai¡¯s disappearances increased over time.


    ¡°Strange, where is he?¡± Standing at the study¡¯s doorway, the marquis was slightly at a loss.


    Ji Man came over to him with snacks. Raising her eyebrows, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Guibai usually stays by my side, buttely, there are many times when I don¡¯t see him. I end up having to assign other people to do tasks that would usually be done by him,¡± said Ning Yuxuan gloomily, ¡°He requested time off the day before yesterday. I thought he would be back by today, but it seems he hasn¡¯t yet.¡±


    Ji Man thought it over as she pulled him into the study and put down a te of snacks. ¡°He¡¯s probably busy with something and got dyed. You don¡¯t need to worry too much. He¡¯s served you for so many years.¡±


    Ning Yuxuan sat down and considered for a while before asking, ¡°Did he go see Miss Shui?¡±


    The corners of Ji Man¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°Didn¡¯t we already noticed this when he brought her back? It¡¯s really obvious that Guibai is interested in Miss Shui.¡±


    Although Miss Shui was a widow, she was a virtuous person and also good at managing a household. She had suffered a lot in the past years. It would be pretty good if there was a good man to cherish her.


    ¡°It¡¯s like that, huh.¡± Having figured things out, Marquis Moyu¡¯s forehead rxed. ¡°Then, he should just go over to her home and propose. He¡¯s been dawdling around her for so long, and he still hasn¡¯t seeded in winning her over?¡±


    Ji Man nodded too. Guibai seemed like a stupidly cute person. In addition, he frequently looked at himself in the mirror. He had probably already gotten adled from doing that too much. If they could help him out with this matter, they should.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    Just as they were thinking about him, he had already returned on his own. His expression looked slightly grave.


    ¡°Guibai,e over here.¡± Ning Yuxuan looked very amicable. He looked a lot like the aunties in neighbourhoodmittees. He looked at Guibai very gently and said, ¡°Is something bothering you?¡±


    Guibai wasn¡¯t used to Marquis Moyu acting this way. He froze in surprise for a long time before finally answering, ¡°This subordinate is fine. It¡¯s only... this servant wishes to take a few more days off.¡±


    ¡°To do what?¡± Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows.


    Guibai paused for a moment. ¡°To get married.¡±


    What? The other people in the room were stunned. They had still been thinking about helping him, but he had already progressed to the point of getting married?


    ¡°This subordinate proposed to Miss Shui, and she agreed. The wedding ceremony will be simple.¡± Embarrassed, Guibai said, ¡°We¡¯re already gotten to this old age.¡±


    His words stifled Ji Man for a long time. She blinked and repeated his words, ¡°You propose to Miss Shui, and she agreed?¡±


    Guibai nodded.


    ¡°Why do you have such a grave expression then?¡± Ji Man didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°I thought something bad had happened.


    Guibai wryly smiled. It really couldn¡¯t be considered a super happy event, ah. They were just two people looking for someone to spend their life with. He had smoothly said his proposal, and she had agreed without showing any strong emotion.


    There really hadn¡¯t been any feeling of excitement, ah.


    Following after the marquis and madam every day and seeing their daily disys of conjugal love until he had gotten used to it, Guibai also desired a deep love. Even though not everyone could have such an ardent love like the marquis and madam, there should still be a mutually good impression and caring adoration between two people in a rtionship.


    However, his conversation with Miss Shui went like this:


    ¡°This one isn¡¯t young anymore. It¡¯s about time for this one to get married.¡±


    ¡°En.¡±


    ¡°Miss Shui, would you be willing to spend your life with this one?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    During this exchange, the two people¡¯s expressions resembled sculptures. After they hade to an agreement, he went to look for a matchmaker to write a marriage document, set a date for the wedding, and came back to ask for time off and prepared to get married.


    ¡°This one doesn¡¯t know if Miss Shui agreed out of impulse.¡± Guiba sighed. ¡°Still, no matter what, we¡¯ll get married anyways.¡±


    Ji Man raised her eyebrows. These two people were clearly interested in each other. Why was he still showing such an unhappy face after getting engaged?


    Ning Yuxuan looked at Guibai for a while, then he said, ¡°You¡¯ve been following me for many years. I¡¯ll naturally pay for the betrothal gifts. You don¡¯t have to worry about that.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my lord.¡± Guibai bowed,


    ¡°You can leave to go and get prepared.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand and watched as Guibai took two steps before turning to look at them.


    Marquis Moyu and Ji Man were sitting next to each other. Even though they weren¡¯t doing anything special, it still felt like a scene of conjugal love.


    Guibai sighed. He was truly worried that Miss Shui didn¡¯t like him and that what little feelings she had for him now would dim further when they spent more time together.


    If she liked him, then she should act like madam, ah. Although madam wasn¡¯t wouldn¡¯t say anything, she clearly knew the marquis¡¯s favorite foods and where he would be at certain times of the day. Moreover, she would appear whenever he needed her. Those two looked well-matched when they were standing together.


    And, a man should act like the marquis. Cold and calm on the outside, but full of emotions and thoughts inside. He frequently bickered with madam, but on the way back from the imperial court, he never forgot to buy trinkets for her. He also tolerated Young Miss¡¯s various destructive behaviors.


    Guibai felt that he had already been ruined by watching their interactions. He now felt that a rtionship would be intolerable if it wasn¡¯t ardent.


    ¡ª


    Full of apprehension, he got married and had his wedding night. Afterwards, he called Miss Shui by her first name, Huayue. They lived in the marquis¡¯s estate. Miss Shui employed people to manage the rouge shop, and the two of them embarked on a dull, ordinary life. It truly was very dull without even the slightest ups or downs. Their life was like a calm ocean without any waves.

 Chapter 509 - Everyone deserves a sincere love (2)

    Chapter 509 ¨C Everyone deserves a sincere love (2)


    Guibai went out early in the day, and Ms. Shui stayed at home cleaning and sewing. Guibai would return during noon to eat with her, and she would already have prepared a few simple dishes. When he came back in the evening, the bedding would be warmed up. She was always gentle and virtuous, and he wouldn¡¯t say anything extraneous. After the two of them finished dinner, they would go to sleep.


    Actually, their days were very cozy and warm, but Guibai and Miss Shui weren¡¯t the type to idly chat. Other than sleeping in the same bed, it seemed more like they were roommates than husband and wife. There wasn¡¯t even any friendly bickering between them.


    ¡ª


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Ji Man saw Ning Yuxuan bringing over a bolt of silk fabric. She raised her eyebrows.


    ¡°I saw this in a fabric store on my way back from the imperial court,¡± said Ning Yuxuan, ¡°How about you make me a cloak with it?¡±


    Ji Man twitched her lips. ¡°Dream on.¡±


    Even though that¡¯s what she said, she still took the silk fabric from him and looked at it. She considered what kind of cloak she could make from it.


    Guibai was standing behind them. He felt even more conflicted. Why were the marquis and madam¡¯s conversations so natural and intimate? How long would it take for him and Huayue to progress to this point?


    ¡ª


    Ms. Shui came with him as he apanied the marquis and his family on their evening stroll. Seeing the family of three in front of them, Guibai couldn¡¯t resist sneaking a nce at the person next to him.


    ¡°Huayue...¡±


    ¡°En?¡± Ms. Shui turned her head to nkly look at him.


    Guibai couldn¡¯t resist rubbing the mirror inside his sleeve. He coughed a few times to clear his throat, then he said, ¡°Do you envy the marquis and madam¡¯s lifestyle?¡±


    Ms. Shui looked at him in puzzlement. ¡°Why should I feel envy?¡±


    ¡°They have such a strong, loving marriage. The marquis has power over all levels of society, and madam is a woman that¡¯s rarely seen in this world...¡± Guibai gesture as he spoke. ¡°Isn¡¯t that very enviable?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is very enviable,¡± said Ms. Shui calmly, ¡°Everyone wishes they could be like them, but unfortunately, that¡¯s not a reachable goal for everyone. We can only be ourselves and live out our own kind of life. Other people¡¯s lives are their own.¡±


    Guibai froze in surprise.


    ¡°No matter how good the marquis is, he¡¯s madam¡¯s husband. No one else would be able to manage him as well as her. No matter how good madam is, she only likes the marquis. She wouldn¡¯t want anyone else either,¡± said Ms. Shui with a serious expression, ¡°They have their lives, and it¡¯s okay to envy them, but there¡¯s no need to insist that you need a life like theirs to be happy.¡±


    It felt as if a lightning bolt had covered the sky in blinding brightness. Guibai came to a sudden realization.


    Oh, so it was like that. He had been constantly worried that Ms. Shui would feel unhappy spending her life with him because she had the marquis and madam as aparison point. He assumed that she would think their shared life was like a cup of in boiled water that would bing increasingly vorless. But, as it turned out, he had just been overthinking things.


    ¡°I left a piece of beef for tonight,¡± said Ms. Shui in a quiet voice, ¡°Come home earlier today, I¡¯ll cook it for you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Guibai enthusiastically nodded. He thought it over, then he took out the mirror he had been using for several years. He handed the mirror to Ms. Shui.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Ms. Shui took the mirror from him to look at. Twitching her lips, she asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you like this mirror a lot? You always have it with you.¡±


    Guibai nodded with a solemn expression. ¡°Yes, I used this mirror to reflect on myself and to try to reason out why I had such a difficult time getting married.¡±


    Ms. Shui: ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I understand now. It¡¯s because I¡¯ve been affected too much by the marquis and madam.¡± Guibai¡¯s gaze showed that he was very moved. ¡°Thank you for waking me up to truth. I want to give you this mirror as my thanks.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want it,¡± Ms. Shui calmly stuffed the mirror back into his sleeve.


    ¡°Why?¡± Guibai felt very wronged. This mirror used to be his beloved treasure.


    Ms. Shui sighed. She held Guibai¡¯s hand as she said, ¡°Just keep it for yourself. Since you¡¯re no longer affected by them, let¡¯s follow them and have a nice stroll together.¡±


    The real reason was that she thought the entire issue was really stupid, whether it was the mirror or the owner of this mirror.


    Once again, the marquis and his family met assassins on the riverbank. From a distance, Ms. Shui saw madam picking up miss and moving to the side. In the next second, the marquis took out a dagger stored at his waist and started exchanging blows with the two assassins.


    ¡°Your lord is getting attacked by assassins,¡± she said.


    Guibai had been gazing at Ms. Shui with a foolish smile. He didn¡¯t respond until he heard those words. He quickly gestured for the guards toe over to stand in a circle and watch.


    The group of guards formed a circle and watched the marquis fight off two assassins. When he executed a particrly brilliant move, they would cheer too. On the other side, Ji Man had already taken money out and purchased candied hawthorn from a passing merchant. She gave one stick of candied hawthorn to little Sangyu. The mother and daughter happily watched the show on the side while Ms. Shui was standing next to Guibai. Seeing that the fight had reached a critical point, Guibai went forward with his sword.


    As the sun was setting, the assassins quickly retreated. On the way back, the marquis and madam hugged each other and coaxed their daughter. Guibai and Ms. Shui withdrew to their rooms and happily left to eat beef.


    Each rtionship and person had their own good points.There was no need to feel envious.


    ¡ª


    Guibai and Ms. Shui continued to follow after the marquis and Ji Man. They watched them mutually supporting each other and as their hair turned from ck to white. They admired them, but they didn¡¯t feel jealous. After all, when they turned to the side to look, didn¡¯t they also have a partner that was apanying them as their hair grayed?


    There were thousands of feelings in the world. There were ones as ardent as fireworks, and ones as quiet as the starry sky. You have your glittering splendor, and I have my tranquil andfortable life.


    Everyone deserves a sincere love.

 Chapter 510 (END) - Authors Note

    Chapter 510 ¨C Author¡¯s Note


    What am I feeling right now?


    My boyfriend asked me why I¡¯m kneeling in front of myputer andughing and crying. I feel like a spasming nutjob, and it¡¯s one that needed to take lots of medicine too.


    I told him that<i> Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir</i> is finished.


    He replied, ¡°Oh, the novel that you updated daily with more than 10,000 words a day? The reason why you were too busy to wash your face, brush your teeth, and tidy your hair? Why you looked like one of those Chinese ghosts with hair all over their face?¡±


    I answered, ¡°Yup, that one! I really like this novel. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to properly write the ending. I wanted to write a BE originally, but I couldn¡¯t bear to do that, so I wrote a HE instead!¡±


    He asked, ¡°Oh, what¡¯s a BE? What¡¯s a HE?¡±


    (T/N: BE = bad/tragic ending, HE = happy ending.)


    ... We weren¡¯t people from the same dimensions, so he couldn¡¯t understand me! It felt as if a thousand horses had been surginging forward in shock in my heart and causing a sandstorm to rise up from their vigorous galloping.


    And then, the sand falls down, and the entire world is quiet.


    <i>The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir</i>, which had apanied me and everyone for the past two months, hase to an end of sorts. The novel is done, and there won¡¯t be daily updates anymore. I¡¯m waving my hand in goodbye for now, but this novel has already been signed with a book publisher. Of course, there will definitely be changes between the printed version of this novel and the web version. There will also be extra stories added for our male and female protagonists. When the timees, they¡¯ll definitelye back in another way. I hope that everyone will continue to like it.


    I want to tell everyone a secret after I concluded my emotional speech. Perhaps, it¡¯s not considered a secret because I had already revealed it on Weibo.


    <i>The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir</i> isn¡¯t a transmigration novel.


    After the female lead, Ji Man, read a book and went to sleep, she dreamed that she entered the world in the book. As the female lead with the biggest pit in her head, for the initial setting, the novel is just the female lead¡¯s dream.


    She didn¡¯t be Nie Sangyu. She was just dreaming that she had taken Nie Sangyu¡¯s ce, and then thinking about how she will live her life.


    This dream was very long. Long enough for several years to pass in the dream. But, when Ji Man woke up afterpleting Nie Sangyu¡¯s wish, it was only the next morning.


    I remember thements for that chapter. Many people said the writing was sloppy. They questioned why Ji Man inexplicably transmigrate back to the novel world.


    Actually, that wasn¡¯t what happened. Ji Man didn¡¯t transmigrate. That time, she had really woken up. She woke up to modern-day and suddenly discovered that all the people from the ancient world were gone. Ning Yuxuan was gone, and she missed him a lot. And so, wearing her high heels, she wanted to run back and continue to dream.


    And then, I wrote, she fell back into her dream.


    That silly modern-day girl, who had been wearing such high heels while running, had fallen down on the road, cracked her head, and be aatose person that went back to dreaming


    I haven¡¯t explicitly said this because it¡¯s truly too sad andughable.


    I wrote about this in the ending too; Ji Man sees cracks in her surroundings in her dream world. Those were cracks in her dream. One day, she would wake up again. No matter how many years she had lived in her dream, she would wake up to her same self in modern-day, only a few days older.


    But, when she woke up, Ning Yuxuan and little Sangyu wouldn¡¯t be by her side anymore. There would be nothing.


    After waking up from that spring boudoir dream, she would probably turn on her phone and look at that web novel. There was no way to verify if the novel had changed because of her, but she was the only one that knew the ending of the novel.


    She could even write out the rest of the novel.


    I¡¯m used to writing happy endings. Readers often say that I must be the male lead¡¯s mother. No matter how scummy the male lead is, he would always get a perfectly happy ending with the female lead.


    I admit that I¡¯m a cheesy and dramatic writer that¡¯s been professionally whitening the ckened male leads for the past twenty years. It¡¯s because there are too many unhappy and unsatisfactory things in real life. It would totally suck if you felt that way while reading a novel too.


    That¡¯s why I wrote that Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan live happily ever after and die together in old age. Of course, there¡¯s also Haohao¡¯s contribution. In the extra story at the end, when Ji Man is seriously ill, it¡¯s because there¡¯s a doctor in modern-day that wants to awaken her from hera!


    However, Haohao gives her a medicine that lets her continue sleeping so that this young woman can stay in this dream world for love.


    When Ji Man wakes up again, perhaps, she won¡¯t have any regrets. After all, she had already been with Ning Yuxuan for a lifetime.


    This is the secret that I want to tell you, the novel¡¯s real setting.


    I buried a lot of foreshadowing in the novel, to the point that I forgot about a lot of them at the end. I¡¯ll do my best to correct them for the published version. Thank you everyone for your support.


    There were also a lot of unresolved puzzles. For example, did Ji Man really kill Fu-<i>er</i>? Regarding this question, I feel that different people will have different views, so I¡¯m not nning on writing a definite answer. You can decide on your own what happened there.


    As for little Sangyu, she can be considered Nie Sangyu¡¯s reincarnation. In this lifetime, little Sangyu changed her methods in obtaining love. Ji Man would also teach her the correct way to love someone.


    Holding a pot lid above my head as Iugh, I want to say that I really like this novel. Although I was influenced by other people on how I wrote this novel, I feel that I have gained a bit more maturity after I finished writing this story.


    Trantor Ramblings: This is the end of DSB. Thank you so much for giving this novel a try and your support! I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!