Ning Yuxuan was still in a bad mood. Seeing her leave, he thought that she would probably still come 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 translation 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 her last 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 blankly looked at him. “Marquis?” 

  What was he going to do to her? Didn’t he have her master to serve him? Why had he come 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 so late at night too?” 

  So, it was him. Ning Yuxuan relaxed, 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 explain. 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 flashed 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 to come 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 will laugh 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. 

  — 

  Spring had arrived. It was time for new clothes to be made and many bolts of silk fabric had been brought to the residence. According 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 accident happened to occur in Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan’s hand had accidentally 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? 

  Translator 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 out of 513 – The classical 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 war lasted 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 occasionally leave the residence and was always in high spirits when she came back. 

  — 

  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 relaxed. Holding a bag of melon seeds to snack on, she watched this entertaining show. 

  — 

  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 glance at Gancao, grudgingly accepted 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 Dengxin come 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. The latter 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 young ladies, 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 a commoner, 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 and ladies from Tonghao Poetry Association heading towards Luoyan Pagoda. We don’t know when Madam was accepted 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 explained, “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. 

  — 

  Tonghua Poetry Association was the equivalent of high society in modern day. You gained prestige just by being accepted into the association. Even if Marquis Moyu found out, he wouldn’t blame 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. 

  — 

  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 accepted 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 welcomed. Ji Man patiently waited. 

  But, the end result was Ning Errong indignantly coming to see her before the afternoon had even arrived. She sat down in front of her, angrily slapped 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 out of 513 – The classical 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 flattered 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 place that doesn’t care about etiquette and people can’t complain 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 plaque 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 place to be a good breeding ground for scholars. 

  There were plenty of talented individuals that came from boudoirs, ah. For example, there were poetesses like Li Qingzhao. With a place like Tonghao Poetry Association, there naturally would be a place for them to display their talent. 

  (T/N: Li Qingzhao was a famous Song Dynasty poetess.) 

  But, why did Wen Wan go there? 

  — 

  When Marquis Moyu was informed of this new, his expression was calm. Without even raising his head, he went to Jinse’s courtyard. 

  — 

  Two days later, 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 to come 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 outcome 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 explain, 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 explained 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 accuse 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 blamed 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 unrelated 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 occasionally being a bit strong. It made people want to protect her. All men had savior complexes. Marquis Moyu wasn’t an exception to this rule. 

  And so, he sighed and said, “Let Wan-er 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-er, 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 out of 513 – 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 a commoner’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. 

  — 

  Jinse wasn’t an especially important person, but there was a huge commotion 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 glanced 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 glanced 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. 

  — 

  Inside her room, Wen Wan cried for a long time. 

  Tanxiang quietly comforted 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’re compared to her, it would be strange if you didn’t lose!” 

  Wen Wan thought over Qi Siling’s words. They seemed like an accurate 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 naïve. 

  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. 

  — 

  Jinse had miscarried, so Marquis Moyu planned 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 delayed 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 too lazy to move. But, the attitudes of the servants had changed. 

  When Muxu returned from getting her new clothes, her expression was jubilant 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 to come 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 to come. 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 out of 513 – 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 become much better with behaving yourself. You won’t have the same outcome 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? 

  — 

  Errong had prepared a table full of tasty food and invited Nie Qingyun over. She also dragged Ning Mingjie and Nie Sangyu over to accompany 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 only come 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 upcoming marriage. You’ll be getting married to Qingyun in only four days. According to the rules, shouldn’t you be waiting until then to see him?” 

  Ning Errong blushed. She glanced 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 Clan. 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.” 

  — 

  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 her complaints. 

  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 circulating 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 blame 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 wryly laughed and said to Ning Mingjie, “I’ve always believe that the sins you commit 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. 

  — 

  Although Ji Man had already finished embroidering Errong’s wedding dress during the trip, she was still busy with other matters related to Errong’s wedding. Thus, she didn’t pay attention to these rumors. But later 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 explained the truth, people wouldn’t believe her. Besides, it would too much of a wasted effort to explain the truth every time you met a new person. But, if you didn’t explain, people would think you have a guilty conscience and the rumors would continue to become 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 out of 513 – 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 a lake 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 place 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 play?” 

  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 poetry competition. The head of the association can restrain the behavior of the members and will also recommend 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 poetry competition 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 become 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 recommend 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 become 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 slander 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 were completed. She could probably bluff her way through it by plagiarizing famous poets. Moreover, while she had been fine with leaving Wen Wan alone, this white lotus character was now vilifying her. Don’t blame 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. 

  — 

  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 congratulations 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-in-law, you shouldn’t be thinking this way. Qingyun is a good child. Errong will have a good home for the latter half of her life.” 

  — 

  There was a celebratory banquet at Nie residence. Many people from Ning Clan 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 circular skirt. Standing in the crowd, she looked slender and elegant. Many people had come 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 relatively 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 was laughing 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 be coming over later 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 have completed 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 out of 513 – 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 such lack of restraint in broad daylight. No wonder Wan-er can’t win over her.” 

  Ji Man found his words laughable. 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 blaming 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 blaming her? Ji Man wanted to laugh. Looking at Wen Wan, who was hiding behind the crowd and looked incomparably 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 been lacking 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 accessory with yellow strings at the bottom. 

  Only fifth-rank and higher officials were allowed to wear this type of waist accessory. 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 accept 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 derisively laughed. 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 slapping 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-er will comply too.” Wen Wan lightly smiled and looked as if she had a card up her sleeve. 

  Hearing the news of this competition, the concubines in Ning Clan 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 placed 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 accomplished.” 

  He had originally come 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 out of 513 – 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 Ode to the Plum Blossom.

  Now that she was thinking about it, it would be quite appropriate for today. Ji Man lightly smiled, glanced at Wen Wan, and said, “Sangyu will give this poem to Wan-er.” 

  Wen Wan had been confidently looked at Nie Sangyu. Surprised by these words, she slightly frowned. Giving her a poem? 

  “Wind and rain escorted Spring’s departure, flying snow welcomes Spring’s return,

  On the ice-clad rock rising high and sheer, a flower blooms sweet and fair,

  Sweet and fair, she craves Spring not just for herself,

  To be the harbinger of Spring, she is content,

  When the mountain flowers are in full bloom, she will smile mingling in their midst.”


  (T/N: The full translation of Ode to the Plum Blossom can be found here.)

  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 Ode to the Plum Blossom. Sangyu composed it to praised Wan-er, who doesn’t try to vie for anything. Her devotion to selflessly contribute is impeccable.” Ji Man followed these words with a cutting remark, “Wan-er 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 well composed. Even Qiang Yingchen was smiling and nodding. 

  Originally, the various sons of nobility had planned 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-er had written.” 

  Wen Wan blushed. She had already handed her poem to Qian Yingchen and it was already too late 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 her laughter. 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 display 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’s laughter. 

  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-er’s poem wasn’t as good as yours, you shouldn’t laugh so loudly. You’re not showing any respect.” 

  Ji Man had laughed enough. She dried her eyes, turned around, and said, “Sangyu has truly acted rudely. Sangyu didn’t laugh because Wan-er didn’t write a good poem. It’s because Sangyu feels that the imagery that Wan-er 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-er is willing to admit defeat for today’s competition. Madam, please let Wan-er off and stop embarrassing Wan-er.” 

  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 become accustomed 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 has come 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’s competition 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 about competition’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 to laugh 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 bit lacking…… Wan-er was just feeling too lonely, so Wan-er came to Tonghao Poetry Association to talk about poems with everyone. But after the fuss of today, Wan-er 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-er took your title as the most talented woman?”


  Chapter 133 out of 513 – 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 quietly laughing. 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. 

  — 

  Ji Man hummed a little ditty the entire walk to old madame’s place. 

  — 

  Old madame had already heard about her competition 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-er 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 to compete with Sangyu, then Sangyu will outperform her for Old Madame’s amusement.” Her words directly led to old madame laughing. 

  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 become 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 become 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 felt comfortable 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 planning on going to Luoyan Pagoda and spending extravagantly to give Madam a hard time. Qianqian happens to have a friendly relationship 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 successfully 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 related 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 never laid 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 to come 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 quietly comforted 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……” 

  — 

  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 boisterously laughed. 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 penetrating gaze. He tapped his fingers on the table and smiled. “Yuxuan, do you really still not like Nie Sangyu?”


  Chapter: 134 out of 513 – 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-er’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 accomplish 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 accomplished 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 played. Until the last moment, was there anyone that could determine who would win? 

  — 

  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 dollar 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 play, Luoyan Pagoda’s reputation would become 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 welcome them upstairs. 

  “Marquis Moyu’s wife has already reserved Luoyan Pagoda’s fifth floor.” The shopkeeper stepped forward to welcome Qian Yingchen and said with a smile, “Sir and Ladies, if you don’t mind, would you allow a few scholars 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 also come with this group. Calculating 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. 

  — 

  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 façade. 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 formula 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 was coming 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. 

  — 

  Miss Shui brought over the account 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 have come 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 places as well.” 

  Ji Man took the account books and looked them over. She almost fell out of the chair in shock while looking at the account 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 net 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 become the richest person in this dynasty? 

  Ji Man’s legs felt weak. Why was she still competing with those women? She should just take this money and escape to a faraway place. She had enough to peacefully live out the rest of her life.

  Chapter 135 out of 513 – 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 someone comes 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 account book, she was still in a very good mood. 

  When Qi Siling had returned the inner courts’ account 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 as large rewards from the emperor. His salary was considerably abundant, so there shouldn’t be the slight problem with him supporting a large 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 occur. 

  Ji Man considered for a while, then she gestured for Gancao to come 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. 

  — 

  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 account 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. 

  — 

  Tonghao Poetry Association’s members had the equivalent of a lavish 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 proclaimed 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. 

  — 

  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 had come over to keep her company, why would she care about staying inside to kneel? She went outside to cry out her grievances. 

  With such a large group of people keeping her company, would Wen Wan still faint? Of course not. Wen Wan passed the night very happily with her admirers doing their best to make her laugh 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? 

  — 

  The fainting episode had been skipped, so Wen Wan’s pregnancy hadn’t been detected. Ji Man calculated 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 palace dramas, she always despised the women that would harm children the most. She wasn’t planning on poisoning Wen Wan like Nie Sangyu had done in the original novel. But, under what circumstances would Wen Wan’s pregnancy become 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 become 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 out of 513 – Nie Sangyu’s original time of death (1) 

  According 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 palace 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 palace. Once that happened, Marquis Moyu ordered Nie Sangyu’s death without having to worry about any consequences. 

  Original translation 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 palace, Marquis Moyu wouldn’t heartlessly sentence Nie Sangyu to death and plan on marrying another one of Nie Clan’s daughters in order to maintain the relationship between the two clans. 

  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 palace immediately. 

  “Why do you want to go to the palace? Right now, there are a lot of people over at the noble consort’s place congratulating her.” Old madame was quite confused. 

  With a solemn expression, Ji Man said, “Sangyu had a nightmare last night. In the dream, someone had accused the noble consort of faking her pregnancy and said her stomach was just bloated. That person even found a wicked imperial physician to slander the noble consort with her. They caused the noble consort to be condemned and sent to the cold palace. Even more hateful, the noble consort ended up suffering miscarriage. The dream felt too real. Sangyu is scared and wants to go to the palace 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 Clan had considerable control over the imperial court. The empress had a wicked heart. She might not be willing to accept 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 empress comes from Xiao Clan here.) 

  Thinking of these thoughts, old madame agreed to bring Nie Sangyu into the palace. Anyways, it would be good to take a visit there and see Noble Consort Nie. 

  — 

  Once they arrived at Ninglu Palace, before Noble Consort Nie had time to say anything, Nie Sangyu said with a serious expression, “Aunty, vigilance 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 emperor comes by later, just pretend that you’re not feeling well and have all of the imperial physicians come 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 physicians come by to check your condition with the emperor acting as a witness, then no one will dare to accuse aunty of faking a pregnancy later 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 too comfortably lately. Or perhaps, it was because she was too old and didn’t want to compete 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 Palace 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 palace 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 blame her? He even decided to stay over in Ninglu Palace that night. 

  Everything had gone according to the plan. Ji Man let out a large sigh of relief. 

  — 

  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 palace just because someone slanders her?” 

  Ji Man sighed. Women could never successfully guess what men would do next. Anyways, it was fine. This trial had passed. Nothing else was important. 

  — 

  When they returned to Marquis Moyu’s residence, a group of people were coming and going. They looked very frantic. Once glance 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-er 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 out of 513 – Nie Sangyu’s original time of death (2) 

  As soon as Wen Wan saw that old madame had come 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 glance at Nie Sangyu to indicate for her to come 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 wife later 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 calamity 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 spent last 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 old lady 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 place instead of staying here with Wen Wan? 

  Ji Man glanced at Wen Wan. As expected, her expression was ugly. 

  After Ji Man nodded her head in agreement, Ning Yuxuan said a few comforting 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 planning, 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 was completely 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 explained, “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 explain. 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 plan. 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 Clan 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 momentarily laughing. 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 silently lamenting 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 out of 513 – 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 nonchalantly took off his outer robe, yawned, and said, “I couldn’t find a peaceful place to sleep, so I decided to come 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 relaxed 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 succession? 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’t come 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 be completely 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 become a deep-rooted problem. If the baby was a son, he would definitely become a bargaining chip. From the beginning, he hadn’t planned 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 manipulate. 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 become 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 deep last 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. 

  — 

  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 incomparably 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 out of 513 – A rapist in the middle of the night? (2) 

  Ning Yuxuan came to the confinement courtyard again that night. Just like last 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 you comfortable?” 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 delaying 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 outcome was staying the same and had only been delayed, 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 relaxed. 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. 

  — 

  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 play a musical stringed instrument was too high, so she didn’t try. 

  — 

  After Ji Man’s ten-day stay in the confinement courtyard ended, the residence had already completely changed. With Mu Shuiqing gone, Jinse was even more active in front of the household. Qi Siling held onto the inner court’s account 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 successfully 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. 

  — 

  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 had come 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 splashed onto her body. 

  Ji Man’s face paled and she turned her head to ask Muxu, “Where did that baby come 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 has come.” 

  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 out of 513 – Who weaved this large 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 place 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 quietly comforted 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 to come over and do a purification ritual tomorrow. I’ll also have judicial officers come 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 to come 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-er, be good.” 

  Wen Wan aggrievedly glanced 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 to come see me once you’re done.” 

  “Okay.” Marquis Moyu nodded. 

  — 

  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 also come outside. She pulled her head back slightly and said, “Mistress Wan, is the marquis not coming 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 blamed, right? After Wen Wan silently encouraged herself, she raised her foot and resumed walking. 

  Jinse responded with a strange little laugh, 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 before coming back, helping her up, and supporting her as they resumed walking. 

  The mysterious prolonged crying in the empty courtyard caused Wen Wan to become feverish that very night after returning to her courtyard. Tanxiang had become 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 to come 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 to come over and perform a purification ritual. 

  — 

  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 was completely 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. 

  — 

  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. 

  — 

  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 out of 513 – Who weaved this large 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 her company? 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 could come 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. 

  — 

  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. 

  — 

  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 peaceful lately, but Ji Man still went over to old madame’s place to talk with her and improve her mood every day. 

  — 

  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 chaotic lately, 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 for landscape paintings, so Ji Man ordered Miss Shui to buy a landscape 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’s lack of etiquette, Ji Man had already become accustomed 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 to complete 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 a landscape painting?” 

  Ji Man froze for a moment. “Doesn’t the third prince like landscape paintings?” 

  Ning Yuxuan laughed 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 flashing 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. 

  — 

  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 had come 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 secular world yet. Why was he calling her over? 

  The sage monk looked at her with a solemn expression and quietly said, “Trouble will come 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 a large 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. 

  — 

  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.” 

  Translator 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 appearances later in the novel.

  Chapter: 142 out of 513 – Mission accomplished 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 junzhu 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 Clan. 

  “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 popular with the commonfolk. 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 that lacked long-term memory would think the dog shit was chocolate. 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 play 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 time comforting Ning Errong and even saying that she would sleepover tonight, Ji Man left the room to pay Chen-shi a visit. 

  As Ning Errong’s mother-in-law, 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-shi’s courtyard, Chen-shi 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-shi, 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-shi continued to sit and smiled as she said, “Aren’t you here to see Errong? Why did you come 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 Clan’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 Clan have nothing to do with Sangyu, Sangyu can’t let the actions of stupid people cause father and older brother’s deaths.” 

  Chen-shi scornfully glanced at her. “Alright, tell me. Who’s harming them?” 

  Ji Man placed 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-shi 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.” 

  Translator Ramblings: Do you guys remember Ji Man’s advice to Ning Errong in chapter 96 about silently enduring when your mother-in-law bullies you? I think if Ji Man hadn’t given Ning Errong well-meaning, but spectacularly bad advice, things wouldn’t have deteriorated to this point. If Ji Man had taken the time to consider that old madame and Chen-shi are very different types of people before giving Errong advice, she wouldn’t have needed to come 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 out of 513 – Mission accomplished with aphrodisiac (2) 

  Good, the matter could be simply settled. Ji Man looked at Chen-shi 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-shi frowned. “Don’t spread venomous slander.” 

  “Checking her body.” Ji Man’s gaze became slightly sharper and Chen-shi 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 Clan 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-shi speechless. Nie Sangyu had guessed correctly. She had thought there was no reason to fear the consequences because this junzhu 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 become the younger generation’s turn to lecture someone older than them? Who cares if she’s a junzhu? She married into Nie Clan, 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-in-law to be good as Errong. If mother fails to appreciate her and loses her, it’ll be too late to feel regretful later.” Ji Man stood up, saluted, and said, “Mother, you should carefully reconsider.” 

  Ji Man saw resentment and fear flashing through Chen Suqin’s eyes and decided to stop looking. She turned her head away and left the courtyard. 

  — 

  She ordered Dengxin to buy something for her. Two hours later, 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 place 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 be completed. 

  — 

  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. 

  — 

  Ji Man had sent Dengxin to buy this drug at a high-class brothel. Dengxin had been quite lucky. She had met a female brothel owner at the back entrance and was able to accomplish 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’s lamps. 

  Don’t say she was treacherous. Sometimes, you had to act slyly in order to accomplish 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. 

  — 

  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 happened last 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. 

  — 

  Gancao was waiting at the marquis’s residence’s entrance for them. Seeing them come out of the carriage, she hurriedly rushed forward and concisely reported, “Madam, Mistress Wan suffered a miscarriage last night. This servant heard that she was being plagued 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 be coming 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 plaque, 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. 

  Translator 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 Man comes off as smugly righteously about playing 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 the comments below.

  Chapter 144 out of 513 – 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 statue compassionately looked down at the kneeling group. 

  (T/N: Guanyin is the Bodhisattva of compassion 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 zongzi. 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 zongzi. Zongzi is a rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in layers of bamboo leaves.) 

  Ch 144 zongzi final.png

  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 blank 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 charlatans. 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 happened last 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 a comfortable, 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 borrowed last 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 happened last night?” 

  Gancao’s complexion was slightly pale as she said, “When this servant was startled awake last 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. 

  — 

  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 from laughing at such a ridiculous sight, but laughing under this solemn situation would be very improper. 

  After the ritual had lasted four hours, a monk that surely had be missing some marbles said to Marquis Moyu, “Feiwan Courtyard is the purest place 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 accepted her fate. “This servant understands.” 

  Who thought of the idea of saying Feiwan Courtyard was the purest place? 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-er. 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 Enlai. 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 Enlai was the first Prime Minister of Republic of China.)

  Chapter: 145 out of 513 – 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 quietly comforted 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 translation 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 salary. 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 glance. Then, she had the bed curtains removed and ordered the lamps 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 her company 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 were laying 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 incompatible 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 explain 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 out of 513 – 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 was coming right on the roof tiles and was exceptionally clear. 

  “Gancao and Dengxin, take a lamp and come 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 Wan company.” 

  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 place in the marquis’s residence and evil sprits wouldn’t appear here. Either the monk was lying or someone had deliberately come 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 glanced 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. 

  — 

  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. 

  — 

  “You think someone is deliberately trying to scare Wan-er?” 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-er 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-er by your side?” 

  Ning Yuxuan deeply looked at her before gesturing with his finger for her to come 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 plans, 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 to comfort 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 become 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 you come 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 again last 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 while later, 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 to come 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 happened last night?” 

  Ji Man turned her head to look at Qian Lianxue and told her about the sound on the roof last 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 to come get Wan-er and bring her to him. But, he actually said he was too busy and didn’t hear anything last 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 that last night’s crying sound didn’t sound that terrifying, Wan-er is very lacking 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 out of 513 – 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. 

  — 

  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-er felt pity for her, and since she also likes Xuan-er, 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. 

  — 

  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 the lamps 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 accompanied 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 up lanterns. At the center of the group, there was man holding a baby. Because the living baby was feeling unwell, it let out a plaintive 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 black-robed figure by his hands. Hearing these words, he took off the mask – 

  Alright, even after the mask was taken off and an honest-looking face was revealed, Ji Man still didn’t recognize the person. 

  The black-robed figure pursed his lips and glanced at Marquis Moyu, then his head tilted to the side and black blood dripped out of his lips. He was dead. 

  Ji Man retreated two steps and frowned. She had never seen someone actually commit 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 to come out. You might have nightmares.” 

  Ji Man thought; I didn’t want to come out, ah. But, it was so noisy outside. Everyone had a curious heart. How could she possibly not come 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 to come here early in the day, but he still came.” 

  Ji Man froze for a moment. 

  “Even though that black-robed figure committed 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 become 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. 

  — 

  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 recommendation 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 out of 513 – 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. 

  — 

  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 drugs last 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. 

  — 

  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 to come here to welcome 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 claim 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 glance 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 glanced 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 become 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 a compliment, 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 from last year? Are you hiding the recently purchased tea leaves to be used for next year?” Marquis Moyu glanced at Nie Sangyu’s gradually stiffening smile and finally comfortingly 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 resemblance?” 

  Ji Man glanced at the flower and nodded, “It has a strong resemblance.” 

  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 glance 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 relationship between the two of you has been very good lately.” 

  Ning Yuxuan chuckled. His voice was especially pampering as he lightly tapped Nie Sangyu’s nose and said, “Now that she’s become so well-behaved, she’s become 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 alarmed 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 play 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 to laugh. 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 a large grassy section in the middle of the garden. Dancers used this area during banquets. Ji Man had been blankly looked in this direction when she saw something drifting over and skipping onto this grassy stage. 

  Translator 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 revealed later in the story.

  Chapter 149 out of 513 – You’re a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world (2) 

  The long, white dancing sleeves fluttered in the air. The simple sash accentuated 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. By coming 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 accompany Wen Wan. Dancing to the tune of the music, Wen Wan softly sang, 

  “In the celestial immortal gardens, we listen to the heavenly music of the emperor.

  Who knows how many times we have listen to these songs?

  How can it be compared to the human world, one song of “Plucking Lotus” newly passed down?

  Willow waist is lithe; oriole tongue warbles.

  Being carefree in the misty wave, who would restrain me?

  However, the celestial steps have already urged the departure and return.

  Ride on the colorful simurgh, with lotus slanting and looking.

  We wish year after year that we could accompany this banquet.”


  (T/N: Translation of the song was taken from here with a few minor modifications. They’re the last lines in Lotus Plucking Dance. Here’s a video of the dance that Wen Wan performed https://www.youtube.com/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 succeeded. 

  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 become 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 only come 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-er 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’t complimenting 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 previously comfortable 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 relationship 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 glance 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 accepted 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 place is preferable, an elegant heart, not a gorgeous and noble flower in the mortal world.” Ning Mingjie’s eyes brightened. It only lasted 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. 

  — 

  Ning Yuxuan stayed over at Wen Wan’s place 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 glances 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. 

  — 

  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 account book. There were several areas in the account book that looked strange. When you were managing the account 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 account, 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 account book. This servant hasn’t taken even half a silver tael. 

  Ji Man nodded.“Then, return the account 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 account book back. She naturally wasn’t willing to hand it over. And so, she loudly laughed and said, “Madam, managing the account book is tiring. You should just have this servant handle it.” 

  A long time had already passed since she handed over the account 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 account book when I ask, then I’ll have to go ask Old Madame for it.” 

  Translator Ramblings: For a moment, I though Wen Wan was becoming smarter. Too bad it turned out to be Qi Siling’s idea.

  Chapter 150 out of 513 – You certainly were born with a beautiful face (1) 

  Qi Siling felt so regretful. Why did she come over and said those words to Nie Sangyu? She had been entrusted with temporary management of the account book on the premise that Nie Sangyu had been in the confinement courtyard. After Nie Sangyu had come out, she should have returned the account 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 account book back. She had tried to gain an advantage, but had only ended up worse off. 

  If old madame asked her for the account book, she naturally couldn’t avoid doing so. The duck that had come 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. 

  — 

  After Ji Man got the account 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 account 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 calculated it like that, there were over two hundred silver taels missing. 

  “When I first took over the account book, it was the same situation. I didn’t feel comfortable 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 account 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 account book? Do you think you can use the money without permission?” 

  Qi Siling hurriedly kowtowed and said, “Old Madame, this servant is wrongly accused, 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 this lacking 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 relationship with Wen Wan. 

  Although she had these thoughts, she couldn’t say them aloud. Ji Man closed the account book and seriously said to old madame. “It’ll be hard to manage the household if there isn’t a system of checks in place. 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 account, 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-er give you a separation letter for daring to manage the account 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 blankly 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. She laughed and said, “At least you’re obedient. Looking at how Xuan-er has been behaving, I’m almost angered to death.” 

  Ning Mingjie glanced 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 accomplish 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. 

  — 

  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 glamorous 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 the completed painting. She thought that the issue over the painting had ended.

  Chapter 151 out of 513 – 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. 

  — 

  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 noise coming from the outside. 

  Muxu entered the room and quietly reported, “The marquis has come. 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 you come here? Didn’t you go Qiangwei Courtyard?” 

  Original translation 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 accidentally burned myself. Wan-er 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 glanced 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. 

  — 

  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 too lazy to argue about this with him. She blocked the view of the daffodil painting by hanging the new painting over it. 

  — 

  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 planning 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-class jade accessory. 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 glanced at her for a moment, then shook her head. “Madam, you don’t know the truth. This jade accessory 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 always lacking in money? The heir has asked me for money several times. I didn’t expect that he would even pawn off that jade accessory in order to make you happy.” 

  She added, “Wen Wan, lesser Madam Ning, you certainly were born with a beautiful face.”


  Chapter 152 out of 513 – 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 splashed 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 porcelain on the floor. She cried out, “This servant never accepted money from the heir. Old Madame, please investigate.” 

  “His wife has already come 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-er 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 accused. 

  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 me last 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 accept their money. How can this be my fault?” 

  These words were indirectly admitting that the heir had pawned off the jade accessory 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-er, 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 accompany 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 had come up. 

  Wen Wan cried as if her heart was breaking. She shook her head and said, “Why are you all splashing this dirty water on me? What kind of evil intentions are you harboring? I finally had two peaceful days with Yuxuan. Why did you come 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 cynically laughed. “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 blacken 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 her complaints, 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 play? 

  Now that this situation had occurred, 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 accused. 

  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 slapping his wife. 

  The slap 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 slapped her and saying, “I already said you’re not allowed to come here. 

  Ji Man frowned. He was really being too outrageous by slapping 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 porcelain 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 slapping his own wife for another married woman. Qianqian, you married the wrong person.”


  Chapter 153 out of 513 – 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 accessories, 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 glared 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 porcelain 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 become accustomed to a comfortable 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’t come out. 

  — 

  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-er 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-in-laws. 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 months later. 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 plan. 

  — 

  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 had come here, the light in Wen Wan’s eyes were extinguished and was replaced with loathing. “Why did you come 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 be coming here soon. Rather than letting Ning Yuxuan seeing Wen Wan looking so pitiful and feeling upset over her, she might as well come 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 uncomfortably 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 out of 513 – 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 clearly come here to help her. Why would she hate her? 

  On the side, there was a bowl of murky black 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 place 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 become even worse. 

  After closing the doors, Ning Yuxuan turned around and decided to go to Xuesong Courtyard to visit Qian Lianxue. 

  — 

  Prince Huainan’s heir’s wife had requested for a divorce. 

  This news spread throughout the capital and even entered the palace. After the emperor heard the reason for this request, he was furious. He summoned Marquis Moyu into the palace 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 to commit suicide by hanging herself.) 

  In actually, the emperor had only summoned Marquis Moyu into the palace as a show for the benefit of Luo Clan 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 glances 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 slapping 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 considered laughingstocks 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 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 a commotion. 

  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 salary, 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 was completely 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 relationship between Marquis Moyu and Luo Clan had become 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 out of 513 – It’s better to destroy ten temples than ruin a marriage (2) 

  Old madame thought this issue was an unexpected calamity. 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 gesticulating 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 heir coming to her maiden home to apologize to her. 

  “Hah! Are you stupid? Look at how unwilling the heir looks. He was definitely forced to come here by Prince Huainan. He was in a rush to return to his own fiefdom, but as it turned out, his daughter-in-law 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 accepted 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 you come 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 accomplish something that I wasn’t able to do myself.” 

  Luo Qingqian chuckled. “When Qianqian went to Marquis Moyu’s residence last 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 Clan, I was willing to stay married to him and be a good wife. But, I never thought that he would actually slap me because of another woman.” 

  Ji Man couldn’t help sighing. That’s true. The heir’s behavior had been unacceptable 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 already come 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 accomplish 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 uncomfortable 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 accomplishment on her part and she would definitely get rewarded.

  Chapter 156 out of 513 – 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-in-law 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-in-law 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 to come here. Aiya, come 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 glanced 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 the larger 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 recommended. 

  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 and laughed. “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 to come here. I just wanted everything to be over between us. But, Madam Ning persuaded me to come 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 already come 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 scholar.” 

  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 glanced at Nie Sangyu, who had a similar 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 day comes when they both have no words to say to one another, then it would be time for their relationship 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 out of 513 – 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 stop laughing. 

  An hour later, 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 flattering 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 glared at him. “You don’t want Madam Ning to interfere? Then, let’s go to the palace 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, blaming 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 become 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 and come 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. 

  — 

  He finished drinking the chicken soup. Based on the flavor, 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-er tomorrow.” 

  Marquis Moyu was slightly surprised. “Why?” 

  “According to a person’s mental progression, Wan-er 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-in-law,” 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. 

  — 

  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 plate 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 – ” 

  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 become, Ning Yuxuan sighed. “This time, I really couldn’t protect you. The emperor wanted me to order you to commit 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 accept 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-er!”


  Chapter 158 out of 513 – 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 to comfort 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 slander 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 play 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 coldly laughing. Wen Wan really was two-faced. In front of them, Wen Wan would act bashful and shy like an inexperience young maiden. She would blankly 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 only come here to comfort 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 out of 513 – News that arrived without warning (2) 

  Two days later, 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 personally come 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. 

  — 

  Lately, Nie Sangyu’s body had felt somewhat uncomfortable. 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 translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft. 

  — 

  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 vigilance 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 first come here was now a doctor that had some status in this residence. Since he had a good relationship with Muxu, she thought there was no reason for her to ask for another doctor. During the last 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, her last name was Nie. Even if she felt that her relationship with Marquis Moyu was pretty good lately 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 Clan 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. 

  — 

  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 outside lately. Master, if you want to walk around, this servant will accompany 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 place 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, congratulations.” 

  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 place. 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 wryly laughed. 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 the comments below.