Chapter 193 – A doll that had been torn apart (2)
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bai.lu update:2022-06-30 20:59
When Ji Man went over to the main room while carrying Liu Hanyun’s food, Marquis Moyu was already awake and leaning back on the side of the bed for support. He looked quite sick.
As Ji Man fed him, she asked, “Did Shuiqing leave?”
Looking like an innocent child that had just woken up, Ning Yuxuan replied, “En, she seemed to have only stayed for a little bit.”
Ji Man faintly smiled and stayed silent. She waited until Ning Yuxuan was finished eating before saying, “My lord, you look much better today.”
“En, my fever didn’t get worse because you did a really good job taking care of me.”
Ji Man narrowed her eyes and said, “My lord, did you catch the smallpox from the crown prince? This servant heard that crown prince has also fallen sick.”
The crown prince’s estate had been completely locked down. The third prince was temporarily handling all of the crown prince’s responsibilities and also assisting the emperor in governmental matters. His circle of influence was very strong right now.
“Maybe.”Ning Yuxuan was comfortably full and leaning back on the bed like a lazy cat. “Oh well, now that I’m sick, a lot of things will be given to the Six Ministries. It’ll be their turn to feel a headache.”
It sounded as if he was gloating over other people’s misfortunate. For a moment, Ji Man wondered if he was scheming something.
Ning Yuxuan finally remember something else and asked, “Where’s Wan-er?”
It was finally time for Ji Man to play her role.
“After Miss Wan-er heard that the marquis had become infected with smallpox, she hasn’t come here.” Ji Man sighed and said, “She’s probably scared of getting sick too. It makes sense. She’s at the peak of her life. How could she want to die?”
Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and looked at her in askance. “Why aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“My lord, Sangyu has already said that I’m not willing to abandon you. When the mountains have flattened and the heavens and earth have joined, then I’ll be willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.” As Ji Man said this, she felt so nauseated with herself that she wanted to roll her eyes. But, this really was the perfect thing to say right now.
“Oh, why do I remember someone saying, “The mountains haven’t flattened. The heavens and earth haven’t joined. I’m willing to separate from you, my lord and husband.” Marquis Moyu stroked his chin. “Did I mishear something?”
(T/N: This was originally a conversation between Ji Man and Ning Errong in chapter 55. Maybe one of the servants told Ning Yuxuan about it, or maybe Errong told him in a misguided effort to get him to treat Nie Sangyu better?)
Ji Man awkwardly laughed and said, “You’re sick and remembering things wrong.” Crouching by the bedside, she looked as if she was one step away from wagging an imaginary tail. “Actions show the real truth. My lord, look. Isn’t my actions proof that I never want to leave with you? That I’ll follow you, even to death? Isn’t that more honest than those people, who say you’re her precious, her sweetheart, but will run away as soon as you fall sick?”
Once these words were said, then Ning Yuxuan, who wanted to change the focus of their conversation, had to face the truth.
Wen Wan wasn’t willing to risk her life to watch over him while he was sick. She hadn’t even come here to see him.
Ning Yuxuan remembered all of the little details that had happened between himself and Wen Wan. A long time ago, it was her gentleness, kindness, and ability to preserve in the face of adversity that had attracted him. Moreover, it was because of those qualities that he had fallen in love with her. However, after the two of them had become husband and wife, many things had happened. He had seen another side of her.
Had he had made an error of judgment? Or perhaps, Wen Wan was just too talented at acting, so he never saw the real her until now?
Marquis Moyu close his eyes and sunk into deep contemplation.
Ji Man didn’t bother him. If she said too much, it would only make him suspicious. It was better to take care and not overdo it. She left right after packing up the bowls and chopsticks.
—
Ji Man actually had a much better idea of Wen Wan’s character than Ning Yuxuan.
When Ji Man had read the original novel, the female lead had been like a Holy Mother. She couldn’t even bear to step on ants. However, at that time, the female lead had the male lead’s unwavering love and a female lead’s supreme halo. She wasn’t lacking in anything. She only needed to show a sensitive heart, and she would get her happy ending.
But now, she had stuck her foot into Wen Wan’s fairytale. Because of her, Wen Wan had lost her halo several times, and Ning Yuxuan had gradually become suspicious of Wen Wan. The female lead clearly didn’t have the IQ or EQ to compete with her. The more time went on, the more she would be able to expose Wen Wan’s unpleasant shortcomings.
Wen Wan was like a doll. When you left it alone, it looked quite pretty. But, Ji Man had dragged her down from her pedestal, slowly ruined her dress, and ripped open her skin until the ugly, shredded stuffing had fallen out.
Nie Sangyu had lost to Wen Wan because she hadn’t been given the female lead’s wonderful treatment. Marquis Moyu had never loved her. From the very beginning, Nie Sangyu was like a doll that had been ripped open by Marquis Moyu’s heartlessness. It was only natural that no one would like a torn apart doll.
—
That night, Mu Shuiqing came over to help her tidy up the courtyard. However, she seemed somewhat distracted and cut her hands several times on the sharp straw.
Ji Man glanced at her, then took out a jar of ointment from her bag and handed it to Mu Shuiqing.
Still feeling at a completely loss, Mu Shuiqing took the item and reflexively said, “Thank you Madam.” She looked up at Nie Sangyu and suddenly said, “This servant has a question.”
“En?” Ji Man raised her eyebrows.
“If the marquis doesn’t recover from his illness, what will Madam do?”
Chapter 194 – The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (1)
When Ji Man heard this question, she really wanted to say that Mu Shuiqing was too foolish and naïve. Marquis Moyu was the grand male lead. How could he possibly die from something as minor as smallpox? No matter how she looked at it, this would be impossible.
However, she had to provide a response that would be understandable to the ignorant masses. Moreover, she had to blend in with the people that were feeling nervous about Marquis Moyu’s illness. And so, with tears in her eyes, she unflinchingly said, “If the marquis dies, then I’ll accompany him into the eternal rest.”
Stunned, Mu Shuqing could only stare at her.
Behind them, someone quietly closed the door that had been slightly cracked open.
Who didn’t know how to say catchy phrases? Hadn’t Wen Wan been the loudest one in proclaiming her love for Marquis Moyu? Ji Man gently hit her legs that felt somewhat sore. She decided to go back to the neighboring courtyard to rest.
If Marquis Moyu really kicked the bucket this time, she would go look for Nie Sangyu and ask her if she would let her off and allow her to return to the modern world.
Her stomach felt somewhat uncomfortable, so Ji Man went to Imperial Physician Lin to check her over. She was probably just too tired lately.
After he prepared a bowl of medicine for her, he implored her once again, “Madam, you can’t overwork yourself. It’s bad for your pregnancy.”
She didn’t want to overwork herself either, ah. However, she didn’t have a god-like male lead to protect her or a god-like secondary male character to help her. In order to deal with that group of women that wanted to bite her, how could she not be overworked?
Since she had been given the rare opportunity to leave the main estate, Ji Man decided that she would use this time to work on her improving her health. After all, if something happened, she could at least leave behind a baby for Nie Sangyu, right?
—
After Wen Wan calmed herself down over the course of a few days, she decided that her behavior had been inappropriate. And so, she gritted her teeth as she stepped outside into the rain and stood there for a night. By the next morning, when she visited Marquis Moyu, she looked quite sickly.
Leaning against the bedside, Ning Yuxuan looked at Wen Wan, who was five steps away from him. He weakly smiled and said, “You’re finally willing to come see me.”
Wen Wan replied in an equally weak-sounding voice, “I came here late. Do you blame me?”
Ji Man felt that these two people could totally be dropped into a snowy mountain scene. Then, after dabbing some tomato sauce onto them for fake blood and putting them on separate sides, they would both stretch their hands out to each other while clinging onto the mountain.
A weak voice would call out, “Yuxuan!”
An even weaker voice would say, “Wan-er!”
When their hands were only a few inches apart, they would waste time saying some nonsense. There would be another splatter of tomato sauce. Then, the only things left behind would be a beautiful, snowy backdrop and poignant music.
Season finale!
Standing at the side and hugging her arms, Ji Man was cracking herself up with these thoughts. While she was gleefully imaging this scene, Marquis Moyu interrupted her in a low voice, “Sangyu.”
“Eh?” Ji Man returned to her senses and noticed that female lead had already sat down. Wen Wan was coughing and gasping for breath. How very pitiful.
The male lead only watched the female lead. It was difficult to decipher what he was feeling.
Ning Yuxuan said, “Bring over the imperial physician for Wan-er.”
Of course, he was treating her as his errand girl. Ji Man twitched her lips and silently left to do his bidding.
It was easy to guess that Wen Wan had come here to win herself some pity. She would definitely excuse her recent behavior by saying she had been too sick lately, so she hadn’t been able to visit the marquis. Perhaps, Wen Wan would even try to slander her by saying that he shouldn’t believe in other people’s false accusations.
However, there was only one doctor in this estate, Imperial Physician Lin. Who was Imperial Physician Lin? He was the imperial noble consort’s confidant. And, who was the imperial noble consort? She was Nie Sangyu’s aunt. Ji Man merely had to tell Imperial Physician Lin what she wanted him to say.
He followed her back to the main room. After checking Wen Wan’s pulse, he said, “This miss just has a slight cold. It was raining last night. She probably forgot to close her window last night and caught her cold that way. It’s no big deal. She’ll be fine after resting for a bit.”
Marquis Moyu asked, “She doesn’t need to drink any medicine?”
Imperial Physician Lin smiled and said, “Since it’s not that serious, she naturally doesn’t need any medicine. As long as she doesn’t get soaked in the rain again and has a good night’s sleep tonight, she’ll be fully recovered by tomorrow.”
Wen Wan’s face changed colors. She coughed again and said, “I’ve already been sick for a couple of days. How can you say it’s not serious?”
Imperial Physician Lin’s expression didn’t look good. He glanced at Marquis Moyu and somewhat hesitantly said, “This old one has been a doctor for many years. The young lady’s sickness should be at the initial state. It definitely shouldn’t have already lasted for a couple of days. If you just relax your mind, your illnesses will disappear.”
The implied meaning of his words was that she was pretending to be sick. Wen Wan’s expression stiffened. She hatefully looked at the nearby Nie Sangyu.
Marquis Moyu seemed a bit tired. Unwilling to pursue this matter further, he waved his hand and said, “Since it’s like that, Wan-er, you should leave and go rest.”
Wen Wan stood up. She really wanted to leave, but it seemed that she hadn’t gotten any benefit out of this visit. It felt as if she had only shot herself in the foot by pretending to be sick. She showed a slightly unwilling expression and said to Ning Yuxuan, “My lord, Wan-er still wants to stay here to take care of you.”
“Sure.” Ji Man firmly nodded. “You can take a turn with taking care of the marquis tonight. The marquis will cough and become feverish at night. There’s a jar of wine by him. Wipe his body down with wine to help him cool down. You just need to be careful. Don’t directly touch the marquis’s body. Wrap a handkerchief around your hand before touching him.”
Wen Wan’s face turned red, then it turned white. She hadn’t expected that Nie Sangyu would really allow her to stay. It would only take a moment of carelessness to accidentally touch his body while wiping him down. What if she ended up getting infected with smallpox?
Seeing Wen Wan’s desire to retreat, Ji Man was very happy. She patted Wen Wan’s shoulder as if she was handing over a heavy duty to her. Then, she turned around left the room.
Wen Wan stood in the room. Behind her, she could feel Ning Yuxuan’s burning gaze. She didn’t have any way of retreating, and she didn’t want to get any closer. She could only tightly clutch her handkerchief.
T/N: Sorry for the late chapter parts! I’ll make up Sunday and Monday’s part on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
Chapter 195 – The shifting of power in the midst of smallpox (2)
However, the female lead had another characteristic, a very weak body. It didn’t take much effort for Wen Wan to faint. She took a deep breath, turned around, looked at Marquis Moyu, and said, “Wan-er will properly serve……”
Before her words were finished, she had already fallen onto the ground.
Hearing the thumping sound from outside, Ji Man thought; Wen Wan really wasn’t scared of falling. She probably had a huge bump on her head right now. It could be counted as Wen Wan not hesitating to pay a price.
It would have been really interesting to see Marquis Moyu’s expression right now. What was that saying? A married couple could only stay together when everything was going well. They would fly apart like birds in a forest that were startled by a noise when faced with a disaster. Ning Yuxuan would definitely be more guarded against Wen Wan in the future.
Ning Yuxuan had Guibai carry Wen Wan back to her room.
In the end, Ji Man wasn’t able to escape her fate of caring for the marquis that night.
—
Compared to the chaos that was running rampant outside, this estate could be considered relatively peaceful. The imperial court was rapidly going through substantial changes. While Marquis Moyu was absent in the Six Ministries, people were causing trouble and secretly defecting to the third prince’s faction.
In the midst of his illness, the crown prince wrote an anxious letter to Marquis Moyu. Unfortunately for him, Marquis Moyu was also sick and could only express his inability to take any helpful actions.
Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
The third prince wasn’t inferior to the crown prince in handling political affairs. On the contrary, he handled the crown prince’s responsibilities remarkably well and received the emperor’s praise. In addition, the imperial noble consort’s younger son was turning one month old, so the emperor was feeling quite happy lately. Even though the emperor had a capital full of seriously sick people, he didn’t seem that upset.
And so, in a short period of half a month, many people in the imperial court had changed their allegiance to the third prince’s faction.
Since the prime minister had reached an elderly age, the third prince formally wrote a report requesting the emperor to allow the prime minister to retire and return to his hometown. The emperor agreed, and the position of the prime minister became vacant. A group of people supported Xiao Tianyi to succeed his father’s previous position as the prime minister. Another group of people supported promoting someone else to that position.
(T/N: Just in case it was too long ago, Xiao is the name of empress’s maiden clan.)
The two parties clashed, and there was chaos in the imperial court. While countless people were dying of smallpox outside of the capital, the people in the imperial court were still in the mood to scheme around for political power.
—
Sitting by Ning Yuxuan’s bedside, Ji Man couldn’t resist sighing, “The life of the commonfolk is bitter regardless of whether an empire is on the rise or falling.”
The leisurely Marquis Moyu looked at her in askance. “As a woman, you should only focus on being a good wife and mother. Why are you worrying about the commonfolk?”
Ji Man twitched her lips. This lord certainly had a sturdy body. Even though he was infected with smallpox, his appetite was better than before. He ate food with relish and slept peacefully at night. If red spots hadn’t recently appeared on his face and body, Ji Man would suspect that he was just pretending to be sick.
“My lord, are you not worried about your current unfortunate situation?”
As the person most sensitive to the shifts in powers, it was impossible for Marquis Moyu to remain neutral in the current power dispute.
Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled and pointed at one of the rashes on his handsome face. As if he was talking about the vicissitudes of life, he said, “Sangyu, my life is almost gone. Who would come here and force me to make decisions? The most important thing in life isn’t money and power, it’s living.”
In other words, he was risking his life for stability and peace.
Ji Man pondered over his words. She somewhat understood the meaning of his words.
—
From time to time, Old Madame would send over tonics and other supplements to the other estate to show her care towards her only son. When Old Madame had initially heard that her son had become infected with smallpox, she almost collapsed. She knelt in the prayer hall for several days in hopes that Buddha would protect Ning Yuxuan.
—
The crown prince sent over a letter expressing his condolences as well as asking, “Have you been eating and keeping up your strength?”
Ji Man saw Ning Yuxuan picking up a brush and scribbling out a few words, “I’m alright.”
After the crown prince saw Ning Yuxuan’s reply, he didn’t send any more letters.
On the contrary, the third prince was the one that sent over many tonics and herbal supplements under the excuse that he was Marquis Moyu’s cousin-in-law.
—
Ji Man strictly followed the imperial physician’s order of not overworking herself. She didn’t make any attempts at guessing what Ning Yuxuan was up to. After taking care of him every night, she would clean herself with disinfectant and work on maintaining her own health and the unborn baby’s.
—
This outbreak of smallpox had spread far and lasted for a long time. However, the crown prince seemed to have inherited the rumored dragon spirit and body. He was the first person to recover from smallpox.
Or, to put it in another way, the crown prince finally couldn’t keep staying in his estate and doing nothing. Seeing that the third prince’s power was rising each day, the crown prince didn’t have any other options. He went to the place, kneeled down in front of the emperor in an attempt to win himself some sympathy, and said that he wanted to assist his imperial father with his worries and difficulties.
In the end, the emperor still cared about his oldest son. The crown prince had been sick for so long. It couldn’t have been easy for him to recover. And so, he allowed the crown prince to work together with the third prince in managing state affairs.
However, the third prince had an entire group of helpers on his side. Nie Qingyun had also been recently promoted to a higher position in the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, Ning Mingjie was like a jack-of-all-trades that had a hand everywhere. In comparison to the third prince, the crown prince was in a much weaker position.
And so, even though Marquis Moyu’s other estate was a place for insane people and sickly people, the crown prince still honored this place with a visit.
As Guibai reported the news of the crown prince’s visit, Marquis Moyu was lying in bed and unwilling to get up. Ji Man decided that it would be bad if the crown prince felt slighted, so she called Liu Hanyun over and went to greet the crown prince.
The crown prince had recently recovered from his illness, and there were still traces of red dots on his face. After looking at Nie Sangyu’s pregnant belly for a few moments, he wanted to go inside to see Marquis Moyu.
“Your Highness, wait. The marquis hasn’t recovered from his illness yet.” Ji Man naturally had to try to stop him. The person inside had already been showing an attitude of not wanting to see any guests. As the marquis’s good wife, she had to make a token effort in stopping this tiger from barging into his room.
“That’s fine. The imperial physician said that once a person fully recovers from smallpox, he’ll be immune to it.” The crown prince ignored Nie Sangyu’s attempts and continued walking towards the main room. “This prince hasn’t seen Yuxuan in too long. I really miss him.”
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