Ji Man was currently chatting with Old Madame. 

  Looking at Nie Sangyu’s plump belly, Old Madame was very happy. She kept going back to the same topic. “If you can give birth to a boy and a girl this time, then it’ll be the best possible good luck you could have.” 

  “How can it be that easy?” Ji Man smiled and said, “I’m slightly taller than the average woman, so it’s only natural for my pregnant belly to bigger than average. Old Madame, don’t set your hopes on this. Otherwise, Sangyu will be on the edge every day and worried that I’ll fail to meet your expectation.” 

  “Oh, look at you and your clever mouth,” Old Madame turned her head and looked at Liu Hanyun as she said, “She says her words so cleverly. I can’t even say any other words to refute them.” 

  Liu Hanyun was the same as before. Her sitting posture was reserved, with a hand protectively placed over her stomach. She faintly smiled and said, “Madam is the only one capable of managing this household so that’s its peaceful.” 

  As Old Madame smiled in delight, she raised her head and saw Ning Mingjie and her son coming into the room to pay her respect. Her smile widened, and she said, “Oh, is today a special day? Look, Mingjie is here.” 

  Ji Man followed Old Madame’s line of sight. Both men walked into the room with smiles and took their turns greeting Old Madame and asking after her health. However, for an inexplicable reason, Ji Man felt that Ning Yuxuan’s smile seemed a bit fake. 

  Old Madame was cheerfully smiling as she said, “It’s so rare to see the two of you together. Let’s all eat together at noon. I’ll have the servants start preparing lunch now.” 

  Ning Mingjie agreed. 

  Ning Yuxuan turned his head to look at Nie Sangyu as he said, “It’s a charmingly picturesque rainy day. Let’s go write poems and paint paintings with Ning Mingjie.” 

  Ji Man raised her eyebrows, then she nodded. She felt as if Gancao and Dengxin had been keeping her confined indoors almost every day. It would be good for the baby if she went out and got some fresh air. 

  — 

  Once again, the pavilion in the garden came in handy. Ji Man was practically carried over there by Gancao and Dengxin. Since it was raining, the paths were slippery, and the two servants were over-the-top careful. When they arrived at the pavilion, they doubled checked everything before she could sit down on a cushioned chair they had brought over for her. 

  Ji Man didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Still, her heart felt warmed by their concern. These two young servant girls didn’t know anything, but they treated her better than anyone else. 

  The pavilion wasn’t big, so only Gancao stayed with them to grind ink. The other servants all withdrew to various places. 

  Ji Man watched as the rain fell down on the pavilion’s roof and took a deep breath. She was in a pretty good mood too. 

  Marquis Moyu set up his table and started to paint. 

  Ning Mingjie had picked up a brush, but instead of writing something, he looked at her. “Madam, please bestow me another poem.” 

  Ji Man felt somewhat embarrassed. Other people had written those poems. She was blatantly plagiarizing. So immoral, so immoral. 

  “I remember a poem that was composed by someone else. It’s not long, but it’s very creative.” Ji Man smiled and said, “Young Master, I’ll recite it and you can write it out.” 

  “Alright.” Ning Mingjie nodded with a smiling face. 

  Marquis Moyu’s back was a bit stiffed. His lips were tightly pursed, but he stayed silent. 

  Ji Man recited the poem in a head-nodding student’s cadence, 

  “In spring, I sleep, unaware morning is here,

  From near then far, I hear trilling songbirdsm.

  In the night’s pitter-patter of winds and rains though mild,

  Who know how many petals have fallen? Know not, I fear!”


  (T/N: Poem’s translation is taken from here.) 

  Ning Mingjie penned down her words. Each word was like a flower, full of elegant springtime feelings. He looked at the flowers that had fallen onto the ground and sighed, “This poem is really suitable. One night of rain and wind, who knows how many petals have fallen?” 

  Ji Man glanced at Ning Yuxuan. Something seemed off. This person had always been very possessive. No matter how you looked at it, it was slightly impertinent for her and Mingjie to share such a charmingly picturesque moment in front of him. However, Ning Yuxuan hadn’t said a single disapproving word. Ning Mingjie, who was pure-minded and low in emotional intelligence, didn’t notice anything. 

  Ning Mingjie had finished writing the poem. On Marquis Moyu’s side, he was only half-done with his painting. The rain was already gradually starting to stop. 

  Ning Mingjie looked at the sky and smiled. “There’ll definitely be a splendidly sunny day tomorrow. It really makes a person feel delighted to have received such a wonderful poem.” 

  With a blushing face, Gancao put down the grinding stone and quietly said, “Young Master’s writing is really beautiful.” 

  “Really?” Ning Mingjie lightly smiled. He dried the ink on the paper and handed the poem to Gancao. “Then, I’ll give it you.” 

  Gancao’s entire face flushed red. Her hand was slightly trembling as she accepted the paper from him. She was so excited that her words were slightly unclear as she said, “T-Thank you, Young Master. This servant will definitely have it framed.” 

  Ning Mingjie burst out into laugher. 

  Ji Man stood up. She wanted to see what Marquis Moyu had painted. He had been silent this entire time. From time to time, he had been looking over here at them with an expression that proclaimed, “This great lord is in a very bad mood”. Ji Man didn’t know what she had done to anger him, but his expression looked a little better than before, so she wanted to get closer to him to talk about it. 

  However, that jerk suddenly crumpled his painting and said in a dissatisfied tone, “It didn’t turn out good. Doesn’t count.” 

  Ji Man curiously asked, “My lord, what did you paint?” 

  “A flower.” Ning Yuxuan tucked the scrunched up paper into his sleeve, stood up, and indifferently said, “A flower that’s being rained upon looks too ugly. It’s too difficult to paint well.” 

  Translator Ramblings: “Ji Man glanced at Ning Yuxuan. Something seemed off. This person had always been very possessive. No matter how you looked at it, it was slightly impertinent for her and Mingjie to share such a charmingly picturesque moment in front of him. However, Ning Yuxuan hadn’t said a single disapproving word.” 

  When I read this for the first time, I felt quite confused. At the beginning of the story, he choked Nie Sangyu at the mere idea that she liked someone else, so why isn’t he showing any reaction now? It’s only later, when a similar scene happens that we can guess what he’s thinking now. Posted the spoiler in the comments below.

  Chapter 210 – The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (1) 

  Ji Man twitched her lips. If you didn’t paint well, you didn’t paint well. Why crumpled up the painting and not allow anyone else to see? What a waste of ink and paper. Still, seeing how gloomy he looked today as if his period had arrived, she decided that going along with his mood would be the better course of action. 

  Ning Yuxuan glanced at the infatuated Gancao, who was standing by Mingjie. His lips twitched, but he didn’t say anything else. 

  The rain had stopped, so the group of people walked around the residence while they waited until it was time for dinner. Their stroll took them from the garden to the back of the residence. 

  Ning Mingjie reached into his robe to take out his handkerchief, but he couldn’t find it. His handkerchief had disappeared. Ning Mingjie raised his eyebrows and stopped walking to turn his head back to look. 

  Marquis Moyu asked, “What’s wrong?” 

  Ning Mingjie shook his head. It was only a handkerchief. Besides, even if he went back to look for it now, he didn’t know where he had dropped it. 

  He turned his head back and resumed walking. At the front, Sangyu was straightening her back to support her big belly. She turned her head slightly and whispered a few words to Ning Yuxuan. Her eyes were curved into smiling crescents, and her face was lit with the gentle, warm glow of maternal radiance. 

  For a brief moment, Ning Mingjie thought that it would wonderful if his future wife could be exactly like Nie Sangyu. Someone that could write poems with him on rainy days, lean over to gently wipe away the raindrops from his forehead for him, and make him feel as if his heartstrings were being tugged when she gently looked at him. 

  Unfortunately, the world only had one woman that was like this, and it would be difficult to find another woman that was exactly like her. Ning Mingjie quietly chuckled. An evil, mischievous spirit must be infecting him. Otherwise, why would he desire something that he could never obtain? Back when Nie Sangyu hadn’t been favored, he would tell himself that his feelings for her were just sympathy. 

  But now, Nie Sangyu was pregnant and receiving his cousin’s affections. So, why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? 

  His steps became slower and slower. In the end, he finally stopped walking. Ning Mingjie pursed his lips and said, “I lost something. I need to go back to look for it. You two can continue taking your stroll without me.” 

  Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan halted their steps too. 

  In a quiet voice, Ganao asked, “What was it? This servant can go and search for it for you.” 

  Ning Mingjie waved his hand to gesture his refusal, then he turned around and started striding back to the garden. 

  Ji Man didn’t take Ning Mingjie’s departure to heart. She still had to continue her work of sorting out Marquis Moyu’s misconceptions. “Everyone is saying that this servant is pregnant with twins, but pregnancy conditions differ from woman to woman. I think I’m only pregnant with one baby, and I just have more amniotic fluid than average.” 

  Marquis Moyu listened in confusion. He naturally had no idea about these womanly matters. But, he understood the key point of her speech. She was saying that the size of a woman’s belly wasn’t entirely dependent on number of months she had been pregnant, right? 

  He lightly coughed. His heart no longer felt as tensed as before. Actually, he wasn’t that lacking in self-confidence. If he was compared to Mingjie, there wasn’t any aspect that he would lose to him, right? Nie Sangyu’s life was pretty good. Why would she cheat on him for no reason? It’s not as if she was tired of living. 

  So, really, it was a bit laughable to suspect her words. Although her pregnancy was unexpected, he had already decided to allow her to give birth to this baby. Everything else was inconsequential. 

  Ning Yuxuan smiled and stretched his hand out to support Nie Sangyu. “You should eat more. You look too thin. Giving birth will be a really grueling experience.” 

  Ji Man nodded. 

  After they had finished their stroll around the residence, they headed to the main courtyard for dinner. 

  When they entered the room, Ning Mingjie was already sitting at the dining table. He clearly hadn’t found the item he had lost; his expression didn’t look good. The other concubines were also attending the dinner, with the ordinary concubines standing by the side of the table to add food to the individual bowls from the center dishes. Surprisingly, Wen Wan had also come and was obediently standing by Marquis Moyu’s seat. 

  Old Madame was in excellent spirits when Qian Lianxue suddenly said, “The weather looked good today, so I went outside to walk around and found a handkerchief when I was in the garden. I wonder who it belongs to?” 

  Ji Man’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at the item that Qian Lianxue was holding up. It was a handkerchief embroidered with a snow-capped mountain design. It must have belonged to someone in her courtyard. 

  Marquis Moyu also glanced at the item. Feeling confused, he looked at Mingjie with raised eyebrows. 

  Ji Man finally remembered that time when she had tried to give him a piece of jade to thank him for saving Gancao. He had refused the jade and only took the handkerchief she had used to giftwrap the jade in. 

  Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal. It was just a handkerchief used to wrap a present. However, looking at Ning Mingjie’s current expression, it really was a difficult task to not misunderstand that something improper was going on between them. 

  He stood up and held his hand out towards Qian Lianxue. “Thank you for your trouble. This one had carelessly lost it.” 

  Qian Lianxue nodded. Just as Qian Lianxue was about to hand the handkerchief over to him, Qi Siling casually took it from her hand. With a grin, she said, “This handkerchief has such an elaborate pattern. Young Master, where did you get it? It has such a unique design. Siling liked it at first sight. You wouldn’t mind lending it to Siling, so that Siling can copy the design and embroider a copy of my own, right?” 

  Ning Mingjie dimly put his hand back down. Looking at Qi Siling, he said, “There are probably many handkerchiefs with this design in Madam’s courtyard. Why do you insist on taking mine?” 

  Old Madame’s expression slightly changed. She looked at Nie Sangyu. 

  Ji Man pursed her lips and said, “I gave that to Young Master for saving Gancao.” 

  People normally gave gold and silver or other valuables to express their thanks. It was inevitable that giving a handkerchief as a gift would make people think there was more to the story. Even Ji Man felt it was easy for the average person to misunderstand, much less the people sitting at this table that were used to thinking deeply.

  Chapter 211 – The long-awaited disaster finally strikes (2) 

  Qian Lianxue quietly coughed, then she said, “It’s Lianxue that made a mistake. It wasn’t an appropriate time to take it out.” 

  Wen Wan continued along the same line by saying, “Madam, really, what were you thinking? Why didn’t you give him something else? This servant thinks that handkerchiefs would only be given as a gift between lovers.” 

  Ji Man was speechless. She could only wryly laugh at herself. She shouldn’t have been so brainless at the time and agreed to Ning Mingjie’s suggestion. 

  Ning Mingjie’s expression was very ugly. “This one didn’t expect that a mere handkerchief would cause everyone to feel the need to say so many words. Really, it’s my fault. This one can’t continue eating this dinner. This one needs to think of an apology to Madam that will remove all of the dirty water that’s been splashed onto her.” 

  He usually wasn’t a verbose speaker and had never said such a cutting remark in front of them. 

  After these words were said, even Old Madame slightly pursed her lips and called out in a low voice, “Mingjie.” 

  Ning Yuxuan lowered his eyes so that his gaze was directed at the food. Ji Man looked at him, but she had no idea what he was thinking of. 

  Standing behind Nie Sangyu, Gancao hadn’t been able to keep herself still for a while. She gritted her teeth, kneeled down in the middle of the room, and kowtowed three times in front of them. “Masters, if there’s anything that you want to say, then just directly scold this servant. It’s this servant’s fault for having a presumptuous wish. My master hasn’t done anything wrong.” 

  “Gancao.” Ji Man was slightly surprised, but looking at that young girl’s stubborn gaze, she seemed to have understood something. She pursed her lips and didn’t say another word. 

  It truly was a teenage girl’s feelings. The hero had saved the beauty, and the beauty had lost her heart to him. Was Gancao planning on taking responsibility for this matter and also confessing her feelings to Ning Mingjie? But, you silly girl. How could the people in this room allow a servant girl to resolve this misunderstanding? 

  Old Madame asked, “Gancao, what are you saying? What have you been presumptuously wishing for?” 

  Ning Mingjie was also looking at Gancao. 

  Gancao bit her lips. Keeping her head lowered, she said, “After Young Master saved this servant last time, this servant kept recalling that memory fondly and had thoughts that this servant shouldn’t have. Even though this servant knows it was presumptuous, this servant continued having romantic feelings towards Young Master. And so, when Madame was giving Young Master a thank you gift, this servant pleaded with Madam to also give him that handkerchief that was personally embroidered by this servant. Moreover, Madam has also given him a piece of jade, but Young Master hadn’t accepted it.” 

  “Marquis and Old Madame, please allow this servant to make this clear. If this servant had known that the various masters would make something out of nothing, then servant would have never pleaded with Madam to allow this servant to express her selfish wish.” 

  After saying this, she kowtowed several times. Her body was slightly trembling as she stayed in the kneeling position. 

  She was clearly saying that the people that had accused her master of improper behavior were deliberately making stuff up. However, Qian Lianxue stayed silent with her head lowered to show a contemplative demeanor. 

  Wen Wan also said in aggrieved tone, “So what you’re saying is that this servant is the evil person. This servant shouldn’t have said those words. This servant deserves to die.” 

  In contrast, Qi Siling pursed her lips and lightly laughed, “Madam, your servant is truly very loyal to you.” 

  Marquis Moyu, who had been silently eating during this entire episode, suddenly called out, “Ling-er.” 

  Qi Siling trembled for a moment, then she lowered her head too and didn’t say another word. 

  Ji Man sighed. She looked at Old Madame and said, “Didn’t Sangyu say a few days ago that there will definitely be people that won’t allow Sangyu’s days to be peaceful by using the excuse that Sangyu’s belly is larger than average? Old Madame, at the time, you said that Sangyu didn’t need to worry. See, how can Sangyu not worry over this?” 

  Hearing these words, Old Madame finally stopped scrutinizing Ning Mingjie. She put down her chopsticks and said, “This dinner has gone very unsatisfactory. As expected, when there’s an excessive amount of women in a harem, there aren’t too many peaceful days to be had.” 

  Marquis Moyu lightly said, “Isn’t it just a handkerchief? If Gancao enjoys giving Mngjie handkerchiefs, then it’s no big deal even if she embroiders him a hundred handkerchiefs to give to him. Why is there any need to feel upset and stop eating dinner? Mother, Mingjie, the servants had prepared a pretty good meal today. The two of you should eat more.” 

  Ning Mingjie glanced at him, then he looked at Nie Sangyu. He stood up, walked to Gancao’s side, and helped her stand up. 

  Gancao felt overwhelmed by his gesture. 

  “My father has recently been urging me to get at least get a concubine,” Ning Mingjie lightly said, “It’s rare to see a woman like Gancao that’s so wholeheartedly devoted to me. I also like the handkerchief that she embroidered. Old Madame, how about giving Gancao to me?” 

  Everyone in the room was stunned. Old Madame managed to say, “You want Gancao?” 

  Ning Mingjie nodded. “Is Madam unwilling to give her to me?” 

  After blankly looking at him for a moment, Ji Man shook her head. “If Young Master likes Gancao, then that’s her good fortune. It’s just that marriage is forever for a woman. We should finish dinner first, then carefully discus this matter.” 

  The entire table of people sunk into silence. 

  In regards to Ning Mingjie’s obviously impulsive decision, there were some people that thought Gancao was very lucky, and there were also others that thought he was only making the matter more conspicuous by trying to cover it up. But everyone agreed that he was obviously doing this to protect Nie Sangyu. 

  As for why he was protecting her, it was up to each person to guess the reason. 

  No one was able to enjoy eating the rest of the dinner. After the meal was over, Old Madame brought Mingjie and her son, as well as Nie Sangyu and Gancao to her inner room to talk. 

  Looking at Ning Mingjie with a wry smile, Old Madame said, “If I let you promote a servant girl into your concubine, your father probably won’t be thanking me. You’ve always been a considerate child. Can you tell me the real reason why you want Gancao?” 

  Even after all those previous words had been said, Old Madame and Marquis Moyu clearly didn’t believe Gancao’s confession. 

  Sitting in a lower chair than Old Madame, Ning Mingjie pursed his lip and said, “Mingjie thinks that Gancao is very good. It won’t be a big deal to welcome her into my household as a concubine. Mingjie will naturally explain the matter to my father. As for my real reason, it really is because she looked at me with a pair of deeply adoring eyes.”