The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

“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.