Chapter 298 – There’s nothing as terrifying as a person’s heart (1)
Ji Man very responsibly and diligently passed on Pengyue’s words. At the end, she tactfully said, “Pengyue was the one that pleaded for the second prince to be given a title, but the imperial court has probably already spent a long time debating which fiefdom the second prince should be given, right?”
Marquis Moyu lightly harrumphed and looked at the banknotes that Nie Sangyu had put down on the desk. It really was a staggering amount that would astonish anyone.
“It’s enough for you to just pass on her message,” he said, “I understand what they want, and I’ll naturally weight the advantages and disadvantages.”
“That’s good.” Brightly smiling, Ji Man nodded. It was naturally the best for her if she could completely remove herself from the situation.
Ning Yuxuan looked at her again and said, “I’m going to Luoyan Courtyard tonight. You don’t have to wait for me.”
Ji Man nodded. “Alright, then this servant will leave first.”
Ning Yuxuan, “…”
Right after she had stepped out of the study, she heard a voice shouting, “Nie Sangyu, do you not have a heart?!”
Ji Man paused. She turned her head back. Seeing a slightly annoyed face, she couldn’t resist smiling. “How can a person not have a heart? Without a heart, a person would just die. But, if your heart has feelings for a person that you shouldn’t have, then that will kill your heart. My lord, weren’t you the one that personally murdered Sangyu’s heart?”
Ning Yuxuan was stunned.
“If you don’t have a sincere heart yourself, then don’t demand for someone else’s sincere heart. Right now, Sangyu isn’t asking for the marquis’s faithful heart. Sangyu just wants a peaceful life.” Ji Man’s smile dimmed. “My lord, didn’t you always want Sangyu to be gentle and sensible? That’s exactly what Sangyu is doing right now, so why are you feeling annoyed?”
He was the one that had lost his self-control by asking such a stupid and foolish question. Ning Yuxun chuckled, waved his hand, and said, “You can leave.”
“Understood.”
It wasn’t until several steps later that Ji Man felt a bit regretful. Why on earth had she told him her true feelings? She should have responded that my lord was her most precious person and made some kissy sounds! She could have tricked him into saying, “I love you.” Wouldn’t she have saved herself a lot of trouble?
But, at the time, she couldn’t resist falling into her pattern of ridiculing him. He hadn’t appreciated Nie Sangyu’s love when he had it and only felt regret after losing her affection. Thinking of how vexed he had looked, she couldn’t resist feeling super happy for Nie Sangyu.
Since he would be going to Luoyan Courtyard in the evening, then she was free for the rest of the day. After taking a bath, Ji Man decided to go to bed. But, for some reason, it was especially windy tonight. Dengxin had caught a cold, so she withdrew earlier tonight to go rest. There were only two lowest-ranking servant girls standing outside by the doors that decided to remain here for another two hours before going to sleep themselves.
It seemed as if a shadow had fluttered past her windows. It was accompanied by an absolutely horrifying voice that said, “So cold…”
Just as Ji Man was about to close her eyes, she heard that voice and sat up.
“The lake was so cold. Master, how could you be so heartless?” A prolonged voice sounded in the middle of the outside courtyard. It fluttered over from the windows to in front of the doors. The two lowest-rankings servants screamed in fright, and then it was followed by the sound of bodies falling onto the ground.
Was this supposed to be a late night encounter with a vengeful spirit? Ji Man raised her eyebrows. It had already been so long since Muxu had drowned in the lake. For her to think of coming here to demand Nie Sangyu’s life in payment after such a long time had passed, Muxu’s reflection period had certainly taken long enough, ah.
The doors were blown open by a gust of wind, and the wind had also extinguished the candle on the table. In the midst of the darkened room, Ji Man saw a glimpse of something coming inside. The creature’s long hair was dripping wet and covering the front of its face. It left behind a trail of water.
The black hair was pushed back to reveal a deathly pale face. The creature smiled as it asked her, “Master, do you want to visit the bottom of the lake?”
Sitting on the bed, Ji Man smiled as she shook her head. “I don’t.”
“Muxu” paused. It seemed as if “Muxu” was at a temporary loss for words.
Ji Man had already groped around and found a wooden hairpin by her pillow.
This courtyard had everything, but it was rare to see a ghost. Even if a ghost appeared, it was most likely just a fake one. Still, who had she recently offended and wouldn’t let her off?
“Master, you’re so heartless. You wouldn’t even let off Fu-er…” the ghost quietly said, “Repay the death of my baby with your life.”
Listening up to this point, Ji Man kicked her feet out at the ghost’s stomach. As expected, it was a thing that had a material existence. The force from her kick caused the fake ghost’s hair to be flung back as it retreated a few steps.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Ji Man swiftly stabbed the hairpin into the fake ghost’s shoulder. Hearing a pained scream, she punching the ghost’s jaw. It was a self-defense move that she had seen somewhere. Then, she jumped out of bed and ran outside.
After running to the doorway, Ji Man shouted as loud as she could, “Dengxin! Hurry, call the police!” Realizing that her words wouldn’t make sense to the people here, she quickly shouted again, “Hurry, call for the other servants. There’s a thief!”
The shadowy figure had already caught up to her. The wooden hairpin obviously hadn’t been able to do much damage against it. After all, a person would be wearing thick clothing in winter. This wasn’t a TV show where a hairpin could easily pierce through an assassin’s thick clothing.
The fake ghost wrapped its hands around Ji Man’s neck to strangle her. Struggling, Ji Man got her hand around the softy, flesh part of the fake ghost’s arm and used all of her strength to twist it.
“Ah -”
It was clearly a man’s voice, and he had tried to sound like Muxu? Ji Man’s lips twitched. Taking advantage of the moment when he loosened his grip, she hastily kicked his lower half. Then, half-running and half-stumbling, she ran towards the snow-covered ground and was able to open Feiwan Courtyard’s doors before the fake ghost caught up to her again.
Because Dengxin was sick, she had been soundly asleep. However, after such a loud commotion, it was impossible for her to not be awakened. After putting on her outer robe and coming out of her room, she saw that a creature with untied hair was chasing after her master in the outside courtyard.
“Guards!” Dengxin’s voice was hoarse from her cold, so she wasn’t able to shout very loudly. She hurriedly ran over to help her master. Since the courtyard’s doors were opened, several people outside of Feiwan Courtyard were also startled awake by the commotion, and lights were being lit up in the other courtyards.
