Chapter 294 – Let’s keep a memento (1)
At the marketplace.
If you want to go Marquis Moyu’s estate from Xiangguo Temple, it would take about a day of walking. Ji Man had calculated this approximate time using a mathematical equation.
However, Ning Yuxuan was someone that rode in a carriage or a sedan chair whenever he went out. Although he knew the distance between the two places, it wouldn’t have occur to him that walking such a long distance would be very tiring. And so, to her surprise, he actually agreed.
The only thing that Ji Man was grateful about was that she was wearing flat-bottomed embroidered shoes instead of heels.
Why did she have to walk this long path with him? Because based on the original novel, Marquis Moyu liked Wen Wan for her sincerity and down-to-earth personality. Nie Sangyu also had these qualities. She just rarely had a chance to display these traits to him. And, when she was given opportunities, she failed to show them in a positive light. And so, Ning Yuxuan was always biased against Nie Sangyu and thought highly of Wen Wan.
Actually, just like women, men were superficial creatures too. They like to look at attractive people. It was only when they got to the point of being comfortable with looking at your outer self that they would want understand to your inner self. Anyways, you needed opportunities to spend time with the other person for feelings to develop.
Frankly speaking, from Wen Wan’s perspective, the secondary female character was truly too evil and malicious. She snatched away her man, forced her to harm her child in order to rise up in status, and used all sorts of methods to compete for Ning Yuxuan’s heart. Step by step, she had taken away everything that belonged to her.
If she were in Wen Wan’s place, she would also curse Nie Sangyu and say she was a rotten, shameless, little b*tch.
No one was right or wrong. It only depended on which angle you were looking from.
—
Rewind back to the present.
Coming out of Xiangguo Temple, Ji Man really did drag Ning Yuxuan to slowly walk with her. Guibai was following them while maintaining a small gap. Ji Man naturally wouldn’t idiotically hold a stick of sugar-coated Chinese hawthorns while excitedly run back and forth on the street. She specially chose an area that had a lot of small stalls that were selling concentric knots, red strings, matching waist accessories, and what not and led Marquis Moyu there. It was an area that was selling trinkets that they could easily afford with the money they had on them.
After they had walking through several streets, the jade waist accessory and thumb ring that Ning Yuxuan had been wearing were replaced with a cheap concentric knots waist accessory and a ring made of concentric knots.
His expression was rather disapproving. “Do you really believe that if I wear these trinkets, we’ll be together for a long time?”
Ji Man shook her head. “No.”
Even ligation couldn’t change a man’s fickle heart, so how could she believe that wearing a cheap concentric ring would do better?
Playing with the concentric knots waist accessory that she was wearing, she quietly said, “They just look interesting, so I brought them for my lord to wear. My lord, if you want to throw them away, that’s okay too.”
Ning Yuxuan lightly snorted and continued slowly walking side-by-side with her.
The two of them walked very slowly and for a very long time too. The crowds of people gradually dwindled, and the sun slowly descended, but who knew how much further they would have to walk until they reached their destination.
Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow and said, “Let’s just find an inn to stay the night. I didn’t expect it would be so difficult to walk back.”
Ji Man had no intention of mistreating herself either. After she chose an inn that looked comparatively better than the other ones, the three of them went inside and up the stairs.
Did you think it would be her and Ning Yuxuan sharing a room while Guibai stayed in a room by himself? Ji Man had thought that too, but Ning Yuxuan stopped at the doorway and said, “I’ll share a room with Guibai. You can stay in the neighboring room. If anything comes up, just shout.”
Flabbergasted, Ji Man looked at Ning Yuxuan for a long time, then she looked at Guibai, who had his eyes lowered with a deferential expression. She finally closed her gaping mouth and obediently went to her room.
C-Could this be the oft referred to ambiguous bromance? No, that can’t be right. He already had wives and children. Wouldn’t Ning Yuxuan be too much of a beast if he also went after a pure-hearted and honest servant like Guibai?
Inside her room, after Ji Man recovered her shock, she excitedly jumped up and pressed her ear against the wall to the adjoining room. However, it still wasn’t dark yet. She only faintly heard Ning Yuxuan ordering Guibai to get dinner and didn’t hear anything else.
Guibai came over and knocked on her door. “Madam.”
Ji Man hurriedly ran over and pretended that she was sleepy. “Hmm? What?”
Guibai asked, “Madam, are you going to eat dinner in your room tonight?”
Ji Man nodded. “Sure. After you bring over dinner, you don’t have to trouble yourself over attending me.”
Perhaps, there would be a good show to hear tonight. Was it possible that the dignified Maruis Moyu was bisexual? Otherwise, why would he want to share a room with Guibai instead of embracing a perfectly good beauty?
All of the gossiping cells in Ji Man’s body were stirred up into frenzy. If this was true, then she had to tell Wen Wan as soon as possible, so she could see what kind of reaction she would have.
Very quickly, dinner was brought over. It was even personally brought over by Guiabai instead of by one of the inn’s employees. Ji Man felt hungry after seeing the food. She sat down, picked up the chopsticks, and said, “It’s getting late. You can go back to serving the marquis. The leftovers and plates can be picked up by someone else tomorrow morning.”
Guibai made a sound of assent and withdrew the room. He glanced at her before closing the door.
There were three dishes on the table. Ji Man tried a mouthful, but the food was actually quite salty. Food in ancient times didn’t taste very good to begin with. Why did they put so much salt? It was salty to the point of being inedible. Fortunately, she had brought many snacks from the stalls today to bring back to the estate. She might as well eat some of the snacks now.
After eating her fill and washing up in the room, Ji Man lied down on the bed and eagerly waited.
But, after waiting for a long time, she didn’t hear any activity from the other side. Instead, someone tried to open her door.
Ji Man was startled. The candlelight had already been extinguished. It was the middle of the night. Was there a rapist lurking outside?
She pretended that she was coughing in her sleep, and the sounds from the door stopped. Ji Man crept over to the door and looked at the door bolt. Before she had gone to bed, she had specially checked that it was locked. Unless someone slammed himself against the door, no one should be able to open it.
She went back to her bed and lied down again. She finally heard faint voices coming from the neighboring wall.
