Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter: 046 out of 513 – Just treat him as if he was her son (1)
Actually, wasn’t the person in front of her, the most person that she should be most guarded against? Who did she have the worst relationship with in this household? Nie Sangyu. She would have never expected that Nie Sangyu would also be the person that would come here to persuade her.
Mu Shuiqing thought over Nie Sangyu’s words three times over and couldn’t see if she was hiding anything. Nie Sangyu’s words had been analyzing the situation from Mu Shuiqing’s point of view and had all been for her benefit.
It couldn’t be that Nie Sangyu had really turned over a new leaf and was giving consideration to other people’s needs in all respects, right? No, this couldn’t be true. But, she didn’t have a choice right now. She had to believe this was the truth.
Mu Shuiqing’s face became considerably less tense as she gloomily sat at the edge of her bed. She agreed with Nie Sangyu’s words, but she felt awkward and didn’t want to leave her bed to eat.
Ji Man paid attention to the changes in her expression. In the modern world, she worked as a salesperson. Her ability to guess what people were feeling had already reached perfection. And so, she immediately added a little bit of each dish into a bowl, brought the bowl over to Mu Shuiqing, and stiffened her face as she said, “Here. If you don’t start eating, I’m going to eat it all.”
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Mu Shuiqing raised her head and saw Nie Sangyu pretending to look severe, but there was concern in her eyes. Her heart inexplicably felt warm and she reached out to take the bowl without thinking. When she returned to her senses, Mu Shuiqing somewhat angrily looked at her own hand.
“Eat. Once you’re finished eating, tidy up and go to Old Madame and attend to her.” Ji Man said.
Mu Shuiqing raised her eyes. Not understanding why Nie Sangyu had said those words, she said, “Why should I go serve Old Madame? I’m pregnant!”
She had only been pregnant for a month or two. There wasn’t even a noticeable bump and she was calling herself pregnant? Ji Man couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. If women couldn’t work anymore in their first trimester, then how did pregnant modern women go to work with their big bellies when they were seven to eight months pregnant?
“Old Madame is the one that has the ultimately say in this household. If you want to live well and avoid being stabbed in the back by a hidden enemy, then Old Madame’s place is the best harbor. Do you understand?” Ji Man patiently explained her reasoning. If Mu Shuiqing’s intelligence was too low to comprehend reality, then she didn’t have any other methods. She left after saying these last words.
Mu Shuiqing’s eyes turned. She lowered her head and picked up her chopsticks to quietly eat. She understood the meaning of Nie Sangyu’s words. But, she still felt that this situation was strange. Why Nie Sangyu being nice to her? She was the crown prince’s person and Nie Sangyu was Noble Consort Nie’s niece. No matter how she looked at it, neither of them could draw the other person to her respective side, right?
Even though she felt that Nie Sangyu’s behavior was strange, Mu Shuiqing still went to serve old madame during the break after lunchtime after she finished eating.
“Weren’t you causing trouble by going on a hunger strike?” Old Madame coldly looked at Mu Shuiqing. “You still have energy to come here to serve me?”
Standing on the side, Ji Man secretly made a gesture to kneel with her index finger.
Mu Shuiqing paused for a moment, then she kneeled and quietly said, “Old Madame, please don’t be angry. This servant didn’t try to cause trouble by going on a hunger strike. This servant had eaten a large bowl of food during lunch and is feeling fine.”
Old madame carefully looked her over before relaxing her expression. “It’s naturally good that you’re willing to be more well-behaved.”
“Yes.” Mu Shuiqing agreed. She stood up and took over Nie Sangyu’s previous position to massage old madame’s back by lightly pounding on it with her fists.
Standing nearby, Ji Man was smiling as she brought over the items that she would be applying to old madame’s face today.
Old madame felt that it was extremely strange that these two people, who usually argued the most with each other, were now on good terms with one another in front of her. But, she didn’t ask any questions and only quietly observed these two people.
—
As they were leaving the main courtyard, Mu Shuiqing harrumphed, “Don’t expect me to be grateful towards you.”
Ji Man indifferently smiled, “If you’re too grateful towards me, my life will definitely be shortened*. You should go back and focus on taking care of your health and unborn baby.”
* T/N: Ji Man uses the word zheshou, which is a superstitious idea that being too favored will lead to a shorter life.
Mu Shuiqing flung her handkerchief as she left. Even though she remembered Nie Sangyu’s previous unpleasantness, she still put those thoughts down anyways. Moreover, even though she knew that Nie Sangyu probably wasn’t actually this kind-hearted, she still felt grateful towards her.
When everyone else in this household didn’t care about her unborn baby, Nie Sangyu was the only person that pointed out a clear path for her and didn’t try to harm her.
She slightly looked down. For a moment, Mu Shuiqing even felt that the current Nie Sangyu was quite likable.
—
Mu Shuiqing stopped causing trouble and peacefully focused on the health of her unborn child. She even regularly went to serve old madame. Mu Shuiqing was very good at speaking. It only took her a few days to coax old madame into a happy mood. As a result, the marquis finally came to her courtyard to see her.
“Just focus on taking care of your health and the unborn baby.” Although Marquis Moyu only said this one sentence, Mu Shuiqing was already very happy. This was better than when he didn’t say or ask anything.
—
Wen Wan was the only person that continued to be unhappy. Mu Shuiqing’s pregnancy was like a thorn in her heart. Every time she thought about it, there was a difficult to endure pain in her heart. And so, she usually avoided any place where Mu Shuiqing would be and her mood continued to be bad. There hadn’t been any smiles on her face in a while.
At first, the marquis stayed in Qiangwei Courtyard every day to keep her company. However, it seemed that he had become busier with his work in the palace and he would return home very late. Occasionally, he would sleep in Qi Siling or Qian Lianxue’s place instead.
When Ji Man heard of this information, she thought that this man truly didn’t take her words seriously. At this juncture, when madam was still feeling upset, he was going over and sleeping at another woman’s place. It would be strange if Wen Wan didn’t become angrier.
