BXBX NOVEL Chapter 49 - One thousand and one nights (2)
“I came here to see you after I came back from the Ministry of Revenue,” Ning Yuxuan said these words very naturally, walked two steps closer to her, lowered his head to simply sniff the edge of her temple. “Is this fragrance from flowers then? It smells pretty good.”
Ji Man’s ears turned red. She hurriedly jumped away and bashfully said, “My lord, this servant hasn’t bathed yet and is covered in sweat.”
After these killjoy words were said, the smile on Ning Yuxuan’s face dimmed. “You’re sweating even in this type of weather?”
“This servant ran back here.” Ji Man said, “Old Madame said that Marquis Jingwen will be visiting soon and wants each of the courtyards to be tidied up.”
Ning Yuxuan paused before he said, “It’s about that time. When they come here, the residence will be livelier. Don’t you have a good relationship with Errong? You should be feeling happy.”
Errong was Marquis Jingwen’s daughter. Like Nie Sangyu, she had been spoiled to the point of becoming arrogant. And so, it wasn’t strange that the two of them would best friends. However, after Marquis Jingwen moved his residence to outside of the capital, it was rare for Ning Sangyu to hear news about Ning Errong.
Not much had been written about Ning Errong in the original novel. After all, she was only one of the minor characters. From what she remembered, Ning Errong had been married off after she helped Nie Sangyu harm the female lead one time. Anyways, her ending wasn’t good. But, as someone that was willing to help Nie Sangyu with this, she must have truly been her good friend.
Ji Man put a smiling expression on her face and said, “This servant is looking forward to seeing her and hoping that she’ll get here sooner.”
Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a few moments, then his lips curved up into a rare smile, “I’ll be sleeping here tonight too.”
What?!
Ji Man’s smile froze for a moment, then the corners of her lips twitched. “My lord, don’t you need to spend time with Madam? When this servant went to Qiangwei Courtyard on the way back to here, Madam’s complexion didn’t look that good.”
Marquis Moyu lightly shook his head. “Your story was too interesting. I don’t want to leave.”
After saying this, he turned around, left the courtyard, and headed towards the study in the western side of the residence.
You should never believe in a man’s words. Marquis Moyu was an experienced person when it came to the affairs of the heart and he frequently bewitched a person’s heart. Even Nie Sangyu didn’t realize that this man had never loved her until the moment before her death.
Ji Man inwardly reminded herself that he was a terrifying person that had no regard for the feelings of others. Then, she returned to organizing the words that she would say and considered if she should tell the story of The Fisherman, the Jinni, and the Four Fishes*.
* (T/N: This is one of the stories in One Thousand and One Nights.)
—
“Madam, have you seen the tricks being used by Nie Sangyu?” Seated near Wen Wan, Qi Siling looked at her and said, “Originally, everyone thought that she wouldn’t be able to reverse her fortunes. But in the end, she still moved into Feiwan Courtyard by relying on Old Madame’s support. She also had the marquis go to her own courtyard of his own initiative. Madam, it’s not that Siling wants to gossip and meddle. Since you don’t have the temperament to compete and vie for the marquis’s favor, the marquis will be stolen by someone sooner or later.”
Wen Wan was barely able to force herself to smile. “I don’t believe you. I know that the person he loves the most is me.”
Qi Siling sighed. She couldn’t refute those words. However, Nie Sangyu was truly powerful. If the marquis’s heart wasn’t with Wen Wan, Nie Sangyu would have definitely already taken back her position as the main wife. Wen Wan could sleep without worries right now, but the rest of them couldn’t be sure that Nie Sangyu would be able to tolerate them and leave them alone. And so, she had to plan ahead.
—
After washing up and changing into plain sleeping clothes, Ning Yuxuan’s hair was still slightly wet as he leaned against the side of the bed and waited for her.
As Ji Man slowly finished getting ready for bed, she silently thought, was this a beauty trap? Ning Yuxuan must have lost his mind if he came here to try to seduce Nie Sangyu. But seriously, what was he thinking? He hated Nie Sangyu so much. Why was he still repeatedly coming here to sleep with her?
“My lord.” After Ji Man finished puttering around, she stood by the bed.
Ning Yuxuan looked at her for a moment, then he shifted towards the inside of the bed to signal for her to come onto the bed.
Right after Ji Man got onto the bed, he hugged her. Her heart jumped from shock and she reached her hand out to press against his chest in resistance. She wasn’t able to hide her feelings either and there was undisguised refusal on her face.
Ning Yuxuan’s eyes became more intense. He raised his eyebrows and asked, “You don’t want to serve me in bed?”
Ji Man hurriedly smile and said, “Of course not.”
“Then, why did I just see resistance in your eyes?” Ning Yuxuan faintly smiled.
“You must have saw wrong. I’m too busy feeling happy.” Ji Man straightforwardly smiled and directly lied down on the bed, “Come on!”
Looking at her valiant expression as if she was letting herself die as a martyr, Ning Yuxuan silently laughed in his heart. He didn’t hesitant and immediately went forward.
“Wait!” Ji Man called out.
“What? Ning Yuxuan lightly raised the string on her dudou. His eyes were full of teasing intent.
(T/N: Below is a picture of a dudou.)
Ji Man swallowed her saliva, resisted the urge to kick him off of her, and gently said, “My lord, this servant has another story. Do you want to hear it?”
Ning Yuxuan fake smiled and turned over to lie down by her side. With one hand supporting his head, he looked at her with bright eyes and said, “Tell me about it.”
“This time, I’m telling a story about a fisherman.” Ji Man swallowed her saliva and seriously said, “A long time ago...”
By the time the candlelight had burned out, Ji Man had finished telling two stories. She was so tired that she was about to fall asleep. But, Marquis Moyu continued to look at her in high spirits. “Are you finished?”
Seeing the flame in his eyes, Ji Man hurriedly shook her head, “I haven’t! Keep listening to me!”
Marquis Moyu gently stroked her hair. “It’s fine. You can slowly talk. I’m very curious, exactly how many stories do you know.”
Translator Ramblings: I’ve been thinking that Qi Siling is just an evil manipulator that wants to harm Wen Wan and Nie Sangyu. But after reading her thoughts in this chapter, I wonder how much of her actions are just much motivated by her fear of Nie Sangyu.
Part of me feels bad for Ji Man for not being able to sleep and the other part wants to laugh. She’s probably imaging and plotting creative ways to kill him for not letting her sleep for two nights in a row.