BXBX NOVEL Chapter 71 - Occasionally gentle (2)
Ji Man woke up in the afternoon, but her head felt woozy after sitting up, so she lied back down again.
Ning Yuxuan transferred the bowl of thin congee to the other hand and used his other hand to help her sit up and lean against his shoulder. He expressionlessly asked, “Why are you so delicate?”
Ji Man was too tired to talk to him. Her mouth was dry. She didn’t feel hungry even when she saw the congee.
But, Ning Yuxuan scooped up a spoonful of congee and overbearingly forced it past her lips and into her mouth.
“This servant can’t bear the honor of being fed congee by the marquis.” Ji Man was so angry by his action that a vein on her temple was throbbing. Who would act so crudely towards a sick person? Did she owe him something in a previous life?
“Then, you should feel deeply grateful,” Ning Yuxing lightly snorted. After stuffing her with a bowl of congee while she was dazed, he also fed her two pieces of spicy dried radish to improve the taste in her mouth.
Ji Man was peeved, but she didn’t have the strength to respond. She could only let him do as he pleased. Her eyes were feeling so tired that she didn’t even want to keep them open. She only said, “It’s easy to catch a cold. My lord, you should leave.”
For an inexplicable reason, Marquis Moyu seemed to be in a good mood. After tucking her in, he said, “I’m not a person that easily gets sick. You don’t have to worry.”
Ji Man clenched her teeth. Who was worried about him getting sick? She was merely finding his presence annoying!
Muxu hurriedly came into the room to wipe Nie Sangyu’s body with medicinal liquid and also feed her medicine.
Looking at Muxu, Ning Yuxuan said, “It’s really tiring to be your servant girl. Muxu, I’m giving you two days off. You can leave the residence and visit your family.”
“This...” Although Muxu really wanted to take a vacation... “My master is sick. What will she do if there’s no one to take care of her?”
“I’ll be here. You can leave.” Marquis Moyu waved his hand.
And so, Muxu quickly left the room.
Ji Man’s head felt muzzy from her fever. Although she heard their conversation, she couldn’t comprehend the meaning of their words. In this midst of her confusion, someone took off her clothes and wiped her entire body down with a handkerchief that was dampened with medicinal liquid. The person followed up by pouring a very bitter medicine down her throat.
Whoever was taken care of by Ning Yuxuan would feel as if she had lost half of her life. This was a person that completely didn’t know how to gently take care of another person. And yet, he still showed an expression of concern the entire time.
However, Ji Man’s fever started to go away by the next day. With her body wrapped up in a thick quilt, she resembled a newborn chick as she sat by a brazier. From time to time, she would sniffle and blow her nose.
Marquis Moyu had really continued to stay here to take care of her. Even when a servant from Qiangwei Courtyard came over to say that Wen Wan wasn’t feeling well, he only sent a doctor to go check on her.
Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand to look at his attractive face from the side. She couldn’t help thinking; what part of the play was he performing now?
The comings and goings in the residence decreased in winter. Ji Man heard that Mu Shuqing was feeling at ease with taking care of her pregnancy. Liu Hanyun usually didn’t leave her courtyard. Qian Lianxue had a weak body, so she wasn’t willing to go outside once winter arrived either. Qi Siling was the only person that frequently left her courtyard.
Ning Yuxuan was finally called away by someone. After spending the past few days inside a stuffy room, Ji Man hurriedly bundled herself to the point that she resembled a black bear and went outside for fresh air.
She felt as if she had almost been smothered to death by the smell of medicine and burning charcoal in her room. The snow hadn’t melted outside, but it wasn’t too cold outside. She stepped out into the snowy courtyard and made impressions in the snow with her feet.
Ji Man continued treading in snow until she finally wrote out a word in English to express her feelings about the past two days. Fuck!
From a distance, Ning Mingjie and Ning Errong saw a black bear skipping in the snow as they walked over here.
“Look at her. She doesn’t look like a person you have to worry about at all.” Ning Mingjie couldn’t help laughing.
Ning Errong walked closer and hurriedly stopped Nie Sangyu. “You just recovered from your cold. Why did you come out? Let’s go back to your room.”
Ji Man said with a smile, “It’s fine. It’s too stuffy inside. Why did the two of you come here?”
“I was worried that you were bored, so I came here to keep you company and relieve you of your boredom.” After Ning Errong said this, she pointed at the person behind her, “Older brother wanted the snow on the plum tree, so he also came.”
Snow on the plum tree? Ji Man glanced at Ning Mingjie, nodded, and said, “Young Master, feel free to take it.”
“Thank you.” Ning Mingjie nodded. Holding a porcelain bottle, he headed towards the plum tree.
“I heard the half poem in Luoyan Pagoda is extremely popular recently.” Ning Errong pulled her to stand underneath the covered walkway and sent Baizi to bring out chairs. “A lot of people have been going there to try to write out the second half of the poem, but none of their attempts have been as imposing and majestic as the first half. I heard that even the crown prince has gone there and spent a long time trying, but failed. He’s offering a hundred gold taels as a reward to the person that can complete the poem.”
After a pause, Ning Errong added, “Fortunately, other than Old Madame, no one knows that you and my older brother wrote that poem. My cousin seems to have been invited by the crown prince to Luoyan Pagoda today for this very reason.”
Ji Man was stunned. She hadn’t expected that poem would attract the crown prince’s attention. This was actually a bit troublesome. If someone recognized Ning Mingjie’s handwriting, would he also confess that she was the writer of the poem in the passing?
She couldn’t resist turning to look at Ning Mingjie. His slender body was currently quietly using a hairpin to sweep the snow on the plum flowers into a bottle.
Translator Ramblings: “She couldn’t help thinking; what part of the play was he performing now?”Why do you think Ning Yuxuan is suddenly acting attentive towards Nie Sangyu?
P.s. Just in case it was too long ago, it was mentioned in an earlier chapter that it would be a bad thing for Ji Man if the crown prince notices her. She wants to be as unobtrusive as possible for safety reasons.