Chapter 269 – What kind of men do you like? (2)
This reception after the wedding was different from a commoner’s reception because the bride’s father was a prince. After the proper ceremonial rites were observed, the bride had to meet with various madams from noble families.
As one of these women, Ji Man naturally approached her with a cup of wine.
Because they were now relatives by marriage and Ning Mingjie was older than Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man had to address her as older cousin. When she was toasting her, the bride slightly lifted up her wedding veil and very courteously drank the wine she was offered. Even with most of the bride’s face covered by the veil, Ji Man could see that the bride had a pretty complexion that was easy on the eyes.
Sitting in a different area, Ning Mingjie was greeting his guests. His marriage to Prince Gong’s daughter was a very favorable decision that didn’t have any detriment to the third prince’s faction. However, he had never met his bride before today and didn’t have any feelings for her.
Ning Residence was very lively today. Taking advantage of this wedding banquet, a considerable amount of people were going around and trying to climb up socially. Ning Yuxuan had also been pulled away by a group of people to drink, so Ji Man was left sitting by the bride’s side and helpfully adding food to her bowl.
Holding a cup of wine, the the first princess consort came over, sat down by Nie Sangyu’s side, and said with a smile, “Marchioness Moyu, you’re becoming more and more beautiful.”
Ji Man straightened her posture and lightly smiled. “Your Highness, you’re overpraising this servant. This servant is like a willow tree that easily withers away. How could it be compared to Your Highness’s outstanding and heavenly beauty?”
“Such a sweet-talker. No wonder the marquis likes you.” The first princess consort pursued her lips and laughed. “I heard that a lot of things had happened in your household lately. You’re quite skillful.”
The first princess consort clearly didn’t come here with good intentions. Ji Man sighed and said, “It wasn’t something that Sangyu had wished for. If someone hadn’t secretly used a child for nefarious reasons, Sangyu wouldn’t have needed to do those things.”
“I heard that they already found the culprit who switched out the marquis’s heir,” the first princess consort said, “Has your child been found yet?”
Ji Man’s gaze sunk. Next to her, the bride interrupted their conversation by saying, “First princess consort, didn’t you come here to drink with Qian-er? Why are you talking with Sangyu?”
“Aiya, look at me.” After laughing for a few seconds, the first princess consort stood up and went over to the bride’s other side. Looking at the bride, she said, “This cup of wine is to toast the bride. You have to properly drink all of it.”
Because her alcohol tolerance wasn’t good, Zhao Qian had been planning on drinking the wine, then spitting it out into her sleeve. But, while other people hadn’t mind and would look away, the first princess stared at her the entire time, and she could only swallow the entire cup of wine down.
Including the cup of wine that Nie Sangyu had offered her, she had only drunk two cups of wine today, but she suddenly felt very woozy.
“I want to go back to my room.” She didn’t want to lose her self-control on her wedding night. Zhao Qian turned her head and wanted to call over her personal servant girl.
The first princess consort pressed down on Zhao Qian’s shoulder and asked, “The mood is so good right now. How can you leave?”
Ji Man faintly frowned. She stood up and helped the bride up. “Since older cousin-in-law wants to go back, Sangyu will escort older cousin-in-law.”
Zhao Qian gratefully raised her eyes to glance at her.
Breaking the bride away from the first princess consort’s hold, Ji Man supported her out of the room.
Ning Residence was very large. All of the servants had gone to serve at the wedding banquet, and Ji Man wasn’t familiar with Ning Residence’s layout. After looking left and right, she finally saw a servant girl that was wearing red clothes coming over here.
“Does the bride want to go to her room to rest?” This servant girl stretch her hand out and wanted to take Zhao Qian from Nie Sangyu. “This servant will lead her.”
“That’s fine. I’ll come with her.” Ji Man felt slightly worried and avoided that servant girl’s hand. “Just lead the way.”
The red-robed servant girl didn’t say anything. After many twists and turns, they finally stopped in front of a courtyard that was full of red ribbons that had been tied into concentric knots.
“The good luck woman is waiting inside. Madam, you don’t need to come inside.” The servant girl took Zhao Qian from Nie Sangyu and said. “Madam, thank you.”
Seeing that they had arrived, Ji Man couldn’t stubbornly insist on following them inside. She could only watch as Zhao Qian was brought into the bridal chamber, then she turned around and went to look for Ning Yuxuan.
Ning Yuxuan was already drunk from all of the toasting. His usually cold face was flushed. Seeing her coming over, he childishly stretched his hand out towards her. “Sangyu.”
Ji Man felt a bit startled. When she reached his side, he hugged her waist and said, “Older cousin is clearly the groom that should be doing all of the drinking, but he keeps pushing me to drink more. Don’t you think he’s being really mean?”
Ning Mingjie had also drunk too much. His eyes were filled with sparkling things. He loudly laughed and said, “He wouldn’t speak the truth when I asked him, so my only choice was to get him drunk. Once he’s drunk, he’ll naturally say truthful words.”
Ji Man’s lips twitched. She swept her gaze across this table of young men. Nie Qingyun was also here, but he had drunk too much and lost conscious. When she carefully looked at him, she could see that his brow was still furrowed. Had he been worrying about something lately? Other than Ning Mingjie and Ning Yuxuan, none of the other men were still awake and capable of saying anything.
“Help me drink.” A white wine cup was brought to her lips.
As soon as Ji Man lowered her head, she could smell a very strong alcoholic scent.
In ancient times, noble families didn’t dilute the wine with water during banquets, so the alcoholic percentage was very high. No wonder Ning Yuxuan had drunk to the point of looking like a fool.
Ji Man took the cup and looked as if she had cleanly drunk it, then she raised her sleeve and spat it all out. The wine had been potent enough to flush her cheeks. “En, I’ll help you drink.”
Ning Yuxuan actually smiled. Pulling on her waist, he asked, “Sangyu, what kind of men do you like?”
Startled, Ji Man carefully looked at his eyes. He really was wasted.
“This servant likes a man that whole-heartedly loves one person. His salary isn’t too high or too low. He’s someone that could a buy house together with me, treats me well, and knows how to cook. When I say east, he won’t look west. His wife would be the most important person to him. He won’t be a promiscuous person that cheats on me. He knows how to repair light bulbs and how to fix computers.”
Her expression didn’t change as she finished answering this question. After thinking it over, she added, “That type of men is already on the verge of going extinct. It would be easier to just find a hourly worker.”
Ning Yuxuan blankly looked at her. Next to him, Ning Mingjie was also dumbfounded by these words. A moment later, he suddenly laughed.
“I don’t understand what your other requirements mean, but just from your requirement of wanting a man that whole-heartedly loves you, I know that the type of men that Sangyu likes doesn’t exist.”
Ji Man seriously nodded. “It’s not your fault. It’s because you were raised in this this world.”
Pursing his lips, Marquis Moyu collapsed to the side. Feeling very unhappy, he looked at her and said, “So, you don’t like me.”
Ji Man covered her mouth and laughed. “My lord, you’re drunk. This servant is also drunk. Let’s go back home, wash up, and go to sleep.”
Translator Ramblings: OMG, Ji Man, why aren’t you sending Ning Mingjie or someone else to check up on the bride? How did you let yourself get distracted like this?
This is the first time in this novel, where I was actually worried about what’s going to happen next. For Ji Man, I feel that she can handle anything that’s thrown at her, so I’ve never felt worried. Hope the bride is okay.