Chapter 331 – Taking her through the back door (1)
Once again, Ji Man returned in the dim light of night. Although she was tired, instead of going straight to sleep, she still ordered a servant girl to prepare a hot bath for her. She had already been wearing the fake skin face mask for ten days. If she didn’t take it off and give her skin time to breathe, she would probably end up with a face full of acne soon.
After closing the windows and locking the doors, she took off the mask and her clothes. She submerged her body into the bathwater for a while before sitting back up and letting out a long relaxed sigh.
Sure enough, when the pressure of work became too much, coming back home and taking a hot bath was enough to wash it away.
She happily scrubbed her face clean. Just as she dried herself off and was about to step out of the bath bucket, she heard a creaking sound as someone opened the doors.
What the hell? Ji Man hastily hid herself by submerged her body. She had clearly locked the doors. How was someone able to push open the doors?
“You’re certainly being very leisurely.” Ning Yuxuan’s voice had already arrived by the bath bucket. Seeing the mass of hair that was floating on the top of the water, he helplessly pulled her out. “Aren’t you worried about accidentally suffocating yourself by doing something like that?”
With a flushed face, Ji Man looked at him and said, “Marquis, why can’t you uphold the standards of a gentleman’s honor instead of acting with such impropriety?”
Looking at her, Marquis Moyu felt a flash of inexplicable terror. He didn’t hear her words and only blankly stretched his hand out to touch the face that he hadn’t seen in such a long time.
“Sangyu.”
Ji Man frowned. “Marquis, this one is Ji Man.”
As if he hadn’t heard her words, Ning Yuxuan leaned over, tilted her chin up, and gently kissed her lips. “It’s really been too long.”
There wasn’t anything to cover her body, so Ji Man could only clench her jaw. “If people find out that the marquis snuck in his heir’s teacher’s room to do unlawful things, what would other people think? Do you not care about your reputation anymore?”
“What’s a reputation worth?” Ning Yuxuan scooped her out of water in one swift motion. He didn’t seem to care that the water was dripping down from her body and falling onto him. “When have I ever cared about something like that?”
As early as when he had opened the capital’s gate to allow Zhao Li inside, the title “Marquis Moyu” had already become something that many people secretly cursed about.
Ji Man was somewhat stunned. As he carried her over to the bed, he dried most of the water from her body. After putting her down on the bed, he even wrapped her up in a quilt.
“Marquis, did you come here looking for a booty call with this one?”
“Booty… what? ” He stood back up. With a slightly displeased tone, he said, “Can you stop saying words that I don’t understand?”
Ji Man pressed herself against his chest and seriously said, “A booty call is when two strangers that have no feelings for each other sleep together. It’s just a way to release the lust in your body.”
He had been about to kiss her forehead, but he froze after hearing these words. Ning Yuxuan lowered his head and silently looked at her. “Do you see us as two strangers that don’t have any mutually shared feelings?”
“At the very least, we don’t have a legitimate relationship.” Ji Man dryly laughed. “Marquis, the divorce letter that you gave me, this one has always been keeping it with me.”
His body had stiffened by the bedside. Ning Yuxuan stared at her for a moment before pursing his lips and saying, “I forgot. You’re not my wife anymore.”
“En.” Ji Man casually picked up a robe that was on her bed and put it on. “It’s late. Marquis, it’s best if you go back to your room sooner.”
“Alright.” Ning Yuxuan got up. As he was about to leave the room, he remembered something and said, “I came over because I wanted to tell you that there’s going be a banquet at the assistant minister of revenue’s house tomorrow. It’s a celebration for his family’s Old Madame’s eighty birthday. Do you want to go with me?”
The assistant minister of revenue? That was a grand fourth rank official. Back when she was the marquis’s wife, she hadn’t thought it was a big deal when someone was a high-ranking official. But now that she was only an ordinary citizen, she realized that those were people that she really needed to curry favor with.
Ji Man looked like a puppy that was one moment away from wagging its tail. She looked at Ning Yuxuan with glimmering eyes and said, “Marquis, thank you. This one will definitely be waiting tomorrow to go with the marquis to the banquet.”
Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled and left the room.
He hadn’t learned to be considerate person yet. After opening the doors to leave, he didn’t think to close them shut. As a result, the wind that blew through the doors chilled Ji Man, who was still sitting on the bed.
—
The next evening, Ning Yuxuan’s carriage was waiting at the front gate. After Ji Man had coaxed Haohao into going sleep earlier, she swiftly went to the front gate and followed Ning Yuxuan into the carriage.
“My lord…” Liu Hanyun had just walked to the front gate too. Originally, she was going to ask, since the marquis was attending a banquet today, as his main wife, should she be coming along with him? As it turned out, Marquis Moyu hadn’t thought about bring her with him at all. Instead, he was taking Haohao’s teacher.
This new teacher had truly obtained the marquis’s high regard. It was probably due to the marquis’s favoritism towards Haohao. He wanted to give everything that was good to Haohao.
Liu Hanyun sighed and turned back to return to her courtyard.
—
During the entire trip, Ji Man was silently contemplating on what she would do when they arrived. Was there anything that she should avoid doing?
Leaning against the carriage, Marquis Moyu yawned and nonchalantly said, “The assistant minister of revenue has a son that’s the same age as Haohao, but his son’s stubborn and mischievous personality is always giving people headaches. He’ll probably be pretty happy if you spend time with his son.”
Somewhat stunned, Ji Man turned her head to look at him. Was he helping her?
“He doesn’t like talkative people, so watch how much you’re saying.” Ning Yuxuan swept his gave over her, then he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
Sometimes, it was useful to have this haughty person in your family. One day in the future, once Ning Yuxuan had figured out what her real intention was, he most likely wouldn’t be willing to continue to help her. But, right now, he was looking out for her and helping her establish a useful relationship by taking her through the back door. And so, Ji Man did feel somewhat grateful towards him.
Although she might have an enmity that was absolutely irreconcilable with this person, Ji Man wasn’t in a hurry. Revenge could be slowly taken. She had to stabilize her position first.
—
The front entrance to the assistant minister’s estate was bustling with people. At first, Ji Man was even worried that there wouldn’t be space to park their carriage. Unexpectedly to her, the carriage was directly driven to the back entrance.
When they arrived there, a man in his forties was waiting there. He placed one hand over his fist to salute and greeted, “Shuyou is deeply honored that the marquis has personally come here.”