Chapter 344 – Stealing requires professional skills (1)
Seeing that Ji Man was agreeing, Wen Wan was especially happy. Clutching her handkerchief, she said, “Since that’s the case, Wan-er will leave to prepare. Once the time comes, Wan-er will send Tanxiang over to notify Teacher Ji.”
“Alright.” Ji Man smiled and nodded.
Ning Yuxuan was an especially troublesome person to deal with. If there wasn’t a good reason, Ji Man wouldn’t try to challenge his bottom line. Even if he had become slightly interested in her, there were limits to what he would overlook. If she dared to mess with his plans by relying on the small amount of interest he felt towards her, she would get chopped up into meatballs.
Wen Wan’s scheme was simply at the level of children playing house. Would Ning Yuxuan be stupid enough to allow people to steal such an important seal through such a simple method?
—
After Ji Man ate lunch, she left the estate in the afternoon to look for someone. She didn’t know where Zhu Yurun and Marquis Moyu had gone today, but they would probably be gone all day. This would give her chance to go the inn that Zhangjun Prince was staying at and borrow a person from Wu Yong.
—
Ning Yuxuan didn’t return home until dinnertime. As soon as he came back, he summoned her to his study. He had bad news for her.
“Yingchen’s carriage flipped over on his way home last night, and he’s suffered some injuries. Miss Zhu has already gone over there to take care of him.”
Ji Man was slightly shocked. “How bad are his injuries?”
“It’s not that serious. Miss Zhu originally shouldn’t have stayed at Qian Residence, but she insisted on staying to care of Yingchen until he fully recovers, so I just went along with her wishes.” As Ning Yuxuan said this, he watched her reaction to this news. “What have you been up to today?”
Ji Man blinked. “I gave the heir lessons and talked a bit with Mistress Wan, then I went out to buy some bridal gifts.”
“It’s obvious that your wedding isn’t going to work out. Why are you still buying bridal gifts?” Ning Yuxuan sneered. “Do you really have your heart set on marrying that woman?”
“No.” Ji Man slightly sighed and said, “I think that it’s unlikely that Sir Qian will be willing to marry Miss Zhu. In order to avoid offending Assistant Minister Zhu, this one can only help the marquis clean up his mess by giving Miss Zhu a graceful way out.”
“How did it become you cleaning up my mess?” Marquis Moyu raised an eyebrow.
Ji Man sighed again. “Sir Qian is the marquis’s close friend, and his official position is lower than Sir Zhu’s. If he really insists on not marrying Miss Zhu, Sir Zhu naturally won’t force him in order to give face to you. But, if that happens, he’ll naturally feel resentful. This one’s action is only to help you dispel away Sir Zhu’s resentment.”
Ning Yuxuan was stunned for a moment. He stood up, walked to her side, and lowered his head to look at her. “Your words do have some logic to them.”
Feeling this man’s scent getting too close, Ji Man lowered her head to maintain distance. She sensed Ning Yuxuan raising his hand as if he wanted to touch the fake skin mask on her face.
Just as his hand was almost touching her face, Wen Wan suddenly appeared by the doorway. Seeing the intimate scene between these two people, the smile on her face stiffened as she called out, “My lord.”
“Why did you come here?” Ning Yuxuan put his hand down and sat back down on his chair. He held up a cup of tea to cover up his awkward feeling.
Wen Wan raised her feet as she stepped past the threshold. She put down a bowl of chicken soup and said, “Wan-er hasn’t seen my lord in so long, so Wan-er wanted to make something and bring it over to my lord.”
“You made this?” Ning Yuxuan glanced at the bowl of soup.
Wen Wan shyly nodded. “Didn’t my lord use to say that Wan-er doesn’t know how to cook? Wan-er has learned how to cook now.”
Ji Man stayed by the side as she observed this scene. She thought that Marquis Moyu’s expression appeared uninterested. It was completely lacking the warmth that he used to look at Wen Wan with. At the beginning, his expression would automatically softened into gentleness as soon as he saw Wen Wan.
It was only Wen Wan that would be so stupid. Once a man lost interest in you, it would be useless even if you obtained high-level cooking skills. When a man liked you, everything you did was perfect. But once he lost interest, everything you did was below his notice. What was the use in blindly changing yourself to try to recover past affections? Wen Wan needed to seriously think about why Ning Yuxuan had stopped liking her.
“En. Just leave it there. I’ll drink it later,” Ning Yuxuan lightly said.
Wen Wan glanced at Ji Man before wrapping her arm around Ning Yuxuan’s arm. In a cutely spoiled tone, she said, “It’s so rare for me to walk all the way here. My lord, won’t you accommodate Wan-er by going outside to see the moonlight with me? Just for a little bit. Wan-er wants to privately talk with you.”
Ning Yuxuan slightly furrowed his brow. “I still have matters to discuss with Teacher Ji.”
Discuss what? Wen Wan pursed her lips. She didn’t believe that the two of them had been standing so intimately close together before because they were busy discussing something.
“My lord…” Tears quickly appeared in Wen Wan’s eyes. Pulling on his arm, she quietly said, “This servant hasn’t been fussing or causing trouble recently, or even asking the marquis to come visit me each day. This servant even cooked for the marquis today. Are you really so heartless that you’re going to reject Wan-er‘s one and only request?”
Ji Man helpfully said on her behalf, “Marquis, why don’t you go with Mistress Wan for now? This one will wait.”
Marquis Moyu’s body stiffened. After a period of silence, he finally stood up and headed outside.
Wen Wan was thrilled. She meaningfully looked at Ji Man before rushing out to follow after Ning Yuxuan. Ji Man didn’t waste a single second after Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan left. She strode out of the study and gestured for the person, who had been hidden outside, to quickly enter the room. After that, she personally went over and brought Guibai over to guard the doors, then she stayed in the outside courtyard and sat down at the stone table.
Why would she bother with personally trying to steal something?
Besides, she didn’t know if Ning Yuxuan’s signature seal was currently in his study or his bedroom. The person that she had borrowed from Wu Yong today was also loyal to Zhangjun Prince. This person was a professional thief that would naturally be more nimble than her. There was no reason for her to try completing this task herself.