Chapter 346 – The one that loved more would lose (1)
She decided the she would invite over a prostitute for Ning Yuxuan. Opps, she meant a courtesan.
After all, a professional would be more reliable. And so, after Ji Man tidied up, she left the estate and went straight to a brothel.
However, right after Ji Man stepped through the gate, a servant immediately followed after her without her noticing. After she had browsed around in the brothel for a long time, she still hadn’t found a suitable person. It would be strange if Ning Yuxuan would be willing to spare these beautiful women more than one look.
When she returned to the estate that evening, she still hadn’t found a suitable person. She was somewhat discouraged as she walked back to her room. She decided that she would just borrow another person from Wu Yong tomorrow. Anyways, Wu Yong was like a peddler of humans and would be able to find any type of person.
However, right after she entered her room, she saw Ning Yuxuan drinking tea at her table.
“Back?” He raised his eyes and looked at her.
Ji Man nodded. She stopped in the doorway and asked. “Marquis, why did you come over?”
“I heard that you were in a very good mood today and went to a brothel, so I came here to see if you would be returning home tonight,” Ning Yuxuan lightly said, “If you didn’t come home tonight, then you won’t need to give lessons to Haohao tomorrow morning either.”
Feeling a chill go up her spine, Ji Man hurriedly tried to curry favor with him by going over to pour water and tea. “This one was just curious what women in those places looked like. That’s all.”
Even if she had other thoughts, it wasn’t like she was physically capable of doing anything.
Ning Yuxuan looked at her for several seconds before saying, “Miss Zhu made a terrible scene in Qian Residence today, and Yingchen locked her in the woodshed.”
At the mention of Miss Zhu’s matter, Ji Man couldn’t resist sitting down. “What happened?”
“She said that Yingchen likes her, and that he was just having trouble admitting it. When Miss Peng came over to visit Yingchen, Miss Zhu blocked her way and wouldn’t let her inside.” Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and said, “She’s such a troublemaker. Yingchen’s injury hadn’t been serious, but he was so angered by Miss Zhu, he couldn’t breathe and fainted.”
Ji Man couldn’t resist laughing. “Wow, Miss Zhu is really too incredible.”
“I had been planning on persuading Yingchen to take Miss Zhu as a concubine to settled the matter with Assistant Minister Zhu. After that, he could welcome Miss Peng into his household,” Ning Yuxuan said, “Miss Peng is the type of person that wasn’t interested in marrying to begin with. It had taken so much persuasion on my part to matchmake these two people, but it’s being ruined at the hands of Zhu Yurun.”
Ji Man felt a bit depressed. If her marriage with Miss Zhu didn’t work out, what would happen to her grain business? Although Assistant Minister Zhu had already said he would use Zhangjun rice as the tribute rice, would he end up going back on his word if she didn’t marry his daughter?
As they continued conversing, the mood between the two of them became less tense. After Marquis Moyu said a few more things that Zhu Yurun had done, he said, “I just remembered. I brought back some snacks for you. They’re specialty snacks made from Qian Residence’s chef. I left them in my room. Do you want to come over to try some?”
Stunned, Ji Man raised her head to look at him.
Marquis Moyu’s expression was very calm.
After hesitating for a bit, Ji Man nodded and said, “Sure. Marquis, you can go ahead without me. This one wants to change into something more comfortable.”
“En.”
After Marquis Moyu left the room, Ji Man closed her doors and blankly looked at the box on her bedside table for a bit. Then, she changed into a white robe, removed her mask, and took out a bottle of sleeping powder from underneath her pillow. She mixed the powder with red lipstick and applied it to her lips. She composed herself before putting on a veiled hat and heading towards the western courtyard.
She didn’t care about her body. Men and women were equal. The physical pleasure between two bodies was also mutual, so there was no need to be emotional about it. If Ning Yuxuan was really interested in her body, that would be perfect. She would personally go into battle and complete the task that Wen Wan had failed.
This would even save her the cost of hiring someone to do this task for her.
As she comforted herself with these thought, she stepped into the western courtyard and entered Marquis Moyu’s room.
“What’s wrong?” Seeing her attire, Ning Yuxuan slightly raised his eyebrows. “Why are you wearing a veiled hat?”
After locking the doors, Ji Man took off her veiled hat. She smiled at him and said, “Because I’ll be done for if I wasn’t wearing it.”
Ning Yuxuan froze in place as he stared at the face that he hadn’t seen in a long time. He was left feeling utterly speechless.
This person hadn’t changed at all. There was still that birthmark spot between her eyebrows, and her lips were splendidly red. When that face smiled, it was overflowing with charm. Seeing this sight, it felt as if his throat had slightly closed up. There was burst of pain his heart.
Ji Man slightly smiled. She went over and sat down. Seeing the slices of layered cake, she said, “Since my lord has been troubled with thoughts of me, I came here in the night. How about we have another predestined encounter?”
This woman was a demoness. Her smile was very fake without any sincere feelings. She hadn’t come here because she missed him. Marquis Moyu clearly knew all of this. However, as he looked at her face, he couldn’t stop himself. He pulled her over and gently kissed her forehead.
“Sangyu.”
Ji Man softly laughed and very obediently leaned against his chest. “My lord.”
After that heavy rainstorm, it felt as if he hadn’t seen her again. Even though he knew that she was living here, it didn’t feel real because he was only looking at that fake face. It was only now that she had changed back to her original self that all of his suppressed feelings spiraled out.
He had to control her. Otherwise, she would control him. Ning Yuxuan knew this. But, when her lips touched his, he gave up on struggling and closed his eyes. He kissed her lips that were liberally smeared with sleeping powder.