Chapter 347 – The one that loved more would lose (2)
Was this simply evil that he had brought onto himself? He had once taken for granted Nie Sangyu’s love for him. No matter how he treated her, he felt that she would always continue to love him. But now, he couldn’t stop himself from surrendering. He had automatically put down all of his defenses and trustingly put himself up for slaughter.
Was this just karma?
Sure enough, when it came to love, the one that loved more would lose.
He resisted for a while, but eventually succumbed to the woozy feeling. Ning Yuxuan closed his eyes as he leaned against Ji Man’s shoulder and fell into a deep slumber.
Ji Man grabbed his slumping body. It took a bit of effort to carry him to the bed. Then, she sighed in relief and started rummaging around the room for that item.
It was one thing for the study to not have a secret space, but even after Ji Man searched the entire room, she couldn’t find one in Ning Yuxuan’s bedroom either. Sure enough, she shouldn’t have believed in stuff that was shown on TV shows. She had even wasted time by knocking on every single floor tile. As she was feeling a bit discouraged, she turned her head and saw a redwood nightstand.
Jade ornaments and other like items had been placed on it. When she opened a brocade box that was on the nightstand, the lustrous sight of several exquisite bluish-green gems and green jade greeted her. Surprisingly, there was also a very ordinary concentric knot waist accessory as well as a cheap ring.
Ji Man quickly averted her gaze and resumed looking around the room. She also patted Ning Yuxaun down in her search and opened the brocaded bag that he had on him. She should have guessed this spot earlier. The signature seal was inside the bag.
After arranging Ning Yuxuan so that he was lying comfortably on the bed and covering him with a quilt, Ji Man stuffed the signature seal into her sleeve and put the veiled hat back on. When she exited the room, she told Guibao, who had been standing guard outside, “The marquis said to send Mistress Wan over to serve him. It wouldn’t be appropriate for this one to remain, so this one will be leaving first.”
Guibai glanced at her before nodding. “This servant will have to bother Teacher Ji to stay here for a bit longer.”
“En,” Ji Man agreed and blankly stood by the doorway for a while. Fortunately, Wen Wan quickly arrived, so she was able to quickly get away herself. That very night, she left the estate and delivered the item to Zhangjun Prince’s dwelling place. After that, she went back to her room to sleep and pretended that nothing had happened.
—
When Ning Yuxuan woke up the next morning and saw the woman lying next to him, there were dark, billowing clouds in his eyes. Wen Wan was almost scared to death.
“My lord?”
Ning Yuxuan slowly sat up and blankly remained in that position for a while. He suddenly coldly laughed and asked, “Wan-er, am I really stupid?”
Tugging the quilt to cover her body as she sat up, she somewhat shyly looked at him. “My lord, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing.” Ning Yuxuan turned his head and saw the pile of discarded clothes. His personal brocade bag had obviously been emptied.
Who had lied to whom? Who had taken advantage of whom?
—
For the next three days, Ji Man didn’t see Marquis Moyu, but Zhangjun Prince had given her a lot of rewards. Zhao Zhe also looked at her with an obviously much more trusting gaze.
—
Qian Yingchen felt as if Zhu Yurun was driving him insane. She had insistently convinced Miss Peng to go on a spring outing and was now doggedly inviting Ji Man.
Qian Yingchen still had a good impression of Ji Man. After all, Teacher Ji was a person that Ning Yuxuan thought highly of, so he couldn’t be an ordinary person. And so, Qian Yingchen didn’t reject Ji Man’s presence. On the contrary, he was very welcoming. Seeing this sight, Zhu Yurun practically draped herself on Ji Man and exclaimed, “Teacher Ji, the success of my major life event will be depending on you!”
Ji Man could only agree to her request. Anyways, the rest of her day was free after giving Haohao lessons in the morning.
—
They had discussed where to meet beforehand and settled on meeting up by Tian Lake. Ji Man arrived a bit earlier and saw a carriage slowly driving over here from a distance. A chubby person was following after that carriage and jogging to keep up.
Ji Man furrowed her brow.
When the carriage reached the lake, Qian Yingchen disembarked from the carriage and smiled at Ji Man. “Teacher Ji.”
Ji Man returned his greeting with a two handed salute. She raised her eyes and saw a dignified young lady coming out of the carriage too. This young woman was probably Grand Tutor Peng’s granddaughter. As for Zhu Yurun, she had caught up to them and was getting her breath back.
“Sir Qian.” Looking at Zhu Yurun’s belly, Ji Man frowned again. “No matter what, Miss Zhu is pregnant. Why did you have her follow you by walking?”
Zhu Yurun wiped the sweat from her forehead and waved her hand. “It’s okay, it’s okay. My belly is too big, so I couldn’t fit inside the carriage. I’m okay with walking here too. Teacher Ji, you don’t need to worry. I’m very healthy and much more sturdy than other pregnant women. Besides, Qian Residence isn’t far from here.”
Miss Peng looked very uncomfortable with the situation. Her mood didn’t seem good. She slightly bobbed in greeting to Ji Man, then she boarded a nearby boat by herself.
Qian Yingchen said with a smile, “Teacher Ji, please.”
Ji Man turned her head to look at that chubby girl. Seeing that the other two people were completely ignoring Miss Zhu, she understood why Miss Zhu had insistently invited her along now.
“Sir Qian, you can go on ahead first.” Ji Man stretched her hand out to support Zhu Yurun. “We’ll catch up to you soon.”
Qian Yingchen’s smile dimmed. He glanced at Zhu Yurun before turning around and boarding the boat.
The space in the boat wasn’t big, and the four of them were sitting across from each other. Fortunately, Ji Man was good at livening the atmosphere. She kept up a conversation with Miss Peng and Qian Yingchen that went from chatting about poetry and songs to life philosophy. The mood could be considered harmonious enough.
But, since they were talking about these types of subjects, Zhu Yurun wasn’t able to participate. She could only sit and stare at Qian Yingchen.
“Since this one has the fortunate of going on this outing with Teacher Ji today, there’s a question that this one has been wanting to ask,” Qing Yingchen said. “This one heard that Teacher Ji is planning on marrying Miss Zhu. Is this still valid?”
Translator Ramblings: I don’t know what to think of Zhu Yurun and Qian Yingchen’s relationship, but wouldn’t it be boring to marry someone that you don’t have anything in common with? I have a hard time understanding Zhu Yurun’s infatuation with Yingchen, especially when she’s been given the opportunity to spent time with him.