The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

After the snacks came out, Ning Mingjie looked at the plate of steamed milky yellow roughage buns, took a deep breath, and slowly took off his mask.

Everyone paused in eating and the golden roll in Ning Errong’s mouth fell out.

“Older brother...?”

Ning Mingjie rubbed his face, turned his head, and said to the nearby waiter that was blankly staring at him, “I want to eat melon cookies and the greasiest foods you have.”

Once again, Ji Man saw this face. It held a hint of a child’s unwillingness to accept that he was wrong. His facial features no longer looked blurry, like something from a dream. He looked a real person.

Because she had been staring at Ning Mingjie for too long, Nie Qingyun called out, “Sangyu.”

After returning to her senses, Ji Man seriously explained, “It’s not that I have a voracious desire to look at beauty. It’s just that Young Master resembles someone I saw in a painting a while ago, so I looked at him for a bit longer.”

“Eh? What painting?” Ning Errong curiously asked. “My older brother has never let anyone paint his portrait.”

If you told one lie, then you naturally ended up having to tell more lies. Ji Man could only put on a bold face and say, “I just happen to see it in one of the capital’s stores. The owner of that store said that man had failed to be loyal to his lover. He abandoned his fiancée of four years and slept with another woman.”

The corners of Ning Mingjie’s eyes twitched. “Madam Ning, you clearly know that this one doesn’t have a fiancée.”

“Hehe. Sangyu knows, that why I didn’t say it was Young Master. It’s so rare for you to be willing to reveal your face. Sangyu will treat you to melon cookies. No need to thank me.”

Actually, Ning Mingjie wasn’t that obsessed with his mask or unwilling to let other people see his face. It was like Ji Man said, he had covered his face because he was too self-conscious of other people’s gazes. But now, he had taken off his mask just to eat snacks. He was truly an unaffected person.

The group of people ate and drank quite happily.

After Ning Mingjie took of his mask, the expressions on his face were laid bare. He wasn’t used to hiding his emotions and inevitably felt somewhat embarrassed. Ning Errong was giggling during the entire outing. On the way back, she pulled Sangyu along in high spirits and said she was going to bury his mask.

—

When Ji Man returned to her room, she saw Ning Yuxuan sitting in her room. Jinse was standing by his side.

“My lord.” Ji Man obediently saluted.

Ning Yuxuan looked at the smile on her face that hadn’t disappeared yet and quietly snorted once before saying, “Starting from tonight, Jinse will be serving me. You can go sleep in the neighboring room.”

Ji Man nodded. “Okay.”

Jinse had been secretly checking out this woman that wore a jade accessory with the surname “Ning”. The servant girls outside had said Nie Sangyu was very magnanimous and virtuous. Her future days probably wouldn’t be too bad.

“Jinse isn’t familiar with this place. Take her out and show her around this residence,” Ning Yuxuan said.

Ji Man still nodded in response. “Okay.”

As Jinse followed Nie Sangyu, she turned her head to glance at Marquis Moyu. For an unknown reason, his complexion didn’t look good.

How strange, other men were happy when their wives were willing to be magnanimous of other women. Why did Marquis Moyu look angry? Jinse couldn’t figure out the answer to this question.

As Ji Man walked on the path, she recited this verse, “This brightly and beautifully decorated zither has fifty strings for no reason at all, and each string and each bridge is for recollecting a splendid year.

Your name sounds quite nice.”

(T/N: Jinse’s name comes from the poem mentioned above. Her name literally translates into brightly and beautifully decorated zither.)

Jinse quietly thanked her. Ji Man acted exactly like a tour guide as she led her around this large courtyard. At the end, seeing that it wasn’t early anymore by the color of the sky, she sympathetically patted her shoulder and said, “Thank you in advance for your hard work tonight. The marquis is slightly difficult to serve, just follow along with his wishes.”

Where would you find such a gentle, virtuous, and charitable woman? Although Jinse still had a calm expression on her face, her heart was touched by Nie Sangyu’s words and behavior.

—

That night, while lying in Marquis Moyu’s arms after serving him in bed, she even reminiscently said, “Madam is truly a good person.”

“You think she’s a good person?” Ning Yuxuan chuckled. “You haven’t seen the previous her.”

These words sounded rather loathing. Jinse raised her head and asked, “My lord, do you not like Madam?”

“En,” Ning Yuxuan said, “I’ve never liked her.”

Jinse lowered her head back onto his chest and remained silent.

—

Ji Man had a good night’s sleep. When they boarded the boat the next day, she saw Marquis Moyu personally carrying Jinse onto the other boat. It was an extremely gentle and sweet scene.

Ji Man shrugged and followed behind them to board the boat.

For an unknown reason, the crown prince followed her onto the same boat. Perhaps, he had too much free time and was bored.

“Don’t you feel bad seeing them like this?” The crown prince asked her with a beaming smile.

“Why should I feel bad?” Ji Man raised her eyebrows. “It’s easy for the landscape to change, but it’s difficult for a person’s inherent nature to change. With the marquis’s status, it’s only to be expected for him to be surrounded by countless women. If I were to feel bad over something like this, wouldn’t I be intentionally seeking misery for myself?”

“You certainly thought this through.” The crown prince narrowed his eyes. “Nie Sangyu, if you’re willing to be my woman, perhaps, I would be willing to dismiss my harem for you.”

Translator Ramblings: Just to clarify, Ning Yuxuan’s primary reason for bringing back Jinse isn’t to embarrass Nie Sangyu. It’s to make the crown prince think he’s not interested in Nie Sangyu, and Nie Clan by extension.