The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Ji Man was somewhat stunned. The result of Wen Wan dropping her child was that the problem of her status, which hadn’t been resolved even with the birth of this baby, was now resolved. Was Wen Wan on the same setting as an unkillable cockroach, ah? No matter how many times she beat her down, Wen Wan seemed to have a pre-installed system that would keep bring her back. She was like a tempo that would keep bouncing back up.

Feeling uncomfortable in her heart, Ji Man lowered her eyes and said, “Miss Wan-er’s status has already gone up and down several times. If someone’s status is changed too frequently, then outsiders won’t value the seniority and ranking system in the marquis’s household. This servant thinks that it wouldn’t be considered treating Miss Wan-er unfairly if she becomes an honored concubine. After all, as an honored concubine, her daily lifestyle wouldn’t be that much different from a secondary wife’s. Siling will also naturally do a thorough job of arranging this.”

Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. He looked at her before saying, “Do you think Wan-er shouldn’t be a secondary wife?”

“Of course,” Ji Man seriously said, “Xia-shi and Hanyun both had children before her, and they were both sons too. My lord, if you want to raise Wan-er‘s rank, then how do you plan on raising their ranks? It’s already pushing it to promote Wan-er from a servant girl all the way up an honored concubine. If she becomes a secondary wife, then what will Xia-shi and Hanyun think?”

Marquis Moyu considered her words and thought her logic was sound.

“This servant thinks, if you want to raise Wan-er up, you should also let Hanyun become a secondary wife.”

“En?” Ning Yuxuan slowly sat down. “Why is Hanyun and not Xia-shi? Haohao is the one that will be my heir.”

Ji Man nodded. “It’s fine that Haohao will be your heir, but Hanyun has also given birth to a son. In addition, she’s served my lord for several years without ever competing for favor. My lord, could it be that you don’t think she deserves to bestow with any favor? Since you’re going to raise Wen Wan’s status, then you should raise everyone else’s too. This will avoid making the other mothers feeling unhappy. My lord, what do you think?”

After rubbing his temples, Ning Yuxuan said, “Let’s do what you suggested. I need time alone to calm down about Yun-er‘s matter. You can leave first.”

“Alright.” Ji Man nodded.

The female lead wanted to turn around her fortunes and had certainly paid a heavy cost to accomplish her goal. She had sacrificed her daughter in exchange for improving her status. This wasn’t something that Ji Man was capable of. She could only make a sound of admiration.

Right now, Nie Clan wasn’t in a good situation, and her position in the marquis’s household was in a delicate, tricky state. She had no other choice. She could only pull Xia-shi and Hanyun to the frontline of the battlefield with her. Otherwise, if she allowed Wen Wan to bounce back up again, it would be very troublesome for her.

—

Ji Man saw Monk Xuwu again when he came over to perform a ceremony to help Yun-er’s departed soul find peace.

She had heard that this monk had high-level skills through religious cultivation, but he was a bit wild and deranged.

When he saw her from a distance, he came over and said, “You’re going to encounter something troublesome soon.”

Ning Yuxuan was standing by Xuwu’s side. Hearing these words, he frowned and glanced at her. Then, he asked Xuwu, “What kind of trouble?”

“Trouble comes from involving yourself with people that have sinister intentions.” Deliberately being mysterious to keep his audience guessing, Xuwu took one step closer to her and said, “This old one keeps having this feeling that there’s something strange about your wife...”

Marquis Moyu froze in shock for a moment, but in the next moment, he instinctively blocked Xuwu from getting closer to Nie Sangyu. “Great Master, you should go perform the ceremony first. Yuxuan was the one that made a mistake and committed a sin. Great Master, based on our past friendship, please send Yun-er off and help her reincarnate into a good life.”

Xuwu clicked his tongue in disapproval. When he took a step to the left, Ning Yuxuan also took a step to the left to tenaciously block him.

With an unhappy expression, Xuwu tore at Ning Yuxuan’s position by saying, “I say, what’s wrong with you? You were the one that wanted me to look at her, and now, you’re the one that’s protecting her. Are you really that scared I’m going to take her away?”

“I just wanted you to look... as for what’s strange or not, I don’t need you to concern yourself with it.” After saying this, Ning Yuxuan turned around and expressionlessly looked at Nie Sangyu. “Go and see how Wan-er is doing.”

Ji Man felt puzzled by their mysterious conversation. She nodded and went inside Qiangwei Courtyard.

Wen Wan was wearing simple, white silk clothing. It looked extremely similar to the clothing that Nie Sangyu had been wearing when Ji Man had first come here.

Looking at the mirror, Wen Wan saw that Nie Sangyu had come into the room. She giggled and said, “You must be feeling very pleased with yourself and thinking that there’s one less thing separating you from Yuxuan, right? You must be secretly bursting with joy.”

Ji Man pursed her lips. “Did the circuits in your brain become too convoluted?”

After a pause, Wen Wan turned around to directly look at her “... Stop saying words that I don’t understand. I know what you’re secretly thinking. But, Yuxuan is mine. No matter what, he’ll only love me. Do you think that time he released those sky lanterns was because he likes you?”

Ji Man cleaned her ears.

“He already told me the truth when we were at Foshan. He said he was using you to make me feel jealous because he was feeling upset with me for a bit.” Wen Wan’s little face looked somewhat twisted. “No matter what, he won’t fall in love with you. You should give up.”

“Oh, alright.” Ji Man nodded.

Wen Wan choked and angrily said, “Why don’t you believe me?!”

“Why wouldn’t I believe you?” Looking at her, Ji Man said, “The marquis loves you. He loves you so much that he’s willing to suffer horribly for you and turn everything on its head. His love for you will last until the end of time. Even in death, he won’t be willing to part from you.”

Wen Wan blankly looked at her.

“And yet, he still had children with other women, and he’s going to pass on his marquis title to another woman’s son in the future.” Ji Man shrugged. “At the very least, I’m still the main wife. I won’t have to worry about my future when I’ve reached old age. Miss Wen Wan, in the midst of your elated joy over possessing a man’s heart, have you thought about your future?”

Wen Wan pursed her lips and said, “Say what you want. I won’t feel bad from hearing these words. All of it will become mine in the future.”

Translator Ramblings: I feel that Ji Man is being unreasonably selfish here. She knows that Liu Hanyun isn’t capable of protecting herself and that she just wants a peaceful life, but she’s still dragging Liu Hanyun further into her mess just to keep Wen Wan down. If she doesn’t want Wen Wan to become the secondary wife, she should at least suggest Xia-shi, who will fight back if someone is bullying her. If one day Liu Hanyun becomes tired of being “promoted” into positions that she doesn’t want and becomes power hungry, Ji Man can only blame herself for unilaterally pushing Hanyun down that path.

Also, the first time I was reading this novel, I wondered if Ji Man would ever realize that the only way she won’t lose this game is by choosing to not play anymore. If she’s scared that Nie Sangyu is destined to die because of Wen Wan, she should leave the estate and give up on fulfilling Nie Sangyu’s unknown wish. From her perspective, no matter how hard she struggles to defeat Wen Wan, Ning Yuxuan easily wipes all of her efforts away with just a few words. At the same time, it’s understandable that it’s hard for her let go of her chance of returning to the modern-day.

What do you guys think?