Chapter 244 – Unaware that she’s already involved (1)

This answer to this question was directly related to whether or not she could return to her time. It was true that she had gotten used to an ancient person’s lifestyle after staying here for so long. Wasn’t it just going to sleep a little bit earlier, not having any nightlife or computers and other electronics, and competing back and forth with a group of women to pass the time? When she looked up or down, she would see antiques. There were also several servants to attend to her every need. Her life wasn’t too boring here.

Still, she wanted to go back. There were uncompleted reports and sales that were waiting for her to complete. There were novels and dramas that were waiting to be enjoyed. There was also a substantial year-end bonus waiting for her. She could use the bonus to buy her parents a few expensive household items to show filial respect. She had been here for so long. How much time had already passed in the modern world?

Feeling a bit depressed, Ji Man sighed.

Ning Yuxuan suddenly hugged her tighter. It was only for a moment before he relaxed his hold. His steady breathing seemed to indicate that he had already fallen asleep.

Ji Man raised her head to look at him. This was a man that Nie Sangyu had continued to love despite losing her life. Compared to when he was awake, his sleeping face looked a lot more lovable.

Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.

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The next day, hearing that Old Madame had awakened, Ji Man hurriedly brought Xia-shi to pay respect to her. After holding Xia-shi‘s child and repeatedly saying, “hao“, Old Madame fell unconscious again. She had only been awake for several minutes this time.

And so, with a calm expression, Ji Man announced that Xia-shi‘s baby’s childhood nickname would be Haohao.

(T/N: Hao means good, well, etc.)

Xia-shi was slightly dissatisfied with this odd name. But, Ning Yuxuan wasn’t opposed to this name. He placed his hand on her shoulder and comfortingly said, “It’s just a childhood nickname. When he’s one year old, I’ll personally give him a name.”

Wen Wan was standing by the side. Her eyes were slightly red.

Ji Man thought; if she was reading this in the original novel, then this would be the portion where the female lead is being tormented. The male lead had brought back an illegitimate child and had shifted his feelings to someone else. The author would be able to write several pages about the female lead’s emotional response and masochistically recalling old memories.

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Once again, Ji Man was faced with the seasonal problem of allocating resources such as charcoal for brazier, clothes, and food to each courtyard. Since several courtyards now had babies, Ji Man had to allocate more to those courtyards. Since Xia-shi‘s baby had been added into Ning Clan’s genealogy record as Ning Yuxuan’s oldest son, Ji Man naturally had to allocate slightly more items to Cailian Courtyard.

As for Xia-shi‘s status, there were already too many people in this household that were discontent with Xia-shi, so Ji Man didn’t dare to give her a status that was too high. She reluctantly gave Xia-shi the status of an ordinary concubine, a position that was below Liu Hanyun and Muxu.

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News arrived from Qian Residence that said Qian Lianxue had gotten so sick that she was on her deathbed. To give Qian Yingchen face, Marquis Moyu decided to go to Qian Residence to visit her.

Ji Man grabbed Ning Yuxuan’s sleeve and said with a smile, “This servant should go too.”

Ning Yuxuan didn’t refuse her, and the two of them went to Qian Residence in the same carriage.

When they entered Qian Lianxue’s room, they saw that she had lost weight to the point that she was just skin and bones.

As soon as she saw Marquis Moyu, her tears fell without stopping.

“It’s really too wonderful that my lord is still willing to see Lianxue.” Qian Lianxue stretched out her thin and weak hand. She wanted to pull Marquis Moyu closer to her, but he was standing too far away for her to reach him. He didn’t seem as if he was going to step closer either.

Ji Man was speechless. She had originally thought that Qian Lianxue was just pretending to be sick. She glanced at Jinse, who was standing nearby. Jinse made a gesture of wanting to go outside with her hand, so Ji Man went along with her request and left the room.

Outside, Ji Man asked, “Is she really sick?”

Jinse led her to a more remote corner and sneered, “She’s so clever. She’s the one that made herself sick like this. My master had originally wanted to silence her permanently, but after hearing that she was sick, he hasn’t sent anyone. Even though everyone is saying that she’s going to die soon, her breath still hasn’t stopped after being sick for so long.”

Ji Man thought; ah, of course. But, what was Qian Lianxue’s goal? She still couldn’t figure it out.

Jinse derisively said, “This servant has been thinking there was something strange going on since that time when that woman ate the wrong pastry in the marquis’s estate. This servant had practically treated her like a master, but she turned around and harmed this servant. This servant had been totally caught unprepared.”

A thought stirred in Ji Man’s mind.

At the beginning, Jinse had been sent to the marquis by the crown prince. However, other than a few minor attempts at trying to give her a hard time during the Southern Trip, Jinse hadn’t done much to set herself against her once they arrived at the marquis’s estate. On the contrary, Jinse would frequently try to give her helpful advice. The crown prince hated her. If Jinse was really loyal to the crown prince, they naturally wouldn’t have gotten along so easily.

There had also been a strange occurrence that she had overlooked until now. When she had bought the third prince’s birthday gift, Jinse had told her that the third prince like paintings of beautiful women and not landscape paintings.

This meant that Jinse was probably loyal to the third prince. Since she had practically treated Qian Lainxue as her master, didn’t this mean that Qian Lianxue had been following the third prince’s orders?

Ji Man felt somewhat confused. Although she wasn’t close to Zhao Jue, based on their familial relationship, Zhao Jue shouldn’t want to harm her. If Qian Lianxue was absolute loyal to the third prince, why would she harm her or Jinse?

Unless, Qian Lianxue was acting out the role of an undercover agent in an olden times spy show? While she was following the third prince’s orders, she was also follow someone else’s orders as well. Since Qian Lianxue was carrying out orders from both sides, she hadn’t been able to figure out what Qian Lianxue really wanted.

Was this hypothesis too ridiculous? Women in ancient times grew up in boudoirs. It should be very rare for a woman in ancient times to be so shrewd and brave, right? After all, Qian Lianxue would have nowhere to go once she was exposed.

But, if she was guessing right, who was Qian Lianxue’s other master? Could her child have fallen into that person’s hands?

Translator Ramblings: I think Ji Man’s reasons for wanting to go back to modern-day are very weak. There are so many better reasons for why she would want to go back: not worrying about being killed by the crown prince or someone else, getting away from this poisonous harem and Ning Yuxuan, not living in a world where she’s a second-class citizen just because she’s a woman, etc. Is it because deep down, she doesn’t really want to go back anymore?