Chapter 458 – Standing by your side (1)

It was clear that Liu Hanyun’s own hands had hastened her death. Although she was plagued by an old illness, she shouldn’t have died so early. Ji Man teared up a bit when she found out. However, she had recently lost Haohao, so she wasn’t in the mood to think about anything else. When Ning Yuxuan came over to ask what should be done with Xi-er, Ji Man sighed and said, “He’s my lord’s legitimate son. Your blood and flesh, so he naturally can’t be treated poorly. My lord, what are your plans for him?”

Ning Yuxuan said, “Let’s give him to Qing-er to care for then. She’s worked for me for so long, and her courtyard is quite desolate.”

“Okay.” Ji Man didn’t have any objections. She quietly stood up and put away Haohao’s things to avoid having these reminders in plain sight.

—

After the recent events, Marquis Moyu’s estate became quite cheerless Ji Man hadn’t officially married into the household, but everyone treated her as the matriarch of the family. Seven days after Liu Hanyun’s funeral, all of the servants switched to addressing Ji Man as Madam.

Mu Shuiqing liked Xi-er a lot. She spent all of her time playing with him and would bring him over at a fixed time each evening to pay respects. If she wasn’t bringing him to the garden to play, then she was taking him outside the estate to stroll around.

Although the estate had become quite gloomy, Ning Yuxuan thought there was a lot less to worry about. He no longer had to worry that the situation would blow up in his inner court. Thus, he had more free time to deal with matters in the imperial court.

Many officials wanted to stuff new women into the Marquis Moyu’s estate, but he tactfully refused all of them by saying that his health was poor, and he wouldn’t want to waste these women’s lives.

Ji Man was very touched. Ning Yuxuan had already used such high-level words to slander himself. What more could she say?

However, since ancient times, marrying and getting in-laws were an essential way for establish relationships. Right now, Ning Yuxuan needed to win over the loyalties of the other officials. How could she let herself become a stumbling block?

Thus, Ji Man created a “Hundred Flowers Association”. First, she invited Luo Qianqian, Errong, and Zhu Yurun. Then, one after the other, she invited the madams of other noble families. The standard for membership into a Hundred Flowers Association was lengthy. A woman had to be capable, virtuous, and multitalented in zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting as well as have an attractive appearance.

Although Ji Man was simply plagiarizing the idea behind Tonghua Poetry Association, her marketing of this new association was a success. Not only could the members of a Hundred Flower Association enjoy benefits like mastering the art of skincare, they also had access to the latest products in skin whitening, makeup, jewelry, and clothing. When unmarried women were admitted to a Hundred Flowers Association, matchmakers would efficiently guarantee in finding them a good marriage.

As a result, the madams and young ladies in high-ranking officials’ families, who were bored of staying at home every day, all liked to visit Marquis Moyu’s estate. Ji Man made a clear distinction of what type of people could and couldn’t enter a Hundred Flowers Association in coordinating with Marquis Moyu’s plans. If he wanted to draw someone to his side, that person’s wife and daughters would absolutely be on a Hundred Flowers Association’s invitation list. If he was in conflict with that person, Ji Man would personally appear, challenge the other parties to a poetry contest, win by plagiarizing famous poems, and reject the other parties’ request to enter the association under this excuse.

It took less than a month for a Hundred Flowers Association’s reputation to skyrocket. It was because Zhu Yurun, who had previously been unskilled in poetry, went to Luoyan Pagoda and wrote Heavenly Pure Sand: Autumn Thoughts.

An old tree, dried vines entwined, by ev’ning crows come roosting;

O’er a small bridge, by a running stream, homes of people nestling.

On an old road, in the autumn wind, a scrawny horse keeps trudging.

The sun, slanting, to the west, setting —

Heart-torn, lovelorn, the wanderer, to the verge of the sky a-roaming.

(T/N: Translation of the poem was taken from here.)

This poem had already received the praise of graduated scholars. There were also people that thought a mere woman couldn’t be capable of such broad-minded thoughts that came from bitter life experiences. As a woman that stayed in the confines of a boudoir, how could she have possibly felt heartbroken from traveling to a far-away place?

Zhu Yurun covered her face and repeated the words that Ji Man had instructed her to say. “I merely wrote this accompanying poem after seeing a painting by a member of a Hundred Flowers Association.”

At this time, Luo Qianqian sent over her painting to Luoyan Pagoda. The scenery on this painting wasn’t lacking at all when compared to the poem. The style of painting was astonishingly desolate.

Luo Qianqian saluted and said, “Sirs, this is Qianqian’s humble painting. Qianqian saw this scene on the southern part of Prince Huainan’s fiefdom.”

After this presentation, other people believed in Zhu Yurun’s words. On the same day, members of a Hundred Flowers Association left behind many works of calligraphy in Luoyan Pagoda for future generations to comment and evaluate. Although this move was wildly over-the-top, it left behind a deep impression. A group of scholars flushed and sighed amongst themselves that they weren’t as talented as these women.

Ji Man was a person that knew how to conduct herself. Once she had gotten to know many of these married women, she established good relationships with them. For time to time, she would send over new ideas for hairstyles as well as hairpins with gems.

—

When Ning Yuxuan came back from the imperial court today, he was surprised to see her busily writing. When he got a closer look, he saw that she had written the words “Fashion Magazine” on the cover of a thick stack of paper.

“What are you up to now?” Ning Yuxuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “A lot of people have been coming over here recently. What are you messing around with?”

Ji Man glanced at him before taking out a list of paper. “The Minister of Revenue, Sir Li’s wife, Zhang-shi, Grand Tutor Sun’s wife, Zhao-shi, the Minister of Justice, Sir Xu’s wife, Qian-shi…”

“You…” Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows and took the list from her to read it. It had only been a month; how had she gathered all this information?

“All of these madams seem like pretty good people.” Ji Man smiled. “It’s probably because of you, but their attitude towards me is pretty good. We all get along pretty well.”

Marquis Moyu, “…” This paper was densely packed with the maiden names of important official’s wives and their preferences and hobbies.

“I was thinking, since I’m not willing for you to take any concubines, I should figure out a way to help you in some way.” Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand and looked at him. “The threshold for Marquis Moyu’s estate is too high, that’s why they all think marriage is necessary if they want to establish a connection with you. In actually, as long as I have a good relationship with the various madams, that’s also a type of connection. Just like… the previous connection between Noble Consort Nie and Old Madame.”

Ning Yuxuan was stunned.

Translator Ramblings: At first, I found it strange how quickly Ji Man gets over the lost of Haohao each time, but I guess; she didn’t have enough time to bond with him. She never got the chance to hold him right after she gave birth to him or spend a lot of time with him as he was growing up.