The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

“It’s nothing.” Ji Man ate two bites of food before putting down her chopsticks. “Perhaps, I’m seasick. I’ll go take a nap in the afternoon.”

Nie Qingyun, Ning Mingjie, and Ning Errong were also at the table. Ning Errong looked at her older brother’s calm face, raised her eyebrows, and asked, “Older brother, are you feeling seasick too? Your complexion doesn’t look good either.”

“I’m fine.” Ning Mingjie’s voice was muffled. He didn’t even slightly raise his head and continued to silently eat.

Ji Man couldn’t resist raising her head to look at him. Bro, you can’t be that stingy, right? She had only looked at him for a little bit longer than she should have. Why was he angered to the point of blackening his face?

Ning Yuxuan turned his head slightly and saw Nie Sangyu looking somewhere else. He followed her gaze and saw Ning Mingjie. His thoughts slightly turned and he put down his chopsticks to ask, “Has Sangyu offended Mingjie somehow?”

This atmosphere, no matter how you looked at, felt wrong.

Ning Errong looked at her older brother, then Nie Sangyu in utter confusion. “That can’t be, ah. Older brother was praising older sister Sangyu just a few days ago. How could that be possible...”

Nie Qingyun didn’t have time to care about being polite. He kicked Ning Errong’s leg underneath the table.

Ning Errong looked at him in bewilderment, “What’s wrong?”

Nie Qingyun added a piece of meat to her bowl. “Eat more, you’re eating too little.”

Ning Errong blushed. She bashfully held her chopsticks and went back to eating. From time to time, she would glance at Nie Qingyun. She didn’t have the free time to say anymore unnecessary words.

Although Errong had casually said these words without any hidden meaning, Ning Yuxuan took these words very seriously. He raised his eyebrows and glanced at Nie Sangyu, but he didn’t actually ask any questions. It was only that his expression wasn’t good either after this. The rest of the meal was eaten in stifling silence.

Ji Man knew that this was an undisguised misunderstanding. Nie Mingjie didn’t like other people having opinions about his appearances and she truly didn’t have any ideas about him. She was just remembering that scumbag from her past. She hadn’t expected that a temporary breach of etiquette would not only make Ning Mingjie uncomfortable, but also make Marquis Moyu feel that he had to be guarded against being cheated on.

She sighed. Ji Man felt that this matter wasn’t worth all this fuss. It was only that the psychological scar the scumbag had left behind was a bit deep and she would forget her manners when she thought about him.

It had been mentioned before that she had previously been in a relationship, but it had been as pure as fresh water. She was still a virgin. It wasn’t that she was conservative. She just felt that their relationship hadn’t reached that point yet.

Who would bother deliberately fleeing from this issue? They were both 21st century people. Ji Man had explained her viewpoint to him and the scumbag had outwardly believed her. He had even lovingly said that he didn’t mind waiting until they were married and appeared as if he had really cared about her.

However, when they went to college, Ji Man was in the south and the scumbag had gone to the north. When the semester had only started two months ago, Ji Man had taken a two-day train ride to Beijing to see him. She wanted to give him a surprise, so she went to the apartment he was renting. But, the end result was that he opened his door in disheveled clothing. She rushed inside and saw a sweetly sleeping woman on his bed.

Regarding this matter, Ji Man didn’t fuss or cause a commotion. When she went out, she even walked quieter because that woman was truly sleeping too sweetly.

It was only when she went out that she realized the north was truly colder than the south. It was so cold that her bones ached.

The scumbag had left a hole in her heart. Even if she met all sorts of people later on, the wound would only be buried deeper and deeper. It wouldn’t slowly heal. Now that it was dug out, it was still dripping with fresh blood.

No matter how carefree people were, they would still have a thing they couldn’t let go, that was the quality of a real, living person.

After lunchtime was over, Ji Man followed the others back onto the boat and fell asleep after going to her room. Ning Yuxuan was also in the room. He was sitting down and writing something. He would occasionally raise his head and feel peaceful as he glanced at the sleeping person on the bed.

However, Ji Man had slept for less than an hour before she had a nightmare. In the midst of her nightmare, she vividly remembered a name that she hadn’t said for several years. “Xu Xi!”

Ning Yuxuan’s hand paused. He glanced at Nie Sangyu, put down the brush in hand, and walked to the bed.

It was the middle of winter, but this person’s body was piping hot in her sleep. It seemed as if she would start sweating soon. She furrowed her brow and her mouth mumbled out that name again.

Who was Xu Xi? Ning Yuxuan recalled the names of Nie’s clan’s members. There didn’t seem to be such a person in Nie Clan. Then, was it a friend?

A stream of something translucent slipped down from the corners of Nie Sangyu’s eyes. Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He couldn’t resist stretching his hand out to catch it. It was icy cold tears. How long had it been since he saw Nie Sangyu cry?

Nie Sangyu used to frequently cry because of him. However, since he had married Wen Wan, she hadn’t cried over him even once. And now, she was saying another man’s name and crying.

Ning Yuxuan coldly harrumphed. This was the first time he felt angry because of this woman. Nie Sangyu truly acted as if she was free to do whatever she wanted. Did she not take the seven reasons for divorce seriously? She had been married to him for six years, but she was actually longing for another man?

Ji Man was sleeping, but she suddenly felt pain in her hand. As she abruptly gained consciousness, she saw Marquis Moyu’s dark expression in front of her.

He asked, “Who’s Xu Xi?”

Ji Man’s eyes were teary. She looked at him in confusion for a long time before her eyes finally focused.

Had she accidentally called out that name? Ji Man wiped her face and did her best to regain her calmness. “To respond to the marquis, that was a dog this servant used to raise. It wasn’t very loyal.”