The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Liu Hanyun dryly smiled. “It wasn’t that bad. Back when this concubine was a servant girl myself, my winters were like this too.”

Chunpi pursed her lips and said in a low voice, “It’s because those servants belonged to your younger sister, so my master was scared of offending her and didn’t even dare to scold them.”

Nie Chenyu was currently making quite the scene; even the servants that she had brought with her were all strutting around too.

Ji Man lightly laughed, shook her head, and said, “Just because she’s my younger sister, it doesn’t mean that she can ignore the rules. I won’t be unfairly biased. If something like this happens again, just come and tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

Liu Hanyun smiled and nodded. She was still holding Xi-er. Xi-er had already stopped crying and fallen asleep.

“That’s odd.” Ji Man blinked and looked at the little fellow. “I always have to coax him for a long time each day before he’ll fall asleep. It’s surprising that it only took a short amount of coaxing from you to get him to fall asleep.”

Liu Hanyun was still smiling as she said, “Babies respond differently to different people. Look at Yun-er. She likes to cry a lot too usually, but Chunpi always succeeds in calming her down.”

Looking at Liu Hanyun’s motherly glow, Ji Man thought; she had been right. A woman that was also a mother was the most mesmerizing type. Had Ning Yuxuan developed astigmatism or nearsightedness? Otherwise, how could he like someone like Nie Chenyu?

—

That night, the snow stopped, but it was still very cold outside. Ji Man was informed that Ning Yuxuan would be going to Luoyuan Courtyard later tonight. And so, wrapped up in a cloak, she brought Yun-er with her, stood at the path that would lead to Nie Chenyu’s courtyard, and waited.

After walking closer and seeing them, Ning Yuxuan asked in a displeased tone, “What are you doing here? Pretending to be a ghost?”

Holding Yun-er, Ji Man sighed and said, “If this servant had a chance to see the marquis during the day, this servant wouldn’t be standing here in this place to stop you. How long has it been since you saw Hanyun?”

Marquis Moyu stopped at her side, looked at Yun-er, and took her from Nie Sangyu. “Now that you mention it, it’s about time for me to visit her.”

Ji Man stretched her hand out and stroked Yun-er‘s face. “When I went to visit her today, there wasn’t a single brazier in her room. Hanyun’s face was also deathly pale. Even if Yun-er is only a daughter, she’s still your flesh and blood. Look at how thin she’s become. She’s not even half of Xi-er‘s weight. Don’t you feel any pain when you see her like this?”

Perhaps, it was just genetics or it could be some other reason, but Yun-er continued to be very small and looked especially pitiful.

Marquis Moyu’s gaze softened. He pursed his lips and said, “You stopped in the middle of this path because you want me to go to Linghan Courtyard, right? Aren’t you worried that your younger sister will be mad at you?”

Ji Man shrugged. “I’ve already gotten used to being the villainess. My lord, you need to hurry up and change your path. Otherwise, if other people bully Hanyun to death, you’re going to blame me for dragging her into this trouble.”

Ning Yuxuan slightly nodded. He glanced at her one more time before turning around and heading towards Linghan Courtyard.

Ji Man stroked her chin as she contemplated. Normally, if the male lead liked someone and that person told him to favor another woman, shouldn’t the male lead be very unhappy and storm off after a throwing a tantrum? As it turned out, Marquis Moyu still didn’t like her then? No, that seemed wrong too. There were definitely times when she thought that he was behaving very affectionate towards her. Those moments had just felt too surreal.

Lowering her head, she drew circles in the snow with her foot. How long will the road to revolution be?

—

Ning Mingjie had already left the marquis’s estate without anyone noticing. The next time that Ji Man saw him again, it was at palace banquet that happened two days later.

Ning Yuxuan had specially ordered two formal outfits in matching dark purple. They looked like outfits that were meant to be worn together by a couple.

When Ji Man received the formal dress, it was accompanied by a message that told her to dress herself up properly. She would be going to the palace banquet with Ning Yuxuan.

In ancient times, there was no such thing as couples outfits. It was probably because there would be a lot of people at the palace banquet. In order to avoid your wife accidentally being led away by someone else, people from the same families would wear the same color.

Regarding this banquet, only the main wives were allowed to attend with their husbands. And so, the rest of the women in the harem were very unhappy.

On the day of banquet, right after Ning Yuxuan and Ji Man left the estate, a huge ruckus started. Of course, that part of the story will be told later.

—

The combination of Ji Man’s excellent posture and the purple dress with accessories that she was wearing made the other guests feel that she had an impeccable demeanor. No matter who she saw, she would greet them with a faint smile, even if she absolutely had no idea who they were.

The first prince had already been let out of house arrest. After the confinement period to reflect on his past errors had ended, he no longer had a crown prince’s impressive aura anymore, but there was still a smile on his lips. When he saw Nie Sangyu from far away, he even smiled at her too.

Ji Man didn’t have the slightest good impression towards him. She immediately turned her head away in response and ended up seeing her older cousin.

Recently, the third prince was riding on the crest of success. The emperor had bestowed him a princess from a vassal state to be his princess consort, and the imperial noble consort was doing everything she could to help her son. Ji Man estimated that it wouldn’t take long before the third prince easily gained the title of crown prince.

The third prince smiled and said, “Seeing that younger cousin’s life is going smoothly, I can let go of my worries.”

Ji Man returned his smile. It was the same type of smile that she would show a customer.

Seeing so many princes and princesses coming and going, Ji Man couldn’t distinguish who was who. However, there was one person that was very conspicuous because he was sitting in a wooden wheelchair. A golden hair accessory held up his hair, and he was wearing a blue-green robe that was embroidered with serpents that had four claws.

Following her gaze, Ning Yuxuan lightly said, “That’s the second prince. There’s no need for you to pay extra attention to him.”

Translator Ramblings: In the previous chapter, I was thinking that it’s difficult for Ji Man and Ning Yuxuan to protect Liu Hanyun, because she doesn’t tell them when she’s being bullied. But, maybe the reason that Liu Hanyun doesn’t say anything is because,” It wasn’t that bad. Back when this concubine was a servant girl myself, my winters were like this too.” She’s been a servant girl much longer than she’s been a concubine. As Ji Man noted earlier, even after Liu Hanyun became a concubine, she still pretty much lived like a servant. Her accepted standard of living is much lower than Ji Man’s. Liu Hanyun didn’t find it noteworthy when Qi Siling made her wash her stained dress as punishment.

Liu Hanyun seems to be a foil to Muxu. They both started off as a servant, but unlike Muxu, who desperately wants to climb up, Liu Hanyun was content with where she was. Muxu remembers every wrong to done to her, but Liu Hanyun views it as, suffering being a type of blessing.

What do you guys think?