Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze over her and treated her utterly serious words as a joke. He turned his head and said, "Mingjie's mood probably won't be good for a while. If you have any good friends that aren't married, you can bring them over to Ning Residence to walk around."
What a rotten idea. Ning Mingjie had only recently experienced such a disheartening wedding. Why did he want her to rush forward to play matchmaker? Ji Man silently cursed him, but she nodded her head in agreement and turned around to leave.
Ning Yuxuan called out to stop her, "Wait."
"Yes?" Ji Man curiously turned her head back.
Marquis Moyu lightly averted his gaze and quietly said, "Come to the western courtyard tonight."
Come to the western courtyard? Ji Man nodded. Although she didn't understand what he was planning, when a superior ordered something, a subordinate only needed to execute his order.
---
Hearing Yun-er's cries that filled the room, Wen Wan impatiently shouted, "Where's the wet nurse?"
The wet nurse hurriedly took Yun-er and said in a low voiced, "Miss Wan-er, this child has poor health, so it's very easy for her to get sick. This servant has already fed her milk, but she's crying because she's slightly feverish."
"She's sick?" Wen Wan's expression slightly changed. She took Yun-er from the wet nurse for a closer look. This was totally Liu Hanyun's, that wretched and shabby girl, fault for not taking good care of Yun-er. Otherwise, Yun-er wouldn't be so sickly right now.
"The timing works out well, Yun-er hasn't seen the marquis in a while. I'll bring her over to the study to see him." Wen Wan stood up.
Tanxiang hurriedly came over and draped a cloak over her master. After adjusting the cloak so that it covered Yun-er too, they headed outside.
After the children had been switched back, Liu Hanyun's side was finally happy. From top to bottom, she did a good job with taking care of Xi-er. Her spirits had also become much better. But, on Wen Wan's side, the son had turned into a daughter. No matter how you looked at it, there was a drop in her level of happiness. Right now, Wen Wan's goal was to be favored more often so that she could get pregnant again.
Arriving at the study, she saw Marquis Moyu blankly looking at a sky lantern. He took out two bamboo sticks from the lantern, then put them back and stroked the lantern.
"My lord?"
Before she could announce her arrival, Yun-er had already started crying. Ning Yuxuan raised his head to look at Wen Wan. She was smilingly very warmly and sweetly. Holding Yun-er, she said, "My lord, you haven't come to see Yun-er in a long time. Look, Yun-er is always crying."
Putting down the sky lantern, Ning Yuxuan smiled. He stretched his arms out and took Yun-er from her. "It's probably because you haven't been taking good care of her."
"How could that be?" Wen Wan pressed her lips together. Her laugher sounded a bit pained. "Wan-er just feels that my lord has gradually been distancing himself from Wan-er. Even the snow in my courtyard has gotten higher. Wan-er was just too focused on missing my lord, so Wan-er might have overlooked Yun-er a bit."
Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips together. He handed Yun-er to the wet nurse and said in a low voice, "I'm not done with household matters or affairs of the nation. You'll have to wait."
"Wan-er doesn't want anything else," Wen Wan quietly said, "It's just that I have Yun-er now, but everyone still calls me Miss. Isn't that a bit strange. My lord, are you still unwilling to change Wan-er's status?"
He just knew that when a woman came to his door, there would be something that she wanted. Marquis Moyu sighed. He didn't want to change Wen Wan's status. If he changed it, she would be unhappy if her new status was too low, but if her new status was too high, there would be no peace in his household.
A long time ago, a very long time ago, Ning Yuxuan had thought Wen Wan was someone that had the ability to manage his household. It was only later that he found out that merely liking someone wasn't enough for her to be a suitable person to share his life with. If a person was suitable... then it was possible for him to slowly fall in love with her.
Looking at the sky lantern that he had placed down in the corner, Ning Yuxuan's expression softened. He said, "Regarding the matter of your status, go to Madam. She'll decide."
An incredulously expression appeared on Wen Wan's face. "This type of matter... Does it really require her approval?"
"She's the matriarch of this family after all," Marquis Moyu said, "Moreover, no matter what your status is, it'll be the same to me."
Wen Wan felt rather wronged. Crying and laughing, she looked at him and said, "My lord, do you dare to swear on your heart that Wen Wan is the most important person in your heart?"
Ning Yuxuan paused.
"Are you hesitating?" Wen Wan widened her eyes and laughed. "You once said that you would protect me for a lifetime. Where did the person that said he wouldn't let me suffer any grievances go?"
"Wan-er..."
"Other people can't be blamed for saying that a man's words are the most untrustworthy ones." Wen Wan was still smiling as she retreated. Not even caring about Yun-er, she twisted her body and ran out of the room.
Ning Yuxuan continued to sit in his chair and only let out a long sigh.
---
"Master!" Dengxin ran into the room. In high spirits, she said, "Something funny happened today."
Ji Man was almost done with her embroidery of Wang Zhaojun. She glanced at Dengxin and asked, "What's so funny?"
(T/N: Wang Zhaojun is one of the four great beauties of ancient China.)
Covering her smiling mouth, she told her master what had recently happened in the study. She was still laughing as she said, "The servant girl that had been serving tea at the time is still laughing about it. Wen Wan had once been such a favored wife, but now she's just a servant girl without any status. And now, she even failed when she asked the marquis to change her status."
Ji Man paused. Her embroidery needle pierced the wrong spot and left behind a small flaw.
"Feeling change with circumstances." After sighing, she continued to embroider. "People have to work hard to maintain a loving relationship. If you don't work hard, then you can't turn around and blame someone for changing his or her feelings. After all, love is a fleeting emotion. Marriage requires both partners to get along with each other for a long time."
Not really understanding her master's words, Dengxin just nodded and smiled again as she said, "Master, it can be counted as you finally getting rid of resentful feelings. Back when Wen Wan had so grandly stolen master's position as the main wife, she probably never expected that she would fall to her current state."
Ji Man lowered her eyes and laughed. "Yeah, this world can only have main wives that aren't diligent enough. The other woman can always be defeated if the main wife is careful enough."
Although Dengxin didn't completely understand these words, she still thought that her master looked very impressive as she said these words.
Wen Wan naturally didn't have the face to come over and ask Nie Sangyu to change her status.
And so, Ji Man pretended that she hadn't heard anything about this matter. When night arrived, she went to the western courtyard according to the time that Marquis Moyu had set.
When she heard this afternoon that Ning Yuxuan had been ordering the servants to move things around, Ji Man didn't inquire further about it. Shouldn't men be allowed to have their little secrets?
But, she did find it strange that when she arrived in the western courtyard, Ning Yuxuan pointed a spot for her to sit down and told her to not move. Then, he crouched down in the outside courtyard, took out various sky lanterns from a bamboo chest, and started fiddling with them.
What was he doing?
Ji Man was stunned. She really wanted to open her mouth and ask questions. But, seeing how serious he looked, it felt awkward for her to speak.
One by one, Ning Yuxuan fixed all of the broken sky lanterns that he had taken out from the bamboo chest over the span of two hours. His feet were probably frozen from crouching down in the snow for so long, but he hadn't said a single word.
Based on the principle that if the other person wasn't making a move, then she wouldn't either, Ji Man hadn't asked a single question either. She watched him fix all of the sky lanterns. Then, he ordered Guibai to light up the lanterns for him. One by one, the lanterns were released in the sky.
Ji Man propped up her chin in her hand as she watched. The sky was overcast tonight, and the moon's light couldn't be seen. Once the sky lanterns were released, it attracted many people's attention. The lanterns looked like little stars in the sky. It was quite the spectacular sight.
Ning Yuxuan walked over and asked, "Does it look pretty?"
Ji Man nodded. She could finally ask, "My lord, were you thinking that Sangyu is tired from managing household affairs, so you invited Sangyu here to look at the sky lanterns."
The corners of Ning Yuxuan's lips twitched. He seemed to be emphasizing a certain point when he said, "I fixed them."
So? Did he want her to congratulate him with a large bouquet of red flower? Ji Man felt somewhat confused. Looking at his slightly sparkling eyes, she went along with it and cheered him by clapping her hands. "Wow, you're so amazing!"
Marquis Moyu's expression slightly sunk. His gaze even looked slightly angry as he looked at her.
Ji Man blinked. Did he not like it when people flattered him? Then, he should have said that earlier, ah. But, did he not having anything better to do? Why had he fixed so many sky lanterns until late evening?
"My lord." Wen Wan's voice came from the courtyard's entrance. Ji Man froze for a moment before she subconsciously jumped into the room behind them.
By the time she was thinking clearly again, she felt there was something strange about her impulse. Why did she need to hide?
Wen Wan had come over here because she saw the sky lanterns. With her thin dress and fluttering cloak, she looked like a butterfly when she rushed to Ning Yuxuan's side.
Because of the darkness of the night, she hadn't seen that Nie Sangyu was also here.
"Wan-er knew it. My lord's heart still has Wan-er."
Ning Yuxuan's body stiffened. He turned his head and looked at the room behind them.
Wen Wan raised her head and looked at him as she said, "I was feeling really sad today. I thought you had forgotten all of the beautiful memories that we had shared together. But, you actually remembered it all."
Marquis Moyu, "..."
"These lanterns, aren't they the same ones that were released during a Qixi Festival?" Wen Wan looked at the lanterns that Guibai was still releasing into the sky. With tears in her eyes, she smiled and said, "Back then, we were just getting to know each other. I called you a lecherous skirt-chaser, but you didn't get angry. You wrote my name on lanterns and released them by my room for me see."
(T/N: Qixi Festival is a festival celebrating the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in Chinese mythology. It's also called Chinese Valentine's Day.)
Behind them, Ji Man listened to their conversation. She let out a muffled laugh. Wen Wan was amazingly delusional. She thought that her love was still reciprocated. Still, this presented her an opportunity to gracefully withdraw from the situation. Ah, what a good night. They could look at the sky lanterns and also look at the snow. They could talk about life and the past as well.
Hugging Ning Yuxuan's waist and with her face pressed against his chest, she mumbled, "Wan-er is truly feeling very sadly lately. It feels like your eyes and heart only has Nie Sangyu now. Wan-er had said this in the past, if you dare to fall in love with someone else, I'll also dare to leave you."
Ning Yuxuan's lips twitched. He didn't raise his arms to hug her back and only noncommittally said, "En." In the passing, he kicked the door behind him.
"En?" Wen Wan let go of him and looked at the door. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Ning Yuxuan's tone was light. "I just find this door very unpleasing right now. It's normally very useful, but at the critical points, it'll get stuck."
Ji Man was stumped for words. She pressed her lips together.
Wen Wan angrily said, "Why are you suddenly talking about a door..."
Looking at the lanterns in the sky, she asked, "My lord, how long are you going to make Wan-er wait?"
Ning Yuxuan stopped talking again.
Ji Man silently heckled. Dear sisters, when you reached the point in your relationship when a man won't even be willing to make a promise to you, you should hurry and run away. A man that only offered you empty promises was a scum, but if a man wouldn't even say words of commitment, then it meant his mind wasn't planning a future with you.
Feeling numbness in her feet, Ji Man stood up to rub her legs. She thought for a moment before she pulled open the doors.
"My lord, as long as you promise that your heart only has Wan-er in the future, then no matter how long it takes, Wan-er will wait..."
Before Wen Wan could find the rest of her sentence, the doors behind them suddenly opened, and a woman came out.
Frightened, Wen Wan screamed, ""Ahhh!" She hurriedly hid between Ning Yuxuan's arms. "What is that creature?!"
Ji Man gave them a very sweet smile, then she looked at Ning Yuxuan and said, "My lord, this servant is cheering for you to do your best and will leave here first."