Note: Full chapter title because it's too long (What? Did you think this was going to be a reenactment of the Legend of the White Snake?)
For a moment, Ji Man thought that if a woman like Wen Wan was placed into modern-day, it would be quite interesting. Wen Wan was an ambitious woman, but she only knew how to use foolish and lowly tactics. In the end, she might even blame her boss and say, "Why won't you promote me?"
She mistakenly thought that her work quality was very good, but the value of medicine was based on its healing efficiency, not on empty boasts. If you want other people recognize your abilities, then you had to actually be capable of executing what you said you would do. There had to be an exchange of equivalent value. If you only looked at the world from your own perspective, then it would always be biased.
Ji Man didn't bother with arguing with Wen Wan. She left after telling Wen Wan that she should be going to the mourning hall soon.
---
The mourning hall was small, and the coffin at the center wasn't big either. When all was said and done, Ning Yuxuan did care about this child. He had personally come to the mourning hall to burn incense and remained crouched down to burn paper offerings.
When Wen Wan arrived, her eyes were like water pipes that had exploded. Her falling tears were like a torrential storm. As she cried, she shouted, "My child..."
The guilt in Marquis Moyu's heart increased.
All of the other women in the harem had also come, but Xia-shi and Liu Hanyun had avoided bringing their children.
After Xia-shi had taken her turn in kneeling and burning incense for Yun-er, she went over to Nie Sangyu's side and whispered, "She had been a perfectly good baby, but she died just like that. How could a mother be that careless?"
Wen Wan seemed to have heard Xia-shi's words. She turned her head and hatefully glared at her.
Xia-shi shrunk back so that she was standing behind Nie Sangyu. Then, stretching her head out partially, she said, "So scary."
In a low voice, Liu Hanyun said, "There's no need for you to say so much. Right now, the marquis is feeling unhappy, Wan-er is also feeling upset over losing her baby. Stop saying stuff that will make the situation worse."
Xia-shi twitched her lips. Not convinced by these words, she said, "I just feel that if I was the one holding the child, even if a someone was riding a donkey and bumped into me, I still wouldn't have let go and let the child drop onto the ground."
With his eyes still closed, Ning Yuxuan quietly reprimanded, "Cailian."
(T/N: Cailian means gathering lotus flowers. Back in chapter 125, Xia-shi said her first name was Lianxin. I think the author might have forgotten? Xia-shi's first name is never mentioned again for the rest of the novel.)
Xia-shi finally stopped talking.
With redden eyes, Wen Wan said, "The Heavens sees all. If I had been holding Yun-er securely, how could I have possible let her fall down?!"
On the side, Mu Shuiqing, who had been silent until now, quietly said, "Yeah, the grievances that a child feels is the strongest after all. Miss Wan-er wouldn't want to be haunted by Yun-er's resentful spirit, so how could she possibly want to harm Yun-er."
After these words were said, the nearby Monk Xuwu uttered a Buddhist prayer.
Wen Wan lowered her eyes.
After saluting, Ji Man followed Ning Yuxuan out of the mourning hall. Wen Wan would have to stay here for a while to keep watch over Yun-er. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ji Man told Ning Yuxuan about Errong and Nie Qingyun's matter.
"Isn't this something that you should handle?" Ning Yuxuan curved his lips. "Why do you want me to help?"
Ji Man dryly coughed. Seeing that the people behind them weren't far from them, she lowered her voiced and said, "It's a bit inconvenient for this servant to do something. Errong isn't willing to see this servant, so this servant can only ask my lord for help."
Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze across her and lightly said, "It's not a bad thing for them to divorce. Why are you anxious about it?"
They've already divorced, and he doesn't think it's bad thing? Did they have to never come into contact with each other again before he would call it a bad thing? Ji Man gritted her teeth and said, "My lord, aren't you taking this matter too lightly?"
"Why don't you wait until Ning Mingjie has come back from the battlefield triumphantly, then think about the problem between your older brother and Errong?" Marquis Moyu chuckled, "Aren't you very clever? Aren't you supposed to know everything?"
Ji Man paused.
Ning Mingjie would return triumphantly? Alright, let's ignore the fact that Ning Mingjie wasn't even the commander of the troops that left the capital. Why was Ning Yuxuan bringing up the topic of Ning Mingjie returning triumphantly? How could Ning Yuxuan know that Ning Mingjie would definitely win? Hadn't they said that because of the problem with the supplies, the troops had been forced to gradually retreat in defeat?
Moreover, even if Ning Mingjie will return victoriously, what did this have to do with Errong and Nie Qingyun's marriage?
---
Nie Clan had collapsed, and the emperor wasn't favoring the imperial noble consort. The recent additions to the imperial harem were more favored than the older women. Very quickly, there was that new favored consort, and that new favored court lady, and so on, until the emperor's favor was gradually divided among them. The situation in the imperial harem was starting to become murky. There was also a vacancy for the position of Zhenyuan General, but the emperor didn't have the intention of hurriedly filling that position. Instead, he allowed for someone to temporarily function in an acting capacity for that position.
Based on these facts, Ji Man thought that Ning Yuxuan would definitely give her the cold shoulder for a while.
However, to her surprise, he didn't.
Right after dinner, Ning Yuxuan came to Feiwan Courtyard. After she had helped him washed up and changed his clothes, they lied down on the bed and quietly looked at the top of bed canopy.
Ji Man asked, "My lord, is there something that you want to say?"
Ning Yuxuan turned his head over to look at her and asked, "What about you? We haven't seen each other for so long. Is there something that you want to say to me?"
Ji Man thought; based on Marquis Moyu's smoldering temperament, she could only say sweet things.
Ji Man looked at him with a gaze full of love and said,
"Since we parted, I've thought of seeing you again,
Oh, how I have dreamed of being reunited with you."
(T/N: These are lines from a poem called, Melody of a Partridge-filled Sky.)
Ning Yuxuan froze in surprise for a moment. He chuckled and lightly slid his slender fingers across her lips as he said, "It'll be good when you can finally say the truth."
The truth? Ji Man silently laughed. Could she really say the truth? Everyone thought they liked to hear the truth, but no one could bear knowing the truth. For example, if she were to straightforwardly tell Ning Yuxuan, "You dumb f*ck of a stallion. You went on a mountain vacation with women and children and didn't return for such a long time. You left me here alone while I had to deal with my family undergoing a drastic upheaval. What kind of damn man are you?!" What would he do to her?
The truth? It was so easy and simple for him to say those two words.
A moment later, Ning Yuxuan asked, "Can you visit a temple?"
Why wouldn't she be able to? With a questioning expression, Ji Man said, "Although temples are bleak and not very interesting, they're good places for setting one's heart and spirit at ease. Of course this servant can visit a temple. My lord, do you want this servant to go to one? "
"No." Ning Yuxuan looked away and let out a long sigh.
Ji Man twitched her lips. This person had been behaving very strange lately. She slipped under the quilt too. Leaning against him, she closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, Ning Yuxuan suddenly said, "I'll bring you to Xiangguo Temple tomorrow. I heard ... Xuwu, that old monk, said there's going to be a Buddhist gathering there tomorrow."
"Oh." Ji Man turned over and continued to keep her eyes closed to sleep.
Marquis Moyu looked at her back figure for a long time. He stretched his hand out and wanted to place his hand down on her shoulder, but after pausing for a moment, he took his hand back.
---
The vigil for Yun-er had to last for three days, and was accompanied by the sound of Wen Wan crying day and night. It was exactly like a mysterious scene from a TV show, so Ji Man was glad to get a break from this. She left the estate with Ning Yuxuan, and they headed to Xiangguo Temple.
During the entire way there, Ning Yuxuan's expression didn't look good. Ji Man glanced at his hands. They were tightly clenched together.
When they had reached halfway, Marquis Moyu shouted, "Guibai, drive the carriage slower."
Ji Man had already been feeling that this ancient-period carriage was as unbearably slow as a tractor. Hearing him say those words, she wasn't able to keep her calm. "My lord, if we can get there sooner, why wouldn't you want the carriage to move faster?"
Ning Yuxuan glanced at her said, pursed his lips, and said, "I get motion sickness."
Ji Man, "..."
---
By the time they finally arrive at Xiangguo Temple, it looked like a very lively scene with people coming and going. There was a Buddhist gathering today, so there were Buddhist images hanging by the entrances.
Just as Ji Man was about to take a step inside, he grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Sangyu." His hand was slightly sweaty, and he looked at her with a deep gaze as he asked, "If I wanted to harm, what would you do?"
What?
Ji Man paused. Looking at his gaze, she could tell that he wasn't joking. She suddenly wondered if this temple had some sort of booby trap mechanism. It couldn't be that a thousand arrows would shoot through her heart as soon as she entered the temple, right?
No, that wasn't possible. If Ning Yuxuan wanted to kill her, there were countless ways that he could do it without exerting any effort. Right now, her life wasn't worth much. There was no reason why he would need to harm her in broad daylight.
"My lord, didn't you want this servant to enter Xiangguo Temple?" Ji Man faintly smiled. "Then, this servant will go inside. If my lord wants to harm me, then this servant can only accept my fate."
Ning Yuxuan trembled a bit in shock. He slightly tightened his grip on her hand.
He asked, "Have you ever thought about harming me?"
Ji Man tilted her head to look at him. Had this person bumped his head on the way out of the estate today? Even if she had that evil intention, she wouldn't have the courage to carry it out, okay?
"My lord, if this servant wanted to harm you, then this servant would haven't entrusted my body to you in marriage." She smiled and said, "Harming you would be such a loss for me."
The winter sun was just right today. Its warm rays illuminated Nie Sangyu's face, and her face looked especially gentle.
For a while, Ning Yuxuan was stunned. He finally pursed his lips and said, "Then, let's go back."
It had taken such a bumpy ride to get here, and now he wanted to go back before they had even stepped through the entrance? Ji Man unhappily said, "Why aren't we going inside? There are a lot of people inside. It looks so lively."
"You want to go inside?" Marquis Moyu looked at the fluttering Buddhist scrolls that were everywhere.
"Is there an entry fee?" She forcefully tugged her hand out from his and ran to the entrance to look. There wasn't an employee stationed here to check if they had tickets. After all, this temple was a public facility in ancient times, so it wasn't a modern-day tourist attraction where you had to pay money.
"Sang..." Not knowing why, Ning Yuxuan felt somewhat panicked. He stretched his hand out to stop her, but she had already taken a step into Xiangguo Temple.
Xiangguo Temple's bells started ringing. It was followed by the long recitation of one of the many names of Buddha. Although there were many people, there weren't any clamoring noises. Instead, there was a very solemn and serene atmosphere.
Ji Man looked around, turned her head back, and gestured for Ning Yuxuan to come inside and stop talking.
Marquis Moyu's body stiffened. For a moment, he forgot to breath. By the time he recovered his senses, the person in front of him was energetically skipping around and tugging him forward.
No? Was she not a demon?
It was as if a heavy stone fell down in his heart. Pressing his lips together, Ning Yuxuan followed her inside. Standing behind her, he saw her bowing to all the Buddha statues that could be seen.
---
Later, during the Buddhist gathering, Great Master Xuwu was sitting in the highest position, and a group of Buddhism practitioners were sitting below and listening to his meditations.
Sitting next to Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man noticed that he was sneaking glances at her from time to time from the corner of her eye.
Ji Man turned her head to look at him and said, "My lord, there's a question that this servant has been wanting to ask you for a long time. A while ago, when you had this servant drink pear wine, what did you hear this servant say that night?"
Ning Yuxuan froze in shock for a moment, then he pursed his lips and said, "I didn't hear anything."
If he hadn't heard anything, why would take her to a temple to act out a scene from the Legend of the White Snake, or ask her if she would ever harm him? Was there a problem with his brain? Ji Man resisted the urge to voice her ridicule and let out a long sigh instead. "This servant often mumbles nonsense during sleep. My lord, please don't take those words seriously."
(T/N: The Legend of the White Snake is one of the four Chinese great folktales.)
"En." Xuwu had only told him that her original fate had changed, but he hadn't been able to see any other abnormality in her. In addition, she was able to freely walk inside a temple, so he probably didn't have to worry that she was a danger to his home and household.
Ji Man thought of an idea and kindly suggested, "My lord, since you suffer from motion sickness, why don't we walk instead of taking the carriage? The streets here are bustling, so it shouldn't be boring too walk back."