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Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter 270 - Who had flagrantly cut in? (1)
Ning Yuxuan look at her with a very deep gaze, but after glancing at her one more time, he closed his eyes. "En."
Feeling confused, Ning Mingjie drunkenly laughed. He shakily stood up. "It's about time for me to go to the bridal chamber. Sangyu, take care of Yuxuan for me."
Ji Man nodded. She helped Ning Yuxuan stand up, then they went outside, and she called for the carriage driver.
"What's a light bulb?'
"..." Sitting in the carriage, Ji Man resisted the urge to smack the person in her arms unconscious. Rubbing her temples, she answered, "It's just a sky lantern.
(T/N: Below is a picture of sky lanterns.)
Ning Yuxuan pursed his lips and asked another question, "What's a computer?"
"It's a pig's brain that's being cushioned by a chopping board." Ji Man lowered her head to look at him. "My lord, you're drunk. Doesn't your head feel woozy or uncomfortable?"
(T/N: In Chinese, the literal translation for computer is diànnǎo electrical brain, and the Chinese words for electrical and cushioned are homophones.)
Marquis Moyu paused, then he closed his eyes and said, "I feel very uncomfortable and very woozy."
"Then, why are you still asking so many questions? This servant thinks you should be peacefully resting." Ji Man switched the hand that was cushioning his head.
Ning Yuxuan rubbed against her hand a few times, said, "en", and really did go straight to sleep.
Fortunately, he didn't vomit or cause a fuss after getting drunk. Ji Man brought him back to Feiwan Courtyard to rest, and their night passed just like that.
However, something horrible was happening while they were sleeping.
---
The next morning, when Guibai came into the room to report, he pushed open the doors without knocking or asking permission to enter. There was a rarely seen panicked expression on his face. "Master, something bad happened in Ning Residence."
Ji Man had been about to leave her bed to put on her outer robes when Guibai burst into room. Marquis Moyu pushed her back under the quilt.
"What happened?"
"... Last night, the third prince had gotten drunk and stayed over at Ning Residence. For some reason, the bride had gone into the wrong room, and ended up with the third prince. They…"
It was probably because there was a woman in the room, so Guibai didn't complete his sentence, but Ji Man still ended up accidentally knocking her head against the bed in shock and getting a big bump.
Marquis Moyu's expression was very ugly. He was stunned into silence for a long time before he murmured, "How could that have happened?"
Prince Gong's daughter was the third prince's younger cousin. Under a circumstance where he knew her identity, it would be impossible for the third prince to do something like that. He wasn't an idiot.
Ning Yuxuan didn't have time to wait for Nie Sangyu and went to Ning Residence by himself.
After Ji Man had put on the rest of her clothes, tidied up the bed, and waited for a bit, she got into a carriage by herself and chased after him to Ning Residence.
What had happened was beyond preposterous. This marriage had been a perfectly, happy event, and it could also be counted as Prince Gong extending an olive branch to the third prince, but such a ridiculous mistake had occurred and ruined it.
Now that this had happened, Ning Mingjie definitely wouldn't want to keep Prince Gong's daughter as his wife, and the third prince had no way of justifying to Ning Mingjie what he had done. The third prince's actions had basically broken off his perfectly good relationship with his right-hand man.
If last night had been the result of someone scheming against the third prince, Ji Man could only say, the culprit was truly skilled.
She had clearly escorted the bride to the entrance last night. How could the bride have gone into the wrong room?
---
Zhao Qian was currently sitting in the bridal chamber. Her clothes had already been changed. She was clutching the edge of the bed as she silently cried.
Consort Han was standing by her side. She angrily and anxiously said, "How could you have walked into the wrong room?"
Ning Mingjie was standing outside of the room. The third prince was standing next to him and somewhat helplessly said, "Someone probably deliberately set me up. Last night, I... I though she was you."
Closing his eyes, Ning Mingjie stayed silent. His expression was slightly pale. He had also drunk too much last night and didn't notice there was anything strange about the bridal chamber. His bridal chamber didn't have a good luck woman or a bride, but he had collapsed onto the bed and fallen asleep. When he woke up, it was already dawn.
He had acted stupidly too.
But, the matter had already happened. There wasn't anything that he could say that would be useful. Even though it had clearly been a trap laid out by someone, he couldn't forget this and be relieved. The marriage with Prince Gong's family naturally had to be ended.
---
By the time that Ning Yuxuan rushed over, Zhao Jue didn't care that there were other people around. He pulled him over by the hand and said, "Yuxuan, how do you think we should we fix this?"
What was there to be fixed? You slept with someone's newly wedded wife. What could he possibly do to fix this? Marquis Moyu took two deep breaths and helplessly said, "The bride isn't someone that can be casually treated. Third prince, if you don't want to provoke the emperor into becoming furious with you, go to the palace immediately and ask to be punished for your mistake. Then, go to Prince Gong and confess what you did."
The third prince helplessly glanced at Ning Mingjie.
Ning Mingjie agreed with his cousin's idea and nodded.
Zhao Jue turned around and rushed to the palace.
---
By the time that Ji Man arrived, Ning Yuxuan and Ning Mingjie had already disappeared from the room. When she entered the bridal chamber, she saw Consort Han ordering the servants to pack things up.
"What's going on?
Consort Han turned around. Seeing that it was Nie Sangyu, she forced herself to smile and said, "I'm going to bring her back to the estate."
Zhao Qian bit her lip. "I don't want to go."
Ji Man glanced at her. Zhao Qian's complexion was deathly pale. In the span of one night, she looked like a flower that had wilted. But, she was still stubbornly clinging to the edge of the bed. Next to her, there were servant girls gently tugging on her hand. But, she refused to move and persistently said, "I want to stay here."
Consort Han opened her mouth, but ended up swallowing her words back down.
Ji Man knew that Consort Han wanted to say that Ning Residence was no longer a place that Zhao Qian could stay at.
Under the current circumstance, no matter how much Zhao Qian wanted to stay here, she wouldn't be able to. Looking at this pretty woman, Ji Man thought; what a pity. Ning Mingjie's quiet personality would have been so compatible with Zhao Qian's temperament. This missed opportunity for a good marriage was such a pity.
Ji Man said a few words to comfort Zhao Qian, but in heart, she thought that Ning Mingjie was the person that needed someone to comfort him the most.
Translator Ramblings: I understand why Ji Man would naturally feel more sympathetic towards Ning Mingjie. He's her friend and Zhao Qian is just a stranger that she's briefly talked to once. But, we do know that Ning Mingjie is probably not as distraught as Ji Man thinks he is.
"He found out today that his father had selected a main wife for him. She was Prince Gong's daughter. Although he had never met her, he heard that she didn't know the Four Scholarly Arts, her adherence to etiquette was very poor, and she was very arrogant and rude. He didn't understand why his father had chosen a woman like this to be his wife.
Still, he wasn't young anymore. If he had to marry a woman and settle down, he could... try to accommodate it." - from Chapter 253.
Or more recently, from the previous chapter, "However, he had never met his bride before today and didn't have any feelings for her."
P.S. I don't remember if any extra information is revealed about who plotted against Zhao Qian and the third prince later in the novel, so no spoilers from me =/.