Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter 312 - Let's start anew (1)
Ji Man lightly leaned against Ning Yuxuan's chest. The corners of her lips were curved up.
Since ancient times, even a hero would be weak against the charms of a beautiful woman. As long as your bedroom skills were good, all men would fall at your feet... Wait, no, that's wasn't the right idiom. It should be, as long as you could correctly guess his intentions and thoughts, you could accomplish anything.
Ning Yuxuan was really treating her like an idiot, ah. After Nie Clan had been completely obliterated, did he really believe that she would still want to obediently be part of his harem?
Her fingers softly slid down and opened his outer robe. Ji Man raised her head and kissed his lips. She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.
Probably because he wasn't used to her taking the initiative, Ning Yuxuan was slightly stunned for a moment. Afterwards, he allowed her to push him down onto the bed.
The rain gradually stopped, and the water falling from the eaves and onto the paved ground slowed to a drip. After a round of love, the feelings between the two people in the room seemed to have grown stronger.
Draped over Ning Yuxuan's chest, Ji Man twisted a lock of his hair and asked, "My lord, can you say, I love you?"
Ning Yuxuan chuckled. He closed his eyes and said, "I won't say those three words."
Don't think about leaving.
Once she recovered from her shock, Ji Man very unhappily pinched his face. "Cheapskate."
Marquis Moyu let out a small snort of laughter. He gripped her chin towards him and gently kissed her.
---
When Ji Man woke up the next morning, she heard Guibai's voice coming from the hallway. He seemed to be standing by the doors to her room. He reported, "Madam, you can continue your journey without worries now."
The person by her pillow-side had already left a while ago. After Ji Man finished dressing, she boarded the carriage with everyone else. Before she left her room, she had noticed that someone had put a small bag inside her packed bundle. When she opened the bag, she saw that it contained two worthless trinkets: a concentric knot accessory and a ring made of concentric knots. She softly smiled before stuffing the small bag back into the packed bundle.
Guibai escorted them for a long distance before turning back to return to the capital. Everyone had changed into commoner attire by now. When they stopped at a tea stand on the way to their destination to take a break, they overheard people gossiping.
"I heard that two carriages with passengers had fallen off a mountain path yesterday."
"Those carriages were so high up the mountain when they fell. There's no way they're still alive now. I heard those three carriages belonged to Marquis Jingwen's daughter. How fortunate that only the two of the three carriages fell off the mountain path."
"Who were the people riding in the fallen carriages?"
"I don't know, but I heard that the Marquis Jingwen's daughter has stopped at a nearby village. Heh, do you want to go over there and see what she looks like?"
Errong listened with her head lowered. Next to her, Nie Qingyun looked at those people for a few seconds before paying for their tea and leading them back to their carriage to continue on their way.
As expected, the second prince had no intention of letting them off. Fortunately, Ning Yuxuan had helped them. Otherwise, they would have been the ones that fell off that mountain path.
Once he heard the news of their deaths, Zhao Li probably wouldn't concern himself further. After all, he was currently busy with thinking of ways to ascend to the throne and didn't have the free time to concern himself with other matters.
Right now, the throne was empty, and the first prince was obediently staying faraway in his fiefdom without making any moves to seize the crown. The fourth prince was still a baby and wouldn't pose a threat. Zhao Li was just missing an excuse to push him up into the throne. All it took was a few people saying something along the lines of, "Oh no, this country is missing an emperor. The second prince has integrity and talent. Let's just pick a date and crown him as the emperor."
However, the second prince still made a few token protests. He said things like, "No, no, no, Li is lacking in talent and virtue. I wouldn't dare accept such a high position."
After his two attempts at being deliberately contrary, all of the court officials knelt down and pleaded with him to be the emperor. Having his wish fulfilled, Zhao Li pushed himself in his wheelchair to the dragon throne and became the first crippled emperor since the founding of this dynasty.
Pengyue naturally became the empress, but Zhao Li didn't take other women as his consorts. It could be counted as Zhao Li not renegading on his earlier promise to her.
---
A month later, when Ji Man and the others had arrived in Jing Province, the imperial court seemed to have gradually settled down. The remains of the third prince's faction had been eliminated by now. Originally, they had been worried that Ning Mingjie would become implicated. After all, he used to be clearly on the third prince's side before. However, for an inexplicable reason, the new emperor was especially trusting towards him. Not only did the new emperor not blame him, Zhao Li also bestowed to him, a marriage to a titled lady.
Marquis Jingwen didn't need to worry about his son. However, he fretted as he looked at Nie Sangyu and Nie Qingyun. What did they have to do to successfully keep these two from being discovered? At the very least, Nie Qingyun and Nie Sangyu had to change their names and start their lives anew.
Actually, the old man was worrying for nothing. Jing Province was very far from the capital. There wouldn't be anyone here that would recognize them.
Ji Man simply said, "From today onwards, I'm changing my name to Ji Man. Nie Sangyu had already fallen off a cliff in a carriage."
Nie Qingyun slightly furrowed his brow. "What about me?"
Ji Man seriously thought before suggesting, "Since we're siblings, how about Ji Kuai?"
(T/N: Man (曼) has more than one meaning, and one meaning is long, as in the length of time. Kuai (快) means speedy.)
The corners of Nie Qingyun's lips twitched. He seriously shook his head and said, "I don't like that name."
"Then, what do you want to be called?"
After seriously pondering it over, he said, "Call me Ji Zhu."
(T/N: Zhu (柱) means pillar or support.)
They were all sitting in the hall. Looking at his absolutely sincere expression, they didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In the past, Qingyun had such an elegant name. But now, were they supposed to call him big pillar in the future?
(T/N: Qingyun can mean clear sky or noble.)
Ji Man impolitely let a chortle escape. But, as she continued to laugh, her eyes unexpectedly reddened.
Ji Zhu (Qingyun's new name)... jizhu (remember). Of course, she would always remember that scene of overflowing bloody water as well as Nie Xiangyuan's expression when he died. How could she possibly forget?
(T/N: Qingyun's new name (季柱) is a homophone for remember (记住) in Chinese.)
Translator Ramblings: I wonder how long Ning Mingjie has secretly been on Zhao Li's side.