Chapter: 086 out of 513 – The ending can be changed (1)

Ji Man felt chills on the back of her neck . Although the person next to her had a very attractive smile, she felt as if a snake was wrapping itself around her neck .

She turned herself over to sleep . For now, she couldn’t guess what he was thinking . But, that was okay . His villainous intentions would be revealed sooner or later .

A few days later, the news that the emperor wanted to go to the south had spread . The list of attendants and guests that would be coming along had also come out . The empress had to stay behind to oversee the imperial harem . n.o.ble Consort Nie would be accompanying the emperor on his trip to the south . The crown prince, third prince, and Marquis Moyu would be escorting him . These people were all popular with the emperor, so it wasn’t strange for them to come along . However, there was another name on the escorting list . It was actually Ning Mingjie’s name .

“Does your cousin know martial arts?” Ji Man curiously asked Ning Yuxuan .

Ning Yuxuan lightly smiled, “There’s no difference between Mingjie’s martial arts skill and mine . What do you think?”

Ji Man was surprised . She wasn’t surprised that Ning Mingjie was really amazing . But, how could this soft and weak person in front of her know martial arts?

Most of the aristocratic men in the Great Song Dynasty were delicate . She looked at Ning Yuxuan . He always wore brocade robes that were as pristine as snow and seemed to float around . Ji Man thought he was raised like

a prince and was the delicate type .

“This servant remembers that your cousin is a sixth-rank supervisor for military weapons . He doesn’t have anything to do with the imperial family, ah,” Ji Man quietly said .

Ning Yuxuan was lying on a cus.h.i.+oned couch underneath the eaves . He pulled his fur clothing up a little bit and narrowed his eyes at the snowy landscape . “Mingjie is a talented person . The emperor already had the intention of promoting him last year, but he wasn’t willing to leave his sick mother’s side . His mother died at the beginning of this year . They’ve been mourning for a long period of time and only recently stopped observing the rituals . Marquis Jingwen has the intention of letting him come to the capital to become an official in the imperial court . The emperor is very happy about this and wants him to come on the trip to the south . He wants to give Mingjie an opportunity to do a meritorious deed so that he can be promoted . ”

Ji Man nodded . Ning Minjie was a person that stood aloof from worldly affairs . In the original novel, he didn’t even need to do anything for the emperor to rush forward to promote him . This dynasty was probably following the old customs from Wei and Jin Dynasty where officials were promoted based on physiognomy . Otherwise, the princes and subjects that were favored by the emperor wouldn’t all have appearances like celestial immortals .

Just as Ji Man was sighing over this, she saw Liu Mama coming through this courtyard’s entrance and hesitating for a moment when she saw that Nie Sangyu was also here .

“Go the kitchen and bring back

back some snacks for me . ” Marquis Moyu turned his head and said to Nie Sangyu .

“Understood . ” Ji Man nodded and left right away . Marquis Moyu had found an excuse to send her away . There was probably something that he didn’t want her to hear .

After she had stepped past the courtyard’s entrance, she stuck to the wall next to the entrance to listen .

“Marquis, Madam wrote a letter to you . ”

“Oh? I’m right here in the residence . Why did she write a letter?” Marquis Moyu chuckled . His brows smoothed out and his eyes contained a child-like happiness from winning their spat .

“This servant doesn’t know . Marquis, please read this . ” Liu Mama handed him the letter .

Newly cut white silk from Qi, clear and pure as frost and snow .

Made into a fan for joyous trysts, round as the bright moon .

In and out of my lord's cherished sleeve, waved back and forth to make a light breeze .

Often I fear the arrival of the autumn season, cool winds overcoming the summer heat .

Discarded into a box, affection cut off before fulfillment . *

* (T/N: Translation was taken from here .  http://www . silkqin . com/02qnpu/16xltq/xl121hgq . htm . There’s also a lengthy explanation and history of this poem on that website . Basically, this was written by an imperial concubine, who was feeling depressed because she had lost the emperor's favor . )

This was a poem about a woman’s grievance . Each word and phrase showed sorrow and fear over losing favor . She wanted to angrily rebuke her lover for failing to be loyal, but she could only aggrievedly compare herself to a fan and try to win back her

back her husband and lord’s love .

The corners of Ning Yuxuan’s lips soared upwards . He stood up and said, “Let’s go . The weather is cold and there’s no use for a fan, but I’ll still go the box and look at her . ”

Ji Man hurriedly turned around and ran towards the path . If Marquis Moyu came out and saw her, she would be finished .

This man’s true heart seemed as if it was wrapped in layer upon layer of gauze . She couldn’t clearly see it or understand it . There was only one thought in her mind . Don’t give her heart to this person . Otherwise, there might not even be any remnants left at the end .

When Ji Man arrived at the intersection in the front, she decisively turned right and headed towards the southern courtyard . It was in the opposite direction of Qiangwei Courtyard . Since Marquis Moyu had gone over there, it meant that she wouldn’t need to serve the marquis tonight . She just needed to temporarily avoid him .

After Ji Man had stopped at the side of a flowerbed for a while and saw Marquis Moyu's distant figure walking farther away, she let out a sigh of relief . But, when she turned around, she almost b.u.mped into someone .

Ning Mingjie wearing a white robe embroidered with silver pythons and holding a porcelain bottle . His eyebrows were raised as he looking at her with surprise, but he didn’t ask her anything .

Ji Man looked around . There wasn’t anyone else . This Sir Ning, who was highly valued by the emperor, looked relatively undignified at the moment . He was crouched down by the flowerbed and

the flowerbed and seemed like he was collecting snow that was on top of the flowers again .

Ji Man politely took a step back and quietly asked, “Young Master, you’ve collected so much snow . What exactly are you going to use it for?”

Ning Mingjie finished filling the bottle in his hand and chuckled, “Cold Fragrance Pills . The doctor said he needed autumn dew and winter snow . The snow on the flowers is the best . After this winter is over, I’ll have the ingredients to make Cold Fragrance Pills . "

Ji Man had only heard of Cold Fragrance Pills mentioned in Dream of the Red Chamber* . She hadn’t expected that it would exist in this world too . It was made with twelve ounces of winter snow, twelve ounces of autumn dew, etc . It was truly troublesome .

* (T/N: Cold Fragrance Pills is a made-up panacea .  Dream of the Red Chamber is one of China’s Four Great Cla.s.sical Novels . )

“Who’s sick?” Ji Man asked another question .

Ning Mingjie stood up and lightly patted his robe . “My mother used to be sick . A traveling monk said that this medicine could cure her . I received the prescription this year, but my mother had already departed at the beginning of the year . ”

In other words, he was gathering these items for his deceased mother?

This supporting male character was truly worthy of being called the supporting male character . Compared to Ning Yuxuan, who was shrewd, treacherous, and as unpredictable as the weather, the man in front of her was practically a snow lotus from Mount Tian . He was so filial! Although he wore a mask, he was still so attractive that people couldn’t bear to look at him directly!!!