The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Chapter 361 – In a dilemma (2)

Wu Yong sneered. He grabbed Ji Man, jumped down to the balcony, and exited the teahouse. He mounted the horse that Ning Yuxuan had recently ridden here and had the horse galloping out of the capital.

“Brother Ji, you need to explain your actions to His Highness,” he said, “You made a solemn vow to do your utmost to help His Highness and convinced him to believe you through your smooth rhetoric. But, from a bystander’s detached perspective, I keep feeling that you didn’t do everything that you should have done today.”

Ji Man awkwardly laughed. Had she really? She had simply chosen herself when presented with the dilemma of completing a task or keeping her life. If she died, what was the point in completely that task?

—

Zhangjun Prince really hadn’t gone far from the capital. When they arrived in a pavilion that was five kilometers from the capital, he looked at her with an unfathomable smile.

Holding a wine cup, Zhao Zhe lightly said, “Perhaps, I hadn’t been clear enough about my objective in the past, so you weren’t sure what you needed to do. I’ve been hiding inside of the capital for the past several days and gained a clear understanding of the situation. Zhao Li isn’t popular among the commonfolk, and Marquis Moyu is the one that has the loyalty of the court officials. It would naturally be very good to ruin Ning Yuxuan’s relationship with Zhao Li and draw him over to my side. But, if that’s not possible, I’m fine with eliminating him too.”

Ji Man kept her eyes lowered and stayed silent.

“You haven’t forgotten who supplied you with the working capital to return here, or who is the only person that can help you against your greatest enemy, right?” Zhao Zhe put down the cup and came closer to her. He slightly smiled and said, “Isn’t Ning Yuxuan one of your enemies too?”

But, he didn’t know that Ning Yuxuan was also Haohao’s father. Ji Man felt a bit fidgety. She had originally returned to the capital with a heart full of enmity, but now she was in a dilemma because there was someone between them, Haohao. Back then, she hadn’t know Haohao was Nie Sangyu’s son. But now that she knew, how could she possibly harm his father?

Ning Yuxuan was using Haohao as his great finishing move to deal with her. When she though of that tender little face and pitiful gaze, it was inevitable that Ji Man’s hardened heart would soften. She pursed her lips and said, “This one will do his best.”

She would try her best, but don’t blame her if she failed. She didn’t want to kill Ning Yuxuan. Once she had accomplished meritorious deeds, couldn’t she accept him into her household as a stay-at-home dad? Actually, this idea sounded pretty good.

After thinking things through, Ji Man felt more relaxed. Just as she was about to express her loyalty to Zhao Zhe again, the person next to her suddenly forcefully pushed her forward.

“Marquis Moyu has caught up to us.” While feeling somewhat astonished, Wu Yong took Ji Man towards the horse. His Highness hadn’t been wrong that Ning Yuxuan would chase them all the way here because of Teacher Ji.

The dragon-shaped kite had already been completely destroyed before Ning Yuxuan started to chase after them. After chasing them all the way here and seeing that the people that had kidnapped Ji Man had increased in number, he felt a bit regretful about not reporting the matter to the local authorities.

Zhao Zhe had already vanished. The only people around were the black-robed men and Ji Man. It was clearly a situation of one side taking advantage of their numbers to overwhelm the other party. Ji Man was tossed to the side, and the group of people went forward to surround Ning Yuxuan.

Marquis Moyu wasn’t a fool. Even an elephant could be bitten to death by enough ants. Faced with so many people, he decisively turned around to flee. This wasn’t a TV show where the hero would imposingly annihilate his enemies in order to save the beauty.

Ji Man couldn’t resist smiling Taking advantage of Wu Yong and the others rushing forward, she cleverly and quick-wittedly pulled back to the side.

Ning Yuxuan hadn’t fled far when he saw officers rushing over here. He was astonished and also overjoyed by this unexpected good news. Now that a squad of officers had come here, the group of black-robed people would naturally disperse.

When the constable at the front of the group saw Ning Yuxuan, he respectfully saluted, “Marquis.”

“You’ve arrived just in time,” Ning Yuxuan praised them before turning around to look for Ji Man.

The group of officers looked at each other in dismay. A citizen had report a fight happening on the street, so they had rushed out here to pursue the fugitives that had been flinging roof tiles. They hadn’t expected the culprit to turn out to be Marquis Moyu, much less to be praised by him.

Everyone decided to swallow the facts, accept the praise, and make a token effort at trying to catch the scattering black-robed men.

Ji Man came out from the underbush. She let out a long sigh and said, “For the sake of this one’s safety, this one must keep my distance from the marquis.”

Ning Yuxuan shot a glance at her before coldly snorting and pulling her up onto his horse.

The two of them slowly rode the horse back to the estate. As Ning Yuxuan looked at the back of her head, the corners of his lips slightly curved up.

—

During the grand ancestor veneration ceremony, Tanxiang decided to take advantage of Ji Man’s absence to rummage through his room. She had originally been looking for evidence that Ji Man had been seducing the marquis or clues about this person that could be used to kick him out of the estate. To her surprise, she found a rolled up painting beneath the bed.

“Master, look at this!”

Wen Wan took the painting. It was a heartwarming scene of domestic bliss between three family members. When she carefully looked at the face of the woman in the painting, Wen Wan stumbled two steps back in shock. She hastily rushed out to look for Liu Hanyun.

—

“Why are you showing me this?” Liu Hanyun didn’t pay attention to the woman’s face and only noticed the child that was properly sitting in the painting. “Isn’t this a painting of the heir? That’s the small jacket that he wears the most often too.”

“The marquis painted this.” Wen Wan looked at the inscription on the painting. Her face was very pale as she asked, “Isn’t this a scene that the marquis thought of? But, why would this painting be in Teacher Ji’s room?”

—