The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Marquis Moyu had been silently standing in the room until Muxu stopped at the doorway and cautiously announced that she had brought hot water. He turned around and hoarsely said, “Come in.”

His self-control had always been very good. Why had he lost control today? It definitely wasn’t because of Nie Sangyu. He wasn’t so desperate that he couldn’t choose another alternative. But when he had realized that he had been drugged, he didn’t resist. Instead, he had been willing to go along.

He didn’t know when his feelings had changed. He already no longer loathed Nie Sangyu as much as before. He would even occasionally feel that she was pretty good and that he was the one that had wronged her.

—

Ji Man wildly rushed to the southern courtyard to look for Ning Errong. It wasn’t too late and Errong might not even be asleep yet. She couldn’t drive Ning Yuxuan away and she absolutely couldn’t go to old madame’s place. After quickly thinking things over, her only option was to go look for Ning Errong.

As she stood outside in the courtyard as the snow fell, the heat in her body slow dissipated. Ji Man silently repeated, form is emptiness and emptiness is form* for a long time before she finally calmed down.

* (T/N: Part of a popular Buddhist sutra.)

Fortunately, it hadn’t been the legendary medicine where you would die if you didn’t copulate. It had only stirred up their hormones and caused them to become horny. After the period passed, the symptoms naturally went away by themselves.

—

When Ning Errong heard Baizhi announce someone’s arrival, she was discussing her marriage with Marquis Jingwen and Ning Mingjie. She liked Nie Qingyun, but Marquis Jingwen still had some apprehensions. The three of them hadn’t finished discussing this matter when Baizhi came into the room to say that Sangyu had come over.

It was late evening and she had heard that her cousin was staying at Sangyu’s place tonight. Why had she come over? Ning Errong was very scared and worried. She hurriedly told her father and older brother that it was getting late and sent them away. Then, she quickly went outside.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing Nie Sangyu standing alone in the snow, Ning Errong worriedly went over to her and helped her walk inside. “Did you make my cousin angry?”

Ji Man’s response was delayed. Her face had already turned thoroughly red from cold. “It’s nothing. I just need you to let me sleep over for a night.”

Ning Errong supported her as they walked into her inner room. She signaled for Baizhi to leave, then she asked, “Everything had been going fine. How can you not have a place to sleep?”

“Isn’t that so.” Ji Man bitterly smiled and said, “I just want to peacefully live my life. I don’t know who put something unclean in my room. Just now, with your cousin, we almost...”

She didn’t finish her sentence, but Errong understood her meaning. Errong patted her chest and sighed in relief, “Thank goodness, nothing bad happened.”

The room was silent for a while. Ning Errong suddenly gasped, jumped up, and looked at Nie Sangyu as she said, “What almost happened? You’ve already married my cousin a long time ago. Someone tried to help the two of you improve your relationship. Why would you run away?”

Ji Man was almost scared to death by her. She hurriedly pulled her down to sit and said, “Speak quieter!”

Ning Errong looked at her in absolute confusion. “You seem like you’re enduring to the point of pain. Do you really need to play hard to get to this level?

You’re the one that’s playing hard to get! Your whole family is playing hard to get!

Ji Man did her best to calm down, then she explained, “He despises me and doesn’t want to bestow favor on me. He only comes to my place to hear stories. Since Madam has entered this household, he rarely bestows favor on anyone else. He’s probably determined to be a good male lead and love Madam whole-heartedly. If I let him have a good time with me while he’s drugged at this point in time, nothing good will happen. He would probably think I was behind it and despise me even more.”

Ning Errong turned these words over in her head. They seemed reasonable. It was surprising that Sangyu was able to resist herself and also consider things so thoroughly. After the night of love passed, her cousin might even order her to move to the confinement courtyard on the next day.

“Besides, he called out Wen Wan’s name at the most critical point.” Ji Man faintly smiled. “If I were willing to sleep with that type of man, then I must be blind.”

Startled, Ning Errong looked at the sorry looking person in front of her and her nose felt slightly sour. She lightly squeezed Sangyu’s hand and didn’t say a word.

Why did Errong look like she was trying to comfort her? Ji Man didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She said, “You don’t need to feel bad for me. This was only to be expected. He likes Wen Wan. This is something that everyone in this household knows. What’s the point in me trying to struggle or fight for his affections? It’ll be okay. I’ll just do my best to live a good life.”

“En, then I’ll have someone bring a pillow and quilt for you. You can sleep in my bed.”

“Okay.” Ji Man was truly feeling tired. Seeing Ning Errong opening the doors and leaving, she let out a yawn and leaned against the cushioned couch to rest for a bit. Her body still felt achy, especially her back. She had really collided hard against the wall. If they were in modern times, she would definitely sue him for domestic violence!

While thinking of these thoughts, Ji Man drift off into sleep. She had used up too much energy and was exhausted.

Right after Ning Errong stepped outside, she saw someone standing by the doorway. Just as she was about to let out a startled yelp, Ning Mingjie covered her mouth with his hand.

“Older brother, why haven’t you returned to your room?” Ning Errong swallowed down her instinctive response and curiously asked.

“I came back to get an umbrella. It’s snowing very heavily.” After Ning Mingjie said this, he looked towards the inside of her room. “It’s surprising that she ran over to your place. She’s quite strange.”

Translator Ramblings: I didn’t notice this the first time I read the story. But, at this point in the story, isn’t Ning Errong and Nie Qingyun’s relationship repeating Nie Sangyu and Ning Yuxuan’s? One side knows the other one person isn’t interested and yet, she’s still pushing forward with the marriage. Yes, Nie Qingyun is a very different type of person from Ning Yuxuan, so we can expect their marital life to be different. But isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with forcing someone, who’s not interest in you, into marriage and accepting your one-sided feelings? From what we’ve been shown so far, Ning Qingyun is an astute person. He’s not the emotionally dense person that Ji Man thinks he is. He’s aware of Ning Errong’s very obvious feelings and he deliberately keeps distance between them to avoid giving her false hope.

What do you guys think?