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T/N: Thank you patrons for sponsoring this chapter.
Title: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter 354 - Intrepid people will inevitably get hurt (1)
Ning Yuxuan looked at Ning Mingjie as he asked, "Older cousin, don't you have to go back to look after the junzhu?"
Ning Mingjie shook his head and said, "It's a bit far. I might as well wait until tomorrow morning and find her then."
There wasn't much in the city temple. There was only some straw and dry firewood left behind by other passerby. After Guibai tidied up the area, the group could get by with staying here for one night.
"What happened to your mask?" Ning Yuxuan calmly asked.
Ji Man pursed her lips and said, "I ripped it off in order to escape from them."
"What are you going to do when you get back then?" Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow.
Ji Man didn't have a better option, so she could only say, "I'll have to find someone to make me a new one. I luckily still have the design used to make my face mask. As long as there’s a craftsman that specializes in this trade in the capital, he’ll be able to make me a new one using that design.”
Ning Mingjie quietly said, "I know a craftsman that happens to be an expert with this sort of thing. You can find a place to temporary stay in the capital. Wait until the mask has been made before walking about."
Ning Yuxuan swept his gaze over him. "Older cousin, you're returning from Jin Province. You should be meeting with the emperor first, right? There are also some matters that you need to hand over to the Ministry of War once you return to the capital. As for her matters, there's no need for older cousin to worry about them."
Ji Man followed along and nodded. "Thank you for offering, General."
Ning Mingjie couldn't help laughing. "You're right, it's none of my business. Yuxuan, I hope you're not bothered by my offer."
He wasn't bothered. Why would he be bothered? Ning Yuxuan sat down with his back against a pillar. He swept his gaze over Ji Man, who had come out unscathed, before lightly turning his head away. He felt exhausted after rushing here from the capital.
Ji Man's head was lowered as she blankly looked at the straw on the ground. She was very quiet as she leaned against Ning Yuxuan. When he asked her what had happened today, she remained absent-minded as she answered him.
Ning Yuxuan sneered. This person completely didn't understand how he was feeling. Feeling drowsy, he drifted off to sleep while leaning against the pillar. Ning Mingjie and Guibai also respectively found a place to sleep for the night. It was only Ji Man that stayed awake with her head lowered as she silently thought about something.
When her surrounding had fallen into silence, Ji Man finally raised her head. She glanced at Ning Yuxuan and let out a long sigh.
" Loving him, hating him, begging him. None of these things are allowed. Am I not even allowed to die…” Someone quietly sighed in her mind. "Are you really any better than me?"*
"Don't make fun of me," Ji Man quietly replied, "I won't fall to your level."
I won't.
* (T/N: These are the words that Nie Sangyu says to Ji Man in chapter 17.)
---
When dawn had just arrived, Ning Yuxuan took Ji Man with him and resumed the journey back. No one had slept well last night. As for Ning Mingjie, he went back to Kangyuan Junzhu.
When they were separating, Ning Mingjie was very worried as he looked at Ji Man for a long time. He couldn't resist urging Ning Yuxuan, "Make sure to hide her well."
Because of these words, Ning Yuxuan showed an unpleasant face to Ji Man the entire way back. After tossing her into the other estate, he went back to her room in the main estate to look for that design.
---
It took two full days to make the fake skin face mask. During these two days, Zhangjun Prince had peacefully and calmly returned to his fiefdom. Ji Man heard that the new emperor, who had been having a cold war with the empress, had gone back to the empress's palace.
Ning Yuxuan seemed to be very busy and hadn't come over to visit her. Still, he had sent over delicious food for her.
At the end of the two days, she finally received her protection item. As soon as Ji Man stepped out of the other estate, a crying servant girl grabbed her by the sleeve.
"Teacher Ji, please come over to see Miss. She..."
The young servant girl's face was crumpled up because of her extremely distressful crying, so Ji Man couldn't tell who she was. It took a while for Ji Man to figure out that this was Zhu Yurun's personal servant, Zhuer.
Something bad had to Zhu Yurun during the past two days. After six months of pregnancy, she had lost her unborn baby and almost died herself too.
This frightful news caused Ji Man's face to pale. As she hastily followed Zhuer. she asked, "How could this have happened?"
Zhuer was sobbing as she answered, “It was because of that heartless person! It's totally his fault. He's worse than a beast! He clearly knew that Miss was pregnant, but he didn't take responsibility of her and carelessly pushed her down the stairs of a restaurant."
Ji Man was flabbergasted when she heard these words. Her heart felt heavy, but she kept a stern expression as she said, "I already told her to give up on him. The sooner, the better. A man definitely wouldn't be able to accept a child that came about through that way."
"Teacher Ji, you also view Miss like that?" Zhuer's eyes were already red as she cried even harder. "Everyone has misunderstood Miss. She's carrying the burden of so many things by herself. You don't know! None of you men know anything!"
Zhuer was too agitated, so Ji Man hurriedly pacified her by saying, "Let's go see her first."
What secret burden could Zhu Yurun possibly be carrying? She was a chubby, laughing fool that didn't have any manners. She didn't behaved appropriately, and as soon as she saw Qian Yingchen, she didn't care about anything else...
But, as she pictured that chubby little face, Ji Man actually felt very miserable.
Zhu Yurun was merely a doomed minor character in a novel, so why was she feeling bad over this?
---
The stillbirth had already been extracted, but Zhu Yurun looked as if she hadn't slept at all. She was sitting up and leaning on her bed with her eyes wide open. There were deep, dark circles under her eyes. She looked quite frail and didn't look like her normal self at all.
As soon as Zhu Yurun saw Ji Man, she grabbed Ji Man's hand and started crying. She laughed as the tears fell. "Teacher Ji, why have you come? You're free now. My child is gone. You won't be encumbered by having to be its dad anymore."
There was still the faint scent of blood inside the room. Ji Man didn't know why there was no one else around, so she simply sat down by the bed and looked at Zhu Yurun as she asked, "What happened?"
Translator Ramblings: Sort of related to this chapter, Ji Man has mentioned several times in the past that she doesn’t believe romantic love is guaranteed to be everlasting. Even though she knows that Ning Yuxuan is in love with her right now, she can’t be sure that he’ll continue to love her in the future.