t.i.tle: The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir
Chapter: 033 out of 513 – A marquis that had become foolish because of love (2)
Wen Wan’s face turned red from humiliation. Her fingernails were rigidly digging into her palms. She felt so wronged that she wanted to cry. How was she supposed to handle this type of situation? Yuxuan clearly knew that his mother was very difficult to deal with. How could he have left her alone like this?
When she thought of it that way, her heart actually felt somewhat resentful.
In the midst of this silence, Ji Man raised her head and said, “Old Madame, Sangyu is no longer this household’s main wife. The madam in front of you is the main wife. It’s rather cold outside. How about we go inside to talk?”
Old madame turned her head to look at Nie Sangyu. Her eyes held a bit of doting, but she didn’t say anything. It became silent again for a while. When everyone’s knees ached from kneeling, old madame finally said, “All of you, come inside with me.”
Tanxiang helped Wen Wan stand up, and the other concubines also stood up. No one dared to breath too heavily as they followed behind old madame.
When she reached the main courtyard’s entrance, old madame turned her head and said, “Sangyu, I’m slightly tired today. They can forgo with paying respect to me one by one. You and that Wen Wan, come into my room to speak.
“This servant will obey.” Nie Sangyu acknowledged the order and the other women dispersed. Wen Wan was left to stand by herself in front of Nie Sangyu. The furrowed s.p.a.ce between her eyebrows showed that she was worried.
While old madame was changing her clothes, Ji Man whispered to Wen Wan, “Madam, don’t be afraid. Old Madame is just unhappy that the marquis hid this from her. It’s not that she doesn’t like you. You’re already the marquis’s wife. There’s nothing for you to be afraid of.”
Wen Wan hadn’t expected that Nie Sangyu would be comforting her at this time. But, she couldn’t distinguish if she was being sincere or not. She could only nod and silently clutch her handkerchief.
After old madame changed into more comfortable clothing and reclined on a wooden chaise lounge, her personal servant girl, Shouwu, finally went out and told them to come into the room.
“I already heard about this on the way here. Xuan-er took away Sangyu’s position as the main wife.” Old madame’s eyes sharply swept over the two people in front of her. “But, I didn’t know that he had put someone else into her position. Miss Wei, where do you come from?”
Wen Wan had already been married to Ning Yuxuan for a month, but she was still calling her Miss. Old madame was clearly unwilling to acknowledge her status. Wen Wan’s face turned slightly white. She kneeled down and reported, “My father’s name is Wen Yi. He works as a jailer on the northern side of the capital’s imperial prison. My father’s younger brother is a seventh rank judicial officer.
Even Ji Man felt that Wen Wan’s family background was shabby. Normally, this would only be enough for her to be a concubine in a non-aristocrat family. No one would have expected that the dignified Marquis Moyu would have made her his main wife.
Old madame’s face changed colors. In the end, she heavily harrumphed and said, “Did you instigate Xuan-er into making you his main wife?”
Wen Wan bit her lip, “This daughter-in-law didn’t do this. The marquis had done this voluntarily…”
“Are you saying that my son is blind?” Old madame’s gaze became abruptly sharp. “For the n.o.ble families, marriages are only between families that are well-matched in terms of social status. Xuen-er isn’t stupid. If you hadn’t bewitched him, how could he possibly do something so asinine?”
Wen Wan felt extremely wronged. Kneeling on the ground, her body even started to slightly tremble.
Seeing old madame’s att.i.tude, Ji Man also felt slightly terrified, so she also kneeled down on the ground. How could she dare to speak while standing in the face of that aura and gaze?
Ji Man took a deep breath and said, “Old Madame, this matter happened because Sangyu had committed a sin. Sangyu’s previous willful actions had provoked the emperor and caused me to lose my position. Since the position was empty, the marquis has the authority to welcome a new main wife.”
Old madame berated, “Nonsense!”
Ji Man was so scared by this one word that her legs felt weak and she almost fell over.
“You married Xuan-er as his first wife when you fourteen years old. You were living perfectly fine and now you’re actually tolerating a wild girl with a questionable background to climb over your head? You’re utterly tarnis.h.i.+ng Nie Clan’s reputation!”
Ji Man decided that she wouldn’t act like a good person again. It would be safer for her act obedient and avoid being scolded. She had thought that old madame was the type of mother-in-law, who would act sweetly towards Nie Sangyu and sternly towards Wen Wan. Unexpectedly, her expression was the same towards everyone. Although she favored Nie Sangyu, she wouldn’t hold back while lecturing at her.
“n.o.ble Consort Nie had personally handed you over into my hands and I had promised her that I would take good care of you. Although you were young and didn’t know how to act sensibly or how to manage the household, I was willing to slowly teach you. But, what are you doing right now? What is her status? What is yours? How can you so easily accept this as your fate?”
Although she was scolding Ji Man, her words had directly caused Wen Wan to start crying. She had really wanted to receive old madame’s approval, but instead she had been called a wild girl without any status. These words had stifled her ability to speak.
After old madame had finished admonis.h.i.+ng Nie Sangyu, they heard a servant announcing that the marquis had returned to the residence. Ji Man stayed kneeling in place without moving and old madame rested her voice for a moment. Still feeling residual anger, she said to Danggui, “Bring the marquis here.”
“Understood.” The young servant girl, Danggui, acknowledged the order. She could see that old madame was in a bad mood and hurriedly went out to inform Marquis Moyu.
When Ning Yuxuan came into the room, he immediately saw Wen Wan kneeling on the ground and heard the sound of her falling tears. While feeling distressed, he even forgot to greet old madame first. Instead, he directly walked over to Wen Wan and asked, “Wan-er, what happened?”
Ning Yuxuan was her biological son and she hadn’t seen him in two months, so old madame had originally missed Ning Yuxuan a lot. But, instead of greeting her and asking her if she had been well, her son went to that wild woman’s side and asked her what happened.
Old madame was so angry that she almost couldn’t breath. She ordered, “Kneel!”
Crouched down on the floor, Ji Man rejoiced in Ning Yuxuan’s misfortune. What a fool. In this type of situation, he still dared to look after his woman first. Ning Yuxuan was also a person that had become foolish because of love.
Translator Ramblings: Although it’s super enjoyable to watch old madame reprimand Ning Yuxuan, Ji Man was probably better off at ruining the relations.h.i.+p between the Ning Yuxuan and Wen Wan without old madame. She knows that a white lotus’s best skill is crying and won’t do anything to trigger it.