Chapter 96 - A source of catastrophe (1)

Marquis Moyu was stunned. He hadn’t expected this answer. “A dog?”

“Yup, it was a dog this servant had during childhood. This servant raised it for four years.” Ji Man straightened her clothes and sat up. Her eyes were already sober and clear. “This servant really liked that dog. Unfortunately, he ended up running away with a female dog.”

Ning Yuxuan raised his eyebrows. “Is it worth crying over a dog? And, you also kept calling his name while dreaming.”

Moreover, this name sounded too much like a person’s name*.

* (T/N: Xu Xi means dignified/calm hope.)

With a serious expression, Ji Man nodded. “This servant raised it for four years. Even if this servant found out that it wasn’t worth those years of care, it’s still worth it to cry over those past years of stupidity and foolishness. After crying, this servant won’t keep longing for him to come back.”

Ning Yuxuan leaned to one side and deeply looked at her face. “Nie Sangyu, do you think I’m an idiot?”

Ji Man raised her head and smiled. “My lord, if you have the ability, go and find a person named Xu Xi. See if he has any connections with Sangyu. You can’t possibly judge Sangyu guilty of infidelity just because this servant called out a name twice and cried while dreaming, right?”

Marquis Moyu pursed his lips and coldly harrumphed. This woman was certainly bold. Did she think he couldn’t do anything against her just because he didn’t have evidence?

Although... there truly wasn’t anything he could do to her with the current information.

Taking a deep breath, Ning Yuxuan decided that it would be the best if he kept farther away from her. Otherwise, he would just end up feeling angry.

—

Because of what happened in the afternoon, he went to sleep in the room next Nie Sangyu’s room in the evening.

As for Ji Man, she led Ning Errong to her room and prepared to teach a theory class.

“Errong...” Ji Man began her heartfelt and sincere speech.

Ning Errong yawned. She pulled her hand out of Nie Sangyu’s hand. “Whatever you want to say, just say it.”

Ji Man looked at her with hidden bitterness. “Do you think I’m going to eat you or something? I want to tell you how to conduct yourself as a wife, how to deal with your husband and mother-in-law, as well as other things you should pay attention to.”

“En?” Ning Errong became interested. She hurriedly poured a cup of tea and pushed into Nie Sangyu’s hand. “Tell me, tell me.”

Ji Man spread out a fine writing paper and drew three circles on it. In a serious tone, she said, “From the time you marry, your family will be like a tripod. One leg is you, another leg is your mother-in-law, and the last leg is your husband.”

Errong nodded. Her face showed a little bit of a young woman’s bashfulness.

“First of all, you can’t always go along with what your husband wants. Although the rules say obedience to your husband after marriage and you should listen to him about the important matters, you should still have your own viewpoint about the minor things. You should handle matters properly and skillfully. Moreover, sometimes you should refuse his sexual advances. No matter how good a piece of meat is, if you just put it into his mouth of your own initiative, he won’t cherish it. Do you understand? This is what’s meant by the saying, you need loosen the reins in order to grasp them better.”

Ji Man drew a squiggly line between two circles to indicate the relationship between a wife and a husband.

Errong’s face was thoroughly red from embarrassment. She tried stammering something twice, but wasn’t able to say anything. In the end, she hesitantly nodded.

Ji Man explained with a smile, “As long as a family has a mother-in-law, you’ll have to work hard to get good results. Do you know why Old Madame doesn’t like Wen Wan?”

“She’s not the person that Old Madame selected to be her daughter-in-law,” Errong said.

“That’s one of the reasons. The other reason is that she had committed too many taboos.”

Ji Man pushed up her nonexistent glasses on her nose. With her back straight, she said, “Old Madame had suffered bitter hardships in order to raise the marquis into adulthood. If Wen Wan wants to be a good daughter-in-law, then she can’t let Old Madame feel as if she’s stealing her son from her. The way she treats Old Madame has to be better than the way she treats the marquis. Moreover, she absolutely can’t act intimate in front of Old Madame. A woman’s jealous heart doesn’t distinguish between age, especially the feelings a mother feels towards a son that she had raised from childhood. The moment that Old Madame feels abandoned because the the love between them is strong, Wen Wan, as her daughter-in-law, can’t expect to have any good days.”

Errong suddenly understood. “So, it was like that. But, there are aspects where Wen Wan is doing a good job. Isn’t Old Madame still deliberately making life difficult for her?”

“She’s making life difficult for her because she’s committed taboos at the beginning. Since Wen Wan already had to swallow down her anger, she should just tolerate it and stay silent for a while longer. You can’t argue right or wrong with someone that’s in older generation than you. Even if you win the argument, nothing good will come of it.” Ji Man continued, “If Wen Wan truly loves the marquis, she should treat Old Madame as if she’s her own biological mother. She should treat it as if she’s paying off a debt of gratitude. How difficult could it be to just endure it for a while?”

Errong tilted her chin as she looked up and thought of Nie Clan’s matriarch. She had heard that she also wasn’t an easy woman to get along with. She should spend more time learning how to deal with her future mother-in-law.

“There’s also another very important point that’s the essence of getting along well with your mother-in-law. You have to let her feel that you’re treating her son very well,” Ji Man said. “Sang... I used to do a very good job in this aspect. Other than causing a disturbance over significant issues, I would send the marquis soups and other drinks every day and personally embroidered all of his clothes. But, the marquis never appreciated my efforts. Old Madame was especially fond of me because I wasso caring towards the marquis, but he never acknowledged my efforts. Do you understand?”

Errong’s eyes brightened and she forcefully nodded, “I understand!”

After a pause, she added, “Can you write this out for me?”

Ji Man shook her head, “You have to understand this type of thing thoroughly and intuitively. If I write this down and someone else sees it, it’ll only be a source of catastrophe.”

“Oh.” Errong reached her hand out and took the rice paper that was on the table. Her mouth began to mumble the words that Nie Sangyu had recently said.

Translator Ramblings: What do you guys think of Ji Man’s advice? If you want to read a spoiler of whether or not her advice will be helpful for Errong, I put one in the comments below.