Chapter 77 - The crown prince’s playboy nature (2)

However, she couldn’t have a dispute with the person under the covered corridor. He was the future emperor. She could only agreeably say, “The marquis is merely helping his master with worries and difficulties. He doesn’t count as someone below one person and above a thousand others. When Your Highness becomes master of the world, the marquis will also do a good job assisting you.”

The crown prince was stunned for a moment. He carefully pondered these words, then he suddenly laughed loudly. “I see that the rumors are true. Nie Sangyu is wretchedly in love with Marquis Moyu. Your every word was said for your marquis’s benefit. It really makes a person feel jealous.”

Ji Man continued to keep her head lowered and didn’t respond, but she couldn’t stop her expression from becoming slightly colder.

Zhao Zhe took another step closer to her. His lips were lightly curved. He said with a hint of improperness, “If there’s a time when you can show me the same type of concern and care, that would be wonderful.”

“Your Highness, please conduct yourself with dignity.” Ji Man’s brows were creased. She wasn’t able to retreat any further. She decided that she would simply push open the doors to the main hall and tell old madame and her aunt that the crown prince had come.

But, Zhao Zhe smiled and took a step back. He placed the hand warmer with a golden dragon pattern that he had been holding into Nie Sangyu’s hand. “You’ve been standing outside for so long. Don’t let yourself freeze.”

(T/N: Below is a picture of a hand warmer.)

This was the scene that Ning Yuxuan saw when he arrived at the ting yu xuan. Nie Sangyu was leaning against the wall. The crown prince was standing very close to her. All of the servants were standing far away from them with their heads lowered and pretending they couldn’t see or hear anything. They didn’t dare to make a sound.

For an inexplicable reason, he felt slightly angry. Ning Yuxuan strode over to them and pulled Nie Sangyu behind him. With an expressionless face, he said to the crown prince, “Why do you have the free time to come here? The emperor had even recently asked about the crown prince’s assignments.”

Zhao Zhe hadn’t expected that his imperial father would let out Ning Yuxuan so quickly. This scene was also slightly awkward. And so, he quietly coughed and said, “I came here to pay respects to the noble consort. I heard that she hasn’t been feeling well lately. I happened to see Sangyu and we ended up talking.”

He even called her Sangyu? Ji Man’s expression was very ugly. Ning Yuxuan’s expression wasn’t any better. He squeezed her hand tighter and said, “Then, crown prince, you should go inside. I have words that I want to say with Sangyu.”

“Okay.” The crown prince lightly smiled and returned to his elegant and graceful bearing. After having a servant announce his arrival, he walked into the main hall.

Ning Yuxuan pulled Nie Sangyu along as he walked further outside.

Ji Man staggered as she followed him. If her stride was too big, she might accidentally step on this lord’s heel. She could only stumble along and almost fell. Although Ning Yuxuan’s expression was composed, he was walking very quickly. He seemed slightly angry.

On a secluded palace path, he finally let go of her. He calmly said, “Don’t get too close to the crown prince. He has a fondness for beautiful women. When he has the urge, no one can stop him.”

Ji Man nodded and threw the hand warmer she had been holding onto a patch of grass in the passing. From today’s interaction, she could see that the crown prince had a playboy nature. He would want to fool around with any woman that he saw. He was very dangerous to be around.

“This servant will do her best to avoid him,” she said.

It was difficult to for Ning Yuxuan’s anger to disperse. Seeing that she had thrown away the hand warmer, his expression became slightly better. He pursed his lips and said, “It’s one thing for my mother to stay at the palace. You’re a married woman. It’s not a good idea for you to also stay here.”

There was a mess of people in the palace. If Noble Consort Nie spent all of her time with old madame every day, would she have to meet every single prince in the palace?

Ji Man frowned. “This isn’t something that this servant can decide. It’s Old Madame that wanted this servant to come along. It’s probably because she doesn’t want to be completely alone in the palace so she brought this servant along.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Anyways, if she stayed in the marquis’s residence, she would only be provoking his anger. Did it really matter where she was staying?

Ning Yuxuan paused for a while, then he said, “I’ll go and admit that I was wrong. Help me persuade her to return home.”

“This servant thinks that the marquis should wait and apologize in a few days. Wait until Old Madame is less angry,” Ji Man seriously said. “Right now, she’s very angry. If you apologize without sincerity and whole-heartedly side with Madam, Old Madame won’t forgive you.”

Although he understood her reasoning... Ning Yuxuan clenched his fists. He finally helplessly sighed and said, “Then, help me persuade her during this time.”

“Understood,”Ji Man agreed without worrying.

They were finished talking and it was time for them to leave. But, Marquis Moyu continued to quietly stand there, so she didn’t dare to leave first. She looked at him to see if he had any other orders.

“The crown prince...” He thought for a while, and he still couldn’t help feeling worried. “The crown prince has seduced many people. Because of his status, it’s difficult for people to refuse. You...”

Ji Man pursed her lips and suddenly laughed. “My lord, don’t worry. Sangyu won’t cheat on you. If Sangyu is put into a difficult position and loses her clean reputation, you can dismiss Sangyu as your concubine to protect the marquis’s household reputation.”

Ning Yuxuan was shocked for a moment, then his expression turned ugly. “Nie Sangyu.”

“This servant is here.”

“Do you want me to dismiss you?”

Ji Man shrugged. “If you weren’t trying to maintain the balance between the empress’s side and Nie Clan’s side, you should have dismissed Sangyu a long time ago.”

This was the truth. Marquis Moyu was a very clever person. Although it seemed as if he was disagreeing with old madame because she favored Nie Clan and he had a good relationship with the crown prince, the actual truth was that Marquis Moyu’s household was maintaining a knife-edge balance.

This was something that Ji Man had thought about for a long time before she understood. She couldn’t help internally sighing. Marquis Moyu’s shrewdness was much deeper than it seemed on the surface. There was a reason behind his every action.