The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Chapter 12: Household punishment of five-rods thick rattan

Their actions seemed rather like they were catching a thief. When Ji Man was taken to the main room in the courtyard, she was slightly at a loss.

"Why are you in this courtyard?" The man, who was sitting in the center seat, had a very ugly expression. When he heard the servants report the situation, his eyes seemed as if they were trying see through her deception.

Ji Man didn't raise her head. She was more curious about another question than explaining why she was here. "Why were you looking for me?"

The confinement courtyard was a place where people rarely went. Logically, no one should notice even if she wasn't there. No matter, wasn't it strange that a large group of torch-holding servants would be looking for he?

In Ning Yuxuan's ears, these words signaled that she was refusing to repent. His expression immediately sunk and he said, "Nie Sangyu, you're still under confinement. Not only did you leave the confinement courtyard without approval, you were also sneaking around Qiangwei Courtyard's back garden's woodshed. What were you planning on doing?"

Ji Man opened her mouth, but before she had time to speak, someone came into the room.

"This concubine greets my lord. This concubine heard that the person has been found." It was rare for Mu Shuiqing's voice to sound so gentle and soft. She kneeled down next to Nie Sang Yu and saluted.

Ning Yuxuan raised his hand and said, "You can rise."

"Thank you my lord." Mu Shu Qing slowly stood up. Ji Man's knees hurt from kneeling, so she stood up along with her and rubbed her knees.

Marquis Moyu was so angry that his face seemed almost green. "I told her to rise, not you. Continue to kneel!"

Of course, Ji Man knew that he wasn't saying she could rise too. She was just taking advantage of the situation to rub her knees for a bit. Ji Man didn't show the slightest resistance. As she kneeled down again, she secretly arranged her clothes to pad her knee area slightly more.

Wen Wan was sitting next to Ning Yuxuan. After waiting for Marquis Moyu to finish expressing his anger, she finally softly persuaded, "My lord, you should at least let her finish speaking first."

Ning Yuxuan furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her, "She came here in the middle of the night. What else could she possibly be up to?"

Ji Man wanted to roll her eyes, but she still had to explain in a nice tone of voice, "Muxu hadn't returned after she went out in the afternoon. This servant saw that the sky was dark and was worried that something might have happened to her. So, this servant came out to look for her, but ended up getting lost."

Next to her, Mu Shuiqing quietly called out, "Lost?" She looked as if she was very surprised. Feeling that this might be lacking in manners, she immediately looked at Marquis Moyu and said, "This consort was impolite."

Ning Yuxuan's expression was very ugly, but the corners of his mouth showed a mocking smile. "Have you been confined for too long? You can't even think of a good excuse? Nie Sangyu, you entered this residence six years ago. Is there even a single brick or tile that hasn't already been tossed around by you? Now, you're actually saying that you were lost. Out of all the possible places, you came to Qiangwei Courtyard's back garden while being lost?"

Qiangwei Courtyard was the courtyard for the main wife. Nie Sangyu used to like qiangwei, so she had the servants plant them everywhere in this courtyard and named this place Qiangwei Courtyard. Wen Wan didn't dislike flowers either, thus the flowers had remained here.

(T/N: Qiangwei is a flower in the rose family that's native to China. Below is a picture.)