The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir

Chapter 13: Nie Sangyu's past

There was a superstition that if you placed your hands on your solar plexus when falling asleep, you would be more likely to have a nightmare. Ji Man followed the superstition and as expected, she saw Nie Sangyu in her dream.

She was actually quite beautiful, but there was too much resentment expressed on her face. It made people feel uncomfortable to look at her. Inside the dream's nihility, Nie Sangyu was wearing a long white dress as she endlessly wept. Her drawn-out cries sounded hysterical.

Ji Man stood at the side and looked at her for a long time before walking forward to hand her a handkerchief. "No one can hear you. It's useless even if you cry to the point of losing your voice."

Nie Sangyu ignored her and continued her crying that had a magnitude that could alarm the heavens and earth. She pointed her hand in front of her and a screen made of water appeared in the empty space. The water on the screen turned. When Ji Man turned her head to look, she saw the past.

Nie Sangyu was wearing a red wedding dress as Marquis Moyu welcomed her into the household as his wife. There was a faint smile on Marquis Moyu's face as he held her hand and led her to step over the residence's threshold. Underneath her wedding veil, Nie Sangyu was so happy that tears fell down. On the wedding night, in the bridal room with ornamented candles, the entire night passed joyfully. But, Marquis Moyu left the room at dawn over a bed servant's matter.

When Nie Sangyu woke up, she didn't see her husband. She didn't know what had happened until she sent Muxu to ask around. One of Marquis Moyu's accustomed bed servants had fallen into a pond and he had hurriedly gone to see her.

As the main wife, how could she tolerate something like this? Nie Sangyu had an impulsive personality. Taking advantage of a time when Marquis Moyu was out of the residence, she sent away all of his bed servants, without leaving a single one behind.

After this, Ning Yuxuan looked at her differently. Every time they shared a bed, he would light incense and put out the lights before sleeping with her.

The first scene was replaced by another scene. Marquis Moyu was welcoming Qi Siling, a dignified and magnanimous person, into the household. From top to bottom, she was flattering and very likeable. After she entered the household, Marquis Moyu never went to Nie Sangyu's room. Every evening, Nie Sangyu would wait until the oil in the lamp was used up, but the person she was waiting for never came. Nie Sangyu heard from other people that Honored Concubine Siling had a charmingly beautiful face, so she carelessly went to her room to deface Qi Siling's face.

Ji Man face-palmed. Was Nie Sangyu a fool? Why didn't she think before acting? She had been so easily instigated by other people's words. She was remarkably like a good knife that could be borrowed to kill other people.

No wonder Marquis Moyu would suspect that she was going to start a fire just from her standing by a pile of wood. This woman really was capable of doing anything when she was driven crazy.

Marqus Moyu had hurriedly rushed over and stopped Nie Sangyu. This disgust in his eyes deepened.

Spring left and autumn arrived. Marquis Moyu still hadn't come to see her. Nie Sangyu lived in the lonely and cheerless Qiangwei Courtyard and cried every night, but she didn't receive the slightest bit of pity from him.

Later on, Qian Lianxue and Liu Hanyun also entered the household. His eyes no longer had any space for her. Nie Sangyu learned how be gentle and soft, how to just obediently sit and embroidered robes and handkerchiefs for him, and how to not fuss or cause trouble. But no matter what she did, she couldn't get him to look at her again. And so, she caused trouble and hated him. She ate poison to try to kill herself, but she was saved.

She asked Ji Man while crying, "Loving him, hating him, begging him. I can't do any of these things. Am I not even allowed to die?"

Ji Man's heart slightly moved. The Nie Sangyu at that time, she was truly desperate and without hope. For a man that didn't love her, she was going to give up her life.

The scene changed. Nie Sangyu listened to Noble Consort Ning's advice and regained hope. It was true that Marquis Moyu was an amorous person, with courtyards full of concubines, but he never truly loved any of them. She felt that she still had a chance.

Ji Man felt admiration for her. Even if Nie Sangyu died, Marquis Moyu wouldn't be emotionally moved. And, she actually thought she had a chance to get him to fall in love with her?

And so, Nie Sangyu recovered. From the bottom of her heart, she joyfully stayed by Marquis Moyu's side. Then, Wen Wan appeared.

When you were feeling utterly hopeless, you would say you want to die. Then, what do you say when you didn't even have the spirit to want to die? When you were hollowed out and had lost all of your feelings?

In the next scene, Nie Sangyu blocked the doorway. She stubbornly looked at Marquis Moyu. She was determined to death to not allow him to go out and give the betrothal gift.

Marquis Moyu raised his hand and pushed her to side. He mounted a horse and left. She staggered after him, but she couldn't stop him. Cutting a sorry figure, she headed to the palace in tears. She hoped that Noble Consort Ning could help her stop him.

With her hair down and messy, she rushed into the palace and provoked the emperor with her disheveled appearance. Nie Sangyu didn't even have time to stop Marquis Moyu before she was reprimanded by the emperor and lost her position as the main wife.

Ji Man sighed as she watched this. Under the cultural rules of ancient times, Nie Sangyu's actions were truly shrewish and lacking the demeanor of a main wife. She hadn't understood that she had married a marquis, who was destined to have many concubines. She had acted like a young girl, who tried to forcibly hold onto her things without letting go.

She turned to look at Nie Sangyu, who seemed as if she would never finish crying. Ji Man sighed again. But, it was because she was wretchedly in love with Marquis Moyu, so she acted without regard to the rules. She didn't seem like the vicious woman that had been written in the novel. She was just easily manipulated and incited by other people. When she encountered a matter related to Marquis Moyu, she would lose all of her calmness and rationality.

"Why did you show me this? What are you trying to tell me?" Ji Man contemplated before saying, "You have an unfinished desire. How about telling me what your wish is, so that I can help you fulfill it?"

Nie Sangyu raised her head. Her eyes had turned red from crying. She pointed at the screen made of water again.

The screen changed. Marquis Moyu was gently sitting in a pavilion. A smiling Nie Sangyu helped him put on a cloak. Marquis Moyu raised his head. His eyes were full of desire to pamper.

Ji Man sneezed. This picture was definitely imagined by Nie Sangyu!

"You want him to fall in love with you?" The corners of Ji Man's mouth twitched and she firmly shook her head. "That's impossible!"