Chapter 314 – It feels so nice to rely on someone’s reputation (1)
“Why is that Young Lord Ji so close with our junzhu, ah? She’s a pregnant woman.”
(T/N: This was first mentioned in chapter 63, but since this word doesn’t come up often, I’m repeating the explanation again. Junzhu is one rank lower than princess. The title of junzhu is usually given to a daughter of a first-rank prince. The title can also be bestowed by the emperor’s decree.)
“Alas, Sir Nie has already died. It’s only to be expected that some toad is going to be lusting after our junzhu. He’s just a destitute, insignificant fellow. Of course, he’s going to like our junzhu, who has everything except a husband.”
“He’s just living off a woman…”
Ji Man pursed her lips and strode over there. Grinning, she smacked the door that the two servants were leaning against.
Trembling, the two terrified servants got up. They looked at her getup from top to bottom in bewilderment.
“Is my older brother inside?” Still smiling, Ji Man stuck her lips towards Errong’s room.
The slightly older servant finally recognized who she was. Cowering, she said, “… Yes.”
Ji Man nodded and raised her foot to continue into the courtyard. Behind her, the two older female servants questionably looked at each other in unison. She didn’t hear their words, right?
Even half a master still counted as a master. If this Miss Ji held a grudge against them and Young Lord Ji succeeded in marrying the junzhu, wouldn’t they be doomed?
With an uncomfortable heart, Ji Man entered Errong’s room and saw that Ji Zhu and Errong were sitting together. The atmosphere seemed a stiff as if they had recently quarreled.
Errong was pouting. Seeing her friend coming inside, she gained renewed confidence. Tugging her over, she said, “Sang… Man-er, help me persuade your older brother. He wants to join the army.”
As a fiefdom, Jing Province naturally had its own army. Nie Qingyun had originally been a scholarly official, but he had some knowledge of fighting. If he wanted to lay down the brush and take up the sword, he possessed the skills to do so. Although it would be arduous, the army was the best place if you wanted to climb up the ranks.
Turning her head to look at her older brother, she saw that his expression looked very earnest and without the slightest intention of changing his mind. As soon as he joined the army, he wouldn’t be able to keep Errong company anymore. Right now, Errong was pregnant, and it was inevitable that she would feel unhappiness towards his decision.
After hesitating for a while, Ji Man held Errong’s hand as she said, “It’s good that older brother has aspirations of his own.”
Discontent, Errong asked, “Why can’t he just wait for a little bit longer? My pregnancy is already at this point…”
Ji Zhu felt as if he was being put into a difficult position too. He absolutely didn’t want to live by mooching off from a woman. It was exactly because Errong was pregnant that he wanted to quickly establish himself with a career, so that he could marry her again. This way, other people wouldn’t gossip about her behind her back. Moreover, he had a great vengeance to payback.
Ji Man sighed and said in a neutral tone, “There are times when a woman really needs her man by her side. If those times clash with his aspirations, there’s no point in fighting to the death against something that can’t even be considered a romantic rival. Even if you feel bad, his career related stuff wouldn’t feel bad. If you want to be a good woman, why don’t you try a different method? Support him more. Know when to advance and retreat with him.”
“How should I support him?” Errong frowned. “Once he joins the army, he won’t be coming back.”
Ji Man poked Errong’s forehead, moved closer, and whispered into her ear, “Even if the army, it’s still Jing Province’s army. Why are you worried that you won’t be able to see my older brother?”
Errong slightly paused as if she had understood something. After doubtfully looking at Ji Man for a while, she finally nodded.
Ji Zhu let out a sigh of relief, and a small smile finally appeared on his face.
After Ji Man said a few more reassuring words to Errong, she asked, “Do you know a person called Liu Rufeng?”
“En, I heard my father mention him before,” Errong said, “I heard that even though he’s young in age, he’s an expert at dealing with people. He was only twenty or so when he got the position of military supervisor. My father said that he’s a promising youth.”
That type of person was called an expert in deal with people? The corners of Ji Man’s lips twitched. Her eyes turned, and she said, “Does he have a lot of contacts?”
“En.” Errong nodded. “Why are you asking about him?”
“It’s nothing. I met him when I went shopping today.” Ji Man stroked her chin as she thought. “I thought he was a lecherous skirt-chaser. It seems that I misunderstood him then.”
When Ji Man had mentioned earlier about the creams that she had made, Errong had been interested. But, since her friend was pregnant, Ji Man didn’t feel comfortable with letting her use the products.
With bright eyes, Ji Man looked at Errong and asked, “Since it’s like that, can I invite Sir Liu over here as a guest?”
“Sure, you can invite whoever you want. Besides, not much has been happening in the estate.” Errong blinked, then she turned to look at her and said, “Once you’ve made more of these creams, I can invite some ladies from noble families over to try them.
Ji Man agreed. Ah, it was such a nice feeling to have a supporter to rely on. She had originally thought that starting over from scratch would take a lot of effort, but in Jing Province, Marquis Jingwen was the big boss. Relying on this relationship as well as having Errong recommending her products, her skincare products could directly rise from a grassroots product to a high-end product for the nobility class.
As Ji Man calculated how to allocate the rest of her money, she returned to her room to look for Dengxin. Ning Yuxuan had packed banknotes in the bundle he had given her, so she still had plenty of money. After doing a rough mental calculation, she set aside part of that money for materials to make the creams and containers to store the finished products as well as another portion that would be used for advertising expenses.
The next day, Ji Man got up when the sky had just brightened and took Dengxin along with her to the marketplace. After three streets, she finally found a female manager for a restaurant. This woman had just gotten up.