“Alright, I’ll help you.”
Ji Wujing continued to tear off Gu Jianli’s dudou and skirt, leaving only a pair of light pink shorts.
Before Gu Jianli could react, she was almost stripped naked.
Ji Wujing’s gaze lingered for a moment.
Gu Jianli crossed her arms over her chest and took a step back. Tears were still hanging from the corners of her eyes, and the way she looked at Ji Wujing was filled with a different kind of fear.
Ji Wujing coughed lightly and averted his gaze. However, the image of her snowy skin, as soft as mutton-fat jade, her slender waist, and delicate white legs still lingered in his mind.
Gu Jianli’s face quickly turned bright red. Earlier, she had been too frightened to care about anything, but now that she had calmed down a bit, she realized how awkward and ambiguous the situation was.
Gu Jianli’s gaze swept to a neatly folded robe on a nearby table. She wanted to put it on but didn’t dare lower her arms…
Her back itched, and she wanted to scratch it but didn’t dare lower her arms…
She wanted to cry. She sniffled and tears began to fall again.
Hugging her chest, Gu Jianli slowly squatted down, crying aggrievedly. Her small body shook with sobs.
Ji Wujing looked down at her, reached out to pick a bug from her hair, then took the robe and draped it over her. Gu Jianli kept her head down, hurriedly pulling the robe tightly around her. She then realized the light red robe was made of thin gauze, very sheer and translucent. Even wrapped around her, it barely covered anything, looking like something a woman from a brothel would wear.
Gu Jianli felt even more embarrassed. Her body still itched, and she scratched her itchy side while holding the robe closed with the other hand.
“Don’t scratch,” Ji Wujing said. “There’s itch powder in the basin. The more you scratch, the itchier it gets.”
Suddenly, there was a noise at the wooden door, as if someone was pushing it. Gu Jianli let out a startled cry and immediately jumped into Ji Wujing’s arms.
Ji Wujing raised his hands innocently, indicating it wasn’t his fault. He awkwardly tugged at the corner of his mouth and patted Gu Jianli’s back, soothingly saying, “It’s just the wind. No one came in.”
Gu Jianli buried her face in Ji Wujing’s chest, sobbing quietly, “I want to go home, Daddy, save me…”
The smile on Ji Wujing’s face instantly froze and his expression turned cold.
At a time like this, she was still thinking about her father rescuing her? Wasn’t he standing right in front of her?
Ji Wujing was angry. He slapped Gu Jianli’s butt.
Gu Jianli was startled, her body trembling as she lay in his arms. She timidly released her grip, wanting to escape from Ji Wujing’s embrace.
Ji Wujing said: “…There’s a bug on your butt.”
Gu Jianli let out another startled cry and threw herself back into Ji Wujing’s arms, burying her face in his chest, trembling and crying, “Help me, help me…”
Ji Wujing initially wanted to wait until she called him uncle, but seeing her crying like this, he couldn’t bear it. He took Gu Jianli’s hand and led her behind a screen, softening his voice as he spoke, “It’s a trick by the eunuchs of the Western Depot to tease the palace maids. The bugs are dead, and the itching powder will be washed off with a bath.”
As he finished speaking, Ji Wujing had already led Gu Jianli behind the screen. Behind it was a bath filled with hot water, obviously prepared in advance by the eunuchs who planned this prank.
“Go on, take a bath,” Ji Wujing said, releasing her hand.
However, Gu Jianli suddenly grabbed his hand tightly.
“Do you want me to help you bathe?” Ji Wujing laughed.
Did his wish to help her undress and bathe come true so quickly? It felt too easy…
Gu Jianli shook her head and said softly, “My head itches, and there are still bugs…”
Ji Wujing glanced at her and said, “It’s just the itching powder. There are no more bugs.”
“There are…” Gu Jianli’s voice was small but stubborn. She held onto Ji Wujing’s hand, refusing to let go.
She looked at him with tear-filled eyes, pleading softly, “Don’t leave me alone here. I’m scared…”
Ji Wujing was silent for a moment, then, as if possessed, he raised his hand and wiped the tears from her face with his palm, saying, “I won’t leave. I’ll get some water to wash your hair.”
Gu Jianli tried to smile, her eyes crinkling, but more tears rolled down.
She really cries a lot, Ji Wujing thought.
What Ji Wujing didn’t know was that Gu Jianli didn’t like crying in front of others, but she always seemed to cry in front of him for various reasons.
Ji Wujing knocked on Gu Jianli’s head with his knuckles and said disdainfully, “Go, strip and get into the water.”
He turned around, his tone growing more impatient, “Hurry up. It’s unsightly, and I don’t want to see it.”
Gu Jianli bit her lip, secretly watching Ji Wujing’s back to make sure he didn’t turn around. She quickly undressed and climbed into the bath. She sat in the tub, trying to sink her body as low as possible, the water covering her chin. The warm water immediately soothed the itching on her body.
Ji Wujing pulled over a three-legged stool and placed it beside the tub, then mixed hot water in a wooden basin from another bucket. He placed the basin on the stool and dragged over a chair, sitting down lazily.
Gu Jianli tried to hide her body in the water. She listened to Ji Wujing’s movements behind her but didn’t know what he was doing.
Ji Wujing knocked on the tub and said, “Come closer.”
Gu Jianli cautiously glanced back at him, her gaze wary. But when she saw the basin, she breathed a sigh of relief. Obediently, she moved back, pressing her back against the tub.
The water was warm, and so was her body, but the tub felt slightly cool against her skin.
Ji Wujing slowly untied Gu Jianli’s long hair, which was coiled up, and let her silky, ink-black hair fall into the basin. The strands floated gently in the water.
Ji Wujing placed his hand in the water, cupping a handful of her silky hair. The smooth strands slipped through his fingers, back into the water. He watched the hair float in the basin for a while before picking it up again, holding it in his palm. He sprinkled some soap powder on it and carefully washed away the itching powder from her hair.
Gu Jianli kept her hands on her chest, her head lowered, staring at the floating water surface. The water reflected Ji Wujing’s focused expression.
Her face felt slightly warm.
“Lift your head,” Ji Wujing said, glancing up at her from the water’s surface.
Their eyes met in the gently rippling water. In that instant, Gu Jianli quickly looked away in a panic, slightly raising her body and obediently lifting her head, leaning back with Ji Wujing’s hand supporting her.
Feeling Ji Wujing’s hands washing her hair, Gu Jianli felt a bit flustered. She gazed at the intricately carved ceiling, finally beginning to calm down.
Ji Wujing accidentally got some water in her eyes. Gu Jianli blinked hard, but her eyes still hurt. She squinted and couldn’t help but raise her hand to rub her eyes.
Ji Wujing glanced down at the lightly rippling water. Beneath the surface, her small breasts floated with the water’s movement. He lingered on them for a moment.
He suddenly felt that not only the larger breasts were enticing.
He wanted to bite not just the larger ones. The smaller ones seemed softer, also tempting to bite.
Gu Jianli quickly pulled her hand back to cover her chest again.
Ji Wujing glanced at her disdainfully, as if he wasn’t interested.
He picked up a clean cotton towel from the rack and began drying Gu Jianli’s hair. He wasn’t skilled at this and quickly tugged her hair, causing her some pain. Her head moved with his motions, and she tightly pressed her lips together, not daring to make a sound.
After drying her wet hair with the towel, Ji Wujing wrapped it up. Then he leaned back lazily, casually gazing at her exposed shoulders and collarbones, remaining silent.
After a while, Gu Jianli softly said, “I don’t feel itchy anymore. Can I get out now?”
“No. You need to stay a bit longer,” Ji Wujing lied.
Gu Jianli didn’t know he was deceiving her and obediently stayed still in the water.
“Knock, knock, knock.” A young eunuch knocked on the door outside, “Master, our lord ordered me to bring clean clothes. Please forgive us for the oversight of the Western Depot today…”
Ji Wujing had just stood up when he heard the sound of water behind him. Turning back, he saw Gu Jianli with her hands on the edge of the tub, looking at him pitifully.
She was scared.
Ji Wujing glanced at her disdainfully, not wanting to deal with this little trouble, but he couldn’t help saying, “No one will come in, and there won’t be any more bugs. I’ll be back soon.”
He walked to the door and took the clothes from the young eunuch. Before the eunuch could say anything else, Ji Wujing kicked the door shut with a loud bang.
He walked back lazily and placed the clothes on a small table, saying, “Dry yourself and change. I’ll be right outside.”
Gu Jianli finally nodded.
When Ji Wujing opened the door earlier, he saw Chen He in the courtyard. He stepped out and walked towards him.
Chen He was sitting in a tree, grooming the fur of a white cat in his arms. He was elegant and refined, and his upright posture seemed out of place in the tree.
Normally, he wouldn’t sit in a tree, but the cat had jumped up and refused to come down, so he had followed.
Ji Wujing walked to the tree and looked up at him.
Chen He spoke first, “I didn’t expect you to care so much about sister-in-law. It really surprises me.”
“Her…” Ji Wujing casually smirked, glancing at the white cat in Chen He’s arms, and said nonchalantly, “I care for her like you do for that dumb cat. She’s cute and obedient, just something to pass the time with.”
Chen He jumped down from the tree, soothing the cat as he landed, and said seriously, “My Xuetuan is not just for amusement. When it dies of old age, I plan to follow it.”
Ji Wujing glanced at the cat nestled in Chen He’s arms and said, “You’re crazy.”
It’s just that Xue Fei asked him to help take care of it. Was that really necessary?
Then again, Chen He had mutilated himself to enter the palace as a eunuch just to stay close to a woman. Planning to die with a cat wasn’t surprising.
Worried that Gu Jianli might start crying again if left alone for too long, Ji Wujing ignored Chen He and turned back.
Gu Jianli was standing nervously by the screen, waiting for Ji Wujing. When he returned, she hurriedly walked up to him and said, “Let’s go home!”
Her face was flushed from soaking in the water and from crying.
Ji Wujing’s gaze fell on her lips.
Her light pink cherry lips were moist and plump. Ji Wujing suddenly had the urge to bite them, and as he thought this, he acted on it.
