Actually, Ji Wujing didn’t do much. He just made a trip back to Xuanjin Sect, killed the acting sect master, Zhang Yilun, and, of course, those who followed him. He then casually appointed a new acting sect master.
On his way back to the mansion, he passed by Shijin Pavilion and bought two boxes of candy.
He returned to the Marquis of Guangping’s residence at sunset, casually placing the two boxes of Shijin candy on the table. Seeing him return safely, Gu Jianli felt somewhat relieved and asked Jixia to invite Ji Jingyi, who had been waiting in the side hall.
While checking Ji Wujing’s pulse, Ji Jingyi repeatedly shook his head and sighed. He wanted to say something, but seeing Ji Wujing’s cold expression, he swallowed his words.
He called for a clean small bowl, took a small white porcelain bottle from his medicine box, and poured the moon-white liquid into the bowl.
Gu Jianli watched curiously from the side and noticed what seemed to be a small bug entering the bowl along with the light blue liquid. She wasn’t entirely sure if she saw it correctly.
“Sect Master, lift your hand,” Ji Jingyi said.
Ji Wujing glanced at the liquid in the bowl and extended his hand. Ji Jingyi pricked his index finger with a needle, and a drop of blood immediately formed on his fingertip. Ji Wujing placed his finger into the moon-white liquid, causing ripples. The small bug, attracted by the scent of blood, swam up from the bottom of the bowl and entered Ji Wujing’s body through the small wound on his fingertip.
Gu Jianli’s eyes widened in amazement. She had never seen such a treatment method before.
Ji Jingyi explained, “Sect Master, this is the child gu from the mother-child gu pair. It will remain in your body for seven days. During these seven days, you will fall into a deep sleep.”
Recalling how Ji Wujing had woken up on his own before, Ji Jingyi cautioned, “Sect Master, it’s just seven days. Do not wake up and interrupt the child gu’s venom absorption. Only if the child gu remains stable for these seven days can I then implant the mother gu in you.”
Ji Wujing nodded nonchalantly.
Ji Jingyi knew Ji Wujing too well, aware of his overly casual approach to everything. Casualness wasn’t frightening; what was terrifying was a person who didn’t care about life and death treating it casually. Before leaving, he warned Changsheng repeatedly and also asked Gu Jianli to take care of him. Gu Jianli nodded in agreement and inquired about additional precautions.
Gu Jianli asked Jixia to serve dinner, made Ji Wujing eat some fish, and then had him take a calming herbal medicine before helping him into the inner room.
Recalling Ji Jingyi’s words, Gu Jianli seriously reminded, “You must sleep well and under no circumstances wake up. No matter what happens, do not wake up!”
Ji Wujing changed into loose white nightwear, glanced at Gu Jianli, lay down on the bed, and casually said, “You just behave yourself.”
Gu Jianli wanted to retort but found herself inexplicably unable to. She tucked Ji Wujing in, drew the bed curtains, and quietly left the room.
“Jixia, Fifth Master needs to cultivate quietly for a while. Do not let anyone in. Changsheng will keep watch, preventing outsiders from entering. You need to keep a close eye on Ye Yunyue to prevent any disturbances from her,” Gu Jianli instructed Jixia.
“Don’t worry. With Jixia here, Ye Yunyue won’t be able to cause the slightest trouble!”
Gu Jianli nodded and then noticed the two boxes of Shijin candy on the table.
“Did he buy it for Lanlan? It turns out that Fifth Master cares about those two children too…” Gu Jianli murmured softly. She took the two boxes of Shijin candy and headed to the backyard to give them to Ji Xinglan. However, when she reached the door, she couldn’t help but stop and look down at the two boxes of candy in her hands.
The amount of candy was considerable, and Ji Xinglan probably couldn’t finish two boxes. Besides, children shouldn’t eat too much candy, and it wouldn’t keep for long either. Gu Jianli decided to leave one box behind and took only one to give to Ji Xinglan.
On her way back, she opened the box of Shijin candy, picked up a piece, and put it in her mouth.
Sweet.
When Ji Xinglan finishes that box, she would buy her another one—Gu Jianli thought.
In the following days, everything was normal. Hardly anyone came to Ji Wujing’s courtyard, and no one disturbed him. As for Ye Yunyue, she remained well-behaved and showed no intention of entering the house. However, her aunt from the Zhao family came looking for her several times, clearly dissatisfied with her current behavior. But Ye Yunyue seemed determined, no matter what her aunt said. Even the threat of writing to her parents didn’t change her mind.
“If you knew this would happen, why did you act that way back then?” Madam Zhao’s anger triggered her asthma.
Ye Yunyue lowered her head and said nothing, her eyes slightly red.
Indeed, if she had known this would happen, she wouldn’t have acted that way. The biggest regret of her past life was breaking off the engagement. She was reborn to correct that mistake. Even after dying once, she could never forget the miserable sight of her past self, looking longingly at Ji Wujing in the night market. The stars filled the night sky, fireworks dazzling, and his gaze was full of deep affection as he looked at Gu Jianli. The lights stretched his shadow long.
If she hadn’t broken off the engagement and had stayed with Ji Wujing through those difficult years, all of this would have been hers.
She was unwilling to accept it.
She was determined to take back what originally belonged to her.
On the other side, Jixia reported to Gu Jianli that Madam Zhao had called Ye Yunyue over again.
Gu Jianli frowned for a moment, said “Got it,” and then looked down at the two large characters on the table, which were Ji Xinglou and Ji Xinglan’s homework for the day. Gu Jianli originally thought that Ji Xinglou, being quite mischievous, would surely dislike studying. To her surprise, the child was extremely talented. The poems taught by the teacher, he could recite after just one reading. Even when he first held a brush to write, his handwriting was beautiful. Despite Gu Jianli giving extra lessons to Ji Xinglan, after three days, Ji Xinglan still couldn’t keep up with Ji Xinglou’s progress.
Not long after, Jixia prepared hot water in the west room and called Gu Jianli to bathe. After bathing, Gu Jianli remembered that Ji Wujing had been sleeping for three days and needed to be cleaned.
Although she felt somewhat resistant, she still asked Jixia to bring a basin of hot water and place it by the bed. After Jixia left, Gu Jianli sat by the bed, removed Ji Wujing’s nightwear, wrung out the cloth soaked in hot water, and carefully wiped his body. She was very meticulous, watching Ji Wujing’s expression the entire time to avoid waking him.
Gu Jianli originally thought Ji Wujing would have many scars on his body, but he didn’t. The cloth in her hand accidentally fell, and as her palm brushed across Ji Wujing’s chest, she was surprised at how smooth and firm it felt. Her gaze lingered on his abdomen for a moment before she quickly shifted her focus back and continued wiping him down in a serious manner.
After cleaning his chest and arms, Gu Jianli carefully propped Ji Wujing up. His head drooped, his chin resting on her shoulder, as she reached around his waist to clean his back.
Gu Jianli laid Ji Wujing flat again and proceeded to remove his trousers.
After wiping down his legs, her gaze fell on Ji Wujing’s undergarments.
“Just cleaning these areas should be enough…” she muttered softly, quickly averting her eyes and putting on a clean pair of night trousers for him. As she was putting on his trousers, she paused, glancing back at his undergarments.
Gu Jianli sighed.
It’s not like she hadn’t done this before.
Steeling herself, she pulled down Ji Wujing’s undergarments. Since Ji Wujing was unconscious and couldn’t cooperate, it took her some effort. As she finally managed to remove his undergarments, her elbow slipped on the edge of the bed, causing her to topple forward, face-first. She caught herself just in time to avoid a faceful, but it was close. At such a close distance, she saw everything clearly.
Though she had helped Ji Wujing change clothes before, she always averted her eyes when it came to changing his trousers, never daring to look.
Gu Jianli quickly sat upright, her cheeks already flushed. She could hear her heart pounding, as if it was about to leap out of her chest.
Her face grew redder, a mix of embarrassment and panic, as if she had committed a grave mistake.
Trying to calm herself, she took the cloth from the basin, her hands trembling slightly, and placed it between Ji Wujing’s legs.
As soon as the cloth touched him, Ji Wujing’s fingers twitched slightly.
Startled, Gu Jianli realized she hadn’t wrung out the cloth, and it must have burned him! She quickly removed the cloth from his abdomen, rewashed it in the hot water, and wrung it out properly.
Holding the wrung-out cloth, she stood there, frozen.
Even if she didn’t clean Ji Wujing any further, she needed to dry the water between his legs.
What to do…
Calling Changsheng in now seemed inappropriate.
“I’m just creating trouble for myself…” Gu Jianli muttered with a small frown.
She did some mental preparation, telling herself that it was just another part of the human body, and as long as she treated it like any other area, it would be fine. There were no outsiders, and Ji Wujing was unconscious, so no one would ever know about today’s events.
Finally, she mustered the courage to clean Ji Wujing. However, when she looked up, she couldn’t help but exclaim, “Oh no!”
The bug had grown larger! (TL: The bug 💀)
Gu Jianli was stunned for a moment before she quickly closed her eyes tightly. Not just that, she dropped the cloth and covered her face with both hands.
Her heart, which had just calmed down, started pounding furiously again.
She wasn’t entirely sure what consummation entailed, but she vaguely knew it involved that part of the body. Unconsciously, her thoughts began to wander.
She only snapped back to reality when she felt a bit cold. It wasn’t good for Ji Wujing to remain naked for so long, as he might catch a chill.
Hastily, she pulled a blanket over Ji Wujing’s upper body, then picked up the cloth to wipe the water off his legs. To her surprise, she noticed that the bug grew larger whenever the cloth touched it.
It was somewhat frightening and quite ugly. (😭)
Gu Jianli sincerely believed that Ji Wujing was beautiful, and this was undoubtedly the ugliest part of his entire body.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she pinched the large bug and haphazardly wiped it with the cloth, doing her best to ignore the fact that the bug was still growing.
After cleaning, she quickly dressed Ji Wujing in his pants.
Seeing the bulge in his pants, she averted her eyes.
Gu Jianli’s face was red when she climbed into bed, and it was still red when she woke up the next morning.
Her blush only faded when she received the imperial edict summoning her to the palace to accompany Imperial Consort Li, at which point her face turned pale.
