“No need!” Gu Jianli hastily crossed her hands over her chest. Realizing her reaction was a bit excessive, she softened her voice as Ji Wujing looked up at her, “Fifth Master has just woken up and needs to focus on recuperating his body to implant the mother Gu as soon as possible. How could I trouble you with such a thing? Let Jixia come in and help instead…”
“Jixia is in the kitchen, preparing the medicine you need to drink tomorrow morning and boiling a bone broth. You want to call her in to serve you as well?” Ji Wujing’s eyes twinkled with amusement, “Gu Jianli, you’re not being considerate to your servants at all.”
Gu Jianli frowned slightly and said, “I can ask my sister to help me…”
“It’s already past midnight. Besides Jixia, who is busy in the kitchen, everyone else in the house is asleep except for me, who was kept awake by you.”
Gu Jianli looked suspiciously towards the window, but the curtains blocked any view of the outside. She did some mental calculations, realizing it was indeed quite late. She then turned her gaze to the wooden basin on the small stool by the bed and said in a muffled voice, “I only hurt my leg, not my hands. I can do it myself.”
“Oh? You can wash your own back?” Ji Wujing asked.
Gu Jianli blurted out, “Then you can help me wash my back, and I’ll do the rest myself!”
Ji Wujing’s lips curved into a satisfied smile.
“Get up.” Ji Wujing extended a hand towards Gu Jianli.
Gu Jianli suddenly felt that Ji Wujing had intentionally forced her to say this. She placed her hand in Ji Wujing’s, supporting herself with the other hand as she slowly sat up. Even the slightest movement made her leg throb with pain.
“Good, now take off your clothes. The ties on your outfit are too troublesome.” Ji Wujing got up and moved to sit behind Gu Jianli.
Gu Jianli held onto the blanket over her legs, remaining motionless.
From behind her, Ji Wujing chuckled, prodding her shoulder with a finger, “What, do you want me to undress you?”
“Of course not.” Gu Jianli lowered her head and slowly untied the knots at her chest, taking off her outer garment.
Seeing the tight-fitting inner garment underneath, Gu Jianli frowned in frustration. She had been wearing a backless dudou for the past few days but had switched to this vest yesterday to match her purple outfit. If she had been wearing the backless dudou, she wouldn’t have had to undress any further. But now, the vest covered her back. Due to the pain, she had been sweating profusely, especially on her back, and the vest was sticking to her, making her feel even more awkward.
After a long hesitation, she finally grabbed the hem of the vest and pulled it off. The sudden coolness on her skin was not just due to the cold. She hurriedly clutched the blanket to her chest.
Even with only her back exposed to Ji Wujing, Gu Jianli felt utterly embarrassed.
Ji Wujing slowly gathered her soft, long hair, draped over her back, into his palm and placed it over one of her shoulders.
Gu Jianli straightened her back, her body somewhat stiff. Her embarrassment temporarily made her forget the dull pain in her leg.
Ji Wujing wrung out the cloth soaked in hot water and pressed it against Gu Jianli’s back. The moment the steaming cloth touched her skin, Gu Jianli shivered.
“Is it too hot?” Ji Wujing asked.
Gu Jianli nodded, then shook her head.
“So, is it too hot or not?”
“A little…”
Ji Wujing moved the cloth away, seeing a red patch on Gu Jianli’s fair shoulder and back. He looked at the cloth in his hand, surprised at how delicate the girl’s skin was. He tossed the cloth back into the basin, mixed in some cool water, wrung it out again, and handed it from her back to the front of her shoulder, saying, “Check the temperature yourself.”
Gu Jianli lifted her hand from the blanket to touch it briefly before quickly grabbing the blanket again, saying, “It’s not too hot anymore.”
Ji Wujing then carefully wiped her back. Gu Jianli’s skin was very fair, and her waist and back had soft, beautiful lines. Ji Wujing’s gaze traveled from her shoulder blades down to her slender lower back. He measured it with his hand and found it was only about a palm’s width. The droplets from the cloth slowly slid down her back, disappearing into the waist of her purple dress. Ji Wujing’s eyes lingered on her delicate waistline for a moment, and when another droplet slowly slid down and was about to disappear, Ji Wujing caught it with his thumb.
Feeling this, Gu Jianli instinctively moved her slender waist forward slightly.
Ji Wujing withdrew his gaze, turned his head, and dipped the cloth in the water again. As he wrung it out, he asked nonchalantly, “Gu Jianli, are you embarrassed?”
“No, I just… Ahchoo!” Before Gu Jianli could finish her sentence, she sneezed.
In the next moment, Ji Wujing opened his arms and hugged her from behind. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he lazily said, “What are you embarrassed about? Sooner or later, I’ll see everything. Every part of your body that you can’t see yourself, I’ll see clearly.”
He grabbed the hand that was tightly clutching the blanket, gently pried her slender fingers open, and moved her hand away. The blanket slid down, pooling on Gu Jianli’s lap.
Ji Wujing lowered his eyes, openly and seriously taking in the sight before him.
He stared for a long, long time, his expression focused and intent.
Gu Jianli felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. After enduring for a long time, she finally said in a trembling voice, “Fifth Master, please stop looking at me like that…”
“Looking is looking, there’s no such thing as ‘like that’,” Ji Wujing replied.
Gu Jianli repeated anxiously, “Please stop looking at me like that, it’s scary…”
Ji Wujing finally shifted his gaze away. With his chin still resting on her shoulder, he looked at Gu Jianli’s flushed face up close and drawled, “Beg me.”
Gu Jianli sighed helplessly. She cautiously grabbed the blanket and covered her chest again. Summoning her courage, she turned to meet Ji Wujing’s eyes and spoke softly, “Uncle, I’m sleepy and a bit cold. Can we go to sleep?”
“No,” Ji Wujing replied with a forced smile.
Gu Jianli felt deceived, her expression turning blank. Realizing quickly, she pursed her lips and shot Ji Wujing a reproachful glance. Then she leaned in and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth before quickly pulling back.
Ji Wujing froze, his smile disappearing as he looked at Gu Jianli with a strange expression.
Gu Jianli blinked, looking at him innocently and said in a soft voice, “Let’s sleep.”
Ji Wujing’s throat tightened. He licked the corner of his lips and shoved the wet cloth into Gu Jianli’s hand, saying, “Hurry up and clean yourself. I don’t want to sleep next to someone covered in sweat.”
Gu Jianli tilted her head, watching Ji Wujing get up and walk out. He didn’t go far, just stood outside the door, his tall figure casting a shadow on it.
After watching him for a moment, Gu Jianli quickly wiped her body with the cloth and put on the clean nightclothes nearby. She dressed quickly, but putting on her pants took longer, and she accidentally bumped her left leg, causing a sharp pain. After some time, she finally lay down flat, breathing heavily.
“Fifth Master, I’m done!”
Ji Wujing walked in, glanced at Gu Jianli’s flushed cheeks, then looked away, tidying up briefly before blowing out the lamp and getting into bed.
Gu Jianli, having her body wiped with hot water, felt the warmth seeping into her, making her very comfortable. Despite the persistent pain in her leg, she quickly fell asleep.
Ji Wujing, however, couldn’t sleep.
He turned his face to look at Gu Jianli in the darkness. His expression was blank, his eyes deep and unreadable.
He stared at her for a long time.
The next morning, Ji Wujing woke Gu Jianli up while she was still in deep sleep. Half-awake, she ate some porridge and took her medicine before falling back asleep. When she finally woke up again, it was almost noon. She was alone in the room. Struggling to sit up, she moved her right leg off the bed and then lifted her left leg down. Even this simple movement caused her pain, making her frown. She looked at her left leg, bound with two wooden splints, and sighed in frustration.
Just thinking about the inconvenience she would face in the coming days made Gu Jianli feel frustrated.
However, she also felt fortunate. Fortunate that she had taken the blow for her aunt, otherwise her aunt would have suffered this pain.
The outside was bustling with noise. After listening for a while, Gu Jianli stood up on one leg, using the bed and furniture for support, and hopped step by step to the window. She opened it, letting the gentle sunlight fall on her face, and she smiled, squinting her eyes.
An imperial decree had arrived at the palace, restoring everything to her father except for military power. He was once again the only non-royal duke in Great Ji.
Looking at her father in the courtyard, Gu Jianli suddenly remembered that she could soon move back to the royal mansion! However, the joy was fleeting, and her eyes darkened again. How could she forget that she was already married? Even if her father moved back to the mansion, she couldn’t live there. It was no longer her home.
She suddenly felt very lost.
Gu Jingyuan, noticing her from the corner of his eye, hurriedly walked into the house.
Previously, everyone had been careful not to wake her while she slept. Seeing that she was awake, the whole family gathered to visit her and talk to her.
Gu Jianli recounted everything that had happened in the palace to Gu Jingyuan. He remained silent, but the others listened with their hearts pounding.
“It was so dangerous!” Madam Tao said three times in fifteen minutes. She praised, “Our Jianli is really amazing. I just can’t believe it. It’s still incredible to me!”
Gu Jianli smiled gently, speaking softly, “I was just lucky.”
“You can’t attribute it all to luck!” Madam Tao disagreed.
Gu Jianli thought for a moment and said, “Besides luck, I have to thank being a woman. If I weren’t a woman, Emperor Chang wouldn’t have underestimated me, the secret guards wouldn’t have left, and even Director Chen wouldn’t have trusted and helped me. Even if everything succeeded, the new emperor wouldn’t have spared my life. In the end… it’s because most people in this world look down on women.”
By the end of her words, there was a hint of melancholy in her voice.
Gu Jingyuan finally spoke, “You rest well and don’t concern yourself with the rest.”
“I understand,” Gu Jianli replied.
