Ji Wujing suppressed the strange feeling within his body and picked up the soft dry towel draped over the wooden basin to wipe away the wet water stains from her. With the blood and water stains gone, Tao’er looked like a tempting trap, making Ji Wujing so angry he wanted to kill someone.
He glared at Gu Jianli’s face, which was covered with a silk cloth, and asked, “Gu Jianli, did you do this on purpose?”
“No…” Gu Jianli tearfully whispered in grievance.
The soft, low sobs were like a death charm, chasing Ji Wujing to the point where he had nowhere to hide.
He frustratedly threw the towel into the water and silently picked up the moon cloth, measuring it with a sarcastic tone, “Who said they would teach me how to tie this? Now that you didn’t teach me, I’m tying it blindly.”
Ji Wujing fumbled with a few thin straps, trying to figure out how to tie it. His hands inevitably touched Gu Jianli, and every time they did, Gu Jianli couldn’t help but tremble.
Gu Jianli began to cry out loud, not entirely out of shame but because the emotions she had accumulated over many days found an outlet. The more she cried, the more aggrieved she felt.
Ji Wujing slapped her buttocks and said, “I’ve put your pants on; what are you still crying for?”
Gu Jianli ignored him, not wanting to pay him any more attention, only wanting to cry until she had enough. Covering her face with the silk cloth wasn’t enough, so she covered her face with her hands and continued to cry incessantly.
A fire burned within Ji Wujing, making him unusually irritable. He washed his hands and pulled Gu Jianli’s hands away, looking at her face through the thin silk cloth. Her tears seemed endless, soaking the cloth.
“Gu Jianli, what are you crying for? How did you wash me when I was asleep? You pulled me up to wash.”
Gu Jianli covered her ears, not wanting to see or hear any more of Ji Wujing’s nonsense.
Ji Wujing stared at her for a while, with her pitiful crying ringing in his ears. He bent down and kissed Gu Jianli’s lips through the silk cloth, swallowing all her cries.
Gu Jianli’s sobs gradually ceased.
When Ji Wujing moved away, the silk cloth covering Gu Jianli’s eyes had somehow fallen off. Ji Wujing gazed intently at her swollen, red eyes and asked softly, “Feeling that aggrieved?”
Gu Jianli’s tears slid down the corners of her eyes, merging into her hair. She choked out in a small voice, “I’m scared…”
“Scared of what?” Ji Wujing wiped the wet tears from her temples with his thumb.
“Scared of dying…” Gu Jianli replied honestly.
“Is death really that frightening?” Ji Wujing asked nonchalantly.
“Is there anyone in this world who isn’t afraid of death?” Gu Jianli retorted.
Ji Wujing smiled slightly, not saying anything. He indeed did not understand the common fear of death. To him, life and death were not much different.
Gu Jianli slowly blinked and added, “It’s not just death I fear, but what comes after…”
“Once you’re dead, you’re dead. What comes after?” Ji Wujing said.
“Yes, there are.” Gu Jianli said seriously. “After people die, they go to the underworld and then get reincarnated.”
Ji Wujing watched her serious expression. It turned out she believed in this. He did not, but he didn’t argue.
Gu Jianli began to cry again, feeling aggrieved. “I’m so afraid of living with those ghosts after I die. They are so scary and terrifying. They have no feet and stick out long tongues…”
Gu Jianli had been afraid of ghosts since childhood. The more she talked, the more her thoughts ran wild, and the more she feared. The more she feared, the more she cried, sobbing like a pear blossom in the rain.
She couldn’t help but grab Ji Wujing’s sleeve, looking at him with tearful eyes. “I, I…”
She hesitated.
Ji Wujing wiped away her tears with his thumb and asked, “What?”
Gu Jianli clutched Ji Wujing’s sleeve tightly, like a drowning person grasping a lifeline. She bit her lip and mustered the courage to speak, “I, I… want you to hold me.”
Ji Wujing paused his action of wiping her tears, looking at her in astonishment. He leaned down and held Gu Jianli in his arms, his hand under her back, gently patting and comforting her, “Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m scared…” Gu Jianli cried, holding Ji Wujing’s waist tightly with all her strength.
Ji Wujing frowned, closed his eyes, and rested his chin on Gu Jianli’s neck, speaking in a deep voice, “It’s okay. At worst, I’ll wait for a day and follow you to the underworld. Those ghosts and monsters can’t beat your uncle.”
Gu Jianli was taken aback before saying, “You’re talking nonsense again.”
“Gu Jianli.” Ji Wujing’s low voice carried a hint of tenderness. He slowly and forcefully called her name, saying nothing more.
Gu Jianli stared blankly at the canopy of the bed for a long time before speaking, “Are you talking nonsense?”
Ji Wujing only chuckled lightly, his tone casual, “Believe it or not.”
Gu Jianli closed her eyes, letting her tears slide down, brushing against Ji Wujing’s forehead. She said, “Don’t do this. It scares me.”
“Scared of what?”
“Scared… scared of getting lost, scared I won’t be myself anymore.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” Ji Wujing got up, tidied up briefly, and blew out the lamp in the room.
Gu Jianli’s gaze followed him until he lay down beside her on the bed. Ji Wujing was genuinely tired. He placed his hand on Gu Jianli’s body and quickly fell asleep. In the darkness, Gu Jianli quietly stared at Ji Wujing’s face. She wanted to raise her hand to touch his thin cheek, but she had no strength. After struggling for a while, she couldn’t lift her hand and sighed in frustration.
“What do you want to do?” Ji Wujing asked in a hoarse voice without opening his eyes.
So he wasn’t asleep? Even if he was asleep, he was still very alert and aware of everything.
Gu Jianli pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time before honestly saying, “I want to touch your face.”
The corners of Ji Wujing’s eyes lifted slightly in a silent smile. He found her hand, grasped her wrist, and placed her hand on his face, saying, “Gu Jianli, you finally admit that your uncle’s handsome face has captivated you for a long time.”
Gu Jianli froze for a moment, then twisted her hand on Ji Wujing’s face, eliciting a light laugh from him.
As she was about to fall asleep, Gu Jianli suddenly no longer felt afraid. Whether living or dying, it was best to let things take their natural course.
After she fell asleep, she had that dream again, the one where she died and went to the underworld, surrounded by countless terrifying ghosts. Usually, this dream would make her cry both in and out of sleep. However, this time, she did not cry. In the dream, she walked proudly beside Ji Wujing along the three thousand paths of the Yellow Springs, and none of the little ghosts dared to scare her. She felt so powerful.
A few days later, Gu Jianli’s illness worsened, and she spent less and less time awake each day. JiXiaheld back her tears as she brewed medicine, her hands shaking as she held the spoon. She knew that Gu Jianli surely missed her family, but she couldn’t see them. The thought that Gu Jianli might not get to see her family one last time made Jixia’s heart ache.
Changsheng came in to get food for the imperial physicians. He asked, “Is lunch ready?”
“Yes, it’s all packed in the food box,” Jixia said, quickly wiping her tears.
Changsheng picked up the food box and hesitated before advising, “Don’t worry. Madam is kind-hearted and will be blessed. She will be fine. Look, Sixth brother is already getting better. Madam will surely pull through too.”
Jixia knew Changsheng meant well, so she forced a smile and agreed, “Yes, Madam is blessed and will be fine. It’s just the steam from the pot making my eyes tear up, not crying.”
Changsheng didn’t expose her lie, nodded, and left.
Changsheng was right. Since Gu Jianli contracted smallpox, Ji Xinglou’s condition had shown signs of improvement. Smallpox was such a terrible disease that out of every two people who contracted it, one would die, with children being more likely to die. But Ji Xinglou seemed to be protected by a heavenly dragon, miraculously surviving. Although it couldn’t be said for certain that he would completely recover, his current condition gave hope that he might pull through.
Even so, Ji Xinglou still stayed quietly in his room as he had for the past few days, unable to go anywhere. It had been over ten days since he first contracted smallpox. Except for sneaking out one night to check if Gu Jianli had died, he hadn’t left his room.
He was still a child, after all, and Ji Xinglou was a mischievous child by nature. Despite his whole body itching and hurting, he couldn’t sit still. Ji Xinglou sat on the bed, looking at his hands. His little hands were still in their covers, and he clenched his fists, banging them together repeatedly, playing.
The covers on his hands could have been removed long ago, but he refused to take them off, stubbornly saying, “Whoever put them on will take them off!”
His little hands hurt from banging them together, so he lay down with his limbs spread out in a large “大” shape.
He was so bored.
Earlier, when his illness was severe, Ji Wujing had been running between the two rooms, splitting his time in half. But as Ji Xinglou’s condition improved and Gu Jianli’s worsened, Ji Wujing spent less time in Ji Xinglou’s room, only coming three times a day to watch him eat.
Ji Xinglou turned over, lying on his stomach and whimpering.
He missed the days when his father sat by his bed. Although he had been in great pain, those were rare times when his father stayed with him.
“Brother! Brother!” Ji Xinglan’s childish voice came from the back window.
Ji Xinglou sat up immediately and shouted, “Don’t come in!”
“I won’t come in.” Ji Xinglan climbed onto a large stone outside Ji Xinglou’s back window. She swung her short legs and said, “Brother, Lanlan will be good and not come in. Lanlan is here to talk to you!”
Ji Xinglou frowned. He jumped off the bed, dragged a chair to the window, climbed up on it, and pushed open the back window to look outside.
Ji Xinglan smiled sweetly, her eyes curving.
She opened a book placed on her lap and said sweetly, “Nanny Lin teaches me to recite books every day. I’ve learned so much. Brother, don’t worry about falling behind in your lessons. I’ll teach you!”
She really began to teach Ji Xinglou to recite poetry line by line. She thought she could remember it all, but after two lines, she forgot the words. Embarrassed, she scratched her head and used her little hands to flip through the pages to find the poem she was reciting.
Ji Xinglan wasn’t very good at her studies and often forgot what she was teaching her brother after just a few lines.
Ji Xinglou sighed, thinking his silly sister could just give him the book. But he loved hearing her voice.
