Luo Muge followed Ji Jingyi to stay at the Xuanjing Sect. Now that Ji Wujing had moved here, it was closer. After feeding the ointment to the little rabbit, she packed up her things and left. Gu Jianli personally escorted her. The two walked side by side on the long pathway, with Jixia trailing three to five steps behind them. Knowing Luo Muge’s cold and arrogant nature, Gu Jianli did not speak freely.
After a while, they reached the back gate of the Xuanjing Sect. Gu Jianli stopped and said, “Miss Luo, I will see you off here.”
Luo Muge’s gaze fell on the light blue veil covering Gu Jianli’s face. She suddenly asked, “Do you feel inferior?”
Gu Jianli, who was just about to turn around, paused and looked at Luo Muge in surprise.
“Smallpox got its name because the survivors of the disease are left with pockmarks on their faces and bodies. If you were covered in pockmarks for the rest of your life, would you feel inferior?” Luo Muge spoke slowly.
Jixia frowned, displeased with Luo Muge’s words. But Luo Muge seemed to find no offense in her own question.
Gu Jianli slightly curved her eyes, looking directly at Luo Muge. “Disappointment is real, but inferiority is not. If I fear scaring others, I will wear a veil to hide my flaws, just as I do now. If someone dislikes me because of my disfigurement, I will simply leave them. And if someone doesn’t mind my changed appearance, then I am still the same person I was before.”
Luo Muge frowned, thought for a moment, then nodded lightly and turned to walk through the back gate of the Xuanjing Sect.
Jixia, unhappy, rolled her eyes and whispered to Gu Jianli, “I wonder what that Miss Luo is plotting!”
Gu Jianli pondered for a moment, withdrew her gaze, and turned back. Having just moved here, there were still many things waiting for her to handle.
After returning, Luo Muge immediately took out the little white rabbit and placed it in a larger cage to observe.
Ji Jingyi came in from outside, sighed, and said, “Muge, stop your research for now. Change the medicine first.”
Luo Muge looked down at her left arm.
She rolled up her sleeve, revealing the bandage inside, soaked with blood and medicine. The bandage was removed layer by layer, the bitten flesh sticking to it, causing unbearable pain as it was pulled away. Cold sweat beaded on Luo Muge’s forehead.
Ji Jingyi shook his head, sprinkled medicinal powder evenly on her forearm, and then inserted silver needles one by one around the wound.
Luo Muge bit her lip tightly to endure the pain, her face pale.
After inserting the last silver needle into Luo Muge’s forearm, Ji Jingyi sighed again and said, “Child, why do you go through such trouble?”
“Master, don’t worry. This was just an accident,” Luo Muge’s voice was weak.
“I’m not talking about this incident,” Ji Jingyi paused. “Your senior brother is not someone you can entrust your feelings to. The deeper you fall, the more you will feel his indifference. Do you think he will treat you better because of what you do? He was trained by your father from a young age, and his heart is no longer soft. Even if you died for him, he would only give a nonchalant ‘oh’.”
Luo Muge’s gaze fell on the little white rabbit in the cage, watching as it moved slower and became lethargic. It seemed her new medicine was useless. Disappointment filled her eyes as she looked away and said, “Muge is only doing her best and does not seek gratitude.”
“If you truly think that way, I would be more at ease. A person’s physical wounds can heal, but a wounded heart has no cure.”
“Luo Muge knows her limits.” Luo Muge kept her head down, her expression unreadable.
Ji Jingyi knew that this disciple kept her thoughts deeply hidden and wasn’t easily swayed by others. Since she was a young lady, as her master, he didn’t feel it appropriate to say too much.
Gu Jianli spent over half a month organizing the household servants efficiently and finally understood the astonishing wealth under Ji Wujing’s name. She consolidated Ji Wujing’s vacant properties, keeping a few and selling the rest. It turned out that Ji Wujing also owned some estates that had been left unused, so Gu Jianli hired people to manage them.
A month later, as everything fell into order, the pustules on Gu Jianli’s body had scabbed over, no longer painful and no longer needing constant medication, but they left her face and body covered in pockmarks.
The three side rooms on the right side of the main house were filled with Gu Jianli’s clothes. Besides the clothes originally crammed in by Ji Wujing, every ten days, several top embroidery shops from the capital would come to make new clothes for Gu Jianli.
During the hottest time of the year, Gu Jianli couldn’t sleep in the afternoon and was idly flipping through the clothes in the side room. There were so many clothes here that she hadn’t worn them all yet.
Gu Jianli opened a box and was surprised to take out a folded skirt. The golden skirt had a different texture from the fabrics of the capital, with tiny, shiny beads sewn onto the cloth, and the sleeves had small golden bells that made a crisp sound when touched.
It turned out to be the attire of a Western Region woman.
Through a door, the small, crisp sound of the golden bells woke Ji Wujing. He walked in with a grumpy face and asked, “Gu Jianli, why are you here instead of sleeping in my arms?”
“Did I wake you?” Gu Jianli smiled at him. “It’s too hot; I couldn’t sleep, so I came here to look around.”
Gu Jianli picked up the inner garment from the box, examining it curiously. The inner garment of Western Region women was different from the undergarments and bust wraps of the Central Plains, made into two peach-shaped cups. It was tied at the back with a palm-wide strap. Gu Jianli hesitated for a moment before realizing how to wear it. However, the size was clearly not suitable for her. She hurriedly put the inner garment back and covered it with the skirt.
Ji Wujing saw this and asked, “Why are you hiding it?”
“I’m not hiding it,” Gu Jianli retorted.
Ji Wujing easily pulled the inner garment from under the skirt, examined it, and asked, “How do you wear this? Ah… I see.”
Ji Wujing’s gaze swept over Gu Jianli’s chest.
Gu Jianli’s eyes avoided his, and she quickly said, “Don’t make me wear it. I won’t. It’s not the right size!”
“How is it not suitable?” Ji Wujing took a step closer to Gu Jianli, looking as if he intended to put it on her himself.
“It’s just not suitable!” Gu Jianli hurriedly snatched the inner garment from Ji Wujing’s hands, stuffed it back into the box, and closed the lid heavily. She turned and walked quickly back to her bedroom, kicked off her shoes, and climbed into bed, intending to take a nap.
Gu Jianli’s chest was plump, but the size of that Western Region inner garment was still slightly too large.
Ji Wujing leisurely walked back, got into bed, and hugged her from behind, saying, “Actually, they can still grow.”
Here we go again… Gu Jianli vaguely guessed that Ji Wujing was about to talk nonsense again, so she covered her ears, refusing to listen.
Ji Wujing laughed softly against Gu Jianli’s ear, his hand sliding into her collar.
Gu Jianli hurriedly pushed his hand away and held his wrist firmly, preventing him from moving.
“Gu Jianli, I want to squeeze,” Ji Wujing said honestly.
Gu Jianli’s hand, gripping Ji Wujing’s wrist, froze. She didn’t know whether to tighten her grip or let go.
“Just for a little while, okay?” Ji Wujing buried his face in the soft nape of Gu Jianli’s neck and nuzzled her.
A tingling sensation spread from Gu Jianli’s neck, and her cheeks turned a faint shade of red.
Ji Wujing slyly curled his lips. When his hand ventured into Gu Jianli’s undergarments again, she let go. Gu Jianli turned her face away, pressing it hard against the mattress, her body stiff and motionless.
After what felt like an eternity, Gu Jianli softly said, “Is that enough…?”
She reached up to push Ji Wujing’s hand away. Ji Wujing cooperated, letting her push his hand aside. He lazily sighed and added, “I still want to take a bite.”
Gu Jianli hugged the blanket to her chest, frowning and murmuring in a muffled voice, “That’s too much!”
Ji Wujing smiled, pulling Gu Jianli’s collar aside and biting her smooth shoulder. He then adjusted her clothes back in place, hugged her from behind, and they both slowly drifted into an afternoon nap.
In the middle of the afternoon, Gu Jianli was awakened by Ji Wujing’s gentle nudging.
“What now?” Gu Jianli’s voice was soft and sleepy, her eyes half-closed in a lazy, seductive manner.
A brief glint of light flashed in Ji Wujing’s eyes before it faded. He bent down and pulled Gu Jianli up, saying, “Since your wounds have healed, it’s time to take you somewhere.”
Gu Jianli looked at him blankly, still groggy. She slowly turned her head toward the window, glanced at the sun’s position to guess the time, and realized she had indeed slept for quite a while. She half-closed her eyes and let Ji Wujing pull her up.
Ji Wujing took Gu Jianli to a hot spring at the far end of the six-courtyard mansion. This hot spring was originally natural, later enhanced by human carving. The pool was large and the water was deep.
Gu Jianli squatted by the pool, rolled up her sleeves, and tested the water temperature with her hand. It was pleasantly warm. She stood up, shook the water off her hand, and looked at Ji Wujing, asking, “Why did you bring me here?”
Ji Wujing suddenly reached out and pushed Gu Jianli into the water.
With a loud splash, accompanied by Gu Jianli’s startled scream, huge waves erupted.
Gu Jianli didn’t expect Ji Wujing to push her into the water, knowing she was afraid of it. She was both scared and angry, struggling in the water and choking on a large gulp. She flailed her arms wildly toward Ji Wujing, shouting for help.
Ji Wujing, standing leisurely on the shore, calmly undressed before stepping into the pool. He easily wrapped an arm around Gu Jianli’s waist, holding her in his embrace, and patted her back to help her cough up the water she had swallowed.
“You, you bully!” Gu Jianli, feeling both wronged and angry, hit his arm.
Ji Wujing, however, just slowly unfastened Gu Jianli’s clothes, looking bored as he said, “If I teach you to swim, you won’t need someone else to jump in and save you. I hate it when others rescue you.”
Gu Jianli’s hand, which had been hitting Ji Wujing, froze.
Over a month had passed, and Ji Wujing still remembered? When Ji Xuanke had jumped into the lake to save her, Ji Wujing hadn’t said a word afterward. Gu Jianli had been surprised, but now…
Ji Wujing stripped off Gu Jianli’s outer clothes, leaving only her undergarments. He straightened her body, looked into her eyes, and said with a hint of anger, “I don’t like others saving you, so you have to be stronger, fearless, and never in a position where you need rescuing.”
