“Gu Jianli, you’re about to turn sixteen, aren’t you?” Wujing drawled, his tone slow and teasing.
Gu Jianli nodded, a bit puzzled by his peculiar tone. She smiled sweetly and called out, “Uncle.”
Wujing frowned unhappily, “What’s the matter now?”
“Nothing at all.” Gu Jianli pushed away Wujing’s hand from her chin. She raised her hand to grip his clothes and looked up at him, “I just wanted to thank you for finding the medicine for me, Uncle.”
Wujing’s gaze swept over Gu Jianli’s face as he leisurely asked, “Completely cured?”
“Yes, yes! Feel it!” Gu Jianli held Wujing’s hand, pressing his palm against her cheek.
Wujing asked again, “Is your body also completely healed?”
“Yes, yes, all healed!”
Wujing raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Uncle wants to feel it too.”
Gu Jianli was stunned and pushed his hand away, “Stop teasing.”
Just as she stood up and turned around, Wujing effortlessly pulled her into his arms, his hand slipping inside her clothes. Gu Jianli pushed his hand away, saying, “I never had any spots on my stomach!”
Wujing was about to speak but suddenly started coughing.
Gu Jianli turned around in his arms to face him and asked with concern, “Are you feeling very uncomfortable?”
“It’s tolerable.” Wujing stopped coughing, his expression lethargic again. He pinched the soft flesh of Gu Jianli’s cheek, tugging at it as he grumbled, “Gu Jianli, I want to sleep with you.”
“Then you need to get better quickly,” Gu Jianli frowned and shook her head as she looked into Wujing’s eyes, “Why is this antidote taking so long to work?”
“Is it slow? It’s tolerable,” Wujing replied casually.
Gu Jianli recalled. It would be a lie to say Wujing hadn’t recovered at all. Though his face was still pale, his excessive sleepiness had improved a lot, and he rarely coughed up blood anymore. However, Gu Jianli still felt a bit disappointed that after three months, Wujing hadn’t fully recovered.
Wujing bent down, bringing his face close to Gu Jianli’s, and teased, “Gu Jianli, when Uncle is better, will you let Uncle sleep with you? Day and night?”
Gu Jianli looked at his eyebrows and eyes that were right in front of him, and said seriously, “We are husband and wife, isn’t it normal to have intercourse? But can Fifth Master please not speak like this?”
Gu Jianli touched her own face. She always felt that she was getting more and more accustomed to Ji Wujing’s vulgar words. This didn’t seem quite right.
Ji Wujing sneered, a trace of resentment in his eyes, “Someone finds me disgusting.”
Gu Jianli got angry and said, “Ji Zhao, why are you so vengeful? Can you stop bringing up old issues? Besides, I didn’t mean it like that back then!”
“Ji Zhao, tsk tsk, here we go again… When there’s nothing to do, Fifth Master gets angry at Uncle Ji…”
Gu Jianli turned around and took a step, then turned back and patted Ji Wujing’s face, with a slight smile on her lips, “Be good, okay?”
After Gu Jianli left, Ji Wujing slowly raised his hand to touch the cheek she had patted. After a moment, he clicked his tongue and a strange smile appeared on his face.
Today was He Baojun’s birthday, and she was hosting a small banquet at home, inviting a few close friends. Over the past three months, Gu Jianli had attended several such gatherings. Before she got married, Gu Jianli often hosted small banquets herself. However, now that she lived in Xuanjing Sect, hosting guests was inconvenient, so she only attended banquets instead of hosting them.
He Baojun invited only a few people besides her own sisters, and including Gu Jianli, there were only three guests. Last time, at Long Yu’s wedding, Tang Honghui deliberately mocked Gu Jianli for her disfigurement. Gu Jianli responded gracefully, which allowed her to make a few new friends. These people knew that Gu Jianli had been applying medicine recently, and the pockmarks on her face were gradually fading. When they saw Gu Jianli today without her veil, they were all astonished.
Gu Jianli remembered that Cheng Meiya’s cousin also had smallpox. She said, “This medicine is hard to come by, and I don’t have much of it. However, I found a highly skilled doctor to study it, hoping to develop a similar effective ointment soon. Once it’s ready, I’ll send some to your residence for your cousin.”
Many people had sent various medicines to Gu Jianli during her treatment, and although most were not useful, she remembered all the kindness.
Cheng Meiya was overjoyed and thanked Gu Jianli repeatedly, growing even more fond of her.
The small banquet ended in the afternoon, and Gu Jianli took a carriage home. On the way, they passed a bustling market. The carriage stopped, and Gu Jianli waited inside while Jixia went to Ten Delicacies Pavilion to buy candies and then to the newly opened pastry shop next to it to buy some pastries that Ji Xinglan liked.
Poison Doctor Luo came out from a private room on the third floor of a nearby restaurant, shaking the wine gourd in his hand. He glanced at the nearly full tables in the main hall and left, looking for another place to drink.
As soon as Poison Doctor Luo left the private room, Ji Xuanke went upstairs and knocked on the door. A hoarse voice called “Come in,” and Ji Xuanke entered.
Inside the private room sat a man, drinking alone.
“You came,” the man’s voice was no longer hoarse, using his real voice—it was Ji Yan. His face, however, was disguised, making him unrecognizable.
“It seems the Prince Wuxian either remains neutral or supports Ji Lan, he won’t help us.”
Ji Xuanke was about to speak when Ji Yan pointed out the window.
Ji Xuanke followed his gaze and saw a carriage with ancient mirror patterns carved on it. The carriage door was open, and Jixia was handing items into it one by one, which Gu Jianli received.
She was wearing a red ruqun under a fluffy snow-white cloak, the soft rabbit fur brushing against her delicate face.
Ji Xuanke stared at Gu Jianli’s face and was stunned. Her face had healed? Not only had the smallpox not ruined her beauty, but it seemed as if the fresh buds of early spring had sprouted, shedding the youthful immaturity of fifteen and truly becoming a young lady.
How wonderful, no longer would Lin Xiangning and the like mock her for her pockmarks, though she never really minded.
How wonderful, returning to her original appearance must have made her happy.
But Ji Xuanke couldn’t help feeling a sense of loss. How long had it been since he last saw her? He didn’t even know how joyful she must have been when her face healed. The distance between them felt endless, no matter how he tried to cross or chase it, he couldn’t get closer.
Gu Jianli’s carriage had been traveling for a long time before Ji Xuanke caught up.
Gu Jianli pushed open the half-door of the carriage and looked in surprise at Ji Xuanke on horseback.
Ji Xuanke dismounted, holding a kite and a not-so-small brocade box.
Gu Jianli frowned slightly.
“The brocade box contains books, and the kite is for Xinglou. The other children in the household have theirs, but I haven’t had the chance to give Xinglou his. Could you please…” Ji Xuanke paused, his throat tightening, and spoke with difficulty, “Could you please give these to Xinglou, Aunt?”
As Xinglou’s older brother, there was no reason for Ji Xuanke’s request to be refused.
Gu Jianli gazed at Ji Xuanke from a distance and nodded, “I will give them to Xinglou.”
She averted her gaze and instructed Jixia to take the items. Jixia received them, and the carriage resumed its journey. Jixia quietly handed a note to Gu Jianli, her face full of hesitation.
Gu Jianli took the note and unfolded it.
—”Go out less these days, be careful.”
Gu Jianli pondered over these words for a long time, then asked Jixia to bring a fire starter. She set the note on fire, and once the words were completely burned, she tossed the remaining scrap out the carriage window.
After a moment of hesitation, Jixia tentatively spoke in a low voice, “Madam, you should stop getting involved with him, and stop thinking about him.”
Gu Jianli snapped back to reality and replied calmly, “I’m only wondering who he’s working for, what he knows, who wants to harm me, and why.”
Jixia was puzzled. She asked, “Have you figured it out?”
Gu Jianli leaned wearily against the carriage wall and said softly, “Although he’s been promoted by His Majesty in recent months, I suspect he’s secretly helping Ji Yan. Last time, Ji Yan had Sun Yinlan speak to me, but I declined his invitation. It seems the Second Prince plans to take a different approach, to imprison me as a witness… No, not a witness, but a hostage. A witness to Ji Lan’s tampering with the imperial edict.”
Jixia, still confused, asked, “What about the kite and the books…?”
“Send them to Xinglou,” Gu Jianli replied casually.
Jixia scrutinized Gu Jianli’s expression and inexplicably felt that her mistress’s languid posture against the carriage wall was as beautiful as a painting. Besides the beauty, there was a sense of familiarity. Yes, Ji Wujing also liked to lean lazily against the carriage wall in this manner.
When Gu Jianli returned home, Ji Wujing was not in the bedroom. Instead of looking for him, she first went to the side room to bathe after a day’s journey. Just as she changed into clean clothes and came out, a maid reported that Luo Muge had been waiting outside for a while.
Luo Muge was anxious.
She hated Gu Jianli for causing Ji Wujing to lose the antidote for Heart-devouring Powder because of her face. When she first learned of it, she was furious and wanted to confront her, but Ji Jingyi stopped her, saying it was Ji Wujing’s decision and that Gu Jianli should not know about it.
She endured it, spending three months painstakingly researching the antidote for Heart-Eating Powder. After three months, she had lost a lot of weight. But her efforts paid off, and she finally developed the antidote.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Miss Luo,” Gu Jianli said as she walked out gracefully.
Seeing Gu Jianli’s charming and beautiful face, Luo Muge could barely hide the hatred in her eyes. She sneered, “How does it feel to become beautiful using the ointment you got in exchange for my senior brother’s antidote?”
Gu Jianli looked at her in surprise, clearly not believing what she heard.
“You don’t believe me? Hmph. Senior Brother never took the antidote for the Heart-devouring Powder; he exchanged the antidote for the medicine to treat your face!” Luo Muge walked step by step towards Gu Jianli, then suddenly smiled, “But it doesn’t matter, I have developed the antidote for Senior Brother. However, this antidote requires your help. Senior Brother has done so much for you, you should also do something for him.”
“What do you mean, Miss Luo?” Gu Jianli frowned.
“The antidote needs a special ingredient, and that ingredient must be the hair of one’s own child.”
Recalling Ji Wujing’s gradually improving complexion, Gu Jianli didn’t believe Luo Muge’s words. She said, “As far as I know, the poison of Heart-Eating Powder is contagious. Not to mention that a baby cannot withstand the Heart-Eating Powder, it is more likely to die in the womb.”
Luo Muge suddenly became furious, “You fear death! You refuse to save Senior Brother!”
“Whatever Miss Luo has to say, she can tell Fifth Master directly. I’ll go find her for you,” Gu Jianli said, turning around.
Luo Muge took a step forward, and the silver needle in her hand pierced Gu Jianli’s lower back.