Gu Jianli slowly squatted down, hugging her knees. Because her left leg didn’t exert any force, her body leaned slightly to the left. She remained still, not making a sound.
Ji Wujing sat on the beam, watching her, just a small milky-white figure.
After a long time, Ji Wujing spoke first: “Gu Jianli.”
Gu Jianli still didn’t speak, showing no response.
Ji Wujing jumped down and walked to her, squatting in front of her. He lifted her face only to find that she had been silently crying for a long time, tears already wetting her cheeks flushed from the morning.
Ji Wujing grabbed Gu Jianli’s wrist and said, “Get up.”
Gu Jianli fell to the ground, crying as she struggled to free her hand, hitting and pushing Ji Wujing randomly. She cried, “Let me go, I want to go home! Father…”
“Gu Jianli!”
Gu Jianli lifted her foot to kick Ji Wujing, crying out, “I don’t want to stay with you anymore! Why do you always have to control everything? Committing acts of insult under the guise of doing good for me!”
Insult—Ji Wujing silently repeated these two words on his tongue.
“Ji Zhao, you bully! Am I your pet cat or dog that you keep teasing like this? Do you want to keep me in a cage or tie me up with a rope? Fine, do whatever you want. Just don’t let me find a chance to escape!”
Gu Jianli forcefully pushed Ji Wujing away, struggling to stand up, stubbornly moving forward. Her left foot supporting her weight on the ground, the piercing pain tormenting her body. She took another step in despair, stumbling, and Ji Wujing stood up, embracing her from behind. His voice was heavy: “Don’t go.”
“Let go! I won’t beg you anymore, I won’t yield anymore. Who gave you the right to casually touch my clothes, and you even dared to do it while I was asleep, you scoundrel! Scoundrel! Scoundrel! I hate you!”
Gu Jianli struggled but couldn’t break free from Ji Wujing’s arms. She fiercely hit his arms wrapped around her, his arms were strong, not hurting him, but reddening her delicate palms. So she cried as she twisted and pinched him, then bent down with effort, fiercely biting him.
Ji Wujing remained motionless, letting her be.
As she bit harder, the taste of blood filled her mouth, and Gu Jianli loosened her grip, tears streaming down as she looked at the teeth marks left on Ji Wujing’s arm.
“I’ll give you the clothes, but you have to practice walking properly, okay?” Ji Wujing asked in a deep voice.
Gu Jianli sniffled, crying out, “I won’t believe you anymore!”
“Then before you sleep, you tie my hands with a rope,” Ji Wujing said.
“Liar! A rope can’t hold you at all!”
Ji Wujing remained silent for a long time. Yes, indeed, a rope couldn’t hold him.
“What should we do then, Gu Jianli?” Ji Wujing turned Gu Jianli’s body around and lifted her face.
She tugged at the corner of her mouth and smiled, “Do you want to chop off my hands?”
Gu Jianli looked at him suspiciously, guarded and scrutinizing.
“Forget it,” Ji Wujing looked weary, “if you don’t want to walk, then don’t. Being a cripple isn’t a big deal. It’s good to have flaws even on perfect people. It’s more authentic.”
Gu Jianli looked at his expression, feeling uneasy. She cried, “I don’t want to, I don’t want to be a cripple…”
Ji Wujing looked into her eyes, using the last shreds of patience to say, “So, are you going to walk or not? It’ll be too late to walk when it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Gu Jianli furrowed her brows and pushed him away, “Give me back my clothes!”
Ji Wujing’s palm rested on Gu Jianli’s lower back, letting her stand straight in his embrace. He handed Gu Jianli her clothes, and she glared at him angrily, turning to put them on. After putting on the upper garment and the snowy-white nightdress, she picked up the pants, gathered the left trouser leg carefully, and cautiously put it on. When it was time to put on the right leg, she looked around but found nowhere to lean on.
She refused to lean on Ji Wujing in front of her, stubbornly sitting on the ground to put on her pants. Finally managing to put on her clothes with effort, the humiliating and awkward feeling faded, and she felt slightly relieved. She didn’t rush to get up, gently massaging her left calf. Just walking a few steps in anger had already caused intense pain.
Although she wasn’t crying anymore, the lingering dampness in her eyes remained. She sniffled, and tears welled up again with a sense of grievance.
“Are you going or not?” Ji Wujing asked again, surprised at his own patience today.
Gu Jianli pursed her lips for a long time before whispering, “I’ll go.”
Ji Wujing reached out his hand to her, saying, “Get up, I’ll support you.”
Gu Jianli looked up at him, hesitating for a long time before half-heartedly handing her hand to him to be pulled up. She looked in the direction of the bed, which wasn’t that far away, but it felt unreachable. She endured the pain and tentatively took a step with her left foot, one step at a time. On the third step of her left foot hitting the ground, the pain became unbearable to continue. She stopped there, looking down at her leg, holding back tears but her eyes were red with intensity.
“Gu Jianli, where’s your attitude of scolding, pinching, and biting me?” Ji Wujing said slowly.
Gu Jianli snorted lightly, ignoring him and not looking up at him.
Ji Wujing continued to mock, “Look, you stop after walking two or three steps, refusing to go on. Such a little waste.”
Gu Jianli glared at him, “I’ll take my time, it’s still better than being tormented by you!”
Ji Wujing said meaningfully, “You’re tormenting me too.”
“Nonsense,” Gu Jianli retorted.
Ji Wujing smiled and said nothing more.
Gu Jianli took another step forward, attempting to walk again. She walked slowly, taking quite some time to reach the bedside. As she sat down, she was covered in sweat. Her body went limp, powerless, not wanting to move at all.
“Gu Jianli.”
Gu Jianli turned to look at him.
Ji Wujing lazily leaned against the bedside, leaning on the thick dark curtain behind him. He casually said, “If you want to go back to your own home and find that old man Gu Jingyuan…”
His words suddenly stopped.
Gu Jianli waited for a while before asking, “And then?”
“I didn’t say anything,” Ji Wujing said coldly, then walked out to call for Jixia to heat water for Gu Jianli to bathe.
When he came back in, he didn’t even look at Gu Jianli, expressionlessly climbed onto the bed to sleep.
Gu Jianli sat on the edge of the bed, looking at Ji Wujing, always thinking about the unfinished sentence he had said.
– “If you want to go back to your own home to find that old man Gu Jingyuan, just go.”
– “If you want to go back to your own home to find that old man Gu Jingyuan, I’ll break your leg.”
Which one was it?
Gu Jianli quietly grasped Ji Wujing’s wrist and quickly looked up at him. Seeing him still with closed eyes, she pulled up his sleeve. There were traces of her twisting, pinching, and biting on his forearm, all red and bruised.
Ji Wujing pulled his hand back, letting down his sleeve. He raised his eyelids lazily to glance at Gu Jianli and said in a displeased tone, “Stay away from me.”
Gu Jianli pressed her lips together.
Ji Wujing closed his eyes again and didn’t look at Gu Jianli anymore. He heard Gu Jianli getting up and squinted to look. Gu Jianli walked towards the west room, leaning against the wall. Every two or three steps, she stopped, resting her hands on the wall before continuing.
Ji Wujing silently watched her until she walked to the door of the west room. Finally, he asked, “Where are you going?”
Gu Jianli’s voice sounded dull, “You told me to stay away from you.”
“Tch. Now you’re obedient.”
Gu Jianli didn’t say anything, pushed open the door to the west room, and carefully went in. She lowered her head and inadvertently saw the place where the door sill had been chopped off, feeling a slight daze. She clenched her hand on the wall for a moment before letting go, continuing to walk inside with difficulty. She sat on a small stool, waiting for Jixia to bring in the hot water.
Jixia came in with hot water, pouring it into the bathtub bucket by bucket. She carefully looked at Gu Jianli’s expression, lowered her voice cautiously and asked, “I heard you crying. Is everything okay? Is it because of Fifth Master…”
“I had a nightmare,” Gu Jianli interrupted her, “Be quieter when you leave. Fifth Master might have just fallen asleep.”
“I understand,” Jixia replied, “The water is ready. Would you like to check the temperature?”
Gu Jianli tested the water temperature and, with Jixia’s support, stepped into the bathtub. She didn’t let Jixia stay to attend to her, instead enjoying the comfort of soaking in the hot water alone. Her eyes were swollen and sore from crying, so she cupped some hot water and splashed it on her face, relieving the pain in her eyes.
Awoken early in the morning by Ji Wujing and tired all morning, Gu Jianli was both tired and sleepy. She tilted her head slightly, leaning against the bathtub, gradually falling asleep in the misty heat.
Ji Wujing lazily lay on the bed, playing with the pill box that Luo Muge had given him. He sat up and poured the bright red pills from the bottle into his palm.
Medicine can be poison, and Gu Jianli, being young and her menstrual cycle unstable, could be adversely affected.
Due to the two poisons in his body, if Gu Jianli were pregnant at this time, the toxins in his body would be passed on to the child. The child would dissolve in the womb before forming, or even if it miraculously survived birth with medication, it would likely die young.
Moreover, there was a slight chance that Gu Jianli herself would be contaminated with the toxins in his body.
Ji Wujing smirked, his expression inexplicably amused.
Why go through all that trouble when he could just avoid her? Besides, that silly girl didn’t even understand what consummating a marriage meant; she actually thought they were already husband and wife.
Ji Wujing closed his palm, exerted a little force, then opened it again, and the pills in his palm turned into powder.
He got up and walked into the west room, seeing Gu Jianli asleep. He quietly approached her, his hand dipping into the water to test the temperature. The water had cooled a bit, so he picked up the kettle and added some hot water. The sound of water didn’t wake Gu Jianli; she was still sleeping soundly.
Ji Wujing lazily leaned against the low table nearby, gazing at Gu Jianli. The swirling mist blurred her eyebrows and eyes, her jade-like cheeks gleaming with a layer of moisture, delicate and fragile. Her black hair hung outside the tub like ribbons of satin. Perhaps even the fairies in the heavens above couldn’t compare.
Ji Wujing picked up a strand of Gu Jianli’s hair, lazily winding it around his palm. The smooth and soft touch against his palm was compliant and delicate.
Gu Jianli furrowed her brows slightly in her deep sleep.
Suddenly, Ji Wujing let go, and her black hair slipped from his palm, slowly falling down, the ends swaying gently.
Gu Jianli, in a daze, opened her eyes and looked at Ji Wujing’s retreating figure, calling out to him groggily, “Fifth Master?”
“What is it?” Ji Wujing turned back.
Gu Jianli blinked slowly. Perhaps soaking in the hot water for too long made her feel uncomfortably swollen on her face. She covered her face with both hands, rubbing it gently, and said muffledly, “I think I said something too harsh. Can I take it back?”
Ji Wujing chuckled, “Of course not. I hold grudges like that.”
Gu Jianli looked at Ji Wujing in confusion for a while and asked, “Do you not know how to be kind to someone? Do you not know how to care for others?”
