“Come pierce my ear,” Ji Wujing tilted his head and pinched his left ear.
Gu Jianli shook her head.
“No piercing, no entering the palace.”
Gu Jianli looked at the needle in her hand and explained, “Girls get their ears pierced when they are very young. At that time, their earlobes are thin. Now your earlobes have grown thicker, piercing them now will hurt.”
So it wasn’t because it was inappropriate.
Ji Wujing smiled and repeated, “No piercing, no entering the palace.”
Gu Jianli furrowed her brows, softening her voice to persuade him again, “It’s not just because it hurts. It’s cold now, the wound could get frostbitten and inflamed. How would that be good?”
Gu Jianli had another concern she was too embarrassed to voice. She had seen Ji Wujing cough up blood many times and felt that he didn’t have much blood left in his body, so it was better to lose as little as possible…
Ji Wujing’s face turned cold, and he looked at her gloomily.
“How about I pierce it for you when it gets warmer?” Gu Jianli compromised.
“No.”
Gu Jianli pouted, her snow-white soft cheeks puffing out in worry.
Ji Wujing found her worried look cute and teased her on purpose, “If you don’t pierce my ear, I’ll pierce yours.”
“I already have ear piercings!” Gu Jianli quickly said.
“No problem, I’ll pierce seven or eight more. Come on, give me the needle.”
Gu Jianli hurriedly hid the hand holding the needle behind her back, took a step back, and looked at Ji Wujing warily, complaining softly, “Why are you like this…”
Although she had her ears pierced when she was very young, she still remembered the pain and the blood that had stuck to her pillow after a night’s sleep.
Ji Wujing pretended to suddenly realize something and smiled, “Could it be that you’re afraid to pierce me?”
“Of course not…” Gu Jianli said, “Fine, I’ll pierce it for you. I’ve never done it before, so if I mess up, you can’t blame me…”
“I will blame you,” Ji Wujing said with a mischievous smile.
Gu Jianli ignored him, turned, and went to the kitchen. She picked out two soybeans from the grain sack. When she returned, she leaned in close to Ji Wujing and placed the two soybeans on either side of his earlobe, rubbing them repeatedly with her fingers.
“What are you doing?” Ji Wujing asked, watching Gu Jianli’s slender waist through the bronze mirror.
“Rubbing for a while can thin the earlobe a bit, making it less painful when I pierce it,” Gu Jianli paused, “I remember hearing the old nanny say this when I was young.”
Less painful? Ji Wujing scoffed. He was just about to tell Gu Jianli to stop bothering and just pierce it, but as he looked at Gu Jianli’s graceful waist and hips in the bronze mirror, he decided not to say anything.
Hmm, nice view.
He had actually hit her before—what a waste… Like a bright and delicious peach, meant to be eaten, not hit.
Gu Jianli bent over in front of Ji Wujing, rubbing his earlobe for a long time. She was actually a bit scared, having never done this before and feeling unsure. She wanted to rub it thinner and thinner, giving herself more time to prepare.
But Ji Wujing’s earlobes were already thin.
Seeing his earlobe turning red from the rubbing, Gu Jianli finally stopped, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
She took a deep breath and held the needle over the candle flame, heating it repeatedly. She recalled what the old nanny had said when she was a child: when piercing, it must be quick, precise, and forceful, so that it hurts less.
Gu Jianli’s heart pounded, she was more afraid now than when she got her ears pierced as a child.
“Keep heating the needle and it’ll bend,” Ji Wujing said.
Gu Jianli responded with an “oh,” moved in front of Ji Wujing, and bent over, steeling herself. She gripped the needle tightly, trying to pierce from a distance, but when it was about to touch Ji Wujing’s earlobe, she hesitated and eased up.
She repeated this several times.
The closest she got was just touching Ji Wujing’s earlobe.
She couldn’t do it…
“You’ve been bent over for so long, aren’t you tired?” Ji Wujing asked lazily.
“A bit tired, maybe next time…”
Ji Wujing put his hand on her lower back, pulling her into his lap. He patted her back reassuringly, “Don’t be scared, take a breath and try again.”
“I’m not scared…” Gu Jianli gripped the needle and continued measuring.
Ji Wujing had guessed she would be like this. He wanted to see her struggle, which is why he asked her to do it. But she was even more timid than he had expected.
Ji Wujing’s patience was wearing thin.
As Gu Jianli measured the needle once more, Ji Wujing grasped her hand and guided her.
Gu Jianli clearly heard the sound of the silver needle piercing the flesh. Her heart jolted sharply.
“And then?” Ji Wujing asked.
“Huh?” Gu Jianli stared at him blankly.
“Am I supposed to just have a needle hanging from my ear?”
“No.” Gu Jianli tilted her head and removed the earring from her own ear. She carefully pulled the needle out of Ji Wujing’s earlobe and then inserted her earring.
The earring was simple, just a small dot, not much thicker than the silver needle. Gu Jianli didn’t have many pieces of jewelry and only wore this occasionally to keep her ear piercings from closing up.
Gu Jianli sighed in relief as she pulled her hand back. A drop of blood fell onto her fingertip.
Ji Wujing glanced at it and then took her index finger into his mouth, licking away the drop of blood. As his moist tongue brushed her fingertip, Gu Jianli thought blankly—he knows he has little blood, so he even licks back a drop that spills.
“Lanlan!” Ji Xinglou called out for Ji Xinglan, bounding into the room. He saw Gu Jianli sitting on Ji Wujing’s lap, with Ji Wujing biting her finger. Startled, he turned and ran away.
Gu Jianli felt incredibly embarrassed, retracting her hand and standing up hastily. “I don’t know where Xinglan went, I’ll go check,” she said in a flustered voice.
She hurried out.
In the courtyard, Ji Xinglou made a face at her and teased, “Shame, shame!”
Before Gu Jianli could respond, Ji Xinglou turned and ran off.
Gu Jianli looked at Ji Xinglou’s retreating figure and smiled helplessly.
Ji Wujing stayed for another two days, then people from the Guangping Marquis’s residence came to request his return.
There were many customs to observe during the New Year, and the excuse given was that it wasn’t appropriate to stay at his father-in-law’s house for too long during this time.
In reality, the Guangping Marquis’s residence still did not want too many ties with Gu Jingyuan.
“You’re leaving already?” Gu Jingyuan asked loudly. Having commanded troops for many years, his voice was like thunder, sounding almost like an argument.
Gu Jianli nodded and said, “Father, I know you’re unhappy, but I’ve made my decision.”
Gu Jingyuan turned his back on her, refusing to look at her.
Gu Jianli gazed at her father’s back for a long time, her expression growing somber. She knew that choosing to leave now would undoubtedly embarrass her father, making him lose face. She understood that her father indulged her because he cared for her. But even though he conceded to her wishes, he was still not comfortable with it.
With a heavy heart, she knelt and kowtowed three times.
“Father, I’m leaving.”
The carriage rolled forward. Gu Jianli sat with her head bowed, leaning listlessly against the carriage wall.
“Sister!” Gu Chuan called from behind.
Gu Jianli immediately had the coachman stop. She lifted the curtain and looked out.
“Why are you chasing after me?” Gu Jianli asked.
“Father asked me to give you this!” Gu Chuan, panting, handed a box to Gu Jianli.
“I need to go to Big Sister’s place too,” Gu Chuan said, casting an unfriendly glance inside the carriage. “Sister, do you have anything to tell us?”
“Alright, I understand,” Gu Jianli gently ruffled Gu Chuan’s hair. “Go on, your sister misses you dearly.”
Watching Gu Chuan leave, Gu Jianli lowered the curtain and opened the box.
Inside the sandalwood box lay a delicate hairpin adorned with double butterfly tassels.
Gu Jianli froze, carefully picking it up.
Her eyes suddenly turned red.
This was the hairpin she had pawned to buy medicine for her father, the last keepsake from her mother.
Clutching the hairpin tightly, Gu Jianli slowly smiled, truly feeling for the first time that lost things could indeed come back, one by one.
“Why are you crying?” Ji Xinglan asked, blinking and looking at Gu Jianli expectantly.
Gu Jianli started, then quickly smiled, “I’m not crying.”
Ji Xinglou sat uneasily on the bench in the carriage, annoyed by the jostling.
“Hmph.” He rolled his eyes. “If you’re crying, just admit it. I know you’re uncomfortable from the jostling, and you’re blaming me and my sister for being in the way!”
Gu Jianli asked in surprise, “How could I think you two are in the way? What could you be in the way of?”
“You think I don’t know?” Ji Xinglou widened his eyes. “If my sister and I weren’t in the carriage, you’d be sitting on Father’s lap. Hmph, everyone knows it’s comfortable to be held.”
Gu Jianli quickly glanced at Ji Wujing and then glared at Ji Xinglou, “Don’t talk nonsense!”
“Oh—” Ji Xinglan suddenly realized. “My brother and I will close our eyes, so don’t be embarrassed. Don’t cry anymore!”
She climbed up, covering Ji Xinglou’s eyes with her hands, and tightly closed her own eyes. She said in her sweet, childish voice, “We won’t look, so don’t be shy. Don’t cry, have a hug!”
Gu Jianli couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.
She was just about to lean over and hug the adorable Ji Xinglan when Ji Wujing’s hand slipped around her slender waist, pulling her into his arms.
Gu Jianli was startled, her eyes wide as she looked at Ji Wujing. She gestured toward the two children beside them and whispered, “What are you doing?”
Ji Wujing replied with a straight face, “They’ve already closed their eyes. Don’t be shy, don’t cry, have a hug.”
“Mm-hmm!” Ji Xinglan chimed in.
Gu Jianli was speechless, feeling even more amused and helpless. The two children were four years old, but Ji Wujing seemed even less mature than a four-year-old!
Looking at Ji Wujing’s earnest face, Gu Jianli gently pushed his shoulder and whispered, “Stop it!”
Ji Wujing didn’t look at her. He lowered his head and took the double butterfly tassel hairpin from Gu Jianli’s hand, saying, “It’s quite beautiful.”
First, he wore her clothes, then used her earring—was he planning to style his hair like a woman and even take her hairpin? Gu Jianli was shocked and quickly snatched it back, hiding the hairpin behind her, looking at Ji Wujing warily. Her voice was small and a bit guilty, “If you want jewelry, I can buy you some other ones…”
Ji Wujing gave her a deep look, then turned his face away and pushed her off his lap. Propping his chin with his hand, he closed his eyes and ignored her.
Gu Jianli let out a sigh of relief, carefully putting the hairpin away. She then happily chatted with Ji Xinglan.
Upon returning to the Guangping Marquis’s residence, Gu Jianli’s mood was surprisingly different. It was probably because her father had woken up and she had come to understand Ji Wujing a bit more.
After settling her things, Ye Yunyue arrived.
It took Gu Jianli a moment to remember who Ye Yunyue was.
Behind Ye Yunyue was a maid holding gifts.
