Jiang Suizhou was alarmed and immediately asked, "What's wrong with
you?"
Jiang Suizhou saw Huo Wujiu raising his hand and rubbing his forehead.
He seemed a little disoriented by the pain.
His hand was also shaking.
Jiang Suizhou had never seen Huo Wujiu like this before, not even when he
came out of the prison, feverish and with his wounds still inflamed.
"Where are you hurting? I'll ask Meng Qianshan to fetch the doctor!"
Huo Wujiu just shook his head.
"I'm fine. It's raining, which makes my legs uncomfortable."
He didn't seem to know how wretched he looked at this point, and still
stubbornly strained to speak.
"My medicine fell on the floor; just help me pick it up," he said.
When Jiang Suizhou heard him say medicine, he hurriedly bent down to
pick it up for him. A small medicine bottle fell to the ground two steps
away. The material was plain but especially sturdy, so it did not break.
Jiang Suizhou handed the medicine to him.
He watched as Huo Wujiu tremblingly and slowly poured one out, put it in
his mouth and swallowed it. Then, he stuffed the medicine bottle into his
arms and laid down with his eyes closed.
It looked like he was going to go back to sleep.
Jiang Suizhou was stunned and asked, "What is this medicine for?"
According to the normal course of events before Huo Wujiu's capture, he
couldn't have possibly known that his legs would be crippled. How could
he have brought leg curing medicine with him?
Huo Wujiu frowned and opened his eyes again.
Although he was dizzy with pain this time, and his eyes were blurry to the
point where he could not even feel his body shaking, he knew the cause of
his leg pain.
His meridians were damaged, so when it rained on a cloudy day, this kind
of pain was naturally indispensable, not to mention the humid and rainy
Southern Jing. This pain was not life-threatening, just a little trying to
endure. There was no doubt that when the rain stopped, he would naturally
feel better.
"A kind of medicine that keeps people from dying." Hearing Jiang Suizhou
ask him anxiously at the side, as if he had encountered something serious,
the corners of Huo Wujiu's lips curled up. Huo Wujiu's voice was hoarse,
mixed with a touch of nonchalance.
Huo Wujiu hadn't felt anything yet, but why did King Jing get so scared
that his hair stood on ends?
Hearing his reply, Jiang Suizhou's eyes widened.
You're in such pain, yet you're still taking medication indiscriminately?
It's obvious that you think you've lived long enough!
"Nonsense!" Jiang Suizhou blurted out, turned around and hurriedly went
outside.
"Meng Qianshan!"
Huo Wujiu sat crookedly on the couch. His ears were buzzing, and he
vaguely heard Jiang Suizhou's anxious voice. Tch, this was a trivial matter
for him to be causing such a fuss about.
"You're making a fuss over nothing."
Huo Wujiu grunted impatiently. However, he could not control the corners
of his lips, which wanted to curl upwards.
——
Lights were lit up all over Anyin Hall, bringing a melting warmth in the
midst of the cold rain.
The mansion doctor, Zhou, listened to Huo Wujiu's pulse and examined his
injury carefully. After a long time, he stood up.
"How is he?" Jiang Suizhou asked beside him.
Doctor Zhou bowed to him and answered, "Your Highness, Madam's
symptoms are what were left behind by his damaged meridians. Whenever
it is cold and rainy or snowy, the pain will be excruciating."
Jiang Suizhou frowned: "Is there any cure?"
Doctor Zhou shook his head.
"There is no other way, unless Madam's meridians are restored to their
previous state…But, the meridians on Madam's legs are completely
damaged. It is truly incurable."
Jiang Suizhou frowned deeper and deeper.
He naturally knew that Huo Wujiu's legs could be cured, but the doctor in
his mansion didn't have the ability to do so. He originally thought that it
would be enough to wait for the doctor who could cure Huo Wujiu's leg to
appear three years later, but he never thought that these three years would
be so difficult for Huo Wujiu.
A mere rain had already rendered Huo Wujiu this tortured. The air in Lin'an
was humid, and it always rained. Wouldn't Huo Wujiu suffer three years of
punishment in a row?
Jiang Suizhou didn't say anything for a while.
Doctor Zhou carefully observed his expression and said, "However, if you
wrap Madam's legs with the bedding and a bed warmer1
, it will more or
less relieve his pain."
As soon as Jiang Suizhou heard this, he quickly instructed Meng Qianshan,
"Why don't you go and prepare it?"
Meng Qianshan hurriedly answered and directed the maids to get busy.
Doctor Zhou excused himself, and soon after, the maids brought a heavy
quilt over and covered Huo Wujiu's legs.
Jiang Suizhou asked, "Do you feel any better?"
Huo Wujiu sat on the couch and stared at Jiang Suizhou.
King Jing was still wearing his pajamas. He just put on an outer garment
and sat on the chair in front of his couch.
It was late at night, and he was obviously not in good spirits. He looked
exhausted, and his complexion was not good. Perhaps because he was
sensitive to the cold, Meng Qianshan also gave Jiang Suizhou a hand
warmer to warm his hands. He was now unconsciously squeezing the warm
fluffy thing in his hand, frowning at him.
Huo Wujiu really didn't feel if the quilt had any use…He only felt a
pressing panic.
Since his legs were disabled, his meridians were not very smooth. His legs
were often cold, and even if covered with a quilt, it was difficult to warm
them back. Moreover, the dampness was pervasive. If it could penetrate
even his flesh, the brocade cotton meant nothing. However, he seemed reluctant to see King Jing disappointed. Although he felt it was useless deep
inside, he perfunctorily said, "Better."
Sure enough, Jiang Suizhou's fox-like eyes lit up.
Immediately afterwards, King Jing seemed to have realized what he was
holding in his hand and looked down at the warm fluffy hand warmer.
It was white and made of rabbit fur. It was soft, akin to holding a rabbit.
Huo Wujiu watched as King Jing carefully lifted his quilt and placed the
white, rabbit-like hand warmer onto his lap.
Then, he paused, as if he thought of something else.
The next moment, a hot hand that had been warmly heated by the hand
warmer was placed on his leg and the warmth was felt through his thin
layer of Huo Wujiu's pants. Then Jiang Suizhou rubbed up and down
slowly and clumsily, and slowly massaged his legs a few more times.
"This…Is this better?"
Huo Wujiu heard King Jing ask.
Huo Wujiu couldn't answer him for a while.
Although his legs were crippled, they weren't without senses.
Huo Wujiu couldn't perceive whether he was feeling better. He just felt an
electric current rushing up from there and numbing half of his body.
Footnote:
1 Tang Po/bed warmer – a copper round pot filled with hot water and placed
in the bed to increase the temperature
Jiang Suizhou was oblivious to Huo Wujiu's reaction. He only felt that the
leg he was rubbing under his hand was cold as hell.
He rubbed Huo Wujiu's legs tentatively, and massaged them a few times.
The muscles under his palms were rock hard, and it took a lot of effort to
massage them. Nevertheless, it seemed that as Jiang Suizhou massaged,
Huo Wujiu's legs gradually warmed up a bit.
Jiang Suizhou's eyes lit up.
"Is this any better?" He looked askance at Huo Wujiu.
However, Huo Wujiu sat there with a cold face and didn't speak.
…Does it mean he's feeling better or not?
Jiang Suizhou was momentarily baffled, but his hands underneath took
action and massaged Huo Wujiu again.
Just then, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist and pulled his hands out of the
quilt.
Jiang Suizhou was startled when he saw those deep black eyes looking at
him coldly.
"Why are you touching me?" Huo Wujiu scowled.
He startled Jiang Suizhou, who withdrew his hand posthaste.
He…He just massaged his legs a couple of times; why was he getting
angry?!
Jiang Suizhou was stunned, but soon came to his senses.
He forgot that Huo Wujiu's legs were disabled, so he probably hated others
touching him. Jiang Suizhou must have been stroking the tiger's whiskers.
For a while, Jiang Suizhou was a little at a loss.
He was inwardly chagrined and didn't notice that Huo Wujiu struggled to
support his body on the couch, leaning slightly sideways.
Next to him, Meng Qianshan had already led a group of maids, who found
bed warmers for Huo Wujiu, stuffed them, steaming hot, into his blanket,
and then withdrew along with them.
Jiang Suizhou also followed suit and stood up.
"…I'm sorry," He apologized and then paused and said, "I didn't mean to
touch your legs just now."
Hearing his apology, Huo Wujiu who was on the bed opened his mouth, as
if to say something.
A moment later, Huo Wujiu lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "It's
okay. Go to sleep."
Jiang Suizhou sighed with relief when he heard him say that.
Although Huo Wujiu's tone was still quite blunt…this meant that he
wouldn't mind him anymore, right?
Jiang Suizhou was not afraid of others being angry with him, but he was
afraid of this ancestor. After all, unlike others, when this ancestor got angry,
the consequences were fatal.
With this in mind, Jiang Suizhou replied and was about to return to his bed
when he turned around and said, "This couch is a bit close to the window;
why don't you go sleep on the bed?"
Hearing this, Huo Wujiu only closed his eyes and didn't respond to him.
It meant that he was averse to the idea.
Although Jiang Suizhou was still a bit worried, he couldn't force Huo
Wujiu to the bed. Seeing that the bedding on him was thick and durable and
thinking that it would be of some use, Jiang Suizhou did not insist.
He went back to the bed, changed his robe and lay back under the covers.
Before closing his eyes, he did not forget to remind Huo Wujiu, "If it hurts
again, just call out to me."
Huo Wujiu remained silent.
Jiang Suizhou had long been used to talking to this log unilaterally, so after
speaking, he closed his eyes again.
Huo Wujiu, who was sitting on the couch, did not move at all.
He waited until Jiang Suizhou's breathing on the bed became steady. He
made sure that the man was asleep before raising his hand to lift the quilt
covering his legs and dragged out the hot bed warmer while at it.
It was thick and heavy, and covered with a few stove-like stuff, as if for fear
of not roasting his legs.
Sure enough, it was a stupid thing that Meng Qianshan did.
Huo Wujiu didn't want to admit that the warmth brought by the thick
bedding and the steaming pile of bed warmers were no match for the hand
that had clumsily massaged his legs a few times.
But the feelings brought on by those hands were somewhat complicated.
Besides warmth, it also added something else, which made him flustered
and want to escape immediately.
He even ended up scaring King Jing.
Huo Wujiu's complexion turned ugly, and he tossed several bed warmers
out of the quilt.
Until he came across a fluffy thing which Jiang Suizou had stuffed in just
now.
He faltered, let go of the little white rabbit and covered it back with the
quilt back, letting the little thing snuggle in his lap and softly warm him up.
However, something still seemed to be missing.
A few moments later, Huo Wujiu skeptically placed his hand underneath the
bedding and covered his leg, rubbing it a few times.
…It didn't work at all.