Chapter 52 Chapter 52 "Well... I'm worried about a very...
Ji Yang had never been so flustered before.
When he rushed to the rubble, he was almost stunned. All he could see was dust flying and wooden beams lying across his face. At that moment, only one name came to his mind, echoing and knocking at his heart.
"Someone!" he growled, his voice hoarse as a knife being sharpened. Ji Yang suddenly knelt down, not caring about the dust and broken tiles on his hands, and began to pick at the bricks and stones in front of him with his bare hands. "Dongyang Army—come and help! Quick!!"
As the voice fell, there was a commotion all around.
Xie Guijing also ran over, his expression changed, and he immediately grabbed the discarded shovel and joined in the cleanup.
"The Governor's wife is still in there - hurry!" someone shouted.
Ji Yang's movements became increasingly rapid, his fingertips scraped by the masonry. Blood quickly spread in the dust, yet he remained oblivious, not even pausing for a moment. Sweat dripped from his forehead into his eyes, but he simply raised his arm to wipe them away, his gaze fixed on the collapsed rubble.
"Jiang Ci..." He whispered, as if talking to himself, but also as if praying, "You can't be in any way... Do you hear me?"
Shovel after shovel, everyone worked together to clear a gap, and finally -
"Found it!" someone exclaimed.
Under the broken tile, a familiar piece of clothing was exposed, followed by a curled-up figure.
She lay on the ground, protecting her two children, blood dripping from her forehead, her hair stuck to her face, her face was pale and she was almost unconscious.
"Jiang Ci!" Ji Yang almost pounced on her, picked her up from the broken tiles, and held her tightly in his arms. At that moment, his hands were shaking and even his breathing was disordered.
Jiang Ci's eyelashes trembled slightly, his breath was very weak, but he was still holding on.
"...Commander," she forced her eyes open, a faint blood color on the corners of her lips, "It hurts..."
The sound was as light as a mosquito, but it struck Ji Yang's heart hard.
He immediately picked her up sideways, his movements eager but restrained, fearing to touch her wounds. He whispered, "Don't talk, I'll take you back."
Xie Guijing stood aside with a complicated expression, his outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.
Ji Yang rushed all the way back to the prefectural governor's residence and gently laid her on the bed. Her forehead was bruised and the wound was hideous, and one side of her hair was already stained red with blood.
She forced her eyes open, pointed weakly at him, and said, "I can see two of you now..."
As soon as she finished speaking, her head tilted and she completely fainted.
"Go and get a doctor!" Ji Yang ordered sternly.
A moment later, the doctor arrived. He took the patient's pulse and his expression darkened. "He was hit on the head and suffered a severe concussion. He needs to rest for a few days. Fortunately, he is not in danger of death."
Xie Guijing rushed over and stood at the door looking a little lonely. He stretched out his hand twice, not knowing whether he should knock.
There were intermittent footsteps and noise coming from inside the house, with the doctor coming in and out.
He finally couldn't help it, took a few steps forward, and was about to push the door -
"Master Jing." Wanniang stopped him, her voice low but her tone firm, "The young lady's injuries are still not stable, the governor forbids anyone else from entering or leaving."
Xie Guijing stopped and his eyes moved: "I just want to take a look at her."
"She will get better." Wan Niang said softly, "But you'd better not go in tonight."
Xie Guijing didn't insist. He looked down at the medicine he had brought, and after a moment, he put it back into his sleeve. He smiled and said to Wanniang, "Then I'll come see her another day when she's recovered."
After Xie Guijing left, Wanniang looked at his somewhat deflated figure, shook her head helplessly, and sighed softly.
The doctor in the room cleaned and bandaged Jiang Ci's wound. After the doctor left, Ji Yang sat by the bed for a long time without moving.
Jiang Ci slept for a long time, until the wick of the lamp burned into a bean yellow at night, and she slowly woke up.
When she opened her eyes, her vision was shaky and she instinctively raised her hand to press her forehead, causing her to gasp in pain.
She propped herself up and sat up, and as soon as she moved, she saw a figure crouching beside the bed.
It’s Ji Yang.
He lay there, maintaining that posture for a long time, looking tired, with the bed pressed down under his palms. Jiang Ci saw his fingers scratched by the bricks and stones, covered in blood, which had not yet been treated. He was stunned for a moment.
Looking at his brows that were not smoothed even when he was sleeping, Xin Zhengjing couldn't help but feel distressed. He had been running around for Ning Ling for too long these days and had not had a good rest. He didn't expect that he would sleep so soundly in front of the bed.
Jiang Ci tiptoed out of bed. Her back ached so much that her movements were slow, but she still insisted on walking to the cabinet, taking out a bottle of medicine, and finding a handkerchief.
She sat back on the edge of the bed, gently lifted Ji Yang's hand, and cleaned his wounds bit by bit.
His palms had distinct joints and thick calluses, and the blood on the wounds on his fingers had dried up. It turned out that he had been guarding here all the time.
She blew a breath gently before daring to take action.
"...Does it still hurt?" she asked in a low voice, as if talking to herself.
Suddenly, the closed eyes opened.
Ji Yang woke up instantly, and his first reaction when he saw her was to hold her hand: "How are you? Is your head still hurting?"
Jiang Ci was stunned, the handkerchief was still in his hand, and the other hand was held in his other hand.
"I'm fine." She shook her head gently, "I just got up to apply medicine for you."
As he finished speaking, Ji Yang saw that next to her was the familiar bottle of ointment, which he had secretly given to her that day.
Ji Yang quickly regained his composure, his eyes deep as he stared at her intently. His voice was extremely low, yet he couldn't hide the trembling within: "Jiang Ci, you're hurt."
"You too." She held his hand. "Why hasn't it been dealt with for so long?"
Ji Yang asked in a deep voice, "Next time, can you not rush forward on your own? You can ask me or my men to do it. Why do you always do this, putting your own life at risk?"
Jiang Ci looked at the fatigue and anger in his eyes, and his heart suddenly softened.
She whispered, "Is the governor worried about my life or death?"
Ji Yang's eyebrows twitched, as if he wanted to refute, but also didn't know how to explain.
After a while, he said in a hoarse voice: "...I promised Big Brother that I would not let you get hurt."
Jiang Ci smiled when he heard Ji Yang use his elder brother as an excuse. He didn't respond and just took his other hand. "Don't say anything. I'll apply the medicine on you."
She carefully cleaned his wound, her movements as gentle as possible. Her eyelashes drooped as she blew on the wound, her warm breath falling on his palm.
Ji Yang looked at her and his Adam's apple moved slightly.
That strange feeling came up again, like dryness and itchiness, making him feel confused.
He suddenly withdrew his hand, stood up, and said, "I'm fine. Let the doctor give me the medicine."
Jiang Ci looked up at him, but saw that he had already walked around the screen.
He had his back to her, his voice still low and steady: "I'm glad you're awake. Don't go out these few days."
After he finished speaking, he hurriedly pushed the door open and left.
After Ji Yang left, the room became unusually quiet for a moment. The candlelight swayed slightly in the night wind, casting a layer of gently swaying warm shadows.
The door curtain was gently lifted, and Wanniang walked in first, followed closely by Yinshuang.
Before Wanniang even reached the bed, her eyes were already red, the corners of her lips were trembling, and her voice was choked: "Miss, you really scared me to death."
Wanniang stood beside the bed, looking at the wound on Jiang Ci's forehead, her eyes filled with the aftermath of fear. She gently held the handkerchief in her hands, as if she still couldn't believe that she could sit safely on the bed.
Yin Shuang, for once, remained silent and refrained from teasing others. She stood aside, head bowed for a moment before speaking, "This time...this time I'm really not speaking for the governor."
She raised her eyes, her tone filled with a stubbornness she couldn't suppress. "Miss, could you please...care about your own life first? If anything happens to you, I don't want to return to Zichuan one day and be asked by the master to be buried with you."
The room was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of the wind blowing in the distance outside the curtains.
Jiang Ci looked at them, feeling a pang of sadness in his heart, and whispered, "I'm sorry."
At that moment, her life was hanging by a stone, and she didn't think too much. She only thought about the two children. But she didn't think about how many people who were left behind would be sad and worried if something really happened to her.
Wanniang lowered her head, wiped her eyes, and forced a smile: "Miss, I'm glad you're okay... Don't scare people again in the future."
Jiang Ci looked at them and said softly, "From now on... I will try not to scare you."
The next morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.
Chu Yao, holding the prescription in her hand, went out alone to get medicine for Jiang Ci. When she reached South Street and just turned into an alley, she heard a low, hoarse voice calling out, "Chu Yao?"
She paused, turned around suddenly, and a flash of surprise flashed in her eyes: "Guan San? Why are you here?"
The man who spoke was a man in his early twenties, thin and shrewd, with a scoundrel-like expression. He had a piece of hay in his mouth, and his eyes were wandering. When he saw her turn around, he grinned and spat the hay on the ground. Chu Yao subconsciously looked around, but saw that the street was still sparsely populated and no one was paying attention. She frowned, walked over quickly, and pulled Guan San's sleeve to pull him deeper into the alley: "Don't shout here."
Guan San didn't move. Instead, he looked her over slowly and calmly. "Tsk, you're doing pretty well now. You're dressed much better than before, and you can even be a maid for the governor's wife. You've made it big, Chu Yao."
Chu Yao lowered her voice and said in a tense tone, "What on earth do you want to do?"
Guan San scratched his ears, chuckled, and changed the subject: "I'm just a little curious... Do they know that you watched your father and mother drown? You gave them a push at that time. I saw everything, and your sister's..."
Chu Yao's expression suddenly changed, her breathing stagnated, and her voice suddenly turned cold: "Shut up."
Guan San seemed to have hit a sore spot and was even more amused: "What? Did I say something wrong? Now you're pretending to be a poor orphan. So pitiful, but you really know how to act."
Chu Yao stared at him, her eyes sinking deeper and deeper: "What do you want?"
Guan San didn't beat around the bush and grinned, "Yesterday I saw you at the street corner, accompanied by the Governor's wife, dressed so well that I thought I had the wrong person. Since it's really you, how about this: give me fifty taels of silver and I'll pretend I didn't see anything?"
Chu Yao's eyes glared. "Where can I give you fifty taels? Don't go too far."
"Tsk tsk," Guan San sighed and shook his head, "Chu Yao, Chu Yao, you've changed. Aren't you quite good at pretending to be pitiful now? If the governor and his wife knew about your affair... do you think you could still keep them?"
Chu Yao interrupted him abruptly: "Okay, I get it. But I really can't come up with that much money right now. You have to give me some time."
Guan San smiled, took a half step back, and stretched himself. "Three days. Three days later at twilight hour, outside the city wall, at the Yin Temple. If you dare not come, I won't care about our friendship anymore."
Chu Yao gritted her teeth and nodded: "Okay, three days."
Guan San smiled "Hey", hummed a tuneless little song, walked out of the alley with a lazy pace, and disappeared in an instant like a leisurely wild duck.
Chu Yao stood there, her fingers clenched into fists little by little, her eyes dark.
Chu Yao returned to the county magistrate's mansion with a prescription in her arms. As she stepped into the courtyard, she saw Jiang Ci sitting on a cushion under the stone pavilion in the courtyard, with a bowl of untouched medicinal soup in front of her. Ji Yang held the bowl and sat beside her, looking slightly depressed.
His tone was a little helpless: "Wan Niang never goes out early or late, but she has to go out at this time."
As he spoke, he scooped a spoonful of medicine and raised it to her lips, but his gestures were a little stiff, as if he was not used to such things as serving others. Seeing this, Jiang Ci's eyebrows curved slightly and he said softly, "Commander, I'll do it myself."
She reached out and took the bowl of medicine, her expression gentle: "Go to the construction site, don't delay."
Ji Yang glanced at her, and finally handed the bowl over. His tone was calm but unquestionable: "Finish the medicine. Have a good rest these few days, and don't go out."
After saying that, he stood up and left.
Chu Yao stood at the edge of the corridor, taking the entire scene in. A flicker of emotion flashed across her eyes, but she quickly suppressed it, putting on a well-behaved look and slowly approaching.
Jiang Ci saw her and waved at her: "Come and sit down."
Chu Yao sat down as she was told. Jiang Ci glanced at her and asked, "What do you know? Can you read?"
Chu Yao shook her head and whispered, "I can't read. My family has always been poor, my parents are illiterate, and no one taught me since I was a child."
Jiang Ci nodded, drank the last sip of medicine in the bowl, frowned, and put it back on the table. She picked up a book, flipped through two pages, and suddenly said softly, "How about I teach you how to read?"
Chu Yao looked up, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
Jiang Ci smiled and said, "Women still need to be able to read. The more words you know, the more options you have. Even if you become a maid, you can do some light work. If you work in a shop, you won't be deceived by others on the contract."
Chu Yao looked at Jiang Ci, his face pure and elegant, his eyes and eyebrows showing a natural calmness. She stared at him for a long time, and she was almost lost in thought.
Jiang Ci noticed it, raised his hand and waved it in front of her eyes, and asked with a smile: "What are you looking at?"
Chu Yao shuddered slightly, quickly came back to her senses, blinked, and said, "Big sister... you are so beautiful. I have never seen such a beautiful woman, talented, and with a good family background and husband. I... really envy you."
Jiang Ci was stunned for a moment, looking slightly surprised.
Chu Yao seemed to be afraid that she had said something wrong, so she quickly changed the subject and said with a smile: "Since Big Sister is willing to teach me how to read, I am willing to learn!"
Jiang Ci looked at her and nodded slowly: "Then I will take some time every day to teach you a lesson. If you put your heart into it, your lessons will not be in vain."
Chu Yao nodded happily. Her eyes unconsciously caught sight of a plain hairpin in Jiang Ci's hair. There was also a small white flower near the hairpin. Chu Yao took the initiative to ask, who is this small white flower for commemorating?
Jiang Ci suddenly thought of Ji Xu, and a pang of bitterness lingered in her heart. For some reason, the medicine she had just taken tasted particularly bitter. She was silent for a moment, then replied calmly, "Hmm... I'm just worried about a very good person."
Chu Yao didn't ask any more questions, but followed Jiang Ci in reciting the words from the book.
-
The night wind was slightly cool, and the insects outside the window chirped intermittently, as if someone was whispering.
Jiang Ci tossed and turned in bed for a long time, but she still couldn't fall asleep. She put on a coat, pushed the door open, walked through the corridor, and wanted to walk in the courtyard.
The moonlight fell quietly on the ground, illuminating the path. The yard was very quiet, with only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo leaves.
As soon as she turned the corner of the corridor, she saw someone sitting in the corridor in front of her.
It’s Ji Yang.
He was only wearing his undershirt, with his outer robe lying aside. He leaned back slightly, his elbows resting on the steps, his eyes fixed on a corner of the courtyard, as if in a trance.
The moonlight fell, enveloping him in a chill. His shirt was open, revealing a section of his shoulders, neck, and chest. The lines were sharp, and the cold white texture glowed faintly in the night.
He didn't notice anyone and seemed to be in a daze.
Jiang Ci wanted to turn around quietly, but just as she tilted her head slightly, Ji Yang suddenly turned around and their eyes met.
At that moment, the wind seemed to stop.
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