Noticing Wu Tiancheng's gaze, Gu Chaoxi felt somewhat offended and frowned. Fortunately, he quickly looked away and offered, "This young lady, please lead the way. I'll go and carry your brother back."
Wu Tiancheng carried Lu Zhao home, where Lu Zhao was already unconscious. Wu Tiancheng took out a set of his own clothes for Lu Zhao to wear. Lu Zhao was tall and slender, and the clothes were a bit short on him, but fortunately Wu Tiancheng was tall and strong, so they didn't have to be too small for him.
Not long after, Aunt Wu returned with a dose of fever reducer and some wound medicine. Gu Chaoxi diligently treated Lu Zhao's wounds.
There was only one room left in Aunt Wu's house, so Gu Chaoxi had no choice but to share it with Lu Zhao.
The next day, Lu Zhao woke up to a fluffy head. Gu Chaoxi was fast asleep beside the bed, her head resting on half of his arm. His wounds still ached, but Lu Zhao felt a warm glow in his heart. Although he had been unconscious the night before, he could feel the little girl taking care of him.
He wanted to carry her to bed, but Gu Chaoxi woke up as soon as he made a move.
"You're awake?"
Her voice still carried the softness of someone who had just woken up. She looked at him with her clean, wet eyes, and even reached out to check his temperature. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that his fever had subsided.
The soft fingertips touched his forehead, and Lu Zhao's breath hitched. He paused for a moment before regaining his composure. "I'm fine now. Thank you for taking care of me last night."
At this moment, Wu Tiancheng knocked on the door and came in, carrying a chicken in his hand. "Miss Gu, I went to town this morning to buy a chicken for you and your brother to nourish your bodies."
Gu Chaoxi quickly said, "Thank you, Brother Wu."
Wu Tiancheng wanted to continue the conversation, "Today I went to town, and the streets were noisy. It seems that the regent from the capital has gone missing? Isn't that ridiculous? The capital is hundreds of miles away from us. How could the regent possibly run to a godforsaken town like ours?"
Lu Zhao noticed that Wu Tiancheng's gaze towards Gu Chaoxi carried the burning passion of a man for a woman. He was all too familiar with this kind of gaze; he himself had once given her the same look.
He calmly blocked Gu Chaoxi's path, saying, "Thank you for saving me, Brother Wu. May I ask where this place is, that it is so far from the capital?"
Wu Tiancheng then noticed that Lu Zhao was awake. "Brother Gu is awake? Miss Gu was so worried last night. This is Wu Family Village in Pingzhao County, Jizhou. It's not far from the capital! I'll go kill a chicken first, and Miss Gu and Brother Gu will be able to enjoy some fragrant chicken soup soon."
After Wu Tiancheng left, Gu Chaoxi explained, "I told Aunt Wu and the others that we are siblings, so I can only trouble His Highness the Regent to be my elder brother for a few days."
Looking at the little girl's clever appearance, Lu Zhao smiled helplessly.
"Brother Wu just said that someone in town came looking for us. Does that mean we can go back to Beijing now?"
Lu Zhao shook his head. "No, the people coming to us at this time might not be our own. I'll signal my men in a bit. We should stay here for now and wait for my men to arrive before leaving."
Lu Zhao was cautious and had already made arrangements for the next step as soon as he woke up. Gu Chaoxi could only agree. Besides, it would be easier to develop feelings for each other here, and it would probably be difficult to even see each other once they returned to the capital.
Seeing the dark circles under Gu Chaoxi's eyes, and realizing that she hadn't slept all night to take care of him, Lu Zhao felt a pang of sympathy.
"Go to bed."
Seeing her hesitation, Lu Zhao laughed and said, "We've already done the most intimate things, so what's there to be afraid of sleeping in the same bed?"
Gu Chaoxi blushed and obediently climbed onto the bed. Lu Zhao gave her the inside side to sleep on.
Lu Zhao leaned against the headboard, quietly watching Gu Chaoxi's sleeping face, his mind filled with countless thoughts.
He hadn't forgotten that the young emperor had mentioned wanting to marry Gu Chaoxi as his empress yesterday. At the time, he had agreed entirely because he didn't know that Gu Chaoxi was the woman he had a relationship with. Now that he knew, he planned to find a reason to refuse the young emperor after returning to the capital.
He can marry anyone, but not Gu Chaoxi.
He admitted that he also had his own selfish motives; he was somewhat attracted to Gu Chaoxi.
When Wu Tiancheng brought in the chicken soup, he saw Lu Zhao leaning against the bedside, quietly gazing at the person sleeping on the inner side of the bed. He was slightly taken aback, wondering if the siblings in this family were really that close.
Lu Zhao gestured to Wu Tiancheng to be quiet, and Wu Tiancheng put down the chicken soup and quietly left.
Gu Chaoxi slept until the afternoon. When she woke up, she was still a little groggy. When she saw Lu Zhao sitting by the window, she immediately felt that she had slept for too long and felt a little embarrassed.
Did you change your dressing today?
"Not yet, Aunt Wu and her son went to work, and you fell asleep. I didn't want to wake you."
"Then I'll help you."
Gu Chaoxi patted the bedside, gesturing for him to sit down, and then ran to get the wound medicine.
Lu Zhao had injuries on his back, shoulders, and arms. He took off his shirt, revealing his strong body. The mottled wounds had stopped bleeding, but the flesh was still exposed, making it look quite gruesome.
Gu Chaoxi had already seen him once when she bandaged him up last night, so she wasn't afraid now. She could even joke around while bandaging him.
"I've never served anyone before, you're the first."
Lu Zhao looked at the neatly bound bandages on his body and found it somewhat amusing. "I am grateful for your kindness, young lady. May I ask how you would like me to express my gratitude?"
"Can you agree to all the conditions I propose?"
"That's natural."
It was difficult to re-bandage the wound on Lu Zhao's back, so Gu Chaoxi could only wrap her arms around Lu Zhao's chest. In this way, not only could Lu Zhao feel her warm breath on his back, but he could also clearly feel the two soft mounds on her chest.
He appeared calm, but the tips of his ears had actually turned red, which Gu Chaoxi pretended not to notice.
She had been kneeling by the bed, and when she stood up after the bandage was finished, her legs were so numb that they gave way and she fell towards Lu Zhao.
Caught off guard, Lu Zhao was pushed backward, and Gu Chaoxi's soft lips collided directly with his.
"Ouch...it hurts!" Gu Chaoxi cried out in pain.
Lu Zhao was already somewhat distracted, and now that the prey had come to him willingly, how could he let it go?
He quickly opened his mouth and took her lips in, his tongue probing inside to gently soothe them.
"Don't be afraid, I'll rub it for you and it won't hurt anymore."
Gu Chaoxi's face turned bright red. "Rubbing?" she thought.
...
evening.
When Aunt Wu returned from the fields, the villagers greeted her on the way, "Aunt Wu, we heard you took in a brother and sister?"
Aunt Wu exclaimed, "Yes, that's right. The brother and sister were robbed on the road and were swept here by the river. I had Tiancheng carry them back."
"Your Tiancheng is twenty-five or twenty-six and still not married. Now a girl has come along, and Tiancheng even saved her life. Why don't you let her marry you?"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Wu immediately realized it made sense. Wu Tiancheng's marriage had always been a worry for her; he didn't like any of the girls in the village, and he couldn't afford to marry any of the girls in town.
The girl who came now was as beautiful as an angel. She could tell that her son was very fond of that girl. It would be perfect if she could become her daughter-in-law.
Aunt Wu decided to hurry home and discuss it with her son.
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