Chapter 28 Burning Elephant Chopsticks She couldn't help but brace herself on either side of his arms...
Upon hearing the sound, Wei Chun turned his head abruptly and saw Ning Lu coming out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of medicine in one hand.
"What are you looking at? Get out of here!"
Ji Ming clenched his fist and tapped it on the table.
"yes."
The courtyard itself is not very large; if you look closely, you can see everything at a glance.
Seeing Ning Lu approaching, it was too late to escape through the front or back door.
Wei Chun glanced at the roof beam and was about to leap up when Ji Ming glared at him. Knowing that it wouldn't work, he immediately sidestepped and slipped behind the partition.
"It's a coincidence that Aunt Zhang prepared the medicine ahead of time today."
She carried the bowl in both hands and stepped into the room.
The medicine bowl was filled to the brim, and Ning Lu moved slowly, blowing gently as she did so.
"However, this medicine is a bit hot, Ji Amin."
She lowered her eyes and took a step, almost walking side by side with Wei Chun, then tilted her ear as if she noticed something.
Wei Chun was unaware of her keen perception; he raised his hand to cover his mouth and nose, holding his breath.
Seeing this, Ji Ming propped himself up on the table, slowly stepped forward to block Ning Lu's view, and took the soup from her bowl with one hand.
Taking advantage of the noise from the two men's movements, Wei Chun, who was hiding behind them, straightened up, pushed open the bamboo window, and flipped out sideways.
He rarely took such initiative, which aroused Ning Lu's suspicion. While asking questions, she also looked around the room.
"Did the sun rise in the west? Why are you being so observant today?" She glared at Ji Ming. "I think I just heard you talking to someone."
Before he could put the medicine bowl back on the table, he heard a clatter as the bamboo window slammed shut.
"strangeness."
She looked around, her gaze fixed on the window that kept bouncing and shaking.
"I remember turning it off."
Ji Ming was very sensitive to cold, and ever since she discovered her in Zhujia'ao, she had been very careful. Except for ventilating the room at noon every day, she kept it tightly closed.
"Perhaps it was blown by the wind."
"impossible!"
Ning Lu helped him sit down and made a move to look at it, but Ji Ming grabbed her wrist instead.
Ning Lu.
"Um?"
"I..." He opened his mouth but was speechless. Meeting her innocent and bewildered eyes, he forgot all about military strategy and tactics, and remained silent for a long time, not knowing what to say.
"What's wrong?" Ning Lu asked, puzzled, and stopped what she was doing. "Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"I...I think I have a bit of a headache. Could you help me back to bed for a while?"
After speaking, Ji Ming lowered his head awkwardly and coughed to cover it up.
"Headache?"
Ning Lu didn't notice his unusual behavior and immediately gave up the idea of checking the window. She bent down and reached out to feel the temperature of his forehead.
"I've noticed the temperature has been particularly low these past few days. A couple of days ago, my face felt hot and my throat was dry. I wonder if it's a cold? I hope I didn't infect you."
My forehead doesn't feel very hot.
Still uneasy, she placed her fingertips on Ji Ming's neck again, and found his usually weak pulse beating very fast.
"Something's not right, you seem a little hot. Let me help you to bed first, then I'll go find a doctor."
She completely changed from her previous bewildered state, becoming swift and decisive, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Ji Ming held the medicine bowl in both hands, helplessly following her steps back to sit on the edge of the bed, and was then watched by her as he drank the bowl of medicine.
Before he could speak, Ning Lu was about to go out to find a doctor.
"Ning Lu." His voice was hoarse as he instinctively gripped her sleeve. "It's not that serious."
"But……"
He rarely describes his discomfort in such specific terms.
Ning Lu rested her hands on her knees and looked him up and down again. She stared at Ji Mingsheng until he blushed with guilt and looked away first before she called it quits.
"Your face is burning hot, Ji Amin."
"Yes... the medicine is too hot."
He lowered his head and stammered, silently fiddling with the quilt, looking somewhat embarrassed and at a loss.
"It's really nothing, I just need to rest for a bit."
Ji Ming whispered his promise, almost raising his hand to swear an oath.
"Really?"
"real."
Having received his assurance, Ning Lu had no choice but to give up and got up to go outside.
"where did you go?"
"Go check the window. It's not good to catch a cold if a draft comes in."
She moved quickly this time, and Ji Ming couldn't stop her. He just stared blankly at her back.
She leaned most of her body out of the window, carefully examining everything, her small feet dangling over the edge of the bed and swaying back and forth.
There was no one or sound outside the window, so she could not find anything. She quickly grabbed the windowsill and turned to look inside.
Ji Ming suddenly realized he had been distracted, and his fingernails dug into his palms.
He didn't know when he developed this habit, but whenever she was around, his eyes would unconsciously drift to her.
From initial observation, vigilance, and caution, to being inexplicably and involuntarily...
Perhaps as retribution for lying to him, Ji Ming actually developed a high fever that night, and for several days he could not eat or drink anything, and he lost a lot of weight.
Ning Lu felt sorry for him being bored during his illness, so she moved his writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone to his window and practiced calligraphy while scolding him for being so delicate.
At first, this person would get angry at her overly blunt and harsh words, but now he has evolved to the point where he can block them out and calmly accept them.
"In the end, it's my fault. If I had been more careful and hadn't listened to you and gone directly to the doctor, things would have been fine."
Ning Lu put down her pen, bent down to blow the ink off the paper, and picked it up to admire it from all angles.
She tilted her head to look at Ji Ming and met his eyes, which were filled with a faint moisture.
He was half-lying on the bed, his cheeks flushed, his eyes full of affection, no longer cold and aloof, but rather quite handsome.
During this time, she lost count of how many times she had accidentally caught him peeking at her. Ning Lu turned the Xuan paper around generously and said, "Master Ji, please take a look."
He raised his fingertip, and she happily scurried over, offering it with both hands.
Peace and tranquility prevail.
Ji Ming twirled his tongue slightly, but didn't say anything, instead waiting blankly for her explanation.
"When I was packing my things, I saw Lord Cen's calligraphy on the bookshelf, so I copied it."
He breathed a silent sigh of relief and nodded gently.
My gaze fell on the words, and I couldn't help but take another look before shrinking deeper into the blankets.
The book beside her legs slipped to one side.
The "Changzhou Gazetteer" I was reading some time ago has been replaced by "Han Feizi". Ning Lu picked it up casually and flipped through a few pages. The vertical traditional characters made her dizzy and sleepy at first glance.
Winter had been here for a while, and the temperature outside had dropped sharply. She was too lazy to go outside, so she simply patted him and pointed to the book with a hopeful expression.
"Have you already read this book several times?"
Seeing her mischievous smile, Ji Ming nodded knowingly and spread his hands, looking as if he were ready to be questioned.
“Then…” Ning Lu casually flipped to a page and read it aloud: “Let’s start with King Zhou using ivory chopsticks.”
“In the past, King Zhou used ivory chopsticks, and Ji Zi was terrified... Therefore, when he saw ivory chopsticks, he knew that disaster was about to befall the world.”
Ji Ming was enveloped in the quilt, his voice sounding as if it were being covered by a soft blanket, creating a fuzzy and highly hypnotic effect.
Although he spoke slowly, his words were very clear. Ning Lu initially listened cross-legged, but the more she listened, the more comfortable she felt. So she simply took off her shoes, crawled onto the bed, and lazily lay down beside him.
The man simply paused as she moved, without saying a word to stop her.
After he finished speaking, Ning Lu clicked her tongue and concluded: "That means that Uncle Jizi knew from the moment King Zhou of Yin started using ivory chopsticks that he would later indulge in a life of debauchery and debauchery, leading to the downfall of the Shang Dynasty."
Ji Ming nodded.
She shrugged and pursed her lips: "I think I've heard this story before. It's about Ji Zi seeing the big picture from small details and having foresight. What did he do afterward? Did he advise King Zhou?"
Seeing her eyes darting around, Ji Ming shifted to a more comfortable position and nodded.
Ning Lu rested her chin on her hand.
The downfall of the Shang dynasty was a historical inevitability; it's something we all know without even asking.
However, knowing the outcome, they still wouldn't listen to advice...
She frowned: "Did Jizi leave King Zhou later?"
“Ji Zi said that as a subject, to leave without heeding the king’s advice would expose the king’s wickedness. He cut off his hair, feigned madness, and played the zither to express his sorrow, which led to King Zhou demoting him to a slave.”
Ji Ming spoke indifferently, not taking it seriously, but when he lifted his eyelids, he saw Ning Lu's expression of pity and explained slowly, "However, later, the dynasty collapsed. He went east, which can be considered an ending."
With her toes dangling in the air, Ning Lu tilted her head and looked at his chest, which was heaving with effort from talking so much, and blinked quickly.
She got out of bed, poured a glass of warm water, and handed it to him: "Even someone like Jizi, who was at the center of power, was powerless in the face of the inevitable fall of a country. From this perspective, it's quite normal for an insignificant commoner like me to live a life beyond my control."
The man chuckled upon hearing this, but instead of taking the teacup, he sipped a few mouthfuls from her hand, only to cough and stop.
I've always known that no matter how serious you are when talking about important matters, you're just a scoundrel when it comes to trivial things.
It turns out that the self-discipline and adherence to etiquette of the past were all just an act.
What a coincidence, she also happens to be someone who lacks tact.
She put the teacup back on the table and lay back down on the bed, when she heard Ji Ming's hoarse voice above her head.
"Being trapped by righteousness and confined to a self-imposed prison was Ji Zi's own choice."
The barely perceptible chill and disdain in that aura drew Ning Lu's attention, but she was immediately intimidated by its imposing presence.
Her heart skipped a beat. She nudged the blanket on his legs and whispered, "Ji A-ming."
Ji Ming snapped out of his daze, shook his head with a wry smile, and said, "Sorry."
"There's nothing to apologize for."
His words were cold and assertive, and she felt something was off, but couldn't think of a more powerful rebuttal.
Ning Lu sat up, propped her chin up, and said seriously, "I am an ordinary person, and I am putting myself in the shoes of a commoner who could be killed by King Zhou at any time. The politicians' empty talk is just layers upon layers of taxes for the common people."
The sorrow in her tone was quite different from her previous carefree manner, which surprised Ji Ming somewhat.
"How about that, are you speechless?"
She shook her head smugly, giving him a cute "you're underestimating me" look.
“Ji Amin, although I am not as well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics as you, my overall qualities should not be underestimated. Back in the day, I was a unique and outstanding member of my family who brought glory to our family.”
"Yeah?"
“Of course.” Ning Lu waved the copy of Han Feizi beside her: “Tomorrow, I will also study a few chapters and then analyze the situation of the world with you.”
"To speak recklessly about state affairs is a capital offense."
Ji Ming stopped looking at her.
Even without looking, he could probably guess her expression right now: she must be speechless and sullen, raising her fist the size of her palm.
"snort!"
Ning Lu put down her empty fist, which she had been bluffing with: "Don't try to scare me with these things. If you scare me away, then there will be no one to amuse you."
Not hearing a response from him, she had no choice but to move closer and secretly observe.
Her breathing was even and gentle, her eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were extremely tired.
"If you're so physically weak, you should use your brain less."
Ning Lu complained, but her hands betrayed her, smoothing out the quilt covering him.
The back of her hand accidentally touched Ji Ming's shoulder, and the temperature was a little higher than usual.
The fever hasn't subsided yet.
She couldn't help but place her hands on either side of his arms, holding her breath as she examined him.
It smells delicious, and it can be serious at times and unserious at others.
It's cute and fun.
It's...ambiguous.
My heart was pounding and my cheeks were slightly flushed.
She could feel all of these things.
Outside, mountains rise one after another, and the wind rustles through the pines.
On a winter night, in a bamboo hut, the charcoal fire is warm and cozy, the air is filled with the fragrance of ink, and one can chat about anything and everything.
It was the comfortable life she had always dreamed of, and one she hadn't experienced since graduation.
Ning Lu sometimes thinks that if life is always like this, it doesn't matter whether she goes home or not.
Unfortunately, no.
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