Chapter 122 Applying Medicine Afterwards
After the snow, the sun shone brightly through the window paper, casting a blinding white light.
Zhu Mingyue popped her head out of bed, her eyes stinging from the sunlight. She covered her eyes with her arm and it took her a long time to recover.
The seat next to her was empty. Zhu Mingyue reached out and touched it; there was still a trace of barely perceptible warmth left.
Zhu Mingyue lay on the bed, lost in thought for a moment, then propped herself up with her hands, trying to get up.
ah--
Zhu Mingyue's face was covered with a mask of pain. She hadn't noticed anything when she was still, but this slight movement caused the problem.
My entire waist felt like it was broken, and the pain extended from my upper thighs all the way to my calves.
Zhu Mingyue gritted her teeth and lifted a section of the quilt. She had changed into a new fur coat. Apart from the red marks on her body that had not faded at all, she was relatively clean and fresh.
He rolled over, and the foreign body sensation in a certain awkward area was particularly noticeable. It was burning and a little painful, but it was much better than he had expected, at least there was no injury.
Feeling uncomfortable all over, and with Xie Pei nowhere to be found, he couldn't even get out of bed. He couldn't help but pout, secretly blaming Xie Pei for acting like an animal last night, ignoring his pleas no matter how much he begged. He had been tossed and turned until the wee hours of the morning, and was now on the verge of a half-awake state.
Fortunately, this guy still had some conscience and knew to boil water to clean his body.
He carefully supported his lower back, moving as slowly as a sloth, and it took him a lot of effort to sit up and lie on the bed, panting softly.
What I did last night was so exhausting, my stomach is rumbling right now.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he smelled a faint aroma of rice in the air. He licked his lips, feeling a surge of hunger, and his mouth watered.
But her legs trembled as soon as they touched the ground, making it impossible for her to move. In the end, she could only give up and shrink back into the quilt, waiting for Xie Pei to come over.
Wrapped in the warmth of the blankets, Zhu Mingyue kept replaying the lewd scenes of last night in his mind. He had had such dreams many times, but the difference between dreams and reality was still very large, and the experience was completely different.
At first it really hurt, but later it really felt amazing, so amazing that it made your scalp tingle and you couldn't help but succumb to it. The only downside was that Xie Pei had too much energy. In the end, he was completely exhausted, but Xie Pei was still in a state of bloodshot eyes.
Zhu Mingyue secretly vowed that she would definitely make a three-point agreement with Xie Pei in the future. This kind of thing should be done in moderation, and he should never be allowed to do it. Otherwise, he would be drained to death after only three rounds.
Zhu Mingyue was in a daze when she heard the sound of a door being pushed open outside.
The hurried footsteps grew closer and closer. Zhu Mingyue panicked for a moment and tightly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Xie Pei entered the room and immediately noticed the small bulge on the bed, a smile playing on his lips.
He took off his coat, which was still damp with the cold, added fuel to the fire, and sat by the stove without saying a word.
The room was quiet, with only the crackling sound of the fire burning.
Zhu Mingyue's eyelashes trembled, and she opened her eyes a crack to see what was going on.
Then,
He met Xie Pei's gaze directly.
A sudden feeling of guilt washed over me for no reason.
"Stop pretending!" Zhu Mingyue gritted her teeth, opened her eyes wide, and said in a wronged tone, "Where have you been? I'm so hungry, I can't find you anywhere." She then sniffed, feeling the aroma of rice growing even stronger.
Xie Pei warmed his hands over the fire for a while, then walked over, bent down, and pecked him on the corner of his mouth, saying apologetically, "I'm sorry, I won't do it again."
He pulled a box of ointment from his pocket. "It's a little swollen. Let me put some medicine on it for you."
"I don't want to!" Zhu Mingyue exclaimed angrily, clutching her bottom. "Get out! Get out!"
Xie Pei watched him quietly until he finished his little tantrum, then turned his head to the other side and ignored him. His temperament was exactly the same as before, unchanged.
Xie Pei was adept at handling this situation, while Zhu Mingyue was like a cat, very proud and aloof, and had to be coaxed and indulged.
He smiled slightly and said, "This morning, I went to the clinic to buy medicine and ran into a vendor selling candied hawthorns."
Zhu Mingyue's ear twitched, but she still didn't move.
Xie Pei continued, "They also sell roasted chestnuts."
Zhu Mingyue was starving! She couldn't bear to listen to any of this; her mouth watered like a fountain.
"Ah Yue, be a good boy and apply the medicine, okay? You can eat after the medicine is applied." Xie Pei coaxed him patiently.
Zhu Mingyue finally paid him any attention and said in a low voice, "I'll do it myself."
"You can't see it."
Zhu Mingyue's face flushed: "I can." If he can't see it, can't he at least touch it? How could he not be familiar with his own backside?
"We've seen everything we needed to see last night. Is Ah Yue even too shy to apply medicine?"
Zhu Mingyue immediately said, "Who's shy?" After saying that, she lay on the bed and buried her head in her arms, pretending to be dead, clearly indicating that she agreed.
"I'll apply the medicine, but you're not allowed to lay a hand on me."
"Okay," Xie Pei readily agreed.
After last night's ordeal, he was already satisfied. However, he was too excited for the first time and didn't know how to control himself, so he hurt the person too much. Now, he can't withstand any more torment.
Fortunately, the swelling wasn't too bad. Xie Pei applied the medicine all over his body and, with his last bit of self-control, straightened his clothes. He was already covered in a thin layer of sweat.
Zhu Mingyue was also uncomfortable, extremely embarrassed, and her whole body stiffened. Fortunately, Xie Pei kept his promise; he said he would only apply the medicine, and he really did just that, quickly and decisively, without any other actions.
Xie Pei didn't lie to him; he really bought candied hawthorns and roasted chestnuts. Knowing that he liked reading storybooks with little figures to relieve his boredom, he even went out of his way to the bookstore to buy them for him.
Zhu Mingyue got to eat the roasted sweet potato as he wished, and also drank most of a bowl of rice porridge. He never had a big appetite, and these were enough to fill him up. But since candied hawthorns were a snack, he figured they wouldn't fill him up, so he happily ate the whole skewer. After finishing, he read a storybook for a while and then started to doze off.
When Zhu Mingyue woke up, it was already afternoon. After eating, she didn't exercise and took a nap. When she woke up, the food in her stomach hadn't been digested yet.
Xie Pei brought him food to feed him, but he didn't want to eat and had no appetite. In the end, he ate a few chestnuts and considered it lunch.
Zhu Mingyue was a patient for a day, but finally felt better the next morning.
Aside from some mild lower back and leg pain, there were basically no major problems, and Zhu Mingyue's mood brightened again.
However, Xie Pei told him that he had to return to Jizhou.
Zhu Mingyue felt as if she had been struck by lightning.
"Xie Pei, you're heartless!"
Xie Pei: ...Although the other person would often suddenly blurt out one or two idioms he had never heard of before, some of which he could guess the general meaning of, while others he couldn't understand. But this one was different; he unexpectedly understood it immediately.
After a rare long silence, Xie Pei walked up to Zhu Mingyue, touched his face, and said in a somewhat stiff tone, "There is no heartlessness."
Zhu Mingyue, with a sullen face, threw a tantrum: "You clearly have it!" She searched him thoroughly and then tried to run away.
Xie Pei frowned and retorted, "I didn't."
Zhu Mingyue stomped her foot and said fiercely, "You have it, you have it!"
Xie Pei paused for a moment, then suddenly said, "Are you reluctant to let me leave?"
Zhu Mingyue: "I didn't."
Xie Pei smiled: "You do."
Zhu Mingyue: ...
That's great, you've learned to circumvent him.
Xie Pei kissed his forehead. "I can't leave Jizhou for too long; things might get turbulent in the camp."
Zhu Mingyue pursed his lips and remained silent. He didn't want to be unreasonable, but hearing that Xie Pei was leaving inexplicably stirred up a anger within him. Unable to find a place to vent it, he could only take it out on Xie Pei. Ever since confirming his relationship with Xie Pei, he had become quite willful in front of Xie Pei in just a few days.
He regretted his little tantrum, but couldn't bring himself to admit his mistake.
Xie Pei continued to coax, "I'll find a way to come back and see you after I'm done with my work. Okay?"
"Hmm," Zhu Mingyue said reluctantly.
Just like when she first joined the army under Xie Pei, Zhu Mingyue prepared a lot of things overnight this time.
Before leaving, they fed the horse plenty of hay.
As the horse galloped to the village entrance, Xie Pei tightened the reins slightly, glanced back, and saw a small figure standing at the Xie family's door, waving vigorously at him.
Xie Pei stared intently for a long time before steeling himself and riding away from the village.
Standing at the door, Zhu Mingyue blinked, suppressing the tears welling up in her eyes, and turned to go home.
The difference is enormous when someone is missing from the family.
Especially in these past few days, Xie Pei has spoiled him rotten. He's waited on hand and foot, and he's practically fallen apart from sleeping.
When Xie Pei had nothing to do, he would lie down with him, not playing around, but simply holding him tenderly.
Zhu Mingyue didn't say it, but she actually quite enjoyed this feeling.
Xie Pei's embrace was warmer than a blanket, like a giant, constant-temperature hot water bottle, which was especially comfortable.
Now that my boyfriend is gone, it's like going back to square one.
It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Once you've gotten used to a good life, you can't feel happy looking at this cold bed and cold stove.
The next day, he put away his laziness and went to the county.
After a busy day, He An finally had a chance to rest and came to find Zhu Mingyue as soon as possible.
"Shopkeeper, Brother Zhengyang said you've been at home these past few days, but you haven't been feeling well?"
Zhu Mingyue shook her head and denied it: "No,"
Li Zhengyang probably considered that Xie Pei did not want outsiders to know about his return to his hometown, so he did not publicize it in front of others.
He thought for a moment and casually explained, "The snow was too deep, and it wasn't safe to ride a horse. I stayed at home for a few days until the snow completely melted before I dared to go out."
“It’s really not safe,” He An said without thinking much of it, and instead advised him, “Shopkeeper, you shouldn’t go out when it snows.”
The water in the teapot boiled, and He An got up to make him a cup of tea. Just as he was about to hand it to him, he suddenly stopped.
Zhu Mingyue was sitting in a chair, leaning forward with her arms on the table. Because of her posture, her neckline was slightly open, not completely revealing her collarbone, but you could vaguely see it.
He An was shocked: "Shopkeeper, what happened to you?"
Zhu Mingyue was taken aback. "What? What happened?"
He An pointed to the area below his neck, "Could it be measles?"
Zhu Mingyue looked down into her collar, paused for a moment, a crack appearing on her face. She quickly slapped her clothes shut, pretending to be calm, and said, "No, it's probably a mosquito bite."
His skin was extremely fair, and even the slightest blemish was very noticeable. At this moment, a red spot appeared on his collarbone, like a plum blossom blooming on a branch.
He had many of the same red spots on his body, all left behind by that scoundrel who took advantage of him and then left.
He didn't care at first, it didn't bother him. Xie Pei could keep it if he wanted, and he could cover it up with clothes. But in the end, He An, who had sharp eyes, still saw it.
I had no choice but to lie, even though I was in a bad mood.
He An wasn't stupid; he knew perfectly well whether it was a mosquito bite or not.
Besides, it's already this late in the month, the mosquitoes have all gone to hibernate, so there's hardly any mosquitoes around on such a snowy day.
The reason he was able to manage so many restaurants for Zhu Mingyue at such a young age was because of his quick wit and intelligence, which are rare among ordinary people.
He looked at Zhu Mingyue thoughtfully, seeing through the surface to the essence.
These red spots are not measles and are not caused by mosquito bites at all.
The shopkeeper was having an affair behind his back.
Zhu Mingyue felt a chill run down her spine from the stare and couldn't help but feel guilty. She coughed lightly twice and said, "I don't know if it's a mosquito bite. It's really itchy. I'll go to the clinic later to get it checked out. Maybe it's something else."
He An raised an eyebrow, his words carrying a hidden meaning: "We really need to take a look. It's probably not a mosquito bite; it must have been bitten by some other large creature."
Zhu Mingyue choked. Xie Pei was his man, not a big deal. He guessed that He An had already figured it out, but he didn't dare to say that this person was Xie Pei, for fear that he would be scared to death if he said it. He could only laugh awkwardly.
Let's talk about it later, at least when the time is right.
As the New Year approached, a group of bodyguards came from the capital and found Wang Zongxiu, handing him a half-sized box.
Wang Zongxiu was completely baffled.
He had no relatives or friends in the capital, so who would send him things for no reason?
But despite my doubts, I still had to open it and take a look.
As soon as the box was opened, Wang Zongxiu was so blinded by the silver light that he couldn't close his mouth.
With trembling hands, he picked up a large, genuine silver ingot and bit it with his teeth.
Attached inside was a note with only two words written on it: "Reward." The character "Cui" was also appended at the end.
Wang Zongxiu instantly remembered—it was the reward!
The man surnamed Cui had promised him a reward, but after returning to Shangyang County, he waited and waited and never received the money.
He wasn't a narrow-minded person. He lived a comfortable life, earning his share of the profits from Mingyue Tower in Shangyang County every day. Thinking that the man surnamed Cui was a friend of Zhu Mingyue, he forgot about the matter.
I didn't expect it to arrive so close to the end of the year; he's a man of his word.
At the same time, there was also a knock on the Xie family's door.
Zhu Mingyue opened the door, and a small box, no bigger than the palm of her hand, was handed to her.
Zhu Mingyue signed the document in a daze and went back to her room to examine the small box. It looked ordinary, but when she squeezed the mechanism and bit hard, it clicked open.
The box was opened, and Zhu Mingyue instantly held her breath.
A round, luminous pearl lay quietly in the box. It was no bigger than a fist, yet it emitted a warm, lustrous glow.
This was the first time Zhu Mingyue had ever seen such luxury items that only ancient royal families could possess.
I was simply amazed. No wonder it's always so coveted by royalty and nobility in TV dramas. Anyone would be captivated by something like this!
Zhu Mingyue held it carefully in her hands, quite fond of it, but quickly came to her senses.
Who could have given you such an expensive gift?
The bodyguard said it was an item entrusted to him from the capital, and Zhu Mingyue had a vague idea of what was going on.
A thought struck him, and he gently lifted the silk cloth in the box, revealing a short letter underneath.
The answer is immediately apparent from the character "崔" in the signature.
Aside from Brother Cui, he didn't know anyone else with the surname Cui.
The letter contained a few ordinary greetings and a brief mention of how he had been doing recently.
Brother Cui, as expected of someone who deeply understands human nature, knew that Zhu Mingyue would not accept the money if he said it was to repay the life-saving grace, so he said it was a gift for Zhu Mingyue in advance.
Although the luminous pearl is valuable, it is nothing more than an external possession to him, and it has no use other than for decoration. Rather than letting it gather dust in the storeroom, it would be better to give it to him as a nighttime light source, which would be a good use of it.
Zhu Mingyue clicked her tongue in amazement. Brother Cui was simply too extravagant.
Cui Jian knew his address, but he knew nothing about Cui Jian.
The plan to send back New Year's gifts had to be abandoned.
We'll meet again eventually, so I'll reciprocate when we do!
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