At this mont, Li Yuzong brought in a white jade jar, along with a dical woman.
Ji Qingwu’s eyes showed a hint of gratitude for his thoughtful and tily gesture.
Li Yuzong bead at her, his old face wreathed in a smile, until Emperor Wu Su shot him an impatient glance.
His smile vanished instantly. "This old servant will take his leave."
Eunuch Li scurried out as if his feet were on the wind, taking the dical woman with him.
Ji Qingwu suddenly felt an urge to sink her teeth into the Emperor, though it was a thought she would only ever dare to have.
The heavy hall doors were closed once more, and silence returned to the room.
Emperor Wu Su held the dicine jar, seemingly contemplating whether to pull off her loose-fitting silk trousers or just roll them up.
Ji Qingwu quickly clutched the waistband of her trousers and shrank back.
She looked for all the world like a helpless maiden being accosted by a villain.
The resemblance was even more striking when the Emperor, his face impassive, leaned down, grabbed her ankle, and dragged her forward.
Ji Qingwu struggled slightly, and a hot, throbbing pain shot through her knee.
She forced herself to pretend it didn’t hurt. "Your Majesty, I’m fine."
She was less concerned about her knee than she was about what else might happen.
Emperor Wu Su’s face was that of an upright and proper gentleman, as if he were completely unaware he was doing anything forward. Instead, he accused Ji Qingwu, who was still clutching her waistband for dear life, of having a dirty mind.
"What’s going through that head of yours? Don’t move. Let see if you’ve bruised it."
The skin of her ankle where he held it grew hot. Ji Qingwu shook her head, not daring to trust him.
He continued, "From the sound you made hitting the floor, I know you must have at least a bruise. If we don’t rub it out now, this knee will swell up like a stead bun. You’ll barely be able to walk back, stumbling and falling with every few steps, and all the Palace Attendants will gather to watch."
’Which is more humiliating... having my pants pulled off and my butt bared, or stumbling on my way back and falling flat on my face?’
Ji Qingwu decisively made her choice.
’If I’m going to be humiliated now, at least only the Emperor will see it.’
’The injury is on my own body, and the palace’s secret dicine must be extraordinary. It’s better to get it over with and heal quickly.’
Having thus convinced herself, Ji Qingwu pointed to her loose trousers and said, "The legs are wide. I can pull them up. You don’t have to take them off."
Emperor Wu Su didn’t react. Ji Qingwu carefully watched his expression as she took the initiative and rolled the trouser leg up above her knee.
She was afraid that if she were a mont too late, he would rip the trousers right off her.
Seeing her action, the Emperor’s lips curled into a nearly imperceptible smile before he suppressed it again.
He gazed at the jade-like calf laid out before him. Her legs were smooth and sleek, long and well-proportioned. They weren’t slender like willow branches, but rather graceful and imbued with a sense of power.
One couldn’t help but be reminded of the elegant arc her long legs traced in the air as she swung herself onto a horse, her feet in the stirrups.
The only flaw in this beautiful sight was her knee. The skin, once as lustrous as jade, was now covered in red and purple bruises.
Ji Qingwu reached for the ointnt in his hand, but he raised his arm, stretching it higher.
She looked up and knew it was beyond her reach.
Recalling how the last ti His Majesty the Emperor had wiped her face it had felt like being scraped by a hurricane, she really didn’t dare let him apply the dicine. ’He’ll just cause a secondary injury,’ she thought.
Ji Qingwu tried to reason with him in a placating tone, "I’m a healer. I know how to apply dicine. Doesn’t Your Majesty trust to do it?"
But Emperor Wu Su was dead set on applying the dicine himself.
His gaze was fixed on her knee. He scooped out a glob of the flesh-pink ointnt with his fingertip and placed it in his palm.
A man’s body temperature is higher, so the Yu Rong Ointnt lted quickly in his palm, releasing the fresh, bittersweet scent of herbs.
Ji Qingwu’s nose twitched as she took a sniff.
He asked, "What do you sll?"
"Notoginseng, monkshood, ox knee, angelica root, dried ginger..." As Ji Qingwu listed the herbs, her eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Anything else?" Emperor Wu Su coaxed.
’Is there more?’
Ji Qingwu thought she had already guessed all the ingredients.
Puzzled, she leaned closer to his palm, her elegant nose twitching slightly. "There’s also a llow, crisp scent."
The mont the words left her mouth, while she was distracted, his large, warm palm—coated with the cool ointnt—pressed down directly onto her knee.
The "surprise attack" was so sudden that Ji Qingwu cried out in pain, her features scrunching up.
He was using a lot of force. Her knee imdiately began to burn, and reflexive tears welled up in her eyes against her will.
Only then did she realize that the scent wasn’t from any ointnt; it was the fragrance emanating from the silk sachet the Emperor wore.
Emperor Wu Su had been distracting her.
His large hand enveloped her kneecap as he said nonchalantly, "It hurts, but you’ll have to bear it."
Ji Qingwu bit her lip, looking up at him with watery eyes, a pitiful sight as she endured the pain.
Emperor Wu Su’s gaze didn’t waver, his hand didn’t soften, and the pressure of his kneading didn’t lessen in the slightest.
This Yu Rong Ointnt was wonderfully effective, but it had to be thoroughly massaged into the muscle to work.
At first, there was a sharp pain, but after a short while, it gradually transford into a comfortable sensation, like being soaked in warm water.
Ji Qingwu felt like she had been brought back to life. She let out a soft sigh of relief.
She had to admit, when it ca to massage, Emperor Wu Su was quite the expert. He knew exactly which tendons, bones, and acupoints to press for relief.
Being so diligently tended to by His Majesty the Emperor, Ji Qingwu felt a little giddy for a mont.
The mont the prey relaxes, the cunning hunter seizes complete control. By the ti she sensed sothing was wrong, his hand was already moving upward.
She pressed down on his hand, saying hurriedly, "It’s better now. I won’t trouble Your Majesty any further."
He replied casually, "It’s just a little bit more."
His hand continued its upward exploration.
Ji Qingwu was pinned, his hand on her shoulder, her back pressed against the railing of the couch, unable to move.
’Could he be any more shaless? This isn’t just "a little bit more"! Who applies dicine for a knee injury all the way up to the top of the thigh?’
Having gotten his hands on such flesh, how could Emperor Wu Su possibly let go so easily?
Especially since the skin here was like tender tofu—impossibly soft and smooth. It was just a sha the silk trousers blocked the view.
Ji Qingwu sighed in despair. ’I knew he wouldn’t let go.’
Just then, a faint sound ca from the hall doors.
Li Yuzong poked half his head in again. Upon seeing the two of them and their posture, he quickly lowered his head and turned his back.
He said in a low voice, "Holy Emperor, Princess Wei has sent a palace maid to invite you to the banquet. She says the food and wine are ready, and she and General Wei are waiting for you."
The reminder hit her. The Emperor still had to dine with the Wei siblings. Princess Consort Wei and Wei Ting were still waiting for him to join their reunion dinner.
Ji Qingwu’s expression froze for a mont, and then she pushed him away.
She pulled her silk trousers down, straightened her skirt, and fled from the Diligent Governance Hall as if escaping.
As she left, she couldn’t help but think, ’This dicine really is miraculous. It doesn’t hurt to walk anymore.’
It was just that her heart felt a little sour.
「Back at ho.」
Jiu Jiu hadn’t gone to sleep by herself, but had run over to Wutong Garden instead.
The little girl had already had her bath and was lying on the bed, her clean, fair face turned up as she muttered to herself while playing. Lan Zhi was beside her, fanning her.
After Ji Qingwu entered, Lan Zhi ca forward and caught the peculiar scent on her.
Having spent these last few days helping the Fifth Missy with her herbs, she had learned a little about dicine and could recognize the sll of ointnt.
Afraid Jiu Jiu might hear, Lan Zhi asked in a low voice, "Fifth Missy, are you injured?"
Ji Qingwu smiled and told her not to worry, that it was nothing serious.
Jiu Jiu hadn’t seen her fairy-like mother in a while, and the mont she did, her eyes lit up, seemingly glued to her.
She looked at her as if she were a great hero.
She asked curiously, "Mother, were you successful in rescuing Eunuch Li and the others?"
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