Chapter 264: Don’t Look, It’s Disfigured
That night, Bai Ruozhu really did prepare the medicine, placing it on the windowsill. She put it into a small clay pot to keep it warm and immersed the covered pot in hot water for insulation.
However, she was a little restless, even somewhat anxious. She made an excuse to herself: if he didn’t come soon, the medicine would cool off and its efficacy would be affected. She certainly didn’t want to run out in the middle of the night to warm up the medicine for him.
When everyone in the Bai family had gone to bed, there came a soft knock at Bai Ruozhu’s rear window. Fearing that he would knock over the medicine pot, Bai Ruozhu quietly went over and opened the window for him.
In the dim light, Jiang Yichun’s body was shimmering with stardust, his gaze upon her glittering, as if he outshined even the stars above. Bai Ruozhu’s heart involuntarily began to race, and she even forgot to look away.
Jiang Yichun also gazed deeply at her. He hadn’t understood his own feelings in the past. All these years, he had been busy practicing martial arts, later serving the government. He had been constantly under stress and didn’t have the time or the inclination to like anyone, let alone care for them.
He didn’t know when he began taking note of Bai Ruozhu. Perhaps it was when they first met and he thought she was cunning, or maybe it started when he heard from Li Shunsheng that she was a widow.
He hadn’t thought about his emotions. He just found himself wanting to jest with her. Even when she was in need, he went to help, jesting nevertheless. Did she honestly think he cared about dried fish? His master was the only one he could gift things to, and his master despised the smell of fish; he didn’t need dried fish to give as gifts.
Hence, when Bai Ruozhu suspected that gratitude constituted the bulk of his feelings for her, he was clear in his heart that this sentiment had existed for a long time. Otherwise, why didn’t he jest with other women? He didn’t know how to face his own feelings until he had a life-and-death experience. Only then did he truly understand what he wanted.
Gazing at the woman he desired, his eyes softer than the moonlight, she looked at him rather blankly. This made him feel both amused and pleased. He found delight in her rare, silly moments, so different from her usual shrewdness and cunning. What pleased him even more was that she was also looking at him, unintentionally revealing her inner emotions.
Unable to resist, he reached out towards her cheek, but Bai Ruozhu blinked and turned towards the window, pretending to not notice. She said softly, "Hurry up and take your medicine. Don’t you want to detoxify?"
Jiang Yichun’s hand hung in mid-air. The person within his arm’s reach had moved away, causing his heart to ache slightly, a bitter smile spread across his face. He moved into the room to fetch the bowl of medicine. Seeing how carefully it was prepared and that it was still warm, he felt a wave of warmth in his heart.
This woman was just stubbornly tender-hearted!
He drank the medicine in one go, and not wanting to push his luck, he sat down to meditate. Detoxification medicine is different from regular decoctions. The detoxification process often involves fighting poison with poison, which requires proper meditative rest. Failure to do so can affect one’s inner strength, and even result in internal injuries.
Bai Ruozhu also found a chair to sit down. Dengdeng was already asleep, and Jiang Yichun was meditating. The room suddenly fell silent, making her feel a little uneasy.
After a good while, Jiang Yichun exhaled deeply and opened his eyes.
"You’ve done well with the medicine. Your medical skills are better than mine." Jiang Yichun then got up from the ground, looking like the poison had completely left his system.
Bai Ruozhu loved hearing such compliments. She walked over with a hint of a smile and said, "Let me check your wound." He was always on the go without a break, she was genuinely worried that he would aggravate his wound.
Jiang Yichun didn’t move, a smile spread across his face again. Unfortunately, Bai Ruozhu’s attention was absorbed by the wound on his right arm. Otherwise, she would have been again bewitched by his enchanting smile.
She carefully pulled up his sleeve, quickly revealing the wound that was clumsily bandaged with some bai bu. It was clear that he had dressed it himself.
Bai Ruozhu gave him a sideways glance. She could not believe that he could not find a doctor to dress his wound. What a mess he had made! Was his obsession with cleanliness acting up again to reject others from touching him?
She slowly unwrapped the bai bu. There were some blood clots sticking to the cloth, making it difficult to peel off. She pondered for a moment, turned around to fetch a medicine bottle, and said to him, "This might hurt a bit. Just make sure you don’t make any noise."
Jiang Yichun’s lips twitched. Did she think he was a delicate young lady who would yelp at the slightest pain? Although a bit dissatisfied, he nodded seriously, clenching his teeth tightly.
Bai Ruozhu took out some purified alcohol and applied some on her homemade sterilized cotton swab to cleanse the wound.
Jiang Yichun’s eyes deepened slightly. The pain was indeed present, but he could bear it.
"This way, your wound won’t fester," Bai Ruozhu explained as she carefully unwrapped the bai bu and examined his wound.
It seemed like Jiang Yichun had a good constitution. His wound was healing better than Bai Ruozhu had expected, and it hadn’t broken open as she had worried it might.
She disinfected his wound meticulously, applying some good quality healing ointment. She then found some clean cotton cloths and bandaged the wound up again. She started to contemplate how to get someone to make some gauze. After all, cotton cloth was denser than gauze and not as breathable.
"In a few days, you won’t need to bandage it anymore. The sutures will come off on their own. I’ll prepare some scar-reducing and blood-invigorating ointment for you. Apply it regularly and it’ll help you heal faster." Bai Ruozhu spoke, her brows slightly furrowed, "Only..."
Seeing her unable to continue, Jiang Yichun wore a slight smile on his face, saying, "Only that I probably won’t be able to lift heavy items with this arm, I might not be able to use the sword either, right?"
Bai Ruozhu gasped, how could she forget that he also knew medical skills and was well aware of his own condition? She could only nod helplessly.
"It’s okay, I still have my left hand, right? I’m pretty good with my left-handed sword too. Besides, being able to save this arm, I’m already lucky." Jiang Yichun said, laughing again. He had not realized that he had been laughing more in the past few days than he had done in many years, even though his situation was rather precarious.
"There might be a solution. When we find the right medicinal materials in the future, I’ll try to help you. At the very least, it won’t affect your daily activities." Bai Ruozhu, not knowing how to comfort people, could only say so.
Jiang Yichun flipped his hair back nonchalantly, saying, "Do you think I will be dejected about this?"
Bai Ruozhu wanted to say that he was acting rather smug. Still, she noticed the wound on his forehead exposed by his flicked-back hair. She mentally admonished herself. Only then did she remember that he had sustained a knife wound on his forehead that day, which probably caused his mask to fall off.
She didn’t respond to his words, instead, she reached out to push away his slightly messy hair, revealing the wound.
Jiang Yichun tried to shy away uncomfortably, shielding himself with his hand saying, "Don’t look, I’m disfigured."