The bedplate wasn't hard. It was covered with layer of light blue satin bedding with gold embroidery and a pattern of okra flowers, chrysanthemum, and butterflies. Lying on the top of the bedding that was soft as clouds, Wei Luo could even smell a trace of blood. It was probably the blood from Zhao Jie's wounds that had been inadvertently left behind when the doctor was staunching his wounds.
He was already injured to this point. He still had energy to think about other thoughts?
Wei Luo felt very incredulous.
She blinked in astonishment. Her bright, black eyes were like two pools of shining water. She finally couldn't resist lifting her hand, touching his wound on his chest, and curiously asking, "Does this not hurt?"
Although she didn't clearly see this wound when she came inside, she could guess that this injury wasn't light from the paleness of his face. Since this was true, why did he still have the energy to push her down and ask her this question? Shouldn't he be more concern about his injuries?
Zhao Jie held her soft, little hand and didn't allow her to touch his wound. He rubbed her cheek, then he quietly said, "Answer my question."
That movement had pulled at his wounds. An action that was usually very easy to do was now very difficult. His chest continued to dully ache. The wound that had recently stopped bleeding started again. However, this pain cleared his head and let him remember the promise she had made. His little girl had said she would tell him the answer after he came back from Shanxi. He was back now and he was impatient to hear her answer.
Because he wanted to hear her answer too much, he kept thinking about her while he was in Shanxi.
Emperor Chong Zhen had been merciful and distributed five million silver to help with the disaster relief. When Zhao Jie reached Shanxi, he saw that the people had no way of making a living and the area was swarming with disaster victims. The common people only had bitter words left.
When they heard the emperor had sent Prince Jing here, everyone worshiped Zhao Jie as a god and devoutly kowtowed. They weren't this respectful and grateful towards their own biological parents. The disaster relief went very well. The local officials were also very accommodating and didn't use their official authority for private interest. Of course, most of this was because of Prince Jing's reputation.
Everyone knew that Prince Jing was very cruel and unreasonable. In addition, he had a noble identity. Who would be blind enough to dare to provoke him?
He had gotten this new injury on the way back to the capital from Shanxi.
Someone knew in advance the path he would take back to the capital, laid out an ambush fifty miles outside of the capital, and attempted to take his life. The other party had come prepared with forty to fifty merciless and highly skilled people. Unfortunately, they had underestimated Zhao Jie's skill and precautionary mind.
On the surface, Zhao Jie didn't bring many people with him. But, in reality, most of his guards were hidden. The guards had high levels of martial arts skills and performed impressively. They were more than enough to deal with these people. Although the other side had more people, they weren’t able to take the slightest advantage and were utterly defeated by Zhao Jie's guards. They either died or suffered serious injuries.
To beat them at their own game, Zhao Jie had taken two strikes during this time. Those were the two spots where he was currently injured. One was on his left chest and the other was on his left arm.
Zhao Jie had already guessed who instigated this. At the end, he ordered his people to not allow even one person to live. Several corpses were put on display in the wilderness.
He hadn't tried to hide the news of his injuries, so that the person behind the scene would relax their vigilance. He wanted to see. During this time, while he was injured, what great winds and high waves would they cause?
Unfortunately, he hadn't control the depth of the injuries well. The wounds were too deep. He didn't even have to pretend to be a seriously injured person.
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Wei Luo felt that there was something wrong with his condition. She couldn’t help tilting her head and looking at him. His lips had turned pale. There was sweat on his forehead. He seemed very weak. Her heart pumped and she tried to burrow out from underneath him. "Big brother, you should properly lie down. Recuperate from your injuries first, then we'll talk, okay?"
He didn't move. It felt as if his entire weight was pressing down on her. One hand held her little hand and the other hand was partially propping himself up. His breath was hot and heavy, "Then promise me and I'll properly lie down."
His body was already so delirious and he was actually acting so rascally.
Wei Luo took her hand out of his hand, lightly pressed against an uninjured part of his body with both of her hands, and burrowed out from underneath him. He was currently injured and weak, so it was easier to break away from him compared to before.
Wei Luo stood next to his bed and looked at him. A small amount of blood had appeared on his white bandages. His wound had probably opened again. She didn't know why, but she was slightly angry. If he wasn't injured, she really wanted to storm off and leave him! "If big brother doesn't properly care for his injuries, I won't promise.”
He quickly figured out the omission in her words. He opened his deep, phoenix eyes wider and directly looked at her, "If I properly take care of my injuries until they heal, will you marry me?"
Wei Luo finally understood! He was using his injured body to force her heart to soften and coerce her, so that she would agree.
Standing at his bed, Wei Luo suddenly realized something.
She had thought about this for a month and still wasn't sure. Now, after seeing him, the clouds were gone and she could see the sun. Everything was clear. If her heart didn't have him, why would her heart feel as if something was squeezing it when she saw him injured? Why would she worry over him? Why would she feel distressed? If it were someone else casually touching, kissing, and hugging her, she would have retaliated a long time ago. He had relied on her tolerance of him to do intimate things between men and women.
So shameless.
She couldn't help silently cursing at him. The little girl's face didn't show her tremulous thoughts and unspoken criticism. In a short amount of time, she had already thought everything through.
She was still engaged to Song Hui. After she turned fourteen years old next month, their families would start planning their wedding. She could only be with Zhao Jie without worries after she settled the problem of her engagement with Song Hui. Besides, a girl should be a little bit more reserved. If he easily succeeded obtained her, wouldn't that be letting him off to easily?
Han-shi had once talked to her about the relationships between men and women. Although the most important thing was mutual consent, a woman should play some small tricks at the appropriate time. Han-shi had become accustomed to seeing the various ways the concubines and consorts would use to gain favor and had spent a lot of time studying this. Han-shi had also said that person who could win a man's heart was the one who had the most superior methods.
Wei Luo didn't want to try these methods on Zhao Jie. He genuinely liked her. She didn't want their relationship to consist of them scheming against each other. Although Han-shi had told her various ways to grasp a man's heart, she didn't intend to use a single method on Zhao Jie.
But, at the current moment, she had just gained clarity of her feelings, so she didn't want to admit it so quickly.
Zhao Jie couldn't wait to hear her reply. He reached out to hold her hand that was at her side, "Ah Luo, answer me."