“Luo Qingyu seems to really like you,” Chu Xianning said calmly.
Jiang Huai didn’t know what to say. After a moment of hesitation, he softly hummed in agreement. A while later, he quietly added, “But the engagement is considered canceled now.”
“Then how will you handle it?” Chu Xianning’s eyebrows showed a hint of curiosity.
But Jiang Huai simply shook his head, “I don’t know.”
Chu Xianning stared at him, waiting for him to say more. Jiang Huai thought seriously again, “If my cultivation level recovers in the future, and Luo Yueguan and Master don’t object, then the marriage will be decided again.”
“Then it seems you like her very much too.”
“Qingyu is very well-behaved and obedient. She’s also beautiful. I don’t think I have any reason not to like her. I’m grateful Master found me such a good marriage prospect back then.” Jiang Huai’s eyes lifted slightly. This time, he no longer avoided Chu Xianning’s gaze as he uttered this sentence with ease.
Master and disciple fell silent for a while. The gentle night breeze wafted, faintly stirring Chu Xianning’s skirt hem. Her hair danced with the breeze, her snow-white cheeks as sacred as a statue in the darkness.
“I’m going to rest,” Chu Xianning stood up and walked towards his room. She merely took a gentle sip of the tea on the table. Jiang Huai watched her slender retreating figure and suddenly called out to her softly.
“Master.”
Chu Xianning turned her head.
Her eyes were clear and cold in the night. Her hair, blown by the wind, fell onto her delicate pink lips. Jiang Huai always felt that Chu Xianning was too much, too beautiful. So even though she was always cold and aloof, no one could ever get angry with her.
“I have a question I’d like to ask,” Jiang Huai said.
“Ask.”
“If I had refused the marriage arrangement Master made for me back then, would Master have truly expelled me from the sect?”
“Yes.”
“How cruel,” Jiang Huai muttered softly. “I have nothing else to ask now. Master, have a good rest.”
With that, he also picked up the freshly brewed pot of tea, stood up, and walked towards the courtyard’s exit.
Chu Xianning didn’t ask where he was going, but merely stood in place, watching his figure gradually disappear under the moonlight. Her long, slender eyelashes drooped slightly.
***
Jiang Huai gently knocked on Wen Wanwan’s courtyard door again.
“Who is it?”
“Jiang Huai.”
So the door was quickly opened.
However, this time, Wen Wanwan was not as she was right after bathing. She wore a plain white robe, her jet-black hair tied up. Jiang Huai, still holding the teapot, asked, “How is your injury?”
“The spirit medicine Senior Brother Jiang Huai gave me was very effective. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Jiang Huai took out another small jar containing medicinal powder. He said softly, “Apply this powder to the wound, and it will heal faster, also preventing scars later on.”
Wen Wanwan did not refuse coyly this time. She took the small jar, lowered her head slightly, and said softly, “I can’t apply it to the wound on my back.”
Jiang Huai scratched his head. “Don’t you have a junior sister?”
Wen Wanwan lowered her eyelashes slightly. “I didn’t tell my junior sister about being injured. She’s already asleep.”
Jiang Huai figured that if her junior sister knew she was injured, she would also worry incessantly. Jiang Huai hesitated for a moment, then thought, “Then… shall I help you apply it?”
“Okay,” Wen Wanwan softly agreed.
***
The moonlight in the courtyard was like silver.
Wen Wanwan sat on the stone bench with her back to Jiang Huai. Jiang Huai stood behind her and watched as she untied the laces of her dress, then gently pulled the dress from her shoulder. Her entire dress then slipped down, revealing her round, snow-white shoulders and a bit of her fair skin on her back. Jiang Huai quickly saw the injury on her back. The wound had already scabbed over, but the powder needed to be applied after the scab fell off.
“I need to remove the scab first. It might hurt a little.”
“Wanwan isn’t afraid,” Wen Wanwan’s shoulders trembled slightly.
The early spring air still carried a slight chill. Now, in the courtyard, her clothes half-undone, facing Senior Brother Jiang Huai like this, her breathing became a little rapid. The girl’s fingertips clenched her thighs tightly, trying to prevent Jiang Huai from sensing her awkwardness. Jiang Huai, behind her, gently tore off the scab.
Wen Wanwan bit her lip softly and let out a low groan.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s bearable.”
Jiang Huai had already done his best to be gentle. He noticed that Wen Wanwan’s wound extended further down, currently covered by her dress. A moment later, he said softly, “Your dress needs to be pulled down a bit more.”
“Down to where?”
“Just a little further down is fine.”
“Senior Brother Jiang Huai, please.”
Jiang Huai hesitated, then reached out and pulled her dress down further. However, it was unclear whether it was because his strength was too great or because the girl’s skin was too smooth and tender, but her white dress suddenly slipped down to her waist. This made Wen Wanwan’s body tremble even more violently.
Jiang Huai didn’t know what to say, so he quickly opened the medicine jar and applied the medicine to her carefully. He tried to say something to distract Wen Wanwan, but after a long pause, his mind suddenly went blank, and he blurted out, “Haven’t you bathed yet today?”
“Mm, I was afraid of getting the wound wet,” Wen Wanwan replied softly.
“Once the powder is applied, it will heal quickly, and you can bathe,” Jiang Huai said. He finally finished applying the medicine to Wen Wanwan’s back and let out a long sigh. In the next second, he heard Wen Wanwan say, “Senior Brother Jiang Huai… there’s also a wound in the front.”
Wait. At this moment, Jiang Huai suddenly understood what it meant to see something through to the end.
Wen Wanwan released her hands from her thighs and carefully embraced her soft, white chest with both hands. Jiang Huai still came to her front, picked up the powder, and carefully sprinkled it on the wound on her shoulder.
From beginning to end, his eyes only focused on the wound, not wavering even a bit.
Wen Wanwan secretly watched his focused eyes, and her body suddenly felt inexplicably weak.
“All done,” After only a few seconds, Jiang Huai put away the medicine jar and said to her softly. Wen Wanwan seemed to still be in a daze. She slowly came back to her senses, released her arms from her chest, and tried to put her clothes back on. But at that moment, the fair and tender sight of her chest was inadvertently fully exposed.
The spring scenery was enchanting, revealing her budding peach tips.
By the time Wen Wanwan realized, it was too late. She let out a soft “Ah,” and when she moved her eyes to Jiang Huai’s face, he had his eyes tightly closed, looking like he was confessing guilt, yet also innocent, “I didn’t see anything.”
Seeing him so flustered, Wen Wanwan’s previous tension and shyness suddenly disappeared. She suddenly chuckled, “Senior Brother Jiang Huai really didn’t see?”
“I-I-I closed my eyes a long time ago. You can’t falsely accuse a good person.”
“Mm, I believe Senior Brother Jiang Huai,” Wen Wanwan’s voice held a hint of playfulness. She carefully retied the laces of her dress. Looking at Jiang Huai, whose eyes were still closed, she didn’t know why, but her heart suddenly mustered immense courage. She slowly stood up and took a step closer to Jiang Huai, so close, so close, their noses were almost touching.
Jiang Huai seemed to feel the breath on his cheek.
He didn’t know what to say, so he pretended not to know, but his trembling eyelashes seemed to betray him again.
“Senior Brother Jiang Huai…”
“Mm?”
“Actually, if it’s Senior Brother Jiang Huai, it’s okay if you saw.”
“I’m being wronged!”
“No, Wanwan means… I know Senior Brother Jiang Huai is a gentleman.”
“You understand me best,” Jiang Huai opened his eyes, looking at Wen Wanwan whose lips were almost touching his. “So why are you standing so close?”
Wen Wanwan was startled by his suddenly opened eyes. Her body went limp, and she took a step back, bumping into the stone bench. Seeing her body about to fall, thankfully Jiang Huai reacted quickly, grabbing her arm and pulling her into his embrace.
Her body was so soft.
Wen Wanwan, embraced by him, was flustered at first. She shrank in his arms like a trembling little deer. Before Jiang Huai could say anything, she quietly reached out and embraced him.
“Senior Brother Jiang Huai… you’re so warm.”
“Junior Sister, don’t be like this. Senior Brother is a married man.”
“Didn’t Senior Brother Jiang Huai’s engagement get broken off?”
“The engagement was only temporarily canceled. If the engagement is re-established in the future, then I’ll have one again.”
“Then now… you don’t have one,” Wen Wanwan’s face pressed against his chest.
She couldn’t explain where her courage came from. Perhaps it stemmed from greedy desire. She really liked the feeling of holding Jiang Huai like this, her cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat, as if her mind had become dazed, and her heart was about to leap out of her chest.
“Alright, then how long do you want to hug?”
“Hug… for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.”
“Half an incense stick.”
Wen Wanwan hugged him even tighter. Jiang Huai was slightly helpless. He lowered his head to look at Wen Wanwan in his arms, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and gently embraced Wen Wanwan as well.
Wen Wanwan’s earlobes instantly turned extremely red. Jiang Huai freed one hand, gently pinched her earlobe, and whispered, “Your ears are so hot.”
Wen Wanwan was too shy to speak.
Jiang Huai secretly counted the time in his heart. In fact, he didn’t care that much. It seemed he also liked the feeling of holding someone, especially a fragrant and soft girl. Wen Wanwan’s body was a bit bony, but her waist was soft. After a while, until Wen Wanwan’s cheeks were flushed red, as if another moment of hugging would make steam rise from her forehead, Jiang Huai finally let go. “Alright, alright, can you get up now?”
Wen Wanwan reluctantly withdrew her hands. At this moment, her mind had calmed down a bit. She finally realized what she had just done. Panic and unease began to fill her mind.
Perhaps… she would be considered a frivolous woman by Senior Brother Jiang Huai.
This unease began to churn silently at this moment, so much so that Wen Wanwan didn’t even dare to look Jiang Huai in the eye. She wanted to say something to defend herself, but her mind was a complete mess, and she couldn’t speak.
However, Jiang Huai in front of her simply sat down on the stone bench and said, “I just brewed a pot of jasmine tea. I can’t finish it alone. Would you like to try some together?”
Wen Wanwan summoned her courage and looked into his eyes. His brows and eyes were still as gentle as ever.
