Feng Shuang was someone with little presence, while Ji Cheng found Li Rui rather annoying deep down.
Shen Che said, “Rest easy. Although the Fourth Sister-in-law can be unreliable at times, she won’t dare cause any trouble with this matter. If anything goes wrong, someone will deal with her.”
Ji Cheng looked at Shen Che with a smile and asked, “So do you want her to make mistakes or not?”
Shen Che returned the smile and replied, “Either is fine with me.”
Ji Cheng said, “It won’t happen. She’s from a noble family after all, and knows what she should and shouldn’t do.”
Shen Che embraced Ji Cheng and said, “The main reason is that Sister-in-law is pregnant and shouldn’t be too tired, so we asked them to help.”
Ji Cheng nodded. She wasn’t the type to neglect everything just because of a grudge against Li Rui.
“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. I’ll feed you,” Shen Che said as he watched Liu Ye’er bring in a tray.
Ji Cheng blinked, about to say she could get up to eat, but seeing Shen Che’s excited demeanor, she held back. Otherwise, he might accuse her of not being romantic again.
Sure enough, Shen Che came prepared. He even had a bib ready for Ji Cheng, attentively putting it on her before picking up the soup bowl. He tested the temperature with a spoon and only fed Ji Cheng when it wasn’t too hot. “Have some soup before the meal.”
Ji Cheng frowned after the first taste. “What kind of soup is this? It has a strange flavor.”
“It’s Pseudo ginseng and Turmeric Stewed Black Chicken. I specially asked the kitchen to make it for you,” Shen Che explained.
Ji Cheng, who had learned about medicinal cuisine from Cook Liu for a while, knew this soup was for nourishing the kidneys. She felt a strange sensation rise within her – why did she need to nourish her kidneys?
“Don’t you like it?” Shen Che tasted it himself and indeed found the flavor odd. “Let’s just have this bowl. Next time we’ll have Pig Intestine and Walnut Soup.”
Hearing this name, Ji Cheng immediately lost her appetite. She quickly said, “Let’s stick with this one. I’ll get used to it.”
Shen Che gently wiped the corner of Ji Cheng’s mouth with a handkerchief, finding her amusing as she didn’t want to drink the soup but was scared off by the mention of pig intestines. Her eyes were bright and watery, and she drank quickly as if afraid she wouldn’t be allowed to finish.
Shen Che leaned in and pecked Ji Cheng’s lips. “You’re so good when eating, no crying or fussing.”
Ji Cheng didn’t know how to react to such praise.
According to Shen Che’s wishes, Ji Cheng should sleep right after eating. But she had been sleeping for several days straight and had no trace of drowsiness left. So Shen Che carried her to the top courtyard.
“I can walk by myself,” Ji Cheng felt like she had become an infant in front of Shen Che, with him even carrying her to the restroom.
Shen Che said, “I’m too lazy to put shoes on you.”
Was putting on shoes more troublesome than carrying her? Ji Cheng was speechless but could only let Shen Che have his way.
When opening the door, Ji Cheng’s gaze lingered for a moment on the door to the secret passage, which Shen Che noticed. He said, “That door has never been locked.”
Ji Cheng thought to herself, could this man have lost his memory?
Shen Che raised an eyebrow and said, “It was just a sound. How do you know I locked it if you never even tried? Hearing is deceptive, seeing is believing.” He then let out a cold snort.
Ji Cheng thought about it and realized she hadn’t tried again. At that time, where would she have found the courage to try? But now, as they settled accounts after autumn, it seemed to highlight all of Ji Cheng’s faults.
Not wanting to be outdone, Ji Cheng’s feet touched the ground, and she went to find the notes she had written while reviewing the account books. The stack was still neatly arranged on the small table beside the cabinet where Ji Cheng used to read the accounts.
“You don’t need to lecture me. You didn’t look at the notes I painstakingly wrote either, did you?” Ji Cheng said, trying to score a point and avoid appearing completely unforgivable.
Shen Che bent down and picked up a hair from the stack of notes. “You mean this hair?”
Ji Cheng blinked again, a bad feeling rising in her heart.
“I’ve known how to play these little tricks for a long time,” Shen Che said, not without pride. He usually acted deep and mysterious in front of others, only showing a bit of his junior side in front of the Old Madam. As for Ji Cheng, he used to act high and mighty, but now that their feelings were clear, he seemed like a different person, even showing childish behavior.
Ji Cheng said, “I don’t believe you. Maybe you just noticed it now.”
Shen Che casually pulled out a notebook and handed it to Ji Cheng. “Tell me which page and line, and I’ll recite it.”
Seeing Shen Che’s confident demeanor, Ji Cheng wanted to back down. But knowing how cunning he was, what if he was bluffing? So she flipped to a page and read a line.
Shen Che immediately recited the following paragraph without missing a word. “Anything else to say?”
Ji Cheng said glumly, “Then why did you always let me misunderstand?”
Shen Che thought to himself, of course, it was to force you, silly girl – or should I say silly wife now? But he couldn’t say that to Ji Cheng, so he just said pitifully, “Of course, I couldn’t bring myself to face it. Even that fatty Chu De looked down on me.”
What else could Ji Cheng say? She was completely outmaneuvered by Shen Che. Who told her she wasn’t shameless enough to lower herself to act pitiful?
Unable to win physically or verbally, Ji Cheng could only obediently nestle in Shen Che’s arms and say, “It feels strange not doing anything.”
Shen Che put down the message book sent from below and stroked Ji Cheng’s back up and down to comfort her. “Now that you’re free, isn’t it nice to do whatever you like?”
Ji Cheng thought about it but couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do.
Shen Che said, “Don’t tell me you can’t think of anything. Don’t you know how to do many things?”
Ji Cheng indeed knew how to do many things. She had dabbled in various arts like music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and was quite good at all of them. Her culinary skills were also excellent. But if she were, to be honest, none of these were things she liked to do; she only did them out of “necessity.” Horseback riding and polo used to be her favorites, but ever since that night of galloping across the great grasslands, she had developed a psychological aversion to them.
Ji Cheng rubbed her head and finally said, “Thinking about it, I probably like using the abacus the most.”
Shen Che’s expression froze for a moment, then he said helplessly, “Alright. But you can’t use the abacus for now. I’ll make time to take you shopping tomorrow.”
Ji Cheng yawned, not feeling that shopping was particularly enjoyable. Because of her face, she rarely went out after the incident with Zhu Jijun. After marrying into the Shen family, as a daughter-in-law, she also seldom went out unless necessary.
In the past, at the Ji family, her clothes were made by specially employed embroiderers, and as for jewelry, familiar shops would send designs to the Ji family every year. This was probably the advantage of having a lot of money.
“Sleepy?” Shen Che lowered his head and kissed Ji Cheng’s cheek.
Ji Cheng suspected her cheeks must be turning blue because Shen Che kept pecking her and sucking there. His hands were also misbehaving; they were supposed to be rubbing her back, but when she wasn’t paying attention, they moved to the front.
“Not sleepy yet, it’s just that your embrace is too warm, making me drowsy,” Ji Cheng didn’t want to sleep yet, as sleeping too much made her back ache.
“You’re quite good at complaining,” Shen Che gently bit Ji Cheng.
Ji Cheng smiled without speaking. But at this moment, in the quiet of the night, there was a peaceful tranquility. Doing nothing, just quietly nestling in Shen Che’s arms, everything felt good. In her life, Ji Cheng had never felt such a sense of security before.
Ji Cheng buried her head in the crook of Shen Che’s arm, inhaled his scent, and fell asleep in less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Shen Che reached out to feel Ji Cheng’s pulse again, his brow gradually furrowing. This kind of illness was like a frog in slowly heated water – unnoticeable at first, not seeming dangerous even when serious, only mistaken for fatigue. By the time it reached the final stage, just a small trigger could lead to sudden death. The people Shen Che had sent out hadn’t sent back any news yet, and he didn’t know if they could find what he was looking for.
Shen Che gently carried Ji Cheng back to Woyun Hall, removing her shoes, socks, and outer garments for her.
In the early morning, as Ji Cheng was in a hazy sleep, she felt a wet sensation on her thigh. It wasn’t cold, but warm, yet those fingers were too willful. Ji Cheng had to clench her thighs to stop him.
Fingers?! Ji Cheng suddenly came to her senses and opened her eyes, turning over to sit up and glare at Shen Che. “What are you doing?”
Shen Che slowly withdrew his fingers from Ji Cheng’s inner thigh and scooped up some bright green ointment from a bowl beside him, waving it in front of Ji Cheng’s eyes. “Applying medicine for you. Your scar is quite old now, if we don’t apply medicine soon, it will be hard to remove.”
Ji Cheng stammered, “But you don’t need to…” because Shen Che’s fingers weren’t as proper as his words suggested.
Shen Che leaned in close to Ji Cheng, so close she could feel the heat of his breath. “What do you think I could do? There’s still ointment on my fingers.”
Ji Cheng didn’t react immediately, and when she did, she could only cover her face with both hands and fall back onto the bed. Not satisfied with just that, she pulled the blanket over to cover her face completely.
Shen Che continued applying medicine for Ji Cheng, while warning her, “Don’t get in the way. If you provoke me, it might not matter to you, but I had to take two cold baths last night.”
“Shut up, shut up.” Ji Cheng was so angry she kicked her feet, throwing off the blanket and sitting up abruptly. But a sudden dizziness made her vision spin, and she could barely sit steady.
Shen Che quickly supported Ji Cheng with his elbow. “In the future, don’t get up so quickly even when you’re angry.”
Ji Cheng said, “It’s nothing, maybe I’m just hungry. This often happens when I’m hungry.”
After breakfast, as Yu Qian’er was helping Ji Cheng change, Shen Che said, “I’ll go tell the Old Ancestress that I’m taking you to see a doctor for another pulse diagnosis.” This way, those with idle gossip wouldn’t be able to say much.
As soon as Shen Che left, Yu Qian’er seemed to relax, her expression becoming more natural.
Seeing Yu Qian’er’s demeanor, Ji Cheng couldn’t help but smile. “Why are you so afraid of the Young Master?”
Yu Qian’er shook her head. “I don’t know. The Young Master never loses his temper with us, but I just want to hide when I see him. His eyes seem like they can see into the depths of people’s hearts, nothing can be hidden from him.”
Ji Cheng smiled without speaking. Yu Qian’er was truly a clever one.
“Is Liu Ye’er feeling better?” Ji Cheng asked.
“Much better,” Yu Qian’er replied. “She’ll probably be able to serve you tomorrow, Young Mistress.”
Ji Cheng nodded.
As Yu Qian’er was combing Ji Cheng’s hair, her heart was full of curiosity, but she didn’t know how to ask. “Young Mistress, I really couldn’t tell that the Young Master would be such a caring person.”
Ji Cheng made an “oh” sound and turned to look at Yu Qian’er.
“The medicinal meals you eat are all based on prescriptions written by the Young Master. He writes down what to make for each meal and sends it to the kitchen. No two meals are the same, just in case you get tired of eating the same thing,” Yu Qian’er said.
Ji Cheng made an “mm” sound. When Shen Che wanted to be kind to someone, he could indeed make them feel like they were basking in spring sunshine. But when he was cold, he could make people feel chilled to the bone. She didn’t know that Shen Che would eventually soften his heart.
Seeing that Ji Cheng had no intention of expanding on the topic, Yu Qian’er grinned mischievously at her. “Young Mistress, how did you and the Young Master reconcile? You were arguing so fiercely, and didn’t you say you had already…”
Yu Qian’er was truly dying of curiosity.
Ji Cheng thought long and hard and finally came up with one experience that made her blush and her heart race. “Well, you know what they say – couples who fight at the head of the bed make up at the foot.”