Although Jingrong was worried, he immediately resumed his cold expression and asked, “Can you get up?”

Ji Yinshu shook her head. “No!”

“You didn’t even twist your ankle!”

“I did twist it.” She said earnestly, pointing to her right foot.

Tears glistened faintly in her eyes!

Jingrong truly had no choice. After all, she was injured because of him, and a surge of guilt welled up in his heart. After a heavy sigh, he revealed a stern expression on his face and scooped her up from the ground in one motion. Ji Yinshu’s little scheme had succeeded. The moment Jingrong picked her up, she first grabbed the painting from the ground, then naturally wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his solid chest and breathing in that familiar scent that was uniquely his.

A smile played at the corners of her mouth, like a mischievous child.

Jingrong didn’t notice her expression and carefully carried her to sit on a stool.

But Ji Yinshu clung to his neck, refusing to let go.

She sat on the stool while he bent over.

“Let go, I’ll go find medicine for you.” His tone carried a commanding note.

But she told him, “I don’t need medicine. As long as you’re by my side, that’s the best medicine.”

The sudden sweet words caught him off guard.

After Jingrong’s expression changed slightly, he finally removed her hands from around his neck and ordered, “Sit properly.”

Then he headed toward the back courtyard.

Ji Yinshu wanted to chase after him, but remembering that she had just deceived him by saying she’d twisted her ankle and couldn’t move, she could only obediently sit and wait.

Before long, Jingrong brought over a young maid who served in the bamboo house, carrying a small medicine box.

When the maid heard that Ji Yinshu was injured, her face filled with worry. She immediately rushed over, saying, “Miss Ji, let this servant look at your hand.”

The maid gently held her injured hand, and when she saw the fine bloody marks on it, she was thoroughly frightened. “It’s bleeding—we must apply medicine right away.”

With that, the maid opened the medicine box and took out medicine to treat her wound.

But—

Ji Yinshu suddenly withdrew her injured hand and ordered, “No need, you may go about your business.”

“But if this wound isn’t treated with medicine…”

“I’m fine.” Although Ji Yinshu had given the order, the maid still refused to leave. She had come from the Su Manor, and previously Su Ziluo had specifically instructed that everyone in the household must treat Ji Yinshu as they would treat Su Ziluo himself—no negligence allowed! So the maid dared not be careless. If her young master learned that Miss had been injured, she couldn’t bear the responsibility.

Ji Yinshu turned her gaze to Jingrong and said, “You pushed me, so shouldn’t you personally apply the medicine? If you’re willing, I’ll forgive you.”

So this was why she wouldn’t let the maid treat her wound!

Jingrong hesitated slightly, then felt what she said made sense. He walked over and waved at the maid. “Alright, you may go. I’ll apply the medicine for Miss Ji.”

The maid’s eyes shifted back and forth between the two of them. Sensing something odd about the atmosphere, she rose to her feet and left, though she kept looking back with every few steps.

Muttering a few unclear words under her breath. After the maid left, Jingrong crouched down, found a bottle of medicine in the medicine box on the ground, then without caring about anything else and without saying a word, he grabbed Ji Yinshu’s hand and applied medicine to the bloody marks on her palm. His movements were rough, and his force was neither light nor controlled.

The medicinal liquid seeped into the wound, like ants gnawing, causing Ji Yinshu’s palm to ache with sharp, tearing pain.

She instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but Jingrong gripped it firmly.

“Ah! It hurts!” She couldn’t help but cry out.

When Jingrong heard her cry of pain, his originally somewhat rough movements paused for a moment, then involuntarily became much gentler. He even blew on her wound a few times, his actions tender.

In contrast, Ji Yinshu seemed not to feel any pain at all!

As if a flower had bloomed in her palm…

After the medicine was applied to her hand, Jingrong instructed, “Don’t get it wet, or it will leave a scar.”

She obediently agreed to everything.

Then Jingrong suddenly lifted her “injured” right foot, his fingers gently pressing on her ankle as he asked, “Did you twist it like this?”

Ji Yinshu seemed not to have reacted yet, so she nodded blankly and made an affirmative sound.

Jingrong then began gently rotating her foot, afraid that too much force might hurt her, so his movements involuntarily became much more gentle and slow.

Such tenderness moved Ji Yinshu’s heart deeply.

She was also certain that even though Jingrong no longer remembered what happened all those years ago, she knew his heart still held her.

Thinking this, her eyes reddened!

But to keep Jingrong from seeing, she quickly raised her hand to quietly wipe them away, saying, “It’s better now, it doesn’t hurt.”

Only then did Jingrong lower her foot and stand up. “Can you walk now?”

“Let me try!”

She supported herself to stand, carefully took a step forward, and really couldn’t keep pretending. She simply took a couple more steps and said with a smile, “I’m fine now.”

“Just now… I’m sorry.”

“I don’t blame you. No matter what, I would never blame you.”

The more she said this, the more guilty Jingrong felt in his heart. He could only say, “It’s getting late. Since you’re alright, you should return to your room and rest early.”

“But I still have something to give you.” She quickly picked up the painting she had finished and handed it to Jingrong. “Open it and look.”

Hmm?

Jingrong looked at it and finally reached out to take it.

He slowly unrolled it.

In the painting was a person!

It was himself!

In the painting, he stood under a corridor, his bearing imposing. Though it was only a profile, it displayed that cold aura of keeping others at a thousand miles’ distance to perfection—not like when he wore fine robes with that noble bearing that looked down on others, proud and aloof in manner.

“Do you like it?” Ji Yinshu asked him.

Jingrong couldn’t say whether he liked it or not.

After looking at it for a few moments, he rolled up the painting and handed it back. “It’s inconvenient for me to carry it with me.”

“This is a gift for you—there’s no reason to take it back.”

“Did I say I wanted it?”

“If you don’t like it, then burn it or throw it away—either way, it’s yours now. You can do whatever you want with it.” Ji Yinshu refused to take the painting back.

Seeing that she wouldn’t accept it, Jingrong placed the painting on the nearby table and turned to leave!

Ji Yinshu watched his retreating figure and sighed softly.

She sat in the hall for a while before returning to her room to rest, but she had no sleepiness at all.

The maid came in carrying an incense burner. Seeing her in a daze, she asked, “Miss, does your hand hurt?”

She shook her head.

“Then what’s wrong? Could it be that you’ve changed locations and aren’t familiar with it?”

She shook her head again.

The maid looked confused and didn’t know what else to ask. She could only place a piece of incense in the burner to help Ji Yinshu calm her mind and rest early.

Thinking about how Jingrong hadn’t accepted her painting made Ji Yinshu’s heart very uneasy. Finally, she waved at the maid. “You go rest. Don’t worry about me anymore.”

“Yes. If Miss has any requests, just call for this servant. This servant will be right next door.”

“Mm.”

After the maid left, Ji Yinshu also put on a cloak and went out. At this moment, Jingrong sat on the stone steps in the front courtyard keeping watch, lifting his gaze to look at the round moon hanging in the sky. One had to admit that his facial contours, his eyes, his nose, his mouth—all were like a painting, every inch meticulously rendered.

“Who’s there?” He sensed someone approaching. Turning his head, he saw Ji Yinshu walking over.

She sat directly beside him. “I can’t sleep. I want to talk with you. Keep me company for a while.”

Jingrong was about to stand up…

But she suddenly hooked his arm, resting her head on his solid shoulder, gazing at the moon hanging in the night sky.

Jingrong tilted his head to glance at her, trying to pull his hand away. But seeing that her palm was still injured, if he pushed her away forcefully like before, he would probably hurt her again.

So he had to give up!

Seeing that he didn’t push her away, Ji Yinshu said, “When we first met all those years ago, you pursued me relentlessly. When I was trapped in prison, you stayed with me. When I was sad, you stayed with me. When I was injured, you were by my side. Even whenever I stubbornly wanted to do something, you never asked questions—you just stayed with me to do it, whether it was right or wrong! As long as I wanted to do it, you would accompany me without hesitation no matter what. It was because of this that I was gradually moved by you, to the point where I could never marry anyone but you in this lifetime! So now… it’s my turn to pursue you. I believe you will also love me the way I loved you back then.”

She was so determined! There’s nothing in this world that cannot be done—only things one cannot persist in doing!