Chapter 93
Yu Sui refused to forgive no matter what, sulking all the way back to the dormitory and shutting Brother Gu out.
This was also Brother Gu's first time seeing Yu Sui angry with him, making him feel somewhat panicked. Just thinking about how Wenyang Hui's Golden Thunder had actually hit Yu Sui's body, it would be strange if she wasn't angry. But for this to happen at such a critical moment was truly headache-inducing.
He stood guard at the door. Li Jin Shuang didn't feel comfortable entering the dormitory in front of Brother Gu, afraid of giving him an opportunity to slip in and pester Yu Sui. Li Jin Shuang stood not far away in the corridor, waiting for Brother Gu to leave before going up.
Yu Sui didn't care how long Brother Gu would wait outside. After returning, she took a hot bath and changed into clean clothes.
The dormitory also had individual private bathing compartments with screens for privacy in front of small wooden doors. The convenience brought by Mechanism Arts could be seen everywhere in Taiyi Academy. With the turn of a water valve, the bathing water delivered was all warm spring water.
Yu Sui left Five Elements Light Cores at the Legalist plaza to observe when Mei Liangyu would come out.
The spring water steamed with hot vapor, washing over her eyes. Yu Sui folded her hands on the edge of the bathtub, resting her chin on her arms. Blinking in the steam, her eyes were watery and bright as she casually examined the dress hanging on the clothes rack.
Through the Five Elements Light Core in the dormitory, Yu Sui saw that Li Jin Shuang had returned.
She reached for the Wind-Listening Ruler on the side table, opened Li Jin Shuang's message interface and replied: "The Golden Thunder hurt me to death."
Li Jin Shuang, who had just entered her room next door, received the message. After reading these words, she silently looked up toward Yu Sui's room next door.
Yu Sui replied again: "I received the messages you sent these past days. Well done."
"What about you? How was this Dragon Slaying Cave challenge? Did you get injured? My Third Brother said he encountered you before."
Li Jin Shuang replied: "Didn't get hurt much. Your Third Brother is very capable."
After waiting quite a while, Li Jin Shuang finally gathered courage to ask Yu Sui: "Do you want to go to the Medical School to have a look? I also have some unused new ointment here that I can give you to apply to other scratched areas."
As a Military School disciple who was often injured, Li Jin Shuang had quite a lot of these external injury treatments.
Yu Sui put down the Wind-Listening Ruler without immediately replying.
She wanted to be alone and quiet right now.
Yu Sui sank into the water, hugging her knees and curling her body into a ball. Her ears and nose were covered by the warm spring water, and the surrounding world became quiet. But she could hear the buzzing sound of blood flowing in her ears, and the burning sensation beneath her skin made her unable to calm down in the warm water.
After a moment, Yu Sui emerged from the water, put on her clothes while still wet, and gently rubbed the ends of her hair with her fingertips for a moment until the moisture and dampness were gone.
Yu Sui walked out from behind the screen back into the room, sat down at the desk, reached into the jewelry box to pick out a golden cord to tie her hair, and took several golden hairpins to secure it. After simply fixing her hair accessories, she glanced at herself in the mirror. When she propped her head with one hand and tilted it, she saw several scratches along her hairline on her forehead, with thin scabs hidden under a few strands of loose hair.
Some injuries were too quick or too small for her to notice herself.
Yu Sui reached up to touch them. When her fingers touched her forehead, she couldn't help but recall that night in the valley during the rain, when Mei Liangyu, soaked and cold with a heavy aura, walked toward her, then bent his finger to lightly tap her forehead.
Perhaps because he had been caught in the rain and was completely soaked, his slender fingers were also damp, cold and icy as they touched her forehead. Recalling that moment's coolness, Yu Sui couldn't help but calm down.
What Mei Liangyu had said might not be false, but it was also predictable.
A man's affectionate pity for a pitiful, weak woman, a Senior Brother's fellowship toward his Junior Sister, whether it was one or the other, or both, none of it was enough for Yu Sui.
When her safety wasn't involved, Yu Sui could still maintain a loving and mutually supportive Senior Brother-Junior Sister relationship with Mei Liangyu. But for certain matters, Senior Brother shouldn't know.
The room's lighting was dim, with no lamps lit, relying entirely on the glowing jade stone on the desk for illumination.
Yu Sui sat there examining herself in the mirror.
For an instant, the person in the mirror lightly lifted her eyelids, her lively eyebrows carrying a bewitching quality as she looked toward the person outside the mirror with a half-smile.
Yu Sui looked away, pretending she hadn't seen it.
A black shadow stood at the door. Li Jin Shuang knocked from outside, her expression somewhat hesitant, but she still asked: "Do you want the ointment?"
Yu Sui looked up and said crisply: "Yes, come in."
Only then did Li Jin Shuang push the door open. The room was pitch black, and she was stunned for a moment before following the faint jade stone light to see Yu Sui sitting by the desk.
"I just finished bathing and came out, so I didn't see your earlier question." Yu Sui held the Wind-Listening Ruler in her hand, smiling slightly at Li Jin Shuang.
Li Jin Shuang asked her: "Should I light the lamp?"
Yu Sui: "Yes."
Li Jin Shuang then lit the lamps in the room to brighten it. Turning back, she saw Yu Sui still sitting there in a deep blue floor-length dress with blue and white collar embroidered with golden patterns, the golden threads faintly visible in the light.
She was dressed casually, with thin white undergarments and a gauze outer robe, her collar slightly open revealing beautiful collarbones. Once the lamp was lit, one could see more clearly the several wound marks where her pale, slender neck connected to her collarbones.
Li Jin Shuang walked over and placed the ointment box in her hand on the table.
Yu Sui rolled her eyes and looked up at the standing Li Jin Shuang, saying: "I'm so tired, I can't muster any strength."
Li Jin Shuang looked at her silently for a moment. Yu Sui also looked up at her, appearing incredibly obedient, as if she was simply stating a fact, completely unaware of what this statement might make people think.
"I'll apply it for you." Li Jin Shuang picked up the ointment box and opened it, using a medicine spoon to scoop out the cool, soft ointment and dab it on the wounds on her neck.
Yu Sui tilted her head back cooperatively while Li Jin Shuang bent down with her head lowered, looking serious and focused.
After the two were quiet for a moment, Yu Sui asked softly: "Li Jin Shuang, have you externally studied at the Medical School?"
Li Jin Shuang said: "Not yet."
Yu Sui asked again: "Have you never applied medicine to others?"
Li Jin Shuang's movements paused, her eyes somewhat embarrassed: "Should I be gentler?"
"Be gentler." Yu Sui lowered her gaze to glance at her.
Li Jin Shuang carefully controlled her strength. These scratches actually weren't that painful and didn't look scary either, but applying medicine to Yu Sui was like encountering a tremendous challenge for Li Jin Shuang. She was afraid of hurting her, which instead made herself break out in a sweat.
At this moment, Yu Sui's gaze examining Li Jin Shuang carried a hint of contemplation.
Someone like Li Jin Shuang appeared to have heavy psychological defenses, but finding the right approach could easily make her yield to you.
Perhaps others weren't unaware of how to get along with Li Jin Shuang, they just didn't want to actively make changes. They would always find it too troublesome and unnecessary from various angles, so they just went with the flow and ignored her along with the majority.
Just thinking about it in one's mind was always easier than taking real action.
Although Xun Zhiya wanted to win over Li Jin Shuang, she used the wrong method. Plus with Shu Chujun stirring up trouble on the side, the reason she could still keep Li Jin Shuang with her now was because Li Jin Shuang herself was also hesitating.
"I heard from Brother Gu just now that you were eliminated by my Senior Brother?" Yu Sui asked curiously.
Li Jin Shuang nodded gently.
Yu Sui propped up her head with one hand and leaned back toward the desk. Her neck was getting sore from looking up all the time, so this was more comfortable. She looked at Li Jin Shuang with a bright smile: "Senior Brother and his group have many people and are capable, with good coordination too. You followed Brother Gu and them, but haven't spent much time together and aren't familiar with each other. Brother Gu and them definitely couldn't coordinate well with you."
She didn't say that Li Jin Shuang couldn't coordinate with Brother Gu and the others, but this way of putting it instead left a deep impression on Li Jin Shuang.
Li Jin Shuang pursed her lips: "I acted according to the Saint Maiden's instructions."
"Are you also going to get Floating Pagoda fragments?" Yu Sui asked.
Li Jin Shuang looked up at her in surprise. Yu Sui was even more surprised than her: "What's wrong?"
"You know about... Floating Pagoda fragments?" Li Jin Shuang said hesitantly.
"Although Brother Gu won't take me along, I still know about such things." Yu Sui said slowly, "My father sent me to Taiyi to find fragments. Is it strange that I know about such things?"
Li Jin Shuang shook her head and said carefully: "I was surprised that Brother Gu didn't call you."
"It would be useless even if he called me along. What could I do?" Yu Sui smiled.
Li Jin Shuang thought to herself that what you can do is probably much more than Brother Gu knows.
"Since you agreed to accompany them, you should also know what the fragments are used for. Do you also want to lift the Non-War Pact?" Yu Sui's gaze followed her movement as she saw Li Jin Shuang straighten up.
"Lifting the Non-War Pact and the six kingdoms going to war, such things are still too distant." Li Jin Shuang said quietly.
But Yu Sui said: "As long as they're all found, it won't be distant. They've already found quite a few. This kind of thing couldn't have just started in recent years. The six kingdoms may have been searching for fragments for decades or hundreds of years."
Li Jin Shuang fell silent.
She didn't say that the Li family's downfall back then was also related to Floating Pagoda fragments.
A piece of the Floating Pagoda in Nanjing Kingdom had once been stolen, and the Nanjing Li family protected that person. Because the Li family head at the time believed the Non-War Pact shouldn't be lifted, he was unwilling to let news of the Floating Pagoda fragments be known.
This action also caused the ruler and ministers to drift apart, triggering the later near-extermination disaster.
When Yu Sui asked Li Jin Shuang whether she wanted to lift the Non-War Pact, Li Jin Shuang couldn't give a definite answer because she had never thought about it.
Perhaps Yu Sui should change her question.
She asked: "Do you want revenge?"
Li Jin Shuang lowered her eyes to look at her, her gaze calm and still.
Yu Sui neither avoided nor dodged, looking back as well. Her bright, watery eyes reflected Li Jin Shuang's cool face as she said: "Do you think Xun Zhiya will definitely be Nanjing Kingdom's future Empress?"
Difficult.
Too many variables.
Before Li Jin Shuang could answer, Yu Sui said softly again: "Even if Xun Zhiya ascends to the throne, will she definitely help you restore the Li family? Before that, why not first think about whether Shu Chujun is more important to her, or whether you're more important."
"People without utility value will be abandoned. You should understand this better than me."
At Taiyi, she tells you that in the future when she ascends to the throne, she'll definitely help you revive the Li family and restore its glory. But after you help get the Floating Pagoda back to Nanjing, who knows what will happen then.
Yu Sui watched Li Jin Shuang's obviously wavering eyes, put down the hand supporting her head, and also sat up straight: "Right now Xun Zhiya needs your help more, but think carefully, do you need Xun Zhiya?"
Just a Saint Maiden facing multi-party succession struggles, still only able to improve her cultivation at Taiyi, Xun Zhiya was completely useless to the current Li family.
Li Jin Shuang also understood that Shu Chujun was more important to Xun Zhiya and more trusted by her.
Many forces in Nanjing were taking sides, and not all the powerful ones were standing with the Saint Maiden. She had quite a few opponents, all staying in Nanjing. While she was far from the strife at Taiyi improving herself, she also missed many opportunities.
The Li family was already rotten to the mud. Talk of restoring the Li family indeed sounded nice and was easy to say. Compared to Xun Zhiya's promises of the future, Li Jin Shuang indeed trusted more in improving her own strength, making herself stronger, and keeping power in her own hands.
Li Jin Shuang could understand Yu Sui's words.
These words were subtly shaking her thoughts about siding with Xun Zhiya.
Li Jin Shuang wasn't stupid either.
She stared at Yu Sui, who sat properly and obediently, and asked in a low voice: "You want the Floating Pagoda fragments?"
Yu Sui blinked in surprise, leaned back against the desk in a relaxed posture, and looked back with a half-smile: "Yes, I want the Floating Pagoda fragments."
"Helping me get the fragments is equivalent to helping yourself get them. Helping Xun Zhiya get the fragments really is just helping Xun Zhiya."
If the Saint Maiden takes the Floating Pagoda fragments back to Nanjing, only the Saint Maiden gets the glory. It has nothing to do with Li Jin Shuang.
But if Li Jin Shuang brought back the Floating Pagoda fragments, that would be different.
Li Jin Shuang looked at Yu Sui and couldn't help but recall the scene of Brother Gu leaving dejectedly earlier. He really didn't know what he had missed.