Chapter 187 - 188: It Doesn’t Hurt
The day passed quickly.
By the time the sun began to set, Hua Manman could no longer linger at the Uncle’s Mansion.
At her parents’ repeated urging, she reluctantly left the Uncle’s Mansion and returned to the Prince Zhao Mansion by carriage.
Her legs were incredibly sore from kneeling all day.
When she got out of the carriage, she had to be helped down.
It was already dark, but Li Ji still hadn’t eaten dinner.
Eating alone was simply no fun.
He merely sat at the table for a moment before having the servants clear away the entire spread of dishes.
Gao Shan had been extremely anxious about this. When he heard that Lady Hua had returned, his heart leaped with joy. ’The savior is finally back!’ he thought.
He hurried out to welcome Lady Hua.
Noticing that Lady Hua’s gait was a little off, Gao Shan asked with concern,
"Lady Hua, are your legs injured? I’ll have someone call the household doctor to take a look at you right away."
Hua Manman waved her hand, signaling it wasn’t necessary.
Supported by a servant, she walked toward the back courtyard. When she saw Prince Zhao, she found him sitting under the covered walkway.
A lantern hanging from the eaves cast a soft, warm glow, perfectly illuminating the small area where he sat.
It made him look like the only light in the boundless darkness.
Hua Manman’s steps faltered slightly.
Due to his leg injuries, Li Ji had gone back to using a wheelchair.
He looked at Hua Manman in the distance and said sarcastically,
"I was starting to think you weren’t coming back tonight either."
Hua Manman gave a sheepish laugh. "How could that be? I was thinking of you every moment, Your Highness. I couldn’t wait to fly back to your side."
She walked over on her sore, slender legs and began to push Prince Zhao’s wheelchair into the room.
Li Ji asked, "What happened to your legs?"
Hua Manman sighed and told him about how she had been kneeling all day.
Li Ji told her to sit down.
"Lift your skirt."
Hua Manman said shyly, "Your Highness’s injuries haven’t fully healed yet. It wouldn’t be right to do... that sort of thing."
Li Ji stared at her, his face expressionless.
"I just want to see if your legs are bruised."
Hua Manman was speechless.
She lowered her head in embarrassment, lifted the hem of her skirt, and revealed two fair, straight, slender legs.
There were noticeable bruises on her knees and calves.
Li Ji brought over some medicinal oil, then patted his own thigh.
"Put your leg up here."
Hua Manman hesitated. "But your knee is still injured, Your Highness. If I put my leg on it, it’ll hurt you, won’t it?"
Li Ji scoffed, "You think too highly of yourself. You’re so light that even if your entire body sat on me, I might not even feel it."
Hearing this, Hua Manman wasn’t the least bit angry at being underestimated. Instead, she was delighted.
"That means I’m skinny!"
Li Ji was speechless.
’What is this woman so happy about?’
Hua Manman carefully rested her calf on Prince Zhao’s thigh.
To avoid touching his injury, her movements were especially gentle and cautious.
Li Ji poured the medicinal oil into his palm, rubbed his hands together to warm it, and began to massage her knee and calf.
Because he had practiced martial arts for years, his palms were calloused. When they scraped against her delicate skin, it was inevitably a bit painful.
Hua Manman furrowed her brows and bit her lip, remaining silent.
Li Ji noticed her expression, stopped what he was doing, and asked,
"Does it hurt a lot?"
Hua Manman shook her head. "It doesn’t hurt."
However, Li Ji could clearly hear her wailing in her heart.
’SOB SOB SOB, IT HURTS SO MUCH! I feel like he’s going to rub my skin right off!’
Li Ji looked down at her calf and saw that her once delicate, fair skin had been rubbed red. He could even faintly see a few broken capillaries. She looked utterly pitiful.
Li Ji had applied medicinal oil to himself before, always rubbing it in forcefully without any issue.
’How come it doesn’t work when it’s Hua Manman?’
Li Ji cursed irritably,
"So delicate!"
Despite his words, he gentled his movements and used the lightest pressure possible.
Only then did Hua Manman feel much better.
After applying the oil, Li Ji washed his hands clean and asked,
"Have you had dinner?"
Hua Manman had already eaten dinner before coming back, but that didn’t stop her from having another meal.
So she shook her head without hesitation.
"Not yet! I was so concerned about you, Your Highness, that I only wanted to come back and see you as soon as possible. I was in such a rush that I didn’t even eat dinner."
Li Ji heard her inner thoughts and knew she had already eaten. Too lazy to expose her lie, he said,
"Perfect. I haven’t eaten either. Let’s eat together."
This time, Hua Manman was genuinely surprised.
"It’s so late, and you still haven’t had dinner, Your Highness?"
Li Ji looked at her with a half-smile. "You were worried about me, and of course, I was worried about you. Seeing that you hadn’t returned, how could I possibly have any appetite?"
Hua Manman had a strange feeling that this damned man had seen right through her lie.
’The jerk’s perception is just too sharp. He’s spot-on every time!’
Hua Manman gave a guilty smile. "To be the subject of Your Highness’s concern... I am truly overwhelmed by this favor."
When Gao Shan learned that Prince Zhao was willing to eat, he was overjoyed. ’Lady Hua truly is amazing. The moment she returned, the Prince’s mood improved.’
When the dishes were served, Hua Manman, as usual, first ladled a bowl of soup for Prince Zhao.
She said with a bright smile, "Thanks to your help this time, Your Highness, I was able to enter the palace and see Hua Jieyu smoothly."
Li Ji took a sip of soup and asked casually, "You didn’t run into any trouble in the palace this time, did you?"
Hua Manman hesitated for a moment before telling him about her encounter with the Empress.
After hearing her story, Li Ji’s expression turned grim.
"The Empress is relentless."
Hua Manman said, "The Crown Prince was her only son. Now that the Crown Prince is dead, she certainly won’t let this go."
Li Ji sneered, "Since she insists on fighting me, she shouldn’t blame me for being ruthless."
After dinner, Hua Manman helped Prince Zhao change his bandages and sponge-bathe him, as was her routine.
Only after she had finished tending to Prince Zhao did she have time to bathe and change her own clothes.
Wreathed in steam, she returned to the bedroom and handed the token back to Prince Zhao.
Li Ji casually tossed the token aside and patted the empty space beside him, motioning for her to lie down.
Hua Manman obediently lay down beside him.
Li Ji reached out, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her whole body into his embrace.
Hua Manman’s body instantly stiffened, her eyes wide.
’Wh-what is he doing?’
Although they usually slept in the same bed, they always kept to their own sides. They never got too close, let alone cuddled like this.
’If Prince Zhao weren’t still injured and unable to engage in strenuous activity, I’d really suspect he’d suddenly been overcome by his animal instincts!’
But Li Ji didn’t care about any of that.
The previous night, because Hua Manman wasn’t by his side, he had slept restlessly and hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep at all.
Tonight, he could finally get a good sleep, so of course he had to hold her tight.
He sensed the tension in the woman in his arms and patted her gently on the back, comforting her.
"Hurry up and sleep. Get your energy back. I have to quiz you on your lessons tomorrow morning."
Hua Manman was speechless.
’I might have been able to sleep if you hadn’t said that.’