Chapter 77: Warming Up
The outside was still somewhat bright, but the woodshed was so dark that not a single ray of light could penetrate.
Shen Zhishu was suddenly pulled in, and she lost her footing, staggered for a moment, and leaned against Jiang Yu.
Unexpectedly, the hand that was supporting her arm was firm and powerful, and it really didn’t seem like the kind of strength that a person who did not practice martial arts could have.
This made Shen Zhishu surprised for a little while.
Shen Zhishu, while thinking to herself, Nothing is strange when it comes to Jiang Yu, she quickly stood firm.
She looked around and opened her mouth, “I’m blind.”
Jiang Yu: …
Shen Zhishu continued, “It’s so dark, can Your Highness still see?”
Jiang Yu: “Mm.”
“Then I’m doomed, I’m really blind.”
“…”
Jiang Yu seemed to be unable to bear it anymore. She released the arm that was holding Shen Zhishu’s and instead covered Shen Zhishu’s mouth with her other hand.
The lower half of her face was covered, and the feeling was very strange. The scent of cedar suddenly surged over, filling every breath.
The physical contact was sudden, and Shen Zhishu suddenly froze, unconsciously holding her breath. After holding it for a while, she found that she couldn’t breathe.
Fortunately, Jiang Yu quickly released her hand.
That hand then moved to Shen Zhishu’s shoulder.
Shen Zhishu slowly exhaled, and perhaps to cover up her embarrassment, she made a serious comment, “Your Highness’s hand is a little cold.”
—But her mouth was covered again.
Jiang Yu said in a low voice, “You just don’t make a sound. Follow me, there’s a stove over there, we’ll hide behind it.”
Shen Zhishu nodded, and then belatedly realized that Jiang Yu might not be able to see. Just as she was about to open her mouth, the person beside her added, “I can see you nodding, you don’t have to speak.”
So Shen Zhishu closed her mouth and let Jiang Yu grab her arm and pull her forward.
After getting used to the strange touch on her lips, Shen Zhishu finally began to breathe.
The warm breath sprayed on her palm and then came back, bringing a scorching tide.
After a few steps and a turn, Jiang Yu pulled her and squatted down.
The space behind the stove was small, and it could barely fit two people.
Jiang Yu finally released her hand and said in a low whisper, “Let’s stay here. This room is empty, and no one usually comes here. If something is lost, they may not necessarily check here.”
Shen Zhishu nodded.
Her knees were against the stove wall, her back was against the wall, and her head was almost touching her thighs, but Jiang Yu was still saying, “The General can go a little lower.”
Shen Zhishu sighed, “It’s my fault for being too tall.”
“Why don’t you change your posture, General?” Jiang Yu said. “Turn to the side, sit down, don’t squat.”
Shen Zhishu changed her posture as she was told and rested her head on her knees, which was indeed much more comfortable.
After she had calmed down, some slight movements and touches were appropriately highlighted.
For example… Jiang Yu’s arm was resting on her waist muscles, and her arm was so thin that it felt like it was digging into her even through several layers of cloth.
And for example… her heart was beating a little fast.
Her eyes finally adapted to the darkness, and she could vaguely see the outlines of people and things.
Shen Zhishu calmed her breathing for a while and felt the body heat that did not belong to her seep through several layers of cloth, lingering.
The temperature at the spot where her waist was being pressed against slowly rose.
Shen Zhishu was in a daze for a moment.
It’s too warm, she thought. It’s clearly a cold winter in the twelfth month, and she’s not wearing much, but she’s so hot that she’s almost breaking out in a thin layer of sweat.
It must be because it’s too cramped here.
She didn’t know how long she had been squatting, but the noise outside gradually faded, and those people really didn’t come in to search.
Shen Zhishu let out a sigh of relief almost inaudibly, and then belatedly realized that her body had become a little stiff from being curled up.
Her clenched fists were slightly moist.
Perhaps it was because she was a little nervous.
Jiang Yu listened intently and came to a conclusion, “They should be gone.”
“Shall we get up?”
“Mm.”
Shen Zhishu had been sitting on the ground all along, while Jiang Yu was half-squatting.
Perhaps because she had been squatting for too long, she was a little unsteady when she got up. Jiang Yu staggered, and Shen Zhishu grabbed her by the arm and lifted her up.
“Are your legs numb?” Shen Zhishu asked.
Jiang Yu said frankly, “A little.”
So they did not rush to go out, but waited for Jiang Yu to recover from the numbness.
It was always windy at night in winter, and at this moment, the wind was howling outside.
Shen Zhishu and Jiang Yu stood quietly in the darkness, with a sense of being in a secluded corner.
Shen Zhishu could feel Jiang Yu’s gaze on her. She stood for a while and inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable. She stammered for a while and then took the initiative to speak, “Are Your Highness’s legs still uncomfortable?”
“A little,” Jiang Yu said in a faint voice. “It’s not a big deal, I think it will be fine after a walk.”
“Then shall we go out?”
“Let’s wait a little longer, in case the people outside haven’t completely left.”
Jiang Yu’s voice was too soft, and they were too close, so much so that it was as if Jiang Yu was whispering in her ear.
So her ears couldn’t help but feel itchy, and Shen Zhishu raised her hand and rubbed them twice.
Jiang Yu noticed her action, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Shen Zhishu muttered. “It’s probably from the cold. Let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s go out, Your Highness, please lead the way.”
**
Jiang Yu pulled Shen Zhishu and dodged, her steps winding and meandering, and they finally arrived in front of the First Imperial Princess’s room.
They were squatting behind a withered tree, and Shen Zhishu carefully poked her head out.
There were three or two guards on duty in front of the room. One of them was dozing off with his sword, and the other looked as straight as a pine, but his soul was already half gone.
“Where’s the sleeping drug?” Shen Zhishu asked.
“It’s in my pocket,” Jiang Yu said. “But the lights in the room are out, and the First Imperial Princess should already be asleep. It’s meaningless even if we go into her room.”
“Not necessarily,” Shen Zhishu thought for a while and said seriously. “Let’s knock out the guards and then go to the base of the wall to listen for a while. What if she talks in her sleep?”
“Is the General really not joking?” Jiang Yu glanced at her faintly.
“No, I’m being serious with you,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “Wouldn’t it be a waste to just leave the sleeping drug there? It’s not a loss to try.”
So Jiang Yu turned her wrist and took out a small jade jar from her sleeve.
Shen Zhishu took it, quietly circled around to the side, and then suddenly rushed forward, held her breath, opened the lid and sprinkled it forward, and the two guards immediately fell unconscious.
“This drug is so strong,” Shen Zhishu’s eyes widened, and as she muttered, she quickly grabbed the two guards who were about to fall and gently put them down to avoid making too much noise.
Jiang Yu rushed over in a few steps and came to Shen Zhishu’s side, “I had someone specially make it. I have a few more jars. If the General likes it, you can take two back.”
“That would be great,” Shen Zhishu neatly lifted her robes and squatted down. “But let’s talk about that later. Let’s first see if this Prince of Chen will talk in her sleep—”
/
“Talk in my sleep?!” Xie Jin, with a head of messy long hair, had the four words “Are you alright” written on her face. “I was sleeping soundly in my bed, and you woke me up just to tell me ‘I was talking in my sleep’? Is this such a strange thing that it’s worth making such a fuss?”
Xie Da stood by the bed with her sleeves tucked in, her face hot from the candlelight, “Mother, you were talking too loudly in your sleep, and I couldn’t sleep in the next room.”
“What did I say?”
“You were shouting and killing for half a day, said a whole bunch of things, and finally called out a name.”
“What name?”
“I didn’t hear clearly…” Xie Da racked her brains for half a day and said with a tilted head. “It seemed to be something like ‘Jiyuan’ or something.”
Xie Jin sighed and lay down, covering her head, “I don’t even remember what I dreamed of, and I’ve never heard of the name ‘Jiyuan’. Maybe you misheard.”
“That’s impossible,” Xie Da grabbed an attendant who was on night duty by the side. “You tell me, what did my mother say?”
The attendant carefully glanced at Xie Jin’s face, “…Ji- Jiyuan?”
Xie Jin raised an eyebrow, “Hmm?”
“No, I- I misheard,” the attendant said hurriedly. “The General didn’t talk in her sleep.”
Xie Da: …
Xie Jin shrugged and pretended to be innocent, “You see, you woke me up from my sleep and even slandered me.”
Miss Xie was so angry that she almost fell over. As she muttered, “How can there be such a shameless person, and you’re still my mother,” she went out with her cheeks puffed out. When she reached the door, she stomped her foot and cracked a green brick.
The little girl ran back to her room angrily. The more she thought about it, the more she got angry, and she wished she could go back and beat her mother up.
She closed her eyes and thought, Sleep, I won’t be angry when I’m asleep. But the next moment, Xie Jin’s sleep talk came to her ear again, as loud as a bell, and it startled her, who was about to fall asleep.
Suddenly waking up, Xie Da, who was staring at the ceiling with wide eyes: …
Xie Da rushed back to Xie Jin’s room and conspired with the attendant who was serving by her side, “If you don’t tell your master the truth, I’ll report you to her for breaking five glass plates last month!”
The attendant waved her hands repeatedly and promised that she would explain the cause and effect truthfully. So when Xie Jin was woken up by Xie Da again, the attendant stammered, “Master… master, you were really talking in your sleep just now.”
“So what if I was? Can’t I even have the freedom to talk in my sleep in my own manor?” Xie Jin rubbed her brow and asked. “Forget it, forget it, what did I say?”
“You were still calling out the name ‘Jiyuan,’ you called it four or five times,” the attendant said carefully. “What did Your Highness dream of?”
Jiyuan…
Xie Jin suddenly felt that this name was a little familiar.
She frowned and went through all the names in her mind, but she couldn’t find anyone who matched.
Xie Jin waved her hand and ordered Xie Da to go to another room in another courtyard that was farther away to sleep. She herself, while thinking about the origin of this name, brewed some sleepiness.
However, no matter how she tossed and turned, sleepiness did not come.
The sound of the fifth watch clapper came from several courtyard walls away. She simply put on her clothes and got up to do her morning exercises in the courtyard.
As she was practicing, the dream of the first half of the night suddenly rushed into her mind.
She couldn’t remember those images no matter what before, but at this moment, they were flowing out—
She had dreamed of her late wife.
As for Jiyuan… in the dream, her late wife seemed to be called that.
Or rather…
The person called “Jiyuan” had the exact same face as her late wife.
