Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 12

Treating an Injury

Su Yi had barely begun to show signs of recovery when she acted rashly and twisted her waist again.

Before anyone could react, she began falling backward.

            

Ji Qingchi finally finished her last sip of tea and, before Su Yi could make intimate contact with the ground, quickly stepped forward to catch her willow-like waist.

Su Yi’s face contorted as she called out, “fulang…”

Ahhhh, it hurt so much – the female protagonist was pressing right where she had twisted her waist!

            

Ji Qingchi, acting as if unaware of the waist injury, held her concernedly while looking her up and down, “What’s wrong, Wife Master?”

Enough already, stop pulling at my waist!

“I…” Su Yi said with tears welling up, “My waist hurts. I must have twisted it just now.”

            

“Oh my!” Ji Qingchi put on a startled expression, quickly shifting to hold her shoulders instead, then after some thought, changed to a princess carry position, “How about now, does Wife Master still hurt?”

Who would have thought that her first princess carry would come from a character in a book, at this age.

Su Yi felt her waist pain fade away as her cheeks turned red, and she shook her head, “It doesn’t hurt.”

            

“Then let this slave escort Wife Master back to her chambers.” Worried that her injury might worsen, Ji Qingchi quickly carried her back to her room.

Yanshen and Gancao hurriedly followed with the doctor. After examining Su Yi’s waist injury, the doctor took out a bottle of medicinal wine and said, “Young Miss Su’s injury isn’t severe. With daily massage using this medicinal wine, it should heal within seven days.”

Gancao quickly took the medicinal wine, intending to apply it to Su Yi, but seeing this, the elderly doctor shook her head and said, “No, no, this requires someone skilled in muscle and bone manipulation.”

            

Gancao was completely puzzled, “Doctor, I have extraordinary strength, wouldn’t that count as being skilled in muscle manipulation?”

The doctor shook her head, “This old woman speaks of technique, not strength.”

After being carried to the bed, Su Yi felt that tearing pain return. She lay prone at the headboard, enduring the pain while groaning, “May I ask, doctor, what about the martial escorts?”

            

“Well… they are rather unrefined people…”

The elderly doctor was quite troubled. Su Yi had a delicate constitution, and while those people from the martial arts hall dealt with injuries daily and certainly knew techniques for blood circulation massage, she feared these rough individuals might accidentally press too hard and worsen Su Yi’s injury.

However, if someone without proper massage techniques were to do it, the medicinal wine wouldn’t properly penetrate the skin. Given Su Yi’s fragile body, forget seven days – it wouldn’t heal even in a month.

            

In this difficult moment, the marriage-blessing consort who had carried the Su family’s young miss earlier gently covered his face and said softly, “Let this humble one do it.”

The elderly doctor observed that although he wasn’t tall and mighty, his limbs were long and graceful, and asked curiously, “Does the young master know blood circulation massage techniques?”

“This humble one grew up poor and often massaged my sisters who worked outside,” the refined consort smiled shyly, “So I know a bit.”

            

“That’s wonderful!”

The elderly doctor nodded, thinking this marriage-blessing consort of the Su family was quite good – strong, knowledgeable about medicine, and most importantly, properly devoted to his wife and virtuous.

Su Yi heard Ji Qingchi volunteer to massage her, and her mind felt like it had been blown apart, unable to process it.

            

What if the female protagonist decided to be rough with her?

But then again, she hadn’t wronged the female protagonist in any way, so surely she wouldn’t harm her, right?

But what if she just didn’t like her and decided to torment her on purpose?

            

While she was lost in these thoughts, Yanshen had already led the other maids away and closed the door.

Ji Qingchi sat on the edge of the bed, holding the medicinal wine, and softly chuckled, “Wife Master need not be afraid, this slave will be gentle.”

It would have been better if she hadn’t said anything – her words only made Su Yi more nervous. Her jade-white toes curled as she buried her head in the pillow, trying to hide her inner trembling, “Then… I’ll trouble fulang.”

            

Ji Qingchi carefully helped her remove her outer garments, layer by layer, until only a plain-colored dudou [肚兜 | dǔ dōu | traditional Chinese undergarment] embroidered with longevity peaches remained.

Her snow-white back was exposed, with the dudou’s strings tied only at her swan-like neck and the small of her back.

At her delicate waist dimple, there was a ghastly bruise, standing in stark contrast to the surrounding pristine skin, making one’s heart ache to see it.

            

Ji Qingchi, having never seen anyone else’s body besides her own, was momentarily dazzled by the expanse of fair skin before her. Holding the medicinal wine, she found herself unsure how to proceed.

(300 words omitted due to platform restrictions) [LP: We would have had spicy content here!]

Ji Qingchi smiled playfully, thinking how this Su family’s young miss was quite unlike the strong-willed women of the Yanxue Kingdom, even more delicate than the pampered imperial consorts.

            

Noticing her lack of response and understanding her embarrassment, Ji Qingchi pretended not to notice her reactions and continued the massage.

Su Yi immediately let out a series of discordant sounds.

Forget about Ji Qingchi – even Su Yi herself wanted to find a crack in the ground to bury herself in.

            

What kind of sounds were those! Was her body really that sensitive?!

Ji Qingchi watched as the person beneath her hands turned completely red and hot like a steamed crab, both in temperature and color. With laughing eyes, she deliberately asked in a soft voice, “Wife Master, this slave doesn’t know if the pressure is right – is it comfortable?”

How was she supposed to answer that?!

            

Should she say it was fine when she was practically ascending to heaven?

No! This wasn’t in line with contemporary civilized and harmonious values!

She held her breath, pretending to be asleep, burying her face deeper into the pillow without answering.

            

Ji Qingchi could tell from her slightly trembling body that she wasn’t really asleep, and so drawled lazily, “Wife Master, this is this slave’s first time serving someone. If Wife Master is uncomfortable, please tell this slave, and I will practice diligently to improve my technique.”

No, this kind of technique would be censored! It would be banned! No need for improvement, thank you!

Su Yi endured both mental and physical torment in the room.

            

The Su family head returned from inspecting the shops and, hearing that Su Yi had twisted her waist, hurriedly went to her daughter’s courtyard.

Just as she approached the door, she saw many people standing outside – several serving maids were blushing furiously, and even Steward Ge and the elderly doctor had reddened faces.

She was completely bewildered – it wasn’t even summer yet, had these people eaten ginger or something? Why were their faces so red?

            

Puzzled, she stepped a bit closer.

Then she heard her precious daughter’s voice.

“Mmm…”

            

“Hnn…”

The family head’s aged face reddened as she awkwardly approached the door and gave a light cough.

The people by the door saw her and quickly bowed their heads, “Family Head.”

            

“Young Miss… what is going on in there?”

Su Yi was frail, and there hadn’t been any activity on their wedding night, surely she wouldn’t dare to do such things in broad daylight just because she was feeling a bit better – though if it were true, it wouldn’t be bad, as she could soon have a granddaughter.

Steward Ge quickly explained the situation.

            

“Oh, it seems Yi’er is hurt quite badly…” the family head was both disappointed and worried, “Otherwise she wouldn’t be making such sounds.”

The bystanders exchanged glances.

Generally speaking, those weren’t the kinds of sounds one made when in pain, were they?

            

But never mind, if the family head said so, then that must be how it was.

Ji Qingchi was someone who kept her word – when she said she would practice her technique, she meant it.

So on the first day, her technique only made Su Yi slightly comfortable; on the second day, it left her not wanting to leave her bed; on the third day, it left her fingers numb; on the fourth day… by the seventh day, her soul had practically left her body.

            

After enduring seven days of such torment, Su Yi’s injury finally healed.

Su Yi looked much more radiant than before, leading the Su mansion’s people to praise Ji Qingchi’s excellent technique and how attentively he cared for the young miss.

Yanshen pushed Su Yi’s wheelchair through the garden while eloquently praising Ji Qingchi behind her, “Young Miss, the Lord is truly amazing. Young Miss, your complexion is so much better than before.”

            

“Is that so?” After seven days of torment, Su Yi felt she had completely lost face in front of the female protagonist, her heart as cold as if she’d been killing fish at RT-Mart for ten years.

Her dignity was gone forever.

She never imagined this body would be so sensitive, gasping at the slightest touch, as if it had been thoroughly trained.

            

Heaven have mercy! She was truly a pure and innocent maiden!

Including her previous life of being forever alone, she had been single for nearly forty years aaaah, her dignity aaaah.

Even the waters of West Lake couldn’t match her tears now.

            

Ji Qingchi acted as if she didn’t know her Wife Master was someone who turned to putty at the slightest touch, pretending nothing had happened.

Don’t ask – if asked again, she would say her Wife Master was a formidable woman who could hold up the sky, the world-shaking kind.

After this injury, Su Yi learned her lesson and no longer stubbornly tried to learn fitness techniques from the martial escorts.

            

She returned to her previous lifestyle, being wheeled around in her wheelchair.

However, the martial escorts she had invited weren’t wasted – she had them train Ye Shui instead.

Ye Shui had been uneasy since being brought to the Su family, feeling useless as she couldn’t do any work, eating and drinking for free. Seeing her nearly becoming depressed, Su Yi remembered that she would later become Ji Qingchi’s guard. Since she would be a guard, she needed to know martial arts, so Su Yi had her learn from the martial escorts.

            

The Su family servants thought this was too generous to her, but Su Yi didn’t mind – a favor was a favor, regardless of who received it.

Ji Qingchi hadn’t expected her to be so generous and open-minded, though considering the Su family’s principles, it wasn’t surprising they had raised such a daughter.

Days passed with Su Yi recuperating while eating and drinking, and Ji Qingchi taking every opportunity to demonstrate her virtue and good character.

            

Half a month later.

The Su family head finally prepared the birthday gifts for grandmother, and after settling matters at both the shops and mansion, led them toward the capital.

Su Yi previously could only ride in a sedan chair, but as her health improved, riding in a carriage became suitable. The family head arranged for four luxurious carriages to transport them on their journey.

            

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LP: So, the previous chapter is heavily unedited and left it as is, but I’ll make sure to edit it some time later… maybe

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