Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist

Cuddling with the Cold Female Protagonist – Chapter 60

by Little Panda

Volume 3: Courtly Winds and Clouds, Each Finds Their Place

Hope Miss Su Will Cherish the One Before Her¹

Ji Qingchi carried Su Yi to the nearest medical hall. Even though it was the fifteenth of the first lunar month², a time for happy family reunions³, there were surprisingly quite a few people at the medical hall.

There was only one doctor and her young apprentice bustling about, clearly overwhelmed. After hearing Ji Qingchi’s description, the doctor tossed her a bottle of medicinal wine⁴ for bruises and sprains, saying, “It’s nothing serious. Just take it back and rub it in yourself.”

Ji Qingchi wasn’t entirely reassured. She bought some other medicines beneficial for bruise recovery and some tonics⁵ before leaving the medical hall.

It was still some distance from the Su Manor. Su Yi, nestled in her arms, was pale from the pain. By the time they got back to the Su Manor to apply the medicine, she would probably have fainted already.

Ji Qingchi took the medicinal wine and found an inn near the medical hall. She requested a room and brought Su Yi inside.

As soon as they entered, she asked the attendant⁶ to bring a basin of hot water. After giving the instruction, she moved to undo Su Yi’s clothes.

Although Su Yi was mostly numb from the pain, she still had feeling. Seeing Ji Qingchi approach, she quickly covered herself, her eyes filled with panic. “What does Your Highness intend to do?”

Could it be that after her confession failed, she was going to force herself on her?⁷ Help! Her innocence!

Seeing her posture, Ji Qingchi knew she had gotten the wrong idea⁸.

Feeling like she was being treated as a villain, she felt quite wronged and waved her hand. “This Palace is not that kind of person. The doctor said the medicinal wine needs to be applied. If Miss Su could do it herself, This Palace wouldn’t have to go to the trouble.”

With that, she made a “please proceed” gesture towards Su Yi.

Su Yi blinked her eyes rapidly and lowered her hands. “This commoner was overthinking. I’ll have to trouble Your Highness then.”

“This Palace originally intended to help Miss Su for free, but This Palace has changed her mind.” Ji Qingchi sat down composedly, looking at her with a smile. “If you want This Palace’s help, what benefits will Miss Su offer This Palace?”

Ji Qingchi had changed! She was no longer the previous Ji Qingchi who was an easy mark giving her things for free!

Su Yi was grief-stricken⁹. “Your Highness, you weren’t like this before!”

“This Palace thinks this is quite good.” Seeing Su Yi looking flustered, Ji Qingchi was very satisfied, the smile almost overflowing from her eyes. She deliberately pointed to her heart and said, “This Palace was just rejected by Miss Su and feels terrible. If you want This Palace’s help, Miss Su must offer some benefit to make This Palace feel less terrible, right?”

“Then what does Your Highness want?”

Now that things were out in the open, there were fewer reservations. Ji Qingchi gave her a meaningful smile. “Why don’t Miss Su take a guess?”

Damn it, bring back the old proper and serious Ji Qingchi!

Su Yi trembled, hugging herself tighter. “My head can roll, my blood can flow, but this commoner is a respectable person and won’t do things like selling my body¹⁰! Your Highness, just give this commoner the medicinal wine, this commoner will apply it herself!”

“Calling yourself ‘commoner’ this and ‘commoner’ that is too distant.” Ji Qingchi first expressed dissatisfaction with the address. “This self-address needs to change.”

Thank goodness it wasn’t demanding some physical price.

Su Yi breathed a sigh of relief. “This, I can promise Your Highness. I’ll just refer to myself as ‘I’ from now on.”

“Second point, although Miss Su and her Fulang shared a ‘deep marital affection’,” she deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of “deep marital affection.”

“After all, Miss Su’s Fulang has already passed away. I hope Miss Su can gather her feelings and cherish the one before her, for example, This Palace. This Palace will not force you, but This Palace hopes Miss Su can give This Palace a chance, just one chance.” Emphasizing the pronunciation of “passed away” again, Ji Qingchi looked into her eyes and said to her, word by word, “This Palace truly loves Miss Su. I hope Miss Su can understand.”

Su Yi protested, “Wait a minute, why does Your Highness get to politely call me Miss Su, Miss Su?”

Ji Qingchi hadn’t expected that after her lengthy confession, Su Yi’s focus would actually be on this point. She choked for a moment, then smiled helplessly at her. “This Palace would love to call Miss Su ‘Qingqing’¹¹. If Miss Su is willing, then This Palace has no objection.”

Su Yi was immediately grossed out by the cheesiness¹². “Forget it then, Your Highness should just call me by the original address.”

Ji Qingchi smiled. “The two conditions This Palace just mentioned, does Miss Su agree?”

The first condition was naturally acceptable, but as for the second…

Su Yi lifted her head, her expression turning serious. “The person who will accompany me until old age must love me deeply, prioritize me in all matters, be devoted to me everywhere, and absolutely must not have a divided heart.”

“Hmm…”

Su Yi actually lacked a sense of security. Ever since her younger brother was born, her parents had focused most of their energy on him, raising her in a hands-off manner. At most, they provided money to raise her, but the instances of warm inquiries about her well-being were rarer than water in the desert.

She was used to being alone, used to being strong, drifting alone outside. Over time, she slowly forgot the feeling of being cared for, of being loved. To outsiders, she seemed carefree, but deep down, she still longed to be loved.

But she was definitely not someone who would settle. If her other half couldn’t love her deeply, remaining true until death, she would rather never have had it at all.

Ji Qingchi would have an imperial harem in the future. How could she manage to love only her deeply?

Originally, Su Yi had stated these conditions hoping to make her back down out of difficulty. Unexpectedly, after hearing them, Ji Qingchi merely chuckled lightly. “Is that all? This Palace agrees.”

Su Yi froze for a moment. “Your Highness, perhaps… think about it again?”

Ji Qingchi seriously raised her hand to swear an oath. “Although Mother Emperor has three husbands and four consorts, This Palace can tell you, This Palace will only love you alone in this lifetime. Otherwise, may heaven and earth destroy me.”

It was precisely because her Mother Emperor had too many men that her father and younger sister hadn’t survived. From the day they died, she had sworn in her heart that she would absolutely not be like her Mother Emperor in this life. She would only be good to one person, and she would only marry one person.

She didn’t need to carry on the family line. Even if her heart was vast, it could only hold the empire¹³ of Yanxue Kingdom and Su Yi.

“This Palace has agreed. What about Miss Su?”

Su Yi was stunned by her resolute manner. It took her a while to come back to her senses. “Alright then, I also agree… to consider Your Highness.”

It was just giving her a chance, not necessarily saying she would definitely be with her. Just a sentence, it wasn’t a big deal.

“Good, it’s a deal.” Even though Su Yi hadn’t said she liked her, only that she would consider her when choosing a lover, Ji Qingchi was very happy. “Miss Su, please remove the clothing from your left shoulder. This Palace will help Miss Su rub in the medicinal wine.”

After such a long conversation¹⁴, Su Yi had almost forgotten about the pain in her shoulder.

Only when Ji Qingchi mentioned it did she remember, and the pain in her left shoulder immediately contorted her expression. “I’m afraid I can’t take it off myself.”

“Then don’t move carelessly. This Palace will help you.” Ji Qingchi stepped forward, carefully avoiding her left shoulder, and gathered her into her embrace. She removed the clothing from her left shoulder. A look revealed a large patch of bruising, as expected. The entire shoulder was bluish-purple, appearing particularly frightening against the adjacent snow-white skin.

Ji Qingchi felt the pain as if it were her own. She picked up the medicinal wine and used her Neili¹⁵ to massage it in for her. Su Yi was in so much pain that she couldn’t help but bury herself completely in Ji Qingchi’s embrace.

To distract her, Ji Qingchi spoke to her, “How did you get injured so severely? Those people earlier didn’t bump into you that hard, did they?”

She was referring to when Su Yi got bumped while watching the fireworks. Su Yi denied it, saying, “It wasn’t from that time.”

She then recounted what happened before the lantern stall, sighing, “That woman… she’s too pitiful.”

“Disfigured, and her tongue removed…” It was a case of trying too hard to hide something¹⁶. Hearing these words, Ji Qingchi immediately thought that woman must hold some hidden secret, otherwise she wouldn’t have been treated like this.

“Where is that woman now?”

“I had the guards escort her back to the manor.”

“Tomorrow, I will go with Miss Su to the manor to take a look.”

Su Yi was puzzled. “Tomorrow? It’s not that late yet, we can still make it back to the manor, right?”

“Miss Su is injured so severely, returning to the manor might worsen the injury.” Actually, she just wanted to spend more time with Su Yi, so she was telling a bald-faced lie¹⁷. “Let’s just make do at this inn for tonight.”

Su Yi felt she had a point and nodded. “Okay.”

Ji Qingchi rubbed the medicinal wine for her, brewed the tonics for her, and had the attendant buy more nourishing foods, only feeling relieved after watching Su Yi consume everything in one go.

Su Yi sat on the bed, sticking out her tongue from the bitterness. “It’s just a shoulder injury, there’s no need to make such a big fuss¹⁸, right?”

“Miss Su’s body is weak, you need to recuperate properly.”

As Ji Qingchi spoke, she opened the door, intending to take the medicine pot out. “This Palace will go out and return the pot to the attendant—”

Before she finished speaking, she saw the female attendant from outside leading two women towards their room. She quickly shut the door again.

Su Yi jumped at the sound of the door closing. “What did Your Highness see?”

Ji Qingchi frowned. “Third Imperial Sister and a woman.”

Before she went looking for Su Yi, her other imperial sisters had already grown tired of strolling and said they would each head home. Only the Third Princess had said she wanted to go to the bookstore alone.

After they had all gone their separate ways, she had gone to find Su Yi. The other sisters should have returned to the palace. But didn’t Third Imperial Sister say she was going to the bookstore? Why would she appear here?

Moreover, the woman with her was the same one the Third Princess had brought back before, seemingly a maidservant named Chen Bi¹⁹.

Su Yi didn’t understand. “The Third Princess isn’t that scary, is she?”

“Shh.” Ji Qingchi made a silencing gesture at her, listening intently to the sounds outside.

“Esteemed guests, our inn is the quietest within tens of miles²⁰, no riffraff²¹ will disturb you.” The female attendant led the two upstairs, enthusiastically promoting the inn, then pushed open the door to the room next to theirs. “This room is quite large too, and the furnishings inside are all good quality. Rest assured, esteemed guests.”

“Your Highness, I like it here. Let’s stay here tonight, shall we?” This voice was unfamiliar; it should be the woman named Chen Bi.

Next came the Third Princess’s voice. “Alright. Thank you. Here’s one tael of silver²², take it and buy yourself some wine.”

“Thank you, esteemed guest, thank you, esteemed guest! Please rest well, you two. This humble one will head down now.” The sound of tapping footsteps followed, likely the attendant heading downstairs gleefully.

Only two people remained in the room next door. Ji Qingchi hesitated, wondering whether to go over and greet her Third Sister, when a “Clang” sound came from next door.

Ji Qingchi’s heart jumped. Just as she was about to open the door and go next door to check the situation, waves of sounds started coming from the adjacent room.

The female attendant, in her enthusiastic introduction earlier, had forgotten to mention one thing: while the inn was great in every other aspect, it had one flaw – it wasn’t soundproof.

Su Yi’s eyes widened. “Third… Third Princess and the others… what are they doing?”

Ji Qingchi put down the medicine pot she was holding, looked at her, and smiled. “What do you think?”

Su Yi immediately hugged herself tightly, a blush rising on her face.

Good heavens, hearing a live version, how exciting! The Third Princess looked so refined and gentle, who knew she played so rough?

The sounds from next door rose, wave after wave. Su Yi listened and felt something wasn’t quite right. “Why doesn’t the voice sound like the Third Princess? It seems to be mostly the woman who came with the Third Princess crying out?”

Ji Qingchi had no experience either, how would she know? She hesitated, “Maybe… the one doing the work doesn’t make noise?”

Su Yi shut her mouth, hugging herself even tighter. Whimper, whimper, she was so scared! The female lead was even more of an old hand²³ than her, a modern person! She regretted agreeing to her conditions earlier. Two lone women sharing a room… what if the female lead got worked up and couldn’t resist pouncing on her!

She was injured; Ji Qingchi wasn’t that much of a beast²⁴. After listening for a while, she found it extremely boring—that maidservant’s cries weren’t as pleasant as Su Yi’s—so she gave up the idea of eavesdropping. “Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s sleep.”

Su Yi crossed her arms over her chest, extremely wary. “Sleep what?”

Sleep what, how to sleep, could you please be clearer!

Ji Qingchi knew she had gotten the wrong idea again. Wanting to tease her, she smiled, and just as she was about to speak, the sounds from next door stopped.

Su Yi pricked up her little ears and heard it. She clicked her tongue with some sympathy. “Looks like the Third Princess’s stamina isn’t great. Tsk tsk tsk, rather lacking.”

The sympathy and schadenfreude²⁵ in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

Ji Qingchi suddenly felt it necessary to start exercising daily from now on.

While her thoughts were running wild, the sound of a window opening came from next door, followed shortly by someone speaking.

“Young Master.” It was Chen Bi’s voice.

“How are you progressing?” It was an unfamiliar male voice!

Ji Qingchi and Su Yi looked at each other, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.

This maidservant of the Third Princess was definitely not simple!

Footnotes

怜取眼前人 | lián qǔ yǎnqián rén | Lit. “cherish the person before your eyes”; A line often implying one should move on from the past and value the person currently present/showing affection.
正月十五 | zhēngyuè shíwǔ | The Lantern Festival, typically a time for family reunion.
阖家欢乐 | hé jiā huānlè | Lit. “whole family happy and joyous”; A common phrase for festive family gatherings.
药酒 | yàojiǔ | Alcohol infused with medicinal herbs, often used externally for bruises and sprains or consumed for health benefits.
补药 | bǔyào | Tonics or supplements in Traditional Chinese Medicine, meant to nourish the body and replenish deficiencies.
小二 | xiǎo’èr | A traditional term for a waiter or attendant in an inn or shop.
霸王硬上弓 | bàwáng yìng shàng gōng | Lit. “Overlord forcibly draws the bow”; An idiom meaning to force oneself on someone, often implying sexual assault.
想歪了 | xiǎng wāi le | Lit. “thought crookedly”; To misunderstand someone’s intentions, often assuming something improper or lewd.
痛心疾首 | tòngxīn jíshǒu | Lit. “heart aches, head sick”; Deeply grieved and distressed.
卖色相 | mài sèxiàng | Lit. “selling color/looks”; To use one’s physical attractiveness for gain, often implying prostitution or seduction.
卿卿 | qīngqīng | An intimate term of endearment, similar to “darling” or “dear.”
肉麻 | ròumá | Lit. “flesh numb”; Describes something overly sentimental, cheesy, or cringe-inducing.
江山 | jiāngshān | Lit. “rivers and mountains”; Metaphor for the nation or empire.
说了一箩筐 | shuō le yī luókuāng | Lit. “said a basketful”; Talked a lot.
内力 | nèilì | Internal force/energy; A common concept in Wuxia and Xianxia genres, referring to cultivated vital energy used for martial arts and other feats.
欲盖弥彰 | yù gài mí zhāng | Lit. “wanting to cover up makes it more conspicuous”; The more one tries to hide something, the more obvious it becomes.
睁着眼说瞎话 | zhēng zhe yǎn shuō xiāhuà | Lit. “to speak blind words with eyes open”; To tell a blatant lie without batting an eyelid.
大张旗鼓 | dà zhāng qí gǔ | Lit. “unfurl flags and beat drums”; To do something with great fanfare or publicity; To make a big deal out of something.
沉壁 | Chén Bì
方圆百里 | fāngyuán bǎilǐ | Lit. “square circle hundred li”; Within a radius of 100 li. A ‘li’ (里) is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, approx. 500 meters or 0.3 miles. So, within about 30 miles.
闲杂人等 | xiánzá rén děng | Idle and miscellaneous people; Undesirable elements, riffraff.
一两银子 | yī liǎng yínzi | One tael of silver. The ‘tael’ (两 | liǎng) was a traditional Chinese unit of weight and currency, varying historically but often around 37.5 grams.
老司机 | lǎosījī | Lit. “old driver”; Internet slang for someone experienced, especially in worldly matters, suggestive topics, or specific hobbies.
禽兽 | qínshòu | Lit. “birds and beasts”; Animal, beast. Used as a strong insult implying someone is inhuman or acts without morals.
幸灾乐祸 | xìng zāi lè huò | To take joy in calamity and delight in disaster; Gloating over others’ misfortune.

Volume 3: Courtly Winds and Clouds, Each Finds Their Place

Footnotes

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