latelenovela Chapter 192 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (96)
Chapter 192 The Ruthless and Disabled Crown Prince (96)
Lu Liruan was beside him, wearing a thick fur cloak, but she was still shivering from the cold, and her ears and nose were red from the cold.
Seeing that Ji Shumin was still trying to pull down her clothes, Lu Liruan hurriedly took her hand out of her unbroken gloves and pressed it against his hand, only to be burned by his body heat. It was too hot.
When Lu Liruan's icy skin touched him, it felt like a double sensation of ice and fire; for a moment, Lu Liruan even felt a sharp pain in her fingertips.
"Ugh—" Feeling the coolness, Ji Shumin seemed unaware and suddenly grabbed Lu Liruan's hand to stop her from moving. He greedily pressed his face against hers and tried to rub Lu Liruan's sleeve up little by little to touch more of her skin.
"I'll just throw you in the snow..." Lu Liruan was a little sore from his pinch. At this moment, Ji Shumin was being reckless. His slender fingers were so strong that they sank into Lu Liruan's skin. Occasionally, when he loosened his grip, clear fingerprints would even remain on Lu Liruan's delicate and fair skin for a short time.
Upon hearing Lu Liruan's voice, Ji Shumin looked up in a daze in the direction of the sound, but his gaze was unfocused. After searching in vain, he focused his attention back on Lu Liruan's arm.
At this moment, he seemed to be controlled by instinct, and his inherent desire for control and possession was faintly revealed. He would not let go once he touched her. Lu Liruan tried to pull her hand back several times, but to no avail. Ji Shumin reacted exceptionally quickly and used even more force each time.
"It hurts!" Lu Liruan frowned as he pinched her for the last time, and had no choice but to give up, letting the person who had lost her mind cling to her hand like a small animal.
Fortunately, Ji Shumin's body temperature was very high, so Lu Liruan's hands did not feel cold at all. On the contrary, her hands, which had been stiff inside the gloves, gradually relaxed and her joints became flexible again.
"Are you in a lot of pain..." Lu Liruan leaned closer and could see that Ji Shumin's pale skin was flushed with a faint red, especially in the thinner areas like the corners of his eyes and cheeks. The flush was a color that Lu Liruan had never seen on Ji Shumin before.
He was always pale and somber, as if his skeleton had been sculpted by ice and snow, and his character woven from bamboo and wood.
But now, he seemed to be bursting with unprecedented vitality. If Lu Liruan hadn't known that he was just having an unusual reaction due to withdrawal, she would have thought he was healthy.
This reaction started yesterday morning. At first, Ji Shumin was just restless and irritable, and he smashed seven or eight teacups in the morning.
Even when Xiao Xizi came to clean up the wreckage, he trembled under the Third Prince's gaze, which was even more sinister than usual.
Then came the fever, but it was not the fever of an illness; it was a fever that seemed to come out of his skin and flesh.
Ji Shumin has always had a low body temperature; no matter the weather or season, his hands are always as cold as jade.
Lu Liruan didn't understand medicine, but based on her limited knowledge, she felt that the pills she had taken probably suppressed her body's movements, putting her bodily functions at their lowest level, and even preventing the tendons in her broken leg from growing normally, thus slowing down the spread of the poison.
Now that the suppression is gone, everything has suddenly burst forth, just like how he is gradually regaining sensation in his legs.
Lu Liruan wasn't too worried because the doctor who had come to see her said it was a good thing, proving that Ji Shumin's body still had the ability to recover. If he didn't have any reaction after taking several doses of detoxification medicine, then the poison would truly have penetrated to the bone marrow.
As his body temperature rose, he felt increasingly hot and his mind became increasingly unclear.
Lu Liruan tried to wipe his body with cold water or put an ice basin next to him, but nothing worked.
Finally, in desperation, Lu Liruan opened all the windows, making the room as cold as an icebox, which finally calmed him down a little.
But I suffered as a result.
Lu Liruan felt like she was turning into an ice sculpture. Qinghe asked Lu Liruan if she should go to another room for a while.
Lu Liruan couldn't stop worrying about Ji Shumin after a while. After going back and forth like this several times, Lu Liruan felt that her nose was stuffy and that the alternating hot and cold temperatures were making her catch a cold.
It would be better to stay here wearing thick clothes, barely moving like someone in hibernation.
Ji Shumin was also very cautious at this time, as if suspicion and vigilance about everything were ingrained in his bones, and no one could get close to him except Lu Liruan.
"You're going to drive me crazy..." Lu Liruan complained, but a faint sense of satisfaction rose in her heart, as if she had raised a fierce but unfriendly wild beast, and she treated it with care and attention.
Then he will only be close to you, and be wary of others as if he would bite their necks if they got close, but he will let you do whatever you want, and no matter how you treat him, he will lazily let you rub and get close to him.
Especially in these trivial matters that she was unaware of, Lu Liruan's heart softened. Even though Ji Shumin made her look ridiculous, she was still happy to accept it.
There were basically no secrets between Lu Liruan and Ji Shumin.
She has always been one to speak her mind and never keep things bottled up inside. She prides herself on being a good communicator, but Lu Liruan has never been honest with Ji Shumin about this idea.
Because I'm sorry.
Under Ji Shumin's gaze, Lu Liruan couldn't speak, but she felt that his beautiful, smiling eyes could see through her thoughts.
Needless to say.
Ji Shumin seemed to hear Lu Liruan's voice. He paused for a moment, then, like a cat, rubbed his cheek against her cool palm.
Lu Liruan touched his skin, and suddenly thought of something...
Evil comes from courage.
Lu Liruan reached out her hand to his disheveled collar, and then tentatively pressed it against his hot skin...
It's so warm!
Ji Shumin glanced at Lu Liruan with a confused look, then propped himself up and leaned towards her.
Lu Liruan found the most effective and comfortable way to keep warm.
Ji Shumin seemed to have found a way to cool down, holding Lu Liruan in his arms and slowly calming down.
His body temperature was too high, and Lu Liruan gradually became sleepy. Since Ji Shumin had been making a fuss last night, Lu Liruan hadn't slept much.
The benefits of pushing Ji Shumin out to bask in the sun every day have become apparent. Lu Liruan doesn't know if Ji Shumin's health has improved, but she herself has definitely become much stronger.
With the added advantage of her powerful superpower, Lu Liruan felt that she even had some muscle definition on her body...
Lost in thought, Ji Shumin couldn't talk to her to pass the long hours.
Lu Liruan felt increasingly sleepy as she thought about it, and Ji Shumin's warm body temperature wafted over her through several layers of thick clothing.
"I can't sleep, I'll definitely catch a cold if I do," Lu Liruan told herself.
As a result, at some unknown moment, I suddenly lost consciousness.
When she woke up again, Lu Liruan felt very warm.
Like a soft pile of cotton, Lu Liruan struggled to open her eyes. In her still unclear vision, a candle flame flickered.
The warm yellow light filled the space, and Lu Liruan's face felt slightly hot, as if she had been chilled and was now warm again.
"woke up?"
A soft sound came from beside me.
Before Lu Liruan could turn around, she was lightly kissed twice on the face. Ji Shumin often did this because he got up early.
But now, Lu Liruan suddenly regained her senses.
"Are you alright?" Lu Liruan asked anxiously as she turned around, her voice hoarse and strained.
"Hmm, all done..." Ji Shumin's still pale face, with its handsome features, had his beautiful eyes slightly narrowed, and a pitying smile playing on his lips: "Is Li Ruan feeling unwell?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Lu Liruan pulled him over, carefully looked him up and down, touched his forehead and neck, and felt his body temperature return to slightly cool. She breathed a long sigh of relief.
"With Li Ruan taking such good care of me, how could I dare not be good?" Ji Shumin ran his fingertips along Lu Li Ruan's hair, and seeing that her eyes were wide open, he couldn't help but touch her long eyelashes.
Lu Liruan tried to get away from him, but he pinned her down with half of his body.
"I never expected that Li Ruan would be such a good medicine for me. The symptoms that should have lasted for two days have cleared up so quickly," Ji Shumin said earnestly.
"Li Ruan is indeed my little bodhisattva." He lowered his head and tenderly pressed his forehead against Lu Li Ruan's, murmuring to himself.
Lu Liruan was completely charmed by him.
"You've made it through this time, and then..." Lu Liruan stopped mid-question. The old doctor had already said a few days ago that the road to detoxification would be fraught with difficulties and unpredictable.
After obtaining the elixir, Lu Liruan felt it was time to detoxify.
Although she didn't want that to happen, Lu Liruan thought to herself that if Ji Shumin really couldn't hold on, then she would let him continue taking the pills... If she had tried, at least she would accept her fate.
But this cannot be said to Ji Shumin.
Lu Liruan always said that he would definitely pull through. Even when Ji Shumin casually said something unlucky, Lu Liruan would hit him three times to ward off bad luck.
At first, Ji Shumin always joked and mocked her, asking how she could believe such a thing. But then one time, he saw a fleeting glimpse of tears in Lu Liruan's eyes, tears she couldn't hide.
He then stopped talking about it.
He Pingyan, who had not been seen for a long time, appeared a few days ago. Accompanying him was an old man who, although dressed in the clothing of the current dynasty, had a distinctly foreign appearance.
He speaks fluent Mandarin.
"I've brought the person back." He Pingyan bowed to Ji Shumin, then said solemnly, "Does Your Highness truly intend to do this?"
Ji Shumin glanced at him, as if blaming him for being talkative.
The old man spoke softly from the side: "If we don't do this, are we just going to wait to die?" After entering the room, his gaze swept over Ji Shumin.
"Who is this?" Lu Liruan didn't understand why He Pingyan had brought him here.
"I am a doctor." The old man glanced at Lu Liruan.
"You look good," he complimented.
"Hmm," Ji Shumin responded first.
"Don't worry, even if you're husband and wife, you can't pass this poison on to her, so what are you worried about?" The old man nodded casually.
Lu Liruan: ...
Something sounds strange.
He didn't say much, but went straight to the point. After feeling Ji Shumin's pulse, he pinched and examined several places on his body.
"It's been well suppressed over the years, at least the best I've ever seen." The old doctor tapped Ji Shumin's leg bone.
"He has a strong will."
Lu Liruan raised an eyebrow, finding it a bit amazing. How could this old doctor determine a person's personality through their pulse?
Noticing Lu Liruan's curiosity, he explained, "Being sickly and weak all year round is the most torturous thing. Most people like him would have lost their willpower long ago and given up. The fact that he can keep going and never give up must be due to his strong willpower."
Lu Liruan thought to herself, "That's definitely the case."
The old man was very perceptive.
"Are you here to detoxify His Highness? You don't seem to be from here." Lu Liruan smiled, poured the old doctor a cup of tea, and invited him to take a seat.
The old doctor readily accepted: "I suppose so. I've also come here seeking the Third Prince's protection." The old doctor was very frank.
His voice was booming and resonant, full of confidence, and his complexion was ruddy; you would never guess he was a refugee.
"I was originally a doctor from the Western Rong." The old doctor touched his face. Upon closer inspection, his eyes were a dark gray with black pupils.
"My family members were captured by me and forced to treat my illness," Ji Shumin's calm voice rang out from the side.
The old doctor's expression stiffened for a moment, then he waved his hand with a righteous air: "Oh? Your Highness, please don't flatter me. I should thank Your Highness and General He for saving my family's lives!"
Lu Liruan glanced at the three people with different expressions and sensed that there was something going on, so she waited quietly for him to continue.
The old doctor glanced at He Pingyan and found that the young general had a stern face and didn't seem to care about him at all.
After a trip to the border, his skin was tanned even darker by the wind and sand, making him appear tall, dignified, and even more imposing.
Ji Shumin glanced at him indifferently, indicating that he should answer whatever Lu Liruan asked.
As the old doctor carefully examined Ji Shumin and spoke, Lu Liruan understood what had happened.
The old doctor was from the western border region and possessed excellent medical skills.
When he was treating patients, he happened to see a cavalryman and was taken back to the army to work as a doctor.
Wherever he was, it didn't matter. When the old doctor was serving as a doctor in the army, it was during the time when the Western Rong were victorious, so he didn't have to suffer repeated defeats and flee everywhere.
So life went quite well; he got married and had children.
Because they lived on the border, they had some interactions with people from the opposing side's border, but later lost contact due to another war.
The old doctor's specialty was the herbal medicine that he burned and smoked to numb people's nerves.
He treated the eldest prince of the Western Rong at the time, and later, when he was fleeing, he ended up in the place where He Pingyan was guarding, where he exchanged herbal prescriptions for a peaceful life.
He lived on the border with his wife and children for several years. He never harmed anyone, was skilled in diagnosis, and got along very well with the people on the border.
The daughters all got married here.
It was at that time that he was secretly brought before Ji Shumin, and he prescribed a formula for Ji Shumin to take, which could reduce the toxicity of the elixir, but did not detoxify Ji Shumin.
He had ulterior motives; after all, his family were from the Western Rong region, and keeping Ji Shumin alive would ensure the safety of his entire family.
Later, another battle broke out, and he was captured and taken back to Xirong. The Xirong cavalrymen he had saved back then still remembered his excellent medical skills and captured him to curry favor with the fourth prince, the then commander of Xirong.
The fourth prince of the Western Rong was tyrannical and licentious. Despite being healthy, he insisted that an old doctor prepare medicine to strengthen his body. Even on the eve of going to the battlefield, he sought pleasure every night and killed more often in the military camp than he killed chickens.