-虞襄(yú xiāng)- Yu Xiang, the female lead
-虞品言(yú pǐn yán)- Yu Pin Yan, the male lead
-老太太(lǎotàitai)- Old Madam
-虞妙琪(yú miào qí)- Yu Miao Qi, the novel original FL and YPY’s biological sister
-苦慧大師 (Kǔ huì dàshī) – Great Master Ku Hui
-苦慧(Kǔ huì)-Ku Hui, referring to Great Master Ku Hui
Ku Hui cleansed his palms with strong alcohol, but he noticed that Yu Pin Yan also immersed his hands into the alcohol jar with an extremely frosty expression.
“Benefactor Yu, you are…” He had thought that as a relative, Commander Yu would never be able to lay a hand on her.
“I’ll do it, you can just guide me from the side.” It was a matter of his younger sister’s life. Even though his heart was thumping wildly, his blood was flowing backwards, and even his fingertips were beginning to tremble, he would not leave his sister’s safety in the hands of an outsider.
Ku Hui complied and retreated to the side, pointing to the location of the scar and said, “Break the bones from here. Remember that the more levelled the break, the better..”
Yu Pin Yan nodded his head. He secretly took a deep breath, and then he stretched his hands forward, kneaded and twisted it, only to hear two ‘kacha’ sounds. The bones were broken. Ku Hui immediately went forward to examine with his fingers. The fracture was neat and tidy, as if it had been cut by a sharp blade and it was an incredibly subtle strength and incisive technique.
“Good, very good. Now I will connect the bones that have grown misaligned in Benefactor Yu Xiang and apply the bone-healing cream, and she will be able to stand up in two or three months.” Ku Hui quickly reattached the bones and then applied the blackish herbal paste to Yu Xiang’s slightly red and swollen kneecap.
Yu Pinyan slowly walked out of the hall and exhaled a misty breath into the gloomy sky. His hands had been tainted with so much blood, yet this was the first time he was grateful that he was so skilled at killing techniques. At least he was able to minimize his sister’s pain by doing it.
When the Old Madam saw him come out, she hastened to inquire, “How is it, are the bones connected?”
”It’s connected.” Not long after Yu Pin Yan finished his sentence, he felt his own kneecaps ache violently as well. It was not because of yesterday’s kowtow, but because he felt the same pain as his sister. If he could, he would wish he could take her place on her behalf.
“Amitābha. With the blessing of the Buddha, Xiang’er will surely be healed, she has great fortunes!” The Old Madam kept praying to Buddha with her palms together.
After applying the medicine, Ku Hui agreed to come back in three days to change the medicine, and then left. Yu Xiang did not wake up until midnight, and when she opened her eyes, she saw her elder brother lying beside her, his eyes were slightly bloodshot.
“Elder Brother, you’ve been keeping watch over me all day?” Yu Xiang reached out to touch his cheek, but as the medicine wore off, her legs were in excruciating pain, causing her to wince.
Yu Pin Yan hurriedly held onto her cold fingertips, his tone was filled with anxiety, “What’s wrong, Xiang’er? Is it starting to hurt? Wait, Great Master Ku Hui left a few pills to relieve the pain, I’ll go get them now.”
“Don’t, let it hurt.” Yu Xiang tugged his sleeve and forced a smile, “It’s good that it hurts! It’s been five years. It finally has a sensation again, and I want to experience it properly.”
Yu Pin Yan’s eyes revealed sorrowful and sympathy as he slowly lay back down beside her, wiping away the fine cold sweat on her forehead and rubbing her little head into his arms with a silent sigh.
Yu Xiang rubbed his warm chest fondly, then lifted her head and pointed to her pale lips, pleading in earnest, “If you kiss and hug me, I won’t be in pain anymore.”
Yu Pinyan’s gaze deepened and darkened. Bit by bit, he slowly lowered his head. First, he moisten her dry lips with the tip of his tongue, then prying open her snow-white shellfish teeth, inch by inch, gently sucking ……
Yu Xiang was very dissatisfied with his meek movements, and her small hand held down the back of his head, desperately trying to suck the bodily fluid from his mouth, as if she wanted to swallow him whole. Yu Pin Yan was unable to resist her slick tongue and kept changing angles in response to her fierce rhythm.
After the kiss, Yu Pin Yan breathed heavily and asked, “Why are you desperately eating my saliva? Are you thirsty?”
Yu Xiang licked her scarlet lips with insatiable satisfaction and her tone was coquettish, “That’s not saliva, it’s my miracle medicine. Eating it can make me forget the pain for a while.” She knitted her brows. She added after some thought, “At least it can make me forget about the pain for a quarter of an hour.”
Yu Pin Yan couldn’t help but stroke her little head into his arms and sighed, “Little girl, you’re the only one with a lot of tricks. Does it really not hurt anymore?”
“It really doesn’t hurt anymore.” Yu Xiang wrapped her arms around his strong and thin waist and spoke gently.
A quarter of an hour later she began to squirm again, pouting her red lips and begging, “Kiss me now, I’m in pain.”
Yu Pin Yan hurriedly lowered his head for a kiss, and only after a long time did he reluctantly part. After much repetition, Yu Xiang fell asleep amidst the excruciating pain. Her face was serene and beautiful, as if even the greatest suffering was nothing to her.
Yu Pin Yan gently stroked her hair and chuckled. This was his little girl, his little sweetheart, his little sapling, who could turn the bitterness of life into sweetness no matter how difficult the situation was, immersing herself and soothing others.
He reverently planted a kiss on her forehead and together they fell into a deep slumber.
After two months of removing the dried and caked herbal paste, Yu Xiang was able to walk a bit with the support of her arms.
“Practise more in the future, and you will slowly be able to walk. This poor monk will write a list of items to be exercised according to every day, you must not be lazy or greedy.” Ku Hui exhorted earnestly as he held onto the brush and wrote.
Yu Xiang nodded his head, and Yu Pin Yan took the list and put it away carefully.
Since then, the Yu manor has been bustling with noise and excitement. Every day, one can hear the screams of pleasant surprise or shock from Tao Hong and Liu Lu. Every day, Yu Pin Yan took a shichen (two hours) to exercise with his sister, gradually developing from the initial two steps to about ten.
At the end of the year, Yu Pin Yan started to get busy and it was not uncommon for him to be away from home for days at a time. Yu Xiang took advantage of his absence and practised hard, thinking of surprising him.
Three days before the New Year, Emperor Cheng Kang finally announced that he would stop writing, and only then did Yu Pin Yan drag his fatigued body back. Tao Hong took the moment where he changed his clothes in his room to quickly run to her master’s ear and whisper, “Miss, guess who I saw on the street today?”
“Who?” Yu Xiang moved forward step by step with a walking stick.
“I saw Second Young Miss and a man drinking tea on the first floor of Xiang Shui Pavilion. The man is very handsome and has a distinguished temperament, so he must be from a illustrious background.”
“Man? Of illustrious background?” Yu Xiang pondered, guessing that this man must be one of the imperial princes. She wasn’t just speculating, but judging it based on the plot. Although Yu Miao Qi was now in a miserable situation, she was after all the female lead and still had a bit of luck. However, the fourth, fifth and sixth princes were of similar age and were all very handsome, so she could not guess who he was without seeing them in person.
No matter who it was, he must have something in mind if he could deliberately associate with Yu Miao Qi at a time when she was notorious.