After faking my death, the male lead’s cousin went crazy - Chapter 12

Lanxi was still shocked by what she was seeing when Gu Wan first stuffed a flower into her hand.

The flower was very small, its petals pale pink and white. The tips of the green leaves on both sides pointed straight upward, like wings about to take flight, perfectly protecting the blossom within. This was precisely the begonia that they had only ever been able to gaze at from afar on the cliffside.

The moment Gu Wan had left earlier, Lanxi had guessed that she was heading for the cliff. But looking at the scene now, the injured one was actually Li Yueyue?

“What are you standing there for? Wash it clean and put it in the pot. Boil it twice, then feed it to Su Zhaoyun and Ziying.” Gu Wan seemed not to notice the surprise in Lanxi’s eyes as she spoke.

Lanxi had just lifted her foot to leave when Gu Wan called her back again.

“Do you still have medicine for external wounds?”

Lanxi took out a small white bottle from her person. This was originally wound medicine Su Zhaoyun had prepared and told her to send to Gu Ze. But before she had time to set off, this matter had stopped her.

After Gu Wan took the wound medicine, she waved her hand, signaling Lanxi to go deal with the begonia.

Since the study was currently occupied by Su Zhaoyun and the others, Gu Wan took Shang Rongyue to the room next to the study: her own bedroom.

Her bedroom was very simple. There was a low cabinet, two camphorwood chests, and a plain round table.

Originally, Gu Wan intended to place her on the bed, but when they passed by the round table, Shang Rongyue spoke.

“Put me down. I can sit here.”

The hem of her skirt was covered in dust. If it stained the bedding, cleaning it would be a huge task.

Hearing this, Gu Wan did not think too much and placed her on a rosewood chair. Then she turned and left the room. Before long, she came back carrying a basin of clean water.

She set the water down, then crouched in front of Shang Rongyue.

Realizing what this bandit was about to do, Shang Rongyue suddenly pulled her leg back, hugged her knees, and curled up on the armchair.

“N-no need. I’ll go back and bathe later, then take care of it myself.”

If she let a bandit wash her feet, wouldn’t that shorten her lifespan?

“Before you bathe, shouldn’t you treat the wound first? Otherwise, once soapberry mixes with mud and sand…” Gu Wan did not continue, leaving Shang Rongyue with endless room for imagination.

Shang Rongyue lowered her head and muttered softly, “Then I can still do it myself…”

Seeing her like this, Gu Wan simply took a step back, giving her the chance to do it herself.

Shang Rongyue looked at the basin of clean water. First, she tested the temperature. After confirming it was suitable, she lightly touched the water’s surface with the tip of her foot, then suddenly pulled it back.

On the originally calm water, ripples spread layer by layer.

Shang Rongyue’s foot was cold. The temperature had clearly felt right on her hand, but when it touched her foot, it felt faintly scalding.

She lifted her eyes and glanced at the person sitting opposite her. Gu Wan had already calmly sat down on a round stool, wearing an expression that said, Go ahead.

Shang Rongyue pursed her lips, steeled herself, and directly stepped her right foot into the basin.

Crimson blood quickly stirred the originally clear water into murkiness. It seemed salt had been added to the water. Next came a dense, fine pain, accompanied by the stinging sensation of water covering the wound.

“Hiss…”

It really hurt too much. Shang Rongyue gritted her teeth and lifted her foot out of the basin again. Then she propped her leg to the side, straightened her body, and said, “I’m done.”

After that, she reached toward Gu Wan, wanting the clean cotton handkerchief in her hand.

Seeing the other party’s smooth sequence of actions, Gu Wan shook her head.

Were all the noble young ladies of Shengjing like this? Gu Wan thought it over and finally landed on the words “delicate and fragile.”

She picked up the basin stained with blood, went out, poured the water away, then returned with a new basin of clean water.

This time, ignoring Shang Rongyue’s struggles, she held the girl’s calf, placed that fair, clean foot on the edge of the copper basin, then took the cotton handkerchief. After wetting it with water, she gently wiped away the blood and dirt around the wound.

Gu Wan’s movements were very light, avoiding the broken skin every time. But Shang Rongyue, who sat opposite her, was extremely nervous. She stared tightly at Gu Wan’s fingertips, afraid that in the next moment, the cotton handkerchief would rub against her wound.

“Stop looking. I’ll tell you in advance if it’s going to hurt.”

Hearing this, Shang Rongyue relaxed a little. She leaned back against the chair and let the other woman do as she pleased.

The skin dirtied by blood became clean again. Gu Wan picked up a palm-sized jar from the side. After removing the cork, she seemed to suddenly remember something and looked up.

“This medicine also costs money.”

“What?”

Shang Rongyue cried out in surprise and sat up. At that exact moment, Gu Wan poured the liquid from the bottle onto the wound on her ankle.

The liquid inside seemed to be something like white liquor. As it flowed over the wound, a burning pain made Shang Rongyue immediately swallow back the words that had just reached her lips. All she could do was cry out in pain.

Opposite her, the bandit leader looked as though she had succeeded.

“Didn’t you say you would tell me before it hurt?” Shang Rongyue was in so much pain that tears almost fell. She could no longer care about her usual respectful appearance and directly questioned her.

“Would you have let me do it if I told you?” Gu Wan was not polite either and directly exposed her. “The fine sand mixed into the wound has already been removed, but it’s safer to clean it with white liquor.”

She took out the wound medicine from Lanxi and began the final step of dressing the wound. Then she reached out, signaling for Shang Rongyue to give her leg over.

“What is it this time?” Shang Rongyue clearly refused to trust her so easily again.

“This time it’s ointment. It stops bleeding and relieves pain.”

Only after hearing “relieves pain” did Shang Rongyue slowly hand over her ankle. As the cool ointment attached to her skin, the burning pain from before really did fade quite a bit.

After finishing everything, Gu Wan wrapped the wound again with gauze. Her movements were quick, and the wrapping was very neat. Even the final corner was tucked inside the bandage and hidden well.

Only after everything was finished did Gu Wan see Shang Rongyue relax slightly.

“It doesn’t hurt this time, right?”

Shang Rongyue nodded, then asked, “What ointment is this? It works pretty well. Is it golden wound medicine?”

“Su Zhaoyun made it herself.”

“Oh.” Shang Rongyue drew her leg back. Her whole body was covered in dust, and her hair was so itchy that it was unbearable. She lifted her head and quietly looked at Gu Wan. “If there’s nothing else, can I leave? I want to go back and take a bath.”

“Your room is sealed right now. You can’t enter. The bathing room is next door. I’ve already had someone bring clean clothes. Bathe here.” As Gu Wan spoke, she put away the used liquor and medicine bottles.

“Ah? Use yours? That…” That was not good, was it?

Gu Wan lifted her eyes. “You and I are both women. What is improper about it?”

Shang Rongyue pursed her lips and secretly complained in her heart that this bandit leader really knew too little. So what if they were both women? For some things, gender was not the only limiting standard.

Seeing the girl in front of her keep her head lowered without speaking, Gu Wan thought Shang Rongyue was嫌弃 the bath桶 because someone else had used it before, which was why she was so conflicted.

Tsk. She really was a delicate young lady. When troops stationed themselves in camp, having a bath桶 was already不错. During marches and battles, forget rivers and lakes; when the situation was special, going several days without bathing was normal.

Was she supposed to carry a bath桶 everywhere she went?

Seeing that Gu Wan would not give in, Shang Rongyue could only compromise.

Stumbling over her words, she replied, “Th-then go farther away. I want to be alone.”

Gu Wan carried the tray out and left the room to Shang Rongyue alone.

When Shang Rongyue supported herself against the wall and walked into the bathing room, the water inside the tub had already been prepared. It felt a little hot to the touch. On the bench beside it, a note had been placed there.

The wound cannot touch water. Make do with this.

Beside it was a water ladle made from half a gourd.

No wonder the water temperature was hot. It must have been prepared in advance so she could scoop water over herself ladle by ladle. And if she sat on this bench and propped her leg up, the falling water droplets would not touch the wound that had just been carefully wrapped.

Nearby, soapberry and dry towels were all fully prepared. The change of clothes had also already been placed on the rack.

She had not expected this bandit leader, who looked cold-hearted and cold-faced, to prepare things so thoughtfully.

While bathing, Shang Rongyue thought that ever since she had proposed climbing the cliff, this bandit leader’s attitude toward her had changed completely. Not only was she willing to carry her back and treat her wound, she had even carefully prepared all of this for her.

It seemed the other party did have some principles, very different from the villains shown in TV dramas. And Shang Rongyue understood clearly in her heart that all of this could be summarized in one word: gratitude.

Because she had risked her life to save people, the bandit leader’s attitude toward her had changed.

In other words, as long as she still had some value and usefulness to the other party, she could continue hiding peacefully in this stronghold.

From major matters like life and safety to small matters like having enough food and warm clothes, everything depended on a single word from that bandit leader.

Sure enough, firmly hugging this thigh was very important!

When Shang Rongyue supported herself against the wall and came out, she saw Gu Wan sitting in the room drinking tea.

Shang Rongyue froze at the sight. Realizing that the other woman might have been here the whole time while she was bathing, she gritted her teeth and asked, “Didn’t you say you would leave me alone?”

Gu Wan leisurely blew at the steam above the cup and took a sip of tea. The fragrance was light, and the aftertaste was long, but it had been steeped a little too long, so it tasted slightly bitter. She replied, “How would I know Miss Li bathes so meticulously? I drank my sixth cup of tea here before you finally came out.”

Shang Rongyue found a place to sit and wrapped her hair with a dry towel.

“Girls all bathe this slowly.”

“Oh?” Gu Wan crossed her legs with interest.

Shang Rongyue lifted her eyes and only then noticed that the woman sitting opposite her had already changed clothes. Earlier, she had been wearing an ink-colored brocade robe with hidden silver patterns. Now, she had changed into a relatively loose cross-collared wide-sleeved ruqun. It was also dark-colored, but the difference was that the waist sash was decorated with vivid red, adding some liveliness to the otherwise solemn outfit.

But that tone was clearly嫌弃 her.

Shang Rongyue deliberately pretended not to notice what the other woman was thinking and focused on tending to her hair.

Perhaps because there were no chemical products to support it, her hair was very soft, glossy like silk. When tending to it, she could not help using lighter force, not daring to rub it back and forth. She could only wipe it little by little, absorbing the excess water.

“Do you have osmanthus hair oil?” After wiping away most of the moisture, Shang Rongyue lifted her eyes and asked.

Previously, in her dowry box, osmanthus hair oil, rose dew, pearl cream, and jade face powder had all been complete. Right after bathing was the best time to nourish one’s hair and skin.

Looking at the young girl opposite her tending to her black hair inch by inch as if it were a treasure, and then hearing her ask for all those things…

Delicate girls were truly troublesome.

“No.”

“How can you not have any when we’re both women?”

Gu Wan could not help clicking her tongue.

Both women, yet indeed very different.