153 Cousin Is Tired
Yu Youyao heaved a sigh of relief. “I’ve found it accurately this time.”
At first, Zhou Linghuai did not feel much. He only felt a dull pain in his leg. After a while, he vaguely felt a slight numbness and heat in his leg.
After about the time it took to burn an incense stick, Yu Youyao poured some medicinal oil into her hand and rubbed it on his leg. She found another acupuncture point and used different finger techniques to massage it.
The house was very quiet. The charcoal fire in the stove was burning brightly, and Zhou Linghuai was wearing a deer coat. He had felt cold just now, but now, he was a little impatient.
His hands suddenly tightened around the armrests, and the burning sensation between his legs became more and more obvious. There was a soreness, but he couldn’t tell if it was uncomfortable or comfortable.
Zhou Linghuai’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he had the urge to moan.
Just as the sound reached his throat, he couldn’t help but let out a soft “Mm.”
Zhou Linghuai’s ears felt slightly hot, and even his face turned slightly red. He quickly pursed his lips and suppressed the sound in his throat so that he wouldn’t cry out.
Hearing her cousin snort, Yu Youyao did not stop moving. “Are you feeling unwell?”
Zhou Linghuai shook his head and said in a hoarse voice, “No, I let Cousin massage me for a while. My legs feel a little warmer, and it doesn’t seem to hurt as much as before.”
This was also true.
Seeing that her cousin’s face was not as pale as before, Yu Youyao was very happy. “Cousin, this is a bone pain that can’t be treated for the time being, but as long as you take care of it, it will definitely be better. Cousin, you’re just too careless with yourself. Chang An is a half-grown child and a man, so he definitely won’t think so much. Uncle Sun is old and doesn’t have much energy to care about this, so he delayed Cousin’s leg treatment and made you suffer.”
Zhou Linghuai had never thought about this in the past.
After his leg was damaged, Uncle Sun said that he had injured his bone foundation and did not have many years to live. Hence, he only wanted to take revenge and did not care about his crippled legs. In any case, they were already useless.
Initially, Uncle Sun and Chang An would also try to persuade him, but they really couldn’t.
As time passed, they stopped persuading him.
The little girl stared at his legs. When the flesh on his legs trembled violently, she would reduce her strength a little. When there was no movement in his flesh, she would increase her strength bit by bit.
After a while, the little girl’s breathing quickened. Her forehead and the tip of her nose were covered in sweat, and her fair face was flushed red. She looked beautiful and charming.
However, it was very difficult to perform the massage. Zhou Linghuai couldn’t bear to see the young lady suffer. “My leg hurts a lot less. Cousin, take a break.”
Yu Youyao did not even raise her head. “That won’t do. Nanny Xu said that it’s best to make it last an incense stick at each acupoint. The last acupoint will be done in a while.”
Zhou Linghuai frowned and said nothing.
Yu Youyao thought that she had to do the massage every morning and night, but she did not have the time to do it for her cousin every day. Chang An did not seem very reliable, so she had to find someone capable to take care of her cousin’s daily needs.
“Cousin, there are too few people in the Green House. Chang An is the only one serving you. That won’t do. Why don’t you find someone more capable?”
Her grandmother had also made some arrangements previously, but her cousin’s legs weren’t good and he liked peace, so he sent the new servant away.
Seeing that the little girl was full of hope, Zhou Linghuai nodded. “After the Zhou family was defeated, most of our assets were confiscated by the government, and some were taken back by the clan. Grandmother has a manor in Tongzhou, and there are some old servants in the family. After the incident, they were sent to this manor to work, and she chose two people to come over.”
“They’re all old servants of my family, so of course they have to be useful. It’s also appropriate to have a few more people to take care of us.” Yu Youyao was a little unhappy. The Zhou Clan was a pack of wolves that even wanted to snatch the family’s assets. If not for the fact that it was afraid of the Yu Residence, Cousin might not even be able to keep this last manor.
Zhou Linghuai’s eyes flickered as he nodded.
This time, he had many plans in the capital. Naturally, he had to trust the people who served him. He did not trust the servants sent by the Yu Residence, so he sent them away.
Now that he was also living under someone else’s roof, the people around him had to pass through the Yu Residence. With the little girl’s words, he called his old servant into the residence and was now on the right path.
The little girl had probably also noticed some clues about him, but she pretended that nothing had happened and was thinking for him.
After a full set of massages, Yu Youyao felt that her arms were sore and swollen. They didn’t feel like her own. She shook them gently a few times before feeling a little better.
However, when she saw that her cousin’s tightly furrowed brows had relaxed a little and there was some life on his face, Yu Youyao felt happy again. “Cousin, is your leg better?”
Zhou Linghuai nodded. “Much better. Cousin, you must be tired.”
In the past three years, he had never felt as relaxed as he did now. The medicinal oil had seeped into his skin, flesh and bones. He felt the warmth in his bones. Without that coldness, the pain in his legs had lessened a lot, and his skin had also become numb. At first, he felt that he couldn’t stand this strange feeling, but after a while, he felt relaxed.
“I’ve prepared leg warmers for Cousin. There’s a medicinal bag made of mugwort sewn into them, and some medicinal herbs that can help with blood circulation and moisturization. Cousin, follow me and put the leg warmers over the charcoal and heat them. When they’re hot, tie them to your legs. They can be heated for a long time. I’ve prepared two. If they’re cold, Cousin can change them.”
As Yu Youyao spoke, she picked up the leg warmers and placed them on the charcoal basin to heat up. Even if the ash was heated and stuck to the flesh, it wouldn’t burn.
The medicinal bag made of mugwort ash emitted a faint smell of mugwort. Even the pungent smell of medicinal oil in the room dissipated a little.
When Zhou Linghuai saw that the little girl had finished heating up the leg warmers, he carefully tied it around his legs. The leg warmer was warm and comfortable, but not scalding. She had just used medicinal oil to massage his legs, so as soon as it was tied around his legs, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead.
Yu Youyao looked up, her eyes sparkling. “Cousin, is it warm?”
Zhou Linghuai smiled. “It’s very warm.”
Every autumn and winter, he would also tie up his legs with leg warmers made of lambskin. There was a thick layer of cotton wool stuffed inside, and he tied it to his legs. It made them both bloated and inconvenient, and he did not feel much warmth.
However, the leg warmers that the little girl had made were very light. There were two layers of lamb skin, and they were evenly covered with a layer of mugwort ash and some medicinal herbs that had been ground into powder. When the mugwort ash was heated and stuck to the skin, it would not be too hot. If one sat beside a charcoal basin, the leg warmers would often be warmed. They would be close-fitting and warm, which was better than anything else.
Yu Youyao held her cousin’s hand, and his cold hand finally warmed a little. “Cousin, I’ll send a craftsman over tomorrow to build a warm bed for you. It’ll be warm when you sleep at night.”
There was a fireplace at home, but it only burned when the weather was cold. It was not as warm as a heated bed.