Severing Time & Space

A Cage, or a New Lease on Life? Part II

Hou Jingshu heard the shoji door slide shut, leaving her alone with Wu Àiliàn. She looked at Wu Jian’s mother, studying her, trying to figure out what kind of person she was. The woman with fair skin merely smiled at her like she was heedless of Hou Jingshu’s intense scrutiny.

“It looks like your muscles are stressed from overuse. You tried to keep up with Little Mei’s training regiment, didn’t you?”

Hou Jingshu found she couldn’t maintain eye contact with this woman and looked away.

“How could you tell?” she asked.

“You mean aside from the fact that you can barely move a muscle?” Wu Àiliàn asked in a tone that made it clear she was teasing. “Your muscles have gotten swollen. This happens sometimes when you work them too hard. Do you know how the human body works?”

Hou Jingshu shook her head. Human anatomy was not something she had ever studied before.

“After you exercise, your body sends extra fluids with nutrients to your muscles to help patch up the tears that occur. This can cause your muscles to swell. We call it inflammation. That is what is happening to your body right now.”

As she spoke, Wu Àiliàn went over to the cabinet and pulled out a vial filled with some kind of green paste—a healing salve, Hou Jingshu realized. The woman came back, set the salve on the floor, and grinned at her.

“All right. Let’s remove those clothes. I’m going to spread that healing salve on your skin, which should help with the inflammation. I’ll also give you a massage to work out the knots in your muscles.”

Hou Jingshu was a bit embarrassed about the idea of letting this woman see her n***d, but Wu Àiliàn was a professional in every sense of the word. After removing Hou Jingshu’s clothes, she immediately went to work, dabbing her fingers into the paste and rubbing it between her thumb, fore, and middle fingers. Then she placed her fingers against Hou Jingshu’s back and began rubbing the salve over her skin.

“Aaaah…”

“Does that hurt?”

“No… but it itches a little.”

“That’s how it should be. That itchy feeling on your skin is caused by the salve’s healing properties activating. It should go away soon.”

Thinking about it, this was the first time Hou Jingshu had ever used a healing salve. The palace had its own alchemist. Whenever she got injured, she would go to him, and he always had a pill ready that healed her up near instantly. Though she didn’t get injured often. Her father had always been very careful about ensuring she never got hurt.

Several seconds after the itchy sensation arrived it disappeared, replaced by a soothing coolness that spread across her body, causing Hou Jingshu to sigh in relief.

While she was spreading the salve, Wu Àiliàn also began massaging her muscles, digging her fingers into the knots. She focused primarily on the arms, stomach, thighs, and calves. Hou Jingshu flinched when the woman dug into those muscles with her thumb and fingers. However, the relief she felt after that was worth the minor discomfort.

“All right. Turn on your stomach,” Wu Àiliàn instructed.

Hou Jingshu did as told, though she needed help to roll over. Once on her stomach, Wu Àiliàn began smearing more salve on her skin. As the woman worked, Hou Jingshu decided to satisfy her curiosity.

“How long have Wu Jian and Wu Meiying been training?”

“Children of the Wu Clan begin training when they turn six. However, Wu Jian didn’t begin to earnestly train until he was about eight, so I’d say it’s been about… four years since he started to take his training seriously,” Wu Àiliàn said as she dug her thumbs into Hou Jingshu’s butt. She flinched at the pain of having the knots in her butt worked out, but it soon disappeared and Wu Àiliàn moved onto her thighs and calves.

“And has it always been so… intense? His workouts?”

“Are you asking me if their training routine has always been that difficult?”

“Yes.”

“No. Of course not. You can’t start off doing what they do. You have to build up your strength first and continuously improve before you can exercise like that.”

“Hmmm.”

Hou Jingshu had already figured that out for herself, but she had been hoping she was wrong. Oh, well.

“Are you disappointed? Do you feel like you’ll never catch up to them?” asked Wu Àiliàn.

“Of course not,” Hou Jingshu said. “Now that I’ve seen how strong they are, I’m going to train even harder so I can catch up to them. If I… if I’m going to marry Wu Jian, I should at least be strong enough to stand beside him.”

She still hadn’t accepted their engagement, but she understood that the sooner she accepted it, the better. And it wasn’t like she didn’t feel anything. She could still recall with perfect clarity how her heart had raced when she saw him without his shirt. Even now the memory made her chest feel tight and her face hot.

“Okay. That’s you all done.” Wu Àiliàn stood up and walked over to a small basin filled with water. She dipped her hands into the water, washed off, then dried her hands with a towel before coming back over to the bed. “You should rest for a bit before moving. I’ll get some breakfast for you. Then we can wipe you down. If we’re fast enough, you should be able to make it in time to join Jian and Little Mei in their martial arts class.”

“Thank you, Lady Àiliàn,” Hou Jingshu said. She actually felt a lot better now. She was even able to sit up in bed, whereas before she had not been able to move at all.

Hou Jingshu was interested in seeing the martial arts class. All she had done with Wu Jian and Wu Meiying during training was exercise, but she wanted to see how well they could fight too.

“Now that won’t do at all.” Wu Àiliàn wagged her finger at Hou Jingshu, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. “That manner of address is much too formal. I know! How about you call me ‘Mom’ from now on?”

Hou Jingshu made a face. “I think I’ll stick with Lady Àiliàn for now.”

“Haaaah. You’re no fun.”