Severing Time & Space

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

Wu Jian breathed in deeply through his nose and out his mouth as he continued his exercises. Every exercise he did was designed to maximize his body strengthening workout by utilizing every set of muscles available, and while some exercises used more of one muscle than the other (for example, push-ups worked out the chest while pull-ups worked his arms, back, and lats), all of his muscles were burning pleasantly by the time he finished.

“Haaah… haaaah… no more… I don’t think… I can do another squat…”

“Hmm. I guess this is all you can do for right now. We’re going to need to work on building up your strength and endurance.”

“Uuuuugh.”

Wu Jian turned his head to look at where Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu were doing their workouts. Wu Meiying was standing over Hou Jingshu, who was lying on her back, heedless of the dirt getting into her hair as she took deep lungfuls of air. Her chest rose and fell with great heaves and sweat poured down her face and neck as she struggled to breathe.

“This is… insane,” she gasped. “Do you… do this… every day…?”

Wu Meiying nodded with a serious expression. “We exercise like this six days a week and take one active rest day to recover.”

Hou Jingshu groaned as if she was just imagining what doing a workout like that six days a week would feel like, but she didn’t have to worry. Wu Jian and Wu Meiying often changed up their training to keep their bodies guessing. They had learned that if they got into a routine, they would not strengthen their bodies as quickly.

She definitely won’t get bored with our workouts, Wu Jian thought with a smile.

“Anyway, it looks like you’re exhausted. I’m sure your muscles are stiff too, so we should definitely take you to see Aunty Àiliàn.” Wu Meiying looked at Wu Jian. “Can you carry her?”

“Ah? I can walk by my—ooooh! Th-that hurts…”

When Hou Jingshu heard Wu Meiying ask Wu Jian to carry her, she tried to stand up on her own, but her muscles ached so much that just moving hurt. Wu Jian had experienced this before so he understood the feeling well. She fell back down the moment she tried to get up. This caused her to land face first on the ground in an undignified heap.

“Don’t strain yourself,” Wu Meiying admonished, wagging her finger back and forth. “You’ve really worked your muscles hard, and I can tell from how hurt you are that this is the first time you’ve ever exercised in your life. Let Jian carry you to the hospital.”

“F-fine… but, um, please be gentle,” Hou Jingshu muttered in reluctant acceptance.

Wu Jian carefully slipped one hand under her legs and the other around her shoulder, then stood, easily taking the young girl in his arms with him. Hou Jingshu’s already pink cheeks turned a fierce shade of red. She could only stare at him for a second before burying her face into his shoulder as if to hide her blush.

“Is it really that embarrassing to be carried by me?” asked Wu Jian.

“Th-that’s not it…” Hou Jingshu stuttered. “It’s just… outside of my father, no one has ever carried me like this before.”

“Not even your brothers?” asked Wu Jian.

With him in the lead, they left the training ground and traveled along the walkways toward the hospital. More people were starting to wake up now. Several men and women greeted the group as they walked by, but most of them just gawked when they realized a sweaty, dirty, and exhausted princess was being carried in Wu Jian’s arms. He wondered what kind of fantastical and crazy theories they were coming up with to explain her disheveled appearance.

I can already hear the rumors spreading about how we bullied the Imperial Princess. Well… I suppose that is somewhat accurate. I’m sure Wu Meiying had fun putting Hou Jingshu through her paces, but it’s all for the sake of training.

“My brothers used to carry me around on their backs… but they haven’t done that for several years now,” Hou Jingshu admitted softly. There was something in her voice that made him clam up. He could sense her desolation when she talked about her brothers, and it made him remember the conversation her father had with his father last night.

“Sorry,” he said.

Hou Jingshu shook her head. “Don’t be.”

“I wouldn’t worry about your brothers right now,” Wu Meiying said. “They’ll eventually be put in their place. For now, you should just focus on getting stronger.”

“… Right.”

They made it to the hospital wing. Wu Meiying opened the door so Wu Jian could step inside. Mother sat in front of a mortar and was grinding some kind of plant into a paste. The sleeves of her hanfu were pulled back so they wouldn’t affect her work, and her hair had been tied into a pair of buns on her head. She looked like she was concentrating hard, but she looked up when the door opened, a smile lighting her face.

“It’s awfully rare to see you two here so early in the morning. You don’t usually get injured during training anymore. Oooh. But it looks like Princess Jingshu might be injured, so that makes sense.”

It didn’t look like there was anyone else present. Wu Shaolin must have been running errands, or maybe he was simply getting more rest. He was old and his cultivation base wasn’t very high. Wu Jian didn’t think he’d live more than maybe another decade or so.

“Um. You don’t have to call me princess or anything,” Hou Jingshu said.

“If you’re fine with it, then I’ll just call you Little Jing from now on.”

“Actually, I think I’d prefer Jingshu…”

“Anyway, please set her down on the bed over there,” Mother said, gesturing toward one of several empty beds.

“Did she just ignore me?” Hou Jingshu muttered with a frown.

“You’ll get used to it. That happens a lot,” Wu Meiying said with a giggle. Wu Jian nodded in agreement.

Wu Jian set Hou Jingshu on the bed and brushed some of the dirt from her hair. He also decided to remove her shoes and socks since she wouldn’t need them. There were blisters on her feet too, probably from moving around so much, so those would need to be healed as well.

Her skin is so delicate. I hope our training regiment doesn’t ruin it. Would be a shame if her skin became hard and tough like mine.

“You two can head to the dining hall… though I suggest you wipe yourselves down and change clothes first,” Mother said. “Don’t worry about Little Jing. I’ll make sure she’s presentable and fed by the time martial arts classes begin.”

“… I told you to call me Jingshu…”