Ji Yunshu had been there for a whole day; taking into consideration the night she spent at Lin Mountain, she had not slept for two whole days. By nightfall, she had already sketched out each bone of a skull from its parietal bone to its mandible in their entirety on paper, placing them separately for ease of assembly. She had someone bring in the remaining skeleton into the study and examined it further.

That skeleton had a pelvis that was smoother and thinner, with an oval-shaped inlet. It was wide but shallow, with a short low-lying pubis and was flexible1. The skeleton had a smaller frame with more sloping shoulders – all these pointed towards the fact that that skeleton was a female!

After determining the gender of the remains, Ji Yunshu started moulding the skull according to her sketches of the bones. As her eyes were dry, they began to hurt and teared up as a breeze blew in. Before she could lift her sleeve to wipe the tears away, a handkerchief appeared in front of her eyes. She raised her head and saw Wei Yi’s smiling face. In the few days away from her, that fellow appeared to have become less tanned and much more cheerful; the soft rays of sunlight playing off his shoulders and profile gave him a lazy but peaceful air!

She had to admit, Wei Yi was just like a sprout beginning to grow in early spring – clean and full of life; any other description would not do justice.

Ji Yunshu smiled. “How did you get here?”

Wei Yi broke out into a grin. He squatted down and answered as he wiped her tear away with his handkerchief, “Brother Mo Ruo said that if I behaved myself these few days, he would bring me to see you.”

“Then how did you find this place?”

“Brother Mo Ruo sent me here.”

“Oh!” Although Mo Ruo resided in Yuhua Pavillion, he had ears everywhere – her moving into Bamboo Creek Garden could never have escaped him. Ji Yunshu looked outside the courtyard, then asked, “Then, where is he?”

“No idea. He said he was going to see an old friend; he will come pick me up on his way back.”

Old friend? Was it Jing Rong? Ji Yunshu smiled but did not comment further.

Wei Yi, on the other hand, had too many things to say to make up for the three days he had not seen Ji Yunshu. He remained squatting beside her like a child and began to describe how he spent his days in the Yuhua Pavillion. “Shu’er, did you know? Brother Mo Ruo is so strange. He keeps asking me to soak in this wooden bucket, feeding me horrible tasting medicine, and he even pokes me with all these needles everyday! Shu’er, what’s wrong with Brother Mo Ruo? Does he hate me? Does he want to kill me?”

Pfft! Ji Yunshu almost burst out in laughter. ‘This child is always so carefree!’ She wanted to pat his head but could not with the clay on her hands; instead, she gently replied, “Wei Yi, he will never kill you because he wants to help you, understand?”

Wei Yi shook his head.

“In any case, you must listen to him. Someday, you will eventually understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Hmm…” She did not know how to explain. Ji Yunshu’s expression turned serious. “Wei Yi, if one day, you understand everything, would you be happy?”

“If I understand everything?” He mumbled a little, scratched his head and immediately broke out into a wide smile, nodding enthusiastically. “Of course I would be happy. If I’m as smart as Shu’er, then I can marry Shu’er!” Wei Yi almost started jumping in joy.

A smile bloomed on Ji Yunshu’s face, but she said nothing.

Wei Yi grabbed her slender arm, reiterating, “When I become clever, I can protect Shu’er – Shu’er need not worry about getting hurt, or someone coming to catch you.” It seemed that he was still caught up about her imprisonment in the basement.

Ji Yunshu said, “Thank you, Wei Yi.”

Wei Yi shook his head, straightened his back, lifted his chin, and said unwaveringly, “Mother said that a man must protect the person he loves. Shu’er is my most beloved person, so of course I must protect you from harm forever.”

Ji Yunshu did not know how to broach this topic, or maybe, she just did not want to hurt Wei Yi. She heaved a deep sigh, then asked him once more, “Then, if you really become clever, promise me that no matter what happens, you won’t do anything that would harm the heavens or others for your own benefit, alright?”

“Alright!” Wei Yi answered immediately.

Ji Yunshu believed him. Wei Yi was not bad by nature; she believed that he would not be like Ji Yuanzhi or Ji Li, and even Jing Yi!

After a moment, Wei Yi noticed the clay in Ji Yunshu’s hands. He immediately lit up, cleaned his hands roughly on his robes, and said excitedly, “Is Shu’er making clay figurine? Let me help you, I used to make a lot of them before.” Before Ji Yunshu could refuse, Wei Yi had already rolled up his sleeves and got to work, naturally fiddling with Ji Yunshu’s work; luckily it had not yet been completed.

The two of them worked happily together; Wei Yi moulded a little pig, then a monkey, and then many other little animals, all of them extremely lifelike. He did not forget to place them in the sun to dry, lining them up in a row to sunbathe!

……

Elsewhere…

Mo Ruo headed for the palace after sending Wei Yi to the Bamboo Creek Garden. He was holding a pack of medicinal herbs when he smelt something burning as he entered Jing Xian’s Tongren Hall. He scrunched up his nose and his gaze wandered over to where Jing Xian was sitting in a rocking chair, burning the papers he held over the stove.

“What are you burning?” Mo Ruo asked as he walked over.

Jing Xian was not alarmed; he gave Mo Ruo a quick glance, then loosened his grip and let the papers fall into the stove as they continued burning to ashes. He replied, “Nothing much, just some unwanted documents, that’s all.”

“But you still don’t have to burn them!”

“They are useless anyway; burning them might be better – it would save me any trouble of cleaning up the mess lest they get infested with bugs.”

Mo Ruo peeked at the stove but questioned no further. He set aside the herbs that he brought, sat down, and reminded Jing Xian, “Remember to soak these crushed herbs in water to scrub your body.”

Jing Xian took a quick glance, his eyes darkening. “Haven’t I already said not to do these. I know my own body best.”

“Don’t give up on yourself just yet. As long as I’m alive, you’ll be fine.” Mo Ruo was stern, brows wrinkling, then he took a softer tone, “Seeing as you look much better, you’ll be able to leave the palace soon.”

“Listening to you, it seems that you’ve already got a plan?”

Mo Ruo saw no reason to hide it and nodded. “Have you heard of that Teacher Ji?”

Jing Xian’s eyes narrowed and he had the slightest of grins, “Yes, I have.”

Good! “When the time is ripe, I will ask her to think of a plan so that His Majesty will allow you to go out of the palace. I believe she can accomplish this.”

At that point, Jing Xian was puzzled. “How are you so sure that she would lend me a hand?”

“Because I’ve promised to help her treat a patient, so she still owes me a favour!”

1. Why is the pelvis flexible? The pelvis has to be more flexible, so it can undergo some trauma/stretch to accommodate the baby during pregnancy and normal delivery.