Jeune Premier ministre, un ermite

Chapitre 62

It's all my fault for being so sleepy; I didn't even notice.

She picked up his cold body and rubbed it repeatedly, "Second brother, what's wrong with you? Wake up."

“Zijun…” Li Tianqi opened his eyes, his lips trembling and turning purple, “It’s nothing, Second Brother is just a little tired.”

Hearing him speak, Wei Zijun excitedly wiped his face, "Second Brother, get up quickly, there's an inn now."

After helping Li Tianqi onto the bed and covering him with a blanket, he turned to the waiter serving him and instructed him, "Waiter, bring a brazier."

"This...it's so late, everyone's already asleep."

She casually tossed a piece of silver to the waiter, who readily agreed and left. A short while later, he brought back a brazier, indeed filled with freshly lit charcoal.

Looking at the still bluish-purple face, Wei Zijun was filled with worry. She reached into the quilt to touch the skin, which was still cool to the touch.

He sighed, carried the brazier to the bedside, lifted a corner of the quilt, and began to rub the cold body.

"Zijun, how am I supposed to sleep if you keep rubbing like this?" Li Tianqi teased, his lips purplish-blue.

"I won't let you sleep until you recover," Wei Zijun said, ignoring him and continuing what she was doing.

After rubbing her arms until they were warm, she rubbed her legs, and when she got to her ankles, Wei Zijun took off her cotton socks and began to massage her toes.

Li Tianqi pulled his leg back and exclaimed, "Zijun, no!"

"Second brother, you're not a woman, why are you afraid of being seen?" Wei Zijun laughed.

Li Tianqi stared at her smiling face, momentarily lost in thought, and then said softly, "Second Brother hasn't washed his feet yet!"

"Second Brother's feet don't smell at all!" she said with a grin, gently scratching the sole of his foot.

Because of the tickling sensation, Wei Zijun's foot jerked, and she burst into laughter.

“You…” Li Tianqi was clearly embarrassed, and his pale face actually turned red.

Why did he feel this way? He, who was always calm and indifferent to the world, was actually ashamed, especially in front of a man.

"Second Brother, are you shy? Being shy helps warm you up!" Wei Zijun teased Li Tianqi with a smile.

Seeing her smiling face, Li Tianqi, who was always elegant and never lost his composure, felt that his perfect image was about to be ruined. He coughed twice to try to cover up his embarrassment, but he only became more embarrassed. With her rubbing, a wave of heat surged through his body.

After rubbing her feet, Wei Zijun washed her hands in the basin next to her. She then walked to Li Tianqi's side.

"Didn't you say Second Brother's feet don't smell? Why are you washing your hands?" Having just been teased, she took the opportunity to deliberately question him.

Wei Zijun leaned down to meet his face. "Even if they don't smell, they're still a man's stinky feet."

In that instant, the gentle voice and the tender expression on his face made Li Tianqi's breath catch in his throat. Within that gentleness, there was clearly a hint of allure. Confused and bewildered, he wondered why the man possessed such a seductive demeanor.

While he was still confused, she slipped her hand under the blanket, through the collar of her undershirt, and touched his chest.

Li Tianqi's heart immediately began to pound. His warm fingertips gently caressed his chest, and he saw her lowered face so close to his, followed by a faint, delicate fragrance wafting over. This series of intense stimulations almost made him faint.

Oh no! He's actually having fantasies about men. It's all because of that brothel incident; it was that incident that ruined him. But then again, it seems like he's had inappropriate thoughts about his fourth brother before. No, it wasn't this serious before. It was that brothel incident again; that was definitely the culprit.

Feeling that his chest wasn't too hot, Wei Zijun initially intended to rub it for him, but his smooth, supple skin made her immediately dismiss the idea. She quickly withdrew her hand and tucked the blanket in.

"Second brother, go to sleep. Call me if you feel unwell."

"What about you? Come and sleep with me!" After stirring up his heart like this, are you going to run away? How can he possibly sleep?

“I’ll stay here with you. I’m worried you might get a fever in the middle of the night.” Wei Zijun pulled over a low stool to sit down and tucked his outstretched arm back under the covers.

"That won't do, come up and sleep!" Li Tianqi immediately sat up and moved closer to the inside.

"Second brother, be careful not to catch a cold." Wei Zijun rushed over and pressed him down. "I sleep too soundly, and when I wake up I don't stop sleeping. If you get a fever, it will delay your treatment if there is no one to take care of you."

"You want me to sit down too?" Li Tianqi was about to sit up.

"Okay, okay, I'll sleep! I'm afraid I'll fall asleep as soon as I lie down. Sigh!" I really couldn't persuade him otherwise, so I pulled up a blanket and lay down.

Just as I lay down, I heard a noise outside the door, and someone was speaking in a low voice.

"Go get some sleep, I'll keep watch."

"Be careful, don't let it get away."

They were sleeping while someone stood guard; how honored she was!

It's strange to think about it. If it were a normal kidnapping, they would have been restrained by pressing their pressure points and then tied up. Why bother having people take turns keeping watch at night? And they weren't made to suffer. They even put straw in the carriage. It seems that apart from the damn weather, everything was barely tolerable.

For the rest of the night, Wei Zijun fought off sleep, frequently touching Li Tianqi's forehead. Her worries were not unfounded; she knew that in this era, a severe cold could be fatal, and a severe fever was tantamount to a death sentence.

At first, Li Tianqi was still talking to her, but later he couldn't hold on and fell into a deep sleep.

Just as she had feared, he began to have a fever just after dawn.

The burning fever and babbling incoherently indicated the severity of the illness.

Wei Zijun rushed out the door and grabbed the person guarding the door, "My second brother has a fever, please call a doctor quickly."

"Don't make things worse. Where are we going to find a doctor in the middle of the night? Let's talk about it when it's light." The man blinked his sleepy eyes forcefully.

"As long as you don't stop me, I'll have the waiter go find it." With that, he turned to leave, calling out loudly, "Waiter! Brother Waiter—"

"Come back here!" The man guarding the gate pulled Wei Zijun back, his eyes filled with obvious anger. "You're clearly dead, but you insist on coming back to life, making our brothers run around in the cold. Can't you just behave yourself?"

"What? What did you say? Who did you say I am? Tell me!" Wei Zijun suddenly understood their intention in capturing her, which was related to her previous identity, but she didn't know whether the people who captured her were friend or foe.