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..."
***
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 naked, 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."