Chapter 103: Persuasion Through Compassion

For several days in a row, apart from the hours when the Empress came to visit and the time set aside for sleep at night, Gu Li spent every moment in the side chamber caring for Lie Chang'an. Each day she attended him, fed him medicine, and after he had taken it, she stayed at his side and talked to him, telling him amusing stories from her childhood, including the times she played with the Crown Prince. Yet she never once spoke of her own feelings for him.

She feared that if he truly heard them, she would be too ashamed to say them aloud.

He still lay unconscious, without the slightest awareness, and whenever she tried to feed him medicine he would spit it out. Gu Li could only wait until the attendants had been sent away before resorting to that same method too shameful to mention in feeding him.

Fortunately, the wounds on his body had begun to heal little by little. Not only had they stopped bleeding, but with the daily application and changing of dressings, they had at last ceased their worsening infection.

What was still troublesome, however, was his persistent fever.

Imperial Physician Hu said that the fever would likely not break until he woke, and only then would the wounds heal more quickly as well.

Hearing this, Gu Li devoted herself to his care even more assiduously. Besides keeping him company, speaking to him, wiping away his sweat, and feeding him medicine, she even began searching for storybooks to read to him. Of course, these were not tales of scholars falling in love with wealthy young ladies, but rather stories of blood and steel, of warriors clashing on the battlefield and shedding their blood for glory.

Gu Li used every possible means to stir in him a will to live, along with all the unfinished wishes and people or things he could not bear to leave behind.

She told him that he was still young and had not yet married.

She spoke of the woman in his heart, of Ji'an.

She spoke of his ambitions, of the vast realm and its rivers and mountains, of the legendary valor with which he had once gone to war and slain his enemies.

Gu Li also told him about his grandmother.

She had never met Lie Chang'an's grandmother, only heard that he had come from humble origins and was without kin or support, and that it was the old lady who had raised him single-handedly. He was the only bloodline the Lie family had left, and the old lady's sole hope and reliance.

Gu Li believed that a man as deeply loyal and righteous as Lie Chang'an would surely be filial as well. He could not possibly bear to abandon the grandmother who had suffered so much to raise him, nor could he bear to let her, with white hair grieving for a black-haired grandson, be left heartbroken, alone and childless in her old age.

By appealing to both his heart and his reason, Gu Li poured every thought of her days into caring for Lie Chang'an. After several days, the body she had finally nursed back to some strength had grown thin all over again.

It was the Empress, who had come as usual to visit that day and whose heart was ever tender toward her daughter, who noticed it first.

"Gu Li, why does Mother feel that you've actually grown thinner these past few days?"

Gu Li was startled and quickly said with a forced laugh, "How could that be? Mother has been looking after me so well every day. How could I still be losing weight?"

"You say you're not thinner, and yet you are."

The Empress took her hand, her face full of distress. "Just look at you—your arms and legs are so slight there's hardly any flesh on them at all."

After speaking, the Empress frowned in confusion to herself. "How could this happen? You've been given nourishing tonics every day, and all three meals are carefully prepared by the imperial kitchens. Your appetite has been good too. Why would you grow thinner instead?"

The more Gu Li listened, the guiltier she felt, afraid that if her mother kept talking she might guess something. She hurriedly took the Empress by the arm and began to act spoiled with a smile. "Mother, don't worry. Perhaps your daughter has only just recovered from a serious illness, and my body still hasn't caught up with the nourishment. I'll be fine after a while. And didn't Mother hear what Imperial Physician Hu said? Your daughter is already all right, so you needn't worry at all."

The Empress was worried. Seeing how much thinner Gu Li had become, she naturally hoped she would recover quickly. But seeing her now nestling softly in her arms and acting coquettish, how could she bear to say anything harsh? She could only think privately of having the Emperor send over some more rare medicinal ingredients so she could be properly nourished again.