Chapter 472 A Chance Encounter (Second Update)

The child was born, and the guards finally released Lord Gu from his acupoints. "I... I'll settle accounts with you later!" Lord Gu glared coldly at Gu Yan's two guards and hurriedly walked towards Madam Yao's room.

Yao was not in her own room at the moment; her room had been converted into a delivery room and needed cleaning, so she was resting in Gu Jiao's east room.

She was so exhausted that she fell into a deep sleep.

Liu returned to the clinic, and Granny Fang was giving the little one a bath.

"Where is Madam?" Lord Gu asked, looking at Yu Ya'er who was tidying up the house.

“In the east room,” Yu Ya’er said.

Lord Gu rushed to the east room, where the little guy had already finished his bath and was now being obediently wrapped in swaddling clothes by Granny Fang.

Lord Gu's heart skipped a beat when he saw the little fellow, but the first thing he asked was Madam Yao: "Where is Madam?"

Granny Fang moved aside, holding the little one, revealing the bed behind her, and said softly, "Madam is resting."

"How is she?" Lord Gu asked worriedly, as he came to the bedside and held Yao's hand tightly. "Is Madam alright?"

Granny Fang sighed. The Marquis was a bit muddle-headed, but he was good to his wife. She said, "Madam is alright, Marquis. Would you like to see the child?"

Upon hearing that Madam Yao was alright, Lord Gu finally felt relieved after a whole night of worry. His gaze fell on the swaddled baby in Granny Fang's arms, and he asked with barely concealed excitement, "Is it a son or a daughter?"

Granny Fang smiled and said, "Congratulations, Your Excellency, it's a young master."

...

Gu Jiao sorted through all the medical supplies, destroying what could be destroyed and burying what couldn't. Then she checked the small medicine box.

The first-aid kit doesn't seem as worn out as it was when it first arrived.

As she regained her strength, her first-aid kit seemed to be slowly recovering as well.

Gu Jiao had actually guessed that the small medicine box might not be a product of three-dimensional space, but came from a higher dimension. Otherwise, there would be no way to explain why it followed her or even brought her brainwaves here.

She sees it as three-dimensional because she herself is a three-dimensional being, and she can only see this dimension.

But perhaps the first-aid kit doesn't look like what she sees at all. Maybe there's a wall to its left, or a cabinet to its right. It's just that because of the different dimensions, she can neither see nor touch it.

Gu Jiao pointed to the small medicine box: "But why would a product from a higher dimension have a three-dimensional shell? Are you also a defective product? Were you exiled to our time and space by your master?"

A gentle breeze blew by, and the small medicine box remained as quiet as a chicken.

Gu Jiao finished tidying up, and a faint glimmer of dawn appeared in the sky. The courtyard, which had been busy all night, fell into a brief silence.

Gu Jiao was a little sleepy, but couldn't fall asleep, so she went to sit on the swing set in the front yard.

Not long after he sat down, Xiao Heng walked over, leaning on his cane.

"Are you up or still awake?" Gu Jiao asked, looking at him. The next second, she realized that her words were superfluous. He hadn't even changed his clothes, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept all night either.

Xiao Heng sat down next to her, handed her a small, bright orange tangerine, and said, "Congratulations, Doctor Gu, on becoming a big sister."

Gu Jiao peeled the orange, put half of it in his palm, and said, "Congratulations to Lord Xiao on becoming my brother-in-law."

They both laughed, and the fatigue of the night seemed to dissipate in their smiles.

Gu Jiao divided the oranges very evenly, six segments each. The two of them ate the oranges in their hands. When Gu Jiao had only one segment left, she didn't eat it. Instead, she put it in Xiao Heng's palm: "Also, congratulations on your promotion, Lord Xiao."

Xiao Heng raised an eyebrow: "Ah, my promotion gift is just a segment of orange."

Gu Jiao said, "Then my gift to my older sister is just an orange."

Xiao Heng added, "My gift as your brother-in-law is half an orange."

Gu Jiao: "..."

Why does she want to compete with intellectuals in verbal sparring?

Xiao Heng chuckled softly, looking at the orange segment in his palm, which had been cleaned of even the white pith, and felt a little reluctant to eat it.

"How about..." He had just started to speak when he felt a weight on his right shoulder.

Gu Jiao fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.

The golden morning light tore through the darkness, broke through the clouds, and gently spilled into the quiet courtyard.

Xiao Heng ate the last segment of orange and raised his hand to block the light from her eyes.

“Young master, little…” Yu Ya’er took small steps out of the main room, intending to call the two of them to get something to eat, but she saw Xiao Heng put his index finger to his lips and gently shush him.

Yu Ya'er quickly covered her mouth!

Xiao Heng kept raising his hand to shield her from the glaring light until his arm became numb.

Yu Ya'er called it a groundhog in her heart.

Aaaaaah!

What an amazing man my son-in-law is!

That's so gentle!

Miss, you'd better just give in to the young master!

Xiao Heng waited until Gu Jiao was completely asleep before he picked her up and carried her to the west room. He put one arm around her back and the other around her knees.

Little Jingkong has already gotten up; he's gone to find his little brothers and sisters.

Xiao Heng placed Gu Jiao on his bed.

Although they had shared a dormitory before, this was the first time she had slept in her own room.

This feeling was novel and made him feel inexplicably excited.

His movements were very gentle, as if she were a fragile treasure.

When Xiao Jingkong returned after visiting his little brother, he was a little disappointed. His little brother only slept and wasn't fun at all.

When he arrived at the bedside, he found that Gu Jiao was sleeping in the bed he shared with his wicked brother-in-law.

"Huh?" His eyes widened, the light in them returning, and without a word, he kicked off his shoes. "I want to sleep!"

Before he could even get onto the bed, Xiao Heng grabbed him and lifted him up.

His little arms and legs thrashed about in mid-air: "Put me down! Put me down! I want to sleep!"

He wants to sleep with Jiaojiao!

"You should go to school now." Xiao Heng grabbed him and dragged him out without any politeness.

Xiao Jingkong is going crazy!

Wow!

Why do children need to go to school?!

Despite not having slept all night, Xiao Heng still went to the Hanlin Academy. After all, he had just been promoted yesterday, and it would be unreasonable for him to take leave today. Besides, he wasn't very tired and could still manage.

"I'll take you," Liu Quan said. "You can at least get some rest in the carriage."

Xiao Heng did not refuse.

It was still early, so Liu Quan drove the carriage very slowly.

Xiao Heng leaned against the carriage wall and closed his eyes to rest.

Halfway there, Liu Quan's carriage suddenly stopped and remained motionless for a long time.

Xiao Heng opened his eyes and asked Liu Quan, "Uncle Liu, what's wrong?"

“Um…” Liu Quan craned his neck to look and said, “It looks like some important person’s carriage is coming.”

That's how it is in the capital. When officials travel, those of lower rank have to give way. It wasn't just their carriage that was like this; many officials ahead of them had already started making room in the alleys on both sides.

"Whose carriage is this?" Xiao Heng asked.

"You don't even know that? He's the newly appointed Grand Secretary!" said a scholar who was watching the commotion.

Xiao Liulang was riding in an old carriage, which inevitably made people think that his status was not high enough.

Indeed, this was the case. In the capital, where a mere fifth-rank official could kill three princes if a brick fell, it was nothing special.

But the Grand Secretary was different.

Those were the emperor's close advisors.

The other party added a small character before "Grand Secretary" ––––

"May I ask which young Grand Secretary you are?" asked Liu Quan, the scholar.

Liu Quan was quite familiar with the official positions in the capital. If it was just a minor Grand Secretary, his official rank was probably not as high as his sixth son's, so they could refuse.

The scholar said, "Who else could it be but the young Grand Secretary? It's Prince An of the Zhuang family! He was promoted to the Grand Secretariat after only four months in the Hanlin Academy. He truly deserves to be called the number one talent in the capital!"

The most talented scholar in the capital? Who bestowed that title upon him?

If a second-place finisher becomes the first-place finisher, how can we say that his sixth son is the newly appointed top scholar?

Xiao Heng's focus was not on the title "talented scholar of the capital." Yesterday, when Princess Xinyang mentioned to him the promotion of Prince An to the cabinet, she said that he had been appointed as a seventh-rank secretary, but today, in the mouths of the people, he had become a junior cabinet minister.

"Grand Secretary" is not an official title, but a respectful title for several Grand Secretaries of the Inner Cabinet. However, not every Grand Secretary of the Inner Cabinet is qualified to be called Grand Secretary. Only the Grand Secretary of the Zhongji Hall and the two Second Grand Secretaries of the Jianji Hall and Wenhua Hall are qualified to be called Grand Secretary.

As for the Grand Secretaries of the Wuying Hall, Wenyuan Pavilion, and Dongge Pavilion, they were all called Junior Grand Secretaries.

Princess Xinyang's information is unlikely to be wrong. Prince An's official position must be a seventh-rank Zhongshu (Secretariat). Above Zhongshu are the sixth-rank Zhongcheng (Vice-Chancellor), the fifth-rank Xuecheng (Vice-Chancellor), the fourth-rank Gecheng (Vice-Chancellor), and the third-rank Shixueshi (Vice-Chancellor). None of these people are qualified to be called Xiaoge Lao (Junior Grand Secretary).

The title of "Junior Grand Secretary" for Prince An was mostly derived from his background and status.

To put it bluntly, Zhuang Taifu's grandson entered the cabinet with the intention of becoming its head.

The title of "Junior Grand Secretary" is just a prelude; one day he will become the Grand Grand Secretary.

(End of this chapter)