The following day, the Lu residence was bustling with activity as civil and military officials came to offer their congratulations.
Lu Yanzhao accepted all offers without hesitation.
Gu Nanjiao laughed and said, "People come to give you gifts, and you just accept them all."
"You don't understand. If I only accept a portion of the people, it would be seen as an attempt to win them over. But now that I accept them all, no one can discern my true intentions, and I will gain more trust from His Majesty."
Gu Nanjiao leaned closer and looked at her carefully: "You really have the makings of a corrupt official."
"Corrupt officials are cunning, but honest officials are even more cunning than corrupt officials. Since ancient times, honest officials have not been given important positions by the emperor because the emperor cannot hold any evidence against them and is therefore uneasy about using them. Now that I have accepted their gifts, the emperor will surely think that I love money and will use me without any reservations."
Gu Nanjiao nodded. She didn't understand much about officialdom, as long as Lu Yanzhao didn't become a heinous corrupt official in the future. Given the current situation, he was only scheming for his own sake and for the sake of his family.
...
Now that they have become the target of public criticism, they are afraid that the Crown Prince and the Imperial Concubine will resort to desperate measures.
Gu Nanjiao was worried about her father's safety and told Lu Yanzhao about it. Fortunately, the emperor had bestowed four secret guards upon them, enough to take on a hundred men each.
Lu Yanzhao assigned one bodyguard to protect Gu's father's safety, and sent another back to Luoshui County to secretly infiltrate Meiwuzhai.
The remaining two are Gu Nanjiao and Lu Yanzhao, one each.
On the day Lu Yanzhao achieved the highest rank in the imperial examination, the emperor granted him a special permission to return to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors. Lu Yanzhao had originally planned to hold a wedding ceremony with Gu Nanjiao when he returned home.
The assassination attempt caused a long delay.
Now I have asked His Majesty for leave and am returning to my hometown with my family.
Because Lu Yanzhao planned to hold a wedding with Gu Nanjiao during this trip back to his hometown, Gu's father and Lü Siniang went back with him.
Huang Qingqing originally wanted to come along, but she also wanted to open her own jewelry shop. In addition, there was no one to look after Jiaoniang Pavilion, so she volunteered to stay in the capital.
Before he returned to his hometown, news of Lu Yanzhao's success in the imperial examination and his promotion to the fourth rank had already spread throughout the county.
Even though he wanted to go back quietly, he couldn't really do it.
As soon as Lu Yanzhao and his group returned to the county town, someone noticed him and someone shouted "Top Scholar!" The street instantly erupted in excitement.
The patrolling constables rushed to the county office to report to the newly appointed magistrate, who immediately led his men to welcome him with gongs and drums.
Gu Nanjiao glanced at the newly appointed magistrate and saw that it was none other than Uncle Zhang Yan. She nudged her father, who was dozing off beside her, and asked, "Father, look who the new magistrate is."
Father Gu lifted the curtain and took a peek, then quickly jumped off the carriage.
"Brother Zhang, it's only been three days since we last met, and now you've been promoted to county magistrate. Congratulations!"
Zhang Yan said politely, "Not at all, not at all. Brother Gu is truly remarkable. Now he is an official in the capital, and his son-in-law is the top scholar in the imperial examination. I heard that His Majesty specially promoted him, and now he is a fourth-rank official. It is truly enviable."
“I’m just a low-ranking official in the capital, not even as high-ranking as you. But my son-in-law is truly a talent.” Gu Qingyan spoke of Lu Yanzhao with great pride.
Zhang Yan hurriedly bowed to Lu Yanzhao, praised him repeatedly, and insisted that he ride a horse around the county before thanking his mentor and personally hosting a banquet to entertain him.
Lu Yanzhao had no choice but to agree. Gu Nanjiao greeted them and then returned to Meiweizhai.
Lu Siniang missed the article and was eager to return home. Gu Qingyan also returned home after saying goodbye to Zhang Yan.
...
Delicious food, empty seats.
Sister Wang served the guests with practiced ease, and when it came time to pay the bill, the abacus beads clicked loudly. When tables were being turned over, the waitresses quickly tidied up the tables.
The delivery guy wiped the sweat from his brow, picked up the food container from the table, and continued on to the next restaurant.
Seeing someone enter, Sister Wang gave a standard smile and bowed: "Welcome, what would you like to eat?"
Seeing that the guest didn't speak, Sister Wang looked up and exclaimed, "Manager, you're back?"
Gu Nanjiao smiled and said, "Yes." Then she glanced around and nodded with satisfaction. "While I was away, Meiweizhai's business was doing quite well. By the way, where's my mother?"
Sister Wang suppressed her smile: "These past few days, Master Ying has been vomiting a lot, so Aunt Lu went to see her."
Gu Nanjiao remembered that Yingniang was pregnant when she went to the capital. Now that she was past the first trimester and should be past the morning sickness period, why was she vomiting so badly?
"Oh, by the way, the gifts I brought for you are for everyone. Have someone unload them from the carriage," Gu Nanjiao instructed Sister Wang before heading to the Lin family.
Inside the room, Yingniang lay on the bed, her face deathly pale.
Lu's mother looked at her with concern and frowned, saying, "It's been more than three months, why are you still vomiting so badly? What did the doctor say?"
"The doctor said that everyone's constitution is different, and some people vomit until they are about to die." As soon as Yingniang finished speaking, a wave of nausea rushed up, and she covered her mouth as if she was about to vomit.
Lu's mother quickly picked up the spittoon next to her and handed it to Yingniang's mouth.
"Lin Ji is really something. You've been throwing up like this, and you haven't even come back."
Yingniang wiped her mouth and explained, "It's not his fault. The school is so busy, he can't manage it all by himself. Even my father-in-law went to help out."
"You always defend him."
There was a knock at the door, and Mrs. Lu got up to open it.
When she saw Gu Nanjiao, she was so excited that tears welled up in her eyes: "When did you come back? You didn't even send a letter to let me know in advance."
"I wanted to give you a surprise. I heard you weren't at Meiweizhai, so I came looking for you. How is Yingniang?"
Mrs. Lu sighed, "She's vomiting so badly she can barely breathe, and she's not eating or drinking. She's become so thin and emaciated. If this continues, how will the child get any nutrition?"
Gu Nanjiao stared in disbelief at the frail Yingniang: Pregnancy is so hard, she looks like she's lost more than 20 pounds.
Upon seeing Gu Nanjiao, Yingniang weakly said, "You've come. Please sit down." Then her eyes rolled back and she collapsed onto the bed.
"She's starving again, what are we going to do if she can't eat anything?" Mother Lu paced anxiously, scolding Lin Ji as she looked out over the yard.
Gu Nanjiao jumped into the carriage and took out the gifts.
There's brown sugar in it, so Yingniang probably has low blood sugar.
After being given a bowl of brown sugar water, Yingniang slowly woke up and vomited as soon as she opened her eyes.
She vomited up all the brown sugar water she had just drunk.
According to Lu's mother, Yingniang vomits everything she eats, and she can't even eat eggs.
Gu Nanjiao had heard about this from Sister Wang before she came, so she brought some nice things with her this time.
When Gu Nanjiao brought a bowl of smelly stuff from the kitchen, Lu's mother covered her nose and asked, "What is this? Why does it smell so bad?"
Yingniang took two deep breaths and said, "What is this? It smells so good!"
Gu Nanjiao smiled mysteriously: "It's the snail rice noodles I developed. They're additive-free, green, and safe. You can eat them without worry."
Lu Yanzhao had a love-hate relationship with this thing. Gu Nanjiao remembered seeing it on her phone; there was a pregnant woman who had severe morning sickness, but she loved eating snail rice noodles, durian, and all sorts of smelly things.
So she brought it over specifically for Yingniang to try.
Yingniang swallowed hard, her stomach rumbling. She liked the taste.
After finishing a bowl of snail rice noodles, Yingniang smiled shyly and said, "Is there any more? I'd like to eat more."
"You didn't throw up?" Mrs. Lu found it unbelievable. How could she eat such a smelly thing? She even seemed to want more.
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