Chapter 121 The Young Marquis of Zhaodu (Second Update)
Gu Jiao got up before dawn. After washing up, she first fed Xiao Jingkong's chicks.
The chicks are almost grown into big chickens now, and they occasionally crow, but they stop crowing if no one wakes them up.
There's a small market nearby, in a different direction from the Imperial College, and it's a quick walk away.
Gu Jiao carried her basket and went to the small market.
"Steamed buns—fresh and delicious steamed buns—" a vendor called out.
Gu Jiao walked over to him and asked, "How much is a steamed bun?"
The vendor saw the birthmark on her face but didn't show any surprise. As expected of someone from the capital, he was used to such things.
The vendor chuckled, "Big meat buns are three coins each, and brown sugar buns are three coins for two! How many would you like, young lady?"
The buns were quite large; one was enough to fill you up. Gu Jiao took out a food box from her small basket: "Eight meat buns and four sugar buns."
They ate the meat buns, and Xiao Jing ate the sugar buns.
There are four of them, and they don't know if he can eat his fill; the little guy's appetite is quite astonishing.
"Alright! That'll be thirty coins in total! I'll throw in a steamed bun for you!" The vendor packed the bun and steamed bun for Gu Jiao.
"Thank you." Gu Jiao paid the money and then went to buy pots, pans, and other kitchen utensils, followed by firewood.
Firewood in the capital is not cheap; a bundle of firewood costs ten copper coins, and at their rate of burning, it can probably last for two to three days.
Gu Jiao asked for two bundles of firewood and then asked how much the charcoal cost.
The firewood vendor said, "Miss, would you like black charcoal or silver charcoal? Black charcoal is five coins a pound, and silver charcoal is twenty coins a pound."
"Silver charcoal is so expensive?"
The firewood vendor chuckled, "Silver charcoal is very useful!"
This is the truth. Black charcoal not only burns poorly, but also produces a lot of smoky and pungent smoke. In contrast, silver charcoal burns much longer and produces no smoke.
In the end, Gu Jiao bought 100 catties of silver charcoal at a price of 17 coins per catty.
The peddler drove a mule cart and personally delivered firewood and charcoal to the door.
Xiao Liulang was already up and had cleaned the kitchen. He was now cleaning the backyard, moving very quietly so as not to wake anyone.
"Good morning," Gu Jiao greeted.
"Good morning." Xiao Liulang nodded.
Gu Jiao directly instructed the vendor to move the firewood and charcoal to the kitchen.
After the vendor left, Gu Jiao went over and took the broom from Xiao Liulang's hand: "I'll do it, you go and tidy up the boxes."
On this trip to the capital, Gu Jiao, the old lady, and Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun didn't have much luggage, while Xiao Liulang and Xiao Jingkong had several large suitcases. Xiao Liulang's luggage mainly consisted of books, while Xiao Jingkong's consisted of things he brought back from the temple, and of course, his seven chicks.
"Alright." Xiao Liulang turned and went to the study.
A moment later, Gu Jiao brought him two steaming hot meat buns: "You eat first, I'll go cook some millet porridge."
"Have you eaten?" Xiao Liulang called out to her.
"Not yet." Gu Jiao shook her head.
She wanted to say that she could eat while she was cooking the porridge, but Xiao Liulang pushed the plate forward and said, "Then let's eat together."
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Okay."
Since their family has grown, the two of them haven't eaten alone for a long time. The last time was at an inn in town, but that was more than half a year ago.
The two sat facing each other, as if they had returned to the very beginning.
Gu Jiao chuckled.
"What are you laughing at?" Xiao Liulang asked.
Gu Jiao held the large meat bun in her hands: "You laughed at me for inviting you to dinner for the first time. Did you think I poisoned it and that's why you haven't dared to eat it?"
"I didn't," Xiao Liulang denied vehemently.
Gu Jiao suddenly leaned closer, staring at his handsome face with their eyes almost touching: "Aren't you afraid I'll poison you now?"
Do you trust me so much that you can't believe it?
Just as Gu Jiao was feeling smug, she saw Xiao Liulang look at the steamed bun in his hand with a complicated expression. Then, he took Gu Jiao's steamed bun and gave his own to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao: "..."
After the two had breakfast, before their family woke up, Xiao Liulang had to go to the Imperial Academy to report for duty. Gu Jiao guessed that they would sleep until noon, so she took Xiao Liulang to the Imperial Academy.
The Imperial College officially opened in late October, and students are arriving one after another to register. Some are from the capital, while others, like Xiao Liulang, have come from other places.
Regular students of the Imperial Academy were not required to pay tuition fees; all their expenses were covered by the imperial court, including their dormitories and meals, which were also funded by the imperial treasury.
Xiao Liulang can go back after reporting to the student affairs office today. Of course, he can also stay at the Imperial Academy to study if he wants.
The Imperial Academy boasts the largest library in the entire Zhao Kingdom; otherwise, it wouldn't have become a sacred place coveted by all scholars.
Gu Jiao waited for him outside the Imperial College.
The bustling traffic in front of her was a novel experience for Gu Jiao.
So this is the capital city. It is indeed different from the county town. The roads are much wider, and several carriages pass by side by side from time to time. Most of the girls on the road wear veils, and it is rare to see someone like Gu Jiao showing her face in public.
Gu Jiao was engrossed in watching when suddenly the crowd surged toward one place, with everyone standing on both sides of the street, eagerly gazing in that direction.
Gu Jiao was standing not far from the street. She was pushed to the side and her foot was stepped on.
"Ah! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" The culprit hurriedly apologized to Gu Jiao.
He was dressed as a scholar, but his appearance and deliberately lowered voice made it clear that the other person was actually a girl.
He was handsome with delicate features.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" The young scholar, disguised as a man, bowed to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao didn't take it to heart.
She stepped back.
Unfortunately, the people behind her didn't give her a chance to move out.
She was trapped in the middle of the surging crowd, unable to move forward or backward.
The young scholar kept trying to push forward, but she was too weak and couldn't get to the front row no matter what she did.
She gave up resisting, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and asked Gu Jiao, "Miss, what happened to your face?"
Gu Jiao calmly replied, "A birthmark."
"Ah..." The young scholar quickly covered his mouth, "I thought it was rouge, I'm so sorry."
Gu Jiao didn't mind her unintentional offense.
She herself felt bad; bumping into someone was bad enough, but then she stepped on them and said something hurtful—
well!
She never seems to get away with offending anyone!
The young scholar looked at Gu Jiao and said, "Miss, you're not from the capital, are you? Your accent doesn't sound like it."
Gu Jiao: "Mm."
The young scholar then asked, "Did you also come all this way specifically to see the Crown Princess?"
Gu Jiao asked curiously, "What concubine?"
The young scholar's almond-shaped eyes widened as he exclaimed, "The Crown Princess? You've come here so early to wait, isn't it because you heard that the Crown Princess is returning from the prayer ceremony and will be passing by the Imperial Academy?"
Gu Jiao shook her head: "I don't know the Crown Princess, and I won't look at her."
The young scholar gasped, "Who, who came to see her because they know her? How could ordinary people like us know the Crown Princess? Aren't we just people who have heard of her, admire her, and want to catch a glimpse of her from afar?"
Gu Jiao said seriously, "I've never heard of her, and I don't admire her."
"Are you from Zhao? How come you've never heard of the Crown Princess?"
The young scholar's voice was unusually loud, causing everyone around to look at the two of them. Everyone looked at Gu Jiao with incredulous eyes, clearly wondering, just like the young scholar, how could anyone in the world not know the Crown Princess of Zhao Kingdom?
As they were talking, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "The Crown Princess is here—the Crown Princess is here—"
As he made his exchange, the crowd erupted in a violent commotion.
A hundred imperial guards rode in on iron hooves, forming a huge formation that surrounded the Crown Princess's carriage. Before the common people could even see how many wheels the carriage had, the imperial guards escorted the Crown Princess's entourage and disappeared into the street.
The crowd dispersed.
The young scholar watched the retreating figures of the Imperial Guards' iron cavalry disappear, stamping his feet in frustration: "Oh dear, I didn't see them! Do you know how hard it is for me to come out here? What a waste of all that early morning effort!"
Gu Jiao breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the dense crowd.
She really wasn't used to being so close to strangers.
Seeing that Gu Jiao showed no sign of annoyance or anger, the young scholar asked curiously, "You really didn't come to see the Crown Princess?"
Gu Jiao said calmly, "I've already said I'm not."
The young scholar asked, "Why?"
Gu Jiao said, "I've already said that."
The young scholar asked, "You really haven't heard of her?"
Gu Jiao glanced at her speechlessly.
The Crown Princess is the person the young scholar admires most, and he absolutely will not allow anyone in the world not to have heard of her!
The young scholar earnestly explained to Gu Jiao, "Do you know who the Crown Princess is? She is the most outstanding woman in the entire Zhao Kingdom. There is no man in the world who doesn't like her, and no woman who doesn't envy her. Do you know Zhuang Xianzhi, the great talent of the Zhuang family? He was once the Crown Princess's teacher. Do you know who she went to school with? The young Marquis of Zhaodu!"
Gu Jiao looked at her calmly.
The young scholar exploded: "No way? Don't tell me you don't know who the Young Marquis of Zhaodu is! The Young Marquis! The Young Chancellor!"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Oh, I've heard of it."
It happened a long time ago. Young Master Qin somehow got hold of a painting, claiming it was the work of the young marquis, but Xiao Liulang said it wasn't.
This was the only time she had ever heard of the young Marquis of Zhaodu before.
The young scholar slapped his forehead: "Heavens! Heavens! Did you spring from a rock? How could you not know the Young Marquis and the Crown Princess? One was the number one genius boy in Zhao Kingdom, and the other was the number one genius girl. They grew up together as childhood sweethearts and were even engaged. After the Young Marquis's sudden death, the Crown Princess remained chaste for him for three years before finally accepting His Majesty's bestowal to marry the Crown Prince this year. Such a legendary story, and you've never heard of it?"
(End of this chapter)
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