Chapter 224 Grandfather and Grandson Meet (First Update)
What's there to be embarrassed about? There's no awkwardness at all.
Having had her fill of tofu, Gu Jiao returned to her room, leaving Xiao Liulang alone in the main room... looking somewhat bewildered.
Gu Jiao slept very well.
Xiao Liulang felt restless and uneasy, for reasons unknown. He tossed and turned, waking Xiao Jingkong.
Xiao Jingkong complained irritably, "Are you adults really this disobedient? Can't you just go to sleep?"
After being scolded by the little guy, Xiao Liulang finally calmed down. He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep.
A spring rain fell during the night and didn't stop until dawn. The ground was wet, and Xiao Jingkong slipped and fell as soon as he went out.
He was carrying something in his hand today, and when he fell, he couldn't catch his head and body in time, so he scraped his knee.
Gu Jiao went out and is not at home.
He frowned slightly, went to the gate of the courtyard, sat on the threshold, and placed his injured leg in the most conspicuous place.
Gu Jiao returned from the market with rice and flour and saw the little guy sitting on the doorstep with his legs stretched out. She couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Little Jingkong finally put his tears, which he had been saving up all morning, to use. With teary eyes, he let go of the spot he had been covering and said pitifully, "It hurts so much!"
Gu Jiao leaned down and looked at her: "Did you fall again?"
"Yes!" He nodded, his voice choked with emotion.
Gu Jiao carried him into the east room and disinfected his wound with iodine.
Little Jingkong said coquettishly, "I need to breathe on it so it won't hurt."
Gu Jiao cradled his chubby little legs, which were like lotus roots, and gently breathed on them.
Eeya!
That feels so good!
Xiao Jingkong was so engrossed in the moment that he felt like he was about to faint!
Then Xiao Liulang appeared.
"Time to go to school."
Her tone was icy, and her eyes were like hooks, as if she wanted to snatch Xiao Jingkong from Gu Jiao's arms!
Little Jingkong jumped down, walked briskly to him, and made a funny face with a showy expression: "I have a 'huhu', hee hee hee!"
You have your snoring, and I have my pinching too!
Xiao Liulang ultimately didn't hold it against the little guy. He glanced at Gu Jiao in the room and calmly greeted her, "Good morning."
"Good morning." Gu Jiao smiled.
Xiao Liulang's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained calm as he led Xiao Jingkong out of the house.
Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan also got up, and after breakfast, the group went to school.
Gu Jiao went to the clinic.
Xiao Jiangli was squatting in the backyard feeding her chubby little rabbit with carrots.
"Sister Gu!" Seeing Gu Jiao approach, Xiao Jiangli walked over carrying her chubby little rabbit. "I've swept the yard clean!"
Gu Jiao nodded: "So good."
After recuperating at the clinic for a while, Xiao Jiangli was no longer pale and thin. She had a small, delicate face with beautiful features. To be honest, she didn't look like Jiang Shi at all; one probably took after her father, and the other after her mother.
“That lady came to play the piano again this morning!” Xiao Jiangli said, pointing to the wall in Gu Jiao’s yard.
Xiao Jiangli has lived in the clinic for so long that she knows there is a girls' school next door, and there is an older sister in the girls' school who comes to play the piano every day, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.
Gu Jiao then asked, "Do you want to play?"
"Ah..." Xiao Jiangli hesitated for a moment, "Can I?"
Gu Jiao nodded: "Yes, there is a zither in the room."
Xiao Jiangli happily went to play the piano... well, to be precise, to play the piano!
Xiao Jiangli suffered a lot during the days she and Jiang Shi depended on each other for survival, which made her develop a personality that didn't want to trouble others, and she was also very good at pleasing people.
Unlike Xiao Jingkong, she never rummaged through things and made a mess of the house. She would always clean up the house after she finished playing.
Gu Jiao told her to play by herself, and then went out.
Today was the day of Consort Jing's follow-up appointment, and Gu Jiao took the carriage from the clinic to the nunnery.
There was another carriage parked outside the nunnery, but Gu Jiao didn't pay any attention to it and went inside on her own.
Last time I came here, I saw at least two nuns, but today there are none.
Gu Jiao went to Consort Jing's courtyard.
It had rained last night, and the soil was sticky, so Gu Jiao slowed her pace.
When she arrived at the door of the meditation room, she heard Consort Jing and a voice that seemed somewhat familiar.
"Please take good care of yourself. His Majesty is thinking of you. He said you won't have to wait long; he will be able to bring you back to the palace in a few days."
"No, I'm used to living here. I enjoy the simple life of Buddhist meditation and meditation. Please don't worry about me, Your Majesty."
"What are you saying, Your Highness? His Majesty was raised by you. In his heart, you are his mother. How could he not miss you? You have suffered all these years. His Majesty has longed to bring you back every single day."
“Go back and tell His Majesty that I am doing well here.”
Just as Consort Jing finished speaking, Gu Jiao knocked on the door.
The conversation inside the meditation room abruptly stopped.
Consort Jing asked, "Who?"
“It’s me,” Gu Jiao said.
Consort Jing recognized Gu Jiao's voice and said gently, "It's Miss Gu, please come in."
Gu Jiao pushed open the door to the meditation room and stepped inside.
The person inside saw her and their eyes widened: "Little..."
A miracle doctor?
"Huh? It's you?" Gu Jiao looked at Eunuch Wei.
Eunuch Wei once accompanied the emperor to a medical clinic, the same time the emperor was implicated in a staged accident by the young eunuch Jingkong.
Gu Jiao didn't know that the other party was the emperor; she only knew that he was Chu Yu's father and seemed to be a high-ranking official in the court.
As for Eunuch Wei, he was dressed as an ordinary steward, and Gu Jiao only thought of him as one of the servants of the Chu family.
It seems that it is not.
"Do you...know each other?" Consort Jing asked the two of them with a puzzled look.
Eunuch Wei thought to himself, "What the hell? How could I run into the Little Divine Doctor here? Did the Little Divine Doctor overhear my conversation with Consort Jing? Has the Little Divine Doctor figured out my identity?"
As His Majesty's attendant, if someone were to guess that I am a eunuch, wouldn't that implicate His Majesty and expose my true identity as well?
Suddenly, Eunuch Wei had a sudden inspiration and turned to Consort Jing, saying, "His Majesty once sent me to accompany Lord Chu to the clinic to visit the injured in an accident. Miss Gu is a doctor at the clinic, and we have met before."
"Lord Chu...?" Consort Jing had never heard of Lord Chu.
"He's a newly appointed official by His Majesty." Fearing this lie wouldn't hold up, Eunuch Wei quickly changed the subject. "What brings Miss Gu here?"
Consort Jing smiled gently: "She is the young doctor I told you about."
Eunuch Wei was speechless for a moment.
What a coincidence! The little miracle doctor has even managed to treat the Empress Dowager.
"Ahem." Eunuch Wei was worried that the longer he stayed, the more flaws he would reveal. He said to Consort Jing, "It's getting late. This servant must return to the palace to report to His Majesty. I will visit Your Highness another day."
Eunuch Wei left in a hurry.
Gu Jiao glanced at Eunuch Wei, said nothing, and began to examine Consort Jing again.
She took out her stethoscope.
When I last listened to Consort Jing's heart, her lungs were filled with wheezing, but now they are normal.
Gu Jiao took Consort Jing's pulse again, and the pulse was much smoother.
"How are you feeling?" Gu Jiao asked.
Consort Jing smiled and said, "I feel much better after using the medicine you gave me. I only had two attacks on the second day, and by the third day I was almost not breathing at all."
Gu Jiao was not surprised by the result, after all, the medicines in the research institute were all good medicines, far superior to similar medicines even in the medically advanced past: "Keep that spray on hand, in case you have another asthma attack."
"Alright." Consort Jing agreed, then looked at Gu Jiao with a loving expression, "It's kind of you to go to the trouble of coming to see me."
Gu Jiao said, "I accepted Princess Rui's consultation fee."
Consort Jing was taken aback at first, then she understood what Gu Jiao meant. She looked at Gu Jiao's serious face and chuckled.
"You're such an amusing child." Consort Jing laughed uncontrollably, looked at the clearing sky, and said, "The sun is out. Is Miss Gu in a hurry to go back? If not, would you like to come outside for a walk with me? I can't go out when I'm sick, and I've been cooped up in the house for a long time."
"Okay." Gu Jiao wasn't in a hurry to go back.
Consort Jing put on a cloak and left the courtyard with Gu Jiao.
The nunnery was small; it was gone in just a few steps. Consort Jing led Gu Jiao out of the nunnery.
The bluestone path in front of the nunnery was very easy to walk on; Gu Jiao had noticed on her way here that even the path in front of Puji Temple wasn't this easy to walk on.
Consort Jing admired the surrounding scenery and walked slowly: "Miss Gu, what do you think of the scenery here?"
"It's alright." Gu Jiao wasn't very interested in the mountains and rivers.
Consort Jing smiled and said, "I think it's quite good, better than the palace. So many young women are desperate to enter the palace, but once they're in, they spend their whole lives longing to leave."
Gu Jiao felt that Consort Jing was explaining her conversation with that eunuch.
Gu Jiao is not a talkative person.
Whether Consort Jing explains or not, Gu Jiao will not tell anyone.
However, the conversation between the two just now revealed a fact—the Empress Dowager Jing was not in control of her own destiny in the nunnery, or at least the Emperor believed that she was not in control of her own destiny. The Emperor was eager to bring her back, but was unable to do so due to some obstacle, but it was about to happen.
As Gu Jiao was pondering, Consort Jing, who was beside her, suddenly stopped.
Out of the corner of her eye, Gu Jiao noticed that her body was slightly stiff. Gu Jiao turned her head to look at her, then looked at what she was staring at.
A burly old man in plain clothes appeared on the path ahead.
Having experienced life and death in the organization in her previous life, Gu Jiao sensed the hidden killing intent emanating from the other party almost instantly.
The old man in plain clothes in front of me... has killed people.
They must have killed quite a few, otherwise they wouldn't have such a fierce killing intent.
The other person soon saw them too, and he stopped in his tracks.
Hmm, we know each other?
A complex emotion flickered in the old man's eyes. He stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed to Consort Jing, saying, "Your Highness, Consort Jing."
Consort Jing unconsciously clenched the handkerchief in her hand, but her tone remained largely unchanged: "Old Marquis, there's no need for such formality."
Upon hearing that it was the old Marquis, Gu Jiao didn't immediately guess it was him, since there were so many marquises in the capital.
The old Marquis didn't pay much attention to Gu Jiao, treating her only as a maidservant to the Dowager Consort Jing.
Consort Jing composed herself and asked, "Is the old Marquis here to offer incense?"
The old Marquis kept his eyes down, not bothering to look at the Dowager Consort Jing's face: "The suspension bridge had an accident a while ago, and it has just been repaired recently, so I came to take a look."
The suspension bridge was repaired under the supervision of Lord Gu, and he should have been the one to inspect it. However, Lord Gu had been severely injured by his own father, so the old lord came to inspect it on his behalf.
Although Consort Jing pretended to be calm, anyone with eyes could sense that something was wrong with her aura: "Then, then you go and get busy."
The old Marquis cupped his hands again, bowing respectfully without looking to the side: "Your Highness, please take care of yourself."
"Hmm." Consort Jing nodded steadily.
The old lord turned and left.
Consort Jing glanced at his retreating figure, a hint of melancholy flashing in her eyes. After a moment, she looked at Gu Jiao beside her, smiled, and said, "Let's go back. I'm a little tired."
After escorting Consort Jing back to the nunnery, Gu Jiao boarded the carriage at the medical clinic.
The driver was a mistress.
Xiao Sanzi asked, "Miss Gu, shall we go straight back to the clinic?"
"Mmm," Gu Jiao hummed in agreement.
"Alright, Miss Gu, hold on tight!" Xiao Sanzi cracked his whip, "Giddy up!"
The carriage left the nunnery, passed by the temple, and crossed the stone arch bridge.
The scenery along the way was breathtaking, which reminded Gu Jiao of her days in the countryside.
The carriage hadn't gone far when another carriage caught up.
Gu Jiao's carriage took the same road as the other carriage, even after several turns.
At first, they thought the other party was also going back to the city, but Xiao Sanzi stopped the carriage at the tea stall and told them to go first, but they didn't leave.
When Xiao Sanzi drove the carriage on the road, they followed at a distance that was neither too close nor too far.
Gradually, even Xiao Sanzi noticed something was amiss: "Miss Gu, why does that carriage keep following us?"
By this time, they were almost in the bustling city center. After passing through a narrow alley, they would reach Chaoyu Street. At the end of Chaoyu Street was a Chaoyu Archway. After passing the archway and turning a corner, they would reach Xuanwu Avenue.
"Stop in that alley ahead," Gu Jiao said calmly.
On the last day of the month, tickets are cleared out.
(End of this chapter)
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