Chapter 261 The Truth (Second Update)
It's impossible to explain, the kind of explanation that leaves you speechless. I've never had such a mental breakdown even during a scientific expedition.
When the carriage arrived home, Xiao Liulang practically fled from it.
Gu Jiao tilted her head, happily took out her little notebook, flipped to the last page, and wrote down an important entry: The first day my husband wanted to sleep with me.
The day for reporting to the Hanlin Academy was in late May. After the imperial examinations for the second and third class of Jinshi, Xiao Liulang basically didn't need to go to the Imperial Academy anymore; if he did, it was only to handle the transfer procedures.
That's right. Entering the Hanlin Academy was ostensibly about becoming an official, but in reality, it was still about studying and passing exams to build up seniority.
Gu Jiao had never attended school in ancient times, but based on Xiao Liulang's explanation to her, the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) were admitted to the Hanlin Academy, which was roughly equivalent to a government-funded postgraduate program in her previous life. The top three Jinshi were already recommended for postgraduate studies and had the honor of becoming civil servants of the country, while the Shujishi (probationary officials) had to take the exam again after three years.
If you pass the exam, you become a civil servant in the country; if you fail, well, sorry, you have to go back to where you came from. If you're lucky, you might get a position as a county magistrate; if you're unlucky, you might only be able to teach at a state or prefectural school, and even then, you'd have to be a good teacher.
Du Ruohan's knowledge is undeniable, so passing the imperial examination for the position of Shujishi shouldn't be a problem for him. However, Feng Lin and Lin Chengye are in a bit of a precarious situation, as they visit Xiao Liulang every day to seek his advice.
Xiao Liulang naturally spared no effort in teaching them. Occasionally, when the old priest was cooking for the old lady, he would run into the two of them and give them some guidance.
Feng Lin whispered to Xiao Liulang, "Liulang, your great-uncle is really amazing. I think he explained that question more thoroughly than you did."
This statement actually speaks very highly of Xiao Liulang. Feng Lin was, after all, someone who had studied at the Imperial Academy, where the best teaching resources in the entire Zhao Kingdom were available. Yet, Feng Lin still thought that Xiao Liulang was the best speaker.
Feng Lin had met people more knowledgeable than Xiao Liulang before. Xiao Liulang was a genius, but he was only eighteen years old. His life experience and knowledge base were what they were. However, his teaching methods and perspectives were the most beneficial to Feng Lin.
Among those more powerful than Xiao Liulang, Feng Lin had only ever met his great-uncle.
"Hmm." Xiao Liulang thought to himself, that was the former Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, how could his teaching not be excellent?
Feng Lin sighed, "It's a pity that your great-uncle, with his knowledge, isn't taking the imperial examinations."
Xiao Liulang: How about learning about the Six Scholars who passed the imperial examination?
He is the only person since the founding of the Zhao Kingdom to have won all three major and minor honors.
However, this top scholar from Zhao Kingdom was currently wearing an apron and busy at the stove – the old lady wanted to eat brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, the kind sprinkled with white sesame seeds.
Gu Jiao went to the clinic early in the morning. The clinic's business has been booming lately. On the one hand, its reputation has spread, and many patients are coming to seek treatment. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical company has received a lot of orders, and they are almost too busy to keep up.
Jiang Shi has almost fully recovered, but he has been in bed for too long and has undergone some surgeries, so he needs to undergo rehabilitation treatment for a period of time.
Gu Jiao taught Dr. Song the rehabilitation exercises and key points, and Dr. Song led him in rehabilitation twice a day.
"Are we leaving after my brother recovers?"
Doctor Song and Jiang Shi were doing rehabilitation exercises in Gu Jiao's courtyard when Xiao Jiangli, who was watching from the side, suddenly asked a question.
Jiang Shi's body stiffened slightly.
Doctor Song smiled and said, "Little Jiang Li, are you reluctant to leave?"
"Yes." Xiao Jiangli nodded seriously.
She and her brother had been wandering for too long, being sold from one place to another, often going hungry and cold, and being beaten.
Coming to the clinic was the happiest time she had in years. No one bullied her or her brother. She ate well and slept well every day. The people at the clinic were very kind.
“I can work, can I stay?” Xiao Jiangli asked.
Dr. Song was speechless. Although he liked the brother and sister very much, it wasn't something their clinic could just keep. The two siblings were unregistered residents and had to be sent back to their original place of residence after being discharged from the hospital. This was the law, and their clinic had no right to register them.
Jiang Shi said to Xiao Jiangli, "Stop talking, let's go out and play."
Xiao Jiangli sighed, "Okay."
Xiao Jiangli went to the counter to help get the medicine. Gu Jiao was seeing patients today and had seen dozens of patients in the morning. She had finally seen the last patient when another important guest arrived.
"Miss Gu."
The listless tone was none other than that of Princess Rui, whom we hadn't seen for many days.
Princess Rui was four months pregnant. She had become a little plumper, her cheeks were fuller, and her complexion was rosy. However, her clothes were loose, so her pregnancy was not very noticeable.
Gu Jiao took her pulse: "The pulse is very stable, the fetus is very healthy."
Princess Rui's face showed little joy; she said dejectedly, "My sister-in-law's child is gone."
She didn't come to Gu Jiao for a pulse diagnosis today; she came to pour out her troubles. There was no one she could confide in at home, and she had to be even more careful with her words and actions in the palace. After thinking it over, only Gu Jiao could make her let down her guard.
Gu Jiao asked, "Which sister-in-law...? The Princess Consort of Ning?"
The eldest daughter-in-law of the Du family is also her sister-in-law.
Princess Rui nodded sullenly: "Yes, it's Princess Ning. She wasn't feeling well last night and didn't sleep well. This morning, news spread from the palace that she had miscarried, and it was a fully formed male fetus."
Gu Jiao was not surprised by this.
In that dream, Princess Ning's pregnancy was not going well; whether or not she was knocked down by a cat, the fetus would be lost, it was just a matter of sooner or later.
Princess Rui said sadly, "They're all blaming Princess Ning, saying she shouldn't have stolen and eaten that chili pepper. But what's wrong with eating chili peppers? I ate some too, and so many pregnant women ate them... This is her third miscarriage... I don't even know if she'll be able to get pregnant again..."
Many people were watching Princess Ning's belly. Princess Ning knew that she had a heavy responsibility and was under too much pressure, which was not a good thing for her pregnancy.
Gu Jiao handed her a handkerchief: "You're pregnant too, don't be too sad."
"Hmm..." Princess Rui took the handkerchief, crying as she tried to calm herself. "You're right... I... I can't be sad... I can't upset the baby..."
Princess Rui cried at Gu Jiao's place and felt a little better.
Gu Jiao originally thought that the white cat incident was someone trying to use Xiao Liulang to get rid of Princess Ning's unborn child, killing two or three birds with one stone. However, if Princess Ning's pregnancy was so bad that she could miscarry naturally, then there would be no need to take action at all.
So whether yesterday's events were due to someone trying to get rid of Princess Ning's unborn child, or Princess Ning's side trying to frame someone with a pregnancy that couldn't be saved at all, remains unknown.
Princess Ning's target was clearly not Xiao Liulang, otherwise there would have been trouble in the Imperial Garden earlier.
Gu Jiao didn't care about the palace intrigues.
She only cared about the person who used the white cat to frighten Xiao Liulang.
The other party seemed to know Xiao Liulang very well, and even knew that he was afraid of cats.
“Princess Rui,” Gu Jiao paused, then asked, “Is anyone in the Xuanping Marquis’s household afraid of cats? For example, the Marquis of Xuanping and his sons?”
"This..." Princess Rui racked her brains for a moment, "Marquis Xuanping is certainly not afraid. He's been to the battlefield; he's not afraid of those nobodies. As for his son... I don't know much about him. Why are you asking this?"
"Just asking," Gu Jiao said.
"Oh." Princess Rui didn't suspect anything. She said, "Our Du family doesn't have much contact with the Marquis of Xuanping's residence, but that woman Wen Linlang... cough cough."
Halfway through her sentence, she realized she had spoken without thinking, so she lowered her voice and changed her words, "The Crown Princess often visits the Marquis of Xuanping's residence. She and the young Marquis were betrothed since childhood and grew up together as childhood sweethearts, so she knows the people in the Marquis's residence quite well."
Gu Jiao said thoughtfully, "I heard that the Crown Princess comes from a humble background, so how was she able to form a marriage alliance with the Marquis of Xuanping's family?"
Princess Rui pouted and said, "It's all because she saved the young marquis when he was little. That happened when I was five years old. Wen Linlang... cough, the Crown Princess was also five years old. The two-year-old marquis fell into an ice hole, and the Crown Princess lay on the ice, holding him with both hands, preventing him from sinking. Later, the young marquis was rescued, but the Crown Princess's hands were ruined from being soaked in the icy water. The imperial physician said that to save her life, her hands would have to be cut off. I guess Princess Xinyang and Marquis Xuanping both felt indebted to her, so they arranged this marriage. However, later, the Marquis Xuanping's residence found the best doctor in Zhao Kingdom, who cured the Crown Princess's hands."
"Is that so?" Gu Jiao murmured.
Princess Rui snorted, "She and the young marquis had a very good relationship when they were young. Do you know why she was able to become Zhuang Xianzhi's student? Oh, right, you don't know that she became the student of Zhuang Xianzhi, the fourth son of Grand Tutor Zhuang, do you? It was only because of Princess Xinyang's influence that she accepted her. I admit she has talent, but without the Xuanping Marquis's mansion and Princess Xinyang's mansion, who would know who Wen Linlang is? But look at what she has done! As soon as the young marquis died, she married the crown prince!"
Gu Jiao doesn't object to someone pursuing their own happiness, but only if they don't hurt others.
Princess Rui's conversation veered off-topic, and she started complaining about various crown princesses.
Gu Jiao had learned what she wanted to know and had a general idea of what was going on.
In the afternoon, she went to the Imperial College to pick up Xiao Jingkong from school.
Xiao Jingkong came out with Qin Chuyu and Xu Zhouzhou.
Since the last time they caused trouble in the East Palace and beat up Ming'er, the three of them hadn't gone to the palace to cause trouble for a long time. But today, Qin Chuyu couldn't resist again.
He found a huge bird's nest in a big tree in the palace, and he wanted to go and raid the nest with his friends.
Little Jingkong ran up to Gu Jiao, hugged her leg, and rubbed his head against her: "Jiaojiao, I missed you!"
Gu Jiao nudged his bald head: "Did you have fun today?"
"I'm so happy!" Little Jingkong looked up at Gu Jiao with eager eyes and asked, "Jiaojiao, can I go to the palace to play?"
Last time, Marquis Xuanping didn't complain to Gu Jiao, so Gu Jiao didn't know that the children had caused trouble in the palace. However, even if she did know, Gu Jiao wouldn't let a minor incident deter her from pursuing her studies.
The emperor's identity was exposed by Gu Jiao, and Gu Jiao was now fully aware of Qin Chuyu's true identity as the emperor's son.
Gu Jiao didn't rush to agree, but instead asked, "Do your family agree?"
Qin Chuyu nodded vigorously: "I agree, I agree! If you don't believe me, my sister-in-law will come to pick me up in a bit! You can ask her!"
Speak of the devil and he appears.
The Crown Princess's carriage stopped at the entrance of the Imperial Academy. A young eunuch stepped down from the carriage, approached Qin Chuyu, and smiled gently: "Seventh Young Master, I've come to pick you up."
Qin Chuyu hurriedly asked, "Has my sister-in-law arrived?"
The young eunuch was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Young mistress... something suddenly came up today, so she can't come. She sent me to pick you up."
Qin Chuyu was extremely frustrated: "She promised to pick me up... How could she break her promise?"
The young eunuch hurriedly said, "Young mistress did not break her promise. To be honest, young mistress went to buy sesame cakes for young master. Didn't young master say he loved the sesame cakes from last time?"
Hearing that it was for him to buy pancakes, Qin Chuyu was relieved: "Okay, let's go over first!"
Qin Chuyu and Xiao Jingkong were about to get into the carriage, but Xu Zhouzhou hesitated a bit.
Ever since his father took him home and gave him a beating, his father taught him a lesson and forbade him from causing trouble at the palace again.
He was a little hesitant to go.
Xiao Jingkong said, "Why don't we go to my house? There's an orchard near my house, and we can take bird nests there!"
Xu Zhouzhou had no objection.
Qin Chuyu sighed helplessly, "Since you insist, fine then." He said to the little eunuch, "I'll play for a while before going back!"
Little eunuch: "Oh, but..."
But what is it?
Qin Chuyu had already thrown off his schoolbag and dragged his two friends away like a hurricane.
He's clearly a chubby little guy, I don't know how he runs so fast.
Gu Jiao touched her chin, feeling truly regretful that she couldn't sneak into the palace with them.
Gu Jiao followed the children to the orchard. With the Xu family and palace eunuchs watching over it, Gu Jiao didn't need to worry about anything.
Gu Jiao had just run out of rice and spices at home, so she planned to go to the market to buy some. However, the market was sold out of spices. There was a spice shop on Chang'an Street that wasn't far from here.
Gu Jiao carried her small basket on her back and went to Chang'an Avenue.
Chang'an Avenue is more bustling than Xuanwu Avenue, with more carriages and pedestrians. It's almost lunchtime, and the aromas from the teahouses and restaurants are enticing.
"Steamed buns—freshly steamed big meat buns—"
There were vendors hawking their wares on the roadside.
"Miss, would you like a steamed bun?" the vendor asked Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao shook her head: "No need."
She went straight into the spice shop, bought some spices, and when she came out, she saw someone selling candied hawthorns, so she bought a skewer each for the children, the old lady, Gu Yan, and Xiao Shun.
The small basket on her back felt heavy, so she turned to go home. She had only taken a few steps when she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye.
The reason she felt familiar with the person was because the person was dressed in white, wearing a white veiled hat, and accompanied by two female officials, one of whom she had seen clearly before.
That happened when the music hall collapsed.
She was led by Feishuang to the basement of the music hall, where she stumbled upon the meeting between the Crown Princess and the Marquis of Xuanping. At that time, the Crown Princess was wearing this outfit, and the lady-in-waiting was with her.
It's like searching high and low without finding it, only to have it come to you effortlessly.
"Girl, girl!"
The candied hawthorn vendor chased after them.
Gu Jiao turned to look at him: "What's wrong?"
"I overcharged you earlier, here you go!" The vendor sheepishly handed five copper coins to Gu Jiao. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright," Gu Jiao said.
In the brief moment of distraction, the Crown Princess vanished without a trace.
Gu Jiao gazed at the endless stream of people, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
In a private room of a teahouse, the Crown Princess met Marquis Xuanping, who was dressed in a heavy purple robe.
Marquis Xuanping sat upright in his official hat chair, with Chang Jing standing beside him, holding a precious sword.
"You all wait outside," the Crown Princess instructed two of her accompanying female officials.
The two responded with a "yes" and obediently waited outside the door.
The Crown Princess entered the room and bowed to Marquis Xuanping in a junior's greeting: "Uncle."
Marquis Xuanping said, "Your Highness, you flatter me."
The Crown Princess said, "Uncle, please don't say that. In this room, there is no Crown Princess, only Linlang. Linlang will always be your junior, and it is only right that she pays her respects to you."
Marquis Xuanping sighed: "Please sit down."
"Yes." The Crown Princess sat down opposite Marquis Xuanping.
Chang Jing doesn't pour tea for people; he's an assassin, and his hands are used for killing and playing marbles.
He stood there with great arrogance.
The Crown Princess's eyelashes trembled slightly as she reached for the teapot, but Marquis Xuanping was one step ahead and poured her a cup of tea.
The Crown Princess said gently, "Thank you, Uncle."
Marquis Xuanping put down the teapot: "What brings you here today?"
The Crown Princess lowered her eyes, smiled bitterly, and looked up at him, saying, "Uncle, is he really not Aheng?"
Marquis Xuanping paused for a moment: "Didn't Steward Liu tell you? He is my illegitimate son from Song County."
The Crown Princess said sadly, "But he looks so much like Aheng..."
Marquis Xuanping picked up the teacup in front of him: "I also hope he is Aheng. I have asked him in person."
The Crown Princess's eyes flickered: "What did he say?"
Marquis Xuanping said calmly, "What else can I say? Of course, I'll say no."
As Marquis Xuanping spoke, he took out a draft from his wide sleeve. "This is his draft for the palace examination. Take a look and see if it resembles Aheng's handwriting."
The Crown Princess took the draft, read it carefully, and looked disappointed: "It's completely different from Aheng's handwriting. Sometimes I really wish that New Year's Eve four years ago was just a nightmare, and that when I opened my eyes, Aheng was still in the mansion."
Marquis Xuanping tightened his grip on the teacup.
The Crown Princess said guiltily, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up those painful memories from back then."
“It’s all in the past,” said Marquis Xuanping.
The Crown Princess smiled bitterly, "If Aheng could come back alive, the princess would be very happy. There's no point in saying all this now..."
Marquis Xuanping said, "If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."
The Crown Princess stood up and watched him leave.
Chang Jing walked ahead and opened the door for him.
He had just stepped over the threshold when the Crown Princess called out to him, "Aheng is afraid of cats, does Uncle know that? If Uncle wants to know if he is Aheng..."
Marquis Xuanping interrupted her, saying, "Aheng is dead. There is no more Aheng in this world."
...
After Marquis Xuanping left, the Crown Princess sat in the teahouse for about half an hour before coming downstairs.
Just after she stepped out of the room, the door to the next room opened as well.
Gu Jiao came out of the house, her eyes filled with danger.
The carriage stopped in the alley next to the teahouse.
The Crown Princess traveled incognito, without many guards, only accompanied by a skilled imperial guard as her coachman.
The carriage is just ahead.
She walked towards the carriage, and just as she was about to get on, a small figure suddenly fell from the roof and landed behind her, putting a burlap sack over her head!
I've updated 10,000 words today! Do you have any monthly tickets?
(End of this chapter)
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