Chapter 370 Retribution (Second Update)
Xiao Liulang wasn't working overtime tonight, so the two of them went back to Bishui Hutong together.
Just as they arrived at the door, a small figure darted out, pounced on Gu Jiao, hugged her leg, and called out in a slightly aggrieved voice, "Jiao Jiao!"
It is a small purification.
He has been away from Jiaojiao for two days and two nights. He misses Jiaojiao so much that his heart aches when he thinks about her!
Gu Jiao picked up the little one from her lap: "Did your great-aunt let you come back?"
Xiao Jingkong said, "I asked to come back myself!"
Empress Dowager Zhuang simply couldn't stand this little gossip anymore. With Gu Jiao not around, he really kept talking non-stop, even the little turtle that Eunuch Qin kept was driven to despair by his constant chatter.
Having a great-grandchild is important, but living to see the day the great-grandchild is born is even more important.
So when he asked to leave the palace again, Empress Dowager Zhuang hurriedly had Eunuch Qin pack him up and send him back.
After saying that, Xiao Jingkong hugged Gu Jiao's neck and rested his head on her shoulder: "Jiaojiao, I missed you so much. Did you miss me even a little bit?"
Gu Jiao was amused by him and nodded with amusement: "Yes, I'd like to."
"I knew it!" The little guy was extremely proud, and he wiggled his little body in Gu Jiao's arms.
As Xiao Liulang watched the little guy shamelessly acting coquettishly with Gu Jiao, his handsome face gradually turned as black as charcoal.
"Jiaojiao, there's a lantern festival tonight!" Little Jingkong, oblivious to his brother-in-law's sour face, hugged Jiaojiao's neck and sighed, "I'm so old, and I've never seen a lantern festival before!"
The little guy has even learned to beat around the bush.
Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang had nothing to do tonight, and Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun happened to be home as well. So after dinner, the young couple took their three younger brothers and two bodyguards out.
The lantern festival was held along Chang'an Avenue. In addition to the beginning and end of the street, a long section in the middle was filled with stalls displaying dazzling lanterns. Some of these lanterns were sold directly, some were offered as riddles with rewards, and others were used to make friends and gather to compose poems.
Gu Jiao looked around and only one thought came to mind: So many people, so many people!
Having been in the capital for so long, this was the first time Gu Jiao had been so shocked by the bustling prosperity of the city. As far as the eye could see, crowds surged, and the city was ablaze with lights and dazzling colors.
"Oh dear! Oh dear! I can't see!" Little Jingkong was too small and was completely blocked by the people around him. He was so anxious that he jumped around on the spot.
Guard A picked up Xiao Jingkong and let him ride on his shoulders.
Suddenly the view shifted to a higher elevation, and Xiao Jingkong's eyes widened in surprise: "Wow!"
The air up there is so fresh!
Guard A, carrying the small air-gathering device, followed behind Gu Yan, while Guard B followed behind Gu Xiaoshun.
They were bodyguards, not Dragon Shadow Guards. Their thought processes were normal, and they possessed very keen judgment and strong comprehensive action capabilities. They knew that all they needed to do was keep an eye on the three little men.
The young master doesn't need them to worry about him. The young lady is worth ten of them and can protect him perfectly well!
"Jiaojiao! Look! A lotus lantern!"
"Jiaojiao! Peach lantern!"
"Jiaojiao! Tiger lantern!"
Xiao Jingkong would tell Gu Jiao every time he saw a light. At first, he could get a response from Gu Jiao, but after some sentence, they were separated by the crowd.
When Xiao Jingkong turned around, Jiaojiao was gone!
"Jiaojiao?"
Just now, a lantern maker came to a small stall and made lanterns on the spot. You didn't need to buy them with copper coins. If you guessed the riddle correctly, you could get them for free. This attracted a lot of people. As the crowd crowded together, Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang were pushed aside.
Just as they were about to be separated, the two of them reached out and grabbed each other's hands at the same time.
Gu Jiao's action was subconscious, as was Xiao Liulang's. The difference was that Gu Jiao was used to being good to Xiao Liulang, being good to him openly, honestly, and without any pretense.
Xiao Liulang, however, remained extremely restrained and discreet.
Therefore, this was the first time he had ever grabbed her hand without thinking or hesitation.
Fortunately, Gu Jiao wasn't that sensitive. If it were someone else, they might have asked him why he was being so proactive today.
Gu Jiao didn't ask. She just turned to look at him, her eyes sparkling, and the corners of her lips curved slightly: "Don't worry, I will catch you and won't lose you."
Xiao Liulang felt a great weight lifted off his shoulders.
Fortunately, she didn't think too much about it.
But the next second, he frowned again.
Why doesn't she think more about it?
Didn't she notice that he took her hand? Didn't she think something was amiss?
He took a deep breath, looked at her, and said, "You..."
"Hmm? There really is a peach lantern."
Gu Jiao exclaimed in surprise at the large pink peach in front of her. After saying that, she realized that he had also spoken. She asked, "What did you just say?"
Xiao Liulang opened his mouth: "...It's nothing."
As the crowd grew larger, the two strolled hand in hand to the end of Chang'an Avenue.
Xiao Liulang didn't actually like crowds. He found them too noisy, and the air was filled with too much sweat and the smell of perfume, which made him feel suffocated. But none of that happened tonight.
What should have been an extremely difficult path suddenly seemed less daunting.
After visiting the lantern festival, they met up with Gu Yan and the others at the other end of Chang'an Avenue. Xiao Jingkong cried like a leaf.
"One more time! One more time! I want Jiaojiao!"
The lantern festival wouldn't be complete without Jiao Jiao; Xiao Jingkong feels like she wasted her time tonight!
He cried so hard!
Unfortunately, the lantern festival had ended, and the streets were desolate, with only tattered lantern paper trampled on the ground.
Even the streets seemed to perfectly reflect his mood!
"Waaah—"
He burst into tears!
He only stopped crying when Gu Jiao promised to take him to the lantern festival alone next time. With red and swollen eyes, he sobbed, "Then, then I want to sleep with Jiao Jiao tonight."
Xiao Liulang's lips twitched. "Little monk, I bet you're just pretending to be sad; you really want to sleep with me, don't you?"
Gu Jiao agreed.
However, the little one cried so hard that he was exhausted and fell asleep on the way back.
Xiao Liulang poked and prodded his little head, but he wouldn't wake up!
Xiao Liulang: "Hehe."
Xiao Liulang planned to take Xiao Jingkong to Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun's room, and then go to Gu Jiao's east room himself. But when he arrived at the main room, he heard Gu Xiaoshun say, "No need, brother-in-law, you don't need to squeeze in with us tonight. The bed in the west room is fixed!"
Xiao Liulang was stunned: "It's...it's fixed? Who fixed it?"
"I fixed it! I fixed it this afternoon!" Gu Xiaoshun patted his chest and said.
He was his master's direct disciple, and he was very good at carpentry. Even a simple bed could be repaired by him!
etc.
Why does everyone look so pale?
Was he fixing it too slowly?
...
Under the cover of darkness, everyone was fast asleep, and the bustling city fell into tranquility.
The sound of the wooden fish in the temple had stopped, leaving only a few candle flames flickering lightly on the candlesticks.
Wei Gonggong stood guard outside the door, thinking to himself that His Majesty was taking too long to eat, and why did he suddenly fall silent while eating?
Suddenly, the door to the meditation room opened, and Consort Jing slowly walked out.
Eunuch Wei quickly bowed and said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Concubine."
"His Majesty is so busy with state affairs that he has fallen asleep while eating. Go and ask Huian to bring a mattress and a pillow."
Eunuch Wei glanced inside and saw the emperor asleep at the dining table. He was very worried, but he still went to the little nun named Huian to get a mattress and pillow.
The wooden floor is clean.
Consort Jing laid the mattress behind the emperor, and together with Eunuch Wei, helped the emperor lie down gently.
“Pillow,” she said.
"Yes." The little nun placed the pillow on the emperor's head.
Consort Jing personally opened the thin quilt and gently covered the emperor with it.
She held the emperor's hand and murmured, "Sleep now, and when you wake up, you will be your mother's Hong'er again."
Eunuch Wei gave Consort Jing a strange look.
That was a taboo. She had no right to call the emperor by his name until she became empress dowager, and she certainly couldn't call herself "mother."
However, what he cared about more was the sentence, "When you wake up, you will be your mother's Hong'er again." Why did he say that?
Wasn't it before I woke up?
The emperor slept for a long time, and when he woke up, it was already dawn.
Consort Jing stayed by his side all night, but as dawn approached, she couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep on the table beside him.
She held the emperor's hand the whole time, and when the emperor moved, she was immediately awakened.
Although a thick mattress was laid out, it was still not as comfortable as the dragon bed, and the emperor felt some back pain.
"Eunuch Wei," he called out groggily, still somewhat disoriented.
Consort Jing sat up straight and looked at him with tender eyes: "Hong'er."
The emperor opened his eyes, looked at her, and frowned: "What did you call me?"
Consort Jing was slightly taken aback.
She stared intently at the emperor.
But they found that the emperor's eyes did not hold the expected affection; instead, they only held an icy indifference and aloofness.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
