Chapter 391 Background (First Update)
After returning to Bishui Hutong, Gu Jiao found a vase and placed the begonia flowers on her windowsill.
The crabapple blossoms didn't have a special scent, but the lingering fragrance from his fingertips made her feel sweet.
When Xiao Liulang came to the door of the east room, he saw Gu Jiao leaning on the windowsill admiring the crabapple blossom that was not at all stunning compared to her. She was looking at it intently, as if she were looking at some rare treasure she had never seen before.
It's just a crabapple blossom, is it really that much of a liking for it?
There are crabapple trees in the yard, but their flowering season has already passed.
A soft spot in his heart seemed to be touched again. Xiao Liulang lightly tapped the door with his fingertips, his voice slightly hoarse: "I'm going to my great-uncle's house."
Gu Jiao turned around, her face bathed in the warm twilight, and smiled slightly at him: "Okay, I'll call you when it's time to eat."
"Um."
Xiao Liulang gave a vague reply and quickly turned around, as if something was chasing him.
Gu Jiao couldn't stop laughing.
She took out her notebook and wrote carefully—"This is the first time my husband has given me flowers."
She paused, then wrote, "I'll go next door and say hello to her. My husband is so clingy."
Once outside the courtyard, Xiao Liulang felt incredibly embarrassed. The two families had already connected, so going next door was practically the same as going to the study. Why did he have to explain to her just to go to the study?
She doesn't even explain it to herself.
Xiao Liulang went to the old Confucian scholar's house to help him grade the papers from the Imperial Academy.
While the two were engrossed in their work, Gu Jiao came over and knocked on the door.
"Jiaojiao is here?" The old chief priest smiled with delight.
"Grandpa," Gu Jiao greeted him, glancing at Xiao Liulang before saying to the old chief priest, "I'll take Xiao Jingkong to the orchard."
"Ah...go ahead." The old chief priest was puzzled. There was no need to come all the way here to tell him this. He never used to say it.
Gu Jiao smiled at someone, put her hands behind her back, and walked away with a particularly smug air.
The old chief priest turned his gaze to Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang, grading papers with a serious expression, asked, "Why are you looking at me?"
Something's not right.
There's something fishy about those two young people!
The old chief priest realized that the little girl wasn't explaining things to him, but to Xiao Liulang.
Have they suddenly become so close? Could it be that they...?
No, the virginity mark on her face is still there, they haven't consummated their marriage.
Actually, the elders had discussed this matter privately. Daughters of wealthy families usually got married at sixteen or seventeen and didn't become pregnant until they were eighteen or nineteen, at which time the risks of childbirth would be greatly reduced.
Jiaojiao is still young, it's better to consummate the marriage later.
The old chief priest looked at Xiao Liulang meaningfully: "You brat..."
Xiao Liulang said seriously, "No, I won't, I can hold back."
Old Master: Ha, a man's mouth is a lying devil!
The following day, Gu Jiao escorted Xiao Liulang to the Hanlin Academy and then went to the Imperial Palace.
Gu Jiao went to visit her great-aunt.
Recently, the military situation at the border has become critical. Empress Dowager Zhuang and the Emperor are discussing the war with the Grand Councilors in a side hall of the Golden Palace and have not yet returned to Renshou Palace.
“Miss Gu, the sun is very strong today. Please don’t stay out in the sun. Why don’t you go and rest in the Empress Dowager’s bedroom for a while?” Emerald said to Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao liked this clever little palace maid very much and nodded to her: "Okay."
Gu Jiao went to her aunt's bedroom. Emerald served her favorite fruits and snacks. Gu Jiao casually ate a piece of cantaloupe, but accidentally spilled the juice on herself.
It's sticky and uncomfortable.
"Oh dear, you've gotten it dirty. Let me find you a change of clothes."
"No need, I brought my clothes."
She was originally going to the underground martial arts arena today, and her small basket contained her mask and men's clothing.
She changed into men's clothing, let her hair down, and tied it into a high bun.
Jade took her clothes downstairs to wash and dry them.
With nothing to do in her palace, Gu Jiao began admiring the treasures on the curio cabinet. Every item in Renshou Palace was an antique, priceless. Gu Jiao didn't understand antiques, but that didn't stop her from appreciating the allure of money.
Among the pile of treasures, she was unexpectedly drawn to a square brocade box, perhaps because it was the least antique-like of all the treasures.
Gu Jiao looked at it curiously. She didn't have the habit of rummaging through other people's things, but she didn't expect that the box would pop open with just a light touch.
The contents of the box quickly caught her attention: a pair of brand-new tiger-head shoes, exquisitely beautiful, clearly unworn, but the fabric and pattern didn't seem to be in fashion this year.
"How strange."
Is this prepared for the baby in Yao's belly?
"Miss Gu, the clothes are all dried in the sun. They'll be dry by this afternoon." Emerald walked in and saw Gu Jiao staring at the boxes on the display shelf. She stopped and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something.
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao noticed her unusual behavior.
"Ah, no, it's nothing." She said this, but her eyes involuntarily drifted to the box in front of Gu Jiao. Finally, under Gu Jiao's puzzled gaze, she gave in and whispered, "We always pay extra attention to this box when we clean the curio cabinet. Eunuch Qin said we are not allowed to touch it, much less look at it. However, the Empress Dowager dotes on Miss Gu, so it shouldn't be a problem for Miss Gu to take a look."
The box itself isn't valuable; what's valuable is the pair of shoes inside.
Gu Jiao asked, "Has the box always been here?"
“Yes, it was already there when I came to Renshou Palace.” Emerald thought for a moment and added, “I entered Renshou Palace three years ago.”
Three years ago, her great-aunt hadn't even come to their house yet, didn't know Yao, and certainly wouldn't have expected that Yao would be pregnant.
Therefore, these shoes were not prepared for the child in Yao's womb.
The military situation at the border was probably more urgent than she had imagined. Her aunt hadn't returned by noon, so Gu Jiao decided to come back another time.
She went to the underground martial arts arena.
She went to see if Prince Ning had come looking for her. She wasn't in a hurry to agree to his proposal, but that didn't stop her from taking advantage of him.
One stick of incense costs fifty taels.
Old He was a shrewd man. He saw the potential in this business and immediately set a price: fifty taels for Xiong Batian, and a long chat for the duration of an incense stick.
It actually rhymes quite well.
However, she wasn't very famous, and fifty taels for a casual chat was an astronomical price. Wouldn't it be better to use that kind of money to find a courtesan in a brothel?
Therefore, apart from Prince Ning, probably no one else would take the bait.
However, Gu Jiao was wrong; there were still plenty of fat fish in the big fishpond of the capital.
“A young master surnamed Xiao wants to see you,” Old He said.
"Did you tell him the price?" Gu Jiao wrote.
"Of course I told him. He frowned, as if he felt it wasn't worth it, but he didn't say anything and paid me the money." Old He said, handing Gu Jiao a fifty-tael silver note.
"Next time, ask him for sixty." Gu Jiao put away the silver note and then wrote, "Ten taels is yours."
We can't let Lao He act as the middleman for nothing.
Old He's eyes gleamed with a green light, and he nodded vigorously: "Yes! Okay!"
Gu Jiao has already played five matches without a single loss. If she wins five more matches, she will be promoted to the next level.
Today there are still three matches. In one of them, I am facing a character even stronger than Daoshanke. My opponent is a swordsman, and I only need this last victory to advance to level three.
Unfortunately, he ran into Gu Jiao.
However, his kung fu was truly excellent, forcing Gu Jiao to use a weapon—the red-tasseled spear.
Her red-tasseled spear had been tampered with by Xiao Jingkong; a big red flower was stuck to the spearhead, and the shaft was also covered with red flowers, making it particularly jarring to look at.
When such an ugly weapon appeared, everyone's eyes were blinded by its ugliness.
It's unclear whether the swordsman was also blinded by the light, but he was momentarily stunned. Then Gu Jiao thrust her spear forward, piercing his waistband, and swung him up, throwing him off the stage.
The swordsman sat on the ground, completely bewildered...
What kind of thing poked him?
Gu Jiao finished her fight before going to see that young master Xiao.
The other party's manners were even more impressive than Prince Ning's; he even had a screen separating the room, and he sat behind the screen talking to Gu Jiao.
Unfortunately, Gu Jiao recognized his voice as soon as he opened his mouth.
Who else could it be but the Crown Prince?
She and Xiao Liulang had run into the Crown Princess and the Crown Prince when they went to Zhou's restaurant. She couldn't say whether she had a good or bad impression of them, since they weren't people she cared about, so it didn't matter to her whether they were good or bad.
However, his use of the surname Xiao today reminded Crown Prince Gu Jiao that Empress Xiao, the mother of the Crown Prince, was the younger sister of Marquis Xuanping.
In other words, this guy is Xiao Liulang's cousin.
"Young Master Xiong's martial arts are quite good, and he is young and promising. I truly admire him. May I ask who his master is?" The Crown Prince asked casually from behind the screen.
He spoke words of praise, but his tone was somewhat condescending.
This prince was not like this when he was dealing with people in his capacity as prince. He was very careful about his image in front of the people and did not put on airs easily. But now that he has concealed his identity, he no longer needs to hide his true nature.
Gu Jiao gave a faint smile, took out a charcoal pencil, and casually wrote a sentence in her notebook before handing it to the Crown Prince's subordinate.
The Crown Prince had already heard that Xiong Batian was mute.
He had been writing for so long, and the Crown Prince thought he had written many words of flattery, but all he got were two words—"Guess."
Crown Prince: "..."
Afterwards, the Crown Prince exchanged a few more pleasantries with Gu Jiao, which were nothing more than soulless flattery. Gu Jiao's replies were basically just "hmm," "yes," "not bad," etc., never exceeding two words.
The prince was bewildered.
How slow do you write? At this rate, you'll have to wait for an incense stick to burn!
Furthermore, this attitude is far too perfunctory!
"Can you please stop using only two words?" the crown prince said, barely containing his anger.
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and wrote, "Okay."
Three words.
The Crown Prince again: "..."
The Crown Prince reminded himself that Linlang had sent him, and he had promised Linlang that he would not lose his temper with the other party and would speak to them politely.
It's really frustrating that he, the Crown Prince, has to lower himself to a nobody from the martial arts world!
Fine, he'll swallow this insult so that Linlang can go to Yan to see Master Meng!
The Crown Prince composed himself and looked at the screen, saying, "To get back to the point, the reason I summoned you here today is actually because..."
Snap!
Before he finished speaking, Gu Jiao closed the small notebook in her hand, stood up, and pointed to the incense she had lit as soon as she came in.
Time's up.
Crown Prince: "...!!"
The prince gritted his teeth: "I'll add more money!"
Gu Jiao waved her hand without turning her head and tossed out a note—"Next appointment."
The crown prince was so angry he vomited blood.
Was Gu Jiao deliberately trying to embarrass the Crown Prince?
Of course.
She hadn't forgotten the disdainful look the Crown Prince had given Xiao Liulang when they ate at Zhouji's last meal. He was bullying her husband, haha.
Gu Jiao found Lao He and wrote in her notebook: "Next time this guy surnamed Xiao comes, the starting price is one hundred taels. Add your ten taels, and it will be one hundred and ten taels."
Old He was dumbfounded, thinking to himself, "Do you think you're the most beautiful courtesan at Xianleju? Asking such an outrageous price!"
"Why?" he asked.
Gu Jiao smiled and wrote: "Family price".
Old He: "..."
It was still early, and the Hanlin Academy wouldn't be dismissed so soon, so Gu Jiao went back to Bishui Hutong to change her clothes.
Just as he was about to go out to pick up Xiao Liulang, Eunuch Qin arrived.
Eunuch Qin came to see Gu Jiao. He smiled and said, "The Empress Dowager only learned that Miss Gu had been waiting at Renshou Palace all morning after returning from the Golden Palace. Why didn't she send someone to report to the Empress Dowager?"
Gu Jiao said, "It's alright, Auntie is busy. I can see her again next time."
She never became arrogant because of favor, and always knew how to maintain a proper balance. This was something that impressed Eunuch Qin. Even Consort Zhuang and the young masters of the Zhuang family would find it difficult to do this.
Eunuch Qin handed two food boxes to Gu Jiao: "This food box contains chilled fruits, and this food box contains pastries from the Imperial Kitchen. The Empress Dowager instructed me to deliver them to Miss Gu."
"Thank you for your trouble, Eunuch Qin." Gu Jiao reached out and took the food box. "Please come in and have a cup of tea before you leave, Eunuch Qin."
The weather was unusually hot, and Eunuch Qin was indeed thirsty.
He and Gu Jiao entered the main room together.
Gu Jiao poured him a cup of iced tea.
"Thank you, Miss Gu." Eunuch Qin accepted the teacup with both hands, drank it in large gulps, put down the teacup, and said to Gu Jiao with a kind smile, "This servant will take his leave now, as I still have to go back to report to the Empress Dowager."
"I'll take my father-in-law."
"No, no need."
Gu Jiao still insisted on seeing the person to the door.
Just as Eunuch Qin turned to get into the carriage, she suddenly called out to him, "Eunuch Qin."
Eunuch Qin turned around and asked, "Is there anything else you need, Miss Gu?"
Gu Jiao said, "There's something I want to ask."
Eunuch Qin said, "Miss Gu, please speak freely. This servant will tell you everything I know."
Gu Jiao gestured and asked, "What's the deal with those tiger-head shoes in that square box on the display shelf?"
Eunuch Qin's smile froze for a moment.
"It's alright, Father-in-law, please get in the car." She was just asking out of curiosity; if he couldn't say, she wouldn't insist.
"...These are the young master's shoes," Eunuch Qin said in a low voice.
Gu Jiao could only think of two people as her mistress: "Princess Ning'an or His Majesty?"
Eunuch Qin sighed, "No, it was the Empress Dowager's own flesh and blood, but unfortunately she died at birth."
"Grandma...had a child?" Gu Jiao had never heard anyone mention this.
Eunuch Qin nodded sadly: "It's a pity that he was stillborn, so he wasn't included in the family genealogy or ranked among the imperial heirs. If the young master had lived, he would be the same age as His Majesty now. The young master's birthday is only three days apart from His Majesty's."
Gu Jiao fell silent.
Once Eunuch Qin started talking, he couldn't stop for a moment: "Actually, if this hadn't happened, His Majesty might not have been sent to be raised by Consort Jing. At that time, the Empress was in favor, and the late Emperor actually wanted to wait until His Majesty was born before handing him over to the Empress for upbringing."
Gu Jiao asked, puzzled, "Wasn't Aunt pregnant at that time? Since Aunt already had her own child, why did she have to raise another one?"
Eunuch Qin said, "The imperial physician said that the palace maid is carrying a prince, but the Empress Dowager's pregnancy is uncertain. The late emperor thought that if the Empress Dowager gave birth to a princess, it would be good to give her a prince instead."
I've only ever heard of people being able to determine the sex of a child by taking their pulse; I've never heard of anyone being able to tell the sex of a child by taking their pulse. People in the palace really went to great lengths to survive.
"And then what happened?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Later..." Eunuch Qin smiled bitterly, "Later, the Empress went into labor first and gave birth to a stillborn child. A stillborn child is an ominous sign in the royal family. In addition, some villains stirred up trouble, and His Majesty was furious and took his anger out on the Empress. Three days later, the palace maid did indeed give birth to a prince, but His Majesty did not send the prince to Kunning Palace as promised. Instead, he gave him to Consort Jing in Qianxi Palace."
My great-aunt must have been really looking forward to the birth of that child, right? But she never expected that he would die after the birth.
What Eunuch Qin didn't mention was that the Empress was still young at the time, just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl. She hadn't given up on the palace yet, and she longed for her first child.
When she gave birth to a stillborn, cold baby, she completely broke down and cried her heart out while holding the child.
The weeping in Kunning Palace lasted all night. She cried out all the tears she had shed in her life, and she also cried her vibrant heart to death.
"What a coincidence! My aunt just gave birth to a stillborn child, and then that palace maid gave birth to a prince, only three days apart. Has no one suspected anything?"
"Miss Gu, are you suggesting that the Empress Dowager was framed by someone? It's a complicated matter." Eunuch Qin wiped away his tears. "When the Empress first entered the palace, she was very naive and didn't guard up much. By the time she finally realized she needed to be on guard, there were no clues left."
Who is born this powerful?
She was simply forced to pick up a sword and carve a bloody path through the harem.
Gu Jiao felt a pang of unease. This complex emotion didn't need to be understood; it just exploded within her: "Could that dead child... be His Majesty?"
After all, only three days had passed.
Eunuch Qin shook his head: "It's a baby girl."
(End of this chapter)
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