Chapter 631 The Domineering Horse King! (First Update)
Gu Jiao was completely devastated.
She really wanted to crack open Mu Qingchen's head to see what was inside!
Why would anyone suspect she has this?
"Mu Qingchen, you—"
"What's wrong? Is the medicine wrong?"
Gu Jiao took a deep breath, a deep breath: "...Yes, thank you!"
Mu Qingchen looked completely bewildered. Thank you is fine, but why are you thanking me so bitterly? It's not like he caused my hemorrhoids to flare up.
Knowing how embarrassing it would be if this disease were discovered, Mu Qingchen considerately turned her back and asked, "Speaking of which, how did you get this disease at such a young age?"
Gu Jiao's face darkened. "Yes, why did I get this disease at such a young age? You're the one to ask me!"
...
Gu Jiao didn't plan to stay in the dormitory, so there were no spare clothes in the dormitory, and it was inconvenient for her to go out in this outfit.
Mu Qingchen sympathized with her roommate's plight and generously had someone fetch his cloak from the carriage to give to Gu Jiao.
In the afternoon, it was Master Jiang and Master Gao's class, and Master Wu took the initiative to ask for leave for Gu Jiao.
In fact, Gu Jiao was more resilient than the martial arts teacher had imagined. After resting for half an hour, she would be as strong as ever. But since there was a free leave, why not take it?
Gu Jiao didn't eat lunch in the canteen; she went straight back to her rented house.
Although she is gone, the discussion about her has only just begun.
In the dining hall.
"Hey, have you heard? A new student came to Mingxin Hall this morning and tamed Master Wu's horse!"
"What Horse King?"
"It's the wild horse that Master Wu won in a duel!"
"That black horse that knocked out half of Wu Fuzi's front tooth?"
"That must be it!"
"Didn't Master Wu try to train it for a long time without success? You just said it was tamed by someone?"
"A new student! What's his name... Xiao... Liulang?"
"Never heard of a young master from a prominent family in our Shengdu with the surname Xiao?"
"They're not from Shengdu; they came from another country."
"The State of Jin?"
"no."
"Liang Kingdom?"
"It's the State of Zhao!"
"Zhaoguo!"
"A man from a lower-class country? How is that possible? Is there something wrong with that horse? Was it injured by Master Wu?"
Those who didn't witness it firsthand can't truly imagine the scene. Only the students of Mingxin Hall and Mingyue Hall witnessed Gu Jiao training the horse. They were absolutely certain that the horse was not only not injured by Wu Fuzi, but was instead tempered with a fierce and vengeful aura by Wu Fuzi.
No one present believed that Gu Jiao had won by chance. Gu Jiao didn't beat it up; she just knocked it down again and again until it had no more temper.
This sounds easy, but it's no less difficult than it was for these frail scholars to pass the imperial examination for martial arts champion.
That kid named Xiao Liulang is ruthless beyond measure, ruthless to horses, and even more ruthless to himself.
Who would dare to provoke him in the future? In short, the people of Mingxintang and Mingyuetang would not dare to do so.
The matter did not end there; Mu Qingchen handed over Li Hongyi and the other six to Wu Fuzi.
The six of them were first intimidated by Mu Qingchen, and then thoroughly shocked by Gu Jiao's entire horse training process. How could they dare to lie? They obediently confessed to Master Wu about tricking Gu Jiao into going to the Horse Riding King.
"Foolish!"
Wu Fuzi was furious.
It's all thanks to Xiao Liulang's skill! If it were any other person from the academy, they would probably have been killed under the horses' hooves long ago!
Wu Fuzi thought of the Su family's young lady who had almost lost her life, and a cold sweat broke out on his back.
This matter must not be tolerated, and Wu Fuzi reported it to the dean.
After learning about the situation, the dean suspended Li Hongyi, the mastermind behind the incident, gave the other five people a stern warning, and issued them all a major demerit, criticism to the entire college, and collective punishment of cleaning the latrines.
"And a letter of repentance, hand them both in by tomorrow morning!" the dean said sternly.
The six of them slunk out of the dean's office.
Gu Jiao was completely unaware of what happened next; she was leisurely lying on a rattan chair in the courtyard, enjoying the cool air with Gu Yan.
The climate in Shengdu is more humid than in Zhaoguo, and the air feels sticky when it gets hot.
Gu Jiao fanned Gu Yan: "How are you? Are you feeling cool?"
"It's cool," Gu Yan said weakly.
Gu Jiao touched his neck; it was no longer sweaty. She put down the palm-leaf fan.
Suddenly, there was a loud knocking at the door.
"Who is it?" Master Lu came out from the backyard carrying his wood-chopping axe.
"I'll go open the door!" Gu Jiao said.
The door was ajar; the other person had probably knocked first out of courtesy.
Gu Jiao walked over, opened the wooden door, and a dark horse's head emerged.
Immediately afterwards, Gu Jiao saw Wu Fuzi standing beside the horse, his face bruised and swollen, his right arm wrapped in gauze around his neck.
Gu Jiao asked curiously, "What's going on?"
Master Wu chuckled awkwardly: "You tamed this horse, and after discussing it with the academy, we decided to give it to you as a reward."
The truth is, after Gu Jiao left, Wu Fuzi thought the horse had been tamed, so he ran over and rode it, only to be thrown off and hurt terribly!
The dean was there at the time and was almost kicked away by its horse's hooves. If it weren't for Wu Fuzi shielding him with his body, the dean would be the one with a broken arm right now.
The dean said he never wanted to see that horse again!
Master Wu... Master Wu dared not see it again.
Gu Jiao paused for a moment and said, "But my family is poor, and I'm afraid we can't afford to raise this horse."
They didn't have enough silver to begin with, so they had to be very careful with their money.
“I’ll pay for the horses!” said Master Wu.
Please take this horse back! It lost face after being defeated and is furious. It's been bullying other horses like crazy since it got back to the stable. The academy can no longer tolerate it!
In the end, Gu Jiao got a horse from Master Wu for free, plus ten taels of silver a month for feed.
As evening approached, Nan Shi's wife returned.
Mrs. Nan was dressed in night clothes. Master Lu said in the morning that Mrs. Nan had gone out to take care of some business, but judging from her attire, it was probably not something trivial.
After entering the house, Madam Nan drank a few cups of water before saying to Gu Jiao, still catching her breath, "Jiaojiao, I used some old connections to contact the head of the kitchen at the Imperial Preceptor's Palace. He'll be coming over in a bit to discuss going to the Imperial Preceptor's Palace with you."
So that's what it was for.
Gu Jiao looked at Master Nan and said, "Master Nan, please go and change your clothes first. I'll go and fetch you some water."
Mrs. Nan had been running around for a day and a night, and was soaked to the bone, so she was not feeling well.
Gu Jiao went to the kitchen to fetch water for Nan Shi Niang.
When Madam Nan finished bathing and changing her clothes, the steward of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall also came to her door.
He was a middle-aged man with a plump figure and a decent appearance. He wore a gray robe similar to the one Gu Jiao had seen from the Imperial Preceptor's Hall that day, with some differences in the embroidery on the belt, collar, and cuffs.
"This is Manager Liao," Nan Shi Niang introduced.
Gu Jiao greeted him, "Manager Liao."
Nan Shi Niang smiled and said to Steward Liao, "This is my adopted son, Xiao Liu."
To make things easier, Madam Nan tried to portray Gu Jiao as having a close relationship with her.
Manager Liao glanced at Gu Jiao indifferently and said, "So he wants to enter the Imperial Preceptor's Hall? What would he do there? Don't tell me he's doing something shady that could implicate me!"
"How could that be?" Madam Nan said gently. "He was just curious and wanted to go in and broaden his horizons. Manager Liao, don't worry. Just because we come from the same sect, you should trust me."
So it turns out she and Master Nan were from the same sect.
It's true that they're from the same sect, but in reality, Manager Liao is just an outer disciple and can't curry favor with Master Nan at all.
But as the saying goes, fortunes change. Now they have both left their sect. He has entered the Imperial Preceptor's Hall and is thriving, while this former inner disciple still has to beg to be under his wing.
For the sake of this momentary sense of superiority, Manager Liao decided that he could help her this once.
Manager Liao said in a pretentious tone, "Let me make this clear beforehand: I'm only taking you in for a look around. You are not allowed to steal or do anything that would harm the Imperial Preceptor's Hall."
Madam Nan laughed and said, "Look at what you're saying. With a master like Steward Liao watching over him, what kind of trouble could my adopted son possibly cause?"
Who doesn't love to be flattered?
Manager Liao let out a carefree laugh.
Nan Shi Niang took out two gold bars from the house and handed them to him.
Manager Liao raised an eyebrow and, without any hesitation, stuffed the gold bars into his sleeve.
If he had only taken the gold bars, that would have been fine, but he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the Horse King grazing in the backyard.
He pointed and said, "I want that horse."
Nan Shi Niang hadn't gone to the backyard earlier, but upon closer inspection, she discovered that there was now a magnificent, jet-black horse in the house.
It bullies the horses in the stable and the people in the pasture, but it's very well-behaved here, and Gu Yan even brushes its fur.
Gu Jiao then did not leash it.
Perhaps sensing that someone wanted it, it stopped eating grass and walked with wild yet elegant steps through the main room toward Steward Liao.
Looking into those bright, piercing eyes, Manager Liao felt a surge of joy: "This horse has a spirit!"
Horse King is indeed spiritual.
And it is extremely spiritual.
It strolled over to Steward Liao and slowly turned around.
Manager Liao greedily admired its robust physique; this was a top-quality horse!
"That's...that's it! That's it—"
Before he could finish speaking, Ma Wang kicked out without mercy, sending Steward Liao flying!
Gu Jiao: "..."
Nan Shi Niang: "..."
Looking at Steward Liao, who was lying outside the door with his tongue sticking out and his eyes rolled back, Gu Jiao asked in a daze, "Master Nan, do you think I can still go to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall?"
Nan Shi's wife was even more bewildered: "...You can only dream of going there."
Horse King, unaware of the enormous disaster he had caused, was still jumping around in the yard, seemingly quite pleased with himself.
Gu Jiao turned around, her face darkening as she looked at it: "Couldn't you just pretend to go with him and then sneak back?"
Be a cunning horse!
Gu Jiao crossed her arms and glared at it fiercely.
As I stared at it, something started to feel off.
A hint of grievance began to appear in the horse's eyes, and then it seemed as if it was about to... cry?!
Gu Jiaojiao's body trembled, her face full of rejection!
You can't do that!
You're the King of Horses, not a little princess!
Horse King: Waaaaah!
Gu Jiao: "..."
...
After being kicked by Ma Wang, Manager Liao lost face and was in pain all over. No matter how Nan Shi Niang tried to persuade him, he refused to help her anymore.
Helpless, Madam Nan could only watch as Steward Liao left.
"Gold bars," Gu Jiao called out to him.
"What?" Manager Liao frowned and looked at the young man.
Gu Jiao said, "You didn't bring my national teacher's hall, so return the gold bars."
Manager Liao: "..."
"Very well, you'll never be able to enter the Imperial Preceptor's Hall in your entire lives!"
After gritting his teeth and finishing his sentence, Manager Liao angrily got into the carriage. Thinking about what had happened today, he was furious!
The coachman asked, "Manager Liao, shall we return to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall?"
Manager Liao said irritably, "Where do you think you're going if you're not going back to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall!"
The driver quickly said, "I was being nosy."
The coachman drove the carriage all the way back to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
"Are you trying to bounce me to death by going this fast?!"
The driver slowed down.
"Are you going to walk until tomorrow at this pace?!"
The driver sped up again.
"Do you know how to drive a horse-drawn carriage? Do you?"
Amidst Steward Liao's grumbling and nitpicking, the carriage finally arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
As a steward, Liao was not qualified to enter through the main gate, and he couldn't even pass by the main gate in a carriage. He got off the carriage and walked from a distance.
Upon reaching the main entrance, a simple yet dignified carriage approached the main gate of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall.
Manager Liao, his arrogance and annoyance vanished, and he bowed politely to the carriage.
The carriage did not stop and entered the Imperial Preceptor's Hall without any obstruction.
The coachman was new and didn't quite understand what was going on. Even the inner disciples of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall had to get out of the carriage and walk. Who had such a big face that they could just ride in through the main gate in a carriage?
"Manager Liao, who is that?" the coachman asked.
Watching the carriage gradually disappear into the distance, Manager Liao said with no small amount of envy, "Who else could it be? The chess master of the six kingdoms, Master Meng. The Grand Preceptor loves to exchange chess skills with others. Whenever Master Meng is in Shengdu, he is invited to the palace by the Grand Preceptor to play chess every month. Remember to be respectful when you see Master Meng in the future; he is a distinguished guest of the Grand Preceptor's Palace."
(End of this chapter)
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