The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 300: 165 Meeting (Second Update)

When Gu Jiao left the mansion, Xiao Liulang had not arrived yet.

Across the street was a shop selling sugar water and crystal sugar-coated haws. It was here that she last saw Gu Yan and Gu Changqing.

The candied haws they bought back were beautiful and clean, with a variety to choose from.

Gu Jiao walked over: “Boss, give me three skewers of candied haws, one of sugared tangerines, and one of sugar coated yam and eggs.”

The crystal sugar-coated yam and eggs were Xiao Jingkong’s favorite, round and chewy, and no cores needed to be spat out.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, “Alright, miss, that’ll be a hundred wen in total.”

The cost of living in the Capital City was indeed high.

In the county town, a skewer of candied haws cost only three or four wen, while a roadside stall in the Capital City charged ten wen per skewer, and the price doubled in this shop.

However, the candied haws in the Capital City were larger, and as the New Year was approaching, Gu Jiao didn’t mind as much after considering this.

She paid the money, wrapped the candied haws in paper, and placed them in her small basket.

Gu Jiao thought it wouldn’t be bad to wait for Xiao Liulang here. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she felt someone watching her.

Her past life was spent in blood and blades. If she couldn’t detect when she was being watched, she would have died countless times by now.

Gu Jiao turned her head. The other party obviously hadn’t expected Gu Jiao’s intuition to be so keen, and had no time to hide, and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

Thinking he had left, Gu Jiao ignored him. Xiao Liulang could arrive at any time, and she didn’t want to miss him.

Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t give up. Shortly after, a man opened a second-floor window of an inn, strung his bow and arrow, and aimed at Gu Jiao.

He was even using a bow and arrow now.

Seems like he’s really determined to die.

Gu Jiao made a request to the shopkeeper of the candied haws shop: “Shopkeeper, if a very handsome young man comes looking for me, the most handsome kind, have him wait here for me.”

The most, most handsome?

The boss was a bit bewildered.

Miss, your ambition is a bit big.

I’ve operated this shop here for over twenty years, and I’ve seen all kinds of people, including the royalty. What other man could be more handsome? More handsome than the royal family?

The bloodline of the Zhan royal family was indeed quite good. First of all, the emperor was very handsome, and the concubines he took into the palace were all great beauties. Could his princes and princesses not be attractive?

The boss didn’t take her words too seriously. After all, if anyone came asking for her, he would just relay the message.

Gu Jiao entered the inn across the street.

“Miss, are you here to dine or to stay?” a waiter came up to greet her.

Ignoring him, Gu Jiao ascended to the second floor.

The layout of this inn was somewhat complex, with many twists and turns.

But Gu Jiao had an excellent sense of direction. In an instant, she deduced it was the third room on the left side of the eastern corridor.

Gu Jiao entered the room.

The man was quick and had already climbed up to the roof from the window.

Gu Jiao leaned half of her body out the window and looked up. With one hand holding the window sill, she nimbly climbed up to the roof.

This time, she finally got a good look at the man’s appearance.

He was a man.

Clothed all in black.

Gu Jiao pointed her toes and picked up a loose tile. She raised her leg and kicked the tile towards him.

The man hadn’t expected Gu Jiao to have such a move while chasing him. Unable to avoid it in time, he was knocked down onto the roof by the massive impact of the tile.

Gu Jiao heard a crisp sound, like the sound of a piece of metal hitting the roof tiles.

It was his face.

The man was wearing an iron mask!

Gu Jiao already had a guess as to who he was.

The number one thief of the Capital City—Feishuang.

Gu Jiao squinted her eyes, quickly closing the distance between them.

Thinking it was too late to get up and run again, the man quickly rolled and jumped from the edge of the roof.

Hmm.

He’s not brainless.

He was much better than the blockheads at the martial arts academy.

It had been a long time since she had encountered an opponent who made her use her second move. Gu Jiao smirked evilly.

Below was a music hall’s courtyard.

Gu Jiao jumped down.

The sound of music from the music hall masked the other’s footsteps and breathing. It would be tough for an ordinary person to determine the exact location of the other person, but Gu Jiao was an organization’s top special agent who could accurately identify footsteps out of more than a hundred sounds.

As she passed a curtain-draped cubicle, she suddenly reached out and pulled a dark figure out of the cubicle, throwing him hard on the ground!

The man grunted, feeling as if his brain was about to splatter.

What was this girl’s background? Her skills had greatly improved!

But after all, he wasn’t someone easy to deal with. He had been careless just now, but he wouldn’t be now.

He threw out a bag of powder and took advantage of the cover it provided to slip into the aisle next to him.

The people who had escaped from Gu Jiao’s hands time and again were few and far between in past and present lives. It seemed she had not yet regained her former strength.

Gu Jiao chased him down into a dimly lit basement.

It seemed as if the man had disappeared into thin air.

Strange.

Where did he go?

Plus, is this not a music hall?

Why would there be such a large basement?

For storage, or——

While deep in thought, footsteps came from the entrance. Gu Jiao slid behind a large cabinet.

Someone walked in, holding an oil lamp. With the faint light from the lamp, Gu Jiao could see the scene clearly.

This was not an ordinary basement. There were two rooms in total; the outer room seemed like a tea room, and where she was standing now truly looked like a storage room.

Two young women entered the room.

One held the lamp and the other lifted the curtain to check the storage room. It seemed like a routine check, but they knew the storage room would be empty, so they didn’t go any further.

She let down the curtain, saying to the other person, “Light the lamp and serve the tea.”

“Alright.” The other woman lit the lamp.

Because the outer room was well lit, it made Gu Jiao’s hiding place even darker, allowing her to hide more easily.

After the two women set up the tea room neatly, a woman wearing a light blue veil and a white dress entered.

The woman’s face was concealed, but her tall figure and graceful posture, as well as her slim and exquisite hands, suggested that she was a daughter from a wealthy family.

After the woman entered, she gestured to the two maids, who tactfully withdrew.

Leaving her alone in the spacious tea room.

Just as Gu Jiao was hesitating whether or not to reveal herself openly, a man wearing a purple fur cloak entered the room.

From Gu Jiao’s point of view, the man was too tall, and the door frame of the storage room blocked his eyebrows, eyes, nose, and mouth, revealing only a delicate chin.

The man sat down across from the woman.

Now, Gu Jiao couldn’t see him at all. That side of the table was out of her sight.

The only person she could see was the veiled woman.

But because of the veil, all she could see of her was barely discernible.

“You have returned to the Capital City, is the princess well?” The woman spoke.

Unable to see her face, Gu Jiao discerned the respect in her voice.

The woman’s voice would have been considered heavenly in her previous life.

The man opposite her finally spoke, slow and restrained, “She is well, thank you for your concern.”

The Princess? The woman?

It seems that these two are no ordinary people.

And they’re meeting in such a place, probably to avoid being found out.

Gu Jiao wondered: So, was this a trap set for her? They lured her here with great effort, just so she could catch these two big shots red-handed, and then have them dispose of her?

But where was he hiding?

The woman spoke again: “As long as the princess is fine, I can rest assured.”

The man responded: “Did you summon me because there’s something you need?”

She sighed and said, “It sounds strange to be called mistress. You should call me Linlang, like before.”

The man responded: “I… dare not.”

Although Gu Jiao heard him rejecting Linlang’s request, his tone was more dominant and superior.

Linlang didn’t press further. Instead, she pushed a parcel on the table towards the man. “Actually, there’s nothing else. The New Year is almost here, and given my current status, it’s inconvenient for me to pay tribute to him. Could you please burn these joss papers and candles for him?”

“You’re very thoughtful,” replied the man. His voice gave no hint of emotion.

She looked at him, “Do you blame me?”

The man: “You’re overthinking.”

Linlang: “Not being able to call you father in this life, I’m sorry and regretful. But in my heart, you are the same as my father, I even respect you more.” @@novelbin@@

The man: “You exaggerate.”

The fear of awkward silence ensued. The man was not talkative, and when Linlang didn’t speak, the room went quiet.

Unexpectedly, Linlang suddenly coughed a few times.

Finally, the man broke the silence: “Are you feeling unwell?”

Linlang shook her head: “It’s nothing, just a cold.”

The man: “Please take care of yourself.”

Linlang nodded: “I will.”

Gu Jiao could hear the man’s concern for Linlang.

Speaking of health, I suddenly remembered something,” Linlang mused. “Ever since the Emperor and the Crown Prince returned from their southern tour, the Emperor has not set foot in the Imperial Harem. He encountered a Taoist priest on the southern tour, who gave him a secret to immortality. The Taoist priest asked the Emperor to pray every day and stay away from women for two years. Even the Empress Dowager has not seen the Emperor for a long time.”

The man: “What does the mistress mean…”

Linlang: “I suspect that the Taoist priest was arranged by the Crown Prince. This southern tour is not simple.”

The man: “I see, I’ll have someone investigate this Taoist priest. It’s getting late. If there’s nothing else, I should take my leave.”

Linlang stood up and bowed to the man as a junior should.

The man returned her bow with an imperial salute.

After that, the man left the underground tea room.

Linlang stayed in the tea room for a while before preparing to leave.

However, at that moment, an unexpected event occurred.

With a loud noise, the roof of the entire basement cracked open and collapsed, its debris raining down!

“The Crown Princess——”

Accompanied by the maid’s scream on the ground, the Crown Princess was buried under a pile of ruins. Next to her in the ruins was Gu Jiao.