The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 337: 181 The Father and Son Meet (Part Two)

The only suitable candidate was the Young Marquis, but he was already dead.

“It couldn’t possibly be a bastard son of the Marquis of Xuanping, could it? Hahaha…” Zheng Siye suddenly choked on his laughter, falling into a faint!

The Marquis of Xuanping left the Guozijian and boarded his carriage.

Chang Jing was holding the terrified Qin Chuyu, who was speechless from the rooftop-trotting scare: “My Lord, what should we do with him?”

The Marquis of Xuanping was too unsettled to decide: “Take him back to the palace!”

Chang Jing thought for a moment: “Okay.”

Since the Marquis didn’t specify how to bring him back, Chang Jing started another round of rooftop trotting with Qin Chuyu in his arms.

Qin Chuyu couldn’t even muster up the strength to cry!

His Uncle’s punishment was too horrifying!

He would never cause trouble again!

After boarding the carriage, the Marquis of Xuanping struggled to calm his emotions for a long time. His eyes were cold, his fingers trembling: “What happened?”

He was asking Steward Liu.@@novelbin@@

Steward Liu lifted the carriage curtain and climbed in, speaking sheepishly: “My lord, what do you want to know?”

“Is he Yun’s son?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How did you find him, tell me everything!”

“…Yes, sir!” Steward Liu began to recount the story of how he found Xiao Liulang, starting from four years ago.

When Xiao Liulang and his older brother came to Capital City to acknowledge their relationship with the Marquis of Xuanping, he didn’t mention who he was, only saying that he was an old acquaintance of the Marquis with a matter to discuss.

There had been too many people attempting to build connections with the Marquis. Xiao Liulang was dressed in shabby clothes, not appearing to be of high status, so the gatekeepers did not bother with him.

There also happened to be a string of unsolved murders in the Capital City at that time. Despite the joint investigation of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, the Emperor had to hand over the case to the Marquis of Xuanping.

The Marquis was incredibly busy and stressed.

By the time he had finally solved the case and received news of Xiao Liulang, Xiao Liulang had already left the Capital City.

After a lengthy sigh, the Marquis of Xuanping spoke in a deep voice: “I know all this, I was the one who told you. What I want to know is your journey to the county town to find him!”

Steward Liu was only transferred back recently.

Steward Liu said, “I first went to the county town and heard that he was a student of the Tianxiang Academy. Went to the Academy to find him, but he denied his identity. I didn’t relent, and then…ahem, thought of a trick. Applied both soft and hard measures, this young master, a true seed of the Marquis indeed. He stood firm! Of course, his scholarship is very real. With his top score, he got admitted to Guozijian.”

Many thoughts stirred in the depths of the Marquis of Xuanping’s eyes: “What happened to his leg?”

Steward Liu replied, “I asked about it, apparently, it happened a year or so ago when he was trying to save a classmate. He has been limping ever since. ”

Marquis of Xuanping: “Wasn’t it treated?”

Steward Liu: “It was, but for some reason, it didn’t seem to improve much.”

Returning to the Marquis Residence, the Marquis of Xuanping went into his study and pulled out a portrait from a secret compartment.

The portrait depicted a boy of thirteen or fourteen, warm like jade and extraordinarily handsome, with a mole under his right eye.

If he had lived to be eighteen…

The image of Xiao Liulang flashed through the Marquis of Xuanping’s mind.

…

Little JingKong had slept all the way home and woke up as lively as ever, bouncing all around like a loud trumpet again!

His first task was to go find Xiaojiu, seeing Xiaojiu safely in its birdcage, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Don’t celebrate too soon.” Xiao Liulang spoke from behind him, “Will you confess on your own, or should I tell Jiaojiao?”

Little JingKong wilted instantly.

In the end, Little JingKong chose to confess. Jiaojiao always said, leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist!

As soon as Gu Jiao came back, Little JingKong took the initiative to tell her about how he took his baby hawk to Guozijian to show off to his classmates, and ended up scaring one of them to the point of wetting their pants.

Gu Jiao didn’t scold him right away, instead she asked him why he did it.

Little JingKong seemed very upset: “Because they always laugh at me for being small, for not growing up, and for being a baby.”

He may be smaller than them, but the bird he raised was definitely the largest!

He often ran around the alley with chickens, and now also with dogs and baby hawks. He’d seen old men walking their birds many times and their thrushes, magpies, or mynas were all not as big as his Xiaojiu!

So, it turned out that he had done it to show off his bird, not to deliberately scare anyone.

“But why did he take off his trousers?” Xiao Jingkong asked, looking bewildered.

Upon the heels of an adult’s baffling behavior, a confusing behavior of children was added to Xiao Jingkong’s knowledge gap.

Gu Jiao almost choked.

This… even a one-and-a-half-year-old child might know, but Xiao Jingkong, having grown up on a mountain, never encountered such a down-to-earth term.

Instead of clearing this up for him, Gu Jiao patted his little head and asked, “What about the academic performance of those who mocked you? Do they always achieve top grades?”

With a pout, Xiao Jingkong proudly stated, “Not at all! They often make mistakes! Only I get everything right!”

Gu Jiao quietly said, “See? They can be mistaken in their work, so their words aren’t necessarily accurate either. When they say you can’t grow taller, they’re wrong. You’re still a child now, wait till you grow up slowly, you will definitely grow tall, even taller than them!”

Xiao Jingkong carefully pondered over her words and was successfully persuaded by Gu Jiao.

If he could be so good at his studies, it was only logical that he should be able to grow tall!

Xiao Jingkong regained his confidence in life, transforming back into a spirited young boy!

Gu Jiao added, “Did you make any mistakes yourself?”

“Yes,” Xiao Jingkong honestly admitted. “I shouldn’t have taken XiaoJiu to Guozijian, I won’t do it again.”

Gu Jiao nodded in satisfaction: “Go on.”

“Uh-huh!” Xiao Jingkong turned around with his little bird, entered the passageway, then peeked his head back out, “But why did he take his trousers off?”

Gu Jiao: “…”

The old priest left, and dinner was prepared by Gu Jiao.

Xiao Liulang came in to help add firewood as usual, but Gu Jiao vaguely felt that his state was a little off.

She made his recently favorite fried meat, but he ate half a bowl less than usual.

After dinner, he inspected Xiao Jingkong’s homework as per regulation, then Xiao Jingkong went to check on his two older brothers’ homework. As he returned to read his books, the pages remained unturned for quite some time.

Gu Jiao knocked on the door, “It’s me.”

The door was ajar.

Xiao Liulang hesitated for a moment, turning the book on the table right side up, and called out to the doorway, “Come in.”

Gu Jiao pushed the door open, holding a bowl of lotus seed soup, she walked in and placed it on his table, “It’s just made, try it while it’s hot.”

Xiao Liulang looked at her small hands, which should not have been bearing these hardships, and sighed, “Why did you make more food?”

“You didn’t eat much for dinner.” Gu Jiao replied.

Xiao Liulang lowered his eyes.

Gu Jiao took a seat opposite him.

The dim candlelight cast on his handsome as jade face, his long eyelashes cast trembling shadows on both sides of his nose.

Gu Jiao propped her chin with both hands and watched him, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

Xiao Liulang had no appetite, but he still picked up a spoon to take a bite.

It was sweet.

Even his heart seemed a little less bitter.

Xiao Liulang leisurely finished the bowl of lotus seed soup, then looked up at her.

She was looking at him too.

In broad daylight.

Despite being caught, she didn’t seem embarrassed at all, her eyes sparkled as if they held stars.

Something seemed to slowly fill Xiao Liulang’s heart, pushing out the unpleasant emotions forcibly.

Xiao Liulang was the first to look away. Clearing his throat, he said, “I’ll wash the dishes.”

“No need, I’ll do it!” Gu Jiao stood up and took the bowl from him. “You should focus on the Imperial Examination. I want to become the wife of a successful candidate!”

“Oh.” Xiao Liulang disappointed.

Just the wife of a successful candidate? There’s still the title of an imperial examination graduate above that, and after that, there are even greater titles.

But that one called——

Xiao Liulang, also known as Little Proud Jiao, muttered to himself, “Even wife…”

Gu Jiao: “Did you call me?”

Did he speak aloud? Xiao Liulang flustered, “No, I… ”

Gu Jiao smiled and replied, “Yes?”