The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1015 - 1015 483 Success (First Update)

Chapter 1015: 483 Success (First Update) Chapter 1015: 483 Success (First Update) Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng entered the Governor’s Mansion in the afternoon, yet the Governor had not returned by evening.

Master Hu had the kitchen prepare dinner and personally brought it over.

Since Gu Chengfeng was with Gu Jiao, Master Hu also brought the meals to the room.

By this time, both Gu Jiao and Gu Chengfeng had removed their masks. Seeing Gu Chengfeng, Master Hu thought that this official did indeed have a handsome face, but was just too young. How could the Empress Dowager send such a youthful junior to the frontier?

Then he noticed Gu Jiao next to him.

Master Hu was immediately taken aback by the birthmark on Gu Jiao’s face. Could the court really be so careless in its appointments?

Gu Chengfeng caught Master Hu’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t mind when Master Hu sized him up, but the strange look directed at Gu Jiao ignited a touch of anger in him.

His expression grew cold. “Is there something else, Master Hu?”

“Ah! No, no!” Master Hu instantly snapped back to reality, noticing the displeasure on the other party’s face. He forced a smile, stepped forward with the tray and said, “My lords, here is your dinner. I’ll just set it down here for you.”

As he spoke, he placed the tray respectfully on the table in front of the two.

On their journey, Gu Chengfeng and Gu Jiao had often braved the elements and gone without comfortable lodging. They had passed through affluent cities and stayed in poor towns. The farther north they went, the colder it got, and the harder the common people’s lives seemed to be.

But he hadn’t expected that even the Governor’s Mansion would have such meager fare!

After all, it was the residence of the highest local official!

Gu Chengfeng was stunned as he looked at the sorry-looking coarse grain cornbread in the bowl, along with two boiled Chicken Eggs and a dish of Pickled Vegetables.

Noticing Gu Chengfeng’s confusion, Master Hu laughed awkwardly and explained, “The frontier is a place of hardship and cannot be compared to the Capital City. I hope the two lords can be understanding.”

“Is even the Governor’s Mansion so impoverished?”

Gu Chengfeng couldn’t help but ask.

Isn’t there a saying among the people that a magistrate clears out three years for a hundred thousand tael of snowflake silver?

There are only poor commonfolk in the world, but no poor officials, right?

Master Hu hung his head and sighed helplessly, “You may not know, my lords, but Yuegu City is poor. The common people don’t have enough to eat. The Governor comes from a humble background and loves his people as if they were his children. He spends his salary on relief for the disaster victims. What the common people eat, he eats. Today, he even brought out the Chicken Eggs and Pickled Vegetables he would usually only enjoy during the New Year to entertain you lords. There is meat in the Pickled Vegetables.”

The last sentence seemed particularly poignant.

Gu Chengfeng’s mouth twitched. There’s meat in here?

The kind in tiny pieces?

Thinking of something, Gu Chengfeng asked, “Doesn’t the court allocate funds to the frontier every year? Where did it all go?”

Master Hu heaved another deep sigh, “Our Yuegu City is a small one, with little allocated funds, and it’s all been spent. Our Governor does not take a penny from the people, nor a tael from the court’s salary.”

Gu Chengfeng fell silent.

Forget it, he is a great thief. Why should he worry about the world’s livelihood?

His purpose in coming here was to rescue his grandfather; everything else was irrelevant to him.

Master Hu, observing their reactions, said, “Please enjoy your meal at your leisure, my lords. I will take my leave.”

“Mhm.” Gu Chengfeng waved his hand dismissively.

After Master Hu left, Gu Chengfeng casually picked up a cornbread. It must have been hot when removed from the pot, but by the time it was brought over, it had turned cold, hard as a rock.

Gu Chengfeng took a bite and frowned at the awful taste. He said to Gu Jiao, “If Princess Ning An had known that she would come to such a place when she got married, she probably wouldn’t have come to the frontier, right?”

“I don’t know,” Gu Jiao replied.

Gu Chengfeng grimaced, finding her ability to kill a conversation full stop.

While he seemed contemptuous, he was very careful when picking the cornbread for Gu Jiao.

He peeled away the dried crust and placed it in his own bowl, transferring the warm and soft heart of the bread into Gu Jiao’s bowl, and then meticulously picked out the tiny pieces of meat in the Pickled Vegetables for her.

He hadn’t always acted this naturally. The first time was at the Post Station after they left the Capital. Then, the food was rather good; they even had a dish of shrimp. Taking care of his brother had become a habit, and he instinctively peeled one for Gu Jiao.

It was only when he placed it on Gu Jiao’s plate that he realized something was off.

Gu Jiao wasn’t his brother, nor his sister. He refused to admit it!

The most embarrassing part wasn’t that he presumptuously peeled a shrimp for Gu Jiao, but that Gu Jiao might suddenly ask, “Why are you so good to me?”