The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1085 - 1085 524 Warmth in the Deep of the Night (First

Chapter 1085: 524 Warmth in the Deep of the Night (First Update) Chapter 1085: 524 Warmth in the Deep of the Night (First Update) Her chest rose and fell slightly as she spoke, and despite her best efforts to calm her breathing, she still gasped for air, showing just how desperately she had been traveling.

She even lacked the strength to stand, which is why she bumped into the doorframe with a thud.

Not wishing to let Xiao Hen see her in such a disheveled state, she sat with feigned indifference on the hard threshold, leaning against the cold corner of the wall, unaware that her fatigue was already evident on her face.

Even so, when she looked at him, her eyes still shone with light.

The wind and snow raged through the world, and the cold howled fiercely.

Xiao Hen’s heart felt as if it was filled with a burning wave of heat, his blood rushing wildly as he held his breath.

He looked at her in disbelief, her disheveled figure clearly reflected in his deep eyes.

The snow-sealed mountains of Ji City brought a hundred thousand troops to a standstill, yet she had braved the mountains and harsh snow alone, appearing before him on his birthday.

Xiao Hen, having read extensively and deeply learned, could not find the right words to describe his feelings at that moment.

Suddenly, something in his heart felt off, even a bit painful.

He said nothing, but his eyes seemed to say everything.

It was a birthday he himself did not care for.

Why rush back?

Why not wait obediently for the storm to pass?

Why not travel with the imperial army?

Why…

What else could it be?

It was merely something he neglected that someone else had taken to heart for him.

Xiao Hen was moved, but his expression remained unchanged. He quickly took off his outer robe, crouched down, and wrapped Gu Jiao in it, carrying his body warmth.

Gu Jiao was enveloped in a great warmth, accompanied by his unique masculine scent and fragrance.

She sniffed with a slightly frozen snuffle, “You smell so nice.”

Xiao Hen looked at her little red nose, “You’re frozen like this and can still tell if I smell nice?”

“Yes, you do!” Gu Jiao stated with certainty.

Xiao Hen, originally looking at her pitiful state and thinking of the risks and hardships of her journey, felt complex and heavy-hearted. But after her interjection, he couldn’t help but feel a mix of laughter and tears.

Xiao Hen brought her Red-Tasseled Spear inside, then removed her small backpack. With one arm around her back and the other under her knees, he gently lifted her.

“I can walk,” Gu Jiao said.

She hadn’t forgotten his limp, at home, she wouldn’t even let him carry even a little Kangaroo.

“I can walk too,” Xiao Hen said.

Gu Jiao blinked, looking at him.

Xiao Hen, holding her, stood up. She could feel the strength in his embrace, stronger than when she had left Capital City, with more of an adult man’s strength.

Gu Jiao glanced at his legs again and, to her surprise, found that he walked quite well.

Gu Jiao exclaimed with a yip, “Your leg isn’t lame anymore?”

“No.”

In a second, someone reverted back to being a cripple.

The truth was, he had recovered a while ago. The day after he cleared up the misunderstanding with Princess Xinyang and resolved his emotional issues, he was able to walk normally. He had initially planned to surprise her on her birthday, but then that girl had turned and run away.

Good.

There was going to be a price to pay.

When Gu Jiao had left Capital City, it was fall, and she wasn’t dressed heavily; now in deep winter, she wore cotton clothing which wasn’t much heavier.

Xiao Hen tightened his embrace around her arms.

The little one at home was three months old, no longer needing night feedings. The Nanny had no need to stay overnight any longer, and the Yao Family moved back to their original room with the little one, leaving the eastern room available for Gu Jiao.

Yu Yaya came every day to clean, and the bedding had all been changed to new.

Xiao Hen carried her into the room and placed her on a chair cushioned with mats. “Sit here for a bit; I’ll go heat up a charcoal brazier for you,” he said.

Having said that, he turned to the stove room, lit the straw and kindling in the stove, and placed the silver charcoal inside after it caught fire.

This silver charcoal, sent from the palace, was of the highest quality smokeless variety, easy to light and very long-lasting.

As the silver charcoal caught fire, he poured water into the pot to boil, making a bowl of Vegetable and Egg Noodles and sliced a few pieces of bacon.

By the time the silver charcoal was ready, the noodles were cooked as well.

He brought the noodles into the eastern room.

Gu Jiao was leaning on the table, drowsy with sleep.

This was not just exhaustion but complete depletion of energy.

Xiao Hen gently touched her forehead, finding it not hot. He was somewhat relieved and said, “Eat something before you sleep.”

“Hmm…” Gu Jiao murmured in response.

She hadn’t had anything to eat for a day and a night and was indeed very hungry.

She let out a small yawn, lifting a chopstick full of vegetables to her mouth.

Then, she jolted alert, suddenly wide awake!

Xiao Hen brought the brazier in, only to remember there was still a horse outside. He went back to lead the horse in and tied it up in the old libationer’s stable.

His movements were gentle, and he didn’t wake anyone.

When he returned to the east room, he saw that Gu Jiao was wide awake.

It couldn’t be helped, her husband’s abysmal cooking was just too invigorating, as effective as menthol oil.

Gu Jiao, adhering to the principle that beauty merits dining upon, ate every last bite of the bowl of indescribable noodles without leaving behind a single drop of soup.

Xiao Hen poured her a cup of warm water to wash away the greasiness, “Have you had a tough journey?”

“Not at all, I wasn’t going off to war, just to be a doctor!”

No sooner had she spoken than a dagger clattered out from her sleeve.

—The Chen Guorong Family’s dagger, one of the spoils from Yuegu City.

Gu Jiao blinked.

It’s not embarrassing for me, only for others.

She picked up the dagger without changing her expression.

There was another clatter, and a sleeve arrow fell out.

—A hidden weapon from an archer of the Tang Family, one of Tang Yueshan’s treasured possessions.

Unblushing and calm, she picked up the sleeve arrow as well.

Just as she placed the arrow and dagger on the table, she accidentally bumped a small basket, spilling its contents all over the table—darts, a battle-ax, a meteor hammer, a nine-section whip…

Xiao Hen’s gaze turned dangerous.

Gu Jiao’s eyes whirled, “Will you believe me if I say I picked them up?”

Xiao Hen gave a dry laugh, “Heh.”

“I have a gift for you!” Gu Jiao deftly changed the subject, pulling something tightly wrapped in cloth from the small basket and handed it to him, “Open it and see.”

Xiao Hen still wanted to pursue the matter of her being on the battlefield.

He had thought she went to the border pass merely to rescue the old marquis who had fallen into enemy hands, but seeing her looking as though she had looted the entire Chen Guorong army, it was clear she hadn’t stayed off the battlefield.

Gu Jiao didn’t give him the chance to question her, decisively opening the package and presenting an album redolent with historical aroma before him.

Xiao Hen’s attention was captured immediately.

The album was inscribed with the characters of the former dynasty.

The characters of the Great Li Dynasty had evolved from those of its predecessor, with slight differences in form and meaning.

Gu Jiao opened the album.

Xiao Hen looked closely and saw it was filled with names of the Huangfu Family, his eyes suddenly arrested, “An imperial record from the former dynasty?”

“Yes!” Gu Jiao nodded emphatically.

She had set fire to the heir’s study, leading him to believe she had also destroyed the imperial record, but she hadn’t; she had stolen it!

The reign of the Great Li Dynasty spanned three hundred years, with another secretive two hundred years of influence, and this genealogy of the Huangfu Family listed every member of the former dynasty’s royalty, holding immense value for research and archaeology.

The allure of such ancient texts to a learned scholar was no less than the appeal of a divine weapon to a peerless martial artist.

Xiao Hen’s gaze flickered slightly, “How did you come by it?”

“Gu Chengfeng stole it!” Gu Jiao blamed it on someone else in a split second!

In the Snow-sealed Mountain, Gu Chengfeng, hugging his sword, sneezed violently!

“Do you like it?” Gu Jiao looked at him.

Xiao Hen nodded, “Yes, I like it.”

How could he not cherish this album that may have been obtained at the cost of her life?

The album was light, but in his hands, it felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Gu Jiao’s clear, spirited eyes enlarged as she looked at him, her demeanor somewhat demure.

If any of the Chen Guorong soldiers she had fought were here, they would be shocked, is this the same brutal and cold-blooded killer?

This was nothing but a little white rabbit!

“And this too!” Gu Jiao retrieved a palm-sized iron box from her pouch, “I heard the pine-soot ink from the Chen Guorong royal household is the best, try painting with it.”

“The green ink is also good, but there are only two pieces.”

“Prince Bo has a master under him who makes wolf brush pens; he made a new one for me.”

…

Gu Jiao continued to pull out little gifts from the small basket, one after another, it was hard to tell how many things she had packed in there.

Xiao Hen watched her intently, his gaze deepening with each gift she presented.

Finally, unable to resist any longer, he caught her wrist, pulling her into his embrace.

Gu Jiao was caught off guard by the hug, her head bumping into his warm chest, his heartbeat like the drumming of thunder, resonating through his thick clothes and into her ears.

Thump-thump, thump-thump; her ears felt heated from the sound.

Everything around them seemed to quiet, leaving just their breaths and heartbeats.

“Are you hurt?” he asked with a rough voice.