The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1293 - 1293 629 His daughter (second update)

Chapter 1293: 629 His daughter (second update) Chapter 1293: 629 His daughter (second update) Finding him, Gu Yan would be able to undergo surgery.

Gu Jiao: “Then, what about…”

Mu Qingchen interrupted her coldly, “Don’t even think about it, I am not going to take you to the National Master’s Hall.”

Gu Jiao paused, “You mean you can’t get in, right?”

Mu Qingchen: “…”

Gu Jiao basically understood.

The hope for Gu Yan’s surgery lay in the National Master’s Hall, only that the hall was a heavily guarded place in Shengdu, and even a scion like Mu Qingchen couldn’t enter at will.

Knowing it was in the National Master’s Hall was enough; she would always find a way to get there.

Mu Qingchen still dropped Gu Jiao off at the entrance to Tianqiong Academy as usual, and after Mu Qingchen left, Gu Jiao walked back to her own place.

Mistress Nan and Master Lu were waiting for her in the main room, and when they saw her return, they couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.

Today, at least, she hadn’t caused them any worry.

“Jiaojiao hasn’t eaten yet, has she?” Mistress Nan asked.

“Not yet,” Gu Jiao replied.

“I’ll get you some,” Mistress Nan went to the kitchen and brought over the food that had been warming on the stove, “It’s been heated up for a while, so it might not taste that good.”

Gu Jiao said, “It’s alright, everything you make is delicious.”

The truth was, Mistress Nan’s cooking skills were indeed somewhat lacking.

But anyone who had suffered through Xiao Liulang’s disastrous cooking wouldn’t find Mistress Nan’s food hard to swallow.

May in Shengdu had entered summer, but the mornings and evenings were not hot. Mistress Nan had broken out in a sweat waiting anxiously for Gu Jiao, but now that Gu Jiao had returned, her heart settled, and she naturally cooled down, no longer needing the fan in her hand.

She tossed the fan to Master Lu and asked Gu Jiao, “How did it go? Did you find anything?”

“Yes,” Gu Jiao nodded, “The National Master’s Hall might have what I’m looking for.”

“The National Master’s Hall?” Mistress Nan inhaled sharply.

Mistress Nan’s reaction pretty much explained the level of difficulty of this task.

Gu Jiao asked, “Does Mistress Nan know of any way to get into the National Master’s Hall?”

Mistress Nan, considering Gu Jiao’s past behavior, hurriedly reminded her, “Sneaking in is definitely not feasible, and I won’t allow you to do that. The National Master’s Hall is full of experts, do you know where the death warriors of Yan Country originally came from?”

Gu Jiao asked, “Is it related to the National Master’s Hall?”

Mistress Nan nodded, “That’s right, they were trained by that National Master. Didn’t the former emperor of Zhan Country also buy a group of Yan Country death warriors? Those weren’t the top tier ones; the best are all at the National Master’s Hall.”

If Gu Jiao had regained all her strength, she might have been able to force her way through, but for now… it was better to try a more intellectual approach.

Gu Jiao asked, “Then how can I get in?”

“Well…” Mistress Nan got to her feet and paced a circle around the room, “Either disguise yourself as a disciple of the National Master’s Hall to infiltrate it, or… get someone from the National Master’s Hall to willingly take you in. But neither of these methods is really feasible.”

The first one carries a risk of being discovered, and the second is almost impossible—

Mistress Nan sighed, “You go rest first. I’ll think about it tonight and tell you if I come up with anything.”

Gu Jiao said, “Thank you for your trouble, Mistress Nan.”

Mistress Nan said warmly, “Don’t speak as if we’re strangers. It’s also my wish for Yanyan to recover quickly.”

In the deep silence of the night, after all the children had settled down, Mistress Nan put on her night clothes, pulled open the door, and walked out.

…

In the Duke Residence of Shengdu, the night was fading, and the glazed lanterns glowed under the corridor.

After Mu Qingchen returned to the inner city, he immediately made a trip to the Duke Residence and found the second master to tell him that he had accidentally discovered several suspicious people loitering outside the residence when he passed by earlier and hoped that he could strengthen the security of the Duke Residence, especially around Duke An’s courtyard.

The second master of the Duke Residence did not doubt Mu Qingchen’s words. Although Mu Qingchen’s family was in opposition to the Duke Residence, Mu Qingchen himself had once been taken care of by Duke An, and he bore no ill will towards him.

“Don’t worry, I will personally guard my brother’s courtyard tonight!”

Although Second Master Jing and Duke An were not full brothers, they had been very close since childhood. In his heart, his elder brother was like a father to him, and he wouldn’t let anyone harm him no matter what.

After Mu Qingchen left, Second Master Jing selected the most formidable death warriors of the residence to surround his brother’s courtyard, while he himself laid a bedroll on the ground in front of his brother’s bed.

In a half-asleep state, he faintly heard a muffled voice coming from his brother’s bedchamber; realizing what was happening, he immediately opened his eyes, “Big brother! Are you calling me?”

He leapt up to the bedside and pushed aside the curtain, peering at his brother’s gaunt face in the faint candlelight.

Duke An was still with eyes tightly closed, unconscious and not calling him.

But his brother was indeed muttering in his sleep.

This was a huge development!

His brother had been unconscious for so long and had never talked in his sleep!

Second Master Jing bent down, trying to make out what his brother was saying.

Turns out his brother kept repeating the same name over and over in his dream: “Yinyin… Yinyin…”

His niece who had died young, Jing Yinyin.

…

As dawn broke faintly, Gu Jiao woke from her slumber, sitting on her bed, dazed for a moment.

“How strange, it felt like I dreamed last night, but I can’t remember what I saw.”

She rarely dreamt, and when she did, her dreams were usually about things that could happen, which she would generally remember.

If she didn’t remember, it was probably nothing important.

Yeah, that’s it!

After getting dressed, Gu Jiao practiced with her red-tasseled spear and whip in the backyard before heading to the main house for breakfast.

Gu Yan hadn’t gotten up; he was used to sleeping in late, which wasn’t surprising, but it was odd that Nanny Nan wasn’t there either.

“Teacher Lu, did Nanny Nan go out?” Gu Jiao asked.

Teacher Lu cleared his throat and said, “She went to handle some things. You two go ahead and eat. I bought some porridge and green onion pancakes from the marketplace, not sure if they’ll suit your taste.”

“Teacher Lu, you eat too.” Gu Jiao also served him a bowl of porridge.

“This child.” Teacher Lu accepted with a smile.

After breakfast, Teacher Lu stayed home to look after Gu Yan, while Gu Jiao and Gu Xiaoshun went to the Academy for classes.

“Sis, did you do your homework?” Gu Xiaoshun asked.

Gu Jiao was struck by a blow to her soul!

She had forgotten her homework again!

Not being a student for so many years, she was no longer familiar with academic routines!

Gu Jiao entered the classroom, and with her head down, she walked toward Zhong Ding’s seat. But just as she was about to sit down, she sensed something was off.

“Is that you?”

Where was Zhong Ding?

Why had Mu Qingchen taken his place?

Mu Qingchen presented a book of homework indifferently, throwing it on the desk: “Here, take it.”

As if to say, copy this—it’s better than Zhong Ding’s, no need to thank me.

Gu Jiao twitched the corners of her mouth and looked around the classroom; everyone was keeping their heads down as if they knew nothing.

Gu Jiao found Zhong Ding in the back row, in the seat originally belonging to Mu Qingchen, and without a word, she sat down next to him: “Let me copy your homework.”

Zhong Ding was utterly stupefied.

He glanced at the expressionless Mu Qingchen and then at Gu Jiao, who was as flustered as a ruffled chick: “You’re passing up Young Master Qingchen’s work to copy mine?”

Gu Jiao: “Hand it over!”

Zhong Ding, under the terrible aura of Mu Qingchen, reluctantly took out his work.

Gu Jiao copied it quickly.

Zhong Ding whispered, “We don’t have to turn in homework this morning with Master Jiang and Master Tong.”

Gu Jiao instantly scowled, Why didn’t you say so sooner!

The morning session was Horse Archery Class, and Tianqiong Academy had its own grassland and stables, which housed dozens of sturdy and fiery horses. Their instructor for horse archery, who had the surname Wu, was said to have been Yan Country’s champion in martial arts.

Originally, he had held an official position, but not having a background or a taste for the intrigues of officialdom, he had resigned and joined Tianqiong Academy as Instructor Wu.

The students from Mingxin Hall first went to the stables to select a horse; the principle was that two students shared one horse, taking turns. Since many Mingxin Hall students had their own superior horses from home, the stable’s horses were entirely sufficient.

“I, I don’t know much about horses, can you pick one for me?” Zhong Ding sheepishly asked Gu Jiao.

“Go for that one.” Gu Jiao pointed to a tall, handsome horse at the far end of the stable, “It’s gentle; it won’t throw you off.”

Zhong Ding still felt a bit reluctant to enter the stable.

Gu Jiao went in and led the horse out for him: “Here.”

Zhong Ding was apprehensive: “Is it, is it really gentle?”

Gu Jiao tossed the reins to him: “This is the gentlest one they have here.”

Zhong Ding instinctively hugged the reins: “How do you know?”

Gu Jiao frowned irritably: “If you don’t trust me, should I take it?”

Zhong Ding quickly turned his back, still holding the reins: “I trust you, I trust you, I trust you!”

In fact, from the moment he got close to the horse, Zhong Ding could feel its gentleness. Being poor at horseback riding and having fallen off a horse before made him wary of horses with too fiery a temperament.

By this time, the other students had also mostly finished selecting their horses.

Gu Jiao didn’t like to crowd with others, so she waited until everyone else was done before leading a horse out of the stables for herself.

Suddenly, someone called out to her from behind, “Xiao Liulang!”

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