The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1338 - 1338 652 during the second watch of the night

Chapter 1338: 652 during the second watch of the night Chapter 1338: 652 during the second watch of the night “`

Some words should not be overly spoken, it’s essential to just hint at them, commonly known as ‘leaving white space’, which allows the other party to imagine and continuously expand the space of thought.

After writing the last sentence, Xiao Hen boarded the carriage and left, leaving only the expressionless Prince Ming standing stone-still in the original spot.

“Your Highness,” a guard by his side called out, “Are you alright?”

“What could possibly afflict me?” Prince Ming replied coldly.

Hearing this, the guard understood that he was angry. The guard hesitated for a moment but still voiced his thoughts, “Your Highness, the words of Miss Gu may not be entirely true, they must not be completely trusted.”

The guard did not dare to covet the top beauty of the Canglan Ladies’ Academy and was relatively more objective in looking at the issue.

Prince Ming, however, was different. He cast a cold glance at the guard, “Are you implying that she has lied to deceive me?”

The guard said, “This subordinate just thinks it’s better to be cautious.”

Prince Ming snorted, “She is but a weak woman from a lesser state, helpless and alone in Shengdu, would she dare to slander the Nangong Family out of nowhere? Moreover, as a young lady, would she go so far to tarnish a man’s reputation to the extent of disregarding her own honor?”

A woman’s honor is more valuable than heaven itself.

Prince Ming’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “Knowing full well that I have intentions for her, Nangong Lin still dares to encroach on what I desire. Very well, indeed very well!”

The guard opened his mouth and then said, “Your Highness, shall I still go and investigate?”

Prince Ming waved his sleeve with a snort, “Can you find anything on Nangong Lin? Longing for the woman I yearn for behind my back, how bold is he to leave any trail? If it weren’t for Miss Gu’s revelation today, how much longer would I have been kept in the dark?”

There were reasons for Prince Ming to believe Xiao Hen’s words. Setting aside her two points, why would the beauty have any reason to falsely accuse Nangong Lin? It brought her no benefit.

By contrast, the likelihood of Nangong Lin pestering her was even greater.

Even he, the proud Prince of the Crown Prince’s mansion, was smitten with the beauty; was Nangong Lin stronger of will or of higher standards to remain unmoved by her?

This line of thinking ultimately led Prince Ming to choose to believe Xiao Hen.

The guard, having followed Prince Ming for so long, clearly understood his temperament: there were things he was truly clever about, but in others, he was merely playing smart.

Hence, he didn’t waste any more words on persuasion, “So… does this subordinate still need to…”

As he spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.

Prince Ming’s eyes chilled as he replied with distaste, “Need what? Let him seek his own revenge! How does it concern me?”

The guard saluted, “Understood.”

The carriage stopped outside the gates of the Canglan Ladies’ Academy, and the maid gently opened the curtains for Xiao Hen, “Miss Gu, we have arrived.”

Xiao Hen, holding the sleeping Xiaojingkong, stepped off the carriage. A trace of playful amusement flickered in her eyes as she handed over the note she had written, “Give this to your young master and thank him for me.”

…

Gu Jiao and her party left the inner city.

Gu Jiao looked at Mu Chuan and Mu Qingchen quizzically, “Why are you two also returning to the Academy?”

Mu Chuan shrugged, “I don’t know. I just followed Fourth Brother.”

Mu Qingchen paused before saying, “I’ve moved to the Academy.”

“Oh.” Mu Chuan rubbed his sore neck and, upon realization, suddenly widened his eyes at his fourth brother, “What did you say, Fourth Brother? You’re going to live at the Academy?”

Mu Qingchen replied with a serious expression, “There’s a competition coming up. The time wasted traveling daily could be better spent on training. The folks from Wuyue Academy are right; we can’t win every match this easily. Today’s victory owes much to our uneven opponents. Xu Ping’s skills were greatly diminished. If there had been two royal polo players in one team, our chances of winning would have halved.”

“Yes, what Mu Qingchen said is correct,” added Wu Fuzi, who was riding alongside the group. He nodded in complete agreement, “There are a lot of competent academies out there. Even without royal polo players, if they coordinate well, they can be formidable. We need to step up our training.”

“Is the next polo match still at Lingbo Academy?” Gu Jiao asked.

“Yes, besides the National Master Hall and the Imperial Palace, only Lingbo Academy has a complete polo field.”

It was evident just from the arrangement of the stands.

“How many days left?” Gu Jiao asked again.

“Seven days,” Wu Fuzi replied. “There are matches for other academies in the next two days. If you have time, you could go watch, but do not neglect training.”

“So, are we allowed to neglect our studies?”

Wu Fuzi was taken aback.

That’s not something you say out loud.

You just quietly go about it!

The headmaster in the carriage feigned deafness.

By dusk, the group arrived at the Academy. Wu Fuzi wanted to discuss the day’s matches with everyone, so Gu Jiao had Gu Xiaoshun take Gu Yan back first.

The polo team assembled on the grassland.

The Academy had already dismissed classes, but many students were still gathered around the grassland. Everyone had heard about Tianqiong Academy advancing to the next round of the competition which came as a surprise.

It wouldn’t be truthful to say Tianqiong Academy had never been disappointed by their previous polo matches, yet to say they were completely indifferent would also be inaccurate.

As Gu Jiao and her group rode leisurely into the grassland, they were met with stares from everyone present.

The general reaction was one of astonishment. There were no solemn ceremonies, but that moment of attention made the polo players feel a long-lost sense of glory.

Mu Chuan straightened his back even more!

“`

“Cough cough! Alright, alright, go wait over there for me!” The Wufu Master’s face flushed with heat, the Martial Champion had never had a role to play at the Wenju Academy, and this was the first time he returned teeming with honor.

So excited!

Winning just the first match has got me this agitated; I daren’t think about the subsequent rounds!

Deep breaths.

Stay calm.

Wufu Master rode his horse majestically over.

“Did our Academy really win?”

“We won! We beat the Imperial family’s Cuju players! If only I’d known we would win, I should’ve gone to watch the match!”

“Me too.”

Outside the grassland, the students chattered and were filled with regret for having missed today’s match.

How could they have expected their Academy to win? They thought it would be like the previous times when their team was beaten as soon as they stepped onto the field.

“I heard lots of people went from Wuyue Academy, could it be that only our Academy was the most shabby? Not even a soul to shout and cheer for us?”

“Seems like it, really.”

Everyone was embarrassed.

After Wufu Master analyzed everyone’s performance for the day, he told them to go back and rest well, and to come over for training the next morning.

“What exactly happened today?”

As Gu Jiao led her horse back to the stable, Mu Qingchen called out to her.

Gu Jiao turned around and asked in surprise, “What do you mean what happened?”

“Nangong Lin,” Mu Qingchen said bluntly.

Gu Jiao made an “Oh” sound and didn’t intentionally hide anything: “He was hit in the waist and abdomen. Half of his body was paralyzed, and he fell off the horse himself.”

Mu Qingchen’s brow furrowed deeply as he gave Gu Jiao a profound look and said, “Was it aimed at you?”

At that moment Gu Jiao had been the closest to the crowd, with Nangong Lin on her other side. Nangong Lin had immediately questioned Gu Jiao for why she bent down to grab the ball.

The scene was too chaotic then, and no one caught the oddity in these words.

But now that one thought about it, was there any direct connection between Gu Jiao bending down to grab the ball and Nangong Lin falling off his horse? Surely he couldn’t have been so frightened by Gu Jiao’s ball-grabbing that he’d fallen off his horse, could he?

But if the other party had actually intended to make Gu Jiao fall off the horse from the beginning, everything made sense.

“And what about you?” Gu Jiao asked.

“Hm?” Mu Qingchen paused for a moment.

“Cuju,” Gu Jiao said.

Mu Qingchen caught on, “It wasn’t like what Su Hao said.”

It wasn’t that he had vowed never to play Cuju again because he had lost to someone. Su Hao did indeed see him lose to someone, but he was willing to accept the loss. Moreover, he didn’t mind losing to that person.

Seeing that he had no intention of elaborating, Gu Jiao didn’t press further.

She took Mama back to the stable, handed her over to the servant that took care of the stables, and turned to walk away.

Mu Qingchen walked out with her and just as they should have said their goodbyes, he suddenly spoke again, “When I was a child, I once stayed in a Manor for a while.”

That was after his mother discovered Su Hao’s existence and, in a fit of anger, took him away from the Su Family.

Su Hao was actually a child from his father’s affair. His mother had been unaware of the mistress his father had kept on the side.

By the time she found out, Su Hao was already able to walk, and it was too late for any abortion drugs to undo the situation.

Su Hao was one day older than he was.

His mother had a difficult birth, taking three days to deliver him. For the two perilous days she struggled to give birth, his father was with the other woman, helping her to have her baby.

To avoid seeing his father, his mother kept moving around.

He was nine when he went to Yunxue Villa.

“The first time I saw her, she was six,” Mu Qingchen reminisced.

“That childhood playmate?” Gu Jiao thought of the ugly cloth doll that had fallen out of Mu Qingchen’s bundle. She hadn’t seen it clearly, but she could tell it was quite unsightly.

Mu Qingchen nodded, “I stayed in the Manor for two years. She lived in the adjacent Villa, and she loved Cuju. She would always ride her little chestnut mare down to the foothills to find someone to play Cuju with.”

“After she left, I never played Cuju again.”

This was the second time Gu Jiao had heard him describe that childhood playmate as having ‘left’.

“Is she no longer among the living?” Gu Jiao asked.

Mu Qingchen paused, a hint of loss flashing in his eyes, “Yes, she left when she was eight. Before she left, she told me to take good care of her father and that one day she would return.”

At this point, Mu Qingchen offered a bitter smile, “I actually believed her at the time. I was so foolish.”

“You can’t bring the dead back to life; I understood that later on, but nine years have passed and I still can’t help but wait, waiting for the day she might come back to life before me.”

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