The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 1408 - 1408 685 second watch

Chapter 1408: 685 second watch Chapter 1408: 685 second watch Gu Jiao and Madame Nan were on their way back when Master Lu found them.

Seeing the stain of blood on Madame Nan’s veil as Gu Jiao supported her, Master Lu’s heart skipped a beat, “Ah Xiang, what happened to you!”

Nanxiang glared at him, “Don’t make such a fuss, you’ll scare up an illness even if there’s nothing wrong.”

Master Lu anxiously said, “But it’s not nothing, you’re vomiting blood! What exactly happened? If you won’t talk, then let Jiaojiao explain!”

Gu Jiao looked to Madame Nan.

Madame Nan sighed, “Alright, alright, don’t make things difficult for the child. I encountered Qun Xuan.”

Master Lu was taken aback, “Which Qun Xuan? Your former senior brother?”

Madame Nan replied, “Yes, that’s him.”

Master Lu was greatly shocked, “He’s come to Shengdu? Aren’t Tang Sect disciples forbidden to leave the Tang Family fortress at will?”

Madame Nan said, “His appearance indeed goes against Tang Sect’s rules, but that’s between him and Tang Sect, it doesn’t concern me.”

Master Lu asked, “He didn’t come to take you back?”

Madame Nan shook her head slightly, “No, he came to force the forbidden technique out of me. He actually could have continued the fight with Jiaojiao just now, but he didn’t. I guess he has more important matters at hand and can’t stay to drag things out with us. He probably won’t come again in the short term.”

Master Lu looked doubtful, “You understand him so well?”

Madame Nan offered a bitter smile, “After all, he is a senior brother I’ve been acquainted with for many years. I do have that much insight into him. Don’t worry, let’s go back.”

The three of them returned to the mansion.

After having some pills to treat her internal injuries, Madame Nan went back to her chamber to rest.

Gu Jiao also returned to her own chamber.

Lying on the bed, she recalled her earlier encounter in combat with Qun Xuan.

She could tell that Qun Xuan was an uncompromising expert, one of a kind she had never encountered before.

First, it was the handsome monk, then that pesky nosy guy who dared to ambush the handsome monk, and now here was Qun Xuan. Things were getting more and more lively.

“This trip to Yan Country really isn’t simple.”

“Sister, are you asleep?”

The sound of Gu Xiaoshun’s voice came from outside the door.

Gu Jiao sat up and pulled back the curtain, “Come in.”

Gu Xiaoshun entered, approached Gu Jiao’s bedside, and handed her something.

Gu Jiao looked at it and saw that it was a wooden ball the size of a baby’s fist, “This is…”

“A Mechanism Ball, for your protection,” Xiaoshun scratched his head, chuckling, “The mechanism was taught to me by our master, but I improved it a bit. It works similarly to your black fire beads. Just throw it, and the ball will trigger the mechanism upon bouncing, shooting poison needles from each hole.”

Gu Jiao looked at the ball, “This ball is covered in holes, allowing for a 360-degree attack with no blind spots.”

Xiaoshun, although he didn’t really understand what his sister was saying, it seemed like she was complimenting him.

Xiaoshun spread out his other hand and revealed a small ball cover, “Just in case, so you don’t accidentally trigger it and hurt yourself, if you cover it with this, it’ll be safe.”

Gu Jiao curved the corners of her lips sincerely, “Xiaoshun is really incredible.”

Xiaoshun’s face turned red with the compliment, “This is just a basic Mechanism Ball. You can make do with it for now. If I can make a better one, I’ll bring it to you.”

Gu Jiao, “Okay.”

…

The next day, after “being ill” for several days, Gu Jiao finally went to the Academy for classes.

As soon as she entered the classroom, a crowd swarmed around her.

Zhou Tong and Zhong Ding squeezed to the front.

In unison, the two asked, “Liulang, are you alright now?”

Gu Jiao wasn’t quite used to being surrounded like this, but seeing those pairs of concerned eyes, she didn’t shove anyone away.

She said, “I’m fine now, completely healed.”

Zhong Ding said, “Gu Xiaoshun told us you were seriously ill, that you hadn’t gotten out of bed for several days. We were scared to death, and wanted to visit you, but he said you had chickenpox, which is contagious, so we’d better not come.”

Xiaoshun himself had had chickenpox, and he certainly hadn’t forgotten to make use of his experience to lie on her behalf.

Zhou Tong said with lingering fear, “Chickenpox is really dangerous. You’re lucky you got through it.”

Gu Jiao responded, “It was alright.”

Today, Mu Qingchen didn’t come, but Mu Chuan, Yuan Xiao, and Zhao Wei hurried over from their own classrooms as soon as they heard that Gu Jiao would attend class.

Class hadn’t started yet.

The three slipped in through the back door of the classroom.

“Excuse me, brother,” Yuan Xiao said to Zhou Tong, who sat in front of Gu Jiao.

“Oh, sure,” Zhou Tong, not daring to offend someone from the Ji Ju team, quickly made room.

Zhao Wei focused on the student next to him, “We’re still short of a seat, brother.”

That person also quickly grabbed his bag of books and left.

The two sat in front of Gu Jiao, turned around, and stared directly at her, while Mu Chuan took a seat on Gu Jiao’s left where Qingchen usually sat.

Three people, six eyes, all staring at Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao closed the book she was halfway through, “What is it? You’re staring as if I’m a monkey.”

“You’ve lost weight,” said Mu Chuan.

“Hmm,” Gu Jiao responded lightly.

In a low voice, Mu Chuan asked, “Did you really get chickenpox?”

Gu Jiao said seriously, “Really.”

Mu Chuan suddenly reached out and touched Gu Jiao’s forehead, then touched his own, “It’s not hot. You’ve recovered rather quickly, my fourth brother had chickenpox when he was young and was sick for more than ten days.”

Gu Jiao said with an unchanged expression, “I recover quickly.”

The three exchanged a look.

Zhao Wei turned to Yuan Xiao, “You say it.”

Yuan Xiao turned to Zhao Wei, “You say it.”

Mu Chuan raised his hand, “Forget it, stop arguing, I’ll say it.”

Gu Jiao looked at the three of them curiously.

Mu Chuan cleared his throat and spoke solemnly, “We three came to see you, and besides that, we have two pieces of news for you, one good and one bad. Which do you want to hear first?”

Without second thoughts, Gu Jiao replied, “The bad one?”

All three simultaneously felt a bit awkward.

Mu Chuan said bravely, “Well… during the days you were ill… we competed with Jianan Academy.”

Yuan Xiao, always impatient, chimed in, “What during the days you were ill, it was just yesterday!”

Gu Jiao looked at the three men, “The bad news you wanted to tell me is—”

Mu Chuan said sheepishly, “We lost, and let down your expectations.”

Let down? Not at all! Not the slightest bit!

You are heroes!

I am proud of you!

Gu Jiao’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “What’s the good news?”

A prize of ten thousand taels at hand, there is actually other good news? Could it be an additional reward of one thousand taels of gold?

Mu Chuan straightened up and proclaimed, “The good news is that although we lost, with my persistent persuasion, Jianan Academy finally agreed to swap rewards with us, and we can see the monarch at once! Hahaha! Aren’t I great!”

Gu Jiao threw a punch, smacking Mu Chuan’s head down onto the table!

Great my hammer!

Who the hell wants to meet the monarch!

Give me back my gold—

All day, the murderous aura from the back row was especially strong.

Gu Jiao sat at her place with a scowl, transforming her entire classroom into a tiny battleground.

The students of Mingxin Hall collectively held their books, shivering.

On the other side, Xiao Hen had just sent little Jingkong to Lingbo Academy.

He had asked for leave from Canglan Academy.

As a top student who always came first in every subject, he was the teacher’s most promising pupil, and not one of them refused his request for consecutive days off.

He wanted to go to the outer city to see if Gu Jiao had returned.

After boarding his own carriage, he changed back into his own clothes, “To the city gate.”

The coachman was his servant and knew of his true male identity, as well as that “to the city gate” certainly meant the Southern inner city gate.

The coachman drove the carriage southward.

Passing by a time-honored store, Xiao Hen instructed the coachman, “Stop for a moment, I want to buy something.”

“Yes,” the coachman halted the carriage by the roadside. He thought to himself that he could buy the merchandise tax, but from what he observed, Young Master Xiao always personally chose gifts for those close to him.

Xiao Hen was going to buy dried meat for Gu Jiao, as the flavor of this store’s dried meat suited her quite well.

There weren’t many people in line at this hour, and Xiao Hen ordered a little of two flavors.

The spicy flavor was sold out, so the owner went to fetch more from the back, “Just a moment, Young Master. It will be quick!”

Xiao Hen waited patiently, his company gradually increased with a few others waiting for the dried meat.

A young scholar said, “Hey, have you heard? The Princess is back?”

His companion was curious, “She is? How come I didn’t know?”

A middle-aged man joined the conversation with a smile, “Well, they didn’t display the Princess’s regalia, of course you didn’t know. But… isn’t she no longer the Princess? The monarch deprecated her a while ago, even issued a decree.”

The young scholar lowered his voice slightly, “But I heard that the monarch’s oral decree was to bring the Princess back home.”

“Mouth… cough,” the middle-aged man covered his mouth.

He meant to suggest that perhaps the monarch misspoke, because after being degraded to a commoner, Yan Country no longer had a Princess, only a Crown Prince.

As they talked, a carriage suddenly approached from the long street behind them.

The carriage was large, drawn by six horses, with four guards on each side as escort.

The number of guards wasn’t substantial, but six horses denoted royal standard.

Xiao Hen heard the middle-aged man beside him gasp, “It’s the Princess!”

Possibly too surprised, and without thinking they were talking about Cao Cao and Cao Cao appeared, he exclaimed “Princess” so loudly that everyone around heard.

Everyone surged toward the carriage.

With so many people, Xiao Hen had no intention of joining the commotion at this critical juncture. After receiving the dried meat handed over by the store owner, he turned to leave.

But unexpectedly, those excited to see the Princess shoved him out of the way!

Caught off guard, he stumbled and fell in front of the carriage.

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