The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 616 - 616 296 Mother and Son (Second Update)

Chapter 616: 296 Mother and Son (Second Update) Chapter 616: 296 Mother and Son (Second Update) Yao Family’s matriarch went to the front courtyard to pick chili peppers and saw Gu Chengfeng in the farm, sweating as though he was in rainfall.

She paused in mild surprise, thinking she’d mistaken him for someone else.

However, she quickly dismissed such a thought.

It was indeed Gu Chengfeng.

Strange, why had he also come over?

And why was he hard at work… in the field?

Xiao Jingkong earnestly said: “You cannot just water one spot. You must do it evenly so that each vegetable gets irrigated by the fertilizer.”

So, Xiao Jingkong was the one who got him to work? Did they know each other?

Just as Gu Chengfeng was about to tell Xiao Jingkong that if he was so capable, he should do it himself, he turned his head and spotted the matriarch of the Yao Family.

Their eyes met.

They didn’t utter a word.

When the sun set, Xiao Liulang finished his shift at the Hanlin Academy when, by coincidence, Lin Chengye and Fen Lin also finished their studies at the Hanlin Academy.

“Liulang!”

Fen Lin hopped off their carriage to call out to him.

After finishing his curriculum at Guozijian, Fen Lin could no longer stay in the university’s dormitory. With the high cost of living and rent in the Capital City, he was fortunate to know Lin Chengye, the local tycoon.

Now, he was living in Lin Chengye’s mansion, paying him a small amount of rent each month.

The two of them attended classes together during the day and studied together at night, which greatly benefited their learning progress.

Though the Hanlin Academy was under the jurisdiction of the Hanlin Office, their times for ending duty differed. Before, they wouldn’t be able to meet.

“You’re done early today! Didn’t they give you any work?” Fen Lin asked.

The main goal for the scholars like Fen Lin was to study. The official duties assigned to them were not much. However, Xiao Liulang was there for official duties, which made things quite different.

Especially since Xiao Liulang was new, it was very common for him to be tasked with menial jobs.

Ning Zhiyuan was also often asked to do miscellaneous chores.

The only exception was the prince who had a strong background. Nobody at Hanlin Academy dared to order him around.

“Hmm, nothing much today.” Xiao Liulang replied.

“Liulang, we’ll give you a ride home.” Lin Chengye said, sticking his head out from the carriage window.

Though Lin Chengye’s stutter had not fully recovered, he could occasionally say three words consecutively now, which brought immense joy.

Credit for this goes to Fen Lin.

Every night, Fen Lin would practice speaking with Lin Chengye. This was inspired by Gu Jiao who would help Xiao Liulang practice walking every night, regardless of whether there were any signs of recovery.

Gu Jiao never gave up.

Fen Lin was deeply touched by this.

Of course, Xiao Liulang’s persistence in having Gu Jiao practice her calligraphy everyday that drove Gu Jiao insane, was also quite inspirational.

Xiao Liulang was tired from staying up all night and had not had dinner the previous night. He also didn’t have an appetite during the day and was beginning to feel weak now. He wouldn’t have made it home on his own.

So, he got on the carriage.

To keep a low profile, Lin Chengye chose a small carriage, but the luxurious interior was riddled with ostentatious decorations.

Lin Chengye was used to this.

Xiao Liulang was nearly blinded by the display.

The two provided Xiao Liulang with the most comfortable seat.

For them, Xiao Liulang was both their teacher and friend. Without him, they wouldn’t be where they are now.

“Liulang, you look a bit off today, are you too tired recently?” Fen Lin asked. He didn’t know much about the situation at Hanlin Academy, and wasn’t very informed about Xiao Liulang’s affairs.

And because everyone knew of their close relationship with Xiao Liulang, nobody mentioned any news related to him in front of them.

The only time Fen Lin could get updates was occasionally when he met Ning Zhiyuan at a restaurant and would ask him a few questions.

Xiao Liulang said, “It’s nothing, how have you guys been with your studies?”

Upon mentioning this, Fen Lin couldn’t help but complain: “I naively thought that once the Imperial examination was over, I would no longer need to study, at least no more eight-legged essays. But I hadn’t expected… the eight-legged essays might be over, but new subjects like history, arithmetic, agriculture, astronomy…”

The subjects were similar to those taught at the Three Ding Jia, just varied in progress and depth.

After all, they were all potential government officials, and their direction of study was naturally different.

Their goal was no longer the Imperial examination. Instead, they aimed to learn the art of government administration and ways to benefit the people. Ideally, they hoped to do practical work for the citizens.

The current Hanlin Academy was stricter than the previous one, as they were sent to the countryside as part of their duty.

However, it was uncertain when it would be the turn for their batch of newcomers.

When Xiao Liulang returned home, Gu Jiao had just come back from the Medical Hall. With a small back basket on her back and her little hand placed below the basket, she walked leisurely, almost giving off an unwelcoming aura.

Xiao Liulang inexplicably felt that her stroll was a bit arrogant and playful.

Perhaps sensing something, Gu Jiao casually looked over her shoulder.

She probably hadn’t expected Xiao Liulang to be behind her as her face still wore a slightly annoyed expression.

With her eyebrows close-knit, she was just shy of having the words “Don’t, Mess, With, Me” written across her face.

Upon seeing Xiao Liulang, Gu Jiao instantly changed her expression, putting on a docile façade.

She was so well-behaved it was almost unbelievable, adopting a graceful demeanor that could have won her an acting award!

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Xiao Liulang had seen it all.

Oh, so this was what she was like in private?

Upon making this discovery, Xiao Liulang was stunned for a moment, but then he couldn’t help himself and let out a quiet laugh.

The hunger from a day and night, the mental exhaustion from a night’s worry, and the fatigue from a day’s busyness all vanished in the evening breeze.

Gu Jiao held onto the straps of her little basket, lowered her head and kicked the small stones on the ground with the tip of her foot.

No laughing allowed.

Being too good-looking was a foul.

“Let me carry it.” Xiao Liulang went over, leaning on his crutch, intending to take the little basket on her back.

“No need, it’s not heavy.” Gu Jiao said.

The last time she had refused his help was when they were buying sugar-coated haws for Xiaojingkong.

A familiar scene flashed through Xiao Liulang’s mind. His expression faltered slightly, his eyelashes quivered, and he slowly reached out to hold her hand.

Their fingertips were so close that he could almost feel the warmth of her hand.

“Liulang is back! Jiaojiao is back as well!”

Aunt Liu suddenly walked out of her yard, laughing cheerfully at the two of them.

Xiao Liulang immediately retracted his hand, which was about to touch Gu Jiao’s fingertips, and greeted Aunt Liu with an unchanged expression, “Aunt Liu.”.

Gu Jiao looked at Aunt Liu resentfully.

Aunt Liu felt a chill on her forehead.

Oh my, what’s wrong with Jiaojiao today?

She seems unhappy!

Aunt Liu hurriedly said to Xiao Liulang, “Liulang, you…you should pacify your wife. Did you upset her by not coming home last night?”

Xiao Liulang couldn’t help but laugh. He struggled to suppress his smile and finally managed to keep a straight face, “I was on duty outside the city with the Yamen last night.”

He was speaking to Aunt Liu, but also to Gu Jiao.

Aunt Liu stood at the door, lovingly watching the young couple, with no intention of going back into the house.

Xiao Liulang was thin-skinned, old-fashioned and serious.

Holding hands was now out of the question.

Gu Jiao walked away with a resentful look on her face.

The two of them entered the house.

Gu Changqing and Gu Chengfeng were still there.

Last night it rained, and the roof of Mr. Zhao’s house was damaged. Originally, they planned to ask Gu Jiao to help fix it, but Gu Jiao set out for her clinic before dawn.

Mr. Zhao came over again just now.

After understanding the situation, Gu Changqing went to fix his roof.

Mr. Zhao leant on his house wall, cheerfully commenting, “Lady Jiaojiao, is that your eldest son? Quite capable!”

Gu Changqing’s hand, which was about to pick up a tile, paused.

He held back without turning around.

Behind him came the sound of Lady Yao’s voice, as refreshing as a breeze and as gentle as water, “Indeed.”

Family troubles aren’t to be publicized, regardless of the state of the relationship between Lady Yao and Gu Changqing, it’s not something outsiders should discuss.

Even though he understood that Lady Yao’s “Indeed” was not truly acknowledging him as her son, Gu Changqing still felt a sense of relief in his heart.

On the other side, Gu Chengfeng was still applying fertilizer to the vegetable patch, doing so with great distress and agony!

With some free time on his hands, Xiaojingkong sat on a small stool holding Xiaoba, supervising the work and stroking Xiaoba’s fur at the same time.

He still hadn’t given up on his wish to turn his despicable brother-in-law into Xiaoba. His master once said that “sincerity moves the Gods”, so he prayed to Buddha every night before sleep.

He believed that one day, Buddha would turn his despicable brother-in-law into Xiaoba and give him to him!

Having this thought, he was full of hope and said, “Ahen~ ”

Xiao Liulang who just walked through the door: “…”

–

Xiao Liulang wasn’t shocked for long by Xiaojingkong, because there was a more jaw-dropping master of fertilizing, Gu Chengfeng.

Lady Yao asked Xiao Liulang about his situation last night: “…was it hard?”

Xiao Liulang skated around the tough parts and said, “There wasn’t really anything hard about it. I was just organizing the Book Pavilion, doing some categorizing, summarizing and document restoration.”

She told him to go change his clothes and prepare for dinner, then turned to Xiaojingkong and said, “Jingkong, go call Uncle to come and eat.”

“Alright!” Xiaojingkong put down Xiaoba and ran off!

Lady Yao went to the neighboring room to call Gu Changqing.

“Come and eat first,” she said.

She paused, apparently realizing that her invitation wasn’t in line with the relationship between herself and Gu Changqing, and added, “You’ve fixed Mr. Zhao’s roof. If you didn’t, then Jiaojiao would have to.”

So it was gratitude for doing something that Gu Jiao was supposed to do.

“Alright.” After fixing the last roof tile, Gu Changqing came down from the roof.

Mr. Zhao brought over some fruits and pickles as a thank you.

The pickles were homemade, Lady Yao accepted them, but she told Mr. Zhao to keep the fruits for Zhao Xiaobao.

Gu Changqing watched as she skillfully dealt with neighborhood relationships and couldn’t help but wonder if his mother, had she still been alive, would have been just like this?