The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 759 - 759 351 Elopement Capture (Third Update)

Chapter 759: 351 Elopement Capture (Third Update) Chapter 759: 351 Elopement Capture (Third Update) Xiao Jingkong didn’t return home till it was nearly dark. When he walked in the door, he took a deep breath, packing away his little emotions. He couldn’t let Jiaojiao see how upset he was for Xiaojin.

He poked his own dimple, lifting a smile and entered the house cutely!

Gu Jiao had finished chopping firewood and putting away the medicinal herbs. When she turned around, she saw the little fellow hopping over happily.

“Did you come back?” she asked.

“Yes!” Xiao Jingkong ran over and extended his short little arms, “Jiaojiao, I’ll help you carry it!”

“You can carry this.” Gu Jiao scooped a small spoonful of medicinal herbs from the large basket for him.

“Okay!” Xiao Jingkong cheerfully held up the little spoon, and carefully returned to the main room without spilling a single piece of the medicinal herbs.

After dinner, Gu Jiao went to clean up Xiao Jingkong’s stuff.

The little fellow always made a mess and never put things back properly.

Gu Jiao found something missing while cleaning up this time.

Most of Xiao Jingkong’s things were stored in different boxes. Gu Jiao usually didn’t open these boxes on her own, not because they looked worn and ragged, but because she respected the child’s privacy.

However, some things were left out in the open, like the little golden abacus.

“Jingkong.” Gu Jiao called.

“Yeah?” Xiao Jingkong, who was lining up little chicks in the main room, walked in and asked with a tilt of his head, “What is it, Jiaojiao?”

“Where is your abacus?” Gu Jiao asked with a puzzled expression.

Xiao Jingkong’s eyes swiveled round: “I left it at the Medical Hall!”

“Really?” Gu Jiao thought for a moment, “but I just cleaned up your small box in the Medical Hall today, and didn’t see your abacus.”

Xiao Jingkong blinked and said: “Ah, I forgot earlier, I… lent it to Brother Chu Yu! He said he would return it in a few days!”

Xiao Jingkong seldom lies. He’s trusted, so Gu Jiao did not suspect him.

After leaving the east room, Xiao Jingkong clutched his little chest and took a long breath of relief.

That was close! He was nearly caught by Jiaojiao and it was a good thing that he was very clever!

It had rained at dusk. Gu Yan’s guard returned and reported that the road wasn’t good, so Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun spent the night at Nanxiang and Master Lu’s house. They would go straight to Qinghe Academy from there the next day.

Nanxiang and Master Lu liked Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan very much. Gu Jiao wasn’t worried and had the guard take two sets of clean clothes for them.

On the other hand, the Old Marquis, who was encouraged by Gu Yan and Gu Jiao, felt an unprecedented level of support. His entire life had been about serving the Zhan Country and the Marquis Residence. Except for the life-and-death battles on the battlefield, he never took bold actions in his private life.

He’s spent his life being diligent and upholding his responsibilities. But perhaps it is because he is getting old and doesn’t have much time left, he doesn’t want to leave any regrets in this life.

The longer he lived for others, the longer he had failed her.

In the remaining, not so many years of his life, he no longer wanted to fail her.

Luckily, the troops he had groomed for the Emperor were already well prepared, and Gu Changqing had also grown up, the Marquis residence had a successor, he could finally feel at ease.

“Call the Crown Prince.” The Old Marquis ordered.

“Yes.” The servant went to Gu Changqing’s court, and brought him over.

Looking at the Old Marquis sitting in the main seat with a noticeably different demeanor, Gu Changqing calmly asked, “It’s so late, what matters does grandfather have to discuss with me?”

The Old Marquis looked at him deeply. This was the grandson he’d raised with his own hands, and he’d poured his entire heart and soul into him, even more than he did for his own son, Gu Chong.

And his grandson did not disappoint, and grew up as expected.

The Old Marquis handed him two uniquely marked tokens. One was the token of the Gu Family army and the other was the token of that secret large army.

“What is grandfather’s intention?” Gu Changqing inquired curiously.

The Old Marquis gazed at him, solemnly explaining, “You’ve grown up, it’s time to shoulder some responsibilities. I may not get to see the day when the Gu family’s army returns in full force, but I hope you can.”

“Why won’t you see it?” Gu Changqing placidly asked.

The Old Marquis hesitated, gripping the corner of the table, saying, “I have my arrangements, you don’t need to ask.”

A cold, cynical smile slipped onto Gu Changqing’s face, he scoffed, “Grandfather always has his arrangements, just like that incident in the past!”

With that, he didn’t wait for the Old Marquis to ask which specific incident it was, and turned to leave.

He took the tokens.

As a member of the Gu family, whether it was his right or his burden, he would shoulder it without sparing any effort.

The Old Marquis sighed helplessly as he watched his grandson’s determined departure.

After that, he requested the servants to call Gu Chengfeng and Gu Chenglin.

They were his grandchildren, whom he cherished as well. But he hadn’t given them the same preferential treatment as Gu Changqing, or the same gentleness as Gu Yan.

This is probably the misery of not outshining on either front. They weren’t as capable as Gu Changqing nor as delicate as Gu Yan, so naturally, they received less attention.

Yet when it came to the day of parting, the reluctance in the Old Marquis’s heart arose.

He glanced at the two of them, fully intending to say some sentimental words between grandsons and a grandfather. But when he saw Gu Chenglin’s newly sprouted bald head, his mouth twitched and he couldn’t bring himself to say anything!

He also gave each of them a token, along with some family assets. The assets were to be sent to Gu Changqing for safekeeping till the day they set up their own homesteads and transferred to them.

He had also set aside something for Gu Yan, which had been sent to the guard and would be given to Gu Yan when the time was right.

Gu Jiao was married. A married daughter is like splashed water. He didn’t leave any token to her, but considering she devoted herself to Gu Yan, he still allocated a sum of silver to her.

It was also with the guard.

Marquis Gu went on a road construction project and was not at home.

Old Marquis did not think about this transparent son at all.

After giving his instructions, Old Marquis left the marquis residence overnight.

Gu Chenglin looked at the token in his hand, which he didn’t know its purpose, and asked in bewilderment, “Second brother, don’t you think grandfather is a bit strange today?”

Gu Chengfeng glanced at the token and then at the boundless night, contemplating, “It is indeed strange.”

The moon was shrouded in darkness with the gale blowing.

The Capital City shed the hustle and bustle of the day and became a quiet, lone city.

In the dim night, a silhouette seemed like a haunting specter, slipped into the Imperial Palace.

A team of imperial guards patrolled past.

Ever since the assassination attempt on the Empress Consort Jing, the security within the Imperial Palace had been strengthened, and the number of imperial guards had doubled.

“Eh? Did you hear any noise just now?” one of the imperial guards said.

His companion replied, “No, did you all hear anything?”

The rest of the companions shook their heads in unison.

The first imperial guard scratched his head in wonder, “Then, it might be that I heard it wrong.” He turned back and glanced at the impenetrable palace walls. Apart from them on patrol, there were also royal family secret guards and expert hands lurking at each corner of the wall.

If there were really intruders, they surely wouldn’t be able to deceive everyone, would they?

“Let’s go! Let’s go and patrol ahead!”

The team of imperial guards neatly moved forward.

Not long after they left, a figure concealed in a tree leaped towards the direction of the Huaqing Palace.

He was very familiar with the layout of the palace defenses, avoiding the sight of all the imperial guards and the expert hands within the palace, and successfully infiltrated Huaqing Palace.

Empress Consort Jing was sitting on a prayer mat in a small meditation room, praying while tapping a wooden fish.

Suddenly, a dark figure slipped in behind her.

However, as soon as the figure was about three steps away from her, another shadow came down from the beams of the room, holding a gleaming long sword in hand, and coldly blocked the figure.

Dragon Shadow Guard!

Old Marquis was surprised.

“Hold!” Empress Consort Jing intervened.

The Dragon Shadow Guard lowered his sword.

“Leave us.” Empress Consort Jing commanded.

The Dragon Shadow Guard leaped up and swooped out the window.

Old Marquis knew about the Dragon Shadow Guard. They were a group of death warriors purchased from Yan Country for a hefty sum by the previous emperor and after years of secret training, had become his Dragon Shadow Guard.

He did not expect to see the Dragon Shadow Guard by Empress Consort Jing’s side.

“You….”

He suddenly got tongue-tied.

If the emperor had given her the Dragon Shadow Guard, did it mean her situation is not as bad as he had imagined?

“Why are you here?” Empress Consort Jing stared at him.

Old Marquis met her gaze and after a long time, found his voice, “I heard that you were attacked by an assassin in the palace and almost fell into a trap set by the Marquis of Xuanping.”

Marquis Xuanping made a big show while investigating the case, and everyone in the court heard about it.

Old Marquis did not believe that Marquis Xuanping and the old priest would frame Empress Consort Jing, but that was what was terrifying about the incident, the murderer was hiding in the dark, making it almost impossible to guard against.

Empress Consort Jing lowered her eyes and sighed, “I’m fine.”

She put the wooden fish mallet back on the table.

Old Marquis saw the wound on the back of her hand and frowned, “You are injured!”

Empress Consort Jing lowered her hand and used her sleeve to cover the back of her hand, “It’s a minor scratch, nothing to worry about.”

“Was it the Empress Dowager in the Longevity Palace who did this?” After much thinking, Old Marquis concluded that the only person in the entire palace who would not want Empress Consort Jing to return was the Empress Dowager!

Perhaps all of this was orchestrated by the Empress Dowager!

Empress Consort Jing lowered her eyes, gave a bitter smile, and said, “Without evidence, you should be careful what you say… we can’t fight against her.”

Seeing her pitiful appearance aroused Old Marquis’ strong sense of justice.

If Old Marquis were acting according to his customary temper, since he’s already here, he might as well go all out and seek revenge for her by assassinating the Empress Dowager in the Longevity Palace!

But Old Marquis was there to help Empress Consort Jing escape today. He was a man with a plan, he had to follow it. Killing the Empress Dowager could wait until next time.

He took a deep breath and said, “Seeing the Dragon Shadow Guard, I was a bit hesitant about whether to do this. But since she has completely lost her fear, it’s not suitable for you to stay here any longer, I’ll take you away right now!”

Empress Consort Jing was stunned, “Wha, What?”

Old Marquis said, “Don’t worry. I will avenge you, but I will no longer disappoint your affections, I’ll take you away right now!”

Having said that, he grabbed Empress Consort Jing’s wrist and headed out the door.

The moment they reached the door, they bumped right into the emperor who was coming to see Empress Consort Jing.