The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 774 - 774 360 Undermining (Second Edition)

Chapter 774: 360 Undermining (Second Edition) Chapter 774: 360 Undermining (Second Edition) The next day, everyone in the house got up early before dawn.

Gu Jiao used to be the earliest riser, but when she walked out of her room that day, she found the Yao Family, the old sacrificial wine, Fong Mama, and Yu Yaya gathered in the hall.

Not only that, but Steward Qin had also come.

What was happening?

“Good morning.” Gu Jiao greeted.

Everyone looked at the “birthmark” on her face and sighed together.

Gu Jiao: What’s with the look of disappointment? Has my status at home become so low? Don’t you even want to see me anymore?

Everyone exchanged a knowing look and after Gu Jiao had a bowl of nourishing soup, another bowl appeared in front of Xiao Liulang at breakfast.

Steward Qin emphasized, “It’s venison soup, very good for men!”

Xiao Liulang: “…”

Xiao Liulang had a lump in his throat that he just couldn’t swallow.

Last night, when she laid flat, he really thought she was prepared to tease him all the way, he hesitated for a moment out of conscience, and then he heard her little snoring sound from below.

He was dumbfounded on the spot!

He was the one being teased, he was the one being worked up without being able to eat, and in the end, he was the one being misunderstood… Where could he go to explain himself?

Xiao Liulang drank the venison soup with a dark face.

Steward Qin went back to the palace to report, grinning from ear to ear.

After a day and night’s journey, the officials from the Ministry of Revenue and the Hanlin Academy finally reached the capital this morning. The Minister of Revenue did not dare to delay and reported to the emperor with his nearly broken legs.

He did not slander Xiao Liulang, nor did he intentionally diminish Xiao Liulang’s merits, firstly because there was a Hanlin official recording the trip, secondly because the marquis of Xuanping was standing in Jinluan Hall.

That’s right, this person who never attends the court early and only knows how to sleep in, actually attended the court early today.

The Minister of Revenue didn’t have a bad impression of Xiao Liulang, but he had received instructions from Grand Tutor Zhuang to attribute the merits mainly to Prince An. As for Xiao Liulang, he was neither praised nor blamed, and hence was not mentioned.

But…Thinking about his near leg-breaking experience, the Minister of Revenue had no doubt that if he spoke ill of Xiao Liulang, the Marquis of Xuanping would remove his legs in front of the emperor.

The Minister of Revenue reported truthfully.

Both Xiao Liulang and Prince An performed exceptionally well, both of them had made contributions. Although the Minister of Revenue tried to give Prince An more opportunities to contribute, Xiao Liulang really did a lot down in the countryside.

The emperor was pleased to hear that both were pillars of Zhan Country. Among the top three scholars, the top scholar and the second-ranked scholar were already showing their talents in the six departments, leaving only the third-ranked scholar still unknown to the public.

However, there was no rush for this. After all, both Xiao Liulang and Prince An had strong backers, they were not afraid of being suppressed after emerging. Ning Zhiyuan’s background was a bit weaker, so he needed to accumulate some experience in the Hanlin Academy.

The emperor awarded Xiao Liulang and Prince An a pair of ink treasures each, and ordered Eunuch Wei to deliver them to the Hanlin Academy later.

After the court was dismissed, the emperor returned to the Huaqing Palace.

“Your Majesty.” An apprentice nun came over with a food box, bowed to him, and said, “The Empress Dowager personally made some pastries and asked me to bring them to His Majesty. Also, she asked me to ask His Majesty if he is well, it has been a few days since she last saw Your Majesty, and she misses you very much.”

The emperor was slightly taken aback.

Indeed.

He had not visited the Empress Dowager for a few days.

That would have been impossible in the past.

As long as the Empress Dowager was in the palace, he would go to see her every day.

Was he still angry about the Empress Dowager keeping her relationship with Gu Chao a secret?

Even though the Empress Dowager had chosen him in the end, did he still have a knot in his heart?

“Your Majesty, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave.” The apprentice nun handed the cakes to Eunuch Wei and left.

The emperor looked at the food box in Eunuch Wei’s hand.

Eunuch Wei understood, opened the box lid, and said, “Your Majesty, it’s date paste cakes.”

This was his favorite pastry. Empress Dowager Jing had even learned how to make it from the imperial kitchen for him.

He thought of the days when Empress Dowager Zhuang was banished to the Cold Palace, and he, Empress Dowager Jing, and Ning An were ostracized. There were not even any hot dishes for his birthday, so Empress Dowager Jing picked dates from the tree and made a date paste cake.

It didn’t taste particularly good, but it was the best taste he remembered from that time.

The emperor took a bite of the date paste cakes.

It was also made with crunchy dates. The images from his memory flooded into his mind, and he sighed deeply, “Tell the Empress Dowager in the nunnery that I will have dinner with her tonight.”

“…Yes.” Eunuch Wei responded.

The second master had recently hired another doctor. To be precise, he had poached a doctor from Huichun Hall who was previously kicked out. Everyone was waiting to laugh at him, but he made a name for himself in the Capital with Miaoshou Hall.

Miaoshou Hall’s business was getting bigger and bigger, and there were countless doctors secretly hoping to join him. After careful selection, he settled on a doctor with the surname Miao.

His medical skills were excellent, but most importantly, he was a man of integrity.

It took a while for the second master to persuade Doctor Miao.

After Doctor Miao came, he took over a lot of clinic duties, relieving Gu Jiao’s workload considerably.

Gu Jiao went to play chess with the old beggar today, but to her surprise, the old beggar was not there.

After waiting for a while and seeing no one, Gu Jiao put on her mask and headed to the martial arts academy instead.

“Young Master Gu!”

A chubby, ruddy-faced middle-aged man called out to her.

Gu Jiao turned to look at him, asking with her eyes — what’s up?

Her manner was not particularly warm, in fact, it was rather cold.

However, the man didn’t seem to mind. Anyone who had seen Gu Jiao in martial arts contests knew how hot-tempered she was, and it was indeed an honor for her to initiate communication.

The middle-aged man said with a smile, “Young Master, I’ve seen every one of your matches. You’ve got guts and your fighting style is very overbearing, and you’ve improved a lot. Forgive my bluntness, this kind of small martial arts academy is no longer suitable for your strength. Are you interested in trying somewhere else?”

So he was here to poach her.

Gu Jiao looked at him, took out a small notebook and wrote, “Does this place you’re talking about have any good fighters?”

Look at this overbearing tone!

But, he loved it!

This young man indeed had the right to be overbearing.

The middle-aged man laughed, “Of course, are you dare to go?”

Gu Jiao replied casually, “Is it the underworld?”

“Ha ha ha!” The middle-aged man was amused by Gu Jiao’s overbearing and humorous, “Young Master, don’t worry, I wouldn’t part with such a good seedling like you for such a place! Let’s not talk too much, I’ll take you there directly!”

Gu Jiao left the martial arts academy, told Xiao Sansi to go back first, and she took the middle-aged man’s carriage to an embroidery building in the north of the city.

This was Gu Jiao’s first time coming to the north of the city.

Bishui Alley is located in the south of the city, the Marquis Residence is in the southeast, and the area where she usually made house calls was mostly from the south to the east of the city.

Everything here was foreign to Gu Jiao, yet it felt oddly appealing.

Gu Jiao followed the middle-aged man through the embroidery building and arrived at a subterranean fight arena inside a dye workshop.

From the middle-aged man, Gu Jiao learned that the arena had no name, and people usually referred to it as coming to the Shuixian embroidery building.

The arena was vast, almost four times the size of Taihe Martial Arts Academy. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, Gu Jiao would never have believed that someone had built such a giant underground facility beneath the Emperor’s feet.

At the center of the arena were four martial arts platforms, which was same as the martial arts academy, and the surrounding area was lined with countless rooms, the middle-aged man didn’t mention what they were for.

The middle-aged man pointed and asked, “Do you see those rooms that have gourds hanging on the doors? Never go into them.”

Why? Gu Jiao asked with her eyes.

The middle-aged man explained, “Those are the rooms of the top fighters. If you rashly barge in, you’ll get killed.”

So it was permissible to kill people here.

All four martial arts platforms were active, and compared to Taihe Martial Arts Academy, the fights here were much more brutal and violent. The air was thick with the smell of blood, and Gu Jiao could feel her blood boiling in response.

Her violent instincts were stirring again.

Gu Jiao suppressed her urge to kill, following the middle-aged man to an account room at the east end of the room.

“Well, well, who did Old He lure over here today?” A young man sorting through account books looked up, gave Gu Jiao a meaningful glance, “Such a tender young master, Old He, you have the heart? Aren’t you afraid he’ll get killed?”

So people could die in the ring as well.

Gu Jiao had a clearer understanding of this underground fight arena now.

“Place a bet of fifty taels of silver first!” The young man told Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao frowned, they needed money?

“I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I’ll cover this silver on behalf of the young master!” The middle-aged man generously took out a fifty-tael note and slapped it on the table.

The young man looked at Gu Jiao even more intriguingly, “You’ve managed to pluck a feather from Old He, this tight-fisted old cock. You must be pretty skilled. Fine, I’ll take care of you, try my best not to let you die too early.”

“Can I look around?” Gu Jiao wrote in her notebook.

Old He said, “Sure! But remember what I said earlier, don’t go near the rooms with gourds hanging on the doors.”

Gu Jiao nodded.

She left the account room.

The voices of the young man and Old He were drifting from behind.

“Are you kidding? You’re really going to have this kid fight? He’s skinnier than me! And a mute too! Don’t you remember the lesson from last time? You brought back a so-called expert, and he was killed with a single punch!”

“Trust my judgment this time, don’t arrange too strong ones for the first round, let him warm up first…”

As Gu Jiao slowly walked away, the conversation between the two was gradually drowned out by the cheers around the martial arts platforms.

Gu Jiao came for the first time today and only wanted to familiarize herself with the environment. However, she didn’t expect to bump into a familiar face here.

A person wearing a black cloak walked past her from the front, wrapped tightly so that she couldn’t make out their face. But the moment they pushed open the door, the cloak’s hood fell off.

Upon a closer look, Gu Jiao realized, was it her?