The Prime Minister's Darling
Chapter 827 - 827 382 Imperial Decree (third update)

Chapter 827: 382 Imperial Decree (third update) Chapter 827: 382 Imperial Decree (third update) He originally wanted to say, just like you and Xiao Liulang, one is the daughter of a marquis, another is a poor kid from the countryside.

But the words felt wrong as they reached his lips.

This girl was not the daughter of a marquis.

Who knew where she came from, what kind of background she had in that faraway place, or what kind of parents she had.

This girl… seemed rather pitiful…

Gu Jiao was oblivious to his elaborate thoughts as she continued to dry the herbs.

“By the way, where’s my brother’s medicine?” Gu Chengfeng.

Gu Jiao had taken it out earlier and placed it in her pouch, she handed it over to him.

As Gu Chengfeng stretched out his hand to receive it, Gu Jiao suddenly drew her hand back: “Pay up.”

Gu Chengfeng’s teeth ached, “You just charged me a thousand taels last time!”

Gu Jiao shrugged, “That was for the last bottle.”

Gu Chengfeng was so exasperated he started jumping: “Go outside and ask around! Who sells medicine as expensive as yours?”

Gu Jiao took the medicine back into her pouch, patted her pouch, and said, “Then, if there’s someplace cheaper, go buy it from there.”

Gu Chengfeng completely deflated.

Of course, he had tried medicine from others before, but it was ineffective and even caused the little hair that Gu Chenglin had managed to grow to fall out again. Since then, he dared not try medicines from outside anymore.

Gu Chenglin wore a hat to school every day, which in the sweltering heat, was really quite uncomfortable to be honest.

Gu Chengfeng said forlornly, “I didn’t bring so much silver with me today.” He took out his wallet, spilling its contents of small silver coins and copper plates into his hand, “Look, it’s not even two taels when added up. I’m really poor recently.”

Gu Jiao fell silent.

Gu Chengfeng continued to lament, “I don’t have it like you, only needing to do a bit of business each day. I have to study during the day and can only take on some work at night, but even that’s scarce these days.”

Gu Jiao nodded, “That does sound quite pitiful.”

“Right?” While Gu Chengfeng was playing the pauper, he sneakily glanced at her with pleading eyes.

“How about this, you help me run an errand, and I’ll give you a ten percent discount on the medicine! It means I’ll take one-tenth off the price!”

Gu Chengfeng darkened.

Shouldn’t the standard routine be “Help me with an errand, and I’ll give you this bottle of medicine for free” instead? How come it’s only a ten percent discount?

…

Imperial College.

Xiao Liulang had finished a day of exam supervision and returned to Jingyi Pavilion with the other invigilators.

This was their place of rest for this period, and their activities were confined to traveling between the Jingyi Pavilion and the Exam Site, with all other areas being off-limits to them.

Jingyi Pavilion was guarded by layers of security guards, firstly to prevent someone from colluding with the invigilators to cheat, and secondly to ensure the safety of the invigilators.

His job was only to supervise exams, not to grade papers, which was somewhat physically demanding but not mentally taxing.

The food was delivered directly to the invigilators’ rooms by someone designated for that purpose. Not long after he returned to his own chamber, the food was brought in by the guards.

Xiao Liulang opened the door and went to the entrance, reaching out to take the food container, “Thank you.”

The moment he grabbed the container, he glanced at the guard absentmindedly.

The guard withdrew his hand and left to continue his patrol.

Xiao Liulang frowned in suspicion, wasn’t this the guard who had delivered his meals in the morning and at noon? Had they changed the person for dinner?

Xiao Liulang brought the food container inside.

Like at noon, there were two dishes and a soup: a plate of braised pork with radishes, a plate of cold tofu salad, a bowl of green vegetable Egg Flower Soup, and two big, substantial pieces of steamed bread.

Xiao Liulang took out the food one by one, and when he got to the bowl of Egg Flower Soup, his gaze paused slightly.

The daylight in the seventh lunar month was no longer long, and by now the sun had completely set, leaving the Horizon a shade of bluish-gray; the light inside the room was somewhat dim, but still manageable for eating without lighting a lamp, which most people wouldn’t do.

Staring at that bowl of Egg Flower Soup, Xiao Liulang furrowed his brows slightly, then lit an oil lamp, turning the wick up to its brightest. He could barely make out some strange powder clinging to the couple of floating green onions.

The powder could be mistaken for seasoning at first glance, but Xiao Liulang had cooked before. His cooking might have been poor, but he recognized all the seasonings.

Xiao Liulang picked out those green onions; their strong flavor masked the taste of the powder, but the powder itself was already suspicious enough.

If Xiao Liulang didn’t have good eyesight and wasn’t familiar with seasonings, he would have probably drunk the soup down as just an ordinary bowl of Egg Flower Soup.

Xiao Liulang didn’t just refrain from drinking the Egg Flower Soup; he didn’t touch the other food either.

Inside the bundle Gu Jiao gave him were some fruits and Dried Meat, which he had just taken out when a figure leaped in through the window.

“Who’s there?” Xiao Liulang asked warily.

“It’s me!” Gu Chengfeng said, taking off his mask, dressed in a night suit.

He didn’t want to reveal his identity, but how else could he make Xiao Liulang believe him?

A flicker of surprise crossed Xiao Liulang’s eyes, but it wasn’t too surprising.

If Gu Jiao could go out with him at midnight, he wouldn’t just be an ordinary delicate scholar.

“Here!” Gu Chengfeng tossed a bundle to Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang opened it and saw a box of exquisite and tempting pastries, still steaming slightly; clearly, they had just been made.

Gu Chengfeng snorted disdainfully, too sour to speak. Was it really necessary to sneak into the Imperial College in the middle of the night to bring him pastries, just because he wouldn’t be able to come back for a few days?

Xiao Liulang looked at the pastries in the box with various expressions, letting out a low chuckle.

Gu Chengfeng rolled his eyes, overcome with sourness!

He hadn’t eaten dinner before running here to bring Xiao Liulang pastries, and seeing food on the table, he rolled up his sleeves and picked up a loaf of Steamed Bread.

“Hold on! You can’t eat that!” Xiao Liulang quickly said.

Gu Chengfeng had already taken a bite: “I ran all the way here to bring you pastries, and I can’t even have a piece of Steamed Bread?”

Xiao Liulang said, “It’s not that, it’s that it might be poisoned.”

Gu Chengfeng hastily spit out the Steamed Bread in his mouth: “Ptooey ptooey ptooey! There’s poisoning in the Imperial College too?”

Indeed, how could there be poisoning in the Imperial College?

Ordinary people couldn’t reach into the Imperial College, and if they did, it was for cheating; who would poison the examination monitors?

While Xiao Liulang was deep in thought, Gu Chengfeng suddenly said, “Could it be black medicine or white medicine? Was it that old witch’s doing? Or maybe it’s the black medicine… No, wrong… Using black or white medicine on you would be pointless…”

Xiao Liulang asked in confusion, “What black medicine and white medicine?”

Gu Chengfeng covered his mouth in one motion.

Drat, he had spoken out of turn!

Xiao Liulang looked at him steadily, his gaze not cold or frightening, but piercing in a way that one felt completely exposed.

Gu Chengfeng scratched his head, “Forget it, forget it. I’ve already said it. If you ask that girl later, she’ll know I spilled the beans!”

“What’s really going on?” Xiao Liulang asked.

Gu Chengfeng sighed and told of how Gu Jiao had tricked him into stealing black and white medicine at the Nunnery, and under Xiao Liulang’s quiet yet probing questions, he ended up explaining the Emperor’s affliction from the black and white medicines as well.

In the end, pulling up one radish led to bringing out a whole lot of dirt; the imperial edict was also revealed.

Xiao Liulang: “The imperial edict?”

Everyone cares about different things. To Gu Chengfeng, the most astonishing thing was the Emperor taking the medicines, but for Xiao Liulang, it was the shocking revelation about the imperial decree in the hands of Consort Jing.

Because he had seen that imperial decree before.