Chapter 222: Warmth
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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Azurixa] [Celeste S.] [Christine G.-L.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[Fav Akira] [J Jean] [K.Rom] [Mel Melz] [Tori D.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Leticia P.] [Maria P.] [Nicole] [Passerby] [Smurfinbatik]
G O L D S T A R
[Cindy] [Nanashi D. Y.] [Reece P.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Amanda] [Book W.] [Britnae M] [Caroline] [Christigale M.] [DetectiveGeek421] [Haruka N.]
[Hlau V.] [Ine O.] [Kiiayame] [kuroneko_chan] [Liznel M.] [Michelle K.] [onepiece] [Oushna]
[Quae] [Ray] [Scorpion Princess] [Sweetlove] [Victoria]
Gu Jiao went back to the camp with the rabbit in her arms.
Sure enough, Medic Lu settled down and did things much faster. When she came back, Medic Lu had finished inspecting all the jinchuang medicine.
When he looked up, he was surprised to see Gu Jiao holding a rabbit, "Where did you get the rabbit?"
"I picked it up in the back mountain." Gu Jiao answered.
"Back mountain?" Medic Lu wondered inwardly, she couldn’t have gone in that place, right?
"What's wrong?" Gu Jiao felt that Medic Lu was looking at her oddly.
"You didn't go into any cave, did you?" Medic Lu asked carefully.
"Er... Can’t people enter it?" Gu Jiao asked curiously.
Medic Lu replied, "Of course you can't." People will die if they go in!
Gu Jiao stroked the rabbit and calmly said, "Oh, then I didn't go in."
Medical Officer Lu: "..."
So, did you enter or did you not?
Forget it, it was most likely that she didn’t go in. Otherwise, with the terrifying mechanism and hurdles of the array, how could she have come out alive?
Medic Lu settled the final payment for Gu Jiao and told Gu Jiao that if this batch of jinchuang medicine received a good response, there would be another order of a thousand bottles.
The demand for jinchuang medicine in the military camp was huge. As long as Gu Jiao firmly held on to this order, the pharmaceutical factory would soon recover its profits.
Gu Jiao thanked him and took the rabbit out of the military camp.
When Little San saw the rabbit in her arms, he was immediately interested, "Gu girl, where did you get the rabbit? It's so cute!"
"It's really cute." Gu Jiao nodded. "I’m going to braise it in soy sauce at night."
Little San: "..."
Fat rabbit: "…"
In the end, Gu Jiao didn't succeed in eating rabbit meat because Little Jiang Li took a fancy to this fat rabbit.
The little girl was introverted and didn’t talk much, but she was diligent and hardworking. People in the medical hall liked her very much.
"You can have this." Gu Jiao handed the rabbit to Little Jiang Li.
"I, I, I... Can I really keep this rabbit here?" It seemed that Little Jiang Li had never raised anything growing up. After all, she and her brother couldn’t afford it.
"En." Gu Jiao nodded. "It's just that you have to clean the rabbit’s poop yourself."
"I will, I will!" Little Jiang Li nodded hard repeatedly while holding the little fat rabbit tightly in her arms.
This was her first pet, and she liked it very much. She said, "Thank you, big sister Gu!"
Gu Jiao handed the payment for the jinchuang medicine to Shopkeeper Wang, and then went to the Imperial Academy to pick up Xiao Liulang and Little Jing Kong after school.
The first one to come out was Little Jing Kong.
Little Jing Kong, carrying a small book bag and wearing a serious face, walked among a group of seven-and-eight-year-old children. He looked out of place, which was also somewhat funny.
He thought that the one who came to pick him up was his bad brother-in-law, so he didn't have a good expression on his face. To his surprise, it was Gu Jiao. He transformed into a little adorable thing in an instant and ran towards Gu Jiao energetically.
“JiaoJiao!” He raised his little head and looked at Gu Jiao with adorable eyes.
Gu Jiao looked at his face streaming with sweat and asked, "Why are you sweating so much?"
Little Jing Kong replied, "We had a race today!"
The elementary division of the Imperial Academy wasn’t just a place solely for studying hard. It paid great attention to the all-round development of children. It was said that when they were older, they would be taught guqin skills, as well as equestrian archery. It was a perfect breeding class for sons of nobles and high-ranking officials.
Gu Jiao took out a handkerchief and wiped Little Jing Kong's sweat.
Little Jing Kong offered his little head and obediently let Gu Jiao wipe it.
His little spikes had grown a little longer, by the winter, he should be able to tie it up a bit.
"I came first, none of them could outrun me!" The little adorable thing boasted proudly.
Gu Jiao wasn’t surprised by this. He got up before dawn every day to train in martial arts,he had a very good physique.
As Gu Jiao wiped Little Jing Kong's sweat, Liu Quan arrived.
Liu Quan came to pick up Little Jing Kong, "...The Imperial Academy invited the cabinet’s Grand Secretary to give the examinees some guidance about the palace exam next month. Liulang said that he might be out of class very late."
Xiao Liulang never took part in this kind of class before.
But Liu Quan didn't mention that.
Liu Quan said, "I'll send you back first, and then I'll go to Qinghe Academy afterwards."
Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun were going to Master Lu to take craftsmanship lessons after school.
Gu Jiao responded, "It’s fine, we'll just walk back. It's only a few steps away. Uncle Liu should go and pick up Ah Yan and Xiaoshun."
"That's fine too." Liu Quan agreed and drove the carriage to Qinghe Academy.
Gu Jiao and Little Jing Kong went back to Bishui Alley by foot.
Xiao Liulang came back very late, all the family members already went to bed, but an oil lamp was kept lit up for him in the main room.
He didn’t have to guess who left it.
Xiao Liulang's eyes moved and he was about to go back to his own room when the opposite door opened.
Gu Jiao came out dressed in plain bedclothes, "Are you hungry? I left you a meal. I'll heat it up."
"Not hungry." Xiao Liulang said, "I have eaten."
He intended to just go into his room like this, but he paused and still couldn't resist asking her, "It's so late, why haven't you slept yet?"
"Waiting for you." Gu Jiao answered.
The sudden straightforwardness made Xiao Liulang feel like his heart had been caressed by something.
Xiao Liulang looked at her lean little body, which was only dressed in simple bedclothes. After another pause, he said, "It's cold outside. Hurry back to your room and sleep. I'll also sleep in a bit."
"Are you still mad at me?" Gu Jiao tilted her head and asked.
"No." He said, "I'm not mad at you."
Gu Jiao let out an ‘oh’, but didn't go back to her room. Instead, she stood at the door and looked at him with innocent little eyes.
Although he knew that this was just a trick of hers, Xiao Liulang's heart still couldn’t help but soften. He surrendered, opened his mouth and said in a low voice, "It seems I’m a little hungry."
Gu Jiao smiled and said, "I'll warm up your meal."
Xiao Liulang looked at her thin bedclothes and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Put on some more clothes."
"En!" Gu Jiao went back to her room and put on a coat and then headed to the kitchen to heat up the meal. It was set aside for him before dinner. There were corn keel soup, white steamed bread, braised pork ribs and some cold dishes.
Gu Jiao also stewed a few pieces of vegetables.
Xiao Liulang sat down to eat.
Gu Jiao sat opposite him, her chin resting on her hand while her elbows resting on the table.
She stared at him.
Very handsome.
It wasn’t the first time that Xiao Liulang had been stared at by her like this. This girl's gaze was really... more honest and frank than the one being looked at.
The room was quiet.
Ever since the family had grown big, he seldom ate alone with her. Right now, it was as if he had suddenly gone back to the past with her.
After finishing his meal, Xiao Liulang felt warm both in his stomach and body.
The two people cleaned up the dishes and went back to their rooms.
Before entering her room, Gu Jiao turned around and asked him again, "Are you really not angry?"
Xiao Liulang took a deep breath before saying, "No."
Gu Jiao had a big heart. He said he wasn’t angry, and she would believe him.
Gu Jiao went ‘oh’ and said, "I was going to make it up to you, but since you’re not angry, then forget it."
Xiao Liulang: Wait, how are you going to make it up to me? Somehow I feel like I missed out on something.
"See you tomorrow." Gu Jiao entered her room.
Xiao Liulang:“…”
……
It was true that there had been a lot of schoolwork in the Imperial Academy recently. At first, Xiao Liulang never played truant in class, but later, he couldn't play truant even if he wanted to.
The Emperor attached great importance to this palace exam and actually sent many cabinet officials to deliver knowledge to the examinees.
Although basically no one failed the palace exam and all Gongshi would end up as Jinshi, who would be content with being listed in the supplementary list as a Tong Jinshi? All of them were rushing to become a Jinshi on the principal list.
With the approach of the palace exam, the Imperial Academy was shrouded with a tense atmosphere once again.
On the other side, in the medical hall, the last critically injured patient labeled with a red cloth strip was discharged at last, and now, only Jiang Shi remained being treated in Miraculous Hands Hall.
His condition was extremely grave, and it was estimated that there were still two or three months of treatment before he was completely healed.
Gu Jiao went to give Jiang Shi an infusion. Just after she was done, she heard an unusual commotion outside the medical hall.
Gu Jiao thought it was a medical dispute, but when she went downstairs, she found it wasn't the case.
"Why are there so many people there?" Gu Jiao looked at the dense crowd at the entrance and asked.
Second Owner sent Little San to inquire.
Little San quickly turned back and reported, "Ah, I heard that the Crown Princess came to the women's academy to give lectures to the female students. Even students who are not from the women's academy can also go in and listen. These people all admire the Crown Princess and want to take the class of the Crown Princess!"
Originally, the Crown Princess was grounded by the Emperor because of the hanging bridge accident. Now her punishment had been lifted. In order to save face for the imperial family, and also to accumulate a good reputation among the common people for the imperial family, today’s activity was arranged.
The heat of the hanging bridge accident had already passed and there had also been a rumor recently saying that it was actually the Crown Princess's family, who borrowed the Crown Princess's name, that sealed off the stone arch bridge in order for them to light the first incense. It really had nothing to do with the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess was actually implicated by her family.
People's opinions were mixed at once. Some people felt distressed for the Crown Princess, while others thought the rumor was not credible at all.
In any case, the Crown Princess had now come out to give lectures.
Most people still didn’t want to miss this opportunity to meet the Crown Princess.
After all, they would probably only see the other party once in their lives.
The Crown Princess’s classroom was full.
She was teaching chess skills.
But this time, it wasn’t only the Crown Princess who was sent to the women's academy to teach, but also Rui Wangfei, Du Qianqian.
Du Qianqian's guqin skills ranked among the top three in the State of Zhao. However, under the strong halo of the Crown Princess, few people even noticed that she came here too.
Her classroom was practically empty, with only two students.
One was Li Wanwan, who really liked to learn the guqin, and the other was Du Xiaoyun, who was forcibly stuck into the classroom by Rui Wangfei.
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