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She closed the door behind her, and his figure was once again swallowed by darkness.
But she knew where he was. She could hear his breathing.
She walked slowly towards him and stopped behind him.
Xiao Liulang didn't turn around or speak.
And she didn't say anything either.
He couldn't possibly be unaware that someone had entered; his lack of response must mean he didn't want to talk.
Gu Jiao might not understand complex emotions, but it didn't mean she couldn't perceive the emotions of others.
He was sad, very sad, incredibly sad.
In Gu Jiao's mind, the image of him gently comforting her when she felt sad because Grandaunt had forgotten about her flashed by.
Unfortunately, she wasn't tall enough to embrace someone like he did, letting their heads nestled against her chest.
She thought for a moment, then approached and stretched out her little arms, gently embracing him from behind.
Would this work?
Could this make him a little less sad?
At first, Gu Jiao held him lightly, but when she pressed her cheek against his slightly rigid back, she didn't know if it was because she was closer to his heart, but she felt an even stronger sense of sadness.
She tightened her arms around him.
In the darkness, Xiao Liulang suppressed the pain and swelling in his throat, lifted his hand, and covered her hand that was wrapped around his waist.
This time was no different from any other time. Gu Jiao comforted him with understanding, but she didn't question him. As she felt his emotions slightly calming down, she prepared to release him from her embrace. At that moment, he seemed to open his mouth, as if he had something to say to her.
Gu Jiao paused for a second.
In that moment, time neither passed quickly nor slowly. If he wanted to explain, he could stop her and she would listen. If he still chose not to explain, that wouldn’t make things awkward between them.
In the end, he didn't explain.
The next day, Gu Jiao woke up early and helped Grannie Fang prepare breakfast for the family.
When Xiao Liulang came out of the west room, Gu Jiao was arranging the tableware. She curved her lips at him and said, "Good morning."
It was as though nothing had happened. Everything was no different from usual.
Xiao Liulang nodded and greeted her back, "Good morning."
Soon, Little Jing Kong also woke up and went to the backyard to practice martial arts. After a while, Gu Xiaoshun and Gu Yan woke up too, and a lively morning began.
After breakfast, Xiao Liulang went to Hanlin Academy, and Little Jing Kong went with Old Chief to the Imperial Academy. As for Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun, they naturally went to Qinghe Academy.
Now that the family had two carriages, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun took one, while Xiao Liulang and the other two rode in Liu Quan's carriage. Liu Quan first dropped off the old and the young at the Imperial Academy before finally taking Xiao Liulang to Hanlin Academy.
Gu Jiao went to the medical hall and received a letter from Xue Ningxiang.
It had been six months since Xue Ningxiang's last letter to her, but after reading the contents of this letter, Gu Jiao understood why Xue Ningxiang's reply came so late.
Xue Ningxiang's mother-in-law had passed away on the third day after her brother-in-law, Zhou Erzhuang, returned home.
Gu Jiao had previously examined Xue Ningxiang's mother-in-law. She was in a state of decline and aging, with all her organs failing. It was something that medicine couldn’t reverse. It was already remarkable that she could hold on until her son came back to see her one last time.
She passed away peacefully in her sleep.
In the State of Zhao, there was a mourning period for bereavement. When a senior family member passed away, the family had to observe mourning for at least one and a half to three years. Zhou Erzhuang was just a common soldier and didn't fall under the mourning obligations.
However, proper arrangements needed to be made for the funeral of one's own mother. Zhou Erzhuang asked his comrades to request a leave for him and stayed in the village to properly bury his mother.
This happened in the spring, and now it was almost the end of summer. According to schedule, Zhou Erzhuang should have returned, but something major happened—— Dean Li from Tianxiang Academy unexpectedly came to propose to Xue Ningxiang in person.
Upon reaching this part, Gu Jiao was truly surprised.
Xue Ningxiang talked to her about almost everything, but Xue Ningxiang had never mentioned anything about Dean Li and herself.
Of course, this letter provided a detailed explanation.
As it turned out, when Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang were still in the countryside, Dean Li had already met Xue Ningxiang several times. Gouwa even called him ‘dad’.
Gouwa was a toddler who was just learning to speak and didn't fully understand the meaning of calling him ‘dad.’ Seeing other children calling adult men ‘dad,’ she probably thought all these men were dads.
That was Gu Jiao's own interpretation.
Xue Ningxiang didn't provide specific details but mentioned that Gouwa was later spotted by Old Madam Li, an elderly woman whose mind was not very clear due to her old age. She mistook Gouwa for her own grandchild.
Dean Li was a good person. He had a friendly relationship with Xiao Liulang's family, and had helped Xue Ningxiang out of a difficult situation. Xue Ningxiang couldn't bear to see the elderly lady saddened, so she allowed her to continue with the misunderstanding.
Little did she know that things would spiral out of control after that incident. Old Madam Li started to ask for her ‘grandchild’ frequently, mistaking Xue Ningxiang for her daughter-in-law...
Dean Li asked Xue Ningxiang not to misunderstand, and she truly didn't misunderstand. But who would have thought he would come to her house to propose marriage one day...
Gu Jiao realized that trouble was brewing as she read this.
As expected, the later part of the letter described a conflict between Zhou Ezhuang and Dean Li. Zhou Ezhuang even physically fought Dean Li.
Zhou Ezhuang was a soldier, while Dean Li was a scholar, so it was easy to imagine who came out worse in the fight.
Gu Jiao had long noticed Zhou Ezhuang's feelings for Xue Ningxiang, but she did not have the opportunity to discover Dean Li's feelings until today.
This also explained why Xue Ningxiang's writing had improved so much and her literary skills had advanced rapidly. She no longer needed others to ghostwrite her letters.
Now Xue Ningxiang was in a difficult position. She told her she wanted to become a nun but couldn't bear to part with Gouwa.
Gu Jiao could vaguely understand Xue Ningxiang's dilemma. In this era, society was not very tolerant of women. Xue Ningxiang was a widow, and remarriage was already frowned upon. Moreover, she had to choose between Dean Li, who was mismatched in terms of social status, and Zhou Ezhuang, which would go against ethical principles.
No matter how you looked at it, either way was a losing move.
Unless she could withstand the rumors and gossip, but clearly, she couldn't handle it, which was why she considered becoming a nun.
The letter ended with the mention of the medicine mountain, the land of which had been cleared, and the medicinal herbs designated by Gu Jiao had been planted by the villagers under the leadership of Village Chief Luo.
Gu Jiao tapped her fingertips lightly on the tabletop and then took the letter with her to the imperial palace.
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