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Gu Jiao wasn’t good at dealing with emotional matters, but she remembered that Grandaunt quite liked Xue Ningxiang. However, she wondered if Grandaunt still remembered Xue Ningxiang after suffering an impact on the head.
"Young Miss Gu, you’ve come!"
The palace maids at Renshou Palace bowed to Gu Jiao.
"Is the Empress Dowager here?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Yes, Her Majesty just finished the court session." One of the palace maids answered, adding, "His Highness Ning Wang is also here."
Hm?
Was Ning Wang back in court?
Ever since Gu Jiao got close connections to the palace, she could hear some of the happenings in the court without actively inquiring. She knew that Ning Wang went north with Tang Yueshan some time ago to suppress bandits.
Although they claimed it was to suppress bandits, in reality, they took advantage of the operation to gather intelligence about the military situation at the border. The State of Chen has become restless again and has quietly stationed a significant number of troops near the border.
Since it involved political matters, Gu Jiao didn't bother them and went directly to bask in the sun on the swing.
She wasn't afraid of getting tanned, although it seemed like her complexion didn't tan easily anyway.
While swinging back and forth, she secretly contemplated when she should go and find Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing again for some satisfaction. That woman had caused harm to Grandaunt for so many years. Even if they couldn't immediately bring her down from her position, they had to start reaping some interest.
Lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard an uncertain call from behind, "Aunt?"
"Hm?" As Gu Jiao's figure swung back to the ground, she extended the tip of her foot to bring the swing to a halt.
Then she turned around and looked at the handsome young man passing through the flower gate, "Ning Wang?"
Ning Wang's expression faltered for a moment. He let out an "Ah" and quickly regained his composure. With a slightly apologetic smile, he said, "Apologies, I mistook you for someone else."
His gaze wandered back and forth over Gu Jiao's figure, "You really resemble her."
Gu Jiao lowered her head to look at her clothes. It wasn't the usual dark attire she wore. It was the lake-blue girdled dress with flowing sleeves she borrowed from Grandaunt after soiling her own clothes.
Was it because of this outfit that he mistook her for someone else? Or——
Gu Jiao had never asked Grandaunt why there were so many young women's clothes in her bedchamber. She had thought they were all prepared for her.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case.
And rightly so, it shouldn't be.
They were clearly different from her style.
As long as it didn't involve a mission, Gu Jiao was not someone who would pay attention to the details of her attire.
Yao Shi would usually speculate on her preferences and make clothes for her based on that, but in reality, she wasn't that picky about clothes. It was like someone having a preference for meat but wouldn't refuse to eat vegetables if served a table full of them.
She would just pick whichever set she found in the wardrobe and wear it, and as it happened, she wore this set today.
Ning Wang had saved Gu Jiao once when she encountered an ambush with Rui Wangfei. At that time, they weren't very familiar with each other. Now, Gu Jiao didn't know if it was because he heard about her relationship with the Empress Dowager or if it was because her familiar dress gave him a sense of familiarity, but he took the initiative to come over and strike up a conversation with Gu Jiao.
"Has anyone ever told you that you resemble Princess Ning'an?" He asked.
"Princess Ning'an?" Gu Jiao shook her head. "No."
Ning Wang said with a smile, "When I was very young, my aunt married and moved to the northern border. I haven't seen her since then, but she was always kind to me, and I've always remembered her."
Gu Jiao made a sound of understanding and asked, "Do we look alike?"
If that was the case, then she would have to question her own origins.
"No, you don't look alike..." Ning Wang replied, his gaze falling on the birthmark on her left cheek. "But in this particular spot, she was injured and left a small scar, then she always used cinnabar makeup to draw a begonia flower over it."
Gu Jiao touched her birthmark.
Ning Wang couldn't help but look at Gu Jiao a few more times, "During the previous encounter, I didn't think much about it, but seeing you today..."
If Ning Wang could mention Ning'an three times in his conversation with her, it meant that besides her face, there were other aspects where Gu Jiao truly resembled Princess Ning'an.
Most people would be happy to be praised for resembling a princess. After all, it meant they possessed the princess's elegance and aura, which was indeed a high compliment.
However, Gu Jiao remained calm.
There was no joy or unhappiness on her face.
Ning Wang continued, "I've heard about the Empress Dowager's situation, and I haven't thanked you and your family for taking care of her. If there's anything you need, you can come to Ning Wang Residence anytime."
Whether it was because Ning Wang helped her during the assassination attempt out of his duty as a prince or because of Rui Wangfei's sake, it was an undeniable fact that Gu Jiao escaped unscathed because of him.
Gu Jiao nodded, "Alright."
Ning Wang seemed pleased as he smilingly said, "That's settled then. By the way, I heard from the Empress Dowager that you have good medical skills. I wonder if I can invite you to my residence for a consultation."
"The consultation fee won't be cheap." Gu Jiao responded.
Ning Wang probably didn't expect Gu Jiao to respond in this way. Ordinary adults would feel very honored when invited to a prince’s residence as a physician, to the point of eagerly offering to pay for the medical expenses themselves. Caught off guard by her unexpected response, he didn’t know how to answer for a moment.
A second later, he couldn't help but chuckle and said, "That's only natural."
Gu Jiao replied, "When I have free time, I'll have someone deliver a note to the prince’s residence."
Ning Wang smiled and said, "All right. I have other matters to attend to. Goodbye for now."
After Ning Wang left, Gu Jiao got up from the swing and headed to Grandaunt's study.
Empress Dowager Zhuang was looking through some documents. When she saw Gu Jiao enter, she snorted disapprovingly.
Grandaunt was always like this, so Gu Jiao didn't feel like she had done something unjust. She walked over and handed Grandaunt Xue Ningxiang's letter.
"What is this?" Empress Dowager Zhuang asked.
"It's a letter from Xue Ningxiang. Does Grandaunt remember her?" Gu Jiao asked.
Empress Dowager Zhuang furrowed her brows and pondered.
Gu Jiao reminded her, "Gouwa's mother."
At the mention of Gouwa, Empress Dowager Zhuang remembered—— a little baby who could lick a piece of candy all day long in her courtyard. She was never noisy and much easier to handle than Little Jing Kong!
Then Empress Dowager Zhuang also recalled Xue Ningxiang.
Mainly because Xue Ningxiang cooked delicious meals in comparison to Liulang's cooking, which was utterly terrible. As long as Gu Jiao wasn't around, she would call Xue Ningxiang to come and cook.
"The food she cooked was good." Empress Dowager Zhuang stated.
"Grandaunt, read the letter first." Gu Jiao said.
Empress Dowager Zhuang quickly read through the letter. To be completely honest, Xue Ningxiang's handwriting was still rather unsightly. However, with Gu Jiao’s as comparison, Empress Dowager Zhuang felt that she could reluctantly accept such handwriting.
"Oh." Empress Dowager Zhuang raised an eyebrow. "Little XiangXiang is quite popular."
Seeing this reaction, it truly was in line with Grandaunt's character.
Gu Jiao sat opposite Empress Dowager Zhuang and stared at her without blinking, "Right? How should we handle this matter then?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang didn't speak but held out her hand and made a gesture of "give it".
Pretending not to understand, Gu Jiao asked, "What is it?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang coldly said, "Don't play dumb with Aijia! Compensate for yesterday's performance! Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss!"
As expected.
"Alright." Gu Jiao sighed and reluctantly took out a box of candied fruits. She counted five pieces and, with a pained expression on her face, placed them in Empress Dowager Zhuang's hand, "These are the only few left. Jing Kong has nothing to eat anymore."
Empress Dowager Zhuang was rendered speechless by Gu Jiao's exaggerated and hard-on-the-eyes acting skills. It was fortunate that this girl didn't enter the harem, otherwise who could be fooled by such acting skills?
However...
Empress Dowager Zhuang glanced at Gu Jiao's small fist.
Well, if it was her, there was really no need to put on an act. With one punch of hers, even the Emperor would fall.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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