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Behind the rockery came the sound of a few hasty footsteps, which should be the woman staggering back while avoiding the expert.
Unfortunately, she couldn't retreat far. Gu Jiao heard her back collide with the rockery.
The expert seemed to compromise, saying, "Alright, I won't come closer. Just don't hurt yourself."
The woman said coldly, "What exactly do you want?"
The expert chuckled mischievously, "Don't you know what I want?"
"You..."
"Look at how frightened you are. Don't worry, I don't want to do anything today. I came just to tell you..."
Gu Jiao and Rui Wangfei couldn't hear the rest of the sentence as the expert seemed to be whispering into the woman's ear.
Then, there was a crisp sound of a slap from behind the rockery.
Rui Wangfei blinked in astonishment. Did someone just get slapped?
Gu Jiao nodded. It sounded like it.
After that slap, there were no more voices from behind the rockery. It seemed that the expert had left, but the woman's heavy breathing continued.
Neither Gu Jiao nor Rui Wangfei left. Both of them wanted to see who the woman behind the rockery was.
They waited anxiously, not knowing how long they waited. Finally, the woman behind the rockery emerged.
Rui Wangfei took a closer look and quickly covered her mouth!
How could it be her?
Gu Jiao had already guessed it earlier, so she didn't react much.
At this moment, the servant girl who had been left behind in the imperial garden by Rui Wangfei for too long couldn't help but search for her and came in their direction.
"Wangfei! Wangfei, you're here!"
Rui Wangfei couldn't hide anymore. She reluctantly walked out from behind the big tree.
Gu Jiao also stepped forward.
"Wangfei." The servant girl bowed to Rui Wangfei. She had never seen Gu Jiao before, so she didn't greet her. But when she saw the woman coming out from behind the rockery, she quickly bowed and said, "Crown Princess!"
The corner of Rui Wangfei's mouth twitched. This was truly embarrassing...
Rui Wangfei naturally wouldn't admit that she had eavesdropped on the Crown Princess's conversation. She cleared her throat and smiled awkwardly as she said to Wen Linlang, "Crown Princess, are you also going to pay respects to the Empress? I just came out from the Empress's palace and happened to run into Physician Gu on the way. I was about to invite Physician Gu to the imperial garden for a chat and to check my pulse to see if I'm carrying a male or female fetus."
Her last words struck a chord with the Crown Princess.
The Crown Princess had been married to the Crown Prince for almost two years, and he favored her alone. Unfortunately, her belly remained empty, causing Empress Xiao to be extremely anxious.
The Crown Princess looked deeply at Rui Wangfei and Gu Jiao. Perhaps she was stimulated by Rui Wangfei's words, as she didn't ask anything else and simply said, "I was also planning to pay respects to the Empress. Since Rui Wangfei has already gone, I won't invite you to join me."
She then looked at Gu Jiao suddenly and said, "Physician Gu seems more like someone from the palace than Rui Wangfei."
Rui Wangfei was a daughter-in-law of the imperial family, but since Rui Wang had already established his own household and left the palace, Rui Wangfei couldn't live in the palace anymore.
On the other hand, Gu Jiao could come and go freely, choosing to stay whenever she wanted.
Gu Jiao casually said, "There's nothing I can do. People dote on me."
The Crown Princess: "..."
Gu Jiao and Rui Wangfei didn't “exchange many pleasantries” as the two of them headed towards the imperial garden together.
Rui Wangfei glanced back at the servant following from a distance and whispered, "Who do you think that man could be?"
Gu Jiao looked at her strangely and replied, "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?"
Who among them was the daughter-in-law of the imperial family? Did she think that by visiting the palace a few more times, she would understand the people in the palace better than her?
Rui Wangfei thought for a moment before saying, "Currently, the only princes living in the palace are the Fourth Prince of Imperial Concubine Mu and the Fifth Prince of Imperial Concubine Shu. There are also the Sixth and Seventh Princes, but they are still young so it can't be them."
Gu Jiao asked, "Why does it have to be a prince?"
"Could it be the Emperor!!!??" Rui Wangfei was frightened!
Gu Jiao: "..."
Just where did your thoughts wander to….
It was impossible for it to be the Emperor. The Emperor didn’t possess martial arts skills, and besides, the relationship between the Crown Princess and that man seemed a bit ambiguous.
After parting ways in the imperial garden, Rui Wangfei returned to Rui Wang Residence while Gu Jiao went to Renshou Palace. She gave the candied fruits made by her Granduncle to Grandaunt and announced with great fanfare that she could have one more piece every day.
……
On the other side, Xiao Liulang finished a full day of lectures for the officials who were retaking their exams. Today's focus was on the laws.
As officials directly under the six ministries, it was truly sad to think that they couldn't remember the laws of the State of Zhao.
It was a pitiful matter for both the officials and the imperial court.
The carriage from the examination compound took Xiao Liulang back to the Hanlin Academy.
Passing by the bakery, Xiao Liulang thought of the dried vegetable pancakes that lost their texture last night, and he also remembered the disappointed expression on Gu Jiao's face. With a thought, he asked the carriage to stop there.
Xiao Liulang said, "You can go back to the examination compound. The Hanlin Academy is just ahead."
"Yes."
The coachman drove the carriage away.
A stall was arranged right at the entrance.
Xiao Liulang walked over and said to the busy lady boss, "I want ten dried vegetable pancakes."
The lady boss replied, "There's only one left."
"Then..."
"I'll take one dried vegetable pancake."
Xiao Liulang's words were almost simultaneous with another voice.
It was a woman who suddenly appeared by Xiao Liulang's side. The lady boss looked at Xiao Liulang and then at the woman, asking, "There's only one left, who's going to buy it?"
"I'll buy it." Xiao Liulang firmly said.
He didn't look at the woman, but the woman curiously glanced at him.
It would have been fine if she didn't look, but now that she glanced at him, her money pouch fell to the ground with a loud thud!
Xiao Liulang finally looked at her, and it was this one look that made his arm freeze as he handed the copper coins to the lady boss.
"You are..." Yu Jin grabbed Xiao Liulang's arm!
"I'm not, you've mistaken me for someone else." Xiao Liulang averted his gaze, placed the copper coins on the table, took the pancakes, and walked away.
Yu Jin's expression changed, "Wait!"
"Hey! Sir! You've given me too much!" The lady boss shouted, holding two copper coins and calling after Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang leaned on his crutch and quickly walked into a nearby alley.
When Yu Jin caught up, he had already hidden in another shop.
Yu Jin searched the area for a long time but couldn't find Xiao Liulang's figure. In the end, she left with disappointment and a sense of loss.
Xiao Liulang let out a long sigh of relief.
Fortunately, he wasn't discovered.
He walked out from a cubicle within a clothing store. Perhaps because he walked too quickly while evading Yu Jin, he twisted his previously unharmed left foot, and now he stumbled forward.
Coincidentally, a customer from the opposite direction, having just finished selecting fabric, turned and walked toward his direction.
Xiao Liulang collided with her shoulder unexpectedly and fell to the ground in a sorry state, his crutch flying out of his hand.
A servant girl exclaimed, "Princess! Are you alright?"
Princess Xinyang waved her hand lightly, "It's nothing."
She looked towards the Hanlin official who seemed to have been tripped by her and fell to the ground, her gaze landing on the back of his head as she asked, "Lord, are you all right?"
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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