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Gu Jiao returned to Bishui Alley, and Gu Yan's Dark Guard A informed her that someone had been here today, an expert who was likely a dark guard. This person had wandered around the alley for a while, particularly focusing on their house.
"Is it that Young Master Ming Yue’s men again?" Gu Jiao asked.
Young Master Ming Yue was the one who bought Little Jing Kong’s golden abacus back then. It was clear that he had intentions towards Little Jing Kong as he had previously sent his subordinate to watch over Bishui Alley.
After being discovered by Gu Jiao once, he hadn't shown up for a long time.
"No, it's not the same person as last time." Dark Guard A said.
Gu Jiao nodded in acknowledgement.
If that was the case, no need to think twice. This person was likely from Ning Wang's side.
Ning Wang must have sent him to gather information about Xiao Liulang's whereabouts. Ning Wang also wanted to know if Xiao Liulang had been found, and if he was hiding in the house.
"Did he discover Xiao Liulang?" Gu Jiao inquired again.
Dark Guard A replied, "No, guye has been in the study and hasn't come out. The person waited for a while but left without seeing anything."
Gu Jiao nodded, somewhat satisfied, "Be cautious, and for the next few days, make sure Xiao Liulang isn't discovered."
"Understood!"
Gu Jiao went to the study, opened her little medicine chest, and took out some gauze and medicine to change Xiao Liulang's dressing.
She was certain that the surgery in his hand was quite successful, it was just that this guy had a precedent—— the surgery in his foot was also successful but he still couldn't walk normally. Gu Jiao was concerned that some psychological factors might also prevent him from using his hand properly.
She contemplated whether to tell him about Princess Xinyang not being the one who started the fire from back then. After a moment of hesitation, she decided the timing wasn't right, and the evidence wasn't sufficient.
Whether Princess Xinyang still held any feelings for him was something Xiao Liulang lacked confidence in. He might think it was Yu Jin or her just trying to console him.
Some matters needed to be told by Princess Xinyang herself.
Matters of the heart needed to be approached slowly. It might be best to first deal with the major threat, which was Ning Wang. His influence was no less than that of Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing.
At the very least, Grandaunt wasn't on Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing's side.
Thinking about Grandaunt, Gu Jiao let out a faint sigh.
……
The capital had experienced several days of continuous autumn rain, which seemed to have brought a sudden chill to the air.
Gu Jiao had changed into her autumn clothes.
Usually, girls wouldn't grow much taller after they had their first period, but she was still growing.
Xiao Liulang was also growing.
"The sleeves are too short again." During their meal, Yao shi noticed that the sleeves of both of them didn't cover their wrists anymore. "I'll fold out the hems for you later."
It wasn't just the two of them; Gu Yan had grown significantly as well. His voice was starting to deepen.
His voice change had occurred later than Gu Xiaoshun's, but whether it was later than Xiao Liulang's was unknown. After all, when Xiao Liulang was brought back to the village, he was already sixteen or seventeen years old, and had long entered his voice-changing phase. And just recently, his voice change had concluded.
Perhaps Gu Jiao just always viewed him through rose-colored glasses, but she thought that Xiao Liulang's voice during his voice-changing phase wasn't unpleasant at all. And nowadays, it had become even more pleasant to the ears—— low, resonant, and clean, with a touch of youthful magnetism that was particularly captivating when they were alone.
——She never even considered that Xiao Liulang might be intentionally trying to captivate her.
"Have a steamed bun." Yao shi handed Gu Yan a carrot and lamb steamed bun.
"I don't want to eat." Gu Yan was being picky.
"Yi?" Little Jing Kong widened his eyes and his hand holding his little spoon froze in mid-air. "Big Brother Yan, your voice sounds really strange!"
Gu Xiaoshun and Xiao Liulang had also gone through their voice changes, and Gu Xiaoshun still had that voice. However, when Little Jing Kong arrived in the family, the two of them were already like this, so it wasn't jarring. Gu Yan, on the other hand, had changed from his youthful voice to this, which was quite a leap.
Xiao Liulang's voice did change again after his voice-changing phase was over, but the transition wasn't as dramatic as when he suddenly entered his voice-changing phase.
As a result, Little Jing Kong hardly noticed the change in his bad brother-in-law’s voice but immediately noticed the change in Gu Yan’s.
Gu Yan was still getting used to his new voice, a bit excited and a bit embarrassed. He cleared his throat, grabbed a pig-shaped steamed bun, and stuffed it into his mouth, "Just eat your food!"
Little Jing Kong wanted to engage in some banter but accidentally bit the sweet spot inside the bun. He suddenly found eating the pig-shaped bun more interesting than delving into his Big Brother Yan's new voice.
Today, the sky was clear, and both Qinghe Academy and the Imperial Academy were unusually on break.
Gu Jiao took several youngsters of the family into the imperial palace to visit Grandaunt.
Little Jing Kong was a frequent visitor to Renshou Palace, while Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun came less often, as they had special classes to attend and they couldn't afford to be hurt.
As usual, the group entered the palace by only showing their already familiar faces; their palace entry tokens already gathering dust.
Empress Dowager Zhuang was overwhelmed with paperwork. Just then, a palace maid accidentally knocked over her beloved glass flower lamp into the inkstone, getting the entire lamp dirty and leaving the palace maid trembling in fear as she knelt down.
Eunuch Qin couldn't bear to witness it.
When luck was against you, not even the Imperial Family could save you.
Unexpectedly, Fei Cui reported the next moment, "Young Miss Gu and the young masters have arrived!"
Eunuch Qin felt as if the killing intent radiating from Empress Dowager Zhuang had been extinguished in an instant. He quickly gestured to the young palace maid that she was lucky this time and motioned for her to leave immediately.
Gu Jiao brought a jar of homemade milk jujube, with no added sugar, just the natural sweetness of the jujube themselves. Grandaunt could enjoy a few without any concern.
Empress Dowager Zhuang was relatively satisfied with their visit.
Empress Dowager Zhuang and Gu Jiao sat in the corridor eating milk jujube, while the three youngsters played in the courtyard. Gu Xiaoshun wasn't always tinkering with wood; he also had his mischievous moments, like right now.
He actually suggested climbing trees to find bird nests.
This proposal was enthusiastically received by Little Jing Kong, who had a penchant for tree climbing. Gu Yan, on the other hand, disagreed.
He couldn't climb up.
Empress Dowager Zhuang calmly observed the three as they bantered. Gu Yan was adept at words, engaging in a verbal battle with the young carpenter and the little monk. He successfully pulled the young carpenter onto his side, convincing him to go fishing instead.
Gu Yan smirked, "Little monk, are you coming or not?"
Little Jing Kong stood defiantly, hands on hips, "I'm not going! You can eat fart!"
“Cough!” Empress Dowager Zhuang was caught off guard by the sudden profanity and nearly had to be treated once again.
Gu Yan narrowed his eyes slightly, "Little rascal, you’ve learned to use foul language? Who did you learn it from?"
From Xu Zhouzhou!
Bleh bleh bleh!
Little Jing Kong stuck out his tongue and made a silly face before disappearing in a flash!
Gu Jiao gave Empress Dowager Zhuang a strange look, "Grandaunt, it couldn't be you who taught him that, right?"
Empress Dowager Zhuang responded with righteous indignation, "How could I possibly teach such words! Can't people have some trust between each other?"
She just accidentally let it slip once, and the youngest son of the Minister of War happened to hear it, but she really didn’t teach it. That little rascal had picked it up on his own!
Voices of the three youngsters echoed throughout Renshou Palace. Empress Dowager Zhuang used to be the most intolerant of noise. However, after spending time in the countryside and Bishui Alley, she had developed a tolerance for it.
Furthermore, Empress Dowager Zhuang noticed that Gu Yan's voice had changed.
Humph, the brat was finally growing into a young man.
Little Jing Kong and Gu Xiaoshun wanted to eat flower cakes, so Gu Jiao took a basket and went to the imperial garden to pick flowers.
Coincidentally, the Crown Princess was there as well.
She was also picking a few flowers, but not to make them into food; she was going to arrange them.
Gu Jiao was alone, while the Crown Princess was accompanied by Chunying.
Gu Jiao didn't spare them a glance and simply went to the other side to select the flowers she needed.
Raz P.'s Thoughts
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