The Prime Minister's Darling

Chapter 187: 121 Zhaodu Young Master (Second Watch)

Chapter 187: 121 Zhaodu Young Master (Second Watch)

Gu Jiao got up before dawn, washed up, and, as her first order of business, went to feed the chicks belonging to little monk Jingkong.

The chicks had grown significantly and would occasionally crow. If no one got up, they would eventually stop.

There was a small marketplace nearby, in a different direction than the Guozijian college, and it didn’t take long to get there on foot.

Gu Jiao put a basket on her back and headed to the marketplace.

“Steamed buns! Fresh, delicious buns!” a vendor shouted.

Gu Jiao went over and asked him, “How much is one bun?”

The vendor noticed the birthmark on her face, but he didn’t react strangely at all. As expected of people from the Capital City, they were not easily shocked.

The vendor smiled and said, “The large meat buns are three wen each, and the brown sugar buns are two for three wen! Miss, how many would you like?”

The buns were big, and just one could satisfy hunger. Gu Jiao took out a food box from her small basket. “Eight meat buns, four sugar buns.”

They would eat the meat buns, and little monk Jingkong would have the sugar buns.

She wondered whether four would be enough for him, his appetite was quite remarkable.

“Alright! That’s a total of 30 wen! Here’s a steamed bun for you!” The vendor packed the buns and a steamed bun for Gu Jiao.

“Thank you.” Gu Jiao paid, then went on to buy kitchen utensils like pots and pans, followed by firewood.

The firewood in the Capital City was not cheap. A bundle of firewood cost 10 copper plates and could last about two to three days, considering their rate of usage at home.

Gu Jiao bought two bundles of firewood and then asked about the price of charcoal.

The vendor said, “Miss, are you looking for black charcoal or silver charcoal? Black charcoal is five wen per jin, and silver charcoal is twenty wen per jin.”

“Why is silver charcoal so expensive?”

The vendor smiled and said, “Silver charcoal is really handy!”

It was true. Black charcoal was not only less durable, but it also produced a lot of smoke. In contrast, silver charcoal lasted longer and didn’t produce any smoke.

In the end, Gu Jiao bought a hundred jin of silver charcoal for seventeen wen per jin.

The vendor, with his mule cart, personally delivered the firewood and silver charcoal to their door.

Xiao Liulang had already risen and had cleaned up the kitchen. Now, he was silently cleaning the backyard, careful not to wake anyone.

“Good morning,” Gu Jiao greeted.

“Morning,” Xiao Liulang nodded.

Gu Jiao directly asked the vendor to carry the firewood and silver charcoal to the kitchen.

After the vendor left, Gu Jiao went over, took the broom from Xiao Liulang’s hands, and said, “Let me do this. You go sort out the belongings.”

In this journey to the Capital City, the luggage of Gu Jiao, the old lady, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun was not much. Conversely, Xiao Liulang and the little monk Jingkong had several large boxes. Xiao Liulang mainly had books, Jingkong had items he brought back from the temple, of course, including his seven chicks.

“Alright.” Xiao Liulang turned and entered the study room.

In a short while, Gu Jiao brought him two piping hot meat buns. “You eat these first, I’ll go make some millet porridge.”

“Have you eaten yet?” Xiao Liulang stopped her.

“Not yet.” Gu Jiao shook her head.

She was about to say that she could eat while cooking the porridge, but Xiao Liulang pushed the plate towards her, “Let’s eat together.”

Gu Jiao thought for a moment, “Alright.”

Since they had more people at home, it had been a while since they had eaten alone. The last time was at the inn in the town, which was more than half a year ago.

The two sat facing each other, as if it was just like old times.

Gu Jiao chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?” Xiao Liulang asked.

Gu Jiao held the big meat bun in her hand, “I’m laughing about the first time I fed you. Did you not dare to eat because you thought I had poisoned the food?”

“I definitely didn’t,” Xiao Liulang strenuously denied.

Suddenly, Gu Jiao leaned in, examining his handsome face from close up. “Aren’t you scared that I’ll poison you now?”

Are you so trusting of me that you just can’t help it?

Just as Gu Jiao was basking in her glee, she saw Xiao Liulang look at the bun in his hand with a complicated expression. Then, he took Gu Jiao’s bun and switched it with his own.

Gu Jiao: “…”

After the two had breakfast, and everyone else was still asleep, Xiao Liulang had to report to the Guozijian. Gu Jiao guessed that the others would probably sleep until noon, so she went with Xiao Liulang to the Guozijian.

The Guozijian officially starts classes in late October. Now, more and more jingsheng (students) have been reporting one after another, both local students from the Capital City and those who came from other places like Xiao Liulang.

Regular jingsheng students at the Guozijian do not need to pay tuition, as all expenses were covered by the court, including their dormitory and meals, all grant from the court’s finances.

Today, Xiao Liulang just needed to check-in at the Academic Affairs Office and then he could go back. Of course, if he wanted to, he could also stay in the Guozijian to study.

The Guozijian held the largest Book Pavilion in all of Zhan Country, hence it became the holy land that all scholars dreamed of studying in.

Gu Jiao waited for him outside the Guozijian.

The bustling scene in front of her was quite a novelty for Gu Jiao.

So this is the capital city, it’s indeed different from the county town, the roads are much wider, with several horse-drawn carriages passing by from time to time. Most of the young ladies on the street wear face veils, and it was rather uncommon for someone like Gu Jiao to be uncovered.

Gu Jiao was absorbed in the sight when suddenly the crowd surged towards one place. Everyone lined up on both sides of the street, straining their necks to look in one direction.

The place where Gu Jiao was standing was not far from the street, she was pushed aside by the crowd, and even got her foot stepped on.

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” The perpetrator hastily apologized to Gu Jiao.

It was a boy dressed as a student, but the appearance and the deliberately lowered voice could tell that he was actually a girl.

She had a fair and delicate look.

“I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to!” The girl disguised as a student bowed apologetically to Gu Jiao.

Gu Jiao didn’t mind.

She tried to step backward.

However, the people behind her didn’t give her room to move.

She was obstructed in the middle by the surging crowd and couldn’t move freely.

The little scholar tried hard to squeeze forward, but she was too weak and couldn’t get to the front.

She gave up pushing, wiped the sweat off her forehead, and asked Gu Jiao, “Ma’am, what happened to your face?”

Gu Jiao calmly replied, “Birthmark.”

“Ah…” The young scholar quickly covered her mouth, “I thought it was rouge, right, right, I’m sorry.”

Gu Jiao didn’t take offense at her inadvertent insult.

But she herself was feeling quite guilty. It was bad enough already that she bumped into someone, let alone stepping on her, plus she spoke inappropriately and hit the nail right on the head…

Ah!

She couldn’t seem to go a day without offending someone!

The little scholar looked at Gu Jiao and said, “Miss, you’re not from the capital city, are you? Your accent doesn’t sound like it.”

Gu Jiao: “Hmm.”

The little scholar asked again, “Did you come here specifically to see the Princess?”

Gu Jiao curiously asked, “What Princess?”

The little scholar exclaimed in surprise, “The Princess! You’ve been waiting here so early, isn’t it because you heard that the Princess is returning from making a blessing and will pass by the gate of the Guozijian?”

Gu Jiao shook her head, “I don’t know the Princess, I’m not here to see her.”

The little scholar gasped, “Who, who’s here to see her because they know her? Can we common folk know the Princess? Isn’t everyone here because they’ve heard of her and admire her, and just want a glimpse of her from afar?”

Gu Jiao said seriously, “I’ve never heard of her, I don’t admire her.”

“Are you not from Zhan Country? You haven’t heard of the Princess?”

The little scholar’s outburst drew the attention of the crowd, leading them to look at the two of them. Everyone looked at Gu Jiao incredulously, apparently like the little scholar, they found it strange: how could there be someone in the world who didn’t know the Princess of Zhan Country?

At that moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, “The Princess is here – The Princess is here -”

With his shout, the crowd began to stir excitedly.

A hundred-member imperial guards rode in on iron-clad horses, they formed a giant formation, encircling the Princess’ carriage. The crowd could not even see how many wheels were on the carriage as the imperial guards escorted the Princess and her vehicle away from the street.

The crowd slowly dispersed.

The little scholar stomped her feet in frustration as she looked at the disappearing backs of the imperial cavalry, “Ah, I didn’t get to see her again! It’s not easy for me to come out, and I got up so early for nothing!”

Breaking free from the crowd, Gu Jiao breathed a sigh of relief.

She really wasn’t used to being so close to strangers.

Seeing Gu Jiao’s calm demeanor, the little scholar curiously asked, “You really didn’t come to see the Princess, did you?”

Gu Jiao replied nonchalantly: “I said I didn’t.”

The little scholar asked, “Why?”

Gu Jiao said, “I’ve told you already.”

The little scholar asked, “You really never heard of her?”

Gu Jiao looked at her silently.

The Princess was the person the little scholar admired most. She absolutely wouldn’t allow that there were people in this world who hadn’t heard of her!

The little scholar earnestly informed Gu Jiao, “Do you know who the Princess is? She’s the most outstanding woman in Zhan Country, there’s not a single man who doesn’t like her, and not a single woman who doesn’t envy her. Do you know who the great scholar, Zhuang Xianzhi, of the Zhuang family is? He once was the teacher of the Princess. Do you know who was her classmate? The young lord of Zhaodu!”

Gu Jiao watched her calmly.

The little scholar was flabbergasted, “No way? Don’t tell me you also don’t know who the young lord of Zhaodu is! The Young Lord! The teenaged chief priest!”

After thinking for a moment, Gu Jiao said, “Oh, I’ve heard of him.”

It was a long time ago, young Master Xiaoqin once got a painting from somewhere, saying it was the masterpiece of the young lord, but Xiao Liulang said it wasn’t.

That was the only time she had heard of the young lord of Zhaodu before.

The little scholar hit herself on the forehead, “Oh my god, oh my god, did you pop out from a crack in the rock? How can you not know about the young lord, not know the Princess? One is the number one talented young man of Zhan Country, the other is the number one talented young woman, who grew up together and were childhood sweethearts. They even had a betrothal. After the young lord died abruptly, the Princess remained steadfast for him for three years until accepting the Emperor’s decree this year to marry the Prince. How could you have never heard of such a legendary story?”