The Prime Minister's Darling

Furthermore, he made everyone promise to remain silent on the matter, not to leak out a single word.

So even Dashun and Xiaoshun in the Gu Family were kept in dark.

Gu Ershun overheard some snippets, knowing there was a possibility that Gu Jiao might be the wrong child they had raised, yet he wasn’t clear about all details.

The strange atmosphere was firstly due to these revelations, and secondly due to the female family members dining at the table now.

Gu Dashun was not accustomed to this.

Gu Dashun glanced at his younger sister Gu Yue’e, then remarked, “Jiao is really fortunate to marry a scholar.”

His own sister was not young as well. It was time for her to get married, and it would also be of great help to him if she marries a good family.

Gu Yue’e ate her food in silence.

Everyone thought, isn’t it Xiao Liulang, rather than Jiaojiao, who’s been really fortunate to marry the daughter of the Marquis Residence?

It was really a stroke of good luck that fell from heaven!

In retrospect, they’d been negligent regarding this marriage. If they had known about her true identity earlier, they certainly wouldn’t have arranged for her to be wed.

She could have been their cash cow at home! Imagine the benefits they could have got by leveraging her connection with the Marquis Residence!

The Gu Family was regretful to the point of going green with envy. But what could they do? The girl wasn’t the naive fool they could easily fool around with anymore, and mending the relationship wouldn’t be easy for them.

Madam Wu gave a meaningful glance to Madam Liu, hinting her to take a huge piece of meat from the bowl.

This was an exceptionally large piece of meat, so thick that fat dripped from it. It used to be a delicacy only Gu Dashun could enjoy.

Madam Liu, swallowing her saliva, picked up the thickest piece, initially intending to put it in Ershun’s bowl. However, upon seeing the warning glare from Madam Wu, she hurriedly placed it into Xiaoshun’s bowl.

Xiaoshun looked at his mother strangely: “Why?”

Madam Liu stammered: “You rarely come home, eat some meat!”

Xiaoshun had been living at the Academy recently. He was only invited back home by Dashun today.

Dashun had no intention of making a warm invitation, yet he had no choice when their father made the order.

Xiaoshun looked at the meat in his bowl and ate it with little interest.

Ershun was drooling with envy.

Dashun furrowed his brows.

The rest of them pretended not to notice anything.

Madam Liu cheerfully said: “Xiaoshun, you haven’t visited your sister since you came back, right?”

Xiaoshun asked: “Why?”

Madam Liu stuttered,”Your sister cares a lot for you, why haven’t you visited her when you’re back?”

Xiaoshun ate a mouthful of rice: “I’ll go later.”

Madam Liu went on stuttering: “Your brother-in-law has been appointed as a scholar, remember to extend your congratulations.”

Xiaoshun replied, “Hmm.”

None of them had gotten to the point yet, which made Madam Wu and the eldest quite anxious.

Gu Changhai said, “Xiaoshun, your uncle prepared a jar of high-quality tea and two old hens, you should bring them to your sister later.”

Xiaoshun replied, “I’ll go alone. Why are you coming?”

Are you seriously saying that you’re afraid I can’t carry the things?

Gu Changhai was absolutely angry at Xiaoshun’s cluelessness. Xiaoshun was unyieldingly honest which made him unable to understand the subtleties.

Gu Changhai decided to be straightforward: “There’s no lasting feud among family members. We were wrong in the past, and now we should apologize to your sister. Starting today, we should be a happy family.”

Marquis Gu only told them not to approach Gu Jinyu, he never said they couldn’t approach Gu Jiao, as long as they kept the truth from her.

They could guess the intention of Marquis Gu – he probably worried that Gu Jiao couldn’t accept the truth right away. So they would take a gradual approach, just need to patch up their relationship with Gu Jiao prior to the father-daughter reunion!

“You want to suck up to my brother-in-law now that he’s a scholar, isn’t it?” Xiaoshun put down his chopsticks indifferently and asked, “Where are the things?”

The first part of his statement left a sour taste, but they felt hopeful hearing the latter part.

Gu Changhai hurriedly told Madam Zhou, “Go fetch them!”

Zhou Family didn’t dare to neglect, went to the house to fetch the tea that cost a big sum of money and the fattest two old hens from the house.

Gu Xiaoshun put down his chopsticks, took the items and started walking out.

Gu Changhai reached out his hand: “Eh! Wait for me!”

Sure, like I’ll wait for you!

You guys are the ones who owe my sister in the first place!

Get lost, brat!

Gu Xiaoshun started to run outside, disappearing into a puff of smoke as he entered his sister’s home, and slammed the door shut with a bang!

Gu Changhai, whose nose was bleeding profusely from being hit by the door: “…!!”

The expensive tea and old hens that Gu Changhai had let go with a heavy heart were now gone. He couldn’t make a fuss or shout. Where could he go to appeal against this?

Gu Changhai did want to knock on the door, but after knocking for quite a while without anyone answering, he had no choice but to return home, grinding his teeth in fury.

Gu Jiao would not deal with the Gu family members. As for the old lady and Xiao Liulang, they were even less likely to do so.

If it wasn’t for Gu Xiaoshun holding the door shut, the old lady would have given the Gu family members a pot of shit and urine right on the spot!

Gu Jiao was cooking in the kitchen.

“Sis. Sis.” Gu Xiaoshun, who has not been back to the village for quite a while, was anxious to see his sister. He first rushed to the kitchen to greet Gu Jiao, and then went to see Xiao Liulang and the old lady.

Xiao Liulang gave him the carving knives he brought from Pingcheng. Gu Xiaoshun was so delighted that he couldn’t put down each and every small knife, looking at them over and over again.

For a craftsman, a good knife is like a good sword to a swordsman. That kind of joy can’t be replaced by any regular gift.

Gu Xiaoshun felt even more that his brother-in-law was great.

Gu Xiaoshun was fiddling with the small knives when the old lady suddenly called him into the room.

The old lady waved at him enthusiastically: “Xiaoshun, come taste the candied dried bayberry that Liulang bought for me!”

Gu Xiaoshun blinked his eyes: “Why is granny so generous today?”

Normally, getting a piece of her preserved fruit is more difficult than scaling the heavens.

“Here.” The old lady rummaged for a while and gave him the smallest piece.

Gu Xiaoshun didn’t pick and choose, popping it in his mouth straightaway.

The next second, he saw the old lady, one two three four five six seven, count seven large candied dried bayberries into her small honey jar, and loudly protested: “Jiaojiao! Xiaoshun just ate eight of my dried bayberries!”

“…”

Gu Xiaoshun nearly choked to death on the spot!

All this fuss over a few dried bayberries, really?!

Gu Jiao controls the old lady’s food intake, allowing her to eat a maximum of three per day and five during the new year. Now, she has saved up seven at once, which can be considered a great fortune!

The old lady was very satisfied, waved her hand and told Gu Xiaoshun to carry on doing whatever he was doing.

Gu Xiaoshun was confused, had he just been used?

Gu Xiaoshun intended to find Xiaoqi, but realized that the little guy was out.

Xiaoqi had gone out to walk the chickens.

Initially, he walked the chickens around his own backyard, but gradually felt that the backyard was not spacious enough, so he took the chickens out.

When Xiaoqi walks the chickens, he goes from his house to the entrance of the village, then returns the same way. If he encounters a villager, he would always greet them politely.

The villagers initially were surprised, but now they were used to it, and even began to like this little monk.

Other people’s chickens would run all over the place once they were let out, but his chickens could even keep formation.

“Xiaoqi, no cutting in line.” Xiaoqi said.

The chicken that overtook the fifth in the line on a curve silently returned to the end of the line.

Xiaoqi, who was walking the chickens, arrived outside the old house of the Gu family, the mandatory route to the village entrance.

He knew the relationship between the two families, so he wouldn’t go to the Gu’s house or greet the Gu family members.

However, today, he was attracted by a strange noise.