The Prime Minister's Darling

Lord Gu agreed enormously: “Indeed, considering that girl…ahem, your sister doesn’t understand how to play Guqin.” Isn’t it a waste to give it to her? An extravagant squandering of a gift from the heavens!

Gu Jinyu hugged the ancient Guqin in her arms with a willingness to give up, her eyes lowered: “But this is the best thing Jinyu can offer. Jinyu likes her sister, and wants to compensate her. Jinyu would willingly give up my life for my sister. What is a mere Guqin in comparison?”

Yao’s wife gathered her stray hair behind her ears and sighed, “Poor child.”

In the end, Yao’s wife didn’t accept the ancient Guqin, she kept the other things and would give them to Jiaojiao later. If Jiaojiao liked them, she would keep them; if not, Yao would return them.

Gu Jinyu returned to her house with the Guqin in her arms.

Lord Gu caught up with her and said earnestly, “Don’t do such foolish things in the future!”

“What do you mean?” Gu Jinyu looked at her father with a puzzled face.

Lord Gu glanced at the Guqin in her arms and said, “Aren’t you afraid that your mother might have truly taken it just now?”

Gu Jinyu widened her eyes and said in a daze, “I had originally intended to give it to my sister! It’s a pity my mother didn’t want it.”

Lord Gu breathed a sigh of relief, “Fortunately, your mother didn’t accept it. Your sister grew up in the countryside and doesn’t understand music, all she knows is about firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Letting her chop wood makes sense, but letting her play the Guqin? Give me a break! Giving such a good thing to her is such a waste.”

Gu Jinyu said sincerely, “If my sister is willing, I can teach her!”

Lord Gu snorted coldly, “That depends on whether she appreciates it! Alright, be sure to keep your Yueying Fo Xi Guqin safe and never casually bring it out to give to others!”

Gu Jinyu lowered her eyes, no one could imitate this Fo Xi Guqin again, she had originally not planned to give it away.

—

While private school was on vacation, Tianxiang Academy was not, Gu Jiao was cooking dinner in the kitchen. She started preparing the last dish, estimating that Xiao Liulang and Gu Xiaoshun would be back soon.

“Jiaojiao! Jiaojiao! I can’t find my abacus!”

Little Monk Jing Kong came running into the kitchen in complete confusion.

Gu Jiao filled the pot with water and put the lid on it: “Don’t panic, I’ll help you look for it.”

Jing Kong had brought back quite a few things from the temple, which Gu Jiao placed in two large boxes for him.

Even though he was a child, Gu Jiao still respected his privacy and wouldn’t go through his things normally.

His boxes were quite messy, full of all sorts of things.

“Where did you put it?” Gu Jiao asked.

“This one! No, it seems to be that one!” Despite being a very organized child, Jing Kong was somewhat lacking in the area of keeping his items in order.

Gu Jiao began to search in the box on the left, and shortly after, she found a shiny gold abacus.

Pure gold!

Gu Jiao asked blankly, “Is…this the one?”

“Yes!” Jing Kong nodded vigorously.

Gu Jiao asked, “Who gave this to you?”

“My Master!” Jing Kong took the abacus and started doing calculations on it. He had his mathematics lesson today and he wanted to revise it!

Is your Master so wealthy that he gifted you a gold abacus?

Ultimately, Gu Jiao couldn’t help asking, “Do you know it’s made of gold?”

Jing Kong nodded: “Yes, I know! There are many abacuses at my Master’s place, and I specifically chose this one!”

“Why?”

“Because it’s beautiful!”

Gu Jiao: “…”

Gu Jiao put back the items he had dumped out and when she picked up a large object wrapped in a broken cloth she suddenly heard the sound of a string note.

Gu Jiao unwrapped the cloth to find it was an ancient Guqin.

It looked quite worn out without even a case to protect it, but the sound was good, the note she’d just heard was very pleasant.

Gu Jiao plucked the strings a couple more times.

The tonality was truly good.

Jing Kong looked at Gu Jiao: “Hmm? Can Jiaojiao play Guqin?”

Instead of answering his question, Gu Jiao asked him: “Can you?”

Jing Kong thoughtfully replied: “I can, a little! But I don’t like it!”

Gu Jiao asked, puzzled: “Why would you have a Guqin if you don’t like it?”

Jing Kong sighed like a grown-up: “Sigh, it was given by Master! Everything in these boxes was given by him!”

Gu Jiao noticed the corner of the old Guqin was burned black.

Jing Kong explained: “Once there was no firewood, so Master threw the Guqin into the fire. But after burning for a long time, it didn’t catch on fire and got taken out again.”

Gu Jiao was dumbfounded. Even if it was a broken Guqin, it shouldn’t be used as firewood, right? What kind of a Master did he choose?

Jing Kong said, “Jiaojiao, if you like it, you can have it!”

As Gu Jiao stroked the ancient Guqin in her hand, she unintentionally saw two words engraved on the bottom of the Guqin —— Fo Xi.