The Prime Minister’s Darling

Chapter 50: 50 mother and child

The group left after having lunch at the dean’s house.

By the time they reached the town, it was late in the day. Boss Er had the carriage drop Gu Jiao and her brother off at the village.

Madame Li was very pleased with the Bodhisattva statue Gu Xiaoshun had given her. On their departure, she had the dean give her cherished Buddha beads to Gu Xiaoshun which she had kept for many years.

The beads were made of jade and had been blessed in front of a Buddha; their value and significance far surpassed that of ordinary jade.

However, Gu Xiaoshun did not fancy the Buddha beads, so he gave them to Gu Jiao.

Naturally, Gu Jiao would not covet his possession, but if she took it back to the Gu Family, it would inevitably be claimed by her family members. So she chose to accept it for now, planning to return it when he got married and established his own household.

“Sis, I’m going in.” Gu Xiaoshun said.

Gu Xiaoshun entered the Gu Family mansion, while Gu Jiao, with the basket on her back, continued on her way and soon entered her own house.

Xiao Liulang and the old lady were sitting in the main hall having dinner. The old lady seemed displeased. When she saw Gu Jiao’s return, she revealed a warm, welcoming expression for the first time, “Jiaojiao, you’re back!”

Gu Jiao nodded; such enthusiasm wasn’t necessary.

She was used to the old lady’s aloofness. Now this sudden warmth made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

“What’s the matter?” Gu Jiao, seeing the food on the table rapidly cooling as neither of them were touching it, asked.

The old lady grimaced and said bitterly, “Liulang’s cooking is terrible!”

The pretty boy’s culinary skills were even worse than Gu Xiaoshun’s!!!

“Uh…” Gu Jiao was lost for words. She looked at the old lady, then at Xiao Liulang. She hadn’t tasted Xiao Liulang’s cooking, so she didn’t know whether it was good or bad.

However, it was understandable for the old lady to be picky, but why was he also picky about his own food?

Didn’t he always cook for himself before?

Xiao Liulang remained silent, looking serious.

Gu Jiao sighed, remade the food, and even cooked a few egg pancakes.

The old lady’s eyes gleamed as if they were emitting green light!

Xiao Liulang was still serious, but Gu Jiao felt, maybe it’s because she had seen too much of the old lady, she perceived a hint of green light in his eyes as well.

Xiao Liulang usually did not talk much at the dinner table, but the old lady did. If Xiao Liulang didn’t let her talk, she would hum, “I am your godmother!”

You have to respect the godmother you recognized, even if you need to kneel.

The old lady asked about the visit to the dean, “Did you see the dean?”

“Yes, I did. He lives with an old mother and a young servant. Their life is simpler than I imagined.” Gu Jiao had thought, given the dean’s status, his house would be extravagant, with numerous servants, but there were none of those things.

His mansion was large, but it was also elegant, quiet, plain, and unadorned.

The old lady, “Just the two of them?”

Gu Jiao, “Three, including the servant.”

Gu Jiao came with the mentality from her previous world, where a servant was also a human being.

“Does he not have a wife and children?” asked the old lady.

“His wife is deceased.” Xiao Liulang suddenly spoke up, pausing a moment before continuing, “She died when they were young. He never remarried.”

“How pitiful.” The old lady fell silent.

After dinner, Gu Jiao brought out the gifts that the dean had given her: a large box of osmanthus-flavored layered pastries, and two fish that the dean had caught himself.

The old lady loved the layered pastries, but Xiao Liulang clearly disliked the two fish, his eyes reflecting disdain.

After Gu Jiao had cleaned and marinated the fish, she boiled some water for washing. As she was undressing, something fell out.

Picking it up, she found it to be a white jade ring.

The jade ring was of superb quality, warm and smooth to the touch. It was by no means ordinary.

“Strange, how did I end up with this thing?” she said. She didn’t recall the dean or Madame Li giving her such a valuable treasure.

She smelled the jade ring and caught a faint whiff of a medicinal scent.

“Could it be his?” she wondered.

Wenquan Villa.

Madame Hou had just returned from her daily trip up the mountain to offer prayers when she heard her son had woken up. Overjoyed, she asked for details about his condition and how things had progressed on their way back.

The housekeeper recounted everything to her, “Young Master’s situation was very grave. Thankfully, the miracle doctor from Huichun Hall was able to revive him.”

She did not dare to say that Young Master had truly lost consciousness. After all, she had not seen it with her own eyes. She also left out the incident of the young medicine boy climbing onto the bed, only praising his quick thinking in caring for the Young Master.

As they talked, they arrived at Gu Yan’s courtyard.

After waking up, Gu Yan had viciously torn apart several antique paintings. After he finished, he collapsed, motionless as a dead fish, wheezing heavily. His appearance was miserable to behold.

However, Madame Hou was just happy that he was awake; filled with gratitude, she rushed over and sat beside the bed, holding her son’s hand, “Yanyan, you’re awake?”

Gu Yan replied dryly, “I’m not awake. I’m still unconscious.”

Madame Hou chuckled at his retort. Instead of getting angry, she responded with a smile, “Yanyan, you have the energy to talk back to mom! Do you know how scared mom was when you were unconscious? Thank God…”

“What does this have to do with God?” Gu Yan grumbled.

Madame Hou laughed and said, “Yes, yes, yes! It’s your good fortune and strong vitality!”

Gu Yan solemnly said, “She cured me, I know it was her. She also left medicine for me.”

Gu Jiao had treated him while he was unconscious. He wasn’t awake when she left the medicine either. But he had this intuition, the instinctive trust that she was the one who did all these things.

Madame Hou thought Gu Yan was referring to a “he,” the old doctor from Huichun Hall, and quickly nodded in agreement, “Yes, yes, you’re right, it was the doctor from Huichun Hall who saved you. Mom will make sure to thank them properly. Huh? Yanyan, where’s the jade ring you always wear on your hand?”

The jade ring was something Gu Yan always carried with him. She didn’t know where he had gotten it from, but he had kept it since he was a kid and never let anyone touch it. Once it got lost under a blanket and he was so furious that he actually passed out.

“She took it,” Gu Yan said calmly.

“Who?” This time Madame Hou didn’t guess the old doctor.

Instead of answering her question, Gu Yan said, “She took it by accident.”

Although they had only met once, he felt as if he understood her very well. He couldn’t explain this deep-seated intuition.