Chapter 263.2: Recognizing Each Other

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S T E L L A R C L O U D
[Azurixa] [Celeste S.] [Christine G.-L.]
O R A N G E S T A R
[J Jean] [K.Rom] [Manon] [Tori D.] [Ziana K.-P.]
Y E L L O W S T A R
[Fav Akira] [Leticia P.] [Maria P.] [Mel Melz] [Nicole] [Passerby]
G O L D S T A R
[Cindy] [Nanashi D. Y.] [Reece P.]
R A I N B O W S T A R
[Amanda] [Book W.] [Britnae M] [Caroline] [Christigale M.] [DetectiveGeek421] [Haruka N.]
[Hong] [Kiiayame] [kuroneko_chan] [Lily J.] [Liznel M.] [Michelle K.] [onepiece]
[Quae] [Ray] [Smurfinbatik] [Victoria]
Also, many thanks to everyone who bought me coffee (*≧∀≦*)
Gu Xiaoshun shook Gu Yan up and tried to wake him, "It's time to eat."
Gu Yan rubbed his sleepy eyes and rolled over on the bed lazily, "No, I want to sleep more."
Gu Xiaoshun said, "Eat before you sleep."
"Don't wanna." Gu Yan covered his head with a quilt.
Suddenly, a pair of tiny ice-cold hands reached in and clasped Gu Yan's face.
Gu Yan was startled by the cold sensation, lifted the quilt and sat up, "Little monk! Your skin is itching again, isn't it?!"
Little Jing Kong ran to the door and made a face at him, "Bleh, bleh!"
"Stop right there!" Gu Yan slipped out of bed.
Little Jing Kong waved his little arm and complained, "JiaoJiao, JiaoJiao! Big brother Yan wants to hit me!"
Gu Yan randomly grabbed a feather duster, "Stop telling on me groundlessly! Clearly, you’re the one who sneak attacked me with your hands!"
With their two little bosses fighting, the chickens and the dog in the yard also started a fierce battle. Almost every night, the same scene of chickens flying and dog jumping occurred.
Old Chief thought to himself, if someone dared to make such a noise in front of Empress Dowager Zhuang in the past, they would have been dragged out immediately to be beaten indefinitely; her appearance of eating melon seeds while watching the fun right now would never happen..
After dinner, when Old Chief saw no one else was around, he asked the elderly woman a question, "What if… what if that man is really your eldest brother?"
The elderly woman gave him a slight look of contempt, "How is that possible? Isn't there only Liulang left in my family?"
"Ah... yes, yes!" Old Chief didn't dare to deny it, for fear that he might accidentally spill the beans, but when he looked at the other party's clueless appearance, he suddenly felt a little unbearable.
He asked, "What if... I mean, what if you still have another family member and a powerful one at that, would you want to go back?"
"Something’s wrong with you..." The elderly woman cast him a suspicious look, put the melon seeds on the stove, and picked up a kitchen knife, "Be honest! Are you hiding some private money again!"
Old Chief：“…”
Regarding the visit of Grand Preceptor Zhuang, Old Chief felt it necessary to mention it to Xiao Liulang.
At night, after everyone went to sleep, Xiao Liulang was called to go next door by Old Chief.
After talking about the incident with Grand Preceptor Zhuang, Xiao Liulang was not surprised at all. Old Chief wondered, "Did you know that the Zhuang Family already knew?"
Xiao Liulang made no secret of the matter, "When we were still in the countryside, An Junwang came to our home."
"It’s actually as early as that…" Old Chief was stunned.
He knew about the visit of An Junwang to a small county town. It was before the provincial exam, and it was almost a year ago.
Old Chief pondered for a moment, "Apparently, the reopening of the Imperial Academy is also related to the Zhuang Family. Whether you pass the provincial exam and become a Jieyuan or not, the Zhuang Family will arrange everything for you to enter the Imperial Academy. They knew your situation well, and knew that you would definitely bring your family along. In that way, Zhuang Jinse can enter the capital openly."
When Old Chief suddenly called the elderly woman by her name, Xiao Liulang was a little surprised. He glanced at Old Chief, but Old Chief himself didn't realize that there was something wrong in his speech, and Xiao Liulang didn't say anything either.
Old Chief was immersed in his own thinking for a while, and then he said, "Now that you have become the new Zhuangyuan, and Marquis Xuanping has openly taken a stand to get close to you, the Zhuang Family must think that you have defected to His Majesty and the Marquis Xuanping Estate and now you’re their enemy, so they can no longer put Zhuang Jinse in your hands. Just wait, even though Grand Preceptor Zhuang has been kicked out today, he won't give up."
Old Chief was right. Grand Preceptor Zhuang really hadn’t given up getting Empress Dowager Zhuang back yet. Since a soft tactic didn’t work, he would employ a hard one!
Directly targeting Empress Dowager Zhuang was naturally not feasible. Not to mention such an act was a capital crime, Empress Dowager Zhuang was very valuable to them, and they couldn’t afford it if anything went wrong.
Grand Preceptor Zhuang then set his eyes on the people around Empress Dowager Zhuang.
Xiao Liulang was too cautious and the girl was said to possess some skills, so things might not go smoothly if they started with them.
The girl's mother was said to live there too, but unfortunately, she almost never went out of the house, so it wasn’t so easy to aim at her.
Then, there were only the three children studying in Imperial Academy and Qinghe Academy.
The youngest one was always mixed up with the son of the Minister of the Ministry of War and the Seventh Prince. It wasn’t good to alarm anyone.
In the end, after careful consideration, Grand Preceptor Zhuang locked his sight on one person—— Gu Xiaoshun!
……
Gu Yan kicked the quilt at night and had a little cough in the morning. Yao shi was worried about him, so she didn’t let him go to school, and naturally he didn’t go to Master Lu and Nan Xiang's side to learn craftsmanship after school as well.
Gu Xiaoshun still went, and Liu Quan sent him there.
In the past few months, Master Lu basically didn't teach too many technical things to them. Today too, he just asked Gu Xiaoshun to cut wood over and over again. Gu Xiaoshun never displayed any impatience and never asked when he could stop cutting wood.
Master Lu felt that the child was very calm and collected.
This was mainly because studying was too boring for Gu Xiaoshun. In comparison, cutting wood was simple and easy and he didn’t have to use his brain at all.
After cutting wood, Gu Xiaoshun had dinner at his Master and Master’s wife’s house as usual.
The meal was usually done by Nan Xiang, but Nan Xiang's cooking wasn’t very good, so much so that she herself hated eating it. On the contrary, Gu Xiaoshun didn’t seem to dislike it at all. Whatever Nan Xiang cooked was whatever he ate, not wasting even a mouthful of soup.
Therefore, Nan Xiang had a very good impression of Gu Xiaoshun.
The main reason was that his brother-in-law’s cooking was even more terrible. After tasting his brother-in-law's craftsmanship, Master’s wife’s skill could already be considered the level of a chef.
After today's class, Gu Xiaoshun bid goodbye to his Master and Master’s wife and got on the carriage to head back home.Raz P.'s Thoughts

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