Chapter 1467: 715 Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law Meet_2

Zhao Wei said with a facade of integrity, “That doesn’t seem quite proper. We are scholars and shouldn’t linger in places of fleeting pleasures.” As he spoke, he quickly changed the subject. “But Xiaoliu is still young, and unfamiliar with the place; if he insists on going, we should fulfill our duty as hosts.”

Gu Jiao: “…”

You, Zhao, don’t seem to be from Shengdu either? You’re from Yan Country’s Qidu.

Zhao Wei murmured to Yuan Xiao, “You, you’re from Shengdu, you host.”

Yuan Xiao puffed out his chest, “If it’s hosting, then I’ll host!”

Due to their insistence, Zhou Tong and Zhong Ding were overwhelmed in the argument and had no choice but to go to two other carriages.

After getting into the carriage, Zhao Wei looked at Gu Xiaoshun curiously and asked, “Are you going too?”

Gu Xiaoshun nodded, “Yeah, Xiaoliu said he would take me to see what it’s like.”

Yuan Xiao patted his shoulder meaningfully, “Xiaoliu’s fellow townsman is my townsman too. Leave it all to me, I’ll make sure you’re satisfied!”

Gu Xiaoshun wore a confused expression, as if something was not quite right.

As the carriage moved along, Zhao Wei suddenly spoke in a low voice, “Hey, did you hear? Something happened to the Han Family.”

Yuan Xiao asked, “The Han Family? You mean the one related to Han Che?”

There are many notable figures in the Han Family – the Imperial Consort Han, Old Master Han, General Han, Minister Han, and many more. However, since they had only encountered Han Che during a cuju match, Han Che was naturally brought up.

Zhao Wei nodded, “Yes, that’s Han Che’s family. This afternoon, when I was helping our master carry the exam papers back to the office, I passed by the Academy Director’s office and overheard him talking with Master Wu and several other masters about the Han Family’s matter.”

“What exactly happened?” Yuan Xiao, an impatient man, couldn’t stand Zhao Wei’s slow storytelling.

Zhao Wei carefully said, “The second master of the Han Family has died.”

As a native of Shengdu, Yuan Xiao had some knowledge of the Han Family’s internal relations. He sorted through his thoughts, “Han Che’s… his second uncle?”

Zhao Wei replied, “Seems like it.”

Yuan Xiao, gripped by anxiety, said, “What happened to him, spit it out! Don’t drag it out word by word, you’re killing me with suspense!”

Zhao Wei still spoke at a leisurely pace, “It happened last night. I heard Dean Cen say that the Imperial Grandson Changsun had returned to Shengdu. The second master of the Han Family attempted to assassinate him in the dead of night, but was caught in the act by the sovereign. Enraged, the sovereign ordered his execution on the spot.”

In fact, it wasn’t the sovereign who had executed him, but rather Old Master Han, who had chosen justice over kin by cleansing his own house.

However, the truth often gets distorted when it spreads.

Gu Jiao listened carefully.

The rumored Imperial Grandson Changsun had returned to Shengdu?

Then a member of the Han Family went so far as to assassinate him right under the emperor’s nose?

Have they gone mad?

She felt there were doubts clouding the incident, and maybe the truth wasn’t as Zhao Wei understood it.

Yuan Xiao’s curiosity was now fully piqued, “Assassinating Changsun is a capital offense. Didn’t the sovereign punish the Han Family?”

Zhao Wei said, “They were punished. The Han Family lost a mine, and the minister, Han Shi Lang, was dismissed from his position.”

The mine was the foundation of the Han Family’s wealth; losing one mine was like losing an arm.

They knew nothing of Han Yong’s capabilities. Neither were they aware that Han Yong had endured forty-nine severe tortures and that he truly was Han Family’s strong support.

“Have any of you seen the Imperial Grandson Changsun? What does he look like?” Gu Jiao suddenly asked.

Zhao Wei shook his head, “I’m from Qidu, ask Yuan Xiao.”

Yuan Xiao said, “I’ve never seen the Imperial Grandson Changsun either. He left Shengdu when he was very young, went to the Imperial Mausoleum with the deposed Princess to guard it. He only returns once every two years, and even then, he just visits the National Master Hall, so outsiders have no chance to see him.”

“What’s his name?” Gu Jiao asked.

“Shangguan Qing,” Yuan Xiao replied.

“Qing.”

Gu Jiao fell into deep thought.

…

During their conversation, the carriage arrived at the Tianxiang Pavilion.

The carriages of Zhou Tong and the Zhong Ding group stopped ahead of them, coming to a halt first.

Zhou Tong hurriedly jumped off his carriage and came to find Gu Jiao.

“Xiaoliu!”

He opened the curtain for Gu Jiao.

Yuan Xiao moved his hand away, discontentedly huffing, “Do we need you to open the curtain?”

Zhou Tong said coldly, “I am Xiaoliu’s classmate! I sit in the row in front of him!”

Yuan Xiao chuckled, “I’ve played in a match with Xiaoliu! A stadium is like a battlefield; we’re brothers in arms!”

Born from the same parents; how could we fight against each other!

Zhou Tong, failing the argument, instantly turned sullen.

However, Gu Jiao ignored them all after stepping off the carriage, instructing Gu Xiaoshun to follow the others first while she went to find Gu Chengfeng on the second floor.

Gu Chengfeng was not in his room; he had gone to the backstage of the first floor to prepare for the grand drama about to unfold.

Gu Jiao touched her chin, hesitating over whether to go find Gu Chengfeng directly or–

Not anymore.

Gu Jiao left.

However, she did not immediately return to the Grand Hall; she took a trip to the small firewood room in the backyard.

The firewood room was located in the corner of the backyard, the most secluded room there, next to a temporary lodging chamber generally used by Xun Fengxian to detain various actors and girls of unknown origin.

Although Xun Fengxian’s methods were somewhat unscrupulous, one had to admit she indeed had some capabilities.

Xun Fengxian had a small gold jar, collected by extorting actors and girls, which Gu Jiao had seen her bury under the banyan tree outside of the firewood room.

Gu Jiao had coveted Xun Fengxian’s gold for quite some time.

This time, with so many guests around and Xun Fengxian too busy to attend to the backyard, Gu Jiao wanted to dig out her gold.

Being cautious, Xun Fengxian knew that the color of soil would differ if dug up, so she planted a small flower bed here and turned over the ground every now and then.

Making it impossible to tell which part had been freshly dug.

Gu Jiao didn’t care; she dug from beginning to end, not believing she couldn’t find it.

Gu Jiao drew her dagger and began to dig furiously, transforming herself into a little excavator.

She dug one hole, nothing.

Then another hole, still nothing.

Gu Jiao, refusing to believe it, moved her nearly numb feet to the side and continued digging.

As she dug, she faintly felt something was amiss.

It seemed as if someone was watching her.

She turned her head curiously and saw a woman dressed like a commoner but breathtakingly beautiful.

The woman squatted on the ground, holding a half-eaten chilled watermelon in her left hand, scooping with a copper spoon in her right, eating one bite at a time.

As she puffed her cheeks and slurped, she watched Gu Jiao digging.

Gu Jiao: “…”

…

Canglan Women’s Academy.

Xiao Hen came out of Linglong Pavilion and went to the Lingbo Academy.

He was there to pick up Little Jingkong from school and also to take him to tutor Cheng for supplementary lessons.

The children attending today’s tutoring, apart from Little Jingkong, included his new deskmate, the Little Princess.

Xiao Hen wrote on a piece of paper: “I apologize for the trouble, Tutor Cheng. I might come back to pick him up later.”

Tutor Cheng smiled and said, “No problem, I’ll take him to dinner.”

After bidding Tutor Cheng farewell, Xiao Hen got into the carriage ready to depart.

The coachman glanced around and asked in a low voice, “Young Master, where to?”

“Out of the city,” Xiao Hen said.

The coachman was taken aback and asked quietly, “Young Master, haven’t we been under surveillance recently?”

Xiao Hen had been closely watched by the people of the Han Family, so he dared not go anywhere, fearing that the Han Family might discover his connection with Gu Jiao.

But today, there was a major incident in the Han Family.

All the people Han Shizi had sent to tail him had been withdrawn.

The reason for the Han Family’s troubles was Han Ershu’s assassination attempt on His Highness Changsun.

His Highness Changsun…

“Your Highness Changsun–”

These were the words Zhang Dequan had shouted out into the night before.

Who was Zhang Dequan calling?

Was His Highness Changsun nearby at that time?

Was he also the target of an assassination?

Or was it that–

Xiao Hen dared not think further.

He urgently needed to find out exactly what happened last night; he needed an answer.

The coachman asked softly, “Young Master, where are we heading?”

Xiao Hen replied sternly, “Tianxiang Pavilion.”