The Pampered Concubine Gu Jiao Niang

Chapter 32: Embrace

Gu Jiao had never shared a bed with anyone in her past life, not even with her female roommates. She thought she might have trouble falling asleep, but she soon drifted off in the comforting presence of Xiao Liulang.

She went to see the Duke of Zhou in her dream, but Xiao Liulang didn't fall asleep as quickly.

He looked at Gu Jiao lying beside him. The faint snow light shone through the window paper onto her face. She lay on her side, and the half of her face with the birthmark was pressed underneath.

She seemed to be really afraid of the cold, her small face was red, her eyelashes were long, and her features were delicate. If it weren't for the birthmark, she would have been a beautiful and elegant young girl.

Unknowingly, a trace of regret flashed through Xiao Liulang's heart.

But soon, he frowned and wiped away the emotion from the bottom of his heart.

Xiao Liulang slept very well and hardly moved all night.

Gu Jiao was also well-behaved, except for getting closer and closer to Xiao Liulang, using both her hands and feet to hold onto him, and resting her little head on his shoulder. There was really nothing else.

Gu Jiao slept until dawn, and when she woke up, Xiao Liulang had already gotten up and was sitting by the window reading a book.

The daylight shone through the window paper, reflecting his beautiful face. Gu Jiao wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but he seemed to be blushing a little.

"You're awake." Xiao Liulang greeted Gu Jiao seriously, but his eyes didn't look at her in the bed.

"Mmm, I'm awake. Good morning." Gu Jiao rubbed her eyes, yawned, and spoke with a lazy, sleepy voice. She had just woken up and was still a little groggy. She didn't realize she sounded so cute.

Who could bear this from a normal man early in the morning?

Xiao Liulang's chest tightened, and he almost stood up abruptly. "I'll go buy breakfast!"

After finishing speaking, he opened the door and left, leaving Gu Jiao scratching her head in confusion.

The snow had stopped in the middle of the night, and today the sunshine was especially good.

Since the academy was closed today, the two hired a mule cart back to the village after breakfast.

Passing by the village entrance, they heard the villagers discussing by the ancient well: it had suddenly snowed yesterday, and several people who returned to the village at night had fallen and were injured. In the neighboring village, a cart had even flipped into a ditch, and it was said that half of the people had lost their lives.

Xiao Liu Lang thought of the incident of hiring a cart back to the village last night. If it weren't for her suggesting to stay at the inn for the night, they might have also encountered an accident.

Xiao Liu Lang didn't know what to say at the moment.

After all...this was already the third time that he had narrowly avoided a disaster because of her.

The two returned home.

The old lady was up and sitting in the living room, sulking.

Yesterday, Gu Jiao thought that things would end early and that she and Xiao Liu Lang would be able to return before the snow started. So, she only left a lunch in the pot. Unexpectedly, the scholars at the academy were so clingy and kept asking Xiao Liu Lang about the incident.

To avoid the misfortune in her dream, she had to pull Xiao Liu Lang to stay overnight in town.

The old lady couldn't cook, so she had to eat cold steamed buns last night and this morning. Her teeth were almost worn out!

Gu Jiao was quite puzzled. She thought, "You're a poor old lady, why don't you know how to cook? Are you a wealthy lady or even the empress dowager?"

Gu Jiao silently took out a bag of preserved fruits and a box of osmanthus cake. "You are allowed to eat two more today."

The old lady said, "No! Five!"

Gu Jiao said, "Three."

The old lady said, "Deal!"

The old lady held the preserved fruits and osmanthus cake, turned her back, and began to eat with a crunching sound.

The news of Gu Dashun and the Zhou and Liu families being arrested had already spread in the village, and even the neighboring villages came to watch the excitement. They still didn't know the connection between this matter and Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao, so they went to the Gu family's old mansion to inquire about the news.

At noon, two catchers came to the door looking for Gu Jiao.

It turned out that after Zhou and Liu were taken to the yamen and subjected to severe interrogation, they honestly confessed the source of the silver: it fell from the person who fought with the little fool, and they had greedily pocketed it before the little fool returned to the village.

"Oh, that's how it is. No wonder I didn't see the two aunts when I went back." Gu Jiao suddenly realized.

The catchers looked at him and asked, "Why did you fight?"

Gu Jiao replied coldly, "He bumped into me! Bullied me! And even cursed at me!"

If someone else did this, the catchers would probably be suspicious. However, they had learned from Zhou and Liu that Gu Jiao was a fool, and a fool's behavior could not be judged by common sense.

Therefore, even though they had arrived here, no one suspected that Gu Jiao had intentionally squatted there to wait for a rabbit or deliberately drove away the thief, leaving the silver for Zhou and Liu to covet. Even Zhou and Liu thought it was all an accident.

Only Xiao Liulang had a faint feeling that everything was too coincidental.

"What happened to the person who may be the thief? Did you remember what he looked like?" the catchers asked.

"He ran away." Gu Jiao shrugged.

"Do you still remember what he looked like?" the catchers asked again.

"He looks... um..." Gu Jiao recalled and gestured while another constable, who was also a painter at the yamen, drew the appearance of the thief. "Is it like this?"

"Well..." Gu Jiao frowned.

At this moment, Xiao Liulang walked out with a portrait.

Gu Jiao's eyes lit up. "Yes! That's the person!"

The constable and the painter exchanged an embarrassed look. The painter of the yamen couldn't even draw a student. How did it feel to have his job threatened?

With the portrait in hand, the yamen quickly solved the case.

However, Zhou Shi and Liu Shi were not immediately released by the yamen. The reason was that when the constable from the yamen came to ask where their money came from, they stubbornly insisted that they had sold mountain goods to earn it.

The amount was huge, and combined with the lies and refusal to pay, it constituted embezzlement, for which each of them was fined twenty taels of silver and given thirty beatings.

As for Gu Dashun, since his mother and second aunt had committed such a shameful act, which was against the family's moral code, he was also nailed to the shame pole.