The Pampered Concubine Gu Jiao Niang

Chapter 28: Dreaming

The old lady did come ten days ago, but for the first few days, she was in a daze and didn't even remember that she had arrived so early. So Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang delayed the time of her arrival by a few days.

This was different from the day when the old lady disappeared in Qingquan Town.

But what Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang didn't know was that when the old lady fell in front of Gu Jiao's house, Xue Ningxiang heard the commotion.

At that time, she felt that something was not right...

"Ah Xiang." The voice of her mother-in-law came from the next room.

Xue Ningxiang collected her thoughts and went to her mother-in-law's room. "Mother, you're awake?"

"I just heard someone coming into the room, is it that second son of ours in trouble?" The old woman was most worried about her youngest son who had gone to join the army.

Xue Ningxiang whispered, "The second son is fine. It's just that a leper from the mountain ran away, and the officials came to search our place, but they've already left."

"Was it a man or a woman? How old were they?"

"They didn't say," Xue Ningxiang replied.

"How could a leper run all the way here? ... cough, cough..." Xue Ningxiang's mother-in-law coughed violently twice, muttered a few words, and fell asleep in a daze.

Xue Ningxiang closed her eyes.

Although she was not a good person, Gu Jiao had saved her life.

The incident of the officials searching for people did not cause a stir in Qingquan Village, and life went on as usual.

Gu Jiao occasionally felt that the old lady had a mysterious background; otherwise, how could so many officials come to search for her and not disclose any information about her to the outside world?

But when Gu Jiao looked at the old lady, who was holding a jar of melon seeds and crunching away like a squirrel, she suddenly felt that she was thinking too much.

With nothing to do, Gu Jiao stayed at home and repaired all of Xiao Liulang's clothes.

She was right; it was much easier to repair cloth than human skin!

When Xiao Liulang returned home, he found that his torn clothes had been repaired and knew without asking that it was Gu Jiao who had done it.

Gu Jiao had never sewn clothes before, at least not since he arrived, but unexpectedly, she did a good job. The stitches were fine, even and neat. The only thing that puzzled him was that when others sewed clothes, the loose threads were inside, but when she sewed clothes, why did she leave all the loose threads outside?

The old lady's recovery was much better than that of Xiao Liulang's older brother. Xiao Liulang had asked the physician how long it would take for his older brother to lose his infectivity, and the doctor said one month. Although the old lady had not taken the medicine for a month, her therapeutic effect had far exceeded one month, and she could already sit at the same table and eat with others.

What Xiao Liulang didn't expect was that the first time they sat at the same table to eat, the old lady almost choked him to death.

"I say," the old lady took a sip of corn and dragon bone soup, "what's the matter with you two? I've been here for so long, and I haven't seen you two sharing a room."

Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao both choked.

"The husband is still young," Gu Jiao said calmly.

The old lady looked Xiao Liulang up and down, nodding. "Yes, he's still young, and his body hasn't been hollowed out yet."

Xiao Liulang: "......"

Meanwhile, the Wu mother-in-law and daughter-in-law didn't show up in the village for several days. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but it was because old master Gu wouldn't allow them to.

After the last incident, which caused a big fuss, it reached the ears of old master Gu. Before his third son passed away, he promised to take care of Gu Jiao and would keep her by his side for the rest of her life, eventually finding her a son-in-law.

However, he didn't trust her, believing that she was a jinx. She had already caused the deaths of his third son and his wife, so he couldn't let her harm Da Shun and his family.

But old master Gu never indulged Wu in asking Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang for money. Wu told him that Xiao Liulang wanted to show filial piety to him and also to support Da Shun's education.

Old Master Gu believed her.

"I only just found out the truth." Old Master Gu felt like he had lost face and said, 'From now on, Liu Lang should study on his own and don't ask for money anymore!'"

Madam Wu was furious.

"A cripple like him, what can he possibly achieve by studying? It's just a waste of money. I heard he failed the exam again this time! It's better to give the money to Dashun. When Dashun becomes successful, he will take care of Liu Lang."

Dashun was going to become a juren, and even giving Liu Lang and his family some leftover food would be enough for them.

Old Master Gu still cared about his reputation, and the villagers were talking behind his back. He couldn't go to his son-in-law to ask for money again.

Old Master Gu warned madam Wu not to bring her daughter-in-law to his house to cause trouble.

These past few days were not easy for old madam Wu and her daughter-in-law, and Dashun also encountered his first setback in life.

He finally found out who's the dean favored as his successor, and it was someone he never expected: Xiao Liulang.

Xiao Liulang was not only physically disabled, but also had shallow knowledge and was almost useless except for his good looks.

Dashun couldn't understand how such a bad student could catch the dean's eye.

He started to recall the dean's attitude towards him, how he had praised him more than once and even met with him privately. But since Xiao Liulang went to see the dean, the dean ignored him completely.

He couldn't think of any reason why the dean would be dissatisfied with him academically.

Was it because Xiao Liulang had said something to the dean that made him question Dashun's character and grow to dislike him?

It must be that!

Otherwise, why would the dean choose Xiao Liulang, who always ranked last, instead of him?

Seeing someone who appeared to be diligent and studious turn out to be so sinister behind his back, Dashun felt that Xiao Liulang was despicable.

Thinking about how Xiao Liulang had taken away what should have been his, Dashun couldn't help but feel resentful towards him.

"Xiao Liulang, you wait for me!"

That night, Gu Jiao had another dream.

As expected, she dreamt of Xiao Liulang again.

Xiao Liulang had just finished copying a book and took it to the study at noon. Unexpectedly, there was a theft in the study, and suspicion fell on Xiao Liulang.

In fact, there was an eyewitness at the time, Gu Dashun. Gu Dashun saw with his own eyes that Xiao Liulang left before the owner of the study entered, and knew that Xiao Liulang had never entered the owner's room.

However, Gu Dashun refused to tell the truth and insisted that only Xiao Liulang went upstairs. Although this did not directly accuse Xiao Liulang of being the thief, it ruled out the suspicion of others.

However, Xiao Liulang was not someone to be trifled with. He solved the case by analyzing the footprints in the backyard.

The case should have ended here, but because of the investigation, a lot of time was wasted, and when Xiao Liulang returned to the village, he encountered a snowstorm.

On the way, the mule cart slipped and fell into a ditch, and Xiao Liulang's face was injured and scarred for life, leaving an indelible shadow on him.