Chapter 122.1
Gu Jiao had never heard of it nor was she interested. It was just that Xiao Liulang hadn"t come out yet so she could only wait in place and listen to this girl babble on for a long time.
Xiao Liulang went to Mingxuan Hall of the Imperial Academy. He didn"t need anyone to lead the way. He obviously knew his way around here.
The way he walked on crutches attracted the attention of many Imperial Academy students, but he kept his back straight as he calmly pa.s.sed through a lot of strange gazes.
Mingxuan Hall was the name of the Academic Affairs Office of the Imperial Academy. Every day, the instructors and provincial education commissioners came here to wait for the reports of the students from all corners of the country.
Today, sitting in Mingxuan Hall was a provincial education commissioner surnamed Gao, and two instructors surnamed w.a.n.g and Xu respectively.
"All right, follow Instructor Xu to your dormitory. School doesn"t start until the end of the tenth month. You can go to the library for the meantime if you have nothing else to do."
"Thank you."
Under the guidance of Instructor Xu, a non-local student walked out of Mingxuan Hall.
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao looked down and sorted out the information of the student and said, "Next."
A slender jade-like hand put an admission doc.u.ment in front of him.
This hand looked a little too good.
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao subconsciously raised his head, only to be utterly shocked by the other party’s appearance and abruptly stood up from his seat, "Young…"
Young what?
Young Chief?
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao suddenly felt stupid. The Young Chief had already pa.s.sed away. How could he be the person in front of him?
It was only at first glance that they looked so alike, which caused him to lose his manners.
But upon a closer look, they didn’t seem so similar.
The Young Chief was a youth whose temperament was as warm as a jade. His pair of eyes were always filled with a pleasant smile, giving people a very comfortable feeling, and there was also a tear mole under his right eye.
The person in front of him not only did not have that tear mole, his entire being didn’t exude a warm and bright temperament at all. Even his eyes were full of coldness.
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao was secretly annoyed that he was too exhausted recently, causing him to almost mistake someone for another. After a pause, he sat down and picked up the doc.u.ment, "Xiao Liulang? From Qingquan Village?"
He was also surnamed Xiao.
They were not relatives, were they?
Soon, Provincial Education Commissioner Gao shook his head wryly.
How could Marquis Xuanping Estate have relatives in a small village?
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao said, "Your grades are not bad. You’re a Jieyuan in You Province so you are directly admitted. School officially starts on the 27th of the tenth month. After school starts, students will take a unified exam and will be divided into cla.s.ses. Don"t be too complacent because you’re a Jieyuan. There are many Jieyuan here in the Imperial Academy. You will soon find that you are just one of the unremarkable ones. Don"t run around these days and instead go to the library to read more books, understand?"
His words might sound as though he was undermining Xiao Liulang, but just the fact that he didn"t say this much to the recommended students before him showed that he took an interest in this Jieyuan.
However, Provincial Education Commissioner Gao had also seen a lot of such people, many of which ranked first in their respective areas. When they came to the Imperial Academy, however, they were immediately outshined by others.
Therefore, he wanted to remind the other party and let him wake up as early as possible. After all, it wasn’t so easy for a small village to have a Jieyuan.
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao deliberately arranged for Xiao Liulang to live in a bedroom with several other Jieyuan, but Xiao Liulang refused, saying, "I’ll be living outside."
"Why?" Provincial Education Commissioner Gao wondered, "You don’t have to pay any fee to live in the dormitory. You can study more peacefully when you stay in the Imperial Academy. The capital is full of money-squandering and tempting sceneries, and poor young men like you who have never seen the world are the easiest to go astray."
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao’s mouth showed no mercy to anyone. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have remained a mere provincial education commissioner of the Imperial Academy after such a long time.
But he really was not a bad person at heart.
Xiao Liulang replied quietly, "It won"t affect my studies."
Provincial Education Commissioner Gao sighed and said, "That"s fine then. If you’re not going to live in the Imperial Academy, you’ll have to get your waist plate three days later."
The Imperial Academy provided free accommodation for students, but they couldn’t force them to stay if they didn’t want to.
Looking at Xiao Liulang"s departing back, Provincial Education Commissioner Gao shook his head, saying, "What a pity."
Apparently, he already expected Xiao Liulang to be dazzled by the prosperity of the capital and go astray, causing his performance to plummet.
By the time Xiao Liulang walked out of the Imperial Academy, the chattering little scholar had already been picked up by her servants and left in despair.
Gu Jiao looked at him and asked, "Are you done with your matter?"
Xiao Liulang nodded, "En, I have to come back and get the waist plate of the Imperial Academy in three days."
The two people then went home side by side.
The journey back home was really short. After walking only a few steps from the Imperial Academy, they only had to turn a corner and then enter the alley where they live. Their house was in the middle of the alley.
Not all houses in the alley were inhabited, and the environment was also quite clean.
"This is much more convenient than when you’re attending the academy from the village." Gu Jiao said with a smile.
Xiao Liulang uttered an ‘en’ and then added, "In the afternoon, I"ll take Gu Yan and Xiaoshun to take a look at the private schools. Little Jing Kong will go to the Imperial Academy and take the examination two days later than me."
Gu Jiao smilingly nodded, "Okay, everything’s up to you."
They reached home after a few conversations. Gu Jiao was truly very satisfied with this house.
Just as the two of them were about to enter the courtyard, a carriage drove up from the other side of the alley and stopped in front of their house.
The coachman tightened the reins, jumped off the horse and said to them, "Excuse me, is this the home of Jieyuan Xiao?"
As soon as he saw the emblem on the carriage, Xiao Liulang’s eyes grew slightly cold.
Gu Jiao asked, "Is something the matter? What can I do for you?"
The coachman politely replied, "It’s like this, my steward learned that Jieyuan Xiao had come to the capital, so he specially asked me to send something over. Winter in the capital arrives early, next month we already have to start burning charcoal. The carriage I brought with me is full of fine silver charcoal. There are also some fabrics and cotton wadding, all of which are the warmest. Should this little one directly move things in for you two?"
Gu Jiao took a look at Xiao Liulang.
Xiao Liulang"s expression was as sharp and cold as a blade.
Gu Jiao said to the coachman, "No, we are not short of silver charcoal, nor do we want cotton wadding and mattresses. Please take them back to your steward."
The coachman found himself in a difficult situation, saying, "But Steward Liu said..."
"There are no buts. I want you to take them back so just take them back." Gu Jiao spoke faintly, entered the courtyard with Xiao Liulang and then closed the gate.
The coachman could only leave in the end.
Gu Jiao looked at Xiao Liulang and said, "We just moved here yesterday. Only the coachman of the Marquis Ding"an Estate and Guarantor Zhang know our place. That Steward Liu is very well informed."
Xiao Liulang uttered flatly, "Don’t pay attention to him."
After saying that, he turned around and went to the study to sort out his books.
Gu Jiao touched her chin.
He wasn’t being targeted by anyone, was he?
Who exactly dared to set their eyes on him?
The coachman drove the carriage out of the alley and came to the corner at the other end where Steward Liu had been waiting for a long time.
"How did it go?" Steward Liu asked.
The coachman answered, "Young master won"t accept it."
Steward Liu said with a smile, "This young master is more stubborn than I expected."
The coachman asked, "Are you going to tell Lord Marquis?"