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[Ray] [Samanta V.] [Scorpion Princess] [Sweetlove] [Victoria]
The imperial decree had been issued half a month ago. The old blacksmith and the carpenter were already on their way and should be able to arrive in the capital in a few days.
Gu Jinyu hadn’t the slightest idea that the old blacksmith and carpenter were coming to the capital. After she was conferred the t.i.tle of Commandery Princess, she went to the Kunning Palace to visit Empress Xiao, received the golden seal and the precious scroll(t.i.tle granting decree), and then stayed in Changchun Palace of Imperial Concubine Shu for a short time.
All the imperial consorts and concubines sent gifts over, including Imperial Consort Zhuang and the Crown Princess.
These two people were the most powerful women in the harem apart from Empress Dowager Zhuang and the Empress, and their att.i.tude largely represented the trend of the harem.
It was rare that their course of action was the same this time.
"Aunt really hasn’t misjudged people." Imperial Concubine Shu proudly held Gu Jinyu"s hand, full of praise.
In this matter, it wasn’t only the Emperor who felt proud and elated, but also Gu Jinyu.
Whether it was Yao shi"s show of favoritism to Gu Jiao or the alienation Gu Jinyu had been subjected to in the women academy, at this moment, all the haze seemed to have been swept away.
Gu Jinyu returned to the Marquis Estate with great pride.
And she was bound to be praised by Marquis Gu and Old Madame Gu again.
Ever since Concubine Ling"s incident, Old Madame Gu had been on the verge of depression all day long. Only when she heard how promising Gu Jinyu was, giving the Marquis Ding’an Estate such a big face, did Old Madame Gu turn radiant again.
She took Gu Jinyu"s hand affectionately and said, "Your grandfather is out of the estate. If he is here, he will certainly praise you."
Grandfather...
This word was so lofty in Gu Jinyu"s heart that she didn’t even dare to say it out loud.
Would her grandfather really be proud of her?
In her impression, her grandfather was a distant presence, and everyone in the family was very afraid of him.
It was as though he had never been satisfied with any of the children in the family. Even though his eldest brother worked so hard, her grandfather still looked at her eldest brother with a critical eye.
If she could really be praised by her grandfather, Gu Jinyu thought she could flaunt it for the rest of her life.
Gu Jinyu came out of Old Madame Gu"s courtyard, planning to go to Yao shi"s place and telling Yao shi that she had made great contributions and was conferred the t.i.tle of Commandery Princess. She wanted her mother to know that she was the smartest daughter in the family who deserved Yao shi"s esteem and love.
Halfway there, she unexpectedly ran into Gu Changqing.
With a slight bend in her brows and eyes, she went up to Gu Changqing and greeted him, "Eldest brother."
Gu Changqing nodded faintly.
Gu Jinyu looked at the burden in his hand, smiled and asked, "Is eldest brother coming back from outside? What did you take home with you?"
"A little prey." Gu Changqing answered.
Today, he hunted two birds in the military camp, and planned to send them to Bishui Alley for Gu Yan and Little Jing Kong to play with.
Gu Jinyu recognized his indifference. In the past, she would have left wisely, but today she felt very confident. She smiled and said, "Growing up, I haven"t experienced hunting yet. Is it inconvenient if eldest brother takes me with him next time?”
"Women can"t casually enter the military camp." Gu Changqing declined.
"Ah." Gu Jinyu was slightly disappointed, but not too much. She took out a jade pendant from her pouch, raised her head and smiled gently, "I’m giving this to eldest brother."
"What is it?" Gu Changqing asked.
Gu Jinyu replied with a big smile, "It"s a warm jade bestowed by his Majesty."
Gifting him a jade pendant was secondary, the first thing was still to remind her eldest brother that she was now a Commandery Princess.
When Gu Changqing saw the jade pendant, he finally remembered the news he had heard in the military camp. Gu Jinyu made great contributions and was conferred the t.i.tle of Commandery Princess Hui.
"Congratulations." Gu Changqing said calmly, not reaching for the jade pendant. "Since it"s a reward from His Majesty, you should keep it yourself and don"t lose it."
"En... I understand." Gu Jinyu really hoped that Gu Changqing would accept this piece of jade pendant.
Gu Changqing went back to his courtyard.
Gu Jinyu’s matter didn’t cause ripples in Gu Changqing"s heart. He never expected to rely on Gu Jinyu to carry the Marquis Ding’an Estate forward. Therefore, whether Gu Jinyu became a princess or performed meritorious service had little to do with him.
After showing off in front of her eldest brother, Gu Jinyu couldn"t wait for others to know. Unfortunately, Yao shi wasn"t in the estate.
Yao shi went to Bishui Alley.
She brought the clothes she made for Gu Jiao for her to try on. As a result, the sleeves and trouser legs were shorter than her size again.
Was this child just starting to grow in height now?
Yao shi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as she let down the folded hems of the sleeves and trouser legs.
After fixing Gu Jiao’s clothes, she had all the clothes of the family taken out to see if there were any that needed mending.
The clothes of the rest of the family were made by an embroidery lady, and they had new clothing every month. Both the elderly lady and Xiao Liulang"s clothes were durable, mainly because the two didn’t move so much. In comparison, others’ were somewhat horrible.
It was Gu Jiao who used to mend them in the past.
Yao shi almost laughed when she saw it today.
She thought that her daughter could do anything in this world, but it turned out there were also things where she displayed foolishness.
Gu Jiao just finished watering the garden. When she came to the backyard, she saw Yao shi shaking with laughter, holding a pile of clothes.
"What"s the matter?" She asked in bewilderment.
"Ow~" Yao shi burst into tears, and it took her a long time to stop laughing. She asked Gu Jiao, "JiaoJiao, who did you learn to sew?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment, "It’s self-taught?"
Yao shi knew it.
Otherwise, who else would sew clothes like this?
Yao shi was so amused by her daughter that she patted the stool on the side and motioned Gu Jiao to sit down. Then she showed the place that Gu Jiao had mended and said, "Don"t tie a knot with a st.i.tch, and don"t leave the thread outside. Like this... "
Yao shi took it apart and sewed it up again to demonstrate it to Gu Jiao.
"Hm." Gu Jiao thought seriously, "I thought I sewed it very well."
After all, sewing clothes really improved her surgical st.i.tching skills, and she was able to finish the suture faster than before.
While the mother and daughter were chatting, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun came back from the academy, and they didn’t have to go to Master Lu to study craftsmanship today.
Not knowing that Gu Jiao and Yao shi were at home, they each went into the yard with a chicken feather on their heads.
Gu Xiaoshun had a small gang in the countryside. Back then, he was the countryside’s number one bully, and the chicken feather on his head was the symbol of their chicken feather gang.
After that, Gu Jiao sent him to study in Tianxiang Academy. He seemed to have completely changed, but he was still secretly a little devil.
Gu Jiao finally caught him in the act today.
"Uh, big sis." Gu Xiaoshun swished off the chicken feather on the top of his head, then his eyes shifted sideways and also plucked off the chicken feather on Gu Yan"s head.
The two people stood there motionless, waiting for Gu Jiao to deal with them.
"JiaoJiao!"
At that moment, Aunt Zhang, their neighbor in the alley, came knocking on their gate. "The courtyard wall behind my kitchen is going to collapse!"
"I’ll deal with you two later." Gu Jiao looked at the two little devils at home, put down the bucket for watering flowers, and went to Aunt Zhang’s house.
Their neighbors first discovered Gu Jiao’s capability because of the leaking roof of Old Chief next door. Climbing up, Gu Jiao directly renovated the roof of Old Chief’s house. Right after that, several neighbors all knew that Old Lady Zhuang’s grandniece-in-law had such skills.
Aunt Zhang"s courtyard wall was cracked and needed to be repaired with mud.
There was no cement in ancient times, but only lime mortar and rammed earth.
Lime mortar was not stable enough, and it was easy to be affected by dampness during rainy days, so rammed earth was a better choice.
The raw materials of rammed earth were red mud, grit and lime blocks. The lime blocks and grit were still available at Granduncle’s house, as for the red mud, it had been used up by Little Jing Kong, who was obsessed with building houses with his friends recently. Gu Jiao really didn’t know where to get them for a while.Raz P."s Thoughts
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