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Gu Changqing"s hand fell on empty air and froze beside Gu Yan’s temple for a long time.
The way Gu Yan didn’t say a word and didn’t take a look at him made it easy for people to feel his resistance.
However, Gu Changqing wasn’t sure whether this resistance was against him alone or against all men. After all, it was normal for him to start rejecting other’s touch after being disgusted by Tang Ming.
At this thought, Gu Changqing put down his hand that paused midair and gazed at Gu Yan with a tenderness that he himself didn"t even notice, "When did you wake up?"
"In the morning." Gu Yan answered in a whisper, his eyes lowered and his tone somewhat distant.
Gu Changqing felt distressed by the way he looked right now. He only hated himself for not cutting off Tang Ming"s other arm.
Seeing a wisp of fine black hair hanging down from his temple and falling on his thin cheeks, Gu Changqing subconsciously raised his hand, trying to brush away the unruly hair, but before he could touch it, he remembered his present condition and silently put his hand down.
"I just came to check on you."
He carefully expressed that he didn"t dare to get too close to Gu Yan. On the one hand, he was afraid of accidentally evoking Gu Yan"s unpleasant memories; on the other hand… it was for some unknown reason.
It was as if Gu Yan wasn’t what he used to be, and there also seemed to be some imperceptible change in their relationship.
He didn"t want to think deeper into it, so he simply borrowed Tang Ming as an excuse and thought it was all because of Tang Ming.
Gu Changqing looked at Gu Yan steadily, "It"s getting late. You should rest early. I still have work to do so I’ll take my leave first."
Having said that, he stood up and was about to go, but he halted his footsteps again. His eyes then rested on the medicinal liquid in the bucket that was no longer warm, and he bent down.
Gu Yan said, "It’s fine, I want to soak in it a little longer."
"... Alright." Gu Changqing responded, put the towel in his hand back on the medicine bucket, and said to him, "Then, I"m leaving."
Gu Yan remained silent.
It was only at the beginning when Gu Yan didn"t know who entered the door that he looked up to see Gu Changqing. After that, Gu Yan didn"t look at Gu Changqing again until he left.
He listened as Gu Changqing left the room.
He didn’t know if it was just his imagination, but he also seemed to hear the sound of chains.
The chains on Gu Changqing"s feet were completely cut off, but there was still a small part on his hand. After going out, it accidentally fell out of his sleeve and collided with the shackles.
Gu Changqing hurriedly pressed the chains and looked back at the room, as if looking at Gu Yan through the night.
After a moment, he turned his head forward and jumped over to get on the horse.
He rode his horse back to the military camp.
As soon as he arrived at the gate of the camp, a large group of soldiers, who were all ready to be dispatched, gathered around. They were led by Deputy General Hu. The soldier who had just been knocked unconscious by Gu Changqing"s palm strike had already woken up too and was standing beside Deputy General Hu.
"Ah! Lord Hu! It"s Commandant Gu!" That soldier found Gu Changqing and pulled out the sword at his waist. Although he was afraid, he resolutely stood in front of Deputy General Hu. "It was him who killed Li’l Zheng and Liu Yi! He also knocked out this subordinate!"
He looked at Gu Changqing with eyes full of hatred and vigilance, unaware that if Gu Changqing hadn"t knocked him out on purpose, he would have been awaiting a charge of dereliction of duty while standing dumbly there.
Gu Changqing was always like this.
He would do good things while bearing the worst reputation silently.
Without explaining himself, without clarifying anything.
Deputy General Hu looked at Gu Changqing with a complicated expression, "Take Commandant Gu down!"
The crowd swarmed around Gu Changqing, but there was still the intimidating aura of the cold-face Yama, so no one really dared to be the first to rush forward and capture him.
Gu Changqing dismounted his horse.
They pointed their blades at him, but they couldn"t help but step back.
Gu Changqing slowly stretched out his hands and surrendered.
Only then did they boldly take a step forward carrying shackles in their hands. Looking at him with fearful faces, they braced themselves, took off his old shackles and replaced them with two new pairs.
Deputy General Hu breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Take him back to the torture chamber and wait for Lord Tang tomorrow!"
……
It rained all night till dawn.
Because of the rain at night, the ground was wet, causing Little Jing Kong to fall down again as soon as he went out.
Gu Jiao picked him up, wiped his hands, changed his clothes and then sent him to school.
Duties at Hanlin Academy started very early, so Xiao Liulang set out before dawn.
After Gu Jiao sent Little Jing Kong to Imperial Academy, she turned and went to the medical hall.
Second Owner was directing his men to load boxes of medicines into the carriage at this moment.
Gu Jiao looked at this scene and asked, "Where are you sending them to?"
Second Owner responded, "Little Gu is here. I haven"t seen you for a few days. Is everything all right at home?"
Gu Jiao didn"t come to the medical hall these days, saying that she was busy with things at home without explaining what exactly she was busy with, and Second Owner didn"t pry into it either.
"En, everything is fine." Gu Jiao nodded her head.
Feeling rea.s.sured, Second Owner continued, "These are the new batch of jinchuang medicine to be sent to Hushan Camp. I’ll ask Physician Song and Little San to deliver them later."
"I’ll go." Gu Jiao said.
Second Owner frowned, "You’re going? It just rained last night, making the road hard to travel at this time. I"m just afraid the carriage will skid on the way."
"It’s fine, I"ll go." Gu Jiao was adamant.
Second Owner also knew her character. Once she decided on a thing, even eight horses couldn’t pull it back, not to mention it was only a trip to deliver medicine. He would just remind Little San to drive the carriage slowly.
"Then don"t rush on your way. Also..." As though something suddenly crossed his mind, he reminded her in a low voice, "Something has happened at Hushan Camp these days. Lord Tang"s nephew has been injured. Be careful not to b.u.mp into anyone when you go deliver the medicine."
"I understand." Gu Jiao answered.
After loading the goods, Gu Jiao and Little San headed to Hushan Camp.
It rained last night, and the weather didn"t clear up much today either. The sky was overcast and there were vultures hovering overhead.
When they were about to arrive at Hushan Camp, Gu Jiao b.u.mped into Gu Chengfeng.
Gu Chengfeng also just arrived. He got off the carriage of the Marquis Ding"an Estate. At this moment, Gu Jiao was still sitting inside the carriage, but recognizing Little San, he asked, "Who"s in the carriage?"
Gu Jiao lifted the curtain.
"It’s really you? Why are you here?" Gu Chengfeng entered Gu Jiao’s carriage uninvited, and said to Little San, "Keep watch. Tell us if someone comes."
Little San did not rush to answer him, but looked at Gu Jiao instead. Seeing Gu Jiao slightly nod her head, he jumped off the carriage and vigilantly stood guard for the two of them.
This was the official road leading to the Hushan Camp. The camp was just five hundred steps ahead, and this area belonged to the camp"s sphere of influence. Ordinary people wouldn’t come here easily.
If ever someone came, it would only be the few soldiers coming in and out of the camp.
Seeing that the surrounding was secured, Gu Chengfeng said to Gu Jiao, "Did you also hear about what happened last night? Eldest brother is really muddle-headed. How can he break out of prison in the middle of the night? Though he has not yet been convicted, he is a military official, and he was in the military camp. Escaping like that will get him punished as a deserter! I really wonder where on earth he went in the middle of the night——"
At this point, Gu Chengfeng noticed that Gu Jiao hadn’t uttered a word. His eyes fell on Gu Jiao"s small face that didn’t have the slightest surprise, and he glared at her, "You know where eldest brother went last night, don’t you?"
Gu Jiao didn"t speak.
Of course, she knew.
She came to change Gu Yan"s dressing last night. As soon as she got to the door, she saw Gu Changqing riding his horse away. Gu Changqing had already pa.s.sed her, so he didn"t see her.
Although no news of it had gotten out, she personally treated Tang Ming. She could guess that it was Gu Changqing who hurt him like that, and that Gu Changqing might have been detained in the military camp for investigation.
A person under investigation couldn’t leave the camp without permission. Today, she was adamant to come just to see how Gu Changqing was doing.
"Eldest brother didn"t go to Bishui Alley, did he?" Gu Chengfeng asked tentatively, but when he saw the expression of acquiescence in Gu Jiao"s face, he stood up with a swish, "Did he go to see Gu Yan— Ahk——"
He got up so fast, forgetting that he was inside the carriage of the medical hall, which was no taller than the carriage of the Marquis Ding’an Estate. His head suddenly hit the roof of the carriage, causing him to gasp in pain.
"Ah, ah, ahh!"
He screamed.
He didn’t know if it was because of the pain or because he was driven mad by his eldest brother who actually went to see Gu Yan.
"Have you screamed enough?" Gu Jiao looked at him faintly.
Gu Chengfeng snorted and thought to himself: Who can scream as much as you do? Now that a certain someone is sober, she already forgot about grabbing my ears and screaming crazily all the way!
Gu Chengfeng sat back down. After an emotional release, he was only left with confusion and dejection.Raz P."s Thoughts
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