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Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing coldly held the imperial decree in her hand.
Grannie Cai grabbed her arm and knelt down with a thud. Her face turned pale with fear, and her voice trembled as she spoke, "Imperial concubine dowager! This servant kneels before you! Please don"t act impulsively! His Majesty is just momentarily misguided! Give it some time... His Majesty will be fine after a while!"
Naturally, these words were just a form of comfort, but Grannie Cai simply couldn"t think of any other way.
"This servant begs imperial concubine dowager, please put the imperial decree back... Please, please put it back..."
"Imperial concubine dowager is not alone. You still have Princess Ning"an... Please don"t act impulsively... Think about the princess..."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing murmured, "Ning"an will never come back... Never..."
"That’s not true!" Grannie Cai choked, shaking her head. "Empress Dowager might have told the princess that if she proceeded with the marriage, she would never be allowed to return for the rest of her life... But surely, it was just said in a fit of anger. Empress Dowager loves the princess so much. If the princess really wants to come back, how could Empress Dowager possibly reject her?"
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing mumbled, "Can Ning"an come back?"
"She can... She can!" Grannie Cai looked at Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing, who seemed to be in a trance, and quietly stood up, cautiously reaching out to hold one end of the imperial decree. "Imperial concubine dowager, give the imperial decree to this servant... This servant will put it away for you... Later, this servant will grind ink for you... Imperial concubine dowager can write a letter to the princess, saying that you miss her..."
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing looked lost as she repeated, "Write a letter to Ning"an..."
Grannie Cai slowly pulled the imperial decree out of her hand, bit by bit. "Yes! Yes, imperial concubine dowager! Write a letter to Princess Ning"an! You haven"t written your letter this month yet!"
In the end, Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing didn"t resist as her hands fell down.
Grannie Cai took the entire imperial decree in her hands. She breathed a sigh of relief and quickly placed the decree in another hidden compartment.
The previous hidden compartment had been exposed, and the one this time was beneath the floor.
Afraid that Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing would change her mind, Grannie Cai hurried to the study and brought ink, brush, paper, and inkstone. "Here you go, imperial concubine dowager! Quickly write a letter to the princess!"
In any case, she had to divert the imperial concubine dowager"s attention first!
Imperial Concubine Dowager Jing picked up the brush calmly.
In the unseen darkness of the night, she closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek.
……
Xiao Liulang went to the countryside, Little Jing Kong went to the Zhou residence, Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun went to learn craftsmanship, so Gu Jiao felt that it wouldn"t be right if she didn"t do something secretly.
She sneaked into Marquis Ding"an Estate.
Marquis Ding"an Estate was as quiet as ever. Originally, Gu Chenglin was being a bit rowdy, but a few days ago, Marquis Gu, who didn"t have a carriage to ride back, walked from the countryside to the capital on foot, nearly breaking his legs and falling ill when he returned home.
Today, Gu Chenglin was attending to his sick father in his courtyard.
This made it convenient for Gu Jiao. After all, Gu Chenglin and Gu Chengfeng lived in the same courtyard, so having one less person watching wouldn"t be a bad thing.
Gu Jiao entered Gu Chengfeng"s courtyard smoothly as though she was walking in the park.
Gu Chengfeng was taking a bath at the moment, singing an opera song while soaking in the wooden tub.
Gu Jiao knew nothing about opera, but for some reason, she found his singing voice quite pleasant.
"Yi~ Yi~ Yi~ Yi~ Yi~ Flying geese in the sky~ Hearing the maid"s voice, the shadow falls on the painted screen~"
Gu Chengfeng sang with great immersion, his tone melodious, his voice gentle, and his gestures full of charm.
"So, you can sing a female voice too?" Gu Jiao bent down, looked at him by his ear and asked.
The tone of her words was so casual, as if she was greeting an acquaintance on the street. However, the reality was that Gu Chengfeng was taking a bath, singing, and completely naked in his own room!
To prevent others from hearing, he specifically chose a time when Gu Chenglin was not in the courtyard, and he had dismissed all the servants as well.
He never expected to be interrupted at all.
Calling it an interruption was an understatement. This was a f.u.c.king jump scare!
Gu Chengfeng plunged into the water with a thud, almost choking himself!
When he sat up and grabbed the edge of the wooden tub, he realized he had unknowingly swallowed several mouthfuls of his own bathwater!
He grabbed the towel hanging on the tub to cover a certain unspeakable area, panicking in the tub, "Why are you here in the middle of the night?! And you specifically chose the time when I was bathing! Do you have some strange fetish?!"
Last time it was in the outhouse, and now it was in the bathtub. Gu Chengfeng seriously suspected that she was doing it on purpose!
Gu Jiao shrugged, "I didn"t know it was you who was singing. Who told you to sing while taking a bath, and sing a female role at that."
Gu Chengfeng"s face turned red, "Sheng, Dan, Jing, Mo, Chou... I sing each role according to its ident.i.ty! Do you understand?"
"I don"t understand." Gu Jiao stated bluntly.
Gu Chengfeng: "..."
Gu Chengfeng gritted his teeth, "You, you, you... get out!"
"Oh." Gu Jiao turned around, opened the door, and walked out. She had already crossed the threshold when her little head suddenly poked back in, "You sound pretty good though."
Gu Chengfeng: ...Just shut up!
Last time when he pretended to be an a.s.sa.s.sin and tricked Grannie Cai, Gu Chengfeng used a voice that was completely different from his original one. At that time, Gu Jiao didn"t think much of it, a.s.suming it was just the thieves’ professional skills—— not only was he able to conceal his appearance but also disguise his voice a bit.
But tonight, upon hearing it again, this wasn"t just a slight disguise, he could actually change his voice!
"Hey, what other voices can you do?" Gu Jiao asked him when Gu Chengfeng came out of the room with a dark expression.
"None!" Gu Chengfeng said irritably.
Gu Jiao: "Oh."
Gu Chengfeng thought she gave up, but she suddenly spoke again, "Can you do a loli voice?"
"Then... an elegant older sister"s voice?"
"A juvenile‘s voice?"
"How about a falsetto?"
Gu Chengfeng stopped and looked at her with a puzzled expression, "I don"t know what you"re talking about, but... Since when did you become so talkative?!"
Wasn"t Little Jing Kong the only little trumpet spirit in your family?!
Gu Jiao blinked her eyes, realizing that she shouldn"t bother him about changing his voice anymore. She took out a copper coin from her pouch and handed it to him.
"What’s this?" Gu Chengfeng asked.
Gu Jiao said, "Tip, for your performance."
Gu Chengfeng: "..."
The two of them left the courtyard and walked slowly without any haste. Fortunately, Old Marquis wasn"t around, and most of the dark guards in the estate were not in this area.
As they pa.s.sed by a small wooden house, Gu Chengfeng said, "Can you give me a heads-up before coming to find me in the future? Or at least knock on the door."
Today, it was just catching him bathing and singing, but what if someday...
He was a man, and there would always be moments when it was inconvenient to b.u.mp into him.
"Oh, is that so?" Gu Jiao casually raised her hand and knocked on the door of the small wooden house.
Creak...
The door of the small wooden house opened.
Both of them were stunned. Neither of them expected that there would actually be someone inside, and the person who walked out turned out to be Gu Changqing.
Both of them were dressed in night attire, and they were holding masks in their hands.
Upon seeing his elder brother, Gu Chengfeng wasted no time and quickly put on his mask, using his qinggong to run away!
References
1. — "生旦净末丑" is a term used in traditional Chinese opera, specifically referring to the five main types of roles or characters: Sheng: The male roles, often representing virtuous or heroic characters. Dan: The female roles, encompa.s.sing both young and mature female characters. Jing: The painted face roles, characterized by bold and dramatic makeup, often portraying warriors, G.o.ds, or powerful figures. Mo: The supporting roles, which include a range of secondary characters. Chou: The clown or comic roles, providing comic relief and entertainment. Raz P."s Thoughts
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