Chapter 150.1
Gu Jiao didn’t know, she was just guessing.
That token was picked up by Xue Ningxiang from the spot where Xiao Liulang had fainted. Both that beautiful monk and the Third Prince"s Consort said it was the token of the Marquis Xuanping Estate, so there should be no mistake.
This man was also calling Xiao Liulang ‘young master’.
Combining this series of information would lead to the statement she just asked Steward Liu.
Steward Liu came to see her this time intending to borrow her hand to persuade the young master to return to the estate. He had no plan to conceal his ident.i.ty, so he answered truthfully, "Yes, young master is indeed the young master of the Marquis Xuanping Estate."
Digesting this news, Gu Jiao uttered a simple, "Oh."
Oh?
Steward Liu was puzzled. This wasn"t the first time you"ve heard of it, was it? This reaction was simply too calm!
Gu Jiao wasn’t someone who valued ident.i.ty and status. It made no difference to her whether Xiao Liulang was the young master or the servant of Marquis Xuanping Estate.
However, there was one thing she was wondering about.
"Since he is the young master of Marquis Xuanping Estate, why is he unwilling to go back with you?"
It wasn’t that she was deliberately inquiring about his secrets, but she just couldn"t sell her own husband to somebody else who came to their door without knowing anything, right?
Steward Liu let out a sigh, saying, "That would be a long story. If young Madame is not in a hurry, would you like to come to the tea shop with me?"
There was a tea shop nearby. Gu Jiao did not refuse and went with Steward Liu.
Steward Liu thought inwardly: This young Madame’s brain isn’t very bright either. She just left like that with a stranger? Is she not even going to look at my token or something?
But iIf Steward Liu knew what Gu Jiao was capable of, he would be worrying about himself instead.
Though Steward Liu didn"t put Gu Jiao in his eyes, he didn"t mean her any harm. He wasn’t planning on doing something to break up the couple.
He was certain Lord Marquis wouldn"t do something like that either.
Lord Marquis himself was powerful enough and didn’t need to use the marriage of his son to consolidate the relationship between Marquis Xuanping Estate and other great families.
As for whether her ident.i.ty was worthy or not...
Although she grew up in the countryside, she was at least a bonafide Marquis Estate’s Di daughter, and she was also worthy of his young master... though just barely!
Steward Liu asked for a private room on the second floor.
The room was facing the street, and one could see the endless stream of people and carriages alike in Xuanwu Street upon opening the window.
As soon as they sat down face to face, Steward Liu asked, "Does young Madame prefer Biluochun or Longjing Tea?"
"It doesn"t matter." Gu Jiao answered.
Steward Liu smiled and brewed a pot of Longjing tea, "This is the new tea of this year."
Gu Jiao wasn’t fond of tea, so she drank it together with some cold water.
She was really thirsty.
Steward Liu was dumbfounded.
His young master was one exotic flower, and the wife he took in seemed not to be outdone either.
"Go on, get down to business." Gu Jiao said lightly.
"Oh!" Steward Liu came back to his senses and began telling Xiao Liulang"s life story with a sigh. "Actually... the young master is the illegitimate child of Lord Marquis."
This matter had to start from when Marquis Xuanping went to Jiangnan to control the flood eighteen or nineteen years ago.
That year, a great flood occurred in Jiangnan, which destroyed thousands of acres of fertile land and made the common people dest.i.tute and homeless. It wasn’t just a natural disaster, but also a man-made one.
"The funds allocated by the imperial court to build the dam were embezzled by local officials. They skimped on the job and stinted on materials, hence it failed to stop the flood and ended up causing irreparable losses."
At that time, Marquis Xuanping wasn’t as powerful as he was now. His Majesty sent him to Jiangnan to investigate the truth about the dam, and the corrupt local officials tried to bribe Marquis Xuanping to keep the truth a secret.
Marquis Xuanping didn"t want to be a rat in cahoots with these snakes and as a result, they took revenge on him. On his way back to the capital, he was a.s.sa.s.sinated and stabbed seven or eight times.
"I remember it happened near Song County." Steward Liu recalled.
Steward Liu followed Marquis Xuanping since he was a teenager, and he was one of the few people who accompanied him as he fought in territorial wars. It was just that he was sent to other places by Lord Marquis for more than ten years halfway through, and was only recalled by Lord Marquis last year.
"There was no medical hall in that area. After Lord Marquis was injured badly, he looked for a physician nearby. And because of his grave injuries, he had to stay in the physician’s house."
The physician didn’t have very good medical skills. Although he saved his life, Marquis Xuanping was left with a lingering disease. Of course, this was another story.
When Marquis Xuanping was recuperating at the physician’s house, there lived a family of three next door. The head of the family was a gambler and alcoholic, and his little son was only a few years old.
Marquis Xuanping could hear the racket of a man beating and cursing women and children almost everyday. However, this was someone else"s family business and it wasn’t a good thing for Marquis Xuanping to meddle in.
Unexpectedly, on one occasion, the man gambled with his child and lost to others. The woman, hugging the man"s thigh, begged him not to take the child away, but the man only punched and kicked the woman, almost beating her to death.
Marquis Xuanping, who was next door, finally couldn"t stand it. At that time, he was also young and full of vigor; he took up a sword and rushed over to cut the man down.
The man was seriously injured and ended up dying.
The woman then became a widow.
Seeing that she was pitiful, Marquis Xuanping gave her some silver.
Coincidentally, the relatives of the physician, who were victims of the flood, came to the physician to seek shelter.
The physician’s family had nowhere else to live while Marquis Xuanping had to nurse his injuries and couldn’t go too far.
"If sir benefactor doesn"t disdain it, he can come and stay in my house." The woman offered.
There was no need for Steward Liu to say what had happened after that, Gu Jiao was able to tell on her own.
"Lord Marquis lived there for half a year, until his injuries were completely healed. Lord Marquis asked her if she would like to go to the capital with him, but the woman was reluctant. Lord Marquis doesn"t like forcing people, so he simply gave her a token and told her that if she had made her mind, she could always go to the capital to find him."
Steward Liu sighed, "Aiya, Lord Marquis… he still doesn"t know much about women."
Gu Jiao wasn’t the involved party and did not comment.
Steward Liu said, "They separated many years ago. If the young master hadn"t come to the Marquis Estate with that token as well as Lord Marquis" clothes four years ago, Lord Marquis wouldn’t have known that the woman had been pregnant and had secretly given birth to their son."
Gu Jiao asked, "You mean Xiao Liulang went to the capital four years ago?"
Steward Liu: "That"s right."
Gu Jiao: "Has he lived in the capital for a long time?"
Steward Liu shook his head regretfully, saying, "No, the young master came at a bad time. There had been several murders in the capital at that time. Lord Marquis remained in the Ministry of Justice and hadn"t returned to the estate for several days. Finally, he went back to the Marquis Estate… but another major thing happened. Little Marquis died, the only son of Lord Marquis. Lord Marquis was dealt a hard blow and refused to meet people without exception. At that time, the young master had already handed the things to a servant of the Marquis Estate, who took a long time to make a report to Lord Marquis. By then, the young master had already left the capital."
[T/N: Marquis Xuanping is one of my most favorite characters in this novel, hehe. Can’t wait for him to show up!]