Chapter 164.1
Marquis Xuanping, holding a fox-fur hand warmer to warm up his hands, lightly got on the carriage.
Just by looking at his casual and elegant manner, it was hard to a.s.sociate him with the highest-ranking Military Marquis who was known for devising battle plans within the tent and winning victory from a thousand miles away.
“To the estate." He commanded.
The carriage started to move.
Horses in Marquis Xuanping Estate were all Ferghana horses that could cover a thousand li a day, and their presence alone was enough to scare off other horses on the roadside.
The cold wind blew and the canopy fluttered.
Marquis Xuanping sat inside the carriage with his eyes closed.
Just then, he frowned slightly and opened his eyes for some unknown reason. He instructed, "Stop the carriage."
The carriage was pulled to a halt.
Marquis Xuanping lifted the curtain and looked out. He saw nothing apart from an unremarkable carriage.
“Lord Marquis? What"s wrong?" One of the guards asked.
Marquis Xuanping lowered the curtain suspiciously and answered, "It"s nothing. Move on."
"Yes!"
The carriage gradually went away, and this time, it no longer stopped.
Behind the carriage Marquis Xuanping had seen just now, Xiao Liulang finally let go of his embrace of Little Jing Kong; it was unknown for how long they had been like that.
Little Jing Kong immediately jumped three feet away and looked angrily at his bad brother-in-law, "Why did you suddenly hug me? Not letting me get on the carriage and even covering my mouth? Are you trying to commit misconduct towards me?"
Xiao Liulang withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked at the enraged Little Jing Kong, saying, "Where did you learn these words? Don"t use them indiscriminately. "
Little Jing Kong stamped his feet with both hands on his hips. He retorted, "You are obviously the wrong one here, and you still question me where I learned these words?"
Humph!
He was going to complain to JiaoJiao when he got home!
Xiao Liulang once again looked at the direction where the other party’s carriage left, and then took Little Jing Kong into the carriage he hired from the market.
On the way back, Xiao Liulang was very silent.
Although Xiao Liulang had always been a taciturn person, Little Jing Kong still vaguely felt that something was amiss with his bad brother-in-law.
Bad brother-in-law was also like this when he first met Granduncle.
But this time seemed more serious than the last time.
Was he hiding from another acquaintance of his again?
Little Jing Kong folded his arms and fell into deep contemplation!
About two quarters of an hour later, the carriage finally arrived at Bishui Alley. Little Jing Kong immediately jumped down and ran, shouting, "JiaoJiao, JiaoJiao! I"m back!"
He was a child after all. Whatever he was thinking deeply about one moment could easily be forgotten with a turn of his head the next moment.
Feng Lin and Lin Chengye also came today, mainly because of Lin Chengye’s matter.
"Metropolitan exam, is nearing. Steward, ask me, to bribe, little teacher’s wife." Lin Chengye, holding several boxes of local products, slowly said to Gu Jiao.
Xiao Liulang was his little teacher, and Gu Jiao was his little teacher’s wife.
His little teacher’s wife was much younger than himself.
Lin Chengye spoke slowly in order not to stutter.
The way he spoke was still different from that of normal people, but Gu Jiao didn"t show any surprise on her face at all. She calmly took the things he was handing her and said, "Many thanks, come in and take a seat."
Lin Chengye thought that his little teacher’s wife was nice.
Very nice.
Gu Jiao served them the snacks she made herself, and Lin Chengye’s eyes widened as soon as he took a bite, "G-g-good, delicious!"
He got so moved by the taste and stuttered.
He flushed instantly, embarra.s.sed with shame.
But Gu Jiao"s expression remained unchanged as she pushed the plate forward, "There are still more at home. I"ll pack two boxes for you later."
Lin Chengye secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Actually, the fact that he stuttered had gradually become difficult to hide. Not all people would be malicious to him, and many of them would even sympathize with him.
But he didn’t need sympathy.
He wanted to be treated as a normal person.
That was why Gu Jiao"s att.i.tude made Lin Chengye feel so comfortable.
The same was true of Xiao Liulang, it was just that Xiao Liulang"s strict teacher filter was too thick, making Lin Chengye quite afraid of him. It was still better and more comfortable being in the presence of Gu Jiao.
"Are you not planning to go back home for the New Year this time?" Gu Jiao asked.
Lin Chengye nodded and replied, "Because of, the metropolitan exam, my father let… let me stay, in the capital, to continue studying, in preparations, for it."
The Lin Family was so mighty that they bought a school district house directly near the Imperial Academy for him to celebrate the New Year at, which also wasn’t too far from Bishui Alley.
Feng Lin would also stay at the Imperial Academy this New Year.
On normal days, the two of them shared the same dormitory. As the vacation was coming, Lin Chengye didn"t want to leave Feng Lin alone in the cold Imperial Academy, so he invited Feng Lin to live there.
"I don’t think... it’s appropriate… I"ll have to talk to Liulang." The main reason was that Feng Lin thought that Xiao Liulang would rather let him stay here than inconvenience Ling Chengye.
Of course, he himself preferred to live here. After all, Lady Jiao"s food was very delicious!
Lin Chengye said, "I already talked, to Liulang, and he agreed that, you can stay, with me."
Feng Lin who was unexpectedly thrown away by his brother: "…"
Last year"s New Year"s Eve was somewhat hasty. First, it hadn’t been long since Gu Jiao arrived back then and she was, frankly, still in a state of disorder. She still hadn’t completely adapted to her ident.i.ty... Well, as a poor peasant, that was.
Second was their financial status.
This year, they weren’t so poor anymore.
They made a lot of money from Xiao Liulang tutoring Lin Chengye. The one they earned back in the county went to the development of the mountain while the money they earned in the capital had been invested into the medical hall. But Xiao Liulang’s source of income wasn’t just Lin Chengye.
Occasionally, he also wrote articles and poems for others and earned a hundred taels of silver. One hundred taels of silver wasn’t a small sum. This amount could already buy you a house in the county town.
He took out thirty taels to pay Little Jing Kong the rent this month, and gave the remaining seventy taels to Gu Jiao for household expenses.
Little Jing Kong stayed in the study after accepting the payment for the rent.
Xiao Liulang looked at him faintly and asked, "What"s the matter? Is the amount wrong?"
Little Jing Kong had been feeling quite conflicted for a while now.
On the one hand, he hoped that his bad brother-in-law hadn’t lied to him about the letter. After all, the idea of having sent an 800 li urgent letter for the first time made him feel really excited.
On the other hand, he wished his bad brother-in-law was lying to him, so that his bad brother-in-law could become Little Eight, and he could roll and flatten his bad brother-in-law on the ground.
Little Jing Kong gave his bad brother-in-law a complicated look, said nothing, and then went out of the study silently.
Little Jing Kong never clung to Xiao Liulang. He usually didn’t come to Xiao Liulang"s study unless it was necessary, such as when learning foreign language.
Today, however, Little Jing Kong came to take a peek at him from time to time, which made Xiao Liulang puzzled.
But it was still Little Jing Kong who was even more baffled.
Why hadn"t his bad brother-in-law turned into Little Eight yet?