In her fury, Old Madame Gu made a big fuss in the ancestral hall, so that everyone in the entire estate learned that Gu Changqing had locked up his two younger brothers in the ancestral hall.
Marquis Gu, however, was unaware of it. Recently, he was plagued by trivial matters in the Ministry of Works and hadn't been back to the Marquis Estate for several days.
"Lord Gu, the Ministry of War is urging again." An official under Marquis Gu reported.
Marquis Gu sat in a chair, looking at a mountain of official documents on the desk. He felt as though his head could explode as he said, "Urge, urge, urge, they only know how to urge us all day long! Isn't it already being cast? How many days has it just been?"
The official, who innocently got a scolding from both ends, felt very bitter, saying, "The Ministry of War said that our speed was too slow, and they couldn't wait for two months."
Marquis Gu said angrily, "They still have to wait even if they can’t! What they want are weapons, which are made of iron, not mud! Can it be done that quickly?"
The official broke into a cold sweat as he responded, "The Ministry of War said that they can give us one month at most. During this time, we must produce those swords..."
"One month? They are daydreaming!" It wasn’t that Marquis Gu didn't want to make those swords in a short time for the Ministry of War, but that their current technology was quite limited. If they could get the latest water-powered furnace technology of the State of Liang, perhaps the amount of weapons they could forge could be greatly increased.
The official added, "Well, the Ministry of War said that even a civilian iron shop can produce this little number of weapons, so why can't our Ministry of Works make it?"
"A civilian iron shop can produce them?" Marquis Gu laughed sarcastically and said, "Their Ministry of War even resorts to spreading rumors for the sake of their weapons?"
The official said awkwardly, "That’s not it, Lord Gu. Actually, this official also seems to have heard about this. There’s this sort-of-a-box thing developed amongst the common folks, which is more effective than the water-powered furnace technology of our imperial court. It can produce stronger air flow and more firepower, and can smelt ten times more iron in one day."
"Ten times?" Marquis Gu waved his hand disbelievingly, "That can’t be, no way.” Even the State of Liang couldn’t do it. Granted that what the State of Liang taught the State of Zhao was only the earliest version of the water-powered furnace technology, even so, the gap between it and their perfected furnace technology also didn’t have that ten-fold gap.
The official suggested, "How about... we send someone to check it out first? I heard it’s in a place called Qingquan Town of the You Province.”
Marquis Gu waved his hand again, "Oh, that's even more impossible. This Lord just came back from the You Province! If there really is such a powerful technology there, how come this Lord has never heard of it?"
Marquis Gu was determined not to investigate.
On the other hand, the Ministry of War was unable to wait any longer and directly sent people over there.
……
In the early days of the eleventh month, there was a light snow in the capital.
Little Jing Kong went out without looking at the road ahead and stumbled down.
Ever since he descended the mountain, Little Jing Kong seldom tripped over, so much so that Gu Jiao almost forgot that he was a renowned clumsy little monk.
However, he was still as skillful as ever when it came to falling over— clasping his head, bending his knees, and rolling around the yard like a small ball.
Just then, Gu Jiao walked out of the kitchen.
Little Jing Kong rolled to her feet, and then he spread out his hands and feet and looked at Gu Jiao in an extremely adorable way.
Gu Jiao picked up the little guy on the snowy ground and patted the snow off him, "Why did you fall over again?"
Little Jing Kong reveled in Gu Jiao's arms, saying, "Because JiaoJiao is so beautiful, I am fascinated by JiaoJiao, causing me to fall over!"
Gu Jiao：“…”
When did the clumsy little monk turn into a flirty little monk who spouted cheesy pick-up lines?
Little Jing Kong's buzz cut was unable to protect his head from the cold. Worried, Gu Jiao bought him a hat, which was a tiger hat. The tiger's eyes were big and round. When Little Jing Kong put it on, he looked adorable and fierce at the same time.
He usually didn’t wear it in school, as wearing one was a very childish thing to do.
But in front of Gu Jiao, he was wearing not only a tiger hat, but also a tiger vest and tiger shoes.
After selling cuteness and asking for a kiss, Little Jing Kong hopped back to his and his brother-in-law’s room.
After finishing his early morning business, he reverted back to being Niohuru[1] Jingkong and went to school with a dignified face!
After a few days of recuperation, Gu Yan was in good health and could go to class.
Gu Jiao prepared the hand warmer furnaces— one for Grandaunt, one for Xiao Liulang and also one each for the three younger brothers.
Xiao Liulang took Little Jing Kong to the Imperial Academy while Gu Jiao sent Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun to their private school.
Gu Yan looked around as they walked out of the alley.
Gu Jiao asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"No one." Gu Yan looked up at the sky.
No one? These days, he would run to the gate and look at the end of the alley every day. Gu Jiao was his twin sister, could she still not know what he was thinking?
However, that man hadn't appeared again since he saved Gu Yan.
Gu Jiao sent the two people to the academy and went to Chang'an Street afterwards.
Having been here for so long, she had already grasped the surrounding topography.
She thought about it. Although they still had 1,000 taels of silver on hand, prices in the capital were so high that they couldn’t really afford to just sit and eat at home, doing nothing for a living.
She bought herbs at the market and made some of her self-made jinchuang medicine, which she planned to sell in nearby medical halls.
As soon as she walked into the first medical hall, she saw an acquaintance, "Little Liu."
The young man called Little Liu slowly turned around and his eyes lit up at once, "Gu girl? You have come to the capital?"
Gu Jiao nodded and said, "My husband came to study in the Imperial Academy, and the whole family moved here."
Little Liu hurriedly bowed, saying, "Congratulations to Young Gentleman Xiao, congratulations to Gu girl!"contemporary romance
Little Liu was Second Owner's coachman. He used to run around on errands for Gu Jiao a lot when he was still in the medical hall at Qingquan Town. He was also the one to get the iron tools she used for opening up the mountain.
"Where is Second Owner?" Asked Gu Jiao.
Little Liu's face dimmed as he replied, "Second Owner is not doing very well right now. I can't explain it in a few words, but he’s in the tavern over there. Let me take Gu girl there."
"Alright." Gu Jiao answered.
On the way to the tavern, Little Liu more or less told her the matter, saying that Second Owner made a sudden trip back to the capital because Lord Hu was dying.
Second Owner rushed back to the capital non-stop upon receiving the news, but still failed to see Lord Hu for the last time.
The Hu Family even buried Lord Hu without waiting for Second Owner to come back.
In fact, Second Owner was only one day late. If they had waited for one more day, Second Owner could have personally seen his father off, but the Hu family wouldn't even give him this opportunity.
This was not the most hateful thing though. The most hateful thing was that the Hu Family actually slandered Second Owner for being unfilial, saying he was indifferent to the Master’s illness, not even coming to attend his funeral.
The State of Zhao attached great importance to filial piety, hence the reputation of Second Owner was done for after an unfilial hat was put on his head.
"He was kicked out of the Hu Family..." Little Liu wiped his tears and couldn't help feeling wronged and heartbroken for Second Owner.
"I understand." When they arrived at the door of one of the wing rooms of the tavern, Gu Jiao said to Little Liu, "You go and get us some hot tea."
"Okay!" Little Liu chokingly answered and went to get some hot tea.
Gu Jiao entered the wing room and a pungent smell of wine immediately assaulted her nose.
done.co
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