Chapter 1878: Chapter 934: Dominant Xiao Ji (Part 1)
Orchid Courtyard prepared a separate practice room and a backyard for Xiao Jingkong, where he could fully unleash his potential.
After putting him down, Xiao Hen went to the study room to handle his own affairs.
Shangguan Qing was carried into the study by two servants, his cheeks gaunt, looking disheveled, pitiful and sorrowful.
Xiao Hen, who was organizing his desk, was startled by his appearance: “What happened to you? Did someone beat you up?”
Shangguan Qing signaled the servants to help him to the chair opposite the desk.
The servants helped him to the southeast corner, but he shook his head and indicated with his eyes: “I want that spot.”
That spot faced his brother directly, allowing him to fully display his pitiful state.
It must be said that the father and sons were exceptionally gifted at “showcasing themselves.”
After he sat down with difficulty, he said to the servants, “Alright, you can leave now.”
The two servants quietly exited.
Xiao Hen glanced through the booklets in his hand, selecting the ones that needed sunning, and gave him a glance, saying: “You’re our father’s own son, no one in Zhaodu would dare lay a hand on you, right? Let me guess, you want a firearm again?”
Shangguan Qing took a sharp breath, this pesky little brother, how could he see through his heart’s desires at a glance?
He opened his mouth.
Xiao Hen didn’t give him the chance: “Don’t deny it, I’ve seen through you.”
Shangguan Qing’s handsome face darkened.
In a second, he dropped his facade, casually threw his feet onto the table, crossed his arms behind his head, leaned back on the chair, and said nonchalantly: “Tell me, where’s my flaw?”
Xiao Hen chuckled and said: “You didn’t slip up, I was bluffing.”
Shangguan Qing’s body shuddered; it’s one thing to be tricked by that girl, but you too! You both really are a match made in heaven!
“I don’t care.” He turned his face away, puffing out his cheeks, “Taking care of the little monk almost cost me half my life! You have to make ten new firearms for me!”
“Two,” Xiao Hen negotiated.
Shangguan Qing swiftly withdrew his feet from the table, sat straight up, and glared at Xiao Hen: “Isn’t bargaining supposed to cut the price in half?”
Xiao Hen thought for a moment: “Then… one?”
Half of two is one.
Shangguan Qing squinted his eyes dangerously: “I’ll go tell the princess that you’re bullying me.”
Xiao Hen said breezily: “Since the poison’s been cured, if you, my literary and fragile brother, are still bullied by me, it seems you haven’t been practicing your horse stance enough.”
Shangguan Qing’s mouth twitched: “Three firearms, no less.”
Xiao Hen: “Deal.”
Shangguan Qing: “You’re not going to fight it this time?”
If I’d known, I’d have asked for four!
The daily defeat-against-the-little-brother series ended, Shangguan Qing returned to his own courtyard.
Meanwhile, after Xiao Jingkong finished practicing, reading, and his homework, nearly till mid-morning, he finally waited for Gu Jiao to come out of her room.
He leapt off the swing frame, mustered all his strength and ran towards Gu Jiao.
“Jiaojiao!”
He spread his tiny arms, ready to jump into Gu Jiao’s embrace as usual.
However, halfway through, he came to a timely stop.
He stabilized his breathing, steadied his stance, his little feet firmly planted on the ground, his little body swayed as he tried hard not to fall.
He looked up, incredulous, at Gu Jiao, pointing at her face: “Jiao… Jiaojiao?”
Gu Jiao curved her lips into a smile, walked forward, and rubbed his small head tenderly: “Wow, where have you been? You got tanned again.”
On the day of the wedding, he was still like a hardboiled egg, but now he’s nearly a shiny little soy-braised egg.
“Ah!”
He hurriedly covered his head, complaining and aggrieved, “It’s all Brother Qing’s fault! He made me stay on the boat for three days! I’ve been sun-dried into dried fish!”
Gu Jiao imagined the scene and bent over in laughter.
She laughed so heartily that Xiao Jingkong, lost in her smile, also felt especially happy.
“But Jiaojiao.” He curiously looked at her left cheek, “Why is the flower on your face gone?”
Flower?
Gu Jiao paused for a moment.
Suddenly, she realized something; Xiao Jingkong hadn’t used his usual repetitive words.
He’s grown up, no longer the three-year-old monk who just came down the mountain.
A surge of indescribable emotions washed over Gu Jiao’s heart.
Is it gratification?
Or melancholy?
Perhaps there’s a trace of reluctance too.
She wished she could cuddle him back into being that little bundle who followed her around, calling her Jiaojiao in a sweet, childish voice.
Not able to see her when he opened his eyes, he would cry as if the sky was falling, and he used to ask her to plant kisses on his little face and water them daily to see them sprout.
Always sitting on the doorstep, waiting for her to come home.
“Jiaojiao, what’s wrong?” Xiao Jingkong noticed Gu Jiao suddenly staring at him without speaking, so he couldn’t help but ask.
His small eyes were full of genuine concern and worry.
No matter how you grow up, you are still her Jingkong.
Gu Jiao gently stroked his little head and said softly, “Because I’ve grown up too, that flower is gone.”
The six-year-old Jingkong thought carefully, combining all his book knowledge and agricultural knowledge, said, “Like the Begonia Flower? When the flower is gone, does it bear small fruits?”
The pea seedlings he planted in the countryside would bloom and bear fruit when they grew up.
Gu Jiao pondered for a moment and said, “I don’t know yet.”
“Oh.” He thought again about the pea seedlings in the countryside, unsure if every single one had bloomed and borne fruit, and decided to plant a few more to observe.
Little Jingkong looked at Gu Jiao, his big eyes full of a child’s innocence and purity: “Jiaojiao, don’t be sad! You look very pretty even without the little flower! The prettiest!”
Children have their own unique sense of aesthetic; in Little Jingkong’s eyes, whether Gu Jiao had a birthmark or not, she was the most beautiful girl in the world!
…
Elsewhere, Marquis Xuanping personally set out and captured Young Master Mingyue and his guard near Bishui Alley.
He took the two of them back to a place in Marquis Xuanping Residence specifically for interrogating disobedient people.
Such a man, with hands stained in blood, was not a proper gentleman secretly.
The carriage stopped at the courtyard entrance.
The guards lifted the curtain, and Marquis Xuanping took the cloth to wipe the blood from his hands, saying indifferently, “With Chang Jing not here, even small matters have to be handled by me personally.”
The guards dared not make a sound.
Young Master Mingyue was not easy to deal with, ordinary secret guards could not handle him.
Marquis Xuanping casually tossed the blood-stained cloth and disembarked from the carriage with a cold expression.
Young Master Mingyue and his guard were bound in a secret room, invisible to the sky, mounted on wooden racks.
The guard couldn’t endure and had already fainted.
Young Master Mingyue was still conscious, not yet subjected to punishment, with injuries left from fighting Marquis Xuanping.
His arms were spread apart, bound by chains, unable to move, blood dripping from his lips onto the cold floor below.
He coldly stared at Marquis Xuanping, his eyes full of murderous intent.
Marquis Xuanping fearlessly ascended the punishment platform, like a ruler of the night, suppressing Young Master Mingyue’s murderous aura in an instant, like a clay ox entering the sea.
Young Master Mingyue’s eyes trembled fiercely.
This man is dangerous!
Marquis Xuanping said haughtily, “I don’t like meaningless talk, nor do I enjoy beating around the bush, answer honestly who you are, who is Shitian, and what the relationship with the Sword Hut is. And also.”
He spoke, gestured to a guard next to him.
The guard understood, stepped forward, and tore open Young Master Mingyue’s clothes, exposing his solid and muscular chest.
On his heart, there was surprisingly a patch of dark red and black.
Marquis Xuanping slightly narrowed his eyes: “So you have been poisoned by Gu poison, no wonder your power is being eaten away and cannot be exerted.”
Young Master Mingyue turned his head with gritted teeth: “I won’t say anything.”
Marquis Xuanping laughed lightly: “You don’t need to say, I’ve guessed it.”
Young Master Mingyue suddenly looked at him, frowning and asked, “What have you guessed?”
Marquis Xuanping chuckled, “You secretly escaped from the Sword Hut, and also took the sword out secretly, but without it, you can’t return.”
Young Master Mingyue’s pupils shrank dramatically, looking at him in disbelief.
Marquis Xuanping paced in front of him for a few steps, thoughtfully said, “It seems that sword is the key to entering the Sword Hut, there must be some passage or mechanism that can only be opened with it, no wonder you were so generous to draw the map, because you’re convinced we can’t reach the island, even if we do we’ll all die in those mechanisms.”
Young Master Mingyue could hardly believe this to be true.
Zhan Country’s Marquis Xuanping, he had been in Zhan Country for so long, how could he not have heard of such a person?
But isn’t this person a simple-minded brute?
Why was he completely different from the rumor?
Marquis Xuanping turned around, leisurely walked down the steps, raised his hand, and casually said, “Kill him.”
“Yes!” The guard cupped his fists, drawing the long sword from his waist.
Young Master Mingyue’s heart sank.
Wasn’t he going to interrogate him?
How far had it come?
He had not talked about Shitian, nor his own origin, was he not interested in knowing?
“Aren’t you being too hasty!”
Marquis Xuanping turned back, arrogantly smiled: “With both the map and the key, you have no more value. Anything I want to know, I can find out when I reach the island.”
The guard slashed the sword down at his head!
Young Master Mingyue almost instinctively blurted out, “I am the Young Master of the Sword Hut!”
Marquis Xuanping swung his long arm, releasing a hidden weapon that deflected the guard’s long sword.
Young Master Mingyue had never felt death so clearly.
Cold sweat poured from his body, mixing with the blood, sticky and clinging to his clothes.
This man is terrifying.
If he had been a moment slower, he would really have been beheaded by the guard.
Marquis Xuanping looked at him with a smile: “So, Young Master of the Sword Hut, pleased to cooperate?”