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The capital gradually entered the peak of summer, and it started to get really hot early in the morning.
Today, Imperial Academy and Qinghe Academy had classes. Little Jing Kong and Gu Xiaoshun got up early while Gu Yan lingered in bed as usual.
He had a strong habit of staying in bed late as well as a bad morning temper, and wouldn’t be happy unless Gu Jiao was the one to wake him up.
But today, Gu Jiao didn't wake him up!
He woke up by himself!
It was the heat that woke him up.
However, that wasn’t the point. The point was that after he woke up, he continued to lie on the bed waiting for Gu Jiao to come and call him. He waited and waited till the flowers had withered, but all he got in the end was Gu Xiaoshun.
Gu Xiaoshun pushed the door open and said strangely, "Aren't you getting up yet? It's time for breakfast. Don't be late!"
Baby Gu Yan wasn't happy.
Gu Yan, feeling bitter, turned over and muttered, "What about sister? Did she go out for a house visit?"
Gu Xiaoshun pointed to the courtyard and said, "Ah no, she's there!"
"Hm?" Gu Yan sat up abruptly, got out of bed, put on his shoes, and walked to the door, looking in the direction Gu Xiaoshun was pointing.
But what did he see?
Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang were talking in the yard. She slightly tilted her head upwards, basking in the soft morning light, her eyes bright and her lips curved into a faint smile. It was unclear what they were talking about, but her eyes also curved into two crescents.
So, did she forget to wake him up because she was talking to his brother-in-law?!
Gu Yan felt sour in his heart!
But the more sour part was yet to come.
Today, Gu Jiao was in a really good mood so she personally cooked a table full of delicious food, all of which were Xiao Liulang's favorites!
Recently, Xiao Liulang preferred spicy food. In fact, Little Jing Kong and the other two also loved spicy food, but they preferred both the spicy and sour flavors.
The three of them were numbed by the spiciness and leaned soullessly in their chairs.
Gu Yan was angered, and the consequences were very serious!
He snorted, "I want to eat soft bean curd! The salty kind!"
There was no soft bean curd at home, but it was available at the market.
It was still early in the day, and the market wasn’t far away.
A quarter of an hour later, Gu Jiao bought back the salty soft bean curd.
Then Gu Yan eagerly watched Gu Jiao walk past him while holding the soft bean curd...
Gu Jiao brought the soft bean curd into Xiao Liulang's study and looked at him with sparkling eyes, "Your soft bean curd."
Xiao Liulang said, "Uh..."
I didn't ask for the soft bean curd though.
Gu Yan, who was standing outside the study, immediately blew his top!
It was me! It was me! I'm the one who wanted the soft bean curd!!!
Ah!
I’m so angry!
……
Inside the dimly lit room where the windows and door were tightly shut, all curtains were drawn, and only a faint ray of light was projected through the slits in the curtains.
A small figure stood in the endless darkness, with sharp eyes and a strong and imposing aura.
"As you can see, the situation has become very grim. The enemy is very strong and has already taken away half of our territory. Are you going to keep fighting with me?" The small figure stated solemnly.
Across him, a taller and handsome figure stood against the light.
His aura wasn’t any weaker, and the small space seemed to be filled with endless coldness and killing intent.
"What do you plan to do?" He asked.
The small figure said, "Naturally, we should temporarily put aside our prejudices and join hands to defeat the enemy. Otherwise, in a few days, she will have no place for the two of us in her heart."
The taller figure nodded, "Okay, I agree with you."
“But words are unreliable, so let’s write a contract as a proof.” When the little figure finished speaking, he took out a writing brush and a paper, and quickly wrote a contract. Then, he took out a seal that he had prepared earlier and said, “Sign it and stamp it.”
The other party signed and stamped.
Seeing his signature, the little figure felt annoyed and suddenly raised his voice, “How come your handwriting is still so ugly?”
Gu Yan cleared his throat and said, “What does my ugly handwriting have to do with it? Are we going to form an alliance or not?”
Little Jing Kong thought for a moment, and nodded seriously, “We are!”
The two little ‘love rivals’, who had been fighting all the way from the countryside to the capital, finally put aside their prejudices and formed the Anti-Brother-in-Law Righteous Alliance under Xiao Liulang's repeated provocations!
After breakfast, Gu Jiao accompanied Little Jing Kong to the Imperial Academy, while Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun went to the Qinghe Academy, and Xiao Liulang to Hanlin Academy.
Grand Preceptor Zhuang met An Junwang halfway after leaving the morning court and took the opportunity to give him a ride to the Hanlin Academy.
Coincidentally, Grand Preceptor Zhuang's carriage met Xiao Liulang outside the gate of the Hanlin Academy.
Although Grand Preceptor Zhuang did not get off the carriage, An Junwang did. The curtain was opened by the coachman, and Xiao Liulang and other Hanlin officials who were about to enter the Hanlin Academy all saw him.
Everyone saluted him, that included Xiao Liulang.
Reading-in-Waiting Yang had been recovering from his injuries at home for a long time. He finally came back to work today and heard the commotion outside the entrance. He quickly put down his official duties and rushed to greet Grand Preceptor Zhuang.
Grand Preceptor Zhuang was the towering figure among the civil officials, and everyone in the court followed his lead. Officials like Reading-in-Waiting Yang rarely had the chance to meet him.
Today was indeed a rare honor, and Reading-in-Waiting Yang did not want to miss the opportunity to curry favor with Grand Preceptor Zhuang.
"Grand Preceptor Zhuang!" He made a deep bow and saluted. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Xiao Liulang standing by. He felt secretly pleased, thinking that even heaven was helping him achieve his goal!
Reading-in-Waiting Yang straightened up and pointed his finger at Xiao Liulang, saying imperiously, "It's been a while since we organized the books in the Hanlin Academy's library. Today, you will go and sort out the books there. The list is with me, you can come and get it. You can only finish your shift after you’re done organizing the books."
Everyone knew that the Hanlin Academy's library was even bigger than the examination compound's library. Several Hanlin officials combined would not be able to organize it all in a day. This was purely making things difficult for Xiao Liulang.
Reading-in-Waiting Yang thought that Xiao Liulang would let himself be pushed around by him like before, but to his surprise, Xiao Liulang didn't even lift his eyelids as he said with an indifferent tone, "I have a class at the Hanlin Lecture Hall today. How about you go find someone else to organize the library?"
Reading-in-Waiting Yang was immediately stupefied, "What do you mean by that?"
What did this kid just say? Did he just blatantly disobey his orders in front of so many people?
Reading-in-Waiting Yang's eyes flickered and he said, "Your classes at the Hanlin Lecture Hall… There are others who can do it in your stead."
Xiao Liulang asked nonchalantly, "Oh? Who has the time to fill in for me?"
"Teaching should be left to the truly capable Hanlin officials." Reading-in-Waiting Yang said, then he looked at An Junwang. "I wonder if Junior Compiler Zhuang is free today?"
An Junwang thought for a moment and said, "I don't have anything else to do today."
Reading-in-Waiting Yang smiled and said, "Then..."
Xiao Liulang interrupted Reading-in-Waiting Yang and said to An Junwang, "Since Junior Compiler Zhuang is free, how about letting him organize the library instead? Reading-in-Waiting Yang said that you can't get off duty until it's done, so Junior Compiler Zhuang needs to work quickly."
"You!" Reading-in-Waiting Yang was so angry that he felt choked.
Did this kid want to die? He dared to order An Junwang to do things in front of Grand Preceptor Zhuang?
Xiao Liulang looked at Grand Preceptor Zhuang on the carriage without fear and asked, "Grand Preceptor Zhuang, do you have any objections?"
Reading-in-Waiting Yang almost peed himself in fright!
Did Xiao Liulang eat a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall? How dare he speak to Grand Preceptor Zhuang like that? Did he not know that Grand Preceptor Zhuang had the backing of the Empress Dowager?
Reading-in-Waiting Yang was sweating profusely, fearing that Grand Preceptor Zhuang would vent his anger on him!
Grand Preceptor Zhuang's eyes flashed with a cold light.
Xiao Liulang raised his eyebrows and said, "If Grand Preceptor has any objections, he can go and tell it to the Empress Dowager. This official shall take his leave first!"
With that, he entered Hanlin Academy without looking back.
Naturally, nobody knew what kind of medicine Xiao Liulang had taken today that he was behaving so arrogantly.
Only Grand Preceptor Zhuang understood where Xiao Liulang’s confidence was coming from. He was implying that even though he couldn't beat him, his superior could!
Grand Preceptor Zhuang was furious to the point of suffering an internal injury!
"Grandfather..." An Junwang looked at Grand Preceptor Zhuang oddly. He also thought that Xiao Liulang was acting strangely today.
Grand Preceptor Zhuang suppressed his anger and said in a slow and deliberate tone, "Go organize the library."
An Junwang was taken aback and asked, "Grandfather?"
But Grand Preceptor Zhuang didn't say anything more. He closed the curtains and coldly ordered the coachman to drive the carriage away.Raz P.'s Thoughts
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