The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 490

Chapter 490: 249 Messing Around (Second Update)

Chapter 490: 249 Messing Around (Second Update)

Lord Gu absolutely must not be called!

How old is this kid? Despite wearing a mask, his eyes, hands, and even stature can give away his age—he must be around the same age as Yanyan!

How can I call him ‘Dad’?!

Really, what was his father thinking!

It’s one thing to swear brotherhood with some random person, but why drag his own son into this? The boy must have been picked up randomly, right? Otherwise, why would he oppress his son like this?

What Lord Gu doesn’t know is that, not only does he have a father who tricks his son, he also has a daughter who tricks her father!

“Call him, now!” the old Lord huffed loudly to remind him.

He also knew he was pushing it. Where else will a father let his son call his brother ‘Dad’? At most, he’d be an uncle.

But that being said, he gave his word. He is a man of honor. So, he just had to trick his son this time.

“I’m not calling him that!”

This is too embarrassing!

Lord Gu is a man of dignity, too. His father wants to save face, doesn’t he care about his own face?

When he says he won’t call him, he means it. He’ll die before he says it!

The old lord can’t back down, so he really raises his hand to hit him.

Fathers hitting their sons is quite natural.

Lord Gu closed his eyes, all right, hit! Let him hit! If he calls him ‘Dad’, he’s the loser!

But Gu Jiao stopped the old lord, writing on a small board with charcoal: No, matter, kids, disobey, teach, them, slowly.

Gu Jiao quickly wrote a few more words and showed them to Lord Gu: Come, over, let’s, eat.

Lord Gu glanced at the messy handwriting, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Now he knew how his father had become sworn brothers with this guy.

They must be united by this ugly handwriting, it’s certainly similar to the men of the Gu family!

In the Gu Family, even someone as excellent as Gu Changqing wrote calligraphy that left a lot to be desired.

So, his father found a sense of familiarity in their handwriting, right?

But speaking of which, he can’t talk? Is he a little mute?

Lord Gu looked him up and down. He wore a mask that covered the upper half of his face, but his eyes and chin suggested he was a delicate young boy.

What a pity.

Lord Gu sat down next to him.

Now that they had different identities, the way Gu Jiao looked at Lord Gu was also different. She was extremely interested in him, looking at him like a proud father.

Lord Gu felt weird inside.

Was it really okay for a teenage boy to look at others with that gaze?

The dishes were quickly served.

Lord Gu was surprised. Eh? Why were they all his favorite dishes?

When Lord Gu peeled a shrimp.

Gu Jiao revealed a satisfied and appreciative look.

Lord Gu: Come on, I’m just peeling a shrimp. Do I deserve this? I’m not an idiot!

Then Lord Gu began to eat.

Gu Jiao didn’t say anything through it all, but Lord Gu always felt her gaze was saying—

Look, look! He’s eating shrimp! He knows how to eat shrimp!

Look, look! He’s eating fish! He knows how to pick out the bones!

All of this is Lord Gu’s own imagination. He thought the other party couldn’t possibly mean this, but what’s with the excited expression in her eyes?

“Would… would you like to eat?” Lord Gu asked Gu Jiao as he held the peeled shrimp. He didn’t want to ask, but her gaze was unsettling him.

Gu Jiao nodded again and again.

Lord Gu put the shrimp in her bowl.

Gu Jiao cocked her head proudly.

Lord Gu seemed to extract another sentence from her small gaze: Wow, such a filial son!

Lord Gu was taken aback by his own thought, control your imagination, control it!

The old lord ran into an acquaintance and went out to greet them.

Only the two of them were left in the room.

Gu Jiao hadn’t given up on making him call ‘Dad’. She persuasively wrote with charcoal: You, call, Dad, give, you, red, envelope!

Lord Gu was peeling a shrimp: Hmm, if you call me ‘Dad’, I’ll give you a red envelope!

Gu Jiao thought about it, and wrote: How, much?

Lord Gu: “…”

Gu Jiao wrote again: I, didn’t, go, school. Write, not, good. This, word, how, read?

The word was written so crookedly that Lord Gu barely recognized it after exhausting all his knowledge. He frowned, uncertainly saying, “Fall?”

Gu Jiao: “Ah!”

Lord Gu: “…!!”

What kind of little cunning creature is this?

Wait a moment, something seems off about this voice!

This… this sounds like a girl?

Lord Gu was taken aback and quickly turned to look at Gu Jiao.

Mrs. Yao whispered softly: “She was still having her nap, are you looking for her?”

Mrs. Yao continued: “She slept late. Do you need something from her?”

Marquis Gu cleared his throat, shook his head: “Ah… No, I just… wanted to check on her, has she been at home all afternoon?”

Mrs. Yao nodded: “Yes, there was nothing much happening at the Medical Hall today, so she stayed at home.”

Could it be someone else? Was he overthinking?

Mrs. Yao wouldn’t lie to him. It seemed like he was overthinking.

The date for the Palace Examination was out, with the preliminary examination scheduled on the fifteenth of April, and the finals on the seventeenth.

The preliminary examination was a test run for candidates in the Imperial Palace, to help them acclimate to the examination environment and learn about the rules, so they would not be disrespectful in front of the Emperor.

It didn’t count towards the final score, but careless performance would offend the examiners.

On the eleventh and twelfth of April, the Imperial College would issue admission tickets and admit cards to all candidates of this session.

Admission tickets were for entering the palace, admit cards were for the examination hall.

Admit cards and admission tickets must be picked up personally from the Imperial College.

Early on the eleventh, Fen Lin and Lin Chengye came to Bishui Alley to find Xiao Liulang, the three of them brought their credentials as scholars and went to the Imperial College together to exchange them for admission tickets and admit cards.

Credentials had to be deposited at the Imperial College and could only be retrieved after the examination upon returning the admit cards and admission tickets.

The three met Du Ruohan at the gate.

In the Provincial Exam, Fen Lin was ranked one hundred and seventy-sixth, while Lin Chengye was one hundred and twenty-third. They had relatively low ranks. Du Ruohan was fifteenth, just missing the top ten by a few ranks, and was regarded as a highly respected contestant.

Fen Lin patted Du Ruohan’s shoulder: “Hang in there, Little Du. Do well in the Palace Exam, aim to be on the honor roll with Liulang!”

Du Ruohan snorted: “Why do I have to be with him? Can’t I be on the honor roll by myself? And you two, don’t you want to be on the honor roll?”

Given Du Ruohan’s talent, which was considered extremely good in the Capital City, Zhuang Xianzhi wouldn’t put in so much effort to tutor him personally. Fen Lin and Lin Chengye were both hard-working but with average talents. Without Xiao Liulang as their teacher, they would have hardly cleared the Imperial Examination to become scholars.

Be on the honor roll?

They would rather not fantasize.

Seeing their lack of fighting spirit, Du Ruohan quickly changed the subject: “Alright, alright, let’s not talk about this. Let’s get in line! Let’s see if we can all be seated together!”

Being seated together may not facilitate cheating, but at least it provided some mental comfort in a strange and strict environment.

Xiao Liulang didn’t say anything and quietly lined up behind the three.

“Liulang, come to the front!” Fen Lin told him.

Du Ruohan snorted: “You’re always spoiling him!”

Lin Chengye also moved back, giving Xiao Liulang the place.

Du Ruohan was practically grinding his teeth.

The seating for the preliminary and Palace Examinations were the same.

After they received their admit cards, they took a look, and surprisingly, two of them were seated together, and those were Du Ruohan and Xiao Liulang.