Gu Jiao and Xiao Hen had stayed on the second floor of the Book Pavilion until the disciples came to close it but didn’t see Master Mu come down.
Xiao Hen said, "They might be busy late into the night. Let’s go first and ask Ya He later."
Gu Jiao agreed, saying, "Okay."
The two left the Book Pavilion and returned to Qilin Palace.
Little Jingkong had just woken up and was sitting cross-legged on the bed, staring blankly.
He had slept so long that he was befuddled by sleep.
However, the moment Gu Jiao crossed the threshold, he instantly perked up, hopped off the bed, squeezed into his shoes and ran over, calling out in a particularly soft voice, "Jiaojiao!"
He couldn’t let others hear.
Gu Jiao patted his little head, "Did you sleep well this afternoon?"
"Mhm!" he nodded.
Kids are full of energy. Even after a day and night of frightening ordeals, a whole day’s sleep was usually enough for them to recover.
"Eh? Where’s Xiaoxue?" he asked.
Gu Jiao answered, "She’s with her uncle."
She had seen Zhang Dequan carry the sleeping Little Princess up to the third floor while she was in the Book Pavilion. By now, she should be sleeping by the King’s side.
The Little Princess didn’t have the same energy as Jingkong; Gu Jiao guessed she could sleep until the next morning.
"Are you hungry?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Hungry," Jingkong said.
Xiao Hen walked in and glanced at the little guy, saying, "What would you like to eat? I’ll have the kitchen prepare it."
Jingkong instantly frowned.
If you hadn’t spoken, Jiaojiao would have made something for me to eat!
Xiao Hen, seeing him puff up like an angry little pufferfish, curved his lips and said, "Oh, by the way, Jiaojiao, you should check Jingkong’s teeth."
"What happened? Do you have a toothache?"
Jingkong quickly covered his mouth, muffledly insisting, "It doesn’t hurt!"
"How come it doesn’t hurt? Weren’t you the one who complained about a toothache a few days ago?"
"I, I, I, when did I?" His childish hands were clasped behind him as he looked upwards to the sky.
Jingkong indeed claimed he had a toothache two years ago, but that was to avoid writing the extra homework his brother-in-law had assigned.
Gu Jiao remembered that Jingkong was five and a half years old now and likely at the age of losing milk teeth, so it was time for a dental check-up.
"Let me have a look," Gu Jiao said.
The kitchen had prepared plain rice porridge and vegetable and egg noodles, one to take into account Shangguan Yun’s injury, and the other because Jingkong couldn’t eat meat.
They would eat in Shangguan Yun’s room.
While it wasn’t Jingkong’s first time at Qilin Palace, he always seemed to miss the proper moment, either Shangguan Yun was asleep, or he was.
Now, they were formally meeting.
With Xiao Hen already having one Princess mother, and now adding a Princess stepmother, he had thought Jingkong would have queries, but Jingkong accepted it quite smoothly.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Jingkong copied the stride of Old Zhao from Bishui Alley and mimicked his accent, "I understand, I understand it all! You’ve got a new identity, how thoroughly done!"
Xiao Hen: "..."
If that’s how you want to think of it, fine by me.
Gu Jiao also told Shangguan Yan about Jingkong’s origins, that he was an orphaned monk child adopted from a temple in the countryside of Zhan Country, without parents, his only family being an old, white-haired, and infirm Monk.
Gu Jiao put on the protective gear for Shangguan Yan and helped Shangguan Yun to sit at the table.
On the other side, Xiao Hen also led Jingkong by the hand into the room.
He wasn’t the bald little monk anymore.
He was a cute and charming child wearing clothes with little tufts tied up, a round face with delicate and spirited features, big eyes, and thick lashes.
Jingkong approached Shangguan Yun very gentlemanly, and greeted politely, "Princess, hello, my name is Jingkong."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Prime Minister's Darling