The Prime Minister’s Darling

Half an hour later, Xiao Hen finished his conversation with Marquis Xuanping and the other three, and returned with Shangguan Qing to the Princess Residence.

Shangguan Qing yawned and waved at Xiao Hen, "I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep first. You should rest early too."

"Got it," Xiao Hen said to him.

Shangguan Qing swaggered off, holding his new rifle with pride.

Xiao Hen watched his gait, so similar to his own father's, and shook his head with amusement.

When he entered the room, he immediately saw the little first aid kit on the table.

He smiled slightly, walked over, and gently tapped it with his long jade-like fingers.

...

At dawn, Gu Jiao slowly woke up, feeling a gaze fixed on her that she couldn't ignore.

When she opened her eyes, she saw little Jingkong leaning against the bedside.

Little Jingkong's eyes were full of concentration, and it was unclear how long he had been there. As soon as he noticed she was awake, his entire little face lit up.

"Jiaojiao, you're awake?" he said brightly.

Gu Jiao curved her lips, "Have you been here long?"

A beautiful day begins with admiring a little handsome boy.

Although he wasn't the three-year-old little dumpling anymore, at six, he was still adorably handsome.

Little Jingkong shook his head, "I just got here."

"Heh, he's been here for half an hour."

A certain someone strode in with a scroll, mercilessly exposing the little guy's lie.

Little Jingkong turned and glared at the naughty brother-in-law, correcting, "Being with you makes days drag on, being with Jiaojiao makes time fly!"

He blurted out two idioms in one breath, and even rhymed them, making the two adults in the room laugh out loud.

Gu Jiao got up to wash, with little Jingkong trailing her like a small tail, occasionally sneaking looks at her but saying nothing.

Gu Jiao put down the cloth in her hand and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Little Jingkong hesitated for a moment, then decided to ask honestly, "Jiaojiao, do you have a baby in your belly?"

Gu Jiao glanced at Xiao Hen, who was tidying the desk, and roughly guessed where little Jingkong got his information from.

Show off the baby proudly.

You're truly something.

Gu Jiao nodded and said, "Yes, there's a baby, a baby just as cute as Jingkong."

"As cute as me?"

Those words were music to his ears, making little Jingkong leap with joy and immediately develop a bit of anticipation for the baby in Gu Jiao's belly.

But then, thinking of something, he hesitantly murmured, "But, but, if Jiaojiao has a baby, will she still like me? Am I still the most handsome little man in Jiaojiao's heart?"

Gu Jiao laughed, pinched his little cheek, bent down to look him in the eyes, and said with a smile, "Of course I will, I will always like you, every day more than the day before."

"Aiya!" Little Jingkong was so shy, with cheeks turning a deep red, he turned around, covered his burning cheeks, and said, "I'll go get Jiaojiao's breakfast first!"

With that, he ran out shyly!

He reached the corridor outside, suddenly stopped, and puffed out his chest toward Xiao Hen, who was tidying the desk by the window, and boasted, "Jiaojiao likes me! I'm the handsomest! Hmph!"

Proudly claiming victory, little Jingkong strutted away!

Xiao Hen felt a toothache.

...

While little Jingkong was fetching breakfast, Xiao Hen told Gu Jiao about what happened last night.

Gu Jiao wasn't too surprised by Li Jiangping's betrayal, although her suspicions differed slightly from Xiao Hen's.

She recalled, "When they gave me the nail, it was wrapped in a clean handkerchief. At the border pass, I've seen so many similar injuries, and usually, people wouldn't keep such a nail and would throw it away immediately to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. Even if they kept it, it would just be put aside carelessly. But wrapping it in a handkerchief, like they were afraid of damaging the bloodstains and rust on it."

Xiao Hen looked at her with admiration, "Jiaojiao is so smart."

Gu Jiao nodded seriously, "Yes, I am very smart."

Xiao Hen laughed.

Remembering something, Gu Jiao asked, "But, how did you know it would come back by itself? I didn't know."

"You didn't know?" Xiao Hen was surprised, thinking she was very familiar with her little first aid kit.

Gu Jiao shook her head.

Xiao Hen helped her recall, "Do you remember the time you were trapped under the collapsed Wine Cellar?"

Gu Jiao said, "I remember, you jumped down to find me."

Her chest was crushed under a boulder, making it almost impossible for her to breathe, and she thought she was going to die.

In the darkness, he grabbed her hand.

Xiao Hen said, "Later, we were all rescued, your first aid kit was buried in the rubble. It was too dangerous at the scene to dig it out. But when we got back, it was in your small satchel. I thought I misremembered, until later you told me it wasn't an ordinary first aid kit, and I realized it wasn't my imagination."

With this explanation, Gu Jiao also recalled something.

It was during the polo match in Yan Country.

She thought it was Gu Xiaoshun who had put the small first aid kit in her satchel.

Gu Xiaoshun said it wasn't him, maybe it was Gu Yan.

She thought that must be it and didn't ask Gu Yan to confirm.

Yes, when she first arrived, the first aid kit was not there, it only appeared when she desperately needed it.

Gu Jiao looked plaintively at the first aid kit on the table, "If I had known it could do this, I wouldn't have gone to so much trouble carrying it around."

Moving it around was so exhausting.

Gu Jiao tapped the first aid kit, "Can't you be more obvious? If you popped up more often when I didn't bring you, I would've found out sooner! Was it on purpose? Only happy if you're carried around every day?"

A morning breeze blew through, and the first aid kit stayed as quiet as a mouse.

...

Xiao Hen sorted through the events of last night; currently, there were three unresolved questions.

First, how did Jianlu know about the first aid kit?

Second, why does Jianlu want the first aid kit?

Third, what is Li Jiangping's purpose in infiltrating the Anye Sect? If it's to deal with the Anye Sect, it's inconceivable that he could find no opportunity in twenty years.

After hearing his doubts, Gu Jiao thoughtfully stroked her chin, "You mean, Jianlu planted Li Jiangping in the Anye Sect for years, and aside from routinely providing intel to Jianlu, the only major thing he did was to come here to steal the first aid kit."

Xiao Hen gazed intently, "You're suggesting his infiltration of the Anye Sect was for the first aid kit. But he was on Anye Island twenty years ago when Chang Jing wasn't even born yet, and neither were you. Were they like the National Master, capable of foreseeing the future?"

Gu Jiao paused, "What if they believed the first aid kit was on Anye Island?"

"Hmm?" Xiao Hen was slightly taken aback.

Gu Jiao said, "Zicao comes from the first aid kit, and the earliest Zicao was planted by the first island master of Anye Island. I now suspect the first aid kit once appeared on Anye Island."