Chapter 118: 101

In order to prove his identity, the young man took out a token of the residence where he was from.

It wasn’t a bronze plate, but an iron plate engraved with vein lines.

Gu Jiao hadn't been here for a long time. Usually, she only came into contact with the folks in the village and rarely had dealings with any big families. But she also knew that there was a very strict control system for such tokens in the State of Zhao.

Ordinary big families could only use wooden plates, families much higher in rank used fishbone plates, and then the iron plates which only officials could use.

But on the back of those iron plates were the emblems of Zhao’s officials. Obviously, this iron plate didn’t have that.

In that case, there was only one possibility. Although the other party wasn’t an official, their position might actually be even higher than an official.

“JiaoJiao?” Little Jing Kong looked at Gu Jiao with a puzzled expression. He was too young to understand what was going on.

Gu Jiao touched his little head and said to the young man, "Alright, I'll go with you.” Then he said to Little Jing Kong, "Go find Grandaunt."

"No, I don't want to!" Little Jing Kong shook his head like a rattle. These days, he had to go to the private school and attend classes every day and didn’t have time to play with JiaoJiao at all. Now that he finally had a day off from school, he was determined to become JiaoJiao's little tail!

Gu Jiao looked into his big, expectant eyes and did not refuse him in the end, "Alright."

The young man smiled and gestured, "Please!"

Gu Jiao first went next door to talk to Xue Ningxiang, asking her to watch over her home for a while. Then she got into the carriage prepared by the young man together with Little Jing Kong while the young man himself mounted a horse and followed beside the carriage.

The carriage soon arrived at the only tea house in town.

The boss of this tea house was from the provincial capital, and it was said that he had a lot of influence. Every day, people who came to visit here were prominent figures in the town. However, today, the tea house was empty and seemed to have been rented.

The other party was indeed a big shot.

Gu Jiao and Little Jing Kong were led into an elegant and unique room by the young man.

Then the young man had people serve some tea and refreshments.

He seemed to treat Gu Jiao very attentively. With such treatment, ordinary people would have felt a little complacent, but Gu Jiao, on the other hand, was very calm.

As the saying went, one wouldn’t go to someone's place except when they had something to ask for. There was no such thing as pie falling from the sky. She couldn’t afford to be served like this.

The young man said, "Lady Xiao, just a moment, please. I'll go and ask Steward Zhou to come over."

Gu Jiao let out a sound of assent.

The young man’s politeness towards her was actually superficial. Gu Jiao could feel the contempt hidden in his bones, but Gu Jiao didn’t bother about it. Some people were foolish and blind at a young age. Anyway, with such an attitude, it was him that would suffer, not her.

It was true that the young man didn’t put such a lowly village woman in his eyes, especially with Gu Jiao’s ugly appearance, he was even more dismissive.

It was just that the steward told him that he must treat the wife of the Xiucai with courtesy, without the slightest contempt.

The young man turned to look for his own steward.

Steward Zhou came very quickly.

Being the steward, his ability to manage his expressions was much better than the young man, at the very least the smile on his face looked very sincere.

Gu Jiao took a plate of snacks on the table and handed them to Little Jing Kong, saying, "Go play in the yard for a while, I'll be having a discussion with someone."

"En, I understand!" Little Jing Kong jumped down from the wooden chair, took the plate of snacks, and slipped out.

The window was opened and Gu Jiao had a panoramic view of the whole yard from her position.

Little Jing Kong found a small stone stool and sat down there, shaking his short legs while eating. Probably sensing that Gu Jiao was looking at him, he turned his head and smiled at Gu Jiao sweetly!

Gu Jiao smiled back, and Little Jing Kong was so happy that he felt like floating as he continued to eat.

Steward Zhou patiently waited for the interaction between the brother and sister to finish before stepping forward and bowing at Gu Jiao, "This one surnamed Zhou greets Lady Xiao."

Gu Jiao didn't get up to greet him back, and she didn't feel flattered by his greeting either. She merely nodded at him, very faint and casual.

Steward Zhou was a little surprised by her reaction and couldn’t help but size up Gu Jiao. No matter in terms of dress or appearance, she was obviously just an ordinary village girl. Her appearance was also disfigured, so it should be normal for her to feel even more inferior and embarrassed than ordinary common women.

However, contrary to that, she gave people the illusion of being out of reach.

Steward Zhou gathered his thoughts and said to Gu Jiao, "Lady Xiao, I am from the provincial capital’s Lin Family. I wonder if you have ever heard of the Lin Family before?"

"I haven’t." Gu Jiao replied simply.

Steward Zhou was surprised once again. Wasn’t this girl a local? Why hadn’t she heard of the Lin Family? The Lin Family were local tyrants in the You Province, even yamen officials in Lian County had to give the Lin Family three parts of face.

The Lin Family was known for salt trade. In the early days, their self-established salt commission sold illegally-traded salt. The imperial court sent troops to attack the salt commission, which resulted in both sides incurring losses. Later, the imperial court adopted the policy to offer amnesty to rebels and promise to enlist their service, and incorporated the salt commission.

Although they were absorbed by the imperial court, the salt commission was still managed by the Lin Family, but the money earned from the salt trade was divided equally with the imperial court.

Moreover, the salt commission was no longer allowed to oppress the people and plunder the fat and cream of the people. Also, if necessary, they had to assist the imperial court in exterminating the water bandits.

Steward Zhou roughly explained the Lin Family’s background, and then began to wait for Gu Jiao to be surprised.

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As a result, Gu Jiao was still calm.

Was this girl a fool or something?

It would be great if she was.

Steward Zhou smiled and said to Gu Jiao, "This time, I came to Qingquan Town on account of its recent reputation. About little brother Xiao passing the exam and becoming a Linsheng, I have yet to congratulate Lady Xiao. This is a congratulatory gift. Please accept it."

As he spoke, he gave the servant girl outside the room a meaningful glance.

The servant girl came in at once with a heavy box.

After putting the box on the table, Steward Zhou waved to the servant girl to step down.

Steward Zhou opened the box to reveal the glistening silver inside.

Gu Jiao's eyes rested on the silver ingots and said, "Steward Zhou, let's get to the point."

She, a countryfolk, actually remained so calm even after seeing so much money. Steward Zhou became more and more confused about this Lady Xiao, but he didn't show it on his face. He said with a smile, "Lady Xiao is really straightforward. You see, little brother Xiao is the top scorer both in the county exam and prefectural exam, and achieved remarkable results. To tell you the truth, after reading his articles, my Lord appreciated little brother Xiao’s talent very much and wanted to invite him to visit the Lin Family in the provincial capital."

Gu Jiao was in no hurry to respond.

Steward Zhou went on to say, "My Lord sincerely wants to make friends with little brother Xiao, so I am now asking Lady Xiao to help make things convenient for my Lord."

Gu Jiao said flatly, "Why don't you just talk to him directly? Unless, you already did but he refused?"

Steward Zhou choked up.

Gu Jiao spoke again, "That seems to be the case."

Saying so, Gu Jiao got up and was about to leave.

Steward Zhou was bewildered.

Just like that? Were you not even going to give him a chance to bargain? Was it because she was a woman? No, could it be an error on his part?

Steward Zhou quickly stopped her, "Lady Xiao! Lady Xiao, please stay! Did you think we’re not sincere enough? This money is just a congratulatory gift, everything is negotiable!"

Gu Jiao was still unmoved.

Steward Zhou caught up with her and said while sweating profusely, "Seeing that there are not many days before the provincial exam, little brother Xiao is going to leave for the provincial capital soon. In that case, he might as well go to the provincial capital earlier! Our Lin Family will take care of everything for little brother Xiao!"

It was true that the day of the provincial exam was drawing near.

Gu Jiao paused and looked back at him, saying, "What does he need to do? Just pack up, stay there and leave after the exam is over?"

"Ah..." Steward Zhou was choked up again by Gu Jiao's frankness. "Well, my young master is going to take the provincial exam as well, and we want to ask little brother Xiao to give him a little advice on his studies during his stay with our Lin Family."

Gu Jiao said, "So you want him to tutor someone, but he has already refused you..."

"No, no! He didn't refuse!"

Gu Jiao looked at him strangely.

Steward Zhou said, "To be exact, he didn't refuse the request I just made to you."

Originally, when Steward Zhou went to Tianxiang Academy to find Xiao Liulang, he told Xiao Liulang that as long as he guaranteed that Young Master Lin could become a Juren[1], their Lord would pay Young Master Xiao two thousand taels of silver.

Although Gu Jiao knew that a Juren was very valuable in ancient times, she didn't expect it to be so valuable.

Wasn’t it better to just be a second generation rich kid who didn’t have to worry about food and drinks?

Must you really have to crush your head just to be a Juren?

This had always been the secret worry of the Lin Family. Put it in nice words, the Lin Family were from the salt commission; in a more unpleasant term, they were just salt mongers. They were once a nest of snakes and rats[2] together with the water bandits. At that time, the Lin Family had nothing to their name apart from money.

Why did the imperial court feel relieved to recruit the Lin Family? Wasn't it because they saw that the Lin Family’s descendants were worthless, and they would decline in two or three generations?

When that time came, the salt commission would completely fall into the hands of the imperial court, without spending a single soldier.

It wasn’t that the Lin Family did not anticipate this crisis, it was just at that time, they might have looked valiant, but in fact, they no longer had the strength to fight against the imperial court. Even if they had fought to the end, they would have killed thousands of troops of the imperial court at most, but then, no one would have been left alive in the Lin Family.

Being recruited would at least be able to secure a stable life for the Lin Family for decades, and the Lin Family hoped that their heirs would be able to support the overall situation of the Lin Family in the future.

As a matter of fact, after having more than a dozen uneducated little dandies in the family, the Lin Family’s sixth young master finally passed the exam and became a Xiucai.

The sixth young master was a concubine-born, but he was diligent and studious, and both the Lord and Madame Lin attached great importance to him.

Everyone in the Lin Family treated the sixth young master as a treasure, and it could be said that the Lin Family had spent a lot of money to cultivate him.

Xiao Liulang was recommended by a teacher from the Lin Family. Lord Lin was a boorish sort of man. What did he know about eight-part essays and such? But he trusted Teacher Xi who hailed from the capital.

Teacher Xi said that Xiao Liulang's literary talent was better than any other teacher in the Lin residence, and they would certainly be able to get twice the result with half the effort if he were to teach the sixth young master.

1. ↑ — Scholars who passed the provincial-level imperial exam. 2. ↑ — An idiom that describes two groups of people doing bad things in the same way.

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