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    <b>S T E L L A R C L O U D</b>


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    "Hm? You are here." When Gu Jiao straightened herself up, she saw Xiao Ling. She walked towards him with the small medicine chest in her arms and didn''t give An Junwang another nce.


    An Junwang smiled at himself and looked at the hand he stretched out.


    He knew she could avoid it.


    But still——


    "sses ended early today, so I came over to take a look." Xiao Ling paused and then added, "Jing Kong was taken back by Liu Quan."


    This was the tacit understanding between people who lived together day and night. He already knew what she might ask without her opening her mouth.


    Gu Jiao bent the corners of her lips upwards, "I have nothing else to do here; I can go home after packing up."


    Xiao Ling: "How is Jiang Shi''s situation?"


    Gu Jiao: "He’s recovering well."


    Xiao Ling: "I just saw Little Jiang Li. She is helping to get the medicine. The little girl is very quick-witted."


    Someone was being a bit too talkative today.


    Gu Jiao didn''t think too deeply about it and simply headed to her small courtyard to pack her things.


    An Junwang smiled at Xiao Ling with a look of recognition and support, "You did well in the metropolitan exam. The difficulty of the pce exam is no less than that of the metropolitan exam. Do well in the pce exam too, and I will find a way to send your exam paper to the hands of His Majesty."


    All Gongshi were eligible to take the pce exam, and there were a total of 210 Gongshi this year, but there were only less than 30 exam papers that could really be presented to the Emperor.


    It might seem that authority in the pce exam was in the hands of the Emperor, but the first step actually depended on the cab.


    With regards to choosing examinees, not only they should be talented enough, they had to have a good background as well, otherwise their exam papers wouldn’t reach the Emperor at all.


    The Grand Secretary of the cab was surnamed Yuan, but Grand Secretary Yuan was already quite old, and most of the power of the cab was now in the hands of Grand Preceptor Zhuang.


    The reason why An Junwang threw an olive branch at Xiao Ling was that he really set his eyes on Xiao Ling from the beginning, and that he was confident enough to be the Zhuangyuan even if he sent Xiao Ling''s exam paper to the Emperor.


    As for whether there was a third reason, such as showing off his status and superiority in front of Gu Jiao, it was unclear.


    Gu Jiao came back wearing her back basket, "What are you talking about?"


    "Nothing." Xiao Ling looked at An Junwang with a straight face, without any sign of gratitude. Then he turned to Gu Jiao and said, "Let''s go."


    "En!" Gu Jiao nodded and went out of the medical hall with him.


    In the evening, Feng Lin came over. He came by himself and didn''t bring Lin Chengye along. Ever since he and Lin Chengye lived together... Er, no, after they became housemates, Feng Lin rarely went out alone.


    Today, Lin Chengye was arranged for a blind date by Steward Zhou.


    Feng Lin came to talk to Xiao Ling about his parents'' case in Song County, and there was indeed a progress in the case—— after receiving a letter from Xiao Ling, Old Feng''s student immediately asked to handle the case of Feng Lin''s parents and personally interrogated Feng Lin''s rtives.


    When had his rtives ever seen such a powerful official? In their hearts, the county magistrate could already cover the sky with his hand, but even the county magistrate could only stand by the side and pour tea for the other party.


    Without much effort, Feng Lin''s rtives confessed the truth. This matter had nothing to do with Feng Lin''s parents at all, and now, both his parents and Feng Lin were cleared of any crime.


    "Ling, did you hear me?" In the study, Feng Lin waved his hand in front of Xiao Ling.


    "Yeah, I heard you." Xiao Ling said absent-mindedly.


    Feng Ling: Howe I feel like you’re not in the right state?


    Feng Lin had to go back soon to study in preparation for next month''s pce exam, and didn’t stay long.


    Uponing out of the courtyard, he met Old Chiefing from next door. After thinking about it, he told Ling''s granduncle, "...I have no idea what is wrong with him. I''ve never seen him like this since I met him again for so long."


    Thereupon, Old Chief went to Xiao Ling''s study.


    "You’vee." Xiao Ling greeted him in a low mood.


    Old Chief sat down opposite his desk, then gave him a deep look and asked, "What''s bothering you?"


    "Nothing." Xiao Ling denied it.


    Old Chief asked, "Is it Marquis Xiao?"


    Xiao Ling: "No."


    Old Chief:“The pce exam?”


    Xiao Ling: "No."


    Old Chief pondered for a moment before saying, "JiaoJiao?"


    Xiao Ling:“…”


    Xiao Ling suddenly changed the topic, "Aren''t you tutoring Little Jing Kong? How is he learning so far?"


    Yo yo, look at how he shifted the subject.


    Since when have you and the little monk been bound by deep feelings?


    Old Chief didn''t give up so easily. If he was such a person, he wouldn''t have decided to move here at the beginning. His Ah Heng wasn’t the carefree Ah Heng he used to be. He was now someone who locked himself up and didn''t want to let himself out.


    Old Chief said earnestly, "I''ve always wanted to ask you, what are your ns between you and JiaoJiao? When you fainted on the road and were picked up by JiaoJiao, it was the Gu Family who forced you to marry her. Although you are husband and wife in name, you really are not."


    Xiao Ling didn''t speak.


    Old Chief then said, "Before, you didn''t leave her because you were worried that she had nowhere to go. Now that this worry is gone, what else bothers your mind?"


    Xiao Ling said, "Nothing bothers my mind."


    Old Chief responded, "Then let me ask you again, why did youe back here to the capital? This ce—— it’s a ce you should never want toe back to for the rest of your life, am I wrong?"


    Xiao Ling hesitantly opened his mouth to say something.


    Old Chief didn''t give him a chance to answer, "Don''t say JiaoJiao forced you toe. Did she put a knife on your neck?"


    Xiao Ling lowered his eyes, "No."


    Old Chief let out a sigh, "JiaoJiao is such a nice girl, miss her once and she might be gone forever. If you don''t cherish her, someone else will cherish her for you. I think Feng Lin is good, and that boy Lin Chengye is also loaded."


    Xiao Ling blushed, "Teacher!"


    Old Chiefughed, "Okay, okay, I was just kidding. They didn''t see JiaoJiao that way, but I can’t guarantee that others won’t."


    That was a big truth. JiaoJiao was such a fine woman that someone would inevitably find her good and be attracted to her.


    His foolish disciple was smart about everything, but he wasn’t very enlightened in this aspect.


    After Old Chief left, Xiao Ling stayed in the study for a long time.It wasn’t until it waspletely dark that he got up and went out.


    Gu Jiao was tidying up the yard.


    When Xiao Ling saw that there was no firewood in the woodshed, he picked up an axe to chop some firewood. Gu Jiao rushed over and took the axe from his hand, "It’s fine, I''ll do it."


    Gu Jiao insisted.


    Xiao Ling then headed to the well to draw some water, and she stopped him again.


    Xiao Ling''s gaze fell on her hand that was holding the bucket. Her fingers were long and slender, but it was not as smooth as that of a youngdy of high background. Her palm was calloused, and there were cut marks on the web between her thumb and forefinger. <h4>Raz P.''s Thoughts</h4>


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