Jiang Xiaoxiao was the first examinee selected by Dean Gu for the Yin Yang Office, so he naturally had to personally take Jiang Xiaoxiao to find the examiner Zhu Yan.
Dean Gu wasn't often in the academy; he usually preferred to stay at home, tending to his flowers and fish.
Xie Xun knew where he lived, so he gave the address to the coachman and they went straight there.
Contrary to the grand estates expected by outsiders, Dean Gu lived in a simple alley courtyard.
Amidst the numerous wealthy households in the county, their home seemed particularly inconspicuous.
As a result, apart from a few scholars in the academy, no one else knew where he lived.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the alley.
Xie Xun and the others got off one by one.
The coachman was thoughtful and didn't rush to leave. He asked softly, "Master Xie, where should I wait for you?"
Xie Xun replied, "No need to wait, you can go back."
"But..."
The coachman was somewhat hesitant.
He knew very well the attitude of the innkeeper towards this gentleman. If he just went back like this, it would upset the innkeeper, and he still wanted his wages for this month!
Xie Xun glanced at him, "We probably won't be back until evening. If you're willing to wait, I don't mind."
After thinking for a moment, the coachman said, "Then I'll come back to pick you up in the afternoon."
With that, he drove the carriage away.
Xie Xun walked to the courtyard gate and raised his hand to knock, but from inside came the scolding of a woman, "Gu Ergou, taste this dish of yours. Do you want to kill someone? Is salt free? What a squandering nonsense!"
Immediately followed by Dean Gu's low, soothing voice, "Darling, calm down. I'll make it again for you."
The woman snorted, "Hurry up, I'm starving."
"Alright, alright, it'll be ready soon."
Xie Xun's hand, prepared to knock, paused.
In his memory, the teacher's wife was a very gentle person, and they had a son together.
But ever since the teacher and his wife came to Kaihe County to take over Luming Academy, the teacher's wife's temperament had changed.
She became irritable and easily angered.
Their son had never been seen.
Seeing Xie Xun distracted, Jiang Xiaoxiao asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Xie Xun snapped out of his reverie, without hesitation this time, and knocked on the wooden door's brass ring.
Soon, footsteps were heard from inside.
After a while, the door opened, revealing a woman in a sapphire blue horse-face skirt.
The woman was none other than Xie Xun's teacher's wife, Madam Song.
Madam Song hadn't seen these people before, but she felt Xie Xun's features were somewhat familiar. However, she didn't dwell on it and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Teacher's wife, it's me."
At Xie Xun's call, Madam Song paused, then her brow furrowed imperceptibly, but she quickly composed herself, "Oh, it's you..."
Noticing there were others behind Xie Xun, she changed her address from "Your Highness" to "you," "Please come in quickly."
Dean Gu, who heard the commotion from the kitchen, quickly wiped his hands and came out.
When he saw Xie Xun, a smile spread across his old face, "I was thinking of going to pick you up later, but I didn't expect you to come on your own."
Seeing Yang Ershun behind Xie Xun, Dean Gu suddenly remembered that he still owed this lad a cake.
"Hahaha." He laughed heartily, walked up to Yang Ershun, and ruffled his hair. "Little rascal, remember how you were clamoring for pancakes last time? I'll personally make them for you today, how about that?"
"Forget it!" Madam Song scoffed. "With your cooking skills, don't bother trying to poison people here, go eat outside if you want!"
After tossing his purse to Dean Gu, Madam Song entered the main hall.
Dean Gu took off his apron, washed his hands by the well, and then stood up with a smile, looking at Xie Yun. "Let's eat out."
Xie Yun sensed that something was off with Madam Song's mood, and he nodded in acknowledgment.
The group followed Dean Gu out the door.
Dean Gu and Madam Song usually lived frugally, but they couldn't take the Third Prince to a shabby place.
Eventually, they settled on a decent restaurant.
As they entered the private room, Xie Yun recalled Madam Song's earlier reaction and asked Dean Gu, "What's wrong with Madam?..."
"Don't mind her, ever since Ming Feng's passing, she's been different," Dean Gu said.
Ming Feng was Dean Gu and Madam Song's only son.
"Gone?"
Xie Yun was somewhat surprised. "How did he...?"
Actually, when Dean Gu returned to the capital, he learned that the Third Prince had been sent away. Anxious and frustrated, he spent a lot of money hiring people to search.
At that time, their son Ming Feng was also sent out by him.
But unexpectedly, Ming Feng encountered a flash flood halfway, and was swept away.
When they finally found him, only a lifeless body remained.
Their only flesh and blood was gone just like that, and Madam Song cried bitterly, holding deep grudges over the years.
Dean Gu knew it was too late for anything he said, so he could only accommodate her in everything.
But Dean Gu didn't want the Third Prince to know about this, fearing it would burden him psychologically.
Sighing, Dean Gu said, "There was an accident a few years ago."
"Related to me?"
Xie Yun, being so astute, wouldn't Madam have reacted differently if it had nothing to do with him?
"...Not related to you," Dean Gu quickly corrected himself upon noticing Yang Ershun's presence. "It's just an accident."
Afraid that Xie Yun would dwell on this matter, Dean Gu quickly changed the subject, "Are you going with us to meet the examiner at the inn later?"
Xie Yun wanted to go, but upon hearing that the examiner was Zhu Yan, a senior disciple of Bai Cheng, he became cautious and asked Jiang Xiaoxiao, "If I go like this, will it expose me?"
It shouldn't expose him appearance-wise, after all, Zhu Yan hadn't seen him before, let alone knowing what the so-called Third Prince Murong Xun looked like.
What Xie Yun was worried about was the seal on his head.
As a senior disciple of Bai Cheng, Zhu Yan definitely had the ability. It shouldn't be difficult for him to see through the seal on his body.
Jiang Xiaoxiao said, "Just wear a bamboo hat later, and I'll put a talisman inside the hat. That should be fine."
Yang Ershun was dizzy from listening to these people's conversation the whole time. He barely understood anything, but the food at the restaurant was really good, although not as good as Xie Yun's cooking.
Looking at Yang Ershun, who was enjoying his meal, Dean Gu asked again, "What about this little guy?"
Yang Ershun finally heard his name mentioned and eagerly waved his paws, "I want to go, I want to go!"
No matter what Sister Jiang was going to do, he was determined to follow along.
Xie Xun and Jiang Xiaoxiao didn't object.
If they hadn't agreed for him to come to the county with them, they wouldn't have agreed for him to accompany them to meet Zhu Yan.
With everything settled, Dean Gu went downstairs to buy a straw hat for Xie Xun. Just as he was about to mention the lack of tools for drawing talismans, Jiang Xiaoxiao took the hat, gracefully swirled her index finger in the air, and swiftly sketched a symbol the size of a palm, gleaming with golden light, which firmly adhered to the inside of the hat.
Dean Gu: "???"
Yang Ershun: "!!!"
