Chapter 16

Gu Xiaodeng was now all alone. Without Zhang Dengqing to help him probe the Gu family’s internal affairs, he was practically blind, making him all the more reliant on the information Gu Jinyu had given him before.

Gu Jinyu told him to stay away from Ge Dongchen, so he planned to follow that advice to the letter.

He just never expected that once the Gu family confirmed they were opening a private school next year, Ge Dongchen would volunteer himself, boldly and brashly arriving early for an extended stay. Whenever Gu Xiaodeng had martial arts class, he would inevitably be cornered by Ge Dongchen at the training grounds.

Ge Dongchen’s personality was the spitting image of the stereotypical military man: hearty to the point of being rough, talkative, and always smiling. He seemed to lack any real cunning, occasionally overbearing but generally good-natured. Getting along with him was surprisingly easy.

After dodging him a few times, Gu Xiaodeng started to crack. At night, he quietly asked Feng’en, “When is that Sticky Candy leaving? Doesn’t he have his own home? Don’t his parents miss him?”

Feng’en smiled. “Young Master Ge indeed rarely returns to the Ge family. He grew up in the military camp. Although his family is distinguished, you could say he was raised by the village. As for his family, his father, the Cloud Banner General, is busy with military duties. His mother, who hails from the Southern Border Tribe, dotes more on the younger daughter born a few years ago. It’s said her tribe is matriarchal, so perhaps due to that tradition, she doesn’t restrict him much either.”

Gu Xiaodeng was taken aback. Zhang Dengqing hadn’t uncovered that detail before; he only now learned that Ge Dongchen had a younger sister.

Feng’en added, “This isn’t the first time Young Master Ge has stayed here. Because they are both from military families, he and the Fourth Young Master once studied under the same highly skilled Martial Arts Master. At most, he stayed in East Forest Garden for over a month, training alongside the Fourth Young Master. Later, that Martial Arts Master died unexpectedly during the Winter Hunt, and Young Master Ge’s martial classes at the Gu family ended.”

Gu Xiaodeng mulled this over for a moment, his head starting to ache. “He’s staying at East Forest Garden right now. When he enters the Gu family private school next year, don’t tell me he’ll be staying there then too!”

Feng’en nodded.

Gu Xiaodeng looked utterly hopeless. At night, he hugged his blanket and shook his head repeatedly, shrinking into his covers to mutter quietly to himself, “You can’t slap a smiling face. Jinyu, Brother Dongchen is really kind-hearted. He comes over to teach me and compliments me every time he sees me. Such a good guy seems so lonely. If only his family didn’t have a feud with the An family, then I could openly be his friend…”

While he was still agonizing over how to handle his relationship with Ge Dongchen, another outsider moved into East Forest Garden a few days later: Guan Yunji, the one with the powerful family who looked down on everyone through his nostrils.

Gu Xiaodeng remembered Gu Jinyu saying he was on very good terms with this proud Little Brother Guan and that he could get closer. So, he boldly and confidently approached him.

When he saw Guan Yunji at the training grounds, he was mounted on a top-quality Ferghana horse, which Feng’en said he had brought specially from the Guan family.

Gu Xiaodeng eagerly stepped forward to greet him, but to his utter disbelief, Guan Yunji didn’t even glance his way. Coldly urging his horse past him, he declared with ringing authority, “A lowly inferior, get lost.”

Gu Xiaodeng wiped the dust kicked onto his face. From then on, Guan Yunji acquired a notorious nickname. Originally it was Guan Superior, but a pun on “turning off the light” turned it into Young Master Blackout, eventually shortened to Young Master Black.

When Feng’en and Feng Huan heard this nickname, they leaned on each other in laughter. “The Cousin Young Master really… really chose it well.”

Gu Xiaodeng rested his chin on his hand, watching them laugh. His heart felt both happy and a sour softness. He wondered if that stone-faced door god Zhu Mi, if he were here, might have cracked a tiny smile upon hearing it.

Busy days passed quickly, but the wound on Gu Xiaodeng’s earlobe healed slowly. It took nearly a month to fully recover. After the medicinal bandage was removed, Feng’en quickly brought over ear beads and an ear stud to put on him. When the jewelry passed through the hole, Gu Xiaodeng hissed in pain for a moment, feeling as if it were piercing more than just his ear.

“Why do I need two earholes in one ear?”

“Because they suit you.” Feng’en smiled as he said this, bringing over a mirror for him to see. He sighed with sincere admiration, “They truly suit you. As you grow a bit older, they will suit you even more.”

Gu Xiaodeng looked at his reflection in the mirror, somewhat bewildered. He touched himself here and there. In just over two months, he had unknowingly changed drastically.

He pinched his own cheek, deeply heartbroken. “I’ve lost weight! I knew it. Studying this and that every day, no more food and just as much work. It’d be strange not to lose weight!”

Feng’en hadn’t expected that to be his main takeaway after looking so long, and couldn’t help but laugh. Gu Xiaodeng’s diet was governed by a specially customized meal plan, not open for discussion. After leaving the confinement room, his appetite had inexplicably grown; perhaps it was psychological, but he always felt hungry.

Feng’en merely smiled and praised him, “You’ve grown taller. A young man’s body looks thinner when it shoots up in height.”

Gu Xiaodeng hummed and hawed, closing the mirror. He counted the days on his fingers. “It’s almost the fifteenth. The Fourth Young Master, Jinyu, should be coming back from the Imperial Palace soon. And the Heir… I wonder if his Autumn Examination went smoothly?”

It was the time of Gu Pinghan’s first Autumn Examination. Changluo held two civil examinations a year, a smaller one in spring and a larger one in autumn. The Autumn Exam lasted five full days, covering both civil and martial subjects, from the ninth to the fourteenth. Gu Pinghan had participated in the Spring Examination as practice earlier that year and had already stood head and shoulders above the rest. No wonder the whole city believed he was certain to place high.

Gu Xiaodeng simply hoped that elder Brother Heir could achieve his long-cherished wish. He had seen the libraries full of books in Gu Jinyu’s quarters. He had heard that Gu Pinghan’s courtyard was even more extreme than Gu Jinyu’s; the amount of studying he must have done before was immense. Underneath that brilliant reputation, only the man himself knew how many buckets of sweat he had shed.

On the evening of the fourteenth, Gu Pinghan finished his Autumn Examination, and Gu Jinyu was granted leave. The brothers, hailed by outsiders as a perfect pair of polished jade, rode back together in a carriage. The outside world watched and marveled, unaware of the true situation inside the carriage.

Once back at Zhenbei Prince Mansion, only the Gu family themselves knew just how disheveled the two Young Masters looked.

Gu Xiaodeng waited with eager anticipation, simply wanting news of them. He waited an entire evening but heard nothing. The servants around him kept their mouths tightly shut, determined not to let him know a single thing.

Gu Xiaodeng held onto that sense of grievance all night long. It didn’t vanish until the next morning when Gu Jinyu came to him in person.

Because he saw a Gu Jinyu wrapped from head to toe in gauze bandages, looking as if he’d been thoroughly beaten. Instantly, only shock remained. “Good heavens! Who beat you up? How did you end up in such a miserable state!”

Gu Jinyu looked like he had just walked out of a gladiator arena. His left arm was in a sling. Though his right wasn’t slung, bandages wrapped from his wrist all the way to his fingertips. His neck was also bandaged, and his face was a patchwork of purple and green, bruises extending from his chin to the corner of his eye.

Yet Gu Jinyu’s expression was completely composed. Seeing him, he merely offered a light smile. “Got your ears pierced?”

Gu Xiaodeng grunted an affirmation and hurriedly brought over a chair for him to sit. He circled around him in a fluster. “Jinyu, Jinyu, did someone bully you?”

“No.” Gu Jinyu seemed to be in a good mood. He bent down and gently stroked the chair with his right hand, smiling all the while. Only after a long pause did he look up at him.

His eyes were deep and shadowed, holding not a trace of the smile on his lips. “It was your elder Brother Heir who hit me.”

Gu Xiaodeng was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

“Yes, and he hit very well.”

Gu Xiaodeng was even more confused. “…”