The Prime Minister's Darling novel Chapter 58

Chapter 58: 58 County Examination

The two of them left to go home after paying homage to Gu Jiao’s parents’ tomb.

They put in a fair bit of elbow grease in tidying up the tombstone, ending up covered in dirt.

Knowing Xiao Liulang’s penchant for cleanliness, Gu Jiao suggested at the riverside, “You can wash your hands.”

“Hmm.” Xiao Liulang responded, limping on his crutches towards the river.

Gu Jiao watched him walk. To be honest, the surgery was successful, and he tried hard to rehabilitate, but he still hadn’t given up his crutches.

Is his rehabilitation too weak?

Gu Jiao touched her chin.

“Aren’t you going to wash?” Xiao Liulang turned to ask her.

Gu Jiao chuckled: “Wash! Let’s wash together!”

It’s just washing hands, why so enthusiastic? It’s not like they are bathing, right?

Xiao Liulang asked and then remembered that it was the river where she had fallen into. Probably she didn’t approach out of fear. He blamed himself for his tactlessness and planned to quickly wash and leave. But Gu Jiao had already squatted down next to him.

The river water was quite cold, but both of them, not being pampered young masters or delicate young ladies, endured and washed.

However, just as they were about to stand up, something fell from Gu Jiao’s arm into the river with a plop.

“My pouch!” Gu Jiao didn’t expect this turn of events. She tried to grab it, but it was too late. The pouch was full of small silver coins, which were heavy and sunk quickly.

Without a second thought, Gu Jiao jumped into the river.

Xiao Liulang turned pale!

Her jumping into the water was even more unexpected than the pouch falling in. Xiao Liulang didn’t have time to react, and she vanished from sight.

Xiao Liulang looked at the rippling surface of the lake, his toes twitching.

He would’ve been able to swim before, but now with his injured leg, he wasn’t confident he could save her.

Just as Xiao Liulang was in a fierce internal struggle, Gu Jiao emerged from the water clutching her pouch: “Got it, I got it.”

Xiao Liulang quickly pulled her onto the shore.

Gasping for breath, Gu Jiao sat on the grassy ground, water dripping from her.

Xiao Liulang frowned at the pouch she clutched in her hand: “It’s just a pouch. Is it even worth risking your life over a handful of silver coins?”

“It’s not about the silver.” Gu Jiao shook her head, opened the pouch, and dumped out everything inside. She didn’t glance at the silver coins but picked up a palm-sized package, wrapped in wax-sealed leather.

“Do you have a handkerchief?” she asked Xiao Liulang.

He took a clean handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her.

He thought she was going to dry her face, but surprisingly, she used it meticulously to wipe the leather package.

When the package was dry, she carefully peeled off the wax layer, opened the leather wrapping, and revealed a document stamped with an official seal.

The document was dry and undamaged.

Gu Jiao breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the exam document for the county examination that the dean had given to Xiao Liulang, which Xiao Liulang didn’t want and threw into the pile of discard papers.

When Gu Jiao found the document while cleaning his room, she thought he had dropped it accidentally, so she carefully stored it away.

She handed him the document, “You should keep it, I am all wet and I don’t want to wet the document.”

Xiao Liulang: “You did this for this? But I…”