I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 56: The House Next Door to Yours

After Xie Yun finished speaking, he strode away.

It took a long time for Gu Changting to come back to his senses, his expression dazed.

The more he thought about it, the more off he felt; he still thought that Xie Yun was behaving differently than usual.

"No, I must protect little Lan."

With that, he chased after him, "Xie Jingqi, where are you going! Should I introduce a girl to you?"

"Don’t run, Minister Li’s second daughter has liked you for a long time!"

Xie Yun couldn’t be bothered with Gu Changting.

However, he knew Gu Changting was a stubborn person who wouldn’t give up until he achieved his goal.

So, Xie Yun took out a small indigo-covered notebook from his arms, which was clean and had not been wet by the rain.

Gu Changting asked, "What is this?"

Xie Yun walked to a simple wooden frame built for river drainage, took a pen and dipped it in the ink beside him, saying, "Marriage Book."

Gu Changting looked bewildered.

"Just say it, who do you want to introduce to me? Can’t I just note it down?" Xie Yun said.

Gu Changting was shocked and took the small book to flip through it, finding inside a list of girl’s names and introductions—

The girls introduced for matchmaking with Xie Jingqi had already lined up from the Imperial Palace to the city gates, with the list extending to the fifty-third position—Lu Congyun, the eldest daughter of the Capital City Governor Lu Bingxin, gentle and kind, beautiful as a flower, twenty years old, yet to be married.

Xie Yun looked up at Gu Changting, asking innocently, "Why aren’t you saying anything?"

There were countless people trying to introduce him to girls; at first, he could decline, but now he couldn’t avoid it anymore, so he just noted them down perfunctorily, then released word that he was not considering marriage for the time being.

Someone once told him that marriage should be based on mutual love and trust, not just arranged by matchmakers.

He thought the same.

"I am the one being disturbed! Introducing a girl to you is just a waste!" Gu Changting saw Lu Congyun’s name, retracted his words, and gave up on the idea.

Ha, it was better to introduce girls to himself rather than Xie Yun; he wasn’t married either!

After some time, Xie Yun, along with a few craftsmen and guards, finally cleared up the river channel.

The sky was already dark; Gu Changting got up to go home, while the Crown Prince hadn’t insisted for even half an hour and had already handed the matter over to Xie Yun, sneaking back to the Eastern Palace.

Although this matter wasn’t really Gu Changting’s responsibility, he insisted on being involved in everything, thinking of himself as the top young master along with Xie Yun. With manpower shortages all over the capital after the flood, taking over these matters became his duty.

Gu Changting headed toward the Gu Mansion, realizing that Xie Yun was also taking the same path.

"Xie Jingqi, why are you following me?"

"Going home," Xie Yun said.

Gu Changting: "Isn’t your home in the south of the city!"

"Yesterday’s rain washed away my house; I need to stay at the Xie family’s ancestral home for a while," Xie Yun said lightly, walking faster than Gu Changting.

Gu Changting: "All right, but how come I didn’t know the Xie Family had an ancestral home, where is it?"

After the incidents with the Xie Family, only Xie Yun was left alive. Being familiar with Xie Yun over the years, Gu Changting had never heard him mention any ancestral home.

"Next to your house," Xie Yun replied unhurriedly.

"..." Gu Changting fell silent.

"Xie Jingqi, you have ulterior motives toward little Lan, you old cabbage!"

"I am not an old cabbage..." Xie Yun replied.

*

Half a month later, Gu Lan finally returned to the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion.

As the carriage stopped, Uncle Li, the mansion’s steward, led a group of maidservants to welcome him: "Young Master is finally back; the Old Madam and Madam are waiting for you to have dinner in the front hall."

A group of maidservants looked at Gu Lan eagerly, each with tears in their eyes.

Zijin said, "Young Master has caught a cold, it would be better to rest first."

Uncle Li also noticed the flush on Gu Lan’s face, hurriedly summoned the mansion’s doctor, and said affectionately, "Young Master should quickly return to rest! It’s all right; you’re home now."

Gu Lan was supported back to the room by Zijin to sleep. After a while, she opened her eyes and found a circle of heads around her.

"Lan, are you uncomfortable anywhere?"

"Lan, don’t worry, our Marquis Mansion is on high ground. During the flood, your second uncle came back with people, and Changting cleared the drainage outside, so the mansion is perfectly fine."

"My good grandson, is school tiring, is someone bullying you, how come I feel that my good grandson has gotten thinner?"

"Big Nephew, what do you want to eat? Second Aunt will go to the kitchen for you!"

The circle of people consisted of Madam Zhou, Old Madam Gu, and Mrs. Wang.

The three women were excited when they saw Gu Lan was awake.

Gu Lan: "Give me some space to breathe."

Old Madam Gu slapped her forehead and stepped aside, then said, "My good grandson, you look so thin, perhaps we shouldn’t go back to school!"

Madam Zhou: "If you want to stay home to embroider, that’s fine too." Madam Zhou looked at Gu Lan’s pale face and also compromised.

Mrs. Wang: "Well, there’s no need to embroider either. Let Chengye find an easy job for you; don’t worry, Second Aunt will make you something delicious to build you up!"

These three women would undoubtedly be criticized in later generations for spoiling the child.

Gu Lan hid her laughter and said softly: "I’m fine, it’s getting late, Grandmother, you all should go and rest."

After some persuasion, the three women reluctantly left Gu Lan’s room.

In less than a moment, Mrs. Wang returned, bringing a large bowl of jelly date porridge, supposedly good for the stomach.

Shortly thereafter, Old Madam Gu returned, quietly called You’er, and lit some calming incense in Gu Lan’s room;

Not long after, Madam Zhou returned, carrying a bowl of herbal medicine and a handful of candied fruits from Mrs. Wang.

"I can handle it myself!" Gu Lan sat up and waved her hands repeatedly.

Madam Zhou’s eyes instantly reddened, looking at her daughter, wiping away tears with a handkerchief, speaking with a tone of grievance and sadness: "Lan, can’t I even fulfill the small wish of feeding you medicine?"

Gu Lan: ...

Upon seeing Madam Zhou on the verge of tears, she was at a loss on how to refuse.

An incense stick later, Madam Zhou put the medicine bowl down satisfactorily, then fed two pieces of the candied fruit to Gu Lan, who wore a puckered face due to the bitterness.

Gu Lan had never been fed medicines piece by piece before.

Even with her features twisted by the bitter medicine, she obediently drank it all and promptly chewed on a handful of candied fruit, gritting her teeth with her mouth puffed out, amusing Madam Zhou with her daughter’s cuteness.

But she didn’t dare laugh out loud.

Her daughter had become much more mature, going so far as to avoid making her cry by not refusing the feeding of medicine.

Nevertheless, her temperament remained as proud as before, boasting more indulgence of impersonating a boy recently, refusing to allow any compliments on her cuteness, only favoring praise on how handsome she was, leaving Madam Zhou unsure whether to be happy or not.

Having enjoyed the joys of motherhood, Madam Zhou left Gu Lan’s room contentedly.

Gu Lan smacked her lips on the candied fruit, watched her leave, then scooped a spoonful of the jelly date porridge made by Mrs. Wang for herself.

It was so delicious.

The smell of calming incense from Old Madam Gu lingered in her nose and was quite pleasant; she became lost in thought for a long time.

No one had fed her medicine like this before,

nor had anyone

treated her so well.

Gu Lan’s cold came and went quickly.

The next day, Young Master Gu had recovered his usual dashing and elegant demeanor, wearing spotless white clothes, a jade belt holding back his hair, and his ink-black hair draped like flowing clouds, lazily basking in the sun within Step Lotus Hall’s courtyard.

The clouds that had lasted for three days finally parted, and the sun poured down, but the air was much cooler than before. Gu Lan, with a thin blanket over him, couldn’t even pose with a fan for style.

Due to the heavy rain, the grape trellis in Step Lotus Hall had fallen, the lotuses were gone, and the small goldfish had swum away.

With no schooling to attend, after lying around for a while, she always felt something was missing. Thus, she fetched a jar of candies and began counting them, one by one, for Rong Heng.

Though a day’s rest was typically brief, given the current circumstances, as Maoqin Hall was flooded, she had no idea how long she would be lounging at home.

Without bringing food to Rong Heng, Gu Lan was at a loss about what to have for lunch.

After counting a few candies, she couldn’t resist tossing some into her own mouth.

After all, Rong Heng didn’t seem very fond of sweets, so why not enjoy them herself? Next time, she might replace them with buns—it’s more filling and lasts longer.

"Stop eating, if you continue, Young Master, your teeth might start to decay."

A gentle voice with a hint of laughter came from nearby.