Chapter 500 - 501: Success

Chapter 500: Chapter 501: Success

Tong Xiucai figured that whatever Mr. Gu’s intentions were, he would likely entrust these children with important roles in the future. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have them study both literature and martial arts. Just as the warrior had said, this was a golden opportunity for these children.

Anyway, he was just being paid silver to do a job, so he would focus on teaching them well.

Yun Ni clapped his hands. The children in the backyard stopped what they were doing and assembled with lightning speed.

"This is the teacher Mr. Gu specially hired for you all. From now on, you will dedicate some time every day to learning how to read and write. As long as you study hard or show talent, Mr. Gu will entrust you with important responsibilities.

"Furthermore, Mr. Gu has left instructions that even if you struggle with your studies, you must still learn as many words as possible. That way, you’ll be less likely to be scammed or deceived in the future.

"This opportunity is right in front of you. What do you say? Are you confident?"

"Yes!"

Dozens of children answered in unison. A few of them were visibly moved; learning to read and write had been their parents’ dying wish. They had thought that just having enough to eat and surviving would be good enough for this lifetime, never expecting to receive such an opportunity.

After they were formally introduced to Tong Xiucai, the polite children began to call out to him in unison, addressing him as their teacher.

Looking at these well-behaved, sensible children and thinking about their tragic backgrounds, Tong Xiucai’s heart softened significantly.

The County Magistrate’s son he had tutored previously had absolutely no interest in studying and showed zero respect for him as a teacher. The spoiled boy would even boss him around, and had it not been for the County Magistrate’s wife holding her son back, Tong Xiucai might have been beaten up a few times.

Alas, making a living was a grueling, thankless task. For the sake of survival, he had no choice but to endure it.

In the end, however, the County Magistrate’s entire family was condemned and punished. He lost his job and had nowhere left to endure it, even if he wanted to.

Now, Mr. Gu had hired him to teach these children. Receiving their respect along with a handsome salary put his mind greatly at ease.

It was just a matter of teaching a few more children. He would teach them the exact same way regardless, and he believed they would cherish such a rare opportunity.

Seeing Tong Xiucai mingle with the children so quickly, standing there and kindly answering each of their questions, Yun Ni suddenly felt that Gu Kaiyuan had indeed been very thoughtful. This batch of children would likely grow up to be incredibly grateful.

Gu Xingyang was living an exceptionally comfortable life now. He had people taking care of his three daily meals, and several more children accompanied him by his side.

Initially, he had been impatient, afraid that these children would disrupt his life, but to his surprise, they were all very mindful of boundaries.

In particular, two gentle older girls had now taken over his parents’ role in managing his daily life, and they did a much better job of it than his father ever had.

Bai Suihe had initially worried that Gu Xingyang might resist these strangers. Unexpectedly, after a few days, they were getting along quite well.

Gu Xingyang had no complaints about them and no longer clung to her and her husband, which finally allowed her to breathe a sigh of relief.

The truth was, they were currently swamped with many tasks, and having a child tagging along was sometimes very inconvenient.

Gu Kaiyuan was busy with the shipyard, while Bai Suihe managed the pharmacy and the fabric shop. She even planned to open a pawnshop in preparation for their future maritime voyages.

This was somewhat of a personal hobby for her. Since she had no idea if she would ever have the chance to time-travel again, she figured she might as well collect some valuable items and store them away.

A pawnshop was the best, highly lucrative business she could think of to acquire treasures at a low cost. The storefront had already been selected; all she needed now was a suitable shopkeeper.

In addition to all this busywork, Bai Suihe had to set aside half a day every day to study medicine. Seeing her work so hard made Nanny Pang’s heart ache, to the point where she secretly reduced some of Bai Suihe’s coursework.

"News has come from the Capital City," Gu Kaiyuan said excitedly one day. "The medicine you gave me has been used. Now, we just have to wait."

"What about your insider?" Bai Suihe asked. Aside from worrying about the person’s safety, she also feared they might not have covered their tracks cleanly.

"She’s already out, and don’t worry, she won’t arouse any suspicion.

"Gu Antong sent her away herself. My dear sister-in-law, wanting to make a bit more silver, sold her off to a human trafficker.

"Because she was originally one of Gu Antong’s personal servants, my sister-in-law was afraid of future trouble, so she even instructed the trafficker to sell her far away.

"Manager Chen from the tavern found a traveling merchant to buy her and gave her a completely new identity. Once she arrives, I’ll arrange for her to stay with Yun Ni for a while. When our ships set sail, she’ll depart with us."

After listening to his arrangement, Bai Suihe felt it was highly feasible.

This way, even if Gu Antong and the others became suspicious later on, finding one person in a vast sea of humanity would be no easy task.

"Before the dust settles on this matter, it’s best not to let her show her true face to anyone," Bai Suihe advised.

"Rest assured, I will handle everything. Gu Antong’s good days are numbered. Even if she remembers and tries to investigate, she’ll lack the power to do so."

"I wonder how effective the medicine is?" Bai Suihe mused, feeling a bit of regret that she couldn’t monitor the patient’s condition in person.

"I actually know a bit about that," Gu Kaiyuan replied. "On the second day after taking the medicine, the effects weren’t obvious. But by the third day, she visibly rounded out. Her weight has probably been increasing by several pounds every single day!"

The mere thought of it terrified Gu Kaiyuan. It had just been a tiny packet of medicinal powder. "Do you know what she’ll eventually look like?"

Bai Suihe shook her head. "I don’t know about that, but after the rabbits and mice ate it, they turned into literal spheres."

At that moment, the same image popped into the couple’s minds: a perfectly spherical Gu Antong. Just thinking about it was horrifying.

"It’s been so many days now. I wonder what she looks like," Bai Suihe said.

Gu Kaiyuan also felt a trace of regret. "It’s a pity we don’t have any of our people in the Third Prince Mansion. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go poking around for information either."

It wasn’t that he couldn’t investigate; he was just afraid of spooking their targets and drawing suspicion.

"There’s no rush," she said. "News from the Third Prince’s backyard shouldn’t be hard to come by. Word will spread sooner or later.

"As for the medicine given to the Third Prince, I just hope it takes him a while to figure it out."

"Don’t worry," Gu Kaiyuan reassured her. "The Imperial Physicians in the palace are slippery characters. They rotate shifts every month, and unless it’s a matter of life and death, they won’t easily speak up.

"Not to mention, no one wants to get involved in something as sensitive as the Third Prince’s inability to produce an heir.

"As long as they hesitate even a little, this matter won’t blow up so easily.

"Once enough time passes, there will be a good show to watch. For now, we just have to hope those Imperial Physicians are as cowardly as they seem."

Meanwhile, the very people the couple had been discussing—the Third Prince and Gu Antong—were currently sitting in a garden pavilion.

"What is going on with you? How did you gain so much weight in such a short period of time? Did you eat something you shouldn’t have?"

Rong Ruiyuan’s initial inability to keep his hands off her had now morphed into a trace of dread.

Who would suddenly balloon up like that for no reason? Could this be the result of some inner court scheming?

Gu Antong had likely fallen victim to foul play. If she continued to pack on the pounds at this rate, he would probably become the laughingstock of the Capital City.

What frightened him even more was that someone had managed to secretly drug Gu Antong this time. What if there was a next time?

"Your Highness, I don’t know either," Gu Antong replied, equally panicked. "I haven’t even dared to eat anything these past few days, yet my weight keeps skyrocketing even when I only drink water."