The inn's surroundings were nothing to write home about.
The tables and chairs looked quite old, as did the board on the wall listing the menu. Still, the place seemed to be carefully tended every day. It was not spotless, but it was reasonably clean and tidy.
Even so, the ministers brought along so they could be monitored at close quarters all looked at this "shabby inn" with disdain.
Shock, contempt, amusement, delight...
All these overlapping emotions left Gu Ruizhou momentarily unsure what to make of the situation before him.
"Here, here! Please put the fruit drink here!"
Jiang Yingcheng did not notice the changes in everyone's expressions. She only watched the fruit drink in the innkeeper's hands with excitement, waving her little hands nonstop.
[Pour it straight into Chengcheng's mouth!]
Gu Ruizhou collected himself and walked toward the little girl.
He tried to keep his breathing steady. "Enjoy, honored guest."
The porcelain met the tabletop with a crisp clink, as though someone had flipped a switch in the overly quiet room. At last, everyone regained some of their senses and shook off their frozen state.
Surely...
It was just someone with the same name?
There were far more than a dozen people named Gu Ruizhou in this world-
Back when the world-renowned Gu Ruizhou died, a rather peculiar wave of "commemoration" had swept through Great Rui.
Newborn babies were named Ruizhou, children beginning their studies adopted Ruizhou as their courtesy name, and even many grown men disregarded their family genealogies and insisted on changing their names to Ruizhou.
As Gu Ruizhou's hometown, Cen Prefecture had been the "hardest-hit area" of this wave.
Among these hundred or more "Ruizhous," a few were bound to have the surname Gu...
Right?
Jiang Yanchuan personally rinsed a cup with tea before pouring the