Upon hearing this, the Old Duke took a good look at Zhou Gu, scrutinizing him closely, trying to decipher something from his countenance. However, he found that his grandson, having been to Jiangning County, seemed to have matured, and he couldn’t read his thoughts anymore.
He raised an eyebrow, and deliberately said, "Didn’t the little girl fancy you?"
"How could that be possible?" Zhou Gu retorted.
"Oh? How is it not possible?" The Old Duke counter-questioned.
Zhou Gu wanted to say, "She even wanted me to hold her that day.", but seeing the old face of the Duke, he refrained. Instead, he said, "In any case, it is impossible for her not to fancy me."
The Old Duke laughed and scolded, "What do you think you are, a golden treasure? That you must have her favour? From my perspective, when a girl says she’s not in a hurry, it means she doesn’t like you that much. If she did, she should be eager to marry."
Zhou Gu tightened his face, "She’s not like other girls."
"How is she different?" the Old Duke asked.
"She’s not like other young ladies in the harem." Zhou Gu would naturally not tell the Old Duke how eccentric Su Rong’s actions were or how different her thoughts were from ordinary women. At the very least, the daughters in Capital City would definitely not ask him, knowing that he and Xie Lin were competing over a woman, how many people he fought against. The more they cared about his fight, the more she would say she would help him with such things in the future.
Therefore, her character, not being eager to marry him, not wanting to be bound by the high walls of a grand house too soon, makes sense. After all, at the very beginning, he said that his grandmother and mother were very good in proprieties, which made her back down.
Although they got along as usual later, she may not want to be confined by the high walls of the Duke Residence.
The Old Duke sat up straight and said to him, "Tell me more exactly, what makes her different from the ordinary young women in the harem?"
The Old Duke didn’t think of how eccentric Su Rong’s actions were. What he had in mind was whether Su Rong had inherited the traits of Princess Zhenmin. Princess Zhenmin back then was soft and weak, but silently, she was a woman who made great accomplishments.
"There’s not much to say, it’s just that her thoughts are different from those people, she’s not the kind that is eager to marry." Zhou Gu subtly said.
The Old Duke was left half-understanding, seeing that Zhou Gu was unwilling to elaborate, he didn’t press further. "Not being eager to marry is also fine, she is indeed still young, she just had her hairpin coming-of-age ceremony. It’s fine to wait for two years. What about you?" 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Zhou Gu said, "I’m not in a hurry either."
The Old Duke nodded and did not hear Zhou Gu saying he would not marry. He understood in his heart that Zhou Gu no longer resisted this marriage arrangement. He was very relieved and touched his beard, "You’ll be taking the imperial examination this autumn. As such, let’s focus on your examination this year. As for your marriage, your mother can discuss and set a date with the Su Family first. Let’s talk about it next year."
Zhou Gu rubbed his fingers, and finally asked, "Grandfather, what if I don’t want to take the imperial examination this year?"
He had been in a dilemma, but since Su Rong said she wasn’t in a hurry, he had nothing to worry about. Now that he didn’t have to worry about the wedding, he could delay entering the examination, and could leave Capital City to travel. After all, she said she wasn’t in a hurry.
The Old Duke frowned, "You don’t want to take the exam this year? Then what do you want to do?"
"I want to travel and take a look around. I will take the exam and join the court in three years.", Zhou Gu finally expressed his thoughts.
Unexpectedly, the Old Duke did not immediately refuse him but frowned and asked: "How did you come up with this idea?"
Seeing that there was hope, Zhou Gu immediately sat straight and said to the Old Duke, "Grandfather, it’s better to travel ten thousand miles than to read ten thousand books. I still want to go out and understand the lives of the people before joining the court. Knowing what the people need would help me serve the people better in the future."
The Old Duke did not speak.
Zhou Gu looked at him, "You have always taught me from a young age that the Duke Residence indeed protect the home and country on the battlefield, but in my case, I have three older brothers, all of whom served in the military and many support the Duke Residence. I am not needed to go to the battlefield in the future. It was when my father and uncles all died on the battlefield that you realized, sometimes, to protect the home and country, you don’t necessarily need to go to the battlefield and fight with real swords and guns, exhibiting masculine bravery. Instead, when Dawei, a powerful enemy, invades, they have strong soldiers and abundant resources. If a war happens, we can only die on the field, but we cannot save the country. Like sixteen years ago, wasn’t it Princess Zhenmin who saved Daliang alone? Princess Zhenmin is just a weak woman who sacrificed herself and ruined her own life, but with her efforts, she made Dawei sign a thirty-year non-aggression pact. Overall, it was because Daliang’s national strength was lacking at that time. If a country wants to be strong, it cannot just depend on the martial soldiers. It must have a talented Auxiliary Minister who is good at writing and martial arts to assist a wise ruler, benefit the people, make the country rich and the military strong. In the future, even if Dawei invades, they cannot do anything to our great Daliang."
Zhou Gu remembered clearly what was said. Because he remembered, he did not resist stubbornly but complied with his grandfather’s wish. He no longer desired to join the army but decided to study literature with the Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Qin.
Of course, he had not neglected military strategy and martial arts over the years, since the Crown Prince also practiced martial arts every day.
The Old Duke naturally remembered these words. More than ten years ago, he said them to young Zhou Gu. At that time he did receive a letter from Princess Zhenmin, saying she was afraid she wouldn’t live much longer. The only thing she couldn’t let go of was her daughter. Her daughter would be entrusted to Xie Yuan and Su Xu for care in the future. They would protect her as she grew up, but given her extraordinary birth, she feared Xie Yuan and Su Xu might fail to protect her one day. She wanted to find another support for her. If the truth of her birth was not known, her daughter could at most get criticized for the low status of the Governor’s Residence, which will not match the high status of a child of the Duke Residence. However, the old Duke should know that her birth will not humiliate a son of the Duke Residence. That’s enough. She hoped the truth about her birth will remain unknown, allowing her to live her life peacefully. But if ever her birth gets discovered, with the high status of the Duke Residence, they would be able to protect her at least to some degree, making her life less difficult."
The Old Duke naturally agreed without further discussion.
At that time, he had two grandsons who were of the same age as Su Rong. One was the third son, Zhou Che, who was three years older than Su Rong, and the youngest one was Zhou Gu, who was one year older than Su Rong, but Zhou Che was from a concubine, and he was frail when he was a child. After considering it, the Duke chose Zhou Gu.
He felt that if Zhou Che were chosen, disregarding his health, his status from a concubine would be unfair to Su Rong. The child of Princess Zhenmin and the Nanchu King was naturally more suitable for Zhou Gu, the legitimate son.
Seeing that the Old Duke had not spoken for a long time, Zhou Gu asked, "Grandfather?"
The Old Duke returned from his thoughts, nodded, and felt reassured inside his heart, "It’s commendable that you still remember what I said when you were young. Good."
Zhou Gu was not interested in the praise. He only wanted to know if the Duke agreed.
After contemplating for a while, the Old Duke asked, "Have you thought about this for a long time? Or did you just have the idea?"
"I’ve thought about it for a long time, but I haven’t mentioned it because I feared you would disagree," Zhou Gu straightforwardly answered.
The Old Duke stroked his beard, snorted, "Which of my decisions hasn’t been for your good? You, a young child, the salt you’ve eaten can’t be more than the journeys I’ve travelled. Let me tell you, in my lifetime, I haven’t made a single wrong judgement."
Zhou Gu nodded with agreement, "Yes, yes, yes, but do you agree or not?"
The Old Duke was pleased that his grandson was willing to discuss calmly with him. It seemed he had grown up. He said, "Since you’ve had the idea for a long time, have you mentioned it to the Crown Prince and Grand Tutor Qin? Grand Tutor Qin has high hopes for your Golden Autumn examination."
After all, Grand Tutor Qin only had two students, one was the Crown Prince and the other was him. The Crown Prince naturally didn’t need to compete.
"I’ve told the Crown Prince, but not Grand Tutor Qin. I was afraid he would disagree," Zhou Gu said.
The Old Duke nodded, contemplated for a moment, and said, "Grand Tutor Qin will definitely not agree with you missing the Golden Autumn exam. After all, I heard that this year’s candidates are quite talented, all eager to seize the top spot. The Crown Prince cannot compete, so you are the pride of Grand Tutor Qin. He has been looking forward to seeing you outperform those renowned scholars from various places. Let’s see how well you would rank."
Zhou Gu’s face fell.
The Old Duke looked at him, and changed the tone of his voice, "I also want to see how well you’ve been doing with your studies under Grand Tutor Qin’s guidance. So, you will still participate in the Golden Autumn exam. After the exam, I will request the Emperor, saying that you’re still young and lack experience. Then, I will ask for you to travel abroad for two years. When you return from your journey, you will then start executing your official duties. Presumably, the Emperor will grant me this favor, he will leave you a nominal position after your exam, and when you return from your travels, you can start your duties."
Zhou Gu’s eyes lit up, "That will work, thank you, grandfather."
He didn’t expect the Old Duke to be agreeable this time, and even helped him come up with a plan for his departure.
The Old Duke snorted, looking at Zhou Gu’s bright eyes, and gave him a blunt reminder, "Have you discussed it with the young girl? You need to secure her consent. Otherwise, you’ll be travelling for two years, not staying too long in one place, and it will be inconvenient to communicate. By the time you return two years later, she might have forgotten about you and would not want to marry you."
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