Zhou Gu disdainfully recounted Duanhua’s actions and his handling of the situation at the time.
When he finished, he said irritably, "She has now returned to the capital, probably to bring charges against me."
The Duchess did not immediately provide her evaluation. Instead, she asked, "Have you told your grandfather about this?"
"I forgot." When Zhou Gu met the old Duke, he only talked about his plans with Su Rong, and never thought to bring up Duanhua.
Looking at Princess Sheng An, the Duchess said, "Mother, Princess Qingping spoils her child, and His Majesty also dotes on Duanhua. Zhou Gu’s treatment of this matter is too forceful, and inappropriate. Where she goes should be her own choice. His interference, although justified, is wrong. After such a terrible loss, Duanhua will certainly complain to Princess Qingping, who was not satisfied with Zhou Gu’s disapproval of Duanhua, and she may take further action."
Princess Sheng An snorted and said, "What was Duanhua trying to do? She could have gone to Jiangning earlier or later, but she chose to follow closely behind Zhou Gu. If you think about it, anyone would know what she was up to. Zhou Gu was right in his approach. If she had gone, wouldn’t she have disrupted the Su family girl’s coming-of-age ceremony? If he hadn’t been assertive, with her crazy temperament, she could have created even bigger problems."
After saying this, she praised Zhou Gu, "You did well. Once you decide you do not like something, you can’t be soft-hearted when handling a crazy girl like her. Otherwise, she’ll push you around, forcing you do all sorts of things. Naturally, you need to protect your fiancée; don’t hope that the crazy girl won’t take any action. She was raised to rely on her status and has been spoiled. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do. It was a good idea to prevent known potential trouble."
Zhou Gu’s face immediately brightened, "Grandmother, I thought the same thing."
"Uh-huh." Princess Sheng An nodded, "If Qingping comes to you, let her come find me, tell her that I instructed you to do this. If His Majesty summons you for a reprimand, I will accompany you to the palace."
Zhou Gu nodded. The title of Princess Sheng An conferred upon his grandmother was unlike that of other princesses, and was personally bestowed by the Emperor. In front of His Majesty, she was equivalent to the Empress Dowager, so naturally, he did not fear the Emperor.
Princess Sheng An sighed, "These years, those siblings have become more and more unruly. If your grandfather and I weren’t here, these two old bones still alive, heh, who knows how long ago they might have taken action against the Duke residence."
Zhou Gu immediately said, "Then grandfather and grandmother must live to a hundred. It’s thanks to you both that I can hold my head high."
"Don’t push your luck." The Duchess is not particularly satisfied with her son at the moment.
"That’s right, we two old folks will live long enough to see all of our grandchildren running around." Princess Sheng An said with a smile, "That’s my goal."
"Grandmother has great ambition." Zhou Gu praised her with a thumbs up.
Looking at Zhou Gu’s smiling face, Princess Sheng An felt extremely pleased and patted his hand, "You must be tired as well. Eat your meal first. After you’ve eaten, if the Palace remains quiet, you can rest early."
Zhou Gu wanted to say, "I am not tired; I still want to ask grandfather how he talked to grandmother and mother to better understand girls. He spoke for a while but hasn’t mentioned this yet," but with the room full of people, and his aunts present, he was not shameless enough to speak out, so he simply nodded, "I am indeed very tired."
Princess Sheng An smiled and ordered people to hurry to the kitchen. Then she asked Zhou Gu, "Are you still accustomed to the food of Jiangning County?"
Zhou Gu nodded, "They’re all delicious. I brought back some food, so the kitchen can make some for my grandmother to taste."
Princess Sheng An laughed happily, "Very good, I want to taste your grandmother’s. My Zhou Gu is the most filial."
They say the grandson is the lifeblood of the old woman. But in the case of Princess Sheng An, the eldest grandson should be cultivated to be a cornerstone of the family, and naturally can’t be spoiled. Because of this, she can neither be too mild nor too indulgent, but the youngest grandson -- she had no such worries. She was happy to indulge him. Even if Zhou Gu hadn’t brought anything back for her, she would have praised him for his hard work in Jiangning, let alone when Zhou Gu had real filial piety.
After dinner, there was still no movement in the palace, so Princess Sheng An urged Zhou Gu to return to Shuanglin Court to rest.
The Duchess left Princess Sheng An’s yard with her son. On the way, Zhou Gu thought his mother had more criticism for him, but instead, she asked him, "Didn’t the eldest son of the Su family come to the capital with you? Why didn’t you invite him to stay at our residence?"
"I did invite him, but he already has a house in the capital, and he decided to stay there. He said he will come to visit another day." Seeing that his mother did not criticize him further, Zhou Gu breathed a sigh of relief. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
The Duchess understood and let him go, "All right, you go back and rest."
Zhou Gu quickly returned to Shuanglin Court.
He wasn’t too tired, so he didn’t go into the house. Instead, he took a walk in the courtyard.
Ziye entered the courtyard and saw Zhou Gu walking around. He was surprised, "Young Master, why aren’t you resting in your room? Are you... taking a walk?"
Zhou Gu acknowledged him with a "hmm." He didn’t used to have the habit of taking post-meal walks, but now, Su Rong had made it a habit for him. He pointed to his clothes and asked Ziye, "How much do you think this outfit is worth?"
Ziye was confused but still carefully looked at Zhou Gu’s clothes and said, "The outfit you’re wearing is very nice, Young Master. Was it made in Jiangning County? It looks expensive, perhaps worth thousands of taels of silver?"
Zhou Gu felt very reassured, see, he himself did not know how expensive it was precisely, and Ziye, who was so close to him, also didn’t know, did he?
Ziye, uncertain by Zhou Gu’s expression, asked tentatively, "Young Master, why do you want to know this? What I’ve said... isn’t it right?"
"Well, this piece of clothing is worth more than a thousand taels." Zhou Gu educated him.
Ziye widened his eyes, "Is, is it that expensive?"
Zhou Gu nodded, waved his hand at him, "Get out of my way, don’t interrupt my walk."
Ziye walked back to his room with a puzzled face. As he walked, he kept looking back, as if thinking, ah, it’s so expensive.
Compared to the harmonious and quiet atmosphere in the Duke’s Residence, the Princess Qingping’s Residence was in chaos.
After Duanhua Princess returned to the Qingping Princess’s Residence, she saw Princess Qingping and threw herself into her arms crying.
Princess Qingping, who was always fond of her daughter, had missed her after not seeing her for many days. She thought her daughter had been playing too wildly to miss home. Now that she was back and crying, her heart ached, "Duanhua, what, what happened to you? Why are you crying?"
As Princess Qingping held her daughter and asked, the more she asked, the more Duanhua Princess wanted to cry because of the grievances she felt these days, "Mother, Zhou Gu bullied me..."
As soon as Princess Qingping heard this, her face changed instantly, "How did he bully you? Did he take your innocence?"
Duanhua Princess paused her sobbing, then she started crying again.
Princess Qingping was in a panic, "Don’t just cry, tell me, what happened? I will stand up for you."
Duanhua Princess cried bitterly, "He won’t let me go to Jiangning County... he’s awful... he doesn’t care about whether I live or die..."
Princess Qingping was puzzled, "Did you not go for over twenty days? Why didn’t you go to Jiangning County? Where were you?"
"I didn’t go anywhere..." Duanhua Princess was both angry and upset, "He had me blocked... he should die..."
Listening to her disjointed words, Princess Qingping couldn’t figure out what had happened. She was patting her daughter’s back, trying to soothe her, when her gaze shifted to the two maids standing a bit further away from Duanhua, "You two, speak up!"
The two maids glanced at each other. Both faces turned pale, but one of them who had more courage spoke up, "Your Highness, our princess was supposed to go to Jiangning County, but halfway there, she was intercepted by Young Master Zhou’s guard. He said that Young Master Zhou wouldn’t allow our princess to go to Jiangning County and ordered her to return to the capital. However, our princess was reluctant. Young Master Zhou’s guard then stopped her, and it lasted half a month. A few days ago, when Young Master Zhou returned from Jiangning County, he forcefully brought our princess back..."
Princess Qingping frowned, "Why did Zhou Gu stop Duanhua from going to Jiangning County?"
The maid lowered her head.
Then Duanhua, crying angrily, said: "He is afraid that I would go to Jiangning County to bully his fiancée, that low-born girl from the Su family. So, he restrains my freedom to go to Jiangning."
The face of Princess Qingping turned ugly, "Anyone can go to Jiangning County, but he forbids you just because he wants to protect his fiancée?"
"Yes, he was in Jiangning County, he didn’t like me following him around and stopped me from going, which is fine. But even after he has returned to the capital, he still won’t let me go to Jiangning County." Duanhua Princess extended her wrist, "Mother, look! I resisted and he let someone tie me. This Ziye of his guard not only dared to act against his betters but he also tied me up. Mother, you must have the emperor ordered his head off!"
Princess Qingping was slightly angry at first. But when she saw the marks on Duanhua’s wrist from being tied up, she was furious, "How dare Zhou Gu! Even the King of Heaven can’t control my daughter’s whereabouts, to Jiangning County. Who is he to constrain you because of a fiancée?"
She held Duanhua’s wrist with a distressed look, "Where are your guards? Why didn’t they protect you? Didn’t you take hundreds of guards with you when you left?"
Duanhua pitifully cried, "How could the guards from our Princess Residence ever be a match to the guards from Duke Residence? The guards around Zhou Gu are all battle-hardened warriors. They are not comparable to the guards mother gave me."
Princess Qingping was taken aback, her face turned incredibly dark, "They failed their duties to protect you. Servant, go, tell them that each of them will be given twenty lashes."
After giving the orders, she looked at Duanhua, "Stop crying, save your tears for your royal uncle. We’ll go to the Imperial Palace now. Let your royal uncle judge. Zhou Gu is too much."
Duanhua nodded, emphasizing, "Mother, you must have the emperor take that servant Ziye’s head."
Princess Qingping nodded, "Such rebellion warrants beheading."
So, the mother and daughter, without taking time to pack up, one with a stern face, the other with swollen red eyes from crying, took a carriage to the Imperial Palace together.
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