Zhou Gu had been in the Eastern Palace for an hour before he finally left Yan Huisheng’s study.
After his departure, Yan Huisheng called out to the person waiting outside the door, "Come in."
Responding to the call, a man entered from outside, "Your Highness."
Yan Huisheng asked, "Has there been any news from Yun An today?"
The man shook his head, "Your Highness, there hasn’t been any."
With a frown, Yan Huisheng remarked, "Normally, Yun An sends news every three days. It has been the fifth day, hasn’t it?"
"Yes."
Twiddling his fingers, Yan Huisheng speculated, "Could something have happened? Send a message to Yun An and question him."
"Yes."
With a wave of Yan Huisheng’s hand, the man retreated, and the room fell silent again. Yan Huisheng’s gaze landed on the half-full tea cup that Zhou Gu had left behind. Thinking of Zhou Gu’s lively demeanor and cheerful descriptions of his fiancée, his eyes dimmed slightly. He picked up the folded document and began reading again.
Once Zhou Gu left the Eastern Palace, he felt something was amiss. However, he couldn’t put a finger on what it was.
As he rode his horse pondering the issue, he attempted to recall every word and expression he used with Yan Huisheng ever since he set foot in the Eastern Palace. Upon reaching the Duke Residence, he realized everything was normal, except for the unusual request of the Crown Prince asking Qin Luan to thank him personally.
He dismounted the horse and handed its reins to a young servant. When he realized he couldn’t figure out what was bothering him, he stopped ruminating. After asking about his grandfather’s whereabouts, he was told that he was at the Martial Arts Arena. So, he headed there.
The Martial Arts Arena was lively. Zhou Che, the third son of the Duke Residence, had returned, and the old duke was instructing him in martial arts, with the guards taking turns to spar.
On arriving, Zhou Gu noticed that Zhou Che had overpowered three men at once. His eyes lit up, and picking up a red-tasseled spear casually, he entered the arena.
Almost as soon as Zhou Che got back on his feet, he saw Zhou Gu charging towards him. Without exchanging any banter, Zhou Gu attacked. Zhou Che chuckled, "You feeling a bit restless, fourth brother?"
"Isn’t it obvious? Didn’t encounter any mountain bandits along the way and had no one to practice with." Zhou Gu smiled, his eyebrows raised, "Big brother, you’ve been in the fight for a while. I won’t take advantage of you—I’ll let you have three moves."
Zhou Che cocked an eyebrow, "Alright."
While they exchanged words, the brothers began their duel.
Observing from the sidelines with his hands behind his back, the old duke watched their back-and-forth with interest. Initially, Zhou Gu was on the back-foot after allowing Zhou Che to have three moves. But, after a couple of rounds, the tide turned. The fight ended in a draw, and the old duke nodded approvingly.
Two rounds of tea later, Zhou Gu gained the upper hand. With a tricky move, Zhou Che was caught off guard, and Zhou Gu was able to disarm him. Then, with a triumphant smirk, Zhou Gu declared, "Big brother, you lost."
Unannoyed, Zhou Che conceded defeat with a smile, "Fourth brother, that was a clever move. Took me by surprise. Where did you learn it?"
Zhou Gu didn’t answer. He was thinking about the time he had learnt it from Su Rong. That day, she had tried to snatch the silk ribbon from his hand using the same move. At that time, he was on his guard against her, and she was trying to snatch an item from him empty-handed, which is why she couldn’t succeed. Today, he held a weapon and his older brother had let his guard down. Naturally, Zhou Gu won.
Obviously, he wouldn’t relay this story. He tossed the weapon and draped an arm around Zhou Che’s shoulder, smiling, "Did you miss me, big brother?"
Zhou Che shrugged him off, "Why would I miss you?"
"How come our oldest and second brothers haven’t returned?" Zhou Gu asked, laughing.
"They’re tied up with their own affairs and couldn’t make it. When they heard you were returning, they asked me to come and see you." Zhou Che studied Zhou Gu’s face, "You seem to have gotten fairer, the environment in Jiangning County really is quite nourishing."
Zhou Gu touched his own face, self-conscious. He didn’t mention that his fiancée had a habit of studying his face. Although she did it unconsciously, and he never confronted her about it, he knew she was a bit vain. Therefore, ever since meeting her, he paid extra attention to cleanliness, washing his face thoroughly every day and applying the cream prepared by Zhou Xi. Jiangning County indeed had a soothing climate and was fertile land. After a month, his skin had turned more fair and smooth, hadn’t it?
He covered his mouth and coughed slightly, "Ah, yes!"
Observing his reactions, Zhou Che remarked, "Fourth brother, something seems off about you."
Zhou Gu: "..."
He was feeling the same.
He turned his face away, coughed a couple more times, and draped his arm around Zhou Che’s shoulder once again, "How long are you planning to stay, big brother?"
"Just for the night." Zhou Che didn’t shrug him off this time.
Zhou Gu bobbed his head, "I brought back some Drunk Flower Brew from Jiangning County. I have a jar each for you and our oldest and second brothers."
"Drinking is forbidden in the army."
Zhou Gu snorted, "What I meant was, shall we have a few drinks tonight? I’m telling you, this intoxicating wine is good stuff, it’s a shame not to drink it."
"You mentioned this intoxicating wine, a few days ago, I heard someone mention that there is a new wine shop in Capital City, they also sell this type of wine." Zhou Che said, "The rumor is that it is very expensive, costing two hundred taels of silver for one jar."
Zhou Gu looked surprised, "This wine is already available in the capital?"
Before he left the Capital City, it was not ready yet.
"Yes, but I have yet to try it, I am not sure if it’s the same wine you’re talking about, but it is named as such."
"Then that should be it," Zhou Gu clicked his tongue, "This wine costs one hundred taels of silver per jar in Jiangning County, but it’s sold in Capital City for twice the price. As the saying goes, Merchants are always opportunists."
Zhou Che nodded, "Indeed it is expensive, but I heard that the wine lovers of Capital City were spurred into action upon hearing this. That wine shop can’t keep up with the demands, you’d have to queue up to buy this wine."
Zhou Gu suddenly felt like the Intoxicating Wine he brought back was not enough. He had ordered a set amount, giving one jar to each male member of the family, also giving an extra jar to his grandmother who loved wine, sent two jars to the Eastern Palace and kept two jars for himself.
He suggested to Zhou Che, "Third brother, why don’t we save the wine for tonight, and I can sell it to earn some silver?"
Zhou Che glanced at him, "Are you short of silver?"
"Yes." Zhou Gu was upset as he said, "Just yesterday, I went to the palace, not only did I have to give out two bottles of precious cosmetic cream, but I also had to pay five thousand taels from my own personal savings."
Zhou Che had heard about him forcibly dragging Duanhua back after stopping her on the road for many days after returning home. He sighed, "Only you could pull this off, considering her status. This compensation is not too unreasonable given that she didn’t achieve anything. If it weren’t for grandmother going to the palace with you, you wouldn’t have been able to get away unscathed with such little recompense. You might have been subject to ten smacks from the emperor."
Zhou Gu hummed in response, being entangled with Duanhua was truly bad luck.
Zhou Che patted his shoulder, speaking in a low voice: "Grandmother has spoken, she will pay this sum of silver from the family’s reserves."
Meaning, keep your wine and drink it!
Zhou Gu sighed, "But I’m still short of money."
Zhou Che raised an eyebrow, "Your personal savings are richer than ours, how come you’re so short on silver after a trip to Jiangning County?"
Zhou Gu patted his clothes, "My fiancée is too rich, making me look so poor, I have to find ways to earn money."
Zhou Che: "..."
He had already noticed Zhou Gu’s clothes, and even in their recent fight, Zhou Gu had been careful to protect his clothes, not allowing him to touch even a corner of them. He had noticed it when they sparred.
After he returned home, he heard from his mother that Lady Su Qi had sent Se Zhou Gu a batch of fabric for clothes, worth more than ten thousand taels, he was also shocked.
Now watching Zhou Gu acting helpless but still showing off, he was speechless, "You figure it out yourself, I, your third brother am poorer, I can’t help you."
Zhou Gu: "..."
In the midst of their conversation, the two brothers arrived before their grandfather, and both cried out in unison, "Grandfather."
The old duke was all smiles and praised, "Well done, both of you."
As he started to move away, the brothers followed him. After a few casual exchanges between the three generations, the old duke asked Zhou Gu, "Have you been to the Eastern Palace?"
Zhou Gu nodded, speaking softly: "The Crown Prince gave me a reminder, I want to ask grandfather to send some people to secretly protect Su Xingze."
The old duke had forgotten to ask yesterday. This morning when he didn’t see Zhou Gu, he summoned Zhou Xi and learned that Su Xingze was staying at Xie Yuan’s house, he asked, "Oh? Why? Who’s targeting him?"
Zhou Gu spoke in a low voice: "This time, the Crown Prince suffered a great loss because I hampered Jiang Sheng, he will not let it go easily. The second prince is also ambitious, wishing to overthrow the Eastern Palace. The other two princes, even though they’re still young, can’t be sure they don’t have schemes. With the upcoming autumn exams, everyone will be watching. Su Xingze is quite famous in Jiangzhou, and because of my connection to him, he might get targeted. If the Crown Prince wants to get his revenge, he may take it out on Su." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Did he not bring his own guards when he came to the capital?" questioned the old duke.
"He brought about twenty men, but I fear it might not be enough." Zhou Gu thought, it would be enough for an average guard, but if the Crown Prince takes action, it probably won’t be enough.
The old duke nodded, "Hmm, the crown prince has considered how many people should be sent over, you can arrange this yourself."
Zhou Gu nodded, he himself had a team of guards, selected by his grandfather when he was a child, there were around a hundred. He suggested, "I can send fifty men from my team to assist him, to be safe, I’ll select another fifty from the residence."
The old duke glanced at him, thinking that he was taking good care of his future brother-in-law, or rather, he cared a lot for the little girl from the Su family. With that, he nodded, having no objections, "Do as you see fit!"
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