Xie Lin watched as the two discussed their plans, ignoring him completely, and felt a mix of emotions.
He waited for them to finish speaking before saying resignedly, "Are you two treating me as invisible?"
His Rui’an King Residence wasn’t aligned with any factions, and he hadn’t declared allegiance to anyone. He’d been living a low-key, unremarkable life under the Emperor’s nose, and while such a life may be unimpressive, it had one advantage: he wasn’t living like the Duke Residence, quietly feared and watched by the Emperor, every move scrutinized, leaving him feeling breathless.
According to him, it was all about military power. If the Duke Residence were to give up its military command, these problems would be solved.
But on the other hand, would the Duke Residence still be the Duke Residence without military command? Even if it did give up its military command, could the Duke Residence survive unscathed?
Xie Lin used all his wits but couldn’t think of an answer. He figured this was probably why the old Duke let Zhou Gu pursue scholarship. The Duke Residence had no other options. Everyone was singing praises of the Duke Residence, but who knew they were now struggling to make even the simplest of moves.
"We’re not ignoring you, just assume you’re hard of hearing." Zhou Gu retorted nastily.
Xie Lin was taken aback, then asked Zhou Gu abruptly, "Does your fiancée know that you’re like this?"
Zhou Gu was stunned into silence.
"Let’s go, let’s leave!" Agreeing with Su Xingze, who was growing tired of the ongoing debate downstairs, the three quickly agreed to head out.
They had barely departed when the Crown Prince Yan Li, sitting in a private room, spotted them from a rear window. His face darkened. "I didn’t expect Xie Lin and Zhou Gu to end their fight without becoming enemies. That’s a new one."
His strategist said, "I heard that the Rui’an Queen has selected several candidates for Prince Xie’s marriage, but he has rejected all of them. It seems he still has feelings for Qin Luan."
"Who says women who enter the Eastern Palace can’t come out? As long as I sit on the throne, I can bring Qin Luan out for him." Yan Li schemed, "I’ll ask Xie Lin tomorrow if he still wants Qin Luan. It’s clear now that the Duke Residence leans towards the Eastern Palace and it will sooner or later declare allegiance. Only the Emperor still believes that the Duke Residence wouldn’t dare act rashly. If they really weren’t daring, Zhou Gu wouldn’t have begun working for the Crown Prince. The Rui’an King Residence should not think they can remain uninvolved."
The strategist nodded, "Although Prince Xie seems unconventional, he is not thoughtless. If you ask him directly, he may not dare to admit his feelings, let alone agree. But if we seize an opportunity to put him and Qin Luan together, he will likely not refuse."
Yan Li’s eyes were filled with calculations, "If I get ahold of Qin Luan, and then Xie Lin, we win both ways. The former can crush the prestige of the Eastern Palace, while the latter can join our side."
The strategist flattered, "Your Highness is right."
"We need to plan carefully for these two. There will be opportunities. But the top priority is Su Xingze. I have tested him. He is talented, and I don’t want him to become a weapon for the Eastern Palace." Yan Li spoke fiercely, "This man cannot be allowed to participate in the Autumn Examination."
The strategist responded, "There is still a month left before the examination. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with him. Your Highness need not worry."
"How could I not worry? Didn’t you see Zhou Gu blatantly protecting him?" Yan Li also lost his interest in staying, "Let’s return. All the methods you can think of to deal with Su Xingze should be presented to me. He must be dealt with."
The strategist agreed.
As Yan Li was leaving, he looked downstairs and said, "Send someone to investigate Zhao Li’an and Lu Fengyan in secret. See if we can win them over. Even if we can’t, we can’t let them join the Eastern Palace or my younger brother."
The strategist yet again agreed.
After leaving the Juxian Building, Xie Lin returned to the Rui’an King Residence, while Su Xingze and Zhou Gu returned to East Fourth Hutong.
As soon as they entered the residence, a housekeeper gave them two letters. He handed one to Su Xingze and one to Zhou Gu, "Young Master Su, Lord Thursday, there’s a letter from Jiangzhou for each of you."
Su Xingze took his letter and looked at Zhou Gu, who was wearing a joyous smile. Seeing Su Xingze looking at him, Zhou Gu asked, "Older Brother Su, it’s a letter from Xiaoqi, isn’t it?"
Su Xingze nodded, "It should be."
Zhou Gu immediately opened his letter. The thin sheet of writing paper he held in his hand made him think. He had written two full pages, but she had only written one. But his joy vanished as soon as he read the contents.
This wasn’t Su Rong’s handwriting. He had seen her handwriting when he visited her study the other day.
Moreover, this letter was not only written by someone else, but it also only contained a single sentence. She felt uneasy accepting the generous gifts from the Duke Residence, and hoped he would take care of them. There was no other intention behind the message.
What does ’It’s not like that’ mean?
Zhou Gu’s anger flared up, unable to restrain it any longer, he turned to look at Su Xingze. He saw Su Xingze was also reading a letter. In his hand was a thin piece of letter paper, which seemed to contain little written.
Noticing Zhou Gu’s gaze, Su Xingze raised his head to look back at Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu pursed his lips, "My letter was written by someone else on her behalf, I wonder if the letter you received was written by her personally?"
An expression calm, Su Xingze responded, "It was also on behalf."
He felt there was nothing in the letter to keep from Zhou Gu, so he spread it open for Zhou Gu to see clearly.
Reading the letter, Zhou Gu noticed it was similar to the one in his hand, written by another person on behalf. He was puzzled, "Did she get into a fight and injure her hand again? Why the need for someone else to write on her behalf for both letters?"
Calculating the time, Su Xingze felt that Su Rong’s wound should be mostly healed, and she wouldn’t have to rely on someone else to write. The fact that she had someone else write indicated she was too lazy to do it herself. He shook his head, "Little Seven is always too lazy to write letters. Her having someone else write for her is not surprising."
Zhou Gu’s held back, he hadn’t expected that reason. His annoyance grew as he thought, one is her brother the other her fiance – was that the way she treated people around her?
Pushing down his emotions, he asked, "Has she always had others write for her? The letters she sent you before, did she write them herself?"
"Not exactly," Su Xingze shook his head, "I used to insist that she writes them herself. Furthermore, I have disciplined everyone in the Su family. Consequently, no one in the Su Residence would write on her behalf. These two letters were probably written by Nurse Zhao."
In other words, someone he had not disciplined.
Zhou Gu was at a loss for words. He decided to ask Su Xingze directly, "Brother Su, did you know she is very rich?"
"I know," answered Su Xingze, nodding.
"So why does she still deduct fifty taels of silver from you each month? Do you know she returns it to you?" asked Zhou Gu.
With a smile, Su Xingze responded, "Previously she didn’t have money, so I got used to giving her."
In other words, even after she got rich, the habit didn’t change.
Zhou Gu stifled his anger, he asked word by word, "She delivered me a batch of clothes and fabric from the Brocade Pavilion, worth eighteen hundred thousand taels, what do you think, Brother Su?"
Surprised for a moment, Su Xingze soon understood Su Rong’s intentions, "Knowing about Seven’s affairs is not everything I’m privy to. After all, I have been studying at Yunshan Academy for the past two years. As for the Brocade Pavilion that she holds shares in, if she has given you these things, she surely has her reasons."
A helpless Zhou Gu exploded, "Her reason is that the Duke Residence gave her a too generous gift for her capping ceremony, implying she felt guilty. By pushing these things onto me, she feels more at ease."
Zhou Gu stared at Su Xingze, "Brother Su, is she dissatisfied with me?"
Without knowing Su Rong’s intentions in giving gifts to Zhou Gu, Su Xingze shook his head, "You have too many suspicions. Seven is a person who is accustomed to acting on her own whims."
Zhou Gu scoffed, "Brother Su, stop fooling me. She’s not the kind of person who does things at whim. Everything she does, she does it for a reason. During the month when I went to Jiangning County, she frequently tested me; she doesn’t believe in our arranged marriage, right?"
Quietly, Su Xingze said, "Considering the vast gap in our social status, it makes sense if she doesn’t hold much expectation."
That was equivalent to a confession!
Zhou Gu felt aggrieved beyond description. He angrily stuffed the letter paper back into the envelope, threw them both directly into the brazier. It wasn’t a letter written personally by her, what’s the use of keeping it? He might as well burn it.
Watching the letter turn into ashes, he turned to Su Xingze and said, "After the imperial examination, my mother and I will go to Jiangzhou to discuss the marriage."
Su Xingze didn’t know what to say. If he informed Zhou Gu of Su Rong’s intention to cancel the marriage, it might affect Zhou Gu’s performance in the imperial examination. So, he just chose not to say anything.
Zhou Gu stood up, "I’m going to study!"
He strode away, back to his own room. Su Xingze rubbed his forehead, and threw the envelope in his hand into a nearby brazier. As with Zhou Gu, if it wasn’t a personal letter from Little Seven, he didn’t need to keep it either.
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