The study fell into silence, Su Rong’s words echoing in his ears. Yan Huisheng savored Su Rong’s words, falling into a silence of his own.
He remembered a faint memory from his childhood, briefly meeting Xie Yuan. The emperor had fallen gravely ill at that time and Xie Yuan had submitted a statement to resign from his post. The emperor had personally summoned Xie Yuan to ask him if his decision was final. Xie Yuan had affirmed his decision, after which the emperor said nothing. He only waved Xie Yuan away without attempting to retain him. After Xie Yuan had left, the emperor had coughed up blood. He had been terrified and had tearfully called for the imperial doctor only to be stopped by the emperor. The latter had wiped away the traces of blood and tear stains from his face, reassuring him that he was fine.
If he was coughing blood, how could he be fine?
However, he had already been old enough to understand, so he dared not cry any longer to avoid worrying the emperor.
The emperor had held him in his arms and sighed, "Xie Yuan is a great talent. It’s a shame I couldn’t retain him. I’m powerless."
He didn’t understand at the time and had kept shaking his head, saying, "Grandfather Emperor isn’t powerless. Grandfather Emperor is the strongest."
Grandfather Emperor shook his head and said, "If I was strong enough, I wouldn’t have let Dawei push us to this point." His expression was one of old age, filled with both sighs and resentment. "I have no one to carry on the will of my ancestors. And I have not been given enough years. I deeply regret this."
He was too young to comfort anyone at that time, so he could only pat the emperor’s back delicately with his small hand.
After quite a while, the emperor suddenly stared at him, stroked his head after a long silence, and said: "Fortunately, we still have you. I supervised your enlightenment education myself. Starting from tomorrow, Grand Tutor Qin Mu will be your teacher."
Qin Mu is the Grand Tutor Qin he knew.
He obediently agreed.
Not long after, the emperor passed away, and his father ascended the throne. After a lengthy tumultuous period, Daliang gradually became stable after two to three years went by. Then, Zhou Gu was sent to the Library by the old Grand Protector. Thereafter, every day, the Library scholars were angry with him. His father and the old Duke, consulted and threw Zhou Gu into his Eastern Palace.
After Xie Yuan left the capital, there was no news of him until a few years ago. Only when his father sent someone to investigate Governor Xu of Jiangning did they find out that Xie Yuan had settled in Jiangning County and became a guest council member in Governor Su Xu’s residence.
Unlike his grandfather, his father didn’t cherish talents. He merely shook his head and paid no attention.
However, he’d often heard Grand Tutor Qin praise Xie Yuan, lamenting what a pity it was to lose someone of such ministerial aptitude.
Not long ago, he finally understood what the emperor meant when he said he was incapable of retaining Xie Yuan.
Princess Zhenmin feigned suicide to escape, Xie Yuan resigned to live in solitude. One person, covered in wounds from protecting Daliang, and another, who gave up a historical reputation to secure a peaceful life for another. Daliang of that time, was incapable of protecting and retaining these two people.
And Su Rong was personally taught by Xie Yuan since his young age.
Extremely intelligent, and extremely astute.
Yan Huisheng closed his eyes momentarily, gazing at the two keys that lay on the table. He quietly picked them up, clutching them in his hand. After a moment, he stowed them away, stood up, closed up the papers, and made his way out.
Qin Luan was guarding the doorway. Seeing Yan Huisheng, he immediately dropped to his knee and asked, "Does your highness have any orders?"
"Rest for today!" said Yan Huisheng before he turned and exited the study.
Qin Luan was surprised and looked upwards to gauge the time of day. It was an hour earlier than usual. She bowed her head and complied.
Upon returning to Yuzhen Pavilion and after bathing, Su Rong sat in the drawing room drinking tea.
When Fen Ling returned, he immediately noticed Su Rong sitting in the drawing room drinking tea. He widened his eyes, "Master, are you waiting for me?"
It was such a pleasant surprise to be waited upon this late in the evening!
After all, having competed for food with his master for so long, he knew that if he was just a moment too slow with his chopsticks, the good food would be gone.
"Yes.", Su Rong nodded. Indeed, she was waiting for Fen Ling. She beckoned him, "Come, drink tea."
Fen Ling sat down, picked up his cup, and sipped the tea, "Drinking tea this late at night, even if it’s good tea, shouldn’t be overdone. Too much and it’ll interfere with our sleep."
"Despite what I said, I’m still drinking this tea in one gulp," he looked at Su Rong, "My lord, you’re staying up late just for me, are you curious about where I went tonight?"
"Hmm, did you enjoy Capital City?" Su Rong asked.
"I can’t say how it is during the day, but at night, it’s not that interesting. Aside from the Green Building and taverns that remain open, there’s not much energy on the streets. I’ve come across many patrols from the City Guard. Without saying anything else, the public safety is indeed rigorous, as expected in a place under the Emperor’s feet. If it weren’t for my martial arts skills, I definitely would have been held up for questioning by the City Guard for wandering about in the middle of the night." Fen Ling shook his head, "However, the grandsons of the king don’t face this burden. They stride about the streets with jade pendants at their belts symbolizing their rank. The City Guard recognizes them and hardly questions them. But it’s hard on common people who are afraid of being held up for causing trouble if they are awake late at night."
"Did you go to the Guest House?" Su Rong nodded.
"I did." Fen Ling lowered his voice: "The Drunken Flower liquor truly sells well. It has been in demand since I arrived in Capital City, and now our stock is depleted again. There are indeed plenty of rich people in Capital City. The shopkeeper told me to relay to you that he’s sold all of the Flower Wine you sent to the city, advising you to wait for the next batch for your gift-giving as the delivery of this gift might be delayed."
Su Rong widened her eyes, "How could he sell it without my permission?"
"Are you sure you hadn’t said that the world is large, but making money is the biggest thing in the world? The shopkeeper explained that the Crown Prince, along with the second Prince, came in that day and specifically asked for the Drunken Flower liquor. When they found out it was out of stock, they seemed displeased. Especially the second Prince, who seemed like he wouldn’t leave quietly without it. So, the shopkeeper had to bring out your Flower Wine. After they drank it, they reserved all of that batch of Flower Wine."
Fen Ling holds up three fingers, "The shopkeeper sold each jar for three hundred taels. In total, he made a staggering fifteen thousand taels of silver. He says now with this amount of money, he can quickly open another shop in the Capital City."
Su Rong: "..."
She was left speechless, "Alright, then!"
This batch of wine was originally intended as a meeting gift for the Crown Prince. Now that it’s been sold and turned into silver, she has no choice but to go without giving it. Anyway, the silver came from the pockets of the Crown Prince and the second Prince. The Crown Prince should feel it’s worth it if he found out.
"I also took a walk around the Duke Residence. Duke’s Residence is really grand." Fen Ling sighed, "My lord, if you were to marry into the Duke Residence, it might actually be quite good. You should have plenty of good food, drink, and residence. In my opinion, it’s not much different from the Eastern Palace."
"Of course, the Duke Residence is not inferior to the Eastern Palace. When the eldest Princess Sheng An married into the Duke Residence, instead of constructing a new Princess Residence, the funds were used to expand the Duke Residence instead." During her recovery, Su Rong had not only learned about Nanchu’s history but had also researched the history of the Duke Residence as well.
"Oh, I see!" Fen Ling, who hadn’t studied as much as Su Rong, naturally didn’t know much about this. He did get the sense that the Duke Residence was indeed grand, on par with the Eastern Palace.
Fen Ling said, "I didn’t dare to sneak into the Duke Residence for fear of being discovered. I just sat on top of the wall of the Duke Residence for a while. Before I left, there was a courtyard that had lights on. I guess that’s the courtyard of the Young Master Zhou. After all, he is going to take the civil service exam, so he’s probably studying."
Su Rong nodded.
Fen Ling added, "I also went to the residence of the Minister of Personnel. The Residence is heavily guarded both inside and out."
He puzzled, "Both these residences have security comparable to the Imperial Palace and Eastern Palace. Other residences I’ve seen on the way do not have such tight security. Aside from the Prince Residence, all other residences have sparse guards. One could sneak in and stay overnight and nobody might notice."
Su Rong laughed, "The Duke Residence is a general’s house. They must have tactics and defense maps hidden inside. Naturally, they wouldn’t allow people to sneak in and steal them so their security measures must be tight always. As for the Residence of the Minister of Personnel, it’s probably only heavily guarded because my brother is living there. Didn’t my brother mention in a letter that Zhou Gu assigned additional guards to him?"
Fen Ling whispered, "Young Master Zhou clearly cares a lot about you to even consider the safety of the eldest son. Are you really going to break off your engagement?"
Su Rong glared at him, "This is something I’ve decided on long ago. Don’t try to sway my determination."
"Alright!" Fen Ling thought that her determination was indeed strong and unshakable. He hoped that she would be as resolute when the day of the actual cancellation of the marriage came.
He noticed two keys placed in front of Su Rong and curiously asked, "Why are there two keys?"
Su Rong casually responded, "They are the keys to a concealed compartment in the Crown Prince’s study. It gives me access to reference materials. Hold onto them for me."
Fen Ling was surprised, "My Lord, could it be that the Crown Prince trusts you this much already?"
Considering that her acquaintance with the Crown Prince has lasted only two days, why would Crown Prince trust her so quickly? Is this because of her real identity? A relationship of cousins can’t be the reason, right?
Su Rong stood up and put the keys in her pocket, then said with a straight face, "The Crown Prince has sharp insight. He is decisive about who he trusts. It’s getting late, let’s go to sleep."
Fen Ling: "..."
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