With the passage of time and the countdown to the imperial examination, the scholars coming to the Capital City for the examination were all thrown into a tense atmosphere. Security in the entire Capital City was also tightened to prevent anybody from causing a disturbance and disrupting the triennial imperial examination.
One day, Zhou Gu visited the residence of the Minister of Personnel again.
Upon seeing Su Xingze, he asked directly, "Brother Su, has Xiaoqi written to you?"
Su Xingze shook his head, "No."
Zhou Gu frowned, "Really?"
"Really."
Zhou Gu sat down, "She didn’t write to me either."
Su Xingze glanced at him, "The examination is imminent, don’t think about these things. Focus on preparing for the exam, Xiaoqi probably didn’t write so as not to distract you."
Zhou Gu wanted to say "I’m not afraid of her distracting me.", but looking at Su Xingze’s calm gaze, he just sighed, "You’re right."
He sat for a while, chatted with Su Xingze, then got up and left Shen Residence.
After leaving Shen Residence, he didn’t go home, but detoured to the Eastern Palace instead.
Inside the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince was dealing with affairs in his study. Su Rong was lounging on a soft couch in the far corner, eating dim sum and sipping tea while reviewing documents.
On Yan Huisheng’s specific instructions, when Zhou Gu arrived at the entrance of the Eastern Palace, the gatekeeper immediately bowed his hand and said, "Please wait a moment, Fourth Young Master, I will go to inform His Highness."
Having said that, he ran off.
Zhou Gu paused for a moment. He had been coming in and out the Eastern Palace freely since he started his tutorship here years ago. This was the first time he was stopped at the palace entrance and asked to wait. Normally, he would be walked to the door of the Prince’s study and then someone would go in to report his arrival.
On hearing that Zhou Gu had arrived, Yan Huisheng paused his pen, raised his head, and was about to say "let him in". Suddenly thinking of Su Rong, he turned his head to look at her.
Having heard the announcement, Su Rong instantly stood up, "Should I go home directly? Or should I hide in the secret compartment?"
Yan Huisheng looked at the huge pile of documents that Su Rong hadn’t finished reading her daily task amount, thought for a moment and said, "Better hide! He usually doesn’t stay for long."
Su Rong nodded, hugged the huge stack of documents and quickly retreated to the back compartment.
Yan Huisheng gave orders to the outside, "Let him in."
The gatekeeper immediately went to carry out the order.
After moving the documents back to the hidden compartment, Su Rong quickly came out again, gathering up the cakes, fruit plates, and tea in one go, bringing them all to the back compartment as well.
Then she rushed out again, fetched a mat, and dashed back into the compartment.
Yan Huisheng quietly watched her bustling about, holding back a smile.
The door of the back compartment closed, and all noises ceased.
Zhou Gu, after receiving the gatekeeper’s notification, did not immediately go in but turned to the gatekeeper and asked in a low voice, "I haven’t been here for a few days, has anything happened in the Eastern Palace?"
The gatekeeper blinked and, following the housekeeper’s instructions, carefully replied, "The Crown Prince has had a distinguished guest whom he holds in high regard. In order not to offend the guest, everyone entering the Eastern Palace, be it officials or guests, has been reported for the past few days. Even Grand Tutor Qin was reported."
Zhou Gu was curious, "Who is this guest?"
"A young man and a woman, both quite young. I do not know the identity of the two distinguished guests." The gatekeeper genuinely did not know. The identities of Su Rong and Fen Ling were only known to the housekeeper.
Zhou Gu nodded and entered the Eastern Palace.
Inside the Eastern Palace, the attendants were busily and orderly going about their business as usual, fully disciplined.
Zhou Gu did not inquire any further about the guests in the Eastern Palace, after all, the Crown Prince was the heir apparent, and he knew how to maintain a proper distance with him and would not overstep his bounds by meddling in matters of the palace.
Upon reaching the Crown Prince’s study, Qin Luan exited from inside, opened the door, and invited Zhou Gu in, "Please, Fourth Young Master!"
Zhou Gu nodded and entered the Crown Prince’s study.
Yan Huisheng sat at his desk, spread out before him were over a dozen memorandums. Two of them were opened. He held one of them in his hand. When he saw Zhou Gu, Yan Huisheng put down the memorandum and asked in a gentle voice, "How are your examination preparations going?"
"Not bad." Zhou Gu didn’t think there was much to prepare, "Recently, Grand Tutor Qin had someone show me the examination questions from previous years. He even called me to the Qin Residence and encouraged me, telling me not to feel pressured."
Zhou Gu sat down, saying incredulously, "That old man surprisingly told me not to stress out!"
Yan Huisheng laughed, "Although the Grand Tutor is strict and stern, he is not an unreasonable man. The exam is coming up, and he told you not to feel pressurized, which indicates that he understands your character. The more pressure he puts on you, the more unnerved you get; he might be afraid it’d boomerang."
Zhou Gu clicked his tongue, "This old man, even using such strategies on me."
How much importance he placed on his exams this upcoming autumn, as if terrified he’d embarrass him.
He sighed, "I would prefer it if I only had to take the exam three years from now; by then, I would definitely be more confident, and I could get him that top three placement."
"Do you not feel confident about this year?" Yan Huisheng looked at him.
"No, there’s my future brother-in-law’s exam. I do not have the confidence to surpass him." Zhou Gu said.
Although Yan Huisheng had not met Su Xingze before, both Su Xingze and Su Rong were students taught by Xie Yuan. Su Rong had told him about her older brother’s prowess; exhibiting remarkable literary talent at an extremely young age, garnering high praise from Xie Yuan, which was much more than what she herself had received, attesting to Su Xingze’s ability.
He laughed, "The Grand Tutor highly admires Xie Yuan. As Su Xingze studied under him, even if you lose to him, the Grand Tutor would likely not be disappointed. As for others, you must not lose. Otherwise, the Grand Tutor might throw a tantrum with you."
Zhou Gu nodded in response, "Aside from him, I’m not afraid of anyone else. Cheng Zhao Li’an and Chen Rong, while talented, their previous papers - one is too constrained, the other too unconventional. As for the others, they are insignificant."
His words were brimming with the impetuousness of youth.
Su Rong, hiding in the cubby, heard everything clearly. She could imagine Zhou Gu’s demeanor as he spoke. While his brows might not be raised, his eyes must be full of pride and arrogance.
She tugged at the corners of her mouth, giving a muted laugh. The letter terminating their engagement in her arms seemed to grow warm.
Yan Huisheng nodded in agreement, "As long as you have a plan."
Zhou Gu was prepared for the examination, but he was at a loss for other things. He sighed, "Your Highness, may I confide in you?"
Yan Huisheng paused, looking at him in surprise, "Confide?"
"Yes, confide."
Yan Huisheng set down his tea cup, "About what?"
Zhou Gu hesitated for a moment, his body visibly uncomfortable. After a bit of struggle, he scratched his head, "It’s like, I don’t know what’s wrong. Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit unsettled, like there’s something missing."
"What’s the matter?" Yan Huisheng became serious. An examination candidate’s mindset is important. If one is not in the right state of mind, it could affect their performance in the examination.
Zhou Gu pressed his temples, seemingly lost for words, "I really don’t know what’s wrong." He sighed, struggled for a while, then blurted out, "Hey, I guess it’s probably because of my fiancée!"
Yan Huisheng fell silent all of a sudden. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
In the hidden compartment, Su Rong, with half a chestnut cake in her mouth, found herself unable to swallow.
Without showing any emotion Yan Huisheng asked: "What about your fiancée?"
"Nothing really, she just hasn’t written to me. Also, the examination is coming up soon, yet she hasn’t offered any words of encouragement." Zhou Gu lamented, "Today I asked my future brother-in-law. He said he too had not received any letters from my fiancée. He said she probably didn’t want to disturb my studies, hence the lack of communication. Although this is a somewhat reasonable explanation, I can’t help but feel uneasy and distressed."
Yan Huisheng was silent.
Su Rong swallowed the half chestnut cake that was stuck in her mouth, took a sip of tea, and thought to herself. She hadn’t realized that before an examination, her betrothed needed encouraging letters from his fiancée. No one had ever told her!
This was truly outside her knowledge.
Zhou Gu looked at Yan Huisheng, "Um, Your Highness, do you think I’m sick? When I think about it, she isn’t someone who’d write encouraging letters. She’s the carefree type. For all I know, she might be having fun every day, completely forgetting about my examination. Yet, not receiving her encouragement makes me feel uncomfortable. Isn’t that being sick?"
Yan Huisheng did not know what to say; for a moment, he was speechless, "Did you come to see me just to talk about this?"
He was encountering such a thing for the first time and regretted a little. He knew he should have let Su Rong go home. Why did he let her hide in the cubby? When he had the cubby constructed, it was made in such a way that people outside couldn’t hear any noise from within, but people inside could clearly hear what’s being said outside, meaning whatever he and Zhou Gu are saying could be heard by Su Rong.
Zhou Gu felt embarrassed, "Yes, just about this. I felt rather unwell these past few days but couldn’t help myself. My older brothers are not at home so I couldn’t talk to them. As for my paternal grandparents and mother, well, you know. One of them loves to lecture me, and the other two, well, they love to make fun of me. Ah, so, I had no choice but to come and see you."
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