The journey, which could be completed in three days by fast horse, took five days due to the two large carts of heavy gifts they carried.
Heeding the Duchess’s advice, Zhou Gu revealed the banner of the Duke Residence. As a result, they journeyed in tranquility, unimpeded by mountain bandits, and smoothly arrived in Jiangning County.
As the carriage entered the city, the sky began to darken. Zhou Gu was not going to visit the Su residence so late, nor stay there directly. He directed the accompanying manager, Zhou Xi, "Follow guard Li to the Governor’s residence and send the two carts of gifts prepared by my grandfather in advance, informing them of my intention to visit another day."
Zhou Xi assured him, "Young Master, don’t worry."
Li Yan tentatively asked, "Young Master, aren’t you staying at the Governor’s residence?"
He only went to the Capital City alone. Once Zhou Gu joined him, communication became impossible. Hence, the Governor’s Residence is still unaware of his journey to the Capital and that Young Master Zhou is personally paying a visit.
Zhou Gu shook his head, "I have a place to stay, don’t worry about it."
Li Yan asked again, "When will you visit?"
"After I have settled down, I will visit. I will inform the Governor’s Residence in advance." Zhou Gu didn’t plan to visit tomorrow. He needed to learn more about the Governor’s Residence, perhaps enjoy a few days before that.
Li Yan nodded and led Zhou Xi and the two large carts of heavy gifts back to the Governor’s Residence.
The guards of the Duke Residence had already secured accommodations. After bidding Li Yan farewell, Zhou Gu proceeded to the house with his guards.
Governor Su had just returned to Jiangning after being away on official duty for more than ten days instead of the stated three. Upon learning of Su Rong’s injury to her forehead, he hurriedly rushed to her courtyard without even cleaning up.
The Duchess glowered at him as he rushed to see Su Rong, barely uttering two words, "An overly compassionate father spoils his child!"
Su Rong’s forehead wound had been healing for ten days and there was still a faint scar. Half of the tube of the Restoring Skin Scar Removing Ointment had been used. Once it is used up, the scar would probably be gone. A perfect illustration of no waste.
Su Rong, bored, sat in the room nibbling on sunflower seeds, watching the housemaid, Wang, teaching Yuewan embroidery. Yuewan’s stitches were unsteady; she never loved learning embroidery when she was a child, which resulted in Yuewan, who grew up with her, also failing to master it.
After teaching for half the day and looking at the bird Yuewan embroided that turned into a black woolen ball, Wang sighed in despair, "It is alright if you, the seventh young mistress, can’t embroider, for when you marry, as long as you are not impoverished, there will always be someone to help you. However, you, a little maid, cannot even perform the most basic embroidery, and can’t finish a single handkerchief. How is this acceptable? Don’t you want to serve the seventh young mistress forever? Don’t you want to get married?"
"Ah, right." Yuewan had never thought of getting married, "I just want to serve Miss for a lifetime."
She joyfully said, "I eat and dress with the Miss, and she provides for me, just like Ahua. It’s much better than marrying a smelly man and serving him."
Wang resignedly replied, "I hope you keep thinking this way and don’t end up desperately wanting to get married once it’s time."
Just as Yuewan was about to retort, Su Rong interjected while spitting out a sunflower seed shell, "What good things are you thinking about, Yuewan? When it’s time, you better get married quickly and don’t count on me supporting you. All these years, my monthly allowance has been spent on your food. It’s bearable, but your tastes are getting more refined. You even started insisting on eating drunk goose from the Drunken Goose Shop, prepared by a small vendor. Also, in terms of cakes, you used to be thrilled having just a couple from street vendors, but now, you won’t have any if they aren’t from the Jixiang Vegetarian Restaurant. I haven’t earned much myself... If I become wealthier, will you want to eat the moon in the sky and dragon tendons from the seabed?"
Yuewan felt sheepish, "Um, that... Miss, how about you marry into the Duke Residence? They are said to be really wealthy. If you marry there, they will definitely be able to afford feeding Ahua and me."
Su Rong rolled her eyes, "I thought you wanted to lose weight?"
Yuewan boldly refuted, "You and Wang lied to me. I went to get you Eight Treasure Porridge at the main kitchen yesterday, and I asked around the kitchen maids. They almost beat me up, saying that if I’m considered fat, what are they?"
Su Rong was speechless, "The cooks in the kitchen are all fat, why did you ask those in the kitchen?"
Wang was also speechless, "You, young girl, why didn’t you admit that you can’t bear being hungry for a meal and that you don’t have the determination to slim down? So you went to the main kitchen to find superiority, then found a reason to continue eating."
Yuewan, feeling embarrassed, giggled, "My face is just a little round, it’s not like I’m very fat. At worst, I’ll look at fewer picture books and do more work in the future."
As the three were in conversation, Governor Su rushed into the courtyard, "Xiaoqi, where is Xiaoqi?"
"Father, I’m here!" Su Rong stuck her head out of the window, waving at her father who was in a hurry.
Governor Su immediately entered the room, passed Wang and Yuewan, walked up to Su Rong, scrutinized her face closely, then exclaimed in shock, "Is her face ruined? Ruined! Why don’t you cherish your face? I’ve told you countless times, it’s okay to fight, but you must protect your face!"
Su Rong casually picked up the Restoring Skin Scar Removing Ointment from the table, "Father, don’t worry. With this ointment, there won’t be any scars left. It will soon return to its original state."
Governor Su took a close look, "Clotted Cream Jade Paste?"
Su Rong nodded.
Governor Su suddenly felt sorrow about the silver, "This one, seems to cost a thousand gold no? Even I have never used such expensive ointment, you, you really are a spendthrift." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
Su Rong looked at him, "So should I just let my face be ruined?"
"That’s not acceptable." Governor Su scolded, "That little jerk in Chen Zhou, he fights with you just to fight huh? Don’t they say not to hit someone’s face? Why does he specifically aim for your face?"
Su Rong didn’t think it was fair to blame Chen Zhou, "I threw the first punch, hit his face first, he pushed me once, I hit my forehead, then I got angry, and turned him into a complete mess."
She quickly raised her hand, "The doctor at Huichun Hall said, they gave him three jars of Clotted Cream Jade Paste."
Meaning, our family didn’t suffer a loss, she only used one bottle Clotted Cream Jade Paste.
Governor Su really found his inner balance, grumbling, "He deserved it."
Su Rong nodded, "He deserved it, having a loose tongue, saying he’d marry me if I couldn’t get married, what was he thinking? Daring to flirt with his elder sister, I wanted to show him why the sky is so blue."
Governor Su was taken aback, "That, Xiaoqi ah, don’t speak so crudely, you’re a young lady, it’s not appropriate to be referred to as auntie by others."
Su Rong: "..."
Alright, this is her father, refined and formal.
"Your face can be saved, it’s good as long as you’re not disfigured, if you need to spend silver then just spend it!" Governor Su stressed seriously, "Next time, protect your face."
Su Rong nodded, this time was unexpected, she was in the wrong position during the fight, didn’t notice there was a stone stool next to her, she hit it head on. Her face was full of blood at that time, Chen Zhou was also scared, so, later he let her beat him, didn’t dare to fight back.
"That, have you heard about the fight between the Duke Residence’s young master Zhou and the young lord of Rui’an Wang Residence?" Governor Su asked tentatively.
"Hmm, I’ve heard about it."
Governor Su observed her expression, seeing her indifferent face, he was relieved, "That, people who are not flamboyant in their prime are wasted, young people, they are always vigorous, and a bit reckless, it will get better when you get married."
Su Rong didn’t agree or disagree, "Father, do you know why my mother had me entangled with the Duke Residence?"
"How would I know that? It seemed she owed the Duke Residence a favor?" Governor Su shook his head.
"What favor?"
"I don’t know."
Su Rong looked at Governor Su.
Governor Su immediately said, "When I met your mother, she was alone, with no place to go, so I took her in."
"Did you ask her later?"
Governor Su faltered, "That, you know, your mother, she was good at keeping secrets, if she didn’t say anything, no one would know."
Su Rong stared at Governor Su.
Governor Su felt uncomfortable under her gaze, "I really don’t know."
Su Rong withdrew her gaze, letting him go, "Forget it!"
Her mother only mentioned the engagement on her deathbed, she didn’t pay attention to her father’s expression at the time, but she remembered that the lady of the house, her elder brother Su Xingze, and the aunts and sisters in the house were all shocked. After all, who could have thought that a little concubine like her mother, who gave birth to a little illegitimate daughter, could have an engagement with the heirs of the current Duke Residence?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
