When did this man become so shameless?
Or has he always been like this, and she just didn’t realize it because they haven’t spent much time together?
Su Rong initially felt guilty for coming to break off their engagement, but Zhou Gu’s words had angered her and she retorted, "Just because you say it, doesn’t make it so! You think you can do as you please with me once we’re out of the Duke Residence? I don’t believe it!"
"Feel free to test that," Zhou Gu said, seeing her enraged. His countenance improved, his voice neither too soft nor too loud, both threatening her and the old Duke, "Once outside the Duke Residence, without its might, I am still Zhou Gu. As long as I exist, you can’t avoid being associated with me. Unless you kill me, forget it!"
Su Rong retorted, "You’re impossible!"
Zhou Gu sneered, "You want me to reason with you? Then first tell me, back in Jiangning County, you endlessly lamented about your unmarried husband, scheming and testing me every day. I tolerated it all without saying a word. If it weren’t for our engagement, do you think I would’ve allowed you to calculate so much? And now you just decide to break off the engagement? Forget it."
Su Rong suddenly lost her bravado and softened her voice to say, "Can I compensate you?"
Zhou Gu sneered even more, "With what will you compensate me? Unless it’s with yourself, I don’t want anything else."
Su Rong blushed at his response. Despite the presence of the old Duke, Zhou Gu didn’t hold back his words. She glared at him and retorted, "Back at my home, when I asked you to hug me, you refused. Why are you so adamant about not annulment our marriage now? Don’t you dislike me?"
Zhou Gu choked on his words, his ears also blushing, but he made a forceful rebuttal, "Back at your home, with a dozen pairs of eyes watching, how could I have acted recklessly?"
Su Rong choked up again.
The old Duke, seeing their conversation spiraling into absurdity, deliberately coughed loudly.
Even for someone as thick-skinned as Su Rong, she could no longer bear it; she bowed her head and held her forehead with her hand. Regret filled her heart. She shouldn’t have confronted him so directly, shouldn’t have over-simplified things. She should have asked Fen Ling to discuss things privately with Zhou Gu first. But the engagement was a pact made between her mother and the old Duke. She felt she had to discuss it with the elder, not Zhou Gu.
But Zhou Gu, unfazed by the potential ridicule of his grandfather, knew the process of switching from refusing to accepting Su Rong all too well. Just because she comes over all nonchalantly and talks about breaking off the engagement doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.
Su Rong took a deep breath, apologized awkwardly to the elder Duke and asked, "Duke Zhou, can...can Zhou Gu and I talk in private?"
The old Duke rose smoothly, replied with a warm smile, "Of course, little girl. You both talk it out. This old man is getting on in years and can’t control my grandson anymore. But let me repeat, if after your discussion you still want to break off the engagement, I’ll support you. As for the rest, don’t worry. If you want nothing more to do with him, I’ll protect you. I won’t let him bully you."
What else could Su Rong say? She nodded and agreed.
The old Duke left the study, leaving the two of them alone.
With the door shut, Su Rong looked at Zhou Gu, contemplating from which angle to appeal to his emotions and use reason to get him to agree to the breakup.
Before she could formulate a strategy, Zhou Gu suddenly stood up, and in one motion pulled Su Rong into his arms. She was taken aback and was about to resist when Zhou Gu spoke, his voice hard in her ear, "You were upset that I didn’t hug you that night, weren’t you? Well, I’m hugging you now."
Su Rong: "..."
She had just blurted out those words out of frustration! Who asked him to take her literally now and hold her?
She pushed him, but Zhou Gu held on, refusing to let go of her soft body in his arms. He had never hugged anyone before; thus, he had never experienced the sensation that a hug gives. His breaths became lighter, "Don’t move."
How could Su Rong not move? She reached out, grabbed his arm firm and pushed him away, breaking free from his embrace. She was glaring at him, visibly annoyed.
Zhou Gu remained unfazed, tensing his fingertips, "Now you know, I do like you."
This was his response to her earlier saying that he wouldn’t even hug her since he didn’t like her.
For a moment, Su Rong was speechless, she turned her face away, forcing herself to calm down, then quickly said to him: "But I don’t like you."
The expression on Zhou Gu’s face instantly turned cold again.
The moment Su Rong spoke those words, her emotions gradually stabilised. Although she knew she shouldn’t, she had made up her mind beforehand and would not throw it all away for him.
This was Duke Residence, where she had only met the old duke, Shawn An, the older princess, the duchess, and everyone who had seen her enter the Duke Residence today. This included everyone else within the Duke Residence.
She could not go back on the difficult decision to call off their engagement; it would not just be a half-finished job. The path she’s laid out for herself doesn’t allow for any last-minute changes. If so, she would rather not come to the capital. That way, she could prolong the time she could hide her face and carve a different path for herself, instead of now. If she changed her mind today and agreed not to break off the engagement, then all her plans would be for naught. The future of the Duke Residence, and Zhou Gu’s life, the unknown future, were too heavy. She didn’t dare say what she could do or gamble with Zhou Gu’s future. She couldn’t bear the heavy burden.
No matter what the old duke was thinking, his kind words towards her showed his kindness.
She took a deep breath in secret, turned her head back to meet Zhou Gu’s gaze, "Sit down, let’s talk it out slowly."
Zhou Gu refused to sit, staring at her coldly, "You speak."
Su Rong didn’t press the matter, she took charge and sat down. Knowing that reasoning wouldn’t work with Zhou Gu, who seemed determined, but only a compelling reason would suffice, his pride wouldn’t allow anything less.
And so, Su Rong calmly said, "I came to break off our engagement because we are not compatible. You also mentioned that I calculated many schemes against you in just one day. You should know what I was testing and calculating. I, for one, am not particularly interested in the grandeur of the Duke Residence, and quite honestly, I don’t think I could spend a lifetime with you. Therefore, when you left the capital and asked me about our marriage, I told you it wasn’t urgent. At that time, I had already decided to break off our engagement."
Without waiting for Zhou Gu to speak, she continued quickly, "Zhou Gu, I don’t like you. We’ve only been together for a month, and that’s hardly enough time for you to be certain you want to marry me. Don’t deny it—if a mere month can convince someone that they can’t marry anyone else, I’d find it hard to believe. Most people in the world wouldn’t do that. Besides, you are proud and reserved, whereas I am carefree. I’m not easily moved or empathetic. Thus, there really isn’t any need for you to make a big fuss about it in front of elder Gu, just because I wanted to break off our engagement. The Duke Residence raised you. It’s ludicrous to think you would leave the house just because of a broken-off engagement. Let alone the fact that people would look down on you and there would be endless gossip. Even you, if you really thought it through, could you bear to see the teachings of the Four Books and Five Classics, the principles of human morality, all go to the dogs just because of this? What does it mean to be filial? What does it mean to be benevolent, righteous, polite, wise, and trustworthy? Don’t tell me that during your time at the Eastern Palace, you never learned or listened to any of Grand Tutor Qin’s teachings. Then, you are not living up to Elder Gu and Grand Tutor Qin’s expectations."
Zhou Gu remained silent, his face solemn, drowning in her gut-wrenching words.
When Su Rong made up her mind to go all out, she rarely spared herself, let alone others. Therefore, she knew exactly how to jab at the heart. Seeing Zhou Gu not opposing, his entire demeanour turned cold, she continued, "After you left, I met someone else. He is handsome and has a good temperament...I kind of like him..." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Zhou Gu’s breathing changed abruptly, he shouted in anger, "Su Rong!"
Su Rong gave him a smile, stood up, looking at him without fear, "Zhou Gu, we are not the same kind of people. When I took you to the third floor, you should have realized, I’ve been reckless since I was little while you can’t do that. Your lineage is noble, and you are upright, everything you’ve learned, everything you’ve held in your heart, everything that’s on your mind, is different from what I think."
"You’re probably just not used to the idea that I, a woman of humble origins, dared to decline an engagement with Zhou Gu of the Duke Residence. You’re feeling discontented," Su Rong’s tone softened, "Perhaps you do like me a little, but that’s really not much. After some serious thought and time, you will realise that discontent is not something you can eat, and a little liking is nothing to dwell on. There are many things you need to accomplish in your life. You need not ruin yourself over a mere marriage. You can do better. As for me, in relation to you, I’m nothing more than an unfortunate move made by the elders, just correct it and move on."
She took out the jade pendant and placed it together with the marriage agreement on the table, "All the Duke Residence needs to do is announce that our engagement is over, and from then on, we’re not related, you need not give any explanations, everyone will think, that breaking off this marriage was a good thing. I’m not good enough for you and I can not over-step by marrying into your class."
She hesitated for a moment, but she steeled herself, took out a peach wooden hairpin – a gift he gave her on the day of her adult ceremony – and slowly placed it down, "I will return all the gifts you brought to the Duke Residence. The clothes and fabrics I gave you could be counted as part of Jiang Sheng’s gifts in return. After all, it was because of our cancelled engagement that he gave us these gifts as compensation. As for the rest, there’s no need to nitpick, the Duke Residence is wealthy and won’t miss any extra money, and I too have money of my own. We don’t need to make up for every single penny."
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