The room’s door was closed, and the old Duke listened to Zhou Gu’s retreating footsteps and sighed deeply. He felt a hint of regret. Back when Princess Zhenmin had approached him, he shouldn’t have chosen Zhou Gu, the legitimate son, out of consideration for Zhenmin’s peace of mind. Instead, he should have chosen Zhou Che, the third son born out of wedlock. If Zhou Che had been the one, Su Rong would not have cancelled the marriage, and Zhou Che would never have reacted the same way as Zhou Gu.
At least Zhou Che wasn’t stubborn to a fault.
After leaving the old Duke’s study, Zhou Gu went to the courtyard of the eldest Princess Sheng An.
Usually, at this time of day, Princess Sheng An would be bustling about tending to her flowers, but today she wasn’t. Instead, she was talking to her wet nurse. When she spotted Zhou Gu, she greeted him with a smile: "What brings you here at this time?"
Zhou Gu looked at Princess Sheng An but didn’t respond. He only called out "grandmother", then sat quietly.
Princess Sheng An watched his face, "Grandfather scolded you again?", she said displeased: "What is this old fool nitpicking now? Ignore him! It’s only because your three brothers aren’t around every day, and you are the only one by his side. That’s why he keeps finding fault with you."
Zhou Gu kept his head lowered, remaining silent.
Seeing his look, Princess Sheng An grew worried and gave her wet nurse a glance. The wet nurse immediately retreated, closing the room door behind her.
Princess Sheng An took his hand, "If anything is bothering you, don’t bottle it up. Tell your grandmother. Don’t hurt yourself by holding it all in."
Zhou Gu squeezed his fist, raised his head, and said, "Grandmother, did I do something wrong?"
"What did you do wrong? Where did you go wrong?" Princess Sheng An asked.
Zhou Gu replied: "Grandfather just scolded me. He said that knowing Su Rong’s sudden arrival at the capital was unusual and possibly about the cancellation of the marriage, I was arrogant and did nothing. Only relying on the good memories of my time in Jiangning County, and assuming that she wouldn’t dare break off our engagement. I should have looked for her in advance, talked to her, and tried to stop her."
His voice softened, "Even though I didn’t want to break off our engagement, even though I knew I would be upset if she came to break it off, I let things drift to the result I least desired. I was passive, did nothing and, when she came, got angry out of embarrassment..."
Princess Sheng An sighed, patting his hand, "What your grandfather said does make some sense, but it’s not completely your fault. You are still young and inexperienced, and your elders did not advise you either. So if you made a mistake, we have to share the blame."
"Then why didn’t you advise me?" Zhou Gu asked in a low voice, "Did you also want to see me having my marriage broken off?"
"Of course not." Princess Sheng An shook her head. "The reason I didn’t bring it up is simply because this marriage was arranged by the family. You were unwilling at first, and now Su Rong is unwilling. No matter what, someone is always unwilling, and it’s no longer perfect. Marriage should be based on mutual consent to be beautiful. Furthermore, you intend to travel outside. Although you have both civil and military skills, the journey is full of hardships and people’s hearts are filled with malice. You’ve been used to smooth sailing, still under the knees of your elders, they advise you on everything. But what about when you leave? You’ll need to make your own decisions or else, the wrong path might cost you your life. Consider Su Rong’s cancellation of the marriage as your first lesson before leaving the Capital City!"
Princess Sheng An spoke unhurriedly; after finishing, she sighed lightly, "It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be disadvantaged at a young age. Although grandmother has been unkind, not advising you, besides the above reasons, I will now tell you another one: even if I had, and you had stopped it, considering Su Rong’s personality, you would probably still not have avoided the result of a broken engagement. Therefore, overall, it wouldn’t have made a difference."
Zhou Gu lifted his head, staring at Princess Sheng An, "Grandmother, why do you say that?"
Princess Sheng An paused and then suddenly laughed: "Is this your way of indirectly asking, what you were unable to ask your grandfather directly?"
Zhou Gu did not answer, but just continued to stare at Princess Sheng An.
Princess Sheng An reached out and touched his nose: "You see, you still overthink things, very sharp indeed. Even if momentarily confused, you remain stubborn in trying to compensate. You’ve always been this way as a child. Now you’ve grown up. I’m afraid it will be difficult to change this about you over the course of your life."
She withdrew her hand, picked up the tea from the table, took a sip, and said: "Since your grandfather did not tell you, I will naturally follow suit. If you want to know, go ask Su Rong yourself!"
Zhou Gu pursed his lips: "What if I go to Jiangzhou to ask Uncle Su and Master Xie?"
Princess Sheng An widened her eyes. "Let me ask you, do you really want to know why Su Rong made an engagement with you and why she broke it off?"
"Yes."
"Then what is your purpose in asking these two questions?" Princess Sheng An stared at him: "Do you just want to know the outcome, or do you want to do something about it after you know?"
Zhou Gu fell silent.
Princess Sheng An laughed with exasperation, "Look at you, if you can’t say it, then why are you heading to Jiangzhou?"
Zhou Gu did not respond.
Princess Sheng An stopped laughing and said seriously: "Zhou Gu, your grandfather wants you to study literature, and you know better than anyone the responsibilities you bear. So why did you immerse yourself in studying and reading history since you were young, and what was your ambition?"
Zhou Gu bowed his head, fell silent for a moment, then raised his head to look at Princess Sheng An. "Is there some serious trouble Su Rong’s gotten into that both grandmother and grandfather have kept it a secret? And because it’s contrary to what I stand for, she intends to break off our engagement, leaving her no other choice. Today, wasn’t the one who was supposed to be assassinated supposed to be Princess Qingping, and not her?"
How is it that Princess Qingping, who has disrespected countless people over the years, has never suffered from such a covert attack, but Su Rong, who has only been in the capital for a few days, has suffered one in daylight?
Especially since that arrow was deflected by Fen Ling, who was standing next to Su Rong.
The only explanation was that the arrow was aimed at Su Rong. The person who shot it intended to kill Su Rong.
But why would someone want to kill Su Rong? She was just a girl, even if she’d offended the Crown Prince, it wouldn’t lead to such revenge. At most, the Crown Prince would instigate someone to impeach Su Xu for failing to educate his daughter properly, which would only serve to bruise his ego.
So who would want to kill Su Rong? Who would dare to strike such a heavy blow on the bustling streets of the capital?
Zhou Gu couldn’t figure it out, so the first thing he did was to consult the old Duke for an answer, but he was scolded instead. Now, he came to Princess Sheng An, who also lectured him.
Obviously, neither of them intended to tell him. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
After his inquiry, Princess Sheng An predictably fell silent.
Zhou Gu pursed his lips, "Grandmother, do you really want me to rush headlong everywhere outside, just to find an answer?"
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