"When I heard about your engagement being called off, I was shocked. I wondered if it had anything to do with the events of the day you left, but by then you two had already broken off the engagement, so there was no point in me saying anything."
He looked at Zhou Gu and tentatively asked, "Why do you suddenly bring this up? Did something happen?"
Instead of answering, Zhou Gu asked a question, "That day before the exam, when you had dinner at Zhuangyuan Building with a group of people, did you happen to see Su Rong and Fen Ling?"
"Huh?" Xie Lin was stunned.
Zhou Gu looked at him.
Xie Lin blinked, then blinked rapidly as if in memory recall. A moment later, he suddenly slapped his forehead, "I knew it! I thought Fen Ling looked familiar. So I have actually met him before."
He quickly told Zhou Gu, "Yes, it was before the exam. Fen Ling and his sister, uh... his sister is Su Rong, right? Anyway, there was a woman wearing a veil who said nothing and was very quiet. They were having dinner at the same table with the talented Lu Fengyan from Chuānxī and Zhao Shu. At that time, I suspected that the woman looked a lot like Lady Su Qi in terms of her figure, but since they said her surname was Fen, I didn’t dare to identify her. After they left, I felt something was wrong and ran out to catch up with them, but I didn’t find them..."
Zhou Gu’s lips thinned, "Tell me in detail what happened that day."
Xie Lin nodded, tried hard to recall, and told Zhou Gu everything he could remember about what happened after he and his group entered Zhuangyuan Building and happened to sit near those four people, what conversations were had, and what occurred.
He had a good memory and was very detailed.
Zhou Gu did not say a thing after hearing it.
Xie Lin scratched his head, and astutely realized, "Wait, if they were the ones that day, weren’t they supposed to come to the capital on the day of the exam and were intercepted by Duanhua?"
Zhou Gu came to see Xie Lin in order to confirm these two matters, and now that they were confirmed, he stood up, "Do not tell anyone else about this, I need to leave."
Xie Lin just managed an "Eh?" and tried to stop him, but Zhou Gu left quickly. By the time he got up and reached the door, Zhou Gu had already left without looking back.
Xie Lin, "..."
He felt itchy in his heart, unbearably so, thinking that he should not have told Zhou Gu so readily. Now that Zhou Gu had gotten his answers, he left easily, leaving Xie Lin scratching his head in curiosity about what was going on.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t drag Zhou Gu back to explain it again.
Xie Lin sighed.
Zhou Gu left the Rui’an King’s Residence, mounted his horse, and headed towards the Eastern Palace. Halfway there, he suddenly pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and returned to the Duke’s Residence.
In the capital, who else could have hidden Su Rong’s tracks so well that even Ziye could not find them? Zhou Gu didn’t need to guess to know that it could only have been the current Crown Prince, Yan Huisheng.
So, was there any need for him to ask?
He was afraid that after asking, he would feel as helpless as when he had to calmly analyze the pros and cons with his grandparents after revealing her identity. So, it was better not to ask.
The assassin was caught, and the Capital was naturally no longer under martial law. The next day, the birthday banquet of Chengguo Duke Residence’s young lady was held as scheduled.
Su Rong herself had brought several dresses to the capital, but they were all discarded by Duanhua for being too shabby. Now, her wardrobe was full of extravagant dresses, all bought for her by either Qingping or Duanhua when she was at the Princess Residence.
Su Rong picked one out to wear and after getting dressed neatly, she left her courtyard.
Su Xingze was waiting for her at the entrance of her courtyard. Upon seeing her, he looked her up and down with amusement in his eyes, "This suits you much better now. You used to dress too casually in Jiangning County. This is the capital, where one must always dress well."
Su Rong noticed that ever since her elder brother came to the capital, he had been dressing and accessorizing more thoughtfully than before, becoming even more handsome than before. She tilted her head and smiled back at him, teasing, "Big brother, you should be careful not to get caught by the proclamation."
Su Xingze: "..."
Amused and exasperated, he said, "On the day of the proclamation, you can watch for me."
Su Rong: "..."
This might not be a good idea? If she was the one caught, what would they do?
The two of them got to the entrance of the main courtyard when Madame Shen also came out from inside, perfectly timed. She smiled and asked Su Rong, "Did you sleep well last night?"
"I slept very well and didn’t wake up until dawn." Su Rong linked arms with Madame Shen and said sweetly, "Madame Shen, your house is too good. The residence is quiet and comfortable, doesn’t disturb the peace, and the cooks here are also very good. Fen Ling returned yesterday, ate all the desserts from the kitchen sent to me, and couldn’t stop saying how he should have moved in sooner."
Madame Shen laughed with delight, "When did Fen Ling come? Why haven’t I seen him?"
"Although the assassin has been captured, him being dead, and the Dali Temple having arrested a group of people, it is still uncertain what can be gleaned from the investigation. After all, Fen Ling is a person lent from the Princess Residence, so it’s only right that he focuses on this case, so he went to the Dali Temple to participate in the investigation. The princess also needs to know the progress at any time. After finishing his refreshments and filling his stomach, he left again."
Lady Shen nodded and said softly, "The situation in the Capital City is complex, it is right to keep a close eye on it, otherwise, we could only listen to one side of the story and may not necessarily get the truth."
Su Rong smiled and nodded, "Aunt Shen has a point."
Su Xingze shook his head on the side, considering that Fen Ling was Su Rong’s bodyguard, he was a bit concerned about her safety without Fen Ling around. But then he thought that due to the assassination of Princess Qingping, there should be no more attacks on Su Rong for a short period, especially since she was now staying at the Shen Residence, where Lady Shen had an imperial decree to protect her.
The three arrived at the entrance of the Shen Residence, Su Xingze rode a horse, Lady Shen and Su Rong took a carriage, and set off for Duke Cheng Residence.
The curfew in the Capital City had just been lifted, and there weren’t many people on the streets yet, only a few horses or carriages were rushing to the Duke Cheng Residence from all directions.
The Duke Cheng Residence was bustling today, when the carriage of Shen Residence arrived, many carriages had already parked at the entrance of the Duke Cheng Residence.
Lady Shen, assisted by Su Rong, descends from the carriage and was greeted by the fifth and sixth sons of the Duke Cheng Residence, Lu Xuecheng and Lu Xuefeng, who were in charge of receiving guests at the entrance with the housekeeper.
Lu Xuecheng had seen Su Rong once at Rui’an King Residence and was almost smitten, if not for Fen Ling who dissuaded him with a bunch of reasons, perhaps his mother would have brought a marriage proposal to her door the next day.
Now that he saw Su Rong again, he was still very attracted to her, and his attitude was very good and enthusiastic. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Su Rong took a deeper look at Lu Xuecheng, and gave a light smile, "From what I heard from my younger brother, Young Master Lu is truly a warm-hearted person. Seeing him today, he certainly is very warm-hearted."
Lu Xuecheng stiffened, chuckled awkwardly, and stepped back slightly. He thought to himself that this pretty lady had thorns, he dared not provoke her, it’s better to restrain the enthusiasm! After all, he couldn’t marry her.
Lady Shen patted Su Rong on the back, chuckled, and scolded her jokingly, "Naughty!"
While Lu Xuecheng stayed to greet other guests, Lu Xuefeng accompanied Lady Shen and move inwards.
Lu Xuefeng watched Su Rong and Lady Shen speaking and laughing, looking as close as mother and daughter. He glanced at Su Xingze, who was half a step behind them, and wondered who could have imagined that Minister of Personnel Shen Xian and his wife would treat the children of Inspector Su Xu of Jiangzhou so kindly, given that they do not stand up for anyone in Capital City?
When they reached the second gate of the residence, the women of the residence took over, leading Lady Shen and Su Rong to the Warm Pavilion where the ladies were gathered, Lu Xuefeng escorted Su Xingze alone to the Pavilion where the men were gathered.
Su Rong, following Lady Shen, met with a group of ladies and misses, but didn’t see Princess Qingping and Duanhua, nor the ladies and misses from the Duke Residence.
The sixth daughter of the Imperial Censor’s house, Wang Xiyan, shared a table with Su Rong at the feast at Rui’an King Residence. They had a conversation and knew each other since then. Seeing Su Rong, Wang Xiyan was very happy, "Lady Su Qi, we meet again."
Su Rong quite liked this girl who had bright and sincere eyes, she smiled and nodded, "Lady Wang, you are truly beautiful today."
Su Rong, if she wanted to flatter someone, can easily do so, it just depended on whether she was willing to do it or not.
When praised by Su Rong, Wang Xiyan’s face visibly lit up with joy, but she sincerely returned the compliment, "Lady Su Qi, you are more beautiful."
After the greetings, they naturally gathered and started to chat.
After a while, a miss from Duke Residence came over, laughing and chatting with Wang Xiyan, and also greeted Su Rong, "Could this be Lady Su Qi?"
Su Rong got up, returning the greeting, and saw a girl whose looks were beautiful but appeared somewhat frail standing in front of her. She queried in confusion, "May I ask, who is this elder sister..."
Wang Xiyan introduced her to Su Rong, "This is the biological younger sister of Duke Lu, the eleventh miss of Duke Residence, Lu Mingran."
Su Rong was taken aback. She already thought six sisters were plenty, she didn’t expect that the daughters of Duke Residence numbered in the double digits. She hurriedly said, "Eleventh Miss."
Lu Mingran spoke softly, "Lady Su Qi, I apologize for the intrusion, but my grandmother heard that you have come and would like to meet you, she sent me to invite you."
Wang Xiyan was taken aback on the side, she didn’t expect the old Duchess of Duke Residence wanted to meet Su Rong.
Su Rong naturally agreed, and said to Wang Xiyan, "Lady Wang, please enjoy, I will be back shortly."
Wang Xiyan quickly nodded.
Lu Mingran led the way, and Su Rong followed. Two steps later, Su Rong remembered Su Xingze’s instructions, and whispered, "Um, Eleventh Miss, does the old Duchess only want to see me? Can she also see my big brother? My big brother is also here."
Lu Mingran shook her head, "My grandmother instructed me to see you only." After saying this, she quickly added, "Don’t worry, I guarantee with my life, they absolutely won’t hurt you."
Su Rong burst into laughter immediately, "There’s no need to guarantee with your life."
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