Judging by Su Rong’s attitude and tone, she didn’t seem to be lying, which only heightened Duanhua’s curiosity about Ye Guixue.
Therefore, when someone whispered, "Quick, look over there, is that the Second Young Master Ye?"
Duanhua immediately followed the gaze. Seeing a young man, who looked as exquisite as a plum blossom in the snow, slowly walking towards them, she widened her eyes. In an instant, her pupils contracted and she held her breath, tightly grabbing Su Rong’s hand.
Su Rong knew that Duanhua, like herself, once attracted to someone beautiful, could not look away easily. Leaning in, she warned her, "This one, you can’t fight me over."
Snatching Zhou Gu would have been acceptable, since their engagement had been broken. She could poach all she wanted. But Ye Guixue wasn’t an option. Not now, not ever.
Duanhua was taken aback, quickly diverting her gaze and glaring at Su Rong.
Su Rong simply laughed, "I spotted him first."
Duanhua took a deep breath, paused, and then muttered, "Don’t worry, I won’t fight over him with you. I’m not willing to marry into Nanchu, which is so far away."
Besides, she still had feelings for Zhou Gu.
She did not understand Su Rong’s fascination. After glancing towards Ye Guixue once again, she had to admit, he was very handsome. Looking around, she saw many girls in the vicinity, casting longing looks at Ye Guixue.
She pulled Su Rong closer and whispered, "Let’s not talk about the vast distance to Nanchu. Can you even win over Ye Guixue?"
Su Rong gave a carefree smile, "Why not give it a try? It doesn’t cost anything."
Duanhua: "..."
Could the worldly wealth be compared to someone as good-looking as him at this moment? It confirmed her suspicion that Su Rong was grossly worldly-minded. She must have some major issues in her head, to reject Zhou Gu, who was already within her reach, and set her sights on the distant Ye Guixue. They both came from prestigious families and were exquisitely handsome. She was baffled by Su Rong’s preference for the distant over the near.
Accompanying Ye Guixue was Ya Qiuying, who appeared to be discussing something important. She earnestly asked him, "Little Uncle, can I visit the Princess Residence? Sister Su Qi and Duanhua Princess were saying she stayed there for several days upon meeting Duanhua Princess for the first time. The Princess just invited me to her residence."
Ye Guixue paused, thinking it was inappropriate for Ya Qiuying to call him "Little Uncle" while addressing Su Rong as "Sister". Yet, he swallowed his retort. The princess’s identity remained hidden, and since they had just confirmed their engagement, it was not wrong to refer to her as "Sister". He asked, "Would you like to go?"
Ya Qiuying twiddled her fingers, "I’d really like to."
Ye Guixue chuckled, patting her head, "Then you should go. Not today, though. I will personally take you there tomorrow."
"Yay, thanks Little Uncle!" Ya Qiuying exclaimed joyously.
Ye Guixue waved her off, "Go and have fun. Remember, today is your birthday, so don’t run about aimlessly."
Ya Qiuying obediently nodded and skipped back to the ladies’ area.
Ye Guixue followed Ya Qiuying’s path with his gaze. Among the clusters of ladies, two women stood out. One, of course, was Su Rong, whom he just met, and the other woman, elegantly dressed and enhancing Su Rong’s charm, was presumably the famous Duanhua Princess.
He glanced at them before looking away, reflecting that Su Rong adeptly used Duanhua princess and the Princess Residence to quickly blend into Capital City’s elite circle upon her arrival. Considering her ease and eloquence, he assumed adjusting to Nanchu wouldn’t pose a significant challenge for her.
He agreed with the opinion the King had shared. Su Rong, known as Princess Zhenmin’s daughter and educated by the renowned Xie Yuan, truly excelled in her own right. With a ladder to the sky at her disposal, she certainly had the ability to climb.
Having initially harbored concerns about her, he now felt assured.
The eldest princess of Sheng An usually didn’t attend banquets. However, the day she visited Rui’an King Residence was for Su Rong, to let everyone know that even after breaking their engagement, the Duke Residence was still on amicable terms with Su Rong. And so, she did not attend the birthday feast hosted by the Duke Residence for her granddaughter today. With her status, she didn’t need to.
The wives from the Duke Residence had attended, along with the fifth daughter, and Zhou Gu.
The Duke Residence family arrived late, coinciding with the Rui’an King Residence’s people. Seeing Zhou Gu, Xie Lin remembered how Zhou Gu had questioned him at Rui’an King Residence the previous day and simply left, causing him to lose sleep. His resentment was visible on his face when he saw Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu was out of sorts, he hadn’t wanted to come. However, upon learning of Su Rong’s arrival and considering Ye Guixue’s presence from Nanchu’s Ye Xiang Residence, he anticipated the inevitable interaction between them due to Su Rong’s position, and so he turned up. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Even though he had no idea what he could do by being here.
From birth, he had been pinned into a certain framework, growing up in the direction his grandfather envisioned. He initially thought that it would be fine to abandon martial arts for literature, as his grandfather was right. The descendants of the Duke Residence should support their household and dedicate their lives to the state and people of Daliang. Within a certain scope, he had gone with the flow without ever feeling too restricted. After all, he considered himself fortunate to be the youngest grandson when there were so many eldest sons carrying the burdens of their families like his eldest brother. However, he now realized, a framework was merely a framework. His birthright was a boon, but to some extent, it was also a sorrow.
Take Su Rong for example.
When he learned about her family background, he could fully understand why she broke off the engagement.
He never saw whether Su Rong had struggled or not, but when he was still oblivious about her background, she decisively and assertively broke off the engagement, which plunged him into a brief period of self-doubt. Nevertheless, he must admit her straightforward decisiveness was possibly a form of considerate kindness towards him.
If he were to make a choice, he didn’t know whether he possessed the same resolve or whether he’d be caught in a bitter struggle.
Well, at least now he didn’t need to struggle. Certainly, following the annihilation of their marriage contract, there was nothing left between him and her.
Xie Lin slung an arm around Zhou Gu’s shoulder and softly asked, "Brother, did you ask me those questions yesterday because you still want to be with Su Rong...?"
Zhou Gu glancing at him, his gaze lacked emotion.
Sensing his detachment, Xie Lin immediately backed down, letting go of his shoulder, "Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore, please don’t keep staring at me like that, it’s frightening."
Zhou Gu shifted his gaze away and resumed walking.
Catching up with Zhou Gu, Xie Lin realised that compared to that pent-up emotion Zhou Gu had on the day of Zhou Gu’s cancelled engagement, he appeared even more gloomy now. Where had the arrogant and willful young master Zhou Gu, who loved to roam the streets on horseback, gone to?
Alas, Xie Lin couldn’t help but wonder, did Zhou Gu lack sincerity towards Qin Luan? Otherwise, when Qin Luan was taken away by Zhou Gu back then, why didn’t he react the same way?
Deeply questioning himself, Xie Lin became mired in self-doubt.
The banquet at the Duke Residence today had a significantly larger attendees compared to the usual, small-scale banquets held at the Rui’an King’s Residence.
In addition to the people from the Rui’an King’s Residence, the Duke Residence, and the Princess Residence who came, the Crown Prince, the second Prince and many other princes also arrived one after another. The Crown Prince arrived hand-in-hand with his wife, the second prince arrived with his wife, while the rest of the unmarried princes came alone. There were also some princesses present.
The Crown Prince, who occupied a status separate from the other princes, came just as the banquet was about to begin.
Duanhua whispered to Su Rong, "Ning Yao is indeed an extraordinary woman. Look at her; despite being laughed at behind her back for my daisy tea incident, she still showed up at the banquet as if nothing happened."
Su Rong nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
"In the Capital City, one couldn’t survive without a thick skin. The thicker one’s skin, the better one could get by," Duanhua continued whispering to Su Rong. "Compared to Ning Yao, Zhang Wan is more sensitive. Otherwise, wouldn’t she dare to invite us to her residence?"
Su Rong laughed, "Does her residence have anything valuable?"
"Yes, she likes collecting calligraphy and paintings. If we both were to take them all, wouldn’t she cry herself to death?" Duanhua snorted, "That’s why she doesn’t dare."
Duanhua went on: "The Crown Prince is also thick-skinned. Although he appears to be dim-witted, and often does something foolish, the fact that he is thick-skinned enough, gives him an advantage. Look at him, he provoked others to impeach you, which ended up costing him heavily, even earning a warning from the emperor’s brother-in-law. Had this happened to anyone else, wouldn’t they have stayed away for some time? But just after two days, here he is, merrily joining in the festivities."
Su Rong understood quite well. For the chance to get close to Ye Guixue, the Crown Prince and the second Prince were willing to curry favor with the Ye Xiang Residence. If they had the support of Nanchu Nation, their chances to win the throne of Daliang would be significantly higher.
Unfortunately, they were bound to be disappointed since the Ye Xiang Residence supported her, and she backed Crown Prince Yan Huisheng.
Duanhua let out a sigh mentioning Yan Huisheng, "Ah, the Crown Prince, my cousin, is just too principled and upright. He doesn’t have their audacity, that’s why he has been at a disadvantage all these years."
Su Rong laughed, while it wasn’t necessarily true that he was always at a disadvantage, everyone saw that the Crown Prince was sufficiently low-key and restrained himself.
Would the court officials feel that such a Crown Prince was humiliated or aggrieved? Certainly. As the designated heir, fully capable and possessed an excellent reputation, there was no need for him to feel so humiliated. Yet, the Crown Prince always seemed to be treated unjustly, and this was primarily due to the emperor’s strict control over him.
There was a saying that things could only be pushed so far before they pushed back. Therefore, the day when the emperor goes overboard and the ministers can’t stand it any longer would be the opportune moment for Crown Prince Yan Huisheng.
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