Duanhua wasn’t mistaken, Zhou Gu was indeed sitting in the private room upstairs.
Besides Zhou Gu, there was Su Xingze.
Su Rong knew that Su Xingze had left Duke Residence early in the morning heading to the book store with Zhou Gu. By the time she and Fen Ling leisurely left the residence, he had been out for a good half an hour.
Su Xingze intended to keep his distance from Zhou Gu, especially after the cancellation of Su Rong’s marriage. He didn’t want himself or Su Rong to get overly involved with Zhou Gu. But that night, after Su Rong returned in the wee hours, she asked him to spend more time with Zhou Gu, to which he reluctantly agreed, and naturally, he couldn’t keep his distance anymore.
So, last night, he sent someone to the Duke’s residence to check whether Zhou Gu was free to pick out some books at the bookstore with him today. Zhou Gu readily agreed. Thus, early in the morning, the two of them went to the streets as agreed, but to their surprise, the bookstore they intended to visit was closed for some unknown reason. So, they decided to go to a nearby tea house to listen to stories.
Since they arrived early, they could get in when the doors just opened. Even though they didn’t make reservations beforehand, they still managed to find a place.
Zhou Gu usually liked the hustle and bustle of the main hall, but now with his low spirits, he preferred a quiet environment, so he chose a private room.
Normally, private rooms were the most sought-after in restaurants and tea houses. But on a day when Zhao Lao was reciting tales at Yipinxiang Teahouse, being in the main hall, close to Zhao Lao so as to listen clearly, was more desirable.
After the two entered, they pulled the curtains and closed the door, hence, they didn’t know that Duanhua and Su Rong had also reserved a spot at Yipinxiang today.
When they heard that the story Zhao Lao was reciting today was about Princess Zhenmin, both of them frowned at each other in unison.
Zhou Gu frowned and instructed the attendant, "Ziye, go and ask the manager why today’s story is about Princess Zhenmin? Who requested this story? If the manager doesn’t explain, go and question Zhao Fei. If he doesn’t answer, send him to Rui’an King to face inquiries for alleged involvement in the attempted assassination of Princess Qingping."
Zhao Fei was Zhao Lao’s son, and also the biggest tea merchant in the capital, the owner of this Yipinxiang Tea House.
Ziye complied and left immediately.
The two men stopped talking and quietly listened to the tale of Princess Zhenmin being told by Zhao Lao in the hall below. Amid the occasional whispers of the guests, Zhou Gu, with his sharp ears, suddenly heard someone mention his name. He lifted the curtain and looked down. With just one glance, he saw Duanhua, Su Rong and others seated at the most special seats closest to Zhao Lao. He was taken aback, and this brief moment of shock allowed Duanhua’s sharp eyes to spot him.
After pulling down the curtain, he gently told Su Xingze, "Su Rong is here too."
Su Xingze was also surprised, "Seventh Sister didn’t say she would come to Yipinxiang to listen to stories today."
If he knew she would come, he would never have come to Yipinxiang with Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu lowered his eyes, saying softly, "Brother Su, ever since your arrival in the capital for exams, I sensed your efforts to subtly distance yourself from me. But now you’ve taken the initiative to approach and spend time with me, is it all because Su Rong asked you to accompany me?"
Su Xingze fell silent. Zhou Gu was simply too intelligent and left him speechless.
Zhou Gu asked him, "In your opinion, could I let go of Su Rong?"
Su Xingze looked at him and replied, "You should be able to let her go, I mean, you two haven’t known each other for very long."
Zhou Gu tugged at the corner of his mouth, as if he wanted to laugh, but he could not. In a soft voice, he said, "I don’t know who to blame. Initially, I should’ve blamed my grandfather. He insisted on sending me to Jiangning County to attend my fiancée’s Coming-of-age Ceremony. I didn’t want to go. Or maybe I should blame Ziye. He said the newly released travel logs praised Jiangning County highly, and suggested this was a chance for me to travel; I became so interested since I had never traveled that far before. Or maybe I should blame myself. At the time of leaving Jiangning County, I asked Su Rong whether she was in a hurry. She said ’no rush’. Even though I was not entirely satisfied with her reply, I didn’t ask further and left. Or maybe I should blame Xie Lin, who knew something probably happened to Su Rong on the day I left, but when I met him, he intentionally hid it from me. I didn’t know a thing and was angry at her sudden cancellation of our engagement."
Listening to Zhou Gu mentioning several people yet not blaming Su Rong, Su Xingze asked in a low voice, "Don’t you blame Seventh Sister?"
Zhou Gu shook his head, "Why should I blame her? Who would willingly subject themselves to an assassination attempt if they had a choice? My grandfather was right, whether the Duke Residence or I could do nothing to help her in Nanchu unless I could keep her with me in Daliang. But can the current Duke Residence completely protect her?"
He sneered, "That’s impossible since the Emperor is overlooking everything."
Su Xingze fell into complete silence.
What Su Rong said was correct, Zhou Gu understood everything clearly and didn’t need anyone’s advice. All he needed was someone to talk to. He was an ideal candidate for that, as he could say things to him that he couldn’t say to others.
The sound of two knocks echoed. Zhou Gu looked up, and Su Xingze turned his back to see. If Ziye was back, there was no need for him to knock. Thinking it was a servant bringing tea, he stood up and walked to open the door. To his surprise, Duanhua was standing at the doorway. Su Xingze asked quizzically, "Princess?"
Duanhua stated directly, "I’m here to see Zhou Gu."
Seeing that she was alone, Su Xingze hesitated for a moment before stepping aside.
Zhou Gu heard clearly from inside. In the past, he would have barred Duanhua at the door, or escaped through the window as soon as he saw her. But now, he watched expressionlessly as Duanhua entered, thinking, isn’t she smart? Who would have thought that not long ago, she was raging at him, shouting murder against Su Rong, but in a short while after meeting Su Rong, she had become friends with her? If anyone had told him before that Duanhua would be friends with Su Rong, he would have absolutely scoffed at them.
Duanhua didn’t expect to see Zhou Gu this easily. Moreover, he wasn’t frowning or avoiding her. It took her a moment to adjust, and it was only when she came close and saw Zhou Gu still sitting still that she felt somewhat real.
Looking at Zhou Gu, she found him as good-looking as ever. So, she sat down, propped her chin, and gazed at him, thinking to herself that she should take this opportunity to look at him as much as she could while he wasn’t avoiding or dodging her, and make up for all the years she couldn’t get enough of seeing him.
Knowing how much Zhou Gu disliked Duanhua in the past, Su Xingze noticed that Zhou Gu had an emotionless face even when he saw her. He asked, "Would the Princess like some tea?"
Duanhua shook her head, "No."
Su Xingze asked again, "Would the Princess like some cake?"
"No."
Seeing that Duanhua was holding a handful of melon seeds, Su Xingze suggested, "Would the Princess like some melon seeds?"
"Oh, why are you talking so much?" Duanhua was unhappy, "Stop talking, I just want to look at him."
With that, Su Xingze closed his mouth. Actually, he didn’t want to talk either, but with one person looking blank and the other staring intently at the other, it felt too stiff to not say anything.
No one spoke again in the private room, and it became quiet.
Zhou Gu didn’t dodge or avoid Duanhua’s gaze. If it had been any other day, he would have been annoyed. But now, he wasn’t. His face and heart were numb, and he let her look at him as she pleased.
Duanhua stared at Zhou Gu for a while before pursing her lips and commenting, "Boring."
Now that Zhou Gu was not avoiding her and letting her stare at him freely, Duanhua found herself losing interest. It’s strange how people work, you can be infatuated with someone to the point of madness, going all-or-nothing, even risking your life for that person. But suddenly, someone appears and says, "There are so many men in the world, even if the person I end up marrying is not the handsomest, what’s wrong with that? As long as he’s suitable", that indifference seems to break some stubborn illusions. It was as if tightly locked chains have been broken, revealing these words that seem pretty right.
This was Duanhua’s new mindset now. She realized she didn’t have to exclusively like Zhou Gu, but she still liked him. She would just not go crazy for him anymore.
After giving her judgement, she saw that Zhou Gu still had no expression. She didn’t leave but began to eat the cake on the table. After consuming a piece of cake, she suddenly said, "Hey, Zhou Gu, now that you have broken off your engagement with Su Rong, and I still like you, how about you try liking me?"
Zhou Gu rejected without hesitation, "I don’t like you and don’t want to try."
Duanhua was displeased, "What’s wrong with me? I just have a bad temper, but if you liked me, I definitely wouldn’t lose my temper at you. The reason I lost my temper at you before was because you don’t like me, avoided me, and never showed a good expression when you saw me. That was why I was angry."
Zhou Gu remained expressionless, "Whether I like you or not has nothing to do with your temper."
Duanhua choked, almost angrily throwing the teacup. But she was not as hot-tempered now, influenced by Su Rong’s subtle influence that it’s better to make others angry than make oneself angry. So instead, she humphed coldly and deliberately said, "What’s the point of you liking Su Rong? She doesn’t like you, and doesn’t want to marry you. You don’t know yet, do you? She likes Ye Guixue, the second son of the Ye Xiang Residence in Nanchu and has specifically warned me not to fight with her for him."
She muttered, "Nanchu is so far away, I’m not crazy to compete with her. However, she did say I can try for you."
Zhou Gu’s face darkened in an instant.
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