The Duchess gazed at Zhou Gu. In truth, she wished she could say, "Even if you shame the Duke Residence, so what? Even if you become a person who abandons propriety, virtue, integrity, and honor, so what? A lifetime is nothing more than a fleeting century. Why let the shackles of decorum weigh you down?" She herself had been burdened by these constraints. When her husband left for war, she hadn’t even had the opportunity to voice her hesitation, or express her reluctance to see him off to battle because of their duties and social position. As a result, she has spent many years in restless solitude, filled with regrets, separated by the realms of the living and the dead, no longer be able to see each other.
She had tasted the bitterness of longing, endured the shackles of constraint, and didn’t want her son to suffer the same fate.
She wishes for him to choose his own path, whether it earns him eternal fame and praise or disapproval from later generations. All that matters is that he does what he truly wishes to do and lives a life without regrets.
But she dares not voice these thoughts, fearing that she would seem to encourage Zhou Gu, possibly causing more harm than good to her son.
Speaking softly, she said: "Hmm, try to... exercise control as much as you can!"
She mentioned ’as much as one can,’ because if he can’t control it, then there is nothing to be done.
Zhou Gu suddenly stood up and, like when he was a child, squatted in front of the Duchess, rested his hands on her knees and his head on her lap. "Mother," he said, "Su Rong is really good, isn’t she?"
The Duchess flashed a smile, "Indeed, my son has good taste."
Zhou Gu also flashed a smile, whispering: "I can see her goodness, you can see her goodness, and so can everyone else."
He continued, "As for Ye Guixue, I’ve met him and interacted a few times. The first time was at Chengguo Duke Residence where I saw him effortlessly dealing with the Crown Prince and the Second Prince while straddling both sides of the door. The second time I saw him was when I was going home on horseback, and he was riding to Shen Residence to pick up Su Rong. He seemed reserved and detached, yet considerate. The third time was behind the Buddha Temple on the hill. He and Su Rong each had a large basket, emerging from the forest, filled with mushrooms they had trampled beneath their feet. The Second Master of Ye Xiang Residence, a person of renown, was performing menial tasks so at odds with his status, but when he was with Su Rong, there was no discordance at all. The fourth time was when Fen Ling, by the order of Su Rong, invited He Zheng and me for a meal at their quarters in Buddha Temple. His smile was light and friendly, he was casual in conversation, and there was no hint of hostility towards me. He’s a person who gets along with everyone and knows his boundaries."
After finishing, he said softly: "Mother, he truly is the ideal husband the Nanchu King has groomed for Su Rong, appropriate in every respect. As his contemporary, I am not ashamed, but looking back at the days I spent interacting with Su Rong in Jiangning County, acting arrogantly due to my status, remaining aloof, and being difficult, I truly feel inadequate compared to him."
The Duchess stroked his head, "You are just being yourself. There’s no need to compare yourself to others. The cause for your broken engagement with Su Rong wasn’t due to the clashing personalities between the two of you. It was because you were born into the Duke Residence. Her engagement with Ye Guixue is based on her status as the Nanchu Princess, Ye Guixue’s status as the Second Young Master of Ye Xiang Residence, their matching statuses, and the long-standing agreement between the Nanchu Royal family and Yan Xiang Residence."
Zhou Gu nodded, his childhood education preventing him from expressing his jealousy about Ye Guixue’s circumstances. He leaned against the Duchess’s knee and asked, "Mother, do you think I still have any advantages?"
The Duchess sighed inwardly. In terms of looks, Ye Guixue was no worse, in terms of talent, Ye Guixue was renowned far and wide, in terms of status and family background, Ye Guixue was a more suitable match for Su Rong, they were a perfect pair. As if examining Su Rong’s heart, she was currently assuming the identity of Ye Guixue’s soon to be wife, not acting inconsistently. Her son didn’t really seem to possess any particular advantage.
Zhou Gu also knew he didn’t have any advantages. On the day they decided to cancel their engagement, he had failed to be obstinate, and there was no more opportunity for that now.
He whispered, "Mother, during my travels, I wish to visit Nanchu."
The Duchess readily consented, "Alright, you can go wherever you wish."
Zhou Gu flashed a smile, then stood up. "Mother, you must also be tired. Go back and rest a bit!"
The Duchess simply nodded in agreement.
Zhou Gu retired to the inner rooms, lay back in bed, and once the Duchess saw him lay down, she left Shuang LinYuan.
After leaving the Duke Residence, Su Rong and Feng Ling left the city directly and headed towards Buddha Temple.
After leaving the city and traveling a few miles, they saw a horse carriage slowly advancing from the opposite direction. Fen Ling pointed at the carriage, "Miss, look, isn’t it the carriage of the Second Young Master Ye?"
The horse had already been ridden back to the capital, but the carriage was the same one.
Su Rong squinted her eyes at the carriage, and sure enough, it was Ye Guixue’s carriage. She reined in her horse, waiting for the carriage to approach. Seeing Su Rong and Fen Ling, the coachman halted the carriage and informed the person inside.
Ye Guixue lifted the carriage curtain, smiled faintly at Su Rong and Fen Ling and said, "I couldn’t find a reason to stay at the Buddha Temple, so I found a horse to ride back. You shouldn’t tire yourself by making another trip to pick me up."
Su Rong also laughed, "Me and Fen ling were just on our way to the Buddha Temple to get you."
She handed over the reins of her horse to Fen Ling, dismounted, and climbed into Ye Guixue’s carriage, telling him about what she had done yesterday and today.
After hearing her, Ye Guixue looked her up and down, "Are you hurt?"
"No."
Ye Guixue was relieved, "In such a short time, someone couldn’t resist but to attack you again, it’s clear that within the Nanchu Dynasty, everyone is aware of your abilities and is fearful of you."
Wave after wave of assassins were sent, most of them never returned, Nangong Family or the Nanchu Royal Family, both must be restless.
Su Rong nodded, "You deliver the message back, tell the Nanchu King to protect himself well, in case they can’t kill me and go after him instead."
"Don’t worry, as long as my father is there, no one is allowed to harm the king before he sees you." Ye Guixue was still very confident about the Nanchu King, after all, the Nanchu King he knew, since discovering Su Rong’s existence, had been extremely protective of himself and patient in the invisible places in these five years.
Su Rong nodded, "Good."
Ye Guixue asked again: "How is Lord Thursday’s injury? Is he out of danger now?"
"After surviving the ordeal last night, he should be okay today. If fever rises again at night, just use the same cooling prescription as yesterday." Su Rong lowered her voice, "I happened to see a medical book in the Book Pavilion of the Buddha Temple. The ancient method for fever reduction came from that book. I used it for him."
Ye Guixue couldn’t help but smile after hearing this, "Lord Thursday is lucky."
"Indeed." Su Rong also smiled, "Thanks to Fen Ling’s donation of five thousand tael silvers to the Buddha Temple. Although it’s a bit dishonest, the Buddha Temple does indeed preserve the rare books well. But not being able to benefit people would not count as the Buddha’s act of accumulating virtuous deeds. If Imperial Doctor Xu of the Imperial Medical Bureau gets the cooling recipe, there will be a cure for people like Zhou Gu in the future, no longer helpless."
She asked Ye Guixue, "In this case, are Fen Ling and I considered to have done a good deed?"
Ye Guixue nodded with a smile, "Yes."
Su Rong sipped her mouth and laughed, she whispered, "After all, it was stored in the Buddha Temple for so many years, it’s useless anyway, better to be useful to me."
Ye Guixue nodded in agreement, "Indeed."
While the two were talking, they returned to the Capital City.
When they arrived at the Shen Residence, the coachman stopped the carriage. Ye Guixue said to Su Rong softly, "Looking at your complexion, you still don’t seem well, probably due to lack of rest. As soon as you enter the residence, hurry and rest. I will come to see you tomorrow after I go to the palace."
Su Rong nodded, "Okay."
She got off the carriage, waved at Ye Guixue. Ye Guixue smiled at her and waved back, then the curtain dropped.
The carriage left the Shen Residence.
Fen Ling followed Su Rong into the Shen Residence and said to Su Rong in a low voice, "Sister, Young Master Ye is really considerate in every way."
Without her having to fetch him, he came back on his own. And, he didn’t show any discontent for her rushing back to the city to save the little lord Zhou overnight. Such a perfect and appropriate behavior.
Su Rong made a sound of agreement, "He’s very good."
Upon hearing of Su Rong’s return, Lady Shen hurriedly walked out of the courtyard, looking at her directly, "I heard that you rushed back to the city to save Zhou Gu last night and were attacked multiple times, are you okay? Are you injured?"
Su Rong shook her head, "I wasn’t injured."
Lady Shen sighed with relief, "Good that you’re not injured. I was terrified when I heard the news. I wanted to rush to the Duke Residence to see you this morning, but was stopped by your brother. He said you would be alright, and indeed you are."
She looked up and down at Su Rong, "How’s Zhou Gu? Is he okay?"
"Yes, I happened to have a very effective fever-reducing prescription, and he has improved a lot now." Su Rong held Lady Shen’s arm. "I’m sorry for making you worry."
Lady Shen sighed, "As long as you’re not injured and Zhou Gu doesn’t have life-threatening injuries, otherwise the Duke Residence would be in chaos. Those damn assassins, wave after wave, it’s never-ending. You haven’t gone to Nanchu yet. If you go to Nanchu, wouldn’t there be continuous assassination attempts? You’d never have a moment of peace."
Mentioning the assassins, Su Rong’s face turned cold, "If I go to Nanchu, it would be my turn to deal with others. If they can disturb my peace, I can also make them die clearly. You don’t need to worry."
Lady Shen was immediately relieved, laughing, "Good, be ruthless then, don’t be lenient."
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