After Xie Lin left, the pavilion immediately became quiet.
The snow fell gently outside, the sound of it hitting the ground audible. Occasionally, a humming sound would emanate from the charcoal burning in the stove. A cup of hot tea gave off a constant stream of steam. The warmth in the pavilion was a stark contrast to the biting cold outside, making it feel like two separate worlds.
With a silent smile, Su Rong took a sip of her hot tea, instantly feeling the warmth spreading in her heart. She then looked at Zhou Gu, "I heard from my auntie that you’ve been almost inseparable from a certain book recently. What are you reading so religiously that you’re neglecting meals and sleep?"
Zhou Gu calmly answered, "Leisure book."
Swirling her tea cup, Su Rong commented, "Really?"
Zhou Gu didn’t hesitate, "A travel journal. You know I plan to travel after the examination results are released."
Su Rong nodded, apparently convinced, "So, whose travel journal are you reading? Where are you planning to visit first?"
Zhou Gu spoke according to what he had discussed earlier with Yan Huisheng, "Jibei."
"Because there is the privately raised army of the Pingxi General in Jibei?" Su Rong asked.
Zhou Gu nodded, lowering his voice: "Although it’s privately recruited, it’s not necessarily secretive. The emperor might have secretly instructed it. Otherwise, over the years, a large amount of gold and silver from the national treasury has been flowing into Jibei. How can the emperor simply allow the Pingxi General’s Residence to have it all?"
A realization dawned on Su Rong, "That makes sense."
After contemplating for a moment, she carefully suggested, "I suggest you not to go to Jibei as your first stop, but to Nanping, because once the examination results are announced, you will have to take the palace examination. After the palace exams, there’s the Jeweled Grove Banquet, and then the emperor will grant official positions. If you leave your post to travel, it will inevitably cause a stir in the capital, drawing everyone’s attention to your whereabouts. If you go to Jibei alone and the news leaks, General Zhang Ping would certainly not let you return. After all, considering his manipulation of the emperor into raising a private army, he’s not a man without ambition. Now with this case, even after so much investigation, it seems that the second Prince Yan Lin is not heavily involved. In this case, Queen Mother De and second Prince Yan Lin would not be greatly affected. At most, it would implicate the Crown Prince. As long as the second prince remains unscathed, Zhang Ping could justifiably claim his position and compete with the Eastern Palace for dominion. If you walk right into his hands, he’d probably be overjoyed."
Zhou Gu nodded, "Alright, I’ll go to Nanping."
Su Rong looked at him, "The Marquis Residence of Nanping has its heir Ning Chi already pledged loyalty to the Eastern Palace. With his support, your first visit to Nanping might be more effective."
"Hmm." Zhou Gu nodded.
"Regarding Pingxi General’s Residence..." Su Rong swirled her tea cup, "we’ll have to start with the second prince. Or, if Zhang Ping is too ambitious, we can assign someone to secretly assassinate him to remove future trouble."
Zhou Gu immediately said, "You must not risk it personally."
Su Rong nodded, "Don’t worry, I’ve always valued my life. Sending someone to kill him in secret is a desperate measure and the last resort. If there’s a better solution, of course, we’ll use a better method."
Zhou Gu sighed in relief, "That’s true."
Su Rong finished her tea, stood, and said to him, "I’m going to visit the Princess. You should go back right away. Your complexion tells me your wound has not fully recovered. Take good care of yourself for ten more days or so. Don’t let it turn into chronic illness."
Zhou Gu also stood up and stopped her, pursing his lips to say, "Relying on physiognomy alone? Don’t you want to take my pulse? The imperial doctor Xu said that I would be able to go out in one or two days."
Su Rong, who was about to leave, stopped after hearing this and frowned, "One or two days? That’s impossible."
Zhou Gu extended his wrist to her, looking certain, "That’s what he said."
Su Rong extended her hand to check his pulse.
Zhou Gu silently watched her, not moving a muscle.
A few moments later, Su Rong released him and said, "Give me your other hand."
Zhou Gu obediently offered her his other hand.
After checking his pulse, Su Rong confidently told Zhou Gu, "You need at least seven more days of rest. One or two days would be absolutely insufficient. Moreover, what my auntie said was correct, you haven’t had proper rest and have been overthinking. This can slow the healing of your wound. It might look healed on the surface, but internally, it is not fully recovered. You must not take it lightly."
After finishing speaking, she let go of him and asked, "Are you still taking the medicine?"
Zhou Gu nodded, "I’m still taking the medicine prescription you gave." 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
Su Rong frowned again, "Doctor Xu examines you every day, hasn’t he changed your prescription? He should have done it few days ago."
Zhou Gu shook his head, "No."
In fact, Doctor Xu did advise him to change the prescription, but he didn’t agree. Particularly yesterday, he had already stopped taking his medicine.
"Should I write another medicine prescription for you?" Su Rong suggested.
After finishing speaking, she turned around to find pen and paper. Discovering there wasn’t any there, she looked at Zhou Gu and said, "Instruct someone to fetch pen and paper."
Zhou Gu nodded. When he yelled out, Ziye, who had been waiting at a distance, ran over. After listening to Zhou Gu’s instruction, Ziye immediately left to fetch the items.
Without a choice, Su Rong had to sit down and wait for Ziye.
Zhou Gu poured another cup of tea for Su Rong.
With the paper and pen fetched by Ziye, it took a while before they were laid out on the table.
Su Rong gave Ziye an extra glance, which left him feeling rather guilty, hardly daring to lift his head. When he rolled up his sleeve to grind ink for Su Rong, Zhou Gu stopped him, "You can go. I’ll do it."
Ziye quickly retreated.
After Zhou Gu finished grinding the ink, Su Rong swiftly wrote a prescription and handed it to Zhou Gu, "Make sure you take it properly for seven days, and rest as much as I’ve recommended."
Zhou Gu took the prescription, glanced at it, and coughed lightly, "Your handwriting... I can’t quite recognize it."
Su Rong stopped, looking at the fast and sweeping calligraphy she used to write the prescription in a haste. She remained speechless for a moment, then patiently read it to him one by one.
Zhou Gu nodded, indicating that he remembered, and put away the prescription. Suddenly, he said, "Do you remember you promised me something?"
"What was it?"
"The thing I mentioned to you about going to the book pavilion in the imperial palace. There are several rare editions there. You could help me borrow them using your status?" Zhou Gu reminded her.
Su Rong hadn’t forgotten, but...
She looked at Zhou Gu, "Yes, you mentioned it, but are you sure I agreed?"
Zhou Gu paused for a moment, looking at her, very certain, "You agreed at that time."
Seeing Su Rong remain silent, he further elaborated, "There are a few books, one is a military book, a manual written by the renowned general Zhang Wu three hundred years ago. One is a treatise on governance strategies by the famous minister Wang Cheng four hundred years ago. Another one is a treasure map supposedly from the time of Emperor Jingyuan, which no one has solved so far."
He was very eager, and added with bright eyes, "The first two are secondary, but wouldn’t you want to try and solve the treasure map of Emperor Jingyuan’s era? From what I’ve heard, the national treasury is empty. If Dawei eventually choses to go to war over your background, Daliang would need funding to fight the war. Without military funds, the soldiers won’t have enough to eat and enough warm clothing to wear. The weapons and armor won’t be sufficient either. Wouldn’t we stand no chance of winning? If the treasure map actually exists and could be deciphered, we would no longer need to fear Dawei’s invasion."
Su Rong: "..."
She took a deep breath, "Alright, I’ll give it a try."
She paused, then added, "Although, you need to focus on recovering. I’ll discuss this with the Crown Prince and see if he can take me there."
Zhou Gu fell silent for a moment, then quietly asked, "Can I not take you there?"
Su Rong was very decisive, "No, you need to concentrate on healing."
After saying this, Su Rong turned and walked out. Without turning her head back, she waved at him, "It’s so cold; you should hurry home. Don’t act tough just because of your youth, ignoring your health. If you do, I won’t bother with you next time."
Zhou Gu originally wanted to follow her, but at her words, he could only stop his steps and watch her briskly walk away.
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