With Duanhua by her side, Su Rong’s banter made her feel less unwell.
Duanhua knew what Su Rong had been up to these days. The capital crime chain, from the day Su Rong was hit by a cold arrow, her mother Princess Qingping went to the palace to petition, to the subsequent cases, one implicated another. Lastly, the plot was traced back to the Imperial Concubine being the mastermind, causing shock and horror among court officials and citizens, dropping countless jaws and leaving people in awe.
She didn’t ask Su Rong about the case, but simply asked her, "So you are the daughter of Princess Zhenmin and the Nanchu King!"
Su Rong nodded.
Duanhua widened her eyes, "You’ve been living with me in my house for so many years, how tight-lipped are you? You didn’t mention a word about this, don’t you see me as a close friend?"
Su Rong coughed lightly, "You can’t blame me for this. The princess and the prince consort both knew about it. The day we discussed it, you were scared by someone’s cold arrows, and we were afraid to frighten you."
Duanhua pouted, "I’m not really that cowardly, and certainly not a child."
Su Rong pleaded, "Okay, okay, I was wrong."
Duanhua felt Su Rong’s apology insincere, but seeing her pale face, she gave up arguing. "So, my royal uncle is also your royal uncle. Hey, we are actually cousins. If only your mother hadn’t had that incident, if you were born and raised in the capital, how great it would be for us to play together as children."
Su Rong laughed, "If that were the case, you’d still be you, but I might not be me."
After all, without the accident, her mother might not have had a marriage contract with the Nanchu King, might not have been pregnant with her, her mother was supposed to marry Uncle Xie smoothly, and the daughter she would have later might well not be her.
Duanhua: "..."
Seeing her choked, Su Rong found it funny. "Actually, being born and raised in Jiangning County is quite nice."
Recalling this, Duanhua was indignant, "It’s all because of that bastard Zhou Gu, who blocked my way. He wouldn’t let me go to Jiangning County. That was my first time out of the capital since I was a kid, and he cut me off halfway. I heard Jiangning County is a place of natural and gentle human nurtures with beautiful scenery, especially the bustling markets, where the doors never close."
Su Rong nodded, "There will be chances in the future."
Duanhua widened her eyes, "Where is there still a chance? You won’t let me go after your older brother."
Su Rong coughed a few times.
Duanhua wanted to say more, but seeing Su Rong looking towards the door, she noticed that Su Xingze was standing awkwardly with a bowl of medicine in his hand, frozen in place from unintentionally overhearing their conversation, looking exceedingly tense and embarrassed.
Duanhua, thick-skinned as usual, didn’t find it embarrassing. She confronted Su Xingze, "Mr. Su, come in. What are you doing standing at the door?"
Su Xingze could only come in with the medicine bowl in hand.
Duanhua got up, took the medicine bowl from him, and dismissed him, "We sisters are talking here. You may leave and get busy. I’ll watch her take this medicine."
Su Xingze nodded, bowed his hand, "Thank you, princess."
Duanhua ignored him and waved him off again. After Su Xingze had left the room, Duanhua suddenly remembered something and called out to Su Xingze, "Mr. Su!"
Su Xingze turned back and asked, "Yes princess?"
Duanhua blinked, "Um, may I have my lunch at your residence?"
Su Xingze fell silent.
The lady and six young ladies visiting the Duke Residence would certainly be invited to have lunch. But there was currently no cook in this residence. If they didn’t return, and with Su Rong looking like that, Su Xingze would have to cook himself. He couldn’t possibly ask the old caretaker and the unpolished maid to cook. After all, their culinary skills were quite basic.
Duanhua said straightforwardly, "I always made good food and drinks for Su Rong when she was living in the Princess Residence."
The implication being, she wouldn’t be treated poorly now that she was visiting his residence, would she?
Su Xingze understood and promptly said, "I’ll have someone go to the restaurant and get some. Anything specific you’d like, princess?"
Duanhua was hard to please, shaking her head, "I don’t want food brought from the restaurant. You can cook, right? So you make it."
Su Xingze: "..."
He turned to Su Rong with a questioning look in his eyes.
Su Rong looked around, anywhere but at him.
Su Xingze understood and nodded, "If the princess doesn’t mind, I can cook for my sister and you."
Duanhua’s face instantly brightened into a smile, "No, I don’t mind at all. Thank you, Master Su."
All Su Xingze could do was ask: "Princess, do you have any dietary restrictions?"
Duanhua wanted to say "I have plenty.", but before she could, Su Rong grabbed her sleeve to stop her and interrupted, "Big brother, she doesn’t have any. You can go now. I need to take my medicine."
Su Xingze gave Su Rong a glance then turned and walked away.
Duanhua turned her head and glared at Su Rong.
Su Rong glared back at her, "My big brother is going to enter court affairs in the future. You can’t spread the fact that he can cook."
A gentleman should stay away from the kitchen. It doesn’t matter among family, but outsiders won’t see a man cooking as something commendable.
Duanhua understood, "Don’t worry, he’s your brother, and he’s also my brother. How could I harm him?"
Su Rong reluctantly trusted her. She sat up, took the bowl of medicine from her hand, looked at it disgustedly for a moment, clenched her teeth, pinched her nose, and drank it.
Duanhua looked at her with disgust, "Why didn’t they prepare some candied fruit for you?"
No sooner had she finished speaking, than a maidservant came in with a plate of candied fruit.
Su Rong picked one up and threw it in her mouth, then shrank back into her quilt, still holding it.
Seeing that Su Rong was lying down while she sat, and knowing that it was exhausting to chat in this position, Duanhua said, "I’m going to lie down with you."
Su Rong had no choice but to move over a bit, generously making room for her, patting the mattress, "Come!"
Duanhua took off her shoes, her outerwear, and her hairpin, then snuggled beside Su Rong under her quilt. She sighed contentedly, "It’s more comfortable lying down."
Su Rong yawned, "Well, as long as you’re not too hot."
"I’m not."
And so, the two chatted in bed. With a human furnace around, Su Rong felt warmer than if she was covered with a hot quilt. She gladly wrapped her arm around Duanhua, thinking that having her in bed was the right choice.
Duanhua gossiped about the happenings in the capital these past few days. It was mostly about the wives, daughters, mistresses, and concubines of various households and their various deeds. It was an eye-opener for anyone who heard them.
Princess Qingping’s household wasn’t blind, they knew what was happening within each residence, especially recent gossip. Nothing could avoid the matter of the successful suitors. For example, who was trying to catch whom, and the scholars didn’t know who had their eye on them, but to Duanhua, these were no secret.
Upon hearing a familiar name, Su Rong immediately said, "That bastard from Chen Zhou can be caught, but Jiang Xing, we need to protect him."
"Huh?" Duanhua turned her head to look at her, "You have a grudge against Chen Zhou? You have any connection with Jiang Xing?"
"Yes." Su Rong nodded.
Just as Duanhua was about to ask more, she heard a maidservant in the courtyard whispering, "Miss Su, there are more people coming to our residence, a lot, in fact. They seem to be scholars from Jiangzhou, looking for Master Su."
Su Rong thought to herself, what day is this? They heard the examination results were about to be released?
The first thing Duanhua thought was, "With so many people here, am I not going to get to eat food cooked by your big brother?"
Su Rong nodded, "Probably." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
After all, they couldn’t expect her big brother to cook for so many people alone. He isn’t a master chef and couldn’t handle it.
Duanhua’s face went downcast, "These people couldn’t have come at a worse time." She regretfully said, "Speak of the devil and he shall appear, I should not have mentioned them. It appears I’ve jinxed them to visit your house."
Su Rong laughed.
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