The residence in East Fourth Hutong was not large, and the lively chatter in the front courtyard could be heard clearly in the back yard.
Amidst this noisy chatter, Su Rong let out a yawn, "I’m tired."
Infected by her, Duanhua also yawned, "I’m tired too."
Then, the two of them stopped talking in complete unison, closed their eyes together, and soon, they both fell asleep.
The servant girl peeked through the door crack, then withdrew her head and whispered to Duanhua’s maid: "Our Lady and your Princess have fallen asleep."
Duanhua’s maid Qiu Zhi nodded, thinking that ever since encountering Lady Su Qi, her own princess’s temper had been influenced by her to become more easygoing. She had come to play with Lady Su Qi, but unexpectedly, when she found her not getting up from the bed, she also went to the bed and joined her in sleeping during the day.
Qiu Zhi secretly called the servant girl over, and the servant girl understood, following her off to one side to talk.
The two hid in the corner, Qiu Zhi lowered her voice and said: "You stay here and watch over your Lady and my Princess, don’t let any men in. I’ll go to the front yard to instruct the guards, for them to return to our residence with a message, and ask for the housekeeper from the Princess Residence to send some people over as temporary workers. The Princess was right, there are too few people serving in this courtyard."
The servant girl nodded.
Qiu Zhi left immediately.
In the front yard, Su Xingze had just finished preparing a prescription and was about to send someone to buy supplies when Chen Zhou, Jiang Xing, and a group of scholars from Jiangzhou, came to visit. More than a dozen people came together. After coming to the city, Su Xingze had only stayed in East Fourth Hutong for a few days before moving to Shen Residence. After the examination results were released, he went out with a group of scholars for two days. Later, every day he went out with Zhou Gu, so he had not seen them again. Now, hearing that the examination results were going to be released soon, these people were extremely anxious and decided to come and see him together.
Su Xingze could only have someone notify Su Rong while he greeted the scholars from Jiangzhou first.
The scholars chatted uproariously for a while, talking mostly about the examination results that were to be announced the following day. Only Chen Zhou, who pulled Su Xingze aside to ask, "Is Su Rong at home today?"
Su Xingze nodded, "Indeed, my sister does happen to be at home today, but she’s entertaining Princess Duanhua."
Chen Zhou was somewhat disappointed, "I thought I might be able to see her today, seems like she won’t have time to meet us."
Su Xingze looked at him and asked, "Why do you need to see my sister?"
Chen Zhou scratched his head, struggling to find words, "When Zhou Gu went to Jiangning County, I said a lot of not-so-good things about her in front of him, which made her really mad. I had my selfish intentions then—I didn’t want her to marry Zhou Gu. Also, because I suddenly found out about her betrothal, I had just finished fighting with her, so I was partly saying those things out of spite... I didn’t expect that she would take the initiative to come to the city to dissolve her marriage contract with Zhou Gu. I didn’t really want to ruin her marriage."
Having heard this, Su Xingze asked, "So you want to apologize to her?"
Chen Zhou nodded.
Su Xingze nodded, although he knew that the main reason for Su Rong’s dissolution of her marriage to Zhou Gu wasn’t because of Chen Zhou, he didn’t decide for Su Rong whether to forgive him or not, "She can’t make time today, but she probably can on another day. You should come again next time."
Chen Zhou nodded, "I guess that’s the only option."
He looked at Su Xingze, hesitating to speak.
"What do you want to say?" Su Xingze had also noticed that Chen Zhou liked to play with Su Rong since they were young, and was always bullied by Su Rong.
Chen Zhou then lowered his voice and asked, "I heard from someone that Su Rong is the Nanchu Princess? Is... is that true?"
Su Xingze nodded.
Chen Zhou was shocked and took a while to ask another question, "I also heard that after she dissolved her marriage with Zhou Gu, she has betrothed herself to the second son of the Ye Xiang Residence of Nanchu?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
Su Xingze nodded again.
Chen Zhou was shocked for a moment before he asked again, "Have the betrothal letter been exchanged yet?"
Su Xingze shook his head, "Not yet."
However, Su Rong had already accepted the tiger talisman from Ye Guixue, which commanded a hundred thousand soldiers, and she had also given her hairpin to Ye Guixue. This was equivalent to exchanging tokens.
So, he added, "The tokens have been exchanged."
Chen Zhou was shocked for a while before he said, "So it’s all true."
Su Xingze looked at him without saying a word. He knew well that although a girl like Su Rong was not favored by the ladies of the noble houses in Jiangning County and was not considered a good choice for a daughter in-law because she didn’t have the manners expected from a girl, the young masters from those noble houses covertly liked her.
Youthful admiration for such a lively and likable girl who loved playing, even if she had a bad temper, does not deter many from liking her.
Chen Zhou was one of them, and so was Jiang Xing.
Su Xingze glanced at Jiang Xing who was sitting not far away. He hadn’t inquired about Su Rong’s affairs like Chen Zhou did but it was clear that he already knew about it and it was likely he believed most of it to be true.
He suddenly recalled what Duanhua had told him, slapped Chen Zhou on the shoulder, and reminded him, "The groom catching competition in the capital is said to be very fierce. You and Jiang Xing are both on the list of men to be caught. The announcement will be made tomorrow. If you don’t want to be caught, be careful!"
Chen Zhou: "..."
Jiang Xing: "..."
They both looked at Su Xingze together, shouldn’t he be the one who’s most likely to be caught?
Su Xingze laughed, "Because of my sister, I have the backing of many noble houses. At the moment, no one dares to catch me."
Chen Zhou’s face showed a hint of envy. He muttered softly, "It must be nice to have a sister like her."
When he was little, he wanted his mother to give birth to a sister like Su Rong for him. His mother couldn’t and ever since he tried to steal Su Rong and got beaten up by her, he dared not to think about taking her home again.
The housekeeper from the Princess’ Residence soon dispatched a group of staff. There were kitchen maids, maidservants, cleaners, procurement personnel and so on, all well-equipped and these people were personally escorted to the Xie Residence in Dongxiang Hutong by the housekeeper himself.
Upon hearing this, Su Xingze quickly went out to meet them.
The housekeeper of the Princess’ Residence bowed to Su Xingze with a hearty laugh, "I have dispatched some staff from the Princess’ Residence to lend to you for some time on the orders of my mistress. Young Master Su, please feel free to order them around."
Knowing that this was agreed by Su Rong, Su Xingze didn’t refuse and thanked him.
Seeing that Su Xingze still had to entertain the scholars from Jiangzhou, the housekeeper suggested with a hearty laugh, "The people I brought with me are all seasoned workers from the Princess’ Residence, very competent and efficient. As it’s still early, if Young Master Su plans to serve lunch to your guests, they can start preparing. A couple of banquet tables won’t be a problem."
Su Xingze had originally planned to take the scholars from Jiangzhou to a restaurant in town for a meal but considering that Su Rong and Duanhua were still in the residence and without anyone to take care of them if he left, the arrival of these staff from the princess’ residence conveniently resolved his dilemma. He agreed readily, "Alright, let’s prepare two tables then. Thank you for taking everything into consideration."
"There’s no need to thank me. You should go and attend to your guests. I will sort things out here before I leave." The housekeeper waved his hand with a smile and left for the inner courtyard with his people.
After they had left, Chen Zhou opened his eyes wide and asked Su Xingze, "Was that the housekeeper from Princess Qingping’s residence?"
The status of a housekeeper at a princess’s residence was also significant.
Su Xingze nodded and, seeing everyone looking at him in wonder, he briefly explained, "My mother and sisters arrived in a hurry and their attendants weren’t with them. Shen’s mom offered her servants but my mom saw that even Shen’s Residence didn’t have many servants and declined the offer. Unexpectedly, today when Duanhua Princess came and learned of our situation, she sent her staff now."
After he finished speaking and saw everyone’s expression of sudden realization, he laughed, "Why don’t you all stay for lunch today!"
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