After exchanging courtesies, everyone took their seats.
The look of surprise on Zhao Shu’s face turned into shock, and for a while after sitting down, he couldn’t regroup. In the presence of Su Rong, he was at a loss for words.
Lu Fengyan and Su Xingze, being acquainted with each other and having mutual admiration, quickly started a conversation.
Lu Weiran didn’t seem to know what to say to Su Rong either. He had only met her once or twice before. He had accompanied Lu Fengyan today, afraid that he might be forced into marriage by someone under the power of the examination results. His presence as the heir to the Duke Residence would at least safeguard him from such a situation.
Even though Su Rong was feeling much better today, she didn’t have much interest in engaging in conversation with others. So, she sipped her tea and listened to Lu Fengyan and Su Xingze talk.
After a while, Zhao Shu, unable to hold back his curiosity, asked Su Rong, "Miss Su Qi, I hear you are the Nanchu Princess?
Thinking to herself about how this was no longer a secret known only to a few, Su Rong nodded with a smile. "Yes, that is correct."
Zhao Shu asked, "It is said that the Nanchu King has no son; are you going to Nanchu to contend for the throne?"
He knew that the state of affairs in the Nanchu Dynasty was messy; members of the royal family were openly and secretly vying for the position of crown heir. If she, as the only child of the Nanchu King, wanted to return to Nanchu and inherit the position, she would have to fight for it.
"Yes."
Zhao Shu inhaled sharply, glanced at Lu Weiran and then probing further asked, "Did the second young master of the Ye Xiang Residence come to receive you?"
"Yes."
Zhao Shu opened up, seeing that Su Rong answered his questions without evasion, he became less restrained, "Miss Su Qi, are you leaving Daliang for Nanchu soon? I heard that the second young master from the Ye Xiang Residence will also be leaving soon."
"He will leave first, I need to deal with some matters before I can leave. I’m in no hurry." Su Rong replied.
Zhao Shu nodded, he wanted to ask more when he spotted someone downstairs. "Eh?" he said in surprise, "Lord Thursday is also here."
Turning her head to look, Su Rong indeed saw Zhou Gu entering the tea house, accompanied by Ziye.
Zhao Shu asked everyone, "Only Lord Thursday and his guard are present. Should I invite him to join us?"
Lu Weiran did not comment.
Seeing Su Rong’s silent response, Su Xingze said, "This private room was booked by Brother Lu and Brother Zhao, so it’s up to you."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Shu looked at Su Rong again. He hadn’t forgotten that Zhou Gu and Su Rong were once engaged and had later rescinded the engagement. However, it was said that even after the agreement was broken, the Duke Residence and the Su Family did not bear any resentment towards each other, and the families continued their cordial relations. Furthermore, Su Rong had saved Zhou Gu not long ago.
Lu Fengyan too looked towards Su Rong.
With a smile, Su Rong said, "Why are you all looking at me? As we all know him, let’s invite him up!"
Hence, Zhao Shu, scratching his head, went downstairs to invite Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu came to the tea house because he had seen the carriage of the Su Family parked outside when he passed by the door. He guessed that Su Xingze and Su Rong were probably present, so he dismounted and entered the tea house.
Zhao Shu went downstairs, extended his invitation to Zhou Gu, who nodded and followed Zhao Shu upstairs.
After exchanging another round of greetings, Zhou Gu quickly examined an empty seat next to Lu Weiran and one next to Su Rong, and naturally took the one beside Su Rong.
Lu Weiran’s expression faltered for a moment.
Su Rong didn’t even bother to get up and greet Zhou Gu. When he sat down beside her, she didn’t glance at him or make an effort to acknowledge his presence, she just sipped her tea self-absorbedly.
Looking at the cup of tea in her hand, Zhou Gu took the initiative to greet her, "Why are you drinking this?"
"What’s wrong with this?" Su Rong raised her eyebrows.
"It’s not that," Zhou Gu explained, "I heard from aunt yesterday that you have caught a cold and are feeling unwell. Perhaps you should refrain from this tea. Why not ask the waiter to bring you a pot of date tea instead?"
Su Rong chuffed lightly, "Who knew you could also be considerate."
Her tone was somewhat sarcastic.
Zhou Gu caught her sarcasm, "I wasn’t considerate originally, but due to the boredom of the recovery period, I read quite a few books."
Su Rong was not convinced, "I’m completely fine now, I don’t need date tea, I love this."
Zhou Gu cast a skeptical glance at her, nodded, and said, "Alright, then you can continue drinking this!"
He turned his head and started a conversation with Su Xingze. "I went to East Fourth Hutong, I initially assumed I would wait for the examination results with Brother Su. But I didn’t expect that aunt had told me that Brother Su and Su Qi departed early to see the results. And thus, I also came."
Su Xingze took over the thread, "I thought you would be waiting for the results at home today."
After all, Zhou Gu was planning to travel after the release of the examination results. He was not going to participate in the Palace Examination or attend the Jeweled Grove Banquet. He was simply waiting to find out his ranking. Unlike them, who valued this scientific examination highly and wanted to know their ranking as soon as possible.
Zhou Gu shook his head, "It’s boring to stay at home, so I came."
Su Xingze nodded. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶
Everyone was having their tea and chit-chatting when downstairs more people started to enter. Zhao Shu commented, "Prince Xie has come too."
Without bothering to inquire from the others, he got up, "I’ll call Prince Xie upstairs to join us."
Having said that, he went downstairs.
Shortly after, Xie Lin was led up by him. Upon seeing the people seated in the private room, Xie Lin couldn’t help but chuckle, "I saw Brother Su’s carriage and Zhou Gu’s horse and figured they might be here, but I didn’t think I’d meet so many familiar faces. What a coincidence."
He cheerfully greeted Su Rong, "Good morning, Miss Su Qi."
Seeing him dressed in a brand new outfit, standing out brilliantly during the winter day, Su Rong greeted back, "Good morning, Prince Xie. Is the Rui’an King feeling better now?"
Suppressing a cough behind his hand, Xie Lin responded, "Oh, my father...he’s getting better."
He didn’t have any illness to begin with, but thanks to the Imperial Concubine’s exposure, he was caught off guard and, after running to the Imperial Prison back and forth in the cold, he really fell ill the next day.
Su Rong personally poured a cup of tea for him and commented, "Ah, indeed the Rui’an King has had a tough time."
"You can say that again." Xie Lin responded before turning to Lu Weiran and commenting, "Prince Lu, you’re here too?"
Lu Weiran, who was already serving in the court, wasn’t expected to be waiting for the examination results with them.
With a smile, Lu Weiran explained, "I’m here to wait for the result with Fengyan."
Xie Lin came to realization and said to Lu Fengyan, "I completely forgot that the Lu family of Chuānxī and Duke Residence belong to the same clan. Brother Lu, you are among the privileged ones, not fearing being forced into marriage under the power of examination results."
Lu Fengyan chuckled, "Indeed, I couldn’t just brush off the goodwill of my cousin who offered to wait for the results with me, could I?"
"True."
Xie Lin was a lively and talkative person. As long as he was around, the atmosphere livened up immediately. Without wasting any time he began a conversation with Lu Fengyan, Zhao Shu and others.
With his addition, the private room became populated and lively.
Su Rong sat quietly, listening and drinking her tea. Occasionally, she looked out of the window at the overcrowded street, thinking that if they were to wait for the results today, they might end up waiting for most of the day.
Zhou Gu took out a Chinese puzzle ring from his sleeve and handed it to her, "Are you bored? Play with this."
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