This time’s science examination witnessed a surprising total of sixteen successful candidates from Jiangzhou alone.
We had Jiang Xing ranking fourth and Chen Zhou ranking ninety-eighth, among others.
Su Rong asked Duanhua, "Who else was caught, apart from Zhao Li’an?"
Duanhua pointed to the lists, named about seven or eight people, and then said, "All of them look rather decent. Nobody bothered with the ugly ones."
Not hearing the names of any scholars from Jiangzhou, Su Rong asked, "Only these? What about people like Jiang Xing?"
"Ah, the scholars from Jiangzhou." Duanhua gave a dismissive ’hmph’, "They’re smart fellows, it’s said that not a one showed up on the results day.". She then corrected herself, "No, just your elder brother."
No one person to catch.
She said, admiringly, "These Jiangzhou scholars must have wise heads on their shoulders. Not a one showed up for such a significant event as the announcement of examination results. They reportedly holed up in houses in the south of the city, not stepping outside. They sent their servants to look at the results. This way, the noble ladies waiting to catch them left empty-handed, swearing and cursing their wasted preparations."
Su Rong: "..."
Her gaze turned to Su Xingze.
Su Xingze jokingly said, "Yesterday they came to see me. I had warned them to be cautious."
He did not expect them to be so cautious as to not come to see the results at all and seal off their houses. It was like the Crown Prince looking for trouble and unable to find him... the countless people wanting to find out about Jiangzhou’s scholars via him and thereby cause trouble for his father, the Inspector of Jiangzhou... But the scholars of Jiangzhou, after arriving in the Capital city, were not seen, their tactic of sticking together and hiding away to study was ingenious.
Su Rong laughed, "Indeed, they’re very clever."
Duanhua said, "Your aunt Su has arranged a banquet at the Xie Residence to celebrate. I’m going to crash your party."
"Your food is still prepared by the kitchen maid from the Princess Residence." Su Rong reminded her.
Duanhua happily declared, "It still tastes great."
Su Rong nodded and then invited Lu Weiran, Lu Fengyan, Zhao Shu and others, "Why don’t you all come over to our place for the banquet! My mother is a warm hostess."
Su Xingze nodded, also inviting everyone.
Lu Weiran shook his head, "I won’t be going. Cousin, you go ahead. I’m preoccupied and can only accompany Fengyan for half a day."
Lu Fengyan nodded, "My cousin must attend to something this afternoon, so you go ahead!"
Although Xie Lin wanted to personally deliver the news of his success to Rui’an Queen, he also wanted to share the banquet with everyone. Therefore, he sent someone back to Rui’an king’s residence with the news and happily went to the East Fourth Hutong with Su Xingze and others.
On the way, Duanhua suddenly remembered something. Unclasping Su Rong’s hand and stepping back a few paces, she approached Zhou Gu. Not waiting for Zhou Gu to avoid her, she immediately leaned towards him and whispered, "Did you know? The Second Young Master Ye is also going to East Fourth Hutong to congratulate Su. He should already be waiting at the Xie Residence in East Fourth Hutong."
Zhou Gu remained expressionless, "What has that got to do with me? Just because he can go, does it mean that I cannot?"
Duanhua watched him, "Are you sure you won’t feel uncomfortable seeing Second Young Master Ye and Su Rong together? You know, she is engaged to him. Even if you can’t let go of Su Rong, you stand no chance. Su Rong is never going to come back to you."
Zhou Gu looked at her impassively, "It’s none of your concern."
Taken aback, Duanhua pointed at herself, "Are you blind?! Look at me, I am beautiful, I am not engaged and I am only interested in you. Why can’t you like me?"
Zhou Gu remained unmoved, "If I liked you, I would have done so already. Stay away from me."
Feeling wronged, Duanhua stamped her feet, "You have no taste, you’ll stay single all your life!"
Dropping this phrase, she quickly went back to Su Rong’s side, took her hand again, and murmured to her, "Ye Guixue is also in East Fourth Hutong, are you sure you want to let Zhou Gu go?"
Su Rong pinched her face, "Don’t worry too much, or you’ll age quickly."
Duanhua: "..."
These two deserve not being together. They’re equally problematic.
She mumbled softly, "Just don’t let them start a fight, Zhou Gu still has feelings for you and is unable to let go."
Su Rong laughed, "You’re overthinking."
Zhou Gu and Ye Guixue would not fight. But that Zhou Gu had not let go of her, was evident to anyone with eyes.
A group of people arrived at East Fourth Hutong, indeed, it was very lively. The lady of the house asked someone to wait at the door, and as soon as she saw Su Xingze and the others return, she started lighting firecrackers.
The crackling sounds were extremely festive, and amidst the roar of firecrackers, everyone cheerfully entered the Xie Residence.
In the residence, besides the lady of the house and six young ladies, there were also Ye Guixue and Ya Qiuying, as well as Madam Shen who rushed to East Fourth Hutong upon hearing the news, and Jiang Xing and Chen Zhou, who according to Duanhua didn’t go to see the list, but a group of them ran to Xie Residence.
When Chen Zhou saw Su Rong, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, "Su Rong, I made the list."
Su Rong generously chose not to dwell on his past actions of revealing her secrets, she smiled and said, "I saw, congratulations."
Chen Zhou sheepishly scratched his head and apologized to her, "I’m sorry."
Su Rong raised an eyebrow.
Chen Zhou whispered: "About that time in Jiangning County, when I said bad things about you in front of you."
Su Rong waved him off, "Alright, I regret not hitting you harder at the time. If you ever dare to mess with me again, I won’t show any mercy."
Chen Zhou blushed, "I won’t dare to, I won’t dare to anymore."
Only after arriving in the Capital City did he realize, Su Rong’s martial arts skills were formidable, her golden needle assassination technique was no less than those of top assassins in the Jianghu world. He must have been seriously foolish to have the audacity to mess with her previously. Looking back, he felt that he had been incredibly lucky over the years, to not have been slain by Su Rong.
What she had said about showing mercy to him, now seemed like a factual statement, indeed she had shown mercy.
Jiang Xing walked over, greeted Su Rong, and thanked her, "Thank you, Seventh Miss. Without you, I would not have had the opportunity to enter the examination hall this year, let alone make it onto the list."
The entire Jiang Sheng clan was uprooted by the Crown Prince, an offence punishable by the extermination of nine generations. If it had not been for Su Rong, who protected Jiang Xing through Zhou Gu, and Yan Huisheng, he would indeed have been implicated. While he may not have been executed, he certainly would not have had any chance of taking the examination.
Su Rong smiled, "Then you should be a good official in the future, an incorruptible official who serves the people all his life."
Jiang Xing earnestly promised, "I certainly will."
After chatting with the scholars from Jiangzhou for a while, Su Rong turned to look at Ye Guixue, noticing that every few words he said, he would turn his head and cover his lips to cough lightly. She walked over to him and asked, "Guixue, are you feeling unwell?"
Ye Guixue nodded and then shook his head, "I suppose I caught a chill from staying up late last night. It’s nothing serious."
The lady of the house interjected at this time, "What do you mean, it’s nothing serious? We must have a doctor look at you. Just because you’re young, doesn’t mean you can overlook it. If you’re sick, you need to see a doctor. Be careful not to let a minor illness turn into a serious one."
Su Rong said, "There’s no need to call a doctor. I can treat this minor ailment of yours." After she finished speaking, she gestured for Ye Guixue to give her his hand.
The lady of the house was skeptical, "With your half-baked knowledge, don’t mess around."
Su Rong was speechless, "From childhood to adulthood, you’ve never trusted me. Every time you spend money to call a doctor, you’re just making others rich."
The lady of the house snorted, "Is it my fault? You never seriously studied medicine, who would dare to use you? Besides, who knows if you really bought medicine with the silver I gave you."
Su Rong was speechless. Seeing that Ye Guixue had already handed her his hand, she no longer argued with the lady of the house, and pressed his pulse. After a moment, she nodded, "You’ve caught a cold, with wind invading your body. The condition is not too severe at the moment as it hasn’t started yet. I will write a prescription for you, and after brewing the medicine, you can drink it and you’ll feel better."
Ye Guixue smiled and nodded, "All right."
Su Rong turned around and asked someone to bring paper and a pen.
Duanhua moved closer to Zhou Gu and said to him in a whisper, "Look, do you see it? You really have to step aside in front of Ye Guixue. Look how worried Su Rong is about Ye Guixue, you really don’t stand a chance, give up on this."
Zhou Gu glanced at Duanhua, his face expressionless as he said coldly, "Stay away from me."
Duanhua was indignant and snorted, "I won’t, why should I just because you don’t like me? You’re so stubborn."
Zhou Gu ignored her. Seeing that she was not leaving, he moved further away from her.
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