Su Rong took another sip of her tea and then stood up.
Seeing Zhou Gu looking at her with an eager gaze and a face full of reluctance, she thought irritably. Now that he’s stated his feelings for her, he doesn’t hold back anymore. She said, "I need to go to the Eastern Palace."
Zhou Gu wanted to say, "What do you need to do there? Can I accompany you?" But under Su Rong’s gaze, he simply nodded, saying, "Alright!"
After she walked a few steps, Su Rong turned back and told him, "Come find me before you leave the capital."
Zhou Gu nodded. Remembering something, he said quickly, "Wait a minute."
Su Rong looked at him.
Zhou Gu licked his lips, hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth, saying, "Fifty miles outside the city, I have a residence, built on the hillside. The hill is full of plum trees. You and Ye Guixue, you’re planning to enjoy the plum blossoms, aren’t you? Well, you should go there."
Su Rong raised her eyebrows.
Zhou Gu gritted his teeth and said, "When the plum blossoms elsewhere are about to bloom, the ones at my place bloom earlier due to the unique variety and good soil. They should be blooming by now."
Su Rong was silent.
Zhou Gu gritted his teeth again, "I hitched a ride in Ye Guixue’s carriage twice. This is my way of returning the favor."
Seeing that Su Rong wasn’t responding, he added on his own initiative, "My estate is large, covering a whole hill. When I was born, it was a gift from my grandmother. There’s also a hot spring there that you could bathe in. Xie Lin is particularly envious of my posession of that property. On that hill, in addition to the plum trees, I also planted peach, apricot, pear, and hawthorn trees - all sorts of fruit trees. However, the plums are more prevalent, making up half the hillside. I wasn’t a big fan before, I thought it would be better to plant all fruit trees, so they could be harvested every autumn. But since my grandmother liked plums and had them specially transplanted there, it would have hurt her feelings if I uprooted all of them. My mother once told me that one day, when I get married, I could use that estate as a dowry for my wife."
At this, he looked at Su Rong. "You and Ye Guixue can go! The house and the plum blossoms covering half the hill, even if you will not marry me, you could still go and enjoy them."
Su Rong chuckled and replied, "Fine, is there an access card?"
Zhou Gu nodded. "Yes."
He went inside the house and quickly brought out a jade card, handing it over to Su Rong, "With this jade card, you can go in and out of that place. The estate is called Plum Hill Pavilion."
Su Rong took the card, tucked it into her bosom, and then turned to leave promptly.
Zhou Gu stood there, watching as her figure quickly disappeared behind the high walls of the Duke Residence. He took a deep breath and then let out a long sigh.
Ziye peeked out from behind the door and softly said, "Young Master, you’re too generous. How could you let Lady Su Qi take Second Young Master Ye to your grove to see the plum blossoms?"
"Why not?" Zhou Gu lowered his lashes, casting a shadow over his eyes, and whispered, "Ye Guixue is important to her and Ye Xiang Residence is even more so. I can’t damage her chances of this marriage. We are no longer children. I can be capricious if I want to, but I can’t drag her into it."
He thought that Su Rong would be upset with him after their conversation today. Yet, she, being someone so cold and upfront, didn’t say anything further. She didn’t forcefully keep her distance from him anymore, nor did she force him to stay away from her. She even agreed to go with him to Nanchu.
While he truly desired her, if his actions were to hurt her, he would never forgive himself.
Even if he ends up in Nanchu, as long as Ye Xiang Residence and Ye Guixue are genuinely looking out for her and doing what’s best for her, and she truly falls in love with Ye Guixue, then as the Crown Prince said, he would accept his defeat and return.
Ziye sighed, "Oh, Young Master, you really are..."
He searched for the right words, then mumbled after a while, "Doing this, you will drive yourself insane. You want to compete, but you’re afraid of harming Lady Su Qi’s benefits. If you don’t compete, you can’t get over your own feelings. Why must you torment yourself? If it were me, I would’ve disregarded my conscience long ago and ended my misery."
Zhou Gu stayed silent.
Of course, he wanted to compete, but what could he use to compete with Ye Guixue now? He couldn’t compete. The only thing he could fight for was Su Rong’s heart, to stop her from quickly falling for Ye Guixue and give himself a chance to be with her in Nanchu. No, it was a chance for him to get close to her.
As for anything else, he dared not ask for it at the moment.
After leaving the Duke Residence, Su Rong went directly to the Eastern Palace.
Upon sneaking into the Eastern Palace, she saw Yan Huisheng sitting in the Water Pavilion, fishing by the frozen lake. A large hole was made in the ice where he had his fishing rod dipped into.
Su Rong was surprised, "Your Highness seems to be quite leisurely today!"
She thought, today could possibly be the day of leisure for Yan Huisheng. After all, the students from Jiangzhou who made it to the list are all from the Eastern Palace faction, thanks to the foundation Zhou Gu had laid for him and the people he then brought to the Eastern Palace side.
No matter what, in terms of the imperial examination alone, he was the big winner today.
Yan Huisheng turned his head to look at Su Rong, "I’m not fishing for fish, I’m waiting for you."
Su Rong joked, "So you were fishing for me."
She smiled and sat down, "Did Your Highness specially wait here knowing that I would certainly come today?"
Yan Huisheng nodded, "I guessed you would come. You went to see Zhou Gu at the Duke Residence privately and after you left the Duke Residence, you should come to the Eastern Palace."
Su Rong was not surprised that Yan Huisheng knew she had privately visited Zhou Gu. After all, Zhou Gu belonged to the Eastern Palace; the Duke Residence, or Zhou Gu’s vicinity, was bound to be under his surveillance. She chuckled, "Your Highness, how long have you been waiting?"
"Just for a cup of tea," Yan Huisheng replied. "I thought you would stay at the Duke Residence for a longer time."
Su Rong shook her head, "I dare not."
Just as Yan Huisheng was about to say something, the fishing rod suddenly jerked. He quickly lifted it up to reveal a two-pound fish on the hook, which he’d hooked successfully.
Su Rong immediately said, "The fish looks quite fat, I would like it braised."
Yan Huisheng smiled, "Alright."
He released the fish from the hook and tossed it into a wooden bucket. Then he tossed the fishing rod aside, stood up and said, "Let’s go to my study."
"You’re not going to fish anymore?" Su Rong asked, watching the fish jumping around, thinking about how delicious winter fish should be.
"No more. I also want to eat braised fish, and this one is enough for both of us," Yan Huisheng shook his head. "It’s cold here during the winter and you’re not dressed warmly enough."
Su Rong took his advice and followed him to his study.
As soon as they left, the eunuchs each start collecting the fishing rods and one of them immediately took the fish to the kitchen.
The Water Pavilion was some distance away from the study. Along the way, Su Rong made small talk with Yan Huisheng. When they reached the study, Qin Luan served some cakes and pastries. Su Rong looked at them and realized they were all her favorites. She immediately broke into a smile and said, "Thank you, Official Qin."
Qin Luan smiled and shook her head, curtsied and left the room promptly in accordance with the protocol.
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