When it comes to understanding women, women are often better at understanding each other.
Princess Sheng An, with her keen insight, felt that given Su Rong’s character, even if Zhou Gu persisted, she wouldn’t have indulged him. Unless, she had changed her mind about Zhou Gu, and allowed him to stay at the Xie Residence all night.
The Duchess wasn’t quite certain, reminding Princess Sheng An, "Mother, could it be that we’ve misunderstood? Su Rong’s feelings for Gu might have always been sincere, otherwise, she wouldn’t have repeatedly saved his life. Now, she is preparing medicine for him because he is going to Nanchu, and she found out about it. She just wants him to have some medicine with him. Since it’s for him, it’s right that he stays at Xie Residence to help. After all, it’s not just the two of them at Xie Residence, there are also the matriarch of the Su Family and her older siblings."
Princess Sheng An nodded in agreement, "You’re right, perhaps I am overthinking it." She waved her hand, "Let’s not think about it anymore. He’s now grown up and should be responsible for his own affairs. It’s not appropriate for us as elders to intervene too much. After all, once he leaves the capital, it would be difficult for us to meddle. Speculating these non-essentials is entirely pointless and just a waste of mind and effort."
The Duchess responded: "What Mother has said is indeed true."
The daughter-in-law and mother-in-law continued their conversation for a while. With Zhou Gu leaving today, and affected by the reluctance of parting, they didn’t have a good sleep the previous night, so they decided to go rest.
After an hour of sleep, Su Rong was promptly awakened by Fen Ling. Upon hearing the noise, Zhou Gu also woke up.
The kitchen brought food, and the three of them sat down to have breakfast.
Fen Ling, who was outgoing and chatty, asked Su Rong, "Sister, what are you going to the Palace for today? Did the Emperor summon you?"
"No," Su Rong replied, biting into her bun. "I’m going to borrow something from the Book Pavilion."
Fen Ling’s eyes lit up, her spirits lifting instantly, "Is it what I’m thinking of?"
"Mm-hmm."
Fen Ling grinned, looking somewhat excited, "I love borrowing things. Last time, we donated five thousand taels of lamp oil to the Great Buddha Temple. What are we compensating the Palace with this time?"
"The future Daliang will eventually belong to the Crown Prince anyway. When we borrow something from the Imperial Palace’s Book Pavilion, aren’t we essentially borrowing from him? We hid those one thousand chests of gold for him, didn’t we?" Su Rong said: "Should that cover it?"
Fen Ling promptly added: "Of course, that should cover it. We’d returned so much gold to the Crown Prince. Every time I think about it, it hurts."
Feeling slightly at a loss, he asked Su Rong, "Sister, what are you borrowing this time? Is it of immense value? Worth those one thousand chests of gold?"
"It should be!" Su Rong replied: "I don’t know exactly how much it’s worth."
Fen Ling was speechless, "You don’t know, yet you’re still borrowing?"
"Ask Zhou Gu," Su Rong said.
Fen Ling turned to look at Zhou Gu.
Zhou Gu wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and briefly explained to Fen Ling what was stored in the Palace’s Book Pavilion.
After listening, Fen Ling’s eyes gleamed with a cunning light, "So, there’s a treasure map. If the rumors are true, it would be worth borrowing even at the cost of two thousand chests of gold, let alone one thousand."
He put down his chopsticks and urged Su Rong, "Sister, you’re too slow. When did you learn to chew your food so slowly? Hurry up, I can’t wait."
Su Rong remained silent, ignoring his plea.
Zhou Gu said: "Don’t hurry her, she didn’t sleep last night and is tired. Only after she’s eaten will she have the strength."
Fen Ling shut up. As someone who had slept soundly the entire night, he had no right to push those who had worked all night. He could only wait patiently for Su Rong to finish eating.
After eating two buns and a bowl of millet porridge, Su Rong tidied up, then walked out the door.
Zhou Gu watched Su Rong hesitantly, "Are you going... dressed like this? Wouldn’t it be inconvenient?"
Su Rong glanced at her long dress and white fox fur coat, "It’s not very convenient, but I can’t wear full night-walker gear entering the palace. People would instantly view me as a thief, right?"
Zhou Gu choked on his words and laughed, left speechless.
With a slight chuckle, she looked at him, "You’d better work hard. Those herbs are precious. Don’t ruin them. Otherwise, Fen Ling would cry over the things he worked so hard to find. We’re going now."
Zhou Gu suddenly felt an immense pressure.
Fen Ling confidently stated: "Young Master Zhou, you have to be extremely careful. You don’t understand the effort it took me to get those bugs. I had to dig them out from tree holes, dig three feet into the ground, and even look for them in deep mountains and forests. The same goes for the herbs. I had to ride a horse around a five-hundred-mile radius with my men, and I still couldn’t get enough, so I had to go dig into the mountains. It was extremely exhausting."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Gu felt he wouldn’t dare to even make a move. He grabbed Su Rong’s sleeve nervously, "I-I can’t do this, can I?"
Su Rong coughed once and pulled away his hand, "I believe in you."
Zhou Gu: "..."
It didn’t take long for Su Rong and Fen Ling to leave the courtyard, leaving Zhou Gu alone at the door. A gust of wind whistled past the eaves of the roof, and he shivered, gritted his teeth, and returned to the room.
Consequently, once Su Xingze received Su Rong’s message and entered her room, he saw Zhou Gu pouring over a medical book while carefully selecting and pairing herbs. Amidst the strong aroma of herbs in the room, he wore a stern face, focused on his work.
Hearing someone coming, he lifted his gaze briefly to glance at Su Xingze, greeted him with a "Brother Su", then quickly resumed his work.
Su Xingze watched Zhou Gu, his mind going over the twists and turns that had befallen him and Su Rong, and now they’d arrived at a new outcome. He hoped that Zhou Gu would get what he wished for, but like the matriarch, he also worried about Su Rong giving up the future prospects with Ye Guixue and the Ye Xiang Residence.
Regardless, it was Su Rong’s decision, and they were there to support her.
He crouched down and said to Zhou Gu: "The seventh sister asked me to help you."
Zhou Gu heaved a sigh of relief, "Brother Su, you’re smart. If you’re here helping me, I feel somewhat reassured."
Su Xingze smiled, "You shouldn’t trust me so blindly. I’ve never dabbled with herbs and don’t know how to make medicine. But I can help you by sticking to the prescription in the book and ensure you don’t make any mistakes, that should work."
"At least you’ll be here with me." Zhou Gu nodded and handed him the medical book, "I’ve already memorized the prescriptions but I’m afraid I might have remembered them wrong. Having you keep an eye on me will be a great help."
Su Xingze took the book, nodding with a smile.
The two stayed in the room, making medicine. When the matriarch of the Su Family received word of this, she came over to check, but seeing them engrossed in their work, she didn’t enter the room. Instead, she stood at the room’s entrance for a while, then turned and left without disturbing them.
Su Rong and Fen Ling arrived at the Palace entrance, submitted their entrance tokens, surrendered their swords, and entered the Palace together.
After the Emperor had his breakfast, he began to receive his court officials. A few important officials were still waiting in line to meet with the Emperor when Su Rong arrived, adding a few more to the queue outside the door.
A perceptive eunuch saw Su Rong and hurriedly went inside to report. Upon hearing Su Rong’s arrival, the Emperor certainly wouldn’t let her wait long and invited her into the Relaxation Hall first.
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