Old duke watched Zhou Gu leaving without looking back, and with a chuckle called him a "rascal".
Princess Sheng An gave the old duke a knock and grumbled, "Why did you insult him? Did he offend you somehow? He’s gone and you’re still scolding him."
The old duke glared, "He didn’t even look back. Don’t I have a right to scold him?"
Princess Sheng An snorted, "No, you don’t. He never looked back. Maybe like us, he’s hiding his teary eyes."
The old duke stroked his beard, "He’s gone now, stop protecting him, you won’t even let me speak."
"My grandson is fine. Why should he always be scolded by you? Even a single word is not allowed." Princess Sheng An stared at the long street, watching Zhou Gu getting farther and farther away until he disappeared from sight. Then she turned and asked the duchess, "Didn’t Gu just look back? Didn’t he? My old eyes are blurred. I didn’t see clearly."
The duchess wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and nodded confidently, "Mother, you didn’t see wrong. He did look back."
Lady Zhou Wu also confirmed with a nod, "Grandmother, Zhou Gu did look back."
With their affirmation, Princess Sheng An turned triumphantly to the old duke, "He did look back; you were wrong to scold him."
The old duke grumbled, "Fine, I was wrong, but he didn’t hear anyway."
Princess Sheng An snorted and criticized him, "You old man."
The old duke: "..."
Didn’t he put up with her complaints all the time? Did he ever lose his temper? Who did he upset?
Princess Sheng An stopped responding to the old duke and wiped her tears, saying, "Now that he has left, who knows when he will return."
If he really stays in Nanchu, her grief for him might kill her. However, as a grandmother who had loved him from his childhood, she still hoped that he would fulfill his wish. Otherwise, she didn’t want him to return alone and desolate. After all, some people might never heal from emotional distress in their lifetime.
"We should go back now. There is no one to look at now." said the old duke.
Princess Sheng An nodded, and waved her hand to everyone, "Let’s go, let’s go back!"
Everyone returned to their respective courtyards when back home. The old duke headed for the study, while only the duchess accompanied Princess Sheng An to her yard.
Once inside the house, both mother and daughter-in-law had red eyes.
The duchess consoled Princess Sheng An, "Mother, don’t worry too much. Zhou Gu brought back from last night many rare medicinal herbs that you and I can’t find. He said that Su Rong specifically prepared them. There are even five bottles of solidified jade medicated cream." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
Princess Sheng An expressed her surprise, "Su Rong is that resourceful?"
"Indeed, she is. I also did not expect it. Apparently, she possesses many excellent ancient prescriptions she got from a pharmacopoeia. She gave that book to Zhou Gu to carry with him. Moreover, in these two days, she even taught Zhou Gu how to process the drugs." The duchess said: "Do you know what this means? It means that even if Zhou Gu has a headache, a cold or gets injured, even if he can’t find a doctor, he shouldn’t be afraid as he’s carrying the medicine with him. When traveling far from home, this is more useful than anything else. He has three types of life-saving medicines, including rare poison antidotes, all hard to find, but crucial for survival. She prepared these drugs for him, and the types were diverse and comprehensive, definitely the result of meticulous preparation."
Princess Sheng An was even more surprised, "So, Su Rong has been very dedicated to Zhou Gu, isn’t she really caring about him?"
"Don’t you think so?" said the duchess, "I thought that if she didn’t care about him, she wouldn’t have put in so much effort. Good medicine is hard to make but even harder to find. The process from gathering herbs to preparing medicine by hand is not easy. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t have done this."
Princess Sheng An sat up straight, "But her and Ye Guixue...what exactly..."
The duchess shook her head, "I asked him, and Zhou Gu said that apart from teaching him how to process drugs, Su Rong did not say anything else. I thought that there is no such thing as unrequited kindness between people. So maybe Zhou Gu isn’t acting impetuously. We can’t predict the future. In any case, since Su Rong treated him like this, I’m much more relieved. Even if he goes to Nanchu, he may not suffer because of Su Rong. Maybe Su Rong won’t want to see him suffer."
Princess Sheng An nodded, "You’re right."
A smile finally appeared on her face, "As his elders, all we can hope for is his well-being, that his wishes come true. That’s all that satisfies our hearts."
The Duchess nodded, "Mother speaks wisely."
Zhou Gu rode out of the city to the Shili Pavilion ten miles away. There, he saw several carriages, horses, and a few people sitting in the pavilion.
The Crown Prince Yan Huisheng, Xie Lin, the young prince from the Rui’an King’s Residence, Su Xingze, and several sons of the distinguished families from the capital that Zhou Gu was friendly with.
Zhou Gu dismounted from his horse and greeted Yan Huisheng, also nodding hello to the others.
The first to rise and greet Zhou Gu was Xie Lin, who slapped Zhou Gu’s shoulder without formality, "Look at you, keeping such a tight secret. I only found out yesterday that you were leaving the capital today. Leaving without a word, are we still good brothers?"
If it were in the past, Zhou Gu would certainly retort with no courtesy, "Who is your good brother?" But today, Xie Lin had travelled ten miles to see him off, and he felt it inappropriate to say that, "How am I leaving without a word? Don’t you all know about it now?"
Xie Lin snorted, "If it weren’t for the news from the palace about your departure, we wouldn’t know. You didn’t say anything." He leaned closer to Zhou Gu and asked in a low voice, "Lady Su Qi and Second Young Master Ye haven’t left yet. You’re leaving first. Are you giving up on Lady Su Qi?"
Zhou Gu looked at him and, remembering that day at his house when Xie Lin created an opportunity for him to be alone with Su Rong and shamelessly gave him advice, he had nothing to hide, "No."
Xie Lin blinked, "Then why are you..."
From Xie Lin’s perspective, since it wasn’t the case, why leave? What if he left and they developed feelings for each other without him in the way? Wouldn’t their relationship progress rapidly then?
Zhou Gu quickly shut down the topic by slapping his back in return, "Take care."
Xie Lin choked, "You’re the one heading into the wild, so you be careful."
Zhou Gu laughed, "I’ve brought lots of medicine, I’m not afraid of the wild."
Xie Lin didn’t understand what dangerous journeys and carrying lots of medicine had to do with each other. Could it be that if he encountered dangers, he could eat the medicine as food? Unclear, he shook his head.
Zhou Gu stopped talking to him and went into the pavilion, smiling at Yan Huisheng, "Your Highness, I bid farewell to you the other day. Why did you come here today to see me off?"
Yan Huisheng laughed, "I came to wish you a safe journey, a smooth trip and that all your wishes come true."
There were many people here, and they didn’t know yet that Zhou Gu’s real destination was Nanchu. He didn’t say the last part of his sentence, which was that they didn’t know when they would meet again.
Zhou Gu understood this and deeply saluted Yan Huisheng, "I also wish Your Highness good health. When we meet again, I hope to see you ascended to the throne. I will be in awe."
Yan Huisheng smiled, "Good!"
A guard brought wine, one cup for each. The two of them said their goodbyes through the wine, everything remaining unsaid.
After drinking the wine, Yan Huisheng smiled at everyone, "I’ll go back first. You all, please, stay as you like."
Everyone scrambled to bow their heads in respect, watching Yan Huisheng get into the carriage.
After the carriage of the Eastern Palace had left, everyone stood up casually, chattering away. Su Xingze didn’t say much, after all, they had already said most of what needed to be said during the preparation of the medicine.
About half an hour later, Zhou Gu said goodbye to everyone, mounted his horse, and left the capital.
Xie Lin sighed with envy, "I’m truly envious. I wish I could also go on a journey, but alas, my father wouldn’t agree. Zhou Gu doesn’t even take the Palace Examination and here he is going on his journey, isn’t this the epitome of being talented and wilful?"
Someone patted his shoulder, "Brother Zhou isn’t just talented and wilful, his bond with the Crown Prince is something no one can compare to. He doesn’t take the Palace Examination, he travels for three years, comes back and joins the court right away, he will still be highly valued. We couldn’t do that. If we left now, in three years, we would have to take the examination once again."
Xie Lin shivered, "I wouldn’t want to take the examination again, even if it killed me."
He suddenly stopped feeling envious and waved at the crowd, "Let’s leave. It’s really cold today."
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