Su Rong had intended to let Jiang the Inspector and his wife wait for a day, then once she’d decided to vent her anger and consider the matter settled. However, to her surprise, after they descended from Phoenix Mountain, Zhou Gu said he was tired and didn’t plan on going back, choosing instead to find a nearby place to rest.
Su Rong was startled, "Not going back?"
Zhou Gu nodded, rubbing his sore shoulders, "That blasted tree was so uncomfortable to sleep on, I don’t want to put up with it anymore."
Su Rong was at a loss for words. The young master was always a young master, even if he hailed from a military family. Deep down, he was still a privileged young master of a distinguished house, who had never suffered hardship. Thus, it was not surprising that he found sleeping on a tree unbearable.
She could only comment, "Considering it was your first time sleeping on a tree, not falling off is quite an achievement."
Zhou Gu gave her a pitiful stare, "A terrible suggestion."
Su Rong, who had slept comfortably herself, said quietly, "That’s because you’re not used to it. Once you are, it’s not much different from a bed."
Zhou Gu scoffed, "You were certainly comfortable. I woke up three times and each time found you asleep. You slept for a good half unit of time. Do you often sleep on trees when you have nothing better to do?"
"There are too many bugs and ants on the ground. Sleeping on a tree feels secure." Su Rong nodded, "I used to go out to play all the time and get too lazy to return home at noon, so I’d nap on a tree instead. After doing it once or twice, it became a habit."
Su Rong looked at him, "If you weren’t used to it, why didn’t you wake me up?"
Of course, Zhou Gu wouldn’t admit to the fact that he didn’t have the heart to wake her up seeing how peacefully she slept. He called one of the guards and instructed, "Find an inn. We won’t be returning today. Send someone to notify the Duke Residence. Ensure Uncle Su and Auntie Su that Miss Seventh will be safe."
The guard complied and promptly arranged for it.
Seeing the two guards depart, Su Rong didn’t stop them. She asked, "With Jiang Sheng being a third-rank official appointed by the Imperial Court and Ning Chi, the heir of Marquis Nanping Residence, accompanying him, won’t we be making enemies by disrespecting them like this?"
Zhou Gu was unfazed, "So what if we make enemies? Are we afraid of him?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮
He scoffed, "If Jiang Sheng weren’t an official appointed by the court, I would have killed his daughter on the spot for insulting me. That would have been letting her off easy."
Considering the influence of the Duke Residence and Zhou Gu’s status, Su Rong found it plausible. Had Jiang Sheng not been a court official, Zhou Gu could easily have murdered someone who offended him. If he were cruel enough, the entire family could suffer the consequences. In fact, Zhou Gu might not even need to lift a finger himself. A word from the young master Zhou could rally plenty of people to do his bidding.
Su Rong sighed, thinking about how wonderful it was to have power and status, two things she had none of.
"What are you sighing about?" Zhou Gu asked.
Su Rong candidly responded, "I’m just marveling at your status, thinking about how you got lucky when you were born."
Zhou Gu: "..."
He wanted to retort with "You were lucky too when you were born; how else could you have become my fiancée?" But he held his tongue, mindful of the fact that her mother had passed away and unsure of how his grandfather had arranged their engagement.
Thus, they took their guards and lodged in a small town not far from the base of Phoenix Mountain that day.
Having experienced sleeping on a tree, Zhou Gu didn’t mind the lousy accommodations of the small town’s inn. After having dinner, he washed up and went to sleep.
Due to the copious amount of sleep she got during the day, Su Rong couldn’t sleep at night. After Zhou Gu slept, she quietly exited the inn, and under the cover of night, arrived at a nearby tavern.
The tavern was named "Welcoming the Guests with Laughter", and the tavern keeper, Lan Niang, was a beautiful, delicate lady, two years older than Su Rong. She was just about to close for the night when Su Rong arrived, which surprised her. "It’s so late! Why are you here? Has something happened?"
"I was craving some wine. Bring me a jar," Su Rong replied. She wanted to join Zhou Gu and Governor Su for a drink yesterday, but she had to act in front of Madam Su while Chen Zhou hadn’t exposed her yet. So she acted like a well-behaved lady and didn’t touch a drop of wine at the dinner table.
"There’s no way you would come all this way just to satisfy your wine craving," Lan Niang didn’t believe her, "Did you sneak out behind Madam Su’s back again? Aren’t you afraid she’ll scold you for coming back late?"
"Not this time, someone’s accompanying me on this trip. She knows," Su Rong shook her head.
"Oh? Who has the face to accompany you and is on good terms with Madam Su?" Lan Niang was curious.
"My fiancé."
Lan Niang was shocked, "Since when do you have a fiancé?"
"My mother arranged it. Zhou Gu, the young master of Duke Residence," Su Rong promptly replied before Lan Niang could ask further. She added with a smirk, "Surprised, aren’t you? Someone like me, with such low status, having such a high-born fiancé?"
Lan Niang’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "You mean the young master from the Duke Residence, Zhou Gu?"
"Yes, him."
Lan Niang was speechless, a mix of disbelief and surprise, "Is it true? How come I never heard about it?"
"I thought this marriage arrangement wasn’t going to go through, so I didn’t mention it."
"Has he come to see you now? Where is he?" Lantern was interested.
"He was tired from the journey and is resting in the inn," Su Rong responded while downing more wine.
After seeing the sincerity in her expression, Lan Niang uttered, "So you secretly slipped out to drink in the middle of the night, leaving your fiancé behind? Aren’t you afraid he’ll catch you?"
"Not afraid," Su Rong chuckled when she thought about it, "That bastard Chen Zhou has already exposed all my secrets. Getting caught for this won’t make much of a difference."
Lan Niang looked at her with wide eyes, "You ran into Chen Zhou again?"
"Yes, unfortunately," Whenever Su Rong brought up Chen Zhou’s name, her teeth would itch out of annoyance.
However, Lan Niang was more interested in her future husband than Chen Zhou, "Hey, I heard that Zhou Gu fought over a woman with a prince. Being born in a high society, is he really such a debauchee?"
Considering what happened with Qin Luan, Zhou Gu’s reputation had certainly taken a hit. Su Rong too would’ve thought this way if she hadn’t met him personally. It was only after meeting him and learning about the reason behind the fight that she realized his reputation was unjustly destroyed.
After downing another gulp of wine, she chuckled, "He’s a good person."
Lan Niang was even more surprised by her words than the news about her engagement to Zhou Gu, "You said that... He’s a good person? Since when have you ever called someone good?"
The truth was, Su Rong had never complimented anyone before, not even Su Xingze who was widely praised by others. None of them received praise from Su Rong herself.
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