The weather was clear and bright, and the Capital City was just as lively as it was yesterday when Su Rong and Fen Ling had entered the city, with the people still talking about the rebellion and Zhou Gu.
Fen Ling, accompanying Su Rong in the carriage, smiled at her, "Sister, your husband is truly impressive."
Su Rong just smiled at him without replying.
Fen Ling sighed lightly, "Ah, such an impressive man, if people knew his goal was to go to Nanchu to be the husband of the Nanchu Princess, I’m afraid the whole world would lament this. After all, ’husband of the princess’ puts ’princess’ first, and ’husband’ second. To anyone’s eyes, being the princess’s husband can’t compare to being an Auxiliary Minister of a nation, a well-known official throughout the ages. That seems to be where he should belong. When that time comes, I’m afraid for every praise he receives today, there will be just as many criticisms and regrets in the future."
"My husband and I will rule together, he can carry out royal orders on my behalf, and review submissions for me. He is not confined to the royal palace; he will sit beside me in the court, and we will go to the library or council hall together after the court adjourns." Su Rong smiled faintly, "Even if there are criticisms and regrets, they are only temporary. After all, as long as one is alive, they cannot avoid being talked about. But what of it? Zhou Gu chose this path with me, and I believe he doesn’t care if he is talked about. What I can do is stand by his side, achieve success in Nanchu, and rewrite history."
Fen Ling suddenly sparked with interest, "What kind of history will sister rewrite?"
"Joining hands with Daliang, annexing Dawei, and in the future, the Chu and Han rivers will divide the world in two, Nanchu will no longer be a vassal state, it will break away from Daliang," Su Rong stated.
Fen Ling immediately said, "But in this case, wouldn’t Daliang and Nanchu eventually go to war with each other one day?"
"At least during my reign and the Crown Prince’s, such a thing won’t happen. As for the future, I won’t care about that after a hundred years, they can fight if they want to," Su Rong stated nonchalantly. "I’m only responsible for the history during my lifetime, the history of Nanchu that I will rewrite with Zhou Gu."
"Not just that, the history of Daliang and Dawei will also be revised," Fen Ling corrected, "It’s history."
Su Rong smiled, "That’s true."
Fen Ling rubbed his hands together, somewhat excited, "Sister, if your husband didn’t want to be your king’s husband, would you have had such thoughts? Would you still let Nanchu break away from Daliang?"
Su Rong thought about it for a moment and shook her head, "I don’t know."
But at least it wouldn’t be as clear as it is now, her thoughts only came to light when she had the idea of breaking off the engagement with Ye Guixue. If Ye Guixue becomes her king’s husband, she doesn’t know to what extent she can trust him, but it would certainly not be the same as Zhou Gu. She doesn’t want people to regret that he didn’t become a famous minister of a great country but instead chose to be a vassal state’s husband to a princess. Therefore, she would naturally want to break away from Daliang and not be a vassal state in the future, and sit on equal terms with Daliang. This way, when people talk about Zhou Gu’s choice to be the king’s husband, they will feel that it is much better than being an auxiliary minister of Daliang.
After all, a king is a king, and a minister is a minister. Her king’s husband can be a sovereign ruler, but a well-known minister, in the end, is still a minister.
En route, the coachman suddenly pulled the reins and stopped the carriage. Before Fen Ling had the chance to ask what happened, a voice rang out, "Is Lady Su Qi in the carriage?"
As the man finished speaking, the coachman reported to the carriage, "Lady Su Qi, Master Feng, it is Master Xie from the Rui’an Residence."
Su Rong and Fen Ling had already recognized Xie Lin’s voice. Fen Ling pulled the curtains and saw Xie Lin riding up to them. He had suddenly darted from the side and now was stopping to speak with them before he set off for an unknown destination.
Fen Ling grinned, "Master Xie, it is indeed my sister."
Su Rong leaned forward to greet him, "Master Xie."
Xie Lin seemed a little thinner than before, but he was full of spirit, sitting tall in the saddle. Under the sunlight, he looked exceptionally handsome.
Before Xie Lin could open his mouth, Fen Ling looked at him in surprise, "Master Xie, you’ve become more handsome. Do you have some secret?
Xie Lin hadn’t expected Fen Ling to say this. Whatever he wanted to say got stuck in his throat. He glanced at Fen Ling, then at Su Rong. Both of them, two faces, four eyes in total, revealed identical expressions of curiosity. Clearly, Su Rong also agreed with what Fen Ling had said and thought that he had become more handsome.
Xie Lin suddenly felt that this might be true. What’s more, it was a compliment that made him feel better about himself. Holding the reins in one hand, he coughed slightly and smilingly replied, "There’s no secret. Ever since the Duke returned to the city, and when all of us heard that Zhang Ping’s rebellion had been suppressed, our inner worries were removed. We ate well, slept soundly, and perhaps that made us look spirited and pleasing to the eye."
Fen Ling gave two "oh" sounds, then turned to Su Rong, commenting, "Sis, I was wondering why I felt less handsome recently. It turns out it’s because I haven’t been eating or sleeping well these days, and was drained."
Su Rong nodded, "Right."
She too felt that her appearance had been somewhat reduced over these past days.
Xie Lin looked at the two of them. He thought that Fen Ling still looked the same, not at all less handsome. Su Rong looked a bit frail, but her complexion was still good. She had always looked frail to the point of being vulnerable, and now she just looked more so. Having sharp eyes, he asked Su Rong, "Lady Su Qi, are you injured?"
"It’s already healed," Su Rong replied.
Xie Lin nodded, "Lady Su Qi, are you going to the Eastern Palace?"
Su Rong nodded again.
Xie Lin scratched his head, "I need to leave the city urgently right now, but I wonder how long Lady Su Qi will be staying in the Capital City? Perhaps we could find some time to meet, I would like to invite Lady Su Qi and Master Feng for a meal."
After saying this, he added, "What I mean is, I just want to have a drink with Lady Su Qi and Master Feng, to chat."
What he really wanted to convey was that he was extremely curious and wanted to know the exciting stories about their trip out of the city. If the stories were told by themselves, the people who had experienced them firsthand, they surely would be most interesting, much more so than listening to others discuss them in tea houses.
Su Rong understood what he meant and cheerfully agreed, nodding and smiling, "Alright, we are staying in the Capital for ten days, we should have time."
"In that case, I’ll look for you two when I return to the city in three days," Xie Lin said. "There’s a case I need to investigate, which may take two or three days."
Su Rong nodded, "No problem."
The three of them said their goodbyes, and Xie Lin continued his journey toward the city gate. Su Rong and Fen Ling’s carriage started moving, heading toward the Eastern Palace.
Fen Ling laughed, saying, "Without Zhou Gu, who was trained from a young age by the Crown Prince to be an Auxiliary Minister, Master Xie’s future is limitless."
Su Rong made no comment. "The people of Rui’an Residence are very capable in holding office, serving the king, and sustaining the dynasty. With Zhou Gu as an auxiliary minister, Xie Lin’s future won’t be bleak. He is the legitimate son after all, with the Rui’an Residence to inherit."
Unlike Zhou Gu, whose elder brother Zhou Wei was the one who should be inheriting the title.
Fen Ling mused, "Sis, do you ever feel that the Crown Prince let Zhou Gu go easily because you left the eldest son to him? With his abilities, he could be an Auxiliary Minister in the future. After all, he was taught by Master Xie, just like you."
Su Rong leaned back against the carriage wall and let out a laugh, "That’s how it should be."
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