Having been accompanied and cared for by Princess Qingping and the Prince Consort for many days, naturally, Su Rong would make a visit to the Princess’ Residence before she left.
Therefore, after having breakfast with Duanhua, who had rushed over to her place early in the morning, they rode together to the Princess’s Residence.
On the way, Duanhua inevitably inquired about her relationship with Zhou Gu.
Su Rong bluntly said to her, "You should stop thinking about Zhou Gu, he is mine now."
Duanhua stared at her in surprise, "Didn’t your King choose Ye Guixue? How did it change to Zhou Gu again?" Not blaming her for her confusion, she stared at Su Rong intently, "Are you trying to have one foot in two boats?"
Su Rong glared at her, "No."
She inevitably had to explain to Duanhua again. After finishing the explanation, she felt somewhat tired, wondering why she had to break off the engagement with Zhou Gu in the first place. If she had known it would be so troublesome to explain her current relationship with him to so many people who cared about them, she would rather not do this destructive thing.
After Duanhua listened to the explanation, she stared wide-eyed. For a moment, she was in disbelief, "So, are you going back to Zhou Gu again?"
Su Rong: "... "
She sighed helplessly, "Yes."
Duanhua said furiously, "Who was it that told me that I could go after Zhou Gu freely, and you wouldn’t stop me? Who was it that warned me not to have ideas about Ye Guixue? Why is it always you?"
Su Rong felt ashamed and guilty, "As they say, only women and villains are hard to raise."
Duanhua: "..."
Duanhua grumbled, "When you criticize yourself, you certainly don’t hold back."
She was utterly puzzled, "What is so great about Zhou Gu? What made you give up Ye Guixue and the Ye Xiang Residence? I heard from my parents that if you get the Ye Xiang Residence and its owner, it could be a big help to you. Without the Ye Xiang Residence, securing your throne would be quite difficult, and you might end up losing everything. Can he alone measure up to the great aid that the Ye Xiang Residence could provide? Are you crazy? Moreover, Ye Guixue is talented and handsome. While it is true Zhou Gu is now famous everywhere, Ye Guixue’s fame has long been established. They are similar in many ways, why did you give up Ye Guixue?"
Su Rong sighed, "Even if I don’t choose Ye Guixue, the Ye Xiang Residence will still be a royalist faction of Nanchu, dedicated to the Nanchu King. And if I choose Zhou Gu, even without the support of the Ye Xiang Residence, I still have Daliang. Besides, as for Zhou Gu, I now find him perfect. I just want him."
The fact that Daliang had lent her 300,000 troops was only known to the high-ranking officials in the court. Princess Qingping and the Prince Consort, who did not deal with such confidential matters, naturally did not know that the Duke had come up with such an idea for Su Rong, which greatly reduced her crisis in seizing power.
Duanhua cheekily replied, "Your words sound nice, but it wasn’t that way when you broke the engagement."
Su Rong reached out to pinch her face, "Anyway, Zhou Gu doesn’t like you, and you’ve known this for a long time, right? Haven’t you given up? Why are you blaming me now?"
Duanhua pushed her hand away, "I’m worried about you."
Su Rong laughed, "You don’t have to worry about me. Rest assured, I can overcome any difficulties."
Seeing her radiant smile, Duanhua stared at Su Rong for a while, then suddenly said, "You look much happier now than you did in the Capital City. Is it because of Zhou Gu? When you called off the engagement, you really didn’t want to let him go, did you? Your calling off the engagement was also done for his sake, not just for yourself."
"Yes." Su Rong admitted, smiling at Duanhua, "The most satisfying thing in life is when the man I like can’t let go of my hand."
Duanhua twisted her face in disgust, "So cheesy, just shut your mouth! I can’t bear to look at it."
Su Rong stretched out her hand to pinch Duanhua again, "You will also find that person. Don’t hurry, take your time. If you can’t find them in Daliang, go look in Nanchu."
Gritting her teeth, Duanhua pinched Su Rong back, "You just wait, I’m sure I’ll find someone too."
Amid their banter, the two arrived at the Princess’ Residence.
The Prince Consort had specially taken the day off, and Princess Qingping, having received news that Su Rong was coming, quickly ordered the kitchen to prepare a feast and make more of the pastries Su Rong liked to eat. She planned to pack them for her to eat on her journey. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
The Princess and the Prince Consort were extremely grateful to Su Rong, because thanks to her, their beloved daughter Duanhua had changed a lot. She no longer obsessed over Zhou Gu and didn’t act irrationally because of him. She even began to listen to her parents’ advice. Her reputation in the city had improved greatly. Whenever people talked about Duanhua, they all nodded approvingly. A lot of people even wanted to form a marriage alliance with the Princess’s Residence, but unfortunately, Duanhua didn’t find any of them attractive and said that even if she couldn’t marry Zhou Gu, she still wanted to marry someone handsome. She didn’t want to look at an ugly husband every day.
Even though the Princess and the Prince Consort felt helpless, thinking about how they could find another man as handsome as Zhou Gu in this city, they were thankful that Duanhua was not old and had time to search everywhere.
In essence, this time, Su Rong’s visit to the Capital City and the Princess’s Residence had been of great importance to the Princess and the Prince Consort. Even though they had always loved her due to her past relationship with Princess Zhenmin, now that she was about to leave, and they didn’t know when they might see her again, they cherished her even more and treated her as their own daughter, Duanhua. If they could, they would have packed all the good stuff for her to take away.
To their surprise, Duanhua was not jealous. Resting her chin on her hand, she watched her mother hold Su Rong’s hand without letting go and asked with mixed tears and laughter whether Su Rong would return after she went to Nanchu this time and when she would come back. She urged her to take good care of herself and to write to them frequently.
Su Rong answered all her questions and repeatedly promised that she would certainly come back to visit. After saying "Aunt" several times, Princess Qingping finally stopped crying and started to smile.
Su Rong stayed at the Princess’ Residence for the better part of the day before leaving.
That evening, she hosted a banquet in a restaurant to bid farewell to officials such as Jiang Xing and Chen Zhou from Jiangzhou who had passed the exam and chose to stay in the Capital City, as well as Lu Fengyan and Zhao Shu.
Everyone was surprised that she invited them to a banquet before she left, especially Chen Zhou, who almost wept holding onto Su Rong. Su Rong, disgusted, pushed him away, "I’m engaged, you know. Keep it decent and keep your distance."
Chen Zhou was heartbroken, "Isn’t your fiancé, Second Young Master Ye, back in Nanchu? Why are you afraid of him? I’ve known you for so long and have long given up on you. I just see you as my little sister. Can’t I even give you a hug?"
"No, you can’t. My fiancé is now Zhou Gu again. There are so many of his spies in the city. Be careful or he might beat you up. And stop dreaming about me being your sister. Go away, go away, go away." In front of Chen Zhou, Su Rong couldn’t act like a proper lady at all. Faced with this man, her poise always disintegrated.
"What did you say?" Chen Zhou was almost furious.
Facing everyone’s surprising gaze, Su Rong said calmly, "That’s right. You didn’t mishear."
Chen Zhou was speechless for a long time, "You really are..."
What she really was, he searched for the right words to describe her, "You’re beautiful, so you change fiancés whenever you want?"
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