As the group of people rode back into town, Zhou Gu wore a scowl on his face all the way.
When they entered the town, Xie Yuan took a look at everyone’s peculiar faces, and asked Su Rong, "What’s the matter? Why are you all upset? What did Dawei say to offend you? Did the negotiation fail? Did they find your terms too harsh?"
Touching her nose, Su Rong replied, "That bastard Yuan Zhao suggested that I should accept a prince as my concubine. Prince Yuan Chen volunteered himself, but I asked for Nangong Zheng."
With just a brief sentence, she summarised the entire negotiation process.
Enlightened, Xie Yuan replied, "It’s exactly the kind of thing that Dawei Crown Prince Yuan Zhao would come up with. Knowing about your relationship with Zhou Gu, he probably did it deliberately to nauseate everyone."
"I nauseated him back in return," snorted Su Rong, then suddenly noticed that Zhou Gu had disappeared, "But it seems I’ve also angered Zhou Gu. He’s upset with me and has been ignoring me."
"Shouldn’t you go and coax him then?" Xie Yuan gestured at her with his hand.
Su Rong nodded and promptly went after Zhou Gu.
Xie Yuan waved at Ye Guixue, Zhang Yun, and the others, "Alright, come tell me all the specifics."
Ye Guixue and Zhang Yun exchanged looks, then Zhang Yun grabbed Cui Yanjin from behind to bring him forward, "Yanjin, you explain."
With a puzzled look on his face, Cui Yanjin seemed to not understand why he was chosen to speak. He turned to Xie Yuan and pointed at himself, "Sir, should I be the one to explain?"
Xie Yuan smiled, "Do you have a good memory? If so, tell the story."
Cui Yanjin immediately puffed out his chest, "I have an exceptionally good memory." Then, he rattled on without pausing for breath, recounting the entire negotiation process. He saw everything clearly from where he was standing, including everyone’s facial expressions.
After listening to all of this, Xie Yuan nodded while smiling, "Good job."
Looking up at Xie Yuan, Cui Yanjin asked, "Sir, were you praising me just now?"
"Yes, I was praising you," affirmed Xie Yuan while patting Cui Yanjin’s head. "Also, I’m praising our Xiaoqi for acting like a true princess."
Cui Yanjin: "..."
He was momentarily taken aback by the bizarre twist in Xie Yuan’s words, and asked hesitantly, "Sir, does this mean... that my sister-in-law really will have other men in her life?"
Xie Yuan just looked at him and chuckled, "What do you think?" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
How was Cui Yanjin supposed to know? He shook his head. Since ancient times, kings had always maintained multiple palaces, right? His sister-in-law would most likely become Nanchu’s queen in the future, so it would not be considered taboo if she had her own harem, right?
Again, Xie Yuan patted his head, "You can ask that question to Xiaoqi. Let her answer you."
Having said all this, he then led the group back into the city.
Cui Yanjin thoughtfully scratched his head and went to Cui Xingzhi. He tugged at his sleeve and whispered in his ear, "Cousin, our elder cousin is angry again. Do you think his continued disrespect towards our sister-in-law will lead to her becoming tired of appeasing him? After all, Nangong Zheng is quite handsome, don’t you think? Even I, as a man, have to admit that. Did you hear that? Sister-in-law said that if the Crown Prince of Dawei agreed to give her Nangong Zheng, she would reduce the amount of land and gold that she’s demanding from Dawei. She’s really willing to pay a high price for Nangong."
Cui Xingzhi flicked away his hand, "Don’t pull my sleeve. What’s the matter with you?"
Cui Yanjin exclaimed, "Cousin, I’m talking about serious matters."
Cui Xingzhi was at a loss for words, "Why are you worrying about it? You’re so young. Worrying about such things will make you age faster."
Sighing, Cui Yanjin replied, "Aren’t we here to follow our elder cousin? If he continues to disappoint our sister-in-law and falls out of her favor, what should we do? Won’t our own future prospects also be in jeopardy?"
Laughing, Cui Xingzhi replied, "You’re thinking too far ahead."
Looking at Cui Xingzhi with earnest, Cui Yanjin responded, "Cousin, I have noticed that you’ve stopped using your brain since we came to Nanchu. Has the repetitive cycle of fighting numbed your mind? This is not a good sign. In the past, you were praised by the elders in the clan for your intelligence, depth of thinking, and exceptional strategic abilities but now, you’ve abandoned all that thinking."
With an intense rub on Cui Yanjin’s head, Cui Xingzhi realized something he hadn’t noticed earlier— his younger cousin was quite meddlesome and liked to lecture others. He said, "We don’t need to worry about our cousin’s affairs,"
Sighing again, Cui Yanjin replied, "But can he handle them himself? He really has a terrible temper."
Cui Xingzhi decided not to entertain him any further.
Chasing Zhou Gu back to the city guard’s residence, Su Rong finally managed to catch up to him just before he entered the courtyard. She reached out, grabbed his arm, and looked up at him with a coquettish smile, "Are you really angry?"
Her hand was shrugged off by Zhou Gu.
But Su Rong stubbornly clung to his arm. "You know very well that I was just saying those things to infuriate Yuan Zhao. I’ve promised you that I will not want anyone else for the rest of my life. Don’t you trust me?"
Zhou Gu took a deep breath. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Su Rong. Just hearing those words come out of her mouth was unbearably irksome. For a moment, he wanted to draw his sword and directly kill Yuan Chen and Nangong Zheng, prepared to go to war with Dawei if need be. It was only a thread of rationality that kept him from acting on his impulse.
He was well aware that Nanchu was not currently equipped to go head-to-head with Dawei. He also knew that she was just trying to provoke Yuan Zhao. Nevertheless, he was genuinely irate.
Logic is one thing, but he was almost unable to control his emotions.
Seeing Zhou Gu looking visibly upset, Su Rong decided to wrap her arms around him in a comforting manner. "I blame that damned Yuan Zhao. He was the one who made the absurd suggestion of offering me a prince. I merely put him in his place. I realize that I did wrong and angered you. But don’t worry about Nangong Zheng. When I said I wanted him, I meant that I wanted to kill him, not that I genuinely wanted him."
Zhou Gu stared at her, "You said that Nangong Zheng is good-looking."
Quickly, Su Rong chimed, "But he isn’t as good-looking as you."
Zhou Gu looked down at her, then suddenly and fiercely pulled her into his arms, bending down to kiss her.
Caught off-guard by his advances, Su Rong could barely breathe and her waist was about to break. She made a weak sound in surprise but didn’t make any attempt to free herself, letting him hold her close while he released his pent-up frustration.
It took a while for Zhou Gu to gradually calm down. He then bit her lip, which elicited a soft, pained hiss from her. Releasing her, he glared at her warningly and said, "Don’t you dare."
"I won’t, I won’t," promised Su Rong. She was convinced her mouth corner was bleeding, and mentally noted to blame Yuan Zhao for it. "You’re so great, why would I ever want anyone else? I was just talking trash to mess with Dawei. After all, negotiations are like battles, and we can’t lose our momentum."
With a slight snort, Zhou Gu noticed the bead of blood forming at the corner of her mouth. Feeling regretful, he realised he must have bitten her too hard. He bent down to kiss it away before politely releasing her, and then said, "Let’s go inside. I’ll apply a salve on your cut."
"What?" Su Rong questioned, "It’s such a tiny wound. Do we really need to treat it?"
"Do as I say. It’s my fault for losing my temper and hurting you," Zhou Gu admitted, making a silent resolve to control his temper in future. He was fully aware that all this wasn’t Su Rong’s fault, and he was also aware of her loyalty towards him. But he still couldn’t contain his possessiveness. Even if she just mentioned another man in casual conversation, he couldn’t bear it.
Su Rong fully understood Zhou Gu’s feelings. If their situations were reversed, she would likely lose her temper as well or maybe even worse. How can one love someone without a streak of possessiveness? After she vaguely sensed Qin Luan’s hidden feelings for Zhou Gu, she squashed any plans of Qin Luan defecting to her side in Nanchu under the guise of noble reasons. She decided, though, to keep this from Zhou Gu.
She let Zhou Gu lead her inside, "It doesn’t hurt at all. Even if you bit harder, I could take it."
Inhaling sharply, Zhou Gu replied in a hoarse voice, "Don’t say things like that."
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