Zhou Gu had applied medicine for Su Rong thoughtfully. During this time, he also thoroughly reflected on himself.
Su Rong hung onto his waist and giggled, "It really doesn’t hurt."
Zhou Gu sighed and roughly ruffled Su Rong’s hair, "Su Rong, how can you be so good?"
Su Rong hummed, "Am I good? In what way? Am I pretty?"
Zhou Gu couldn’t help but laugh, "Yes, you’re pretty, and very good." He lowered his head to kiss her cheek, the touch was soft and lingering, "Makes me like you so much."
Su Rong’s heart was stirred, she whispered: "After the peace talks, we will have our big wedding when we return to the Capital City. I’ll write a letter to my father soon and ask him to instruct the Ministry of Rites to start preparing for our big wedding. I’ll also ask the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to select an auspicious date and time."
Zhou Gu was overjoyed, immediately let go of her and urged, "Then you should start writing now."
Su Rong: "..."
She complained, "Can’t we hug a bit longer before I write?"
"No, get to writing, our big wedding is more important." Zhou Gu pushed her, "Hurry up."
Su Rong had no choice but to get up and start writing the letter.
Zhou Gu personally ground the ink for Su Rong. He watched as she rolled up her sleeves and diligently wrote a letter to the Nanchu King. The letter was concise but straightforward. It was just a thin piece of paper, describing one thing - for the Nanchu King to instruct the Ministry of Rites and prepare for her big wedding. Then, she also wrote down her measurements and his, instructing the Imperial Clothing Bureau to make their wedding garments. She urged the Nanchu King, as she was quite anxious, to please expedite this matter, and not to delay it. They would be getting married as soon as she returned to the Royal Capital from the peace talks with Dawei.
After she finished writing, she put down her brush, let the letter dry, and then folded it up.
Zhou Gu said from the side, "That’s all you wrote? You didn’t write more? Didn’t include any war news? Didn’t ask how your father-in-law is?"
Su Rong stuffed the letter into an envelope and sealed it with wax, "The victorious war report was already written by Ye Guixue, there’s no need for me to do it. Qin Ruo went to the Capital City, and Ye Xiang is there, my father must be doing just fine, no need to ask."
Zhou Gu sighed. He has experienced Su Rong’s aversion to writing letters first-hand, nodded his head and said, "Alright! Now you grind the ink for me, I also want to write a letter to my father-in-law."
Su Rong turned her head to look at him, "What are you writing to him for?"
Zhou Gu said as if it’s only natural, "I miss my father-in-law."
Su Rong’s mouth twitched, "Are you talking nonsense? Why would you miss him?"
Zhou Gu tapped her head, "I’ve been with my father-in-law for two to three months. We’ve had a life-and-death friendship, why can’t I miss him? I have a lot of things to say to him."
Su Rong gave in, "Alright, then it’s your turn."
She dutifully moved aside, allowing the two of them to swap places. She ground the ink for Zhou Gu, and he started writing the letter.
Zhou Gu wrote with great earnestness, prattling on as if he really did have a lot to say to the Nanchu King. Starting with greetings, to how they had resisted the Dawei’s attack on Heiya Pass, to how they fought back against Dawei, and finally, he disclosed his main purpose. He bitterly complained about the disgusting Crown Prince Yuan Zhao and how he was offering a Dawei prince as a husband for Xiaoqi, thinking his own position wasn’t solid. Urging his father-in-law to formally recognize their relationship sooner to prevent any potential disrespect against him or Xiaoqi from taking advantage of him. Finally, he pleaded with his father-in-law to expedite the wedding preparations so that he can rightfully take Xiaoqi as his wife, and that he wanted to fully enjoy the wedding night without Xiaoqi taking advantage of him. He expressed his fears about Xiaoqi overpowering him, a situation he felt he couldn’t resist.
Su Rong looked on, feeling uneasy and suspicious. Could it be that Zhou Gu was truly the son of the Nanchu King? And that she was actually the pig about to overturn someone else’s cabbage patch?
When Zhou Gu finished writing, he seemed a little reluctant to put down his pen and told Su Rong, "I’ve finished writing. Let’s send this to the Royal Capital together!"
Su Rong nodded woodenly, folding the thick letter for him. The letter looked rather pitiful and thin compared to hers.
Zhou Gu watched as she arranged for the letter to be sent. Stroking his chin, he said, "It’s been a long time since I’ve written home. My grandmother must be anxiously waiting. You should also write a letter to your mother-in-law. If she hears that Nanchu is at war, who knows where her thoughts might wander day and night."
Su Rong agreed enthusiastically. "Let’s write then. Although we can ask them if they are coming to Nanchu for the wedding ceremony. Even though it’s very far away and will take two to three months to travel, the journey could be very tiring. But once they arrive, they could stay for a year and a half. After we negotiate peace with Dawei, we won’t go to war for several years, and it would still be quite peaceful."
"It’s not exactly peaceful. On the way here, Zhi Bai happened to encounter the remnants of the Nangong family causing trouble, and it took quite some effort to sort it out," Zhou Gu pointed out. "Now in Nanchu, our fathers-in-law and Ye Xiang have just stabilized the situation, but who knows how many hidden troubles and nails are waiting to be removed behind the scenes. After all, there’s no time recently to deal with these. If we can maintain some semblance of stability on the surface, it would already be an achievement. Everyone is busy with military pay and supplies, with no time to worry about other matters."
Su Rong agreed. The trouble caused by the Nangong family in Nanchu, leading to near governmental paralysis, was indeed not something that could be resolved overnight. Even if they stopped fighting with Dawei and negotiated peace, who knows how many hidden troubles still existed? Dawei’s secret agents, the remaining ’nails’ of the Nangong family, and so on.
She sighed, "Should we delay the wedding then? I think my grandmother and mother would want to see our wedding ceremony. And my mother, well, if we rush things, who knows what could go wrong while they’re on the road?"
"I think the preparations by our father-in-law shouldn’t be too quick, right? After all, you are a princess. As soon as we negotiate peace with Dawei, we should start dealing with these things. If we act quickly and decisively, we might be able to create some peace. Anyway, we should first send the letter home and then send a carrier pigeon with another letter confirming the news. If they decide to come, they should bring more guards. Otherwise, we should ask the Crown Prince to send a convoy to ensure safety," speculated Zhou Gu.
"Right." Su Rong instantly relaxed. "You better start writing!"
Zhou Gu nodded, bowed his head, and wrote a letter to the Grand Princess Sheng An and another to the Lady of the Duke. Then he wrote a third letter to his maternal grandfather, Mr. Cui. In a previous letter sent to Qinghe via Cui Xingzhi, he hadn’t mentioned their intentions for a grand wedding. In this letter, however, he informed his grandfather that they were preparing for their wedding and asked if he would come to attend the festivities.
Each letter was quite thick.
Su Rong watched in awe.
Zhou Gu, after writing a series of letters and putting his pen down, was also tired. Rubbing his wrist, he said, "It’s your turn."
Su Rong nodded. She only needed to write one letter to the Madame. She swiftly picked up her pen and, with brevity and clarity, asked after her mother and urged her to marry off all her sisters who were of marriageable age. About half a year later, she and Zhou Gu would have a grand wedding, and she asked her mother to attend.
Zhou Gu mumbled from the side, "Half a year later, isn’t that a bit too long?"
Su Rong looked at him, "There are so many things that can’t be done in time. Besides, it usually takes a year or even longer to prepare for a grand wedding. When my mother arranged for my sisters’ marriages, the quickest one took three months. Given our status, having only half a year to prepare for our wedding is already tight. Otherwise, there won’t be enough time to prepare for everything. I guarantee you, as soon as my father receives our letters, he will think we’re too hasty, and the Minister of Rites will almost certainly complain about the lack of time."
Zhou Gu had nothing to say in return, "Okay then!"
He knew Su Rong was a princess, and the rituals for their grand wedding would nearly be on par with that of the emperor. There would be a lot of things to prepare, and even if he wanted to speed up the process, he didn’t want to oversimplify. After all, it was a once in a lifetime event.
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