After seeing off Wet Nurse Zhao, Yuewan returned to the yard to find Su Rong propping up her chin, sitting in front of the window and seemingly lost in her thoughts.
She leaned closer to Su Rong and asked, "Miss, are you thinking about Young Master Zhou?"
Su Rong turned to look at her, "Where did you get the idea that I’m thinking about him?"
Yuewan grinned, "Isn’t it what the books say? When a woman is in love, she gazes out of the window, her eyes fixed on one place, not moving for a long time, mixed with shyness and timidity..."
Su Rong rolled her eyes, "Am I behaving shyly?"
"Well, no, but you’re so quiet and lost in thoughts." Yuewan analyzed thoroughly, "What else could you be thinking about? Naturally, it must be Young Master Zhou?"
Su Rong was speechless, she playfully knocked on Yuewan’s head, "I see him every day. I don’t need to think about him. I was thinking about my mother."
"Ah? You’re missing your Seventh Aunt?" Yuewan sat down next to Su Rong and sighed, "Seventh Aunt was such a good person, it’s a pity she passed away so early. I was so young back then, now after so many years, I can barely remember what Seventh Aunt looked like."
Su Rong’s memories of her Seventh Aunt’s face were also becoming vague. Nuanxiang Pavilion was burned down years ago, and not even a portrait of her mother was preserved. All she had were the faint impressions left in her memory, she asked, "Did Wet Nurse Zhao ask about my mother?"
Yuewan shook her head.
Su Rong looked puzzled, "She didn’t?"
Yuewan continued to shake her head, "Wet Nurse Zhao only mentioned that Miss, your features, don’t quite resemble the Governor. Could you have inherited from Seventh Aunt? I said perhaps."
"What else?"
"Wet Nurse Zhao said that you resemble someone she knew from the past." Yuewan relayed Wet Nurse Zhao’s exact words to Su Rong. Seeing Su Rong deep in thought, she asked curiously, "Miss, what is it?"
"Nothing." Su Rong shook her head, then directed her, "I’m a bit hungry, go to the kitchen and get me some pastries."
Yuewan nodded and immediately left.
Su Rong thought if Wet Nurse Zhao had been in the palace for half of her life serving the Empress Dowager, it meant the rules her mother taught her were proper palace etiquette. Her mother must have come from the palace, right? Could the people who had been trying to kill her since her mother’s death be from the palace?
As she was thinking, a servant boy entered the yard and handed her a letter, "Seventh Miss, your letter."
Su Rong took the letter, and after reading it, threw the letter into the incense burner. She walked out the door and saw Yuewan bringing a plate of pastries. She grabbed a piece without stopping her pace, "Tell Mother that I need to go out for a while."
Yuewan responded with an "ah", "Miss, when will you be back?"
Su Rong glanced at the sky, "No need to wait for me for dinner, not before bedtime!"
Yuewan nodded.
Su Rong was used to climbing walls. She scaled the wall of the residence and headed towards the location written in the letter to the Drunken Goose Tavern, where Lanniang was already waiting for her. Upon her arrival, Lanniang glanced at the door, signaling her to close it.
After closing the door, Su Rong walked over and asked her, "What’s so urgent that you had to call me out here?"
Lanniang lowered her voice, "There’s a big matter, concerning you." Fearing prying ears, she moved closer to Su Rong, covering her mouth and whispering in Su Rong’s ear, "A person has arrived from the Jiangning County these past few days, and it seems they are secretly investigating you."
"Investigating me for what?"
"Your lineage."
Su Rong furrowed her brows, "Who is this person?"
"We don’t know where he’s from." Lan’er shook her head, "This man is quite secretive. If it weren’t for you asking us to discuss the arrangement for heading to the Capital City a few days ago and I had everyone working, if we stuck to our previous laziness, we may not have noticed him."
"What does the man look like?" Su Rong asked.
Lan’er pulled out a scroll from her sleeve, "I have had someone sketch out his portrait. He looks quite handsome, not old, but his martial arts skills are extremely high. Fang Yue may be able to match him strentght for strength, if only just."
Su Rong nodded, took the portrait and glanced at it, "Alright, I got it. Just keep a watch on him, don’t alarm him, tell Fang Yue to follow him when he leaves."
Lan’er nodded, looking at Su Rong, "Jiangning County is a lot busier this year than in previous years. I feel that you are becoming more and more dangerous. To be on the safe side, should I arrange for someone to protect you closely?"
Su Rong shook her head, "As long as I don’t leave Jiangning County, no one can kill me. There is no need to send anyone, I’ll be careful."
If worst comes to worst, she just won’t leave the Duke Residence at all for a while.
Seeing her insisting refusal, Lan’er had to give up, "I’ve already sent part of us to the Capital City. We didn’t act early enough. If we want to establish roots in the Capital City, it probably won’t be that easy at the beginning. At the fastest, it would take two to three months to settle down, and we can’t send many people over at once, as it would attract attention."
"Oh, no rush." Su Rong waved her hand, "I’m just preparing for the possibility of marrying into the Duke Residence in the future. But perhaps I won’t get to marry Zhou Gu. I’m just trying to testing the waters. Tell them they don’t have to be anxious."
Lan’er nodded, sighed, "I wonder what your mother’s background was, to have such a ruthless enemy determined to kill you."
Su Rong remained silent.
"Governor Su isn’t your biological father, is he?" Lan’er suddenly asked.
Su Rong raised an eyebrow, "Would you treat someone who isn’t your biological daughter as if she was the apple of your eye?"
"I definitely wouldn’t, but as for Governor Su, it’s hard to say." Lan’er was serious, carefully scrutinizing Su Rong’s facial features, "After all, you really don’t look much like Governor Su."
Su Rong didn’t deny or confirm.
Whether or not, she knows very clearly.
Lan’er spoke again: "I heard that Master Xie is back. Master Xie is so good to you. Do you think Master Xie knows about your history? He’s a talented person who was willing to stay in Jiangning for so many years, for what? It can’t really be because he gets along with Governor Su, can it? If it was in the past, I would believe it. But now, no matter how I think about it, I feel that Master Xie has been treating you better these years. If it wasn’t for him, Sanlou would not have let you get involved and earn money. When you begged for Master Xie’s protection all those years ago, not wanting others to know about us, it was Master Xie who shouldered the responsibility. I feel that Master Xie stayed in Jiangning because of you."
"He stayed for my mother." Su Rong spoke surprisingly, "He admired my mother, but for some reason, my mother became my father’s concubine."
Lan’er was shocked.
"I’ll find a chance to talk to Uncle Xie." Su Rong thought that Master Xie didn’t say anything before because he thought she was too young. Now that she has come of age, he should tell her if there’s anything.
Lan’er agreed, sighing, "So even someone like Master Xie can’t escape love. No wonder he has remained single all these years."
After the two finished their serious conversation, they chatted while eating as usual and even had a couple of drinks. After the meal, seeing that it was still early, Lan’er asked Su Rong, "I haven’t gone to listen to the opera for a while. Shall we go? I heard you took your fiancé to listen to the opera. He has already seen you break the norms."
In other words, would it matter if she returned late? Could it be like before?
Su Rong shook her head, "I went there yesterday, I won’t go today. You go by yourself!"
"Didn’t you not stay at Fengyue Building yesterday?" Lan’er asked.
Su Rong saw that she brought up the topic she was trying to avoid, and said gloomily, "Zhou Gu was annoyed yesterday and quarreled with me. I have to go back and coax him today."
Lan’er laughed, "You know how to coax people?"
"Of course." Su Rong stood up, "I’m leaving."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
