Before long, Yuewan returned, her expression extremely complex.
Looking at her, Su Rong asked, "Did you find out?"
"I did." Yuewan looked at Cuiyu, suppressed her surprise for a while and then said, "Young Master Zhou says it eats pastries."
Su Rong: "..."
Yuewan turned around to get a dish of pastries from the kitchen and placed it on the table.
Indeed, Cuiyu hopped on the table and began pecking at the pastries.
Yuewan was astonished, "So, it really does eat pastries."
After pecking at a piece of pastry, Cuiyu hopped back onto Su Rong’s shoulder, tilted its head and looked at Yuewan. After a while, it seemed as if it found this girl quite adorable, considering she had given it pastries. In no time, it hopped onto Yuewan’s shoulder.
Yuewan was taken aback by the attention.
The two women and the bird played for a while, and Cuiyu successfully won over Yuewan.
Yuewan was elated, "Miss, it’s so lively and it seems to like you a lot. I’ve heard that birds can understand human nature. Being a pet of Young Master Zhou and liking you so much, doesn’t it mean that Young Master Zhou also likes you very much?"
Su Rong gave her a sidelong glance, "You’re overthinking."
Zhou Gu had refused to even hug her yesterday, which clearly showed he didn’t have any particular liking for her.
Yuewan pouted and murmured quietly, "True, not many people would find Miss’s temperament appealing. Ah, this little fellow is so much fun. It seems like it can understand human language."
Su Rong glared at her, "Yuewan, can you speak human language?"
"Yes."
"Then either say something nice, or get out of here. Cuiyu won’t play with you anymore!"
Yuewan giggled, "Alright, Miss, you do have people who like you. I like you very much."
Su Rong gave a light huff.
The two bantered merrily, and when the Lady of the house and nursemaid Zhao entered the room, they couldn’t help but shake their heads at the scene. Having greeted Su Rong, they went about their business, paying the two no mind.
Su Rong set down her drawing and dusted off her dress. Standing up, she greeted, "Mother, nursemaid Zhao."
The Lady looked at Cuiyu, "Is this bird a pet of Young Master Zhou? I didn’t see it with him when he came."
"While we were strolling around Phoenix Mountain, he saw it and decided to take it down." Su Rong quickly explained.
The Lady seemed to understand, "This bird really is beautiful."
Nursemaid Zhao also grinned and said, "The feathers of this bird are indeed rare, and it looks quite clever. It is indeed extremely beautiful."
After the Lady played with the bird for a little, she said to Su Rong, "This morning, Young Master Zhou came to me and said that discipline can be learned slowly, there’s no rush. He said you’re learning how to manage the household and also having to learn discipline at the same time seems to be tiring. He suggested that I should manage your time properly, learn a little less every day, so you wouldn’t look so exhausted after a day’s work."
Su Rong blinked, looking surprisingly at the Lady.
The Lady seemed both angry and amused, "Learning how to manage a household can be tiring, indeed. But since when did learning about discipline tire you out? I didn’t have the heart to tell him that you were playing around while studying. I don’t know how he concluded that you lacked energy. Don’t you look quite energetic from where I stand?"
After saying this, she glared at Su Rong, "When you should pretend, you won’t, but now in front of him, you start pretending."
Su Rong pouted, "I really was tired after studying all day yesterday."
The Lady seemed displeased, "Since he already brought it up, you should study only half a day every day!" After saying that, she added, "Everything included, only half a day. To avoid making people feel pity for you."
Su Rong was overjoyed. She hadn’t expected that Zhou Gu would misunderstand her situation from yesterday. She corrected with a serious face, "Mother, he’s not pitying me, he’s just softhearted."
If he had been feeling pity, he wouldn’t have refused to even hug her yesterday. He must be softhearted.
"No matter whether he’s full of pity or just softhearted, it’s a good sign." The Lady was quite satisfied. The smoother things went between these two, the better, and it was worth all the efforts she had made.
After she finished with her instructions, she left, leaving nursemaid Zhao behind to spend some time with Su Rong.
After the Lady left, nursemaid Zhao smiled and said, "I ran into Young Master Zhou on my way here. Surprisingly, Young Master Zhou still remembers me."
"Ah, I forgot that you used to serve in the palace. Have you seen Zhou Gu before?" Su Rong got interested, "Tell me about him."
Nursemaid Zhao nodded, "If you are interested, I will tell you."
She sat down and started to recollect, "The last time I saw Young Master Zhou was four years ago when I left the capital. Back then, Young Master Zhou was studying lots of subjects in the Eastern Palace under Grand Tutor Qin’s strict command. Tutor Qin assigned him as many tasks as he did to the Crown Prince. Young Master Zhou refused to accept, saying how could he be compared with the Crown Prince? Tutor Qin said that since he had been sent to the Eastern Palace under his guidance, he had to listen to him, or else he would be locked in the Eastern Palace until he learned to behave. The palace guards were strict, and Tutor Qin had the authority as the Crown Prince’s tutor as well as the order from the emperor to educate Zhou Gu, hence Zhou Gu had no choice but to obey. When he learned that I was leaving, Young Master Zhou even took leave to see me off. He joked to me, ’Nursemaid, why don’t you take me with you?’ It was really amusing. Now, four years have passed, and Young Master Zhou has grown up into a more outstanding and handsome gentleman."
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