Su Rong thought it was true. Since her return to the Royal Capital, she had been quite hard on these court officials. Every day, besides dealing with affairs, it was more affairs. Even Madame Ye Xiang, anxious about her son, had to use Su Rong’s birthday as an excuse to let Guixue take a day off. For the rest, they didn’t dare slack off under her watchful eye, lest she deem them useless and kick them out of the Imperial Court.
Indeed, she herself was exhausted, and others too were being driven mad by her.
She recalled that she’d never been one to enjoy work in the past. While she could never fully relax, most of her time was spent idly wandering outside. She’d play around all day, and when tired, she’d return home. But this was different. Since she arrived in the Royal Capital, she hadn’t the leisure time to stroll around its streets and alleys. The few times she left the palace, it was only to visit the Cui Family, Xie Residence, and Ye Xiang Residence.
"It’s up to you to tell her, look at her, knee-deep in court affairs, she’s become obsessed." The Nanchu King turned to Zhou Gu as Su Rong remained silent, thinking his previous attempts to convince her had failed.
Zhou Gu laughed and said to Su Rong, "Father is right, I’m also tired."
He took advantage of his maternal grandfather’s visit to the capital to laze around at the Cui’s for half a day, sleeping soundly with Cui Xingzhi. They were both more tired than the old man who had journeyed a month to reach Nanchu.
Was he always like this? No, even studying a book required Grand Tutor Qin to coax him by threatening.
Su Rong nodded, "Alright, we’ll halt court affairs for three days."
The Nanchu King glared, "You ungrateful girl, I spent half the day talking, and you agree just because Zhou Gu said one sentence. That’s too unfair."
Su Rong promptly replied, "No, you already persuaded me. I was just thinking about the feasibility, not because of his single sentence."
The Nanchu King snorted, not believing her words were true, and then said to Zhou Gu, "Fortunately, we have a wise son-in-law like you to keep her in check."
Zhou Gu laughed, "Without Father-in-law’s half day of persuasion, even my words would not have worked due to her stubbornness."
The father-in-law and son-in-law spoke appropriately, got along appropriately, and defended each other on a united front.
Su Rong watched the two of them, feeling left out more than once and wondering who was actually blood-related to Zhou Gu.
Thus, court affairs were halted for three days.
Once the news spread, all the court officials and civilians were shocked. They didn’t expect the diligent Princess to take a break. The ministers were thrilled and also heaved a sigh of relief, apprehensive that if this non-stop pace of work continued without rest, they would collapse.
A banquet was held in the palace. Officials of the sixth rank or above could bring their families to join the Princess’s birthday feast.
Cui Yanjin, thankfully sixth in rank, mentioned to Mister Cui, "My sister-in-law is so considerate. She made this decree, otherwise I would have to rely on my familial relationship with my cousin to attend her palace banquet."
Mister Cui laughed at him, "Have you prepared a birthday gift for the Princess? The family will prepare one gift, but you and Xingzhi need to prepare another separately."
Cui Yanjin slapped his forehead, "Oh no, I haven’t."
He was so busy every day, working constantly, whether in the Ministry of Works or studying at home, that he didn’t even realize it was his sister-in-law’s birthday.
Although Ye Xiang had announced to the court officials a month ago that it was the Princess’s birthday in a month’s time, and quite a few had secretly noted it down, waiting to give birthday gifts on the Princess’s birthday, it did not include people like Cui Yanjin who had completely dived into the Ministry of Works and studying.
He quickly asked Mister Cui for help, "Uncle, what gift should I give?"
Mister Cui shook his head, "The gift you give depends on you."
Cui Yanjin scratched his head, looking quite troubled, "But isn’t it too late now?"
"It’s not. The officials and their families will be arriving at the Royal Palace continuously tomorrow afternoon. Although it’s late today, you still have half a day tomorrow. There’s time for you to think about a gift." Mister Cui said.
Cui Yanjin nodded, "I’ll have to think hard about it."
He really liked his sister-in-law, much more than he liked his cousin. He felt that his cousin had many faults, all of which he had personally seen.
He earnestly said to Mister Cui, "Uncle, you must find an opportunity to talk to my cousin. He has become too proud due to my sister-in-law’s love for him. He gets angry and throws tantrums, relying on my sister-in-law’s affection. Even though she is a Princess, she is still a girl at heart. Not only does he not appease and indulge her, he wants her to appease and indulge him. As a grown man, he lacks a man’s generosity..."
Mister Cui: "..."
He was surprised, "Really?"
His grandson, although admittedly had a bad temper, shouldn’t be the kind of person who demonstrates conceit and rage peevishly, as described by his grandnephew.
"Absolutely."
Cui Yanjin told Mister Cui about several incidents where he had personally witnessed Zhou Gu getting angry with Su Rong, throwing tantrums, and sulking, assuring him, "I haven’t exaggerated at all. All is true and I witnessed it with my own eyes. I’ve advised my cousin several times, but he never listens. He always seems ready to hit me. Luckily my sister-in-law is always there to protect me, otherwise I would have been beaten by him."
Mister Cui stroked his beard, "I see, that’s totally unacceptable."
He nodded solemnly, "Good, I will find an opportunity to talk to him privately soon."
As Cui Yanjin saw that Mister Cui had taken his words seriously, he turned to muse over the gift.
After leaving, Mister Cui pondered. He hadn’t spent much time with his grandson. When he was little, his daughter brought him to the Cui family every two years for a brief stay of about ten days to half a month. Most of the time, Zhou Gu would complain about Grand Tutor Qin being too strict and then play with his cousins. He had never noticed Zhou Gu having a bad temper, of course, under the condition that no one provoked him.
The young ones in the Cui family naturally wouldn’t provoke him. He was the youngest son of Duke Residence, and read alongside the Crown Prince in the Eastern Palace. All the children in the Cui family would flock around him. Moreover, he was likeable and never caused any trouble which resulted in an unsightly situation.
At least, that’s how he remembered it.
But Cui Yanjin seemed so serious. His arguments contained facts and reason, which made Mister Cui take the issue seriously.
So, he pondered for a while and then found Xie Yuan whom he was now close with for some advice. Owing to science exams, they had been almost inseparable. They had moved from the initial formalities to having deeply congenial chats and become good friends who would go to any length for each other.
He asked Xie Yuan, "Does Zhou Gu have a very bad temper? Is he often angry with the Princess? Acting stubbornly and sulking?"
Xie Yuan was puzzled, "No."
Mister Cui immediately said, "Don’t cover up for him. If it’s true, you must tell me honestly."
Xie Yuan was baffled, "Mister Cui, who told you this?"
Mister Cui was also confused, "Looking at your reaction, it seems like it’s not true? Or did you also not know?"
Xie Yuan shook his head.
Mister Cui took a seat and was confused too. He asked Xie Yuan about the several instances of Zhou Gu becoming angry with Su Rong, throwing tantrums, sulking, etc., that Cui Yanjin had spoken of, and asked whether these incidents had really happened.
Upon hearing this, Xie Yuan burst into laughter, "Yes, they did happen. But, Mister Cui, you only know the outcome, not the preceding events."
As soon as Mister Cui heard this, he quickly said, "I’d like to hear more."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
