Zhou Gu turned his head and called out to Cui Yanjin, "Come over here."
Cui Yanjin stood still, "I’m not coming over."
Zhou Gu raised his eyebrows, "Scared?"
"Who’s scared?" Cui Yanjin instantly puffed out his chest, thrust back his head and said, "Today is my sister-in-law’s birthday, and I do not want to dirty my clothes."
"It’s just an outfit, you can change if it gets dirty," Zhou Gu eyed him. He had long wanted to find an opportunity to teach him a lesson.
Cui Yanjin quickly replied, "That’s not acceptable. This is not an ordinary outfit. After I arrived in the royal capital, my sister-in-law specifically ordered the Imperial Clothing Bureau to create it for me. It’s worth a thousand pieces of gold and cannot be purchased anywhere else. I only have two of these."
Zhou Gu, unaware of this, narrowed his eyes at him, "When did she order the Imperial Clothing Bureau to make clothes for you?"
"Just after my sister-in-law had just returned to the capital, when she was extremely busy. She was concerned that I was alone and unattended so she specially took care of it." Cui Yanjin looked at him triumphantly, "My sister-in-law is particularly nice to me, so don’t be too jealous, brother."
Zhou Gu gnashed his teeth, "Come over here."
"No, I’m going to deliver the birthday present to my sister-in-law." Cui Yanjin turned on his heels and ran. He feared that if he didn’t run now, he wouldn’t be able to escape later.
Zhou Gu watched the retreating figure of Cui Yanjin and threatened, "Just you wait."
There will be a day when he would straighten him out.
All the young men in Cui Family watched in astonishment as Cui Yanjin ran off. He was the first one to dare to poke needles into his brother like this. Previously, they hadn’t realized he was so capable to provoke his brother, was he relying on the Princess now?
Indeed, who could be more favored than Cui Yanjin nowadays?
Zhou Gu turned his head and glared at Cui Xingzhi, "Do you have that?"
Cui Xingzhi coughed lightly, "I don’t."
Zhou Gu looked at him expressionlessly.
Cui Xingzhi quickly responded, "Brother, I have been busy with the Ministry of Housing since my return to the capital. I have been under your eyes all this time, how could you not know if I have it? Unlike Yanjin, I am a few years older than him and the Princess does not favor me."
Zhou Gu swept back his gaze, "This Cui Yanjin, is specially here to provoke me."
Having spoken, he hastily turned back, "He just said he was going to give the Princess a gift. What is it? Do you know?"
Cui Xingzhi shook his head, "I don’t know, he’s been very secretive."
Zhou Gu grew frustrated with the game, dropped the things and left, "I will find out what he gave."
As he declared his leave, he abandoned his cousins and followed Cui Yanjin.
Cui Xingzhi laughed amidst his sighs.
Someone came closer to Cui Xingzhi and in a low voice asked, "Cousin, what’s going on between Little Yanjin and our cousin?"
Cui Xingzhi laughed, "Yanjin always irritates our cousin. Initially, it was because our cousin lost his temper at his wife, which Yanjin happened to witness, which scared him. Then, he happened to witness our cousin lose his temper at his wife again. Consequently, even if there are reasons for our cousin’s temper, he deeply believes our cousin has a bad temper. So he started to nag our cousin to change his ways. After a while, our cousin got annoyed by his preaching and wished he could kick him back to Qinghe."
"But now... it seems like there is more to it." That person remarked.
Cui Xingzhi nodded, "Our cousin feels that Yanjin deserves to be beaten, Yanjin feels our cousin has not changed despite multiple teachings."
This person sighed, "Daring to pluck a whisker from a tiger’s head, only Little Yanjin dares."
Cui Xingzhi laughed, "Because indeed, the Princess is protecting him."
Zhou Gu failed to catch up with Cui Yanjin. Half way, he was blocked by Bi Qing and Chu Duan.
Bi Qing greeted, "Fourth Young Master, this is Chu Duan, son of the Fulu Clan, a member of the royal family. The Princess ordered me to bring him to you for instruction and evaluation, to see if there’s a chance of him succeeding in the scholarly examination."
Some who were close to Su Rong continued to address Zhou Gu by his old title, disregarding the fact he was now the Princess’ husband.
Chu Duan saluted him. In front of Zhou Gu, unlike when he was in front of Su Rong, he appeared somewhat nervous. "Greetings, the Princess’s husband."
Zhou Gu paused and examined Chu Duan, "I know of the Fulu Residence. Your great-grandfather once wrote an article that was circulated in Daliang. When I served in the Eastern Palace as a companion reader, Grand Tutor Qin used it as a reference for the Crown Prince and I. He held it in the highest esteem in his reviews."
Chu Duan was startled, "Are you speaking of my great grandfather’s ’The Ode to Forget Worries’?"
"Correct. It’s a pity that your grandfather and father didn’t inherit his literary talent." Zhou Gu replied.
Chu Duan simply replied "Hmm", and his tension eased significantly. "I’ve been reading the books left by my grandfather since I was a child, but due to a family tragedy, there are a limited number of books left in our household."
"There were a lot of royal relatives who visited today and for her to send you to me, you must have some special talent." Zhou Gu looked back at Chu Duan. Seeing that his few words managed to ease most of Chu Duan’s anxiety, he smiled. "Uncle Xie is well-learned in both ancient and modern knowledge, and he has collected works of various talents from all over the world. If you can pass this test, I will help you find Uncle Xie, and request your great grandfather’s book manuscript for you."
Hearing this, Chu Duan was instantly invigorated.
Looking at Zhou Gu, he seemed slightly excited, "I will give it my all. Thank you, the Princess’s husband."
Zhou Gu waved his hand, "No need to thank me. If you pass my test, it will be entirely due to your own talent."
After speaking, he led Chu Duan to his own study.
Cui Yanjin ran all the way to Su Rong, glanced back to ensure no one was following him, breathed a sigh of relief, tidied his robe, and instructed someone to announce his visit to Su Rong.
Su Rong paused in her conversation and laughed, inviting Cui Yanjin into the hall.
Cui Yanjin carried two brocade boxes from servant’s hands, received Su Rong’s blessing, and seriously gave his respects, "Sister-in-law, I am here to offer my congratulations. I wish you to be free from all illnesses, to enjoy wealth and prosperity, to celebrate this day annually, and to have endless joyful mornings."
Su Rong laughed, "Thank you, little cousin. Why are you holding two boxes?"
"Both are for you." Cui Yanjin passed the two boxes to her.
Su Rong stood up, personally walked over to him, and received the gifts herself. "Both are for me? Thank you, little cousin. What is it? Can I open it now?" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
She was very curious.
"Yes."
Su Rong handed one of the boxes to Lan Zhi who was standing beside her, and opened one of them, revealing a twelve-bone fan. It was very beautiful. She nodded and praised, "It’s a beautiful fan."
"It’s more than just a fan, it’s a weapon. It hides six flying daggers inside. It can be used to fan yourself, but also to defend yourself." Cui Yanjin explained to Su Rong.
Su Rong was surprised and delighted, "It’s actually a weapon. I didn’t notice that."
She reached out her hand and picked up the fan. She quickly found the mechanism, however, considering there were many people around she didn’t test it. Instead, she held it in her hand and played with it, clearly fond of the item, "Where did you get such a delicate weapon? It must not have been easy to acquire."
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