Old Minister of Rites, Zhang Lixin, finally found a moment’s peace during the three-day observance of the princess’s birth and planned to spend these three days at home doing nothing. After all, he had been busy for so long and was thoroughly drained.
To his surprise, his granddaughter came home crying, saying she had offended the princess. He was startled and quickly asked what had happened.
Zhang Xiyun explained between sobs and Zhang Lixin sighed in relief, "So that’s what happened."
He wore a stern face, "As a lady of gentle birth, how can you act so recklessly? Charging around the streets, shouting and yelling; is that appropriate behavior?"
"Grandfather..." Zhang Xiyun knew she was wrong.
Zhang Lixin replied grumpily, "If Master Feng shirks you like a plague, you shouldn’t bother him anymore."
"I didn’t bother him. I was genuinely happy to see him and just wanted to speak to him. Who knew that as soon as I opened my mouth, he would run off?" Zhang Xiyun felt very wronged. She didn’t think of herself as a wilful girl. She might be a little spoiled, but she certainly wasn’t to the point where people would be scared off at the sight of her.
Zhang Lixin sighed, looking at his granddaughter. He couldn’t bear to scold her, "Don’t worry! The princess won’t hold this small matter against you. But Master Feng is unique. He was originally a shadow guard of the princess and always addressed her as sister. He was seen by the princess as a brother, and when he entered the court as an official, he didn’t lose to the princess’s husband in talent or capability. He is a very sharp sword in the princess’s hand and the trust the princess places in him is equal to that in her husband. Think about it, how many people want to marry such a man? And how prudent should the princess be about his marriage? Your eyesight is good, keeping an early eye on him, and as your grandfather, I don’t oppose your youthful admiration. But you must be careful about your methods. Running around on the streets, yelling at the top of your lungs, isn’t that the wrong way to do things? Don’t you think you would scare people away?"
Zhang Xiyun was full of regret, "At that moment, I only saw him, I didn’t notice anyone else."
Who knew that the people in front of her were the King, the princess, and her husband? Otherwise, she couldn’t have been forced to shout at them.
"Alright, I have already asked the princess’s husband to look into it. You had been reckless today. Go back and copy a scripture for your punishment. This will help to calm your mind. And from now on, stay indoors for a month." Zhang Lixin waved her off.
Zhang Xiyun obediently accepted the punishment, nodded, and went back to reflect on her actions.
Upon her departure, Zhang Lixin sighed, thinking to himself that her regrets might be for the best. He decided to take the opportunity to personally plead with the princess on her behalf and see how she feels about it, for his little granddaughter he had pampered from a young age. More so, he also had a favourable impression of Feng Ling.
Feng Ling hid from Zhang Xiyun and reappeared after she had left, rejoining Su Rong and others.
Su Rong looked at him and laughed, "Was that necessary?"
Feng Ling scratched his head, "Sister, I don’t want to get married. I can’t give people hope, right?"
"She’s a beautiful young girl. Starting from today, you should think about settling down. Even if you meet other people, don’t hide. It’s disgraceful."
Feng Ling touched his nose, "This doesn’t seem too disgraceful, does it?"
Su Rong didn’t back down, "You shouldn’t learn from Yuewan. Her life’s dream is to live off me. I wouldn’t want to take on more like her."
Feng Ling’s mouth twitched. He felt that learning from Yuewan might not be so bad.
After wandering around for more than half a day, they enjoyed the famous Hibiscus roast chicken for lunch in the Royal Capital. By evening, the group went to the Xie Residence for dinner.
Upon seeing Zhou Gu, Cui Yanjin bared his teeth, reminding one of a little lion with its hackles raised. But he didn’t dare confront him aggressively and instead hid behind Mister Cui, still baring his teeth.
Mister Cui was amused and asked Zhou Gu, "You’re already so grown-up, why do you bully Yanjin?"
Zhou Gu retorted unhappily, "Grandfather, he is the one bullying me."
Cui Yanjin fought back, "Cousin, be reasonable. I gifted the bride something that she liked. Is that my fault? It can only mean that you didn’t give her a better gift."
Zhou Gu "hmm" coldly, "You are giving away your mother’s things and you still feel so right about it?"
Cui Yanjin responded confidently, "It was my mother who willingly gave it to me to gift it to my cousin’s bride."
Zhou Gu couldn’t be bothered to argue any further.
Mister Cui laughed and told Zhou Gu, "Your temper really needs to be kept in check. Don’t blame Yanjin for making fun of you."
Zhou Gu turned to Su Rong, "Look, they’re all siding with this spoilt brat."
He deliberately rubbed his wrist, "My hand is still sore and aching now. How should this be settled?"
Su Rong immediately developed a conscience, hurriedly saying, "Grandfather, I think Zhou Gu’s temper is quite good, you should stop blaming him. What’s the use of a stable princess consort?" then she quickly tried to mediate, "My little cousin is also excellent, I really liked his gift."
Mister Cui helplessly but happily shook his head, "Fine!"
Cui Yanjin mumbled quietly, "Cousin behaves like this because cousin’s bride spoils him."
Cui Xingzhi pulled him aside and whispered, "Could you be quiet for a little while? Haven’t you offended cousin enough yet? Watch out or even cousin’s bride won’t protect you any more."
Cui Yanjin sighed, "Ah, my cousin doesn’t take my advice, and cousin’s bride spoils my cousin. I’m stuck."
Cui Xingzhi: "..."
Such a young age and already worrying so much. Take care you don’t age too early, young cousin.
On the third day, the princess and Zhou Gu rode out of the city, while Feng Ling, Ziye, and the shadow guards followed behind. That day, the King of Nanchu didn’t join them, letting them go and have fun by themselves.
The two of them rode to a hillside and saw peach trees all over the mountain. The tiny peaches were just budding and hadn’t grown much. However, the sight of the trees filling up with peaches made for quite a pleasing view.
Out of nowhere, Zhou Gu said wistfully, "I heard that Ye Guixue planted a ten-mile peach orchard for you so that you could admire the peach blossoms in spring and eat peaches in autumn."
Su Rong coughed slightly, "How did you find out about that?"
"It was mentioned by my father-in-law during our escape from the covert soldiers of the Nangong Family," responded Zhou Gu. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Su Rong thought to herself that her father sure liked to share everything with Zhou Gu. She smiled and comforted him, "Wait until autumn and ask Guixue to send some extra peaches to the palace. We can eat them together."
Before they knew it, the three days had passed, and the court officials resumed their work.
Good news came from the border. Zhang Yun asked for instructions on who should stay at the border to guard and who should return to the royal capital as the peace negotiations with Dawei had been completed.
When the official report got to Su Rong, she immediately wrote back, appointing Cheng Yun as the commander to defend the north with one hundred thousand troops to guard the border with Dawei. The remaining troops were to return to the capital.
When Cheng Yun received Su Rong’s directive at the border, he was surprised. He hadn’t expected such an important appointment to be given to him. He was somewhat excited. Although he’d always considered himself as having little to do with the princess, he never anticipated that she would trust and rely on him so much.
Zhang Yun patted Cheng Yun’s shoulder, "You are a person trusted by the king and naturally, you are also trusted by the princess. You were able to keep the secret of the fifty thousand troops from Nangong Family. With such a key task given to you, the princess must feel safe. Brother Cheng, please don’t disappoint the princess’s trust."
Cheng Yun nodded firmly, "Brother Zhang Yun, rest assured. I will certainly not let down the princess’ trust."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
