Zhou Gu was reflecting on the recent arrival of a letter from the Crown Prince, wondering when the Prince began to miss him so often, probably about the matter of finding that woman.
He received the letter from Zhou Xi, opened it, and found the letter to be quite concise. It conveyed two messages, one was that he had already taken action against Jiangzhou’s Inspector, Jiang Sheng, and the Inspector Residence would soon be penalized. The Crown Prince was planning on letting Governor Su Xu succeed Jiang Sheng as Inspector. Another message was that he had found the person he was looking for, so Zhou Gu didn’t need to continue the search.
Zhou Gu folded the letter, waved good-bye to Zhou Xi, who then withdrew.
Zhou Gu tucked the letter into his pocket. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to discuss Su Xu’s promotion with Su Rong. After all, it was a matter concerning the Su family’s interests so he said to Su Rong: "The Crown Prince was nearly assassinated here in Jiangzhou several months ago. He has been investigating who made the attempt and is now onto something pointing towards Jiang Sheng. Initially, the Crown Prince had not planned on moving against Jiang Sheng but now it is known that Jiang Sheng’s Inspector Residence and the Marquis Nanping Residence are set to form a marriage alliance. It is likely that Jiang Sheng offered the assassination of the Crown Prince as a pledge of his fealty to the Elder Brother Prince. Given this, it is time to act against Jiang Sheng. The Crown Prince has already taken action."
Su Rong blinked her eyes, "Attempting assassination on the Crown Prince is a great crime. It would warrant the execution of nine familial generations, right?"
Zhou Gu nodded, "Yes."
Su Rong sighed inwardly, thinking about how Jiang Sheng’s family had been wielding the power in Jiangzhou all these years, causing her father no end of difficulties. Now, their family was about to be annihilated, a true testament to the dangers of reckless allegiance.
She remembered Jiang Xing, and promptly asked: "Being a collateral branch of the Jiang family, Jiang Xing would also be implicated, right?"
Zhou Gu paused a moment, then nodded, "Yes."
Su Rong couldn’t bear it, "Jiang Xing is very talented, just like my older brother, and was also waiting to take the imperial exam this autumn. If this matter crops up now, not only will his future be ruined, but even his life wouldn’t be guaranteed..."
She suddenly felt that executing nine familial generations was too severe, "Can there be a lighter punishment?"
"It is unlikely. Assassinating the Crown Prince is a great crime. Moreover, amidst these multifaceted struggles, executing Jiang Sheng and his entire family serves to uphold the Crown Prince’s authority and deter those who intend to court favour with the Elder Brother Prince or second prince. One must not act rashly", Zhou Gu looked at Su Rong, "Do you feel pity for Jiang Xing?"
"It’s not that I pity him", Su Rong shook her head, feeling that his words were somewhat off-color, and corrected: "It’s just such a waste, his family keeps a low profile, his parents are benign in their everyday dealings, very different from Jiang Sheng’s family."
She looked at Zhou Gu, "Is there any way to save the Jiang Xing family?"
"You want to save them?" Zhou Gu asked.
"Yes, since I asked you, it means I want to help them", Su Rong replied with a nod.
Zhou Gu thought for a moment and said: "It’s not impossible, if they swear allegiance to the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince can justify their protection. They could publicly discredit their relative, revealing more of Jiang Sheng’s crimes, especially if they could provide proof of his collusion with others and dissociate from Jiang Sheng’s family."
After he finished, he continued, "However, the Crown Prince won’t accept just anyone, there must be reliable personnel to vouch for them."
"You," Su Rong looked at him, "Brother Zhou, you know Jiang Xing, what do you think of him? Can’t you see that it would be a great loss if he was implicated by Jiang Sheng?"
Zhou Gu now realized that when Su Rong needs him, she will call him ’Brother Zhou’, and when she doesn’t need him, she would call him by his name, ’Zhou Gu’. He nodded, "Jiang Xing is talented, and is of decent character."
This was indeed an affirmation of Jiang Xing’s character.
Su Rong watched him, "So..."
"The cooperation of Jiang Xing and his family is also needed", Zhou Gu continued, "The Crown Prince has already taken action, so if you want to save them, you need to act quickly. However, Jiang Sheng still doesn’t know, we must not leak any news, because once the word gets out, it might jeopardize the Crown Prince’s plans."
Su Rong straightened herself, "I will send someone to meet Jiang Xing privately to discuss. After all, it’s about saving his family’s lives. I’ll let him make the choice himself. If he agrees, it won’t be in vain for me to bother you, but if he feels obligated to Jiang Sheng’s family, then consider me having asked in vain."
After she finished, she promised Zhou Gu, "I assure you, I will keep a close eye on him and will not let him jeopardize the Crown Prince’s plans. Is that okay?"
She would also hope for Jiang Sheng’s family to fall from grace.
Zhou Gu agreed gladly, "Okay!"
Zhou Gu was not a petty man, though Jiang Xing was infatuated with his fiancé, he had never wronged Zhou Gu or done anything excessive. The least he did was silently suffer a few times and was seen by him. It didn’t matter.
To court a talented person to the Crown Prince’s side is to contribute a bit more to the state of Daliang.
So, Su Rong sent someone to call Jiang Xing, inviting him to have a meal of drunken goose at Drunken Goose Pavilion at noon.
Su Rong did not plan to involve Governor Su and Su Xingze. After all, this matter was of great importance, and Zhou Gu’s willingness to discuss it showed his trust. Even though Governor Su and Su Xingze would keep it to themselves, sometimes it was better to avoid unnecessary troubles and saving unnecessary talk. Moreover, the promotion was related to Governor Su. Su Rong felt that it was good for him to be promoted. These years, for her, he had been stationed in Jiangning, continuously being given a hard time by Jiang Sheng due to petty grievances. If he knew about his upcoming promotion, perhaps he would be reluctant to move and deemed it as well to stay as Jiangzhou was his turf and he would have rights as the Inspector of Jiangzhou. At least, in Jiangzhou, he wouldn’t need to put up with someone stepping on his head, and Jiangning was still under his jurisdiction.
After sending someone to relay a verbal message to Jiang Xing, Su Rong stood up and said to Zhou Gu, "Let’s go, we’ll wait for him at the Drunken Goose Pavilion."
Zhou Gu nodded, thinking that he would be able to rest all day in the house and did not expect to go out again. However, the drunken goose at Drunken Goose Pavilion was delicious, so he wasn’t reluctant to go.
The two left the residence together. Su Xingze quickly received the news, thinking that one indeed could not let Zhou Gu idle. Once he idled, Su Rong would accompany him.
When Su Rong and Zhou Gu arrived at the Drunken Goose Pavilion, they ordered a private room, and then sat waiting for Jiang Xing while drinking tea.
The private room faced the street. Zhou Gu sat by the window. With just a turn of his head, he could see the bustling crowd on the street. After drinking half a cup of tea, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a familiar figure, escorted by a group of people, walking down the street. He looked closer and found out it was someone he would recognize even if they turned to ashes.
Zhou Gu furrowed his eyebrows, muttering, "Why is he here in Jiangning?"
"Who?" asked Su Rong, leaning over to peer through the window. There were many people on the street. A man was being escorted by a group of people with their faces obscured, but they were all dressed in splendid attire, and the guards were well-armed, attracting attention as they passed through the street.
"Xie Lin."
"Who is Xie Lin?"
Zhou Gu turned to look at her, "The one I fought with."
Su Rong suddenly remembered, "Oh, you mean the young prince from Rui’an King residence. What is he doing here? Just passing by?"
Zhou Gu shook his head, "Who knows?"
"Is he here to pick a fight with you?" speculated Su Rong.
Zhou Gu scoffed, "He couldn’t beat me in the Capital City, so he thinks he can beat me here?"
Su Rong thought it seemed reasonable, and she said to him, "Jiangning is my territory. If he is here to pick a fight with you, as your future wife, I will certainly help you."
It suddenly occurred to Zhou Gu that before he left the capital, he happened to run into Xie Lin. At that time, he had bragged about his beautiful future wife just to keep face, and had secretly thought that since everyone looked down on his fiancee because of her low status, he also wanted to find a low-status fiancee for Xie Lin to prevent him from being ridiculed.
He paused for a moment, concealed his ill-intentions, and sincerely said to Su Rong, "Then you must protect me well." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
Su Rong: "..."
While they were talking, the group passed through the street.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xing opened the door to the private room. He had assumed that it was just Su Rong who had invited him. Upon seeing Zhou Gu sitting with her, he paused, composed himself from his rushed arrival, closed the door, and slowly entered the room. Bowing slightly in greeting, he said, "Brother Zhou, Miss Seven."
Zhou Gu smiled slightly, "Brother Jiang."
These days, Zhou Gu had become well acquainted with Jiang Xing and others, thanks to Su Xingze. Due to Zhou Gu’s amiable demeanor and impressive scholarship, he had won people’s admiration and had gradually begun addressing each other as brothers.
Sitting down, Jiang Xing asked with confusion, "Does Brother Zhou have something to discuss with me?"
"Not me," Zhou Gu shook his head, "I’m just accompanying Little Seven."
Jiang Xing was taken aback. He knew that the people of the Su Family called Su Rong ’Little Seven’. This was the first time he had heard an outsider like Zhou Gu refer to Su Rong this way. He faltered for a moment but quickly realized that, Zhou Gu, being Su Rong’s betrothed, wasn’t an outsider anymore.
Su Rong was also taken aback. Zhou Gu usually called her by her name. Now suddenly calling her ’Little Seven’, even she hadn’t responded quickly enough. She glanced at Zhou Gu, he seemed quite nonchalant about it, as if he had said it naturally and offhandedly. She suppressed the slight stirrings in her heart and nodded at Jiang Xing, "Yes, I have something to discuss with you."
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