Nangong Zheng had no rebuttal; they had followed Crown Prince Yuan Zhao of Great Wei in his defeat and retreat from Dawei. Although the Crown Prince cherished his trust in Yuan Zhao, indeed, within the Capital City of Great Wei, where noble families stood tall, the people of the Nangong Family did not have an easy time and suffered much ostracism.
He said softly, "After arriving in the Dawei, my great-grandmother clenched her teeth and endured, only to fall ill later. She still hasn’t recovered."
Nangong Xin remained silent.
Nangong Zheng looked at her, "Actually, my great-grandmother didn’t want to leave Nanchu, but there was no choice at the time. When she was delirious with illness, she mentioned you, my great-aunt. She asked me to go to the Royal Palace and call you back to the Residence. She misses you, wondering why she hasn’t seen you for so long."
Nangong Xin took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her eyes, "When I saw them off from the Royal Capital, I had resolved that I wouldn’t see them ever again in this life. My mother has become quite sturdy; at her age, it would have been strange if she made it through the journey to Dawei unscathed."
Nangong Zheng said, "Great-aunt, listening to you, I think I know what I should do now."
Nangong Xin sighed, "You are a good child. Originally, I thought you would resolutely never look back, but unexpectedly, you consider the Nangong Family even more than I assumed."
Nangong Zheng, feeling helpless, let out a long breath, "I don’t want to go back either, but if I don’t consider the Nangong Family or the future of the young and old, should I really just wait with the direct descendants for the day Dawei destroys us?"
He shook his head, "Knowing full well that it’s a dead end ahead, just as you said, great-aunt, why should I? I can face death without fear, but what about the future of my younger brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces? They are still so young."
"Yes, they are still so young," Nangong Xin said with heartfelt pain, "You’ve had it hard, Zheng’er."
Nangong Zheng shook his head; he was indeed going through hardship, but compared to the relatives who were now living in Dawei, struggling to survive in a world of exclusion by other noble families, he was not the one who suffered the most. At least, he was revered by the Crown Prince and although the Crown Prince’s prestige wasn’t what it used to be, he was still the heir apparent, the Crown Prince, the hope for the future of Dawei, his status unchangeable. Even though he faced some ostracism, he could fight back, unlike the other clan members, who were facing a much steeper decline.
Su Rong and Zhou Gu left the private room and took a walk on the street.
She carried the Phoenix Lamp that Zhou Gu had won for her by solving riddles, very fond of it, looking it over from left to right, not tired of playing with it, she tugged at Zhou Gu’s sleeve and said, "I want to know, who made this lamp?"
She wanted a cartful.
Zhou Gu turned and called someone, "Ziye!"
"Young Master." Ziye had been following them, and upon hearing the call, he came forward.
Zhou Gu instructed him, "Later, look into who made this lamp."
Ziye scratched his head, agreeing.
He had thought that the Young Master was calling him to deploy some strategy regarding Nangong Zheng, but it turned out to be just to find out who had made this lamp?
Su Rong tilted her head and smiled at Zhou Gu, thrusting the lamp into his hands, and hugged his arm, "Zhou Gu, you are really good to me."
Zhou Gu walked forward with her, his voice containing a smile, "What’s this? It’s just a small matter. The Princess has entrusted her whole life to me; I should do even better."
Su Rong, happily walking arm in arm with him, expressed her thoughts, "I never thought that Nangong Zheng would actually consider retracing his steps."
Prior to meeting Nangong Zheng today, Zhou Gu hadn’t expected it either, but now, after seeing him and giving it some careful thought, he understood, "We were wrong; we thought that for Nangong Yin’s revenge, he would be resolute and never look back, but we didn’t consider the entire Nangong Clan, with its young and old. Now he is the pillar of the Nangong Family, and he must be responsible for their future. To bring about the downfall of his clan is easy, nearly in the blink of an eye, but to flourish and prosper a family requires the efforts of numerous generations. In Dawei, he sees no future, thus for the sake of his clan, he is forced to reluctantly look back."
He smiled, looking at Su Rong, "You also have capability, Your Highness. Your grace and authority have earned the admiration and trust of all in Nanchu. Even the remotely related branches of the Nangong Family regularly engage with society without becoming involved in conflicts. Your broad-mindedness and impartiality in employing talented individuals, and Yuan Zhao is no match for you. Nangong Zheng is extremely intelligent; he has observed Yuan Zhao’s actions and compared them to yours. He must have struggled for a long time before deciding to take advantage of the New Year, trying to dodge Yuan Zhao and return to Nanchu."
Su Rong nodded, "He is indeed doing it for all the living members of the Nangong Clan. At such a young age, he thinks deeply and far ahead, he can be adaptable, advance or retreat, a rare quality. Regardless of whether he resolves to lead the Nangong Clan back or struggles and then gives up, history will remember his contribution."
Although she wasn’t exactly desperate for virtue, if Nangong Zheng were to cast aside his hatred and turn back to her, she was ready to open her heart wide and welcome him back. She couldn’t possibly shut him out.
As the pair strolled leisurely and chatted softly, whenever they came across a delicacy that Su Rong liked, Zhou Gu would preemptively hand over silver and purchase it without her needing to say a word.
Suddenly, Su Rong asked, "What about the hairpin you gave me for my Coming-of-age Ceremony?"
Zhou Gu replied irritably, "I threw it away."
He was still annoyed when he remembered how she had returned the hairpin he had given her for her Coming-of-age Ceremony, almost giving him a fit of rage back then. Especially since, later on, he heard she had specially made another hairpin to give to Ye Guixue as a betrothal gift, and in his anger, he had thrown that hairpin away.
Su Rong turned her head to look at him, "Really threw it away?"
"Threw it away," he reiterated. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
Su Rong sighed, "I did give that hairpin back to you initially. Later, when Ye Guixue left the Capital, I asked for the specially crafted hairpin, which was a promise for our marriage, back from him and had it shattered to pieces—the fragments were even scattered by the wind. Now, I don’t have any beautiful hairpins to wear."
Zhou Gu almost rolled his eyes at her. What did she mean by not having any hairpins to wear? Her collection of jewelry was too numerous to count.
Su Rong tugged at his sleeve and shook his arm, "Will you make another one for me, please?"
"I won’t make it."
Su Rong pleaded, "I’ll take good care of it and even pass it on to our daughter in the future."
Zhou Gu looked at his arm, which she was about to shake off, "Didn’t you dislike it?"
"I liked it," she insisted.
Su Rong gazed at him earnestly, "I really liked it very much; I was actually heartbroken when I gave it back to you."
Although her claim was a bit exaggerated, she indeed felt reluctance and discomfort at the time—it was like trying to make a clean cut, quick but also self-harming.
"You’re such a good husband," Su Rong continued to beg, shamelessly whispering, "If you agree, tonight, you can do whatever you like."
Zhou Gu, who had been on the verge of agreeing, instantly nodded at her words, "Okay."
Su Rong looked at him.
Zhou Gu reached out to ruffle her hair, then pinched her cheek, took her hand, and continued walking forward, telling her, "I never threw that hairpin away. I’ve always thought, one day, I’d put it back on you."
Touching her face, Su Rong asked him, "After so long, why haven’t I seen you take it out?"
Zhou Gu snorted softly, "After arriving in Nanchu, I found that you had so many beautiful things—do you even care about my crude hairpin?"
It was because it no longer seemed good enough to him.
Realization dawned on Su Rong, and she smiled sweetly at him, "Give it to me when we get back."
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