The full moon celebration of Chu An was set three days after Su Rong had completed her confinement.
Court officials and noble ladies gathered, congratulating the Little Princess on her full moon celebration.
Chu An, who had been born for just over forty days, was fair and tender, indeed living up to the beauty that the Grand Princess Shengan and others had spoken of.
Zhou Gu, worrying about Su Rong’s arms, held Chu An himself. The little one lay obediently and cleverly in his embrace, bringing him, as a father, both joy and love. Gone was the initial discomfort he felt at her birth, his face now full of smiles.
The congratulatory gifts from everyone were all extremely valuable, with the most conspicuous being from Zhang Yun, who brought two large carts of presents.
Ning Ze stretched out his hand to hit Zhang Yun, "Are you even human? Showing off how rich you are? Your gifts have overshadowed everyone else’s. When it comes to currying favor, I’m afraid no one in the Royal Capital can match you."
Zhang Yun raised his eyebrows proudly, "I am always meritorious, and the Princess’s rewards are generous. My warehouse at home can’t even hold them all. What can I do? I can only use them to win over the Little Princess."
Thinking about it, Ning Ze realized his punch was too light; he should have kicked him instead. Oh, to have such prowess and earn such rewards, impressive indeed.
Alright, he was truly impressive, and Ning Ze was not.
Especially since the Princess favored this fellow, and he gave face in return, displaying outstanding abilities. Every time the Princess rewarded him, it was by the cartload, making everyone else envious.
The list of Zhang Yun’s gifts was long, and it took nearly half an hour to finish reading.
Even Su Rong was amused and asked Zhang Yun, "Giving so much, do you expect me to return the favor double when you get married?"
Zhang Yun, with his arm around Zhou Gu’s shoulder, looked at Chu An in his arms and without lifting his head replied to her, "That’s right. Isn’t the Little Princess pretty? Would she consider a romance with a younger man in the future?"
Su Rong coughed.
Zhou Gu darkened his face, "Go away, she won’t accept any romance."
Was he even human? His daughter had just had her full month celebration, and he was already thinking about her.
Zhang Yun didn’t go away and reached out his finger to tease Chu An. She grabbed his finger with her chubby little hand, and his eyes opened wide in surprise, "Ah? She grabbed my hand, does that mean she agrees with what I said?"
Zhou Gu didn’t hesitate to burst his bubble, "Right now, she grabs anything, especially chicken legs and pork feet."
Zhang Yun: "..."
Ignoring Zhou Gu, he turned his head to ask Su Rong, "Princess, that maiden Yuewan by your side, I find her quite nice. Could you grant me her hand in marriage?"
Su Rong: "..."
Yuewan, who was skiving off to the side and watching the excitement: "..."
Before Su Rong could speak, Yuewan started jumping up and down, "Master Zhang, I have already planned to eat my mistress’s food, drink her drinks, and live under her roof without getting married."
Zhang Yun let go of Zhou Gu’s shoulder, stood up straight, and looked back at her with a corner of his lip raised in a smile, "Is eating, drinking, and living without working your greatest aspiration? To be raised for nothing by someone? I can offer you that as well."
Yuewan: "..."
"If I married you, you wouldn’t have to do anything, unlike now when you have to help the Princess manage the Royal Palace, which is so tiring. Look at you, you’ve gotten so thin from it. Right? When I first met you a year and a half ago, you had some meat on you, but now it’s all gone." Zhang Yun looked at the slender Yuewan, "Think about it, I really won’t make you do anything. The Princess and the Master of the Imperial are my witnesses. If I don’t keep my word later, you can kick me out and go back to the Royal Palace, okay?"
Yuewan: "..."
Could this really work?
She suddenly felt torn. Since she had arrived in Nanchu, she had indeed lost weight over time, not just naturally, but from fatigue. There were just too many affairs to manage in the Royal Palace. With Nanny Zhao getting older, wouldn’t she have to take on more work? Working non-stop, she became just like a maiden, busy from dawn to dusk, barely touching the ground with her feet. And now, with the Queen still around and about to leave the Royal Palace to establish her own residence, Shen Yi was initially supposed to come into the Palace to help the Little Princess, but his little Young Master had suffered too much in the womb, being far too frail. The Little Princess, feeling sorry for the child, changed her mind and didn’t let Shen Yi enter the Palace, telling her to take good care of the child instead. Wouldn’t that mean all the work would fall on her and Nanny Zhao? In other words, most of it would be hers.
Sigh, she had never thought that she would be so capable, to actually manage a nation’s Royal Palace. Although her monthly allowance of silver had increased manifold, it was truly exhausting.
"Look at me, don’t I also look pretty decent? You won’t be losing out if you marry me. You’re also good-looking, so the children we’d have would certainly be beautiful," Zhang Yun leaned closer to Yuewan, "Come on, let’s go have a chat."
He was such a clever man; seeing Yuewan struggling with her expression, he felt he might persuade her, so he took her by the hand and led her away.
Su Rong: "..."
When had this man taken a liking to her Yuewan? Out of all the fine maidens in Capital City, he had to set his sights on poaching from her corner. She could bestow anything from her Warehouse to him and wouldn’t mind how much, but giving Yuewan to him was something she truly found hard to part with.
Zhou Gu assessed Su Rong’s expression and whispered to her, "Nowadays, there are too many bachelors in the Court, which isn’t good for the governance and stability of the nation. Marrying one off is one less to worry about, right?"
Before Su Rong could speak, he continued to remind her, "Zhang Yun has indeed made considerable contributions to Nanchu and even had a life-saving grace toward the mother-in-law. You surely can’t just watch him remain a bachelor! Given his nature, he will probably charm Yuewan into his grasp regardless, and you wouldn’t want to be the villain who causes him to quit in a huff. The Ministry of War can’t do without him now."
He sighed, then added, "Although the Royal Palace can’t do without Yuewan right now, compared to the matters of the Court, that’s just trivial."
Su Rong was both annoyed and amused, "Alright, I know you’re taking his side. I’m not objecting; I just find it hard to let her go."
Zhou Gu whispered, "Even if Yuewan marries him, she can still visit you in the Palace often. It’s not as if she’s marrying off to a distant land. What’s there to be reluctant about?"
Su Rong reminded him, "Hold your daughter properly, don’t drop her."
Zhou Gu immediately said, "That’s impossible." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮
He looked down and saw the little girl in his arms well-behaved and quiet, and he mused, "She’s really so well-behaved. According to my mother-in-law, you weren’t this calm as a child."
Su Rong also looked at Chu An, "If she were truly well-behaved, she wouldn’t be reaching out and grabbing everything. It’s just that she can’t move much right now. Just you wait."
Zhou Gu clicked his tongue, "That’s perfect, wait for a week, and we’ll start teaching her martial arts together. If any bratty boy takes an interest, she can just beat him up herself."
Su Rong laughed heartily, "I didn’t hit you back then."
"You couldn’t beat me," Zhou Gu said defiantly, not forgetting that time when they raced horses and she cheated, and the events at Phoenix Mountain, when she wanted to go to Chen Zhou and he stopped her. They exchanged a few moves, and indeed, it had been an eye-opener for him.
Su Rong looked at him with a smile, "I’ll give you another chance to rephrase that."
Fourth Young Master Zhou’s Double-Handed Sword was famous throughout the land. Indeed, if it came to swords, she couldn’t beat him. But if it were about using poison, Golden Needles, or a variety of skills, she wasn’t necessarily at a disadvantage.
Zhou Gu cleared his throat softly and whispered, "Even if you could beat me, would you really be willing to hit me?"
Su Rong was amused into laughter.
Indeed, she couldn’t bear it, whether it was back then or now. He was her Achilles’ heel. Just seeing his face, she found herself unable to strike.
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