The front hall and its surroundings were already filled with people who had come to watch the ceremony that day. Apart from the Su family relatives and the grand madam’s maternal family, there were also ladies from various residences of Jiangning, as well as renowned scholars and intellectuals from Jiangzhou.
As Su Rong stepped into the front courtyard, the dense crowd dazzled her. She paused for a moment, then turned her head to look at the wet nurse, Madam Wang.
Madam Wang said in a low voice cheerfully, "The master and the mistress, as well as the young master and all the ladies of the residence, have sent out invitations to those close to them. Yes, many people have come, but the master and mistress say that the more, the merrier." Seeing Su Rong’s stiff face, Madam Wang quickly added, "You are the youngest lady in our residence. This is the last coming-of-age ceremony in our residence. Everyone says it can be celebrated grandly. The mistress has said that you don’t have to do anything today. After the ceremony, you just need to follow her to meet everyone, and then return to rest."
Su Rong breathed a sigh of relief, thinking this acceptable. She had just been about to turn back and retreat.
The gathering outside the hall was all younger generations. When they saw Su Rong, all eyes turned to her, many revealing expressions of marvel.
To her surprise, amidst the crowd, Su Rong spotted Chen Zhou. She really wanted to glare at him, but with so many people watching her, she could only avert her gaze and walk into the front hall as if nothing had happened.
Inside the hall, gathered were those of blood-relation, those respected and esteemed, as well as those of high status, such as Xie Lin, who happened to be visiting from Jiangning County and was also seated there.
Su Rong immediately caught sight of Zhou Gu. He was wearing a new outfit tailored by Brocade Pavilion, a lake blue cloud-patterned brocade, opulent and colorful, resembling clouds at dawn. When worn on him, it was exceptionally striking. He sat there with Su Xingze and Xie Lin, standing out strikingly among all the guests.
Su Rong was almost blinded by the sight of him, thinking that any colorful clothes would look exceedingly good on him.
Forcing her gaze away, she scanned the room again and saw Inspector Jiang Sheng and Mrs. Jiang of Jiangzhou. The imperial decree to prosecute Jiang Sheng hadn’t arrived in Jiangzhou yet, so he didn’t realize that a disaster was imminent and was sitting here with unwavering stability.
Su Rong thought that was good too, given his attendance, he was bound to bring a substantial gift. Last time, Zhou Gu didn’t accept his gift, but now, under the guise of her coming-of-age ceremony, she could legitimately accept all his generous gifts, without anyone being able to fault her.
Everyone was talking when Su Rong arrived. When they saw her, they fell silent.
Everywhere in Jiangning, people knew that Lady Su Qi of the Governor’s residence was beautiful. However, since childhood, Su Rong never cared about dressing up and often ended up in trouble or fights. Most of the time, she either had a bruise here or a wound there. So, despite her good color, no one thought her unbeatable until today. When she slowly walked into the hall, her slim waist swaying delicately, her face clear and bright, she looked as resplendent as the sun and moon combined, her beauty was thrilling and took everyone’s breath away.
Xie Lin held his breath, nudging Zhou Gu with a small gesture.
Zhou Gu’s eyes narrowed slightly, turning his head to look at Xie Lin.
Xie Lin leaned in closer to Zhou Gu and whispered, "Is this Lady Su Qi? Your fiancée? Am I right?"
Zhou Gu gave Xie Lin a blank look, then turned his gaze back to Su Rong, furrowed his eyebrows slightly and thought she was too flashy. Once the ceremony was over, he’d make her change this outfit and wash off the makeup on her face. A young lady should be natural and fresh. Why the need for cosmetics?
"What’s wrong? From the look on your face, it seems you don’t recognize her either?" Xie Lin spoke softly again.
Finally, Zhou Gu spoke in a low voice, answering him, "Shut up."
Xie Lin shut his mouth, thinking Zhou Gu was indeed lucky. If he had such a fiancée... No, he still liked Qin Luan.
The grand madam also stared for a moment before coming back to her senses. Laughing, she walked closer to Su Rong, giving introductions to everyone. To the side, Governor Xie, with a satisfied smile, seemed to see Yan Ruzhen through Su Rong. Once upon a time, there was a girl whose every frown and smile were endearing. Unfortunately, her fragrance had faded, her spirit had gone to who knows where. Her daughter, now a grown woman, had not failed her entrusted hope.
The grand madam asked a respected elderly lady from the family, Madam Shiquan, to preside over the adornment ceremony for Su Rong. Su Rong quietly allowed herself to be arranged while listening to the blessings.
Near the completion of the ceremony, Zhou Gu suddenly stood up, holding a peachwood hairpin in his hand. He walked to Su Rong and asked the grand madam, "Auntie, may I present this item to Xiao Qi?"
The grand madam looked at the peachwood hairpin in Zhou Gu’s hand. It was not gold, nor silver, jade, pearl, agate, or jadeite, but a rudimentary wooden hairpin with seemingly lackluster craftsmanship. However, she realized that it must have been carved by Zhou Gu himself; otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken it out to give to Su Rong at a time like this. Suddenly, she smiled joyfully, "Of course you can."
Zhou Gu, holding the peachwood hairpin, bent over close to Su Rong. He stared at her hair for a while, then slowly inserted the hairpin into her hair, his voice soft, "I wish Lady Su Qi a smooth life, all wishes fulfilled, all thoughts satisfied, blessed and long-lasting, peace every year."
Su Rong turned her head to look at Zhou Gu, feeling infinitely surprised yet brimming with joy inside.
She moistened her lips slightly, her voice also soft, "Good! I also wish for myself, as you wish."
Once the coming-of-age ceremony concluded, someone among the guests cheered aloud, and all at once, the hall and its surroundings became lively, filled with a celebratory atmosphere.
Su Rong was dragged by the grand madam to socialize for a while. When everyone was settled and waiting for the banquet to begin, the grand madam finally let Su Rong go.
Su Rong immediately left the hall and returned to her courtyard.
She had not gone far when Zhou Gu caught up with her. Su Rong turned her head and saw Zhou Gu. Before she could open her mouth, Zhou Gu said, "I’ll walk you back."
Su Rong nodded, reached out to touch the hairpin, then turned to Zhou Gu with a smile and asked, "This hairpin...?"
Zhou Gu looked momentarily flustered, but answered nonetheless, "Peachwood wards off evil spirits."
Su Rong chuckled, "I’m not asking about that. I wanted to know if you carved this hairpin yourself?"
Zhou Gu nodded, "This is my first time carving such an object. It’s far from perfect, so bear with it for now."
Su Rong blinked, "Are you saying you’ll carve a better one for me in the future?"
Zhou Gu paused before replying, "Yes, when I have a better one, I’ll replace it."
Su Rong wanted to say, "Even if you carve a better one, I won’t exchange it." But she was afraid that if she said it, she wouldn’t see a better one in the future. So she nodded, "Alright, I’ll wait for you to bring me a better one."
Zhou Gu nodded in agreement.
Su Rong glanced back at the bustling courtyard behind her, "You don’t need to escort me. The feast is about to begin, and as an honored guest, you should stay and dine in the front courtyard."
Zhou Gu shook his head, "I’ll take you back."
"Even if you take me back, my father will send someone to invite you over later." Su Rong knew that at least half of the people present were actually there for Zhou Gu and Xie Lin. This was a rare opportunity for many officials from Jiangzhou to curry favor with the Duke Residence and the Rui’an King’s Residence.
"I will delay it as long as possible." Before the Coming-of-age Ceremony, Zhou Gu had already been approached and surrounded several times. Now with Su Rong as his excuse to escape, he thought it was a good idea to hide for a while. Although he didn’t mind interacting with people, he was also tired of dealing with so many people.
Su Rong laughed, "Then young master Xie will have a hard time."
"He deserves it!"
After accompanying Su Rong back to the eastern wing, Zhou Gu settled comfortably into the quiet parlor and away from the noise.
When he saw Su Rong preparing to pour him a cup of tea, he stopped her, "I can do it myself. You go change your clothes and wash off the makeup on your face."
Su Rong was startled, "Why?"
This outfit and makeup, after all, were the results of a painstaking one and a half units of time spent by her servants in the morning.
Zhou Gu would naturally not say, "Too flashy. Too many people stared at your face and body. I don’t like it." Instead, he asked her in a casual tone, "Does it feel comfortable to wear it and keep the makeup untouched?"
Su Rong quickly handed him the teapot, teacup, and tea leaves, "Uncomfortable. I’ll go and change now."
Without further ado, she decisively turned and went into her inner chamber.
Zhou Gu was satisfied and leisurely brewed his own tea.
Upon returning to the eastern wing, Yuewan entered the parlor and saw Zhou Gu, "Young Master Zhou, where is my mistress?"
"She’s gone inside to change."
Yuewan was astonished and rushed into the inner chamber, exclaiming to Su Rong who was washing her face, "Good heavens, mistress, why did you wash it off so quickly? It was so beautiful, I hadn’t gotten my fill of it."
Su Rong didn’t pause in her washing, soiling a whole basin of fresh water, and instructed Yuewan with her eyes closed, "Go fetch another basin of water."
Pouting, Yuewan showed her discontent, "Why did you wash it off? This makeup took wet nurse Zhao a lot of effort to create. It’s barely been half a unit of time since you put it on, what a waste."
"Hurry up!" Su Rong urged her.
Yuewan voiced her irritation, "I don’t want to."
Su Rong reached out her wet hand to pinch her face, "I’ve already washed it off anyway, you should’ve come back earlier."
To dodge Su Rong’s wet hand, Yuewan promptly stepped aside and grumbled. She left to fetch the water, but couldn’t resist complaining when she saw Zhou Gu again, "Young Master Zhou, why didn’t you stop my mistress? The makeup looked so good on her, it’s a shame it was washed off."
Zhou Gu was unyielding, showing no guilt, "It did look good."
He didn’t mention at all that it was him who suggested washing off.
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