Chapter 9 Maintenance

Xie Lin and Zhou Gu walked side by side. After a good moment of stunned silence, Xie Lin continuously observed Zhou Gu, trying to recall any aristocratic family in Jiangning County. However, after lengthy pondering, he still drew a blank.

Taking the initiative to talk to Zhou Gu, he asked, "Hey, is the marriage arranged by your grandfather really in Jiangning? Which family is it?"

Zhou Gu didn't want to tell him, but he figured that even if he didn't, Xie Lin would probably find out anyway. So, he pretended to be very open about it and said, "It's the seventh daughter from the governor's residence in Jiangning."

"The governor of Jiangning, Su Xu? Doesn't he only have one legitimate son and no legitimate daughters?" Xie Lin was even more shocked.

"Yes, indeed. The one I'm engaged to is the seventh daughter born to his concubine," replied Zhou Gu, trying to keep a calm face though his insides were tight with worry.

Xie Lin was shocked. "What? A daughter of a concubine from the governor's residence?"

"What's wrong with a daughter of a concubine?" Zhou Gu could mock himself, but he couldn't stand being mocked by others, especially not by Xie Lin. With a stern face, he defended. "As the saying goes, a hero is not asked about his origin. My fiancee has a good character, she's kind-hearted, and pretty. Do these not matter because of her low birth?"

Xie Lin: "..."

He stared at Zhou Gu in disbelief, "Are you out of your mind?"

His fiancee was a daughter of a concubine, and yet he seemed not just willing but also very defensive of her? He was, after all, the respectable fourth son of the Duke's residence, even a princess was within his reach to marry.

"What am I out of mind for?" Zhou Gu casually reminded him, "Qin Luan is the daughter of a criminal, degraded to a slave, and you still wish to marry her, don't you?"

"Well, that's...true." Xie Lin felt there was something off about Zhou Gu's words. After some reflection, he retorted, "But that's not the point. Qin Luan was at least born into an aristocratic family. Although she's the daughter of a criminal now, she just fell into hard times."

"Being a daughter of a criminal could last a lifetime. But my fiancee is different, she may be of humble origin, but she's still the legitimate seventh daughter of the governor's residence in Jiangning." Zhou Gu was nearly choked up inside, but he had no choice but to vehemently defend his betrothed whom he'd never even met, and even had to compare her with Qin Luan. His bitterness was palpable, and he felt he was doing Qin Luan injustice.

Xie Lin somehow found the arguments reasonable, but he continued to scoff, "What's there for you to be proud of? Are you thrilled to marry a daughter of a concubine?"

While grinding his teeth internally, Zhou Gu put on a proud face, "That's because you haven't met my fiancee. She's extraordinarily pretty, as graceful as a blossoming hibiscus, naturally adorned, gentle as water, intelligent and elegant...," he rattled off a series of adjectives, imposing them all on his unseen fiancee. Anyway, he'd rather lose to anything but a verbal fight, and he couldn't let Xie Lin make fun of him. "Ah, I'm really eager to see her now."

Xie Lin was doubtful, "Is she really as good as you describe? Can a place as small as Jiangning produce such a refined lady, comparable to the noble young ladies in the Capital City? Is she even more beautiful than the Duanhua Princess?"

The Duanhua Princess was the only daughter of Princess Qingping. Princess Qingping was the half-sister of the current Emperor, which made Duanhua Princess very much beloved by the Emperor. She was beautiful and had a thing for Zhou Gu. Wherever Zhou Gu appeared, she would be there as soon as she heard about it. Zhou Gu found her relentlessly clingy and had been avoiding her as much as he could.

Upon hearing Xie Lin mention Duanhua Princess, Zhou Gu stiffened, "Why would you bring up Duanhua?"

"Because Duanhua is pretty, and she likes you, but you've been avoiding her. Now that I see you appear to be quite fond of your betrothed, naturally, Duanhua comes to mind. Is your fiancee even prettier than Duanhua?" Xie Lin countered.

Zhou Gu immediately responded, "In my eyes, she is perfect in every way, naturally the prettiest. Stop mentioning Duanhua. If you bring her up again, we're done."

"Afraid I would cause a rift between us?" Xie Lin's face darkened again.

"If you mention her again, there won't be a reconciliation," Zhou Gu warned.

Xie Lin wanted to retort "Who wants to reconcile with you?" but as he had a lot of questions about Zhou Gu's betrothed, he chose to shut up and refrained from mentioning Duanhua. Instead, he asked, "When did you meet your fiancee?"

"Last year." Zhou Gu lied without hesitation.

Xie Lin was furious, "If you really like your betrothed, why did you snatch Qin Luan from me?"

Zhou Gu thought to himself, "Who wanted to snatch her?" But as the deed had been done, he could do nothing but admit, "Just consider it a random act on my part. Wasn't it you who got on my nerves back then?"

Xie Lin burst out in anger, "You jerk!"

Zhou Gu admitted, "I've said I was wrong. Can't you just let it go?"

Xie Lin snorted coldly, "I won't let it go."

Zhou Gu immediately promised, "Just wait. After going to Jiangning, I will help you find one," He quickly added, "similar to Qin Luan."

"I don't need your help," Xie Lin retorted, not wanting any help from Zhou Gu.

"Don't be so stubborn. Now that Qin Luan has been taken into the Eastern Palace, she can't possibly come out again." Zhou Gu tried to comfort him, "There's always a plenty of fish in the sea."

Xie Lin frowned, "Even if I'm stubborn, I'm still better than someone with serious issues in their head,"

What's there to brag about having a fiancée who is a daughter of a concubine? If it were him, he'd be hiding it to avoid getting laughed at. Zhou Gu's appeared to be seriously deranged, indeed.

Half a day later, the convoy had traveled a hundred miles and arrived at the foot of the Buddha temple mountain. Zhou Gu bid farewell to Xie Lin and continued onward.

Watching Zhou Gu move away with his horses and carriages, Xie Lin was somewhat envious. Zhou Gu, riding on his horse, seemed like a bird breaking out of its cage, ready to fly to Jiangning at once. He turned to one of the guards beside him and said, "I also want to go to Jiangning."

The guard was puzzled, "Young prince, why do you also want to go to Jiangning?"

You don't have a betrothed in Jiangning.

"Ah, I want to go to Jiangning to play." Xie Lin admitted, scratching his head, "I wonder if my mother would agree if I told her that I want to go to Jiangning to relax."

The guard was unsure if the queen would agree and thus couldn't offer any advice.

Xie Lin sighed, "Let's just accompany my mother in paying respects to Buddha first! I'll try to persuade her, she might agree."

It was not until his convoy had traveled a hundred miles from Zhou Gu that Li Yan felt the reality of accompanying Zhou Gu to Jiangning.

Zhou Gu, after bluffing Xie Lin, was so nervous that he couldn't bear it. He was thinking, now that he has bragged about an imaginary fiancée and if he can't present her, Xie Lin will laugh at him. Out of curiosity, he called Li Yan to his side and asked, "Tell me, is your Seventh Miss beautiful?"

Li Yan immediately nodded, "The Seventh Miss is beautiful."

"How beautiful?"

"She is the most beautiful girl in Jiangning County. I have never seen anyone more beautiful than the Seventh Miss." Li Yan assessed honestly.

Hearing this, Zhou Gu felt somewhat more confortable - her beauty at least affirmed his bragging about his betrothed. He then asked, "What is her character like?"

Remembering the Seventh Miss's temper, Li Yan nodded and responded, "She has a good character."

Zhou Gu felt more relieved, "How does she interact with people?"

"Graceful and poised." Li Yan put it into four words. To put it specifically, she feared nobody and was extremely bold.

Zhou Gu exhaled a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't petty, "Standing seventh in rank at the Governor's Residence, was she bullied?"

If she was frequently bullied, it meant that she was meek. Although having a good personality, being easily manipulated isn't good either.

Without any hesitation, Li Yan shook his head, "She wasn't bullied."

Not to mention that the Seventh Miss herself never bullied others, the others should thank their lucky stars. She walked through the Governor's Residence with an unrestrained air.

Zhou Gu asked again, "Are you telling the truth?"

"The truth, I dare not deceive you, young master." Li Yan quickly assured.

Zhou Gu was satisfied. It seemed his betrothed could be presented without humiliation. He stopped questioning about Su Rong and began showing interest in the upcoming trip to Jiangning. "What are the fun and interesting things in Jiangning? Tell me in detail."

Li Yan quickly responded: "Jiangning has three main attractions: One mountain, two rivers, and three buildings. The mountain is the Phoenix Mountain, which has a thousand-year-old Phoenix Tree visited by numerous birds. The two rivers are the Peach Blossom Stream and the Maple Leaf River. One blooms with peach blossoms by the banks during the season, captivating many poets; the other blossoms with maple leaves every autumn. The leaves fall into the stream and turn it red, a sight most beautiful when bathed under the setting sun. The three buildings are the Zuihua Building, Fengyue Building, and Rougelip Building. Each of these buildings has its own unique charm and often host artist competitions."

Calculating the days, Li Yan went on to say, "Today is the tenth day of the sixth month, and the Seventh Miss' rite of passage is on the eighth day of the seventh month. That is to say, even though you missed the beautiful scenery of Peach Blossom Stream and Maple Leaf River, you can visit Phoenix Mountain. If you stay for a few more days, you might be lucky enough to catch the artist competitions in the three buildings."

Zhou Gu remarked, "I never thought a small place like Jiangning would be more interesting than the Capital City."

Li Yan thought to himself that indeed, there were many fun and interesting things to do in Jiangning. Otherwise, the Seventh Miss wouldn't have spent her entire childhood going out. As a child, she used to crawl through the dog hole. When the lady of the house ordered the hole to be blocked, she climbed the wall with a ladder. When the wall was built higher, she had someone make a grappling hook, with which she climbed and escaped. Over the years, the walls of the Governor's Residence had been raised three times, but they still couldn't contain her. Eventually, the lady of the house gave up managing her out of frustration.

He stole a glance at Zhou Gu and thought that he really was handsome. By appearances, the Seventh Miss was a match for him. However, he worried about her temper. If the two quarreled and ended up fighting, he wondered if the Seventh Miss could beat young master Zhou?

No, that's not right. He should be asking if young master Zhou would hit a woman?

He single-handedly defeated the guards of the Rui'an King Residence, even beating the young prince, Xie Lin, and walked away unscathed. All this was a testament to his origins from the powerful Duke Residence.

The Seventh Miss, on the other hand, always got injured when she quarreled with someone. Looking at this point, she was probably not as good as young master Zhou. Would the Seventh Miss be able to beat him if he really did hit women?

Li Yan felt somewhat worried.