Drunken Flower Room - Chapter 45

Su Rong led Zhou Gu away from the crowd toward a secluded spot in the hills. 

Once they were far from the noise, Su Rong broke the silence. “So… you know, I look pretty decent, right? So, trouble just finds me sometimes.” 

Zhou Gu raised an eyebrow at her. Pretty decent? He wanted to laugh. “You call that ‘pretty decent’? With your looks, if that’s just decent, what do you expect the rest of us to do? Drop dead?” 

Su Rong rubbed her nose sheepishly. “Well, maybe better than average… but that’s not the point.” 

“Oh, I get it. The point is you used me again.” Zhou Gu sighed, exasperated. “Su Rong, do you think I’m that easy to use? Did you bring me here on purpose just to solve all your problems in one go?” 

Su Rong smiled apologetically. “Come on, you’re my fiancé! Don’t be so stingy. It’s not like you’re losing anything.” 

“And how exactly am I not losing out?” Zhou Gu shook his head at her twisted logic. “Aren’t you supposed to keep these kinds of things hidden from your fiancé?” 

“Well, I can’t hide it. So why not just let it all out?” Su Rong said with a shrug, completely unbothered. 

Zhou Gu was momentarily speechless. 

Su Rong cleared her throat. “If you ever have any trouble, I can help you too. It’s a mutual benefit arrangement.” 

Zhou Gu was about to say, “I don’t have that kind of trouble,” but then the image of Princess Duanhua popped into his mind. He fell silent for a moment before replying, “Fine. But you said it.” 

Su Rong sensed something off. “Wait… you actually have that kind of trouble?” 

“Mm.” 

“How bad is it?” 

Zhou Gu thought for a moment. His mother had once scolded him, saying his face was a magnet for trouble. Even she found it exhausting dealing with young ladies constantly trying to charm their way into their family. But he wasn’t about to share that story with Su Rong. 

“Not too bad,” he finally said. 

“And ‘not too bad’ means…?” 

“Just not too many.” 

“Are any of them hard to deal with? Easier or harder than my troubles?” 

Zhou Gu hesitated. Princess Duanhua had been particularly persistent. He’d even had to hide in the Crown Prince’s palace to avoid her. And even then, she’d stormed in and caused a scene until the Crown Prince scolded her. Considering her temperament, she was certainly not easy to deal with. 

Su Rong squinted at him. “You might as well tell me her name so I can be prepared.” 

Zhou Gu sighed. He really didn’t want to mention Duanhua, but Su Rong’s wide, curious eyes were too hard to resist. Finally, he said, “Her name is Duanhua. She’s the only daughter of Princess Qingping. Spoiled and very persistent.” 

“How persistent? Give me an example.” 

“She’s chased me all the way to my house. Even my grandmother couldn’t make her leave, and it gave her a headache.” 

Su Rong gasped. “Your grandmother is Grand Princess Sheng’an. If even her words don’t work, then I’m sorry. I can’t help you with that.” 

She quickly added, “Forget what I said earlier about helping you. Just pretend I never offered. Please.” 

Zhou Gu chuckled. “Backing out now, are you?” 

Su Rong nodded seriously. “For the sake of my life, yes. I’d rather avoid trouble.” 

Zhou Gu let out a huff of laughter. He wanted to call her a coward, but remembering how even he struggled to avoid Duanhua, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. 

As they walked further, they unexpectedly ran into Chen Zhou again. 

Su Rong’s face darkened. “Why do you keep popping up everywhere?” 

Chen Zhou, who had been about to greet them, froze at Su Rong’s glare. He hesitated for a moment before deciding not to approach. It seemed he was genuinely afraid that Su Rong might beat him up. 

Zhou Gu raised an eyebrow at Su Rong. “You must be quite something, to scare him that much.” 

Su Rong sighed. “If I were that impressive, he wouldn’t have dared to say those things to you yesterday.” 

Zhou Gu didn’t comment, but he smiled slightly. He turned to Chen Zhou and called out, “Brother Chen! What a coincidence!” 

Chen Zhou’s eyes lit up at Zhou Gu’s friendly greeting. He quickly ran over, looking eager but also cautious as he glanced at Su Rong. “Zhou, Zhou Brother… It’s not a coincidence. I was actually looking for you and Su Rong.” 

After speaking, he carefully addressed Su Rong. “Su… Su Rong, you’re not still mad at me, are you?” 

“When did you start stuttering?” Su Rong snapped. 

Chen Zhou, half-covering his face, muttered, “Didn’t you scare me into it?” 

“Why didn’t you just drop dead from fright then?” 

“I barely slept last night because of you! I came to find you today just to apologize.” Chen Zhou pointed to the dark circles under his eyes. “Look, see? I really didn’t sleep.” 

Su Rong gave his face a once-over and snorted. “Ugly people sure make a fuss.” 

Chen Zhou looked utterly crushed. “I’m not that ugly, am I?” He glanced at Zhou Gu and sighed, “I mean… I’m not as handsome as Brother Zhou.” 

Zhou Gu slung an arm around Chen Zhou’s shoulder, smirking. “I didn’t hear enough yesterday. Got any more stories about my fiancée? Let’s walk and talk.” 

Chen Zhou frantically shook his head. “No, no more stories.” 

“What? You’re too scared of her to speak now?” 

“No, really! There’s nothing else.” Chen Zhou shook his head again. “I was away from Jiangning for a few years. I don’t know any more gossip.” 

Zhou Gu studied his expression and saw no sign of a lie. He let go. “Alright, no more stories then. Want to join us?” 

Chen Zhou brightened immediately. He snuck a glance at Su Rong, and seeing no objection from her, he eagerly replied, “Sure, sure!” 

With Chen Zhou’s addition, the group became livelier. Chen Zhou, being talkative by nature, quickly struck up a rapport with Zhou Gu and began enthusiastically introducing the sights of Taoxi. 

After a long walk, the sun began to set. Zhou Gu turned to Su Rong. “Still planning to grill fish?” 

“No.” Su Rong glanced at Chen Zhou and decided she didn’t want him eating any of her grilled fish. 

Chen Zhou looked at her pleadingly. “Come on, Su Rong. I already apologized. Why are you still holding a grudge?” 

Su Rong gave him a cold look. “Just because you apologized, I’m supposed to forgive you?” 

Chen Zhou drooped, turning to Zhou Gu and whispering, “Her grilled fish is really good.” 

Zhou Gu glanced at Su Rong, then patted Chen Zhou’s shoulder. “Brother Chen, let’s go. We’re heading back.” 

Chen Zhou sighed in defeat. “Alright…” 

As they left Taoxi, Chen Zhou noticed that Su Rong and Zhou Gu weren’t heading back to the city. He blinked in surprise and asked Su Rong, “Wait, is your brother back? Aren’t you going home?” 

“What?” Su Rong’s eyes widened in shock. “He’s back already?” 

Chen Zhou shrugged. “He returned around noon today. I saw him when I was heading out of the city.” 

Su Rong immediately waved him off. “We’re not going back. We’ll go home tomorrow. You head back on your own.” 

Left with no choice, Chen Zhou trudged off by himself. 

Once he was out of earshot, Zhou Gu turned to Su Rong with a teasing smile. “Why are you so petty? You’ve bullied him enough, and you didn’t even suffer any real loss. He didn’t provoke you today, and he even apologized. Why are you still giving him the cold shoulder?” 

Su Rong shot him a glare and started walking faster. 

Zhou Gu quickly grabbed her arm. “Hey, hey, don’t glare at me! Why are you so hostile toward Chen Zhou? Personally, I find him quite amusing.” 

Su Rong shook off his hand. “Breaking off my engagement is as serious as killing my parents! Why shouldn’t I hold a grudge? If apologies fixed everything, we wouldn’t need the government.” 

Zhou Gu chuckled. “Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?” 

Su Rong huffed and stayed silent. 

Zhou Gu couldn’t help laughing. “You’ve got quite the temper!” 

Just as Su Rong was about to retort, she caught sight of a group of people standing by the inn’s entrance, watching her and Zhou Gu. She immediately froze. 

“See you tomorrow,” she muttered.