Zhou Gu didn't say a word and turned around to leave.
On leaving the study of the old Duke, entrusted with an unpleasant errand, Zhou Gu was in a foul mood, no longer interested in going out for a horse race, he simply returned to his own Frost Forest Garden.
Ziye, the personal guard who had grown up with him, seeing him so gloomy felt a duty to help his master. He asked, "Master, what's wrong? Did the old man lecture you again about Miss Qin's affair?"
"No."
Ziye looked at him, "Then, did he hear about your plans to go horse racing and forbid you?"
"No."
Ziye was puzzled, "Then it's..."
Zhou Gu was annoyed, "If Xie Lin finds out that I'm going to marry a common girl, he will probably laugh at me."
Ziye was startled, "You're planning to get married?"
"Yes." Zhou Gu was severely annoyed, "That common girl from Jiangning County is about to have her coming-of-age ceremony, my grandfather wants me to personally attend her ceremony. We'll set off in two days."
He lay down on the bed, put a book over his face and spoke in a hollow voice, "I am so annoyed, Grandfather said if I dare to break off the engagement, he will throw me out of the house."
Ziye took a breath, feeling that this was a problem he couldn't solve. Seeing that Zhou Gu was about to explode from frustration he tentatively suggested, "The eldest princess and your mother are very fond of you, if you are unwilling, can't you ask them to stand up for you?"
"If my Grandmother was against this marriage, my grandfather wouldn't have settled it to begin with. As for my mother, she has always looked up to my grandfather. It's useless to consult them. This house is ruled by my grandfather's words alone."
Ziye sighed, "Then there's no way out, it seems you have to get married."
Surely you can't really be thrown out of the house? If that happens, Xie Lin will most definitely laugh at you.
He was puzzled, "Did the old Duke explain why he insists that you marry a common girl from Jiangning?"
"He said the Su Family was kind to him, but he didn't allow me to inquire about the specifics." Zhou Gu couldn't be bothered to investigate further, "It seems I will have to endure Xie Lin's mockery."
Imagining Xie Lin mocking Zhou Gu, Ziye held back for a while before suggesting, "If Xie Lin mocks you, you're left with no other choice but to hit him."
Zhou Gu took the book off his face and looked at Ziye, "Why are you so violent?"
Ziye was somber, "Master, have you not always said, it's better to take action than talk?"
Zhou Gu was speechless, "If I hit him again, my grandfather might hit me too. For his sake, it's not worth being bedridden for seven days."
He sat up, and a wicked idea emerged, "Tell me, Xie Lin is not yet engaged. If he also gets engaged to an unsatisfactory family, wouldn't we be on equal footing and he wouldn't be able to laugh at me?"
Ziye: "..."
He scratched his head, "Right?"
"I need to think this over and find a way, to make Xie Lin marry a common girl as well." Zhou Gu lay back down, engrossed in his thoughts, "Xie Lin likes girls like Qin Luan who are gentle, beautiful and cunning. But such women cannot be nurtured by ordinary families, where should I find one to attract him?"
He felt some regret, "If I had known earlier that Grandfather would insist on me fulfilling the marriage pledge, I wouldn't have competed with Xie Lin for a girl. Now that Qin Luan has entered the Eastern Palace, it's impossible to give her back to Xie Lin."
Regretfully, he smacked himself on his head, "Ah, if Xie Lin had Qin Luan, considering how much he likes her, he might actually resist King Rui and the Queen for her. It would have been a good situation for Qin Luan, and I could have... Why didn't I think of that before? I was so stupid."
He was dejected, "Most commoners carry the air of petty people, Xie Lin with his high standards, will definitely look down on them."
Ziye noticed Zhou Gu's sincere regret, exerting himself to come up with an idea, "How about the Green Building?"
"What about the Green Building?" Zhou Gu was puzzled.
Ziye said seriously, "For a girl like Miss Qin, look in the Green Building. The madams of the Green Building train beauties from a young age, you can find any type you want."
Zhou Gu was shocked and sat straight up, "Isn't that extremely indecent? If King Rui finds out I manipulated Xie Lin to marry a woman from the Green Building, he'll surely come after me. Grandfather would also probably break my legs, no, it could be worse."
Looking at Ziye with a 'how can you be so bad? Who did you learn from?' expression, "Ziye, you've become corrupted. Did you learn from those half-baked guards around Xie Lin? You didn't learn anything good, just bad ideas?"
Ziye coughed, sincerely responded, "It's not that I've become corrupted. It's just that Master you said you want a beautiful, gentle, cunning woman of low birth like Miss Qin. Isn't it true that only the girls in the Green Building meet such requirements?"
Zhou Gu paused, "You've never been to the Green Building, how would you know?"
"I've never eaten pork, but I've seen pigs run. A few days ago, the Prince of Cheng redeemed a woman from the Green Building. Our mistress even commented, saying that as expected from a woman from the Green Building, she managed to cause a miscarriage to the fierce princess consort of Cheng within three days of entering his residence."
Zhou Gu's interest was piqued, "The Princess Consort of Cheng is not vicious, if she was, that woman from the Green Building wouldn't have been able to step foot in the Prince of Cheng's residence."
"Oh, when I say vicious, I don't mean the inability of Princess Consort of Cheng to control Prince Cheng, but that she has her ways in dealing with the women of the backyard." Ziye subtly explained.
Zhou Gu understood, scratching his head, "That wouldn't work, right?", he lay down again, frustrated, "Even though I dislike Xie Lin, I can't harm him like that. The girl has to at least be innocent."
Ziye also felt that he had made a bad suggestion, "We can only search slowly then. Given the vast size of the world, if Master you don't want to be laughed at by Young Master Xie Lin and want him to marry a girl from a similar family as your fiancée, you are bound to meet her."
Zhou Gu thought for a moment and felt that was reasonable. He dismissed the matter saying discontentedly, "Let's pack up! We're off to Jiangning in two days."
Ziye nodded.