The moment the words slipped out, Zhu Qingyu immediately regretted it.
Choosing an outfit—how deliberate that sounded.
He was merely inviting her to help purchase military medical supplies; it was official business, a proper matter, not a date. What was the point of fussing over clothes?
Fortunately, Aunt Zhuyue asking Zhu Qingyu what she planned to wear was simply part of her routine. Since Zhu Qingyu had said "anything goes" the past few days, Aunt Zhuyue was used to it and hadn’t really paid attention to what Doctor Zhu had said. Following habit, she replied:
“Very well, Doctor Zhu, please rest early.”
As Aunt Zhuyue led the maids out, Zhu Qingyu let out a breath of relief.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. It was a relief that Aunt Zhuyue hadn’t noticed what she said—otherwise, it would have been terribly awkward.
Just as Aunt Zhuyue closed the door and came back to her senses, she glanced around hesitantly and asked:
“Did Doctor Zhu just say she wanted to take a look?”
The maid on the left gave her a meaningful look, clearly wanting to say something but holding back; the maid on the right nodded vigorously, nearly bobbing her head off.
Oh no, the matter was botched!
The door that had just been shut was suddenly flung open. Aunt Zhuyue stormed in with an expression full of dread and guilt, as if she deserved to be punished a thousand times over:
“Doctor Zhu, please wait a moment. We’ll bring the wardrobe chest right away for you to inspect!”
Zhu Qingyu hurriedly said:
“No need to trouble yourselves. Really, anything will do.”
Aunt Zhuyue looked even more flustered:
“No trouble at all, no trouble at all! Please don’t be angry, Doctor Zhu, just wait a moment!”
Having said that, Aunt Zhuyue dashed off with her team, leaving Zhu Qingyu wanting to reach out and stop her but finding no chance.
Because they traveled daily, whenever they stayed at inns, any large luggage that wasn’t needed was locked in the supply wagon and not carried in and out every day. Zhu Qingyu’s wardrobe chest was also in the wagon.
Perhaps because she had messed up the task earlier, Aunt Zhuyue was now going overboard to make amends.
Late at night, it wasn’t easy to find people on short notice. The wardrobe chest was heavy, and she and a few maids couldn’t carry it up by themselves. Spotting some guards standing in the inn’s main hall, she stepped forward and called out:
“Could I trouble a few brothers to help carry something?”
Aunt Zhuyue was the housekeeper for the Eldest Grand Princess and held a certain status. People in the residence, eager to curry favor, rarely refused such small requests.
Yet tonight, the guards looked hesitant, as if they had other duties.
Aunt Zhuyue was about to look elsewhere when someone behind asked:
“What do you need to move? Is it hers?”
…
Zhu Qingyu had thought that asking Aunt Zhuyue to fetch clothes late at night for tomorrow’s trip was already awkward enough.
She never expected it could get even more embarrassing. She had no idea what Aunt Zhuyue was thinking, but the very first wardrobe chest was carried up by Gu Zhao himself.
When Zhu Qingyu opened the door and saw him, she felt a sudden panic, as if caught red-handed on the spot.
This was unbearable! Having a high-ranking official of the second rank in the court carry a chest—how reckless was Aunt Zhuyue? What was she thinking?
Gu Zhao’s expression, however, was perfectly calm:
“Doctor Zhu, where should I put this?”
He actually carried such a heavy trunk all by himself. Zhu Qingyu was worried he might hurt his back, so she quickly stepped aside and pointed to the corner of the wall:
“Here, thank you.”
Gu Zhao strode past Zhu Qingyu, carrying the trunk inside. His eyes immediately landed on the small purple flowers growing in a shallow porcelain basin on the table.
He actually didn’t throw them away, but took the trouble to grow them?
So you don’t hate me as much as you said you did?
A smile tugged at the corner of Gu Zhao’s lips. He felt so happy inside he almost wanted to set off a few strings of firecrackers right then and there to celebrate. But on the surface, he remained calm and collected, placing the trunk in the corner as Zhu Qingyu had indicated.
A few more guards came in carrying trunks, all set down carefully—four trunks in total!
Zhu Qingyu was stunned:
“All of these are for me? Are you sure?”
In the past, when she traveled, she’d only carry a backpack for trips under three days, and maybe a suitcase for journeys longer than a week. Yet Gu Zhao had brought her four large trunks full of clothes—it was simply overwhelming.
Gu Zhao replied casually:
“We were in such a rush, this is all we could bring for now. You’ll have to make do for the moment. Gucheng is a big city; if you need anything else, you can get it tomorrow. Go ahead and pick what you want now, we’ll wait outside the door, and once you’re done choosing, we’ll help you bring them downstairs.”
It was too awkward, too embarrassing, downright mortifying.
Zhu Qingyu hurriedly said no, no, thank you for today. She’d find someone else to move the trunks tomorrow. “Vice Minister Gu, you should get some rest.” Then she gently coaxed Gu Zhao out.
Aunt Zhuyue, eager to make up for the blunder she’d just made, took the initiative to open all the trunks and carefully laid out the clothes for Zhu Qingyu to see.
Perhaps because Zhu Qingyu had nurtured the little purple flowers today, Aunt Zhuyue misjudged her taste. The first three outfits, arranged from light to dark, were shades of purple: lilac, young bud purple, and dark purple.
Under Aunt Zhuyue’s expectant gaze, Zhu Qingyu’s eyes twitched.
Gu Zhao had worn a deep purple robe today. Now she was supposed to spend half the night sorting through clothes, only to wear something in the same color family tomorrow? That was like shouting, “I’m definitely not hiding anything!”—too obvious, absolutely impossible!
Zhu Qingyu rummaged through the trunks herself, determined to pick something completely unrelated to purple. Her eyes immediately landed on a cyan official robe. She was quite surprised:
“Is this mine?”
No matter how capable Gu Zhao was, there was no way he could have arranged for an official robe to be ready on the very day she arrived.
Aunt Zhuyue led the maidservants to unfold the robe and show it to her:
“Yes, yes. The Eldest Grand Princess had the embroiderers rush to make it these past few days, in case you needed to wear it while handling official matters.”
Although she had been granted the title of Court Official several days ago by the emperor, the entire process had been so sudden and farcical that Zhu Qingyu still hadn’t really felt the reality of her new status.
But now, seeing this deep green official robe, Zhu Qingyu suddenly felt something she hadn’t experienced in over four years in this world—a sense of being grounded, of truly having a place to stand.
She gently touched the embroidery of the egret on the sixth-rank official robe and said:
“This one.”
