The northern frontier was remote and distant. On the inevitable road back to the northern frontier, there was still one last major city on the plains: Rao City.
Past Rao City, heading further north, lay the vast northern frontier, composed of mountains, deserts, gobi, and frost.
It wasn’t until the day before entering Rao City that Zhu Qingyu saw Gu Zhao again.
They were once more by a riverbank, where all sorts of small flowers bloomed everywhere.
From afar, Zhu Qingyu spotted Gu Zhao and Xie Ze grilling fish by the river.
Even though Gu Zhao was wearing a dark black cloak this time, whose color wasn’t bright, and he was sitting, half-hidden among the reeds by the river with only part of his figure showing, Zhu Qingyu still saw him at a glance.
She didn’t know when he had rejoined the group, but judging by his appearance, he should be fine now.
Zhu Qingyu breathed a great sigh of relief, feeling that the food in her bowl that day tasted even more delicious.
The New Year was almost upon them. From the current progress, they would arrive at the northern frontier right around the time of the New Year.
Perhaps eager to return to the northern frontier before the New Year, the Eldest Grand Princess had accelerated the travel arrangements. The entire group was traveling nonstop, setting out under the stars.
Fortunately, the weather had been gradually warming up these days. At noon, when the sun was strong, the sunlight was comfortable, even giving a hint of early spring.
Even the snow on the road had stopped. Not only did it make traveling easier, but the warmth also lowered virus activity, which should benefit the epidemic in the northern frontier.
In the past, Zhu Qingyu would always finish her meal quickly and run off to avoid Gu Zhao. But today, perhaps because the food was so tasty, she ate slowly. As she ate, she kept glancing unintentionally toward the riverbank.
The first two times, Gu Zhao was focused on grilling fish and didn’t look her way. But on her third glance, Gu Zhao seemed to notice something. He suddenly looked over, his gaze locking onto her, staring at her expressionlessly.
Zhu Qingyu’s heart gave a sudden jolt. She quickly turned her head and lowered it to eat.
After a moment, footsteps came. Someone stood beside her, silently handing over a skewer of grilled fish.
Catching a glimpse of the black cloak, Zhu Qingyu quickly took it, glanced at him, and said,
“Thank you.”
Gu Zhao still said nothing. He just looked at her, staring at the fish in her hand, as if waiting to see whether she would throw it away.
Under his watchful gaze, Zhu Qingyu took a bite of the fish.
Oh heavens, this fish was sweet—extremely sweet, sickeningly sweet.
She had no idea how much sugar Gu Zhao had added; he must have mistaken sugar for salt.
When Gu Zhao saw her expression after eating the fish—like she’d just swallowed poison—he barely suppressed a smile at the corner of his mouth and said,
“Ha, coward.”
So he had deliberately used sugar instead of salt. At that moment, Zhu Qingyu really wanted to toss this skewer of grilled fish away.
After forcing down that cloyingly sweet bite, she retorted,
“Ha, you’re such a child!”
After all, he was a high-ranking Minister of the second rank, a figure known to strike fear into others. Yet he was acting like an eight-year-old child—so immature, how could he do something like this?
Today, Gu Zhao’s offensive was fully charged. He added,
“Lord Zhu, you’re nothing but a timid, hesitant coward who won’t take a single step forward!”
Zhu Qingyu fired back without flinching.
“Vice Minister Gu, you’re nothing but an arrogant, self-righteous dreamer living in a fantasy!”
As the two bickered, Xie Ze came rushing over with a skewer of grilled fish, saying hurriedly,
“Doctor Zhu, wait! There’s been a mistake, a mistake—I used the wrong salt! Eat this one instead!”
Gu Zhao took the sweet fish from Zhu Qingyu’s hand and walked away, leaving the two behind.
Xie Ze handed the new grilled fish to Zhu Qingyu. Seeing Gu Zhao leave without a word, he leaned in closer and whispered to her,
“My cousin must think he embarrassed himself, so he ran off. That last one was his. I thought as much—I felt something was off about the salt he grabbed.”
As Xie Ze spoke, Zhu Qingyu felt someone’s gaze on her. She looked toward the source and saw the carriage window of First Miss Wen being closed.
By the river, Second Miss Wen was holding a bunch of flowers, playing as she picked blooms from the riverbank.
Keeping her voice low, Zhu Qingyu whispered back to Xie Ze,
“Young Marquis, sit down. Sit right next to me.”
Though Xie Ze didn’t understand what she was up to, he obeyed and sat down, asking,
“Doctor Zhu, what’s wrong?”
Keeping an eye on the Miss Wen’s carriage, Zhu Qingyu said to him,
“Turn slightly to the side, and then look toward Miss Wen’s carriage. Turn back, turn back. Don’t look so directly. Be natural—you’re too stiff.”
Xie Ze seemed to catch on. Acting stealthily, his hands trembled, and his voice dropped so low it seemed he feared startling someone away. He said,
“Doctor Zhu, I feel like she’s looking at me?”
From the corner of her eye, Zhu Qingyu saw the carriage window of Miss Wen open again just a crack. She said to Xie Ze,
“I’m not exactly close to First Miss Wen, so it can’t be me she’s looking at, can it?”
Xie Ze grew greatly excited. He clenched his fists and then released them, wiping the sweat from his palms on his clothes. Then he said,
“If she’s looking at me, then it’s not just wishful thinking on my part. I have to go ask the Eldest Grand Princess to propose! What if her family marries her off to someone else? I have to speak up!”
With that, Xie Ze shot to his feet and stared toward Miss Wen’s carriage.
The moment he stood up, the carriage window of Miss Wen closed again.
Taking a deep breath, Xie Ze mustered his courage, turned, and sprinted toward the carriage of the Eldest Grand Princess.
The Young Marquis was truly bold. With such a vague, uncertain hint, he could launch another offensive, not even fearing he might be beaten out by the Eldest Grand Princess.
Zhu Qingyu watched in stunned amazement.
Then, lingering in her vicinity like an unshakable spirit, Gu Zhao reappeared. Still holding the skewer of sweet fish she had bitten into, he sat down in the spot where Xie Ze had been. Leisurely eating the overly sweet fish, he said slowly,
“Look at yourself, and then at others. Lord Zhu, to reject me now because I might change my mind sixty years from now—you really are the biggest fool, the biggest idiot, the biggest coward in the world. You say it’s just a little bit of feeling—don’t think you can fool me. Dream on.”
