Chapter 31

And so, a few more days passed. Every day, Zhao Hongrun would leave the palace to visit the lady Su at the water pavilion, not for any other reason but to try every means to make her drink.

Because this lady Su, who was not good at drinking, not only had a charming appearance when she drank, but her eyes, soft as water, and her cheeks, rosy like rouge when she was drunk, made Zhao Hongrun secretly exclaim at her unparalleled beauty.

Lady Su felt quite at a loss about this. No matter what methods she came up with, it seemed she could not outsmart this young master who was only fourteen years old. His intelligence amazed her.

It's worth mentioning that during these days, Zhao Hongrun secretly took the calligraphy of his sixth elder brother, Zhao Hongzhao, and sold it cheaply at a curio shop on the street. He gave all the silver he earned to this lady Su, originally hoping she would use this money to redeem herself.

But unexpectedly, when he mentioned this, lady Su returned the silver he had given her a few days ago, unopened.

"More than two thousand taels is not a small sum. If your family finds out that young master Jiang secretly gave it to me, what would happen?... I have some savings, which should be enough to deal with the manager of the pavilion. So, please take it back, young master."

"Why don't you save it to redeem yourself?" Zhao Hongrun asked, puzzled.

Lady Su glanced at him with a deep look and shook her head, saying, "Young master wants to help me, and I appreciate your kindness, but... even if I redeem myself, I have no relatives or friends in the capital, and I am alone. Where could I go after leaving the water pavilion?"

Zhao Hongrun fell silent, unable to help her with this.

To give her a home?

How easy is that!

Although he had made up his mind to fight for it in the future, he also understood that as a prince, he had no freedom to choose his marriage.

All his married elder brothers, whether they were willing or not, eventually married the daughters of high-ranking officials in the court. And those already married princesses were also sacrificed for political marriages, either marrying the descendants of generals with military power or being sent to other countries.

The children of the imperial family never had the possibility of free marriage.

"Then keep it for self-defense. Once this young master gives something, he never takes it back." Having found the sixth elder brother, Zhao Hongzhao, as a hidden big sponsor, Zhao Hongrun no longer cared about the silver.

Lady Su returned it a few times, but seeing that Zhao Hongrun insisted on not taking it back, she had to keep it again.

She thought to herself, although his obsession was quite strange, this young master Jiang was undoubtedly infatuated with her. He might come to see her every day in the future. So, she would keep the money to prepare some delicious dishes for him.

Speaking of which, lady Su was becoming more and more curious about this young master Jiang.

If she said he was quite infatuated with her, he would leave on time every dusk, unlike some men with ulterior motives who wanted to stay overnight. But if she said he was not infatuated with her, he came to see her every day, asking her to drink with him, saying he liked to see her when she was drunk.

'Could he be a well-educated young man from a wealthy family who sneaked out?'

Looking at Zhao Hongrun and the three guards, Shen Yu, who were dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, and thinking about his "rule" of having to leave before dusk, lady Su guessed in her heart.

If the age difference was not considered, lady Su was quite satisfied with this young master Jiang. After all, his knowledge far exceeded hers, and his family background should be good, and he should have the ability to redeem her.

Unfortunately, the age gap between them was too large. He was fourteen, and she was twenty, a difference of six years.

This huge age gap made her not entertain any thoughts, purely treating Zhao Hongrun as a considerate little brother, although this little brother always tried to trick her into drinking until she was drunk.

"Knock, knock, knock—"

A knock came from outside the room.

"Who is it?" the little maid Lü'er shouted.

After a moment, a greeting from a pimp came from outside the door: "I'm sorry to disturb lady Su, but a young master surnamed Luo wishes to see you."

Lady Su was slightly taken aback because she had not set any questions these past few days due to accompanying Zhao Hongrun. She did not expect someone to come seeking her by reputation.

After some thought, she politely declined, "I have a distinguished guest here, so it's not convenient. I hope young master Luo will understand."

"Yes, I will go and inform the young master," the pimp said, running down the stairs.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun asked curiously, "Is it okay to refuse?"

Lady Su smiled and explained, "This water pavilion treats us women quite well. As long as we pay some money every day, they don't care whether we entertain guests or not..."

"That's good," Zhao Hongrun nodded, thinking that if he gave her some silver every few days, she wouldn't have to worry about being forced to entertain guests she didn't want to.

But at this moment, the stairs outside the room echoed with hurried footsteps, and then the door of Cuixiao Pavilion was pushed open.

"Distinguished guest? I want to see who this distinguished guest is!"

Accompanied by a cold laugh, a man in splendid attire burst into the room, scanning the room with an unfriendly look.

This man had thick eyebrows and large eyes, and his appearance was quite decent, but his face always had a haughty expression, as if everyone in the world had to listen to him.

Behind him, several servants and guards rudely blocked a pimp who looked troubled, apparently trying to stop this young master Luo but failing.

"..." Zhao Hongrun frowned slightly and asked lady Su in a low voice, "Do you know him?"

Lady Su shook her head slightly, indicating she did not recognize him.

Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun had no qualms and was about to signal Shen Yu to drive him out, but the little maid Lü'er jumped out first, pointing at the young master Luo and angrily saying, "What are you doing? This is our lady's private room. Why did you barge in? Do you know manners?"

To her surprise, the young master Luo ignored her, pushing her aside. Lü'er, angry, tried to rush forward but was stopped by the young master Luo's servants and guards.

At this moment, the young master Luo noticed lady Su, who was drinking with Zhao Hongrun. Her beauty when drunk immediately caught his eye.

"This must be lady Su. Indeed... a beauty of the nation, tsk tsk."

"..."

Noticing his gaze, lady Su's eyes flashed with disgust. After all, the young master Luo's gaze was completely different from Zhao Hongrun's, full of lust.

Just as she was about to ask the young master Luo to leave, Zhao Hongrun suddenly raised his hand to stop her, speaking before her, "Hey, young master, everything has its order, right?... Lady Su has been busy these days. Please find someone else."

Lady Su was slightly taken aback but immediately understood. She realized that young master Jiang was worried that her words might provoke the other party, so he spoke first.

This consideration made lady Su feel a bit warm in her heart.

"Distinguished guest? You?" The young master Luo scanned Zhao Hongrun up and down, seeing a teenager dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, and burst into laughter, "A little brat who hasn't even grown up, also learning to drink and find women for company?... Boy, I'll let you off for the lady's sake. Leave quickly."

As he spoke, seeing that Zhao Hongrun did not move, he frowned and walked toward him, as if intending to pick him up and throw him out.

But before he could take a few steps, an arm landed on his shoulder.

"The one who should leave is you!" Shen Yu coldly snorted, grabbing the young master Luo's shoulder and squeezing it hard, making him cry out in pain.

"Master!"

"Master!"

Seeing their young master in trouble, the servants and guards rushed forward, attacking Shen Yu without a word.

Unfortunately, their opponents were Shen Yu, Mu Qing, and Lu Mu, who were trained in martial arts by the imperial household. If they couldn't handle them, how could they protect the prince?

Without any surprise, the group was easily taken down by Shen Yu, Mu Qing, and Lu Mu, who knocked them all to the ground with a few punches and kicks.

"You... You dare to attack openly?!"

Seeing his servants and guards beaten to the ground by three men dressed in ordinary civilian clothes, the young master Luo was somewhat panicked and shouted, "I am Luo Rong, and my father is the Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Luo Wenzhong. Do you dare to hit me?"

"Ah... Here comes the classic line, 'My father is...'" Zhao Hongrun silently shook his head.

But lady Su's expression changed slightly.

No wonder, after all, the title "Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel" was quite intimidating to ordinary people.

But for Zhao Hongrun, who was he?

To compete with fathers, could anyone outdo him?

To put it bluntly, if Zhao Hongrun revealed his identity, not only would this young master Luo be in trouble, but even his father, the Left Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, would kneel and beg for mercy, as Zhao Hongrun's father was the emperor of the Great Wei.

But the problem was, revealing his true identity in such a place would result in being confined to the palace if it reached the ears of the imperial household. Even Zhao Hongrun could not avoid it.

After all, a prince fighting over a woman in a brothel would disgrace the royal family, and the imperial household would not let him off easily.

'How can I make this guy leave without revealing my identity?'

Zhao Hongrun pondered.

Shen Yu, Mu Qing, and Lu Mu were waiting for Zhao Hongrun's attitude. As long as their master said to beat him, they wouldn't care who his father was.

The room suddenly became quiet.