Ashes to Crown

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Itinerary

The peddler sat on the carriage, the pinwheel in his hand whirring as it spun in the wind.

Xiao Man swung her horsewhip, listening intently to the carriage from time to time. There was no sound from within, and the worry on her face grew deeper.

”Auntie,” she couldn’t help but say, ”why don’t we go to Luocheng and take a look—”

Before she could finish, a woman’s voice from behind the carriage curtain cut her off. ”Don’t be ridiculous. We are not going there.”

Xiao Man opened her mouth, then bit her lower lip. ”We won’t go inside. We can just look from outside Luocheng.”

A soft laugh came from behind the curtain.

”Alright,” the woman’s voice said. ”Let’s go back. She must not be in the Border County anymore. She’s likely gone to the Capital City.”

Xiao Man let out a small gasp and exchanged a look with the peddler, who pursed his lips.

”I knew it. She was bound to leave sooner or later,” he huffed. ”She’s so vain, she’s looked down on the County for ages. Last year, she got into a fight with some young lady over a bolt of fabric. She was fuming, yelling that she was one of the Capital City people and would be going back soon, so she had no use for such old, shoddy fabric.”

Xiao Man shot him a glare, warning him to shut up.

”Auntie, she probably went to visit relatives,” she said to the person behind the curtain. ”She’ll be back after a while.”

The woman’s voice behind the curtain was silent for a moment before she said softly, ”It’s for the best that she left. She should have left long ago. This Border County is no place to be.”

The peddler couldn’t help but chime in, ”That’s right. Every time I saw her, she was complaining about how bad the Border County is. Now that she’s gone to the Capital City, she’ll finally be happy and satisfied.”

Xiao Man poked him with her whip, telling him to be quiet. She nodded toward the curtain. ”Yes, she’ll surely have a better life than here. The Capital City... that’s the best place in the world.”

The woman behind the curtain agreed, repeating, ”Yes, that’s the best place in the world.”

Her voice held a hint of a smile, but for some reason, neither Xiao Man nor the peddler could bring themselves to laugh or add any cheerful remarks.

”It’s already March. Why is this damn wind still so cold?” the peddler complained, pulling his robes tighter. He urged the young woman beside him, ”Hurry, hurry! Let’s get the carriage home faster.”

This time, Xiao Man didn’t glare at him. She cracked her whip, and the skinny horse picked up its pace, pulling the carriage forward with a CLIP-CLOP-CLIP-CLOP.

On the main road, beggars shambled, peddlers pushed their carts, and merchants on horseback escorted their goods. They all seemed unrelated, yet they slowly gathered behind the carriage, as if following, or perhaps escorting it, before disappearing into the distance in the cold wind of the Border County.

...

...

「The wind of the Central Plains no longer carried a chill.」

A gust of wind swept by, and apricot blossoms from the roadside fluttered down like rain, landing on Chu Zhao’s head and shoulders.

Ah Le reached out to gently brush them off, which also brought the dazed Chu Zhao back to her senses.

”Can we set off now?” she asked.

Before Ah Le could speak, Deng Yi, who was standing nearby, overheard and said, ”Miss Chu seems to be in quite a hurry to get back.”

’Is he laughing at me? Thinking I’ve brought this upon myself?’ Chu Zhao said, ”Things are as they are. The sooner we get back, the sooner this all ends.”

Deng Yi smiled, about to say something, but then he saw Chu Zhao turn and walk away. He turned his head and, as expected, saw Xiao Xun and Chu Ke walking over, deep in conversation.

Xiao Xun saw her too. Ever since the night he’d offered to escort them, this was how Chu Zhao had treated him. She wouldn’t speak to him or get near him, usually remaining inside her carriage. But traveling together meant they would inevitably cross paths, and whenever they did, the girl would simply lower her gaze and turn away.

He chuckled, not at all angered, and stopped walking.

Chu Ke also saw this, and he was both angry and apprehensive.

”That damned girl,” he cursed through gritted teeth before bowing apologetically to Xiao Xun. ”Princely Heir, my younger cousin has been spoiled rotten by my uncle. She grew up without a mother and was raised in a military camp, so she knows nothing of etiquette. Please don’t take offense at her behavior.”

Xiao Xun said, ”Young Master Chu, please don’t trouble yourself over it.”

He only reassured Chu Ke but didn’t say he forgave Chu Zhao. He might not be bothered by others’ rudeness, but that didn’t mean he would forgive it.

Chu Ke understood the nuance. He was about to say more, but Xiao Xun had already turned to speak with Deng Yi. ”If we travel through the night, we can reach a town by tomorrow. We can get fresh horses and a new carriage there.”

Deng Yi nodded. ”That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

The two of them went to discuss their travel plans, leaving Chu Ke to walk away awkwardly. When he saw Chu Zhao getting into her carriage, he stormed over in a fit of anger.

”Why are you always so disrespectful to the Heir of Zhongshan King!” he hissed, grabbing Chu Zhao.

Chu Zhao grabbed him right back, hissing just as fiercely, ”And why are you always bowing and scraping before him?”

For a scholar, the word ”groveling” was a deep insult. Chu Ke’s face flushed red. ”He is the Princely Heir! He saved your life, and now he is gracing us with his escort. Of course we must show him respect!”

”I never asked him to save me,” Chu Zhao said coldly. ”Besides, I wasn’t even in danger. Ah Jiu would have saved me. As for the escort, we don’t need it. He’s the one who insisted on it. If anything, he should be thanking us for the chance to enter the Capital City. Otherwise, how could a Vassal King’s Princely Heir so easily leave his fiefdom?”

Regarding Xiao Xun, Deng Yi had sent a message by carrier pigeon to the court for instructions. The Crown Prince—who was currently in charge—was now aware of the situation and had permitted Xiao Xun to escort them all the way to the Capital City.

So, Xiao Xun was not just escorting them out of the King of Zhongshan’s territory; he would be accompanying them all the way into the capital.

Chu Ke was both shocked and furious. He found Chu Zhao completely unreasonable. ’What kind of twisted logic is that!’

”You’re truly insane,” he muttered. ”That’s the Princely Heir, a member of the Royal Family.”

Chu Zhao knew what he meant. ”That has nothing to do with us. If you try to curry favor with him, I will—”

”Break my legs?” Chu Ke sneered, grabbing Chu Zhao’s hand and pointing it at his own leg. ”Go on, do it! Let everyone see you commit such a disloyal, unfilial, and immoral act.”

’At first, when Chu Zhao had threatened to break his legs, he had been genuinely scared. One reason was that he had been insulting her father, an elder, so his conscience was a little guilty. The other reason was that Chu Zhao had been truly terrifying at that moment.’

’But after the incident passed, he had calmed down and simply didn’t believe she could actually break his legs. Especially not now, with Xiao Xun’s group traveling with them. With so many people watching, how could a girl four or five years younger than him possibly break his legs!’

”Young Master Chu, Miss Chu,” Deng Yi’s voice cut in from the side.

Chu Ke and Chu Zhao quickly turned their heads to look.

Deng Yi asked with a smile, ”Are you two done talking? If so, we’ll be setting off.”

Chu Ke shook off Chu Zhao’s arm and said to Deng Yi with a smile, ”Yes, let’s set off, let’s set off.” With that, he didn’t get into the carriage but went to get his horse instead.

Ever since the Princely Heir began traveling with them, Chu Ke had regained some of his youthful, dashing air. He had switched to riding a horse, which also allowed him to stay close to Xiao Xun and discuss poetry and philosophy.

Chu Zhao didn’t call Chu Ke back. She bowed her head to Deng Yi, then got into the carriage with her eyes downcast.

’The girl only ever acted this docile around him. Of course, Deng Yi didn’t think it was out of any great respect for him. It was simply because they had no conflict of interest at the moment.’

’Of course, he had no conflict of interest with her either, which was why his attitude toward her was also quite good.’

Deng Yi smiled faintly and swung himself onto his horse.

”Miss Chu and Young Master Chu are always bickering like this,” he added, explaining to Xiao Xun.

Xiao Xun just smiled, unconcerned.

Tie Ying, standing to the side, frowned. ’Lord Deng is being far too polite,’ he thought. ’How could that be called ”bickering”? Miss Chu’s attitude toward Young Master Chu was clearly awful.’

’This Miss Chu’s behavior is truly outrageous. She repays kindness with enmity by disrespecting the Princely Heir, and she’s always either hitting or cursing her own cousin.’

But Miss Chu’s next vile act still exceeded Tie Ying’s worst expectations.

Miss Chu drugged Young Master Chu, giving him a case of diarrhea so severe he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.