Ashes to Crown

Chapter 102: Chapter 61: What Pleases

Chu Tang selected the thank-you gift for Xiao Xun. After she was done, she went to see Chu Lan and Mrs. Jiang.

Chu Lan, shaken by the incident, claimed to be ill and refused to see visitors. Chu Tang couldn’t be bothered to say much to her father, so she met only with Mrs. Jiang and told her not to worry.

”Linglong was clumsy and fell in. The Princely Heir is kindhearted and couldn’t bear to see an innocent suffer, so he saved her.”

”I took the opportunity to gift Linglong to the Princely Heir. This makes us seem grateful and proper, and the Princely Heir can accept with the grace of a true gentleman.”

”Besides, Linglong knew the circumstances. Gifting her to the Princely Heir is a form of apology from us, and it will also put his mind at ease.”

Mrs. Jiang had no patience for these details. She just grabbed Chu Tang’s arm and asked, ”Will the Princely Heir resent us? Will he blame us? Will he try to harm us?”

’If I hadn’t heard what Chu Zhao said, I would have been worried too,’ Chu Tang thought. ’But now...’

’I think I understand now. The Heir of Zhongshan King wants to get close to our Chu Family—or more specifically, to Chu Ling.’

’And Chu Ling has no intention of associating with the Heir of Zhongshan King.’

’So, when what you want is denied, resentment is sure to follow.’

’Still, for Chu Zhao—or my uncle—to dare to do this, they must be confident that they have nothing to fear.’

’In any case, this affair has nothing to do with Chu Lan and his wife. In Xiao Xun’s eyes, they were merely pawns.’

”Mother,” Chu Tang said, gently pushing Mrs. Jiang back into her seat. ”Don’t worry, everything will be fine. I’ve already selected a generous gift.”

She then showed the gift list to Mrs. Jiang.

The gifts listed were indeed lavish. Mrs. Jiang didn’t feel the slightest pang of regret over the cost; instead, she felt immensely relieved.

”Besides, with Linglong now with the Princely Heir, it will be more convenient if he has any instructions for our family,” Chu Tang said with a smile.

Mrs. Jiang nodded again and again, even more relieved. ”Exactly. You trained Linglong yourself. All the maids at your side are so clever and bright.”

’What a creature I trained,’ Chu Tang thought, rolling her eyes. ’The moment that wretched girl heard she could become the Princely Heir’s maid, she completely forgot about me, her mistress. She ran off without so much as a backward glance.’

She couldn’t be bothered to say more; these few words were enough to pacify her parents. She took her leave and returned to her courtyard just as it grew dark enough to light the lamps.

The lamps in the room were lit, but it still felt a bit dim.

Chu Tang frowned. ”Linglong, why isn’t the lamp by the mirror lit?”

A young maid rushed over in a panic to light it. ”It’s my fault.”

Chu Tang snapped out of it, remembering Linglong was gone.

She looked around the room. Though Linglong was gone, it seemed there were suddenly many more maids—all of them crowding around her.

”Sister Linglong did everything for you, My Lady. We are clumsy, so we weren’t usually allowed to come near,” the little maid said with her head bowed.

’This little maid was even tattling on Linglong,’ Chu Tang thought, amused once again, ’knowing I dislike her now. Making a common enemy.’

”Alright, if you don’t know, then learn,” she said languidly, pointing at the young maid. She paused, trying to recall her name. ”Ding Dong. From now on, you will take Linglong’s place.”

The young maid, Ding Dong, was overjoyed. The other maids were vexed and jealous that this little chit had gotten ahead of them.

”Thank you, My Lady!” Ding Dong knelt and kowtowed. ”I will be sure to do a good job!”

Chu Tang gave a wry smile. ”Don’t do too good a job. I’d hate to be sad to see you go when you eventually leave.”

Ding Dong immediately looked up. ”I will never leave you, My Lady! My life is yours! If someone else were to save me, I would immediately die and seek reincarnation just to repay them!”

’My mother was right,’ Chu Tang thought, amused. ’The maids around me are indeed clever and bright. But they’re also heartless.’

’Linglong was just like that, and so is this new girl. Never mind her professions of loyalty; give her a better opportunity, and she’ll run off just as fast as Linglong did.’

’But it didn’t matter. Maids were meant to be used. Was I really supposed to treat them like my own sisters? Even real sisters scheme against each other.’

’It’s just a matter of who out-schemes whom.’

’This time, I was the one who was outmaneuvered.’

But strangely, she didn’t feel angry at all. Instead, she had a peculiar feeling.

’So Chu Zhao doesn’t actually want to marry the Heir of Zhongshan King?’

’Or could it be that when my uncle sent Chu Zhao back, it wasn’t to secure a stable marriage for his daughter, but for some other purpose?’

’Look at everything Chu Zhao has done. She was disrespectful to Liang Siqing, unafraid of the Third Prince, and now she even dares to plot against the Heir of Zhongshan King.’

’Setting aside what my uncle is planning for a moment... just look at Chu Zhao. It turns out a girl can do things besides scheming for a husband.’

Chu Tang sat at her desk, her eyes bright and sparkling as she gazed at the lamp.

...

...

”How could this happen?”

In a room at the post house, the scholar Ning Kun’s face was a mask of shock under the lamplight as he looked at the maidservant standing outside.

To avoid attracting attention, he rarely appeared in public with the Princely Heir.

There had been no need for him to go to Chu Garden personally. Chu Lan and his wife were fools, to say nothing of the fact that the Princely Heir was always so cautious and meticulous; he never made a mistake.

He had even made a point of visiting several other households today, drinking and laughing at his leisure, only returning at dusk. The first person he saw was Tie Ying, and he asked if the matter had been settled.

Tie Ying jerked his chin in one direction. ”It’s handled. We brought the person back.”

’He had been stunned. What did he mean, ’brought the person back’?’

”What a brilliant idea you had, Mr. Ning, insisting the Princely Heir rescue someone,” Tie Ying sneered. ”He rescued someone, so of course he had to bring them back.”

’He’d long since found this scholar an eyesore, always feeding the Princely Heir terrible ideas.’

’What nonsense,’ Ning Kun thought. ’This oaf of a guard can’t even speak clearly. I’ve long found him an eyesore myself. There are plenty of skilled guards out there; why must the Princely Heir keep this boy around?’

Following Tie Ying’s gaze, he saw a woman standing under the covered walkway, her head bowed in a delicate and timid posture.

’It can’t be, can it? Are Chu Lan and his wife that shameless? They just shove someone at us after a rescue?’

He had never seen Chu Zhao, so he hurried to ask Xiao Xun, only to learn that Tie Ying had been messing with him.

’That little bastard!’ Ning Kun thought. ’But there’s no time to deal with him now.’ He urgently asked what had happened, and Xiao Xun recounted the whole affair.

”’The young lady falling into the water became a maidservant falling into the water. So saving the young lady became saving a maidservant.’”

Saving the young lady meant they couldn’t just give her to him right away. But maids and servants are property. A gift from a master is a pleasant tale, and his acceptance is perfectly reasonable.

Why did it turn out this way?

Xiao Xun, sitting in the lamplight, said with a smile, ”Because I was outmaneuvered, of course.”

Ning Kun snapped back to the present. He knew that, of course, but...

”Who was behind it?” he asked. ”Chu Lan and his wife?”

’Impossible!’

”Their daughter? I’ve heard the Capital City people say that Chu Lan’s sons are all fools, but his daughter is clever and tactful.”

’But those are just the petty tricks of a young girl, only good for fooling other girls.’

Xiao Xun waved his hand. ”Why would they scheme against me? I wasn’t plotting against them. Schemes are mutual. Therefore, the person I was targeting is naturally the one who targeted me.”

Ning Kun understood. ”Chu Zhao?”

The King of Zhongshan had said this girl was much like Chu Ling, but he was referring to her defiant nature. As for her intelligence...

Even if she is intelligent, the key to this matter wasn’t intelligence, but information.

The Princely Heir’s plan hinged on Chu Lan’s family disliking Chu Zhao and being certain to keep her in the dark.

”How did she find out?”

Besides, Chu Lan and his wife didn’t even know what the Princely Heir was planning!

”Stop thinking about it. None of that matters,” Xiao Xun said. ”She wasn’t trying to hide it. From the very beginning, she’s been open about her dislike for me. This time was no different—”

He pointed at his own clothes.

”See? She’s making it perfectly clear that she knows everything.”

’She knew what I was going to do, knew I was going to jump into the water, so she even had a change of clothes ready.’

He looked at his reflection. The clothes were a perfect fit. Even the fabric and color were to his liking. A strange thought occurred to him: ’this girl knew him very well’.

The thought flickered through his mind, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Ning Kun shook his head. ”And you can still smile, Princely Heir.”

’That girl actually managed to thwart this plan. Things are going to be difficult now.’

”Of course I can smile. This is far too interesting,” Xiao Xun said. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, a broad smile deepening the dimples in his cheeks. ”So, it turns out that girls can do more than just show their emotions around me. Some of them can actually scheme against me, too.”