Ashes to Crown

Chapter 209: Chapter 34: Behind

The young men helped Xie Xiao to his feet. He let loose a string of curses, ”That bastard, that mongrel, that scoundrel, that villain! We’ll see how long he gets to be so smug!”

.....

...

In front of the main gate, night patrollers and household guards alike all bowed and stepped aside at the sight of Xie Yanlai, not daring to ask a single question.

A gatekeeper ran to open the gates and bring out a horse. Seven or eight attendants gathered to wait on him, while outside, twenty to thirty soldiers were already standing at attention.

The servant girls watched, reluctant to see him go, as Xie Yanlai vaulted onto his horse. ”Young Master, you aren’t even resting at this hour?”

Xie Yanlai let out a great laugh. ”Rest? What for? Now that I’m on top, of course I’m going to flaunt my power for all it’s worth!” With that, he cracked his whip and galloped into the night-shrouded streets.

His attendants and soldiers followed close behind, torches held high. Their passage was like rolling thunder, making the entire street tremble, a tremor that then spread across half the city—

Households deep in slumber were startled awake. A commotion of fear and anger stirred within the homes, but as soon as they peeked outside and recognized the identity of the rider, they fell silent once more.

”The ninth master of the Xie family.”

”Xie Yanfang’s brother.”

”That Xie Yanlai.”

”With the Yang and Zhao families gone, his family are the Emperor’s only uncles on his mother’s side.”

”One family enjoying the prestige of two—”

”A few days ago, some official got in this Xie Jiu’s way on the street, and Xie Jiu just hauled off and hit him—”

The gatekeepers stood by the doors, feeling the ground tremble beneath their feet. They could almost hear the whispers carried on the night air. They exchanged helpless glances; the Xie family, whether back in Dongyang or here in the Capital City, had never been so brazen.

That Xie Yanlai...

But there was nothing to be done. The Third Young Master Xie had given the order: Xie Yanlai was to act as he pleased, and no one was to question or obstruct him.

Oh well, let him be. As long as the Third Young Master Xie was around, everything was under control.

The gatekeepers closed the gates, and silence descended upon the Xie Mansion, both inside and out.

....

....

Outside the city, in the Capital Camp, torches blazed brightly enough to be a bonfire, holding the night at bay. With people bustling about and horses neighing, it was no different from daytime.

A troop of soldiers marched past. Other soldiers they passed all saluted, ”Zhang Dujun.”

Clad in a General’s armor, Zhang Gu wore a placid expression, his gaze fixed straight ahead. Flanked by his soldiers, he strode directly into a barracks building.

The barracks was spacious and brightly lit. It was furnished with a desk, a hanging map, and off to one side, a dining table, cushions, and a soft couch—a world away from their little posthouse soldier huts.

The personal soldiers, who had been standing silently at attention, seemed to shed a heavy burden the moment the door flap was lowered. They fanned out across the room, touching this and looking at that. The new recruit went so far as to sit at the dining table, staring in disbelief at what lay upon it—

”They even have a roasted pig’s head this late at night!”

A Soldier squeezed in beside him, grabbed a knife to slice off a piece of meat, and stuffed it into his mouth. ”Country bumpkin, ain’t seen nothin’ yet, huh?” he mumbled, his words muffled by the food. ”For a General, it’s not just meat at night. Once the national mourning period is over, there’ll be wine, too. As one of Zhang Dujun’s personal soldiers, you’ll get a taste then, kid.”

The new recruit was so excited he sat there stunned, forgetting even to eat. ’What kind of wonderful life is this?’ He distinctly remembered that not long ago, he’d thought he was going to lose his head. He never expected to be promoted instead—even if he was still just a soldier.

But being one of the personal soldiers for the General of the Posthouse Soldier Camp—that was a completely different status!

Zhang Gu watched his men gawking and touching everything in the room and cleared his throat. ”Settle down, all of you.”

The Soldiers quieted down, though not out of fear. They just snickered. ”Chief, you’re really something. The whole way here, you had such an imposing air. Even more dignified than the last General.”

Zhang Gu’s face flushed slightly. ’Of course, it was all an act,’ he thought. ’Beneath this armor, my legs are still shaking.’ He sighed internally. He’d lived half his life assuming he would just fade into old age. When he could no longer run, he figured he’d end up as a simple soldier at some rural posthouse in the mountains. He never imagined he would get a promotion and be put in charge of the Posthouse Soldier Camp in the Capital City.

And it was all because—

”It’s all because we got lucky and met Ah Fu on the road—”

”Hush! Don’t call her that. You have to address her as the Empress—”

”Keep your voice down! Don’t bring up the past. It’s disrespectful to the Empress—”

The other men began to chatter all at once.

Zhang Gu snapped back to his senses. He smiled, then his expression turned solemn again. They were strangers who had met by chance, yet Ah Fu valued them so highly. He would not let her down! Especially since that child had once again—

”She’s being willful again. Last time, she climbed the wall to get out of her house. This time, she got to the Imperial Palace and did the exact same thing—climbed the wall and ran off.”

Ah Jiu had stood before him earlier, his face cold as he spoke.

”But it’s different this time. She doesn’t need to rely on tricks and deception; she has soldiers to protect her. There’s no need to worry.”

’No need to worry?’ Zhang Gu thought. And then Ah Jiu had made him a General.

”The Posthouse Soldier Camp is in your hands. You are to personally control all intelligence regarding her along the road.”

Ah Jiu had then vaulted onto his horse and turned it to leave. But in the darkness, the horse pawed the ground, seemingly reluctant to go. And so, from his saddle, the young man tossed out one last sentence.

”—If anything seems wrong, tell me at once.”

With that, the young man spurred his horse onward and vanished into the night.

Zhang Gu let out a soft sigh. Ah Fu had once again run from the Capital City and set out on the road to the Border County. But this time, Ah Fu was not just Ah Fu, and Ah Jiu was no longer a mere posthouse soldier. As much as they worried, they could no longer accompany her.

The two of them had met and their fates became intertwined on the road, but now they could no longer travel it together. What a shame.

’I will protect Ah Fu,’ he vowed. ’I will make sure those two star-crossed lovers—even if they can’t end up together—can at least both live well in this world, see each other, and remain connected.’

Zhang Gu’s heart swelled with emotion. He took a deep breath, his face growing stern as he barked, ”All of you, on your toes! This is a critical time. There can be absolutely no mistakes with the postal dispatches!”

A promotion certainly changed a man’s presence. The soldiers who had been lounging around the room snapped to attention and answered in unison.

The night was at its deepest. Standing atop the walls of the Capital City, the view into the distance was pure, pitch-black emptiness. Heaven and earth seemed to have merged into a single, chaotic void.

The wind whipped his cloak, making it billow and slap against his body, as if trying to wake the young man who had been standing there, motionless, for so long.

Xie Yanlai stared, unmoving, into the deep darkness.

’Is she going to be all right?’

’She was hunted and cornered back when she was a nobody.’

’Now that she’s the Empress, she’s made an enemy of the King of Zhongshan and is trying to play clever games between Deng Yi and Xie Yanfang. Instead of lying low and hiding in the Imperial City, she’s run off again. Isn’t she just serving herself up on a platter?’

’Doesn’t she know her luck has always been terrible?’

’If it weren’t, she wouldn’t have run into me back then, and I wouldn’t have seen through her in a single glance. All her efforts would have been for nothing.’

’If it weren’t for that, she would be with her father right now, happy and carefree, with no need for all these schemes and worries.’