Ashes to Crown

Chapter 215: Chapter 40: So Close

The late autumn sun hung high in the sky. Dust churned up from the ground as galloping troops and horses stretched out in what seemed like an endless line, obscuring the heavens and the sun.

Travelers on the road dodged out of the way, terrified and uneasy.

”What’s going on?”

”So many troops?”

”Has Western Liang invaded?”

Xiao Xun sat in his carriage, lifting the curtain. He covered his mouth and nose with one hand to block the dust, watching the troops with the same curiosity as the common folk on the road.

The troops passed by quickly.

The travelers resumed their journey on the main road, their steps quickened by lingering fear.

”Your Highness,” the driver, Tie Ying, said in a low voice, turning his head back. ”We should get going.”

Xiao Xun had insisted on seeing the troops pass with his own eyes before he was willing to leave.

”Let’s go,” Xiao Xun said, a hint of resignation in his voice. ”Father-King will just laugh at me again when I get back.”

He’d been laughed at time and time again. After a while, it wasn’t funny anymore.

’Why is it that whenever I deal with that girl, nothing ever goes my way?’

It was so infuriating.

...

...

The sound of hooves and the vibration of the ground echoing through the valley startled Chu Zhao and her party, who had just emerged.

’They still won’t give up? Are they going for a brazen assassination now?’

”It’s government troops!” a scout galloped ahead to report, shouting, ”Government troops are here as reinforcements!”

Government troops. Chu Zhao breathed a sigh of relief. Looking back into the distance, she could faintly make out a sea of banners and hear the clashing of armor.

”The troops got here so fast,” she remarked, a little surprised.

Xiao Man snorted from the side. ”Fast enough to collect our corpses, maybe.”

Chu Zhao smiled. ”Don’t say that. I’m the one who didn’t inform them of my movements. They had no idea I would run into danger. For them to arrive at this very moment is already incredibly fast.”

Xiao Man turned her head away and said no more.

...

...

The main army halted a short distance away. A general was brought before her and began a formal salute. ”Greetings—”

Chu Zhao quickly stopped him. ”I am traveling incognito. There is no need for such formalities, sir.”

The general stood stiffly and acknowledged her command. Just as he was about to blame himself, Chu Zhao spoke first again, saying she didn’t blame him for being late. The entire point was to remain undiscovered, so it was no crime for them not to have known.

”Clear the mountain,” Chu Zhao said simply. ”See if you can identify them.”

’If we can trace this back to the King of Zhongshan, that would be a good thing.’

Of course, Chu Zhao thought it unlikely. Since the King of Zhongshan dared to act, he would surely be confident in his ability to leave no traces.

The general acknowledged her order. He wasn’t allowed to apologize, nor could he perform excessive courtesies. After a moment’s thought, he turned and called for someone.

A soldier hurried over and stood before Chu Zhao, his expression a little shy.

”This is a posthouse soldier from Chen County,” the general said. ”He’s the one who reported that you might be in danger. He also had an emergency mobilization order, which is how we were able to deploy and search for you—”

Chu Zhao looked at the posthouse soldier in surprise. ”How did you know I was in danger?”

And how did he know she was here?

While she was supposed to inform the posthouses of her movements—a requirement from Ah Jiu before she set out, so she could travel without being tracked but had to leave word after passing through an area.

”So that kid doesn’t keep pestering me with questions I can’t answer,” he had said.

But she was only supposed to send word upon her departure, as a way of telling Ah Jiu, ’I’ve passed through here safely.’

She hadn’t sent word to the Chen County Posthouse yet.

She had thought the posthouses just passively received her messages. She hadn’t realized they were actively tracking her movements.

The posthouse soldier took out a map and a handwritten order from his tunic. ”An order came down from above. It said you would arrive within a few days, and if we didn’t receive a message from you immediately, we were to mobilize troops to search.”

’Arrive within a few days?’ Chu Zhao was confused. She reached out and took the map. It was a very common Great Xia Western Line Post Map. What was uncommon was—

Chu Zhao leaned in closer. In the sunlight, she saw that next to the name of each posthouse on the map, there were small characters noting a date range: from a certain day of a certain month to another day.

...

...

Hidden in the mountain forest by the roadside, concealed by several large trees and boulders, they could see the people on the road, but the people on the road could not see them.

Especially that girl.

”Look, she’s smiling,” the woman said softly, lifting her bamboo hat. ”Did she see some good news? She looks so happy.”

As she watched Chu Zhao smile, a smile spread across the woman’s own lips.

The girl surrounded by the crowd was smiling, and the woman hidden behind the rocks was also smiling, but the man beside the woman looked sorrowful.

”Village Chief,” the man beside her couldn’t help but say in a low voice, ”you should go see her.”

”But aren’t I seeing her right now?” the woman said with a smile. She pressed a hand to her chest; even now, she couldn’t keep her heart from pounding.

Although this wasn’t a moment for celebration—it had been brutal and dangerous—when she had looked up in the night and seen the girl appear amidst the flames and fighting, everything else had faded away. Only the girl shone with a brilliant light.

’It’s been so long. Ah Zhao has grown taller, and thinner.’

She could never get enough of looking at her—

The woman’s reaction only made the man beside her more upset.

”Village Chief,” he said, sounding agitated. ”She doesn’t even know you’re here. How can this count as seeing her? Why don’t you take this chance and just—”

”Just what?” the woman interrupted, the smile vanishing from her lips, her voice cold. ”Use the fact that I saved her life to make her acknowledge me as her mother?”

She gazed at the girl on the road.

”I once used her life as a threat. Now that I’ve saved her, does that mean one life cancels out the other, and she should call me ’Mother’?”

She slowly shook her head.

”Didn’t you hear her? She said her parents treat her like a precious treasure.”

”I... am not worthy.”

...

...

Sunlight bathed the Imperial City, but in the duty office, shielded by layers of palace halls, the view was somewhat dim.

A posthouse map lay on the desk. At that moment, a pair of long, slender fingers tapped upon it.

”She should have reached this point by now,” Xie Yanlai muttered, adding with some disdain, ”Her pace is nothing compared to mine.”

Xie Yanlai stared at the posthouse map for a long time without moving, the late autumn sunlight dancing across his form through the window lattice.

Not until an Imperial Guard called softly from outside the door, ”Capital Commandant.”

Xie Yanlai withdrew his gaze and turned his head. His phoenix eyes lowered, his expression returning to its usual cool indifference. ”What is it?”

The Imperial Guard handed over a dispatch from the post.

Xie Yanlai recognized the marking and immediately took the dispatch, unfolding it. Inside was only a short note. The first word his eyes landed on made his vision blur: *Ambushed*.

He had to take a deep breath before his eyes found the next words: *But safe*.

Xie Yanlai closed his eyes, slamming one hand on the desk for support. He cursed through gritted teeth, ”Damn girl.”

The handwriting on the note was elegant and clear; it was obviously hers.

”Lest you worry, I won’t hide it from you. I was injured, but it’s just a flesh wound and not serious. I’ve gained thirty new guards and will continue onward. Don’t worry.”

After reading the few short lines, Xie Yanlai sat down and exhaled. Chu Zhao had clearly been in a hurry to report that she was safe, and hadn’t written down any details. ’Where is she injured? Who were the attackers? Where did these new guards come from? Are they reliable?’

’She says she doesn’t want me to worry, yet she writes nothing! She’s doing this on purpose, isn’t she?’

He looked at the Imperial Guard. ”Have Zhang Dujun come see me personally as soon as there is any news.”

The Imperial Guard assented and withdrew.

Xie Yanlai sat there, reading the note over and over. ’Lest I worry? What do I have to worry about? Should I blame myself? Because I was the one who persuaded her to go see her father?’

’How ridiculous. I may have suggested it, but wasn’t she the one who wanted to go? Didn’t she know it would be dangerous?’

’Everyone must bear the risks of their own choices. I’m not going to worry, and I’m certainly not going to blame myself!’

Xie Yanlai crumpled the note in his hand. He stood up and paced a few steps, then sat back down and carefully smoothed the crumpled paper out again.