Ashes to Crown

Chapter 226: Chapter 49: A Letter Arrives

Chu Zhao wasn’t concerned with whatever Ding Dachui and Aunt Ding discussed next, or how Xiao Man might go on to warn and threaten them.

She had done what she needed to. She trusted herself, and she trusted Xiao Man.

With these thirty men, they could just about manage to set off.

She couldn’t delay any longer. Her father had died in battle against Western Liang; this was her last chance to see him.

Chu Zhao led Ah Le back to her tent. Old Bai was waiting at the entrance and handed her a letter. ”Miss, it’s a letter from Mr. Xie Yanfang.”

Ah Le let out a happy little sound. ”Third Young Master Xie wrote to you! I was starting to think he’d forgotten all about you, Miss.”

Since leaving the Capital City, familiar faces like Deng Yi, Xie Yanfang, and Chu Tang had all vanished from her life.

’A letter from Xie Yanfang?’ Chu Zhao was delighted. She had been so focused on pushing forward on this journey that she’d lost touch with news from the rear. She wasn’t worried about matters at court—with Deng Yi and Xie Yanfang there, things were surely fine. But Xiao Yu was still just a child, and she couldn’t help but worry about him.

Chu Zhao took the letter inside, sat down, and opened it. It wasn’t long, only half a page. It first mentioned matters at court since her departure and then moved on to Xiao Yu. He was diligently attending court sessions and his studies, but his temper had become quite foul—

’It’s because I’m not there. He’s scared, so he’s throwing tantrums to feel secure.’

The letter then mentioned that he had heard about the ambush and expressed his concern.

”See? He also suspects the King of Zhongshan was behind it,” Chu Zhao said to Ah Le.

Ah Le, who was sitting beside her and reading along, nodded. ”Then there’s no doubt. It was the King of Zhongshan.”

Xie Yanfang was blunt in his letter, telling her that the King of Zhongshan was far more powerful than the court or the public realized.

Though he had been defanged and declawed in the past, decades of shrewd maneuvering had allowed him to grow back into a fierce tiger.

Moreover, the court had no real grasp of his finances, his network of people, or the true extent of his private army.

Chu Zhao nodded, then her lips curved into a faint smile. ’This description of the King of Zhongshan could just as easily apply to the Xie family. In that lifetime, it was the Xie family who refused to submit. A fierce tiger descending from the mountains, they tore the Great Xia apart, splitting the north from the south. The conflict hadn’t even ended by the time I died.’

’In this lifetime, the King of Zhongshan has taken their place. If it comes to war, the outcome will likely be the same.’

”Hey, why does it stop here?” Ah Le asked, interrupting Chu Zhao’s reverie.

Chu Zhao looked down at the letter. Ah Le’s finger was pointing at the very last line.

”I am so... worried about you,” Ah Le read aloud, then looked at Chu Zhao. ”And then?”

The letter ended abruptly right there.

”Do you think he didn’t finish it?” Ah Le asked, confused.

’Xie Yanfang must be really busy. Is that why he couldn’t finish?’

Chu Zhao looked at the letter and smiled again. ’It’s not that he didn’t finish. What Xie Yanfang means is that he’s incredibly worried about me, but he can’t bring himself to stop me.’

She knew that once news of the ambush reached the Capital City, neither Deng Yi nor Xie Yanfang would want her to press on. With the King of Western Liang invading, war flaring up in the Border County, and the King of Zhongshan having even more opportunities to strike—not to mention he was already targeting her—the journey ahead was simply too perilous. Considering both her own safety and the stability of the court, she should turn her horse around and head back to the Capital City right now.

Logically and for the greater good, that was the correct course of action. But on a personal level, Xie Yanfang knew how desperately she wanted to go to the Border County, so he couldn’t bring himself to say the words that would stop her.

That’s why he wrote this half-finished letter.

Chu Zhao’s finger traced the last line of text, sliding gently back and forth. ’What am I to do? What am I to do? He can pour out all his worries, but he can’t bring himself to persuade me, simply because he knows, he understands, he... ’

”Miss—Xie—” Old Bai’s voice called from outside.

Before he could finish, the tent flap was thrown open with a RUSTLE. A figure stood silhouetted in the sunlight, bursting in along with the light and flooding the entire space.

Chu Zhao raised a hand to shield her eyes, watching the sunlight dance across his dust-covered armor, his fair face, his high-bridged nose, and his sharp, phoenix eyes.

”Ah Jiu.”

The next moment, she leaped to her feet and joyfully threw herself toward him.

’Ah Jiu is here!’

....

....

Old Bai had no idea what to make of any of this.

One moment he was standing at the entrance; the next, he was flung inside.

The girl rushing forward skidded to a halt in front of him and, as if she’d just witnessed something hilarious, burst into peals of laughter.

’Well, this is the first time Miss Chu has laughed so loudly since the journey began.’

Behind him, the young junior general was laughing too, a cold, hissing sound that seemed to blow right against the back of his neck.

Miss Chu laughed heartily. ”Ah Jiu, I never thought you’d come!”

Captain Xie let out another one of those hissing laughs. ”You’re too modest, Miss. Is there anything you *don’t* know?”

Old Bai thought, ’I, for one, don’t know anything. Like, why am I standing here?’

Fortunately, the Empress really did seem to know everything. Seeing his awkwardness and confusion, she smiled and said, ”You’re excused. Go on with your duties.”

Old Bai didn’t even have time to say ”Yes, Lady” before he turned and bolted.

With Old Bai no longer blocking her view, Chu Zhao could see the mix of mockery and triumph in Xie Yanlai’s eyes. It was an expression that screamed, ’I knew you’d do this, but I’m one step ahead of you.’ She smiled again.

”I just finished reading Third Young Master Xie’s letter,” she said, ”and then you show up.”

Xie Yanlai’s expression remained mocking, but his sharp phoenix eyes lowered. ”I’m the one he sent to drag you back,” he said. With a jerk of his head, he added, ”Let’s go.”

He strode out of the tent.

Chu Zhao followed him out, smiling. She took a few quick steps to circle around and block his path, her face showing no trace of anger or unease. ”Trying to scare me again,” she said with a grin.

...

...

”That man... who is he?”

Not far away, ”Aunt Ding” happened to witness this scene and asked in surprise.

The recent turn of events had been so sudden and startling that she had become flustered, unsure of what to do. She had taken to wandering aimlessly through the camp.

By the time Xiao Man found her, she had managed to calm down a little.

Xiao Man complained to her, ”That’s just how Chu Zhao is. She’s ridiculously clever. Who knows what she was plotting or when she started watching you, but she managed to corner you completely, Auntie.”

The woman recalled the scene. The girl had walked in like a brilliant lantern, so dazzling that she hadn’t dared to look at her for long, her heart thrown into a panic. She hadn’t seen any of that ”ridiculous cleverness”; she had only heard how lovely and considerate every word she spoke was.

Lovely enough to believe she was Ding Dachui’s wife, considerate enough to let the ”couple” stay together.

The woman let out a soft laugh and murmured, ”The General raised her well.”

’She’s a girl who was raised with love.’

”It’s clearly because you gave birth to such a fine daughter, Auntie,” Xiao Man said, a little indignant. ’After all these years, you still won’t say a single bad word about that Chu Ling.’ Then she asked, ”So, what’s the plan now?”

’Should I do as Chu Zhao said? Travel with them, and stop hiding?’

She had never dared to hope she could ever appear before her daughter, speak with her, or be looked upon with such a bright smile—

The woman placed a hand over her heart. ”This must be the heavens taking pity on me.” She looked up at Xiao Man. ”In that case, I will be this ’Aunt Ding.’”

Hearing that name, and thinking back to how pale Ding Dachui’s face had gone during that scene—a detail Chu Zhao had completely missed—Xiao Man couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

”She can be so dense,” she said.

”Aunt Ding” raised a hand and patted her lightly. ”Stop laughing. ’Aunt Ding’ doesn’t know you that well. You need to put on a stern face.”

Xiao Man clutched her stomach, trying to keep from laughing herself into a stitch.

As the two were talking and laughing, ”Aunt Ding” suddenly looked off in a certain direction. A squad of riders was approaching at a gallop. Such sights were common in a military camp, and other riders were moving about elsewhere, but her gaze remained fixed on this particular group.

’They’re covered in dust from the road. They aren’t local.’

The other riders reined in their horses, but one broke away and headed straight for Chu Zhao’s tent.

This, too, was a common sight. The posthouse soldiers always delivered messages directly into Chu Zhao’s hands.

But this posthouse soldier—

The woman narrowed her eyes. ’He’s young, but he has an extraordinary presence.’

He leaped from his horse, and the soldiers at the entrance didn’t try to stop him in the slightest. That man, Old Bai, even greeted him warmly. The young ”posthouse soldier” then lifted the tent flap and went straight inside—

Then, he came back out, seemingly displeased. But Chu Zhao was right behind him, smiling, and she leaped in front of him like a young deer, blocking his way—

The woman felt her own heart skip a beat.

’I wonder if that young posthouse soldier’s heart skipped a few beats, too?’