Ashes to Crown

Chapter 104: Chapter 63: In the Mountains

The door of the wooden house opened, and the night rushed in. The oil lamp flickered, making the person at the table look like a mere shadow.

The shadow was slender, as if it might scatter in the wind.

The girl who ran in stopped short, quieting her breath and lowering her voice. "Auntie, it’s confirmed. Zhong Changrong is headed for the Capital City. I also asked around in the County. The officials are cursing General Chu, saying he doesn’t know his place and is going to anger His Majesty in the Capital City again."

The figure at the desk was silent for a moment. "He hasn’t sent anyone to the Capital City in many years."

Her voice was gentle and pleasant.

The girl clenched her fists and snorted. "Whether he sends people to the Capital City isn’t something others would know. These officials in the County have no idea what he’s truly capable of."

The woman’s silhouette offered a faint smile. "Xiao Man, what I mean is, he hasn’t sent Zhong Changrong to the Capital City for many years. Zhong Changrong is his right-hand man; he doesn’t leave his side lightly."

Xiao Man grunted, though she didn’t seem very happy about it. She muttered, "It’s been so many years with no contact. Who’s to say if Zhong Changrong is even still his right-hand man?"

The figure by the lamp fell silent.

Xiao Man instantly panicked, cursing herself internally as she scrambled for words. "So, uh, what’s Zhong Changrong going to the Capital City for?" Then, a flash of inspiration hit her. "Is he going to pick up Chu Zhao?"

Her face lit up as she spoke, proud of her own cleverness.

"That’s right! He must be going to get Chu Zhao."

"Auntie, Chu Zhao is coming home!"

The figure by the lamp shook her head. "When Ah Zhao left, he didn’t have Zhong Changrong escort her. If it were just a matter of bringing her back, he wouldn’t go out of his way to send Zhong Changrong. If Zhong Changrong is the one going, then things are not that simple."

The figure flickered to her feet.

"There must be something else going on, something very important. It might even pose a threat to Ah Zhao. That must be why he sent Zhong Changrong."

As she spoke, she began to pace the room, stirring a breeze. With a PUFF, the weak oil lamp went out, and the room was plunged into darkness.

Xiao Man slapped her own face. ’Why did I have to bring up Chu Zhao!’

"Auntie, don’t you think you’re overthinking it? What could possibly happen?"

"Even back then, when things were so bad, it turned out fine."

The figure in the darkness stopped pacing and said grimly, "Even back then, when things were so bad, he never sent Zhong Changrong to the Capital City to see the Emperor."

With that, she walked outside.

"This won’t do. I have to go ask him what’s going on."

But as one foot crossed the threshold, the other stopped. The tall, slender figure stood motionless in the night.

"I swore that in this lifetime, I would never set foot in Luocheng, never see him again."

Her voice was a low murmur.

"He kept his promise and raised Ah Zhao. I must keep my promise, too."

’This promise has caused Auntie so much suffering,’ Xiao Man thought.

Xiao Man didn’t really understand. For people like them, weren’t promises just words? She and her siblings made promises hundreds of times a year and broke them even more.

Still, thinking about the history between her auntie and that man, she didn’t dare say or ask any more.

But as she watched the figure standing in the doorway, even Xiao Man, a girl who had yet to know true sorrow, could feel the overwhelming sadness.

"Auntie," she called out. "Let’s go to the Capital City, then."

The rigid figure stirred. ’The Capital City?’

"The promise was not to set foot in Luocheng, but you never said you couldn’t go to the Capital City," Xiao Man said, growing more excited by her own idea. "We can go to the Capital City, too! If we keep an eye on Zhong Changrong, we’ll find out what he’s planning. And we’ll get to see Chu Zhao!"

’See Chu Zhao.’

Counting the days, it had only been a little over a year since she’d left, but it felt like a lifetime.

’To the Capital City...’

Her other foot lifted and crossed the threshold. One step, two, three, faster and faster, her slender figure cutting through the night like a sword.

The mountain path was rugged, but to her, it felt like level ground.

Xiao Man had to run to keep up.

"Auntie, slow down!" she couldn’t help but shout.

The words had barely left her mouth when the running figure stopped.

"Xiao Man," she said. "I can’t go."

’Why did I have to tell her to slow down?’ Xiao Man slapped herself again. ’Am I really a jinx, just like Third Brother always says? Does everything I say ruin things?’

"Auntie," Xiao Man said quickly. "Don’t worry about the stockade. Everyone’s there; nothing will happen. Those soldiers are idiots. All they do is shout from a distance; they won’t even set foot in the mountains. The moment we came out, they were the ones who ran off."

"I’m not worried about the stockade," the figure said softly. "I... cannot leave."

’Then what is she worried about?’ Xiao Man wondered. ’Could there possibly be anything more important to Auntie than Chu Zhao?’ She didn’t understand.

But the figure said no more. She turned and took Xiao Man’s hand. "Xiao Man, you take some of our people and go to the Capital City."

Xiao Man gasped. "Me? I don’t think I can."

"Xiao Man, Auntie knows this is a heavy burden," the woman’s voice was low and full of apology. "You’ve never really left home, and it’s such a long journey."

Xiao Man let out a cry of protest. "Auntie, what are you talking about? I’m not afraid of hardship! And who says I’ve never left home? I’ve run all over the eight cities and twenty-nine stockades of this Border County. If you add it all up, it’s enough to get to the Capital City and back twice over!"

The woman’s voice held a smile. "I know. Xiao Man is very capable."

Xiao Man grew a little sheepish, holding the woman’s soft, delicate hand. "Auntie, I just mean... wouldn’t it be better if you went yourself?"

The woman shook her head. "No. It wouldn’t be good for me to see her."

Xiao Man sighed internally. ’What a cruel twist of fate. The person Auntie thinks about day and night is the one she cannot, and dares not, see.’

"Alright," she nodded. "Auntie, I’ll take them and go. You can count on me."

The woman squeezed her hand and shook it gently. "Even though you’re young, Xiao Man, I trust you most to get things done. And Auntie is so grateful. I’m doing this for Ah Zhao, but I’m asking you to bear the burden, and you’re just a child yourself—"

Xiao Man stomped her foot with a cry. "Auntie, stop! I’m not angry at all." She threw her arms around the woman. "Auntie, I know you miss Ah Zhao, but for over a decade, I’m the one who’s had your love. When I cried all night as a baby, you held me. When I was little and refused to eat, you fed me bite by bite. You taught me to ride horses, to fight, to read and write. You made me new clothes and did my hair. Everything you’ve given me is something Ah Zhao never received."

Before the woman could reply, she let go and ran off.

"Just you wait, Auntie! I’ll go see Ah Zhao in your place!"

On the rugged mountain path, under the pitch-black sky, the young girl was like an agile deer, leaping through the darkness until she vanished from sight.

A birdcall echoed through the dense forest, immediately answered by more, until the calls became a continuous wave that seemed to make the great mountain itself tremble.

The night wind rustled her robes, and it seemed as if her slender form might be swept away at any moment.

But the woman stood firm, her gaze fixed dazedly on the distant horizon, past layers of mountain shadows.

"Ah Zhao, Mother has failed you," she whispered. "I left you when you were a child, and I am leaving you to fend for yourself again. It’s not that I don’t worry about you, but I’m more worried about... him—"

’First, he sent our daughter to the Capital City. Now, he’s sending his most trusted and reliable man. Is something about to happen... to him?’

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