Ashes to Crown

Chapter 135: Chapter 91: Small Alley

Xie Yanlai kept his back and shoulders straight, so he looked just like anyone else. But his steps were actually very slow; it just wasn’t as obvious because his long legs covered a good distance with each one.

’Does it hurt?’

’Of course it does,’ Xie Yanlai thought—

Before he could say anything, the woman’s voice behind him came again, followed by a self-deprecating laugh. "What a stupid question. It’d be a miracle if it didn’t hurt."

Xie Yanlai scoffed internally.

"That’s right," he said, turning his head. "Miss Chu should hurry and send me more medicine. Take good care of a wounded man like me."

Chu Zhao hummed in agreement but offered no more pleasantries.

’How boring.’ Xie Yanlai suddenly lost all interest in talking and strode forward.

Lost in her own thoughts, Chu Zhao followed silently behind.

Seeing that neither of them was speaking, Ah Le also fell silent and followed along.

Step by slow step, Xie Yanlai finally reached the end of the short alley. When he turned the corner onto the main street and saw the girl was still following him, he couldn’t stand it any longer. He stopped in his tracks and spun around.

The girl behind him, completely oblivious, walked right into him.

He was caught off guard. Who would have expected her to just crash into him? She looked so small and slight, but she hit his chest with surprising force. He stiffened his body to keep from being knocked backward, which in turn aggravated the wound on his back—

He let out a sharp hiss.

Chu Zhao looked up, stunned. "Did I reopen your wound?" she asked quickly, then added complainingly, "Why did you suddenly stop?"

"You’re the one who wasn’t watching where you were going!" Xie Yanlai snapped.

Chu Zhao cracked a smile. "I was thinking about something. My mind wandered."

His anger deflated into exasperation. He looked at her, at a loss for words. "What could you possibly be thinking about while trailing me!"

"Oh, lots of things," Chu Zhao said. "The literary gathering tomorrow, for instance. I’m sure plenty of trouble is waiting for me there, but I’m not afraid. I’m always the target anyway. I’m used to it—"

’She actually answered him. As if he’d actually asked! It was sarcasm, damn it.’ Xie Yanlai lowered his gaze to the girl, who barely reached his chest. Her face was taut and her cheeks were puffed, making her look indignant, but her eyes held a defiant glint that dared anyone to challenge her.

’Come to think of it, she really has stirred up a lot of trouble. It’s been non-stop ever since he met her, yet somehow, she’s managed to keep going.’

Xie Yanlai swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and turned away. "Stop following me."

"Oh," Chu Zhao said, then asked, "What are you doing out here anyway? You really shouldn’t be out if you can help it. It’s too soon for your injury to have healed."

"Don’t worry," Xie Yanlai said without looking back. "I won’t deliver your letter even when I’m better, and if I’m not, you won’t need to care one way or the other."

Chu Zhao laughed and moved to block his path. "Don’t be so cruel. What if you change your mind about helping me once you’ve recovered?"

Xie Yanlai raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on his lips. "Fine. You can wait all you want, then."

Chu Zhao held the letter out to him. "Why don’t you take this first, and then we can wait together?"

"Do you think I’m a pushover?" Xie Yanlai asked, leaning in and lowering his voice. "That I wouldn’t dare tear up your letter just because of Xie San?"

"Of course not," Chu Zhao said with a perfectly straight face. "I know you. With or without Xie San, you’ll tear up whatever you please!"

Xie Yanlai couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.

When he laughed, his eyes sparkled like scattered starlight.

Just as Chu Zhao was about to speak, someone called out from behind her, "Ah Zhao?"

Chu Zhao turned to see a carriage stopped in the street. Its curtain was pulled aside, revealing Qi Leyun and two other girls crowded at the window, staring at her.

They looked at her with surprise, then their gazes shifted to Xie Yanlai and froze there.

’Who is that?’

’How can anyone be that handsome!’

Qi Leyun couldn’t help herself and blurted out, "Who is that?"

Thankfully, she managed to hold back her next question.

Chu Zhao knew she should go over and speak with them, but she was worried Xie Yanlai would use the chance to slip away. ’He would definitely do that!’

"This is Young Master Xie, Xie Yanlai," she said to Qi Leyun without moving from her spot. "I have something to discuss with him. You all should head home."

Qi Leyun’s eyes widened. ’She’s actually shooing us away! Choosing a man over her friends, the nerve!’ She didn’t want to leave at all; she wanted to keep looking. The young man was dressed in black, yet he seemed to radiate a light as bright as snow.

’So this is Xie Yanlai?’

The other two girls were also staring at the young man, unable to tear their gazes away.

They had actually seen him before, but that was on the street while he was being beaten as punishment. No one had given him a second glance then.

They never imagined that this son of the Xie family was even more handsome than Xie Yanfang, and with a completely different air about him. Xie Yanfang was warm and gentle like fine jade, while this young man was as sharp and intimidating as the cold glint of a sword.

"He was right, you know," one of the girls murmured. "Liang Qin isn’t as handsome as he is."

Chu Zhao could see the girls had planted their feet and had no intention of leaving. There was nothing for it.

"You should head back first, then," Chu Zhao could only say to Xie Yanlai.

Xie Yanlai shot her a look. ’Since when did he need her to dismiss him? They were already going their separate ways.’ Just as he was about to walk off, another voice called out.

"Xie... Yan... lai?"

This time, the voice came from behind them, each syllable drawn out. Xie Yanlai turned to see a young man slowly emerging from the same alley he had just exited.

’Xie Yanlai had noticed someone staring at him when he first entered the alley—’

’It didn’t matter. Anyone who wanted to stare could stare for all he cared.’

Xie Yanlai paid it no mind and turned his attention back to the front. The girl before him craned her neck to look past him. "Mr. Liang."

’Mr. Liang?’

Xie Yanlai glanced back at the newcomer. He looked to be seventeen or eighteen, dressed in simple cloth, his hair disheveled at the temples as if he’d just run from somewhere—

Although he didn’t recognize the face, he immediately knew who it must be: a member of the Liang Family, who had been exiled to the Border County.

Xie Yanlai’s gaze returned to Chu Zhao, and he suddenly broke into a smile.

Chu Zhao noticed and looked up at him. "What are you smiling about? You have that gloating look on your face again!"

"I’m smiling at you," Xie Yanlai said, his head slightly bowed and a grin on his face. "You bring all this trouble on yourself."

Seeing this, Qi Leyun was nearly shoved out of the carriage as the two girls beside her, overcome with excitement, leaned even farther out the window. ’He’s so handsome when he smiles—’

Chu Zhao looked toward Liang Qiang. "Mr. Liang, what are you doing here?"

’Shouldn’t the Liang Family have been escorted out of the Capital City by now?’

Liang Qiang looked at the young man and woman standing side-by-side. It was hard to put into words, but his heart sank even lower than it had when the Liang Family was convicted.

He’d had a vague premonition that his uncle would be condemned.

When the blow finally fell, he had been grief-stricken and desperate, but he hadn’t lost the will to live. After being released from prison and escorted toward the Border County, just as he was leaving the Capital City, he suddenly felt the urge to turn back for one last look.

It wasn’t that he was attached to the wealth and prosperity he had lost; he just wanted to see that girl one last time.

Back home, his aunt and cousins all cursed Chu Zhao, blaming her for the Liang Family’s ruin. He, of course, didn’t think that way. His uncle’s downfall was due to political infighting—a chess game between the Crown Prince and the Third Prince, between the Yang and Zhao Families. This girl had merely provided them with an excuse, and just one among many at that.

He had come back to see Chu Zhao with no real plan, perhaps just to share a self-deprecating laugh and tell her she had thought too highly of him, that he wasn’t the brave young warrior she imagined.

But he never imagined that after going to all the trouble of escaping his guards to return to the Capital City, he would be met with this scene.

He had spotted the girl and was just about to call out to her when she rushed toward another young man.

He saw them rejoice at their meeting, saw the easy expressions on their faces as they spoke, saw them walk together in comfortable silence, saw her smile at the young man, and saw the young man gaze at her with rapt attention—

Xie Yanlai.

It wasn’t that he had only just recognized him.

Unlike the girls, he had stared intently at Xie Yanlai’s face during the public flogging on the street, memorizing it.

He had seen Chu Zhao run out to shield this son of the Xie family back then. Both at that moment and later, when she had entered the Xie family’s estate, he had told himself it was just a ploy for her to get closer to Xie Yanfang—

There was nothing wrong with getting close to Xie Yanfang. What girl under heaven didn’t want to know him? He wouldn’t have minded that. It was only normal for Miss Chu to admire someone of that caliber; everyone is drawn to exceptional people. After all, he himself was the very warrior she had praised for his bravery.

But now, all those rationalizations had been shattered.

When that girl had run out, recklessly throwing herself in front of the whip, it wasn’t for Xie Yanfang’s sake. It was simply to protect *him*—Xie Yanlai!

So the rumors were true after all.

"Miss Chu," Liang Qiang said, his eyes fixed on Chu Zhao. "So it seems my Liang Family truly stood in the way of your happy union. I, Liang Qiang, have come especially to offer you my apologies."

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