Ashes to Crown

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Powerless

Chu Zhao was feeling terrible.

Even sitting inside the sturdy carriage, she could feel the ground trembling.

Her heart hammered in time with the vibrations.

Ah Le lifted the carriage curtain. In the distance, the thick, black night seemed to be on fire. The sounds of men’s shouts and horses’ whinnies flooded in with the night wind.

"Put the curtain down, quick!" Chu Ke, huddled in the far corner of the carriage, yelled in terror. "You worthless wench, what are you doing lifting the curtain?"

"What are you shouting for!" Chu Zhao snapped at him. "If the bandits really attack, do you think a single curtain is going to stop them?"

Of course it couldn’t. Forget the curtain—not even this sturdy carriage or Lord Deng and his men, who had originally seemed so reliable, were anything in the face of such ferocious bandits. Chu Ke pulled his cloak tighter, his young eyes red. ’How could we be so unlucky as to run into bandits?’

Chu Zhao took a few deep breaths and softened her voice slightly. "You should think of it this way: we’ve run into government soldiers rounding up bandits, not bandits on a rampage. *That* would be a truly dangerous situation."

Chu Ke knew this, of course, but—

"For them to dispatch so many soldiers to encircle these bandits just shows how formidable they are," he muttered. "What if one of them breaks through the net and gets out—"

’We’d be done for!’

"This is all your fault!" Chu Ke snapped, his eyes red. "If it weren’t for you, how could we have run into so much danger!"

He was supposed to be a refined young scholar studying in the Capital City. But look at him now—a wretched mess, facing a life-or-death threat.

"You’re just like your father. All you two ever do is bring disaster to the family."

Chu Zhao hadn’t intended to get into it with the frightened boy, but hearing this, she kicked out. Caught off guard, Chu Ke slammed into the carriage wall with a loud THUD.

He clutched his stomach and cried out in pain.

But that wasn’t all. The next moment, Chu Zhao grabbed him, her small hands like pincers, and pinned him against the carriage wall.

Chu Ke couldn’t even scream. His face turned a purplish-red.

Chu Zhao said coldly, "You’re in trouble not because of anyone else, but because of yourself. Who told you to be born a son of the Chu Family, and the eldest one at that? Otherwise, it wouldn’t be your turn to come. Chu Ke, this is your own bad luck. If you dare say another bad word about my father, I’ll break your legs—"

Chu Ke stared at her, wide-eyed, letting out a choking cough as if trying to say something.

"You think I don’t dare?" Chu Zhao pressed his head down with one hand, leaning in close. "I already almost took Miss Liang’s life. I don’t care about adding one of your legs to the tally. In any case, my father will plead with the Emperor for me. Being pardoned for one crime is the same as being pardoned for two. Even if I have to go to prison, you’ll never get your leg back. If I’m going to be miserable, don’t think you’ll have an easy life either."

The girl’s voice and expression were calm, but her eyes were like deep pools, dark and gleaming with a terrifying light.

’She’s not lying. She really dares to do it. And it looks like she actually wants to kill someone.’

Chu Ke’s eyes, wide and round, were filled with terror.

’How did Chu Zhao get so terrifying? He’d never noticed it before—then again, he’d never paid any attention to this cousin. Whenever he saw her, he’d always been too high and mighty to spare her a second glance.’

After she finished speaking, Chu Zhao pulled back her hand and sat up straight. "Ah Le, wrap the young master’s cloak tightly for him. Don’t let him catch a chill."

"Yes, miss," Ah Le replied. She looked at Chu Ke with her round, simple face and used her chubby hands to forcefully pat down his cloak.

Chu Ke clutched his neck and coughed violently. ’A madwoman! Chu Zhao is a madwoman! Her maid is a madwoman, too! And her father, Chu Ling, is the biggest madman of them all! That whole second branch of the family is insane!’

He didn’t dare say another word. ’You can’t reason with a madwoman.’

Chu Zhao paid him no more mind. She knew that in his heart, Chu Ke was surely still cursing her and her father. ’She wouldn’t meddle with what people thought in their hearts, but from now on, no one was going to slander her father so wantonly in front of her.’

At this thought, her heart ached with pain and shame. ’In her past life, she had been no different from Chu Ke. She had constantly blamed her father. Listening to her uncle’s family complain, not only did she fail to defend her father, but she had joined in with their anger and complaints.’

’She’d complained that her father had ruined his own brilliant prospects, dragging her down to a low status. She’d complained that her father and mother had an illicit affair without a matchmaker, causing her to be ridiculed by others. She’d complained that her father had waited so long to send her to the Capital City. If only she had been raised by her grandmother from the start, she would surely have become a poised and noble lady—’

’In short, whenever her life wasn’t going smoothly, it was all her father’s fault.’

’She had never known that it was *she* who had harmed her father. And even after he died, he had continued to protect her, allowing her to live so many peaceful days.’

Chu Zhao raised a hand and pressed back the tears welling in her eyes.

Someone tapped lightly on the carriage. "Miss Chu."

Ah Le lifted the curtain. Chu Zhao looked at Deng Yi and asked with concern, "Lord Deng, you’re back? How is it?"

Earlier today, while they were searching for a place to camp, the scouts had reported trouble ahead. Government soldiers were encircling bandits, and the bandits were fighting back fiercely. Deng Yi had told them to stay put and remain on guard while he went ahead to investigate personally.

The clamor of battle had lasted for half the night, and now Deng Yi was finally back.

Actually, Deng Yi had been back for a while. He had heard the cousins fighting in the carriage again—or to be more precise, Miss Chu beating Young Master Chu again—so he had waited a moment before approaching.

"It’s over. The soldiers won," he said.

Chu Zhao patted her chest. "That’s good. That’s good."

There was no way they could camp here now. Deng Yi ordered them to continue onward. The group lit torches and followed the road through a mountain pass, where they soon saw the site of the fierce battle.

Seeing the scene with their own eyes was far more visceral than imagining it from the sounds.

The battle had been intense, and there were many dead and wounded.

Ah Le was a little nervous, but she saw that Chu Zhao seemed to have no reaction. When she saw the blood and the bodies, she calmly turned her gaze away. ’After all, the young miss grew up among the army in the Border County. She’s seen the world, unlike Young Master Chu Ke, who was cowering in the carriage like a quail with his sleeves pulled over his head and face.’

Ah Le wasn’t nervous anymore. Her expression became as solemn as Chu Zhao’s.

Because their identities had already been verified, their party was not stopped.

"Miss Chu, I imagine you didn’t expect to find bandits this ferocious in the heart of the Central Plains, did you?" Deng Yi said, riding his horse beside the carriage and looking at Chu Zhao, who had the curtain lifted to peer outside. "In truth, although we say the world is at peace, the bandit problem has always existed."

Chu Zhao gave a noncommittal "mhm," sighing inwardly. ’The world won’t be at peace for much longer. There will be even more bandits then, and the scenes of death and injury will be far worse.’

A sudden thunder of hooves sounded as another troop of horsemen approached from the front, calling out, "Lord Deng!"

Deng Yi reined in his horse. "It’s the Princely Heir."

’Xiao Xun?’ Chu Zhao tensed instantly, her hand gripping the window frame. Through the dim night and the flickering torchlight, she saw a young man wrapped in a black cloak. As he galloped forward, the night wind whipped the cloak open, revealing his white brocade robe and his face—a face Chu Zhao would certainly never forget.

’What is he doing here?’

Xiao Xun met up with Deng Yi, not sparing a glance for the girl in the carriage who was staring daggers at him.

"I’m truly ashamed that something like this happened. You must have been frightened," Xiao Xun said with an apologetic look.

Deng Yi said, "There’s no need for you to be concerned, Princely Heir. This matter has nothing to do with me. I won’t report it to the court, so I won’t tarnish the King of Zhongshan’s good name."

’This Deng Yi certainly doesn’t mince his words.’ Xiao Xun was taken aback. ’His father had said this Deng Yi was just a Small Minister from the Weiwei Mansion, but he seemed quite unruly.’

Since that was the case, he wouldn’t stand on ceremony either.

"Thank you, my lord," Xiao Xun said. "The bandit leader escaped. For your safety, my father has ordered me to escort you to the Capital City."

’What? An escort? To the Capital City?’ Chu Zhao, who had been listening intently from the carriage, heard him immediately.

"No!" she shouted.

Deng Yi and Xiao Xun looked over. Before they could speak, Chu Ke also started shouting from inside the carriage.

"Why not!" the boy’s voice was hoarse. "Didn’t you hear? The most vicious bandit leader is still on the loose!"

"Even if he’s on the loose, it’s within the King of Zhongshan’s territory. The Princely Heir should just go and hunt down the bandit leader," Chu Zhao said, her hand tightening on the window frame. "Lord Deng, we should just leave quickly."

Deng Yi looked at her, the firelight and shadows dancing across his face. He shook his head. "Miss Chu, ensuring your safety on this journey is my duty. I accept the Princely Heir’s escort."

Chu Zhao’s heart sank.

So, she couldn’t stop Xiao Xun from going to the Capital City at all. She couldn’t even refuse to have him by her side.

She had caused all this trouble along the way, yet she had accomplished nothing. She couldn’t see her father, and she couldn’t escape Xiao Xun.

Her eyes went blank, and the hand clutching the window frame went limp.

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