The soldiers gradually regrouped from all directions, concealing Chu Zhao within their ranks. Only then did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She looked back, but the peach grove behind them could no longer be seen, much less the people who had been admiring the scenery.

“Miss,” A’Le urged her horse alongside and asked quietly, “Were you arguing with the Third Young Master just now?”

She had been standing nearby at the time. Although it appeared the Miss and Xie Yanfang were drinking tea and chatting pleasantly, the atmosphere felt somewhat strange. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what was odd about it, but it definitely felt different from being with Xie Yanlai.

By all accounts, Xie Yanfang should be much more likable than Xie Yanlai.

“We weren’t arguing,” Chu Zhao explained to A’Le, though she didn’t hide anything from her. “The Third Young Master had some doubts about what I did this time, and I was explaining it to him.”

A’Le understood this sentence and slapped her horse’s head: “What doubts! How dare he blame you, Miss! On what grounds! Miss, you took such great risks, stopped Prince Zhongshan from doing evil, quelled the flames of war, and rescued the common people from dire straits, yet he still dares to blame you?”

If the Miss hadn’t said this herself, A’Le truly wouldn’t have believed it.

How could Xie Yanfang blame the Miss over this matter?! Shouldn’t he be congratulating, admiring, and feeling deeply grateful instead?

“Calm down,” Chu Zhao said with a smile. “The risks I took and the things I did—these were my own affairs, and they don’t really have much to do with Third Young Master Xie.”

A’Le stared wide-eyed: “But how can that be called—”

“It really is called ‘nothing to do with him,'” Chu Zhao also stared at the little maid. “Because he has his own matters to attend to.”

“Miss, this isn’t called ‘his own matters,'” A’Le corrected. She was no longer the ignorant border region maid she once was. “This is called matters of state and nation!”

Chu Zhao was actually taken aback by her words and smiled.

“Yes, A’Le is right,” she said, nodding, then letting out a soft sigh. “That’s exactly where the problem lies. This matter concerns the state and nation, but those acting are independent individuals, and as long as they’re human, they have selfish interests.”

“Miss has no selfish interests!” A’Le said with grievance.

Chu Zhao shook her head: “I do.”

A’Le made an “oh” sound and said nothing more. If the Miss said she did, then naturally—she was right.

“Third Young Master Xie has his own plans. I did this without consulting him. Although I resolved a matter of state importance, I disrupted the Third Young Master’s affairs,” Chu Zhao continued in a low voice.

A’Le understood this time and also lowered her voice: “So, he’s angry?” Then she became somewhat nervous, gripping the reins tightly. “Will he harm you, Miss?”

Although, but still, she didn’t know why this thought suddenly occurred to her. The Third Young Master was clearly a very good person in everyone’s eyes.

Chu Zhao shook her head again: “No, the Third Young Master is a very forthright person. When he has doubts, he immediately comes to ask me. Once things are clarified, he won’t be angry.”

Xie Yanfang had directly stated that Prince Zhongshan’s campaign was within his control, and even something he was pleased to see happen.

The meaning was that the Xie family wanted to use this battle to gain even greater renown.

But she, Chu Zhao, had disrupted that.

So she also frankly told Xie Yanfang that for her, Prince Zhongshan’s campaign was also an opportunity. She wanted to participate in it to gain renown for herself.

She did this for her own sake, not to deliberately oppose Xie Yanfang.

This was about the matter, not the person.

Distrust, fear, admiration, even coveting fame and power—Xie Yanfang could accept all of these. He could even understand, and he even seemed quite pleased.

Third Young Master Xie was an eagle soaring in the sky. He didn’t mind the selfish interests of the masses.

As long as it wasn’t—malicious.

Actually, no—he should be able to accept malice too, but it would depend on who the malice was directed toward.

Ants, wild rabbits, flying birds, fish, and insects—none of that mattered.

But if it were an equal, a peer—

For Third Young Master Xie, it would probably be a matter of “only I can exist, not you.”

Chu Zhao pressed her chest and let out another soft breath. Of course she bore no malice toward Xie Yanfang, although in her previous life, the Xie family could also be counted among her enemies—cursing her father, slandering her as an evil empress, and even killing Uncle Zhong—

However, in this life, knowing the circumstances, because of Xiao Xun and Chu Lan’s schemes, the Xie family and her Chu family had indeed stood on opposite sides.

In this life, she and Xie Yanfang had come to stand together, and she didn’t want to become enemies with him.

Of course, she also hadn’t truly opened her heart completely to Xie Yanfang. Deep in her heart, she still concealed selfish interests that couldn’t be revealed.

In this life, she had seized the advantage, and using that advantage, she had stepped into Da Xia’s turmoil. She had indeed stolen opportunities from many people, including Xie Yanfang.

With a hint of guilt, Chu Zhao looked back again. Fortunately, fortunately—no matter how much Xie Yanfang guessed or probed, even if he flew to the mountaintop, he would never discover this point.

“It’s good that he’s not angry,” A’Le muttered beside her. “Miss did this for His Majesty. If the young His Majesty isn’t angry, it’s not his turn to be angry. If he gets angry, that would be deceiving and disrespecting the sovereign.”

Chu Zhao laughed heartily: “Oh my, our A’Le truly knows so much now.”

A’Le snorted and lifted her chin: “I’m a maid who has stood in the Great Hall listening to governance.”

Chu Zhao laughed again: “Good, let’s hurry back to the capital and enter the hall to attend court again!”

……

……

But to return to the capital to attend court, they still needed to change horses.

At the last post station outside the capital’s borders, Chu Zhao had Ding Dachui take people to exchange horses while she took A’Le to rest at a tea house nearby.

This was already a prosperous area. The post station was grand, and the surroundings were bustling, though at this moment only four or five people sat in the tea house.

Seeing Chu Zhao approaching, they stood up nervously and excitedly.

A’Le had already made a sound of recognition and said happily: “It’s Commander Zhang.”

Zhang Gu and the others appearing here wasn’t strange at all. She had concealed her movements from local officials and civilians, but the relay soldiers, especially Zhang Gu, had always known her whereabouts.

Chu Zhao smiled: “Now you should address him as Lord Zhang.”

By this time they had already entered the tea house. Hearing this, Zhang Gu hurriedly bowed: “Many thanks to the Empress for your support.”

Behind him, his companions also bowed one after another, wanting to look at Chu Zhao but not daring to look too much.

“Everyone, please don’t be so formal. I’m entering the capital without the Empress’s ceremonial procession to avoid revealing my identity,” Chu Zhao said with a smile. “Everyone should just think of me as A’Fu.”

They wouldn’t dare, but mentioning A’Fu and recalling past events eased much of the relay soldiers’ tension. One relay soldier spoke up: “We wouldn’t dare call you A’Fu, but we can still call you Miss Chu.”

Chu Zhao smiled and nodded, saying that would be fine.

Zhang Gu invited her to sit and said: “Although, Your Highness, you said not to have a ceremonial welcome, we still wanted to see you. Your Highness has achieved such great merit, yet no one knows as you quietly enter the capital—”

Previously, when His Majesty had personally led the campaign, citizens had crowded together like clouds. The Empress had also personally campaigned and moreover prevented greater casualties in the war, yet she was returning to the capital so quietly and without fanfare. They felt it was somehow wrong.

Chu Zhao smiled: “This was my intention. If I wanted to return to the capital with great fanfare, His Majesty and the court wouldn’t object. I simply find it troublesome and want to quietly return to the palace as quickly as possible.”

Zhang Gu nodded: “We understand. However, although we understand, still—” He pointed to a table inside. “We want to use tea in place of wine to express our sentiments a little.”

Chu Zhao looked at the tea and refreshments arranged on the table. This was the second time she’d been invited for tea on her return to the capital. She raised an eyebrow and smiled: “Did you all personally brew the tea as well?”

There were only the few of them in the tea house. The owner who sold tea had been sent away ahead of time.

Hearing Chu Zhao’s words, one relay soldier couldn’t help but laugh and say: “That won’t do—the tea we brew really doesn’t taste good.”

……

……

But actually, tea brewed by a roadside tea stall owner wouldn’t be particularly delicious either. It couldn’t compare to the famous tea personally prepared by Xie Yanfang. However, Chu Zhao naturally didn’t care about the taste of the tea. What they were drinking wasn’t the tea anyway—it was everyone’s heartfelt sentiments.

They didn’t actually drink much of the tea. Everyone was busy talking about previous events.

“Er Xi is about to return?” Chu Zhao asked after hearing. “Have his injuries healed?”

Er Xi was the relay soldier who had previously delivered the message about Prince Zhongshan’s heir raising troops and the court’s counterstrike.

Zhang Gu shook his head helplessly: “Not yet. By rights he should recuperate for half a year, but this stubborn child won’t listen. He insists on making a fuss about coming back.”

Chu Zhao said: “Brother Zhang’s place is his home, so naturally his heart yearns to return.” She asked again, “Have all the funeral arrangements been made for the unfortunate Brother Wang?”

Zhang Gu said: “Your Highness can rest assured, everything has been settled. He has a son. If he wants to join the military in the future, I’ll directly recruit him under my command.”

Chu Zhao nodded, then smiled: “He could also be assigned to A’Jiu’s command.”

A’Jiu—hearing this familiar yet distant name, Zhang Gu couldn’t help but grin: “A’Jiu has become a great general, hasn’t he? Er Xi wrote in a letter saying he’s quite formidable.”

Chu Zhao waved her hand: “Not yet, not yet. Before becoming a great general, he still needs to accomplish much more.”She smiled again. “It should be soon though, shouldn’t it?”

Zhang Gu naturally knew how difficult it was to earn military merit, titles, and ranks, but still nodded firmly: “It will definitely be soon.”

This wasn’t just because Xie Yanlai was a son of the Xie family.

“A’Jiu is both clever and capable.”

One relay soldier thought of something, took a teacup from the side, placed it on the table, and poured tea into it: “Today we gather, we can’t leave out A’Jiu. Let’s add a cup for him.”

Zhang Gu laughed heartily and raised his teacup: “Today’s reunion, let us congratulate A’Fu, Miss Chu, for her illustrious military achievements in protecting the nation and saving the people!”

The relay soldiers raised their teacups and responded loudly.

A’Le also raised her teacup and drained it with Chu Zhao and everyone else.

After finishing this cup, Chu Zhao poured tea again and said: “Having toasted to fortunate events, let us also share a cup for the brothers who can never gather again, for the fallen soldiers, for the suffering common people—for all these unfortunate souls.”

Having said this, she poured the tea onto the ground.

Zhang Gu and the others became even more moved and poured their tea onto the ground one after another.

After the second cup of tea was offered, Chu Zhao poured tea once more and raised it: “For this third cup, why don’t we wish A’Jiu an early appointment as great general.”

Laughter rose throughout the tea pavilion. Everyone simply stood up, raised their teacups, and drank heartily.