Sleeping in the kitchen with the warm stove fire and thick straw spread on the floor was more comfortable than the crude wooden beds at the courier station, yet A’Fu still woke up.
Startled awake by a nightmare.
Though it couldn’t really be called a nightmare, since it was everything she had personally experienced.
She reached up to touch her neck—it burned with pain, and she could even feel the marks from strangulation. It hadn’t been enough to just force poison wine down her throat; they had strangled her with white silk because they found her dying too slowly.
The agony of her death seemed to have been reborn along with her.
A’Fu took a few light breaths and sat up. Because the room was warm, A’Le wasn’t pressed close to her for warmth and hadn’t been awakened, still sound asleep.
Actually, A’Le also hadn’t endured such hardship from traveling for many years.
Serving as her maid, she had practically been raised like a young lady herself. Whatever Chu Zhao had, she had too.
A’Fu looked at the chilblains on the girl’s face, covered her with the thick blanket the old station master had given them, put on a padded coat, and quietly went outside.
The two courier soldiers on watch were leaning against the doorway speaking in low voices.
“A’Fu, you’re awake this early again?” they said. “We’re staying here an extra day without rushing on, so sleep a bit more.”
A’Fu shook her head at them. “I can’t sleep anyway. Let my sister sleep more. Brothers, I’ll go draw water—which way is it?”
These two girls had been following them, proactively taking responsibility for boiling water and cooking along the way, but basically the sister did all the work. One could tell this younger sister was a bit more pampered.
However, the younger sister still knew to care for her sister. The two courier soldiers smiled and pointed out the location to her.
A’Fu picked up the wooden bucket and went.
The mountain stream gurgled, rising in layers of white misty cold air.
A’Fu sat on a rock, tossed the wooden bucket aside, and gently stirred the stream water with her hand, feeling the bone-piercing cold that reminded her everything happening now was real.
She truly had come back to life, returned to a time when her family members were still here, before she had met that person.
She would be able to see Father again.
Thinking of Father, A’Fu couldn’t hold back her tears. As a child she had found Father annoying, and after arriving in the capital, she had even resented him because of others’ gossip.
Especially when her aunt told her that Grandmother had originally wanted to raise her, but Father had refused—otherwise, she too would have been a dignified, elegant, beautiful noble young lady in the capital, just like her cousin.
Back then she had thought bitterly that she would never return to the border commandery.
And indeed she had never returned, never saw Father again.
Only after losing him did she know regret. Especially in those final years, she had almost nightly dreamed of returning to the border commandery, dreamed of Father.
Now finally—
A’Fu covered her face with her hands and wept. “Father—”
“Why are you crying for your father and not your mother?” a male voice asked curiously.
A’Fu stood up in fright, only then noticing that at some point, another person had appeared by the stream. His clothing hung open, his tall figure in the morning light covered with a layer of jade-like color—it was that young man A’Jiu.
“You, you,” she said, her voice trembling unsteadily for a moment.
“You, you, you—what about me?” A’Jiu said coldly. “This stream doesn’t belong to you. If you can come here to cry, why can’t I?”
A’Fu was choked speechless, though her emotions calmed down. Fortunately she hadn’t said anything else just now, otherwise—
She lowered her eyes and picked up the wooden bucket. “I’ve finished drawing water. You can cry here.”
A’Jiu laughed. Though she concealed it well, this little girl still couldn’t help showing her claws.
All that meekness, quietness, honesty, pitifulness, and weakness—it was all an act. This little girl was ruthless. Clearly not skilled at riding horses, she had gritted her teeth and persisted. She was truly harsh on herself.
People who are harsh on themselves are inevitably harsh on others too.
“Stop right there,” he said, spreading his arms to block her path. “You haven’t answered me yet. Why are you crying for your father and not your mother?”
The words sounded unreasonable, but A’Fu understood clearly in her heart that this young man had always been suspicious, didn’t trust her or that mother of hers.
“I did cry for my mother,” she said, biting her lower lip. “You came too late and didn’t hear. I cried for my mother first, then for my father. If my father were home, my mother wouldn’t be in such a state now.”
A’Jiu laughed. “That explanation of yours is really something—turning it from your problem into my problem.”
A’Fu lowered her eyes. “Sir, may I go now? I want to draw more water before my sister wakes up, to share her burden.”
A’Jiu shook out his clothing, put his hands on his hips, and stepped aside.
A’Fu struggled to carry the wooden bucket with both hands, swaying as she walked across the riverbed stones.
“Little girl,” A’Jiu said with a half-smile as she brushed past him. “That’s not your sister. That’s your maid.”
A’Fu’s steps paused slightly. She looked at the young man, about to say something, but her gaze fell on his open clothing, the faintly visible chest, and his tied waistband.
Her gaze stopped—not because she saw a man’s chest, which meant nothing to her, but because tucked in his waistband was a letter.
The morning light was hazy, but she clearly saw the characters on the envelope.
“To be opened in secret by Chu Ling.”
Chu Ling?!
“What are you looking at!” A’Jiu shouted, pulling his clothing closed over his chest.
A’Fu said indignantly, “You, you’re the shameless one!” With that, she hurriedly walked away carrying the bucket, spilling half the water inside.
Returning to the courier station, her heart was still pounding.
Of course it wasn’t because she had seen the young man’s chest.
A’Le had already woken up and was about to look for her. Seeing her unusual expression, she asked nervously, “What’s wrong?”
The two courier soldiers in the courtyard also looked over.
A’Fu lowered her head and said, “Nothing. I just ran into Sir A’Jiu.”
A’Le was annoyed, and the two courier soldiers understood too. Given A’Jiu’s temperament, he must have been rude to this girl again.
“I’ll draw water,” A’Le said, taking the bucket. “You go inside and tend the fire.”
……
……
A’Le made several trips back and forth, filling all the water jars at the courier station. When she entered the kitchen, she saw A’Fu sitting in front of the stove—the fire that had been burning in the stove had gone out.
“Miss, Miss,” she asked nervously. “Are you all right? That A’Jiu, what did he do to you?”
A’Fu came back to her senses and smiled at her. “He didn’t do anything to me, just suspects us. But don’t worry about it.”
A’Le relaxed. Actually, she didn’t think exposing their identities would be a problem. If they mentioned the General’s name, these courier soldiers would certainly treat them respectfully, and that A’Jiu certainly wouldn’t dare make snide remarks.
But Miss had been concealing her identity since leaving the capital, though she didn’t know why.
Of course she wouldn’t object if Miss wanted it this way, she just felt Miss was suffering too much. As she thought this, she efficiently rekindled the extinguished fire.
“The station master has honey here. I’ll make sweet porridge for Miss in a bit,” she said cheerfully.
But A’Fu still seemed distracted, asking, “What is A’Jiu doing?”
A’Le was startled. Miss was proactively asking about A’Jiu?
“I didn’t see him when I went to the stream,” she said. “I heard Brother Zhang say this A’Jiu always likes to run around wildly—if he’s not chasing rabbits, he’s catching wild chickens. He’s probably off wreaking havoc in the forest.”
A’Fu made a sound of acknowledgment, looking thoughtful, then turned to A’Le. “A’Le, are you confident you could take something from him?”