In Chu Ke’s eyes, Chu Zhao had gone insane.
She had been insane from the beginning—otherwise, how could she have beaten the young lady of the Liang Siqing family? It was already her good fortune that these young ladies would play with her, yet she had beaten someone.
On the escape route, she was lucky enough to meet the Crown Prince of Zhongshan, but not only did she fail to seize the opportunity to establish a connection, she also offended the Crown Prince of Zhongshan.
Chu Ke no longer argued with Chu Zhao, nor did he seek out Xiao Xun again. With Chu Zhao around, the Crown Prince would not show him a favorable face and would instead find him more detestable.
He could only wait until they returned, and let his father step forward. He and his father would visit Xiao Xun together, apologize, and then establish a connection.
Thinking of this, Chu Ke was eager to return home, wishing he could open his eyes and already be in the capital.
……
……
The spring night in the border prefecture was still bitterly cold. A-Jiu, mounting his horse, couldn’t help but sneeze.
“After enjoying several days in the prefectural city,” Zhang Gu laughed beside him, “are you finding it hard to travel now?”
A-Jiu wrapped his scarf around himself, exposing only a pair of bright phoenix eyes: “I’ve been enjoying life for over ten years, yet I can still travel alongside you brothers without any difference.”
This boy never missed a chance to show off. Zhang Gu laughed and cursed a couple of times, cracking his whip: “Let’s go, let’s go. After we return, you can enjoy yourself properly again.”
The postal soldiers laughed and shouted, urging their horses forward.
A-Jiu surveyed the city shrouded in night. This journey’s business was now concluded, and after returning, his career as a postal soldier would also end.
He looked at Zhang Gu and the others—these people would have little interaction with him in the future. And then—his gaze turned to the distant wilderness—those people, like General Chu Wei, and that A-Fu, and Young Lady Chu, he would never see them again.
“Let’s go!” he shouted.
“Let’s go home!” one postal soldier also shouted.
The words “go home” immediately made all the postal soldiers boil with excitement, expressing their anticipation and excitement.
“Home!” “Let’s go home!”
They galloped forward, holding torches. This time, A-Jiu wasn’t running at the front. The torches illuminated his eyes, which showed no excitement or anticipation.
After losing his mother, he no longer had a home.
Home was no longer home, but a cage.
But the desolation passed in a flash, and the next moment his eyes were once again full of defiance.
He raised his long whip with a long shout, galloping like the wind, passing through the postal soldiers, taking the lead.
……
……
Although it was impossible to open one’s eyes and immediately arrive in the capital, the capital did draw closer bit by bit.
More than ten days later, accompanied by the pitter-patter of spring rain, a majestic city appeared in their view—that was the capital of the Great Xia.
Chu Zhao sat in the carriage, looking at the capital with complex emotions.
For the thirteen-year-old Chu Zhao, the capital was still an unfamiliar place, but for the current Chu Zhao, the capital was the place she knew best.
Here she had met the man she loved, transformed from an ordinary, unremarkable person into the most noble woman in the world.
But this had nothing to do with her. She had done nothing; it was that man who had bestowed glory upon her, and it was also he who had trampled her into the mud.
Her fate had been controlled by others.
This time, she would control it herself.
Chu Zhao’s hands, resting on her knees, tightened.
“Father!”
Chu Ke, riding his horse outside the carriage, suddenly shouted and galloped forward.
Chu Zhao came back to her senses and looked into the distance. She saw a group of people waiting on the main road. At the front was a man wearing a cloth robe. From a distance, his face wasn’t clear, but his figure evoked her memories—that was her uncle, Chu Lan.
Uncle’s figure was very similar to her father’s.
She hadn’t seen her uncle for a long time either. When she first awakened after her rebirth, confused and anxious, she hadn’t paid attention to her relatives at all, focused only on rushing back to the border prefecture.
As the carriages approached, Chu Lan came forward to greet them. Chu Ke had already jumped off his horse and, if not for being in public, would have almost thrown himself into his father’s arms to tell of his hardships and sorrows.
Chu Lan didn’t pay attention to him, but first bowed to Deng Yi: “Thank you for your hard work, Lord Deng.”
Deng Yi dismounted and said, “I have not failed the mission.”
Chu Lan then looked toward Xiao Xun’s carriage. Xiao Xun, being of noble status, naturally did not need to get out of his carriage, and at this moment he hadn’t even lifted the curtain.
“Father, that is the Crown Prince of Zhongshan,” Chu Ke introduced eagerly, both excited and aggrieved. The Crown Prince was a man of great bearing, and if not for Chu Zhao being too offensive, he would have already greeted him proactively. “The journey was dangerous; if not for him, we might not have made it back.”
This was somewhat inappropriate to say, as if Lord Deng had been useless, but Chu Lan didn’t correct him. Compared to the Crown Prince, this minor official from the Imperial Guard Office was indeed not very important.
Going to find his niece was a thankless, unnecessary, and tiring task. The Court of Judicial Review refused to accept it, using the excuse that she was Chu Yi’s niece, and pushed it to the Imperial Guard Office, which also made excuses, and finally pushed it to this newly appointed minor official.
Being assigned such a difficult task meant his background and support were inferior to others.
Chu Lan hurriedly followed Chu Ke to Xiao Xun’s carriage and respectfully bowed: “Chu Lan pays his respects to the Crown Prince.”
Only then did Xiao Xun lift the carriage curtain, nodding with a smile: “Scholar Chu is too polite.”
Chu Lan sighed: “I am ashamed. I have a rebellious daughter who is so disgraceful.”
Xiao Xun said, “Children are mischievous. Scholar Chu can guide her gradually.” He seemed unwilling to mention this child and changed the subject. “I have long heard of Scholar Chu’s reputation as a distinguished disciple of Master Zhu.”
Chu Lan had studied under the Zhu family of Jiujiang and now taught at Qiaoshan Academy, with considerable reputation among scholars. Hearing that even Xiao Xun, who was far away in Zhongshan Prefecture, knew of him, he smiled with some pride but modestly said: “The Crown Prince praises me too much. Not disgracing my teacher’s name is enough; I dare not call myself a distinguished disciple.”
Xiao Xun said: “There is a saying I have never quite understood. Today, since I have met Scholar Chu, I would like to ask for your guidance.”
Chu Lan quickly said: “Please speak, Crown Prince.”
Seeing them conversing happily, Deng Yi’s expression remained calm without any dissatisfaction.
But this harmonious exchange of knowledge was rudely interrupted by Chu Zhao.
“Uncle,” she called loudly, lifting the carriage curtain, “the Crown Prince is entering the capital and must first pay respects to His Majesty. Is His Majesty supposed to wait for him?”
These words were truly impolite. Xiao Xun was fine, as he was accustomed to the girl’s attitude, but Chu Lan was startled by these treasonous words—this attitude was just like her father, that rebellious son who had dragged down the Chu family!
“Shut your mouth!” he turned and shouted, no longer concerned with speaking to Xiao Xun. He hurried over, pointing at her, “Get out of the carriage!”
Then he turned and called for people.
“Tie her up for me.”
When the scholarly Chu Lan lost his temper, he could be quite frightening due to his tall stature.
The servants indeed surged forward to drag Chu Zhao out of the carriage. A-Le blocked the carriage door, waving her hands to strike and kicking with her feet. Surprisingly, three or four male servants couldn’t get near.
Chu Zhao leaned against the window, neither anxious nor flustered nor hurried.
The scene was noisy, and passersby all looked over. Xiao Xun’s carriage was magnificent, and everyone’s gaze couldn’t help but fall on him.
Xiao Xun felt very embarrassed.
Deng Yi, holding back laughter, watched for a while before stepping forward to resolve the situation. He thanked Xiao Xun again and invited him to go to the postal station first to await His Majesty’s summons, while the officials from the postal station ahead also took over.
Xiao Xun didn’t even say goodbye to Chu Lan before lowering the curtain and driving away.
Chu Lan only had time to bow and say goodbye, while Chu Ke was so angry his teeth itched.
“Father, did you see? On the road, Chu Zhao was even more defiant, disrespectful to the Crown Prince,” he said angrily.
Chu Lan’s expression was gloomy as he looked at Chu Zhao sitting calmly in the carriage. He truly hadn’t realized that this niece could cause so much trouble. Had he known, he would never have let her come back in the first place.
He should have known earlier—growing up with Chu Yi, like father, like daughter!
“Are you all eating for nothing?” he shouted in a deep voice. “Can’t even subdue a little girl?”
Then he looked at Chu Zhao again.
“Rebellious and unfilial girl, tie her up and bring her down!”
With the master’s orders, the servants were no longer polite. They certainly weren’t unable to subdue a little girl; they had just been holding back. Now that the master had ordered them to use force—
“Why are you tying me up?” Chu Zhao shouted, her voice shrill, startling the servants who had rolled up their sleeves and were about to act.
“To tie you up and make you admit your guilt to Young Lady Liang,” Chu Lan said coldly.
Chu Zhao said: “I won’t go to the Liang family.”
Chu Lan sneered: “You won’t go? Your aunt and sister are there taking punishment for you. What, do you still want to go home, wash up, change clothes, eat, and sleep peacefully?”
Chu Zhao said, “Even if I admit guilt, I don’t need to go to the Liang family. Since the Liang family has reported me, the authorities will handle it.” She looked toward Deng Yi. “Lord Deng, I should go with you to the government office.”
Government office? Chu Lan’s eyelid twitched. What was this dead girl saying? Did she know what going to the government office meant? Once a woman entered the government office prison, she would lose her purity.
If she was willing to go to the government office, why did she run away in the first place? It was because she was afraid and escaped.
Deng Yi wasn’t surprised, nor did he think it was a threat to Chu Lan. For this girl, being tied up and taken to the Liang family to bow her head would indeed be worse than going to the government office prison.
However, he had only been joking earlier when he said he would treat her as a criminal.
But as he looked at the hopeful eyes of the girl sitting in the carriage…
“Yes,” he looked at Chu Lan, “Scholar Chu, I need to take the criminal back first to complete my mission.”
……
……
(End of Volume One)