Dead?
Xie Yanlai looked at her, made a sound of acknowledgment, and raised his hand to pillow it behind his neck, but after lifting it, ultimately just placed it at his shoulder, saying, “If I’m dead, then there’s nothing left. This is a great achievement for killing Xiao Xun.”
Chu Zhao pulled both his hands down: “Your whole frame is falling apart right now. Stop making strange movements.”
Xie Yanlai was very annoyed. How was pillowing his hand behind his head a strange movement! It was clearly unrestrained and free-spirited.
“The great achievement of killing Xiao Xun belongs to Xie Yanlai. No one can take it away,” Chu Zhao continued. “But besides Xie Yanlai, I think A’Jiu should also receive a reward. A’Jiu’s reward is—freedom.”
Freedom? Xie Yanlai snorted: “What are you thinking up now? Who isn’t free? Freedom—you should think about yourself first.”
Chu Zhao nodded: “I have thought about it.” She moved closer to him, sitting casually cross-legged, counting on her fingers. “At first when I became Empress, I wanted myself and my father to live better, to serve the country without being slandered. Later it was since I’d become Empress, I had to take responsibility and do it well. Now the Xi Liang King has been defeated and fled far away, Prince Zhongshan and his son are dead. In two more years A’Yu can rule personally, and with Xie Yanfang there, he’s secured this throne. I can leave.”
Her eyes filled with anticipation as she spoke.
“Leave the capital and return to the border commandery. This thought has actually never changed, and even though Father is gone, Father’s spirit is still there.”
“Then I’ll return to the border commandery and freely patrol the place Father guarded his whole life.”
With that, she looked at Xie Yanlai and raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t you want to come with me?”
Xie Yanlai had been listening intently, even daydreaming a bit… Suddenly hearing this sentence, he couldn’t help propping himself up and moving inward: “Me? Why would I go with you? I, I’m not even familiar with that area.”
“Where are you not familiar? General Xie is much more familiar with the border commandery than me now,” Chu Zhao said with a laugh, then seriously. “A’Jiu, being this Xie family member is too exhausting. What you do isn’t what you want to do, and what you get isn’t what you want. Let’s… not do it anymore.”
Let’s… not do it anymore.
For a moment Xie Yanlai’s eyes stung, and he felt somewhat dazed.
He’d said these words too.
Long ago, holding his mother’s corpse and crying, he’d said: “Mother, let’s not do it anymore. Let’s go home.”
But Mother couldn’t answer him anymore.
Xie Yanlai turned his head inward, using coughing to suppress the rising emotions.
Chu Zhao seemed not to notice his emotions and continued speaking.
“When I heard news of you, I kept thinking that after finding you, I must take you away.”
“Whether as a corpse or alive.”
“You’re not suited to being a Xie family member. Being a Xie family member is too exhausting for you. We’ve done enough—let’s stop.”
“Since entering the city I’ve arranged it so only my trusted Dragon Guard handled matters involving Deng Yi and you. Others don’t know.”
“This way your whereabouts are concealed. The world only knows that Xie Yanlai perished together with Xiao Xun. From now on, there’s no more Xie Yanlai.”
“However, even if you’re not Xie Yanlai, you can still do what you like in the border commandery…”
Hearing this, Xie Yanlai turned his head with a half-smile: “I like fighting and causing trouble. How can I do that? Become a bandit?”
Chu Zhao’s eyes brightened: “Right! You can become a bandit.”
Xie Yanlai looked at her and asked, “Then what about you? Become a female general guarding the border?”
Chu Zhao nodded: “Right, like my father.” She giggled and pointed at Xie Yanlai. “Then you’d be like my mother.”
Having said it, she froze. A married couple like father and mother?
A flush of shyness crossed the girl’s face as she scratched her cheek with a finger.
“Talking without thinking, saying everything,” Xie Yanlai muttered, turning his head to the other side, pressing down his reddening ears.
The room fell quiet, quiet yet somewhat awkward. Both seemed to want to say something but didn’t know what to say.
“Miss!” A’Le peeked in from outside. “Someone from Xiao Man’s family at the border commandery has come.”
Someone from Xiao Man’s family meant someone from Mu Mianhong’s side had come. Chu Zhao quickly got down from the bed and said to Xie Yanlai, “Then it’s settled.” With that, she hurried out.
Xie Yanlai breathed a sigh of relief, yet inexplicably felt some regret. He pursed his lips: “What’s settled? Settled what?” With that, he turned inward, burying his head in the pillow. Whether the movement was too large causing pain or for some other reason, he pounded the bed frame with his hands.
…
…
Chu Zhao didn’t go far, meeting Xiao Man’s family member in a room beside Xie Yanlai’s quarters.
By the window in the hall stood a graceful figure, curiously pulling at a hibiscus flower blooming outside the window.
Chu Zhao saw her at a glance, somewhat surprised: “You—Stockade Master Mu, how did you come?”
She’d had Xiao Man send a message for Mu Mianhong to send some people, but hadn’t said for Mu Mianhong to come personally.
Mu Mianhong turned her head, her gaze clinging to the girl, smiling gently: “I missed you, so I came to see.”
This was the first time Mu Mianhong spoke so directly. Chu Zhao paused, feeling slightly constrained, but her heart inexplicably warmed.
So this was what it felt like to be directly told someone missed you.
So she also looked forward to being missed.
“I’m quite well,” she said, meeting Mu Mianhong’s gaze, even raising her hand and turning in a circle to show her. “Not injured.”
Autumn waters rippled in Mu Mianhong’s eyes. She nodded: “Good that you’re not injured. But even if injured, it’s alright—don’t be afraid.”
Chu Zhao made a sound of acknowledgment, looking at her: “Thank you. That the Xi Liang King admitted defeat and begged for mercy was thanks to you all raiding the royal court. Are you alright?”
Though she’d asked in her letter and Mu Mianhong had replied, letters and meeting in person were still different.
Mu Mianhong said, “If not for you all, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity or ability to raid the Xi Liang royal court.” She also spread her arms and turned in a circle. “See? I’m not injured either.”
Chu Zhao couldn’t help smiling.
Mu Mianhong also covered her mouth and smiled, saying, “I never imagined I could plunder the Xi Liang palace in this lifetime.” She removed a bead bracelet from her wrist. “Look, this is what I took from the Xi Liang palace. I think it’s especially beautiful.”
She extended it forward, her eyes slightly anxious.
“For you.”
It was just a string of turquoise stones. Chu Zhao smiled and walked over to receive it, putting it on her wrist. Mu Mianhong saw there was already some kind of string on her wrist.
Chu Zhao put it on and raised her hand to show Mu Mianhong: “Look, wearing both together is quite suitable.”
Mu Mianhong’s eyes filled with a smile as she nodded: “Our Zhao looks good wearing anything.”
This was also the first time she’d called her “our Zhao.”
Chu Zhao felt slightly uncomfortable but said nothing, turning to look at the hibiscus flower by the window.
Mu Mianhong changed the topic timely and asked, “Your message said you want us to take someone away?”
Chu Zhao turned to look at her: “Yes, it’s Deng Yi—the son of the blind old woman Xiao Man delivered last time.”
“The Grand Tutor,” Mu Mianhong said with a smile. “So he didn’t die after all.” She nodded. “Good he didn’t die. Keeping him might be useful somehow, just like how we keep even broken things in the stockade.”
Not quite that comparison. Chu Zhao was amused, pinching a flower branch and shaking it, made a sound of agreement, and said, “Also, take Xie Yanlai away too.”
Mu Mianhong was somewhat surprised: “Him?”
“Yes, he’s also alive,” Chu Zhao nodded, then sighed softly, looking at the delicate blooming hibiscus flower. “His luck was good—he escaped death. I don’t want him mixed up in chaotic warfare anymore. I want him to go recover properly.”
Mu Mianhong watched the flower in the girl’s hand sway back and forth, understanding with a gentle smile, saying softly, “Alright, leave it to me and rest assured.”
Chu Zhao turned to look at her: “I—do feel assured.”
She’d almost blurted out, “I’ll come find you later too, be with you,” but the words reached her lips and she swallowed them back.
These words—she’d say them later.
…
…
A’Le and Xiao Man peeked over to look. They saw the two standing by the window. What they were saying couldn’t be heard, but both could be seen pulling at hibiscus flowers, swaying them back and forth—
Who knew what that meant.
Anyway, it was much better than their last meeting with nothing to say and an awkward atmosphere.
As the two were lost in thought, they saw Chu Zhao turn and call out: “A’Le, A’Le, quickly have the kitchen prepare food, special dishes, bring them all up.”
A’Le loudly acknowledged and turned to skip away happily.
Xiao Man withdrew her gaze. This time she smiled with pursed lips first, then snorted.