novel
| ← Ch.249 | Ch.251 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Why should I look for you?" Xiaoba's cold gaze swept over. Coldly, she smiled, disdain and coldness covering her face as she slowly stated, "Sixth sister is of such high social standing now. Not only are you the General Xiuli of Yan Bei, you are also the Xiuli King of Tang Empire. Soon, you will become the Lady of the Grand Marshal. I, as a small slave, if I head over, wouldn't I cause you to lose face?" Xiaoba's eyes were cold, and as she said 'Lady of the Grand Marshal', it seemed as though she was consumed with rage, her eyes spewing fire.
The incense slowly lighted up, sending coiling smoke up into the air. The golden light was like a layer of water, painting a spotted pattern on the floor. The room was filled with nothing but silence as Chu Qiao observed Xiaoba, her initially excited heart slowly freezing up. The words that she was about to say were ultimately pressed down deep into her heart as she felt lost and disappointed.
Then, Chu Qiao heard herself speaking with an exceedingly cold tone, "If that was the case, why did you show today?"
"His Highness is going to leave. I hope you can find a way to exempt my status as a slave so that I can follow him."
Chu Qiao was slightly taken aback and asked, "Where is he heading to?"
"Where else can he go? He was sent to Yansai to guard the horse stables. A prince of royal blood was actually dispatched to guard horses, " Xiaoba's expression turned melancholic as she coldly declared. The immense anger in her voice could barely be contained.
"Why?"
"Why else? Wasn't it because of you?" Xiaoba turned her head around and coldly stated, "Ever since His Highness lost his arm to Yan Xun, he hid away from politics. No one paid him much attention. Yet, he had suddenly mobilized forces for your sake and was obviously showing his friendliness to you. Do you think that people like the 14th Prince would allow him to remain in the royal capital?"
Chu Qiao's hand was unnaturally cold, only to hear Xiaoba's piercing voice resound again, "I will not beg you to find a way to let His Highness remain in the royal capital, and merely hope to seek your help to find a document. His Highness refused to let me follow him, so I will find a way to follow him. At the very least, I can serve him with his daily activities and act as a companion. I am grateful to His Highness, and will certainly not repay gratitude with hatred like certain people."
After a long while of contemplation, Chu Qiao lifted her head and firmly looked into Xiaoba's face. She calmly asked, "Xiaoba, must you really draw the line between us so clearly?"
"What are you saying? Sixth sister, look at the difference in our social status. How could I dare to do that? In the first place...."
"If you continue to talk like that, get out now, and do not come to look for me. I will pretend that I do not have a sister!" Chu Qiao's voice, although cold, was teeming with rage.
Xiaoba was utterly stunned by her outburst, and for a moment she could not muster any response.
"What are you angry about? Are you angry that I could not protect you, that I could not bring you away? Or are you angry that I could not take revenge for our family, and ended up marrying our past enemy?" Chu Qiao bellowed, "All these years, no matter how much pain you shouldered, I did not live in happiness either. I thought that you died, and felt guilty for the past 14 years. Yet, when I finally found you alive, all you did was to come up to me and coldly chide me with sarcasm. Is this the sibling relationship that you were talking about?"
The midday sunlight continued to paint the dynamic artwork of spotted shadows on the floor, as Chu Qiao stood up and coldly looked at Xiaoba, before continuing, "It has been 14 years. How many things have happened? You are full of yourself and your sufferings, but blamed everything on others. I really suspect if you really are the same brave and determined sister that I knew. You named yourself 'Wuxin', but are you sure you are detached from your emotions?"
Xiaoba stood rooted to the ground, with her face completely pale. Chu Qiao suddenly felt exceedingly fatigued, as though every single fiber of muscle was screaming. Chu Qiao turned around slowly and calmly said, "Leave. I will settle the matter regarding Zhao Song." After saying that, she did not pay any heed to Xiaoba any longer.
After a long while, Xiaoba finally left. Chu Qiao watched her be escorted out by Mei Xiang. She felt as though Xiaoba's frail figure dressed in white would immediately disappear into the vast snowy landscape. Chu Qiao looked on, and thought about Xiaoba's words: Was held under house arrest, and became homeless...
Chu Qiao bit her lips, and her heart started to ache. Sitting there alone, she remained motionless even as the golden rays of dusk colored the room crimson.
Zhuge Yue hugged her from behind as his deep voice resounded from behind her, questioning, "Why have you not eaten dinner?"
Chu Qiao leaned in his embrace. Like a fish that was released into the pond, she seemed ever so relaxed. Holding his hand tight, she seemed rather gloomy as she did not speak, and merely played with his hand, counting the number of callouses.
"Xiaoba had come?"
"Yes. Why did you not tell me even though you knew about this long ago?" Chu Qiao asked back.
"I intended to tell you, but did not have the chance." Zhuge Yue smiled, as though he was rather helpless."I don't know if you believe me, this entire issue still haunts me. After all, I had not treated her very well in those years. There were a few occasions that she tried to escape, and I beat her up. I had a really strange personality back then. Even after saving her I did not want to release her. When I felt good, I would teach her. When I was in a bad mood, I would show her a bad attitude as she looked like you. All those years in the mountains, I had no servants around, and she served me all alone. Her strange personality might be due to me."
"How long did she serve Zhao Song?"
"I think for around two to three years." Zhuge Yue elaborated, "I heard that Zhao Song really likes her. Even though she accidentally caused the deaths of one of his favorite concubines, Zhao Song did not pursue the matter."
Chu Qiao remained in silence for a while, before slowly saying, "Perhaps she was infatuated with Zhao Song."
Zhuge Yue smiled and said, "I don't care who she likes. As long as you are not angry with me, all is well."
"What about the matter with Zhao Song?"
"Rest easy. It would be impossible for Zhao Yang to decide everything single-handedly. That said I think there is nothing bad about Zhao Song leaving the capital. Zhen Huang City will soon be faced with a huge disaster, and for him, it would be much safer to leave rather than to stay."
Chu Qiao had actually thought about this dilemma too. She frowned."Then what should we do?"
"I actually intended for him to head to Qianghu. Firstly, that is near the Northern lands and is within Zhao Che's influence. Secondly, that is the gathering place for the Qiang people, and the weather is temperate there."
Chu Qiao nodded in agreement and said, "Sure then. Let's do it that way."
"Alright. I will arrange for that tomorrow. Do you want to meet him and send him off?"
Chu Qiao thought about it for quite long, but still shook her head in the end, "He may not want to see me. I shall just mind my own business."
Zhuge Yue said, "But I think you should meet him."
Chu Qiao lifted her head and looked at him, frowning. Zhuge Yue calmly smiled."Do not look at me like that. I have no deeper meaning, and merely did not want you to always be so deep in self-blame. After all, those matters that happened back then were not your fault."
Back then? Chu Qiao's vision fogged up. In her mind, she was once again reminded of that day on the Rixiangzhi mountain, the man stood upright with his clothes lightly waving, one of his sleeves dangling emptily in the breeze.
Those memories had long ago been sealed in the bottom of her mind. Now that the seal had been torn apart, she finally realized how everything had changed, the only constant being the cycling seasons.
After a snow that lasted the entire night, all of Zhen Huang City was encapsulated in a vast whiteness. In the morning, as one pushed open the door, one could see that the snow was over one foot thick, almost as tall as one's knees. The wind that carried snow along was so strong that one could barely open one's eyes. It was before the sun rose, and as the guards of the castle gate opened the gates while yawning, one could see a vague shadow in the dim light of dawn. Just as they tried to squint to take a better look, the crowd of civilians had swarmed up.
A simple green carriage that had was outfitted with ebony wheels slowly inched along on the snow, leaving behind two deep tracks. The carriage seemed ever so simple, and even as it followed behind the civilians, there were no attempts to show off. The guards naturally thought that the carriage belonged to a normal civilian, as they received the expensive tax for the carriage while cheering and showing off their authority.
Only after about two hours did the carriage finally manage to exit Zhen Huang City. The sun had already climbed up, shining light through the morning fog. The migratory birds that flew away long ago, leaving behind only the eagles who were could better endure the cold. Basking in the morning light, they extended their wings and soared in the sky, with their wingtips in a snow white shade. Occasionally they would disappear into the clouds, with only their shrieks still audible on the snow plains.
As the carriage reached Xiema ridge outside the city, one could see a young girl standing at Yangguan Bridge. She wore a pristine white coat with green horse boots. Her face was pretty, as though she was from a drawing. Her face seemed rather red, probably from the fact that she had stood out in the snow for quite long. The red blush made her look rather gentle and beautiful, shedding away her usual coldness. Seeing that the carriage had arrived, she smile and walked up, her horse following behind her.
The carriage was driven by a rather young man as well, and was at most 16 to 17 years old. Seeing her, he was rather surprised, and immediately turned into the carriage and spoke to the man in the carriage. A lanky hand appeared, lifting up the veils of the carriage, revealing the man's attractive eyes, along with a pair of tightly furrowed brows.
"Why did you come?" Zhao Song's voice had lost the childish spirit that he once had plenty of, and was now deep and firm. After all these years, his voice became more like an undisturbed lake, completely emotionless. Then again, that meant nothing to this girl. After all, he had been like this since before they had met. Peaceful, gentle, uninterested in anything. That was exactly how he vanished from the politics in the Xia Empire. He turned from a royal prince into someone who was essentially an exile, with no one sending him off. Perhaps with the exception of this girl, no one would still remember him in this entire Zhen Huang City.
Xiaoba smiled, her lips having a certain sense of playfulness, seemingly appearing out of habit. She stepped up, and casually handed the reins to the driver, and said, "AhJiang, put this on the horse."
Zhao Song frowned again as he asked with a deep voice, "What are you doing?"
Xiaoba smiled at him, her eyes crystal clear, and replied as though it was a matter of fact, "I will definitely follow you."
Zhao Song continued to frown, and his expression seemed rather gloomy with a rare tinge of impatience as he said, "Wuxin, do not fool around."
Xiaoba was now named Wuxin. This name meant that she had no emotions. In her life, she had countless names. She had already forgotten her name back in Jing family. In her impression, her relatives were just Zhixiang, Linxi, and a few others. Due to her young age, and the fact that she was not born to the official wife of Jing family, her name had been forgotten even by her siblings. In the end, they were arranged by order of age and were called Xiaoqi, Xiaoba, Xiaojiu, as though they were merely livestock. They seemed even worse than some warhorses.
After that, she was saved by Zhuge Yue and lived with him under the guidance of Mister Wolong for nearly seven years. In those years, she had another name. Only that this name was given to her by Zhuge Yue to prevent others from knowing of her identity. The main purpose was ultimately to protect her sister, who at that time, was in Sheng Jin Palace. Hearing that Zhuge Yue had died, she cried. That was the one single reaction that she could never forgive herself for.
| ← Ch. 249 | Ch. 251 → |