Ashes to Crown

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Early Morning

Ah Fu was woken by the cold.

Even after so many days on the road, she still couldn’t get used to such hardship.

It was too much to bear.

In both of her lives, she had never suffered like this.

Ah Le had laid out everything they could use for padding, but the hard ground still pressed painfully against her, making her whole body ache. She moved her arms and legs with some difficulty.

Ah Le, who was sleeping beside her, woke up instantly.

”Mi—” Startled awake and still groggy, she almost blurted out ”Miss,” but a hand quickly covered her mouth.

In the faint predawn light, Ah Fu’s dark eyes met hers. ”Sister,” she said softly, ”it’s still early. You should sleep a little longer.”

Ah Le was fully awake now. She sat up. ”Little Sis, I’m not sleepy. You didn’t sleep well, did you?” She pushed the clothes she had been using as padding toward Ah Fu. ”Take mine too. You should sleep a little longer.”

Ah Fu shook her head. ”I’m not sleepy anymore.”

As the two whispered, the soldiers sprawled sleeping on the other side of the campfire grumbled in annoyance.

Ah Fu shushed Ah Le. They rose quietly, picked up their waterskin and small bundle, and whispered to the two posthouse soldiers on watch, ”We’re going to wash up.”

There was a small river nearby with a dense wood on its bank, a convenient place for a girl to take care of her personal needs.

The posthouse soldiers on watch nodded without asking any questions, only cautioning, ”Be careful. There are wild animals around here.”

Ah Fu thanked them, and she and Ah Le left.

The river water was bone-chillingly cold. Ah Fu had no interest in washing. After relieving herself, she sat on a rock by the river and stared into space.

”I’ll get some water and heat it up back at the camp so you can wash properly,” Ah Le said. She herself rolled up her sleeves and quickly washed up with the frigid water.

Ah Fu shook her head. ”Don’t bother. Being a little dirty is fine.”

Ah Le looked at the girl’s face. She wasn’t wearing a hat or scarf. Before bed last night, she had wiped her face with hot water and applied a bit of medicinal ointment to prevent frostbite. Even so, her skin looked fair and delicate in the morning light.

’Her Ladyship is so beautiful,’ Ah Le thought. ’If she showed her true face, this journey wouldn’t just be hard—it would be dangerous.’

Along the way, her mistress had called everyone ”good people,” but Ah Le knew that none of them were truly good.

”Then let’s put on some more of the powder,” Ah Le said in a low voice, taking a small porcelain vial from their bundle.

Ah Fu nodded and lifted her face, and Ah Le dabbed some powder on her fingers and gently applied it.

”Ah Le, you’re amazing,” Chu Zhao said, looking at her. ”You know how to make powder to hide one’s appearance, ointment to treat frostbite, and how to smoke rabbit and pheasant for jerky. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I’d probably be dead.”

Ah Le jumped. ”Little—Sis, please don’t say that! I only know these useless, crude things. I’m an embarrassment to you. Thank you, Your Ladyship, for not blaming me and for still keeping me with you. I thought I’d never see you again.”

As she spoke, her eyes reddened and filled with tears.

Ah Fu didn’t correct her form of address. The riverbank was wide open in the early morning, and there was no one else around.

Seeing Ah Le cry stirred complex feelings in her. Ah Le was right. In her previous life’s trajectory, the two of them had indeed never met again after that point.

It was almost laughable; when she had first awoken in this new life, she had completely forgotten she even had a servant named Ah Le.

Ah Le was the servant who had grown up with her, two years her senior.

She was less a servant and more a playmate.

Ah Le was an orphan from the Border County who had survived by thieving in the city streets. That is, until she tried to pick the pocket of Ah Fu’s father, who had brought his daughter to the market in disguise to watch acrobats, and was caught.

Her father didn’t punish the girl. Instead, he offered her a new way of life: stop stealing, and accompany his daughter for her horse-riding lessons.

And so, the two learned to ride together, brandished swords and spears on the training grounds together, and paraded through the streets together. Then, they went to the Capital City together, to her uncle’s home.

But as soon as they entered the house, Ah Le, who had never been a proper servant, made a fool of herself. She mistook the perfumed soap beans brought for washing hands for a snack and ate them, sending the other maids into fits of laughter.

Mortified and annoyed, and having now seen how the aristocratic ladies of the Capital City behaved, she refused to keep a servant like Ah Le. She had her aunt send the girl away and found the best-trained maid in the household to replace her.

From then on, Ah Le vanished from her memory.

After she was reborn—waking up in the Chu Family garden after falling from the rockery—she never once thought of Ah Le, not even as she prepared to leave the Chu Family. It wasn’t until that night, as she was climbing over the wall, that she found Ah Le waiting for her on the other side.

Ah Le kept her head down, shrinking into the darkness, afraid that Ah Fu would get angry at the sight of her. ”I was just worried about you. I wanted to see you.”

Only then did she recognize her and remember.

And so she took her along.

Only after bringing her along did she realize that this ”improper” servant, Ah Le, knew so many useful skills for surviving on the road.

Ah Fu looked at Ah Le and wondered about her fate in the last life. ’Was she sold by my aunt? Sent back to the Border County? Or did she stay with the Chu Family? No matter what, Ah Le certainly didn’t meet a good end.’

’I didn’t meet a good end, and neither did Ah Le. After all, she was my servant.’

She couldn’t help but reach out and touch Ah Le’s face. In just this short time, her skin had already grown rough. Ah Le had only managed to pound out a small amount of the frostbite ointment, and she would only use it on her mistress—

”Such deep sisterly love.”

A drawling voice interrupted Ah Fu’s thoughts.

She didn’t need to look to know it was that Ah Jiu.

Ah Fu pulled her hand back to wipe her own tears and nudged Ah Le. ”Sister, don’t be sad. I’m fine, I’m not crying anymore.”

Ah Le lowered her head. She wasn’t good at talking, so she rarely spoke to avoid giving them away.

Ah Jiu sauntered over, his robe half-open, a smirk on his face. ”So delicate and fragile. You don’t seem like a child from a poor family.”

This posthouse soldier named Ah Jiu had been suspicious of her from the start, always watching her, scrutinizing her, and periodically testing her with his words. He was both persistent and annoying.

She had put up with it the last few times, but this time, perhaps because she was thinking about her past life, her mood was sour.

”Sir,” Ah Fu said, looking up at Ah Jiu. ”Actually, before my mother got sick, our family was doing okay. Besides, what child isn’t coddled when they have their parents around?”

With that, she took Ah Le’s hand and quickly walked away.

Ah Jiu didn’t chase after them, just sneered from behind.

Ah Fu led Ah Le back to the campsite. The other posthouse soldiers were all awake, chewing on dry rations while they checked on the horses.

”Ah Fu, you’re back,” Zhang Gu greeted them. ”Ah Jiu went looking for you specifically. Huh? Why are you crying?”

A nearby posthouse soldier chuckled. ”Ah Jiu must have been bullying people again.”

Zhang Gu frowned. ”That Ah Jiu—”

”No,” Ah Fu said quickly, shaking her head and wiping her eyes. ”My sister and I were just thinking about our mother. We don’t know how she’s doing now.”

At this, her voice grew thick with emotion, and she choked up.

Zhang Gu quickly tried to comfort her. ”Don’t dwell on it. Look ahead. Once you see your father, everything will be all right.”

Ah Fu hummed in agreement and gave Zhang Gu a curtsy.

”Go get something to eat. We’re about to set off,” Zhang Gu said kindly. Watching the two girls walk over to the campfire, he thought for a moment and added, ”Don’t get upset with Ah Jiu. The kid’s doing this job as a punishment, so he’s full of pent-up anger.”

’As a punishment?’ Ah Fu thought. ’What’s this Ah Jiu’s background? He seems to have been pampered, yet he has such a roguish air about him. So strange.’

’But, whatever. What does it have to do with me?’

”Yes,” Ah Fu said, nodding gratefully at Zhang Gu. ”I’ll remember that.”