Ashes to Crown

Chapter 12: Chapter 12: By the Stream

Sleeping in the kitchen, warmed by the stove fire and cushioned by a thick layer of straw on the floor, was more comfortable than the posthouse’s crude bed planks, but Ah Fu woke up all the same.

She had been woken by a nightmare.

Then again, it wasn’t exactly a nightmare, since it was all something she had personally experienced.

She reached up to touch her neck. It burned with a fiery pain, and she could still feel the ligature marks. Forcing her to drink poisoned wine hadn’t been enough for them. Annoyed that she was taking too long to die, they had strangled her with a white silk cloth.

It was as if the agony of her last moments had followed her into this new life.

Ah Fu took a few shallow breaths and sat up. Because the room was warm, Ah Le wasn’t huddled against her for heat. She hadn’t been woken and was still fast asleep.

In truth, Ah Le hadn’t endured this kind of hardship on the road for many years.

As her handmaiden, Ah Le had been raised almost like a young lady herself. She had everything Chu Zhao had.

Ah Fu looked at the chilblains on the girl’s face, covered her with the thick blanket the old post house manager had provided, then draped a cotton coat over her own shoulders and quietly walked out.

The two posthouse soldiers on duty were leaning against the doorway, speaking in low voices.

”Ah Fu, you’re up early again?” they said. ”We’re staying an extra day, so there’s no rush. You should get more sleep.”

Ah Fu shook her head. ”I can’t get back to sleep. I’ll let my sister rest. Sirs, I can go fetch water. Where is it?”

The two girls had been with them for the whole journey, and had taken the initiative to handle boiling water and cooking. But it was always the older sister who did the work. It was clear the younger one was more pampered.

But the little sister still seemed to care for her older one. The two posthouse soldiers smiled and pointed her in the right direction.

Ah Fu picked up the wooden bucket and left.

A mountain stream gurgled, its surface shrouded in layers of cold, white mist.

Ah Fu sat on a rock, tossing the wooden bucket aside. She gently swirled her hand in the stream, the bone-chilling cold a reminder that everything happening now was real.

She was truly alive again, back in a time when her family was still with her, and before she had met *him*.

She would be able to see her father again.

The thought of her father brought tears to her eyes. As a child, she’d found him irritating. After arriving in the Capital City, the gossip of others had made her resent him.

This was especially true after her aunt told her that her grandmother had wanted to raise her, but her father had refused. If not for him, she would have been a poised, elegant, and beautiful young noblewoman in the Capital City, just like her cousin.

’I’ll never go back to the Border County again,’ she had thought bitterly at the time.

And just as she wished, she never did go back. She never saw her father again, either.

You only regret what you’ve lost. In her final years, she dreamt of returning to the Border County almost every night, dreamt of her father.

But now, finally—

Ah Fu covered her face and cried out, ”Father—”

”Why are you crying for your father, and not your mother?” a male voice asked, curious.

Startled, Ah Fu jumped to her feet. Only then did she see that someone else had appeared by the stream. His robes were open, revealing a slender frame in the morning light, his face pale as jade. It was the young man, Ah Jiu.

”You... you...” she stammered, her breath catching in her throat.

”Me? What about me?” Ah Jiu said coolly. ”You don’t own this stream. If you can come here to cry, why can’t I?”

Ah Fu’s retort died in her throat. His words, however, did manage to calm her down. ’Thank goodness I didn’t say anything more,’ she thought. ’Otherwise—’

She lowered her eyes and picked up the wooden bucket. ”I’m done getting water. You... can have your turn crying here.”

Ah Jiu chuckled. She hid it well, but the little girl couldn’t resist showing her claws. Obedient, quiet, honest, pitiful, weak—it was all an act. This girl was tough. She was clearly not a good rider, but she had gritted her teeth and endured it. She was ruthless with herself, and someone so ruthless with themselves was bound to be ruthless with others.

”Stop,” he said, spreading his arms to block her path. ”You haven’t answered my question. Why were you crying for your father, not your mother?”

His question sounded like he was just trying to pester her, but Ah Fu knew he had been suspicious of her—and her supposed mother—all along.

”I did cry for my mother,” she said, biting her lip. ”You just came too late to hear it. I finished crying for my mother, then started crying for my father. If my father were home, my mother wouldn’t be in her current state.”

Ah Jiu smiled. ”Quite an explanation. So it’s not your fault, it’s mine.”

Ah Fu lowered her gaze. ”Sir, may I go now? I want to fetch more water before my sister wakes up, to lighten her workload.”

Ah Jiu flicked his robes, put his hands on his hips, and stepped aside to let her pass.

Ah Fu struggled with both hands to carry the heavy bucket, walking unsteadily over the stones of the riverbed.

”Little girl,” Ah Jiu said with a smirk as she passed him. ”That’s not your sister. That’s your handmaiden.”

Ah Fu faltered for a second and looked at the young man. She was about to say something, but her gaze fell on his open robes, the sliver of chest they revealed, and the waistband of his trousers.

Her eyes locked onto it—not because she’d seen a man’s chest, which was nothing to her, but because of the letter tucked into his waistband.

The morning light was faint, but she could clearly see the words on the envelope.

_Chu Ling, Confidential._

’Chu Ling?!’

”What are you staring at!” Ah Jiu snapped, pulling his robes shut over his chest.

Ah Fu flushed with shame and anger. ”You... you’re the one with no shame!” With that, she scurried away, lugging the bucket so haphazardly that half the water sloshed out.

Back at the posthouse, her heart was still pounding.

It wasn’t because she had seen the young man’s chest, of course.

Ah Le was already awake and was just about to go looking for her. Seeing her strange expression, she asked nervously, ”What’s wrong?”

The two posthouse soldiers in the courtyard glanced over as well.

Ah Fu lowered her head. ”It’s nothing. I just ran into Ah Jiu.”

Ah Le was furious, and the two posthouse soldiers understood immediately. Given Ah Jiu’s temper, he must have been rude to the girl again.

”I’ll get the water,” Ah Le said, grabbing the bucket from her. ”You go inside and tend to the fire.”

...

...

Ah Le made several trips, filling the posthouse’s water urns. When she entered the kitchen, however, she found Ah Fu sitting in front of the stove, the fire in the hearth completely extinguished.

”L-little sister,” she asked nervously. ”Are you alright? That Ah Jiu... what did he do to you?”

Ah Fu snapped out of her daze and gave her a small smile. ”He didn’t do anything. He’s just suspicious of us, but it’s nothing to worry about.”

Ah Le breathed a sigh of relief. She honestly didn’t see what the big deal would be if their identities were revealed. If they just mentioned the General’s name, these posthouse soldiers would surely treat them with respect, and that Ah Jiu wouldn’t dare be so sarcastic. But her lady had been hiding her identity ever since they left the Capital City, and she didn’t know why. Of course, she would never object to what her lady wanted; she just felt her lady was suffering too much. As this thought crossed her mind, she skillfully rekindled the extinguished fire.

”The Posthouse Minister has some honey. I’ll make you a sweet congee in a little while, my lady,” she said cheerfully.

But Ah Fu still seemed distracted. ”What’s Ah Jiu doing?” she asked.

Ah Le froze. ’My lady is asking about Ah Jiu?’

”I didn’t see him when I went to the stream,” she said. ”I heard Mr. Zhang say that Ah Jiu is always running off somewhere—chasing rabbits or catching wild pheasants. He’s probably off making trouble in the woods.”

Ah Fu just said, ”Oh.” She seemed lost in thought, then looked at Ah Le. ”Ah Le, do you think you could get something from him?”