Ashes to Crown

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Small Minister

Aside from her initial grogginess upon waking up, which led her to strike the wrong person, and then running into Xiao Xun, Chu Zhao already knew she would encounter many people who were familiar in her future but strangers to her now.

Although she was deeply agitated upon seeing Xiao Xun, she still managed to appear calm.

But upon seeing Deng Yi, she lost some of her composure.

In her previous life, she hadn’t seen Deng Yi often, but two encounters were deeply etched in her memory.

The first was shortly after she married Xiao Xun. The struggle between the princes in the Capital City had just ended, and the situation was unstable. For his meritorious service in defending the palace, Deng Yi had become a great favorite of the Emperor. He was the sickly Emperor’s most trusted man and, though only in his thirties, held command over the entire Capital Camp and was enfeoffed as Grand Tutor.

Deng Yi had paid a sudden visit on a winter night. He wore a dark, gold-trimmed fur cloak, and his retinue, with their iron armor and golden swords, was so vast it seemed to block out the sky. She had been terrified, thinking that Xiao Xun was also about to be taken away.

Ignoring Xiao Xun’s attempts to dissuade her, she insisted on clutching his arm and standing with him.

Deng Yi didn’t even glance at her. His eyes, filled with a sinister gloom, raked over Xiao Xun from bottom to top. It was utterly terrifying.

He had said, ”Congratulations, Your Highness. You have been named the Crown Prince by His Majesty.”

The next time was after Xiao Xun had already become Emperor. Bored in the rear palace, she went to the front hall to find him, hiding behind a curtain to give him a surprise.

But Xiao Xun didn’t return alone. Deng Yi entered with him, dressed in his official robe, his expression heavy. Xiao Xun was saying something as he walked in, but before he could finish, Deng Yi raised a hand and slapped him across the face.

She almost cried out, but she clamped a hand tightly over her mouth.

Despite Deng Yi’s flagrant insubordination, Xiao Xun didn’t call the guards to seize him. Instead, his face flushed red and his eyes filled with fury, but he slowly lowered his head.

Deng Yi turned and left. Xiao Xun stood in silence for a moment, then followed him out.

She didn’t know how long passed before she finally fled, her limbs weak and her body covered in a cold sweat.

She didn’t dare ask Xiao Xun why Deng Yi showed such utter disrespect for the sovereign, or why Xiao Xun didn’t punish him for it. She was afraid it would only be another humiliation for him.

She could only pretend she knew nothing, burying the incident deep in her heart.

She thought she finally understood. Xiao Xun, the Emperor, was not truly unassailable. Grand Tutor Deng stood behind him, manipulating and controlling everything.

She was shocked, terrified, and at a complete loss. From then on, she avoided Deng Yi whenever she could.

’To think I’d run into Deng Yi so soon after being reborn!’

She stared at the man before her. His appearance hadn’t changed much. He wore a fur cloak and stood in the doorway, a group of guards behind him.

Although the fur cloak he wore now was old and shabby, and the guards weren’t nearly as imposing or intimidating.

But to Chu Zhao, it still felt like that winter night, and her body and mind tensed up.

’Could this Deng Yi have come from my past life to capture me?’

Deng Yi had been standing here for some time. He had glanced at this Miss Chu a few times—she was quite pretty, but that was all. He had withdrawn his gaze to think about other matters, only speaking up to intervene when he heard the siblings’ argument escalating into a physical scuffle.

But he hadn’t expected this Miss Chu to call out his name. There was nothing particularly strange about that; perhaps the Heir of Zhongshan King had told her, or perhaps General Chu’s men had. The strange part was that Miss Chu had said ”too.”

That one word, ”too,” implied something more.

And judging by Miss Chu’s expression, she didn’t just know him—she knew him well.

”Miss Chu,” he said. ”I’ve come at the request of the Ministry of Justice.”

Chu Ke chimed in from the side, ”Did you hear that? The Ministry of Justice! Go on, Chu Zhao, keep making a scene! Let’s see who can protect you then!”

Chu Zhao pressed a hand to her chest, forcing herself to calm down. She lowered her gaze and went along with his words. ”Yes. Are you here to arrest me? I’ve heard of the Ministry of Justice, and of you, my lord. They say you are a formidable man.”

’Have people been using my name to frighten children?’ Deng Yi thought. He said, ”I am not from the Ministry of Justice. I am only acting on their behalf, so I am not here to make an arrest.”

Chu Ke didn’t want to linger for another second. He urged, ”Alright, never mind her. We need to go see the Prince. We’re being terribly rude.”

Deng Yi nodded at Chu Zhao and turned to leave.

”I’m going too,” Chu Zhao called out.

Chu Ke sneered. ”Didn’t you say you weren’t going?”

Chu Zhao walked over, her head bowed. ”I was worried before that the two of us going alone might offend the Prince, or inconvenience him. But now that Lord Deng is here, it will be fine if we go along with him.”

She spoke in a soft, gentle voice, with a hint of timidity, completely devoid of her earlier fierceness.

’This girl must have deceived her way through the entire journey like this, hasn’t she?’ Deng Yi thought with a faint smile.

While Chu Zhao and her brother were arguing at the posthouse, Xiao Xun had already returned home.

After bathing and changing his clothes with the help of the maids, he went to see the King of Zhongshan.

The King of Zhongshan could always be found in Penglai Pavilion. The scenery there lived up to its name, with exquisite gardens and gurgling springs. Even in winter, an ethereal air lingered—the result of the King of Zhongshan burning incense in his pursuit of the Dao.

Seeing Xiao Xun enter while covering his nose and mouth, the King of Zhongshan, who was kneeling on a prayer mat, tossed the fly-whisk in his hand at him. ”Why the disgust? This is all top-quality incense.”

Xiao Xun caught the fly-whisk and stepped forward to pay his respects. ”Father, the matter is settled.”

The King of Zhongshan asked eagerly, ”And the young Miss Chu?”

”She said she wishes to avoid any suspicion, so she won’t be coming to our home,” Xiao Xun replied.

The King of Zhongshan looked at his son’s handsome face, a little surprised. ”She wasn’t captivated by my son’s looks? Could it be that this Miss Chu is also devoted to the Dao?”

Xiao Xun chuckled. His father always loved to tease him, and he was used to it. ”That Miss Chu isn’t devoted to the Dao. Her heart already belongs to someone else.”

’Even though I only saw them together twice, once by the water and once at the posthouse, the emotions between that Miss Chu and the posthouse soldier were just too overwhelming to hide.’

’I don’t know if they were already in love, if feelings developed on the road, or if Miss Chu is just feigning affection to use him. Is it too malicious to speculate about a girl like that?’

His mind wandered, and he heard the King of Zhongshan ask, ”What kind of young man is he? Where is he from? How old? Which family?”

Xiao Xun snapped back to attention and said with a smile, ”Father, you weren’t even this detailed when inquiring about my sisters’ marriage prospects.”

The King of Zhongshan chuckled. ”People are just like that, always curious about other people’s business.” He beckoned with his hand.

Xiao Xun hurried over and crouched down, allowing the King of Zhongshan to place a hand on his shoulder and use it as leverage to stand up.

One of the King of Zhongshan’s legs was lame.

”Xun,” he said with a low laugh. ”You don’t know this, but it wasn’t just Chu Ling’s dealings with the Emperor that caused a stir back then. His own romantic life was quite the spectacle. As a young man with a bright future, countless families approached him for marriage, but he refused them all. Then, without a word, he entered into an unsanctioned union with a country woman and even had a child with her. The woman died during a difficult childbirth, and Chu Ling has remained unmarried ever since. Your father is very curious—what sort of peerless beauty could have so captivated him? I’ll never get to see that woman, but I imagine her daughter inherited her looks, which is why I wanted to see her.”

’So that’s how it is,’ Xiao Xun thought. ’The girl is indeed very beautiful when she’s dressed up, but even when she looked so disheveled by the river, I still found her quite attractive.’

”But it’s a pity,” he said with a smile. ”General Chu is trying to avoid any association with us. Miss Chu said her father specifically instructed her not to come to our home.”

The King of Zhongshan said, ”Oh?” He rubbed his chubby face, a faint, unreadable smile playing on his lips. ”General Chu must think highly of me, this lame Prince, to believe I’m still someone worth avoiding.”

Xiao Xun looked at his father’s lame leg. The story was that he had broken it as a mischievous child after falling from a rockery in the Imperial Palace gardens, but the truth was that someone had deliberately arranged for his father to be crippled.

A lame prince, no matter how intelligent or how favored his mother was by the Emperor, could never inherit the throne.

A flash of pity and resentment crossed his eyes. He said softly, ”Father, don’t be angered by such a petty man. Chu Ling is the one who should be avoided.”

The King of Zhongshan smiled and was about to say something when a eunuch’s urgent voice came from outside the door. ”Your Highness, Miss Chu, the young master of the Chu Family, and Commander Deng Yi of the Weiwei Mansion request an audience.”

Xiao Xun raised an eyebrow. ’Didn’t that Miss Chu say she wasn’t coming to their home?’