Ashes to Crown

Chapter 41: Chapter 5: Going on Her Own

Chu Zhao rushed home, startling the entire Chu Family.

Chu Lan was not home, Chu Tang was still running somewhere behind, and their aunt, Jiang Shi, was tending to the weary Chu Ke.

When she heard Chu Zhao had returned, Jiang Shi only grew angrier.

”Your father is just like that—all bark and no bite,” she fumed. ”Why did he find someone to get her released? If she wants to live in a cell, then just let her.”

Chu Ke, lounging on a plush bed while a pretty maidservant fed him a candied fruit, drawled, ”She might not find it humiliating, but we certainly do.”

Jiang Shi sneered. ”She is her own person, and we are ours. As long as you children strive to bring honor to our name, she can’t drag you down.” Speaking of her own children, her face bloomed into a smile. She personally fed Chu Ke a piece of fruit. ”Your sister is at the Liang Mansion, and she’s still treated with the highest respect. She and Miss Liang are practically inseparable.”

Far from being affected, their relationship was actually better than ever.

It made sense. With Chu Zhao for comparison, everyone naturally preferred Chu Tang.

”Mother, go and see,” Chu Ke urged. ”Now that she’s back, you can tie her up and take her to the Liang Family.”

Even though she had claimed she wouldn’t be dragged down, having to apologize to others was still an unpleasant affair. Jiang Shi sighed heavily. ”I have such wretched luck. How did I get saddled with such a sinful burden?”

After telling Chu Ke to rest well, she went out to wait for Chu Zhao to come pay her respects. She finished an entire cup of tea, but there was still no sign of her.

”What is she doing?” Jiang Shi demanded. ”Does she need to take a ritual bath and burn incense before gracing me with her presence?”

A servant sent someone to inquire and returned a moment later with a strange expression. ”Miss Ah Zhao... has gone to rest.”

’Resting?’ Jiang Shi was stunned for a second before jumping to her feet. ”She can actually sleep? The entire family has been on pins and needles, unable to eat or sleep, all because of her!” She pressed a hand to her chest. ”I’m furious!”

The maids quickly surrounded her, patting her back soothingly. ”Don’t be angry, Madam.” ”She’s had no one to discipline her since she was a child; she has no manners.” ”Madam can teach her, bit by bit.”

”Me, teach her? She’s already grown and set in her ways, and only now do they expect me to teach her?” Jiang Shi clutched her chest. ”Back when the Old Madam was alive, she didn’t look down on her origins and was willing to raise her as one of our own. But Second Uncle refused, insisting he would teach his own child. Then, I found a prospective match for him—what a wonderful girl she was! She could have helped raise the child after they married. But he refused that too! And now? Now this child, raised into *this*, has been dumped on me. How am I supposed to teach her?”

When it came to the Second Master, the complaints of the First Master and his wife could go on for three days and nights. The servants, whose ears had long grown callused from hearing them, quickly chimed in with placating flatteries.

”If I don’t handle it, who will?” Jiang Shi sighed deeply. ”I am her aunt, after all. The duty falls to me.”

With that, she led a group of servants to find Chu Zhao.

But before they could get far, Chu Tang returned, face flushed, panting for breath, and her skin glistening with sweat.

”Mother!” she cried, stopping them in their tracks. ”Don’t go looking for her. Chu Zhao is insane! She’s already been to the Liang Mansion!”

Jiang Shi rushed to support her. Ignoring her words for a moment, she gently wiped the sweat from her daughter’s brow, her eyes filled with concern. ”Why did you run so hard? Didn’t the Liang Mansion offer you a carriage? You should have sent for one from home to come get you—”

Chu Tang pulled her mother’s hand away. ”Mother, there was no time to think about carriages! Chu Zhao caused a massive scene at the gates of the Liang Mansion. Not only did she refuse to apologize, she acted like she was there to interrogate them! She even threatened to report the Liang Family to the authorities!”

As she recounted Chu Zhao’s words, Jiang Shi and the servants gathered around listened in stunned disbelief.

”She... she really has gone mad,” Jiang Shi could only conclude. What other explanation was there for her saying such things?

That was Liang Siqing they were talking about!

Besides, Miss Liang is currently in marriage negotiations. The Liang Family has been secretive about it, but are there really any secrets in the Capital City? In the inner chambers of the great houses, the slightest rumor spreads like wildfire. The other party is supposedly the Dongyang Xie Family—the natal family of the Crown Princess Consort!

The Crown Princess Consort is the future Empress—

Speaking of which, Chu Tang couldn’t help but start, ”Mother, about Miss Liang’s marriage—”

But Jiang Shi had already recovered her composure and cut her off. ”Never mind Miss Liang’s marriage! If she carries on like this, you and your brothers can forget about getting married at all! She’ll have offended every person of consequence, and we won’t be able to stay in the Capital City any longer!”

Saying this, she called out to the servants.

”Get some rope! We’re going to tie her up and deliver this lawless, unruly creature to the Liang Family ourselves!”

The maids scrambled to obey, chaotically calling for more people and fetching rope. But the group was stopped in its tracks by the return of Chu Lan, who took in the commotion and bellowed at them to halt.

”What is all this!” he demanded irritably.

Jiang Shi stepped forward. ”Husband, it’s a disaster! Chu Zhao is truly going to be the ruin of our family!” She then recounted the recent events.

”I’m going to tie her up and take her to see Madam Liang myself. I’m prepared to sacrifice my own dignity and kneel before her if I have to. I don’t care anymore.”

”You don’t have to go, Husband. You’re the only one left in this family who still has to maintain a respectable appearance.”

Chu Lan’s face was grim, but oddly enough, he wasn’t angry. Instead, he said, ”There’s no need to go. The Liang Family won’t receive you.”

...

...

Chu Zhao lived in a small courtyard tucked away in a corner of the family estate. To teach her proper etiquette, Jiang Shi had assigned four senior maids and four junior maids to her, ensuring her days were always bustling and noisy.

Of course, after Chu Zhao caused trouble and fled, all those maids and servants had scattered. Her return today was so sudden that no one had time to react. Just as they were about to follow her, Ah Le—the very maid Chu Zhao had once cast aside—slipped in behind her and bolted the courtyard gate.

”No one is allowed inside!” she yelled from within. ”My lady is resting!”

It wasn’t as if they were eager to serve this particular mistress anyway. The maids outside the gate immediately dispersed.

Ah Le stood guard behind the gate, clutching a wooden door bolt, ready to hold the line against an army. But she waited for a long time, and Jiang Shi never appeared with her entourage.

”Nothing is going to happen,” Chu Zhao said from the rocking chair on the veranda. ”Father said that as long as I came back, everything would be fine. So it will be.”

’I never trusted Father before. I only ever saw him as a burden, so I tried everything to please others, thinking anyone was more dependable than him. I never realized he was the most dependable one of all.’

’The most laughable part is, everyone knew it but me.’

Ah Le looked at Chu Zhao. Unlike the weak, pitiful girl she had been on the journey, her mistress’s expression was now impassive, yet tinged with a deep sorrow.

”My lady,” she said after a moment’s thought, her voice full of admiration, ”you were incredible outside the Liang Mansion just now. You scared them so badly they were speechless.”

’That’s more like it.’

’This was the mistress she knew. Back in the Border County, she had never let anyone bully her.’

’After arriving in the Capital City, her mistress had become a completely different person. Those other young ladies would say such nasty things, yet my lady would just smile and serve them tea—’

Hearing the compliment, Chu Zhao showed no hint of a smile. Instead, the sorrow in her expression deepened, and her eyes filled with self-mockery.

”What’s the use of being formidable now?” she said.

’In that life, I still died a miserable death. In the end, I was still the loser before the Liang Family.’

Ah Le was both confused and sad. ”If you’re formidable now,” she said softly, ”you won’t be bullied in the future.”

Chu Zhao looked at her. ’The past is gone, but I’ve been given a chance to live again. I absolutely cannot let myself meet such a miserable end this time.’

”You’re right,” she said, smiling at Ah Le. ”From now on, we won’t be bullied.”

...

...

”Husband, are we just going to let this matter drop?” Jiang Shi asked angrily in their chambers, where Chu Lan had persuaded her to return. ”Do you have any idea what she said in front of the Liang Mansion a moment ago?”

Chu Tang quickly repeated the whole story.

Chu Lan grew angry as he listened. ”That girl is unbelievable! Just like her father!” But he didn’t get up to have Chu Zhao tied up. Instead, his expression turned strange, and he muttered, ’So that’s what Lord Liang heard back then?’

Jiang Shi was confused. ”What are you talking about, Husband?”

Chu Lan heaved a long sigh. ”What Chu Zhao did today... it’s both surprising and not surprising at all.”

He reached for the tea on the table, but Chu Tang snatched it away. ”Father, forget the tea for now! Please, just tell us what’s going on.”

Chu Lan wasn’t angry in the slightest. He gave his daughter a fond, reproachful look. ”You little rascal.” He didn’t ask for the tea again and simply continued speaking.

”Today, I went to find Lord Liang. My intention was to tell him that Ah Zhao had been thrown into a prison cell by that Small Minister, Deng Yi, and ask Lord Liang to use his influence to get her out.”

”But when I arrived, Lord Liang was not there. I was told he had been summoned to the palace.”