Ashes to Crown

Chapter 65: Chapter 29: Yan Lang

Ah Le jumped in fright and instinctively grabbed Chu Zhao’s legs.

The waiter delivering the wine was so frightened he nearly fell to his knees.

”Miss, please don’t do anything drastic! It’s just the price of a meal and some wine.”

’He’d thought it was improper from the start. That Lord Deng was an official, and so much older, yet he made a young lady foot the bill.’

Chu Zhao waved a hand at them. ”I’m fine. I was just looking at that person down there—Mr. Xie.”

At those two words, though Ah Le was still a bit confused, the waiter sighed in relief and stood up straight.

’Looking at Mr. Xie, of course. Was there a single young lady in the Capital City who *didn’t* want to see Mr. Xie?’

More than half the people at Yaqug Pavilion today were here for Mr. Xie.

”Miss Chu, you’re a bit too late,” the waiter said, setting down the wine jug and looking at the girl draped over the railing. ”Mr. Xie has already left.”

”Not too late, not too late at all,” Chu Zhao murmured, her eyes fixed on the young master surrounded by a crowd in the main hall below. ”So that’s him? From the Dongyang Xie Family, the Crown Princess Consort’s younger brother, Third Young Master Xie?”

The waiter smiled and confirmed. ”That’s him. He just arrived from Dongyang. Other than the day the Crown Princess Consort and the Crown Prince were married, this is only his second time in the Capital City. As you must know, Miss Chu, Mr. Xie is handsome, learned, and of fine moral character. There’s not a single thing about him that isn’t perfect—”

The waiter rambled on, obviously quite fond of Mr. Xie himself. After all, who could lay eyes on such a dashing and noble young gentleman and not be charmed?

Chu Zhao’s grip on the railing tightened. ’Perfect? Oh, of course, he was perfect. But beyond what everyone knew now, Mr. Xie had plenty of other ’perfect’ qualities.’

’He loved war. He loved military strategy. He loved viciousness. He loved ruthlessness. A perfect rebel leader to tear the Great Xia in two and leave its people displaced and wandering.’

’But in her last life, she had never personally seen the face of this rebel leader.’

’The rebel leader Xie San, a paternal cousin of the Crown Princess Consort, had been famous since childhood. That was why he could rally multitudes with a single call and instantly stand as an equal against Xiao Xun.’

’Of course, it wasn’t truly ’instant.’ Xiao Xun had once cursed in a rage, ”Damn that Thief Xie! His family has been plotting treason for ages. Everyone says the Yang Family and the Zhao Family are arrogant, being relatives of the emperor, but the Xie family is the most arrogant of all! The Crown Princess Consort isn’t even the Empress yet, and they’re already secretly running around, forming factions for their own selfish ends.”’

But cursing was useless. The Xie family was immensely wealthy and had numerous scions. Their social network—their web of alliances—was vast. They had fame, fortune, followers, and... a pretext.

The Xie family rallied under the banner of ”punishing the treacherous and eliminating evil.”

’And the ’evil’ they sought to eliminate... was her.’

Chu Zhao’s hand gripping the railing clenched. She said, word by word, ”Yan. Lang.”

The waiter had already left. Ah Le, who had heard her, scratched her head. While they were walking around earlier, she’d overheard people talking. They said Mr. Xie was the third-born, and his name was something like... Yan?

”Is the Third Young Master Xie’s name Yan Lang?” she asked, curious. ”Or is that a term of endearment?”

Chu Zhao smiled. The Third Young Master Xie’s name did have the character ’Yan’ in it. Perhaps at first, everyone affectionately called him Yan Lang, using the character meaning ’young man’. But because he was so exceptionally fierce and ruthless, the name later changed to Yan Lang—with the character for ’wolf’.

A savage beast. The Yan Lang of the Xie family.

Chu Zhao looked down from her high perch. The grand hall below was like the surface of a lake, and the noble young master was a lotus in full bloom, with all the surrounding leaves and fish drawn to him.

Several young men wove through the crowd as nimbly as fish swimming toward Third Young Master Xie. One ”fish” trailed at the back, seemingly reluctant. He dawdled, looking this way and that, until he glanced upward. The next moment, as if shocked, he leaped backward, sending ripples through the ”water.”

”Yanlai, what are you doing?” his friends called out, noticing he had fallen behind. ”Why aren’t you keeping up?”

They were even more startled when they looked back.

”What in the world are you doing?”

The phoenix-eyed young man who had jumped back had actually grabbed a tablecloth and thrown it over his head and face.

A muffled voice drifted from under the cloth: ”Because the moment I lay eyes on Third Young Master Xie, I feel so thoroughly inadequate that I can’t bear to show my face.”

...

...

Third Young Master Xie glanced in their direction.

”That scoundrel,” the person next to him muttered with a frown, also looking over. ”Out drinking again. He hasn’t been home in days.”

Another young man sneered. ”Everyone in this restaurant knows Third Brother is here. He’s not blind or deaf, yet he dares not come pay his respects. I’ll go drag him over.”

He started to move, but Third Young Master Xie stopped him. ”He’s family. We can see each other at home. Let him enjoy himself.”

With that, he ignored them and turned to thank the people he was with. ”Thank you for your hospitality.”

The group smiled and returned the courtesy. ”The honor was all ours.”

Both parties headed for the exit together. The girls who had followed them downstairs wore expressions of regret. ’He’s leaving already? But we haven’t seen enough of him yet!’

Qi Leyun was particularly disappointed. She hadn’t even gotten a clear look at him, having spent most of her time staring at a pillar. Unable to stop herself, she called out, ”Third Young Master Xie!”

Third Young Master Xie actually didn’t ignore her. He turned to look.

’He’s really looking over!’ Qi Leyun was both nervous and delighted. She gripped the staircase banister and stammered, ”Will... will you be attending the literary gathering at Wangchun Garden?”

Third Young Master Xie simply smiled at her, then turned and left without a word.

The other girls were annoyed.

”Qi Leyun, what kind of question was that!”

”If you don’t know what to say, you should just keep quiet!”

”Don’t you know who Third Young Master Xie is?”

Qi Leyun regretted her words the moment they were out. Of course, she knew who Third Young Master Xie was. He was of the Dongyang Xie Family, the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law. And it was well known that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were on extremely bad terms.

Setting aside whether the Third Prince would even extend an invitation, or whether Third Young Master Xie would attend if he did, the very question was a predicament for both of them.

’And she, Qi Leyun, had just forced him to address it in public.’

”That’s not it, I didn’t mean to put him on the spot,” Qi Leyun said, her face a mask of misery. ”I just feel that Third Young Master Xie is so brilliant, it would be a pity for the Wangchun Garden literary gathering to be without him.”

”What’s there to feel sorry about?” another girl scoffed. ”Even if Third Young Master Xie went, we wouldn’t be able to get in and admire his elegance anyway.”

”What?” Qi Leyun asked in surprise. ”Didn’t they say it’s a grand assembly that anyone can attend?”

The other girls were surprised too. While they never believed the Wangchun Garden literary gathering was truly open to *everyone*, they certainly assumed that, as daughters of powerful Aristocratic Families, they would be able to attend.

’Aren’t literary gatherings supposed to be lively events? You need a crowd to make a name for yourself.’

All eyes turned to the girl who had spoken.

”That’s not it at all,” the girl said, shaking her head. ”’Anyone’ can attend, but that ’anyone’ doesn’t include women. I was going to have my brother take me, but he told me the Third Prince has forbidden women from attending and that I should just forget about it.”

The girls instantly erupted in a clamor. ”Is that true?” ”Impossible!” ”Your brother probably just finds you annoying and made it up.”

They all chattered at once, but their discussion led nowhere.

”Quiet down, everyone. I’ll go see the two Princesses and ask if they’re going,” said one girl whose family had ties to the Imperial Family and could get a word in with them. ”If the Princesses are attending, then we’ll naturally have to go along to keep them company.”

She then made a hushing gesture to the others.

”We’d best not discuss the Third Prince’s business in such a public place.”

The girls naturally knew who they could and couldn’t afford to offend, so they obediently changed the subject.

”Speaking of the Third Young Master Xie, have you all heard?” one girl whispered. ”Liang Qin... the one she’s in marriage negotiations with is him—”

This news was even more shocking to the girls than the matter of the Third Prince’s gathering. Another uproar erupted, drowning out the girl’s voice before she could even finish her sentence.

”Impossible!” Qi Leyun’s voice was the loudest of all. ”How could Liang Qin possibly be worthy of the Third Young Master Xie!”

The commotion drew the gazes of everyone nearby. Chu Zhao, still gripping the railing and looking down, caught the name ”Liang.” Over by where Chu Ke was sitting, Liang Qiang’s head snapped up, his senses suddenly sharp.