Ashes to Crown

Chapter 162: Chapter 116: Loud Voices

Xie Yanlai looked down at the person galloping out of the fire and chaos, drawing closer and closer—

She was small and slender, her robes fluttering. She looked up as she passed through the shifting light and shadows.

The city gate was massive and the torches had been extinguished, but Chu Zhao recognized the boyish figure on the battlements in a single glance.

”Ah Jiu!” she shouted happily. ”It really is you!”

Without a hint of caution, she lowered the shield in her hand and spurred her horse into a gallop, racing toward him.

Xie Yanlai remained motionless, crossbow in hand. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced left and right. The Imperial Guards on either side were staring at him with strange expressions.

”Yanlai,” one of the Imperial Guards whispered, ”do we... still kill on sight?”

The person was already in range. Weren’t they going to act?

’Hadn’t he said before that no matter who it was, they were to be killed on sight—even if it was Third Young Master Xie?’

’What a troublemaker!’ Xie Yanlai gritted his teeth, watching the girl arrive at the foot of the gate.

”Chu—” he yelled, but then lowered his voice as the word was on his lips. ”What are you doing here!”

He lowered his voice, but then realized that was wrong. The gate was high; if he spoke too softly, Chu Zhao wouldn’t hear him, but the people around him would.

He glanced around again. Sure enough, the nearby Imperial Guards were all staring at him. His tone had clearly given away that he knew her.

”Yanlai,” an Imperial Guard asked, ”is that a member of your family?”

Xie Yanlai raised his crossbow and barked, ”Halt! One step closer and you will be killed on sight!”

Chu Zhao seemed not to understand what he meant. She rode right up to the gate, reined in her horse, and looked up at the boy on the battlements, waving. ”Ah Jiu! Ah Jiu! It’s me, Chu Zhao! Open the gate—”

’This stupid girl,’ he thought, ’announcing her own name. Does she think I can’t recognize her? I’m not blind!’

When the Imperial Guards heard Chu Zhao announce her name, many of them didn’t recognize her face, but most knew the name. She was the one who had thrown herself in front of Xie Yanlai on the street to shield him from a whip, the same one rumored throughout the Capital City to be his one true love—inseparable, devoted through life and death.

”Chu Zhao?”

”Yanlai, it’s Miss Chu.”

”Your fiancée—”

The Imperial Guards all started talking at once.

’It’s one thing to know who she is, but what was that last bit of nonsense!’ Xie Yanlai found a moment to snap at the guard, ”What are you babbling about!”

The guard shrank back. ’Alright, maybe they’re not engaged yet.’

Still, if she was his soon-to-be fiancée, her showing up here was somewhat understandable.

”Yanlai, Miss Chu must be here to see you.”

It was so dangerous outside. The girl was single-mindedly rushing to her beloved, worried about him, feeling safe only by his side... Sigh. The Imperial Guards’ minds wandered, and they began to worry about their own families and loved ones.

Xie Yanlai’s sharp command cut through the air: ”This is the Imperial City, a restricted area! Withdraw immediately!”

His shout snapped the dazed Imperial Guards back to attention. They all stared at him. ’Is he serious?’ they thought. ’Even if it’s family or a lover, he’s going to—’

’Wake up,’ Xie Yanlai thought, ’she’s not here for me.’ He gripped his crossbow, his body tense. The bowstring was drawn taut, the arrowhead glinting coldly.

Chu Zhao looked at the crossbow glinting in the young man’s hands and said with a smile, ”Ah Jiu, I need to enter the Imperial City.”

’She wants to enter the Imperial City!’

’Just as I thought. She’s here to get into the Imperial City.’

Xie Yanlai looked down at the girl below the gate. He knew many people would try to come to the Imperial City, but he never expected the first one to arrive would be her.

His gaze shifted to the men flanking her.

The fighting at the watchtower continued, the breach growing wider and wider as more and more people poured in. They fanned out behind and to the sides of the girl like the iron wings of a great hawk.

’Chu Zhao, daughter of Chu Ling.’

He scoffed, then chuckled.

Inside and out, from emperor to minister, father to son, brother to brother—no one could have expected a Chu Zhao to suddenly appear.

’This is going to be quite a show.’

’Except, he was part of this show—’

”Chu Zhao.” Xie Yanlai lowered his crossbow, aiming it at the girl’s forehead as she sat on her horse. ”Entry to the palace is forbidden without a summons. Entry to the city with soldiers and weapons is forbidden. Fall back.”

He spoke each word with chilling deliberation.

”Or you will be killed on sight.”

’He’s really going to kill her,’ the Imperial Guards thought, looking at the young man on the battlements.

’He really means to kill,’ Chu Zhao thought, looking at him. Just like that time by the river—he had been serious about killing then, too.

But there was no reason to blame him for that. He had to survive, and he’d had no other choice.

But now, he had her.

”Ah Jiu,” Chu Zhao said, facing the glint of the arrowhead, ”it is not I who wishes to see His Majesty. It is the young prince.”

She gently pushed forward the child leaning against her and pulled back the cloak that was wrapped around him.

”I’ve brought the young prince.”

The young prince?! The Imperial Guards looked stunned. The Third Prince was not yet married; only the Crown Prince’s son could be called the young prince—the Imperial Grandson!

The Imperial Grandson was still alive!

The Imperial Guards couldn’t help but stand up, trying to lean over to get a better look—

Xie Yanlai stopped them with a shout. ”Careful! It could be a trick!”

Besides the girl, there were indeed many frightening people below the gate. They wore no military uniforms or armor, but the swords, blades, and crossbows in their hands were terrifying.

”Ah Jiu,” Chu Zhao called out again. ”I’m not lying to you. Come and see for yourself.”

Xie Yanlai looked down at the girl, then suddenly put away his crossbow, turned, and leaped off the battlements, striding toward the gate below.

”Hey, Yanlai—” the startled Imperial Guards called out.

Xie Yanlai looked at them and said, ”I’m going to take a look.”

’He’s going to take a look?’ they thought. ’He just told us to be careful and wouldn’t even let us lean over the wall, and now he’s going to open the gate and walk out there himself? Isn’t that dangerous?’

The Imperial Guards exchanged complicated looks.

”You have to take risks to know if there’s danger,” Xie Yanlai said. He took a few steps, then stopped and looked back at them. ”You all guard the gate. If this person has malicious intent, you fight—fight with everything you have. And after that... well, that’s it.”

He didn’t tell them to defend it to the death.

’It can’t be defended.’

’There’s no point anymore.’

’If he died, he died. As long as these others fulfilled their duty to the best of their ability, then no matter which side won in the end, they could be spared and live.’

Xie Yanlai strode away and disappeared from the Imperial Guards’ sight.

Everyone understood the meaning behind his words.

”That kid!” one Imperial Guard gritted out. ”He promised we’d defend the gate together.”

After speaking, he looked at the men around him.

”You all stay on guard. I’m going to take a look, too.”

With that, he strode off and ran down toward the gate.

A commotion broke out among the Imperial Guards behind him.

”Why should I have to stay on guard? I’m going too!”

”Don’t be disorderly! Everyone, to your posts! A few of you, come with me. The rest, stay on guard.”

...

...

By the time Xie Yanlai reached the city gate, a whole group of men had rushed to follow him.

He frowned and glanced back, about to say something, but in the end, he said nothing. The others said nothing either.

The bar was quickly removed, and the heavy gate was pulled open just enough for a person to slip through. Xie Yanlai was the first one out, with the others close behind him. The gate was instantly shut behind them.

”Ah Jiu.” Chu Zhao urged her horse forward to meet him. Now that she was on horseback, she no longer had to crane her neck to look up at him. ”So this is where you were tonight,” she said happily. ”I thought you might be outside the city, or at home.”

Xie Yanlai frowned. ’What’s with all this idle chatter?’ he thought. ’We’re not here to make small talk.’

”I didn’t expect you to be here either,” he muttered.

Chu Zhao didn’t press the conversation; this was no place for a chat. She showed him the child in front of her. ”Ah Jiu, look. This is the young prince.”

Xie Yanlai looked over. In the torchlight, he could see a child turning toward him with Chu Zhao’s movement.

The child was pale, with a small, pointed face.

The young prince had always been raised deep within the palace and rarely went out. On the rare occasions he did, it was by carriage. As a mere Outer Imperial City Guard, Xie Yanlai had never seen the young prince’s true face.

”You’re his uncle, you know,” Chu Zhao said with a smile, her gaze flickering between Xie Yanlai’s face and the child’s.

’Uncle.’ He was a Xie, yes, but in the Xie family, there was only one man the young prince would call ”Uncle,” and a Xie of his standing had never been qualified to meet the young prince.

And yet, he recognized it at a glance. The boy had the face of the Xie family.