Ashes to Crown

Chapter 207: Chapter 34: Behind

The Xie family estate was brightly lit on this autumn night.

After his bath, Xie Yanfang sat indoors dressed in casual robes, his hair unbound. He stared at the documents before him while silent maids gently dried his hair from behind.

The air in the room was filled with the scent of green tangerines.

He hadn’t turned a page of the documents before him in a long time. The lamplight flickered as Uncle Cai strode in.

”Young Master,” he said, ”the Empress has left the Capital City.”

Xie Yanfang glanced up at the sky outside. ”That’s just like her,” he said. ”Once she decides to leave, she leaves.”

Uncle Cai’s expression was complicated. ”I really can’t figure this Miss Chu out.”

She concealed her talents, rose from obscurity to seize the throne of Empress, and even ascended and held court alongside the Emperor. For someone so young, she played the part of Empress impressively, even seeming quite seasoned. But at the most crucial moment, she suddenly abandoned everything in the Capital City to see her father.

”What on earth is she thinking?”

Xie Yanfang said, ”Her actions reflect her thoughts. Miss Ah Zhao is completely sincere.”

She isn’t hiding her capabilities, nor is she naive. She simply does whatever she wants, and whatever she sets her mind to, she sees it through to the end.

Just like him.

Xie Yanfang reached out and turned a page of the document, his eyes still fixed on it as he continued to speak.

”Besides, she didn’t just leave on a whim. She made her preparations.”

She held a banquet to let the women of the great Aristocratic Families see her, and she even made a point of going to the grand hall to sit with the Emperor, deepening everyone’s impression of her.

What’s more—

Xie Yanfang smiled.

”With me in the Capital City, she can go wherever she pleases.”

Uncle Cai smiled as well, trimming the wick on the desk lamp to brighten it. ”That’s right. With you to support her, Young Master, what does she have to worry about?”

He trailed off, then paused.

”Since Miss Chu is no longer in the palace, shouldn’t we have Seventh Madam go look after the Emperor?”

Xie Yanfang shook his head. ”No.” Then he added, ”It’s not appropriate.”

”How is it not appropriate?” Uncle Cai said, displeased. ”She isn’t in the palace right now. Yu is still young, and he has no family in there with him. It’s perfectly reasonable for Seventh Madam to go look after him.”

Xie Yanfang smiled and nodded. ”It’s reasonable to us, but not to others.”

”Why not? Would Miss Chu object?” Uncle Cai’s eyebrows shot up as he spoke in a cold tone. ”When she was in the palace, we didn’t say a word. We didn’t raise a single issue. Other than you, no one from the family went to visit the Emperor. We went to such lengths out of respect for her. Now she’s the one who left the Imperial Palace. She’s not there, and we are the Emperor’s only family. Are you saying we can’t even look after him?”

Xie Yanfang looked at his furious old servant, knowing this wasn’t just Uncle Cai’s anger, but the pent-up frustration of the entire Dongyang Xie Family.

Since the tragedy, the clan elders had wanted to come to the Capital City on three separate occasions: once after the deaths of the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess Consort, and the late Emperor; once when Xiao Yu took the throne; and then again a month after his ascension—

He had stopped them all three times.

Though the clan elders had complied, they were surely displeased.

”What did Grandfather write to you this time?” he asked with a laugh. ”Tell the old man to just say it to my face. It’s not like I’m some unfilial grandson who won’t listen to his elders.”

Uncle Cai snorted. ”You listen to your elders? You’re the one who makes the elders listen to you every time. Who would dare talk back to you?”

Xie Yanfang laughed heartily. Before Uncle Cai could speak again, he cut in, ”Grand Tutor Deng would never agree.”

Uncle Cai froze for a second, then his brows shot up. ”By what right could he disagree!”

”By right of being the Grand Tutor, and by right of being the Regent,” Xie Yanfang said slowly. ”The Grand Tutor threw a tantrum about the Empress leaving. He was angry because her departure from court creates trouble for him.”

”And that trouble is the fear that our Xie family will take this opportunity to dominate the Inner Palace.”

”We are Yu’s maternal family, his only close relatives. But in the Xiao Dynasty, the Xie family is not the only branch of the Royal Family. Believe me, the moment we send someone in—no, I guarantee that at this very moment, Grand Tutor Deng is already picking his own people.”

”Even if he can’t stop us from sending our own people in, he will certainly not let us have our way.”

Uncle Cai slowly sank back into his seat.

”If we send in Seventh Madam, and Deng Yi sends in his people, and others use the opportunity to fan the flames, what do you think the Inner Palace will become?”

”All those people vying for power in the Inner Palace... it would be the worst possible thing for Yu. He’s still so small, just a child. We cannot afford even the slightest mishap.”

The anger in Uncle Cai’s eyes dissipated, replaced by a look of unease.

”Our job right now isn’t to fight with others over Yu,” Xie Yanfang said softly. ”It’s to ensure Yu grows up safe and sound, so he can come of age and rule in his own right. That is all that matters.”

Uncle Cai heaved a long sigh and bowed to Xie Yanfang. ”Young Master, I was reckless.”