Ashes to Crown

Chapter 249: Chapter 61: Identity

”Her ambitions are enormous!”

Uncle Cai said in a low voice.

A faint smile played on Xie Yanfang’s lips. He leafed through the victory report. Even the silk flag had been brought over and was laid out on his desk for him to see. ”In truth, these are all facts,” he said. ”There’s no exaggeration. She did indeed lead troops to kill the scattered Western Liang Soldiers and save the people of the local city. A great merit like this deserves to be announced far and wide. It will also reassure the populace and stabilize the country.”

Uncle Cai said, ”If she were a man, this would naturally be fine. If she were a general—even Chu Ling—there would be no problem. But she is Chu Zhao—”

And Chu Zhao is a woman.

Chu Zhao is already the Empress.

Is it not enough for her to sit peacefully in the Imperial City, to be a virtuous and demure Empress, a motherly example to the world?

Now she wants the great merit of personally leading an army to slay our enemies.

What does she want?

”She ascended the throne with the Emperor. She sits beside him in the imperial court, constantly standing before the court officials. Now she wants to stand before all the people in the world. She is fundamentally unwilling to be confined to the rear palace! She’s trying to upstage the host,” Uncle Cai said furiously. ”Third Young Master, she’s doing this because she thinks she can bully our Yu for being so young. If he were an adult—no, even if he were just her age—how could he possibly tolerate this?”

Xie Yanfang listened in silence, then sighed softly. ”Uncle Cai, in this world, there are no ’ifs’.”

He raised his eyes to look at Uncle Cai.

”The reality of the situation is what it is. There’s no use being indignant.”

Uncle Cai looked at him and let out a long sigh. ”Young Master, you never seem to get anxious or angry.”

Xie Yanfang smiled. ”Of course I get anxious and angry. But things are already as they are. It’s useless, so I might as well save my energy for other matters.”

”But it’s not just this one incident with Chu Zhao! Before, we tried to stop the victory from being publicized. We said to only report the great victory itself and wait until after a court session to announce the Empress’s role. But what was the result? The courier stations somehow failed to stop the news. How did Chu Zhao manage to—” Uncle Cai couldn’t let it go.

Xie Yanfang cut him off. ”However she did it, she must have her own methods. Besides, we haven’t suffered any losses from this.”

That was true. Uncle Cai stopped talking, but he couldn’t help but think, ’This woman acts with such enormous ambition. What she’s doing now might not concern us, but what if it does in the future?’

Xie Yanfang smiled. ”Then we’ll talk about it when it does.”

Uncle Cai studied Xie Yanfang. ”Young Master, you seem to be in a good mood.”

’Is it because of this?’

Xie Yanfang looked up, his eyes filled with a smile. ”Today, Yu glanced at me.”

Uncle Cai was stunned. ’Yu? The Xiao Emperor? A glance? Don’t you and the Xiao Emperor see each other every day? What’s so special about one glance?’

”Before, he wouldn’t truly look at me,” Xie Yanfang said softly. ”He wasn’t even willing to look me in the eye. The moment he saw me, he would immediately look away.”

Because the child hated him, resented him, and kept his distance.

”But I’m not worried. I will continue to love him and protect him. I will make him see my devotion, which is for him and him alone.”

”Today, he caught a glimpse of it, and so he was finally willing to look at me.”

’First one glance, and soon there will be many more, until I can walk right into that child’s eyes, and into his heart.’

’When that time comes, everything will be back on its proper course.’

’As for Miss Chu’s actions, they are of no concern at all.’

’Miss Chu’s actions are merely those of a boisterous guest. No matter how much noise a guest makes, they are still just a guest. The master of this Great Xia is Xiao Yu.’

’And what he, Xie Yanfang, wants... is to seize the master.’

’The current situation is perfect. The guest is out making a scene, and what’s more, this guest can serve as a bridge to bring him and Xiao Yu closer.’

Xie Yanfang looked at Uncle Cai, a smile on his face.

”This is the happiest I’ve been since the incident with the Crown Prince and Crown Princess Consort.”

...

...

By the time news of the Empress’s great victory spread through the Capital City, it was already common knowledge in the places closer to Yunzhong County.

The tense atmosphere from the sudden appearance of the Western Liang Soldiers had vanished. The crowds no longer thronged the city gates. Instead, the city’s teahouses and taverns were filled with people listening to storytellers recount the tale of Empress Chu.

”What’s there to say about a battle with less than a hundred people?” Tie Ying said coldly. He stood on the second floor looking down at the main hall, watching the storyteller wave his arms and legs with excitement as the idle patrons listened with rapt attention.

Leaning against the railing, Xiao Xun watched the scene with a smile. ”The story isn’t about the battle, it’s about Empress Chu,” he said. ”It’s not unheard of for a woman to kill an enemy. But for an Empress to lead troops to the border, slay enemies, and save the people—that is exceedingly rare. Of course it’s worth making a big deal about.”

”It’s not like she was leading her own soldiers,” Tie Ying said. ”They’re from the Xie family. She was only able to go to the border because the Xie family let her.”

At this, he furrowed his brow and stared at the storyteller.

”For so many people to pop up in our county in such a short time, all telling the story of Empress Chu’s great victory... this must be Xie Yanfang’s doing, right?”