Sleeping in the kitchen, the warmth from the stove fire and the thick layer of straw spread on the floor made it more comfortable than the crude bed planks at the courier station, yet A Fu still woke up.
It was a nightmare that startled her awake.
Though it could hardly be called a nightmare, as it was everything she had personally experienced.
She reached out to touch her neck—it burned with pain, and she could even feel the marks of strangulation. They hadn’t been satisfied with just forcing her to drink poisoned wine; impatient with how slowly she was dying, they had also strangled her with a white silk cord.
The agony of her final moments seemed to have followed her into this rebirth.
A Fu took a few soft breaths and rose. Because the room was warm, A Le wasn’t pressed tightly against her for warmth and hadn’t been disturbed, still sound asleep.
Truth be told, A Le hadn’t endured such hardships of travel for many years either.
As a maid by her side, she had practically been raised like a young lady, having everything that Chu Zhao had.
A Fu looked at the chilblains on the girl’s face, covered her with the thick blanket given by the Old Station Chief, draped on her cotton coat, and quietly stepped outside.
The two couriers on duty were leaning against the doorway, speaking in low voices.
"A Fu, awake so early again?" they said. "We’re staying here an extra day, not traveling. You should sleep a bit longer."
A Fu shook her head at them. "I can’t sleep anymore. Let my sister rest a while longer. Brothers, I’ll fetch water. Where is it?"
These two girls had been traveling with them, voluntarily taking on the tasks of boiling water and cooking along the way. But it was mostly the older sister who did the work; it was clear the younger sister had been more pampered.
Still, the younger sister knew to care for the older one. The two couriers smiled and pointed her in the right direction.
A Fu picked up the wooden bucket and went.
The mountain stream babbled, rising with layers of white mist and cold air.
A Fu sat on a rock, set the bucket aside, and gently stirred the stream water with her hand, feeling the bone-chilling cold—a reminder that everything happening now was real.
She had truly come back to life, returned to a time when her loved ones were still here, before she had ever met that person.
She would be able to see her father again.
Thinking of her father, A Fu couldn’t hold back her tears. As a child, she had found him annoying, and after moving to the capital, she had even resented him because of others’ gossip.
Especially after hearing from her aunt that her grandmother had originally intended to raise her, but her father had refused. Otherwise, she too would have been an elegant, beautiful noble young lady in the capital, just like her cousin.
Back then, she had bitterly thought she would never return to the Border Commandery.
And indeed, she never did return, nor did she ever see her father again.
It was only after losing him that she regretted it. Especially in her final years, she dreamed of the Border Commandery and her father almost every night.
And now, finally—
A Fu covered her face with her hands and wept. "Father—"
"Why are you crying for your father and not your mother?" a male voice asked curiously.
Startled, A Fu stood up and saw that, at some point, another person had appeared by the stream. His robe was open, and in the morning light, his figure was tall and slender, his face taking on a jade-like hue—it was that youth, A Jiu.
"You—you," she stammered, her breath unsteady.
"Me, me, what about me?" A Jiu said coldly. "This stream doesn’t belong to you. If you can come here to cry, why can’t I?"
A Fu swallowed her words, her emotions settling. Thankfully, she hadn’t said anything else just now, or else—
She lowered her eyes, picked up the bucket, and said, "I’ve fetched my water. You… cry here if you want."
A Jiu let out a sharp laugh. Though well concealed, this little girl couldn’t help but show her claws.All that talk of being well-behaved, quiet, honest, pitiful, and delicate was just an illusion. This little girl was ruthless. Clearly not skilled at horseback riding, she gritted her teeth and persevered—truly harsh on herself.
Someone who is harsh on themselves will inevitably be harsh on others too.
"Stop," he said, spreading his arms to block the path. "You still haven't answered me. Why are you crying for your father and not your mother?"
The words sounded unreasonable, but A Fu knew full well that this young man had always been suspicious, distrusting her and her mother.
"I did cry for my mother," she bit her lower lip. "You arrived too late to hear it. I cried for my mother first, then for my father. If my father had been home, my mother wouldn't be in this state now."
A Jiu laughed. "That explanation of yours is something else—shifting the blame from yourself to me."
A Fu lowered her gaze. "Sir, may I go now? I want to fetch more water while my sister is still asleep, to share her burden."
A Jiu shook out his clothes, planted his hands on his hips, and stepped aside to let her pass.
A Fu struggled to carry the wooden buckets, swaying unsteadily as she stepped across the riverbed stones.
"Little girl," A Jiu said with a mocking smile as they passed each other, "that's not your sister. That's your maid."
A Fu's steps faltered slightly. She looked at the young man, about to say something, but her gaze fell on his open shirt, the faintly exposed chest, and the waistband of his trousers.
Her eyes paused—not because she saw a man's chest, which meant nothing to her—but because of the letter tucked into his waistband.
The morning light was hazy, but she clearly saw the words on the envelope:
"To Chu Ling, Confidential."
Chu Ling?!
"What are you looking at!" A Jiu snapped, pulling his clothes to cover his chest.
A Fu flushed with embarrassment and anger. "You—you have no shame!" she retorted, then hurried away with the buckets, half the water sloshing out.
Back at the courier station, her heart was still pounding.
Of course, it wasn't because she had seen the young man's chest.
A Le was already awake and about to look for her. Noticing her strange expression, she asked anxiously, "What's wrong?"
The two Couriers in the courtyard also glanced over.
A Fu lowered her head. "It's nothing. I ran into Sir A Jiu."
A Le was furious, and the two Couriers understood—given A Jiu's temper, he must have been rude to the girl again.
"I'll fetch the water," A Le said, snatching the buckets. "You go start the fire."
...
...
A Le made several trips back and forth, filling all the station's water jars. When she entered the kitchen, she found A Fu sitting in front of the stove, the fire that had been burning now extinguished.
"Li-little sister," she asked nervously, "are you all right? What did that A Jiu do to you?"
A Fu snapped out of her thoughts and smiled at her. "He didn't do anything. He just suspects us, but don't worry about it."
A Le breathed a sigh of relief. Truthfully, she didn't think revealing their identity would be a problem. Once the general's name was mentioned, these Couriers would surely treat them with respect, and that A Jiu wouldn't dare to be sarcastic anymore.
But ever since leaving the capital, the young lady had been hiding her identity, and A Le didn't understand why.
Of course, she wouldn't oppose the young lady's decision—she just felt her mistress was suffering too much. As she thought this, she deftly rekindled the extinguished fire.
"The Station Chief has some honey. I'll make sweet porridge for you later," she said cheerfully.
But A Fu seemed distracted again and asked, "What is A Jiu doing?"
A Le was taken aback. Was the young lady actively asking about A Jiu?"I didn't see him when I went to the stream," she said. "I heard from Officer Zhang that this A Jiu always likes to run around recklessly, either chasing rabbits or catching pheasants. Probably went to cause trouble in the mountain forest."
A Fu made a thoughtful sound and looked at A Le: "A Le, are you confident about getting something from him?"
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