Zhang Gu stood inside the room, gazing at the gentle countenance of the man opposite him, and his tense heart momentarily eased.
So this was Garrison General Chu Ling.
He appeared to be in his forties, with a burly build and dressed in military attire. Amidst his martial valor, there was an air of refined elegance.
Zhong Changrong stepped forward, glaring fiercely at Zhang Gu.
Zhang Gu’s eased heart tightened again, and he lowered his gaze, not daring to look further.
“What did he send you here for?” Zhong Changrong demanded sharply. “Why send you? Sneaking around like a rat!”
Chu Ling chuckled. “Perhaps there’s some new information.”
“Impossible,” Zhong Changrong retorted angrily. “I arrived just before him—he must have set out right after I did.”
He gritted his teeth as he spoke.
“That little brat—A Zhao entrusted him with guarding the city, and now he’s scheming behind our backs?”
Did that kid misunderstand something? Overstepping his bounds? Getting the wrong idea? If there’s something, why not tell me? Instead, he has to report to the General?
Zhang Gu neither understood nor paid attention to the exchange. Hurriedly, he produced a sealed letter: “This is from A Fu, Miss Chu, the Empress—for you.”
In his fluster, he blurted out three different forms of address.
Neither Zhong Changrong nor Chu Ling paid any mind to the titles. Zhong Changrong fixed his eyes on the letter and snatched it.
“This can’t be,” he said in surprise. “If A Zhao wanted to send a letter, why didn’t he have me bring it back?”
It must be a fake!
Poisoned?
Seeing Zhong Changrong’s guarded expression as he held the letter, Chu Ling smiled. “That’s A Zhao’s handwriting. Don’t worry. Perhaps he forgot to mention something right after you left, so he sent a letter.”
He extended his hand.
“Give it to me. Since A Jiu sent it, it must be fine.”
Who said A Jiu was trustworthy? He was from the Xie family! Zhong Changrong wanted to argue—
“If A Zhao entrusted him with your duties, he must trust him,” Chu Ling said. “I trust A Zhao.”
Well, that was true—he trusted A Zhao too. Zhong Changrong handed over the letter, though he still found A Jiu somewhat peculiar.
Chu Ling took the letter and instructed Zhong Changrong and Zhang Gu to withdraw—one to attend to his duties, the other to rest and wait. Only after they had left did Chu Ling open the letter.
“Father, I once had a long dream. In it, I and all my loved ones died tragic deaths—”
……
……
Whether it was the turmoil in the capital or the unrest in Yunzhong Commandery, the remote mountain stronghold remained unaffected. Still, the night in the forest felt quieter than before.
When torches illuminated the woods, the forest seemed to tremble momentarily, as if casting a vast net that swept toward the light.
Wherever the cold glint passed, branches and leaves were severed completely. One could imagine that if it enveloped a person, they would be torn to pieces.
Zhong Changrong, standing in the forest, showed no trace of fear, his scarred face grim.
“Enough of these tricks,” he shouted. “Tell Mu Mianhong to get out here!”
The net halted above his head. Torches flared to life in the dense trees, illuminating a figure standing atop them.
It was a man with a thick beard, a woodsman’s axe strapped to his back, his eyes fierce. “Zhong Changrong, what are you doing here? We haven’t broken our promise—we haven’t set foot in your Luocheng.”
Zhong Changrong sneered. “But you set foot in the capital.”
The axe-wielding man stiffened but did not back down. “So what? Aside from your Luocheng, we can go anywhere under heaven. If you have the guts, let the Garrison General eradicate all the bandits in the land!”
Zhong Changrong roared, “Do you think we can’t?”The atmosphere in the dark night was tense and ready to explode at any moment.
A few bird calls echoed through the mountain forest. The man with the firewood knife looked displeased but waved his hand, causing the net over Zhong Changrong's head to vanish, and he himself disappeared into the woods.
A moment later, someone emerged gracefully from the forest, their white dress falling like a cloud in the dark night.
"Lord Zhong," a woman's voice fell softly. "Xiao Man was assigned by me. I know this will upset you, but please understand—a mother worries when her child travels far."
The night was hazy, and her face was dimly lit, yet her delicate features were still discernible.
Zhong Changrong sneered, "You dare call yourself that—"
The woman lowered her head.
Someone behind her stirred angrily, as if about to step forward, but ultimately did not.
Zhong Changrong said nothing more, turning his gaze away as if unwilling to spare her another glance. He took out a letter and flung it forcefully.
"A letter from your person," he said.
Though his strength was great, the thin letter fluttered lightly, barely flying far before it began to fall. The woman in the forest moved swiftly, a long whip shooting out like a snake, coiling around the falling letter and bringing it into her hand.
"One more thing," Zhong Changrong said. "The General has a message for you."
He relayed Chu Ling's words and, without another word, turned and strode away quickly.
The forest returned to silence. The woman stood motionless until many people emerged from the surroundings.
"Chief," they called softly, their expressions filled with concern.
The woman snapped out of her daze and waved her hand gently. "Everyone, return to your posts." With that, she vanished into the forest in a few quick steps.
In the wooden hut on the cliff, a light was burning. This time, the woman was not alone; over a dozen people, young and old, men and women, crowded around, tense and excited, watching as she unfolded the letter in her hand.
"What does Xiao Man say?"
"Has Chu Zhao really become the Empress?"
"Did Chu Zhao really save the Crown Prince's eldest son?"
"Have Xiao Man and the others entered the Imperial Palace?"
They clamored with questions.
They were naturally aware of the turmoil in the capital, and no later than the officials, but Xiao Man had not sent anyone back, leaving them unable to verify or obtain more detailed news.
Unexpectedly, that Zhong Changrong had delivered Xiao Man's letter.
"Xiao Man says the situation is unstable and it was extremely dangerous at the time—" the woman read the letter aloud softly, sharing its contents with everyone. When she reached the latest news, she lifted her head and affirmed, "Chu Zhao has indeed become the Empress."
Under the lamplight, the woman's face was revealed—fair and elegant, her eyes still clear despite her middle age, though a shadow of melancholy lingered in them.
The crowd gasped in amazement. "She really became the Empress!" "How incredible!" "That's the Empress, the most powerful noblewoman in the world."
"This path to Empress was perilous," the woman lowered her head, reading the description in the letter once more. "If they had arrived a moment later, Chu Zhao would be dead by now."
Xiao Man had written little, as if in haste. The crowd listened, unsatisfied, surrounding the woman with questions and discussions.
An elderly woman stepped forward and gestured for everyone to disperse. "Our people are in the capital now. We must pay even more attention to news from there."
The crowd murmured in agreement and dispersed. The elderly woman remained in the room, looking at the younger woman and asking softly, "A Mian, should we send more people to the capital? Chu Zhao will need support now, won't she?"Mu Mianhong shook her head: "No, not only that, I will write to Xiao Man and tell them to return once the capital is stable."
The old woman looked surprised: "Why... why is that?"
Mu Mianhong remained silent for a moment before saying: "With General Chu here, that's enough. We shouldn't get too close to her, lest she discover something."
The old woman understood, feeling both sorrowful and angry: "What could she discover? That she still has a mother? Isn't that—"
"That's not a good thing." Mu Mianhong interrupted her, her delicate features turning sharp.
The old woman lowered her head and stepped back, responding respectfully: "Yes."
"That's not a good thing." Mu Mianhong no longer looked at her, her gaze drifting past her toward the door as if speaking to herself. "She will be the Empress in the future. How could she have a mother with such a disgraceful status like me? Moreover, what I did to her was worse than an animal. How could I deserve to be called 'mother'? General Chu was right—A Zhao having a deceased mother is her true happiness."
The old woman's voice choked with emotion: "A Mian, it's not your fault. You did it all for our village. You had no choice—"
Mu Mianhong smiled at her: "This 'no choice' has nothing to do with her. Having a mother like me is her misfortune."
With that, she turned to look at the letter on the desk, gently stroking the paper.
Without a mother, she could still be brave and resourceful, exceptionally intelligent, renowned throughout the capital, and rise to become the most noble woman in the land.
Since she was doing so well, why trouble her?
The old woman looked at the woman, ultimately saying nothing. She sighed softly and withdrew, leaving the woman alone in the wooden cabin, sitting under the lamp, reading the letter over and over again.
...
...
Night swallowed the earth, and when dawn leaped from the ground once more, Prince Zhongshan woke from his sleep with a loud sneeze.
He opened his eyes to see a young man half-kneeling by his bed, holding a blade of foxtail grass and waving it back and forth in front of Prince Zhongshan's face.
"You little rascal." Prince Zhongshan laughed and scolded, reaching out to cup the young man's face. "Is this how you show filial piety to your father as soon as you return?"
Xiao Xun pressed Prince Zhongshan's hands against his own face, looking up with a smile: "Father, I haven't slept for days while I was away. How could you sleep so soundly? I had to wake you like this."
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