When she saw Chu Zhao smile, a smile also spread across the woman’s lips.
The girl surrounded by the crowd was smiling. The woman hidden behind the rocks was also smiling. But the people beside the woman looked rather sorrowful.
“Stronghold Leader.” A man beside her couldn’t help saying quietly. “Go see her.”
“Didn’t I just see her?” The woman said with a smile. She pressed her hand to her chest. Even now her heart was still beating uncontrollably.
Though this wasn’t a moment worth celebrating—it had been tragic and dangerous—but in the night, when she raised her head and saw the girl appear in the firelight and slaughter ahead, everything around her disappeared. Only that girl shone brilliantly.
After not seeing her for so long, Ah Zhao had grown taller and also thinner.
No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t look enough—
The woman’s reaction made the man beside her even more distressed.
“Stronghold Leader.” He was somewhat anxious. “She doesn’t even know it’s you. How does this count as seeing her? Taking advantage of this opportunity, why not just—”
“Just what?” The woman interrupted him. The smile at her lips faded, her voice cold and clear. “Use the grace of saving her life to make her acknowledge me as her mother?”
She looked at the girl on the main road.
“I previously used her life as a threat. Now that I’ve saved her, can one life offset another and make her call me Mother?”
She slowly shook her head.
“Didn’t you hear? She said her parents treasure her like a jewel.”
“I am not worthy.”
……
……
Sunlight shone over the Imperial City. In the duty room blocked by layers of palace buildings, the view was somewhat dim.
A postal station map was spread on the desk. At this moment, slender fingers tapped on it a few times.
“She should have reached here by now.” Xie Yanlai said quietly, then with some disdain, “At her speed, she really can’t compare to me.”
Xie Yanlai looked at the postal station map for a long time without moving. The deep autumn sunlight leapt across his body through the window lattice.
Until an Imperial Guard outside quietly called: “Captain.”
Xie Yanlai withdrew his gaze and turned his head. His phoenix eyes lowered as his expression returned to cool clarity: “What is it?”
The Imperial Guard handed over a postal report.
Seeing the marking, Xie Yanlai immediately took it and opened it. Inside was only a short note. The first two characters that entered his vision made his eyes blur slightly.
“Under attack”
He took a deep breath before he could continue reading.
“But safe”
Xie Yanlai closed his eyes, slapping one hand on the desk for support, cursing through gritted teeth: “Damn girl.”
The handwriting on this note was elegant and refined—clearly written by her own hand.
“Afraid you’d worry, so I won’t hide it from you. I was also injured, but only flesh wounds, nothing serious. Moreover, I gained thirty new guards and will continue forward. Don’t worry.”
After reading the few short lines, Xie Yanlai sat down and exhaled. Chu Zhao was rushing to report she was safe and hadn’t written detailed circumstances—where was she injured? Who were the attackers? Where did these newly acquired guards come from? Were they reliable?
She said she was afraid he’d worry, yet didn’t write anything! Was she doing this on purpose?
He looked toward the Imperial Guard: “When General Zhang has the latest news, have him come see me personally.”
The Imperial Guard acknowledged and withdrew.
Xie Yanlai sat there reading and rereading the note. Afraid he’d worry? What did he have to worry about? Feel guilty? Because he was the one who persuaded her to go see her father?
How ridiculous. He made the suggestion, but wasn’t it she herself who wanted to go? Did she not know it was dangerous?
Everyone must bear the risks of their own choices. He wouldn’t worry, wouldn’t feel guilty!
Xie Yanlai crumpled the note in his hand into a ball, stood up and walked a few steps, then sat back down and smoothed out the crumpled note again.