"Chun'er," the young prince no longer had the sunshine and ease of the past, he held his sister's hand tightly like an old man, and said in a low voice, "Brother, I'm sorry."
Zhao Chun'er didn't speak, but shook her head desperately, the tears she had endured all the way finally flowed down at this moment, and she flung them to both sides messily with her movements.
Chu Qiao stood up slowly, no one looked at her, and no one paid attention to her. In this environment, her shadow is so superfluous. She has an unshirkable responsibility for everything today, she is an indirect executioner, it is undeniable.
The girl turned around, picked up the sword on the ground, propped it against a broken mat, opened the door and walked out.
The door creaked shut, the rain poured down outside, and the cold wind howled, like a mad beast rampaging.
With the mat on her back, she ran quickly to the stable. Seeing her approaching, the black war horse snorted happily and shook its head excitedly.
Chu Qiao shook off the rain on her body, walked forward with a smile, patted the horse's neck, smiled faintly, and said, "You still welcome me, right?"
Ma'er didn't know if he could understand what she said, but he shook his head happily when he saw the owner was friendly.
"I can only come to rely on you tonight."
Chu Qiao smiled, and sat down next to the horse. The horse was close to her, rubbing its neck up and down her arm very affectionately.
From the bag on the horse's back, something fell out with a bang. Chu Qiao picked it up and saw that it was a small jug of spirits.
She hadn't drank alcohol for many years, but when she was separated from the Southwest Town's envoy that day, she took a jug of wine from He Xiao unexpectedly.
The wind and rain outside are getting heavier, the sky and the earth are gray, and the rising sun can hardly be seen. The room was warm, and the fire was still burning, illuminating the figures of the two people inside, projected on the window paper, indistinct.
The girl was sitting in the stable, with one leg bent, leaning on the horse, leaning on the sword in one hand, and holding the wine pot in the other, she drank with her head raised.
The strong wine entered her throat, and it was as spicy as fire, and she suddenly began to cough violently, as if she wanted to cough out her lungs. The steed was alarmed and looked at her in panic. She coughed and patted its neck comfortingly, laughing while coughing, "It's okay... cough cough... I'm fine..."
While she was smiling, tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, like a meandering stream, falling drop by drop on her cheeks, trembling with her violent coughing.
The sky and the earth were connected in a line by the heavy rain, and there was no sign of clearing up at all. Everything was like a stick figure. On the dark ruins, the thin and thin figure of the girl was so desolate.
In the early morning, the heavy rain finally stopped, and the sun emerged from the fog, and then quickly hid itself. After feeding the horse, Chu Qiao came to the door, knocked lightly, her voice was hoarse, and called softly: "Are you awake? It's time to go."
There was a rustling sound inside, Chu Qiao stepped aside and stood quietly. After a while, the chai door creaked open, and Zhao Chun'er stood at the door with a cold face, but her tone was calm, "Brother Thirteen told you to go in."
Chu Qiao nodded, followed Zhao Chun'er into the house.
Zhao Song sat in the straw, his hair was combed neatly by Zhao Chun'er, even his beard was shaved, and he looked much refreshed. If it wasn't for the empty sleeves, Chu Qiao almost thought everything was just a nightmare.
"Let's go." Zhao Song looked over with cold eyes, his voice was very calm, but with the indifference of being thousands of miles away, "I don't want to see you again."
Thinking of this happening a long time ago, Chu Qiao didn't panic, she just replied calmly: "I want to send you back, it's a long way to Zhenhuang, I don't trust you to go on your own."
Zhao Song raised his eyebrows, his eyes slashed across Chu Qiao like a knife, "Whether we live or die, what does it have to do with you?"
Heartbroken as if a piece of flesh had been gouged out suddenly, Chu Qiao took a deep breath, and continued: "Central Sichuan has gone through wars, there are refugees and bandits everywhere, all the clans and vassals are watching, and the armed forces of all places are expanding rapidly. At this time, Zhao's imperial power can no longer deter them. Before you return to Zhenhuang, you can't reveal your identity. The bandits gathered at the western mouth of Sichuan, and they are running around the Hetao area, you... "
"That's enough," Zhao Song frowned impatiently, and said in a deep voice, "I said, whether we live or die, what does that have to do with you?"
It was as if a huge stone had been crushed in her heart, Chu Qiao took a deep breath, and after a long time, said in a hoarse voice: "Zhao Song, I know you hate me, and I also know that I can't atone for my sins by doing these things, but, I I can't watch you go to die."
Zhao Song smiled coldly, looked at Chu Qiao with raised eyebrows, and said coldly, "Achu, do you know what I liked most about you before?"
Chu Qiao was taken aback, and immediately raised her head, only to hear Zhao Song slowly say each word: "What I liked most about you before was that you are always so confident, no matter what position you are in or what you are. Regardless of your status or situation, you will never underestimate yourself, belittle yourself, or lose hope. You will always be so firm and firmly believe in your own abilities. But," Zhao Song's eyes suddenly darkened, and the corners of his mouth were cold, "I am now I really hate this kind of you, arrogant, self-righteous, always the face of a savior. Who do you think you are, what do you think you are doing now? Charity? Redemption? Or do you want to do something, and then Only then can you return to that bastard to live your life with peace of mind?"
Chu Qiao shook her head, bit her lower lip tightly, and wanted to explain: "Zhao Song, I..."
"Get out! Don't let me see you again!" Zhao Song said angrily, "I told you a long time ago that the relationship between you and me has already been severed. If we meet again, you will die or I will die. A hundred deaths cannot atone for sin!"
"Zhao Song..."
"roll!"
Zhao Song was furious. Chu Qiao froze in place, her hands and feet were shaking involuntarily. She straightened her back and continued to say in a deep voice: "Zhao Song, I saw that you will leave after entering Zhenhuang. Even if you don't need me, there is still the princess. This journey is full of mountains and rivers. You should not want the same thing to happen again. It happened to her once."
As soon as these words came out, Zhao Chun'er's body froze immediately. Zhao Song looked back at Zhao Chun'er, and then said stubbornly: "I will protect my sister, it's not your turn to care about it."
"Brother Thirteen..."
"Could it be that you are so cowardly that you need to rely on your enemies to protect you?" Zhao Chun'er was about to speak when Zhao Song suddenly yelled. Zhao Chun'er gave Chu Qiao a complicated look, then bit her lower lip lightly, and stopped talking.
Half an hour later, Chu Qiao watched Zhao Song and Zhao Chun'er's carriage gradually disappear on the distant ancient road, and her fatigue suddenly overwhelmed her. The night's cold rain made her feel hot all over, and she was almost unable to stand still, but when the morning sun finally pierced through the thick fog, she still gritted her teeth and climbed onto the horse, chasing forward.
Since that day, she has been carefully wandering around Zhao Song's carriage. Because she couldn't make a route for them, she could only go to the front to clear the way for them at night. When she encountered wandering robbers and rioters, she would break them up. Just follow behind from a distance and protect secretly. Because of her horse's fast pace, she has never been discovered.
But after four days like this, due to extreme fatigue and sleeping in the open all day long, she finally fell ill out of control.
When she woke up, it was still raining heavily outside. She was lying in a dilapidated hut. Zhao Chun'er was wearing a coir raincoat and was holding a chipped bowl with two pieces of dry food in it.
"Eat, if you die, who will escort us back?"
The princess of Zhao's royal family looked down at her, said calmly, put the bowl on the ground, then turned and left.
Chu Qiao's bluish-white face was splashed with a stream of muddy water, twisting like a shocking scar. She watched Zhao Chun'er's figure gradually disappear into the rain, and for some reason, her eyes suddenly became inexplicably warm.
Seven days later, the majestic ancient capital of Zhenhuang finally loomed in the morning mist. This first capital city in the north of the Simon Continent, which has experienced the baptism of war for three hundred years, is like a sleeping lion dormant on the undulating land of Hongchuan. Looking at the city where she had lived for eight years, Chu Qiao suddenly felt exhausted and full of emotions.
She turned her horse's head, facing the northwest, and was about to leave when the sound of hooves suddenly sounded behind her. Chu Qiao calmly turned her head back, looked at the person in front of her, and remained silent.
"you are leaving?"
"yes."
"Are you going back to find him?"
"yes."
"still coming back?"
"I don't know, maybe I will come back, maybe I won't."
"Haha," Zhao Song laughed out loud suddenly, the sleeve of his one arm was fluttering in the wind, and the picture was weird like a kite missing half of its wings, "Look, I'm really a cowardly man!"
"Thirteen," Chu Qiao said in a deep voice, "Thank you for coming to see me for the last time."
Zhao Song smiled wryly, "You can travel thousands of miles to escort me, so is my heart so narrow that I can't come to see you?"
Yellow sand is piled up everywhere, blown by strong winds and scattered all over the sky. Zhao Song was wearing a simple brown coat, but it didn't detract from his royal aura at all. The man's hair was blown away by the strong wind, and he said in a cold tone, "But this time, it's really the last time, when we meet again, you don't need to show affection to me, and I won't show affection to your subordinates." show mercy."
Chu Qiao shook her head slowly, "I won't kill you."
"That's your business," Zhao Song said coldly, "Anyone who betrays the empire will die."
Hearing this, Chu Qiao frowned, raised her head, and said in a deep voice, "Zhao Song, what is an empire?"