Chapter 557
Did I Eat Your Family’s Food or Drink Your Family’s Water?
In the past, Bai Fu Rong had never thought of a hawk as a creature that could be considered annoying. In fact, she had been envious of how a goshawk could soar through the sky; however, who knew when she now saw a hawk and heard its cry, a flustered feeling would appear at the bottom of her heart. That flustered feeling caused her heart to race, nearly causing her to lose her balance.
Bai Ze looked up and stared at the goshawk that had circled them twice then laughed at her, saying: “What is it, eldest young miss Bai is afraid of hawks?”
Bai Fu Rong did not speak. Staring forward, she focused on riding her horse. Not long later, she suddenly turned toward Xuan Tian Ming and asked him: “I heard that A-Heng has trained a divine archer in a shot that does not travel in a straight line. I wonder if there is one that has come along in this group?”
Before Xuan Tian Ming could speak, Bai Ze lost it: “Hey! What are you asking about this for?”
Bai Fu Rong smiled and faintly said: “It’s nothing. I just wanted to ask and see if the hawk in the sky could be shot down.”
Hm? Bai Ze frowned, “Why shoot it down?” That is your hidden method for communication. If it really was shot down, would you not be rebelling?
“It’s causing me to feel flustered.” Bai Fu Rong rubbed her temples, “Just look at it flying in the sky leaves me feeling extremely flustered. Especially when it cries out, my head begins to hurt.”
“Just let it fly.” Finally, Xuan Tian Ming spoke; however, he said: “If you feel flustered, just don’t look at it. As for its cries, just get used to hearing them.”
Bai Fu Rong did not speak and slightly lowered her head as though thinking of something. Xuan Tian Ming spoke up once more, saying to her: “In regards to the things that you don’t like, avoiding them is pointless. Shooting it down with an arrow does not deal with the foundation. If one is shot down, another will come. There are plenty of them. Unless there comes a day when you are no longer afraid of them, their existence will no longer be of any threat to you.”
Bai Fu Rong was startled and became pale in the face. Desperately holding onto the reins in her hands, she trembled slightly. Sneaking a look up at Xuan Tian Ming, she found that he did not even look at her. It seemed that what he had just said was something said casually. She had overthought it.
Bai Fu Rong took a deep breath and adjusted her emotions then said to Bai Ze: “The things that his Highness says are hard to understand but reasonable.” Although she was smiling, she was feeling extremely bitter.
A-Heng, oh, A-Heng, Bai FuRong looked forward and thought to herself, You should have arrived in the North, right? I don’t care about what sort of plans you have, but hurry up a little. It seems that I can not drag this out any further.
The march this time lasted two days and one night until the people and horses were exhausted before they finally found a suitable place to set up camp in a valley.
It had been snowing the entire time over the past few days, the snowflakes fluttering about. Although it was not snowing heavily, it did not seem to show any signs of stopping. There were no people in the mountains to sweep it away, and it was slightly colder outside. Like this, the snow covered up to their knees.
When setting up camp, the soldiers expended a great deal of energy to clear out a piece of empty land. Xuan Tian Ming’s camp was set up in the very middle and was tightly surrounded by the soldiers, not leaving a single opening.
When Bai Ze was setting up camp, he had paid close attention to Bai Fu Rong; however, he did not see her express any objections to this setup. Instead, once the camp was set up, she dove inside, using the excuse: “If I stay outside too long, it will be easy for the soldiers to recognize me.”
Bai Ze spread his hands to Xuan Tian Ming and heard Xuan Tian Ming say: “No need to worry about her. If she has a heart, she definitely will not do anything to harm our comrades. If she is heartless, just kill her. Who cares what she does.”
Bai Ze was deeply impressed.
That night, Xuan Tian Ming and the deputy general met to discuss the army’s matters. It got late, thus he stayed in the deputy general’s tent.
At just before 3AM, the sound of a hawk crying out four times came. Bai Fu Rong ducked her head into the blankets and tightly covered her ears, desperately wishing for that hawk to be killed. Unfortunately, the hawk’s cries echoed clearly inside her head. No matter how hard she tried, it was still able to enter her ears, pass through her eardrums and pierce her nerves. Her head began to hurt. Biting her lip, she desperately tried to hold back her tears.
Gradually, her emotions stabilized, however, she had no choice but to face reality.
She helplessly took a deep breath and wrapped herself up in a cloak. Putting on her socks and shoes, she quickly walked out.
Bai Ze’s tent was only an arms-length away. Who knew that person just did not sleep, but when Bai Fu Rong pushed the opening of the tent, that person stuck his head out and asked: “Where are you going?”
Bai Fu Rong rolled her eyes at him and asked: “Bai Ze, don’t you get tired? I get up every night, and you always asked where I am going. I must answer the call of nature. Where else can I go?”
Bai Ze pointed at her tent, “There’s a chamber pot inside.”
“I’m not accustomed to it.” Bai Fu Rong spoke the truth, “After all, I am not A-Heng. I am not that close to you. There are some things that I hope you would leave me some privacy.”
Bai Ze spread his hands. With her mentioning this, if he continued to ask, it would not be too proper, thus he could only say: “Go. Just don’t go too far.”
Bai Fu Rong quickly departed, passing through the military tents and entering the forest in the mountains.
Bai Ze once again stealthily followed; however, the feelings when following Bai Fu Rong were different from before. Back then, he thought “catch the criminal in the act” when following her, but ever since he had heard the conversation between Bai Fu Rong and the person in black and the following two months of Bai Fu Rong’s conflicted appearance, he suddenly felt that a girl living like this was quite bitter. It was just that Bai Fu Rong did not speak about it, and his Highness did not ask. The matter was frozen there, and nobody knew when it would come to a close.
This time, Bai Fu Rong went out pretty far, and she even turned a few times before the goshawk in the sky gradually began to descend. Bai Fu Rong also increased her pace, running a couple steps in that direction.
The snow in the mountains was thick, and this path was going up the mountain. Bai Fu Rong’s movements were already unsteady, thus when she ran, she was even more unsteady, falling a few times in the fresh snow.
Bai Ze watched anxiously from behind, feeling an urge to rush forward to support her; however, he was a pursuer that could not reveal himself. The person ahead was his target. He could not go forward and provide her with any help.
Bai Fu Rong struggled to advance before finally arriving; however, she suddenly slipped and fell into the snow. Upon seeing the small face that had already become paler and paler from the cold land completely in the snow, for some reason, his heartstrings were tugged, and he rushed forward unconsciously. He thought that no matter what she had come out to do, if he did not go to help her, he would truly not be a man. In the worst-case scenario, he would just say that he had received an order from his Highness to protect her, thus he followed.
After making up his mind, he already took a step, and he had even extended his arms; however, it was at this time that a person in black appeared to the side of Bai Fu Rong.
Bai Ze stopped himself and quickly found a tree to hide behind. But the man did not go to help Bai Fu Rong. He just stood to the side and looked down. Bai Fu Rong struggled for a long time before managing to help herself up. Even Bai Ze could see that she had begun to shiver from the bitter cold. The man in black, however, remained indifferent, only asking her: “Why were you so slow to come?”
Fuck! What sort of man was this! Bai Ze complained in his heart then looked again at Bai Fu Rong. Although she was not laying in the snow, he saw that she did not stand up. She just sat in the snow while looking up at the man in black. Gnashing her teeth, she said: “It’s your damn hawk that led me on this winding path. Just look at how the mountain is covered in snow. Just how fast did I have to move to fulfill your request?”
The person in black had his face covered, and his expressions could not be seen, but the long and thin eyes that were exposed were expressionless and cold. There was absolutely no feeling that it was his fault. He just continued to speak to her in an emotionless tone: “The reason that you have such a hard time enduring the cold is that you did not grow up in the North. Master said that if you had grown up in Qian Zhou, you definitely would not be this weak.”
“Hmph.” Bai Fu Rong snorted coldly, as she continued to sit in the snow and say while looking up: “Your master has said quite a bit, but since he has said so much, why do you still treat me in this way? If I really am that person’s daughter, I should also partially be considered your master, right?”
A look of contempt flashed through the person’s eyes and very impolitely told her: “Now, you definitely aren’t. If you really wanted to be our master, you should have obeyed and worked for Qian Zhou instead of eating from one hand and crawling to the other, helping that group of people to lie to us.”
“Eating from one hand and crawling to the other?” Bai Fu Rong’s anger also surged forth, subconsciously trying to stand up to argue; however, just as she stood up, she immediately sat back down, a bitter expression appearing on her face. Bai Ze looked at this and furrowed his brow. He stared at Bai Fu Rong’s feet and felt a little distressed. At this time, Bai Fu Rong spoke up once more, asking the person in black clothes: “You say that I am secretly working for someone else. If you are the ones doing the feeding, when I have ever had anything to eat from you while growing up? Did I fucking drink one sip of water from Qian Zhou or eat one bowl of rice? Did your damn master give me any clothes to wear or any accessories to wear? There was none of that, so on what basis can you say that I have eaten from you? Is he fucking blind?”
A girl suddenly cursing wildly caused the person in black to feel momentarily dumbfounded, but he very quickly recovered and coldly looked at Bai Fu Rong, saying in a heavy voice: “Saying it like this, you acknowledge that you lied to us? That imperial daughter Ji An did not go back to the capital at all, right?”
“I lied to you?” Bai Fu Rong continued to use her explosive tone, glaring at the person in black and saying: “I really do want to lie! Only taking care of giving birth and not raising, on what basis can they force me to help Qian Zhou? But you used a despicable means to capture my father. Tell me, if I don’t tell the truth and don’t cooperate, he will end up dying at your hands! I, Bai Fu Rong, do not have many relatives in this life. That father of mine is my life. In order to save him, I need to lie to my good friends and betray good friends, and I even injured her younger sister. Everything that I have done is for my father. Since I’ve already done all of that, why would I lie to you?”
That person stared at Bai Fu Rong as though trying to find some sort of flaw in her mental state, her eyes or her tone; however, this was all in vain. At this time, Bai Fu Rong’s entire body trembled. She glared fiercely at him; however, this fierce glare caused that person to feel that it was real, but…
Suddenly, a cold sword left its sheath and brought it to Bai Fu Rong’s neck. That person said: “We did not find imperial daughter Ji An inside the capital!”