This Waste Wood Burns For You - Chapter 13

The last bit of her conscience was gnawing at her.

Chai Qing’s eyes darted around, her heart wavering.

She was a contradictory person, both dejected and sunny, both listless and invigorated. When it came to how to treat Jiang Rao, the conflict in her heart grew day by day. Every time she wanted to be nicer to her, a warning bell would ring in her mind, reminding her that this person was the daughter of her enemy.

The King of Jiang should die, and Jiang Rao, who shared his blood, should die too.

But Jiang Rao was undoubtedly beautiful.

There were countless beautiful faces in the world, she dared to guarantee that no other beauty could reach Jiang Rao’s level.

No matter how awkward Chai Qing felt, she had to admit that beauty had privileges.

Like getting her temporary kindness.

She diligently provided the princess with heat and relieved her abdominal pain.

Jiang Rao leaned against her more and more recklessly. When Chai Qing couldn’t stand it anymore and looked over, the beauty smiled with bright eyes, “You’ve been working hard, Chai Chai.”

“…”

Ah!

What the hell is Chai Chai?

The hairs on Chai Qing’s back stood on end!

This was even more unbearable than her aunt calling her “Qing Qing.”

Jiang Rao stared intently at the storybook, missing the best opportunity to retort. Chai Qing was uncomfortable everywhere. It felt like there were needles under her butt. She shifted left and right.

“What’s wrong?”

The princess looked at her with concern.

Chai Qing casually grabbed her hair, “Nothing.”

Forget it!

Chai Chai, so be it then!

If she wanted to bully someone, they had to be willing to be bullied as well.

The team marched forward in the wind and snow. Hexagonal snowflakes fell on their shoulders. The cold wind blew, and the world was white. General Ronghua’s mood was terrible.

Unlike the two people in the carriage who were warm and cozy, reading a storybook together, as the main person responsible for this marriage, he looked at the heavy snow falling from the sky, and a bad feeling arose in his heart.

This feeling was indeed confirmed.

“General!”

The scout in charge of scouting ahead returned on horseback, bringing back a real piece of bad news.

The bridge collapsed.

The snow was turning into a blizzard. Ronghua, refusing to believe it, rode off alone. When he saw the bridge ahead as if it had been cut in half, he was so angry that his lips trembled.

“Those madmen from the Assassin Alliance!”

A stone bridge wouldn’t collapse for no reason. Besides being old and dilapidated, the main reason was human intervention. Ronghua only had one audacious Assassin Alliance in mind when it came to those who dared to do such a thing.

And he wasn’t wrong.

The stone bridge was collapsed by the radical members of the Assassin Alliance.

Because they didn’t want to see a beautiful flower planted in cow dung.

Collapsing the bridge could at least delay the wedding procession.

Everything in the world changes with time. This was a group of rough men’s special care for the beauty.

General Ronghua was about to explode.

“The general is back!”

A thousand elite soldiers looked at their general’s stinky face. Ronghua took a deep breath and jumped off his horse.

“Princess.”

“What is it?”

Ronghua explained the situation in a frustrated tone.

Jiang Rao remained silent for a few breaths, “Then let’s go back.”

They had to go back.

In the carriage, Chai Qing almost choked with laughter, tears streaming down her face. She covered her stomach, not daring to speak loudly, “Oh my, you can’t go to Shang Xie until the bridge is repaired.”

“Isn’t it to your advantage that I can’t go?”

“It’s alright.” She suppressed her gloating expression and muttered to herself, “The Assassin Alliance did a good thing this time.”

In the vast world, only the Assassin Alliance dared to openly oppose the royal family.

….

The dilapidated temple was crowded with people. The single men gathered together to drink and eat meat, cursing the King of Yan, then the King of Jiang, and then casually cursing the King of Yue who was infatuated with his wife.

In short, all nine kings of the Nine Provinces were bastards, none of them were good. The heavens were blind, letting these young men become kings.

“I’ve hated the King of Yan for a long time! I don’t even have a wife, but he’s got a bunch of wives, both big and small. The most beautiful woman in the Nine Provinces can’t be ruined by him!”

“Right! What a piece of trash! King Jiang is a coward! He can’t fight, so he uses women to make peace!”

The bonfire was lit, illuminating the faces of the indignant people.

“It’s a pity that there aren’t many people here. If there were more, we could just kidnap the princess.”

At this point, the crowd fell silent, they lowered their heads and drank their wine in silence.

The Assassin Alliance was not what it used to be, it was a pain that many people couldn’t let go of.

Although the current Assassin Alliance still bore the old name, it was different.

It is Leaderless.

Two years ago, they finally chose a new leader whose martial arts skills could be considered the best in the world. But who would have thought that the new leader, in order to repay King Jiang for saving his life, would willingly become King Jiang’s dog.

He could be a dog, but he couldn’t make everyone else a dog. For a while, the Assassin Alliance was split into four or five factions.

Those who remained were either waiting for a new leader, a small number followed the leader and stopped being human, and the rest were constantly opposing the nine kings.

Stopping Jiang Rao from marrying into another country was their top priority this year.

“If only Big Brother Chai were still here.”

A man with a long beard in the crowd muttered with red eyes, the atmosphere became even more depressing.

“Alright, alright! It’s not a big deal. Everyone, cheer up! We haven’t finished the task that Miss Liu assigned us.”

The woman who had been silent all along finished her last bite of roast meat, “Wu Er is watching over here. There won’t be any mistakes within two months. It’s cold and snowy, it’s hard to repair the bridge! Take this opportunity, let’s go to the Kingdom of Jiang first.”

“Good! Let’s go to the Kingdom of Jiang!”

A swarm of people poured out of the dilapidated temple.

….

The troublemaker was gone, Liu Mei was still sitting on the highest roof of Spring Water Pavilion, feeling sad and melancholic.

She was thinking, maybe she was getting old. When Qing Qing was around, she was always annoyed by her, annoyed by her lack of ambition, annoyed by her gloominess.

But now that she had run off with the princess of the Kingdom of Jiang, she couldn’t help but feel reluctant.

After all, she was the one who raised her. How could she go out into the world without an adult watching over her?

Chai Ling was pretty powerful, but he still couldn’t escape the scheming of villains. How old was Chai Qing, twenty years old, how much could she know about the wickedness of human hearts?

The demoness of the Hehuan Sect slowly wrapped her clothes tighter in the wind and snow that was falling from the sky. She stood up and looked in a certain direction out of habit.

She saw it, and her eyes lit up.

Hey!

Why did she come back?

The wedding procession was forced to return to this town and stay at the Tai’an Inn.

General Ronghua was in a panic. How could a marriage between two countries be a simple matter? The princess’s route to the King of Yan’s city had been decided, there was no way to detour.

The bridge was broken, so they had to repair it.

In short, they could only advance, not retreat, in the face of the Assassin Alliance’s deliberate sabotage.

Imagine, the princess, the direct descendant of the royal family, retreating in front of a group of thieves. Where would the king’s face go?

He rushed to choose carrier pigeons, trying to inform the Qingyang Magistrate of this bad news.

Chai Qing seized the moment to return to Spring Water Pavilion and visit her aunt. Overwhelmed by her aunt’s warmth, she blushed as she stepped out of the comforting embrace. Taking a deep breath, she exclaimed, “Aunt, you’re going to suffocate me!”

Liu Mei was overjoyed to see her. She slapped her shoulder, “Don’t talk nonsense!”

She was beaming, “How did you come back? What happened ahead?” “Nothing serious.” Chai Qing’s eyes curved into crescents, “The bridge collapsed, we can’t cross it. The princess will have to stay in the town for at least two months.”

Two months was a long time, even a rabbit could give birth to a litter.

Liu Mei was happy for her, “Then you don’t have to leave home.”

That was true, but Chai Qing smiled, “I can’t stay here for long. Aunt, I have to go back.”

Liu Mei watched her leave, humming a happy tune.

….

The snow was a foot deep, it made a crunching sound when stepped on. Chai Qing came back from outside, carrying freshly baked rice cakes in one hand. She saw the princess standing in the snow, lost in thought.

She hurried towards her, “It’s glutinous rice cake, want some?”

Jiang Rao was wearing a thick, snow-white cloak, with a circle of fiery red fur collar around her neck, her hands tucked into her wide sleeves. Even though she was wearing a lot of clothes, it didn’t affect her slender and graceful figure.

It was cold, she didn’t want to stretch out her hand, but she liked to stand in this cold world.

She ignored Chai Qing.

Chai Qing secretly rolled her eyes. No wonder she has a stomachache, she thought, refusing the warmth inside to run out into the cold.

If it were her aunt, Liu Mei, doing this, she would have dragged her back to the house. But it was Jiang Rao, she didn’t care if she lived or died.

There was no one around, even Li Nu, who always followed like a little tail, was nowhere to be seen. Chai Qing casually unwrapped the oiled paper, the aroma of glutinous rice spread in the wind.

“It smells so good.”

White and soft, she took a big bite.

Jiang Rao glanced at her eating habits unintentionally, her brows jumped.

Seeing her gaze, Chai Qing asked again, “Want some?”

She bought two.

Jiang Rao, who had no intention of eating at first, was attracted by her, and slowly became curious about the taste of this rice cake.

She nodded her chin gracefully, “Feed me.”

Chai Qing thought to herself: Why don’t I just eat it for you?

Thinking is one thing, she still quickly finished her own portion, and with a serious expression, she took out another fragrant rice cake from her bosom, “Auntie Wang’s cooking is unparalleled. Once you leave this place, you won’t be able to eat it anymore.”

Jiang Rao didn’t care much about food, she watched her unfold the oiled paper without blinking, “Are you happy?”

“Yes.” Chai Qing’s eyes narrowed, “It’s hard to leave your hometown, and my aunt is waiting for me to take care of her in her old age.”

“Your aunt?”

“If you want to meet her, I’ll take you there someday.”

Seeing her enthusiastic look, Jiang Rao swallowed the words “I don’t care if I meet her or not.”

She had figured out her apparent background. Everyone in town knew about this bad seed. Her aunt was the alluring courtesan of Spring Water Pavilion, and they had been dependent on each other for many years.

Chai Qing disappeared at the age of twelve and disappeared again after she turned eighteen.

Jiang Rao didn’t care if she was bad or not. She cared about the intelligence report that said, “She mysteriously disappeared at the age of twelve, and when she returned, she was covered in blood.”

Twelve years old…

“What are you staring at me for?” Chai Qing held the glutinous rice cake for her, then suddenly smiled, “Maybe you like me?”

She said this with Yan Nu’s face, Jiang Rao couldn’t bear to look.

She still liked Chai Qing’s original face, it was very deceptive. If you didn’t know her personality, it was easy to mistake her for a well-bred young lady.

Bad seed.

Well-bred young lady.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

The beauty that bloomed for a moment was more captivating than the wind and snow around her.

Chai Qing didn’t understand. She fed the rice cake to her lips. Seeing her still laughing, she became angry and embarrassed, “Are you making fun of me?”

The words came out of her mouth, and both of them were startled.

Wasn’t that right?

They were making fun of each other.

They were just bored.

Jiang Rao stopped laughing and lowered her head to politely taste the glutinous rice cake.

“Are you cold?”

The wind blew away the warmth of the rice cake’s surface. It didn’t feel warm even when it reached her stomach.

Jiang Rao nodded, “Cold.”

Chai Qing’s face changed slightly. She threw away the rice cake and impatiently pulled her hand, walking towards the house, “You’re so strange. I’ve never seen anyone like you. Don’t you want to live?”

She was given as an object to a lustful old man by her own father.

Yet she didn’t even show any other emotions when she was obstructed on her way to marry into another country.

She was in so much pain from her period, but she still stood foolishly in the snow and wind.

She even ate the cold rice cake.

She thought Jiang Rao was crazy.

She actually felt sorry for her, she must be crazy too!

Her hands were warm, her words were clear and straightforward. Jiang Rao followed her step by step, she licked her lips, which were covered in rice crumbs, and suddenly called out, “Chai Chai?”