Time Is Slow - Chapter 53

Qiao Zhao was slightly stunned.

A girl smiled at her? Unbelievable!

Ever since becoming the young miss Li Zhao, she had thought she had stolen all the other girls’ men, making them hate her.

At that moment, Miss Qiao’s feelings were rather complicated.

Zhu Qi was also momentarily startled.

Why did she find Third Miss Li’s dazed expression just now so funny?

“Zhao Zhao.” Old Madam Deng’s voice pulled Qiao Zhao back to the present.

“Grandmother,” she replied.

Old Madam Deng beamed at her kindly.

“Zhao Zhao, would you be willing to write a few characters for the ladies and young misses here to admire?”

Qiao Zhao replied calmly, “No.”

That answer surprised Old Madam Deng slightly. As for everyone else, their expressions were even more fascinating.

Refusing such a prime opportunity to show off in front of so many? That was truly rare.

“Third Girl!” Old Madam Jiang gave a heavy cough, full of warning.

What was this girl thinking? If she could indeed write so well, why act coy at this moment?

“What’s the matter?” Old Madam Deng remained unperturbed, still warm in tone.

“A Buddhist temple is no place for flaunting one’s skills,” Qiao Zhao replied.

Her purpose had already been achieved. How could she continue to dazzle the crowd with her grandfather’s handwriting?

Qiao Zhao truly didn’t understand these people.

Whether her writing was good or bad, what did that matter to them? They weren’t about to let their sons marry her anyway.

Her one sentence left the noble ladies speechless.

Du Feixue, unwilling to give up, argued, “Li Zhao, you’re just making excuses. If you won’t write, how can we believe you wrote those beautiful characters?”

Qiao Zhao looked at the girl and almost sighed. She asked, “Is the Abbess of Shuying Nunnery not enough proof?”

One sentence silenced Du Feixue completely. She clenched her lips tightly in frustration, unable to say another word.

Seeing this, Madam Zhu quickly gave her daughter a look and pulled her behind, preventing her from stepping forward again.

Her daughter was no match for Third Miss Li. It was better to avoid making a fool of themselves.

Still, this Third Miss Li was very different from how she remembered.

Madam Zhu instinctively glanced at Li Jiao.

Given how things were going, that unfortunate elder sister’s daughter would likely find her path increasingly difficult.

When Li Jiao’s mother was alive, she had treated Madam Zhu with genuine kindness, so Madam Zhu did have some affection for Li Jiao. But ultimately, every household looked after its own.

Li Jiao maintained a gentle smile on her face, but inside, she was in turmoil.

There was no way Li Zhao could write like that. She must have used some kind of trick to fool the abbess. Otherwise, why would she be so evasive about writing something now?

Hmph. Today at Dafu Temple, she might have had a valid excuse to silence everyone, but there would be other days. Sooner or later, Li Jiao would rip that mask off in front of everyone.

No matter how resentful the crowd inside and outside the hall felt, by the time the gathering dispersed, they still hadn’t seen Third Miss Li’s handwriting.

And because of that, almost everyone now had a deeply memorable impression of the Li family’s Third Miss.

On the way back, carriages lined the road one after another, forming a long procession that moved slowly forward. By the time they reached the city gates, their pace had slowed to that of a crawling snail.

The nobles inside the carriages were growing restless from the wait and began sending servants to investigate.

Before long, the sweaty and breathless servants returned, squeezing through the crowd to report, “Madams, the Champion Marquis is leading his soldiers to escort the coffins of fallen warriors into the city. The people have all come out to watch.”

Upon hearing this, the ladies lifted the curtains to look. The endless line of carriages made them despair.

While the women could still bear sitting inside, the daughters and granddaughters they brought along had long lost their patience. With a particular longing for the young and handsome Champion Marquis, they all began pleading.

“Mother (Grandmother), since we’re just idling in the carriage anyway, why don’t we walk? It’s a good chance to show our respect for the fallen soldiers.”

The ladies all thought the same thing silently.

Look at our daughters (granddaughters)! Just to catch a glimpse of the Champion Marquis, their little brains are suddenly working overtime. What a clever excuse!

So, one after another, they allowed the young ladies to abandon their carriages and walk, accompanied by maids and old nursemaids.

Qiao Zhao had originally decided to wait quietly in the carriage. But a passing comment she overheard changed her mind.

“I heard the coffin of the general’s wife is among them. He brought it back personally.”

Her coffin?

Shao Mingyuan went outside the city… to retrieve her coffin and bring it back to the Marquis Jing’an’s Residence?

The feeling that welled up inside was impossible to describe.

Qiao Zhao joined the young ladies of the Li family and stopped at the roadside, waiting alongside the common people.

In the distance, a sea of white gradually approached. Only then did the people see that the soldiers were all dressed in mourning white, slowly moving forward.

Open carriages carried coffins draped in white cloth, black and densely packed, pressing down on everyone like a heavy weight.

The crowd lining both sides of the road fell silent. No one spoke. With solemn and sorrowful gazes, they watched these heroes enter the city.

Gradually, muffled weeping could be heard among the crowd.

Those who cried did so with restraint, unwilling to break the heavy atmosphere with loud wails.

In those coffins, how many held the sons of silver-haired mothers? The husbands of young brides? And how many had left their bones forever buried in the distant northern frontier?

They were sons, husbands, and fathers, but also warriors who protected the people of Great Liang from the invasion of barbarian hooves.

Many years ago, the brutal Northern Qi forces once captured Shanhaiguan, slaughtering the entire city’s people at will. The fate of the women was even more unbearable to witness.

Time could heal many things, but not everything.

If the barbarians invade again, many families would willingly send their sons to war. That was the simple, unspoken vow of countless citizens of Great Liang.

These people, who might usually bicker over petty things, now stood shoulder to shoulder in perfect silence.

They used that silence to accompany the spirits of the fallen soldiers on their final journey.

Qiao Zhao’s gaze landed on the young man leading the procession.

He wasn’t on horseback, but walking beside a black-lacquered coffin.

The spirited, commanding aura he exuded on the day of his arrival was now gone. Now, the young general’s lips were dry and cracked, his chin covered with stubble. Even his white mourning robe was stained yellow and dusty. Although he looked disheveled, it still didn’t diminish his aura.

Countless young women stared at him—some bashfully, some boldly.

But Qiao Zhao looked past him, her eyes fixed on that black-lacquered coffin.

Was her body truly inside?

To think there would come a day where she would stand on the roadside, watching, with countless people, as a coffin carrying her own corpse slowly passed by.

At that moment, Qiao Zhao was lost in thought.

No one knew who she truly was. In this world, she had never felt more alone.

To die and be reborn—how lucky, how terribly lonely.

Qiao Zhao was still caught in her thoughts when, just as Shao Mingyuan was about to walk past her, a sudden force shoved her hard from behind—