书斋小说网

第 22 章（第1页）

Chapter22—TheRacetotheBorder

NannyZhangstaredatthesmallceramicjarinherhandsforalongtime，theashesinsidebelooPrincessShuran。Suyuanhadhiddenthemamongthebelongingswithouttellinganyone。Evenafteralltheseyears，NannyZhangknewSuyuanwellenoughtouandwhatthatmeant。Suyuanhadneverinteowaitforthem，shehadsentthemawaysotheycouldescape。

“Ayao…”NannyZhang’svoicetrembledslightly。“Wehavetogo。”Ayaolookedatherinfusion。“Butthecarriageisbroken。Themertssaiditmaytakeuntiltomorrowtorepair。”“Weotwaituntiltomorrow。”NannyZhanglookedtowardtheroadbehindthem。Foramoment，shecouldalmostseeSuyuanstandingthere，watgthemleavewiththatcalmexpressionshealwayswore。

“Sheknew，”NannyZhangwhispered。“Thatgirlknewshewasntingback。”Ayaosfacewentpale。“No…Suyuanwouldnt…”NannyZhangtightenedhergriparoundthejar。ThetruthwasbeginningtosettlebetweeheyhadbeentravellingtowardthecapitalbecausetheybelievedtheyweregoingthelpbacktoSuyuan。ButifSuyuanhadalreadydecidedtostaybehind，everyhourtheyspentontheroadwasanotherhourtheywerelosing。Then，fromthegroupofmertsnearby，theyheardsomeoiontheborder。

“ThereisaXiangeneralstatiothenorthernfrontier，GeneralXieZheng”onemertsaidwhileexaminingthebrokencarriagewheel。“Apowerfulooohisarmyhasbeenguardingtheborderforyears。”NannyZhangimmediatelyturned。“Thegeneral?”Themertnodded。“Hiscampisntfarfromhere。Onceyoucrossthestretchofroad，youshouldbeabletoreachthefrontier。”NannyZhangexgedalookwithAyao。

Thatwasenough。“Weregoing，”shesaid。NannyZhangpulledhercloaktighteraroundherselfandtuckedtheceramicjarsafelybatothewoodenbox。“Wedontoreachthecapitalanymore。”Ayaouood。Theyonlyoreaeonewhocouldsendhelp。Thetwowomengatheredwhatlittletheycouldcarry。NannyZhangtookthewoodenbox。Ayaocarriedtheremainingsuppliesbeforeleaving，Ayaolookedbackatthebrokencarriage。

“WhatifSuyuaniswaitingforus?”NannyZhangstopped。andhereyesbecamewet，butshedidnotallowthetearstofall。“Thenwewillmakesureshedoesnthavetowaitmuchloheyleftthecaravanbehind。Theroadtowardthefroretchedbehthepalewintersky，hardandfrozehtheirfeet。Ayaohadravelledthisfarbefore。ShehadneverimaginedleavingYounislikethis，walkingtowardatryshehadonlyheardaboutfromNannyZhangstories。Butnowshewasntafraidoftheunfamiliarland。NannyZhangwalkedasquicklyasheroldlegsallowed，clutgthewoodenboxagainstherchest。Iwerethelastremainsofthewomanshehadservedsincechildhood。

AndsomewherefarbehindthemwasShuransdaughter—thegirlNannyZhanghadraisedlikeherowngranddaughter。Forthefirsttime，NannyZhanguoodtheterriblemeaningbehindSuyuansess。Shehadntsentthemawaybecauseshebelievedtheywouldreturn。Shehadsentthemawaybecauseshewahemtolive。