Beforesuhefrontierwasstillcoveredindarkness。Therewasnofarewellceremony。XieZhenghaddeliberatelychosentoleavequietly。Thefewerpeoplewhoknewabouttheirdeparture,thebetter。Hedidnotwantvillagersgatheringaroundtheroad,nordidhewantunnecessaryattentiondrawntothefactthatageneralandaprincesswereleavingthefroogether。
Bythetimethefirstlightappearedbeyondthemountains,thehorseshadalreadybeenprepared。AyaoclimbedintothecarriagewithNannyZhang,chegtheirbelongingsforthethirdtime。
“Nothingismissing,”NannyZhangsaid。
Ayaolookedather。“Suyuanstoodoutsideforamoment,lookingtowardthevillage。Fromthisdistance,shecouldseethewatchtowerrisingabovetherooftops。Afaintfigurestoodontop,keepingwatchovertheroad。
Shehadspentmanydaysthere。
Shehadwatchedthevillagersrebuildtheirfences,repairtheirhomes,strain,andlearnhowtorespondwhendangercame。Nowshewasleavingwithoutsayinggoodbyeperhaps,thatwasbetter。Thevillagershadtheirownlivestoreturnto。Shedidnotwantherdeparturetobeeanotherreasonforpeopletogatherorworry。
Suyuanturnedaway。XieZhengwasalreadymouthefrontofthegroup。Helookedbackwheicedherapproag。
“Ready?”
Shenodded。
“Yes。”
Hegaveasmallsignal。
Thehorsesbeganmoving。Thewheelsofthecarriagerolledslowlyovertheroad,leavingthefrontierbehind。
Suyuansatbesidethecarriagewindow,watgthefamiliarwatchtrowsmallerandsmaller。
Ayaoquietlylookedoutsideaswell。“Theydontevenknowwereleaving。”
Suyuaedherhandagainstthewindowframe。
“Theyllbefine。”
“Yousoundveryfident。”
“Theyhavewatnow。Theyknowwheretogather,wheretohide,andhowtowarntheneighbvillages。”
Ayaosmiledfaintly。“Youreallydidbeeattachedtothem。”Suyuandidnotanswerimmediately,afteramoment,shelookedaheadattheroad。"Maybe。”Thejourowardthecapitalhadfinallybegun。Behindthemwasthefrontierwhereshehadlearhatnoteveryplacesheenteredhadtobeeanotherbattlefield。
AheadwasthecapitalofXian,hermothershomeland。Theplacewherehermotherhadbeenbornandraised,butbarelyremembered。
NowSuyuanwasgoinghome。。。。。