Thenatherown。
“Whydoesyourslookbetter?”
“Becauseyoupickedhalfthegrasswiththem。”
Ayaolookeddown。
Therewere,indeed,severalbladesofgrassmixedintotheflowers。
“Thatisiional。”
“Ofcourse。”
Ashortdistanceaway,oneofthesoldiersoverheardthemandquicklyturnedhisfaceawaytohideasmile。
Unfortunately,XieZhengnoticed。
“Whatareyoulaughingat?”
Thesoldierstraightenedimmediately。
“Nothing,General。”
XieZhengglaowardthecarriage。
Suyuanhappeolookoveratthesamemoment。
Theireyesmetbriefly。
Shequicklylookedaway。
Ayao,however,noticed。
Herexpressionbecamesuspicious。
Suyuanquietlywarnedher,“Dont。”
“Ididntsayanything。”
Ayaogrinned。
Beforeshecouldsayanythingelse,NannyZhangcalledfromthecarriage。
“Ayathoseflowershere。”
Ayaoimmediatelyranback。Suyuanfollowed,relievedtoescapetheversation。Theytiravellinguntilevening。Thatnight,theystoppednearasmallvillageratherthancampingintheopen。Thevillagershadasimpleguesthousefortravellers,andthesoldiersarrangedroomsforthegroup。ThefoodwasnothinglikethegrandmealsSuyuanhadonceseenintheKhanspalace。Therewasonlyflatbreadandasimplechistew。YetSuyuanfoundherselfenjoyingitmorethansheexpected。Meanwhile,Ayaowasalreadyaskingforanotherbowl。
NannyZhanglookedather。
“Youjustfinishedone。”
“Iamgrowing。”
“Youvebeensayingthatforyears。”
Ayaolookedoffended。
Suyuanlaughedintoherbowl。EvenXieZheng,seatedattheotherendofthetablewithhissoldiers,seemedtohearit。Heglancedoverandforamoment,hisexpressionsoftehejourneyaheadwasstilllong。Therewouldbemountainstocross,roadstofollow,auallythecapitalwaitingbeyondthem。Buttonight,therewasnobattlefield,nopursuitonlyawarmmeal,andthesoundofpeoplelaughingaroundawoodentable。
Suyuanquietlylookedoutthroughthewindow。
TheroadtoXianwasstillaheadandfornow,shedidnotfeeltheorushtowardit。