My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 216 – The Young Miss Su (2)

Regardless of what was happening in the province's borders, Su Daji was more concerned about the safety of her father and her adoptive brother. She knew that even if she wanted to follow them to the battlefield, she would only inconvenience them with her unnecessary presence. She also couldn't abandon their people who sought refuge to get away from the impending bloody war should the borders get breached. 

Su Daji did her responsibilities to their estate, making sure that their people were provided with their basic needs such as temporary shelter and food. Still, the white fox remained by her side, accompanying the young lady wherever she went. 

The threat of war and invasion had made life harder for the people in Su province. It also didn't help that the people at the capital were torn between the battle for the inheritance of the golden throne, which left the other provinces to fend for themselves. 

"Miss, you have to slow down. You've been on the road even before the sun rose." Su Daji's maidservant followed after her in a hurry. 

"We can't slow down now. Many people are waiting for us." The young lady insisted, snugging her coat tighter around her. The temperature outside continued to plummet down, and so she was left to fend it off, despite her chattering teeth. 

The white fox remained calm next to her, watching the young woman tend to the sick elderly. She also entertained young children missing their fathers and brothers that joined the troops to defend their homeland from the invaders. 

Weeks turned into months, and Su Daji continued living like this. She worked to keep herself busy, so she would forget her worries about her absent father and her dear brother. Another year passed, and the Young Miss Su eventually fell sick from the rigorous routine she'd done in the past months. 

"I knew this would happen." One of her maidservants dipped the washcloth in the basin with water and wiped Su Daji's forehead, hoping that her fever would subside soon. 

"Calm down. You know our Miss's circumstances. It's not like she can just sulk here at home while waiting for her family to come home," another one replied, taking the basin to replace the water in it. 

Their young miss had been running a fever for at least three days straight now. Moreover, the doctor had deemed that Su Daji had overworked herself to the point of taking a toll on her body. She had also terribly thinned down over time. After all, she always missed having her meals on time, in favor of preparing the needs of their constituents that were under her care. 

"Should we write to the master about her condition, then?" 

"No. Let's wait and see if her condition will get better. The doctor prescribed some tonics and medicines she needs to take on time, but I fear that we wouldn't be able to gather the medicinal herbs in this harsh weather." 

The white fox had been listening to the conversation. She then glanced at the young woman heaving for breath because of her high fever. 

That night, the white fox left the young lady's side and disappeared, leaving the maidservants wondering where she went this time. The snowstorm had gotten stronger than what they had in the past days, and it was hard to see around in this unfavorable weather. 

However, the next morning, Su Daji's maidservants were shocked when they found the white fox curled up next to their miss. With her were the medicinal herbs that they'd been talking about yesterday, piled on top of the table inside their lady's room. 

"I can now brew Miss's medicine! This is amazing!" 

"Miss is right all this time. The white fox really is a smart creature." 

The maidservants continued to hold the white fox in higher regard, occasionally leaving meat jerky for her to snack on. However, she was not to be watched or convinced to eat, according to Su Daji's instructions earlier. 

After the medicine had been brewed and given to Su Daji, her condition grew better. Her fever finally subsided, much to her maidservants' relief. The doctor, however, forbade Su Daji to leave her courtyard and ordered her to recuperate without stressing herself. The young woman had no choice but to stay in bed. 

Su Daji was finally able to leave her bed after another week had passed, but not the Su Estate. She was constantly worrying about the people that were waiting for her return, but her maidservants insisted on asking her to stay home and take a rest. 

The young lady sighed as she took a stroll around her private garden with the white fox. 

"I want to go out." She muttered, "They've been trying to keep me here for days now." 

She knew that they were only doing it out of concern towards her while her family was in the front lines, defending their hometown. After all, it had been more than a year since she'd seen her father and her brother. 

Even though she had the chance to talk to them through a correspondence of letters, it wasn't enough for her. 

"Do you think they will come home soon?" She asked the white fox. However, as expected, the fox only gave her a cold look before looking away, as if telling her that she was foolish for even daring to ask a fox such a question. 

"Right. They won't be home for much longer." Su Daji sighed for the umpteenth time that day. There was no assurance when her father and Jiang Mo would return home, considering how bad and long the war had become since their departure. 

However, each day, Su Daji was on the edge, hoping that she wouldn't receive bad news about her family. She dreaded that a day would come when she would receive the news of their deaths. Such a thing would surely put everyone in a more helpless state than they already were. 

"I should calm down. The war took longer than expected, but at least, they are fine." 

The last she heard from them was that Jiang Mo decided to separate from her father's troop. He led his own to protect the small village next to the mountain range that the enemies could use to infiltrate their land. Since then, she hadn't heard anything directly from him, which made her worry with each passing day. 

As her health finally improved, the weather also grew favorable for the citizens of their land. They could now work on cleaning the roads to allow easy travel for merchants and delegates from the capital, who were about to pay tribute to Su Daji as her father's representative. 

At the age of seventeen, Su Daji's beauty became renowned, and news of it was quickly spread throughout the lands. Many young men and lords went to seek her hand for marriage, but she continued to decline their proposals through the excuse that she was waiting for her father and her brother's return from the war first. 

"She's already seventeen and yet unmarried. Soon, no matter how beautiful she is, it will fade over time. Moreover, great men like us would prefer a younger lady's hand for marriage." 

As some people mocked the Young Miss Su, the white fox would bare her sharp fangs, snarling towards the repulsive suitors whom Su Daji had turned down. Even her maidservants shot them a disgusted look as the maidservants deemed those men unworthy of their young miss. 

"Even if Young Miss grows older, she will only become more beautiful than the others!" 

"En! They are spouting nonsense. In front of our miss, they dare to say sweet words and promise her the world, but once she turns her back, they'll be running their mouths, trying to ruin our miss's reputation!" 

Su Daji only smiled while her maidservants voiced out their opinions over the suitors she declined. She couldn't tell them that the reason why she wasn't willing to marry anyone… was that her heart had already been stolen by her adoptive brother. 

She knew it was wrong, and yet how could one teach their own heart to unlove the person it chose a long time ago? It didn't matter to Su Daji if she grew old without a husband… as she was willing to spend the rest of her life on her own while serving the people who needed her help. 

The white fox's bright amber eyes looked at Su Daji with curiosity, as if she knew what the young woman was thinking at that very moment. As the young woman met her curious gaze, Su Daji gave the fox a warm smile before resting her chin on top of the fox's head, soon wounding her arms around the fox's fluffy neck. 

"You must be thinking about how pathetic I am, aren't you?" She whispered next to the fox's pristine white fur, her tone filled with sadness.. "Sadly, I couldn't force myself to forget about him… no matter how hard I try."