东宫 Eastern Palace: The Flowers in the Pavilion Resembles the Snow Under the Moonlight (Part 1)

The title is a verse from the Song Dynasty poem, Spring Jade Pavilion, written by Cai Shen. The poem is about how people's lives within the vast world is like a droplet in the ocean, each and every moment, what is the importance of it?

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It was only the ninth month, but there were already a few snowfalls. It continuously snowed the whole evening.

There was a fire in the tent, it was actually warm.

When I opened the tent and walked inside, I suddenly realized that the Princess was gone.

The milk in the bowl was unmoved. I reached my hand out to touch the bowl, the milk was still warm, so the Princess must not have gone far.

The guard in charge of watching over the tent anxiously asked: "General Pei, should we immediately search the camp?"

I shook my head and said: "No need to rush."

I walked out of the camp alone and found the Princess at the back of the mountain.

She sneakily gave beef jerky to a person with disheveled hair and who was covered with a felt blanket, living like a savage person.

I did not walk up close yet, but that person already pulled out the knife.

The gleaming golden knife, which was given to the feng nu within the Jie Shuo camp. It was said that this knife was extremely rare in the Western Regions, which was given by the King of Jie Shuo to his most trusted maidservant, known as feng nu. After being selected during their early childhood, their tongue would be cut off to prevent leaking secrets. Feng nu are free to enter and leave the King of Jie Shuo's tent, gaining the trust of the King, living a luxurious life. Every day they would diligently practice their swordsmanship, able to hide during the night, and kill without relying on weapons. It was said that the nobles of the Jie Shuo clan's greatest fear was the golden inlaid knife. If anyone dared to be disloyal to the King, their heads would be cut off by the feng nu using the golden inlaid knife during the middle of the night within their own tent.

I stopped my footsteps, I raised the wooden bowl in my hands, showing them that there was only milk.

That savage-like feng nu slowly withdrew her golden inlaid knife, I placed the wooden bowl on the ground, quietly retreating. The Princess took a careful look at me before bending down to grab the bowl of milk.

That feng nu ate in a hurry, probably because she hadn't eaten anything in a while, hurrying to drink up the bowl of milk without leaving a single drop left.

I turned around to leave, suddenly the Princess called me. Her Central Plain language was not spoken very well, she stumbled in her words, she said: "General, thank.....Thank you......"

I did not look back, I just stopped, and said: "Princess, no need to be polite."

I didn’t expect her to be so impolite. The next day I saw the feng nu in her tent again, her hands and face were washed clean, her hair that was like felt fabric was cut short. She wore coarse clothes of a servant, resembling a young boy. 

The Princess was a bit embarrassed, and she stuttered, trying to explain to me: "A'Du...she...pity...me...stay." 

I looked at the few Central Plains maids who had been specially hired from the Anxi Protectorate, to serve the Princess. They all kneeled to the ground, trembling, afraid to get up. 

I finally said: "The army cannot take in people of unknown origin. Besides, she is from a different clan. Princess should not make things difficult for this subject." 

The Princess looked at me with her dark and bright eyes, rarely able to say a whole sentence: "But I am also from a different clan."

I calmly said: "Your Highness is the daughter of the King of Western Liang, the Princess that will be married to the Crown Prince in the arranged marriage, not from a clan of unknown origin."

The Princess slowly lowered her head. Outside, it started to snow again, the falling snow hit the tent, making rustling noises. 

After walking south in the snow for several days, the feng nu seemed to still have not given up yet, following from behind, not too far and not too close, not hiding the traces she left behind. 

The trusted aide within the Yu Lin army couldn't help, but ask me: "General, do you want to kill?" 

I did not answer. 

Because the Princess was sick. 

Since expelling the feng nu that day, the Princess has been ill. 

She was very ill, a high fever that would not go away. Feeling dizzy, she would lay down in the carriage every day. There was no skilled doctor within the army, I am just worried that she would never recover. 

During this night within the camp, the maidservant of the Central Plains, who served the Princess, came to me in a panic, saying that the Princess had fell unconscious, only afraid that this time it will not be good.

Although the Princess was very ill for the past few days, but she was still conscious. I wanted to enter the Princess's tent to take a look, but after thinking about it, I went to see the Crown Prince first. The Crown Prince was getting better day by day. When I entered the tent, he was practicing his swordsmanship. The Crown Prince has exceptional swordsmanship, but he would not expose this in front of other people. At this moment, he was in a good mood, doing a sword dance that could shock a dragon, as if there was a bright light by his side, the sword emitting that bright light. Suddenly, the sword was facing towards me.

I was not surprised.

As expected, the sword's edge flicked past my ears, carrying a chilliness, cutting off the curtain. The snowflakes outside suddenly flew in, continuously landing on the lapel of my robe.

I didn't reach out my hand to brush off the snowflakes. It was warm inside the tent, in a flash, those snowflakes gradually melted into water marks on my clothes and disappeared.

The Crown Prince smiled, putting away the sword and then said: "Ah Zhao, you came just in time. It's snowing again, I told them to roast lamb meat, let's drink some wine and warm ourselves tonight."

I said: "The Princess is very ill, does your Highness want to go over and take a look?"

The smile on the Crown Prince's face disappeared in an instant, he said: "That ugly person, I don't want to see her."

I said: "Your Highness is dissatisfied with this marriage. This subject thinks that since we are returning to the Capital, instead of binding the problem to ourselves, we could just end it now."

The Crown Prince stared at me with bright eyes: "How do you want to end it?"

I said: "The Princess is very ill, if she die along the way, it would not be a major issue. We could ask the King of Western Liang to choose another princess for the arranged marriage. If the King of Western Liang does not have any other daughters suitable for the marriage, it is also possible to choose someone from other countries in the Western Regions such as Kucha. Other princesses could be chosen as long as it is a princess from the Western Regions."

The Crown Prince pondered for a moment, but finally he shook his head: "Although you have led the Yu Lin army well and there seems to be no informer within the army, but if we kill the Princess, father will definitely be unhappy."

I said: "Your Highness don't worry, the Princess has been sick all along. Everyone in the Yu Lin army knows about this, so his Majesty would not suspect anything unusual."

Hearing what I said, the Crown Prince was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed, and said: "Forget it, even though that barbarian woman is hateful, it's not like she wants to marry me. She doesn't have a choice but to marry me, so why kill her."

I said: "Since your Highness has this intention, then why not go and see her. She is alone and her life will be tied to your Highness from now on. Your Highness can't bear to kill her, then just treat her indifferently."

The Crown Prince thought for a while, finally he was convinced by me.

I accompanied the Crown Prince to the Princess's tent. The Princess still has a high fever and was unconscious.

Several maids were standing at the bedside trembling. When they saw us come in, they hurriedly bowed.

The Crown Prince absent-mindedly waved his hand, the maids quickly withdrew from the tent, I was about to bow and leave, when the Crown Prince suddenly called out.

"Ah Zhao, don't go."

He complained: "Leaving me alone with a sick person, what were you thinking?"

I could only turn around, and return to his side.

The Princess was very ill, there was a layer of white skin on her lips. A bowl of lukewarm goat milk was placed on the small table in front of the bed. The maids tried to feed it to her, but they couldn't even feed her half a spoon of milk. It seems that she will not recover. 
 

The burning fever caused her to speak in non-Han language. Although I could understand non-Han language, I only heard her speak in Western Liang language, I could not hear clearly what she had said. 

Where would the Crown Prince have the patience to take care of a sick person, he just sat down for a moment before getting up to leave. 

I couldn't say much, so I could only lift up the hanging curtain of the tent for him to leave. Suddenly she mumbled: "Gu Xiao Wu..." 

I was so shocked that my face turned pale, I turned around to look at the Princess. She was very sick that she had lost consciousness, dizzily laying there. 

These three words seemed to have some sort of magical power, the Crown Prince couldn't help, but stop his footsteps. He turned around and looked at the Princess. 

The Princess was still feeling dizzy, calling out in a lighter tone, but still it could be heard clearly in Central Plains language: "Gu Xiao Wu."

I don't know what expression was on the Crown Prince's face, but he suddenly covered his chest with his hand, as if it seemed like a sudden realization. I was shocked, suddenly many thoughts flashed through my mind. 

If he remembers everything, how should I deal with this situation. 

The Crown Prince finally walked out of the tent. I followed him silently. The snow had stopped outside, and a crescent moon was shining on the desert. 

Nearby was the many army tents. A sound could be heard from a distance. 

The Crown Prince finally lowered his hand and said: "Maybe I have exerted too much force when I did the sword dance, that's why my heart ached, as if I had been stabbed by someone." 

I said: "Do you want a doctor to be sent here?" 

The Crown Prince shook his head and said: "It's okay." Suddenly he said: "I didn't expect that this Western Liang Princess would have a lover from Central Plains." 

I didn't know what to say. 

He sighed again and said: "She is a really pitiful person." 

After escorting the Crown Prince back to the main camp, I was still worried, so I went back to the Princess's tent. As soon as I entered the tent, I found the two maids lying on the ground, obviously knocked unconscious. My heart sank, I silently drew my sword, carefully walked into the tent. 

Under the dim oil lamp, it was the feng nu who was holding the Princess, feeding her goat milk in small amounts. The Princess was so sick that she could not swallow anything, most of it overflowed after one spoonful. The feng nu was very careful, opened the Princess's mouth with the silver spoon, fed a spoonful, wiped off the overflowing goat milk with a cloth, and then fed again. 

The feng nu was very vigilant, she didn't wait for me to approach, she seemed to be aware of something, and suddenly pulled out the golden inlaid knife, standing there alertly. I lowered my sword, she saw that it was me, so she also slowly lowered her knife. 

She finally finished feeding the Princess the bowl of goat milk after some time have passed, but the Princess hadn't awakened yet, her breathing had become heavier. The feng nu seemed very pleased. She took out a herb, and then chewed it into pieces before feeding it to the Princess little by little, which took some time to do. 

The moon rose to the middle of the sky. I stood under the gentle slope, watching the feng nu quietly exit the tent. Before I approached her, she once again pulled out her golden inlaid knife. 

I blocked her knife with my sword, and we swiftly exchanged several moves under the moon, the moonlight reflected the sparks from the intersection of sword and knife. 

Finally I stopped my sword, I knew I couldn't kill this feng nu. 

She also put away her knife, still looking at me alertly like a small animal.

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