东宫 Eastern Palace: Not Believing People's Hair Could Turn White (Part 2)

The young girl sat beside the wooden bathtub, humming a song, undid her skirt, and threw it to the back of the room. Li Cheng Yin watched the skirt being thrown at the curtain before falling to the ground. She did not notice anything unusual, just undressing herself, and casually throwing her clothes.

The young girl stood up, and the sun shone on her naked body. Li Cheng Yin did not dare to look again, only felt that his own heart was beating fast, turned around to lean against the curtain. But the reed curtain was vaguely transparent. When he heard the sound of water splashing, he looked again through the curtain, the young girl had already jumped into the water.

Her long hair was spread on the water surface, like the water plants, the thick steam made her pair of eyes look like black grapes soaked in water. As she bathed and sang, her arms were raised to wipe the water on her body, her snow white chest was patted with water, showing a beautiful arc.

Li Cheng Yin stood behind the curtain, and only listened to her singing cheerfully about a fox and a sandy hill.

The etiquette of the Central Plains was very strict. Li Cheng Yin have only seen well behaved ladies from noble families and ladies from the harem. He has never seen such an innocent and bright young girl, only felt that she's carefree, like a bird in the sky.

She sang for a while, until the palace maid came to bring more hot water. The palace maid bowed to pay respect: "Ninth Princess."

The Ninth Princess responded happily, the palace maid picked up her clothes from the floor, said: "Ninth Princess, please don't throw the clothes on the ground. If the Queen sees this, she will scold me again...."

When the palace maid picked up the red cloud like clothing, she screeched in shock.

"What's wrong?"

"How did the clothes split in half?"

The clothes were split apart with a clean cut, as if someone had used a pair of scissors to cut it apart, it was not like it was being accidentally torn apart. The palace maid felt that it was suspicious, so she lifted the curtain, the window behind the curtain was half opened, with only the bright sun shining onto the ground.

Pei Zhao led the army and camped at the foot of the snow mountain, which was facing towards the river. On the trip to the west, Li Cheng Yin was instructed to lead three thousand soldiers of the Yu Lin army, all of whom were from noble families. They were to come out of the Capital to guard the border for the first time, bringing with them a small hunting dog and a falcon, and were very excited as if they were going on an hunting expedition. Fortunately Pei Zhao was able to control the army, training the soldiers while marching to the west until they have arrived at the Western Regions. Unexpectedly, the camp was organized in a strict manner.

After setting up the camp, the army filled up the pot to cook the food. When it came time to eat, the army would take turns. Pei Zhao as the general would be part of the last group to eat, as he picked up his bowl of rice, suddenly a shout could be heard. Only a horse could be seen heading towards the camp in a steady pace, it was Li Cheng Yin who had returned.

Seeing that he had returned safely and unharmed, Pei Zhao couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief and walked forward to welcome him. Someone had already gotten a hold of the horse's rein. Li Cheng Yin turned around to get off the horse, and asked: “Where is Gu Jian?”

Pei Zhao said: "Seeing that your Highness still haven’t returned after a long time, he went back to the city to gather information." He then asked: "Did you see the Ninth Princess?"

Li Cheng Yin nodded and said: "I saw her."

Li Cheng Yin said: "A face that is very child-like, she doesn't seem to be a person that schemes, because she's like a child." Speaking up to this point, he suddenly thought of that person's white skin in the clear water, and felt his ears become hot, an uncomfortable feeling like a person who was telling lies. Thus he bent down to enter the tent, only said, "I'm hungry, bring a bowl of rice."

Pei Zhao did not notice anything strange. Since they have come to a foreign country that was faraway, and the plan was big, if the Princess of Western Liang really is not a person that schemes, then that'll be good.

After days of traveling, everyone was tired. Since everyone in the army were men, they didn't pay particular attention to each other, just going into the water when they see the river. The camp was stationed by the riverside, the river water came from the snow that melted on the snow mountain. Although it was the sixth month, the water was still freezing cold. At dusk, a group of soldiers jumped into the river. Everyone felt so cold that they grimaced in shock while shouting. However Pei Zhao and Li Cheng Yin were competing against each other to see who swims faster, floating and submerging into the water, swimming far away from the group. After some time have passed, the competition still did not end yet. The Yu Lin army likes to wait for the results of competitions, cheering very loudly along the riverside while chasing after them, and beating the drums. However since the two people in the river were pushed by the waves, and the sky gradually darkened, the people by the riverside were unable to catch up.

In the end, it was Pei Zhao who had won. Li Chengyin was exhausted and choked on two mouthfuls of water, as Pei Zhao dragged him out of the water. The two people pulled each other to the riverbank. Pei Zhao turned around and saw tiny dots that looked like stars in the distance, the Yu Lin army must have lit their torches and was searching for them.

Exhausted, Pei Zhao and Li Cheng Yin fell onto the grass by the riverbank, only looking at the bright stars. The starry sky seemed much lower than the sky in the Capital, the stars seemed so close as if you could touch it when you reach out your hands.

The two people laid on the grass, seeing that they were drenched in water, they looked at each other dumbfounded, before finally laughing.

"Ah Zhao, have you ever thought about who you're going to marry in the future?" Li Cheng Yin lazily asked.

Pei Zhao said: "I want to marry someone I like, and have mutual respect in the marriage. But......" He didn't say anything afterwards.

Li Cheng Yin knew that based on Pei Zhao's background, he would most likely marry a princess. He could help him with this matter, so he smiled: "If you like a princess, I can help you pull some strings."

Pei Zhao calmly said: "Then I will thank your Highness first."

As the noise was getting increasingly louder, the soldiers with the torches finally found them. The soldiers were overjoyed as soon as they saw them, bringing the horses, and clothes for them to change. Li Cheng Yin wiped his body with a cloth, changed into clean clothes, and got on his horse. Coincidentally, he saw Pei Zhao who had just changed his clothes and got on his horse.

Li Cheng Yin said: "Let's go for another round, ride from here to the main camp."

Pei Zhao said: "Your Highness has already lost one round, you still want to lose another round today?"

Li Cheng Yin whipped his horse while turning around, smiled: "That might not be true!"

The torches shone against his eyes, making him look like a proud young man as he rode his horse to leave. The brightness of the torches overshadowed the stars. At that moment, both of them had thought that despite of the hardships and dangers ahead, all living things along with the world would be easily accessible.

The first time Pei Zhao saw the Ninth Princess was when he was living in Western Liang, and Li Cheng Yin was already known as Gu Xiao Wu. At that time, Pei Zhao who was dressed as a tea merchant, went to meet up with Li Cheng Yin, but happened to see the Ninth Princess at the door. Pei Zhao was wearing a robe worn by Western Liang people and had a fake beard on his face. The Princess thought he was a friend of Gu Xiao Wu, so she smiled at him. She was holding a cage with two gerbils in it, and greeted Li Cheng Yin excitedly: "Look, this is A'Ba and A'Xia!"

The two gerbils were very handsome, smooth, and plump like two round pieces of dough.

The Princess stuffed a broad bean in Li Cheng Yin's hand and said: "You try feeding them!"

As soon as Li Cheng Yin reached out his hand, a gerbil jumped up and snatched the bean with his mouth. Another gerbil rushed over and tried to snatch the bean, but because it was too fat, it stumbled. Its feet were facing towards the sky, revealing his pink belly, it just squeaked, and the four little claws grasping the air, but it could not turn its body to climb up.

Seeing this the Princess couldn't help but laugh out loud. Li Cheng Yin also couldn't hold in his laughter, both of them were staring at the cage. Li Cheng Yin reached out his finger to help the gerbil turn over, but accidentally poked its soft belly, and the two of them laughed loudly. Seeing the two happy people in front of him, Pei Zhao did not know why he suddenly felt his heart sank, as if something bad was going to happen.

However, Li Cheng Yin didn't notice anything. After feeding the gerbils, he went out of the city with the Princess to ride their horses. 

The sunset glow filled the whole sky, and the two people took the reins and rode their horses with great speed. Afterwards they sat on the sandy hill, watching the sun gradually go down.

The achnatherums [1] swayed in the shadow of the sun, the sound of the camel bells could be heard from a distance, and a group of merchants passed by. The Princess sat on the sandy hill and pointed at the bright red clouds, told Li Cheng Yin: "A type of tree by the desert lake has red leaves that are as red as the clouds, like a bright light, the leaves look very beautiful when they are reflected in the water of the lake! When I was born, my mother said, ah, it's a girl! She was so happy because before she has only given birth to boys. She felt that since she had finally given birth to a baby girl, in the future her daughter would be able to wear red clothes that are as red as like the leaves of the Maerqima trees, the red clothes would look so beautiful when reflected in the water of the lake, so she named me Maerqima. That type of tree was called Maerqima."

The glow from the sunset reflected on her face. Her cheeks did not have any blush powder put on, but her cheeks seem to turn red when the light was reflected on her face. She was sitting on the sandy hill while hugging her knees, even her clothing was dyed in red by the sunset glow. Li Cheng Yin suddenly realized that she really loved to wear red clothes. Every time she came to see him, she wore red clothes, even when he sneaked into the Imperial City of Western Liang and saw her. He suddenly thought of the red cloud like object that slowly fell by the curtain, and of the girl's smooth back, he could not help his face and ears from suddenly turning red. Fortunately the Princess did not have a scheming heart, and under the sunset glow, she did not notice anything strange about him. He lifted his head to look at the clouds, he said: "In the Central Plains, there is also a type of tree that when in autumn, the leaves would turn as red as the clouds. That type of tree is called the Maple tree."

The Princess clapped her hands and said: "That's great, if my name uses Central Plains' words, then it would be Feng."

"The ladies in the Central Plains are all called Mou Niang, then I will call you Feng Niang."

"I don't want to be called Feng Niang, it sounds horrible." The Princess pouted her mouth, "I want to be called Xiao Feng. If I am called Xiao Feng, then you will be called Xiao Wu, this sounds about right."

Li Cheng Yin looked at her pair of eyes that were shining brightly like jewels under the sunset glow, and unconsciously nodded his head: "Xiao Feng is a good name."

"Then I will be called Xiao Feng!" The Princess was so happy that she stood up and shouted at the sun far off into the distance, "I have a Central Plains name! My name is Xiao Feng! My name is Xiao Feng......."

Her voice echoed through the sea for a long time, the wind blowing the sand, as if the sound was accompanying her voice.

Li Cheng Yin sat on the sandy hill. Watching her dance under the sunset glow made him smile unconsciously.

Pei Zhao had stationed the Yu Lin army under the snow mountain and would not enter the city until some time have passed. On this day, Li Cheng Yin suddenly rode his horse out of the city and returned to the camp. He thought something had happened to him, as Li Cheng Yin seemed very upset. He pulled out a gerbil from his arms, which stood upright in his palm, not moving.

Pei Zhao was surprised that he could not help but called out: "Your Highness." Li Cheng Yin said: "I didn't notice for a moment, letting A'Ba slip out of the cage, who knew it would climb into a jar and secretly ate too many broad beans, suddenly choke to death."

Li Cheng Yin said: "On my way back to the camp, I saw quite a few gerbil holes, so we could catch a gerbil that looked like A'Ba, she probably wouldn't notice anything different."

Seeing that it was a trivial matter, Pei Zhao couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, and immediately ordered people to capture a gerbil. If the soldiers have nothing to do, they would always cause trouble. Even though they dug the gerbil holes, they just played for fun, causing trouble. The gerbils at the foot of the snow mountain were pitiful, countless gerbils were captured, sorted based on fur colour and their size, then they were placed in cages for Li Cheng Yin to pick. 

After half a day have passed, Li Cheng Yin finally picked a gerbil that looked exactly like A’Ba and said with satisfaction: "This is the one.” He placed the gerbil in the cage, said, "A’Ba! Do not reveal the secret, if Xiao Feng calls you, you must remember that you are A’Ba."

The gerbil just squeaked, how could it understand? Li Cheng Yin brought the gerbil back to the city, but Pei Zhao was worried, so he went to the city the next day to see Li Cheng Yin. At the same time, the Ninth Princess recognized that the gerbil was not A’Ba, angrily lifted the curtain to walk out, but stopped and said: "This is not my A’Ba! Liar! Gu Xiao Wu, you're a big liar! I will not care about you anymore!"

The reed curtain hit the wall very loudly. The Princess angrily whipped her horse to leave, not paying attention to Pei Zhao. Pei Zhao lifted the curtain and saw Li Cheng Yin sitting in front of the table, looking carefully at the gerbil that was in the cage, unhappily said: “How did she notice it? This gerbil look exactly like A’Ba.”

Pei Zhao said: "She had raised that gerbil, so naturally she would recognize the differences."

Li Cheng Yin sighed: "It's the first time I've seen her so angry since I've met her.  How is this good?"

For several days, the Princess was still very angry, however Li Cheng Yin wasn't worried, because the Yu Lin army beneath the Tian Gen mountain have heard that a group of Siamese merchant have brought along an acrobatic troupe. In two days, they will be in the Imperial City of Western Liang to perform acrobatics. This kind of excitement, he knows that the Princess will definitely want to come and watch the show.

As expected, by that day it was really lively. If there were ten groups of merchants, at least nine groups would stop by Western Liang to rest, organizing their camel caravans. There were also some merchants selling cloths that came from the east, and silk as well. Further down the west direction, it was bustling and crowded even outside the city. When the acrobat show was about to start, the sound of drums could be heard, echoing through the mountain, all the floors were filled with spectators.

Li Cheng Yin had rented a warehouse located on the main street of the Imperial City under the name Gu Xiao Wu. The tea leaves from the Central Plains sell well here, many people came, some of them were the Yu Lin army pretending to be merchants, while others were real merchants buying tea leaves. The street was crowded with spectators, knowing that there were so many people, he closed the warehouse door and went onto the roof to watch the lively scene.

Because Western Liang barely rains, the rooftops are flat. On the rooftop of the warehouse, there were racks of air dried tea leaves. He sat at the corner of the roof. As expected, he saw the Princess in the crowd, clapping her hands along happily, because a Siamese was walking on a rope. The thickness of the rope was as thick as a thumb, and that person was carrying two buckets of water, swaying while walking on the rope, it was rare that there wasn't even a single drop of water spilled.

Notes:

[1] 芨芨草 Achnatherums - A type of needlegrass plant, the picture above is an example of it.

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