A pure heart in a jade pot - Chapter 104
"Is there something you need, Princess?"
Since her duty was to protect the princess, Mo Yan spent most of her time walking beside the carriage. When she saw the princess peeking around, she naturally had to ask her questions.
Zhao Yu rolled her eyes at her, then lowered the carriage curtain in an annoyed tone. After a while, unable to resist the urge, she lifted the curtain again and beckoned to Mo Yan: "Did you see what that person looked like just now?"
Mo Yan nodded.
What does he look like?
"He looks quite refined, not like a Liao person at all. If he weren't wearing Liao clothes, he would look like a young master from our Great Song Dynasty," Mo Yan said truthfully.
Hearing this, Zhao Yu finally felt a little more at ease and couldn't help but ask, "Is it pretty?"
"...He looks quite energetic."
Mo Yan scratched her ear before managing to answer. Her heart and mind were only focused on Zhan Zhao. Fortunately, even she, in her naiveté, understood that she absolutely couldn't say anything in front of the princess that this person was inferior to her elder brother. So, she could only squeeze out a few words to appease Zhao Yu.
To be honest, it would be a bit unfair to describe Yelü Hongji as merely "very energetic," but Zhao Yu would soon be able to see it for himself.
Author's Note: In the last chapter, I wrote about Zhan Zhao's marriage proposal. I thought many readers would find it abrupt, but thankfully, there were far fewer than I expected, which shows that everyone has a certain understanding of Zhan Zhao, the character I'm writing about.
Actually, Lion didn't want Zhan Zhao to propose, feeling it was a bit too early. However, given Zhan Zhao's responsible nature, since he had decided to be with Xiao Mo (people in ancient times didn't have a dating process), he naturally had to take responsibility for her, and marriage was something he should do out of the blue. So... so... Lion could only create the plot based on the characters' personalities.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
After passing through the pass, they had traveled for a short while when a man on horseback came galloping up to Yelü Hongji. He dismounted and respectfully reported, "Your Highness, the camp is ready three miles east of Guangping Anchorage."
Yelü Hongji nodded, and the man stepped back, leading the large group of people towards Guangpingding.
The so-called "royal tent" was actually a yurt or tent, but the tents used by royalty were naturally incomparable to those used by ordinary people. Before even reaching Guangping Island, Mo Yan could see the brightly colored royal tent in the distance. To his surprise, this royal tent was built like a palace, with corridors connecting the yurts, also covered with felt. Khitan guards stood watch outside the royal tent, and a little further away, a stockade of spears was set up.
After the princess entered the tent, Mo Yan followed her in and discovered that the tent was truly magnificent. The pillars were covered with colorful totems, the wall coverings were made of brocade, and there were exquisitely embroidered plaques. The floor was covered with red felt carpets, and even the windows and lattice windows were made of red felt, creating a very festive atmosphere.
Mo Yan was practically stunned, and even Zhao Yu was somewhat taken aback. She had never imagined that a tent could be so luxurious and comfortable. The maids around them were busy as a stream, unloading all sorts of things from the carriage and placing them in various parts of the tent.
Zhao Yu sat down to rest, and a maidservant served her tea. A round-faced Liao maidservant entered, bowed to Zhao Yu, and asked, "His Highness will be hosting a banquet outside the tent tonight. I wonder if the princess will be able to attend?"
"Attend a banquet?" Zhao Yu was slightly taken aback, as this was not in accordance with Song Dynasty etiquette.
The maid seemed to sense her confusion and said with a smile, "His Highness said that according to Khitan custom, this is a welcoming banquet. However, if it is inconvenient for the princess to appear, she can rest in the tent and send someone from her entourage to attend."
Zhao Yu thought for a moment: firstly, she feared that if she didn't attend, people would look down on her and mistakenly think that the Song princess was a timid and cowardly person; secondly, since it was a Khitan custom, she should follow local customs after marrying into this place. So she nodded: "I will attend."
The maid bowed and withdrew.
Zhao Yu gestured to her personal maid to select clothing, and then carefully chose jewelry herself. After all, it was her first time attending a banquet in Liao territory, and she couldn't afford to be impolite in the slightest. Mo Yan watched her get ready listlessly, standing there dumbfounded for half a day, before finally slipping away. Anyway, Zhan Zhao had already arranged guards around the tent, so she figured nothing should happen.
The sun had already set, and not far from the perimeter of the felt tent, Khitan maids bustled about. The aroma of roasted whole lamb wafted over, and Mo Yan took a deep breath, thinking to herself: Everyone says this is a wild and harsh land, and that the Khitans are barbaric savages who eat raw meat and drink blood, but it doesn't seem to be true. Such fragrant meat could never be roasted by those who eat raw meat and drink blood.
Tobacco to repel mosquitoes and flies was lit intermittently throughout the camp. Mo Yan strolled around aimlessly and unknowingly walked to the outside of the gun camp, where the buzzing mosquitoes on her head gradually increased. She tried to shoo them away, but found that the more she shooed, the more mosquitoes there were. She had no choice but to turn back, and she ran into a Khitan man who appeared to be around thirty years old. He wore a green turban and a gold headband, a narrow-sleeved purple robe, and black leather boots, and carried a black bow on his back.
"Go back." The man's voice was icy cold.
Mo Yan was taken aback: "Huh?"
"Go back to the village and avoid trouble." The man's tone was extremely impatient. He didn't even glance at her before turning and walking back.
"Who are you?" Mo Yan naturally wasn't buying it.
The man gave a cold snort, ignored her, and strode away. Mo Yan vaguely heard him say something about "the wolf carrying it away." After hesitating for a moment, she was still timid and quickly walked towards the lights.
Inside the felt tent, the maid was still doing Zhao Yu's hair and makeup. Mo Yan peeked out but then withdrew, leaning against the tent wall to watch the Khitan people coming and going in the distance. After staring for a long time, she suddenly saw the Khitan man from before and Zhan Zhao emerge from Yelü Hongji's tent. The former was expressionless and cold as ice, while the latter was calm and undisturbed.
"Keep an eye on your subordinates and make sure they don't cause me any trouble."
Mo Yan clearly heard the man speak sternly to Zhan Zhao. Anyone could hear the chill in his voice, not to mention the look in his eyes when he looked at Zhan Zhao—it was filled with obvious disgust and contempt.
Zhan Zhao stood quietly, showing no fear despite the man's tone and gaze. He met his eyes with composure and said calmly, "Your Excellency is overthinking this."
Upon hearing this, the man glared at Zhan Zhao fiercely, said nothing more, and turned to leave.
"Brother, who is that person? Why does it seem like we owe him tens of thousands of taels of silver?" When Zhan Zhao returned, Mo Yan stepped forward and asked curiously.
“Yelü Guanyinnu, the Deputy Privy Councilor of the Southern Court of the Liao Kingdom.” Zhan Zhao glanced back at the man’s back and said, “He is a subordinate of Yelü Chongguang, the King of the Southern Court, and is said to be extremely skilled in martial arts.”
"Yelü Guanyin Nu?" Mo Yan laughed. "That's an interesting name, but this person looks fierce and doesn't look like Guanyin at all."
"Yelü Chongguang has always been critical of the Song Dynasty and is at odds with Yelü Hongji, so you must be careful of him and make sure he doesn't have any leverage over you," Zhan Zhao whispered to her. "After all, we are in someone else's territory, so we must be cautious and avoid causing trouble."
“I understand.” Mo Yan nodded, crossed her arms, and frowned. “But this Guanyin slave seems to have a grudge against us Song people. He looks fierce and menacing. If we’re here to welcome the bride, we should be friendly and peaceful. Why let someone like this come?”
Zhan Zhao smiled. This girl was indeed clever, but as naive as ice and snow, and ultimately didn't quite understand the calculations of human nature. Yelü Guanyin was most likely sent by Yelü Chongguang, and Yelü Hongji wouldn't object. On one hand, Yelü Hongji didn't want to have too much of a falling out with his uncle; on the other hand, his presence as the good guy, while his uncle played the bad guy, served to intimidate the Song people—a win-win situation.
Zhan Zhao thought, "It's time to train her a bit. Otherwise, she'll face complicated and gloomy people and situations in the future. If she doesn't learn to understand people's hearts, how will she cope?"
“Think about it carefully,” he said. “If you really can’t figure it out, I’ll tell you in three days.”
"..."
“You’re not allowed to ask anyone else,” he added with a smile.
"oh."
Knowing that Zhan Zhao was deliberately trying to test her, Mo Yan shook her head, feeling that things were becoming more and more interesting once she arrived in Liao.
"By the way, brother, are you going to the banquet tonight?"
"Um."