When Lotus woke up, she found darkness all around her, with only a faint light in front of her. After careful identification for a while, I realized that I was in a carriage. My hands and feet were tied up, and my mouth was stuffed with a handkerchief or a rag. It was greasy and had a bad smell.
The carriage was moving forward rapidly, with some bumps in the carriage. The sound of horse hooves and the squeaking wheels could be heard. Lianhua listened carefully, but there was no other sound.
Lianhua struggled a few times and let out two sounds of "wu" and "wu". The carriage didn't stop, but there was a heavy whip blow on the roof, and a man said viciously: "Be honest!" It was actually Mongolian.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the Kingdom of Goryeo was a vassal state of the Yuan Dynasty. After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, there was a north-south confrontation with Can Yuan. The Kingdom of Koryo was divided into two factions: pro-Yuan and pro-Ming. Most of the clans headed by the King of Koryo were close to Mongolia, while the civil servants and military generals had their own affiliations. It was not until Li Chenggui established North Korea and Li Chenggui was clear-minded that North Korea completely became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, most officials and officials speak Mongolian and Chinese. Lianhua heard that it was Mongolian and was secretly shocked.
The carriage continued to move quickly, but Lianhua couldn't tell the direction and couldn't hear any changes. The car was bumpy and the binding was so tight that my hands, feet and head were all numb.
Lotus simply closed her eyes and recited silently in her heart: "This is what I heard. At that time, the Buddha was praying for a tree for the Solitude Garden in the Kingdom of Garrison, along with a group of 1,250 great monks." The Diamond Sutra, which he has memorized since childhood, is here. It went through his mind: "At that time, the World Honored One was eating, dressed in robes and holding an alms bowl like a soldier guarding a large city, begging for food in the city one after another, and returned to his place. After the meal, he collected the robes and alms bowl, washed his feet, and sat down. At that time, Elder Subhuti was among the crowd. That is, he stood up from his seat, raised his right shoulder, leaned on his right knee, put his palms together in reverence, and spoke to the Buddha..."
Unknowingly, the car became darker and darker. The ray of light that came through the cracks gradually disappeared, and finally it was completely dark.
I don’t know how much time passed, but I felt that the carriage was driving slower, with ups and downs from time to time, and the sound of banging could not be heard, and gradually it finally stopped. I heard someone shouting from behind: "Hit the top!" Following the shout, a group of horses came running to stop. There were the sounds of dismounting, pulling up clothes, piling firewood, lighting fires, and pouring water. Soon, bursts of aroma wafted into the carriage, the aroma of baked flatbread and beef.
Lianhua huddled in the carriage, feeling filled with shock and uncertainty.
Suddenly his eyes lit up, and the thick car curtain was opened. A big man bent down and lifted Lotus out of the car. The lotus flower is head down and can only see the sand on the ground. The fire was shining brightly, and the sand was dim and bright.
The big man threw the lotus on the ground and casually untied the rope. Lotus had been tied for a long time, and her hands and feet were unable to move due to lack of blood flow, so they just lay crooked on the ground.
At this time, the moon and stars were sparse, and it was obvious that we were in a desert. The sand dunes are high and low, stretching endlessly into the darkness with no end. Lotus had only seen the desert in pictures, and couldn't help but marvel in her heart that it was infinitely vaster than the pictures. In the past, when I read Tang poems such as "The vast desert is endless" and "The flat sand is thousands of miles away from people", I could never imagine the endless desert. Now that I am in the desert and chewing on it, every word in the poem is actually true.
There was a bonfire burning behind a small sand dune in the distance, and a dozen big men gathered around the fire, eating and drinking. What's rare is that these people eat and drink, but never speak, let alone make any other noise.
Lianhua gradually felt her hands and feet gain consciousness. She slowly sat up, reached out and took out the rag from her mouth, and threw it on the ground. There was still a bad smell from far away, and Lianhua couldn't help but vomited and almost vomited.
Beside the bonfire, a tall and thin man with his back to him raised his head and signaled. A big man came over with a piece of cake and a bag of water and threw them at the feet of the lotus. Lianhua was stunned for a moment, then picked up the water bag, opened it, sipped it from her mouth, and spit it on the ground.
The big man hadn't gone far yet when he heard the sweet voice of the lotus, he turned around and said viciously: "This is a desert! Water is more valuable than gold! Just this bag of water!" He also said in Mongolian.
Lianhua was stunned again and said nothing. After a long while, she picked up the flour cake on the ground, tore it off bit by bit and started eating slowly. I thought in my mind: "You only give yourself bread, do you know that you are a vegetarian? Or is it just that you can't bear to give up beef?"
That night, everyone rested where they were, and no one came to tie Lotus's hands and feet again. There were only two people sleeping behind Lotus in the distance, secretly surrounding her.
Someone threw a thick blanket to Lotus, and Lotus wrapped herself tightly and lay on the sand. The sky is like a dome, covering the surrounding fields, and the dark land is high and deep. A waning moon hangs diagonally high, spreading cold and clear light all over the earth, and dotted with stars like gems on black velvet.
Where is this? Lotus chanted the scriptures silently in his heart and slowly fell asleep.
The night in the desert was very cold. I could vaguely hear someone adding firewood to the fire. The lotus wrapped the blanket tightly and curled up small, as if trying to retain the warmth and curl up into a safe world. It seemed like someone was watching her, but she couldn't move her eyes away. Forget it, go to sleep, Lianhua said to herself.
When I opened my eyes, it was already bright. A big man came over and threw a bag of things on the ground: "Go and change in the car! You can ride a horse by yourself today!".
Lianhua took a look and saw that it was a pair of light blue Han Chinese clothes and shoes. Although it is made of ordinary cloth, it is brand new and clean. Lotus walked to the cart and hurriedly changed into it, the size was just right. Lianhua felt suspicious and rolled up the original Korean palace clothes into a package, still carefully hiding the glazed pagoda in her arms. When I came out, I saw that the big men dug a deep pit and buried the traces of yesterday's bonfire. The carriage was also pushed down and covered up without leaving any traces.
A big man took a yellow horse and handed it to Lotus, and said viciously: "Don't even think about running away!"
So there were five in front and seven behind, cheering or escorting lotus flowers, and more than a dozen horses rushed forward. The tall and lanky man rode at the end, occasionally raising his voice to direct the route. He was wearing a mask, revealing only two eyes, long and thin phoenix eyes, with no expression in his eyes. The Mongolian he spoke was a bit weird, but nothing could be heard.
Just like that, a group of people were running in the vast desert. Looking out there is nothing but sand, only sand. The fresh shock of seeing the desert for the first time completely disappeared, and the lotus just ran tiredly from one sand dune to another, not knowing when it would end.
After resting every night, my whole body felt like it was falling apart. The bread that was difficult to swallow suddenly became delicious, and the turbid and suspicious water in the water bag became a sweet spring.
She had never known that the sun in early summer could be so powerful. It hit the sun directly at noon and almost melted people. Lianhua was secretly grateful for the simple Hanfu she was wearing. If she were still wearing layers of Korean palace clothes at this time, she would probably die of heat. Already
Lianhua recalled that when she was a child, she and her younger brother went to the hot spring in Yongxing Mountain. The younger brother was playing around and pulled her to prevent him from getting in. It was also so stuffy and hot. As a result, she suddenly fainted in the hot spring. The younger brother was so scared that he refused to go back to life. Go to a hot spring.
At that time, my younger brother was still a child. In fact, in the end, he is just a big kid. Lianhua still can't believe that my little brother is really gone? Father and brother are gone too
Are Shanxi and Haishou really gone too
Lotus leaned on the horse and ran forward subconsciously, sweat flowing down his cheeks and dripping on the sand. At this moment, it seems like everything is the same wherever I go. Where can we find these relatives
The tall and thin man followed behind, staring at the lotus.
After running like this for five days, looking out was still a desolate desert, but the big men suddenly cheered, waved their whips, and ran faster. Several men behind Lianhua passed by Lianhua, swung their whips, and the yellow horse driving Lianhua also started running quickly. Lianhua almost fell off the horse, she quickly tightened her grip on the reins and bowed her head against the horse's back, while the strong wind blew by, whistling in her ears.
Gradually, I smelled the scent of water plants, which was fragrant; there was also the aroma of meat, fruit, wine, and milk. The big men shouted and ran faster. Lotus was left behind, and the tall and lanky man followed slowly beside him.
After crossing a high sand dune, a large green area suddenly appeared in front of us. The green grassland stretches as far as the eye can see, with colorful flowers scattered on the grass and groups of cattle and sheep grazing leisurely. Several shepherd dogs either looked up warily or lay lazily aside. Further away is a large lake, the water is as green as a grassland, and water birds are soaring on the lake. There are rows of tents, large and small, beside the lake. Smoke is rising from some tents, curling up into the blue sky and blending into the low white clouds.
I have only seen this kind of scenery in paintings. Lianhua rubbed her eyes, simply not believing that all this was true.
The cattle and sheep in the distance began to bleat, and a flock of birds flew low overhead. It was exactly like "birds are flying in the dust on the edge of the desert, and sheep are gathering in the dim air." Lotus couldn't help but feel relaxed and happy. Although I knew that nothing good was waiting for me, I still couldn't help but smile in front of the beautiful scenery.
The tall and thin man was a little surprised when he saw Lotus's smile. He was stunned for a moment and whispered: "Let's go." As he spoke, he shook the horse's reins and headed straight for the group of tents. Lian Hua calmed down and rode his horse to follow.
After a while, I arrived in front of the middle tent. There were two Mongolian soldiers guarding the door. The man jumped off his horse, glanced at Lotus and said, "Wait here first." He entered the tent. Lianhua also dismounted and looked around curiously. It seems that this should be the residence of the Mongols. The sound of soldiers training can be faintly heard in the distance. Could it be that this is where the army is stationed
After a while, the guard shouted to Lianhua: "Go in!" and escorted Lianhua into the tent.
The tent is huge, like a palace, and the interior is extremely splendid and elegant. Two rows of guards stood upright, with a tall and thin man sitting at the bottom. Standing at the end directly in front was a Mongolian general, wearing light armor and no helmet. When he saw Lotus coming in, he glanced up and down coldly, feeling a bit chilly for a moment.
Lotus did not kneel or bow, but only bowed lightly, then stood and looked at the general without saying a word.
The general suddenly smiled: "She is indeed a princess, and she has some skills. I am Great Yuan Pingzhang Solin Tiemu'er. It's hard work for the princess to come from afar."
Lotus bowed again: "Sir." His mind was racing rapidly.
At this time, the Mongols had been driven to Mobei by the Ming Dynasty (called "Northern Yuan" in history, and "Remn Yuan" and "Old Yuan" in Ming Dynasty at that time). Although Kun Tiemur, the Great Khan, was still on the throne as Khan, his country was actually known as Dayuan. The descendants of the Shangjin family were in charge of their own affairs, and the generals with military power also divided their empires one after another, and the entire Mongolia was torn apart. Thorin Timur is the overlord of the Mobei grassland who has strong military strength and self-respect. He deliberately ambushed a large number of people and went to such great lengths to catch himself. What was he going to do
Sorin Timur only smiled and asked her about the scenery along the way, whether she was used to the water and soil, and other insignificant questions. After chatting for a few words, he shouted: "Come here! Send Princess Yining to rest."
The two maids agreed to come up, and Lianhua couldn't help but think of Shanxi again. Her heart ached, but she could only smile and leave.
Lianhua followed the maid to a tent near the lake. Although it was small, it was exquisite and clean. After spending a few days in the desert, my face was covered with dust and my temples were as frosty as frost. I took a bath and changed clothes in Lotus. I saw several sets of Hanfu on the table, which were still the light blue that I liked. I was confused and thought to myself.