Xie Wangzhi was shocked. She didn't expect him to say such a thing out loud. She turned her head to look at Li Qishen in surprise. But the man next to her looked calm, as if he didn't care at all.
Chang Ning didn't care, but the two people eating with him didn't say anything. He couldn't embarrass Xudar, so he asked for the sake of politeness: "Why?"
"My mother was originally a concubine of Limu Khan. Later, my father killed Limu Khan and became Khan himself. After my brother died, the cattle, sheep and concubines all belonged to my younger brother. My mother refused to marry the man who killed Limu Khan, but she was pregnant at that time. In order to protect the child, she had no choice but to agree." Xudar was still very calm when talking about the past events he heard. His long eyelashes moved gently with his blinks, which made the worry in his green eyes even more prominent. "In fact, my father should have lied to her. He thought that the child could be drowned after birth. He could have made up any excuse to fool her. But in the end, the child was a girl, so my father kept her. She is my sister."
"Girls can stay?" Li Qishen said indifferently, "I'm just guessing. In Huihe, even the Khan's daughter has no right of inheritance?"
"No. There are indeed powerful women on the grassland. They are all widows who occupy their husbands' property. Many people want to marry them so that they can get the inheritance. The husband's property can go to the wife, and the father's property will not go to the daughter." After Xudar answered, he continued, "My sister is five years older than me. In the middle, my mother gave birth to several children for my father, but none of them raised them. In the end, I was the one. There are no other children."
“… My condolences.” Xie Wangzhi said softly.
"It doesn't matter. This is how it is on the grassland. Many children cannot survive. I was able to grow up just because I was lucky." Xudar said, "I was eight years old when I came to Chang'an. You all should know why I came. I didn't know if I could return alive after coming to Chang'an City. My brothers passed the buck to each other, and finally chose me."
"When I left, I had to take a carriage because the road was too long and riding a horse would rub my thighs. My mother and sister were reluctant to let me go. The night before I left, my mother took out all the remaining otter meat and lamb meat in the tent and cooked for me herself, and my sister embroidered a lot of things for me."
"They kept hugging me and crying. My mother said she was sorry. She didn't have the courage to look for my father, nor did she have the courage to take me away. She could only let me suffer in Chang'an City." Speaking of this, Xudar recalled the reluctant farewell scene that year and actually found it a little funny. "Chang'an City is actually very good. It's really good."
Going to Chang'an, apart from the fear of being a hostage, the capital of a country is far better than the grasslands of the Huihe. Chang'an is prosperous and wealthy, with countless merchants coming and going. Things that are considered rare treasures in the Huihe may be bought at street stalls in the East Market, and the cattle, horses and leather that the Huihe are proud of are also goods in the market.
But no matter how good Chang'an is, it is not my hometown without those two women. My mother and sister are so good, even if their skin is slightly chapped by the wind, they are not as good as any noble lady in Chang'an. Princess Changning's mansion uses water agarwood, a piece of which is worth the same weight in gold. At that time, when Xudar smelled the expensive incense, he missed the embrace of his mother and sister, which was warm and soft, with a slight smell of grass.
However, even this thought was completely destroyed.
"That day I ate a lot of otter meat and corn rice. I was so full that I couldn't sleep at night, so I went out for a walk. I wanted to find my mother and sister. They lived in a tent," Sudar said. "Then I saw my three brothers in the tent."
Huihe has its own rules, and the Han people in Chang'an cannot use their own rules to speculate, but his father is still alive, and as a son, he cannot break into his father's concubine's tent in the middle of the night. Xie Wangzhi had a premonition of something, and his hand that was scooping sugarcane juice paused, and slowly put down the spoon.
"Sometimes I wonder if the outcome would have been different if I hadn't shown up. But it's all speculation, the past can't be undone." Xudar didn't notice Xie Wangzhi's abnormality and paused for a moment, "I guess this isn't the first time they've done something like this, but my mother and sister are still alive. That night they saw me, so they killed my mother and sister and set fire to the tent."
There was no one in the hall, and the palace servant who served the dishes had already gone down. If Xudar had only spoken to Li Qishen, he would have spoken in more detail, but there were two girls sitting at the same table, so he avoided the cruelest part and did not say that those things were done in front of him, and that he was tied up and thrown into the tent, just waiting for him to be burned alive.
"When the fire started, I couldn't save the bodies of my mother and sister. The fire was too big, and someone came to put out the fire and rescued me. My father was furious and beat my brothers, but it was only because I was a hostage to Chang'an. If I died, he would have to find another son. As for my mother and sister, he didn't care. He said," Xudalton paused and repeated the words of the man who was called father back then, "Women are just cattle and sheep that can give birth to children. If you don't like them, just kill them. Stealing new ones from other tribes is worthless."
He said softly, "Since I am the child of worthless cattle and sheep, I can only kill them to make myself more valuable."
That's all. Xudar was very calm, not even his eyelashes trembled, as if it had been too long, the hatred had long disappeared, or it seemed that the hatred was too deep, the hatred was buried deep in the flesh and blood, and it would bleed if he moved, so he chose not to show it. The speaker looked relaxed, but the listeners had their own thoughts. Xie Wangzhi thought about it and chose to remain silent.
Chang Ning's expression remained unchanged. He casually picked up a piece of cold vegetarian dish and stuffed it into Xudar's bowl: "Let's not talk about this. Let's eat, and don't talk about such sad things."
"Thank you, Princess." Xudar responded instinctively. This response sounded a little like his youth, as if he was still the hostage trapped alone in Chang'an City, who was able to move because of the princess's favor.
Li Qishen also took a bite of the food with chopsticks. When he took a bite, the small banquet officially began, and he would not talk again. But he was not in a hurry, holding the chopsticks loosely, and a smile appeared between his eyebrows when he looked at Xudar: "The Khan today is worth a thousand gold. This trip to Chang'an is not in vain, right?"
Xudar said nothing and looked back in silence.
"Luoyang has been looted, but there are still some things in Chang'an." Li Qishen was quite generous. As long as the situation was stable and the population was still there, there would always be more gold and silk. It would be worthwhile to use money to exchange for a helping hand. "After a few days, we will open the warehouse. Please ask Khan to take the gold and silk yourself, and please leave the food for us."
Xudar remained silent for a moment before he said, "Thank you, Prince."
"No." Changning said suddenly.
Li Qishen glanced at Changning.
"Don't take it yourself, let me choose it. I have some stuff over there too." Chang Ning paused and looked at Li Qishen, "That will be my dowry."
Li Qishen didn't answer, but raised his eyebrows, shifted his gaze, and turned to Xudar: "What does Khan think?"
Xudar was stunned: "I..."
"Why, you don't want to marry me?" Chang Ning was angry, "Or do you think I'm not worthy of being in your tent now?"
"... Of course not!" He had been calm when he talked about the past, but now Changning's two questions made him dizzy. Xudar's face quickly turned red, and he explained in panic, stammering, and looked a bit like a teenager, "I just... didn't expect the princess to be willing. Of course I am willing, thank you for your kindness."
Chang Ning insisted: "Can the word 'favor' be used like this?!"
"... Can't I?" Xudar was completely confused.
"Okay." Li Qishen interrupted Chang Ning's bullying at the right time and picked up the green leafy vegetables that had been in the bowl for a long time. "We can discuss anything later. If you don't move your chopsticks, the soup will get cold."
As soon as he picked up his chopsticks, the others stopped being pretentious and started eating.
Xie Wangzhi's cooking skills are good. Although it would not stand out in the complicated banquets of the past, it is very suitable for home cooking. The ingredients are ordinary, the cooking methods are also ordinary, and it is comfortable to eat and not to be full. There are not many dishes, and the meal did not take long. Xudar looked at the sky and hesitated to discuss the marriage with Changning, but Changning asked him to go back first.
Xudar said goodbye as he said, but Changning did not leave. She had the door of the palace opened and sat in the night wind, looking like she was going to be a nail. Xie Wangzhi vaguely felt that Changning and Xudar should be in love, but what she said today was a little strange. After thinking about it, he didn't ask, and left on the pretext that he had something to do in the kitchen.
After she left, there were only two people left in the palace. Li Qishen took a sip of the newly served tea and said, "You shouldn't have gotten married. Life on the grassland is so hard. You can never return to Chang'an after this trip."
"There is no other way. It's the same exchange of gold and silk. Calling it a dowry sounds better than opening the treasury and letting people take it themselves." Chang Ning understood what he meant and looked down at the tea leaves stretching out in the water. "Look, the tea leaves in my cup have cracks. The hardship outside must be ten times worse than in the palace. If you open the treasury and let the Huihe people take the gold and silk at this time, what will the Jiedushi who are blocking the rebels in various places think? It's better to do this. At least there is a name."
"I'm afraid your wedding won't be very grand."
"What's the big deal? I'm the one marrying him, and I'm marrying him. Can we become different people if we spend more money?" Chang Ning laughed at herself. "Anyway, this is the person I like. At least I feel much better than those princesses who got married for no apparent reason."
An indescribable emotion surged up. Li Qishen wanted to say something, but then he changed his mind and thought, forget it. He couldn't say anything pretentious, and Changning didn't want to hear it either. In the end, he said something teasing: "The princess is really righteous. With her own efforts, she saved countless gold and silk."
"I am not worth much, but my name is valuable." Chang Ning looked at Li Qishen, "You can make this name even more valuable."
Li Qishen's pupils shrank, but he didn't show it on his face: "Really?"
"Chang'an and Chengdu are not far away." Changning stood up, "It's getting late. It's not appropriate for me to stay in the palace any longer. I'll go back now."
She said this and walked out immediately regardless of Li Qishen's reaction.
Li Qishen did not stop her. He lowered his eyes and looked at his hands on his knees. His fingertips slowly closed together, as if he was holding something invisible in his hands.
The author has something to say: Changning means changing from "Princess" to "Eldest Princess", which is actually forcing Changsheng to make a decision_(:3)∠)_Someone said before that they wanted to see Changning's story, but she doesn't have much of a story, her story is "sacrifice"