Chapter 135 A Divination Gift Before Departure
Gulina Zell still remembers her coming-of-age ceremony when she was fifteen.
“Our noble princess,” the eldest brother Mint said, swirling his silver cup and tapping his knuckles heavily on the table, “should ride a gentle and beautiful mare.”
His gaze swept over the few docile white horses kept in the enclosure, "like these well-behaved foals that don't kick up their tails."
A burst of rough laughter erupted from the men in front of the tent.
The women lowered their heads.
Gulnazel suddenly ripped off her coming-of-age crown, which was adorned with coral beads.
She stood up from the banquet and rushed out of the tent.
When everyone realized that she was running towards "Thunder Flame", they all exclaimed in surprise.
Even the Khan rose from his golden throne.
Thunder and Flame!
That unruly red wild horse, the most untamed on the entire grassland.
It had just broken the ribs of three horse trainers and was snorting as its iron hooves dug deep pits in the sand.
Gulina Ze'er leaped onto the horse's back.
Lei Yan stood upright, like a sudden burst of crimson torrent.
It charged toward the fence studded with spears, and Gulinazel yanked the reins tight.
The reins dug deep into his palm, and blood trickled down, staining the horse's mane red.
Thunderflame reared up on its forelegs, letting out a heart-wrenching screech.
The sound didn't resemble a warhorse; it sounded more like a wounded lone wolf.
One lap.
Two laps.
Three laps.
Amidst the swirling dust, all that could be seen was Gulnazar's figure locked in a fierce battle with her crimson steed in the hunting grounds.
Her braids had long since come undone, and her black hair danced wildly in the wind like a waterfall.
After five laps, Lei Yan finally knelt down on his front knee, signifying his submission.
Gulina Ze'er dismounted, her palms already a bloody mess.
She walked proudly toward the viewing platform.
With a "snap," she threw the riding whip at Mint's feet.
Mint was startled, realizing he had lost face, and his face turned ashen.
Gulinazel's amber eyes were piercing. "Isn't the rule of the grasslands that whoever tames the wild horse deserves the best saddle?"
The Khan's laughter shook the golden tent.
"She truly is my daughter! Truly the most dazzling pearl of the grasslands!"
He personally took down the saddle, woven with gold thread and inlaid with nine wolf teeth, and gave it to her.
Gulina Zell knelt down on one knee to receive it.
She grabbed the silver pot from the table, tilted her head back, and drank deeply.
"In the eyes of the wild horse," she wiped the wine stains from her lips, giving the men a defiant smile, "there's no distinction between men and women, only this—"
The blood-stained hand clenched in mid-air, as if grasping the wind of the entire grassland.
Later, in a waterside pavilion in the capital, she recounted this story in Central Plains Mandarin.
The young ladies from noble families forgot to wave their fans, completely mesmerized by what they heard.
"Then what?"
The ladies' eyes shone as if they were filled with stars.
As Gulina Ze'er held the celadon teacup, she felt as if her fingertips were touching the reins of that day once again.
The smugness in her eyes faded, replaced by a hint of sadness.
"Ladies, do you know that the moon over the grasslands moves? But the moon over the Central Plains never moves; it hangs forever above the palace walls."
Then, she rode Thunderflame to chase the moon, her hooves shattering entire cloud shadows.
Unlike now, when I'm trapped among the carved beams and painted rafters, even my breath carries the musty scent of ebony.
During their three years in Beijing, Gulina Ze'er and Lu Yao gradually became acquainted.
She secretly enrolled in Jiang Jinshu's Zhaoling Academy, where she displayed quick wit and outstanding academic performance.
One day, recalling the past, she couldn't help but ask Lu Yao, "Back then in Xiao Yuanxiu's courtyard, you said that what you asked for was not gratitude. So what exactly did you ask for?"
Lu Yao picked up the manuscript she had just written, the ink still fresh, and lightly touched the paper with her fingertips.
"Can you take these back to the grasslands?"
"These pieces of paper?"
Lu Yao shook her head, her fingertips then lightly touching her forehead, a faint smile on her face. "On the grasslands, there aren't many girls who can read and write, are there?"
Gulinazel's gaze sharpened, and after a long silence, she finally whispered, "If I could really go back... I would naturally be willing."
Lu Yao looked out the window; in the northern sky, a dark cloud was swallowing the setting sun.
She sighed, "That day isn't too far away."
Later, the Great Sheng Dynasty suffered three consecutive years of severe drought, leaving the land barren and the people impoverished.
Taking advantage of the situation, the Turks rose up and repeatedly invaded the border, plundering the people.
Beset by internal and external troubles, the imperial court was unable to continue fighting and had no choice but to send envoys to negotiate peace.
Besides gold, silver, and silk, the Turkic Khan made another request: to bring back his daughter, his precious pearl of the grasslands.
Gulnazel, who was finally remembered by her father, did not show any emotion.
"So my father still remembers," she sneered. "He has a daughter held hostage in an enemy country."
Three years ago, when she was forced to leave the royal court, her father told his sons to take care, but when it was her turn, he only told her to behave herself.
Lu Yao is going on a journey to pray for rain.
On the day she left the capital, a Turkic delegation came to welcome Gulinazer back.
Outside the post station, the two held hands and parted ways, the sand and dust shrouding Sheng An in a hazy yellow veil.
Lu Yao suddenly smiled, "I'll give you a divination before I leave, would you like to hear it?"
Gulinazel raised an eyebrow. "What does it mean, good or bad? If it's an ominous sign, then let's skip it to avoid unnecessary worry."
“This divination says, ‘The hidden dragon is about to rise.’” Lu Yao gazed into the distance, her eyes reflecting the vastness of the frontier. “Your long-cherished wish, buried deep in your heart for many years, may finally be fulfilled.”
The girl's pupils contracted sharply, and her fingers, which had tightened suddenly, trembled slightly.
"Your Excellency, please do not speak jokingly." Her voice was like a taut bowstring.
“I vouch for you with the seal of the Imperial Observatory.” Lu Yao took out a scroll of silk from her sleeve. “Your elder brothers were either dead or crippled three years ago, and your younger brother is nothing but mediocre. As for you…”
She suddenly took a half step closer and lowered her voice, "A person who is well-versed in the war songs of the grasslands and knowledgeable in the strategies of the Central Plains, is he really willing to be confined to his embroidered tent for the rest of his life?"
Gulina Ze'er gasped. "Grand Preceptor, be careful what you say! Don't mention my study of Central Plains strategy again. If people find out that Zhaoling Academy taught me these things, Commander Jiang..."
Lu Yao's expression remained calm. "Knowledge is like the wind in the desert, coming and going freely. Those old Confucian scholars are no better than you in learning it. They only use it to form cliques and suppress dissent, but if you learn it... you might save millions of lives."
"Such treasonous words, is the Imperial Preceptor not afraid...?"
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Lu Yao shook her head and sighed. “Regardless of victory or defeat in war, the people will suffer. I only know that men are warlike and women seek peace. If you could wield the Golden Whip, perhaps the winds of the northern desert would be less bloody, and the world would be much more peaceful.”
She looked at the withered tree roots by the roadside. "Do you know what I fear most? I fear that children will no longer recognize the rice stalks, and I fear that those people will go mad with hunger and eat my daughter's flesh first."
Gulina Ze'er was silent for a moment, then smiled, "Grand Preceptor, then I accept your kind words."
On their way back home, a sudden sandstorm forced the Turkic delegation's convoy to a stop.
A fierce wind whipped up yellow sand, leaving only a chaotic, dim yellow expanse between heaven and earth.
Gulina Zer covered her mouth and nose with a veil, but the sand and wind still made it hard for her to open her eyes.
Just then, a familiar neighing sound came from afar.
Amidst the sandstorm, a magnificent red horse gallops through the sand.
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