The lush green meadows stretch to the horizon, the warm breeze hastens our aging, and the departed grieve deeply.
Da Ni'er pushed the Grassland King to the horse farm outside the royal court. The old man watched as the magnificent horses galloped past, smiled, and said to the dark-skinned girl...
"Ah Qing, what's your name in Da Yan? I heard your girlfriends and your mother call you Da Ni'er."
“Da Ni’er is her nickname. Her real name is Tianci, Wang Tianci,” the dark-skinned girl replied.
The grassland king nodded.
"It's great, really great."
His breath was a little weak. A month had passed. In the past few days, Da Ni'er had been very obedient to him. Ginseng pills were just medicine, not elixirs.
It is already quite remarkable to be able to extend the life of a dying person by another month.
"Your mother is in the Broken Tail tribe. Go visit her when you have time." The grassland king was a little dazed, his head barely able to support itself, and he said this while leaning on Da Ni'er's hand.
"My mother?" Dani asked.
"Yes, your mother."
She's not dead?
The grassland king shook his head, then said...
"Back then, when she escaped, the Imperial Advisor made things convenient for her, allowing her childhood sweetheart to meet her outside. The Broken Tail Tribe is the tribe of her current man. The people in that tribe do not believe in the Imperial Advisor and do not obey him. They are all survivors of the tribe that the Imperial Advisor led to exterminate back then."
“Back then, he thought these people wouldn’t amount to anything, so he let them go and didn’t interfere.”
"Day after day, they're much stronger now, but they're not as tough as your second brother."
Go see your mother.
Da Ni'er remained silent for a long time after hearing this. The grassland king thought she was angry, and then asked...
"Father didn't have to tell you now that I don't have much time left. It's just that I was afraid you wouldn't be with me for these last few days. Don't blame Father."
Looking at her father's weak appearance, the dark-skinned girl knew in her heart that he wouldn't last more than a few days.
Why would you find it strange?
Da Nier shook her head and said
"I came back to see my father. My mother can wait. My father is the most important."
"You don't blame her?"
The grasslands viewed wives and concubines as their property. One day, the property was stolen, and the former tyrannical grassland king actually made her go see her.
“I know she’s not happy about it.”
"I don't blame anyone. They left me with such a good daughter. I don't blame anything."
Da Ni'er no longer harbors any resentment towards her birth mother. Her mother did nothing wrong, and she wants to go see her, not to upset her, but to apologize on behalf of the Yalan Royal Court.
The old man patted the dark-skinned girl's slender, calloused wrist, called Da Ni'er over, and looked at her closely, gazing at his favorite little daughter.
"Of all my children, you're the only girl, and you happen to be the one who looks most like me."
“My son, a woman, seized the throne and beat the royal advisor until his head was bleeding.”
"Our Ah Qing is the best..."
The old man was already out of breath when he said this, but he held the dark-skinned girl's hand tightly to his face, his head trembled slightly, and he continued.
"Father really feels there isn't enough time, not enough at all..."
"But I'm already very happy that you came back to see me."
Dani'er wept uncontrollably, her tears falling like broken beads onto the grass blades, and then down the leaves into the yellow earth.
"Father."
"Don't cry. Your father doesn't want to be buried on the grassland. Remember to burn your father to ashes and keep him with you. I haven't spent enough time with you. I want more time after I die."
His deeply lined hands wiped away the tears from Da Ni'er's cheeks, and he said one last thing.
"My son, don't cry, I'm leaving."
The old man slept on this slightly warm summer day, his arms draped over the sides of his wheelchair, his head drooping, and a few strands of white hair falling beside his cheeks, just enough to obscure his face.
The temperature in Da Ni'er's hands gradually dropped.
She had asked him countless times in the dead of night, and the answer was beautiful: she knew he was powerless to do what he was told, and she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose and had even tried very hard.
Having not been by his side for so many years, I probably don't have any feelings for him anymore, or I might choose to forget him.
But when she saw him lying in bed unable to eat, Dani still felt sorry for him.
The dark-skinned girl cried unrestrainedly, leaning the old man against his wheelchair while she sat down beside his knees and sobbed loudly.
After he came back, he couldn't even bring himself to call his father "Dad".
For Da Nier, her father was the closest person to her, not the cold, indifferent "Father King."
"Dad, I'm home. I will do as you wish and live a happy life for myself."
"I also want to take you back to the Central Plains, to eat lots of delicious food, and I'll take care of you in your old age."
But time waits for no one, and in the end, we all have to learn the book of farewell.
Aunt Wang came to Da Ni'er's side. The woman didn't speak, but listened to her daughter crying. Huo Xiaolong and Hou Xiangxiang didn't go forward either, but followed behind at a distance.
As I mentioned before, it's going to happen in the next couple of days.
Da Ni'er had never cried in front of them, but with her father dead, she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"No empty burial, cremation."
Da Nier said to the minister who came to inquire whether a grand funeral should be held.
If her father wants to stay with her, then she'll take him. It's no big deal. Aunt Wang said that after they get home, she'll build another house and set up a memorial tablet for Da Ni'er's father.
From a woman's perspective, Da Ni'er's father is really unqualified. How could he let someone else mess with his own daughter? You're the king of the grasslands! The grasslands are the greatest!
But when it came to a matter of life and death, he did a good job.
"Don't be upset, we'll go home after the war," Huo Xiaolong said to Da Nier, squeezing himself onto her throne with Hou Xiangxiang.
Da Ni'er didn't care what kind of throne it was; she had been secretly wiping away tears these past few days, and upon hearing this, she started crying again.
"I just feel that the time was too short, and I wish I could spend more time with him."
"Birth, aging, sickness, and death are just like that, so we should live each day to the fullest," Hou Xiangxiang said.
The girl in red then asked...
When are you going to visit your mother?
"We will depart immediately tomorrow."
"Want to fight?"
“If my mother finds a stepfather for me who doesn’t listen to me, I’ll beat him.”
Huo Xiaolong frowned and continued to ask.
"What were you going there for? To reclaim territory?"
Da Nier stopped crying and turned her head.
"No, I went to apologize."
"You'll make them listen if you apologize?" the girl said, frowning and slightly opening her mouth, her face full of disbelief.
“What if he doesn’t let me see my mother? Do you think this is in the border town? Women have the final say at home. It’s not like that on the grasslands, especially since she’s the chief’s wife. She has to be very obedient. I’ll see how I get rid of all this bad influence.”
"Tsk..."
Hou Xiangxiang and Long'er were at a loss for words and couldn't refute it.
On this somewhat peaceful night, the newly appointed grassland king wanted to apologize to the women who had been forcibly taken by the Yalan Royal Court.
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