Princess Hachia
Tang Feng and his delegation rested for a day in Sangyan before setting off. Sitting on horseback, Tang Feng was still somewhat puzzled as they approached the city gate. These Qiang and Hu people had been quite aggressive towards him just a few days ago, and he had only spoken with their Khan the day before yesterday. Why were they so willing to let him go so readily today? Were their personalities all so fickle?
"Never mind... let's go!" Tang Feng tightened the reins, turned his horse around, and started to ride off. Suddenly, something heavy hit his shoulder, causing him to fall from his horse. "Young Master!" Liu Yiwan dismounted and rushed forward to check on Tang Feng. "The master has fallen from his horse! Protect him!" Tang Feng used Liu Yiwan's help to sit up. His left arm was numb and he couldn't lift it. "Liu Yiwan, help me up." After standing up, Tang Feng saw a young girl standing at the city gate. She looked about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a blue cloud-patterned dress and holding a riding whip. "Did you hit me?" Tang Feng rubbed his shoulder and looked at the girl.
"It was me! Who told you to insult my father, the Khan, in the main hall?" The little girl put her hands on her hips and cracked her riding whip. "Pfft," Tang Feng chuckled, "Where did I insult your father? Are you even a princess? Running around like this, you'll easily get caught and sent back! You'd better listen to me and go back quickly! It would be very embarrassing to be caught by your own guards in front of a foreign delegation."
"It's none of your business!"
Tang Feng shrugged. "Do as you please!" He then called over Liu Yiwan. "I can't ride a horse in this condition, let's take a carriage instead!" After saying that, Liu Yiwan helped him into the carriage, and as soon as he sat down, he heard the sound of horses' hooves behind him.
The little princess quickly followed the carriage, lifting the curtain. "Hey! Take me inside quickly, someone's after me!"
My name is Tang Feng.
"Tang Feng! Take me inside quickly!"
Tang Feng leaned against the carriage window, watching with amusement as the little princess ran alongside his carriage. "Someone's chasing you? What's it to me?"
"Don't you Central Plains people have an old saying that saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda? How could you say such a thing!"
Seeing the little princess covered in sweat, Tang Feng couldn't help but chuckle. "Is this how you ask for help?"
"So what kind of attitude do you want?"
Tang Feng craned his neck to look back. "Call me 'brother' and I'll call you up."
The little princess bit her lip and whimpered for a long time, "Brother... Brother! Hurry up!"
"Liu Yiwan, pull him in!" Liu Yiwan pulled back the carriage curtain and stretched out her hand. The little princess jumped in, only to see Tang Feng sitting cross-legged with half his clothes off. "Are you crazy?! Taking off your clothes in front of girls like that!"
Tang Feng threw his cloak at her head. "Shut up if you don't want to get caught! Why are you talking so much!" Just then, the sound of hooves came from behind the carriage, and finally the delegation's carriage stopped. Outside, Binghu said, "General Sujiha, what's the matter?"
"Our Khan's little princess has run away. We'd like to ask if the driver has seen her."
"Of course not. Why are you insisting on finding your princess not in the palace, but specifically targeting us?"
"Then I'll be offended." Sujiha dismounted and lifted the carriage curtain, revealing Tang Feng half-naked. Liu Yiwan was applying medicine nearby. Tang Feng, looking unwell, asked, "General Sujiha, you asked about the princess's whereabouts, rotten..."
"Stopping my delegation's carriage to question us is one thing, but what is the meaning of this?" Seeing that no one was around, Sujiha clasped his hands in front of his chest and bowed, saying, "Master Tang, I apologize for any offense." He then left.
Seeing Sujiha walk away, Tang Feng lifted his cloak and said, "Come out! They're gone."
The little princess pulled back her cloak, sat up, and said, "They've all left, why aren't you dressed yet?"
"Big sister, you beat me up like this! Can't I even put some medicine on myself?" Tang Feng rolled his eyes. The little princess was a little embarrassed when she saw that half of Tang Feng's shoulder was bruised from her punches. "Sorry, my name is Haqiya!"
"Oh!" Tang Feng wasn't really interested in listening; he just felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Then he heard Liu Yiwan say, "Don't worry, young master, there's no bone broken, just a superficial wound. The thing was quite heavy, and it caused some blood to pool."
Tang Feng stopped there, put on his clothes, and asked, "I'm going to Fujiri River. How long is the journey?"
"Huh? You're asking me?"
"Who else should I ask if not you! Ask me?" Tang Feng narrowed his eyes. He still found this little princess quite amusing, but he only agreed to her request so that he could quickly improve their relationship and have her say a few words for him in the main hall in the future. Tang Feng sighed; he was really worrying himself sick! At this moment, Qin Liuliu knocked on the carriage frame. "Brother, I want to go up too. Is your shoulder feeling better?"
"Get in! Don't worry, the medicine's been applied." Qin Liuliu got permission and boarded the carriage. Before she even sat down, she saw Hachiya sitting in the corner, and her brows furrowed instantly. "You crazy woman, you threw stones at my brother and at our carriage in his face!" Tang Feng patted Qin Liuliu's shoulder. "Liuliu, that's enough. She's just a young girl! Don't be so petty." Then he continued to ask Hachiya, "You don't even know your own country, so what are you doing here?"
"Hey foreman! Is there anything to eat? I came out early this morning without eating anything."
Tang Feng rested his chin on his hand and beckoned to Liu Yiwan. Liu Yiwan took out two steamed buns from his pocket and handed them to Haqiya. Haqiya looked at the buns with slight disgust, "Why do your steamed buns smell like sweat?"
"If you can't stand it, then get off! Why would someone living a life of luxury go and supervise a construction project?" Tang Feng chuckled. "This entire delegation is made up of men. Don't you, a young girl, feel wronged?"
Haqiya looked at Tang Feng and took a big bite of her steamed bun. "We Qiang and Hu women are not like you Yan and Yun women, who are expected to be good wives and mothers, gentle and refined. We are daughters of the grasslands, don't think of me as so weak."
"Is that so! Then let's get to work when we get there! Anyway, it's a good thing for you all, so the princess doesn't mind, does she?"
"You're so quick-witted in Yanyun, do a lot of people dislike you? Is that why they sent you here as punishment?" Haqiya pouted. From the moment she met Tang Feng, she felt that he wasn't as simple as he seemed. It was as if everything was under his control, even Sujiha's pursuit seemed effortless on his part.
"Me? I was a naive little rabbit in Yan Yun," Tang Feng leaned against the carriage, smiling contemptuously. "I could have remained naive forever, but who told you to be so aggressive first and provoke the wrong people?"
"You mean... Sujiha?" Haqiya tied the riding whip around her waist, patted Tang Feng's leg, signaling him to pay attention to her. "Sujiha's temper is just like that, arrogant and domineering. Many people in the court don't like him, not just you, but me too."
"Really? Then it seems it's not that I'm targeting him, it's that everyone hates him."
"Not everyone; my father liked him very much."
"Your father Khan certainly has exceptional insight," Tang Feng chuckled. Thinking about it, Sujiha was probably the kind of person who feared nothing, and his boastful words were likely meant to establish authority over the Qiang and Hu tribes.
After a long day's journey, and with evening approaching, Tang Feng asked Binghu to bring out food and fire starters. "Let's call it a day! We can continue our journey tomorrow. I see everyone is tired."
"Yes, sir, I'll go prepare it right away."
Tang Feng stepped down from the carriage, only to be stopped by Haqiya. "Hey! Aren't you going to help me down?! Don't you people in Yanyun say you'll do your utmost to help anyone in need? What about respecting women?"
"We in Yanyun have a saying: 'Only women are difficult to deal with,'" Tang Feng said, standing to the side with his hands on his chest. "I advise you not to mess with me. I'm a married man! Stay away from me."
"A married man? You're married? I didn't realize! Who's your wife?" Hachia jumped out of the car, smiled at Tang Feng, and said, "If you could, you could marry me too."
Tang Feng was drinking water when he sprayed it all over Liu Yiwan's face before he could swallow. "You... what did you say? Big sister, I said I'm a married man!"
"So what if you have one! Anyway, I think you're pretty good. In our grasslands, who doesn't have multiple wives and concubines? The man who marries the most is the bravest man on our grasslands." After saying that, Hachia smiled confidently, as if she were very proud.
"But we in Yanyun practice monogamy! Don't think I'm the bravest man; at home I'm just a harmless child, afraid of my wife! If you act like this, it'll be hard for me to explain when I go back to Yanyun, okay?"
Seeing that Haqiya was about to speak, Tang Feng raised his hand and rubbed his ear, then walked over nonchalantly, muttering, "This is outrageous. I don't know why there are so many mosquitoes on the grassland. The buzzing is hurting my ears." Looking at Liu Yiwan and Qin Liuliu, who were snickering nearby, Tang Feng gave each of them a large bag, put his arm around their shoulders, and whispered, "Listen to me, when we get back to Yanyun, neither of you can tell Ziliang, understand?! Otherwise, I'll chop you up and offer you as a sacrifice to the heavens! Understand?"
"Don't worry, young master, I'm keeping my mouth shut!" Liu Yiwan patted his chest.
Tang Feng rolled his eyes. "I'm only scared because it's you..." He then ignored the chattering Haqiya following behind and sat by the fire, looking at the stars. Haqiya, sitting beside Tang Feng, also looked up at the sky. "Looking at the stars? Aren't the stars on our grasslands much brighter than those in Yan Yun?"
“It’s different,” Tang Feng smiled, taking out the blessing Zhou Ziliang had given him before his departure. “There’s no light like mine in Xiling here. I advise you to stop trying to take advantage of me, or I’ll send a letter home to my wife and have her deal with you.”
"You're a grown man, and you still need your wife to take care of you?" Hachia frowned, looking at Tang Feng with some disdain, and even shifted her buttocks to the side.
"My wife dotes on me, it's none of your business," Tang Feng thought to himself with a sly smile. When he stayed at Bao'er's house, Zhou Ziliang had taken advantage of him quite a bit. Now that Zhou Ziliang was away, he'd seize the opportunity to find someone to make up for it! It made him feel a little better. "He's the star that illuminates my life in Xiling City, you...would never understand."
"Tch! I'm going to sleep, don't follow me, you hear me?" Hachia said, then walked towards the carriage.
"I'd rather be far away from you... Hey! Are you girls all fairies? Did you grow up drinking dew? Aren't you going to eat dinner?" Tang Feng shook his head and lay down on the ground when Haqiya ignored him. "Sigh! When will this ever end!"
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