Eastern Palace Chapter 31 Part1

I finally asked Gu Xiao Wu, “Do you like to marry me?” Gu Xiao Wu seemed to be a bit surprised. He looked at me and said, “Of course I do.” “But I have a bad temper. You come from the Central Plains while I grew up in Western Liang. You like to eat millet rice while I love roast lamb. I don't understand your language, nor do I know the custom of Central Plains. If you stay in Western Liang which is far from Central Plains, you will definitely be homesick. If you go back to Central Plains long way off Western Liang, then I will definitely miss my hometown. Although you killed the White-Eye Wolf King, you didn't do that completely for me. You said that you happened to meet the wolf and kill it while you were hawking tea… I'm young, but I know that I can't force someone to marry me…" I talked a lot from when we first met to the present. I told him all the inconveniences we would meet if we got married, which made me thirsty. Gu Xiao Wu didn't interrupt me. When I put down the lamb chop and went to drink, he asked, “What you said were all unimportant things. Are you willing to marry me? Just give me an answer." I almost spit water out of my mouth. I gave him an angry stare while my face suddenly went red, “Am I willing… um…” “Answer me!” he urged me, “yes or no?” My mind was in such a turmoil. Pictures of these days in my mind were like visions or dreams. Time had gone by so quickly that so much had happened. I had never expected that I would marry at such an early age. I found Gu Xiao Wu was annoying at first, but now I didn't hate him. I didn't know what I should say. Looking at fireflies in the autumn, I suddenly made up my mind and said, “I will say yes if you can catch me a hundred fireflies.” As soon as I finished my words, he stood up abruptly. I stared at him, but then he turned a somersault as if he was a naughty boy. I watched him jumping into the air like a star – no, a meteor would not be like this – he nearly fell onto the flood land. He suddenly reached his arms out for fireflies and grabbed a few. Those fairies shone faintly through gaps between his fingers. I shaped the lower part of my robe into a bag and urged, “Hurry up!” He put the fireflies into my bag-shaped robe. He jumped up again – martial arts in the Central Plains were charming and elegant, just like paintings or poems. He moved as if he was dancing, but there was no dance with such an act of animated courage in the world. He spun around in an incredible angle in midair, chasing those ethereal fireflies. His sleeves brought a flurry of wind, and I pointed in the direction of the fireflies, “Left! There are a lot on the left!” “Oops!” “They've escaped! There! Oh, there are more of them!”… The laughter of us wafted across the river, and the number of fireflies in my clothes was increasing. They gathered together and shone like a bright moon in my arms. All the fireflies near the river were gone, they were caught by Gu Xiao Wu and put in my arms. “Are there a hundred fireflies now?” He leaned over, putting his head to my head and using a slender finger to uncover the corner of my rope, “let's count, shall we?” We then counted a dozen. Gu Xiao Wu's body had a faint cool aroma, which couldn't be found in Turks and the people of Western Liang. I felt that this faint aroma made me uneasy, and my face seemed to be burning. He stayed too close to me. Suddenly a gust of wind blew, his hair softly touched my face, it felt light, soft and itchy. My hand holding the clothes could not help but loosen, the fireflies then were scrambling to fly up, thus the moon dispersed, turning into countless fine meteors. For a time, Gu Xiao Wu and I were surrounded by these meteors, whose bright light illuminated our faces. I saw his dark eyes, which were staring at me. I remembered those who sang outside the A'Du tent, as they just stared at A'Du in this way. Their burning gaze was like a flame, softening people who were looked at. However, Gu Xiao Wu's eyes were much warmer, reflecting my silhouette. I suddenly felt something in my heart was becoming softer, which made me uneasy but comfortable. Seeing me watching him, he suddenly became embarra.s.sed. He turned his face to see the fireflies in the sky and said, “They all ran off!” I couldn't help but say, “They are like meteors!” He also laughed and repeated, “Meteors!” Countless fireflies flew away, like thousands of meteors pa.s.sing by our fingertips. When the G.o.ds released the meteors, the scene must be not better than this one, which was like a dream. I thought I would never forget the night by the river – thousands of fireflies were surrounding us, and they flew by deftly, then scattered in all directions with their fluorescent light, just like the golden glow of a meteor splitting the night. I thought of a song, in which a G.o.d, together with his loved one, stood in the Milky Way as gorgeous as this scene.

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The Great Chanyu sent a messenger to tell my father that he had chosen a husband for me, who was Gu Xiao Wu. At that time, my father was in a dilemma between Yuezhi and Central Plains, so he immediately wrote back, asking my grandpa to make the decision for me and preside over the marriage. When my father's letter arrived, the wedding was already halfway through.

Tujue's wedding customs were grand but simple. People in countless tents had slaughtered numerous fat sheep, and the fragrance of the wine spread everywhere. These days, Gu Xiao Wu had become friends with all Tujue's n.o.bility. People in Tujue respected heroes most. Gu Xiao Wu became a young and promising hero in Tujue as he had killed the White-Eye Wolf King and won the compet.i.tion with He Shi. Listening to the hymns sung by the priest, we walked slowly on the red carpet towards the high platform used to offer sacrifices to G.o.ds.

Just at this moment, there came the sound of clop, then a scout scrambled to the Great Chanyu's throne.

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Through the bustling crowd, I saw the Great Chanyu frowned. I turned around and ran up to the Great Chanyu without caring much about the priest and his songs. "Grandpa!" patting my hair, the Great Chanyu said with a smile, "nothing serious. The King of Yuezhi has sent some of his soldiers to provoke us. I'll send our army to drive them off." I was unaware that Gu Xiao Wu had stood behind me. He bowed to the Great Chanyu in accordance with Tujue's rituals, saying, "Your Great Chanyu, please allow me to defeat them." "You?" The Great Chanyu glimpsed at him, saying, "The King of Yuezhi has an army of about fifty thousand people." Furthermore, the King of Yuezhi was a veteran general. I was afraid Gu Xiao Wu was no match for thousands of enemies, though he had good mastery of shooting arrows. "Your Great Chanyu, you can send thirty thousand cavalries to fight with those weary enemies. You can also dispatch a general to go with them if you still can't rest a.s.sured. I'll a.s.sist the general in the battle. If I terrify the cavalry of Yuezhi by shooting arrows, it will be a contribution to Tujue." While the Great Chanyu was hesitating, He Shi said, "Military tactics of the Central Plains army are skillful. They are the people who led an army to defeat the cavalry of Yuezhi on my way back. The Great Chanyu nodded and said to Gu Xiao Wu, "OK. Kill the general of Yuezhi and bring his head back to me as your one of the sacrifices offered to the G.o.ds at your wedding ceremony." Gu Xiao Wu knelt before the Great Chanyu according to the Central Plains rituals, saying, "G.o.d bless you, the Great Chanyu!" He gave me a look when he stood up, saying, "I'll be back soon." I was so worried about him. Watching him turned around and walking outward, I hastened to catch up with him and tied my girdle around his waist.

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According to the customs of the wedding ceremony in Tujue, the ceremony was completed when the bride and bridegroom exchanged belts with each other, which signified that they became a married couple with G.o.d's blessing. I had wanted him to tie his belt around my waist, but the slave brought him a horse. As a result, there was no time for me to talk to him. Gu Xiao Wu said to me while mounting the horse, "I'll be back very soon." Grasping him by his sleeve, I parted from him with reluctance. I recalled a lot of things that experienced with him. For instance, I once waited for him on the sand dune for three days and three nights; he saved me after I fell off the horse, told me a story that night, killed the White-Eye Wolf King and won the compet.i.tion with He Shi, and the wonderful time we had catching fireflies… From that moment on, I had made up my mind I would accompany him for a lifetime… I couldn't help but worried about him since he would fight with the enemy.