I caught the grapes, smiling; then I put one into the mouth and bit the thin peel of it. Suddenly, the cool and sweet juice exploded over my tongue – it was so delicious. I turned back and asked Shifu: “Hey! Do you want to have some?” I never called him Shifu, because I was simply cheated by him to be his apprentice. At that time, we just met, and I didn't know that his swordsmanship was extraordinary. I was provoked by his words and tried my skill of wielding a sword with him. The one who lost in this competition had to respect the other as Shifu. You could imagine how miserable I was in the competition, and I had no choice but to recognize him as my Shifu. Although he was my Shifu, he often made a lot of despicable things. Therefore, I refused to call him Shifu. Fortunately, he did not feel embarrassed and let me feed him from time to time.
Shifu shook his head absently, and he was still talking to the man in a white robe. Occasionally, Shifu also taught me the words written on the books of Central Plains. “Whoever meets Junzi (an ideal man who has noble virtues; it's a Chinese philosophical term) will feel joyful,” or “A noble and modest Junzi resembles a warm jade.” After hearing for many times, I then believed that Junzi only wore a white robe. Shifu also loved to wear a white robe, but how could he be a Junzi? I would rather say he was more like a rogue.
Gu Xiao Wu stayed in the city of Western Liang. He lived in Shifu's place for the time being. Shifu arranged his house like all the Central Plains' people did, in a refreshing and clean way, and he did not raise camels.
I often went to Shifu's place to play as I used to. Gradually, I was very familiar with Gu Xiao Wu. I heard that he was the young master of the tea house, and most of those who contacted with him were tea merchants from Central Plains. In his room, there were always good tea to drink and delicious foods to eat. Those pastries of Central Plains or other strange gadgets, all attracted me a lot. But what I hated was that Gu Xiao Wu would ask me every time I met him: Ninth princess, when will you marry me?
I felt so annoyed and embarrassed that I finally got irritated. It was all Shifu's fault, as he didn't act like a venerable teacher and stirred up such troubles. Each time, I would respond to him loudly: “I would rather marry the Prince of Central Plains than marry a rogue like you.” He laughed.
In fact, in my heart, I didn’t want to marry anyone. Western Liang was so good, why bother marrying in Central Plains?
That being said, but the Central Plains’ envoys began to urge my father; while Yuezhi, which sat in the north of Yan Zhi mountain, heard that Central Plains sent an envoy to propose marriage to my father, they also sent an envoy to bring a lot of gifts to Western Liang.
Yuezhi was one of the best countries in the Western Region, its people were brave and good at combat, and there were about one hundred thousand warriors in this country. My father did not dare to look down on Yuezhi, so he received Yuezhi's envoy in the palace. I sent a maidservant to eavesdrop on their conversation, and she ran back in a breathless manner and secretly told me that the Yuezhi's envoy also came to propose marriage; furthermore, the groom would be the Great Chanyu of Yuezhi. The Great Chanyu of Yuezhi was already fifty years old this year, and his main Yanzhi (the main wife of Chanyu) was originally the Crown Princess of Tujue (a nationality in ancient China), who was also my mother's elder sister. Unfortunately, the main Yanzhi was dead the year before, but the Great Chanyu hadn't picked one from his numerous Yanzhi (the concubine of Chanyu) to be the main Yanzhi, as they came from different tribes and had incessant disputes.
Now Yuezhi heard that Central Plains sent an envoy to propose marriage, so they sent an envoy to my father too, asking me to be the main Yanzhi.
My mother was quite angry with this proposal, and I was angry too. The Great Chanyu of Yuezhi was obviously my uncle, and his beard even became gray, but he still wanted to marry me as his main Yanzhi. I would never marry an old man. My father was not willing to offend Central Plains, nor would he offend Yuezhi, so he had no choice but to postpone this thing. However, the two envoys both lived in the city, and it was difficult to avoid their proposals completely. Therefore, I made up my mind to sneak out to my grandfather's.
Every autumn, Tujue’s notabilities would hunt in the pastures at the other side of Tian Gen mountain. People in Central Plains called this event as "Autumn Hunt". My grandfather would always send someone to pick me up around this event. Especially these two years, his health condition was not good, so I would be taken to him every year. He once said to me, “Seeing you is like seeing your mother, I am so happy.” According to Tujue’s traditions, the daughter who has married cannot go to her direct parents' home, unless she is abandoned by her husband and parents-in-law. So every time my mother was also happy to send me to visit my grandpa and her relatives in Tujue.
I secretly told my mother about this plan. She didn’t want me to marry to Central Plains, neither to marry Yuezhi, so she prepared the water and dry food for me without father's knowledge. As my father was not in the city, I slipped away.
I rode the little red horse, running towards Tian Gen mountain.
The city was surrounded by mountains on three sides. The Yan Zhi mountain extended from the west to the north, the towering mountain resembling a dragon, or a giant's arms embracing the city. The mountain blocked the wind and the cold, making the city at its foot a warm oasis. The Tian Gen mountain was in the east. It was a lonely mountain like the screen sold by the merchants from Central Plains, standing tall in the clouds with its peak covered in snow. It was said that no one could climb all the way up this mountain. Bypassing it was a boundless and beautiful grassland, which was mother's hometown.
Before leaving the city, I left a note to Shifu. Shifu had been very busy recently, and since Gu Xiao Wu came here, I had never seen Shifu. I thought if I went to Tujue, I would have to be back after the winter. So I left a note to remind him to feed A’Ma and A’Xia in his backyard. A’Ma and A’Xia were two little gerbils that I accidentally caught. Father didn’t allow me to raise gerbils in my own room, so I turned to Shifu.
Taking advantage of the cool weather, I followed behind a caravan leaving the city at night. The caravan rode to the west, while I turned to the east.
The desert at night was really quiet. The black-velvet-like sky was so low that it seemed I could touch the stars. They were big and bright, low in the sky. I was reminded of the cool dew on the grape leaves.
I crossed large sand dunes and saw the sparse needlegrass to confirm that I did not go the wrong way. I followed this route almost every year, but at that time there was always cavalry sent by my grandfather to protect me. Today I was alone. The little red horse ran briskly in the direction of the big dipper. I began to consider that after seeing my grandfather, I would ask him to let the slaves catch a bird that could sing for me.
When the sky was turning bright, I felt very sleepy. The red sun would be coming out soon, and the sky in the east began to glow in the light purple. The stars had disappeared, and the blue-gray sky revealed a kind of white, reminiscent of the sheepskins that had just been peeled off by the slaves who turned over the steaming skins, which steamed half of the sky up turning into the early morning mist. I knew that I had to find a place to rest – the sun in the afternoon could kill me, and it was not a good time to hurry on with my journey.
After walking across a shallow river, I found a shady hill, so I rolled out of my saddle upon the ground and let the horse go to eat grass. I slept with a dry food being my pillow. I had been sleeping until the dusk fell. The sun shone in my face, making me feel very uncomfortable, and then I woke up.
I took the dry food from my package and ate some. Then I drank half a bag of water and filled the bag with water again before I whistled.
In a short while, I heard the sound of the little red horse's hooves. It happily rushed toward me and snorted. It stopped beside me and kissed my hand intimately. I touched its mane: “Are you full up?” Unfortunately, it couldn’t talk, but it looked at me with his eyes. I saw myself reflected in its warm, big eyes. I patted it on the belly and it suddenly hummed uncomfortably.
I felt a bit strange as the little red horse kept digging the grassland. It seemed very uneasy – were there wolves nearby?
The wolves from prairie were the most dangerous. They flocked in groups and dared to fight against the monkeys. A shepherd living alone would also be attacked. But now it was autumn, a season with plenty of water and lush grass. There were now yellow sheep and hares everywhere, so the wolves had plenty of foods. At this time they were usually hidden in Tian Gen mountain and should not be seen here.
But there must be a reason for the little red horse being so irritating. I mounted a horse and ran forward to the foot of Tian Gen mountain. To see the junction of Tujue and Western Liang, one had to turn around the mountain foot. Mom had sent a servant to give a letter to grandfather, and someone would pick me up there. It was safer to go to a place where there were people.