Chapter 28
We hurriedly led the cavalry to search for He Shi. While I was worried to death, Gu Xiao Wu said: "Tujue people die hard." Originally, I thought his remark was a comfort to me, but it made me annoyed.
We looked for He Shi around Tian Gen mountain till the sun was about to set. I was almost desperate. When would we find He Shi since the mountain was huge? I hoped He Shi was not eaten by wolves, otherwise, grandfather's heart would be broken. Meanwhile, I was wondering He Shi was a well-known warrior on the grasslands who could not be eaten easily even if he had no horses or arrows. He would survive.
While the sun was about to set and the wind blew cold at night, the scout at the front of the line suddenly shouted loudly, which made me rein the horse. I asked: "What's up?" Those cavalries shouted in Central Plains Mandarin and I saw He Shi climbing out of the rocks with one sharp-edged stone in his left hand and some blood on his right arm. There were several people behind him, who had climbed up and stood on the rocks. Although they looked embarrassed with faces covered with dust, they stared at the cavalry of the Central Plains fearlessly still like warriors.
Screaming and dismounting, I rolled and crawled all the way to He Shi and embraced him. I might have touched his wound that made him frowned. However, he grinned at once: "Hello, my little Crown Princess!" Everyone was jubilant including the cavalry of the Central Plains who felt happier than winning a battle in the morning.
(Original Translation from WWW。wangmamaread。com)
We camped at the foot of Tian Gen mountain in the evening. People from the Central Plains didn't take many tents, but they gave them to the injured. He Shi's right arm was fractured, so the chiliarch asked someone to cover He Shi's wound with traditional Chinese herbs, but He Shi didn't even make a sound. After finding He Shi, I felt relieved and wolfed down a crusty pancake. Gu Xiao Wu sat opposite to me and looked at me while I was eating, which made me choke on the last bite. Seeing I was choked, Gu Xiao Wu laughed without giving me a cup of water.
I found my water pocket with an effort and took a mouthful of water to swallow that pancake. I didn't make a fuss with him because I had something to ask him, "How on earth did you persuade the protectorate to send cavalry last night at Grand Protectorate General to Pacify the West?" Gu Xiao Wu grinned and showed his white teeth, "I told him that if he refused my request, there would be no quality tea for him." "I believe what you had said – No!"
Looking up into the sky, I found the stars were bright and resembled innumerable storm lanterns that were thin and shining from afar. There was a faint white band in the middle, which was a river of stars. According to the legend, it was the place where gods bathed. While bathing, gods scooped up stars by hand, which was like we picked up sand, and thousands of stars leaked through the fingers of the gods and went back to the Milky Way. Occasionally, one star splashed out and became a meteor. Just then, there was a twinkling meteor, flying across the sky like a bright arrow and disappearing in a flash. "Oh," I shouted. It was said that knotted the lace and made a wish after seeing the meteor, your wish would come true. However, I was so awkward that I either forgot to make a wish or to tie a lace every time I saw a meteor... I lay on the grass annoyedly and the meteors had long disappeared. Gu Xiao Wu asked me, "Why did you shout?" "There was a meteor flying by!" "Is a meteor so strange?" "Knot the lace and make a wish after seeing the meteor, your wish would come true," I was not in the mood to tell him about that. "You people from the Central Plains don't understand it." He seemed to laugh, "What are you going to wish for?" I buttoned my lip and didn't answer. I was not so impatient. But I didn't expect that after a short pause, he then said in a prolonged tone, "Oh, I know, you wished to marry the Crown Prince of Central Plains." I was so mad that I almost jumped from my feet, "What is good about the Crown Prince of Central Plains? I will never marry him!" He continued with a smile, "I know you are not willing to marry him, of course, you should wish to marry me." I realized that I was trapped into a trick of him, then I gave out a "pooh" and stopped talking to him.
