CFB Chapter 120

Translator – Xiao He Lian

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Chapter 120

 

Shen Yao slowly closed her eyes and recalled the night when she was fifteen and had her wedding with Wu Li.

The marriage customs of the tribe were completely different from those in Chang’an. When men get married, they drink, sing and dance around the bonfire, just like a grand dinner party.

The moonlight spread across the vast land, and she was sent to the prince’s tent.

What was she thinking at that moment?

Crying was unlucky, so she didn’t dare to cry, but all she could hear was the words that man said to her.

“Of course I will marry you.”

“Why should I be scared to swear? Just listen! If I, Sui Yu, bully you in the future,  I will be left alone forever……” When Sui Yu said this, Shen Yao covered his mouth.

“Yaoyao, in a few days, I will come to propose marriage.”

Sui Yu, how many days will it take?

Just then, Wu Li pushed the door open.

He wears a Uyghur-style pointed felt hat with a tasseled strap under the chin, a dark red brocade long robe, a decorated belt with metal ornaments[mfn](A xièdié dài was a type of belt often with hanging ornaments or pouches, used by steppe nomads and frequently seen in Uyghur and Tang dynasty imagery.)[/mfn], and traditional Uyghur Liuhe[mfn](These high, sturdy boots were worn by both Chinese and Central Asian riders. The term “Liuhe boots” refers to a particular style of riding boots suitable for horse-riding cultures.) [/mfn] boots. He walked slowly towards her.

Behind him were four followers, all wearing pointed felt hats with braids hanging down their backs, wearing large pleated clothes, and with three small knives on their waists. At the end, there was also a nodding interpreter.

Wu Li waved away his followers, left the interpreter behind, and sat next to Shen Yao.

Wu Li’s mother was Khan’s concubine Luo Jiana, who was also the favorite woman of Baoyi Khan. In addition to her noble status, a woman was favored because of her extraordinary appearance. Khan’s concubine obviously had both.

Therefore, Wu Li was more handsome than other princes, with deep eyes, high eyebrows, and a tall and strong body. Shen Yao, who sat beside him, was like a flower budding under a big tree.

Wu Li looked at the girl in front of him, the girl who was so fragile that she seemed like she could fly away with a gust of wind. His heart, which had been bloodthirsty for many years, softened a little. He raised his hand and touched her face. Seeing her tremble slightly, he smiled happily.

Immediately afterwards, Shen Yao was held in his arms, and his rough big hands gently rubbed her back. When her clothes were half undressed, but the interpreter was standing beside her.

They couldn’t communicate in the same language, but matters between men and women didn’t require language. After they had rubbed against each other, Wu Li held Shen Yao’s head and placed it on his knees.

At that time, how could Shen Yao know what he meant, until the man brought the terrifying thing closer to her… She screamed in fear, grabbed the female interpreter’s hand, and asked: “What is he going to do?”

Wu Li frowned, looked at the interpreter confused, then smiled and whispered a few words.

The interpreter’s face turned red as she gritted her teeth and conveyed these words to Shen Yao.

“Your Highness, the prince asks you if you are willing to serve him in this way.”

Of course she didn’t want to.

On the night of her wedding, she rebelled against Wu Li and tried her best to break free from his shackles. But she was afraid of angering the second prince of the Uighurs, so after calming down, she covered her face and sobbed, “I won’t, I don’t dare, I’m afraid, I don’t like others standing next to me.”

Wu Li thought of her origin and felt sorry for her young age, so he patted her shoulder and said, “Don’t be afraid.”

Seeing that she was trembling violently, Wu Li drove the interpreter out. In the middle of the night, in the dark, Wu Li took her body in the most gentle way.

Afterwards, the man bit her ear again, as if he was angry, and she couldn’t understand what he said.

Although the women on the grassland were passionate and lively, their faces cannot compare with Shen Yao’s delicate features and gentle demeanor. Because she was rare, she was particularly precious.

What’s more, Wu Li fell in love with her at first sight.

After that night, Wu Li loved her even more. He not only built a separate kitchen for her, but also employed the cook she brought from the Central Plains. He often ate with her and even learned Chinese for her.

If that incident had not happened, Shen Yao would probably have continued to live like this, just as a fish cannot live without water, she cannot live without her husband Wu Li.

The peaceful days lasted for about a year. One morning, Wu Li suddenly rushed into the tent, dragged Shen Yao off the couch, looked down at her, and asked in a cold voice, “Who is Sui Yu?”

Shen Yao took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and didn’t dare to answer easily.

Wu Li continued, “Is the character embroidered on your handkerchief his name? Do you admire him?”

Shen Yao forced herself to remain calm.

That handkerchief was her only keepsake, but she had hidden it away early and had never taken it out. To know so much about it, he must have heard something.

Her rebuttal at this moment would be a lie. But how could she admit it… How could she admit in front of her husband that she had another man in her heart?

For a man as unruly as Wu Li, would he let her go?

Obviously not.

Wu Li lifted her collar with one hand, his expression cold. Shen Yao saw that his rough palm was about to strangle her throat.

Shen Yao had never seen this man angry, and her eyes instantly turned red with fright.

After staring at each other for a long time, Wu Li put her down and walked out of the tent. She breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the ground.

After Wu Li left, she began to investigate who had spread the news. The maid beside her told her that the female interpreter had gone to Wu Li’s tent this morning.

Shen Yao fell on the couch and breathed deeply, then suddenly came to her senses.

The interpreter was found for her by her good friend Third young lady Xu. When she learned that she was going to marry far away, she immediately sent the interpreter to the Marquis’s mansion.

She remembered Third young lady Xu saying, “Yaoyao, most of the interpreters in the Court of State Ceremonial are men, and it would be inconvenient for them to follow you, so I decided to find a female interpreter for you, and wish you a safe journey.”

When she heard these words, she was so grateful.

Third young lady Xu knew everything about her and Sui Yu.

She didn’t say it earlier or later, but chose to stab her when Wu Li was treating her best. It was obviously planned in advance.

After this, Wu Li did not visit her for a long time, not even once. Without Wu Li’s love, the first to change their attitude were Wu Li’s concubines. One of them, Leman, drew her bow and pointed a sharp arrow at her forehead during a hunting feast.

She was laughing, and the other concubines were laughing with her.

Shen Yao didn’t understand, but she knew what they were laughing at.

They were laughing at a fake princess who had lost her husband’s favor and had nothing left, unable to even say a word.

They looked at her and asked, “Your Highness, Princess of the Great Jin, do you want to go back to the Central Plains?”

The sharp iron was pressed against his forehead, and Shen Yao felt uneasy, but her eyes did not avoid it.

She guessed that her stubborn look must be extremely ridiculous in the eyes of the man surrounded by concubines.

In the end, it was a Khan’s concubine who rescued her.

No matter whether she was a real princess or a fake one, she was a princess who was married off to a foreign country, and her life must be saved.

That night, Wu Li drank a lot of wine and walked into her tent. He grabbed her chin roughly and asked her in authentic Mandarin, “Am I not good to you? Why are you so indecisive?”

“I dined with you every day.”

“I learned Chinese for you.”

“I ignored others because of you.”

“Yonghe, what about you?”

He said these few words while drunk, and without waiting for her answer, he turned and left.

Shen Yao can not use words to describe the growth that night brought her, in the most difficult circumstances, she did not think about the illusory love, nor did she think about the humiliation brought to her by his concubines.

She drew aside the curtain to look at the Uighur moon, and pondered over Wu Li’s words.

Over and over again…

She suddenly realized.

A man like Wu Li would only remember how much he has given, but he doesn’t remember how much she has done for him.

His anger comes from the fact that his efforts have not been rewarded, and this was also where his unwillingness lies.

If Shen Yao chased him out and imitated his concubines to bend over and please him, perhaps she would soon be replaced by the next woman.

So, after several days, Shen Yao still didn’t make any move. Wu Li gave her a chance, but she still didn’t take it.

But this was someone else’s territory, so if she wanted to put on airs she had to consider her own status.

During this period, Shen Yao only did one thing – learning Uighur.

She would never let herself get into such a vulnerable situation again. Next time, whether it was Lehman or Ivy, no one would dare to say anything in front of her that she couldn’t understand.

This news soon reached Wu Li’s ears.

At night, Wu Li leaned against her and asked, “Do you know you are wrong?”

Shen Yao was gambling, as if risking everything, and whispered in Wu Li’s ear: “You like me, so you asked His Majesty for me. Before that, did you ask me if I had someone else in my heart? I left my homeland and my family to follow you here. What have I done wrong?”

Wu Li’s eyes were filled with anger as he pinched her waist tightly, annoyed that she was disobedient, but he couldn’t utter a word to refute.

Shen Yao continued, “You ignored me and allowed your concubines to humiliate me, but…but Wu Li, I can’t go back to Chang’an, never again. I just want to be your wife.”

“That was all in the past…what did I do wrong?”

Wu Li’s face was tense, and the strength became lighter and lighter. The man’s heart softened completely then he closed his eyes and groaned. He raised his hand to wipe her tears and said word by word: “No one will bully you in the future.”

This grassland man has a great advantage: he does what he says.

In the next three years, Wu Li taught her how to hunt and how to ride horses. Everything she knew was taught to her by Wu Li. Shen Yao was willful and asked him to teach her personally. Wu Li was willing to coax her, so he did as she wished.

Except for her cheeks that could not turn red by the wind, she looked more and more like a woman who was born and raised on the grassland.

Wu Li poured more and more affection into her, he no longer called her Yonghe, he called her Yaoyao.

Yaoyao

Yaoyao

Four years, more than a thousand days and nights, Shen Yao almost forgot that in that distant dream, there was someone who used to call her like this.

The next morning, Shen Yao woke up in the Shen Mansion. She watched Shen Zhen lift up Shen Hong and cover his ears. She looked at her elder sister with a smile on her face and turned back to call her, “Yao Yao, I bought you some chestnut cakes. Come here quickly.”

Shen Yao responded and turned over and got down to the ground.

She was not greedy, it was enough to come back once.

Four days later, it was the first day of the first lunar month in the nineteenth year of Yuanqing.

Wu Li came to take her into the palace for a state banquet.

She looked at the towering palace gate and smiled.

Empress Xu, Third Young Lady Xu, are you all doing well?

 

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The people from the Court of State Ceremonial brought envoys from various parties into the palace. The wind was cold and biting. Lu Yan was patrolling outside the gate.

The majestic palace gate opened like the gate to heaven, and envoys from various countries, dressed in gorgeous clothes and holding a wide variety of tributes, waited outside the hall.

Everything outside the palace was exactly the same as in his dream.

Only the interior of the palace has changed.

The lights in the center of the hall were bright as day, and there was delicious food and beautiful women everywhere.

Emperor Chengyuan, who was sitting next to Empress Xu, had a clear gaze and a majestic demeanor.

The Crown Prince sat beside him.

The eunuch at the door shouted: “All envoys, enter the palace——”

 

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T/N – 7 more chapters to go!!🥳🥳