The person was wearing a beige Hanfu, with a beautiful face and long black hair neatly tied up. She looked like an elegant black orchid waiting for the breeze in the dark night. The deep pupils revealed a kind of dark darkness hidden in the calmness, slender and beautiful but not lacking in coldness and sharpness. Although the clothes were not luxurious, her gestures were elegant and moderate, and there was a hint of pride.
When she saw the familiar eyes, Na Luo's heart moved slightly. The memories buried deep in her heart seemed to be mobilized by these eyes. Yes. She had never forgotten those eyes. That vivid black seemed to have drilled into her heart. Even after many, many years, even if she had forgotten his face, she would never forget the light shining in those eyes in the dark night.
But...how could it be possible? How could that person appear here?
"He started killing people right after arriving in Loulan. Could this be the birthday gift that Prince Hulugu of the Xiongnu gave to the king?" The man smiled calmly.
Hearing the name Hulugu, Na Luo was even more shocked. All his previous imaginations collapsed... Is this really the same person that Usma said?
"Then this Han envoy, who hurt my people right after arriving in Loulan, is he trying to cause trouble on the king's birthday?" Hulugu's reaction was not slow, and she judged the identity of the visitor at a glance.
"I took action just because I didn't want to add more killings on the king's birthday. Since everyone is here as a guest, we must understand the rules of being a guest." The curve of the man's lips deepened, "Your Highness Hulugu, you should understand this principle better than me, right?"
On the most prosperous street in the capital of Loulan, two groups of people from the most powerful country today met on a narrow road. The calm eyes met the cold wolf-like eyes... Almost everyone present felt the powerful aura of the two.
At this time, a soft voice called out a name, "Fu... Zhao?"
Hearing this name, the Han envoy's body shook slightly, and immediately set his eyes on Na Luo's face. Just now, because he was eager to save people, he didn't pay attention to her appearance. But now, he can see it clearly-the girl in front of him is like a precious and clear spring at the end of the desert, and like a breeze blowing in the face in the hot summer. The long light brown hair was tied into a dozen braids, swaying and hanging down at the waist, and the glass-colored eyes were like the Peacock River with rippling water under the sun, flashing with shimmering light... Although she has grown up, he still recognized this face deeply engraved in his heart at a glance.
His mind was violently excited, and he couldn't speak for a while.
"Fu Zhao...? You don't recognize me anymore, right?" There was a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"I... How could I not recognize you!" He finally reacted and excitedly grasped her shoulders, "Naro, I didn't expect to meet you here! God bless me, I finally get to see you again one day!"
Seeing that he not only admitted his identity but also recognized her, Na Luo couldn't believe what she saw, and just murmured, "Are you really Fu Zhao? Really Fu Zhao? Why are you here... Am I dreaming?"
Fu Zhao had a lot to say to her, but this occasion was really inconvenient. When he was thinking about finding another place to reminisce about the past, the originally quiet crowd became agitated again. It turned out that the eldest prince and the people from the Duwei Mansion also hurried over after hearing the news. When Isda arrived and saw this somewhat intimate scene, he felt quite uncomfortable and asked with a gloomy face, "Naro, why did you run here?"
When Na Luo saw that it was Isda, he was relieved immediately and pointed at Fu Zhao and explained, "Prince, it was this gentleman who saved me just now. If he hadn't appeared in time, I'm afraid my tongue would have been cut off by someone else." As she spoke, she didn't forget to glare at the culprit who was still covering his hand and humming. Isda looked in the direction of her glare and immediately understood the general idea. Anyone who dares to hurt Na Luo in this world is his enemy. The bearded man clearly felt that the other person had a murderous aura that was no less than that of his master.
"It turned out to be the eldest prince of Loulan. I am Fu Zhao, an envoy of the Han Dynasty who came to congratulate the King of Loulan on his birthday on the order of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty." Fu Zhao stepped forward and saluted without being humble or arrogant.
Istar looked at the corpse over there, then looked at Hulugu who turned a deaf ear, and saluted to the two of them, saying, "Master Fu, Your Highness Hulugu, you have come from afar, and if our Loulan Kingdom has been impolite, please bear with us. You must have been exhausted on the journey, so I will send someone to take you to the inn to rest."
"Prince, this Han envoy hurt my people, are we just going to let it go?" Hulugu said coldly.
Istar said slowly, "I don't know much about this matter. Lord Fu may have been reckless, but Your Highness Hulugu, you should also give me an explanation about the body."
Hulugu glanced at him disapprovingly, "This lowly man tried to assassinate me just now, and I killed him in self-defense. How do you manage your subjects? I am giving you face by not asking you to punish the Loulan Kingdom."
"Your Highness Hulugu, now that man has been killed by you. He has no ability to prove the truth of what you said." A mischievous smile appeared on Fu Zhao's lips.
Seeing that more and more people were around, Isda didn't want to stay here for long. He slowed down his tone and said, "Let's talk about this later. I will find out everything and give you an explanation. It's getting late now. I'll send someone to send the two adults to the posthouse first." He ordered again, "Come here, take this child to the Marquis' Mansion and settle him down first."
As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded man jumped up angrily, "This child is the son of that murderer, he must not be spared!"
"Shut up!" Isda's eyes darkened, his tone was not loud but full of majesty, "Didn't you hear me just now? I said I will find out everything about this matter. This is Loulan Country, what is your identity? Do you still want to cross the line? Do you think your master doesn't exist?" He looked at Hulugu thoughtfully, as if there was something else in his words, "If a servant doesn't even have the ability to recognize his own identity, then he is a hidden danger to his master."
Hulugu's eyes suddenly showed murderous intent, and she raised her hand without hesitation. The knife flashed, blood splashed, and the bearded man's head was chopped off, and it rolled for a long distance before stopping... The bloody scene shocked people and made them retreat in horror. The other guards behind him were expressionless, as if they were used to such things.
Hulugu took back the knife and said calmly, "This stupid guy has brought this upon himself. I will give this as a gift to the eldest prince."
Istar didn't even look at the bearded man's body, and smiled slightly, "Your Highness is polite. My two lords, please go and rest."
Na Luo wanted to talk about the joy of reunion with Fu Zhao, but Ishtar grabbed her and walked towards the carriage. At this time, the two guards rushed over in shock, knelt down and begged for mercy. Ishtar changed his usual gentleness and asked the two men to get 100 military sticks each, and drove them out, not allowing them to set foot on Loulan again.
The carriage was slowly moving on the cobblestone road, and Na Luo felt a repressive and tense atmosphere in the small space. She secretly glanced at the eldest prince sitting opposite, and there was no smile on his face, obviously still angry.
When Na Luo was secretly thinking about how to break this atmosphere, the carriage suddenly shook, and she didn't sit still for a while. She leaned forward and her chin hit his knee, touching the place where she was pinched just now. She couldn't help but cry out in a low voice.
"Na Luo, are you okay?" Ishtar hurriedly checked her injuries, only to see that her chin was pinched and purple, and it was already swollen. There seemed to be a flash of murderous intent in his eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Damn it, you deserved to die."
"Master... that Prince Gulu Gulu was really cruel. He not only killed ordinary people, but also killed his own people so happily." Na Luo was also a little frightened when he thought of the scene just now.
"What Prince Gulu Gulu?" He looked confused.
"Isn't his name Hulugu? Since it's so hard to remember, I'll call him Prince Gulu Gulu." Na Luo blinked.
The corner of Isda's mouth twitched, and a smile seemed to flash across his eyes, but he still had a sullen face. "I heard that Prince Hulugu has always been very suspicious and treats his servants very coldly. Today I deliberately said those words, and he would naturally feel that the idiot had lost his face. On the other hand, he is very smart and knows that a stupid servant will inevitably do bad things. So, I concluded that he would have the intention to kill after hearing my words, and it turned out to be true. But I didn't expect him to do it so quickly... This person is more cruel than I thought. Na Luo, if anyone dares to hurt you, I will never show mercy."
In the faint light, his face showed a kind of complex and unpredictable expression, which made people unable to grasp it. The brown pupils were like an abyss with no bottom to see, surging with cold dark light.
But it was only a short moment, and he quickly restored his original expression.
"If anyone dares to hurt you, I will never show mercy." He repeated this sentence again. It seemed like he was talking to her, but more like he was talking to himself.
Na Luo suddenly raised his head, and their eyes met at that moment. His eyes were like the warm sunshine in the afternoon, gentle as if they could melt everything.
She didn't know why her heart suddenly beat so fast and anxiously.
It was so fast that it seemed like it would jump out of her chest in the next second...
He suddenly held her hand tightly, lowered his voice and said, "Don't run around alone in the future, understand? Don't take risks like this! If something happens to you, tell me what I should do!"
These words made Na Luo stunned there, not knowing whether he was moved or happy. He seemed to realize his slip of the tongue, coughed twice and let go of her hand, "I mean, if I don't have you as my disciple, then I, as a master, wouldn't it be boring."
"Master..." She leaned forward slightly, took his hand and stared into his eyes without blinking, "Nothing will happen to me. I will always be with you, Master!"
Istar smiled and let her hold her hand, saying something strange in a slightly melancholy tone, "Always... How long?"
Outside the carriage, the dense reeds on the river bank were blown by the wind, and the reed flowers fluttered like snowflakes, and their graceful and flying posture carried a kind of pitiful sadness...
The reeds are lush and the white dew turns to frost.
In the following days, Naro often went in and out of the palace of the eldest prince in the name of practicing playing the flute. Ishtar selected six highly skilled musicians to play with Naro. After these years of training, Naro's skills in playing the flute were no less than those of these musicians, and the vigorous vitality in her music was most appreciated by the eldest prince. Therefore, Ishtar was quite confident about the performance on his father's birthday. Although Naro focused most of his attention on the eldest prince, he did not forget what Quehu Hou had ordered. Unfortunately, the second prince and Princess Dana were both watertight and would never reveal any information to the servants. She also tried a series of methods such as hiding under the bed, climbing the beams and listening to the windows, but still got nothing. As the king's birthday was getting closer, she became more and more restless.
That day, Naro and Usma were hanging clothes in the courtyard together. As Usma chatted, he started to talk about the prince Hulugu. It would have been fine if she had heard of him before, but now Na Luo had seen this tough guy. To describe her experience, she could not praise him. But she still kept her mouth shut to Usma, and did not reveal that she had met him and was almost crippled by him.
"Na Luo, look, the lady-in-waiting Mi Ma is back from the palace again." Usma's face was full of envy, "I also want to see the market outside the palace, it must be very interesting."
"She is the princess's confidant, so she is naturally freer than us." Na Luo looked in that direction and saw Lady-in-waiting Mi Ma walking forward with her shoulders hunched. Just as she turned the corner, a round thing fell out of the folds of her skirt... Lady-in-waiting Mi Ma would usually go out of the palace to do things for the princess, so it didn't look suspicious.
Na Luo took advantage of the other party walking away and ran up to pick up the thing. It turned out to be a good bean. There was a pure black hair on the bean, which was soft and flexible, shining brightly in the sun, and smelled like a special animal. She did not ignore this small detail, and gave it to Manya in the afternoon of the same day, asking her to pass it on to Quehu Hou to see if there was any clue.
The next morning, Manya called Na Luo out with a solemn look.
"My Lord said that this should have fallen out of the horse feed, and it is the best horse feed."
Na Luo opened her eyes in surprise, "You mean, Miss Mi Ma went out of the palace to feed the horses? This is a bit absurd, isn't it? Unless-"
"My Lord thinks that this may be related to the birthday gift prepared by the second prince." Manya's next words confirmed her guess, "If the second prince's gift is really a horse, then this is definitely not an ordinary horse. There is a pure black hair on the bean. This horse hair is much finer than ordinary hair, and the hair color is rare and beautiful. It is very likely a rare sweat-blood horse in the world."
"Sweat-blood horse?" Na Luo knew that the King of Loulan was a horse lover, and she had heard a little about the sweat-blood horse. It is said that this horse has a healthy body and is extremely fast. It can travel a thousand miles a day and eight hundred miles a night. The most popular and magical thing is that this horse will sweat like blood after running, which is a top-notch product.
Only Dayuan can produce Ferghana horses in this world. The king of Dayuan loves it more than his life, and he is unwilling to give even one Ferghana horse to others. It is said that the emperor of the Han Dynasty sent envoys to buy it before, but was rejected. This shows how precious this horse is. If the second prince really gives such a horse, he will definitely have the upper hand. "Man Ya frowned, "I didn't expect that he actually had this ability. I don't know how to coax the king of Dayuan to give him a horse."
"What if it's true?" Na Luo also looked worried, "It would be better to confirm it."
"This depends on you." Manya looked at her, "Na Luo, you won't let the adults down, right?"
Na Luo's heart trembled, and he nodded without hesitation, "Please tell the adults to let him rest assured. "
Since that day, Na Luo has paid special attention to the movements of Lady Mima, but Mima no longer ran out of the palace. Na Luo was anxious, but she had no idea what to do. Is there really such a horse? If so, where is it kept? Is this horse really the legendary Ferghana horse? She knew almost nothing about these questions, but the answer was imminent.
Until the night before the king's birthday, she had no chance to solve the mystery. Just when Na Luo was anxious, the opportunity finally came! She was surprised to find that Lady Mima was about to leave the palace again.
Na Luo had slipped to the side of the carriage where Lady Mima usually sat. This carriage seemed impossible to hide in, but she had to follow Lady Mima tonight, and this was her last chance. After hesitating for a few seconds, she gritted her teeth, bent down and got to the bottom of the carriage, and grabbed the crossbar under the carriage in mid-air.
Not long after, Lady Mima took Chuyue on the carriage. Along the way, Na Luo always maintained this difficult posture in the narrow space. She was almost shaken out several times during the bumps, and her back scraped against the ground countless times, and her tender skin was crushed by gravel and it was painful. But as long as she thought that this was for the eldest prince, she felt that no matter how much hardship she had, it was worth it.
I don't know how long the carriage has been driving, and it finally stopped at a place. When she was sure that there was no one around, Na Luo quietly got out from under the carriage. What appeared in front of her was a very inconspicuous bungalow, and ordinary people would not notice this place at all. As soon as she walked in, she could smell a strong smell that belonged only to animals. There were also some hay and feed scattered on the ground, which looked like a place for raising animals. Na Luo tiptoed forward, and suddenly saw the figures of Lady Mima and Chuyue not far away, and they flashed into a place that looked like a stable.
Na Luo hurried up to listen to the wall. Through the gap of the wooden lattice window, she vaguely saw two young men gesturing to the female official Mi Ma with their hands. And Mi Ma nodded frequently, obviously familiar with the man's way of expression. Not far from the female official Mi Ma, there was indeed a black horse tail swaying gently. But due to the limitation of vision, Na Luo could not see the whole picture of the horse, so she had to wait and look for opportunities.
The two young men who used gestures to express also surprised Na Luo. Could it be that the two men were deaf and dumb?
"Female official Mi Ma, what are they talking about?" Chu Yue asked puzzled.
"What they mean is that the horse has been fed and blindfolded, so that it can't tell the difference between day and night and won't make a fuss. It can be sent to the palace smoothly tomorrow morning."
"Then these people..." Chu Yue seemed a little confused.
"This Dayuan Ferghana horse is extremely precious, and it was obtained by the second prince with some tricks. So the second prince specially bought this batch of deaf and dumb Dayuan slaves. These slaves can do the work very well and cannot reveal anything to the outside world, so they are foolproof."
"The second prince's mind is too meticulous." Chu Yue sighed.
"So he is the most suitable candidate for the future King of Loulan." Mi Ma's tone seemed to be quite appreciative of him, "This birthday gift will definitely please your majesty." As she said that, her tone changed again, "Chu Yue, you are someone I value, so I brought you along this time. You still have a lot to learn."
Chu Yue responded respectfully, with indescribable joy in her tone.
Mi Ma and Chu Yue left soon after. Na Luo did not follow them, but hid in a secluded corner. After finally waiting until the dead of night, she slipped back into the stable.
This time, she finally saw the pure black Arabian horse clearly. What a stunning black it was! Every strand of mane shone like black gold, just like a spiritual object condensed from the spirit of the night.
The black horse obviously heard someone coming in, but because he couldn't see anything with the blindfold on, he couldn't help but shake his tail in annoyance.
"Horse, horse, be obedient, I'll help you take off the blindfold, okay?" Na Luo said as he gently untied its blindfold. To her surprise, the horse seemed to understand her words and didn't move. He even stretched out his tongue to lick her hand. The big brown eyes glowed with a gentle luster, as if containing all human emotions.
Na Luo reached out and touched its mane, feeling conflicted. There is no doubt that if the King of Loulan saw this horse, he would be very surprised. No matter what the eldest prince gave, it would be outdone. In this way, An Gui not only won the favor of the King of Loulan, but also took the limelight in front of the princes and nobles of the Western Regions. It would be bad if the King of Loulan impulsively appointed a candidate for the crown prince on the spot.
But she was just a little maid, how could she stop the horse from entering the palace? Although the guards outside were deaf and dumb, she still couldn't take the horse away at will. What should I do? If it was Quehu Hou here, what would he do?
"If necessary, destroy it." Manya's words before suddenly flashed through Na Luo's mind like thunder. She was shocked and subconsciously rejected this idea. This horse is innocent, how could she bear to do it!
But when she thought of the consequences of offering this horse, Na Luo began to hesitate again. She promised Quehu Hou to let him rest assured, and she also said that she would protect the people she cared about. She was willing to sacrifice herself for the prince, so how could she not kill a horse now? Let her bear this sin alone.
She immediately decided not to be soft-hearted, turned around and pulled out a slender dagger from the sundries beside her, and walked to the front of the black horse. The horse seemed to have sensed some danger, staring at her steadily, and a glimmer of light appeared in its beautiful eyes.
Na Luo's hand trembled, and the dagger almost fell to the ground.
If it was killed with one knife, the second prince would certainly not succeed... But... For some reason, this horse seemed to be destined to her, and she herself felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with this horse. Her troubled mood was tangled together, and the dagger tightly held in her hand could not stab it...