The first volume is rising with great winds and flying clouds Thirty-three wishes

  In the spring of the 9th year of Han, in the third month, the Xiongnu again knocked on the Han border and asked for a Han princess. Emperor Gao sent Liu Jing as an envoy to enter the Xiongnu. Liu Jing explained that the only princess of the Great Han had been married for many years and had given birth to a son and a daughter, so it was not suitable to marry her again to form an alliance with the Xiongnu. It would be better to choose a young and beautiful virgin from among the imperial clan women and appoint her as the Princess of Long to fulfill the alliance.

  Modu Chanyu and the nobles in the felt tent looked at each other and smiled, saying "We Huns don't care if she has been married before, as long as she is a true princess, there will be a place for her in my palace."

  Everyone in the room burst out laughing.

  Liu Jing's mind was racing with thoughts, but he suppressed the faint sense of unease in his heart and cupped his hands to report: "If the Khan attaches such importance to my Han Emperor's bloodline, I have a plan."

  "Oh?" He paused, pouring wine and taking a sip "What does this mean?"

  ……

  In April, Liu Jing returned from the Xiongnu. Empress Lü Zhi and Zhongzheng Liu Li selected a 17-year-old girl named Liu Danru from among the Liu clan as a candidate for marriage to the Xiongnu chanyu.

  Liu Bang met Liu Dan in the great hall and only felt that this woman's face was beautiful, but her temperament was gentle and soft, like the fragrant osmanthus flowers outside the Zheng'an Hall. He wondered and asked, "Is this woman really good to be sent to Xiongnu? Will Modu appreciate this?"

  "Why not?" Yu Shi Zhao Yao, holding the white jade dragon-topped imperial seal, smiled and said, "Mo Dun is used to seeing the beauty of the robust women from the northern regions, who knows, maybe he's infatuated with Dan Ruo's gentle charm?"

  Liu Bang smiled and said "That's also true." He took over the seal, dipped it in the purple ink made from Gansu Wu Du and pressed it onto the imperial edict.

  Now there is a Han imperial relative Liu Zhang's fourth daughter Dan Ruxian Shu Wen De Zhao Cai Ri Yue Sai Feng as the Princess of Xuping, with a fief in Xuping County. The decree said: "Approved".

  Zhong Chanshu wrote a second imperial edict, which Zhao Yao received with the Emperor's seal. The edict read:

  Now the Han dynasty has a princess, Liu Xijun, who is wise and virtuous, with a reputation that shines like the sun and moon. She will be married to the great chanyu of the Xiongnu, Modu, to form an alliance between the two countries.

  The fate of Liu Shi's life was sealed in these few lines.

  In the ninth year of Han, in the summer of May, the people of Chang'an had just walked out of the joy of Dragon Boat Festival. The carriage of Princess Changle was about to leave Chang'an. A spacious palace car with a black lacquer finish stopped in front of the Long乐 Temple. A white bundle of feathers was tied on top, fluttering in the wind. Three hundred elite soldiers from the north, wearing armor and holding spears, guarded both sides. One person held up a red flag with a black border, with large Chinese characters written in the middle, solemn and ancient. Amidst the sound of drums and music, Princess Changle, dressed in formal attire, bid farewell to her "father emperor" and stepped out of the temple, step by step, walking towards the palace car, also walking towards her unpredictable fate.

  The sedan chair was set up, and Dan stepped onto it. As he got into the car, he caught a glimpse of his parents standing in the corner out of the corner of his eye. His heart ached, and tears were about to flow down. He hurriedly held back his tears and lifted the curtain to get into the car, only then could he let his tears flow freely.

  The master of ceremonies loudly proclaimed: The imperial carriage has left the palace.

  The imperial carriage of Princess Chang Le drove out of the west gate of Chang Le Palace, passed through Zhang Tai Street, Qu Du Street and Hua Yang Street, and finally exited from the horizontal gate. All the way to the Xiongnu, it passed through Nan Ping Li and Dong Shi, the most bustling places in Chang'an City. The hustle and bustle of the people of Chang'an could not understand the sorrow of Princess Chang Le sitting in the imperial carriage, or rather, they were not personally related to her, although they had foreseen the hardships, but could not feel the same way, so they sighed, curiously, and crowded around to watch. The imperial carriage was escorted by 300 elite northern soldiers, with two fine horses pulling it. Occasionally, the summer breeze blew up the curtain, revealing Princess Chang Le's elegant and dignified face sitting upright.

  "This Princess Shupingchang is a beauty." A 18 or 19-year-old boy dressed as a book boy muttered to himself in the crowd of Dongshi.

  To be fair, Princess Ping of the First Rank was more beautiful than Madame Ru Yuan by at least three points.

  "What's the use of being beautiful?" A five or six-year-old young master beside her sighed, fanning himself with a feather fan. "It's still a short life for a beauty." He slightly raised his head, and the profile of his wrist and fingers holding the fan was as white as snow, even whiter than the goose feathers on the fan. Everyone present couldn't help but sigh at this sight. Whose family's young master had such good looks? When he grew up, wouldn't he be like Yan Yinhongzi from the Liu Hou family, captivating half of the girls in Chang'an City?

  "The young master" Shu Tong slightly frowned and advised, "Master Hou had just agreed to let you out, can't you be a bit happier and enjoy the excitement?"

  "Who says I'm here to watch the excitement?"

  I didn't come here to watch the excitement.

  I don't have the qualifications to treat her as a lively event because she is my substitute mother who went to Xiongnu and relatives. Although this replacement cannot be blamed entirely on Lu Yuan's head, but I really can't treat her as a lively event.

  But what you see as excitement is a life of sorrow and unpredictability for her.

  The wheels rolled by in front of Zhang Yan, and for a moment the red-brown woven curtain fluttered. Zhang Yan caught a glimpse of Liu Danru's half-profiled face and the tear marks under her eyes.

  I just came to see you off.

  Zhang Yan unconsciously followed the imperial carriage for a few steps before coming back to her senses.

  I didn't actually want to come see you off, so I had been hesitating for several nights and hadn't decided whether to ask Dad to take me out today. I had already given up on coming, but this morning after getting up, I stared blankly at the window for a while and suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to come here and send you off.

  So I stand here today.

  I'm actually afraid to face you.

  Because facing you, I see my selfishness. "Han family's history is full of foolish and clumsy things." I always thought I pitied women like you who were forced to take the place of their fathers and brothers on the long and winding road of marriage. But when your wedding procession passed in front of me, I realized that I wouldn't even take one step out to stop this tragedy and save you, simply because you are not my mother.

  You're not the one I care about.

  So I can ignore your bitter farewell and watch you slowly embark on a journey that belongs to you.

  I once questioned Liu Jing for my mother, and this family reunion would make me lose my mother and destroy our home. I thought I was brave. Now I realize it wasn't me, but just selfishness. I desperately wanted to keep my mother, and now that I've got what I wanted, the people in the imperial carriage have changed, and you are a stranger to me, so I am hesitant to move forward.

  You made me see my own weakness. I thought I stood alone, awake and clear-headed in this era of ignorance, with a vision and understanding two thousand years ahead of the rest. But it was you who made me realize that I too can compromise. I used to hold on to my personal will above all else, but now, standing among the masses in Chang'an, I am not superior to them after all. I have even begun to slightly identify with this marriage that overturned your fate, although it is cruel to you, it is beneficial to the entire Han Dynasty. So I ignored the blood and tears that spread throughout the palace and carriage journey, perhaps one person's blood and tears are worth more than those of thousands, but that person's blood and tears are also the mournful cry of a cuckoo, for her, it is the collapse of heaven and earth.

  "Gongzi" hastily grabbed her hand and asked "What's wrong? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

  Zhang Yan dazedly wiped away the tears on her cheek and said "I don't know either." She just felt like crying so she cried.

  Tears fell on her cheeks like a string of pearls, and she hastily used a handkerchief to wipe them away. However, the more she wiped, the more tears flowed out, until finally, she cried out in defeat, "If you cry again, I'll cry too!"

  I never thought I could hold out alone for so long, but I also never thought my compromise would come so soon.

  I once said to Liu Jing and Emperor Gao standing behind him: Can you ask for the wishes of those women who are married off? What gives you the right to decide their lives? Just because of your words, a happy family can be broken apart in an instant. —— My mother, Lu Yuan, did not want to marry into the Xiongnu tribe, so she placed a sharp bronze sword on her neck and said with a strong and sad tone: If you must make me marry, then send my corpse to the Xiongnu instead. —— Dan Yu, as the emperor's daughter, didn't even have the qualification to resist by killing herself, could only shed tears and smile while sitting in the palace carriage, accepting her fate. And under your reflection, my hypocrisy and weakness made me feel so ashamed, it can be described with the sharpest language: As long as the person who went to marry was not my mother, even if there was another family experiencing the sorrow of breaking apart somewhere I didn't know —— what does that have to do with me?

  Do you know? I think I will soon forget you. —— Zhang Yan stood on the spot, looking up at the imperial carriage slowly moving away in the distance. The magnificent and spacious crimson palace carvings on the back of the dragon pattern were vividly lifelike. —— These people who stand with me to see you off, whether they are sighing or lamenting or angry, will also soon forget you. Not everyone can face their own shortcomings with equanimity, you are a saint. You are the shame of the entire Han Dynasty because your carriage heading towards the Xiongnu Desert represents the powerlessness of the Han men to protect their homeland, and the silk-wrapped Princess Pingyang is the sacrificial offering given by the Han court to the Xiongnu.

  They don't want to think of you because it reminds them of their weakness.

  I don't want to think of you because you make me see my own selfishness and hypocrisy.

  The Great Han Dynasty presented the best silk, brocade, wine, rice and food, along with the beautiful Princess of Long to exchange for a temporary peace treaty with the Xiongnu. Then they indulged in the fleeting peace obtained by your fragile and trembling body, and afterwards, as if nothing had happened, forgot about you.

  I am not much better than them, but at this moment I stand behind you and wish you a smooth and less difficult life, longevity, and no nostalgia.

  Less look back at the hometown ah grassland more cattle and sheep healthy children may also become a source of comfort for you. I know this language is very weak, but I still wish you all the best on your destined bumpy road to be smoother.

  I have a cold.

  Headache and fever ask for pink ballot.

  If everything goes smoothly today, there will be two updates.