You Are My String Of Fate

2.8 || Virtuous To One's Husband

Anluo spurred his horse to trot towards Yuzhen's, "Master, all the troops are ready."

"I'll let General Hou know," Yuzhen looked towards the horizon, dust settling from the hooves of the horses whose riders had just finished their morning training. Languidly flicking his horse's reins, he headed towards the Nan Shu camp. The dark brown horse let out a low snort, its head proudly held high. Before, Anluo's own mount had cowered before the beast.

Khagan Yuzhen's steed was one of the best, and was capable of long distance travel. In fact, where everyone else had to change their horse throughout the journey from the north to Nan Shu, Yuzhen kept using the same horse as his mount. The animal was once a wild one. It was said, the horse was once the alpha of its pack; it could even kill the wolves of the north, before Yuzhen finally managed to tame it.

The Khagans were usually people blessed by nature, favored by their ancestors. They were as resilient in barren deserts as they were in precarious forests. Most of them were adept swimmers as well. They became the role models to the rest of the population in the north.

The only downside to their country was that the bloodline was thinning with every generation. A lot of the men perished in wars, and because they only had one wife, their offsprings could not keep up with the frequent deaths. Because the Khagans were considered the cream of the crop for the men, their marriages were considered a national matter. Every single citizen in the north expect the Khagans to marry fast to secure their strong genes to be passed on to the next generation.

Nonetheless, Yuzhen was of the same opinion with the current King, Khagan Yungao. Their ancestry believed for a pair of man and woman to be a perfect circle of balance. To have more than one woman as a partner would damage the harmony.

Anluo thought Yuzhen was pitiful. The Nan Shu Prince was correct; almost everyone in the north thought the last daughter of the Liu clan was going to be betrothed to one of the still-bachelor Khagans. Yuzhen was naturally one of them. Although no agreement was set in stone, the Liu clan's elder daughter, who had passed away with her Khagan husband, was every bit a legend amongst the menfolk. She was beautiful as well as wise, and she bore nine children for her husband.

She was considered perfect. Unfortunately, the pair of loving husband and wife was killed during internal strife.

Thus, the surviving sons and brothers of the late Khagan united all northern territories and bestowed heavy punishments for those showing signs of revolting. Khagan Yuzhen, although still young in his early twenties, swore brotherhood with the current King and assisted greatly in uniting the citizens and drove away the outlaws from their fertile lands.

Nan Shu dynasty used to be in a lukewarm, if not hostile relationship with the khaganate, but that changed the past couple of years. Although Anluo and Yuzhen had met and faced Hou Feihong and Hua Mulan a number of times before in battlefields, they were now considered allies.

Nan Shu Emperor promised three - not just one - of his own daughters to be sent to the north as brides. Three Nan Shu Emperor's daughters were more valuable than a noble clan's daughter, no matter how old and prestigious the Liu clan used to be. Khagan Yungao did not have any objection either. A handful of the Khagans in the north were still without wives, and three Nan Shu Princesses seemed to show the Emperor's sincerity.

Yuzhen had been indifferent when the King offered one of the future Nan Shu princesses to be his wife. However, the alliance was only fresh and the Nan Shu Emperor used the excuse of Prince Hou's grand wedding to postpone sending his daughters.

Thus Yuzhen and Anluo, as well as a number of their troops, headed to Liulin town to extend their perfunctory congratulations for the Prince of Ping manor. However, how could Anluo not notice Yuzhen's gaze when they saw the bridal procession on Liu Qirong's wedding day? He was sure his Khagan had never seen the lady prior that day, and her features were hidden behind her wedding veil and dress. But Yuzhen seemed to be entranced when he kept saying, "That woman... has to have a happy life!"