Chapter 26 (Part 1)
I caught the grapes, smiling; then I put one into the mouth and bit the thin peel of it. Suddenly, the cool and sweet juice exploded over my tongue – it was so delicious. I turned back and asked Shifu: "Hey! Do you want to have some?" I never called him Shifu, because I was simply cheated by him to be his apprentice. At that time, we just met, and I didn't know that his swordsmanship was extraordinary. I was provoked by his words and tried my skill of wielding a sword with him. The one who lost in this competition had to respect the other as Shifu. You could imagine how miserable I was in the competition, and I had no choice but to recognize him as my Shifu. Although he was my Shifu, he often made a lot of despicable things. Therefore, I refused to call him Shifu. Fortunately, he did not feel embarrassed and let me feed him from time to time.
Shifu shook his head absently, and he was still talking to the man in a white robe. Occasionally, Shifu also taught me the words written on the books of Central Plains. "Whoever meets Junzi (an ideal man who has noble virtues; it's a Chinese philosophical term) will feel joyful," or "A noble and modest Junzi resembles a warm jade." After hearing for many times, I then believed that Junzi only wore a white robe. Shifu also loved to wear a white robe, but how could he be a Junzi? I would rather say he was more like a rogue.
Gu Xiao Wu stayed in the city of Western Liang. He lived in Shifu's place for the time being. Shifu arranged his house like all the Central Plains' people did, in a refreshing and clean way, and he did not raise camels.
I often went to Shifu's place to play as I used to. Gradually, I was very familiar with Gu Xiao Wu. I heard that he was the young master of the tea house, and most of those who contacted with him were tea merchants from Central Plains. In his room, there were always good tea to drink and delicious foods to eat. Those pastries of Central Plains or other strange gadgets, all attracted me a lot. But what I hated was that Gu Xiao Wu would ask me every time I met him: Ninth princess, when will you marry me?
I felt so annoyed and embarrassed that I finally got irritated. It was all Shifu's fault, as he didn't act like a venerable teacher and stirred up such troubles. Each time, I would respond to him loudly: "I would rather marry the Prince of Central Plains than marry a rogue like you." He laughed.
In fact, in my heart, I didn't want to marry anyone. Western Liang was so good, why bother marrying in Central Plains?
That being said, but the Central Plains' envoys began to urge my father; while Yuezhi, which sat in the north of Yan Zhi mountain, heard that Central Plains sent an envoy to propose marriage to my father, they also sent an envoy to bring a lot of gifts to Western Liang.
Yuezhi was one of the best countries in the Western Region, its people were brave and good at combat, and there were about one hundred thousand warriors in this country. My father did not dare to look down on Yuezhi, so he received Yuezhi's envoy in the palace. I sent a maidservant to eavesdrop on their conversation, and she ran back in a breathless manner and secretly told me that the Yuezhi's envoy also came to propose marriage; furthermore, the groom would be the Great Chanyu of Yuezhi. The Great Chanyu of Yuezhi was already fifty years old this year, and his main Yanzhi (the main wife of Chanyu) was originally the Crown Princess of Tujue (a nationality in ancient China), who was also my mother's elder sister. Unfortunately, the main Yanzhi was dead the year before, but the Great Chanyu hadn't picked one from his numerous Yanzhi (the concubine of Chanyu) to be the main Yanzhi, as they came from different tribes and had incessant disputes.
Now Yuezhi heard that Central Plains sent an envoy to propose marriage, so they sent an envoy to my father too, asking me to be the main Yanzhi.
My mother was quite angry with this proposal, and I was angry too. The Great Chanyu of Yuezhi was obviously my uncle, and his beard even became gray, but he still wanted to marry me as his main Yanzhi. I would never marry an old man. My father was not willing to offend Central Plains, nor would he offend Yuezhi, so he had no choice but to postpone this thing. However, the two envoys both lived in the city, and it was difficult to avoid their proposals completely. Therefore, I made up my mind to sneak out to my grandfather's.
