“Beau…tiful?” Sahechena narrowed his eyes.
In truth, he understood most of the Rongdi language. Learning from Gu Chengyan was more about mastering word choice and precise expression. Over the past month or so, he often felt he wasn’t learning something new, but rather recovering memories of this language—at the very least, he was certain he was familiar with it before being adopted by the snow wolf pack; otherwise, he wouldn’t have understood Gu Chengyan at all.
There were several ways to express “beautiful” in Rongdi. The name Gu Chengyan gave him, “Sahe,” also carried meanings of beauty and handsomeness. However, the term the man in front of him used was “Ren’erma,” a word often used to praise beauties on the prairie. When applied to a person, it meant “a beautiful flower.” If any wolf dared to trot up to him and say, “Great King, you are as beautiful as a flower,” Sahechena would definitely beat it up.
But… Sahechena hesitated as he looked at Gu Chengyan. Before the man called him beautiful, he had used the term “Eche.” Gu Chengyan hadn’t taught him that word yet, but Sahechena remembered that another person who used to follow Gu Chengyan had often addressed him by it.
So, is this… one of Wuwu’s tribesmen?
Sahechena was cautious; he kept a straight face and didn’t speak, waiting for Gu Chengyan to take the lead.
Gu Chengyan, standing behind him, was actually a bit startled by the merchant’s actions. Seeing the two of them staring at each other, he couldn’t help but laugh:
“Uncle, take a good look.”
“Hmm… ah?” The merchant rubbed his reddened eyes, his voice suddenly rising an octave. “You… y-you’re a man?!?”
Sahechena: “…”
Gu Chengyan couldn’t help it; he leaned on his shoulder and laughed out loud.
“Sigh” The merchant was frank; he wiped his face, stood up, and offered his thanks again. “I am Uluji, Yesuo Uluji, a horse merchant from the Eastern Ice Line. Many thanks to you both for saving my life!”
The Eastern Ice Line was a place in the far east of the prairie, near the East Sea of the Jin Dynasty, known for its extreme cold and floating ice on its rivers throughout the year. Because of the harsh environment, the Eastern people often traveled to trade. The trade routes from the Central Plains to the north and the North Sea shipping lanes were all opened up through cooperation with them.
As for his surname, Yesuo, it belonged to the tribe among the twelve Rongdi tribes most skilled in trade, smelting iron, and forging weapons. Although their people were now scattered and nomadic, the ancestors of the Yesuo had once lived near the Eastern Ice Line along the Iron Vein Mountains.
Gu Chengyan waved his hand with a smile, telling him not to stand on ceremony.
Uluji shook his head. “Saving a life is a great debt of gratitude. Do you two live on this mountain? Once I get down and contact my caravan, I will send you some horses!”
He was efficient and fast-paced: “They are all top-tier walking horses! Spotted, white, black—glossy coats, capable of traveling a thousand li a day. By the way, is your felt tent large? I’ll give you a stallion, too.”
Stallions that haven’t been gelded remain bold, warlike, and fast. Only by breeding from them could one produce high-quality horses.
Sahechena didn’t understand a word of what he was saying, and Gu Chengyan hadn’t had a chance to interject.
“Hmm?” Uluji brushed the snow off himself and looked down at the snow wolf killed by Sahechena. “Do you still want this wolf?”
Gu Chengyan: “…”
Sahechena frowned, and after a long while, he stretched out a hand toward Gu Chengyan a tacit understanding formed over the last month: whenever they came up the mountain to soak in the hot spring, he would carry Gu Chengyan down the mountain.
Gu Chengyan licked his lips without moving. His cheeks, flushed by the steam, were a soft red. Usually, it was just the two of them on the mountain, but now there was someone else.
Seeing Gu Chengyan’s gaze drift unconsciously toward the merchant, Sahechena’s brow pressed lower. He stepped forward, putting himself directly between them. “If you have words, speak… after we go down the mountain.”
Uluji let out an “Ah?” and looked up to see the youth, who looked very much like a Yaruo Eche, pick up the other man horizontally.
The man struggled slightly, his ears reddening, but in the end, he only smiled helplessly and poked his head out from the youth’s shoulder: “We live at the Snow Mountain Villa at the foot of the mountain.”
“Snow Mountain Villa?!” Uluji’s spirits rose at the mention of it. He quickened his pace to catch up, looking at Gu Chengyan with wide eyes: “So, so! You are the Fifth Eche? That Han Imperial Teacher?”
Gu Chengyan hooked his arm around Sahechena’s shoulder. Hearing the title “Fifth Eche,” he didn’t feel as repulsed as before, simply replying with a faint, amused smile: “You know?”
“Who on the prairie doesn’t know you!” Uluji’s voice was resonant. “Your reputation is great, but unfortunately, I was trading in the Western Regions the day you arrived…”
“So, He spoke halfway, then suddenly turned his head to look at Sahechena, realizing something. “You are the Seventh Teqin! That’s right; counting the time, you should be this big now.”
Gu Chengyan: “…”
He suddenly felt like he was back on Qing-shuang Mountain celebrating the New Year, meeting an elder who was just going on and on he couldn’t interrupt, nor could he join the conversation.
Sahechena only found him noisy. After sighing inwardly, he gave Gu Chengyan a deep look: His Wuwu is good at everything, but he is too indulgent toward his subjects. If it were him, he would have pounced over and forced the chatterbox to be quiet, yet Gu Chengyan could still smile and talk to him.
Hmph. Sahechena glared at Uluji unhappily and strode away with long, swift steps.
Uluji didn’t realize he was being a nuisance. He hoisted the dead wolf onto his shoulder, planning to peel a top-quality snow-fur pelt. When he turned his head to strike up a conversation, he was shocked to find that the little Teqin had already carried the Han Eche at least ten zhang away.
Watching their retreating backs, Uluji finally sensed something was off: Are the little Teqin and this Han Eche… a bit too intimate? In a normal pastoral family, would a son carry his parents like that… or would he?
But upon reflection, Uluji found a reasonable explanation: I heard that the Han Eche is very ill, so the little Teqin is—filial! Yes, it must be filial piety. He touched his chest, moved. As expected of Yaruo Eche’s son, he is truly beautiful and kind-hearted!
Uluji never dragged his feet when doing business. Once he promised to return the favor, he did it. After coming down from the Holy Mountain, as soon as he found his caravan, he hurried to the Snow Mountain Villa with his men and a herd of horses.
On this day, Sahechena had intended to take Gu Chengyan fishing; he really didn’t understand why Wuwu had to squat by the river with a small bamboo rod and space out for so long. In his view, this method of hunting wasted time and couldn’t catch enough prey, but Gu Chengyan was happy, and every time he caught a fish, he would smile so brightly at him.
Sahechena knew there was a river bend downstream of the Kuli River with a small tributary. When the ice and snow melted in spring, many fish would go there to spawn. The migrating schools were densest there; one only needed to find a piece of leather, wet it, and place it underwater. Once the fish swam over, one could scoop up a large handful.
He had already planned how to show off his skills to Gu Chengyan, but the moment he opened the door, he saw Uluji standing there.
Sahechena: “…”
Behind Uluji was a huge herd of at least fifty horses and four or five young men wearing fur collars and robes like his.
Uluji bowed respectfully. “Teqin.”
Sahechena frowned, took a step back, and slammed the door shut.
Gu Chengyan was standing behind him and was hit directly on the forehead by his sudden retreat. He rubbed his forehead. “…Is someone outside?”
“No one,” Sahechena said with a straight face.
Although Sahechena blocked the door like a wall, Gu Chengyan still heard the neighing of the horses. He looked at Sahechena and poked his shoulder, suppressing a smile. “Childish.”
Sahechena only snorted and turned his head away, refusing to speak.
Gu Chengyan looked at him, feeling that Sahechena was becoming more and more like the large white dog kept by his sect master—if it were promised to take the puppy out to play, one had to go, even if it was just strolling on the mountain. Otherwise, the puppy would bark twice, turn its back, and decide to ignore you for the next two hours.
Gu Chengyan chuckled, walked over, and tousled Sahechena’s soft, thick hair. “Let’s go fishing tomorrow.”
Sahechena pursed his lips, but eventually conceded: Who else is he but a clansman of his beautiful wife? As a wolf king, he naturally has to be magnanimous.
Uluji didn’t know about the clash inside the house. He happily presented five horses and briefly introduced the people in his caravan: five grooms, three merchants, and a taciturn warrior who was his distant nephew.
In reality, Gu Chengyan chose to see him not because of the goods, but because it was rare to see a merchant, and he wanted to gather information. The prairie was vast, but news was scarce. Unless tribes were very close, they didn’t contact each other frequently, and everyone followed the water and grass with no fixed location. Therefore, merchants operating on the prairie became a reliable source of information, just like going to restaurants or teahouses in the Central Plains to inquire about news.
Uluji said he had offended a relative of the nobility while doing business in the Royal Court, and it was Yaruo Eche who had pleaded for him, allowing him to escape death. “Later, I traveled to the Central Plains, followed their caravans to the East Sea, and only returned in the last few years…”
At this point, Uluji’s mood dipped. “I didn’t know… I didn’t know that Eche would suffer those things. She was so kind and sincere to others; she… she shouldn’t have been in the Royal Court.”
Gu Chengyan didn’t hide the truth about Yaruo’s exile to the far north, including her final disappearance during a white-out blizzard. The white-out was a disaster on the prairie; disappearing in such harsh weather was basically equivalent to being taken by Chang-sheng Tian (Eternal Heaven).
After listening, Uluji remained silent for a long time, prayed for Yaruo to Chang-sheng Tian, and then proactively changed the subject to tell Gu Chengyan—the war between the Zhalantai and Qiyan tribes in the south was still ongoing, and the old Wolf King had personally led heavy troops to suppress it, currently appearing to have the upper hand.
“Perhaps they will take you back soon.”
Gu Chengyan shrugged; he knew all of this from his previous life. He didn’t care about the old Rongdi Wolf King at all; he was concerned about the rice, flour, oil, and grain at the Snow Mountain Villa. “What about other merchants? Or rather, will there be merchants coming to the far north?”
Other food was manageable, but Gu Chengyan looked at the salt jar, which was nearly bottoming out. If no merchants came to the far north, he would have to find a way to go out and trade with the herdsmen.
Uluji thought for a moment. “Every March, there is a large market at Lake Kobdo. Nearby herdsmen will go there to buy and sell things.”
Lake Kobdo was northwest of the Snow Mountain Villa, about two days away by horse. Counting the days, it was only four or five days until March.
Gu Chengyan nodded and thanked Uluji. After seeing him off, he turned to look for Sahechena.
The little wolf cub had stayed in the room at first, but Uluji spoke fast and urgently; not only could he not understand, but the man often looked at him and wanted to cry. Sahechena was annoyed; eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore and went outside. He chopped wood, fed the horses, and even pressed two buckets of water—these were all things Gu Chengyan had taught him this month. That hand-pumped well was truly amazing; the first time Sahechena saw it, he thought it was a miracle from Chang-sheng Tian.
But he waited and waited, and his beautiful Wuwu just wouldn’t come out. Sahechena sighed once, sighed deeply again, and finally had to relax himself by lying on the grass.
After the start of spring, all things recovered, and even in a land of extreme cold like the far north, the frozen soil began to be covered with green. He bit a dandelion in his mouth in frustration and then chewed hard on the grass root, treating it as that clueless, foul-smelling subject!
It’s spring! His beautiful wife should be raising a little wolf cub, eating well, drinking well, and sleeping well every day; how could he be dealing with any tribal matters?
He chewed the grass root a couple more times, but after closing his eyes, he felt even more agitated—It’s just the Rongdi language, I will learn it; and Wuwu’s hometown dialect, hmph, I’ll learn that too! In the future, I will manage all the tribal affairs, and my beautiful wife can just spend his days happily.
As he was thinking this, the dandelion in his mouth was pulled away.
Sahechena opened his eyes to meet Gu Chengyan’s smiling eyes. “Silly, how can you play with a dandelion like that?”
Gu Chengyan blew gently, and the fluffy white umbrella on the dandelion opened up and drifted away, light and airy, much like the spots of light in the forest. Sahechena’s eyes lit up, and he braced himself up slightly.
In the next moment, as if by magic, Gu Chengyan’s fingertips flickered flexibly, and he wove a grass grasshopper for the little cub. He smiled and tapped Sahechena’s high nose bridge with the grasshopper. “Don’t lie here and grow mushrooms. I’m taking you out to play. Are you coming or not?”