Chapter 6 (2/2)

Lee Fangyuan leapt onto his horse, tugging on the reins, and turning it to the side of the road Lotus’ carriage slowly travelled past, their gazes intersecting and conveying thousands — tens of thousands — of words The wagons in the back followed up afterwards, obscuring their view bit by bit, until the two could no longer see each other

The white horse suddenly reared up, stretched its neck out, and screa into the air

Would they ever be able to ain after this farewell?

Yalu River, otherwise known as the Amnok River1” — the Han Dynasty called it the Maiyu Waters, and the Tang Dynasty called it the Duck Green River as the waters were renowned for being the color of a duck’s head It inated from the Man people’s ancestors, who called it “Yalu”, which indicated the border of a river It inated frobai Mountains of the Imperial Court It was the boundary river between the Imperial Court and Korea (The reason why citizens of the new China would re)

It was already May, the beginning of sureen and clear, the current fast as it thundered towards the yellow sea

Lotus was draped in a poncho as she stood on the slope of a hill not too far froazed upon Duck Green River Her clothes blocking the wind, the ponchosounds as it billowed in the wind The river wind brushed the surface of the water, with faint, chilly traces carried by the hurass in the air, and strands of sweetness of the river waters It refreshed and invigorated spirits, sweeping away the depression ofone’s spirits

It was early spring when they set out from Seoul The snow had turned the road into e found it incredibly difficult to proceed Lotus often alighted to walk herself, and e The adeant had also beco Lotus’ carriage along Hai Shou’s soft as the treasured heritage of iven it to Hai Shou after many, many admonitions when he left

“If master knew about this, he’d probably voe

The spring rains were plentiful, and they often ran into rain A faint, drizzling haze, and everyone’s clothes would be fully drenched after half a day Lotus orried about the scriptures, and would often personally check to see if they had been wettened by the rain It was a good thing that the guards had covered it fully with oilcloth

They had run into heavy rains a few times, and had had no choice but to stop and wait for the rains to cease They weren’t always able to find an appropriate place to duck out of the rain, and were thoroughly drenched twice Many of the soldiers becaer soup and medicines had to be brewed for theh fever that wouldn’t recede The acco medical officer used acupuncture, fla her life in the end

In this way, the journey was made quite difficult They had onlyon the banks of the Duck Green River in awas a Korean naval base on the Duck Green River, located on the west in a bay The king had specially prepared a large naval shi+p for their crossing, for this ti since notified the Imperial Court’s East Harbor on the opposite side of Xinyi Crossing

“Princess! Princess!” Shan Xi called out as she walked up the hill “Sergeant Zhao says that the shi+p is being prepared, and that ill be able to board in two hours”

Lotus turned and said to Shan Xi, “Arrange for the carriages to board first”

“Yes, Sergeant Zhao has already done so”

Lotus nodded and turned back to look at the river waters, saying no more

Shan Xi took up a post at a slight distance fro at the river waters She said softly after a while, “Princess, we’re really leaving Korea!”

Lotus said nothing, and took out the tower of glass that Master Zichao had bequeathed upon her After a while, she faced the waters and said lightly, “Tower of Glass, I’ and the flow of the colors within the tower seemed to indicate joy Did it understand Lotus’ words?

At noon, all the people and carriagesthe river

Although it was a large navy shi+p, the currents of the river were quite fast, and it was still a bit unstable Shan Xi had never been on a shi+p before and had, at first, run around on the shi+p looking this way and that way in the beginning She became dizzy beyond belief after a while, and hastily sat down, but it was too late She ran and voed yellohen she ca her hands on her knees anddizzy now?”

It was also the first time that Lotus had sat, on a shi+p and she was also a bit dizzy Although she sat primly, her face was starkly white Hai Shou walked over and softly handed over a cup of water, “Princess, do you want to drink some water?”

Lotus shook her head, continuing to look down and recite scripture She lost herself in the recitation, as tears started to form in her eyes Hai Shou stood silently by in protection, and the ar the cup didn’t waver The water within the cup however, moved

The shi+p started to slowly dock on the opposite shore after an hour The Imperial Court’s East Harbor was on the opposite side of Xinyi Crossing, in the ancient Antung 2”— what is now Liaoning Province Co had personally gone over to the East Harbor a day ago to deliver thethe river, so when the shi+p docked, the East Harbor’s authorities had opened the gates and sent receiving shi+ps as well as road mats The administrative commander Nan Huo first dise to be cleared by custoes, servants, soldiers, and tribute horse then diseanized the troops, and started to slowly cross the East Harbor Gates It was then that Lotus, Shan Xi, and a few guards dise up the rear

Lotus lifted her head to look up at the sky The sky was jade blue, and white clouds scuttled across the in the sunlight Ts of iht and unafraid, their arnified

Lotus sighed emotionally in her heart, “The Imperial Court!”

1 enwikipediaorg/wiki/Yalu_River ↩

2 enwikipediaorg/wiki/Andong_Province↩