A rebellious minister forced me to be a foolish king

Chapter 809: Sunrise in the Northern Desert
The long night fades away and the sun rises in the northern desert.

The summer grassland is covered with green silk and stretches as far as the eye can see. Near the grassland is the clear blue sky, snow-white clouds, and faint hillsides in the distance.

It was quiet and peaceful, with only the sound of herdsmen in the distance playing the horse-head fiddle and humming ethnic songs with a vast melody, singing the praises of their deep love for this land.

It was as if nothing had happened in Mobei.

If we had never met unexpectedly, life would always be like the first time we met.

As soon as Yuan Wuyou opened his eyes, he found himself in a scene that turned the world upside down.

In this year, the Northern Zhou Dynasty was defeated by the Rouran Khanate and requested a ceasefire and peace talks. According to the agreement, the defeated Northern Zhou Dynasty had to send envoys and hostages from the royal family to the Rouran.

The Zhou royal family, the Yuwen family, learned that the current Rouran tribe had the surname Tuoba, and that they were relatives of the former Northern Wei Taizu. So they made an excuse to send the crown prince of the previous dynasty, who had changed her surname from Tuoba to Yuan and had always been regarded as a thorn in their side, as Princess Suizhu and sent her to the Rouran as a hostage.

It can be considered a double blessing, as it solves two conflicts with one stone.

The Western Wei Crown Princess Yuan Wuyou was taken hostage and left Chang'an in the summer and was sent to the Rouran camp.

Along the way, the Northern Zhou delegation was discussing that since the new Rouran king was a member of the Tuoba family who had merged with the Dangxiang, the Yuwen family intended to follow the example of Concubine Zhaojun and bring Princess Suizhu to the northern barbarians for marriage.

Everyone believed that she would never be able to return to Chang'an after going to Mobei.

At that time, Wan Yubu, the most powerful general under the Rouran army, was already a relative of Khan Tuoba and the Mofu of the Rouran Khanate.

Yuan Wuyou was just coming of age. Her mother, the empress, had just passed away. Huaxu was torn apart, so she was sent to the northern border by the Yuwen family who had usurped the throne.

Princess Yuan Wuyou of Suizhu was born in Chang'an, but left Chang'an because of her father's death and her mother's retreat. When she returned to Chang'an, her parents had both passed away, her country was destroyed and she had no relatives, so she was forced to accept the imperial edict and go to the northern border as a hostage.

At that time, the fifteen-year-old Princess Suizhu had already arrived outside the Rouran tent. The negotiator had gone to meet the Khan, leaving her sitting in a carriage inlaid with gold, silver and jewels, together with a pile of Chang'an treasures as compensation.

Amidst the dazzling treasures, she, a hostage sent by the defeated country, was wearing a simple white long-sleeved skirt.

It was a clear and crisp autumn day in Chang'an, but the summer heat had not yet subsided. The Northern Zhou Dynasty deliberately made her wear a thin white dress that looked like she was in mourning, making her look quite pitiful.

The Northern Zhou Dynasty, with its pride as the inheritor of the "orthodoxy", refused to admit defeat, nor did it dare to neglect the Rouran. Instead, it manipulated her, the descendant of the previous dynasty, to make her behave humbly and try its best to please the Rouran.

But once they arrived in Mobei, the temperature suddenly turned cold, and Yuan Wuyou couldn't find thick clothes. She asked the diplomatic envoys for some, but they used the excuse that they had no spare clothes and treated her as a decoration.

As expected, Yuan Wuyou had caught a cold from the cold. Now he was shivering as he climbed out of the carriage.

The next moment, the red silk gauze curtain embroidered with poppies was lifted up.

A familiar yet unfamiliar figure suddenly appeared in her sight.

In front of him was a young man wearing a black shirt and a red short robe with a slanting collar. He was stretching out his thin, white and slender hands to grab the curtain, and then he hung the curtain on the hook on the side of the carriage wall with quick and elegant movements.

The young man was wearing a white fox fur cloak, but he still looked broad-shouldered and thin-waisted. He had thick short hair that reached his cheeks and was slightly curled, and a few long braids hung down from his shoulders.

At this moment, he stared at her with a pair of deep blue eyes that were as clear as water, as if he had seen something new. There was only pure admiration in his eyes, without any malicious or evil gaze.

The two people were less than two steps apart, one in the carriage and the other under the carriage.

She could clearly see that there was no melancholy in his deep blue eyes, which were as clear as aquamarine and as sharp as an untamed beaver or wild wolf, with a fearless wildness and flamboyance. It was the Wan Yu Wu Yu she had never seen before.

Yuan Wuyou was looking at the young Wan Yuwu Yu, and he was also looking at her. The boy still had the same face as she remembered, but his body was much stronger than he was back then. The boy's deep blue phoenix eyes were like a deep pool of water, sparkling, and his eyes were bright and confident, like a cluster of warm sunshine.

It is no longer like in the past, always keeping one's head down, being submissive and dodging.

The two of them just stared at each other quietly, like little animals that suddenly bumped into each other in the snow. Their eyes changed from panic and surprise to confidence and boldness, and they looked at each other almost eagerly.

He was the first to say, "Chu Zhijin?"

The little girl was stunned.

The young man continued patiently, "Chu Tuoba Zhijin? Yuwen Khan Fuzhuzhen? Chu Qi?"

This series of gibberish in a foreign language made the little girl even more confused.

After realizing that she couldn't understand Xianbei language, the young man asked her gently and firmly in his clear and steady voice: "Are you the messenger of the Yuwen family, the Tuoba princess from Chang'an?"

He naturally switched to Chinese. Although it sounded a bit awkward, it still shocked Yuan Wuyou.

Who would have thought that he, who grew up in a foreign country and was a native of the Rouran people in the northern desert, could actually speak Chinese?

Yuan Wuyou had his memories and had long recognized that the young man in front of him was Wan Yuwuyu. Only now did he want to call out his name, but he couldn't open his mouth.

She strained her throat, but not even a sob came out.

The young man introduced himself, "Don't be afraid, my Chinese name is Tuoba Wuyu, and I am the son of Rouran Khan. You can also call me Nagule, which is the Qiang name given to me by my Tuoba grandfather."

Yuan Wuyou opened her mouth but couldn't say anything, her face flushed red, Nagulu thought she was angry at him for being abrupt, and hurriedly explained:
"I heard that you are the daughter of the Tuoba Khan in the Central Plains. You were robbed of the throne and sent to us by your enemies. Since you are all members of the Tuoba family, coming here is like going home."

Seeing that the little girl couldn't open her mouth and couldn't speak, the young man Wan Yuwuyu nodded as if he suddenly understood something.

"So you are mute and can't speak? It doesn't matter. You can write Chinese characters on my palm. I have learned Chinese."

As he said this, he reached out to her.

"Come down quickly. You are a living person. You can't mix with these dead things that can be chosen by anyone."

His words overwhelmed her tense mood. Yuan Wuyou burst into tears at this moment.

It was because along the way, the Zhou envoys not only treated her harshly in terms of food and clothing, but also kept a close eye on her, even asking the guards to follow her when she went to the toilet.

As a young girl of marriageable age, she had to go to the toilet under the supervision of a man. How could Yuan Wuyou bear such humiliation? But the grievances she suffered were far more than that.

She was such a precious princess in the past, but when her mother passed away, she was sent to the northern border as a hostage. But Yuan Wuyou could not die, because Rouran agreed to keep her as a hostage, so Zhou had to keep an eye on her to prevent her from running away.

With the intention of jumping from one fire pit to another, she came to the Rouran tent. But she didn't expect that she would be greeted by such a meeting.

Yuan Wuyou held the young man's hand, and with the help of the steady strength of his palms and arms, he carefully got off the carriage.