Chapter 8: Spring in the North

Time came to the end of spring, and the city of Qudiao Alan was a prosperous scene.

Yang Kang stood in front of an ancestral hall, this ancestral hall is the place where the Mongols pay tribute to Yelu Chucai, according to Yelu Chucai's last wishes, his remains were buried in the urn mountain east of his hometown Yuquan, that is, Wanshou Mountain in the Summer Palace of later generations, there is no tomb of Yelu Chucai in the city of Qudiao Alan, so the Mongols built this ancestral hall.

There is a statue of Yelu Chucai in the ancestral hall, looking at this lifelike stone sculpture in front of him, Yang Kang recalled the situation when he got along in Zhao Wangfu, and couldn't help but smile, he and this teacher have a deep grudge in this life, but the old man has passed away, what else can not let go.

He put on the offerings, toasted a glass of water and wine, and silently wished the teacher in his heart that he would go all the way, and if there was an afterlife, they would talk about the wine and talk about the heroes of the world.

Out of the ancestral hall, he walked towards the center of the city, which is the area where the Mongolian nobles lived, at this time he was wearing Mongolian clothes, with a big beard on his face, except that his body was not as tall and burly as the Mongolian people, and the others were no different from the Mongolian people.

According to Yang Kang's idea, it is not difficult to rescue Li Ping, he has a token given by Guo Jing, his appearance is similar to his mother Bao Xiweak, with these two points can win the trust of Li Ping, at this moment Guo Jing has not rebelled, at least the Mongolians do not know, Li Ping's personal freedom will not be restricted, as long as she finds a reason to come to the outside of Qudiao Alan City, she can take her away unknowingly.

Qudiao Alan City is also called the tent city by later generations, which is the first city established on the Mobei grassland, and is an important symbol of the transformation of the Mongolian people from the nomadic civilization with no fixed place to the stable agricultural civilization.

At the beginning, Yelu Chucai wanted to design the city of Alan in accordance with the city template of the Central Plains, that is, to build an attic palace, but it was obviously unrealistic to let the Mongols move from the yurt to the deep courtyard at once and completely adapt to the lifestyle of the Central Plains. Therefore, in addition to some public facilities with the characteristics of Central Plains architecture, the Mongols still live in tents, and the whole Qudiao Alan City is a peculiar city composed of countless tents.

Guo Jing definitely belongs to the aristocratic class in Mongolia, not to mention his close relationship with Tuolei Zhebe, just his credit for killing Jochi and the Western Expedition is enough to divide the territory, he not only has a place to live in the aristocratic district. There is also his own territory, living the life of a noble lord, and if he can become a colt, it is possible to be a king.

There is no doubt that this is a young man with a bright future, but once he betrays Mongolia, there is nothing in the Song Kingdom except for a nominal martial arts alliance leader and a beggar gang leader who has not yet arrived, and both the martial arts alliance leader and the beggar gang leader are thankless positions.

Yang Kang came to save Li Ping with another purpose to cut off Guo Jing's back road. Once the Mongols found out that Li Ping was missing, they would think of Guo Jing's betrayal, and at that time it would be impossible for Guo Jing to return to Mongolia, so he could only serve the Song State for the rest of his life.

His Majesty the Emperor investigated the situation during the day, sneaked into the living quarters of the Mongolian nobles at night, and found the tent where Li Ping lived according to Guo Jing's explanation, but he entered it but found no trace of Li Ping, and he did not know that since the war between Mongolia and the Song State. Li Ping's life in Qudiao Alan City was not easy.

The Mongols had always been fanatical about warfare, especially after the destruction of the Jin state by Ögedei. They clamored to continue south to destroy the Song State, and Li Ping, as a native of the Song State, would inevitably retort a few words, which caused a disagreement, and although the surrounding Mongols did not retaliate against Li Ping, they were estranged.

At this time, Li Ping was living with the Mongolian princess Hua Zheng, and the war between Tuo Lei and the Ming Kingdom forced Hua Zheng to return to Qudiao Alan City. As the concubine of the former emperor of the Song Kingdom, Hua Zheng was also ostracized both visible and invisible in the city, and Hua Zheng and Li Ping comforted each other.

Yang Kang had to find Hua Zheng's tent after finding out this, and he was quite embarrassed when he came to the tent, not because there were sergeants stationed outside. Instead, how to face Hua Zheng, thinking about it, he still lured away the sergeant outside, quietly sneaked into the tent, and looked at Hua Zheng and Li Ping who were sleeping.

"Who!" Hua Zheng fell asleep and woke up with a strange feeling.

Yang Kang stepped forward and knocked her unconscious before she completely woke up, and then woke up Li Ping and whispered the shape under her eyes, Li Ping couldn't see Yang Kang's face in the dark, but she knew the token given by Guo Jing, it was the peace charm she invited from the shaman, and she brought it with Guo Jing to bless her safety since she was a child.

The two agreed to meet outside the city the next day and leave Mongolia.

If Li Ping is taken away at night at this time, Yang Kang is afraid that he will be pursued by the Mongolian army once he is discovered, but he is not afraid, but if Li Ping has three long and two short, it will be a big trouble, and it is safer to meet outside Qudiao Alan City.

Since fleeing to Mongolia 18 years ago, she has dreamed countless times of willows, peach blossoms, swallows, and goldfish in the south of the Yangtze River...... However, with the passage of time, those willow peach blossoms slowly faded in her heart, and she was accustomed to the poplars and gales of Mobei, goshawks and cattle and sheep.

Do you want to go back after all?

She sighed to herself.

On the second day, Li Ping and Hua Zheng said goodbye and returned to their residence, according to Yang Kang's instructions, she did not pack her bags, but just took Guo Xiaotian's spiritual position with her, she walked towards the outside of Qudiao Alan City easily, she greeted the neighbors around her as usual.

During this time, the neighbors deliberately alienated Li Ping because of the war, but after eighteen years of getting along, they had feelings after all, and when they saw Li Ping's smile, everyone showed a kind smile, and they didn't know that this was the last time they saw this woman from the distant Song Kingdom.

Li Ping walked all the way and watched, to imprint a qiē here in her memory, maybe these scenes will appear in her dreams when she returns to Jiangnan, but maybe she will forget these after a few years, life is not like this, always continue to move forward in constant forgetting.

When she was about to walk out of Qudiao Alan City, she glanced back, this was her last spring in Mobei.

Hua Zheng sent Aunt Guo away, and was about to pray according to the custom, but vaguely remembered a dream last night, someone broke into her tent, she was not sure if it was a dream or real, and Aunt Guo, who had lived well, suddenly wanted to go back, things were a little strange, so she wanted to ask Aunt Guo.

When Hua Zheng came to Li Ping's residence, she didn't find Li Ping, and after asking her neighbors, she knew that Li Ping was heading out of the city, so she chased after her, and chased her all the way to the outside of the city, where she saw Li Ping talking to a strange Mongolian man from a distance, and a carriage was parked next to them.

The man put Li Ping in the carriage, and when he turned his head, he accidentally spotted Hua Zheng in the distance, and the two looked at each other like this. (To be continued......)