What kind of girl is she...

  The Prince of Hu Lu dismissed the general who had come to plead guilty and sat casually on a nine-dragon sandalwood chair, thinking like this.

  He rushed back, only to see a scene of devastation: the tattered tents, the disheartened soldiers, the ground awash with water used for emergency firefighting, mixed with charred wood and ashes. A frightened horse had been struck down nearby, having already trampled three people, one of whom had a broken neck and was unlikely to survive.

  This is just one place, and there are also Zhuque Gate, Miao Street... Adding the vanguard camp that was slaughtered, the loss in the army is really heavy.

  He took a sip of tea, and the fragrance of Dongting Biluochun lingered on his lips.

  He narrowed his eyes, thinking of her falling off the city wall at that glance.

  Like a startled swan, like a swimming dragon... Like the light cloud that veils the moon, Like the gentle breeze that blows back the snow.

  He recalled the sentence from "The Goddess of Luo River", originally thinking it was just an exaggeration in literature. But after seeing her, he could only sigh that the words were not even comparable to the real person, and they fell short by a great margin.

  She was only twelve or thirteen years old, and yet she was already so impressive. If she grew up a bit more, what kind of splendor would she be...

  Hu Lu felt that he was just like those men in his tribe who would sing outside a girl's window at midnight, and just thinking about it made him restless.

  He was born with extraordinary intelligence, and by coincidence, he was favored by the Buddha of "Mahayana" who had been closed for a long time, and was accepted as a disciple. Although he was only seventeen years old, the entire grassland regarded him as the next Khan. Many beautiful girls were willing to offer their scarves to him, but he declined them all.

  Now, such an enigmatic girl has made him so concerned.

  He recalled that when she fell from the city wall, her resolute and fierce determination, a bitter taste, gradually appeared in his mind.

  ****

  When Wu Lu entered, he was surprised to find that the young and wise prince was staring blankly at something, with a hint of sadness on his face.

  Although he was a military commander, he had an extraordinary respect for the prince who came to study with the army in name only. He looked at Hulü and said with a smile: "As we old people say, even if the whole sky is covered with dark clouds, it cannot hide the golden light of the sun - these villains are just self-satisfied, why do you need to take it to heart, Prince?"

  He hastily got up and brought over a stool for him, then smiled and said: "Uncle Wu Lu has had a hard time, how was the situation at Yunzhou?"

  Wuru led the main force to pursue the defeated remnants, and only returned to Beijing last night. Unexpectedly, this happened early in the morning, and the uncle and nephew had not yet met.

  "Although we won, many of our defeated soldiers have scattered and fled. Judging from the direction they went, I estimate they've gone to join what they call the 'Righteous Army'. We can't be too careful..."

  Wuru sighed, his legs aching from years of military campaigns: "Our army is brave and can take on three times its number, but the Central Plains have a large population. If they really unite, our army will likely suffer greatly."

  Hu Luoyi smiled: "If it were really so, where would our foothold be? The Heavenly Dynasty prides itself on its etiquette, but in reality, it is forever embroiled in internal strife. For the sake of that dragon throne, several righteous armies cannot coexist."

  Wulu Yuan Shuai suddenly remembered something and asked, "I heard that someone broke into the vanguard camp last night and you chased after him for half the night - who has such ability?"

  Hulu's smile suddenly froze, and before her eyes appeared that breathtaking beauty again, with every smile and every frown, every sword move and every gesture.

  A twelve or thirteen year old girl.

  He looked at the marshal's astonished expression——

  "Among women, I have never seen such a strong person... nor have I ever seen someone so beautiful..."

  ****

  Wuru General returned home, thinking of the prince's smile, feeling both happy and worried.

  Among the Tartars, men and women are relatively open about their love affairs. Generally, they have a lover at the age of 14 or 15. Hu Lu was next in line to inherit, but he had no interest in princesses from various tribes or famous beauties from far and near.

  This time, he actually revealed such an expression for that mysterious woman——

  Melancholy, love, sorrow...

  An old man approaching sixty years of age, in contemplation, after a moment, summoned a surrendered Han official and asked:

  "Which family's daughter is so beautiful and radiant, able to dazzle people's eyes?"

  That official was originally from the Hanlin Academy, and he was well-versed in such romantic affairs. When asked about beautiful women, he immediately began to flatter and speak endlessly: "General, in terms of beauty, among the ladies in the capital city, none can compare to the second daughter of Minister Wang, and also Xiangyun Tower's Zhen Niang..."

  Wu Lu frowned and interrupted him: "You want a girl in her early teens, but these women are all over twenty! The last one sounds like she's not a decent woman!"

  He thought for a moment and added: "It's best to be the daughter of an official or aristocratic family, not those mediocre and common women. Just by looking at her, she has the temperament that can match the prince."

  The Han official understood his meaning. After thinking for a while, he suddenly brightened up: "As for appearance and temperament, the first is the daughter of the Lin family's master, Lin Zhaoyun has the name of Pan An, her wife Princess Yanlin is even more beautiful like an immortal, they only have one pearl, cherishing it as if it were a thousand pieces of gold. It is said that she is even more beautiful than her mother. However, she is still young, only 12 or 13 years old."

  Wulu Yuan Shuai listened and remembered what Hulü Wangzi had said - a 12 or 13-year-old girl.

  He thought that the prince probably liked younger girls, so he said: "It's this girl. Send someone to fetch her and have her daughter accompany the prince."

  Lowering her head in a demure manner, she heard the order and first nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. Recalling the difficulties involved, she hesitated and said: "Being able to accompany the prince is naturally an honor for his family, but the Lin family is a high-ranking aristocratic family that values their reputation above all else, I'm afraid they won't be willing..."

  The marshal angrily said: "I'm afraid you don't want to meet us Tartar savages and even less will offer your daughter, right?"

  That man hastily smiled and said: "These noble families, having been passed down for hundreds of years, are the most stubborn and unyielding. It's better to wait for the lower officials to go forward and slowly persuade them..."

  "Go and tell Lin Zhao Yun that the two states of Yun and Yan, where the foundation of his family lies, are under my army's jurisdiction. If he doesn't know how to behave, I'll let his ancestral temple be reduced to ashes!"

  ****

  Lin Chenfu escorted his mother for a walk in the woods after she finished taking her medicine.

  The Lin family originally lived in the official residence in Beijing, but due to the invasion of the Tartars, they temporarily moved to this suburban villa. The courtyard where the mother and daughter lived was even more cramped, with only a few trees outside the yard, birds singing and flowers fragrant, making people feel carefree and relaxed.

  Her mother's pale face was covered with gray spots, at first glance, it looked ferocious and frightening, but upon closer inspection, one could see that her eyebrows and eyes resembled those of Lin Chen.

  "This morning, the young man who sent you back, how could he be so miserable?"

  She smiled warmly and thought of that young man wearing a black robe full of holes, both angry and amused: "You bullied him again?"

  Lin Chen was a bit sulky and didn't make a sound. He stretched out his hand and gently brushed away the fallen leaves from his mother's temples.

  "You're such a stubborn child, what's wrong with you? You never want to tell your mother anything. This time you went out in the middle of the night, where did you get all these injuries?"

  Mother worried and nagged: "Nowadays, the world is in chaos, jackals and wolves are rampant, you must be careful not to provoke them."

  Lin Chen looked at his frail and thin mother, sighed and said: "The Tartars have invaded the capital, making it a purgatory. I absolutely cannot let these barbarians show off their military might in front of me."

  Mother stopped in her tracks, grasping her daughter's hand: "But in my heart, I only wish you peace and safety. Zhen'er, promise Mother not to do those dangerous things again!"

  Lin Chen looked at his mother's white hair, feeling a pang in his heart, almost wanting to agree, but an even greater and stronger pain surged through his body in an instant, uncontrollable.

  "Mother! I don't want to live a life of mediocrity, drifting with the tide! The evil people in this world, if you don't provoke them, they will come to bully and trample on their own. Rather than that, I would rather take the initiative - Your ancestors were wronged, just because it was said that they were the bloodline of the ancient Emperor Huang, with a royal aura, the whole family was demoted to a lowly status, never to rise again!"

  Lin Chenyue's anger grew, her heart filled with indignation. From the moment she was born, she had been holding everything in: "It's because of this that the Lin family views us mother and daughter as dirt and plague! No... I've had enough, Mother! I want to live with my head held high, to do something magnificent under the heavens! Mother, I don't want to be a speck of dust anymore!!!"

  The girl's black eyes were even more icy than snow, and deep within her pupils seemed to be burning with an explosive intensity.

  That is a flame in the ice, the strongest fearlessness and determination between heaven and earth.