Annual Ceremony

Chapter 33: Minor Heat (Part )

After bringing Zhenyi to see Mrs. Dolan, Old Lady Dong suggested that they go meet some of the aides who had taken care of Wang Zhefu in the past. They were all present on the day of Wang Zhefu's cremation.

Maybe we won't have any more interactions in the future, but we still have to observe all the necessary etiquette.

Mrs. Dolan knew that the old lady was always considerate, so she nodded and said, "Please follow me, I will take you there."

"Thank you for your help, Madam." Mrs. Dong bowed and thanked him, then turned to Zhenyi and said, "Deqing, please talk to Princess Baoyin for a while. I will be back soon with Madam."

Zhenyi nodded in agreement.

Baoyin's eyes were red as she took Zhenyi to the horse farm.

As soon as Zhenyi arrived in front of the stable, Defeng squeezed over excitedly and rubbed Zhenyi's palm through the fence. The hot air exhaled from the horse's mouth and nose left a dampness on the girl's palm.

Zhenyi entrusted Defeng to Baoyin, which was an entrustment rather than a return, which represented her love and gratitude for her friend's gift of the horse in the past.

In Jinling City, Zhenyi did not have the conditions to raise and ride horses.

Defeng's owner likes it very much, so he wants it to stay on this vast grassland.

Defeng didn't know that this was a farewell. He was just a little puzzled as to why his master didn't lead him out of the stable today, but only touched his head and neck through the fence. But the horse was still docile, squinting his eyes and enjoying his master's touch.

"Zhenyi...will you come to Jilin again?" Baoyin, who has always been strong, finally showed a trace of fragility and tears in her eyes.

"Maybe." Zhenyi looked at her friend and said seriously, "Baoyin, maybe."

Baoyin blinked her curled eyelashes and a tear fell. She seemed to have grasped a promise and was about to seal and lock this illusory promise: "Well, I promise to help you take care of Defeng first, and when you come back, I will return it to you!"

"Okay." Zhenyi's eyes turned slightly red: "Thank you, Baoyin."

At this time, a tall young man came quickly and said to Zhenyi: "I have something to tell you!"

Just as Zhenyi was about to ask a question, her wrist was suddenly grabbed by him. The next moment, she was uncontrollably forced to follow him under such domineering force.

"Ertu!" Baoyin raised her eyebrows: "What are you doing!"

"I'm not doing anything!" Ertu said to his sister without turning his head, "You are not allowed to follow me!"

Ertu grabbed Zhenyi's wrist and walked to a hundred steps away from the stable, stopping under a big tree.

Zhenyi lowered her hands, frowned slightly and asked Ertu: "What is it?"

Ertu looked at her steadily: "Can you please not leave?"

Zhenyi shook her head honestly.

Ertu: "But you clearly like this place very much. You said so yourself!"

Seeing that Zhenyi didn't say anything, Ertu tried to slow down his voice: "I know you don't want to leave, right?"

He said, "I can ask my father for permission..."

Zhenyi looked at him in confusion: "What do you want to approve?"

Ertu paused for a moment, then mustered up the courage to say, "Let you be my wife!"

Fifteen-year-old Zhenyi had never thought about this before and was stunned for a moment. Ertu thought she didn't believe him: "I'm serious!"

"Although you can't be my eldest wife..." He added, "After all, you know that I am a Mongolian bannerman, and you are Han Chinese, and your family has never been raised to a banner—"

It is not that the Manchus and the Han people do not intermarry, but that the bannermen cannot intermarry with non-bannermen. If they want to marry, the Han people must be raised to the banner.

The eldest wife mentioned by Ertu is equivalent to the Han people’s legal wife.

The Mongolian marriage system is polygamous, but the status of "wives" other than the principal wife is the same as that of concubines among the Han people.

Seeing Zhenyi's confused expression, Ertu raised his voice and said, "As long as I ask my father, this will definitely be accomplished. We Mongolians can have as many wives as we want!"

Zhenyi firmly believed this.

General Aru had many wives. Zhenyi alone had seen more than ten children. Except for Ertu and Baozhu, the rest were born to those "ladies".

But at this time Zhenyi realized belatedly that she had only seen Mrs. Duolan at the horse farm, and those "ladies" rarely appeared in public.

Ertu continued, "As long as you agree, you can stay. You can still go horseback riding with Baoyin and me in the future. We..."

"You're lying." Zhenyi suddenly interrupted him. Her tone was not heavy, but every word was clear: "I may not be able to ride a horse anymore, and Baoyin is also going to marry and leave."

Even though Baoyin was almost spoiled when she grew up, her marriage was already destined. She was to marry into another Mongolian tribe and become a helper to her father, and Baoyin had already accepted this fate.

"How can I not be able to ride a horse..." Ertu's eyes dodged for a moment, avoiding the topic about Baoyin, and soon regained his domineering and confident demeanor: "I asked you to come out, and you can come out!"

During the Lesser Heat season, even when there is no wind, the grassland can still feel slightly hot.

In this scorching heat, facing Ertu's scorching eyes, Zhenyi inexplicably felt a cool breeze surrounding her.

If he lets her out, she can come out - but what if he doesn't let her?

Was the person he allowed to ride still Wang Zhenyi? Or was she just a Han concubine of the Mongolian?

This may be a kind of favoritism, but Zhenyi cannot feel proud or complacent because of this favoritism from top to bottom.

"What are you hesitating about?" Ertu began to get anxious: "Are you dissatisfied with being a concubine? Or are you worried about being bullied and looked down upon? I will take care of these troubles for you!"

Zhenyi thought for a moment and asked him, "The troubles you said you would prevent for me, are they the troubles that would not have happened to me if I had not become your concubine?"

Ertu was suddenly speechless. He felt a little embarrassed when he met those clear eyes. He blurted out: "You are good in every way, but you always come up with some sharp and unreasonable remarks!"

This was the first time he had begged someone in such a humble manner, how could she be so ungrateful?
He couldn't help but say, "You feel that being a concubine is unfair to you, but you are not a bannerman, and your grandfather was a criminal when he was alive. If you become my concubine, I can at least protect you and provide you with food and clothing. If you marry those pedantic and shabby Han people, how can you have a good life? How on earth is this unfair to you?"

Listening to Ertu's angry words, Zhenyi suddenly realized that there was not much difference between this place and Jinling.

What is vast here is only the land, not the human heart. No matter how vast the land is, it can be enclosed and imprisoned by the human heart.

Many of the rules in this world regarding the strength of men and women seem to be the same in origin. Everyone seems to be following the same rules. Is this why the world is like this?
Zhenyi thought with some uncertainty.

But Ertu was still unwilling to give up: "Except for the position of the eldest wife, I can give you anything you want--"

　Good evening everyone, there will be another update later.

　
(End of this chapter)