The eleventh year of the new calendar.

The trees in autumn have turned golden, and the reflection on the crystal clear surface of Lake Baikal is extremely beautiful.

In the early morning, Narentuoya lay down behind the tree trunk, peeked out, and saw the handsome young man coming to the lake again.

He has the delicate face of a Han Chinese from the Central Plains, but his hair is slightly curly. He is dressed luxuriously and has a graceful temperament.

Narentoya felt that he must be the son of a certain Taiji.

Since meeting him half a month ago, she found that he would come here every morning, ride a horse, and when he arrived at the lake, he would stay away from the guards around him and sit there alone in a daze.

Today, Narentoya wanted to go over and talk to him.

She stood up and walked over there cautiously...

suddenly.

"Bang!"

The sound of gunshots startled flying birds, and earth and rocks splashed on the ground in front of Narentoya.

Someone rushed over and shouted in Mongolian.

"Who is it?! Why did you attack the commander-in-chief?"

Then there was another sentence that Narentoya couldn't understand.

She was completely panicked and stood there at a loss.

Until the young man sitting by the lake turned his head, glanced at Naren Tuoya with his deep eyes, and said something to the guards who were speeding over in words she couldn't understand.

Afterwards, he stood in front of her and asked in Mongolian: "Who are you?"

"I am Narentuoya, the herdsman's daughter."

The young man smiled, his face was very beautiful, but his eyes still looked unhappy.

"My name is Wang Rong." He said with some sarcasm, and with some nostalgia and self-harm in his eyes, he added, "The son of the people."

"The people's son?" Narentoya couldn't understand.

Wang Rong shook his head, sat down again, and looked at the lake silently...

From that day on, the two got to know each other.

So Narentoya would come over every day and sit by the lake with him.

"What are you looking at?"

"Lake Baikal."

Narentoya nodded. Lake Baikal means "natural sea" to her.

"People from the north say this is a fertile lake."

"This is our lake." Wang Rong said.

In the beginning, the two could only exchange a few words like this every day. Wang Rong seemed to be a very quiet person, and Naren Tuoya did not dare to disturb him too much.

Then one day, Narentoya asked again: "Why do you want to see Lake Baikal every day?"

"I was thinking why I was asked to guard it. I was also thinking... when I leave, I won't be able to see such a beautiful lake."

"Are you leaving? Where?"

"Go home, maybe you can go home."

Narentoya asked again: "Where is your home?"

"South, three thousand miles away."

"It's so far."

Wang Rong said: "My father said it's not far away. Tsarist Russia is more than eight thousand miles away from it and still wants to occupy it. Three thousand miles is nothing. It's more than three thousand miles from the capital to Guangzhou."

This is the longest sentence Wang Rong has ever said.

Naren Tuoya still couldn't understand, but she could feel the loneliness in Wang Rong's eyes.

She felt...he was like an abandoned child.

So the next day, she held a few boiled eggs and wanted to give them to him.

Wang Rong shook his head and said, "I can't eat your food."

"Why?"

"I am rich and this is your food."

Naren Tuoya then became anxious and said: "But no matter how much food I have, I am willing to give it to you."

Wang Rong looked at the lake again and said, "I'm not short of food, you can eat it."

"But, I, Abu, said that life will get better..."

Wang Rong seemed to smile, with a meaningful look.

"That's good."

Narentoya found that he would answer every word she said.

But she didn't understand him at all, she only felt it was as deep as Lake Baikal.

"Why are you unhappy?"

"It's too cold." Wang Rong said: "It's too cold here and it's too empty. I'm really not used to it here."

"But isn't it always like this? It's always been like this."

"But that wasn't the case when I was a kid."

"What were you like as a child?"

"I have many brothers and sisters, many friends. Beijing... Beijing... is a very good place."

Gradually, Narentuoya seemed to see a heaven that she could not imagine in Wang Rong's words.

During the Lantern Festival, he traveled through the busy streets to guess the lanterns, watched various interesting operas, studied in the school and played with friends...

Her mouth watered when she heard the delicious food he mentioned.

So the next day, Wang Rong brought her some snacks, Poria cakes, walnut cakes, preserved fruits, crispy candy...

It was the first time in Narentoya's life to eat these things, and she felt as shocked as seeing the water of Lake Baikal dry up.

She was excited about it for several days.

Then suddenly, she hugged Wang Rong and started crying.

"Why are you crying?" Wang Rong asked.

"Don't you think it's cruel to be thrown here? It's so cruel."

Wang Rong did not answer. This was the first time he did not answer Naren Tuoya's question.

He didn't always remain polite in front of her, but he seemed to be closer to her.

"Do you know? This is where Su Wu shepherds sheep. Do you think I was exiled? That's what I asked my father at the time. He asked me why the Han Dynasty never thought of ruling here.

In the Tang Dynasty, we established the Anbei Protectorate here; in the Yuan Dynasty, we established the Lingbei Province. The people living here today are obviously closer to the Central Plains than to Tsarist Russia. Why can't we occupy this place?

Because it is warmer in the south, we prefer to farm there. You see, Su Wu only wanted to return to Chang'an after all the hardships.

But my father, he hated the way the emperors of the Central Plains treated their distant vassals. Tsarist Russia said that its flag would not be lowered if it was raised here. My father wanted to make it so that the flag could not even be raised.

Lake Baikal... everyone said it was not worth occupying. Only my father must let the world believe in his long-term vision. If others are unwilling to come, then let his son come."

When Wang Rong said this, he turned his head, smiled, and said: "You said cruel... I sometimes feel that... but after listening to you, I feel less aggrieved..."

After this day, Narentoya finally felt that she had walked into Wang Rong.

…

Sometimes Narentoya would also talk about the little bits of information she knew about the situation.

"Do you know our female khan from Mobei?"

"There is no Khan in Mobei, only the governor of the province."

"There is obviously a female khan." Naren Tuoya said.

"No." Wang Rong said, "You have misunderstood."

…

Afterwards, Wang Rong also talked about his mother.

"She lives in the city of Kulun in the south. In order to let her build a city on the Tula River, my father promised to come to the grassland for two months every year, or to take her back to Beijing. She has always been such a powerful person, and she cares about the most every day.

Just to maintain her appearance. She prefers my brother to me..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Maybe my brother is the son who let her get everything." Wang Rong said slowly: "Or...she also loves me very much, but I am just not satisfied...I really hope she chooses to take me with her.
To be continued...