09. Accepting the facts

Long time ago he saw that same smile on Wen Guifei face when he tried to explain why he is having all those women around him. She just smiled at him and accepted. But the closeness from before was gone since that time, no matter how he tried. He lost her.

The same smile was now on this child's face.

"What is it?"

She turned her eyes and sighed, deeply. With small cough she started talking.

"On end, I have no choice. I never had. One say if he was wrong man no one will say it was his fault, they will say it just my bad luck. Young commander on north... I don't care where I am, as long no one bothers me and give me hard time." She smiled again strangely and looked at the clear water.

"He is good man. His family is old, just like your own. There is only small problem with him." He sighed.

Of course there must be a problem.

"He was in many wars since young. His body is literally covered with all kind of scars. Including his face. Most women run away as he looks scary. His elders are worried about him. Luckily he is not the oldest in his family. But still they hope that he will find a woman willing to share his life with him."

"What?" This is ridiculous. Few scars are not that much of reason. "Just because scars?"

He was right. This child really had Lan blood. She didn't care about outside.

"He is not very talkative person. Literally. His face is always serious as he was long in army and do not know how to communicate to the females." He saw her nodding and accepting.

"But how comes they didn't find him wife? Is there no one?" She couldn't understand.

"The families with standing are not willing to send their females to him as he is nothing but small honest commander in small town on north. His paycheck is enough only to cover simple lifestyle." Females of good standing families are not willing to give up their comfortable lifestyle.

"What about lower nobility or commoners? Is he looking down on them?" She coughed and patted her chest as she spoke a bit longer.

He stood up and brought her some water from nearby well.

"They are scared of him. Just looking at his scary scarred face made them shake in fear. They ate scared." He saw her face easing up after drinking and sighed. Its really hard for her to speak.

"Why me? Because I'm ugly and person of no standing?" She chuckled sarcastically at herself.

"Because you are Lan." His voice became mild. "Your family is not that simple as you think. The two families connecting would protect them from further attacks. For now your family is still not free, but if we announce your engagement to that man..."

She read that in olden times connections meant more than lives. Not even royals were spared of such connections. Willing or not willing was never question Earlier or later she would have been chosen for some family anyway.

"I don't care as on end they will choose." She shrugged.

"But if you had choice... is there someone in your heart?" He heard she was saved by his son multiple times and feared she had some thoughts.

"No. There is no such thing. I can marry him, or anyone else. If we will get some emotions or not, that will be something both my future husband and I have to work on. For now, there is no one in my heart." She started coughing again and swallowed some water again.

She actually was coughing from all the dry air. Strange. They had water all over the place but she was coughing all the time. Then thought came to her mind as she looked at bunch blooming willows. Actually she started coughing recently. Great, she has allergy?

Maybe on north her allergy won't make trouble for her...

He could see her accepting it and smiled happily A he heard she held no one in her mind. "Then let me send message to him and ask him what he thinks about it. And your elders as well. He he he. Let's see who if those old geezers will speak badly about him after he gets engaged."

Lan Lian just accepted this world as it is. But thinking about these people having many concubines made hear head thob. Who can control those people, and how?

Anyway, she should just enjoy her life in her own and if those people become too bothersome, she will just ignore them.

On end, her family is now stained with mark. If she can become at least main wife, even to a general is better than being concubine to some noble or royals. That would be bad. Really bad. Oh well, there is nothing she could do to change mind of ancient people.

The man stood up, patted her head and left without even saying anything anymore. Lan Lian shrugged and went back to her tree. Seeing bunch of ants attacking the flower petals she put everything near the tree and went to the dinning room. It was about lunch time.

But something strange happened. All the servants stopped talking as they saw her entering. Somehow she felt their expression were strange. Some looked at her in awe and some with pity. What the hell is going on?

But soon a young servant she met before sat next to her and patted her arm.

"At least he has no other women so you won't have to bother about that."

"Hm?" She coughed as she realized that they heard everything they spoken about.

"But north is vast and winters hard. Take warm clothes with you and medicine. Your coughing is getting worse." The worry in her voice was evident so Lan Lian smiled lightly.

"I understand. Thank you." She drank water and patted her chest to stop another cough coming out.

Actually, most servants liked her. She was hardworking girl that would gladly help others as well. Even tho her face was serious but her heart was warm and they knew that.

So they started giving her many advice's. With time she learns more about north and as it seems it is worse than she imagined.

It was poor land as not many things could grow in those few moths of summer. Winters lasted sometimes up to half year and made life of people on north quite hard. That is reason why not many lived there.

So most needed amenity was food...