C40

Worryfree Childhood...

Blue Sky...

The vast prairie...

I can no longer see the clouds beyond the barrier...

My name is Aurora, Mongolian means purity. I was born on the Khrtsin prairie, and my father was the third class of the Kötzin's Left Front Flag, Tahiyusi. My family is the Borzigit family, the Gold family of Mongolia, and I am the apple of my father's eye. Because of our family's greatness, I am the proud Princess of Mongolia.

When I was a child, Hettar used to visit my grandfather with his father, and I would pester him every time.

"And Brother Ta, and Aruna will ride, and Brother Ta will ride with Aruna." Brother Ta would never refuse my request. He would always laugh heartily and say, "Okay, Aruna, brother will bring you to the prairie." Then the long arm stretched out to pull me up to the horse and sit in front of him, and I would be happy, and I would dream that Tam and I would be the most heroic heroes of the prairie, and that Aruna would one day be Ta's wife.

When I was eight years old, a bad news came to us from the flag. My father's cousin and brother Ta's father, Prince Zarathar Darkhan, had died after a long ceremony. The news made my father very sad, and Aruna and brother Ta must have been very sad too, because my father was going to Zhongqi to help with the funeral, so I took him with me, and my father, who loved me dearly and could not refuse me, took me with him.

I remember when we arrived there, I saw my uncle inside the coffin, full of gifts. He would never speak again, nor would he hug her affectionately as he said with a smile, "Our Aruna is really beautiful. In the future, just be my son's wife."

My tears couldn't help but flow as I ran forward and cried as I faced my uncle. "Uncle, please wake up. Uncle, I want to hug you." At this moment, Brother Ta walked over and gently held my small hand. "My dear Aluna, your uncle has gone to the God of Heaven. He will protect us." I hugged Brother Ta and cried for a while.

A few days later it was said that the emperor of the court had sent a messenger, and that the sister of Uncle Li's sister, Boumbuthai, was the empress dowager of the Qing dynasty. Aunt Boumbuthai, she said, had heard that her brother was very upset and had ordered people to reward him, and after the funeral of his eldest son and the pagoda had been ordered to come to the capital to visit the emperor and take his place as the prince of his father.

After the funeral, he and Brother Ta would go to the north of the capital. It's already in the capital. Father and the other uncles are worried about leaving the fourteen year old brother Ta to travel alone so they have to accompany him. I have never been to the north before. When my father refused, I begged him to take me with him in tears. I begged Brother Ta to bring her along with him, and Brother Ta told him, "Take her with me. I will ride her." I am so happy. I can ride with Brother Ta again. This is the first time that Aluna has left the prairie. We travelled day and night, and arrived at the north ten days later. Beijing.

We got to the north. The next day I was summoned to the palace, and this is the first time I've been to the imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty. It's so big and magnificent, and the house is built many times more grandiosely than the house of the prince of Ta-ge's family. This is the first time I've seen my aunt, in full white dress, sitting on a warm kang and looking so noble. My father told me on the road that my aunt had never returned to the Horqin Grassland since she was married to the Emperor Taiji of the Qing Dynasty, and I think she must have been very homesick.

I stood by my father's side, not daring to speak. I looked at my aunt and smiled at her, and my aunt beckoned me to her side. "This is the daughter of Ayutthi," she said.

"My name is Aruna." I looked at my aunt timidly.

My aunt nodded and said, "It is a good Borgizt daughter of mine to ride so far as to come riding with Tahir and the others."

Listening to my aunt praise me, I smiled.

"How old is she now?" she asked kindly.

"She's eight years old." I'm not afraid to see my aunt being kind.

The aunt nodded again and looked at her father. "I see that this child is very clever and intends to betroth her to the emperor, who is ten years old and of a suitable age."

"This …" The father looked at her and said, "This is the honor of our Ah Ru. This child has been pampered since he was young. I'm afraid he doesn't know the rules."

Cousin, I think this girl is very sensible. Alright, it's a deal, and I'll let you take her back first so that you won't miss her. When she's thirteen or fourteen years old, I'll have the emperor marry her into the palace.

His father knelt down before his aunt and said, "Then this subject shall kowtow and thank the empress dowager for her grace."

I don't know what it means to be there, but what does it mean to "grant it to the Emperor?" Why does father need to thank me? I looked at Brother Ta and I saw that he was also looking at me. However, there seemed to be a hint of sadness in his eyes.

I miss it so much, I don't know if I've grown up looking at the lamb's cloth and if it's growing up to be more robust. The cloth and the mnemonic meaning "strong," I named it because I wanted my little lamb to be the strongest sheep on the prairie.

On the way home, I stopped joking with Brother Ta as before. Whenever I spoke to him, he would always reply in a low voice, but never let out a smile again. Because I was always in grief when my uncle was no longer with me, I always teased him on the way home.

I finally returned to the Horqin Prairie. As soon as I entered the house, my father told my mother that I had been betrothed to the Emperor of Great Qing. She smiled at me and said, "At the very least, it will be a lifetime of wealth and prosperity." I couldn't help but ask, "Ah Pa, what is a promise to the Emperor?" Father rubbed my head and said smilingly, "You're the future wife of the Emperor."

"But Aruna is going to marry Brother Ta. To be his wife." I looked at my father in confusion.