“Prisoner presentation ceremony?” Li Ying asked with confusion. “What is that?”

Ashina Jia’s eyes showed deep unwillingness: “It’s a Turkic custom. After capturing prisoners of war, they make them bare-chested, drape them with sheepskin, and parade them through the streets like sheep, meaning they can be slaughtered at will, as a way to humiliate the enemy. But because the prisoner presentation ceremony requires much effort, in recent years, most captured prisoners have been simply killed, and no ceremony has been held. Today, however, is different.”

“Why is it different?”

“Because the captive is from the Tianwei Army.”

Tianwei Army… Li Ying was stunned. Ashina Jia continued: “You know about the Tianwei Army, right? The Tianwei Army is our Turkic people’s greatest adversary. They have strict military discipline and show no fear of death. With the Tianwei Army guarding the border, Turkic horsemen couldn’t take a single step into the interior. Uncle Nidu fought against the Tianwei Army for many years. This time, he finally annihilated fifty thousand Tianwei soldiers at Luoyan Ridge. Unfortunately, Commander Guo Qinwei committed suicide rather than be captured, which greatly disappointed my uncle. The other Tianwei soldiers also died fighting, which disappointed my uncle even more. However, there was one Tianwei soldier who didn’t die.”

Li Ying pressed her lips together. Her eyes showed some bewilderment. She knew who the surviving Tianwei soldier was. She finally understood why Ashina Jia was unwilling to recount these events. If possible, she also didn’t want to remain in Ashina Jia’s memories. But since Cui Xun wouldn’t speak of it, and Ashina Jia was reluctant to recount it, how else could she learn what had happened to Cui Xun in Turkic lands? So she couldn’t leave.

Her nails dug into her palms as she forced herself to remain calm. Standing beside Ashina Jia, she continued to watch.

The khan’s tent was already crowded with Turkic soldiers and civilians. A drum roll sounded, and a team of armored Turkic soldiers pushed forward a young man whose hands were bound behind his back. The young man was bare-chested, with several sword wounds from battle and some horrific whip marks. His black hair fell in disarray, with a few strands hanging down by his face. Behind those strands, his features were as beautiful as clouds on the horizon.

That was… seventeen-year-old Cui Xun.

This was Li Ying’s first time seeing Cui Xun at seventeen. Compared to the twenty-three-year-old Cui Xun, his appearance hadn’t changed much, except that his eyes had less of the gloom and indifference, and more of a youth’s anger and stubbornness. His frame was slender yet still conveyed strength—the natural slenderness of youth, not the sickly thinness of his twenty-three-year-old self. Though reduced to a prisoner, he had not lowered his head or abandoned the dignity and pride of being a son of the Cui clan of Boling.

His stubborn gaze must have angered the Turkic soldiers. One of them swung his whip, leaving another bloody mark on his body. But Cui Xun’s eyes still showed no hint of begging for mercy, and his knees hadn’t bent even slightly.

Li Ying heard Ashina Jia’s maid beside her muttering in Turkic: “This Han man is quite handsome and has quite a backbone.”

But no matter how much backbone he had, the upcoming prisoner presentation ceremony would shatter all his dignity and pride.

Amid the crowds and jeers of the Turkic people, a Turkic soldier draped a freshly skinned, bloody sheepskin over Cui Xun’s body. The putrid sheep blood slid down his bare body. Then the soldier put a sheep-herding rope around Cui Xun’s neck and pulled it, causing Cui Xun to stumble forward two steps. The Turkic soldiers and watching herdsmen burst into laughter. The soldier holding Cui Xun’s rope swung his whip, shouting abuse. Li Ying had learned some Turkic before, but the soldier spoke too quickly and too crudely. She could only barely understand words like “defeated enemy” and “lamb for slaughter.” She looked toward the transparent form of Ashina Jia beside her, but Ashina Jia seemed to have lost her soul, staring fixedly at Cui Xun without saying a word. Li Ying pressed her lips and had to turn her head, trying her best to decipher what the soldiers and herdsmen were saying in Turkic.

She heard several herdsmen jeering: “Make him crawl like a sheep!” “Han man! Be docile like a sheep to save your life!” “What’s the use of having a backbone as a prisoner? Why didn’t you kill yourself?” “Crawl through the royal court, and we won’t kill you!”

The mockery surged in waves, one higher than the next. Li Ying looked at Cui Xun’s expression, which showed extreme anger and humiliation. Having spent three years at the border, Cui Xun would understand Turkic. He certainly could understand what these people were saying. The rope around his neck was yanked hard again, causing his entire body to stumble forward involuntarily. Another harsh whip struck his back, landing on the sheepskin without injuring him, but making him look even more like a herded lamb. Everyone laughed again: “What Tianwei Army? Just trash!”

Amid the sound of gongs and drums, the two sides of the road were packed with Turkic soldiers and civilians who had come to watch. Everyone’s face showed excitement and mockery. Cui Xun’s hands were bound behind him, a sheep-herding rope tied around his neck, a bloody sheepskin draped over his back. Occasionally, a Turkic soldier would whip his back, driving him forward like herding a sheep. Li Ying could hardly bear to look. Her nails dug deep into her palms. She finally understood why Cui Xun refused to speak of what had happened to him in Turkic lands. Anyone who suffered such humiliation would not want to recall it.

Especially since Cui Xun came from the Cui clan of Boling, the foremost noble family in the world. A gentleman may be killed but not humiliated. This kind of humiliation was worse than death for him.

At this moment, seventeen-year-old Cui Xun clearly couldn’t bear this humiliation. After being forced to stumble forward dozens of steps, he refused to walk any further. No matter how the soldiers behind him drove him with whips, even though the rope around his neck almost choked him to death, he would not take another step forward.

The Turkic soldier driving him became furious and kicked at the back of his knees. With the first kick, Cui Xun didn’t kneel. With the second kick, he still didn’t kneel. The crowd began to jeer. The other Turkic soldiers, in their fury, swarmed around him, knocking him to the ground. Whips fell like raindrops on his already wounded body.

Cui Xun was whipped until he was barely breathing. Li Ying’s nails dug deep into her palms, drawing crimson blood. Her eyes reddened, and she could no longer contain herself. She stepped forward quickly, intending to stop the abusers, but her wrist was caught by Ashina Jia, who said: “It’s useless. You are just a thread of consciousness entering my memories. You cannot stop them.”

“But he’s about to be beaten to death!”

Ashina Jia said quietly, “If he were beaten to death this way, it would be a good thing for him.”

Li Ying didn’t understand. Ashina Jia added: “Someone is coming to save him.”

The newcomer wore sheepskin boots, with black hair braided into two plaits hanging down her chest. A golden-scabbarded curved sword adorned with emeralds was tucked into her belt. Her features were strikingly beautiful. At this time, her right cheek didn’t have that brilliant lotus mark, but her brow was still full of arrogance and haughtiness. Li Ying murmured: “She is… Ashina Wuduo?”

Ashina Jia nodded and said with a bitter smile: “I truly wish she had never come.”

Beside Ashina Wuduo was a Han man dressed in nomadic clothing. The Han man had a goatee and sharp eyes. Li Ying looked at him, and his face gradually overlapped with her impression of Jin Ni from thirty years ago. It seemed this was the Baiqisi Captain who had fled to the Turks, now the Left Wise King Jin Ni.

Although Ashina Wuduo was the most beautiful woman in the Western Regions, she was known for her cruel temperament. When the Turkic soldiers and civilians saw her approach, they dared not continue their jeering but quietly stepped back. Ashina Wuduo walked up to the whip-wielding Turkic soldiers and arrogantly raised her chin: “Wasn’t there supposed to be a prisoner presentation ceremony? Where is the prisoner?”

Several Turkic soldiers bowed to her, then said with a smile, “Princess, this young man is too stubborn and refuses to comply. We were just about to kill him.”

Ashina Wuduo casually glanced at Cui Xun, who was curled up on the ground, barely breathing. Cui Xun’s face was covered by disheveled black hair, his body covered in blood, making it impossible to see his features. Ashina Wuduo said with diminishing interest: “Since he refuses to comply, there’s no point in keeping him. Kill him.”

The Turkic soldier nodded, then drew his sword, preparing to strike Cui Xun. Jin Ni suddenly said, “Wait!”

He said to Ashina Wuduo, “Princess, this man cannot be killed.”

“Why not?”

“He’s not just a Tianwei Army prisoner, but also a son of the Cui clan of Boling. The Cui clan of Boling is the foremost noble family in the world, the crown of the aristocracy. If we keep him, he will surely be useful.”

Ashina Wuduo frowned: “What Cui clan of Boling? What crown of aristocracy? I don’t understand. Anyway, he’s my father, the Khan’s defeated enemy. If he refuses to surrender, kill him. No need to waste food on him!”

At her command, the Turkic soldier raised his sword again. Jin Ni intervened: “Princess, this man is not only from the Cui clan of Boling but also known as the Lotus Gentleman. It would be a waste to kill him.”

“Lotus Gentleman?” This time, Ashina Wuduo became interested. “A man named after a lotus flower?”

Jin Ni nodded: “The Princess will see at a glance.”

Ashina Wuduo waved her hand, signaling the Turkic soldiers to step aside. With a horse whip in hand, she used the tip to brush aside the black hair covering Cui Xun’s face. Behind the hair, his skin was indeed like cold jade, his eyelashes like wings. There was also a whip mark on his face, with several strands of hair stuck to the bloody wound. This didn’t mar his appearance but instead gave him a fragile, broken beauty.

Ashina Wuduo couldn’t help saying: “What Lotus Gentleman? The name doesn’t fit. I think he’s much more beautiful than a lotus.”

She ran the tip of her whip over his face with great interest: “This face is indeed excellent.”

Then she slid it down his whip-marked body, poking his chest, then his thin abdomen. Ashina Wuduo examined his body as if inspecting livestock, saying: “The body is also excellent.”

The whip moved lower: “This part is also excellent.”

Cui Xun was nearly driven mad by this enormous humiliation. His body trembled violently with anger, his bound hands futilely trying to break free, but unable to loosen even slightly.

Ashina Wuduo crouched down again. This time, she didn’t use the whip but used her fingers to pinch his cheek, forcing him to open his mouth, examining his teeth: “The teeth are also excellent…”

Before she finished speaking, Cui Xun suddenly used all his strength to bite her hand. Ashina Wuduo’s hand was instantly covered in blood. The nearby Turkic soldiers immediately rushed forward in fear, taking great effort to pull Cui Xun away. Ashina Wuduo covered her bloodied hand. Looking at Cui Xun, who was pinned to the ground, still glaring at her, she didn’t get angry but instead smiled: “Very good. This temperament is similar to the eagles I tame. Those eagles were also as stubborn as you at first. But in the end, didn’t they beg me for a piece of meat to eat? On this grassland, there’s no eagle that I, Ashina Wuduo, cannot tame, and no person that I, Ashina Wuduo, cannot break!”