Firmament

I don't understand, please ask the old man.

- A Momba proverb

Soon after, Ali and Sauron moved to the Middle Capital with their master, Badr. They lived in the west wing of the Badr Mansion and continued to serve him and his family.

In the spring of that year, Sauron gave birth to a boy.

The boy is smart and lively by nature, with a cute little face, big sparkling eyes, long eyelashes, a high nose, and dark hair. Looks almost exactly like Ali when he was a child.

Ali was very happy to see that he had a next generation. He gave the little boy a name, Nuhai. Nuhai was an ancient prophet of Arabia. Ali hopes that his son will become a knowledgeable philosopher in the future.

Privately, Sauron called his son Elad. Ilad is a steppe word meaning war knife. Sauron wanted his son to be a warrior who wielded a sword and charged to kill his enemies.

Ali had no relatives in the eastern kingdom except for his wife Sauron and son Nuhai. Since leaving his hometown of Samarkand, he has been adrift with the army of the steppe country for 15 years, and finally lived a stable life in the central capital.

With his political and power frustrations, Badr has plenty of time to reflect on what he has done. After years of tempering and continuous thinking and summarization, his thinking, understanding, words and deeds have changed greatly. His temper has become much gentler than before. The tone of speech is no longer as concise and stiff as when he was in command of the army, and sometimes he even makes an exception to talk about trivial matters in life with the people around him. Badr gradually moved from a military kingdom into the mundane life of ordinary people.

The

relationship between Ali and Badr has changed from a simple master-servant relationship to a complex relationship that includes respect and obedience between superiors and subordinates, as well as more or less special family affection.

Ali didn't know why, but his hostility towards Badr slowly faded in his heart, and he even sometimes unconsciously regarded himself as a subject of the steppe country.

Badr developed a certain degree of dependence on Ali both physically and spiritually. Sometimes, he deliberately joked: "Hey, Sarta, the pebbles with our names engraved on them are still gone?".

Ali smiled innocently and showed a mouthful of white teeth.

He replied honestly, "Of course, Lord Badr. "

Badr suddenly restrained the smile on his face, and deliberately advised: "Don't call me Lord anymore in the future." "

Ali was stunned for a moment with a puzzled look on his face and asked tentatively, "Lord Badr, if I don't call you, what should I call you?"

Badr pondered for a long time, did not say a word, and walked away silently with his hands behind his back.

In the following ten years, Sauron gave birth to several more children for Ali. The affairs of the family are becoming more and more complicated and trivial. She has no more time and energy to work for the Badr family, so she stays in her own home to focus on the children. The life of the family is very happy and happy.

Sauron often happily repeated the famous folk proverb to Ali: "There are three treasures in the house—the rooster jumps, the dog barks, and the doll makes trouble." "

Ali's mind was not as simple as Sauron's. His heart has always longed for Khorezm and his hometown of Samarkand, and he misses his relatives and friends in his hometown all the time. As I get older, this longing becomes stronger day by day. Returning to Samarkand became his sacred mission. Whenever he felt homesick, Ali would take out the pebble that had been treasured by his side on the banks of the Zeravshan River and stare at it with his eyes for a long time, as if on this stone he could see his hometown and relatives that he missed day and night.

Ali even planned countless times in private how to return to Samarkand with his wife and children across the mountains and deserts. However, the continuous war and young children made him unable to help himself and move forward. He had no choice but to stay in the middle capital, returning to the Khorezm Empire in his dreams again and again.

Time flies, and the white horse flies. In the blink of an eye, Ali has been in the East for more than 30 years. He is no longer young, he has become an old man who is almost 50 years old.

Ali had long since grown tired of the wars of plundering and killing and the aristocrats who commanded him. After a long struggle of ideas, he found an appropriate opportunity to cautiously make his request to Badr.

Ali opened his mouth and said, "Lord Badr, spring goes to autumn, year after year, the milk swallow under the eaves becomes its parents, and the little tree in front of the door has grown into a towering tree. You see, as I grow older day by day, my energy is getting less and less, and I am constantly worried that my fault has delayed your great affairs. If you choose a young and capable man to serve you in my place now, I can leave the barracks with peace of mind. "

Badr was also in his 50s at this time and understood Ali's mood at this moment.

He pondered for a while, and then said slowly: "When the trunk is old, it will be blown by the wind, and when humans are old, they will be confused. Actually, I wanted to give you freedom for a long time, but I have been used to calling you for decades, so I have never been willing to let you go. Now, I can promise you to leave my home and barracks and live out your old age in peace. But where are you going to move to?"

Ali replied, "Thank you, Lord Badr, for your great kindness. I often go to the Niu Street in Nancheng to buy beef and mutton, and I see that there are many Hui people living there, and all kinds of goods are also very rich. I think...... It may be more convenient to move there. Besides, Cow Street isn't too far from your home and barracks. If you have anything to do with me, I'll rush to your house at once. "

Badr smiled and said, "You know Niu Street so carefully, it seems that you have already made up your mind to leave me." Well, I'll ask the butler to give you the silver taels for the purchase of the family property, so that you and Sauron will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life. "

Ali thanked him again and again.

In order to dispel the suspicion of the new king against his old subjects, Badr had long considered how to express his loyalty to him. His dark eyes rolled, and a clever plan came to mind.

Badr immediately added: "But ah, I have always had a doubt in my mind......".

Ali was afraid that Badr would change his mind and hurriedly asked, "Lord Badr, what other doubts do you have?"

Badr picked up the porcelain bowl with milk tea, took a small sip slowly, smacked his lips and savored it for a while before saying, "You also know very well that I used to be the retinue of General Hutubari and the elder of the current king. Since ancient times, emperors have been suspicious and fickle, always fearing that others will covet their throne. In order to prevent the king from becoming suspicious of me, I plan to send my son Tatsu to serve as a soldier under the kingdom, which can be regarded as a contribution to the country. Your son, Nuhai, and Dalai played together as children and had a similar temper, and I considered Nuhai to be Talai's companion. What do you think?".

When Ali heard this, his heart sank: he is about to leave this land of right and wrong, but my son Nuhai is about to fall into the quagmire of war. How is this good?

Although Ali was extremely reluctant to Nuhai to follow Dalai into the army, for the sake of the family's upcoming freedom, in order to have a safe nest, and for the stability and peace of the Badr family, he felt helpless, so he had to agree.

Ali withdrew from Badr's room with a conflicted heart, and quickly returned to his hut, relaying what Badr had just said to his wife, Sauron.

Ali didn't expect Sauron's attitude to be very straightforward.

Without thinking, she said, "Nuhai will be 20 years old soon, and he should go out for a while." His parents worked hard to raise a boy so that when he grew up, he would ride a horse and charge into battle and bravely kill enemies for the country. "

Ali stared at his pale yellow eyes in astonishment, as if he had just met his wife for more than 20 years.

He couldn't help but secretly admire in his heart: Sauron usually looks inconspicuous, but in his bones he contains the brave and warlike spirit of the steppe people. No wonder they were able to destroy the Western Khitan, Khorezm, the White High Xia Kingdom, Arabia, and the Nuzhi Kingdom. The grassland people are really a people that cannot be underestimated!

Ali knew that Nuhai and Dalai were going to fight at the front, and the other children were still young, and the whole family would definitely not be able to return to Samarkand in such a situation.

Ali dispelled the idea of returning to Khorezm and lived in Zhongdu with peace of mind.

He called Nuhai, who was about to go with the troops, to Niujie in the southern city, carefully selected a courtyard house facing the street, and bought it with the silver taels that Badr had bought for him a property. They had the courtyard roughly cleaned up, and then quickly moved from Badr's house to Niu Street.