"Sorry for the trouble, Brother Wanyan, but please bring that object here for me to examine," Hu Xiaotian said.
Wanyan Liexin sighed. "Bu Buma has an eccentric temper. She may not listen to me."
Hu Xiaotian laughed heartily and gestured an invitation, asking Wanyan Liexin to sit inside the Floating Cup Pavilion. After tea was served, Wanyan Liexin took a small sip and said softly, "Jiangnan really is lovely!"
Hu Xiaotian smiled. "If it weren't, you wouldn't be so reluctant to abandon your ambition of marching south into the Central Plains."
Wanyan Liexin shook his head. "However lovely Jiangnan may be, it cannot compare to our homeland. What the Great Khan thinks is not something I can control." He slowly set down his teacup and looked frankly into Hu Xiaotian's eyes. "To be honest, Your Highness, I detest war with every fiber of my being. More than once, I have urged the Great Khan to lay down arms and end the fighting. Black Hu already has enough territory to sustain our people. They are accustomed to galloping across the vast grasslands. If we were made to live in the Central Plains, most of our people would feel like birds in cages, fine horses penned in stalls. Splendor and wealth are merely passing clouds in a person's lifetime. Compared to freedom, they are not worth mentioning!"
Hu Xiaotian did not know whether Wanyan Liexin meant what he said, but his eyes were full of sincerity, with little sign of pretense. Wanyan Liexin was an intelligent man whose vision ought to reach further than most. Perhaps this really was how he felt. Hu Xiaotian said, "Unfortunately, most people do not think as you do, Brother Wanyan."
Wanyan Liexin smiled. "As a subject, one can only serve loyally and fulfill one's duties. Even