Chapter Text
Zhang Yufen (鈺雰) was originally from a more southern region of Great Tang, but after the end of the war with the Ashile Tribe and the opening of relations with the desert tribe, there had been a need for new workers in the northern regions of the empire. Yufen had always wanted to travel to the north and so here he was, working for one of the northernmost postal stations of Great Tang, very close to the grasslands. It was far away from most of the large prefectures, but it only took half a day to get to the prefecture in You state which always was a nice day out, especially for feasts and holidays. Because it was close to the grasslands and on the road going north and west, there were many travellers coming and going, many languages were spoken and in the past few months since Yufen had started his job here, he’d started to pick up some words here and there. He liked to listen to the conversations of people passing by, trying to figure out what people were saying and which language they were using. For example, the (obviously given the way they looked at each other like there was no one else around and like they’d been doing for years) married couple standing in the corner had been talking a mix of different languages. Yufen had been confused at first because he had thought they were speaking the language of the Ashile tribe in the region, they had the same accent, but then he had clearly heard the woman speaking the Central Plains language with an accent which seemed like it was from Chang’an, but not quite and the man had answered in the same language with a slightly different accent. They would also randomly add words in languages that Yufen did not understand at all, but which sounded like languages from the desert tribes in the west. Yufen had never been that far West, but he had met a few travellers, mainly merchants who spoke those languages. Who were those people? Were they merchants? They had clearly travelled a lot of they could speak all those languages. They were both dressed like they were travelling with practical and comfortable clothes. They were dressed with clothes from the grassland people which would explain the language from earlier. But then the woman also had a few trinkets that were from the inner regions of Great Tang. Yufen was so curious. He hoped he could get a few words about who they were and what their story was when they would come to give him their mail to post.
Their faces showed that they both spent much if their time outside, something common in those parts. They both looked like they could fight from the way they moved and seemed to be aware of what was happening around them. Which was impressive given the way they were at the same time existing as if only the two of them existed.
Yufen realised how long he’d been staring at them when the woman finished what she’s been saying to the man, something about a letter she was waiting for and turned towards Yufen looking at him like she knew he had been listening in to their conversation. He looked down blushing, feeling awkward after having been caught. She started walking towards the table where Yufen was sitting, but not before the man with her said something low in her ear which had made her laugh and elbow him as a result.
Yufen tried to look more presentable, putting his hat back in place, and waited for the couple to arrive. They greeted him and gave him a letter to be sent to Chang’an. He took the letter, informed them about costs and expected delivery time. They nodded along, seemingly knowledgeable about the system, which did make sense.
As they were about to leave, he took a deep breath and said : “Before you leave, if it’s not indiscreet, may I ask where you’re from ? Many different people come through this post, but I couldn’t fully place where you were from and I was curious.”
The couple looked at each other, seemingly having a conversation without needing words. Yufen, not for the first time, felt very alone. After a few seconds, they turned back towards him and the woman started, with a smile on her face : “I am originally from Chang’an, but I left it quite a few years ago. My husband is from the grassland and we travel around a lot.”
Oh, of course, that made sense. This course to the border, there were many intercultural marriages, people met and the border was more fluid than what a lot of people thought farther away in the south. Still it was mostly local people. He wondered how they’d met, what was her story, how had she come to live and marry on the grasslands. Yufen was so curious, but the couple looked like they would not tell him more and like they were already back to their own world, ready to leave the post. They exchanged goodbye greetings and left. Yufen put the letter in the bag with all of the letters going south which would be picked soon when the next courier came. Yufen hoped they would come back in the future and he would get to hear about their story. He was very curious, but couldn’t focus for too long as another person had arrived and required his service.