Everyone on the grasslands knows that Princess Ayina picked up a man from the Central Plains.
When she found him, he was half-dead. After cleaning him up, she discovered he was actually quite handsome. He was just too weak: he couldn't ride a horse or drink, and even choked on roast meat. Ayina named him "Xiaobai" and kept him by her side every day, like a not-very-bright pet.
Everyone in the Central Plains knows that the Seventh Prince, Dongfang Jingyan, is the least favored of them all.
Sent to the grasslands to deliver an imperial decree, he was caught in a sandstorm and nearly died in the desert, only to be rescued by a girl from the grasslands. She held an arrow to his chin and asked his name. He thought he was going to die, but she only complained that his name was too long and renamed him "Xiaobai."
One was the cherished jewel of her entire tribe; the other was a prince from the Central Plains, discarded by his own family like a pawn. She taught him to ride and shoot; he taught her to write Chinese characters and read poetry. She took a blade for him on the grasslands; he shielded her from hidden arrows in the imperial court.
Everyone said they were wrong for each other. The elders of the grasslands said she had invited a wolf into their home, while the emperor of the Central Plains accused him of colluding with foreigners. But Ayina only asked him one question:
"Do you want to stay, or do you want to go back?"
It took Dongfang Jingyan a long time to understand that the only choice he had ever made for himself was taking the hand a girl held out to him on those grasslands.
Later, someone asked him, "You're a prince from the Central Plains. How can you be content to stay on the grasslands as a 'Xiaobai'?"
He said, "Because here, no one calls me the Seventh Prince."
