Dearest wife,
i am writing you this letter from camp. i miss you everyday and I did not go home ever since you left. My mother, the dowager had urge me to go return to the capital for days. I did not feel like going back to the mansion that you are not there. Besides that, my brother had issued a few ladies from other noble clans to move into our mansion. I cannot avoid them in the capital but i can avoid them in camp. Those are young girls. i think after a year or two, they will give up and return home. By then, their families will look for another proper man to marry their daughters. So therefore, i will not go home. It is better that way.
I have a few things to tell you. First, Li Xing have left the army. He is now living with his father-in-law. I think, it is better. He now can fully take care of Li Han and his in-laws. Since he have the land and some savings from you, he can live there for a few years. If things gets difficult for him, he can approach Consort Wu or me for help. Oh by the way, little Li Han is beging to learn how to write. Li Xing is teaching him the basics. I think the in-laws will help that too since Mr Kim is rigid about learning and studying. His young son who is in the capital learning and studying in the imperial school of studies is one of the top student there. He have done his family proud.
My brother, Li Jun, is now gravely ill but he is alive. He is unlike his usual self, he is mostly on his bed. I heard that he is spending his time either reading or sleeping. Sometimes he looks for you. Consort Wu lied to him that you have bring the children out. He will quiet down. The physicians have seen him, they all conclude that he won't live long. However for now, he is living in peace. His mansion is no longer that noisy as all his children are grown up and moved out. He is left with his only last daughter living in the mansion.
Li Nan, also left the army. He wanted to find someone that can point him to his lineage of XiongNu. While his wife is already given birth to two sons and they are following him into the grassland. The last time i spoke to him is that if he cannot find any of them, he will go to Persia and look for you. I gave him your scarf that is embroidered with the crescent of the Ottoman. Hopefully it will comfort him and able to reach for you in time of needs.
My brother, the emperor had dismiss the mercenaries. They are all given citizenships in Tang. AJiaKeSi and his friends have left and they are heading northwest. Li Xin who is now married to AJiaKeSi is following her husband. I believe she will write to you soon. She was two months pregnant when she left. I gave her some form of protection by writing to the commander who is station in northwest. They will provide help when Li Xin ask for his help.
The rest of our adopted children are living well enough. I still accept their visits when they come to camp to see me. Our daughters are growing up well under Wang MoMo's care. I have agreed to allow them to move to the palace to live with the dowager. Our twins are now young men. They are now living in the imperial school of studies. Only will return home when the New Year comes. They are very smart men. Together, no one can outsmart them. Also when they are free, they continue to make toys for children who doesn't have anything. They don't sell them. Even if they do, they will give the money to set up stalls and provide free food under your name. They did not let anyone forget that you used to live in the capital.
My dearest, i hope life in Persia is good for you. I never hear you talk about your life back in Ottoman empire. However i do know from the envoys that come and go that you did not have an easy life. Even thought you are a princess, you lived like a ghost that moves quietly in the back of the palace. I saw the branding on your arm many times but i wanted to talk about it but something tell me not to ask. An envoy told me how the branding comes into you. I cry to hear the suffering that you have to endure. A family that did not knowledge your existence. A force marriage and a switch marriage to get you out of the city. I don't know how much you have to endure in your life. However i hope that our marriage have bring some sunshine into your life.
My Ban Nu, leaving you alone out there is a nightmare that i cannot imagine. I Hope, someday the army doesn't need me anymore. That day, i will head into the sands and go to you. For now, i only can dream and think of our past together. Promise me that you will not forget me and our past. One day we will reunite with our family the whole again. When the day comes, we will stay together. Whether alive or dead.
i miss you and will dream of you.
Your husband,
Li Cheng