Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the early morning, screams of terror and pain rang out at the same time, piercing the icy cold air like a stone breaking through a thin layer of ice. The soldiers who were fast asleep or taking a nap immediately woke up. Many people ran out of their tents without even putting on their armor. Armed with a bow, they anxiously looked around for the enemy.
There were no enemies around. The screams of pain stopped, but the shrieks of terror continued to echo through the camp. The soldiers soon realized that the sound was coming from the Second Consort’s tent.
After the battle with Luoluo ended, the Second Consort had started living in a remote area of the Naihang Tribe’s camp, seldom leaving her tent as if she were a widow in mourning. Many people said that the Second Consort had only buried Duodun’s body, kept the head, and whispered to it at night.
This rumor made those officers and soldiers of the Naihang Tribe not only respect her but also fear her. No one dared to approach the tents in that area unless it was absolutely necessary. The soldiers would even courteously stand aside for the Second Consort’s maids and attendants whenever they appeared in the camp.
The shrieks of terror and pain came from the same tent. The soldiers who had heard the sounds were all frightened, but they only blankly stared in that same direction; no one actually dared to investigate the situation.
The soldiers waited for the officers, the officers waited for the generals, and the generals waited for the Commander-in-chief. It was only after the panic started ramping that they discovered another anomaly: General Zhesu, who usually reacted fast, and the reckless Prince Duoercha, who liked wandering around, did not appear at all.
A daring captain, prompted by his colleagues, entered General Zhesu’s tent and found that it was empty. Duoercha’s tent was also empty. Only then did the crowd finally understand what the screams signified. Several deputy commanders, ten captains, as well as many officers all swarmed into the Second Consort’s tent.
The female slaves and attendants were all kneeling outside, frightened and paralyzed. The very first batch of people who entered the tent was also stunned by the scene before them.
The generals, after a simple discussion, felt that the situation was too serious for them to deal with, so they chose the only remaining option: they asked the new Khan, who was several miles away, for help.
The scaling ladders were almost all delivered to Shulitu’s camp by now, and the three corps that numbered 30,000 soldiers in total had arranged themselves in battle formation three miles away from Thousand Horsemen Pass. The remaining troops were marching towards the appointed location. This was the situation when the two captains of the Naihang Tribe arrived. They went straight to the new Khan, knelt, and said, “The Second Consort has killed General Zhesu and Prince Duoercha, which caused a great commotion in the army. A mutiny may occur at any time.”
The plan for attacking Thousand Horsemen Pass could only be canceled with that news. The siege weapons were left where they were and protected by the 30,000 soldiers on the front line. The remaining troops were all sent to the vicinity of the Naihang Tribe’s camp.
Under the deterrent of superior forces, Shulitu went to the camp of the Naihang Tribe while the Dragon King defended the rear.
Before departing, the two only exchanged a few words.
“Is this part of your agreement with the Second Consort?” Gu Shenwei had asked Shulitu to negotiate with the Second Consort, but hadn’t expected such a situation to occur.
“No.” Shulitu was so surprised that his face was even paler than the Dragon King’s. “Regarding the agreement I made with the Second Consort, I didn’t hide a single word from the Dragon King. All I told her was that she would be granted the permanent title ‘Second Consort of the Khan.’ She doesn’t have to marry me. She would also raise her own army with less than 30,000 soldiers. Then she would persuade the Naihang Tribe to surrender fully to me. She would only find a way to get rid of Zhesu if he’s too stubborn. But… She’s been quiet these days. I thought…”
Shulitu had thought that the Second Consort had too many difficulties and had therefore given up on the entire agreement. “I haven’t conferred her any titles yet. She’ll get nothing from doing what she just did. I’m really confused.”
Shulitu went straight to the camp of the Naihang Tribe with a thousand or so soldiers. It was already late in the morning. The bloody murders that had taken place in the Second Consort had already made its rounds in the camp. The army stationed outside the camp also made people of the Naihang Tribe very nervous. So the first thing that Shulitu noticed when he entered the camp was quarrels and chaos.
“Avenge the General and the Prince!” one of the parties yelled. There were many supporters but no one dared to take action.
“Listen to the Second Consort’s explanation first. There must be some explanation about it.”
“No need to ask. Prince Duoercha humiliated the Second Consort in public, but General Zhesu didn’t punish him. The Second Consort is definitely venting her anger.”
“Shulitu… The Khan is here.”
“Is he here to destroy the Naihang Tribe? Remember, we went through Luoluo’s territory but he didn’t stop us.”
…
The new Khan’s authority hadn’t been thoroughly established yet. Shulitu stood before the generals and officers for a while as he waited for the bickering calmed down.
“Khan, did you order the Second Consort to do this?” someone asked directly.
“No,” Shulitu coldly replied. “Ask the Second Consort to come out and talk.”
“She wouldn’t come out.” In fact, except for the first batch of generals and officers who had entered the tent, no one else dared to enter.
Shulitu stopped his guards and walked into the Second Consort’s living place alone with a steady pace, showing no panic at all. This left a very deep impression in the onlookers’ mind.
After nearly an hour, Shulitu came out first, followed by the Second Consort with her hair disheveled, her face covered in bruises, and her hands covered in blood. And she shivered with every step she made.
Several hundreds of generals and officers were outside the tent to see this scene. When the Second Consort raised her head and looked at them, all the people around took two or three steps back.
“The Second Consort has something to say,” Shulitu exclaimed, his demeanor as calm as he had been before he entered the tent.
The Second Consort swallowed hard and told what had happened in the early morning in a trembling voice, “It was before dawn… Duoercha asked to see me while he was drunk.”
The officers nodded. They still remembered Duoercha’s drunken state last night. This son of King Rizhu obviously hadn’t slept in his tent as usual.
“He said that he wanted to apologize to me so I could only get up… to meet him,” the Second Consort said in a hollow voice as if she were telling someone else’s story. “He behaved himself at the beginning, but then he… he started… harassing me.”
The Second Consort covered her face and wept. Speechless, the audience looked at each other, all feeling shocked by Duoercha’s audacity.
“He said… He said… that the old Khan’s woman was still a woman, Duodun could touch me, and so he could also touch me…” The Second Consort was choking by now and almost could not go on. It took her some time to stop crying. “I sent someone to ask General Zhesu for help.”
The Second Consort pointed to the slave girl nearby who was kneeling on the ground and shaking terribly from fear even four hours later. “I… I went to invite General Zhesu. He was very unhappy.”
What happened next was still told by the Second Consort. “But Duoercha couldn’t wait any longer before General Zhesu came. He… He came at me…”
The Second Consort started to cry again. It was really hard for her to speak of her humiliation before so many men. The officers all felt ashamed and even thought that it was a mistake that they had invited the new Khan here.
“He stripped my clothes… I… I stabbed him with a dagger… He kept screaming… screaming. I was so scared, so I was also screaming…”
This was how the screams of pain and terror had rang out in the early morning, but Zhesu’s death was still a mystery.
The Second Consort could not go on. Shulitu pointed at the slave girl and said, “You saw the rest of it, so tell us what happened next.”
“I…” The slave girl stammered, and it took her a long while to compose herself enough to continue. “The General rushed into the tent, and he was very… very angry, he rushed to… beat the Second Consort, saying that if the Prince was dead, then the Second Consort had to be buried alive alongside him… The Second Consort’s dagger was snatched by the General. She couldn’t beat… She couldn’t beat…”
The slave girl trembled so much that she could not go on. Shulitu had already questioned her in the tent so he finished the story. “The Second Consort’s dagger fell at the slave girl’s feet. She then picked it up and stabbed into General Zhesu’s back. Unfortunately, it hit his vitals.”
The crowd was very surprised. This slave girl had been kneeling outside with the others and no one had noticed her. They didn’t expect that she was actually one of the murderers.
That was the truth told by the Second Consort. The officers whispered to each other, all trying to process the new information.
“Lies!” cried a voice from the crowd. Then a stout Centurion pushed his way to the front. “General Zhesu is a veteran and Duoercha is as robust as a bull. How could they have been killed by two women? It’s a conspiracy, a designed trap! The General and Prince were murdered.”
The captain was an impatient man. Without waiting for an answer from his colleagues, he rushed up to the slave girl, laid his saber on her neck, and snapped, “Tell the truth! Tell me the truth!”
Frightened, the slave girl collapsed to the ground, no longer able to say a word, let alone tell any ‘truth’.
The Second Consort looked at the sky and wailed, “Come and kill me. I’m a bad woman and a traitor of the Naihang Tribe anyways who dared to resist Duoercha’s bullying. Old Khan, why didn’t you burn me to ashes earlier?”
The Second Consort’s old trick still worked. Some officers immediately scolded the captain who had drawn his saber.
The captain was a confidant of Zhesu’s and a friend of Duoercha’s. Enraged, he cut off the head of the female slave and turned to the Second Consort. “Since you want to court death, then I’ll satisfy you and avenge the General and the Prince!”
The Second Consort paled at his words. Shulitu then ordered, “I am the Khan of the prairie, and I command you to back off.”
Driven by his crazed bloodlust, the captain shot him a sidelong glance and castigated Shulitu. “You are just a wimpy kid, how can you claim yourself to be the Khan? You must have been involved in the murder of the General and the Prince. Right, you and the Second Consort…”
He actually dared to disrespect the new Khan in public. Shulitu’s entourage and some officers of the Naihang Tribe furiously jumped at him.
But no one was faster than Nie Zeng. He dashed out to the captain like a flying arrow and punched out, sending the body that was two or three times larger than him flying away.
The captain got up, spat out two teeth with blood, turned to run outside, and slurred in a muffled voice, “All the warriors of the Naihang Tribe with hot blood, follow me. We don’t acknowledge the new Khan…”
Nie Zeng looked back at Shulitu. Some officers took out their bows and arrows, waiting for the Khan’s command.
“Let him go. Do not stop him,” Shulitu said, making the decision on his own.
Many people at the scene regretted this because more officers and soldiers left the camp after hearing his order.
The 100,000 horsemen of the Naihang Tribe were split into two groups. Within half a day, at least 40,000 people had fled to their hometown in the northwest.
This was the first reason why the planned attack on Thousand Horsemen Pass was canceled. Luo Ningcha, who was still in the Dragon King’s tent, became very excited upon hearing this. She ordered the maids to dress her up in the most gorgeous clothes, ready to have a second negotiation with the Dragon King.
