When Xuanzang finished speaking, the room fell silent. After quite a long while, Damuge finally asked: “Master, why are the words Devadatta spoke at the end of his life so difficult to understand? It seems as though there is a deeper meaning.”
Xuanzang considered for a moment. “The road he chose to walk was twisted and treacherous. Perhaps only the Buddha could have understood it. It is like the venerable Suopo Mi here before you — the road he now walks is also one this humble monk cannot fathom. Yet I believe he must have his own obsession.”
“You—” Suopo Mi was startled, and stared at Xuanzang long and deeply, but as though reluctant to bring it up, said instead: “Very well. In any case, this old monk has already uncovered the mystery of Lianhuaye and Nashun’s past lives. Shall this wager be brought to a close?”
The moment these words were spoken, everyone’s hearts clenched. A chill ran down every spine, as though a dark and ill-omened wind had swept through the room. Yizihou III’s expression was a shifting tangle of ferocity, humiliation, reluctance, despair, fury, and bewilderment. He stared fixedly at the Buddhist stupa before him and said nothing. No one dared say a word; they waited in silence, all knowing that the moment he spoke, there was every possibility that a catastrophic war would erupt.
“No!” Damuge said suddenly. “This Lianhuaye has passed through thirty-three cycles of reincarnation. You have uncovered only her very first life — and you dare claim you have won the wager?”
Suopo Mi grew irritated. “The source has already been traced clearly. Can you possibly expect this old monk to dredge up every single one of her lives one by one?”
“There is no need for that,” Damuge said with a cold smile. “I have no interest in the middle — but if you can reveal her final life, we will concede defeat!”
Suopo Mi was taken aback. He turned to Yizihou III. “Your Majesty — is that your meaning as well?”
Yizihou III was silent for a long while, then nodded. “What Damuge means is what I mean.”
Suopo Mi breathed out softly and said: “This old monk does not fear the difficulty. Rather, the matter is too simple.” He turned to look at Lianhuaye. “Then let us speak of your final life — your previous life. Exactly who were you?”
Lianhuaye paused, and in her eyes there appeared a look of fear. She murmured: “Must you truly have me say it?”
“If you feel it is inconvenient, you need not say it,” Xuanzang said gently.
Suopo Mi grew annoyed. “Mahayana Deva, with victory or defeat about to be determined, please do not interfere. Speak!”
Lianhuaye nodded and was just about to speak when wisps of white smoke began to rise from her body. The smoke seemed to seep out from within her, passing through her clothing and rising into the air — as though the inside of her body were filled with damp firewood, burning with great difficulty. Everyone froze.
“Lianhuaye — are you all right?” Nashun wanted to rush forward, but Suopo Mi pulled him firmly back. With a grave expression, he shook his head. “Do not panic. Let us watch and see what is happening.”
Xuanzang said nothing, watching quietly, though he gave more attention to the reactions of the people around them. The wisps of smoke rising from Lianhuaye’s body grew more and more numerous. The smoke seemed suffused with a muddling, disorienting quality — a single breath of it left one’s head dizzy and drowsy — and everyone hurriedly covered their mouths and noses.
“What is happening to me?” Lianhuaye looked down at her own body in bewilderment.
The smoke grew thicker and denser, like an enormous white cocoon enveloping her entire person. The others could no longer make out Lianhuaye inside the cocoon.
“Nashun, save me—” Lianhuaye suddenly let out a cry of distress.
Nashun cried out and threw off Suopo Mi’s grip, charging into the smoke — but in an instant, the others saw Nashun come bursting out from the other side of the smoke. Inside the smoke there was nothing at all!
Nashun stretched out his hands and looked at them in bewilderment. They were dusted with a few wisps of smoke, which dissipated and vanished at the lightest breath.
“Lianhuaye?” Nashun came back to his senses, turned around and plunged again into the smoke, grabbing in every direction, instantly dispersing the smoke in all directions. At last the smoke scattered, and all the others saw was Nashun standing stupefied in the center of the chamber. In an instant, Lianhuaye had vanished without a trace.
“Elder Brother, Elder Brother!” Nashun wept in terror. “Lianhuaye is gone—”
Xuanzang was also deeply shaken. He walked over and waved away the lingering wisps of white mist, examining carefully. He let his gaze pass over the faces of each person in the room: shock, doubt, and blankness. Suopo Mi gazed at him, the two of them looking at each other in silence.
Xuanzang felt his heart slowly turning cold. He took Nashun’s hand and said gently: “Do not worry. As long as she still lives, this humble monk will certainly help you find her and bring her back.”
Nashun seized his shoulders with excited hands. “Elder Brother — where can she be found? Tell me, and I will go through a forest of blades and a sea of fire!”
“We go to the Women’s Kingdom of Supi,” Xuanzang said.
Nashun was stunned. Even Suopo Mi and Yizihou III were stunned.
“The Women’s Kingdom of Supi?” Nashun said in surprise. “Lianhuaye was born there, it is true, but—”
Xuanzang stopped him. “Nashun, listen to me. Let us go!”
“Lianhuaye—” Nashun, tears streaming down his face, fell to his knees on the ground. “Wherever you are, no matter who has taken you — do not be afraid. Even if it takes me an entire lifetime, I will find you again!”
Xuanzang and Nashun left the royal city through the eastern gate. One white horse, one camel, making their way through the play of light and shadow along the Indus River. Nashun rode the camel, pausing to look back with every step. By now the city of Purushapura was lost from sight — concealed by trees, layered by mountain ridges — and occasionally a wisp of cooking smoke drifted up into the sky above the horizon, like a lock of fine hair refusing to disperse in a person’s longing.
“Let us go,” Xuanzang said, without looking back, urging his horse onward. “Perhaps when we return, everything will already be different.”
“Elder Brother — Lianhuaye clearly disappeared inside the King of Gandhara’s palace. Why do you want to go to the Women’s Kingdom of Supi to search her birthplace?” Nashun urged his camel forward and caught up, asking the question.
Xuanzang reflected for a moment. “Inside the King of Gandhara’s palace, the mist is thick and impenetrable. This humble monk does not dare pierce through that layer of concealment, and so must take a different path. Moreover, this humble monk believes that the methods used, the process itself, or even the location of the disappearance — all of these are of secondary importance. What truly matters is: why did she disappear? If Lianhuaye’s disappearance was the work of a person, then whoever went to such great lengths to abduct her in full view of everyone clearly did not want her to speak that sentence.”
“Which sentence?” Nashun asked.
“Exactly who she was in her previous life,” Xuanzang said.
Nashun suddenly understood. “So that is why you want to go to the Women’s Kingdom of Supi — to seek out her hometown. Right — she grew up there from childhood. With her background being so extraordinary, the local people must have some knowledge of it.”
“Indeed!” Xuanzang nodded. “If we learn who she was in her previous life, I believe the one who abducted her will reveal themselves.”
The distance to the Women’s Kingdom of Supi was two thousand li. After crossing the Indus River, they turned northward and entered the kingdom of Udyana. Within Udyana, river valleys crisscrossed the land and the region was rich in fruits and flowers — grapes above all. Traveling through the towns and villages, grapevines crowded thick along the roadsides, and all manner of flowering fruit trees interwove in splendor amid the snowcapped mountains and flowing rivers.
North of Udyana was the kingdom of Kashmir. This was a great kingdom on the northwestern frontier of India, already deep within the snowcapped mountains. It encompassed seven thousand li in circumference and was encircled by ranges of peaks. The mountains within were steep and precipitous; though paths existed, they wound narrow and coiling through the ranges. The mountain climate was bitterly cold, and though it was the third month of spring, snow was still falling and swirling. Xuanzang and Nashun wrapped themselves completely in felt, even covering their horse and camel, and huddled forward on the animals’ backs as they trudged through the desolate snowy mountains.
After more than ten days of travel, they finally crossed the mountains and entered the heartland of Kashmir, where the climate also grew mild. Occasionally they would encounter traveling merchants on the road. Xuanzang asked them how to find the route to the Eastern Women’s Kingdom. The merchants told him: go northeast for six hundred li, cross the pass at the Karakoram Mountains, and there is the Eastern Women’s Kingdom.
“However, the Eastern Women’s Kingdom has moved westward,” a merchant said.
Xuanzang was surprised. “Why have they moved westward?”
“Master, you may not know — in recent years, the kingdom of Tibet has risen, and Tibet’s ruler Songtsen Gampo, after conquering the kingdom of Zhangzhung, launched an attack on the Eastern Women’s Kingdom. Last year, he captured and destroyed the capital of the Eastern Women’s Kingdom, and they have since moved westward to the region of Baltit,” the merchant said. “Master, you would do well to avoid the fighting on the road. North of the Karakoram pass is the battlefield between the Eastern Women’s Kingdom and Tibet, and there are often marauding soldiers who plunder as they go.”
Xuanzang thanked him and continued northward.
“Elder Brother — the Eastern Women’s Kingdom has already been routed. Can we still find people from Lianhuaye’s hometown?” Nashun asked with concern.
Xuanzang was silent for a moment, gazing at the vast expanse of snowy mountains and letting out a sigh. “This humble monk left the Great Tang fourteen years ago, and has traveled through one hundred and ten kingdoms along this road in search of the true scriptures. The hardships of wind and frost along the way are one thing — but at times I have also encountered events that are strange and uncanny, and though they have nothing to do with the Dharma, I have never once taken a detour around them. I have always felt compelled to trace them to their source and understand them clearly. Nashun, do you know why?”
“Is it because Elder Brother’s curiosity is too great?” Nashun said.
Xuanzang laughed in spite of himself. “If you seek the Buddha’s truth within paper, you’ll dry up Dongting Lake with your brushstroke. The Dharma and its true meaning are never recorded on paper — you must seek them out yourself, find your own awakening. My journey to the west has been a road of that kind — with no true beginning, no true end, and no certainty of finding what one seeks. It is simply a matter of spending one’s entire life experiencing, one fine thread and one leaf at a time, what this great world displays before me. So, Nashun — now that there is a path beneath your feet, do not hesitate and do not doubt. Simply walk forward.”
They traveled north for six or seven hundred li and again entered a great snowcapped mountain range — this range even more immense than the last, rising into the sky like a pyramid. The paths on both sides of the peaks were covered by glaciers; the summits were eternally capped with snow; the mountain road was wet and slippery and extremely steep, with some sections buried under several feet of snow. The camel and horse were beginning to lose their footing. Xuanzang wrapped the animals’ hooves in hemp cloth; when they reached particularly steep and icy ridges, he climbed up himself, brought out specially made long iron spikes, drove them into the ice and snow, tied long ropes to them and threw them to Nashun, letting Nashun tie them to the reins of the camel and horse. Then the two of them worked together to haul both the camel and the horse up.
“Elder Brother — that is a brilliant method,” Nashun said admiringly.
“This humble monk has crossed dozens of great snowcapped mountain ranges over the years. Long ago, when crossing the great Ling Mountains, the road was covered in snow and several people fell from the cliffs. So this humble monk fashioned these things, not wanting anyone to lose their life in that way again,” Xuanzang said.
A little further ahead was the Karakoram pass. On the road they encountered some more traveling merchants. These merchants were not transporting ordinary goods — they were transporting slaves. Some ten or more people were bound together with a thick rope, men and women, old and young, being led by someone on horseback at the front. These slaves were thinly clothed and filthy, staring blankly ahead as they made their way step by painful step across the ice and snow.
Xuanzang asked and learned that these were prisoners from the Eastern Women’s Kingdom captured by the Tibetan forces, purchased by these merchants and being transported to India for sale. The two of them watched in silence as this chain of slaves trudged off into the distance through the snowy mountains. Nashun’s eyes reddened. “Did Lianhuaye come to India this way? Elder Brother — I truly hate myself. Why did I let her suffer like this!”
All Xuanzang could do was sigh in silence and press on.
Beyond the pass, the air grew warmer. The snowy mountains fell behind them, and before their eyes stretched a vast expanse of wilderness: green meadow, snowcapped mountains, and lakes. The sky was a blue that seemed almost to drip with richness; the flawless lakes reflected that blue sky, and it was impossible to tell where the sky ended and the earth began. From time to time, herds of antelope bounded across the green meadow beneath the blue sky, making the long grass rise and fall in waves — the only fleeting movement in all that frozen, motionless world.
The two of them found a trade route and began heading westward in search of traces of the Eastern Women’s Kingdom. Two hundred li later, they passed along the edge of a mirror-like lake and climbed to the crest of a grass-covered hill — and then froze in their tracks. In the valley below, an endless army was locked in battle, blanketing the valley and the plain.
The distance was too great to hear the soldiers’ battle cries, the screaming of warhorses, or the screams of the dying. Only glints of swords and blades caught the setting sun and flashed before Xuanzang’s eyes. In the center of the two armies, infantry were fighting hand-to-hand; seen from the hilltop, they looked like densely packed swarms of ants intertwined, slashing at one another with swords and knives, thrusting with long spears — the battle lines of both sides shaved thinner layer by layer. Beyond the infantry formations, the cavalry of both sides were charging and clashing; countless horsemen swept back and forth, like surging black waves crashing into each other. In the countless splashes thrown up by those waves, countless human lives were fading silently away.
The two of them stood there dumbfounded. Xuanzang murmured recitations of the prayer for the dead. Nashun, however, was dismissive. “Elder Brother — they follow the outer teachings. Your prayer for the dead cannot save them.”
“Among all living beings in this great world, there is no one who cannot be saved,” Xuanzang said.
He was about to say more when suddenly a clamor of hoofbeats arose behind them. They turned — and saw a troop of Tibetan cavalry scouts come thundering toward them. These Tibetan scouts wore long narrow-sleeved robes and wore their hair in braids, with red headbands tied at their brows and ocher paint daubed on their cheeks and foreheads. Drawing close, they first circled the two men on horseback, then without a word drew their bows — frigid arrowheads landing at the two men’s feet. Neither dared move further. They heard the mounted soldiers shouting something, urging their horses to circle around them. The soldiers were speaking Tibetan, which Xuanzang could not quite understand.
Nashun, having traveled among merchants, knew a little of it. He whispered an explanation: “They think we are spies for the Eastern Women’s Kingdom.”
Xuanzang whispered: “Tell them we are from India.”
Nashun told the mounted soldiers in his imperfect Tibetan: “Respected eagles of the snowcapped realm — we are monks who have come from India. The person before you is Mahayana Deva, the most renowned figure in all five regions of India. We have come to pay our respects to your Tsanpo…”
The mounted soldiers seemed to understand. Two of the leaders consulted between themselves, then swept the two men up into their midst, and the whole group galloped off at top speed toward a high ground in the middle of the valley. The high ground was ringed with tents and thronged with Tibetan soldiers going in and out, transporting arrows, shields, sling bags, and round stone balls to the battlefield. A stream of wounded men was being brought back; priests of the Bön religion, their faces painted with ocher-colored incantation markings, applied herbal medicine and chanted as they treated the injured. The entire camp was a chaotic scene.
The cavalry scouts brought them into the camp. Coming toward them was an officer of a thousand men, leading his cavalry unit to the front to provide reinforcement. When the officer saw them bringing a monk, he asked in surprise, then erupted in irritation: “Dachi — I think you’re going to taste the whip! The Tsanpo’s eyes are on the battle like a hawk’s, and here you bring all this nonsense to disturb him — he’ll have your head for it. Lock this monk up first. After we defeat the Queen of Supi, we’ll deal with it!”
The scout called Dachi did not dare say more, and took Xuanzang and Nashun to the rear of the camp, where they were confined inside a yak pen. The yaks there were being slaughtered for food, and not far away, a group of slaves were busy slaughtering yaks and skinning and butchering the carcasses. Xuanzang, utterly vexed and unable to communicate, had no choice but to sit down in the yak pen and meditate.
They had no idea how much time had passed when from the distance came a roar of countless voices like the collapse of heaven and earth. The two were puzzling over this when a slave rushed in, beaming with joy and stumbling as he ran, shouting loudly: “Victory! We have captured the Queen of Supi!”
A crowd of slaves let out a wild cheer, threw down their butchering knives, and broke into singing and dancing. Xuanzang shook his head at the sight of it. Nashun, however, was troubled. “Elder Brother — if even the queen has been captured, it looks as though the Eastern Women’s Kingdom is finished.”
“Indeed,” Xuanzang said with feeling. “These past years, the Eastern Women’s Kingdom has been routed again and again by Tibet. That they would eventually be destroyed was only a matter of time.”
“In that case, will it be even more difficult to find news of Lianhuaye?” Nashun worried.
Xuanzang thought it over. “We take it one step at a time.”
The two were still talking when suddenly the scout named Dachi came running in, addressing Xuanzang in imperfect Sanskrit: “Are you the monk who came from India?”
“This humble monk is exactly that,” Xuanzang said, pressing his palms together.
“A noble person wishes to see you,” Dachi said, opening the yak pen and releasing them.
Xuanzang ducked out and asked: “Is it your Tsanpo?”
Dachi gave no answer, and simply led them directly away from the slaughterhouse and into the center of the camp. The victorious Tibetan soldiers were returning to camp, every one of them covered in blood yet glowing with excitement — the ocher paint on their faces diluted by the blood. Some of the Bön priests were chanting ancient sacrificial verses, singing and dancing.
Behind the returning Tibetan soldiers came a great mass of prisoners from the Eastern Women’s Kingdom — men and women alike, covered in blood, bound together in strings with ropes and led along by Tibetan soldiers. The Tibetan soldiers alternately lashed them fiercely with whips and shouted at them in simple Sanskrit. The Eastern Women’s Kingdom’s language belonged to the Sanskrit family, unlike Tibetan, and the two peoples had interacted for over a thousand years, so even ordinary Tibetan soldiers could manage a few words of Sanskrit. Some of the women, fierce and unyielding, shouted back at the top of their voices rather than accept the humiliation; by contrast, the men from the Eastern Women’s Kingdom all cowered and hung their heads.
“Even your Queen of Supi has been captured by us — what pride is there left in you?” the Tibetan soldiers mocked. At these words, the women of the Eastern Women’s Kingdom immediately broke into loud weeping, and were herded and pushed into the prisoner encampment.
Xuanzang watched in silence and followed Dachi past layer upon layer of sentries to a high ground guarded on all sides by the main army. This was the residence of the Tibetan Tsanpo and the royal family — the camp tents were large and magnificent. Dachi made his report, and an inner minister emerged from one of the tents, leading Xuanzang and Nashun to a large and stately tent and guiding them inside.
This tent was extremely spacious, capable of holding several hundred people. At the far end of the tent hung an enormous map painted on yak hide, around which a dozen or so Tibetan nobles were clustered with two young men in informal robes, engaged in discussion before the map.
“After defeating the Eastern Women’s Kingdom, Tibet’s territory to the west now borders Baltit and Little Baltit. If we can absorb Baltit and Little Baltit, we can advance northward into the Western Turks, and southward into the Tokharistan region. The Tsanpo controls the critical pass between the three great empires of India, Persia, and the Western Turks — and can achieve a great enterprise unmatched in history,” said the older of the two men, speaking in pure Tang-dynasty Chinese, with the accent of Luoyang.
“Exactly, exactly!” the young man said, clapping his hands in delight. “Once we defeat Baltit and Little Baltit, Tibet can enter Khotan and drive directly into the heartland of the Western Turks! At that time, Tibet would be able to hunt alongside the Great Tang in the lands of the Western Turks. Now that is what I call a joy of life!”
The inner minister waited a moment, saw that the two were still talking, and had no choice but to step forward and bow with a hand to his chest, announcing softly: “Tsanpo, the Indian monk that Lady Wang requested has been brought.”
“He has come?” The older man turned around casually. He turned — and the moment he saw Xuanzang, he froze. Xuanzang was equally dumbfounded.
“Master Xuanzang!”
“Wang Xuance!”
For the man was none other than Wang Xuance, Chieftain of the Bureau of Investigation of the Great Tang, whose public identity was Vice Commander of the Right Guard of the Crown Prince’s Household! In the third year of the Zhenguan reign, when Xuanzang passed beyond the frontier on his journey west, he had encountered the strange affair of the Giant King’s Vase. Behind it was Wang Xuance, representing the Great Tang in a contest of power with the Western Turks and the kingdoms of the western regions. The two of them had been through much together. They had not seen each other for more than ten years, and Wang Xuance was now approaching forty. That elegantly unconventional face now carried some sediment of years, lending him a greater composure and steadiness. He still wore the scarlet official robes of the Great Tang, a silver fish pouch hanging at his waist — thoroughly incongruous among these Tibetan nobles.
The two of them stared at each other in stupefaction, and then Wang Xuance burst into hearty laughter, stepping quickly forward to pay his respects to Xuanzang: “Master! Master! Do you possess the power of supernatural speed? I have been looking for Indian monks hoping to find word of you — and here you have appeared before my very eyes!”
“Wang Vice Commander, why are you here among the Tibetan forces?” Xuanzang was even more perplexed. “And why were you looking for this humble monk?”
Wang Xuance was taken aback for a moment, then could not help but smile ruefully. “Master — it is all because of you! Come, come — let me first make introductions. This is the Tibetan Tsanpo, Songtsen Gampo.”
Only then did Xuanzang take notice of the young man standing nearby — hair in braids, wearing a layered turban-style headwrap, with two short strips of mustache at the corners of his lips. Nothing else would explain it: the man was simply too young.
Indeed, at this time Songtsen Gampo was only twenty-four years old. When he was thirteen, his father Namri Songtsen was poisoned to death by the old ministers of the Yarlung clan in a dispute between old and new factions of ministers. The newly unified Tibetan Empire immediately seemed on the verge of collapse — within, there was rebellion from the old Yarlung ministers and the queen’s family; without, the remnants of the Zhangzhung and Supi kingdoms surged back in force. After taking the throne, Songtsen Gampo worked with focused dedication to build his realm, assembling an army of ten thousand men. In three years of warfare, he hunted down and annihilated every last one of the old Yarlung ministers who had poisoned his father, and pacified the internal turmoil. His energy was boundless and his talents exceptional: he first secured the submission of the former Supi territories through a tribute arrangement, then killed Zhangzhung King Li Niexiu, forcing the Eastern Women’s Kingdom to move westward yet again, and unified the entire plateau. Then he moved his capital to the city of Lhasa, shaking free of the old Yarlung ministers’ grip on the government; the nation’s power grew day by day. In recent years, he had moreover defeated the Dangxiang, the Bailan Qiang, and the Tuyuhun, establishing his dominance over the plateau.
Songtsen Gampo had also been studying Xuanzang. Wang Xuance had arrived in Tibet and gone everywhere asking merchants and monks from India for news of him, and Songtsen Gampo had also made inquiries. He not only knew of this monk’s relationship with Li Shimin, but was also well acquainted with Xuanzang’s reputation in India. The stories of Xuanzang’s great debate throughout the five regions of India and his title of Mahayana Deva were matters Songtsen Gampo had long admired. Now, seeing Xuanzang in person, Songtsen Gampo felt that the reality surpassed even what he had heard.
Songtsen Gampo smiled. “Master, your reputation has long reached me, even here in my isolated plateau. I had not expected to have the fortune of welcoming you today — I am truly overjoyed.”
Songtsen Gampo ordered the map to be removed and food and drink laid out to receive Xuanzang and Nashun. With his own hands he filled a horn cup with grape juice and offered it respectfully to Xuanzang.
Wang Xuance asked: “Master — what brings you to Tibet?”
Xuanzang looked at him. “And what brings Vice Commander Wang here?”
“Me?” Wang Xuance said with a rueful smile. “I was chased over here by His Majesty the Emperor, to be your disciple.”
Now it was Xuanzang’s turn to be speechless. “To be this humble monk’s disciple? How so?”
Wang Xuance smiled ruefully and explained the whole matter. Xuanzang was deeply moved. His interactions with Li Shimin had not been many — mainly his dealings with Cui Jue in the underground Ni Li prison at Huoyi, where he had saved Li Shimin’s life, and only afterward learned that Li Shimin had actually been aware of everything from the start. Yet Li Shimin had always treated him with great respect and esteem.
“To receive such regard from His Majesty — this humble monk is moved to the very core,” Xuanzang said, pressing his palms together in reverence toward the northeast.
“Ah.” Wang Xuance sighed. “Master, what choice did I have? Who would want to go eat windblown sand in the Moheyan desert? Just at the right moment, Princess Wencheng was being given in marriage to the Tsanpo, and so I came to Tibet as part of the escort delegation led by Prince Jiangxia. I have been in Tibet for several months now, asking every merchant and monk from India who passes through for news of you. I never imagined you would appear here today! It seems this must be my Buddhist predestined connection.”
Wang Xuance stood up and, with great solemnity, prostrated himself on the ground. “Disciple Wang Xuance, acting on imperial command to request a teacher. I beg the Master to bestow ordination.”
Songtsen Gampo was taken aback. “Wait — Vice Commander Wang, are you truly going to become a monk?”
“What other choice do I have?” Wang Xuance was also deeply reluctant. “An imperial command cannot be disobeyed!”
“But…” Songtsen Gampo was somewhat bewildered. “Vice Commander Wang — you are a man of great talent and brilliant strategy. You are the stuff of generals and ministers. How can you renounce the world and become a monk?”
“What then?” Wang Xuance asked him.
Songtsen Gampo had no answer, and looked helplessly at Xuanzang for assistance. Xuanzang thought for a moment and asked: “Vice Commander Wang, has His Majesty stripped you of your official position?”
“He has not,” Wang Xuance said.
“In that case, this humble monk cannot shave your head either. But an imperial command must not be disobeyed. Therefore — without shaving your head, you shall receive the Five Precepts and serve as a lay practitioner,” Xuanzang said. “This humble monk once had two disciples: my eldest disciple Ashu and my second disciple Qu Zhisheng — both of whom you know. From this day forward, you will be this humble monk’s third disciple. I hereby grant you the Dharma name Wujing.”
Wang Xuance was overjoyed and immediately prostrated himself. “Master — what is the meaning of Wujing?”
Xuanzang said: “Your deliberations are excessive and your mind is restless and unsettled. The day you attain understanding of the Gate of Pure Stillness is the day of your great enlightenment. On that day, this humble monk will release you to return and re-enter the court.”
“It seems I will never be released,” Wang Xuance said with a sigh. He removed his official headwear, let his hair down, and Xuanzang asked Songtsen Gampo to borrow a hairband to hold his hair in place. Songtsen Gampo was generous — he immediately found a golden band and gave it to Wang Xuance, saying: “Vice Commander Wang, as you and your teacher travel throughout the world — should you be short of food and drink, sell this golden band, and it should be enough to buy some grain and provisions.”
These words very nearly brought Wang Xuance to tears. He was a full fifth-rank official of the Great Tang, and from this point forward he was a member of the Buddhist community. According to the five precepts for lay practitioners: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, no drinking. The first three he could manage. But no lying — how was the Chieftain of the Bureau of Investigation, a master of political intrigue and grand strategy, supposed to function without it? And no drinking… Wang Xuance sensed that wretched days were about to descend upon him.
Songtsen Gampo immediately set out a feast for Xuanzang, ordering several bags of highland barley wine to be brought. He told Wang Xuance that since he could no longer drink after this, he should drink his fill tonight.
Everyone sat on the ground eating and talking, while Xuanzang drank Tibetan barley tea. In the course of the conversation, they came to understand that Princess Wencheng’s marriage into Tibet was also full of grand political intrigue among the great powers.
It transpired that three years earlier, Songtsen Gampo had unified the plateau, and his military forces made all kings submit. Li Shimin, not fully understanding this figure’s background, had sent Feng Dexia as an envoy to Tibet to assess the situation. At that time Songtsen Gampo was only twenty-one. Seeing that the Central Plains empire was also seeking friendly relations with him, he was quite pleased. Later, in conversation, he learned that the Dangxiang and Turks had both married Tang dynasty princesses — which made Songtsen Gampo feel he had lost some face. He sent an envoy along with Feng Dexia to Chang’an to request a Tang princess in marriage. Li Shimin did not yet have a clear understanding of the newly risen Tibet and so took little notice; he immediately declined. The Tibetan envoy, afraid of being unable to explain himself to the Tsanpo, fabricated a story, claiming: At first the great nation received me warmly and promised to give a princess. Then the King of Tuyuhun came to court and someone spoke against us, after which the treatment grew cold and the marriage was refused.
Songtsen Gampo was furious, feeling his pride had been wounded, and so he sent his troops against the Tuyuhun. At the time, the ruler of the Tuyuhun, Nuohebo, was still just a young child of a few years old — here was a case of sitting peaceably at home and having disaster fall from the sky. As early as the ninth year of the Zhenguan reign, the Tuyuhun had been defeated by the Great Tang; King Fuyun had committed suicide, and the kingdom had split into eastern and western portions with competing powerful ministers and internal disorder. Songtsen Gampo had long coveted the Tuyuhun, and using this as a pretext, he sent his forces in without warning. He not only crushed the Tuyuhun but also pressed on to defeat the Dangxiang and the Bailan Qiang.
Riding on this great wave of victories, Songtsen Gampo then sent troops against the Tang at Songzhou, encamped west of Songzhou, and wrote Li Shimin a letter with sharply worded terms: If the great nation does not give me a princess in marriage, I will immediately invade. I will personally lead fifty thousand troops to break your capital, cut off your head, and seize your princess.
Li Shimin read this and went into a fury, issuing an imperial edict sharply reprimanding him. Songtsen Gampo, infuriated, did exactly as he had threatened and led an army of fifty thousand men to attack Songzhou.
Songzhou was a frontier regional command with fewer than ten thousand men. The regional commander, Han Wei, underestimated Songtsen Gampo, rushed into battle unprepared, and suffered a great defeat.
Li Shimin was furious and refused to be outfaced by Songtsen Gampo — if you say you’ll use fifty thousand men against me, I’ll send fifty thousand against you. He ordered Hou Junjie to lead combined forces under Zhishili, Niu Jinda, Liu Lan, and others — five thousand infantry and cavalry — to engage them.
General of the Left Guard Niu Jinda served as vanguard and was the first to engage Songtsen Gampo. At the time, Songtsen Gampo had been besieging Songzhou for more than ten days without success. Niu Jinda launched a night raid on the Tibetan main camp, sending the Tibetan forces into a rout and killing over a thousand of them. Tibetan losses in this engagement were not enormous, but it gave the supremely self-confident Songtsen Gampo a profound shock. All these years he had been invincible in battle — and now, witnessing the combat effectiveness of the Great Tang’s elite frontier troops, he was deeply shaken. But his boasts had already been uttered, and Songtsen Gampo’s pride had been stoked — he still wanted to raise his forces and fight again. However, the Tibetan nobles clearly understood that this battle could not continue. The Great Tang’s main forces had not yet arrived, and the mere vanguard had put them in this sorry state — how could they fight on? Moreover, Tibet had been engaged in continuous campaigns in recent years, conquering one kingdom after another, and the rear was unstable; if the front lines suffered a defeat, the consequences would be uncontrollable.
The nobles urged him repeatedly. Songtsen Gampo refused to withdraw. The Tibetan ministers were also full of spirit themselves — if the Tsanpo would not withdraw, they would protest with their deaths! Eight ministers in succession committed suicide. Songtsen Gampo could not hold out any further, and had no choice but to withdraw.
After Songtsen Gampo withdrew to Lhasa, he renewed his marriage proposal. This time, having seen the Great Tang’s strength for himself, Songtsen Gampo decided to send his Grand Minister Gar Tongtsen with five thousand taels of gold and hundreds of other treasures, sincerely seeking the marriage alliance. Li Shimin, for his part, had through this campaign come to appreciate the fighting power of the newly risen Tibetan Empire, and resolved to win their goodwill. He agreed to give Wencheng, a woman of the imperial clan, in marriage to Songtsen Gampo.
This past spring, Li Shimin commanded his cousin Li Daozong — Minister of Rites and Prince of Jiangxia — to escort Princess Wencheng into Tibet. Songtsen Gampo personally led his forces to welcome her at the source of the Yellow River, and upon seeing Li Daozong, was greatly respectful, adopting the courtesy of a nephew toward an uncle. Seeing the magnificence of the Tang’s attire and the refinement of its rituals, Songtsen Gampo was both chagrined and ashamed, and was more resolved than ever in his determination to build Tibet into a great power of the age.
Wang Xuance told the story of Princess Wencheng’s marriage into Tibet with the ease of a storyteller.
Songtsen Gampo listened and could not help smiling ruefully. “Vice Commander Wang amuses me. To receive Wencheng is to receive a priceless treasure. Neither my father nor my grandfather ever concluded a marriage alliance with the great country of the north. Today I have been honored with the hand of a Tang princess — I am truly fortunate beyond measure. When the western campaign is over and I return to Lhasa, I will build a great palace for the princess, so that future generations may witness the friendship between my Tibet and the Great Tang.”
Xuanzang also found it rather amusing. At times the rivalries of great powers had a certain childlike quality — yet who could know that behind that childlike quality often lay fields of the dead?
In the course of the banquet, Xuanzang raised his wish to find someone from the Women’s Kingdom of Supi to ask about certain past events.
Songtsen Gampo laughed heartily. “Master, you have come to exactly the right person! Today our Tibetan warriors captured the Queen of Supi. And who knows more about Supi than she does? First thing tomorrow morning, I will have the queen brought to you — ask her anything you like.”
Xuanzang thanked him profusely.
Tibet had won a great victory that day, and the victorious Tibetan forces began their celebration. Songtsen Gampo went to join the celebration and rally the spirit of the army. After the wine was well underway, he took his leave. He hoped the two of them would also join, but Xuanzang declined with the excuse of weariness from travel. Songtsen Gampo did not press, and immediately made arrangements for them to rest in a tent.
The tent was not far from the royal quarters. On their way there in the company of the inner minister, Xuanzang, Wang Xuance, and Nashun saw Tibetan men dancing and cheering in jubilation around bonfires — and some of the nobles, in their high spirits, had brought female prisoners from the Eastern Women’s Kingdom for their pleasure.
Xuanzang could not bear to watch and walked past with his eyes lowered.
Wang Xuance said: “Master, you seem to have a heart that cannot bear to see such things?”
“What do you think?” Xuanzang was not in a good mood.
“I will not conceal it from Master — this Tibetan western campaign was something I instigated,” Wang Xuance said with a smile.
Xuanzang was startled. “Why would you do that?”
“Because the Great Tang has entered the western regions,” Wang Xuance said. “Master may not yet know — your sworn brother, King Qu Wentai of Gaochang, is dead. Last year, His Majesty the Emperor sent troops to occupy Gaochang, and the kingdom of Gaochang is no more.”
“Qu Wentai is dead? Gaochang is destroyed?” Xuanzang was stunned. “What in the world happened?”
Throughout Xuanzang’s life, he had formed a deep and warm friendship with Qu Wentai, King of Gaochang. In the third year of the Zhenguan reign, when Xuanzang passed through Gaochang on his westward journey, the two had sworn brotherhood, and Xuanzang had helped quell an internal uprising in Gaochang. Afterward, Xuanzang had even taken Qu Wentai’s third son, Qu Zhisheng, as his second disciple. Qu Wentai had used the full resources of his kingdom to support Xuanzang’s journey west, writing twenty-four letters and preparing twenty-four bolts of fine silk to present to the kings of the twenty-four countries along Xuanzang’s route — one letter and one gift for each country — requesting these kings to look after Xuanzang’s wellbeing.
Qu Wentai’s only condition was to ask Xuanzang, upon his return from obtaining the scriptures, to stay in Gaochang for three years and accept his patronage. Of all the kings Xuanzang had formed connections with throughout his life, the one with whom he had truly been of like mind and deeply attached was Qu Wentai alone.
Xuanzang’s spirit seemed to leave him. Thinking back on Qu Wentai’s bearing and manner, his eyes reddened and his throat tightened.
Wang Xuance had personally witnessed the bond between Xuanzang and Qu Wentai, and knew well the depth of feeling between them. He too felt a pang of melancholy, and immediately recounted the course of Gaochang’s destruction.
“Before Qu Wentai died, my second elder martial brother Qu Zhisheng returned to Gaochang, inherited the throne, and then came out of the city to surrender,” Wang Xuance said. “I met him in Chang’an. Second Elder Martial Brother misses you greatly, Master. He asked me to convey to you that he is well. Though he became a king who lost his kingdom, he spared the people of Gaochang the ravages of war, and in his heart there is a great peace.”
Xuanzang felt a deep sorrow within. “What does Gaochang look like now?”
“The kingdom of Gaochang is no more. His Majesty established the Anxi Protectorate at the city of Jiaohe. The kingdoms of Yanqi and Kucha have submitted one after another. Now the Tang’s military forces have entered the Western Turks and are contending with them across the great steppe,” Wang Xuance said. “That is why I persuaded Songtsen Gampo to advance westward. As long as he enters Khotan, it is like driving a blade into the waist of the Western Turks — and the Great Tang’s conquest of the Western Turks will become far easier.”
“And would Songtsen Gampo willingly allow himself to be used by you?” Xuanzang asked.
Wang Xuance smiled coldly. “Master — Songtsen Gampo is a great hero of his age, and young besides, brimming with ambition. When he originally sought marriage with the Great Tang, his intent was not without an element of probing and testing. Fortunately the Tang’s forces were at their peak and drove him back. But where was Songtsen Gampo to channel his ambition? Looking across the whole world, the only answer was to direct him toward the Western Turks.”
“The schemes of great powers — and how many people become the wronged ghosts who die fighting in the south of the city, who fall fighting outside the northern walls?” Xuanzang sighed.
“Indeed!” Wang Xuance said. “This world of suffering is as cruel as it is. What we human beings can do is protect our own homeland. If Songtsen Gampo’s military forces are not turned westward — and instead he turns east or north, into our Great Tang — then how many people along the Tang’s borders will be separated from their families, their homes destroyed?”
Xuanzang was silent, knowing that what Wang Xuance said was the truth, yet unable to dispel the ache within his heart. The three of them walked in silence through the Tibetan encampment. The moonlight of the plateau bathed the camp, illuminating the bonfires and the singing, lending to the vast sky and merciless earth an even greater sense of boundlessness.
“Is it His Majesty who has you doing this?” Xuanzang asked.
“His Majesty?” Wang Xuance laughed in spite of himself. “How could it be? His Majesty is thousands of li away — how would he know the situation in Tibet? His Majesty’s approach is to prop up the Tuyuhun to hold Tibet in check, while my approach is to let the Tibetan forces develop westward.”
“A contest between great powers on this scale — a single move kills tens of thousands, destroys entire kingdoms — and yet you handle it with such casual ease,” Xuanzang said, turning severe. “Reckless and presumptuous — I think those words describe you perfectly.”
Wang Xuance was just about to argue back when he suddenly remembered the relationship between the two of them now, and immediately looked sheepish. “Master’s rebuke is well taken.”
The following day, Songtsen Gampo did indeed send the Queen of Supi over.
The Queen of Supi was approaching fifty that year, her hair somewhat streaked with white, her appearance showing signs of strain, but her bearing and elegance were in no way diminished from their former days. She still wore the royal robes of blue mao-silk skirt, a blue outer robe over them with sleeves long enough to trail along the ground, and golden pendants hanging from her ears. This queen, by the name of Tangpang Shi, had served as Junior Queen for sixteen years and as Senior Queen for eight, and in the days when the Supi kingdom was powerful, she had effectively ruled the entire plateau — even the Tibetan people had once been her vassals. Years of royal bearing had formed in her a dignity that others could not look upon directly.
Escorted by Wang Xuance and a dozen or so Tibetan soldiers, the Queen of Supi entered the tent and quietly looked at Xuanzang. “You are the one who wished to see me?” She spoke fluent Sanskrit.
“Amitabha.” Xuanzang bowed and pressed his palms together. “This humble monk Xuanzang offers greetings to Her Majesty the Queen.”
“In our Supi kingdom, the royal title is Binju. You may address this queen as Binju,” the Queen of Supi said.
“Greetings to Binju,” Xuanzang said. “This humble monk is a person of the Great Tang, and a disciple of Master Silabhadra of Nalanda Monastery. On this occasion I have come from India to Tibet intending to make my way to your kingdom, but unexpectedly I encountered the war between your kingdom and Tibet, and have had this unexpected meeting with Binju here.”
The Queen of Supi seemed somewhat surprised. “You are a disciple of Master Silabhadra? More than ten years ago, I personally made a journey to Nalanda Monastery and paid respects to Master Silabhadra. Is the elderly master keeping well?”
“My teacher does well and is in good health, aside from a recurring ailment of gout,” Xuanzang said.
Only then did the Queen of Supi believe him, and she nodded. “You truly are Master Silabhadra’s disciple. The Master long ago ceased opening his doors to new students. For him to have made an exception for someone as young as you — you must be a highly accomplished master of great virtue. Very well — speak. What matter brings you to the Supi kingdom to see me?”
“This humble monk wishes to make inquiries about a person,” Xuanzang said.
“Her name is Lianhuaye!” Nashun said, too impatient to wait.
“Lianhuaye?” The Queen of Supi’s expression changed at once. Her face showed what seemed to be fear, and expectation, and a complex blend of many other things — even the long sleeves of her robe showed the trace of trembling.
“Binju — you know of Lianhuaye?” Nashun was excited and came rushing forward, looking at her with eager, imploring eyes.
The Queen of Supi was silent for quite a long while, then slowly nodded and said: “Of course I know of her. In the territory of the Supi kingdom, there are few who do not. How do you know of her? Is she still alive?”
Xuanzang nodded. “She is alive.”
“How does she fare now?” The Queen of Supi’s expression showed genuine concern.
“Not particularly well,” Xuanzang answered honestly.
“So it is.” The Queen of Supi sighed. “For a person such as she, how could this lifetime be well. What is she doing now?”
“She…” Nashun’s heart ached. “She has become a courtesan in the kingdom of Gandhara.”
The Queen of Supi’s expression changed drastically. She murmured: “So it truly has come to pass — is it truly inescapable?”
“What is this all about? Binju, please tell me!” Nashun pressed her repeatedly.
The Queen of Supi was silent, then said slowly: “She is one who has undergone rebirth. Previous life, this life, and the future — all will be bound up in the cycle of reincarnation, unable to escape.”
Nashun trembled with agitation from head to foot. “So it is exactly as I thought! Binju, please tell me in full — what secret does Lianhuaye carry?”
“What is your relationship with Lianhuaye?” the Queen of Supi asked, looking at him.
“I…” Nashun said bitterly. “I am not sure. Perhaps in a past life there was some unfinished karmic bond between us.”
“I see — you have drifted by chance into this cycle of reincarnation.” The Queen of Supi sighed. “In comparison, you are the fortunate one.”
Nashun’s eyes reddened a little. “I know. Lianhuaye has suffered greatly. So I want to find out clearly what ties bound me to her in past lives. I want to save her — to rescue her from this cycle of reincarnation, and from then on guard her and ensure she suffers no further harm. Binju, I beg you — please tell me. What secret does Lianhuaye carry?”
“Long ago, our Supi kingdom was settled in Changtang, with a national history of over seven hundred years and more than ten vassal states under us. We cultivated winter wheat, smelted gold, traded in salt — our kingdom was populous and prosperous, with food and clothing aplenty,” the Queen of Supi began to recount slowly. “My family name is Tangpang Shi. Twenty-four years ago, I was still a noblewoman of the royal family, not yet chosen as Junior Queen. When the Senior Queen passed away and the Junior Queen moved up to become Senior Queen, I was selected as Junior Queen and began to participate in government. It was precisely at this time that a female infant was born within the royal family. She was born with hair and eyes as dark as the deepest night, her complexion fair as fresh milk. The Senior Queen was greatly fond of her and named her Lianhuaye. Everyone believed at the time that once I succeeded to the throne, Lianhuaye was very likely to be the future Junior Queen. However, seven years later, when Lianhuaye had become a delicate, beautiful little girl, one day she suddenly began speaking Sanskrit! The Senior Queen was deeply astonished and ordered an investigation. It was discovered that Lianhuaye was actually a person who had been reincarnated — and her previous life terrified everyone greatly. The Senior Queen also summoned a shaman to perform divination, and the result was a deeply inauspicious omen, an omen of the kingdom’s destruction. The Senior Queen ordered those who knew to be silenced, and the secret of Lianhuaye was buried and sealed away.”
Xuanzang, Wang Xuance, and Nashun stood frozen in place, as though tremendous waves were surging within them. They had imagined that the secret Lianhuaye carried would be extraordinary — yet they had never imagined it would be so bizarre and uncanny as this!
“Who exactly was she in her previous life?” Xuanzang could not help but ask.
“This cannot be said, cannot be asked, cannot be investigated.” The Queen of Supi’s body gave a slight tremor; she fought to control the fear on her face, and warned them sternly. “And I will not say it, for the moment the secret of Lianhuaye’s identity is spoken aloud, it will inevitably lead to the fall of kingdoms and rivers of blood and fire!”
Nashun paid no heed to any of this and shouted: “I don’t care! No matter if mountains crumble and the earth cracks open, no matter if fire and blood pour down from the sky — I must know who she truly is, and where I am in all of this!”
“If you will not regret it, I will tell you!” the Queen of Supi said with a cold smile. “Her previous life was the Junior Queen of our Supi kingdom — Yanluona!”
This name was entirely unfamiliar to all three of them. Xuanzang pressed his palms together and asked: “And what was so extraordinary about this Junior Queen Yanluona?”
The Queen of Supi sighed. “This is a disgrace of our Supi kingdom. Since you insist on hearing it, I will tell you. Yanluona was selected and designated as Junior Queen by the royal family and shamans shortly after her birth. In the twenty-first year of her life, during a war with the kingdom of Kashmir, her army was destroyed and she herself was captured. The King of Kashmir, wishing to humiliate her, sold her into a pleasure house, where she became a courtesan. Six years later, a prince of the kingdom of Thanesar encountered her by chance, was utterly captivated, redeemed her, and made her his queen.”
Xuanzang was greatly startled. “The prince of Thanesar? Which prince of Thanesar?”
“His name was Rajyavardhana,” the Queen of Supi said.
Xuanzang’s expression immediately became grave. He fell into silent thought. Wang Xuance and Nashun did not know the details, and when the two of them asked, Xuanzang sighed and answered: “Rajyavardhana was the elder brother of Harsha the King of Deeds. Harsha — Shiladitya — was the second of three siblings. His elder brother was Rajyavardhana, and his younger sister was Rajyashri. At the time, the Harsha Empire of today did not yet exist; their father, King Prabhakara-vardhana, was still living, with his capital in the city of Thanesar.”
Xuanzang was well acquainted with this period of history. At that time, the Indian subcontinent was divided mainly among four great powers contending for supremacy: the kingdom of Thanesar in western India, the kingdom of Maukhari with its capital at Kanyakubja, the kingdom of Gauda in eastern India, and the kingdom of Malwa controlling central India. King Prabhakara-vardhana, to forge a marriage alliance, gave his daughter Rajyashri in marriage to King Grahavarman of the Maukhari kingdom, creating an alliance between the two kingdoms against the military coalition of Gauda and Malwa.
Shortly after, the remnant forces of the Hephthalites from the Tokharistan region invaded the Punjab. King Prabhakara-vardhana sent his two sons to fight the Hephthalites. Just as the campaign in the Punjab reached its most intense, King Prabhakara-vardhana fell gravely ill. Rajyavardhana was unable to split his attention, and Shiladitya hurried back to the capital. Ultimately, King Prabhakara-vardhana died of his illness, and the queen immolated herself in devotion to her husband. Shiladitya then governed state affairs, until Rajyavardhana returned victorious, and only then returned authority to his elder brother.
In legend, the two brothers were extremely close, each yielding the throne to the other. Rajyavardhana was intent on allowing his younger brother to succeed and going himself to practice cultivation in the forests. But he could not prevail upon his earnest younger brother. Shiladitya firmly refused and gave the throne back to his elder brother.
“And so Yanluona ultimately became Queen of Thanesar?” Xuanzang asked.
“Yes,” the Queen of Supi said. “At the time, Rajyavardhana’s wish to marry a courtesan met with great dissatisfaction from the people of his kingdom, and King Prabhakara-vardhana was also considerably displeased. But the two of them were deeply devoted to each other, and Rajyavardhana was willing to give up even the throne in order to marry Yanluona, creating considerable strain in his relationship with his father. It was only after King Prabhakara-vardhana died and Rajyavardhana inherited the throne that he was able to take Yanluona as his queen. Yet merely one year later, a tremendous catastrophe occurred.”
Xuanzang nodded. He knew, of course.
In the second year of Rajyavardhana’s reign, war broke out between the Maukhari kingdom and the kingdom of Malwa. Malwa defeated the Maukhari kingdom, captured and destroyed the city of Kanyakubja, killed King Grahavarman, and took Princess Rajyashri captive. Rajyavardhana was furious. He left Shiladitya as regent, and personally led ten thousand cavalry with his great general Bana in an attack on the kingdom of Malwa. A fierce battle broke out between the two sides. Rajyavardhana was peerless in valor, completely annihilating the Malwa army and slaying the Malwa king in the chaos of battle — yet he could not find his younger sister.
At this time, King Shashanka of the kingdom of Gauda announced that he would mediate the conflict between the two kingdoms and invited Rajyavardhana to a meeting. Rajyavardhana did not know it was a trap, and was treacherously assassinated by King Shashanka at the meeting. Shiladitya then came to the throne and declared war on King Shashanka. After several years of campaigning, he finally joined forces with King Kumara to defeat King Shashanka, and step by step established the Harsha Empire that now rules over India.
“The reason I did not wish to tell you is that the capture of Junior Queen Yanluona was a great disgrace of our Supi kingdom,” the Queen of Supi sighed. “It was precisely because the Supi Junior Queen was taken captive that the previous generation’s Senior Queen Mojie was hurriedly selected as Junior Queen. A few years later, Mojie succeeded to the throne and became Senior Queen, and I too had my destiny altered — selected as Junior Queen. And all because of Yanluona.”
“And what of what happened to Yanluona afterward? Do you know?” Xuanzang asked.
The Queen of Supi shook her head. “After she went to India, I know nothing more of her. That is a disgrace of the Supi kingdom — who would care to pay attention to her, or inquire after her? I imagine you have asked all you wished to ask, and I should now return to the prisoner encampment.”
Xuanzang rose and bowed to her deeply, pressing his palms together. The queen said nothing, and walked out with composure and quiet dignity. At the entrance to the tent, she turned back once more and looked at Wang Xuance. “Just now you said nothing throughout. But I know — you are the one who has been devising strategies for Tibet these past two days.”
“That was I,” Wang Xuance said without flinching.
“Are you an official of the Great Tang?” The Queen of Supi looked at the silver fish pouch at his waist. Wang Xuance, though he had let his hair down and changed his appearance somewhat, had been unwilling to part with his silver fish pouch, and still wore it at his side.
“You recognize this?” Wang Xuance was surprised.
“During the reign of Senior Queen Mojie, she once sent envoys to pay tribute to the former Sui dynasty. In the Wude reign period and in the sixth year of the Zhenguan reign, I also twice sent envoys to pay tribute, and the Emperor acknowledged our Supi kingdom’s status as a vassal state,” the Queen of Supi said coolly. “Yet I do not understand why a Great Tang official would help Tibet destroy our Supi. It goes without saying that our Supi kingdom must go to Chang’an and demand a clear explanation.”
Wang Xuance was momentarily discomfited. He composed himself, bowed long and deeply before the Queen of Supi, and said: “Though Xuance has no shame before the demands of my office, I am ashamed before you and the kingdom of Supi. If Binju is willing, I would be prepared to vouch for you and have the Tibetan forces release you, and see you escorted safely to Chang’an to live in comfort there.”
A mocking smile appeared on the Queen of Supi’s face. “Do you believe that our Supi was defeated in this battle?”
Wang Xuance was taken aback. “Were you not?”
“Our Supi kingdom’s capital has been captured and we have been driven steadily westward. There was no way to escape as far as Baltit under Tibetan pursuit,” the Queen of Supi said calmly. “So I launched this battle — using myself as bait to tie down Songtsen Gampo’s main forces here, while buying time for the rest of our people to make their way safely to Baltit. I am now approaching fifty. The plateau is harsh and cold, and life here is short. I am also suffering from a serious illness, and would not have lived much longer in any case. If this one life of mine can be exchanged for the Supi kingdom’s ability to reestablish itself, I have fulfilled my wish. What does the victory or defeat of a single battle matter? What does the honor or disgrace of one’s person amount to?”
She smiled with a desolate bleakness and turned to leave. As her figure disappeared beyond the tent entrance, a soft voice still drifted back: “Human life is brief — in an instant, one grieves, grows old, and dies, becoming cinders of dust, leaving not even a trace behind. Compared to one who undergoes cycle after cycle of reincarnation — who, in the end, is the more fortunate?”
With the Queen of Supi seen, the matter here was concluded. Xuanzang took his leave of Songtsen Gampo. Songtsen Gampo was somewhat reluctant to see him go. “Master — Songtsen actually has one matter to ask of you.”
“Your Majesty, please speak,” Xuanzang said.
“I have one great wish,” Songtsen Gampo said. “Now that my Tibet has unified the entire plateau, we still do not have our own script. For this reason, a few years ago, I twice dispatched ministers carrying gold, gold dust, and other valuables, hoping to learn from the Indian script and create a Tibetan script. Yet some were obstructed by demons, some perished from the heat, and some simply could not understand Sanskrit, and all had to return. I have long heard of Master’s great reputation — I know you are not only a high monk of the Great Tang but also fully proficient in Sanskrit, capable of composing treatises in Sanskrit. You are truly a master of the highest virtue. If it is possible, Songtsen would be honored to have you reside permanently in Lhasa as a guest, to teach Sanskrit and help create a script for our Tibet. I wonder what Master’s thoughts are on this matter?”
Xuanzang was immediately put in something of a difficult position. He thought for a moment. “To be candid with Your Majesty — this humble monk’s purpose in coming to Tibet on this occasion was to accomplish a matter on behalf of King Harsha. Once that matter is complete, I must return to Kanyakubja.”
“There is no hurry — I can wait for Master,” Songtsen Gampo said cheerfully. “As long as Master can come to Lhasa in my lifetime, I will have more than fulfilled my wish.”
Xuanzang had no choice but to state his position clearly. “Your Majesty’s great generosity — this humble monk is deeply grateful. But this humble monk has spent more than ten years traveling in India and collecting several hundred volumes of scriptures, all for the purpose of returning to the Great Tang in whatever years remain to him and translating these scriptures for the benefit of all living beings. Now that this humble monk is forty-two, I do not know how much longer I will live. After returning to Kanyakubja, I intend to take my leave of King Harsha and return home to translate the scriptures.”
Songtsen Gampo was deeply disappointed.
“Your Majesty — how about this?” Xuanzang said. “You may select some people to travel to India, and this humble monk will introduce them to Nalanda Monastery to study Sanskrit.”
Songtsen Gampo was pleased at this, and expressed his gratitude repeatedly. The two of them agreed that once Songtsen Gampo had chosen the candidates to learn Sanskrit, they would be sent to Kanyakubja, where Xuanzang would find instructors to teach them Sanskrit.
On a clear morning, as the sunlight illuminated the snowcapped mountains, Xuanzang departed with Wang Xuance and Nashun. The return journey was considerably easier. Songtsen Gampo sent them off with a large number of camels and horses, as well as all necessary provisions — the three of them were spared the hardships of hunger and cold. But once they had passed through Kashmir, Xuanzang changed direction and headed east.
“Elder Brother — where are we going?” Nashun asked.
“To the kingdom of India. To the city of Kanyakubja,” Xuanzang said.
“What are we going to Kanyakubja for?” Nashun was puzzled. “Are we not going back to Gandhara to find Lianhuaye?”
Xuanzang turned and looked at him gently. “Nashun — Lianhuaye’s previous life first made her the Supi Junior Queen, showered with love and adoration, then left her a courtesan, then brought her to meet Rajyavardhana and become his queen — all of which has been verified, one after another. Then her ultimate death must also have come through violence. And so this humble monk believes that the death of Rajyavardhana’s queen is likely connected to the Harsha Empire. Let us go to Kanyakubja and investigate.”