A’duo Si hadn’t expected that coming to demand grain would turn into demanding a wife. He hastily clarified, “What do I want Zhong Jin Khatun for? I already can’t support seven or eight wives and over a dozen children—how could I support the grassland’s greatest beauty? Besides, Zhong Jin Khatun is pregnant. I’m already short of grain—how would I have surplus grain to feed someone else’s child!”
Third Madam had to remain An Da Khan’s Third Madam, otherwise she would have no qualification to cooperate with the Ming dynasty at all. Ding Wu came at this time to protect Third Madam and the Ming’s interests. He certainly didn’t want to see Third Madam forced to leave the Khan’s court and become some tribal leader’s wife—such cooperation would miscarry before it even began.
Ding Wu said, “But Zhong Jin Khatun has been favored for seven years and made too many enemies. Now they want to seize this opportunity to bite her to death. Though An Da Khan dotes on her, faced with reality, he might have to let go. Can you withdraw your troops first?”
If A’duo Si had the temperament to “rage with fury for a beauty,” he would have rebelled seven years ago when An Da Khan cuckolded him. Seven years ago, he didn’t resist An Da Khan for the sake of his tribe. Seven years later, he likewise wouldn’t abandon seeking grain for Zhong Jin Khatun.
A’duo Si shook his head. “Sorry, I can’t do that. My tribe is starving, with people dying of hunger daily. Moreover, this time several tribes have united to demand grain from An Da Khan—I alone cannot decide. Without getting grain, we can only slaughter each other.”
A’duo Si wasn’t Wang Daxia, who could disregard everything for his wife. His mind was always clear about what he wanted.
Ding Wu had never encountered such a thorny situation. In the short term, he couldn’t obtain enough grain from inside the pass to feed several tribes and resolve the crisis. Distant water couldn’t quench immediate thirst.
Ding Wu’s mind spun like a windmill as he said, “Don’t fall for the Khan’s court’s divisive plot. You’re the leader of the tribal alliance. You all came together demanding grain, yet only you get Zhong Jin Khatun—what will the other tribal leaders think? There’s a Central Plains story called ‘Two Peaches Kill Three Warriors.’ You might end up fighting with the other tribes.”
A’duo Si was indifferent. “I have no interest in the grassland’s greatest beauty. I only want grain. Whichever of the other tribal leaders wants Zhong Jin Khatun can have her. The tribe that gets Zhong Jin Khatun must take less grain.”
A’duo Si also treated Third Madam as an object to be distributed.
“You—” Ding Wu faced the greatest challenge of his life. He, with his silver tongue, couldn’t find a reason to persuade A’duo Si!
In desperation, Ding Wu could only use past friendship to win over A’duo Si. “I serve Zhong Jin Khatun loyally. She doesn’t want to remarry, so I must help her resolve her troubles. She and I are both willing to help you obtain grain. Please give us some time. Right now Zhong Jin Khatun is surrounded on all sides in the Khan’s court—everyone wants to see her fall from the clouds and step on her. I request that you write a letter to An Da Khan clearly stating how many bushels of grain you want, and I’ll mediate.”
A’duo Si hesitated. “However much I write, you can give me that much?”
Ding Wu said, “Not necessarily, but it will make An Da Khan understand that your main purpose is grain, not beauty. No matter how beautiful Zhong Jin Khatun is, she can’t be eaten as grain. To show gratitude, Zhong Jin Khatun and I will raise money to buy grain from Datong to compensate you.”
Hearing about grain, A’duo Si’s eyes lit up. “Really? When can you get it at the earliest? About how much?”
Never mind giving grain—even if it meant giving a mountain of gold, Ding Wu had to make this promise work. He said, “About the same amount as the grain you traded for with furs last time. I have connections inside the pass. Sending messages by carrier pigeon, I can give you an answer in five days at the fastest. During these five days, please insist on wanting grain, not beauty. You must give us time.”
A’duo Si wrote a letter to An Da Khan as Ding Wu suggested. “You must hurry. People in my tribe are dying of starvation daily.”
Ding Wu tucked the letter into his robe. “Zhong Jin Khatun and I will always remember this favor.”
A’duo Si smiled bitterly. “What favor or no favor—it would be good enough if you don’t hold grudges. If there were any way to survive, it wouldn’t have come to this point today. I’m really forced into this with no other choice.”
Ding Wu returned to the Khan’s court with the letter. By this time, the ministers’ discussions had reached consensus to push Zhong Jin Khatun out to pay for grain—marry her off first, then send the child back to the Khan’s court after birth to protect An Da Khan’s offspring.
An Da Khan, hearing this, felt disgusted and left midway to see Third Madam.
Third Madam reclined against a brazier, watching caged birds preen their feathers, her expression leisurely and tranquil, the same as usual.
She was like sweet white porcelain fired by Central Plains people—exquisite, pure, beautiful, fragile. He wanted nothing more than to enshrine her. She was his most precious collection.
Seeing An Da Khan arrive, Third Madam supported her large belly and struggled to rise from the brazier to bow to her husband. An Da Khan quickly went over and pressed her back onto the brazier. “Was the baby good today? Still causing trouble?”
Third Madam lay on her side against An Da Khan, using a pumpkin-shaped pillow to support her heavy belly. “Much quieter these past few days. The doctor says delivery is imminent. The child has grown very large and can’t move freely in the belly, so moves less.”
An Da Khan tenderly touched his young wife’s jade-like cheek. “Don’t mind the gossip outside. Focus on nurturing the baby.”
Third Madam curled her body, as if trying to curl entirely into An Da Khan’s embrace, saying, “Whatever the outcome, I can accept it. In life I am An Da Khan’s person, in death I am An Da Khan’s ghost. If I can relieve An Da Khan’s worries, I would even give my life, naturally willing to be arranged to remarry someone else.”
An Da Khan’s pupils suddenly contracted, and the force of his caress on his young wife’s face involuntarily increased.
Third Madam endured the pain on her face, forcing tears to well up in her eyes. You could see tears rolling in her eye sockets, but she forcibly held them back, refusing to let them fall. She appeared deeply affectionate yet pitifully fragile, saying:
“I only have one request—I hope to give birth in the Khan’s court before remarrying. I’m about to deliver. Suddenly moving from the Khan’s court to a new place, being jostled in carriages and horses might harm the pregnancy. My lowly life means nothing, but I must bear sons for the Great Khan.”
An Da Khan could no longer bear it. He comforted his young wife, “No one can take away my wife and child. Focus on nurturing the baby. Leave outside matters to me—don’t think nonsense.”
An Da Khan suddenly stood up and immediately felt dizzy, steadying himself against the table edge. At over sixty, with years of warfare, his body had aged terribly in recent years. His stamina was far from what it once was. From midnight discussions until morning without sleep, he was now exhausted.
An Da Khan hastily ate a few pastries from his young wife’s place and returned to the chaotic great hall.
Once An Da Khan left, Third Madam got up and took a wet cloth, vigorously wiping the face her husband had just caressed. Beautiful devotion was her disguise. She loathed this version of herself, speaking words against her heart, yet having no choice but to do so.
In the great hall, Ding Wu had returned with A’duo Si’s letter, engaged in verbal battle with the ministers.
An Da Khan’s eldest son Huang Jitai’s saliva was spraying onto Ding Wu’s face. “…There’s no place for a two-surname family slave like you to speak here!”
Huang Jitai was over fifty, tall and mighty in build, naturally aggressive. In his youth he was one of Mongolia’s Five Warriors, following his father An Da Khan in campaigns everywhere with distinguished military achievements. But as he aged, he gradually couldn’t fight anymore. In the forty-fourth year of Jiajing, when he attacked Xuanfu, his horse stumbled and he was routed by Ming forces, suffering severe injuries. Even now his legs were lame and he walked with difficulty. Therefore he harbored bone-deep hatred for the Ming dynasty. Since Ding Wu came from the Ming and curried favor with Zhong Jin Khatun, Huang Jitai despised Ding Wu, calling him a two-surname family slave.
Ding Wu elegantly took out a handkerchief and wiped the saliva Huang Jitai had sprayed on his face. “I hold no official position in the Ming court—I’m just an exile. Serving as Court Judge in the Khan’s court’s Privy Council is an official position the Great Khan granted me. Eating the Khan’s court’s rice, I long ago severed ties with the Ming court. Where does ‘two-surname family slave’ come from?”
“I’m an official of the Khan’s court, so I must work for the Khan’s court and share the Great Khan’s worries. This is the letter I just obtained from A’duo Si. A’duo Si clearly wrote demanding thirty thousand bushels of grain, ten thousand per tribe, without mentioning wanting women. Why is everyone discussing using Zhong Jin Khatun to replace grain?”
Huang Jitai said, “Where can we get thirty thousand bushels of grain? We don’t even have three thousand! A’duo Si originally had a marriage engagement with Zhong Jin Khatun. First marry her to him to pacify A’duo Si, then we’ll think of other solutions.”
Ding Wu said, “The besieging army isn’t just the Ordos tribe alone. A’duo Si alone cannot decide. I visited the great tent—ordinary soldiers are so hungry their eyes glow green. By the looks of it, they’re not far from cannibalism. We need to solve the grain problem. Sending out one woman is completely useless—losing the wife and losing troops too. Why this unnecessary move?”
Huang Jitai grabbed Ding Wu’s collar. “You say this method won’t work—then tell me, how will you solve the grain problem? Get thirty thousand bushels of grain to make A’duo Si and them withdraw?”
Ding Wu said, “Naturally with real gold and silver. Money makes the devil push the millstone. I have connections—bribing border guards to get grain from the Central Plains into the pass. With enough silver, if we can’t get thirty thousand, we can still gather twenty thousand. Spring has arrived. Endure two more months until cattle and sheep fatten on grass and there’s meat to eat—who would still eat grain?”
Huang Jitai said, “Where will the gold and silver come from? You say transport grain and it’s transported? What if the Ming court’s guards confiscate it? By the time your grain arrives, A’duo Si will have already stormed into Feng City!”
Ding Wu countered, “Huang Jitai is brave and skilled in battle—naturally he won’t let A’duo Si and them break in.”
Huang Jitai had been crippled by Ming forces and his combat effectiveness was inferior to before. He always felt this remark was mocking him, raising his pot-sized fist to strike Ding Wu.
“Stop!” An Da Khan sat in a chair covered with white wolf skin, coldly watching his eldest son.
Huang Jitai released Ding Wu’s collar and gave a light push. Ding Wu was thrown onto the carpet like a piece of torn cloth, causing laughter.
Ding Wu had long practiced the ability to endure humiliation, immediately standing up and presenting A’duo Si’s letter to An Da Khan.
Though A’duo Si had raised troops to besiege the city with some meaning of “military remonstration,” his language in the letter was sincere and respectful toward An Da Khan, expressing that he was forced into this situation—many in his tribe couldn’t wait for the grass to grow lush, and he needed grain to save lives.
As for his former fiancée Zhong Jin Khatun, he didn’t mention her at all.
For An Da Khan, the Khan position was naturally more important than his young wife. Initially he had the same idea as his eldest son Huang Jitai, but judging from A’duo Si’s letter, he feared losing his wife and still having to pay grain.
An Da Khan instructed his eldest son, “Huang Jitai, go defend the city.”
Huang Jitai urgently said, “But father—”
An Da Khan slammed the table and rose. “I am your father and the Great Khan. Won’t you obey my words?”
Seeing his father’s anger, Huang Jitai had no choice but to comply and left the court.
When Ding Wu and Huang Jitai argued earlier, all the ministers sided with Huang Jitai. Once Huang Jitai left, the previously noisy great hall immediately quieted, as if everything followed Huang Jitai’s lead.
This scene made An Da Khan wary of his eldest son. He was old, his son disabled, but would surely outlive him. The ministers who should share his worries had become Huang Jitai’s people. When the wolf king grows old, another wolf will challenge the wolf king, biting the old wolf king to death or injury to become the new king.
At this moment, An Da Khan finally understood why the Central Plains’ old Emperor, even when only one son remained alive, still refused to crown his only son as Crown Prince.
Power—sharing it with others could never compare to the pleasure of controlling it alone!
Huang Jitai couldn’t wait to send Zhong Jin Khatun to A’duo Si. He only considered his own interests, completely ignoring what I would lose, not considering my embarrassment and the safety of my future sons and daughters.
I insist on keeping my wife and child by my side! If it really comes to fighting, I may not necessarily lose.
Author’s Note:
Men facing old-age crises are most suspicious—Emperor Jiajing and An Da Khan share the same psychology. Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines or irrigated nutrient solution during 2020-10-20 20:19:342020-10-21 03:03:40
Thanks to the little angels who threw landmines: Yunsheng. 1;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated nutrient solution: Just This 66 bottles; When Will We Return West 5 bottles; Broken Shadow Sand 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for everyone’s support, I will continue to work hard!