Chapter 19: Marriage
The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is Little New Year.
The entire imperial capital was shrouded in a solemn and noisy atmosphere that was completely different from the festive atmosphere of the New Year.
On both sides of Zhuque Street, wide passages had already been cleared by the Jinwu Guards and Shuntian Prefecture's yamen runners. There was a guard post every five steps and a sentry every ten steps, with bright armor and swords and spears everywhere.
However, this strict security could not stop the curiosity of the people in the imperial capital from surging like a tide.
The windows facing the street in the local teahouses and restaurants have already been fully booked at high prices. Countless people have climbed onto the roofs and crowded into the alleys, stretching their necks and standing on tiptoe, just to witness the demeanor of the Wolf King from the northern grasslands.
“Here it comes! Here it comes!”
Someone shouted, and the crowd suddenly became agitated, like a lake after a huge rock was thrown into it.
In the distance, the dull and rhythmic sound of horse hooves came closer and closer, like the beating of a war drum, striking everyone's heart.
The first thing that caught the eye was dozens of tall and strong Turkic cavalrymen wearing thick fur coats and ferocious wolf-head fur hats.
They have rough faces, eyes as sharp and unruly as hawks, curved swords on their waists, and strong bows and crossbows hanging beside their saddles.
A fierce and barbaric aura hit them in the face, suffocating the noisy people on both sides of the street.
Immediately afterwards, a tall horse with a completely black body and extraordinary majesty came slowly.
Sitting upright on the horse was a man, the new Khan of the Turks, Ashina Moduo.
He looked to be no more than twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with an extremely strong and sturdy build. His bronze face was angular, as if it had been carved by a knife or an axe, and his thick beard added a bit of wildness.
A pair of deep-set eagle eyes gleamed with brilliance, carrying undisguised aggression and arrogance that looked down upon the world.
He did not wear any gorgeous crown, but only a black wolfskin cloak with gold edges, revealing his muscular chest, and a scimitar with an ancient shape and a cold aura hung at his waist.
His eyes swept across the dense crowds on both sides of the street. His eyes were cold and indifferent, as if he was looking at a group of ants.
The corners of his mouth curled up in a faint, mocking arc. The Celestial Empire? The prosperous imperial capital?
In Ashina Moduo's eyes, he was just a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and sooner or later he would crawl under the iron hoofs of the grassland!
"Hiss... What a fierce aura!"
"Is this the Turkic Khan? He looks like a wild bear!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! You're risking your life!"
"Humph, what's so fierce about it! In our capital, even a dragon would coil up!"
"I heard they're here to ask for marriage? They want to marry our princess?"
"Bah! A toad wants to eat swan flesh! Will our Majesty agree?"
The people's discussions were buzzing, filled with fear, curiosity, contempt and deep resentment.
Ashina Moduo seemed to be able to understand some Chinese. When he heard the talk of "wild bear" and "toad", a cold light flashed in his eagle eyes. The hand holding the whip suddenly tightened, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
But he was a hero after all, so he suppressed his anger and just snorted in disdain.
He continued to ride forward. The horse's hooves stepped on the bluestone slabs, making a crisp and heavy echo, as if stepping on the hearts of every citizen of the Celestial Empire.
The atmosphere at today's grand court meeting was as solemn as the dead silence before a storm. Even the scent of ambergris couldn't suppress the tense feeling in the air.
Ashina Moduo, accompanied by several trusted ministers, strode into the hall which symbolized the highest power of the Celestial Empire.
He ignored the inquiring, vigilant, or angry gazes of the civil and military officials on both sides, walked straight to the bottom of the imperial steps, and faced Emperor Liu Jin who was sitting on the Nine Dragon Golden Chair.
According to grassland etiquette, he placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and spoke in a loud voice like a bell.
"Turkic Khan Ashina Moduo pays respect to His Majesty the Emperor of the Celestial Empire! May His Majesty live long and well, and may the diplomatic relations between our two countries remain forever strong!"
Although he followed the formalities, his attitude still carried the arrogance of a grassland lord.
Liu Jin was dressed in a dark dragon robe, with a twelve-tassel crown on his head, and a pearl curtain hanging down, covering all the expressions on his handsome face.
Only the deep, bottomless eyes behind the crown remained, like a cold pond and ancient well. He raised his hand slightly, his voice steady and calm, with the majesty unique to an emperor.
"Khan has come a long way and must have worked hard. Please take a seat."
The eunuch brought in a brocade cushion.
Ashina Moduo was not polite either. He sat down with his horse and sword, looking directly at the emperor behind the pearl curtain without any hesitation.
After some high-sounding speeches and the presentation of a list of tribute, Ashina Moduo finally revealed his true intentions.
He stood up, his tall figure bringing an invisible sense of oppression. His eagle eyes swept across the entire court, finally settling on the throne. His voice was undeniably powerful:
"Your Majesty! This Khan has come to the Imperial Capital in person, not only to offer New Year's greetings and tribute, but also to discuss a matter of vital importance concerning the century-long peace between our two countries!"
He paused, and each word sounded like a hammer.
"We Turks wish to maintain an everlasting alliance with the Celestial Empire, and intermarry with each other for generations! This Khan wishes to marry a princess of the Celestial Empire as his wife, to strengthen the friendship between our two countries! I hope Your Majesty will grant your approval!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall was in an uproar!
"What? To marry the princess?"
"You barbarians! My dynasty married a princess to me twenty years ago, and now you dare to covet a noble lady from the Celestial Empire?!"
"You have a wolfish ambition! This is a humiliation!"
The civil and military officials were immediately in an uproar, and the angry discussions were like a boiling oil pan.
Especially the old ministers, they were so angry that their beards were shaking and their eyes were wide open.
Marriage? What a humiliating past! When did the Celestial Empire ever need to marry off its daughters in exchange for peace on its borders?
Behind the pearl curtain, Liu Jin's hand on the armrest of the dragon throne tightened almost imperceptibly.
The beads on the crown tassel swayed slightly, reflecting a cold light.
Ashina Moduo's words were like an ice-cold key that instantly opened the box deep in Liu Jin's memory that he was most reluctant to touch.
He was just a prince struggling to survive in the deep palace, out of favor, and even in danger of being crushed to death by Queen Mother Zhou at any time.
The equally unfavored concubine of low rank, Lady Li.
A gentle and timid woman, as quiet as an orchid.
Her only comfort was her delicate little daughter, Princess An Ning.
The previous generation of Turkic Khan sent an envoy to ask for marriage.
The civil and military officials in the court were arguing endlessly, with the pro-war and pro-peace factions arguing with each other.
Finally, the cowardly old emperor, under pressure from the Queen Mother Zhou and the peace faction,
For the so-called "peace on the border", a cold imperial decree was issued, and the fourteen-year-old Princess An Ning was married off like a commodity to a cold and bitter land outside the Great Wall.
He will never forget that evening.
The setting sun was as red as blood, shining on the palace walls and also on the disheveled and crazy Concubine Li.
She broke free from the palace guards and rushed to the old emperor's bedroom, crying and shouting, and fell to the cold golden brick floor.
He banged his forehead hard again and again, making a dull and desperate sound.
"Your Majesty! Have mercy, Your Majesty! Please! Please revoke your order! An Ning is only fourteen! She is only fourteen!
The cold outside the Great Wall, the barbarians are brutal and cruel. How can she go there? How can she survive? Your Majesty!
I am willing to go in her place! I am willing to be a slave! I only ask you to spare An Ning! Spare my daughter... Ah——!"
The shrill cry was like the blood-shedding cuckoo. The bright red blood gushed out from her smooth forehead, staining the gold bricks beneath her.
It also dyed red the sight of Liu Jin who was watching from afar.
That desperate wail, like a mother animal losing her cub, has lasted for twenty years and still echoes in his ears, carrying with it a biting chill and heart-wrenching pain.
Concubine Li ultimately failed to save her daughter.
She died of depression shortly after the princess got married. When she died, she was holding tightly in her arms a small jacket that her daughter had worn when she was young.
Separation of flesh and blood, separation of life and death.
That was the most unbearable and coldest scar of the royal family.
Now, history seems to be repeating itself.
And this time, the person sitting on the dragon throne and making the decision was Liu Jin!
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