Huangming

Chapter 332 Fawning over and currying favor, forming cliques and eliminating dissidents

Zhe Zhe's background has a clear lineage in the genealogy of the Mongolian grasslands.

She was born into the Khorchin Mongols, whose ancestor was none other than Genghis Khan's younger brother, Khabaru Khasar (also known as "Khazar").

This prince, who made great contributions during the rise of the Mongol Empire, had his lineage passed down for fourteen generations. In the generation of Kuimonktashara, he officially founded the Khorchin tribe and became the tribe's recognized ancestor.

The two sons of Quimongtashara.

Nomendala and Bodida.

Their descendants gradually branched out, eventually forming the left and right wing banners of the Khorchin tribe, which is the origin of the "two wings" structure of the Khorchin tribe.

Zhe Zhe's family belongs to the Horqin Left Banner.

Her father was Bele Mangus, and her grandfather was Namusai, who was the second son of Bodidara and, by extension, the great-grandson of Qumengktashara. Namusai held a pivotal position in the Left Banner.

The relationship between the Khorchin tribe and the Jurchens can be seen as a microcosm of the power struggle between the steppe and the Jurchen tribes.

In their early years, the Khorchin participated in the war against Nurhaci as a member of the "Nine Tribes Allied Army," but the war ended in defeat.

After this battle, the Khorchin tribe realized Nurhaci's rising power and began to gradually adjust its strategy, shifting from hostility to dependence, with marriage becoming the core means of strengthening the alliance.

Zhe Zhe's family is a key part of this wave of marriage alliances.

Her grandfather Namusai had three sons: the eldest son was Zhe Zhe's father Mangus, the second son was Ming'an, and the third son was Kongguer.

The daughters of these three brothers successively married into Nurhaci's family:

Nurhaci's two concubines were the daughters of Ming'an and Kongguoer, and by seniority, they were Zhe Zhe's cousins.

At the age of fourteen, Zhe Zhe married Huang Taiji according to the tribe's arrangement, and from then on stayed in the Beile Mansion of Hetu Ala.

Huang Taiji was away fighting battles all year round, and it was normal for them to be separated for long periods of time. She was like the gilded Buddha statue in the mansion, seemingly noble, but in reality, she was just occupying the title of the principal wife and guarding an empty courtyard.

Seven years have passed, and she is now twenty-one years old, but there is still no sign of pregnancy.

In this backyard, without any children to rely on, she was like a rootless duckweed, and even the servants looked at her with a hint of something subtle.

On the day Hetu Ala fell, shouts of battle echoed through the streets and alleys, and the reflection of the Ming army's armor plates turned half the sky red.

She and Abahai hid in the bedchamber, listening to the screams of the Jurchen guards outside. Her fingers gripped the short knife she had prepared, thinking that if they were captured, she would end her own life to at least preserve some of the dignity of a Khorchin noblewoman.

But when the Ming army actually arrived, she couldn't even commit suicide.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already on a prison cart heading to the capital. After a bumpy ride, he found himself in a bustling world he had never seen before.

The red walls and yellow tiles of the Forbidden City are even more majestic than the largest ovoo on the grassland.

The palace grounds were paved with gold bricks, so shiny they were like a mirror, making her hesitant to step on them.

In the beginning, she was taciturn in the laundry department, always thinking of ending her life, until the quick-witted palace maids persuaded her:

"Young lady, why would you want to take your own life? That Huang Taiji may not even be sincere towards you, why risk your life for him?"

After listening to it many times, Zhe Zhe's heart gradually came alive.

Yes, she was just a woman.

Huang Taiji treated her less like a husband and wife and more like a figurehead to maintain the relationship between Khorchin and Later Jin. There was hardly any tenderness between them.
Is it really worth dying for him?
Furthermore, this is simply the way things are done on the grasslands.

It was commonplace for women to be abducted and taken as spoils of war when a tribe was defeated.

Even the invincible Genghis Khan, whose mother Hoelun and wife Börte were both plundered by other tribes.
In the end, didn't they still give birth to heroic children and achieve great success?
"They come, the security."

Zhe Zhe looked in the bronze mirror and lightly touched her lips with Han Chinese rouge.

The woman in the mirror still retained the heroic spirit of a Mongolian girl, but the despair in her eyes had been replaced by a calm.

now.

She stepped into the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace, dressed in a modified Mongolian noblewoman's robe. Although her palms were slightly sweaty, she felt surprisingly calm.

She knew what was coming.

But at least, I no longer have to be anyone's pawn, and I no longer have to be troubled by empty fame.

She stopped in the center of the warm pavilion and, following the etiquette taught by the palace servants, slowly curtsied. With her eyes lowered, she could only hear the sound of her own heartbeat echoing softly in the empty hall.

"This sinful woman, Borjigit Zhe Zhe, pays her respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty! Long live the Emperor!"

Zhe Zhe lay prone on the gold brick ground, her forehead almost touching the cold earth. The hem of her Mongolian robe was spread out, like a moon-white flower blooming in the dust.

Zhu Youxiao sat on the throne covered with bright yellow cushions, looking down at the woman from the grasslands.

At the age of twenty-one, she was at the peak of her beauty, having shed her girlish naiveté. Her figure was perfectly plump, and her every move exuded the graceful elegance unique to Mongolian noblewomen.

Especially her modified Mongolian robe, with silver thread embroidered wolf totems unique to the grasslands on the diagonal lapel, and a section of her smooth neck exposed at the neckline, which was completely different from the delicate and gentle women in the palace, exuding a wild and vibrant energy.

Such unique charm made Zhu Youxiao stand up from his seat and slowly walk to her.

He leaned down slightly, reached out, and gently parted her chin with his fingertips.

The skin that my fingertips touched had the delicate smoothness and warmth unique to women from the grasslands. Unlike the fair skin of women from the Central Plains, that healthy tan skin glowed with a honey-like luster under the palace lanterns.

Zhe Zhe was forced to raise her head, her eyes meeting Zhu Youxiao's.

What kind of eyes are those?
The night sky was as deep as the grassland, yet it possessed a sharpness unique to emperors.

She hurriedly tried to dodge, but he gently pressed her fingertips against her.

Only now did she realize that the young emperor before her was extremely handsome, with sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes, a high nose bridge, and a half-smile playing on his lips, which inexplicably made her heart skip a beat.
What a handsome man.

The thought had barely crossed her mind when she forcefully suppressed it, her cheeks instantly flushing.

"It looks good."

Zhu Youxiao withdrew his hand, straightened up, and his tone revealed neither joy nor anger.

"Get up."

Zhe Zhe felt as if she had been granted a pardon and quickly stood up, but she still kept her head down, nervously twisting the hem of her robe with both hands, not daring to look at him again.

His restrained demeanor made him look like a frightened fawn.

Seeing her like this, Zhu Youxiao suddenly felt a bit like teasing her and deliberately said in a deep voice, "What, are you still thinking about going back to Liaodong? Or are you still thinking about the Aisin Gioro family and want to avenge them?"

These words struck Zhe Zhe like a thunderbolt, causing her to kneel down again with a thud. Her knees struck the gold bricks with a dull thud, but she felt no pain. She simply kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "This sinful woman dares not! This sinful woman has no such intention!"

She raised her head, her eyes filled with panic, and hurriedly explained, "The rules of the grasslands dictate that the woman of the defeated is the spoils of war for the victor. Now that I, a sinner, have been captured by Your Majesty, I belong to Your Majesty. For the rest of my life, I will obey Your Majesty's every command and will never dare to have the slightest disloyalty!"

These words were spoken quickly and urgently, with a heavy Mongolian accent, yet every word was sincere.

She understood that any hesitation at this moment could lead to her death; only by completely surrendering could she find a glimmer of hope. Zhu Youxiao looked at the fear in her eyes and his heart stirred slightly.

This woman was quite perceptive; she understood how to assess situations better than those affected palace maids.

Zhu Youxiao personally reached out and helped Zhe Zhe, who was kneeling on the ground, to her feet.

My fingertips touched her warm, soft arm through the thin silk dress.

"Since you are my spoils of war, how do you intend to treat yourself?"

His voice was deep and playful, his gaze fixed on her slightly flushed cheeks.

Zhe Zhe's face showed a mixture of shame and fear, and she instinctively reached out to unbutton her robe.

In the customs of the grasslands, offering one's body to the victor is a form of submission.

Zhu Youxiao extended a finger and gently pressed down on her hand, asking with a half-smile, "I've heard that the Western Xia princess once bit Genghis Khan's vital spot, ultimately leading to his death. Do you have any such thoughts?"

At this moment, the door to the East Warm Pavilion had already been quietly closed by the palace servants, leaving only the two of them inside, with a subtle atmosphere permeating the air.

Zhe Zhe froze, and the color drained from her face instantly.

The emperor's words, though seemingly casual, were actually a test of her loyalty.

She dared not hesitate any longer, grabbed Zhu Youxiao's wrist with her other hand, and shook her head urgently: "This sinful woman has no such courage! Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, ordained by Heaven. It is a great blessing for this sinful woman to serve Your Majesty. I would never dare to have any evil thoughts!"

Without further hesitation, she slowly removed her robes, her hands trembling.

The moon-white Mongolian robe slipped to the ground, revealing a perfect body. Her skin was the healthy tan unique to women of the grasslands, and her curves were exquisite, exuding a wild beauty.

Zhu Youxiao's gaze lingered on her for a moment, and seeing that she maintained a respectful demeanor, the doubts in his eyes gradually dissipated.

He pulled Zhe Zhe towards the daybed in the inner room of the east wing, a meaningful expression on his face:

"I am currently training troops in Liaodong and preparing to recover Fushun, Kaiyuan, and Tieling. After that, I will wipe out the Jianzhou Jurchens. Your maternal family is the Khorchin tribe. If you are stubborn and insist on following the Jurchens, you will probably fall under the iron cavalry of the Ming Dynasty sooner or later."

These words caused Zhe Zhe's expression to change drastically.

Although she is now the emperor's spoils of war, she is ultimately from the Khorchin tribe, and the blood ties are hard to sever. She cannot be indifferent to the safety of her maternal clan.

For a moment, she was completely flustered, her face filled with panic.

"Your Majesty, this sinful woman..."

She wanted to say a few words in defense of her mother's clan, but she didn't know where to begin.

"Don't speak, serve me well first!"

Zhu Youxiao interrupted her.

Although Zhe Zhe was flustered, she knew that panicking was useless.

She took a deep breath, suppressed the distracting thoughts in her mind, and carefully helped Zhu Youxiao take off his clothes. Then she knelt down and served the emperor of the Ming Dynasty in her own way.

"You are a woman from the Khorchin tribe."

Zhu Youxiao stroked Zhe Zhe's long hair, his voice tinged with languor.

"As long as you serve me well, I will not only spare the Khorchin tribe, but also give them an important position. At that time, the Khorchin tribe can gain a foothold on the grassland with the help of the Ming Dynasty, and even rise to a higher level. This is much more cost-effective than relying on the Jurchens."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Zhe Zhe's eyes.

This is an opportunity for the emperor, both for himself and for the Khorchin tribe.

So she served him even more diligently, wanting only to satisfy the man before her and bring a glimmer of hope to her clan.

Zhu Youxiao felt pleased by her attentiveness.

It feels really good to have that feeling of controlling people's hearts.

The emperor felt quite pleased with himself.

Using Zhe Zhe to win over the Khorchin tribe was undoubtedly a brilliant move to dismantle the Jurchen alliance.

"So clever, she doesn't seem like a puppet that can only obey orders."

He pinched her chin, his fingertip touching the rouge on her lips.

"It seems that the daughters of the Khorchin tribe not only know how to ride horses and shoot arrows, but also know some ways to win people's hearts."

Zhe Zhe's cheeks flushed as she buried her face in his neck, murmuring in Mandarin with a Mongolian accent, "I only ask that Your Majesty... remember Khorchin..."

Meanwhile, at the Duke Yansheng's Mansion on the other side of Beijing, a completely different scene unfolded.

The main room was filled with a strong smell of medicine. Kong Shangxian, the 64th Duke Yansheng, was leaning back on a brocade-covered recliner, his thin fingers tightly gripping a handkerchief, on which a few glaring scarlet spots had already spread.

He was seventy-nine years old this year, already at the age of near death. Today, upon hearing that his hometown of Qufu had been slaughtered by the rebel army and that his direct bloodline had been cut off, he couldn't catch his breath and coughed violently on the spot.

He lost his appetite and was constantly plagued by nightmares.

In his dreams, his ancestor Confucius always glares at him from the Apricot Altar, scolding him for failing to preserve the lineage of the saint's descendants.

But what troubled him most was the emperor's cold "I won't see you."

Is the Yansheng Duke's Mansion, which has been passed down for thousands of years, really going to be cut off in his hands?

"Cough cough..."

Kong Shangxian coughed violently again, his sallow face flushed with a sickly redness. The maidservant beside him hurriedly offered him ginseng soup, but he waved it away, and the porcelain bowl shattered on the ground.

Just then, the steward rushed in from outside, his face showing some urgency: "My lord, many officials have come to pay their respects outside, saying... saying they want you to jointly submit a petition, asking His Majesty to finalize the matter of the sacrificial ceremony for the sages as soon as possible!"

Kong Shangxian's cloudy eyes suddenly brightened, and his withered fingers trembled slightly.

Has anyone stood up for him?
As long as the sacrificial ceremony can be settled, even if a child from a collateral branch is adopted to inherit the title, the lineage of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion can be preserved!

But this light did not last long before it was replaced by deeper worries.

He squinted, a hint of wariness flashing across his age-spotted face.

These officials' arrival was far too coincidental.

The current political infighting in the court is intense due to His Majesty's new policies. These people are suddenly urging him to submit a joint petition. Do they genuinely want to uphold the rites of the sages, or do they want to use the name of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion to challenge the emperor?

Although Kong Shangxian was a descendant of a sage, he was well aware of the power of the imperial authority.

If one gets caught up in factional strife and becomes a pawn in someone else's game, not only will one not be able to keep their title, but the entire Duke Yansheng's mansion in Beijing will likely suffer as well.

But
Does he have any other choice?
(End of this chapter)