Slave to Queen: One Night Bride

Chapter 160
Ma Su and Liu Wu knew what he was thinking, and Ma Su immediately said, "Your Majesty, what should we do now? According to what Eunuch Kang revealed, Yue Pengju has already entered the frontier of Chen Bing, and now a noble from the Kingdom of Jin has died..."

King Qin didn't seem to answer, as if he was talking to himself: "I hope that Zong Han or Jin Wushu will die. If either of these two dies, we can start a war..."

Ma Su was taken aback.

"Hurry up and find out who died, so we can change our plan."

"Yes."

Both Ma Su and Liu Wu knew the Jurchen language, especially Ma Su, who had a special identity.He was the son of Han'er in the original Liaodong territory. His father was an important Han general counselor of the old wolf lord at that time. Therefore, he received the superior cultural education of Jurchen since he was a child, and was proficient in the internal situation of Jurchen.Unexpectedly, a few years ago, his father failed to send him away and his family was hunted down. He finally escaped and went through twists and turns to find another "Haner" Liu Wu who was also desperate. , Dedicated to King Qin together.

Liu Wu used to be a merchant, and he was familiar with Yanjing and Beijing, and Ma Su was proficient in various situations of Jurchen. The two cooperated, and King Qin brought a lot of gold and silver treasures, as well as some light gifts.It's the same in any country, money can make ghosts turn the clock, and Ma Su found out a lot of things after running around.

Because of the battle at sea, Jin Wushu was allowed to escape, he was always angry, and he hated Yue Pengju, thinking, it would be easier to kill these two in one fell swoop.However, how easy is it to kill such two people?What's more, the most important thing now is that the girl may still fall into the hands of others.

How can the girl fall into the hands of other men besides falling into her own hands?

The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't sit still, and said bitterly: "Yue Pengju, you took my wife away, and it's hard to protect her. This time, don't expect me to show mercy to you again."

Also because of the success of playing tricks on Jin Wushu, King Qin suddenly changed his mind. It must be difficult to assassinate Jin Wushu blatantly, so he might as well do it secretly. Since he and Zong Han have great conflicts, there is always a time to break through.

When everything was going according to plan, unexpectedly at this time, Zong Wang died.

King Qin and the others saw it right. The fire on the opposite side was indeed a funeral, Zongwang's funeral.

According to the customs of the Jurchen, they were used to cremation. Later, under the influence of the Han people, the upper echelons of Jin Kingdom also accepted the burial. The only difference is that the coffin is slightly different from the Han people, but the body is still like the upper class nobles of the Han people. Put on sackcloth and silk.Due to the hot weather, Jin Wushu ordered Zongwang's body to be pickled with alum and salt, wrapped in layers of high-quality silk and satin, and then sealed, ready to be sent to the Northeast Imperial Village for burial.Almost all the top Jurchen nobles are buried there.

However, cremation is still reserved, mainly for the burning of livestock and slaves.

Beside the tent where Zongwang's body was placed, a pile of firewood was set up with a lot of firewood. The people and horses to be buried with him had already been selected, and the horses were two of his favorite high-quality horses during his lifetime.One of them had accompanied him in the southern and northern wars, especially when he conquered the Song Dynasty, he made great contributions.Those who were buried included two male slaves who were his personal servants and two concubines.

Regarding the selection of concubines, it took a bit of trouble. Zongwang has more than 100 wives, and there are seven or eight who often sleep with them. The main wife is the Tang family.According to the wishes of the other women, the second crown prince doted on Princess Maode, the daughter of the Song Dynasty, and Maode should be buried as a sacrifice.

Hearing such discussions, Maode was frightened out of her wits. Although she was favored by Zongwang, it could not be said that she had no friendship for a long time, but she was far from reaching the point of being buried for him.He only begged Tang shi bitterly, asking Tang shi to make a decision.

Hua Rong also realized that Zong Wang's death might lead to a huge change, especially the death of such a peace advocate, it was really uncomfortable, she thought, why didn't Zong Han die?

She thought of Princess Maode, and was about to take a look, but Jin Wushu held her back and said in a deep voice, "No need to go..."

She panicked even more, broke free from Jin Wushu's hand and ran into Zongwang's tent.

At this time, Princess Maode was kneeling in front of Tang, her hair disheveled, and she burst into tears: "Madam, please forgive me..."

"The Second Crown Prince favors you so much, Mrs. Fifth Zhao, you don't want to be buried for him?"

According to Jurchen customs, the mistress of the house can handle the housework with full authority, and even the male master doesn't want to intervene too much. If the Tang family decides to let Maode be buried, no one can stop it.

Princess Maode is outstanding in appearance. Although she is the most favored by Zongwang, she has always been respectful and respectful to the Tang family and never dared to overstep, and the Tang family is already old, so naturally she no longer competes for favor, so she is not as good as other concubines. He has always disliked Maode and wished to execute her, but when he saw her begging, he hesitated a bit.

Hua Rong turned pale with shock, Princess Maode looked up and saw her rushing in, as if seeing a savior, she immediately rushed over to grab her: "Mrs. Yue, please beg the fourth prince, I'm afraid I'll be burned to death..."

A man is loved by thousands of people, but it is really not as good as a regular wife.The barbarians keep claiming that the number of wives is irrelevant, it only depends on who the husband favors, but what if the husband dies?
A man's pampering is greater than the sky, and a man is no longer pampered, so what should I do?
In any place or any country, the rights of the main wife surpass that of the concubine.

However, Hua Rong didn't have time to think about this, and knew that it was useless for her to beg Tang, but seeing that Tang's eyes were not vicious, as if hesitating, she rushed out, her life was at stake, and after a while, Mao De might turn into a pile Ashes.Seeing Jin Wushu approaching in a hurry, she immediately grabbed his hand: "Fourth prince, please help me, tell your second sister-in-law to change her mind, Princess Maode, she doesn't want to die..."

Because of being in a hurry, he lost his composure for a while, but Jin Wushu was overjoyed, and held her hand behind his back, seeing her panic and begging.I've known her for so long, this is the first time I've seen her like this.

"Okay, let me see."

Jin Wushu took her hand and walked in, Mao De was kowtowing to the Tang family, Jin Wushu saluted: "Second sister-in-law, look at your own thin noodles, let's choose another burial candidate..."

Jin Wushu and Zongwang have a deep brotherly relationship, Tang naturally knows it, seeing him interceding, he no longer persists, just saying: "Just follow what the fourth prince said."

Mao De stood up as if he was granted amnesty, and hurriedly thanked Jin Wushu: "Thank you, Fourth Prince."

"You should still be Mrs. Xie and Miss Hua Rong."

"Mrs. Xie, miss Hua Rong."

Seeing her tear-stained face, Hua Rong felt miserable as if she had walked around in hell, she just stretched out her hand to support her, unable to persuade her at all.

As for the candidates for burial, two Khitan concubines were finally found.The two frail women were pushed out, scared out of their wits.Only then did Hua Rong stand there in a daze - after saving Maode, who will save these two poor women?

Proud shouldn't die, should they die?
She listened blankly to the tragic cries of the two, her heart trembled, and she only quietly retreated step by step.

However, Maode escaped the bad luck of being buried, but he couldn't escape a disaster of disfigurement.

This catastrophe is commonly known as "sending blood and tears", which means that the wives and concubines of the deceased will cut their foreheads with a knife and hand over blood and tears to show that they will never forget their kindness to their husbands.

Under Tang's leadership, more than 100 ladies of Zongwang killed themselves with knives.Maode cried very sad when he remembered that Zongwang's death would seriously affect his father and brother's return to the south, and that he would have nothing to rely on in the future.However, according to her original intention, especially if she has always been proud of her appearance, if everyone leaves a scar on their forehead like a Jurchen widow, how can she be attractive to others?But she was afraid of Tang's stern gaze, and knew that if she didn't do it, if Tang did, the consequences would be even more disastrous, so she had no choice but to do as the Romans did, took a knife, and swipe it on her forehead a few times to bleed out a few drops of blood.

Hua Rong has been watching her from the side, seeing that the princess of the Song Kingdom, Cai Jing's daughter-in-law, is being coerced into giving a "burial" to a foreign man!
When these sacrificial objects were pushed in front of the fire, Jurchen soldiers were already surrounded in all directions.Everyone seemed to be used to this kind of scene and didn't take it seriously. Only the four people who were buried were lying on the grass with their hands tied, wailing numbly.

A large group of Jurchen soldiers started together, first bound the hooves of the two famous horses tightly, lifted them and threw them into the fire. Immediately, they uttered an extremely tragic cry, as if they were about to smash the huge fire.Soon, however, the fire burned even more blazingly, and the horse's fat crackled in the flames, adding to the flames.

The four martyrs were already hoarse from crying, but they were caught by the Jurchen soldiers and thrown into the fire with ease. At this moment, they let out a scream more terrifying than a horse.

Princess Maode, who had just escaped a catastrophe, didn't dare to watch such a brutal scene. She hid far away in the shadow of the tent, but the screams of horses and people could not be blocked from piercing into her ears. Heartbreaking pain.

Hua Rong also stood in the crowd and witnessed this scene, almost out of his wits with fright.

At that time, there was almost no system of burial for living people in the Central Plains. Especially since the Tang and Song Dynasties, even if the emperor died, he would not be buried with his concubines. Taoism is enough.Even the Qingdeng Ancient Buddha could end his life like this, instead of such a barbaric murder and funeral.

Jin Wushu held her hand tightly, noticing that her palm was cold, he said in surprise, "Hua Rong, are you scared?"

He asked twice, Hua Rong finally came to his senses, quickly broke free from his hand, and took two steps back.

Jin Wushu didn't take it seriously: "Even if you marry me, you will still be a legal wife. Don't worry, you will never be buried."

She said angrily, "Who will marry you barbarian?"

If she had said that in the past, Jin Wushu would have been angry, but at this moment, under the firelight soaring into the sky, seeing her panicked, miserable expression, and her frail body crumbling, I suddenly felt pity in my heart.He was familiar with the culture of the Southern Dynasties and knew that the customs were different from the Southern Dynasties. It was normal for her to be afraid, so he comforted her and said, "This custom is not good. I suggest changing it in the future..."

Hua Rong thought he would get angry at first, but hearing him like this, it's hard to sneer for a while, and just stared blankly at the pile of flames soaring into the sky.

Jin Wushu was about to get angry when he saw Zong Han and Gu Shen coming over. Gu Shen had a playful smile on his face, but Zong Han's expression was very gloomy. He took the lead and threw all the raw and cooked food displayed next to the corpse into the fire. For "cooking rice".

When the "cooking rice" smelled burnt and the people and horses were reduced to ashes, the funeral was completely over.

At this time, it was already the next morning, and the bright red sun showed its face from the east, shining on the still faintly beating residual red, with incomparably scorching heat, as if pouring a layer of blood on the nasturtiums on this large grassland.

Everyone stayed up all night, and everyone's eyes were bloodshot, but Hua Rong immediately noticed that the surrounding Jurchens, from Zonghan Gushen to Jin Wushu, Tang's, etc., looked as usual, especially Gushen and Zong. Wang's other cronies chatted and laughed, without any trace of sadness.

It turns out that the Jurchen customs are like this. After the funeral, everything will go on as usual, without the cumbersome funeral rules of the Han people.

She suddenly thought of a question. The Jurchen custom is that after a brother dies, other brothers can inherit his wives and concubines, and there is no need to ask the widows if they are willing or not.Who should inherit Zongwang's more than 100 ladies?Jin Wushu is closest to him, could it be him?
She looked at Jin Wushu, and saw Jin Wushu sitting on a rock outside, with his eyes half closed, and he didn't know if he was asleep or thinking.

She was about to walk over, but she heard a cry of surprise, and saw Gu Shen striding in, and as soon as he stretched out his arms, he hugged Princess Maode.She immediately understood that this was Gu Shen's wife and concubine who was going to inherit Zongwang.

(End of this chapter)