Chapter 184: Mongol Empire’s Second-generation Great Consort
The afterglow of the setting sun, like molten gold, was wantonly splashed across the vast land, dyeing the entire Jin Prefecture Army Camp a warm yellow.
On the distant horizon of the camp, a troop of cavalry slowly appeared.
They wore cotton armor with red trim on a yellow background, walking forward in the cold wind, their faces full of smiles after victory.
It was Li Xiao’s direct personal army, the Golden Armored Army.
At this moment, a Centurion of this Golden Armored Army had, not long before, raided a Naiman tribe west of Yudu Jin Mountain, and was returning to the camp with a large amount of spoils of war.
Large numbers of cattle and sheep were being driven, bleating and mooing.
Tents of various kinds were casually tied to ox carts, and some daily necessities were scattered among them, clanging against each other with crisp sounds.
Of course, the most eye-catching were the captives, predominantly young women, numbering over two hundred.
Their hair was messy, their clothes tattered, like livestock waiting to be slaughtered, driven by the Golden Armored Army wielding leather whips, stumbling towards the Jin Prefecture Army Camp.
For them, it was truly a man-eating den, a bottomless abyss, but they had no choice at all.
“Yo ho, new goods arrived?”
Arriving at the camp’s gate, a Centurion responsible for guarding the camp looked at the spoils of war, a playful smile on his face.
He was powerfully built, wearing yellow cotton armor, a Silver Wolf Head Cavalry Saber at his waist, squinting his eyes, appraising the female captives, a malicious curve at the corner of his mouth.
The Centurion of the Golden Armored Army escorting the captives, however, laughed heartily: “Big Hei Zi, lick the drool from your mouth back, it’s almost dripping on the ground.”
They were all military households of the First Division, and moreover, they were all original Han People from Jin Prefecture.
They were very familiar with the character of Big Hei Zi, who, besides fine wine, had a fondness for women.
Every time he captured female captives, he would wear himself out.
Big Hei Zi grinned dismissively: “The quality of this batch of goods is quite good.”
The Centurion of the Golden Armored Army cursed: “You bastard, you dare mess with any woman?”
“We have plenty of women in our camp; these ones won’t do.”
Big Hei Zi was confused, his eyes widened: “What’s wrong?”
They were all women from the Naiman tribe, so why couldn’t these women be touched?
“The women from this tribe are all specifically requested by the Great Governor.”
“Only after the Great Governor has seen them can they be distributed to the brothers.”
Upon hearing this, Big Hei Zi scratched his head, full of confusion and curiosity: “What’s so special about this Naiman tribe?”
“Who knows?”
“But some of the women from this tribe are indeed very beautiful,” the Centurion of the Golden Armored Army pouted, saying casually.
Afterward, the Golden Armored Army led these female captives into the camp.
Many soldiers in the camp at this time were sitting on the ground, preparing dinner. Upon seeing these female captives, they all looked at them with an expression as if they wanted to devour them alive.
The female captives trembled in fear, some tightly hugging the bodies of those beside them, trying to find a sliver of security.
Others lowered their heads, tears welling up in their eyes, but they dared not make a sound.
“What are you looking at?”
“I’m telling you, without orders, if anyone dares to touch these women, I’ll chop off his balls.”
The Centurion of the Golden Armored Army yelled with a laugh.
The surrounding soldiers of the First Division burst into laughter.
Soon, the Golden Armored Army placed these female captives in a sheep pen and confined them.
The atmosphere was suffocatingly oppressive, the cold wind slicing like a knife. The female captives huddled together, trying to gain some warmth from each other’s bodies.
Not long after, several soldiers brought over several large basins of water and, with a “clanging” sound, placed them heavily before the female captives.
The soldier, holding a leather whip, menacingly ordered the female captives: “Wash your faces clean, not a speck of dirt allowed.”
Saying this, he also swung his whip, making a “whooshing” sound, which scared the female captives into shrinking back.
“What should we do, Grandma?”
A young girl, her voice trembling with sobs, like a startled fawn, shivered all over, and huddled tightly behind her mother.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
The middle-aged woman forced a calm expression, holding the young girl in her arms, a smile forced onto her face.
“They won’t kill us, they will only be…”
The woman’s voice faltered, her lips trembling slightly, her throat seemingly choked by something.
She naturally knew what fate awaited them, because such things were common in this land, the rule of survival and breeding on the grassland.
She had already experienced it more than ten years ago.
She was originally from a small tribe under the Kereit Tribe, living for generations in the east of Yudu Jin Mountain.
But that year, the Naiman tribe and the Kereit tribe went to war, and Naiman soldiers charged into their tribe like wolves, burning, killing, and looting.
Her father and brothers fell in a pool of blood, and then, those Naiman soldiers ordered them, the women, to wash their faces clean.
Afterward, she was sent to the tent of a Naiman general and from then on became a Naiman woman.
In the years that followed, she successively gave birth to two sons and two daughters for that Naiman leader. Although life could not be called happy, she had some solace.
Now, fate was cruelly toying with her once again.
The Naiman were defeated by the Liao army again. Her husband and son went to the front lines and vanished without a trace, it was unknown if they were captured or died in battle. Only she and her two daughters were left to rely on each other.
Not until recently did a troop of Jin Prefecture cavalry charge into their tribe, kill the old and weak, and confiscate all other livestock and property.
Just as her mother protected her in those years, now she too was trying her best to protect her two daughters with her frail body.
Her eyes were firm, yet filled with despair.
Fate was a cycle; these women could not escape the manipulation of fate at all, only to be snatched and passed around by men like goods.
Therefore, she was well aware of what her two daughters would face next.
Just as her mother could not protect her back then, she too could not protect her two daughters.
Under the sorrow in her heart, she tightly hugged her younger daughter, her arms seeming to meld the daughter into her own body, giving her final protection.
Looking at her elder daughter, her eyes filled with reluctance and worry, she said softly: “Tuoliegenna, you have grown up. I was originally planning to arrange a marriage for you, but…”
Her voice choked: “Grandma can’t protect you anymore. You must take care of Ninglinggena.”
Then she took a deep breath, trying her best to calm herself, knowing that sentimentality could not change reality, and the only thing she could do was to face this cruel reality directly.
“Go, Tuoliegenna, take your sister and wash your faces clean.”
“You two are the most beautiful girls of the Naimazhen tribe, and Liao generals will surely like you.”
“In the future, you sisters must stay by your men’s side peacefully, and bear children for him.”
“Forget the Naimazhen tribe.”
“From now on, you are Liao people,” the woman said, her voice pained but firm.
In this era, the more beautiful a woman was, the more dangerous she was, but beauty was also a woman’s greatest asset.
Because beautiful women were usually exclusive possessions of the strong, and by serving one man well, they could live comfortably.
When she was young, because she was beautiful, she was favored by the leader of the Naimazhen tribe and became his private female slave, and later followed the leader’s son.
However, her mother and other ordinary-looking girls in the tribe had tragic endings.
They were bullied by soldiers, and even if they survived by chance, they only became the lowest-class slaves with short lifespans.
Her mother was killed by soldiers of the Naimazhen tribe, and now it was her turn.
But it didn’t matter; she had lived long enough and only wanted her two daughters to live, which would satisfy her.
Tuoliegenna bit her lip, unwillingness in her eyes.
She looked at her sister hiding behind her mother, then at her mother’s haggard face, and slowly nodded.
She pulled her sister along towards the water basin.
In this military camp, the more beautiful a woman was, the more easily she would be chosen by a general, and the greater her chance of survival.
Not long after, Tuoliegenna, in a daze, looked up. In the distance, a young general in yellow armor, leading a troop of cavalry, strode forward.
His face was stern, his sword-like eyebrows slanted towards his temples, and his posture was erect, standing proudly on horseback like a pine tree.
As they approached, the atmosphere in the sheep pen became more tense.
The surrounding soldiers straightened their backs, and the previously noisy chatter gradually quieted down.
The female captives beside Tuoliegenna, some trembled in fear, curling their bodies tighter; others stared with wide eyes, their faces filled with terror as they watched the procession, as if seeing impending doom.
Tuoliegenna’s heart also tightened, and she embraced her mother and sister tightly, her hands trembling slightly.
“Great Governor!”
The Centurion of the Golden Armored Army saw Li Xiao arrive and quickly saluted, placing his hand on his chest.
Li Xiao nodded slightly, his deep eyes like cold stars, with a chilling sharpness, scrutinizing the women in the sheep pen.
“Are all the women from the Naimazhen tribe here?” Li Xiao asked in a faint voice.
“Except for the old and weak, all other women are here,” the Centurion of the Golden Armored Army replied with certainty.
To complete Li Xiao’s orders, he had interrogated almost all the captives from the Naimazhen tribe and had a clear understanding of their situation.
All the young women had been brought here.
“You’ve worked hard,” Li Xiao nodded gently, acknowledging his merit.
Then, he scanned these Naiman women, his goal was singular: to find a woman named Naimazhen.
She was none other than Ogedai Khan’s sixth consort, the mother of the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, Güyük Khan.
Legend had it that Naimazhen was the daughter of the Naiman Sun Khan and had married the Merkit tribe leader, Khutu, through a marriage alliance.
After Temüjin annihilated the Merkit tribe, he captured Naimazhen and bestowed her upon Ogedai, and she bore Ogedai his eldest son, Güyük.
After Ogedai’s death, Naimazhen, elevated by her son’s status, rose to become the Regent of the Mongol Empire.
She held the reins of power in the Imperial Court for five full years, and only after her death was Güyük truly enthroned as Great Khan.
During her reign, Naimazhen favored corrupt officials, leading to chaos in the Imperial Court and escalating internal conflicts.
Historical evaluations of her were not particularly high.
But after all, she was the second Great Consort of the Mongol Empire, and Li Xiao was somewhat curious about her.
However, after interrogating some Naiman people, he discovered that Sun Khan did not have a daughter named Naimazhen, nor had he formed a marriage alliance with the Merkit tribe.
Later, Li Xiao learned that within Dujin Mountain, there was a tribe called Naimazhen.
Thus, he casually ordered its annihilation, and all the young women were captured and interrogated.
But among over two hundred women, who was the real Naimazhen?
First, he excluded women over twenty years old, and then he excluded women of average or even ugly appearance.
In the end, only five girls met the requirements.
“What are your names?” Li Xiao asked, speaking in Turkic.
The Naiman tribe claimed to be direct descendants of the Turkic people and naturally spoke Turkic.
Li Xiao’s Turkic was not very good; he could only carry out simple communication with difficulty.
Therefore, he had to find a tutor and learn this foreign language all night.
Facing Li Xiao’s question, Tuoliegenna and the others were terrified and trembling, but they still mustered the courage to say:
“Naimazhen · Tuoliegenna.”
Her sister also tightly gripped her arm and said timidly: “Naimazhen · Ninglinggena.”
The remaining girls successively reported their names: “Naimazhen~”
Li Xiao was speechless; four out of the five girls were named Naimazhen.
Because they were all nobles, the remaining one was a commoner and only had a name, not worthy of using the tribal name as a surname.
But Li Xiao did not know Naimazhen’s true name.
“Forget it, I won’t pick and choose.”
“I’ll take them all.”
Afterward, Li Xiao said to the Centurion of the Golden Armored Army: “These five women, I will take them all.”
“The rest, send them to the military treasury and reward them to deserving soldiers.”
“As you command.”
Subsequently, several personal guards of the Golden Armored Army lifted the five girls and threw them onto their horses.
During this process, Ninglinggena and the others cried out in fear: “Grandma, Grandma~”
Tuoliegenna, on the other hand, was calmer. Li Xiao glanced at her with curiosity and remembered this woman.
That evening, all five girls were cleaned up and changed into clean clothes.
“Sister, I’m scared!”
Ninglinggena, seeing this scene, her face turned pale, her body trembled incessantly, she tightly gripped her sister’s arm and dared not walk.
Tuoliegenna was also terrified.
Soon, the two of them were pushed into the large tent, trembling.
The cold wind stopped here; the tent was exceptionally warm.
Li Xiao was tightly wrapped in a wolfskin coat, his chest bare, sitting on a folding stool with legs spread.
With a cold expression, he beckoned to the two: “Come here.”
Tuoliegenna knew clearly what was about to happen.
But as her mother had said, serving one man was much better than serving thousands of men in the camp.
This man before them was their only chance to survive.
Another half an hour passed, and Li Xiao’s shout came from inside the large tent.
“Someone!”
Four personal guards in yellow cotton armor entered.
“Carry them out.”
“The Great Governor is truly a model for us.”
The four personal guards were filled with envy, dreaming of becoming as valiant as Li Xiao.
Li Xiao did not allow unfamiliar women to stay in his tent when he slept.
Lying on the bed, he slowly pondered.
“Damn it, they are all women from the same tribe, I can’t tell them apart.”
Even after going through all of them, Li Xiao still couldn’t distinguish who the real Naimazhen was.
Some lives are no more than a few strokes in the history books, and for Li Xiao, they were merely fleeting passersby in his life.
“Heh~”
“What’s real and what’s fake, it doesn’t matter anymore.” Li Xiao shook his head and smiled, no longer dwelling on it.
After all, his feelings for Naimazhen were merely a matter of conquest, not any particular attachment to her.
There were plenty of beautiful women in the world; without the status of the second generation Great Consort of the Mongol Empire, Naimazhen herself was nothing.
Moreover, her historical reputation wasn’t very good.
And her genes weren’t great either; her son, though not entirely foolish, was hardly outstanding.
Among the Mongol Khans before the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, Güyük Khan was perhaps the worst, accomplishing almost nothing and instead causing a lot of trouble.
Therefore, a woman like Naimazhen would suffice as a mistress, but Li Xiao had no intention of formally taking her into his household.
He also had no desire for her to bear his children.
For the next few days, Li Xiao kept Naimazhen and the others by his side, as the novelty had not yet worn off.
When he was in good spirits, he even granted Tuoliegenna’s request, moved by her filial piety, allowing her to bring her mother out from the military storage.
When Tuoliegenna and her sister saw their mother, they could hardly believe their eyes; she looked so wretched.
But thankfully, she would recover with a period of proper rest.
“Wuwuwuwu~”
“Tuoliegenna, Ninglinggena, I thought my daughters and I would never see each other again in this lifetime.”
The three women hugged and wept.
Afterward, the mother instructed them: “You were chosen to serve the Great Governor; that is your good fortune.”
“You must cherish this opportunity, obey him well, and do not anger the Great Governor.”
Listening to their mother’s words, the sisters nodded slightly, but without the same initial resistance.
For they understood how fortunate it was for them to have a man as powerful as the Great Governor.
The only pity was that the Great Governor was too powerful; even the two sisters combined couldn’t defeat him.
“By the way, Grandma, we’ve found out where our two brothers are.” Tuoliegenna said.
“Where are they?” the mother asked anxiously.
Though her daughters were good, her sons were her pillars of support.
“Father has already died in battle, and our two brothers were captured by the Liao Army and taken to Shandong to fight with the Kereit Tribe,” the younger daughter said.
Hearing this, the mother was filled with worry.
Her husband’s death was one thing; after all, she had been taken by him and his father, and he had never treated her well.
But the safety of her two sons caused her great concern.
“May Ahala bless them, may Annu Shimen and the others return alive.”
Watching her mother pray devoutly, Tuoliegenna’s gaze gradually became resolute.
Although the Great Governor had agreed to release their mother at the sisters’ plea, he refused to release their brothers.
This left Tuoliegenna feeling dejected. Could her beauty truly not attract the Great Governor?
But she would not give up.
After experiencing these events, she had clearly understood the importance of power.
She refused to be a nameless woman; she wanted to become the Great Governor’s true woman.
She wanted to bear sons for the Great Governor and become a woman like Guerbiesu.
Fueled by this ambition, Tuoliegenna began to flatter Li Xiao excessively.
Little did she know, the name Naimazhen alone destined her to live in shadow.
One evening, two swift horses arrived at the camp.
A personal guard rushed into the tent: “Great Governor, urgent report from Jin Prefecture!”
Hearing this, Li Xiao frowned and reached out to take the letter.
He checked the sealing wax and then opened it.
But at that moment, Tuoliegenna suddenly leaned in, with a seductive demeanor, and asked, “Great Governor, what does the letter say?”
She blinked her big eyes, her innocent gaze fixed on Li Xiao, her pitiful appearance evoking a desire to protect her.
But at this moment, Li Xiao frowned, looked at her with displeasure, and slapped her across the face.
“Slap!”
The crisp sound echoed through the large tent, and Tuoliegenna was knocked to the ground.
Her eyes widened, her hand covering her cheek, her expression filled with shock and disbelief.
“What do you think you are, to dare pry into my Jin Prefecture’s secrets?” Li Xiao shouted in anger.
“Guards, drag her out and give her thirty lashes.”
Hearing this, Tuoliegenna finally woke up, her face instantly turning ashen.
With a look of terror, she knelt on the ground and cried out for mercy: “Great Governor, spare this lowly servant this once.”
“I didn’t mean to, I didn’t intend to pry into military secrets, it was just an unintentional remark.”
“Please, spare me this time!”
Tuoliegenna kowtowed profusely, filled with fear.
She had personally witnessed what happened to a slave from Naimazhen’s tribe after receiving thirty lashes.
Even a man could barely endure it, let alone herself as a woman.
At this moment, her heart was filled with ice, and a chill swept through her body.
It was mainly because of Li Xiao’s favor towards her and her sister in the past few days that had made her somewhat lose her composure.
She had forgotten her status and had begun to cautiously probe Li Xiao’s boundaries.
Such behavior was something Li Xiao absolutely could not tolerate.
Now, he increasingly felt that this Tuoliegenna was the same as the Great Consort Naimazhen in history.
Equally foolish, equally overstepping.
And her desire for power exceeded all else.
Li Xiao had no intention of indulging her and directly ordered her to be dragged out.
If she continued to be ignorant, Li Xiao would not hesitate to kill her.
Inside the large tent, the atmosphere was terrifyingly oppressive.
Tuoliegenna’s sister knelt below, trembling, not daring to plead for her sister.
Li Xiao ignored her and proceeded to open the letter.
But the next second, his expression changed instantly.
“How could this be?” Li Xiao murmured in surprise.
After the Western Expedition, Li Xiao had left a few operatives in the Eastern Capital.
They had no organizational affiliation or other tasks.
Their primary role was to monitor the Eastern Capital and report any major events to Li Xiao promptly.
This matter was known only to Li Xiao and the Old Master, and the letter had been forwarded by the Old Master.
It reported only one matter: Xiao Simo was gravely ill and on the verge of death.
