Chapter 24: A Special Gift

With the Great Chanyu bound before the battle lines, the Xiongnu women could no longer hold their blades; they dropped them to the earth and collapsed, burying their faces in their hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

Facing the devastation and the corpses strewn across the field, Yufuluo felt a profound sense of sorrow. It felt as if, in the shadows of fate, there truly existed a cycle of cause and effect.

Many years ago, the Han women snatched away by Xiongnu men had once wept in the same helpless, broken manner as these Xiongnu women did now. Later, a devil named Huo rose in the East. He sealed the Langju Xu Mountains and watered his horses in the northern seas. The Xiongnu sang a sorrowful dirge: "I have lost my Qilian Mountains, and my six kinds of livestock can no longer thrive; I have lost my Yanzhi Mountains, and my women have lost their beauty."

As the ages turned, the once-mighty Han Empire collapsed. Gradually, the men of the Xiongnu returned to their ancestral ways, riding south to graze their horses and plundering Han women to serve as slaves and maids. And now, just as they were puffed up with pride, intent on restoring the glory of their ancestors, their royal court was shattered and their Chanyu captured. The eagles of the grasslands fled in panic, and their women, just like the Han women they had once abducted, were left lost and helpless, kneeling on the ground, weeping into their hands.

If reincarnation truly existed in this world, Yufuluo would rather believe that the devil surnamed Huo had returned to claim his due.

"Hahaha!" After a hearty laugh, Chen Cong grinned so broadly his features seemed to blur. He waved his hand dismissively. "No wonder you are the Chanyu; you speak well, so say more. I love to hear it."

Yufuluo shook his head in astonishment. "I did not mean to praise you. Moreover, I have been calling that man named Huo a devil of the grasslands. Does that not anger you?"

"Why should that anger me? If the Marquis of Champion has a spirit in the afterlife, knowing that three hundred years after his passing, he is still being praised so highly by a Xiongnu Chanyu, he would surely smile in the underworld."

Chen Cong was in a good mood. He plucked a weed, stuck it in his mouth, and lay back on the tranquil wilderness—slacking off. The battle was over, and the trivialities of the aftermath were tedious; it was better to enjoy the breeze and gaze at the clear blue sky above.

Bundled like a zongzi, Yufuluo shifted his body and sat down beside Chen Cong, eyeing the man with curiosity. He was vastly different from the god of slaughter who had looked down upon the masses on the battlefield. Yufuluo had expected to be treated like a spineless beast in this man’s hands. Yet, aside from forcing him to bind himself before the lines, Chen Cong had not uttered a single harsh word of humiliation. They were actually conversing like friends.

"General Chen, will you kill me?"

Chen Cong paused, then laughed. "Do not worry, my friend. You will settle in Luoyang, the grand capital of the Central Plains, and become a friend of my father-in-law. When you have nothing to do, you can tend to flowers. Perhaps you will have more sons and daughters, and one day, you might even return to the grasslands to be the Xiongnu Chanyu again. But before that, you will have to set aside your pride for a moment and cooperate with my work."

In the past, Chen Cong would have killed him without hesitation after using him. But as the saying goes, one who walks with the virtuous becomes virtuous, and one who walks with the corrupt becomes corrupt. Having spent so much time with the "thief Cao," he had inevitably picked up some political habits. What would he gain by killing Yufuluo?

Historically, how did the thief Cao deal with the Southern Xiongnu? He kept the Chanyu Huchuquan as a hostage, divided the Southern Xiongnu into five divisions, appointed Xiongnu nobles to manage them, and placed Han officials as Sima to supervise their internal affairs. In this way, though the Southern Xiongnu remained, the Chanyu existed in name only, and all power fell into the hands of the thief Cao.

Now that Chen Cong had a ready-made Xiongnu Chanyu in his hands, wouldn't it be a waste to kill him? He was, after all, a Xiongnu Chanyu. If he took him out for a walk now and then, wasn't that just a walking medal of merit? When the time came, he could gather all the Xianbei Khans, Wuhuan leaders, and Qiang Kings together—holding a yellow dog in his left hand and a falcon on his right—how like a man in his youth he would feel!

Yufuluo, assuming Chen Cong was being benevolent, couldn't help but ask, "Then, can I return to the grasslands?"

"Bah! What’s so good about that desolate place? The wind and sand are deadly. Listen to me: stay in Luoyang for a while, and by the time you're ready to leave, even if someone tries to chase you away, you won't want to go."

Yufuluo nodded. He tried to raise his hands, but they were bound by ropes, so he simply gestured with his chin toward the weeping Xiongnu women. "Since General Chen calls me a friend, could you spare the Xiongnu women for the sake of our friendship?"

"Chanyu, have you observed the vigor and bravery of my soldiers?"

Yufuluo nodded thoughtfully; he had just witnessed the ferocity of the Flying Bears.

Chen Cong looked at the idle clouds and continued, "To show our friendship, I shall have my men look after the Xiongnu women. To tell you the truth, many fine daughters of good families in Jinyang have begged to marry my Flying Bears, and I refused them all. If not for your sake, I wouldn't care if those women lived or died."

In truth, Yufuluo didn't care either. He had only brought it up to... "Then, General Chen, can you spare my Yanshi?"

"Oh?" Chen Cong stroked his chin and sat up straight. "Point her out to me with your mouth—which one is the Lady Yanshi?"

Yufuluo pursed his lips and gestured for a long moment before Chen Cong spotted a shining pearl in the crowd. She appeared to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a tall figure and skin that, while not particularly delicate, was translucently fair. Her large eyes, in particular, seemed to speak.

*Exotic charm, a Xiongnu Yanshi...* He didn't care much himself, but he wasn't sure if a certain "thief" would. And his father-in-law’s birthday was coming up...

"My friend, if you had to choose between your Yanshi and your own life, which would you pick?"

"My life, of course." Though Yufuluo didn't understand the reason, he answered as if it were a matter of course.

Chen Cong realized then. Xiongnu women were mere commodities; the customs of brothers inheriting brothers' wives and sons inheriting fathers' wives were normal. Besides, the fellow hadn't even brought his Yanshi when he was fleeing for his life; he was just looking for a bit of sport now.

That made things easy! Seeing his subordinate’s greedy hands reaching for the father-in-law's... *friend's* wife, Chen Cong shouted, "Xu Mao, not that one! That is the Lady Yanshi!"

Xu Mao scratched the back of his head and chuckled foolishly. "I just saw she had some beauty and wanted to tie her up for the General to enjoy."

"Shut your mouth! The Yanshi is precious! Find two women to wash and groom her, and go into the city to find two carpenters to make a small sedan chair; make sure it's cushioned well."

"Yes, sir!"

For a woman with such "buffs" stacked, even Chen Cong didn't dare to speak loosely. Who knew whose she might be in the future? Even as a concubine, it mattered *whose* concubine she was, right? She couldn't just be treated like an ordinary captive.

Yufuluo said with emotion, "General Chen’s magnanimity is as vast as the sky."

"Easy, easy. But you know how the Han people of Bingzhou hate the Hu barbarians. The Yanshi is delicate and might suffer indignity. To be safe, the two of you should not see each other for now."

"This..."

Chen Cong pointed to the field of Xiongnu women. "Are there not enough beauties here to satisfy the Chanyu?"

Yufuluo licked his dry lips and pursed them toward the wife of Huchuquan. Chen Cong looked and saw another pearl of the grasslands! She was slightly shorter than the Yanshi, but her figure was more rounded and she was younger. He couldn't help but ask, "And who is this?"

"The wife of the Left Worthy Prince."

"?" Chen Cong quickly shook his head. "My friend, that kind of behavior is extremely immoral where I come from! Don't make me look down on you. Choose someone else!"

As he spoke, he turned and shouted to Xu Mao, "That princess is also precious! Have someone look after her well too!"

"As you command!"

Yufuluo: "..."