Chapter 349: Queen, Please Come Over

He sat alone on the throne, holding a bronze cup that had long gone cold, yet he was completely unaware.

From outside the tent came the herdsmen's song, ancient and cheerful, as if celebrating something.

Oh, right, they were celebrating a child from Zhongyuan who turned out to be the reincarnation of the White Deer Tribe's Holy Maiden.

He suddenly recalled that many years ago, there had been such a song.

That was the night the Holy Maiden first set foot in the Royal Court.

Tribes from the steppe came to pay homage; the bonfire burned for three days and three nights, the herdsmen sang the same song, celebrating that their Khan had won the favor of the woman most beloved by Eternal Heaven.

At that time, he had just used iron-and-blood methods to suppress several tribes that refused to submit, and he ascended the Khan's throne stepping on countless people's blood.

Marrying the Holy Maiden was entirely to borrow the White Deer Tribe's divinity, gilding his rule with a veneer of "the Mandate of Heaven," to quell the rumors on the steppe about his claim to the Khanate.

Did the Holy Maiden know?

Menggen slowly closed his eyes.

She knew.

That woman had a pair of eyes as clear as lake water.

On their wedding night, she dressed in pure white bridal attire, quietly gazed at him, and spoke a line he still remembers:

"Great Khan, you want my identity, not my soul."

How did he reply then?

He apparently smiled and said, "With identity, the soul will naturally come."

Looking back now, his younger self was truly arrogant to the point of absurdity.

"Someone, summon Tie He."

"Yes."

Not long after, Tie He entered.

Menggen kept his eyes closed: "You said when the child embraced the Deer King, the Deer King didn't dodge?"

Tie He lowered his head and replied, "Yes. Not only did he not dodge, he even lowered his head and rubbed against her, like a domestic dog to its master."

"Domestic dog..." Menggen repeated the word, then suddenly chuckled.

He remembered once during a hunt, a startled doe suddenly darted from the forest straight toward her horse.

Everyone had their bows drawn, an Arrow nocked, but she raised her hand to stop them, dismounted, walked up to the doe, and reached out to touch its neck.

The doe actually calmed down, also rubbed against her, then turned and vanished into the forest.

At the time, an old tribal chief lamented, "The Holy Maiden communes with spirits."

What he thought at the time was, communing with spirits is good; the more she communes, the more her divinity can be used by me.

"That child..." he paused, "does she still want to see Jifeng?"

Tie He blinked: "Today I haven't heard her mention it."

"She will bring it up." Menggen said lightly, "Go tell Bateer to behave himself."

"That child already bears the title of Holy Maiden; I, the Great Khan, do not wish to see any mishap befall her."

Tie He felt a jolt in his chest: "Yes."

Menggen waved his hand: "You may go."

Tie He bowed and withdrew.

"Aersi Leng, come in."

"Yes."

That day, at the Golden Tent banquet, the guard who came to deliver the report entered.

"Aersi Leng," Menggen lifted his gaze to his captain of the guard, "do you think that child resembles her?"

Aersi Leng trembled all over, his face full of shock: "Great Khan?"

"I ask you," Menggen's gaze fell upon his face, calm yet heavy, "does that child resemble the Holy Maiden of years past?"

Aersi Leng's throat felt as if something were blocking it.

He opened his mouth and squeezed out: "I… dare not speak rashly."

It's not that he doesn't resemble her; he dares not say so.

Menggen understood.

He wearily waved his hand: "You may go."

"Yes."

The tent curtain fell once more.

Menggen sat alone for a long time, then took from his bosom an old pendant of bone-white color.

The pendant was only thumb-sized, carved into a running white deer, its antlers inlaid with a now-dim turquoise.

This was the sole item from back then that was not buried with her.

These years he rarely took it out to look, fearing too many memories would surface.

But tonight, those images he had thought long forgotten surged into his mind with unusual clarity.

She cradled the newborn Jifeng, humming a White Deer Tribe folk song, as sunlight slipped through the tent's seam and lit the slight upturn of her lips.

On her deathbed, she gripped his hand, her breath faint as a spider's silk yet each word crystal clear:

"My child..."

"Please, don't let him become you."

He then nodded and agreed.

And then?

Then he raised that child into the steppe's finest warrior, yet now he personally locked him in a prison.

"Don't let him become you…"

Menggen clenched the bone pendant tightly in his palm until the antler's points stabbed painfully into his flesh.

If Eternal Heaven truly lets the Holy Maiden return,

Is it meant to punish him, or to give him one last chance to turn back?

That night, the candles in the Golden Tent burned until dawn.

The next morning, Xiao Ningxun and the others again led Tuan Tuan onto the street.

Tie He still followed behind them with two men, but this time he simply trailed silently, saying nothing.

As soon as they stepped onto the main street, everything fell silent.

A woman who had been holding a wooden basin and splashing water suddenly froze, her eyes wide, staring fixedly at Tuan Tuan beside Xiao Ningxun.

The next moment, she flung the wooden basin down with a clang, turned and ran back to her tent, and shortly after came running up to Tuan Tuan holding a big bowl of milk curds.

She plunged down on her knees with a thud, holding the bowl of milk curds high:

"Holy Maiden! Fresh milk curds! Please have a taste!"

Instantly, everyone on the street turned to look.

"The Holy Maiden has appeared!"

"It's really the Holy Maiden! Look, she's even holding a wolf pup!"

"May Eternal Heaven bless us! Let my child also share in the blessing!"

The old fur merchant dropped his stall and, trembling, produced a snowy-white, soft lambskin blanket.

The grill man cut off the fattest, most succulent piece of meat.

The crowd surged forward like a tide, then halted reverently a few steps away, scrambling to kneel.

They each lifted above their heads whatever they could offer, the best they had.

The scents of milk, meat, wool, and leather mingled with the crowd's warm breath, washing over them.

Tuan Tuan was startled by the spectacle, and Xiao Ningxun quickly pulled her closer to himself.

Gifts kept coming one after another, and soon their hands were full.

"Thank you, everyone!" Tuan Tuan, seeing the earnest herdsmen still pouring forward, finally couldn't hold back and shouted, "But we can't carry any more!"

The herdsmen lifted their heads, gazing at the little Holy Maiden almost buried under the gifts, only her fair, chubby face and clear, big eyes visible.

Her face bore no lofty expression, only childlike cuteness.

Someone let out a soft "pfft" laugh, and soon everyone was laughing.

Even the little pup seemed to feel cramped, struggling to poke its head out from a pile of milk curds and dried meat, letting out a "woo" as if agreeing: "Exactly! Squeeze the wolf to death!"

Instantly, this provoked another round of good-natured laughter from the crowd.

The laughter was full of kind understanding and affection.

Xiao Ran couldn't help but chuckle, his tone full of schadenfreude: "How about that, little squirt? Now you know how tough it is, huh?"

"Being the Holy Maiden of the plains, isn't it more exhausting than being a Princess of Lie State?"

Tuan Tuan glared at Xiao Ran, her little mouth pouting so much it could hang an oil bottle: "Ninth Brother, you're still laughing! Hurry up and help me carry this!"

Xiao Ran grinned, reached out, and helped haul a heap of stuff.

Xiao Ningxun looked at the herdsmen kneeling on the ground, raised his voice: "Your goodwill is appreciated; thank you, everyone!"

He gestured to Xiao Er and Lu Qi to gently set most of the gifts down on the nearest stall.

"She's still small; she really can't use all of this."

"Please keep these for yourselves and your families; living well is what she most wants to see."

Tuan Tuan nodded vigorously: "Exactly! As long as you're all well, I'm happy!"

Then the herdsmen stopped forcing gifts, but their smiles grew more sincere, their greetings warmer.

Along the way, the cries of "Little Holy Maiden" and "Little Blessing Star" never ceased.

Tuan Tuan would occasionally wave her little hand in reply, laughing so hard that deep dimples appeared on her cheeks.

Tie He watched Tuan Tuan's back, his brow slightly furrowed.

If anyone meant harm to this little Princess, the first to object would surely be these herdsmen filling the street.

At the same time, Bateer's three days of silent reflection were over.

Jiang Heng had just stepped into the Wolf-head Tent when, before either could speak, a guard's voice came from outside: "Your Highness, the Great Khatan requests your presence."

"The Empress wants you to come?" Jiang Heng asked.