Chapter 416: Fine Horse, Beloved Wife

Prince Modu's felt tent was strikingly conspicuous. Though sewn from sheepskin like the others, it used pure white fleece, and a ring of enormous deer antlers crowned the top — all trophies Modu had taken over the past half year…

"My thanks to Grand Tutor Ju for the warning. Modu understands. Please let the messenger go rest at once. Modu will immediately gather his followers and set out with the Gudu Marquis for the Chanyu Court at daybreak!"

After sending off the messenger dispatched by Ju Wu, Modu returned inside the felt tent. Compared to the chill outside, the interior was sweltering, thick with smoke and the fragrance of roasting meat. In each of the four corners stood a stove burning firewood, casting a dim red glow, while the ground was spread with thick animal pelts as carpets. Seated on those carpets were Prince Modu's three trusted confidants:

Kang Long, the Kangju merchant, high-nosed and deep-eyed, dressed in Central Plains brocade; Little Juqi, plain-featured, with a knotty chin, a short beard, and flat cheeks; and also a vulture-hunter called "Baldy," whose head was completely shaven save for a tuft of black hair left at the back.

Modu had long since put away his smile. His narrow eyes swept over his three confidants.

"The Qin merchants left a letter slandering me, saying I collude with the Qin outsiders and plot to attack the Chanyu and usurp my father's throne. The Gudu Marquis sent by the Chanyu has already reached the northern foothills of the Helan Mountains. He will arrive tomorrow to take me back to the Chanyu Court!"

"Grand Tutor Ju's meaning is that this is a Qin trick, and the Chanyu is only half-convinced. He told me not to resist, and that once I reach the Chanyu Court, he will speak on my behalf and dispel the Chanyu's doubts…"

The hot-tempered Little Juqi was the first to object: "The moment the Prince goes to the Chanyu Court alone, he'll be mutton on the chopping block. The Yanzhi has long wanted to eliminate the Prince and put her young son in power, and the Chanyu heeds her words. The Prince absolutely must not go back!"

"If I don't go back, then what?" Modu asked the three for their counsel.

"Better to rebel!"

Little Juqi drew the curved blade at his waist and hacked it heavily onto the low table. "Tomorrow at dawn, we kill the Gudu Marquis first, then seize the Grand Danghu, summon the Helan tribe, gather the forces of Loufan and Baiyang, march north to attack the Chanyu Court, and force Touman to abdicate!"

Among the Xiongnu, propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame were vastly different from the Central Plains. A younger brother killing an elder brother, a son murdering his father — these were common occurrences, and speaking of them openly was nothing remarkable.

The Kangju merchant Kang Long, however, disagreed with this plan: "Not so. Although Prince Modu pastures his herds on the Helan grasslands, the local riders are controlled by the Grand Danghu. The Grand Danghu is Chanyu Touman's trusted man; getting him to side with the Prince would be extremely difficult. Moreover, the Gudu Marquis has surely come prepared. If the Prince raises troops, he has no absolute certainty of making the Helan Xiongnu follow him! If the matter fails and the Grand Danghu and the Gudu Marquis attack from front and rear, how would we resist?"

The vulture-hunter Baldy nodded: "Kang Long speaks sense."

Amid the three's quarreling, Modu had already made up his mind.

"I am unwilling to go to the Chanyu Court to die, but neither will I raise troops to attack my father."

"It is not that I fear we cannot succeed, but that the Qin merchants schemed against me for no other purpose than to plot for the lands south of the river. If I raise troops, the Xiongnu will first fall into chaos, and the Qin will seize the chance to advance. At that point, with a wolf before me and a tiger behind, I fear I would have no choice but to surrender to the Qin — exactly as they slandered me!"

This was something the proud Modu would never willingly accept. He had received those Qin merchants with good intentions, never imagining they would stab him in the back. Modu felt fury. He would rather seek refuge with the Xiongnu's sworn enemies than bow his head to the Qin!

"Then what should the Prince do?"

Modu said: "Take my trusted followers and family and leave under cover of night!"

Advance when it profits, retreat when it does not, and feel no shame in fleeing — this was the Xiongnu way to begin with. Since Modu had decided, his three confidants raised no objections. Only the question of where to go remained a great problem.

Little Juqi offered an idea: "The Prince has just tied a marriage bond with Baiyang and gained a new Yanzhi. Why not go to the Baiyang tribe?"

The vulture-hunter Baldy shook his head: "No. The Lord of Baiyang is a coward. One scare from the Chanyu and he would certainly betray the Prince. Better to go to the Linhu."

Kang Long, however, put forward a bold proposal: "Since the Qin merchants framed the Prince, they likely intend to move troops against the Xiongnu. The lands south of the river are no longer safe. Why not follow me west, to the Western Regions, to Kangju? There the valleys are vast and empty, with great stretches of grassland where the Prince can settle in safety."

Modu rejected this plan: "The Western Regions and Kangju are fine, but far too distant. The place I go to must be neither too far nor too near — somewhere that can evade the Chanyu's pursuit, keep clear of the Qin-Xiongnu war, yet allow me to rally my riders and return when the moment is right!"

He was not resigned to a life of exile. The steed of the Xiongnu was bound to rise again!

In his heart, Modu already knew where he would go.

"To the Zhuoye Marshes. I will seek refuge with the King of the Yuezhi!"

……

As the western neighbor of the Xiongnu and one of the three great powers of the steppe, the Yuezhi had also developed their own distinct political system.

The King of the Yuezhi, as supreme ruler, resided in Zhaowu City. Under the Yuezhi King were five Xihou lords, each stationed at one of five pasturing grounds along the Hexi Corridor. Each tribe numbered over ten thousand people. In peacetime they delivered livestock and furs to the Yuezhi King; in wartime they joined him with their tribesmen.

The Zhuye Xihou pastured his herds at the Zhuoye Marshes (in present-day Minqin County, Gansu). This place lay at the lower reaches of the Shiyang River, where several lakes had formed. The lakeshores were beautiful grasslands, the land fertile, the water and pastures lush. Many wild boars roamed there, and cattle and sheep could be raised. Its outer edges on three sides were completely encircled by desert, so few outsiders ever set foot there…

But in the first ten days of the xu month of the twenty-eighth year of Qin Shi Huang (the ninth month of the lunar calendar), over a hundred people on horseback and camel emerged from the heat-billowing desert, travel-worn and dusty, appearing at the shores of the Zhuoye Marshes.

This event alarmed the Xihou and the Yuezhi King, who had led his tribe here on a hunting tour. When they heard the scouts report that the arrivals were all dressed as Xiongnu, their first reaction was: the Xiongnu are about to raid Juyan!

Both peoples of the bow, the Yuezhi and the Xiongnu had long been at odds. Every year they clashed over grazing lands and livestock. Juyan had originally been Xiongnu pasture, but after the Xiongnu suffered a crushing defeat and decline at the hands of Li Mu, the Yuezhi seized it.

The Yuezhi King immediately mustered a thousand riders from the tribe. They surged forth and completely surrounded the hundred-odd Xiongnu, only then discovering that these were not fully armed warriors, but rather refugees in flight: besides some fifty-odd warriors, there were women and children. They were drinking water by the marsh, every face gaunt and haggard, having evidently trekked through the desert for many days…

Facing the drawn bows of the Yuezhi, a Kangju merchant calling himself "Kang Long" stepped forward and loudly declared their purpose in the Yuezhi tongue.

When they heard that the tall, young Xiongnu warrior was none other than Modu, the Yuezhi King was greatly astonished. Modu was not only the son of Chanyu Touman, but also a famed warrior of the steppe. Whenever the Xiongnu and Yuezhi clashed, this young man always charged at the very front, drawing his bow and killing many Yuezhi…

Word was that he had recently married the daughter of the Lord of Baiyang, the most brilliant pearl of the grasslands, and was at the height of triumph. Why had he suddenly come to the Zhuoye Marshes?

With this question in mind, the Yuezhi King signaled the Zhuye Xihou to ride forward. The Xihou shouted: "Steed of the Xiongnu, why have you come to drink from the pastures of the Yuezhi?"

Modu stepped forward. He had Kang Long translate for him: "The steed was too excellent, and the old horse-king grew jealous and drove me from the Xiongnu. The steed wandered lost in the desert for a long time and could only come to seek refuge with the King of the Yuezhi!"

"So that's how it is!"

After the Zhuye Xihou reported back, the Yuezhi King burst into hearty laughter. With Modu gone, the Xiongnu had lost an arm — joyous news for the Yuezhi.

Thereupon the Yuezhi King spurred his horse forward smugly and declared haughtily:

"Why should the Yuezhi take in a cast-off colt of the Xiongnu?"

"Because Modu has come to present the King of the Yuezhi with three great gifts!"

Modu spoke as he rode his horse forward. The Yuezhi men immediately tensed, but Modu cast away the bow and arrows from his saddle and unbuckled the curved blade at his waist to show he bore no hostile intent.

"The first is my prized horse!"

Modu's horse was a dragon colt obtained from Kangju, eight chi tall at the shoulder, of extraordinary spirit. Even among the Yuezhi, such a fine horse was absolutely peerless. Though it had grown somewhat lean from ten days of racing through the desert, it was still full of vigor. The Yuezhi King knew at a glance that this horse was no common breed.

"The second is the most beautiful woman of the lands south of the river — Modu's Yanzhi!"

Mounted on Modu's horse was also a young woman, his newly wedded Yanzhi.

Hearing these words, the Yanzhi could scarcely believe her ears, but the cruel-hearted Modu's face was expressionless. He dismounted, slapped the horse on the rump, and sent the chestnut horse, bearing his tear-streaked Yanzhi, galloping toward the Yuezhi King, whose mouth hung wide open.

This was something the Yuezhi King had never anticipated. He had meant only to toy with Modu, never imagining that Modu would offer up his fine horse and beloved wife with both hands!

A sense of triumph welled up in the Yuezhi King's heart. He looked again at Modu's Yanzhi, a girl of just sixteen or seventeen. After washing the dust away with the waters of the Juyan Marsh, her lovely features were revealed. That beautiful face, paired with an expression both shamed and indignant, stirred the Yuezhi King's heart despite himself…

The Yuezhi King ordered men to take the neighing steed. His greedy gaze roamed over Modu's Yanzhi's body and face. He thought of enjoying her that very night, and of arranging for her husband Modu to be stationed outside the tent, made to play the hujia pipes to enhance the mood!

The Yuezhi King laughed heartily and asked Modu again: "Good! These two gifts, I accept. What is the third gift?"

Modu prostrated himself conspicuously on the ground, touching his head to the earth.

"The third is Modu's loyalty. I hope the King of the Yuezhi will take Modu in and lend me troops. The Xiongnu are about to go to war with the Central States. In this war, Touman is certain to be defeated. Modu is willing to help the Yuezhi gather the Xiongnu's scattered remnants, so that the hundred thousand Xiongnu all become subjects of the Yuezhi King, and all the bow-drawing peoples of the steppe are united as one!"

In a wolf pack, there can be only one alpha wolf. And when the old wolf grows feeble and fails, it is fated that a vicious wolf will take his place and seize his mates!

Regrettably, Modu did not yet possess the strength to tear out Touman's throat. He could only choose to flee, to lick his wounds at the Juyan Marsh, to recruit sympathizers from among the Xiongnu tribes, to borrow strength from the Yuezhi, and slowly build up his own power…

By the time the Xiongnu have been scattered and routed by the Qin army, fleeing deep into the northern deserts, he — Modu of the Luandi clan — will appear before them as the hero who saves the Xiongnu from fire and water!

When that day comes, he will seize back everything he has lost: the humiliation of being driven out, the position of Chanyu, and even the lands of Beijia and Henan that the Qin people stole!

The King of the Yuezhi could not see it, but Modu, his head bowed low to the ground, had both hands clawed deep into the soil of Juyan Marsh. What filled the gaps between his fingers was not dirt, but thick, seething hatred...

"The fine horses and beloved wife I was forced to offer to the King of the Yuezhi today — those too I will take back!"

"And I will make the Yuezhi people repay today's triumph with suffering and terror a hundredfold, a thousandfold!"

(End of chapter)