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 crossed the border, and now there are nobles from the Jin Kingdom dead... "
King Qin did not seem to answer, as if he was talking to himself: "I hope that Zong Han or Jin Wushu will die. If one of these two people is killed, a war can be provoked..."
Ma Su was startled.
"Hurry up and find out who is dead so that we can change our plan."
"yes."
Both Ma Su and Liu Wu knew the Jurchen language, especially Ma Su, whose status was a bit special. He was the son of Han'er in the original Liaodong territory. His father was an important Han general and counselor of the old wolf lord at that time. Therefore, he had He received a superior cultural upbringing from the Jurchens and was familiar with the internal situation of the Jurchens. Unexpectedly, a few years ago, his father failed to escape and his whole family was hunted down. He finally escaped, and after many twists and turns along the way, he found another man who was equally desperate. One "Haner" Liu Wu and the two defected to the King of Qin together because they were in the caravan.
Liu Wu was a merchant before and was familiar with the journey from Yanjing to Beijing. Ma Su was well versed in various situations of the Jurchens. The two cooperated, and the King of Qin brought a large amount of gold and silver treasures, as well as some light gifts. It is the same in any country. Money can make the world go round, and Ma Su found out a lot about it after a lot of running around.
Because of the battle at sea, Jin Wushu was allowed to escape. He was always angry, and he hated Yue Pengju. He thought that it would be easier to kill these two people in one fell swoop. However, how easy is it to kill these two people? What's more, the most important thing now is that the girl may still fall into other people's hands.
Besides falling into his own hands, how could the girl fall into the hands of other men
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 teasing Jin Wushu, King Qin suddenly changed his mind. It would be difficult to assassinate Jin Wushu blatantly. He might as well do it secretly. Since he and Zong Han had a lot of conflicts, there would always be a time to break through.
Everything was going according to plan, but unexpectedly, Zong Wang died at this moment.
King Qin and others saw it right. The fire across the street was indeed a funeral, Zong Wang's funeral.
According to Jurchen customs, they were originally used to cremation. Later, under the influence of the Han people, the upper class of the Jin Kingdom also accepted burials. Only the coffins were slightly different from those of the Han people, but the corpses were still like the upper-class nobles of the Han people. Wearing linen and silk. Due to the hot weather, Jin Wushu ordered Zong Wang's body to be pickled with alum and salt, wrapped in layers of fine silk and satin, and then sealed, ready to be sent to the Northeast Imperial Village for burial. Almost The top Jurchen nobles are all buried there.
However, cremation was still retained, mainly involving the burning of livestock and slaves.
Next to the tent where Zong Wang's body was parked, a large amount of firewood was used to raise a pile of firewood. The horses and people to be buried with him had been selected. The horses were two of his favorite high-quality horses during his lifetime. One of them had accompanied him in the Northern and Southern Wars. , especially during the conquest of the Song Dynasty, he made great contributions. The people buried include two male slaves who served him during his lifetime, and two concubines.
Regarding the selection of concubines, some troubles were taken. Zongwang had more than 100 ladies, and there were seven or eight of them who usually slept with them. The first wife was Tang. According to the wishes of other ladies, the second prince doted on Princess Maode, the Song Dynasty girl. , it is time for Maode to die and be buried.
Maode was frightened out of her mind when she heard such discussion. Although she was favored by Zong Wang and had no friendship for a long time, it could not be said that she did not have any friendship, but she was far from the point of going to bury him. She only begged Tang and asked him to do it. Decide.
Hua Rong also realized the huge changes that Zong Wang's death might cause, especially the death of such a leader and sect, which was really uncomfortable. She thought, why wasn't Zong Han the one who died
She thought of Princess Maode and was about to go take a look, but Jin Wushu held her back and said in a deep voice: "No need to go..."
She was even more panicked, broke free from Jin Wushu's hand and ran into Zong Wang's tent.
At this time, Princess Maode was kneeling in front of Mrs. Tang, her hair disheveled, and she was crying: "Madam, please spare me..."
"The Second Prince is so fond of you, Mrs. Zhao Wu, but you are not willing to bury him?"
According to Jurchen customs, the female head of the family has full authority to handle household affairs, and even the male master is not allowed to interfere too much. If the Tang family decides to let Maode be buried, no one can stop it.
Princess Maode was outstanding in appearance, and although she was the most favored by Zong Wang, she was always respectful to the Tang family and never dared to overstep the mark. However, the Tang family was already old and naturally no longer competed for favor, so she was not as good as other concubines. Maode had always been displeased with him and wanted to execute her, but when he saw her begging, he hesitated a bit.
Hua Rong was shocked. Princess Maode looked up and saw her rushing in. As if she had seen a savior, she immediately ran over and grabbed her: "Mrs. Yue, please beg the Fourth Prince quickly, I'm afraid of being burned to death..."
A man loves and loves her a lot, but it is really not as good as a head wife. Barbarian people keep claiming that it doesn’t matter which wife you are, it only depends on who your husband loves, but what happens when your husband dies
A man's pampering is overwhelming. If a man doesn't pamper you anymore, what should you do
In any place or country, the rights of a head wife exceed those of a concubine.
However, Hua Rong didn't have time to think about this. She knew that it was useless to beg Tang. But when she saw that Tang's eyes were not vicious and seemed to be hesitating, she ran out quickly. Her life was at stake. A little later, Maode might become a pile of It was ashes. When she saw Jin Wushu approaching in a hurry, she immediately held his hand: "Fourth Prince, please help me and ask your second sister-in-law to change her mind. Princess Maode, she doesn't want to die..."
Because he was in a hurry and lost his composure for a moment, Jin Wushu was overjoyed and held her hand with his backhand, seeing her face full of panic and pleading. It was the first time he had seen her like this after knowing her for so long.
"Okay, I'll go take a look."
Jin Wushu took her hand and walked in. Maode was kowtowing to Mrs. Tang. Jin Wushu saluted: "Second sister-in-law, considering that I am a poor person, let's find another candidate for burial..."
Tang naturally knew that Jin Wushu and Zong Wang were brothers. When he saw Jin Wushu interceding for mercy, he no longer persisted and only said, "Just follow what the Fourth Prince said."
If Maode was granted amnesty, he stood up and hurriedly thanked Jin Wushu: "Thank you so much, Fourth Prince."
"You should stay with Mrs. Xie and Miss Hua Rong."
"Mrs. Xie, Miss Xie Huarong."
Hua Rong saw her face covered with tears, as if she had walked through hell, and felt miserable. He only stretched out his hand to support her, unable to persuade her at all.
Finally, two Khitan concubines were chosen for burial candidates. The two delicate women were pushed out, scared out of their wits. Only then did Hua Rong stand there in a daze - Maode had been saved, who would save these two poor women? woman
Maode shouldn't die, so should they
She listened blankly to the two people's miserable cries, trembling in her heart, and quietly exited step by step.
However, Maode escaped the bad luck of being buried, but he could not escape a disfigurement.
This disaster is commonly known as "bringing blood and tears", that is, the wife and concubines of the deceased have to cut their foreheads with a knife and hand over their blood and tears to show that they will never forget their kindness to their husbands.
Under the leadership of the Tang family, more than a hundred of Zongwang's wives took knives and committed suicide. Maode cried very sadly when he thought that Zongwang's death would seriously affect his father and brother's return to the south, and that he would no longer have any support in the future. However, , According to her original intention, especially because she has always been proud of her appearance, if she leaves a scar on her forehead like the Jurchen widow, how can she be seen by others? But she was afraid of Tang's stern gaze, and knew that if she didn't take action, if Tang did, the consequences would be even more disastrous, so she had no choice but to do as the Romans do. She took the knife and swiped it on her forehead a few times, causing a few drops of blood to flow out.
Hua Rong had been watching her from the side, watching as the princess of Song Dynasty, the daughter-in-law of Cai Jing, was forced to "bury" a foreign man!
When these burial objects were pushed in front of the fire, Jurchen soldiers were surrounded from all directions. Everyone seemed to be accustomed 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 to work together. They first tied the two famous horses tightly with their four hooves, lifted them and threw them into the fire. Suddenly, they made extremely fierce screams, as if they were going to destroy the huge fire. However, soon, , the fire burned even more fiercely, and the horse's fat crackled in the flames, increasing the intensity of the fire.
The four martyrs had already cried hoarsely. They were caught by the Jurchen soldiers and easily thrown into the fire. At this time, they let out screams that were more terrifying than horses.
Princess Maode, who had just escaped a disaster, did not dare to look at such an inhumane scene. She hid far away in the shadow of the tent, but the screams of the horses and people could not be blocked and penetrated into her ears, with a kind of tearing feeling. Heartbreaking pain.
Hua Rong also stood in the crowd and witnessed this scene, and was almost scared out of his mind.
At that time, the people of the Central Plains had almost no system of burying living people. Especially since the Tang and Song Dynasties, even if the emperor died, he would not be buried with his concubines. Only the queen and concubines other than the children were allowed to become nuns or sent to the A Taoist temple is enough. Even the ancient Buddha of Qingdeng can live this miserable life instead of such a barbaric killing and burial.
Jin Wushu held her hand tightly and noticed that her palm was cold, and said in surprise: "Hua Rong, are you afraid?"
He asked twice, and Hua Rong finally woke up, quickly broke away from his hand, and took two steps back.
Jin Wushu disagreed: "Even if you marry me, you are still my wife. Don't worry, you will never be buried."
She said angrily: "Who will marry a barbarian like you?"
In the past, if she said this, Jin Wushu would definitely be angry, but at this time, under the soaring firelight, he saw her panicked face, her expression miserable, her thin body crumbling, and he suddenly felt pity in his heart. He was familiar with the culture of the Southern Dynasties. , knowing that this custom was different from that of 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 originally thought he would be angry, but when he heard him act like this, he couldn't stop sarcastically and just stared blankly at the pile of fires reaching into the sky.
Jin Wushu was about to get angry when he saw Zong Han and Gu Shen coming over. Gu Shen was smiling playfully, but Zong Han's expression was very gloomy. He took the lead and threw a large amount of raw and cooked food displayed next to the corpse into the fire, commonly known as For "cooking rice".
When the "cooking rice" smells of burnt food and the people and horses turn into ashes, the funeral is completely over.
At this time, it was already the next morning. The bright red sun emerged from the east and shone on the still weakly beating red sun. It was extremely hot and seemed to pour a layer of blood on the nasturtiums on this large grassland.
Everyone had stayed up all night, and all of them had bloodshot eyes. However, Hua Rong immediately discovered that the Jurchens around him, from Zonghan Gu Shen to Jin Wushu, Tang family, etc., all looked as usual, especially Gu Shen and Zong. Wang's other cronies were chatting and laughing again, showing no signs of sadness.
It turns out that Jurchen customs are such that after a funeral, everything goes as usual, without the cumbersome mourning rules of the Han people.
She suddenly thought of a question. Jurchen custom is that after a brother dies, other brothers can inherit his wives and concubines. There is no need to ask whether the widows are willing. Who should inherit Zongwang's more than 100 wives? Jin Wushu is the closest to him, could it be him
She looked at Jin Wushu and saw Jin Wushu sitting on a stone outside with his eyes half closed. She didn't know whether he was asleep or thinking.
She was about to walk over when she heard an exclamation and saw Gu Shen striding in and hugging Princess Maode. She immediately understood that this was the wife and concubine of Gu Shen who was going to inherit Zongwang.