Refusing the Marriage Alliance, I Founded a Dynasty - chapter 4

My knees ached from kneeling. Though I was warmly dressed, the northern wind pierced through every seam, chilling me to the bone. Yet my blood still ran hot.

My Father laughed heartily and helped me up himself.

When my Father fought on the battlefield, I had not yet been born. But now, I saw that peerless hero before me.

He said, “Then let us rebel!”

The next month, the Imperial Envoy arrived with the Imperial Edict, conferring upon me the title of Junzhu and ordering me to enter a Marriage Alliance with Rouran.

My Father was furious. He beheaded the Envoy on the grounds of forging the Imperial Edict, offering the head as a sacrifice to the Meng Army’s banner. I followed Father up the City Tower once more, clad in armor, as valiant as any man.

He pointed to the three thousand soldiers camped outside the city and said, “They call themselves the royal army; I call them traitors.”

The Imperial Envoy’s head hung on the city wall. The leading General was enraged, yet he feared the strength of Yongyuan City-its powerful soldiers and towering walls. He tried to reason, “Lord, to show such contempt for imperial authority is a crime punishable by the extermination of your entire clan.”

Standing atop the city wall, I saluted like a man: “General Zheng, in the past, when you fought against Rouran, you and my Father were comrades-in-arms. Today, His Majesty is deceived by traitors; the court is rife with corruption. Forcing me to leave the pass for a Marriage Alliance is a national humiliation. General, you allow traitors to mislead the Emperor and disrupt the court-this is disloyalty. You use your skills, meant to protect the nation, to threaten your comrade and force his daughter into Rouran to be humiliated-this is injustice. At home, Father often told my brothers of the old days. Every time I heard those stories, my blood boiled, and I deeply admired your virtue. Only today do I realize you are no more than this. It was Father who misjudged you, mistaking loyalty for treachery.”

General Zheng seemed quite angry, his voice trembling as he shouted, “I was your Father’s comrade. He has not spoken, yet you, a child, dare to overstep your bounds?”

I replied, “Father is a hero of the world. How could a man so disloyal and unjust as you be worthy to speak with him?”

General Zheng was clearly furious, but stubbornly said, “If sacrificing you alone brings peace to the nation, though I am unjust, have you shown loyalty?”

I only laughed, “If sacrificing me alone brings peace to the nation, it is indeed a fair trade. But I wonder, General, have you read the ‘Discourse on the Six States’? Do you understand the meaning of: ‘Today we cede five cities, tomorrow ten, and thus gain a night’s rest. But when we look to the borders, the Qin army is upon us again. The lands of the lords are finite, but the greed of Qin knows no bounds; the more we yield, the more fiercely they invade.'”

General Zheng covered his face with his hand, unable to face my Father.

Yet, with Father and daughter refusing to leave the city, and the Imperial Envoy’s head hanging on the wall, though we claimed to “Purge the Court,” everyone knew: the Meng Family had rebelled!

So be it!

The wind howled. I heard my Father laugh heartily, “My Child, are you afraid?”

I gripped my bow tightly, my voice ringing clear and strong: “I have never feared. To face such a grand scene as a woman-though I die, I have no regrets.”

Father said, “Let’s make a bet, you and I, on this predicament before us.”

I asked, “Is there a prize?”

Father replied, “If you win, I will give you a gift.”

“And if I lose?”

Father laughed, “You cannot lose.”

I cannot lose.

My gaze fixed on the commander below the city. He was once my Father’s comrade in the war against Rouran, a general forged in the crucible of battle, my Father’s sworn brother, the uncle who sent gifts during festivals, the confidant who drank and reminisced with my Father.

But he was also the one who advocated sending me into a Marriage Alliance, the executioner who disgraced our nation’s gates.

I released the bowstring.

The sound of the arrow vanished into the wind. As his body fell, his face was still filled with shock. Darkness descended, and in his ears, he heard one last sentence.

“General, your wife, children, and parents-I will care for them.”