"What are you saying?" the man holding Hairanju shouted, his frustration mounting as he realized he couldn't understand their Mongolian conversation. Growing increasingly agitated, he brandished the knife in front of Hong Taiji, yelling, "Kneel! If you don't kneel, I'll kill her! Kneel now!"
Hong Taiji's lips curled into a cold smile. "If you don't kill her before I reach you, you'll be the one to die."
The man, enraged, cursed, "Today is the day you die, you barbarian!"
But Hong Taiji remained calm, his pace steady, unfazed by the threats. His bodyguards, alarmed by the situation, began to move forward, ready to intervene, but Hong Taiji raised his hand, signalling them to stand down.
"Great Khan!"
"Stand down,"
Hong Taiji commanded firmly, continuing his approach. Hairanju watched Hong Taiji's eyes, his gaze unflinching, filled with a chilling, bloodthirsty determination that made her shiver.
But she couldn't shake his words from moments before—they mirrored the final words her husband had whispered to her before he passed: live on.
Her thoughts raced in despair. What had she done to deserve such a cruel punishment from the heavens? Even her last hope of peace seemed destined to be destroyed by the very people she loved most. Her poor children...
"Great Khan," Hairanju suddenly spoke, her voice trembling.
Hong Taiji stopped in his tracks, his eyes locking with hers.
"If I die," she began, her voice thick with emotion, "will you grant me one last wish?"
Hong Taiji tilted his head slightly. "What wish?"
Tears streamed down Hairanju's face as she spoke, her voice filled with bitterness and hatred: "Kill Wukeshan… kill him."
Hong Taiji's face showed surprise at her request. In that moment of distraction, he spotted the opening he needed.
Without hesitation, Hong Taiji lunged forward. Hairanju barely had time to register what was happening before she was forcefully pushed aside, sent tumbling away as chaos erupted around her.
"Blow you all to pieces!" the man shouted as he clambered up onto the altar, holding a candle aloft as a threat.
Without a word, Hong Taiji signalled to his guards with a simple gesture, then turned his attention to Hairanju. Despite the pain that wracked her body, Hairanju was still in shock, her limbs trembling. Gently, Hong Taiji lifted her into his arms and, ignoring the man's frenzied yells, walked out of the grand hall without so much as a glance back.
"Barbarian! You kill my people, steal our land, you will die miserably!"
The shouts from inside the hall abruptly stopped. The metallic scent of blood wafted through the air, carried by the wind. Hairanju, lying weakly in Hong Taiji's arms, blinked her eyes open. One of her hands clutched tightly onto Hong Taiji's robe.
"Sister!" Da Yuer cried as she rushed forward, tears of relief streaming down her face. "Sister, thank goodness you're safe! I was so scared…"
Hong Taiji lowered Hairanju, letting the attendants assist her. He brushed the dust from his robes, but suddenly, more screams echoed from outside the hall. He turned to see the man who had taken Hairanju hostage, now riddled with arrows, being dragged away by the guards, leaving a trail of blood.
In his hands, he still clutched a bundle of explosives and a candle that had been extinguished, its wick snapped short.
"Great Khan, hang that wretch at the city gate for all to see!" one voice shouted. "Let the Han people know the consequences of rebellion!" "Show no mercy!" another cried out.
Hong Taiji lifted his gaze, looking beyond the chaos, toward the ancestral tablet of his father, Nurhaci, inside the hall. The scent of gunpowder and blood filled his nostrils, the familiar scent of the battlefield. It seemed fitting, in a way, to honour his father—who had spent his life on the battlefield—with this violent end to the ceremony. It was enough.
"Let him be buried," Hong Taiji said coldly. "He is dead, and what's done is done. After today, no one is to speak of this incident outside the mausoleum."
"Great Khan…" one of the advisors began hesitantly.
"One Han man was enough to disrupt my father's ceremony. Are you proud of that?" Hong Taiji's eyes flashed as he looked around, his voice sharp. "We need to find out who was foolish enough to let him in—or worse, who wants me dead!"
Panic gripped the crowd, and suddenly everyone dropped to their knees, terrified of the Great Khan's wrath.
Da Yuer, still supporting her sister, stood frozen in uncertainty, unsure of how to respond. But when she met Hong Taiji's gaze, her husband smiled at her, a glimmer of reassurance in his eyes that seemed to say: "I kept my promise."