Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 558 - 520: The Strange Funeral of the Tujue

Chapter 558: Chapter 520: The Strange Funeral of the Tujue

"Are you the emissaries from the Land of the Midday Sun, the Great Sui?"

Zhang San and Changsun Bubai had just arrived near the camp of the Tujue Khan when a troop came out to meet them.

However, the young man leading this troop was not very friendly towards Zhang San and the others.

Changsun Bubai was somewhat displeased, but before he could speak, Zhang San took the initiative, saying, "Indeed! We are the emissaries of the Great Sui. We heard of Khan Muzhen’s death and are deeply saddened, coming here to offer our condolences. I am Zhang San, the deputy envoy for this condolence visit. This is Changsun Bubai, the chief envoy sent by our Great Sui."

Upon hearing Zhang San’s name, there was no change in the young man’s expression, still as indifferent as before.

But upon hearing "Changsun Bubai," the young man’s expression suddenly became excited and solemn.

"So, it’s Changsun Bubai! I hadn’t expected the Great Sui to send such a hero to mourn our Khan. Please!"

Zhang San had thought since your attitude was so arrogant, naturally there was no need for the chief envoy to speak; it would suffice for the deputy to talk.

But he had never expected Changsun Bubai’s reputation to be so influential among the Tujue.

No wonder Kaihuang didn’t trust you, if I were the Emperor, I wouldn’t trust you either!

The arrogant young man led the way at the front, with the Great Sui’s envoy group closely following behind. Zhang San took the opportunity to move closer to Changsun Bubai and asked, "Who is this kid?"

Changsun Bubai whispered, "This man is named Kucha Shahhan, the brother of Ding Kucha. And Ding Kucha is the chief of a middle-sized tribe among the Tujue."

Zhang San hadn’t expected that Changsun Bubai would remember so clearly not just a mid-level tribal chief, but also his brother, and he felt somewhat impressed for a moment.

"Ding Kucha is a distant relative of Khan Muzhen, by rank kind of an uncle to Khan Muzhen. But Ding Kucha is quite smart, pretending to be a distant younger cousin instead. He also gets along with Maxim, thus receiving Khan Muzhen’s support."

"The first time I came to the steppe, although Ding Kucha’s tribe was only mid-sized, whether it was absorbing other small tribes or stealing other men’s brides, Khan Muzhen didn’t intervene, and sometimes even protected them."

"Therefore, I estimate that Ding Kucha’s tribe must have developed into a very powerful tribe on the steppe by now. That’s why his brother had to stay with Khan Muzhen, presumably also as a sort of hostage."

Zhang San nodded slightly, indicating he understood.

Given that, Kucha Shahhan’s arrogance was understandable.

After all, with his own brother being so powerful, and considering the aura Kucha Shahhan carried himself with, Zhang San could sense that the young man was a formidable figure, probably one of the rare experts among the Tujue’s younger generation.

So, a bit of arrogance was understandable.

After walking for a little over two hours, Zhang San and the others were finally brought near Khan Muzhen’s tent.

At that time, almost all tribal chiefs of the steppe, or their elderly chiefs’ offspring, had come to mourn Khan Muzhen.

After all, he was a dominant figure of the steppe, and even in death, the proper displays of respect were observed.

But from a distance, Zhang San noticed a large group of people, not knowing what they were doing, riding horses around a huge tent.

Upon closer inspection, Zhang San also saw that these people were not milling grain.

"Military Envoy, what are they doing?"

Changsun Bubai explained, "This is one of the Tujue funeral rites, which requires riding horses around the place where the deceased’s body lies for seven circuits. Then... then you’ll see when you go inside."

Zhang San didn’t understand why there was a need for mystery at this time, but he still followed Changsun Bubai forward.

They first handed over the gift list brought by the Great Sui, then the Tujue side took inventory of all the gifts brought by the Great Sui.

Although this was a matter of etiquette, if anything was missing from the list, it could seriously affect the relationship between the two states, making things unclear later.

Yet this was precisely the kind of task that couldn’t be left to Changsun Bubai, so Zhang San had to run around handling it himself.

At that moment, Zhang San suddenly missed Changsun Wuji. It would have been better if he were here.

Unfortunately, this time Changsun Bubai hadn’t allowed Changsun Wuji to come, nor had he allowed Changsun Wugen to come.

Thus, all the miscellaneous tasks had to be handled solely by Zhang San.

After completing the handover of all the items and confirming the quantities and objects were correct, Zhang San returned and then followed Changsun Wuji as they approached the enormous tent and began walking around it.

As they circled, Zhang San carefully observed the expressions on the faces of the Tujue people.

Some genuinely seemed sad and distressed, but others clearly came just for the sake of appearance.

Certainly, after Khan Muzhen died, some still held him in their hearts, but others had lost their reverence and might even have had their own schemes in mind.

In particular, around Kucha Shahhan, Zhang San noticed that many young Tujue people came up to greet him, either indicating that this man held high prestige among the young generation in Tujue, much like himself back in Great Sui,

or that this man was highly esteemed by the next Khan, so everyone quickly sought to curry favor with him.

But no matter how one looked at it, Kucha Shahhan was certainly a figure to be reckoned within Tujue.

After completing seven circles, Zhang San dismounted along with Changsun Bubai and entered the immense tent.

Inside was the body of Khan Muzhen.

At that moment, many people were keeping vigil there and thanking the envoys from various countries who had come to mourn.

But as soon as Zhang San had entered with Changsun Bubai, he saw about a dozen Tujue people rush in from behind, fall to their knees with a thud, and burst into loud cries.

Zhang San, watching their actions, had only one thought—fake!

Is it just about crying?

Can’t you say something?

Is this how you act alive?

Don’t you have any professionalism?

However, in the next moment, Zhang San was shocked.

Because he saw these kneeling Tujue people pull out a dagger from their waists.

The next moment, they began slashing their own faces with the daggers.

Suddenly, tears of blood flowed, and the ground was spattered red.

Zhang San froze and turned to glance at Changsun Bubai, who appeared indifferent.

"Is this, like, a custom too?"

"It indeed f***ing is a custom."

Zhang San drew a sharp breath and closely followed Changsun Bubai’s back.

Looking ahead where Khan Muzhen’s body was placed, Zhang San discovered that what lay in front was not an extravagantly fine coffin but a huge stone sculpture.

It appeared that the stone sculpture was meant to be Khan Muzhen.

Zhang San didn’t understand why they would place a stone sculpture here.

Even less comprehensible was why there were seven bright lamps placed in front of the sculpture.

What’s the meaning of this?

Do the seven un-extinguished lamps mean the person can come back?

Just then, Zhang San finally found his target.

These were Dashi Bian, kneeling and crying not far from the sculpture, with Sharlobi sitting below him with not a single tear on his face, and Xing Luohou at the very bottom with swollen red eyes.

Observing the varied expressions of these three brothers, Zhang San knew action was about to unfold!