And so, a beautiful girl was made a son

And so, a beautiful girl was made a son is the first chapter of Jing Wei Qing Shan

Synopsis
A warrior of the Chengli tribe alerts the Khagan, Qiyan Sukhbaru, that the Khatun, Furong, has gone into labor three days earlier than anticipated.

Sukhbaru rides back to his tent as quickly as he can. Once there, he is briefly blocked by the witch doctor, who informs him that Furong is still delivering. Sukhbaru glares in response and is allowed in, where he immediately rushes to Furong's side to comfort her. Furong asks Sukhbaru if the child is a girl or a boy. Sukhbaru glances briefly at the child and tells her that the child is a boy. As the midwife bathes the child, she trembles, knowing that Sukhbaru has lied about the child's sex.

Sukhbaru takes the child from the midwife and orders the witch doctor to give the child the wolf king tattoo, which is an important custom for the people of the grass plains.

Once the tattoo is completed, Sukhbaru dismisses the midwife and exits the tent. He then raises the child above his head and announces that the child is the first son of Furong and himself, therefore sealing Furong as the Chengli tribe's Khatun and rescinding the marriage alliance with the Tuba tribe.

The warriors present cheer and congratulate Sukhbaru but some of the elders warn him that he risks invoking the Tuba tribe's wrath by breaking the marriage alliance. Sukhbaru dismisses their concerns by reminding them of their deal that stated that if Furong gave birth to a prince before the marriage, the alliance would be rescinded and Furong would be sealed as Khatun.

One of the elders then asks if the child has been named yet. When Sukhbaru answers in the negative, the elder suggests the name Qiyan Agula, which means "lofty mountains" in the language of the grass plains.

Sukhbaru looks down at Agula and reflects on his belief that even if she has been born a daughter, he believes that she will become a tall and lofty mountain.

The second half of the chapter provides some context and background information about Sukhbaru and the politics of the Jing and Wei kingdoms.

The Wei kingdom is the land to the south of the Luo river. It has fertile soil and frequent rains, which makes it suitable for agriculture. The Jing kingdom is the land to the north of the Luo river. It has arid lands and is home to several nomadic tribes, the largest of which are the Chengli tribe, the Tuba tribe, and the Weike tribe.

When Sukhbaru was fourteen, two of his uncles worked with the other two tribes to overthrow the Khagan of the Chengli tribe. As a result he went into hiding in one of the border villages of the Wei kingdom, where he was taken in by a kindly farming family. Sukhbaru fell in love with Furong, the daughter of the family, and was given permission to marry her. On the eve of their wedding, Sukhbaru was suddenly called away by his tribespeople. He gave Furong a wolf fang necklace and swore to return for her.

Sukhbaru then found out that his father, the Chengli tribe's current Khagan, had reorganized the tribe and put down the coup but his health was failing. As a result, Sukhbaru returned to his home in the grass plains, where he received the king's position from his father's hands and laid his father to rest. He spent the next five years restoring the Chengli tribe to its full power and negotiating peace with the Tuba tribe. Part of those peace negotiations included a proposed marriage alliance between Sukhbaru and the daughter of the Tuba tribe chief.

Sukhbaru returned to the Wei kingdom border town where he had left Furong and fulfilled his promise to her, bringing her back to the Chengli tribe so they could be married, in spite of pushback from the elders.

The chapter concludes with Sukhbaru reflecting on Qiyan's status and gender. He feels confident that he and Furong will soon give birth to a son and will be able to recover Qiyan's true identity.

Characters

 * Qiyan Sukhbaru
 * Furong
 * Qiyan Agula

Events

 * Birth of Qiyan Agula