Song Qingshu recalled what Zhao Min had once told him: the Hongjila clan produced empresses when they had daughters and married their sons to princesses. The previous clan chief, De Xuezhan, had been Temujin's father-in-law. De Xuezhan had three sons—Anchen, Huo Hu, and Ce—and a daughter, Börte, who had become Temujin's principal empress.
De Xuezhan had already passed away. The current head of the Hongjila clan was Anchen. His youngest daughter had married Kublai Khan as his Princess Consort—Chabi. He also had three sons: Öchen, Nachen, and Suoer Huodu, all of whom held high positions at court. The brothers were either Commanders of Ten Thousand Households or Commanders of a Thousand Households, figures with real authority.
Nachen was the man Song Qingshu had encountered last time, the one who had been pestering Zhao Min. That was why he remembered the intelligence on this clan so clearly.
These Mongols were far too casual with names. Not only were they all tongue-twisters, but they sounded so alike that one could easily confuse them.
"As far as I know, wasn't Princess Huazhen betrothed to the Golden Saber Imperial Son-in-Law back then? Why was she now being bestowed in marriage to Öchen?" Song Qingshu asked. At the same time, he privately mocked how the Mongols paid absolutely no attention to generations. Chabi was Tolui's daughter-in-law, yet Chabi's brother was going to marry Tolui's younger sister?
Then again, Zhao Min had mentioned similar things before. Such arrangements were common among the Mongols and considered nothing unusual.
Haemish replied, "Didn't the Golden Saber Imperial Son-in-Law break off the engagement back then and betray the Mongol Empire? The Great Khan was furious over it, and Hua Zheng remained deeply despondent. Over the years, she had turned down who knew how many marriage proposals and remained alone. She