"Huchuquan pays his respects to Your Majesty."
The Southern Xiongnu Chanyu who had once led armored cavalry across the Three Rivers was now very old.
His body was stooped, he leaned on a walking stick, and his eyes were clouded. He already had one foot in the grave.
Many ministers had worried whether the old man could make it alive from Ye City to Chang'an. His age was what it was, after all, and more than thirty years had passed since he had been forcibly detained in Ye City.
He had not returned to his tribes in many years. Perhaps even the Xiongnu had forgotten they still had such a Chanyu.
The Southern Xiongnu divisions listened only to their own commanders. Huchuquan could not even be called a puppet anymore. He was a mere ornament, the sort no one gave a damn about.
Yet Cao Mao still treated this Xiongnu Chanyu with great respect.
To show how much importance he attached to him, Cao Mao had specifically invited a trusted minister to welcome him together.
Naturally, that minister was the newly appointed Deputy Director of the Secretariat, Zhong Hui.
Zhong Hui stood a short distance away, smiling at the Xiongnu Chanyu before him. He even could not help lifting his chin slightly, unable to conceal his inward satisfaction.
Wei had, after all, been built on the foundations of the Han Dynasty, and afforded the elderly considerable leniency. Gao Rou, for instance, had been so old that the ministers deemed corporal punishment inappropriate and had him put to death with poisoned wine instead.
Huchuquan was this old, a king who had submitted, and had behaved himself all these years. Cao Mao had no reason at all to humiliate him.
Cao Mao returned his greeting with a soft chuckle and had Huchuquan