The Legend of Zhezhe

The winds of Horqin could not alter a princess’s fate. At fifteen, Borjigit Jere was married off to Jianzhou, carrying the alliance between the Manchus and Mongols as she entered Hetu Ala. Beneath the wedding candles, Hong Taiji vowed he would never abandon her. In the deep inner courts, the secondary consort watched her like a hawk, while conspiracies stirred in the shadows. She protected her young stepson, drew her bow at the hunting grounds and astonished all who watched, and held her own amid the blades and bloodshed of the inner palace. But the marriage alliance weighed like a mountain, and the burden of bearing heirs pressed upon her. The sorrow of giving birth to daughters was followed by one plot against her after another. Then her homeland sent another niece, Bumbutai, into the household, and the young girl’s dreams of love were crushed beneath the weight of etiquette. Love was secondary; the state came first. She was not the cinnabar mark in Hong Taiji’s heart, but she was the empress consort behind his empire, the one he could least afford to lose. Once, she too had been an innocent, lively, and beautiful young Mongolian princess on the grasslands... She loved Hong Taiji deeply, and he once told her, “You truly are worthy of being the principal consort. You have the magnanimity of one.” After all, life could never grant a person everything. She had gained an exalted position, but he never knew how many tears she had silently shed on those countless sleepless nights. She may not have been the one he loved most, but she was the one he trusted most.