Q2 OR#9

In the next installment of my chosen outside reading book, "Genghis: Lords of the Bow" by Conn Iggulden, the main character, Genghis Khan, Lord of the united Mongol tribes, is attacked by an assassin from within the walls of Yenking. Yenking has begun to eat the sick and dying people in an effort to stay alive after a prolonged siege. In a desparate attempt to break the siege, the Chinese send out a spy and an assassin to blend in with the Chinese who have been dragooned into service by their conquerors, the Mongols. The attempt ultimately fails, but is a near death experience that adds a new fervor to the battle lust of the Mongol leaders. Eventually the spy reaches Kokchu who is convinced by a bribe to in turn convince the Khan to put up the famed white tent in place of the black one as to spare the city. Genghis complies and the lives of those in the city are spared at the cost of a great tribute, that of miles of silk and tons of jade. During the siege, though, in addition to the cannibalism, fifty chinese maidens dressed in white came to the top of the ramparts and jumped the fifty feet down holding hands. They died on impact. This even really did take place.