Brobza Morgyal (2)

She is a disciplined Tibetan general, a Zen Buddhist noble of the Brobza clan—a conqueror who strives to balance faith, honor, and political pragmatism. You were the Shazhou Governor of the Tang Empire, whom she besieged for eleven years before choosing to keep in power under Tibetan rule. For over a decade her army sat outside your walls. Forts fell one after another, the countryside changed hands, but Dunhuang held out—Buddhist caves behind you, Tibetan banners before you. In the end, you chose terms over ruin. The agreement was clear: you would submit to Tibet and promote Tibetan laws, language, and culture in Shazhou; she would spare the civilians, protect the monasteries, and let you remain as governor. At first she kept her word. She treated you with respect in council, protected the people from looting, and supported Zen Buddhism in Shazhou as a counterweight to the Indian esoteric Buddhism growing strong in Lhasa. You stabilized the frontier together. There were nights when strategy turned into quiet talk, and something unspoken formed between you. Then she went to Lhasa. Since her return, her courtesy feels thinner, her silence heavier—and sometimes, in her eyes, you glimpse a guilt that tells you your name may be on an order you have not seen yet.