Dear Listeners

Mahmud, ever since he sprang into my mind for this AU, has been a rather austere little boy and so, initially, I thought he needed a mother who was very much the opposite of that. Hence why, in the original post I made about this concept. I mentioned her having a "quiet sweetness" (meant to make someone poisoning her while pregnant all the more cruel too since there's no real reason to attack her other than her being mother to a son).

I wound up re-imagining her, though, in response to one of the inciting incidents within the Sword and the Brocade where the FL's sister, knowing she's facing down a slow death, knows she needs to make sure her husband marries a woman of her choosing, rather than the schemer backed by others, so that her son can remain safe.

It's to this end that she ensures the schemer planning to take her place can't, aiming to replace her with a woman that she can trust instead (in the show, one of her sisters).

It'd, of course, be a little different played out in the Ottoman court, but I think Mahmud's mother still schemes to undermine Mahidevran (her greatest competitor, I imagine) in some manner and lies out little tests for the women that catch Suleiman's attention...like Hürrem, who manages to get through each test, if not exactly how predicted, then in a way that proves her the right choice.

Except, there's always the fear that whoever is chosen might bear their own son, one that could come to be valued more by them than Mahmud. So, the intent is to ensure that the woman selected remains childless.

I doubt this, but, just in case, !! SPOILERS !! for the Sword and the Brocade from now on!

In this C-Drama, the ML has quite a few wives since, from my, admittedly so-so understanding, a man in China at the time could marry more than one woman, yet there would only one main wife (always higher in status with her children being considered of greater legitimacy) and the others could only be concubines (their children would be lesser in status too).

So, when one of those wives of a concubine status is revealed to have betrayed the family...

tw: miscarriage

Mahmud's mother, either before her death or afterwards, arranges for Hürrem to be slipped a similar "tonic" into her food that will render her infertile (am debating if this is what caused the miscarriage and bad health of Mahmud's mother with the Valide Sultan not having realized she was pregnant—she just wanted to curb the woman's arrogance and give a concubine of her choice a chance. Could also answer why the Valide favors Mahidevran since this could be Mahidevran's "trump card" to use against her).

Mahmud himself has qualms about this, though, particularly after it is revealed that Hürrem reveals is actually pregnant. So he hunts for the servant given the task, finally confronting them at night to insist the plan has to be called off, she's already pregnant so there's no point now.

But, "It's alright, Şehzadem, this will take care of that."

And, Mahmud, just... He can't. He can't let this happen.

From then on, the eldest son of Sultan Suleiman gains a reputation for being remarkably cold-blooded, even ruthless. He was able to witness a beheading without flinching, people whisper, and, more than that, perform his first kill on the battlefield without hesitation.

But that's because it wasn't his first kill. The first came at nine-years-old, before he knew how to do it properly, so it was messy and painful and so, so terrifying.

It's Hürrem (and maybe Nigar?) who finds him, covered in blood and fully on the way to a panic attack, and who brings him to the hammam to wash him up clean and soothe him. She's the one to get him into fresh clothes and tuck him back into bed, disposing of the bloodied clothing...and the body.