When intelligence reached King Khosrow Parviz that Bahram Chubin had emerged like a ravenous wolf from the shadows, mobilizing a terrifying host that obscured the light of heaven, the Sasanian monarch sensed grave peril. He summoned Kharrad-e Barzin, his most eloquent courtier and a master of statecraft, charging him with a vital mission: to travel to the distant court of the Khaqan of China within four months and turn the Asian monarch against Bahram. The royal treasury was unsealed, and Kharrad was provided with vast riches—jewel-encrusted swords, golden girdles, and precious gems. Astounded by the monarch's bounty, Kharrad secretly invoked the protection of God and set out across the turbulent waters of the Oxus River.
Upon arriving at the Khaqan’s magnificent palace, Kharrad dispatched a herald to announce the Iranian embassy. The Khaqan adorned his grand hall and granted an audience. Kharrad approached the throne with consummate Iranian courtliness. He opened his address not with immediate demands, but with a sublime discourse praising the Almighty Creator Who framed the unpillared heavens and decreed mortality for all kings—from Jamshid and Tahmuras to Kay Qobad, Esfandiyar, and Rostam. He emphasized that all earthly dominion is fleeting and framed the friendship of Khosrow Parviz as an ancient continuation of royal bonds. Enraptured by Kharrad's wisdom and poetic grace, the Khaqan invited him to sit beside the throne and accepted the vast tribute.
Yet when Kharrad seized a private moment to denounce Bahram Chubin as a villainous, oath-breaking monster worse than Ahriman, urging the Khaqan to capture Bahram and dispatch him in chains to Ctesiphon, the Khaqan’s countenance darkened. The Khaqan sternly rejected the proposal, declaring that he would never break faith with a guest or stain his honor with betrayal. Realizing that Bahram had already solidified his position by marrying the Khaqan's daughter and securing deep influence in the eastern realm, Kharrad understood that overt diplomacy had failed.
Undeterred, Kharrad pivoted to undercover cunning. He befriended a destitute old Turk named Qalun, bound him to his service through lavish generosity, and investigated the inner dynamics of the royal household. Learning that the daughter of Empress Khatun was stricken with a mysterious, burning fever that no imperial physician could cure, Kharrad engineered a scheme. Presenting himself secretly as a master physician, he gained access to the princess’s chambers. He prescribed cooling concoctions of pomegranate juice and fresh chicory herbs. By Divine grace, within seven days the fever broke and the princess fully recovered. Overjoyed, Empress Khatun offered Kharrad bags of gold and rich silk robes, but the clever strategist refused immediate payment, holding his favor in reserve to strike at Bahram when the moment was ripe.