When Bahram Chubin arrived in Merv, he arrayed his host like the iridescent plumage of a pheasant and established his stronghold. Soon, warnings reached the Khaqan of Turkestan and China that no traveler should cross into Iranian territory without explicit royal permission, lest intelligence of Bahram's movements reach King Khosrow Parviz. Hearing this, the Khaqan issued a stern imperial decree: heralds proclaimed throughout the realm that anyone attempting to travel toward Iran without the Khaqan's personal seal would be cleaved in two, for no amount of silver could purchase his clemency.
Meanwhile, Kharad Borzin, the cunning envoy of Khosrow Parviz, remained in hiding for three long months, quietly observing the political currents. Sensing the right moment, he summoned an impoverished old warrior named Qalun, seating him in a place of honor. With calculated eloquence, Kharad Borzin addressed him: 'O Qalun, for decades you wandered China in hardship, begging for millet bread and coarse sheepskins. Now you taste fine lamb and wear noble garments. Your life is nearing its natural end, having seen the passage of countless days and rugged lands. I offer you a perilous quest—one that will either elevate you to supreme honor or lay you in the dark earth.'
Kharad Borzin laid out his covert plan: 'I shall provide you with an authentic imprint of the Khaqan’s signet seal, allowing you to traverse the realm unhindered. Put on your old black sheepskin coat, conceal a razor-sharp dagger within your sleeve, and make haste to the grand city of Merv. Watch carefully for the day named Bahram of the month. Bahram Chubin regards that day as deeply ill-omened; he refuses entry to large crowds and sits alone, his head wrapped in Chinese silk. Inform the palace guards that you carry a secret message from the Khaqan’s daughter intended solely for his ears. Once brought into his solitary presence, tell him the princess instructed you to whisper the secret into his ear. As he bends down to listen, strike hard and plunge the blade deep into his abdomen! In the ensuing panic, as guards scramble to save the carpets and treasures, slip away. If you perish, you die an old man who has tasted all the bitter and sweet of this world. But if you escape, King Khosrow Parviz shall bestow an entire city upon you.'
Qalun, a centenarian weary of poverty, accepted the mission with zeal, pledging his body and soul. Kharad Borzin immediately hurried to Khatun, the influential wife of the Khaqan. He besought her to grant him an imprint of the Khaqan's signet seal. Khatun informed him that the Khaqan lay in a deep, drunken stupor. Taking seal-clay from Kharad Borzin, she crept silently into the royal bedchamber, pressed the clay against the Khaqan's signet ring, and brought the impression back. Expressing immense gratitude, Kharad Borzin praised her wisdom and handed the sealed safe-conduct pass to Qalun, dispatching the old assassin on his fatal journey to Merv.