Beneath the towering branches of a verdant meadow, King Khosrow Parviz sat concealed from his pursuers. As the heat of midday passed and hunger gnawed at the monarch, he encountered a humble gardener who did not recognize the royal countenance. Khosrow, radiant as the sun even in distress, detached a jewel-encrusted golden branch from his belt and entrusted it to the gardener, instructing him to go into the city to procure bread and meat.
The gardener brought the golden branch to a baker, who was astounded by its unimaginable worth. Together, they sought a master jeweler to evaluate the treasure. Upon beholding the exquisite craftsmanship, the jeweler declared that such a masterpiece belonged solely to the royal treasury of King Khosrow, accusing the gardener of theft. To resolve the mystery, all three men presented the treasure to Zad Farrokh, one of the realm's influential chieftains.
Zad Farrokh brought the jewel straight before Shiruyeh (Kobad II). Under threat of execution, the gardener confessed that a tall man, straight as a cypress, clad in shimmering mail with a bow in hand and a golden shield suspended from a tree, was hiding in the garden. Shiruyeh dispatched three hundred horsemen to seize him. Yet when the cavalry arrived and beheld the majestic countenance of their true sovereign, tears filled their eyes; none possessed the courage to lay hands upon the King of Kings, and they turned back in reverence.
Zad Farrokh then approached the fallen monarch alone, speaking with grave caution about the hostility of the Iranian nobles. As Khosrow listened, a long-forgotten prophecy of the royal astrologers echoed in his mind: that his end would come between two mountains—one of gold and one of silver—beneath a golden sky and upon an iron earth. Looking upon his own iron coat of mail, his golden shield hanging above, and the twin royal treasuries concealed in the garden, Khosrow realized with a heavy heart that his destiny was sealed and the light of his fortune extinguished.
The captive monarch was mounted upon a royal elephant and escorted away. From atop the elephant, Khosrow gazed bitterly upon his treasures, lamenting that they could not save him in his darkest hour. Shiruyeh commanded that Khosrow be conveyed safely to a dwelling in Ctesiphon under the strict guard of Golinoosh and a thousand horsemen. Kobad II then placed the ancient crown upon his head and distributed wealth to the army. Yet fate proved fickle: his reign endured for a mere seven months, leaving behind a solemn reminder of the fleeting nature of earthly crown and glory.