"Do not err, " he said to the Grand Vizier. "Though she is your daughter, her head must be cut off in the morning. "

“不要搞错啊，”他对宰相说道，“虽然她是你的女儿，到早晨时，她的脑袋也必须砍掉。”

youdao

"Do you know, my daughter, what that means?" he asked, "Though you are the daughter of the Grand Vizier, that will not save your life."

“我的女儿，你知道这意味着什么吗？”他问道，“虽然你是宰相之女，这也救不了你的命啊。”

youdao

So the Grand Vizier went to the Sultan and told him that his own daughter begged for the honor of being the Sultan's wife for one night.

于是，宰相去见苏丹，告诉他说：自己的女儿请求得到做苏丹的一夜妻子的荣耀。

youdao

Their sultan was descended from a royal line, but there was a tradition of selecting the operational head of the government, the grand vizier, from non-Turkish stock.

NPR: The History of Political Succession

Able to give orders directly to the grand vizier, her influence on the sultan, on the selection of his wives and concubines and on matters of state was often profound.

BBC: Uncover the secrets of Topkapi Palace

Indeed, running a big American firm or a Silicon Valley start-up is now riskier than being grand vizier in the court of the Ottoman sultan.

ECONOMIST: Firing the boss