A Leaping Advance
Bai Jingyan turned her head to watch the expedition column advancing in full pomp. At its head rode the Crown Prince in an exquisite, ornate carriage of elmwood, followed by two smaller carriages flanked on either side by guards. Before long, a eunuch of the Crown Prince's retinue rode up and, dismounting, bowed to Bai Jingyan.
"By His Highness the Crown Prince's command. The Grand Eldest Lady Bai's carriage is to follow behind the Crown Prince's own — a measure taken for the Grand Eldest Lady's safety, he says."
"Much obliged."
Bai Jingyan gave a slight nod.
"Eldest sister."
Bai Jinxiu's voice was thick with tears.
"I'll be fine. Go on home now."
With that, Bai Jingyan released her sister's hand and climbed into the carriage Xiao Ruohai had prepared.
"You must come home safe, eldest sister!"
Hearing Bai Jinxiu's tearful voice, Bai Jingyan lifted the pale blue curtain and nodded to her before the carriage rolled away. Xiao Ruohai took the reins in both hands and guided them slowly toward the departing army.
Messengers riding at the head and tail of the column passed orders back and forth — urging the vanguard to quicken its pace while commanding the soldiers trailing behind to ease theirs. Bai Jingyan's carriage slipped neatly into the gap and settled into place behind the Crown Prince's.
It was Xiao Ruohai who had chosen the carriage. Though it lacked the extravagance and conspicuousness of the Crown Prince's, its interior was roomy, and its walls of densely compressed hardwood would turn back even the sharpest of arrows.
The Emperor had mobilized fifty thousand troops from across the realm to march on the Southern Border. The road to Guandao was utterly flat. Worried that her mistress might grow bored along the way, Xiao Ruohai had thoughtfully laid out a Go board on the little wooden table inside.
Recessed shelves within the carriage held books, preserved snacks that would keep well on a long journey, a small stove for boiling tea, a complete tea set, a bronze heater to warm the interior, and even an incense burner. Every last detail had been tended to with care.
The Emperor had first dispatched envoys to sue for peace and stabilize the situation, only to then command the Crown Prince to lead troops to war. His true intent — to fight after all — was plain as day.
The Crown Prince had to move quickly, and so he drove the pace hard. The carriage jolted and bucked so badly that, clutching a spittoon, he vomited again and again — yet he gritted his teeth and never once ordered the column to slow.
Once the fifty thousand soldiers had been sent on to their encampment, the local prefect respectfully ushered the Crown Prince's carriage into his own residence. He had prepared a lavish banquet to honor the prince, but the Crown Prince, looking wretched, declined — and when he pleaded exhaustion without offering even the courtesy of an excuse, the prefect instead extended the invitation to the advisors the prince had brought along. Bai Jingyan, pleading poor health as well, did not attend.
It had been years since Bai Jingyan last set foot in a military camp. She stood atop a mound of earth and gazed out over the training grounds of the garrison. The banners planted around her rustled softly in the wind, and the flames of the braziers hung high overhead swayed and flickered, bathing the grounds in light as bright as day. Soldiers clustered around two centurions locked in a contest of strength, their shouts swelling louder and louder until the whole camp buzzed with noise.
A cold wind swept past her. Bai Jingyan found the scene achingly familiar — like a wanderer returning, at last, to his homeland.
"Young master, the wind is bitter cold. You should go back in."
Xiao Ruohai, following at her back, spoke in a low voice.
Bai Jingyan nodded, hand warmer in her palm, and stepped down from the earthen mound.
"How far has Jinchì gotten?"
"Fourth Young Master is lodged at an inn inside the city with the main army. Have no worry — I've sent men to guard him in secret. Nothing will happen to him."
Xiao Ruohai answered quietly.
"Bring him to me before we depart tomorrow. And send word to Mother and Third Aunt not to worry."
"Yes, my lady."
Zhen Xiangzhi, standing nearby with his attendant, looked upon Bai Jingyan in her men's attire and greeted her with a smile and a formal bow of his cupped hands — deeply courteous in every detail.
Bai Jingyan returned his gaze with a smile of her own.
For him to have come all this way and be waiting for her, he clearly had something to say. And dressed as a man, she need not be overly wary of contact with him.
Xiao Ruohai prepared tea and took his place at her side, watching Zhen Xiangzhi sidelong as he recalled that Master Zhen, who had briefly lodged at the Bai estate, was now an advisor to the Crown Prince.
Bai Jingyan and Zhen Xiangzhi sat facing each other across the table.
"We parted on the tenth day of the first month, and in that short span you have already become an advisor to the Crown Prince. I'll raise tea in place of wine — my congratulations."
Bai Jingyan lifted the warm cup set before her.
Zhen Xiangzhi glanced once at Xiao Ruohai. When Bai Jingyan showed no intention of dismissing him, Zhen Xiangzhi understood — this man was her most trusted confidant. He raised his cup, took a slow sip of tea, and set it down gently before speaking.
"Grand Eldest Lady — do you know that the road to the Southern Border will bristle with danger at every turn?"
Bai Jingyan set down her cup and sat up straight. Then she lifted her half-cooled hand warmer and looked at Zhen Xiangzhi.
"For you to come all this way just to tell me that danger lies in wait, sir — I am rather moved."
"Thanks to the Grand Eldest Lady's help, this humble Zhen barely survived. The reason I've come so late at night is that I have something I must say to you. Whether you win or lose in the Southern Border, the Emperor will not let you live."
Zhen Xiangzhi spoke with a grave and courteous countenance, then pressed on as though arriving at a decision long made.
"There is a way out, if you would take it before reaching the Southern Border."
Bai Jingyan, robed in a long white garment patterned with dark designs, gazed at him and answered unhurriedly.
"Sir — what matter is the glory or the life of one such as I? The Southern Border is a place I must go, come what may."
Zhen Xiangzhi did not ask her reason. Looking at the slight figure in men's dress before him, he remembered the day the soldiers' families had raised an uproar before the Directorate of the National Treasury. That day, Bai Jingyan had spoken with unflinching resolve: the front lines were wearying and perilous, but someone had to go. She had pointed to the plaque above her head and declared what the words Zhenguo — Pacifier of the Realm — truly meant: if the Bai could not drive back the invaders threatening the people of Jin, they swore they would never return. In life, serve the people; in death, die for the nation. The Bai family had lived, in life and in death alike, for nothing but a peaceful world where the people of Jin might live without want and without fear — and they had no regrets, living or dying, she had said.
Beneath the dim glow of the lantern, Zhen Xiangzhi clenched the fists resting on his knees. Even now, the memory of Bai Jingyan's clearly spoken words set hot blood surging through his chest, and he could not suppress the emotion that welled up in him.
The Bai family lived for true loyalty and righteousness. They had carved devotion to sovereign and people into the very marrow of their bones.
The men of the Bai family all lay buried in the Southern Border. But if the upright spirit and noble character of the Bai endured, then while other clans and great houses flickered briefly and vanished from the pages of history, the Bai would remain immortal.
Zhen Xiangzhi rose and bowed with deep formality.
"The Bai clan of the Duke of Zhenguo's estate — a house of heroes, every one. It commands my awe and my deepest respect."
Zhen Xiangzhi was a true gentleman, and so with a gentleman's heart he read Bai Jingyan's thoughts. He surmised that her reason for going to the Southern Border was the same as Duke Bai Weiting's had been when he marched there in his own day — simply to protect their nation and its people.
The shallower the bond, the deeper the words one must not speak. And Bai Jingyan had no intention of revealing more to him. So in place of her grandfather and her father, she accepted the sincerity of Zhen Xiangzhi's words.
The next day, at the hour of the tiger — between the third and fifth watches.
Across the vast training grounds, only the banners stirred, rustling in the wind. Under the faint glow of the moon, Bai Jingyan's slender frame stood at the archery range. She drew the Sun-Shooting Bow back to its very limit with a form of flawless, almost painful beauty — yet before she could loose the arrow, all her strength drained away. The power collapsed from her core, and unable even to control the recoil of the drawn bow, she let the arrow fly, only to watch it arc briefly and drop to the ground.
Bai Jingyan bent forward, hands braced on her knees, gulping down ragged breaths. The muscles of both arms ached deep and trembled uncontrollably.
Beads of dew-like sweat rolled down her jaw and dripped to the earth; her collar was soaked through. Her lungs burned as though they would tear apart.
Her body was frail now, without the strength of old — but her muscles still remembered the form of the draw. She had resolved to start over from the beginning, yet she was hardly a true novice, and the sandbags she had worn faithfully these past months had begun to restore her strength.
After a brief rest with her hands on her knees, Bai Jingyan straightened her back once more. She drew another arrow from the bamboo quiver and continued her practice.
In her past life, Bai Jingyan had trained day and night to rebuild her martial arts. That time had been a hundred times more agonizing than this. The suffering before her eyes now was nothing. She was still laughably far from where she needed to be — but she knew, with utter certainty, that with every practice session she would keep getting better.
She steadied her breath again, lifted the arrow, and drew.
Xiao Ruohai stood off to one side, watching her unyielding back, and remembered the girl practicing her archery so many years ago. The Grand Eldest Lady had never surrendered easily to anything, even as a child. She either never began at all — or, once begun, would not rest until she had reached the very summit. However grueling the road, she never once despaired.
Back then, everyone had said that Little Bai Xiu had extraordinary talent and rare martial gift. No one knew how much patience and pain Bai Jingyan had endured to reach that level of skill.
It was a beginning once more. As ever, Bai Jingyan armed herself with patience, perseverance, and quiet ferocity. The only thing that had changed was that she no longer rushed, as she once had — she built herself up steadily, surely, one skill at a time.
In mere days, Bai Jingyan — who had been unable to draw even an ordinary bow — could now pull the Sun-Shooting Bow partway back. It was a leap of progress, as if she had covered a thousand li in a single day.
Yet Bai Jingyan was not satisfied. Even soaked in sweat, even trembling head to toe, she would rest only a moment before beginning again. Every day the same drills; every day the same repetitions.
Just before dawn, her clothes drenched and her face flushed crimson, Bai Jingyan told Xiao Ruohai to pack away the bow.
"Ruohai, forgive the bother — increase the weight of the sandbags. From now on, I'll add weight once every two days."
To shoot the target perfectly, she must not burn through her strength in impatient bursts. She had to add a little each day without exhausting herself — otherwise, as in her past life, her body would collapse under the strain of overwork.
Bai Jingyan washed and changed her clothes. As she strapped the fresh sandbags to her arms, she looked out the window and saw under the eaves that Zhao Ran — whom Xiao Ruohai had sent to bring back Jinchì — was saying something to him. There were wounds on his face.
When Bai Jingyan opened the door and stepped out, Xiao Ruohai waved Zhao Ran away.
Bai Jingyan called him back.
"Zhao Ran, come here. Where is Fourth Young Master?"
Zhao Ran hurried to her and bowed, his face writ with guilt.
"Your servant was incompetent and failed to bring the Fourth Young Master back. Punish me as you see fit."
"Young master — it seems the Fourth Young Master has misunderstood. He appears to have fought with Zhao Ran, believing Zhao Ran meant to seize him and carry him off to the capital. In the meantime, the Fourth Young Master crossed paths with the Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan and called on him for help. Teacher Xiao's men came to his aid and drove off the men we sent. And when the Fourth Young Master said he did not know who Zhao Ran and his men were, this Teacher Xiao refused to hand him over."
Xiao Rongyan?
Xiao Rongyan had said he would leave the capital at mid-month and return to his homeland. So he had crossed paths with Jinchì, of all people.
"Go and see to those wounds first."
Bai Jingyan said to Zhao Ran.
"Yes. Your servant withdraws."