Don't Push Yourself Too Hard
The great army set out at the tail end of the hour of the Mao, just past six in the morning.
Bai Jingyan finished her daily training, left the practice grounds, bathed, and changed her clothes. By the time the Mao hour arrived, she had gone to see the Crown Prince to speak of the matter concerning Bai Jinchi.
"Jinchi is still young and headstrong, so she lied and said she had no idea where her own guard had gone, fearing I might send her straight back to the capital. Master Xiao, it seems, could not in good conscience hand her over without certainty. So, though it is a bother, I came to ask whether you might send one of your eunuchs to Master Xiao with orders to release Jinchi to us."
As she spoke, Bai Jingyan gave a light, respectful nod toward the direction where Zhan Yu stood. Most people of noble blood looked down on eunuchs as a matter of course; Bai Jingyan showed not the slightest trace of such contempt.
Zhan Yu, startled inwardly, hurriedly returned her greeting.
Cross-dressed in male attire, Bai Jingyan was somewhat thin, but her height lent her the handsome, spirited bearing of a fine young man. Her speech carried none of a woman's softness — indeed, one might have wondered whether she was man or woman at all. And yet in appearance she looked more like a youth more delicately beautiful than any maiden.
"Right. Rongyan said he had business in Pingyang City before returning home. He's headed the same way as us, then."
The Crown Prince suddenly turned his head with a smile and looked at Zhan Yu.
"Go to the inn and bring the Fourth Miss back, and ask Rongyan while you're at it whether he'll travel with the Commandery Princess. Hurry back so we don't hold up the departure."
Bai Jingyan kept her head bowed and said nothing. If the Crown Prince was this delighted to learn that Xiao Rongyan was traveling in the same direction, he must have been dreadfully bored inside his carriage.
"Your Highness, I shall return at once! Young Master Bai, don't worry — I'll be back before you know it!"
Having received his orders, Zhan Yu bowed to the Crown Prince and to Bai Jingyan, then hurried out.
Bai Jingyan had sent people twice without success, yet a servant of the Crown Prince managed to bring Xiao Rongyan's party and Bai Jinchi back in less than half a shichen, well before the army departed.
Standing behind the Crown Prince, Bai Jingyan watched as Xiao Rongyan, dressed in traveling clothes, rode toward them with the morning sun at his back. Behind him followed roughly twenty armed guards — an imposing, dignified procession.
A refined, gentle man stepped down from his carriage with unhurried composure, and the rising red sun behind him caught his figure so that brilliant light seemed to gleam off his very person. From a distance he bowed in greeting to the Crown Prince, a smile resting at the corner of his mouth. Every movement he made was steeped in deep learning and graceful bearing.
Bai Jinchi, standing cross-dressed at Xiao Rongyan's side, greeted the Crown Prince after him, then raced over to Bai Jingyan at a dead run. Up close, she shuffled about, glancing at her elder sister, then edged cautiously to Bai Jingyan's side. She lowered her head and did nothing but twist the hem of her garment in her fingers.
"Rongyan, don't ride — come ride in my carriage with me. I was just in need of company on the road!"
The Crown Prince called Xiao Rongyan over with a beaming face.
Handing his reins to one of his guards, Xiao Rongyan approached the Crown Prince and bowed once more at the waist, warmth and refinement radiating from him.
Then, laughter in his eyes, he gazed at Bai Jingyan with those deep, dark eyes. That calm gaze was unfathomable — a depth one could not measure, and yet that seemed somehow to see and know everything.
Seeing Bai Jingyan in men's clothing, Xiao Rongyan thought of a young nobleman of the Bai family, blessed with that house's remarkable looks. And then he remembered her at the Shu imperial palace — the way she had ridden hard, bow in hand, brimming with fierce vitality.
He bowed to her.
"Young Master Bai."
Bai Jingyan returned the greeting with brisk ease.
"Master Xiao, thank you for looking after my younger sister."
Xiao Rongyan glanced down at the shoes Bai Jingyan was wearing, then asked in a low, weighty voice, "Young Master Bai, will you not ride in the carriage?"
"I've heard that walking is good for the health. I'm giving it a try."
Bai Jingyan replied calmly.
"Let's go! It's time to depart!"
After speaking to Xiao Rongyan, the Crown Prince looked at Bai Jingyan. "Young Master Bai, if you get tired, ride in the carriage. Forced marches move too fast — you mustn't overdo it."
Bai Jingyan bowed to the Crown Prince.
"I will keep it in mind."
The Crown Prince boarded his carriage with Xiao Rongyan. The accompanying general guided Xiao Rongyan's guards so they could follow from behind, and the column set off.
"Fourth Miss, please board the carriage."
Xiao Ruohai said to Bai Jinchi.
Bai Jinchi tossed her silver hand-span bow, her whip, and her belongings into the carriage, then hurried over to Bai Jingyan at a quick trot.
"I'm walking with you, Eldest Sister."
At the sound of the horn, the column set out once more. Bai Jinchi, looking uneasy, spoke up at Bai Jingyan's side.
"Sister. Don't be angry. I only did it because I was afraid you'd tell Xiao Ruohai to send me back to the capital. The reason Grandfather never sent me to the battlefield before was that I couldn't keep my head — but things are different now. I couldn't just stand by and watch you take risks alone in the Southern Border. And I couldn't bear to live comfortably by myself in the capital either."
Bai Jingyan said nothing, only looked ahead and kept walking, and Bai Jinchi's eyes grew red-rimmed.
"I have my martial training, so it's not that I'm looking to make a name for myself in the Southern Border. I just want to protect you with this body of mine, by your side. You're the pillar of our family, and I'm the most useless one in the Bai household — so if danger ever does come, I'll give my life for you."
Hearing Bai Jinchi speak with a tremor in her voice, Bai Jingyan felt something well up inside her chest.
"So Jinchi is all grown up now — living under someone else's roof, and hard to bring home again! The moment she leaves the house, she does as she pleases."
Bai Jingyan said quietly.
"Stoic on the outside, hiding depths underneath... I remember every word you ever said, Sister!"
As she spoke, Bai Jinchi stole a glance at the Crown Prince's carriage, then dropped her voice even lower.
"I'm not being stubborn. It's just that that Master Xiao seems a little off to me. I was only trying to find out what exactly he's up to."
At this abrupt remark, Bai Jingyan flinched.
In the carriage riding alongside the Crown Prince, Xiao Rongyan's eyes narrowed. He tilted his head slightly, lifted the swaying curtain a little, and looked out at Bai Jinchi, who was murmuring close by Bai Jingyan's side. Then, without quite meaning to, his gaze drifted to the tall, striking figure of Bai Jingyan herself.
Bai Jingyan felt someone's eyes upon her and raised her head — and her gaze met Xiao Rongyan's. The moment she saw him studying her in silence, her heart dropped like a stone. Convinced he must have overheard Jinchi's words, she hastily shielded her sister behind her.
Bai Jingyan knew all too well just how formidable Xiao Rongyan was. This was a man who could turn even a single peanut into a weapon and put someone out of commission. It was no surprise that a martial artist's hearing was sharp. And yet — Jinchi had been speaking so quietly, and the air had been thick with the rumble of wheels and the din of marching men, and still he had heard her. Just how profound was his martial arts?
Watching Bai Jingyan's every movement, Xiao Rongyan slowly let the curtain fall. Then, wearing a gentle smile, he spoke to the Crown Prince.
"As I understand it, Young Miss Bai's health is rather frail. If she keeps walking like this, won't she wear herself down?"
The Crown Prince shook his head and leaned back against the plush cushions.
"She walked the whole day yesterday, too. She must have been through military marches before — she holds up remarkably well."
Seeing her elder sister striding ahead at a brisk pace, Bai Jinchi took it as a sign that she hadn't been believed, and hurried to catch up, pressing on.
"It's true, Sister! Every single person around that Master Xiao has extraordinary martial skills — and not one of them is ever seen visiting brothels or lazing about. Their speech and conduct are impeccable, and their self-discipline is on another level entirely! That's not something any ordinary merchant could pull off. If you ask me, they look like soldiers who've been drilled properly."
Bai Jingyan could not reveal Xiao Rongyan's identity to Jinchi. She could not allow Jinchi to learn who he was — nor could she let Xiao Rongyan come to believe that Jinchi might expose that secret. So she made no move to stop her sister from talking.
"And last night I tried to see what sort of goods they were sending to Pingyang City, but there were elite guards with serious martial skills watching over it. They said it was ordinary incense — but incense comes from plants, and so do most medicines. With that many different scents mixed together, who could possibly tell them apart? Besides, if it were just herbs, the carriage wheels would never sink that deep. Those expensive goods are medicine and weapons, I'd stake my life on it. Sister... could Xiao Rongyan be a spy for Xiliang or Nanyan?"
"Thinking of even that much — very well done."
Bai Jingyan was deeply pleased that her usually scatterbrained Jinchi had shown such careful powers of observation.
"But if you look at it through a merchant's eyes, it all reads differently. The Southern Border battlefield is currently bounded by Tianmenguan and Fengcheng — the Fengcheng, Black Bear Mountain, and Luofeng Gorge region, in the east. Pingyang City in the west is relatively stable, but herbs and defensive weaponry there command outrageous prices. If Xiao Rongyan is transporting medicine and arms, the profits would be considerable. So there's nothing strange about it at all, is there?"
"Then why carry them in secret? Couldn't he just bring them out in the open?"
Bai Jinchi didn't understand.
"Merchants have their own code. Outsiders from a different trade aren't meant to know. If you want to find out, ask Master Xiao yourself."
Seeing that her elder sister didn't seem to suspect Xiao Rongyan, Bai Jinchi spoke again.
"Honestly, I know that too. Master Xiao came forward to help the Bai family when we were in dire straits. Even for the sake of that kindness, I ought to give him a chance to explain himself. That's why I wanted to look into things more carefully first. I planned to tell you before I ever questioned Master Xiao. I know how to keep faith... I do."
Bai Jingyan nodded with a smile.
"Our Jinchi has really grown up."
"Sister, so you're not going to punish me anymore, right? You're not sending me back to the capital?"
Bai Jinchi beamed and drew close to ask.
"Stay glued to my side until we return. Don't fall even one step behind. If you do, I'll have Xiao Ruohai tie you up and send you straight to Third Aunt."
At her elder sister's words, Bai Jinchi was overjoyed beyond containment. She nodded again and again, then walked obediently at Bai Jingyan's side.
But the longer she walked, the more Bai Jinchi's heart ached.
Even with her clothes soaked through, Eldest Sister stubbornly refused to stop walking. And she would not slow her pace by a single step, for fear the column might fall behind.
By the time darkness fell and they reached Baiyu City, the sandbags strapped beneath Eldest Sister's clothes were saturated through and through.
While Bai Jingyan bathed, Bai Jinchi left the room without a word and asked Xiao Ruohai, "All this time, has Eldest Sister been walking all day, every day, wearing weights that heavy?"
"She has already adapted considerably today, so she intends to increase the weight tomorrow. She is training so that she can draw the Sun-Shooting Bow before we reach the Southern Border. Time is short — that is why she is resorting to such methods."