Hold Your Tongue
Then again, Li Zhijie was undeniably handsome, steeped in charm, and bold in bearing — so who could say what might happen if Bai Jingyan ever took a liking to him?
The Crown Prince was anxious, but he let none of it show on his face. Smiling, he raised his cup and enjoyed the song and dance, for all the world like a man whose gaze had been captured by the dancers' soft, graceful forms.
The maidservant kneeling beside Bai Jingyan bowed her head, lifted the wine flask, and made as if to pour her a drink.
"General, allow this servant to pour you some wine."
Shen Qingzhu's voice reached Bai Jingyan's ear in an instant, even as her eyes rested on the dancers. But she showed no surprise and answered calmly.
"Bring me tea instead. I don't drink."
"Yes, General."
The maidservant withdrew, returned with warm tea, set it on Bai Jingyan's table, and then stood carefully to one side with her back bowed once more.
Bai Jingyan lifted the cup and raised the lid, blowing gently on the steam. On the underside of the lid, Shen Qingzhu had drawn a large circle with the number nine inside it.
Her ninth brother had been captured...
Bai Jingyan's heart began to pound. The sudden news had startled her so badly that her whole body felt like it might freeze.
The Emperor of Xiliang had been assassinated, and the Empress had hurriedly ascended the throne. Could the ninth brother have been behind it?
Sneaking into the Xiliang palace to carry out an assassination was more than within his character — it was exactly the kind of thing the ninth brother would do. But then, what was his situation now? Had he been tortured?
It's all right. Even if he's imprisoned, even if he's tortured, it's all right. He only has to stay alive — please, just stay alive.
As long as he lived, there would surely be a way to save him.
Bai Jingyan took an unhurried sip of tea, forcing down the panic that threatened to seize her chest.
What she had to do now was watch — to see whether Li Zhijie would offer up the ninth brother as a condition of the negotiations.
If Li Zhijie made the ninth brother a bargaining chip and raised the matter openly, the Great Jin envoys and the Crown Prince would do everything in their power to save him. The imperial family prized face above all else — they would never allow themselves to be seen in a light unflattering to their ministers and their people. The throne would never willingly show the world that it had refused to bring home a general captured by an enemy state for the sake of Great Jin.
Besides, every man of the Zhenguo Duke Estate had died on the battlefield fighting for the common people. If the ninth brother were truly in captivity, then publicly speaking, he was the last remaining son of the Bai family.
But what if the Jin army's leadership distrusted the court and knew that there were men who did not wish to see the Bai family's son live? Then they would surely seek to strike some private bargain with the Crown Prince, using the ninth brother as leverage. In that case, the chances of his surviving would be slim indeed.
If it came to that, then the negotiations with Xiliang could go hang — she would have to rescue him herself, whatever the cost.
Holding her teacup, Bai Jingyan narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched the dancers twirling lightly before her. What exactly did Xiliang intend to do with the ninth brother? She had to find out.
"Her Highness, Princess Pyeongyang, has arrived!"
A eunuch's reedy voice sounded from outside the tent. The dancers froze mid-step all at once and bowed low, retreating to either side.
Li Zhijie hurriedly set down his cup and, without meaning to, glanced once at Bai Jingyan. She sat with her back perfectly straight, drinking tea instead of wine. Every one of her movements was composed and elegant, her whole bearing cool enough to radiate frost — like a shard of pristine ice untouched by a single speck of worldly dust.
It was no exaggeration to call Bai Jingyan's face breathtakingly beautiful. It was exquisite to the point of splendor, refined to the point of perfection. Li Tianfu could not match Bai Jingyan's features — though in sheer allure, Bai Jingyan could not match her.
Li Tianfu had been born with an enthralling charm, an unconscious gift for teasing at a man's heart until it itched.
Li Zhijie was a man of refined appetites who enjoyed the company of many kinds of beauties, but he was no lecher chasing after every pretty face. His was simply the fondness of a cousin for a younger kinswoman — nothing untoward in it.
He rose and turned toward the tent entrance with a smile. A palace maid bearing a bronze brazier pierced in the shape of an auspicious beast lifted the tent flap. Out of the fragrant mist stepped Li Tianfu, her face half veiled by a golden gauze. Her thick, dense lashes were like fans, and her smoldering eyes were deeply, dangerously seductive.
Was it simply a woman's nature? Li Tianfu's gaze drifted, without her quite willing it, to Bai Jingyan — seated beneath the crane-marked glazed lantern, below the Crown Prince's seat.
Warm, mellow lamplight poured over the exquisite contours of the woman's soul-stealing face. Her long hair was swept up high behind her head; she wore no makeup and not a single jewel, and yet she blazed with a brilliance that seemed almost too opulent, too noble to look upon.
It was a gentle beauty, laced with the air of a scholar amid all its splendor. Her deep, dark eyes were as clear as stars in a night sky untouched by dust, grave yet exuding a chill that could not be met directly — and about her whole person hung an unapproachable, proud distance.
Armored and seated in this very tent — so that must be Xiao Baixiu, Bai Jingyan, the one who made General Yun suffer his crushing defeat.
Li Tianfu had always taken pride in her own beauty. She had vaguely imagined Bai Jingyan as some coarse, rough-handed woman of the battlefield — and here, instead, was Xiao Baixiu in the flesh: a peerless beauty.
A sour feeling crept over Li Tianfu, and she slowly untied her crimson cape. It was the attire commonly worn in Great Jin — purple silk trimmed in gold blossoms, an asymmetric collar bound with a long waistband of braided red thread, her face lightly veiled by gauze matched to her complexion.
Her long black hair was swept back and pinned up, jeweled hairpins glittering throughout — dazzling turquoise ornaments. A golden pearl bracelet gleamed on her slender wrist, and with every step, jade pendants and little bells at her waist chimed with a clear, crystalline sound. Before anyone had even laid eyes on her, the ringing of her bells had announced her arrival.
"Your Highness, Princess!"
Li Zhijie greeted Li Tianfu with a smiling bow, then introduced her to the Crown Prince.
"This is the full younger sister of our sovereign, Her Highness Princess Pyeongyang."
"Your Highness, Crown Prince."
Li Tianfu dipped into a slight curtsy, lowering her eyes as she greeted him. Her voice was soft as birdsong — a voice that tickled and melted a man to the bone.
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes slightly and inclined his head with a smile toward Li Tianfu, standing at the center of the tent.
"Your Highness, there is no need for ceremony. Please, be seated."
Seated below the Crown Prince, Bai Jingyan lifted her head and looked at Li Tianfu.
With every step Princess Pyeongyang took, a subtle fragrance drifted from her person. Bai Jingyan could feel that sweet scent stealing into her nose.
Once seated, Li Tianfu removed her veil, revealing a face of rich, elaborate beauty. Then she looked at Bai Jingyan with lovely eyes in which her characteristic arrogance gleamed openly.
"So you are the executioner whose name resounds through the Ten Kingdoms... Bai Jingyan?"
At the mention of her own name, Bai Jingyan looked at Li Tianfu, dipped her head lightly, and offered her respects.
"Your Highness, how could one such as I possibly—"
Barely had the words left her mouth before Li Tianfu curled her lips into a sneer, continuing in a tone thick with mockery.
"So young, and yet you feel no fear that Heaven itself might hurl down punishment? You dared to style yourself a 'god.' Shameless."
Bai Jingyan raised her head. If the Xiliang princess wanted to pick a fight, so much the better — it was an opening. She needed to learn how Xiliang meant to play the card of her ninth brother. Bai Jingyan felt no anger at all.
But Zhang Danyue's face hardened, and he clasped his fists in salute.
"Princess of Xiliang — hold your tongue!"
Li Tianfu, pampered and cherished from birth, seemed not to know the meaning of discretion. Convinced that peace had only been reached because Bai Jingyan had emerged victorious, she hated her with a hatred that sank into her very bones.
The Crown Prince lowered his head to hide the glint of amusement in his eyes. This — precisely this — was what he and Advisor Fang had hoped for when they had first laid out their scheme.
Li Tianfu tilted up the corner of her mouth into a smile that could pluck a man's soul right out of him.
"You burned to death more than a hundred thousand of our Xiliang soldiers who had already surrendered. Was that all just to earn yourself the name of executioner? And yet the Bai family is renowned throughout the Ten Kingdoms as a house of loyalty and righteousness. For the sake of nothing but fame, you slaughtered surrendered troops and dragged the Bai name into the gutter overnight. If your late grandfather learned of it, do you think he could even close his coffin lid in peace?"
Bai Jingyan's face went rigid.
"Your Highness!"
Li Zhijie called out to Li Tianfu, his face dark. Rising hurriedly, he bowed in apology to Bai Jingyan.
"General Bai, I beg you not to take offense. The Princess was the sole darling of the late Emperor from her earliest years — there is no word she does not dare to say. I ask that you forgive her magnanimously, General Bai, and I pray you will not blame Her Highness."
"Even if General Bai were willing to let it pass, I don't believe I am."
The Crown Prince's face darkened. He fixed Li Tianfu — displaying her beautiful, bewitching figure for all to see — with furious eyes. Whatever else she was, he was not looking at a beauty now.
Li Tianfu flinched, her lovely eyes going wide as she stared at the Crown Prince of Jin. He — shielding Bai Jingyan to this extent!
She bit her lower lip, tears welling in her eyes, and looked at Bai Jingyan with evident reluctance.
"Surely even the Crown Prince of Jin would not make himself the slave beneath this executioner's skirt—"
"Your Highness!"
Li Zhijie's cry cut through the air as he lunged to silence the words junxia zhi chen — a man conquered at a woman's feet — before they could leave Li Tianfu's lips.
"Your Highness, you drank in your carriage just now. Are you drunk?"
If she attacked the Crown Prince of Jin as well, these negotiations were certain to collapse outright. Let Li Tianfu keep talking, and the talks between the two nations would inevitably come to ruin.
The Empress had only recently ascended the throne, and the Xiliang court remained unsettled. If her reckless, unbridled words plunged the realm back into war, the powerful lords of Xiliang who harbored other ambitions would seize this very opening and do everything in their power to drag her down.
"Xiliang allied itself with Southern Yan, massed an army of a million, and invaded our Great Jin. And now, having been defeated, you have the audacity to criticize us for killing surrendered troops? Xiliang truly has shame to spare!"
A cold glint of mockery surfaced in Bai Jingyan's eyes, and she continued in the same calm, level tone.
To face Jin's five hundred thousand troops, Xiliang dispatched more than a hundred thousand soldiers to Mount Ong. If we do not kill the Xiliang soldiers, shall we simply wait for them to kill ours? Or does the Xiliang princess mean to say... that when Her Highness points to a nation, that nation must meekly offer up its own throat? That anything less offends the Will of Heaven, and constitutes a betrayal of loyalty and righteousness? Xiliang has yet to wake from its deluded dream. You still fancy yourselves the kings of all under heaven. Who on earth granted Xiliang such absurd courage? Was it you, Your Highness?"
"Why, you—!"
Li Tianfu shot to her feet, seething with fury, breathing hard.
"How dare you be so insolent!"
"It seems to me the insolence is yours, Your Highness!"
Bai Jingyan's eyes were deep and still — still as dark water.
"You are the princess of a nation that was utterly defeated, come here to sue for peace. When Great Jin deigns to preserve your dignity, you are a princess; when it does not, you are nothing at all! If you come bowing low to beg for terms, then show the humility that begets them. Strutting before your betters — what good does posturing do? The weak have no such privilege, Your Highness! Has no one taught you so simple a principle?"
Li Tianfu's blood boiled. Wild-eyed, she glanced around as if she might draw her sword that very instant and cut Bai Jingyan down — but Li Zhijie seized her wrist and stopped her.