An Opportunity
All Bai Jingyan could do was pray with all her heart — to her grandfather in the heavens, to her father and uncles, and to her fallen brothers — that they would help Shen Qingzhu and the Haoying Battalion rescue their ninth brother.
Li Zhijie respectfully escorted the Crown Prince of Jin all the way to his carriage, then turned his head and spoke to Bai Jingyan with a smile.
"General Bai, you're as formidable with words as you are on the battlefield!"
"War and verbal sparring alike are all in service of one's country, are they not?"
Having answered, Bai Jingyan offered a cupped-fist salute to Li Zhijie, then mounted her horse.
Li Zhijie returned the salute with both hands and gave her a light nod, every inch the elegant, free-spirited young nobleman.
"Now that the treaty has been signed, this prince and Princess Pyeongyang will travel to Dadu with His Highness the Crown Prince and General Bai. We'll be counting on you for the whole of the journey."
"It would be my honor."
Only after the Jin peace delegation had departed did Li Zhijie finally allow his fatigue to show.
The smile slid from his face, and his peach-blossom eyes narrowed to slits. During the talks in the command tent earlier, Bai Jingyan had said little — but at every crucial moment she had thrown in a word or two that bolstered Jin's momentum, which was exactly why the Jin envoys and Liu Yushi had been able to press their demands even harder.
Liu Chentuo had been right. Bai Jingyan was someone who could never be allowed to live.
A pity. To have to kill such a dazzling, proud beauty. If it weren't for Xiliang's sake, I would never have let a woman like that come to harm.
"Let's go!"
Li Zhijie turned toward where his carriage waited, then spoke to Liu Chentuo in a low voice.
"Later, we'll have to accompany the Jin Crown Prince into Jin. Keep that boy of the Bai family well hidden — and find out which son of the Bai clan he is! Only then can I dangle the bait before General Bai, let her take it, and destroy her."
Liu Chentuo, walking behind him, stiffened.
"Your Highness, about that maidservant today — something was off. When I counted heads just now, the maid called Cheonju was gone! Your Highness, let us hurry back to Chuishanguan first. Jin may already be moving!"
"The treaty is already signed — how much more could Jin possibly want? What would they move for? That maid Cheonju is likely a Jin spy who took this chance to flee back to her own country! Look into her background thoroughly later. Who she met with, what she did!"
With that, Li Zhijie returned to his carriage.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Liu Chentuo bowed at the waist in answer.
After Li Zhijie's carriage had departed, Liu Chentuo took the reins from a servant's hands. Before he could mount his horse, a palace maid attending Princess Li Tianfu hurried over and greeted him.
"Lord Liu, Her Highness the Princess requests that you serve her tea."
Liu Chentuo's hands tightened around the reins. After a moment's silence, he passed them back to the servant.
"Very well."
Inside the luxurious perfumed carriage of the Xiliang Princess, Li Tianfu leaned against a cushion and watched Liu Chentuo pour her tea with a smiling face.
"Before we even reach Dadu, word of how petulant, willful, ignorant, and dull I am will have spread all through the capital. Not a single noble of the Jin imperial house will want to take me for his own! And then I'll simply return to Yunjing with you, and I'll beg my sister to have me invested as Your Highness's consort! And when that day comes — come to my side. Let us be an immortal couple, you and I!"
Beneath Li Tianfu's coquettish words lay a note of smug self-satisfaction. Perhaps because she was painting a future with Liu Chentuo, her eyes shone bright and clear, brimming with expectation for what was to come.
The glass palace lanterns hanging in the four corners of the carriage swayed as it began to move. Liu Chentuo said nothing, his posture graceful and practiced as he prepared her tea.
There was one thing he could not tell her. In planning to kill Bai Jingyan, he had never intended to come back alive.
Li Tianfu flung a pillow at him in displeasure.
"I'm talking to you right now!"
Fortunately, Liu Chentuo caught the pillow with quick reflexes — otherwise the hot water would have gone spilling everywhere.
Her gaze fell on his shoulder. In an instant, she winced, and her heart ached.
"Does it still hurt?"
Setting the pillow aside, Liu Chentuo shook his head and smiled gently, then respectfully offered her the freshly brewed tea.
"Your tea is ready, Your Highness. If you have no further need of me, this humble servant will withdraw."
"Sit!"
The rims of Li Tianfu's eyes reddened again. She bit down hard on her lower lip before speaking.
"Do you hate me that much? Are you telling me you can't bear to stay with me even a moment?"
Liu Chentuo settled onto a chair and looked at her with deep, wistful eyes. His heart ached so that all he could do was sigh; he answered with his head bowed.
"Your Highness, if you are tired, please rest a while. I will wake you when we arrive."
Swallowing her anger, Li Tianfu turned her back to him and lay down, pulling a white blanket haphazardly over herself. She was so aggrieved that tears streamed down her face, but she bit her lip hard, refusing to let a single sob escape.
Bai Jingyan rode first to the encampment where the five thousand elite soldiers of Jin's great army were stationed and made her rounds. She confirmed that Shen Liangyu of the Haoying Battalion had not returned, and that Bai Jinchi was not here either — most likely she had gone along as soon as she heard the news that their ninth brother was alive.
After a brief moment's thought, Bai Jingyan turned her horse toward where the Crown Prince's carriage had halted.
Inside the carriage, the Crown Prince sat with his eyes closed, turning over and over in his mind what Bai Jingyan had said to the Prince of Yan of Xiliang — that the great ministers of Jin devoted themselves to loyalty, and that the Emperor and Crown Prince never doubted their ministers. He was in high spirits. Bai Jingyan seemed to genuinely believe he harbored not a shred of suspicion toward her. That was why she had spoken of ministers who were loyal and sovereigns who did not doubt.
So in the end, I've brought Bai Jingyan to heel!
Zhan Yu, standing outside the carriage, caught sight of Bai Jingyan returning from the front of the column, and his eyes lit up.
"General Bai!"
Zhan Yu had attended the Crown Prince throughout, and so he had witnessed everything of how commanding Bai Jingyan had been inside the command tent. Her declaration that Xiliang would not dare so much as graze Jin's borders for at least a decade — that the mere mention of Great Jin would set them trembling — made Zhan Yu's blood burn hot. He even felt the impulse to take up a sword himself and drive back the foreign invaders at her side. She had truly given Great Jin back its spirit.
Bai Jingyan gave Zhan Yu a cupped-fist salute, then spoke as she moved ahead alongside the carriage.
"Pass word to the Crown Prince that Bai Jingyan wishes to request an audience."
Before Zhan Yu could even deliver the message, the Crown Prince threw back the carriage's screen and spoke, his face glowing.
"General Bai, you have something to say? Come inside the carriage first. Zhan Yu, pour the General a cup of tea."
Having answered, Bai Jingyan dismounted and climbed into the Crown Prince's luxurious carriage. Then she bowed her head, sank to her knees, and raised the military tally in her hand high above her head.
"Now that the treaty with Xiliang has been concluded, I too can finally set my mind at ease. I return the military tally to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
The Crown Prince froze. He and Advisor Fang had both feared that Bai Jingyan might refuse to hand back the tally, and the Crown Prince had bitterly regretted how easily he had surrendered it to her in the first place. Once the treaty was signed, the two of them had resolved they would have to scheme some way of getting her to give it up. And now Bai Jingyan had returned it of her own accord — which only made him feel like a petty, small-minded wretch.
The Crown Prince clenched his fist and spoke.
"Did I not tell you? That I trust General Bai as I trust myself. You may keep the tally. Why return it in such a hurry?"
"I should have returned the tally the moment the great enterprise was settled and Xiliang requested talks — but the treaty had not yet been concluded at that point, and I feared that returning it might prove to be some trick, a ploy to buy Xiliang time to catch its breath! Now that the treaty is signed today, of course the tally must be returned."
Looking at Bai Jingyan, the Crown Prince felt his heart settle. He nodded and accepted the tally.
"Zhan Yu, help the General to her feet!"
"General Bai, please, rise quickly!"
Zhan Yu raised his hands into the empty air, gesturing for Bai Jingyan to sit, then knelt on one knee and brewed tea for her himself.
"There's no need for the tea, Zhan Yu. The reason I asked to see His Highness, beyond returning the tally, concerns two further matters. The second matter concerns only what remains — and it involves the Bai Family Army..."
At the mention of the Bai Family Army, the Crown Prince shifted his seated posture and rubbed his fingers together lightly, taking on the air of an attentive listener.
After his discussions with Advisor Fang, the Crown Prince had concluded that the Bai Family Army should be sent to the lands Xiliang was ceding. Naturally, the farther they were from Xiliang — and the farther from Bai Jingyan and the Bai family — the better. Only then would Bai Jingyan not lean on her family army and would devote herself wholly to following him.
"What would you say to sending the Bai Family Army to hold Donggu Mountain?"
The Crown Prince, who had been racking his brain over how to persuade Bai Jingyan to send her army to Donggu Mountain, started in surprise at her words.
"With the talks concluded, all the land north of Donggu Mountain is now Jin's territory. Only if the Bai Family Army guards Donggu Mountain can we keep Xiliang cowed."
Bai Jingyan continued slowly. Every word was spoken purely for Jin's sake — for the Crown Prince's sake.
"Generals Wei Zhaonian, Gu Wenchang, Shen Kunyang, and Cheng Yuanzhi each have their own strengths. Generals Wei Zhaonian and Gu Wenchang are commanders of exceptional talent for training soldiers. Please send General Wei Zhaonian to Bailong City, and General Gu Wenchang to Zhongshan City. If Jin rests for a few years, those two generals will have raised brave, formidable soldiers for Jin and for Your Highness!
Once the two generals are posted to Bailong City and Zhongshan City, Your Highness may then send your own direct commanders to garrison the two cities alongside them. In time, those elite troops will all be at Your Highness's own command. And when the hour is ripe and Your Highness desires all under heaven — at a single word from you, those soldiers will march out ready to lay down their lives!"
At Bai Jingyan's words, the Crown Prince's heart began to pound fiercely.
Candlelight flickered inside the carriage. Gazing at Bai Jingyan — the Bai Family Army commander with her solemn, composed expression — the Crown Prince felt something he could not put into words.
All this time, while he had been wary of her and wary again, Bai Jingyan had been thinking only of him — even scheming to raise soldiers on his behalf.
Reading his expression, she continued in a calm, low voice.
"Generals Shen Kunyang and Cheng Yuanzhi will lead the Bai Family Army to hold Donggu Mountain together. That way, we can guard against any renewed attack from Xiliang. With the two generals most versed in war holding the line, Donggu Mountain will surely be safe!
If Your Highness consents, I will send word to Fengcheng at once, ordering Generals Shen Kunyang, Cheng Yuanzhi, Wei Zhaonian, and Gu Wenchang to come here. The timing will allow us to keep the pressure on Xiliang, and to replace the Xiliang troops still garrisoned there with the Bai Family Army as quickly as possible. Only once the cities Xiliang is ceding are firmly in our hands will my own mind be at ease."
Bai Jingyan intended to have Shen Kunyang and Cheng Yuanzhi lead the Bai Family Army far away to Donggu Mountain — remote even from the Emperor — while dispatching Wei Zhaonian and Gu Wenchang separately to Zhongshan City and Bailong City. There was a reason for it. On the surface it would look as though the Bai family's generals had been scattered apart, but in truth she meant to turn these three connected regions into places where the Bai Family Army could train and rest.