Thank You, General Bai
"What do the others think?"
"Since we still can't discern Xiliang's intentions, that seems like a sound approach as well. But we really ought to bring back the bodies of our Haoying Battalion soldiers."
Zhang Danyue was a soldier through and through. The men of the Haoying Battalion had bled and fought alongside him as brothers on the battlefield — how could he possibly leave their corpses where they fell and not be consumed by the thought of them? If news of that reached home, the hearts of every soldier in Jin would grow cold!
Advisor Fang looked down at Zhang Danyue and posed his question in a ringing voice.
"Are a few corpses truly more important than the reputation of our great Jin?"
At his words, every general in the command tent turned to look at him sidelong, their eyes brimming with disgust.
"You're a civil official — what would a pedantic scholar know of such things?"
Shen Liangyu shot to his feet, seething, and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Those men are heroes of the nation! They gave their lives for their country! Are you saying their lives are worth no more than weeds? That the bodies of those soldiers are worthless? Every one of them was a beloved son raised by parents who treasured him!"
"Quite right! I fully concede they are precious souls raised by their parents! But for the honor of Great Jin, I would gladly crush this old body to dust and scatter it — and I will do so without fail. Surely no soldier understands duty less than this old man! Born a citizen of Jin, one must live for Jin's sake — of course! What are a few bodies, after all!"
Advisor Fang declared this from the moral high ground, his manner lofty and self-assured.
Yan Zeping's eyes went round with fury.
"What a load of ox dung!"
"What did you say! Kill me if you must, but I will not stand for insult! How dare a brute with nothing but muscle insult me! Your Highness the Crown Prince — are you truly going to sit there and watch this?"
Advisor Fang was so enraged he was nearly fainting, his face flushed crimson.
"Enough! Let me think on it a while longer."
The Crown Prince had just been roused from sleep and his head was none too clear to begin with; when Yan Zeping began bellowing in his rough, gravelly voice, a pounding headache came rushing in.
"General Bai, I hear you were wounded? Go tend to your injuries at once and get some rest!"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Bai Jingyan bowed with full courtesy and withdrew from the Crown Prince's tent.
Inside the wounded soldiers' camp, Bai Jingyan confirmed that the Haoying Battalion men who had been injured while rescuing people alongside her were all out of danger. Then she stood for a long while beside the cot where Xiao Ruogang lay sleeping after taking his medicine. Clenching her fist, she turned her head and gave her orders to the army physician.
"See that he is well attended."
The army physician looked at the wound showing through the gap in Bai Jingyan's armor and spoke up.
"General, you must have that wound treated! This is a female physician who came here of her own accord, and her skill is excellent. Please allow her to attend to you!"
The veiled female physician approached Bai Jingyan, offered a respectful bow, then lifted her head to look up at her.
"General!"
"I'm in your hands."
Bai Jingyan gave the physician a small nod.
Once the screen was drawn, the physician carefully removed Bai Jingyan's armor and clothing. In that instant, her pupils trembled almost imperceptibly.
Never in her life had she seen a woman bearing so many wounds. Everywhere her eyes fell, her skin was crisscrossed with scars layered upon scars. Some were old and faded; others were fresh and still unhealed. And here and there were places where a scab had formed only to be torn open once more.
The physician lifted her head and looked at Bai Jingyan, who sat in the chair with an utterly placid expression, not so much as blinking. The memory of Bai Jingming — General Jiyong of the Bai Family Army, who died defending the people of Fengxian — rose in her mind, and the rims of her eyes went red.
She was the woman who had been defiled by Xiliang soldiers and had her face ruined. Just as she raised a blade to end her own life, General Jiyong, Bai Jingming, had leapt down from his horse and wrapped his own war cloak around her broken body. Eyes blazing, he had looked at her and said:
"Do the Bai Family Army soldiers bleeding and slaughtering on the front lines do so only to watch the very people they staked their lives to save take up a blade against themselves? Survive! Surviving matters above all else! Only by living can you honor the tens of thousands of Bai Family Army soldiers who threw away their lives!"
And so she had clenched her teeth and survived — however wretchedly.
The physician dampened a thin cloth with hot water and gently cleaned around the wound. Then, in a small voice, she spoke.
"General, my father is a physician at the Choandang clinic in Fengxian. The people of Fengxian were fortunate — General Bai Jingming of the Bai family staked his life to protect us, and that is why we lived. On behalf of the people of Fengxian, this humble girl offers her gratitude to the young general of the Bai family! And to the Bai Family Army as well."
That was why she had risked everything to come all the way to Youhua Pass.
The generals of the Bai family had pledged their own lives to protect a people whose lives were treated as no more than weeds. Years ago, when she heard that the Bai family's eldest daughter — gravely wounded and stripped of all her martial cultivation, the fabled Little White Marshal — had come all the way from the capital to the borderlands after the Bai generals fell, leading soldiers into battle to defend the border people, her chest had filled with hot blood.
She had thought: since the Little White Marshal was a woman, the army physicians would be unable to attend to her wounds in any thorough way. So she believed that she, with her medical training, could be of help. And so, leaving a single letter behind for her father, she had come secretly to Youhua Pass.
Seeing the girl with her head bowed, tears welling in her reddened eyes, Bai Jingyan was reminded of her aunt. Her aunt, Bai Xiaoxiu, had studied under Physician Hong — and Physician Hong always said his disciple had surpassed her master: her medical skill had outstripped his own, and she was a woman who carried a burning passion for her country.
Looking at the young girl before her, Bai Jingyan felt a warmth rise in her chest, and asked quietly,
"How old are you? And your name?"
"Sixteen. My family name is Ji, and my given name is Nanghua."
Ji Nanghua's movements were practiced yet gentle. She forced her eyes wide open, struggling not to let the tears fall.
"My life was given to me by the Bai Family Army, and by General Bai Jingming."
"When the Xiliang army laid siege to Fengxian, I was up on the city walls treating the wounds of the injured Bai Family soldiers. I saw with my own eyes the Xiliang marshal behead the Bai family's ten-year-old young general and cut open his belly…"
Ji Nanghua choked on the words and could not go on. After a long moment, she wiped her tears with her sleeve and continued.
"I heard General Jiyong cry out in that great ringing voice that the Bai Family Army would never retreat so long as a single one of their number still drew breath! From their marshal down to the lowliest soldier, every one of them died defending the people! My life is worth no more than a weed. That is why I want to help the soldiers — even if only a little."
Every time Bai Jingyan heard the words Fengxian, the faces of Bai Jingming and her seventeenth brother rose before her, and it felt as though her chest would tear apart. The girl's sobbing sounded like nothing so much as a sigh.
"Fengxian…"
"Yes! Fengxian."
Ji Nanghua's throat closed up tight.
Bai Jingyan could almost see the scars on the girl's chest. When she spoke, her voice was sunk deep with sorrow.
"I see. Then live well — so that you need never feel shame before the Bai Family Army soldiers who gave their lives."
Looking at Bai Jingyan, who spoke the very words of Bai Jingming, Ji Nanghua nodded through her brimming tears.
After binding Bai Jingyan's wound, she carefully helped her back into the armor that had not yet had its bloodstains wiped away. Then she bowed twice in farewell and saw the general out.
Shen Liangyu, his wound seen to, was still awake. He was carrying a jar of wine and heading for Bai Jinchi's tent when he spotted Bai Jingyan emerging from the wounded soldiers' camp and came toward her.
"Little White Marshal!"
"Why aren't you resting yet?"
Bai Jingyan's gaze went to Shen Liangyu's wound.
"I remembered that the Fourth Young Miss was injured, so I brought this for her."
Shen Liangyu lifted the wine jar with a beaming face.
Perhaps it was because they had saved Bai Qingyun, but Shen Liangyu looked to be in fine spirits — not a trace of fatigue about him.
"Honey wine!"
Bai Jingyan took the jar from him.
"I've had it before — I hear it's a recipe passed down through your family for generations. I'll take it to Jinchi, so you go get some rest."
"Yes, Marshal!"
Shen Liangyu nodded — then, glancing at the blood spattered across Bai Jingyan's armor, asked,
"Little White Marshal, are you wounded? Are you all right?"
Bai Jingyan shook her head.
"It's Xiliang blood."
Only then did Shen Liangyu breathe a sigh of relief. He raised his fist in a soldier's salute and turned to go. He had fought a pitched battle through the entire night, after all — he was exhausted too.
The Crown Prince's sleepiness had long since fled entirely. Listening to Advisor Fang, he pulled his outer robe tighter around himself.
"Whatever scheme Xiliang may be hiding, the fact remains — the Haoying Battalion infiltrated Chuishanguan and discovered experts dressed in Jin attire, and a fierce battle was fought. Even the Flame King of Xiliang must be afraid deep down. How else could anyone explain his utter silence on the matter, as though nothing had happened at all! He must surely have moved first to seize the initiative!"
Zhen Xiangzhi looked up at Advisor Fang, seated beneath the lamp, and gave a light nod of agreement.
Advisor Fang stroked his white beard, his eyes half-lidded.
"If they move, we will be able to read Xiliang's intentions. That is precisely why I advised Your Highness to wait quietly and observe. If they do not move, then we simply hold still and treat the whole affair as though it never occurred. Otherwise, we would have to explain why we sent the Haoying Battalion into the city at Chuishanguan — and that would only damage Jin's reputation."
Hearing what Advisor Fang said next, Zhen Xiangzhi's eyes flew wide open. He very nearly toppled over backward, dumbfounded. The man had spoken so plausibly at first — but what followed was something Zhen Xiangzhi could never agree to.
"Your Highness! This humble Zhen agrees entirely with what Advisor Fang said before. But as for why the Haoying Battalion went to scout the city at Chuishanguan — the timing of this summit was set by Xiliang in the first place, and the Flame King of Xiliang attempted to change the date with one excuse after another. Naturally, Jin must be suspicious and remain on guard. What if Xiliang were to pull some trick? And what, may I ask, is the reason for concealing experts in Jin attire at Chuishanguan? We are the victorious nation. It is Xiliang who owes us an explanation!"
Zhen Xiangzhi spoke with vigorous conviction.
"Master Zhen, you're young — your blood runs hot! After General Bai killed the hundred thousand surrendered soldiers of Xiliang in the Ongsan campaign, the other kingdoms already regard our Jin as a cruel nation! And now, just as the peace accord between our two countries has been sealed, with Xiliang having yet to hand over even the city — you would seize on the hollow pretext of being the victor and send soldiers sneaking into Chuishanguan in the dead of night. What of Jin's honor then? How do you suppose the kingdoms would look upon us?"
Advisor Fang did not so much as glance at Zhen Xiangzhi. He turned to the Crown Prince and bowed with clasped fists.
"Your Highness, you must weigh this matter with the utmost care!"
Watching the Crown Prince nod along, Zhen Xiangzhi felt so frustrated that blood seemed to rise to the back of his throat. It would have been better to simply clamp his mouth shut and say nothing at all.
The Crown Prince stretched his hands out over the brazier from within his dark outer robe and said,
"For now, we'll do as Advisor Fang says and keep still. Master Zhen, Master Lin — go get some rest. I have matters to discuss with Advisor Fang."
Zhen Xiangzhi felt utterly stifled, but he rose, offered a formal bow, and went out. Lin Shijie, for his part, bowed respectfully to both the Crown Prince and Advisor Fang before withdrawing from the tent.