Settling the Debt
So Xiao Rongyan had already arrived at Guncheon Castle. That meant he had drawn very close to the capital of Nanyan — by the time his guard had sent this letter, he had likely already reclaimed the Nanyan capital.
After reading the letter, Bai Jingyan took the torch Shen Liangyu was holding and burned it to ash.
Watching the flames swallow the letter, she spoke to Yue Shi.
"Take this warhorse back with you. Jin and Xiliang have already ceased hostilities and signed their alliance, so once I return to Jin, I'll have no further use for it."
Yue Shi started in surprise. He lifted his head to look at the woman seated calmly upon the horse. Her expression was serene — this was not a polite refusal offered out of courtesy, but a genuine refusal.
Xiao Rongyan had helped her in her past life. In the end she had failed to escape the capital of Dadu, but she had never forgotten the grace of the moment when Xiao Rongyan pressed the Jade Cicada into her hands and told her to run.
She had thought that by aiding him at the palace banquet in Dadu and protecting his identity, she could repay what she owed him in Jin — but then Xiao Rongyan had gone on to help the Bai family, and help her fourth aunt besides, until she found herself deeper in his debt than ever.
Last time, she had told him the fastest way to reclaim Nanyan without harming its people, and had considered that debt from her past life settled.
But then Xiao Rongyan had saved her seventh younger brother. And her brother had sworn he would repay that debt before he left — which meant she could not accept what Xiao Rongyan offered her today. If kindness kept flowing back and forth like this, when would it ever end?
What Bai Jingyan wished for was a relationship between them owing nothing to either side.
She rode swiftly away from the spot.
Yue Shi, who had come bearing the horse in high spirits at being given the task, stood dumbly in place, his cloak snapping in the wind as he watched Bai Jingyan's figure recede into the distance. He raised a hand and scratched his head, wondering whether his master might somehow have offended the eldest Bai miss in his letter.
At the Liuhua camp, Lin Shijie received his orders and set out ahead of the rest — auspicious gifts had to be prepared for His Majesty's birthday on the twenty-eighth of the third month.
Before Lin Shijie departed, Advisor Fang secretly pulled him aside with instructions.
"Besides preparing the birthday gifts for His Highness, there is another task you must attend to. Spread word of Bai Jingyan's savage act — the slaughter of the Xiliang surrendered soldiers — as far and wide as you can. Let the people of Jin know just what a cruel creature Bai Jingyan truly is!"
"Advisor Fang. Did you not decide to doubt Bai Jingyan's loyalty to His Highness no longer? Why go this far yet again?"
"Why, naturally, because we want Bai Jingyan to serve His Highness alone! A person like her is skilled in war and brilliant in strategy — talent like that must be put to use for His Highness's sake! They say the mouths of the multitude can melt even iron. Think it through. When the people of Jin tremble before her savage nature, and His Highness steps forward to speak a few words on her behalf, she'll be moved to tears with gratitude. And then won't she devote herself to him all the more faithfully?"
Advisor Fang spoke in a low voice.
Lin Shijie pressed his lips shut. His heart ached.
"But when we arrived, the people knelt before Xiao Baishu and begged her to reclaim their homeland. Do you really think they believe General Bai is a savage?"
"They are ignorant fools. What they believe depends entirely on how you shape them."
Advisor Fang let out a deep sigh.
"Bai Jingyan's achievements in this war are too dazzling — she has already surpassed His Highness the Crown Prince! This war is one His Highness led in person, sword in hand. As his strategists, we absolutely cannot sit back and watch the people exalt Bai Jingyan as a hero and fan her blazing renown! The Crown Prince must always stand above her!"
Scarcely had the words left his mouth than he caught sight of Bai Jingyan and her party returning to the camp. Advisor Fang hastily wrapped up.
"Remember my words well. Now go."
Lin Shijie bowed in salute to Advisor Fang, then turned his head to glance once at Bai Jingyan as she rode back into camp before climbing into his carriage.
Bai Jinchi darted quickly to Bai Jingyan's side and asked in a low voice.
"Sister, isn't that the tight-lipped strategist who hangs around the Crown Prince? Weren't we heading back tomorrow? Why leave just as night is falling? There's something up, I'm sure of it. Should I have someone tail him?"
Only after speaking did Bai Jinchi remember that her eldest sister had already assigned all the remaining household advisors to Shen Qingzhu to protect their ninth uncle — the soldiers of the Bai Family Army could not be moved.
"Sister, shall I go after him myself and secretly follow that strategist?"
Bai Jingyan pulled in the reins and slowed her horse. Then, turning her gaze toward Advisor Fang, who was watching her, she spoke to Shen Liangyu.
"Assign someone skilled at shadowing. They only need to confirm which direction that strategist travels — and they must return before dawn."
"Yes, Commander!"
Shen Liangyu saluted with a fist-in-palm bow.
"Sister, but if the Crown Prince finds out—"
"He won't. How could His esteemed Highness, seated so high on his throne, possibly have the time? He couldn't possibly know what every soldier of the Bai Family Army is doing at every hour."
Bai Jingyan turned to look at Bai Jinchi and reached out a hand to pat her head. Seeing the ever-impetuous girl develop a measure of caution pleased her immensely.
When Bai Jingyan's party returned to the camp, Advisor Fang was waiting at the entrance. He swept his eyes over the people behind her and offered a smiling salute.
"Not long ago, His Highness asked that the generals of the Bai Family Army be brought to him, but none of you were to be found."
Bai Jingyan dismounted and bowed to Advisor Fang.
"The generals went with me to see off the soldiers of the Haoying Battalion who fell at Chuishanguan. My apologies — His Highness must have waited a long while…"
Finishing, Bai Jingyan turned her head and spoke to Shen Kunyang and the others.
"Hurry and follow Advisor Fang to His Highness the Crown Prince. Otherwise His Highness will be kept waiting even longer."
Advisor Fang, well pleased by Bai Jingyan's manner, stroked his beard.
Just then, Bai Jinchi's horse, Ping'an, came plodding over toward Advisor Fang. Bai Jinchi failed to snatch the reins in time. Ping'an pressed his damp nose against Advisor Fang's face and snorted, sniffing loudly. Advisor Fang recoiled with a jolt, bending at the waist to dodge, and flapped his hands to drive the horse away.
"Ping'an!"
Bai Jinchi yanked the reins back in a hurry.
Ping'an, apparently displeased, swung his head around and gave his tail a mighty swish, whipping it full across Advisor Fang's face. The advisor's expression froze solid.
Bai Jingyan apologized at once.
"Advisor Fang! I'm so sorry! This beast has a wild streak — he's not easily tamed. Are you all right? Bai Jinchi, what are you doing? Apologize to Advisor Fang this instant!"
"Huh?"
Bai Jinchi was stroking Ping'an's mane. Catching her eldest sister's look, she hastily bowed in apology.
"I'm sorry, Advisor Fang. You're not hurt, are you? It's all my fault."
Once Bai Jinchi lowered herself and apologized, Advisor Fang had little choice but to grant Bai Jingyan the courtesy of letting it pass. He brushed the dirt from his clothes and said,
"It's nothing! It was hardly the fault of the fourth Bai miss. A man of my years can hardly quarrel with a beast, can he? Meeting His Highness is the more urgent matter — generals, hurry along after me."
Watching the generals leave, Bai Jinchi led Ping'an forward and asked Bai Jingyan in a low voice.
"Sister, why are you being so courteous to that strategist? That old rattlesnake seems just like Yushi — all he knows is putting on airs!"
"A single word that strategist utters before the Crown Prince carries more weight than a hundred words from anyone else."
Bai Jingyan handed the reins over to Bai Jinchi.
"This world is full of clever people. But the ones who can hold firm at the Crown Prince's side and keep a place for themselves at court are those who are not merely clever but capable as well. So treat others with courtesy at all times — that is how you leave yourself room to maneuver."
Bai Jingyan tried to explain it as simply as she could for Bai Jinchi to grasp.
Bai Jinchi nodded.
"Got it! From now on, I'll be as polite as I possibly can to anyone around the Crown Prince!"
"Now hurry to the Haoying Battalion. We need to find out where the Crown Prince's strategist went."
Having said that, Bai Jingyan added another reminder.
"We leave early tomorrow morning, so rest early."
"Sister!"
Bai Jinchi gripped the reins and called out to her.
"You're the one who needs a proper rest! The Bai family and the Bai Family Army can't do without you! You absolutely must not collapse!"
Bai Jinchi's eyes reddened. Since the news of their grandfather's, uncles', and brothers' deaths had arrived, she had not once seen her eldest sister sleep properly. And before setting out on campaign, she had trained day and night to take up the Sun-Shooting Bow again. If she kept pushing herself like this, Bai Jinchi feared her sister would break.
"I have everything in hand. Now go. As soon as your task is done, go straight to sleep. You're at your growing age — what will you do if you don't shoot up?"
Bai Jinchi stood in place, watching her sister's receding back, and clenched her teeth. She wanted nothing more than to grow up fast and help her eldest sister.
Outside the infirmary barracks, several wounded Jin soldiers carrying their belongings had surrounded Ji Nanghua and were shaking out her bundle. Inside, besides large and small medicine vials and a money pouch holding her travel funds, there was a carefully washed, dark-red cloak.
"Oho, this little miss even has a military cloak in her bundle!"
A Jin soldier with a thin cotton bandage wound about his head shook out the cloak and draped it over his own shoulders.
"I wonder which general took her fancy? I'm a centurion, you know. Jin won a great victory, and I personally harvested the heads of two Xiliang generals at Wengshan Canyon. When I get home I'll surely receive a handsome reward — and by then I'll likely be a general myself. Little miss, come now, throw back that veil and show us your face. If you're pretty, I might just take you for my wife!"
The wounded soldiers crowding around Ji Nanghua roared with laughter.
The onlookers at the barracks entrance laughed along with them.
For a full month, the great Jin army had fought this war without being able to sleep easy even at night. They had walked the border between life and death, strung tight at every moment. Now the alliance was signed, and tomorrow they would return to the capital of Dadu — and what awaited them was rich spoils and reward. As the tension drained away, so did their discipline.
Ji Nanghua's face burned crimson, her jaw clenched tight. She made no move to gather the medicine vials and money pouch scattered on the ground — instead she lunged only for the cloak.
"Give it back!"
The centurion draped in the cloak dodged away teasingly — and Ji Nanghua, grasping at it, accidentally caught hold of his arm.
"Little miss, you've got the accent of a Fengxian girl! We risked our lives to win back Fengxian for commoners like you, and you won't even let us glimpse your face? Isn't that a mite ungrateful!"
"That's right! With eyes as pretty as yours, be sensible and show your face. It won't wear out from being looked at!"
The camp teemed with soldiers who had gone months without setting eyes on a woman. They hurled their leering jibes freely, without a shred of shame.
Ji Nanghua gritted her teeth.
"I said give it back!"
When she refused to yield, the centurion turned to the soldiers watching with a grin.
"Comrades! Shall we not untangle this little miss's veil? Let's have a look at the beauty's face, eh?"
The Bai Family Army soldiers standing at the infirmary entrance intervened briefly, but when no one heeded them, they withdrew back inside the barracks.
"See her face, and you'll have to take responsibility and marry her, eh?"
one soldier shouted, laughing.
The centurion guffawed.
"If I look and she's a beauty, then of course I'll take responsibility!"
"But weren't you pining after some general or other, little miss? Then it'd be no business of our centurion's at all! Hahaha!"
The centurion tore the veil from Ji Nanghua. The face revealed before the crowd — crisscrossed with knife-scarred, warped flesh — made him recoil in shock.
Ji Nanghua thrashed wildly, slapped the centurion across the cheek, and then, like a woman driven mad, seized him by the collar and screamed.
"I said give it back, you dog of a man!"
The slap had left stinging scratch marks across the centurion's face.
His eyes went cold in an instant. He seized Ji Nanghua's arm in a crushing grip and moved to snap it — but she showed not a flicker of fear. Eyes blazing red, she ground her teeth and glared up at him, with the ferocity of someone ready to die right there alongside him.