The Will of Heaven
Xiliang had only become a great power because it possessed skilled cavalry — not because of well-designed policies or institutions, nor because of concentrated national strength. Strong cavalry made for strong military power, and strong military power inevitably made a nation strong in turn.
The region where Xiliang bordered the Rongdi tribes was quite extensive, with high, frigid terrain — land ideally suited to raising horses. Jin, however, possessed no territory with such conditions.
Raising horses in Jin came at a steep price. The grain it took to feed a single horse could have fed thirty people. Until now, Jin had traded with the Rongdi and Xiliang to acquire horses, but the drawback of that arrangement was that its military strength remained at the mercy of foreign control.
Bai Jingyan laid the matter out for the Crown Prince with cool reason.
"Moreover, since Your Highness intends to unify the realm, war with the Rongdi — a war of life and death — will be unavoidable someday. It is far more advantageous to swallow the Rongdi while they are mired in internal strife than to wait until they have recovered their senses and grown capable of waging war against Jin."
"But the land Xiliang has agreed to cede contains high plains well suited to raising horses."
The Crown Prince seemed to mull this over for a moment before continuing.
"Father will likely demand pearls, jewels, and horses. And the land Xiliang is ceding borders Nandi, so if Jin is to raise horses there, we'll have to manage relations with them carefully."
"What is Your Highness's judgment, then?" Bai Jingyan asked.
"I'd rather receive pearls, jewels, and horses, and sit back and watch, myself."
The Crown Prince tapped the table lightly with his fingers as he went on.
"We already took heavy losses in the war in the Southern Border, so we'll likely need time to recover. And if we send the entire Jin army to the Rongdi before we've even gauged the Liang dynasty's intentions, it's plain as day who'll be in danger if Liang attacks us."
Bai Jingyan held her tongue and pressed the matter no further.
Swallowing the Rongdi was a preparation for unifying the realm — and at the same time, an enormous gamble. Neither the ruler of Liang nor Jin's rulers and ministers dared to leap onto that gambling table.
Just then, the Crown Prince's carriage lurched violently, and the tea on the table spilled over. Zhan Yu and the driver hastily yanked the reins.
Noisy shouts rose from outside.
"A white deer!"
"It's a sacred deer!"
"The sacred deer! It really is the sacred deer! Over there!"
"A white sacred deer! What a beautiful, snow-white sacred deer!"
At those cries, the Crown Prince hurriedly raised the carriage's screen and looked out.
A massive, pure-white deer with powerful, well-honed muscles bore fan-shaped antlers like thick tree branches atop its head, radiating an aura fit for a king. As though displaying its elegant, noble bearing, the deer lifted its graceful neck and turned to gaze toward the marching column. Its clean white coat glowed with a sacred golden sheen in the fading light of dusk.
In Jin, the white deer was a creature of profound symbolism.
The Crown Prince had seen many white deer in his life, but never one so beautiful and so enormous!
He stepped down from the carriage and gazed up at the high hill.
Zhang Danyue, too, appeared struck by the sight of the great, magnificent creature.
Then, as if suddenly spurred, the white deer came charging madly down toward the marching column. The power and explosive force in its four slender, graceful legs startled everyone.
Zhang Danyue swiftly moved to shield the Crown Prince behind him, drawing his sword with a shout.
"Protect His Highness! Quickly! Protect His Highness! Your Highness, into the carriage at once!"
The soldiers drew their blades and raised their shields. Archers nocked their arrows and closed ranks in front of the Crown Prince's carriage, ready to shoot the deer dead the instant it pounced.
Startled, the Crown Prince went white and made to hide inside the carriage — but Bai Jingyan seized his wrist.
"Your Highness, don't be afraid. The white deer will bow before you! Trust me!"
The Crown Prince turned sharply to look at her, so composed as she spoke. She gave him a slight nod, then pressed something into his hand and continued in a firm, resolute tone.
"Your Highness, trust me!"
The great white deer leapt down from the high hill, running faster and faster — wild, as if beyond all control. Though layers of soldiers stood protecting the front of the Crown Prince's carriage, Zhang Danyue's heart pounded so hard it seemed about to leap up his throat, and he drew his sword with a great shout.
"Your Highness! Into the carriage, at once!"
The Crown Prince's brow flinched. Bai Jingyan was not borrowing his hand to seize someone — she was borrowing the white deer's hand to kill him.
Advisor Fang, having descended from the carriage, came scrambling toward His Highness and screamed, his face drained of color.
"Your Highness! Get into the carriage, quickly!"
"The white deer is a sacred beast of Jin. For a sacred beast to submit to Your Highness is the will of Heaven itself! If you were to present this white deer to His Majesty as a gift, it would be counted an auspicious omen!"
Seeing Advisor Fang's frantic face, the Crown Prince turned his head again to look at Bai Jingyan, who was dragging him forward, pulling him beyond the circle of guards. For a moment his mind became a tangled mess.
'What do you think of Mount Yuqing as the site? It's a mountain road, but the terrain is wide and open... if we release it here, it will be found easily. And it will just as easily be captured.'
'Our purpose is to let everyone see it with their own eyes... and make it come to Your Highness, submitting to you. We must arrange matters so that Your Highness can capture it yourself and present it to His Majesty. Not kill it! If it dies, all this effort will have been for nothing.'
The Crown Prince's heart pounded hard. He tugged at his own wrist, pushed Zhang Danyue aside, and stared at Bai Jingyan as she pulled him toward the crowd of soldiers. So that was what she had meant, back then, when she spoke of the white deer?
She had arranged for the white deer to submit before everyone's eyes — so that he could capture it with his own hands and offer it up to his father?
"Get out of the way!"
Bai Jingyan shouted, gripping the Crown Prince's wrist tight.
Zhang Danyue stood watching the Crown Prince, awaiting his order.
"Your Highness?"
Bai Jinchi came galloping up on horseback and hurled the Sun-Shooting Bow to Bai Jingyan.
"Sister! The Sun-Shooting Bow!"
Bai Jingyan caught the Sun-Shooting Bow in one hand, brought her other hand to her quiver, and — her dark eyes gone deep and grave — spoke to the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, there is no time!"
The Crown Prince's gaze swung to the Sun-Shooting Bow in Bai Jingyan's hands. His heart beat harder still. Bai Jingyan's Sun-Shooting Bow never missed. With her there, no accident would befall him!
Yet deep within the Crown Prince's heart, his fear of Bai Jingyan outweighed his trust in her.
He had overheard her plans in the side room at Zhoulu, so he understood perfectly what had brought this situation about — but the white deer, bearing its enormous antlers, was charging down on them at full fury. If Bai Jingyan deliberately twisted her arrow, he would die on the spot.
The Crown Prince stared at the colossal animal hurtling toward him, closer with every breath. He was only an ordinary man, and fear was not easily conquered. He had already secured the position of Crown Prince — was it truly necessary to risk his life to hold onto it?
While the Crown Prince hesitated, Bai Jingyan swiftly snapped off the arrow's head, tore a strip from her sleeve, wound it snugly around the arrow's sharp point, and took aim at the white deer.
The Crown Prince clenched his fist around the incense pouch Bai Jingyan had pressed into his hand, raised his head, and shouted.
"Move aside!"
Zhang Danyue raised his hand, watching the great deer as its charge grew faster and faster.
"Make way!"
The Crown Prince's throat tightened. Shielded by Bai Jingyan, he walked forward to meet the enormous deer bearing down on the column.
Every muscle in his body seemed to seize up, and his palms ran slick with sweat. The deer showed no sign of slowing at all, and his heart climbed up into his throat.
Zhen Xiangzhi held his breath, watching the Crown Prince and Bai Jingyan standing at the very front of the line of guards arrayed with shields. At last, he thought he understood what Bai Jingyan meant to do.
The great deer drew closer and closer.
Twenty zhang...
"Your Highness!"
Advisor Fang's eyes went wide as he stood behind the guards and screamed until his voice tore.
"Your Highness! Come back at once! Bai Jingyan means to kill you!"
The Crown Prince clenched his teeth, his whole body trembling.
But Bai Jingyan, standing as steadfast as a pine, wore a look of perfect calm. The cloth-wrapped arrowhead remained trained without wavering on the deer's brow.
Fifteen zhang...
"Your Highness!"
Advisor Fang was so shocked his legs gave out beneath him, frantic and beside himself.
"Your Highness! Please, flee, quickly! Bai Jingyan means to kill you!"
Beads of sweat gathered on the Crown Prince's brow. The white deer's legs alone stood as tall as a man. Those enormous antlers sent a chill down his spine just to look at them.
Ten zhang...
Five zhang...
Four zhang...
In the end, the Crown Prince could not withstand the enormous pressure bearing down on him, and instinctively stumbled backward.
Bai Jingyan released the tension in her drawn bow, seized the Crown Prince's wrist in one motion, and dragged him forward again.
"Your Highness!"
"Let go of me!"
The Crown Prince's eyes went round as he stared at the great white deer about to barrel into him.
"Bai Jingyan — are you trying to kill me?"
"Sister!"
Bai Jinchi cried out in alarm as well.
At the moment of crisis, Bai Jingyan's eyes turned cold. She took hold of the Crown Prince's hand — the one clutching the incense pouch — and hauled him forward, raising his arm high.
"Bai Jingyan! Are you plotting against the Crown Prince?! That is a crime punishable by the extermination of your entire clan!"
Advisor Fang screamed until his voice ripped apart.
"Your Highness, you must trust me!"
Bai Jingyan clenched her jaw. She trusted her operative, Xiao Ruogang. He had said the deer could be tamed — then it must have been tamed!
"Bai Jingyan!"
The Crown Prince roared in fury. When the deer was but a single zhang away, unable any longer to tear free of Bai Jingyan's grip, he shut his eyes in despair.
And then — the deer caught the scent of the incense pouch in the Crown Prince's hand, and abruptly swerved hard to the left, veering away from Bai Jingyan and the Crown Prince. The turn came so sharply that the deer stumbled and fell, rolling straight toward the shield-bearing soldiers.
The soldiers holding the shields went rigid and all recoiled backward.
Rolling several times across the ground, the deer rose, bracing itself on its forelegs. It sniffed at the air, then gave its body a great shudder. Startled, the Jin soldiers shrieked and fell back. Some, knocked to the ground in their fright, lifted their heads to gaze up at the colossal beast that had appeared out of nowhere. A wave of gooseflesh swept over them.
The white deer was Jin's sacred deer — it could never be killed. And besides, the enormous creature before them was a deer none of them had ever seen in their lives; it might truly be a sacred beast.
The great deer showed no hint of intending harm. It shook itself hard, shaking the dust cleanly from its coat, and then walked with stately, unhurried steps toward the Crown Prince and Bai Jingyan.
Ashen-faced, the Crown Prince rose leaning on Bai Jingyan.
"Your Highness..."
Bai Jingyan steadied him.
"Are you all right?"
The Crown Prince clenched his teeth. His whole body trembled. Supported by Bai Jingyan, he took two steps forward.
The great deer approached them slowly. The Crown Prince lifted his head and met its dark, limpid eyes.
The deer sniffed at the air, then lowered its head — and the Crown Prince hastily stumbled two steps back.
"Your Highness!"
Bai Jingyan seized his wrist, pulled him forward once more, and lifted his hand — the one holding the incense pouch — high.
The Crown Prince struggled and tried to back away, but Bai Jingyan held him fast.
"Your Highness, your soldiers are all watching."
The Crown Prince swallowed hard and looked down the long, stretched line of the column. Confirming that every single Jin soldier was watching this spot, he forced himself to calm his trembling body.
The deer took in the scent of the incense pouch, but showed no trace of aggression.
Seeing this, Bai Jingyan released the Crown Prince's hand and made to step back — and the instant she let go, he hurriedly whipped his own hand behind him and retreated two steps along with her, then fixed a long, hard stare on the great white deer before him.