Dadu, the Imperial Capital

Advisor Fang, whose heart had leapt clean up into his throat, was the first to react. He dropped to his knees and bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"Even the sacred deer descended from heaven has bowed before our Crown Prince of Jin! Our Great Jin shall flourish for ten thousand generations! Long live Jin!"

Zhang Danyue hastily followed suit, sinking to his knees and shouting as well.

"Long live Jin!"

The soldiers of Jin cast down the weapons and shields in their hands, knelt, and bowed in unison.

"Long live Jin!"

"Long live ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Jin!"

"Long live Jin!"

Inside, Li Tianfu raised the carriage curtain and gazed up at the towering mountains and rolling hills. The sky, dyed crimson by the setting sun, blazed with a magnificent riot of evening color, and the brilliant gold of the sunset shattered and poured down over the proud, imposing peaks. The great white deer, radiating a holy and dazzling light, burnished the silhouettes of Bai Jingyan and the Crown Prince standing before it, washing over them in an aura of overwhelming grandeur.

Li Zhijie, seated in his own carriage with his wounds, also lifted his curtain. With his long, slit peach-blossom eyes, which seemed to hold rippling water within them, he watched Bai Jingyan, whose wind-torn cape snapped and billowed behind her. Where the Crown Prince of Jin stood drenched in sweat and white-faced with terror, Bai Jingyan stood calm and unmoved — and at the sight of it, the corners of Li Zhijie's mouth curled upward.

The sacred deer of Jin, was it? Heh. How very amusing.

The only question was whether the one who had tamed and subdued this divine beast had been the Crown Prince — or Bai Jingyan.

"This is a sacred deer descended from the heavens. If Your Highness were to present it to His Majesty on his birthday, he would surely be delighted."

At the weight of Bai Jingyan's voice, the Crown Prince, whose soul had scattered, finally came back to himself.

A cool breeze brushed his face, and he shuddered from head to toe, sweat still running down his brow. He clenched the incense pouch in his hand until his knuckles went white.

Only now could he be certain: the affair in Fengxian had been nothing but a misunderstanding of Bai Jingyan. He had assumed she intended to borrow his hand to seize some enemy of hers — when in truth, she had arranged for everyone to witness the sacred deer of Jin submitting to him, all to cement his position as heir.

But why hadn't she told him beforehand?

There's no need to tell the Crown Prince. His Majesty terrifies him so badly that if he knew in advance, he'd only fumble it and ruin everything.

The Crown Prince clenched his fist tighter still.

At the time, when he'd heard those words, he had burned with fury, convinced she saw him as nothing more than a pawn to be moved about the board at her whim.

And yet, thinking back on it now — the words had been unpleasant to hear, but they hadn't been wrong.

However much he hated to admit it, it was true that he feared his father deeply. He was not the son of the Empress, and from childhood, a single meeting of eyes with the Emperor had been enough to send his soul fleeing in panic.

If Bai Jingyan had warned him in advance, he certainly would have shown his hand the moment his father began questioning him — would have blurted out that the auspicious omen was something he himself had arranged.

His father would still have been pleased, of course. But that pleasure would have been diminished a great deal.

To truly delight his father, it had to be a beast of fortune descended straight from heaven. Only then could the Emperor's joy be genuine. And above all — if even the sacred deer of Jin bowed before him, the whole court would understand that no one but the Crown Prince was fit to inherit the throne. Even if his father someday entertained thoughts of raising another to the imperial seat, today's miracle would weigh upon that decision.

And once the common folk learned that the sacred deer had submitted to him, they too would acknowledge him, just as the deer had.

Bai Jingyan had gone to such painstaking lengths on his behalf — and he had repaid her with suspicion. Shameful. Utterly shameful.

The Crown Prince turned his head and looked at Bai Jingyan, standing there with an unruffled expression. A pang of tenderness shot through his heart, and a dozen tangled thoughts rose and fell within him.

"General Bai... thank you."

Bai Jingyan bowed her head, offering a cupped-fist salute.

"Protecting Your Highness is my duty. There is no need for such words."

His gratitude deepened all the more. Bai Jingyan claimed no credit whatsoever. When he had thanked her, he had meant the trouble she had taken over the deer — and yet she carried herself as though she knew nothing of it at all.

The Crown Prince gripped his incense pouch tightly. Bai Jingyan had shown him such care and consideration; it was a sincerity he would accept gladly — and one he resolved to repay twofold in the days to come.

"But how are we to bring this sacred deer back to the capital of Dadu?"

His head was beginning to ache.

"Leave that to General Zhang Danyue. You've had a great shock, Your Highness — it would be best to climb into your carriage and rest."

The Crown Prince nodded, then called Zhang Danyue over and ordered him to make preparations for transporting the deer. And then he watched as Bai Jingyan turned her horse and rode back to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her place at the head of the column, a deep, unreadable look in his eyes. Seeing her spirited, commanding figure, a smile crept across his lips.

"Your Highness!"

Advisor Fang hurried forward and bowed low, then lowered his voice, his face drained of color.

"Your Highness — are you hurt anywhere?"

The Crown Prince shook his head.

"Don't fret. Not a scratch on me."

"Bai Jingyan is far too reckless! If anything had happened to you, Your Highness, she couldn't atone for it with a hundred heads!"

Advisor Fang ground his teeth. The mere memory of that moment of peril sent a chill crawling up his spine, and cold sweat trickled down in streams.

Zhen Xiangzhi, standing behind with his head bowed, was barely suppressing the urge to argue with the man — when the Crown Prince's displeased voice cut through.

"Advisor Fang, you mustn't speak that way. Has General Bai ever done anything but what was certain?"

The furrow between Zhen Xiangzhi's brows eased, just slightly.

He had followed at the Crown Prince's heels for a long time now, yet this was the first time he had ever seen him openly refuse to side with Advisor Fang.

Advisor Fang looked utterly flustered.

"Go on ahead."

With those words, the Crown Prince climbed into his carriage.

A messenger galloped forward to Bai Jingyan, who was holding the column in formation at the very front, and reported that the Crown Prince and his party had boarded their carriages and that the soldiers had returned to their ranks. Bai Jingyan gave a nod, pulled hard on her reins, and shouted.

"Move out!"

The messenger raced along the long, winding line of the column, his voice ringing high and clear.

"Move out!"

Her heart still hammering, Bai Jinchi hurried to Bai Jingyan's side with sweat clenched in her palms. When that enormous deer had lunged for her elder sister, Bai Jinchi had been so terrified her heart had nearly stopped.

"Sister! Are you hurt anywhere?"

Bai Jingyan reached out and ruffled Bai Jinchi's hair, smiling.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

She turned her gaze toward the hilltop. Xiao Ruogang would have to go find A'yu once this business was finished. She only hoped his wounds hadn't worsened.

The twenty-fifth day of the third month.

The Bai Manor, Dadu.

Before the sky had even brightened, the servants swept the courtyards and hurried back and forth through the side gates in a flurry of activity. Cooking smoke curled lazily above the venerable ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠old mansion; maids carrying basins of hot water filed in and out of the kitchen in orderly lines, then made their way carefully down the corridors to their respective courtyards, their faces glowing with excitement.

Today was the day — the day the Eldest Daughter and the Fourth Young Miss returned from their campaign in the Southern Border.

After the sweeping victory in the Southern Border, no one in Dadu dared whisper anymore that every son of the Bai family had perished in the south, that the great pillar of the Bai clan had been severed.

Even the women of the Bai family stood head and shoulders above the rest.

The victory in war had breathed new fire into the Bai family's pride.

The petty cowards who had once tormented them for lacking sons could never have imagined that the Bai family would rise again at the hands of its Eldest Daughter. The servants of the Bai household swelled with vindictive delight just picturing the slack-jawed, bug-eyed astonishment of those small-minded fools when word spread that Bai's Eldest Daughter had won victory upon victory in the Southern Border.

Third Madam Li had originally planned to leave the city with Lady Dong to welcome Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi outside the walls of Dadu.

But Lady Dong was uneasy. Bai Jingyan's fame was soaring, and the capital was thick with arguing voices over the matter of her having executed the surrendered soldiers in the Southern Border — voices for and against were split right down the middle.

And so Lady Dong decided to wait at home. Going out beyond the city gates, she judged, would draw far too much attention.

And yet she was a mother. Her daughter had gone to war, into a place where life and death hung by a thread — how could she not have spent every day since with her heart in her mouth? Now her daughter was coming home in triumph, and Lady Dong wanted nothing more than to fly straight to her that very instant, to see with her own eyes that she was unharmed.

She had tossed and turned all night without a wink of sleep, rising early to hurry to the kitchens. She prepared in advance the dishes Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi loved best, then took her seat in the main hall, listening tensely as the servants brought word, moment by moment, of everything happening outside. Her palms were slick with sweat.

Before long, Third Madam Li arrived as well, and after her, the Fifth Madam, the Fourth Madam, and the Second Madam all came out to the main hall to wait for Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi together.

Third Madam Li could not sit still. She craned her neck again and again, staring out toward the gate.

"Third Sister, don't be so impatient. I sent our servants to the South Gate — they'll send word the moment the column arrives. Besides, they've come home victorious. They'll have to enter the palace and pay respects to His Majesty before they come to the house."

Lady Dong had been through partings before. But this time, her heart had been exceptionally anxious.

The South Gate of Dadu.

Lu Yuanfeng rode to the South Gate at the head of a crowd of the capital's young dandies, wine flasks in hand. They had come partly to welcome the victorious army — and partly to catch a glimpse of the sacred white deer. But more than anything, Lu Yuanfeng wanted to welcome the daughters of the Bai family home.

In truth, in the early days, every bit of victory news from the Southern Border had made him assume it was the Crown Prince's doing. Then the credit of Zhang Danyue, Shi Panshan, and Zhen Zeping. Only later did proper word reach him: that no sooner had the Crown Prince arrived at Wanping with his soldiers than an emergency had erupted, and that Bai Jingyan, daughter of the Bai family, had led fifty thousand reinforcements to rout the Xiliang host of over a hundred thousand.

Only then did Lu Yuanfeng learn that Bai Jingyan — whom the Bai family had publicly announced as being in poor health — had gone to the Southern Border.

He simply could not fathom it. Bai's Eldest Daughter, having lost all her martial cultivation, had carried her frail, sickly body to the Southern Border — and there had defeated General Yun Paxing of Xiliang, whose very name made men's blood run cold, and won a great victory.

Even a woman had gone south for the sake of her country and her people, spilling her hot blood there — while he, a grown man in the flower of his years, had been cowering inside the walls of Dadu! The shame had set his blood boiling on the spot. He had gathered the dandy sons of the capital he was close with and declared they would all take up swords and ride for the Southern Border together — only to be seized the moment they set foot outside the city by men sent by the elders of his family.

Lu Yuanfeng, who had been the very first to propose rushing to the Southern Border, had fared the worst of them all. His grandfather had him caned twenty lashes, then locked within the estate and ordered to stay put and reflect on his behavior. Only when peace with Xiliang was all but certain did his grandfather finally let him out.

The moment he heard the army would reach the capital today, Lu Yuanfeng had gathered his friends specially and made for the South Gate.

By the time he arrived, a great crowd of common folk had already gathered at the South Gate, chattering about the war in the Southern Border. Some were speaking of the sacred white deer no one had yet laid eyes on; others were talking of Princess Li Tianfu, the peace bride from Xiliang, and Li Zhijie, the Prince of Yan of Xiliang.

"There! They're coming!"

Riding in through the gate, Lu Yuanfeng spotted the banners rippling in the distance and could not contain his excitement.

Far off, the army had come into view, undulating like a great black dragon. The hoofbeats, rising in perfect unison, struck his chest like war drums, boom upon boom.