A Kindred Spirit
Once the Crown Prince's carriage had disappeared from view, Lu Yuanfeng hurried forward to pay his respects, then turned his gaze to Bai Jingyan.
"Sister Bai! Sister Bai, congratulations on your great victory! Fourth Young Miss Bai, my congratulations on your triumph! The men of the Bai family are gone now, so in their stead, I've brought victory wine for you and the Fourth Young Miss!"
With that, Lu Yuanfeng turned and waved to his attendant, who hurried forward bearing wine.
Lu Yuanfeng poured a cup and offered it to Bai Jingyan.
"Sister Bai, congratulations!"
Even when every man of the Bai family still lived, Lu Yuanfeng had never shunned her despite the old rule that widowed households keep men at a distance. Moreover, he and Bai Qingmo, the tenth son of the Bai family, had been close friends.
"Thank you."
Bai Jingyan accepted the cup, thanked him with genuine warmth, then tipped her head back and drained it.
Lu Yuanfeng took the empty cup from her hand, then turned to Bai Jinchi, poured another cup, and offered it to her.
"Fourth Young Miss, congratulations on your great victory!"
It was the first time Bai Jinchi had ever seen Lu Yuanfeng look so solemn, and she couldn't hold back a laugh as she accepted the wine. She raised the cup slightly toward him in thanks, then gulped the hot wine down in one long swallow, so her grimace at the burn wouldn't be seen. She handed the empty cup back to the attendant holding the tray.
"Thank you!"
"Every woman in the Bai family is remarkable. I'm ashamed of myself, really. If the chance ever comes, I, Lu Yuanfeng, would like to follow you and the Fourth Young Miss to war and lend my strength on the battlefield!"
"Very well."
Bai Jingyan looked at Lu Yuanfeng with a fond smile, the way one might regard a younger brother.
"If such a day comes, I will gift you this Red-Tasseled Spear of mine."
Lu Yuanfeng's eyes lit up as he gazed at the Red-Tasseled Spear, which gleamed dazzling in the morning sun while still carrying a faint chill of menace about it.
"Sister, do you mean it?"
"A gentleman's word, given once, is kept forever."
For some reason, those words sent a shiver down Lu Yuanfeng's whole body. Listening to the resolute voice of Sister Bai, he bowed deeply to her.
"A gentleman's word, given once, is kept forever!"
From childhood, Lu Yuanfeng had despised his studies and preferred swinging a blade or a spear instead — yet his grandfather had desperately tried to forbid him from taking to the battlefield. The moment he laid eyes on Sister Bai's Red-Tasseled Spear, however, he felt certainty settle into his heart about the road he must walk.
The common folk watched Lu Yuanfeng and his companions standing at Bai Jingyan's side, victory wine in their hands, yet none dared draw near. Gazing toward the place where Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi stood, they swallowed their tears and cried out the name General Bai.
Bai Jingyan bowed deeply to the people.
Li Tianfu, about to climb into her carriage, glanced back at Bai Jingyan surrounded by the crowds and gave a contemptuous snort.
"A woman who loves war and delights in slaughter — what is there to admire about her!"
Not far away, Advisor Fang, who was about to return to the Crown Prince's estate alongside Lin Shijie, watched Bai Jingyan amid the crowd and asked, "I told you, on the way back, to spread word far and wide that Bai Jingyan slaughtered the surrendered troops, didn't I?"
Lin Shijie flinched, then answered with careful deference.
"That day, His Highness the Crown Prince sent someone with word that General Bai had already prepared the memorial to Minister Bai Luxin herself, so I need prepare nothing and should return directly to the estate. I took that to mean the rumor was no longer needed. Besides — when we were in Fengxian, the man I sent was beaten and driven out by the townsfolk themselves!"
"How foolish can you be!"
Advisor Fang lowered his voice and pressed on.
"I told you plainly, did I not, why the matter had to be spread about — so that Bai Jingyan would be all the more dependent on His Highness the Crown Prince, unable to leave his side! I said that a woman so gifted in war must be made one of His Highness's own people, didn't I? So how, exactly, did you handle the affair?"
"I was foolish. I'll send men out right away to set it right properly."
Lin Shijie answered hastily.
"Send plenty of them. The great army is returning in triumph, and their name is surging through the capital at this very moment — now is precisely the time to spread that news far and wide!"
said Advisor Fang.
"Have no fear, Advisor Fang!"
Lin Shijie replied, as if to say he could be trusted with it.
Advisor Fang looked off at Zhen Xiangzhi, who stood some distance away discussing with the Crown Prince's household how to arrange the remaining campaign rewards, and a flicker of displeasure crossed his face. He bowed his head and climbed into his carriage.
Lu Yuanfeng gripped Bai Jingyan's reins, watching as she and Bai Jinchi mounted their horses, then lifted his head and called out in a great voice.
"Sister! I will take to the battlefield — I swear it! Believe me!"
The common folk, tears in their eyes, parted to make way as they gazed after Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi.
Bai Jingyan nodded with a smiling face, took up her reins, pressed her heels to her horse's flank, and galloped swiftly off.
Bai Jinchi gave Lu Yuanfeng a fist-and-palm salute, then spurred her own horse to follow her elder sister.
Inside the Crown Prince's carriage.
"Sending letters to a woman who has caught your eye, gifting her a horse? The Xiao Rongyan I know is, without question, a composed man. You are hardly the sort to commit such an indiscretion!"
the Crown Prince asked with a smiling face.
"Or is it that the men of Wei are all so brazen?"
Xiao Rongyan bowed his head and smiled. The Crown Prince was speaking of the time, during the Southern Border campaign, when Yue Shi had been sent to deliver a letter and a horse to Bai Jingyan. Since Xiao Rongyan had never ordered Yue Shi to keep it secret, it was only natural that the Crown Prince knew of it.
"You said Bai Jingyan sent her own courier to come find you. Did anyone say anything unpleasant that reached your ears?"
The Crown Prince seemed to regard the gift of the horse to Bai Jingyan as a matter of romantic interest between a man and a woman. Xiao Rongyan suspected as much, though he could not be certain, and so he shook his head with a smile.
"No, Your Highness."
"Have no fear. You are a close friend of mine, are you not? I know full well that there is nothing about you — your bearing, your looks — that anyone could find fault with. The only sticking point is your identity as a merchant... I myself care nothing for that, of course, but the world will always tend to look down on you for it, to slight you somewhat.
"But if it is true that you admire the Eldest Young Miss Bai, and you mean to marry into her family, then I will lend a hand in the middle for you. The Bai family has no men left now, so taking in a live-in son-in-law is simply the way things must be. In that case, it would hardly be beneath the Eldest Young Miss Bai's station to wed you!"
The Crown Prince looked at Xiao Rongyan the way a man might regard a future money purse. He was eager to see this fine match brought to fruition quickly.
It appeared the Eldest Young Miss Bai had resolved to place herself under the Crown Prince's banner. Xiao Rongyan touched the Jade Cicada at his breast and gazed at the Crown Prince with a smile.
Only — would the Eldest Young Miss Bai, a woman of such extraordinary capacity, truly offer her wholehearted loyalty to a Crown Prince so hollow and so suspicious by nature?
"The reason I sent someone to deliver a letter to the Eldest Young Miss Bai, and even a horse, is that I knew the Bai family's circumstances in full. Without that, how could a mere merchant dare to set his heart on the Eldest Young Miss of the Bai family?"
The Crown Prince's face brightened. This was what he liked most about Xiao Rongyan — the man never overestimated himself, and he was quick to read a room. He truly regarded Xiao Rongyan as a friend. Rolling his lips inward, the Crown Prince pondered a moment before speaking.
"There is also a matter you should think on carefully. The Eldest Young Miss Bai may have difficulty conceiving, and if you marry in as a son-in-law, it will surely not be easy for you to take concubines later on."
The Crown Prince spoke entirely out of concern for Xiao Rongyan's own position. But Xiao Rongyan answered with a smile.
"If I may take the Eldest Young Miss Bai as my wife, what matter is it if we have no children? We would simply adopt an heir. Is the person one spends a lifetime with not one's spouse? That is why, when choosing a wife, what I weigh most is whether we can truly understand each other's hearts for the rest of our days. What I desire is a kindred spirit — not a woman to bear my sons and carry on my line."
The words took the Crown Prince aback.
"I have... never once heard such a thing said, nor thought it myself."
Was the purpose of marriage not to bear children and continue the line? And yet Xiao Rongyan claimed he need have no children at all.
Still, Xiao Rongyan's words were not wrong.
The person one spends a lifetime with was, indeed, one's wife. But what man in this world took only one? Anyone with even a measure of power and standing would take concubines. Was a wife of one's own hardships ever as dear as a young, pretty concubine?
Desiring a kindred spirit...
The Crown Prince laughed aloud, then looked at Xiao Rongyan.
"Your words never fail to surprise me."
"I am not like you, Your Highness. I am a mere merchant. I pursue wealth and glory all my life, and I pursue an interesting life at that! But Your Highness carries the kingdom of Jin upon your shoulders — surely you must have many children to carry on the nation's boundless prosperity."
The Crown Prince was pleased by Xiao Rongyan's answer. He patted the man's hand and said,
"Don't act so recklessly again. You might well offend the Eldest Young Miss Bai for no reason! Whatever you need, just say the word and I will help. I want you to stay in Jin. It would please me if you would lend me your company in conversation now and then."
Xiao Rongyan's smile was soft and gentle.
"I intend to remain in Dadu for some time. A great matter of one's life should not be rushed. They say the Emperor of Great Yan is coming to Dadu tomorrow — could the reason His Majesty summoned Your Highness to the palace alone be that very matter?"
The Crown Prince had reached the same thought.
"Ever since the Emperor of Great Yan swallowed Southern Yan, his attitude toward Jin has grown more respectful than before, if anything. He lingered in Southern Yan not long ago, so he must know full well how that campaign went. Did they truly win, as the rumors say, barely fighting a war at all?"
Xiao Rongyan smiled and nodded.
"I went to Southern Yan hoping to trade when I heard a war was brewing. All along the roads, the people of Southern Yan lined the ways on either side to welcome the Great Yan army! It was an astonishing sight.
"So my earnings fell short of what I had expected — but it was not without its gains. I met the Great Yan Emperor's own younger brother, Prince Regent Murong Yan, and with his permission I was able to do some business in Guangping. And in Guangping I came upon a most precious thing, which I have brought to present to Your Highness. When you leave the palace, I shall offer it to you then — as a memento of your victory in the Southern Border."
A gleam lit the Crown Prince's eyes. It was not that he was greedy enough to covet a mere merchant's gift. It was that every gift Xiao Rongyan presented, without exception, proved so rare and exquisite that he could hardly bear to set it down.
The Bai Manor.
Word came that the great army had already reached the South Gate, yet His Majesty had summoned only the Crown Prince to the palace and sent the generals back to their residences. Lady Dong could no longer bear to simply sit waiting, so she led the people of the Bai household out beyond the gates, craning her neck to gaze into the distance as she waited for her daughter.
The first to arrive were Jin Lang and the pregnant Bai Jinxiu. Jin Lang supported Bai Jinxiu as she stepped down from the carriage. Nuo Ping and the household stewards, who had been peering out from beyond the residence, hurried forward to pay their respects to Bai Jinxiu and Jin Lang.
Second Madam Yu came down the steps to help her daughter walk.
"There was no need to rush here like this, you know. Once your elder sister returns, I was going to send someone to fetch you."
Jin Lang paid his respects to the Bai family elders, then carefully helped Bai Jinxiu up the steps. He murmured softly for her to mind her step, his voice brimming with affection. Only recently had Lady Yu begun to warm to him a little.
"Second Sister!"
The Fifth Young Miss of the Bai family came up to Bai Jinxiu and gently touched her belly.
"Second Sister, did you bring little Wangge'er to greet Eldest Sister and Fourth Sister?"
"Of course I did!"
Bai Jinxiu smiled lightly and gently ruffled the Fifth Young Miss's hair.
Nuo Ping, standing before the residence gates, caught sight of two horses come galloping under the blazing sunlight. The two riders overflowed with a radiant spirit that would not be contained. In that instant, Nuo Ping's chest tightened, and tears spilled down his face.
"They've returned! At last they've returned! The Eldest Young Miss and the Fourth Young Miss have come home!"
Lady Dong, supported by Nurse Jin, stood stiff with anticipation, then hurried quickly forward.