Shield Her
The Crown Prince, as the host, offered his greeting first.
"Fourth Imperial Prince, you intend to remain in Jin for the sake of goodwill between our two nations. I find that truly remarkable. You have my respect!"
"You honor me with excessive praise, Your Highness."
Murong Li replied calmly after performing a proper, composed bow.
"Your Majesty, Fourth Imperial Prince — please, allow me to show you inside."
Bowing respectfully toward Emperor Murong Yu of Great Yan and Prince Murong Li, the Crown Prince walked inside with them.
"This residence was specially granted by my imperial father for the Fourth Prince's use. The maids and servants here have all been sent on a temporary basis. You have come from far away, and the service of these household staff may fall short of what you are accustomed to — I imagine that weighs on His Majesty's mind as well. Once you and the Fourth Prince have settled in comfortably, I will take the servants back with me. Ah, and the name plaque has not yet been hung at the residence gate. Since this will be where the Fourth Prince lives, it seemed only fitting that you choose the name yourself."
Such was the sincerity Jin wished to display to Great Yan. Jin would place none of its own people in the hostage prince's residence, and intended to grant Murong Li as much freedom as possible.
Of course, Jin had no intention of even calling this residence a "hostage house." Asking the Fourth Prince to name it himself was, in effect, a declaration that he would be received as an honored guest of Jin rather than a hostage.
"Thank you for the trouble, Crown Prince."
Emperor Murong Yu nodded with a smile.
"My second son was spoiled rotten from childhood. Should he commit any unintentional discourtesy in the days to come, I ask that you look kindly on him and shield him from blame."
"Your Majesty, why speak of something so obvious as a favor!"
The Crown Prince said with a laugh.
"You must be weary from your long journey, so please rest well today. Tomorrow I will personally escort both of you into the palace."
"Apologies for the burden we've placed on you, Crown Prince."
Murong Li bowed to the Crown Prince.
"Feng Yao, see the Crown Prince out on my behalf."
Emperor Murong Yu said with a smile.
Before departing, the Crown Prince found himself turning back to look at the Emperor of Great Yan once more. It was, as rumored, a face too beautiful to meet directly. Then how breathtaking must Empress Hee have been in her day? Surely no one in this generation could rival her beauty unless—
The image of Bai Jingyan abruptly surfaced in the Crown Prince's mind.
To be honest, if one overlooked the heavy killing intent that always hung about her, Bai Jingyan possessed beauty that could justly be called peerless. It far surpassed even that of Liu Yafu, the County Mistress of Nan Tao who bore the title of foremost beauty.
But her unyielding spirit and aloof, commanding air made that beauty all the easier to overlook.
"Your Highness, this way, please."
The faint, delicate voice of Feng Yao, the Grand Eunuch of the Great Yan Emperor, rang in the Crown Prince's ears, and only then did he come to his senses, bow, and take his leave.
As Feng Yao escorted him out, Xiao Rongyan suddenly came to the Crown Prince's mind, and he struck up a conversation as he walked.
"I have a close friend named Xiao Rongyan. I hear you and Lord Feng know each other well."
Feng Yao startled visibly, then quickly recovered and answered with a smile.
"I would not call it knowing him well. He was someone our Ninth Prince introduced to me when he wished to take me under his wing. His Majesty said I have served Empress Hee faithfully all my life, and now toil in His Majesty's service as well, and so he instructed me to shadow Master Xiao and earn myself a little silver."
The Crown Prince nodded with a smile.
"Rongyan told me how he came to meet the Ninth Prince of Great Yan. He even uses the same name as the Ninth Prince, yet the Prince does not hold it against him — he must be a man of generous virtue."
"His Majesty said Master Xiao is a man of Wei, and that his name was given by his parents, so the fault is hardly his. The Ninth Prince remarked that it was, if anything, a sign of fate binding him to Master Xiao."
Feng Yao bowed his head with impeccable courtesy, speaking in a respectful posture. For a eunuch favored by the Emperor of Great Yan, there was not the slightest trace of self-importance about him.
The moment the Crown Prince's carriage left the lane of the hostage residence, he headed straight for the imperial palace.
It was true that Yan had promised to send a hostage to Jin — but never once had they said it would be the *legitimate* heir. The Crown Prince had to report this fact to the Emperor at once.
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With the Jin Emperor's birthday celebration on the morrow, envoys from every nation were converging on Dadu. Those who heard of the Great Yan Emperor's arrival came in person to the place where he was lodging, bearing gifts.
Xiao Rongyan conducted business in Great Yan, and had moreover entered into trade with the Emperor's Grand Eunuch Feng Yao, so naturally he was obliged to send gifts as well. He prepared two: one for the Emperor of Great Yan, and one for the Grand Eunuch Feng Yao.
By the time Xiao Rongyan arrived, the envoys of the various nations who had sent gifts to the Great Yan Emperor had not yet departed, and so he waited outside the residence for over an hour. At last Feng Yao came ambling slowly out of the gate.
Xiao Rongyan hurried forward and bowed in greeting.
"My respects to you, Lord Feng."
Feng Yao, with a self-satisfied smile, waved the greeting off as unnecessary. Xiao Rongyan handed Yue Shi the wooden box holding his ledgers and had him present it to Feng Yao, then lowered his voice.
"Why did Ah Li come?"
"Master Xiao, the Fourth Prince has been headstrong beyond measure since he was a boy. This time as well, he insisted on coming in place of the Second Prince."
Feng Yao, maintaining his proud and dignified bearing, continued in a small, deferential voice.
"Master Xiao, do not worry yourself. The Fourth Prince is a clever one."
What was spilled water could not be scooped back up — what more was there for Xiao Rongyan to say?
He pressed his lips inward and spoke.
"It seemed the Rongdi envoys have arrived…"
"Yes, but His Majesty refused to grant them an audience."
"Yue Shi, pass this along to my brother. Tell him to send someone privately to meet with the Rongdi envoys. It would be worth raising troops under the pretext of quelling the Rongdi civil strife. He would not only gain possession of the Rongdi's natural horse pastures, but could also prepare to wage war against Liang later, attacking in concert with Jin. It is a venture fraught with danger — but it is a rare opportunity. If my brother moves boldly on this gambit, it will benefit our Great Yan immensely."
Having said his piece, Xiao Rongyan presented the ledgers to Feng Yao.
Feng Yao nodded with a smile, tucked the wooden box of accounts under his arm, and returned to the residence looking thoroughly pleased.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Inside the post station.
Li Zhijie, Prince of Yan of Xiliang, had heard the news that the Emperor of Great Yan had entered Jin with his son in tow. But when word came at midday that he would not be attending the palace banquet, he pressed his thin lips inward.
Once the physician finished applying his medicine and withdrew, Li Zhijie dressed himself and spoke to Liu Chentuo.
"Pack the carriage full of gifts and send them to the Emperor of Yan."
"Yes, my lord."
Liu Chentuo answered and went out.
Li Zhijie straightened his garments, lifted his tea, and sank into thought before calling for someone again.
"Tell Her Highness the Princess to rest at the post station today and recover her strength — we shall attend only the Jin Emperor's birthday banquet tomorrow. We will not be going to the midday banquet."
Since the Great Yan Emperor had not been invited to today's banquet, it was clearly meant to be a celebration of the great victory in the Southern Border. Attending would only earn him humiliation. So he would plead severe injury, and the Princess would excuse herself on grounds of frailty, and neither would appear.
At tomorrow's banquet for the Emperor of Great Yan, Her Highness the Princess was scheduled to perform a dance. That would be the moment to unveil her beauty to the world.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
With the Emperor's banquet on the morrow, today's midday feast was kept modest. The Emperor invited only the heroes of the Southern Border campaign and their families.
The Prince of Yan of Xiliang and the Princess did not attend. Word was sent that one had not yet fully recovered from his wounds, and the other, suffering from an inability to acclimate to the local climate and water, was conserving her strength for the Emperor's birthday banquet tomorrow. Hearing this, the Emperor judged that they at least knew how to read a room.
Then he heard that the Emperor of Great Yan had brought his legitimate second son, and though puzzled for a moment, he decided that with the majesty of Great Jin proclaimed far and wide, the Great Yan Emperor must have brought his heir as an expression of goodwill toward Jin.
Great Yan was now a pitiful little state. They had reclaimed Southern Yan, it was true, but that hardly meant they could presume to treat with Jin on equal footing.
His mood considerably brighter than before, the Emperor issued instructions to the Crown Prince.
"The Emperor of Yan has shown such sincerity as to send his own legitimate son to Jin as a hostage — Jin must not be outdone in spirit. While the Fourth Prince of Yan remains in Dadu, take him about — spring outings, poetry gatherings, and the like. And give fair warning in advance to the noble young lords of Dadu: they are not to lay a finger on the Fourth Prince."
"Your son accepts the command. Father, do not worry."
The Crown Prince respectfully supported the Emperor as they left the inner chamber.
"Word is that Third Uncle will hold a polo tournament on the sixth day of the fourth month. I have been invited, and I will bring the Fourth Prince of Yan along then. I shall also introduce him to the likes of Lu Yuanfeng and the other noble young lords of Dadu, so that he may settle into the capital quickly."
*Keep company with vermillion and one turns red; keep company with ink and one turns black.* And he would have the Fourth Prince befriend *those* young lords……
If he befriended that crowd, the Fourth Prince's future was plain as day. Should anything happen to the legitimate heir of the Great Yan Emperor, the Fourth Prince — who had whiled away his days rubbing shoulders with Dadu's idle aristocrats — would return to Yan and take the throne. And at that point, Great Yan would descend into utter chaos.
The Emperor, sensing that his son had grasped his meaning, tapped him lightly on the hand.
"My son has grown indeed."
The Emperor found himself liking this son more and more.
"Beyond the hostage, it seems the Emperor of Yan wishes to bind Jin to Yan still more closely. He appeared to intend taking a bride for his own younger brother, the Ninth Prince, from among the women of Jin. As for Xiliang…… he has brought a princess of peace-alliance all this way, so we ought to select a fine match for him there as well. Prince Li Zhijie, too, has expressed a desire to wed a woman of Great Jin. Attend to these matters."
The Emperor instructed the Crown Prince.
For an instant, the Crown Prince's chest tightened. He did not know why, but Bai Jingyan came to mind.
"Father — surely they don't intend to take Bai Jingyan?"
The Emperor halted mid-stride and said with a smiling face.
"Bai Jingyan has sworn never to marry. I cannot force her. Though if the Ninth Prince of Yan or the Prince of Yan of Xiliang were willing to enter *our* family as a live-in son-in-law, I would consider that a fine match as well."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Inside the elm-wood carriage, Lady Dong took her daughter's hand and spoke in a low voice.
"We are to return to Suyang on the first day of the fifth month. Everything is already prepared as of today. Once we return to Suyang, we will be far from the Emperor's reach — there will be nothing to fear. So no matter what the Emperor says at the palace banquet when he brings up the matter of surrendered soldiers, bear it. He must not take it into his head to kill you a second time."
"Mother, do not worry. I understand perfectly."
Lady Dong gazed at her daughter, outstanding in both beauty and bearing, and lifted a hand to smooth the stray hairs back behind Bai Jingyan's ear. She wanted nothing more than to take her daughter and return to Suyang that very day. If the Emperor were suddenly to bestow a marriage upon her, she could hardly defy an imperial decree, and her daughter's position would become untenable.
Lady Dong wanted to speak to her daughter about Dong Qingping, but swallowed the words, fearing her daughter would take it ill.
When Lady Dong felt the calluses hardened into her daughter's palm and touched the sandbag bound around her wrist, a bitter taste rose thick in her mouth. Her heart ached for how her daughter suffered.