Putting on an Act
Lady Dong lifted her head, opening her mouth to defend her daughter as she glared at the Han King, who was still groveling before her husband — but Bai Jingyan lightly pressed a hand to her mother's shoulder and stopped her.
With calm, cool eyes, Bai Jingyan regarded the Han King. She had never cared for contests of pride and temper with anyone, but neither was she the sort to simply lie down and be trampled.
Bai Jinxiu, usually so composed and measured, clenched her teeth, fixed the Han King with a look, and let a sneer curl her lips.
"Han King, what you're saying right now is—"
But before Bai Jinxiu could finish, Wei Qiheng, the Fourth Prince of Liang, lost his patience and spoke first.
"Han King, how can you say such things? When you mistook her for someone else and declared you'd take the County Mistress of Nantao as your wife, it was a match made in heaven. But the moment you want the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, suddenly she's the one who seduced you? They say the Jin court doesn't judge people by their looks — so am I some strange creature who chases nothing but pretty faces? Or is this your way of stepping on the Zhenguo Commandery Princess to elevate your own daughter?"
Wei Qiheng's face had darkened.
"The Commandery Princess's beauty obviously surpasses the County Mistress of Nantao's. To say more would only make my mouth ache! More than that, she led a great army to pacify the Southern Border and protected the people of Jin. Her virtue is impeccable. So tell me — is she not a thousand times better than some so-called gifted woman who plays at being frail, fiddles with instruments, and puts on pitiful little acts while composing her clever verses? What on earth are you even saying, Han King?"
"Pfft."
Bai Jinchi couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. Then she shot Wei Qiheng a covert thumbs-up. This Fourth Prince of Liang had a real talent for provoking people with words — one that could rival Lu Yuanfeng's.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out that you've been spreading word of how I knelt before you in the palace yesterday and begged for the marriage? I held my tongue only because you were the father of the woman I love. Surely you don't take me for a fool. Did you really believe I'd never learn what you'd been up to?"
Wei Qiheng raised his brows and delivered the words in a ringing voice.
Only yesterday, the Fourth Prince of Liang had bowed and scraped before him with impeccable courtesy — and now he was saying this to his face. Rage surged up the Han King's throat, but with no way to spit it out and no way to swallow it back down, his face was a spectacle to behold.
Bai Jingyan performed a formal bow and addressed the Han King.
"Han King, when my grandfather and father were still alive, whenever there was occasion to come to Dadu, you would call at the Duke's estate to pay your respects, did you not? I've heard you told everyone outside that you and my father were as close as brothers.
Yet when my father gave his life for this country, you never came to offer condolences — you didn't even send a servant. This time, too, you came to Dadu but never once stopped by the estate. Of course, I understand — you are a busy and exalted man.
But if you were truly as close to my father as brothers, would you trample me, his daughter — your own niece by that bond — just to lift up your daughter in her place? I know well enough that when a person is gone, the affection dies with them. Still, you might have been a little less obvious about wearing two faces. It is the surest way to draw the world's censure.
Above all, it wasn't I who led the Fourth Prince of Liang to the lake, nor did I ever tell him that I was Liu Yafu. Far less did I ask him to enter the palace and plead with you to permit this marriage. And most certainly of all, I did not instruct anyone to spread the rumor that the Fourth Prince had knelt and begged your leave to take the County Mistress of Nantao as his wife. You crumpled your own dignity and threw it away, Han King — how is any of this my fault?"
Murong Yu lifted his wine cup, took a light sip, and watched the spectacle with great enjoyment.
"Bai Jingyan..."
The Han King called her name weakly. He had long heard of her silver tongue, so he wasn't entirely caught off guard.
"Your Bai family met with crushing defeat in the Southern Border, and His Majesty, pitying the fate of the Bai men, permitted you to go south and atone in their stead. But as a man of Jin, I cannot forget, Bai Jingyan — I cannot forget the sin of your grandfather and your father, who sent hundreds of thousands of Jin's elite soldiers to their deaths in the Southern Border! To be sure, the King of Xin coerced your grandfather with the gold-plaque summons, but your grandfather could have weighed the reasons and made the most righteous choice, could he not!"
Bai Jingyan's eyes narrowed.
"Are you saying, Han King, that my grandfather was wrong to obey the command of the gold-plaque summons?"
The Han King pressed his mouth shut. He didn't answer the question — only sneered.
"Because you won victories in the Southern Border, His Majesty and the Crown Prince, in their magnanimity, granted you the title of Commandery Princess! All the more reason you should have watched your every word and deed and cultivated the virtues a woman ought to have. Yet here you are, speaking to me in this manner. By age, I am your elder; by rank, I hold a kingship. And still you quibble with me like this, even before His Majesty. Have you no regard for the Emperor at all?"
"Han King, don't try to inflate your own reputation by borrowing His Majesty's authority. For generations, my family has thrown body and soul into following Emperor Gaozu and carving out these rivers and mountains. Your Liu ancestors, on the other hand — supporting Great Yan with one hand while lending Gaozu money with the other, scrambling to size up who would reach the top and secure their place in line. That is how your family came by its kingship. And that is what you're boasting of now?"
Bai Jingyan's voice was utterly unhurried, laced with mockery and contempt. The Han King's face had drained white.
The hand holding Murong Yu's wine cup trembled faintly. So the Zhenguo Commandery Princess is a formidable debater as well. He turned his gaze back to Xiao Rongyan — and found him with a smile resting on his lips, watching Bai Jingyan with an expression of undisguised pride.
Murong Yu was certain now. If his younger brother ever wed the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, he would never win an argument against her for the rest of his days. The man was destined to be thoroughly ruled by his wife.
"Bai Jingyan!"
The Han King ground his teeth.
"You're infamous for slaughtering surrendered soldiers. You commit such conscienceless acts, and now, in front of His Majesty, you — you dare rattle off retort after retort without a shred of womanly virtue! Who in their right mind would ever take you for a wife after this? Take an elder's advice: know your place!"
High on his throne, the Emperor watched Bai Jingyan fall into this predicament with evident relish.
"Enough, enough! Han King, really — a man of your years, working himself into such a serious rage over a young one."
The art of ruling had always been, at its heart, the strategy of controlling men.
One drove a person into a corner first — only then, by extending a hand of rescue, could that person be made to submit completely. What the Emperor wanted was for everyone to turn their backs on Bai Jingyan. That was why, though he knew full well the rumor was circulating through Dadu that she had butchered surrendered soldiers, he had quietly done nothing.
"Your Majesty, I speak this way only because I am the Commandery Princess's elder," the Han King pressed on. "Her temper is so fierce, I fear no one will ever take her in hand."
But the moment those words left his mouth, Wei Qiheng turned his head toward Bai Jingyan. Then, with great formality, he presented his jade token to her.
"Zhenguo Commandery Princess! I, Wei Qiheng, wish to take you as my wife! This token is the very emblem of the Liang Emperor's authority! From this day forward, I will look upon you and you alone — I will never harbor feelings for another. If I break this oath, let me be struck dead by a bolt from the heavens!"
The Han King was struck speechless.
Was his fate simply misaligned with this Fourth Prince of Liang's? Where had yesterday's courteous, deferential prince gone? What had gotten into him today? Why was nothing going right?
"Fourth Prince, I thank you, but—"
Before Bai Jingyan could finish, the Emperor cut her off.
"Fourth Prince, it seems you were unaware. The Zhenguo Commandery Princess has sworn before the late Zhenguo King's spirit tablet never to marry in this lifetime."
The Emperor spoke slowly, his face perfectly composed.
"So if Liang intends to take the Commandery Princess back with it to secure amity with our Jin — I'm afraid that won't be possible."
Bai Jingyan kept her head lowered and sneered inwardly. The Emperor was openly revealing his hand: he had no intention of sending her abroad as a bride. He wouldn't even let her get a single word in — because he feared, however faintly, that she might actually agree.
The Liang envoys, who had never dreamed their Fourth Prince would pull a stunt like this, felt a headache bearing down on them all at once.
Last night it was the County Mistress of Nantao he wanted for a wife; today, at the banquet, it was the Zhenguo Commandery Princess. What kind of person did such a thing?
Wei Qiheng flinched, then turned to stare at Bai Jingyan in open disbelief.
"This Bai Jingyan has already sworn never to marry in this lifetime. And though you may not know it, Fourth Prince, I suffered a grave injury long ago and am without the fortune of children. I could not ruin the road ahead of you."
Bai Jingyan bowed with perfect respect. There wasn't the slightest hesitation in her about the matter. She sounded for all the world like a woman truly resolved never to wed.
Lady Dong frowned, clutching her handkerchief tight, and let out a long sigh.
Wei Qiheng stood there, utterly dumbfounded.
Liu Yafu loosened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand and said with a smile,
"Zhenguo Commandery Princess, there's no need to blame yourself so. The Fourth Prince of Liang seems quite hopelessly taken with you — who could hold that against you?"
"Liu Yafu!"
The Han King shot her a warning glare, silently telling her to stop pouring salt in the wound and sit down.
The Emperor had already spoken, and his words were dripping with the intent to keep Bai Jingyan from being sent abroad. If Liu Yafu kept this up, she would only earn his displeasure.
"The County Mistress of Nantao is the finest beauty in all of Jin, is she not? Though the Fourth Prince mistook one face for another, there's no reason he can't still forge a fine bond with her, no?"
Noble Consort Chu smiled as she looked toward the Emperor.
"Even knowing the Fourth Prince of Liang carried feelings for the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, the County Mistress of Nantao still tried to help the two of them along — so I'd say her heart truly lies with him."
Bai Jingyan turned to look at Noble Consort Chu with surprise. Was the woman helping Liu Yafu now?
Then her gaze drifted back toward where the Han King stood. The only king in all of Jin who bore a different family name — and one who held military power in his hands.
The Emperor nodded. Then he looked at the beauty at his side.
"Noble Consort Chu speaks truly."
But Liu Yafu's face had twisted. Who exactly is Noble Consort Chu humiliating right now?
At the Emperor's nod, the Han King had no choice but to swallow the refusal he'd been about to voice. There was no defying the Emperor's word.
The Liang envoys signaled to the deputy envoy to drag the dazed Fourth Prince, standing frozen in place, back to his seat.
Wei Qiheng was torn. He had no real craving for the Liang throne, so taking no consort or concubines would cost him nothing. But if it meant he could never father a child — that he absolutely could not accept.
And yet he had declared with his own mouth that he would take the Zhenguo Commandery Princess as his wife. After loudly vowing to keep no consorts or concubines, there was no taking it back now. Worse, if he announced he would take a concubine after all, the Zhenguo Commandery Princess would never marry him in the first place.