A Match Made by Heaven
"At His Majesty's birthday banquet, he arranged a match between the Commandery Princess and the Yan Empire's third prince, and brought together another fine union between the Crown Prince and the princess of Xiliang. Truly an occasion for congratulations."
Consort Chu gazed up at the Emperor, her eyes glistening with dew.
"My beloved speaks truly."
The Empress cleared her throat, but the Emperor was utterly lost in Consort Chu's spring-warm gaze. It was Consort Yu who smoothed over the moment.
"Your Majesty, how devoted you are to the Crown Prince. I hear he intends to present Your Majesty with a white deer. A caring father and a filial son, side by side — this is nothing less than the blessing of our Great Jin!"
At that, the Crown Prince hurriedly gave orders to bring in the white deer.
In Jin, the white deer was a sacred beast. Since no one had ever seen one so large, the court buzzed with curiosity.
The Emperor's mood soared, and for a long while he heaped praise upon the Crown Prince. Then he rose to his feet, lifted his cup, and spoke in a voice as grand as a tolling bell.
"The white deer is an auspicious omen sent down by Heaven. It shall protect our Great Jin, and our Great Jin shall prosper for eternity!"
"Great Jin shall prosper for eternity!"
"Great Jin shall prosper for eternity!"
"Great Jin shall prosper for eternity!"
The assembled officials bowed and cried out in celebration of prosperity — as though the simple act of shouting it could truly make the nation flourish forever.
Bai Jingyan bowed along with the rest, but her face was utterly expressionless.
Outside the great hall, Eunuch Xiao came hurrying around the corner, slipped in beside Gao Demu, and whispered to him behind a raised hand.
Having listened, Gao Demu waved the eunuch away and approached the Emperor with a pleasant smile.
"Your Majesty, the Grand Princess has sent Your Majesty a gift through Nanny Zhang. She requests an audience."
"To think my aunt would keep my birthday in mind."
The Emperor said it with a delighted smile.
"Summon Nanny Zhang."
Gao Demu turned and signaled for Nanny Zhang to be brought in.
Soon she walked in from outside the hall, both hands folded before her in a posture of neat, respectful deference. Behind her were several large objects shrouded in red cloth. Only their silhouettes could be seen, but they were unmistakably folding screens.
After performing her obeisance, Nanny Zhang spoke.
"This humble servant greets Your Majesty. The Grand Princess prays for the realm at the Imperial Nunnery, and so she sent this servant to deliver a gift to Your Majesty."
Nanny Zhang turned slightly and gestured for the red cloth to be drawn away. Just as she had implied, they were screens.
The moment the Emperor laid eyes on them, his pupils contracted sharply and he shot up from his seat.
Yet Nanny Zhang, as if she had not seen it, spoke slowly on.
"Your Majesty, you may not remember, but when the Grand Princess's eldest legitimate daughter, Miss Bai Xiaoqiu, still lived, she made a promise — that she would embroider Your Majesty's portrait onto a folding screen and present it as a birthday gift. But she departed this world having embroidered only half of it. And so the Grand Princess kept this screen stored away, apart, for many long years. Then some time ago she met a woman of remarkable ability, whose embroidery technique, she said, was identical to our Xiaoqiu's. The Grand Princess sought out this young lady, and the screen was finished just this very morning. She bade this servant deliver it to Your Majesty — saying that someone must keep the promise our Xiaoqiu could not."
The Emperor's lips trembled faintly. He hurried down from the dais and examined the screen. Half bore the faded traces of stitching done long ago; the other half was fresh work — yet the craftsmanship was so uniform it might have passed entirely through Bai Xiaoqiu's hands.
As the rims of the Emperor's eyes reddened, Nanny Zhang knelt at his side and bowed low.
"Your Majesty, the Grand Princess wishes to make a request of you. Back then, Your Majesty promised to confer the title of Commandery Princess upon our Xiaoqiu. She was to petition the late Emperor upon her return from Jiaozhou, so that a title might be granted. But even though the plague in Jiaozhou was resolved, our Xiaoqiu never came home! Now the Grand Princess wishes to take Miss Lu — whose needlework matches our Xiaoqiu's exactly — as an adopted daughter, and asks that she be granted the title of Commandery Princess in Xiaoqiu's stead."
At those words, the Emperor frowned.
"My aunt is advanced in years — perhaps her memory confuses her? A similar hand at the needle hardly makes the girl a substitute for Xiaoqiu."
His Xiaoqiu was the only one of her kind in all the world!
Nanny Zhang bowed hastily, at a loss for how to proceed.
"But Your Majesty, this Miss Lu... she... she is..."
"Nanny Zhang, go back and tell my aunt this: if something pleases her, she may keep it by her side and dote on it like a dog or a cat, and that is all there is to it. How could a common-born girl ever be compared to Xiaoqiu?"
Rage boiled up within him, and the words spilled out unchecked.
Nanny Zhang clenched her teeth and bowed deeply once more.
"And yet, Your Majesty — this Miss Lu is eighteen years old this year, born on the sixth day of the second month! Not only is her needlework the same — she even has our Xiaoqiu's very face!"
Having rushed the words out, Nanny Zhang bowed and continued in a trembling voice, on the verge of tears.
"The Grand Princess begged this servant not to speak of it. But Your Majesty — that girl is no dog or cat to the Grand Princess. Nor is she one to this servant. The Grand Princess truly believes that Miss Lu is the reborn soul of our Bai Xiaoqiu."
"For years upon years the Grand Princess has chanted the sutras and prayed to Heaven and to every spirit and deity. And Heaven, at last, has sent Xiaoqiu back to her mother's side. How could the Grand Princess simply stand by and watch her child suffer? Your Majesty!"
Consort Chu clenched her fists and then, restless, did nothing but fidget with her handkerchief. She knew perfectly well why she was favored — because of a face that resembled Bai Xiaoqiu's. And now the Grand Princess stood before them all, declaring Bai Xiaoqiu reborn.
The Grand Princess was Bai Xiaoqiu's own mother. If even the mother believed her daughter had returned to the world — then what must the Emperor believe?
Lady Dong was left bewildered.
Bai Jingyan kept her head lowered, lost in thought. She was the one who had told Nanny Zhang that the Liang King, under the pretext of presenting a portrait, had sent to the Emperor's bedchamber a woman resembling her aunt Bai Xiaoqiu. That was why her grandmother had made her move today.
No one could tolerate such a thing less than the Grand Princess — Bai Xiaoqiu's own mother. To think someone harboring ill will toward the Bai family would scheme with the aid of her departed daughter.
Grandmother's strategy was leagues beyond the Liang King's crude ploy. By way of Nanny Zhang's mouth, she had engineered a situation in which she could not help but explain why she wished to keep Miss Lu at her side.
Miss Lu, who had not yet even shown her face, had already won the Emperor's heart without lifting a finger. One way or another, Consort Chu would not yet fall from favor entirely — but never again would she monopolize it as she once had.
Watching the Emperor's dazed face, Bai Jingyan allowed herself a faint smile.
She knew her grandmother well. So long as the Li family's dynasty was not the thing being shaken, the Grand Princess would protect the Bai family and everyone in it.
Until the palace banquet ended that day, Li Zhijie never once managed to raise the matter of marriage with Bai Jinchi.
Bai Jinxiu left the palace, supported by her maid Cuibi, and climbed into Bai Jingyan's carriage.
"The Liang King sent Consort Chu to the palace, so Grandmother answered with this counterstroke — is that it?"
Bai Jinxiu asked with evident satisfaction, her eyes on Bai Jingyan.
"Grandmother truly is remarkable. Nothing wounds a man more than having something better than what he cannot have. Miss Lu hasn't even shown her face, and she's already stolen the Emperor's heart! The day Consort Chu loses her favor cannot be far off now."
The curtain hanging at the corner of the carriage swayed, and its glow lit Bai Jingyan's eyes, bright and flashing.
Bai Jingyan nodded.
"The Liang King is impressive too. How he even uncovered something so secret, I'd like to know. He sought out a young lady resembling Aunt Xiaoqiu in advance and bound her to serve him in perfect loyalty. Consort Chu is no one to be taken lightly — that much is certain. But speaking of which, the Han King keeps weighing on my mind. He seemed utterly entangled with the Liang King."
The Han King held military command in his hands. She had to stop him from committing the same treason the Liang King had committed in her past life.
The alliance between the Liang King and the Han King could simply be thrown to the Crown Prince to resolve.
"Sister, how did you know that?"
Scarcely had she finished asking when Bai Jinxiu recalled the scene of Consort Chu so suddenly coming to Liu Yafu's defense, and sank deep into thought.
Because Bai Jinxiu was with child, Bai Jingyan did not want her dwelling on such things too long. She smiled and turned the conversation.
"Tomorrow I mean to call on Grandmother with Jinchi, and after that I'll go see Qi Zhengyu. You're far along now — you needn't come along."
Bai Jinxiu rested a hand on her belly and nodded lightly.
"I'll do that. To tell the truth, I already visited Grandmother on the fifteenth of this month. She said from now on I should come once every three months."
"Mm..."
Bai Jingyan raised a hand and gently touched Bai Jinxiu's belly.
"You must rest well at home."
At that, Bai Jinxiu suddenly thought of her second uncle, Bai Jingjing, and dropped her head, the rims of her eyes reddening.
"If only Second Uncle were still with us. Then you wouldn't have to toil like this, Sister."
Even though the war with Xiliang was over, Bai Jingyan still had to labor to keep her standing with the Crown Prince secure. How exhausting it must be for her — and now, of all times, Bai Jinxiu could not lift a finger to help.
"Once we return to Suyang, all of it will be resolved."
Bai Jingyan said.
Early the next morning, Nanny Dong gave orders to ready the carriage, and Chun Tao packed the tea set and refreshments before climbing aboard behind Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi. Escorted by the guards Nuo Ping had assembled, they set out to visit the Grand Princess at the Imperial Nunnery.
Bai Jinchi remembered this very day last year. Back then, her elder brothers had sneaked her off to the temple fair in Guping Town.
"Sister, after we see Grandmother and Qi Zhengyu, let's go to the Guping Town temple fair! A year ago today, my brothers secretly took me there. We were going to go to Baoxiang Tower for the Baoxiang Roast Duck they only sell at fair time, but Father caught us, and he grabbed me by the ear and dragged me home — so I never got to eat any."
Bai Jinchi bowed her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. It wasn't really the food she craved — it was her brothers she missed.
"All right. We'll stop by the Imperial Nunnery first, and after we've seen Qi Zhengyu, if there's time left, we'll go eat some Baoxiang Roast Duck."
Bai Jingyan answered in a soft, gentle voice.
"Sister, you're the best!"
Bai Jinchi lifted her head and broke into a wide smile.
It was still early morning, and the mountain air had not yet lost its chill. Birds chattering on the rooftops, drinking in the dawn light, looked down on the courtyard, where workers bustled about under Nanny Zhang's command.
Because Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi were coming to pay their respects to the Grand Princess today, Nanny Zhang had not a moment to spare, her feet barely touching the ground as she hurried in and out of every room. She gave instructions for light, unctuous-free refreshments, then for the teas the two young ladies loved best. Then came the flowers — carried to the prettiest spot in the garden, where stone seats were set out and cushions laid upon them. The two young ladies must not be allowed to sit anywhere cold.