A Complete Life
The Grand Princess had spent the entire morning in a clamorous, crowded place, and her body was weary from it. After seeing that she was settled comfortably in her chambers to rest, Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinxiu walked out of the General's Garden side by side.
"Though I've never seen our aunt myself, I'm certain that I, my lady, resemble our aunt in that painting far more than that ugly hag does. Do you suppose Grandmother intends to send me to the palace?"
Bai Jinxiu asked, furrowing her brow.
"The reason His Majesty still cannot forget that ugly hag—could it not be because she is a woman he never once possessed?"
Bai Jingyan spoke slowly.
The moment her words fell, Nanny Jin hurried over and bowed.
"My eldest lady, Teacher Xiao has arrived. He says he has prepared a gift for the eighth young lady's Third-Day Washing Ceremony, but it is such a rare treasure that the Madam declined it. However, Teacher Xiao said it would be best for the eldest lady to see it first before deciding whether to accept or refuse."
Having finished, Nanny Jin turned her head toward Bai Jinxiu.
"Jin Lang has come along as well."
Bai Jinxiu found this unexpected. Her own impression of Teacher Xiao was very deep. Not only had he helped the Bai family, but Jin Lang had often mentioned Xiao Rongyan as well, sparing no praise for his bold spirit and remarkable learning. He always ended by saying that if Xiao Rongyan had abandoned commerce and devoted himself to scholarship, he would surely have become a literary luminary of their age.
Bai Jinxiu turned to look at Bai Jingyan.
"Elder sister?"
Bai Jingyan nodded, guessing that Xiao Rongyan had brought the gift in order to see her.
"I'll go."
By the time Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinxiu arrived, the madam of the Crane Quarter was entertaining Xiao Rongyan and Jin Lang in the main hall alongside Lady Dong.
The moment the sisters entered, Xiao Rongyan and Jin Lang rose hastily and offered their greetings.
After bowing to Bai Jingyan, Jin Lang stepped forward to support the heavily pregnant Bai Jinxiu.
"Commandery Princess, Madam."
Xiao Rongyan greeted them courteously, a gentle and gracious smile on his lips.
"Teacher Xiao."
Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinxiu returned his bow.
The madam of the Crane Quarter smiled and spoke up.
"Commandery Princess, the gift Teacher Xiao sent is so precious that the Madam declined it, but Teacher Xiao insisted you should see it before deciding whether to accept."
Bai Jingyan had spotted it the instant she stepped through the door: a phoenix carved from a single flawless piece of jadeite, standing at the center of the hall. It glowed with a translucent light, dazzlingly resplendent. The jade was limpid and lustrous without a single flaw, and it stood fully half the height of a grown person.
It was a rare and extraordinary treasure. Not even in a household of Bai Jingyan's standing—let alone within the imperial palace—could such a piece be seen with any regularity.
It would be no exaggeration to call it a heirloom fit to be handed down for generations.
Lady Dong glanced once at her daughter, who had fallen deep into thought, and then spoke.
"Teacher Xiao's gift is far too valuable. Our Bai family cannot accept it."
Bai Jingyan met Xiao Rongyan's deep gaze with a calm, level look.
"Teacher Xiao, let us speak for a moment."
Xiao Rongyan nodded, then turned and bowed calmly to Lady Dong. Only after exchanging clasped-fist salutes with Jin Lang and Bai Jinxiu did he follow Bai Jingyan over the threshold, entirely composed.
"Nanny Jin, go with Chun Tao and accompany the Commandery Princess. She may have instructions to give."
Lady Dong said. Though it was only the inner courtyard, the two were an unmarried man and woman, so she sent Nanny Jin and Chun Tao after them.
The two stood in a corridor flooded with sunlight, speaking in low voices while Nanny Jin and Chun Tao kept their distance.
"So the Emperor of Yan has consented to place his trust in Physician Hong for his treatment."
Bai Jingyan said. It sounded like a question, but her tone carried certainty.
"He has. Which is why I've come. I would ask the eldest lady of the Bai family to see to it that Physician Hong enters Yan in secret, following my elder brother."
Xiao Rongyan's voice was earnest. He bowed deeply toward Bai Jingyan as he made his request.
In the meantime, the Emperor of Yan had seen countless physicians. Yet not a single one had been able to offer a clear diagnosis regarding the poison in his body.
Three separate toxins coexisted within the Emperor of Yan.
He had been poisoned first by his own father, the previous emperor. The remaining two toxins had been fed to him directly by the Empress Dowager in her desperate attempt to save him.
In truth, the Emperor had wished to avoid the risk, but in the end Xiao Rongyan had persuaded him.
But with his life hanging in the balance, it was not something that could be treated in a foreign land—here in Jin.
"Very well."
Bai Jingyan nodded.
"But the jade phoenix—you would do best to take it back. Tell the world that a gift was offered to me and that I refused it."
"It is my elder brother's token of sincerity."
A faint smile touched the corners of Xiao Rongyan's mouth.
"If you refuse it, his heart will not be at ease."
"And if I accept it, I will only invite needless censure."
Bai Jingyan's attitude was resolute.
"It will not be too late to accept it after Physician Hong succeeds in drawing out the poison. Given how the imperial clansmen of Suyang conduct themselves, they are certain to harass the Bai family and demand we surrender this treasure. That would run directly counter to His Majesty's and your good intentions."
Her words had merit; Xiao Rongyan was hardly ignorant of the character of the Suyang imperial clansmen.
"Then I shall take it back for now. Consider it entrusted to my keeping, eldest lady of Bai."
Xiao Rongyan fingered the jade cicada in his hand, then raised his head to look at Bai Jingyan and held it out to her, continuing in a soft voice.
"Then, eldest lady, accept this first."
The jade cicada.
Bai Jingyan's pupils trembled almost imperceptibly. In her past life, Xiao Rongyan had given her this jade cicada at the moment when she had been at her most wretched.
He had pressed it into her hands and told her to run.
And now, in this life too, he was offering her the very same cicada—in a tone of voice entirely unlike the one he had used before.
"This is something you carried on your person, Teacher Xiao. I cannot accept it."
The hand Bai Jingyan had tucked into her sleeve clenched tight.
Xiao Rongyan stepped forward, positioning himself so his back blocked Nanny Jin's and Chun Tao's view. Then, seizing Bai Jingyan's slender wrist, he pressed the jade cicada into her palm.
"This was my mother's keepsake. A senior statesman gave it to her as a gift; it was said to be a thing that grants protection and peace. Later—when the uprising broke out at the traveling palace—my mother hung this cicada around my neck and told me to flee with my nurse. And I survived."
Xiao Rongyan stepped back slightly and gazed at the great tree in the courtyard, its tender new shoots breaking into fresh green.
He remembered the chaos of that day as vividly as if it were before his eyes.
His mother had hung the cicada on him and held him tightly in her arms. Then she had begged him to save his elder brother and to live well.
It was the first time Xiao Rongyan had ever seen his mother weep. She had always seemed so strong, so larger than life. In that moment, she had already known for certain that her husband was a man who could not even protect his own children. The Xiao Rongyan of that time had been blind to what she felt.
Later, when his elder brother had a child, that child was assassinated by the remnants his father had left behind. Only then did Xiao Rongyan begin, in some small measure, to understand how the pain of his mother's heart must have cut like a blade.
Bai Jingyan watched Xiao Rongyan as he stood staring at the great tree, wrapped in some emotion she could not name.
"The tree at the traveling palace back then was even larger than this one, I think. My nurse hid me high in its branches, and we covered ourselves with the thick leaves. Not long after, my father arrived, and I tried to cry out for help. But my nurse clamped her hand over my mouth.
With my own two eyes, I watched the black-clad assassins who had thrown the traveling palace into chaos kneel before my father and make their report. Only then did I understand—that all of it had been his design."
The jade cicada still carried the warmth of Xiao Rongyan's body. Bai Jingyan lowered her head and looked at it. It was exactly like the one she had seen in her past life.
Xiao Rongyan bowed his head, then shook free of his grief and turned his deep eyes back to her.
"That day, I swore an oath. If ever I were to take a wife, I would trust her without wavering—and I would protect the whole of her life."
He gazed at Bai Jingyan with dark, captivating eyes. There was something about his gaze that made it seem as though he were hiding a tender feeling deep, deep within.
Every word he spoke sounded like a promise made to her alone.
Bai Jingyan clenched the cicada tightly, then held it back out to him.
"Then I truly cannot accept something so precious. Take it back."
"If you will not accept even the cicada, I will have nothing to say to my brother. So I beg you—do not put me in an impossible position."
Before Bai Jingyan could refuse, Xiao Rongyan smiled and changed the subject.
"On the sixth day of the fourth month, the Third Prince is to hold a polo tournament. Will you attend, my lady?"
"I'll tell Goldie to take the children. I don't intend to go myself."
Bai Jingyan turned her head toward Xiao Rongyan as she answered.
"If you have no other business, then—"
"And if I wished to invite you?"
At his deep, gentle voice, Bai Jingyan's heart pounded hard.
His eyes were serious, and earnest. She turned her head away, evading his gaze.
"I don't care for noisy places. I must decline, Teacher Xiao."
"That's quite all right. You've only just returned from the Southern Border, and then went straight from one banquet to another—no doubt you've had no proper rest. We will have many days ahead of us to meet."
Xiao Rongyan replied.
Bai Jingyan made no answer. By the time she had gathered herself and moved to return the cicada, Xiao Rongyan had already bowed his farewell and gone.
Bai Jingyan examined the jade cicada in her hand closely. Even the slightly chipped corner was identical to the one from her past life.
Yet there was something she could not, for the life of her, understand. It was his mother's keepsake—so why would Xiao Rongyan have given such a treasure to her in her past life?
If he had needed an object to signify his station, a token of rank would have been far more fitting than the cicada.
What could have moved him?
Bai Jingyan clenched the cicada tight. Before she could think any deeper, Lady Dong called for her.
"What on earth is going on between you and Teacher Xiao?"
Lady Dong frowned.
"I thought something was odd from the moment Teacher Xiao stepped forward to help at the Bai family's funeral. Could it be... that Teacher Xiao harbors some other feeling for you?"
Lady Dong had weathered far more of life's storms, and she was the senior in all matters of the heart. Besides, the gaze with which Xiao Rongyan looked at Bai Jingyan was anything but subtle. Naturally, she could not help but worry.
"Mother, no! And haven't I sworn that I will never marry? Don't worry. I will keep proper bounds with Teacher Xiao."
Bai Jingyan wrapped her arm around Lady Dong's and led her mother out into the garden.
At the words I will never marry in my whole life, Lady Dong felt as though her heart were being torn open all over again.
But the momentary displeasure washed away like a stain, and Lady Dong abruptly began to praise Xiao Rongyan.
"Teacher Xiao may be a merchant, but his spirit is extraordinary and his character broad. His looks are fine, and his learning is nothing to scoff at either. I'm not blaming you for asking—I only mean, if Teacher Xiao catches your eye, and the oath you swore never to marry weighs on you, then why not simply have him enter the Bai family as a live-in son-in-law?"
"Mother, what on earth are you saying?"
Bai Jingyan's ears flushed crimson.
"A son-in-law! They say that of all unfilial acts, failing to produce heirs is the gravest. I may never have children of my own—how could I burden another family for my sake? Even unmarried, I will live happily and joyfully, so please don't worry yourself, Mother."
Lady Dong pressed her lips inward and glared at her daughter.
"I say these things because my heart cannot rest! Your grandmother still tells the Zhang family to wait for you. The Zhang boy may be as good as a brother to you, and she says that would never do—but what about someone else? When I leave this world one day, then you'll be..."
Lady Dong's voice caught suddenly. She gripped her daughter's hand with all her strength and fought back her tears.
"I say it because I fear you'll be left all alone in the world!"
"Mother, I have my younger sisters! We're deeply devoted to one another, so you needn't worry about that!"