A Chance Encounter
A hush had settled over everything around them. The scholars holding their sheepskin lanterns drifted toward Guan Yongchong, gathering to listen as the old master spoke with solemn gravity on the way of Confucian learning.
Clad in a long robe with sweeping sleeves, Old Master Guan gazed at the young faces upturned toward him, listening with earnest attention, and continued in a voice soft and unhurried.
"With Liang's main army slaughtered, the Western Liang will be unable to invade our Jin for at least five years to come. Which means the people of our borderlands will live in peace for at least five years. What the Duke of Zhenguo could not accomplish when he marched to the Southern Border... Bai Jingyan has done it in his stead, honoring her grandfather's unfinished will, with fifty thousand Jin troops and barely ten thousand conscripted soldiers. Yes, blood was spilled — but it was spilled for the people of Jin's borders, and no one can deny that she achieved a great and lasting peace."
The scholars of the Imperial Academy fell silent. Looking up at the great master of letters, his hair streaked with white and his back slightly bowed, they found themselves nodding before they knew it.
"When Bai Jingyan first returned from the battlefield, I asked her about the reports coming out of the borderlands. And she told me this. On the wilds of the frontier, she said, bleached bones were heaped like mountains as far as the eye could see, and graves rose everywhere one looked. Farmland stretching across a thousand mu lay abandoned; corpses littered the ground for ten thousand li, and even the birds had vanished. A scene of desolation that could never be witnessed in the flourishing capital, she said. Then she vowed to devote the rest of her life — this body of hers, all of it — to returning peace to the realm and to its people. She was thirteen years old at the time. That vessel of hers was brimming over with compassion for a suffering world. I am her teacher, yet I know I could never match her breadth of spirit."
Watching the eminent scholar shake his head and wave his hand in humble denial, the Imperial Academy scholars standing at the palace gates with their tablets in hand wept hot tears. Never had they imagined that a woman could possess such a heart.
To give this one body of hers, and return peace to the people.
That a girl of thirteen should carry so magnificent a bosom — what must those book-bound men be thinking now? Where was the dignity of the scholars who had sought to tear Bai Jingyan down?
Bai Jingyan held her reins and stood gazing from a distance at her aged, venerable master — past seventy years of age — who had come out to the palace gates before dawn to plead her cause before the scholars. It was as though molten lava were churning in her chest. The corners of her eyes ached, and tears welled up within them.
Bai Jinchi was no less moved. She stepped forward two paces and spoke in a low voice.
"Big sister... Old Master Guan seems like such a wonderful man."
Only the sound of the wind answered her.
Old Master Guan, overcome by some feeling he could not name, went on with a tremor in his voice.
"In that year, the Duke of Zhenguo brought his young granddaughter to call on this old man. I asked him — 'For a woman, virtue lies in having neither learning nor talent. What is the use of teaching her books, when it will only give her headaches?'
And the Duke gave me this answer: 'With learning, one comes to know propriety, to know virtue, to know righteousness, and to know shame! I do not wish for my granddaughter to become a great scholar. I wish only that she may know propriety and virtue, know righteousness and shame, and live her life with her head held high.'
Bai Jingyan, the Duke's eldest granddaughter by direct line, did not disappoint him. Though born in a woman's body, they say she governs the state through civil counsel and secures it through military might. You should all take her spirit as your model and learn from it — and yet you gather here to slander one who has rendered merit to the state of Jin."
The old master swept his gaze over the scholars, who had lowered their heads in shame and discomfiture.
"In my lifetime I have taken forty-four direct disciples, and Bai Jingyan was the only woman among them. I have never been prouder of a student."
A cold wind carrying an edge of chill brushed past Bai Jingyan's burning eyes. The emotion she had been forcing down deep into her chest, swallowing and swallowing, felt ready to burst forth at any moment.
If her master ever learned that this disciple was no longer the girl she had been at thirteen — that she no longer bore a heart devoted solely to the people, that she was no longer a student who could live without a single shadow of shame — would he still look upon her with pride?
Bai Jingyan bowed with deep formality toward where her revered master stood, then mounted her horse.
"Let's go."
Bai Jinchi too bowed toward Old Master Guan, then swung herself into the saddle.
Officer Liu likewise mounted up with the guards who would accompany them to Shanyang, and the party quickly rode away.
On the second day of the fourth month, at the Hour of the Snake — between nine and eleven in the morning — the examination fraud affair came to its close.
The Emperor issued his decree. All who had taken bribes in connection with the civil examination were beheaded. After the Wenjin Gang's private assets were confiscated, its men were sentenced to exile and its women reduced to servitude. The examination candidates who had offered bribes would never be appointed to office for the rest of their lives, and the calamity extended even to their families — for three generations, none would be permitted to sit the examination. The test itself was to be held anew in February of the following year.
When the news spread, the candidates abandoned themselves to jubilation, and every one of them returned home to prepare for the next attempt, each hoping for a fine result come spring.
Dong Qingping sent a letter to Dengzhou to inform his younger brother Dong Qing'e that the examination would be held again. Dong Zhangyuan would remain in the capital to continue his studies. And Dong Qingping added that since Dong Zhangyuan had already placed within the top tier of this examination, he was sure to do well in the next.
Riding without rest, Bai Jingyan's party passed through the gates of Shanyang City at the Hour of the Dog — between seven and nine in the evening.
The sky was black as spilled ink, glittering with stars, and only a dark crimson glow lingered at its farthest edge.
Though she had returned to Shanyang after so long, little had changed from the Shanyang of years past.
The night market was in full swing, its lamplight so brilliant it might have been midday.
Sheepskin lanterns hung above the shopfronts, and from every direction came the cries of vendors and the sound of bright laughter, the streets thronged with customers.
For Bai Jinchi, seeing Shanyang's night market for the first time, it was endlessly fascinating. Bai Jingyan dismounted and walked along the road beside her.
Officer Liu sent a man ahead to reserve the finest guest lodgings in Shanyang. They had ridden to Shanyang without pause, so there had been no chance to send word in advance — and since Bai Jingyan had instructed them not to notify the clan, they would have to lodge at an inn.
The inn's head clerk apologized profusely to the man Officer Liu had sent. The man went off to look for other lodgings, and sent word back to Officer Liu of the situation.
When the report reached him, Officer Liu furrowed his brow.
"There's only one inn in Shanyang City with private courtyards. It would be no trouble for the rest of us, but I worried it might be uncomfortable for the Eldest and Fourth Young Ladies."
Bai Jingyan, leading her horse and walking beside Bai Jinchi with her mask on, heard this and answered.
"Officer Liu, switch to another inn."
Before the words had even left her mouth, someone called out to her.
"Commandery Princess?"
Bai Jingyan turned her head. It was Yue Shi, his face alight with excitement; he turned back and called out again to Xiao Rongyan.
"Master!"
Xiao Rongyan, who had been standing before a shop selling charming little trinkets, turned his head. With a deep, captivating gaze, he regarded the place as though it were an unexpected sight. Perhaps it was the warm yellowish light that embraced the surroundings, but his eyes seemed softer than ever. He set down the item in his hand, told Yue Shi to buy it, and walked over to Bai Jingyan.
Bai Jingyan, thinking of the jade cicada Xiao Rongyan had given her, clutched hard at the pouch she had secretly fastened at her waist. Inside it lay Xiao Rongyan's jade cicada. She had not yet been able to return it to him.
Bai Jinchi, holding a tiger mask in her hand, saw Xiao Rongyan and her eyes lit up.
"Master Xiao."
Xiao Rongyan greeted Bai Jingyan with a smile, then asked with perfect composure.
"What brings you to Shanyang?"
Bai Jingyan returned his bow before answering.
"Shanyang is my ancestral home."
Xiao Rongyan nodded.
"Another chance meeting, then. If the Eldest and Fourth Young Ladies of the Bai family are willing, might you care to walk with me?"
Bai Jinchi hid her mouth behind her mask and said with a grin.
"Big sister, we haven't even managed to book an inn yet anyway — let's walk with Master Xiao a while."
"And if the Eldest and Fourth Young Ladies are not averse, how would you feel about staying at the honored-guest inn I have already reserved? It is small, but each room has its own private courtyard — you'll find it comfortable."
When he finished speaking, Xiao Rongyan bowed to Bai Jingyan.
"Eldest Young Lady, grant me the chance to repay the Bai family."
"Then we'll gladly impose."
Bai Jinchi answered at once, wishing with all her heart for things to go well between Bai Jingyan and Xiao Rongyan.
"I hear every courtyard at Shanyang's honored-guest inn has a different view, and each one is simply breathtaking! Officer Liu sent a man just now to book one, but apparently someone had already reserved them all. Master Xiao, you really do spend big."
Bai Jingyan turned her head and glared at Bai Jinchi for a long moment. When Bai Jinchi hurriedly hid her face behind the mask, Bai Jingyan spoke.
"Then we'll accept your hospitality."
Bai Jingyan fingered her pouch. Sooner or later she would have to find the chance to return the jade cicada. And if that was so, staying at the same inn might make matters easier.
"Yue Shi, we'll be staying at the honored-guest inn tonight. Tell the man we sent to find lodgings to come back."
Xiao Rongyan made a courteous gesture of invitation, and Bai Jingyan handed her reins over to Officer Liu and walked on at his side.
Ever since Yue Shi had learned that his master was fond of the Eldest Young Lady of the Bai family, he had come to believe the two of them were a match made in heaven. The thought that she would become his master's future wife filled him with respect — and, with it, a sense of fond familiarity.
"Since we've met the Eldest Young Lady here in Shanyang, I take it you haven't yet seen the list I sent to the Ministry of Rites this morning."
Xiao Rongyan spoke in a voice pitched for only the two of them to hear.
Bai Jingyan started in surprise.
"What list?"
"The list of Imperial Academy scholars who stirred up this affair. Their family connections — and, more recently, whom they've been meeting with..."
Xiao Rongyan continued in a very low voice, neither hurried nor slow.
It was precisely what Bai Jingyan had sent people to investigate.
When Bai Jingyan's face registered her surprise, Xiao Rongyan said, "The family backgrounds and kinship ties of the Imperial Academy scholars were the very first thing I looked into upon arriving in the capital. The pillars of Jin are likely to emerge from among these scholars..."
He did not mention that there were men of Great Yan among the scholars as well.
"Your people seem to be far more numerous than I imagined, Master Xiao."
Bai Jingyan fingered her pouch and let fall a remark with another meaning folded inside it.
That Xiao Rongyan had secured the list faster than she had meant he had many people hidden away in the capital.
More than that — that he could learn with such ease whom these scholars had recently met meant he had people even inside the Imperial Academy.
"I'm a merchant, after all. I may not know much else, but news travels faster to me than to most."
Having said this, Xiao Rongyan looked toward a shop that made and sold candied hawthorn fresh on the spot, and told Yue Shi to bring back two.
"Do you have business in Shanyang as well, Master Xiao?"
Bai Jingyan asked.
"I've heard Shanyang white tea is famous. I came to see whether the trade would be worth pursuing. And there are goods I brought from Yan — I'm considering having my steward open a shop here in Shanyang and try selling them separately."
Xiao Rongyan gazed at Bai Jingyan with a smile. It was as if he were waiting for her answer.
In his deep, gentle eyes there seemed to linger a profound tenderness.
What Xiao Rongyan had said that day aboard the pleasure boat had made his feelings for her unmistakably clear.
Bai Jingyan clutched the jade cicada tightly, avoided Xiao Rongyan's gaze, and nodded.
"Then I wish you flourishing business."
Yue Shi returned with two skewers of candied hawthorn, and Xiao Rongyan took one and handed it to Bai Jinchi, who accepted it gladly with a word of thanks.
The other he held out to Bai Jingyan.
"This one is for the Eldest Young Lady."
Bai Jingyan started.
"Master Xiao, I'm hardly a child anymore."
"Young or old is a matter of years — but no age is a match for a sweet tooth."
Xiao Rongyan gave a faint smile amid the brilliant lamplight.
He treated her like a child. Bai Jingyan accepted the candied hawthorn with a smile, and thanked him.