Homecoming
To Bai Jingyan, Old Master Choi and her grandfather had been the same kind of men. They were the sort who could look up at the heavens and face every soul in the world without a whisper of shame. She could never hope to match their bearing or their character, yet she admired and revered them from the bottom of her heart.
And today, Old Master Choi's words had resolved the matter that had been weighing on her.
"Understood. I won't speak so carelessly again."
The moment Bai Jinchi's words fell, a dull thud of something cleaving the air rang out from somewhere unseen. Bai Jingyan yanked Bai Jinchi toward her in an instant, shielding the girl's head with her arm and bending at the waist to dodge the object hurtling toward them.
It was a stone wrapped tightly in paper. It skimmed past behind Bai Jinchi's back and went tumbling down the stone steps.
Bai Jinchi whipped the lash from her belt and moved in front of Bai Jingyan, guarding her.
The guards who had followed the two of them drew their blades as one at the sight, and shielded them as they swiftly climbed the steps.
Bai Jinchi's eyes turned to the paper-wrapped stone. She hurried down the steps, scooped it up, and unfurled the note within. In an instant, her pupils shrank to slits.
Clutching the crumpled paper, she rushed to Bai Jingyan's side and pressed it into her sister's hand, unfolded.
"Eldest sister."
Eldest Sister — meet me at Anyu Green Cliff, North Peak of Anyu Mountain.
It was Bai Qingjue's handwriting.
It felt as though Bai Jingyan's heart were hammering against her ribs. She crumpled the paper into a small ball and squeezed it in her fist with all her strength.
Her heart overflowing, Bai Jinchi could only stare at her sister, the rims of her eyes gone red.
"Eldest sister……"
Bai Jingyan gripped Bai Jinchi's hand hard. She gave her a warning glance — calm yourself — and then said, matter-of-factly,
"Let's go!"
Bai Jinchi clenched her jaw and said nothing. She forced her face into stone, terrified that the slightest slip might betray what she was feeling.
Only after Chun Tao had helped Bai Jingyan into the carriage did she speak to Bai Jinchi.
"Since we've come all the way to Anyu Mountain, let's stop by Anyu Green Cliff and see whether Jindong has been eating well. I hear the camellias are in full bloom — we could cut a few to bring back for Grandmother."
Bai Jinchi mounted her horse, seized the reins in a tight grip, and said,
"To Anyu Green Cliff, then."
Inside the carriage, Bai Jingyan spread the paper out on the table once more. She smoothed the crumpled sheet flat with her palm. Her throat closed up tight.
By rights, this paper should have been burned to ash the moment she read it. But right now, A'Jue could not go to meet Fourth Aunt with his own eyes. This scrap was proof that he was alive. At the very least, Fourth Aunt deserved to see it.
Bai Jingyan folded the paper neatly, tucked it into her robe, and closed her eyes. Her lashes had grown damp.
At the gate of Anyu Green Cliff, Bai Jingyan alighted from the carriage. She instructed Chun Tao and the guards to wait outside, then said she would take Bai Jinchi along to visit Bai Jindong.
Anyu Green Cliff sat on the North Peak of Anyu Mountain. A man appearing at the green cliff would stand out conspicuously there — but now that the camellias were in glorious bloom across the North Peak, literati occasionally strolled in and out. Nothing about his presence would seem amiss.
Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi toured their grandmother's garden, then slipped out through the rear gate of Anyu Green Cliff. Following the passphrase protocol, they walked toward the pavilion atop the North Peak.
The moment Bai Jinchi stepped into the pavilion, she saw him — a tall, striking man in a gray zhiche robe, standing with his hands clasped behind his back. She wanted to call out to him right then and there, but her throat felt sealed shut; no voice would come. Only tears spilled down her cheeks, one after another.
Bai Jingyan halted mid-step. The rims of her eyes flushed red. A bitter ache surged up into her eye sockets and the tip of her nose, and the world before her went hazy, as though fog had rolled in.
Unlike the blood-soaked Bai Qingyun she had dragged back from death at Chuishanguan, Bai Qingjue stood tall and unblemished in a high place — as if he had never once known mortal peril or torment. He was still the brilliant, dazzling seventh son of the Bai family of Dadu, brimming with learning. It almost seemed as if everything that had happened before had been nothing more than a single nightmare Bai Jingyan once endured.
Bai Jingyan bit down hard, clutched her skirt in her sweating hands, and walked up to the pavilion.
"Eldest sister, careful!"
Bai Jinchi caught her as she nearly stumbled.
At the sound, Bai Qingjue whirled around and strode to the pavilion entrance. The moment he saw his eldest sister Bai Jingyan standing below the steps, the rims of his eyes went red. He hurried down to stand two paces before her, swept back the hem of his robe, and bowed with the deepest formality. He could hold back the tears no longer.
They say a man does not weep easily. But at the sight of his eldest sister, he simply could not swallow them down.
Bai Qingjue raised his head. His face was smeared with dust, but it could not hide his handsome features. His voice scorched his throat as he spoke, thick with sobs.
"Eldest sister……"
Bai Jingyan had thought she would never hear those words again.
She should have been joyful — and yet somehow her chest ached, heavy and dull. It hurt as though a blunt blade were scraping at raw flesh.
She gazed at Bai Qingjue, whose sharp features and the very contour of his face were a mirror of Fourth Uncle. The wayward boy of the Bai family had become a resolute, hardened man.
He had weathered great calamity, yet his spirit stood unbent.
He had passed through life and death, yet he remained hale and unbowed.
This — this is truly a son of the Bai family!
Bai Jingyan released Bai Jinchi's hand, stepped forward, and raised Bai Qingjue up from his bow.
The moment Bai Qingjue's fingers closed around his sister's hands — hands roughened with calluses — it felt as though his chest were being torn open. He did not rise. He only held her hands in a crushing grip, and when he lifted his head to look at her, both his eyes had flooded red.
"Bai Qingjue, seventh son of the Bai family, of the Youlong Cavalry Battalion. I have returned safely to Dadu."
The tears burst from Bai Jingyan all at once.
Every time her grandfather returned safe from campaign, the first thing he ever did was lead the whole Bai family to burn incense before their ancestors. And he would tell each of the Bai children, one by one — go tell the ancestors that I have come home safe and sound to Dadu.
And now, Bai Qingjue had returned alone.
He had not yet bathed or offered the rites of return in the Bai household — but for Bai Qingjue, home was wherever his family stood.
His family had heard of his return; surely the ancestors had heard it too.
"Eldest sister. I could not protect Fifth Brother. I failed to protect him."
Bai Qingjue clenched his teeth until they ached. The matter sat upon his chest like an enormous boulder, sinking again and again, heavier and heavier, until he could scarcely breathe.
The one who most deserved protection on the battlefield was not himself. The one meant to carry the true succession of the Bai family was Bai Jingyou — the legitimate son of Bai Qishan, heir of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate.
At the mention of A'You, it was as if knives were plunging again and again into Bai Jingyan's chest. The pain was so deep it seemed to numb her very bones.
She gripped Bai Qingjue's hands with all her strength, bent down to embrace him, and stroked his back to soothe him. Then she spoke in a low, choked voice.
"You and A'Yun are alive — do you know how glad that makes me? Not a single son of the Bai family was lost on the Southern Border! You lived. That alone is enough……"
"Brother!"
Bai Jinchi knelt at Bai Qingjue's side, threw her arms around him with all her might, and wept until she could scarcely draw breath.
"Jinchi……"
Bai Qingjue held her. His eyes were closed, but the tears kept flowing.
Bai Qingjue remained on his knees, unable to rise. With his family gathered in his arms, the grief he had held down so long could no longer be suppressed. He clenched his jaw and fought to make no sound of weeping — but his eldest sister's sleeve was already soaked through with his tears.
The three of them wept like that for a long while before they finally steadied themselves and sat down in the pavilion, where Bai Qingjue recounted everything that had befallen him on the Southern Border.
He and Bai Qingyun, acting on orders, had led cavalry around Tianling Mountain and made for Yunjing, the capital of Xiliang, intending to strike Xiliang while it lay undefended.
Only upon reaching the Jinghe River did the two of them sense that something was wrong. They had turned back, resolved to find Bai Jingyou and protect him — but they walked straight into a trap.
Bai Qingjue's horse had died defending its master, and Bai Qingjue himself had taken grave wounds. He told Bai Qingyun to leave him and flee far away, but Bai Qingyun insisted it was their grandfather's command — that in the family code, a son of a lesser branch must protect the legitimate heir wherever and whenever it was needed. Having failed to protect Fifth Brother Bai Jingyou, Bai Qingyun swore he would give his own life to shield the legitimate heir, his seventh brother.
With no time to lose, Bai Qingyun had hastily stripped Bai Qingjue into the armor of a common soldier and shoved him toward the Jinghe River. Only that way was there even the barest chance of survival.
Later, Bai Qingjue was rescued by a slave trader, who stripped him of every valuable thing he carried. Fortunately, the man had some scrap of conscience left — he brought a physician to treat Bai Qingjue's wounds, and so Bai Qingjue kept his life.
All the while, Bai Qingjue had tried again and again to leave that place. He wanted to return to the battlefields of the Southern Border. But his body had grown too weak to stand, let alone escape.
Afterward, at the Mengcheng market, he had saved a young girl from danger — and caught Xiao Rongyan's eye, who then saw him rescued.
"Teacher Xiao? The Grand Preceptor of Wei, Teacher Xiao?"
Light kindled in Bai Jinchi's eyes.
Bai Qingjue, sensing that Bai Jinchi knew little of Xiao Rongyan's true identity, said nothing more and only nodded.
"Eldest sister, Teacher Xiao is truly the Bai family's greatest benefactor. He has helped us time and time again!"
Bai Jinchi respected and admired Xiao Rongyan with all her heart. In her mind, she had long since accepted him as a brother-in-law.
Bai Jingyan said nothing. Recalling the great famine gripping Yanwo, she said to Bai Qingjue,
"Yanwo is in the grip of famine right now. The Liang King has gone to relieve it. At that time, I sent word to Shen Shu to lure the refugees who had not yet crossed to Pingyang City along the Yuhua Road and hand them over to you. Food is being arranged — Shen Shu and General Wei will see to it and pass it along to you."
"Sister, that is why I have already set things in motion."
Bai Qingjue replied.
"It is said that soldiers are born of the people. That was Grandfather's teaching, was it not? I remember every word."
The great ambition carried by the Bai family through the generations was branded into the bones and blood of every son and daughter of the clan.
He knew exactly what his eldest sister meant to do, what she was preparing, and what she wanted. Even without meeting her, he could guess what needed to be made ready.
To turn Donggu Mountain, Zhongshan Fortress, and Bailong Mountain into training grounds for soldiers, they would first have to recruit men.
"Great Yan appears to have been gathering refugees for some time now."
Bai Qingjue said slowly.
Yanwo lay close both to Pingyang City and to Great Yan.
Great Yan had gone to great lengths to draw refugees across its borders. They welcomed the displaced, proclaiming far and wide that any refugee who entered the State of Yan would enjoy the benefits of its New Policies — fertile fields and a house of their own, and three full years exempt from taxes.
The New Policies of Marquis Xi encouraged farming and divided arable land according to the number of people in each household. Thanks to this, every man, woman, and child could hold farmland of their own. Beyond that, a policy granted noble titles to anyone who proposed measures enabling the people to reap greater harvests. Under these policies, all the people of Great Yan lived in abundance.
The nobles of the rival states knew well that such welfare existed in Yan — but the common folk did not. And even those who knew saw little reason to abandon the land of their birth so long as they could scrape by well enough.
Then the famine in Yanwo became Great Yan's opportunity. The refugees stood at the crossroads of life and death, and Great Yan extended its hand to those with nowhere left to turn. People in dire straits had no reason to refuse such an offer.
Once the people who crossed into Great Yan experienced for themselves how Marquis Xi's New Policies enriched their lives, they would only grow more determined never to leave — more determined to become the people of Yan.
What did the common people truly want, if not simply to eat their fill and live in peace?