Proud
Shen Qingzhu's eyes grew hot.
She could no longer remember when she had last seen Bai Jingyan holding a spear. She had truly believed that Xiao Baixiu, who had once soared so valiantly across the battlefield, invincible under heaven, would never recover her martial arts because of her own mistake.
To think that in this lifetime she would get to see Bai Jingyan draw the Sun-Shooting Bow again, and raise the Red-Tasseled Spear again. Her chest swelled until tears slid down her cheeks.
She could not forget the sight of Bai Jingyan at Chuishanguan, galloping on horseback wreathed in a fierce yet frigid aura as she rescued the trapped survivors. It was as if Xiao Baixiu, whose name had thundered through the Bai Family Army, had returned with the force of storm and lightning. As if that same Xiao Baixiu who had carried them across mountains and seas with overwhelming strength and crushed their enemies with ease — that ever-victorious Xiao Baixiu — had come back to them.
No one else could know what the three characters of "Xiao Baixiu" meant to the Bai Family Army. But the soldiers of the Bai Family Army, and Shen Qingzhu, who had bled shoulder to shoulder beside Bai Jingyan, understood it better than anyone!
After King Bai Weiting of Zhenguo and the Bai family generals had passed from this world, Xiao Baixiu had become like the White Python Banner of the Bai Family Army. Her very existence was the army's morale — its honor, its dignity made flesh.
Throat tight with emotion, Shen Qingzhu swallowed her tears and stepped inside. Bai Jingyan broke into a wide smile and spoke in a low voice.
"You've come back."
Shen Qingzhu's eyes stung. She sank to one knee and answered, forcing down the tremor in her voice.
"Your subordinate has returned."
Bai Jingyan set the silver spear she was holding against the pillar behind her, then walked over and bent down, taking Shen Qingzhu's arm to help her up.
"So long as you've come back, that is enough."
Shen Qingzhu grasped Bai Jingyan's trembling arm — and felt the heavy sandbags bound around it. When she applied the slightest pressure, a damp, sweat-soaked sensation met her palm. She looked up at Bai Jingyan in astonishment and saw sweat dripping steadily from her chin.
During the journey to the Southern Border, Shen Qingzhu had heard from Xiao Ruohai what efforts the Eldest Miss had poured into drawing the Sun-Shooting Bow again. Hearing it had nearly torn her heart in two.
"Rise."
Bai Jingyan said.
Shen Qingzhu stood and looked at her with reddened eyes.
"Eldest Miss……"
"Let's talk inside."
"I'll go fetch the Daehongpao tea that Miss Qingzhu loves best — the rare harvest from those four tea trees growing high on the cliffs — and bring back some refreshments as well!"
Chun Tao was practically skipping with delight.
Bai Jingyan took Shen Qingzhu's wrist and led her into the inner room. She wiped the sweat from her face with a handkerchief and began loosening the sandbags bound to her body as she asked, "Did you come straight from Naban Mountain?"
Knowing that Bai Jingyan was worried about Bai Qingyun, Shen Qingzhu nodded and set the sword she carried to one side. Then she came forward, crouching beside Bai Jingyan, and undid the soaked sandbags strapped to her mistress's legs.
"Wei Gao, the instructors, and I escorted the Ninth Young Master all the way to Naban Mountain. He told us to turn back, saying you and the Seventh Young Master would need people at your side, and that Naban Mountain was in no danger, so we shouldn't worry. Still, we couldn't help following him to the very end — but by the rules of the Sihai Pavilion on Naban Mountain, only a single young master could enter, and the rest of us were barred. So I left Wei Gao and the others at the foot of the mountain to wait for him, and came back alone."
At the thought of Bai Qingyun's legs, Bai Jingyan felt her throat constrict. She asked quietly, "Ayun…… did he seem well?"
"Have no fear, Eldest Miss. The Ninth Young Master's iron spirit and fighting heart remain as strong as ever! He went straight to Naban Mountain without seeing you, fearing it would pain you to see his condition. The Sihai Pavilion on Naban Mountain is full of extraordinary talents, and he said he intends to earnestly seek help from Gu Yijian — the master of the Seventh Young Master — and to see whether the Pavilion knows of any way to heal both his legs. And even if there is no cure, he said he will still take Gu Yijian as his master."
Shen Qingzhu's voice steadied as she continued.
"He knows full well that his frail elder sister donned armor and marched onto the battlefield for the Bai family and for the people of the borderlands. He said that since his elder sister endured such hardship to draw the Sun-Shooting Bow again, then he, a son of the Bai family, may have lost both his legs but still has both his hands. He said he survived — he did not die — so he refuses to become a useless invalid who does nothing but breed worry in his family's hearts. The Bai family has generation after generation wished for a peaceful world with unchanging devotion, even if their bodies break in the attempt — so as a son of the Bai line, he means to do his part as well!
"And he said one thing more. When you meet again, he hopes his mother and his elder sister will think of him with pride. Not with pity."
At those words, Bai Jingyan's nose stung and hot tears spilled down her face.
As expected, Bai Qingyun was, wherever he stood, the proud son of the Bai family.
With men this strong still alive, the Bai family would never crumble.
"You must be exhausted from the road. Rest. We'll speak of the rest once you've slept."
Looking at Shen Qingzhu, covered head to toe in road dust and plainly worn to the bone, Bai Jingyan could guess that she had ridden day and night without pause.
"There will be many more places I'll need you in the days to come."
Shen Qingzhu nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"Yes."
Chun Tao came in carrying the Daehongpao tea, and jumped when she saw Shen Qingzhu about to leave. "Miss Shen, won't you sit a while longer? Nanny Dong is preparing a meal."
"Qingzhu needs her rest. Tell Nanny Dong I'll dine in the evening."
Bai Jingyan said.
"At once!"
Chun Tao hurried to lift the screen for Shen Qingzhu as she said, "I'll see Miss Shen out."
Bai Jingyan watched through the window as Shen Qingzhu departed Qinghui Courtyard, then lowered her head. She stared at her scraped, bleeding palm — then clenched it into a tight fist.
She thought that she was weak beyond any comparison to Bai Qingyun. After her injury, she had rested for so long. Yet her brother had lost both legs and not an ounce of his fighting will, holding the great aspirations of the Bai ancestors carved into his heart.
A faint smile touched her reddened eyes. Right now, she and her younger siblings were all striving together. The next time she saw Bai Qingyun, she hoped he would look on her with pride as well. Not with pity……
Hearing that Shen Qingzhu had returned, Bai Jinchi rushed to find Bai Jingyan — but Shen Qingzhu had already gone off to rest and was nowhere to be seen.
Bai Jinchi carried a chair over to Bai Jingyan's side and sat, watching Chun Tao arrange her elder sister's hair as she spoke. "They say the Emperor's headaches are getting worse by the day. They only ease a little when Consort Chu massages them, and the Imperial Physician's Office is at its wits' end. Imperial Physician Huang suggested he be examined by Physician Hong, but for some reason the Emperor refuses. The reason is obvious, isn't it? It's because Physician Hong is one of ours. The Emperor still guards against the Bai family. And even if he wanted it now, what good would it do? Physician Hong has already left Dadu."
Serves him right, Bai Jinchi thought.
Bai Jingyan looked up from the book in her hands and turned to Bai Jinchi. "Who told you this?"
"A-Rong — Imperial Physician Huang's granddaughter, Miss Huang. As it happens, I slipped out this morning to sneak a look at Jangsaeng's wedding ceremony, and I ran into A-Rong there, watching just like me. She'd come to spy on it too!"
Bai Jinchi lifted her teacup and took a sip.
"While we were having tea together, she told me. Late yesterday evening, someone from the palace came to Imperial Physician Huang's residence and asked him to bring Physician Hong into the palace. Apparently he answered that 'Physician Hong left Dadu several days ago to go traveling, and no one knows where he is now.' But A-Rong found it strange too — why send someone to Imperial Physician Huang's residence at all, when they could simply have sent someone straight to our estate to summon Physician Hong?"
If this news had come from Imperial Physician Huang's residence, it could be trusted.
So — the Emperor's headaches were severe, and only Consort Chu's hands could ease them……
Bai Jingyan tapped her palm lightly against the book. In the past, she had never once heard that the Emperor suffered from headaches. And the pains seemed to have begun only after Consort Chu entered the palace.
Bai Jingyan considered for a moment, then turned to Bai Jinchi.
"Jinchi, let word slip to A-Rong. Tell her that Ruo Gannang — the adopted daughter our grandmother took under her wing — possesses remarkable medical skill. Tell her that among the old servants of our estate there was one who had long suffered from an incurable illness, and that Ruo Gannang cured them."
Light flashed in Bai Jinchi's eyes. Her eldest sister was entrusting her with a mission! She nodded vigorously. "Yes! As it happens, A-Rong left the handkerchief she'd lent me in her rush to leave! I'll wash it clean and return it to her tomorrow!"
Bai Jingyan nodded. Once her hair was dried and Nanny Dong had pinned a hair ornament in place, she made her way to Jangsaeng Garden.
* * *
The Grand Princess stood in the garden of Jangsaeng Garden beside a great fish tank, feeding the fish alongside Ruo Gannang. When Bai Jingyan arrived, Ruo Gannang bowed, fearing she would intrude on their conversation, and made to withdraw.
"Aunt Ruo, don't rush off — stay and talk with Grandmother inside."
Bai Jingyan called her back.
Ruo Gannang glanced at the Grand Princess.
The Grand Princess smiled warmly. "If Ayan asks you to stay, then stay."
"Yes."
Ruo Gannang answered with deference, then supported the Grand Princess as they entered the upper chamber together.
Bai Jingyan reported to the Grand Princess that the Emperor had been suffering continual headaches of late. Fury surged up in the Grand Princess, and she set her prayer beads down on the table with a heavy hand. A chilling aura of imperial majesty poured from her.
"If this truly is Consort Chu's doing, it is a matter of the gravest consequence. To dare threaten the sacred body of a nation's sovereign in order to win his favor!"
Having grown up in the palace from childhood, the Grand Princess knew all too well the lengths to which the women of the inner court would go to court the Emperor's affection.
"Imperial Physician Huang could not reach a definitive diagnosis either, so we cannot yet know whether it is something Consort Chu has done to win favor."
Bai Jingyan looked at Ruo Gannang.
"Still, I think it would be a fine thing to use this opportunity to arrange a meeting between Aunt Ruo and His Majesty. Of course — better that His Majesty comes seeking you himself than that Grandmother suggests it."
Though Bai Jingyan had just declared that she would take the lead in arranging her aunt's meeting with the Emperor, Ruo Gannang showed no alarm or unease. She simply stood in her place, calm and composed, radiating a tranquil stillness that set the heart at ease.
"Aunt Ruo, are you confident in your medicine?"
Bai Jingyan asked.
Ruo Gannang bowed to Bai Jingyan before speaking.
"Eldest Miss, Ninghua cannot presume to claim mastery of the illustrious healing arts. But when it comes to the art of acupuncture needles, there is no one in all of Dadu who could stand above me."
Bai Jingyan nodded. Lu Ninghua's words meant she was confident she could treat the Emperor.
"If Grandmother permits, I think we should take this chance to arrange your meeting with His Majesty. It will give us a chance to learn just what lies behind his headaches."
Bai Jingyan looked at the Grand Princess.
"Yes — then see to this matter yourself. If you need anyone, speak to Nanny Zhang or Wei Zhong at any time."
The Grand Princess's voice was resolute.