The Reason
Bai Jinchi helped Bai Jingyan down from the carriage, then fell into step beside her and asked in a low voice.
“Sis, do you have some kind of leverage over Lee Mu? If so, why are you telling me the truth? Are you trying to scare me?”
Bai Jinchi couldn't understand why Bai Jingyan would hold a weakness over Li Mu's head and then announce the fact to the man himself. Gathering the hem of her skirt, Bai Jingyan stepped over the threshold of the side chamber and answered.
“It is intimidation, yes. But more than that, I want him to come and verify for himself whether it's true. Li Mu isn't the sort to believe whatever I say.”
She explained it step by step.
“Li Mu is an extremely timid, careful man. Once I've said this much, he'll genuinely try to find out whether I truly hold his weakness in my hands. And if he's merely confirming whether it's fact, he won't push matters to an extreme.”
Bai Jinchi nodded, listening to Bai Jingyan's words with a grave face.
“I have no plan to drag Li Mu down from the Left Chancellor's seat right now. Which means I need to keep him pinned so he can't act recklessly. He has to understand that if he touches the Bai family or the Bai Family Army, the one who ends up in trouble is himself.
And to do that, Li Mu has to know the truth—that the Bai family possesses evidence he fears, and the means to bring him down along with it. At the same time, it must be made unmistakably clear that the Bai family has no intention of opposing him.”
Bai Jinchi felt she understood.
“So when you told him that, you wanted him to prove it to himself. And to show off the Bai family's power and capability while we're at it?”
Bai Jingyan nodded.
“First, one observes propriety. And if that fails, one exercises force. The warning has already been given—so if he attacks, the Bai family will counterattack. Only then, because of the evidence we hold, will things between the Bai family and Li Mu never reach the worst outcome. Naturally, this also removes in advance any notion he might have of toppling us easily. When that time comes, the Bai family will hold the initiative. And Li Mu will be the one to sue for reconciliation.”
The Bai family, after bitter effort, needed to quietly prepare itself to grow strong. For at least three years, Bai Jingyan had to keep Li Mu firmly suppressed.
If he truly tried to move against them, Bai Jingyan intended to deal with his people without hesitation.
Only then would Li Mu come to understand—the Bai family refrained from stirring up trouble not because it lacked the power to drag him down. However much the household was now made up of women alone, she had to make him see that it was far from powerless.
Only after being hurt does fear take root. Unless the Bai family showed just how merciless they could be, he would never truly be frightened.
Otherwise, Li Mu was bound to scheme endlessly to torment the Bai family at every turn, or to trouble the Bai Family Army in the Southern Border. That was not what Bai Jingyan wanted. For the Bai family's peace and the Bai Family Army's smooth campaigns, Li Mu had to be held down. Better still, he should be made to step forward and aid the Bai family and its army himself.
Only then would the thing Li Mu feared never come to pass, and the letters would never see the light of day.
Though Bai Jingyan despised Li Mu, using the man who sat in a high seat was a better choice than killing him.
It merely delayed matters by a few years. There was no need to rush.
When she heard Bai Jingyan's intent, Bai Jinchi nodded.
“Then I'll keep a closer watch on Left Chancellor Li Mu. Make sure he doesn't try anything foolish.”
Bai Jingyan nodded.
Recalling that the Emperor had still not summoned Old Governess Nong to the palace, Bai Jinchi asked impatiently.
“Sister, shall I go and see Ayong to ask if she has properly conveyed what I said to Hwang Tae-ui? She can’t even attend court because of her headache, so why hasn’t she invited our aunt to the palace yet?”
“Hwang Tae-ui must surely have mentioned our aunt to the Emperor. Let’s wait a little longer. I think she’ll be summoned soon.”
The Imperial Physician's Office was trembling with anxiety, having failed to identify the cause of the Emperor's headaches. If Imperial Physician Hwang had heard from his granddaughter that Old Governess Nong had cured even an incurable illness, he would surely have relayed it to the Emperor.
Moreover, Physician Hwang and Old Governess Nong had once discussed the Grand Princess's medicine together. He acknowledged her medical skill.
The headaches aside, the Emperor was intensely curious about Old Governess Nong. She might be able to cure his headaches, and it was a perfectly legitimate chance to meet her—how could the Emperor refuse?
The reason he kept putting off admitting Lu Ninghua to the palace was likely that, despite wanting to see her, he feared she might truly be his late Aunt Choo reincarnated and returned. Thanks to that suspicious nature of his, the Bai family had been reduced to this state. He wouldn't want to admit his wrongs, yet in his heart he must feel he had no face to show his late aunt.
That very afternoon—the same day Bai Jinchi had asked why Lu Ninghua still hadn't been brought to the palace—a messenger from the Imperial Physician's Office arrived. He conveyed that Old Governess Nong was to enter the palace alongside Physician Hwang and attend to the Emperor.
Though she'd heard she must enter the palace and meet the Emperor, Lu Ninghua showed no alarm. She simply went to Nanny Zhang and asked what she should change into. And it happened that Bai Jingyan, hearing the news, came to see her.
After a moment's thought, Bai Jingyan spoke.
“There's no need to deliberately wear colors she liked. Something merely similar in style is enough. If you act exactly like Lady Choo, it will only come across as excessive.”
Nanny Zhang nodded.
“The Eldest Governess is right. What do you think of the blue wolhwa-jun we had made a few days ago? It would look all the fresher.”
Lu Ninghua bowed to Nanny Zhang in thanks.
“Who did Grandma send to look after my aunt?”
Nanny Zhang answered quickly.
“The Grand Princess has ordered this servant to accompany her into the palace. Since it's Old Governess Nong's first time entering the palace, the Grand Princess is quite worried.”
Bai Jingyan nodded.
“I have something to tell you, Aunt. Let's go change together.”
Nanny Zhang replied with a smile.
“This servant will prepare Old Governess Nong's medicine chest at once.”
“Thank you.”
Old Governess Nong answered with great humility.
Walking alongside her, Bai Jingyan said with a smile.
“Aunt, once you're in the palace, all you need to do is apply needles and treat the Emperor's headache. The Imperial Physician's Office couldn't even diagnose the cause, so there's no need to uncover it yourself and needlessly earn their resentment. And besides—his headaches should improve, but they must not be cured outright. That's what gives you a reason to keep seeing him.”
Lu Ninghua nodded and bowed deeply to Bai Jingyan.
“Eldest Governess, do not worry. I will control it appropriately, and do it properly.”
“Aunt, there's no need for such formality.”
“If you treat me this way, a junior like me won't know what to do.”
Nanny Zhang sent someone off to prepare the medicine chest and necessary supplies, then called for Old Governess Nong once she had changed.
Bai Jingyan saw Lu Ninghua out of the side chamber and bowed.
“Then I leave it in your hands. Nanny Zhang, I'm counting on you.”
Lu Ninghua bowed to Bai Jingyan, then, supported by Nanny Zhang, boarded the carriage. Her hands were clenched tight with strength.
She was now, for the first time in her life, on her way to meet an Emperor. She couldn't know whether things would go well, and she had only this one chance. The Grand Princess had urged it upon her again and again.
The Grand Princess had shown boundless grace to her and her mother. Without the Grand Princess, mother and daughter would already have left this world. In this life, she must repay that debt even if it cost her her own. She absolutely could not spoil the Grand Princess's affairs.
At the hour of the rooster, between five and seven in the evening, Lu Ninghua returned to the Zhenguo Commandery Princess Estate bearing the rewards the Emperor had bestowed.
Bai Jingyan and the Grand Princess had been waiting for her since early on.
Lu Ninghua recounted in detail everything that had happened at the palace that day.
The Emperor, she said, had dismissed everyone at his sides and left her alone with him in the great hall. The look in the Emperor's eyes as he gazed at her had been filled with sorrow, so much so that both eyes had grown damp. The Grand Princess, seated on a saffron-yellow lotus-patterned cushion, had kept her eyes closed, turning her prayer beads, saying nothing at all.
Bai Jingyan became certain of it—the Emperor believed Lu Ninghua was the reincarnation of his aunt, Bai Shaoqiu.
“Aunt, you've been through a great deal.”
Bai Jingyan said with a smile.
“So what in the world is going on with the Emperor's headaches? Surely no one deliberately harmed his constitution just to win his favor?”
The Grand Princess asked.
Lu Ninghua told the Grand Princess the truth.
“His Majesty's pulse showed nothing amiss. So I, too, cannot say for certain, but—”
“It's all right. Go on.”
The Grand Princess opened her eyes and lifted her teacup.
“His Majesty's fingers trembled faintly the entire time, and there was a distinctive scent about him. That scent resembled one given off by an aphrodisiac that came over from Xiliang. When one takes that drug, strength first surges through the body. But inhaling it in excess produces mild symptoms of addiction, accompanied by severe headaches.”
Though Lu Ninghua had not yet been wed, she showed not a trace of embarrassment, answering with composure and utter frankness. It was the Grand Princess who frowned, thinking such talk would foul her granddaughter's ears.
“Aunt, did you see Lady Choo?”
Bai Jingyan asked.
Lu Ninghua shook her head.
Recalling that only Lady Choo could ease His Majesty's headaches even a little, Bai Jingyan asked further.
“If His Majesty really has been taking that drug, is there a way to resolve those headaches?”
Lu Ninghua thought for a moment, then shook her head.
“This aphrodisiac came from Xiliang, so I don't know it well myself. In the past, my late grandfather treated a patient with similar symptoms, and I only observed at his side. I can merely surmise that His Majesty has taken the drug—I cannot state it as fact.”
Bai Jingyan narrowed her eyes. An aphrodisiac from Xiliang...
“After applying the needles for His Majesty, I advised him not to overexert himself and to rest. And I instructed him to remain alone for ten days and observe a vegetarian diet.”
Lu Ninghua looked at Bai Jingyan.
“If His Majesty's headaches vanish within those ten days, it will be certain that he took that aphrodisiac.”
Then it all came down to whether the Emperor would heed Lu Ninghua's words.
“And when your grandfather treated someone who had taken Xiliang's aphrodisiac—how did he do it?”
The Grand Princess asked in a low voice.
“After applying the needles, my grandfather told him never to take that aphrodisiac again. He warned that if he kept using it, his strength would fail completely, and not only his headaches but his very life would be in danger.”
Lu Ninghua answered truthfully.
The Grand Princess began turning her prayer beads again. Her gaze had deepened and darkened, and no one could tell what she was thinking.
“Supposing a person took such a drug over the long term—when would his life come into danger?”
The Grand Princess broke the silence. Her expression remained as gentle and warm as ever.
Bai Jingyan lifted her head and looked at the Grand Princess. She couldn't fathom why her grandmother had suddenly asked such a question.
Lu Ninghua, too, started in surprise.
“That depends on the frequency of use, among other things.”
Lu Ninghua continued calmly.
“If taken every day, he would lose his life within half a year. If taken two or three times a month, his body would be entirely ruined within five years.”
“I see...”
The Grand Princess drew out the end of her reply. Then, as if some thought had struck her, her eyes suddenly reddened and the hand turning her prayer beads went still. Looking at Lu Ninghua, she straightened her back with all her strength and spoke in a solemn voice.
“His Majesty labors for the sake of the realm, and in the midst of it all he met Lady Choo, who is ever so dear to his heart—perhaps it is only natural that he indulge a little. Yinghua, my child—is there no way His Majesty might enjoy himself to his heart's content without his headaches flaring?”
Is Grandmother trying to end the Emperor's life just now?
Bai Jingyan couldn't believe it. Had her grandmother's thinking changed in the span of a heartbeat? Far from protecting the current Emperor, was she now intent on ending her own nephew's life?
Lu Ninghua clenched her fists tightly. If the Emperor died, she would no longer need to swallow her revulsion and serve His Majesty as someone's stand-in.
“I will do my utmost, Your Highness.”
Lu Ninghua answered with perfect courtesy.
The Grand Princess's eyes brimmed with sorrow.
“Then I must ask you to bear the burden.”
Believing that Bai Jingyan and the Grand Princess still had words for each other, Lu Ninghua bowed and withdrew, following Nanny Zhang out.