Borrowing Prestige
"Unnie, is the reason you're sending word to the Governor to clean up the clan beforehand?"
Bai Jinchi asked, her brow furrowed.
"But what if Left Chancellor Li Mu makes a move while you're back in Suyang? What will you do then?"
Bai Jingyan tapped her fingers lightly against the table.
"Our second sister and Grandmother are in Dadu. Nothing will happen there. I'd planned to deal with the clan only after Mother and the aunts had all returned to Suyang, but it seems we can't wait that long."
Having been raised at the Grand Princess's side, Bai Jingyan understood her grandmother's capabilities better than anyone. Even if Li Mu made a move, he would do no more than try to verify whether her words were true or false—and Grandmother would handle that with ease.
Still, Bai Jinchi could not put her mind at ease. Second sister Bai Jinxiu was with child, and Grandmother... in truth, Bai Jinchi did not trust her grandmother. She clenched her fists tightly and spoke up.
"Unnie, why don't I go to Suyang instead? I hold the title of Commandery Princess—my cause would be justified! Dadu is the place that worries me."
Bai Jingyan clenched her jaw and shook her head.
"The matter of the Suyang Bai clan is more urgent. If they're allowed to run wild like this, who knows how many more common folk will suffer. Besides, Li Mu has his sights set on me. Without me there, he won't move so easily. Jinchi, go and make your preparations. On the twenty-fourth of the fourth month, we return to the clan."
"Unnie, couldn't we just leave with Ping Su's supply convoy on the twenty-sixth?"
Bai Jinchi asked.
"On the twenty-sixth, Ping Su will be transporting goods and has other business besides. If we tag along, we'll only be a burden. We have to leave first. I'll take the Huyuan Army to settle the clan affairs, and once that's done, we'll return to Dadu with the Huyuan Army and Ping Su to escort Mother and the aunts."
Having made her decision, Bai Jingyan rose.
"I'll speak to Grandmother and Mother myself. You go and prepare."
In Changshou Courtyard, the Grand Princess's fury rose as she listened to Bai Jingyan speak of the Suyang clan. Turning her prayer beads over in her hand, she spoke.
"The Suyang Bai clan has committed a grave wrong this time. It would be best for you to go in person and settle the matter thoroughly."
The Grand Princess's fingers stopped on the beads as she looked at Bai Jingyan.
"Don't concern yourself with Li Mu. Am I not here? Return to Suyang with an easy heart and deal with the clan first."
Above all, the Grand Princess believed that Li Mu lacked both the courage and the capability to act for the time being. He was not a man bold enough to strike a fatal blow directly at the Bai family and drive them into a corner.
Li Mu was exceedingly cautious by temperament. Before moving in earnest, he would certainly test the waters first—and even then, he would not choose a moment when Bai Jingyan was away from home, for the one who had come to threaten him was Bai Jingyan herself.
"Take Wei Zhong with you this time."
The Grand Princess looked at Bai Jingyan with grave eyes.
"Wei Zhong came out of the palace. With him at your side, even the clansmen will fear you."
"Leave Wei Zhong by your side, Grandmother."
Bai Jingyan refused firmly.
"If Li Mu moves, you'll need people too. The only reliable hands you have are Nanny Zhang and Wei Zhong—if I take him away, my heart will not be at ease."
When the Grand Princess tried to press the matter further, Bai Jingyan spoke first.
"Grandmother, please don't worry. The Suyang clansmen are not people who will require great effort to deal with. And if, in refusing to cast out the shameless reprobates from our ranks, and in refusing to replace the clan head, I am left with no choice—then I will confess my grievance to our ancestors and leave the clan myself. The Suyang Bai clan depends on the Bai family of Dadu. There is no way they will not heed my word."
The Grand Princess nodded.
"Then speak with your mother and make your preparations. This is not a matter to be delayed—you could leave today if need be."
"Today won't do. I mean to visit the Crown Prince's residence shortly. I must pay my respects to His Highness as well."
Bai Jingyan replied.
With every soul in the realm believing Bai Jingyan to be the Crown Prince's person, there was no reason not to borrow his prestige.
The strategist at the Crown Prince's side had gone to such lengths to spread word far and wide that she had executed the surrendered soldiers—surely so that when the whole world rained condemnation upon her, the Crown Prince could step forward to defend her. If that was the case, was this not the perfect moment to shed tears of gratitude and swear her devotion to him?
Now she would carry the opportunity to help straight to the Crown Prince's doorstep. She had shown him her complete trust and laid bare her family's disgrace before his eyes; there was no reason for him not to come to her aid.
Bai Jingyan intended to tell him that the clan had spread rumors of an improper intimacy between her and the Crown Prince, that they had wielded his prestige to commit outrages in Suyang and even taken human lives—which was precisely why she meant to deal with the clan without mercy. Naturally, she would add that she could not allow his good name to be tarnished any further.
Advisor Fang would surely whisper to the Crown Prince: send a man to accompany her. It was a fine chance to raise His Highness's standing among the people of Suyang.
The reason she had chosen to depart on the twenty-fourth was to give the Crown Prince and his advisors time to deliberate.
More than anything, Bai Jingyan wanted the Crown Prince to see the ugly truth of the Suyang Bai clan with his own eyes. He would surely report it to the Emperor, and the Emperor would then conclude that her life in Suyang would never be a smooth one—that even after returning home, she would not live as she pleased.
She also needed the Crown Prince and the Emperor to know just how terrible the Suyang Bai clan's reputation had become among the common folk.
When bandit uprisings broke out with increasing frequency and the court lacked the means to intervene, Bai Jingyan intended to gather the people and grow her own soldiers under the banner of suppressing the bandits. At that point, the Emperor and Crown Prince would assume she had made that choice to restore the Bai family's standing among the Suyang populace. The Crown Prince might even believe she was building that reputation on his behalf.
And to the local officials of Suyang, she would show that the Crown Prince concerned himself even with the private affairs of the Bai family. With that, everything in Suyang would proceed far more smoothly.
Having grasped Bai Jingyan's intent, the Grand Princess nodded. If the Crown Prince sent someone, she could borrow his prestige, and the task would become far easier to accomplish.
Of course, the Grand Princess could never have imagined that Bai Jingyan's vision stretched all the way to raising an army of her own.
Leaving Changshou Courtyard, Bai Jingyan took Nuo Ping and set out for the Crown Prince's residence.
The Crown Prince was in his study, drinking tea and discussing affairs with Advisor Fang. The advisor proposed entrusting the Yanwo famine to the Liang King—but on the condition that the Liang King must not be allowed to complete the mission smoothly.
If no mishap whatsoever befell him while suppressing the disaster and the Liang King resolved the matter perfectly, then contrary to the Crown Prince's intent in recommending him, it would only serve to burnish the man's name. Moreover, the advisor warned, the Liang King might come to harbor ambitions of contending with the Crown Prince for the throne.
"His Majesty is advanced in years. With age, old sentiments resurface and the heart grows soft. And the Liang King is his son, is he not! His Majesty has kept the Liang King under Consort Dong's wing all this while—he disliked the man for being such a born coward. And yet... what if, by some chance, the Liang King resolves this disaster cleanly? What then?"
Advisor Fang reminded him.
"Surely Your Highness has not forgotten. Not long ago, the Liang King spread talk of improper relations between men and women, scheming to accuse the Zhenguo Duke of treason. That alone tells you the weak, hapless face he wears in public is not the whole of him."
At the advisor's words, the Crown Prince's heart dropped with a thud. He hurriedly nodded his agreement.
That's right—the Liang King was the one who bribed a maid at Bai Jingyan's side, dangling the promise of a concubine's position, and infiltrated the Zhenguo Duke Estate.
If the Liang King had truly acted out of simple concern for saving King Xin, he would never have bribed her maid so far in advance. Back then, on the pretext of taking Bai Jingyan as his consort, he had instructed the maid to plant correspondence within the estate.
The Liang King was by no means a man who lived without schemes.
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes.
"If you hadn't reminded me, Advisor Fang, I'd nearly forgotten the whole affair."
"Your Highness is occupied with matters of great consequence. Trifles like these are naturally for us advisors to keep in mind on your behalf."
Advisor Fang inclined his head lightly toward the Crown Prince.
"It is no difficult matter. The Yanwo famine has spread across several prefectures—resolving it perfectly will be anything but easy. If we send men to secretly stir the pot and provoke a popular uprising, the Liang King will never manage to contain the situation. His Majesty will surely erupt in fury."
The Crown Prince lowered his head, fingering his teacup as he mulled it over.
"But what if we provoke an uprising and the Liang King fails to resolve it, and Father sends me instead? Could I resolve it?"
"Your Highness—if a popular uprising breaks out, it must be suppressed with strong troops! With the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, whom you cherish most, at your side, why worry about a lack of men?"
Advisor Fang replied with a chuckle.
The lines between the Crown Prince's brows smoothed. True—if an uprising broke out, the disaster refugees would fall into disorder, and if the Zhenguo Commandery Princess led troops to suppress it by force, even the rioting commoners, out of reverence for her name as the Lifesaver, would not dare cause further trouble.
Then the credit for resolving the Yanwo famine would be his own.
"Your Highness—the Zhenguo Commandery Princess has arrived."
Zhan Yu spoke in his soft, thin voice from outside the study.
The Crown Prince looked up, and at the words Zhenguo Commandery Princess, his mood brightened considerably.
"We were just speaking of her, and here she comes. Show her in at once!"
Bai Jingyan followed Zhan Yu into the study and paid her respects to the Crown Prince.
"I greet His Highness the Crown Prince."
Rising, she gave Advisor Fang a slight nod, and he returned the courtesy with full formality.
"Commandery Princess, what brings you at this hour? Has something happened?"
The Crown Prince smiled and gestured to the seat directly beside him.
Zhan Yu personally brought her a cup of warm tea before withdrawing from the study.
Bai Jingyan spoke.
"I must make an urgent trip to Suyang, which is why I've presumed to call at this hour. I'm worried that war with Yan might break out while I'm away. Has Your Highness perhaps obtained any recent intelligence on the Yan army?"
Advisor Fang slowly raised his teacup. The Suyang Bai clan had raised such a ruckus in the capital—how could the Crown Prince not know of it? Nor could he, Advisor Fang, possibly be ignorant of it.
The Crown Prince assumed Bai Jingyan had finally yielded to pressure from the clan head and the elders. If she meant to return to Suyang to help her clan brothers, then all he need do was send a man to inform the local officials in advance—allowing her to feel indebted to him.
"They're arrayed at Mount Hongjue but have not moved. You may travel with an easy mind."
Having answered, the Crown Prince asked her again.
"Weren't you only just back from Suyang? Going again? The fifth month is nearly upon us—why not wait until then?"
Bai Jingyan pressed her lips together and let out a soft sigh. Then, with a troubled expression, she furrowed her brow.
"A family's disgrace is not something to spread abroad—but I cannot hide it from Your Highness. Trouble has broken out within the Suyang Bai clan."
The Crown Prince leaned in, listening intently, and waited for her to continue.
"I heard before that the clansmen's sons had been wielding the Bai family's influence to commit every manner of outrage in Suyang, which is why I made a special trip there. They were driving people to ruin—even costing lives—so I had no choice but to go and handle the matter myself.
Only after I arrived did I learn that the clansmen's sons had gone so far as to brazenly invoke Your Highness's authority to exploit the local people! In broad daylight they seized another man's shop, claiming that you and I were carrying on an intimate private liaison... and that I was to be Empress one day—throwing their weight about like that. They threatened to cut off the shopkeeper's youngest son's hand if he refused to hand the shop over."
Bai Jingyan clenched her teeth, her face tight with frustration.
"As for me, the world already calls me the Lifesaver, and I have sworn never to marry—such baseless rumors hold no fear for me. But Your Highness is the foundation of the realm, the man who will one day be sovereign of Jin—your reputation must not be sullied, not ever! And so I had no choice but to order the local Governor to throw the Bai clansmen who had harmed the people into prison and punish them severely."
At the sight of Bai Jingyan's earnest, solemn face, the Crown Prince felt his throat go dry and a faint tightness in his chest.
"But afterward, the clan head brought the elders to the capital to raise an uproar and threaten me—demanding that, in the name of my title, I order the Governor to release them. But if I were to pressure the local Governor into freeing the clansmen again, the people would say Your Highness shields the Bai clan—how could I possibly grant such a request? When I refused, the clan head led the elders to make a scene outside the gates of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's residence.
Grandmother summoned the clan head and elders into the mourning hall, trying to persuade them that the young clansmen could not simply be left to run wild—but under their pressure, she vomited blood at last and collapsed unconscious."
Bai Jingyan paused, then lifted her head and looked at the Crown Prince with grave courtesy.
"Later, when the Huyuan Army was transporting supplies to Suyang, word reached me that the clansmen's sons, dead drunk, had gone to the local officials demanding the release of their kin, and in the ensuing uproar, another life was lost.
There is not a soul in the world who does not know I am Your Highness's person. I thought that even if I could not lend you strength, I must at least never burden you. I cannot allow rumors to spread among the people that Your Highness coddles the Bai clan."