Prudence
Listening to Bai Jingyan's words, the Crown Prince found himself remembering the days when he had doubted her. He had followed her all the way to Fengxian, only to discover that she had been laboring on his behalf, preparing Shen Lu for him all along.
The Bai family was one that honored duty and tradition above all. And here was Bai Jingyan, thinking of nothing but him—the future sovereign of the realm.
A flood of emotions surged through the Crown Prince's chest. He nodded, and without realizing it, his voice had grown noticeably softer.
"Then what do you intend to do about it this time?"
Bai Jingyan's tightly clenched fists trembled, and the rims of her eyes grew damp and flushed red. As though she were forcing herself through an agonizing decision, she answered in a strained voice.
"I intend to expel every young clansman of the Bai family who caused this disaster from the clan and request that the local officials punish them with the full severity of the law. As for the clan head, since he failed to guide our kin in the right direction, I will have him removed from his post and replaced with a new clan head.
But should our clansmen refuse to abide by that decision, then I will report their crimes before our ancestors and remove the Bai family of Dadu from the clan registry altogether. From that moment on, I will have nothing more to do with the Bai clan of Suyang. Only then will the people cease to lay the sins of the Bai clansmen—their murders, their crimes—upon the Bai family's name. And only then will you, Your Highness, no longer be accused of shielding them."
The Crown Prince was on the verge of speaking at the sight of Bai Jingyan's anguished expression, but Advisor Fang spoke first.
"That Your Ladyship would hold His Highness the Crown Prince in such regard—my admiration is truly boundless."
As he spoke, Advisor Fang looked toward the Crown Prince and gave a subtle, barely perceptible shake of his head. The Crown Prince clenched his fists, composed himself, and nodded.
"Yes! I am deeply moved as well."
Bai Jingyan wore a faintly startled expression.
"How could you say such a thing? Through this affair, the Bai family has sullied Your Highness's reputation—I consider myself fortunate indeed that you do not demand an accounting of our guilt. To hear that you are 'moved'... I am unworthy of such words, truly. I am deeply honored. That both of you would speak to me so kindly—it is more than I deserve."
There was nothing of pretense in Bai Jingyan's manner, and Advisor Fang nodded with a smile.
"The Bai clansmen have already committed their transgression. Even if Your Ladyship reports the matter to the ancestors and withdraws from the clan, it will not erase the fact that they stained His Highness's reputation. I know this well. See this affair through to its end, and in time, when the opportunity arises, I will make certain that Your Highness can once more win back the hearts of the people of Suyang."
Bai Jingyan gazed at the Crown Prince with eyes deep and still, burning with conviction.
The Crown Prince nodded. Gratitude shone openly on his face, and a secret sense of triumph swelled within him. So he had finally brought a talent like Bai Jingyan to heel.
Bai Jingyan rose and bowed to the Crown Prince.
"If there is no movement on the Liang border, I will go to Suyang with my mind at ease, settle the matter swiftly, and return. Should anything unexpected occur with Liang in the meantime, please send someone to inform me. I will not shrink even from death."
"Your Ladyship—when do you intend to depart?"
When Advisor Fang asked, Bai Jingyan answered with modest humility.
"I had intended to leave today, but it seems much must be done before the clan matter can be settled. Evidence of the wrongs committed by those young clansmen must be properly gathered before they can be cast out of the clan. I have already sent people to Suyang to collect proof of their crimes, and I plan to depart early in the morning the day after tomorrow. Upon my return, I intend to build an ancestral shrine at once."
"Well thought out! Should you need any assistance, speak freely!"
the Crown Prince said.
Bai Jingyan shook her head.
"Far from easing Your Highness's burdens, my clan's affairs have already caused you trouble—it sits ill with me. How could I dare presume to ask more of the Crown Prince? I will take my leave now."
Only then did Advisor Fang's heart settle. Had Bai Jingyan begged the Crown Prince for help, it would have proven she had come with a hidden agenda. But she had declined his gracious offer, and Advisor Fang found himself thinking that perhaps Bai Jingyan genuinely held the Crown Prince in sincere regard.
The Crown Prince personally escorted Bai Jingyan out of the residence, and it was only after watching her and Nuo Ping ride away that he went back inside.
Advisor Fang, following at the Crown Prince's heels, spoke slowly.
"Your Highness—if the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's words are true, then it may be wise to send men you trust from the Crown Prince's guard detail to accompany her to Suyang."
When the Crown Prince turned to look at him, Advisor Fang continued at a measured pace.
"Her clansmen have stained Your Highness's reputation, and yet you could show the world that you bear the Commandery Princess no ill will. Moreover, if your own men accompany her to Suyang, the task of settling the clan affair will become far easier for her—and she will surely engrave that kindness of yours deep in her heart.
And further—if the men Your Highness sends order the local officials to punish the guilty with the full weight of the law, Your Highness may win the people's hearts in the bargain. But if the Commandery Princess herself gives that order... then the people's hearts would turn toward her instead."
"I take your point, Advisor Fang, but on that third count, my thinking differs from yours. How clever a woman the Commandery Princess is. If the man I sent stole the people's hearts from her, how wounded she would be! The Commandery Princess is now a woman who devotes herself to me with her whole heart. If I robbed her of the people's devotion, what would she think of me then?"
The Crown Prince paused a moment, then went on.
"I hear bandits run rampant around Suyang. Last time, even Rong Yan's goods were plundered. Assign Yue Shi and two guards from the Crown Prince's residence to the Commandery Princess, and order them to follow her every instruction."
Advisor Fang, who had been trailing the Crown Prince's steps, faltered slightly. His hand, tucked inside his sleeve, clenched tight. This was already the second time the Crown Prince had dismissed his counsel for Bai Jingyan's sake. It was not a good omen.
But he could not let it show on his face, so he nodded with a smile.
"Then I will send someone to confirm the bandit situation. The Commandery Princess departs the day after tomorrow, so there is still time! Your Highness—surely it would be prudent to exercise a little caution?"
The Crown Prince gave a soft laugh.
"You worry too much, Advisor Fang! Very well, do as you've said. See that nothing disrupts the Commandery Princess's schedule—and I will see her off myself on the day."
It was a gesture of favor, and he wished every outward detail of it to be flawless. Seeing her off in person was the surest way to accomplish that.
Besides, as Advisor Fang had suggested, a trap would need to be laid for the Liang King, who was struggling to contain the disasters in Yanwo—and for that, he wished to hear Bai Jingyan's thoughts as well.
The moment Bai Jingyan rode out of the Crown Prince's alley, she gave Nuo Ping his orders. Word that she would be traveling to Suyang had to spread far and wide. It was something the Left Prime Minister, Li Mu, absolutely had to learn.
She had barely finished instructing Nuo Ping when someone called out to her.
"Sister Bai! Sister!"
The moment she turned her head, her eyes fell on Xiao Rongyan standing at the entrance of the pleasure quarter, flanked by the young lords of Dadu's three great houses.
His brow, the bridge of his nose, his jaw and the sharp angles of his profile—all were chiseled and distinct. Clad in a dark official's robe, his tall frame cut a striking figure, exuding an air at once noble, extraordinary, and gravely imposing. Even among the gathered lords, he stood out unmistakably.
Lu Yuanfeng, visibly worked up, seized the hem of his own robe and came hurrying down the pleasure quarter steps. Delighted beyond measure, he ran right up to Bai Jingyan, then turned and looked up at her atop her horse. At the sight of her splendid, richly featured face, Lu Yuanfeng beamed.
"Sister Bai, where are you off to?"
"I'm just leaving the Crown Prince's residence. I was on my way home."
At her answer, Lu Yuanfeng boldly took hold of Bai Jingyan's reins and looked up at her with a grin.
"I'm calling Brother Xiao and Jin Lang and Sima Ping out for drinks—to celebrate my name being cleared. Come have a cup with us before you go, Sister! You ought to give me the chance to repay my gratitude to you somehow!"
Bai Jingyan burst out laughing. "You should be thanking Lord Lu of the Court of Judicial Review, the one who restored your good name—what have I to do with it?" she replied, answering his guileless words in kind.
At the sight of Bai Jingyan, Jin Lang clenched his fists and stepped toward her. As he drew near, Lu Yuanfeng's confident voice rang out.
"My grandfather told me, you know. The very first to look into the cause of Lim's pregnancy poisoning—and the one who learned from the neighbors the hour of her death—was a person from the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's household. That means Sister Bai believed me when I said I was innocent, and she knew all along that the truth would come to light. Otherwise, you'd have gone straight to the Court of Judicial Review yourself. Isn't that right?"
Standing to one side, Jin Lang watched Lu Yuanfeng sell out his own grandfather so breezily and felt his own face flush red in sympathy.
So this is how it is with someone who's been coddled and adored since childhood—shameless as the day is long.
Jin Lang bowed with hands folded.
"Your Ladyship—are you returning to your residence?"
Bai Jingyan only nodded, making no move to dismount.
"I'm to visit the Bai clan at Suyang early in the morning the day after tomorrow. With Liang stationing troops along the border, my heart won't rest easy, so I came to ask His Highness the Crown Prince whether there has been any movement from Liang."
No one in all of Dadu would spread word faster than this crowd of scandal-loving young lords.
Xiao Rongyan approached with the remaining young lords and greeted Bai Jingyan, and only then did she dismount and return their courtesies.
Yue Shi stood at the very back. He, too, wished to exchange greetings with Bai Jingyan, but there was no squeezing ahead of the young lords of Dadu's three great houses, so he simply watched quietly from behind.
"Sister, you're going back to Suyang? Come to think of it, I heard the clan head and the elders of the Suyang Bai clan threw a rampage right in front of the Commandery Princess's gates. Is it true the Grand Princess coughed up blood?!"
When Bai Jingyan showed a flicker of helplessness, a surge of fury rose in Lu Yuanfeng's chest. His loathing for the Suyang Bai clansmen burned hot.
How could such shameless creatures exist in this world? Here in Dadu itself, without the slightest regard for Her Highness the Grand Princess as she is now—if Sister Bai returned to Suyang, what wouldn't those wretches dare do before her very eyes?
The sons and daughters of the Bai family of Dadu, that hundred-year line of mighty generals, every one of them man or woman, lived with spirit and upright pride—while the clansmen carried on so vile and contemptible.
"You seem pressed to leave for Suyang—is there anything I might do to help?"
Xiao Rongyan looked at Bai Jingyan, a smile held deep within his dark eyes, his manner gentle and composed.
"I'm grateful for your concern. But it's something I can manage on my own."
Bai Jingyan offered him a fist-clasped salute.
"Sister—I'm going with you to Suyang the day after tomorrow!"
Lu Yuanfeng pressed on, gazing at her earnestly.
"Any command you give, Sister, I will follow—whatever it may be."
Bai Jingyan smiled at him.
"I'm quite enough on my own."
With that, she offered a cupped-hand salute to the young lords of the three great houses.
"I won't take any more of your time. I'll be going now."
"Your Ladyship—one moment."
Xiao Rongyan smiled and turned to nod at Lu Yuanfeng before speaking.
"I have matters to discuss with Her Ladyship, so you all go on ahead. I'll catch up shortly."
The fact that Xiao Rongyan loved Bai Jingyan had not spread through all of Dadu, but the young lords—devoted as they were to the pleasures of romance—had all caught on.
Though they were close to Xiao Rongyan and had never once looked down on his merchant origins, they all thought the same thing: for the sovereign of Jin to wed a merchant was next to impossible.
Besides, Bai Jingyan had sworn at her husband's grave never to remarry.
And yet with Xiao Rongyan striving so openly to win Bai Jingyan, it was hardly their place to stand in his way. He was a man of clear understanding—he surely had his own designs in mind.