Private Vengeance
Bai Jinchi looked out past the gate of the ancestral hall's courtyard, watching the crowd of commoners draw steadily closer to the main gates of the Bai ancestral hall. She remembered how her eldest sister had once stood before the gates of the Bai estate in the capital, recounting the Bai family's every merit one by one to move the hearts of the petty schemers who sought to slander them, stirring the people's indignation and protecting the family through the will of the masses.
She remembered the popular fury that had thundered from the Dengwen Drum, driving King Xin to his death. Her eldest sister's words came back to her — that the Bai family showed their loyalty through deeds rather than words, never once proclaiming their devotion aloud, and so the people never knew the depth of it.
Bai Jinchi remembered all too well the great tidal wave that the hearts of the capital's people had stirred up.
Gripping her whip tight, Bai Jinchi fixed her gaze on the clansmen kneeling in the courtyard of the ancestral hall and cried out in a ringing voice.
"My grandfather was already past sixty, yet he donned his armor and marched to the battlefield. He led every man of the Bai family out with him — even my seventeenth younger brother, barely ten years old, who bled and fought on that battlefield before dying for his country! Their sacrifice was not made for beasts worse than pigs and dogs!
Do you think the people of the Bai estate in the capital knew no fear of death? We Bai are sons and daughters with mothers and fathers too. There were those who prayed desperately for their loved ones to come home from the war. Yet the men of our family, never forgetting their grandfather's teachings, fought to protect the people without exception — because the Bai family of Dadu regarded the people of Great Jin as their own flesh and blood! If we could not protect the people of the borderlands, then 'Zhenguo' would be nothing but an empty title, and we would be betraying the grace of being fed by the people's sweat and taxes. That is why we went to war.
And yet these creatures, lower than swine, dare to snatch away the merit won by the deaths of the Bai men of Dadu — not content with tormenting the people our family has protected for generations, now you go and slaughter the very people we cherished as kin! Beasts like you have no place among the descendants of the Bai clan. You are an insult to our ancestors!"
Watching Bai Jinchi speak with such passionate conviction, every word crisp and clear despite her surging emotions, Bai Jingyan felt her heart swell with pride. Her voice burned with fury, yet she held fast to the thread of reason, riding her momentum to seize the hearts of Suyang's people.
Jinchi has truly grown up.
Bai Qingjue's mother opened her mouth to object, but the moment she met Bai Jingyan's icy gaze — sharp enough to pierce bone — the words lodged in her throat.
Bai Jinchi turned, raised a clasped-fist salute toward Bai Jingyan, and went on through reddened eyes, her teeth clenched.
"Sister, if we don't cast these creatures — worse than pigs and dogs — out of the clan today, then I'll do it myself! I would never, ever live under the same clan name as beasts like these!"
Watching the dignified eldest daughter of the Bai family, unyielding in her noble bearing, and the fiery fourth daughter brimming with righteous fury, the crowd was swept by a wave of emotion.
The commoners gathered before the Bai ancestral hall, listening to Bai Jingyan and Bai Jinchi, clenched their fists. Their chests swelled, feelings surging up within them like a rising tide.
Raise the living, mourn the dead!
The Duke of Zhenguo, though past sixty, had led every man of the Bai family to the Southern Border. The youngest among them had been ten years old — and that child had come home a corpse.
Merchants and scholars from distant lands who had passed through Suyang had always said the Bai family treated the common folk as their own flesh and blood. Hot tears now welled in the crowd's eyes. So the Bai of Dadu truly did cherish the people!
If they had marched not to protect the people but purely to chase military glory, would they ever have taken a child of ten to the battlefield?
And there was something everyone knew: noble houses that had won their titles through the sword did not wish for their sons to don armor and march to war.
The Bai family of Dadu was the most illustrious house in all of Jin, blessed with wealth and honor beyond measure. Their descendants could have whiled away their days in idleness and luxury for generations, squandering fortunes that would outlast several lifetimes. Instead, they had gone to war without hesitation.
The people of Suyang had never believed in the virtue and honor of the Dadu Bais. They had scoffed at the rumor that in a hundred years, the Zhenguo Duke Estate had never once produced a degenerate, dismissing it as empty flattery from those who beautified power.
But seeing their love for the common people with their own two eyes, they could not help believing — could not help being awed.
The Zhenguo Commandery Princess had shown no favoritism to kin, punishing the Bai clansmen without mercy. Even in the Gaoyi County Princess, cursing in her blazing anger, they could feel nothing but sincerity.
They shared the same surname, yet the Bai family of the capital and the Bai clan of Suyang were worlds apart.
The people of Suyang, worn down for so long by the local Bai clansmen, had been blinded by resentment — had prayed to heaven and earth to bring death upon the Bai family of the capital, believing that only then would the Suyang Bais have nowhere left to turn.
But now, watching the actions of the eldest legitimate daughter — the Zhenguo Commandery Princess — and the fourth daughter, the Gaoyi County Princess, and hearing their words, shame washed over the people of Suyang. They regretted what they had done. They wanted to kneel before heaven and earth once more and beg that their past prayers be erased — wanted to beg the gods to bring the King of Zhenguo and the young generals back to life, even if it cost them their own allotted years.
Was it not the true blessing of all the people of Great Jin to be protected by a family like the Bais — a family that did not try to bury its crimes beneath its merits, that cherished the common folk to its very core?
Every man of the Bai estate in Dadu had left this world. Only the women remained now.
It grieved them, ached in their hearts — and yet how fortunate they were that women this formidable and righteous remained to carry the Bai name.
Judge the whole from seeing a part: the men of the Dadu Bais must have been upright, steadfast men while they lived.
"Cast them out of the clan."
The clan head spoke, gripping his staff tight.
"Grandfather, I beg you, forgive me! I will never sin again!"
"Clan Head! Grandfather, say something to the Clan Head, quickly! I can't be cast out — I can't be sent to prison again!"
"Father, Ajel is your own grandson!"
"Father, plead with the Clan Head, hurry! Does any of this even make sense?"
The courtyard of the Bai ancestral hall dissolved into a sea of wailing. But the commoners standing outside it felt as though a long-held weight had finally lifted from their chests, and their blood ran hot once more.
Amid the ceaseless sobbing, the clan head drew out the family registry and struck through the names of the offending clansmen, one by one.
From this moment on, these people had nothing whatsoever to do with the Bai clan.
"Lord Zhu, take the criminals into custody at once. And press for the swiftest possible trial — see that they are punished to the full extent of the law. Show them no mercy out of personal sentiment! The people of Suyang must have their justice restored to them, and soon!"
Bai Jingyan instructed.
Lord Zhu rose hurriedly, offered a respectful bow to Bai Jingyan, and answered.
"Commandery Princess, have no fear. Huguan will most certainly punish them to the full extent of the law."
He bowed to the crowd outside the ancestral hall as well.
"Good people, I am an official who exists to serve the people. I will see these criminals punished without fail. The hearing will open tomorrow, and justice shall be restored to the people."
With that, Lord Zhu waved to his subordinates. The clansmen who had been struck from the registry wept as though their souls had left their bodies, and he gave the order to drag them away.
Realizing that pleading with their husbands and fathers-in-law was useless, the mothers of the expelled clansmen hurriedly hitched up their skirts and chased after the procession. Clutching their children tight outside the ancestral hall, they wept and reassured them not to worry — they would go to Lord Zhu later and beg for their release.
Under contemptuous stares and bitter reproaches, the subordinates dragged the expelled men away.
The wailing that had shaken the courtyard gradually died down.
Bai Jingyan turned her head slightly and whispered instructions to Shen Qingzhu. Shen Qingzhu gave a small nod, melted back into a spot where she could not easily be seen, and slipped out over the ancestral hall's wall.
Watching Bai Jingyan continue to sit there, utterly unyielding, Ohnoya frowned, his eyes darting about, before he turned to the clan head.
"Can I leave now?"
"Ohnoya, what's your hurry? We've only just settled the charges against the clansmen. There are piles of documents here — and the victims have all come forward. Didn't I say we would go through them one by one?"
Bai Jingyan looked toward Lord Zhu.
"Since Ohnoya seems in such a rush, let's begin with his family."
The clan head's heart plummeted. Just as he had feared, Bai Jingyan had come to purge the clan.
His fists clenched tight, the clan head turned his gaze toward Zhan Yu, who was pouring warm tea for Bai Jingyan. It felt as though a great mountain had settled on his chest; he could scarcely breathe, and his face grew darker by the moment.
Even the Crown Prince's close eunuch waited on Bai Jingyan with such deference — the rumor that the Crown Prince was enamored with her suddenly seemed all too plausible. If he did not let Bai Jingyan have her way today, she would undoubtedly report the clan's crimes to their ancestors and declare her own withdrawal from the clan. And if word of that reached the Crown Prince's ears, calamity might well rain down upon the entire Bai clan.
At Bai Jingyan's words, Ohnoya felt a band tightening around his skull. He turned his head to look at his elder brother.
The clan head slowly closed his eyes. Yes. Even if he cast my brother's whole family out of the clan, as long as I remain Clan Head, there must surely be a way to help them.
When the clan head said nothing, Ohnoya demanded through gritted teeth,
"Bai Jingyan. Is this your private revenge on me — for what happened when I stayed at the ancestral estate once?"
Bai Jingyan arched a brow and let out a cold smile.
"My sister has never had the leisure to concern herself with things like that."
Bai Jinchi did not spare Ohnoya so much as a glance. The mere thought of how he had seized the ancestral estate made her grind her teeth; she wanted nothing more than to crack her whip across him right then and there.
"Watch your tongue!"
Fury surged up in Ohnoya — but the County Princess's rank gave him pause.
Ohnoya of the Bai clan had stolen a manor belonging to a commoner, complete with its hot springs. At the mention that Ohnoya would be punished, the victim hurried forward, threw open the gates of grievance against the Bai clansman, and cried out at the top of his lungs.
"Zhenguo Commandery Princess, I am a humble commoner with nowhere else to turn — please, help me! Ohnoya of the Bai clan forcibly seized the hot spring manor my father left me, and together with the Prefect Zhu he slandered my son, claiming he had committed murder. In the end, to save my son's life, I had no choice but to give up the springs. And then my poor boy, hollowed out by guilt, threw himself from a mountain and died... Commandery Princess, I beg you — restore justice to us!"
The old man finished speaking through his tears, then bowed to Bai Jingyan again and again until his forehead bled. What depths of grief and injustice must a man carry to act with such desperate fervor?
"Where does he get off spouting such nonsense!"
Ohnoya shot a glance at Lord Zhu. An old man daring to accuse even the Prefect himself! Certain that the Prefect would never confirm such a claim, Ohnoya shouted boldly.
This old fool! He sold that manor of his own free will, didn't he? The paperwork was drawn up in full — and now he comes crying slander at me?"
"Elder, please don't distress yourself. We will see to it, one way or another, that the Suyang clan compensates for every wrong they have committed. Please rise, Elder."
As Bai Jingyan finished speaking, a Bai family guard helped the old man to his feet.
"Lord Zhu."
Bai Jingyan turned her gaze on the Prefect.
Cold sweat beaded on the Prefect's brow. From the moment the Commandery Princess had ordered evidence collected, he had understood what she was really after: the purge of the Bai clansmen. And with that realization, all the favors he had curried with the Suyang Bais came flooding back to him unbidden.
Fortunately, he also grasped quickly that the sooner he confessed, the better off he would be. He knew by instinct that if he became an obstacle to the Commandery Princess's purge, he would meet a far more gruesome death.
But if he threw himself wholeheartedly into aiding her, there might yet come a day when he could rise again.
Besides, Zhan Yu Gonggong — the Crown Prince's own trusted eunuch — was present here today. If Zhan Yu Gonggong returned and reported today's events to His Highness, then helping the Commandery Princess now might well pay dividends later.
He had finished calculating which side served his interests before he had even set foot in this place. He dropped to his knees before Bai Jingyan without a moment's hesitation.