Haggard
Ji Nanghua clenched her teeth and pulled back the blanket. She climbed down from the sickbed, knelt before Bai Jingyan, and bowed with such formal reverence that her forehead nearly touched the floor.
"Xiao Baixiu, Nanghua is the granddaughter by direct blood of Ji Bingfu, Deputy Head of the Imperial Physicians' Office, who was implicated in the case of Censor Gan Zhongwen."
Bai Jingyan's expression did not change in the slightest. She simply tapped the armrest of her chair with a finger.
"That year, my grandfather borrowed an old volume of ancient texts from Censor Gan to read. Then a situation arose in which he had to urgently examine Noble Consort Dong's illness, and in his haste, he packed the bamboo slips into his medicine box and entered the palace.
When Noble Consort Dong saw the old text, she asked if she might read it for a while—and while my grandfather watched, she slipped into it a letter that could be used to frame Censor Gan of plotting treason. Then she summoned someone to bring the Emperor, and instructed my grandfather to testify that the letter had been tucked inside the ancient text from the very beginning. Noble Consort Dong said that this was the Emperor's will.
My grandfather did not believe her at first. But the moment the Emperor entered, this is what he said: if the letter had not been slipped in by Gan Zhongwen by mistake, then it belonged to my grandfather. One of the two would have to bear the crime, he declared. There could have been no more unmistakable a threat."
Ji Nanghua kept her head deeply bowed, her voice strained as though she were suffering from shame.
"My grandfather could not defy the Emperor's command. He said the letter had fallen out when Noble Consort Dong unfolded the ancient text, and because of it, Censor Gan Zhongwen and his entire family were driven to their deaths."
Bai Jingyan's eyes narrowed. The case of Censor Gan Zhongwen had, unusually, been wrapped up cleanly and swiftly. The Court of Judicial Review had grasped the circumstances and delivered its verdict in a mere three days. Seen now, that too had been the Emperor's hand at work behind the scenes.
At the time, Noble Consort Dong was the most favored among the imperial consorts. But the Emperor was never a man to be swayed by a woman. He would not have killed Gan Zhongwen, a stern and upright censor, merely to aid the consort's natal family.
It must have been a grudge long accumulated. Beyond that, the unspeakable, filthy deeds committed by Noble Consort Dong's family had most likely either passed with the Emperor's tacit acquiescence or been actively shielded by him. He may even have been complicit in such affairs before he ever ascended the throne.
The Emperor had always thirsted for a reputation as a wise sovereign, so it was obvious he could not tolerate Gan Zhongwen digging up the dirty deeds he had committed in secret. And that, no doubt, was why the Gan Zhongwen case had occurred.
"To spare his family from harm, my grandfather sent my father and uncles all to the frontier, and married my aunt off to an ordinary commoner's household. It was to protect the family. Yet because of it, my grandfather was tormented by guilt for the rest of his life, wasting away with grief until at last he passed from this world..."
"Your grandfather was not at fault, but because of your grandfather's testimony, an innocent man and his family left this world. So I don't think your grandfather can simply be called wronged."
Bai Jingyan continued in a calm voice.
"Is it revenge for your grandfather that you want?"
Ji Nanghua shook her head.
"If it were for revenge, I would have prepared long ago. I simply want to kill the muddle-headed ruler with my own will alone. He is a selfish man, cold beyond measure. He has committed countless sinister and vicious deeds, yet because he could not surrender his fine reputation either, he annihilated Censor Zhongwen's entire clan!
The family that protected the state of Jin is the Zhenguo Duke Estate, yet the Emperor, fearing the merit of the Zhenguo Duke Estate, urged his own prince to slay a loyal servant of Great Jin and put every son of the Bai family to death!
My life is the lowliest thing under heaven. If I could exchange this life for the muddled ruler's, I would have no regrets."
If the Emperor died, the Crown Prince would ascend the throne. But there was no guarantee the Crown Prince would be any better than the current Emperor.
Moreover, Lu Ninghua was already playing her part in it. The Emperor's headaches would ease, but the days he had left to live were few.
There was no need to drag Ji Nanghua into this.
Bai Jingyan said nothing more to her.
"Rest well. We'll talk again in a few days. Chun Tao, assign someone to keep a close watch on her."
"Xiao Baixiu!"
Ji Nanghua called after her, but Bai Jingyan did not stop walking.
Ji Nanghua had staged a commotion at the entrance of the government office, and had even come all the way to the gates of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's estate to make a scene. It was all to let as many people as possible know that she possessed the slow-acting poison. Having achieved her aim, she now had to be released.
As Bai Jingyan stepped out of the room, Lu Ninghua followed. Seeing Bai Jingyan waiting outside, she gave a start of surprise.
"Daguonang."
"Aunt, you examined the Emperor's pulse at the palace today, I hear?"
Bai Jingyan gestured for Lu Ninghua to walk with her.
Lu Ninghua nodded as she walked at Bai Jingyan's side.
"Yes. I can now say with certainty that His Majesty has without doubt been taking the mild poison that came over from Xiliang."
Bai Jingyan nodded. The state of the realm was settling toward stability, and the Bai family had completed their preparations to quietly build up their strength. Yet if the Emperor were to die in the midst of all this, it could invite unnecessary variables. She did not want the Emperor to die too soon.
"With your skill in medicine, Aunt, I believe His Majesty could live comfortably for at least five years without suffering from his headaches."
Lu Ninghua caught Bai Jingyan's hidden meaning. She was to keep the Emperor alive for exactly five more years.
"When I took His Majesty's pulse today, he expressed a wish that I enter the palace. He said it would help in treating his headaches, though he did not press the matter. What are your thoughts, Daguonang?"
"Discuss that with Grandmother."
Having said this, Bai Jingyan made as if to leave, then added one more thing.
"Does Grandmother know that you are Ji Bingfu's granddaughter through his daughter?"
Lu Ninghua's fists clenched tightly. She had wondered whether meeting Ji Nanghua might expose that very fact. But she had never imagined that Lady Daguonang Bai would catch on so quickly.
"Daguonang, why did you never think I was a granddaughter by direct blood?"
Lu Ninghua asked, as though she could not understand.
"Those golden acupuncture needles you carry—didn't you say your grandmother on your mother's side gave them to your mother before her marriage? When I saw them, I thought they looked familiar, but only after seeing Ji Nanghua today did I remember. She uses golden needles with the same floral pattern at the tips."
Bai Jingyan's eyes narrowed.
"And yet, Ji Nanghua said that after the Gan Zhongwen case broke, your maternal grandfather sent your mother off to be married..."
Since Bai Jingyan had learned everything, Lu Ninghua no longer wished to hide it.
"After my mother lost her husband, she took me back to the Ji household. Then trouble befell the Ji family, and my grandfather told me to follow my uncle and Nanghua, but I did not want to live apart from my mother. And so my mother had no choice but to remarry, taking her daughter with her. My grandfather had been forced to send my daughter away in haste, and could not marry her off properly."
Lu Ninghua's hands tightened within her sleeves. The rims of her eyes reddened. If Bai Jingyan pressed further, she would have to lay bare her wounds all over again, and so she had braced herself.
But Bai Jingyan asked only a light question.
"Is Grandmother aware of all this?"
"The Grand Princess... knows everything."
Lu Ninghua bowed her head deeply.
Bai Jingyan nodded, then looked at Lu Ninghua once with deep, unreadable eyes.
"Aunt, please take good care of Lady Ji these next few days."
Lu Ninghua felt as though she heard a sigh within Bai Jingyan's words. For a long while she stared at Bai Jingyan's retreating figure, then clenched her fists and went straight back inside.
Bai Jingyan returned to Qinghui Courtyard, changed her clothes, and took Bai Jinchi to call on the Grand Princess and pay her respects. After finishing a meal in her mother Lady Dong's garden, Steward Xue came to report: a gentleman named Zhen Xiangzhi was waiting outside the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's estate, wishing to see Bai Jingyan.
"Master Zhen?"
Bai Jinchi furrowed her brow. She remembered him—one of the strategists beside the Crown Prince whom she had seen when they went to the Southern Border.
"One of the Crown Prince's men?"
Zhen Xiangzhi was absolutely not the sort of man to call on someone just for idle conversation.
Bai Jingyan fell into thought. The Crown Prince had once asked her whether he should involve himself in the famine problem in Yanwo, so this was either related to that matter or to Left Prime Minister Li Mu. She had moved against Li Mu, and his reaction had been outside her expectations—perhaps that had stirred his suspicions.
When summer came, bamboo blinds had been hung along the corridors of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's estate, and bronze bells dangled from gilded hooks. A cool breeze carried the fragrance of the hackberry blossoms in the garden, and the crisp, falling sound of bells rang out here and there.
Bai Jingyan gathered herself and gave the order to Steward Xue.
"Show Master Zhen to the main hall."
"Big Sister, I'm coming too!"
Bai Jinchi spoke up hurriedly as Bai Jingyan turned to look at her.
"You've only just returned from Suyang—go inside and rest. There aren't many days of rest left, you know. When we go back to Suyang, you'll have to help me train the soldiers."
Bai Jinchi's eyes sparkled at the words "help Big Sister raise the soldiers."
Bai Jingyan patted Bai Jinchi's head and walked toward the main hall.
If a variable did arise—if war broke out with Liang—they might once again have to go to Mount Chunmu.
Xiao Rongyan was not a man who ever made pronouncements lightly. That a man like him had said war would come to Liang meant war would surely come.
Bai Jingyan passed along the corridor where the bells chimed and headed for the main hall. Zhen Xiangzhi stood before it, staring absentmindedly up at the eaves of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's estate, which reached high into the sky.
Only when he saw Bai Jingyan approaching, surrounded by her maids, did he come to his senses and offer her a formal bow.
In the time they had been apart, Zhen Xiangzhi had grown terribly gaunt. His clothes seemed to hang loose on him, and weariness was packed thick beneath his eyes. His spirits were not as bright as before—it was as though he had suffered through a grave illness.
"Master Zhen, why do you look so haggard?"
Bai Jingyan led him inside.
Zhen Xiangzhi followed her into the main hall but kept his mouth firmly shut and said nothing. Bai Jingyan gestured for Chun Tao to take the maids out, and only then did he open his mouth.
"The Crown Prince accepted Advisor Fang's proposal and has sent men to Yanwo. It appears he means to disrupt the Liang King's efforts to resolve the famine and incite a popular uprising."
The hand holding Bai Jingyan's teacup tightened with force. She lowered her head, gazed at the tea leaves drifting in the cup, and closed the lid again. Then she lifted her head and looked at Zhen Xiangzhi.
"On the day the Crown Prince saw me off, did you discuss this matter with him?"
"We did discuss it, but..."
Zhen Xiangzhi's face was dark.
"In the end, the Crown Prince chose Advisor Fang's proposal. I had hoped he would hold out until Your Highness returned and that you could persuade him—but against all expectation, he sent men to Yanwo that very night."
"On the day the Crown Prince saw me off, I told him it must never be done."
Bai Jingyan set down her teacup. She had hoped A'Jie would move quickly and lead as many of the refugees as possible away to Youhua Pass.
"But if you've come to me over this, I'm afraid there is no help I can give."
Bai Jingyan's reaction took Zhen Xiangzhi aback. He had assumed that Bai Jingyan would try even now to persuade the Crown Prince. Even if the Crown Prince refused to listen to her, he had judged that her love for the common people would drive her to send men to stop it. Even if it meant a clash with the Crown Prince himself, he had believed she would see it through no matter what.