Knowing
Lady Li took out her handkerchief, wiped her eyes, and spoke through her sobs.
"When you get to Mount Chunmu, you listen to General Zhang Danyue! Do exactly as your elder sister says, and whatever you do, don't act on impulse!"
She lifted her head and looked at Bai Jinchi with reddened eyes, her voice gone soft—so soft it had all but withered away.
"Do you understand?"
"I understand, Mother. Don't worry. Even without my sister at my side, I won't do anything reckless."
Bai Jinchi answered meekly.
Lady Li grasped her daughter's hand. She had meant to hold back her tears until the farewell was over, but they threatened to spill again at the touch. She clutched Bai Jinchi's hand tightly, pressed her lips together, and let the tears slide down her cheeks anyway.
"I'll travel safely, Mother. Please don't worry. I'll send letters often, too."
Bai Jinchi wrapped her arms around her mother's.
"I came back unscathed from the brutal fighting in the Southern Border, didn't I? Mount Chunmu is only a defensive posting—there's no danger in it."
"Then I'll see you off myself."
With one hand carrying Bai Jinchi's luggage and the other holding her daughter's hand, Lady Li headed for the door.
Lady Dong, Lady Wang, Lady Ji, Bai Jingyan, Bai Jinshao, and Bai Jinhua all gathered at the entrance to see Bai Jinchi off.
Knowing how headstrong Bai Jinchi could be, they were more than a little uneasy about sending her to Mount Chunmu alone.
Madam Wang, her aunt, told her to bring a string of prayer beads—supposedly to keep her safe on the journey. Bai Jinshao and Bai Jinhua pressed into her hands the peace amulets they had received at a temple years ago and still carried, praying she would return safe and sound.
Nuo Ping stood at the foot of the main estate's steps with a pack on his back, holding the reins of two horses. Behind him waited a whole company of guards. Bai Jinchi looked at the sight, puzzled, and turned to Bai Jingyan.
"Sister, isn't Pingsuk supposed to start training the militia tomorrow?"
Bai Jinchi asked.
"Don't worry about that. With Pingsuk at your side, I'll rest easier myself."
"But Sister, if I take Pingsuk with me, the training of the soldiers will fall behind. It's fine. I can go on my own."
Bai Jinchi's expression was firm.
"Training the recruits is no longer your concern. This is Shanyang City—the Prefect and Lord Zhu will lend a hand. There won't be any shortage of hands."
Bai Jingyan answered just as firmly, then turned her head to look at Nuo Ping.
"Pingsuk, I leave Jinchi in your care."
"Have no fear, Eldest Young Miss. Ladies, rest assured!"
Nuo Ping bowed with fists clasped before the masters of the Bai household.
"I will bring the Fourth Young Miss back safe and sound."
Bai Jingyan gave a nod, then looked at Bai Jinchi with eyes full of worry.
"Go on."
"Grandmother, Aunts, Sisters, everyone!"
Bai Jinchi's eyes were rimmed with red. A faint unease did well up inside her, but her excitement ran deeper still.
"Don't worry. I'll come back safe and sound!"
For the first time in her life, Bai Jinchi was setting out on a long journey alone—into a war zone, no less. It frightened her, and yet something in her sang with anticipation.
Eager to earn merit, her heart raced ahead of her feet. She wanted to prove herself to her eldest sister, too—to show that she was every bit a true daughter of the Bai family. That even if she went to the battlefield alone, she could bring honor to her name.
Bai Jinchi smiled at her mother one last time, then hurried down the steps and swung herself into the saddle.
Nuo Ping bowed to the family before mounting as well. He looked back at Bai Jingyan; when she met his gaze and nodded, he nodded in return, as if to say he understood. Then he tightened his grip on his horse's flank and followed after Bai Jinchi.
"Jinchi!"
The Third Madam descended the steps in tears.
"Take care of yourself!"
Without so much as a backward glance, Bai Jinchi cracked her whip and was gone into the distance.
Bai Jingyan stood outside the gate, watching her sister's retreating figure shrink down the road, and clenched her fists tight.
When the imperial decree arrived, Bai Jingyan summoned Nuo Ping while Bai Jinchi was changing her clothes.
Before reaching the capital, she had already sent word ahead—asking Bai Jinxiu to detach part of the shadow guards under her command and attach them to Bai Jinchi's party on the road to Mount Chunmu. It was her way of protecting her sister.
No one understood Bai Jinchi's temperament better than Bai Jingyan. During the fierce battle at Chuishanguan to rescue Bai Qingyun, Bai Jinchi had tasted the full brutality of war—and been left with an indelible shadow of darkness. Even now, memories of that day sometimes seized her with fear. But fear alone would never turn back a girl so hungry for glory on the battlefield.
For every contingency, Bai Jingyan had to give her enough people.
Letting the recruit training slide was one thing. Bai Jinchi's safety had to be protected at all costs.
Of the family still living, she could not afford to lose a single soul. She would never allow it!
"Third Aunt."
Bai Jingyan approached Lady Li and gently took her hand.
"Pingsuk and Qingzhu are going with her. Nothing will happen."
Lady Li looked up at Bai Jingyan through tear-filled eyes and nodded.
News that Bai Jinchi had received the imperial decree and departed for Mount Chunmu spread quickly through Shanyang City.
The clan patriarch, Bai Qihua, worried about the recruit training. Bai Jingyan had said she would entrust it to the Gaoyi County Princess Bai Jinchi and one of the Bai estate's guard companies—but now that Jinchi had gone to Mount Chunmu, Bai Qihua had no choice but to ask Bai Jingyan who would fill the vacancy.
After lunch, Bai Qihua called for his son Bai Jingping, intending to walk with him to the Bai estate.
When Lady Fang learned of this, she thought it over for a long while, then watched her husband rinse out his mouth and spoke up.
"If you're going to see the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, why not bring our daughters along? It would be good for them to grow close to Her Highness! Think of the sisterly bond, too!"
The more she thought about it, the more Lady Fang convinced herself it was a fine idea. She set down her spoon, brimming with self-satisfaction, and went on.
"Didn't His Majesty send the Gaoyi County Princess to Mount Chunmu? The Zhenguo Commandery Princess must be feeling gloomy with worry over her. If our daughters went along, wouldn't that cheer her up? And once our girls are visiting the Bai estate regularly, we could tell any prospective matchmaker that they've grown up like sisters to the Commandery Princess. It sounds so respectable."
Bai Qihua hid his mouth behind his sleeve, spat out the water he had been rinsing with, wiped his lips with a handkerchief, and turned to look at his wife, who was practically glowing with delight.
"Do I look like a woman the Zhenguo Commandery Princess would care to bond with as kin? I know exactly what you're thinking, and I want you to fold that thought away, neatly, and never take it out again. You must not regard the Commandery Princess as the daughter of some ordinary household. Even if you sent the two girls to her estate, you'd never hear a word back.
"And besides—she is not the sort of person to tolerate such a thing. If she learns what you intended by sending them, you will be dragging the entire family's name through the mud."
Lady Fang's face darkened in an instant.
"Is that any way for you to speak to me right now? If we grow close to Her Highness and find out what Bai Jingyan likes, then I could arrange a match for her myself, for her own good! Commandery Princess or not, she's still our junior—if we elders take an interest in her, isn't that a kindness? Why must you twist a perfectly innocent thing!"
"Granting that the Commandery Princess is of marriageable age! Do you not know the woman has sworn never to wed?"
Bai Qihua frowned.
"Of course I know it! How could I not!"
Lady Fang clapped her hands lightly and pressed on.
"Which is exactly why it doesn't matter! Even if she never marries, she could still take a husband into the family! The Bai family in the capital has nothing but daughters left! Bringing a man into the clan to carry on the Bai bloodline—isn't that the truly important thing?"
For a moment, Bai Qihua had to admit there was some sense in it.
The Bai family of the capital was the true main line of the Bai clan. The Fifth Madam, Lady Ji, had borne yet another daughter—if no husband were brought in, that line would end.
Failing that, they would have to adopt an heir from a collateral branch.
He knew, too, that in the capital's Bai household, the Commandery Princess was the one whose word carried the most weight.
The moment Bai Qihua sank into thought, a gleam lit Lady Fang's eyes. She leaned in close and dropped her voice.
"My second uncle from my natal family—his legitimate second son—"
Before she could finish, Bai Qihua fixed her with such a savage glare that Lady Fang flinched back, startled.
Bai Qihua was a mild-mannered man. She had never once seen him look at her like this. The words died in her throat, and she could only stare at him, dumbfounded.
"Do you not know what sort of creature your second uncle's heir is?"
Bai Qihua's anger flared.
"There's no wrong in wanting to provide for your natal family—but there are limits!"
The legitimate second son of Lady Fang's second uncle was a scoundrel among scoundrels, a man whose whole existence was drifting in and out of gambling dens, idle and parasitic. And Lady Fang would bring that into the Bai family as an adopted son-in-law? She had the shamelessness to suggest installing a man who wasn't fit to serve as the Commandery Princess's servant.
Lady Fang twisted her handkerchief in her hands, looking put-upon. Then she began to argue back, digging in her heels.
"What does that matter? What's wrong with the boy? He's my second uncle's legitimate son!"
"Then go to your eldest sister's house and play matchmaker there. Go on—tell her to marry her own daughter to your second uncle's heir. Go ahead. Say it."
Bai Qihua was furious, though his face betrayed nothing of it. Only his tone dripped with disgust.
Bai Jingyan had personally stepped in to set the clan in order. Lady Fang, having learned through all this that the Bai clan now depended on the Commandery Princess, ought to have grown humble. Instead, here she was, scheming over what she could squeeze out of Her Highness.
Lady Fang's face crumpled, and she tugged at her handkerchief, voice trembling with tears.
"I'm only doing all this for your own good! If Bai Jingyan and my second uncle's son make a match—"
Her maid Poliu blinked rapidly at her mistress, signaling her to stop while she still could.
But Lady Fang was far too worked up to notice the warning—she didn't even see how Bai Qihua's face was growing darker by the moment.
"You'll find out whether it's for my sake or your natal family's!"
Bai Qihua rose to his feet, cutting her off. He didn't so much as glance at her as he continued.
"I understand the impulse to shower your own family with generosity. But if you offend the Commandery Princess and bring harm upon our Bai family, then you had best prepare to pack your things and return to your father's house! This humble little household will have no room to house such a grand personage as you!"
He gave his sleeve a sharp shake and strode out.
Lady Fang sat there in blank bewilderment for a long while, unable to collect herself.
Only when Bai Qihua swept up the bamboo blind and walked out did her eyes go wide, and she turned to Poliu with an expression of sheer disbelief.
"What did Bai Qihua just say to me? He said he'd—cast me out?"
Poliu hurried to soothe her in a low, urgent voice.
"Madam, you truly went too far today. The Zhenguo Commandery Princess is the legitimate eldest daughter of the Bai main line! She far outstrips even the legitimate eldest daughter of our own Fang household. And yet you tried to match Her Highness with a man who knows nothing but idle debauchery—you'd have made us all a laughingstock. She is a Commandery Princess, if you please!"
"A princess? So what? How old is she already? She's old besides, and they say she has no fortune with children! Isn't she the one looking for a husband into the family? What kind of paragon does she expect to find? A prince of the blood? Some royal highness is going to marry into the Bai household as an adopted son-in-law, is he?"
Lady Fang shouted, unable to swallow her resentment.