Utter Absurdity
It was not until midday that the entire Bai Estate learned that Bai Jingyan had left Shanyang City.
Because Bai Jingyan had made her swear never to tell Third Madame before departing, Lady Dong had no choice but to offer Lady Li a hasty excuse.
"Ayan has gone to Mount Chunmu. They say General Zhang Danyue has fallen in battle. She was afraid Nuo Ping and Shen Qingzhu wouldn't be able to keep Jinchi under control, so she insisted on going herself."
Though not a single word had been spoken about Jinchi's disappearance, Lady Li's heart leapt straight into her throat. She was so shaken that she could barely keep her seat.
"General Zhang Danyue... has died?"
Lady Li felt as though her throat had seized up completely. She seized Lady Dong's hand in both of hers.
"Then what in the world is happening at Mount Chunmu? Elder Sister, has something happened to Jinchi? Why else would Ayan rush off like this? I'm her mother! Elder Sister, please — you mustn't hide anything from me!"
"Ayan didn't tell you precisely because she knew you'd panic like this!"
Lady Dong patted Lady Li's hand gently.
"Don't worry. Ayan has gone. Jinchi is safe."
Even Lady Dong's reassurance could not put Lady Li's mind at ease — if anything, it only deepened her anxiety. At a complete loss, she went to find Fourth Madame Wang, and together the two of them knelt before the Buddha altar, praying for Bai Jinchi and Bai Jingyan to return home safely.
The road from Shanyang to Mount Chunmu was long and treacherous. Bai Jingyan rode without rest, changing horses as she went, and arrived at Dadu before dawn on the second day.
Since she needed a plausible reason for her sudden return to the capital, she first sent word to the Imperial Estate through a messenger, giving the Grand Princess advance notice: a few days earlier, news had reached Shanyang that the Grand Princess had fallen ill, and so Bai Jingyan had rushed back to see her — that would be the excuse.
Then Bai Jingyan galloped straight for the Crown Prince's residence.
He had only just risen and had not yet changed into his court robes when word came from outside the gate that the Zhenguo Commandery Princess was requesting an audience.
"Let her in at once!"
Bai Jingyan stood in the great hall of the Crown Prince's residence, and when she saw him hurrying in, she stepped forward two paces to meet him.
"Your Highness!"
"Have you already received the imperial edict?"
The Crown Prince asked in puzzlement. Even if the eunuch bearing the edict had ridden without so much as sleeping, he could not possibly have reached Shanyang by now.
Bai Jingyan understood what he meant, but played ignorant.
"The imperial edict, Your Highness?"
"You have not received it yet? Then why have you returned to Dadu?"
the Crown Prince asked.
"A few days ago, my grandmother sent a letter to Shanyang saying she was unwell, so I rode here as fast as I could. But before I even entered the city gates, I heard word that General Zhang Danyue had fallen in battle, and I came to ask about my sister Jinchi's situation."
Bai Jingyan pressed on with the anxious air of someone who had learned the news only moments ago.
"Your Highness — what has become of my sister?"
"Do not be so hasty."
The Crown Prince comforted Bai Jingyan and urged her to sit first.
"There is still no word from the Gaoyi County Princess. However, His Majesty has dispatched Zhen Zeping, Liu Hong, and Shi Wanzhang with twenty thousand soldiers to reinforce Mount Chunmu. Another thirty thousand troops garrisoned at Rongji have been sent there as well.
Knowing you would worry for the Gaoyi County Princess, I petitioned my father that very evening to send you to Mount Chunmu. He consented, and the edict was drawn up. It seems you simply crossed paths with the eunuch carrying it."
Bai Jingyan offered the Crown Prince a formal clasp-fist salute.
"Then I shall waste no time and depart for Mount Chunmu immediately."
Knowing how desperately she yearned for her sister, the Crown Prince called for Zhan Yu, who stood waiting outside.
"Zhan Yu — give the Commandery Princess the treasure horse my father bestowed upon me."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
Bai Jingyan expressed her gratitude with a look of genuine feeling.
Leaving the Crown Prince's residence, Bai Jingyan mounted the treasure horse. Zhan Yu bowed and offered a parting word.
"Zhenguo Commandery Princess — please, take great care!"
Bai Jingyan gave Zhan Yu a nod, then led her party out of the city gates at a breakneck gallop.
When she was thirsty, she drank in the saddle; when she was hungry, she ate her rations without slowing. After three days and nights of this, the guards trailing behind her could endure no more. Only then did Bai Jingyan dismount and order a brief rest; she closed her eyes for roughly a single shichen before setting off again.
She could only regret having no wings. She longed to run straight to Bai Jinchi this very moment, seize her sister by the ear, and give her a proper scolding — but even that was possible only once she found her.
Those two words Nuo Ping had sent in his letter — whereabouts unknown — were like a grain of sand caught in her eye, grinding at Bai Jingyan's heart again and again, leaving her deeply unsettled.
And only now did she understand why, when she had returned carrying the head of the King of Fangping, her father had been so stern with her.
To reach Mount Chunmu in the shortest possible time, Bai Jingyan and her party changed horses and replenished their rations and water at every relay station they passed.
Bai Jingyan's pace outstripped even the forced march of the twenty thousand soldiers heading for Mount Chunmu.
The closer they drew to Mount Chunmu, the more refugees came into view.
The local authorities had sealed the official road to prevent the refugees from crossing southward. With no other choice, the fleeing people shouldered bundles of dry rations, took their children by the hand, and trudged along the perilous mountain paths.
Rumor had it that every time Xun Tianzhang, the Grand Marshal of Liang, took a city, he swept it clean with slaughter. Terrified, the people fled south.
When Bai Jingyan's party reached Youhua City in the north, they cut straight through it. The city was in chaos; every household had loaded its carts, gathered its valuables, and spilled out into the streets. Children's wails and men's shouts rose from every direction, and a woman whose duck had been stolen stood before her baggage cart hurling abuse at the top of her voice. Earsplitting clamor echoed everywhere.
Jin soldiers hauling goods swarmed toward the north gate, and the officer leading the small detachment brandished a shovel, barking at the soldiers heading out to dig trenches before the north gate to move faster.
The city was chaos itself.
Clinging to bundles of precious metals, the people grumbled under their breaths as they hurried toward the south gate.
A small child sitting on a baggage cart dropped a toy and tried to climb down to retrieve it, only to be scolded by his father, whereupon the boy began to wail at the top of his lungs.
"Again! Again! How long are you going to just sit there crying? Keep it up and the Liang soldiers will come snatch you away!"
"What is even happening anymore? If the Zhenguo King were still alive, would our Jin have taken a beating like this? The Liang army wouldn't have made it over Mount Chunmu — they'd have limped home in disgrace!"
"What good does saying that do now? It's all the fault of that traitor Liu Huanzhang, who conspired with the enemy and sold out the country! And that detestable Prince Xin, who could die ten thousand deaths and it still wouldn't be enough!"
"Shh! Are you out of your mind? Cursing a prince of the realm!"
Without dismounting, Bai Jingyan turned her head and gestured for one of her guards to go ask.
The guard on her left dismounted and blocked the path of the Jin officer who had been bellowing orders, and asked:
"The Liang army has pushed as far as Youhua City?"
Bai Jingyan had ridden at the fastest possible pace, scarcely dismounting at all, so no guard had fresher intelligence than she did. They had heard the Liang army had indeed pushed this far, but beyond that, there was almost no information to be had.
"Give me back my child! Give me back my son!"
"Mother! Mother! Please, save me, Mother!"
"Oh, you stupid girl! The Liang army has fought its way to Youhua City itself. Even if you run now, this is all the dry rations you can carry. Sell me your son, and I'll take you with me. Otherwise, you and your boy will die right here — every last one of you will!"
The people of Youhua City, watching the scene, only shook their heads, murmured that the child was pitiable, and went on their way. The woman was a widow. Because she had long run with a crowd of ruffians, the looks people gave her were far from kind. It was a matter even the authorities declined to touch — there was no reason for ordinary folk to step in.
The child trafficker seized the boy's arm hard, then tossed a few taels of silver at the feet of the widow as she was dragged away by the ruffian.
"I don't want your silver! Give me back my son! Give me my son!"
Bai Jingyan drew an arrow from her quiver. Her eyes darkened — and the arrow sliced through the air, punching clean through the trafficker's coiled-up hair in a single shot. The sheer force of it sent the man staggering, and he collapsed, screaming in terror.
The ruffian looked up at Bai Jingyan. At the piercing gaze of the woman seated on horseback, his heart plummeted for an instant, and fear got the better of him.
Seeing this, the widow desperately tore herself free of the man's grip and clutched her son tightly to her chest — like a beast sheltering her young. Gritting her teeth, she glared at the ruffian, drew the hairpin from her coiled hair, and let out a savage cry.
"Lay one more hand on my son, and I swear I will kill you!"
White-faced, the ruffian glanced once at the trafficker clawing at the arrow buried in his hair — then bolted. The trafficker rolled himself upright and fled after him.
Only when both men were gone did the widow turn away, fold her son into her arms, and weep aloud.
The officer commanding the Jin troops swept his gaze over the guard radiating an extraordinary presence, then turned back to Bai Jingyan's column. When he saw Bai Jingyan herself — cold, formidable, holding the Sun-Shooting Bow — he lowered his voice and asked:
"Who are you?"
"The Zhenguo Commandery Princess of this realm."
the guard announced.
"The Zhenguo Commandery Princess?"
The officer started violently, eyes going wide as he stared at her.
Bai Jingyan turned her head and looked back at him.
"Has the Liang army come right up to the city walls? That the defending troops are thrown into such disarray — are you telling me you cannot even manage the looting within your own walls?"
The officer's eyes grew hot, and he dropped to his knees where he stood.
"Zhenguo Commandery Princess! The Liang army has pushed all the way to Longyang City. The people of Longyang have fled south, and if Longyang falls, Youhua City is next. Our general is at his wits' end — he ordered the people to flee at once, and commanded us to stay behind and hold the line!"
The citizens trudging along with their loaded carts slowed to a halt and began whispering among themselves as they looked toward Bai Jingyan.
"Is that truly the Zhenguo Commandery Princess? Did the court send her to drive out the Liang army?"
"The Commandery Princess? You mean that butcher princess who slaughtered a hundred thousand surrendered soldiers at Ongsan?"
"Isn't she the Zhenguo King's granddaughter?"
"If the Commandery Princess has come, then we don't have to flee, do we? We won't end up as wretched refugees?"
The defending general had just come down from the city walls and was on his way back to his quarters to snatch a brief nap. Having worked day and night without rest, he was utterly exhausted. But the moment he caught wind of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess's name as he rode past, he dismounted at once and hastened toward her.
"Wang De'an, defending general of Youhua City, greets the Zhenguo Commandery Princess!"
Wang De'an bowed in haste.
"Throwing yourselves into panic before the enemy has even arrived — how disappointing!"
Bai Jingyan could not restrain her fury.
Wang De'an bowed his head even deeper, unease gnawing at him.
"This humble general has committed a grave fault."
Gripping the reins hard, her face like stone, Bai Jingyan spoke.
"Restore order in the city at once. Anyone guilty of robbery, arson, or any other breach of the law is to be punished strictly under Jin law. And whoever knows the battle situation best is to come with me to Longyang City immediately!"
"Yes, Commandery Princess!"