True to Its Name
The moment she stepped out of the prison, Lin Gangluo asked, "Commander, is this to lure the Zhao Family Army of Liang into coming to rescue Zhao Tong?"
"There's no need to lure them. We move today. Do we still have the architectural plans from when Longyang City was built?" Bai Jingyan asked.
Lin Gangluo nodded. "The moment we entered the city, the county magistrate of Longyang handed the plans straight over to you, Commander. If you need them, I can send someone to fetch them right now. But Zhao Tong is no marshal—would the Zhao Family Army really come all this way to save him?"
"They will. Without a doubt." Bai Jingyan continued, "Zhao Tong is one of the Zhao clan. The Zhao Family Army will pay any price to get him back."
Just as the generals and soldiers of the Bai Family Army would risk their lives to save their own kin in danger.
"General Lin, send a dispatch to the Liang camp at once. Once Xun Tianzhang learns I've arrived at Longyang City, he'll suspect that Jin's reinforcements have arrived as well, and he'll send men to scout how large our forces are. Only then can he plan his strategy. Meanwhile, the Zhao Family Army will announce they're coming to Longyang of their own accord to rescue Zhao Tong."
Bai Jingyan issued her orders to Lin Gangluo.
"But what if Xun Tianzhang accepts battle anyway? The reinforcements haven't arrived yet." Lin Gangluo hesitated.
"Xun Tianzhang is a general who wields ruthless methods, but he's also a man of extreme caution. He will never fight recklessly before he's confirmed the size of Jin's forces," Bai Jingyan replied.
Sending Liang soldiers to probe the border near Mount Chunmu had already shown her that Xun Tianzhang was a man who seized control of the overall situation before committing to any strategy. Her appearance here was a variable he could not account for—and as long as that variable remained beyond his grasp, he would never accept battle lightly.
It had taken days after General Zhang Danyue sent the corpses of the scouts back to the Liang camp before Xun Tianzhang formally declared war on Jin. That alone told her everything about the man's temperament.
"General Lin, can you also brief me on Liang's artillery? Where is their main camp stationed? And one more bother, if you would—look after the guards I brought with me. They've been riding day and night and are utterly exhausted."
Bai Jingyan offered Lin Gangluo a cupped-fist salute as she spoke.
"Of course. It's the least I can do," Lin Gangluo answered hastily.
The Zhenguo Commandery Princess had subdued the enemy the moment she arrived, capturing Zhao Tong alive in barely three moves. The morale of the Jin army had surged, and Lin Gangluo's own blood burned hot with exhilaration, his chest swelling with pride. From that moment on, he obeyed Bai Jingyan's every word without question.
At the Liang camp, one of Zhao Tong's deputy generals returned and reported that Bai Jingyan had appeared at Longyang City. When word spread that Zhao Tong had been subdued in barely three moves, everyone inside the marshal's tent froze in stunned disbelief.
Zhao Sheng, Zhao Tong's elder brother, gripped the sword at his waist and roared, "Impossible! My younger brother is one of the fiercest generals in the entire Liang army. And you're telling me a mere woman took him down in three moves?"
"It is not beyond possibility. The Zhenguo Commandery Princess is the granddaughter of Bai Weiting, is she not? This is the woman who severed Fang Pingguo's head. We would do well not to underestimate her," one of the Liang generals spoke up.
"Months ago, during Jin's war in the Southern Border, Bai Jingyan routed Yun Paxing. She is no easy opponent."
"When she was still called the Living Hell, our own court only laughed at the name. But it seems the rumors were true after all. We took the Bai women far too lightly! General Zhang Danyue is dead. Has Jin simply swapped out its marshal for Bai Weiting's granddaughter?"
"Still, the reinforcements arrived suspiciously fast! Could the Zhenguo Commandery Princess Bai Jingyan have come ahead of them?"
The Liang generals threw out one speculation after another.
Xun Tianzhang, kneeling in full armor at the marshal's seat, had gone dark in the face. His hair was streaked with white and his lips were swollen pale, but his fighting spirit had not broken an inch. Beneath his thick brows, two eyes blazed like open fire—nothing about him resembled a sick man.
When Xun Tianzhang, lost in thought for a moment, moved to rise, his son came forward to support him. But Xun Tianzhang clenched his jaw and waved him off—he needed no help. Bracing himself against the table with two rough, withered hands like the bark of a dead tree, he struggled upright. Lips pressed into a hard line, he walked to the map of Jin laid out inside the marshal's tent, and the generals all gathered behind him to study it.
Running his fingers along the border between Jin and the Rong and Di tribes, Xun Tianzhang spoke slowly. "It's not impossible. They may have pulled the troops garrisoned at the Anping Camp on the Rong-Di frontier and ordered the Zhenguo Commandery Princess Bai Jingyan to join them here at once. Or—her brother's safety weighs on her, and she broke away from the reinforcement column and rode ahead alone."
Xun Tianzhang knew well that the Bai clan prized righteousness above all else.
"Our spies said nothing about Jin's reinforcements arriving. Tens of thousands of soldiers, with horses moving in herds—there's no way they entered Longyang City without making a sound."
Scarcely had the Liang general inside the tent finished speaking when a report sounded from outside.
"Reporting, Marshal! The Jin army has sent a dispatch!"
Xun Tianzhang's pupils contracted sharply. He turned his head.
"Father, Jin's reinforcements really must have arrived!" his son said.
Xun Tianzhang took the dispatch and unfurled it where he stood before the map. The tone from Jin was harsh—utterly different from their attitude before.
He rolled up the bamboo slips with all his strength and sank into thought.
"Send men out tonight. Capture one or two of them and confirm beyond doubt whether Jin's army has truly arrived!"
Zhao Sheng hurriedly offered a cupped-fist salute. "Marshal! Let the Zhao Family Army send the men! We must rescue my brother Zhao Tong as well!"
Xun Tianzhang looked at Zhao Sheng's resolute eyes. Even if he forbade it, the Zhao Family Army would not sit still while their kin went unrescued. And the Zhao Family Army was Liang's elite force. Sending them would raise the odds of success considerably. Very well—he would send the Zhao Family Army.
Xun Tianzhang nodded. "Mark this well—confirming whether the reinforcements have truly arrived is your foremost mission! Zhao Tong may be left in Jin's hands. They will not dare touch his life. When the Jin army comes seeking terms, you can bring General Zhao Tong back with you then. But on the war situation itself, there must not be a single hair's breadth of error!"
"I receive your orders, Marshal!" Zhao Sheng saluted.
Xun Tianzhang deliberated a moment, then continued, "Once you've entered Longyang City and assessed the situation, if you have strength to spare, find the Jin army's granaries and set them ablaze!"
If the Jin grain burned, then even when Jin's reinforcements arrived, Xun Tianzhang was confident he could press the assault to the bitter end. He could divide his forces and lay siege from all four sides, resolved to die in the attempt.
He had heard it said that the Bai clan of Jin—pillars of the realm for a hundred years—produced nothing but brilliant talent, one after another. And so, even though his opponent was a woman, Xun Tianzhang could not afford to dismiss her.
He had learned of Bai Jingyan during the war with Xiliang—the girl they called Little White Marshal. Young though she was, she moved armies with consummate ease, blessed with both cunning stratagem and martial valor.
He had to seize victory swiftly, before he could fully gauge the Liang army's own situation, and put her to the sword. Bai Jingyan was the greatest variable in this war. In time, this woman would be the one to bar Liang from reclaiming the lands it had lost over ten years, just as Bai Weiting had done before her.
Zhao Sheng flinched, then answered with deference. "I will do my utmost!"
"Tell the Jin soldier who delivered the dispatch, when he returns to his marshal, this: Jin's reinforcements have only just arrived and must be weary to the bone, so we will grant them several days to rest. Let them regroup before they take up the war again!"
Having said his piece, Xun Tianzhang waved a hand. Once the generals filed out of the marshal's tent, his son at last showed his worry and moved to support him.
"Father, you are not even taking the field today—why wear such heavy armor? You will surely do yourself harm at this rate."
Half leaning against his son, Xun Tianzhang gazed out at the jagged mountain ridges beyond the tent. The rims of his eyes reddened slightly.
The greatest wish of his remaining life had always been to recover Yushan Pass—Liang's land, lost to Jin. That the house of Bai Weiting had perished in war grieved him, but he had believed the time had come at last to take Yushan Pass back.
Not many days remained to him. He could only pray that Heaven, taking pity, would let him live long enough to win back the pass lost from the Xun clan's hands for the sake of his homeland. Only then could he face the ancestors of the Xun clan when he died.
"Khough!" Xun Tianzhang coughed violently.
"Father!"
Xun Tianzhang gripped his son's hand hard and signaled him to keep his voice down.
A great war was about to break out, and the marshal lay gravely ill. It was not a good omen.
He had begged his sovereign, come what may, to let him take the field. He could not let Liang's elite soldiers be held back on his account.
This time, he would recover Yushan Pass no matter what, and wash away the humiliation in a single stroke!
"Send men to General Gao, who has the Gaoyi County Princess of Jin surrounded. Whether he kills her or takes her alive, he is to capture the Gaoyi County Princess within three days!"
Bai Jingyan held the architectural plans of Longyang City, studied them closely, and pointed her finger at the city's drainage channels.
Nuo Ping came into the solitary quarters of the barracks where Bai Jingyan was staying, carrying a steaming bowl of soup, and gently urged in a low voice, "Young Lady, have some soup and get some sleep. All of our household guards have dropped off already."
Bai Jingyan took a sip of the warm soup, her eyes never leaving the map, and asked, "How is the interrogation of Zhao Tong going?"
"A stubborn bastard, that one!" Nuo Ping replied.
A Zhao clansman of Liang—of course he would be.
"General Bai! It's Wang Xiping."
Wang Xiping's voice came from outside.
Bai Jingyan set down the bowl. "Come in, General Wang."
Wang Xiping entered beaming and offered Bai Jingyan a formal salute. "Just as you predicted, General Bai. The Liang army is holding back from battle."
"If, tonight, the Liang army sends men to rescue Zhao Tong—or infiltrates Longyang City to spy on our positions—then General Wang, you'll need to send your men to the Liang camp," Bai Jingyan said with a faint smile.
"Burn their grain stores."
Once Liang's army provisions went up in flames, they would either burn their bridges behind them or dig in where they stood.
Xun Tianzhang was a cautious man. Without confirming Jin's military strength, he would never act rashly.
And if, at just this juncture, Jin adopted a hard line and sent yet another dispatch, Xun Tianzhang—short of retreating outright—would at the very least refrain from recklessly accepting battle or laying siege on a whim.
That would buy them just enough time for the reinforcements from the Anping Camp to arrive.
"Your orders are mine to carry, General Bai—whatever they may be!" Wang Xiping answered with a deep, respectful salute.