The Foundation of the Nation
The moment their eyes met, Bai Jingyan found herself, without meaning to, recalling that night in the pavilion of the Bai Estate in Suyang. With her hands clasped behind her back, she curled them lightly into fists and gave him a small nod.
"Master Xiao."
The Crown Prince lowered his gaze with a faint smile. Xiao Rongyan must have raced back and forth, day and night, for the woman he loved — all so he could greet Bai Jingyan swiftly upon her triumphant return.
"Eldest Miss, Fourth Miss. Thank heavens you've both returned safely. When word came that the Fourth Miss had been wounded, the Grand Princess took to her bed with a burning fever for days on end. From morning until night she knelt at the Imperial Nunnery, praying over and over that you would come home unharmed. To see you both back like this is truly a blessing!"
Nanny Zhang dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief, her voice thick with tears.
"Eldest Miss, you weren't hurt anywhere, were you? Ever since you were a child, you've never once mentioned an injury, and it worries the Grand Princess beyond measure."
Bai Jingyan smiled at her.
"Nanny, there's no need to worry. I wasn't hurt."
With that, she turned to the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness."
Bai Jingyan offered a formal salute with clasped fists before speaking.
"I heard upon arriving in Suyang that my grandmother has been unwell. Now that the war in the Northern Border has been brought to a close, I must go to her at the Imperial Nunnery. Please convey my circumstances to His Majesty on my behalf. I fear I cannot attend this evening's palace banquet — I am too anxious about my grandmother. After I have seen her, I will call at the palace tomorrow, before returning to Suyang, to offer my apologies to His Majesty in person."
"You're returning to Suyang tomorrow?"
The Crown Prince started in surprise.
"That soon?"
"I must bring Jinchi back to Suyang quickly. Mother and my aunts will be worried sick."
Bai Jingyan replied.
The Crown Prince glanced once at Xiao Rongyan, then nodded, thinking he ought to give the two of them an opportunity.
"Then how about Rongyan escorts the Commandery Princess and the County Princess and their party to the Imperial Nunnery on my behalf?"
Xiao Rongyan bowed promptly.
"It is Your Highness's command. Naturally, I will comply."
Fearing her eldest sister might refuse, Bai Jinchi hurried to thank him.
"Then we'll be in Master Xiao's care."
Smiling at Xiao Rongyan with a knowing look in his eyes, the Crown Prince climbed into his carriage, supported by Zhan Yu.
Bai Jinxiu stole a sidelong glance at Bai Jinchi, then bowed her head, her hand resting before her belly curling into a light fist. The whole capital knew the rumor that Xiao Rongyan loved her eldest sister — it was gossip on every tongue. The Crown Prince's intent to matchmake was obvious enough, but what was Jinchi playing at?
Could it be that Eldest Sister herself had feelings for Master Xiao, the Wei merchant?
But the eldest sister she knew was not one to let affection take root easily. Not until the Bai clan had grown powerful enough to threaten the Jin imperial house, at the very least.
"Commandery Princess, this way, please."
Xiao Rongyan gestured with courteous formality, clearing the path for her.
Bai Jingyan did not refuse. She instructed Nuo Ping to take Shen Qingzhu and Ji Nanghua to the Zhenguo Commandery Princess Estate, then boarded Bai Jinxiu's carriage. She told Bai Jinchi to ride with Bai Jinse and talk with her, and charged Bai Jinse with looking after the wounded Bai Jinchi.
Nanny Zhang had noticed that Bai Jingyan had something to say to Bai Jinxiu.
"Don't you worry, Eldest Miss. This old servant will take good care of the Fourth Miss."
"I'll trouble you, Nanny."
Bai Jingyan gave Nanny Zhang a light nod.
As she helped Bai Jingyan up into the carriage, Bai Jinchi spoke in a very small voice.
"Sister, I think Master Xiao rushed back just to see you!"
Bai Jinxiu tapped Bai Jinchi on the head and shot her a warning look.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Grinning impishly, Bai Jinchi answered with an exaggeratedly proper bow to Bai Jinxiu.
"Yes, ma'am! Orders received and obeyed!"
Rendered speechless by her antics, Bai Jinxiu could only wear a look of exasperation as she climbed into the carriage.
It being July, Bai Jinxiu had entered her eighth month of pregnancy. Her belly had grown quite round, and Xiao Rongyan had given special instructions for his carriage to be driven slowly.
Xiao Rongyan's carriage moved at the front of the line, guards with blades at their sides flanking it on either side. The three carriages rolled slowly toward the Imperial Nunnery.
Once Bai Jingyan's party had departed by carriage, Zhan Yu made his report to the Crown Prince, who was in an excellent mood that day. He nodded, then closed his eyes and leaned back comfortably against his cushions.
During the Southern Border war, the Crown Prince had turned Bai Jingyan into a butcher, and at the time people had taken up the title "Butcher" on their lips in mockery, dripping with contempt. Of course, that too had been by his design.
And now, in the war against the Northern Border and Yan, Bai Jingyan had once again made her name thunder across the rival states. It was already an established fact that the nations feared her.
With such a formidable general guarding Jin, what foreign invasion was there to dread?
But Bai Jingyan's health was a serious problem.
Until another general of her caliber emerged, Bai Jingyan absolutely could not be allowed to die!
Inside the carriage, Bai Jinxiu brought Bai Jingyan up to date on everything that had happened in the capital.
"The Left Chancellor's youngest son, Li Mingtang, was left crippled in both legs, and the Chancellor opened his family shrine, confessed the offense to his ancestors, and cast Li Mingtang out of the family register."
"The Chancellor's eldest son, Li Mingshu, distinguished himself by quelling the disaster and now serves in the Ministry of Revenue — the Emperor appointed him Vice Minister personally. It was a post many coveted, so there was plenty of grumbling; people said he only got the seat thanks to his father the Chancellor. But the moment he took office, he secured the grain and pay needed for the Northern Border campaign and earned yet another great merit. After that, everyone shut their mouths."
Bai Jingyan lowered her eyes halfway. There was no need to doubt Li Mingshu's ability. As Li Mu's eldest son, personally tutored by the man from childhood, he was bound to be capable.
"When the disaster struck Yanwo and the populace rose up, the Crown Prince set out to relieve the refugees, only to fall from his horse a single day after departure and return to Dadu. The soldiers sent to Yanwo reportedly put down the uprising by cutting down the rebels wholesale, without so much as asking their reasons."
"When Li Mingshu returned to Dadu, he investigated conditions there and reported to the Emperor that most of the refugees had fled to Yan. Word had spread that if they crossed over, they could enjoy the benevolent governance of Yan's Empress, receive good land and houses, and have their taxes reduced. And do you know what the Emperor said when he heard it? He was actually pleased — said that if the refugees went to Yan, they would only be Yan's headache!"
Bai Jinxiu's face clouded as she spoke. It seemed she believed the Emperor's conduct to be wrong.
The people are the foundation of the nation.
It was what her grandfather had emphasized again and again.
Without the people, why would a nation exist at all?
Only when the people grew strong could the armies grow strong. With no people, how could soldiers be raised — how could an army be built?
"Sister. If this is true, then Yan has made a truly tremendous decision."
Bai Jinxiu caressed her belly gently with one hand, unable to hold back her admiration.
Indeed. Yan was remarkable!
Bai Jingyan had seen the Emperor of Yan with her own eyes, and had seen the second son by a concubine who had come to Jin as a hostage. And she knew Xiao Rongyan well. Both were imperial houses, yet there was simply no comparing them.
After marveling for a long while, Bai Jinxiu continued.
"Speaking of the disaster in Yanwo, it reminds me of King Yang. When he was dragged back to Dadu, he was granted an audience with the Emperor — and whatever he said to him, from then on the Emperor sent for him every time a banquet was held, insisting he be brought along."
"King Yang has been straining every nerve to play the filial son. He calls at the palace to pay his respects at the drop of a hat, still acts the fool in his performance, and whenever he meets the Crown Prince, he does nothing but cower in terror. Apparently, apart from when the Emperor summons him or he goes to pay his respects, he never sets foot outside at all. He's shut up in the King Yang Estate, seeing no one and never stepping beyond the gates. But one thing is certain — his favor with the Emperor grows by the day!"
Bai Jingyan's eyes narrowed. The Emperor was not the sort to shower King Yang with grace for no reason — least of all when King Yang had even botched the relief of the disaster victims.
"Eldest Sister, could the Emperor know that the Crown Prince meddled in this disaster on King Yang's account? Might he be deliberately showering King Yang with favor — sparing the Crown Prince's face while issuing him a warning all the same?"
Bai Jinxiu could not make sense of the situation at all.
Bai Jingyan sank into thought for a moment, then asked again.
"Has the Emperor's treatment of the Crown Prince changed in any way?"
Bai Jinxiu shook her head.
"It doesn't seem so."
Hearing this, Bai Jingyan leaned slowly back against her cushions, lost in thought, absently stroking the pillow for a long while before she spoke.
"King Yang did something. And it was through that that he won the Emperor's heart. That much is certain."
What on earth could King Yang have done to purchase the Emperor's favor? Bai Jingyan recalled the commotion Ji Nanghua had caused before the Bai clan left the capital.
The Emperor had not summoned Ji Nanghua to the palace out of mere idle curiosity. His interest must have been piqued.
King Yang had presented Consort Qiu to the Emperor, but when Lu Ninghua appeared, Consort Qiu had faded from the Emperor's heart.
And on top of all that, King Yang had failed even to manage the disaster in Yanwo properly.
The Emperor had no reason to favor so spineless and forever-obedient a son. By all logic, he ought to have held King Yang accountable.
Yet instead of punishing him, the Emperor was lavishing him with grace — and summoning him to the palace at every opportunity. Something was undoubtedly afoot.
A short while ago, Nanny Zhang had emphasized, over and over, that the Grand Princess was ill. It was a veiled signal to Bai Jingyan: come to the Imperial Nunnery and see your grandmother.
Lu Ninghua must have learned something at the palace, and the message had been arranged so that she could tell Bai Jingyan before she entered the palace herself.
The fact that King Yang had suddenly won the Emperor's favor and the matter of Ji Nanghua's outburst were surely connected in some way.
If her suspicion was correct, then King Yang was a tenacious creature indeed — a man who would not die no matter how many times he was trampled. Judging by how desperately he clawed his way back up, sparing no means or method.
"And there's one more thing. That wretched baseborn son of my father's — after he was sent to the Wang household's Xiao Ya in Gugu Lane, we kept someone posted to watch Gugu Lane continuously. And recently, something odd turned up. An official from the King Yang Estate has been keeping company with Wang Xiao Ya of Gugu Lane."
At Bai Jinxiu's words, Bai Jingyan furrowed her brow.
"Keep someone on it. Find out exactly what's going on."
"Already dispatched! If we can't get a clear picture before you return to Suyang, I'll send word to Suyang later."
Bai Jingyan looked at Bai Jinxiu's rounded belly and gently stroked it with her hand.
"You've worked hard. Carrying a child and still keeping your mind on all this."
"Sister, what are you saying? You've suffered far more, trying to raise the Bai clan back up. I only wish to shoulder some small part of your burden."
Bai Jinxiu replied.
"Physician Hong hasn't returned yet, so you must be careful at all times. He said he'd be back no later than a month before the delivery, so it must be soon. I'd worry less with Physician Hong standing by."
Bai Jingyan gazed at Bai Jinxiu's belly and said gently.
"It's all right, Sister. Even if Physician Hong can't make it back, there's Lu Ninghua, isn't there? And Imperial Physician Huang. He was Physician Hong's disciple, so his skill must be excellent!"
A soft warmth spread across Bai Jinxiu's face. Jin Lang had been worried too, and had already sent word to Imperial Physician Huang. He had told Bai Jinxiu as much, and she seemed thoroughly pleased with her husband's thoughtfulness.