A Gentleman's Agreement
Zhen Xiangzhi pressed his lips into a thin line, his fist clenching hard enough to ache inside his sleeve.
If Jin did not wish to ally with Wei, then Wei would never dare to rashly provoke a war. Just as Bai Jingyan had said, Wei was already wary of Yan, which had yet to show the full measure of its strength.
Bai Jingyan bowed her head. As a daughter of Jin, she had done all that could be asked of her. Whether to accept her words now rested entirely with the Crown Prince and the Emperor.
When she said nothing more, the Crown Prince, unwilling to let her feel slighted, asked again. "What say you, Commandery Princess?"
"If Your Highness chooses to adopt Advisor Fang's strategy, then I would offer one further caution." Her voice was calm and even. "Should war truly break out between Yan and Wei, Jin must stand aside and watch until both sides have bled each other dry. Only then should Jin ally with Wei to strike Yan together — but at that point, Jin must seize the lead, and Jin alone must decide how Yan's lands are divided."
Zhen Xiangzhi's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. This, too, was a plan that was barely a plan at all — and one that could only work if Wei attacked Jin without first forming an alliance with them.
"Good." The Crown Prince's mood brightened. "I will enter the palace before the evening meal and report to my royal father. Zhan Yu!" he called loudly toward the door. "Go and see whether Master Xiao has arrived. If he has, we begin the Commandery Princess's celebration at once."
At the sound of Xiao Rongyan's name, Bai Jingyan's hand froze midair, the teacup poised at her lips. Slowly, she pressed her lips inward.
The Crown Prince smiled at her. "Yesterday you were attending the Grand Princess, so you could not join the palace banquet. Today, I intend to hold a modest feast here in the Crown Prince's residence in your honor! Fear not — there will be no music, no dancing, no wine; the whole of it is vegetarian fare. So you must not refuse."
Bai Jingyan rose and offered her thanks.
As Bai Jingyan's party rounded the winding corridor behind the Crown Prince, her gaze landed on a tall, elegant figure in white robes with wide flowing sleeves, admiring the blossoms beneath an osmanthus tree. Ease and leisure seemed to radiate from his every movement.
He was still some distance away — too far to make out his features or expression — yet even so, the weight and gentleness of the man's presence carried across to her.
A breeze stirred, scattering petals, and Xiao Rongyan lazily brushed one from his knee.
"Rongyan!" the Crown Prince called warmly.
Xiao Rongyan rose unhurriedly and bowed with perfect courtesy in the direction the Crown Prince was approaching. "Your Highness."
Then his gaze shifted to Bai Jingyan, laughter gathering at the corners of his eyes. "Commandery Princess."
Bai Jingyan gave him a slight nod — and her eyes caught on the jade hairpin pinned in his hair. It was identical to the one Xiao Rongyan had given her as a gift just yesterday.
He lifted his head and looked at her face with eyes dark and deep as still water. His gaze was quiet, and fathomless.
The Crown Prince walked up to Xiao Rongyan with a grin. "From today on, I'll have to call you Princess! Come — let's go inside and talk."
Taking Xiao Rongyan's arm familiarly, he led him into the main hall.
"This way, Commandery Princess."
Zhan Yu stepped in front of Advisor Fang, who had been about to follow them inside, and ushered Bai Jingyan in first.
Advisor Fang's mood soured considerably, but rank was rank — he could not pretend otherwise, and so he entered only after Bai Jingyan had passed.
The Crown Prince, hoping all the best for the two of them, seated Xiao Rongyan directly beside Bai Jingyan at the table.
"Today is a feast celebrating the Commandery Princess's victory," he said, "but since she is still in mourning, we have forgone wine and music, and the meal is entirely vegetarian. In its place, the Crown Princess has personally brewed osmanthus dew. I trust you will accept it in good grace."
Xiao Rongyan rose and smiled at the Crown Prince, lifting the cup set before him. "Accept it in good grace? To taste osmanthus dew brewed by the Crown Princess's own hand — I am a fortunate man indeed. It is an honor." And in one smooth motion, he drained the cup.
Bai Jingyan, too, bowed her head toward the Crown Prince with a smile. "I am grateful for Your Highness's thoughtful consideration."
"What is this talk between us? Are we not cousins? We are one family!" the Crown Prince replied, laughing.
With no music and no wine, the vegetarian banquet drew quickly to a close.
"My royal father may send an imperial edict to the Commandery Princess's estate, so I won't keep you any longer. Rongyan — see the Commandery Princess out on my behalf," the Crown Prince said with a smile.
The true reason he had invited Bai Jingyan to dine at the Crown Prince's residence had been to arrange exactly this: a moment for Bai Jingyan and Xiao Rongyan to share.
Zhen Xiangzhi lifted his head, glanced once at Bai Jingyan, then turned his eyes to Xiao Rongyan. He thought he understood what the Crown Prince was doing. Yet it struck him as heartless, almost cruel, to dangle Bai Jingyan's lifelong happiness like bait for Xiao Rongyan's money. She was sharp enough to have seen through the Crown Prince's intent long ago — and Zhen Xiangzhi was certain that such selfishness could only chill her heart.
"Then I shall take my leave first," Bai Jingyan said, bowing to the Crown Prince.
Xiao Rongyan had come on horseback; there was no carriage for him.
The Crown Prince deliberately feigned ignorance of the fact, and made no order for a carriage to be prepared for Bai Jingyan either. His intent was plain enough.
Xiao Rongyan spoke to her. "The road from the Crown Prince's residence to the Commandery Princess's estate runs beneath thick trees. A slow walk would be pleasant enough — and I happen to have something I'd like to say."
Bai Jingyan's hand tightened inside her sleeve. "Walk ahead, then."
"After you, Lady Bai."
Yue Shi, cradling his sword, stationed himself with the guards a short distance off and watched them go with an amused smile, silently applauding the Crown Prince of Jin.
"I know what you mean to say, Master Xiao." Bai Jingyan walked with her hands clasped behind her back, falling in beside him along the tree-lined road. "And I know what you mean to say as well, Lady Bai," Xiao Rongyan continued. "You know full well that I am a man of another land, and that... for the most part, what we want runs along the same lines. You fear that if we grow close now, when the moment of reckoning comes, sentiment will bind you — and weigh upon your heart."
He understood it all.
Bai Jingyan lowered her head before she spoke. "If neither of us is swayed by feeling, then we simply choose whatever benefits us in the moment. But once feeling is involved, we begin to expect too much of one another.
"Take Princess Anle, born of the same mother as our present Emperor. Back when he was still Crown Prince, she was married off to the Kingdom of Shu to secure his throne, becoming its queen. During the war in which Jin destroyed Shu, I myself led troops into the Shu palace. Princess Anle, trusting only in the bond between brother and sister, refused to flee with her children. She followed the great army back to the capital. Having clung to each other since childhood, she believed the Emperor would spare her children — that he would permit her to return home at last. But the Emperor killed her children and uprooted them entirely. In her hatred, Princess Anle secretly plotted to assassinate the Emperor of Jin, and died by an arrow for it.
"Was it the Emperor's fault? No. For the Emperor of Jin to slaughter the children of a rival royal house is no fault at all. Then was it wrong for Princess Anle to try to kill him? Likewise, no fault at all. If we are weighing right against wrong, perhaps the blame must fall on feeling itself. The Emperor could bring himself to kill Anle's children — but not his sister, who had surrendered her noble rank and married into Shu to protect his throne when he was still Crown Prince. And Anle, who returned to Jin trusting only in the love she had shared with her brother, met instead with the deaths of her own children. That she would try to assassinate him, I can well understand."
Bai Jingyan stopped walking and turned to face him, looking at Xiao Rongyan with solemn courtesy, her eyes clear and bright, black and white without a trace of murk. "Every matter in this world can be judged by a dozen different measures. But feeling alone cannot be judged right or wrong. The human heart is simply made that way — and there are no exceptions."
Of all things in the world, feeling was the one before which no standard could be set.
The wind passed through, and the leaves rustled softly. A cool breeze skimmed her long sleeves, and she bent lightly at the waist in a bow. "Master Xiao — let us part here. The rest of the way, I'll walk alone."
But as she turned to go, Xiao Rongyan caught her wrist.
Behind them, Yue Shi and the guards, leading their horses, spun sharply away and fixed their eyes anywhere but on the pair.
"Master Xiao!" Bai Jingyan glanced around her. Everyone living nearby belonged to merit-holding houses; ordinary folk rarely passed this way. The midday sun was hot, and with the hour of rest after the meal, the street stood empty.
Xiao Rongyan's hand was long and slender, its frame distinct yet strong. He drew her gently toward him, gazing with grave eyes at her pale, delicate face. They stood so close that Bai Jingyan could see even the fine sweep of his lashes.
"I understand — I understand completely. Even a woman as wise as my mother, a hundred times cleverer than any man, was brought low by that single word: love. My mother and father were from the same country, and even so, that was how it ended for them. So I know exactly what you fear."
His expression was calm; his voice, earnest. "I have no intention of pressing you. I am asking only that we make a gentleman's agreement. When the realm is unified — then, we marry."
Bai Jingyan tried to step back, but Xiao Rongyan only drew closer, his broad frame nearly pressed against her. One hand holding her slender wrist, the other closing over her thin shoulder, he continued in a low voice.
"This is not a betrothal. It is a promise that you and I... will never take another. If Bai Jingyan takes a husband, that man will be Murong Yan — and if I take a wife, that woman will be Bai Jingyan. That is all I ask."
His eyes, deep and faintly sorrowful, sought hers once more. "Will you grant it?"
Bai Jingyan's fist clenched tight. The wind, thick with summer heat, seemed to sink into her throat; her ears burned as though set alight.
He was being this insistent, and he still called it no betrothal? How was that any different from deciding a marriage in private?
"Because of an old injury from years ago, I cannot bear children," she said, her voice low.
"That the Prince Regent of Yan would have no legitimate heir — is that even conceivable? Your brother would never allow it."
"Women who can bear children are scattered across the realm like leaves. But there is only one Bai Jingyan. I want a wife — not a child."
Xiao Rongyan leaned in closer still, dropping his voice to a murmur. Each word carried a breath of warmth across her lashes, and Bai Jingyan could not stop blinking. "I did not say this lightly, or on a whim. The Crown Prince once told me: even if I married into the Bai family as their son-in-law, Lady Bai could never have children — and I, as the son-in-law, could never take a concubine. My answer then was plain. One takes a wife to spend a lifetime with someone who truly knows you, who understands you, standing at your side — not merely to carry on a line."
Having said his piece, he loosened his grip slightly and looked down at her. "If Bai Jingyan alone remains at my side for the rest of my life, that is enough."
His words were grave and unguarded at once, and Bai Jingyan felt as though a hand had closed around her throat; she could not speak.
Xiao Rongyan brushed his fingers slowly along her slender wrist. "When the realm is unified, we become husband and wife. Until then... we merely work together, each for our own gain. Where profit aligns, we act together; where our paths do not cross, we each keep to our own lives, with no exchange of feeling whatsoever. So then... will you make this gentleman's agreement with me?"