Stubbornness
Standing with his hands clasped behind his back at the window seat of this floor of Tianxiang Tower, Xiao Rongyan gazed at the Duke of Zhenguo Estate, its lights blazing brightly at the end of the street. People were walking toward it in twos and threes, or riding at full gallop toward the estate.
His eyes, as they stroked the Jade Cicada, were deep and dark.
He did not believe that this scene before him — the Bai family having won the people's hearts until all were of one mind — had arisen naturally. Someone had worked themselves to the bone, exhausting every scheme, to bring it about. Otherwise, how could the common folk have all turned their hearts to the Bai family at once?
This moment, when every eye in the city looked toward the Bai clan, was the fruit that the eldest Bai daughter had cultivated with her own hands.
From the moment Bai Jingyan had told Jin Lang to step aside from the position of Crown Prince's consort, Xiao Rongyan had known that she was someone capable of accomplishing great things.
What a pity. So many talents of the Bai family... all lost their lives in the Southern Border because of the blind ruler of Great Jin and his incompetent princes. If Great Yan had a house that had served loyally for generations the way the Bai family had, its flourishing would have been inevitable. What a terrible waste.
"My lord, this subordinate has failed you. The deadline you gave me has passed, and I've only been able to learn roughly where the information came from!"
At the voice, Xiao Rongyan turned his head.
"Speak."
"The beggar who delivered the letter to the official residence says he doesn't know who gave it to him. But he saw the keeper of Manjiang Tower exchange greetings with that person from a distance, and they seemed quite familiar with each other. This humble one questioned the keeper of Manjiang Tower, but he just blinked and claimed he had no idea who I was talking about. So I've had men keep watch on Manjiang Tower.
This afternoon, the keeper of Manjiang Tower was seen advising someone that a person was looking for him, and to be careful. When I had Jianso'er investigate, it turned out the person was from the Duke of Zhenguo Estate. We don't know whether he's an official — only that he handles affairs on the eldest Bai daughter's behalf."
Xiao Rongyan's hand, which had been stroking the Jade Cicada, froze. Then he turned around. The pupils in his deep-set eyes were utterly impassive, and only a flicker of astonishment passed through that gaze, hidden before it could show.
"Just now... did you say the eldest Bai daughter?"
"Yes! We tried to obtain a sample of the eldest Bai daughter's handwriting for comparison, but the servants of the Bai Manor were by no means easy to handle. We couldn't even get inside."
Xiao Rongyan's subordinate dropped to one knee.
"I beg your forgiveness!"
A lantern painted with plum blossoms hung from the eaves outside the window, swaying in the midwinter snowstorm. Xiao Rongyan, dressed in a blue robe, stood tall at the window with his hands behind his back, gripping the Jade Cicada tightly. His unfathomable gaze seemed about to bury itself in the shadow beneath the lantern.
When he closed his eyes, the palace banquet of that night years ago rose before him. When he had risen to follow the palace maid to change his clothes, the eldest Bai daughter's gaze had suddenly turned toward him. The instant their eyes met, her pupils had contracted sharply. And when he returned after changing, her straight-backed posture had seemed somehow... loosened.
Did the eldest Bai daughter know who he was?
"My lord, whether or not that letter was truly from the eldest Bai daughter, there is a risk that your identity has already been exposed. Forgive my presumption, but just in case — you should leave the capital at once."
A cold wind swirled the snowflakes and came whipping in from beyond the window. Xiao Rongyan turned his gaze toward the place where the red lanterns of the estate burned bright at the end of the street.
"If whoever handed over that letter meant me harm, there would have been no need to go to such lengths to place it in the official's hands. Let us wait and see."
The Grand Princess and the Bai family had already been standing in the bitter cold for more than two hours. The hand warmers had been changed once, and warm soup and meat fritters had been handed out to the common folk waiting for news before the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate.
The Grand Princess, still clutching her walnut-shaped hand warmer, staggered as her strength gave out. Bai Jingyan steadied her and ordered a chair brought.
But the Grand Princess shook her head and took Bai Jingyan's hand instead. Then, straightening the front of her granddaughter's coat, she asked,
"Ayan, your health is still frail. Can you hold up?"
Bai Jingyan had been training for quite some time now. Walking a full two hours daily in weighted sandbags had long since become an easy feat, so simply standing here was no hardship at all.
She shook her head.
"Don't worry, Grandmother. I'm fine."
Steam laced with the scent of mutton rose in thick clouds from the bowls of warm soup the common folk were drinking. Just then, when a horse was seen galloping swiftly from the distance, the people hastily set down their bowls and pointed with their fingers.
"There! Over there! This time it looks like someone from the palace!"
The Grand Princess's body went rigid, and she unconsciously straightened her spine. The Bai family hurried forward a few steps, craning their necks toward the far end of the street where the red lanterns hung.
The eunuch, riding hard, had seen the lanterns and the crowd of people standing before the estate from far off. For a moment his heart lurched. Only when he drew closer did he see the Grand Princess herself, together with the women of the Bai family, waiting outside the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate.
Unable to delay any longer, the eunuch dismounted at once, climbed the steps, and knelt before the Grand Princess.
"Your Highness the Grand Princess — military dispatches have come from the Southern Border. His Lordship stubbornly insisted on leading the army himself, and our forces suffered a catastrophic defeat. The Duke of Zhenguo, the Crown Prince's consort... and all the men of the Bai family have perished in the Southern Border! In five days, King Xin will escort the coffins home."
Bai Jingyan's head snapped up. Fierce fury and killing intent seethed within her. His Lordship led the army out of stubbornness?
At the news that seemed to bring the heavens crashing down, the Grand Princess swayed and nearly collapsed. Fortunately, Bai Jingyan and Nanny Zhang caught her at once.
Dong Qingping and Dong Qing'e felt a chill run down their spines. They had thought that someone from the Bai family might have been sacrificed in the Southern Border — but never once had they imagined that every last one of them had perished.
"What kind of nonsense is this?!"
The fourth young miss, Bai Jinchi, raised her whip high and lashed it around the neck of the eunuch who had come bearing the news. Then she strode toward him and drove her foot into his chest. Her bloodshot eyes burned crimson, her reason consumed entirely by rage.
"Our grandfather always taught us to be cautious in all things! He lived his whole life carefully — and you say he threw a tantrum and dragged the army off to war?!"
A sound of grinding bone rang from Bai Jingyan's fists, clenched until the knuckles threatened to crack. Threw a tantrum and led the army, indeed! The Emperor and Empress's legitimate son, King Xin, was too incompetent to accomplish anything great, and had driven their grandfather into danger for the sake of military glory. And now they claimed it was their grandfather's stubbornness that had led the army?
To pin every fault upon loyal ministers who had devoted their lives to Great Jin and died in battle, drenching the frontier in blood — was King Xin truly unafraid that the martyred spirits of the Bai family might come for his life in the dead of night, demanding it back?
Bai Jingyan wanted nothing more than to produce the campaign records right now and prove her grandfather's innocence and that of the Bai family — but she forced down the impulse. It was not yet time. She had to lay her plans before she moved. Accumulate well, conceal well, and only then could they be spent to their fullest worth. Only then could they win.
This blood-deep grudge, this grudge that gnaws to the bone — I will never, ever forget it!
Choking on the fury rising in her throat, Bai Jingyan gritted her teeth. Swallowing down the taste of blood welling up from her chest along with her saliva, she shouted.
"Bai Jinchi! Stand down! Grandmother hasn't even finished speaking — how dare you lay hands on him!"
Bai Jinchi barely held back the sobs bursting from her and withdrew her whip. In the end, tears spilled down her face.
The eunuch had nearly been strangled to death. After a violent fit of coughing, he hastily dropped to his knees before the Grand Princess, begging for protection.
The Grand Princess's face was deathly pale. With trembling lips, clinging to one last thread of hope, she asked in a faint voice,
"All of them? Did I mishear? My youngest grandson, only ten years old, also went to the Southern Border. He was only ten..."
The frail Fourth Madam Wang's legs gave out beneath her. She staggered, dropped to her knees, seized the eunuch's clothing, and wailed.
"My son... you say my youngest son is dead? My son, only ten years old! Ten years old! Dead? He only went along to gain experience... How can he be dead? You're lying, aren't you? You're deceiving me, aren't you?"
"Your Highness the Grand Princess — the Seventeenth Young Master did not return either!"
The eunuch wept as he bowed deeply.
"It can't be true! My husband swore he would protect our sons!"
Second Madam Yu's cries echoed into the heavens. Gripping the collar of the eunuch delivering the news, she screamed until her voice tore.
"Lies! Lies!"
The quiet space before the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate erupted into chaos in an instant, wailing shaking the very sky.
"My sons! My husband... how can you be so cruel! How could you take all my sons with you! How am I supposed to live?!"
Third Madam Li beat the ground as she wept.
The twins stood beside their mother, the Fourth Madam, whom not even two maids could lift, gritting their teeth and begging her to hold on.
Fifth Madam Ji bit her lip hard and clutched her pregnant belly. In that instant her vision went black, and she collapsed backward.
"Fifth Madam! Fifth Madam!"
Dong Qing'e rushed to catch the falling woman.
"Fifth Aunt!"
Bai Jindong threw her arms around the Fifth Madam, whom Dong Qing'e was supporting.
"Fifth Aunt, wake up! Please!"
The common folk, swept up in the grief of the Bai family women, sank to their knees and wept, crying out.
"His Lordship!"
"General Bai!"
The sound of their wailing shook the entire capital of Dadu.
"Quickly! Go fetch Physician Hong, quickly!"
Bai Jinxiu urged them on, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Steward Xue, hurry and get people to carry the Fifth Madam inside!"
Bai Jingyan turned her head. Stepping onto the frozen ground with a body gone rigid, she looked at her mother, whose face had gone white as ash. She approached Lady Dong and spoke, her voice thick with tears.
"Mother."
Only then did Lady Dong come back to herself. Tears streamed down her face without end, like a severed cord. She clenched her teeth, turned, and looked toward the inner gates of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate.
"Nanny Zhang, escort my mother back to Changshou Courtyard! Have the stewards of each courtyard support their mistresses and get them on their feet. No matter what happens, the pillars of our Duke of Zhenguo Estate must not break. If the heavens fall, we need only stand and bear the weight!
My sisters, come with me to my mother's Changshou Courtyard — we must discuss the funeral rites for the men of the Bai family! Bai Jingyan, Bai Jindong, go and look after your Fifth Aunt. Send someone to bring Imperial Physician Huang, Imperial Physician Zhong, and Imperial Physician Liu with my summons tablet! Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jinchi, Jin Lang — take good care of the younger children!
Nuo Ping, send someone to the Bai ancestral seat at Suyang at once to deliver the news of the Bai family's bereavement. Steward Xue, keep the servants in order and prepare for the funeral. You will assign the Estate Guard, Steward Xue. A great calamity has befallen the Bai family — no one is to cause trouble. Anyone who stirs up discord, whether concubine, servant, or hired hand, Steward Xue may beat them to death without reporting it!"
Lady Dong's voice was steady and swift, without a trace of disorder.
The guards, servants, maids, and women of the Bai Manor answered as one and sprang swiftly into motion.
Having assigned every task within the manor, Lady Dong turned to the noble households still standing before the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate and bowed to them with utmost courtesy.
"Everyone, I beg your forgiveness. You have endured so much, standing with our Bai family in this bitter cold for so long. But with this great calamity upon us, we cannot even offer you a cup of warm tea inside. I am deeply sorry."
Watching the matriarch Lady Dong stand with her back ramrod straight and manage the affairs of the manor in perfect order even in the face of sudden catastrophe, the people felt their respect swell.
Most of those gathered were their elders. Knowing that a calamity had befallen the Bai family that could topple their heavens, they assumed there could be no leisure for entertaining guests with tea, and hurriedly bowed in return.
"Lady Consort of the Crown Prince, we mourn with you for the departed!"
"Our deepest condolences for the fallen!"
When Lady Dong raised her head again, her face was drenched in tears.