The Sky That Fell
"Sister! Our younger sister and I will help you!" Dong Qingping said to Madam Dong, the rims of his eyes gone red.
"What am I supposed to do?" Though Madam Dong forced her back straight, her voice was nothing but a choked tremble, brimming with frailty and helplessness. "It is New Year's Eve, and they say every man of the Bai family will come home a corpse... I don't know where I am to find so many coffins."
Hearing those words, Bai Jingyan felt as though a blade were twisting deep in her heart. She looked at the young gentlemen of the noble houses and the common folk who still lingered before the Bai family's gate, then sank to her knees in a deep, formal bow. And then, forcing down the searing ache in her chest, she spoke in a voice thick with tears.
"My grandfather the Duke of Zhenguo's coffin was prepared long ago! But never did I imagine that every man of the Bai family would give his life for the country! Five days from now, King Xin is to return to the capital bearing the bodies of the Bai men — yet because it is the festival season, I have not been able to prepare coffins for my father, my uncles, and my brothers. If any of your households should happen to have a coffin of a fitting size, I would set my shame aside and beg it of you! It is my wish only that the men of the Bai family not be buried too wretchedly!"
When she finished, Bai Jingyan bowed once more with perfect courtesy, and Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jindong, and Bai Jinchi knelt down after her. The Bai clan was a family in which every single member had been steeped in loyalty; they had bled at the frontier for the sake of the nation — how could the people of Great Jin stand by and watch their heroes lowered into the ground without so much as a coffin?
On the night of New Year's Eve, the city of Dadu drowned in wailing — tears shed for the passing of heroes, for the loyalty and valor of the Bai family, and for the rivers and mountains of Great Jin, now robbed of the pillars that had held it up.
Bai Jingxian, confined in Qingming Courtyard, shot to his feet at the news. Without sparing a thought for the wounds on his body, he seized his mother's wrist in a hard grip and pressed her.
"What? They're all dead? Grandfather, Father... every last one of them?"
"Yes! What are we to do now?" The woman was utterly at a loss. "They say an army of hundreds of thousands lost their lives at the Southern Border. The Emperor is certain to demand someone answer for it! Had I known this would happen, I would never have come here in the first place! What if he punishes the entire clan and we are dragged down with them? No... we must find a way to escape this place!"
For a long while Bai Jingxian could not shake off his shock — and then a strange light suddenly flickered in his eyes. Gripping the woman's wrist tight, he spoke in an eerie voice.
"Mother! That means... every man of the Bai family is dead! Doesn't that mean the title of Duke of Zhenguo will come to me?"
The woman's eyes bulged for an instant, her throat churning — but the joy that threatened to burst out of her was crushed at last beneath the full weight of her terror.
"But from what I have heard... the Duke of Zhenguo was stubborn and forced his way to the head of the army, and it was wiped out. If the Emperor holds him to account, that is a very great crime. What if the whole family is implicated? Is your life not more important than a title? We must flee, first of all!"
"And what if the Emperor does not hold him to account?" Bai Jingxian lifted the corners of his mouth into a smile. "Mother! If one means to enjoy wealth and glory, one must be willing to take a few risks! Think it over carefully. If the Emperor does not assign blame, then this entire vast Zhenguo Duke Estate will belong to the two of us!"
At his words the woman's heart began to race. She could not bring herself to give up the staggering riches of the Zhenguo Duke Estate — and yet she feared death, and so she wavered for a long while.
The first day of the first month. For two days the Zhenguo Duke Estate had lain sunk in shadow; now, at the direction of its mistress Madam Dong, it stirred with urgent purpose. Servants and maids preparing the funeral bustled in and out of the side gates.
Dawn had not yet broken when Steward Xue, who had been rushing about all through the night, entered the Grand Princess's chambers. Apart from the Grand Princess — whom her family had pressed until she had at last fallen asleep — all the estate's madams had gathered there: Madam Dong, wife of the estate's heir; Second Madam Yu; Third Madam Li; and Fourth Madam Wang.
The seventeen men of the Bai family — with His Grace the Duke and the Duke's five sons, twenty-three coffins were needed in all. Far more than the Bai family's great hall could hold.
"We will pitch tents." Clinging to her composure by a thread, Madam Dong spoke evenly to the bewildered Steward Xue. "Set them up in the courtyard... and throw the gates of the residence wide open! The people of Dadu and the high officials who sit at the top of the court must see for themselves just how brutal a sacrifice our Bai family made for Great Jin."
"Madam Dong, Second Madam, Third Madam, Fourth Madam — the gatekeeper has come to report... a great many people outside the residence have sent coffins!"
Madam Dong's throat sealed tight. Rising to her feet, she said, "I will go myself. You sisters-in-law have toiled all through the night — go back and rest. You must save your strength, so that on the fifth day... you can be there to welcome your husbands and sons home."
Fourth Madam Wang wept yet again. Too anguished even to breathe, she could only shake her head.
Bai Jingyan, who had come out the moment she heard, reached the entrance almost in the same breath as Madam Dong.
Every red lantern in the Bai Manor had been replaced with white ones, and the red silks inside the courtyard had been swapped for black-and-white cloth; the whole place lay heavy with mourning.
Beyond the main gates, flung wide open, stood the common people. They waited beside oxcarts and carriages parked in the snow, each of them having brought the finest coffin from their own home, and the entrance was packed shoulder to shoulder. There were even coffins sent from the great noble houses.
An old man who looked to be well past his sixtieth year hauled an oxcart over and raised his clasped hands in salute to Madam Dong and Bai Jingyan.
"Madam Dong, Eldest Miss... this coffin is made of very fine timber! I cannot say whether it is of a fitting size, though — whether it would serve the young lords or the generals of the residence, or the little young masters."
"Mine is the good coffin! Top grade! Madam Dong... Eldest Miss! Use mine!"
"Mine is better! It's made of pine! Solid as can be!"
"Madam Dong, we run a shop that sells coffins! Every one I dragged here was ordered before the festival by households of high standing — I've brought them all! They're made of camphor wood. Even if it is not the finest camphor, it will be worthy of the young masters of the Bai Manor!"
With tears held in check, Madam Dong and Bai Jingyan stood before the gate and bowed low again and again in thanks to the people vying with one another to give up their coffins.
The steward of the Jingyong Marquis Estate, leading the household's servants, elbowed his way out of the crowd and offered a salute. "Madam Dong, Eldest Miss — this servant is a steward of the Jingyong Marquis Estate. Our Marquis has ordered us to bring the coffin he had prepared for himself. The young lords and generals were all men of distinguished merit; there will be no question of this coffin falling short of their station."
"Please convey our gratitude to Marquis Jingyong!" Madam Dong returned the salute with Bai Jingyan beside her.
"Our Marquis and the Duke of Zhenguo have known each other since boyhood. This is simply what ought to be done. Madam, Eldest Miss — may the departed rest in peace." The steward bowed once more.
Nearly every noble house that possessed a coffin of a size the Bai family could use had sent one over.
Madam Dong ordered the usable coffins selected and carried inside the Zhenguo Duke Estate, then instructed Steward Xue to take the estate's stewards and call upon each household in person to give thanks. The coffins that could not be used were to be returned, with gratitude conveyed in every single case.
Madam Dong had meant to stay and watch over the raising of the tents and the laying out of the mourning hall in the courtyard, but Bai Jingyan urged her off to rest. A mountain of duties still awaited her. Even if it killed them, neither the Grand Princess nor Madam Dong could be allowed to fall.
Watching the servants labor together to pitch the tents, and gazing upon the more than twenty coffins, Bai Jingyan's chest filled once more with grief and indignation. Her eyes and her heart were shedding tears of sorrow at the same time.
In her past life, only the bodies of her grandfather, her fifth uncle, her cousin Bai Jingming, and the seventeenth-born youngest of the family had come home. Every other man of the Bai family had been buried at the Southern Border.
Would this life end the same way?
Chen Gengsheng, returning from outside, caught sight of Bai Jingyan standing beneath the eaves and came toward her at a quickened pace. Seeing her elder cousin walk in, Chun Tao murmured low to Bai Jingyan, "Miss. My cousin is here!"
"Eldest Miss!" Chen Gengsheng bowed, his face drained white.
Bai Jingyan turned her head to look at the bowing man and spoke. "Spare me the formalities."
"Eldest Miss, on my way back to the estate just now, I ran into the waiter of Manjiang Tower, and according to him... someone has been going around asking after my identity. However I turned it over in my mind, I was certain it was the beggar we had earlier told to send a letter to the Office of Petitions, so I went to find him — and sure enough, someone had gone to that beggar, cut off his thumb, and demanded to know where the letter came from, and he told them the truth. The waiter said he had also seen me exchanging greetings with Manjiang Tower's shopkeeper."
Sweat dripping down his face, Chen Gengsheng lifted his head, glanced once at Bai Jingyan, and dropped it again. "This servant failed to act with sufficient care. Miss, I beg you to punish me!"
Bai Jingyan clenched her fist. She had known in her past life exactly how formidable Xiao Rongyan was, and Chen Gengsheng was still young and short on experience. Even this much was already more than well done.
"Get up." Bai Jingyan bit down on the inside of her lip. "They may not have traced you yet. If anyone asks, insist you were paid by someone else to run the errand. Say you had asked the beggar only because you feared sparks might land on the Duke's estate for no reason. It is all right. You are a man of the Duke's estate — even if the truth does come out, they will not dare threaten you with extreme measures."
Chen Gengsheng let out a long breath. "Understood! I will move with far greater care from now on. I will not bring harm upon you, Eldest Miss."
Chen Gengsheng was a clever man. He knew full well that Bai Jingyan had chosen him after seeing what he could do. But if he could not see even one small matter through properly, he had no right to work at the Eldest Miss's side.
Gripping her hand warmer, Bai Jingyan called Chen Gengsheng's name and walked off toward a secluded spot. Catching her meaning at once, he hurried after her.
Bai Jingyan spoke slowly. "Once the Duke's estate has finished the funeral, my grandmother will take the Third Miss to reside at a temple and offer prayers — ostensibly for the sake of Great Jin. The prayers are only a pretext. From that day on, the Third Miss will dress as a man and live under a hidden name, and she will make her living as a merchant. When that time comes, I intend to set you at her side. I should like you to spend a few years out in the world, gaining experience."
At her words, Chen Gengsheng looked briefly stunned. For a woman to dress as a man and do business out in the world was a violation of propriety — and with the Grand Princess's backing behind it, an even graver matter still. It was also something that could never be told truthfully to anyone who was not a trusted confidant.
Chen Gengsheng was sharp. That the Eldest Miss was opening her heart to him could only mean she counted him as one of her own people. Why else would she so readily reveal so enormous a secret?
Gratitude seemed to set hot blood boiling through his whole body. Collecting himself, he knelt and pledged his loyalty. "That you would place such trust in me, Eldest Miss — I will stake my life on serving you with everything I have."
Bai Jingyan turned her head to look at him and gave her parting charge. "From now on, move with even greater caution. I trust you."
"Yes, I understand! Eldest Miss — thank you for singling me out." Chen Gengsheng bowed deeply.
"Go back and prepare. As for how you explain this to your parents — I trust you will manage that well enough on your own," Bai Jingyan said.
"Yes, I know!"