The Dispatch
At the words that her heart had been laid bare for all to see, Bai Jinchi scowled, ready to flare up in anger.
"It doesn't matter how others see you. As long as you know who you are, that is enough. And remember that you are the fourth daughter of the Bai clan of the Duke of Zhenguo's estate — let that shape everything you do. If you lack the great wisdom to plan great undertakings, then be cautious, and cautious again; plan calmly and thoroughly before you move a single step. You may be sharp-edged on the outside, but you must stay smooth and round within. If you think before you act, you will accomplish great things. Think it over carefully. Consider what must be done."
"Beside a sunken ship, a thousand sails pass on their way. Before a withered tree, ten thousand others greet the spring. Every man of the Bai family has left this world — but you have me, your eldest sister, and you have the rest of us! We may be women, but we are more than capable of raising this family back up! A son of the Bai clan may die in body, but his spirit must never break. We will not bend our unyielding bones, and we will not bend our will. Not for anyone."
Bai Jindong, whose eyes were so like Bai Jingyan's, had gone red-rimmed. She gripped Bai Jinchi's shoulders tight.
"I know, little sister. I know that with Grandfather and all the men of the Bai family gone beyond return, you're frightened and discouraged right now. I know you hate the vile creatures who sought to drag Grandfather's name through the mud. The truth is, I feel exactly as you do. But the Bai family is standing at the edge of a precipice. We are being shaken to our foundations. We cannot afford to be afraid. We cannot afford to be thrown into confusion. And we certainly cannot go flinging our rage about like some reckless fool. We have to help Great-Aunt and our eldest sister — not become another burden they must carry."
With her heart laid bare, Bai Jinchi broke down in tears. The thought that today's reckless act might well have brought calamity crashing down upon the entire Bai family flooded her with shame, and she clutched the blanket in her fists.
"Don't worry, Eldest Sister! I understand now — I truly do!"
Word spread through the streets of the capital that the fourth young miss of the Bai family had whipped, outside the Duke's own gates, men so blinded by greed that they had abandoned all conscience — and that she had been let off with a mere fifty strokes of the cane as a light punishment.
Some praised the noble character of the Duke's estate to the skies — the miss had only repaid wrongs done to her, they said, and yet she had still accepted the whipping as her due. Others judged the estate far too soft. Someone had sought to do them harm, and they were the ones punished for fighting back?
Yet every time the story was told, the people recalled the furious question the eldest Bai daughter had hurled before the gates of the Duke's estate. And in that instant, no one believed the tale that the Duke of Zhenguo had stubbornly, wilfully dragged his army to a crushing defeat at the Southern Border.
Then some among the common folk began to think of King Xin, who had returned alive. No one could quite say who had first voiced the suspicion, but soon it was on every tongue: the rumor that the Duke had marched his army on nothing but stubborn pride was likely something King Xin himself had fabricated to protect his own skin. Before long, people were muttering that King Xin was already trying to pin the blame for the defeat on Ying Lie, who had only just returned.
And then someone went further — claiming that it was none other than King Xin who had stood behind today's trouble, paying the soldiers' families to raise havoc before the gates of the Duke's estate.
The rumor swelled and spread. Unfounded whispers, gathered together, turn even lies into truth. The people had already made up their minds that every word of it was fact.
Before even half a day had passed, people all across Dadu were lowering their voices to curse King Xin, and their language grew coarser with every telling. One man whose gall had swollen past all reason spat right in front of the prince's residence, then swaggered off with his chin held high.
Inside that residence, King Xin's advisors crowded into the council hall like ants around a boiling pot and spent half a day in wrangling — and produced not one usable plan.
"At the very least, we have confirmed that the Bai family has not yet obtained the army's march records! The most urgent matter now is finding those records!" one of the advisors said, knitting his brows in the bright lamplight.
"Yes, that must come first! Post men to watch the Duke's estate closely. If anyone with suspicious movements comes or goes, I want a report at once!"
Wu, a man in blue robes standing in the same pool of lamplight, shook his head as he spoke.
"When he reported on military affairs, His Highness, in his panic to bury his own faults, resorted to that absurd nonsense — 'the Duke of Zhenguo flew into a stubborn rage and forced the great army to march.' His intent to shift the blame onto another could not be more obvious. A blunder, my lords! And a wretched one at that!"
On the fifth day of the new year, King Xin was due to return bearing the coffins of the dead. The Duke of Zhenguo's estate was suddenly plunged into preparations for a great funeral — but thanks to Lady Dong's strict governance of the household, the people of the Bai family worked together in orderly cooperation. It was still the festival season, and only three days had passed since the news had arrived on New Year's Eve, yet the estate had already completed every arrangement.
There remained only the question of who would smash the funerary basin — the clay pot of paper offerings that must be shattered the moment the coffin is lifted, a duty that falls by custom to the eldest son or grandson. The Grand Princess, Lady Dong, and the aunts deliberated long into the afternoon and still could not decide.
Every man of the Bai family was gone. All that remained was a single illegitimate son, not yet even entered into the family register — and the child in Fifth Madame's womb might yet prove to be a boy or a girl.
To have the illegitimate Bai Jingxian perform the rite would amount to the Bai family accepting his status. Nor was that all — it would amount to handing the Bai clan itself over to him, and should the title of Duke of Zhenguo be preserved, it would mean this boy would inherit it in the end.
Bai Jingxian was a creature who left blood on his hands at the slightest contact, savage in temperament beyond all measure, and utterly without a shred of benevolence. The Grand Princess, Lady Dong, and every other madam of the household shrank from the thought of placing the Bai family in his grasp.
The madams had deliberated in the Grand Princess's Changshou Courtyard all afternoon without finding a way out — yet the servants, looking to carve out a path of survival for themselves, read the strange undercurrent in the air and made a point of trooping off to Qingming Courtyard to pour out flattery by the mouthful.
Bai Jingxian's mother had already begun wielding the prestige of mother-to-a-Duke-of-Zhenguo. Since the estate would soon hold a funeral, Lady Dong had ordered the household to abstain from meat — and even that, the woman refused. She demanded blood bird's nest be prepared in the kitchen for her son, then steamed ham drizzled with honey, then pickled pig's trotters — and while she was at it, complained that the sugar-steamed cloud cakes were far too cloying, that the maids attending her son were too plain and were fouling his precious eyes, seizing on grievances of every description.
Meanwhile the servants, scheming to win favor with mother and son alike, secretly laid mountain delicacies and sea treasures before them in Qingming Courtyard by every trick they knew.
Word that Bai Jingxian fancied pretty maids had spread, and soon there were even maids who had let an unforgivable ambition take root in their hearts. On the strength of a merely passable face, they began flitting in and out of Qingming Courtyard.
Bai Jingyan stood by the brazier. The stewardess she had planted in Qingming Courtyard stood respectfully before her, recounting everything that had happened there of late.
"That young master of the Second Branch said this in Qingming Courtyard, my lady: 'Just you wait — why did they beat my son? One day I will take back every last bit of it!'"
The stewardess understood full well that these words were aimed at the eldest daughter, and so she had no choice but to report them.
"Thank you for your trouble, Nanny. Qingming Courtyard must continue to be watched. This is a critical time — not the slightest problem can be allowed to arise."
Bai Jingyan raised her head and looked earnestly at the faithful old stewardess.
"Have no fear, Eldest Miss! If anything happens, this servant will report to you at once!"
The stewardess bowed her reply.
Chun Tao saw the stewardess out to the entrance, then lowered the screen behind her and was about to go in and attend her mistress when Nanny Dong came hurrying through the gates of Qinghui Courtyard, a bundle slung over her arm.
Chun Tao's eyes reddened, and she rushed forward to meet her. After performing a New Year's bow, she spoke through her tears.
"Nanny Dong — you've finally come."
Nanny Dong rarely smiled in Qinghui Courtyard, governing the servants with stern, exacting rules — but she was an old hand of the deepest experience, and whenever great trouble struck, she had always handled it with perfect composure.
A disaster of heaven-falling proportions had struck the Duke's estate. Now that Nanny Dong had returned, the servants had somewhere to lean once more.
Nanny Dong steadied Chun Tao and helped her up. Her own eyes had reddened, and her naturally stern face grew graver still.
"How is the Eldest Miss? Is her health holding?"
"Don't worry, Nanny. The Eldest Miss is unharmed. She's holding up well."
Tears rolled down Chun Tao's cheeks.
So many things had happened, one after another, while Nanny Dong was away. Chun Tao had seemed to be bearing up as well as her mistress — but the moment Nanny Dong returned, her heart simply gave way. When she thought of everything that wanton, low-born Chunyan had done, and of the men of the Duke's estate, every one of them dead, Chun Tao could hold back no longer, and the tears came.
Before returning to the residence, Nanny Dong had already heard a great many rumors concerning the Eldest Miss, and worry had gnawed at her the whole way — but Chun Tao's words set her mind somewhat at ease.
"Let me tidy myself, then I'll go pay my respects to the young lady."
With that, she stepped into the side room to straighten her clothing, shook off the chill by the brazier, and entered Bai Jingyan's chamber to offer her greetings.
The moment news of the catastrophe reached her, Nanny Dong had hurried back without pause. At the sight of Bai Jingyan her eyes reddened, and for a long while she simply looked her over. Thank the heavens — the girl looked healthier than she had on the day Nanny Dong left. Only then did her heart finally settle.
Bai Jingyan told Chun Tao to help Nanny Dong to a seat on the ceramic garden stool.
"You came in a great hurry, Nanny. Was everything at home seen to properly?"
Nanny Dong had gone home to care for her son, whose illness had worsened. Bai Jingyan had originally sent word that she should spend the festival at home before returning — but the moment Nanny Dong heard that every man of the Bai family was dead, she had rushed back. Her devotion ran deep.
"All was seen to before I left — have no worry, Eldest Miss. And on this journey back, at the request of Nanny Jin, your old wet nurse, I brought two of your milk-brothers from the village! With calamity having struck the Bai family and hands so badly needed, I have set your milk-brothers to work in service of the Crown Princess and of you, Eldest Miss. Nanny Jin also bade me tell you: the loyal retainers of the Bai family are waiting only for the word of the Crown Princess and the Eldest Miss to be dispatched — so fear nothing."
Yes. In this life, every loyal retainer of the Bai family was still alive.
They had not yet been scattered to the winds, escorting the sisters' remains home.
Bai Jingyan's eyes grew hot. In her past life, when Liu Huanzhang returned to Dadu vowing to accuse her grandfather of colluding with the enemy and selling out the country, her mother — the moment she heard the news — had sent the milk-brothers Xiao Ruogang and Xiao Ruohai to see Bai Jinchi safely out of Great Jin and into Great Wei.
Bai Jinchi had given herself wholly to Great Wei and become its most valiant warrior on the battlefield, and the two brothers, Xiao Ruogang and Xiao Ruohai, had become the wisest and strongest blades at her side.
"It's too late tonight to meet the two of them. Look after them well for me, Nanny. They've come a long way and must be worn through — let them rest. We'll speak again tomorrow."
Seeing Nanny Dong's bloodshot eyes, Bai Jingyan judged that she had not slept properly on the road, and said as much.
Nanny Dong nodded. She had been forced to leave in such haste that she had not slept so much as a wink through a full day and night. Only upon reaching the Duke's estate and confirming with her own eyes that Bai Jingyan was safe had she been able to set down her worry — and now exhaustion came flooding over her all at once. She was getting old; her body no longer obeyed her will.