A Gentleman's Joy, Shared
The moment the carriage came to a halt before the gates of the Zhenguo Duke Estate, Chen Gengsheng set down the mounting stool. Yet before he could exchange a single word with Bai Jingyan, Nanny Dong pulled him away.
Bai Jingyan turned her head and gave Chen Gengsheng one brief look, and as though he understood her meaning perfectly, he nodded.
The instant she stepped through the main gate of the Duke Estate, Bai Jingyan released Nanny Dong's hand and spoke.
"Nanny, prepare me a fresh set of mourning garments. I'm going to see Qi Zhengyu."
Seeing Qi Zhengyu's blood still staining Bai Jingyan's mourning clothes, Nanny Dong's eyes reddened even as she bowed her head.
"At once, My Lady! This servant will go and prepare them right away!"
As soon as Nanny Dong had gone, Chen Gengsheng hurried over at a swift pace. From his breast he drew out a ledger that had grown warm from being carried there so long, and handed it to Bai Jingyan.
"My Lady, the military grain sent to the Southern Border two months ago through the Zhongyong Estate — it passed through these men's hands!"
Bai Jingyan pressed her lips together and unfolded the ledger.
It recorded the names and official positions of everyone involved in the grain transport, and behind some of the entries, in an unfamiliar hand, were notes on their particular accomplishments and dispositions — the ink not yet fully dry.
"And this?"
"Master Zhen, who has been staying at our residence, added them himself. He said they might be of use to you, My Lady."
Chen Gengsheng looked deeply troubled.
"I don't know how Master Zhen learned that I've been collecting a list of everyone connected to the grain — he summoned me and had me write out the additional entries myself. If not for him, I doubt I would have gotten my hands on such a complete list this quickly. I've already investigated every name on it thoroughly, and they're all verified. No problems at all. Just now, Master Zhen called for me and added notes on the accomplishments and characters of the men recorded here."
Zhen Xiangzhi had attempted to assassinate the Liang King, so naturally he would have kept a close watch on the man's movements. The Liang King had conspired with the Marquis of Zhongyong, which meant he would surely have investigated the Marquis in detail as well. Given Zhen Xiangzhi's abilities, there was no way this list could be anything less than flawless.
The Zhenguo Duke Estate had saved his life. Zhen Xiangzhi was a gentleman. The reason he had lingered so long without leaving was partly to recuperate, but also to await his chance to repay the Estate.
The moment Zhen Xiangzhi realized that Bai Jingyan was investigating this matter, he had stepped forward of his own accord to help her — intending to settle his debt before departing with an unburdened heart.
In truth, however, it had been Nuo Ping who saved Zhen Xiangzhi. All she had done was offer him a place to rest for a short while.
After closing the ledger, Bai Jingyan felt a surge of gratitude. She deliberated for a moment, then gave her orders.
"Prepare a hundred taels of silver for traveling expenses, and a fine horse. You'll come with me outside the city gates."
"Yes, My Lady! This servant will prepare everything at once!"
* * *
With his injuries, Zhen Xiangzhi could not travel far. By the time he reached the Willow-Breaking Pavilion, a li or so from the city gate, he could hear Chen Gengsheng calling after him.
"Master Zhen, one moment! Master Zhen, please wait!"
Zhen Xiangzhi turned. Chen Gengsheng galloped up and hauled hard on the reins, then dismounted and offered the scholar a respectful bow.
"Master Zhen, please wait just a moment. My Lady has come to see you off!"
Zhen Xiangzhi clutched his bundle tightly and looked back toward the city gate.
An ordinary oak carriage — the kind the Bai Estate's servants rode when leaving on errands — came racing toward the pavilion and rolled to a gentle stop before him. Zhen Xiangzhi straightened his back.
At the reins was Bai Jingyan's personal operative, Xiao Ruohai. While Xiao Ruohai climbed down and bowed respectfully to Zhen Xiangzhi, Chun Tao lifted the carriage curtain and helped Bai Jingyan step down.
She was wearing freshly changed mourning clothes, covered over with a plain outer robe. She had brought no guards at all; Chun Tao was the only soul at her side.
"Master Zhen..."
Bai Jingyan offered Zhen Xiangzhi a light bow of farewell.
Zhen Xiangzhi hastily returned a deep bow.
"My Lady."
"They say you are leaving, sir, and I could hardly find it in me to hold you back. So I've come to see you on your way."
Bai Jingyan took a gray cloth bundle from Chun Tao's hands and presented it to him.
"One horse, one set of travel clothes, and a dagger for self-protection. I hope your journey is smooth, and that a bright road stretches out before you."
An immense emotion washed over Zhen Xiangzhi. His mouth hung open as he gazed at the woman before him — elegant and unyielding, yet smooth as jade. Words of refusal climbed all the way to his throat, but in the end he simply smiled and accepted what she offered.
"Lady Bai, thank you."
"It is nothing."
Zhen Xiangzhi gripped his bundle tight, bowed his head, and let out a low laugh before lifting his face to speak.
"Lady Bai — the truth is, while recuperating at the Bai Estate, I have thought countless times of entering your household's service, to lend my strength to a lady of such brilliant strategy and such a heart as deep as the sea."
Bai Jingyan clenched her fists and stared at him in astonishment.
Yet Zhen Xiangzhi had chosen to depart. If she schemed now to keep him here against his nature, she would only leave a lingering regret in his heart.
"You are a man of benevolent heart, possessed of wisdom fit to aid the whole realm. I cannot cage a leaping dragon like you within the small walls of the Zhenguo Estate."
Having said her piece, Bai Jingyan quickly turned the conversation and bowed to Zhen Xiangzhi with the utmost formality.
"But should the day come when I, Bai Jingyan, bear the Bai family banner upon my shoulders — when a woman takes a high seat at court — then I will have my house put in order, and I will be waiting. Do not turn away from me then. Stand shoulder to shoulder with me, and lend your strength to the people of Great Zhou."
It was as though a wave were churning in Zhen Xiangzhi's chest. Who could have imagined that this calm, resolute woman before him possessed so vast a spirit? Even with catastrophe having struck her family — even with every man of her house returned as corpses — she still thought of lending strength to Great Zhou.
The Bai family, pillars of Great Zhou, was exactly as its reputation promised: honest and upright in its principles, understanding righteousness and knowing its duty. That caliber of character stood on a height he could not even lift his eyes to reach.
It felt as though blood that had long sat cold in his veins was burning hot again. A bold, sky-piercing spirit surged into him, and Zhen Xiangzhi suddenly felt years younger.
Unable to contain the emotion welling up in him, he raised his hand high.
"A gentleman shares his joy!"
Bai Jingyan broke into a radiant smile and struck palms with him in a high-five.
"A gentleman shares his joy!"
Zhen Xiangzhi swung himself onto the horse Chen Gengsheng had ridden, snapped the reins, and galloped off. Bai Jingyan watched his receding figure for a long while.
Then she smoothed her outer robe and let the tension drain from her shoulders.
Zhen Xiangzhi had left the capital — and so he would escape the fate of his former life, the one where his ambitions withered unfulfilled and drove him to despair.
The cold wind of the open country swept over them. Chun Tao spoke in a low voice.
"My Lady, let us return."
"Mm."
The instant Bai Jingyan nodded and turned, a voice called out to her.
"Lady Bai."
She looked back to find one of Xiao Rongyan's guards — a man whose skill was so formidable it defied estimation — bowing respectfully to her.
"Lady Bai, my master requests the honor of sharing a cup of tea with you at the Willow-Breaking Pavilion."
She lifted her eyes to the pavilion on the hillside and saw Xiao Rongyan standing calmly within it, dressed in a white outer robe. His gaze met hers, and he gave her a slight nod.
Before this, his subordinate had crippled the Xin King's carriage at the south gate; today, when her fourth aunt had been about to dash her head against the coffin, it had been Xiao Rongyan's man who saved her. She owed him twice over now.
But remembering the sharpness hidden beneath that gentle, unhurried demeanor — and the sheer audacity of him when they had met at the Wanxiang Tower — a flicker of wariness stirred in Bai Jingyan.
"Ruohai, wait here with Chen Gengsheng for a moment."
She turned to give the order to Xiao Ruohai and Chen Gengsheng, then, leaning on Chun Tao's arm, followed Xiao Rongyan's man up to the pavilion.
Chen Gengsheng's hands clenched without his meaning them to. He knew all too well who that gentleman standing in the pavilion was. He had failed to handle the matter his Lady had assigned him cleanly, and instead left a threat behind for her — the fault was his.
Watching the Lady Bai's retreating figure and the distinguished man waiting in the pavilion, Chen Gengsheng vowed that from now on, every task would be handled with care, and every loose end tied off. Nothing — not a single thread — could be left for others to seize upon.
As Bai Jingyan entered the pavilion, Xiao Rongyan inclined his head to her in greeting. Every movement was graceful, and a faint smile lingered in his eyes, making him seem remarkably gentle.
"Lady Bai."
Bai Jingyan released Chun Tao's hand and offered a formal bow.
"I owe you my thanks twice over, Master Xiao. Thank you for cutting the axle of the Xin King's carriage at the south gate the other day, and for saving my fourth aunt today. I am not one to accept aid and betray the debt of it. If ever you have need of me in the days to come, then so long as the Bai family's strength can reach, I will do everything in my power to repay you."
"Lady Bai, allow me to show you in first."
Xiao Rongyan gestured for her to enter, then knelt down at the small table ahead of her.
The foremost merchant under heaven had not come to this humble pavilion empty-handed: a plump cushion embroidered in gold thread, a table of agarwood, tea kept warm over a small stove, cups of white jade — and even delicacies from the Tianxiang Pavilion in the heart of the capital. Truly befitting the scion of a noble house.
Chun Tao and Xiao Rongyan's guard took up positions a few paces from the pavilion — close enough to hear nothing of the conversation, far enough to lose them from view. A precisely measured distance.
Bai Jingyan knelt across from Xiao Rongyan. With his long, pale fingers, he lifted the teapot from the brazier and poured tea for her with effortless grace. Then he slid the white jade cup toward her, withdrew his hand, and only then did he smile and speak, unhurried.
"Lady Bai says she wishes to repay her debt to me? Then how, I wonder, am I to repay her for the favor she did me at the palace banquet that day?"
Xiao Rongyan was strikingly handsome, exuding an air of refined elegance, his voice soft and mild. A smile played in his eyes — outwardly gentle, outwardly warm, and yet this was the very moment the blade beneath the silk was being drawn into the light.
Beneath her sleeve, Bai Jingyan's hands clenched tight. Through the white steam rising from her winter-chilled cup, she stared at the mild-mannered man across the table. He was watching her the way a jiao-dragon, woken suddenly from its sleep in the depths of winter, watches its prey. An immense pressure closed in around her.
Even Xiao Rongyan's exceptionally skilled guard was radiating a faint edge of killing intent — which could only mean one thing: this was pressure aimed squarely at her.
In her past life, Bai Jingyan had known Xiao Rongyan to some degree. His gentleness was nothing but a veneer.
The savagery and cold blood carved deep into his bones, the venomous heart he kept within his chest — they suited all too well his ambition to swallow the world. And yet this man stubbornly, almost perversely, clung to a measure of clarity and honor. It was precisely because he was that kind of man that in her past life he had given her the Jade Cicada she carried on her person — the chance to live, and the chance to flee.