Murder to Silence the Witness
Sponsorship.
Bai Jingyan entered the courtyard. The young man whose blood would not stop flowing had grown so frail that he lay collapsed on the ground, while Yulian, disguised as Lady Qi, knelt and wept without end.
Then, the moment Yulian saw Bai Jingyan return, she hurried inside. Falling to her knees, she crawled forward and begged.
"Great Lady! Please, kill me! Let me die as I am!"
Bai Jingyan stopped in her tracks, clenched her fist, and turned her head toward Nuo Ping.
"Nuo Ping, send men to escort Yulian to the village and keep watch over the household of the village head, Wang Mangeng. See that Lady Qi, Qi Zhengyu's mother-in-law, receives a proper funeral and burial. Send a capable officer to Nanny Dong with orders to investigate in detail everything Wang Mangeng has done over the past few years, gather the evidence, and deliver it to the authorities in the name of the Duke of Zhenguo Estate for them to handle."
"Yes, my lady!"
Nuo Ping raised a cupped-fist salute.
"Great Lady! Great Lady, I beg you, kill me here and now! If you do not, my mother will die! Great Lady, I am begging you like this!"
Yulian seemed so terrified that her very soul was about to leave her body.
Bai Jingyan turned to look at her and spoke in a voice devoid of any emotion.
"Your mother has likely already gone to the underworld before you."
Murder to silence the witness.
Her grandmother would never have allowed Yulian's mother — a woman who knew of this affair — to go on living.
Her grandmother had paved Yulian's road to death, and the end of Yulian's mother, too, would be death itself.
However wretched a life might be, to offer one's own precious life to save the life of a beloved person was the most valuable devotion in this world. But one must never leave a loved one's fate in the hands of another. And above all, one must never try to exchange it for another's life.
Yulian's eyes flew wide open.
"That can't be true. No! My father promised me!"
"Then go back and see for yourself. Take her away now."
With those words, Bai Jingyan went inside.
Acupuncture had been administered to Qi Zhengyu, and needles set in place. When Bai Jingyan entered, he lay face-down at the head of the sickbed, vomiting black blood without pause.
"Good, good! Just get it all out! Once you've vomited it all up, you'll be fine."
Physician Hong stroked Qi Zhengyu's back without a trace of squeamishness, looking thoroughly satisfied.
Bai Jingyan's heart, which had leapt all the way into her throat, finally returned to its rightful place.
Imperial Physician Huang ordered Chun Tao to carry out the black blood Qi Zhengyu had expelled, then took his pulse.
"Thank heaven the poison had not seeped in too deeply. Had no one discovered him until dawn, even Hua Tuo returned from the dead could not have saved him!"
"Physician Huang, thank you. Physician Hong, I am grateful to you both."
Bai Jingyan bowed with deep courtesy.
"Great Lady, think nothing of it. We are physicians. It is only natural that a physician saves lives!"
Imperial Physician Huang raised his cupped hands and sat down in the chair beside the table.
"I shall prescribe a remedy to purge the toxins and restore his strength."
That night, Bai Jingyan stayed in Qi Zhengyu's room until dawn. She gazed at his bloodless face. When he awoke, how was she to tell him that his concubine-born brother had murdered his wife? Her chest felt tight with dread.
The imperial physician had given the Grand Princess her acupuncture treatment, and having awakened from her coma, the Grand Princess found she could not sleep again after taking her medicine.
Leaning against a pillow embroidered with jeweled flowers in colored thread, the Grand Princess had Nanny Zhang fetch from the hidden drawer half of a black-jade dragon-medallion that commanded the shadow guards, then turned the medallion over in her hands for a long while.
Nanny Zhang grew uneasy, sensing that the Grand Princess meant to use the shadow guards to confine Bai Jingyan. If that happened, the Grand Princess and Bai Jingyan would be utterly set against one another. Choking back tears, Nanny Zhang knelt before the Grand Princess's sickbed.
"Your Highness! This servant knows full well what lies in Your Highness's heart. You were worried about the continuation of the Bai line, were you not? But the Great Lady is right! Every child born of our Duke of Zhenguo Estate is upright and capable! If we bring a son-in-law into the family, he is certain to be better than that concubine-born wretch!
The Great Lady is a child you raised with your own hands, with love and devotion! Would you truly sever your bond with her for the sake of that wretch? Fortunately, Qi Zhengyu is safe. There is still room to turn back. Your Highness, you must protect that wretch no longer! Think of the oath the Great Lady swore before the coffin! Your Highness — do you truly mean to kill her?"
When Nanny Zhang addressed her as Nanny, the Grand Princess clenched the jade medallion tight. The memory of her granddaughter kneeling three times in obeisance as she sought to sever their bond made her chest ache so fiercely she could not bear it. When she closed her eyes, tears slid down both her cheeks.
There are no perfect things in this world.
It had been her own greed. She had wanted to protect that wretch, and she had wanted to protect her bond with A'yan as well. It was that greed which had driven A'yan to swear she would kill the wretch on her back's behalf.
'She and that wretch... only one of the two can remain alive in this world. As long as he lives, I deserve to die.'
The moment she recalled the oath Bai Jingyan had made before the coffin, the Grand Princess's hands trembled violently and a chill ran over her entire body.
No — she could not stand by and watch A'yan die for the sake of that wretch.
A'yan was her own flesh and blood. The child she had cradled in her arms and raised with love and care.
Absolutely not!
If she had to choose between the two, she could only choose A'yan.
Whether for the Bai family's sake, or for her own selfishness.
How could a cowardly creature viler than a beast even be compared to A'yan?
When A'yan had sworn that oath with her own life as collateral, the Grand Princess had already lost.
Remembering the words her granddaughter had spoken before the coffin, the Grand Princess finally understood that she had grown old.
Her grandfather, her father, her uncles, her brothers — all had departed for the other world, and even as sudden calamity had struck the Bai family, her granddaughter still held fast to her first principles. She remained honest and upright, with a pure and good heart. Bai Jingyan carried upon her very body the fundamental spirit and unbending character by which the Bai family lived in this world.
It pained her heart, yet it comforted her deeply. Her own two hands were steeped in filthy blood — but fortunately, A'yan's were not. A'yan was the true son and daughter of the Bai family.
"Rise."
The Grand Princess said, opening her eyes. An unmistakable weariness showed on her face.
"Give this half of the jade medallion to A'yan. From now on, these well-trained shadow guards shall be entrusted to A'yan."
Nanny Zhang wept again, this time with joy.
"Yes, Your Highness! This servant will do her utmost to convey your words to the Great Lady."
"Tell A'yan that the wretch... is to be dealt with as she pleases once the funeral procession sets out tomorrow. I will restrain her no longer."
The Grand Princess let out a long sigh. Her heart felt bitter and wistful, and her voice was hoarse.
"Tell her not to hate this old woman. I have grown old, and there are many times I judge wrongly, swayed by blood ties and guilt."
During the hour of the Ox — between one and three in the morning — Nanny Dong entered the room at a quick pace, paid her respects to Bai Jingyan, and spoke.
"Great Lady, Nanny Zhang has come. She wishes to see you."
Bai Jingyan, who had not once taken her eyes off the now quietly breathing Qi Zhengyu, set down the hand warmer she held and turned to Physician Hong, who was still keeping watch over the room.
"Physician Hong, I leave Qi Zhengyu in your care. I shall step out and return shortly."
"Great Lady, go back and rest your eyes for even one double-hour. You will be terribly busy with the funeral procession tomorrow. Qi Zhengyu has already stabilized. I will see that nothing goes amiss."
Bai Jingyan nodded, bowed in farewell, then took up her hand warmer, put on her cloak, and stepped out of the room where the brazier blazed bright.
The cold wind lashed mercilessly at her face. When she saw Nanny Zhang standing at the entrance, Bai Jingyan gripped the hand warmer tightly and walked on again.
"Great Lady..."
Nanny Zhang came forward, paid her respects, and wept.
"Nanny, if you have something to say, say it quickly. I am very tired."
Bai Jingyan's weary words were full of coldness — a stark contrast to the warmth she had always shown Nanny Zhang before.
Nanny Zhang drew close to Bai Jingyan and placed the half of the black-jade dragon-medallion into her hands with both of her own.
"Great Lady, you knew that Her Highness the Grand Princess keeps the shadow guards of the imperial house, did you not? This is the black-jade dragon-medallion that commands them. The shadow guards obey only the orders of whoever holds this half of the medallion.
After the funeral procession ends tomorrow, Wei Zhong will come to see you. And these shadow guards will henceforth follow only your command. Her Highness told this servant to deliver this medallion to you, and said that after the procession ends tomorrow, she will ask no more about however you choose to deal with that wretch."
When Bai Jingyan did not take the medallion, Nanny Zhang hurried to her side and took hold of her hand.
"Allow me to speak as we walk together to Qinghui Garden."
"I am going to the funeral hall."
Bai Jingyan replied.
That place where her grandfather, her father and uncles, her brothers lay — someone had to keep watch over it.
Nanny Zhang nodded and, supporting Bai Jingyan by the arm, headed toward the funeral hall.
"Great Lady, Her Highness says that she has grown old and her judgment has grown clouded. She was so obsessed with blood ties and guilt that she made a grave error, and she asks that you do not hate her for it. Great Lady... this servant has served Her Highness the Grand Princess my whole life. Twice in her life has she admitted fault, and both times she sought forgiveness from you, Great Lady. She bade you choose between yourself and that wretch... but you, Great Lady, are like the clouds in the heavens — you are Her Highness's own flesh and blood. That wretch is a worthless thing; how could he dare be weighed against you in the same breath?"
The cold wind of the dark night cut to the bone — but not so deeply as the human heart that froze one's chest.
No words, however ardent, could warm a heart that had already died.
"This time, Her Highness has given up even her shadow guards. Great Lady... Her Highness is showing you her true heart. The Grand Princess will soon reside at the imperial family's shrine, and you, Great Lady, will return to Suyang. It is a difficult thing for me to say... but from now on, the two of you will likely never meet again, sundered as if by the boundary between this world and the next. Her Highness has grown very old. She has not long left to live, so I beg you to yield to her. The men of the Bai family are all gone. Can those of you who remain truly afford to live set against one another?"
Nanny Zhang's words carried a weight of meaning beneath their surface.
"Nanny, have you ever once talked the Grand Princess out of anything?"
Bai Jingyan's tone was so frigid that Nanny Zhang felt the chill seep all the way to her fingertips. She had said the Grand Princess — not grandmother. Did the Great Lady truly mean to sever her bond with the Grand Princess altogether?
"Great Lady."
Nanny Zhang clenched her teeth and gripped Bai Jingyan's hand tight.
"It was I who proposed the method of poisoning Qi Zhengyu to Her Highness. Great Lady, if your anger cannot be assuaged, this servant will repay it with her own death. Great Lady, hate Her Highness no longer."
Bai Jingyan stopped walking. As she looked at Nanny Zhang, she could not help but think of Yulian, who had tried to poison Qi Zhengyu to save her mother.
Bai Jingyan drew her hand free of Nanny Zhang's grasp and stared at her long and hard.
"Nanny, the most foolish thing a person can do in this world is to trade away the life of the one they hold most dear at the price of their own — or to leave that person's life in another's hands. Live long and serve grandmother well. The shadow guards... I will take them. But Nanny, between grandmother and me, nothing will remain but this form of address. I do not think our feelings can ever return to what they were."
The Bai family needed the Grand Princess's protection. So long as she did not step forward to shield that wretch, there was no need for Bai Jingyan to cut her off so absolutely.
The affection she had shared with her grandmother had been genuine; not once had it been false. It was only that now, each of them had a different road to walk, and there was no going back.
Bai Jingyan accepted the half-medallion and walked toward the funeral hall.
Weeping, Nanny Zhang stood beneath the lamplight and, together with Nanny Dong and Chun Tao, watched Bai Jingyan's retreating figure as she let out a long sigh. The two of them had been sundered at last, and in this life there would be no turning back.