Bai Qingyan couldn’t bear to interrupt her mother. Watching her mother embrace A’Yu while silently shedding tears, hearing the faint sobbing sounds of her breathing, she quickly wiped away her own tears and said in a low voice: “Alright, alright… everyone get up. If outsiders see this in a moment, it won’t be good for A’Yu.”
Hearing these words, Dong Shi immediately released A’Yu and wiped her tears with her handkerchief, nodding.
Her son had finally returned with great difficulty – she absolutely couldn’t expose her son’s identity because she couldn’t control herself here.
Her daughter had established the Great Zhou, and her son was planning for unification among the Rong Di. Even if she, as a mother, couldn’t help, she definitely couldn’t cause trouble for her two children.
Bai Qingyan helped Dong Shi rise and sit down, gesturing for A’Yu to sit as well. So many words of concern couldn’t be spoken, and past events couldn’t be asked about either – if they were asked… today this Shouhe Palace would likely be flooded with tears.
“You cannot stay long in the palace today, so Elder Sister will tell you only the important matters…” Bai Qingyan looked steadily at Bai Qingyu. “Jintong has been imprisoned in Xiliang. A’Qi has already rushed to Xiliang to rescue Jintong, but we currently don’t know what Jintong arranged in Xiliang, nor do we know why Jintong was imprisoned, so we cannot rashly reveal Jintong’s identity!”
Dong Shi was quite surprised. She had long suspected that Jintong might not be with the Grand Princess at all, but she never would have imagined that Jintong had gone to Xiliang.
“Because the situation is unclear, we need to detain Li Zhijie in the capital. When Li Zhijie came to see me this morning, I used the excuse that Xiliang couldn’t offer Great Zhou many benefits in their alliance, telling Li Zhijie to send someone back to ask their Xiliang Empress what else they could give Great Zhou. If Xiliang intends to use Jintong as a bargaining chip, they should reveal it now, but Li Zhijie seemed unaware. I promised him… I would keep Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di stable in the capital, giving his people time for a round trip between Yunjing and the capital.”
Bai Qingyu nodded and then said, “I’m just afraid Xiliang will take the opportunity to make other moves. If I’m not there and Xiliang attacks the Rong Di, the Rong Di might fall into chaos…”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about!” Bai Qingyan looked steadily at Bai Qingyu. “I need to trouble you to prepare defenses early, and even… when necessary, pressure Xiliang. If Xiliang makes a move, I’ve already told Li Zhijie that it’s Great Zhou keeping Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di in the capital. If Xiliang takes the opportunity to cause trouble, Great Zhou will naturally be responsible to the end.”
Bai Qingyu understood his elder sister’s meaning. Rescuing Bai Jintong was the top priority, so… she first detained Li Zhijie in the capital. Keeping him in the capital served two purposes: first, it was an excuse to detain Li Zhijie without Great Zhou and Xiliang immediately turning hostile, which would be disadvantageous for rescuing Bai Jintong.
Second, with Prince Ghost-Face in the capital, Xiliang might inevitably be tempted to strike first. But if Xiliang made a move, it would give the Great Zhou legitimate grounds to join forces with the Rong Di to attack Xiliang.
Bai Qingyu’s lips parted slightly, but he didn’t speak again. He was afraid his voice would make Mother cry again. After a long moment, he nodded silently.
Bai Qingyan looked at A’Yu gripping his dress hem tightly, her gaze falling on the burn scars on A’Yu’s neck that couldn’t be hidden. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t help but reach out to touch A’Yu’s head, then grasped his shoulders, lowering her eyes not daring to look anymore, her voice choked with emotion: “You’ve suffered!”
Bai Qingyu bit down hard on his teeth, barely managing not to cry aloud. He gripped his clothes tightly, his throat feeling like it was stuffed with a piece of cotton soaked in vinegar, swollen and painful.
His suffering was nothing. He could hardly imagine how Elder Sister had managed to support this family and reach this point when the Bai family faced disaster.
He hadn’t been able to stay by Mother’s, Aunt’s, Elder Sister’s, and his sisters’ sides to care for them. He felt he had failed Grandfather’s and Father’s teachings, and his heart was heavy with sorrow.
Before seeing them, he had thought he had so much to say when he met Mother and Elder Sister, but upon meeting… he discovered that with the closest people, you don’t need to say anything – you understand everything about each other.
Now that his voice had become like this, Mother would cry and feel heartache every time he spoke, so he dared not speak even more.
After a long silence, Bai Qingyu finally spoke.
“Mother, Elder Sister…” Bai Qingyu’s voice was extremely low. “Now that Grandfather and Father are gone, A’Yu is about to come of age. Please… would Mother and Elder Sister bestow a courtesy name upon A’Yu?”
When girls reached maturity and boys had their capping ceremony, they should receive courtesy names.
According to Bai family tradition, although it wasn’t usually elders who bestowed names, Father’s and uncles’ names, as well as Bai Qingyan’s courtesy name, were all given by Grandfather. Grandfather had once said… when A’Yu came of age, he would definitely give A’Yu an excellent courtesy name.
Father’s courtesy name was Jiuru…
Bai Qingyan’s courtesy name was Mingshan…
Dong Shi’s lips moved, holding back the tears in her eyes as she spoke: “Let it be Zi’an. Mother… hopes you will always be safe.”
It wasn’t taken from any classical allusion, just a mother’s most simple hope – she hoped her son would always be safe.
Bai Qingyu’s eyes stung with pain. He rose and bowed: “Thank you, Mother, for bestowing this name.”
Dong Shi quickly turned her head away, using her handkerchief to wipe away tears. Despite her utmost efforts to restrain herself, she still couldn’t suppress her sobbing voice, speaking in extremely low tones while sobbing, her spine trembling along with her.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, Bai Qingyu stayed in Shouhe Palace for only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before rising to leave. Dong Shi adjusted her emotions, and after Bai Qingyu left, at least on the surface, she showed no emotion, only saying… she didn’t like the parrot sent by the Xiliang people and asked Bai Qingyan to send it away.
When the Xiliang delegation received the news, they were thrown into panic.
The Empress Dowager and Emperor of Great Zhou had invited Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di to share breakfast, and afterward, the Great Zhou Empress Dowager had ordered the removal of the parrot Li Zhijie had sent. These were all signs of the Great Zhou’s closeness to the Rong Di, and could even be said to be proof.
“Don’t spread alarmist talk!” Li Zhijie sat steadily in his chair. “This prince went to see the Great Zhou Empress first, and Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di, upon receiving the news, followed immediately after. It just happened that the Great Zhou Empress was having breakfast with the Empress Dowager. According to protocol, they couldn’t very well leave Prince Ghost-Face of the Rong Di waiting outside!”
“As for saying the Great Zhou Empress Dowager dislikes Xiliang…” Li Zhijie looked up at his envoys. “If your husbands and sons had all died in war with the Great Zhou, could you like the Great Zhou? It’s the same principle! Why should the Empress Dowager necessarily like Xiliang…”
“The Great Zhou Empress is now the Zhou Empress. She won’t let herself be limited by private grudges. She made her intentions clear this morning… her purpose is simply to secure more cities and benefits for Great Zhou!” Li Zhijie tapped his head with his fan and closed his eyes wearily. “Before leaving, His Majesty instructed me that as long as we can ally with Great Zhou, this prince should assess what price Xiliang can pay, but we still need to send someone back to Xiliang to inform His Majesty of this matter. At least… Great Zhou can help us keep this Prince Ghost-Face stable for some time!”