“Today is the first day of the New Year, let the soldiers rest for a day. Right now, the Xiliang army must be tensely preparing for battle. When they don’t see our Great Zhou army today, they might think we Great Zhou forces, will wait until after the Lantern Festival to act…” Bai Qingyan gripped her sweet porcelain spoon, stirring the scalding hot porridge in her bowl. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll divide into two routes. Xiao Si will follow the route led by General Shen Kunyang to cross the Danshui River and catch Quanya City by surprise. We must seize Yunjing one step ahead of Yan Kingdom!”
Bai Jinzhi hadn’t forgotten that although the Great Zhou and the Yan Kingdom were allies, they also had a competitive relationship. She nodded repeatedly: “Elder Sister, rest assured, I will take Yunjing before Yan Kingdom!”
Looking at her youngest sister, she still couldn’t help but whisper her concerns: “Master Cai isn’t by your side, so don’t be rash in anything. Listen more to Uncle Shen and don’t throw childish tantrums. Don’t rely on your superior martial arts to act boldly and recklessly! What happened when we seized the Qingxi Mountain pass—climbing around cliffs in the rain to get behind enemy lines—absolutely cannot happen again! If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to face Third Aunt!”
“But back then, General Liu Hong told me to go there! Besides, I’m an adult now, I…” Bai Jinzhi saw her elder sister’s stern expression and quickly smiled apologetically, patting her chest in guarantee. “Alright, alright! Don’t worry, I’ll be obedient! If Uncle Shen tells me to go east, I absolutely won’t go west!”
“And you can’t go south or north either!” Bai Qingyu added with a straight face.
“Fifth Brother!” Bai Jinzhi pretended to be angry.
“Fifth Brother knows you’re brave, but our Bai family lost too many relatives in the Nanjiang battle. We absolutely cannot lose anyone else!”
Bai Jinzhi looked at Bai Qingyu, knowing that Fifth Brother had perhaps witnessed the Bai family members die in battle on the Nanjiang battlefield with his own eyes, which was why he spoke so sternly to her. Fifth Brother simply didn’t want her to have any more accidents.
“Alright, alright…” Bai Qingyan served Bai Jinzhi a piece of steamed cake with her chopsticks. “After growing another year older, Xiao Si has certainly matured and won’t be as rash as before. Elder Sister trusts you!”
“Fifth Brother, don’t worry. After we reach Yunjing, Xiao Si will wait properly in Yunjing to welcome Fifth Brother! Though I dare not say I’ll remain completely unharmed, I absolutely won’t let myself be seriously injured!” Bai Jinzhi said.
Bai Qingyu nodded and reached out to pat Bai Jinzhi’s head: “Eat your meal!”
“Take Li Tianfu with you and Uncle Shen…” Bai Qingyan took a small sip of porridge, turning to look at Bai Jinzhi. “Li Tianjiao escaped, and I’m afraid she’ll return to Yunjing to cause trouble. If Li Tianjiao truly has such capability, you can bring Li Tianfu, who has already ascended to the Xiliang throne, and fight your way there under the pretext of assisting Xiliang Emperor Li Tianfu in suppressing the rebel imposter Li Tianjiao!”
“I understand. The more legitimate our Great Zhou army appears, the easier it will be for the Xiliang people to accept us! As long as the people don’t resist, our battles will be easier to fight.” Bai Jinzhi held her porridge bowl and nodded in response.
Bai Qingyan nodded: “Exactly so.”
Bai Jinzhi was progressing very quickly, which greatly comforted Bai Qingyan.
“I’ve already instructed Uncle Shen. After breakfast, Fifth Brother and I will leave first with the main army. When the spies in Quanya City see us departing toward Nanjiang, they’ll certainly relax their guard. You’ll rest and reorganize in Pingdu City, sleeping on your weapons and waiting. As soon as night falls… cross the river and seize the city!” Bai Qingyan continued.
“I understand!” Bai Jinzhi’s gaze fell on Bai Qingyan’s abdomen. “Elder Sister is now pregnant, so you must be careful in everything!”
“Don’t worry!” Bai Qingyan smiled in response.
After breakfast, just as Bai Qingyan and Bai Qingyu were preparing to lead thirty thousand troops according to the original plan toward Nanjiang, the magistrate’s wife from Pingyang City sent her son to deliver Chun Zhi to Pingdu City.
After Chun Zhi came forward to kowtow to Bai Qingyan, she said: “The magistrate’s wife said that since the young lady came to Pingdu City without anyone to serve her, she had the magistrate’s son bring this servant over.”
Bai Qingyan noticed that Chun Zhi’s complexion didn’t look good and asked: “Did something happen on the road?”
“It’s nothing…” Chun Zhi lowered her head even more. She said in a low voice: “Young lady needn’t worry. This servant… this servant knows proper boundaries!”
“What do you mean by boundaries without any context?” Bai Qingyan set down her teacup and said softly: “Tell me honestly what happened.”
The young girl was too embarrassed to speak, gripping the hem of her clothes tightly. After a long while, she finally said: “It’s just that the magistrate’s son, who brought this servant to find the young lady, said on the road… that he was fond of this servant. But this servant knows that this servant is neither a great beauty nor a young lady from a noble family. The only thing this servant can mention respectably is having the fortune to personally serve the young lady. This servant thought back and forth about the things the magistrate’s wife said in front of this servant before, and felt… felt afraid!”
Although Chun Zhi wasn’t clever, she fortunately had self-awareness. She was merely a maid who had the fortune of the young lady’s permission to learn a few characters. Neither her appearance nor her family background was outstanding. What could the magistrate’s wife and the magistrate’s son want from her? Wasn’t it just because she was a personal maid on the Great Zhou Emperor’s side?
Chun Xing’s precedent was right before her eyes, and Chun Zhi constantly reminded herself not to make any mistakes.
She hadn’t told the young lady that Chun Xing had originally been overjoyed, thinking the minister’s son truly loved her. Even when the young lady had made things so clear, she still wanted to enter the minister’s household. Later, Chun Xing went home thinking she could marry into the minister’s household as a concubine, but when the minister’s household learned that Chun Xing had been expelled from the Bai household, they immediately turned hostile!
Chun Xing’s parents were also profit-seeking people. Seeing that Chun Xing couldn’t marry into the minister’s household, they either beat or scolded her. Later on… it was said that Chun Xing was sold by her heartless mother to an outside merchant as a concubine, without even asking what that outside merchant actually did for a living.
Now that Chun Zhi was by the young lady’s side, she had the young lady’s protection… and the status of being the young lady’s maid. Everyone dared not bully her. Moreover, a master like the young lady had always taken care of her, unlike other masters who didn’t treat maids as human beings. Even if she remained unmarried for life, she didn’t want to be used by others!
She had originally thought she would just be modest and self-respecting, but throughout the journey when the magistrate’s son was bringing her to find the young lady, he kept being handsy. She also discovered that her handkerchief was missing. She was very frightened in her heart—if someone ruined her reputation and the young lady didn’t want her anymore, what would she do?
Bai Qingyan looked at Chun Zhi’s appearance, her brow furrowing as she asked: “Did that magistrate’s son act disrespectfully toward you?”
“It wasn’t too bad, just that this servant’s handkerchief went missing. But… without solid evidence, this servant couldn’t directly ask the magistrate’s son about it. Yet this servant is worried and frightened, afraid that something might happen because of this servant’s missing handkerchief.” When Chun Zhi mentioned this, her eyes reddened with anxiety.