Looking at Dan Zhi’s graceful and slender figure, Bai Jintong calculated Dan Zhi’s age and thought to herself that after the New Year, she would send Dan Zhi back home and have her mother find a good family for Dan Zhi to marry into. It wouldn’t be right to let Dan Zhi follow her for life and delay Dan Zhi’s future.
She had just taken a sip of hot tea when she noticed movement outside the window lattice. She casually placed the teacup on the small table, turned to look outside, and raised her hand to push open a crack in the window lattice. There stood a hidden guard outside: “Third Master, our people watching the Regent’s mansion report that Empress Dowager Yan left the palace and quietly entered the Regent’s mansion.”
“Good, I understand.” Bai Jintong’s expression was cold and clear. “You may go!”
Bai Jintong could guess why Empress Dowager Yan couldn’t sit still at this moment and had to visit the Regent’s mansion late at night…
It was because the “Regent’s faction” had secretly gathered together in private, and somehow word had spread that… the court officials of the Regent’s faction were preparing to jointly petition, requesting the Empress Dowager and Regent to install a new emperor.
And now, if Yan Emperor Murong Li were pulled down from the throne, Yan’s First Prince was unsuitable, Yan’s Second Prince was a mere warrior, so probably only Regent Murong Yan could sit firmly on the throne.
Yan’s court… was truly chaotic!
However, in Bai Jintong’s view, chaos was good!
But Bai Jintong truly felt sorry for Murong Li. Even though Murong Li’s proposal for the two countries to determine victory through national policies and merge into one was merely an expedient measure, just to gain a thread of hope for Yan, the fact that he could think of this… such breadth of mind made Bai Jintong admire him greatly.
Honestly speaking, Bai Jintong was willing to facilitate this matter.
Bai Jintong understood her elder sister—if she could unify the world in such a manner, her elder sister would be more than willing.
Because they came from a military family, even though the Bai family members were skilled in warfare, they all despised the meaningless sacrifice of soldiers, didn’t want to burden the people because of war, and didn’t want to see the tragic scenes of nine empty houses out of ten.
Bai Jintong pondered carefully—now it all depended on this Ninth Prince’s attitude. If this Regent ultimately disagreed with Yan Emperor Murong Li’s proposed method, they would probably have to pull Murong Li down from the throne.
Unfortunately, Bai Jintong’s foundation in Yan was still shallow, without enough influence to sway this matter.
But if it truly came to that final step, Bai Jintong would be quite willing to find a way to preserve Yan Emperor Murong Li’s life.
Looking at history, if Murong Li were truly deposed, then the new Yan emperor who ascended the throne would certainly kill Murong Li, the deposed emperor.
·
Regent’s Mansion.
Empress Dowager Yan wore plain clothes and a black cloak with a hood. She was welcomed into the mansion through the side gate by Yue Shi, and once in the main hall, the maid serving at her side hurriedly helped her remove the black cloak and accompanied her to wait in the main hall.
Seeing the servants of the Regent’s mansion bring up hot tea and refreshments, Empress Dowager Yan understood she would probably have to wait a while. She turned to look at Yue Shi and asked, “Has the Ninth Prince already retired?”
Yue Shi nodded and said respectfully, “Master has been traveling for days. After returning, a pile of government affairs was sent to him, and many court officials chased after him, asking about His Majesty’s proposal to determine Yan and Great Zhou’s victory through national policies and merge the two countries into one. Master had barely managed to send them away, and before he could finish reviewing the government affairs, he fell asleep at his desk.”
Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Yan’s palms tightened involuntarily.
The Empress Dowager had also heard about this matter. She heard that Xiao Rongyan had told the court officials to return home without worry, that he would never let the emperor do something as absurd as gambling with an entire nation. This made the Empress Dowager even more worried.
She worried that ultimately, Xiao Rongyan would truly pull A’Li down from the throne to protect the Murong family’s territory.
Soon, Empress Dowager Yan heard extremely soft sounds from outside and turned to look toward the open partition doors.
She saw the hexagonal sheepskin lanterns hanging under the corridors swaying in the wind, their warm yellow light interweaving with the fine rain in the misty haze, creating circles of hazy light rings. Xiao Rongyan stepped up onto the main hall’s stairs.
Yue Shi was very perceptive and hurriedly went out to greet him: “Master!”
The fine rain had dampened Xiao Rongyan’s ink-black hair and jade crown, as well as his frost-colored narrow-sleeved robe with cloud patterns. He stood at the doorway, patted the moisture from his shoulders, and instructed Yue Shi in his deep voice, “Guard outside and don’t let anyone else enter.”
“Yes! Master, rest assured!”
Seeing him lift the hem of his robe to step over the threshold, the white jade ornaments at his waist making soft sounds, the personal maid who had been accompanying Empress Dowager Yan hurriedly lowered her head to bow to Xiao Rongyan, then respectfully withdrew from the main hall to stand guard outside with Yue Shi.
“Sister-in-law, why did you come through the rain?” Xiao Rongyan entered and bowed to Empress Dowager Yan.
“A’Yan, no need for such ceremony!” This time, Empress Dowager Yan didn’t sit steadily in place but hurriedly rose to step forward and support Xiao Rongyan. “I just heard from Yue Shi that you had already retired. Sister-in-law’s sudden visit has disturbed your peaceful sleep.”
In his mansion, Xiao Rongyan didn’t wear a mask. His upright features appeared even more profound under the swaying orange-yellow lamplight, his eyes even more shadowed: “A’Li has caused such a great disturbance this time, and I still don’t know how to resolve it. What peaceful sleep is there to speak of?”
Seeing that Empress Dowager Yan was about to speak, Xiao Rongyan made a gesture of invitation to his sister-in-law: “Sister-in-law, let’s sit and talk.”
Empress Dowager Yan nodded and sat in a chair, then heard Xiao Rongyan continue, “Now A’Li is determined to gamble with the entire nation of Yan. Sister-in-law still needs to properly advise A’Li! I’ve already sent people to pursue Wang Hanbing. I hope we can catch up to Wang Hanbing—perhaps this matter can still be salvaged. But if we can’t catch Wang Hanbing and he successfully reaches Great Zhou’s court with A’Li’s private seal and the credentials A’Li gave him…”
Empress Dowager Yan’s heart suddenly tightened: “Then… A’Yan, what would you do?”
Murong Yan’s thin lips pressed tightly together without speaking, but his fingers drummed on the table, his eyes growing even deeper.
Empress Dowager Yan again thought of her brother’s words, her heart sinking further. She didn’t continue discussing this matter with Xiao Rongyan, instead turning to speak about the two children Bai Qingyan had given birth to: “Sister-in-law heard that the Great Zhou emperor gave birth to dragon and phoenix twins. I haven’t congratulated A’Yan yet! Now our A’Yan is also someone who’s going to be a father.”
Upon hearing about the two children, Xiao Rongyan’s hand drumming on the table tightened, his eyes growing even deeper. He lowered his extremely long eyelashes to hide the lonely expression in his eyes, and after a long while, said in a hoarse voice, “Sister-in-law, those two children… are the Great Zhou emperor’s children. We’ve already agreed that they have nothing to do with me anymore.”
Empress Dowager Yan’s heart was clear as a mirror, guessing that Xiao Rongyan and Bai Qingyan had probably fallen out over Bai Qingyu’s capture and Great Zhou’s deployment of troops at Yan’s borders. Yet she still advised, “No matter what, those two children are A’Yan’s flesh and blood. How can A’Yan speak like this?”