The Crown Prince hurriedly knelt and kowtowed to the Emperor: “Father Emperor, is this son’s heaven. Even if this son faced ten thousand deaths, this son would never dare deceive Father Emperor! Moreover, this son’s life as Crown Prince and the position of Crown Prince were both given by the Father Emperor. If Father Emperor wished to take everything back, as your son, this son would never dare harbor any resentment. How would this son dare use false words to deceive Father Emperor!”
The Emperor was extremely satisfied watching the Crown Prince kneeling on the ground, smiling and nodding: “Rise! Father Emperor knows you are a good child!”
The Crown Prince’s eyes grew even hotter. He looked up at the Emperor and choked out: “Father Emperor.”
“Last time, you sent a secret memorial requesting to bestow upon Bai Qingyan the title of princess, which is not impossible. But now that Bai Qingyan has been won over by you, haven’t you thought of keeping her in court to serve you?” The Emperor gazed at the water’s surface as he asked.
“Our dynasty has no precedent of appointing women as officials. Although this son also values Bai Qingyan’s talent, if we were to give her a military official position, I fear it would provoke criticism from the court ministers and would certainly put the Father Emperor in a difficult position. Therefore, this son dismissed this idea.”
The Emperor nodded, gratified that this son had not forgotten about him as Father Emperor in his single-minded pursuit of recruiting supporters for himself.
“Tomorrow the Emperor of Great Yan will arrive at the capital with his prince, and afterward will send hostages to Jin. You are the Crown Prince… tomorrow you shall personally welcome the Emperor of Great Yan into the palace, and all arrangements will be entrusted to you!” After the Emperor finished speaking, as if remembering something, he turned to look at the Crown Prince: “You just returned from Nan Jiang. Do you feel tired?”
The Crown Prince kowtowed heavily to show his loyalty: “Serving the Kingdom is this son’s duty! This son will certainly do his utmost!”
“Your Majesty!”
A crisp, joyful young girl’s voice like an oriole came from behind the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince looked up to see the Emperor’s gaze turn toward behind him, his eyes brightening as he put down his fishing rod and stood up, his expression quite excited.
The Crown Prince quickly rose and stepped aside to the Emperor’s side, quietly following the Emperor’s gaze. He saw a young maiden dressed in white riding attire with her long hair tied high behind her head with a white ribbon, holding a black gold riding whip, running lightly and cheerfully toward the lakeside.
The Crown Prince’s pupils contracted for a moment, feeling that this maiden’s outfit was very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.
Before the Crown Prince could remember, the maiden had already rushed into the Emperor’s embrace with a fragrant breeze. The Crown Prince and the eunuchs and palace maids standing nearby quickly lowered their heads and retreated a few steps, not daring to look anymore.
“Eunuch Gao said this riding outfit was personally ordered by Your Majesty for this concubine. This concubine immediately put it on to show Your Majesty! Your Majesty made riding attire for this concubine and gave this concubine a riding whip – you want to take this concubine horseback riding, don’t you?” The maiden’s cheerful voice carried some indulgence: “This concubine has practiced horsemanship since childhood. Does Your Majesty dare compete with this concubine?”
The Emperor’s eyes were full of affection and tenderness: “Gao Demao, go have people prepare. We and Concubine Qiu are going to race horses!”
Gao Demao, who had been chasing after Concubine Qiu breathlessly, nodded with a smile: “This old slave will immediately have people prepare.”
“Your Majesty is so good! This concubine likes Your Majesty the most!” Concubine Qiu’s eyes and brows were filled with pure, joyful laughter: “But even so, this concubine won’t go easy on Your Majesty in a moment!”
The Emperor raised his hand to tuck the disheveled strands of hair from Concubine Qiu’s running behind her ears, smiling: “I’m sorry you can only ride horses within the palace for now. After the major court affairs are settled, we will take you to the imperial ranch to ride horses.”
“This concubine is not an unreasonable child! That Your Majesty can accompany this concubine to ride horses in the imperial palace already makes this concubine very happy!” After Concubine Qiu finished speaking, she seemed to notice there were people nearby and quickly stepped out of the Emperor’s embrace, her voice carrying a coquettish reproach: “Why didn’t Your Majesty tell this concubine there were people here?”
“This is the Crown Prince…” The Emperor’s voice was not as happy as before.
“Your Highness!” Concubine Qiu performed a curtsy.
No matter how confused the Crown Prince was, he could see that this concubine was currently favored, so he quickly returned the courtesy respectfully.
“The Crown Prince has worked hard returning from Nan Jiang. Go back and rest!” After the Emperor finished speaking, he took Concubine Qiu’s hand and left with a smile.
On the way back to the Crown Prince’s residence, the Crown Prince sat in the carriage repeatedly thinking about that Concubine Qiu, that riding outfit… he had seen it somewhere before!
Suddenly, the Crown Prince remembered the painting that he had often seen his Father Emperor take out to look at when he was young. He opened his eyes: “Bai Suqiu!”
That maiden in white riding attire was identical to Bai Suqiu in the painting scroll.
At the Bai residence, Fanhua Pavilion.
Fanhua Pavilion was the place with the best view in the Bai residence, very spacious and bright.
After Bai Jinzhi woke up from her nap, she felt completely refreshed. She arrived at Fanhua Pavilion before Li Shi, excitedly telling about her experiences in Nan Jiang, describing in detail how eldest sister Bai Qingyan had achieved great victory over Yun Poxing.
The Fifth Miss, Sixth Miss, and Seventh Miss listened with wide eyes, extremely nervous, frequently turning back to ask Bai Jinxiu: “Second Sister, is it true? Is the battlefield so dangerous?”
“Just look at Xiao Si’s injuries and you’ll know.” Bai Jinxiu said with a smile.
Then, hearing Bai Jinzhi talk about their journey to Nan Jiang, how the common people knelt begging Xiao Bai Commander to reclaim their homeland, and how the people of Feng County protected Bai Qingyan, all the women of the Bai family in Fanhua Pavilion had tears in their eyes.
Dong Shi could imagine that scene. One could imagine that when her daughter set out for Nan Jiang, the pressure in her heart must have been enormous!
The pregnant Fifth Madam Qi Shi dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief: “The common people still remember our Bai family.”
Hearing the overlapping voices of maids and servants outside calling for the eldest miss, Bai Jinxiu, and several younger sisters put down their fruit and tea cups, stood up, and went out to welcome her.
When Bai Qingyan entered and performed her courtesies, not seeing Fourth Aunt Wang Shi, she asked: “Where is Fourth Aunt?”
Fifth Miss Bai Jinzhao said apologetically: “Mother’s time for worshipping Buddha has arrived, so she said… she wouldn’t come over. However, mother had someone invite a physician over today and is finally willing to take medicine.”
Since Bai Qingyan left, Fourth Madam Wang Shi had become increasingly silent and withdrawn, spending all day in the Buddhist hall without coming out.
Bai Jinzhi’s fists tightened at her sides. Before returning, eldest sister had instructed about matters concerning Seventh Brother and Ninth Brother – the fewer people who knew, the better. She only needed to let Fourth Aunt know that Seventh Brother was still alive. So Bai Jinzhi hadn’t even told her own mother Li Shi.
Bai Qingyan nodded. She guessed that Fourth Aunt was probably afraid others would notice something unusual, so she was trying hard to maintain her previous behavior. Today, she had already invited a physician, but if Bai Qingyan returned and she changed too much, she feared arousing suspicion. She worried that if the Emperor found out, Bai Qingjue’s situation would become dangerous.
Mothers were all like this, deeply afraid that their slightest impropriety would affect their children’s lives and futures.
No matter how suspicious the Emperor was, how could he send people to monitor the women in the inner quarters?
Never mind, as long as Fourth Aunt could pull herself together for A’Jue’s sake, everything else was a minor matter.
“Eldest Sister, Fourth Sister said… Eldest Sister rode on horseback holding the Sun-Shooting Bow and shot through Yun Poxing’s falcon with one arrow! Eldest Sister, have you picked up the Sun-Shooting Bow again?” Bai Jinhua looked up and asked Bai Qingyan.