The Emperor nodded with satisfaction, then turned to Bai Qingyan and said, “I’ve heard… that you play chess exceptionally well?”

Her hands clenched tightly as she lowered her gaze in silence. The Emperor’s attitude of protecting Marquis Zhongyong was so obvious that the court ministers would surely follow the wind. When news of the Bai family’s defeat in battle reached them, wouldn’t those sycophantic officials who excelled at reading the Emperor’s intentions take the opportunity to trample them further?

No wonder in her previous life, though everyone knew of the Bai family’s loyalty and courage, no one dared to argue on their behalf in court.

As above, so below. The Emperor’s dissatisfaction with the Bai family had reached such depths that a court official would dare speak righteously for the Bai family again?

She prostrated herself in reverence: “I only know a little.”

“Your aunt… also played chess exceptionally well.” The Emperor’s gaze fell upon Bai Qingyan, seeming to fall into some emotional state, as if trying to see another person through her. He spoke slowly, “When you have time, accompany your grandmother into the palace to sit with the Empress. The Empress also enjoys this pursuit. Rise!”

The Empress smiled and nodded, her water-onion-like fingernails digging into her palms within her sleeves. Having been married to the Emperor for many years, she naturally knew that Duke Bai Weiting’s only daughter, Bai Suqiu, was the cinnabar mole that could never be erased from the Emperor’s heart.

Though Bai Suqiu was already dead, she had become irreplaceable in the Emperor’s heart. Now that the Emperor was telling Bai Qingyan to enter the palace when free, what did this mean? Could he have thought of taking Bai Qingyan as a consort?

The Empress’s mind churned with countless worries, feeling stifled in her chest. The Emperor’s current attitude toward the Bai family was ambiguously unclear, seeming to despise them yet also showing lingering affection, truly impossible to fathom.

Just then came a “clang” sound, and a palace maid immediately knelt to beg forgiveness: “Please forgive this servant’s transgression! This servant did not do it intentionally!”

“No matter…” Xiao Rongyan maintained his composure as he shook the wine stains from his robe. His scholarly and refined features held a smile, his voice mellow and deep, making people feel as refreshed as a spring breeze.

The Emperor snapped back to attention, looking toward the strikingly handsome young man behind Prince Qi. Feeling that the man possessed a scholarly elegance comparable to the great sages of the world, composed and gentle, he immediately felt favorable toward him: “You… must be the Wei merchant Xiao Rongyan that Prince Qi has mentioned in my presence.”

Xiao Rongyan rose with a composed expression, performing a deep bow to the Emperor: “Thanks to His Highness’s regard, this commoner has the fortune to enter the palace and witness Your Majesty’s bearing. I am infinitely grateful.”

Even though these were flattering words, spoken by such an elegant scholar, they brought even greater pleasure. The Emperor swept away the gloom in his heart and laughed heartily: “Master Xiao is a righteous merchant of Great Wei with a reputation for talent. A month ago at Wenxian Tower, your composition ‘Night Snow on the Plains’ was magnificent, making even me yearn for the scenic beauty of the plains!”

The Emperor, suddenly addressing Xiao Rongyan as “Master,” his appreciation undisguised, caused the hundred officials below the high platform to harbor various calculations in their hearts.

“A crude work after drinking—Your Majesty’s praise is too generous.”

Xiao Rongyan was neither servile nor arrogant, possessing the proud bearing of a scholar. Though wine-stained, he showed no embarrassment whatsoever. His expression remained calm and composed, appearing rather like a banished immortal whom the mortal world’s red dust could not taint in the slightest.

“Great Wei has many renowned literary scholars famous throughout the world. Master must be among the finest, your reputation known across all nations. Why be so modest!” The Emperor had always favored talented scholars of literary excellence, inevitably asking Xiao Rongyan several more questions. “Master, since the new year has not yet passed and you haven’t returned to your Kingdom, are you staying in the capital to celebrate the New Year?”

“I’ve heard that the capital’s fifteenth-day lantern festival is Great Jin’s annual grand celebration, where literary scholars compete with high spirits, each displaying their abilities in great excitement. Therefore, I’m staying in the capital for the New Year. After the fifteenth lantern festival, I’ll depart for home.”

The Emperor nodded, noticing the wine stains on Xiao Rongyan’s clothing: “Master Xiao, please go change your clothes first. When you return, you can tell me about the beautiful scenery of Pingzhou.”

Xiao Rongyan bowed with a smile and agreed.

Bai Qingyan noticed that the maid who had been serving Prince Qi’s secondary consort was nowhere to be seen. Understanding the situation in her heart, she secretly broke into a cold sweat for Xiao Rongyan, her gaze involuntarily turning toward him.

Across the space, her gaze collided with Xiao Rongyan’s calm and sharp eyes.

Her palm tightened, then slowly relaxed. Seeing Xiao Rongyan’s gaze sharp and profound, she thought he must already know of the deception. Only… could he escape this tribulation?

Xiao Rongyan’s eyes remained steady. In that flash of lightning and flint, he shifted his gaze away and calmly followed the palace maid to change clothes.

In less than two quarters of an hour, Xiao Rongyan returned after changing into a straight-cut robe. Only then did her anxious heart settle down.

·

On the road returning home after the palace banquet ended, Grand Princess was filled with lingering fear. She gripped Bai Qingyan’s hand tightly and scolded harshly: “Have you gone mad?! Usually, I see you act steadily—how could you be so unable to contain yourself today?! Speaking such words before the Emperor—if the Emperor had truly become angry, how many heads do you have to bear the consequences?! If something happened to you, too, how would your grandmother live?!”

The finely crafted elm wood carriage had swaying lanterns hanging from its four corners, casting flickering, bright, and dim light inside the carriage compartment.

Bai Qingyan lowered her gaze to conceal the redness in her eyes. She admitted that today’s words were deliberately spoken for the Emperor to hear. She wanted that obstinate and suspicious Emperor to know, wanted this world to know! The virtue of her Bai family fighting bloodily on the front lines for Great Jin and the tens of thousands of common people in this world was something that scheming monarchs could never match in several lifetimes!

Those words, those matters, blocked in her heart like sharp blades stuck in her throat, constantly cutting—she had to speak them out!

Seeing Bai Qingyan keeping her head down, unwilling to say anything, Grand Princess closed her aching eyes and choked back tears: “Grandmother knows that when grandmother asked you that day whether you harbored rebellious intentions, it hurt your heart. You child… everything about you is good, except you inherited your grandfather’s character of preferring to break rather than bend! But A’Bao… the imperial family is the grandmother’s family, the grandmother’s surname is Lin! You carry your grandmother’s blood in your body! So everyone else in Great Jin can rebel… only my descendants cannot! Do you understand?!”

Grand Princess’s heart protecting the imperial family was like Bai Qingyan’s heart protecting the Bai family—how could she not understand?

But this Great Jin imperial family had long since decayed. It had been defiled from the roots by the court’s monarchs and ministers who favored power-seeking, profit-chasing, and conspiracies. Rotten and putrid inside, unless the kingdom changed hands and imperial power transferred to truly capable hands, otherwise… how could something corrupt at its core not perish?

“I’m asking if you understand? Do you comprehend?! Speak!”

Faced with Grand Princess’s increasingly urgent questioning, she could no longer suppress the suffocating despair, weariness, and deep bitterness in her heart.

She had grown up at her grandmother’s knee since childhood, taking her first toddling steps while holding her grandmother’s hand.

The first character she learned to write in her enlightenment studies was taught by her grandmother’s hand guiding hers.

When she had a high fever that wouldn’t break, grandmother held her through sleepless nights, kneeling before the Buddha shrine, praying to trade ten years of her own life for her granddaughter’s smooth and safe recovery.

Grandmother held immeasurable importance in her life, her significance impossible to estimate.

Once, she and her grandmother had spoken of everything together, but now… the two of them had the same goals but different stances, supporting each other while also guarding against each other. What should have been the closest refuge in this world was now close at hand, yet moving in opposite directions, distant as heaven and earth.

She greatly feared that in the not-distant future, the deep blood kinship between her and her grandmother would be worn away by their mutual wariness and defensiveness, growing further and further apart, even… becoming loathsome in appearance.