“Why did Fourth Miss come out?” Chun Tao saw Bai Jinzhi emerge and hurriedly looked toward the window lattice of the main room, her face changing color.
Bai Jinzhi pounded her chest: “Sister Chun Tao, quickly find me a cup of water, I’m choking to death!”
Chun Tao hurriedly poured a cup of water for Bai Jinzhi, but feeling uneasy… she re-entered the main room carrying hot tea, seeing Xiao Rongyan still standing properly outside the gauze screen, which put her at ease.
“Miss, please have some tea!”
“I came today to bid farewell to Miss. I earnestly hope Miss will take care of herself. I… will take my leave now.” Xiao Rongyan bowed deeply and formally to the ground.
Bai Qingyan maintained a solemn expression, nodding: “Master Xiao, take care on your journey!”
After Xiao Rongyan left, Bai Jinzhi came back in, smiling as she asked her elder sister: “Elder Sister… if you can’t bear to have Master Xiao travel such hardships, why not… keep Master Xiao at the Bai household!”
Bai Jinzhi spoke very tactfully.
“You talk too much…” Though Bai Qingyan’s words carried reproach, her eyes smiled, lacking any intimidating power whatsoever.
On October 24th, Yan’s envoy entered Jin. Unable to see Jin’s emperor, who was recuperating, he met with the Crown Prince at the Crown Prince’s mansion, claiming… Emperor Yan, upon learning of Great Liang and Wei’s intention to attack Yan from both sides, had fallen critically ill from anger and anxiety, with medicine proving ineffective. He specially dispatched an envoy to request Prince Li’s return to Yan, as this might be their final meeting, and also earnestly begged Jin to intervene and assist Yan.
The Yan envoy tearfully kowtowed, pleading to allow Prince Li to return to Yan. His sincere emotion even moved the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince still said this matter was of great importance and required discussion with the Emperor in the palace.
Subsequently, the Crown Prince also did the Yan envoy a favor, saying that Jin already knew of Great Liang and Wei’s plan to attack Great Yan. He asked the envoy to advise Emperor Yan to be at ease upon returning home, as Jin maintained good relations with Yan and naturally wouldn’t stand by and watch two countries attack Yan. Jin had already ordered envoys to enter Great Liang to stop their attack on Yan, and General Liu Hong had been dispatched with troops to the Jin-Great Liang border to deter Great Liang.
The Yan envoy was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this, hurriedly saying he would send word back to Great Yan once he returned to the embassy. All of Yan would be grateful to His Highness the Crown Prince of Jin.
The Crown Prince felt he was truly clever. Although dispatching Liu Rushi to Great Liang was to demand territories for Jin, it would indeed resolve Great Yan’s crisis. When Emperor Yan learned of this, wouldn’t he send precious gifts? If Emperor Yan was sensible… Jin’s military mobilization and provisions, he should send those as well.
The Crown Prince’s calculations were quite loud. After seeing off the Yan envoy, he entered the palace to discuss the matter with the Emperor.
The Emperor, hearing that Emperor Yan’s life was short and wanting to urgently summon his son back for a final meeting, originally didn’t want to release him…
Unexpectedly, Great Yan’s Prince Murong Li, upon learning of Emperor Yan’s critical illness from vomiting blood, knelt outside the palace gates, begging Great Jin’s Emperor to let him return home, loudly vowing that after serving his father back to health, he would immediately return to Jin.
Hearing Gao Demao’s report that Murong Li was kowtowing and crying outside the palace gates with his head bloodied from prostration, the Emperor was moved to compassion, also feeling that Yan couldn’t stir up much trouble…
With just two countries attacking Jin, that sickly Emperor Yan was already frightened nearly to death—what threat could Yan pose?
After thinking it over, the Emperor granted Great Yan’s Prince Murong Li permission to return home.
The Crown Prince personally brought the Emperor’s decree out of the palace, helped Murong Li, who knelt outside the palace gates, and repeated to Murong Li what he had told the Yan envoy. Murong Li was moved to tears, bowing deeply to the ground and immediately taking leave of the Crown Prince. Without even time to pack his belongings, he rode swiftly out of the capital.
Under the protection of twenty elite guards, Murong Li galloped at breakneck speed, his ears filled with the roar of wind like a tiger’s howls.
The young man rode on horseback, his gaze determined as he looked toward home, his mind filled with Ninth Uncle’s instructions before leaving the capital…
Ninth Uncle had said: “Little A’Li, remember that no matter what, even if you must kneel and kowtow, you must gain Jin’s Emperor’s permission to return home! Once the Emperor agrees, immediately take your guards and ride swiftly out of the city. Change horses but never rest along the way, traveling day and night to return to Great Yan! Jin has too many capable people—there will always be someone clever enough to guess that your father’s critical condition is just an excuse for your return to Yan. Great Yan is about to bare its fangs… to let the world know that from now on the heavens and earth will change, reversing the cosmic order—from now on, Great Yan will be the blade and chopping board! But if so, we cannot let you remain in Jin to be used as leverage against Yan! You must reach home safely before the Crown Prince’s people catch up with you!”
Home!
From the day he arrived in the capital, Murong Li had thought of home every moment.
But he understood his responsibilities and mission clearly, knowing why he had come, so he never showed his homesickness.
Now, with Great Yan ready to show its fangs, he could not become a bargaining chip for others to constrain Yan!
He would risk his life to return to Great Yan, back to Father and Mother… and his elder brother’s side.
·
When Bai Qingyan learned of Murong Li’s return to Yan, she guessed that… this departure would likely mean he would never return.
Emperor Yan’s health had been treated by Physician Hong, who upon his return had told Bai Qingyan that with proper care, Emperor Yan could easily live another ten years.
Moreover, Emperor Yan was strong-willed. In those years when Great Yan nearly faced partition and destruction, Emperor Yan never fell. Now, with just Great Liang and Wei intending to jointly attack Yan, and with Xiao Rongyan working diplomatically among various countries, not to mention… as long as Emperor Yan stood before a map and looked carefully, he would understand that Jin wouldn’t allow Great Liang to seize Yan’s territories. How could Emperor Yan truly take this to heart?
The reason Great Yan wanted to bring Prince Murong Li back was probably… Great Yan intended to test its edge against Wei first, informing all nations that Yan was no longer the former… Great Yan that survived in the cracks, allowing anyone to trample upon it.
It was also to make all nations understand that in this turbulent world of rising winds and gathering clouds… the situation was about to change. With the rotation of powerful nations, it was time for Yan to rise.
The world was unpredictably changeable, and the situation changed daily. The former glory of Yan under Empress Ji’s rule was like a flash in the pan, but now Empress Ji’s two sons, Murong Yu and Murong Yan, would lead Yan back to its peak.
Great Yan had moved steadily and methodically to this day. If it truly bared its fangs against Wei, it certainly wouldn’t be playing around… it would surely beat Wei into submission, leaving Wei never again capable of declaring war on Great Yan, or even… destroying the Kingdom!
However, the act of destroying a Kingdom would likely invite wariness from other nations. It remained to be seen… whether Great Yan dared or not.
If Great Yan truly destroyed Wei, the world’s power structure… would undergo major changes.
Great Yan’s actions stirred the hot blood in Bai Qingyan’s heart.
She had once openly told Xiao Rongyan of her ambition for the world, willing to compete with Xiao Rongyan to see who could ultimately claim dominion over all under heaven!
If Great Yan was taking Wei’s territory, why couldn’t Jin take Liang’s territory?
With Great Yan at war with Wei, their forces tied up by Wei… Jin could free its hands to destroy Liang, which bordered Jin’s north. Only by completely seizing Liang’s territory could Jin’s northern front be secure… using the vast sea’s natural barriers as support, preventing Jin from fighting on multiple fronts, allowing Jin to aspire to rule the world…