Chapter 2: Song Juguang
The wooden doors, which had been lacquered to a vermillion, opened wide; the two sides, people and horses, one within and one without, stood facing each other across the distance; even this small distance in the middle howled with gusts, the scattered dry leaves bringing a rasping, quiet sound on either side.
Jiang Changbai's heart had already stirred up in a perilous situation; she almost subconsciously was about to call out the name of the person before her, but these three characters were once more pressed down by the concentrated gazes of the people behind her.
It couldn't possibly be her.
Jiang Changbai inwardly admonished herself, and then arranged a calm appearance like an undisturbed, ancient well, and took a step forward, raising her voice to ask, "You distinguished person are?"
The plain-clothed woman, hearing these words, seemed to be somewhat hurt, her countenance falling. "Dianxia, don't you[1] remember me?"
A single sentence aroused a thousand waves. Jiang Changbai suppressed the excitement in her heart, and walked forward a few more steps, only only once she came to the plain-clothed woman's side did she stop. Her gaze flickered between her features, mostly verifying the guess in her heart. Finally, she opened her mouth, a faint trembling shudder in her voice as she said, "A Guang?"
"So you do remember me." Song Juguang laughed softly, her body leaning forward slightly, her mouth moving to Jiang Changbai's ear. "Then why did Dianxia just now act as if not recognising me?"
Jiang Changbai felt her ear heat, and hurriedly retreated a step backwards. Her wide sleeves fluttered with her motion, and caused the tassel hung at Song Juguang's waist to tremble. Jiang Changbai smiled bitterly, and sighed, "I didn't think you still lived."
"O?" Song Juguang followed with a step forward, her eyes full of inquisitiveness. "It couldn't be that Dianxia assumed that I'd already been dead five years?"
Jiang Changbai nodded, not denying it, yet still explained, "Afterwards, I ordered people to look for you, but even turning over that stronghold, they didn't find you."
"I know," Song Juguang smiled, "I heard about it."
Heard about it.
Why not come back if she knew that she had been searching; where had she gone these five years? Uncountable questions welled up within Jiang Changbai's heart. Jiang Changbai raised her head to look at Song Juguang, but felt that the smiling expression on her face was no different than the one that had been on her face when they parted. Song Juguang was still the young girl who, at the scroll before her, was unable to find a solution, and smiled at Jiang Changbai as if currying favour as she asked for help.
But the shouting that came from all sides and distances at all times emphasised to Jiang Changbai the circumstances; the capital had fallen into enemy hands; it was probable that on the next day, the emperor's place would be swapped for another person to sit. Suddenly, Jiang Changbai's mind became clever with fortune, and her line of sight swept across the clearly skilled yet unadorned soldiers behind Song Juguang. She knew the answer.
"Coming today wasn't to reminisce with me was it, Guoshi-daren?"[2] Jiang Changbai's voice chilled. With the position of state preceptor beneath one person and above ten thousand, who would be willing to come to Prince Ling's residence to act as a study companion?
"Dianxia is still that intelligent, and managed to guess even this," Song Juguang said, still smiling; that smile was paused five years in the past, and within it wasn't mixed a single strand or thread of desire to attack. "Yet the person chatting with me here and reminiscing is you, Dianxia; I remember that the customs of Prince Ling's residence for treating guests don't call for people to stand in the doorway."
Jiang Changbai drew a deep breath, and inclined her body slightly, inviting Song Juguang in. "Come in, then."
Song Juguang nodded, advancing to Jiang Changbai's side, walking towards the main hall along with her. The others looked at each other in dismay, for a moment not knowing whether they were to follow along or stay in their places.
Xie Qianbing moved first, her right hand pressed against her waist, and with hurried steps, followed behind the tw of them. All the soldiers who had rushed over with Song Juguang, seeing this, also were about to follow after, yet they were halted by the imperial bodyguards of Prince Ling's residence pulling out their jian. The soldiers couldn't stand this sort of loss, and with a whisper, pulled out their dao and raised them before their bodies.
All these elite troops whom Song Juguang had brought along had learned through experience on the battlefield; as soon as they pulled out their dao, that killing and dispatching aura belonging exclusively to the battlefield overflowed. Xie Qianbing, turning her head, saw the bodyguards of Prince Ling's residence being pressed back by this might, and immediately turned to hurry before the bodyguards, pulling out the jian at her waist partway, fiercely gazing at the rebel army.
Jiang Changbai and Song Juguang also turned their heads, and then opened their mouths at almost the same time. "Put them away!"
With another rustling sound, the dao and jian returned to their scabbards and sheaths, yet the atmosphere in the courtyard was still very tense.
"Don't any of you follow after," Jiang Changbai said.
With a groaning, creaking sound, the study's doors closed.
As soon as they entered, Song Juguang pulled out something that had been wrapped in cloth from her clothes, and gently set it on the table. That rag opened under the force of gravity on the table, exposing a piece of jade.
Jiang Changbai stared at that bright yellow tassel, looking spellbound. "You recognise it, then," Song Juguang asked.
Jiang Changbai raised her hand, picking up the jade, using the cloth that had originally been wrapped around it to wipe it gently. The delicate decorative design gradually became clear, a vividly realistic dragon jumping out clearly from the surface of the jade. Of course Jiang Changbai recognised it; the last time she'd seen it, it was still hung at Emperor Tai's waist.
This jade had been offered as tribute by a foreign nation, and Emperor Tai had always been fond of keeping it close, such that he'd ordered people to copy the decorative design on it and disseminate it without restraint. The design could be replicated, but this sparkling, translucent, pure jade was rarely seen. To say nothing of the fact that, besides Emperor Tai, who would dare to display carved dragons and painted phoenixes, and hang bright yellow tassels on it?
She looked it over attentively once more, and saw that the dark red staining at the ends of the tassel were bloodstains. The meaning of, at this moment, this jade pendant appearing in Song Juguang's hand, went without saying. "He's dead?" Jiang Changbai asked, her appearance actually relaxed.
Song Juguang nodded. "Just yesterday."
Even if Jiang Changbai had, in the past, always felt that Emperor Tai was muddleheaded and tyrannical, and ought to have abdicated long ago, when she truly heard this piece of news, she couldn't help but go stiff. A month ago, he was still the well-off, measureless Emperor bixia, and now, he'd unexpectedly already lost his life while fleeing calamity. Yet Song Juguang clearly didn't have the intention of stopping at this point, and pulled out a jade pendant from her waist.
This jade pendant a bit lower quality than the one from just before, but it was still of rarely seen value. On one side was carved the character "Jiang", and on the other side, the decorative design had unexpectedly been entirely worn away.
On Jiang Changbai's waist, there also hung a similar jade pendant.
Jiang Changbai's expression went even more rigid, her breaths growing greater, as if through this she could order herself to calm down. Song Juguang said softly, "This sort of jade pedant, I have another hundred and thirty-one."
One hundred and thirty-one.
Such a short number; it rolled around in Jiang Changbai's mind with the sound of a drum being hit.
The Great Li's imperial family's descendants had all died, even though they'd been reproducing for more than a hundred years, before Song Juguang raising a rebel army; counting in Emperor Tai, there were only one hundred and thirty-four. And, from each one being born until dying, they would each receive a single similar jade pendant, which acted as a badge of identity; outside of the emperor not abiding by the restrictions of regulation, each of the others had to carry this pendant at all times.
If Song Juguang truly had one hundred thirty-one jade pendants, then that meant that in this world, the people who left with the Jiang's imperial family's blood, there was only her, alone, remaining.
Jiang Changbai lowered her head fro a moment, then with a soft laugh raised her head. "A Guang, all these years, you truly haven't learnt how to tell lies."
"Is that so?" Song Juguang didn't comment, and immediately raised her voice to call beyond the door, "Wei Sharen!"
A woman draped in armour pushed the door open and burst in, yet she didn't look at Song Juguang, but directly walked to Jiang Changbai's side. her right hand at the dao on her waist, aggressive as if, were Song Juguang to only command it, she could cause Jiang Changbai's head to roll on the ground.
"Don't be discourteous," Song Juguang reprimanded coldly, "this is the daughter of the crown prince."
Wei Sharen looked at Song Juguang, her eyes flashing with a degree of disbelief. Yet her hand still moved away from her dao, and she slowly dipped her head to Jiang Changbai. "Dianxia."
Jiang Changbai nodded gently.
"Bring that bundle over," Song Juguang said.
Wei Sharen, hearing this, immediately brought the bundle that had been on her back the entire time down, and passed it to Song Juguang, then withdrew a few steps to stand at the doorway. Song Juguang waved her hand, and only then did Wei Sharen retreat beyond the door.
That bundle was opened, and a multitude of barely differing jade pendants spilled onto the desk. Jiang Changbai finally couldn't keep her easy, light breeze and pale cloud appearance; she extended her hand to grab a couple of jade pendants and held them before her eyes to look at them carefully.
From childhood, she'd been born and raised in the prince's residence; Jiang Changbai certainly had this bit of visual skill. But at this moment, she wished that she couldn't tell whether these jade pendants were genuine or fake.
Genuine, genuine, and also genuine. Jiang Changbai looked over pendant after pendant, her eyes involuntarily turning pink. Even if, in the past, she had always disliked and couldn't bear to see them, even if these jade pendants' owners were largely unfamiliar to her, she suddenly found out that their deaths, and the bottom of Jiang Changbai's heart couldn't help but bubble up with a degree of intimately interdependent mournful, miserable sensation.
Song Juguang didn't speak either, only crossed her arms and calmly looked at her.
Finally, Jiang Changbai no longer flipped over and looked at those jade pendants, but extended her hand to feel about her waist. After a short moment, she pulled out two jade pendants. One was hers, and one was Prince Ling's.
Song Juguang had originally still stepped into Prince Ling's residence doubtful as to why, all this time, she hadn't seen Prince Ling emerge to take charge of affairs; but now, seeing these two jade pendants in Jiang Changbai's hand, she understood. Her lips trembled, wanting to say something, but no matter what, she couldn't speak.
Jiang Changbai gazed at the two jade pendants for a while, and then suddenly, with a great breath, placed the one that was Prince Ling's within Song Juguang's bundle. Jiang Changbai said hoarsely, "One hundred thirty-two."
Song Juguang smiled, and dropped that pendant of Emperor Tai's in. "One hundred thirty-three."
The two's gazes fell on that one of Jiang Changbai's.
"They're all given back to you; these are all the imperial household's things, they can fetch a not insignificant amount of money," Jiang Changbai said, acting as if she hadn't seen Song Juguang's line of sight, and as she spoke, she placed that one of her own into her bosom, and then pushed the full bag to Song Juguang's side.
"There's still a pendant missing," Song Juguang said, crossing from the desk to Jiang Changbai's side, bending slightly to meet her gaze. "That pendant of yours is still missing."
The distance between the two had abruptly been pulled close; Jiang Changbai could even feel Song Juguang's breath falling against the tip of her nose, and she heard her own heart hammering as it beat. But Jiang Changbai also knew that at this moment, she absolutely couldn't make a fool of herself.
So, she opened her mouth, and the only thing that showed in her words was relaxation. "You can't take away this pendant of mine."
Translator's notes:
[1]: The formal "you" is used here.
[2]: The title "Guoshi" (国师) is that of state preceptor; the suffix "daren" (大人) is an honourific.
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