Chapter 132: Departure
A strand of the sunset light seeped in through the crack between the curtains, its brightness layering the memorials piled on the desk with a sheen of gold. Leaning over the desk to look at something, Jiang Changbai's brows couldn't help but furrow tightly. When she'd been young, she'd assumed that being Emperor would give one the entire world, and it was only now that she felt she'd trapped herself within layer after layer of memorials.
Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Song Juguang came to a natural stop behind Jiang Changbai, raising her hand to rub her temples.
"How lucky for the common people of the Great Li, to have an Emperor who governs so diligently," Song Juguang said, her tone mingled with laughter, but she didn't reduce the force of her hand.
"Flatter," Jiang Changbai accused with a smile, but put her brush down and leaned backwards, falling into Song Juguang's embrace. "If you have the energy to say such things, then help me review some of these. I've practically been vexed to death looking over those memorials wishing me good health."
Song Juguang continued massaging, but she said, "Ah, but this minister wouldn't know how."
Jiang Changbai scoffed, raising a hand to press against Song Juguang's hand, which had stopped at the crown of her head. "It's been ten years—even a fool ought to have learnt how by now. With how intelligent A Guang is, how could you not know how?"
As she spoke, she reached out to pull a few memorials from those on the desk, and indicated them with her chin. "Those are all well wishes from local officials; in a bit, you'll reply to them all for me, and say I'm in good health. If there's anything else, put them aside."
"Of course."
Though Song Juguang had said she didn't know how, now she was about to diligently pick up the brush on the desk as she prepared to help Jiang Changbai read the memorials over. But she hadn't even taken a single step when Jiang Changbai grabbed her, pressing her hand back to the crown of her own head.
"Keep massaging for a bit." Jiang Changbai's tone was muddled with exhaustion. From when Wei Xiren had sent her military report, she'd not slept a single restful night, heart hammering from time to time, as if something was about to happen.
"As you wish." The corners of Song Juguang's mouth curled unconsciously, and she lifted her hand again.
By chance, Qing Huai arrived at the doors of the imperial study to give a report, saying that Xie Qianbing had brought Xu Shuyi along. Jiang Changbai waved her hand for them to both enter, pushing Song Juguang's hand away as she did so, and indicated for her to sit off to the side.
When Xie Qianbing crossed over the threshold, she intentionally slowed her steps, and Xu Shuyi, following behind her, almost ran into her back. Xu Shuyi was just about to snap something when she caught sight of the bright yellow figure behind the desk and immediately clammed up, following after Xie Qianbing to give obeisance.
Xu Shuyi was, in the end, only twenty-nine years old, and even if she'd travelled extensively, and even if she usually feared nothing in the world, on suddenly seeing the Emperor, she couldn't help but tense. She felt beads of sweat slip from her temples down the nape of her neck and into her collar, though whether it was from the heat or her nerves, she didn't know.
"At ease." Jiang Changbai waved a hand, indicating for them to stand.
When she raised her head, Xu Shuyi was met with Jiang Changbai's good-natured features, and in a daze, she felt that she didn't seem like a lofty emperor, but rather a neighbouring older sister.
She was even a bit better-natured than her own elder sister.
"Xu Shuyi," Jiang Changbai said, looking directly at her, "step forward."
Hearing this, Xu Shuyi froze on the spot, suddenly feeling the marks her mother's punishment had left on her begin to hurt faintly. She glanced furtively at Xie Qianbing, and only on seeing the other nod minutely towards her did she dare to take a breath and make her way to stand a few steps away from Jiang Changbai.
"Rumour has it that you had dealings with a merchant caravan, and were dragged back home in broad daylight on the street by your ear by your mother?"
Song Juguang laughed softly. "This minister happened to be in a teahouse that day, and saw Xu-guniang lose her shoes, clutching Honghailou's stone tiger and refusing to let go—she seemed quite like a rascal."
Xu Shuyi's ears flushed red, and, unable to pay her anxieties any mind, raised her head and said, "I've experienced a lot travelling the breadth of the state, and I've gained knowledge through experience—"
She hadn't finished speaking when she suddenly realised she'd forgotten herself, and in a frenzy, she covered her mouth and fell to her knees, kowtowing and apologising.
But unexpectedly, Jiang Changbai, rather than being furious, was amused, and she rummaged around on the memorial-filled table for a letter of passage. "How clever your tongue is; the diplomatic delegation departs early tomorrow morning—have you thought it over?"
Xu Shuyi stopped kowtowing, but the instant she heard about going to Shejin, she couldn't help but tremble faintly. She realised she had no way to control herself; she couldn't stop herself from thinking of those horrible undead, nor could she stop herself from sitting up straight and saying simply, "I have."
Only now did she understand the words Xie Qianbing had said at the Xu residence that day. At the time, Xie Qianbing had said that, once the diplomatic convoy stepped over the border, what it represented was the Great Li's prestige, and Xu Shuyi felt, kneeling here, it was also her elder sister's prestige.
If she were to face this unflinchingly, perhaps the Emperor would value her elder sister more.
Thinking of her elder sister, she once more prostrated herself, kowtowing heavily towards Jiang Changbai. "This subject has a request she'd like to make."
Jiang Changbai, interest piqued, asked with a smile, "Oh?"
Though Xu Shuyi was prostrate on the ground, she took advantage of rising out of the kowtow to shoot a glance at Jiang Changbai. Only on seeing she wasn't angry did she dare to speak. "This subject dares to ask Bixia for her favour; if…if this subject loses her life in Shejin, Bixia, please grant my elder sister a Stay of Execution!"[1]
The instant she spoke, the entire room fell silent. Out of the corner of her eye, Xie Qianbing saw Song Juguang's hands, behind her back, curl into tight fists; a sparrow suddenly flitted past the eaves, casting its shadow as it did so.
"Impudence!" Xie Qianbing reprimanded quietly. "How could you speak such nonsense before her majesty?"
Yet Jiang Changbai raised a hand to halt Xie Qianbing, rounding her desk, and paced to stand before Xu Shuyi. "You're aware that going to Shejin with the diplomatic convoy isn't a great merit?"
"This subject is aware," Xu Shuyi raised her head, forcing her tone to be resolute, and when she looked at Jiang Changbai, the corners of her eyes were red, but her gaze was bright, "but this subject knows as well that the Shejin of now isn't the same as before."
Xie Qianbing felt an icy chill creep up her spine, and she hurried towards Xu Shuyi to cover her mouth, but Jiang Changbai's words called her to a stop. "Keep speaking."
Xu Shuyi drew a deep breath, forcing her voice to steady. "This subject has thought it over these past few days; if this were a desirable assignment, then the senior ministers of the court would most definitely fight over it, and it would never fall to such a nameless nobody as this subject. But since it has, it can only indicate that no one in the court was willing to go.
"And, by chance, this subject only just returned from the border, where I faced those undead, and know the horrors of the Shejin of now. Typically going with a diplomatic convoy wouldn't be any great merit, but now can't be compared with the typical."
Jiang Changbai gazed at Xu Shuyi for a long while, and then said with a sudden, bright laugh, "Granted."
The single sentence made those within the hall still, and the next moment, Jiang Changbai suddenly turned, her skirts brushing the crown of Xu Shuyi's head. "But We wish you to protect Qianbing and make sure she returns whole."
Once she'd finished speaking, she sat back down in her sandalwood chair, looking at Xu Shuyi with a calm, unruffled expression. Just in time, Song Juguang passed her the still-hot tea, unspeaking as well.
Xie Qianbing was still startled by the subject suddenly shifting to her, and she was just about to respond when she saw Xu Shuyi shift forwards a few steps on her knees, closer towards Jiang Changbai. "If we truly encounter the undead, this subject will most certainly stand before Xie-daren."
"Bixia, this minister…" Xie Qianbing was about to speak, but she was cut off by Jiang Changbai.
"What dead and undead; it makes Our head hurt to hear about it." Jiang Changbai's tone already carried a desire to get rid of them, and she said, "Now Shejin are vassals to the Great Li; could they really do anything to you? Seeing your filial desires, We granted your request. Go on, be on your way—go get ready; you'll depart tomorrow."
"Bixia, thank you for your generosity!" Xu Shuyi kowtowed heavily again, and only then was willing to leave with Xie Qianbing.
The sound of cicadas suddenly arose from the courtyard, and Jiang Changbai paced to the window, watching Xie Qianbing and Xu Shuyi's retreating figures; seeing the sun descending in the west and casting its light upon them, she suddenly sighed with feeling, "How great youth is."
"Bixia, you jest," Song Juguang followed over, resting her chin on Jiang Changbai's shoulder, "aren't you young as well?"
Yet Jiang Changbai said, "Reading through those memorials day in and day out, I can't differentiate the days."
Jiang Changbai was rather vexed; though she knew most of the memorials didn't carry any important information, she couldn't relax and give them all to her subordinates to deal with. There were only a small number of senior ministers she trusted, Xie Qianbing among them. But this person she trusted so deeply was about to travel far away because of something she'd agreed to seven years prior.
The next moment, she felt something warm in her hand—as it turned out, Song Juguang had already taken her hand. "Is this minister not still by your side?"
"Then help me read through those memorials." A smile rose, unnoticed by Jiang Changbai, at the corners of her lips, and she gestured to the memorials on the desk. "You're not allowed to feign foolishness."
"As you wish."
The next day was clear and sunny, the clouds in the heavens all blown away to who knew where by some wind, and only the disk of the sun remained high in the sky. The locust trees along the official road outside the city walls stood alone, their verdant leaves dancing in the wind. There were no travellers about, only the few members of the diplomatic convoy.
Xie Qianbing travelled often, and this wasn't foreign to her. She'd long since been waiting on the road, alone on her horse with her luggage. Seeing Xu Shuyi come over, utterly alone, she couldn't help but find it strange. "Is your jie not coming to see you off?"
"Only kids need their family to see them off," Xu Shuyi said, her expression filled with obstinacy, "and it's not like I've never been to Shejin before; what would there need to be seeing off for."
Xie Qianbing merely took it as her having fought with her family—because Xie Qianbing could see, out of the corner of her eye, Xu Shuqiao and Mother Xu following after Xu Shuyi at a distance.
"What are you looking at?" Seeing Xie Qianbing's gaze concentrated not far behind her, Xu Shuyi felt it strange, and she tugged at the reins, turning around, but couldn't see anything.
"Nothing; let's go."
Seeing Mother Xu tug Xu Shuqiao to hide behind a locust tree, Xie Qianbing found it amusing, and shook her head, covering up for them.
However, just as the diplomatic convoy was about to depart, they heard the sound of hoofbeats approach. Three hundred figures, clad in the armour of imperial guards, stopped before them, raising a bout of dust as they did so. Their leader dismounted, coming over to Xie Qianbing to make respectful obeisance. "Xie-daren, Bixia ordered us to go with you."
"This…" Xie Qianbing's gaze swept over them, and she said, somewhat hesitant, "isn't this a bit too much?"
The commander shook her head, lowering her voice. "Recently, the border hasn't been peaceful; all of us have seen combat, and we'll be a good safeguard there. Bixia said that she wished for you to return in full health."
The words caused emotions to rise in Xie Qianbing's heart, and the rims of her eyes grew red, as if they'd been irritated by the dust that had been kicked up. She dismounted and knelt, kowtowing heavily towards the Imperial Palace, and only stood after a long while.
"Let's go," she said. "If we dally any longer, we won't make it to the relay station before sunset."
So, the delegation departed, and for a while, the only sound was the trampling of horse's hooves. By the time the dust settled, only Xu Shuqiao and Mother Xu remained where it had once been lively.
When she spoke, Mother Xu's tone was faintly choked. "She's snuck out so many times, but this is the first time we've seen her off."
"Niang," Xu Shuqiao said, stroking her mother's back, "don't be too hurt; when Shuyi returns, she might even become an official."
Translator's notes:
[1]: 免死金牌 (mian si jin pai), a plate granting its holder exemption from capital punishment.
Comments
Post a Comment