Prince Liang was like a festering sore growing on Bai Qingyan’s ulcerated wound, oozing poisonous pus. Every time she thought of him, it would flare up. Though it wouldn’t cost Bai Qingyan her life, it disgusted her for quite some time, truly disturbing.

Restraining her emotions, Bai Qingyan looked up at Chun Yan, who was still chattering happily.

“This servant heard from Tong Ji, who serves Prince Liang, that His Highness came before dawn and has been waiting until now. This servant just saw that His Highness’s face was frozen purple!” Chun Yan looked sympathetic and distressed.

Bai Qingyan turned a page of her book without responding.

Chun Yan was puzzled. Prince Liang was such a precious jade-like noble dragon son of the imperial family, yet he had condescended to wait in the snow at the Duke’s mansion’s corner gate all day. She was moved by this, but seeing her Miss’s cold demeanor, could she still not let go of the heir of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion?

Chun Yan’s voice became even quieter: “His Highness was worried that tomorrow, when the heir of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion marries Second Miss, you would feel hurt, so he wanted to use the excuse of retrieving books to speak a few words with Miss.”

“You agreed on Miss’s behalf?!” Chun Tao’s face turned blue with anger. “You bold girl! If others caught wind of this and accused Miss of having improper relations with Prince Liang, Miss’s reputation would be ruined!”

Chun Yan had only been focused on being moved and hadn’t considered the dangers involved. Hearing Chun Tao’s scolding, she was suddenly frightened: “Miss, this servant…”

Only after being reborn did Bai Qingyan see clearly that Chun Yan’s complete defection to Prince Liang later on probably began around this time, when she frequently arranged meetings between them and developed feelings for Prince Liang.

She asked indifferently: “What did Prince Liang say?”

Chun Yan spoke tremblingly: “His Highness said that Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion was shallow-minded. Because Miss had difficulty bearing children, they had the heir marry the Second Miss instead. Because Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion wanted to marry a daughter of the Duke’s mansion, it didn’t matter! But in His Highness’s heart, he was grateful for Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion’s shallow-mindedness as it gave him the chance to seek Miss’s affection.”

This was how Prince Liang had deceived her, deceived her loyal maid, and deceived her mother. Everyone in the Bai family thought Prince Liang’s feelings for her were so deep that he didn’t mind her difficulty in bearing children.

Bai Qingyan closed her eyes, coldness emanating from her entire being.

Chun Yan didn’t know if she had truly done wrong and stood there somewhat awkwardly: “Miss, did… did this servant do something wrong again?”

Prince Liang had come seeking her grandfather’s annotated military treatises. If she didn’t give them to him, knowing his personality of not giving up until he achieved his goals, he would probably think of other methods.

Didn’t he want to copy her grandfather’s handwriting from the annotations? Bai Qingyan had a rare military treatise her grandfather had given her, with annotations by Emperor Gaozu. She would give this military treatise to Prince Liang to let him copy that instead.

Bai Qingyan, with her lustrous black hair flowing, had Chun Tao take out a carved redwood box from the bookshelf: “Take this set of military treatises my grandfather gave me to Prince Liang, and thank His Highness for his comfort on my behalf!”

“Yes!” Chun Yan took the box and immediately became happy again, responding cheerfully, “This servant will deliver the military treatises to Prince Liang right away!”

Chun Tao was worried and grabbed Chun Yan, lowering her voice to warn: “Be careful when you go see Prince Liang. Don’t cause trouble for Miss! Otherwise, even if Miss is magnanimous, Madam’s side… You wouldn’t have enough lives to die.”

“Sister Chun Tao, don’t worry!”

Chun Yan was straightforward and cheerful by nature, thinking that Prince Liang’s words had persuaded their Miss. She curtsied, holding the carved redwood box, and rushed out again.

The north wind whirled the snowflakes in the air. Even through the tightly closed carved wooden windows, one could hear the sound of wind and rustling outside.

Bai Qingyan turned back to continue reading the military treatise in her hands, her entire demeanor no longer as agitated as when she had first been reborn.

Recalling her previous life, what truly pushed the Bai family into desperate straits were the so-called “treasonous letters” found in her grandfather’s study.

This meant that Prince Liang or Li Mao’s people had already infiltrated the Duke’s mansion. There were only a few people who could access her grandfather’s study. Bai Qingyan wasn’t in a hurry – she still had time to find out who it was.

For a long time in her previous life, she couldn’t understand why Prince Liang and Li Mao wanted to join forces with Liu Huanzhang to completely exterminate the Bai family, which already had no male heirs. Later, she understood.

What Prince Liang and the others wanted was the Bai family army, but the Bai family was different from other military families, which only allowed men to practice martial arts and study military strategy. Everyone knew that Duke’s mansion, starting from Bai Qingyan, the legitimate eldest daughter, required both men and women to study military strategy, horsemanship, spear techniques, and swordsmanship.

Even if they killed all the Bai family sons, as long as one person from the Bai family remained… as long as that person wasn’t a useless waste, the loyal Bai family army would never listen to a second person’s commands.

Not to mention Duke’s mansion’s eldest daughter Bai Qingyan, second daughter Bai Jinxiu, and third daughter Bai Jintong – they had once donned armor alongside their grandfather and gone to battle, fighting bloodily alongside all the Bai family army comrades.

Bai Qingyan closed her eyes and gripped the book in her hands tightly.

In her previous life, whenever she thought of the blood feud of the entire Bai family, her heart felt like it was being fried in oil and burned by fire. She wished she could skin and dismember Liu Huanzhang, Li Mao, and others, yet she was bound by Prince Liang’s false affection and served him like an ox or horse.

The devastating heartbreak of those years – she had been able to endure it all.

Now Heaven had pitied her and allowed her to return. Though she wasn’t sure if there was still time to change the fate of her grandfather and father, she could rewrite the Bai family’s ending.

She couldn’t let hatred cloud her judgment. She had endured so many years – now with her grandmother, mother, and all the Bai family women still here, what did she have to fear?

Take it slowly, no rush…

Things had to be done one by one.

She would personally pull down those treacherous villains who framed Duke’s mansion from their high positions.

Before dawn, under the heavy snow and thin mist covering Duke’s mansion, cooking smoke was already rising.

Red lanterns and red silk hung at the main gate of the Duke’s mansion, with the gates wide open.

The steward in the front courtyard was already bustling about lively, with servants and maids coming and going through the side gate in orderly fashion.

In the back courtyard, Second Miss Bai Jinxiu’s Qingzhu Pavilion was already bustling with activity, with nannies and maids busy at work, while the other courtyards remained quiet.

In Qinghui Courtyard, two women in blue-gray cotton robes had just used dustpans to carry charcoal to add to the underfloor heating furnaces when they saw the lamps in Bai Qingyan’s main room light up.

The hour of the Dragon.

After finishing her morning meal, Bai Qingyan put on a cloak with extremely thick fur trim, tucked a hand warmer close, and walked along the covered corridor toward Bai Jinxiu’s quarters. A group of maids including Chun Tao and Chun Yan followed behind Bai Qingyan, carefully attending her.

When Bai Qingyan arrived at the entrance to Bai Jinxiu’s quarters, Bai Jinxiu had already changed into her auspicious wedding attire and was preparing to apply makeup. Hearing the overlapping calls of “Miss” from the maids outside, Bai Jinxiu pushed away the nanny who was powdering her face, lifted her skirt hem, rose, and came out to welcome her with surprised and delighted eyes.

“Elder sister, with such heavy snow, how did you come over? Aren’t you afraid of catching a cold?”

Bai Jinxiu’s room had two braziers burning vigorously, making it very warm. Red blessing carpets, bowls full of longan and peanuts, red curtains and red celebration decorations – it was extremely festive.

Bai Qingyan handed her hand warmer to Chun Tao, untied her cloak, grasped Bai Jinxiu’s hands, and led her toward the inner room, pressing her to sit on the stool in front of the dressing mirror: “Elder sister came to see you off. Chun Tao, bring the things in…”

Chun Tao took a long brocade box from a maid outside and entered, bowing to Bai Jinxiu before opening the brocade box.