Chun Yan’s face immediately turned deathly pale as she hurriedly knelt in panic: “First Miss, this servant… this servant doesn’t harbor such thoughts! This servant will follow First Miss for life after life. Wherever First Miss goes, this servant will be there! Even when Miss marries in the future, this servant will certainly follow by Miss’s side to serve Miss and the young master!”

Bai Qingyan glanced at Chun Yan. Chun Yan had probably already decided that she, Bai Qingyan, had no other path in the future except marrying into Prince Liang’s mansion, so she was harboring thoughts of accompanying her as part of her dowry into Prince Liang’s mansion. Otherwise, there would be no need to work so hard to please her on Prince Liang’s behalf.

She found it utterly boring and had no desire to waste words teaching Chun Yan. She picked up her chopsticks to eat.

Right now, Chun Yan couldn’t be dealt with yet. If Chun Yan, who could send messages to Prince Liang, were to leave, Prince Liang would inevitably find other people in the Duke’s mansion. Then she would be in the open while Prince Liang’s people remained hidden, which would be even more troublesome.

Although Chun Yan constantly praised Prince Liang endlessly in an annoying manner, at least she wasn’t deeply scheming, and everything showed on her face.

For several consecutive days, Bai Qingyan practiced morning and evening, leaving her whole body so sore that she couldn’t even hold chopsticks during meals.

Chun Tao served Bai Qingyan a bowl of chicken soup and millet porridge, saying with a worried expression: “Miss, if you continue like this, this servant fears your body won’t be able to take it.”

“These past few days of sweating morning and evening, I feel much more refreshed.”

Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, Chun Tao couldn’t persuade her further. She just lowered her head to look at Chun Yan, who was kneeling there, trembling and wiping tears, not daring to get up, and shook her head.

After finishing breakfast, Bai Qingyan changed clothes to visit Bai Jinxiu, only then allowing Chun Yan to get up and serve.

Chun Yan tearfully handed the hand warmer to Bai Qingyan, then properly retreated to one side, tears dropping continuously. Since following First Miss, this was the first time she had been punished so shamefully by First Miss – all the maids coming and going had seen her kneeling there.

Bai Qingyan had just donned her fox fur cloak and stepped out of Qinghui Courtyard when she saw Chen Qingsheng, who had been waiting at the gate chatting and laughing with the cleaning women, hurriedly approach. He bowed to Bai Qingyan: “First Miss…”

“Speak as we walk!” Bai Qingyan said.

“Yes…” Chen Qingsheng bent slightly and respectfully followed beside Bai Qingyan, lowering his voice: “This humble one has learned that the six trusted maids who were part of Second Miss’s dowry were not sold off, probably because when Marquis Zhongyong’s household went through Second Miss’s dowry, they didn’t obtain the indenture contracts. First Miss, watch your step… This humble one heard from the gatekeeper at Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion that his wife told him last night that, except for Miss Mingyu, who was by Second Miss’s side, the other five maids were all drowned!”

Bai Qingyan’s steps paused as she turned to look at Chen Qingsheng, understanding that he was telling her Mingyu had betrayed her master.

Bai Jinxiu’s dowry maids had all been selected together by her mother and second aunt. Bai Qingyan had seen them on the wedding day – they were all dutiful and clever girls.

Yet five precious young lives were drowned just like that. Marquis Zhongyong’s wife, Jiang Shi, this rear courtyard woman, was so ruthlessly cruel.

Chen Qingsheng continued: “Fearing that the clothing and accessories on the five maids would lead investigations back to Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion, Nanny Wu from Marquis Zhongyong’s wife’s side had people strip the five maids naked. On that snowy night, they wrapped them in straw mats and threw them into the mass burial ground. The two servants ordered to bury the bodies didn’t know the inside story. Finding the frozen ground difficult to dig and thinking they were just drowned maids discarded by their master anyway, they were too lazy to dig graves and casually threw the bodies in the snow, hoping the heavy snow would cover them overnight, then went off to drink. The tavern owner said when the two went there, one felt uneasy while the other comforted him, saying that by next year, when the ice melted and snow thawed, these corpses would have long been eaten by wild beasts foraging in winter.”

Anger blazed in Bai Qingyan’s heart, but she closed her eyes for a moment and forcibly suppressed it: “Continue!”

“This humble one also heard from the manager of a private brothel that yesterday, the brother of Miss Mingyu, the head maid by Second Miss’s side… took two prostitutes, saying he had come into some unexpected wealth. This humble one kept an eye on this and has now found out clearly that Miss Mingyu was moved intact to a dowry estate belonging to Marquis Zhongyong’s wife, Jiang Shi.”

“Cousin, how can you tell First Miss about such dirty and foul things…” Chun Tao said with red ears in an extremely small voice.

“First Miss, forgive me – this humble one was careless!” Chen Qingsheng hurriedly knelt to ask for forgiveness.

“No matter, get up!”

Chen Qingsheng was indeed clever and capable. When Bai Qingyan asked Chen Qingsheng to investigate where Bai Jinxiu’s dowry maids had gone, she hadn’t expected him to investigate so quickly, following the trail to gather such detailed information.

“Go wait at the hanging flower gate first. I may need to trouble you to make another trip shortly.” Bai Qingyan thought for a moment and added: “Have someone go to the mass burial ground to find the bodies of Second Miss’s dowry maids. Don’t move them from their original location, just find someone to guard them properly and report to the authorities. Don’t let wild beasts desecrate them. After all, they were people who left our Bai family – even if they were maids, they couldn’t just lose their lives for no reason and end up with their corpses exposed in the wilderness.”

“Yes, this humble one receives the order.”

Chun Tao supported Bai Qingyan as they walked toward Qingzhu Pavilion, inevitably sighing in her heart… Originally, Mingyu was going to be sold into a brothel by her black-hearted parents. It was Second Miss who took pity on her and bought her, keeping her by her side and giving her tremendous honor by making her a first-class head maid. Now she betrayed the Second Miss.

Chun Tao couldn’t help but think of Chun Yan again, her heart pounding as she looked up at Bai Qingyan, vaguely forming a certain suspicion: “First Miss… do you no longer trust Chun Yan?”

Knowing Chun Tao’s cleverness and loyalty, Bai Qingyan didn’t hide anything: “Chun Yan has grown up, and her ambitions have grown too. Being so concerned and diligent about Prince Liang’s affairs – can’t you see something in this?”

The reason Bai Qingyan still kept Chun Yan was simply because she wanted to see what else Prince Liang would have Chun Yan do. Seeing Chun Yan’s close contact with people from Prince Liang’s mansion, she even suspected that the letter placed in her grandfather’s room was connected to Chun Yan.

Chun Tao pressed her lips tightly together. No wonder First Miss had recently distanced herself from both Chun Yan and Prince Liang.

It was just that if Miss was doing this for this reason, delaying Miss’s good marriage prospects, Chun Tao felt it wasn’t worth it.

When Bai Qingyan arrived at Qingzhu Pavilion, the Bai sisters were already gathered around the bed, chatting and laughing with Bai Jinxiu.

Standing in the courtyard, she heard the sound of her sisters joking and laughing inside, and her mood became indescribably good.

Bai Qingyan was someone who had died once. In this lifetime, she could endure any hardship and sacrifice anything. In this life… even if she were ground to powder and her bones scattered, as long as she could firmly protect the peace of her elders and preserve her sisters’ carefree, joyful laughter, she would be content.

Hearing the maids and women outside calling “First Miss” in chorus, Bai Jinxiu hurriedly looked up toward the door. Bai Jintong came out to greet her and support Bai Qingyan: “Elder Sister has come…”

“What are you talking about? I could hear the laughter from far away.” Bai Qingyan’s heart softened completely. She handed the hand warmer to Chun Tao and untied her cloak.

Chun Tao hurriedly stepped forward to take the cloak, then lowered her head and stood properly behind Bai Qingyan.

Bai Jinzhi put down the handful of sunflower seeds she was holding, stood up and curtsied, saying happily: “We were just talking about yesterday at Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion, how Elder Sister’s combination of gentle persuasion and firm words made that old shrew Marquis Zhongyong’s wife so angry that steam came out of her head!”