She just didn’t know which prince the Emperor would send with her. If it were Prince Qi, that would be fine, but if it were Prince Liang…

Bai Qingyan gazed at the flickering candlelight in the mourning hall, her eyes filled with murderous intent. She could still present that military merit to Prince Liang, but Prince Liang’s life would have to remain in Nan Jiang.

However, if Prince Liang stayed in the capital, Bai Qingyan feared she wouldn’t be able to leave with peace of mind.

Then she would need to think of a good plan—either pin Prince Liang down in the capital forever, or take Prince Liang’s life to Nan Jiang.

“Although His Majesty has posthumously granted the title of Prince Zhenguo, the departed have already passed… Let all funeral arrangements be kept simple!” The Grand Princess held the imperial edict in her hands, gazing at the courtyard full of coffins. She closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face. “Let the heroes of our Duke’s mansion find peace on earth as soon as possible!”

The Grand Princess walked to the front of the mourning hall, looking at the memorial tablets of the Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, her heart filled with guilt.

If only she had deployed the imperial family’s secret guards to secretly follow and protect them when her husband went to war, perhaps she could have saved even one person!

“Buyu, His Majesty has not forgotten your merits! The people have not forgotten your kindness either! Rest in peace as you depart! I will guard the Bai family for you! Guard… guard…”

Before she could finish her words, the Grand Princess, whose face was waxy yellow and bloodless, seemed unable to support herself and staggered backward.

“Grandmother!”

“Mother!”

“Grand Princess!”

“Quickly! Summon the imperial physician!”

The mourning hall fell into chaos due to the Grand Princess’s sudden collapse, and the hearts of the common people who had spontaneously come to pay their respects to Prince Zhenguo’s family at the Duke’s mansion gate were raised again.

The Duke’s mansion simply could not afford to have anyone else meet with misfortune!

Only Qin Lang remained in the mourning hall to keep watch. Qin Lang’s heart was in turmoil, worried both for his father Marquis Zhongyong Qin Dezhao and for the Grand Princess, his complexion looking very poor.

Changshou Courtyard was packed three layers deep inside and out.

It wasn’t until the imperial physician and Physician Hong had both examined her and said that the Grand Princess was merely suffering from excessive worry and hadn’t rested well these past few days that everyone in the room finally felt relieved.

“Madam need not worry. I’ll prescribe some medicine for the Grand Princess to rest quietly,” the imperial physician said very respectfully to Dong Shi.

“Thank you, Imperial Physician!” Dong Shi nodded with reddened eyes.

“Since Mother is fine now, let the children go to the front mourning hall first to keep watch! Having only the Second Son-in-law there alone is inappropriate…” Third Madam Li Shi dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, discussing with Dong Shi.

“Nanny Qin, go tell the children that Mother is fine and let them go to the front. Don’t have them keep vigil here anymore!” Dong Shi said to Nanny Qin.

Nanny Qin acknowledged and withdrew from the main room, hurrying to the warm pavilion in the side room of Changshou Courtyard to relay the imperial physician’s words to the young ladies.

Bai Qingyan nodded: “That’s good, then. Please trouble Nanny Qin to tell Mother that we sisters will handle the front mourning hall, and Mother and Aunt should properly attend to Grandmother. Right now, Grandmother is the backbone of our Duke’s mansion and absolutely cannot fall.”

She stood up with the support of Chun Tao’s hand, looking at her three younger sisters, whose faces were still pale from the cold and who hadn’t yet recovered, and added: “Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister, Seventh Sister, rest here for an hour first. Have someone bring them hot goat’s milk and some pastries to fill their stomachs. They’re at the age when they’re growing and cannot go hungry!”

Nanny Qin, who was wiping tears with her handkerchief, nodded repeatedly: “Yes, Eldest Miss, rest assured.”

After leaving Changshou Courtyard, Bai Jinxiu, walking beside Bai Qingyan, frowned and said: “Elder Sister, the punishment for Prince Xin in this edict differs from what Elder Sister said when you returned. After carefully pondering the edict, I always feel the Emperor has some scheme, but I can’t figure out what he’s plotting after thinking it over…”

“Now that Nan Jiang has suffered a great defeat, although the Emperor sent people ahead to negotiate peace and stabilize the situation, after finding the Minister of Revenue before the palace gates were locked yesterday, he’s probably already secretly preparing for a hard battle.”

Bai Jinxiu’s eyes widened: “Could it be…”

She nodded: “That day in the great hall, I told the Emperor I was willing to go to Nan Jiang, with the military merit given to the Emperor’s prince…”

“Elder Sister!” Bai Jinxiu’s heart leaped as she gripped Bai Qingyan’s hand tightly.

“Why should she?” Fourth Miss Bai Jinzhi couldn’t contain herself, rushing in front of Bai Qingyan and shouting, “Why should Elder Sister give military merit to a prince?”

“What are you shouting about?” Bai Jintong grabbed Bai Jinzhi, “Keep your voice down!”

Bai Jintong understood in her heart that Elder Sister was determined to go to Nan Jiang, regardless of the means.

Bai Qingyan smiled and patted Bai Jinxiu’s hand: “I’ve lost all my martial arts now. Even if I go, I’ll only be strategizing. Don’t worry! This time, the Emperor severely punished Prince Xin to show goodwill to the Bai family.”

The reason the Emperor sent Prince Xin to supervise the army was precisely to let his prince gain military merit, wasn’t it? Her concession… hit exactly where the Emperor itched, and the Emperor wouldn’t refuse.

“But why?!” Bai Jinzhi bit her lip hard, her eyes reddening, “Elder Sister, your health isn’t good to begin with. Why should the military merit you earn be given to that dog Emperor’s son!”

Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Jinzhi’s angry expression, her mood remaining relatively calm.

Before the Emperor, she had made her excuse for going to Nan Jiang sound righteous and proper… saying she was going to guard the mountains and rivers that the Bai family had defended through generations of sacrifice, so she could forgo military merit and present it with both hands.

But in reality, she was going to Nan Jiang… to establish the Bai family’s foundation, to tell the Bai family army, to tell Great Jin’s soldiers, that no matter when, the Bai family would share life and death with them through hardship.

“After everything settles and I return from Nan Jiang, I’ll use the military merit to exchange for some benefits from the Emperor, making your Second Sister the first super first-rank titled lady in this capital! I imagine the Emperor wouldn’t refuse, so counting it up, we’re not at a loss!”

“Elder Sister?!” Bai Jinxiu looked completely surprised.

Bai Jinzhi’s tightly furrowed brow also relaxed, quite astonished.

If Second Sister became a super first-rank titled lady, then Qin Lang…

Bai Jintong, always perceptive, lowered her voice and asked: “Elder Sister means to secure the position of Marquis Zhongyong for Second Brother-in-law?”

“If Qin Dezhao dared to tamper with the provisions in Nan Jiang, who could say he wasn’t colluding with the already traitorous Liu Huanzhang? After all, Liu Huanzhang deceived Grandfather by falsely claiming to be trapped in City Feng due to provisions, and the military records also state that Liu Huanzhang told the provisions and grain officials of City Feng that provisions would go directly to the main camp! To say they had no connection… who would believe that?”

“That’s right!” Bai Jinzhi’s eyes brightened. “How did Liu Huanzhang know there were problems with the provisions? That can only mean Qin Dezhao had been colluding with Liu Huanzhang long ago and already knew the inside story!”

Bai Qingyan smiled as she looked toward Bai Jinzhi: “You see… even Fourth Sister can understand this logic! How could others not think of it?”

“But… if this were true, wouldn’t it implicate Second Sister?!” Bai Jinzhi asked again.

“Although Qin Dezhao isn’t exceptionally clever, he’s not stupid beyond redemption. He wouldn’t let Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion fall into such a predicament!”

“Miss, the carriage is ready.” Nanny Tong held a black cloak in her hands, stepping forward and bowing respectfully.

“Elder Sister is going out? Where to?” Bai Jinxiu asked.