Now her going to the mourning hall was only one of two situations…

One was that the illegitimate son was in the mourning hall, in which case this matter might not have been the grandmother’s doing. Perhaps it was that illegitimate son’s birth mother, or Yu Lian’s estate manager father, who feared Ji Tingyu would learn that the Ji family’s new bride was dead, so they bribed the Duke’s mansion servants sent to fetch that illegitimate son to do this deed. Then she would finish off that beast with one stroke, then finish off that illegitimate son’s mother and that estate manager.

The other was that the illegitimate son was not in the mourning hall, meaning that when she had people investigate who brought that doctor into the mansion, the grandmother found out and moved that illegitimate son away beforehand. In that case, this entire chain of events would be crystal clear—the grandmother wanted Ji Tingyu’s life.

Her heart surged with towering rage, along with bone-chilling sorrow and the deepest, most heartbreaking disappointment in grandmother. But she absolutely could not lose her rationality and fall into chaos. Since her rebirth, she had walked every step extremely carefully. With the greater situation still undecided, it was not yet time for her to lose her composure!

Bai Qingyan patted Bai Jintong’s hand, gripped the long blade tightly, and strode quickly to the front hall, entering the mourning hall.

The illegitimate son was indeed not there.

But what she hadn’t expected was that waiting for her were the Grand Princess with tears in her eyes and Nanny Jiang.

Her heart sank deeper and deeper.

“Eldest miss…” Nanny Jiang called out once and broke down in tears.

Before seeing the Grand Princess, even though that illegitimate son was no longer in the mourning hall, she could still harbor a shred of fantasy in her heart… perhaps the matter of wanting Ji Tingyu’s life was not grandmother’s doing, grandmother was only covering up for what that illegitimate son and his mother had done!

Her hand holding the blade trembled violently, coldness spreading from the depths of her heart in waves. Even she hadn’t noticed that her eyes had already turned red.

She had come with great fanfare, carrying a blade to show the Grand Princess her determination to kill that illegitimate son, her determination to protect Ji Tingyu.

The Grand Princess was waiting for her in the mourning hall—wasn’t this also to show her the determination to protect that illegitimate son?

“Grandmother!”

“Grand Princess!”

Bai Jintong, Lu Ping bowed to the Grand Princess.

The Grand Princess looked at the gleaming blade in Bai Qingyan’s hand, her expression calm and composed as usual, still wearing that compassionate appearance, and spoke: “All of you leave the mourning hall and stay far away… I have words to speak with A’Bao!”

“Yes!”

After Bai Jintong, Nanny Jiang, and Lu Ping left, the Grand Princess drew out three incense sticks. Her hands holding the incense trembled so much that she couldn’t align them with the flame, no matter what. After composing herself slightly, she raised her head again, squinting through misty, tearful eyes and finally lit the three incense sticks: “A’Bao, grandmother has disappointed you…”

“The word ‘disappointed’… grandmother uses it far too lightly!” She gripped the long blade tightly in her hand, quietly gazing at her grandmother. Disappointed to the extreme, she became strangely calm, only feeling as if her entire being had been soaked in ice-cold water, cold until her whole body was numb. “Without Ji Tingyu risking his life to protect the bamboo scrolls, grandfather would have died with the stigma of obstinate military command weighing on his head, unable to rest in peace. The Bai family, a household of loyal martyrs… their souls could not find peace! He is a loyal and righteous man who showed kindness to the Bai family! Yet, grandmother, you… to cover up for an illegitimate son worse than a beast who forced Ji Tingyu’s wife to death and then defiled her corpse—such an act that angers both heaven and earth—you actually want Ji Tingyu’s life! Where in this world is there such a person who repays kindness with enmity, has a wolf’s heart and dog’s lungs, and cannot distinguish right from wrong?!”

The Grand Princess’s body stiffened slightly as she slowly inserted the incense into the incense burner.

“Throughout grandmother’s life, I have always been in debt to others! For the imperial family, I owed your grandfather, owed my son, owed my grandsons. For the Bai family’s bloodline, I owe Ji Tingyu, who showed kindness to the Bai family…” The Grand Princess’s throat choked up. “Tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall! Grandmother is also quite wretched…”

The Grand Princess turned around, her silver hair at her temples particularly clear in the candlelight. She made no effort to hide her tired and aged state, her voice hoarse: “A’Bao, originally, grandmother didn’t want you to see grandmother’s most unseemly side, nor did I want you to see grandmother with blood on her hands! But to grandmother, the Bai family bloodline is more precious than a loyal servant. Grandmother could only sacrifice the loyal servant and choose this illegitimate son.”

Precious?!

Hearing these two words, the rage she had been forcibly suppressing in her heart shot straight to her temples.

She raised her head, her gaze toward the Grand Princess cold and murderous: “The nobility of Bai family members was never in bloodline, but noble in family integrity, noble in the red loyal heart passed down through generations of living for the people and dying for the Kingdom! Noble in the bone-deep courage to sacrifice oneself to protect the people! What qualifications does that illegitimate son have to be called a Bai family member?! Ji Tingyu is a loyal and righteous man who didn’t even want his life to seek justice for my Bai family! That is what is truly precious! What has that illegitimate son ever done for the Bai family?! Just because he has Bai family blood in his body, just because his surname is Bai, his life is more noble than others?!”

“Then… what do you want?” The Grand Princess gradually straightened her spine, the Grand Princess’s dignity silently pressing toward Bai Qingyan. “Now that Ji Tingyu’s bride is already dead, do you want to kill the Bai family’s last bloodline for the sake of a common person?”

She was not intimidated by the Grand Princess at all, clenching her fists and stepping forward, her eyes bright in the flickering candlelight: “The Bai family’s last bloodline? Isn’t the child in Fifth Aunt’s belly Bai family bloodline?! Am I not Bai family bloodline?! Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jintong, Bai Jinzhi, Bai Jinzhao, Bai Jinhua, Bai Jinse—which of them is not Bai family bloodline?!”

The Grand Princess raised her voice: “But you are all girls—how can you inherit the family business?! How can you leave roots for your grandfather?!”

“If you fear the Bai surname bloodline will be cut off, can’t you recruit sons-in-law into the family?!” She asked sternly. “Could it be that your granddaughters… do they have less Bai family blood in their bodies than that illegitimate son?!”

Once the Grand Princess had taught her countless times… telling her this world was harsh to women, that women were born to hardship, but the Duke’s mansion… never judged heroes by gender. But actually, in the Grand Princess’s heart, grandsons and granddaughters were still different, weren’t they!

The Grand Princess, driven to speechlessness, stared fixedly at Bai Qingyan and said in exasperation: “A’Bao, what exactly do you want to do?!”

She threw down the long blade in her hand, her voice ringing loud and clear: “I want justice! Justice for the Bai family’s loyal servant Ji Tingyu, justice for Ji Liu Shi!”

In the mourning hall, after a long silence, the Grand Princess sighed deeply and said: “A’Bao, this world does not have any heavenly justice! You are all grandsons and granddaughters of the Great Jin’s Grand Princess, bloodline of the Duke Zhenguo’s mansion. This destines you to be different from ordinary, common people! You have worn silk and eaten fine food since childhood… while some people cannot even fill their stomachs. The silver required for any random ornament in your rooms might be the living expenses for an ordinary family of six for over ten years. Speaking of justice… is this just? People are born with distinctions of noble and base, high and low. That illegitimate son, even if he is a great villain, is still your second uncle’s offspring—he is more precious than others!”