Bai Qingyan thought of the Great Wei Kingdom that bordered Great Yan. The ruler of Great Wei… was someone who couldn’t bear not taking advantage when there was profit to be had.

Xiliang was currently unable to take care of itself. If Wei Kingdom learned that Great Yan’s main forces were all engaged with the Rongdi, while Jin Kingdom and Great Liang were entangled with each other, would they develop thoughts of seizing Great Yan’s territory?

She raised her head to look at Xiao Rongyan: “Mr. Xiao hasn’t returned to his mother Kingdom for a long time. I wonder what moves Great Wei might make if Great Liang and the Jin Kingdom start fighting? Great Wei’s territory borders with both Xiliang and Great Yan, and Great Wei’s monarch… is not one content with the status quo.”

Xiao Rongyan nodded: “Precisely. Although my Great Wei’s monarch doesn’t harbor ambitions to unify the world, he does have intentions to dominate among the nations. He might indeed take action.”

Therefore, Xiao Rongyan had already sent people back to Great Wei to make arrangements. As soon as there was news, they would report to him.

Soon, after Bai Qingyan returned to Shouyang, Xiao Rongyan would also have to leave the capital.

Xiao Rongyan recalled what Bai Qingyan had said that day—that she faced difficulties at every step in the Jin Kingdom, while Great Yan walked carefully among all nations. They were both people treading on thin ice. Romance… was indeed unsuitable for them at this time, but not necessarily unsuitable for their future selves.

“First Miss, Fourth Miss…” Butler Hao entered and bowed, then nodded respectfully to Xiao Rongyan. “Nanny Jiang from the Grand Princess’s side has invited the clan leader and various clan elders to Changshou Courtyard.”

Because Xiao Rongyan was present, Butler Hao spoke euphemistically.

Actually, this morning the clan leader from Shouyang had already brought the clan elders to cause trouble once—that was what alarmed the Grand Princess.

Just as Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi had invited Xiao Rongyan into the mansion, the clan members had come to cause trouble again.

The Grand Princess’s side must have received the news. Nanny Jiang came quickly, saying the Grand Princess ordered the clan leader and elders to be invited to Changshou Courtyard.

She raised her head to look at Butler Hao.

So, grandmother was going to interfere in this matter?

Xiao Rongyan stood up and bowed to Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi: “Since the Princess’s mansion has matters to attend to, I won’t overstay my welcome.”

“Butler Hao, see Mr. Xiao out.”

“Yes!” Butler Hao smiled at Xiao Rongyan and said, “Mr. Xiao, please.”

Bai Jinzhi rose and saw Xiao Rongyan to the main hall entrance before hurrying back, frowning as she asked Bai Qingyan: “Eldest Sister, should we go take a look?”

Regarding the clan’s troublemaking, Bai Qingyan’s mother Dong Shi’s intention to leave the clan had already been reported to the Grand Princess.

Now that grandmother was summoning the clan members, was it to discuss leaving the clan, or did she intend to reprimand the clan to maintain the status quo?

Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes, her fingers gently stroking the edge of the table. After a long while, she stood up and said: “Let’s go see…”

Inside Changshou Courtyard.

Due to the distinction between superior and inferior, the clan leader and elders all sat outside the screen.

The Grand Princess’s main room in Changshou Courtyard was furnished with precious items.

Pearl curtains strung with white jade and red agate, jade flower vases of extremely transparent and lustrous quality—any one of these items taken out could be called a treasured heirloom.

The clan leader’s emotions churned. Although Bai Weiting was gone, the foundation of the capital’s Bai family remained.

Some clan elders thought of the silver that the clan leader’s son, Bai Qiyun, had been robbed of, feeling their teeth ache. It seemed Bai Qiyun had been deceived by the capital’s Bai family. The last time the Bai family sold their properties, it hadn’t touched the capital Bai family’s foundation at all.

Through the coral nanmu screen inlaid with jade beads and kingfisher feathers, they could faintly see the Grand Princess sitting upright in the inner room, fingering the prayer beads wound around her wrist. Beside her, a small table of aloe wood held a three-legged gilt auspicious beast incense burner, from which rose a thin wisp of white smoke, filling the room with the heavy, deep scent of sandalwood.

“After all, one brush cannot write two different Bai characters. Although the Princess is noble as a Princess, she is also a descendant of the Bai clan. How can she not hope for the Bai clan’s welfare, instead wanting Minister Zhou to imprison her cousins? Even if Ajie and those children were ignorant and offended the Princess, for the sake of them being family, the Princess should have been magnanimous! How could she let things reach this point?”

The clan leader continued his rambling complaints to the Grand Princess, but she remained like an old monk in meditation, not responding.

“As a daughter-in-law of the Bai clan, Dong Shi speaks of apologizing to the ancestors and requesting to leave the clan. Is leaving the clan child’s play? Now the capital’s Bai family consists of orphans and widows. Even if Dong Shi wants to leave the clan, how can the clan bear to let these orphans and widows leave? If we let them leave the clan, won’t the people of the world break the backbone of the Bai clan?”

The Grand Princess paused in fingering her prayer beads and picked up the teacup from the small table to take a sip.

The clan leader was also talking himself hoarse and wanted a drink of tea, only then realizing the Grand Princess hadn’t had tea served to them at all.

The Grand Princess set down the blue and white tea cup with gold sprinkles and spoke gently: “Does the capital’s Bai family… owe the clan something?”

The clan leader looked bewildered.

“I, this old woman, am still the Grand Princess of Jin Kingdom and haven’t died yet! Yet you… Dare to bully my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. If I, this old woman, were to die in the future, wouldn’t you swallow my children whole?”

The Grand Princess’s expression remained unchanged, and even her voice carried the calm of still water from long years of vegetarian diet and Buddhist recitation.

The sound of fingering prayer beads came together with the Grand Princess’s words, startling the clan leader into hurriedly supporting himself with his walking stick to kneel: “Grand Princess, please see clearly—the clan absolutely has no such intention!”

The clan elders also quickly followed the clan leader in kneeling before the Grand Princess to apologize.

“The clan knows clearly in their hearts how much benefit they’ve gained over the years by relying on the capital Bai family’s influence, and they also know that without the capital Bai family… the future path for Shouyang’s Bai clan would be difficult. So don’t play tricks or speak pretty words in front of me, this old woman, trying to fool me. I may be old, but I’m not confused.”

“Grand Princess, we have no such intention!”

The Grand Princess closed her eyes, still maintaining that composed and calm appearance: “I allowed you to cause trouble twice outside Princess Zhenguo’s mansion, then had my nanny respectfully invite you in. Do you know… why?”

The clan leader looked through the screen at the interior, where the Grand Princess sat with her silver hair combed without a single strand out of place, dignified and stately, her imperial bearing very imposing.

The clan leader kowtowed once and quickly said: “The Grand Princess has a heart as broad as the sea, naturally hoping… for clan harmony!”

The Grand Princess shook her head: “I am but a woman of the inner quarters, and my heart… is quite small! The clan caused trouble outside Princess Zhenguo’s mansion, wasn’t it to let all the people in the capital and even the world know that Princess Zhenguo is an unrighteous and ungrateful person who won’t extend a hand to help the Bai clan? Princess Zhenguo bears the Bai surname, but I do not.”

“If today… I, with the dignity of Grand Princess, the current Emperor’s aunt, was to be angered to death by you, and Princess Zhenguo, out of filial duty… in anger, apologized to the ancestors and removed herself from the clan, would anyone still gossip? Others would probably only say that the clan didn’t even respect me, the Grand Princess, let alone a mere Princess.”