The luxurious carriage attracted considerable attention as it entered the city. It passed through Shouyang’s most bustling and prosperous streets before slowly heading toward the remote residential area in the eastern part of the city, stopping in front of a rather shabby dwelling.

“Young Miss, we’ve arrived,” said the guard who had previously come with Lu Ping to check on the mute girl, speaking to Bai Qingyan inside the carriage.

Hearing this, Chun Tao helped Bai Qingyan lift the carriage curtain and assisted her down…

Shouyang couldn’t compare to the capital. The area where common people lived appeared somewhat dilapidated. The small double doors of black lacquer had already peeled, and the threshold had long been worn down in the middle, revealing the dull gray wood underneath. A persimmon tree was planted in the courtyard, its branches extending beyond the courtyard wall, but at least it was kept relatively clean.

Bai Qingyan and Chun Tao stood at the gate, watching as the guard stepped forward to knock.

Soon, a woman in her thirties holding a child came to open the door.

Seeing such a grand procession outside, the woman became somewhat uneasy and quickly said: “Noble lady… whom are you looking for?”

The guard bowed to the woman: “Sister, I am a guard from County Princess Zhenguo’s mansion. This is my County Princess. She has come to see the mute girl. Is the elderly woman who was caring for the mute girl here?”

Hearing that it was a County Princess who had come to see the mute girl, the woman immediately looked panicked, setting down the child in her arms, unsure whether to kneel or curtsy.

“Sister, no need for such formality. Is the mute girl here?” Bai Qingyan asked.

The woman lowered her head, seeming very frightened as she grasped the hand of the bewildered two-year-old child beside her, appearing extremely uncomfortable: “Well… the mute girl was taken away by relatives.”

Bai Qingyan’s brow furrowed, her cold, profound gaze fixed on the woman who dared not raise her head: “Taken away by what relatives? I remember… someone from the Bai clan gave money to care for the mute girl.”

The woman was panicked. Bai Qingyan added coolly, “The mute girl’s mother died by drowning, a matter involving the Bai clan. Do I need to ask County Magistrate Zhou to come personally and demand the person from you?”

The woman shuddered and dropped to her knees with a thud, but even opening her mouth, she couldn’t say where the mute girl had gone.

“Speak. Where is the mute girl?” Bai Qingyan’s voice was calm as water, yet somehow filled with murderous intent.

“County Princess, please forgive me! After my mother-in-law took in the mute girl, my husband worried that the Bai clan members would come for revenge. That very night, he sent the mute girl back to her own home. But we didn’t keep any money—the silver that the Bai family person gave, and the silver that the guard brother gave later, we didn’t keep a single coin. We let the mute girl take it all back to her home!”

Frightened by Bai Qingyan, the woman confessed everything: “Later, my mother-in-law became angry and beat my husband with her walking stick, making him go next door to bring the mute girl back. But my husband couldn’t find the mute girl next door. He waited at the door for a day and night without seeing her return. My husband is still out looking for the mute girl… but can’t find her anywhere. My mother-in-law also fell ill from anger over this matter and is still lying in bed!”

The woman’s voice carried a crying tone, speaking urgently and rapidly—it didn’t sound like a lie.

Though Bai Qingyan was angry, seeking profit and avoiding harm was human nature.

Without a word, she went to the mute girl’s door, saw it was locked, and had someone climb over the wall to investigate.

After the guard circled and returned, he reported that the door inside was still open, there was an unfinished steamed bun in the pot on the stove, and the chickens were still there—it looked like she hadn’t intended to go far.

But this woman said they had waited a day and a night without seeing the mute girl return.

Bai Qingyan clenched her fists.

The mute girl was a child with delicate features, a motherless orphan who couldn’t speak… If she encountered someone with ill intentions, she wouldn’t even have a chance to cry for help. Plus, being considered someone who had offended the Bai clan, she knew what evil schemes others might concoct upon seeing her.

They say human nature is inherently good, but she felt that human hearts were treacherous and the world dangerous, especially for a helpless orphan girl.

The mute girl had been missing for two days—no one could guarantee what might have happened in that time.

She clenched her fists, contemplating for a moment, then turned around. Her dark eyes looked at the Bai family guard as she gave rapid, steady instructions: “Leave one person at the mute girl’s door to wait. If she returns, report immediately! Tell Quan Yu I need the Crown Prince’s two squads of guards—divide them into groups of five, beat gongs and drums, and search the entire capital city for the mute girl with great fanfare.”

Her voice paused, then quickened: “Focus on the pleasure quarters and brothel areas. Loudly proclaim… that County Princess Zhenguo Bai Qingyan seeks the mute girl. Whoever can safely deliver the mute girl to the Bai family ancestral hall before the wei hour today will receive a thousand taels of silver as thanks from Bai Qingyan! If the mute girl is not seen before sunset, and I discover someone has secretly detained her, they will be my enemy, and I will surely bring calamity upon their entire clan.”

The mute girl was pretty and delicate. If villains took advantage of her having no protection and forcibly abducted her… There was a good chance she would be sent to the pleasure quarters. She hoped her prestige as County Princess Zhenguo would be enough to intimidate them into returning the mute girl.

“Yes!”

Bai Qingyan boarded her carriage, closed her eyes, unable to suppress the boiling anger toward the clan in her heart. A perfectly good Bai clan had been turned into this ghostly state by the current clan leader—where was there any resemblance to the Bai family anymore?

Not only did they refuse to acknowledge their mistakes, but to provoke the authorities, they casually threw young children into the river, taking innocent lives! They were worse than beasts! The Bai family’s ancestral teachings and the Bai clan’s integrity had long been discarded somewhere unknown!

Now, Bai Qingyan finally understood why her grandfather didn’t allow the Bai family’s concubine-born sons and daughters to associate with their birth mothers, only allowing them to be raised by their legitimate mothers.

Birth mothers who were concubines had limited vision and methods, all low, underhanded tricks for competing for favor in the inner quarters. Growing up surrounded by such influences, even their temperaments would be corrupted by birth mothers skilled in winning favor, developing vicious dispositions. These things learned from subtle influence in childhood would affect their entire lives and impact their descendants, producing offspring… each generation worse than the last.

Even being registered under a legitimate mother’s name couldn’t change these tendencies.

The Bai clan leader must be replaced, and the Bai clan must be purged.

“Young Miss…” Knowing that Bai Qingyan was worried about the girl called the mute one, Chun Tao softly comforted her: “The mute girl will surely be fine. Miss, please don’t worry too much.”

“Return to the ancestral home!” Bai Qingyan said with dark eyes.

Chun Tao told the coachman, “Return to the ancestral home.”

News that Bai Qingyan was about to return to the ancestral home reached there first. Gu Lao led a group of Bai family servants to wait early at the ancestral home’s entrance.

Gu Lao had returned to the ancestral home earlier when he accompanied Lu Ping to escort the first batch of items back to Shouyang.

In the past, when Duke Zhenguo Bai Weiting was still alive, Gu Lao would return to Shouyang every year to make arrangements and manage the silver given to the clan. His ability to intimidate the Shouyang household servants was certainly greater than others.

From the moment Gu Lao arrived in Shouyang, he hadn’t been idle. With ruthless and decisive methods, he broke the legs of all the stewards who had been left in Shouyang to watch the residence and threw their entire families out of the ancestral home.