“Cousin?!” Dong Changlan was also stunned, his expression tense. “Cousin, you’re injured!”

Bai Qingyan leaped down from her horse with agile movements. She lowered her gaze to look at her clothes and smiled, “It’s someone else’s blood. I’m fine.”

Cui Shi was also frightened, her face turning pale. Hearing Bai Qingyan say this, she pressed a handkerchief to her chest, feeling her stomach churning. She hurriedly patted her chest to suppress this feeling—she had been unable to stand the sight of blood since childhood.

“Changlan, Sister Rong… safe travels!” Bai Qingyan smiled.

Dong Changlan performed a deep bow to Bai Qingyan, then helped Cui Shi into the carriage. Cui Shi lifted the carriage curtain with her delicate hand and said to Bai Qingyan, “Cousin, when you have time, you must come to Dengzhou. Grandmother misses you dearly.”

“I understand!” Bai Qingyan nodded.

“Qingzhen, are you not going to Dengzhou?” Cui Shi asked Dong Tingzhen again.

Originally, Dong Changlan and Cui Shi had intended to bring Dong Tingzhen back to Dengzhou together. When the New Year came and the capital Dong family returned to Dengzhou, Dong Tingzhen could return to the capital with the capital Dong family members. However, Dong Tingzhen was very fond of Shuoyang and felt that Dong Shi was lonely, so she was unwilling to leave.

Dong Tingzhen shook her head, “I want to stay and keep Aunt company! I also want to go with Sister Jinzhi to see the military training grounds!”

This was something Bai Jinzhi had privately promised Dong Tingzhen. Bai Jinzhi, who had just dismounted, hurriedly looked toward her eldest aunt, Dong Shi, upon hearing this. Seeing that Dong Shi wasn’t displeased, she said, “It’s a small matter!”

Since Dong Tingzhen was unwilling to leave, Cui Shi didn’t force her. She only gave her a few instructions, telling her not to cause trouble for her cousin.

“Aunt, Cousin… Changlan is leaving! Please take good care of yourselves, Aunt and Cousin! Write to Dengzhou often to put Grandmother’s mind at ease!”

“Brother Changlan, please give my regards to Grandmother, Second Uncle, and Second Aunt!” Dong Tingzhen stepped forward and bowed to Dong Changlan.

Dong Changlan nodded, bowed once to Dong Shi and Bai Qingyan, then mounted his horse and slowly departed with the Dong family guards.

After seeing Dong Changlan off, Dong Shi immediately grabbed the wrists of Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi, pulling them toward Boyun Courtyard. She instructed the maids to immediately prepare water for the two girls to bathe.

Dong Tingzhen covered her lips with a handkerchief and laughed softly, turning to her maid, “Let’s go prepare some food for Cousin and Cousin Sister. They set out early this morning to suppress bandits and must be hungry by now.”

“Eldest Aunt, I wasn’t injured. Why don’t… You just drag Elder Sister to bathe, and I’ll go back to my courtyard, alright?” Bai Jinzhi said with a pleading smile, afraid that Dong Shi would make her undress for inspection.

“Mother, I wasn’t injured either,” Bai Qingyan also said.

Dong Shi said nothing and dragged the two back to Boyun Courtyard, where she indeed personally checked Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi for any wounds.

After confirming both were unharmed, Dong Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief and had someone fetch a set of clothes from Bai Jinzhi’s courtyard.

Separated by a screen, Bai Jinzhi and Bai Qingyan bathed separately. Bai Jinzhi whispered to Bai Qingyan, “I was so scared! I thought Eldest Aunt would be like my mother—fierce as a tiger, directly stripping off my clothes for inspection, and if I dared not comply, she’d slap my arms! I didn’t expect Eldest Aunt to be so gentle. Usually, Eldest Aunt is so dignified and composed, I thought she’d be even fiercer than my mother.”

Bai Qingyan’s eyes held laughter, “I’ll tell Third Aunt about this later.”

“Hey, hey, hey! Elder Sister… these are private sisterly conversations—you can’t tattle to the elders!” Bai Jinzhi hurriedly called out.

After bathing, the two sat on the window-side soft couch, having their hair dried by maids while drinking pigeon soup that Dong Shi had Nanny Qin bring, along with pastries that Dong Tingzhen had delivered.

Bai Jinzhi looked up at Bai Qingyan, who was concentrating on her soup, and said, “Elder Sister, shall I take those two captured men to the capital to inform the Crown Prince? The results of our first bandit suppression should be reported to His Highness.”

“You don’t need to go to the capital. I’ll arrange for someone else to go. There’s a more important matter I need you to handle.” Bai Qingyan gestured for the maid drying her hair to leave.

Bai Qingyan set down her soup spoon and wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief before saying, “Elder Sister wants you to deal with the expelled clan member… Bai Qiyun.”

Bai Jinzhi was startled, looking at Bai Qingyan with confusion.

“Bai Qiyun has colluded with people from the Left Chancellor’s mansion, wanting to target our Bai family. You don’t need to worry about the Left Chancellor’s side. Think about how to finish off this Bai Qiyun, while ensuring that the former clan leader… and the expelled Bai clan members don’t fight our Bai family to the death.” Bai Qingyan emphasized the key points to Bai Jinzhi, “That Steward Wu beside Bai Qiyun could be useful, but you can’t trust everything he says. Think for yourself how to handle this. Don’t rashly solve it with whips and blades. It doesn’t matter if you make mistakes—consider it practice.”

She had always followed her elder sister’s orders. When asked to handle matters, she didn’t know where to begin and felt somewhat panicked.

Bai Jinzhi opened her mouth, wanting to ask Bai Qingyan where to start, but seeing that Bai Qingyan only looked at her without any intention of giving hints, she pressed her lips together, feeling even more flustered.

“Little Four, it’s alright… it doesn’t matter if you don’t do well. Whether or not we deal with Bai Qiyun is no harm done—this is just to let you practice.”

“Then… I’ll try!” Bai Jinzhi’s palms were covered in sweat. This made her more nervous than being in class in the capital, unable to recite yesterday’s lessons, and getting beaten with a board.

Bai Qingyan smiled and nodded, “Also, there are Little Five and Little Six. Starting tomorrow, you’ll lead them in practicing archery and horsemanship.”

Bai Jinzhi liked this task and nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry, Elder Sister! I’ll handle this well!”

On the afternoon when Bai Qingyan’s group went bandit hunting, Bai Qingping was summoned by his grandfather.

As soon as Bai Qingping lifted the curtain and entered the main room, he saw that his eldest uncle, Bai Qiyun, who had been expelled from the clan, was also there. He bowed to his grandfather and eldest uncle.

“Ah Ping, no need for such formality. Please sit… Grandfather has a few questions for you!” Bai Qingping’s grandfather leaned on his glossy black ebony walking stick, his face full of kind and gentle smiles.

Bai Qiyun also wore a smile, rarely showing such a warm expression toward Bai Qingping.

“I heard that recently, you’ve used quite a few clan brothers to work for the Princess Zhenguo, and they’ve all done quite well?” Bai Qingping’s grandfather asked slowly and methodically.

A maid lifted the curtain and entered, served tea, then withdrew.

“Indeed, Grandfather. If you’re interested in this matter, why not summon Father? Father knows much more about this than I do.” Bai Qingping replied respectfully.

Bai Qiyun looked at his father, urgently signaling for him to hurry up and ask about the serious matter. His demeanor suggested that if his father didn’t ask, he might have to ask with the authority of an eldest uncle.

Bai Qingping’s grandfather picked up his teacup and took a sip, appearing casual as he asked, “I heard that early this morning, the Princess Zhenguo led new soldiers up the mountain to suppress bandits. Did they… manage to find those banknotes that the bandits robbed from your eldest uncle?”