As he spoke, Lu Yuanpeng felt utterly wronged, tears dripping down his face. He wiped his tears with his sleeve: “Grandpa, you must properly discipline my brother! He nearly delayed our Lu family from having a commander of a thousand!”

Grand Marshal Lu had originally intended to give his grandson a good lesson, but seeing that although his grandson was hopeless wood that couldn’t be carved, he… could be considered blessed with fool’s luck, so he abandoned that thought.

Never mind, children and grandchildren have their destinies. Letting Lu Yuanpeng keep this bit of foolishness might be good for the Lu family.

Compared to worrying about Lu Yuanpeng, Grand Marshal Lu was more concerned at this moment about tomorrow, when Bai Qingyan would go to the Imperial Academy to meet those academy students.

Grand Marshal Lu placed the discipline ruler in his hand to one side, let out a long sigh, and sat down in his chair.

“Grandpa…” Lu Yuanpeng called out in an extremely low voice. Seeing Grand Marshal Lu’s poor complexion, he said guiltily, “Should I have someone fetch a physician for Grandpa?”

“Kneel there properly!” Grand Marshal Lu glanced at Lu Yuanpeng and stood up to step out of the ancestral hall.

As soon as Grand Marshal Lu emerged from the ancestral hall, he saw Lu Jinxian along with Lu Yuanpeng’s father, Third Master Lu, and mother, Third Madam Lu, hurrying forward. When Lu Yuanpeng’s mother saw the disciplinary ruler in her father-in-law’s hand, tears immediately fell, and she couldn’t help but feel resentful… When Yuanpeng returned, he was already so thin and dark he barely looked human, yet his grandfather still had the heart to beat the child!

Lu Yuanpeng’s mother dared to be angry but not speak out, only shedding tears pitifully. Lu Yuanpeng’s father also couldn’t help but inwardly complain that his father was too strict with Lu Yuanpeng! The child had been spoiled since young, but at least now he was a commander of a thousand in the Bai family army, which brought honor to the Lu family!

Seeing his third son and daughter-in-law’s expressions, Grand Marshal Lu immediately knew what they were thinking. He directly threw the discipline ruler into his son’s arms, ordered that no one was permitted to enter the ancestral hall to see Lu Yuanpeng, then called his eldest son, Lu Jinxian, and the two slowly walked away along the corridor.

“Father, I heard that His Majesty plans to erect a memorial stone by the Jing River for all the soldiers who died in battle in Nanjiang during the Xuanjia years,” Lu Jinxian said quietly to Grand Marshal Lu. “Today I heard people from the Ministry of Works mention it.”

“For the Bai family army?” Grand Marshal Lu asked.

“For all soldiers who died in battle in Nanjiang. I heard… His Majesty intends to have the rulers and people of Great Zhou remember these soldiers who died for Kingdom and people for generations to come,” Lu Jinxian said.

Grand Marshal Lu knew that Bai Qingyan came from a military family and was herself a soldier who had fought bloody battles on the battlefield. Her willingness to erect monuments for deceased soldiers was reasonable.

“If you feel this matter is inappropriate, go and advise His Majesty. Our current Empress is not like the Jin Emperor—she has an open heart. In all matters, speak directly to her; there’s no need to discuss with me how to respond!” Grand Marshal Lu stopped walking and stood under the lamp, speaking earnestly to Lu Jinxian. “I am old, and in the future… The Great Zhou’s court will be the court of His Majesty and you ministers. You must understand what kind of person the sovereign you now serve is, and learn how to get along with your sovereign, so that you can better serve the Kingdom and dedicate yourself to the people.”

Grand Marshal Lu was already elderly. Even though he had returned to the position of Grand Marshal… and was respected as Imperial Teacher, he knew that the time left for him to stand in court was actually not much.

Grand Marshal Lu envied his son and grandson very much. They were luckier than he… Although they encountered an Empress who came to power midway, this Empress’s character and breadth of mind were truly beyond comparison, so magnanimous and upright that sometimes even Grand Marshal Lu was caught off guard.

But after getting along with her, Grand Marshal Lu couldn’t help but sigh. When he was young… he entered officialdom with a heart full of passionate blood, and his dream had been to encounter such a ruler. Even if they weren’t a wise ruler, they should at least have a heart that was for the people and magnanimous, not requiring officials to rack their brains trying to figure out the sovereign’s thoughts, but only requiring officials to rack their brains to enrich the Kingdom and strengthen the people.

But he had devoted most of his life to the Jin Emperor. Trying to divine the sovereign’s intentions and handling matters with smooth circumvention had become ingrained in his bones—very difficult to change.

His sons and grandsons were all very fortunate to encounter such an emperor, so… he didn’t want them to learn the bad habits he possessed.

He only hoped that before the day he stepped down from court, he could see with his own eyes the court he had imagined… before he ever entered officialdom.

Early the next morning, news that the Great Zhou Empress would visit the Imperial Academy had already spread everywhere.

Upon hearing this, Prince Hedong ordered his subordinates not to get involved in this matter, to cleanly and efficiently withdraw their people, and absolutely not leave any traces.

Since everything had now become a foregone conclusion, what Prince Hedong needed to do was hide the traces of his actions to the greatest extent possible, lest Bai Qingyan catch him with evidence—otherwise, even staying alive would be difficult.

Now both his and Prince Shuofang’s family members were in Bai Qingyan’s grasp. Whether they could live… how they would live, was all in Bai Qingyan’s single thought.

The indignant Imperial Academy students gathered together, lighting lamps to deliberate through the entire night, writing down with brushes all the questions they would ask when they met Bai Qingyan today, quietly awaiting the si hour.

Dawn had just broken when Bai Qingyan left the palace early.

Last night, Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinxiu had sat under lamplight talking intimately until the latter half of the night. Bai Jinxiu had already arranged with Qin Lang to take Wang Ge’er with her to Han City. She also knew that matters in Han City were urgent… after all, Bai Jinzhi was impulsive, and she feared Bai Jinzhi might do something irreversible.

After Han City’s surrender, following the great battle, they must use conciliatory methods to win people’s hearts, not just rely on force.

So last night Bai Jinxiu had agreed with Bai Qingyan that she would depart for Han City early this morning. Bai Qingyan had issued orders through the night, commanding Lin Kangle to lead troops to accompany Bai Jinxiu to Han City, to rotate with Bai Jinzhi and Zhao Sheng back to the capital.

After her long talk with Bai Qingyan, Bai Jinxiu had gone to see her mother, getting almost no sleep through the night. So when leaving the city, she rode in a carriage with Wang Ge’er and Qin Lang out of the city, joining up with Lin Kangle’s large army camped outside the capital.

Bai Jinxiu hadn’t expected that Bai Qingyan would come outside the city to see her off. When she heard Cuibi say that the figure on the eastern hillside seemed to be Bai Qingyan, she quickly lifted the carriage curtain and looked toward the high slope, indeed seeing her eldest sister in riding attire, mounted on a white horse with only Shen Qingzhu beside her.

Bai Qingyan held the reins with her back to the light, quietly watching Bai Jinxiu’s convoy grow more distant.

The jolting carriage didn’t stop. Bai Jinxiu looked at Bai Qingyan standing in that patch of early morning sunlight and couldn’t help but wave toward her.

Once, she had seen her eldest sister off here. Now… her eldest sister stood there seeing her off.

She hoped that when she left the capital this time, upon her return, she could also bring different changes to the Bai family and this Kingdom, just like her eldest sister.