Tong Ji hurriedly wiped his tears with his sleeve. After kowtowing to Prince Liang, he choked out: “Since Master likes this Miss Bai, this servant will make sure Miss Chun Yan accomplishes this task for Master! Master… this servant has been by your side since childhood, please don’t drive me away! Tong Ji will obey from now on and won’t cause trouble for Your Highness!”
Prince Liang’s heart softened as he said hoarsely, “If you handle this matter well, I won’t drive you away!”
“Thank you, Your Highness!” Tong Ji carefully tucked the letters into his chest and respectfully withdrew.
Though Tong Ji was quite useless, Prince Liang still kept him by his side, only because of their childhood bond!
Sparing no effort to pull the Bai Family down from their pedestal, all to repay the kindness shown by Consort Tong and the Second Prince years ago – this was the reason Gao Sheng was willing to follow Prince Liang.
Gao Sheng glanced at Prince Liang, lowered his eyes respectfully, and said: “Liu Huanzhang cannot be brought into the prince’s mansion. This subordinate will personally go watch Liu Huanzhang to prevent any further rash actions from him.”
“Go then…” Prince Liang wearily covered his chest and sat down in the chair, his complexion even worse than before.
·
Bai Qingyan slept for only a little over an hour before getting up.
Chun Tao used a copper hook to lift the bed curtains, looking at Bai Qingyan, who sat on the bedside putting on her shoes, worrying: “Miss only sleeps for about an hour each day – I fear you won’t be able to endure this!”
The maids waiting in the corridor, holding warm water in copper basins, towels, spittoons, and fragrant mouthwash, filed in to attend to Bai Qingyan’s morning routine.
Chun Xing led a line of maids carrying food boxes into the room to set up the meal. When Bai Qingyan emerged from behind the screen after changing clothes, Chun Xing led the group of maids out in an orderly fashion.
Chun Tao ladled a bowl of chicken soup and millet porridge for Bai Qingyan, placing it before her, and said in a low voice: “Today, not long after Miss had just rested, someone came looking for Chun Yan, but Chun Yan didn’t go to meet them. The old woman at the gate said the guard from Prince Liang’s mansion was quite generous with money, but had a cold, somewhat frightening appearance.”
This was already within expectations, so Bai Qingyan wasn’t surprised.
She lowered her head and took a sip of the light millet porridge, instructing: “Don’t alarm Chun Yan. Keep someone watching her secretly. If there’s any movement from her side, report immediately!”
“This servant understands!” Chun Tao nodded solemnly.
Chun Xing, who was standing outside the door on duty, saw Bai Jinxiu approaching and quickly stepped forward to bow: “Second Miss.”
“Is elder sister awake?”
“Indeed, Miss is having her meal. I’ll go announce you…”
Before Chun Xing could lift the curtain, she saw Chun Tao already coming out: “Miss asked me to welcome Second Miss! Chun Xing… have someone add a bowl and chopsticks for Second Miss.”
Chun Xing acknowledged.
Bai Jinxiu handed the hand warmer she was carrying to Qing Shu, instructing Qing Shu to wait outside, then entered the room herself.
Chun Tao ladled a bowl of millet porridge for Bai Jinxiu, then withdrew from the main room, letting the sisters dine quietly.
Seeing Bai Jinxiu’s worried expression as she held her chopsticks without eating, she asked: “Worried about Qin Lang?”
“Elder sister, Dali Temple Minister Lu Jin has no friendship with our Bai Family. Now that our Bai Family has no male heirs left, though Lu Jin has a good reputation, people’s hearts are unknowable… will he help Qin Lang?” Bai Jinxiu frowned tightly, turning to look at Bai Qingyan.
“In the past, living in the inner quarters, we didn’t know court affairs, so your worry is understandable.” She set down her chopsticks and wiped her lips with a handkerchief, gently analyzing for Bai Jinxiu: “These past years, court ministers have largely favored Prince Xin, the legitimate son born of the Empress, in the succession struggle. Prince Xin could be said to be extremely influential, and if not for the Nan Jiang incident, based on the previous situation… Prince Xin would most likely be the one to ascend to the throne in the future! Those ministers who know how to assess the situation all followed him, but this Dali Temple Minister, Lu Jin, has always remained neutral and uninvolved. Moreover, several times when Prince Xin’s people fell into his hands, he was impartial and showed no favoritism. The reasons are nothing more than four.”
“First, this person still has integrity in his heart. Second, this person perhaps has another worthy master in mind. Third, this person deeply understands that being a pure minister is the way to establish oneself in officialdom. Fourth, this person has no ambition for advancement.”
Bai Jinxiu set down her chopsticks, nodded, and said: “But if he had no ambition for advancement, how could he have been promoted to Dali Temple Minister in just a few short years?”
She nodded: “Let’s first discuss the first point. If this Lu Jin has integrity, he would protect the Bai Family’s son-in-law just for the sake of the Bai Family’s loyal men who died wrapped in horse leather protecting the Kingdom and people! If it’s the second point, in Lu Jin’s mind, the legitimate, influential, and popular Prince Xin is not a worthy master. Then… either Lu Jin has an extremely great desire for profit and wants the merit of following a dragon! Such a profit-seeking petty person would be willing to sell Duke Mansion a favor just for the sake of the Grand Princess! Or he despises Prince Xin’s character, and such a person must have integrity in his heart.”
“If he deeply understands the way of pure ministers, then he cannot participate in factional struggles or get involved in succession disputes. Now, Prince Xin, though demoted to commoner status, which of the advisors in Prince Xin’s mansion would be willing to sink with Prince Xin’s ship? Those advisors must be doing everything possible to find fault with the grain supply issue, attempting to help Prince Xin make a comeback. Do you think Lu Jin would be willing to become a blade in Prince Xin’s hand?”
After listening carefully to Bai Qingyan’s detailed analysis, Bai Jinxiu looked enlightened, greatly shocked: “Elder sister, to calculate human nature in such detail.”
The plain white lanterns hanging in the corridor fluttered with the white silk, and in the room, the charcoal fire in the brazier covered with carved copper covers burned bright and dim, yet it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
She tightly grasped Bai Jinxiu’s hand, whispering earnestly: “This capital city, dressed in a layer of prosperous finery, is no different from the Nan Jiang battlefield! There, it’s real swords and spears, bloody combat, and in the rain of swords and arrows, those with only solitary courage die, while those with both courage and strategy win! Within the capital city, its schemes and plots, mutual deception, and suspicion. Those whose eyes are blinded by this prosperity, who live in drunken dreams, die, while those who can calculate without omission and skillfully judge human hearts triumph. Jinxiu… staying in the capital will be harder for you than for me and your third sister!”
Since learning of grandfather’s, father’s, uncles’, and brothers’ deaths in Nan Jiang, this was the first time Bai Jinxiu clearly and distinctly perceived that… from now on, no one would protect and indulge them anymore.
Previously with elder male relatives and brothers present, why would elder sister need to be so skilled in scheming?!
Elder sister’s words didn’t say she was wrong, but she already knew deeply where she had erred…
That day when her elder sister reprimanded Xiao Si, she had already said the Bai Family was like standing on a precipice in the dead of night, yet she hadn’t taken these words to heart and bone.
It wasn’t that her elder sister calculated too meticulously, but that she thought too superficially.
Today, there was not only no room to allow Xiao Si to act willfully, there was also no room to allow her to be as careless as before… encountering matters without being willing to think them through exhaustively, just getting by.
Now elder sister was still in the capital… but later, there would only be her left.
Bai Jinxiu’s mouth felt as if she had bitten into a sour apricot. She rose and bowed to Bai Qingyan: “Today it was Jinxiu… who thought too shallowly! I will not make such mistakes again in the future. Elder sister, please rest assured!”
“Alright, let’s eat!” She reached out and pulled Bai Jinxiu to sit down.