That illegitimate son of Second Uncle was never an honest person to begin with. No matter what trouble he had caused or what evil deeds he had committed, she absolutely needed to know everything in order to have countermeasures. This way, the Bai family wouldn’t suddenly be caught with their weakness exposed and be caught completely off guard.

Now that the servant sent to fetch people from the estate was nowhere to be seen, it was obvious that something had happened at the estate, and someone wanted to conceal this matter. The more this was the case… the more she couldn’t pretend not to know and turn a blind eye.

She raised her eyes to look at Nanny Tong: “This matter—Nanny hasn’t alerted Nanny Jiang yet, has she?”

“If the eldest miss hadn’t just called Chun Xing to summon this old servant, this old servant was about to go to Changshou Courtyard to ask Nanny Jiang. After all, it’s perfectly normal for the eldest daughter to be concerned about her grandmother.” Nanny Tong said in a low voice.

“Nanny, go ahead! In a while, no matter what Nanny Jiang says, Nanny must remember it clearly and tell me every single word without any mistakes!”

“Yes!”

Seeing Nanny Tong leave, she also put down her chopsticks and stood up, forcing herself to gather her spirits: “Chun Tao, bring my cloak. I’m going to see Ji Tingyu’s wife.”

Since the Ji family happened to be at the estate where that illegitimate son was staying, Ji Tingyu’s daughter-in-law must have known what had happened at the estate. The reason she wanted Nanny Tong to remember every word of Nanny Jiang’s was simply to know which side Ji Tingyu’s daughter-in-law was on.

If every word Nanny Jiang and Ji Tingyu’s daughter-in-law said matched almost exactly, then they had rehearsed their story in advance, memorized it by heart to use against her. In that case… she would absolutely need to send people to investigate the estate matters thoroughly.

“Eldest Miss!” Chun Tao’s eyes turned red.

She turned back to see Chun Tao holding her fox fur cloak, biting her lower lip and standing there motionless. She reached out to take the cloak and asked in a low voice: “What’s wrong?”

“Eldest Miss!” Chun Tao suddenly knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she broke into sobs. “Ji Tingyu is not well! This afternoon, before Ji Tingyu’s daughter-in-law came, Ji Tingyu suddenly couldn’t be awakened, no matter how we called him! Nanny Tong had already sent someone to fetch Physician Hong! Nanny Tong felt sorry that the miss has been working so hard these days and didn’t want the miss to worry needlessly, so she instructed me not to tell…”

She felt all the blood in her body rush straight to the top of her head, her spine stiffening for that instant. She stepped out the door and strode rapidly through the wind, leaving Qinghui Courtyard.

“Eldest Miss!” Chun Tao ran to catch up with Bai Qingyan, supporting her while crying and admitting her fault: “It’s all this servant’s fault, this servant was wrong! This servant shouldn’t have hidden it from the eldest miss. Eldest Miss, please slow down!”

When she arrived at Ji Tingyu’s place, she didn’t see Physician Hong, only an unfamiliar doctor sitting under the oil lamp at the square table, dozing.

Seeing Ji Tingyu lying there with his eyes closed, his face deathly pale without a trace of color, fury shot straight to her crown, her scalp tingling: “Where is everyone?! Where is Physician Hong?! Where are the people who were supposed to be here taking care of Ji Tingyu?!”

The doctor was startled awake and nearly fell to the ground. Seeing the woman before him dressed in mourning clothes with a grim expression, he knew this was the master of the house and hurriedly bowed.

A young woman came in from the doorway carrying freshly brewed medicine, staring with round eyes, looking at Bai Qingyan at a loss.

She turned around to see a young woman dressed as a married woman holding medicinal soup, looking at her with panic and unease. Her voice couldn’t suppress itself: “Are you Ji Tingyu’s wife?”

“In response to the eldest miss, this commoner woman is Ji Liu Shi!” The young woman hurriedly curtsied, lowering her eyes and not daring to look directly at Bai Qingyan.

“Where is Physician Hong?!” She asked, suppressing her anger.

“I heard he was called away…” the young woman said.

Her sharp gaze fixed on Ji Liu Shi, who kept her eyes lowered and didn’t dare raise her head, her stare cold as ice: “Chun Tao, quickly go to my mother and have someone immediately take my mother’s calling card to summon Imperial Physician Huang!”

“Yes!” Chun Tao hurriedly ran out of the courtyard.

“How is Ji Tingyu?” She asked the doctor, suppressing the surging emotions in her heart.

“This… this… this man lost too much blood, treatment wasn’t timely enough…”

This Kingdom doctor’s words were completely different from Physician Hong’s. She had no mind to continue listening, lifted the curtain and came out, calling loudly: “Someone come!”

The servant woman keeping watch in the outer courtyard hurriedly trotted in: “Eldest Miss!”

Lu Ping had been on night patrol when he encountered Chun Tao running frantically toward Dong Shi’s quarters. Knowing something was wrong with Ji Tingyu’s situation, he hurried over. Before he could even enter the courtyard gate, he heard Bai Qingyan’s voice blazing with anger, so he also entered the courtyard and bowed: “Eldest Miss!”

“Who called Physician Hong away?!” She asked the servant woman.

Bai Qingyan’s entire being radiated murderous intent, frightening the servant woman into immediately kneeling: “In response to the eldest miss, it was because the young master of Marquis Yongding’s mansion broke his leg and still hasn’t awakened. Madam of Marquis Yongding heard that Physician Hong was the senior fellow apprentice of Imperial Physician Huang from the Imperial Medical Academy, so she appealed to the Grand… Grand Princess. Originally, they said Physician Hong would just take a look and return, but we don’t know why he’s been gone so long and hasn’t come back! Our mansion sent people to request his return, but… but they said the young master of Marquis Yongding’s mansion was precious, and they must wait until their young master awakened before releasing Physician Hong!”

Hearing this, she clenched her fists tightly. Marquis Yongding’s mansion had tremendous audacity!

Her voice couldn’t help but rise: “Lu Ping, take two teams of guards and immediately go to Marquis Yongding’s mansion to bring Physician Hong back to me. If Imperial Physician Huang is there, bring him as well! If Marquis Yongding’s mansion dares to obstruct, tell them… Ji Tingyu risked his life to protect the bamboo scrolls and return to clear their names for my Bai family, for my grandfather, for tens of thousands of Bai family troops—he is a loyal and brave man! He is a benefactor to my Bai family! Whoever dares to compete with Ji Tingyu for a doctor is going against my Bai family. I, Bai Qingyan, will devote my entire life’s strength to exterminate their entire clan! Don’t mention just one young master… even chickens and dogs won’t be spared! If Marquis Yongding’s mansion still obstructs… whether it means drawing swords to kill or staining Marquis Yongding’s mansion with blood, within half an hour, you must bring the person back to me! I, Bai Qingyan, will bear all responsibility alone!”

“Lu Ping receives the command! Eldest Miss, rest assured—if I cannot bring the person back within half an hour… Lu Ping will bring his head to see you!”

Lu Ping bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan, then turned to instruct the guards following behind him: “Stay here and await the eldest miss’s orders!”

“Yes!” The guards’ voices were extremely loud.

They had all heard Bai Qingyan’s words just now. The eldest miss of the Bai family was willing to turn against Marquis Yongding’s mansion for Ji Tingyu, who had risked his life to protect the bamboo scrolls, so forcefully demanding that the doctor be brought back. In all of the capital city, how many families could make these men who served as Bai family guards remain unmoved in their hearts?!

Inside the room, the young woman cowered in the corner, her hands holding the medicinal soup, trembling uncontrollably.

That doctor looked uneasily at the bloodless man on the bed, his legs weak with fear…

She gripped her fists tightly, steadied herself, and ordered: “Bring me a chair! Have Ji Liu Shi and that doctor from inside come out!”

When Ji Liu Shi and the doctor were brought out, Bai Qingyan was sitting under the covered walkway, with two rows of armed guards arranged on either side of the courtyard, creating a particularly intimidating atmosphere.