Not only had he failed to help His Majesty share her burdens, but his clan members had even caused trouble for His Majesty. This was his failure as clan leader – he was to blame and could not escape responsibility.

Hearing Wei Zhong tell him to enter, Bai Qihe hastily rose, lifted his robe hem, and stepped into the great hall, respectfully performing the full kowtow ceremony to Bai Qingyan.

Afterward, Bai Qihe took the initiative to confess his guilt: “Originally, when Your Majesty returned to the palace yesterday, Bai Qihe should have entered the palace to confess his crimes. But thinking that Your Majesty must be tired from just returning, I didn’t want to disturb you, so I delayed until today. I heard that in today’s court session, Imperial Censor Sima has already reported to Your Majesty about Bai Qingshi and Bai Qingfan’s matters. It is Bai Qihe’s failure to properly discipline clan members that has troubled Your Majesty. Please punish me, Your Majesty.”

Chun Zhi and Chun Tao came forward carrying refreshments and hot tea, serving tea and refreshments to both Bai Qingyan and Bai Qihe.

Bai Qingyan smiled and said, “Clan Leader, please rise! You are the leader of the Bai clan, but you are only one person with limited energy. You cannot spend every day doing nothing but watching them…”

“Your Majesty! Actually… regarding Bai Qingshi’s matter, Qihe did notice something, but… I was careless!” Bai Qihe closed his eyes and honestly confessed to Bai Qingyan: “After Bai Qingshi was sentenced to exile, his grandfather came to ask me to help for the sake of being from the same clan, saying he didn’t dare ask for Bai Qingshi’s pardon, only asking me to help mediate with the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Revenue. They wanted to buy a prisoner to exchange with Bai Qingshi, giving Bai Qingshi a new identity to remain in the capital. I told Bai Qingshi’s grandfather that our Great Zhou is a nation governed by law, and no one could help once Bai Qingshi violated the law… Bai Qingshi’s grandfather became angry and immediately said that if Bai Qingfan could do such things, I, as clan leader, should be able to do the same – I just didn’t want to help!”

Bai Qihe was full of regret: “At the time, I just felt something was strange, but I didn’t think deeply about it. Later, I checked and found that Bai Qingfan hadn’t violated the Great Zhou’s laws, so I didn’t take the matter to heart. I never expected… never expected…”

“Please rise!” Bai Qingyan said. “Sit down and have some hot tea and refreshments. I haven’t had breakfast yet after morning court, so let’s eat and talk.”

Hearing this, Bai Qihe hastily agreed and rose to kneel beside the small table that Wei Zhong had servants bring over.

Bai Qingyan knew that Bai Qihe had indeed tried his best. After all, Bai Qihe was just a clan leader without shadow guards around him to monitor clan members at all times.

Moreover, under Bai Qihe’s leadership and discipline, the Bai clan members were gradually getting on the right track. The clan members had all begun doing proper work. Now, the Bai clan members might not be able to help Bai Qingyan much, but at least most of them knew how to work hard!

For example, in this imperial examination, she had seen quite a few names of Bai clan young men on the palace examination list, and many Bai clan sons had also gone to join the army. Bai Qingyan knew all of this.

Without Bai Qihe, these clan members would probably still be planning to rely on their imperial relative status to lie around and enjoy themselves.

Which clan didn’t have one or two parasites, let alone the Bai clan that had been used to running amok in Shuoyang?

That Clan Leader Bai Qihe could reorganize the clan into its current state in such a short time since she ascended the throne was already far beyond Bai Qingyan’s expectations.

“You’ve managed the clan members very well, much better than I expected!” Bai Qingyan picked up her teacup and took a sip, saying slowly: “The Bai clan’s problems have existed for a long time. That you could reform them into their current state in such a short time proves I didn’t misjudge you!”

“For Your Majesty to say this truly makes Bai Qihe ashamed!” Bai Qihe kowtowed to Bai Qingyan. He hadn’t forgotten Bai Qingyan’s stern words when she had hoped he would stand up and become a good clan leader. He felt somewhat dazed… not knowing if this was because he had been too weak and unambitious back then, or because Bai Qingyan had become much gentler now that she was a mother.

After thinking about it, Bai Qihe felt it should be the former. Bai Qingyan was someone who made decisive decisions. Even when extremely angry, she wouldn’t speak or act according to her temper. Bai Qihe had experienced this before.

“Let’s set a standard. This year, it’s already late April, and the Censorate has caught two Bai clan members making mistakes. So by the end of this year… our Bai clan absolutely cannot allow any more members to make mistakes! Next year… it must be reduced to at most one clan member making mistakes in an entire year. By the year after…” Bai Qingyan picked up a piece of refreshment with silver chopsticks and looked at Bai Qihe, saying: “You should be considered as having been clan leader for many years now, and you’ve been given chances for mistakes. You must become skilled, so starting the year after next, clan members can no longer make these kinds of errors that violate Great Zhou’s laws!”

Bai Qihe hastily kowtowed to Bai Qingyan: “Bai Qihe understands! Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“Rise and have some refreshments! You probably haven’t been eating well these past days either…” Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes and took a small bite of refreshment, then drank hot tea before feeling more comfortable.

Seeing that Bai Qingyan truly didn’t mean to blame him, Bai Qihe finally felt relieved and had some refreshments together with Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qihe hadn’t been idle during this period. He had been reflecting on how exactly to discipline clan members. He had an idea in his heart – clan law must be stricter than the Great Zhou’s laws!

But to begin revising clan law, Bai Qihe needed assistants. So after finishing the refreshments, Bai Qihe told Bai Qingyan about his plan to take this opportunity to revise clan law, and boldly kowtowed to Bai Qingyan: “Therefore, Bai Qihe presumes to want to summon Bai Qingping from Shuoyang to help with revising clan law.”

In this matter, Bai Qihe had personal motives. If Bai Qingping stayed in Shuoyang, his future would certainly be as the Bai clan leader, which was correct. But privately, Bai Qihe also wanted Bai Qingping to enter government service.

Bai Qingyan nodded, put down her silver chopsticks, accepted the hot cloth that Chun Zhi handed her and wiped her hands: “I’ve been thinking about this matter these past days too!”

“A-Ping is a good child. He stayed in Shuoyang to help me watch over Shuoyang Camp, and didn’t want the efforts we had made together in Shuoyang to come to nothing. But continuing to waste away in Shuoyang like this is not beneficial to A-Ping’s future. It’s just that there hasn’t been a suitable person to replace A-Ping, which has delayed things!” Bai Qingyan smiled at Bai Qihe. “Rest assured, I keep this matter in mind. I will certainly bring A-Ping to the capital as soon as possible. You should prepare what you need for revising the clan law. If you lack manpower, go to Bai Mansion to find Steward Hao and Uncle Ping. Have Steward Hao and Uncle Ping assign you people.”

“Yes! Thank you, Your Majesty!” Bai Qihe solemnly kowtowed to Bai Qingyan. So Bai Qingyan truly hadn’t forgotten Bai Qingping.

After Bai Qihe bid farewell to Bai Qingyan, she summoned someone to invite Minister of Works Shen Tianzhi to come. Taking advantage of the interval before Shen Tianzhi arrived, she wanted to go see the two children.