After Nanny Tong, Chun Tao, and Lu Ping paid their respects, they hurriedly followed Bai Qingyan.

“Elder Sister!” Bai Jinzhi called out and tried to chase after her, but was held back by Bai Jintong.

“Elder Sister doesn’t want us to see her vulnerable side, so wait a moment!” Bai Jintong said.

“But… but Elder Sister was crying!”

Bai Jinxiu looked back at the brightly lit mourning hall with flickering candles, then lowered her gaze: “Yes… Elder Sister was crying. To be on different paths from her closest blood relatives, Elder Sister’s heart truly suffers like bitter coptis, like a dull knife cutting flesh, making one unable to eat or sleep peacefully.”

Nanny Jiang gazed in the direction where Bai Qingyan had departed, tears already streaming down her face, not knowing what to do. She had advised the Grand Princess… if the matter of killing Ji Tingyu were to be discovered by the eldest miss, the grandmother and granddaughter would inevitably develop a rift. But Nanny Jiang had never expected that the eldest miss would be so resolute, wanting to sever ties with the Grand Princess!

Nanny Jiang couldn’t care about anything else and rushed into the mourning hall, fearing that something might happen to the Grand Princess.

“That bastard cannot be allowed to live!” Fifth Madam Qi suddenly spoke up. “I’ll go tell Mother!”

With that, Fifth Madam supported her lower back and entered the mourning hall.

“Jinxiu, Jintong, Jinzhi, it’s hard on you three – go check on your elder sister in a while, don’t let her… be too sad! Tell your elder sister that we’ll help persuade your grandmother!” Dong Shi gently instructed.

“Yes!” Bai Jinxiu curtsied and led away her two younger sisters.

“Grand Princess!” Nanny Jiang’s panicked voice came from within.

Dong Shi, Second Madam Liu Shi, and Third Madam Li Shi were all startled, lifting their jacket hems and hurrying into the mourning hall.

Dong Shi saw the Grand Princess had fainted in the mourning hall and called out: “Quick! Take my name card and summon the Imperial Physician! Nanny Qin, have people come to carry Mother back to Changshou Courtyard!”

The mourning hall instantly became chaotic, but for the sake of Bai Qingyan’s reputation, Dong Shi couldn’t let news spread about the Grand Princess fainting after confronting Bai Qingyan in the mourning hall!

She grabbed Nanny Qin, who was about to rush out to call people: “The Grand Princess fainted from grief while reminiscing about her father-in-law with us! Remember that!”

Nanny Qin nodded repeatedly.

Back courtyard.

When Bai Qingyan entered the courtyard, the physician who couldn’t stop bleeding was weakly collapsed on the ground, and Yu Lian, who had impersonated Ji Liu Shi, knelt there crying incessantly.

Seeing Bai Qingyan return and walk straight toward the house without looking sideways, Yu Lian immediately crawled forward on her knees and called out: “Miss! Please give me a quick death! Let me die!”

Her footsteps paused, her fists clenched tightly. She turned to Lu Ping and said: “Uncle Ping, have someone take this Yu Lian back to the estate, keep steward Wang Wangeng and his entire family under guard, give Ji Tingyu’s wife Ji Liu Shi a proper burial! Also have Nanny Qin send a capable steward there to investigate thoroughly what Wang Wangeng has done these past few years. When all evidence is collected, submit it to the authorities in the name of the Duke’s Mansion for punishment!”

“Yes!” Lu Ping clasped his hands in acknowledgment.

“Miss! Miss, please just kill me here! Otherwise, my mother won’t survive! Please, Miss!” Yu Lian was filled with terror.

She turned her head toward Yu Lian, her voice calm as water: “Your mother… probably already preceded you to the underworld!”

Killing to silence witnesses.

How could grandmother leave Yu Lian’s mother, who knew the truth, alive?!

They had arranged a dead end for Yu Lian, and Yu Lian’s mother faced the same dead end.

The truest emotion in this world is willingly trading one’s own life for a relative’s survival, but one shouldn’t place a relative’s life and death in others’ hands! I don’t expect to trade other people’s lives for it!

Yu Lian’s eyes widened: “It can’t be! It can’t be! My father promised me!”

“Then go see for yourself! Take her away…”

After speaking, she lifted her foot and stepped into the inner room.

At this time, the medicine had been poured into Ji Tingyu, and acupuncture needles had been inserted. When Bai Qingyan entered, Ji Tingyu was leaning over the bedside, vomiting large mouthfuls of black blood.

“Good, good, good! It’s good to vomit it out! Good to vomit it out!” Physician Hong didn’t mind the mess, patting Ji Tingyu’s back while comforting him.

The heart that Bai Qingyan had held in her throat finally settled back down.

Imperial Physician Huang had Chun Xing take away the black blood Ji Tingyu had vomited, then took his pulse: “Fortunately the poisoning wasn’t deep, thank goodness… If no one had discovered this throughout the night, even if Hua Tuo were alive, he couldn’t have been saved!”

“Thank you, Imperial Physician Huang, thank you, Physician Hong!” She bowed solemnly.

“Miss, what are you saying – we are physicians… treating illness and saving lives is a physician’s heavenly duty!” Imperial Physician Huang cupped his hands and sat at the table: “I’ll prescribe some detoxifying and nourishing formulas!”

That night, Bai Qingyan sat in Ji Tingyu’s room, quietly watching the pale-faced Ji Tingyu, not knowing how to tell him when he awakened that the bastard had harmed his newlywed wife.

The Imperial Physician administered acupuncture to the Grand Princess. After she regained consciousness and took medicine, she could no longer fall asleep.

She leaned against a pillow embroidered with colorful silk begonia flowers, having Nanny Jiang retrieve from a hidden compartment the half-piece of black jade dragon-patterned pendant used to mobilize the shadow guards, carefully stroking the jade pendant.

Nanny Jiang feared the Grand Princess would use the shadow guards to restrain Bai Qingyan, which would completely exhaust the grandmother-granddaughter bond between the Grand Princess and Bai Qingyan. She knelt tearfully before the Grand Princess’s bed: “Your Highness! This old servant knows Your Highness’s heart is bitter. You want to preserve a bloodline for the Bai family, but what the eldest miss said is right! Each daughter and son of our Duke’s Mansion stands tall and upright! Anyone who stays home to take a husband would be better than that bastard! The eldest miss was raised, cherished, and doted upon by Your Highness personally! Could it be… Your Highness would truly want to sever your grandmother-granddaughter bond with the eldest miss for that bastard?! Fortunately, Ji Tingyu is fine now, there’s still room for redemption… Your Highness must not continue protecting that bastard! Your Highness, think of the oath the eldest miss swore in the mourning hall! Does Your Highness want the eldest miss to die?!”

Hearing Nanny Jiang address her as “Your Highness” again, the Grand Princess gripped the jade pendant tightly, remembering her granddaughter A’Bao kneeling and kowtowing three times to sever ties with her. Her heart felt torn and unbearably painful, and she closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face.

In this world, there truly were no perfect solutions…

She had been too greedy, wanting to protect that bastard while also wanting to maintain her grandmother-granddaughter bond with A’Bao, thus causing A’Bao to turn against her and swear to kill that bastard.

Either he or I… only one of us can exist in this world! If he doesn’t die! I won’t die peacefully!

Remembering the oath A’Bao had sworn in the mourning hall, the Grand Princess’s hand trembled, and her entire body felt cold.

No, she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t let A’Bao die for that bastard…

A’Bao was the flesh of her heart! She was the one she had held close and raised with tender care!

She couldn’t!

If forced to choose between the two, she would only choose A’Bao…

Whether for the Bai family’s sake or her selfish reasons!

How could such a beast-like, filthy creature compare to her A’Bao?!

When A’Bao used her own life as stakes, she had already lost!

Recalling her granddaughter’s words in the mourning hall today, the Grand Princess finally realized that she had grown old.