A servant who had come swiftly on horseback dismounted far away to avoid drawing attention, then hurried to Bai Qingyan’s side and whispered in a low voice: “First Miss, that servant from Prince Liang’s side has come. He paid a heavy sum to have the gatekeeper woman pass along a message requesting Chun Yan to leave the mansion to meet him! That woman is currently waiting at the mansion. Nanny Tong ordered me to ride swiftly here to inquire how First Miss wishes to handle this matter.”

Sure enough, they had come…

She knew Prince Liang wouldn’t be able to endure and would definitely take advantage of the chaos during the Bai family’s funeral today to stir up trouble.

With her hands clasped and placed in front of her lower abdomen, she straightened her spine and gazed at the tombstones of her grandfather, father, and the various members of the Bai family, slowly opening her mouth to ask: “Prince Liang’s people won’t leave without seeing Chun Yan. Tell Nanny Tong not to worry. Wait until the Bai mansion’s people and the capital’s citizens who are sending off the funeral procession enter the main street, then have the gatekeeper woman notify Chun Yan that Tong Ji is waiting outside the gate to see her! If the two only exchange words, have someone pay attention to what they say. But if the two exchange any objects… be sure to bind them both in full view of everyone and bring them before Grand Princess and all the others.”

“Yes!” The servant responded, then kowtowed three times to the tombstones before rising and hurrying away.

There were still five days left before Bai Jintong would have to leave home. She felt uneasy in her heart: “Elder sister… in five days I’ll have to leave home. I feel uneasy in my heart. I’m afraid something will happen at home when I’m not there…”

“Don’t be afraid. Mother is at home, nothing will happen!” Bai Qingyan said.

As long as today she could handle Prince Liang’s matter properly, the Bai family would have no other earth-shattering troubles.

Bai Jintong raised her eyes to look at Dong Shi, whose eyes contained tears but who stood like a stabilizing anchor at the very front of the crowd.

Liu Shi, Li Shi, and Qi Shi were already crying uncontrollably. Wang Shi looked lost and vacant with dull eyes, as if devoid of both sorrow and joy. Yet Dong Shi still maintained her straight spine, calm and steady.

Thinking of how during these days, her eldest aunt had single-handedly supported the Bai family, and when catastrophic disaster struck and the Bai family was thrown into chaos like a pot of porridge, her eldest aunt was still able to respond in an orderly manner, arranging all affairs in perfect order—what was there left for her to worry about?!

Dong Qingyue personally buried the loyal bones of the various Bai family members with armored military officers. He thrust his iron autumn sword into the frozen earth at his feet, looked at Duke Zhenguo Bai Weiting’s tombstone with tears in his eyes, and opened his mouth: “Donning my protective armor, sharing the same enemies and hatreds with you…”

The Bai family army’s military song!

“Donning my protective armor, sharing the same enemies and hatreds with you”—as soon as these two lines came out, Bai Qingyan’s mouth felt as if she had bitten into a sour apricot, the sour and bitter pain rushing to her head, her vision becoming blurred.

“Grasping the long blade that kills enemies, living and dying together with you…”

More military officers followed Dong Qingyue in transforming their grief into heart-stirring song, into thunderous singing voices.

She raised her eyes to look toward her uncle, and the tears that had been accumulating and swirling in her eyes suddenly burst forth like a broken dam.

“Defending rivers and mountains, protecting the people, fearless, true elite warriors. Not dying in battle, not removing armor, fine sons of family and Kingdom…”

Bai Jinxiu and Bai Jintong, who had originally been able to hold on, finally couldn’t bear it… they burst into loud weeping.

This song that they had heard and learned from birth—once it was sung, it seemed to pull them back to that battlefield filled with heroic passion, back to the night before departure when they donned battle armor, shouldered long blades, and swore to fight to the death without rest.

Grand Princess’s hands were already shaking so much she couldn’t hold her walking stick, tears streaming down…

Not dying in battle, not removing armor!

The Bai family men had all achieved this!

Even little Seventeen, such a young second son, had achieved this!

Looking across the world, which family… could achieve the Bai family’s level of loyal courage for the Kingdom and great love for the people?

At this moment, Grand Princess’s heart was already filled with regret. In the past… when her elder brother asked her which of his sons could be established as heir apparent, she had recommended the current emperor, thinking he was benevolent and broad-minded. But she had never expected that after the current emperor ascended to the supreme throne, he would become such a person of endless suspicion.

The Bai family’s carriages had arrived early. Servants helped the masters who were crying too hard, to get into the carriages. The common people followed behind the slowly moving carriages, their weeping voices somewhat quieter than when they had arrived.

Grand Princess leaned against the round pillow inside the carriage, her tears never stopping.

Nanny Jiang, also with tears streaming down her face, poured a cup of hot tea for Grand Princess and advised: “Grand Princess, please don’t cry anymore, lest you harm your eyes.”

Grand Princess closed her eyes and shook her head. Her throat was swollen and painful—how could she drink tea?

Bai Qingyan, Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jintong, and Bai Jinzhi—the four sisters rode in the same carriage.

Bai Jinzhi had not followed the army on campaign and did not share the experience of singing this military song with the soldiers. Though she felt grief upon hearing this song… it was not like Bai Qingyan, Bai Jinxiu, and Bai Jintong’s heart-wrenching, soul-tearing reaction—the song beginning was like a life-taking, bone-deep remembrance.

Seeing her three elder sisters with red-rimmed eyes closed and silent, Bai Jinzhi felt sad in her heart: “Elder sister…”

Bai Qingyan slowly opened her eyes and said to Bai Jinzhi: “When we return to the city in a while, Nanny Qin and Nanny Tong will capture Chun Yan, who is meeting privately with Prince Liang’s servant. If these two are exchanging letters or similar items, Xiao Si… after they confess everything clearly, you should tear open the letter and read it aloud in front of everyone.”

“That despicable servant Chun Yan still dares to have dealings with Prince Liang’s mansion?!” Bai Jinzhi was furious, punching the soft pillow beside her. “If you ask me, elder sister, you shouldn’t have kept her in the first place! You should have directly beaten her to death with random sticks and been done with it!”

“Elder sister said keeping Chun Yan would be useful—was she waiting for today?” Bai Jinxiu looked at Bai Qingyan and asked.

She nodded: “If there is some letter today… after you all hear it, you’ll know who the person behind the scenes trying to destroy our Bai family is!”

“Elder sister, are you saying… Prince Liang?!” Bai Jintong widened her eyes.

Bai Jinzhi also couldn’t believe it: “But Prince Liang is just a cowardly and incompetent prince! Not only was he the latest among all the princes to be enfeoffed as a prince, but if it weren’t for the Western Liang envoy mistakenly addressing him at the palace banquet the year before last, His Majesty probably wouldn’t even have remembered to enfeoff him as a prince!”

“This is exactly what makes Prince Liang worth learning from!” She looked steadily at her fourth sister, Bai Jinzhi. “Prince Liang was able to disguise himself flawlessly with cowardice, timidity, incompetence, and fearfulness! With this outer garment of cowardice and incompetence, many things, people would never suspect him, so he could act with impunity in the shadows while appearing completely above board. Xiao Si… do you understand?”

Bai Jinxiu looked at the sharp, cold killing intent in her elder sister’s eyes, her face gradually turning pale. She had thought… Prince Liang was deeply infatuated with her elder sister, even willing to overlook her elder sister’s fate of bearing few children and wholeheartedly seeking to marry her: “Elder sister… could there be some misunderstanding?!”

“Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not, we’ll know after we see it in a while.”

Tong Ji, who was guarding the back corner gate of the Duke’s mansion, kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, so cold that he would stamp his feet one moment and breathe on his hands the next, rubbing his nearly frozen ears.

“Master Tong… why don’t you wait in the carriage?” the coachman from Prince Liang’s mansion whispered to persuade Tong Ji.

Tong Ji shook his head. Prince Liang had instructed him to handle this matter properly, otherwise, he would be dismissed. He was anxious and restless… how could he sit still in the carriage when this matter wasn’t handled well?

Thinking of this, Tong Ji’s eyes even reddened. He turned away to wipe his tears: “I’ll wait right here!”