She walked a few steps toward the outer room with a somber expression, covering her lips as she whispered something in Fourth Miss Bai Jinzhi’s ear.

Bai Jinzhi’s reddened eyes lit up. Gripping the riding whip at her waist, she nodded and charged out.

“You go watch too, don’t let Fourth Miss suffer any losses!” Bai Qingyan turned to instruct Chun Yan.

“Elder sister?!” Third Miss Bai Jintong stepped forward, looking at Bai Qingyan with confusion. “What did you tell Little Four? What did she go to do?”

Bai Qingyan gripped her hand warmer tightly, her voice cold and harsh: “Didn’t they say Second Sister was playing with her sister-in-law? Since Second Sister’s sister-in-law loves to play so much, our Little Four has a reputation to uphold—it would be a disservice to that reputation if she didn’t go play with her!”

Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss gathered around the bed, tears streaming as they looked at Bai Jinxiu.

“How is it, Physician Hong?” Second Madam Liu twisted the handkerchief in her hands, extremely worried.

“She’s caught a chill and the high fever won’t break… Has her head also suffered some impact?” Physician Hong rolled up his sleeves, about to examine Bai Jinxiu’s head.

Nanny Wu from beside the Marquis’s wife shrieked: “Our Young Madam is precious beyond measure—how can you let this Kingdom doctor touch her?!”

Bai Qingyan’s sharp gaze turned toward Nanny Wu.

Second Madam Liu was also quite fierce. Without waiting for her steward nanny Nanny Luo, to act, she shoved Nanny Wu aside: “My daughter married into your Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion in perfect health, and now she lies here unconscious! What are you to dare block Physician Hong from examining my daughter?! Worthless, filthy thing…”

Before Second Madam Liu could say anything more unpleasant, Bai Jintong was already looking sideways at Nanny Wu: “Our Duke’s mansion’s honored guest becomes a Kingdom doctor upon arriving at Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion? What arrogance Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion has!”

Nanny Jiang sensed something amiss and inconspicuously looked toward the nervous-looking Nanny Wu.

Nanny Wu cowered to one side, stealing glances at the stern-faced Nanny Jiang. Her heart sank as she quickly put on a flattering smile: “Yesterday, when Young Madam fell into the water, our Madam used her name card to invite an Imperial Physician to examine Young Madam. Second Madam and Third Miss have misunderstood.”

“Where is your heir?!” Seeing her daughter in such a condition without even seeing her son-in-law, Second Madam Liu flew into a rage.

“Since Young Madam cannot return home today, the heir went to Fanxing Tower to attend a poetry gathering with friends,” Nanny Wu said deliberately, trying to provoke discord.

“This… shouldn’t someone be sent to invite the heir back!” Nanny Luo looked toward Nanny Jiang, as she was here representing the Grand Princess after all.

Bai Qingyan knew that Qin Lang’s stepmother was not easy to deal with and was probably trying to provoke the Duke’s mansion’s dissatisfaction with Qin Lang by deliberately sending him away. She suppressed her anger and said, “Third Sister, have our Duke’s mansion’s servants go to Fanxing Tower to invite Heir Qin back.”

“How can that be proper? Our heir is attending a poetry gathering—that’s an important matter for a man… how can we invite him back for such a trivial thing!” Nanny Wu was indeed more arrogant on her territory than when at the Duke’s mansion.

Bai Qingyan’s bone-chillingly cold, profound eyes stared directly at this shrewd old woman, harshly demanding: “Is this your meaning, or your Marquis’s wife’s meaning?”

Having her thoughts exposed, Nanny Wu felt guilty under Bai Qingyan’s gaze and shrank back without speaking. Remembering that the Bai family eldest miss had once followed the Duke to battle and personally beheaded enemy generals, her heart panicked terribly. Every time the Bai family eldest miss looked at her, Nanny Wu felt her heart pounding.

“I’ll go right away!” Bai Jintong looked deeply at Nanny Wu and lifted her skirts to leave.

Bai Qingyan sat on the soft couch, holding her hand warmer as she looked at Nanny Wu and asked again: “Where are my second sister’s dowry maids? I haven’t seen a single one until now.”

Nanny Wu shuddered, thinking this was bad.

Only now did Second Madam Liu, who had been too busy and frantic worrying about her daughter, notice that none of Bai Jinxiu’s dowry maids were to be seen. She angrily pointed at Nanny Wu: “Where are my daughter’s dowry maids?! Speak!”

“Reporting to Second Madam and Miss, Young Madam’s fall into the water was all because the maids served inadequately. Our marquis’s mansion has strict rules, unlike the Duke’s mansion’s generosity. When the master has problems, it’s because the servants didn’t serve well, so our Marquis’s wife decided to dismiss and sell them all!” Nanny Wu lowered her eyes guiltily.

Bai Qingyan was almost laughing with anger, her chest heaving violently, nearly crushing the hand warmer in her grip. What excellent, strict rules indeed!

“The Marquis’s wife truly has great airs! Her hands reached right into her daughter-in-law’s dowry! My daughter’s dowry maids’ contracts of servitude were all part of my daughter’s dowry, yet your Madam took advantage of my daughter’s unconsciousness to dare sell them off!” Second Madam Liu was so angry her chest hurt, not knowing what kind of devil’s den her daughter had married into.

Interfering with a daughter-in-law’s dowry would not sound good if word spread. Nanny Wu immediately panicked: “This was done with Young Madam’s permission!”

Second Madam Liu felt even more stifled: “Are you assuming my daughter hasn’t awakened and trying to deceive me?!”

No sooner had Second Madam Liu finished speaking than a maid came stumbling in, her hair disheveled and a whip mark across her face.

“Terrible! Terrible! The Bai family’s Fourth Miss has gone mad… she wants to beat our Second Miss and our Madam to death!”

Hearing this, Nanny Wu’s eyes widened as she hurriedly lifted her skirts to run out. Just as she stepped through the door, she quickly turned back and bowed to Second Madam Liu: “Has the Bai family’s Fourth Miss lost her mind to dare hit people in our Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion?! Second Madam, Nanny Jiang, you two must intervene!”

Nanny Jiang, standing with her hands folded, looked toward the composed Bai Qingyan upon hearing this.

Their eyes met, and Bai Qingyan’s gaze toward Nanny Jiang was clear. Nanny Jiang immediately understood that Bai Qingyan was deliberately trying to make this matter bigger and nodded slightly at her.

Second Madam Liu laughed coldly: “My daughter lies here between life and death—I don’t care about your Second Miss and Madam’s well-being!”

Looking at Second Madam Liu’s reaction, Nanny Wu was stunned. These Bai family people were simply… simply unreasonable! She could only look pleadingly at Nanny Jiang: “Nanny Jiang?! Please say something!”

Looking at the deathly pale Bai Jinxiu on the bed, Nanny Jiang was also heartbroken: “This old servant follows Second Madam’s orders entirely.”

The Grand Princess had instructed Nanny Jiang before coming that nothing mattered more than their own granddaughter’s life.

Bai Qingyan knew that in her previous life, the Minister of Personnel’s wife had swallowed her anger and minimized the matter for her daughter’s sake, but this had planted hidden dangers for later.

In this life, nothing mattered more to her than Bai Jinxiu’s life. Making this matter bigger would make Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion more wary.

Bai Qingyan already had a plan in mind.

As the saying goes, nothing can be established without first being destroyed. She hoped Qin Lang wouldn’t disappoint her and could use this opportunity to… truly stand up.

If Qin Lang truly couldn’t be helped and couldn’t stand up, even though noble families with titles in the capital had no precedent for divorce by mutual consent, Bai Qingyan would force Qin Lang to agree to divorce while news from Nanjiang hadn’t returned, and the Duke’s mansion’s prestige remained.

Divorce by mutual consent would be better than letting Bai Jinxiu be tormented for life like the Minister of Personnel’s legitimate second daughter in her previous life.