After Dong Shi solemnly paid her respects to the Grand Princess, she spoke: “I shall go with Mother!” Now that the Bai family’s major affairs were concluded, Dong Shi no longer needed to oversee the mansion. If it were to seek justice for the Bai family… how could she be absent?!

“I shall go with the Grand Princess and Elder Sister!” Dong Qingyue also said.

“I’m going too!” Bai Jinzhi shouted, “I shall accompany Grandmother as well!”

Fifth Madam Qi Shi, protecting her belly and supported up the high steps by the nanny beside her, spoke with red-rimmed eyes but a firm voice: “I shall also accompany Mother. The Bai family’s heroic spirits have just been laid to rest, yet they’re being framed and slandered by those with ulterior motives and wolf-hearted intentions. If this can be tolerated, what cannot be?! We widows of the Bai family… even if we die, we absolutely cannot allow these loyal souls to be wronged!”

The choked voice of Fifth Madam, who was six months pregnant, carried resilience. Her determination to seek justice for the Bai family’s heroic spirits infected everyone, and the common people echoed in agreement.

“Right! We cannot let the Bai family’s loyal souls be wronged!” a righteous person called out loudly.

“You cannot all go,” the Grand Princess gently patted Dong Shi’s hand and spoke to stop them. “We are going to petition His Majesty, not to coerce His Majesty! You shall wait at home for my return!”

“Since Grandmother won’t let us accompany you, then we… shall wait outside Wude Gate!” Bai Qingyan’s elegant and picturesque countenance was solemn, her pair of bright black eyes like ice crystals formed in the extreme cold of deep winter nights, so dazzlingly beautiful that people dared not stare directly, “Should His Majesty summon us for confrontation, it would be good to trouble the common people to bear witness for our Bai family!”

The Grand Princess tightened her grip on the tiger-headed cane, gazing at her eldest granddaughter, whose eyes were calm and profound. A’Bao didn’t trust her – their grandmother and granddaughter had indeed grown apart in their hearts!

Her granddaughter had probably made up her mind to use public sentiment and public opinion to protect the Bai family, preferring to use circumstances to pressure the current emperor rather than rely on her as a grandmother. She would rather trust the common people who had no connection to her than trust her grandmother.

The Grand Princess’s figure swayed almost imperceptibly, her heart continuously sinking.

The pain of losing her husband, son, and grandson, combined with the pain of her granddaughter’s estrangement, the Grand Princess almost couldn’t hold on.

But now, with everyone watching, it wasn’t a good time to discuss their grandmother-granddaughter matters.

Before the Grand Princess could speak again, Bai Jinzhi had already stepped forward first, cupping her hands and bowing deeply to the common people: “I beseech all you righteous people to wait with us outside Wude Gate. Should His Majesty wish to have a confrontation, please bear witness for our Bai family!”

“Fourth Miss need not do this! Even if Fourth Miss hadn’t said so… we would certainly accompany the Bai family widows to Wude Gate!”

“Right! We shall go to Wude Gate together with the Bai family widows! If His Majesty shows favoritism, we’ll beat the Petition Drum for the Bai family! We absolutely will not let the Bai family’s heroic spirits be wronged! Let’s go!”

Before the Bai family widows could move, the common people were already bustling excitedly, forming groups and heading toward Wude Gate.

“Elder Sister! Let’s go too!” Bai Jinzhi’s eyes blazed with fire as she looked toward Bai Qingyan.

“Grandmother will take the carriage and should arrive faster than we! We shall wait outside Wude Gate… for Grandmother’s good news.” Bai Qingyan gave a slight curtsy to the Grand Princess, her voice calm and composed.

“A’Bao…” the Grand Princess called Bai Qingyan’s name once, “If you fear that Grandmother will favor Prince Liang, then come into the palace with Grandmother!”

Going to Wude Gate to cry injustice again would be the same as beating the Petition Drum on the seventh day to pressure the Emperor.

She couldn’t let Bai Qingyan lead the common people to press at Wude Gate again. Last time, the Emperor had already been forced to deal with Prince Liang due to Bai Qingyan leading people to beat the Petition Drum… and had taken his anger out on Bai Qingyan. This time, if Bai Qingyan went with these common people, even if Bai Qingyan didn’t take the lead, the Emperor would still blame the people surrounding Wude Gate again on Bai Qingyan.

Imperial authority and majesty could not be challenged.

The Grand Princess feared that while the Emperor might openly refrain from acting against Bai Qingyan due to public sentiment, he would secretly strike her down with deadly force.

“Elder Sister, I believe you should accompany Grandmother into the palace… to prevent His Majesty from believing Prince Liang’s evasive words. If this person truly disguises himself with cowardice and incompetence… then his scheming would be extremely deep, and we must guard against it!” Bai Jinxiu whispered to Bai Qingyan, “Outside the palace, there’s eldest sister-in-law and us, but inside the palace… we entrust it to Elder Sister.”

Bai Jinxiu felt it would be more prudent for Bai Qingyan to enter the palace for a confrontation with Prince Liang, lest Prince Liang put on his submissive act to cleanly deflect this matter and then take the opportunity to petition the Emperor for marriage. Once the imperial edict was issued, Elder Sister wouldn’t even have room for maneuver.

“Elder Sister! You can rest assured about being outside the palace with us there!” Bai Jintong also said.

Regarding the incident last time when Bai Qingyan was struck with a rod in front of Wude Gate, Dong Shi still felt heartache when she thought about it. She wasn’t merely an ignorant woman who only managed the three-acre plot of the inner quarters – she also knew that this trip to Wude Gate couldn’t have Bai Qingyan taking the lead again.

A tree that stands out in the forest will surely be destroyed by the wind.

One who acts higher than others will surely be criticized by the masses.

The precedent of Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, the Bai family, was right before their eyes. Dong Shi couldn’t let her daughter follow the same path.

“A’Bao, go into the palace with your grandmother!” Dong Shi slowly spoke, “Leave the palace interior to you, the palace exterior to Mother!”

How could she not know that this time, Mother and her younger sisters didn’t want her to be the scapegoat who forced the Emperor again?

Bai Jinxiu was right – Prince Liang was cunning. Grandmother was originally devoted to the imperial family, and if she softened for a moment or reached some agreement with the Emperor to minimize this matter, this elaborate setup would be wasted.

However, Bai Qingyan wasn’t entirely without precautions. If Grandmother truly still favored the imperial family this time, then she would use the most foolish and simple method – kill and burn!

Kill Prince Liang, then set Prince Liang’s mansion ablaze.

But unless necessary, she must not use this method. Not only was there Gao Sheng beside Prince Liang, whose martial arts were unfathomably deep, but using this method… would leave traces. She didn’t have complete confidence in killing Prince Liang with one strike. If her people were instead captured alive by Prince Liang’s men, it would bury the Bai family’s century-old prestigious reputation even more.

More importantly, she didn’t have complete confidence in controlling the consequences of Prince Liang’s death within her grasp.

Currently, those following Prince Liang were all former subordinates of the Second Prince. When the Second Prince was alive, he had many capable people and extraordinary talents around him. Later, when Bai Qingyan followed Prince Liang to the battlefield, she had seen quite a few – Du Zhiwei was one of them.

The one who planned for Prince Liang, making him pretend to be foolish and incompetent while openly following Prince Xin’s lead… secretly lying low and accumulating military achievements, waiting for Prince Xin and Prince Qi to fight until both were injured… so Prince Liang could return with military merits and enter the Emperor’s sight, was Du Zhiwei.

Bai Qingyan was extremely wary of Du Zhiwei.

Moreover, if she truly took the dangerous route of killing, the Bai family’s loyal servants would need to sacrifice their lives, and might even implicate the innocent!

This was the absolute last resort when there was no other choice.

She moved close to Bai Jinxiu’s ear and carefully instructed her at length. Bai Jinxiu’s eyes brightened as she nodded: “Elder Sister, rest assured! Jinxiu understands!”

The Emperor wholeheartedly wanted to be a more virtuous and sage ruler than the previous emperor, to leave his name in history, so naturally, he cared about reputation – this was the Emperor’s greatest weakness.