Moreover, in his heart, no one could ever compare to Su Mu again.

Bai Qingyu lowered his extremely long eyelashes, hiding the expression in his eyes, and slowly headed toward the Bai residence.

·

“Elder Sister, Fifth Brother said you were looking for me!” When Bai Jinzhi entered, she saw her elder sister playing with Kangle and Xile in her arms.

Seeing Bai Jinzhi approach, Bai Qingyan instructed Nanny Tong and the wet nurse to take the two children away, smiled and patted the spot beside her, saying to Bai Jinzhi: “Come sit!”

Bai Jinzhi ran over happily, craning her neck to call to Nanny Tong: “Nanny, don’t take Xile and Kangle too far away. I still want to play with them later!”

Nanny Tong smiled and responded: “Understood, Fourth Miss. They’ll be in the side hall. You speak with First Miss first—the little princess and little prince should be fed soon.”

After watching Nanny Tong and the others leave, Bai Jinzhi obediently knelt and sat before Bai Qingyan, her large black and white eyes blinking as she looked at her elder sister: “Does Elder Sister have something for me to do?”

“Elder Sister wants to ask you… Third Aunt is currently looking at young men of suitable age to match you, wanting to settle your marriage first. Do you have anyone you fancy in your heart? You can tell Elder Sister…” Seeing Bai Jinzhi’s eyes widen as if about to speak, Bai Qingyan quickly added, “Think carefully. If you tell me, Elder Sister might still be able to persuade Third Aunt. But if you don’t speak up, when the time comes for parental arrangement and matchmaker’s words, there will be no room for regret.”

“Elder Sister, why are you joining Mother in this nonsense too?” Bai Jinzhi looked at Bai Qingyan seriously. “We agreed back then that we wouldn’t marry!”

“Back then, your brothers hadn’t been able to return, and at that time, we needed the Bai family daughters to support the family’s reputation. Now… you can very well choose a gentleman you like to spend the rest of your life with. This matter naturally needs consideration!” Bai Qingyan tapped her fingers lightly on the table. “You are now Prince Gaoyi. After marriage, you’ll have your own prince’s mansion. It’s not marrying into another family, and there won’t be issues like backyard intrigue or difficult mothers-in-law. You should think about it.”

“But what decent young man from a good family would be willing to marry me and live together in the prince’s mansion, being a step below his wife?” Bai Jinzhi always felt that finding a husband for herself would be difficult, so she hadn’t thought about such matters.

“What if you both serve as officials in court together? Little Four… do you know that Cousin Changqing from Uncle’s household had feelings for you? Later… it was because your status was noble, and seeing that you had no such feelings for him, he put away those thoughts.” Bai Qingyan brought up Dong Changqing, the concubine-born son of Dong Qingping.

Bai Jinzhi stared wide-eyed at her elder sister, her ears suddenly turning red. She knew her elder sister never lied to her, but… but… Dong Changqing had never said anything!

“There are also Lu Yuanpeng and Sima Ping. You treat them as buddies and brothers, but you are ultimately a woman. Have you ever thought about what feelings those two might have for you?”

Bai Jinzhi quickly shook her head, even showing an expression as if she’d seen a ghost: “Elder Sister, I don’t believe what you’re saying. That Lu Yuanpeng feels uncomfortable all over if he doesn’t fight with me for a day, and that Sima Ping wishes he could choke me to death when talking to me. The two of them always team up to find fault with me. If I hadn’t beaten them both into submission, would they be so obedient?!”

“Besides, that Lu Yuanpeng is just a crybaby girl at heart! Elder Sister, you don’t know… not only did he cry until his eyes were red during battle, he even used a girly handkerchief to wipe his tears. I simply couldn’t bear to look!” Bai Jinzhi couldn’t wait to expose Lu Yuanpeng’s embarrassing behavior to Bai Qingyan.

“Then… what about Sima Ping?” Bai Qingyan asked again.

“Sima Ping…” Bai Jinzhi thought seriously, “Elder Sister, I think Sima Ping… should prefer men and likes Lu Yuanpeng! Look at him… he risked his life to save Lu Yuanpeng on the battlefield, and every time he gets implicated by Lu Yuanpeng and takes the blame, he never complains! Just this incident with the military officers causing trouble at Wude Gate—with Sima Ping’s clever mind, he knew it was inadvisable, but he still came for Lu Yuanpeng’s sake!”

Bai Jinzhi earnestly counted on her fingers for Bai Qingyan.

“Bai! Jin! Zhi!” Bai Qingyan’s voice suddenly rose, interrupting Bai Jinzhi’s nonsense, “Stop talking nonsense!”

“Elder Sister…” Bai Jinzhi’s ears turned red. “You said I usually treat them as buddies, and now you suddenly tell me they have… have romantic feelings for me, I… and their relationship is so good, maybe… I should help them get together!”

Bai Qingyan was amused by Bai Jinzhi’s wild talk and raised her hand to pat Bai Jinzhi’s forehead: “Our Little Four looks like a grown young lady, but inside she’s still a child!”

“Never mind…” Bai Qingyan straightened her sleeves, “Third Aunt will still worry about your marriage. According to what your Second Sister says, Third Aunt has already picked out several families, all youngest sons or second sons… who can establish separate residences. Third Aunt has put thought into this for you. From what your Second Sister means, she’ll probably settle your life’s major event by this year at the latest. You need to be prepared!”

“Ah?” Bai Jinzhi finally panicked, “Elder Sister, save me!”

“Elder Sister hopes that in this life, you can stay with someone you love until your hair turns white, so… you need to see clearly into your own heart! If you can see clearly into your heart, Elder Sister can speak with Third Aunt.” Bai Qingyan looked at her silly younger sister and raised her hand to pat Bai Jinzhi’s head, “Go on, go play with Xile and Kangle for a while!”

Today, Bai Qingyan had specifically called Bai Jinzhi to ask about this. Originally, she planned that if she could get an answer, she would find a way to fulfill Bai Jinzhi’s wishes. If Bai Jinzhi hadn’t awakened to such feelings yet, at this age, she should be given some hints to open her eyes and stop treating others as brothers all the time.

Bai Jinzhi came out of the main hall in a daze, her mind still on what Elder Sister had said… that Lu Yuanpeng and Sima Ping both liked her!

Bai Jinzhi’s ears grew even hotter. After all, she was a girl, and being liked by someone did bring a little joy to her heart, especially since she had been tanned so dark and her skin had become so rough—she wasn’t one of those pretty, delicate noble ladies in the capital. How could anyone like her?

Sima Ping and Lu Yuanpeng? Those two had clearly said before, with their arms around each other’s shoulders, that if they couldn’t find wives in this lifetime, they planned to make do together for life. How could they like her?

Not to mention Lu Yuanpeng, who fought with her every day.

And that Sima Ping had an even more poisonous tongue…

When their armies converged and broke through Yun Jing City in that battle, she heard they were fighting fiercely in the city. Bai Jinzhi rode quickly into the city to help, but who knew that a bunch of Xiliang soldiers appeared from somewhere and chased after Bai Jinzhi. They pursued her to where Lu Yuanpeng and Sima Ping were, and only when the two armies joined forces did they eliminate the desperate Xiliang troops.