Those with weak backbones couldn’t hold up any longer and had already knelt.

Bai Qingyan acted as if she hadn’t seen them, continuing: “Prince Han Cheng is dead… I don’t want to betray his trust even more, so for his sake, I’m willing to give you another chance. If you don’t cherish it, you can’t blame me for not keeping my word!”

Bai Qingyan’s gaze swept over several people, the smile in her eyes making them feel somewhat terrified: “I hope you can clearly distinguish the current trends of the times!”

“Before I leave, I will leave my eyes and ears in the Dongyi capital. If you serve the Great Zhou diligently, they will naturally provide full assistance. If you betray Great Zhou… naturally you won’t live to return!” Bai Qingyan stood up and said, “I hope you take care of yourselves, and I hope some people conduct themselves properly! If you can atone through merit… I will let bygones be bygones!”

Having finished speaking, Bai Qingyan stepped toward the exit. Bai Jinzhi glanced once at the spies inside, frowned, and followed Bai Qingyan. She heard Bai Qingyan, after exiting, say to Shen Qingzhu: “Later, register the names and official positions of those willing to remain inside. You deliver the list secretly to Bai Yusheng, so he can use them well and screen them carefully.”

“Yes!” Shen Qingzhu saluted and went to handle the matter.

Seeing Shen Qingzhu leave, Bai Jinzhi clasped her hands behind her back and followed her eldest sister, lowering her voice to ask: “Eldest sister, knowing there are traitors among those people, you still let them meet. Aren’t you afraid of leaving future troubles for our spies? Just to keep your promise to Prince Han Cheng to spare these spies’ lives, this… if something goes wrong, more than one person could die!”

Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Jinzhi with a smile: “Even the Dongyi Emperor is our Great Zhou’s person – what do we need spies for? What we want… is for our people to become powerful ministers holding real authority in the Dongyi court! Moreover, only by knowing each other’s identities can they work together effectively. Didn’t I already tell the Empress that Great Zhou has many spies in Dongyi who will become important court ministers after the Emperor’s enthronement!”

Bai Jinzhi’s eyes widened: “I thought… eldest sister, you were just trying to anger her!”

“Why would I anger her?” Bai Qingyan paused in her steps and tapped Bai Jinzhi’s forehead. “Our Great Zhou now holds every advantage. Leaving Yusheng in Dongyi, we naturally need to provide him with useful and influential ministers in the court to squeeze the Dongyi Empress out of the court! Only then can Yusheng freely do what he wants to do!”

Bai Jinzhi suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly.

As she walked outside with Bai Jinzhi, she continued: “Naturally, we also need people in the shadows, but regarding the spies that Great Liang previously placed, we don’t know who among them is truly loyal to Great Zhou and who betrayed Great Zhou after Liang’s fall! Rather than spending time and effort investigating all these people – I’m afraid even after the national gamble is decided, we might not finish the investigation – it’s better to bring some back and put all those willing to stay in the open for my use! In the shadows… We’ll place new people!”

After thinking for a moment, Bai Jinzhi suddenly realized: “So eldest sister just had Sister Qingzhu give the list to Yusheng to use these people. Those who are truly our people will naturally work diligently! Those who aren’t won’t dare openly cause trouble! Anyone who interferes with Yusheng’s appointments will be noticed, and it won’t be too late to deal with them then! Also… eldest sister is considering Prince Han Cheng and truly giving these people a chance to turn back.”

Bai Jinzhi suddenly thought of something else: “Others certainly don’t know that the Emperor is Bai Yusheng. If someone among them goes to report to the Emperor… reporting to Bai Yusheng would be quite interesting! Or reporting to the Empress! Eldest sister… we should probably arrange for someone to watch the Empress!”

Bai Qingyan glanced at Bai Jinzhi and smoothed her hair: “You used your brain this time… and you know everything. Before, you were too impulsive. Now that your brothers are back home, you’re being spoiled again and don’t want to think!”

“With my eldest sister and my brothers around, naturally, I don’t need to think!” Bai Jinzhi’s eyes showed a bright smile. “But if I’m left alone, I’ll still use my brain! Last time that Sun Wenyao tried to deceive me, didn’t he fail? Instead, I dealt with him!”

Seeing her eldest sister step away, Bai Jinzhi hurriedly followed: “Eldest sister, who should we leave in the shadows to be safe?”

Originally, Bai Qingyan had been quite inclined toward Chen Qingsheng, but thinking about separating Chun Tao from Chen Qingsheng made Bai Qingyan’s heart ache for that silly girl. If there was truly no other choice, Bai Qingyan would place Shen Qingzhu and Xiao Ruohai in Dongyi – this way… it would also help bring those two together.

After settling palace affairs, Bai Qingyan immediately went to visit Liu Rushi. He had become so thin that his cheeks were sunken, no longer showing the refined and handsome appearance he’d had when departing from the capital. His complexion looked more than ten years older than before, yet his eyes were very bright.

Liu Rushi told Bai Qingyan about how the Second Prince, who had ascended to the Dongyi throne, had become obsessed with finding these jade cicadas and the matter of time reversal.

“When Tianfeng signed the alliance with our Great Zhou, this subject learned that the Tianfeng people deeply revere their gods, so they would certainly believe in this time reversal matter without doubt. This subject inquired and learned… that Sa’er Khan gave his jade cicada to the Dongyi Second Prince entirely because the Second Prince had a sudden whim, so Tianfeng definitely couldn’t have given the Second Prince a fake jade cicada!” Liu Rushi tapped the table with his finger and leaned closer to Bai Qingyan, continuing: “But the Tianfeng ruler left without demanding the jade cicada back. Others might not know, but this subject knows how much the Tianfeng ruler was willing to pay for that jade cicada in the Imperial Consort’s relics when he was in our Great Zhou! Previously, when the Tianfeng ruler gave the jade cicada to the Dongyi Second Prince, one could say he wanted to test whether he could exchange it for a real jade cicada by taking advantage of our Great Zhou’s unwillingness to have trouble in Dongyi during our national gamble. But when leaving, there’s no reason… he would just leave the jade cicada behind!”

“You suspect there are Tianfeng spies within the Dongyi palace?” Bai Qingyan picked up her teacup and gently blew on the hot liquid.

“Exactly…” Liu Rushi nodded. “If Tianfeng left spies in Dongyi and joined hands with Yan, Dongyi would become a variable for our Great Zhou! Your Majesty should still be prepared!”

Seeing her eldest sister pick up her teacup, Bai Jinzhi also picked up hers, quite enjoying this feeling of knowing everything while others didn’t. This Lord Liu didn’t know that the current Dongyi Emperor was already their Great Zhou’s person…