Already seated in the carriage, Bai Qingyan held her hand warmer and lifted the carriage curtain to look at Jiang Shi’s seemingly frail demeanor, unable to help but sneer coldly. The words were spoken so beautifully, appearing to yield while secretly accusing the Duke’s mansion of being too overbearing – that sisters-in-law were merely playing when one accidentally fell into the lake, yet the Duke mansion’s Fourth Miss indiscriminately wielded her whip against their mansion’s two young misses at Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion, and even pressed their advantage by forcibly carrying the ailing married daughter back to the Duke’s mansion in heavy snow.

“She’s spouting complete nonsense!”

Fourth Miss Bai Jinzhi grasped the horsewhip at her waist and was about to get out of the carriage, but was held back by Third Miss Bai Jintong, who shared the same carriage.

“Never mind that Marquis Zhongyong’s wife holds an official rank as an ennobled lady – if you impulsively whip Marquis Zhongyong’s wife at their mansion, not only would you be playing right into her hands, but your reputation would be ruined!” Bai Jintong patted Bai Jinzhi’s hand and said, “You sit properly in the carriage. I’ll go to my eldest sister’s carriage to discuss with her!”

Second Madam Liu Shi, who was about to board the carriage, spoke with an excited, trembling voice filled with tears and anger: “My daughter has only been married into your marquis mansion for three days! Her life is already hanging by a thread! How dare I let my daughter remain in your Marquis Zhongyong mansion, that’s like a den of tigers and wolves?”

Marquis Zhongyong Qin Dezhao had not yet reached the entrance when he heard his wife’s humble apologies, then saw Second Madam Liu Shi being so aggressive, describing their marquis mansion like a demon’s lair. Fury rose within him as he lifted the hem of his long robe and strode out of the mansion gates.

“Second Madam, have you perhaps forgotten that Bai Jinxiu has already married into my marquis mansion?!” Qin Dezhao stood with hands clasped behind his back, his charcoal-dark face taut and looking quite intimidating.

Nanny Jiang feared that Liu Shi might impulsively say something that would give others leverage against them. She stepped forward to bow, but before she could speak, Bai Qingyan’s clear, cold voice rang out…

“Marquis’s wife has such a sharp tongue that she can make black appear white… turning murder and life-taking into playful frolicking! We had no choice but to move my second sister back to the mansion in heavy snow, yet with just a few words from Marquis’s wife, we’ve become unreasonable and overbearing! Truly eye-opening indeed.”

Seeing Chun Tao lift the curtain to help Bai Qingyan down from the carriage, Bai Jintong stood quietly by the carriage watching.

Marquis Zhongyong Qin Dezhao clenched his fists hidden behind his back, his deep gaze fixed on the steadily approaching Bai Qingyan: “Miss Bai, watch your words.”

Nanny Jiang hurriedly stepped forward to support Bai Qingyan, protecting her at her side.

Second Madam Liu Shi’s eyes were bloodshot as she spoke with agitated emotion: “Marquis Zhongyong, your two daughters are truly formidable! They smashed such a large, bloody hole in my daughter’s head, then pushed her into the water in the depths of winter! My daughter has only been married into your marquis mansion for three days! Only three days! What great grievance could there be to make them strike my daughter with such deadly intent like wild beasts?!”

Qin Dezhao turned to look at Jiang Shi, who turned pale and shook her head frantically. Qin Dezhao then looked at Second Madam Liu Shi: “Second Madam, could there be some misunderstanding?”

“What bullshit misunderstanding!” Second Madam Liu Shi was so angry she used profanity, tears streaming as she pointed at Marquis’s wife Jiang Shi, her eyes showing she wished she could tear her apart alive. “Ask your good wife! The cunning old woman beside her has already personally admitted that your mansion’s two daughters injured my daughter, yet she dares to casually dismiss it as sisters-in-law playing and falling into water! Taking advantage of my daughter’s unconsciousness, she reached into my daughter’s dowry and sold off all my daughter’s accompanying maids. Right when my daughter most needs care, she doesn’t even have a serving maid by her side – this is trying to take my daughter’s life!”

Second Madam Liu Shi began crying as she spoke with increasing agitation, clutching tightly at the clothes on her chest, her eyes filled with towering hatred: “What kind of marquis mansion is this?! This is simply a demon’s den that takes people’s lives! I was truly blind to push my daughter into the fire pit of your Marquis Zhongyong mansion! Are you even human? You’re a nest of beasts and evil wolves!”

“Second Madam! No one wanted Bai Jinxiu to accidentally fall into the water and lose consciousness!” Qin Dezhao immediately flew into a rage. “I respect you as an in-law, but if you continue with such vile language, don’t blame me for being impolite!”

“Marquis…” Bai Qingyan kept a stern face as she spoke coldly and deliberately: “My second sister is an excellent swimmer – looking across the entire capital, even men who could match her skill are rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Accidentally falling into water, causing unconsciousness? Doesn’t the Marquis find that laughable?”

Qin Dezhao was full of irritation: “Regardless of how it happened, the Bai family’s second miss is already my Marquis Zhongyong mansion’s daughter-in-law, a member of the Qin family! You Bai family people say you’ll take her away and take her away – what do you take my Marquis Zhongyong mansion for?!”

Bai Qingyan raised her eyes, murderous intent already showing: “Just as the Marquis says… my second sister married into the marquis mansion and is a member of the marquis mansion, but when my second sister was injured by the marquis mansion’s two young misses and her life hangs in the balance, not only does the marquis mansion ignore it, but we her natal family cannot even inquire about it?! My grandmother, the Grand Princess, cannot even inquire about it?! Is this forming a marriage alliance… or taking a life?!”

“Complete nonsense!” Qin Dezhao’s face turned iron-blue with anger.

“Since the Marquis calls my words nonsense, do you dare have your mansion’s two young misses swear on their lives that they did not smash a bloody hole in my second sister’s forehead, did not push my second sister into the water…” Bai Qingyan unhurriedly stepped up the high steps of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion, her blazing gaze fixed on Qin Dezhao, her presence increasingly oppressive as she spoke word by word, “Do you dare let Marquis’s wife swear that she did not improperly interfere with my second sister’s dowry maids? If any words are false, may the entire clan meet no good end and die with festering sores covering their rotting flesh?!”

Marquis’s wife Jiang Shi was intimidated by the murderous aura forged from Bai Qingyan’s battlefield experience, tugging at Qin Dezhao’s sleeve: “Marquis…”

“Do Marquis’s wife and your mansion’s two young misses dare?! If Marquis’s wife and the two young misses dare say one word of ‘dare’! I, Bai Qingyan, will today behead myself and drink poison to apologize to Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion!”

Bai Qingyan spoke both steadily and quickly, clarifying the matter in just a few words, causing the watching crowd to discuss animatedly.

“Oh my, interfering with a daughter-in-law’s dowry – that’s plotting for wealth and life!”

“Exactly! Who would have thought Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion would act this way!”

“Oh dear! I heard their marquis mansion also has a legitimate young master. Any family that marries their daughter into Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion would truly have eight generations of bad luck.”

Qin Lang, who had rushed back on horseback from Fanxing Tower upon hearing the news, saw from afar the carriages and crowds of onlookers gathered in front of Marquis Zhongyong’s mansion gates. Just as he caught sight of Bai Qingyan gracefully stepping down from the carriage, those words made his heart pound violently, and he dared not approach.

Marquis Zhongyong Qin Dezhao clenched his fists tightly, gritting his back teeth as he spoke harshly: “You Bai family daughters act wildly within the Duke’s mansion, not cultivating yourselves or maintaining virtue, constantly handling swords and weapons – that’s one thing! Now you even extend your reach into others’ inner quarters, publicly slandering elders in the street. Aren’t you afraid someone will impeach the Duke and the Duke’s heir for indulging their daughters without restraint, raising but not educating them?!”

Both Bai Jinzhi and Bai Jintong were furious. Bai Jinzhi had already emerged from the carriage, and if not for Bai Jintong holding her back, Bai Jinzhi probably couldn’t have resisted going forward to reason with the Marquis using her whip.