Bai Qingyan’s steady, clear eyes looked toward Marquis Zhongyong Qin Dezhao as she flew into a rage, speaking in a loud, stern voice: “If someone wants to impeach my grandfather and father, then let them do so! We Bai family daughters do not study female virtues and precepts – what we learn is the skill of defending our home and Kingdom… the ability to fight bloody battles alongside thousands of troops! What we learn is to prefer being wrapped in horse leather and having our bones ground to dust rather than allowing the people and sovereign of our Jin nation to be humiliated – this is our unwavering loyalty and courage! We Bai family children face heaven without shame and look down upon people without guilt! If acting with righteousness and disdaining the dirty methods of scheming and deception in inner quarters, if being upright and forthright in our actions is considered arrogant behavior, then I, Bai Qingyan, am not only arrogant today… I will be even more arrogant in the future!”

“Excellent!”

“Excellent indeed – upright and forthright in action! The Duke’s mansion family… regardless of men or women, truly possesses such proud integrity!”

Someone couldn’t help but cheer.

For a moment, the watching civilians remembered that the Duke mansion’s daughters had also fought bloody battles on the frontier during national crises.

They thought of the Duke far away fighting in Nan Jiang, bringing all the Bai family men to the battlefield to defend home and Kingdom!

It had been over half a year since the Duke went to war in Nan Jiang. The people had not forgotten the grand spectacle when they departed – the Duke mansion’s complete family of loyal martyrs, their uprightness. The Bai family men standing there in military garb represented towering righteousness that reached heaven and earth.

The people couldn’t bear to watch and whispered among themselves.

“This Marquis Zhongyong mansion is just bullying the Duke mansion because all their men are away!”

“Shameless! They’re enjoying peace and prosperity in this capital, all thanks to the Bai family men’s bloody battles in Nan Jiang. Where do they get the face to bully the Duke mansion’s young ladies?”

“They say Bai family women don’t study female virtues and precepts, but handle weapons. But among women who do study female virtues and precepts, how many can go to battle? Marquis Zhongyong bears this title of ‘loyal and brave’… yet is never seen on battlefields. He’s not even as good as the Bai mansion’s daughters! How does he have the face to say such things!”

Qin Dezhao clenched his teeth, his face turning green with anger, his hands hidden behind his back gripping tightly the thumb ring on his finger: “Miss Bai has quite the sharp tongue!”

“Cannot compare to Marquis’s wife’s silver tongue that can make black appear white!” Bai Qingyan was not at all intimidated by Qin Dezhao’s imposing presence, anger already showing on her face.

Qin Lang didn’t dare look anymore and hurriedly pushed through the crowd. After bowing to Marquis Zhongyong and the marquis mansion’s people, he didn’t dare look directly at Bai Qingyan and bowed deeply to Second Madam Liu Shi with lowered eyes: “Mother-in-law.”

Bai Qingyan’s gaze imperceptibly fell upon Qin Lang.

Second Madam Liu Shi, her eyes bloodshot, glared at Qin Lang with fury, wishing she could step forward and slap him.

“I originally thought Young Master Qin had an excellent reputation and was a rare good young man in the capital, but I never expected him to be such a heartless character. Your new bride was nearly killed by your two sisters and lies unconscious on her bed, yet you still had the mood to go to Fanxing Tower to compose poetry! Are you even human?!” Second Madam Liu Shi covered her heart and burst into tears.

“Unconscious?!” Qin Lang looked shocked and turned toward the Marquis’s wife, Jiang Shi. “But mother told me…”

“Marquis!” Marquis’s wife, Jiang Shi, panicked and quickly spoke before Qin Lang could finish: “I was the one who told the young master to attend the poetry gathering. No matter how serious inner quarter matters are, they cannot delay a man’s social obligations and prospects! It’s all my fault… I never thought Jinxiu would become so seriously ill! As soon as Jinxiu was injured, I sent someone with my name card to fetch an imperial physician! The imperial physician said a few days of rest would be fine! But today the Kingdom doctor that Second Madam brought insisted Jinxiu was in mortal danger – I don’t know who to believe!”

Marquis’s wife Jiang Shi couldn’t let Qin Lang publicly reveal the lies she had told him in front of so many capital citizens, so she had to put on a completely aggrieved and sorrowful appearance.

Third Miss Bai Jintong, standing by the carriage, spoke with cold severity: “Kingdom doctor?! This is the first time I’ve heard someone call Imperial Physician Huang from the Imperial Medical Academy’s senior brother… a Kingdom doctor!”

Qin Lang pressed his lips together, his hands at his sides clenching, his expression growing increasingly ugly.

He couldn’t tell the crowd of spectators that Jiang Shi wouldn’t let him see Bai Jinxiu, saying it was unlucky for men to see blood. Jiang Shi had also told him Bai Jinxiu was fine – she was just afraid Bai Jinxiu would catch a cold and develop a chronic illness, so she had her rest in bed. She had even arranged for her nephew to forcibly drag him to Fanxing Tower for the poetry gathering on this homecoming day.

Bai Qingyan sneered: “Does Marquis’s wife mean that my second sister is being unfilial by refusing to wake up and making my second aunt sad?! Dare I ask which imperial physician Marquis’s wife requested? I’ll have Nanny Jiang take my grandmother’s name card right now and bring Imperial Physician Huang from the academy as well. Let three physicians together determine exactly how severe my second sister’s injuries are!”

Marquis Zhongyong’s wife, Jiang Shi, turned deathly pale. She never could have imagined that the Bai family could get the renowned Physician Hong to diagnose Bai Jinxiu.

“Marquis’s wife… do tell us which imperial physician you requested!” Third Miss Bai Jintong pressed for an answer.

Qin Lang closed his eyes, lifted the hem of his robes, and knelt before Second Madam Liu Shi, kowtowing heavily: “Mother-in-law, everything is this son-in-law’s fault!”

“I cannot accept your address of mother-in-law! This isn’t a form of address – this is a death charm that will take my daughter’s life!” Second Madam Liu Shi got into the carriage and said through tears, “Return to the mansion!”

Before Bai Qingyan was helped into the carriage by Chun Tao, she glanced at Qin Lang who remained kneeling. In her previous life, she had never known that Qin Lang, the heir of Marquis Zhongyong, was so foolish and weak – no wonder he couldn’t even protect his own wife.

Chen Qingsheng, sent by her mother Dong Shi to protect Bai Qingyan, imperceptibly placed a carriage step under Bai Qingyan’s feet and stood respectfully bent at the waist, reminding her: “Miss, watch your step.”

Chen Qingsheng was the cousin of Chun Tao, who was the nephew of Dong Shi’s wet nurse. This person had no other abilities but had connections with all sorts of characters in the capital, and most importantly, was utterly loyal to Dong Shi.

The watching crowd almost followed the Duke’s carriages to the Duke’s mansion gates.

Dong Shi had received word early and personally brought people to wait at the Duke’s mansion gates to receive the unconscious Bai Jinxiu.

While everyone was focused on Bai Jinxiu and busy moving her into the mansion, Bai Qingyan called Chen Qingsheng aside and gave him some instructions. Chen Qingsheng quickly nodded in agreement and disappeared into the crowd in a flash.

·

The incident of the Duke mansion’s second miss being unconscious on her homecoming day and being taken back to the Duke mansion by the Grand Princess’s carriage spread like wildfire, becoming the hottest topic of conversation in the entire capital within an hour.

But what people talked about most enthusiastically was how Marquis Zhongyong accused the Bai family daughters of not studying female virtues and precepts, only to be silenced by the Bai family’s eldest daughter’s retort.

In taverns, on main streets, even in pleasure quarters, this incident was discussed endlessly.

“The Bai family’s eldest, second, and third daughters are all heroines who fought on battlefields alongside the Duke. So what if they’re daughters! Who says daughters can only serve husbands and educate children in inner quarters – daughters can also stand tall and upright!”

“Fighting bloody battles with thousands of troops, preferring to be wrapped in horse leather and ground to dust rather than letting people and sovereign be humiliated! In all of Great Jin, only the most loyal and brave Duke mansion could raise daughters with such a heroic spirit! Marquis Zhongyong… hah, only knows how to bully other families’ women while their men are away. Truly unworthy of the title ‘loyal and brave’! Unworthy of being called a man!”