Hah, what future would this Great Yan Fourth Prince have after this?
If Great Yan’s legitimate eldest prince happened to… meet with some mishap, and a wastrel returned to Great Yan to rule the Kingdom, then Great Yan would truly be in for quite a spectacle.
Seeing that the Crown Prince understood his meaning, the Emperor raised his hand and patted the Crown Prince’s hand: “My son has truly grown!”
The Emperor was increasingly satisfied with this son.
“When the Great Yan Emperor came this time, he also intended to establish marriage ties with Jin, wanting to seek a Jin noble lady for his full brother, the Great Yan Ninth Prince. As for Xiliang… they’ve even sent a marriage alliance princess right to our doorstep, so we must choose someone carefully! Prince Yan Li Zhijie of Xiliang probably also has marriage intentions. You must pay close attention.” The Emperor instructed the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince’s heart jumped, and for some reason, he thought of Bai Qingyan: “Father Emperor, do you think… they might seek to marry Bai Qingyan?”
The Emperor’s steps paused, then he smiled: “Bai Qingyan has already sworn to never marry for life. Even I… would not force her to marry. If the Great Yan Ninth Prince and Xiliang’s Prince Yan don’t mind marrying in, I… would consider it a good match!”
·
Inside the elm wood carriage, Dong Shi grasped her daughter’s hand and carefully instructed: “Our family’s departure for Shouyang has been set for the first day of the fifth month – that day is auspicious for all endeavors. Once we return to Shouyang, where the sky is high and the emperor far away, we’ll have nothing to fear! So at the palace banquet later… if the Emperor brings up the matter of burning prisoners of war and makes you suffer grievances, you must endure it to prevent the Emperor from developing murderous intent again.”
“Mother, rest assured. A’Bao understands!”
Dong Shi looked at her daughter with her outstanding appearance and temperament, raising her hand to tuck the loose strands of hair behind Bai Qingyan’s temples behind her ear. In her heart, she was already eager to take her daughter back to Shouyang, fearing that the Emperor might suddenly decide to arrange a marriage for her daughter. Imperial edicts could not be disobeyed… what would her daughter do then?
She couldn’t help wanting to mention Dong Changyuan’s matter to her daughter again, but afraid her daughter would resist, she forcibly suppressed the words.
Dong Shi touched the calluses on her daughter’s palm and the iron sand bags wrapped around her wrists, her mouth turning bitter again, feeling her daughter suffered too much hardship.
The carriage stopped before the palace gates. Bai Qingyan helped her mother, Dong Shi, down from the carriage. The female relatives of General Zhang Duirui’s family and Zhen Zeping’s family, who had arrived a step earlier, hurried forward and very politely exchanged pleasantries with Dong Shi and Third Madam Li Shi, constantly praising how Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi were women who didn’t yield to men.
As soon as Bai Jinzhi got off the carriage, she moved close to Bai Qingyan’s side and lowered her voice: “Just received news – Xiliang’s Prince Yan Li Zhijie and Princess Pingyang won’t be coming today.”
This was clearly a small celebration banquet for Great Yan’s victory. What would the Xiliang people accomplish by showing up? Li Zhijie had a clear head.
The young ladies of the Zhang and Zhen families followed properly behind their respective mothers properly. Upon seeing Bai Qingyan’s stunning and captivating beauty, they were greatly shocked, never having imagined that this Miss Bai, whom their fathers praised at home for her unparalleled wisdom, courage, and extraordinary perseverance, would possess such soul-stirring beauty.
Several young ladies wanted to step forward to greet and befriend Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi, but remembering that Bai Qingyan was someone who could burn one hundred thousand people alive with a heart of stone, they all felt somewhat afraid.
Only when Madam Zhang and Madam Zhen urged their daughters forward did they hesitantly approach Bai Qingyan to bow and greet her.
Sixth Miss Zhang looked at the smiling Bai Qingyan returning the courtesy and whispered to Miss Zhen Three: “This Sister Bai is truly born with such beautiful features. No matter how you look at her… she doesn’t seem like someone who could bear to kill one hundred thousand people!”
When Bai Qingyan was young, she had trained outside with her grandfather. Later, after being injured, she returned to the capital to recuperate and stayed completely secluded, so these noble ladies of the capital were not familiar with Bai Qingyan’s appearance.
Even when, later, those wastrels in the capital all spread word that the Bai family’s legitimate eldest daughter Bai Qingyan possessed heavenly beauty, the noble ladies would purse their lips, thinking it was exaggerated. No matter how beautiful Bai Qingyan was, could she be more beautiful than Miss Liu Ruofu of Nandu Commandery?
Seeing her today, the young ladies of the Zhang and Zhen families realized that those wastrels hadn’t exaggerated in the slightest. This legitimate eldest daughter of the Bai family, Bai Qingyan, surpassed Liu Ruofu by who knows how many degrees – every feature was exquisitely moving.
Only her bearing was like a flower on a high peak, making people dare not approach easily.
“One cannot judge by appearances. Someone who has been on the battlefield… who has even severed human heads, what could they not be ruthless about!” Miss Zhen Three kept her voice extremely low, her eyes bright and sparkling. “But my father said that if those Xiliang soldiers weren’t killed, it would be our Jin soldiers who died! My father also said that only those common people who understand nothing would call burning prisoners of war cruel. On the battlefield, even children become enemy troops once they pick up blades – it’s either you die or I live. How can one speak of such womanly kindness!”
Sixth Miss Zhang was still young and understood only vaguely, but she understood the four words “common people” that Miss Zhen Three spoke. Unwilling to be seen as common people by Miss Zhen Three, she pretended to understand and nodded.
However, Eldest Miss Zhang pursed her lips, her gaze openly sizing up this “killing god” from top to bottom.
Sensing an unfriendly gaze, Bai Qingyan looked over. Her gaze was calm and unruffled, as deep and dark as an ancient well…
Eldest Miss Zhang’s palm tightened, and her heart inexplicably jumped violently. She frowned and looked away, pressing her handkerchief to her chest, feeling that Bai Qingyan carried too much murderous aura. She should stay far away from her in the future.
At the palace banquet, the Empress did not attend. Since Prince Xin’s incident, the Empress had been continuously ill, and all harem affairs were managed by Crown Prince’s birth mother, Consort Yu. Today, accompanying the Emperor at the banquet were Consort Yu and the newly appointed Concubine Qiu.
Perhaps due to her son’s elevated status, Consort Yu had changed from her previous reserved manner. Wearing a phoenix hairpin and dressed in gorgeous robes, she appeared quite imposing, very different from the reserved appearance Bai Qingyan had seen at previous palace banquets.
In the hall, dancing girls held wooden swords, wore armor, and performed sword dances.
The music carried heavy tones of slaughter and battle, but the dancing girls holding wooden swords were weak and powerless, more concerned with the beauty of their poses than any killing intent.
Bai Qingyan paid no attention to the songs and dances, her gaze falling on Concubine Qiu beside the Emperor. This Concubine Qiu was extremely beautiful. Bai Qingyan had no memory of her aunt Bai Suqiu, but this Concubine Qiu’s pair of smiling, bright, and lively eyes truly resembled the aunt in the painting.
Concubine Qiu’s gaze turned to look at Bai Qingyan, instead showing Bai Qingyan an extremely radiant smile and raising her wine cup to toast Bai Qingyan from afar.
Bai Qingyan dared not be negligent and raised her wine cup to take a small sip.
From the corner of his eye, the Emperor saw Concubine Qiu’s actions. His gaze swept over Bai Qingyan, and he leaned intimately close to Concubine Qiu to ask in a low voice: “Do you like Bai Qingyan?”
“Mm!” Concubine Qiu’s lips curved in a radiant smile. “I don’t know why, but seeing Miss Bai makes me feel especially close to her!”
The Emperor grasped Concubine Qiu’s hand, gently caressing it. He remembered that when Bai Qingyan was born, Bai Suqiu had been extremely fond of her. It seemed… this Concubine Qiu must be Suqiu’s reincarnation – otherwise, how could she feel joy in her heart upon first seeing Bai Qingyan?