“Elder Sister, are we just leaving like this without saying goodbye to Mr. Xiao?” Bai Jinzhi asked.

“I’ve already sent someone to the Precious Guest Inn to inform Mr. Xiao,” Bai Qingyan turned her head to glance at Bai Jinzhi. “You seem to have quite a favorable impression of this Mr. Xiao?”

“Elder Sister… don’t you like Mr. Xiao?” Bai Jinzhi asked tentatively.

She looked at her youngest sister with a smile, without answering.

Where would she have time for romantic entanglements…

As soon as Bai Qingyan left Shouyang City, she saw the Prefect and his entourage waiting outside the city.

Seeing Bai Qingyan’s group riding out swiftly, the Prefect hurried forward to bow and blocked Bai Qingyan’s horse: “Greetings to the County Princess…”

Bai Qingyan sat atop her horse without dismounting, looking at the Prefect with a half-smile: “The Prefect certainly has a thorough grasp of my whereabouts.”

“I wouldn’t dare. I heard that the County Princess was leaving Shouyang to return to the Capital City, but the Shouyang region has not been safe lately. There have been multiple incidents of bandits blocking roads to kill and rob! This official was concerned for the County Princess’s safety, so I specially brought a hundred elite soldiers to escort the County Princess back to the capital,” the Prefect said with a beaming smile.

“I appreciate the Prefect’s kind intention, but mere bandits are nothing to fear…” Bai Qingyan acted as if she didn’t take it seriously at all.

The Prefect looked up at Bai Qingyan, who sat with a smile at the corner of her lips, holding the reins: “Please do not underestimate these bandits, County Princess. Not long ago, even the most famous Zhentian Escort Agency suffered losses at the hands of these bandits. It’s better to be cautious!”

“Understood.”

After speaking, Bai Qingyan rode away swiftly.

This bandit trouble was just beginning. After Bai Qingyan returned to Shouyang… it wouldn’t be long before Ji Tingyu could turn “bandit incidents” into “bandit problems.” Now that Great Liang had stationed troops at Hong Queshan with unclear intentions, and General Zhang Duanrui had led troops to Chun Mushan, the Jin court probably wouldn’t have the spare capacity to deal with the bandit problem.

That would be when Bai Qingyan would serve the Kingdom.

Bai Qingyan’s group rode swiftly. When they reached a mountain path with sparse population, Bai Qingyan let the others go ahead while she took Bai Jinzhi and two death warriors to meet Ji Tingyu at their agreed location.

Ji Tingyu was quite bold, having arranged to meet Bai Qingyan at their camp. The mountain path was treacherous and obstructed, difficult and steep. It was nearly dark when Bai Qingyan arrived.

Bai Qingyan and Ji Tingyu stood on the mountain, looking over this terrain.

“In all of Weiling, only Niujiao Mountain has the best terrain. Located in the center of Weiling, the mountaintop is flat and vast, surrounded by dangerous terrain on all sides, cliffs all around, with a river below. Terraced fields can be cultivated for farming and self-sufficiency in peacetime! When more people are recruited in the future, we won’t worry about keeping up with food supplies!” Ji Tingyu spoke with full enthusiasm.

Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, Bai Qingyan looked at the terrain, thinking of the difficulties she had just experienced getting here, and nodded: “This force you’re building should focus on quality over quantity. I plan to… train them according to the original intention of building the Huying Battalion, yet different from the original Huying Battalion army.”

Ji Tingyu was startled. He had originally thought he was only responsible for creating “bandit problems.”

Bai Qingyan turned her head, her eyes harboring sharp edges as she looked at Ji Tingyu.

“In Nanjiang, Shen Liangyu trains troops according to Fifth Uncle’s methods. Here, you don’t have Shen Liangyu’s convenience of selecting good prospects from the army. You need to be flexible and adaptable. According to my training methods, train a force whose combat effectiveness can match the Huying Battalion – elite troops capable of decisive victory.”

For some reason, looking at the young lady’s calm, ocean-like eyes, Ji Tingyu felt his heartbeat quicken inexplicably.

As soon as Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi returned to the Capital City, they heard from Dong Shi that on the tenth day of the fourth month – tomorrow – Princess Li Tianfu of Western Liang would enter the Crown Prince’s residence.

Bai Qingyan was well aware of the private affair between Li Tianfu and Lu Tianzhuo.

Regardless of whether she was truly loyal to the Crown Prince, this matter should be reported to the Crown Prince to prevent Li Tianfu from using the Crown Prince to cause trouble.

“This is the invitation the Crown Prince’s residence sent the day you left,” Dong Shi sat on the soft couch by the window, holding a teacup. Seeing Bai Qingyan come out after changing clothes, she put down the teacup and said, “Your teacher, Old Master Cui, spoke up for you in front of Wude Gate that day. Afterwards, the Crown Prince also spoke up for you. The students at the Imperial Academy were so ashamed they could hardly show their faces. No one should bring up your burning and killing of surrendered prisoners again.”

“The Crown Prince said that the battle situation was urgent at the time – it was either you die or I live. If those Western Liang prisoners weren’t killed, the Jin army would have been annihilated instead. If your expedition force had numbered two hundred thousand, or even one hundred thousand, you would never have killed one hundred thousand prisoners.” Dong Shi smiled. “The Crown Prince accompanied the army on this campaign, so no one’s words were more convincing than his.”

When Bai Qingyan returned to the residence, she had already heard Chun Tao chatter about all these matters.

Her teacher, standing up to speak for Bai Qingyan, was out of personal loyalty.

As for why the Crown Prince would stand up to speak for Bai Qingyan, she understood – it was merely to curry favor with her.

“I already heard from Chun Tao when I returned,” Bai Qingyan also sat on the soft couch by the window, accepting the teacup Chun Tao handed her, and asked, “Has Lu Yuanpeng’s case been resolved?”

Chun Tao held the black lacquered square tray in front of her abdomen, shook her head, and reported softly: “Although no verdict has been reached yet, the old coroner Liu Sanjin has determined that Lin Xin’an died of suffocation, unrelated to Young Master Lu’s previous injuries. However, this alone may not be enough to prove that Lin Xin’an wasn’t killed by Young Master Lu, so the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review is still investigating. The results should come out soon.”

“You and Xiao Si didn’t suffer any grievances on this trip back to the clan, did you?” Dong Shi was afraid her daughter had been mistreated by the clan leader.

“Don’t worry, Mother. We didn’t,” Bai Qingyan smiled at Dong Shi. “Before long, the clan should send someone to present the ancestral estate deed.”

Dong Shi had always been confident in her daughter’s abilities. She nodded – as long as her daughter hadn’t suffered any grievances, that was good.

“In the future, Mother, you don’t need to be so polite to the clan members either. Back then, Grandfather was too polite to the clan members, which spoiled them into not knowing their place, becoming presumptuous and overreaching. Clan members… have insatiable appetites and are used to wanting more after getting a little! Now that we’re left with only orphans and widows, if we continue to indulge them, they’ll think we’re afraid of the clan and will become even more unscrupulous.”

Dong Shi had long been fed up with the clan’s treatment and nodded: “I understand this principle, Mother…”

Dong Shi had understood this principle long ago, but when her father-in-law, Bai Weiting, was alive, he repeatedly emphasized how important clan harmony was for a centuries-old military family.

Because only with family harmony could the men fighting on the battlefield have no worries and fight the enemy with all their strength.

Having been trained since childhood by Old Madam Dong, Dong Shi understood even more how important clan harmony was for establishing a noble house.

But what difference was there between a clan like the Shouyang Bai clan and a useless appendage?

That afternoon, Lu Yuanpeng’s case was solved. Lin Xin’an had indeed died at someone else’s hands, and Lin Xin’an’s birth mother, fearing for her life and being threatened by others, had falsely accused Lu Yuanpeng.

According to Lin Xin’an’s birth mother’s account, Lin Xin’an had somehow obtained five hundred taels of silver and said that a person of high rank and authority had asked Lin Xin’an to spread rumors about Bai Qingyan killing surrendered prisoners at Fanque Tower, to damage Bai Qingyan’s reputation.