Tonight, news would spread that the Li residence wanted to seek Princess Gaoyi’s hand for their youngest son. Tomorrow morning, Li Mao would have his wife submit a request to the palace for an audience…
By spreading news that his wife was entering the palace to seek an imperial edict granting the marriage for their youngest son, if there was no sign of Bai Qingyan coming to find him, it would mean… Bai Qingyan’s claim that she held his correspondence with the Second Prince was a bluff.
Thinking of those letters, Li Mao inevitably felt a headache.
Back then, to gain the Second Prince’s trust, he had agreed to the Second Prince’s advisor’s request to exchange personal handwritten letters with the Second Prince. This way, both sides would have leverage over the other, so neither would fear betrayal.
Later, he had incited the Second Prince to force the palace, originally thinking he could rise to great heights in one step. Who knew… he still failed!
He had thoroughly searched the Second Prince’s residence, but couldn’t find these letters. Now these letters had become his weakness.
He still needed to find a way to locate those letters and destroy them to eliminate future troubles.
After finishing her red-tasseled silver spear practice, Bai Qingyan was drenched in sweat.
Chun Tao helped Bai Qingyan bathe and change clothes, then dried her hair. Seeing that Bai Qingyan still didn’t plan to rest and was sitting under the lamp reading, she quietly withdrew to prepare tea for her.
Just as Chun Tao left, an agile and nimble figure leaped down from the roof beams. Seeing Bai Qingyan’s silhouette reflected on the window lattice, the person quickly walked to the window, pressed their back against the wall, and said in a low voice: “This subordinate comes on Second Miss’s orders to report the Left Chancellor’s residence activities to Master.”
The visitor was a shadow guard given to Bai Qingyan by the Grand Princess. Following Bai Qingyan’s orders, the guard stayed around Bai Jinxiu, at her disposal, but in the guard’s heart, only the person holding the command token was the true master.
Therefore, they addressed Bai Qingyan as Master.
Bai Qingyan looked up, her hand gripping the book spine, tightening. She gently pushed the wooden window open slightly, her calm pupils looking toward the speaker.
A beam of yellow light shone through the window crack, falling on the blue stone floor at the guard’s feet. The flickering lamplight inside the window made Bai Qingyan’s brows and eyes alternately bright and dark, her placid eyes hiding sharp, penetrating light.
Seeing this, the shadow guard immediately knelt and bowed, speaking quickly and quietly: “Following Second Miss’s orders, this subordinate led people to watch the Left Chancellor’s residence. Second Miss said that if there was any activity at the Left Chancellor’s residence, I should report directly to the Master. Tonight, over thirty people left the residence separately, each heading to the capital’s pleasure quarters and various wine shops, spreading rumors that the Left Chancellor’s residence intends to seek Princess Gaoyi’s hand for the Left Chancellor’s youngest son, and they made no effort to conceal their identities.”
She listened quietly, her expression unchanged, but her gaze grew increasingly profound.
This was Li Mao’s test?
Li Mao’s youngest son, Li Mingtang, was quite a character indeed. Though also a dandy… dandies could be very different from each other!
There were dandies like Lu Yuanpeng, who, though constantly causing trouble, still acted with some restraint and bottom lines.
Then there were those like Li Mingtang, who indulged in carnal pleasures without regard for human relationships, even daring to touch Li Mao’s concubines – a beast.
Li Mao doted on his youngest son. After the incident, he used a white silk rope to end that concubine’s life and suppressed the matter completely.
But from then on, Li Mingtang spent his days lingering in pleasure quarters, ultimately threatening to die unless he could marry a third-class prostitute from Nuanchun House as his legitimate wife.
Li Mao’s wife wouldn’t allow it, so Li Mingtang refused to take the imperial examinations. From then on, he made Nuanchun House his home, staying there nightly. When the mood struck, he would even call for multiple women to share his bed.
Though Li Mingtang never revealed his identity in public, that third-class prostitute from Nuanchun House couldn’t help but boast to others that the Left Chancellor’s son wanted to marry her as his legitimate wife.
Later, the Left Chancellor secretly acted, and Nuanchun House disappeared overnight. All the prostitutes from Nuanchun House also quietly vanished from this world, with the aftermath cleaned up thoroughly.
Though there was no concrete evidence of this matter, quite a few noble families had heard of it. Who didn’t treat this as a joke?
Li Mao knew very well what kind of creature his son was. Doing this was nothing more than trying to anger her.
She spoke slowly: “Understood. Go find out which pleasure house Li Mingtang is at today.”
“Yes!”
In an instant, the shadow guard vanished from beneath the window corridor as if they had never appeared.
Bai Qingyan withdrew her hand from the window lattice, her gaze falling on the military text in her hands, thinking carefully…
Li Mao deliberately had people spread the news without concealing their identities – he just wanted to see how the Bai family would respond!
Li Mao was probably anxious to test whether these letters were in her hands before she returned to Shouyang, which was why he was so hasty, sending people out tonight to spread the news.
Originally, Bai Qingyan had thought Li Mao would probably wait until she returned from Shouyang before making his move.
Who knew Li Mao was so eager to act early? Then she would greet Li Mao first.
Since Li Mao dared to target her fourth sister, he shouldn’t blame her for being ruthless.
Only this way would he understand… that her offer of peaceful coexistence was already the greatest mercy she could show him.
Dawn broke, penetrating the thin mist covering the capital, illuminating the city’s countless blue tiles and flying eaves.
The main gate of Qinghui Courtyard stood open. Bai Qingyan had finished her morning practice and stood by the stone table in the courtyard, accepting the towel Chun Tao handed her to wipe her sweat while listening to Lu Ping tell her about the rumors that had suddenly spread wildly the night before.
The rumor was that Left Chancellor Li Mao wanted to seek Princess Gaoyi’s hand for his youngest son.
“Early this morning, the Left Chancellor’s wife had already submitted a request to the palace for an audience. She’ll probably enter the palace by noon. If this matter is true, the Left Chancellor’s wife must be going to ask the Empress for an imperial marriage edict between their youngest son and our Fourth Miss.” Lu Ping’s tone was somewhat anxious. “Though Li Mingtang is the Left Chancellor’s legitimate son, some rumors about him are quite unsavory! Though there’s no concrete evidence, they’re certainly not without foundation.”
She put down the cloth and took the teacup Chun Tao handed her, drinking leisurely before saying: “The Left Chancellor’s youngest son Li Mingtang is at Huaman House. Uncle Ping personally led people to find this Li Mingtang…”
She turned her head, her cold and indifferent eyes looking at Lu Ping: “Break both his legs, then wait on the path the Left Chancellor must take after court. I’ll arrive shortly after.”
Lu Ping was shocked.
Break… break his legs?
“Young lady, that’s… the Left Chancellor’s son.” Lu Ping was somewhat alarmed.
“I know. Uncle Ping, just do as I say. I know what I’m doing.” Bai Qingyan’s gloomy gaze was restrained yet profound. “Uncle Ping, remember to strike hard… even if you beat him to death, it doesn’t matter. The bigger the commotion, the better.”
One youngest sons versus the lives of the entire clan – Bai Qingyan believed… a calculating person like Li Mao could distinguish which was more important.
The young lady always acted with propriety. Since she ordered Li Mingtang’s legs to be broken and said it didn’t matter if he died, then he would break his legs!
“Yes!” Lu Ping accepted the order and left.
It was still early morning. The girls at Huaman House hadn’t yet risen, and the patrons who had stayed the night were even more exhausted from their activities, enjoying their best sleep of the day.