“Young Master Lu, rest assured, I will deliver the message!” The guard cupped his hands to Lu Yuanpeng, then leaped onto his horse and rode quickly back to Bai Qingyan’s carriage, bowing low at the waist as he reported back to Bai Qingyan inside the carriage.
Although Lu Yuanpeng knew he wouldn’t see Sister Bai today, he wasn’t in a hurry to leave. He just stood there watching the carriage convoy from the Zhenguo Princess’s mansion slowly depart, feeling inexplicably empty in his heart.
“I have this… strange feeling,” Lu Yuanpeng said to Sima Ping.
Sima Ping stood with his hands behind his back, silent for a moment before speaking: “Perhaps it’s… the signs of decline in a prosperous dynasty are already showing.”
“Huh?” Lu Yuanpeng didn’t quite understand.
“Let’s go back!” Sima Ping smiled and leaped onto his horse.
The Bai family’s grand carriage convoy traveled silently along the official road, heading toward Shouyang at an unhurried pace.
Inside the slightly bumpy carriage, Bai Jinzhi propped her head on one hand, listlessly staring at the gilt auspicious beast tripod incense burner placed on the carriage table, and said to Third Madam Li Shi: “If you won’t let me go out to ride a horse, then let me go to Elder Sister’s carriage instead!”
“You sit properly! Let your elder sister rest well… chattering all day long! Not a bit like a proper young lady! Look at yourself… your face hasn’t even recovered from returning from Nan Jiang, and after these two trips to Shouyang, you’ve gotten even more tanned, darker than our family guards!” Third Madam Li Shi opened the incense burner lid, picked at it with a silver needle, and added some incense.
Bai Jinzhi impatiently watched Li Shi fiddling with these things and lifted the curtain to look outside.
The official road was fairly smooth with dense greenery on both sides. Bai Jinzhi had always ridden horses when traveling to and from Shouyang with Bai Qingyan, so she was very familiar with this road.
Right now, she was truly eager to try riding a horse.
“Mother!”
“Sit quietly and read for a while. Isn’t your elder sister also sitting in her carriage? Why don’t you learn from her?” Third Madam Li Shi was determined to temper Bai Jinzhi’s disposition and firmly refused to let her out of the carriage.
Bai Jinzhi was so angry that her cheeks puffed out. She simply lay sideways on the auspicious double flower pillow and picked up a book to read, imitating her elder sister’s manner.
Third Madam Li Shi secretly covered her lips with her handkerchief and smiled, insincerely praising her child: “Mm, now that’s more like it.”
Even Nanny Hu, who served beside Li Shi, couldn’t help covering her lips with her handkerchief and laughing.
After being firmly kept in the carriage by Li Shi for three solid days, Bai Jinzhi was finally released when she saw the gates of Shouyang City on the third day of the fifth month.
When the prefect brought County Magistrate Zhou to welcome the Zhenguo Princess’s party outside Shouyang’s city gates, the Bai clan members were also led by Bai Qihe, who temporarily held the position of clan leader, to welcome the Zhenguo Princess outside the city gates.
Seeing the magnificent and imposing carriage convoy of the Zhenguo Princess from afar, just the returning servants alone were already frighteningly numerous.
Bai Qihe’s wife, Fang Shi, tightened her grip. She had originally planned to send servant women to the Bai ancestral mansion to curry favor with Bai Qingyan, but it seemed Bai Qingyan had brought back all the servants from the capital. Now she would have to think of another approach from elsewhere.
Bai Qingping looked up at his mother, who was desperately wringing her handkerchief, and couldn’t help whispering: “Mother, the capital Bai family is different from our Shouyang Bai clan. The capital Bai family is the true legitimate branch of the Bai lineage, truly living in luxury with bells and tripods. Even their daily utensils have history and provenance, not to mention those truly kept close at hand – those are all proper household servants born into service. If Mother wants to send people in, I’m afraid they wouldn’t even get near the inner gate.”
Fang Shi’s heart suddenly pounded when her son exposed her thoughts. Her eyes darted around before she turned to look at her son: “Mother has no such intention!”
“Whether Mother has such intention or not, your son doesn’t recommend that Mother mention sending people in front of the capital Bai family members. It’s best to avoid suspicion! Mother must not forget Grandfather’s lesson. That Father can hold this clan leader position is purely fortunate, and whether he can continue being clan leader in the future still depends on the Zhenguo Princess’s opinion!” Bai Qingping kept his voice extremely low.
Bai Qingping understood his mother Fang Shi’s thoughts clearly, and precisely because he understood, he spoke up to remind her.
The Bai clan could no longer withstand any more turmoil. With all the men of the capital Bai family dead, if this Shouyang Bai clan that had been glorious for hundreds of years didn’t cling tightly to the Zhenguo Princess and unite as one, after their generation, the Shouyang Bai clan would likely be kicked out by the capital Bai family to establish their own household. Then the old Shouyang Bai clan would be like the old Qingzhou Xie clan, no longer ranking among the aristocratic families.
The Zhenguo Princess Bai Qingyan inherited the character of Zhenguo King Bai Weiting and Duke Zhenguo Bai Qishan. As long as the Bai clan didn’t go too far, Bai Qingyan would never abandon the Bai clan.
Chun Tao lifted the curtain to look out and said to Bai Qingyan, “First Miss, it seems all the Shouyang Bai clan members have come! The local officials have also come, and I see they’re still wearing official robes.”
Bai Qingyan put down the bamboo scroll in her hands and, after thinking, said to Nanny Tong: “Nanny, in a moment, please trouble yourself to get off the carriage and tell the Bai clan members and local officials that I’m feeling unwell and will go directly back to the Bai mansion. Thank them for coming to welcome us, and the Bai mansion will prepare a banquet soon, when we hope they will honor us with their presence.”
“Have someone tell Mother and my aunts that they need not get off the carriage. The journey has been tiring, and there will be much to do once we return to the Bai mansion, so there’s no need to waste energy here.”
As soon as Bai Qingyan finished speaking, Chun Tao arranged for someone to inform Dong Shi and the various madams.
Bai Qingyan’s gaze returned to the unique bamboo scroll in her hands. Thinking of that prefect, she felt that the matter of training troops… could perhaps be tested with him.
She rubbed the edge of the bamboo scroll with her fingers and, after thinking, said: “Have Zeng Shanru quietly send word to Bai Qingping, telling him to come to the Bai ancestral mansion in two hours.”
The prefect, County Magistrate Zhou, and the Bai clan members, upon receiving the message, exchanged a few polite words and quickly cleared the city gate to let the magnificent convoy of the Zhenguo Princess pass through.
The Shouyang people discussed among themselves, both excited and invigorated. They all remembered that the Zhenguo Princess had said… she would use the silver embezzled by the previous Bai clan leader for bandit suppression.
Those bandits were becoming increasingly brazen, even daring to rob the Zhenguo Princess’s convoy. The people feared that someday those bandits would kill and burn in nearby villages, or even kill their way into Shouyang City.
After all, the authorities had shown no movement, so the people’s anxiety was natural.
However, most people felt invigorated by the Zhenguo Princess’s return to Shouyang. After all… the Zhenguo Princess was someone who had once achieved great victory over the combined forces of Xi Liang and Nanyan in Nan Jiang. Having such a figure in Shouyang City made people feel incredibly secure.
Before the Bai family party returned to the Bai mansion, Gu Lao had already arranged everything properly, placing only the items the masters were accustomed to using daily into their respective courtyards. If the masters disliked the colors of the displayed curtains and decorations, they could be changed tomorrow.