Nanny Jiang had been waiting early at the Duke’s mansion gate for Bai Qingyan. Testing Bai Qingxuan’s character was done with the Grand Princess’s approval. After all, if the men of Duke Zhenguo’s mansion truly all died in Nan Jiang and only this one son remained in the Duke’s mansion, with Grand Princess present, this child had a very high possibility of inheriting Duke Zhenguo’s title. People’s hearts are separated by their bellies, and since he hadn’t grown up in the Duke’s mansion from childhood, Grand Princess couldn’t feel at ease without testing him.

Grand Princess, sitting on the soft couch, listened to the account of Bai Qingxuan’s actions, her hand moving the prayer beads, trembling continuously. If not for Bai Qingyan being there, today, Duke Zhenguo’s mansion’s century-old reputation would have fallen into the mud. Moreover, casually claiming that Duke Zhenguo was someone even the Emperor dared not provoke… threatening to exterminate nine generations—if such words reached the Emperor’s ears, they would likely make the Emperor suspicious of the Bai family.

Grand Princess closed her eyes: “A’Bao did very well! This child has a naturally violent temperament and will require considerable effort to educate… First, have someone watch him, confine him to the mansion, and don’t let him cause trouble.”

Grandmother was getting old after all. Even knowing Bai Qingxuan was worthless goods… she couldn’t bring herself to send him back to the estate.

Though Bai Qingyan felt dissatisfied in her heart, she still nodded in agreement, clearly unwilling to say more.

Coming out of Changshou Courtyard, Bai Qingyan noticed two snowmen half a person’s height piled under the lights by the courtyard gate. The snowmen’s mouths were arranged in curved smiles using peanuts.

Recalling the peanut that had struck Bai Qingxuan’s knee at Manjiang Tower’s entrance today, forcing him to kneel, Bai Qingyan gripped her hand warmer tightly and lowered her gaze, feeling uneasy.

Xiao Rongyan’s martial arts were so formidable, but why… why had he intervened to help her?!

She remembered that in her previous life, when following Prince Liang on campaign, as the Great Jin and Great Yan armies faced off, Bai Qingyan had devised a plan to capture Xiao Rongyan alive, but only managed to capture Yue Quanyong, the vanguard general beside Xiao Rongyan.

Yue Quanyong had said… If not for Xiao Rongyan having previously suffered severe injuries that damaged his heart and lungs, with Xiao Rongyan’s martial arts capabilities, they definitely wouldn’t have fallen into Bai Qingyan’s trap without being able to escape. It seemed those weren’t empty words.

Seeing Bai Qingyan staring at the snowmen in a daze, Nanny Jiang smiled and said: “These were built today by Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss for Grand Princess!”

Bai Qingyan nodded: “Nanny, go back and attend to Grandmother. No need to escort me.”

Nanny Jiang lifted the curtain and entered, seeing Grand Princess looking somewhat absent-minded. She walked lightly to Grand Princess’s side and gently massaged her shoulders.

Grand Princess looked toward the partition and asked Nanny Jiang in a low voice: “Nanny… do you think A’Bao blames me for questioning whether she harbored rebellious intentions that day? Now, when A’Bao is here with me, she’s not as affectionate as before.”

“Grand Princess, please be at ease! Eldest Miss was personally raised by you—don’t you know Eldest Miss’s filial heart?” Nanny Jiang smiled while speaking up for Bai Qingyan. “Too many things have happened in our mansion recently. Eldest Miss is still a child after all, and she inevitably feels overwhelmed. Grand Princess should feel more heartache and pity for Eldest Miss instead of expecting a child to turn around and comfort you.”

Hearing Nanny Jiang say this, Grand Princess tiredly closed her eyes and let out a long breath, chuckling softly: “You’re right. I was wrong. Later, find that set of imperial jade chess pieces from my storeroom and send them to A’Bao tomorrow morning. She likes playing with such things.”

“After serving Grand Princess to bed, this old servant will go to the storeroom to find them. Tomorrow morning, Tianxiu Fang will be coming to deliver new clothes and jewelry for the young ladies to wear to the palace banquet on New Year’s Eve. This old servant will deliver the chess pieces to Eldest Miss at the same time,” Nanny Jiang said.

Grand Princess nodded and began fingering her prayer beads again: “What did Wei Zhong say when he returned today after visiting the shadow guard unit?”

“Wei Zhong said that although the shadow guard unit has been kept at Grand Princess’s estate without being deployed, the unit captain, Wan Ruozhong, following regulations, still had each member take an apprentice. After testing their character and conduct, he passed on his lifetime’s knowledge. Wan Ruozhong had Wei Zhong relay back that the newly formed shadow guard unit is ready for use and awaits Grand Princess’s orders,” Nanny Jiang said.

After closing her eyes and pondering briefly, Grand Princess said: “After the fifteenth of the first lunar month, when the guard unit returns to the city, assign two to protect A’Bao, but… don’t let A’Bao know.”

Nanny Jiang was startled and quite surprised, but didn’t ask further questions, only lowered her head in acknowledgment.

Having shadow guards secretly protect Bai Qingyan was both protection and surveillance. Grand Princess still feared Bai Qingyan harbored rebellious intentions.

Moisture gathered at the corners of Grand Princess’s eyes. She thought of her imperial father’s earnest instructions when alive to help the Great Jin imperial family keep watch over Duke Zhenguo’s mansion, and of seeing nothing but rebellious intent in the eyes of the granddaughter she had personally raised. Her entire being felt like it was being fried in oil and roasted by fire.

No one knew that Grand Princess’s heart was also as bitter as coptis root. On one side, she had to desperately protect the Bai family’s flesh and blood relatives; on the other, she had to fully safeguard the Lin imperial family. She truly faced impossible circumstances at every step.

Grand Princess had been constantly thinking these past days about whether blood relatives or the Lin family’s kingdom was more important, but even today she couldn’t sort out the answer.

·

When Bai Qingyan returned from Grand Princess’s place, Chun Tao helped her change into practice clothes and tied sandbags to her arms and thighs.

While practicing, she carefully reviewed Xiao Rongyan’s life from her previous existence.

It seemed to be this very year, on New Year’s Eve, when the Emperor held a palace banquet for all ministers and their families, that Xiao Rongyan, as an honored guest of Prince Qi’s mansion, was also among the banquet attendees. However, during the feast, he secretly met with a maidservant of Prince Qi’s side consort and was caught. Prince Qi’s side consort’s maidservant immediately confessed to being a Great Wei spy on the spot, and Xiao Rongyan was also arrested and imprisoned for severe interrogation.

In her previous life, when the Bai family suffered disaster, Bai Qingyan didn’t know when Xiao Rongyan had been released from prison, nor whether it was this imprisonment that injured his heart and lungs, or if it was from those later narrow escapes from death that he suffered injuries and became like her—a废person who had lost all martial arts.

Bai Qingyan closed her eyes, her entire body steaming with heat in the cold wind. Perhaps because in her previous life, both had lost their martial arts and shared similar misfortunes, she felt some kinship and mutual understanding toward Xiao Rongyan.

Thinking again of how Xiao Rongyan had helped her many times in her previous life after she saw through Prince Liang’s true nature, she inevitably felt compassion.

Maids emerged from the small kitchen carrying buckets of boiling water in single file. Led by Chun Yan, they lowered their heads and moved efficiently into the main room, pouring the hot water into the bathing tub.

“Eldest Miss, it’s time!” Chun Tao quickly stepped forward to support Bai Qingyan. “The water is ready. Please bathe, Eldest Miss!”

Bai Qingyan borrowed Chun Tao’s strength to stand up. Her legs were not as weak as noodles as when she had first started practicing.

After bathing, Bai Qingyan spread out writing paper, dipped her brush in ink, lifted the brush… hesitated for a moment, then put the brush back down.

What Bai Qingyan used here was all tribute-quality Chengxin Hall paper that Grand Princess had sent over, and the ink was also tribute quality, which would easily let Xiao Rongyan see where the message originated.

She instructed Chun Tao to fetch ordinary white hemp paper and common ink used by the accounting office. Switching the brush to her left hand, she began writing…

After finishing, Bai Qingyan blew the ink dry, folded it, and handed it to Chun Tao: “Hold this carefully. Tomorrow morning, give this to your cousin and have him find a way to deliver this letter to the steward of the Xiao mansion in the southern part of the city before the day after tomorrow… before New Year’s Eve. Tell him to be careful and not let anyone trace his identity.”

Xiao Rongyan had once helped her greatly, and she had never repaid him even slightly. Now if she could help, she would help.