She frowned and said to the Emperor: “In response to Your Majesty, yesterday after Aunt Lu took my pulse at the Imperial Qing’an Monastery, she instructed that Yan must rest quietly and cannot exhaust myself with toil again, lest it harm my body. This child Jinzhi just wants to take over this bandit suppression matter from me, but Jinzhi is young, and I’m not entirely at ease, so I haven’t agreed. I never expected this child to be so bold and reckless as to show off her cleverness before Your Majesty today… trying to use Your Majesty’s words to take over this matter.”

“Eldest sister is deceiving the sovereign! Aunt Lu clearly said… If the eldest sister exhausts herself further, she may not have long to live!” Bai Jinzhi tearfully kowtowed to the Emperor and Crown Prince. “Uncle Emperor, Cousin Crown Prince! It’s not that Jinzhi is being bold and reckless. Grandfather, father, uncles, and all the sons of the Bai family have died in battle. Jinzhi doesn’t want to lose her eldest sister! I beg Uncle Emperor to make the decision and entrust the bandit suppression to Jinzhi! Jinzhi will certainly handle it with care! I definitely won’t do worse than my eldest sister. Please give Jinzhi a chance to prove herself!”

The Emperor trusted Lu Ning’e’s medical skills…

Not long to live?! The Emperor rubbed his round cushion, thinking carefully.

“Jinzhi, I was the one who promised the people of Shouyang to suppress the bandits. By crying and complaining to His Majesty and His Highness like this, aren’t you putting His Majesty and His Highness in a difficult position?” Bai Qingyan scolded Bai Jinzhi.

“High Righteousness County Princess also has good intentions!” The Emperor spoke slowly. “After the Duke of Zhenguo returns to Shouyang, she should still recuperate properly. Health should be the priority! Let the bandit suppression matter be entrusted to High Righteousness County Princess!”

“Thank you, Uncle Emperor!” Bai Jinzhi quickly kowtowed, as if afraid that delay would bring changes.

In the seventh month of Xuanjia’s sixteenth year, the Jin Kingdom achieved a great victory in the war against the Great Liang.

Duke of Zhenguo Bai Qingyan was enfeoffed as the Duke of Zhenguo Princess, becoming the only woman in Jin Kingdom’s history to be enfeoffed as princess through military merit.

High Righteousness County Princess Bai Jinzhi was enfeoffed as High Righteousness County Princess.

Commander-in-Chief Liu Hong was enfeoffed as Pacifying General, and all other participating commanders received rewards.

The Crown Prince personally escorted Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi out of the palace, smiling: “When the imperial edict comes down later today, we’ll have to address you as Duke of Zhenguo Princess and High Righteousness County Princess!”

“Uncle Emperor is truly too generous! I originally wanted to trade the county princess position for silver, but unexpectedly… Uncle Emperor gave both the silver and the county princess position! From now on, won’t I be able to swagger through Shouyang City…” Bai Jinzhi said carelessly.

“Bai Jinzhi…” Bai Qingyan looked toward Bai Jinzhi.

Bai Jinzhi quickly laughed dryly: “Just joking! Just joking!”

The Crown Prince was also amused by Bai Jinzhi: “Since the imperial edict hasn’t arrived today, the County Princess and the County Princess probably cannot depart for Shouyang. If the County Princess’s body can still hold up, why not… visit the Crown Prince’s mansion? I have something to consult the County Princess about!”

Bai Qingyan nodded and turned to Bai Jinzhi: “You go back to the mansion first!”

Bai Jinzhi looked toward the Crown Prince as if seeking help: “Cousin Crown Prince, remember to put in some good words for me with my eldest sister later, don’t let her scold me!”

The Crown Prince’s eyes sparkled with deeper amusement as he nodded: “County Princess, rest assured!”

Bai Jinzhi bowed farewell and boarded the carriage.

·

Upon arriving at the Crown Prince’s mansion, the Crown Prince immediately instructed Quan Yu to send someone to invite Master Xiao, specifically instructing that Xiao Rongyan should come on horseback, and also had the mansion prepare a vegetarian feast.

The Crown Prince had not yet given up on matchmaking between Bai Qingyan and Xiao Rongyan.

Every time Xiao Rongyan came to the capital, he would bring the Crown Prince various rare treasures, so the Crown Prince inevitably became greedy.

After all, with such a large money bag sitting there, how could the Crown Prince not be tempted?

The Crown Prince invited Bai Qingyan into his study and sent people to summon Old Fang, Qin Shangzhi, and Ren Shijie.

When Bai Qingyan last saw Qin Shangzhi, it was before leaving the capital. At that time, Qin Shangzhi’s complexion was already not very good. Seeing him again this time, he had lost another circle of weight. In contrast, although Old Fang was advanced in years, he was beaming with vigor, truly hale and hearty in his old age.

Seeing Bai Qingyan, Qin Shangzhi, and Ren Shijie quickly bowed to her: “Greetings to the County Princess!”

“Both gentlemen are too polite!” Bai Qingyan nodded, her gaze falling on Old Fang, giving him a slight nod. “Old Fang…”

Only then did Old Fang bow to Bai Qingyan without hurry, calling out: “County Princess!”

“Everyone, sit!” The Crown Prince sat down first.

Quan Yu brought maids to serve tea, personally placing a cup of rose tea in front of Bai Qingyan, saying in a low voice: “The County Princess has a weak constitution; drinking some flower tea would be appropriate.”

“Thank you, Eunuch Quan Yu.” Bai Qingyan nodded to Quan Yu in thanks.

Quan Yu looked at Bai Qingyan’s pale and thin appearance with great concern, then properly withdrew to wait outside the door.

“Wei Kingdom’s envoys secretly entered Jin and met with Father Emperor, presenting a state letter claiming… that Great Yan is base yet harbors sinister intentions. Over these years, they have secretly built up their strength without revealing their true capabilities. Once they acted, they swallowed Nanyan and aided the Rong tribes against the Nanrong, intending to covet the Rong tribes’ natural pastures. Their wolf-like ambitions to scheme for the world are now clearly revealed. If we continue to tolerate Yan’s existence, when they become militarily strong in the future, all nations will be in danger! In today’s world, those who can destroy Yan are either the Wei Kingdom or the Jin Kingdom. The Wei Kingdom intends to ally with our Jin Kingdom to jointly destroy and partition Yan! What do you all think?”

Bai Qingyan calmly picked up her teacup. Great Wei… had capable people indeed, who could see through Great Yan’s intentions at a glance.

Qin Shangzhi was no longer as straightforward in expressing his views to the Crown Prince as before, but like Ren Shijie, sat there silently drinking tea.

“What did His Majesty say?” Old Fang asked.

“Father Emperor seems to want to train me, instructing that I should think carefully about this matter and tell Father Emperor within three days how I think it should be handled…” The Crown Prince’s brow furrowed tightly, quite worried that his answer might differ from what the Emperor was thinking and result in being scolded.

Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes to look at the rose buds floating up and down in her cup. She didn’t think the Emperor was training the Crown Prince, but rather felt that the Emperor’s mind was probably no longer focused on state affairs.

Old Fang stroked his goatee, half-closed his eyes, and pretended to think deeply for a moment before saying: “Your Highness, this old minister believes that our Jin Kingdom has just experienced the southern frontier war and then engaged in warfare with Great Liang in the northern campaign. We really should not fight again and should focus on rest and recuperation! The Wei Kingdom recently deployed troops on Great Yan’s border, but has been hesitant to go to war with Great Yan. Now sending envoys to Jin… they merely want to gather crowds for courage.”

The Crown Prince nodded and turned to look at Old Fang, listening attentively.

“Joining forces to destroy Yan and partition Yan! It sounds good, but how would the partition work? All of Great Yan… the most fertile lands are entirely in the south! Nanyan borders Wei, so if Yan is truly destroyed, Nanyan would go to Great Wei during the partition! As for the northern lands of Yan, the land is barren and the people poor, with disasters every winter. What would our Jin Kingdom want with this half of Yan territory? Could it be to allocate silver for disaster relief every year… depleting our Jin Kingdom’s national strength? If we truly join forces with Great Wei to destroy and partition Yan this time, after all our efforts, we would ultimately be making wedding clothes for others, helping Wei Kingdom obtain the fertile soil of Nanyan that they have long coveted.”

The Crown Prince suddenly understood, nodded, and then looked toward Bai Qingyan: “What does the County Princess think?”

Bai Qingyan put down her teacup and spoke slowly: “What Old Fang said is reasonable, but… the perspective is somewhat narrow!”