She also feared whether A’Bao might already be in danger or injured at this moment.

Liu was just a woman of the inner quarters. Her first thought was… whether these rebel soldiers would ravage women like beasts after breaking in. As a daughter-in-law of the Bai family, she naturally could not be humiliated even unto death—at worst, she could end it all with a golden hairpin through the heart.

But… what about Xiao Qi?

Liu’s gaze fell on Bai Jinse, who was looking out toward the front courtyard. Where should she hide the child? Even if she could first send her to someone else’s house.

But the noble residences neighboring Duke Zhenguo’s mansion had surely heard everything by now. In times like these, everyone feared for themselves… when everyone didn’t know if they could protect themselves, who could take care of Duke Zhenguo’s mansion?

Liu’s eyes wandered around desperately, hoping that Grand Princess’s quarters might have some secret chamber or hidden passage, even if it could only hide Xiao Qi.

Cold wind blew against her face. Bai Jinse looked up at the black clouds in the sky. Soon, rain began to fall, initially disappearing quickly into the azure stone floor, but then large raindrops fell continuously, growing heavier and heavier…

The Bai family guard soldiers and those strong-built matrons stood guard in the courtyard, their expressions tense.

Before long, the battle cries from the front courtyard seemed to diminish somewhat.

Shortly after the battle cries disappeared completely, a Bai family guard soldier came running frantically from a distance, standing outside Changshou Courtyard and shouting: “The bandits have all been killed! Master Xiao asked me to come report first to Second Madam and Seventh Miss—Second Madam and Seventh Miss can rest assured!”

This statement was like hot water poured into an oil pot—while making everyone in Changshou Courtyard breathe a sigh of relief, it also caused an uproar, with everyone exclaiming how wonderful it was.

“Master Xiao?!” The second Madam stood up in shock, supporting herself on Nanny Luo’s hand as she moved to the window lattice. “Let him in!”

The gates of Changshou Courtyard opened. Second Madam Liu also stepped out from the upper room of Changshou Courtyard, while Bai Jinse, Physician Hong, and Miss Lu all came out from behind the curtains.

The Bai family guard soldier entered and knelt with clasped fists, saying: “Second Madam, Seventh Miss, all the bandits have been eliminated! Not one was left alive!”

Second Madam Liu’s heart immediately relaxed, and she hurriedly asked: “You mentioned Master Xiao? Which Master Xiao?”

“Reporting to Second Madam, it’s the Master Xiao who saved Fourth Madam when our Bai mansion was holding funeral rites. Early this morning, before dawn, Master Xiao came with his guard, and we heard he also brought hidden guards, but Master Xiao was worried about Eldest Miss’s safety and let the hidden guards follow Eldest Miss! He said he would guard the Bai family to let Eldest Miss feel at ease. Before leaving, Eldest Miss instructed us to respectfully follow Master Xiao’s orders. This Master Xiao is extremely formidable—he led us to kill every single one of those bandits. Right now, Master Xiao is leading people to repair the mansion gates to prevent more bandits from attacking.”

The Bai family guard soldier spoke clearly and explained everything in detail.

Liu’s eyes reddened. Adding flowers to brocade is easy, but sending charcoal in snow is difficult—how could Liu not understand this principle?

Xiao Rongyan had repeatedly stepped forward to save the Bai family, and now he had come to help the Bai family in such dangerous times when everyone feared for themselves. This showed that this person truly had deep and sincere feelings for the Bai family.

“Good! Good!” Liu dabbed at the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief. “After this matter is over, I must personally thank Master Xiao!”

The guard nodded: “Madam, this subordinate must return to guard the front gate to prevent bandit attacks.”

“Good! Go! Be careful in everything! Thank you all for your hard work!” Liu said.

The guard stood up, bowed again, and ran out of Changshou Courtyard in the rain.

The gates of Changshou Courtyard closed again. Only then did Liu let out a long breath, but thinking of Bai Jinxiu and Wang Ge’er, whose situation was still unknown, as well as Bai Qingyan, Liu’s heart tightened again.

Bai Jinse looked up at Liu and gently tugged at Liu’s sleeve embroidered with purple butterflies: “Second Aunt, don’t worry… Second Sister will be fine. They only came for the Bai family! Otherwise, we should have heard battle cries from other households! Prince Liang and Prince Xian probably wanted to capture Second Aunt and me to threaten Elder Sister! But the soldiers they brought from Nandu are limited after all—they can’t spare troops to go to the Qin mansion to capture Second Sister!”

Liu looked down at Bai Jinse, seeing that her eyes were calm and she was more composed than her elder: “Moreover, when Master Xiao just sent his guard to deliver the message, saying… that every single bandit was killed, this means no one will return to report to Prince Xian and Prince Liang. Before getting news from the Bai mansion, Prince Xian and Prince Liang won’t divide their forces to go to the Qin mansion! They have bigger matters to attend to… in that imperial palace, rather than entangling with the Bai family.”

Looking at this little one who always surrounded her with laughter and chatter, Liu inexplicably thought of Bai Qingyan. At this moment, Bai Jinse’s tone and demeanor were surprisingly like her elder sister Bai Qingyan’s.

As an elder, having a small child comfort her made Liu feel somewhat ashamed, but she had to admit… after hearing what Bai Jinzhi said, her heart was much more at ease.

Looking at the torrential rain pouring from the sky, Liu instinctively clutched the clothes at her chest: “What you say does put me at ease, but at the imperial palace… A’Bao must not come to harm!”

“Elder Sister has experienced hundreds of battles. When it comes to warfare… no one is Elder Sister’s match! Elder Sister will be fine!” Bai Jinse didn’t know if she was saying this for Liu to hear or for herself to hear, but her tone was more resolute than her previous words, and her voice was also louder.

Inside the imperial palace, Fan Yuhuai had already followed Bai Qingyan’s instructions and headed straight for the emperor’s sleeping quarters with the Crown Prince after entering the palace.

The carved partition screens of the emperor’s sleeping quarters stood open. Inside the great hall, lanterns blazed brightly, and hanging curtains swayed in the wind with dancing lamp shadows.

Outside the magnificent great hall, rain washed the jade-green tiles, creating water curtains under the eaves with splashing droplets.

Behind the crimson curtains, the emperor lay on the dragon bed with heavy breathing. Imperial physicians trembled as they stood to one side, not knowing if they could survive this palace coup. Only Imperial Physician Huang remained relatively steady, standing under the lamplight, tasting medicine for the emperor.

Grand Princess, with her silver hair, aged but deeply dignified, sat on a nanmu wood chair in the center, gripping her tiger-headed staff, strictly guarding against allowing anyone to approach the sleeping quarters. Wei Zhong and Nanny Jiang stood guard on her left and right sides.

Fortunately, Grand Princess still had some foundation in the palace, and relying on the Bai family’s reputation, there were still soldiers willing to follow Grand Princess in defending the emperor to the death.

Actually, regarding this imperial nephew, Grand Princess no longer wanted to save him.

However, now was not the time for this emperor to die. At least… the emperor needed to hold on until this great chaos ended, until the Crown Prince achieved victory and could smoothly ascend the throne.

The Crown Prince now relied on her granddaughter Bai Qingyan, and Bai Qingyan was a woman without military power. Presumably… when the Crown Prince ascended the throne in the future, he would certainly use the most gentle and tender method—releasing military power over a cup of wine—to allow the entire Bai family to survive.

But Grand Princess felt heartbroken in her private thoughts. Looking at this court where moral standards had deteriorated, it was no longer the scene from when Father Emperor and Imperial Brother were alive.