Upon learning this news, Bai Qingyan was furious and immediately thought of the great epidemic in Jiaozhou years ago. Back then, when the great epidemic struck Jiaozhou, the emperor had also first sealed off Jiaozhou City. When the epidemic could not be controlled, those court officials who fed on the people’s taxes and tributes came up with the same idea—to kill all the plague victims in Jiaozhou and completely cut off the epidemic. If not for her aunt Bai Suqiu, who could not bear to see it and volunteered to enter Jiaozhou, and her father personally leading the Bai family army to escort her aunt into Jiaozhou City, the people of Jiaozhou would have been slaughtered clean and burned to nothing. But later, though the people of Jiaozhou were saved, her aunt never managed to come out of Jiaozhou again.
Bai Qingyan closed her eyes, only hoping that physicians could soon develop a remedy to cure this epidemic.
Today is the ancestral worship. Have the mother and the aunts returned?” Bai Qingyan asked again.
“Replying to First Miss, they have not yet returned.”
Bai Qingyan had been claiming illness and recuperating without seeing guests. Since her injuries were severe, naturally she could not attend the ancestral worship either. The ancestral worship ceremonies were complex and elaborate; surely mother and the aunts would be exhausted when they returned.
“Have the kitchen prepare good food so that when Mother, the aunts, Fifth Sister, and Sixth Sister return, they can eat immediately.” Bai Qingyan closed the book in her hands and picked up the medicine bowl, frowning as she drank it down.
Chun Tao smiled as she took the medicine bowl and said to Bai Qingyan, “First Miss, rest assured, the kitchen has already prepared everything.”
“Old Master Min Qianqiu is staying as a guest in our Bai Manor. Today is Little New Year… have the kitchen prepare more dishes in the Wei Kingdom style for Old Master Min and his disciples.” Bai Qingyan’s gaze fell on Nanny Tong. “Nanny Tong, please make the trip personally and apologize to Old Master Min on my behalf. Grandfather, father, uncle, and the brothers have only been gone for a year, and we have not yet finished the mourning period, so we cannot hold banquets! My health is poor and I cannot personally entertain guests, so I must trouble Old Master Min.”
“Ay! This old servant will go right away!” Nanny Tong said with a smile.
Now that grandfather, father, uncle, and the brothers had passed the first anniversary, mother had decided to have bright-colored clothing made for everyone in the family, so that the Bai Manor would have some vibrant colors. After all, a year had already passed, and the living still had to look forward.
Mother knew that A’Yu was still alive, and Fourth Aunt knew that A’Jue was still alive. For the rest of their lives, they only hoped their children would be healthy and that they might have a day when they could meet again. Other than this, they had no other wishes.
Bai Qingyan had just rinsed her mouth with honey water when Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua, the two sisters who had returned from ancestral worship, entered Meixiang Pavilion. They ran like the wind to the covered walkway and raised their hands to pat the snowflakes off their heads and bodies.
“Oh my Fifth Miss and Sixth Miss!” Nanny Tong quickly put down her work and rushed out from the warm pavilion to greet them, raising her hands to brush the snow off Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua. “How is it that you don’t even have a maid following you, and you don’t even carry an umbrella!”
“It’s fine, Nanny! We two went to Boyun Courtyard as soon as we returned, and heard that Elder Sister came to Meixiang Pavilion today to admire the plum blossoms. We two found the nannies and servant girls too slow, so we ran over…” Bai Jinzhao said with a laugh, brushing her bangs aside as she entered.
Bai Jinhua also followed Bai Jinzhao inside. The two looked through the jade-inlaid nanmu wood bird-patterned gauze screen toward the pavilion interior and loudly called out “Elder Sister” before standing by the brazier to warm themselves, afraid that approaching their elder sister directly with the cold air would pass the chill to her. This had been the habit of the sisters when visiting their elder sister in winter for many years. Even though Bai Qingyan’s cold syndrome had greatly improved now, they had never changed this practice.
Bai Qingyan smiled and turned to instruct Chun Tao: “Go bring some milk custard and pastries for Fifth Sister and Sixth Sister so they can have something first.”
Chun Tao responded and went out, just as she saw Nanny Tong leading servant girls carrying washing implements about to enter.
After Bai Jinzhao and Bai Jinhua washed their hands clean with hot water and warmed themselves thoroughly, they went around the screen to come in. One sat on the soft couch, the other sat on a small embroidered stool brought by a servant girl, smiling as they told Bai Qingyan about today’s ancestral worship.
“Elder Sister, you don’t know how amazing First Aunt, Third Aunt, and Fifth Aunt were today…”
Bai Jinhua had just opened her mouth excitedly, wanting to tell Bai Qingyan about today’s ancestral worship, when she was interrupted by Bai Jinzhao: “Don’t talk about those vexing clan matters in front of Elder Sister. The aunts have already resolved everything. If you tell her now, won’t you just make Elder Sister angry for nothing?”
Bai Jinhua was mindful that Bai Qingyan’s injuries had not fully healed and was afraid of making her angry.
“It’s fine, let Sixth Sister speak…” Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Jinhua with a smile.
Hearing Bai Qingyan’s words, Bai Jinhua could no longer contain herself and began telling about today’s events…
Today’s ancestral worship proceeded just as Bai Qingyan had expected—the clan members indeed could not contain themselves and, relying on their seniority, wanted to gain benefits from the Bai Manor.
The clan members had already discussed and agreed yesterday morning to send someone… to directly hand a list to mother and the aunts. The list contained the names of various junior members from the clan families. They wanted Bai Qingyan to present this list to the Crown Prince, begging the Crown Prince to make good use of these Bai family descendants to continue the Bai clan’s glory.
Bai Qihe, as the clan leader, should have been the one to handle such matters, but the clan members bypassed the clan leader and privately prepared the list, handing it directly to Dong Shi. They claimed that since the Bai family currently had no one in court, even though Bai Jinzhi was skilled in warfare, she was a woman and could not continue the Bai family’s glory.
This time, the clan members were indeed clever, speaking very tactfully and keeping their attitude extremely humble. The general meaning was that Bai Qingyan had suffered severe injuries, and they did not know when she might die, so while she was still alive and had saved the Crown Prince’s life, if she was willing to promote the clan members, the Crown Prince would surely make good use of them. Then the Bai clan would have people in court and would not let down the Bai family’s century of illustrious reputation.
Dong Shi was so angry that she nearly fainted backward. Fifth Madam Qi Shi directly tore up the list, and Third Madam Li Shi loudly scolded the clan members, saying that when Bai Qingyan was severely injured, even unrelated outsiders constantly showed concern and frequently sent supplements, hoping Bai Qingyan would recover. But the clan members were different—they only hoped to squeeze out every last bit of value from Bai Qingyan before she died.
As the clan leader, Bai Qihe’s face turned iron blue, and he hurriedly apologized to the Bai family ladies, saying he would certainly discipline the clan members in the future.
Now, several clan elders among the clan members were unwilling to accept this. They claimed that everyone shared the same clan and bloodline, and over these years, while the main Bai family was in the capital… the Bai clan in Shouyang had devoted themselves wholeheartedly, all for the Bai clan. Now that the capital had no one in court, as a Bai clan woman, Bai Qingyan should consider the future of the entire Bai clan and recommend Bai clan descendants to enter the court as officials.
Fifth Madam Qi Shi sneered coldly, saying that the Bai clan’s glory was earned by the Bai family men sacrificing their lives. If the clan descendants truly intended to contribute to the Bai clan and continue the Bai family’s illustrious reputation, they could very well take the imperial examinations or join the military, fighting desperately like the capital Bai family men. But they only wanted to enjoy the benefits without effort, entering court as officials while making Bai Qingyan become someone who exploited favors for personal gain—the clan members had the nerve to say such things.
Third Madam Li Shi was also unforgiving with her words, only saying: “If the glory of the Bai clan needs to be achieved by having our capital Bai family’s eldest legitimate daughter exploit favors to coerce the Crown Prince, then we would truly be throwing our Bai clan ancestors’ dignity into a cesspit!”
The clan members were greatly shocked and accused Li Shi of speaking wildly.