Bai Qingyan curved her lips, thinking of what Li Mingrui had said last time about wanting to surrender and offering Liu Ruofu as a gift…

“Li Mingrui openly claims to surrender to our Bai family… but secretly wants to bring me down without making a show of it! He intends to make me lose the Crown Prince’s trust…”

Bai Jinxiu listened in confusion: “What does Elder Sister mean?”

Bai Qingyan had already roughly sorted out the cause and effect of the matter in her mind, and calmly explained to Bai Jinxiu: “Li Mingrui had Wang Qiulu lead Fu Ruoxi to watch him enter Prince Liang’s mansion. First, this was to test whether Fu Ruoxi is one of our people, and second, it was to find a witness… to prove that Wang Qiulu indeed went to Prince Liang’s mansion. Then he sent someone to inform me… that Wang Qiulu, whom I ordered him to rescue, might have betrayed her master and has connections with Prince Liang, telling me to guard against Wang Qiulu and Prince Liang…”

Bai Jinxiu still didn’t quite understand, so Bai Qingyan continued: “Today, people from the Crown Prince’s mansion went to the Du residence in Jiuchuan Alley. The old man… wore thick-soled deerskin boots. His status in the Crown Prince’s mansion must be quite high. What a coincidence… today I met Old Fang, who was wearing the same pair of thick-soled deerskin boots! Li Mingrui probably handed Wang Qiulu over to Old Fang from the Crown Prince’s mansion! Old Fang hates me to the bone… even if it’s framing and false accusation, the matter of rescuing Wang Qiulu will fall on my head!”

Bai Jinxiu’s heart immediately tightened, and she gripped her handkerchief tightly.

“When the incident breaks out, Li Mingrui can claim he already reminded me, that he told me to be careful and guard against Wang Qiulu. If I lose the Crown Prince’s trust… and the court still wants to use the Li family, naturally, they cannot expose Li Mingrui! Even more, they cannot let the Crown Prince know that behind his back… I have already grasped the Left Chancellor’s weakness in my palm. Otherwise, if our Bai family holds the Left Chancellor’s weakness without reporting it… the Crown Prince’s suspicion of the Bai family will only grow heavier!”

Bai Qingyan tapped the table with her finger, smiling without warmth: “Even more, if I truly fell into the maze Li Mingrui set for me, I would certainly attribute Wang Qiulu’s appearance at the Crown Prince’s mansion to Prince Liang!”

“Will Wang Qiulu betray Elder Sister?” Bai Jinxiu frowned deeply, her expression stern and threatening.

“Betray?!” Bai Qingyan laughed softly, “How can this even be called betrayal? I never used Wang Qiulu. As for Li Mao… what evidence does he have to prove that I ordered him to rescue Wang Qiulu? Just relying on Wang Qiulu’s testimony?”

“I’m worried that Wang Qiulu will also pin the matter of Prince Liang and Prince Xian’s rebellion on Elder Sister!”

Now that Wang Qiulu’s allegiance was unclear, how could Bai Jinxiu not be anxious?

Whether it was Wang Qiulu or Li Mingrui, both were halfway surrenders. Bai Qingyan naturally couldn’t use them with complete confidence. The reason she had left these two people aside for so long was to see if they would make any rash moves.

She hadn’t expected Li Mingrui to lose his patience so quickly, or perhaps… Li Mingrui’s initial surrender was only to conveniently find opportunities to catch the Bai family and Bai Qingyan’s weaknesses.

Li Mao jumping out now was a good thing for Bai Qingyan…

It was better than having problems when she used him later. At that time, trying to remedy the situation would be much more difficult than today.

“I’m just wondering how, with not only the Emperor’s hidden guards stationed outside Prince Liang’s mansion, but also the Crown Prince’s mansion’s guards on alert, these two groups of people… could turn a blind eye to Wang Qiulu and let her enter Prince Liang’s mansion.” Bai Qingyan frowned in contemplation. This point truly puzzled her.

“Oh right…” Bai Jinxiu suddenly remembered something, leaning closer to Bai Qingyan, “Elder Sister, now that you mention it, I remember something! Half a month after the chaos at Wude Gate passed, Left Chancellor Li Mao was summoned into the palace by the Emperor, and Li Mingrui went with him. After they came out of the palace, the Li mansion quietly began sending servants to Prince Liang’s mansion. At the time when the Li mansion was sending servants to Prince Liang’s mansion… I only thought the Emperor had shown concern for Prince Liang in front of Li Mao, and Li Mao was trying to please the Emperor, so I didn’t mention this matter to Elder Sister in my letters.”

Bai Jinxiu pondered carefully, sitting up straighter: “Now that I think about it… this matter itself was suspicious. This Wang Qiulu was rescued by Li Mingrui on Elder Sister’s orders. Could it be that Wang Qiulu thinks Li Mingrui is her benefactor? Has she already joined the Li mansion and wants to work for the Li family?”

Bai Qingyan’s brow gradually relaxed.

“We’ll meet moves with countermoves. Since we’re already prepared, what is there to fear…” Bai Qingyan’s voice was steady, with a composure that gave Bai Jinxiu peace of mind through its confidence. “Li Mingrui wants to trap me in a dilemma, wants to force me so that if I wish to interfere in court affairs, I can only rely on the Li family and won’t bear to let the Left Chancellor position change hands. Unfortunately, he can’t get everything he wants.”

If things truly couldn’t be salvaged, raising troops at this time would be hasty… but it wouldn’t be entirely without chance of victory.

Bai Qingyan had been enduring the corrupt stench of the Lin imperial power all along.

Moreover, they hadn’t reached that point yet.

“Since Li Mingrui is being so kind, then… I can only drag Li Mingrui into the water!” Bai Qingyan smiled as she looked at Bai Jinxiu. “I don’t believe Li Mingrui dares to tell the Crown Prince directly that I hold letters of the Left Chancellor once colluding with the Second Prince in rebellion. After all… Imperial Teacher Old Tan and Lord Shoushan, these two calligraphy masters, are not so easily bought by the Li family! Although Li Mingrui is ruthless and vicious, he doesn’t dare to dare mutual destruction with me!”

Bai Qingyan’s profound gaze was deep: “After all… if I lose, I only lose the Crown Prince’s trust! But if the Li family loses, what they lose… are the heads of the entire Li clan!”

Bai Qingyan turned to look at Bai Jinxiu, the corner of her mouth curving in an extremely faint smile: “That box of letters Left Chancellor Li Mao wrote to the Second Prince that I gave you, where did you put it?”

“It’s placed in Qing Zhu Pavilion.” Bai Jinxiu thought for a moment and said, “Elder Sister… do you think Li Mingrui’s reach is too long and want to eliminate him?”

Bai Qingyan shook her head: “There’s still no suitable person to sit in the Left Chancellor position, but we can create some trouble for the Li mansion… Pick out several important letters to send to the Crown Prince, saying that my visit to the capital this time was to dissuade His Highness the Crown Prince from keeping the plague victims in the two cities, and also to have Imperial Teacher Old Tan and Lord Shoushan examine whether these letters are genuine. If they’re real, I’ll hand the letters to the Crown Prince and continue collecting other correspondence. Li Mingrui probably learned of this, so he wanted to frame me first, making me an untrustworthy person in the Crown Prince’s eyes, to clear the Li family’s name.”

“Good!” Bai Jinxiu responded.

“I also want to see Li Mingrui’s methods, to see if he can turn the tide. If he can, then there are only two paths… either recruit him for our use, or he cannot be allowed to live.” Bai Qingyan said.

Bai Jinxiu nodded. If Li Mingrui couldn’t turn the tide, then naturally… the entire Li family wouldn’t be able to live either.

Killing was easiest, but unless necessary, Bai Qingyan was determined not to do so, to avoid leaving any traces or evidence, and also worried about disrupting the stable situation in the capital.