Initially, Prince Liang had fallen into the Crown Prince’s trap, succumbing to intoxicating drugs… which led to him defiling their county princess, resulting in the marriage between Prince Liang and Liu Ruofu. Wang Qiulu knew all of this.

“Do you know who was waiting for Prince Liang at the back gate of Old Master Wang’s residence when Prince Liang secretly slipped out the next day? It was Princess Zhenguo…” Li Mingrui saw Wang Qiulu’s expression growing increasingly ugly, yet continued speaking in that gentle, jade-like tone. “So tell me, who did the Crown Prince entrust this matter to, and who lost face at the palace banquet due to Liu Ruofu and Prince Xian’s accusations, desperately seeking revenge against Liu Ruofu?”

Everything Li Mingrui spoke of was his speculation about the events from back then, formed after learning that Liu Ruofu had personally sent away the child in her womb. Whether it was speculation or not, Li Mingrui had to plant a seed of doubt in Wang Qiulu’s heart.

This time Wang Qiulu hadn’t implicated Princess Zhenguo, so perhaps Princess Zhenguo would save Wang Qiulu, even promote him.

Given Wang Qiulu’s obsessive devotion to Liu Ruofu, wouldn’t he look for opportunities to trip up Princess Zhenguo? That was hard to say…

“Later, it was also Lu Ping, the guard beside Princess Zhenguo, who led the patrol battalion to arrest Liu Ruofu!” Li Mingrui stopped walking and looked at Wang Qiulu who sat across from him with closed eyes. “But at that time, they only caught Liu Ruofu, not the secret guards beside her. Later… I heard they caught quite a few secret guards from Nandu, but still had a few that slipped through the net! If General Wang has the fortune to encounter them in the future, you should ask them properly.”

Just as Li Mingrui finished speaking, he heard footsteps. He turned toward the narrow passage of the prison and saw shadows lengthened by the prison torches approaching in this direction. He pursed his lips and turned to face the approaching figure.

He saw Shen Qingzhu in neat, efficient attire with both hands clasped behind her back, slowly walking to the cell door. Her eyes, looking at Li Mingrui, were cold and disdainful as she raised her hand to signal that the jailer could leave.

The jailer bowed and departed first, carrying his lamp.

Shen Qingzhu looked coldly at Li Mingrui: “Our Bai family’s eldest miss sent me to tell you, she’s giving you two paths: either stop playing tricks and live peacefully, or let all nine generations of the Li family travel together—with many people it’s lively and you’ll have companions on the road.”

Shen Qingzhu’s gaze shifted to Wang Qiulu who had already opened his eyes. Seeing Wang Qiulu had stood up, she withdrew her gaze and said to Li Mingrui: “It seems… no need to ask. You’ve chosen the lively path with many companions.”

Li Mingrui’s face paled as he gritted his teeth and squinted at Shen Qingzhu.

Shen Qingzhu’s expression was serious, making it impossible for Li Mingrui to determine whether her words were sarcastic or not.

“That’s right, it was our eldest miss who sent Lu Ping to arrest Liu Ruofu, but who was it that offered Liu Ruofu as a gift… as sincerity for pledging allegiance to our eldest miss?” Shen Qingzhu’s speech was steady and without fluctuation, revealing no emotion. “I hope Master Li’s skill at reversing black and white will also work with the King of Hell!”

After saying this, Shen Qingzhu turned and left.

Li Mingrui’s expression tensed, his eyes darkening. Only after the footsteps could no longer be heard did he speak: “Old man! Stop her!”

Wang Qiulu saw a black shadow depart and looked toward Li Mingrui: “You have people in the prison!”

Before Li Mingrui could answer, they heard the footsteps of armed jailers. Li Mingrui’s palms tightened, but he saw those jailers opening Wang Qiulu’s cell door across from him, saying: “Wang Qiulu… come out, His Highness the Crown Prince wants to see you!”

Wang Qiulu clenched his fists, brushed the straw from his body and emerged from the cell. He glanced at Li Mingrui once before following the jailers away.

Wang Qiulu’s steps were heavy. He didn’t know whether Princess Zhenguo would keep her promise to save him, nor did he know if the Crown Prince’s summons was to ask more questions, or… to kill him.

What Wang Qiulu hadn’t expected was that when he left the Court of Justice prison and followed the Crown Prince’s people to the main hall of the Crown Prince’s mansion, he saw Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan was entirely wrapped in a snow-white fox fur cloak, with a vigorously burning charcoal brazier at her feet. Hearing the young eunuch report that Wang Qiulu had arrived, she turned to look at him.

Bai Qingyan was still ill, her face pale and gaunt. The snow-white fox fur cloak made her face appear even more bloodless, and the fur trim on the cloak swayed gently with her breathing.

Wang Qiulu entered and bowed to both the Crown Prince and Bai Qingyan.

The Crown Prince glanced at Wang Qiulu: “You are blessed—Princess Zhenguo has pleaded for you. I cannot refuse to give Princess Zhenguo this face, so I’ll send you to Nanjiang to guard the frontier together with the Bai family army, to atone for your crimes through merit. Are you willing?”

Wang Qiulu’s palms tightened. He looked up at Bai Qingyan and saw that her eyes were clear and without fluctuation. He kowtowed heavily: “Thank you, Your Highness, the Crown Prince! Thank you, Princess Zhenguo! This criminal is willing!”

He must live well, as his father had said!

The Crown Prince waved his hand, signaling his guards to take Wang Qiulu away. After Wang Qiulu left, the Crown Prince said: “You really are something—back then his father Wang Jianghai used General Bai’s jade pendant to deceive and trouble you, yet you still save his son!”

“If Your Highness hadn’t mentioned that His Majesty wanted to quietly settle this matter, Bai Qingyan wouldn’t dare to plead with Your Highness.” Bai Qingyan nodded slightly to the Crown Prince and wrapped her cloak tighter. “Originally, being deceived by Wang Jianghai, I was indeed angry, but ultimately Wang Jianghai once saved my fourth uncle. Consider it repaying him on my fourth uncle’s behalf. I must also thank Your Highness for your accommodation.”

“Between you and me, why be so formal?” the Crown Prince said to Bai Qingyan. “In the future, if you have any matters, send someone to speak of them. You’re unwell—there’s no need to make the trip personally!”

“I came personally this time to bid farewell to Your Highness! I only happened to hear Your Highness mention not wanting to make this matter bigger, so I casually pleaded for Wang Qiulu!” Bai Qingyan said with a smile.

The Crown Prince’s words of persuasion reached his lips, but remembering what the Emperor had said about Bai Qingyan in the palace, he pursed his lips and nodded: “Very well! The capital has much trouble… only by returning to Shuoyang can you properly recover from your injuries and illness! I’ll have Quan Yu open the treasury to bring you some precious medicinal supplements. When you finish them, I’ll send more to Shuoyang—don’t be sparing, your health is what matters!”

Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes and nodded to the Crown Prince: “Thank you for Your Highness’s concern.”

Upon leaving the Crown Prince’s mansion, before Bai Qingyan could return home, she received a report from someone from the mansion saying that Shen Qingzhu had returned injured and urgently needed to see Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan’s hand tightened on the carriage curtain, her expression turning severe and murderous as she said in a deep voice: “Return to the mansion!”

Shen Qingzhu was currently in Qinghui Courtyard. Her face was pale, blood flowing continuously from her arm. The maids were frantically trying to help Shen Qingzhu stop the bleeding, constantly urging why the mansion physician hadn’t arrived yet.

Shen Qingzhu’s gaze was vacant, completely ignoring her bleeding wound. Her mind was filled entirely with the elderly man she had just seen—full of silver hair, wearing azure-gray rough clothing and black cloth shoes.

The mansion physician had just finished bandaging Shen Qingzhu when repeated calls of “Eldest Miss” came from Qinghui Courtyard.