“Who came from Shouyang?” she asked.

Nanny Qin looked troubled as she replied: “They only sent… two gentlemen of illegitimate birth who are of the same generation as the Young Master.”

The cold wind swept up snow, and the white accumulated on the azure tile eaves slid down along the slope. The white lanterns in the corridor swayed back and forth in the wind.

She pressed her lips together and remained silent for a long while. Although the Bai family of Shouyang and the Bai family of Duke Zhenguo’s mansion were already beyond the five degrees of mourning kinship, the Bai family of Shouyang’s prestige in Shouyang entirely depended on the Bai family’s protection. When Shouyang sent New Year gifts annually, the legitimate branch of the Shouyang Bai family would practically all follow along, attempting to draw closer relations with the Duke’s mansion.

Now, with the Bai family’s great mourning, they had only sent two gentlemen of illegitimate birth. Though it couldn’t be called opportunistic… it inevitably seemed rather cold-hearted.

Seeking profit and avoiding harm was human instinct – she blamed no one.

Yet in her heart, there was still a slight chill.

She said quietly, “Grandmother just took her medicine and is resting. Perhaps another day!”

Nanny Qin nodded and bowed before hurrying away again.

Bai Qingyan took her seventh sister, Bai Jinse, by the hand and came to the front courtyard, kneeling before the spirit altar with her mother, aunt, and sisters.

Fourth Aunt Wang Shi seemed as if she had lost her soul entirely, lying prostrate beside little Seventeenth’s coffin, refusing to leave no matter who tried to persuade her…

The first to come pay respects were… Old Madam Dong from Dengzhou and her two sons, practically the entire family, had come.

After Dong Changyuan finished paying his respects, looking at Bai Qingyan who bowed in return with tears in her eyes, his heart ached unbearably.

Perhaps because the Bai family’s current situation was unclear, only two uncles had been sent from the ancestral home in Shouyang for the funeral.

Those serving as officials in court dared not come, and even the maternal families of several aunts had not sent anyone to offer condolences. Instead, it was the common people of the capital who gathered at the Duke’s mansion gates, weeping sorrowfully.

This affair of the Bai family displayed the fickleness of officialdom to the fullest.

After Old Madam Dong paid respects to the Bai family’s heroic spirits, she pulled Dong Shi to a secluded, deserted place and quietly asked about Dong Shi’s plans.

“Yesterday, the Minister of Personnel, who was friendly with your elder brother, advised him to keep his distance from the Bai family, saying His Majesty likely intends to use this opportunity to uproot the Bai family completely, telling your brother to protect himself wisely! I’ve been thinking… why don’t I claim illness when I return, and we’ll maintain a unified story that A’Bao and Changyuan have long been betrothed. Though it would be marrying during mourning… if it’s to bring me, this old woman, good fortune, others couldn’t say much about it! You… should also request a divorce decree from the Grand Princess! Let’s return to Dengzhou – we can save whoever we can!”

Old Madam Dong spoke urgently and rapidly, evidently having calculated this plan before coming.

Since she knew the Bai family would perish, even if it cost her life, she would pull her daughter and granddaughter out of this.

Hearing Old Madam Dong’s words, Dong Shi’s heart jumped frantically: “Mother… are you certain? Did the Minister of Personnel say this?!”

The Minister of Personnel had always been most skilled at discerning the emperor’s intentions.

“Would Mother lie to you!” Old Madam Dong gripped her daughter’s hand tightly, her voice choking with tears, “Mother knows you’re deeply emotional and righteous, but this isn’t the time for sentiment! Let’s take it step by step – first pull you and A’Bao out of this quagmire! Then find ways to save whoever we can from the Bai family! The Grand Princess needn’t worry – she is the emperor’s biological aunt after all, the emperor won’t do anything to the Grand Princess!”

Dong Shi lowered her eyes, her mind racing. Second Miss Bai Jinxiu was already married, and Bai Jintong had also reached marriageable age, but Fourth Miss Bai Jinzhi, Fifth Miss, Sixth Miss, and Seventh Miss were all still young! Fifth Sister-in-law Qi Shi still had several months before giving birth…

“Wanjun!” Old Madam Dong forcefully tugged her daughter, “Did you hear what Mother said?”

After a long moment, Dong Shi looked at Old Madam Dong with reddened eyes, smiled, and said: “Mother, since your daughter married Qishan… I made a vow with Qishan beforehand. If your daughter truly left the Bai family at this moment, how could I face Qishan in the underworld? How could your daughter bear to let the world see that behind these loyal souls and heroic spirits… their family would end up broken with nothing remaining?”

Old Madam Dong couldn’t help but forcefully strike Dong Shi’s arm: “Then you’re willing to let Mother suffer the fate of a white-haired person sending off a black-haired person! What wrong have you done?! What wrong has A’Bao done?!”

“Mother! Originally, I thought… if A’Bao was unwilling, then the marriage between A’Bao and Changyuan would be called off! Since things have come to this, your daughter will certainly persuade A’Bao – even if she’s unwilling, she must marry! If the Bai family can safely weather this storm, that’s one thing… if not, in the future… please trouble Mother and younger siblings to care for A’Bao!”

As Dong Shi spoke, she knelt before Old Madam Dong and performed the great kowtow ceremony, her voice choking: “Let A’Bao fulfill your daughter’s filial duty at Mother’s knees!”

Old Madam Dong turned her head away, covering her mouth with her handkerchief as she wept, pounding her chest in pain with her hand. She knew her daughter had resolved to live and die with the Bai family – how could this not break a mother’s heart? This was the daughter she had cherished since childhood, this was flesh that had fallen from her own body!

Seeing her daughter kneeling without rising, Old Madam Dong helplessly helped her daughter up, her sobbing voice thick as paste: “You child has always been strong-willed and deeply emotional! Even when you were still unmarried, you dared agree to your sworn sister… to make Qin Lang your son-in-law! Now… now…”

Old Madam Dong wept uncontrollably, forcefully restraining her emotions as she embraced Dong Shi: “Since you’re determined to live and die with the Bai family, then the Dong family will risk everything… exert all our strength to protect the Bai family! May Heaven pity my child’s pure heart, pity this family’s loyal bones, and not treat the Bai family so harshly!”

“Mother! Mother…” Dong Shi tightly clutched Old Madam Dong’s clothing, nestling in Old Madam Dong’s embrace as tears streamed down her face, only able to call out “Mother” repeatedly.

Dong Shi was an extremely strong woman. After weeping bitterly, she had already begun planning escape routes for the Bai family members.

After the Bai family’s great mourning, she would have to find ways to send these children out of the capital. If there truly was misfortune, they could be preserved; if the Bai family was safe… then it would be as if they had traveled abroad like young men, and could return.

The mother and son hiding in Qingming Courtyard constantly sent people to gather information from the front courtyard. Learning that besides Young Master’s wife, Dong Shi’s maternal family, the other wives’ maternal families feared the emperor’s intentions… and didn’t even dare come to offer condolences, their hearts immediately turned cold.

Under the flickering candlelight, Bai Qingxuan lay prone on the soft couch, thinking that his crying performance at the South City Gate today had probably buried him in a pit.

“Xuan’er, why don’t we pack our valuables and flee first!” the woman said anxiously, “Given the Bai family’s current situation, it’s probably as that Bai eldest miss said – about to collapse! If a clan extermination charge comes down, we, mother and son, will have to die along with the Bai family! Son… keep the green hills and don’t worry about lacking firewood! At worst, we’ll wait until the Bai family’s troubles settle before returning! You are the Bai family’s last remaining sprout! When you return then, needless to say, you’ll be the most honored Duke, and all the wealth and glory of this Bai mansion will still be yours!”