“Oh my lady!” Puliu hurriedly stretched her neck to look outside, then lowered her voice to warn: “You absolutely cannot say such things anymore! Now, that person is Your Majesty… for you to address her by name like this is a great taboo! It would be one thing if only the master and young master heard it, but if someone with ulterior motives overheard, this would be an enormous crime! You could lose your head if you’re not careful.”

Fang Shi was so frightened she quickly covered her mouth, glanced outside to see no one else was there, then irritably flicked her handkerchief: “I just can’t change my way of speaking right away. Besides… even if she ascends the throne and becomes empress, am I not still her aunt! I once mentioned to the master that I wanted to arrange a marriage for that person… If the master had agreed back then and that person had married my second brother’s legitimate second son, do you think we’d have anything to worry about now? It’s all the master’s fault… he wasted such a good opportunity!”

Puliu looked at Fang Shi and sighed inwardly, feeling that Fang Shi was being too unrealistic. Princess Zhenguo—never mind that she was about to ascend the throne as emperor now—even when she was just Princess Zhenguo… or even without mentioning Princess Zhenguo, just speaking of someone like the Bai family’s legitimate eldest daughter, how could she possibly be matched with Fang Shi’s nephew?

Speaking of this, Fang Shi seemed to think of something and turned around, her eyes bright as she looked at Puliu: “Puliu, tell me… didn’t Bai Qingyan injure her body years ago and lose the ability to bear children? Then, who will she pass the throne to in the future?”

“Madam!” Puliu’s eyes widened. “This matter is not for you to worry about! You must not harbor any schemes regarding this matter, lest you suffer more than you gain!”

“I’m just talking with you!” The more Fang Shi thought about this matter, the happier she became. “Think about it—during her convalescence in Shouyang, she nearly died three or four times. This time, she forced herself to campaign against Prince Liang; she should be… almost at the end of her rope, right? Tell me… all the sons of the Bai family’s legitimate line are dead, and my A’Ping… usually gets along quite well with her. Could it be that…”

Puliu was once again shocked into a cold sweat by Fang Shi’s wild fantasies. She had long known that Fang Shi sometimes liked to indulge in fanciful thinking, but she never imagined Fang Shi could be so incredibly unrealistic.

“Madam, you absolutely cannot say such things!” Puliu’s voice was extremely low. “His Majesty is an empress, so naturally she can pass the throne to her sister. Never mind that His Majesty still has a concubine-born sister, even the legitimate daughters from the second and third branches are as close as blood sisters! Moreover, the Bai family’s Eighth Miss, born to Fifth Madam Qi Shi, when His Majesty was in Shouyang… she would see her almost daily and keep her by her side.”

“But those are all women who will marry…” Only after finishing her words did Fang Shi realize that Bai Qingyan was also a woman. She flicked her handkerchief and frowned, murmuring in a low voice: “That’s right! No matter what, it would never be my A’Ping’s turn! But my A’Ping trained troops for her… guarded Shouyang for her. Could all that hard work be for nothing?”

“Madam…” Puliu patiently tried to reason with Fang Shi earnestly: “The young master worked hard for His Majesty, which is why His Majesty values the young master. Have you forgotten that last time the Bai family’s First Madam Dong Shi said that since the Bai clan helped Shouyang through its difficulties this time, when His Majesty returns, there will surely be rewards based on merit? But… this matter is entirely up to His Majesty. Whatever His Majesty bestows, we should happily accept it. We absolutely cannot make demands—to demand would be overstepping bounds and losing proper measure! So you must never tell the master to ask His Majesty for anything!”

Seeing Fang Shi biting her lower lip with unwillingness, seeming to feel greatly wronged with reddened eyes, Puliu continued: “You previously had conflicts with the master and only recently won back his heart. Don’t push the master away again, or the one who suffers in the end will still be you, won’t it, Madam!”

“That father and son only know how to favor that person, as if they have some grudge against me. I’m only thinking of them… of this family!” Fang Shi felt hurt and turned to grasp Puliu’s hand. “Thank goodness I have you by my side! If I didn’t have you to talk with and comfort me all the time, I would have been angered to death by that father and son long ago.”

Puliu patted Fang Shi’s hand and gently warned: “Madam, you must remember my words. Don’t let yourself get carried away when the master returns and say things you shouldn’t say in front of him, making him angry.”

At this moment, Bai Qihe was surrounded by a roomful of clan elders, all asking him about Bai Qingyan’s coronation on the twentieth of June—how the clan leader planned to arrange things, whether they needed to move their entire families into the capital, since after Bai Qingyan ascended the throne, their Shouyang Bai clan would become genuine imperial relatives.

Those clan members who hadn’t been expelled when Bai Qingyan had previously dealt with the Bai clan were terrified in retrospect. Fortunately, when their family members or brothers, or descendants were expelled from the clan, they hadn’t acted impulsively to leave together with them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be among the imperial relatives now.

Those expelled clan members, having caught wind of the news, those Bai clan elders had already gone to find the clan leader, planning to request a fief for the clan members and a hereditary princely title.

With a fief and title, they could live like emperors in their territory. Who wouldn’t want such a good life?

These expelled Bai clan members were now living in poverty and had long regretted their actions. Hearing news of Bai Qingyan becoming emperor, they beat their chests and stamped their feet in even greater regret. Unable to see Bai Qihe, they found ways to reach Bai Qingping at the military camp, begging him to speak well of them before clan leader Bai Qihe and pleading to be readmitted to the clan, swearing they would never dare act recklessly again.

Having grown up in Shouyang, how could Bai Qingyan not understand the nature of these clan people? After being expelled, their later lives weren’t as comfortable as when they were in the Bai clan… when they could rely on the prestige of the capital’s Duke Zhenguo mansion to live so comfortably.

Now, knowing that Elder Sister was about to ascend the throne, these expelled people realized that the entire Bai clan would become imperial relatives, so they came crawling back with humble apologies.

People like them—a leopard cannot change its spots. When they only had the prestige of the capital’s Duke Zhenguo mansion to rely on, they dared to oppress the people of Shouyang. If such people became imperial relatives, who knew how they would oppress the common people?

Bai Qingping had led troops in Shouyang for so long that he was no longer the young man without confidence or spirit, filled only with resentment. When those who had once been his elders or brothers blocked his horse and knelt to kowtow and plead, Bai Qingping had the Shouyang soldiers pull them away and ordered that if anyone came to cause trouble at the military camp gates again, they would all be imprisoned and sentenced to thirty days of hard labor in the mines before being released.

The soldiers followed orders to pull away the expelled Bai clan members, and Bai Qingping spurred his horse and rode away quickly.

He knew that by now, the Shouyang Bai clan members should have received the news and gone to find his father. He needed to hurry back to see what was happening.