Chapter 690: 687: Meeting after Revealing the Truth - Part 1

Chapter 690: Chapter 687: Meeting after Revealing the Truth – Part 1

Mrs. Dong saw that her already frail and thin daughter had become even thinner. Her chin was sharper, her facial features more pronounced, and her usually fair face was now utterly colorless, as white as silk fabric.

Mrs. Dong’s tears fell in droplets.

“Don’t move! The sedan chair hasn’t arrived yet, so lie down for now. Where are you hurt? Is it serious?” Mrs. Dong grasped Bai Qingyan’s hand tightly. Her daughter’s small hand was ice-cold, which felt like a knife cutting into her heart. She covered her daughter’s hands with her own and held them close to her chest, choking back her sobs. “What happened? How did you get so badly hurt?”

“Mother…” Bai Qingyan clasped Mrs. Dong’s hand in return, and in a low voice, said, “This is an act for others to see. Mother, do not worry. Mother should understand, during the Wude Gate uprising… your daughter was too conspicuous in quelling the chaos. Without this ruse, I couldn’t have safely returned home.”

Mrs. Dong understood this reasoning, but she also knew that her daughter was truly injured; a false injury wouldn’t deceive the Emperor and the Crown Prince.

Mrs. Dong calmed down a bit more, pulling her daughter closer to inspect her, “Where are you hurt?”

Bai Qingyan smiled gently at Mrs. Dong, her eyes filled with warmth, “Mother, I have good news to tell you. Don’t worry… come back with me to Boyun Courtyard, and you’ll surely be delighted!”

Bai Qingyan had yet to speak, had yet to tell her mother… that A Yu was still alive, but her eyes were already welling up.

Mrs. Dong glanced down at her daughter’s cold fingers gripping hers tightly, then looked up at her daughter. Knowing Bai Qingyan wouldn’t lie without reason, she pushed down the unease and nodded.

The guards of the Bai Mansion had already carried over the sedan chair. Bai Jinzhi and Shen Qingzhu, who had changed clothes, carefully helped Bai Qingyan down from the carriage and onto the sedan chair.

Today, as the Princess of Zhen returned to Shuoyang, the people of Shuoyang knew she had defeated the fierce Nanrong soldiers in Dengzhou, protected the Crown Prince back to Dadu, and became a hero of the Wude Gate protection. Many townsfolk who had light duties followed her carriage to the Bai Mansion’s gate.

Seeing the emaciated Bai Qingyan carefully helped down from the carriage, she seemed so frail that even a breeze might blow her over.

The people of Shuoyang still remembered Bai Qingyan’s heroic and valiant appearance, riding high on her horse as she led troops to quell the bandits upon her return. She seemed unstoppable. But now, seeing her so thin and weak, how could they not be shocked?

In the crowd, someone whispered, saying that the Princess of Zhen took an arrow to the chest to protect the Crown Prince. They feared she wouldn’t live much longer.

The people of Shuoyang, seeing this Princess of Zhen who once had the might of autumn frost and summer thunder, couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion for the impermanence of life.

Since returning to Shuoyang, the Princess of Zhen had dealt with the oppression of the Bai Clan’s people and trained soldiers to quell bandits for the benefit of Shuoyang’s residents. The people of Shuoyang remembered her efforts fondly. Naturally, they hoped the Princess of Zhen would recover and survive this ordeal.

Furthermore, the entire Bai family was loyal and heroic. The Bai family’s men all died protecting the southern border; the Bai family couldn’t afford any more tragedies.

Soon after, the elderly Dr. Hong, carrying his medicine chest, aided by Lu Ping, got off the carriage. After hastily greeting the Bai family ladies, he robustly chased after the sedan chair, shouting, “Slow down! Slow down! Our eldest young lady can’t withstand such jostling!”

The voices of the crowd outside grew quieter.

“Even the doctor says the Princess of Zhen can’t be jostled. It seems her injury… really is serious.”

“The Princess of Zhen mustn’t meet with any misfortune. During the last Northern Frontier battle… General Zhang Duanrui died there. If not for the Princess of Zhen rushing there day and night, who knows what the Northern Frontier would be like now.”

A scholar from Shuoyang nodded in agreement, “Indeed. Nowadays, most noble families don’t want their sons to join the army, fearing the battlefield’s weapons would harm their sons’ lives. During my last trip to Dadu City for the spring examination, I heard that the King of Zhen, Bai Weiting, insisted on sending the Bai family heirs to train on the battlefield at the age of ten because other noble families already prohibited their sons from joining the military. The King of Zhen, Bai Weiting, worried our Jin Kingdom would lack successors to intimidate Daliang, Rong, and Xiliang without battle-tested generals. So he took his entire family’s men with him. Who knew… none of them would return!”

The scholar’s colleague sighed, “I also heard the Princess of Zhen’s impassioned speech at the Duke of Zhen’s estate. I believed the King of Zhen took the Bai family’s men to the battlefield to train them and eliminate any thoughts of relying on ancestral merits and idling away in Dadu City. They needed to know the meaning of consuming the people’s grain and protecting their lives!”

“It’s a pity the Bai family’s men are all gone. If they were still here… what a different scene our Jin Kingdom would be!”

“By the way, have you heard? The esteemed scholar Mr. Min Qianqiu traveled all the way from the Wei Kingdom to Shuoyang just to chronicle the Bai family’s story! That’s Mr. Min Qianqiu! I heard the previous Emperor of Wei Kingdom wanted Mr. Min Qianqiu to write a chronicle, but the esteemed scholar only said this to the Emperor… ‘Your Majesty learned the Way as a child and achieved nothing till gray-haired. What is there to chronicle!’ Such resolute integrity should be our model.”

For Mr. Min Qianqiu, a scholar with such unyielding integrity and moral rectitude, to write the Bai family’s chronicle showed the Bai family’s loyalty and righteousness, respected even by Wei Kingdom’s scholars.

Following her eldest sister’s instructions, Bai Jinzhi bathed, changed clothes, and, following proper etiquette, went with Bai Qingping to the inn to visit the esteemed scholar Mr. Min Qianqiu.

Who knew they’d arrive at the inn to find Mr. Min Qianqiu already gone? His servant said the esteemed scholar had left early in the morning to appreciate the autumn scenery on the mountain and wouldn’t return until nightfall.

Mr. Min Qianqiu had anticipated that Bai Qingyan would send someone to invite him once she arrived in Shuoyang. He instructed his servant to tell Bai Jinse that Bai Qingyan should rest well for a day or two. In five days, he would visit personally and request an audience with the Princess of Zhen.

Bai Jinzhi hurriedly expressed her respect, left the gifts for the esteemed Mr. Min Qianqiu, and departed with Bai Qingping.

Leaving the inn, Bai Jinzhi placed her hands behind her back, swinging her riding whip absent-mindedly. She was a little hesitant to return to the Bai Mansion. Earlier, because she had her eldest sister’s command, her mother, Mrs. Li, hadn’t detained her for a scolding. But now, upon returning, her mother would surely discipline her!

Seeing people coming in and out of the inn, and Bai Jinzhi’s thoughtful frown, Bai Qingping couldn’t help but ask, “Commandery Princess, should we clear the idle people from the inn?”

When Bai Qingyan wasn’t in Shuoyang, Bai Qingping had always consulted Bai Jinzhi on everything, forming a habit.

“Mr. Min hadn’t mentioned it. We shouldn’t act rashly and risk offending Mr. Min,” Bai Jinzhi said.

These scholars often had quirky habits. Though Bai Jinzhi didn’t entirely understand them, she remembered her eldest sister’s instruction to respect them, and she took it to heart.

Moreover, Bai Jinzhi had heard that Mr. Min was extremely meticulous in chronicling events, always seeking confirmations before penning anything down.