Chapter 131
“Yes! Grandmother is right! We have indeed lived better lives than ordinary people with all our luxury! But the descendants of the Bai family… at the age of ten, they had to go to the battlefield with their elders. Riding horses, wielding swords, and engaging in bloody fights against the enemy. Which ordinary family sends their ten-year-old children to war?! We have enjoyed worldly riches! Have I not repaid it with my own flesh and blood?!” She raised her hand, pointing to the memorial tablets in the hall. “Have my brothers not repaid the kindness of the people with their lives?!”
The Eldest Princess looked at her granddaughter, who was shaking all over with anger and hatred, her lips tightly pressed together.
“Grandmother wants to kill Ji Tingyu. How is that different from the Emperor wanting to kill my grandfather, my father, and my uncles and brothers?!” Her eyes brimmed with tears. Speaking of the heroic spirits of the deceased Bai family members, her chest ached, almost grinding her teeth to pieces. Her words, tinged with blood, cut deeply. “Is it true that in this world, the more loyal and righteous a person is, the less they can survive?! Grandfather died because of his upright and impeccable principles, refusing to fawn and submit! The men of the Bai family died because they valued the people so much that they preferred to die in battle rather than abandon them! Ji Tingyu must die because of his deep loyalty and righteousness to the Bai family?! Is there no place in this world for those who hold on to goodwill, righteousness, and moral principles?!”
Bai Qingyan’s words, full of pain and sorrow, questioned the Eldest Princess with such forceful clarity that her heart wavered, and her fingers went numb.
The Eldest Princess’s hand, hidden in her sleeve, trembled uncontrollably. Talking about her husband, sons, and grandsons felt like a knife twisting in her heart.
Yes… Kid’s every word was correct!
…
Bai Weiting died because of his uprightness and integrity, refusing to bend and compromise, refuse to mingle with the despicable.
The men of the Bai family died because they refused to abandon the people. Each one died to protect the lives of thousands behind them!
Ji Tingyu… precisely because of his deep loyalty and righteousness to the Bai family, the Eldest Princess had no choice but to kill him! If he were just an ordinary loyal servant, the Eldest Princess could have used power to suppress him, tempted him with fame and fortune. But he had to die!
Bai Qingyan’s eyes were crimson as she stood before the memorial hall. Hatred surged within her.
Her grandmother, what difference was she from those people in the Royal Family?!
Yes, she was the Eldest Princess…
Even though she married into the Bai family and bore children with her grandfather, she was still the Eldest Princess of the current dynasty!
The Eldest Princess took a long, deep breath and asked weakly, “Do you really want to kill Bai Qingxuan?!”
“Blood for blood, life for life! It’s a matter of course…” Bai Qingyan’s words were resolute.
The Eldest Princess looked up, tears streaming down her face. “But that’s your brother! He carries the Bai name!”
“Ji Tingyu was a loyal servant who sacrificed his life for the Bai family. His wife was humiliated and died at the hands of that beast! According to law, reason, and emotion, he must die!” Her deep eyes seemed bottomless. “A depraved character, lower than a beast, Grandmother, must not tarnish the Bai name, making it impossible for Grandfather to rest in peace!”
Mrs. Dong, Second Madam Mrs. Liu, Third Madam Mrs. Li, Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jintong, and Bai Jinzhi, who had rushed over after hearing the news, were anxiously waiting outside.
Fifth Madam Mrs. Qi, supported by a maid, asked as soon as she arrived: “What on earth? I heard from people below… Kid is going to kill someone with a knife?! Is it that illegitimate child?!”
Bai Jintong, who had been waiting there all along, had already been told everything by Lu Ping and Nanny Jiang.
She had learned that the illegitimate son had attempted to rape Ji Tingyu’s newlywed wife, who had then killed herself by crashing into the doorpost. Bai Qingxuan, that wretched beast deserving of a thousand cuts, had even despoiled her body, leaving it unrecognizable! No wonder he had scratch marks on his face when he came to the hall today!
Bai Jintong trembled with rage!
On the day Ji Tingyu returned, Bai Jintong had followed her eldest sister all the time, knowing what extremes Ji Tingyu had gone to for the Bai family. Ji Tingyu had risked his life to seek justice for the Bai family! But Grandmother… wanted to cover up for the illegitimate child who had forced Ji Tingyu’s bride to death and even wanted to kill Ji Tingyu!
She turned her head, tears streaming down her face. Her heart was inconsolably sad and angry, knowing how close her eldest sister was to Grandmother… She couldn’t imagine how much pain she was feeling!
After a long silence in the memorial hall, the Eldest Princess finally took a step back. “Kid, if you’re willing to trust Grandmother, leave this matter to her. After the Bai family affairs are settled, Grandmother will give Ji Tingyu justice! Can you?”
Leaving aside the emotional bond between grandparent and grandchild, how could she believe that someone who wanted to poison Ji Tingyu would give him justice?! She did not believe it!
She gritted her teeth, her whole being shrouded in a cold mist, “If Grandmother wished to believe me, she would not have hidden that illegitimate child in the manor, allowing him to harm Ji Tingyu’s newlywed wife.”
The Eldest Princess closed her eyes. With those words from her eldest granddaughter, there was no trust left…
“Grandmother can either hand over that illegitimate child now, allowing me to take him to Ji Tingyu’s bedside and end him with one stroke! Or… Grandmother can keep hiding him well. Otherwise… once I find him, I will ensure he regrets ever being born, wishing for death over life! Grandmother raised me and should know that I always keep my word!”
She stared into the old eyes of the Eldest Princess, eyes burning with intense anger, chest filled with sorrow and resentment.
“Or maybe, for the sake of that illegitimate child, Grandmother is willing to sacrifice me! You can let the Hidden Guard kill me right here, right now!” Her eyes were scary red, filled with determination and defiance. “I swear before the spirits of the Bai family, either that illegitimate child dies, or I won’t die a good death!”
“Kid!” The Eldest Princess’s eyes almost popped out.
Mrs. Dong, hearing her daughter’s oath, was nearly frightened to rush in but forcefully held back, tears streaming down her face like threads.
She looked at the grandmother she once adored and loved, who was willing to shorten her life by ten years to ensure her peace during a high fever, feeling like the blood in her chest had frozen in this cold winter air.
She knelt, bowing deeply to the Eldest Princess. “Grandfather once said, if you don’t make decisive decisions, you will suffer endless consequences. Today… thanks to Grandmother, I can put an end to it all!”
The Eldest Princess felt as if a longsword had pierced through her heart, her body swaying, barely able to stand. “Kid, do you mean to sever our bond of grandmother and granddaughter?!”
She gritted her teeth, not uttering a word, bowing deeply three times before standing and heading towards the outside of the memorial hall.
“Kid! Kid…”
The Eldest Princess called out anxiously to Bai Qingyan, but she did not look back.
Stepping out of the memorial hall, she saw her mother, aunts, and younger sisters waiting in the cold wind, and hot tears she couldn’t hold back streamed down her face.
At last, she had come to this step with Grandmother!
“Kid…” Mrs. Dong walked up the steps, gently holding her daughter’s ice-cold hand.
“Mother, I’m fine.” Her voice was choked and hoarse. “I want to… visit Ji Tingyu.”
Mrs. Dong nodded. “Go ahead, Mother is here!”
Not wanting her mother, aunts, and younger sisters to see her weak and miserable appearance, she bowed her head and walked towards the backyard.