Chapter 329
“Eldest Young Lady, we’re leaving just like that, without informing Mr. Xiao?” Bai Jinzhi asked.
“I’ve already sent someone to the guest house to inform Mr. Xiao.” Bai Qingyan turned her head to glance at Bai Jinzhi, “You seem to have a good impression of this Mr. Xiao?”
“Eldest Young Lady, don’t you like Mr. Xiao?” Bai Jinzhi probed.
She looked at her younger sister and smiled without answering.
She had no time for romantic affairs…
As soon as Bai Qingyan left Shuoyang City, she saw the Governor and his men waiting outside the city gate.
Seeing Bai Qingyan’s group riding out quickly, the Governor hastily stepped forward to greet her, stopping her horse, “Greetings, Commandery Princess…”
Bai Qingyan sat on her horse without dismounting, looking at the Governor with a faint smile, “The Governor seems to have a thorough understanding of my whereabouts?”
“I wouldn’t dare. I heard that the Commandery Princess is leaving Shuoyang to return to Dadu City, but the region has not been safe recently. Several incidents of bandits robbing and killing people have occurred. I’m worried about the Commandery Princess’s safety, so I brought a hundred elite soldiers to escort you back to Dadu.” The Governor said with a smile.
“I appreciate the Governor’s kindness. These small bandits are not worth worrying about…” Bai Qingyan seemed unconcerned.
The Governor looked up at Bai Qingyan, who held the reins with a smile at the corner of her lips, “Please do not underestimate these bandits, Commandery Princess. Even the most renowned Zhentian Escort Agency suffered losses at their hands. It’s better to be cautious!”
“Got it.”
After saying that, Bai Qingyan rode away swiftly.
The bandit troubles had just begun. By the time Bai Qingyan returned to Shuoyang… it wouldn’t be long before Ji Tingyu could turn the “bandit troubles” into “bandit plagues.” Now, with Daliang’s troops stationed at Hongque Mountain with unclear intentions, and General Zhang Duanrui leading troops to Chunmu Mountain, the Jin court probably wouldn’t have the resources to deal with the bandit plague.
That would be the time for Bai Qingyan to serve her country.
Bai Qingyan and her party traveled swiftly. Upon reaching a deserted mountain path, Bai Qingyan had the others go ahead while she, Bai Jinzhi, and two death warriors went to the agreed meeting place with Ji Tingyu.
Ji Tingyu was bold enough to meet Bai Qingyan at their encampment. The mountain path was dangerous and obstructed. It was near dusk when Bai Qingyan arrived.
Bai Qingyan and Ji Tingyu stood on the mountain, surveying the terrain.
“This Weiling area, only Niujiao Mountain has the best terrain, located at the center of Weiling. The mountaintop is flat and vast, surrounded by steep slopes. There’s a river below, so we can cultivate terraced fields and be self-sufficient! Once we attract more people in the future, we won’t have to worry about food shortages!” Ji Tingyu spoke with great enthusiasm.
Under the fading light, Bai Qingyan looked at the terrain, recalling the difficulties she faced entering the area, and nodded, “The key to your team is quality, not quantity. I plan to train them based on how Huying Camp was initially established, but this won’t be the same as the original Huying Camp.”
Ji Tingyu was stunned. He had thought he only needed to stir up “bandit troubles.”
Bai Qingyan turned her eyes, which concealed sharpness, towards Ji Tingyu.
“In the southern frontier, Shen Liangyu trains soldiers using my fifth uncle’s methods. Here, you don’t have Shen Liangyu’s advantage of selecting good seedlings from the army. You need to be flexible and adapt. Follow my training methods to forge a winning force that can rival Huying Camp.”
Feeling his heart race inexplicably, Ji Tingyu looked into Bai Qingyan’s calm, ocean-like eyes.
·
As soon as Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinzhi returned to Dadu City, they heard Mrs. Dong say that on the tenth day of April, which was tomorrow, the Princess of Xiliang, Li Tianfu, would enter the Crown Prince’s residence.
Bai Qingyan was well aware of Li Tianfu’s affair with Lu Tianzhuo.
Regardless of whether she was truly loyal to the Crown Prince, this matter should be reported to the Crown Prince to prevent Li Tianfu from causing trouble using the Crown Prince.
“The invitation from the Crown Prince’s residence arrived the day you left.” Mrs. Dong, sitting on the soft couch by the window with a teacup in her hand, said as she saw Bai Qingyan change her clothes, “Your mentor, Mr. Guan, spoke for you in front of Wude Gate that day. Subsequently, the Crown Prince also supported you. Those students at the Imperial College were ashamed. No one should bring up the matter of you burning and killing the surrendered captives again.”
“The Crown Prince said that the battle was urgent at the time. It was either you die, or I live. If the surrendered captives from Xiliang weren’t killed, the Jin army would have been wiped out. If you had twenty thousand troops, or even ten thousand at that time, you wouldn’t have killed ten thousand surrendered captives.” Mrs. Dong smiled, “Since the Crown Prince accompanied the troops in that campaign, no one’s words were more convincing than his.”
Bai Qingyan had already heard Chun Tao chatter about these matters when she returned to the mansion.
Her mentor stood up for her out of sentiment.
Bai Qingyan understood why the Crown Prince defended her; it was just to gain her favor.
“I heard Chun Tao mention it when I returned.” Bai Qingyan also sat on the soft couch by the window, taking the teacup Chun Tao handed over, and asked, “Has Lu Yuanpeng’s case been concluded?”
Holding a black lacquer tray in front of her abdomen, Chun Tao shook her head and replied softly, “Although there is no conclusion yet, the old coroner Liu Sanjin found that Lin Xinan died of suffocation, unrelated to the previous injuries inflicted by Young Master Lu. This may not be enough to prove that Lin Xinan wasn’t killed by Young Master Lu, so the Minister of Judicial Review is still investigating. There should be results soon.”
“You and the fourth young lady didn’t suffer any grievances from the clan, right?” Mrs. Dong was worried that her daughter had been mistreated by the Clan Leader.
“Mother, rest assured, we didn’t.” Bai Qingyan smiled at Mrs. Dong, “It won’t be long before someone from the clan comes to present the deed to the ancestral home.”
Mrs. Dong always trusted her daughter’s abilities and nodded. As long as her daughter wasn’t mistreated, that was enough.
“In the future, Mother need not be too courteous to the clan. Grandfather was overly polite to the clan, which led them to overstep boundaries. The clan is insatiable and always wants more! Now we are widows and orphans. If we continue to be accommodating, they will think we fear the clan and act more recklessly.”
Mrs. Dong had long been fed up with the clan and nodded, “I understand this logic…”
Mrs. Dong had understood this long ago, but her father-in-law Bai Weiting repeatedly stressed how important family harmony was for a century-old military family.
Only with family harmony could the men fighting on the battlefield have no worries and focus on killing the enemy.
Mrs. Dong, who had been trained by Madam Dong since childhood, knew how important clan harmony was for an aristocratic family.
But the Bai Clan of Shuoyang was no different from a parasitic burden.
That afternoon, Lu Yuanpeng’s case was solved. Lin Xinan died at the hands of another person, and his biological mother, out of fear for her own life, falsely accused Lu Yuanpeng.
According to Lin Xinan’s biological mother, Lin Xinan returned home one day with five hundred taels of silver, claiming that a high-ranking person had asked him to spread rumors at Fanque Tower about Bai Qingyan killing surrendered captives to tarnish her reputation.