Chapter 336
Chun Tao walked up to the Clan Leader with small steps, and after saluting, she took the house deed from his hand and handed it over to Mrs. Dong properly. freewebnøvel.com
The Clan Leader’s face slightly reddened, probably not expecting Bai Qingyan to directly hand the deed to Mrs. Dong.
Seeing this, an elder hurriedly interjected in a fawning manner: “The Fifth Master is only temporarily staying at the ancestral home. By the time we set off… the Fifth Master had already moved out and cleaned up. Please be assured, Princess.”
“Thank you, elders.” Bai Qingyan nodded at the elders and slowly asked, “You all came in such haste. Grandma doesn’t know yet. Should we send someone to inform her?”
“We dare not disturb the Eldest Princess. We have matters in the clan to seek the Princess’s assistance!” After a brief exchange of glances with the elders, the Clan Leader said solemnly, “We hope that the Princess can speak a word to Magistrate Zhou of Shuoyang and ask him to release the clan’s cousins from prison.”
Mrs. Dong raised her eyebrows. She understood why the clan had lowered their stance this time, unlike before when they acted high and mighty, trying to be on equal footing with Duke Bai Weiting. It turns out they needed a favor.
With lowered eyes, she sipped her tea, roughly guessing that it must have something to do with her daughter’s actions in Shuoyang.
Seeing that Bai Qingyan remained silent, tapping her fingers on the table, an elder, fearing she might refuse, hurriedly said, “Half of our clan’s descendants were arrested, causing panic within the clan. We rushed to Dadu to beg the Princess to speak with Magistrate Zhou! As long as the Princess speaks to Magistrate Zhou, he wouldn’t dare keep the clan’s children detained.”
Before Bai Qingyan could respond, Mrs. Dong forcefully put down her teacup, her gaze sweeping over the clan elders.
“You elders are amusing. The clan’s children were arrested, and instead of mentioning their crimes, you demand my son, under the title of Princess, to pressure Magistrate Zhou to release them! Just a word from the Princess, and he’ll release them? How lightly you say it! Such carelessness and audacity, where does that place the laws of Jin? Do you really think a mere Princess can override the laws of Jin?”
Bai Qingyan, looking cold and indifferent, sat beside Mrs. Dong, sipping her tea leisurely and showing no intention of speaking.
The Clan Leader tightened his grip on his cane, internally regretting giving away the house deed too early. He should have waited for Bai Qingyan to agree to release the prisoners before handing over the deed.
Given the circumstances, the Clan Leader could only force a smile: “Princess, no matter what, we are all blood relatives of the same clan and family. ’Bai’ is written the same for all of us! When the Bai family in Dadu returns to Shuoyang in the future, there will certainly be times when they need the clan’s support, right? The clan exists to support and help each other!”
An elder sitting below the Clan Leader quickly chimed in: “Yes, and those children are all cousins of the Princess. Now that the Bai family in Dadu has no male offspring, in the future, whether they bring in a husband or marry out, or adopt children from the clan, they will need the clan’s support, right? Moreover, when the Princess’s cousins succeed in the future, they will naturally remember the Princess’s kindness.”
Mrs. Dong sneered, her attitude firm: “Elders, don’t try to divert the topic. ’Bai’ is not written the same way twice! If you want my son’s help, first explain… what crimes did the clan’s children commit? We can’t just dismiss it with a few words, even if the clan’s children committed murder and robbery. You expect my son to take the blame?”
Bai Qingyan remained silent. Since Mrs. Dong was too strong-willed, the Clan Leader had never been treated like this at the Bai family’s place in Dadu. His face darkened: “Cousin Weiting and Qishan just passed. Mrs. Dong, are you not afraid that their spirits will be restless if you turn against the clan?”
Hearing the mention of her grandfather Bai Weiting and father Bai Qishan, Mrs. Dong’s anger flared up like oil added to a fire. Her intense and sharp gaze turned to the Clan Leader.
“When the Bai family was in mourning, all the men gave their lives for the country in the southern frontier, yet the clan sent Bai Qiyun, claiming my father and Qishan had promised to do this and that for the clan, forcing us orphans and widows to deplete our family wealth to gather enough silver. Bai Qiyun offered incense three times, yet my father and Qishan refused his offerings! Back then… weren’t you all afraid of their spirits being restless? Why should I fear now?”
Mentioning this, the elders’ faces turned grim, their eyes avoiding contact.
With deep-seated grievances, Mrs. Dong didn’t hold back: “Stealing from the swallow’s mouth, scraping iron from needles, snatching gold from Buddha’s face, seeking beans from quail crops, splitting meat from egret legs, extracting fat from a mosquito’s belly, truly reflect the Shuoyang Bai Clan! After draining all the silver, you still have the nerve to think about how to squeeze everything out of the Bai family in Dadu.”
Hearing her mother’s angry words, Bai Qingyan lowered her eyes, concealing her amusement.
The Clan Leader, his face flushed from Mrs. Dong’s remarks, gritted his teeth and looked at Bai Qingyan, speaking with a earnest tone: “The Bai Clan’s prosperity is the prosperity of all, and its loss is the loss of all! The cousins’ imprisonment… is also bad for the Princess’s reputation!”
“So, the reputation of the Princess of Zhen allowing the Shuoyang clan to commit murder… sounds better?” Bai Qingyan put down her teacup, her voice steady, “Forcing women, beating citizens to death, seizing ancestral properties, forcing shop owners to sell for a few pieces of silver, driving shopkeepers to death, conspiring with the government to frame innocent people to obtain ancestral medicine recipes. Which of these crimes was not committed by the clan’s children?”
An elder, panicked, deceitfully argued: “These are all the false accusations of troublemakers. Absolutely untrue!”
“So, Bai Qingjie’s misdeeds, caught by me, who claimed that the Princess of Zhen backed him, and said… the Princess of Zhen was intimate with the Crown Prince, signaling she was the future Empress, were all false accusations?” Bai Qingyan’s cold gaze turned to the Clan Leader.
Bai Qingjie was the Clan Leader’s grandson.
Upon hearing the Shuoyang Bai Clan’s children tarnish her daughter’s name, Mrs. Dong’s fury peaked, and she smashed her teacup, standing up abruptly: “Nanny Qin! Summon Lu Ping to bring the guards and drive this ungrateful lot out!”
After suffering their bullying and attempts to take their property, Mrs. Dong endured! But she couldn’t tolerate them destroying her daughter’s reputation to cover their crimes!
All along, she endured to avoid confrontation with the clan. But today… that had to end!
She would let all of Dadu City, even the whole world, know that from today, the Bai family in Dadu and the Shuoyang Clan could not coexist!
Otherwise, her daughter’s reputation would be ruined, and the Emperor might suspect the Bai family was vying for the throne.