The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 259: benefactor
Chapter 259 Benefactor
“Have you prepared the hot water for the young lady to take a bath?! Chun Xing… the young lady will need to change her clothes in a while, have you prepared them?!”
Chun Xing covered her mouth and laughed: “Don’t worry, Mammy, Sister Chun Tao has prepared everything!”
Chun Tao called a little girl over to look at the bird’s nest, and came out of the small kitchen: “I’ll go check the water temperature for the bath.”
Not long after, Dong escorted Bai Qingyan, who was dressed in military uniform, into the gate of Qinghuiyuan.
Nanny Tong led the maids and servants of Qinghui Courtyard to stand in Qinghui Courtyard. When they saw Bai Qingyan, they hurriedly bowed and saluted: “Congratulations, young lady, on your triumphant return!”
Chuntao looked at the girl in armor, her eyes became sore and tears fell down.
Bai Qingyan looked at the familiar faces in the courtyard, and a smile appeared on his face: “During my absence, Madam and everyone else have worked hard to look after Qinghui Courtyard!”
Mrs. Dong wiped her tears with a handkerchief, her eyes and eyebrows were full of smiles: “Okay, go wash up quickly.”
Chun Tao hurriedly stepped forward and took the Sun-shooting Bow from Bai Qingyan: “Miss, the water is ready. I will help you bathe!”
She shook Chuntao’s hand and nodded with a smile.
Chuntao helped Bai Qingyan take a bath. When she saw the wounds on Bai Qingyan’s body, her tears flowed like broken strings. But because Dong was sitting in the outer room, Chuntao was afraid that she would make Dong sad, so she bit her lower lip and helped Bai Qingyan take a bath without saying a word.
After the bath, Dong personally twisted Bai Qingyan’s hair and whispered to her daughter about the affairs of the court: “Your uncle said that the battle in Southern Xinjiang this time burned and killed 100,000 surrendered prisoners from Western Liang… Someone in the court has already submitted a petition to the emperor to punish them severely, but the emperor kept the petition and did not send it out. Your uncle is afraid that the emperor is waiting for you to come back and punish you, so he sent someone to tell you to be careful in dealing with it.”
“Don’t worry, mother. I know what’s going on.” Bai Qingyan held her mother’s hand and turned to look at Mrs. Dong. “I’m sorry that my daughter is unfilial and made you worry!”
Mrs. Dong smiled with red eyes, raised her hands and hugged her daughter into her arms: “If your father knew that Abao protected the people in the border areas, he would definitely be proud of Abao. A mother… is also proud of Abao!”
Her eyes were red, and she gently hugged her mother’s waist, rubbing against her mother’s arms like a child: “Mom, I’m sorry. When we were in southern Xinjiang… Abao did plan to bring Dad home after the great victory, but Abao thought… Dad had always cared about the border people, so Xiao Si and the generals of the Bai Family Army quietly buried Dad at Tianmen Pass.”
Dong nodded. She understood: “Mother knows! Compared to being buried in the capital, your father would definitely want to guard the border people of Dajin at the border. Mother understands…”
“Okay, have a good sleep after your hair is dry! At noon, mother will host a banquet in Fanhua to welcome you and Xiao Si.” Mrs. Dong chuckled.
After Dong left, Bai Qingyan sat in front of the bronze mirror and said to Chuntao who was making the bed, “Chuntao, send someone to ask Uncle Ping to come over in half an hour. I have something to ask you.”
Chun Tao put down her work and turned around: “Young lady, don’t you want to take a nap?”
“I’ll go see Fourth Aunt.” Bai Qingyan said.
While twisting Bai Qingyan’s hair, Madam Tong looked at Bai Qingyan in the mirror and said, “Although you have become darker and thinner, your complexion is better than before!”
“Yes! Doctor Hong also said that it might be wrong to let me rest before! So… a blessing in disguise.” There was a faint smile between her brows.
After the hair was dry, Tong Mama tied Bai Qingyan’s thick black hair into a crescent-shaped bun and fixed it with a white jade hairpin. Bai Qingyan was still in mourning, so she changed into a plain white silk dress with silver trim, and a layer of light and misty crescent-white semi-transparent silk gauze, on which the gauze was embroidered with ginkgo leaves with gold and silver threads, which sparkled in the light.
Bai Qingyan changed back into her daughter’s clothes, and her brows were less heroic than when she was in military uniform, and more elegant and gentle, feminine.
“Miss, Guard Lupin is already waiting outside the yard.” Chuntao came in and said.
It was already the end of March, and the weather was gradually getting warmer. Bai Qingyan looked at the brazier still burning in the room and said, “Madam, have someone remove the brazier.”
“Hey!” Nanny Tong responded with a smile.
Bai Qingyan held Chuntao’s hand and walked out of the courtyard. Lupin stepped forward and saluted: “Miss.”
“Uncle Ping said as he walked…”
“Yes!” Lupin nodded and followed Bai Qingyan half a step behind him.
“How is Ji Tingyu?” Bai Qingyan asked.
Lupin pursed his lips, tightly grasped the sword at his waist, and whispered, “When Ji Tingyu learned about the tragic death of his newlywed wife, he left the Bai family that night, saying that he wanted to return to the manor to pay tribute to his wife. He never came back. I went there in person and told Ji Tingyu that the eldest lady had dealt with the bastard in order to seek justice for the couple, but Ji Tingyu was still unwilling to return to the Bai family.”
Bai Qingyan paused, closed his eyes, and walked forward.
The Bai family still chilled Ji Tingyu’s heart.
“How is Ji Tingyu’s health? The doctor didn’t say how much he has recovered?”
“Any poison will cause damage to the body. It is impossible to completely recover to the way it was before. Fortunately, Ji Tingyu is young. If he wants to recover well, he needs to take good care of himself for a few years…”
She nodded: “I just came back and have a lot of things to do. I will go to see Ji Tingyu in person in two days and ask someone to take good care of Ji Tingyu’s life.”
Ji Tingyu was a benefactor of the Bai family who sacrificed his life, and he shouldn’t have ended up like this.
Lupin nodded: “Madam also gave such instructions, don’t worry young lady.”
There will be a banquet in the Emperor’s palace tomorrow, as the Emperor’s birthday is coming up, but Ji Tingyu and Bai Qingyan still have to find time to meet him in person.
·
Lingyun, the maid who served the Fourth Madam, had just returned from the kitchen with some stewed pears with rock sugar for the Fourth Madam when she saw from afar that the eldest daughter, Bai Qingyan, seemed to be coming towards their Lishui Garden. She hurried back to the courtyard, opened the curtain and entered the warm room to report to Madam Guan: “Madam, the eldest daughter is coming towards our Lishui Garden.”
Just as Nanny Guan arrived at the gate, Bai Qingyan had already arrived with Chuntao. She turned around and told Lingyun: “Go and tell the Fourth Madam that the eldest lady is here…”
“Yes!” Lingyun responded and left.
Nanny Guan took a few steps forward and said, “Young lady, you just came back. Why don’t you take a rest?”
Bai Qingyan smiled at Nanny Guan and asked, “Where’s Fourth Aunt?”
Nanny Guan led the way, and she said that the Fourth Madam looked a little worried: “The Fourth Madam has had a slight cough recently, but she refused to take medicine, so I asked Lingyun to go to the kitchen to get some stewed pears with rock sugar, and she is preparing to use it now.”
Lingyun, who had already informed the Fourth Madam, stood at the door, bowed to Bai Qingyan and then opened the curtain: “Please come in, young lady.”
As soon as she entered the room, through the jade screen with a hundred birds under the silk curtain with a lotus pattern, she saw her fourth aunt, who was wearing a light green dress embroidered with cloud and water patterns, sitting on a mahogany couch by the window, leaning against a small square table made of golden nanmu wood, with a thin quilt embroidered with a diamond pattern on her legs.
The fourth wife, Mrs. Wang, had thin cheeks, deep sunken eye sockets with obvious dark circles, and she looked obviously not in good spirits.
Asking for a monthly ticket…