The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 372: subtle
Chapter 372: Subtle Influence
The luxurious carriage attracted great attention after entering the city. It passed through the most prosperous streets of Shuoyang City, slowly went to the remote houses in the east of the city, and stopped in front of a rather simple house.
“Miss, we’re here.” The guard who had come with Lupin to see the mute girl said to Bai Qingyan in the carriage.
Hearing this, Chun Tao helped Bai Qingyan open the carriage curtain and helped Bai Qingyan get out of the carriage…
Shuoyang is not as good as Dadu. The places where civilians live are a little shabby. The two small black painted main doors have peeled paint, and the door thresholds have long been worn down in the middle, revealing the gray wood color. There is a persimmon tree planted in the yard, and its branches extend outside the courtyard wall, but fortunately it is still kept clean.
Bai Qingyan and Chuntao stood at the door, watching the guard come forward and knock on the door.
Soon, a woman in her thirties came over with a child in her arms and opened the door.
Seeing such a big scene outside the door, the woman felt a little uneasy and asked hurriedly: “Sir… who are you looking for?”
The guard bowed to the woman and said, “Sister-in-law, I am a guard from the Zhenguo Princess’s Mansion. This is my princess. My princess is here to see the mute girl. May I ask if the mother-in-law who takes care of the mute girl is here?”
When the woman heard that the visitor was a princess, and that she was here to see the mute girl, she was immediately frightened. She put down the child in her arms, not knowing whether to kneel or bow.
“Sister-in-law, there’s no need to be so polite. Is Mute Mother here?” Bai Qingyan asked.
The woman lowered her head, seemed very scared, and held the hand of the two-year-old child beside her. She said uncomfortably: “That…Mute Mother was taken away by her relatives.”
Bai Qingyan’s brows tightened, and he stared at the woman with cold and deep eyes, not daring to look up: “Who took her away? I remember… someone from the Bai family gave money to take care of the mute girl.”
The woman was obviously panicking. Bai Qingyan added indifferently, “Mummy’s mother drowned. This is a matter concerning the Bai family. Do you need me to ask County Magistrate Zhou to come and ask you for her?”
The woman was startled and fell to her knees, but she opened her mouth and could not say where the mute girl had gone.
“Tell me, where is the mute girl?” Bai Qingyan’s voice was as calm as water, but for no reason it made people feel full of murderous intent.
“Princess, please forgive me. After my mother-in-law took in the mute girl, my husband was worried that the Bai family would come after us, so he sent the mute girl back to her own home that night. But we didn’t take the money. We didn’t keep a penny of the money given by the Bai family or the money given by the guard brother later. We let the mute girl take it all back to her home!”
The woman was frightened by Bai Qingyan and confessed everything: “Later, my mother-in-law got angry and beat my husband with a cane, and asked my husband to go next door to pick up the mute girl, but my husband didn’t find the mute girl next door. He waited at the door for a whole day and a night but didn’t see her come back. My husband is still looking for her outside… but he can’t find her. My mother-in-law got sick because of this and is still lying in bed!”
There was a crying tone in the woman’s voice, and her tone was urgent and fast, which didn’t sound like she was lying.
Although Bai Qingyan was angry, he also knew that it was human nature to seek benefits and avoid harm.
She came to the door of her mute mother’s house without saying a word, and saw that the door was locked, so she asked someone to climb over the wall to check.
After the guard checked around and came back, he said that the door of the house was still open, there were unfinished steamed buns in the pot on the stove, and the chickens were still there, and it seemed that they didn’t want to travel far.
But the woman said that she waited for a day and a night but the mute girl didn’t come back.
Bai Qingyan clenched his fists.
The child of the mute mother has pretty eyes and eyebrows, and she is an orphan without the protection of her mother, and she can’t even speak… If she meets someone with bad intentions, she won’t even have the chance to call for help. In addition, she is considered to have offended the Bai clan, and who knows what bad intentions others will come up with if they see her.
It is said that human nature is good, but she feels that people are treacherous and the world is dangerous, especially for an orphan with no one to rely on.
The mute girl has been missing for two days. No one can guarantee what might have happened to her in the meantime.
She clenched her fists and thought for a moment, then turned around, staring at the Bai family guards with her black eyes, and ordered in a fast and steady voice: “Leave one person waiting at the door of Ya Niang’s house, and report immediately if Ya Niang comes back! Tell Quan Yu that I will use two teams of guards from the Prince’s Mansion, divided into teams of five, to beat gongs and drums and search for Ya Niang throughout Shuoyang City.”
She paused and spoke faster: “The key is to go to the red-light district and spread the word loudly…Zhenguo Princess Bai Qingyan wants to find Mute Girl. Whoever can safely send Mute Girl to the Bai Family Ancestral Hall before 3 p.m. today, Bai Qingyan will offer a generous reward of 1,000 taels of silver! If you don’t see Mute Girl before sunset, and I find out who secretly detained Mute Girl, you will be my enemy and will bring disaster to your family.”
The mute girl has a pretty face. If villains take advantage of the fact that she has no one to protect her and kidnap her… a large part of her will probably be sent to brothels. She hopes that her power as the princess guarding the country will be enough to deter them and make them send the mute girl back.
“yes!”
Bai Qingyan got on the carriage and closed his eyes, unable to suppress the boiling anger towards his clan. The Bai clan had been turned into such a horrible state by the current clan leader. There was no trace of the Bai family at all!
Not only did they know they were wrong but they refused to correct their mistakes. In order to provoke the government, they casually threw innocent children and girls into the river… They killed people and were worse than animals! The Bai family’s ancestral teachings and character had long been thrown away by them!
Now Bai Qingyan finally understood why his grandfather did not allow the Bai family’s illegitimate sons and daughters to have any contact with their biological mother and they could only be raised by their stepmother.
His biological mother was a concubine, and her vision and methods were all the despicable tricks used to win favor in the harem. He was influenced by her since childhood, and even his temperament was distorted by his biological mother who was good at winning favor, developing a vicious attitude. Moreover, these things he learned imperceptibly since childhood will affect his life and his descendants, and the descendants he gave birth to… each generation is worse than the previous one.
Even if the name is registered under the stepmother’s, the behavior cannot be changed.
The Bai clan leader must be replaced, and the Bai clan must also be cleansed.
“Young lady…” Chun Tao knew that Bai Qingyan was worried about the girl named Ya Niang, so she whispered to comfort him, “Ya Niang will be fine, young lady, don’t worry too much.”
“Go back to the ancestral home!” Bai Qingyan said with a gloomy look in his eyes.
Chun Tao said to the coachman, “Let’s go back to our ancestral home.”
The news that Bai Qingyan was about to return to the ancestral home spread back to the home, and Gu Gu and a group of Bai family servants were waiting at the door of the ancestral home early.
Gu Lao was the one who returned to the ancestral home first when he accompanied Lupin to escort the first batch of items back to Shuoyang last time.
When King Bai Weiting of Zhenguo was still in power, Gu Lao would return to Shuoyang in advance every year to make arrangements and be in charge of paying money to the clan. His deterrent power over the servants in Shuoyang’s residence must have been greater than that of other people.
He had been busy since he arrived in Shuoyang. He was ruthless and decisive. He broke the legs of all the managers who stayed in Shuoyang to look after the house and signed the indentures, and sold off their entire families.
There is one more update, coming soon… and I’m asking for monthly votes online!