The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 390: haggard
Chapter 390 Haggard
Bai Qingyan nodded. The overall situation was now barely stabilized. The Bai family should stay dormant and strengthen themselves. If the emperor passed away, it would inevitably cause unnecessary changes. So she did not want the emperor to die so soon.
“With my aunt’s medical skills, I’m sure your Majesty will be free from headaches and remain vigorous for at least five years.”
Lu Ninghua understood Bai Qingyan’s implication, which was that he wanted the emperor to live another five years.
She said, “I examined His Majesty’s pulse today, and from what His Majesty said, it seems that… he intends to let Ning Hua enter the palace to prevent the headache, but he did not force her. I wonder if the eldest lady thinks… whether Ning Hua should enter the palace?”
“Aunt, please discuss this with grandma!” Bai Qingyan was about to leave when she finished speaking, but then she asked, “Does grandma know that you are the granddaughter of Imperial Physician Ji Bingfu?”
Lu Ninghua’s palms tightened. She was just surprised to see Ji Langhua reveal a flaw, but the eldest daughter of the Bai family could actually… guess it.
“Why doesn’t the eldest lady guess… Ning Hua is the granddaughter?” Lu Ning Hua was puzzled.
“My aunt has a pair of golden needles. She once said that it was a gift from your maternal grandfather before your mother got married. I just thought they looked familiar to me at that time, but I didn’t know until I met Ji Langhua today… I felt familiar with them because I had seen golden needles with the same carved patterns on the needle tails at Ji Langhua’s place.” Bai Qingyan narrowed his eyes, “But Ji Langhua said that your maternal grandfather married your mother off after the Imperial Censor’s brief…”
Bai Qingyan already knew about this, so Lu Ninghua stopped hiding it: “I dare not hide it from you, young lady. My mother brought me back to the Ji family after her husband died. Later, the Ji family got into trouble, and my grandfather wanted me to go with my uncle and Langhua, but I didn’t want to be separated from my mother, so my mother took me and remarried… and my grandfather was anxious, so the marriage was not a good one.”
Lu Ninghua tightened her hands hidden in her sleeves, her eyes turned red, and she was ready to be questioned by Bai Qingyan… and have her scars opened again.
But Bai Qingyan just asked lightly: “Grandma, do you know?”
“The Grand Princess…knows.” Lu Ninghua lowered her eyebrows.
She nodded and looked at Lu Ninghua deeply: “Thank you for taking care of Miss Ji these days, Auntie, please comfort her…”
Lu Ninghua seemed to hear a sigh in Bai Qingyan’s voice. She looked at Bai Qingyan’s departing back, clenched her fists, turned around and went back into the house.
Bai Qingyan returned to Qinghui Courtyard to change clothes, took Bai Jinzhi to pay respects to the Grand Princess, and had dinner at his mother Dong’s house. Just as he came out of his mother’s courtyard, Butler Hao came to report that a Mr. Qin Shangzhi was outside the Zhenguo Princess’s Mansion and wanted to see Bai Qingyan.
“Mr. Qin?” Bai Jinzhi frowned, thinking of the counselor who was beside the prince during the previous trip to Southern Xinjiang. “The prince’s man?”
Qin Shangzhi would never look for her unless there was something important, so his visit today was definitely not to reminisce about the past.
She thought about it carefully and thought that Qin Shangzhi’s visit might be related to the Crown Prince’s previous inquiry on whether to make any changes to the disaster relief in Yanwo, or… She took action against the Left Prime Minister Li Mao, and Li Mao’s reaction was unexpected, so he had doubts in his heart.
It is already summer, and the corridor of Princess Zhenguo has been hung with bamboo curtains and gauze curtains. There are copper bells on the gilded copper hooks. The breeze blows by with the rich fragrance of the ancient locust flowers blooming in the courtyard, and the clear and ethereal bell sounds rise and fall.
She came back to her senses and said to Butler Hao, “Please ask Mr. Qin to go to the main hall first.”
“Sister, let me go with you!” Bai Jinzhi said hurriedly when she saw Bai Qingyan looking back at her.
“I just came back from Shuoyang. Go back and rest! You won’t have much time to rest. When you return to Shuoyang, you must help your elder sister train the troops.”
When Bai Jinzhi heard her elder sister asking her to help with military training, her eyes lit up and she nodded.
Bai Qingyan touched the top of Bai Jinzhi’s head and walked towards the front hall.
Or maybe, if the war breaks out in Daliang…the sisters will have to rush to Chunmu Mountain again.
Xiao Rongyan never tells lies. Since he said that there will be a war in Daliang, there must be a war.
When Bai Qingyan walked along the corridor where the sound of clear bells rang to the front hall, he saw Qin Shangzhi standing in front of the main hall, staring at the high eaves of the Zhenguo Princess Mansion in a daze.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bai Qingyan coming over surrounded by maids, and then he came to his senses and bowed in the direction of Bai Qingyan.
After not seeing him for many days, Qin Shangzhi looked much more haggard, his clothes were a little loose, there was black under his eyes, and he seemed to be in poor spirits, as if he had been ill.
“Why do you look so haggard, Mr. Qin?” Bai Qingyan made a gesture of invitation to Qin Shangzhi.
Qin Shangzhi followed Bai Qingyan into the main hall, pursing his lips without saying anything. Bai Qingyan waved his hand to signal Chuntao to take the maid away. Qin Shangzhi then said, “The prince listened to Elder Fang’s plan and has sent people to Yanwo, intending to disrupt Prince Liang’s disaster relief and trigger a civil uprising.”
Bai Qingyan tightened his grip on the teacup, lowered his eyes to look at the rising and falling of the tea leaves in the cup, closed the lid of the cup and looked up at Qin Shangzhi: “After the prince sent me away that day, did he discuss this with you?”
“We discussed it…” Qin Shangzhi looked depressed, “but the prince finally listened to Mr. Fang. I originally hoped to wait until the princess came back to persuade the prince, but unexpectedly… the prince sent people to Yanwo that night.”
“I had already advised the prince the day he sent me there.” Bai Qingyan put down his teacup, hoping that Ajue would move faster and lead the victims into Youhua as soon as possible. “If you are here for this matter, I am afraid I can’t do anything…”
Qin Shangzhi was quite surprised. He thought that this time he could at least ask Bai Qingyan to persuade the prince. Even if the prince did not listen, with Bai Qingyan’s love for the people, she would definitely send someone to stop it, even if this matter would create a rift between her and the prince.
Qin Shangzhi pursed his lips and looked towards Bai Qingyan solemnly: “There is one more thing. Why would Li Mao, who is so vindictive, avoid the princess? The princess has the leverage over Li Mao in her hands?”
Smart people will always notice Li Mao’s abnormality.
“It’s not really a handle…” Bai Qingyan lowered his eyes and said, “What the left prime minister’s son did was made public. The left prime minister abandoned his son just to save his reputation and to ask for mercy for his son from His Majesty.”
Qin Shangzhi didn’t disbelieve Bai Qingyan’s words, but… he always felt that something didn’t make sense.
“However, the princess acted a bit rashly this time. The Left Prime Minister is a vindictive man. The princess needs to be careful in the future.” Qin Shangzhi kindly reminded.
“This is about my fourth sister. If the Left Prime Minister hadn’t been so anxious to have his wife enter the palace to ask the Queen for a marriage decree, and if he hadn’t wanted to force my fourth sister to marry his useless son, I wouldn’t have done such a thing. After all, the Queen’s legitimate son, Prince Xin, was demoted to a commoner because the Bai family made a big fuss about the Southern Xinjiang incident, and there is no possibility of him rising to the top again! I also… Only by making a big fuss about the disagreement with the Left Prime Minister, will His Majesty the Queen be afraid of the people’s gossip and not issue this marriage decree.” Bai Qingyan raised his eyes and looked at Qin Shangzhi, his voice steady and indifferent, “Gossip can melt gold, and people’s words are to be feared. This is what my teacher once taught me!”