The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 506: Show favors
Chapter 506: Showing Good Will
On the contrary, the Bai family’s homely atmosphere makes people envious.
The daughters of the Bai family who were sitting here had impeccable dining etiquette. They raised their spoons without making any sound when hitting the plates or bowls, and drank soup without making any rustling sound. Even Cui Shi couldn’t do that.
Cui recalled that when she was at her mother’s house, her mother would serve her while her grandmother ate, and her aunt would serve her while her mother ate. It was quiet and deserted with only the sound of chopsticks picking up food. There was no such bustle as at the Bai family.
Not long after breakfast, the third lady Li, the fourth lady Wang, and the fifth lady Qi, holding the eighth girl Bai Wanqing, gathered in Dong’s Qinghe Courtyard without any prior arrangement.
The sisters-in-law were chatting and laughing, and the girls were sitting together and playing around.
Bai Qingyan looked at the now vibrant Bai family with deep emotion in her heart. She was grateful to God for giving her another chance so that she could see the current situation of the Bai family.
In the future… when Bai Qingjue and Bai Qingyun return home, she believes that the Bai family will be a completely different place.
The house was bustling with activity. Chuntao came in with small steps, pushing aside the curtain, and whispered in Bai Qingyan’s ear: “Miss, Butler Hao said there is news from Fenxiang!”
Bai Qingyan nodded, put the green-glazed teacup with a flower-rim in his hand next to the small table, stood up and walked out of the upper room without making a sound, stepped out of the gate of Qinghe Courtyard, and headed towards the corridor.
Butler Hao was waiting in the corridor. When he saw Bai Qingyan coming, he stepped forward and saluted: “Miss, there is news from Fenxiang and the capital city.”
“You said…” Bai Qingyan looked at Butler Hao steadily.
“He left Fenxiang and returned to the capital a few days ago. Our people watched him enter the Left Prime Minister’s Mansion, and then he was personally escorted to the side door by a blue-clothed strategist from the Left Prime Minister’s Mansion. After he came back… he got together with Bai Qiyun, a member of the Bai clan who was expelled from the clan.”
Bai Qingyan was not surprised to hear what Butler Hao said. She stared at the gurgling water and lichens outside the gauze curtain, which were dazzled by the sunlight, and said, “Li Mao is still restless!”
“I have already sent people to keep a close eye on the expelled Bai clan members. We will never allow them to cause any trouble!”
“No need to go to such trouble.” Bai Qingyan’s gloomy eyes were filled with a fierce murderous aura, “Just send back the heads of the people sent by the Left Prime Minister’s Mansion.”
Butler Hao answered yes without hesitation.
“Send someone to tell the Second Miss that the Left Prime Minister Li Mao has extended his hand to Shuoyang. I think the deterrence is not enough. Tell her not to confront Li Mao head-on. Pick a handwritten letter that Li Mao once wrote to the Second Prince, send someone to copy it and spread it all over Dadu. Let everyone in Dadu… discuss the Second Prince’s abdication.”
“yes!”
Butler Hao responded and was about to make arrangements when he saw Bai Qingyan, who seemed to be thinking about something, raise his hand to stop him from leaving. He added, “Tell the second young lady what kind of paper and ink the Liang Palace uses. The letters that are distributed should use the same paper and ink. It would be better if they can leave some traces of the Liang Palace.”
Bai Qingyan finished his words slowly, then turned to look at Butler Hao: “Remember to have the second young lady find someone to copy a letter, and send someone to deliver Li Mao’s handwritten letter to the King of Liang in the name of the Ninth Prince of Dayan! If the King of Liang does nothing after receiving the letter… that’s fine! If he does something, have the second young lady hand the letter that copied Li Mao’s handwriting… to the hands of the Imperial Censor Pei, so that Li Mao would be caught off guard!”
“yes!”
Butler Hao responded and left to instruct the Bai family’s servants to do something.
Compared to the difficulties they faced in the capital city at the beginning, retreating back to Shuoyang is actually a good thing for the Bai family. She doesn’t have to be so restrained when doing things.
Li Mao already had leverage in the hands of the Bai family, so there was no need for the Bai family to warn Li Mao. If they could send the heads of the people Li Mao sent to Shuoyang back to Dadu, Li Mao would surely understand where the disaster in the Zuo Xiang Mansion came from.
The reason why Bai Qingyan wanted to drag King Liang into the game was naturally because he hoped to plant the seeds of suspicion of each other in the hearts of the Emperor, King Liang, and Li Mao.
When there were signs that the wind that spread the letter came from Prince Liang’s mansion, even if Li Mao suspected that it was her work, even if he knew that Prince Liang had no motive to do so, he still had some doubts about Prince Liang.
If the King of Liang had kept this letter safe for future use, and after a while, when the King of Liang took it out to use, what would Li Mao think? Would he still think about the motives of the King of Liang in doing this? Of course not… He would only think that the King of Liang had harmed him.
If the King of Liang took out this letter at this time and tried to bribe Li Mao or let Li Mao do other things for him, and the Imperial Censor presented the copied letter, would Li Mao still be able to join forces with the King of Liang without any grudges in his heart?
Prince Liang is good at copying other people’s handwriting, and he is an expert at it. Li Mao must be aware of this.
Even if the letter the emperor received was a forgery, given his suspicious nature, he would still be suspicious of Li Mao and wonder whether Li Mao really surrendered to the second prince back then, but turned against the emperor to protect him when he saw that the second prince failed to force the emperor to abdicate.
The more muddy the water in the imperial court of the capital city becomes, the more stable the situation will be for the Bai family… and the Bai family army far away in southern Xinjiang.
A while ago, Li Mao’s son was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Li Mao was probably happy and had some free time, so he dared to reach out to Shuoyang.
This served as a reminder to Bai Qingyan that he had to keep those who were eyeing the Bai family and the Bai family army busy so that they would have no time to cause trouble.
At one end of the corridor, the maid from the Bai family’s concierge came hurriedly, bowed to Bai Qingyan and said, “Miss, Mr. Xiao is here.”
Xiao Rongyan?
Why did he come again today? Was he coming too often?
Bai Qingyan tightened his palms slightly and nodded: “Go and have a look!”
Xiao Rongyan had been invited into the main hall and was sitting there drinking tea.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the tall and thin Bai Qingyan stepping into the main hall. Xiao Rongyan stood up, smiling deeply, and bowed in Bai Qingyan’s direction: “Miss Bai…”
Bai Qingyan, who was wearing a water-green rhombus-shaped dress, nodded in return. Seeing Xiao Rongyan wearing the same goose-shaped hairpin on his head, her cheeks flushed slightly. “I wonder why Mr. Xiao came to visit today?”
The maid came in and served tea to Bai Qingyan, then left the main hall.
Seeing that there were only two of them left in the main hall, and the maids were all guarding outside the hall, Xiao Rongyan lowered his voice and said, “I heard that today is Madam’s birthday, Yan… came here specially to give Madam a birthday gift.”
“Mother didn’t plan to hold a banquet. Even the people in the Bai family didn’t know about it. But Mr. Xiao knew it was today.” Bai Qingyan picked up the teacup, and the clear tea reflected Bai Qingyan’s smiling eyes.
There was no one else in the main hall, so Xiao Rongyan became bolder and said in a low voice, “We will become a family in the future, so we have to find out everything and show our goodwill, so that we won’t be embarrassed in the future.”
It’s February, my little ancestors! The bald author keeps his word! We are the second in monthly votes, and the bald author will give you a burst of updates during the Spring Festival! ! ! ! ! ! ! !