The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 981: give word
Chapter 981: Gift of Words
Bai Qingyan didn’t have the heart to interrupt his mother. Seeing her crying silently while holding Ayu, and hearing faint sobbing inhalations, he quickly wiped away her tears and whispered, “Okay, okay…get up, everyone. If outsiders see us later, it will be bad for Ayu.”
When Mrs. Dong heard this, she quickly let go of Ayu, wiped her tears with a handkerchief, and nodded.
Her son finally came back, but she couldn’t help herself and reveal his identity because of her.
Her daughter established the Great Zhou, and her son was planning to unify the Rongdi. Even if she, as a mother, could not help, she would never cause trouble for her two children.
Bai Qingyan helped Dong to stand up and sit down, and waved his hand to signal Ayu to sit down. Many things that worried him could not be said, and he could not ask about the past. If he asked… Shouhe Palace would probably be flooded today.
“You can’t stay in the palace for long today, so I’ll tell you something important…” Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Qingyu steadily, “Jintong was imprisoned in Xiliang, and Aqi has already rushed to Xiliang to rescue Jintong, but now we don’t know what Jintong has arranged in Xiliang, let alone why Jintong was imprisoned, so we can’t rashly announce Jintong’s identity!”
Dong was quite surprised. She had long realized that Jintong might not be with the Grand Princess at all, but she never thought that Jintong went to Xiliang.
“Because the situation is unclear, we need to detain Li Zhijie in Dadu. When Li Zhijie came this morning, I asked him to send someone back to ask their Xiliang Empress what else she could give Dadu, saying that the Xiliang alliance would not bring much benefit to Dazhou. If Xiliang used Jintong as a bargaining chip, it should have been revealed by now, but Li Zhijie seemed to be unaware. I promised him… that I would keep the Rongdi Ghost-faced Prince in Dadu and give his people time to travel back and forth between Yunjing and Dadu.”
Bai Qingyu nodded and said, “I’m afraid Xiliang will take this opportunity to do something else. If I don’t attack Rongdi in Xiliang, Rongdi will probably be in chaos…”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about!” Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Qingyu steadily, “I need you to take precautions as soon as possible, and even… force Xiliang when necessary. If Xiliang really moves, I’ve already told Li Zhijie that it was the Great Zhou that kept the Rongdi Ghost-faced Prince in the capital. If Xiliang takes the opportunity to cause trouble, the Great Zhou will naturally be responsible to the end.”
Bai Qingyu understood what her elder sister meant. Saving Bai Jintong was the top priority, so… she would leave Li Zhijie in Dadu first. Leaving him in Dadu was, on the one hand… to find an excuse to keep Li Zhijie so that Xiliang and Dazhou would not have a falling out at this time, which would not be beneficial to saving Bai Jintong.
Secondly, with the Ghost-faced Prince in the capital, Xiliang would inevitably be eager to take the initiative. However, if Xiliang took action, it would give Dazhou a legitimate reason to join forces with Rongdi to attack Xiliang.
Bai Qingyu opened his lips slightly, but did not say anything else. He was afraid that his voice would make his mother cry again. After a long while… he nodded in silence.
Bai Qingyan looked at Ayu clutching her clothes tightly, and looked at the burn scar on Ayu’s neck that could not be covered. Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn’t help but raise her hand to touch the top of Ayu’s head, and then held Ayu’s shoulders. She lowered her eyes and dared not look at her again. She choked and said, “I’m sorry for making you suffer!”
Bai Qingyu gritted his teeth and managed to keep himself from crying out loud. He clutched his clothes tightly, and his throat felt like it was blocked by a piece of cotton soaked in vinegar, causing severe swelling and pain.
His suffering was nothing. It was hard for him to imagine how his elder sister had supported the family and brought them to where they are today when the Bai family was in trouble.
He was unable to take care of his mother, aunt, elder sister and younger sisters, and felt guilty about the teachings of his grandfather and father, and was very sad.
Before we met, I thought I would have everything to say to my mother and sister, but after meeting them… I discovered that with the closest people, you don’t need to say anything, as you understand each other.
Now that his voice has become like this, his mother would cry and feel heartbroken if he opened his mouth, so he dared not say anything.
After a long silence, Bai Qingyu finally spoke.
“Mother, sister…” Bai Qingyu lowered her voice very low, “Now that my grandfather and father are gone, Yu is about to come of age. Please…mother and sister give Yu a name.”
When a girl reaches the age of marriage and a boy reaches the age of cap, they should take a courtesy name.
According to the tradition of the Bai family, although the elders did not bestow characters, the characters of father, uncles, and Bai Qingyan were all chosen by their grandfather. At the beginning, the grandfather also said… when A Yu comes of age, he must choose an excellent courtesy name for her.
My father’s name is Jiuru…
Bai Qingyan’s name is Mingshan…
Dong’s lips moved, and she held back the tears in her eyes and said, “Just call me Zi’an, mother… I hope you can be safe forever.”
It is either taken from some story or from a mother’s most simple wish: she hopes her son will always be safe.
Bai Qingyu felt sore and uncomfortable, and stood up and bowed: “Thank you for the calligraphy, mother.”
Dong quickly turned her head away and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She tried her best to restrain herself… but she couldn’t stop crying. She sobbed in a very low voice, and her spine was shaking.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Bai Qingyu stayed in Shouhe Palace for only a cup of tea before leaving. Dong adjusted her mood and did not show any emotion, at least on the surface, after Bai Qingyu left. She only said… she did not like the parrot sent by the Xiliang people, and asked Bai Qingyan to send it away.
When the Xiliang delegation received the news, they were in a panic.
The Queen Mother and His Majesty of the Great Zhou invited the Ghost-faced Prince of Rongdi to have breakfast together, and then the Queen Mother of the Great Zhou ordered people to move away the parrot sent by Li Zhijie. These were all signs of the Great Zhou’s closeness to Rongdi, and could even be said to be actual evidence.
“Don’t exaggerate!” Li Zhijie sat firmly on the Hu chair, “I went to see the Queen of Great Zhou, and the Ghost-faced Prince of Rongdi got the news and rushed over. It happened that the Queen of Great Zhou and the Queen Mother were having breakfast. According to etiquette, it would be bad to let the Ghost-faced Prince of Rongdi wait outside!”
“As for the Queen Mother of the Great Zhou not liking Xiliang…” Li Zhijie looked up at his envoys, “If your husbands and sons died in the war with the Great Zhou, would you like the Great Zhou? It’s the same reason! Why must the Queen Mother like Xiliang…”
“Bai Qingyan is now the Queen of the Great Zhou. She will not limit herself to personal vendettas. She leaked this morning… her purpose is nothing more than to win more cities and benefits for the Great Zhou!” Li Zhijie tapped his head with his fan and closed his eyes tiredly. “Before leaving, His Majesty told us that as long as we can form an alliance with the Great Zhou, he ordered me to estimate the price that Xiliang can pay. But we still need to send someone back to Xiliang to inform His Majesty of this matter. At least… the Great Zhou can help us stabilize this ghost-faced prince for a while!”