The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 42

Bai Qingyan’s speech moved the crowd gathered in front of Manjiang Restaurant to tears, filling them with fervour and admiration.

They recalled that the descendants of the Zhenguo Duke’s residence, upon turning ten, were all sent to the battlefield with the Zhenguo Duke.

Thinking of the Zhenguo Duke going to war half a year ago, they remembered the 17th son of the Bai family who was not even as tall as a horse, but had donned armour… and rode into battle alone. Even the eldest daughter of the Zhenguo Duke’s mansion, standing before them, had gone to war at the age of ten and suffered grave injuries in a brutal battle at 16, rendering her unlikely to be able to bear children for the rest of her life.

They listened to Bai Qingyan’s words which referred to the common people as dear as family, and heard her humility in saying the Bai family feared they could not repay the people’s support! With such a Zhenguo Duke’s residence and such children of the Zhenguo Duke’s residence who had sacrificed their lives for them on the frontlines of the battlefield, how could the people not feel immense gratitude? How could they not feel moved that such a noble family like the Zhenguo Duke’s residence did not view them as lowly things?

Bai Qingyan’s voice was steady and clear, and her words were resolute, “An illegitimate son who isn’t even registered in the Duke’s family genealogy, who has never defended our nation on the battlefield or done anything to help the people, where does he get the audacity to call himself a son of the Zhenguo Duke’s mansion?! How dare he rely on the Zhenguo Duke’s residence’s authority… to threaten and harm the citizens of the Great Jin Kingdom at will?”

Her words crushed Bai Qingxuan completely, making him utterly humiliated.

The long street was packed with citizens and the viewing balconies of the surrounding restaurants were filled with onlookers.

Even the most notorious playboys of the capital, standing on the second-floor balcony of Yanque Restaurant, were stunned by Bai Qingyan’s speech. It turned out… This was how the Bai family raised their children! Even a woman from the Bai family possessed unyielding integrity and a sense of duty to the country, retaining her dignity despite losing her martial abilities. This showed the Bai family’s proud and unyielding demeanour. No wonder why the Bai family, a hundred-year-old military lineage, had never produced any trash.

Xiao Rongyan was gazing intently at Bai Qingyan standing proud and strong under the lantern lights. He held a jade cicada tightly in his hand. His dark eyes seemed to have room only for her slender figure.

“That… Sister Bai is truly righteous!” Lu Yuanpeng’s throat tightened, and he felt a deep respect for Bai Qingyan, losing any previous thoughts of underestimating her due to her beauty.

“Eldest Miss…” Chen Qingsheng hurriedly emerged from the medical clinic across the street and bowed deeply to Bai Qingyan before speaking, “Physician Liu from Huichun Hall said the old lady was fortunate. The kick dislodged the blood stagnating in her heart and lungs which she then expelled. It was a blessing in disguise! Our coachman’s bleeding has stopped, and the child only has minor injuries that will heal after applying medicine for a few days.”

Bai Qingxuan hated Bai Qingyan so much that he could no longer feign submission. He snarled at the guards of the Duke’s residence restraining him, “They’re already fine now, and you still won’t let me go?!”

The guards, without Bai Qingyan’s command, dared not release him and pressed Bai Qingxuan down with even greater force as he struggled.

Seeing Bai Qingxuan’s stubborn and unrepentant expression, Bai Qingyan’s heart sank to the very bottom. She lost all intention of teaching him.

“Grandfather set down the family rules, and the Bai family military regulations serve as our family law! Those who bully the common people… 30 lashes with the military rod! For Bai family members, the punishment is increased! 50 lashes!” Bai Qingyan’s eyes burned with righteous fury as she gritted her teeth, “Uncle Ping, go borrow a rod from the innkeeper of Manjiang Restaurant. Punish him right here on this street!”

Bai Qingxuan stared at Bai Qingyan with wide eyes.

“No, you can’t!” The woman knelt and crawled to Bai Qingyan’s feet, kowtowing and begging, “Xuan’er is still young, Eldest Miss! 50 lashes with the military rod will kill him! You can’t hit him! You can’t!”

“Bai Qingyu, the eldest son of the Bai family, was 12 when he trampled a wheat field on horseback while pursuing bandits and endured 60 lashes! Bai Jinxiu, the second daughter of the Bai family, was ten when she went on a military expedition and her horse accidentally injured a woodcutter. She received 50 lashes! Which one of them was not younger than your son when they were punished?” Bai Qingyan’s voice rose with disdain and anger at the woman’s behaviour.

“Eldest Miss, I’ve got the rod!” Lu Ping returned with a thick wooden stick.

When the woman saw such a thick stick, she cried out in panic and hurriedly crawled back to Bai Qingxuan who was pale.She held him tightly, “Xuan’er is the flesh and blood of the Zhenguo Duke’s residence and his status is noble. These 50 lashes… I will take them for Xuan’er! Please, Eldest Miss, help me!”

“Using age as an excuse didn’t work, and now you want to talk to me about nobility?!” Bai Qingyan sneered, her voice calm but cutting as she said slowly, “In the third year of Xuanjia’s reign, during the Battle of Pingcheng, the Western Liang army besieged the city and our army was without food for three days. In order to defend Pingcheng and prevent the Western Liang army from massacring our people of the Great Jin Kingdom, my father, the heir of the Zhenguo Duke’s residence, took livestock from the homes of the city’s residents to feed the soldiers until reinforcements arrived. Pingcheng triumphed, but my father knelt before the citizens to apologise and confessed his crimes, and took 200 lashes while bare-chested in the snow! He said that before the law and military regulations, there is no distinction between the nobility and commoners! If you want to talk about nobility, was my father not nobility?! Your son is but an illegitimate child, what makes him untouchable?”

Bai Qingyan gripped the hand warmer tightly, her teeth almost drawing blood from her gums, “Pull him away and punish him hard! Not one lash less!”

Amid the woman’s cries, Bai Qingxuan was pinned to the ground by the guards. Lu Ping personally wielded the rod and the dull thuds of wood striking flesh, accompanied by Bai Qingxuan’s screams, echoed through the entire street.

By the time 30 lashes were delivered, Bai Qingxuan’s buttocks were already bleeding and his screams had weakened to barely audible whimpers.

The playboys upstairs watched in horror. Each strike seemed to land on their own bodies, causing them to wince in shared pain. Yet, Bai Qingyan stood there, her expression as cold and unchanging as ice.

When the 50 lashes were complete, Bai Qingxuan had lost consciousness. The woman broke free from the guards and rushed to hug Bai Qingxuan as she cried out in anguish.

Though Bai Qingyan’s hatred had not fully subsided, she could not actually kill someone in the middle of the street. She spoke indifferently, “Have him taken back to the mansion and call for a physician to treat him well!”

“Yes!” Lu Ping responded promptly, instructing others to fetch a physician and to carry Bai Qingxuan onto the carriage.

“Chen Qingsheng, stay behind and escort the injured old lady and child back home. Apologise and offer our condolences!” Bai Qingyan ordered. “Let’s return to the residence. I’m exhausted!”

As the Eldest Miss’ carriage from the Bai family arrived, the onlookers naturally parted to allow it through.

After getting on the carriage, Bai Qingyan rested a hand on a spring pillow and closed her eyes wearily. Her throat tightened and tears glistened at the corners of her eyes, filling her with a deep sense of sorrow and desolation.

When she had talked about the past of her brothers, sisters, and her father, her mind was flooded with images of her grandfather, father, and uncles sitting around a campfire in front of the barracks, discussing battle plans with fervour.

The scenes of the Bai family brothers, vibrant and full of fighting spirit before heading into battle, flashed vividly before Bai Qingyan’s eyes, causing her to tremble uncontrollably.

Today’s events had gone far more smoothly than Bai Qingyan had anticipated and would undoubtedly elevate the Bai family’s reputation further. However, speaking of the Bai family’s traditions and remembering the Bai family’s loyalty and sacrifices for the emperor and the citizens… for the Great Jin Kingdom and its people, only to be met with suspicion by the emperor and execution, she was filled with a bitter hatred.

It was the Great Jin Kingdom’s imperial family that had betrayed the Bai family’s generations of unwavering loyalty.