The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 45

After saying that, Chunyan hurriedly ran out of Qinghui Courtyard. Yinshuang, who was in her room eating pine nut candy, saw Chunyan go out. She quickly stuffed the candy into her pocket and followed after.

The gatekeeper woman saw Chunyan coming out and greeted her obsequiously, “Miss Chunyan!”

Chunyan pulled the gatekeeper woman aside to a secluded spot and looked around to make sure no one was nearby before speaking, “Did His Highness send instructions?”

“Master Tong said that His Highness has come in person. The carriage is waiting outside the side gate, and he said His Highness wishes to see Eldest Miss. Please, Miss Chunyan, tell Eldest Miss that His Highness wants to see her…” said the gatekeeper woman.

Chunyan’s heart was pounding wildly and she was so anxious that her face turned red, “Isn’t His Highness seriously injured? How could he come personally?! What if he catches a cold?!”

“This shows His Highness is sincere to Eldest Miss. Miss, quickly go and inform Eldest Miss to go and see him quickly. If anything happens to His Highness in this freezing weather at our gate, we can’t afford to bear the responsibility!” urged the gatekeeper woman.

“I understand!” Chunyan’s heart was entirely focused on Prince Liang and she could not help but resent Bai Qingyan. It was Eldest Miss who insisted on making her return the jade pendant given by Prince Liang, causing His Highness to come here in such a hurry despite his injuries. If anything happened to His Highness, Eldest Miss would not be able to pay back even if she died a thousand times

Chunyan was so angry and anxious that she almost tore the handkerchief in her hand. She turned and hurriedly ran towards the main house.

As Chunyan ran ahead, Yinshuang jumped down from the wall, startling the messenger woman. The woman clutched her chest and glared at Yinshuang. She was about to leave, when Yinshuang knocked her unconscious with a punch.

Yinshuang looked at the old woman who had fainted at her feet, then carried her across her shoulders into Qinghui Courtyard.

“Eldest Miss! Eldest Miss!” Chunyan rushed into the main room, walking around the brocade silk screen to see Bai Qingyan practising her calligraphy with sandbags tied to her wrists. She knelt down with a thud, “Eldest Miss, this servant knows Eldest Miss dislikes it when this servant mentions Prince Liang, but yesterday, Eldest Miss had this servant return his jade pendant, and now today, Prince Liang has personally come. His Highness was so badly injured that he almost died, but he still came to our Duke’s mansion just for Miss! Miss… this servant begs you, he truly cares for you! Please meet him just once!”

Chunyan’s head banged on the floor loudly and her face was covered in tears. Throughout both of Bai Qingyan’s lifetimes, she had never seen Chunyan so loyal to her, which filled her with not only anger but also deep sadness.

Outside the door, Chuntao, who was about to enter the room, saw Yinshuang carrying an unconscious woman. Startled at first, she realised Chunyan had gone to see Prince Liang’s people again and was caught by Yinshuang.

Yinshuang casually tossed the unconscious woman onto the ground and then, with a smile, reached out to Chuntao for candy, “Caught another one! Sister, candy…”

Chuntao, feeling a mix of shame and frustration, remembered the day she had pleaded on behalf of this low-minded Chunyan in front of Eldest Miss and felt deeply embarrassed.

Suppressing her emotions, Chuntao tapped Yinshuang’s forehead, “You silly thing! Wait here!”

Chuntao opened the curtains and entered the room. She glanced at Chunyan, kneeling on the ground and knocking her head on the floor, then quickly approached Bai Qingyan. Leaning in, she whispered, “Miss, Yinshuang has knocked out another gatekeeper woman and brought her into the courtyard.”

Chunyan was unaware of what Chuntao had told Eldest Miss. She looked at Bai Qingyan eagerly, hoping she would go see Prince Liang. “Eldest Miss…”

Bai Qingyan did not look at the weeping Chunyan from the beginning to the end. She finished writing the last character before putting down her brush. “It’s good that she’s caught her, let’s take this opportunity today… to clean up the Duke’s household. Chuntao, send Chunxing to inform my mother in her courtyard and have Aunty Qin summon Housekeeper Hao. Also, instruct all the stewards and any off-duty servants to gather in the front courtyard.” Chuntao acknowledged the instructions and quickly left to tell Chunxing.

Soon, Chuntao returned with a copper basin of water. While wringing out a cloth for Bai Qingyan, she asked, “Eldest Miss, this servant had Yinshuang carry that woman to the Eldest Madam’s courtyard with Chunxing. Does Eldest Miss wish to go there?”

She nodded, “Yes, of course I need to go.”

Hearing this, Chunyan anxiously moved on her knees, crying and pleading, “Eldest Miss, please, treat it as a request from your servant! Cleaning up the household can be done anytime, but seeing Prince Liang is urgent!”

“Chunyan! You…” Chuntao was shocked. She had thought Chunyan was there to repent, not to beg Eldest Miss to meet Prince Liang.

Seeing that Bai Qingyan remained indifferent and was calmly removing the sandbags from her wrists, gazing at the freshly written calligraphy while stretching her wrists, Chunyan grew increasingly anxious. She raised her voice by several degrees, straightening her back as she angrily accused Bai Qingyan, “Eldest Miss! It’s freezing cold and His Highness is still waiting at the back gate of the Duke’s residence. If something goes wrong, can you bear the responsibility?!”

Chunyan’s words “bear the responsibility” instantly infuriated her. Her eyes were as sharp as knives and she exuded the fierce aura of someone who had fought through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. It was so strong that Chunyan broke into a cold sweat.

“Responsibility?!” Bai Qingyan threw the handkerchief Chuntao had handed her onto the desk, her anger surging.

“Chunyan, have you been possessed by a ghost?! Or by a demon?! Did Miss force Prince Liang to wait at the back gate of our Duke’s residence in the snow? What does Miss have to take responsibility for?! As an unmarried daughter of the Duke’s residence, should she meet with anyone who waits at the back gate of our Duke’s residence?! What kind of logic is that? Did Aunty Tong’s teachings go to the dogs?!”

“How is that the same?! This is His Highness Prince Liang!” Chunyan argued with Chuntao, her neck stiff with defiance. She felt heartbroken when she thought of Prince Liang’s injury.

Bai Qingyan was already extremely disappointed by Chunyan. She suppressed her fury and said, “Worrying about Prince Liang’s residence while being a servant of the Duke’s residence… Chunyan, I’ve wronged you! Today, as we clean this residence, you can go to Prince Liang and seek your path there!”

“That’s not what this servant meant!” Chunyan hastily kowtowed, “This servant… This servant is genuinely worried about Prince Liang’s health! Please show mercy, Eldest Miss! This servant has been with Miss since childhood, and will follow Miss in this life and the next!”

She sneered, “Follow me in this life and the next?! I don’t dare accept someone like you… A servant who arranges her master’s marriage and forces her to meet a man outside the family, I can’t bear that responsibility!”

“Miss! Miss! Chunyan knows she’s wrong!” Chunyan was so scared that she burst into tears, pleading for forgiveness anxiously.

“Miss has always treated you kindly because you’re young, spoiling you so much that you don’t know where the limits are, repeatedly entangling Miss with outside men in her name! Now you even dare to coerce Miss to meet Prince Liang… you’re going to destroy her, Chunyan!” Chuntao was so angry that she cried out, wanting nothing more than to slap some sense into Chunyan.