The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 58

Chuntao had been standing outside the room, listening to Bai Qingyan’s heavy, suppressed sobbing, her own tears falling like rain. She dared not enter to comfort her, but when she suddenly heard Bai Qingyan’s eerie laughter from inside, she felt like an ant scalded on a hot pan, utterly unsure what to do.

Hearing the strange sound, Chunxing hurriedly dressed herself. She fumbled with her buttons as she rushed out from the side room and asked Chuntao, “What’s happening to the Miss?! Why are you standing here outside instead of going in to check on her?!”

Chuntao hastily wiped her tear-streaked face and grabbed Chunxing’s hand, “You stay here! Don’t let anyone inside! I need to fetch Third Miss!”

“Alright!” Chunxing’s face had gone pale with fear and she nodded repeatedly.

Chuntao, slipping on the snow, ran all the way to Bai Jintong’s courtyard. As soon as she entered, she dropped to her knees at the entrance of the main room, crying out, “Third Miss! Third Miss, please come quickly and see Eldest Miss!”

Bai Jintong, who had just finished her morning exercises, heard the noise and hurriedly pushed aside the curtain. She stepped out, “What happened to Eldest Sister?!”

Chuntao’s eyes were swollen and red, her face drenched with tears, “Please, third Miss, please go and check on her!”

Bai Jintong’s face paled and without even pausing to grab a cloak, she rushed out of the courtyard.

Bai Jinxiu’s Qingzhu Pavilion was very close to Bai Jintong’s Bitong Garden, Bai Jinxiu had been up early as usual, reading by the window. Hearing the commotion, she quickly instructed Qingshu, the personal maid Second Madam Liu-shi had left behind to take care of her, to investigate.

As soon as Qingshu left the courtyard, she saw Chuntao and Bai Jintong’s maids hastily following behind Bai Jintong, all heading swiftly towards Qinghui Courtyard.

Qingshu immediately returned to inform Bai Jinxiu, “Second Miss, I saw Eldest Miss’ maid Chuntao following Third Miss, both rushing towards the Eldest Miss’ courtyard.”

Bai Jinxiu tightened her grip on the book she was holding. She thought of Bai Qingyan’s chronic cold illness and all the stress she had been under recently. A cold dread crept up Bai Jinxiu’s spine as she threw back the covers, “Qingshu, help me get dressed! I need to go to Eldest Sister immediately!”

“Second Miss, it’s still snowing outside, and your head injury…”

“It’s nothing, I’ve already recovered! Just bring me a thick fur hat!” Bai Jinxiu was anxious about her eldest sister and Qingshu dared not protest further. She hurried to fetch a cloak and hat, then supported Bai Jinxiu as they trudged through the snow towards Qinghui Courtyard.

As soon as Bai Jinxiu reached the gate of Qinghui Courtyard, she heard Bai Jintong softly calling from the entrance, “Eldest Sister, it’s Jintong. May I come in…?”

Receiving no response from Bai Qingyan, Bai Jintong stood at the door, hesitant to enter without permission. She turned to Chuntao and asked anxiously, “What happened to Eldest Sister?!”

Chuntao knew the matter was of great importance and could only bite her lip, shaking her head with tears in her eyes.

“Jintong, what’s wrong with Eldest Sister?!” Bai Jinxiu, gripping Qingshu’s arm so tightly that a fine layer of sweat had formed, hurried over. “Has her cold flared up again?!”

“Second Sister, you… Why are you here too?!” Bai Jintong rushed forward to support Bai Jinxiu.

Just then, the door to the room creaked open. Chuntao quickly pulled the curtain aside and there stood Bai Qingyan in the doorway, clad in white undergarments soaked in blood.

Bai Jinxiu’s legs nearly gave out as she gasped, “Eldest Sister!”

Bai Qingyan’s pale face was as calm as still water, but her eyes were bloodshot and although her dishevelled hair had been tidied, an ominous energy radiated from her, like a vengeful spirit from the depths of hell.

“Bai Jinxiu, Bai Jintong, come inside. The rest of you… Stay outside Qinghui Courtyard gate. Do not let anyone approach!” she commanded.

“Eldest Sister, your clothes…”

She had already turned toward the inner room, “It is not my blood. Come inside!”

Bai Jinxiu and Bai Jintong quickly ordered the servants to remain outside Qinghui Courtyard. Then the two of them entered the main room, hand in hand. They found Bai Qingyan standing by the fire with her back to them. Bai Jinxiu called softly, “Eldest Sister…”

Bai Qingyan closed her aching eyes. She had been reborn to protect her family, her elders, and her younger sisters! So… She could not afford to collapse! She could not lose control! She could not fall! No matter how deep her hatred ran, she needed to keep her composure and resist the impulse for rash vengeance.

She had already experienced this once before in her previous life. As the daughter of the Bai family of the Zhenguo Duke’s residence, she had to hold on. She had to watch those treacherous enemies descend into hell and atone with their lives for the suffering they had inflicted on the Bai family men!

After a long pause, she said in a hoarse voice, “Jintong, close the door. I have something to tell you.”

Bai Jintong closed the door and then approached Bai Qingyan alongside Bai Jinxiu, “Eldest Sister.”

Her gaze drifted to the five volumes of blood-stained bamboo slips on the desk. The air felt suffocatingly warm, her breathing irregular. She closed her eyes briefly before speaking, “I did not tell you before because I had not yet confirmed the news…”

Bai Qingyan turned around and looked at Bai Jinxiu and Bai Jintong, whose faces were tight with worry and confusion. She choked out, “Grandfather, Father, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Fourth Uncle, Fifth Uncle… along with the seventeen sons of the Bai family, they have all… died in battle in Nanjiang.”

Bai Jinxiu’s eyes widened and she nearly fainted, unable to catch her breath. It felt as if the sky had collapsed. The wound on her head began to throb, her blood pulsing as though it would break through the scab.

“How can it be… all of them… all…” Bai Jintong’s tears streamed down uncontrollably as she choked on her sobs, “Eldest Sister, the news must be wrong!”

In their previous life, when the news arrived, the Bai family had been just as unwilling to believe it.

She walked to the desk and placed her hand on the five volumes of blood-stained bamboo slips. The veins on the back of her hand throbbed with suppressed rage, threatening to burst forth, but she swallowed it back down forcefully. She had lived through two lifetimes; she could not be so easily defeated.

“These are the records from the Bai Family Army’s historian… They detail their march and the battle.” She picked up two of the bamboo slips, “The commander of the Bai family army’s Tiger Battalion, Fang Yan, along with Shen Qingzhu and my Bai family guard Wu Zhe, risked their lives to save these five bamboo slips. Now Shen Qingzhu’s whereabouts are unknown… Fang Yan and Wu Zhe are dead, and the blood on these slips… it belongs to Wu Zhe… to Fang Yan, and to our hundreds of thousands of our Bai family soldiers!”

Bai Qingyan placed one bamboo slip in Bai Jinxiu’s hand and the other in Bai Jintong’s.

Looking at her two tear-filled and grief-stricken sisters, she said, “I want you to know… The men of our Bai family did not die at the hands of foreign enemies, but fell victim to the Jin Kingdom Emperor’s suspicion… they died at the hands of people from our own Great Jin Kingdom!”

Bai Jinxiu’s tears flowed uncontrollably as she trembled, unrolling the bamboo slip in her hands.

Bai Jintong wasted no time and she unrolled the bamboo slip and read it quickly, tears blurring her vision…

After reading one volume, Bai Jintong broke down completely. She stumbled towards the desk and opened another volume, her entire body shaking, her cries desperate and loud.

Bai Qingyan stood by the brazier, her entire body taut and tense. Even though she had already broken down in wild grief, crying and venting, her eyes still burned with unshed tears. She felt a coldness that reached deep into her bones, and no matter how close she stood to the brazier, it could not warm her. Her entire body felt numb.

Standing by the desk, Bai Jinxiu trembled as she picked up the bamboo slips. Consumed by grief and despair, she struggled to breathe and clutching the bamboo slips to her chest, she collapsed to the ground, “Little Seventeen… He was only ten years old! He was only ten years old!”

Bai Jintong suppressed her tears, turning her overwhelming grief into fury. Her eyes blazed with anger and her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles cracked. She turned and stormed out of the room.