The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 59

“Stop! Where do you think you’re going?!” Without turning her head, Bai Qingyan’s voice stopped Bai Jintong in her tracks.

“Heaven is unjust to our Bai family! Our family has been loyal and upright for generations, dedicated to protecting our home and the people. How did we end up like this?! Even if I have to risk my life, I will kill that dog of an Emperor! I’ll slaughter Liu Huanzhang’s entire family!” Bai Jintong was consumed with hatred, her anger so fierce that she wanted to pierce the sky itself, to bury the entire Jin dynasty alongside the men of the Bai family.

“Do you think risking your life will avenge the men of the Bai family?!” She turned to look at Bai Jintong, her eyes bloodshot, “And then what?!”

“Then what?!” Bai Jintong ground her teeth until they nearly shattered.

“After you kill Liu Huanzhang’s family, do you really think you can kill Prince Xin? Can you really kill the Emperor? Even if you’re so brave and invincible that you succeed, what would become of the women of the Bai family?! Regicide is a capital offence… Are you prepared to drag the women of the Bai family to their graves with you along with your bravery?! I know you’re not afraid of death… But aren’t you afraid of dying with no face to show our grandfather?! No face to show your father?!”

Seeing the despair and anguish in Bai Jintong’s trembling lips and hopeless eyes, Bai Qingyan felt her own heart twist with emotion. She forcibly suppressed her overwhelming rage and hatred, her tears glistening as she persuaded, “Grandmother is the Princess Dowager of the dynasty. How could you face her after killing Prince Xin and the Emperor?”

Bai Jintong’s fury, once raging like a tempest, deflated as she slumped against the door, collapsing to her knees in a flood of tears, “But why must our Bai family suffer such a fate?! The Bai family saved the people of Jin, but who will save the loyal souls of the Bai family?!”

“Courage without wisdom is common among fools…” She bent down to pick up the bamboo slips that had fallen to the floor. She carefully rolled them up and placed them on the mahogany desk. “Killing is the easiest thing to do, and also the most foolish!”

“Eldest Sister, do you have a plan in mind?” Bai Jinxiu suppressed the grief in her heart and rasped with a hoarse voice.

“In the art of war, a skilled commander seeks victory through momentum. We have no power in the imperial court. We are isolated and weak. The only way to seek justice for the heroic souls of our Bai family is to harness momentum and win the hearts of the people.”

She threw the clay figure of a horseman wielding a sword into the brazier. Sparks flew as the fire crackled and surged, casting reflections in her dark and icy gaze.

Although Bai Qingyan’s heart still burned with an intense hatred, she had calmed and regained her composure. Seeing this, the fiery resentment and grief in Bai Jintong and Bai Jinxiu began to gradually subside as well.

With a clear pillar of strength, they no longer felt as helpless or overwhelmed.

Watching the flames completely devour the small clay figure, she lowered her voice and said, “It’s fine to cry here in Qinghui Courtyard! We have an elderly grandmother above us, younger sisters below us, and Fifth Aunt is pregnant! We cannot… We must not collapse in weakness! We must stand tall and support our mothers and aunts, and uphold the Bai family!”

Bai Jintong and Bai Jinxiu both felt that Bai Qingyan, despite her frail and sickly appearance, had a burning force so intense it seemed capable of sustaining them through any storm.

“Jintong understands!” Bai Jintong gritted her teeth.

“Jinxiu understands too!” Bai Jinxiu choked out in response.

“I will speak with my mother! Jinxiu, go speak to Second Aunt… Jintong, go speak to Third Aunt!” Bai Qingyan instructed, her voice still weak.

Although Bai Jintong was born from a concubine, she had been raised alongside Bai Jinzhi by Li-shi for years and long regarded Li-shi as her biological mother.

“Do not mention the bamboo slips. They are the most important trump card in the Bai family’s hand.” After a moment of contemplation, she added, “Tomorrow night, on New Year’s Eve, the news of the deaths of Grandfather and the others on the battlefield will reach us. We must prepare early!”

She closed her eyes… When news had arrived on New Year’s Eve in her previous life, the Bai family’s desperate wails had pierced the night amidst dazzling fireworks! With her eyes closed, she could see the despair and misery that had enshrouded the entire Zhenguo Duke’s residence.

The three sisters clung to each other, their tears streaming down their cheeks.

Two hours later, Bai Jintong and Bai Jinxiu left Qinghui Courtyard in a daze. The maids of Qinghui Courtyard hurried back inside, carrying basins and heating water to help Bai Qingyan wash and change her clothes.

The news that Chuntao had run madly to Bitong Garden that morning to fetch Bai Jintong, and then all the maids and servants had been driven outside the gates of Qinghui Courtyard had already spread. Before Bai Qingyan had the chance to seek out Dong-shi, Dong-shi herself had already arrived at Qinghui Courtyard.

Upon entering the main room, Dong-shi saw that Bai Qingyan was safe and in the midst of changing her clothes. Dong-shi immediately sighed in relief. Pressing a handkerchief to her chest, she asked, “Did something happen early this morning? Why did Chuntao rush off in such a panic to find Jintong?”

Bai Qingyan glanced at Dong-shi who was sitting on the couch and motioned for Chuntao and the others to leave the room.

“Mother…” Bai Qingyan sat down beside Dong-shi, holding her arm. Her eyes reddened once more. She hesitated, the words caught in her throat and unsure of how to start. All she could do was call out to Dong-shi over and over, “Mother! Mother…”

“What’s going on?” Dong-shi’s smile faltered as she saw her daughter’s sorrowful expression, her heart sinking with a growing sense of dread. After all, her eldest daughter had always been composed and resilient. When had she ever cried in front of her?

“Mother…” She took a deep breath and lifted her head but the tears came anyway, falling like a broken string of pearls. Clinging to her mother’s arm tightly, she choked out, “Grandfather, Father… and all Younger Brothers, they won’t be coming back! The military report will probably arrive tomorrow.”

Dong-shi was struck dumb by this news, as if the sky had collapsed upon her and she could not recover for a long while. Her mind went blank, her face drained of colour, and she nearly slid off the couch, her spine turned to jelly by the blow.

“Mother…” Bai Qingyan embraced Dong-shi tightly. “Mother, don’t be afraid! You still have me!”

She burst into tears, unable to hold back anymore in front of her mother. She had thought that since she had returned… with foreknowledge of events, it might give her a fighting chance against death, not even for a victory, but at least to save one life… Just one!

Dong-shi was stirred by the sound of Bai Qignyan’s voice. She slowly regained her senses and her reddened eyes twitched. She clutched the handkerchief in her hand, forcing herself to hold back the tears. After a long while, she finally reached out to embrace Bai Qingyan. Her voice was hoarse as she said, “Your father and younger brothers were born into a family of military generals and meritorious service. The day they left for the battlefield, Mother had already been prepared for this possibility. There was a time when your father and younger brothers returned victorious, and I could host a banquet in their honour. Now that they will return wrapped in horsehide, Mother can handle their funerals! Do not be afraid, Ah Bao… Mother is the matriarch of this household. Mother will hold us up!”

When the news had arrived in her previous life, her grandmother had fainted… Her aunts and sisters had been devastated, crying together in despair. Yet, her mother had been the one to hold up the collapsed sky over the Bai family, and to this day, she remembered it all with vivid clarity.

Her mother might not have known martial arts and had never set foot on a battlefield, but she was stronger than any hardened soldier. Otherwise… How could she have written that resolute letter to the Emperor and taken her aunts with her in a final act of suicidal defiance?

But how bitter and heartbroken must her mother have been, having lost both her husband and sons in Nanjiang?! She knew that her mother was holding on with sheer willpower. It was not that she could bear it… It was that as the matriarch, she had no choice but to bear it.

Bai Qingyan hugged Dong-shi tightly, “Mother, it’ll be alright… In front of me, Mother doesn’t have to be strong! I will stay with Mother… I will always stay with Mother.”