The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 77

Bai Qingyan’s already pale face was even more pale today. Her delicate features were weary yet her gaze was unwaveringly resolute.

“Young Master Lu, we must thank you for resolving the situation outside our Duke’s residence that day. Once my Bai family has settled these affairs, we shall certainly visit to express our gratitude,” Dong-shi said warmly.

“Madam, you flatter me! It was just a coincidence. There’s no need for Madam to take it to heart,” Lu Yuanpeng responded. He was impeccably polite today.

As dawn began to break, the heavy snowfall gradually ceased.

Just as the gathered townsfolk were about to be frozen stiff, the faint sound of approaching hoofbeats echoed through the white mist.

Soon, a four-horse carriage emerged, adorned with lanterns hanging at its four corners. It was escorted by guards holding banners bearing Prince Xin’s insignia.

Second Madam Liu-shi’s legs gave way beneath her, and if not for Bai Jinxiu’s quick reflexes, she would have collapsed. Gripping Liu-shi’s trembling hand, tears streamed down Bai Jinxiu’s face.

Dong-shi took a deep breath, instinctively tightening her hold on Bai Qingyan’s hand.

Prince Xin’s guards saw from afar the sea of lantern lights at the southern gate. They quickened their horses to the gate and were stopped by the group of people. Understanding what was going on, they hurried back to the carriage. Lowering his voice, one of the guards reported, “Your Highness, the Bai family widows and the people of the capital are all gathered at the southern gate…”

Prince Xin was reclining in the carriage with a beauty nestled in his arms. Hearing this, he lifted the curtain and looked towards the southern gate. The sight of countless flickering lanterns and the crowd made him quickly shrink back inside with a guilty conscience, a thin sheen of sweat forming on his palms.

This time, he had only brought back the remains of Zhenguo Duke Bai Weiting, his fifth son Bai Qijing, as well as the Bai family’s Sixth and Seventeenth Young Masters. To humiliate the Bai family and make a spectacle for the imperial court, he had deliberately placed them in the lowest-grade coffins.

Wiping his hands with a handkerchief, Prince Xin fixed his gaze on the bronze three-legged incense burner, thinking with a gloomy face. After a moment, he ordered, “Say that I am gravely wounded and unfit to leave the carriage. We proceed directly into the city!”

“Understood!” Prince Xin’s guard nodded.

Noticing Prince Xin’s sombre expression, the beauty in his arms smiled as she picked up the jar of warm wine from the brazier and poured a cup. Then she brought it up to his lips, “The Bai family men are all dead. They’re merely a group of women. Why should Your Highness concern yourself with them?”

The enchanting smile of the beauty before him melted away his unease. Prince Xin narrowed his eyes and the uneasiness in his heart dissipated as he drank the wine from her delicate, jade-like hand.

Indeed, all the men of the Bai family were dead. What could a mere group of women possibly do?

Besides, it was his father the Emperor who could not tolerate the Bai family. As the old saying goes, when the sovereign demands a subject’s death, the subject has no choice but to die. The Bai family could be said to have died an honourable death, what was there for him to fear?!

With that thought, Prince Xin leaned back comfortably against the plush cushions, idly toying with the beauty’s hand, smooth and pale like carved white jade.

The carriage swayed as it reached the city gate. Dong-shi led the Bai family in a deep bow towards the prince’s carriage. “Greetings to Prince Xin.”

“Cough, cough, cough…” came the sound of Prince Xin’s coughs from within the carriage. “This prince has done all he could, but was only able to bring back the Duke, General Bai Qijing, the Sixth Young Master, and the Seventeenth Young Master! This prince is gravely wounded and unfit to dismount… Cough, cough, cough, cough! Let the soldiers return the coffins to the Duke’s residence!”

With that, the carriage began to move again.

Not a single one of Dong-shi’s husband and sons had been returned. Her body swayed, and she had to be caught by her daughter. “Mother!”

Looking at Dong-shi, stunned by the cruel blow, Bai Qingyan’s heart twisted in agony.

Second Madam Liu-shi’s husband and two sons had also not been returned!

The moment Liu-shi heard Prince Xin’s words, her entire body fell backward in a daze. If not for Bai Jinxiu’s quick hands, she would have collapsed entirely. Tears poured from her eyes, but she stood as if in a daze, unable to speak a word.

Her husband and sons… were their remains truly lost forever?!

“My Seventeenth! My little Seventeenth!” Fourth Madam Wang-shi could no longer hold back. She stumbled toward the smallest coffin at the back. Since it had snowed heavily overnight, the path was slippery and difficult to walk on. She slipped twice but dragged herself forward, finally collapsing against the snow-covered coffin, weeping with gut-wrenching grief.

“Sixth son… Mother is here! Mother is taking you home!” Third Madam Li-shi, supported by Bai Jintong, choked back sobs as she approached, reaching out to touch her son’s icy coffin, wanting to escort his spirit home herself.

Fifth Madam Qi-shi, heavily pregnant, seemed the most composed. She had wanted to rush forward to her husband’s coffin but forcibly held herself back, pressing her hand tightly to her abdomen. Through trembling tears, she turned to Dong-shi and said, “Eldest Sister-in-law… Let’s go home first!”

Bai Jinzhi, still injured, was supported by her personal maid as she limped toward the coffin of her elder brother, Bai Qingming.

Dong-shi’s fists clenched so tightly they trembled. Though her heart roiled with boundless hatred, she still had to force out words of thanks, “Th… thank you, Your Highness.”

Bai Qingyan’s fists were clenched just as tightly. Just like in her previous life, only Grandfather, Fifth Uncle, Brother Ming, and little Seventeenth had returned. And Prince Xin, with his so-called serious injuries…

She watched as the opulent carriage rolled past her. She could smell faint traces of wine and sandalwood wafting from the slightly open window. Her gaze sharpened as she straightened her spine and looked up. The wind lifted the carriage curtain just enough, and she caught a clear glimpse of the woman nestled in the “gravely injured” Prince Xin’s arms, clothing dishevelled.

Draped in a fox fur coat, Xiao Rongyan stood outside the crowd. His hearing was as keen as ever. His ears twitched slightly as he caught the woman’s coquettish murmuring from within the finely adorned carriage. His already dark eyes grew even colder. He turned his head to glance at the guard beside him…

The guard immediately understood and bowed before hastily departing.

Bai Qingyan’s eyes turned next to the soldiers carrying the coffins. Not a single one of them was from the Bai family’s army. They were all… Prince Xin’s men. Her fingers curled into fists within her sleeves.

Prince Xin’s men set down the coffins, then they turned and followed the carriage into the city, leaving the four coffins right there at the gate.

Dong-shi was using every ounce of strength to maintain a dignified composure, so that she would not collapse and cry! With the Bai family’s women, she knelt down and bowed deeply. “I, Dong-shi, the Bai family’s eldest daughter-in-law, and the women of the Bai family, respectfully welcome Father and the Bai family’s heroic spirits home!”

Bai Qingyan knelt as well, tears in her eyes as she kowtowed her head heavily.

All around them, the citizens also knelt, cries and sobs erupting through the air. Voices called out for the Duke in grief, rising into the skies of this gloomy, sunless morning.

Supported by Aunty Qin, Dong-shi rose and stood at the head of her father-in-law’s coffin. With her teeth clenched and tears brimming in her eyes, she cried out, “Carry the coffins! Scatter the money! Lead the way!”

The Bai family’s servants immediately stepped forward and positioned themselves around the four coffins, hoisting the coffin poles.

Dong Qingyue, a rough and straightforward man, tossed aside the reins he had been holding with reddened eyes and strode forward to personally shoulder one of the coffins. His voice thundered, “Raise the coffins!”

“Raise the coffins!”

As the cry echoed out, voices joined in, and the weeping of the crowd grew all the more heart-wrenching.

Officials never carried coffins for others, not even for their own relatives!

But Dong Qingyue was different. He had once served as a soldier under the Duke, and the passion in his veins had yet to run cold.

Bai Qingyan took the paper money offerings in hand and cast a deep glance at the four coffins. Alone, she stepped to the very front, throwing the paper money high and scattering it into the air…

Bai Jinxiu followed behind her, likewise taking up the paper offerings with her own hands, casting them along the road to light the way for the heroic spirits of the Bai family.