The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 82

Bai Qingxuan thought repeatedly about the attitude Prince Xin had shown toward the Bai family. After a long while, he finally made up his mind and nodded. “Okay! Mother, start packing immediately. The men of the Bai family are all dead. With such a grand funeral to deal with, no one will spare a thought for the two of us! Pack the valuables and begin smuggling them out over the next few days. Once I’ve almost recovered, we’ll leave!”

Seeing that her son had made up his mind, the woman nodded repeatedly. “I’ll start preparing at once!”

Fourth Madam Wang-shi, always gentle and frail, had now hardened her resolve to stay by her son’s side no matter what. No persuasion could move her. She clung tightly to her son’s coffin and refused to let go, determined to accompany him even in death.

As a mother herself, Dong-shi fully understood Fourth Madam Wang-shi’s grief. She ordered a brazier to be brought over and had Fourth Madam Wang-shi wrapped in a thick fox fur cloak to keep the cold at bay.

It was only when Fourth Madam Wang-shi fainted from exhaustion that Dong-shi had her carried away to rest.

That night, Bai Qingyan gently persuaded her mother and aunts to rest, while she and her six sisters knelt and kept vigil before the ancestral altar through the long hours of the night. As for Bai Qingxuan… When Bai Qingyan sent someone to fetch him, he claimed his fever and wounds had worsened, refusing to come.

Though the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Misses were still young, the overwhelming grief and sorrow in their hearts had become a source of strength. They knelt before the altar, silently waiting for the return of the souls of their grandfather, father, uncles, and brothers.

The darkness before dawn was the coldest. Even wrapped in fox furs, Bai Qingyan felt the chill seeping into her waist.

The flickering candlelight made popping sounds as it burned. Seeing the Seventh Miss Bai Jinse swaying with fatigue, Bai Qingyan quietly opened her fox fur cloak and gently gathered the girl into her arms as she succumbed to sleep, wrapping her tightly to keep her warm. She instructed Chuntao to stoke the brazier, making the fire burn hotter.

Bai Jinxiu, too, held her drowsy fifth sister protectively and instructed someone to bring a brocade blanket to cover the Fifth and Sixth Misses.

“Little Fourth, you’re injured. Go and get some sleep,” Bai Qingyan said to Bai Jinzhi.

Bai Jinzhi knelt on the cushion silently and shook her head. All the men in the family were killed, their bodies not even recovered. How could she possibly sleep?

Bai Jinzhi’s thoughts were written on her face. Looking at her red eyes, she felt distressed. She lowered her eyes and whispered, “As long as we haven’t seen the bodies of the other uncles and brothers, everything can still be turned around. Isn’t this… a kind of hope?”

Tears streamed down Bai Jinzhi’s cheeks as she looked at her eldest sister. She wiped her face with her sleeve, and a faint glimmer of hope suddenly rose within her heart. She cheered up and nodded, “Mhmm!”

As dawn began to break, commoners had already gathered before the gates of the Duke’s residence to pay their respects. Others came merely to see the spectacle, wondering whether any high-ranking nobles would dare to show up today.

Morning light pierced the white mist, casting its glow over the snow-covered blue bricks and tiles.

A luxurious carriage of elm wood trimmed with copper pulled up before the gates of the Duke’s residence.

Xiao Rongyan’s guard stepped forward with a stool, helping him down.

Lifting his robes, he ascended the high steps of the Duke’s residence at a steady, composed pace. Once at the top, he unfastened his cloak and handed it to the attendant standing to the side. Under Bai Qingyan’s faintly astonished gaze, he bowed deeply and respectfully before the 20 or so spirit tablets of the Bai family.

Dong-shi and the children returned the greeting.

The elegant and refined young gentleman, dressed in a snow-white robe, appeared all the more noble and composed, his bearing extraordinary.

He turned his gaze towards Bai Qingyan, then offered a long, solemn bow to Dong-shi. His eyes were warm and profound as he spoke, “The Duke, the First Master, and the Bai family’s young masters were all heroes of the Jin kingdom. Though I, Xiao, am of Wei descent, I hold them in deep admiration! I hope First Madam will take comfort. The loyal souls of true citizens live on in the hearts of the people.”

At these words, “the loyal souls of true citizens live on in the hearts of the people,” Dong-shi could no longer hold back her tears. She solemnly bowed in return, “Many thanks, Young Master Xiao, for your kind words.”

Xiao Rongyan returning the gesture, then stoop up and looked towards Bai Qingyan, “Eldest Miss Bai… my condolences.”

She stood straight and tall, offering him a graceful curtsy, her eyes lowered. Her long lashes cast shadows like fans across her pale cheeks. Beneath her seemingly delicate demeanour, a steely edge lay hidden from most eyes.

The Bai family steward invited Xiao Rongyan to the rear hall and ordered tea to be served. Just as he lifted the cup, news came that two of the most esteemed scholars of the era, Elder Master Cui Shiyan and Elder Master Guan Yongchong, had arrived to pay their respects.

Elder Master Cui Shiyan and Elder Master Guan Yongchong had been close friends of the late Zhenguo Duke Bai Weiting. Now, with his sudden passing, how could his dearest friends not come to mourn and honour his memory?

The two men were very old, especially Cui Shiyan, who was over seventy… With the help of his servants and Elder Master Guan Yongchong, he lifted his trembling leg over the threshold. Tears filled his eyes as he choked out a name, “Buyu… I am seven years older than you. I’m still here, how could you leave first…”

Buyu was the pen name that her grandfather, Bai Weiting, used.

Her grandfather had once sworn… to restore peace to the people, to build a land of serenity, and to remain unwavering in this resolve until his last breath.

She clenched her fists tightly and kowtowed with great force to express her thanks. The tears she had held back surged forth uncontrollably, something rising from her chest to her throat, so intense that it rendered her completely voiceless.

The mourning hall, once quiet like a pool of stagnant water, was suddenly flooded with wails after Elder Master Cui Shiyan’s grief-stricken cry. Even the commoners outside the gates were moved to sob in unison.

Xiao Rongyan stood under the eaves. He watched as the two great scholars of the age paid their respects to the Bai family’s widows. The gesture Bai Qingyan returned with… was a disciple’s bow.

His eyes narrowed slightly Could it be that this Eldest Miss Bai had studied under these two eminent scholars?!

Guan Yongchong gently helped Bai Qingyan to her feet, his reddened eyes gazing at her with a nod. He had heard faint word of her actions in recent days and his heart swelled with emotion.

He remembered her at four years old, a delicate, adorable little girl. His dear friend Bai Weiting had brought her by the hand to his thatched cottage in the forest, hoping to entrust her literature education to him.

He had said, “A woman without talent is virtuous enough already. Why trouble her with study?”

Sunlight had streamed through the thick, layered leaves overhead, casting dappled shadows as the breeze stirred the trees.

His friend had simply smiled, gently brushing the child’s hair, and had said calmly, “To study is to understand propriety, virtue, righteousness, and shame! I don’t ask that my granddaughter become famed across the land, only that she may grow into a person of upright character, one who can stand tall with a clear conscience before the heaven and the earth.”

Upright and true. Righteous and honourable!

Bai Qingyan loved and protected the people, knew etiquette and morality, and knew shame and justice. Bai Qingyan had done exceedingly well.

Elder Master Cui Shiyan nodded through his tears, his voice somewhere between comfort and regret, “Your grandfather did not misplace his hopes. You truly grew into the person he envisioned…”

She could only choke out a sob and offer another respectful bow.

“Good child! Take care… of your grandmother, your mother, and your younger sisters!” Guan Yongchong’s voice was thick with sorrow.

She nodded.

Word soon spread that the two masters of the literary world had come to pay their respects to the Bai family. The nobles gradually came to pay their respects. The originally silent Zhenguo Duke’s residence now resounded with weeping. A steady stream of carriages lined the street, one after another.

The elderly Dingyong Marquis arrived with his entire household. The moment he uttered “Brother Buyu,” his tears fell freely.

Bai Qingyan knelt to return the greeting. As she rose to her feet, she suddenly saw Chuntao weaving through the crowd in haste, holding up the hem of her skirts. Panting, she spoke urgently in a hushed tone, “Eldest Miss! Guard Lu Ping sent a message saying Ji Tingyu is back!”