The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 83

Ji Tingyu!

Her scalp tightened sharply. She grabbed Chuntao’s hand, glanced up at the still-bowing family of the Dingyong Marquis, and seized the moment when no one was watching to force her numb legs to stand. She nearly collapsed.

Bai Jintong reacted swiftly, catching Bai Qingyan just in time. Not daring to cry out, she whispered anxiously, “Eldest Sister?”

Bai Qingyan clutched Chuntao’s hand tightly. “Go!”

Chuntao lowered her head and firmly supported Bai Qingyan, helping her slip away unnoticed through the crowd.

Sensing that something was wrong, Bai Jintong leaned close to Bai Jinxiu and murmured, “Second Sister, please look after our younger sisters! I’m going to see to Eldest Sister!”

Bai Jinxiu was also worried about Bai Qingyan’s physical state and quickly nodded. Bai Jintong rose quietly and hurried after them.

Bai Qingyan, her legs still numb, stumbled as she descended the stone steps, only to see Lu Ping approaching with a grave expression. He was just about to speak when he noticed Bai Jintong catching up, and immediately cupped his fists respectfully, “Eldest Miss, Third Miss!”

“Where is he?” Her heart was a storm of conflicting emotions and her voice shook unconsciously. She feared that Ji Tingyu might bring word of Shen Qingzhu’s demise, and desperate hope that perhaps he had returned with news that someone from the Bai family had survived the war front at Nanjiang.

“In the rear courtyard. Yin Shuang found him. Doctor Hong is currently cauterising the wound to stop the bleeding,” Lu Ping replied.

“Lead the way…” Bai Qingyan surged forward, every step filled with urgency, wishing she could sprout wings and fly to him.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, the moment she reached the rear courtyard and heard Ji Tingyu’s muffled groans of pain with his teeth clenched around a wooden block, her heart jolted violently.

She pushed open the door. Doctor Hong was pressing a fire-heated blade to the end of Ji Tingyu’s severed arm, sealing the wound to staunch the bleeding. Ji Tingyu gripped the edge of the table with one hand, biting hard on the block. His face was flushed red, veins bulging across his entire body, and sweat and bl00d poured down in thick rivulets.

“All done! It’s done! It’s done…” Doctor Hong finally lifted the blade, his bloodstained hand grabbing a cloth to wipe the sweat from his brow.

The scorched stench of burnt flesh filled the room, sharp and nauseating.

For anyone not hardened by the battlefield, such a scene would be terrifying. Even many young men would find their knees giving out, let alone daughters of noble households.

Bai Jintong’s eyes flew wide open. She could not understand what Ji Tingyu had been through to come back like this… he had actually lost an arm!

“Eldest Miss!” Ji Tingyu’s eyes were bloodshot. His entire body was soaked in bl00d, his clothes tattered from the battlefield. He knelt on one knee, wobbling slightly due to his missing arm, his voice choked, “Miss Shen brought Wei Gao and I galloping back from the Nanjiang. On the way, we encountered Yue Zhizhou, the personal guard of the Third Young Master. General Yue entrusted me with three bamboo scrolls containing the military records and ordered me to bring them back… but I failed in my duty. I only managed to return with one scroll! I beg Eldest Miss to punish me!”

As he spoke, Ji Tingyu quickly untied the bloodstained bundle from his back, revealing a single scroll tightly wrapped inside.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she helped him to his feet and said solemnly, “It is enough that you are alive!”

Only then did Bai Jintong come to the realisation. Eldest Sister had already sent someone to Nanjiang?!

Bai Jingtong stepped forward and took the scroll from Ji Tingyu’s hands, opening it and reading aloud as she scanned the contents, “Twelfth day of the twelfth month, 15th year of Xuanjia. General Bai Qingming, known for his bravery and swiftness (General Jiyong), annihilated a small cavalry unit from Xiliang and returned to reinforce the camp with a thousand troops. The camp had already been reduced to ruins. General Jiyong rescued ten surviving soldiers… The survivors reported that one day prior, when Prince Xin saw the 50,000 strong army of Nanyan approaching, he abandoned camp and fled with 3,000 men. General Bai Qingyu, known as swift wind (General Jifeng), dispatched 500 solders to evacuate the civilians in the rear, then led 1,500 troops to hold the line. General Jifeng died and his body was burned.”

“Thirteenth day of the twelfth month, 15th year of Xuanjia. General Jiyong defended Fengxian County until his last breath when the Nanyan army attacked the city. Faced with overwhelming odds, General Jiyong declared that millions of civilians lay behind them, that the Bai Family Army would fight to death and not a single one would retreat until the last man fell!”

Bai Jintong glanced at Bai Qingyan, whose face had gone ashen as she held Ji Tingyu. Her eyes rimmed red, she continued reading, “To shake the Jin army’s morale, the Nanyan and Western Liang coalition commander Yun Poxing paraded Vice Commander Bai Qishan’s corpse at the front of his chariot! The seventeen sons of the Bai family were beheaded…”

Seeing the following text, tears burst forth from Bai Jintong’s bloodshot eyes and a rush of bl00d surged to her head. Her face turned deathly pale, her chest tightened as if pierced straight through by a sword, and murderous fury burned from her every pore.

Bai Qingyan snatched the scroll from her sister and stared at it, her teeth clenched tightly. The handwriting was frantic and uneven…

To shake the Jin army’s morale, the Nanyan and Western Liang coalition commander Yun Poxing paraded Vice Commander Bai Qishan’s corpse at the front of his chariot! The seventeen sons of the Bai family were beheaded, their stomachs sliced open and their remains desecrated. The seventeen sons of the Bai family had no food in their stomachs, only tree roots and soil. Yun Poxing was stunned! The Bai Family Army’s bl00d boiled and they fought with unmatched fury! Even ten-year-old boys had iron in their veins! I, a mere scholar, am ashamed. But now, even I shall cast aside my brush and take up the sword!
May my corpse be wrapped in horsehide, I too shall go!

It felt as though her heart had been pierced by a thousand barbed spears. The metallic taste of bl00d surged to her throat, the pain so sharp and consuming she could barely stand.

“Eldest Miss!” Chuntao rushed to support Bai Qingyan, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Even though they had already seen Little Seventeenth’s tragic state, they had never imagined… that Little Seventeenth’s death would be so miserable!

She closed her bloodshot eyes. She bit down hard on the tip of her tongue to wake herself up. She must not indulge in this endless grief at the moment. The bloodshed of the Bai family, their pain and tragedy, must be made known to the world! She would peel back the face of that so-called imperial son, Prince Xin… and reveal it to the world! She would channel the fury of the people, the grief of the nation, and force the Emperor on his lofty throne… to kill Prince Xin!

The vengeance of the Bai family, Bai Qingyan would repay it with her life!

At this moment, with the likes of Elder Master Cui Shiyan and Elder Master Guan Yongchong having come to pay their respects, the influential figures of the capital were already arriving in succession. The timing was perfect.

She opened her bloodshot eyes, her burning gaze locking onto the bloodied and battered Ji Tingyu, “Ji Tingyu, I have a task for you! You… Can your body withstand it?!”

“Whatever Eldest Miss commands, Ji Tingyu will obey without regard for life or death,” Ji Tingyu gritted his teeth.

“Chuntao, go to my room and fetch the five bamboo scrolls brought back by Wu Zhe.”

“Yes,” Chuntao responded and immediately dashed out.

Once Chuntao was gone, Bai Qingyan bit down on her lip and gave Ji Tingyu solemn instructions, “I want you to carry these six bamboo scrolls and enter through the main gate of our Duke’s residence! At the mourning hall… present the bamboo slips with this bl00d-soaked body of yours!

“You went to Nanjiang before the New Year on my behalf, to deliver winter clothing for my grandfather, father, uncles, and brothers! On the way, at Chongluan Range, you encountered Bai family’s Tiger Battalion’s Commander, Fang Yan, who was being hunted by assassins. All the guards who travelled with you to Nanjiang perished before you could save Commander Fang Yan. Commander Fang Yan revealed that Liu Huanzhang betrayed us, colluding with Nanyan and Prince Xin. To steal military merit, Prince Xin forced Grandfather to go into battle, causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers. As the frontline collapsed, General Jifeng, Bai Qingyu, risked his life to hold the line while evacuating the civilians. Prince Xin abandoned the civilians and forcibly took away most of the troops to cover his own cowardly escape! You were hunted and pursued, hiding and fleeing for your life, protecting these six bamboo scrolls, just to beg the heavens to restore justice for the fallen souls of the Bai family!”

Bai Qingyan’s instructions were precise and methodical. It was nine parts truth, one part fabrication. She had already crafted a watertight narrative to explain the origin of the six bamboo scrolls.