The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 85

Ji Tingyu had likely gone as far as chopping off another segment of his arm, just to make the act more convincing!

His fall from the horse had been a hard one. He loosened the bl00d-soaked bundle he had been carrying and handed it to Bai Qingyan, gripping her hand firmly in reassurance.

The veins on Ji Tingyu’s forehead bulged as he forced out his words, “Eldest Miss… This servant was under orders to go to the Nanjiang and deliver winter clothing to the Duke and the others. At Chongluan Range, we were ambushed by assassins targeting Commander Fang Yan of the Tiger Battalion! We fought with all our lives to save General Fang Yan…”

“General Fang Yan said Liu Huanzhang rebelled and colluded with Nanyan assassins and Prince Xin. To seize military merit, Prince Xin forced the Duke into battle, leading hundreds of thousands of soldiers to their deaths. When the front lines collapsed, General Bai Qingyu gave his life holding the enemy back while evacuating civilians. But Prince Xin abandoned the people and forcefully withdrew with over half the troops to protect his own life and fled! General Fang Yan entrusted us to bring back these six bamboo scrolls of military campaign records! We’ve spent the journey in hiding… All of my brothers perished just to protect these six scrolls! We only ask… that the heavens return justice to the Duke and the entire Bai family!”

Upon hearing this, Prince Qi was filled with horror. It was standard practice for campaign records to be presented to the emperor upon return to the capital, how could there still have been people sent to chase and kill along the way?!

Xiao Rongyan lowered his eyes and sipped his tea silently, however, the nobles who had been invited into the back hall to rest with refreshments now all stood up, heading to the main gate. Curiosity got the better of them, they wanted to learn first-hand how the men of the Bai family had been driven to utter ruin!

Bai Jintong looked at the floor, now soaked in Ji Tingyu’s bl00d, and reached out with trembling hands to take the bundle of bamboo scrolls from him. She knew in her heart that Ji Tingyu had exaggerated his wounds to make the situation appear more grave. Still, seeing him deal such brutal harm to himself for the sake of the Bai family, Bai Jintong could not help but feel her insides twist and churn. Justice for the Bai family… The heavens and the imperial court were so unwilling to give it that they had to win it through such self-destructive means?!

In front of the crowd, Bai Jintong unwrapped the bundle, her hands quivering as she pulled out one of the bamboo scrolls and began to unroll it.

First Madam Dong-shi and Second Madam Liu-shi, both women whose husbands and sons had not returned, pushed past the guards to crowd around. Each grabbed a scroll, scouring the records in desperate hope of finding some hint that their husbands and sons might still be alive.

Bai Qingyan pulled the rope binding Ji Tingyu’s severed arm tighter, her voice sharp with urgency, “Uncle Ping! Take Ji Tingyu to Physician Hong immediately for treatment! Quickly!”

Prince Qi pushed aside the guards before him, stepped forward, and made a deep, respectful bow. “Since these are campaign records, may I ask First Madam to entrust them to this prince? This prince shall bring these bamboo scrolls to Father the Emperor at once!”

Though Prince Qi was not very talented, he knew very well that with Duke Bai Weiting’s capabilities, there was no way the situation could have unfolded as Prince Xin had wept about in court the day before, claiming that the Duke had refused to heed advice and recklessly leading troops into battle!

He forced the Zhenguo Duke to go to war for his own merits, and abandoned the people after his defeat. These two things were enough to block Prince Xin’s path to the throne!

Prince Qi’s heartbeat was extremely fast. The position of Crown Prince had always been prioritised for the legitimate son if there is one, if not, it was given to the eldest prince. Prince Xin was the legitimate son, and he himself was the eldest! Although he knew that he did not possess great civil or military talent, he also did not want this nation to fall into the hands of someone like Prince Xin, a narrow-minded hedonist who only cared for indulgence! Since he desired that supreme position, he could not help but scheme and strive for it.

Dong-shi stared at the bamboo slips in her hands, bl00d surging to her head, her mind numb and blank. She could no longer hear Prince Qi’s words. Her eyes were bloodshot, tears gushed like a spring, and the rage in her chest nearly burned her whole body to ashes.

Second Madam Liu-shi knelt on the ground. After finishing one of the bamboo scrolls and finding no information about her own husband and sons, she tearfully and frantically turned to another volume.

Bai Jintong gripped the bamboo slips tightly, biting her teeth hard, suppressing the surging storm of emotions in her heart, striving to keep her speech clear as she read aloud, “On the second day of the 12th lunar month of the 15th year of Xuanjia, scouts reported that Western Liang’s main forces 250,000 strong lay in ambush in Chuanling Mountain, trapping General Bai Qiying’s reinforcements of 40,000 troops within. Prince Xin urged Marshal Bai Weiting to lead the entire main force to Chuanling Mountain to join forces with Bai Qili to annihilate Western Liang’s main forces. The Marshal suspected it was a trap. Prince Xin, under the Emperor’s command to supervise the battle, forcibly ordered Bai Weiting to engage. Refusal would result in the extermination of Bai Weiting’s entire clan for nine generations.”

When the civilians saw Bai Jintong reading the military records aloud in public, they crowded forward one after another, raising their heads to look at Bai Jintong standing inside the gates of the Duke’s residence. They were all struck with horror.

So it turned out that it was Prince Xin who forcibly ordered the Duke’s household into battle!

“On the tenth day of the 12th lunar month of the 15th year of Xuanjia, Deputy Commander Bai Qishan was besieged in Fengcheng for five days with no food left. The Nanyan army captured the Bai family’s five sons alive, stripped them at the front lines, and cut their flesh to humiliate them in order to force Bai Qishan to surrender. The Deputy Commander, determined to protect the people of Fengcheng and buy time for their retreat, fought to the death against the Nanyan cavalry. With tears in his eyes, he drew his bow and shot an arrow through each of the five Bai sons. Deputy Commander Bai Qishan said, ‘Those with elderly parents at home, step back. Those not yet married and with no heirs, step back. The rest… who are willing to die for the people of Jin dynasty, follow me into battle!’ The seventeenth son of the Bai family, aged ten years old, stepped forward with a sword and declared that he would sacrifice his flesh and bl00d to fight alongside his uncle for the people of the Jin dynasty, and would never live in disgrace! The Bai family army was deeply moved by the ten-year-old child and drew their swords in unison, shouting three times, ‘Rather die in battle than live in disgrace.’”

Bai Jinzhi also had bl00d rushing to her head. She stepped forward quickly and grabbed a bamboo slip. Breathing unevenly, she read aloud, “On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month of the fifteenth year of Xuanjia, General Jiyong Bai Qingming destroyed a small cavalry unit from Western Liang and returned to camp with a thousand men to provide support. The camp had already been reduced to rubble. General Jiyong rescued ten surviving soldiers… The survivors said that the day before, Prince Xin saw the Nanyan army of 50,000 approaching, abandoned the camp and fled with 3,000 troops. General Jifeng Bai Qingyu, who was guarding the camp, sent 500 soldiers to evacuate the civilians in the rear and led 1,500 soldiers to resist the enemy. General Jifeng died in battle, and his corpse was burned.”

“So it was Prince Xin! Prince Xin is utterly shameless! He actually fled with his tail between his legs with 3,000 men!”

“Damn it! This… Prince Xin still had the nerve to claim that the Duke stubbornly misused troops! It was clearly him who forced them to go into battle!”

“Absolutely shameless! Pity the entire line of men from the Zhenguo Duke’s residence, to be killed like this!”

The townsfolk cried and cursed, not caring at all that Prince Xin was of imperial bl00d and the Emperor’s legitimate son. Grief-stricken and furious, they burned with hatred, wishing they could tear Prince Xin limb from limb alive.

“On the thirteenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the fifteenth year of Xuanjia, General Jiyong defended Feng County to his death. The Nanyan army attacked the city. General Jiyong Bai Qingming declared that behind them stood millions of civilians. The Bai family army, with no retreat behind them, swore to fight to the last man and never retreat! To disrupt the morale of Jin dynasty’s army…” Bai Jinzhi’s voice suddenly stopped at this point.

Her hands cracked audibly as she clenched the bamboo slips. Her rage and grief were so overwhelming, she nearly erupted in despair. The consuming hatred burning within her chest made her cry bitterly from the depths of her heart. She gritted her teeth tightly and read every word, “Yun Po beheaded the seventeen sons of the Bai family before the front lines, slit open their bellies and desecrated their corpses. Inside the Bai family’s seventeen sons were nothing but tree roots and dirt…”

Inside and outside the gates of the Duke’s residence, there was utter silence.

Fourth Madam Wang-shi, upon hearing the tragic death of her son, stood petrified like a wooden statue. After a moment’s pause, all her emotions burst at once. She clutched at her collar, eyes fixed on her son’s coffin, let out a hysterical shriek, and hurled herself headfirst toward the coffin.