The Eldest Legitimate Daughter is Both Beautiful and Valiant (ELDBBV) - Chapter 91

Seeing that the emperor did not speak, the Princess Dowager closed her eyes. With tears in her eyes and choked with emotion, she spoke, “I married into the Bai family, yet could not treat them with my whole heart. Toward my husband and my sons… I was constantly probing, constantly guarding against them. Does Your Majesty know how deeply guilty I feel? Now, let… let the Bai family leave the capital, leave them at least a little bloodline. After all, in their veins also flows the bl00d of our Lin family! And now they are all merely daughters. Let it be that.. This Aunt is begging Your Majesty to leave me a little of my bloodline, is that acceptable?!”

Tears filled the Princess Dowager’s eyes as she bowed respectfully and pleaded with the emperor, hoping he would still have that tiniest measure of mercy, that on seeing the Bai family’s retreat, he would not pursue them to utter destruction.

The emperor’s fingers rubbed slowly back and forth. After a while, he finally opened his mouth: “Aunt, I don’t wish to wipe the Bai family out completely. But this Eldest Miss Bai…”

Reflecting on what this Eldest Miss Bai had done in recent days, it could be said that she was sharp, unyielding, unstoppable! It was precisely she who had driven the Bai family’s reputation to its height. As the emperor… how could he fail to see this clearly?

But this Eldest Miss Bai, she was the one who was most like Bai Suqiu…

At the thought of Bai Suqiu, the emperor’s eyes turned faintly moist.

That unattainable heart’s desire of his youth. It was only upon reaching middle age that made him recall it all the more often, with ever deeper regret.

His wariness of the Bai family had formed long ago… Now that tens of thousands of soldiers had been sacrificed to get to this point, even if the Bai family’s most outstanding member was but a young woman, if he did not eliminate her, the emperor would neither feel satisfied nor at ease.

The Princess Dowager, seeing that the emperor had the intention of killing Bai Qingyan, found her own hands trembling.

She looked at the emperor and, her voice carrying a sob, began, “For the sake of the imperial family’s peace, if Your Majesty truly must kill this granddaughter of mine, I will not say another word! But does Your Majesty know why I value this eldest granddaughter so much?”

The emperor looked at the Princess Dowager.

“Because this granddaughter of mine is the most like Suqiu!” At the mention of her daughter, tears fell from the Princess Dowager like broken beads. “So strong-willed, willing to break rather than bend! Truly another Suqiu! The year Suqiu passed… I nearly followed after her! And now, all the feelings in this old heart are tied to this granddaughter… I only hope… hope Your Majesty might spare this child’s life for Suqiu’s sake!”

Her words, without doubt, struck at the emperor’s deepest and softest part of his heart.

Perhaps from the moment he ascended that cold, lonely throne, the emperor’s heart had grown steadily harder, but the place where he hid Bai Suqiu… remained soft and warm.

The emperor clenched his teeth, lowering his gaze to stare at those bloodstained bamboo scrolls. After a long silence, as if making a decision, he finally spoke, “Escort the Princess Dowager to the side hall to rest. Summon Xie Yuzhang to personally lead the imperial guards to seize Liu Huanzhang’s entire family and throw them into prison. And have that rebellious son Prince Xin… brought before me in chains!”

After thinking a moment, the emperor added, “Enter and exit through Wude Gate!”

Outside the grand hall, the empress, who had been pacing about in a panic like an ant on a hot pan, turned ashen the moment she heard the emperor’s furious roar.

Outside Wude Gate.

The commander of the imperial guards, Xie Yuzhang, rode out at full speed as he led the imperial guards straight toward Liu Huanzhang’s residence in great force and splendour.

Very soon, Prince Xin, who had taken a solid kick to the chest from the emperor just yesterday, was tied tightly with hemp rope and escorted in through Wude Gate by the guards.

When Prince Xin saw the Bai family and the gathered civilians at the gate, his gaze turned as venomous as a snake’s as he stared directly at Bai Qingyan…

It was this Eldest Miss Bai who had spoken the words begging the emperor to have him killed!

All this noise and commotion stirred the civilians into heated discussion and fervour. Many said that at least the emperor had shown some measure of wisdom.

Before long, a young eunuch hurried out from within Wude Gate. Standing before the Bai family ladies, he raised his sharp voice, “By His Majesty’s command, summoning the Eldest Miss Bai…”

Bai Jinzhi instantly clutched Bai Qingyan’s hand, her heart pounding rapidly: “Eldest Sister…”

Bai Qingyan looked at Bai Jinzhi’s reddened eyes, and gently patted her hand. Her gaze was resolute and clear, “With Grandmother there, with you all and the civilians waiting here, nothing will happen!”

Only after hearing this did Bai Jinzhi feel a little more at ease, slowly releasing her grip on Bai Qingyan’s hand.

When Bai Qingyan stood up, her legs had grown numb from kneeling. Calmly, she straightened her mourning garments, then turned to the civilians who had followed the Bai family to Wude Gate. She offered them a polite bow, before finally turning back to face the eunuch who had come to summon her.

“Please lead the way eunuch…”

Along the palace road of azure tiles flanked by red walls, Bai Qingyan followed behind the eunuch who guided her. Her eyes were deep and unreadable, her back straight, showing no sign of having just been struck by a rod.

Bai Qingyan lowered her eyelids. In her previous life, through Prince Liang and Du Zhiwei, she had gained some understanding of the emperor.

The emperor possessed no talent for ruling a prosperous age. He was deeply suspicious and prone to doubt. Having been overlooked and treated coldly by the late emperor since childhood, he had lived in hardship, and after seizing the throne, he had grown especially fond of luxury and grand display. All his life he had yearned to become a sovereign of even greater renown than the late emperor.

Such an emperor feared nothing more than the historian’s brush.

If not, why had the imperial guards been sent out through Wude Gate? Why, giving no regard for appearances, had they tied Prince Xin and brought him in specifically through Wude Gate?

Since the emperor had chosen to summon her in front of an audience at Wude Gate, it already showed that he would not kill her.

Soon, when the emperor spoke to her, it would be nothing more than either threats… or bribes.

Without giving Bai Qingyan much time to think, they had already reached the doors of the grand hall.

Stepping inside, she saw Prince Xin with a pale face, trembling as he knelt to one side. She respectfully performed a full kowtow before the emperor, quietly fixing her gaze on the polished azure stone floor beneath her.

The emperor stared at Bai Qingyan, who was still kowtowing silently. He gripped a scroll of the military campaign records in his hand. He tapped it now and then against the desk before him. With a voice so cold it made one’s spine chill, he said “Eldest Miss Bai gathered the crowds outside Wude Gate, what is it that you want?”

She slowly straightened up, still kneeling in the hall. She lifted her head to look at the emperor seated high above, and returned the question, “This is also what this civilian daughter wishes to ask Your Majesty. Your Majesty appointed someone as useless as Prince Xin to oversee the army, what was it that Your Majesty wanted?”

For a hundred years, the Bai family had protected the people, winning their hearts, and this was what she relied upon. So in her heart, she did not fear the might of imperial power.

Above all, the emperor of the Great Jin was skilled at weighing the circumstances.

Now, she stood firmly on the side of prevailing sentiment. The emperor… would understand this clearly.

The emperor strained to keep his composure, the veins on his forehead throbbing. He could see that this Eldest Miss Bai was not only bold and cunning, but also sharply perceptive!

She had calculated that he, as emperor, could not kill her, so she dared to act so brazenly before him.

Driven to fury, the emperor let out a cold laugh, “In order to force me to kill Prince Xin, you incited the anger and resentment of the people. Eldest Miss Bai, is it your intention to shake the very foundation of the kingdom to compel me to submit?! What… If we don’t kill Prince Xin, then will the Bai family rebel?”

“The bloodstained bamboo scrolls of the military records are still there on Your Majesty’s desk. Has Your Majesty read them?” Her gaze swept over those bamboo scrolls, then she lifted her eyes to meet the emperor’s cold and dark stare, a deep chill settling in her heart for the Bai family’s fate. “This civilian daughter holds neither power nor influence, nor does this civilian daughter command troops or weapons. Dressed in mourning clothes, bearing no blade or spear, this civilian daughter merely knelt at Wude Gate clinging to a single life, begging for justice for Grandfather, Gather, uncles, and brothers. How could there be talk of rebellion?”