"Sister came so suddenly without even notifying the family in advance. If Grandmother and Mother knew, they surely wouldn't have taken the younger sisters out to pay homage to the Buddha today..."
Bai Di's words suddenly stopped as Bai Sheng stepped into the room. Bai Sheng turned around and stared at Bai Di with a cold and sinister look in her eyes, a look that carried an indescribable air of eeriness, sending shivers down one's spine.
Bai Di couldn't help but tremble. She forced a dry laugh and said, "Sister, w-why are you looking at me like this?"
"I want to take a good look at my dear younger sister. In the days when I was away, she's made such great 'progress' that she's managed to turn our General's Mansion upside down and stir up chaos."
Bai Di's face changed. "What are you talking about, sister? Isn't the General's Mansion just fine..."
"Just fine?" Bai Sheng narrowed her eyes slightly. "If it's just fine, then why have the people from our General's Mansion been sent to the mansions of various officials to hide letters? Why have most of the shops under our General's Mansion suffered losses in silver in recent days? Why has Su Muxiao become a concubine of Feng Jingyang, and why has our General's Mansion become the eyesore of the Marquis of Gaochang's Mansion!"
Bai Di's face turned pale. Listening to Bai Sheng's words, the resentment in her heart welled up again. "It's all because of Bai Zheng! Sister, you don't know. These days, that little slut has changed completely. I've tried to deal with her, but I've never succeeded..."
"You fool!" Bai Sheng suddenly turned around. The tassels on the hairpins at her temples jingled. She stared at Bai Di sharply. "Do you need to get your hands dirty to deal with such a worthless thing? Have you forgotten all the things I've taught you in these years?"
"Last time I instigated Su Muxiao to take action, but I don't know why that Zheng Yan insisted on blaming me as well. Sister! You don't know how strange that slut has been recently. His Highness the Third Prince sent people to kidnap Bai Zheng last night, but none of them came back!" Bai Di became more and more resentful as she spoke, her voice rising.
"If you still want to be the main consort of His Highness the Third Prince, then wipe that look off your face!" Bai Sheng shouted. "I have my own plans for that worthless thing. You'd better not get involved anymore."
Bai Di hesitated. "How does sister plan to deal with that little slut?"
Bai Sheng smiled. "When dealing with an enemy, if you can't strike a fatal blow, you have to wait for the right opportunity. That girl was worthless before, but now she's in the limelight because of her uncle. Now that she has the Marquis of Dingyuan as her backer, His Highness the Third Prince's people naturally can't get close to the Bai Mansion."
Bai Di was stunned and murmured, "Do you mean that the Marquis of Dingyuan has sent secret guards to protect the Bai Mansion?"
Bai Sheng sighed. "Now that that girl has caught the eye of the Marquis of Dingyuan, she's not as easy to deal with as before. We mustn't act rashly."
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Bai Di asked impatiently.
Bai Sheng hooked the corner of her lips. She turned around and sat down on a chair. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, like delicate feather fans.
"It won't be long."
...
After the imperial eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, everyone in the Bai Mansion thanked the emperor in unison.
The eunuch handed the edict to Bai Zheng and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Lord Shilang, Lady Bai, and Miss Bai."
Bai Zheng took the edict and endured the slightly harsh laughter of the eunuch. She smiled calmly and said, "Thank you, Father-in-law. You've gone to a lot of trouble."
The imperial eunuch looked at Bai Zheng in surprise. It was said that this third Miss Bai was talentless and virtueless, which was why Chu Feng had publicly broken off their engagement. Although Chu Feng's reputation had been getting worse and worse later on, this third Miss Bai had done too many absurd things before, which was why the emperor had felt relieved to marry her to the Marquis of Dingyuan.
Now it seemed that although this third Miss Bai was not as gorgeous as the second Miss Bai, nor as peerlessly beautiful as the eldest Miss Bai, who was known as the most talented woman in Yongding, she was still a rare and delicate beauty. Moreover, her manners and speech were nothing like what the Prime Minister Chu had described.
Although the imperial eunuch had doubts in his heart, he also knew that these were not matters that a lowly eunuch like him could interfere with. He just lowered his eyes and said that he didn't deserve it, then took his leave.
Bai Yinan personally saw the eunuch out of the door.
As soon as the eunuch left, Bai Nianming immediately ran up and grabbed Bai Zheng's arm. "Why did sister choose the Marquis of Dingyuan as your husband? Is that marquis very powerful?"
Bai Nianjin also said with a worried look on his face, "Although the marquis is a hero, isn't he seriously ill and not going to live long? Why did sister..."
"Ah? Not going to live long?" Bai Nianming exclaimed in surprise. "Sister! Why did you choose such a brother-in-law?"
However, Mrs. Lin was the first to tap Bai Nianming on the head and scold him lightly. "Don't talk nonsense. What do you kids know!"
"Mother!" Bai Nianming held his head aggrievedly.
Bai Zheng looked at Mrs. Lin's actions and couldn't help but smile.
She knew that her two younger brothers were worried about her. She walked up to Bai Nianming and ruffled his hair. She replied patiently, "That marquis is handsome, highly skilled in martial arts, and very rich. He has a carriage, a house, and his parents are both dead. Sister thinks that in the whole city of Yongding, there's no one else with such good conditions."
Bai Nianming was stunned. It was Bai Nianjin who frowned and said, "It's inappropriate for sister to talk about her future in-laws like this."
Seeing that her second younger brother was unhappy, Bai Zheng knew that this little stickler couldn't stand jokes. She said seriously, "Nianjin is right. It was sister who spoke out of turn."
"But as sister said, that marquis is really good. He's also skilled in martial arts. He can protect our Bai Mansion! Sister won't be bullied anymore." Bai Nianming said excitedly.
Bai Nianjin sighed and patted Bai Nianming's head. "A man should protect his own sister. If you can't beat that marquis, what if that marquis bullies sister in the future? Won't we be unable to stand up for sister?"
When Bai Nianming heard this, a look of worry appeared on his round, chubby face. "That's right. If the highly skilled marquis bullies sister and we can't beat him..."
He paused for a moment. He clenched his small fist and said firmly, "Brother, let's go and practice martial arts! Let's practice hard from now on. One day we'll be able to beat the marquis!"
With that, he dragged Bai Nianjin out of the hall.
Bai Zheng watched her two younger brothers walk towards the back yard with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. She lowered her head and smiled. When she turned around, she saw Bai Yinan standing under the long corridor not far away. He had just come back from seeing off the imperial eunuch and was looking at her with a complicated expression.
Now that the imperial edict had been received, it meant that Bai Zheng's marriage to Feng Linyuan was a foregone conclusion. Although this was a decision that Bai Zheng had made herself, as a doting father, Bai Yinan didn't have the idea of forcibly destroying his daughter's will.
But as a father, he still had some doubts. He had watched Feng Linyuan grow up and seen him at the peak of his glory. He had indeed thought that it would be a wonderful thing to have him as his son-in-law. But since the Battle of Yan City...
Mrs. Lin always knew her husband's temper. Seeing this situation, she gave Bai Zheng a look and then quietly returned to the back yard.
Bai Zheng understood. She waved to Bai Yinan and said, "Father, come over and talk."
Bai Yinan nodded and was about to walk towards the main hall.
But there came a faint, harsh noise from the gate of the Bai Mansion.