Bai Yizhang had been in the officialdom for many years, so it was only natural for him to have some informants in the palace.
However, being exposed on the spot like this by Zhuo Lingxiao was still rather embarrassing.
Feng Linche remained expressionless and simply said calmly, "Your Highness overpraises. Minister Bai surely has such abilities."
"Your Majesty! I've spent my whole life on the battlefield. I only know how to fight and understand nothing about the strife in the officialdom!" Bai Yizhang looked extremely solemn, but his cheeks were slightly turning green.
"These days, my youngest daughter has caught a chill and has been in poor health. She needs to go back home on time to take her medicine.
Today, my wife boiled the medicine early. But when she found that the girls had been in the palace for a long time and hadn't returned, she was really worried. She kept pestering me to come and pick them up in person.
I had no choice but to come with my wife and wait at the palace gate. Just then, I happened to see Eunuch Qingyuan, who serves Your Majesty, leading a group of people rushing out of the palace in a hurry.
I felt uneasy when I saw this and stepped forward to inquire. Only then did I learn that Your Majesty was going to search my daughter's courtyard...
Your Majesty! Only then did I know that my daughter had caused a great disaster!"
Bai Yizhang looked extremely sincere as he spoke. His words were so earnest that they were truly moving.
Mrs. Zhao immediately let out a few sobs, "The general is too upright. When he heard about this, he insisted that it was Di'er who had done something wrong and thus angered Your Majesty. He said that it was only right for her to be punished.
Not to mention that Your Majesty is a wise ruler, and there must be reasons when punishing someone. Moreover, whether it's the gentle grace or the stern punishment from the ruler, it's all a form of kindness. If the ruler wants the subject to die, the subject should obey.
Your Majesty, the general is loyal and dedicated to the country. He doesn't even care about his own daughter!
If I hadn't pleaded with him desperately, he wouldn't even have come to the palace to plead with Your Majesty..."
Mrs. Zhao's words gave Feng Linche enough face, which made his expression look a bit better.
Seeing that the anger on Feng Linche's face had somewhat subsided, Concubine Zhao quickly took the opportunity to plead, "Your Majesty, General Bai is whole - heartedly dedicated to the country and has worked himself to the bone. That's why he didn't have the time to properly educate his children, which led to his daughter acting impulsively and making a mistake.
But Di'er is just a young girl after all. She has a thin skin. Now she tried to take her own life in the dungeon because she couldn't think it through..."
"Take her own life?!"
Both Bai Yizhang and Mrs. Zhao were shocked.
Before they came, they only received the news that Bai Di had been slapped in the face and then locked up in the dungeon. They didn't know the extent of their daughter's injuries, let alone about the attempted suicide.
Now hearing Concubine Zhao's words, Mrs. Zhao immediately panicked. She rushed forward and grabbed Concubine Zhao's hand. Her voice trembled with excitement, "What did you say! Di'er tried to, tried to, take her own life?!"
Concubine Zhao didn't know whether she should nod or not. She subconsciously looked at Feng Linche. Seeing his cold expression and slightly squinted eyes, she suddenly felt extremely flustered.
It was Empress Chu who smiled and stepped in to smooth things over, "Madam Bai, don't worry. Miss Bai has only suffered some minor injuries. His Majesty has already summoned the imperial physician..."
Just as she finished speaking, there was a commotion outside the hall.
Bai Yizhang quickly turned his head and saw a group of people outside the door. They were in a hurry, carrying a woman whose head was tilted and whose hair covered her face, only showing a bit of her forehead. They were about to carry her directly to the side hall.
Even so, Bai Yizhang still recognized the woman from that bit of exposed forehead - it was Bai Di.
Bai Yizhang felt a sudden pang in his heart. Forgetting all about etiquette, he turned around and rushed out, shouting, "Di'er!"
Hearing this shout, Mrs. Zhao was stunned. She also slowly turned her head.
She saw Bai Yizhang rushing in front of the group of people and reaching out his hand to touch Bai Di.
The little eunuchs who were carrying Bai Di were startled. They quickly tried to stop him from getting closer, "General, what are you doing! You mustn't do this!"
But they couldn't withstand Bai Yizhang's imposing manner from years on the battlefield. One by one, they were knocked to the ground by Bai Yizhang.
By this time, Feng Linche knew that he couldn't hide anything anymore. He waved his hand, and the chief eunuch quickly shouted, "General, there's no need to be excited. Come, carry Miss Bai in."
Bai Yizhang took a deep breath and stepped aside.
The little eunuchs quickly carried Bai Di into the Wenrui Hall.
After this commotion, the hair covering Bai Di's face fell off, revealing her whole face.
The moment Bai Yizhang saw Bai Di's face, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
There in front of him, Bai Di's originally fair and tender cheeks were highly swollen. Her face was covered with blood - streaks and bruises that were a mixture of blue and red. Her once - delicate face was so swollen that it was hard to tell the exact position of her facial features.
And the only part that was spared, her forehead, was now broken. Blood was continuously oozing out, looking extremely shocking.
Mrs. Zhao felt a sharp pain in her heart. She let out a mournful cry, dropped the rattan stick in her hand, and rushed in front of Bai Di, "Di'er! What happened to you? Who bullied you like this?!"
Bai Yizhang's pupils shrank. He suddenly turned his head and stared sharply at Bai Zheng and Su Muxiao.
Bai Zheng felt that if looks could kill, she would have been shot full of holes by Bai Yizhang's gaze.
But she pretended not to notice. She put on an expression of surprise and pain on her face. Together with Su Muxiao, she pretended to wipe away her tears as she stared at the incoming Bai Di, and mourned, "Sister Di'er..."
Bai Di had her eyes tightly closed. Suddenly hearing her mother's voice, she struggled to open her eyes. Because her face was so swollen and the fresh blood from her forehead was flowing down, her vision was a bit blurred. But she still quickly found Mrs. Zhao's position. She tremblingly reached out her hand and murmured, "Mother... Mother, save me..."
"My child, you've suffered so much..." Mrs. Zhao was heart - broken. She quickly reached out and held Bai Di's hand, crying non - stop.
Bai Yizhang suddenly turned around and knelt down in front of Feng Linche again. This time, the sound of his kneeling was extremely loud. The "thud" sound hit everyone's hearts hard.
Feng Linche rubbed his forehead.
The moment he saw Bai Di appear, he regretted his hasty decision to agree with Bai Sheng and Concubine Zhao to bring Bai Di back to the Wenrui Hall from the dungeon.
If he had known that Bai Yizhang and his wife would come to make a fuss, and if he had known that Bai Di would be injured so badly, he would never have brought Bai Di over at this time and let Bai Yizhang catch him red - handed.
Sure enough, Bai Yizhang's face was full of grief and unwillingness. He said firmly, "Your Majesty! I deserve to die! It's my fault for not educating my daughter well, which made this evil daughter sully Your Majesty's eyes. The son's fault lies with the father. I beg Your Majesty to punish me with fifty strokes of the cane to atone for my daughter's sins!"
Fifty strokes of the cane would probably kill an ordinary person after thirty strokes. Although Bai Yizhang was much stronger, if he received these fifty strokes, he probably wouldn't be able to get out of bed for half a year.
"Hey, how can you say that, Minister? Miss Bai just accidentally bumped into something. It has nothing to do with you. It's my fault. I didn't have someone watch Miss Bai closely, which led to her getting injured. That's why as soon as I heard that Miss Bai had an accident, I immediately summoned the imperial physician to check on her injuries."