Sun Wenyao was locked in an internal struggle, becoming increasingly silent.
It wasn’t until he heard Lu Ping and Wei Zhong talking, when Wei Zhong was requested to report to the Empress, that Sun Wenyao snapped back to reality. He lifted his head to look at the imposing, grandiose hall.
The twilight glow and sunset illumined the intricately carved red lacquer partitions of the hall.
Sun Wenyao’s heart, however, was heavy with gloom.
He followed Lu Ping into the hall with the utmost propriety, keeping his eyes lowered, afraid to glance around. He only stared at the highly polished floor, naturally catching sight of his own pallid face, thinking of Bai Jinzhi...
Today, if he were to kill the eldest sister of that flamboyant and bright girl here, who knows how heartbroken she would be, or if she would hate him for using her.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!" Sun Wenyao bowed in respect.
Bai Qingyan had been observing Sun Wenyao ever since he entered. She didn’t order him to rise: "I heard you saved Commandery Princess Gaoyi in Hancheng..."
"It’s what I ought to do," Sun Wenyao replied.
"You’ve lost that forr pride. I rember when we first t at the Qin Mansion... you caught Xiaosi’s whip. I almost thought you were going to fight Xiaosi if I hadn’t co in ti," Bai Qingyan accepted the jujube tea handed to her by Wei Zhong, holding the broad-mouthed porcelain cup in her hand, swirling the dates inside with the lid as she spoke in a cold, clear voice, "And now, for what purpose are you lowering yourself?"
Completely unexpected by Sun Wenyao, Bai Qingyan would ask such a question. He steadied his breath and answered calmly: "Sun Wenyao dares not show disrespect to Your Majesty."
Standing next to Bai Qingyan, Wei Zhong’s ears twitched. He covered his mouth with his hand and whispered in Bai Qingyan’s ear: "This servant observed that his breathing aligns with the thod used by the Imperial Family’s Hidden Guards. The Jin Dynasty had a habit of placing Hidden Guards in the residences of officials."
But the Bai family, due to the Emperor of Jin’s wariness of Bai Weiting and the Bai family’s guards who retired from the Bai family army, left no gaps for the Emperor of Jin.
Bai Qingyan surveyed the honest Sun Wenyao kneeling on the ground, then said: "Now that the Jin Dynasty Crown Prince has been sent away, do you truly believe... that your frenetic activities could shake the Zhou?"
Bai Qingyan was testing Sun Wenyao, and his palms suddenly clenched, even his breath beca erratic.
From him saving Xiaosi and using Xiaosi, to later eting the second young lady of the Qin family, resulting in scandalous whispers... targeting the Bai family with a new law aid at his mother’s and his aunts’ was too much for Bai Qingyan to dismiss as coincidental.
Endless remnants of the forr dynasty were not uncommon at the beginning of a new dynasty, yet she was not afraid.
Seeing Sun Wenyao’s silence, she understood her speculation might be true...
"You are a Hidden Guard of the Imperial Family, loyal to the Jin Dynasty. I respect that, but you should not manipulate the emotions of Commandery Princess Gaoyi’s daughter. Such actions... are disgraceful."
Sun Wenyao’s spine slumped, feeling more guilt towards Bai Jinzhi, but it was impossible to defy his orders.
"Teaching the second young lady of the Qin family to attack the Bai family with the new law concerning remarried widows, was that your doing?" Bai Qingyan pressed on.
Only at this point did Sun Wenyao realize he had always been under Bai Qingyan’s watch, though it seed she didn’t know all the details.
Strangely, this relieved Sun Wenyao. Bowing, he confessed to Bai Qingyan: "I am indeed a Hidden Guard of the forr Imperial Family, stationed at the Marquis Mansion from early on. I also taught the second young lady of the Qin family this thod to attack the Bai family. I admit everything. Having failed to die before my master, Sun Wenyao feels eternal guilt and now begs the Empress for death."
Without a chance to approach Bai Qingyan, and having been discovered, it was normal to fail his mission, which he did not see as betrayal.
"It seems you wish to protect the remaining Hidden Guards of the Imperial Family..." Bai Qingyan placed the porcelain teacup on the table.
Sun Wenyao’s palms tightened: "There are no other Hidden Guards, just !"
"Then, was it your instruction that led the second young lady of the Qin family to leave the city last night to bribe those remarried widows?" Bai Qingyan asked again.
Wei Zhong smiled slightly. The eldest young lady was testing Sun Wenyao again, as the second young lady of the Qin family had stayed at the Qin Mansion all night.
Sun Wenyao’s palms tightened, speculating that perhaps the captain had bypassed him to et the second young lady of the Qin family. Because using widows to attack the Bai family was originally the captain’s idea; it was reasonable for the captain to seek out the second young lady on his own.
To protect his captain, he admitted to everything: "Yes..."
"Sun Wenyao, do you think the second young lady of the Qin family is like you, protecting the forr Imperial Family’s Hidden Guards? You should know what kind of person she is after being in the Qin family for so long," Bai Qingyan smiled knowingly, "I’ll give you one last chance, tell where the other Hidden Guards are, and I’ll spare your lives. We’ll disable your martial arts and send you to the Crown Prince, so you can fulfill your loyalty to the Jin Dynasty."
Sun Wenyao jerked his head up to look at Bai Qingyan: "Your Majesty... won’t kill us?"
"If you wish to restore the kingdom, it depends on whether the Crown Prince of the forr dynasty is willing. He no longer has the ambition, so even if you strive, it’s futile..." Bai Qingyan replied candidly, "With your martial arts disabled, you’ll be ordinary people. Living well is more important than anything."
If anyone else had said this, Sun Wenyao wouldn’t believe it, but coming from Bai Qingyan of the Bai family, a family known for keeping their word, he believed it to a certain extent.
As he hesitated, Bai Qingyan laughed softly: "This Eunuch Wei was also once a Hidden Guard. There are still ways for the Hidden Guards to contact each other. If you don’t speak... Eunuch Wei will find them, but by then, it won’t be as simple as just disabling martial arts. Do you understand?"
Sun Wenyao bowed to Bai Qingyan: "Your Majesty... may I et them one last ti to persuade them to surrender?"
"I don’t want to waste my energy on this matter," Bai Qingyan said, glancing at Wei Zhong, "Eunuch Wei, take care of this. Take Sun Wenyao away."
Everything that needed to be known had been uncovered, so Bai Qingyan saw no reason to waste more ti.
"Your Majesty!" Sun Wenyao quickly kowtowed, "Please, considering we were indoctrinated from childhood to be loyal to the Jin Dynasty Imperial Family, without any choice, allow to see them one last ti. Otherwise... they will surely fight to the death. We are Hidden Guards... the least afraid of death, but I don’t want... more death!"
Among Hidden Guards, Sun Wenyao was an anomaly. Apart from loyalty, Hidden Guards shouldn’t have other emotions, even killing their comrades if necessary!
However, his ti with the Anping Army, seeing the camaraderie among soldiers, had quietly transford Sun Wenyao, making him more like a soldier than a Hidden Guard, so he cherished this camaraderie.
"You don’t quite seem like an Imperial Family Hidden Guard..." Bai Qingyan remarked to Wei Zhong.
Wei Zhong imdiately bowed towards Bai Qingyan, smiling: "Exactly as Your Majesty says."
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