Observing Bai Qingyan with a teacup in hand, seemingly lost in thought and only responding absent-mindedly, Chun Tao gently urged, "There’s less than two hours until the morning court session. Eldest Young Lady should rest a bit to have energy for tomorrow."
Bai Qingyan nodded, took a sip of tea, and asked Wei Zhong, "Are there any morials sent back by Shen Tianzhi?"
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten? You entrusted the matter of the wager kingdom to the King of Zhen and the King of Protecting the Nation. Later, the morials sent back by Master Shen were directly sent to the King of Zhen’s residence," Wei Zhong said with a smile. "Last ti, the King of Zhen ntioned to Your Majesty that, with the myriad national affairs you’ve been handling, since the wager kingdom matter is entrusted to the King of Zhen and the King of Protecting the Nation, you can focus on overseeing the grand picture without dwelling on minor matters."
Only then did Bai Qingyan recall that A Yu had spoken about this to her before.
Her eyes carried a glimr of a smile; her brothers have returned... it’s no longer just her bearing the load alone. With her brothers sharing the burden, Bai Qingyan suddenly felt sowhat unaccustod.
"Alright, let’s sleep..." Bai Qingyan smiled as she combed her long hair with her fingers, standing up and walking towards the bedside.
Within the hanging brocade bed curtains lay two children deeply asleep. Bai Qingyan gently touched their little faces, tucked the corners of their quilt securely, and lay down beside them.
With her brothers and sisters assisting, Bai Qingyan simply let go and delegated matters to them. However, considering that Bai Jinxiu, Qin Lang, and Brother Wang have been separated for far too long, she did not assign any tasks to Bai Jinxiu, only leaving her in charge of the Bureau of School Affairs.
During these days, Bai Qingyan enjoyed a few rare monts of relative ease.
Seeing that Mid-Autumn Festival is fast approaching, except for Jintong who hasn’t returned, many mbers of the Bai clan are now gathered in Dadu City, making it a rare occasion for a family reunion. Bai Qingyan thus invited Mrs. Dong back from the King of Zhen’s residence to the palace, allowing her to oversee the preparations for the Mid-Autumn family banquet.
Though there won’t be a national banquet, just a family gathering for Mid-Autumn, the Bai Clan must still be invited.
Reflecting on the Bai Clan, Bai Qingyan rembered Bai Qingping, who has been absent from court for two days due to illness and then told Wei Zhong, "You personally visit, take supplents, check on Bai Qingping, and... also bring along an Imperial Physician!"
Bai Qingyan understood Bai Qingping’s character sowhat; he wouldn’t easily request leave, which suggests the illness must be serious...
"Rest assured, Your Majesty, this old servant will see to it imdiately!" Wei Zhong replied.
An hour later, upon returning to report, Bai Jinxiu delivered a list to Bai Qingyan’s desk, exposing the individuals behind the officials troubling Shen Tianzhi.
"Even the Vice Minister of Personnel is involved. This Shen Tianzhi... seems to have upset quite a few people by ascending too swiftly." Bai Qingyan remarked somberly.
The Great Zhou is not like the forr Jin Dynasty, where promotions were based on seniority. One’s position corresponds to their capabilities. Ever since Bai Qingyan made public the matter concerning Dong Tingzhen’s examination papers, the officials at the Ministry of Personnel should have understood her intentions. The behavior of the Vice Minister of Personnel now suggests either narrow-mindedness or deliberate opposition against her as Emperor.
"Replace this Vice Minister of Personnel under so pretext." Bai Qingyan pointed at the list.
"Rest assured, Eldest Young Lady. As long as this Vice Minister isn’t spotless, Jinxiu will find a reason within three days," Bai Jinxiu assured.
Bai Qingyan nodded, "Thanks for your hard work. Alright... I won’t keep you in the palace any longer. Go back and accompany Brother Wang!"
ntioning Brother Wang brought a deeper smile to Bai Jinxiu’s face, "Alright, Eldest Young Lady, don’t overexert yourself!"
"Chun Tao... bring the items over!" Bai Qingyan said with a smile, turning to Chun Tao.
Chun Tao responded promptly, quickly bringing over a small bamboo basket filled with toys children like.
"These are toys that children in the Yan Kingdom enjoy!" Bai Qingyan whispered to Bai Jinxiu, "They were sent by Shen Tianzhi’s n!"
These toys were sent by Xiao Rongyan, intended for the kids to play with. Nanny Tong had picked out so that the Little Prince and Little Princess couldn’t play with yet and had distributed them to Xiao Ba, Bai Wanqing, and Brother Wang.
With Xiao Rongyan absent from Bai Qingyan and the children’s side, he felt deeply indebted and wanted to send anything interesting over to Bai Qingyan and the two children.
"Second Young Lady, within is also a recipe for osmanthus cake favored by the Young Master Biao. Last night, Nanny Luo, upon entering the palace to deliver soup to the Eldest Young Lady, ntioned that the Young Master Biao craved it after returning. Though he’s not in the palace now, if we make it and send it over, it’ll be cold and not tasty. Perhaps writing down the recipe would let the cooks in the residence prepare it for the Young Master Biao," Nanny Tong chuckled.
The Young Master Biao ntioned by Nanny Tong was indeed Brother Wang.
"Thank you for the thought, Nanny!" Bai Jinxiu expressed her gratitude.
After sending Bai Jinxiu off, Wei Zhong stepped forward and quietly inford Bai Qingyan, "Your Majesty, Bai Qingping wasn’t on leave due to personal illness, but... to attend to the Clan Leader’s illness."
"What happened to the Clan Leader?" Bai Qingyan took up her hot tea, puzzled, as Bai Qihe’s health had always been good.
"It’s... poisoning," Wei Zhong said quietly.
Bai Qingyan looked up at Wei Zhong, "Poisoning? Do we know why?"
"It’s the Clan Leader’s daughter who administered the poison, but... she seed unaware that it was poison, believing it to be a dicine making a man infertile for life," Wei Zhong replied in a low voice.
Bai Qingyan was taken aback.
"This matter is handled by Bai Qingping, keeping it tightly under wraps. All servants in the Bai Mansion who knew about this have been executed. These past days... Bai Qingping has remained in the Bai Mansion, dealing with this issue. However, externally, it’s claid he is ill. Because this old servant went personally, not willing to deceive His Majesty, he disclosed the matter. After all, it’s a family scandal, Bai Qingping said... he doesn’t wish to escalate it further."
Standing respectfully beside Bai Qingyan, Wei Zhong continued in a gentle tone, "It appears the cause was the Clan Leader’s intent to seek a new, virtuous wife. As the Clan Leader, many wished to offer their daughters in marriage to him. The Clan Leader’s daughter feared that once a new wife entered, bearing her father’s children, it would threaten her status as his legitimate daughter, thus wanting to act before the new wife’s arrival to render the Clan Leader infertile. Little did she know... that the dicine causing infertility was actually slow poison."
"Did she obtain the dicine from her mother, Mrs. Fang?" Bai Qingyan inquired.
Wei Zhong nodded, "Just as Your Majesty suspected..."
"How is the Clan Leader now?" Bai Qingyan asked.
"Fortunately, it was discovered in ti, but after this ordeal... the Clan Leader’s health is unlikely to recover fully," Wei Zhong relayed the Imperial Physician’s assessnt to Bai Qingyan.
This Mrs. Fang was indeed driven by madness, deceiving her own daughter into poisoning Bai Qihe!
Even if her wrath towards Bai Qihe was due to being divorced, she should never have involved her daughter in poisoning her father.
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