Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress
Chapter 802 - 799: Beguilement

Chapter 802: Chapter 799: Beguilement

Bai Qingyan looked up and smiled at Shen Qingzhu, only to see Shen Qingzhu nodding her head.

Inside the large tent, the brazier burned brightly. Shen Qingzhu used a pair of copper tongs to stir the red-hot coals, and her entire body was bathed in a warm glow.

Bai Qingyan smiled, lowered her eyes to gaze at the letter from her mother, and slowly began to speak: "At that time, I had a team of female guards by my side, and behind me were my grandfather, father, and uncles, and my younger brothers. Naturally, I had no worries and could charge forward recklessly. But now... I can no longer act so wantonly."

She still had to protect the Bai family, and she had to fulfill the long-cherished ambition passed down through the Bai family for generations. How could she let herself die?

Shen Qingzhu looked at Bai Qingyan, who had lost even more weight recently, and felt deeply guilty. As Bai Qingyan’s personal guard, she should have followed her to the battlefield. Instead, she stayed in the peaceful Dadu City, letting Bai Qingyan face danger alone. It was truly inexcusable.

Mrs. Dong mentioned in the letter that everything in Shuoyang was fine and told Bai Qingyan not to worry. In a subtle way, she informed Bai Qingyan that Steward Liu and the others were acting prudently and had taken care of everything she had entrusted to them.

"What did Madam say?" Shen Qingzhu couldn’t help asking out of curiosity.

"Mother said in her letter that Clan Leader Bai Qihe of the Bai Clan in Shuoyang knew I needed medicinal herbs from Daliang, so he led the clan members in a unified effort. They didn’t just buy a lot of medicinal herbs to support the army attacking Daliang; they also donated money and goods as a collective effort... and purchased a batch of grain, which they sent along with us. Even though it might be a drop in the bucket, it’s a token of the clan’s intentions."

Bai Qingyan flipped the letter to another page, "The rest of the letter consists of some trivial instructions."

Bai Qingyan carefully read through her mother’s instructions word by word, then touched the fox fur cloak her mother had hand-sewn and felt a warm smile in her eyes.

Seeing Bai Qingyan fold Mrs. Dong’s letter, Shen Qingzhu then took out a letter from her chest and handed it to Bai Qingyan, "This is a letter Second Young Lady asked me to bring to you."

Bai Qingyan quickly accepted the letter and opened it, sitting by the light to read it carefully.

"Ever since Second Young Lady learned of Fan Yuhuai’s strange behavior, she arranged extra manpower to keep an eye on him and those he interacted with..." Shen Qingzhu calmly recounted to Bai Qingyan what she knew, "Fan Yuhuai, whether he’s being cautious or sincerely maintaining friendships, frequently meets with old members of the Patrol Camp and his subordinates in the imperial guard."

"When I first heard about this, I tried to bribe a waiter at the tavern to spy on them, but I encountered someone sent by Second Young Lady. According to the waiter and the person Second Young Lady sent, they found nothing suspicious. Apart from reminiscing about old times, they didn’t discuss anything inappropriate."

Besides looking after her master, Shen Qingzhu also investigated unusual matters for Bai Qingyan in Dadu City.

In addition to what Shen Qingzhu had mentioned, Bai Jinxiu’s letter also stated that... the amount Fan Yuhuai spent on those gatherings almost matched his salary.

This close match made Bai Jinxiu very suspicious. The Fan family, of course, had some ways to generate income, and managing the frequency and scale of the gatherings within his salary showed meticulous calculation.

Although they hadn’t found any definitive evidence yet, two of Bai Qingyan’s informants in the imperial guard were recently invited by Fan Yuhuai to one of his "small gatherings." If Fan Yuhuai made any suspicious moves, those two, loyal to the Crown Prince, would surely report it.

"There’s one more thing..." Shen Qingzhu put down the copper-clad tongs and looked at Bai Qingyan over the glowing brazier, "General Fu Ruoxi, following your previous orders, found a pretext to swap the positions of a chiliarch closely related to Fan Yuhuai with a centurion less connected to him. Fan Yuhuai has not distanced himself from the demoted chiliarch."

Bai Qingyan nodded, looked up, and asked, "What about the centurion promoted to chiliarch? Has Fan Yuhuai tried to get close to him?"

Shen Qingzhu shook her head, "Before I left, he hadn’t."

Bai Qingyan turned another page of the letter, where Bai Jinxiu had written that she had found out who recommended Fan Yugan and Zhang Duanning to escort the provisions and supplies...

Fan Yuhuai had given gifts to Hongmei from the Crown Prince’s residence, asking for a future for his son. After Hongmei told the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince summoned Fan Yuhuai, declared him an ally, and said Fan Yuhuai could personally ask him for his son’s future.

As for Zhang Duanning, Prime Minister Lu, not trusting Fan Yugan, recommended Zhang Duanning as a companion for safety’s sake.

After detailing these matters, Bai Jinxiu mentioned something about Qin Lang...

Now that the Crown Prince is in charge, remembering that Qin Lang is Bai Qingyan’s brother-in-law, he appointed Qin Lang as a county magistrate in Baiwo City. Before issuing the order, the Crown Prince specifically summoned Qin Lang, stating... it was because he was Bai Qingyan’s brother-in-law. As long as Qin Lang served well for a few years, the Crown Prince would recall him to Dadu City for an important position.

Qin Lang had already packed his things and would take office in Baiwo City after the New Year.

Additionally, the nine-story tower construction was nearing completion, and the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Works estimated it would be finished by June of the following year. There were rumors in Dadu City that the Emperor would gather 500 boys and 500 girls early March after the New Year to ascend the nine-story tower and seek immortality, assigning the task to Li Mingrui. Although no official decree had been issued, the Crown Prince had indeed given Li Mingrui the necessary personnel.

There were already incidents in Dadu City where prominent families secretly purchased boys and girls for alchemy. The matter was kept quiet because the purchased boys and girls had life contracts, making their fates subject to their masters.

Bai Jinxiu feared that the Emperor, in his pursuit of immortality, might be led astray by the State Preceptor, a wicked Taoist, into a wrong path.

Qin Lang had been hailed by the Emperor as a model among aristocratic family scions and did well in the spring examinations. Sometimes, the Emperor called him to sort through bamboo slips on the quest for immortality.

Qin Lang mentioned to her that he had read in those bamboo slips about the First Emperor’s quest for immortal elixirs. One roll of bamboo slips recorded that Xu Fu, taking 500 boys and 500 girls out to sea, was only a front; in reality, they used the lives of those 500 boys and 500 girls to make elixirs, transferring their lifespans to those who consumed the pills.

Bai Jinxiu feared that the Emperor, influenced by these tales and the State Preceptor, might indeed gather these 500 boys and girls to use their lives for alchemical purposes.