Chapter 659: Chapter 656: The Noble Young Master_1 Chapter 659: Chapter 656: The Noble Young Master_1 Hearing Chun Tao salute and call out, “Fourth Young Lady,” Bai Qingyan raised her head and looked at Bai Jinzhi, who was standing beside the screen painted with misty mountains and rivers. Her eyes held a faint smile as she called to her, “Little Four…”

Bai Jinzhi’s tears burst out instantly, streaming down and soaking her clothes. She knelt on the yellow rosewood footstool by Bai Qingyan’s bed, tightly hugging Bai Qingyan’s slender waist, and choked out, “Eldest Young Lady! You scared me to death!”

Bai Qingyan raised her hand and gently patted Bai Jinzhi’s head, her voice soft. “Eldest Young Lady is fine…”

Although she could see that her eldest sister really was fine, Bai Jinzhi still couldn’t help but cry loudly, clutching Bai Qingyan tightly and refusing to let go.

Seeing Bai Jinzhi, Bai Qingyan knew that the news of the chaos at Wude Gate in Dadu City had reached Shuoyang. Her being injured couldn’t be hidden. She stroked Bai Jinzhi’s head and said softly, “Did you just leave Shuoyang and come straight to Dadu like this?”

Bai Jinzhi only cried without answering. It wasn’t until she had cried enough that she looked up, her eyes red, at Bai Qingyan, and while sobbing, she said, “I left Shuoyang in Bai Qingping’s hands! Eldest Young Lady, don’t worry… I ordered people to keep your injury a secret! Aunt doesn’t know yet. When I left, I told her I was worried about you being hurt and that I had to come to Dadu City to check on you…”

Bai Jinzhi didn’t finish her sentence. Mrs. Dong, although worried about Bai Qingyan, hadn’t agreed to let Bai Jinzhi go to Dadu City alone. This little girl had left a letter and then rode straight to Dadu City, daringly without bringing anyone along.

Bai Qingyan took the handkerchief from Chun Tao and wiped Bai Jinzhi’s tears. Because one arm was still immobile, she could only instruct Chun Tao, “Help Fourth Young Lady up!”

Chun Tao was about to help Bai Jinzhi up, but Bai Jinzhi, like a child, grabbed hold of Bai Qingyan’s slender waist, burying her head in her elder sister’s embrace. “I won’t get up! I just want to hold Eldest Young Lady like this…”

Bai Jinzhi called out once more and started crying again.

No one knew how anxious Bai Jinzhi had been on her way there, trying to hold back her tears.

At the moment she heard her eldest sister was in trouble, Bai Jinzhi felt as if she had been pushed into an ice hole, her whole body going cold.

Bai Jinxiu, who had just returned from preparing medicine for Bai Qingyan, heard Bai Jinzhi’s voice as she stepped into the courtyard. She couldn’t help but smile, lifting the curtain to enter the room. She took the medicine bowl from Cuibi’s black lacquered gold-painted tray and walked around the screen. “I heard Little Four’s crying from afar…”

Hearing her second sister’s voice, Bai Jinzhi hurriedly wiped her tears with her sleeve, somewhat embarrassed as she saluted Bai Jinxiu. “Second Sister!”

“Don’t worry, Eldest Young Lady is truly fine. This time… Eldest Young Lady staged this to safely return to Shuoyang. Don’t forget to tell others… she is often unconscious upon waking.” Bai Jinxiu instructed Bai Jinzhi, then sat by the bed and handed the medicine to Bai Qingyan. “Eldest Young Lady, Doctor Hong said the formula has been changed and the medicine will be more bitter… please bear with it.”

Bai Qingyan nodded, took the white porcelain bowl, stirred the medicine with a spoon, and asked Bai Jinzhi, “Have you gone to greet Second Aunt since you returned?”

Bai Jinzhi hung her head and shook it. Her mind was full of concerns for her eldest sister’s severe injury. As soon as she entered the Princess of Zhen’s Mansion, she came directly to her eldest sister’s room, not caring about anything else!

Seeing her like this, Bai Qingyan knew Little Four hadn’t gone. She said, “Go greet Second Aunt and change your clothes! Chun Tao, instruct the kitchen to prepare some food for Fourth Young Lady!”

Bai Jinzhi responded, wiped her tears with her sleeve, saluted Bai Qingyan and Bai Jinxiu, and left the room.

Standing under the corridor, Bai Jinzhi let out a long sigh of relief. It was fortunate that Eldest Young Lady was unharmed. Bai Jinzhi dared not imagine what she would do without her eldest sister!

Thank goodness Eldest Young Lady was fine.

Bai Jinzhi wiped her tears with her sleeve again, took a deep breath, clenched her fist, squinted into the sunlight with a faint smile, and braced herself to go greet Mrs. Liu.

After greeting Mrs. Liu, Bai Jinzhi went to bathe and change clothes. Unexpectedly, she fell asleep in the bathtub. Mrs. Liu, both crying and laughing, had the nanny fish her out, dressed the groggy Bai Jinzhi, and dried her hair before letting her sleep on the bed.

That afternoon, Doctor Huang’s granddaughter, Huang Arong, came to Bai Mansion to play with Bai Jinzhi, having heard of her arrival in Dadu City.

Since Bai Jinzhi returned to Shuoyang, Huang Arong had fewer playmates. Straightforward and active, Huang Arong hadn’t found any companions to play with over the years. Most of the young noble ladies had grown up and were confined at home, practicing feminine arts. Except for Bai Jinzhi, Huang Arong had no one else to play with.

Huang Arong excitedly shared amusing stories of the capital that Bai Jinzhi wasn’t aware of, to which Bai Jinzhi listened with wide-open eyes.

“Those dandies followed Lu Yuanpeng and Sima Ping into the army. But just three days after leaving Dadu City… they couldn’t stand it and wanted to return! But that was the army… not their own home. I heard the leading general was tough and whipped them directly. Those delicate dandies couldn’t withstand the whip! Their faces were whipped… beyond recognition!” Huang Arong exaggerated.

“And then? And then? Were Lu Yuanpeng’s face whipped like a tabby cat’s? Did they make a fuss to come back?” Bai Jinzhi’s eyes brightened.

“This time you’re wrong!” Huang Arong’s mouth was dry from talking. Intentionally pausing, she slowly sipped tea before sitting down beside Bai Jinzhi and continuing. “Later, I heard from my grandfather that when these new soldiers reached Beijing, the Emperor ordered them to southern Xinjiang. So… each family tried to get their sons back to Dadu City! But this Lu Yuanpeng… upon hearing about southern Xinjiang, it seemed he was determined not to leave! Sima Ping, too, was nonchalant and followed!”

“Wasn’t Lu Yuanpeng afraid of the whip?” Bai Jinzhi pondered.

“Maybe he needed more whipping!” Huang Arong grabbed some melon seeds. “Afterwards there was no news, but I heard those dandies who returned to Dadu City complained that army rations weren’t fit for humans. The rice mixed with sand could break their teeth. The coarse rice scratched their throats going down!”

Bai Jinzhi frowned. “Rice mixed with sand?”

“Of course!” Huang Arong shook her head. “I think these guys, pampered and used to enjoying luxuries in Dadu City, couldn’t cope, exaggerating things. They said one bite of rice choked out several grains of sand. If it were true… could such a pampered noble like Lu Yuanpeng stick it out? He would’ve returned long ago! Clearly, they came back disgraced and said such things to save face!”

Bai Jinzhi thought that although the dandy group Lu Yuanpeng played with was indeed pampered, they were also shamelessly thick-skinned. How could they lie about such things for the sake of face?