Death of the Candid White Lady

ho knows what they're really like inside Hmph… Jun Wei hasn't returned for so long and he doesn’t seem to care about it at all. I’ll go have a look around!" With that, Han Mingxi blew past them as fas...316. Truthfulness, Lady Bai's Death

Seeing Mo Xiuyao's indifferent expression, Ye Li slightly frowned. After waking up, she felt that someone around her was hiding something from her, and Mo Xiuyao deliberately scaring away Lady Bai made this feeling even stronger.

Lifting her head to face him, Ye Li looked straight at his handsome but somewhat uneasy face and softly asked, "Xiuyao, are you hiding anything from me"

"Uh... Of course not. Why does Ahli ask this" Mo Xiuyao smiled, but the smile on his face was no longer as carefree as before.

Ye Li raised her eyebrows and looked at him with a mix of amusement and seriousness, asking, "Could it be that Your Highness has set eyes on some lady's daughter and wants to bring her into our mansion as an additional concubine for Xiao Bao" Mo Xiuyao's expression changed slightly. He pulled Ye Li back into his arms and grumbled, "Ahli is talking nonsense. This king likes only you." Ye Li patted his back with a smile and asked, "Then what is the matter that you are so evasive about I was not feeling well these days, but do you think I won't ask when I feel better"

Thus, even the Steadfast Prince can be distracted by concern and do silly things. For example, he clearly knew that these matters couldn’t be kept secret unless he silenced everyone who knows about it. But subconsciously, he did not want Ahli to see this side of him.

After a long while, Mo Xiuyao said dejectedly, "I killed Lady Bai Yuncheng's daughter."

Ye Li was slightly startled and recalled that when she was attacked, Bai Qingning had been beside her. She asked softly, "Is it because of the incident that day" Mo Xiuyao looked at Ye Li and said solemnly, "It has nothing to do with Ahli; this king just cannot stand her." Ye Li smiled helplessly and sighed softly, "Although Bai Qingning does not deserve death, you don’t need to hide such a thing from me, right Although many deep-rooted beliefs in the past made me uncomfortable about taking lives casually, at least I think Mo Xiuyao is much more important than an unrelated person like Bai Qingning. Besides, after all these years, even if I am not comfortable with it anymore, I should understand that sometimes killing someone isn’t necessarily because he deserves to die. There are many people who don't deserve death but have died, while there might be fewer people who actually deserved death. They are in their positions and often cannot control themselves.

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyes to look at her steadily for a long time before saying, "I also killed many officials of Xiling."

Ye Li was silent for a while before she sighed softly and asked, "How many"

"A third," Mo Xiuyao said indifferently. Over a third of the powerful officials in Xiling's capital were exterminated by his hand, which had a greater impact on people than killing thousands of commoners.

After a long time, Ye Li leaned back into Mo Xiuyao’s embrace and sighed softly, "So this is why you didn’t want to tell me" Mo Xiuyao stroked her hair gently with his hand, saying gloomily, "Ahli doesn't like it when I kill people randomly." The heaviness in Ye Li's heart was somewhat relieved. She looked at him with a mix of amusement and disapproval, "You know that you were killing people randomly I’m not some deity to be worshipped; if the time comes for me to take lives, I won’t hesitate either. You may have been enraged or had reasons, but it’s just these officials you killed. What do those ignorant maidservants and servants know anyway They only besmirch your reputation."

Mo Xiuyao looked at her silently; he did lose control...

Seeing his expression, Ye Li couldn’t be angry anymore. She reached up to touch the frown on his forehead gently and said softly, "Although I don't believe in karmic retribution, excessive killing can harm one's mind and make them lose their way. Xiuyao, I hope you will be well." Long ago when they were still in Biancheng, Ye Li already noticed the incredible amount of murderous intent in Mo Xiuyao’s heart. He had been doing a good job controlling it over the years, but even his few instances of losing control left an impressive mark on people. The reason might be that he forcefully suppressed the hatred between the Mo Family Army and two generations of Steadfast Princes, leading to such consequences. Ye Li didn’t want this loss of control to become a regular occurrence. Otherwise, one outcome would be him completely releasing his murderous intent and gradually calming down; while another would see him lose himself in endless slaughter. Either way, countless lives would have to pay the price.

"Ahli..." Mo Xiuyao looked at his wife who was worriedly looking at him, lowered his eyes tiredly, and said softly against Ye Li's shoulder, "Ahli, I am very exhausted... Don’t leave me." He clearly understood Ahli’s concern. In fact, he also knew himself that there were better ways to deal with the matter this time. But back then, all he wanted was to kill anyone who hurt Ahli. Apart from that, he didn't think about anything else. This result may not be bad now, but it has sown many worries.

Ye Li held his hand and gently placed it on her still flat abdomen, smiling softly as she said, "How could I leave you We have Xiao Bao, and we’re expecting another baby." Mo Xiuyao’s hand paused slightly above her abdomen. He asked softly, “What if there's no child” Ye Li smiled and replied, "If there's no child, it must be that Your Highness has set eyes on someone else" Mo Xiuyao shook his head, lifted her chin gently to make eye contact with her, and said seriously, "This king doesn’t care about children. Even without a child, I want only you."

In such an era, this could be considered the most sincere declaration of love for a lady. Ye Li smiled slightly and teased him, "It's too late for Your Highness to say this now." Now that they already had one child and were expecting another, the emotional weight of those words naturally diminished.

Seeing that Ye Li did not seem angry at all, Mo Xiuyao’s eyes gradually softened with a smile. He gently pulled her into his embrace and said, "Everything I say comes from the bottom of my heart. If it weren’t for Ahli's child, what use would I have in coming"

"Right, why did that Lady Bai come to see me at this time" Leaning against Mo Xiuyao’s chest, Ye Li asked softly. Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, "So many powerful families fell recently; these days I’ve been letting the Bai family cool off. Probably Bai Yuncheng is getting anxious."

"Do you plan to abandon the Bai family" Ye Li asked curiously. The Bai family was one of Xiling’s top clans and had also been among the first to defect to the Dingwang Manor. By right, they should have received some respect from the Dingwang Manor, but Mo Xiuyao killed Lady Bai without hesitation, indicating his intention to abandon them.

Mo Xiuyao nodded, "The Bai family doesn’t have many capable people anyway and they’re always fickle like weeds. They were on Lei Zhenting’s side when he was in power, then switched sides as soon as we entered the imperial city. While it can be said that some sense of timing is a virtue, if one takes it too far… it looks bad. With such a big family estate, if they are important to us, others would feel unfair; but if left idle, Bai Yuncheng will eventually rebel again. It’s better to settle this matter now. As for that so-called royal consort clan, hum! I don’t hope Little Treasure marries someone from the Bai family."

Ye Li was speechless at this thought. The Bai family had been a top clan for two hundred years and yet they could not produce any outstanding talents when examined closely. Such a prosperous and influential clan over such a long period can only be described as strange, or perhaps it’s that the Bai family did have exceptional individuals but never put their minds to good use. In her heart, Ye Li also did not want the Dingwang Manor to continue having this so-called royal consort clan under them; apart from anything else, inbreeding was bad for the gene pool of the next generation.

"What are your plans Do I need to meet with this Lady Bai"

Mo Xiuyao shook his head. "No need, stay away from that woman; she’s not right."

Hearing this, Ye Li raised her eyebrows inquisitively. She hadn’t noticed anything wrong with Lady Bai earlier on. Mo Xiuyao hummed lightly and said, "She dared to ask me to leave but was too scared to speak If it were something crucial concerning the family’s survival, she would have spoken even if she had been paralyzed by fear on her knees. The head matriarch of the Bai family would never forget herself like an ignorant peasant wife."

"Then what does she mean" Ye Li asked lazily as she leaned against Mo Xiuyao, her thoughts sluggish.

Mo Xiuyao said coolly, "I don’t know yet, but I’ll keep a close eye on her."

"Alright…" Ye Li’s voice was faint with drowsiness. Mo Xiuyao did not speak anymore as he gazed at the person in his arms who had closed their eyes and fallen into light sleep, his eyes soft.

Feng Zhiyao stepped into the room but was silenced by a cold look from Mo Xiuyao before he could utter a word. Feng Zhiyao couldn’t help cursing inwardly at witnessing how quickly Mo Dingwang’s gaze had shifted from extreme tenderness to icy harshness: Such an utterly forgetful friend when it came to women, truly inhuman.

Seeing as though Mo Xiuyao had heard him, he hummed and carried Ye Li back to their room. Feng Zhiyao could only follow wordlessly behind.

After Mo Xiuyao settled Ye Li down, he turned around and looked at Feng Zhiyao standing outside in a daze. "What is it"

Feng Zhiyao cleared his throat and pulled himself back to reality. "I’ve already had people following Lady Bai. After she left the house her expression seemed odd, so perhaps half of what she said about being scared was an act."

Mo Xiuyao wasn’t surprised by this and asked, "What did she want from Ahli"

Feng Zhiyao shook his head and touched his chin thoughtfully. "A few days ago Your Highness killed her daughter; could it be that… she wants to take revenge Uh… She shouldn’t have the guts for something like that."

"Revenge Shouldn’t she come to me"

Feng Zhiyao stared at him in disbelief. "Your Highness, even if Lady Bai is without sense, she should know it would be impossible to take on you with ten lifetimes of reincarnation, right Besides, there’s a saying that goes… If you want your enemy to suffer unbearably, destroy the person he cares about most. Isn’t that so"

"What..." Mo Xiuyao fell silent for a moment, then nodded to acknowledge Feng Zhiyao's guess. "Send someone to watch Bai Family closely. As soon as they make any move, kill her! No... send someone now to kill her." Emissary Guo is pregnant and it’s inconvenient for her to take action personally. Although the guards of Jia Army and Qilin are reliable, nothing in this world can be absolutely safe. The safest thing would be… to eliminate all possible dangers before anything happens.

Feng Zhiyao helplessly rubbed his forehead; Your Excellency is moving too fast with your thoughts, this was just my guess after all. But since Your Excellency says so, I’ll follow your orders. Feng Zhiyao irresponsibly thought to himself that if there really are any suspicious motives from the Bai Family, it would be better to wipe them out directly. Otherwise, who knows what might happen again, and in this case even one-third of the remaining noble families in the imperial city could not guarantee their safety.

"I will follow your orders and get right on it."

Mo Xiuyao nodded contentedly, watching as Feng Zhiyao began to walk away. He suddenly called him back, his voice cold but gentle: "Feng San, am I really that old"

Feng Zhiyao stumbled and inwardly complained: Actually, it’s not the queen who is pregnant; it’s Your Excellency who is getting older. This change in your mood, temper and thoughts has happened too quickly.

"How could you think that Your Excellency is still young and vigorous," Can I stop now Just look at those white hairs on your head. Even if I keep flattering you, it’s going to make me sick.

Mo Xiuyao nodded, saying indifferently: "You may go."

The Lady Bai returned to the manor but before she even entered the hall, White Yuncheng had already come out anxiously. "Lady, how is it" The Lady Bai gave her husband a strange look and lowered her head. White Yuncheng’s heart jumped involuntarily; he quickly led his wife into the hall and asked: "Lady, what did Queen Consort Ding say"

The Lady Bai shook her head without speaking. White Yuncheng was worried sick and kept saying: "Queen Consort Ding must have some intentions, why don’t you speak up" The Lady Bai spoke softly: “Queen Consort Ding has been guarding beside Queen Consort Ding all the time; I couldn't even see Queen Consort Ding alone.” White Yuncheng frowned and asked: “Even so, can’t you try to understand Queen Consort Ding’s intention”

The Lady Bai raised her head and looked at White Yuncheng. She suddenly laughed. White Yuncheng looked at her in puzzlement and asked: "What's the matter Are you unwell"

"My Lord… Do you remember our Ning'er"

White Yuncheng was stunned; what’s wrong with him now His daughter had just passed away, how could he forget her now that she hadn't even been buried yet If it were not for this child of his, perhaps the Bai Family wouldn’t have fallen into such a passive situation. The Western Capital Emperor has already left the imperial city with his people; any further plans would be futile. At present, they only had one path to take which was to follow the Prince Ding王府，偏偏清寧之前和定王結下了大仇。

白允城以為自己並冇有露出什麼表情，但是一直盯著他的白夫人卻在那一瞬間看到了他眼底的怨恨。目光半垂，忍下眼中欲落的淚意，白夫人突然笑道：“老爺，定王不會放過咱們的。”白允城不解，一把抓住白夫人的手腕厲聲問道：“什麼意思？你做了什麼？”

“放開！”白夫人揮開他的手恨聲道，“我什麼都冇做！我隻恨我自己什麼都做不到！”

冇錯，她今天去確實是為了利用單獨晉見葉璃的機會殺了她為自己的女兒報仇。她的這一生就隻有寧兒這麼一個女兒，千嬌百寵地長大，卻隻能眼睜睜地看著她被定王殺害。每次閉上眼睛，耳邊彷彿都會迴響起女兒淒慘的呼救聲：“娘……救命啊！我不想死……我是冤枉的。”這一切都是因為葉璃，如果不是因為她，定王怎麼會遷怒清寧？自己的女兒怎麼會死了？最重要的是，葉璃還是定王最愛的女人，隻要她一死，白夫人幾乎可以想象定王會有多麼瘋狂、多麼痛苦。

可惜……這一切並冇有按照她的預期進行。剛剛被行刺過後，定王根本不會讓任何不熟悉的人接近定王妃。而一時的慌亂也讓她留下了破綻，回來的路上她就知道有人在跟蹤自己。雖然不知道到底在哪裡，但有一雙眼睛無時無刻不在盯著自己。她知道……白家完了，而她也失去了唯一一次為女兒報仇的機會。可是她不甘心啊……

“到底是怎麼回事？”白允城焦急地問道，這關係到白家的生死存亡，不由他不擔心。

The Lady Bai looked at him with a smile that was not quite a smile and said, "Didn’t you want to know what I told the Princess Consort of Ding Wang today I didn’t say anything… because originally I wanted to kill Ye Li, but Mo Xiuyao has been guarding her all along. There are also many martial artists around who have high levels of cultivation; there was no chance for me.

"You’re crazy!" Bai Yun Cheng stared at the Lady Bai in shock and said, "Do you know what you’re doing Are you trying to destroy the Bai family"

The Lady Bai laughed softly with a confused look in her eyes. "My daughter is already gone; what use do I have for the Bai family anymore Master, Qingning was our own flesh and blood child. She was killed by Mo Xiuyao like this, but you didn’t say a single word to me. You’re still thinking about how to please your enemy every day. Do you even have any heart at all Every day… I hear my daughter crying out in pain, saying that she’s innocent and doesn’t want to die. She wants me to get her revenge…”

Bai Yun Cheng pushed her away coldly and said, "I don’t have a heart either; many of our daughters have died over the years. The seventh and ninth daughters who were killed by Ding Wang recently didn’t make you feel sad They were also children from the Bai family."

"They’re just illegitimate sons and slaves, what’s there to feel sorry for them about How can they be compared with my Ning’er!" Lady Bai said disdainfully. Those slave scums were nothing more than some minor branches or concubines; how could they compare to her precious daughter who was supposed to become the empress or empress consort one day

"I don’t want to talk to you anymore, this crazy woman!" Bai Yun Cheng waved his sleeves and said. He never would have thought that it would be his very satisfied wife who would cause trouble for him at a time like this. Right now, Bai Yun Cheng couldn’t afford to deal with the Lady Bai; he turned around and headed straight back to his study where he had to find someone to discuss what should happen next. All he hoped was that she hadn’t done anything to alert Ding Wang.

Seeing Bai Yun Cheng leave without looking back, the Lady Bai didn’t mind at all. She ignored everyone’s shocked gazes as well and walked slowly in her disheveled disguise straight back into her courtyard.

The room of the Lady Bai was dark to an unrealistic degree for a matriarch of a great family. After entering the room, the Lady Bai dismissed the maidservant following behind and closed the door. She walked over to where there was a curtain hanging low at one end of the room. As she lifted up the curtain, a pitch-black tablet came into view. The words written on it read "The Soul Tablet of My Beloved Daughter Qingning."

The Lady Bai looked lovingly at the tablet in front of her and reached out to gently stroke it as if it were not just some cold soul tablet but her beautiful and elegant daughter from before.

"Ning’er, I’m sorry. It’s all because your mother is useless… She couldn’t save you; now she can’t even get revenge for you. Good girl Ning’er, your father doesn’t care about you at all, but your mother will remember you. You should go reincarnate properly, and Mother will definitely avenge you. Please don’t enter my dreams anymore…" the Lady Bai said to her soul tablet as she gradually started sobbing. Since her daughter’s death, the Lady Bai had not slept peacefully for even one night; every time she closed her eyes, images of her daughter appeared before her eyes. The most shocking sight was seeing her beloved daughter being tortured with various cruel methods and screaming in pain, causing the Lady Bai to be woken up from her nightmares.

Since Qingning’s death, the Lady Bai had always been afraid to look at her corpse. Although the servants who had handled the funeral said that Miss did not seem to have suffered much, the Lady Bai could never calm down about it. In fact, she felt a bit guilty and uneasy in her heart; when Ding Wang suddenly wanted to kill Qingning, she was truly frightened and didn’t even try to plead for mercy on behalf of her daughter as she watched them take her away. Sometimes she would dream that her daughter came looking for her with blood all over her body to claim vengeance, putting pressure on the Lady Bai from various angles and intensifying her hatred towards Ding Wang Manor. As long as Ye Li was killed… if only Ye Li could be killed, Qingning’s revenge could be avenged. Would Qingning forgive her then

Outside the door in a hidden corner, two dark guards heard everything that Lady Bai said clearly and one of them signaled to his companion: "Third Young Master Feng ordered us to kill Lady Bai if she truly had ill intentions towards the Princess Consort."

The other person nodded expressionlessly. Of course they should be killed; otherwise Lord Wang would go mad if something really happened.

Both of the guards shivered and their gaze turned toward the room where the Lady Bai was still muttering to herself.

The Lady Bai only stopped talking after she had talked to her daughter’s soul tablet for a long time. Then, as soon as she turned around, she felt coldness in her abdomen followed by an excruciating pain that went straight through her heart. Staring blankly at the black-clothed man who suddenly appeared before her and the dagger piercing into her abdomen, fear filled the Lady Bai’s eyes: No, she didn’t want to die yet!

"Rest assured, your daughter is waiting for you on the Yellow Springs Road," said the dark guard with a somewhat pitying expression in his eyes as he pushed forward mercilessly. A string of bright red blood flowed out of Lady Bai’s mouth and dripped onto his hand; her wide-open eyes gradually lost their luster.

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Extra:d out to support him so he wouldn’t kneel down. She said solemnly, "General, you have worked hard. This is all my fault for coming too late and putting you through this."The expression on Yuan Pei’s f...