Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 104: Chapter 103: Where to Go_1

“Jinzhi!” Bai Jintong called out, playing the act of restraint on her.

Bai Jinzhi shook off Bai Jintong’s hand and asked angrily, “Why did Aunt agree to this extortion by a bunch of villains?! How can our Duke’s household raise four hundred and fifty thousand taels without going bankrupt? How could Aunt have agreed?! If we were to actually go bankrupt… what would the Duke’s widows do?!”

“Little Four!” Bai Jinxiu choked out, attempting to intervene.

Bai Jinzhi’s emotions only grew more impassioned. “Moreover, if this matter were true, why did Grandfather never mention it?! This clan’s elder came in, not to worship or to mourn, but to say that the widows of the Duke’s mansion have to rely on the clan for protection and that we should buy peace with silver, behaving just like bandits! Aunt is such a strong person, why did she give in?! And why should our Duke’s mansion give in?! Has the clan not taken enough silver from us over the years? Our grandfathers, uncles, father, and brothers’ bodies are not yet cold, and the clan is already forcing us orphans and widows to buy peace with silver! How is this any different from rural bullies?!”

Bai Jinzhi, already with a loud voice and trained in martial arts, shouted this, drawing all the guests in the courtyard and the commoners outside to come and watch the spectacle.

The entire family of men had perished in the southern border, and earlier this morning, the military records were returned at the cost of loyal servants’ lives. The people gathered at the Wude Gate of the Imperial Palace caused a commotion!

At present, the people of Dadu City were all concerned about the Duke’s mansion and did not want to see any more trouble.

The clan people had arrived just now, not paid respects or offered incense, but rushed straight into the inner courtyard, which the commoners and guests had witnessed.

After much commotion, they were indeed demanding the widows of the Bai family to buy peace with silver!

Bai Qiyun’s eyes widened, “What nonsense are you spouting, you youngster?! Who demands your Duke’s mansion for silver to buy peace?! This was already agreed upon by your grandfather, the Duke of Zhen, and the Crown Prince long ago. It was originally arranged to be done during the year’s end gift! The Duke often said… that our Duke’s mansion, being the most prominent family in the clan, should contribute accordingly. Over the years, the Duke has taken on all tasks for the clan. Despite the Clan Leader’s urging for him to let other clan members contribute, the Duke always said that the clan’s honor prospers the Bai family further! The Clan Leader was worried that, during the mourning period, the Duke’s mansion would still be preoccupied with clan matters and lack manpower, so he sent me over! How can you, a mere girl, distort the truth and speak this way to your elders?!”

Bai Qiyun, though often putting on airs, was not entirely foolish. With so many outsiders present, how could he expose his earlier coercion of Mrs. Dong and invite criticism?!

Naturally, he elevated the Duke’s status, and the Clan Leader, out of consideration for the Duke’s honor and future, sent him here.

“Little Four! Step back! How improper to cause a scene before the twenty-odd heroic spirits of the Duke’s mansion?!” Bai Jintong pulled Bai Jinzhi back, handing the incense in her hands to Bai Qiyun. “Please, uncle, offer incense to my grandfather, uncles, father, and brothers!”

Bai Qiyun glanced at Bai Jinzhi, who was restrained by Bai Jintong, muttering, “Lacking family teaching!”

“You…”

Bai Jinzhi wanted to step forward and reason, but Bai Jintong tightly held her wrist.

Bai Qiyun, holding the incense, bowed thrice. Just as he was about to place the incense, the three sticks in his hand snapped in half.

“They broke…”

“Why did the incense break?!”

“This… the Duke does not accept his incense!”

The crowd murmured, unable to resist stepping forward to watch.

Bai Qiyun’s face turned ugly. He looked up at the black lacquer plaque of the Duke of Zhen, fear rising in his heart, and subconsciously stepped back.

Though it is said that Confucius did not speak of strange forces, he had come to extort the duke’s widows while the Duke’s body was not yet cold. Feeling guilty, the breaking of the incense made him uneasy.

Bai Jinxiu noticed the trick Bai Jintong employed while handing the incense but remained silent.

“Perhaps the incense was damp. Uncle, please light new incense!” Bai Jintong lowered her head, covering the smile in her eyes, and lit three sticks of incense, handing them to her uncle. “Uncle, please offer the incense!”

Bai Qiyun, suppressing his inner apprehension, bowed thrice with even more respect. As he stepped forward to place the incense again, the three sticks in his hand neatly snapped and fell to the ground, startling him into stepping back repeatedly.

“I told you my grandfather never mentioned handing over all our family assets to the clan!” Bai Jinzhi knelt before the memorial hall and cried out, “Grandfather! Grandfather, it is you who have returned, right?! You see how the clan oppresses our orphans and widows, and you stand up for us by refusing his incense, isn’t that so?!”

The candle flames before the memorial hall suddenly swayed violently; the shadows of the plaques wobbled erratically on the wall, and a gust of wind blew in from the doorway, causing everyone’s hearts to race.

“The Duke of Zhen’s spirit has manifested!”

“It’s the Duke’s spirit!”

“Duke of Zhen!”

The commoners outside the door suddenly cried and knelt down. The servants of the household, with tears in their eyes, knelt down in unison, chanting the Duke’s name.

Bai Qiyun turned pale, clutching the broken incense sticks, and stepped back two more steps.

Bai Jinzhi knelt before the memorial, bowing deeply. “Grandfather! With King Xin’s slander from the front and the clan’s coercion from behind, the Duke’s widows face hardship at every step. Grandfather, guide us on what to do!”

“The clan is shameless!” The thunderous voice of an elderly man startled Bai Qiyun to turn.

Mr. Gu, supported by a servant, emerged trembling, his eyes bloodshot and brimming with anger.

Mr. Gu, having hurried over and witnessing the unrest of the Duke’s spirit, felt his heart tighten and angrily pointed at Bai Qiyun’s nose, scolding, “Is the clan shameless?! Huh?!”

“Mr… Mr. Gu?!” Bai Qiyun softly called.

Mr. Gu’s cane thudded loudly against the flagstone floor. “I have managed the Duke’s mansion’s accounts for years and know better than anyone how much the Duke’s mansion has supported the clan! Every year, whether from the Duke’s income or His Majesty’s rewards, has the Duke ever not thought of the clan? Has he ever not sent half of it back to the clan?”

Mr. Gu knelt before the memorial hall, beating his chest, wailing, “I should have urged the Duke and the Crown Prince earlier! The proverb ‘A pound of grace, a pound of grudge’ holds true; the clan’s appetite has been fed too well. Now they demand forty-five thousand taels of silver! After years of splitting half of our earnings with the clan, how can we produce forty-five thousand taels?! The Duke’s mansion cannot produce the silver, so they force the princely heir’s widow to sell all the Duke’s properties, farmlands, and estates! If everything is sold, how will the hundred-some people in the Duke’s mansion survive? It’s my fault… for not speaking up! I have failed the Duke’s trust, failed the entire Duke’s mansion. I might as well be dead!”