Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: Avenging Humiliation_1

King Liang sat before the roaring fireplace wrapped in a heavy cloak. The bright flames cast a reddish glow on his deathly pale face. His phoenix eyes were dark, contemplating who knows what.

Du Zhiwei, King Liang’s advisor, had planned everything before his death…

He first had King Liang work under the guise of serving King Xin, urging King Xin to compete for military merits against the Duke of Zhen. The current emperor was already dissatisfied with the Duke due to his numerous military accolades, so he quickly permitted his favorite son to go to the frontlines and oversee the military, even giving King Xin a golden command arrow.

Later, Liu Huanzhang was secretly instructed to communicate with the King of Nanyan, aiming to wipe out the Bai family while all the men were with the Duke of Zhen.

At that time, all the capable and battle-tested commanders of the Bai family in Jin Kingdom would be exterminated! The Duke’s residence would then be accused of colluding with the enemy, uprooting the Bai family completely!

When war resumed in the southern borders, his father the emperor would have no generals to use and would have to rely on Liu Huanzhang, thereby placing military power under his control. This was the first step.

The second step involved keeping Bai Qingyan close, because Du Zhiwei mentioned that King Liang was not adept at military strategies. Therefore, Bai Qingyan, a praised “star general” even by the Duke of Zhen, was to be kept around to secure military merits and pave the way for ascending power.

Amidst the intense power struggle between King Qi and King Xin, both vying for the position of Crown Prince and resulting in mutual destruction, he, the accomplished prince, could return and easily reap the benefits.

Everything proceeded smoothly according to Du Zhiwei’s plan, until the death of Du Zhiwei and the marriage of Bai Jinxiu. Since then, things had not gone as smoothly as before.

Bai Qingyan’s family in Dengzhou intended to have their legitimate grandson marry Bai Qingyan, but when he sent her a jade pendant indicating the position of a chief consort, she did not accept it. When he personally went to meet Bai Qingyan, she did not see him. What was to be done?

King Liang instinctively wanted to ask Du Zhiwei how to handle this. Just as he was about to call for Du Zhiwei, he remembered that Du Zhiwei had died protecting him during an attack on the long street that day…

He violently coughed a few times. Hearing the commotion, Tongji, who was boiling medicine, quickly ran in and poured him a glass of water: “Your Highness, please drink some water!”

“Cough, cough, cough… Leave!” King Liang pulled his cloak tighter around himself.

His birth mother was of low status and died early. He was raised by Consort Tong, who, along with the late second prince, treated him like family. However, they were killed by those so-called pillars of the nation from the Duke of Zhen’s faction, meeting a tragic end.

Therefore, he was determined to fight for that position! Only by attaining it could he exact justice for Consort Tong and the second prince, no matter the despicable means necessary.

Staring at the fire pit in deep thought for a long time, King Liang suddenly called out hoarsely: “Gao Sheng!”

Hearing him, Gao Sheng entered, cupped his fists, and saluted: “Master!”

“Go and call Hongqiao over… I have orders for her.”

Soon, Hongqiao came in through the snow. After hearing King Liang’s orders, she was initially shocked but then knelt down, resolutely declaring: “Your servant owes a debt of gratitude to the second prince. Since he is no longer here, I should have followed him in death. But it was Your Highness who gave me hope for revenge and kept me alive! I understand Your Highness’s intentions. For this mission, I wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice my honor, or even my life. I will see it through to the best of my ability!”

King Liang coughed lightly twice before shaking his head: “You need to live. As you said, you must live to see our revenge complete. Only then can you give an explanation to the second prince. Follow the plan and do not act rashly.”

Hongqiao’s eyes reddened as she heavily kowtowed to King Liang.

“Go now!” King Liang adjusted his cloak, his eyes dark and somber as he watched the flickering flames in the brazier.

·

On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth month, families began preparing for the New Year, slaughtering pigs and stocking up on meat.

The procurement offices of noble families were also bustling. Though the men of the Duke of Zhen’s residence were away in the southern borders this year, the mansion was livelier than ever. The butchers and vegetable farmers kept sending their best goods to the Duke’s residence. The Duchess Consort had previously ordered that as soon as items were delivered, the mansion would promptly send back silver coins.

Some commoners who were unable to express their gratitude in words would stealthily leave their goods by the back corner gate in the middle of the night and slip away unnoticed!

The procurement steward, Steward Liu, was overwhelmed and hurriedly reported to Steward Hao.

This time, Steward Hao decided to receive all the goods, saying they would send more substantial gifts and red couplets to the merchants, butchers, and farmers who regularly interacted with the Duke’s residence on the twenty-ninth of the twelfth month. He also instructed Steward Liu to prepare smaller silver pieces wrapped in red paper to distribute to any children they met, as an early New Year’s gift.

The Hao family had served the Bai family for generations. Knowing the generosity of the Bai family masters, they would repay kindness tenfold. Steward Hao felt his arrangements were justified.

Madam Dong, living temporarily at the Dong Mansion of the Honglu Temple, planned to return to Dengzhou after the New Year. She originally wished to have Bai Qingyan stay over during the festivities, but since all the Bai family men were not around, she felt it improper to compete for Bai Qingyan during the New Year, which might leave the Bai family mansion desolate. So she invited Bai Qingyan to the Dong Mansion every other day.

Mrs. Dong felt it inappropriate for her mother, Madam Dong, to invite only Bai Qingyan, so she told Bai Qingyan to bring along her younger sisters.

On this day, apart from the recuperating Bai Jinxiu and the seventh girl Bai Jinse, who caught a cold, all the Bai sisters were at the Dong family’s mansion.

Although their cousins at the Dong family were not as bold as the daughters of the Bai Mansion, they were not the troublesome sort and got along well with the Bai girls.

When they left, the fifth and sixth girls left, their arms full of trinkets given by their elders and cousins. They were reluctant to part with them and did not let their maids touch their treasures, eagerly playing with them as soon as they were on the carriage.

“How skillful our Dong family cousin is, making these birds look so lifelike!” Bai Jinzhi marveled at the pair of paper birds in her hands. “It’s nice to be young! I also wanted these paper birds but felt too embarrassed to ask due to my age…”

Hearing this, Bai Jinzhao immediately snatched the paper birds from Bai Jinzhi’s hands and cradled them in her arms: “Fourth Sister is grown-up now. She shouldn’t be snatching from younger ones. Second Sister is recovering… and Seventh Sister has a cold. They missed the fun with the cousins today, so these are tokens I will take back for Second Sister and Seventh Sister!”

Bai Jintong and Bai Qingyan were amused and burst into laughter. @@novelbin@@

Suddenly, the sound of reins being pulled came from the front, and the carriage of the Duke of Zhen’s residence slowly came to a halt.

“First Miss!”

Hearing the call, Bai Qingyan lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside, only to hear a servant from the Duke’s residence say: “First Miss, there is a girl from King Liang’s mansion kneeling at our gate asking to see you. Steward Hao sent me to inform you.”