Bai Ruier's hair was in disarray after Bai Ruifeng removed the hairpin from her head.

She's destined to become a Noble Consort in the palace; how could His Majesty see her in such a disheveled state?

"Bai Ruifeng! Why did you pull the hairpin out of my hair for no reason?"

She covered her hair bun, afraid that His Majesty would see her in an unseemly state, and was so anxious that she was almost in tears: "Give it back to me!"

Bai Ruifeng ignored Bai Ruier, and stepped forward with the hairpin, then knelt in front of Huo Jin: "Your Majesty, please look, this hairpin was part of my mother's dowry when she married into the Bai family. My mother said it was a dowry given to her by my great-grandmother, and it belongs to the royal family."

"This hairpin was also part of Xiao Yan's dowry left by my mother."

She turned back and gave Bai Ruier a cold laugh: "I don't know if it's the Bai family's ancestors or your mother's ancestors who have any connection with the royal family? What makes you think you can say this hairpin is yours?"

Huo Jin took the hairpin from Bai Ruifeng's hand and glanced at it briefly: "It is indeed a royal item."

Bai Ruier was anxious, fearing that His Majesty would think she had taken Bai Yan's things and have a bad impression of her, so she hurriedly tried to make amends.

"Your Majesty, please don't believe Bai Ruifeng's one-sided story! We're all sisters, what's wrong with me just wearing her hairpin?"

Bai Ruier wiped away her tears again and looked at Huo Jin with a wronged expression: "The hairpin does belong to Xiao Yan, but when she had no clothes to wear, I would give her my favorite clothes."

“She can’t go out normally, so when I go out to banquets, I often tell her funny stories.”

Bai Ruier was so focused on complaining to Huo Jin that she didn't even notice her mother's suddenly pale face.

"She didn't have any clothes to wear in the past?" Huo Jin raised his eyes. "She can't go out, but you can go to banquets?"

Bai Ruier paused slightly in her sobs, then muttered in a low voice, "It's not that she has no clothes to wear... I usually care about Xiao Yan a lot. We're about the same size, and she can wear my clothes."

“Xiao Yan is too young and hasn’t learned proper manners, that’s why my mother doesn’t allow her to go out.”

Bai Ruifeng scoffed, "My mother was the first wife, and the entire family fortune was built on her dowry. Why should my sister only wear other people's hand-me-downs?"

As she spoke, Bai Ruifeng couldn't help but shed tears: "I was old enough to understand when my mother passed away. I watched helplessly as Qian Shi entered the family and took away all of my mother's dowry. But there was no one left in my mother's family. The few scattered relatives were not officials and were afraid of Bai Chong's official position."

"What can we two young girls do?"

After Bai Ruifeng choked up, she continued, "After I got married, they were afraid of the Marquis's mansion, so I took back part of my dowry. But I never expected that Madam Qian would be so vicious. In order to seize my mother's dowry, she sent Xiao Yan to the Marquis Chen's mansion and gave her to Chen Mingzhao!"

"Chen Mingzhao is a wicked scoundrel!" Bai Ruifeng gritted her teeth, not elaborating further, only choking back tears, "If Xiaoyan is gone, won't her dowry all go to the Qian family?"

He added, "If she hadn't been forced into a desperate situation, Xiao Yan would just be a sixteen-year-old girl. You heard it yourself, she's hardly ever left the mansion in her entire life. She wouldn't even dare to step on an ant, how could she dare to kill someone?"

"It was all because of the Qian family! We beg Your Majesty to do justice for us sisters!"

Madam Qian knelt on the ground, her whole body drenched in cold sweat. She trembled as she looked up, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."

But Huo Jin then placed the hairpin in the hair of the girl beside him, saying, "Although this hairpin belongs to the royal family, it is not particularly valuable. It is a memento of your mother and has great significance. Wear it as a keepsake."

“A few days ago, the Kingdom of Liu presented Duobaoge with a piece of natural red chalcedony. I have it carved into a set of jewelry for you.”

Chalcedony is rare to begin with, let alone natural red chalcedony.

Since His Majesty ascended the throne, the national treasury has never been so open to the public. Now, he is offering priceless treasures, which shows his affection for Bai Yan.

Huo Jin's eyes were filled with endless heartache: "I didn't know before, but from now on I will never let you lack anything that others have." What they don't have, she must have too.

Bai Yan knew he cared about her, so she held his hand and said, "I didn't suffer so much before because my older sister took care of me."

"You won't suffer anymore." Huo Jin placed his hand on hers.

Bai Yan forgot her slight displeasure from before and gave him a sweet smile.

Bai Ruifeng looked at their clasped hands... Was His Majesty being a little too intimate with Xiao Yan?

Huo Jin turned around and looked at Bai Chong and Qian Shi with cold eyes: "Bai Chong, since you entered officialdom through the imperial examination, do you need me to teach you the saying 'cultivate oneself, manage one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world'?"

"How could the eldest daughter of the family be persecuted to such an extent?"

Bai Chong knelt on the ground with a thud: "Your Majesty, please be wise! This humble servant usually stays in the government office, where men are in charge of external affairs and women are in charge of internal affairs. This humble servant never expected that in a moment of carelessness, this wicked woman would harm the child born to my first wife!"

Bai Ruifeng also said, "You know nothing? Doesn't Father know that you and the Qian family live in the main courtyard, which is warm in winter and cool in summer, while my sister and I have been living in the side courtyard, which is cold in winter and hot in summer, and the maids serving us are not even half as good as Bai Ruier?"

"Is my father blind?"

"If you are truly blind, it's best not to work in the government, lest you harm the country!"

Bai Ruifeng's words left Bai Chong speechless. He opened his mouth to defend himself but didn't know how to do so. At this point, he couldn't help but glare at Qian Shi with resentment.

Why did she treat the two children born to the first wife like that? Was it so difficult to make them new clothes, provide them with ice in the summer, and hire a few maids?

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