Shanhe Festival 316. Honesty, the Death of Mrs. Bai

Seeing Mo Xiuyao's indifferent expression, Ye Li frowned slightly. After waking up, she always felt that the people around her were hiding something from her. Mo Xiuyao's deliberate attempt to scare Mrs. Bai away just now made her feel even more profound.

Lifting her head to prove her identity, Ye Li looked directly at Mo Xiuyao's handsome face, which seemed to be somewhat guilty, and asked softly, "Xiuyao, are you hiding something from me?"

"Uh... of course not. Why are you asking this, A'li?" Mo Xiuyao said with a smile, but the smile on his face was no longer as relaxed as before.

Ye Li raised her eyebrows, looked at him with a half-smile, and asked, "Could it be that the prince has taken a fancy to a girl from a certain family and wants to bring her into the palace to be a concubine for Xiaobao?" Mo Xiuyao's face changed slightly, and he twitched his lips and pulled Ye Li back into his arms, saying sullenly, "Ali, you are talking nonsense. The prince only likes Ali." Ye Li patted his back with amusement and asked, "What is it that you are hiding? I haven't been feeling well these days. Won't I ask myself when I get better?"

So, Prince Ding would also do a lot of stupid things out of concern. For example, he knew that these things could not be kept secret unless he could silence everyone who knew about it. But subconsciously, he didn't want Ah Li to see this side of him.

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

Ye Li was slightly startled, remembering that Bai Qingning was by her side when she was assassinated that day, and asked softly: "Is it because of the assassination that day?" Mo Xiuyao looked at Ye Li and said in a deep voice: "It has nothing to do with A Li, I just don't like her." Ye Li smiled helplessly and sighed softly: "Although Bai Qingning's crime does not deserve the death penalty, you don't have to hide it from me for such a thing, right?" Although many deep-rooted concepts in her previous life made her uncomfortable with taking people's lives at will, but at least in her heart, Mo Xiuyao is a million times more important than the unrelated Bai Qingning, isn't he? Moreover, after so many years, Ye Li should understand that sometimes it is not necessarily because someone deserves to die that he is killed. There are many people who do not deserve to die, but the number of people who die despite not committing the crime is probably greater than those who deserve to die. They are in their positions and many times they have no choice.

Mo Xiuyao raised his eyes and looked at her steadily. After a while, he said, "I also killed many powerful people in Xiling."

Ye Li was silent for a while, then sighed and asked, "How many are there?"

"Thirty percent." Mo Xiuyao said indifferently. More than thirty percent of the nobles in Xiling Imperial City were killed by him, which had a greater impact on the world than killing tens of thousands of civilians.

After a long while, Ye Li leaned back into Mo Xiuyao's arms and sighed softly, "Is this why you didn't let them tell me?" Mo Xiuyao lowered his head and stroked her hair, and said in a dull voice, "Ah Li, don't you dislike me killing people indiscriminately?" Ye Li's originally solemn mood couldn't help but smile, raised her head and looked at him unhappily, "You also know that it is killing indiscriminately? I am not a Bodhisattva worshipped in the temple, and I will not be soft-handed when I really want to kill. You killed those powerful people in a fit of anger or for some other reason. What do those ignorant maids and servants know? You just tarnished your own reputation for nothing."

Mo Xiuyao looked at her silently. Wasn't it that he couldn't control himself for a moment...

Seeing him like this, Ye Li couldn't get angry anymore. She raised her hand and gently touched his tightly wrinkled eyebrows, and said softly: "Although I don't believe in the so-called karma, killing too many people is harmful to the harmony of nature and can easily make people lose their minds. Xiuyao, I hope you are fine." As early as when they were in Biancheng, Ye Li had already noticed that Mo Xiuyao had an extremely shocking murderous aura in his heart. He has been controlling it well over the years, but the impact of a few times of losing control is shocking enough. The reason is probably the sequelae of the hatred between the Mo family army and the two generations of Ding Wang that was forcibly suppressed by him. Ye Li does not want such a loss of control to become the norm. Otherwise, there can only be two results. One is that he completely releases the murderous aura in his heart and then slowly calms down. The other is that he will eventually lose himself in such endless killing. No matter which one it is, it will cost countless lives.

"Ali..." Mo Xiuyao stared at his wife who was looking at him with a worried look in front of him. He lowered his eyes tiredly and whispered to Ye Li's shoulder: "Ali, I'm so tired... Don't leave me..." He could see clearly what Ali was worried about. In fact, he also understood it. For example, this time, he obviously had a better way to deal with it, but at that time he had no idea in his mind, and only wanted to kill all those who hurt Ali. Apart from that, he didn't think of any possibility at all. Even though he still thinks this result is not bad, he also understands that it actually also planted a lot of worries.

Ye Li reached out and held his hand, gently placed it on her still flat belly, and smiled: "How could I leave you? We have Xiaobao and now we have a new baby." Mo Xiuyao paused slightly with his hand covering her belly, and asked softly: "What if there is no child?" Ye Li smiled and said: "If there is no child, I am afraid that you will fall in love with someone else, right?" Mo Xiuyao shook his head, raised her small chin, let her look into his eyes and said seriously: "This king does not care about children. Even if there is no child, I only want Ah Li."

In this era, this can be regarded as the most affectionate love words for women. Ye Li smiled faintly, looked at him jokingly and said, "It's too late for you to say this now, Your Majesty." Now that they already have a child and are about to have another, the sentimentality of this sentence is naturally greatly reduced.

Seeing that Ye Li really didn't seem angry, Mo Xiuyao's smile slowly spread. He gently held her in his arms and said with a smile: "What I said is from the bottom of my heart. If it's not Ah Li's child, what's the point of me coming here?"

"By the way, what is the matter that Mrs. Bai wants to see me now?" Ye Li asked softly while leaning in Mo Xiuyao's arms. Mo Xiuyao raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, "So many powerful families have fallen. I have been leaving the Bai family alone these days. I guess Bai Yuncheng is anxious."

"Are you planning to abandon the Bai family?" Ye Li asked with some curiosity. The Bai family was one of the most prominent families in Xiling, and they were the first to apply for the exam. No matter how it was, the Wangfu would have given the Bai family some face. But now that Mo Xiuyao had killed the Bai family's daughter without hesitation, he naturally planned to abandon the Bai family. Mo Xiuyao nodded and said, "There aren't many useful people in the Bai family, not to mention that they are always fence-sitters. When Lei Zhenting came to power, they sided with Lei Zhenting, and now they are siding with Prince Ding's Mansion as soon as we entered the imperial city. Although they are somewhat aware of current affairs, some people go too far... It's embarrassing. The Bai family has such a large family business there. If it is important, it will inevitably make others feel unfair. If it is left idle, Bai Yuncheng will rebel sooner or later. It's better to just solve it here. As for the so-called concubine family, humph! This king does not want Xiaobao to marry a woman with the surname Bai in the future."

Ye Li was speechless when this was mentioned. As a family with a history of more than 200 years, they could not find many talented people. Such a family not only prospered for 200 years, but also once became one of the most powerful families in Xiling. It must be said that this is also a kind of wonder. In other words, it is not that the Bai family has no outstanding people, but these people have never put their minds into the right place. In his heart, Ye Li did not want such a so-called concubine family to exist for a long time under the Dingwang Mansion. Apart from other things, inbreeding is not good for the genes of future generations.

"What are your plans? Do you need me to meet this Mrs. Bai?" Ye Li asked.

Mo Xiuyao shook his head, "No, stay away from that Bai family member. There's something wrong with that woman."

"Hmm?" Ye Li raised her eyebrows. She had just glanced at her and didn't see anything wrong with Mrs. Bai. Mo Xiuyao snorted and said, "She dared to ask me to leave, but was scared by me and didn't dare to speak? If it was really something that was crucial to the family and related to the family's rise and fall, she would have spoken out even if she was really scared to the ground. The head of the Bai family will never forget her limits like an ignorant woman."

"What does she mean?" Ye Li asked lazily while leaning in Mo Xiuyao's arms. She seemed to have become much lazier since she woke up, even to the point of being too lazy to think.

Mo Xiuyao said calmly: "I don't know yet, but I will have someone keep an eye on her."

"Well, okay..." Ye Li's voice was slightly tired. Mo Xiuyao stopped talking and looked down at the person who closed her eyes and gradually fell into a light sleep in his arms. His eyes were as gentle as water.

"My Lord..." Feng Zhiyao stepped into the room and was stopped by Mo Xiuyao's cold eyes before he could say anything. Feng Zhiyao, who happened to see the extremely gentle look of Prince Ding, instantly turned into a cold and icy one, could not help but secretly curse in his heart: This is too much of a f*cking forgetting friends for the sake of beauty, and having no humanity when it comes to the opposite sex. As if he could see through Feng Zhiyao's inner complaints, Mo Xiuyao snorted and picked up Ye Li and went back to the room. The poor Third Master Feng, who had something to report, could only follow behind silently.

After Mo Xiuyao had settled Ye Li down, he turned around and walked out the door. He glanced at Feng Zhiyao, who was standing at the door in a trance, and asked, "What's the matter?"

Feng Zhiyao coughed lightly, pulling back his thoughts that had drifted off to who knows where, and replied: "We have sent someone to follow Bai. After she left the house, Bai's expression seemed a little strange. It seems that she was frightened by the prince just now, and half of it was fake." Mo Xiuyao was not surprised, and asked: "What does she want to do when she sees Ah Li?"

Feng Zhiyao shook his head, stroking his chin and said thoughtfully: "The Heavenly King just killed her daughter a few days ago. Could it be that she wants to avenge her daughter? Uh... probably not. How can she be so brave?"

"Revenge? Shouldn't you seek revenge from me?"

Feng Zhiyao looked at him with a ghostly expression, "My Lord, even if the Bai family is ignorant, they should know that even if she reincarnates ten times, it will not be enough to touch you, right? Besides, there is a saying... If you want your enemy to suffer, you must destroy the person he cares about the most. Hmm?"

"What..." Mo Xiuyao was silent for a while, then nodded to agree with Feng Zhiyao's guess, "Have someone keep an eye on Bai Shi, and kill her immediately if she makes any move! No... have someone kill her now." Ah Li was pregnant and it was inconvenient for her to take action. Although the Mo Family Army and Qilin's guards were very reliable, there was nothing in the world that was 100% safe. The safest thing was to... eliminate all dangers before anything happened!

Feng Zhiyuan said helplessly, "Prince, you are too quick to think about this. This is just my guess. However, you are the most important and you have the final say." Feng Zhiyuan thought irresponsibly, "I will have someone investigate it later. If the Bai family really has any ulterior motives, it is better to destroy them directly. If something really happens again, I am afraid that the remaining one-third of the nobles in the imperial city will not be saved."

"I obey your command and will do it right away."

Mo Xiuyao nodded in satisfaction, and watched Feng Zhiyuan walk away. Mo Xiuyao suddenly called him back, and said coldly, "Feng San, am I very old?"

Feng Zhiyao staggered and complained silently in his heart: In fact, it is not the princess who is pregnant, but you, my lord. Your temper, mood and thoughts change too quickly.

"How could that be? Your Highness is clearly in the prime of his youth." Is that enough? Look at your head of white hair. If you continue to flatter me, I'm going to vomit.

Mo Xiuyao nodded and said calmly, "Go ahead."

Mrs. Bai returned to the mansion. Before she entered the hall, Bai Yuncheng came out anxiously, "Madam, what's wrong?" Mrs. Bai looked at her husband with a strange look in her eyes and lowered her head. Bai Yuncheng's heart jumped, and he quickly pulled Mrs. Bai into the hall and asked, "Madam, what did Princess Ding say?"

Madam Bai shook her head and said nothing. Bai Yuncheng was so anxious that he kept asking, "What exactly does Princess Ding mean? Speak up." Madam Bai whispered, "Prince Ding has been guarding Princess Ding all the time. I have no way to see Princess Ding alone." Bai Yuncheng frowned and asked, "Even so, you can try to test Prince Ding's intentions. Can you see what those two are thinking?"

Mrs. Bai raised her head and looked at Bai Yuncheng, and suddenly burst into laughter. Bai Yuncheng looked at her strangely and asked in confusion: "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?"

"Master... do you still remember our Ning'er?"

Bai Yuncheng was stunned. What happened? His daughter who just passed away has not been buried yet. How could he not remember? If it weren't for this daughter, perhaps the Bai family would not have fallen into such a passive situation. Now the Xiling Emperor has taken his people away from the imperial city. Even if he still has any thoughts, they are in vain. Now, except for following the Dingwang Mansion obediently, they have no other way to go. But before this, Bai Qingning had greatly offended Dingwang.

Bai Yuncheng thought he didn't show any expression, but Madam Bai, who had been staring at him, saw the hatred in her eyes. Half-dropping her eyes, holding back the tears in her eyes, Madam Bai suddenly smiled and said, "Master, Prince Ding will not let us go." Bai Yuncheng was puzzled, and he grabbed Madam Bai and asked sharply, "What do you mean? What did you do?"

Mrs. Bai raised her hand and waved away his hand, saying bitterly, "I didn't do anything! I just hate myself for not being able to do anything!"

Yes, she went today to take advantage of the opportunity to meet Ye Li alone and kill her to avenge her daughter. She only had Qingning as her daughter in her life. She grew up to be pampered, but she could only watch her being killed by Prince Ding. Every time she closed her eyes, she seemed to hear her daughter's miserable voice echoing in her ears, "Mother... Help me, I don't want to die! I am wronged..." All this was because of Ye Li. If it weren't for her, how could Prince Ding be angry with Qingning, and how could his daughter die? The most important thing is that Ye Li is still the woman that Prince Ding loves the most. As long as she dies, Madam Bai can almost imagine how crazy and painful Prince Ding will be.

Unfortunately... all this did not go as she expected. After the assassination, Prince Ding would not let anyone unfamiliar to approach Princess Ding. And the momentary panic also left her with scars. On the way back, she knew that someone from Prince Ding's mansion was following her. Although she didn't know where they were, she could feel that a pair of eyes were staring at her all the time. She knew... the Bai family was finished, and she had lost the only chance to avenge her daughter. But she was unwilling to accept it...

"What's going on?" Bai Yuncheng asked anxiously. This was related to the life and death of the Bai family, and he couldn't help but worry.

Madam Bai looked at him with a half-smile and said, "Don't you want to know what I said to Princess Ding today? I didn't say anything... because I originally wanted to kill Ye Li, but, but Mo Xiuyao has been guarding her, and there are martial arts masters everywhere around, so I have no chance..."

"You're crazy!" Bai Yuncheng stared at Mrs. Bai in shock and said, "Do you know what you are doing? Do you want to destroy the Bai family?"

Mrs. Bai laughed, her eyes blurred. "I have lost my daughter, what do I need the Bai family for? Master, Qingning is our biological daughter, and she was killed by Mo Xiuyao, and you didn't say a word. You are still thinking about how to please your enemy all day long. Do you have any heart? Every day... every day I hear my daughter crying, saying that she was wronged, saying that she doesn't want to die... She wants me to avenge her..."

Bai Yuncheng pushed her away and said coldly, "I don't have any feelings for you. Over the years, not a single daughter of the Bai family has died. Why didn't you feel sorry for Xiaoqi, Xiaojiu, and Twelve who were killed by Prince Ding a few days ago? They are also children of the Bai family."

"They are just bastards and slaves, why should I feel sorry for them? How can they be compared with my Ning'er!" Mrs. Bai said disdainfully. Those slaves are just a few side branches and concubines' offspring, how can they be compared with her precious daughter? Her daughter could have been the empress or the imperial concubine, it's all... it's all Bai Yuncheng's fault! If he hadn't insisted on sending her daughter to Prince Ding's mansion, how could her daughter have died?

"I don't want to talk to you, crazy woman!" Bai Yuncheng waved his sleeves. He never thought that the one who would hinder him at this time was actually his wife, whom he had always been very satisfied with. At this time, Bai Yuncheng could not care about Mrs. Bai. He turned around and walked towards the study. He had to find someone to discuss what to do next. I just hope that this woman didn't reveal any flaws for Prince Ding to see, otherwise the Bai family would really be finished.

Seeing Bai Yuncheng leave without looking back, Mrs. Bai didn't care. She ignored the surprised looks of the servants and her messy disguise and staggered back to her own yard.

Mrs. Bai's room was dim and somewhat unrealistic, a room for the head of a noble family. After entering the room, Mrs. Bai waved away the maid who followed her and closed the door. She walked to the back of the room where the heavy curtains were hanging low, and lifted the curtains to reveal a dark tablet. On it were written the words "the tablet of my beloved daughter Bai Qingning".

Mrs. Bai looked at the tablet on the table with pity, raised her hand and gently touched it, as if this was not a cold tablet but her beautiful and elegant daughter.

"Ning'er, I'm sorry, it's all my fault... I couldn't save you, and now I can't even avenge you. Sweet Ning'er, your father doesn't care about you at all, but I will remember you. Go and reincarnate well, and I will definitely avenge you. Don't come into my dreams again..." Mrs. Bai spoke softly to the spirit tablet, and her voice gradually turned into sobs. Since her daughter passed away, Mrs. Bai has not had a peaceful sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw various images of her daughter appear in front of her. The most shocking thing was the way her daughter wailed in various tortures, which always woke Mrs. Bai up from her dream.

Since Bai Qingning died, Madam Bai has never dared to see her body. Although the servants who collected the body said that the young lady did not seem to have suffered much, Madam Bai could not feel at ease. In fact, she felt a little guilty and uneasy in her heart. When Prince Ding suddenly wanted to kill Bai Qingning, she was really scared. She did not even plead for her daughter and watched her daughter being dragged away. Sometimes she even dreamed that her daughter came to her covered in blood to ask for her life. Under the pressure of various pains, Madam Bai's hatred for Prince Ding's mansion became more and more intense. As long as Ye Li was killed... As long as Ye Li was killed to avenge Qingning, Qingning would forgive her, right?

Outside the door, in a hidden corner, the two secret guards heard everything that Mrs. Bai said, and one of them winked at his companion: The Third Master Feng ordered that if Mrs. Bai really had any intentions to harm the princess, she should be killed directly.

The other person nodded expressionlessly: Of course she must be killed. If she really did something, the prince would go crazy. They didn't want to suffer the prince's wrath.

The two guards shuddered at the same time and turned their eyes to Mrs. Bai who was still muttering in the room.

Mrs. Bai talked to her daughter's spirit tablet for a long time before she finally stopped talking. When she turned around, she felt a chill in her abdomen, followed by a piercing pain. She stared blankly at the man in black who suddenly appeared in front of her and the dagger that pierced her abdomen. Mrs. Bai's eyes were filled with fear: No, she didn't want to die yet!

"Go with peace of mind. Your daughter is waiting for you on the road to the underworld." The dark guard said with a somewhat sad look in his eyes, but his men rushed forward without mercy. A stream of bright red blood flowed from Mrs. Bai's mouth and dripped onto his hands. Mrs. Bai's eyes, which were wide open, gradually lost their luster.

－－－－－－－A side note－－－－－－－

In fact, when I was writing about Mrs. Bai, I suddenly felt pitiful. Haha… From the perspective of the protagonist, my worldview was shaken. But we still have to say that killing people randomly is wrong. Of course, everyone knows this. Running away with the pot lid on his head…