The entrance of the General's Mansion was bustling with people and festive music, filled with joy and celebration. But inside the rear hall, the atmosphere was gloomy, filled with worry. Maids and servants knelt on the floor, trembling as General Bai brandished a long whip, his beard nearly pointing to the sky in anger.
Madam Bai, dressed in elegant attire, was wiping away tears, looking utterly distraught.
A whip cracked through the air, causing the kneeling servants to shudder.
"Who helped that wretched child escape? Speak! Where has she gone?" Bai Xun shouted furiously, lashing the whip against the ground.
The maids kept their heads bowed; despite their fear, none dared speak up.
"Fine! I’ve let you all slack off, and now you’ve helped that ungrateful child cause such a disaster! You won’t speak? Someone, take them away! Beat them until they tell the truth!" Bai Xun’s rage burned hotter than when the two Bai sisters, Bai Xi and Bai Shuo, went missing all those years ago, and he’d never punished servants so harshly before.
"Master," Steward Bai Lei hesitated. "They’re all Miss’s people. If they can’t endure the punishment…”
“Disloyal servants deserve death!”
Bai Xun’s cold voice rang out, and the kneeling maids and servants finally realized his anger was genuine, quickly bowing their heads and begging for mercy.
“Spare us, General! We truly don’t know where Second Miss went! We swear!”
The pleas filled the hall, one after another. Madam Bai, unable to bear the sight, quickly rose to grab Bai Xun’s sleeve.
“Husband, today is Shuo’er’s big day. How can we shed blood on a day like this?”
“Wife, it’s because you’ve spoiled this wretched child too much! When I find her, I’ll give her a whipping myself—it’s better than letting His Majesty execute her and shaming the entire Bai family! Do you think this is an ordinary marriage? This is an imperial match granted by the Emperor himself! She dares to run away, disrespecting the Prime Minister’s household and disregarding Xi’er’s honor!”
One year ago, Bai Xun’s eldest daughter, Bai Xi, had married into the Eastern Palace, living harmoniously with the Crown Prince, earning great favor from the Emperor.
Madam Bai, torn with worry for her younger daughter and hearing how Bai Shuo’s flight could implicate her elder daughter, fainted on the spot.
“Madam! Madam!” Bai Xun, seeing his wife collapse, became utterly flustered, quickly lifting her into a chair.
"Mother!" A calm, elegant voice suddenly sounded from outside the hall. The Crown Princess, Bai Xi, rushed in, seeing her mother fainted, and immediately held her hand tightly.
Upon Bai Xi’s arrival, everyone except Bai Xun and his wife fell to their knees.
“Greetings to the Crown Princess!”
Seeing Bai Xi, Madam Bai’s tears flowed even more, “Xi’er, Shuo’er… she, she…”
“I already know; don’t worry, nothing will happen to A-Shuo!” Bai Xi patted her mother’s hand comfortingly. She took on a severe tone, uncharacteristically stern as she looked at the maids kneeling on the floor.
“All of you grew up alongside Second Miss. I know you’re fond of her, but if you helped her escape today, do you want to see her dead?”
A maid in a peach-colored dress, named Peach Blossom, suddenly looked up, shocked, at Bai Xi.
Bai Xi’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her. “The Second Miss’s marriage was bestowed by His Majesty. Even if she escapes today, can she run forever? If she returns, there’s a chance she’ll survive. If she’s truly run away, neither the General’s Mansion nor I can protect her!”
Bai Xi walked over to Peach Blossom, looking down at her calmly, “A-Shuo’s life and death rest on your decision.”
“First Miss, please save Second Miss! She… she left the capital!” Peach Blossom grabbed Bai Xi’s skirt in panic and regret.
Bai Xi lifted Peach Blossom up. “How did she leave the mansion?”
“Second Miss disguised herself in my clothes and snuck out in the middle of the night yesterday. She ordered Cold Bamboo to pretend to be her to buy time. Second Miss also said she wasn’t coming back, and asked that the Master and Madam report her as dead or gravely ill to the Chong family. The Emperor would surely not punish the household.”
Bai Xi was nearly fuming with anger at Bai Shuo’s audacity. “Where exactly did she go?!”
“She… she said she went to find an immortal.”
Upon hearing Peach Blossom’s stammering words, the two elders of the Bai family and Bai Xi almost fainted from rage. That absurd child had been playing as a “spiritual medium” for ten years and couldn’t even abandon her foolish quest for immortality now that she was about to be wed.
“Why can’t she give up this ridiculous obsession with seeking immortals? Where would such beings exist in this world?” Madam Bai sighed in exasperation, tears falling as she slapped General Bai’s arm.
“This damn girl, she just won’t change!”
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