Chapter 251: Inquiry

“Zhang Ze has come?”

Madam of Dongyang, who was originally lounging lazily on the arhat bed, sat up and frowned slightly.

Previously, when she heard that the Prince of Chu had arrived, Mama Xu was restlessly pacing and muttering in the room, but Madam of Dongyang didn’t even raise an eyelid.

Someone had said that Zhou Jingyun only went to the pleasure boat because she was hiding by the Prince of Chu’s side, and that they were “making eyes” at each other. Madam of Dongyang curled her lip, in actuality, it was with her.

So it wasn’t surprising that the Prince of Chu would come to the Marquis of Dongyang’s Residence now.

But what was Zhang Ze doing here?

Could it be that he had discovered her?

Madam of Dongyang clenched her hand and lifted her foot to get off the bed: “I’ll go take a look.”

Mama Xu hurriedly stopped her: “He said it’s to inquire about Li Chengyuan’s matter, the Marquis’s Heir was also at the banquet that night.” She persuaded, “Madam, wait and see what the Marquis’s Heir says.”

Asking about Li Chengyuan? Madam of Dongyang sat down. It sounded reasonable, but she still felt…

“Why hasn’t she come to pay her respects to me these past two days?”

Hearing Madam of Dongyang’s question, Mama Xu wanted to laugh: “Didn’t Madam forbid the Marquis’s Heir from coming?”

No, that child was actually very polite, informing her when she entered and left. Why was there no movement these past two days? Could something have happened again?

Madam of Dongyang felt uneasy, looking towards Zhou Jingyun’s courtyard.

Zhang Ze looked at the courtyard before him and took a deep breath.

Zhou Jingyun suddenly sought him out, saying that she wanted to see him and asked him to come to her home.

Previously, he had only seen her in illusions, he didn’t know if this time…

The sound of a child babbling came from the courtyard.

Clearly, the little princess was also here.

Zhang Ze lifted his foot, stepped forward, and pushed open the door. He first saw Zhou Jingyun standing under the corridor, and then he saw a woman sitting on a lounge chair under the corridor, holding a child in her arms.

No dizziness, no dimmed vision, just a bright summer day.

Zhang Ze looked at the woman before him. She was a girl of seventeen or eighteen, with an unfamiliar face.

No, that’s not right.

Not unfamiliar!

Her!

Zhang Ze’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Bai Li!” He blurted out.

The woman in front of him lifted the child in her arms and turned to the side: “Alright, I need to get down to business.”

Madam Zhuang hurriedly stepped forward to take the child, glanced at Zhang Ze, and retreated into the room, holding the babbling child who was about to cry.

She sat on the rocking chair, rocking back and forth, looking at Zhang Ze, and smiled slightly: “Zhang Ze, do I look a lot like Bai Ying?”

Zhang Ze looked at the woman in front of him. Her face, her eyebrows, her eyes, were like a veil over Bai Ying, or like a splash of water, soft and hazy.

It couldn’t be said that they were very alike, but for someone familiar with Bai Ying, especially someone like him who had been pursuing and investigating cases, the resemblance was apparent at a glance.

Coupled with the fact that after he called out the name Bai Li, many things that had been chaotic and disordered, things that felt wrong but he couldn’t pinpoint where, instantly became clear.

Yes, indeed, it should be, must be, truly was, Bai Li.

Zhang Ze’s eyes showed relief, but then they became serious, suspicious, with a flash of fierceness. So there was never any ghost of Empress Jiang.

It was all this woman, Zhou Jingyun, these remnants of Empress Jiang’s faction, playing tricks on him.

“A villain is a villain.” The woman looked at him and smiled. “Afraid, they bow and scrape; thinking they’ve seen through the truth, they immediately become fierce and malicious.”

Zhang Ze’s face stiffened. The woman before him sat up straight, looking at him.

“Zhang Ze,” she said, “the reason I killed Li Chengyuan but not you was because you weren’t my man, I never used you. You siding with Prince Changyang wasn’t betraying me, and you didn’t desecrate my corpse. But after my death, you insulted my reputation, elevated your own, confiscated property and exterminated families, slaughtered innocents, and then blamed all these sins on me.”

As she spoke, she suddenly stood up and waved her hand at Zhang Ze.

Zhang Ze only felt a long saber slashing towards him. He instinctively raised his hand to block, the sound of the blade entering flesh reached his ears, accompanied by a crunching sound, his entire arm severed.

Zhang Ze cried out in pain, clutching his arm, the woman’s voice continued in his ears.

“However, this was also each serving their master. Before, I couldn’t do anything to you, you deserved it. But now, my destiny is not yet broken, I’ve returned, so I won’t let you do as you please.”

Destiny not yet broken? Zhang Ze slowly opened his eyes and saw the arm he was holding in his arms was still attached to his body, while the woman before him was still sitting in the chair.

Looking at her again now, her youthful face was once more veiled, outlining another face, arrogant, cold, and yet magnificent.

“Bai Ying must have told you about Bai Li’s strangeness, right?” She looked at Zhang Ze and continued, at the same time reaching out to touch her own face. “She may not have made it clear why she frightens people, drives them mad. It’s because Bai Li is someone who changes according to people’s inner demons. What you long for, what you fear, she becomes.”

What you long for, what you fear, she becomes? Zhang Ze looked at her, surprised and somewhat enlightened. So in the hands of Empress Jiang’s remnants, she became…

“You…” he asked slowly, “what do you want me to do? Help you…”

The woman before him waved her hand: “I don’t need you to do anything, after all, I haven’t done anything for you.” Her expression turned serious. “But don’t use my name to confiscate property and exterminate families, or casually accuse people of being part of Empress Jiang’s faction. Zhang Ze, I’ve been dead for six years, you can’t possibly rely on my name to scare people your whole life, right? Don’t you have any other skills?”

Zhang Ze’s hand clenched at his side, wanting to say something but ultimately saying nothing, only replying, “Yes.”

“Also,” her voice paused, with a hint of curiosity, “Bai Xun was convicted as part of Empress Jiang’s faction, they said they found letters exchanged between you. When did I ever exchange letters with him? If it was a false accusation, how could Bai Ying tolerate you?”

Zhang Ze raised his head: “Did Your Ladyship ever exchange letters with Bai Ying?”

✿✿✿

The person in front of him didn’t seem to mind his probing, and nodded: “Yes, that little girl was quite bold, daring to come to me for a future. So I gave her one.”

A strange smile appeared on Zhang Ze’s lips.

“So, that’s the evidence,” he said, “Bai Ying provided it, of course she could tolerate it.”

Bai Ying provided it?

Zhou Jingyun, who had been quietly listening from the side, could no longer hold back his astonishment: “She, she wanted her whole family executed!”

How was that possible?

Those were her own family, her relatives!

How could she bear to do it?!

“Because she didn’t want to be disliked by the Emperor,” Zhang Ze said, looking at the woman before him. “She initially relied on Your Ladyship’s power to marry into Prince Changyang’s Residence, and there were always rumors that she was Your Ladyship’s spy to monitor the prince.”

The woman in front of him suddenly understood: “When Prince Changyang was still a prince, he didn’t dare to do anything to the person I sent to monitor him. After I died, Prince Changyang became the Emperor, he no longer needed to be wary of these things, and with more and more women around him, the Emperor harbored suspicion in his heart. Bai Ying wouldn’t even be able to keep her life, let alone gain favor.”

“So she simply confirmed the suspicion.” Zhou Jingyun looked at Zhang Ze. “Confirmed that the Bai family was part of Empress Jiang’s faction, and then let the Emperor eliminate this suspicion. With her, a concubine from a convicted family, the Emperor would have no more scruples, only pity.”

Zhang Ze nodded: “Yes.”

There was a moment of silence under the corridor, as if even the summer wind had stopped.

The woman sitting on the rocking chair laughed: “Impressive. Everyone says I’m mad, but there are many in this world who are madder than me.”

Yes, was she mad? Zhou Jingyun thought, those were her father, brothers, and sisters.

Ah Li had always been called a jinx, always said to have caused the death of her mother and then her entire family. Although she never said it, who knew how much resentment she held in her heart, otherwise she wouldn’t have told him that she was a bad person.

So the reason the Bai family was convicted was because of this, her own elder sister, abandoning her family, stepping on their lives to advance her own future.

Zhou Jingyun couldn’t help but look at the woman sitting on the rocking chair.

If Ah Li knew the reason for the Bai family’s conviction, would she be happy to be relieved of the guilt of bringing misfortune, or would she be even more heartbroken?

If she knew, would she still have the strength to live?

Family dying at the hands of family, it was truly horrific.

At this moment, he suddenly felt fortunate that it wasn’t Ah Li here.

The wind whirled with flying yellow sand, the sound of horse hooves reached her ears, mixed with shouts.

“General Bai—”

Horses galloped past her, the strong horses and tall men casting shadows on the ground.

“Hurry, your wife is about to give birth—”

The man jumped off his horse with a thud, before he could even let out a joyful laugh, a young girl appeared from the courtyard ahead.

“Father, Mother is dying—”

The tall figure stumbled, then rushed forward, his tall figure disappearing from the ground, leaving only one person standing still.

The next moment, another figure appeared on the ground, then sinuously rose up, clinging to her body.

“Bai Li, how long are you going to think about it?” The shadow asked, “Are you going to follow and see, or leave?”

Bai Li ignored her, only looking at the young girl and the man ahead, listening to their sorrowful and panicked cries, and the woman’s painful screams from the courtyard.

The shadow clinging to her body turned, facing her head-on.

The hazy face gradually became clear.

“If you don’t wake up soon, I’m taking this body.”

Bai Li’s gaze, which had been looking into the distance, fell on this face.

“If you could take it, you wouldn’t have waited until now, you could have just watched me get sucked away by the Millet Seed Pearl back then.”

The eyebrows floating in front of her raised, scoffing: “You’re really pushing your luck! You think I really wouldn’t dare?!”

With that, the face dispersed, the shadow floating around, as if about to fly away, but then it stopped.

“But I won’t take your body for nothing, I’ll help you inquire about the matter you’ve been investigating.” It said, the eyebrows and eyes becoming clear again, with a hint of a sinister smile. “Do you know who caused your family’s conviction and execution?”

Bai Li’s gaze fixed on her: “I know, it was my elder sister, Bai Ying.”