Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 717 - 714: Can’t Hold On_1

Yes, it was a secret order. He had not consulted Prime Minister Lu or any other veteran minister for fear of being obstructed. How did Bai Qingyan come to know about it?

The old retainer saw the Crown Prince’s expression and knew it wasn’t the Crown Prince who told Bai Qingyan: "If this matter wasn’t revealed by someone sent by the Crown Prince, I boldly request the Crown Prince to ask Princess of Zhen and see how she explains it."

The Crown Prince clenched his palm: "Old retainer, are you suggesting that Princess of Zhen has placed someone beside me?"

"I dare not make presumptions..." The old retainer had become shrewd now. He didn’t dare to outright state in front of the Crown Prince that Bai Qingyan was untrustworthy; he merely pointed it out for the Crown Prince to consider, "But it is indeed too suspicious that Princess of Zhen knows about this matter!"

The main hall was extremely quiet, so quiet that one could only hear the sound of fine sand falling in the hourglass beside.

The Crown Prince squinted his eyes, carefully thinking about everyone around him, guessing who Bai Qingyan might have planted by his side.

The Crown Prince thought and thought; there were only so many people around him.

Seeing the Crown Prince deeply contemplating and not speaking for a long time, the old retainer continued: "Your Highness, putting aside whether Princess of Zhen has placed someone around you! If Princess of Zhen already has the cure for the epidemic, why didn’t she bring it directly to Your Highness? Instead, she let the Bai Mansion guards take the cure first to Huayang and Qinhuai?"

"What do you mean?" The Crown Prince furrowed his brows tightly.

"Think about it... finding the cure for the epidemic and saving the people from dire straits, what a great merit that is? It is enough to be immortalized in history! Princess of Zhen could have easily sent the Bai family guards to Huayang and Qinhuai to stop Your Highness’s order to slay the infected; then, she could have had someone deliver the cure to Your Highness, allowing Your Highness to claim this merit! As the Crown Prince, you desperately need such merit before ascending the throne, letting the people know that the Crown Prince is destined by heaven and can save them from calamity! But Princess of Zhen only thinks of her Bai family’s place in history, without considering Your Highness..."

Just as the old retainer finished his words, they saw Bai Qingyan, clad in a white fox fur cloak, with a pale face and holding her chest, supporting herself on Quan Yu’s hand while stepping over the threshold of the main hall: "At the end of the fifteenth year of Qingde, a great epidemic broke out in Jiaozhou, causing national panic and the people to flee in disarray! The epidemic spread rapidly, killing nine out of ten doctors, and everyone avoided it! The Imperial Court sealed the city, and Jiaozhou was filled with graves, with skeletons piling up! It was my aunt Bai Suyi, who swore a military oath and volunteered to enter Jiaozhou’s Pengcheng and, with her medical skills, saved the people! My father led a battalion of Bai family soldiers to escort my aunt into the city, staying for ninety-six days without coming out! They eradicated the epidemic and saved the people of the world! Isn’t such a feat enough to be immortalized in history?! The Bai family’s renowned reputation is known throughout the world; do we need to seize this opportunity now for our fame?! Old retainer, your heart is much too narrow-minded."

After speaking, Bai Qingyan clutched her chest, bending over and coughing violently.

"Princess of Zhen!" Quan Yu, full of worry, supported Bai Qingyan, his eyes reddened.

Earlier, Quan Yu had planned to take some people out of the city to welcome the Princess of Zhen. But before reaching the front courtyard, he saw servants leading the Princess of Zhen into the Crown Prince’s mansion, so he quickly assisted her inside.

In the past few months, following the Crown Prince, Quan Yu naturally knew about the near-death experiences of the Princess of Zhen from Shuoyang since winter set in. Upon seeing the Princess of Zhen again, noticing her frail figure, his heart felt like it was being cut with a knife. Unexpectedly, the moment he helped the Princess of Zhen inside, he heard the old retainer speaking ill of her in front of the Crown Prince.

"Princess of Zhen!" The Crown Prince was quite surprised by Bai Qingyan’s swift arrival.

Bai Qingyan let go of Quan Yu’s hand and, with difficulty, bowed deeply to the Crown Prince: "Bai Qingyan greets Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

The Crown Prince hurriedly walked out from behind the desk to support Bai Qingyan: "With your health like this, why perform such a ceremony! Come... sit down first!"

The Crown Prince personally helped Bai Qingyan to sit down beside him, his eyes filled with worry: "Quick! Bring hot water for the Princess of Zhen!"

Feeling the coldness radiating from Bai Qingyan, the Crown Prince remembered her cold-induced illness, and hastily said: "Quan Yu, fetch a few more brazier pots here! Bring my personal hand warmer for the Princess of Zhen!"

Quan Yu brought a warm cushion and placed it behind the heavily breathing Bai Qingyan, then put the Crown Prince’s hand warmer into Bai Qingyan’s hands.

Bai Qingyan’s breathing slightly stabilized, and she nodded in gratitude to the Crown Prince: "Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

The old retainer saw the Crown Prince looking at Bai Qingyan, whose face was pale without blood and whose figure was frail and weak. The suspicion and doubt in his eyes from earlier had now been completely replaced with worry. The old retainer felt stifled and unhappy.

The old retainer stood up and first bowed to Bai Qingyan: "Princess of Zhen, I am not narrow-minded, but since we are both under the patronage of the Crown Prince, we must consider everything for his sake. Not to mention that the Crown Prince has not yet ascended; he urgently needs renown. Even after ascending, we must still plan for his eternal fame."

Bai Qingyan looked up at the old retainer: "I had just learned that Doctor Hong’s antidote for the epidemic had succeeded. Before I had a chance to ask Doctor Hong in detail, the messenger sent by the Crown Prince to inform me about the secret order to slaughter the infected in Huayang and Qinhuai had already arrived. If the old retainer doesn’t believe me... you can summon the messenger and ask if it’s true or not! In fact, it was precisely for the Crown Prince’s reputation that I ordered someone to rush to Huayang and Qinhuai with the antidote to stop the killing! Otherwise... without the cure, how could the Bai Mansion guards stop the Crown Prince’s secret order?!"

The Crown Prince and the old retainer exchanged glances. Bai Qingyan said... it was the Crown Prince who sent someone to inform her about his secret order?!

Bai Qingyan’s breathing became rapid: "Now, the Crown Prince is acting on behalf of His Majesty. If the infected in the two cities were slaughtered, wouldn’t people guess that it was the Crown Prince’s order? A century later... the Crown Prince would bear all the infamy! How could such a prudent and wise man as the old retainer not understand this?!"

After speaking, Bai Qingyan started coughing violently again. She took out a handkerchief to cover her lips, coughing until her face turned pale. When she removed the handkerchief... there was a patch of scarlet on it, and her lips turned purple.

Quan Yu, seeing the scarlet on the handkerchief, found it shocking and immediately knelt down, eyes red, kowtowing to the Crown Prince: "Your Highness... the Princess of Zhen rode a horse all the way from Shuoyang to timely stop Your Highness. Her body couldn’t endure the journey!"

"Quick! Summon the Imperial Physician!" The Crown Prince, looking at the blood on Bai Qingyan’s handkerchief, shouted in alarm.

"Your Highness..." Bai Qingyan seemed afraid the Crown Prince would see, she quickly hid the handkerchief and grasped his wrist, her voice weak, "Your Highness... I’m fine! I took it upon myself to send someone with the antidote to stop Your Highness’s order. I know it’s a capital offense, but even in death, I couldn’t watch the Crown Prince bear the reputation of slaughtering two cities of people..."