Thirteenth Lady's Comback: Her Everyday Life as a Bystander-Chapter 345 - 25: Terrifying Deduction (2 Updates)
Early the next morning, Susu got up early. Today was Aunt Qin’s fortieth birthday. Since Commander Liu was not at home, Aunt Qin was not preparing to hold a big banquet, just a simple meal with family and close friends.
Susu had received the invitation half a month ago and naturally had been preparing in advance.
In addition to what Susu learned yesterday, she ate breakfast and then rode a carriage to the Liu Mansion.
Mrs. Zhao and Qin Miao would definitely be there, and they were always accompanied by the Qin family’s hidden guards. Susu needed to know what exactly was going on now.
Upon arriving at the Liu Mansion, Mrs. Sun directly led Susu into the main room to meet with Mrs. Qin.
Aunt Qin, Sister An, Sister Zhen sat to the side, Aunt Zhao and Qin Miao were there too, as well as Xuan, whom Mrs. Qin gave birth to, and a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old young man.
Judging by appearance, it should be Mrs. Zhao’s third son. Unlike his two handsome brothers, this one seemed like a son from a military family.
Susu had just wanted to pay her respects, but Mrs. Qin stopped her, "No need for formalities, I’m just happy you could come. I would’ve thought you’d rest well at home."
Susu then greeted Mrs. Zhao and Qin Miao, guessing Aunt Qin had already informed Mrs. Zhao about Susu, so Aunt Zhao quickly said, "Sit down, we are all family, no need for such formalities."
Sister Zhen, who wasn’t aware Susu was pregnant, asked worriedly, "Mom, what about Sister Su?"
Mrs. Qin looked at Susu’s blushing face and laughed, "Next year, you’ll be an aunt!"
Everyone present, aside from Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Zhao, was unaware of this matter,
and they all stood up to congratulate Susu.
Since it wasn’t a grand banquet and only close family were invited, Mrs. Qin let Sister An and Sister Zhen handle the dishes for the birthday feast.
After seeing Susu, the two went to work, and the room’s atmosphere gradually became serious, even little Xuan’s face tensed up.
"I heard you went to the other courtyard yesterday?" Aunt Qin asked, pulling Susu to sit beside her.
Susu hadn’t expected that Mrs. Qin hadn’t left a single servant at the other courtyard, yet still got wind of it so quickly, but it wasn’t thrilling news, so she just nodded.
"Since Aunt Qin knows I went to the other courtyard, she probably knows why I went."
Mrs. Qin and Mrs. Zhao both looked troubled; Concubine Song’s miscarriage was unexpected to them, and they hadn’t imagined Bai Lili could be so outrageous.
Qin Lang spoke, "I know Susu must have many questions, allow me to explain, it was our oversight."
It turned out, using "Yue Baiyou" as bait that day, indeed caught a few bandits.
They initially thought these bandits were disguised as Bai Family’s people, but unexpectedly they were real bandits.
The hidden guards were startled and knew it was bad news, didn’t expect Bai Lili to be so cunning.
She must have leaked the news that Yue Baiyou was carrying a large sum of money, luring the true bandits, then planning a black-on-black plot.
So, even if someone suspected she orchestrated harm against Yue Baiyou, there would be no evidence.
At that time, clearly someone was monitoring Yue Baiyou and his group, hence the Qin family hidden guards could only continue pretending to be escorts hired by Yue Baiyou.
Sure enough, one bandit gang after another emerged.
They had been fooled, could only pretend to be exhausted, discard the treasure, protect Yue Baiyou to break through, then send someone back to report.
After Qin Lang learned of this, when preparing to implement the second plan, he discovered that Prince Ke was getting too close with Bai Family Master Bai Wansan.
It turned out, during this period, not only did Bai Wansan donate twenty thousand taels for military funding but also called on various merchants and families in Hami to donate, under the slogan "stop the enemy outside the national gate, military and people united."
If Governor Qin had not already found something suspicious with the Bai family, one might have recognized him as a benevolent businessman.
And yet before Qin Lang could warn Prince Ke, the once near-deadly ill Miss Bai suddenly became a concubine of Prince Ke, and he received a letter from Governor Qin.
Agents who had painstakingly infiltrated the Tartar finally discovered something potentially related to the Bai family.
Sixty years ago, the then Tartar Khan posthumously honored his young son, who died early, as Prince Yin, and gave him an iron cap hereditary title.
But in the Tartar, all information about Prince Yin seemed deliberately covered up, the Prince’s mansion and descendants were shrouded in mystery, not even publicly known.
If it weren’t for the newly crowned Great Khan Bashahan besieging the Prince Yin’s mansion, allowing entry but no exit, perhaps even the in-house agent who had hidden in Tartar for twenty years wouldn’t have paid attention to this broken-down mansion.
Sixty years later, once again, sixty years had passed, sixty years ago Tartar gained a hidden prince, Hami gained a Bai family.
What made Governor Qin suspicious was a name, Boertiechina Maryka.
Bashahan declared the first queen as Heaven Queen and added a second equal-ranking Earth Queen, the noblewoman soon to be married into the Tartar Royal Palace was Marika Commandery Princess from the Hidden Prince Mansion.
And in the Tartar language, Marika translates to Jasmine in Chinese!
Jasmine, Bai Jasmine, Governor Qin swore by his wartime instincts that there must be a connection between them.
Perhaps, Boertiechina Maryka is Bai Lili, if this hypothesis is true, then Bai Wansan is the current Hidden King.
And the vanished boy of the Bai family, extensive Hami marriages, the Tartar spies from the Old Niu Lamb and Beef Restaurant saying the Bai family cannot be provoked, Bai family having Awakening Incense, even knowing the poisonous fragrance of Chaotic Heart, all become clear.
Their family had hidden within Great Chu for sixty years, even though they had not made any moves, it is unlikely they just wanted to experience life as Great Chu citizens in Hami, right?
Governor Qin has already ordered to closely monitor the Bai family, if any unrest occurs, capture Bai Wansan and Bai Lili alive.
But he never expected, at this moment, the Bai family would raise the flag of a righteous merchant, and Prince Ke would also get involved in it.
After Governor Qin left, Prince Ke temporarily held the Northwestern military command, to mobilize the army, his approval would be needed.
But now, who knows what Prince Ke might do for the throne? Throughout history, it’s not unheard of for princes to betray their country?
Therefore, Qin Lang could only refrain from taking action while secretly investigating, how did Bai Lili become a concubine of Prince Ke?
If she truly is Boertiechina Maryka, then she should be preparing a Death Escape, to return to Tartar and become Bashahan’s Earth Queen.
At this, Susu asked, "You said Bashahan has sent troops to besiege the Hidden Prince Mansion, could it be that the status of the Hidden Prince Mansion in Tartar is similar to Duke Zhen’s Mansion in Great Chu, I mean, neither of you involve yourselves in the struggle for the throne.
And now, Bashahan is forcing this generation’s Hidden Prince to be at his mercy, using the male members of the prince’s mansion as hostages.
If Bai Wansan is truly this generation’s Hidden Prince, then Bai Lili should be a hostage sent to Tartar as leverage after he compromised.
If he refuses Bashahan, Bai Lili’s identity might be disclosed, the Bai family would no longer have a foothold in Great Chu, sixty years of effort would go down the drain.
And now that Bai Lili hasn’t gone to the capital as Bashahan planned, perhaps someone has promised to rescue the Bai family’s clansmen in Shangjing."
Qin Lang, shocked by Susu’s bold speculation, blurted out, "Prince Yong! The one who’s accepted his mother’s remaining influence and is loyal to the former Tartar Khan’s staunch warriors, Prince Yong!"
Qin Miao looked at Susu, then at her brother, also joining the deduction, "What is going on between Prince Ke and the Bai family?"
Susu, Qin Lang, and Qin Miao exchanged glances, speaking in unison, "Prince Ke and Prince Yong have formed an alliance!"
Instantly, the room fell silent.
If this deduction were true, it would be terrifying!
