Seven black abdomens lean on me

  "Hurry up!" Yan Mo Yu gave a cold stare, unable to tolerate the subordinate who spoke more than women. "Before dawn breaks today, I want to see the White Family's genealogy!"

  Yin Du's mouth twitched violently: "......?! What is grandfather trying to do?!"

  Before dawn? The White Manor is so big, how did he know where the genealogy was placed? It's better to give him some time to investigate the situation of the White Manor first.

  Seeing him still stunned and motionless, Yan Mo added another sentence: "If you can't get the White Family Genealogy before dawn, starting tomorrow, you'll go serve under Old Madam!"

  "Ah?!" Yin Du suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, looking at Yan Mo's icy face, then swiftly exited the study like the wind. "I'll go to the White Manor right away..."

  Sitting in a taishi chair, he stretched out his hand under the desk and accurately pulled out a scroll of painting, placed it on the table, and spread it open.

  Looking at the gentle-eyed woman in the painting, he felt warm for some reason. However, when facing a real person, he inexplicably felt a sense of repulsion.

  The slender fingertips slowly wandered over the painting, tracing the woman's exquisite features one by one, like a gentle caress...

  Mother, why does your portrait seem to be painted by his hand?

  The woman in the painting holds an oil-paper umbrella, looking up at a peach blossom with a serene and pure gaze filled with delight, her smile as gentle as water...

  Mother, why don't you like peach blossoms as much as those in paintings, but instead like pear blossoms?

  。。。。。。

  That night at the fourth watch, Yin Du appeared in the study, almost crawling back, afraid that if he was late, he would be kicked out to work as a servant in the Pear Garden.

  When I held the old and thick family genealogy book, quickly flipped to the last two pages, found the last two generations of the Bai family, was suddenly attracted by a big 'X' that caught all eyes.

  Only below the crossed-out 'X' was written 'Bai Xin Ran', which, in order of seniority, surprisingly came before 'Bai Xin Bi'.

  At this moment, he almost understood something, but when he turned his eyes and thought deeply, he found it was not quite right.

  If he guessed correctly, the woman in Maoshan Village was Bai Xindi, Bai Xinbi's twin sister!

  The genealogy has a brief explanation for the removal of 'Bai Xinran' - because he was born deaf and dumb, an inauspicious person, he was expelled from the Bai clan and drifted outside, living or dying by fate!

  Looking at these simple yet ruthless words, Yan Mo suddenly slammed his fist on the desk, and his tightly closed eyes released a chilling aura.

  It is reasonable to say that such things have happened more or less in many families, children who are not healthy are almost always seen as a disaster star, and their families will shun them, and some even drown the child at birth to show separation from the disaster.

  But for some reason, thinking of that woman's life, even the pigs and dogs raised in ordinary families are not as good as hers, his heart inexplicably felt sour and stuffy...

  What puzzled him most was that if she was indeed Bai Hanzhi's daughter, 'Bai Xindian', why could she speak and had sharp ears and eyes, as well as being eloquent?

  'Bai Xin Ran' was expelled from the White family at the age of two, I ask you, would a two-year-old child have such a heavy heart to pretend to be deaf and dumb?

  Living in the White House with a life of luxury, she'd be an idiot if she pretended to be deaf and dumb!

  And that woman is no fool!

  What is 'Bai Xin Ran' after all and how can she talk? If that woman was not 'Bai Xin Ran', why does she look so similar to Bai Xin Bi?

  Furrowing his brow, the more he thought about it, the more incomprehensible it became, as if he had gotten himself entangled in a ball of fog. The only thing that could be explained was that Bai Xin suddenly became normal on a certain day!

  Bai Han has always wanted to curry favor with himself, and now he has even won over his mother, wanting to marry Bai Xinbi into the Cheng Wangfu. Since he wants to curry favor with himself, then so be it. As for who he wants to marry...

  "Grandfather? Grandfather?! What's wrong with you? What use do you have for the Bai family's genealogy?" Yin Du looked at the man sitting behind the desk with a puzzled and worried expression, his eyes cast downward and his face cold.

  He came to himself, raised his eyelids and swept a glance over them. His fingers lightly tapped on the table top before he suddenly said: "I will personally select the main mistress for you all, how about that?"

  "......?! Yin Du was shocked, pointing at the master's hand holding the Bai family tree, trembling, "Master, don't tease me anymore, there is only one adult woman in the Bai family this generation, White Xinbi, what else can you choose? Are you going to raise a young girl from the Bai family as a child bride in the mansion? Moreover, you clearly know that Bai Han's heart is not pure, and you still want to marry a woman from the Bai family. Master, it's not that I'm speaking out of turn, but this is purely seeking trouble for yourself!"

  Suddenly, the inkstone was slapped onto the palm of my hand on the table with a loud thud. The white family tree flew straight towards Yin Du's forehead.

  Yin Du quickly dodged and swiftly pinched the white family register with two fingers, a pleased smile spreading across his face as he sat down: "Heh heh~"

  Dad always uses this trick!

  "Return the genealogy to the White Manor and come back before dawn!" The man ordered with an expressionless face.

  Yin Du was stunned, his face suddenly turned bitter, this time he didn't say any nonsense, and directly took out the White Family Genealogy from the window and jumped out.

  It's less than an hour before dawn, and Grandpa is obviously playing a trick on him! How despicable...

  After dawn

  After finishing the morning court, I was just about to head to the imperial study when I ran into Third Prince Pongdeok Wang Siyeol, who had just returned from outside the capital, coming from the other end of the garden. It seemed like he too was headed for the imperial study.

  His gaze swept over Feng De's perfectly fine legs, and with a hint of irony in his tone, he greeted: "It's been a year since we last met, and I see that King Feng De's leg injury has healed. Truly a joyous occasion."

  Xia Lixun wore a crane robe, elegant and noble, with narrow and long eyes often half-closed, giving people an impression of being aloof and arrogant.

  Looking at the jade-crowned absolute beauty in front of him, Xia Lixun suddenly hooked his lips and smiled: "Thanks to Cheng Wang's blessing, this king's leg disease can recover so quickly."

  He seemed to be smiling, but I still caught a glimpse of coldness flashing in his eyes.

  "Feng De Wang is also going to the Imperial Study? Why don't we go together?"

  Upon hearing this, Xia Lixuan suddenly withdrew his smile, slightly raised his chin and refused, saying: "No, since Cheng Wang has something to discuss with Father Emperor, then I won't go disturb him. Going later to pay respects to Father Emperor is the same. Please, Cheng Wang."

  Without another word, Mo Yu nodded slightly and walked towards the imperial study with his hands behind his back.

  Watching that departing back view, Xia Lixun couldn't help but grind his teeth, and the hand behind him clenched into a tight fist.

  Damn it, Cheng Wang...

  Inside the study

  Xia Gao took the folded paper from the eunuch's hand and presented it to him, but after glancing at it for a moment, he closed it again. The dragon's face was filled with confusion: "What does this mean?"

  Yesterday, he confessed to himself that he had a crush on someone, and today early in the morning, he asked for her hand in marriage. The other party is the daughter of the Duke's mansion, a university student. Logically speaking, the eldest daughter of the White Mansion can barely match up with Cheng Wang, but...

  Isn't this change of heart too sudden?

  "I humbly report to Your Majesty, I reflected on it yesterday and felt that Your Majesty's words are indeed reasonable. Marriage is a major matter that should be between families of equal status, and my mother is particularly fond of Miss Bai from the White Manor. I have met this lady and she truly meets my expectations. Therefore, I specially petition to Your Majesty, hoping that you will take charge of this matter for me and grant us this marriage."

  Upon hearing this, Xia Gao nodded his head in satisfaction. This is more like it! If he insisted on marrying that mountain village girl, then he would have a headache.

  He put down the memorial in his hand, and a hint of kindness appeared at the bottom of his eyes. He said: "Your marriage to Miss Bai's daughter is also very promising. However, I cannot force the White family to marry their daughter, this matter requires asking White Qing, only then can I give you an answer."

  Yan Mo cupped his hands and bowed: "Then I'll take my leave of Your Majesty first."

  Having finished with personal matters, Xia Gao immediately turned to official business.

  "What about the matter of Cao Shan Village? Can you expedite the handling?"

  "I shall report back to His Majesty," Yan Mo nodded, "I have already begun handling the matter."

  Xia Gao was quite satisfied and said: "Tell it to Zhen'er and let her listen."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." Yan Mo Yu Su's expression turned solemn as he slowly spoke, "From what I understand, most of the villagers in Mao Shan Village are unaware of the existence of the arms forge and also know nothing about the smuggling of arms. Everything is being manipulated by someone in secret, using Mao Shan Village's location to conceal the arms forge. I have not sent people to search Mao Shan Village extensively, but rather had them monitor every household in the village. Now, Mao Shan Village has been surrounded by the You Lin Military Unit, and all roads have been sealed off, not allowing anyone to enter or exit. In this way, except for the villagers of Mao Shan Village who can be self-sufficient and unaffected, others will definitely reveal their tracks due to lack of food in no time. The arms forge will definitely fall without a fight."

  "This is very good." Upon hearing this, Xia Gaoming nodded in satisfaction, with a deep and dense look of approval in his eyes. "In the near future, you can go to Maoshan Village again, be sure to urge the Youlin Army to do their best not to make it difficult for the innocent villagers, as for those who participate, they must be severely punished, if there are those who dare to rebel in public, kill them. Don't come back to report to me!"

  "Yes, Your Majesty!"

  。。。。。。

  Soon after, in the same imperial study, Grand Scholar Bai Han was summoned into the palace for an audience.

  "White Lord, I've heard that you have a legitimate daughter in your household, who is only twenty years old, with beauty surpassing others and exceptional talent. Is there something going on?"

  Bai Han nodded slightly and replied humbly: "Your Majesty, I am clumsy, those are just outsiders' mistaken praises for me."

  Xia Gaotiao's eyebrows rose: "So you really have a pair of 10-year-old daughters who haven't even married yet?"

  Bai Han nodded again: "Yes!"

  Xia Gao's eyes gleamed with a hint of delight, but his face remained stern: "What if I were to betroth my daughter to you, would you agree?"

  Bai Han asked with a slightly tense and cautious tone: "Your Majesty's great kindness is the good fortune of my humble family... Forgive me for being bold, but may I ask which household Your Majesty has chosen for my younger sister?"

  Seeing this, Xia Gao also stopped beating around the bush. Since it was confirmed that the White Mansion had such a legitimate daughter and was also favored by Cheng Wang, this marriage naturally became a done deal in his mind. So he straightforwardly asked: "I intend to marry your White Mansion's legitimate daughter to Cheng Wang as his wife, what do you think, Minister Bai?"

  Upon hearing this, Bai Han let out a sigh of relief and was overjoyed. This was the marriage he had sought but couldn't obtain, now proposed by the Emperor himself; how could he possibly disagree?!

  Kneeling on the ground, Bai Han lightly knocked his head against the stone floor and joyfully thanked: "Your humble servant is thanking Your Majesty for the great kindness bestowed upon my little daughter! Long live Your Majesty, long live, long live!"

  After Bai Han walked away quietly, Xia Gao let the palace people grind ink and was about to pick up his brush when he suddenly realized that he had forgotten to ask the name of the woman from the White family.

  He put down his brush and reopened the memorial to the throne that Cheng Wang had submitted, nodding as he looked at the names written on it.

  White heart stains...