Bai Wenshan couldn't help but sigh.
Perhaps this was truly a destined tribulation in her life.
"Do you still remember Xu Yanci? After he left Jinzhong, he somehow went north and became an advisor to Jiang Yushen. When he learned that Baozhu had become Marshal Zhang's wife, he harbored thoughts of revenge."
"He knew that Jiang Yushen and Marshal Zhang were in a cooperative relationship, but they also kept each other in check. So he used Baozhu's past experiences as a bargaining chip and told Jiang Yushen."
"He wanted to use this to turn Baozhu against him, making her their planted spy by Marshal Zhang's side."
"Who knew... Baozhu had a fierce temper. She didn't want to be threatened and felt that Marshal Zhang treated her well, just wanting to peacefully be the Marshal's wife.
Therefore, before our people could make a move, she took advantage of the chaos and shot Jiang Yushen."
Originally, they had arranged for a sniper to shoot Jiang Yushen and then frame Marshal Zhang of the Fengtian clique.
Who knew that before their people could act.
Bai Baozhu couldn't hold back anymore.
"Then... how was she killed by the people around Jiang Yushen?"
Bai Wenshan sighed, "This child could not overcome the hurdles of love and trusted the wrong person. It wasn't the people around Eldest Young Master Jiang who did it; it was Marshal Zhang who made the move."
"What?!" Bai Liuyue was utterly shocked.
"Baozhu poured her heart out to Marshal Zhang, saying she could use her own abilities to help him become the hegemon of the new Republic."
"Unfortunately, Marshal Zhang thought she was just joking.
He usually indulged her, but who knew she would be so bold as to touch the eldest son of the Presidential Palace. Moreover, he heard from others about her past relationship with Xu Yanci."
"Unable to tolerate a single grain of sand in his eye, he made his move against her."
Bai Wenshan also didn't expect that letting Xu Yanci go back then would cause such a massive disaster.
Although everything went more or less according to their plan, the executor changed from the sniper they secretly sent to Bai Baozhu.
This also led to a series of subsequent events that triggered her death.
Bai Liuyue pressed, "What about Xu Yanci?"
"He was just a fence-sitter. He thought that with Jiang Yushen dead, he could still go to Marshal Zhang's side, but he was killed along with her."
It was deeply lamentable.
Bai Baozhu thought she had bypassed the tragic fate of her past life, but unfortunately, the path she chose for herself was still a dead end.
Why did she always have to tie her fate to men?
If, after divorcing Xie Chengxiao, she had chosen to stay home and continue organizing the poetry society, or gone to work as an editor at a newspaper, focusing on her career and speaking up for women.
Could she have rediscovered her own light?
Instead of this—divorcing a young marshal and thinking that marrying a powerful marshal would bring a new ending.
As for her old flame, Xu Yanci, her momentary soft-heartedness brought her a second devastating disaster.
...
Bai Baozhu's funeral was not a grand affair.
Yet, many people attended.
Xie Manyu also rushed over from the Northwest. First, to reunite with her father, Xie Zhenning, who was staying here, and second, because she and Bai Baozhu were acquaintances after all.
Now that the person was dead, who was originally right or wrong didn't seem so important anymore.
She just wanted to see her off.
Bai Liuyue saw that Xie Manyu had lost quite a bit of weight; her facial features had become more defined and heroic, and her overall aura had matured significantly.
In this immense upheaval in the Northwest, she was the one who transformed the fastest.
"Liuyue."
Despite just noting how much she had matured, the moment Xie Manyu saw her, she still trotted over and threw her arms around her.
She sobbed:
"Why didn't you tell me earlier about the secret hidden in the detective novel you gave me when we parted?"
At that time, when the Xie siblings returned to the Northwest, Bai Liuyue had given her a novel.
Hidden inside were clues about Xie Zhenning's faked death.
Unfortunately, the two Xie siblings encountered a massive upheaval as soon as they returned to the Northwest. Xie Manyu was too heartbroken and had no time to read it.
It wasn't until her brother gathered his forces, reclaimed their territory, and prepared to lead a group north to bomb the Presidential Palace that Xie Manyu, idling at home, finally had the chance.
Only then did she read the clues from this novel.
She was both shocked and overjoyed.
She wanted to quickly send a message to her brother to tell him the good news that their father wasn't dead.
Unfortunately, Xie Chengxiao acted too fast.
He had already bombed the Presidential Palace.
Word had it that President Jiang was shot and Eldest Young Master Jiang fled to Jinzhong.
Even if Xie Manyu wanted to stop it, she couldn't. Fortunately, her brother had been safe and sound during his stay in Peiping.
Thinking about it now, it must have been Liuyue who helped him evade the investigation.
"Alright, stop crying. Isn't your dad alive and well?"
"Besides, this matter was planned very secretly. Other than the people involved, only Pei Yu and I knew about it. The more people who know, the easier it is to be exposed. Luckily, the outcome is good now."
Bai Liuyue patted her shoulder.
Xie Manyu wiped away her tears, muttering in confusion:
"Liuyue, why did you partner up with a big fool like Pei Yu? He's so unreliable."
"It's exactly because everyone thinks Pei Yu is foolish and incapable of setting a trap that he is the safest choice." Bai Liuyue curled her lips slightly.
Xie Manyu nodded thoughtfully, "That makes sense."
Not far away, Pei Yu also heard this conversation.
He felt as if he had taken a bullet to the chest. Covering his face, he said, "I'm really not stupid, why doesn't anyone believe me?"
Xie Chengxiao spoke coldly:
"You're not stupid. You even dared to hide such a huge matter from me."
Seeing Xie Zhenning chuckling beside him, he couldn't care less about respecting his elders and glared at him in dissatisfaction, saying:
"And you, Dad! You actually dared to do something like this."
"Faking your death—do you have any idea that our Xie family's territory was almost truly lost?"
Xie Zhenning rubbed his nose and said somewhat guiltily:
"Well, it wasn't lost after all! Besides, I believe my son is capable. Since you've already taken over, you can be Marshal Xie from now on."
"Your second auntie and I can finally relax and enjoy ourselves."
The second concubine, Lan Yingniang, had just placed a bouquet of small daisies in front of the tombstone before turning back to the father and son.
She smiled, gazing into the distance with a complex expression, and said:
"Back then, Bai Baozhu did use me to threaten your father. But a pity, after locking me in an abandoned warehouse, she somehow regretted it."
"And let me out again."
Pei Yu hit the nail on the head, "The way I see it, she couldn't succeed in being a good person, and she wasn't ruthless enough to be a truly bad person."
Xie Chengxiao sighed.
"If I had let her and Xu Yanci go back then and allowed them to elope, perhaps they would have been happy?" Even if it meant he, as her husband, was cuckolded.
Bai Liuyue shook her head and said, "The outcome of Bai Baozhu and Xu Yanci being together was also unsatisfactory."
Pei Yu poked his head over curiously.
"Sister Liuyue, how do you know?"
She pursed her lips into a smile and replied, "I dreamt about it."
Xie Manyu shook her head slightly and asked, "Then what choice would have been the right one?"
Bai Liuyue repeated the words she had said to Bai Baozhu that day.
"Never pin your sense of security on another person, no matter who they are. The only one who can give you true security is yourself."
