In ancient times, she gave birth to seven daughters and was divorced by her husband's family.

Ru Bao's body stiffened instantly.

Zhao Bingyu's body stiffened instantly.

Ru Bao looked up at Zhou Langya, who disliked her, and burst into tears again, feeling wronged.

Zhao Bingyu didn't hug her this time, probably knowing what she was talking about, as Bai Lu had already explained it before.

Zhao Bingyu pushed her away and questioned her, "Ru Bao, you're so insensible! How could you talk to your sister like that? She's your sister!"

Ru Bao clung to Zhao Bingyu, feeling deeply hurt.

She said with disbelief in her eyes, "Mother, I'm injured now, and you still pushed me."

Your first question wasn't about my injury; you were actually scolding me for being insensible?!

"Am I your daughter, or is Bailu your daughter?"

Zhao Bingyu felt a dryness in her throat and was speechless. After a moment of silence, she said, "You are all my daughters."

"Don't say things like that again,"

"If I ever hear you say something like that again, I'll slap you, you believe me?"

"Waaaaah, Mom doesn't love me anymore, she doesn't love me anymore..."

When Zhao Bingyu saw her daughter crying, she ignored her for the first time and said coldly to Zhou Langya, "General Zhou, I've often heard of you. You are indeed quite different from what I imagined."

"Go and tell His Majesty that I want to see him."

"If you don't tell His Majesty... and instead send Ru Bao and me back to the Western Regions, His Majesty will definitely blame you later."

"Don't forget I'm His Majesty's favorite. I haven't seen His Majesty in all these years."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Langya tied her up with ropes, and the others bound Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao to the ropes.

Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao exchanged a glance, both quite surprised. Just as they were about to say something, their mouths were immediately covered.

Zhou Langya helped them onto the carriage, which then rolled away towards the outskirts of the capital.

Zhou Langya changed into civilian clothes and ran all the way out of the city, and no one dared to stop him.

Upon reaching the city gate, the guards merely glanced at the token in Zhou Langya's hand before immediately allowing him to pass.

As the carriage started to move out, it suddenly saw a figure standing in front of it, a person it recognized very well.

Zhou Langya looked closely and realized it was Bai Yansong.

Zhou Langya was stunned and stopped the carriage there.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to leave either; Bai Yansong has already sent people to intercept them here.

Bai Yansong frowned, turned to look at Zhou Langya, and said coldly, "You're really something, managing to kidnap someone right under the emperor's nose."

Zhou Langya glanced at him and sneered, "Lord Bai is joking. What do you mean by kidnapping people? I just want to leave the city. What are you doing here?"

Zhou Langya's words infuriated Bai Yansong, who was furious: "Look at the state of things now, and you're still spouting nonsense to me? I'm not stupid. Are you just trying to fool me with Bai Lu and the others?!"

"Zhao Bingyu is back. You all know about this, but I'm the only one who doesn't?!"

Zhou Langya frowned slightly: "How did you know Zhao Bingyu was back?"

Bai Yansong couldn't help but laugh in exasperation: "Bai Lu and the Empress Dowager should have been at the front of the wedding banquet to greet the guests, but they were not there."

"And you followed Mu Guiying and the others to patrol the camp outside the capital several times, and you also guarded the daughter that Zhao Bingyu brought with you next to the imperial prison. What does this mean? Is it hard to guess?"

"..."

Zhou Langya's expression changed slightly; their commotion had been a bit too much.

Because if the scale wasn't large, it was uncertain whether they could capture the people Zhao Bingyu brought. Unexpectedly, Bai Yansong noticed it.

It has to be said, they are truly a perfect couple, united in heart and mind.

Zhou Langya sneered and said to Bai Yansong, "So what do you want to do now?"

"Is Zhao Bingyu being transported in your carriage?"

Bai Yansong said to Zhou Langya with some eagerness, "I want to see her."

"See what?!" Zhou Langya rolled his eyes, which infuriated Bai Yansong.

"How dare you, a junior, roll your eyes at me!"

Why can't I flip it?

Zhou Langya rolled his eyes at him again and said bluntly, "I don't think much of you. It's because you weren't very nice to Zhao Bingyu."

"He previously favored his concubine over his wife, and wasn't very good to his own son and daughter either! I hate this kind of person the most!"

Zhou Langya said directly to Bai Yansong, "Get out of the way, or we won't be polite. You don't want us to fight, do you?"

"Hey, I'm really going to fight you! I want to see what it's like to fight you!"

Bai Yansong was furious. He put his hands on his hips and said to the people below, "Someone, get Zhao Bingyu out of the carriage!"

The two sides immediately drew their swords and clashed fiercely!

Zhou Langya frowned, instinctively feeling that the commotion he had caused was too great.

With them blocking the city gate like this, the emperor and the three Bai brothers will surely know that Zhao Bingyu is here.

We need to leave quickly; we can't delay any longer. There's no point in confronting them.

The important thing is to send Zhao Bingyu back to the Western Regions as soon as possible.

The two sides clashed, but neither side could gain the upper hand.

Zhou Langya brought a fairly elite group of men, but Bai Yansong brought an even larger number.

The men under Zhou Langya's command did not dare to kill, after all, these were ordinary people, and if someone were to die, wouldn't Zhou Langya be accused of unauthorized military action?

This is not a joke.

Just as the two sides were evenly matched, a horse's neighing sounded outside.

Everyone looked up and exclaimed, "Bai Lu? What brings you here?"

Zhou Langya looked up at Bai Lu and saw her rein in her horse and get off the carriage.

Without saying a word to Zhou Langya and Bai Yansong, she boarded the carriage carrying Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao and headed out of the city.

"???"

Seeing Bai Lu's decisive and efficient departure, Zhou Langya and Bai Yansong were both stunned.

The two of them looked at each other, speechless for a long time.

"This...this rebellious daughter!" Bai Yansong couldn't help but burst into curses.

But everyone has already been taken away, what can I say?

Bai Yansong thought of Zhao Bingyu, his eyes filled with despair, but there was nothing he could do, so he could only let her leave.

"Zhou Langya, I will never forgive you! You actually let my wife go!"

Bai Yansong's eyes turned bloodshot with anger, and he began to curse loudly.

Zhou Langya was speechless, and directly retorted sarcastically: "Fine, fine, then you can be my sworn enemy. I'd like to see how you manage to be my sworn enemy."

"Stop pretending to be infatuated. If you were really that infatuated, why would you have gone to the Xie family in the first place?!" He directly exposed Bai Yansong's scandalous affairs.

Bai Yansong was so angry at Zhou Langya's words that he almost fainted: "Outrageous! Outrageous! This is utterly disrespectful!"

"I'd like to see how you'll explain yourself to His Majesty after letting Zhao Bingyu go like this! Humph!"

After Bai Yansong finished speaking, he turned around and left in anger.

Zhou Langya looked at Bai Yansong's back and smiled faintly: "A man like you... all you know how to do is pretend to be affectionate behind someone's back."

"If you liked her so much, why did you let her down in the first place?"

"?????"

Bai Yansong was so angry that his face turned blue and purple, but Zhou Langya was right, and he couldn't refute a single word.

He was so angry he was practically unrecognizable, so he turned and left, muttering, "That wretched child!!"

"Who are the people Bai Lu is hiring?!"

"Bai Lu's friends are all such freaks! I'm so angry!"

Bai Yansong returned to the Bai family home in a huff.

......

The Imperial Palace. In the Imperial Study, the Emperor lay fast asleep on his dragon throne.

He was sleeping soundly when the chubby Steward Li rushed in.

He cautiously observed the emperor, pondering whether or not to tell him about Zhao Bingyu's visit.

You think... if we tell the emperor, won't he feel like he's been woken up and scold us?

But... what if we don't tell the emperor? Won't the emperor think that he didn't tell him the news right away?

After all, Marquis Anguo had already left the city with Zhao Bingyu and her daughter Rubao.

Oh my goodness, something just isn't right about him... Manager Li's forehead was covered in sweat.

Just then, a leisurely voice suddenly came from behind: "What are you doing here?"

Chief Steward Li was startled. He turned around and saw the Empress standing behind him.

"Your Majesty!" Oh dear, he said to the Empress as if he had seen a savior, "Your Majesty, this...this servant heard that Lady Zhao has arrived."

The Empress's pupils contracted; she naturally knew about this, but she couldn't reveal it now.

She coughed twice and said to Steward Li, "How did you know she was here? What exactly happened?"

Chief Steward Li then recounted in detail what had just happened outside the city: "...At that time, General Zhou was fighting with the men under Lord Bai's command. The two sides were fighting fiercely, my goodness, it almost turned into bloodshed!"

"If someone is killed, will His Majesty punish them or not when he wakes up?"

"This matter is of utmost importance! This servant truly does not know... whether or not to inform His Majesty!"

"But His Majesty is sleeping right now... and Lady Zhao has also been taken away by Marquis Anguo..." He was so anxious he was practically on fire. "Marquis Anguo is intolerant of any dissent. If he takes Lady Zhao away, who knows what he might do!"

"After all, she is the Marquis of Anguo's biological mother. If she does something... what will happen to her reputation?!"

The Empress smiled slightly and said to Chief Eunuch Li, "Here's what you'll do. You may leave now. I will naturally speak to the Emperor about this matter."

"This..." Chief Steward Li was stunned when he heard the Empress's words. He then saw that Hongying, who was by the Empress's side, had come over and invited him to leave without giving him a chance to explain.

"Chief Steward Li, Her Majesty the Empress has her own plans. You needn't get in the way. Her Majesty has something to discuss with His Majesty."

"Don't worry, don't worry, Madam Zhao is, after all, the mother of Marquis Anguo... Could she really do something to Madam Zhao?"

"At most, Marquis Anguo will just take her away to keep the young masters of the Bai family from knowing about her existence. Don't worry." With that, Steward Li was half-persuaded and half-forced away.

Seeing how decisively Chief Eunuch Li left, the Empress calmly sat in the Imperial Study and took a sip of tea.

She didn't even bother to wake the emperor; instead, she slowly took out the medicine she had given herself before the White Dew solar term and sprayed it into the air.

"..."

The emperor was almost unconscious during the morning court session the next day.

It was Chief Eunuch Li who came over and woke the drowsy emperor, saying anxiously, "Oh, Your Majesty, why are you sleeping here?!"

"The court session has begun!!"

"!!!"

"Holy crap? Get out of here!" The emperor was so frightened that he immediately got up and went to the morning court.

As for other matters, we can discuss them later, since nothing is more important than the morning court session.

By the time he finished attending the morning court session, the sky was already dazzlingly white.

By this time, Bai Lu had been out with Zhao Bingyu for a whole day, and it was too late for anything.

As noon approached, Chief Eunuch Li quietly asked the emperor, cautiously saying, "Your Majesty, you haven't yet said how to handle the matter of Marquis Anguo."

The emperor, dressed in his court robes, was somewhat bewildered: "What about the Marquis of Anguo? I haven't heard of it."

Upon hearing this, Chief Eunuch Li's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and he hurriedly shrieked at the emperor, "Oh dear, Your Majesty, didn't the Empress tell you yesterday?"

"What did the Empress say to me?" The Emperor opened his eyes, his heart skipped a beat, and said, "Tell me quickly! What happened?"

Chief Steward Li was so frightened he was unrecognizable. He hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty... Marquis Anguo took her mother Zhao Bingyu and her younger sister Rubao from the Western Regions and left the city yesterday... We don't know what they went there for."

"What? Zhao Bingyu is here?" The emperor was shocked and couldn't help but exclaim, "Why would she come?!"

The emperor only learned of this news then.

He belatedly realized that the Empress must have deliberately helped Bailu stall for time yesterday.

Sigh... He rubbed his head, feeling a little dizzy, and his angry demeanor had vanished.

Moreover, having finally come back to life, he couldn't very well vent his anger on the Empress.

Besides, Zhao Bingyu's position in his heart is not as high as before; he still feels more sorry for Bai Lu.

He truly hadn't expected Zhao Bingyu to become so despicable.

The image of my ideal woman that I once held in my heart has gradually faded.

He rubbed his head, and after a long silence, he only said one sentence: "Where is Bailu now? Is Bailu alright?"

Then the head steward, Li, hurriedly said, "This...this servant doesn't know either. They've been gone for a day and a night."

"Then no one went after them?" The emperor, unable to contain his anger any longer, roared, "Are you all dead? You just let a young girl like Bai Lu take Zhao Bingyu and Ru Bao away by herself. Aren't you worried about her?"

"..." Steward Li fell silent. With Bai Lu's martial arts skills and her prestige in the entire Great Wu, what could possibly happen to her?

She could go out alone and even lead a rebel army back to overthrow the emperor. Why would the emperor be afraid of her getting into trouble outside?