Traveling through the busy farmland of a peasant girl

Shortly after Bai Jin and Shen Li left, the emperor announced in court that Shen Li from Qingshan County had successfully prayed for rain and had presented her with high-yield grains, earning her the title of Fuxi Xiangjun. He even offered a special meal to the court at the morning court, allowing the officials to taste the dishes and meals made with the three high-yield grains, which amazed and impressed everyone in the court.

Bai Xuanzhou, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Revenue, walked out of the court with brisk steps. The sun seemed to be particularly bright today.

His face was filled with an unconcealable smugness as he thought to himself, "Although this rebellious son violated my arranged marriage and ran off to Qingshan Town, he has made a name for himself. Now he's even appreciated by the Emperor, which is a real honor for my Bai family."

Thinking back to when he left the court, his colleagues gathered around him, their words full of flattery: "Master Bai, you have raised your son well. Your son is so young and promising. He will surely become a great man in the future. The Bai family will be honored."

Bai Xuanzhou responded one by one with false humility, but in fact he was already very happy in his heart.

However, amidst his joy, he couldn't help but complain about Bai Jin: "This brat, he didn't even come home to visit after returning to Kyoto, how unfilial he is."

When Bai Jin's stepmother Li heard about this after returning home, her usually pretty face became extremely ugly and distorted, and her eyebrows were raised in anger.

She paced back and forth in the room, her face flushed red, and the anger in her heart was like a raging flame.

"Humph! That brat, escaping to that barren land, actually dared to act so arrogantly, completely ignoring me."

As she spoke, she slapped the table with such force that her carefully manicured nails broke.

"Someone, come here, drag all the serving maids away and punish them severely. You couldn't even tell me this little bit of news in time. What's the point of keeping you around?" Li was so angry that she took it out on the serving maids.

The little girls were so scared that they knelt down and begged for mercy, their cries and pleas filled the whole room, but Li ignored them completely. She didn't sit down in the chair until the anger in her heart subsided a little, her eyes still revealing unwillingness and resentment.

Li dismissed the servants around her and walked lightly to the antique display case.

She stretched out her hands, tightly grasped the glass bottle, and twisted it with a little force. In an instant, a secret room slowly appeared behind the antique shelf.

Li looked solemnly and looked back and around cautiously. After confirming that there was nothing unusual, he quietly closed the antique shelf.

Entering the secret room, you will find a different world inside.

Li walked straight to an iron cover on the ground, opened it gently, and then jumped into it very nimbly.

Judging from his posture, he is very agile and nimble, and he is actually a man with martial arts skills.

Time passed slowly, and after an unknown amount of time, Li finally emerged from a secret darkroom.

Inside the room, the dim glow of candlesticks flickered, and shadows loomed. A masked figure suddenly turned his head, his voice hoarse and deep, like the tolling of an old bell, piercing the ears.

His eyes widened in anger as he shouted, "You've been sneaking into the Bai Mansion for years. What have you accomplished? Since I took over this mission, you've decimated my many elite troops. You've wiped out most of them, leaving them practically wiped out. And now you still have the nerve to come and see me!"

Li was terrified upon hearing this rebuke. She knelt down and kowtowed with a plop, her words filled with caution: "Master, Bai Jin has always been submissive and timid in front of me. Who could have guessed that this was all a disguise?"

The masked man's rage intensified upon hearing Li's sophistry. He shouted again, "Disguise? How can you disguise a top scholar? Ordering you to arrange his marriage so I can control him will accomplish nothing!"

Besides scheming against the Bai family concubine and being jealous, what else can you do?

After saying this, he was furious. He picked up a teacup and threw it at Li.

Li was so frightened that she didn't dare to dodge. The teacup hit her forehead directly and fell to the ground with a clang, breaking into pieces.

Blood gushed out from the wound on Li's forehead, flowing down her cheek and into her eyes, but she seemed unaware and continued to kneel there motionless.

Seeing this, the masked man seemed to relax a little, and his tone gradually softened. "I will place other people around him. Do you think you can control the Bai Mansion? What about Bai Xuanzhou?"

Li knelt on the ground and replied cautiously: "He was very good to Yu'er and very strict with Bai Jin. But Bai Jin disobeyed his arrangements and went to Qingshan to serve as the county magistrate. Bai Xuanzhou was extremely disappointed in him. Although Yu'er is young, the position of head of the family will definitely belong to Yu'er in the future! We must not delay the master's important affairs!"

After hearing this, the masked man waved his sleeves and Li slowly left the room.

After Li left, the masked man was silent for a long time, then took off the mask. Under the mask was actually a young boy of about 16 years old.

He muttered to himself: "I hope the plan we've been planning for so long won't change! Maybe Shen Li is Beichen's variable? Otherwise, why has everything been going wrong recently?"