Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 516

Chapter 516: Chapter 513: Standing on Invincible Ground - Part 1

After the last incident with Commandery Princess Gaoyi, they had understood well enough that the people of Bai Mansion were Princess of Zhen’s inverse scale.

They saw Li Mao’s features tense up under the flickering candlelight, as both strategists looked at him, awaiting his decision.

Li Mao pondered for a long time, rubbing the corner of his clothes. Finally, he made up his mind and looked up at the counselor in blue: "Ziyuan, I need you to personally go to Shuoyang at once without delay! Once you arrive, assess the situation accordingly. If the Princess of Zhen merely sends back the heads without further action, then proceed as you see fit."

Li Mao’s meaning was clear. If Bai Qingyan only sent the heads back as a warning, he wanted the counselor in blue, known as Ziyuan, to find leverage against Bai Qingyan by contacting the Shuoyang Bai family clan members if possible.

The counselor in blue, Cai Ziyuan, understood why Li Mao wanted him to go. It was his idea in the first place!

Sending him was also a way for Li Mao to ask for forgiveness and to be at the mercy of the Princess of Zhen.

After a moment of surprise, Cai Ziyuan nodded. It was his idea, so it was only right for him to clean up the mess.

Then, he bowed deeply to Li Mao: "I won’t betray the trust you have placed in me, Prime Minister!"

With that, Cai Ziyuan immediately turned and left the study. He ordered someone to prepare a horse... Without even packing, he rode with two guards straight towards Shuoyang City.

The Prime Minister felt uneasy. His eyelids kept twitching.

A white-robed counselor reassured him: "Prime Minister, there’s no need to worry too much. After all, we haven’t done anything yet. The Princess of Zhen sending the heads back to Dadu was likely just a warning. Ziyuan should be able to resolve things by admitting his mistake."

Li Mao pressed down on his twitching eyelid, picked up his teacup, and took a sip: "You should sit..."

"Prime Minister, allow me to speak bluntly. Your plan with Ziyuan to ally with the Bai Clan’s ousted members had some flaws!" said the white-robed counselor as he sat down. "I know you feel uneasy because the Princess of Zhen has leverage over you. However... let’s think from another angle. Nowadays, King Liang thinks you once followed the Second Prince and were secretly his man. If King Liang ascends to the throne in the future, you would naturally be in a position of great power!"

Li Mao looked towards the white-robed counselor, signaling him to continue.

"But you also have leverage over the Princess of Zhen. As long as you don’t touch her inverse scale or even openly assist her, if the Crown Prince ascends to the throne in the future, you would still be seen as part of his faction no matter what. As a woman far from the royal court, she would surely want to make sure that a high-ranking courtier like you, whom she has leverage over, remains in power to help her control the Crown Prince."

Li Mao narrowed his eyes. This seemed to make sense.

This was likely why Bai Qingyan hadn’t handed over those letters yet.

She believed that holding those letters gave her control over a high-ranking court official like him, which was more beneficial to her than submitting them and having him killed.

If he were Bai Qingyan, he would have made the same choice when he couldn’t directly influence the court.

"Moreover, we haven’t caused any substantial harm to the Bai family yet. The Princess of Zhen probably didn’t intend to deal with you seriously. Given her nature, if she were to take action, it would be earthshaking. She wouldn’t just send a few heads as a warning," the white-robed counselor continued.

Li Mao felt slightly relieved: "You have a point. So... we’ll make peace with the Princess of Zhen!"