After being forced to leave the marriage, I became the wife of a top scholar.

Chapter 11 Bao Si is dead!

The next day, Bai Wanqing heard from the servants that Bai Qinglian had thrown a huge tantrum the day before after learning that she had successfully returned to the Bai family. She even went to her father's place to complain. Her father tried to persuade her for a long time but couldn't do anything about it. In the end, he finally managed to coax her back by saying a few soft words.

"Miss, you should listen to less of this gossip. Everyone in the Bai family is happier than angry when they hear you're coming back. Don't let those few exceptions upset you."

Bai Wanqing smiled. How could she not know that Ruixin was comforting her? Now everyone in the household knew that she had divorced the Meng family and they were all gossiping about her in private.

Some people spoke up for her, saying that the Meng family was ungrateful and snobbish.

However, some people say that Bai Wanqing herself was incompetent and failed to win her husband's heart.

With so many rumors circulating within the government, one can only imagine what people outside will say.

"It's normal for Qinglian to throw a tantrum, after all, my affairs have indeed had some impact on her, and I can understand that. As for the others, I don't care, your young lady isn't that fragile."

When Bai Wanqing said she didn't care, she really didn't care. She then took out her mother's notes and immersed herself in the world of herbs, thinking that when she went to the clinic in a couple of days, she could exchange ideas with the doctors.

However, while some people don't care, others will.

After Meng Zhan moved out of the Bai family's house yesterday, all the neighbors on both sides saw it with their own eyes.

Fearing embarrassment, they quickly boarded the carriage, but finding a place to stay was not so easy. Meng Zhan had no choice but to settle Fang Shi in an inn first, and then go out alone to look for a place to stay.

The Meng family didn't have much money, but even though Meng Zhan now held an official position, he could easily find a courtyard where people would let him stay.

Being kicked out of the house by Ke He was already humiliating enough; if word got out that Lord Meng had to borrow a place to stay, he would be even more embarrassed.

Fortunately, Meng Zhan was familiar with his former employer before he got married, and the employer's courtyard had been empty. Fortunately, he hadn't lived there for long, so Meng Zhan rented the courtyard again.

The next day, when Fang got out of the carriage and saw that they had returned to the old hut, she was extremely unwilling.

"Zhan'er! Are we living here again?" Although Fang had suffered hardships, she had lived a good life since moving into Fude Garden. Coming back, she felt a sense of loss.

“Mother, we’re just staying here temporarily. Let’s make do for a few days!” Meng Zhan advised Fang Shi.

Not wanting to put her son in a difficult position, Mrs. Fang nodded.

She instructed Meizhu to move all the things inside, and in no time the cramped little house was filled with things. When the few of them stood inside, there was no room to even turn around.

Fang felt oppressed and blamed it all on Bai Wanqing. "It was all my fault for being blind back then. I thought the eldest daughter of the Bai family was gentle and virtuous. I never expected her to be so vicious and venomous, kicking us out directly."

Meng Zhan simply listened without responding. He didn't want to get involved with Bai Wanqing anymore; Liu Feifei was the most important person to him right now.

Yesterday, he informed Feifei that they had divorced, and he should now prepare to propose to the Liu family.

On the other side, in the backyard of the prefect of Huaizhou.

Liu Feifei was overjoyed to receive the message from Meng Zhan!

"Xiao Cui, Meng Lang has already severed ties with that Bai family so quickly. He must be sincere towards me, right?" Liu Feifei asked the maid beside her with a sweet smile.

"It's true, of course it's true." The maid was also happy for her young mistress. These past few days, the young mistress had been clashing with the master because of this matter, unable to eat or sleep properly. Now she could finally relax.

"Xiao Cui, quickly get me some paper and pen!" Liu Feifei called out.

Xiao Cui handed her paper and pen, and Liu Feifei quickly finished writing a letter, "Send him to Meng Lang!"

"We also need to make preparations here, because Meng Lang will probably come to propose marriage in a couple of days."

Liu Feifei was in a great mood. She also planned to tell her father the news as soon as possible. Her father said that Meng Zhan was a selfish person. Her father was wrong. Her Meng Lang was clearly a kind and righteous person.

After sorting through her mother's notes for a long time, Bai Wanqing finally managed to organize them all. Just then, Uncle Liu rushed in from outside the courtyard.

"Young Miss!" Uncle Liu's face was solemn, and he was covered in sweat from running.

Bai Wanqing's heart sank; something must have happened. "Uncle Liu, don't worry, tell me slowly!"

Uncle Liu wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and said, "Miss, we have news about Bao Si, whom you asked me to find!"

"Really? Is he still in the mine? Is there any way to get him out?" Bai Wanqing was overjoyed. Although Bao Si was a page she bought from a slave trader, he was about the same age as her younger brother, and she had always treated him like a younger brother.

Uncle Liu shook his head helplessly, "Miss, the four people in the package are gone!" "Gone?" Bai Wanqing stood up in shock. Although she was surprised, it seemed that everything made sense.

When Meng Zhan sold Bao Si to the mine, he already planned to kill Bao Si, wanting to make his secret disappear from the world forever.

Ha! When this man gets ruthless, he no longer cares about even the closest people to him.

"Have you found Bao Si's body? We'll send him back to his hometown and give his family a sum of money as compensation." Bai Wanqing's handkerchief was creased from being tightly clenched; she was truly heartbroken.

"The body has been found! But it was completely unrecognizable. It looks like he was tortured to death. Those people in the mine are practically bandits," Uncle Liu sighed repeatedly.

"Then let's cremate Bao Si. Uncle Liu, please prepare some money. I want to make a trip to Bao Si's hometown."

“Miss, you can leave this matter to me. There’s no need for you to go in person.”

Bai Wanqing insisted, "Uncle Liu, if someone ever finds my brother's body, I hope to meet that person in person, even if it's just once."

Mentioning Bai Chengdong, young master, Uncle Liu's eyes also reddened.

"I understand! I'll go prepare right away." Uncle Liu said and then left.

Bai Wanqing looked out the window and recalled the scene when she went to the human slave shop that day.

"Madam Meng, these are all new people who arrived in the last two days. They are all quite young, clever and quick-witted. You may choose any of them."

Although Bai Wanqing came from the Bai family, she was handling the purchase of servants for the first time. She never expected that such a small brokerage firm would have so many children.

"Were these children all sold here by their parents?" Bai Wanqing asked.

"That's right. These children are pitiful. Their parents are useless and have had many children. They can't afford to raise them, so they send them to be sold. But some are not forced. They are professionals who give birth to children and sell them for money so that their parents can enjoy a period of happiness. In short, there are all kinds of children, and each has their own misfortune."

The slave traders were used to this. Bai Wanqing looked at the group of children in front of her, their clothes were tattered, and their little faces were covered in dust. Several of the children reached out to her, wanting some food.

There was only one little boy, sitting quietly in the corner. He looked very young, maybe a little over ten years old.

When the slave trader saw that Bai Wanqing had noticed the boy in the corner, he began to sell him, "Madam Meng, this child was just brought here in the last two days. He is well-behaved and definitely not sick."

As the slave trader introduced himself, the boy looked up at the beautiful woman in front of him with some fear.

He looked Bai Wanqing up and down. Her elegant and virtuous appearance showed no airs of a lady, and she resembled his older sister quite a bit.

"Sister!" the boy suddenly cried out.

Upon hearing those two words, Bai Wanqing shuddered, recalling the image of her younger brother affectionately calling her "sister."

"Sister!" the boy called again before Bai Wanqing snapped out of her daze. "Then let's go with him!"

Bai Wanqing took the boy home. Originally, Bai Wanqing wanted the boy to help the housekeeper handle the affairs of the Meng family's front yard.

But the boy seemed to be very interested in reading, and Meng Zhan happened to be short of a page, so she suggested that Meng Zhan take the boy with him. She had also specifically instructed Meng Zhan to take good care of him, saying that he might be a good student, and even if he couldn't pass the imperial examinations, he could still become a manager.

But who would have thought that he would stumble upon Meng Zhan's shameful deeds and be tortured to death by Meng Zhan.

Unbeknownst to her, Bai Wanqing's face was already covered in tears.

In this world, sometimes where can you even seek justice?

The next day, Liu Bo prepared the money and goods to take to Bao Si's house, and together with Bai Wanqing, they rode in a carriage to Bao Si's hometown.

Bai Wanqing was already prepared to face the Bao family; she knew that no family could bear such news.

After running for half a day, the group entered Qingshan Village.

Bao Si's family lived at the foot of Qingshan Village. When they arrived, a woman was cooking over a fire.

Upon seeing a large carriage and two richly dressed people at the entrance, they immediately became alert.

"What brings you here?"

(End of this chapter)