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

Chapter 110 What are you doing here?

The coachman breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw how respectful the newcomer was; he had been genuinely worried that someone was coming to cause trouble.

But what puzzled him was that the lady behind him didn't react at all.

Indeed, Bai Wanqing had already recognized the person's identity.

Seeing that Lord Lin in the carriage did not move, Meng Zhan felt a chill and assumed that Lord Lin had not heard him, so he simply repeated himself.

"Lord Lin, I am Meng Zhan, the Assistant Magistrate of Huaizhou. I have come to welcome you."

Meng Zhan spoke loudly this time. Rui Xin glanced at her young mistress and saw that Bai Wanqing remained calm and made no move.

"Miss, should we..."

Bai Wanqing shook her head, "No! My husband has just arrived in Huaizhou and is new to the place. It's not good to offend his subordinates. There's no rush. We can keep quiet for now."

Bai Wanqing knocked on the carriage wall, and the coachman immediately reacted, jumped off the carriage, and jogged directly towards the carriage at the back that was loaded with a lot of luggage.

Upon seeing this, Meng Zhan realized that he might have misunderstood, and he followed the coachman to the back.

That's when I met Lord Lin.

"Lord Lin, I am truly sorry. I hope I did not disturb you just now?"

Lin Yunche had just woken up. He lifted the carriage curtain and glanced at the person below. "Oh! It's Magistrate Meng! What brings you here?"

Meng Zhan paused, of course he was here to make his presence known to his superior!
However, it now seems that the timing was indeed poor. "It was my recklessness. I learned that Your Excellency was coming to Huaizhou today, and I waited at the yamen for quite a while without seeing you, so I came here to wait."

"I was worried that you had a lot of stuff and would definitely need help moving, so I waited here to offer my assistance. What do you think?"

Lin Yunche raised his eyelids slightly, then said lazily, "You are too kind, Magistrate Meng, but I don't have much stuff, and I can handle it myself, so I won't trouble you."

Meng Zhan's heart sank when he was refused, but he and his men respectfully made way for Bai Wanqing's carriage to pass.

The other prefect, surnamed Bi, watched the carriage disappear into the distance before pulling Meng Zhan aside to speak, "Lord Meng, I heard that Lord Lin is from your hometown! Why do you two seem so unfamiliar with each other?"

Bi Tongzhi's tone revealed an undisguised excitement. Meng Zhan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "We are from the same hometown, so Your Excellency should naturally avoid suspicion. Besides, whether the two of us are familiar or not has nothing to do with Lord Bi."

"Since we're both in the same position, we should focus on doing our jobs well. That's the real way to share the burden for our superiors." After saying this, Meng Zhan snorted and left with his men.

Bi Tongzhi stood still, looked at Meng Zhan, then at the prefectural government's residence behind him, and a smile appeared on his lips.

He knew it! How could Meng Zhan be so lucky? He had become the Assistant Magistrate of Huaizhou thanks to Lord Liu's connections. When Lord Liu was dismissed, the person who came to his aid was actually his fellow townsman.

If the two of them had a good relationship before, he probably still wouldn't be able to compare with Meng Tongzhi, but looking at their relationship now, it seems like they have no relationship at all!

Could he possibly be inferior to Meng Tongzhi? Of course not.

Thinking of this, Bi Tongzhi felt much better and left with his men.

Bai Wanqing and her companions were exhausted after a long day's journey. They had their belongings unloaded from the carriage and piled them in the courtyard.

"It doesn't look like it's going to rain today. Let's leave it here for the night and come back to collect it tomorrow." After Bai Wanqing checked all the bundles and confirmed that everything was in order, she told the driver and Ruixin to go and rest.

She heated bathwater for both Lin Yunche and herself, and the two of them took a good bath, finally feeling most of their physical fatigue disappear.

When Lin Yunche returned from his shower, he saw Bai Wanqing combing her hair. He had seen Bai Wanqing after her showers before, but for some reason, he felt she looked more alluring tonight.

Bai Wanqing sat in front of the mirror, noticed Lin Yunche's gaze, and stopped what she was doing, feeling at a loss.

"Husband, are you angry?" Bai Wanqing asked.

Lin Yunche snapped out of his daze, wondering why Bai Wanqing had suddenly said such a thing. Then, thinking of Meng Zhan who had blocked his way earlier, he finally understood.

No wonder he felt a pang of sadness; that's why.
"No!" Lin Yunche's expression had returned to normal, but he still stared intently at Bai Wanqing. "Madam, it seems that Meng Zhan and I will be working together from now on."

"If you really don't want to see him, I'll give you a heads-up and tell him not to come to our house to look for you."

Lin Yunche's heart was pounding, his eyes were bright, hoping that Bai Wanqing would agree immediately not to let Meng Zhan come to the house. It wasn't that he lacked confidence in himself, he was just afraid of disturbing Bai Wanqing.

Bai Wanqing could tell what Lin Yunche was thinking just by glancing at his expression.

"You can decide, my husband." Bai Wanqing did not refuse, and Lin Yunche's mood instantly improved.

"Alright, alright! I'll tell them that if there's anything urgent, they should send a message to the gatehouse. If it needs to be discussed, it should all be done in the small hall at the gatehouse. They shouldn't be allowed into the mansion."

Bai Wanqing: Okay! Anyway, he's the highest-ranking official here, so he gets to call the shots.

However, this was just a figure of speech. After all, the prefect's residence and Meng Zhan's place were not far apart, so it would be difficult for them not to see each other, unless both families were determined to stay home.

The next day, Bai Wanqing and Ruixin started packing their luggage from Huai'an County early in the morning, while Lin Yunche went to the prefectural government office early to familiarize himself with the situation in Huaizhou. The prefect's residence was larger than Bai Wanqing had imagined; it was a binary residence. There weren't many people in their family; there were only two masters, and none of the servants came from the Lin family. She had only brought Ruixin from the Bai family with her.

The place they were living in was bigger now, but there was also more to clean up. The two of them really worked from morning till evening to put away all the things they had brought. The house was not even completely cleaned yet.

“Ruixin, we’ve been busy all day. Let’s not cook for ourselves tonight. Why don’t we go out to eat? And then bring some groceries back for our husbands.” Bai Wanqing put down the rag in her hand and straightened her back as she spoke.

“Yes, Miss, leave the rest to me! I can clean all these places up in one day tomorrow,” Ruixin said.

Bai Wanqing nodded. She agreed because there wasn't much work left to do.

After a quick wash, the two went out. Bai Wanqing still remembered how the carriage had entered yesterday. She led Ruixin toward the most bustling street in Huaizhou City.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Liu Feifei, who was returning from shopping.

She thought to herself, "We live so close, we're bound to run into each other all the time." She just didn't expect to see each other so soon.

When Liu Feifei saw Bai Wanqing appear in Huaizhou City, she was stunned for a moment, and then unconsciously covered her stomach.

Bai Wanqing had just noticed that Liu Feifei's belly was probably eight months along now, and based on her observation, she was likely to give birth in the next couple of days.

Calculate the time! Even though Bai Wanqing already knew, her heart still clenched.

Seeing that Bai Wanqing was looking at her belly, Liu Feifei became even more wary. "Bai Wanqing, I really underestimated you. I didn't expect you to actually chase after your husband all the way to Huaizhou City?"

Bai Wanqing frowned slightly, not wanting to respond to Liu Feifei's words, and then took Ruixin and left.

Seeing that the people were about to leave, Liu Feifei ordered the people around her to stop them.

"They've already chased us all this way, what are you still pretending to be reserved for?"

"Don't think that just because I've lost my father, you can rekindle your relationship with Meng Lang. Meng Lang never loved you, so don't bother him anymore," Liu Feifei warned.

Bai Wanqing turned around and said calmly, "Madam Meng, you've probably misunderstood."

“I came to Huaizhou City with my husband, and I have nothing to do with the Meng Lang you mentioned. Please be careful with your words in the future, Madam Meng.”

Liu Feifei was slightly taken aback. She vaguely remembered that she had indeed heard that Bai Wanqing was engaged to a poor boy from Linjia Village, but what ability did that poor boy have to bring her to Huaizhou?

This is probably some kind of trick Bai Wanqing used.

Bai Wanqing could tell that Liu Feifei didn't believe her, but she didn't care whether she believed her or not. "Madam Meng, although Lord Meng is the Assistant Magistrate of Huaizhou, he can't just stop people from coming and going at will, can he?"

"Or does Madam Meng feel she has this right?"

Liu Feifei suddenly couldn't get an erection. After all, she had grown up in the prefect's mansion and knew a bit about the laws of the Shang Kingdom, so she asked the people around her to step aside.

Bai Wanqing smiled slightly, then left with Ruixin without looking back.

Liu Feifei watched the two figures disappear into the distance, feeling somewhat resentful. Her maid, however, was worried and reminded her, "Madam, you said you were just going for a walk, but it's been long enough. If you don't go back soon, Master will start to worry."

Liu Feifei felt a little better knowing that Meng Zhan was still hers.

For this man, she caused her father to lose his official position. If Meng Zhan eventually abandons her, she can't even imagine what her future will be like.

She touched her belly and then said to the maid beside her, "Xiao Cui, arrange for a few people to keep an eye on Bai Wanqing and see what she's up to in Huaizhou."

Xiao Cui quickly agreed.

Unlike Liu Feifei's gloomy demeanor, Bai Wanqing was now somewhat excited.

“Ruixin, look, we don’t have that in Huai’an County.” Bai Wanqing led Ruixin closer.

"Madam, these are dough figurines. Would you like one?" The shopkeeper, seeing Bai Wanqing's extraordinary demeanor, enthusiastically introduced them.

But Bai Wanqing only looked at it with curiosity and did not intend to buy it.

They were still a bit tired, so they wanted to find a place to fill their stomachs first.

The two walked a few more steps and found a wonton stall to sit down.

Ruixin said to the shop owner, "Boss, two bowls of wontons, please."

The boss seemed to be thinking about something, and Ruixin repeated herself twice before he finally nodded in a daze.

"Here it comes! Here it comes! The wontons are here." It was the first time Bai Wanqing had ever seen such crystal-clear wontons. She was about to ask the owner what method he used, but then she stared at the owner in a daze.

"Miss, has something happened at the owner's house?"

(End of this chapter)