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

Chapter 25: Hot
Meng Zhan and the others went inside, and Madam Du came out as well.

"Wanqing, you've arrived!" Madam Du greeted them warmly, and the surrounding guests all turned to look at the Bai sisters with surprise.

Bai Wanqing seemed oblivious, and proceeded to greet Madam Du as usual, pulling Furong along.

"Mrs. Du!"

"It's cold outside, come in with me!" Madam Du affectionately pulled Bai Wanqing's arm and led her into the backyard.

As soon as she stepped into the backyard, clusters of plum blossoms caught Bai Wanqing's eye. The white snow and red plum blossoms symbolized both purity and delicate beauty.

Seeing that Bai Wanqing liked it, Madam Du smiled and said, "In winter, plum blossoms are the most beautiful, so we invited everyone to come and appreciate them together. I hope you don't think it's inappropriate."

"Mrs. Du, you're too kind!" Bai Wanqing smiled slightly.

Everyone in the backyard flower hall was filled with curiosity, waiting for Madam Du to lead the person in.

Bai Qinglian was more eager to see that person than anyone else at this moment. She had just looked at the young ladies who were not much different from her age, and none of them could match her appearance. She was sure that Young Master Du would be the first to notice her in a moment.

Thinking of this, Bai Qinglian couldn't help but smile.

Then, the people in the flower hall saw Madam Du warmly lead a young lady in, while another young lady followed behind her, not daring to raise her head.

Upon seeing that the visitors were two young ladies, the ladies sitting in the flower hall frowned. Wasn't today's plum blossom appreciation banquet for arranging marriages for Young Master Du? Could it be that Madam Du already had someone she liked?

Which family's daughter is she?

As Bai Wanqing and her group approached, everyone gasped in shock.

This isn't the eldest daughter of the Bai family, but the one who just divorced the Bai family? How did she catch Madam Du's eye?
Madam Du and Bai Wanqing didn't seem to notice the strange looks from the other ladies around them. Madam Du pulled Bai Wanqing to the seats closest to her, saying, "Wanqing, Furong, please sit here!"

At this moment, Chen Shi and Bai Qinglian were even more shocked than the others. They never expected that Madam Du would know Bai Wanqing, and that they seemed to be quite familiar with each other.

Could it be that Madam Du intends to arrange a marriage between Young Master Du and Bai Wanqing? This thought suddenly flashed through Chen's mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Impossible! She had released news of Bai Wanqing's blind date a while ago, but the Du family hadn't made any move.

Although Bai Qinglian felt uneasy seeing Madam Du and Bai Wanqing being so friendly, she knew that the Du family wouldn't take a divorced woman seriously, so she didn't pay any attention to Bai Wanqing, assuming that she had somehow managed to win over Madam Du.

Once the invited guests were all seated, Madam Du began to praise Wanqing, "You all know about my Zhao'er injuring her leg while saving a kitten the other day, right?"

When Madam Du spoke, the other ladies were all taken aback. They had naturally heard about Gu Zhao's fall and injury. After all, Huai'an County was not a large place, and news of any family's incident could quickly spread throughout the county, let alone the Du family's.

Originally, the ladies and young ladies dared not bring up this matter, for fear of offending Madam Du, but unexpectedly, she brought it up herself.

Madam Zhang was the first to react. With a look of concern and pity, she asked, "I heard some servants mention it a few days ago, but I always thought it was just something made up. I didn't expect it to be true. Has Young Master Gu's leg injury healed yet?"

When Madam Zhang spoke up, all the other ladies offered their concern, each one looking even more distressed than the last.

Madam Du seemed to be used to such scenes. She smiled and said, "Thank you all for your concern. Zhao'er's leg has healed and she is now out of danger."

"It's good that it's all better now, but there must be no regrets, right?" Chen had never attended such a banquet before, and when she asked this question, everyone's hearts sank. But Chen hadn't thought that much about it. Her uncle's nephew back home had once broken his leg. Although he received timely treatment, it left a lingering problem, and he had always walked with a limp.

Madam Du's expression also darkened noticeably. She knew that everyone in the neighborhood knew that her Zhao'er had broken her leg while saving a cat, but no one believed that Zhao'er's leg hadn't left any lasting damage.

As a result, many people have been gossiping behind her back lately, and even her former playmates have inadvertently started calling her "little cripple."

But Zhao'er is only undergoing rehabilitation, and her leg is recovering day by day. Madam Du is well aware of this.

Madam Du chuckled softly, "It's not surprising that everyone thinks that way. After all, my Zhao'er did fall quite hard, but her leg is fine and has already healed!"

"It's all thanks to me meeting Miss Bai, Miss Wanqing. If it weren't for her and her grandmaster, my Zhao'er would probably have been left with a chronic illness. So they are the benefactors of the Du family!"

These few words contained a great deal of information. None of the young ladies and wives expected Madam Du to say such a thing. It was clear that she was going to support Bai Wanqing in the future.

In addition, the text mentions Bai Wanqing's grandmaster. Most of the young ladies here don't know who Bai Wanqing's grandmaster is, but many of the ladies do. But, didn't Madam Kou sever ties with Doctor Luo? Why is she suddenly back?

"Madam Du, the ancestor of Miss Bai you mentioned earlier, is it the Divine Physician Luo?" Madam Hu's family owned a jewelry store, and her father was the magistrate of Huai'an County, so her status and position were self-evident. Unfortunately, after she married into the Hu family, the old lady of the Hu family had been bedridden for many years. Hearing this news, she was more excited than anyone else. Madam Du glanced at Bai Wanqing lightly, and seeing that Bai Wanqing did not show any dissatisfaction, she nodded, "That's right! Wanqing's ancestor is naturally the Divine Physician Luo."

As soon as Madam Du finished speaking, the ladies looked at each other in bewilderment.

Good heavens! Everyone knows who this Doctor Luo is. He's a reincarnation of Hua Tuo, and he's saved countless patients on the verge of death. If they could get in touch with Doctor Luo, not only would it be easier for them to see a doctor, but they would also have a way to make connections with influential people in the future.

Madam Hu noticed that Bai Wanqing had lost her previous aloofness and instead became more warm.

Not only Madam Hu, but also Madam Lan and Madam Zhong kept smiling at Wanqing. Their status was much higher than that of the Bai family. They were all doing business in Huaizhou Prefecture. Today's banquet seemed to be an unintentional act by Madam Du, but in fact, she also wanted to introduce some good families to Bai Wanqing.

Bai Wanqing was unaware that Madam Chen was planning to arrange for her to become a concubine, so she couldn't guess Madam Du's intentions.

Bai Qinglian was now insanely jealous. How could all these ladies change their attitude towards Bai Wanqing so drastically just because they heard the name of a doctor?

Have they forgotten that Bai Wanqing is a divorced woman, while the young master of the Zhong family is a top-ranking scholar who passed the imperial examination this year? That's a family she can't even dream of marrying into.

No, I must have misunderstood! They simply wanted to get to know Doctor Luo.

Bai Qinglian's eyes flickered, and then she looked at Bai Furong behind Bai Wanqing. Bai Wanqing couldn't be the only one who could get connected with Doctor Luo!
"Dr. Luo is the grandmaster of our Bai family sisters, so she has been very kind to the three of us!" Bai Qinglian's sudden remark drew everyone's attention away.

Is that so? So Doctor Luo has a close relationship with every girl in the Bai family?
Bai Qinglian soon felt the warm gazes from the ladies, and she felt secretly pleased.

Madam Du was unaware of the truth of the matter. Bai Wanqing merely frowned slightly but did not refute it.

Regardless, all the ladies present now want to befriend the Bai family sisters.

Having achieved her goal, Madam Du rose and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, our feast is ready. Please follow me to the east courtyard, where we can enjoy the flowers while we dine."

The ladies and young women understood that the time had finally come for them to visit each other. Everyone knew that Young Master Du had invited many noble young men under the pretext of appreciating plum blossoms.

This also included the sons of Madam Zhong and Madam Hu.

Without hesitation, everyone followed the servants of the Du family to the east courtyard. Bai Wanqing and Bai Furong were the last to arrive, and were led there by Madam Du herself.

"Wanqing, the gentlemen who came today are all from good families. You can take a look around! It's always better than nothing." Madam Du was interrupted halfway through her sentence by a maid who rushed over anxiously.

Bai Wanqing assumed that Madam Du had noticed her intention to find a suitable husband for Bai Furong, and nodded slightly to Madam Du to indicate that she understood.

Seeing that Bai Wanqing understood, Madam Du didn't say anything more and went with her maid to deal with the banquet arrangements.

Bai Wanqing led Furong to the east courtyard, where everyone was already seated. Madam Zhong, Madam Hu, and Madam Lan, being of higher status, sat together.

Madam Chen, Madam Zhang, and several other ladies sat at a table to the side, while all the young ladies sat at a separate table.

Bai Wanqing naturally wanted to bring Furong to sit at the young ladies' table, but Madam Zhong and Madam Hu warmly invited, "Wanqing, please bring your sister to sit here!"

Although Bai Qinglian's words just now made people feel that Doctor Luo was good to all the Bai sisters, Madam Zhong and Madam Hu were not simple people. Chen's recommendation of Bai Wanqing to Master Huang meant that there was a rift between Chen and Bai Wanqing. Moreover, judging from the order in which they arrived, the two ladies guessed that Chen probably received the invitation but did not tell Bai Wanqing at all.

Therefore, Chen only brought Bai Qinglian with her, while Bai Wanqing came later. Before, everyone said that she was the grandmaster of the Bai sisters, but anyone with common sense knew who was actually closer to Doctor Luo.

In such a situation, Bai Wanqing naturally couldn't afford to embarrass the two ladies, so she had no choice but to bring Bai Furong to sit at the table with Madam Zhong and the others.

Even if the other ladies and young women were dissatisfied, they couldn't show it.

When Madam Hu saw Bai Wanqing coming over, she smiled even more happily. She didn't care about divorced women at all!

All she knew was that Bai Wanqing was related to Doctor Luo, and that she could help her bedridden mother-in-law recover and free her from her mother-in-law's torment—that was enough for her.

As for whether her son would be willing? She knew for sure. Her son would be more than willing to marry such a beautiful woman. Besides, her son's health was not good, so she would feel at ease if he married such a daughter-in-law.

Fortunately, Madam Hu spoke first, "Wanqing! Look over there, that's my second son, Hu Tao, who's composing poetry right now. Isn't he very talented?"

(End of this chapter)