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

Chapter 26: Do you still have her in your heart?
Bai Wanqing followed Madam Hu's hand and vaguely saw a young master reciting poetry. Although the east courtyard of the Du family was connected to the front courtyard, there was still a wooden screen separating them. This was the ingenious design of the courtyard, which allowed people in both courtyards to see each other vaguely without completely exposing them and causing them to lose their manners.

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Young Master Hu is very talented, which is certainly good." After speaking, she glanced at Bai Furong. Although Bai Furong's gaze was also on the front yard, it did not seem to be on Young Master Hu.

Bai Wanqing immediately concluded that Furong disliked Young Master Hu.

Seeing that Bai Wanqing thought it was a good idea, Madam Hu pressed her advantage, "Then why don't you come to our house with your mother and sister another day? My daughter didn't come today, but if she had, she would definitely have become your best friend!"

The ladies and young women in the back courtyard heard Madam Hu's words, and naturally, the young masters and gentlemen in the front courtyard also heard them.

Especially Hu Er Gongzi, upon hearing that his mother was about to bring a girl home so soon, couldn't help but become curious.

After reciting his poem, he returned to his seat amidst everyone's praise, then turned to Du Huan to inquire about a girl named Wanqing.

"Brother Du, do you know which girl my mother is currently interested in?"

Du Huan shook his head. He had never heard of any daughter named Wanqing! Like Hu Er Gongzi, he usually lived in Huaizhou Prefecture, so it was normal that he had never heard of any young ladies from Huai'an County.

Sitting next to Du Huan, Meng Zhan gritted his teeth. Du Huan noticed his unusual expression and asked, "Brother Meng, do you know whose daughter is named Wanqing?"

It was against the rules to ask a girl's name so openly, but Du Huan was a carefree person and treated both of them as his brothers, so he didn't care too much.

Meng Zhan couldn't very well say he didn't know her, so he could only sigh and say, "Bai Wanqing is the eldest daughter of the Bai family."

Surname Bai? The eldest daughter of the Bai family, isn't that the divorced woman who had a falling out with the Meng family a couple of days ago?
Du Huan and Hu Er Gongzi were instantly surprised. Hu Er Gongzi was even more surprised. Why would his mother introduce him to a divorced woman?

However, neither of them showed it on their faces. After all, the woman was Brother Meng's ex-wife, and if they continued to discuss it, they would be putting Brother Meng's face at risk.

In that instant, the atmosphere between the three of them became somewhat strange.

To ease the awkward atmosphere, Du Huan first coughed twice, then pointed to Madam Zhong's youngest son and said, "Zhong Huai, everyone here has recited poems about plum blossoms, except for you! You write one so we can all learn from you!"

Zhong Huai is Madam Zhong's youngest son. He also participated in this year's imperial examination and even won the first-class Jinshi degree. It can be said that among all the young men present, he is the most promising.

Zhong Huai didn't hesitate and walked straight to the center, reciting a poem.

Snow blankets the branches, reflecting the sun; a wisp of fragrance intoxicates the heart. A graceful spirit stands tall against the frost; an elegant countenance reflects the moon's gentle light. It does not vie with other flowers for beauty, but leaves only its pure fragrance to fill the world.

As soon as Zhong Huai finished writing his poem, everyone recognized that it was written for Bai Wanqing.

Du Huan and Hu Er Gongzi were quite surprised. Did Zhong Huai also know Bai Wanqing? They secretly glanced at Meng Zhan out of the corner of their eyes and saw that Meng Zhan's face had turned even greener.

Zhong Huai naturally didn't know Bai Wanqing, but his mother had just called out the girl's name. He just thought the name was nice, and coincidentally, he had an inspiration, so he simply added her name to the name without any other thought.

But Madam Zhong in the backyard misunderstood. Did her youngest son actually like the eldest daughter of the Bai family? Madam Zhong, who had previously been somewhat wary of Bai Wanqing, now smiled broadly.

Her youngest son had been on dates with no fewer than a hundred people, but none of them had met a girl he liked. She had given him an ultimatum: "If you don't get married soon, don't acknowledge me as your mother."

But her youngest son didn't buy it, shouting that even if they disowned him, he wouldn't just marry any woman. But Zhong Huai was already twenty-five, and although he had passed the imperial examination, his marriage was still undecided.

Now that she had finally found a girl she liked, Madam Zhong took Bai Wanqing's hand without hesitation and said, "Wanqing, a good chef has recently come to my residence. I see that you like to eat some fancy snacks, which is exactly what he is good at. I'll have someone send some to you tomorrow, okay?"

Bai Wanqing was flattered, but the other young ladies' faces grew increasingly ugly. Why was a divorced woman more sought after than them, these unmarried young ladies? Wasn't this a slap in their faces?

But do they dare to say it? No!

Thus, the banquet ended with everyone preoccupied with their own thoughts. Bai Wanqing noticed that Furong didn't seem interested in the young noblemen who had come today.

It seems she needs to put in more effort and think of another way.

Meng Zhan was embarrassed throughout the whole process. Everyone knew that Bai Wanqing was his ex-wife. This was not something that Du Huan and Hu Er Gongzi had said, but rather it was Chen Shi from the backyard who had told him.

His ex-wife was so popular at this blind date party, it was an insult to him, so was he really blind?
Meng Zhan was still sullen when he returned to the inn. Liu Feifei knew that Meng Zhan had gone to the Du family to attend a banquet that day, so she was looking forward to it. As soon as he returned, she greeted him with a smile.

"Meng Lang! Did you enjoy the banquet at the Du family today?" Liu Feifei's words only made Meng Zhan's face darken further.

"Meng Lang, you...didn't manage to borrow any money?" Liu Feifei's tone was less tender.

"I didn't say anything!" Meng Zhan didn't get a chance to speak today. He had planned to find a private opportunity to talk to Du Huan, but everyone's attention was on him because of Bai Wanqing, so he didn't find an opportunity.

"Why?" Liu Feifei jumped up from her chair. At this moment, she didn't look like a pregnant woman at all.

Meng Zhan looked tired and sighed, "There are too many people today, so it's inconvenient. I will definitely talk to Brother Du about it another day, so don't worry."

It turned out there were too many people and she didn't have a chance to speak! Liu Feifei's anger subsided by half.

"I see. Then let's do it tomorrow! Go talk to Young Master Du again tomorrow!" Liu Feifei wrapped her arms around Meng Zhan's neck.

Meng Zhan gently avoided her movement. "Meng Lang, you..." Liu Feifei felt that Meng Zhan seemed to be rejecting her, and she felt a little dissatisfied.

"Feifei, I'm really tired today, especially since you're pregnant. Why don't we go to bed early?" Meng Zhan said weakly. Liu Feifei didn't think he was faking it, so she reluctantly let him go.

Meng Zhan stayed at the inn that night, and at his suggestion, they went to bed early.

But Meng Zhan's ramblings woke Liu Feifei up in the middle of the night.

"Wanqing! Bai Wanqing!"

Meng Zhan kept muttering Bai Wanqing's name, while Liu Feifei's eyes grew increasingly cold.

"Meng Lang, you still have that woman in your heart?" Liu Feifei asked incredulously, a bitter smile on her lips.

Then what is she? Shouldn't she be the woman he loves most?
Liu Feifei wanted to wake Meng Zhan up and ask him for an explanation, but then she thought of the child in her womb and swallowed her anger.

Now that Meng Lang has divorced that woman, what will she do if he finds out that the person he truly loves is Bai Wanqing? What will happen to the child in her womb?
She couldn't let Meng Lang go. Liu Feifei covered Meng Zhan's sleeping face with one hand, while secretly making up her mind, "Bai Wanqing, this woman cannot be allowed to live!"

The next day, the Bai family's gatehouse was bustling with activity as they received gifts from Madam Zhong, Madam Hu, and many other ladies.

Standing in the foyer, watching these people put their things down, Chen felt a pang of sadness.

Bai Qinglian was also very frustrated. Yesterday, when she left the Du family, she finally met the young master Du she had been longing for.

But Young Master Du didn't even turn his head. She tried to go up and greet him.

But who knew that Young Master Du would stare blankly at the carriage that Bai Wanqing and Bai Furong left? She couldn't believe it. Could it be that even Young Master Du had taken a fancy to Bai Wanqing?

What should she do? Is she just going to be outshone by Bai Wanqing like this?

Bai Qinglian was unwilling to accept this, so she made a decision: what Bai Wanqing could do, she could do too, and she would be able to impress everyone in the future.

So, when Bai Wanqing brought Bai Furong to the century-old medical hall that day, an uninvited guest followed behind them.

"Master, why is the Third Miss here at our clinic today?" Manager Zhou was quite surprised. You know the Third Miss's personality; she usually goes to jewelry stores or cosmetic shops and never sets foot in their clinic.

Even when he was sick, he would send someone to the clinic to fetch him; today is really strange.

Bai Wanqing understood Bai Qinglian's thoughts, but she didn't want to interfere. If she could really make Doctor Luo look at her differently, then there was nothing wrong with that!
"Grandmaster Luo!" Bai Wanqing entered the backyard and saw Old Man Luo slumped on a rattan chair, his eyebrows and eyelashes covered in ice crystals.

Bai Wanqing was startled; was he frozen into an ice sculpture?

So he rushed forward to check, and Bai Qinglian behind him screamed in fright when she saw this scene. The scream echoed throughout the entire clinic, and the manager and doctor in the front yard were also frightened and ran to the back yard to see if something had happened.

"Dead, dead!" Bai Qinglian swayed, lost her balance, and fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)