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

Chapter 273 Chaos! Still chaos!
The next morning, the streets of Huaizhou City were shrouded in fog, and the once bustling streets became deathly silent.

The Du family had opened their gates early, and the people who wanted to see them off gathered quietly outside the gates.

Madam Du was thoughtful; early in the morning, she had the kitchen busy preparing a lot of food, which she then sent to the villagers outside the door.

The Bai siblings, dressed in burlap, formed a funeral procession led by Bai Chengnan, standing before Bai Wanqing's coffin.

"Father-in-law, it's almost time!" Madam Du said to Bai Chenming as she came in after finishing her work outside the courtyard.

Bai Chenming hadn't slept for three days. When he heard Madam Du calling him, he dazedly raised his head and tried to stand up, but almost fell off the chair. Fortunately, Madam Chen was quick-witted and caught him.

"Someone, quickly bring a bowl of ginseng tea to my father-in-law!" Before Madam Du finished speaking, Bai Chenming had already pushed away the celadon bowl, his withered fingers gripping the edge of the coffin tightly. Three days had passed, and he still refused to believe that his daughter was gone just like that.

But the person in the coffin lay there quietly, leaving him no choice but to believe it.

"Master!" Madam Chen looked up at the sky, reminding Bai Chenming that the time had come.

Bai Chenming's veined hand slid inch by inch across the cold coffin, then he roared in a trembling voice, "Close the outer coffin!"

Eight strong men, each holding a copper nail, were arranged in advance in the funeral procession, and the clanging sound echoed in the quiet courtyard.

As the hammer fell and the suona horn sounded, Bai Chengnan led the funeral procession with his soul-guiding banner, followed by the entire procession slowly leaving the Du family's residence.

Seeing this, the villagers who came to the funeral procession followed behind, and for a time, money flew everywhere in Huaizhou City, and the sound of weeping shook the heavens.

The soldiers sent by the Prince of Huai to observe secretly were greatly shocked upon seeing this.

"She's just the wife of a minor official, how come she has attracted so many people to see her off!"

Cui Jingcheng had somehow walked up to the soldier and murmured in a low voice, "She is no ordinary official's wife!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, the soldier bowed in greeting, still filled with doubt. "Young Marquis, what brings the Bai family here?"

“She deserves it!” Cui Jingcheng looked at the vast procession in front of him, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The soldier's face showed even more confusion. It was already a crime of treason and collusion with the enemy, was it still worth it? The soldier looked at the young marquis's expression. Obviously, Cui Jingcheng did not intend to interfere or stop him. In that case, he would just watch.

What was unexpected was that the funeral procession did not gradually decrease as the Du family moved along; instead, the villagers who had initially had some reservations boldly joined the procession.

Suddenly, it seemed like everyone in Huaizhou City came out. There were children following behind to watch the excitement, and old men leaning on their canes and silently weeping in the streets.

Just then, the paper money that had been filling the sky suddenly transformed into petitions of injustice and fluttered down.

The child found it and held up the petition, laughing and joking.

The literate scholar gasped as he looked at the words above.

More and more people received their petitions of injustice, and more and more people understood the truth. In an instant, the emotions of the funeral procession changed from grief to anger.

"Madam Lin was wrongfully killed!"

"Lord Lin is innocent!"

"They should release them! Yes! They should release them!"

The shouts of the villagers were deafening. Soldiers not far away noticed something was wrong and immediately went to the scene. Cui Jingcheng frowned slightly, reached out and grabbed a petition of injustice, glanced at it, and couldn't help but curl a smile that was hard to understand.

The commotion outside finally alerted the Prince of Huai once again.

The Prince of Huai was furious and roared, "What's going on! It's just a dead woman, what are they shouting outside!"

At this moment, Mr. Zhuang looked solemn. He took out the petition he had picked up on the street from his sleeve and handed it to Prince Huai.

The Prince of Huai glanced at it only once, and in a fit of rage tore the petition to shreds.

"Nonsense! This woman didn't even die peacefully!"

"You're spreading rumors and misleading the public here!"

"The Lin family is innocent? These ignorant commoners actually believe it!"

"Don't they know that Lin Yunche is currently in the capital of the Northern Dynasty?"

After a moment's thought, the Prince of Huai realized that these commoners truly did not know. In that case, the Prince of Huai suddenly became less anxious and merely snorted, "I originally thought that this woman was both brave and resourceful, quite different from those other common beauties."

"Now it seems that I overestimated her; she's nothing but a fool."

"Does she think that scattering some petition of injustice in the sky will exonerate herself? Or exonerate the Lin family?"

"I'm going to ruin her plans."

"Zhuang Qi, take some soldiers and come with me!" With that, the Prince of Huai got up and headed out of the courtyard.

Zhuang Qi felt something was amiss and quickly stopped the Prince of Huai, "Your Highness, this woman has caused such a scene today; it's probably not as simple as it seems on the surface."

"We should take a longer approach and let the soldiers disperse the crowd first."

But the Prince of Huai was already excited. He looked at Old Man Zhuang with disdain and said, "Mr. Zhuang, I think you're getting senile!"

"Now is the best time to expose the ugly face of the Lin family."

"I will make these ignorant commoners open their eyes and see clearly who they should truly support!"

Zhuang Qi still felt it was inappropriate and wanted to persuade him again, but the Prince of Huai had already strode past him and left.
Helpless, Zhuang Qi had no choice but to call his men to follow in the footsteps of the Prince of Huai. The Prince of Huai, riding on horseback, led a large troop of soldiers to the streets of Huaizhou City, directly confronting Bai Wanqing's funeral procession.

When the indignant villagers saw the Prince of Huai, they raised their petitions and chanted, urging the Prince of Huai to clear the Lin family's name.

The anger that had subsided in the Prince of Huai surged up again, and he raised his right hand and swung it forcefully.

The soldiers behind him rushed out and suppressed the people who were still shouting. In an instant, the streets of Huaizhou City returned to tranquility.

The Prince of Huai was satisfied with the current situation. He dismounted, his face still showing anger, and slowly walked to the front of the Bai family's funeral procession.

Bai Chengnan was young and intimidated by the Prince of Huai's imposing manner, so he involuntarily took a step back.

Bai Furong trembled as she slowly stepped forward, stiffening her body to glare back at Prince Huai. In her heart, Bai Furong knew that this was the culprit who had killed her elder sister, and she could not back down!

But the Prince of Huai's gaze was too sharp. The more Bai Furong looked at him, the more she could feel the coldness behind his gaze, and her body trembled more and more violently.

Fortunately, at that moment, someone gently took Bai Furong's hand.

"Furong, don't be afraid, I'm here!"

A look of joy flashed across Bai Furong's face. It was Miss Cheng!

Cheng Susu patted Furong's hand lightly, then turned around and glared angrily at the Prince of Huai not far away!
The Prince of Huai frowned when he saw the young girl in the pale yellow gauze dress in front of him. Why did this woman look so familiar to him?

"Your Highness, this young lady is Cheng Kailin, the daughter of Lord Cheng!"

"We've seen her before at an official banquet in Kyoto."

The Prince of Huai suddenly realized, "It's her!"

Unexpectedly, Lord Cheng's daughter has gotten involved with the Lin family!
Could it be about his troop deployment? The Prince of Huai suddenly chuckled, realizing that even Heaven was on his side!
Previously, no matter what methods he used, he couldn't win over Cheng Kailin. But now, if he captured this little girl, he didn't believe that Cheng Kailin could hold out for long.

With Cheng Kailin's support, the young emperor naturally stopped keeping an eye on him.

And wouldn't his dominance in the north be just around the corner!
Thinking of this, the Prince of Huai's eyes flickered, a faint smile appeared on his lips, and even the way he looked at Cheng Susu softened.

"Cheng Susu, are you aware that the entire Lin family has committed the crime of treason and collusion with the enemy? How could you associate with them?"

"Speak! Did your father also help them?" the Prince of Huai shouted sternly.

Despite the slander from the Prince of Huai, Cheng Susu remained calm. Holding the scattered petitions of injustice in her hand, she walked up to the Prince of Huai and said, "Your Highness, the Lin family has never colluded with the enemy or betrayed the country!"

"This humble woman does not understand why Your Highness so easily convicted the Lin family!"

The Prince of Huai said coldly, "Girl, Lin Yunche is still in the Northern Dynasty! You say the Lin family hasn't betrayed their country and colluded with the enemy? Do you think you can prove it with just that piece of paper in your hand?"

"What a joke! If you could clear your name by telling any story, there would be no end to the stories in the world!"

Cheng Susu pursed her lips and insisted, "But that's the truth!"

"Lord Lin is merely seriously ill! He has never been to any Northern Dynasty!"

"Your Highness doesn't have any concrete evidence at the moment, so all of this is just your speculation!"

"How many people witnessed the scene when Lord Lin was seriously ill that day!"

"Many people can come forward to testify!"

Before Cheng Susu could finish speaking, many of those who had witnessed the commotion at the clinic that day echoed her sentiments.

"Yes! That's right, Lord Lin was indeed quite ill that day, we all saw it with our own eyes."

"That's right! That's right! Not only us, but Lord Meng also saw it with his own eyes!"

"Lord Meng can also come forward to testify!"

Meng Zhan suddenly felt awkward in the Prince of Huai's entourage, fearing that the Prince of Huai would actually question him to his face.

These unruly people, not only are they not afraid of death themselves, but they also want to drag him down with them.

He'll definitely make them pay when he gets the chance!
Just as Meng Zhan was feeling apprehensive and resentful, the Prince of Huai unexpectedly did not come to question him.

The Prince of Huai shouted angrily, "Shut up!"

"How could I, the King, be such a petty person who speaks nonsense!"

"Since you want evidence, then I will give you the opportunity to provide it!"

"Cheng Susu, you keep saying that Lin Yunche is seriously ill and not showing himself, then why don't you tell me where he is now?"

"If you can really bring the others out, I will naturally give the Lin family justice."

After saying this, the Prince of Huai thought to himself: When Bai Wanqing casually found someone to impersonate Lin Yunche, it was already the Lin family's last resort.

He had just received news from Luan Heng that Lin Yunche was in Xiao City of the Northern Dynasty.

He wanted to see where Cheng Susu could conjure up a Lin Yunche for him!

He had already made up his mind. He not only wanted to confirm Lin Yunche's guilt in front of everyone, but also to take down Cheng Susu!

(End of this chapter)