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

The Prince of Huai? Raising an army?
Meng Zhan thought Bai Wanqing must be crazy! And Bi Yi, he must also be crazy to believe Bai Wanqing's words and make such a mess of Huaizhou City.

How could the Prince of Huai possibly rebel! He was a meritorious official who guarded the northern lands back then!
"You're talking nonsense! This is utter rubbish!" Meng Zhan exclaimed angrily, slamming his hand on the table.

Fang was timid and was so frightened by Meng Zhan's slap that she almost fell off the table. Yang Peiran saw that Fang was leaning her whole body towards him and moved away in disgust.

Meng Zhan glared at Yang Peiran, who then reluctantly scooped Fang up to prevent her from actually crawling under the table.

"Believe it or not!" Bai Wanqing had no intention of persuading Meng Zhan!

But how could Meng Zhan tolerate Bai Wanqing and Bi Yi treating him like this!
Putting aside the fact that he is an official of the imperial court, it is a great disgrace for him to be kidnapped so easily, and now these people actually want to frame him unjustly.

Who in the imperial court doesn't know that he is now the acting prefect of Huaizhou City!
He should be in charge of all affairs in Huaizhou City!
Now, Bai Wanqing and Bi Yi have bypassed him and directly framed the Prince of Huai for treason. If this accusation is ultimately pinned on Meng Zhan, his face will turn pale instantly.

Bai Wanqing and Bi Yi are trying to kill him and the Meng family.

Meng Zhan stood up, his legs visibly trembling. "Bai Wanqing, Lin Yunche, you two are the ones who are truly rebelling!"

"I am now the acting prefect of Huaizhou City. I order you to immediately restore Huaizhou City to its original state!"

"Call all the civilians back and have all the soldiers withdraw!"

"I can forgive and forget what you did today!"

Meng Zhan had already made up his mind. He needed to appease Bai Wanqing as soon as possible so that when the incident came to light, he could report his achievements to the Prince of Huai!

At that time, the Prince of Huai will surely see his abilities, and he will have the opportunity to become the Prince of Huai's right-hand man in the future.

But Bai Wanqing wouldn't listen to Meng Zhan. "I'm sorry, Lord Meng! I can't!"

Meng Zhan hadn't expected Bai Wanqing to reject him so bluntly.
Seeing Meng Zhan's humiliation, Yang Peiran couldn't help but purse his lips. Back then, when Bai Wanqing was kicked out of the Meng family, she was so upset that she was saying she was going to die, and she was extremely reluctant to part with Meng Zhan.

It seems that Bai Wanqing has absolutely no feelings for Meng Zhan now!

Meng Zhan was somewhat embarrassed. "Can't?"

"Who do you think you are? Was I not clear enough just now?"

"I am the acting prefect, and my word is law!"

Bai Wanqing remained unmoved. Seeing that Bai Wanqing was impervious to reason, Meng Zhan became furious and stopped talking to her, deciding to handle it himself!
With that, Meng Zhan turned and strode out of the teahouse, heading towards the city gate.

Seeing this, Wushuang took off after him. Wanqing, fearing that Wushuang wouldn't be able to handle Meng Zhan, also prepared to leave.

But Fang stopped her! If Fang hadn't fully woken up before and was confused by their conversation, she now understood everything.

She glared fiercely at Bai Wanqing and said, "Bai Wanqing, you bitch!"

"So you still hold a grudge against Meng Zhan and the Meng family?"

Yang Peiran turned his head and looked at the shrewish Fang Shi, his mouth slightly agape in surprise. Fang Shi always prided herself on being the mother of a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and always pretended to be cultured and elegant.

Unexpectedly, he lost his composure at this moment.

Bai Wanqing had important matters to attend to and ignored Fang Shi.

But Fang thought Bai Wanqing was scared! Coupled with Fang's resentment towards Bai Wanqing recently, she didn't care whether she was an elder or the mother of a scholar, and was about to grab Wanqing's face.

Ruixin was not about to allow it. She cried out and rushed forward, causing Fang to stumble and miss.

In an instant, the two were fighting on the ground.

Fang never expected that Bai Wanqing would allow a maid to hit her.
Back when Bai Wanqing first married into the Meng family, when did she ever dare to disobey them like this?
Now they've really grown up, not only trying to sow discord between Liu Feifei and the Meng family, but now they're even interfering in their son's political affairs.
Not only that, this vile woman was also audacious enough to tie them up without hesitation!
She truly regretted ever getting involved with such a wretched woman.
Now things have gotten even worse. Not only are they constantly following the Meng family like ghosts, but they're even trying to block her son's path!
This old woman is going all out this time; she'll tear that bitch's face to shreds.
Fang's plan was good enough, but she was nowhere near Bai Wanqing. Ruixin alone pinned her to the ground and beat her until she screamed!

"Ouch! You little brat!"

"Do you believe I'll have you sold out?! Stop right now!"

Ruixin was so engrossed in the fight that she no longer paid any attention to what Fang was saying!

Her mind was now filled with images of how her young mistress was constantly tormented by Meng Zhan and this Fang Shi when she was in the Meng family. Now that she finally had a chance, how could she let go of the opportunity to teach Fang Shi a lesson?

Thinking of this, he punched Fang twice more in the face.

Fang was in pain from the beating and noticed Yang Peiran standing motionless to the side. She cried out for help.

"Peiran, save me! Please save me!"

Yang Peiran had been tormented by Fang Shi quite often, so seeing Fang Shi being beaten, she naturally wouldn't step in to help. Instead, she secretly cheered in her heart.

"Hey, how could you hit my mother-in-law? Stop it! Stop it!"

Yang Peiran made two feigned calls, then a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

"Ruixin." Bai Wanqing originally wanted to tell Ruixin to leave.

Fearing that the two men might cause trouble for the young lady again, Ke Rui said, "Miss, please go ahead and rest assured, I will handle things here."

Seeing Ruixin raising her little head, looking like a hero, Bai Wanqing felt relieved that Ruixin had really grown up and could stand on her own.

"Okay! Then you must be careful!" Bai Wanqing said with a smile.

Ruixin glanced at Fang Shi beneath her. Seeing that Bai Wanqing had actually allowed this girl to take action, Fang Shi had now given in.

Seeing Ruixin looking at her, she quickly covered her head with her hands. Ruixin felt a surge of relief! Thank goodness she had learned some skills while with Fengniang, otherwise she would have embarrassed her mistress!
"You all stay here. No one is allowed to leave without the young lady's orders!"

On the other side, when Bai Wanqing chased after him, Meng Zhan had already climbed onto the city gate.

He stared in astonishment at the cannon emplacements and gun carriages erected on the city gate, his heart pounding.
Who put all this in? How come he never knew?
If he could submit these documents to the Emperor in his name, wouldn't he rise to the top in one fell swoop and achieve great success?
"How dare you! You've prepared for war without my orders! Don't you want your heads?"

Meng Zhan put on quite an air, and the soldiers who were originally waiting for battle were stunned for a moment, and then looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What? Don't you all recognize me?"

"Or are you trying to distort the truth and completely forget who's in charge of Huaizhou City now!"

The soldiers naturally recognized Meng Zhan.
One of the junior officers, who was hardly a general, stepped forward and said, "Lord Meng, wasn't all of this your order?"

"The Prince of Huai rebelled, and we were ordered to prepare for war here. How did it become a matter of losing our heads?"

Meng Zhan sneered and shouted, "You've all been fooled!"

"When did the Prince of Huai rebel, and when did I, as the acting prefect, order you to prepare for war!"

"Right now! Take all of these things away!"

The soldiers were somewhat bewildered. They exchanged glances and had no choice but to prepare to withdraw their troops and artillery.

"Stop!" Lin Yunche walked over at this moment.

The soldiers were delighted to see Lord Lin. "Lord Lin!"

Seeing that the soldiers seemed excited about Lin Yunche's arrival, Meng Zhan felt very uncomfortable.

He turned around, raised his chin, and looked down at Lin Yunche, saying, "Lord Lin? I remember that not long ago, Lord Lin seemed to have resigned from his official post. It seems inappropriate for everyone to still call you Lord Lin now!"

Wushuang didn't speak, but just smiled faintly.

Meng Zhan felt a chill run down his spine once again at the sight of Lin Yunche!
This appearance was a far cry from his previous image as a thug; he looked remarkably like that woman, Bai Wanqing.
"Lin Yunche, you have no right to point fingers here!"

"Men, seize him!"

The soldiers were surprised when Meng Zhan suddenly changed his tone and said he wanted to arrest Lord Lin.

But could they refuse? The soldiers seemed unable to! Helpless, they slowly stepped forward, one on each side binding Lin Yunche's arms.

"Lord Lin, please forgive me."

Seeing that he had the upper hand, Meng Zhan was in high spirits! Lin Yunche still thought he was the prefect of Huaizhou City!

They actually dared to ignore him because of their former official positions. Now he'll let Lin Yunche know who's in charge in Huaizhou City right now!
Just as Meng Zhan was thinking this, Wu Shuang broke free from the restraints of the two soldiers, stepped forward, grabbed Meng Zhan by the collar, and pushed him to the edge of the city wall.

Meng Zhan never expected Lin Yunche to make a move, especially since there was a wall more than ten meters high behind him. If he were pushed off, Meng Zhan would surely die.

"You really are Lin."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Wanqing arrived.
"Lord Meng, Huaizhou City is not really under your control now!"

"Husband, you've frightened Lord Meng. Please release him!"

Seeing Bai Wanqing nod slightly to him, Wushuang released Meng Zhan's collar.

Meng Zhan clutched his neck tightly with both hands, glancing fearfully down at the city wall. Just a moment ago, he had truly seen murderous intent in Lin Yunche's eyes.
This kid is really going to kill him!

Meng Zhan practically scrambled away from Lin Yunche's control.

The next second, he snatched a bow and arrow from a soldier and aimed it at Lin Yunche.

Wushuang showed no fear in the face of the arrows. He simply stared at Meng Zhan, making Meng Zhan's hand holding the bow tremble involuntarily.

This Lin Yunche is truly bizarre!

Fearing that Meng Zhan might harm Wushuang in his agitation, Bai Wanqing stood in front of Wushuang to shield her.

"Meng Zhan, stop making trouble!"

"Look what this is!"

As she spoke, Bai Wanqing took out a token and a letter and displayed them to everyone.

"This must be a secret letter from the Emperor!"

"Yes, look, that's the royal token!"

"This letter states that as long as Lord Lin is in Huaizhou City, he will be the only prefect of Huaizhou City."

"So, is Lord Lin still Lord Lin?"

Meng Zhan put down his bow and arrow and walked up to Bai Wanqing in disbelief. He wished he could imprint every word of the letter in Bai Wanqing's hand into his eyes.

This is indeed the handwriting of a student from Ocean University!
This is indeed the royal seal!

So, what exactly is he, as the acting prefect? ​​(End of Chapter)