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

Chapter 4 Loyal Servant
When Bai Wanqing arrived at the manor, Uncle Liu was waiting at the door.

"Young Miss, the person is already inside." Uncle Liu was over fifty years old, with gray hair and dark circles under his eyes. He must have stayed up all night yesterday, personally overseeing this matter.

"Uncle Liu, thank you for your hard work!" Bai Wanqing felt a pang of pity.

Looking at the somewhat thin Bai Wanqing, Uncle Liu's eyes reddened. If he hadn't known how his young lady was doing at the Meng family a few days ago, he now understood Bai Wanqing's situation.

This was the young lady he cherished so dearly back then! How could the Meng family bully her like this? If the First Madam were still alive, how much pain would she feel!

“Miss, you don’t need to come here personally. Leave these people to me; I can get them to talk very quickly,” Uncle Liu said angrily.

Bai Wanqing nodded, "I know, Uncle Liu. I just wanted to come and hear it for myself. If I hear it clearly, I will understand it in my heart."

Uncle Liu sighed softly and led Bai Wanqing and the others into a side room in the manor.

At this moment, three people were bound hand and foot inside. Bai Wanqing knew these three people. One was Meng Zhan's distant cousin, whom he had brought back from his hometown and placed in the Meng family mansion as a minor steward. The other two were two servants that she had bought together with Bao Si when she was buying the mansion.

When Meng's cousin saw that the person who came was Bai Wanqing, he began to struggle and whimper.

Uncle Liu glanced at Bai Wanqing, then pulled the cloth out of Cousin Meng's mouth. Cousin Meng immediately cursed, "You shameless wretch! You have no respect for your elders! You actually had us tied up like this! How dare you! Tell them to release me right now!"

Before Bai Wanqing could move, Uncle Liu ordered someone to slap Meng's cousin in the face. After a short while, Meng's cousin was no longer able to shout.

"You...you..." Cousin Meng was furious, pointing at Bai Wanqing but dared not curse anymore.

Bai Wanqing ignored him at first, and instead looked at the other two people, "Can you two tell me now where you were going and what you were doing in such a hurry to leave the city last night?"

The two men were frightened by their mistress's earlier demeanor, but how could they dare offend Lord Meng, who was destined for officialdom? So they exchanged a glance and neither spoke.

Bai Wanqing asked calmly, "Ruixin, what about their indentures?"

“Miss, we’re here!” Ruixin took out the two of their indentures from her bosom and showed them to them.

"Can you see clearly? Your indentures are with the Bai family. If you don't want to be sold to the mines to do hard labor, answer whatever Madam asks!" At this moment, Ruixin had the demeanor of a great lady, her imposing presence overwhelming.

Upon seeing this, the two servants could no longer remain calm. What kind of place was that mine? It was a place that would devour people without spitting out their bones! Once these people went to the mine, it was uncertain whether they would come back alive.

"Madam, spare us! Madam, spare us! We'll tell you, we'll tell you! Last night, the master found us and told us to go to Huaizhou with Steward Xue overnight. But what we're going to do in Huaizhou, we really don't know. I'm afraid only Steward Xue knows."

The two servants immediately pinned the blame on Meng's cousin, Xue Lei. Xue Lei was slightly flustered; he hadn't forgotten how painful the slap had been.

"You two traitors! How have I treated you all this time?!" Xue Lei shouted angrily, his lips swollen.

But when he turned to look at Bai Wanqing, he couldn't help but feel a chill. His cousin-in-law was usually so gentle and obedient, but he never expected her to be such a ruthless character.

"Cousin, do you have anything to say?" Bai Wanqing asked calmly. Xue Lei turned his head and snorted. He couldn't ruin Meng Zhan's plans. Meng Zhan was going to be an official in the prefecture, and he was the only noble relative that the Xue family could associate with.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Bai Wanqing gestured to Uncle Liu with her eyes. All of this was seen by Xue Lei, who was so frightened that he immediately begged for mercy, "No, no, no, don't hit me!"

"I'll talk, I'll talk, okay?!"

"It was my cousin. He came to me last night saying that his page had gone missing and asked me to go to Huaizhou to look for him. That's all." After saying that, Xue Lei glanced at Bai Wanqing, then swallowed nervously before looking down at his chest.

"Then where does he want you to look?" Bai Wanqing asked, her gaze fixed on his upper body.

"He didn't say! We don't know where to look either. We're just trying our luck. If we find it, that would be great, but if we don't, there's nothing we can do," Xue Lei muttered in reply.

"Not telling the truth? That's fine too! Uncle Liu, search him!" Bai Wanqing ordered.

Uncle Liu and several servants immediately surrounded Xue Lei. Upon seeing this, Xue Lei shouted anxiously, "Bai Wanqing, you're not human! You're driving me to my death! You deserve to be divorced. What family would want a vicious woman like you?"

Uncle Liu found a love letter that Meng Zhan had written to Liu Feifei on Xue Lei. Bai Wanqing only glanced at it briefly before giving up.

It turns out that Meng Zhan and Liu Feifei not only had a relationship, but Liu Feifei was also pregnant.

Xue Lei looked dejected when he realized that everything was already known.

Taking advantage of the situation, Bai Wanqing asked him again, "Where are you planning to look for Bao Si?"

"The mine! Bao Si was sold to the mine last month!"

Bai Wanqing's heart skipped a beat. "Without a contract of indenture, how did you sell Bao Si into the mine?"

Uncle Liu sighed and said, "Sometimes the slave laborers in the mines don't need any indenture. Once a person is sent there, as long as their identity is verified and there are no major problems, they will be taken in directly. People like them without indentures are almost like undocumented immigrants. In just over a month, this child is probably in grave danger."

"Uncle Liu!" Bai Wanqing called softly, and Uncle Liu immediately understood.

"Young Miss, don't worry, I'll send someone to retrieve it right now. There might still be a chance." Uncle Liu then gave the instructions.

Having obtained what she was entitled to, Bai Wanqing planned to return to the Meng family, and Uncle Liu personally escorted them back.

On the way, Uncle Liu asked, "Miss, what should we do with those three?"

"Let them stay at the estate for a few days first, and then let them come back after everything is settled." Bai Wanqing was calm at this moment. "Uncle Liu, could we not let Father know about this for now? I want to explain it to him in person."

Uncle Liu felt sorry for him, but he still nodded.

(End of this chapter)