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

Chapter 65 The Game Between Two Families (Part 1)

As soon as Bai Wanqing and the others returned to the Bai family, Madam Chen and Qinglian rushed over upon hearing the commotion. She glared at Bai Wanqing and accused her, "It's one thing for you to disregard your reputation, but to bring Furong along as well? Women staying out all night, what kind of decorum will this be if word gets out?"

Bai Wanqing simply looked at Chen Shi quietly, without offering any explanation.

Seeing her older sister being scolded, Furong immediately stood in front of her and said to her mother, "Mother, this matter has nothing to do with my older sister. It was Furong who insisted on going along."

Madam Chen shifted her gaze to Bai Furong, looking at her with a disappointed expression. "You think I won't scold you? Instead of staying home all day, you insist on hanging around with someone with a bad reputation. Do you want to ruin your life?"

Furong shook her head, "Mother, eldest sister, no. Furong didn't either!" In her anxiety, Furong spoke only half of what she wanted to say.

Qinglian watched the show from the sidelines. She still remembered how Bai Wanqing had kicked her when she was down. "Second sister, you said no, then who were you with last night and what did you do?" Bai Qinglian said, glancing at Bai Wanqing. Seeing Bai Wanqing's slight frown, she felt a little smug. This time, she had finally caught Bai Wanqing red-handed.

Bai Furong didn't dare to speak, but secretly glanced at her older sister, Bai Wanqing, who simply nodded gently.

Seeing this, Madam Chen was furious. Her second daughter was now completely obedient to her eldest sister. What kind of bewitching spell had Bai Wanqing cast on her? "Don't look at her. I'll be asking your eldest sister about it later. Just tell me, where did she go and what did she do last night when she didn't come back?"

Bai Furong lowered her head and recounted everything that had happened the previous night.

Upon hearing this, both Madam Chen and Qinglian were speechless with shock. Madam Chen was shocked that her daughter had been so indiscreet, having an intimate relationship with a man. Bai Qinglian, on the other hand, was extremely jealous. She was jealous that Bai Furong had the opportunity to save the Du family's young master. If this matter were to spread, given how much the Du family valued their reputation, they would surely allow Bai Furong to enter the family.

A fool entered the Du family, and she became his concubine—what a joke!

After scolding Bai Furong, Chen turned her attention to Bai Wanqing. Bai Wanqing, however, remained clear-headed and said, "Mother, is your daughter really that despicable in your eyes? Furong said that Young Master Du's life was in danger at the time, so why do you think such a vile thing?"

Madam Chen was furious and pointed at Bai Wanqing's nose, about to scold her again, but Bai Qinglian stood up at this moment, "Mother, even if you scold Second Sister and Eldest Sister again, this matter has already happened."

"The current issue is how to deal with the fact that my second sister has already had physical intimacy with the young master of the Du family!"

Madam Chen was already furious and confused. She asked angrily, "What do you mean, how should we handle this? What else can we do? We can't make a fuss about this. Making a fuss will do no good for your second sister. We'll probably just have to swallow this bitter pill and let that brat get away with it!"

As Chen spoke, she angrily stepped forward and punched Bai Furong. Furong was knocked to the ground and staggered back a few steps. Bai Wanqing immediately stepped forward to support Furong. Just as she was about to speak, she was interrupted by Bai Qinglian.

“Mother, you’re confused! Everyone knows that Madam Du spent the whole day yesterday looking for Young Master Du. Where did he go? What did he do? I’m sure everyone has their own guesses.” Upon hearing Bai Qinglian’s words, Madam Chen’s eyes widened slightly.

"You mean, you want me to threaten the Du family?" Madam Chen first shook her head, then nodded. That was indeed a viable option.

Bai Wanqing glared at Bai Qinglian and calmly retorted, "Mother, I think this is inappropriate. Originally, Madam Du was very fond of Furong—" Bai Wanqing paused, then continued, "The Du family is a prominent family that values ​​its reputation most. If we use our reputation to blackmail them, although they may agree to the marriage, they will still harbor resentment towards Furong. Even if Furong marries into the Du family, how will she get along with them?"

Bai Qinglian scoffed, "Eldest sister, I think you just can't stand seeing second sister marry into such a good family as the Du family. Mother, now is a golden opportunity. Whether second sister can successfully marry into the Du family depends entirely on this."

Madam Chen immediately nodded in agreement. Furong disagreed and was about to speak when Madam Chen berated her, "Don't you even look at what you've done? Your third sister is only trying to help you. You should open your eyes and see clearly who among the people around you truly cares about you."

As Chen spoke, her eyes glanced at Bai Wanqing, intentionally or unintentionally.

Bai Wanqing, supporting the trembling Furong, had no choice but to suppress the words that were already on the tip of her tongue, and simply looked at Madam Chen quietly.

Madam Chen disliked Bai Wanqing's indifferent demeanor the most. That face, which rarely showed any expression, always reminded her of Kou Zirou. "Lian'er, take your second sister back to the courtyard and make sure she has less contact with people she shouldn't be around."

Bai Qinglian obediently responded, then walked up to Furong and took her arm. Furong resisted and tried to fight back, but Bai Qinglian secretly pinched her hard. Furong's face contorted in pain, and the familiar yet terrifying feeling that her third sister had given her returned.

Furong pouted, feeling wronged, and dared not struggle anymore. Bai Qinglian glanced at Bai Wanqing victoriously, then pulled Furong away. Furong looked at Bai Wanqing reluctantly, and cried before leaving, "Big sister, I...I don't want to threaten Young Master Du! I just want to save him, I don't want to force him!"

Madam Chen glared at Bai Furong, feeling that her daughter was too weak. Bai Wanqing gave Furong a reassuring look, and Furong then moved her feet and was pulled away by Bai Qinglian.

After her two daughters left, Madam Chen turned to Bai Wanqing and said, "Qing'er, since you're also engaged, why don't you marry into the Bai family sooner rather than later? Ever since you returned to the Bai family, it's as if we've been cursed. If you truly want the Bai family to have a good life, then prepare for your wedding." After Madam Chen finished speaking, she stood up and walked unsteadily out of the flower hall. Bai Wanqing then returned to her own courtyard.

Upon returning to the courtyard, Bai Wanqing immediately wrote two letters. "Ruixin, have someone send this one to the Du family, and have someone send the other one to Master Luo at the century-old medical clinic."

"Remember, you must wait for Master Luo to reply to this letter."

Ruixin nodded immediately, turned around and went out to run her errand. She hoped that Du Huan could give Madam Du a heads-up after receiving the letter, and that Bai Wanqing must not let Madam Du think that this was Furong's idea.

After returning to her room, Madam Chen paced back and forth. She thought it over and over and decided that she should go to the Du family as soon as possible to settle the matter. Otherwise, if the Du family were to renege on their promise later, just as Lian'er had said, Furong would have suffered a loss for nothing.

Thinking of this, Madam Chen could not wait any longer. She told Qiuwen to go outside and prepare the carriage, and then she hurriedly ran to the Du family to confront them.

At that moment, Du Huan had just received Bai Wanqing's letter. He had just explained everything to his aunt, and although Madam Du was unwilling, she reluctantly accepted it.

I had planned to take Du Huan to the Bai family tomorrow to discuss our marriage, but if the Bai family comes knocking on our door now, things might change.

Du Huan was anxious, so he called a trusted servant to stop Chen Shi on the road.

To Du Huan's surprise, before the servant even left the house, Chen's carriage had already arrived at the Bai family's door.

"Young master, what should we do now?" the servant asked hurriedly.

"Come on, I'll go to the door to greet her now and remind Madam Bai." After saying that, Du Huan hurriedly went to the Du family's door.

Just then, Madam Chen stepped down from the carriage and saw that only Du Huan ran out of the courtyard, without any sign of Madam Du. She began to feel somewhat displeased.

Du Huan bowed respectfully to Madam Chen, "Madam Bai, you've arrived!"

Chen gave a casual smirk, still angry as she looked at the young man before her. "How could I not come? If I hadn't come, you would have bullied our Bai family's daughter to death."

Chen's sarcastic remarks made Du Huan even more grateful to Bai Wanqing. If Chen rushed in to talk to her aunt with this attitude, the two families might end up fighting.

Du Huan quickly stepped forward to stop Chen Shi, "Madam Bai, I have something I'd like to say to you."

The more Du Huan tried to stop her, the angrier Chen became. "Can't you wait until I go inside to say what you have to say? Is it because your Du family has done something wrong that you won't even let me in the door?"

Du Huan quickly waved his hand, "No, Madam Bai, it's like this, I already discussed it with my aunt last night."

Before Du Huan could finish speaking, Chen snorted, "What are you planning? How do you plan to make our Bai family's girl suffer a loss so you can get rid of Furong?"

Du Huan hurriedly said, "No!" But by the time he tried to explain, Madam Du had already come out after hearing the announcement. Seeing Chen's angry expression, she knew what had happened.

She never wanted to accept Bai Furong in the first place, because another reason was that Bai Furong's mother was not Kou Zirou, and this Chen Shi was never someone to be trifled with.

If she could use today as an excuse to cancel the marriage, it would be exactly what she wanted.

"Oh, isn't this Madam Bai? Huan'er, how could you let Madam stand at the door? This is really impolite. Quickly, please invite Madam into the main hall." Madam Du glanced at Du Huan and then warmly greeted Madam Chen.

When Madam Chen saw Madam Du's smiling face, her resentment lessened somewhat. This was more like it! The Du family cared most about their reputation. If they didn't give her face now, she wouldn't be afraid to publicly humiliate them.

Madam Chen rolled her eyes at Du Huan beside her, and under the guidance of Madam Du, they arrived at the main hall of the Du family. Although Madam Chen had visited the Du family once before, she still couldn't help but sigh this time, realizing that this was truly a wealthy family.

(End of this chapter)