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

Chapter 66 The Game Between Two Families (Part Two)
Madam Du took in Chen's appearance, which only increased her disgust for her. Du Huan followed anxiously behind, eager to seize the opportunity to explain himself.

Thus, the three of them, each with their own thoughts, arrived at the front hall of the Du family. Madam Du instructed the servants to bring out the finest tea, while Madam Chen sat down with her chin held high.

Seeing this, Madam Du simply smiled, then sat down in the host's seat and asked, "I wonder, Madam Bai, what brings you to the Du family at this hour?"

Madam Du spoke calmly, as if she had never known what had happened between her nephew and Furong.

Du Huan sensed something was amiss and quickly replied, "Aunt, Madam Bai probably came today because she was worried."

“Huan’er, it is extremely rude of you to interrupt us elders while we are talking. You are hereby punished to leave this front hall and go to your own courtyard to reflect on your actions. Go!” Madam Du interrupted Du Huan’s explanation and glared at him. Du Huan had no choice but to get up and said, “It was my rudeness. I will take my leave now.”

Du Huan walked out of the front hall with a worried look on his face. He said to the servant beside him, "I'm going back now. You stay here and keep an eye on things. If you find anything wrong, come find me immediately."

"Yes! Master."

Du Huan kept turning back to look at Madam Du in the main hall. Madam Du still had a gentle smile on her face, and only turned her gaze away after Du Huan's figure disappeared into the distance.

Madam Chen was furious. She felt that the aunt and niece were completely disregarding the Bai family.

"It was all Huan'er's fault for being rude! By the way, where were we?" Madam Du smoothed things over.

Upon hearing Madam Du's question, Madam Chen's face flushed red. She immediately retorted, "Du Huan was indeed rude and bullied the young girl. Now that she's come knocking on our door, the mistress of the house is pretending not to know anything? Tell me, what kind of world is this? What kind of logic is this?"

Madam Chen then smiled at Madam Du, before slamming her teacup heavily onto the table with a loud "bang."

Madam Du was surprised by Chen's domineering attitude and sneered, "Madam Bai, we should talk things out. Coming to our house and smashing dishes is unbecoming of your status as Madam Bai."

Madam Chen withdrew her hand. Indeed, she had been trying for a long time to become the dignified mistress of others, but when faced with a situation, she found it difficult to control her behavior. Madam Du's words made Madam Chen feel somewhat embarrassed.

She rallied again, raising her head arrogantly. "Hmph! What's the point of talking about status now! I'm here today to see how the prominent Du family plans to deal with bullying our Bai family's daughter."

Faced with Chen's aggressive demands, Madam Du was unwilling to back down. "Then why not compensate the Bai family with ten thousand taels of silver? That should be a considerable sum for the Bai family!"

Madam Chen turned her head and looked at Madam Du in disbelief. She never expected that the Du family, who seemed so polite, could be so unreasonable. "Give money? What do you take our Bai family's daughter for? This is a joke."

"Then what does Madam Bai mean?"

Chen said arrogantly, "How about it? If you don't want your Du family to lose face, I advise you to bring a matchmaker to our Bai family to propose marriage as soon as possible."

"It would be the right thing to marry my Furong into the Du family in a grand and glorious manner."

Madam Du smiled. "Is this a threat to the Du family?"

Madam Chen shook her head. "How can this be a threat? Du Huan has done something shameful, so he should learn to bear the consequences. As his aunt, you don't want the Du family's reputation to be ruined by him alone, do you?"

Upon hearing this, Madam Du remained calm, a smile still playing on her lips. "Madam Bai, it's not impossible for me to have my Huan'er marry your daughter, but your threats have tainted the whole thing."

Do you really think our Du family is afraid of your threats?

“If you spread this around, my Du family’s Huan’er is a man, but your Bai family’s Huan’er is a woman. The consequences of this being spread will likely be much greater for your Bai family than for our Du family. Doesn’t Madam Bai consider her daughter at all?”

Unmoved, Chen began to act shamelessly, saying, "Our Bai family's daughter has already been ruined by your Du family. Anyway, she won't be able to get married, so we're not afraid!"

Madam Du was so angry she laughed. "Madam Bai! Madam Bai! When Huan'er came back yesterday, he told me about Furong. I didn't intend to stop him anymore. This morning I even wrote to my elder brother to ask for his opinion. If he agrees, I plan to visit the Bai family tomorrow to finalize the marriage for the children."

Upon hearing this, Chen was overjoyed to find that the deal had actually been made.

"Oh, I see! Why didn't you say so sooner? You made us say so many hurtful things to each other." Chen's tone softened, her previous tense demeanor completely changed.

However, Madam Du's words became sharp: "But now, our Du family has no intention of proposing marriage to the Bai family."

Chen immediately stood up. "Why!" As soon as Chen finished speaking, she realized that she had been outmaneuvered by Du Wei. She thought for a moment, then sat back down and glared angrily at Du Wei.

Madam Du smiled gently, "Madam Bai, there's no need for you to be so agitated. If you want to know the reason, there's only one: our Du family dares not form a marriage alliance with your Bai family."

"Do you really not care about the Du family's reputation at all?" Madam Chen questioned again.

"Reputation? You're right, our Du family has always valued reputation, but we value the future even more. If the Du family were to form a marriage alliance with someone like you, it would be better to let Du Huan lose some reputation. After all, Du Huan has had his share of scandals. Doesn't Madam Bai know that?"

How could Chen not know? Anyone living in Huai'an County knew that Du Huan frequented Mufeng Pavilion, and his reputation as a womanizer had long been known.

Madam Chen suddenly lost her confidence. "Madam Du, I was just too hasty. Furong is my daughter, and as her mother, knowing that my daughter was with someone else, I spoke rudely." "I admit my mistake! How about I apologize to you?"

Chen reluctantly stood up. At that moment, she suddenly felt incredibly humiliated and wanted to disappear into the ground.

Madam Du had Wang Mama stop Chen Shi, saying, "Madam Bai, you dare not accept such a compliment. The words have already been spoken, how can you take them back? If you ask me, Madam Bai, please leave today!"

Madam Du then instructed Granny Wang to see the guest out. Seeing that Madam Du showed no mercy, Madam Chen had no choice but to slink away from the Du family.

No sooner had Madam Bai left than the servant boy ran to Du Huan's courtyard and told him everything that had happened.

"Oh no! The Du family has always hated being threatened. Auntie may really have changed her mind."

Du Huan was in a hurry to find Madam Du, but just then he ran into Granny Wang. "Young Master, Madam asked me to tell you that we should call off the marriage with the Bai family. If the Du family ever falls into trouble, Madam Bai will be the first to kick them while they're down."

Du Huan wouldn't listen to reason. Although Chen's actions were dishonest, Furong wasn't that kind of person! If he didn't marry Furong now, he would be ruining her life.

The thought of this made Du Huan unable to forgive himself. "Granny Wang, this marriage cannot be called off. I will go and beg my aunt again!"

Granny Wang sighed and said softly, "Young master, why don't you go later? Madam is in a bad mood right now. If you go now, you won't be able to persuade her, and you'll only make things worse! Let Madam think about it by herself; perhaps she can come to her senses."

Du Huan was persuaded to calm down. He knew that what Granny Wang said was right, and he could only try to calm himself down.

A moment later, he remembered something and called the servant boy back to his side. "I'll write a letter now, and you can deliver it to the eldest daughter of the Bai family immediately."

The servant here set off immediately upon receiving the letter.

At this moment, the Bai family was in turmoil because Chen had been humiliated by the Du family. Sitting in the flower hall, Chen started cursing loudly: "The Du family is simply going too far! They say the Bai family is unworthy! How can the Bai family be unworthy!"

Upon learning that her mother had returned from the Du family, Bai Qinglian immediately came to join in the festivities.

"Mother, what's wrong? Weren't you going to arrange a marriage for my second sister? Why are you so angry?" Bai Qinglian asked softly.

When Chen saw that it was Bai Qinglian, she launched into a tirade, “You don’t know! The Du family doesn’t take our Bai family seriously at all. I told them to come to the Bai family to propose marriage tomorrow, so that both families can save face.”

"But what did Du Wei say? She said that our Bai family was threatening her."

"They even said that the Du family is least afraid of threats, and that Du Huan's reputation is already rotten in Huai'an County, so they're not afraid of this time!"

"Listen to this, listen to this! Who's threatening whom here?" Chen was getting angrier and angrier as she spoke.

Bai Qinglian had already anticipated this outcome and was secretly pleased. "Mother, can this marriage still go through?"

Chen was instantly at a loss. What would happen to Furong if it didn't work out? What would she say about her in the future? "How should I know!"

"Tomorrow I'll have your father go to the Du family and talk to them again. Some women in the inner quarters might not care, but men do. I don't believe the Du family can really renege on their promise."

Bai Qinglian nodded, eagerly anticipating the show. After all, she knew the Du family very well. Furong had slept with Du Huan beforehand and was now using it to threaten the Du family. The Du family would never accept Furong again.

Bai Furong, if I can't have you, you can't have me either!

Meanwhile, Bai Wanqing received a letter from Du Huan and learned about everything that had happened at the Du family. She immediately summoned Baoyue, the maidservant of Furong.

"Young Miss!" Bao Yue now trusts Bai Wanqing completely, knowing that Bai Wanqing genuinely cares for her young mistress.

Bai Wanqing showed her the letter Du Huan had sent, and Bao Yue was shocked.
"Young Miss, what do you want me to do?" Bao Yue knew that Bai Wanqing must want her to do something.

Bai Wanqing immediately said, "Don't let Furong come into contact with Bai Qinglian, and neither should the Chen family!"

"Young Miss, are you afraid!"

“I’m afraid they might instigate Furong to do other things. I’ll take care of the other things. You just need to keep an eye on Furong.”

"Baoyue understands!" After saying that, Baoyue hurriedly returned to Furong's courtyard and became a little guard.

Bai Wanqing stood at the door looking out, just in time to receive Ruixin's reply.

(End of this chapter)