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

Chapter 72 She did it on purpose

Bai Wanqing felt that Lin Yunche was overthinking things, but she judged this because there were some things Lin Yunche had not told her.

Bai Wanqing pondered for a moment. If it was just a marriage decree, and the imperial edict hadn't been issued yet, she might not offend the Censor if handled properly. Lin Yunche's words just now... could it be...?
Bai Wanqing looked up and met Lin Yunche's gaze. When Lin Yunche realized that he had been caught peeking at her, he quickly looked away, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest.

“Young Master Lin, you’ve just entered officialdom. Having a father-in-law like the Censor is a huge help. Why don’t you agree to this arranged marriage?” Bai Wanqing asked.

Lin Yunche was taken aback when he didn’t expect Bai Wanqing to think of this in such a short time. He then replied, “Although I have just entered the officialdom, I have a teacher. The affairs of the officialdom are complicated. You can understand it as this Censor of Huaiyang is not on our side.”

After hearing Lin Yunche's words, Bai Wanqing understood. Although she was not well-educated, she had heard of some techniques of checks and balances. But this made Bai Wanqing realize that the matter was more dangerous than she had imagined.

Lin Yunche saw her hesitation and said, "I am here today to give Miss a choice. If Miss Bai is in a difficult position, I will find a suitable reason to break off the engagement without harming Miss Bai or the Bai family's reputation."

Lin Yunche spoke righteously, but the reluctance in his eyes betrayed him.

Although Bai Wanqing noticed the emotion in his eyes, she interpreted it as a plea.
Yes, Lin Yunche is in trouble now, and he's asking for her help. Her mother once said that a small act of kindness should be repaid with a great one. He could have chosen not to tell her all this, but he came anyway, letting her make her own choice. She couldn't possibly use the Lin family and then leave when they were in trouble.
"I have no intention of announcing the engagement," Bai Wanqing said firmly. "Our marriage has been officially arranged, and it took place earlier than the Emperor intended to bestow a marriage upon us. I'm sure that as long as it's reported, the Emperor won't make things difficult for you."

Bai Wanqing analyzed the situation Lin Yunche might face next for him. Lin Yunche listened quietly, feeling a warmth in his heart. Perhaps, just as his mother said, he and Bai Wanqing were a match made in heaven.

Of course, Bai Wanqing didn't know what Lin Yunche was thinking. After analyzing the situation, she felt that this matter would not have a significant impact on the Bai family, especially since she might go to the prefecture or other places of office with Lin Yunche after she married into the Lin family, which would have a smaller impact on the Bai family.

"Then you can't regret it! If you regret it again, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor." Lin Yunche's eyes flickered, and he pressed down on the corners of his mouth, which he could no longer suppress.

Bai Wanqing smiled slightly and nodded.

Lin Yunche suddenly felt a sense of relief wash over him, and he left the Bai family with a smile. He felt his blood surging through his veins, and then he burst into laughter. Passersby, seeing this handsome young man laughing like a madman, secretly sighed in pity.
He's gone mad at such a young age! How will he talk to his wife about this?
Lin Yunche, who was riding by, overheard this. He grinned and said to the passerby behind him, "Auntie, I already have a wife!"

Only then did the passersby realize that the young man had gone mad after talking about his wife. People had heard of people going mad after finally passing the imperial examinations, but they had never heard of someone going mad from being too happy about getting married. Everyone was talking about whose young man it was.

Finally, a passerby who had seen him come out of the Bai family said, "I just saw him riding out of the Bai family's side courtyard. The Bai family's servants treated him very respectfully."

Once someone said that, everyone guessed the boy's identity: wasn't this the poor boy that Miss Bai was engaged to?

No wonder he went mad. For a poor boy to be able to marry into a family like the Bai family, even if she was divorced, was something that many poor families could only dream of. For a time, Lin Yunche and Bai Wanqing's marriage became the most popular topic of conversation in Huai'an County. Some people ridiculed them, some envied them, but most people still offered their blessings. This conversation lasted for more than a month.

After Lin Yunche replied to the Emperor, he asked Cui to go to the Bai family to set a wedding date. Coincidentally, the date was also May 18th. Bai Chenming and Chen didn't think too much about it and just regarded it as a double celebration. As soon as the date was set, the Lin and Bai families got busy again.

At this moment, the burly man who had been sitting in the teahouse listening to the story of the Bai and Lin families pressed down his straw hat and asked the waiter, "When did the Lin family and the Bai family get engaged? It seems like both families are in a hurry."

The waiter knew about this, but since the person seemed to be an outsider and he wasn't familiar with him, he didn't want to talk about it.

The burly man immediately understood, took out five taels of silver from his pocket and secretly stuffed it into the waiter's hand, then asked the same question again.

With the money in hand, the waiter was much more willing to talk. He smiled and said, "It's been a long time. Back then, the eldest daughter of the Bai family had just divorced the Meng family and then got engaged to the Lin family. Now it's time for her to get married."

"What did you say? This young master of the Lin family married a divorced woman?" The burly man looked incredulous.

The waiter replied, "He's just a poor boy from a remote mountain village. It's his good fortune to marry the divorced woman from the Bai family. You know, Miss Bai has an exceptionally good reputation in our town. When she got divorced, many people came to propose marriage!"

After the waiter finished speaking, he pursed his lips, his face full of envy, showing no disdain for Miss Bai. This made the burly man even more curious, "If she's such a good girl, why did she choose this poor boy from the Lin family?"

The burly man felt extremely uncomfortable thinking about the Lin family, now being labeled as a poor boy.

The waiter glanced at the burly man, then looked around at the people nearby. Seeing nothing suspicious, he lowered his voice and said to the burly man, "That Lin family boy is really lucky. Not long after Miss Bai divorced from the Meng family, she caught the eye of Master Huang from our county. He said he wanted to take her back as a concubine." "But Miss Bai is such a good person, it would be a waste for her to be a concubine, so she wanted to get engaged to another family. But in our Huai'an County, who can afford to offend Master Huang? Once Master Huang makes a call, not only in Huai'an County, but also in the neighboring counties and even further away, no one dares to get engaged to the Bai family."

"It's only because this poor boy has guts. If I had known that Master Huang wouldn't pursue the matter of marrying Miss Bai, I would have given it a try too," the waiter said with a regretful expression.

The burly man finally understood. So the marriage did exist, but whether they were a perfect match or a match made in heaven was another matter entirely.
After asking the waiter for directions, the burly man didn't linger. He rode his horse out of the city and headed towards the Huaizhou prefecture.

Meanwhile, Bai Qinglian, upon hearing that Bai Wanqing had left home on the same day as her, became so angry that she started smashing things in the courtyard.

"She did it on purpose, she did it on purpose." Bai Qinglian's new maid, Chun Tao, watched the Third Miss smash things wildly but didn't dare to step forward to stop her.

"They all completely disregard me, it's outrageous!" Bai Qinglian roared after smashing the last vase.

When Madam Chen heard from the servants that the Third Miss was angrily smashing things, she hurriedly came over to see what was wrong. As soon as she entered, she saw shards of porcelain scattered all over the floor. "Lian'er! What happened to you? Who upset you?"

Madam Chen felt a pang of sympathy looking at Qinglian, whose face was flushed with anger. Qinglian then said, "Who else could it be? Mother, why did you make Bai Wanqing and me get married on the same day? Are you trying to embarrass me?"

"Or is this Bai Wanqing's idea, that she just wants to outdo me?"

Only then did Madam Chen realize that, remembering that Madam Cui had come to set the wedding date earlier that day, she slapped her forehead in regret, "Lian'er, I set the date, but I was so happy that I forgot about it."

"Happy?" Bai Qinglian's tears fell in large drops. "Mother, who is your biological daughter after all!"

Madam Chen quickly explained, "No, it's because the Lin family is moving away. As you know, there hasn't been a moment of peace at home since Bai Wanqing came back. When I heard that the Lin family was moving away after the wedding, I was so happy that I chose the earliest date provided by the Lin family, and it just happened to clash with yours."

"They want to move away? Where can they move to?" Bai Qinglian scoffed. The Lin family was so poor that they were lucky to even have a thatched house. Where else could they go?

Chen said, "Cui said that the Lin family's son found a job in Huaizhou, so she asked the whole family to move there."

"Huaizhou? Bai Wanqing and the others have already moved to the prefectural capital?" Bai Qinglian was even more displeased.

Madam Chen replied, "What good would moving to the prefectural capital do? We'd just be working for someone else anyway. Could that compare to our current life?"

"Don't overthink it. They might not even have a better life over there than we did in Huai'an County."

After hearing this, Bai Qinglian felt a little better, but tears were still flowing. Chen could only pull her aside to comfort her and apologize for her oversight.

Bai Qinglian was even angrier when she saw her mother bowing her head and admitting her mistake. It was because of her good-for-nothing mother that she couldn't be like Bai Wanqing. Look at Kou Zirou, who even left behind connections like Doctor Luo for Bai Wanqing after she died. A feeling of disappointment and frustration reached its peak at this moment.

Since it wasn't Bai Wanqing's idea, Bai Qinglian could finally calm herself down a bit.

“In that case, my dowry and my wedding ceremony must not be inferior to Bai Wanqing’s,” Bai Qinglian and Madam Chen said, weeping.

Madam Chen naturally favored her own daughter, but she and Bai Chenming had argued about this matter quite a bit these past two days. "Fine! Don't worry, on your wedding day, I will definitely find a way to make you outshine Bai Wanqing."

"Really?" Bai Qinglian finally stopped crying and looked at Chen Shi with anticipation.

"Of course it's true. Your mother may not be good at other things, but she can definitely say the truth about this." Madam Chen patted her chest and gave her assurance.

Bai Qinglian then stopped crying and started laughing.

Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival in advance! Enjoy the mooncakes and the drinks!
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(End of this chapter)