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

Chapter 74 I gave you extra, dare you take it?
Bai Qinglian naturally agreed with her mother, saying from the side, "Yes! Eldest sister, Mother also checked the betrothal gifts for both me and Furong. You are also Mother's daughter, so it's not right to make an exception for us."

Bai Wanqing shook her head, "Of course I don't want to make an exception, but that was before I discovered that my third sister wanted to take these things away privately."

Bai Qinglian choked for a moment, then retorted, "I didn't take it. Don't make false accusations. I just came to help."

“We’re here to help too.” With that, Bai Wanqing extended her right hand again. This time, Madam Chen couldn’t refuse, so she had to order someone to hand the list of betrothal gifts to Bai Wanqing.

“Third sister, it’s hard to sort these things out if you’re holding them like this. Put them down first, and I’ll have Ruixin label each one. That way, we can sort them out quickly,” Bai Wanqing said.

Bai Qinglian knew that Bai Wanqing had set a trap for her, so she had no choice but to put the jewelry she liked back into the box.

Bai Wanqing then had Ruixin bring over an empty box. "Qinglian, take the items from that box over there. Furong, put the items into this empty box. I'll mark them on the list. Mother, you can supervise, okay?"

With a cold face, Chen could not say no, "Fine! Fine! Let's do it this way."

As a result, Bai Qinglian and Chen Shi did not get anything in the afternoon, and even helped Bai Wanqing with her work.

At the end, Bai Wanqing picked out a few items from the box and gave them to her younger sisters. Of course, she gave Bai Qinglian a few ordinary items, while she gave Furong the ones that Furong had liked earlier.

But Bai Qinglian, unusually, didn't make a scene. She held the few ordinary hairpins in her hand, looked at Bai Wanqing and sneered in her heart. These things are all in the Bai family's storeroom now, and the storeroom is managed by her mother. You think I won't get anything else by giving me these few things in such a proper way?

Bai Qinglian had already decided which items she would ask her mother for.

Unexpectedly, when they were about to leave, Bai Wanqing asked people to carry all the boxes to her courtyard.

Madam Chen immediately objected, "Qing'er, this is against the rules. Why do you want to move out? The betrothal gifts of your two younger sisters ended up in this public treasury. Otherwise, how would we supplement your dowries?"

Bai Qinglian was also anxious. She had just taken a liking to several things. "Yes! Big sister, what's the meaning of you moving them away?"

Bai Wanqing said, "Mother, Third Sister, I'm doing this all for your own good!"

Chen and Bai Qinglian naturally felt that she was making excuses. "How can this be for our own good?" Bai Qinglian questioned.

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Your mother and third sister probably know that Young Master Lin's family background is not very good, right?"

Speaking of this, Madam Chen knew Lin Feiyun's explanation, but Bai Qinglian did not. When she saw these nice things, she was so dazzled that she only cared about choosing the items she liked as her dowry and didn't think about this at all. Now that Bai Wanqing brought it up, she realized it.

That's right! The Lin family lives in Linjia Village, so a dowry of five taels of silver is already quite generous. How could they offer so much gold and silver jewelry so readily?

"Where did these things come from?" Bai Qinglian was the first to react and ask.

Bai Wanqing's expression was complicated at this moment. "I'm afraid they came from an unknown source, so these things shouldn't be kept in the Bai family's public treasury."

“It’s better to keep them in my yard. If someone really investigates, you can put all the blame on me and avoid being implicated.” Bai Wanqing’s words were reasonable and well-founded, leaving Bai Qinglian speechless. Even the items she was holding began to feel hot to the touch.

Bai Qinglian then returned the hairpins to Bai Wanqing, saying, "Elder sister, how can we accept these things? Why don't you find a chance to return them to the Lin family?"

Bai Wanqing smiled and said, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Third Sister." Then she watched as Bai Wanqing carried the six boxes back to her own courtyard.

After a busy afternoon, Chen and Bai Qinglian had gotten nothing.

Madam Chen rolled her eyes at Bai Qinglian. "Lian'er! You're so foolish! You actually believed what she said!"

Bai Qinglian disagreed, saying, "Mother, I'm not stupid. Don't you know what the Lin family is like? Maybe these things were all obtained by the Lin family. I knew it. What could the Lin family possibly give away in a legitimate way?"

“But Lin Feiyun said these all came from legitimate sources!” Chen said.

“If he says so, then it must be so! Mother, how can you and Father believe everything?” Bai Qinglian was speechless.

Upon further consideration, Chen realized that this made sense. "Wouldn't placing it with the Bai family be disadvantageous for us as well?"

Bai Qinglian suddenly had a plan. "That's easy. You just need to let Bai Wanqing take all these things with her. Then we can spread some rumors. Bai Wanqing's life will probably be difficult."

Madam Chen felt this was inappropriate. "Lian'er, this might implicate the Bai family. You absolutely mustn't do this. No matter how bad Bai Wanqing is, she's still a daughter of the Bai family. If something happens to her, what will happen to your second sister and your brother?"

Bai Qinglian thought for a moment and obediently said, "Mother is right. It was Qinglian who did not think it through." "In that case, we must not leave these things in the Bai family. It would be better to let Bai Wanqing take them away as soon as possible."

Although Chen was also somewhat reluctant to part with these beautiful things, her son and daughter were still more important to her. "Alright, alright! Let her take them all, don't leave her a single thing."

Bai Wanqing and Bai Furong returned to the courtyard, unaware that Bai Qinglian and the others had imagined such a scene.

Furong was still holding the things Bai Wanqing had given her. She thought for a moment and said, "Elder sister, if these things are really of dubious origin, you shouldn't keep them in your yard, but in Furong's yard instead."

Bai Wanqing knew what Furong was thinking, and felt a warmth in her heart, but she still wanted to tease her, "Why?"

“They all say Furong is stupid. Since Furong is stupid, they can’t do anything to her if she’s kept in her courtyard,” Bai Furong said seriously.

Bai Wanqing's eyes welled up with tears. She took Furong's hand and patted it gently, saying, "Furong, don't say you're stupid anymore, because Furong isn't stupid at all. Furong is just naive, Furong is just kind, not stupid at all, understand?"

Furong smiled brightly, forgetting what to do about those things, and simply said, "Furong understands."

After sending Furong back, Bai Wanqing returned to her courtyard and instructed Ruixin to put away all the betrothal gifts. Ruixin, however, was somewhat confused. "Miss, are we really going to leave these things in our courtyard?"

To be honest, Ruixin was also very afraid that this matter would affect her young lady. If that were the case, it would be better to give up everything and enter the Lin family, so that she could perhaps sever ties with them.

Bai Wanqing was surprised that she had even fooled Ruixin. "Ruixin, did you really think these were stolen goods?"

Ruixin didn't dare to say anything, but that was indeed what she was thinking.

"Don't worry! These aren't stolen goods. The reason we brought them back is simply because we don't want the Chen family to give them all to Qinglian. After all, the style of these items is too conspicuous in our town. If Qinglian were to show them off outside, I'm afraid..."

"I'm afraid of what?" Ruixin still didn't understand.

"I'm afraid it's no longer possible to hide Young Master Lin's identity." She didn't want to cause him any further trouble, so it was better to keep a low profile.

Ruixin was confused, but she didn't press her young mistress for more information. After all, her young mistress was always very shrewd, so if she said to put it away, then she would just put it away.

As she spoke, she took the key to the young lady's storeroom and moved all her belongings inside.

The next day, Bai Chenming heard from Madam Chen that Bai Wanqing should take all the betrothal gifts brought by the Lin family back as her dowry, which really shocked Bai Chenming.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly being so generous? Those things are rare and precious." Bai Chenming wasn't unwilling; on the contrary, he was quite willing. After all, he felt very indebted to his daughter after her divorce and return. However, he couldn't understand why it was Chen who brought this up.

"What do you mean I'm suddenly being so generous? I've always been very generous, okay?" Chen felt a little guilty, but on the surface she still looked reasonable.

“There has to be a reason,” Bai Chenming continued.

Madam Chen thought Bai Chenming was unhappy. Indeed, it was hard for anyone to just give away so many good things. She herself had been heartbroken all night.

After thinking for a moment, Madam Chen said, "The betrothal gifts from the Lin family are so valuable. We can't let them look down on Qing'er, can we? Now, we've not only returned the betrothal gifts, but we've also given Qing'er a dowry. Even if our dowry isn't as valuable as the betrothal gifts, it will definitely prevent the Lin family from looking down on our Bai family. What do you think, sir?"

Bai Chenming glanced at Madam Chen with some surprise, "I didn't expect you to actually be making plans for Qing'er?"

“Master, what you’re saying is true. Whether it’s Qing’er, or Furong and Qinglian, I want to treat them all equally. This matter doesn’t concern the other children, so naturally I hope Qing’er is the best.”

Bai Chenming's eyes reddened, but he felt a little relieved. "Alright! Let's do it this way. Let's take these things sent by the Lin family as Qing'er's dowry and send them back."

"What about the other children?" Madam Chen felt that Bai Wanqing was getting too much of a bargain, so she didn't forget to ask her other daughters for something too.

"Very well, since Qing'er has taken the betrothal gifts back, then we won't add too much to the dowry. Let's add more for Furong and Qinglian."

"Yes!" Chen replied with a smile, and happily walked out of Bai Chenming's study.

Immediately, Madam Chen went to the Bai family's storeroom and picked out many valuable items to add to Bai Qinglian's dowry list. It can be said that Bai Qinglian's dowry was 50% thicker. Although it was not as good as the Lin family's, it was still 50% thicker than the daughters of other families, including Furong.

Bai Qinglian was overjoyed. She couldn't wait for the wedding day so she could have a grand and glorious time. So what if she was a concubine! She would be the most glamorous concubine.

(End of this chapter)