After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

After Zhu finished speaking, she felt it was meaningless and said listlessly, "If Mother is not feeling well, please call a doctor. Don't even think about asking my sister-in-law and the others to come back."

"I don't know about the others, but the Ma family just came to say that Miss Rong's mother-in-law has suffered a hysterical attack, and Miss Rong has gone out with her to seek medical treatment. Even if you go to look for her, you won't find her, and you'll only delay the Bai family's important business. Get out!"

"Yes," said Granny Li, feeling snubbed. She returned to the main courtyard and immediately told Madam Bai what had happened.

Madam Bai laughed in anger, "Bai Rong doesn't take that stepmother-in-law seriously at all. She wishes her mother-in-law were dead. How could she possibly accompany her to seek medical treatment! It seems I haven't done enough as a mother. That girl has no confidence in taking her seriously at all! Go and tell Bai Rong that her aunt is sick and ask her to come back!"

Madam Bai gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, her eyes flashing with surging hatred and madness.

Terrified, Granny Li scrambled out of the room and returned in a panic a moment later, shouting, "Madam, something terrible has happened! Concubine Qin has been taken away by Ma Xingteng!"

"What?" Madam Bai was shocked and furious. She sat up abruptly and ordered someone to fetch Master Bai.

As soon as Mr. Bai entered the door, he was nearly hit by a teacup. He was furious and shouted, "Are you crazy?"

"Yes! I've gone mad! Ever since I married into the Bai family, I've borne you children and managed the household affairs, and I haven't received a single kind word from you. Now you're even sending your concubine away behind my back. What? Am I so insignificant in your heart?" Madam Bai questioned angrily.

After learning the reason, Master Bai's attitude softened a bit. "You mean Aunt Qin's matter, right? Your son-in-law's family has run into some trouble, and he's worried that Rong'er is in a bad mood, so he asked Aunt Qin to go and keep her company for a few days. It's not a big deal, is it worth making such a fuss about?"

"Spend a few days with her? Am I making a fuss? You gave Aunt Qin's indenture to the Ma family, and you say I'm making a fuss! Master, am I really that worthless in your eyes?" Madam Bai was both angry and heartbroken, her pale face streaked with tears.

Master Bai looked bewildered. "When did I give away Concubine Qin's indenture?"

"Father-in-law, it's from me." Madam Zhu entered gracefully from outside and respectfully curtsied to Master Bai.

Madam Bai was furious and lunged at Zhu, yelling, "You wretch! You wretch, I'll kill you!"

Zhu Shi, still feeling terrified, hid behind Ru Lan, but remained defiant. "Mother, you are so unreasonable! When I sent my husband and his concubine away, you didn't care. Now that I've used a lazy concubine like Qin to make a deal for the Bai family, you're threatening to kill me. What kind of logic is that?"

"A deal? What deal?" Old Master Bai was initially quite angry, but he immediately calmed down after hearing what followed.

Madam Zhu didn't hide anything and told them everything in one go, "Father-in-law, the Ma family made several hundred taels of silver this time selling strawberry jam in the county town. This is just a trial. If we can take over the business in the whole county, making several thousand taels of silver won't be a problem."

Our household expenses are quite substantial every day. Before, when my daughter-in-law wasn't in charge, she didn't know the cost of daily necessities. Now that she is, she has to be careful with everything. If we had this business, even if it didn't bring in more income, at least we wouldn't have to be so stingy with money, right?

Mr. Bai wholeheartedly agreed, "That's right, you've thought of everything."

Seeing that Mr. Bai and his daughter-in-law were acting in concert and no one cared about her feelings, Madam Bai was so angry that she overturned the table and yelled, "Get out! Get out of here, all of you!"

Master Bai's face turned ashen, and he stormed off in anger.

Zhu said casually, "Mother is sick now and should rest well. Your daughter-in-law works hard to earn money for the Bai family and for your grandson. Please don't hold me back." Madam Bai stared at Zhu, wishing she could tear her to pieces.

Zhu didn't take it seriously and left with her entourage in a leisurely manner.

Granny Li's heart was pounding. She quickly stepped forward to help Madam Bai up. "Madam, what should we do next?"

Madam Bai remained silent for a while before sneering, "Bai Rong, I underestimated you! Good! Very good! Excellent!"

Bai Rong also had some informants in the Bai family. After learning about Madam Bai's actions, she had no doubts about Su Tai's words.

To express her gratitude, she sent Su Tai a lot of brocade and two pieces of jewelry.

Upon receiving the items, Su Tai immediately guessed the truth and accepted them with peace of mind.

Before we knew it, the autumn harvest arrived. The people were busy harvesting, and the fighting on the border eased. At least during the autumn harvest, the two countries would not go to war.

Cen Li returned to the military camp and told Cen Yingfan the news he had found out.

"Brother, if you ask me, you have a good eye. Zhu Yixuan is definitely the first choice for our Cen family's son-in-law. Putting aside the Zhu family's status in Zhaohua County, just the fact that Zhu Yixuan has no first wife and no children makes him far superior to everyone else."

Upon hearing this, Cen Yingfan was not particularly pleased. He only frowned and said, "How could it be such a coincidence? I intended for him to be my son-in-law, and now he's lost his first wife?"

Cen Li explained, "I've already asked around. Their family's affairs are not a secret in Zhaohua County. The Cui family, to which Zhu Yixuan's first wife, Cui, belonged, was originally one of the three major families in Zhaohua County. However, the Cui family declined, and after Cui's only legitimate son died of illness, she wanted to adopt a child from her maternal family. The Zhu family certainly could not agree to this, and things became very tense."

Years ago, the Zhu family had wanted to divorce Cui, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it. It is said that this year, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law had a big fight, and Madam Zhu finally couldn't bear it anymore and divorced her. However, the Zhu family is kind and righteous, and they still gave her the compensation she was entitled to.

The people in the county all praised the Zhu family for their kindness when they talked about this. I certainly wouldn't believe it if only one or two people said so, but I stayed there for three days and asked many people—government officials, peddlers, and local gentry—and everyone's opinion of the Zhu family was pretty much the same.

Cen Yingfan's expression softened considerably. "In other words, this marriage is a match made in heaven, even the heavens are on Mingzhu's side!"

Cen Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes, that's exactly what I think. Besides, the Zhu family is much wealthier than our Cen family. They can find their businesses all over Zhaohua County. It's far from the capital, so Mingzhu can do whatever she wants there without worrying about offending important people. Isn't that great!"

Cen Yingfan thought the same thing, but he didn't say it aloud. Instead, he asked, "What about Shen Yi? What's his situation?"

Mentioning Shen Yi, Cen Li's face immediately darkened, clearly displeased. "Shen Yi is just a penniless peasant with a fierce father-in-law. I heard his wife's family has a lot of relatives; they're local bullies, not to be trifled with."

Furthermore, Shen Yi's wife has given him four children—four! And with such a powerful family backing him up, even if Mingzhu were to fall for Shen Yi, I couldn't agree! Besides, Mingzhu doesn't even fancy him, so let's not even mention it.”

Cen Yingfan knew Cen Li's temperament. Although the guy was a bit concerned about his image, he was generally reliable in his work. Since he had said so, it was clear that Shen Yi was indeed not a viable option. (End of Chapter)