Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress novel Chapter 276

Chapter 276: Chapter 274: Divorce Wife_1

Bai Jinzhi sat inside the painted boat, munching on snacks while watching Dong Changyuan, who was speaking with her eldest sister at the bow. She lowered her voice and asked Dong Tingzhen, "How did Cousin Changyuan become so thin? Is the pressure from the imperial exams too much for him?"

Dong Tingzhen nodded haphazardly, "Brother Changyuan didn’t do well in the exams this time. He must be feeling pressured! I hope Sister can help ease his worries!"

"My eldest sister can definitely help him! My eldest sister always speaks with reason!" Bai Jinzhi stuffed a snack into her mouth.

Dong Changyuan, standing at the bow, lowered his eyes to stare at the lake water and said, "Knowing that Cousin Sister has returned safely, Changyuan is relieved! However... now that envoys from various countries have arrived in Dadu City, it’s expected that at the Emperor’s birthday banquet tomorrow, there will be envoys proposing marriage to Cousin Sister. Changyuan fears the Emperor might hastily betroth Cousin Sister to someone else. So, he pleaded with Brother Changsheng to let me see Cousin Sister once. If Cousin Sister nods, I will go to my aunt. If the Emperor indeed decrees a marriage, Cousin Sister will have a reason to refuse! If Cousin Sister finds a favored man in the future, Changyuan will have the elders annul the engagement."

Dong Changyuan harbored no romantic intentions towards Bai Qingyan. When he knew Bai Qingyan had achieved great success in the southern border, he realized the gap between them was insurmountable.

Bai Qingyan looked at Dong Changyuan, who didn’t raise his head. She asked softly, "Is it my marriage affairs that caused discord between Uncle and Aunt?"

Dong Changyuan didn’t expect Bai Qingyan to guess this. Stunned, he raised his head to look at Bai Qingyan, then frowned and avoided her gaze.

Indeed.

Although Bai Qingyan didn’t interact much with this cousin, she didn’t believe he would be troubled by matters of romance.

So, Bai Qingyan guessed it might be because of her that Uncle and Aunt quarreled, which distracted Dong Changyuan.

"Mother intended to betroth me to my cousin from the maternal family. My father disagreed, as did grandmother, thinking... to wait for Cousin Sister to return from the southern border! Later... news about the southern border spread back, and Mother...," Dong Changyuan found it difficult to speak his mother’s words, pressed his lips, and continued, "Mother spoke harshly, feeling Father and Grandmother were biased, insisting on delaying my marriage to wait for you, stirring up a huge ruckus. Father, in his anger... wanted to divorce her."

Dong Changyuan’s mother, Mrs. Cui, spoke harshly. She said Bai Qingyan’s actions of killing prisoners were inhumane, being ruthless and cruel. She also accused Madam Dong of being partial, forcing her legitimate grandson to wait for the cousin. Did they want to wait until Bai Qingyan decided not to take Dong Changyuan before allowing Dong Changyuan to marry? If Madam Dong and her husband insisted on treating her son like this, she would take her son and return to her family’s home.

In his rage, Dong Qingyue decided to divorce his wife.

In short, it was chaos.

Thus, Dong Changyuan performed poorly in the imperial exams, deeply affected and unable to lift himself from his despondency.

Bai Qingyan didn’t expect her affairs to cause such a commotion in her maternal family.

"So, Cousin Changyuan insisted on meeting... did he hear something from Uncle?"

Dong Changyuan nodded, "I heard envoys from Daliang asked Uncle about your engagement status."