Zhenfubao waved his hand and the warehouse was full of grain, and the whole family regretted it

After these people left, Bai Qiaoniang sighed and said, "Dad and Mom, let's go home together now."

Bai Yin shook his head and said, "This Sun Xing is good at nothing. He's number one in eating, drinking, whoring and gambling. He's pretty much useless. Expecting him to take the top spot in the imperial examination is a dream!"

Madam Bai said calmly:

“I think it’s best to cut ties with their family.

But there is one thing I can’t figure out. The Zhao family is quite weird. Why are they so good to Zhao Qiaolan?

Instead, he treated his own daughter Qiao Niang so badly."

Bai Wanwan narrowed her eyes and felt that there must be something wrong here.

She looked at Naitang and said, "Tangtang, go check it out..."

Naitang nodded slightly and left with a group of little mice.

The alley where the Zhao family lived was very narrow, with gray brick walls on both sides that were crooked and moss growing at the base.

On sunny days, the alleys are filled with flying dust. When it rains, the ground turns into a muddy puddle and people have to tiptoe to walk through it.

There were clotheslines hanging all over the head, and faded clothes were swaying in the wind, with water droplets dripping from them from time to time.

Large chunks of the wall fell off, revealing the bumpy adobe inside, which looked broken and shabby.

Naitang quickly found the Zhao family according to the address.

As soon as I stepped over the threshold, I saw Zhao Qiaolan arriving.

Old Mrs. Zhao was sitting on a blackened wooden chair. When she saw her granddaughter come in, she quickly stood up and asked, "Why are you back? Were you bullied over there?"

When Zhao Qiaolan heard this, tears started streaming down her face, and she sobbed:

"Sun Xing lost 3,500 taels of silver gambling, and his family had to pay him back.

But...but I was forced to sign a document severing ties."

Old Mrs. Zhao's brows knitted into a knot, and she slapped her thigh in anger:

"You useless girl! You're going to waste such a good opportunity?

The Sun family clearly has plenty of money, but they just don't want to spend it.

You finally became the daughter of the Sun family, how could you let go so easily? "

Zhao Qiaolan's eyes were red, and she choked up and said:

“How could I have imagined this would happen?

I originally wanted to eat, drink and live a peaceful life there, but who knew Sun Xing would become like this.

I want to divorce him and live our own lives.”

Old Lady Zhao snorted coldly and said with a pout, "Break off ties? With your current situation, how can you find a good family?"

Zhao Qiaolan slumped down on a broken bamboo stool in the corner, crying breathlessly: "Then...what else can I do? Sun Xing is totally unreliable!"

Old Lady Zhao sneered and said:

"How stupid! If you become a daughter of the Sun family, you'll have a golden rice bowl!

Now, look what happened, he smashed the rice bucket with his own hands.

If it were me, I would have already knelt at the gate of the Bai family, with snot and tears all over my face, begging for shelter!"

Old Mrs. Zhao's cloudy eyes rolled and she lowered her voice and said:

"Baiyin and the others must have returned to Zhao Qiaoniang's place, so go to her now.

Cry when you see people, kneel when you see the door, the more miserable you act, the better!

Mrs. Bai is soft-hearted and a newly recognized daughter, making her the easiest to manipulate! As long as you can get hold of her, are you afraid that the Bai family won't let you go?

Zhao Qiaolan took the risk and fell to her knees on the ground with a plop, howling at the top of her lungs:

"Dad! Mom! I really know I was wrong! Please don't abandon me!

From now on, I will serve you tea and water every day. I promise you will be obedient!"

She was crying so hard that her nose and tears were all over her face, and her hair was a mess, sticking to her face. She looked pitiful.

The noise immediately attracted all the neighbors.

Everyone started talking at once, and some people stood on tiptoe to look into the Bai family's courtyard: "What's going on? Who is this woman?"

The aunt next to me lowered her voice and said:

"This is the daughter that the Bai family just adopted!

Look at his pitiful appearance, I'm afraid he was kicked out.

After all, we haven't been together for so many years, so we can't kiss each other."

Another old man sighed:

"That's right! The Bai couple have been looking for their child for more than ten years and finally found him. How can they just leave him alone?

Even if the child did something wrong, you can't be so cruel!"

Others shook their heads and smacked their lips: "Alas, every family has its own problems, and it's hard for outsiders to say anything."

While Zhao Qiaolan was still crying and howling at the door, the door of the Bai family opened with a bang.

Several maids and old women rushed out with dark faces, carrying full buckets of slop in their hands. Without saying a word, they raised their hands and poured it on Zhao Qiaolan.

With a "splash", the sour and smelly泔水 all poured onto Zhao Qiaolan's head, and vegetable leaves and leftovers stuck to her face and hair.

Zhao Qiaolan screamed "Ah" and rolled and crawled backwards to hide.

The people watching the excitement were splashed with dirty water and dispersed cursing.

A fat woman put her hands on her hips and cursed with spit flying everywhere:

"How shameless of you! You just swindled three thousand five hundred taels of silver from the old master and his wife, emptying all their pension money!

Now you come here to act pitiful again?"

Zhao Qiaolan shuddered and said, "I just want to admit my mistake to my parents..."

"Pooh!" another woman spat.

"That's easy for you to say! Now the master and his wife can't even bear to eat a full meal, just to fill this bottomless pit of yours!

"Get out of here now! If you don't, I'll report you to the police and make you give up all the money!"

Naitang hurried back to the yard and told Bai Wanwan everything about Zhao Qiaolan making a scene in front of the Bai family's door.

Bai Wanwan sat in front of the dressing table, listening while holding her comb in a daze. After a long while, she spoke: "This matter has a strange aura. Find a few men and keep an eye on the Zhao family every day to see what tricks they can come up with."

Bai Qiaoniang was awarded the title of a first-rank lady, and Bai Wanwan was a princess. Such prominent figures naturally received invitations from the palace early on.

Ostensibly, this palace banquet was a spring gathering, allowing everyone to enjoy the flowers, drink, and have fun.

In fact, there is an important purpose hidden, which is to select wives for the princes.

When the emperor's son reached the age to get married, it was unreliable to rely on private inquiries for blind dates, so he simply gathered all the young girls of status in Bianjing City under the pretext of holding a banquet.

At the banquet, the princes can see with their own eyes the girls' manners, appearance and temperament, and the girls can also take the opportunity to show their faces in front of the royal family.

To put it bluntly, this palace banquet is a large-scale blind date event organized by the royal family.

It can not only help the prince choose a suitable wife, but also help the royal family expand.

Through marriage, the relationship between the royal family and court ministers and aristocratic families can be strengthened, making the court more stable.

For the girls attending the palace banquet and their families, it would be a great honor to be favored by the prince.

That means rising to the throne and becoming a royal relative, and the days ahead will be extremely glorious, so every family attaches great importance to this matter.

Those who could attend this palace banquet were all prominent families in the capital, so Bai Qiaoniang and Bai Wanwan naturally had to dress up well.

Bai Qiaoniang took out the best fabric from the bottom of her box and put on a silk dress embroidered with peonies in gold thread.