The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 131 Cannon Fodder with Explosive Combat Power
Because Lu Zhaoyang had been in poor health since childhood, he almost passed out after eating noodle soup many times. Therefore, Grandpa Lu pampered the two siblings as if he were afraid of losing his grandchildren.

As a boy, Lu Zhaoyang was able to study at Wanliu Academy.

Lu Zhaozhao spent most of her time living in her own mansion. Apart from visiting her maternal grandfather's house a few times, she rarely visited other people's homes. Therefore, Lu Zhaozhao's arrival in Qinghe Bay was like a caged bird flying out.

He was curious about everything—fields, wheat fields, threshing grounds.

He kept pulling Gu Taohua around.

They also went to the pigsty to see the pigs that Lu Zhaoyang had given to Tong Huaqiong.

"Peach Blossom, now that your shop is open and making money, why doesn't Aunt Tong let your third brother go back to school?" After a few words between Lu Zhaozhao and Gu Taohua, the topic turned to Gu Jingzhe.

Previously, Lu Zhaozhao had always thought that Gu Jingzhe dropped out of the private school because his family was short of money.

"I don't know either," Gu Taohua said vaguely.

Gu Taohua naturally understood why Tong Huaqiong wouldn't let Gu Jingzhe study.

But this is not something that should be told to Lu Zhaozhao.

Now Gu Taohua is more mature than before. She also knows that what her third brother did before was a family scandal, and since it was a family scandal, it should not be made public.

As the two were talking, Gu Jingzhe returned from the threshing ground in the distance.

Lu Zhaozhao's face flushed slightly when she saw Gu Jingzhe.

Just then, a young woman suddenly appeared from the side and blocked Gu Jingzhe's path.

“That’s our village chief’s niece, Xu Zaohua,” Gu Taohua gossiped with Lu Zhaozhao. “Zaohua likes my third brother, but I don’t want her to be my sister-in-law. She always talks about me behind my back as a fat pig.”

Lu Zhaozhao stood on tiptoe and saw Xu Zaohua standing in front of Gu Jingzhe, the two of them talking about something. Lu Zhaozhao couldn't help but frown.

She tried hard to listen, trying to make out what the two were saying, but she couldn't hear anything.

"Jingzhe, are you content to just farm in the village from now on?" Xu Zaohua asked Gu Jingzhe.

Gu Jingzhe wanted to escape, but this was the third time Xu Zaohua had stopped him.

“What’s there to be resentful about?” Gu Jingzhe said.

“My father and uncle said that if you propose marriage to my family, they will pay for your education.” Xu Zaohua’s bold gaze swept over Gu Jingzhe. “You know, it’s not a problem for my family to support your education.”

Xu Zaohua's uncle was the village chief, and her biological father was a wealthy man in the village. Together they could easily support a scholar.

Gu Jingzhe was so frightened that he took three feet back and said seriously, "What are you saying? I'm not getting married."

Xu Zaohua did not back down and advanced three feet, standing right in front of Gu Jingzhe again.

Even though Gu Jingzhe is cunning, he's still a young man. He couldn't resist Xu Zaohua's enthusiasm and ran home like a rabbit in fright.

Xu Zaohua was so angry that she stomped her feet.

Tong Huaqiong was just coming out of Liu Yue'e's parents' home when she happened to see the scene of jujube flowers blocking the valley during the Awakening of Insects.

Her eyes sharpened.

The village chief's niece had taken a liking to Gu Jingzhe.

She searched through Tong Dajiao's memories to see if Xu Zaohua and Gu Jingzhe had any connection in their past lives, and discovered that Xu Zaohua was just cannon fodder in Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao's relationship.

However, Xu Zaohua is no ordinary cannon fodder; she is quite lethal.

The only person Gu Jingzhe ever schemed against in his life was Xu Zaohua, whom he never took seriously.

When Gu Jingzhe passed the imperial examination and returned home, she ambushed him at the village entrance, knocked him unconscious with a stick, and then dragged him into the cornfield.

The village chief and Xu Zaohua's father, Xu Jin, surrounded the two disheveled individuals with their men.

Gu Jingzhe was completely bewildered when the Xu family demanded that he marry Xu Zaohua.

Gu Jingzhe disliked Xu Zaohua to begin with, and since he was already engaged to Lu Zhaozhao, he naturally couldn't marry Xu Zaohua.

Tong Dajiao, with her formidable fighting spirit, would absolutely not allow a village girl to enter the house. Her own scholar son wouldn't even bow to the county magistrate, so how could he possibly bow to the village chief's younger brother as a father-in-law? She resolutely refused to let Xu Zaohua into the house.

Xu Zaohua was about to hang herself at the Gu family's doorstep.

The village chief, along with the Xu family members, threatened to cause a scene at Wanliu Academy and ruin Gu Jingzhe's reputation. In the end, it was Old Master Lu, despite his illness, who intervened and gave the Xu family one thousand taels of silver, agreeing to let Xu Zaohua enter the family as a concubine.

Xu Jin and Xu Zaohua happily agreed.

Gu Jingzhe was the first promising young scholar in Qinghewan, and also a handsome top scholar. With the Lu family's immense wealth, his future was unimaginable. Even if Xu Zaohua became a concubine and lived a life of luxury, it would still be better than marrying a farmer.

After Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao got married, Xu Zaohua also entered the household as a concubine.

Gu Jingzhe deeply resented Xu Zaohua's scheming and treated her very coldly.

Xu Zaohua then vented her resentment on Lu Zhaozhao.

She would constantly sabotage Lu Zhaozhao, and it was Xu Zaohua's scheme that caused Lu Zhaozhao to miscarry her first pregnancy.

Tong Dajiao, who was so opposed to Xu Zaohua, began to support Xu Zaohua intentionally or unintentionally after Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao got married. She couldn't stand the good relationship between Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao, and she was also afraid that others would say that Gu Jingzhe made his fortune by relying on the Lu family's money.

With Tong Dajiao's backing, Xu Zaohua became even more emboldened to provoke Lu Zhaozhao.

Xu Zaohua is a nuisance. Even if Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao can't be together in this life, Tong Huaqiong will not let someone with such wicked thoughts as Xu Zaohua into the family.

My son's face is so handsome; it's already attracted the attention of two girls.

One is a local rich and beautiful woman, and the other is a rich and beautiful woman from the prefectural city.

Later, when she arrived in Shengjing, she caused a bloodbath among the noble ladies. If she hadn't caught the eye of the princess, who already had a husband, the noble ladies would probably have worn down the threshold of the Gu family.

Gu Jingzhe ran to the front door and saw Gu Taohua and Lu Zhaozhao. Knowing that they had seen what had just happened, he blushed with embarrassment.

"Third Brother, does Zao Hua want to be my third sister-in-law?" Gu Taohua asked.

Gu Jingzhe said sternly, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Gu Taohua persisted, saying, "Third Brother, you'd better stay away from Zaohua. She's always talking badly about me behind my back. I'll be the first to object if she wants to be my sister-in-law. Last spring, Granny Yan took over our land. Her eldest uncle sided with Granny Yan, and Mother won't agree to her marrying into the family."

Gu Jingzhe angrily said to Gu Taohua, "You're talking as if you agree with me. I have absolutely no feelings for Zaohua."

Upon hearing this, the dark clouds hanging over Lu Zhaozhao's head vanished instantly, and she became overjoyed.

Lu Zhaozhao smiled and said to Gu Jingzhe, "Brother Jingzhe, I brought you a box of books. Would you like to take a look?"

Gu Jingzhe said, "We'll focus on the wheat these next few days and see how it goes later."

After saying that, he walked towards his home and then fetched water to wash his face.

Lu Zhaozhao followed Gu Jingzhe and whispered, "Brother Jingzhe, you really want to study, right? I brought Aunt Tong three hundred taels of silver, is that enough for your studies?"

Gu Jingzhe raised his head and said to Lu Zhaozhao, "Whether I study or not is my business, and Miss Lu doesn't need to worry about it now or in the future."

Lu Zhaozhao lowered her eyes.

Gu Jingzhe suddenly felt a little sorry for him and changed to a gentler tone, saying, "I'm sorry, I spoke too harshly just now. What I meant was that I will study on my own. Thank you for bringing me the books."

Lu Zhaozhao raised her head and said, "It's nothing."

Gu Jingzhe noticed that Lu Zhaozhao's eyes were red and wet, and his heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

He always felt that he had met Lu Zhaozhao a long time ago.

"Do you want to eat apricots? I'll go pick some for you," Gu Jingzhe suddenly blurted out.

By the time he realized what was happening, Lu Zhaozhao had already happily stood up and cheerfully said, "Okay, okay."

There was an apricot tree planted in front of the Gu family's house. During the wheat harvest season, when the apricots turned yellow, the apricots hung from the branches and emitted a rich fragrance.

So when Tong Huaqiong walked from the Liu family's house to her own doorstep, she saw Gu Jingzhe climbing up a tree to pick apricots, and Lu Zhaozhao standing under the tree with a basket in her hand, craning her neck to look up at the tree.

Gu Jingzhe picked out the big, yellow apricots and threw them into Lu Zhaozhao's basket.

Gu Taohua stood to the side and called out to Gu Jingzhe for a long time, but he didn't give her a single one. She was so angry that she wanted to kick the tree.

Tong Huaqiong suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

(End of this chapter)