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

Chapter 152 The worst troublemakers should all come together

"Widow Tong, what are you doing at my house?"

When Xu Zaohua's mother, Madam Yu, who was cutting meat, saw Tong Huaqiong enter her house, she looked displeased.

Xu Zaohua's family was the wealthiest in the village. Yu Shi always looked down on the other villagers, especially Tong Dajiao, whom she despised as a widow.

In the past, whenever she saw Tong Dajiao in the village, even if Tong Dajiao greeted her first, she wouldn't hum a word.

Now that the Xu family patriarch and village chief have fallen from power, the Yu family is blaming Tong Huaqiong for their mistakes.

"You think I wanted to come to your house, to avoid getting my feet dirty?" Tong Huaqiong's opening line was in the style of Tong Dajiao (a character from a popular TV series). "Where's your jujube flower?"

Yu wanted to roll her eyes. Why was she looking for Zao Hua?

Her husband, Xu Jin, had mentioned to her that he was impressed with Gu Jingzhe's qualities and wanted to recruit her as his son-in-law.

Before it was even mentioned, Tong Huaqiong had already made enemies with the Xu family.

Yu told Xu Jin that even though the two families were enemies, Gu Jingzhe could still marry Zaohua, as long as he was willing to become Xu's son-in-law.

Since Tong Dajiao wouldn't let Gu Jingzhe study anymore, they were willing to pay for Gu Jingzhe to study, so Gu Jingzhe would have to marry into their family.

Yu and Xu Jin pondered for a long time, but they forgot that this matter was not up to them, but rather up to Tong Huaqiong and Gu Jingzhe.

"Why are you looking for my Zao Hua?" Yu asked irritably.

Could it be that Tong Dajiao already knows about the Xu family's plans?

She and Xu Jin did indeed have Zao Hua sound out Gu Jingzhe, fearing that Gu Jingzhe might have told Tong Dajiao about it.

Zao Hua isn't even a daughter-in-law of the Gu family yet, and Tong Da Jiao is already so domineering. What will happen after she marries into the family?

Tong Huaqiong didn't beat around the bush with Madam Yu and said, "I've come to propose marriage to your Zaohua."

Yu was overjoyed.

Could it be that Tong Dajiao also intends to make Zaohua her daughter-in-law?
If that's the case, then it's not impossible to talk about it.

Thinking of this, Madam Yu's tone subtly changed as she asked, "Which young man is Sister-in-law Tong referring to?"

Standing in front of the chopping board, Tong Huaqiong said, "Fan Tong from Wild Buffalo Valley is a scholar."

Yu and Gu Taohua were both stunned.

Yu was not familiar with Fan Tong.

Gu Taohua never expected that her mother would actually arrange for Fan Tong to marry Xu Zaohua.

Tong Huaqiong remained calm and composed under Gu Taohua's puzzled gaze, and decided to simply bring Fan Tong and Xu Zaohua, these two extremely troublesome people from their past lives, together.

The valley peach blossoms and valley auspicious insects of the province suffered setbacks because of these two people.

"It's rare for a village to produce a scholar, so why is this scholar only getting married now?"

Yu was quite tempted when she heard that Gu Jingzhe was a scholar, after all, Gu Jingzhe was only a student at the level of a child scholar.

“My family was poor, and even studying was difficult. How could we afford to get married?” Tong Huaqiong said.

Yu suspected that this was a trap; she didn't believe that Tong Dajiao was so kind as to introduce a scholar to her daughter.

Moreover, the Gu family and the Xu family are enemies.

Tong Huaqiong seemed to see through Yu's thoughts and said, "Sister, you must be wondering why I arranged for Fan Xiucai to marry Zaohua. I have a feud with Xu Si and Xu Yong, but I have no feud with your family. The Xu family is the largest surname in the village, and my Gu family is weak and powerless. I still live in the village, so I can't possibly offend the entire Xu family."

"Besides, I also run a business in town. Which businessperson doesn't want to build good relationships? Don't think that just because Xu He is the head of your Xu family now, he is the one who will be in charge of the Xu family in the future."

Ms. Yu was convinced by Tong Huaqiong's frank and straightforward explanation.

Tong Dajiao's words make a lot of sense. As the largest family in Qinghewan, the Xu family has many descendants; it's impossible for them to remain forever unable to recover.

Moreover, many of the Xu family's daughters have married into prominent families in various villages and towns of Pingchuan County.

If Tong Huaqiong wants to continue living in Qinghewan, she really needs to establish a good relationship with the Xu family.

Besides, whether that scholar Fan is capable or not can be determined by asking around in Wild Buffalo Valley.

Tong Huaqiong, trying to figure out what Yu was thinking, pressed on, saying, "To be honest, my dear sister, Fan Tong is my Jingzhe's senior in the private school. When he asked me to propose marriage to him, I originally wanted to marry my niece to him. But after thinking about it, I felt that my niece was not good enough for a scholar. The best girl in our village is Zaohua. Only Zaohua is good enough for a scholar. She will become the wife of a successful candidate in the imperial examinations, and she may even be granted an imperial title in the future."

Tong Huaqiong was making empty promises to the Yu family.

Xu Jin and Madam Yu sent Xu Zaohua to explore Gu Jingzhe because they valued Gu Jingzhe as a scholar.
Since they wanted a scholar as their son-in-law, she provided one readily available.

As for whether Fan Tong agrees or not, can he stop the matchmaker from coming to his door?

The Xu family was wealthy, and Fan Tong was opportunistic. The Xu family needed a scholar as a son-in-law, so they quickly reached an agreement and became partners.

As for Xu Zaohua's dream of becoming a scholar's wife, she can only dream about it!
In his previous life, Fan Tong never passed the imperial examination before he died.

"Fan Tong's family is poor. He has an old mother and a married older sister. He needs money to go to school. Which family can afford to send their son-in-law to school? My older brother's family definitely can't. He himself hasn't even found a place to go to school yet. Only the men in your family in the whole village have this ability. So I thought it would be better to keep the good stuff in the family and introduce him to your Zao Hua."

“Sister Yu, if you don’t believe what I’m saying, why don’t you and Uncle Dashu go to Wild Buffalo Valley and ask around? You’ll find out.”

Tong Huaqiong praised Fan Tong to the skies, patting her chest and guaranteeing that Fan Tong's future would be bright.

This promising stock is worth investing in.

Yu's thoughts began to wander.

Tong Huaqiong then delivered a heavy blow to Yu Shi, whispering in her ear, "I also have my own selfish reasons. Originally, I wanted to come to your house to propose marriage for my Jingzhe, but that would waste the marriage between our two families. How about letting Jingzhe marry a girl from another prominent family, and Zaohua marry Fan Xiucai? Jingzhe and Fan Xiucai are fellow disciples, and we live in the same village. In the future, whoever becomes successful between Jingzhe and Fan Tong can help each other out."

The scholar's wife captivated Madam Yu's heart.

But why didn't Widow Tong leave such a good scholar to her daughter?

Madam Yu glanced at the peach blossoms and said, "Wouldn't it be better if Scholar Fan became your son-in-law?"

Tong Huaqiong smiled helplessly and said, "Everyone knows that Zaohua is the most beautiful girl in our village. My Taohua is as plain as a paper scroll. How could she be a scholar's wife?"

That makes sense. Gu Taohua is a big, fat girl who can beat Xu Si with one hand. What young man of marriageable age would want her? She's already fourteen and I've never heard of a matchmaker coming to her door. It would be abnormal if Fan Xiucheng took a liking to her.

With this in mind, Ms. Yu completely let down her guard against Tong Huaqiong.

“I also want to adopt Zaohua as my goddaughter, so we can become even closer relatives,” Tong Huaqiong said, seizing the opportunity to make her request.

Yu thought to herself, "That widow Tong is really cunning. If Scholar Fan doesn't like your daughter, you'll have to take my Zaohua as your daughter, right?"

What unrealistic dreams are you having?

So she smiled and politely declined, saying, "Sister-in-law Tong, my daughter Zaohua has already recognized the big locust tree in front of the door as her godmother since she was a child. The fortune teller said that she can't recognize anyone as her godmother because it would be incompatible with her."

Tong Huaqiong wore a look of regret on her face, but was overjoyed inside.

Just as she expected.

If anyone wants to adopt your daughter as their goddaughter, the further away the better!

Tong Huaqiong chatted with Madam Yu for a few more minutes, urging her to quickly send Xu into Wild Buffalo Valley to find a match for Zao Hua.

Ms. Yu agreed and saw Tong Huaqiong out the door.

They didn't offer Tong Huaqiong a meal, or even a glass of water.

However, Tong Huaqiong didn't care; as long as the goal was achieved, that was enough.

(End of this chapter)