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

Chapter 154 Zao Hua is going to marry Young Master Zheng

The villagers watching were astonished.

Widow Tong is really not someone to mess with!
Tong Huaqiong, carrying her spoils, strode confidently along the village paths.

That's exactly the effect we want – someone who's not to be messed with.

She wanted to give Granny Yan, Xu Kun, Xu Yong, and the others a headache, and ideally, make them fear her like mice fear a cat.

Xu Si brought this upon himself.

The money the Xu family owed her could not be wiped clean just because Xu Si was punished.

After Tong Huaqiong left with the things, Granny Yan was carried home crying and cursing. Xu Da hurriedly went to fetch a doctor for his mother.

On a sweltering day, after lying in the car for half a day, Granny Yan was both hungry and thirsty.

"Go and bring me a bowl of water, and cook me a bowl of egg noodles. Don't forget to add a few drops of sesame oil," Granny Yan instructed Xu Da's wife, who was also her niece, Xiao Yan.

With a gloomy face, Little Yan handed a bowl of cold water to Granny Yan.

Granny Yan was in a bad mood and cursed, "My back is covered in wounds, how can you hold the bowl and drink by yourself? Why don't you feed me?"

Madam Yan said coldly, "If I can't serve you well, then have your youngest son feed you."

The family's silver and grain were given to Widow Tong as compensation, making their already impoverished situation even worse.

These past few days, even the eggs laid by the hen have been carefully prepared by Widow Tong.

Now that her husband has gone to fetch a doctor, there's no extra money in the house to buy medicine.

Given the Xu family's reputation, who would be willing to lend them money now?

Madam Yan hated Tong Huaqiong's ruthlessness, and also hated her mother-in-law for indulging her brother-in-law, which had caused all this trouble.

"You damned bastard, you're so wronged to be asked to bring me a bowl of water!" When Granny Yan heard her eldest daughter-in-law mention Xu Si, she couldn't help but wail again and dumped a bowl of water on her eldest daughter-in-law.

Madam Yan was furious and said angrily, "Widow Tong is right. If you hadn't let your brother-in-law cause trouble, would our family have ended up like this? From the first time he provoked the girls in the village, you should have cut off his manhood. It would be better for him to be a eunuch than to die in Lingnan."

"I still want to eat egg noodles, and I want to eat eggs that I lay myself, but I don't have that ability."

While crying and cursing, Xiao Yan packed her things, intending to go back to her parents' home.

She no longer wants to serve her mother-in-law, who is also her aunt.

Granny Yan was so angry that she fell backward, which made the wound on her back hurt even more, and she kept wailing.

After Xu Jin returned home, Madam Yu couldn't wait to bring up the marriage between Fan Xiucai and Xu Zaohua to her husband.

Of course, she didn't say that it was Tong Huaqiong who suggested it; she only said that she went to town and heard from Matchmaker Wang that Scholar Fan from Wild Buffalo Valley was planning to get married.

Xu Jin waved his hand and said, "I've already arranged Zao Hua's marriage, so let's not talk about that Fan Xiucai."

Yu believed that Xu Jin was unwilling to give up Gu Jingzhe and wanted to marry Tong Dajiao.

They voiced their objections.

“That Tong Dajiao is no good person. I used to think she was just unreasonable and nagging, but after what happened with Xu Si, I realized she’s more vicious than anyone else. What kind of good son can such a vicious woman raise? If our Zaohua really marries Gu Jingzhe, will she have a good life? Besides, Fan Xiucai is a Xiucai, while Gu Jingzhe is just a Tongsheng. As long as they’re not blind, they’ll definitely choose a Xiucai as their son-in-law.”

Xu Jin laughed and said, "What do you know, you woman? Are Gu Jingzhe and Fan Xiucai the only men in the world? I valued Gu Jingzhe before because he was too outstanding in Qinghe Bay. Now that I've set my sights outside Qinghe Bay, I've found that Gu Jingzhe is not good at making a living. I've already found a good match for Zaohua in Pingchuan County these past two days. If she marries him, she can be a young mistress and a housekeeper."

Mrs. Yu was so surprised she couldn't speak. After a long while, she asked happily, "What kind of family are they?"

Speaking of Pingchuan County, it's definitely better than Qinghewan or even Yanguan Town.

No girl from Qinghewan has ever married into Pingchuan County.

“It’s the Zheng family from Pingchuan County,” Xu Jin said.

Yu didn't know much about the people in Pingchuan County, but he felt that Zheng, the scholar, looked so familiar.

After thinking for a while, I remembered that when Matchmaker Wang came to the village to arrange a marriage for Zaohua last time, she mentioned that the Gu family was going to send Man'er to the Zheng family for a wedding to bring good luck. It seems that the Zheng family in Pingchuan County is the eldest son of the Zheng family.

If that's really the case, wouldn't Zaohua from her family have to be a widow after marrying into the family?
"Is it the eldest son who is dying of illness?" Madam Yu asked anxiously.

"What do you mean, the eldest son is going to die of illness? I'm telling you, you're always in Qinghe Bay, what do you know?" Xu Jin said. "There are only a few successful candidates in the entire Pingchuan County. The Zheng family is wealthy and powerful, with land and shops. Although his eldest son's health isn't great, he's not at the point of dying of illness. He also has a younger son who is doing well in his studies and has already passed the preliminary examination. This is a marriage that would be hard to find even with a lantern for Zao Hua." Xu Jin said.

Xu Jin had a small kiln on the mountain where he burned charcoal. He managed to get in touch with the Zheng family, and they bought his charcoal every winter.

Normally, he couldn't talk to Zheng, the scholar, and at most, they could talk about purchasing.

During his trip to Pingchuan County to rescue Xu Yong and Xu Kun, he met with Zheng Juren through bribery.

Through Zheng Juren's connections, Xu Kun and Xu Yong were rescued, but the Zheng family had a condition: they wanted to arrange a marriage between them.

“But Matchmaker Wang said last time that Young Master Zheng is dying.” Madam Yu said, clutching her handkerchief.

Xu Jin interrupted Madam Yu, saying, "Nonsense! Young Master Zheng's health is not very good, but he is not at the point of dying."

Madam Yu was still uneasy and said, "The Zheng family has two sons, why not have the younger son propose to our Zaohua?"

Xu Jin looked at Madam Yu, speechless.

His wife really has a vivid imagination.

"Do you think the Zheng family's young master is like a cabbage, something we can pick and choose? Your man is a big shot in Qinghe Bay; who would recognize me outside of Qinghe Bay? If the eldest son of the Zheng family hadn't fallen ill, he wouldn't have been able to arrange a marriage between our families."

With her mind in turmoil, Madam Yu said, "I'm just afraid that if Zao Hua marries into the family, Young Master Zheng will..."

Xu Jin smiled and said, "So we need to hurry up with this. Let Zaohua have a son first after she marries into the family. With a son, we'll have everything. Even if Young Master Zheng really becomes incapacitated, who would dare to disrespect Zaohua just because she's the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family? An elder sister-in-law is like a mother. Even if Young Master Zheng becomes successful in his studies, he won't dare to act recklessly in front of Zaohua. Think about it, our two sons aren't good at studying or learning a trade. In the future, they can use the Zheng family's connections to become shopkeepers or yamen runners or something. Wouldn't that be better than staying in the village?"

"Every family's daughters do it for their family and brothers. Even the empress and imperial concubines of Shengjing enter the palace for their own families. What else could they possibly want but the emperor's longevity and love?"

The son is the Achilles' heel of the Yu family.

Xu Jin persuaded the Yu family with just a few words.

She certainly loved Zaohua very much, but that was only when there was no conflict of interest with her son. Once her son's interests were involved, she would inevitably have to sacrifice her daughter.

Yu then sent Fan Xiucai to Java.

Xu Zaohua naturally did not want to marry into the Zheng family. She had also heard that the Gu family had sent Man'er to the Zheng family for a marriage of convenience.

The young master is about to have a wedding to bring him good luck; how serious must his illness be?

Xu Zaohua took a liking to Gu Jingzhe, and she didn't want to marry anyone else but Gu Jingzhe.

In order to ensure that Xu Zaohua could marry into the Zheng family smoothly, Xu Jin and Madam Yu locked her up at home.

(End of this chapter)