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

Tong Huaqiong guessed correctly.

Xu Yong was indeed unwilling to accept being removed from his position as village chief and always wanted to rebuild his influence in Qinghewan.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an opportunity yet.

Since Liu Tielian became the village chief, his prestige in the village has grown day by day.

In addition, he had a close relationship with the Gu family, and everyone in the village wanted to work at Tong Huaqiong's peach blossom dessert shop through him, so Liu Tielian's position as village chief was secure.

Especially now, thanks to Widow Tong, Liu Tielian has made a name for himself in the village by finding ways to perform rituals for the wronged souls in the wasteland, bringing in a money-making boss to repair roads in the village, and delivering rice and flour to the elderly.

Now, songs praising Widow Tong and Liu Tielian are circulating throughout the village.

He couldn't even pull Liu Tielian down.

Since that was impossible, he headed upwards.

Tong Huaqiong is the godmother of the son of Magistrate Liu, so he must climb onto a leg even thicker than Magistrate Liu's to get closer to him.

Whose legs are thicker than Magistrate Liu's? Naturally, it's the Prefect's.

He wasn't confident he could catch the prefect's eye like Tong Huaqiong had become his godparent.

The antibacterial and insecticidal medicine that Tong Huaqiong developed caught his eye.

Since Tong Huaqiong generously distributed the medicine to everyone, he could take this opportunity to secretly prepare the medicine. He would not only promote it in Qinghe Bay, but also throughout the entire prefectural city.

He wants the entire prefecture to have a bumper corn harvest this year.

He'll be the most meritorious person then, and he might even be awarded a plaque by the higher-ups.

Once he outshines Tong Huaqiong and climbs up to the prefect, he will shut down Peach Blossom Dessert Shop and even remove the entire Gu family from Qinghe Bay.

Xu Yong thought Tong Huaqiong was stupid for not taking advantage of such a good opportunity, but instead distributing the medicine to the villagers for free.

As for why Tong Huaqiong distributed the medicine to the villagers for free, Xu Yong believes it's easy to understand.

Tong Dajiao had always had a bad reputation in the village, and she did this simply to completely change her reputation.

She's a woman after all; long hair, short wit.

With that in mind, Xu Yong went to Xu Jin's house.

Xu Zaohua happened to be visiting relatives at her parents' home that day.

Originally, the Zheng family would never have allowed Xu Zaohua to come to Qinghe Bay, but Xu Zaohua threatened with the child in her womb, saying that she might not be able to have a safe pregnancy if she didn't go to her parents' home. Only then did the Zheng family relent and send a bunch of old women and maids to escort her to Qinghe Bay.

Xu Zaohua deliberately passed by the Gu family's door, and she was quite disappointed not to see Gu Jingzhe.

Tong Huaqiong, however, saw Xu Zaohua's entourage through the door and couldn't help but glance at her stomach.

What's inside that belly is the Zheng family's golden egg.

Tong Huaqiong wasn't afraid of Xu Zaohua; she was only worried that Xu Zaohua might do something bad to He Chao and his wife. So she asked Gu Dahan to go to town and tell He Chao and Hong Shi not to come to Qinghe Bay for the next few days, so as to avoid any unpleasantness with Xu Zaohua.

She certainly didn't want her shopkeeper to be schemed against by Xu Zaohua.

Xu Zaohua's belly was just starting to show, and it was barely noticeable unless you looked closely. After she proudly displayed her pregnancy around the village, she naturally heard the whole village praising Tong Huaqiong's righteous act.

Her eyes lit up with an idea. Since Widow Tong was giving away the medicine for free, why couldn't she take this opportunity to make the medicine herself?

When Xu Zaohua returned home, she overheard Xu Yong and Xu Jin discussing the medicine dispensing.

Her uncle beat her to it. "Uncle, since Tong Dajiao can make the medicine, so can we," Xu Zaohua said to Xu Yong as she sat down, supporting her belly. "The Zheng family has many connections, so why don't I take the medicine and find someone to make it?"

The Zheng family runs a business, and Xu Zaohua plans to get involved after giving birth.

But her in-laws always kept their distance from her, providing her with good food and drink, and would never let her get involved in the business.

Xu Zaohua always wanted to prove herself in business in order to gain the approval of her parents-in-law.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find an opportunity.

Isn't the opportunity right in front of us now?

If she were to find someone to concoct a medicine to control ear rot and cotton aphids, not to mention the commendation she would receive from her superiors, the profit from each bottle would be incredibly attractive.

Her in-laws aren't stupid; just for the profit from that medicine, they'd have to treat her like royalty.

She would then seize the opportunity to get involved in the Zheng family's business and firmly grasp the Zheng family's financial power.

From then on, her brother-in-law would no longer threaten her position.

Thinking this way, Xu Zaohua felt more and more that her decision to come to Qinghewan this time was absolutely correct.

Xu Yong was initially a little hesitant.

Who would want to share the credit? If the medicine is successfully prepared, then the credit won't belong to him alone.

Xu Zaohua noticed her uncle's hesitation and said, "Uncle, do you think medicine doesn't cost money? Where do you have extra money to get medicine? Besides, can you find someone to get the medicine? I have money, and the Zheng family has connections. I'm helping you."

Xu Jin chimed in, "Brother, Zao Hua is right. With the Zheng family's money and manpower, we can get the medicine ready much faster. Time is of the essence. If you go find someone to make the medicine yourself, the corn might be ready by the time it's ready, and then how will we ever recover in the village?"

Xu Yong thought about it and realized that this made sense.

Xu Zaohua added fuel to the fire, saying, "Uncle, think about it. I am a daughter of the Xu family. Tong Dajiao is your enemy, so she is my enemy. I don't want to see her gloating in Qinghe Bay. Gu Jingzhe might make her even more gloating in the future. What do we have? Our children are not good at studying, and they don't have the brains to do business. Naturally, we have to think of a way to stop Tong Dajiao from turning her life around in the village. This is a very good opportunity."

“If we’re going to make a name for ourselves, let’s make a big one. Didn’t Tong Dajiao make a name for herself in Qinghe Bay? Let’s make a name for ourselves in Pingchuan County and the entire Ningcheng.”

“My father-in-law is a scholar who passed the imperial examination. He not only has influence with the county magistrate, but the prefect also treats him with great respect. Once the medicine is produced, we can use my father-in-law's connections and the prefect's influence to promote it throughout the prefectural city. You'll gain favor with the prefect, and not only will the village chief of Qinghewan be yours, but even the head of the village in Yanguan Town will be yours. Her backer is County Magistrate Liu, and your backer is the prefect. You can deal with Tong Dajiao however you want. County Magistrate Liu wouldn't go against the prefect for some distant godmother, would he?”

It must be said that Xu Zaohua's words were very appealing to Xu Yong.

Yes, he only thought about promoting the medicine throughout Ningcheng, but he didn't think about how to promote it.

How can he make contact with the prefect?
How can the prefect trust him?

If we can leverage the Zheng family's connections, everything will be much simpler.

Since the Zheng family is rich and powerful, he might as well make good use of them.

“Alright, then we’ll listen to Zaohua.” Xu Yong smiled, then thought for a moment and said to Xu Zaohua, “Zaohua, you’re right about one thing: you said that the character ‘Xu’ cannot be written with a single stroke. Although you are now a daughter-in-law of the Zheng family, you still have your brother-in-law in the Zheng family. If you want to establish yourself in the Zheng family, you can’t do without the support of your maternal family. Right now, the Zheng family doesn’t recognize our Xu family. If I climb up to the position of prefect and become the head of Yanguan Town, your parents-in-law will treat the Xu family as in-laws, and you will have someone to rely on in the future.”

While the words were meant to be kind, they contained a hidden warning.

The implication is that the reason you, Xu Zaohua, haven't been able to gain a foothold in the Zheng family is because your maternal family isn't supportive. Now we're in the same boat. If you use the Zheng family's resources to elevate me, I will bring my maternal family to support you.

Xu Zaohua raised her eyelids slightly and said obediently, "Uncle is right."

At the same time, he sneered and scorned inwardly.

You're a village chief who's been dismissed; what kind of airs are you putting on for the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family?

Once the medicine is prepared, all the credit will naturally go to her. (End of Chapter)