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

"Cousin, which family's daughter did you tell Gu Jingzhe about?"

As dusk fell, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Lu Zhaozhao mustered up her courage and asked Han Shi.

Lu Zhaozhao's little thoughts couldn't be hidden from Madam Han at all. She had just wondered why the steward had mentioned Liu Yanhong in Qinghe Bay when he went to the prefectural city to deliver festival gifts to the Lu family. So Lu Zhaozhao quickly followed the steward to Pingchuan County to see her.

When she mentioned missing her grandson yesterday, Lu Zhaozhao encouraged her to come to Qinghe Bay, praising it highly.

Based on Lu Zhaozhao's reaction when she mentioned Gu Jingzhe's marriage to Tong Huaqiong, Han Shi had already figured out Lu Zhaozhao's feelings for Gu Jingzhe.

However, Han was not a rigid person. She did not think that Lu Zhaozhao was breaking the rules. On the contrary, she felt that she had made the right choice in introducing the two of them.

Most people's marriages were arranged by blind marriage, and the Han family was no exception.

Although her husband treated her very well while he was alive, she had witnessed too many tragedies caused by arranged marriages.

She hopes that her cousin can find someone she truly loves to marry in the future, so that she can live a comfortable life.

Lu Zhaozhao became a little anxious when she saw that Madam Han was not speaking.

Han said, "How about we tell Gu Jingzhe about you?"

Lu Zhaozhao blushed; she hadn't expected her aunt to be so direct.

Lu Zhaozhao stammered, "This... Aunt, you should discuss it with Grandpa and my brother."

Looking at Lu Zhaozhao's undisguised girlish thoughts, Madam Han stroked her hair and sighed, "Zhaozhao is already of marriageable age."

Then she continued, "Why did I mention Gu Jingzhe to you? Gu Jingzhe is certainly a good young man, but more importantly, the Gu family has a good family tradition. Your Aunt Tong is an upright person and does not mistreat her two daughters-in-law. Marrying into such a family will prevent you from being mistreated by your mother-in-law."

"I've been there, and I can say that the family I chose was absolutely right."

Lu Zhaozhao looked at Han Shi with a mixture of understanding and confusion.

Lu Zhaozhao lowered her head and said, "But Aunt Tong disagrees."

There was one more thing she didn't say: even Old Master Lu might not agree.

Old Master Lu hoped she would become a lady of a prominent family.

Madam Han said, "You heard it too. Your Aunt Tong disagrees because she's worried that Gu Jingzhe is too young and hasn't settled down yet. Your Aunt Tong is right. I'm your cousin, so of course I'm thinking about you. It is indeed a bit early to talk about these things now."

Lu Zhaozhao said, "Did you tell Aunt Tong which family's daughter she is?"

Han said, "No."

Lu Zhaozhao breathed a sigh of relief.

Aunt Tong didn't know that she was the best, otherwise she would have been too embarrassed to show up at the Gu family's house.

Seeing Lu Zhaozhao's expression, Han felt it was necessary to remind her.

Although she didn't object to Lu Zhaozhao liking Gu Jing, she felt that young ladies should also be reserved.

Madam Han said earnestly to Lu Zhaozhao, "Your marriage is decided by your grandfather and brother. The reason I didn't mention it to Aunt Tong was because I wanted to ask your grandfather and brother's opinion first. If your grandfather and brother disagree, you can't go against them. After all, in this world, the only ones who will treat you the best and won't harm you are the two of them."

Han was worried that if Old Master Lu and Lu Zhaoyang had other plans regarding Lu Zhaozhao's marriage, Lu Zhaozhao would defy her family for Gu Jingzhe's sake.

As a young girl, she can like a young man, but she must never break with her family for him.

Breaking ties with the Lu family would do Lu Zhaozhao no good.

Lu Zhaozhao nodded after hearing what Han said.

Aunt Lu Zhaozhao hesitated to speak.

Madam Han said she understood. "Don't worry, your Aunt Tong didn't refuse to die. When Gu Jingzhe passes the imperial examination next year and becomes a Xiucai, I'll put in a good word for both families then," Madam Han said.

Lu Zhaozhao was relieved.

If Han intervenes and I plead with my brother, Grandpa will probably agree.

"You all say my pork is delicious, but let me tell you, besides feeding it corn and grass, the more important reason is that my pigs are castrated."

When Zhao and Aunt Qin tidied up Tong Huaqiong's house and left, Tong Huaqiong handed each of them a large piece of pork.

When the two men exclaimed again how delicious the pork was at Tong Huaqiong's house, Tong Huaqiong told them the secret to its deliciousness.

"The key to this delicious pork isn't feeding it corn, but casting the pigs. Have you noticed that pork used to have a strong, unpleasant smell, but my pigs don't have that smell, only a delicious aroma? That's because they weren't castrated."

Tong Huaqiong felt there was no point in hiding the fact that the pig had been castrated from Zhao Shi and Aunt Qin.

Even if we try to hide it now, we can't hide it for long. In the future, everyone will definitely know that castrated pigs taste better.

Zhao and Aunt Qin found it hard to believe.

Today, Tong Huaqiong's family slaughtered a boar, which means that the boar was a eunuch?
Seeing that the two people didn't believe her, Tong Huaqiong said, "When have I ever lied to you?"

Zhao felt this deeply. In the past, Gu Dashu and Liu Yue'e had secretly pledged their lives to each other. Their Liu family hoped that the mother-in-law would come to propose marriage to give the Liu family a way out. However, the mother-in-law was not happy and said it directly.

That is absolutely genuine.

Now that he has changed his ways, he is much more genuine towards the Liu family.

The good growth of wheat and corn is all thanks to the honesty of my mother-in-law.

Zhao asked curiously, "Can pigs be castrated?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "Yes. All the pigs in my family, male and female, have been castrated."

Aunt Qin asked, "How did you come up with this idea?"

This method is too ruthless; who would think of such a thing?

Tong Huaqiong said, "I overheard a wandering Taoist priest mentioning it when I was at home, and I remembered it, but I didn't take it seriously. Back when I was at my parents' house, they raised pigs, and as a young woman, I dared not mention castrating pigs, or I would be laughed at to death. When I came to Qinghewan, I did mention to Lao Gu that we should castrate the pigs. You know Lao Gu is very stingy; he was afraid that the pigs would die from castration, so he kept refusing, and I gave up."

Zhao and Aunt Qin understood Lao Gu very well. A pig wasn't cheap, and they wouldn't dare to do something they'd never done before and weren't sure about.

Not to mention Lao Gu, even now that they've tasted Tong Huaqiong's pork, which is indeed more delicious and fragrant than uncastrated pork, they wouldn't dare to castrate their own pigs rashly.

So what if it's flashy? Just cover it up with some spices.

You could eat it before, and you can eat it in the future.

Zhao said, "Mother-in-law, even if you tell us this method, I dare not castrate the pigs in my house."

Aunt Qin agreed with Zhao's statement.

Tong Huaqiong was quite surprised; she thought she had done Zhao Shi and Aunt Qin a favor.

Unexpectedly, the two of them didn't take it seriously at all and had no intention of castrating their own pigs.

“You’re capable and bold. You’ve raised so many pigs and invested so much money to castrate them all. You’re going to sell your pork anyway, so if the meat tastes better, it will sell better. It’s different for us. We raise one pig to earn enough for oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. We don’t have much hope for the future, so whether we castrate them or not doesn’t matter, and whether the meat tastes gamey or not doesn’t matter,” Aunt Qin said.

Although Zhao and Aunt Qin did not intend to castrate their own pigs, they were still grateful to Tong Huaqiong for revealing the secret to making their pork delicious.

Tong Huaqiong raised more than 20 pigs in the temple, and everyone knew she was going to do pork business.

Isn't she afraid they'll find out the truth and steal her business? (End of Chapter)