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

Chapter 339 People in the Female Protagonist's World
Just like the last time, Tong Huaqiong asked Gu Dahan to prepare two tables of food and wine and set them up in the house.

One table was set up to entertain Liu, the village chief, and other prominent figures from Yanguan Town who came to offer their congratulations; another table was set up to entertain Han, Huang, Hong, and their female relatives.

The table for entertaining the local gentry was set up in a side room, while the table for the women was set up in the main room.

Traditionally, the table for men is placed in the main room, but Tong Huaqiong does not do that.

Although the village headman thought Tong Huaqiong's arrangement was inappropriate, he ultimately dared not show it, after all, Tong Huaqiong was already the village head.

He had to bow to everyone he met.

The head of the Gu family originally thought that Tong Huaqiong would invite him to the table with the village head and gentry in front of everyone, but he waited until the dishes were about to be served and no one came to invite him.

He was so angry he wanted to explode.

But I can't really leave. The aroma of the food and wine keeps wafting into my nose. Wouldn't it be a waste not to have a meal?

The head of the Gu family grabbed Gu Jingzhe and said, "Jingzhe, your mother being conferred the title of Township Lady is a stroke of good fortune from our Gu family's ancestral graves. Logically, your mother should be enshrined in our Gu family ancestral hall, but since ancient times, no woman has been enshrined in the ancestral hall. I suspect the clan is unwilling to accept this, so I plan to gather everyone to discuss this matter."

Gu Jingzhe glanced at the clan leader.

He wanted to laugh.

The clan chief is using the promise of his own mother entering the ancestral hall to lure him into standing with the clan chief and profiting from his own mother.

Leaving aside distant examples, for instance, inviting him to sit at the head table would allow his mother's title of "Village Lady" to protect him, elevating his status in the village and earning him respect from the village head and gentry.

Does he fit too?
Even in imperial edicts, her own mother referred to her as "Tong Shi" instead of "Gu Tong Shi," so why would she want to enter the Gu family ancestral hall?

Gu Jingzhe had made a vow in his heart that if he had children in the future, one of them would take his mother's surname, Tong, and a special ancestral hall for the Tong family would be built for his mother.

My mother was the ancestor of that line of the Tong family ancestral hall.

Gu Jingzhe said, "Grandpa Clan Chief, let's talk about this later. The food has already been served, why don't you go and sit down at the table first?"

The clan leader was secretly pleased, thinking that Gu Jingzhe would invite him to sit at the main table.

Gu Jingzhe was, after all, a scholar, and he paid great attention to etiquette.

Gu Jingzhe pointed to a corner of the courtyard and said, "Grandpa Clan Chief, please sit there. It's cool and shady there."

The clan chief was so angry when he saw it that his nose almost crooked.

It's cool here, but doesn't it know what season it is? The leaves have almost all fallen off.

After Gu Jingzhe finished speaking, she smiled and went to greet the others.

The clan chief looked around, but because he was waiting for Tong Huaqiong, Gu Jingzhe and others to invite him to sit at the main table, he had been delaying taking a seat.

All the other tables in the courtyard were already full, except for one extra table for the children leaving the private school – the one Gu Jingzhe pointed to in the corner.

The Gu family patriarch was furious that he had to sit with a group of children, and he cursed Gu Jingzhe to death in his heart.

What kind of talk is it for a dignified clan leader to sit at a table with a group of children?

Judging from his current attitude towards the clan chief, this disloyal and unfilial son will not benefit the clan even if he becomes an official in the future. So why bother sending him to school?

A gloomy look settled over the clan chief's eyes.

It is said that the second son of the second wife is good at studying. The clan leader is eager for the second wife to receive his letter and return with Tong Huaqiong's parents-in-law. At that time, he, as the clan leader, will lead the whole clan to praise the second son of the second wife, so as to curb Gu Jingzhe's arrogance.

Go up to the room.

The women sat around the table, with Tong Huaqiong in the main seat, closely flanked by Man'er and Xiaolong. Liu Yanhong and Yaozu sat next to Xiaolong.

Old Mrs. Huang, Mrs. Han, and Huang Jingshan sat opposite each other.

Tong Huaqiong then asked Aunt Qin, Zhao, the village chief's wife, and Hong to sit down and join the guests.

Aunt Qin and Zhao were so excited that their eyes welled up with tears. They couldn't help but admire Tong Dajiao for not treating people differently just because she was the village head.

Being able to sit at the same table with the richest old lady in Yanguan Town and the county magistrate's mother is something to be proud of.

"Yue'e, please sit down too."

Liu Yue'e brought in a jar of wine, and Tong Huaqiong invited her to sit down and eat. Man'er, smiling sweetly, recounted to Tong Huaqiong what she had learned that morning.

“Man’er is doing better than Yaozu; Yaozu is always getting distracted,” Liu Yanhong said.

Yao Zu's face flushed red with anger, and he said, "I wasn't daydreaming."

Liu Yanhong said, "Grandma Tong, if you don't believe me, ask Xiaolong to say that Yaozu is always looking outside."

Xiao Long said expressionlessly, "I didn't see it."

Yaozu became smug and said, "I'll definitely learn better than Sister Man'er in the future?"

Man'er was unhappy to hear this and said, "Grandma and Auntie write and keep accounts all the time. I've learned a lot of words from them, but you haven't learned a single word. You'll definitely not be as good as me in the future."

Liu Yue'e glanced at Man'er, feeling very uncomfortable.

No matter how much a girl studies, what good will it do in the exam?

Her family's illustrious ancestors, aside from anything else, could easily pass the imperial examinations and become scholars.

Man'er insists on stealing the spotlight in front of everyone, and doesn't know how to restrain herself at such a young age.

"Man'er is smart; she can recognize characters just by looking at them," Han praised, then scolded her grandson, "Yan Hong, look at Man'er; you should learn from her."

Despite being scolded by his grandmother, Liu Yanhong smiled and showed no anger whatsoever.

He admitted that he wasn't as smart as Man'er.

Grandma Huang exclaimed in surprise, "Man'er went to the private school too?"

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "Yes, it's never a bad thing for girls to learn to read."

Grandma Huang clicked her tongue in admiration for Tong Huaqiong's open-mindedness, then said, "My granddaughter has also been studying and learning to read since she was little, but I never thought of sending her to a private school. However, even if I did send her to a private school, they wouldn't accept female students. It's just that Qinghewan doesn't have such strict rules."

Tong Huaqiong wanted to say that it didn't matter where it was, but since she had paid for the private school, she had the right to make decisions.

Grandma Huang patted Huang Jingshan's hand and said, "I'm not bragging, but my granddaughter is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. She's no less talented than the daughters of officials in the prefectural city. If my granddaughter were a boy, she would definitely leave the students of Wanliu Academy far behind when she took the imperial examinations."

Huang Jingshan sat down next to Old Mrs. Huang and smiled, her smile as bright as the snow and ice on a high mountain.

Unfortunately, she was not a man.

Every time she held a book, her mother would tell her to learn more about needlework, emphasizing that when arranging marriages, people were looking for a daughter-in-law, not a scholar.

Especially now that she's engaged, her mother is urging her to learn needlework, nagging her until her ears are calloused.

"If Aunt Jingshan is so knowledgeable, why doesn't she become a teacher?" Man'er suddenly asked.

Huang Jingshan laughed again, amused, and said, "There is no female tutor."

Tong Huaqiong recalled what Prefect Yao had said: when the late Empress was alive, she had run a girls' school in the palace, and the teachers were female tutors.

She always felt that as the female protagonist of the previous life, Man'er, everyone who appeared around her would have some connection to the previous life.

Thinking of this, Tong Huaqiong searched for Huang Jingshan in Tong Dajiao's memory.

After Man'er became a Noble Consort, she restored the girls' school that the late Empress had established.

Not only did he establish girls' schools in the imperial palace, but he also built girls' schools in the countryside, widely selecting talented women to study classics, history, philosophy, literature, sericulture, and commerce.

The Imperial Concubine had a female official surnamed Huang who was aloof and strict and was in charge of girls' education.

Princess Tong Dajiao's daughter-in-law was disrespectful to Zhao Zhao, and when the Imperial Concubine found out, she sent a female official surnamed Huang to her door to reprimand her.

The princess's daughter-in-law berated the female official, mocking her for being good at studying but unable to lay eggs, which led to her being divorced by her husband's family.

If this female official surnamed Huang is Huang Jingshan, then it means that the marriage arranged for her by the Huang family is not a good match.
What kind of good family is it if a family divorces its daughter-in-law?

Tong Huaqiong planned to find out more about the Lian family, Huang Jingshan's current betrothed family.

Master Huang was the first person in this era to help Tong Huaqiong. Tong Huaqiong hoped that his beloved daughter, Huang Jingshan, would not repeat the unfortunate marriage of her previous life.