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

Chapter 344 Niece's Plea for Help
Tong Huaqiong felt no guilt whatsoever when she chased away her elder brother and sister-in-law, as well as Tong Pandi's parents-in-law.

Their arrival also reminded her that Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie might use her title as a village head to swindle and cheat people.

No, she had to nip that possibility in the bud.

So Tong Huaqiong had Gu Jingzhe visit the village head of Yanguan Town to express that Tong Huaqiong had no connection with the Tong family or the Wu family of Heilongtan. The village head immediately understood what Tong Huaqiong meant.

He was pleased that Tong Huaqiong had severed ties with the Wu family of Heilongtan, so that Wu Ren, the village head of Heilongtan, wouldn't use Tong Huaqiong's name to pressure him.

So when Magistrate Liu summoned the village heads to the county, the village head of Yanguan Town mentioned in front of many village heads that the village head did not want to have any involvement with the Wu family, and emphasized that he hoped the village head would restrain his in-laws, the Tong family.

Enraged, Wu Ren returned home and berated Tong Fusheng.

Believe it or not, it's fortunate that Tong Huaqiong made it clear that she was cutting ties. This is because Tong Fusheng and Tong Zhijie had already been secretly showing off Tong Huaqiong's title of "County Lady" outside. The wealthy people in Heilongtan wanted to do business with Tong Huaqiong through Tong Fusheng's connections and had already given gifts to Tong Fusheng.

Upon learning of the severance, Li refused the gift and instead publicized the separation of Tong Huaqiong from the Tong family at Black Dragon Pool.

Winter arrived in the blink of an eye.

Winters in the Yanguan Town area are still very cold. In Tong Dajiao's memory, it often snows heavily in winter.

The expanded new houses and courtyards have long been completed.

Tong Huaqiong took the opportunity to move to the new room.

She is afraid of the cold and does not seek to endure hardship without effort. Even in this era without heating, she wants to make herself as comfortable as possible within the existing conditions.

The new room was well insulated, with layers of tiles and thatch covering the roof, thickened walls with stones, and a heated floor inside.

After the floor heater was lit, the whole house became warm and cozy.

Tong Huaqiong did not hold a housewarming celebration. Firstly, she only expanded the existing courtyard. Secondly, if she had held a housewarming celebration, she knew that many people would have taken the opportunity to curry favor with her.

After she moved into her new house, Manager He, Mrs. Hong, and Boss Qian also moved to Qinghe Bay one after the other.

Of course, after the pastry shops in the prefectural city were established, Manager He conducted an inspection and found a suitable manager. He still came to Yanguan Town to cultivate peach blossoms.

The He and Qian families were new residents of Qinghewan, so they naturally wanted to build good relationships with the original residents. Therefore, they held a joint housewarming banquet.

He treated the villagers to a lavish meal all day without asking for any gifts.

In the winter, when there was nothing to do, Tong Huaqiong sat in the warm house looking at the account books, while Hong Shi and Chen Sufen embroidered flowers beside her.

Gu Xiaocao's father, Gu Guangkui, came to the door.

Gu Guangkui told Tong Huaqiong that he had taken on a job these past few days, making furniture for Wu Ren's family in Heilongtan. Wu Ren's eldest daughter-in-law, Tong Huaqiong's niece Tong Pandi, was about to give birth. After learning that he was a carpenter from Qinghewan, Tong Pandi asked him to pass on a message to Tong Huaqiong.

Tong Huaqiong frowned.

She rejected the Wu family's overtures and severed ties with the Tong family, wondering what her niece, who had married into the village head's family, wanted her to do.

Moreover, she didn't have a good relationship with this niece. If they were, Tong Pandi would never have visited her or even given her a gift during the long time she had been with the Gu family.

The relationship is even worse than with his stepdaughter, Gu Baishuang.

Tong Huaqiong was afraid that Tong Pandi was taking advantage of her pregnancy and that her in-laws had asked her to act as a go-between.

Tong Huaqiong then asked, "How is Tong Pan's life at the Wu family?"

"Well, how should I put it?" Gu Guangkui thought for a moment and said truthfully, "She doesn't have a good relationship with her in-laws, and she doesn't have a good relationship with her husband either."

"A bad relationship?" Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "How is it bad? Does her in-laws or husband mistreat her?"

In Tong Dajiao's memory, Tong Pandi was timid and honest in her previous life, and was turned into Tong Zhijie's blood bag by Tong Fusheng and Wang Shi. She didn't have a good life in her husband's family either; her mother-in-law and husband disliked her and treated her harshly.

Gu Guangkui's lips twitched. He thought to himself that her in-laws and husband were indeed not good, but Tong Pandi hadn't suffered much loss.

Tong Pandi and Tong Huaqiong are truly a close aunt and niece, and both are quite a handful. If her mother-in-law criticizes her, she retaliates; if her father-in-law scolds her, she swears.

A while ago, her husband tried to beat her, so she took a knife in the middle of the night and threatened to chop him up.

Gu Guangkui then told Tong Huaqiong about Tong Pandi's daily interactions with her in-laws and husband.

Tong Huaqiong became interested.

This is completely different from the Tong Pandi in Tong Dajiao's memory.

“Sister-in-law Tong, before I came here today, your niece secretly told me to beg you to save her life. It’s true, childbirth is like stepping into the gates of hell for a woman. The Tong family is not well received by the Wu family. I guess her mother won’t be able to accompany her when she gives birth. Now that you are the village head, only you can accompany her without the Wu family saying anything.”

Upon hearing this, Tong Huaqiong suddenly remembered that in her previous life, Tong Pandi's youngest daughter had been drowned by her parents-in-law.

Tong Dajiao even went to the Wu family's house and scolded them.

Tong Dajiao had no memory of what happened to Tong Pandi afterward. It's possible that after Gu Jingzhe rose to prominence, Tong Dajiao went to the capital with her son. As Tong Pandi was a married niece, Tong Dajiao couldn't possibly take her with her, and they gradually lost contact.

After Gu Guangkui left, Chen Sufeng put down her embroidery needle and said, "Was Uncle Guangkui talking about Sister-in-law Pan just now?"

She could hardly believe it.

She used to work for the Tong family with Tong Huaqiong. After Tong Pandi got married, she happened to be visiting her parents' home. This cousin gave her the impression of being extremely weak.

Tong Huaqiong said, "When people are pushed to the limit, anything is possible."

Hong said, "Sister Tong, go ahead. Su Fen is pregnant and shouldn't go out, so I'll go with you. Your niece said she's begging you to save her life; it sounds terrifying."

Tong Huaqiong closed the ledger and said, "Okay, let's go tomorrow."

She had saved his life, so Tong Huaqiong didn't dare delay and planned to go the next day.

The next morning, the sky was overcast, and it looked like a snowfall was about to begin.

Hong muttered to herself, "The snow came early this year."

Tong Huaqiong looked up at the sky. To get to Heilongtan, she had to walk along a mountain road. She hoped that the snow wouldn't fall so early, so that the road wouldn't become muddy and difficult to travel.

Gu Dahan was originally supposed to go with them, but the sows in the pigsty were about to give birth to piglets, so Tong Huaqiong asked Gu Dahan to stay home and take care of them.

She was afraid that if the pig had piglets, something might go wrong while Gu Dahan was away.

Since the private school happened to be closed for a day, Tong Huaqiong asked Su Chengmin to drive her there.

Since his leg injury healed, Su Chengmin's physical fitness, honed during his time in the military, made him an excellent worker.

Not only does she teach, but she also keeps busy after class, working tirelessly in the pigsty at home.

Su Chengmin's car was moving incredibly fast.

At Tong Huaqiong's request, they first went to Yanguan Town to find a midwife.

Tong Huaqiong was not comfortable with the midwife that the Wu family had found for her.

Originally, Cai the midwife didn't want to go to Black Dragon Pool because it was too far away, but Tong Huaqiong gave her two taels of silver, and Cai the midwife happily got into the carriage.

In order to save time, Su Chengmin took a shortcut along the mountain path after leaving Qinghe Bay.

The mountain road was rugged, and Tong Huaqiong and Hong Shi sat in the car, wrapped in their coats.

Tong Huaqiong's mind was filled with memories of Tong Dajiao. Tong Pandi gave birth in winter, and it was initially said that she gave birth to a stillborn baby. Tong Pandi felt particularly guilty about this and started working without even having a postpartum confinement period.

After her postpartum period, when her mother-in-law urged her to have a son, she let slip that she hadn't given birth to a stillborn baby, but rather a baby girl who had been drowned by her in-laws.

Tong Huaqiong had reason to believe that if she didn't make it in time, Tong Pandi's pregnancy would not be saved.