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

"Heaven is watching what people do. Do you dare to swear on Chunwang that you didn't instigate kidnappers to abduct my four children?"

Tong Huaqiong stared intently at Granny Luo.

When Na Chunwang swore an oath, Granny Luo immediately deflated.

She wouldn't dare swear on her own grandson; she wouldn't even consider it.

Granny Luo lay on the ground, closed her eyes, and pretended to be dead.

Anyway, Tong Huaqiong's arguments are all speculations; she has no evidence.

As long as the government has not convicted her, no one can take the law into their own hands against her.

"Grandma Luo, I'm warning you, if you dare to lay a finger on anyone in my family again, I'll make you regret it." Tong Huaqiong stomped hard on Grandma Luo's foot.

Chunwang hid behind a tree, watching his grandmother's disheveled state at Tong Huaqiong's feet, and dared not move forward.

Now everyone in the village knows that the disappearance of the Gu family's four children was all orchestrated by Granny Luo and the kidnapper.

There is a tacit consensus among the villagers that no matter how much the adults dislike each other, they will not harm each other's descendants.

Therefore, this matter touched the bottom line of the villagers. Who doesn't have children? If someone sets this precedent, who can guarantee that their descendants will not have their bloodline cut off?

Tong Huaqiong released her foot, and amidst the accusations of the crowd, Granny Luo slunk away into her home.

I didn't dare to go out for several days in a row.

As the first month of the lunar calendar was drawing to a close, Old Master Lu brought Lu Zhaoyang and others to Tong Huaqiong's house to discuss the marriage between the Huang and Lu families.

Old Master Lu felt extremely guilty about the Gu family losing their child on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and for the first time in his life, he gave Lu Zhaoyang a few whacks.

If the kidnappers hadn't been caught along with their entire gang, Old Master Lu would have definitely sent Lu Zhaoyang to Qinghe Bay to apologize.

Lu Zhaoyang and Huang Jingshan's marriage was set for February 18th.

After their marriage, Huang Jingshan and Lu Zhaoyang will set off together for Shengjing to take the imperial examination.

The Huang family was naturally reluctant to part with their daughter, but they thought that Huang Jingshan wouldn't have to pay her respects to her parents-in-law morning and evening, and that she would be the mistress of the house once she joined the Lu family.

There is also a Lu family residence in Shengjing, so there is no need to worry about living conditions once you arrive in the capital.

Besides, in this era where a husband's status brings honor to his wife, Huang Jingshan going to Beijing with Lu Zhaoyang is a choice that everyone would be happy to see.

When Old Master Lu visited Qinghe Bay this time, he brought Tong Huaqiong a thousand taels of silver.

Tong Huaqiong exclaimed in surprise that the profits from the Maritime Silk Road were too high. She had only invested less than 500 taels of silver, yet she had doubled her investment.

Of course, the sea is unpredictable, and you can't always make money at sea.

Merchant ships are easy to build, but the routes are not easy to navigate. It is said that some merchants built large ships with great confidence and set sail, only to encounter reefs and sink the entire ship. They never dared to go to sea again.

Because the routes are difficult and risky, the more successful the route, the greater the profit.

Otherwise, why would Old Master Lu be the most sought-after businessman in the entire Ningcheng? Anyone with ambitions in the maritime world would have to pay homage to him.

In previous years, Old Master Lu's merchant ships would return before the Lunar New Year and set sail again in February.

The merchant ships didn't return until the first month of the lunar calendar, so Grandpa Lu planned to make preparations for the next merchant ship after his grandson's wedding.

Tong Huaqiong naturally got another chance to invest. This time, she brought Gu Baishuang along with her.

Originally, Nie Mingyuan was not satisfied with handing the money over to his mother-in-law to invest in the company in her name. His ideal scenario was for the Nie family to establish a connection with the Lu family, with him, Nie Mingyuan, investing independently without getting involved with his mother-in-law.

Moreover, in Nie Mingyuan's vision, simply investing alone would not satisfy his appetite.

What he wanted was to gradually gain Old Master Lu's trust and approval, and then, once he made a profit, charter a ship and sail with Old Master Lu on his shipping route.

Old Master Lu will eventually grow old and retire to the second line. According to what he knows, Lu Zhaoyang, the only grandson of the Lu family, is not interested in business. He wants to go to the capital to take the imperial examination and pursue an official career. In the future, he will replace the Lu family as the number one maritime merchant in Ningcheng.

If Lu Zhaoyang wants the Lu family's merchant ships to continue making money, he must protect him with his official position.

However, his cheap mother-in-law, Tong Huaqiong, was slippery. No matter how many times he visited, Tong Huaqiong stubbornly refused to budge. She insisted that it had already taken a lot of effort for Old Master Lu to agree to let her invest, and that it was absolutely impossible for the Nie family to invest alone.

“You know my stepmother, she’s always like that, she won’t act until she sees a profit. Now you’re so eager to invest in the Lu family on your own, she’s afraid you’ll make money by stepping on her and forget about her. This time, let’s invest in her name first, and give her 30% of the profits. When she sees the money, she’ll naturally agree.”

“We can’t get fat in one bite; we have to take it one step at a time. Besides, even if we could invest individually now, Old Master Lu is only doing it because of my mother-in-law; he doesn’t really trust us. What we need is to use my mother-in-law to gain the Lu family’s complete trust. It’s not about doing this one deal; there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.”

Nie Mingyuan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. In desperation, he could not resist the temptation of the huge profits in Southeast Asia. Under Gu Baishuang's persuasion, he finally agreed to invest money with his mother-in-law, Tong Huaqiong.

When the spring breeze of February was like a pair of scissors, Gu Baishuang delivered the money invested by Nie Mingyuan to Qinghewan.

In addition to silver, Nie Mingyuan also ordered a batch of porcelain.

With Nie Mingyuan's familiarity with and discerning eye for porcelain, Tong Huaqiong believed that this batch of porcelain could generate a substantial profit.

Gu Baishuang and Tong Huaqiong exchanged a smile, both knowing full well that Nie Mingyuan had gotten on her and Gu Baishuang's boat, and once he wanted to get off, it wouldn't be so easy.

The abduction of Man'er and several other children on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month further strengthened Gu Baishuang's determination to take control of the Nie family's money business.

If it weren't for that incident, she wouldn't have been able to fully see through the thoughts of her two stepsons and two daughters-in-law.

It turns out that in their minds, Gu Baishuang had always been the one who stole food.

The two stepsons even suspected that the kidnapper's extortion of the Nie family was a scheme orchestrated by Gu Baishuang and the kidnapper to pocket the Nie family's money.

The two stepsons said something to Nie Mingyuan, and Nie Mingyuan began to have doubts about the matter.

Gu Baishuang felt heartbroken.

Once you lose heart, your heart hardens.

"This is the equity investment agreement."

Tong Huaqiong handed a contract with black paper and white text to Gu Baishuang. Gu Baishuang was illiterate, so Tong Huaqiong invited Master Su, who had been spending his days off at Qinghe Bay, to explain the contents of the agreement to Gu Baishuang.

Gu Baishuang was startled and looked quite uncomfortable. Her first thought was whether she had done something to make her stepmother distrust her, otherwise she really didn't understand why her stepmother wanted her to sign some kind of agreement.

Tong Huaqiong saw through Gu Baishuang's thoughts and said, "Don't worry about it. In business, things have to be clear. Even between brothers and mothers and sons, accounts have to be settled. Don't even mention you; even when Dashu Yue'e worked for me, I signed profit-sharing agreements with them. This is yours. Take a look and see if there are any problems. If not, put your fingerprint on it. We agreed that if we make money on this trip, we'll split it 30/70. If we lose the money and goods that Nie Mingyuan paid, then he's out of luck. I won't lose any money."

After hearing Tong Huaqiong's analysis, Gu Baishuang realized that her stepmother was not targeting her, so she asked Master Su to interpret it.

After Su Fuzi finished his interpretation, Gu Baishuang expressed no doubts and, with Su Fuzi as a witness, Gu Baishuang pressed her handprint.

The moment she pressed her handprint, Gu Baishuang's eyes welled up with tears.

This was the first time she had been treated with such solemnity. (End of Chapter)