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

Chapter 390 The parents-in-law and brother-in-law's family are back
On February 16th, Tong Huaqiong set off with her brood of children to attend Lu Chaoyang and Huang Jingshan's wedding in Fucheng.

This time, everyone in the Gu family went to the prefectural city except for Tong Pandi and Hua'er. Even the pregnant Chen Sufen and the unofficial staff member Nie Xiaofeng went along.

The Lu family's wedding caused a sensation throughout the entire prefecture. Almost all the merchants came to celebrate, and the banquet lasted for three whole days.

After the wedding, Tong Huaqiong stayed in the shop in the prefectural city for three more days. In addition, she prepared the goods on the Lu family's ship. By the time she returned to Qinghe Bay, it was already the end of February.

"Mother-in-law, you're finally back."

As soon as Tong Huaqiong returned home, Liu Yue'e's mother, Zhao, came to the door, looking mysterious and wanting to say something.

Tong Huaqiong skipped the pleasantries and asked directly, "What do you want to tell me, my dear mother-in-law?"

Zhao said, "While you were away, your brother-in-law's family and your parents-in-law came back."

Tong Huaqiong had anticipated that her in-laws would return to their hometown, but she hadn't expected her brother-in-law's family to come along.

Tong Huaqiong said, "When people get old, they want to return to their roots. I guess my second uncle's family will be going back soon after we send them back."

My brother-in-law's family has been doing business in the north and south for many years. It's impossible for them to give up their business there and go home.

Zhao pursed her lips and said, "Go back? You're overthinking it. I heard from Dashu's second uncle that he's not going back. He'll be living in Qinghewan from now on, and the whole family has moved here, even their pots and pans."

Tong Huaqiong smiled and didn't take it seriously. Let them come back, anyway, Tong Dajiao and her brother-in-law's family didn't get along in the previous life, so she naturally didn't need to maintain the relationship in this life.

Anyway, Qinghe Bay doesn't belong to Tong Huaqiong, so she has no objection to whoever comes to live there.

Zhao said angrily, "Your in-laws gave all their money to your second son's family as capital for business. Before, when Jingzhe was studying, they wouldn't leave you a single penny even if you begged them. Now that they've returned to their hometown, isn't it because they see that your family is doing well, and they want you to take care of them in your old age?"

Tong Huaqiong said, "It's not difficult to support them. I'm not going to give them my family's wealth along the way while I'm visiting them every morning and evening."

At most, she would provide them with food within the bounds of filial piety, ensuring they wouldn't starve.

“You’re right,” Zhao replied, then hesitated before mentioning Tong Huaqiong’s brother-in-law, “The day your second uncle’s family came to the village, they made quite a show of it, hosting a lively dinner for the clan chief and some of the village’s most prominent figures. Everyone’s saying your second branch of the family has made a fortune. But I think it’s all just for show. Who would move in without repairing their house after becoming rich? Who would return home after becoming rich and not buy land?”

When Zhao mentioned Tong Dajiao's brother-in-law, Tong Huaqiong became interested and asked, "Did your brother-in-law's two sons and daughter all come back together?"

Zhao said, "They're back. The eldest son is married and has children. The most surprising one is the second son. He used to be so naughty, but now he's really brightened up. They say he passed the preliminary examination last year and will take the county-level examination this year, just like Jingzhe. These past few days, the Gu family head has been praising your second son to the skies, implying that he's even doing better than Jingzhe in his studies. The second son's daughter hasn't gone out since she came back, so we don't know how she's grown up."

Zhao told Tong Huaqiong about the situation of her brother-in-law's family.

Tong Huaqiong focused her attention on the second son of her second wife.

Is the second son's academic performance better than Gu Jingzhe's?

Tong Huaqiong searched through Tong Dajiao's memories and found that they didn't match the image of the second son as a scholar at all.

In his previous life, the second son of the second branch of the Gu family was a blockhead when it came to studying, but focused on eating, drinking and having fun in his daily life.

A typical young man from an ancient small town.

Later, this spirited young man thought he could interfere in the conflict between Tong Dajiao and Lu Zhaozhao, and went to Tong Dajiao's house intending to lay a hand on Lu Zhaozhao. Tong Dajiao's mistreatment of Lu Zhaozhao was within the realm of mother-in-law/daughter-in-law issues, but the second branch of the family treating her daughter-in-law badly was a slap in the face—could she tolerate it? So she summoned Gu Jingzhe home, and Gu Jingzhe severed the tendons in this cheap cousin's hands. After passing the imperial examination and returning home in glory, Gu Jingzhe even had the clan head expel him from the Gu family. Now, Zhao Shi says this spirited young man has transformed into a diligent scholar, and Tong Huaqiong thinks it's probably because the Gu family head has promoted him to suppress Gu Jingzhe.

"And your sister-in-law," Zhao said, referring to Tong Huaqiong's sister-in-law.

Tong Huaqiong looked confused: "Which sister-in-law?"

Zhao glanced at Tong Huaqiong. Apart from her own children, only her sister-in-law could truly understand her.

Have she forgotten about her sister-in-law after not seeing her for several years?
Indeed, this younger sister-in-law has always been ambitious and competitive since childhood, and was spoiled rotten by the Gu family elders. She has no respect for her sister-in-law who raised her.

Zhao had always found it strange that her mother-in-law, who was so formidable, had no temper with her sister-in-law.

Anyone who didn't know better would think that her sister-in-law had saved her life.

After considering it for a moment, Zhao said, "She said she was engaged but then broke it off. I think her temper has gotten worse than before. A few days ago, she came to your house and wanted to open your jewelry box. When Pandi stopped her, she snapped at him. Pandi thought she was an elder, so he didn't argue with her."

Tong Huaqiong was still wondering, did she have a sister-in-law?
Judging from Zhao's words, she knew that her sister-in-law had a very close relationship with her, otherwise she wouldn't have mentioned her sister-in-law out of the blue.

Tong Huaqiong searched through Tong Dajiao's memories.

If there's one connection Tong Dajiao has with her in-laws' family, it's her sister-in-law, Gu Honglian.

Gu Honglian was her parents-in-law's youngest daughter, two months older than Gu Jingzhe and Gu Taohua. She was breastfed by Tong Dajiao.

When Gu Honglian was young, she was very close to Tong Dajiao and treated her sister-in-law like a mother. This aroused her mother-in-law's jealousy. Later, under her mother-in-law's instigation, Gu Honglian's attitude towards her changed drastically.

In her previous life, Tong Dajiao was deeply heartbroken because of this incident.

Tong Huaqiong never expected that Tong Dajiao would have nursed a girl who was not related to her by blood in her previous life.

That's why, after her sister-in-law betrayed her, Tong Dajiao was so heartbroken that even after she became successful, she wouldn't maintain any contact with her sister-in-law.

The deeper the love, the more intense the pain.

Tong Huaqiong said to Zhao, "As you know, my dear in-law, they haven't been in contact with me for several years. They came back for the funeral when Lao Gu died, and then they left again. I don't know much about their situation. So, I'm so grateful that you told me about their situation, so I can be prepared."

Zhao smiled with satisfaction.

Now, her family, including Yue'e, her son's family, and her mother-in-law's family, are all in the same boat. Her mother-in-law's parents-in-law and younger brother's family are not easy to get along with, so she has to keep an eye on her mother-in-law.

Besides, she didn't do anything; she just told her mother-in-law what she knew.

“These past few days you’ve been away from home, and your father-in-law has been sending people to your house every day to see if you’ve come home yet. Now that you’re back, I reckon your in-laws will want you to come over. Take my advice, just deal with them and don’t get angry with them.”

With a concerned expression, Zhao gave Tong Huaqiong some instructions, fearing that Tong Huaqiong might not get along with her in-laws and might rebel against them.

The mother-in-law runs a business, and business people should avoid ruining their reputation for disrespecting their parents-in-law.