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

Chapter 427 Arranged Marriage
According to Tong Dajiao's memories from her previous life, Gu Jingzhe was the top scholar in this provincial examination.

There was an unexpected variable: Gu Ruinian.

However, Gu Ruinian was clearly cannon fodder in this exam, so it was impossible for the top spot to be awarded to her son, Gu Jingzhe, without any surprises.

Since their son is the top scorer, how glorious it will be on the day the results are announced!

Therefore, she wanted to have a set of clothes made for Gu Jingzhe to complement his scholarly demeanor.

Tong Huaqiong asked Zhao, the town's most famous tailor, to come to her home to make clothes for Gu Jingzhe.

"Manager Tong, I rushed to finish this garment overnight. I guarantee that the young scholar will be satisfied with it," said Zhao the tailor after taking Gu Jingzhe's measurements.

Before the results were even released, Zhao the tailor addressed Gu Jingzhe as "Young Master Gu," making Gu Jingzhe quite uncomfortable and causing him to blush.

My mother is being too high-profile. What will happen if she doesn't win?

Judging from my mother's demeanor these past two days, I'm certain he'll pass the imperial examination and become a scholar. I've been so eager to have a tailor come to our house to make me a suit to wear for the upcoming exam.

Although he was certain of his own abilities, he dared not make any boastful claims until the results were released.
Gu Jingzhe smiled and handed Zhao the tailor some silver, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, please have a cup of tea."

Zhao the tailor grinned from ear to ear as he gathered the silver in his hand. As he gathered the silver into two feet, he said, "I won't drink the tea. I still need to go to your second house to tailor clothes for his second son."

Tong Huaqiong said, "Then we won't keep you any longer. It's more important to tailor clothes for my second son from the second branch of the family. He did even better in the exam than my Jingzhe. They say he's already reserved for the top spot."

Tong Huaqiong didn't mind elevating Gu Ruinian to a higher position.

The higher you climb, the harder you fall.

Now everyone in the old house, the clan, and the village all know that Gu Ruinian is going to be the top scholar. As for why Gu Ruinian is capable of being the top scholar, they don't know. Anyway, everyone says that he is qualified to be the top scholar, so he must be the top scholar.

Now the second wife's family is getting quite a stir, with matchmakers reportedly coming to their door to propose marriage to Gu Ruinian.

Tong Huaqiong couldn't wait to release the results and see Gu Ruinian get humiliated.

Tong Huaqiong saw Zhao the tailor out, and Wang the matchmaker happened to pass by Tong Huaqiong's house.

Matchmaker Wang lifted the curtain and gave Tong Huaqiong a cold smile.

Tong Huaqiong said bluntly, "Whose woman are you going to mess with this time?"

Matchmaker Wang raised her head high and said, "Anyway, it's not going to harm your family. The Lian family in Pingchuan County has taken a fancy to the second son of your second son's family and wants to marry their second daughter to our second son's scholar."

Tong Huaqiong's mouth twitched.

The Lian family—they seem so familiar. Aren't they the family Huang Jingshan broke off her engagement with?

Judging from the disgraceful state of the Lian family and Huang Jingshan's family, they were not a good family either.

Tong Huaqiong said, "Has Ruinian's reputation spread all the way to Pingchuan County?"

Matchmaker Wang said, "Of course. The Lian family is overjoyed."

After saying that, he drew the carriage curtain.

The current owner of the Tong family is the richest man in Qinghe Bay, whom she can't afford to offend. So she'll just have to support the second wife of the Tong family.

What's the use of having money and shops? No one wants to marry off the daughter in the family. The youngest son was originally good at studying, but now the second wife has stolen his thunder.

Live it!

Matchmaker Wang and tailor Zhao went to the old house one after the other.

The old folks in the house were surprised to see Matchmaker Wang enter, knowing that she was always snobbish. When Old Master Gu first returned, he had met Matchmaker Wang and wanted her to arrange a marriage for Gu Honglian, but she was completely unwilling.

But now they've come to our door.

Originally, Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu wanted to play hard to get, but Matchmaker Wang directly said that the Lian family had entrusted her to arrange a marriage between their second daughter and Gu Ruinian.

The entire Gu family mansion was in an uproar.

Gu Youtian, in particular, was so happy he couldn't stop smiling.

The Lian family is a wealthy and powerful family in Pingchuan County. If Gu Youtian can marry into such a family, he can turn his life around in less than a year.

I must say, my youngest son is really something else; people are already asking him for a marriage proposal even before the results have been announced.

If one were to truly be the top scholar in the imperial examinations, wouldn't there be even more people seeking marriage partners, and the families they would be marrying into would be of higher social standing?
Not only did Gu Youtian have this idea, but Old Madam Gu and Madam Jia also had the same idea.

Especially Jia Shi, whose son was even matched with a princess.

"Sister-in-law Wang, the second daughter of the Lian family is actually born out of wedlock? Why didn't you say so earlier? If you had known she was born out of wedlock, you wouldn't have been allowed to enter our house." When Old Madam Gu learned that the Lian family had betrothed Gu Ruinian to their second daughter, who was born out of wedlock, she almost lost her temper on the spot, and her words were very unpleasant.

Grandpa Gu didn't look good either.

When Gu Ruinian passed the imperial examination, several wealthy families in the south wanted to arrange marriages for him with their illegitimate daughters.

At that time, Gu Youtian was still running his business. Considering that the other party was born out of wedlock and there would be better opportunities in the future, the Gu family rejected him.

Now that his grandson is about to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, he's arranging a marriage for him with a concubine's daughter. It's really too much of a bullying.

Apart from being rebuked by Tong Huaqiong last time, Wang the matchmaker had never been rebuked by anyone before, so she was a little embarrassed and said, "Grandma, this is not a formal marriage proposal. It can only be discussed after your grandson actually passes the imperial examination. I came here today to let you know what you think. If he doesn't pass the examination, we'll pretend this never happened."

Madam Jia felt these words were a huge insult, and her face darkened as she said, "My Ruinian could never fail to pass the imperial examination."

Gu Youtian said, "Although families like ours don't care about legitimate or illegitimate children, it would still be a bit unfair for my Ruinian to marry someone born out of wedlock. How about this, I'll ask Ruinian what he thinks on the day the results are announced. If Ruinian wants to get married, then we can continue the discussion."

Gu Youtian also didn't want his son to marry a concubine's second daughter.

But he didn't want to offend the Lian family, so he wanted to appease them first and then tell Ruinian the good things when the results were announced.

He had heard that the Lian family had a third daughter who was born of the main wife. Perhaps if Ruinian passed the imperial examination with top honors, the Lian family would change their minds and betroth the third daughter to Ruinian.

In his room, Gu Ruinian followed Zhao the tailor's instructions to take measurements by stretching his arms and tucking in his waist.

When he first returned from the prefectural city, he felt like he had messed everything up, but after being praised by everyone in the village these past few days, he felt like he was capable again.

Although he didn't finish the last question, his problem-solving approach was different from everyone else's. Just based on his unique answer, he could pass the imperial examination as a scholar as long as the examiner wasn't blind.

I heard that Prefect Yao was a hot-blooded young man back then, and it was precisely his sharp and bold writing style that won him the favor of the chief examiner. His exam paper was controversial at the time, and the chief examiner dared not make a decision. It was presented to the emperor for review and he was ultimately awarded the second place, which was more popular than the first and third place winners combined.

Even if his exam paper didn't rank him first, it would still make him famous in Ningcheng due to the controversy surrounding it, if it reached the eyes of Prefect Yao.

Gu Ruinian listened to the discussion about his marriage in the room and looked down on the Lian family. They thought they were trying to fool him with a daughter born out of wedlock. They would regret it later.

"Congratulations, young scholar!" Zhao the tailor couldn't help but say. "I went to Pingchuan County to tailor clothes for the young master and young lady of the Lian family and met the second young lady of the Lian family. Although she is born out of wedlock, she is very beautiful, and none of the legitimate daughters in Pingchuan County can compare to her. Her aunt is the most favored concubine of Master Lian. If the first wife didn't have three sons, she would be squeezed out by her. Her aunt only has her as her daughter, and Master Lian loves her the most because of her. If she gets married, her dowry will probably be more than that of the legitimate daughters."

Gu Ruinian's heart skipped a beat.

He couldn't help but fantasize about the beautiful second young lady of the Lian family that Zhao the tailor had described.

Since she's a great beauty and has a large dowry, he could reluctantly accept it.

Once he becomes successful, he can simply abandon his wife who shared his hardships.