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

Chapter 490 My fate is up to me.

Tong Huaqiong is determined to avenge the Wu family's schemes.

Within a day, the entire Pingchuan County knew about the Wu family's numerous misdeeds.

He mistreated his daughter-in-law, plotted to kill his own daughter, and even tried to use her to scheme against Jufulai.
Tong Huaqiong feared that after the initial hype died down, people would forget the disgusting things the Wu family had done and would be tempted by the price reduction to continue patronizing Wu Ji.

So she wrote a story herself and bribed the teahouse next to Wu Ji and the storyteller.

The storyteller would recount in detail the whole story of Tong Pandi's divorce every day.

Tong Huaqiong's story was full of twists and turns, and the storyteller's narration was so captivating that the audience, whether standing or sitting, was packed to the brim when the gavel struck. As the story unfolded, some sighed, some cried, and some cursed. This story quickly became the most popular story in Pingchuan County, with two performances a day still not enough for the audience, and the teahouse business boomed.

The teahouse owner was overjoyed and regarded Tong Huaqiong as a god of wealth.

After that, Tong Huaqiong didn't need to pay her anymore; she even voluntarily added extra performances every day.

Because of the success of the storybooks, people became even more disgusted with the samurai family.

Unfortunately, Wu Ji was right next to the teahouse, and one day, Wu Ji was pelted with rotten vegetable leaves by angry listeners.

Wu Ji's business plummeted.

Wu Ren was pacing anxiously, watching Jufulai's booming business with great frustration.

At Gu Youtian's suggestion, Wu Ren went to the teahouse next door and begged the owner to remove the storybook about Tong Pandi's divorce from the shelves, repeatedly emphasizing that the story was fake.

The teahouse owner was reluctant to give up his daily revenue and told Wu Ren that taking the food off the menu was impossible.

When Wu Ren's pleas for leniency were ignored, he revealed his true colors and threatened the teahouse owner that he would go to the government office to beat the drum of grievance and accuse the teahouse of slandering the Wu family.

"The Wu family just admitted that the story is false. If it's false, how can I be slandering your family?"

Wu Ren was speechless after hearing those words.

Since being called out to be beaten by concerned citizens, Wu Musheng and Wu Na have been hiding in their house, afraid to come out.

There was no other way; I was afraid of angering everyone if I went out.

Especially through the storyteller in the teahouse next door, Wu Musheng has become an even more ruthless and heartless man than Chen Shimei, and Wu Na is the most vicious sister-in-law in Pingchuan County.

Mrs. Qiao was filled with remorse. At one moment she cursed Tong Pandi for being heartless, at another she cursed Tong Huaqiong for not giving people a way out, and at yet another she cursed Gu Ruinian for his terrible idea that had ruined her two children.

Wu Ren originally liked Gu Ruinian very much, but after this incident, his opinion of Gu Ruinian was reversed.

He even suspected that Gu Youtian was dissatisfied with Wu Musheng's control of the ledgers, and that the father and son had conspired to set a trap to eliminate Wu Musheng.

In particular, Gu Youtian subtly suggested to him that the Wu family's reputation in Pingchuan County could not be salvaged in the short term, and that people would think of the Wu family as soon as they saw Wu Ji, and thus would not step into the shop.

If we want people to patronize the shop, we can only downplay the influence of the Wu family on the shop.

For example, the name of Wu Ji should be changed, or Wu Musheng should be asked to temporarily avoid the situation.

As time went by, everyone forgot about the Wu family.

Wu Ren nearly bit his teeth until they bled, becoming increasingly convinced of his own judgment and naturally disagreeing with Gu Youtian's idea.

Once people have a grudge against each other, how can they do business together?

It's already good enough that they don't trip each other up.

Wu Ren and Gu Youtian were on the verge of breaking up, but they couldn't break up anytime soon, otherwise who would run the shop?

Wu Ren has been secretly looking for a new owner behind Gu Youtian's back.

None of the other owners dared to take it over.

Good heavens, the neighbors next door are putting on a grand show of the Wu family's misdeeds. Who would dare take over Wu Ji's shop? Aren't they afraid of getting rotten eggs thrown at them?

Compared to his dissatisfaction with Gu Youtian, Wu Ren felt even more disgust towards Gu Ruinian. He was like the kind of fan Tong Huaqiong encountered in later generations; once the fan stopped supporting him, he would become ten times more hostile, wanting nothing more than to trample on him.

Wu Ren initially wanted to marry Wu Na to Gu Ruinian, but now he feels that Gu Ruinian isn't even worthy of carrying Wu Na's shoes.

Gu Ruinian could naturally sense Wu Ren's attitude towards him.

He wanted to explain, but Wu Ren refused to talk to him.

Gu Ruinian was extremely depressed.

Why do other people who transmigrate always have a protagonist's script, easily recruiting soldiers and horses, commanding the wind and rain, and reaching the pinnacle of life? Why is it that apart from his glory when he passed the imperial examination, he can't succeed at anything?

Could it be that my luck was stolen by Gu Taohua, who is also a transmigrator?
He couldn't believe that God was treating him this way.

Even if fate truly treats him this way, he will not accept it.

My destiny is in my own hands.

Gu Ruinian walked out of Wu Ji under Wu Ren's cold gaze. He was annoyed by the large number of customers at Jufulai, especially when he saw Gu Taohua and Tong Huaqiong standing in front of a magnificent carriage and talking to the people inside.

Why is it that Gu Taohua can enter the social circle of wealthy women in the county, but he can't?

He would occasionally see Magistrate Liu's carriage. In the past, he would look down on such a minor official as a magistrate, and if he wanted to make friends, he would make friends with the emperor, or at the very least, a prince.

Who would have thought that he would find it difficult to even befriend the county magistrate in Pingchuan County?

The magnificent carriage slowly departed from the entrance of Jufulai, and the clattering of hooves disturbed Gu Ruinian's mind as Wu Ji passed by.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Miss Lian's carriage is really impressive," exclaimed a waiter from the teahouse next door.

Gu Ruinian looked surprised: "Is that Miss Lian Er in the car?"

The teahouse waiter said with a look of envy, "Naturally, Miss Lian is sitting in Miss Lian's carriage. Brother Gu, did you look down on her because you heard people say that Miss Lian was born out of wedlock? Let me tell you, Miss Lian is more capable than most men. She runs the family's pearl business, and her three legitimate brothers are not as good as her. If she were a man, the entire Lian family would be hers by now."

Gu Ruinian became excited.

Matchmaker Wang only told him that Miss Lian was a beautiful concubine's daughter, and because her aunt was favored, Master Lian loved her even more than his legitimate children.

But I didn't tell him that Miss Lian was very capable.

Good heavens, a beautiful young lady from ancient times controls her family's pearl business. She is the most valuable woman he can currently get his hands on, and he must capture her.

A few days ago, he sent a message to Miss Lian through the matchmaker Wang. Miss Lian said she wanted to see him, but later sent another message saying that she would not see him for the time being.

These past few days, Wu Ji's affairs have been causing him a great deal of worry, leaving him no time to think about how to meet Miss Lian.

Now he really needs to figure out how to see her.

It's unclear whether Miss Lian went to Jufulai to do business or to buy things.

Regardless, Gu Taohua gained the upper hand.

hateful!

Gu Ruinian felt in his pocket and found he still had five taels of silver.

Two taels of it came from pawning Gu Honglian's satin, and the remaining three taels were embezzled from Wu Ji.

Money is always the best weapon for navigating the world.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough weapons, which prevented him from doing anything.

Gu Ruinian, feeling the silver, inquired his way to the Lian residence, intending to bribe the gatekeeper with five taels of silver.

The Lian family mansion is located at the easternmost part of Pingchuan County. The entire courtyard occupies half a street and looks very impressive from a distance.

A smile crept onto Gu Ruinian's lips. He wondered how the Lu family's mansion compared to the Lian family's mansion, given how grand it was. Such a magnificent house was destined for someone like him.