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

Chapter 498 The Mantis Behind the Scenes
"Come to the Zheng family's house to find me first thing tomorrow morning. Remember, enter through the side gate."

After giving Gu Ruinian her instructions, Xu Zaohua picked up the child and climbed into the carriage.

Gu Ruinian's promise arrived early in the morning.

As soon as the carriage started moving, Xu Zaohua's eyes revealed a fierce glint.

Xu Zaohua strongly encouraged Gu Ruinian to scheme against Lian Hengruo, not because she was an outsider stirring up trouble, but because it involved her own interests.

Xu Zaohua knew everything about the Lian family.

Her father-in-law intended to arrange a marriage between the Lian family and the Zheng family's second son, so that the second son of the Zheng family would marry the second daughter of the Lian family.

Although Miss Lian wasn't very enthusiastic, she had heard that the matriarch of the Lian family wanted to make this marriage happen.

Since it was an arranged marriage by parents and matchmakers, if the master and mistress of the Lian family really agreed, the second young lady would have no room to object.

As the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family, if the eldest son of the Zheng family hadn't died, she would have remained neutral regardless of who her younger brother-in-law married, since most of the family fortune would belong to their eldest branch of the family. The problem is, the eldest son of the Zheng family is dead, and the Zheng family still has a younger son. As the eldest son's widow, even if she had a son, the Zheng family's fortune wouldn't go to her unless she could defeat the younger son or he was utterly useless.

She couldn't defeat the youngest son of the Zheng family. If she did, her father-in-law might adopt one from the clan, which would make things even more difficult.

Fortunately, the second son of the Zheng family is just a bookworm. As long as Xu Zaohua can stand up for herself, most of the family property will belong to her and her son.

These days, she has been focused on the Zheng family's business outside the home. Her father-in-law had just begun to trust her a little, but now he wants to arrange a marriage between her brother-in-law and Lian Hengruo.

If Lian Heng were to marry into the Zheng family, with her abilities, she could devour Xu Zaohua completely.

How could Xu Zaohua tolerate this situation?

The best solution is to prevent Lian Heng from marrying into the Zheng family.

During this time, she was racking her brains trying to figure out how to deal with Lian Hengruo when Gu Ruinian delivered himself to her doorstep.

She could use Gu Ruinian's help to get out and meet the Second Miss.

She'd seen plenty of guys like this, the toads who dreamt of eating swan meat, who loved to live in the fantasy of being noticed by some rich heiress, and would cling to any bait they were given.

If Gu Ruinian can win over Lian Hengruo, that would be even better. If he can't, he can ruin Lian Hengruo and no one will know that this matter is related to her.

She should be the unsung hero behind the scenes.

While Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian were reuniting with an old friend in a foreign land, Tong Huaqiong was laughing so hard she was doubled over inside the house.

A storyteller from the teahouse came to find Tong Huaqiong, wanting her to write a couple more hit stories. Tong Huaqiong was so busy that she didn't have time to write stories. During their chat, the storyteller recounted the story of the talented scholar and beautiful woman written by Gu Ruinian to Tong Huaqiong.

"Manager Tong, those of us in this line of work need to have a photographic memory. What I'm telling you is all written down by Gu Ruinian in detail. A toad trying to eat swan meat, bah! If I were to mention his stories, even the Second Miss would smash my teahouse to pieces, and I could never set foot in Pingchuan County again."

The storyteller spat out a mouthful of saliva.

Gu Ruinian wanted to harm him.

The female protagonist of that story is clearly Miss Lian.

Even the Second Miss is no ordinary person; she can drive her three legitimate brothers to the brink of despair. How much more ruthless would it be to deal with unrelated outsiders?

He dared to accept Tong Huaqiong's story about Tong Pandi and the Wu family because firstly, Tong Huaqiong had given him money, and secondly, Wu Ren was just the village chief of Heilongtan and had no real power in Pingchuan County. On the other hand, Tong Huaqiong was best friends with Magistrate Liu's mother, and Wu Ren couldn't beat her, so he dared to accept Tong Huaqiong's story.

Gu Ruinian was clueless about the intricacies of the situation and had no money. How could he possibly agree to help him pursue Miss Lian? "Manager Tong, you find it funny too, don't you? Gu Ruinian comes from a rural place like Qinghewan. He thinks he can win over a rich young lady with just a handkerchief? Did he learn from those village opera troupes? Let me tell you, those amateur opera troupes are unreliable. They make up stories to attract attention, and naive young men who don't know the truth are easily fooled."

The storyteller kept rambling on, but then suddenly remembered that Tong Huaqiong also came from Qinghewan in the countryside, and immediately shut up.

Tong Huaqiong laughed until her stomach hurt, then waved to the storyteller, not minding at all.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that Gu Ruinian had learned this trick from her, but he had learned it wrong and ended up in a trap.

It has to be said that his storytelling is too outdated.

The writing is terrible, the story is completely unappealing, and it's nothing more than a loser's fantasy.

Haha, how funny!

The storyteller drank a cup of tea, then got up to take his leave.

“Mother, I just saw Gu Ruinian standing in front of the carriage. He must have been talking to Xu Zaohua. I recognize Xu Zaohua’s carriage.”

After the storyteller left, Gu Taohua came in from outside and told Tong Huaqiong about Gu Ruinian's whereabouts.

After her attempt to frame Tong Huaqiong with fake pesticides failed, Xu Zaohua never returned to Qinghewan. Tong Huaqiong learned from the villagers that Xu Zaohua had given birth to a son, which meant that she had finally secured her position in the Zheng family.

Although He Chao, the former butler of the Zheng family, suspected that Xu Zaohua had surrogacy, without concrete evidence, the child could only be the offspring of the eldest son of the Zheng family.

Tong Huaqiong was unclear about the relationship between Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian, so she asked Gu Taohua, "What was Ruinian's relationship with Xu Zaohua like when they were young in Qinghewan?"

Xu Zaohua said, "They have a good relationship. They once teamed up to deal with me."

That means they were childhood sweethearts.

Given their close relationship since childhood, it's bound to be troublesome for Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian to be entangled together.

Moreover, the two share a common enemy, Tong Huaqiong, so Tong Huaqiong cannot afford to be careless.

So he called Su Chengmin and Nie Xiaofeng over and asked them to keep an eye on Gu Ruinian and, incidentally, Xu Zaohua.

"Have Xiaofeng keep an eye on things; Xiaofeng has made great progress recently. I'm going back to Qinghewan in a few days, and I'm worried about leaving Xiaolong at home."

After asking Tong Huaqiong for permission to return to Qinghe Bay, Su Chengmin instructed Nie Xiaofeng: "You must keep track of whether the eldest young mistress of the Zheng family has met with Gu Ruinian these past few days, where they met, and who was with them. Remember everything clearly and tell Aunt Tong when you get back."

Nie Xiaofeng asked, "Why do you need to pay attention to the people around you?"

Su Chengmin tapped Nie Xiaofeng on the head and said, "You're still not convinced when I say you're stupid. Just do as I say."

Tong Huaqiong said, "The Zheng family and the Lian family are both local bullies in Pingchuan County. These local bullies are all related. Gu Ruinian has designs on Miss Lian the Second. Xu Zaohua is the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family, so it's normal for her to know people from the Lian family. How could she have appeared so conveniently right after Gu Ruinian stopped Miss Lian the Second? Miss Lian the Second is being targeted by her three older brothers at home. Who knows if Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian will use this to their advantage? We still need Miss Lian the Second to run our pearl stall, so it's always good for you to keep an eye on her."

Su Chengmin nodded; that was exactly what he wanted to achieve.

Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and then instructed Su Chengmin further: "Not only should you keep an eye on Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian, but you should also inquire about the relationship between the Zheng family and the Lian family, especially the relationship between the three young masters of the Lian family."

Nie Xiaofeng didn't dare ask why he needed to inquire about this this time. Anyway, his grandmother's advice was always right, so he might as well ask.

After Tong Huaqiong finished speaking, she continued to check the accounts and did not notice that Gu Taohua's expression was not good.