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

"Go quickly."

If Lian Heng knew that his sister-in-law was cunning, he would not let her ruin this opportunity. So he took the initiative and ordered the maids and nannies in his own courtyard to tie up the person.

Gu Ruinian kept his eyes tightly shut, while Xu Zaohua lay face down, completely obliterated.

"Oh dear, that female thief's clothes look so familiar? They look like Sister Zaohua's clothes. Quickly, turn them over and see if it's Sister Zaohua." Gu Taohua was afraid that the old woman wouldn't be able to turn them over, so she stepped forward and lifted Xu Zaohua up.

Xu Zaohua closed her eyes.

They wished the earth would collapse and bury everyone in this room.

That's too humiliating.

When everyone saw Xu Zaohua's face clearly, they all exclaimed in surprise. Even the usually well-mannered ladies couldn't suppress their gasps.

“It really is Sister Zaohua. How could Sister Zaohua be a thief? Everyone in our village says that Sister Zaohua has endless silks and brocades to wear and countless jewelry after marrying into the Zheng family. Why would she come to the madam's room to steal things?” Gu Taohua raised her head with a blush on her face, her innocent big eyes revealing a pure heart.

Several ladies looked at Tong Huaqiong, thinking that the daughter of the owner of Jufulai was really too naive. This wasn't stealing things, it was stealing a person.

The eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family is having an affair with someone from the Lian family. What kind of scheme is this?

People really do live to see this.

Instantly, the ladies unleashed their wildly imaginative and melodramatic ideas.

Is it possible that the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family has taken a fancy to the Lian family's servant and secretly met with him at the Lian family's house during her birthday banquet?

The safest place for a clandestine rendezvous in the Lian family is naturally the room of Madam Hua.

Believe it or not, that's quite possible. The Lian family and the Zheng family are currently discussing marriage, so it's quite normal for the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family to be involved with a servant of the Lian family.

Rumors circulated that Mrs. Zheng had a criminal record, and that her son was not Mr. Zheng's posthumous child, but rather the offspring of a servant in the household.

But thinking about it carefully, something doesn't make sense. How did this involve Young Master Lian?
They smashed a hole in the Second Young Master's head out of nowhere.

It's unlikely that the Second Young Master would defend the family's reputation and uphold justice just because his servant had an affair with the eldest young mistress of the Zheng family. He himself is in deep trouble; why would he care about other people's scandalous affairs?

After guessing and guessing, no reasonable conclusion could be reached; most ladies' minds, like Hua's, were simply not up to the task.

Since we can't guess, let's just wait for the truth to be revealed. Anyway, this isn't our own gossip, it's Lian's gossip, so it's more exciting to eat it.

There are even more shrewd ladies, like Madam Han, whose cunning is more like a sieve, who have already deduced that the Second Young Master Lian and the Eldest Young Mistress Zheng are plotting against Lian Hengruo.

That's really vicious.

They're still putting on an act? Who knows, this whole thing was probably orchestrated by Madam Hua and her son.

She had heard that because Miss Lian was too capable and unwilling to marry that good-for-nothing Zheng, it was highly likely that the mother and son would work together to force Miss Lian to marry into the Zheng family.

The fact that Mrs. Zheng, the eldest son's wife, is here is proof.

It was like lifting a rock only to drop it on one's own foot.

Live it!

Han glanced at the ground. She was not familiar with the second young master of the Zheng family, so she mistook Gu Ruinian for the second young master of the Zheng family.

Tsk tsk tsk, a widowed sister-in-law and her brother-in-law, how awful it would sound if word got out.

She even showed consideration for Mrs. Zheng, who was a widow raising her child and had no intention of remarrying, and wanted to build a memorial arch for her to protect her and her child.

If this memorial arch were actually awarded, wouldn't it be a slap in the face to her son, and even she, as a widow, would be the subject of gossip?

Tong Huaqiong noticed that Han secretly gave Hua a few cold looks.

"Sister Zaohua, wake up! I saw you open your eyes just now, why are you closing them again? I don't believe you stole anything. Quickly explain to Madam that you didn't steal anything. You live such a good life, how could you possibly steal anything?"

Gu Taohua shook Xu Zaohua desperately.

Xu Zaohua kept her eyes tightly closed, her swollen face, which had been fanned by Gu Taohua, was both hot and painful.

She hated Gu Taohua to death. Knowing full well that Gu Taohua wanted to bury her head in the sand at that moment, she still insisted on waking her up.

How did things turn out like this? She clearly mixed the medicine from her entire fingernail into the wine, and she clearly saw Gu Taohua drink that wine with her own eyes. How could it be that once they got to the house, Gu Taohua suddenly shook off her weakness and sprang up, knocking her to the ground before she could even react?

What exactly went wrong?
"Is this Mrs. Zheng? Don't mistake her for someone else." A kind lady whispered. This was the first time she had met Mrs. Zheng today. She hadn't paid attention to her appearance at the banquet, and she was afraid that she might have mistaken her for someone else and ruined the reputation of a widow.

“It really is the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family,” Gu Taohua said. “Sister Zaohua and I grew up together, there’s no mistake.”

"It is indeed the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family," Madam Han said, her tone icy.

The county magistrate's mother has already confirmed that she is the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family; who would dare to deny it?

Besides, most of the ladies had seen the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family before. Her face was swollen from being slapped, but not disfigured. If they looked closely, they could still recognize her. Putting aside everything else, the red-gold hairpin in her hair was her trademark, something she wore everywhere she went, and it was loosely stuck in her hair at that moment.

Tang, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Hua family, was extremely anxious.

She couldn't understand how the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zheng family could be having an affair in her mother-in-law's bedroom.

She always felt it wasn't that simple.

"Young Madam Zheng, what are you doing here?" Madam Hua had a mental breakdown, and Madam Tang couldn't let things get any more chaotic, so she forced herself to speak.

Xu Zaohua remained silent, pretending to be dead with her eyes closed.

Madam Hua shouted and ordered her men to tie up Madam Zheng.

No matter whose young mistress she is, if she dares to smash her son, she will be punished.

The maids and servants were about to tie up Xu Zaohua, but Tang stopped them with a look.

Everyone looked at Xu Zaohua, ignoring Gu Ruinian standing to the side.

Gu Ruinian wanted to sneak away quietly.

He was stepped on by Gu Taohua.

“Madam, there’s another thief here,” Gu Taohua said.

Everyone's eyes shifted from Gu Taohua to Gu Ruinian.

This person is a complete stranger.

Most people mistook him for a servant of the Lian family.

Tang was familiar with all the servants in the house, and she could tell at a glance that this person was an outsider. Her heart skipped a beat, and she knew that this person must have been brought by the Second Young Master to deal with her sister-in-law. She just didn't know why he was entangled with the eldest young mistress of the Zheng family.

She couldn't understand why her sister-in-law always managed to escape unscathed from any trouble that came her way.

She gave Gu Taohua a meaningful look; even the daughter of Jufulai was helping her sister-in-law.

My sister-in-law is really charming.

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on Gu Ruinian, Gu Taohua pulled the clothes on the ground to cover Gu Ruinian's bare legs.

Everyone's lips twitched.

"Who is this person? How dare he break into my house and steal?" Madam Hua was furious.

Gu Ruinian, like Xu Zaohua, closed his eyes and pretended to be dead.

It's over.

Will the Lian family beat him to death?

Tong Huaqiong exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, isn't this my brother-in-law's son, Ruinian? His face is so swollen I didn't even recognize him."

Hearing Tong Huaqiong's exclamation, Gu Taohua looked closely and exclaimed, "It's Ruinian! It really is Ruinian! Oh my, Ruinian, what are you doing here?"

Tong Huaqiong deliberately made a fuss about it.

It's a certainty that Gu Ruinian is her nephew. Even if she doesn't announce it now, this relationship won't be hidden forever. To prevent everyone from associating her with Ruinian, it's better for her to say it herself and distance herself from the connection. (End of Chapter)