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

Chapter 511 Who is the First Wife?
Madam Hua was the first to cry to Master Lian, "Master, please do justice for Cheng'er! Cheng'er has been wronged by these two adulterers!"

Master Lian immediately interrupted, saying, "The matter is not yet concluded, what kind of adulterous couple are you? Aren't you ashamed? Look at the chaos in your yard, what kind of behavior is this?"

Aunt Tang gently advised from the side, "Master, please don't be angry. The Second Young Master was injured by these two thieves. Madam was just worried about the Second Young Master and was anxious for a moment. Not to mention Madam, even you, Master, rushed over as soon as you heard that the Second Young Master was injured."

Master Lian's expression softened slightly.

Tang remained calm and composed, it seemed that today's events would be another opportunity for Aunt Tang and her daughter to take a bite out of her.

There's nothing I can do; my mother-in-law is too weak-willed and only knows how to stir things up and make things worse.

"You shameless wretch, what are you pretending to be a good person for?" Madam Hua wanted to slap Aunt Tang. It was all her daughter's fault. If her daughter hadn't been so troublesome, would Cheng-ge have needed to deal with her?
Even the old man's face, which had just cleared up, turned gloomy again.

Aunt Tang, neither humble nor arrogant, met Hua's scolding with a calm and composed demeanor, saying, "Madam, it's only natural for you to be angry about something like this. It's no big deal if you scold me a few times. But no matter how angry you are, Madam, I'll still dare to say something: it's all your fault for being so kind and gentle, like a bodhisattva, which has led to the servants in the courtyard becoming unruly and lazy, stealing so many things. When you're not around, this courtyard is like a sieve, which is why it attracted thieves."

The ladies sighed inwardly, no wonder half of the Lian family's business had fallen into Lian Hengruo's hands; look at Aunt Tang's ambition.

Without making a sound, they characterized the incident as a thief breaking into the courtyard due to a loophole, but unfortunately, Madam Hua didn't understand.

Hua was most annoyed by Aunt Tang's virtuous woman-like demeanor; who was the real wife, really?

"It's none of your business, even as a concubine, to boss me around in my courtyard."

Even the old master's veins bulged as he looked at Madam Hua with disappointment.

Aunt Tang clearly attributed the incident to lax management of the servants in the courtyard, which allowed the thief to break in. Whether it was for adultery or having an affair, attributing the cause to lax management of the courtyard, allowing someone to take advantage of the situation, was more effective in maintaining the overall stability of the Lian family than the truth.

Xu Zaohua didn't even need to finish her sentence; even the master believed her after hearing only half of it.

This wasn't the first time the second son had disappointed him, nor was it the first time he had caused such a disaster. He was capable of losing his manhood, and even the master would believe him if he did something so outrageous.

However, this time he schemed against his beloved daughter Lian Hengruo, and did so by ruining her reputation. Master Lian wished he could beat the Second Young Master Lian to death.

Aunt Tang ignored Madam Hua's words and said to Master Lian, "Master, today is Madam's birthday. You've ruined a perfectly good birthday banquet and spoiled the mood of all the ladies. Why don't you all go home first, and we'll invite you all to come and admire the flowers again when our lotus flowers bloom to apologize?"

Aunt Tang is now acting as a hostage to drive the guests away from the Lian family.

Madam Hua was furious, screaming in her heart, "Who is the first wife?"

Master Lian was very pleased with Aunt Tang's thoughtfulness and personally apologized to all the ladies.

The ladies immediately knew that this meant they were being asked to leave; the Lian family was going to handle the "thief's" matter privately, and they could no longer continue to watch the drama unfold.

But it doesn't matter, everyone's family is related, so the gossip will still be fresh when you ask around.

Even if the master didn't tell the ladies to keep it a secret, this kind of thing simply couldn't be kept secret.

He encountered this incident at someone else's banquet; will he tell anyone about it when he gets back?

That definitely needs to be discussed.

Just like when his second son lost his manhood, whoever saw what happened in his crotch, it still became a hot topic of gossip.

The ladies took their leave one after another and went home.

Tong Huaqiong also took her leave. As she turned around, she heard Aunt Tang say to Master Lian, "Master, you seemed very distressed when you heard that the Second Young Master had lost blood. Let's go in and check on him first."

Tong Huaqiong exclaimed that Aunt Tang was truly dedicated to her job as a concubine.

The person who could raise a daughter like Lian Hengruo must be a shrewd one. She took control of the situation with just a few words. How could such a clever person not know the truth?
They probably wished the Second Young Master Lian dead, yet they were still able to maintain their composure.

Lian Hengruo personally saw Tong Huaqiong and Gu Taohua off. Tong Huaqiong whispered to Lian Hengruo, "I drugged the maid and old woman that Xu Zaohua brought. I put them behind the rockery. You can bring them here to interrogate your father."

Lian Hengruo smiled and said, "Thank you. I'll give you 50% of the profits from the pearl stall these past two days." Tong Huaqiong accepted with a smile; it wasn't normal to ask for a thank-you fee for doing a good deed.

Otherwise, who would be willing to step forward if something like this happened again?

"Mom, how did I do?"

After leaving the Lian family's house, Gu Taohua couldn't help but ask Tong Huaqiong.

“That was very well done,” Tong Huaqiong said.

"It's all part of Mother's plan," Gu Taohua said with a smile.

This includes the medicinal wine that Xu Zaohua was going to give her to drink.

Fortunately, we were prepared in advance.

Tong Huaqiong thought of Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian's entanglement and felt it was very boring. She used to dislike the plot of ruining a woman's innocence in time-travel novels. The way to break the deadlock was to ruin someone's innocence.

Tong Huaqiong quickly detached herself from her emotions. If they didn't fight back, it would be Gu Taohua and Lian Hengruo who would be hurt.

"Sister Tong," Madam Han called out to Tong Huaqiong, lifting the carriage curtain as she said, "Ride in my carriage."

Tong Huaqiong waved to Nie Xiaofeng in her own carriage and then got into Han's carriage with Gu Taohua.

"I always felt that this matter was not so simple." Madam Han stared at Tong Huaqiong with sharp eyes and said, "What Madam Zheng said is right. Who can let anyone into the bedroom of the mistress of a family? I'm afraid that the Second Young Master wanted to scheme against Hengruo, and your second branch wanted to scheme against Taohua, so they dragged Madam Zheng into setting up a trap. Am I right?"

Tong Huaqiong knew that the Han family was not so easily fooled.

So he told the whole truth about what had happened.

“Even the Second Young Master and Gu Ruinian are one thing, but how could Madam Zheng, the eldest young mistress, try to use her innocence to scheme against people? She is a woman, after all.” Madam Han became agitated.

Originally, she felt sorry for Xu Zaohua's impending disaster and thought that it was understandable for a young widow to have an affair. She thought it would be better to pin the blame on that madman Gu Ruinian than to make them an adulterous couple.

From this perspective, she doesn't deserve any sympathy at all.

What a waste of her kindness.

"It's good that Peach Blossom is alright," Han concluded.

Tong Huaqiong shared the same sentiment.

three days later.

Tong Huaqiong learned from the two ladies who attended the Hua family's birthday banquet at Jufulai that the Lian family had dealt with Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian.

The incident was ultimately characterized as an affair between Xu Zaohua and her childhood sweetheart, Gu Ruinian.

The gossip details are as follows: Gu Ruinian became close friends with Lian Er Gongzi at the casino, and Lian Er Gongzi took Gu Ruinian to attend Hua Shi's birthday banquet.

It just so happened that Xu Zaohua was also inviting guests. The childhood sweethearts were extremely excited to see each other again, and the two drank a little too much. So they sneaked into Hua's room and made love.

The second young master captured the two men, and the two men, terrified, used a vase to break the second young master's head.

The Zheng family arrived at the Lian family's residence that same day and took Xu Zaohua and Gu Ruinian back to the Zheng family to handle the matter themselves.

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself that in the end, it was Gu Ruinian and Xu Zaohua who bore the brunt of everything.

"This is strange. That day, Young Madam Zheng clearly said..." One of the talkative ladies, seeing that no one was around, said to Tong Huaqiong, "Even if the mistress of the house is leaking like a sieve, outsiders can't just walk in openly, let alone steal. Manager Tong, don't you think that makes sense?"

Tong Huaqiong smiled and said, "I only understand business, not this."