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

Chapter 54: The Official Pairing Appears
Lu family.

No wonder Tong Huaqiong felt it was so familiar.

It turns out to be the Lu family, imperial merchants.

The girl with eyes as cold as stars was Lu Zhaozhao, Gu Jingzhe's official love interest in his previous life.

In their past life, it was also in this forest that Tong Dajiao and Gu Jingzhe met the siblings Lu Zhaozhao and Lu Zhaoyang.

At that time, Lu Zhaoyang was also seriously ill and unable to continue his journey.

The genius boy Gu Jingzhe deduced the family background of the two from their clothing and appearance, so he persuaded Tong Dajiao to bring the Lu siblings home and lent money to hire a doctor for Lu Zhaoyang.

After Lu Zhaoyang's condition stabilized after recuperating at the Gu family for a few days, Gu Jingzhe personally escorted the brother and sister to the Lu family in the prefectural city, thus becoming an honored guest of the Lu family as a benefactor of the Lu family and a confidant of Lu Zhaoyang.

The Lu siblings were unfortunate; their parents died early, and they lived with their grandfather, the Grand Merchant.

Lu Zhaoyang was exceptionally intelligent and the most outstanding student at Wanliu Academy. However, he had been in poor health since childhood and died three years after being rescued by the Gu family.

Lu Zhaozhao, on the other hand, is a typical love-struck fool. She was bewitched by Gu Jingzhe's face and could be said to have been ruined by meeting Gu Jingzhe for the rest of her life.

After Lu Zhaoyang passed away, the old master of the Lu family fell seriously ill. At that time, Gu Jingzhe took care of him diligently, which moved the old master. Before his death, the old master decided to betroth Lu Zhaozhao to Gu Jingzhe.

After Gu Jingzhe passed the imperial examination, the two got married.

After Gu Jingzhe became the son-in-law of the Lu family, Lu Zhaozhao used half of her wealth to help Gu Jingzhe go to the capital to seek fame and fortune.

Gu Jingzhe lived up to expectations and won the third place in the imperial examination.

Then comes the clichéd but disastrous Chen Shimei drama that brings Lu Zhaozhao great misfortune. Gu Jingzhe is favored by a noble princess, and Gu Jingzhe, for the sake of fame and fortune in officialdom, hides his marital status and chooses to marry the princess.

Tong Dajiao was overjoyed that her son could marry a princess. She led her entire family to secretly marry someone else behind Lu Zhaozhao and Gu Jingzhe's back, keeping Lu Zhaozhao tied to the Gu family so that she could spend Lu Zhaozhao's money with a clear conscience.

Lu Zhaozhao only learned of Gu Jingzhe's betrayal when the princess came to her door. Deeply shocked, Lu Zhaozhao hanged herself with her unborn child.

After Lu Zhaozhao's death, Gu Jingzhe didn't regret his betrayal; instead, he became obsessed with taking concubines. These concubines all had one thing in common: they all resembled Lu Zhaozhao.

Just like the Fourth Prince in the famous Qing Dynasty drama, he spends all his time playing the role of a woman who resembles a concubine.

Later, he even took a courtesan who was a carbon copy of Lu Zhaozhao as his concubine, thus betraying his wife by favoring his concubine.

It's basically a story of a neurotic person who is indulging in self-pity and forced into a state of mental instability.

孽 孽!
Tong Huaqiong couldn't help but curse Gu Jingzhe to death in her heart.

"Brother, don't scare me."

Lu Zhaoyang almost couldn't breathe.

Seeing her brother's heavy breathing, Lu Zhaozhao burst into tears.

When Lu Zhaozhao saw Tong Huaqiong lift the curtain, she thought it was a doctor, but when she saw that the person was a country woman, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

Using the last rays of the setting sun, Tong Huaqiong looked towards Lu Zhaoyang.

Lu Zhaoyang lay half-reclined, his face deathly pale and his breathing rapid.

“Miss, this carriage is too cramped. Your brother needs ventilation. Let’s get him out,” Tong Huaqiong said to Lu Zhaozhao.

Tong Huaqiong didn't know what illness Lu Zhaoyang had, but it was clear that staying in a confined space was definitely not a good idea.

Lu Zhaozhao was so focused on crying that she was completely disoriented. When she heard Tong Huaqiong say this, she nodded.

Tong Huaqiong poked her head out of the carriage and called out to Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe to help carry the people.

Gu Dashu and Gu Jingzhe climbed into the carriage and, as Tong Huaqiong had requested, carried Lu Zhaoyang out and gently placed him on the grass.

Lu Zhaozhao got off the carriage and stumbled, but was supported by Gu Jingzhe.

Tong Huaqiong took a fan from the carriage and fanned herself. Without bothering to exchange pleasantries with Gu Dahan, she ordered Gu Dahan to feed Lu Zhaoyang some water.

"Young Master, how are you feeling?" Gu Dahan asked.

Lu Zhaoyang lay in the open space, his breathing was obviously much smoother than in the carriage, and he coughed a few times without saying a word.

"Auntie, thank you."

Seeing her brother's breathing gradually stabilize, Lu Zhaozhao felt grateful to Tong Huaqiong.

Her brother had a seizure, and with no elderly person around to comfort him, she was terrified. The sudden appearance of Tong Huaqiong brought Lu Zhaozhao a strange sense of peace.

“Your brother will be alright,” Tong Huaqiong said.

Tong Huaqiong had her reasons for saying that. In Tong Dajiao's memory, although she did not see what illness Lu Zhaoyang had, she did see Lu Zhaoyang overcome this illness.

There are still three years until Lu Zhaoyang's death in his previous life.

With Tong Huaqiong's comfort, Lu Zhaozhao gradually stopped crying.

Gu Dahan then introduced Tong Huaqiong and Gu Dashu to Lu Zhaoyang and his sister.

Gu Dahan was quite surprised to encounter his stepmother and younger siblings in this forest, especially his stepmother's kind attitude, which was beyond his expectations.

He felt that his stepmother seemed a little different from before.

It's not a good idea to keep letting Lu Zhaoyang lie here. It's so late. We should either take him to see a doctor or bring him home.

If he were to bring her home… Tong Huaqiong glanced at Gu Jingzhe; he certainly didn’t want Gu Jingzhe to continue tormenting Lu Zhaozhao for the rest of his life.

"Why don't we go to town to see a doctor?" Tong Huaqiong suggested, seeing that Lu Zhaoyang was breathing more easily.

"I'm not going to see a doctor," Lu Zhaoyang said with a wry smile.

He dared not consult a doctor he didn't know. Once, when he fell ill at Wanliu Academy, his classmates helped him find a doctor, but the more they saw him, the worse his condition became.

His illness was congenital, and every doctor he consulted gave him a different diagnosis. As a result, he dared not see any other doctors except for the retired doctor from the Imperial Hospital, whom his grandfather had paid a high price for.

Since Lu Zhaoyang was unwilling to see a doctor, Tong Huaqiong could not force him to.

"What exactly is Young Master Lu's illness?" Tong Huaqiong asked curiously.

Lu Zhaozhao shook her head and said, "I don't know. It's been like this since I was little. It gets better and worse. No matter how many famous doctors we consult, it's no use."

As Lu Zhaozhao spoke, she began to cry.

"He was perfectly fine until my brother said he was hungry and ate a sesame cake, and then he turned into this, boohoo. It's all my fault for giving him the sesame cake," Lu Zhaozhao said, crying.

Sesame cakes. Tong Huaqiong's heart skipped a beat. She turned her head to observe Lu Zhaoyang carefully, and couldn't help but say to Lu Zhaoyang, "Miss Lu, do you still have sesame cakes? Can I take a look at those sesame cakes?"

Lu Zhaozhao nodded and ran to the carriage to take out sesame cakes.

Tong Huaqiong took it and glanced at it; it was just an extremely ordinary white flour pancake sprinkled with sesame seeds. Rich people's food was usually like that, not even as appealing as her sesame pancakes.

While observing the sesame cakes, Tong Huaqiong also observed Lu Zhaoyang, a sudden glint of excitement flashing in her eyes.

This sesame cake confirmed Tong Huaqiong's guess: Lu Zhaoyang's characteristics were clearly gluten intolerance, that is, chronic allergy to wheat gluten protein.

In her previous life, Tong Huaqiong first learned that someone was allergic to wheat products when she was in college; her roommate who lived across the hall from her was an example of this.

Gluten intolerance is not a very serious illness, just like nut allergy. As long as you don't eat wheat products, you'll be fine. However, if you do eat wheat products, you will experience external allergy symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, and shortness of breath. In severe cases, it can be fatal.

Tong Huaqiong suspects that in his previous life, Lu Zhaoyang died because of a severe allergy.

After all, gluten intolerance was not well understood at that time. Whether it was eating meals or snacks, flour-based foods were the mainstream, and it was impossible to avoid them unless one deliberately avoided them.

Gu Dashu and the others looked at Tong Huaqiong with tense expressions, wondering what she was up to.

Lu Zhaozhao asked, "Auntie, have you figured anything out?"

Tong Huaqiong thought for a moment and said, "Actually, your brother's illness is simple in some ways, but serious in others."

Gu Dashu and the others were filled with questions. What was wrong with their mother? How could she be seeing a doctor?
Gu Dahan was even more surprised. He was afraid that his stepmother might be pregnant and harm the brother and sister.

Lu Zhaozhao, however, looked excited and asked expectantly, "Auntie, what do you mean?"

Not only did Lu Zhaozhao perk up, but even Lu Zhaoyang, who was lying on the ground, perked up and looked at Tong Huaqiong with anticipation.

“Young Master Lu has gluten intolerance,” Tong Huaqiong said.

What?
Gluten intolerance, what a novel term.

"No, Mother, what do you mean?"

Gu Dashu asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

(End of this chapter)